Preparation!!

"THE ADVENTURER'S EXECUTION!"

Reading the headline over and over, Jack got more and more angry. "It seems some people are a little too impatient to die!!" Jack ground out through gritted teeth.

Turning to Luke who sat on the other side of the table, Jack said, "Get to Alabasta as fast as you can. Check up on the people there and take into account the losses and make sure no one is in need of medical attention. Also..."

Jack paused for a moment as he thought over his next few words, arguably the words which could give way to chaos. "Kill any marine on sight!" He finally voiced, making the decision in anger after he looked down at the picture of one of his friends beaten and bloody.

There was no doubt in his mind this picture was to make him angry, but the fools made one key error. It worked and now he was going to go on a war path!!

The atmosphere in the room darkened for a moment at those words, everyone knowing Luke would seek out the marines without a second thought now. Sure he would still kill marines without Jack's consent anyway, but he did try to leave some of them alive. Now though... that didn't seem to be an option anymore.

"What are you going to be doing?" Luke asked curiously as he got to his feet.

"The paper says the execution is in three days, but I don't buy that for even a minute, so we don't have a hell of a lot of time. I'm gonna make a few calls and get some preparations in order. We leave in a few hours!" Jack answered darkly as he marched outside.

His destination was the Pearl, and his goal was to make a few calls that could change the very outcome of the battle to come.

Getting into his room, he pulled out his Transponder Snail and began making a few calls. First, he called all of the members of the original 42 Adventurer's who weren't here in Foosha. They had been with Stain from the very beginning, from when he was a slave, to when they all began training together.

Jack had no doubt every one of them would come, and they didn't disappoint. A few of them were already on their way after having read the paper, much to Jack's delight. He knew he could count on all of them, and they didn't let his trust be in vain.

Next he called Whitebeard. "What's up, Brat? You need some help?" Whitebeard asked, sounding like he was itching for a fight. Obviously having read the paper, he knew for certain a fight of epic proportions was on the horizon.

So thinking he was going to be invited to a good showdown, it was understandable when you could almost hear the disappointment in his voice when Jack replied, "No! I need you to keep Shank's away from Marine HQ!!"

Jack could hear Whitebeard grumble something inaudible before he spoke up, "What makes you think that Red-head will even go to Marineford? And why do you not want him there?"

Whitebeard's question was a good one, and understandable as well.

"We both know Shanks is a pacifist! He knows that if the marines lose or get weakened during this battle, it will cause chaos all over the world. He will show up to try and mitigate the damage, but if he does..."

Jack paused for a second before he continued, "I'LL KILL HIM!!"

Jack had no intention to let the marines go with a slap to the face, he was going to cripple them, and if Shanks tried to ruin that, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Granted he didn't want to fight Shanks, let alone everyone associated with him, but he would if he had too.

Whitebeard was silent for a long moment, and if not for the Transponder Snail still showing him on the other end, Jack would have thought the man had disconnected the call.

"I'll keep him from interfering." Whitebeard finally answered, getting a "Thanks!" from Jack before he ended the call.

Jack made a few more calls to a few people in East Blue, but they weren't to any big names, save for Dragon. He had only called to tell him to keep on the lookout in case this who thing was to lure him away from East Blue to attack or something.

Dragon agreed, plus he probably wouldn't have went anyway. It was too soon for the Revolutionaries or W.M.P. to act outside or the East and North Blue's just yet. Although their hold in the two sea's was almost concrete, and even if the marines tried to take them back, it was almost doomed to fail, it just wasn't the time to move.

Garp, Sengoku, and even Tsuru were all staying in the East Blue, although that was more Jack's decision than theirs. He had told them if they came with him, they would have to pick a side, and no matter which one they picked, they would be fighting friends. It was easier for everyone if they stayed where they were.

Mihawk was a wild card for Jack, thus he was unsure how to proceed with him. On one hand the man was a monster who could turn the tide of battle, but on the other, he had a connection with Shanks, and he was a Warlord.

Granted the Warlord status didn't really mean anything to him, but his friendship with Shanks was deep, and if there was a confrontation, he would most likely side with Shanks. After a long internal debate, Jack figured he may as well leave Mihawk here.

Finally, Jack went into the shop and bought a few special gifts for his friends, as well as a few surprises for the marines. 'This should even the odds a bit!' Jack thought darkly, his lips curving into a cruel smile.

He was brought out of his little moment when his door opened and Nojiko walked inside. "You're coming." Jack said, hoping to stop whatever argument she might start.

"IF YOU THINK FOR ONE SEC-" Nojiko's words stopped as soon as they began, her mind blanking for a moment.

Staring at Jack with a quirked eyebrow she asked, "What did you say?" She asked, not sure if she heard him correctly. "I said, you're coming with us." Jack answered as he walked up to her and pulled her into his embrace.

"Your strength and care for our friends is second to none, and to have you with me will change everything. Plus with you by my side, I'll know you're okay instead of constantly worrying about you." Jack added as he stared into her eyes.

Smirking back at him, Nojiko asked, "And what if something should happen to you? Do you really think I can get away from the marines?"

It was a real concern for both of them, but the way she phrased it, it didn't sound like she was too worried. After all, if Jack was bringing her, he had someway of making sure she at least was able to get away if things turned for the worst.

"The only one who could catch you if you tried to run would be Kizaru, and I have every intention of dealing with him first." Jack answered back, then gave her a long deep kiss. When the kiss finally broke, his right hand went down to her baby-bump and he caressed it softly.

"I'll make sure they don't get anywhere near you." He said as his eyes locked back onto hers. Smirking, he added, "I think they'll be to busy dealing with your new toys to come after you anyway."

Nojiko tried to think of what Jack was talking about, but was getting nothing. Finally she asked, "What new toys?"

Jack's smirk turned downright evil as he pulled Nojiko out of the room and outside onto the deck of the ship. "This will just take a few minutes." Jack said as he jumped back onto the ground.

What followed was a giant ball of iron appearing, almost identical to Garp's Ball and Chain. Nojiko watched as Jack melted the chain off the ball of iron, then re-shaped the chain links into spikes before he fused them to the ball.

After 15 minutes the once Ball and Chain was now just a Spike Ball of death. "Raise it into the air." Jack asked with a smile, prompting Nojiko to do just that.

Once the ball was a good 20 feet of the ground, Jack said, "Okay, now make it spin as fast as you can while moving it around." Seeing where he was going with this, Nojiko smiled wickedly before trying it out.

With this, she could mow over groups of people, buildings and even ships with ease, the spikes adding an increase in the damage.

"Now image having over a dozen of those under your control." Jack said, making Nojiko stop the ball instantly.

"I'll be a one woman army!" She exclaimed as she flew into his arms, her lips zeroing in onto his like Luffy's does with food.

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(Luke POV)

Luke got to Alabasta within a few minutes of leaving, heading straight to the Adventurer's Association building.

With his Haki he couldn't find anyone inside, and after scouring the place, all he found was a few corpses who were either frozen to death or charred.

He could only tell the piles of melted stuff were once people because he could make out what looked to be a hand or in one of them a skull. When he got to Stain's office, he could see the signs of a clash, but wasn't quite sure to make of it.

He knew Stain put up a fight, but couldn't make out the damage he caused. Around the building there were areas that looked as though a bomb went off, but any mess that was made had been cleaned up by this point by the city.

Noticing a large gathering at the docks, he made his way there. Upon arriving he saw the wreckage of a marine ship and people still trying to clean it out of the water.

'He at least got a ship.' Luke thought mentally. He was proud of his friend, but was mad at himself for not being here.

Going back to Stain's office, Luke looked around for a symbol of sorts. It wasn't known to anyone outside the association, not even Dragon, but Jack marked the escape tunnels so any member could get away if they were being chased.

Sure enough, on the wall opposite Stain's desk Luke found the small symbol of a Sun with wings. Walking over to it, Luke pushed each wing at the same time before the ground beneath him disappeared and he dropped onto a slide.

He noticed how the trap-door he fell through instantly closed after he was through, and wondered how Jack thought of all this.

The slide lead him down below the building to a small reinforced tunnel that would allow two people to walk side by side down it. The tunnel was nice, but it had nothing on the one in Foosha.

Done with critiquing the tunnel, he made his way at a pretty good speed, arriving at a room filled with lots of staircases. This was something the tunnel in Foosha didn't have, but he knew what to do.

He had been drunk when Jack and Stain were talking about it, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. That was actually when he was most attentive.

On the ceiling there was rock formation, and to literally anyone it would seem like it was normal, but really it was pointing to a specific stairway. Running up that one, Luke found himself inside a large empty building.

"Just great!! No one's here!" He shouted in annoyance.

Not deterred, he spread out his Haki hoping to find something. To his joy, he did manage to find three people who seemed to be watching the building he was in at a good distance away. If it was anyone else they would have been fine, but Luke's range on Haki was second to none.

Appearing on the roof behind them, he spoke, "Who are you and why are you looking at that building?"

Two of the three men froze up, but the third man recognized Luke immediately. "Luke Strauss!! You're Guild Master Stain's friend!!" The man whisper shouted to Luke, a massive relieved smile on his face.

"I am. Can you tell me what happened?" Luke asked, his face relaxing a bit. At a closer look, he did recognize this guy. He didn't know his name, but he did see him when he and Stain dueled.

"My name is Isaac, and we're here to see if any more of us come out of the building or if the marines do. As for what happened, well the marines attacked us a few days ago while we were all sleeping. The marines got to the Guild Master, but he sounded the alarms before they could do too much damage. I remember waking up in a panic, and if it wasn't for my bunkmate I wouldn't have known what to do. Anyway, miss Jenifer told us how Akainu and Aokiji attacked Stain together, and from what she told us, the entire building was surrounded. Stain took all of them out, then lead them to the docks where they eventually got him, but not before blowing up one of their ships." The man, now known as Isaac said, briefly describing the events.

As soon as Luke heard who it was who attacked, he knew why Stain signaled the retreat before the fight even began. Had these people tried to help, they most likely would have gotten themselves killed for nothing.

"Why didn't you all notify us?" Luke asked, waiting to hear their answer before he started yelling. Sure he could understand the retreat, but to not call for help? That was just stupid!

"We left in a hurry without bringing anything with us. No Transponder Snails, and even if we did get a hold of one, only Stain knew how to contact you. The rest of the numbers to the Branch in East Blue are on file in the Guild Building, but none of us are allowed back there just yet." Isaac answered, causing Luke to let out a deep breath.

"Alright. Where is everyone else?" Luke asked, already tired of being here. These guys were trained pretty good, but they had little to no combat experience, so he couldn't really be mad. Plus he wasn't here either, so there was that.

Almost 45 minutes later and Luke arrived at a building that looked no different from the buildings around it. Walking up to the large door, a small sliding window opened up, showing a pair of narrowed eyes.

The eyes didn't say anything, just staring at what Luke figured was menacing, but to him it didn't look all that scary. Isaac leaned in close to the window and whispered something, prompting the window to be slammed shut and the door to fly open.

Inside, Luke was lead through a few hallways and eventually to a conference room of sorts. Without waiting for introductions, Luke pushed the double doors open and marched on inside. There were 6 people seated around the table, and upon Luke's entrance all of them shot to their feet, looking rather angry.

Before anyone had the chance to voice their annoyance, lightning began arcing around Luke, silencing any words the people might have wanted to say.

Luke was infamous around the world, and a well known member of the Association, as was the fact he possessed the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, giving him complete dominance over lightning.

Seeing their recognition, Luke looked to two people in specific. One was Koza, who was basically Stain's apprentice. The other was Jenifer, Stain's assistant and arguably the one who was closest to Stain.

"I've heard a version of how things went down around here, now I want your version." Luke said, taking a seat at the table, not bothering to explain what was going on.

Everyone told their own version of that night, and they all matched up from what Luke could figure. Finally it was Jenifer's turn to talk, but she remained quiet. Luke didn't really care about another story, he basically knew what happened, so he started to get to his feet.

As he did though, Jenifer abruptly stood as well and asked, "You're getting him back, right?!!" She had a hint of desperation in her voice, and her eyes looked like they would open the flood gates any second, as well as something that made Stain groan internally.

'Oh Fuck...' Luke thought as he gazed at her. He knew from that look she would probably do anything to get Stain back.

"Of course!! No one messes with us and gets away with it!!" Luke answered, having a bit of an idea of what she would say next. If this was before he had met Viola, he might still be ignorant, but from his own experience, he knew if anything happened to her he would go against the entire world if he had too.

'What did Jack call it...? A Yandere?' Luke thought, unsure if he was remembering correctly.

"Take me with you!!" Jenifer practically shouted, breaking Luke out of his thoughts. The floodgates had officially opened, and the woman was kneeling on the ground while she struggled to hold herself up against the table.

"PLEASE!! I NEED HIM!!" She desperately pleaded, making Luke let out a groan. 'Definitely a Yandere!' He thought as he looked over at Koza.

"What about you, four eyes?" Luke asked, averting his attention to anyone who wasn't crying. "I wanna to come too!!" Koza answered firmly, not wavering in his determination in the slightest.

"Gather anyone who wants to come, and can fight! Be ready for departure sometime tonight or in the morning!" Luke stated as he got to his feet. Then as an afterthought, he asked, "There aren't any wounded are there?"

Koza answered in the negative. Not bothering with the group any longer, Luke disappeared in a bright flash of light. He didn't have anything else pressing at the moment, so he decided to make his way back to East Blue, the half a dozen marine ships he sank along the way put a big smile on his face.

When he finally got back, he went straight to the Pearl and walked into the dining room where all of the others were sitting. He briefly explained what happened as best as he could figure out, then looked to Jack to see what the next course of action would be.

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(General POV)

Seeing everyone look towards him, Jack tried to hide his grim thoughts. Getting to his feet, Jack walked to a good open part of the room, then he waved his right arm in the air before a few crates appeared.

"Gear up, get familiar with everything and be ready to leave in an hour. We have a few stops to make before we head to Marineford!" Jack said, then went back to his seat.

He was coming up with a few surprises for the marines, and he would need to make sure his own people didn't ruin them. Right now he was writing everything out, then later once everyone was gathered he would explain it all in order.

Meanwhile everyone else made their way to the crates, each of them marked with their name on it. Each chest had similar objects, but for the most part was suited to each person.

For instance, Nami's did have a Glock 17, 6 magazines, a staff/Clima-Tact, and two small knives, but for the most part the chest was practically filled to the brim with gold.

Tedi's had the gun, magazines, knives, a box of Sea Stone beads, but also had a set of Sea Stone gauntlets with spikes coming of the knuckles.

Everyone's were kind of similar, with one or two things differing from the rest. Although, Tashigi's did have something she was in no way expecting. A small blue fruit sitting atop a guide book.

She had of course refused to eat a Devil Fruit before, and of course no one would force her to eat it, but the fact Jack put it in the crate knowing her stance on Devil Fruits, she decided to read the manual to see which fruit it was.

Opening the book, Tashigi read the contents, and after re-reading the thing for the third time, she stared intently at the fruit, her mind still not made up on whether or not she should eat it.

While Tashigi was going through her internal struggle, the others had already equipped their stuff and left the ship to get used to it.

As they all left, Jack bought everything from the store he would need, then put them in his inventory in stages, so he could just unleash everything in a neat row.

'This is going to be a massacre!!' He thought darkly as he looked at the steps. Just step 1 would reduce the marines considerably, and so far he already had 14 different steps in his plan to completely fuck the marines up the ass!!

He couldn't wait to see how the marines would react to having over 100 Dyna Stones raining down upon them.

Dyna Stones are weapons of mass destruction, considered as the Marines' trump card, and each of them have power said to rival the Ancient Weapons in terms of mass destruction, and as the Marines' trump card they are considered extremely valuable to them.

Their power is testified by Zephyr's dream to use them to destroy the New World in Film Z, and by Kizaru when he seemed intimidated by simply one.

They explode upon being exposed to oxygen, which results in a powerful explosion that can wipe out an entire island if used correctly. Due to their destructive potential, it is forbidden for the general public to be in possession of them; the Marines alone locked them up for that reason.

However they couldn't stop a certain cheater from buying them from his broken shop, then unleashing them to cause mass destruction.

Jack also had all of the massive Spike Balls in his inventory as well, but he didn't stop at a few. He had a little over a hundred, and just the damage they could cause alone made him smile. If he dropped them from way up in the air down upon unsuspecting marines, they would be killed, no question about it.

But with them mowing across the battlefield, the Admirals would have to divert their attention to stop them, but Jack was hoping for that.

A big concern for him was the Pacifistas. Human weapons developed by Marine head scientist, Dr. Vegapunk. They are cyborgs built in the mold of the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, who was the cyborg prototype for the project.

The funds required for the construction of just one Pacifista are roughly equal to that of a Marine-issued battleship, but each one could easily contend with a Marine Vice-Admiral, and couldn't disobey orders, so Jack figured they easily made up for the price.

The Pacifista are cyborgs, composed of a metal even stronger than steel, although despite all their strengths, they are still human beneath whatever was done to them and are still capable of bleeding.

A Pacifista can identify wanted pirates on sight using a electronic scope, thus the red glow in the pupils of the eye lenses, that works at a significant distance. It not only lets them know the name of the person in front of them but also their bounty.

Their recognition ability is also extremely good, because no matter how well someone tries to disguise themselves, the Pacifista could easily see through it.

The Pacifista's main mode of combat is firing laser beams from their mouth and hands (with exception of the real Kuma, whose Paw-Paw Fruit cover the palm of his hands and limit his laser to his mouth) which are based on Kizaru's light-based Devil Fruit.

These beams possess tremendous piercing power and are capable of causing massive explosions, inflicting severe to fatalistic damage to targets and the environment.

Pacifista can also run slightly faster than most people and jump quite high, despite their size, although they are still slower than Kuma himself (this being ironic as Kuma himself never runs).

As cyborgs, the Pacifista are capable of taking staggering amounts of damage without being disabled. The laser beams from their mouth can cause a severe backlash if the mouth is forced shut before firing, which causes the photon energy to explode inside the cyborg's body, damaging the constitutional framework although even this would not be enough to force a shutdown.

Only significant and irreversible trauma seems capable of stopping them, such as breaking their necks or cleaving them in two. They may explode if sufficiently damaged.

Although Jack knew he could handle them, he in no way would underestimate them or their damage. In cannon, it took the entire Straw Hat forces just to bring down one of the damn things, an effort which left them winded and exhausted in the end.

Granted, compared to Jack, cannon Luffy and his friends were very weak, but they were still quite reliable in a fight.

'Note to self... blow the Pacifista's up first.' Jack thought as he moved on.

The marines would be expecting him to come from the sky, as he made no effort to hide his flying ships when he escaped the Holy city the night he took the slaves, so their walls were basically useless.

Considering they seemed cocky, Jack was curious how they planned to counter his aerial advantage. He didn't know for sure if they did, but it would be best to assume they did rather then not, less he shoot himself in the foot because of his ignorance.

After going over everything he remembered from the anime when the marines battled Whitebeard and assuming they had some other trump cards of their own, Jack called it good for now.

He had no doubt a few people would make their own suggestions when he told them about his plan later, so he would just wait and iron out the little things then.

For now he called everyone back to the ship, as well as a few dozen other people here in Foosha.

Soran had tried to tag along with them, but Makino shut that down hard! Even Selene had to stay, much to her outrage, although Luke was pretty adamant about her not being ready for what was to come just yet.

Finally loaded and ready to go, Jack launched the ship at an insane speed, heading to pick up the first batch of people who had called to join them on their quest.

Sitting in his Captain's chair, Jack's eyes were focused on one thing, and one thing only.

'I'm gonna end you fuckers!!'