Tsuru

"Alright, what did I miss?" Jack said as he turned his attention back to his crew. Smoker walked forward and held up a stack of Wanted posters as he asked, "Care to explain how the marines have bounties?"

Jack looked around to each of his crew members and they all seemed interested in what he had to say as well.

"*Sigh* For right now let's just say it's an ability I have. If I know who you are and have a picture of you I can create a bounty. As for printing them and sending them around the world.... also part of the ability. What's cool about it though, is that as soon as the target is killed then the reward appears where their body was!" Jack said the last part with a smile on his face and excitement in his voice.

"Why exactly did you put bounties on the marines? And who is she?" Nami asked in confusion as she pointed over at the chained and gagged Gion.

Jack looked over to Gion then back to Nami as he replied, "The marines sent a few thousand soldiers to come and reclaim Goa Kingdom for the World Government. You would think that after most of their influence in East Blue was wiped out then they might give up, but noooo!! They had to send damn near two fucking Buster Calls!!"

Jack was glaring daggers at Gion as he ranted on. "I finally got fed up with their shit and decided that it would be for the best if they started to get erased, hence the bounties. As for who she is..."

Jack paused his words as he flipped through the posters until he got to a specific poster and pulled it out to show everyone. "She is Gion or better known by her alias Momousagi, is a Marine Vice Admiral."

Everyone's eyes went wide when they heard what Jack said, especially Gion, but probably because the poster Jack was holding showed her on it and a bounty of $500,000,000 berries.

Smoker looked over to Gion and back to Jack and started shaking his head. "How many of them did you kill?" Smoker asked in a grim tone. Jack was silent for a few seconds before he said, "9 Vice Admirals, 15 battle ships, and around fifteen thousand marine soldiers."

There were a few gasps from everyone, the exception being Luke who let out a cruel chuckle. "That's awesome Cap! Although I'm a little mad I wasn't invited, I'm quite pleased!" Luke said excitedly.

Tashigi was glaring at Luke, but the man didn't seem to care. Smoker already knew the reason why Luke hated the marines so he didn't say anything, but you could tell he was a little depressed. Nami and Nojiko were a little shocked that Jack was that strong, but they knew that he wasn't a fan of the marines at all.

Gion was letting out muffled screams through her gag, but Jack didn't really care as he said, "I would have let you come, but none of you are ready for that kind of force. The only concerns for any of you would have been the Vice Admirals, but even then I don't think they would have been too much of a threat. Gion here might be the exception to that though."

Upon hearing Jack's words they all looked to Gion once more and Nojiko asked, "What makes her the exception? And if she's so dangerous then why is she here?"

Jack let out another sigh as he said, "She isn't as bad as most of the marine commanders out there. I actually think she stands up for some of the people the marines mark as criminals, that alone wasn't enough though. I made a deal with her commander, Vice Admiral Tsuru for her life."

Everyone in the room knew who Tsuru was. She had fought with the Hero of the Marines, Garp the Fist and Sengoku the Buda against Gold Rogers in the past. She was a monster, and the fact that Jack had made a deal with her made everyone who heard his words stare at him with their mouths hanging wide open.

"YOU DID WHAT?!!" Smoker, Luke, Nami, Nojiko and Tashigi shouted in unison. Jack smirked at their expressions as he said, "I may or may not have been videoing the battle so that Sengoku and Garp could watch, but I didn't know that Tsuru would be watching as well."

Jack paused as he noticed how everyone's jaws went wider. "Anyway, Gion here is like a daughter or kid sister to Tsuru and she started begging for her life. Me being the really nice person that I am, made a trade in exchange for Gion's safety." Jack added, trying to sound like a sage.

"What did Tsuru offer in return?" Luke asked curiously, everyone else nodding along with his words as they also wanted to know. "Nothing too extreme. She just has to quit the marines and promise to never come after any member of the crew."

There was only silence after Jack finished his words, even Gion over in the corner had her eyes wide open. "Don't look so surprised, I would rather lose her as an enemy than fight the crazy old bat. She may look ancient, but she is absolutely fucking terrifying." Jack said to their still stunned expressions.

"So let me get this straight. You blackmailed one of the strongest people in the world to leave her organization and not come after us, in exchange for the life of someone she considers family?" Nami asked as her eye started twitching.

Jack didn't waste a second and answered instantly, "Yup! Pretty good right?!" Again he was met with only silence. Smoker pulled out a cigar and lit it up before inhaling deeply, then looked at Jack as he said, "She will keep her word, but I don't think we have done any favors for ourselves with pissing off the marines more than you already have."

Tashigi nodded to his words, but Luke cut in before anyone could say anything, "It doesn't matter if we made enemies out of the marines because we are going to get rid of them anyway. One way or another the marines are finished! Getting a bigshot like Tsuru out of the way just made our lives a whole hell of a lot safer."

Luke didn't care if he had to face every marine all at once, he planned to kill them to the point where no one would even think of joining that corrupt organization. "When is Tsuru coming for Gion?" Smoker asked calmly.

There wasn't anything he could do about the current events, and over the last few months he had been shown the dark side of the marines and the Government so he wasn't too upset about the dead marines. "She should be here in about 2 weeks, give or take a day." Jack answered back.

"What if she brings the marines with her?" Nojiko asked in a slightly worried tone. Jack let out a grim laugh as he answered, "I gave them a warning that should keep the marines from coming here."

Everyone was looking at him with expectant gazes so he continued, "Should I see the marines come, I will be making a stop to the holy land Marie Jois. It's where the worst of the worst live, the Celestial Dragons. They have thousands of slaves there that they torture on a daily basis, they consider themselves Gods and treat every person in the world as toys."

Everyone had grim expressions after Jack's speech, Luke especially. "Don't worry, we will get all the people out of there and kill every single celestial and government official in due time. For now we just aren't strong enough." Jack said reassuringly as he placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. Luke nodded in affirmative, but remained silent.

Nami and Nojiko also looked as though the drive to get stronger and increased, same with Tashigi. Smoker looked a little angry at the mention of the Celestial Dragons, but Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to kill them or just set the slaves free.

To get rid of the depressing atmosphere Jack shouted, "Alright, let's all go out to the field and check on everyone's progress!" His words did the trick of breaking everyone out of their thoughts and back to reality as they all let out a groan of displeasure, but still complied and got to their feet and started to make their way to the field.

A few days earlier

(Tsuru POV)

Tsuru was sitting in a big office with two of her oldest comrades, Sengoku and Garp after the call had ended. No one could say anything after what they had just witnessed, and none of them knew what they should do now.

It was unheard of for a force like that to be wiped out by one man, and he did it in just a few minutes and made it look effortlessly. "Who is he?" Tsuru asked both Sengoku and Garp in a whisper.

"*Sigh* He is someone who has it out for the marines. He tried to recruit both Sengoku and I for his organization, and he's also the one that told us about Virgo being a spy for Doflamingo." Garp said in a grim tone.

He took a deep breath before he continued, "That whole business with the Revolutionaries taking the slaves from Tequila Wolf was most certainly his doing as well. He's gearing up for something big with his organization, and from what I've heard, He's gearing up the Revolutionaries as well."

Sengoku was rubbing his temples in frustration at what he was hearing. He knew from the previous conversation that Prime cared nothing for the marines, and now based on the parting words from the man then he would go for the Celestial Dragons next.

"We can't afford to send anyone to East Blue. I'm going to send word to pull everyone we have there to the other Blue's or somewhere in the Grand Line." Sengoku said after a few seconds of thinking.

As she looked to her friends, Tsuru couldn't help but notice the defeated look on their faces. "Sengoku... I'm gonna be taking my ship and crew with me. I'll give them the option to stay in the marines, but I'm gonna strongly recommend they leave as well." Tsuru said firmly, not backing down at the glare from Sengoku.

"You're actually going to do what that murderer says?" Sengoku said through clenched teeth. "This day was coming sooner or later. The government has treated the world as their playground, and millions have suffered. It was only a matter of time until someone had enough and did this." Tsuru countered his question with a statement.

"I will do as he says, and any of my crew that want to stay in the marines will stay here, but I will be taking the rest with me. That man... he's on a mission to end the Government, and the marines are in his way."

That last statement made Garp and Sengoku look to each other. They knew that sooner or later, Prime would be coming here to deal with them himself. "*Sigh* Do as you please. We're all too old for this kind of shit anyway. Take the ship and go get Gion." Sengoku looked as though he had aged a decade in the last hour, and that statement looked as though it added a few more years.

Removing her Vice Admiral coat, Tsuru put it on her chair before leaving the room and heading towards her living quarters. Along the way she used her Transponder Snail and contacted everyone under her command, telling them to meet her at the ship in 1 hour.

After packing all of her belongings she had some lower ranking soldiers carry everything to the ship as she walked beside them. As she made her way to her destination there were many marines who noticed that she wasn't wearing her uniform and that she was taking all of her belongings, but no one said a word.

When she got to her ship she noticed that all of her crew was here, all lined up shoulder to shoulder awaiting her command. Everyone on her crew were all women, as she hated most men.

As she stood before them all she raised her voice and shouted, "As of right now I have quit the marines! I have a selfish request, but I want each and everyone of you to leave as well and come with me!"

Her words shocked them all to their cores, but she continued, "The decision is yours alone and I will not think any different of you should you choose to stay, but I am leaving in 2 hours and would like you to decide within that time. As I know you have questions, they will have to wait!" After finishing her speech she walked aboard her ship and gave some orders to start stocking the ship for a few weeks journey.

Tsuru had walked into the dining hall of the ship and sat down at one of the tables. She knew everyone would have questions, but she couldn't just tell them all out there in the open and cause a mass panic in the marines. She couldn't do that to Sengoku.

Sure enough, a few minutes later and everyone marched in and stood before her, none asking the question that was on all of their minds. Taking the initiative she said, "I quit the marines to save Gion's life." There were gasps from everyone present and a few of them started shouting about what happened to her.

After everyone quieted down a bit she spoke once more, "A few weeks ago the Government decided to send a massive group of soldiers to reclaim Goa Kingdom, Gion was part of it. There were 10 Vice Admirals and 15 elite battleships, 1000 soldiers on each ship... every last one of them was killed within minutes."

Again there were gasps and everyone showed looks of shock and horror on their faces. "The worst part about it is... it was only one man that did it." There was only silence at her words, no one being able to comprehend how that was possible.

"It was all being recorded for us to watch, and when he got to Gion I pleaded for her life. This man is smart, ruthless, and extremely dangerous. You all know how bad the world nobles are, it's no secret. Well this man is building a force to end them, and the marines are in his way. He is gonna kill everyone, so I want you all to leave with me. Gather your families if you want to, but we leave in 2 hours."

Every single one of them removed their marine coats and nodded to her before leaving the ship to gather what they needed to. There were only a few that had families here in Marineford, and they were all gathered swiftly. After 2 hours the ship set sail towards the East Blue, not knowing what awaited them.

They had only been sailing for a day when a News Coo flew down and delivered the newspaper, in it a large stack of papers came falling out. There were shouts as everyone looked over the Wanted posters, but Tsuru just nodded. 'So this is what he meant when he said the tables would turn' She thought darkly.

With this then the people would be more bold and attack the marines. The marines would also have to be constantly looking over their shoulders from bounty hunters, making them feel just how they have made others feel. 'What are you going to do next?' She thought as she tried thinking about what the future would hold in store for them.

After another two weeks of sailing they made it to East Blue, and another another week and half to make it to Dawn Island. When they got to Foosha Village Tsuru was surprised to see a welcoming committee at the docks.

As her ship pulled into port, Tsuru noticed how everyone that came to greet them all were releasing an aura of power. 'Who are these people!' Tsuru thought with a hint of worry.

As far as she could tell there were around 40 people at Vice Admiral level and 7 people in between Vice Admiral and Admiral. One person stood out among everyone present, a man in a white skull mask who was standing in front of everyone. 'Prime!' Tsuru instantly recognized the man as the one who slaughtered the Buster Call.

"Greetings FORMER Vice Admiral Tsuru" Prime said, enunciating the 'FORMER' as he gave a mocking bow to her. "Prime.... Where is Gion!" Tsuru said getting straight to the point.

"*Sigh* If all you are here for is Gion, that works too." Prime said, trying to sound disappointed. Before she could say anything a sphere of darkness formed next to Prime, then everyone present watched as he reached his hand in and pulled out a bound and gagged Gion.

"Do forgive her state, she was... uncooperative." Prime said as he made the chains disappear except for a Sea Stone bracelet that was locked onto her wrist, then pushed Gion towards Tsuru.

Tsuru was burning with rage, and judging by how all of her subordinates had their hands on their weapons, they weren't any better. All of their rage died out instantly as Gion removed her gag and spoke, "You sadistic bastard!! How many times have I told you I don't like that place?!! Just wait until I tell Makino!!"

Everyone present, Prime's side included, looked as though someone had just gave them a million berries, then shit in their food. "Gion... What's going on?" Tsuru asked dumbfoundedly.

Upon hearing the question, Gion turned to Tsuru and gave her a big hug as she said, "Don't worry about it. Jack will get punished later." After saying that Gion looked to Jack and stuck her tongue out at him.

"You shut your mouth woman!! I could kill you with a thought!!" Prime said angrily. After saying that Prime turned to Tsuru and removed his mask, making her and her subordinates gasp a little in surprise at how young the man was.

"Gion, if you didn't talk so fucking much you might be tolerable, so if you keep talking the gag goes back on!! Prime shouted in annoyance as he held up another gag, which caused Gion to shudder.

Tsuru had no idea what was going on, so she waited quietly to try and understand. "It's about time you got here Tsuru! I don't think anyone could stand anymore of Gion any longer!" A man Tsuru didn't know shouted.

"You shut the hell up Luke!! I am not that bad!" Gion declared trying to defend herself. Finally having enough of this Tsuru said, "Could you explain to me what's goin on?"

Before Gion could answer the man now known as Luke shouted, "You are taking her and LEAVING!" Everyone around them seemed to nod along in agreement. "Well good luck with that! Makino already said I could stay!" Gion shot back victoriously.

"I believe what she said was, 'I won't let them kill you and you can stay with me for now.' That time is now over. So beat it!!" Luke shot back to her. While they were arguing Jack walked over to Tsuru with a frown on his face.

"Hello Tsuru. I do hope none of these people with you are marines, otherwise we might have a repeat of the show you watched with Garp." Tsuru shook her head in the negative which brought a warm smile to Jack's face.

"Please allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Jack Sparrow, leader of the Adventurer's Association. Please come with me so we can talk. Also feel free to have your people explore the town, just stay away from the main hall." Jack said as he pointed to a massive building towards the edge of town.

(General POV)

After a few minutes they made it to a place called Makino's Bar. After entering they sat down at a table, followed by a few of Jack's men, and a few of Tsuru's. "Now that you are no longer marines, what is it you plan to do?" Jack asked with a smile on his face.

Before Tsuru could respond, Gion did it for her, "We're staying here!" "You are a marine, unlike them! If you stay here you will be killed. You have 3 days to leave, and not just here, but East Blue!" Surprising everyone it was Smoker who spoke those words.

"Smoker... what happened to you?" Tsuru asked with a frown. She had recognized him at the docks, but chose not to say anything for now.

Exhaling a breath of smoke, Smoker replied, "I was given a chance... The marines are suppose to protect the people, but they haven't been doing a good job of it and we all know it. I have tried to not do some of the atrocities some of the marines do, some of the things you have done, but I haven't tried to stop them. I have seen some of the things the government does, and I won't be apart of it anymore."

He took another drag on his cigar as he continued, "I watched children who were enslaved work themselves to death, people who have done nothing wrong be tortured, criminals be rewarded all in the name of JUSTICE!! From now on I follow my own path, and it's pointing towards Jack. His methods are... extreme, but very effective. His ideals match mine, and he is fair for the most part."

There was only silence in the room after that, but it was of course broken by Gion. "Makino can I stay here with you?!!" After Gion shouted to the bartender, everyone turned to look at Makino behind the counter.

"W-Well I mean, I guess if you reall-" Makino was cut-off as Luke shouted, "Makino for all that is good in this world say NO!! She doesn't shut up, she interrupts training, she acts like a bigshot but is weak! She is a marine, and did I mention she doesn't shut up?!!"

There was some bickering in the room, but it all ended as Jack stood from his chair and shouted, "WE GIVE OUR HEARTS!" To this, Jack slammed his right fist against his heart, followed by everyone in his group who shouted, "WE GIVE OUR HEARTS!" And then slamming their right fists against their hearts, Makino included.

Tsuru, Gion and the rest of her subordinates were dumbfounded at what was happening. "This is why marines aren't welcome here." Jack said proudly as he looked to everyone around him.

"We of the Adventurer's Association have a motto, 'We give our hearts'. Do you know the meaning behind it?" Jack said to Gion. She looked as though she was thinking, and after a few seconds she answered, "You pledge your life to your Association and it's ideals."

Jack shook his head as he slowly walked around the room while answering, "No. We don't pledge our lives to anyone, as we are free. We go and do whatever it is we desire, like pirates one might say, but we don't harm the innocent, we don't steal or rape. No, we give our hearts to FREEDOM!!"

After saying that a banner with a pair of silver wings appeared before everyone's eyes. "We stand together to live free!! We protect those in need while standing tall, our loyalty to our dreams, our hearts to our ideals, and our blades to our enemies!!"

As Jack finished his speech he turned back to Gion and Tsuru. "The marines fight for the scum of the world. They call it JUSTICE, but in reality they are dogs who cause more suffering to the innocent than pirates. As such, the marines will never be welcome with the Adventurer's Association."

Jack's words caused Tsuru to hang her head in shame as she couldn't refute any of his claims. "In 3 days there will be a ceremony in the field!" Jack said loudly to get everyone's attention. "I want all of you there!" Jack said to his subordinates.

Turning to face Tsuru once more he said, "I have kept my word, now you may resupply but you only have 3 days to get Gion off this island, and another 2 weeks after that to get her out of East Blue before I end her." Jack's words made the room go so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Not having anything better to say, and not caring about whatever Tsuru was going to do now, Jack left the bar along with Luke towards the main hall.

After they left the silence ended when Smoker exhaled a breath of smoke and said, "They both really hate the marine's, so don't think they're joking. Gion here would already be dead if Jack wasn't stopping Luke from outright killing her."

There were a few nods from Tashigi and Nami, but no one said anything else. "Why do they hate the marines so much?" One of Tsuru's subordinates asked curiously.

"I know Luke's reason, and if I went through what he did I would be hunting the marines as we speak. If you wanna know what that reason is then ask him yourself. As for Jack, no one really knows why and no one wants to ask. His hatred is more towards the government and the marines are in his way." Smoker said in a grim tone before he got to his feet and walked out of the bar.

"So you are Tsuru..." Nojiko said as she analyzed Tsuru up and down. "Yes, and you are?" Tsuru said as she gestured towards Nojiko. "I'm Nojiko and this is my sister Nami." Nojiko said as she gestured towards Nami.

"Our mother was a marine soldier as well. She said she met you a few times, but never served under you. Looking at you now and knowing the things the marines do, I can't help but think she was wrong about you."

After saying her peace, Nojiko too left the room with Nami and all of the remaining members of Jack's subordinates except Tashigi. "Tashigi... how have you been?" Tsuru asked her.

Tashigi looked Tsuru in the eyes as she said, "I've been good since I joined Jack. A little hard at first, but get to know him and you see he does most things for a reason." After answering Tsuru's question Tashigi left to go find Smoker for more training.

There was silence for a minute as no one said anything, then a little girl who couldn't be more than 10 years old came running into the room shouting, "Makino! Makino! Look at this!!" Soran shouted happily as she held up a drawing for Makino to see.

The drawing was a birds eye view of the island, it actually looked very detailed. "Wow that's amazing Soran! How did you get it to look this accurate?" Makino said joyfully. "Accurate?" Soran asked puzzled. "Accurate means correct in all details, or exactly like it is." Makino answered warmly.

Soran had a big O face as she answered "Big bro took me up high in the sky on the little ship! He made it float there for a long time so I could draw it. He said I had to give it to him after, but I wanted to show you it first."

Makino caressed Soran's hair as she said, "I'm very glad you showed it to me. How about I have this one and Jack can have the next one? Don't worry I'll talk with him so he won't be upset okay?" Makino said still smiling. Soran beamed happily as she nodded her head then ran out of the building with a smile on her face.

Tsuru couldn't help but listen in to the conversation and after the little girl left she walked over to the counter and asked, "So you're Makino... are you or the little girl some how related to Jack?"

Makino looked at Tsuru with a smile as she answered, "Neither of us are blood related to Jack, but Soran is sort of his adoptive little sister and I guess you could say I'm kind of like a big sister to him in some ways."

Gion walked over to them and added, "Her and Soran are probably the only people in the world besides Nojiko that could get Jack to do anything he didn't want to do. Do you think you could convince him to let me stay?" Gion asked hopefully.

Makino put on a serious face as she said, "Everyone of them have something against the marines, you being apart of the marines is just going to keep reminding them of their past. I'm sorry, but I don't think they would listen to me."

Tsuru took that moment to jump into the conversation, "Why do you want to stay here so bad?" All of Tsuru's subordinates looked as though they wanted to know as well.

"Everyone here is amazing! They are all powerful, and there are things here you would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the world. Just watching the training they do has helped me a lot, and the food here is unbelievable! I listened to some of the things Jack says he wants to do and this place is gonna be a world attraction in the future. He also took me out with them on one of their patrols of East Blue because he couldn't leave me here, and they are thorough! More bandits, and pirates taken care of in a week than the marines ever did."

Gion's rambling was ended by Tsuru as she said, "You heard what he said. 3 days to leave here, plus you have a bounty on your head." Tsuru said as she pulled out a wanted poster of Gion.

"I could leave the marines like you did! Gion shot back. "And go against your friends and comrades? You would kill them to stay here?" Tsuru asked seriously. Gion thought about it before shaking her head. "No I guess not. I couldn't go against them."

Tsuru nodded as she said, "We will stay here until tomorrow, then we will set out to the Grand Line. We can figure out where to go later." Everyone left the bar to either stock up on goods, explore the town or go back to the ship.

Tsuru walked along the streets looking at all the people until she got to an area where she saw Jack playing with the little girl from the bar. They were flying kites while running through the field with smiles on their faces. 'What a strange man.'