Smoky's Descision

Jack and Luke went around the Loguetown and sold some of the never ending mountain of gold in Jack's inventory. After a few more hours the sun was starting to go down, which prompted Jack to go and find Smoker to see what he had decided.

They made their way to the marine building and asked for Captain Smoker, but they were told he didn't come into the building today. Jack made his way back to the Roger bar and waited there with Luke for over an hour before he got impatient. Spreading his Haki throughout Loguetown, Jack searched for Smoker. Trying to pick one person out of thousands of people was extremely difficult, but Jack didn't really have any better ideas. After searching for a few minutes he found someone that he had completely forgotten about. 'Tashigi! Wherever she is, Smoker is bound to turn up!' Jack thought excitedly. "Come on. I found a lead to where Smokey might be" Jack said getting Luke's attention.

They arrived to a training yard where Tashigi was training with a bunch of lower ranked marine soldiers. "Hey WOMAN!!" Jack called out getting everyone's attention. Tashigi looked at the stranger with a fown on her face. "What do you want?" She asked in an unfriendly tone.

"We are looking for an acquaintance of ours. His name is Smokey and he seems to be lost. You wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?" Jack asked sweetly. Tashigi looked surprised for a moment then asked seriously, "Why are you looking for Captain Smoker?"

Jack smirked at her as he said, "I believe the good Captain wouldn't want a little girl like you to get involved. It's best if you just tell us where he is." Jack knew Tashigi hated being looked down on because of her gender, so he decided to use this as a way to rile her up.

The murderous glare Tashigi was directing towards Jack could be felt by everyone present, which was exactly what Jack wanted. "Are you looking down on me because I'm a woman?!! I'll have you know I'm the second in command of this base, and I am a master swordswoman!!" Tashigi declared angrily.

Jack looked over at Luke then back to Tashigi before he burst out laughing. "HAHAHAHA!! Y-you think you are a master?! My boy Luke here could beat you with one arm tied behind his back while blindfolded, and yet you think you have reached master rank. Enough jokes, now where is Smoker!" Jack said not even trying to hide how hilarious he thought it was.

Tashigi went from angry to downright furious as she shouted, "If you think your friend can beat me then bring it on!! If he can somehow beat me, I'll tell you where the Captain is." Those final words sealed the deal.

Jack pulled out a blindfold and covered Luke's eyes before he bound one of his arms behind his back with some rope, then sent Luke off with a pat on the back. "If you lose, I'll tell Makino to not give you any Rum for the next year!!" Jack shouted evilly.

Luke shuddered at the thought of not getting any Rum, steeling himself he went forward with a determined look on his face. Grabbing one of the wooden practice swords from a stack nearby Luke made his way towards where Tashigi stood at the ready. "Begin!!" Jack shouted loudly, starting the match.

Tashigi charged towards Luke, letting her emotions get the better of her. She didn't think for even a second that Luke would be able to beat her as he was. As she brought her sword down to slash at Luke, she hit empty air and stumbled.

Before she could react a heavy force struck her on her right side below the shoulder. Luke continued to beat Tashigi with the wooden sword clear until she could no longer hold her weapon. "Do you give up?" Luke asked seriously.

Tashigi knew that she had already lost the match with that first strike, but she didn't want to admit it. "I lost, but this isn't over!! I'm going to beat you someday, you can count on it!!" Tashigi declared. "Yeah yeah we get that you are stupi- I mean stubborn, but now that you lost it's time for you to keep with your end of the deal. Where is Smoker?" Jack asked "Right here!" A deep voice replied.

Jack turned his attention to the roof top a good distance away, there he saw Smoker watching on with a serious look on his face. "Smokey!! I'm glad you decided to show up, I was starting to get worried for you!!" Jack shouted, acting genuinely concerned, when in actuality he was still debating whether to kill Smoker or not.

"Come on, I need a drink!" Smoker shouted as he dropped down from the roof and started making his way out of the marine compound. Jack and Luke followed him to the Roger bar, then ordered some drinks. After downing almost half a bottle of Rum Smoker turned his gaze to Jack before saying, "I have a few conditions I'd like to make before I can join you."

Jack just gave him a nod that prompted Smoker to continue, "First of all, I won't kill any marines. I know that might get it the way, but I won't do it." Jack looked unfazed by his words. "That's alright, Luke will kill your share of them. Honestly though, if the marines stay away from us and actually do what they're suppose to be doing then we won't touch them. Well, most of us won't touch them." Jack finished as he glanced over at Luke.

"Although there may be a few that I will kill on sight, the majority of them can do whatever they want." Jack didn't bother hiding anything from Smoker. "The last time we spoke, you mentioned talking to Garp. Did you actually talk to him, or was that just some ploy?" Smoker asked skeptically.

"I did talk with him and Sengoku. They are both giving it some thought whether or not they want to join. You can talk to them later if you want." Jack stated plainly. Smoker just nodded his head. He wasn't too sure if he believed him, but lying to him now would sow distrust between them and there really wasn't a reason for him to lie anyway.

"I want your word that we will strive to protect the inocent and weak, and make this world better." Smoker stated seriously. This was something he wanted to make clear. He was in this for the people, and that they came first.

"You have my word. I will admit I am no saint, but as long as someone does right by me, I will do everything I can to do right by them" Jack didn't hesitate to give his word for something that he already believed in.

Smoker took a deep pull off his cigar before he spoke, "Lastly, I want Tashigi to join us. She doesn't have the mindset to be a marine, she falls more on what you are talking about. She is reckless, naïve, and stubborn to all hell, but she will always stand up for what she believes is right even if it's against a superior officer. If it was someone other than me, she might get punished for it. She has a drive to prove herself, which can be good or bad."

"Tashigi is the woman I fought earlier right?" Luke piped in before Jack could reply. "Yes" Smoker confirmed.

"She definitely is gonna need some training. I also think her spending some time with Makino might do her more good than the actual training. I noticed she gets pissed when you bring up the fact that she is a woman, but Makino is a woman and she terrifies the living daylights out of me. Maybe she can get her to stop trying to prove that women can be as good as men and just focus on some other goal. All in all I'd say she might not be too bad Cap."

Jack was nodding a long to Luke's words, and when he mentioned being scared of Makino he had a confused look on his face. "Why does Makino scare you?" Jack asked curiously. "Are you kidding me?!! That woman learned Haki just by doing chores for less than 2 weeks, she is a monster with that gun, and she has never once shown what she is like when she is angry or serious. The day she snaps we might all die!!" Luke shouted back.

Jack just smirked after hearing Luke before he said, "I'm telling her you said that." "Asshole!! Keep your big mouth shut!" Luke threatened angrily. After teasing Luke a bit more he turned his gaze back to Smoker.

"All of your conditions are fairly reasonable. I knew you were a good man, that's why I chose you. Now make sure you and Tashigi are packed by morning and waiting by the docks. I'll tell you the rest once we start sailing, but for now I need to double check our next target and stop." Jack said as he got up from his seat and started making his way back to the hotel.