Escape to the Sea

Smoker took his seat at his desk with a fierce look on his face while Tashigi remained tense and Luffy had a look of confusion as the pinkette began to speak.

"Now, as far as Hina was aware from your call for backup, Baroque Works were the ones responsible for the whole thing." Hina explained as she watched him curiously; "We managed to catch a convoy of Dance Powder being delivered towards the capital, after they spilled the beans…We managed to cite their involvement, so we'll be taking Crocodile and all captured members of Baroque Works to be tried…If you voice your involvement then I'm sure that could land you and your subordinates a good promotion."

Smoker grimaced as he huffed out a cloud of smoke before lighting up again.

"Actually, Captain…Headquarters have called in, they congratulated us and issued a promotion." Tashigi elaborated since the topic wasn't Smoker's favourite thing.

"Oh, well if that is the case then why do you look so sour…Well, more sour than usual?" Hina chuckled as she crossed her leg over; "Hina would've thought you'd relish the chance to make the jump from Captain to Commodore."

"Because we're not happy about it!" Luffy said out loud, earning a look of shock from Tashigi but Smoker watched to see how things played out. "The pirates here were the ones to save Arabasta, not us…We shouldn't be getting the credit for something that pirates had done!"

Hina raised an eyebrow at hearing this subordinate talk out against his reward; "Hina's honestly surprised, most Marines your age would jump at the chance to earn a promotion and you scoff at it purely because it was handed to you?"

"That's because this accolade is a load of shit…Luffy IS right about the pirates being the one to take down BW but no one else wants to admit it." Smoker grizzled as he stood up from his chair and gazed outside; "The least that I can do is give them a headstart to recover before we chase them again…They earned at least tha-"

"You're telling me that these pirates who had been beaten back are resting up and you're NOT making a move on them? For the love of all things; strike while the iron is hot, Smoker…" Hina sighed as she got up to leave.

"Hold it!" 

"Luffy, Don't!"

Hina turned around to see that same Marine staring her down with fire in his eyes; "What is it?"

"You can't go after Moggy like this! He fought hard to stop the Kingdom AND Marines from getting blown up, then the first thing that you wanna show your thanks with is by attacking him while he's down?!" Luffy ranted at her as he clenched his fist.

"You know Hina is the same rank as Smoker, right?" She remarked with a tone that warned him to be careful; "You don't have to be happy about it but put up with your congratulations and do your job! That is exactly what you signed up for as a Marine, isn't it?" Hina made sure to lay down the law on him; "Hina and her squadron will track down the pirates and deliver them to Headquarters too…But as for Captain Ford? Since he has a specific bounty on him, we'll be going higher and taking him to see Vice Admiral Garp." She finished before leaving at a brusque pace.

"She can't do that! Moggy isn't in a fit state to fight back, it wouldn't be fair!" Luffy protested when he heard the door slam, sure he was a Marine and Morgan was a pirate but nothing was gonna change the fact that the two still thought of each other as brothers.

"You can complain all you want, Luffy…But Hina is right." Smoker stated rather harshly as Tashigi went over to her fellow ensign to help him calm down.

"I know it doesn't sound fair, but the law is the law…We as Marines must capture pirates and make them see justice regardless of age, relation or belief." Tashigi added with a gentle tone, since the two had been training together since they were cadets; they shared a familiar bond that resembled that of Morgan and Zoro.

"Normally, I'd give you a punishment for talking back to a superior officer…But I know you hardly listen; so go take a walk." Smoker remarked with a sigh; "Go explore Arabasta, try the food or something because we won't be coming back here for a while so do what you need to do." 

——Back at the Palace——

"The Marines are coming?!" Vivi repeated in surprise as everyone began getting antsy at the prospect.

"But we didn't do anything! We fought Baroque Works and stopped Crocodile from destroying everything!" Usopp was the first to protest as he looked out the window and saw a more dense collection of Marines patrolling around.

"Crocodile was a Warlord, so it makes sense that the Marines will be coming to defend him after everything couldn't be proven…" Igaram would mention before breaking into a coughing fit.

"No way would he still be a Warlord and keep his government protection after everything!" Nami argued at this since it was admittedly hard to believe that he could still keep his perks after being caught with his pants down.

"That or the Marines are trying to save face." Morgan pointed out, "They can claim credit for what happened but anyone with half a brain and a witness could see that they had nothing going for them…So if they round up Baroque Works and the recently upgraded bounty on us…"

"Then they can pretend to be heroes by stopping the immediate threat…It does make more sense…" Zoro mentioned as he grabbed his swords; "So we fight our way through and get to the Merry!"

"Don't, I can't handle any more fighting in Arabasta…I can give you guys a map of the city; if you split up and meet at the pier, you could hold off on fighting and make it easier on yourselves." Vivi suggested as everyone ran to get their things but only Morgan stayed behind.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to come along with us? It's gonna be different without you around." Morgan would admit with a sad smile and noticed that Vivi was biting her lip in agitation.

"You know I can't…Even if I really…Really wanted to purely for you and for Nami." Vivi admitted as she gently rested her hand on his cheek; "But my place is here in Arabasta, we need to rebuild and to get things right."

Morgan nodded; "It was a long shot but…I'll keep the offer open in case you decided the fancy life is too much for you." He remarked jokingly and smiled that little bit more when he heard Vivi laughing.

"You know that my offer for you to stay here is open for you and the others too…And once I take on the role of Queen…I can announce our relationship." She added; "The Queen and her two consorts~"

Morgan leaned in and shared one last, long yet tender kiss with her before heading out to follow the others into the street.

Vivi watched from out of the window and then had an idea as she went to go find Karoo.

——Out in the Town Square——

"There they are!"

"The Straw Hats!"

"Don't let them escape!"

Morgan sprinted after the others and decided to follow up; "Alright, we have to split it up, take as many back roads as you can to lose them, we'll meet at Merry!" 

The others agreed as they split themselves off while fighting away the Marines in front of them while Morgan took his typical approach and went down the main road. 

Usopp went with Sanji and Nami.

Zoro went with Chopper.

But as Morgan rounded a corner and vaulted over a bazaar stand; he kicked into a Marine taking aim with a rifle.

"AWASE BAORI!" 

It took Morgan a split second to activate his Observation Haki and then saw a bunch of black bars shooting towards him like an encroaching net. With a last minute jump and a kick off of the wall, he avoided getting caught; "What the…These look like-Of course…Devil Fruit…"

"Impressive reflexes, Straw Hat…Hina's honestly surprised you managed to catch on." Hina remarked as she made herself known; "Then again…you are no mere Pirate, are you?"

"How about we dispense with the long winded pleasantries and you tell me what you want, Marine?" Morgan responded with a terse attitude as he kept a defensive stand; "Because I'm not really in a talking mood, right now…"

The pinkette smirked a little as she ; "Simple, Hina wishes to talk about your recent up in Bounty and how you'll be coming with me." She explained and then noticed how trapped she had him since behind him was collapsed wood and rubble.

"Look, Lady. I don't know who you are or where you get the idea that I'm going anywhere with you, but I'm getting out of here with my crew!" Morgan insisted as he kept his eye on her.

"It's a shame that you're more stubborn in person…But definitely more handsome than your poster, Hina would love to keep you caged up for the journey back to Marine HQ~" Hina remarked with a lick of her lips.

Morgan blinked; "Okay, this isn't the first time I had some weird lady with powers chasing me down but you take the cake…So I'm just gonna go ahead and le-WHOA!" he yelped out as he ducked under another salvo of bars.

"Too bad for you, because Iron Cage Hina gets what she wants…And for a man like you, I'm not letting go until you give up!" Hina smirked as she kept trying to catch him with her bars.

"Miss All-Sunday, Alvida, now this freaky lady?! Did I do something in a past life to make these people want to keep me, kill me or just bind me up?!" Morgan thought to himself as he tried to sprint past and saw her raising her arm up to catch him in a clothesline.

"No, you don't~" she sneered as she felt his arms reach up to block but let her fruit powers wrap around him and bind his arms to his chest like a giant ring around his chest.

Morgan growled as he tried to pull free while Hina sauntered closer to him; "Should've guessed that you weren't going to let us go when we know about how you messed up." Morgan snarked at her as the slender woman leaned down to meet his gaze with her's.

"Cute…But you are right, you might be seen as a hero to these people but Hina knows what you really are." She would smirk at him; "A pirate, you break the law when it pleases you…That's still breaking the law with or without your good reasons, so you can be sure to explain yourself to Vice Admiral Garp."

"I'd take any chance I can get to avoid doing this but since I have no other choice on it…I think you'll forgive me for doing this." Morgan admitted as in honesty, he'd rather not make this a regular occurrence.

"Do what exactly? Because the powers of Hina's Ori-Ori no Mi are stronger than any iron cell." Hina remarked however what happened next was a blur as she saw him push off his legs and ducked low to headbutt her in the ribs. Since he was too close to pick up enough speed; it didn't do much for damage but the sudden shock knocked her off guard and while that got her winded, she felt her legs fall out from under her and then a strong force pushed her into the ground, with everything going white soon after.

Morgan watched the unconscious Hina groan and decided to run when he had his opening; "A good fallback but I refuse to use it if I have a choice…I wanted to become a Pirate King without using Fruit Powers and I'm not stopping that now!" He thought to himself as he felt the iron ring fade away once he got far enough away.

——Later, at the Merry——

Everyone was scrambling for the ship as Morgan climbed on; "They got another Captain chasing, we better go, now!" Morgan yelled as they began scrambling to set sail, however there was someone else on the ship too.

"Then let me help you out!" Mr. 2 would say as they showed up with their body still beaten and covered in injuries from their fight with Sanji. "With my powers and my precious crew, we can distract the authorities long enough to get you guys out of here."

"You were part of Baroque Works, why exactly would you help us?" Morgan asked pointedly; "Especially since as a Main Officer, you'll get arrested or worse if you get caught." 

Mr. 2 grinned and gave off the most steadfast thumbs up they could; "Because we're friends remember? Your Cook friend could've easily killed me back in Alubarna…So one good turn follows another right? So just listen closely…"

Hina in the meanwhile had gathered up her forces and took to the sea to patrol for any escapees. "Straw Hat…You may have surprised Hina but you won't escape from Arabasta, not from Smoker and not from Hina!" She would grimace as she kept a watch out and then lifted up binoculars to see a ship sailing with Morgan and his crew cheering and waving at them.

"Hey Marines, You guys want a piece of us? So come get us!" Morgan yelled out to them as the other members seemed to enjoy taunting and goading the confused Marines as to why the now infamous Pirate Captain was challenging them so quickly…

Though Hina had her eyes on her prize; "Sail after them, make sure none of them escape!"

But on another part of the pier while Hina and her squad chased down "Morgan" and his crew, Vivi had rushed to the edge of the waterfront with a Den-Den Mushi in hand; "Everyone! Thank you for what you've done for me, there are no words or things that I could say or do to ever sum up how much I appreciate what you've done!" She waved frantically to the Merry that was sailing off, however there were no responses at all. "I truly will miss each of you and the times that I shared with you will be treasured for as long as I can remember them!"

—On the Merry—

"Stay strong everyone, we can't engage with her or say anything to her otherwise the Marines will take her in for questioning…" Nami said to the group as they grit their teeth; she knew that it was hard for all of them to just leave her there..And with the look on Morgan's face: He had the most objections to either stay behind or go back to get her and Nami was the same way but she understood why they couldn't.

With one final "Salute" by removing the bandages around their arms and showing off the X that was on their covered arms, they managed to sneak in a message that regardless of how far they were; nothing would change their bond.

However that resolve didn't last for long as once they reached the open sea, nearly everyone deflated at the sadness of leaving Vivi behind with the exception of Zoro who seemed to be the only one wanted to keep the focus. "Come on, you know this was going to happen and you even said that you expected it…"

"That's a cruel thing to say…Jerk…" Nami sighed as she felt herself deflate seeing as she cared for Vivi just as much as Morgan did when it came to the three's new relationship. 


"Ass-Head…" Sanji grimaced as he suffered just as much but he was equally as glad to dish out insults on Zoro.

"Seems like you have your hands full with this lot~" A familiar voice would say after Zoro tch'd at the continued groaning from everyone else.

"Yeah, you'd have thought tha-" Zoro would casually remarked but found himself trailing off when he saw who it was that was talking.

"Hopefully this won't be too much trouble on the way to our next destination~" The Former Miss All Sunday would chuckle as she turned to meet the others who quickly got on alert.

"YOU?!"

Usopp and Chopper began to rush around the ship trying to alert of an enemy attack, Sanji was practically melting into a love-struck puddle but the only ones who seemed to be taking it seriously were Zoro, Nami and Morgan.

"What are you doing here?!" Nami growled as she pulled out her Clima-Tact; she knew that until Usopp finished repairs on it, it was nothing more then a stick but she didn't care.

"Simple, I've got some business with your crew…Or more specifically…" She would practically ignore Zoro's glare and Nami's threats to move straight to Morgan who was by no means happy and then placed her finger against his chest. "With you~"

"I figured that I saw the last of you after we got above ground." Morgan said dryly as he lightly pushed her finger off of him; "You realise that we're not exactly the safest place to lounge at…."

"Oh, I know but when you said that you were open to talk…I figured that you owe me that much for what you did to me…" She mentioned as she sat on one of the nearby chairs that Nami used to read in.

"What he di-WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO TO THESE WOMEN, MORGAN?!" Sanji growled as Nami and Vivi were one thing but this new face already had him wrapped around her finger.

"He did nothing wrong…But you did ruin my death." The raven haired woman admitted with either a snark dry enough to drain the ocean or a grudge deeper than it. "I was ready to die back in that temple after Crocodile figuratively and literally stabbed me in the back."

"A lot of people got burned by him, you can't think you're the only one…Besides if I left you there then what would that make me?" Morgan pointed out as he crossed his arms, a look on his face that barely concealed his visible anger at her.

"Spoken like a true gentleman, my dear Captain…But I'm not here for some petty revenge or an attempt at redemption, I want something from you and I think you'll want this in return…So let me join your crew."

"YOU WHAT?!" The cumulative voice rang out with Usopp, Nami and Zoro sharing the same level of confusion while Sanji stayed over the moon.

"My name is Nico Robin and I can provide my help in any way I can; Translating texts, appraising lost treasure…Or if my captain is that kind of man~" Robin would smirk in a sultry way and undid the top button of her shirt to expose a small amount of cleavage. 

"Don't…" Morgan growled as he was finding her games rather annoying; "We beat up your old boss, ruined your plans and as you put: ruined your death…Why exactly would you want to join us?"

Robin sighed in a tone that almost sounded dissatisfied and re-buttoned up her shirt; "Call it curiosity and an interest in this gamble I made, I want to see where you plan on going next and what you want to do with your new powers." She said with a rather coy tone; "You let me come along and I can help you understand how to handle yourself with Devil Fruit powers." 

Morgan's brow wrinkled as he listened to her talk; "You can stay on the ship…But don't think it means that I trust you or forgive you anytime soon." He said and headed towards the door to the cabins.

"H-Hey Morg-SLAM!" Usopp tried to talk but found that the door slammed hard by the time the sniper got the nerve to speak up.

"I-Is he going to be okay?" Chopper asked anxiously as they felt a shiver from the cold anger coming off of Morgan.

"It's probably best just to leave him for now…I can talk to him later" Nami mentioned as she glanced to the door and then back to Robin; "That's if she doesn't stop teasing him…Whenever that'll be."

"I must admit that he does wear that angry look rather well." Robin would say casually as she enjoyed the light breeze; "Though I AM curious about what payoff that he'll have with his new abilities."

"Payoff?! You honestly think this is a game with what you did to him?!" Nami yelled as she understood the kind of impact this had on Morgan.

"Not really, but he does have them now whether he wants them to stay or not. Though I can provide some help when it is needed." Robin admitted as she looked to Nami. "If I hadn't given him that Fruit than he would've died."

"Speaking of…You talk about it like you know what Fruit he has." Zoro mentioned as he put the pieces together; "What exactly is it that he has now…"

Robin sat herself up and placed her stare at them all; "I think it's time that you all understand what exactly it is that your captain may have to deal with…So I will explain with what I know about it."