Demons, Swords, And Other Things That Nearly Killed Me

THE FLORIDIAN'S GOT A BOMB

      "Absolutely not."

Okay, I"ve never felt so many emotions in such a simple denial. There was no way you were taking 'no' for an answer. You needed to convince Smoker to help you. Or for him to let you help. Pell ends up carrying that bomb into the sky.

"You'll convince him, one way or another."

We don't have much time, either. Crocodile's going to fight Luffy near here.

"Then hurry. I can also cloak you again."

Let's try the extremes. "You sure? Something really bad might happen without it. I don't even need an army. Smoker, I only need your help."

"No."

"Damn, I have to try a lot harder," you huffed out. "Promise it's not anything devious I'm plotting. Definitely still plotting stuff, though."

Kosai felt a headache coming on. He didn't even have a head. "You're the fucking worst at negotiating."

No you weren't! You were great at it. You can't remember a time it failed, actually.

"Yes. With Crooner's strongest men at your sides."

Oh, shit, I forgot they were even there. Whoops.

The two already looked ready to head off. Though Anzu wasn't pleased with his hair being ruined. "We gotta go, kiddo. It was nice meeting you but we should make sure that Crocodile doesn't try to kill your friends."

"Nice meeting you too!"

You clasped your hands together. You had other things you needed to focus on– and Smoker's compliance was the only thing that you needed to follow through. Operating a smoke-run motorcycle wasn't in your field of expertise.

Aito nodded his head as he and Anzu got ready to leave. "It was an honor to meet you." The honor was yours, honestly. "We might be able to help with the rebellion, but we've got our own jobs to do. Best of luck, (Name)."

Yeah, you might've been cleared for the moment– but the Marines had an absolutely golden opportunity to try and capture two powerful pirates from the Madmen crew. They were gone in a flash, not even giving any of the sailors around them a chance. Smoker, oddly enough, remained still. Perhaps it was because he said he was feeling tired.

...

Ah, shit, he was still looking at you

You weren't getting away with this at all

Smoker's previous denial of your proposal made you huff. "Come on! I get that I'm a pirate and all, but I'm being serious when I say some shit's going down. I knew this was going to happen from the start, Smoker."

The look that Smoker was giving you wasn't really helping, either. That burning stare just evoked any guilty emotions. You were starting to remember everything that you ever did– like when one of your parents used to call you by your full name and your life flashed before your eyes. Adults were scary. You would know. You used to be one in your previous life.

His tone was slightly gruff, like usual, but still had that softness to it. How lucky he was to have such a nice voice. "What's going to happen, then?"

He's gonna hear me out!? That easily!? You thought you'd have to trade something –like your freedom– to get him to listen to you. It wouldn't be the first time the Marine captain had to hear something stupid that you did. This stunt that you were pulling... It was two years overdue.