54 Leader Stuff

(Soran POV)

Jack was standing on the docks of Warship island with a small child practically glued to him, neither of them wanting to break the reunion. Ever since Jack had come into her life, Soran couldn't imagine not having the extremely overprotective man-child in it.

When Jack had taken off to the Grand Line, Soran was worried, but because of everything she knew about him, she knew he was coming back. She tried to keep a brave front because she didn't want to be a burden to him, but now that he was back, she couldn't let him go, fearing that he would leave again.

*Sniff*… "Are you crying?" Soran asked, her head still berried in Jack's shoulder. "No." Came a deadpanned voice. "I missed you too." Soran said, not hiding the fact that she was crying, unlike the man-child.

"It's good to see you, Jack!" They were finally brought out of their reunion when Makino walked over and greeted Jack. "What about us?!!" Luke shouted, sounding hurt, but the smile on his face said otherwise. Lifting her head, Soran saw the rest of the guild, every one of them smiling happily at her.

It wasn't until a little dark figure jumped up onto Jack's back and was staring at her from only a few inches away did she finally notice there were more people than she remembered. Looking at the little figure, Soran recognized it as a cat-looking thing, which was undoubtedly feminine.

"OH MY GOD!! YOU'RE SO ADORABLE!!" Soran shouted, unwrapping her arms from around Jack's neck and locking them around Selene's like a vice. "HEY!! LET GO!!" Selene shouted, not liking how she didn't even have a chance to react before she was trapped. "I'm sorry!" Soran shouted, letting go of Selene, still smiling like a lunatic.

Shooting her eyes to the new people, Soran saw an old woman, a tall lady with long black hair, an adorable little reindeer, and two furry monsters, one looking like a bear and the other a wolf. Wiggling herself free from Jack's embrace, Soran ran over to the little reindeer thing, and without any warning, she grabbed it.

"You're so cute!!" Soran shouted, then pulled the deer so it was at arms length. "My name is Soran. What's yours?!!" Soran asked, an ear to ear smile on her face. "Chopper. Saying nice things won't work on me!" Chopper shouted, but if his own ear to ear smile was anything to go by, flattery totally worked.

"Do you wanna be friends?!!" Soran asked, somehow making her eyes turn as wide as dinner plates, making so only a heartless monster could refuse. Chopper accepted immediately, then Soran went to Selene and asked the same question, although Selene used Luke as a human shield, not letting the grabby little lesser-mink get anywhere near her, but she did accept the request of friendship.

When Soran approached Robin, she didn't get the chance to speak before Robin snatched her off the ground and gave her a hug. "I'm Robin." Soran returned the hug, then Robin put her back on the ground. Walking over to the two furry people, Soran turned her gaze back over to Selene, who was still on Luke's shoulder, then back to the two big beasties.

"I'm Soran. What's your names?" Soran asked, curiosity plain in her gaze. "I'm Tedi, this is Lucian. And in case you didn't already know, we're from the Mink race. So is Selene." Tedi said, gesturing to himself, then Lucian, then over to Selene. "Minks? I've heard Jack tell stories of animal people, but I didn't know you were called Minks." Soran said, getting smiles from the two minks. They both loved to talk about their fellow tribesman, and one day dreamed about going back to Zou and seeing their families again.

Walking over to the old woman, Soran looked her in the eyes, then looked over to Jack. Although they had contacted each other a few times since he left, Jack never mentioned anything about new crew members, so she was a little puzzled, especially when she looked at the old fossil with a professional athletes body.

"Who are you?" Soran asked, not feeling the need to introduce herself again, when this old lady had already heard it a few times. "I'm Kureha, the doctor." Kureha answered, giving Soran a friendly smile, but just that. Apparently she was nicer to kids than she was adults.

After finally introducing herself to everyone, Soran went and gave the original five each a big hug. "I'm so proud of you!!" Nami said as she squeezed Soran tight, proud of her little sister. When Makino asked what they were talking about, Soran quickly said it was about dealing with the dragon, as everything had went smoothly after the whole, Eric fiasco. The island had risen, everyone got to see all of the dragons, then the island sank back into the sea.

(A.N. I meant it when I said I didn't wanna write about that shit, so if I didn't get the timeline and everything on it correctly, then you can just keep it to yourself.)

Soran ran off to the edge of the docks and grabbed another little girl, this one looking maybe a year or two older than her, then dragged her over towards Jack. "This is Apis!! We have successfully completed our mission!" Soran shouted triumphantly, a fist over her heart.

Putting on a formal demeanor, Jack stood straight, a fist over his own heart as he looked down at Soran. "You have done a fine job!! As a reward, I will personally grant you any wish you desire, within reason!" Jack said, quickly adding the "Within Reason" bit after he realized who he was talking to. He had almost forgot that Soran was influenced by not just him, but Nami, Makino, probably Tsuru, and Luke.

Soran had a side that if any one saw it, they would think they had just met an angel, which was entirely from Makino. However she had a devious side to her, one that made the Devil himself seem like an armature in comparison, no doubt from Nami, but amplified by 100. She was a sweet kid, but his and Luke's influence wasn't exactly hero-like. Jack could only pray that she learned more from Makino, and maybe a little bit from Tsuru.

After hearing what her reward would be, Soran was almost jumping from excitement. 'If it's him offering, there's no doubt it can be almost ANYTHING!' Soran thought with glee, then turned and gripped Apis by the arm. "You're coming with me, then we are gonna get something awesome!!" Soran said, leaving no room for discussion from the older girl.

"B-but my Grandpa!" Apis said, trying to let Soran know that she wouldn't leave the old man. "*Scoff* Just bring him too!! It's not like there's anything for him to do here anyway." Soran said, making it sound like it was the simplest thing in the world. "B-but-" Apis stuttered, but before she could say anything else, Makino came to her rescue.

"Now, Soran. This is her home, and you can't force her to leave. How would you feel if she said you had to live here instead of back in Foosha?" Makino said, making Soran feel a little bit bad about the way she was acting. "I'm sorry, Apis. It's just, you're my best friend and I don't want to leave you." Soran said, then hugged Apis closely.

"I'll think about it, okay?" Apis said, patting Soran on the back. "Okay, but you at least have to come and stay a little while in Foosha." Soran said, getting a laugh from Apis. "Alright." Apis agreed, smiling at the little deviant she had gotten close to recently.

(General POV)

"So this is Apis... You're a little shorter than I thought." Jack said, getting an annoyed look from Apis. "Don't be rude!!" Soran reprimanded, getting a laugh from everyone present. It was at this time that everyone from the other ships had started to disembark, finally getting a taste of land after a week of being on flying ships.

Warship Island was by no account a large island, and the town even smaller. With the influx of thousands of people, the island was busier than it had ever been in it's history. "I don't think the village can handle a spike in population like this." Robin commented as she watched the island fill up with people.

Looking around, Jack realized that it could be a problem, but he figured if there was a problem he could deal with it later. They all agreed to stay the night, but that they would be leaving tomorrow at sunrise, which was enough time for the people to get their bearings, then get back to flying.

Jack walked around, greeting people with warm smiles and passed around some toys to the many children who were once slaves, hoping to maybe rekindle their will and allow them to do something with their lives. Most of the children didn't have proper families, but the older slaves were more than happy to adopt the younger children, treating them as if they were part of their own families.

As Jack mingled with everyone, he noticed something. Everyone was sticking close to their own races. Mink's were together, Fishmen and merfolk were together, and the other weird tribes were all bulked together. The only ones who looked as though they were even trying to mingle with other races were the giants, but with how huge they were, they just came across as terrifying.

Luckily for them, there were only 4 of the hulking beings, which was already a surprise to Jack. If the books were to be believed, then the other giants would have gone to war with the Dragon's long ago if they knew their brethren were being held as slaves. Picturing a fight between thousands of giants who could crush armies with the swing of their swords vs humans, most of which were not warriors, was quite laughable. But as long as the news never got to Elbaf, home of the giants, then I guess the government thought it would be okay.

Knowing how their might not be the best of trust between the races, Jack didn't push it for now, but he hoped that everyone would get more comfortable around each other. He greeted the Giants, laughed with them, and then promised to have a drink with them when they finally got to Foosha, causing them to actually start cheering.

The Mink's were as friendly as ever towards him, and when he introduced Soran to them, they got along just as well as they did with Luke, shocking Jack once again. Luke really did connect to anything with fur almost instantly, making Jack wonder if the man had an innate ability of some sort.

The fish-men and mer-folk were still wary of Jack, not acting hostile in anyway, but not showing any sign of trust whatsoever. Jack could see where they were coming from, them having been raised to hate and fear humans since birth, then being enslaved by them and tortured for entertainment.

"Hello!" Soran greeted a small mermaid with purple hair that was hiding behind a fish-man that looked like an octopus or squid-type, having multiple arms. At her greeting, the little mermaid peeked her head from behind the towering fish-man's leg, waved at Soran, then shot back for cover. "They're all scared of you." A voice said, causing Jack to turn his attention away from the little mermaid.

Looking at the speaker, Jack saw someone who looked human, but had gills on his neck. 'Half human?' Jack thought. It wasn't uncommon for races to mix, but for a human and fish-man, there might only be a few hundred in the entire world.

The hybrid fish-man was a good 3 feet taller than Jack, a little on the thin side, but that was most likely from lack of food. He had short orange hair, which for most fish-men would have looked out of place, but with his almost human looking skin it seemed pretty normal. He had pointed teeth, making Jack a little curious about which sort of variant he was crossed with, but decided not to ask.

"My name's Jack. What's yours?" Jack asked the newcomer. The fish-man looked angry at the question, but after a moment he sighed before answering "My name is Half Fish. At least that's what the dragon's called me." It was understandable now why he didn't like his name. "Well now that you are your own person, how about we give you a proper name?" Jack asked, getting a thoughtful expression from the Half fish.

"I never really thought about giving myself a new name before... it's gotta be good." The guy muttered, looking like he was thinking really hard. "How about Nemo?" Jack chimed in, halting the thought process. "Nemo...? It sounds not too bad. Yeah. From now on, my name is Nemo!" Nemo shouted, looking about a thousand times happier than he was a moment ago. 'He sure changed tunes in a hurry.' Jack thought internally, while on the outside he was showing a smile, happy for the hybrid.

"Why would they be scared of us, Nemo?" Soran chimed in, breaking Nemo's happy moment. Looking down at Soran, who was standing beside Jack, holding his hand, Nemo let out another sigh. "You are human. That by itself would have been enough to bring hate or some other crap, I'm not exactly sure, but I know that back in Fishman Island it is being taught that humans are vile weak creatures who seek to dominance of the world, or so I'm told. Never actually been there before.

Anyway, back to topic. Jack not only destroyed everything we knew, but what the whole world knew to be possible by saving us and destroying that vile city. Fisher Tiger once climbed the Red Line and freed many slaves, but he never went near a dragon, and even though he burned down some of the city, it was just the slave district. I watched him from my cage, but he was beat back before he could get to most of us. Jack terrifies all of them because to them, he could be another monster in human skin." Nemo finished his explanation by walking over to the little purple-haired mermaid and crouching down beside her.

"It's okay. He will not hurt us." Nemo said softly, getting the scared little mermaid to poke her head out from behind her cover. "Promise?" She asked in a whisper. Nemo looked over to Jack and stared at him in the eyes for a moment before looking back to the little mermaid and answered, "Promise!"

Nemo's words must have had some power behind them, because after he said that, it wasn't just the little purple-haired girl to come out of cover, but multiple little heads popped out from behind objects. "H-hello." A few of the little mer-folk and fishmen said, still keeping their distances, but now they weren't hiding.

Jack watched as Soran went around and greeted a few of the people, and snatched a few hugs from the little mermaids who she thought were just adorable. "Are they coming back with us too?!!" Soran asked excitedly. Smiling at the adventurous little girl, Jack answered "Of course. They were hurt deeply, and now it's our job to help them get stronger so they can go back to their homes and be safe." Soran's eyes were glittering, reminding Jack of how it looked when Nami found treasure. 'Maybe with friends, she'll stop becoming Nami-2.0.' Jack thought hopefully.

Jack was brought out of his musings when Nemo asked, "Why do all of this? What do you get by helping us?" Nemo wasn't the only one who wanted to know the answer, because as soon as he asked the question the area went almost dead quiet, and people from the other races were leaning in to hear the answer for themselves.

"*Sigh* I'm not a hero or anything, but I hate slavery and anything to do with it. My dream in life is to travel and see the world, experience everything this world has to offer and have fun. However I can't enjoy myself when I know about all the corruption. I know what it's like to lose a family, and I know how a child will grow up if they are abused and hated. I just don't want anyone else to experience that. So, to answer your question. The reason I do what I do, is so people don't grow up to be dead inside and wish for the world to burn, and so I can actually have fun."

Nemo was actually taken aback by Jack's answer. Never would he have guessed that the extremely powerful being who saved them, was actually someone he could relate with. "Let's both have fun!!" Soran said as she wrapped her tiny arms around Jack's waste. "Hopefully by the time you're old enough to go to the Grand Line, I'll have settled the major problems so we can have fun." Jack said as he answered the hug in kind.

Not wanting to stick around any further, Jack started walking back to the ship with Soran, passing out food as he went along his way. By the time he got back to the Pearl, Jack saw Tsuru and Gion as well as a familiar woman that was wrapped in bandages.

"Stella, how are you feeling?" Jack said as he walked over to them. "I'm doing better. Should only be a few more days before I'm walking around by myself and back to training." Stella replied, giving Jack a warm smile. "I'm glad to hear that. I actually wanted to find you and thank you for what you did." Jack said, getting a nod from Stella.

He really did feel indebted to her, as not just anyone would use their own body as a shield to protect others, and the one she had protected was Soran. "You know, we're heading back to Foosha tomorrow, and I'm gonna be starting some training soon. If you want, you could come back there and join the training." Jack said, getting a smile from Stella. "I won't decline the invitation, but I will need to recover and think about it." Stella said, getting a nod from Jack.

"That's fair. Oh Tsuru, there is gonna be a discussion there with all of the members in about a week or two. You could come with us tomorrow or you can just join the video call like most of the others." Jack said, getting a raised brow from Tsuru. "What about?" She asked curiously. "A police force to keep the world safe. I'll go more depth about it during the meeting, but it will basically be about another force to keep the guilds and civilians and the like in check." Jack answered, getting a nod from Tsuru.

"We're done here, and Loguetown actually seems to be prospering so they don't need us. Whatever Smoker did to the marines when he was there must have been something else." Tsuru said, getting a look of confusion from Jack. "Every marine that use to work there under Smoker, resigned from the marines and made their own strike force against criminals. I was actually quite impressed with them, so I told them about Foosha and the guilds, sending a few of them there to get training. They created a few groups, and will go when the other groups return." Tsuru answered Jack's un-asked question.

"I knew they weren't morons!" Smoker chimed in, appearing out of nowhere. "I guess you'll get to help train them up again." Jack said, getting Smoker to smile. "I wouldn't mind that at all." Smoker said, getting a sadistic smile of his own. "What is wrong with you?! Do you have to turn everyone in your group into bullies?!!" Gion shouted at Jack, sounding as though he had just killed her cat. Shrugging his shoulders, Jack picked up Soran and then jumped up onto the Pearl.

"Makino should be around here somewhere, so you two can take Nojiko's old room." Jack said, leading Soran to where she would be staying. "What do you mean, 'old room'? Where does she live?" Soran asked innocently. "She lives in my room with me." Jack answered, not thinking much of it. "Pervert!" Soran shouted, sounding shocked.

Looking down at her, Jack could see Soran smiling from ear to ear. "Stop listening to Nami!" Jack said, rolling his eyes at Soran's attitude. As they walked down the halls, Soran asked, "So should I be expecting a little niece or nephew anytime soon?" At her question, Jack froze. "Soran... Who told you about that stuff?" Jack asked, sounding way to calm in Soran's opinion. "W-well, ummm… I read about it! Yeah! I read it from a book I found!" Soran quickly answered, realizing she said something she shouldn't have.

Not buying it, Jack stared at her for a few more seconds, causing her to fidget. The silence lasted a few more minutes before Jack sighed. "No thinking about guys until your 20, and they have to go through me for approval. Deal?" Jack said as he held out a pinky finger to Soran. Her not being quite as knowledgeable as she should, being only about 10 years old, agreed to it. "Deal." Soran said, not really seeing what all the hype was about anyway. She didn't find guys attractive, she just knew some stuff that Nami taught her, and how 99.9% of men had women in the brain.

The night passed by quick enough, and when the sun rose in the sky Jack walked outside onto the deck and took a big breath of fresh air. He gave the call to Dragon to start rounding everybody back up and to make sure they didn't leave anyone, then he went back inside to prepare breakfast. He had just finished creating some fruit trays when Tsuru and Gion walked through the door.

"Good morning, ladies!" Jack said as he placed the fruit on the table. "Good morning. Where's everybody else?" Gion asked as she took a seat. "Tashigi and Smoker are training, Nami and Nojiko are doing... something, Kureha and Chopper are in the lab, Ted and Lucian are still sleeping, Robin's in the library, Luke is visiting an acquaintance somewhere in the Grand Line, and Makino, Soran, Selene and Apis are most likely still in the music room. They were in there most of the night and were awake before I was so they could go down there." Jack said before he started flipping some pancakes.

"Luke went all the way back to the Grand Line last night? To see who?" Gion asked in surprise. To her, Luke was a monster who would get great joy out killing a baby kitten, so traveling all that way to see someone, they must be important. "He didn't say, but it was most likely a girl. He said something about gothic chicks being freaky in the sack, then shot off with an eternal pose to somewhere. I guess he was feeling-"

Jack was cut-off when Tsuru shouted, "Please Stop! Too much information!" Looking over to them, Jack saw that Tsuru looked annoyed while Gion actually looked embarrassed. 'What the fuck is wrong with these people.' Jack thought, thinking back to how in anime's then people would get embarrassed over the tiniest detail. "She asked..." Jack mumbled, then started mixing some whipped cream.

No one said a word as Jack cooked, then 3 little girls ran into the room holding a small shell that was playing music. "Can we have these?!!" Soran asked, holding up and armful of dials, while Apis and Selene each had an armful of their own. "What did I say? Leave them in the music room! You three are as bad as the others!" Jack said, causing all three of them to start pouting at him.

"*Sigh* You can each have 1. Now go wash up and get ready for breakfast." Jack said defeated. He was no match for six water eyes that opened to a degree that just shouldn't be possible. "What about 3 each, and we do the dishes until we get back to Foosha?!" Soran said, hoping to barter for more. "How about 2 each, and you clean the bathrooms?" Jack countered. "For all the bathrooms, it's gonna require 5 each." Soran said, sounding quite serious.

"To hire a professional cleaner would cost me around five to ten thousand berries a day. Just the dial alone for those are over a million berries, and the songs are even more. So giving out 6 of them to get 9 bathrooms cleaned was already extremely generous on my part, and now you want to charge me 15? You need to learn the value of what you're trying to get before you try to raise the stakes." Jack said, his business persona kicking in.

"I can pay you for them!" Soran said, a little excited, only to be brought down immediately. "Cash now, or no deal. If you try and take them now, their will be a 50% interest rate every week that the money isn't here. Do you still wanna try and buy them?" Jack asked, barring his teeth to the three little girls. "2 dials to clean the bathrooms sounds good to me..." Soran said, knowing that she wouldn't have her money here for some time.

"Hahaha!! You actually tried getting something from him?!!" Luke roared with laughter from the door. "What's so funny?" Soran asked in confusion. "Look, Nami is good at getting stuff, probably one of the best there are out there, but she has never been able to win a deal from Jack." Luke said, getting a look of shock from Soran. "Don't look so surprised!! I'm just awesome!!" Jack said, feigning a hurtful look on his face.

Soran and the other two little girls ran back to the music room to put the dials back, while claiming their two each, before they came back to breakfast. While they were gone, Jack asked "So how was the mentally unstable goth?" A smile appeared on Luke's face at the question.

"Well, after sending her to Kuraigana Island, she seemed to mellow out. She's staying in this massive abandoned castle, and she likes how she can walk around and see the depressing atmosphere. I just took a picnic, and we had some fun before she told me to go away and that she would call me if she ever wanted to see me again. Great set-up!" Luke said happily, the memory still fresh in his mind.

"I told you she'd like it there. Now give me my Eternal Pose back." Jack said as he held out his hand. "Can't you just buy a new one?! I'll pay you back for this one!" Luke said as he held the Eternal Pose. "Do I look like a store to you people?!! If you want stuff then go buy it yourself!!" Jack shouted as he grabbed the Eternal Pose from Luke. "Honestly, my stuff is mine!!" Jack added as he made the Eternal pose disappear.

Suddenly arms wrapped around him from behind. "You're mine, so everything you own is mine." Nojiko said before she gave him a hug then went to sit at the table. "Does guild master really mean so little?" Jack mumbled to himself as he pilled up a tray full of pancakes and put them on the table.

Everyone was eating when the door opened and Dragon walked in. "Hey Jack. Look at this." Dragon said as he handed Jack a stack of papers. Looking at it, Jack started laughing. It was a Newspaper, and the front page was all about how the marines were amassing a large force and doing a recruitment drive. Also it said that 20 new Vice-Admirals were chosen directly from Cipher Pol training HQ.

(A.N. No idea where that is, but just roll with it.)

The paper also went onto say that The Shadow Wraith (AKA Jack) was on the run back to East Blue, while a fleet of marines were on their way to wait for him should he ever try to leave East Blue. It also went on to say that the marines were stronger than ever under the new leadership of Fleet-Admiral Akainu, and that the vacant Admiral position was filled. It never gave a description of the new Admiral, but it did go on to say that he is one of the strongest Admirals to ever hold the title.

"What a joke!! The only reason the the new Vice-Admirals came from Cipher Pol is because no other people wanted the job. As for the Admiral, it shouldn't be who I'm thinking of, but if it is then we got somewhat of a threat on our hands." Jack said as he continued reading. Apparently the bounties that were put out on the marines were to be ignored, but Jack had other plans.

Going into his store, he purchased a list of the new Vice-Admirals, as well as pictures. He tried to find the new Admiral, but it wasn't there. 'Either they're bluffing about filling the position, or it's never been written down yet.' Jack thought, knowing he couldn't buy memories, but he could buy info.

He increased the bounties of all the Vice-Admirals to $750 million, Admirals to $2 billion, and Akainu to $3 billion. He also purchased a few more Devil Fruits, getting a few Logia Fruits. He was going to train his people, build up their strength, give them power beyond anything the marines could handle, then he would wipe them off the face of the world. To do all of this, he needed more than just himself to train everyone, thus he decided to get a few people on board with him when he got back to Foosha.

After everyone finished breakfast, Jack went outside to make sure that all the ships were loaded up, then Luke zapped around the island to make sure there was no one off on their own. Finding everything good to go, they set out to Foosha.

In no time at all they reached Foosha, and everyone started to get settled in. With the help of Nojiko, Jack created a rock barrier around most of the island. There were entrances for Ships to pass through, but it would be hard for the marines or anyone to get a large fleet to attack. The merfolk and Fish-men were also given homes right beside the water, and Jack designed the area in a way that it would be similar to how fish-man island looked, or at least what he could remember.

Many homes were created, and with the influx of people, the once small town was almost a thriving city. Jack purchased an Amusement park, but until he got trained workers who knew how to operate the damn thing and make sure everything was safe, no one was using it.

From all of the people Jack brought back, around 4000 of them wanted to join the WMP (A.N. It was pointed out it was stupid with TWMP, and it was true. Suck it up.) and almost 1500 of them wanted to join the Adventure's Association. Most of the people just wanted to live freely in peace, but they all understood how if they were weak then it could be taken from them again.

Jack was letting everyone get a bit healthier before he would start the physical training, but their learning started right away. There were many schools created, and anyone who could teach something worth a damn was hired and courses were set-up.

Things were going well for Foosha, and it would only get better once the Trainers arrived. Jack wrote down a list of people he wanted, and after inspecting it he let out a low whistle. 'If even a third of them agree to come, I wouldn't even need to train people.' Jack thought with a smirk.

"Let's see, most likely to say no would be.... Zephyr."