Smoker the White Hunter (One Piece crossover) I

[Krieg Schnee]

It didn't take long for Tashigi to find the Boardwalk. She had seen it at a distance several times while Tashigi explored the streets around Marine HQ. It was very nice, especially when compared to the Docks.

Several more people gave Tashigi weird stares, with more turning their head as she walked by. Was walking around with a sword a weird thing? Some random guys with black shirts also gave her a weird look, but shrugged it off. Tashigi ignored and decided to explore. She worked hard after all, and deserved a bit of free time. Oooo, ice cream. Tashigi walked up to the ice cream shop. Miss Militia had told Tashigi about an excellent ice cream shop located in the Boardwalk. Maybe it was this one?

A few people inside turned to look at her, then down at her sword, before awkwardly going back to what they were doing. Tashigi walked up to the counter, where the worker looked at her nervously.

"C-can I help you?" The worker asked. Tashigi looked at the ice creams on display. They...have….coffee ice cream!

"I'll take the coffee ice cream please." Tashigi said, hiding her excitement. The young man nodded as he went to retrieve Tashigi's order. Tashigi looked at the decoration inside. It was...interesting. Pictures of heroes were scattered around. Lets see, Armsmaster, heh look at Miss Militia, some random guy in a lion's helmet, and one that Tashigi was too familiar with, Glory Girl. Tashigi shivered, and it wasn't from the cold. That girl was weird, though her sister Panacea was nice, if only a bit of a pervert. Good thing the chances of running into her was low.

"Here's your order Maam." The ice cream man said handing it to her. Tashigi paid for it. She took a few licks. Mmmm delicious. Tashigi would have to drag Captain Smoker here.

"E-excuse me Miss. Are you uh...a hero?" The worker asked as Tashigi was leaving. A hero? Tashigi never thought of herself as a hero. She was a soldier, plain and simple. A soldier who protected the innocent and captured criminals.

"I guess I am." Tashigi shrugged. The worker nodded.

"Are you a new hero with the Protectorate?" He seemed to have gained more confidence.

"Nope." Tashigi said popping the p. "I'm with the Marines. We're kinda new."

The workers' eyes widened, recognizing their name and was about to ask more questions when more customers walked in.

Tashigi took this chance to leave when she bumped into somebody on her way out.

"Oh I'm sorry!" A familiar voice said. Tashigi waved it off. Despite having her eyes healed, she was still clumsy.

"Nooo I'm sorry. I should have been watching where I was going."

Wait a minute. Tashigi looked at the person she bumped into. Blonde hair, slightly floating off of the ground.

Dark brown eyes met bright blue.

"AHHHHHH-" Tashigi threw her ice cream in Glory Girl's face and started running deeper into the Boardwalk.

"Hey! Wait a minute. Come on Ames we need to catch her."

Tashigi started running as fast as she could, which was quite fast. Sadly, she was forced to slow down so Tashigi wouldn't run into any bystanders.

After what felt like an eternity running, Tashigi turned into what seemed like an alley, only to run into a dead end.

'I'm so dead.' Tashigi thought to herself when she heard panting behind her. Tashigi turned around, unsheathing shigure, and prepared for battle.

What Tashigi saw surprised her.

Panacea, with a hand on the wall, gasping for air, with Glory Girl standing behind her with a sheepish smile, who surprisingly didn't have a single drop of ice cream on her.

"Why.." She took more breaths, "...the hell do you run so damn fast?"

Tashigi eyed both of them.

"Put that away before someone gets hurt." Panacea muttered before pointing at Glory Girl, still taking deep breaths. "My sister would like to say something."

"Uhuh." Tashigi raised an eyebrow, and lowered shigure slightly.

"Im sorry for harassing you." Glory Girl said. Panacea slapped the back of her head. "And I'm sorry for indirectly molesting you."

"Good girl." Panacea said sarcastically, she however, did have a few drops of coffee ice cream on her cheek.

Tashigi sheathed shigure, and bowed her head slightly.

"I'm sorry for throwing ice cream at your face Glory Girl."

"I kinda deserved it so dont worry and call me Vicky, I'm not in my costume anyways. You already know Amy." Glory- no. Vicky said as she pointed her thumb at Amy who was finally breathing normally. How out of shape was she?

"Yup."

"Soooo friends?" Vicky extended her hand and did her best impression of a puppy. Tashigi stared at her for a second, before reluctantly taking her hand.

"Sure."

Hopefully she wasn't going to regret this.


"Soooooo...think I can see that van in person?"

Too late, Tashigi already did.


---

Smoker leaned back on his couch, with two Cubans cigars sitting in his mouth. He had a lot to think about. Smoker looked down at the table in front of him.

Rocks. Smoker grabbed one and delicately placed it on top of another, smoke flowing throughout the room. Smoker did plenty of research on this world whenever he wasn't busy. He didn't like most of what he saw.

Criminals escaping from PRT custody was common in Brockton Bay, so Smoker didn't trust the Protectorate to be able to keep him locked up. Still, the monster had his uses if the reports on Endbringers were true. Leviathan was the one that worried him the most, and apparently Lung had fought him before.

Smoker placed another rock on top.

He had to get stronger. Smoker felt something during his fight with Lung. He had seen it too. Armament haki. Smoker knew of haki, and knew the bare minimum. Smoker never practiced it as he should have. A grave mistake he wouldn't repeat again.

Smoker's rock tower was steadily growing taller.

Smoker balled his hands into a fist. Tashigi and his men would have to get stronger as well. He had a few books on rokushiki that Smoker could lend Tashigi. Smoker had gathered a small collection of books, some bought, some found, and others confiscated from pirates passing through Loguetown.

Smoker took more puffs from his cigars.

Smoker's thoughts suddenly went back to his fight with Lung. That young masked girl in grey and black, there was...something different about her. She didn't run away when she had the chance. Smoker had to admit, she was pretty brave. In fact, he saw a little bit of Tashigi in her. Hina would have been amused. Smoker wondered for a bit how his old friend was. Was she sad that she would no longer have to bail old Smoker out of trouble? Probably.

Smoker stared at his fist. It would only be a matter of time before Lung and the other miscreants in this city act up.

Smoker would be ready for them.

They didn't call him the White Hunter for no reason.

 

[Krieg Schnee]

"It seems that we may have to up Captain Smoker's threat ratings." Armsmaster said simply. Director Piggot, Miss Militia, Dragon and himself reviewed footage of Captain Smoker's fight with Lung. Chief Director Costa-Brown wanted the least amount of people possible to know the true origins of Captain Smoker and his crew. Armsmaster didn't like keeping secrets, particularly from his team who trusted him, but he complied with the order. The PRT was filled with more holes than the previous president's body. Armsmaster frowned. "It's obvious that the good Captain held back when we did our own testing."

Initially, they had given Captain Smoker the ratings of brute four, mover four, breaker, as well as stranger two.

"I suggest we raise his brute rating to six maybe even seven, his mover rating to five, as well as add a possible shaker rating." The man was obviously strong enough to take out Lung, and he moved fast enough to block Lung from burning the other parahuman on the scene, so far being codenamed Skitter by PRT and Protectorate paperwork until said otherwise. The footage also showed the area being covered in a fog like smoke, which disappeared soon after Captain Smoker left.

Director Piggot nodded. "I'll be sure to pass it along to the Chief Director."

Miss Militia spoke up. "What about his subordinates? If the Captain held back, the possibility that his crew held back raises considerably." Armsmaster thought about it. MCPO Tashigi was given the rating of brute four, and thinker one, due to her extraordinary combat reflexes. Captain Smoker's crew were more varied, with some ranging from brute one to three.

"True. We have no definitive proof at the moment, but we will keep a close eye on them. Did you notice anything odd about the MCPO?"

Miss Militia shook her head. "At first she was a bit standoffish, but opened up after a few days. I don't think Tashigi's hiding anything, but it wouldn't hurt to be on guard."

"You both have your orders regarding them. Now the next order of business."

Armsmaster pulled up a picture of Lung in his cell. The gang leader, tied down with tinkertech restraints and being injected with his own sedative Armsmaster designed himself.

"Lung was almost dead on arrival to his holding cell. Panacea was called in to heal him enough so he could face his sentence. Brandish was...annoyed that we disturbed that late at night." Armsmaster grimace. The second cape had injected Lung with tons of poisons and venoms, which took their toll as Armsmaster sedative nullified Lung's regenerative power. Hmmm, Panacea also noted a dent in Lung's skull, a slight dent, but it was still there.

They should name Captain Smoker a brute seven just to be safe.

Director Piggot looked at the paperwork in front of her. "Hmm, a pity he survived." She said dryly. As much as Armsmaster loathed to admit it, Lung was an important asset when it came to potential Endbringer fights. "It seems we may have underestimated Captain Smoker's abilities. We won't make that mistake again."

Armsmaster nodded. Defeating one of the more powerful capes this side of the country, even with some help was no small feat. "Your opinion Dragon?"

Dragon had been silent the entire time, listening with her avatar's face on a screen near them.

"I believe...that we got lucky that it was Captain Smoker who arrived here." Her accented voice said with a grave tone. "Judging by his other statements, which he told Miss Militia, we're lucky that pirates from Earth Blue didn't arrive."

Armsmaster agreed. Apparently, the strongest man in Earth Blue could cause tsunamis, earthquakes, and shatter the air. It sounded a bit too similar to Leviathan and Behemoth in Armsmaster's opinion.

"Captain Smoker's rank also gives me concern." Dragon continued. "If a man as strong as him is a captain, how strong would say a commodore or admiral be? No doubt there are other pirates just as strong, if not stronger than Captain Smoker. Especially if his world's strongest man is a criminal."

Valid points. They would need to prepare just in case.

"I agree."

Director Piggot closed her folder and Armsmaster felt her hard gaze. He was used to it now, it was an open secret that Director Piggot hated parahumans. It didn't take his psychology degree ro know that. After all, she was an Ellisburg survivor. Colin didn't fault her for it.

"You two know your cover story regarding them, dismissed." Miss Militia and Armsmaster nodded their heads and left, Colin heading towards his lab.


"Colin?" Dragon spoke through his com. "I'm surprised you didn't take the credit after threatening Captain Smoker." He sighed internally.

"I'm not looking for glory, or recognition. If we released the whole truth, Skitter would be dead by now. Most likely by Oni Lee or even the Empire. I've seen many young heroes gunned down before their prime, I'll be damned if I let it happen again." Colin spoke truthfully. Sometimes, he had dreams about the Slaughterhouse Nine fight, so many dead. So many heroes cut down in their prime. "I'm content to be the world's third greatest tinker, after you and Hero of course." Hero was permanently crippled after that fateful day, but rumor has it that he was working on his comeback.

"You give yourself too little credit Colin." He arrived at his lab now. Walking up to his workbench, Colin shook his head, his hands slightly shaking. He started to work on his next project. Armsmaster needed to become stronger, Colin was too weak.

"No, I give myself too much."

"Colin...you know I'm here for you right?"

"I do. Thank you Dragon."

Colin swore he heard Dragon smile.

---

Tashigi really regreted forgiving Vicky now. Shortly after, Amy and Tashigi were dragged through several clothing stores, which resulted in them becoming literal mannequins.

"Oooo this one is cute!" Vicky pulled out a dress that was...a bit too revealing in Tashigi's taste. It showed off her midsection, and a generous amount of cleavage. Tashigi was currently wearing another of Vicky's choices, a simple dress that covered Tashigi everywhere she liked.

"Im fine!" Tashigi waved her hands. She was fine with her buttoned up shirts. Tashigi had managed to sneak some in the stack at the first store. Apparently golden berries were worth quite a fortune here, so Tashigi had a decent amount of money in order to afford basic necessities.

"Come onnnnn. It'll look great on you!" Vicky pouted and turned to her sister. "What do you think Amy?" Amy was also wearing a...questionable outfit in Tashigi's opinion.

Amy looked at the dress, then turned to Tashigi. She gave a thumbs up.

"You'll be doing the world a favor."

NOOOO! Tashigi was tempted to run away, but she doubted she could make it far before Victoria caught up with her.

Tashigi sighed and rubbed her forehead. She never had to deal with this back in Loguetown. She spent most of her wages on a sword collection, and various other things.

"Pretty pleaaaase." Vicky begged. Tashigi wondered if she should take her chance running, and sighed for the hundredth time that day.

"Fine...but this is the last one!"

"Sure sure." Vicky stuffed the dress in her hands and pushed Tashigi into the dressing room. She walked out a few minutes later, with a large blush on Tashigi's face.

Amy, Vicky, and a few other customers in the store started nose bleeding.

Damn perverts…

Tashigi really wanted to go back home now.

 

[Krieg Schnee]

Taylor sighed as she rolled in her bed. Dad had left for work already, and she didn't feel like going to school, not like anyone there actually wanted her there. Turning on her old computer, she spent a few minutes on PHO, admiring the few pixels of herself you could make out in most of the badly taken videos. Heh, Smoker was a badass if he was able to put down Lung so easily. Taylor clicked on one link and instantly closed the tab.

Damn Smoker fangirl and fanboys. They kept posting pictures of that van! ….some even came up with their own art.

Sitting up, Taylor popped a few bones in her back before jumping onto the floor. Starting her pushups, she thought about her fight with Lung a few days before. It was...exhilarating to help beatdown one of the most strongest capes in the city! The day after the fight, Taylor asked her Dad if he happened to know anything about these 'Marines'.

Apparently, they were a new hero refugee group that moved into Brockton Bay. Dad was happy though, the PRT paid the DWA to fix up their antique ship with sails, remodel some old warehouse, as well as fix up the harbor right next to it for the ship. They gave the DWA work, work that they desperately needed. That gave them some points in Taylor's opinion.

She was now doing her sit ups. It was pretty weird that she ran into that short haired lady while jogging a few days ago. Did they know her secret identity?

About ten minutes into Taylor's morning workout, she heard a knock at the door.

That was weird. It's been a long time since they had visitors, aside from Dad's Dockworker friends. Ever since Em-

Taylor pushed that name out of her head and discreetly gathered a small swarm. It didn't hurt to be safe after all, this was Brockton Bay.

She walked down the stairs, when the person behind the door knocked again. For some reason, the knock sounded...polite?

Taylor opened the door slowly, her swarm ready to attack.

"Yes?" Her eyes froze.

"Good morning. I'm your new next-door neighbor." The short, gorgeous lady that was with Smoker was at the door, holding a small basket filled with an assortment of stuff, with a wagon filled with more sitting on the sidewalk. "I just moved in next door so I thought I should introduce myself. This is for you and your family." She extended her arms, offering the basket, making direct eye contact with Taylor.

Taylor swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth and nodded. There was no way that she knew that Taylor was the other capr that night.

Taylor took the gift basket cautiously.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself!" The short hair lady bowed her head slightly before quickly looking up. "My name is Tashigi."

"I-Im Taylor." Was all she could reply.

"It's nice to meet you Taylor." Tashigi smiled widely. Taylor blushed softly and nodded. 'Quite brain I'm straight!'

"I-It's nice to meet you too."

"I won't take up too much of your time. Have a nice day!" Tashigi bowed again a bit more deeply. She quickly walked away soon after, not giving Taylor a chance to speak.

Closing the door, Taylor carefully set the gift basket on the table, and jumped head first onto the couch, stuffing her face into the pillow.

"How can this day get any worse?"

After what felt like an eternity, Taylor sat up and looked down at herself.

"Shit.'

Sports bra and tiny sports shorts.

Yup, it definitely got worse.


---

"Block it."

"Too slow. Strike harder."

"Hya!"

"Don't announce your attack! You're giving your opponent a warning."

Smoker was overlooking the training of Squad One. Tashigi was busy moving into her new home, so Smoker was taking her place today. Tashigi normally handled it, since his fighting style wouldn't mesh well with the average Marines style.

Still, Smoker still remembered the basics. Leaning against the wall, Smoker was personally overseeing a practice fight between Gunderson and Greenhorn Kazuki. Both were wielding clubs the length of a cutlass.

"YAAAAAAA!!" Kazuki charged at Gunderson with an overhead strike, who simply blocked it and kicked him in the stomach. Gunderson had served with Smoker since he had been given command of Loguetown's garrison, a good soldier. Kazuki however, joined shortly before their voyage began, and was simply a cabin boy. The boy begged Smoker to be given a chance to join Squad One, instead of being assigned to cleaning duty with Alby.

"You're getting desperate, becoming cornered like a wild animal." Smoker began. Gunderson swung his club, only for Kazuki to charge forward, attempting to tackle him.

He was rewarded with a bruised face. Smoker sighed internally, as Kazuki stood back up again, grabbing his club.

"Again."

"No."

Kazuki turned to Smoker angrily. Gunderson lowered his makeshift weapon and also turned to look at Smoker. The other's near them training also stopped to look at the exchange.

"But Captain!"

Smoker glared at him and said nothing. Kazuki closed his mouth.

"At this rate you won't learn anything, aside from learning how to take care of your bruises. If you can't handle the club, what makes you think you can handle a real blade?"

"But I want to learn how to fight! I joined the Marines to fight, and to be a famous hero! Not to clean floors and shit." Kazuki exclaimed. Gunderson's eyes widened in shock and quickly turned away, the others in the room doing the same. No one talked to Smoker that way.

Smoker stared at Kazuki, who simply stared back.

"You want to be a hero do you?" Smoker stood up to his full height and walked towards the much smaller Kazuki.

"Yes sir."

"Then tell me, Cabin Boy. What is a hero?" Smoker said simply, looking down at Kazuki. Smoker had run into plenty of young Marines like Kazuki. Most of them ended up dead.

"A hero...a hero is someone who protects the innocent and arrests criminals!" Kazuki said confidently. Smoker chuckled as he took several deep breaths full of smoke.

"What you described…" Smoker started laughing louder. "Is a damn police officer." Kazuki's bruised face fell.

"Now tell me."

"What…"

Kazuki, Gunderson, and the others looked confused.

"Is…"

Smoker stared at each and every one of them.

"A hero?"

Silence was Smoker's response. Kazuki avoided Smoker's gaze, as did the others.

"The day you can answer that question, you can call yourself a 'hero'." Smoker said simply. He turned around and walked back to his previous spot.

"Start over again."

"Wha-" Gunderson started. Kazuki's bruise purple face lit up.

"If the Greenhorn is going to be a hero, then he's going to need all the training he can get." Smoker looked at the other nosy Marines. "Back to your own training." They quickly scrambled to their own spots.

Gunderson and Kazuki saluted him, and went to their positions. Smoker didn't pay attention this time.

What is a hero? He certainly wasn't. Smoker was a soldier, a Marine, plain and simply. If needed, he would fight till his dying breath if it meant Smoker could save one more life, one more person.

In Smoker's opinion, a hero fought for a better tomorrow, for those that couldn't.

TWAP. Smoker looked up and grinned.

Kazuki managed to hit Gunderson.

He would be a fine Marine yet, Smoker was sure of it.

 

[Krieg Schnee]

Smoker didn't spend much time exploring their new home. He would fix that once everyone was settled in completely. Knowing his way around the city should be near the top of his list, but Smoker was simply content to be able to navigate through the hellhole that was known as the Docks.

It was obvious that this city was dying a slow painful death, its life force being drained by the leeches that call themselves gangs. Smoker drove past crumbling buildings, some abandoned, others that barely seemed liveable. A few seemed...normal.

Many people stopped to take photos of Smoker once he drove past them. A few fainted, but he ignored them as he continued his patrol. If Smoker was going to catch criminals, he needed to secure the area closest to Marine HQ. It would make things easier for his men should they get injured or needed to retreat.

His cigars filling the air around him with smoke, Smoker made sure to not let the smoke get close to anyone else that got too close. Apparently civilians were much weaker here than back home, their lungs would shrivel up eventually if exposed to smoke for prolonged periods of time, most eventually died.

A few dressed in ABB colors ran as soon as they saw him. Smoker smirked and stopped at the red light. Apparently, traffic laws were a thing here, unless there was an emergency, Smoker was forced to obey them.

A horrible whistle made Smoker turn his head. A car full of teenagers had pulled up next to him.

"Looking good there." The guy in the driving seat winked. A few girls began saying things similar to him, a few more vulgar.

Smoker sighed and quickly drove off as soon as the light turned green. By now, everyone had seen Alby's infamous drawing of the van. He hated it. Is this what Tashigi felt like back at Marine academy?

Alby was going to suffer so much, he was going to regret being born.

Suddenly, Smoker heard a young girl cry out. Adjusting his course, he followed the direction where the noise came from.

Eventually, he came across a small rundown park. Attempting to climb a tree was a young girl. Hmm, a kite was stuck among the branches. Smoker parked his bike along the side, reformed his legs and walked up to the young girl.

"Is everything ok young lady?" He said as he stood next to her, looking up at the kite. She looked up at him with a tear stained face.

"T-The tree took my kite…" She said sadly. Smoker smiled softly, and raised a hand that turned into smoke. She stared at him in awe.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that the big, bad tree will give you your kite back." Smoke rose up and the kite was gently released, floating down while being guided by smoke into Smoker's other hand.

"I believe this is yours?" Smoker kneeled down and held her kite out to her. She smiled brightly and hugged him. Smoker froze slightly, but allowed her, with a small pat on her back after he reformed his hand. She pulled away and gently grabbed her kite.

"Thank you Mister." She said. Smoker simply smiled in return. The young girl then ran off to play with her kite again.

"Well that was awfully sweet of you Captain Smoker." Smoker heard someone to his side say. Turning his head, he saw Panacea, surprisingly not dressed in her healer robes. What a coincidence. What was she doing around here?

"Children are our future. When we're gone, the world will be theirs to have." Smoker said simply. He turned to look at her.

"What are you doing here Panacea?"

"Vicky wanted to visitTashigi. I wasn't so far away at a homeless shelter, so I got bored and decided to wander around." She seemed a bit annoyed and took a few sips of water from her bottle.

A bold lie. No one decided to wander the Docks, parahuman or not, unless they were looking for something.

"Hmm. Very well." Smoker shrugged. It wasn't his business what she did in her spare time.

"Call me Amy when I'm not in costume."

"Smoker."

Amy coughed violently.

"Wait wait wait." She looked at him confused. "That's your real name?"

Smoker sighed, taking in more puffs from his cigars.

"Yes."

It was silent for a few seconds.

"That's weird."

"There was an Admiral named Monkey D. Garp."

"Shit, I'd stick with Smoker then."

Smoker grinned.

"It seems that we at least have that in common. Did you enjoy my gift?"

Amy looked away. "I'm uh...saving it for a special day."

Smoker nodded. "Fair enough."

They stood there for a few minutes in silence, looking at the children play.

"Did you have one? I mean, back in your world." Amy asked. Smoker put a hand to his chin and shook his head.

"No. I was too busy catching criminals, and I didnt want to put anyone in danger by getting too close to them." Smoker said with a half truth. Honestly, Smoker was too busy with his Marine career.

"Nice. Now Vicky owes me some money."

Smoker raised an eyebrow. Amy shuffled from side to side.

"We made bets that you and Tashigi were a thing." She mumbled under her breath.

That was...the most stupid thing that Smoker ever heard off. Their relationship was strictly professional, and even if it wasn't, Smoker saw her more as a daughter than anything else.

"I see."

"Sorry."

Smoker waved her off. These people's customs were weird.

"I should be getting back. It's getting late and Vicky must be looking for now." She said looking at Smoker. Hm, it was getting dark. Traveling through the Docks at night was very dangerous.

"Need a ride." Smoker said pointing towards his Billower bike. Amy stared at it, before looking at him, before staring at it again.

"You know, why the hell not?"

---

"Door to base."

The first thing Alexandria saw when she walked through was carnage. Not carnage made from flesh, but dismantled machines and tinkertech. Another portal opened revealing Eidolon and Legend.

"Rebecca."

"David."

"Keith."

They all shared a look before they started following the path of destruction.

"Is he still at it?" David asked. Alexandria nodded her head. Where was Doctor Mother? Or Contessa? Usually she restrained Joseph when he entered one of his fugues.

Eventually they found the source. Joseph was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, writing some blueprints on the floor, Doctor Mother and Contessa off to the side observing him.

Keith immediately rushed forward towards his friend.

"What happened!" Contessa stood in his way shaking her head. Motioning them to follow her, they went into a side room.

"He's getting closer."

Keith crossed his arms. "Getting closer to what?"

Contessa formed a smirk.

"Getting closer to designing a weapon to kill Scion."


A/N

Im not going to say what happened to Hero just yet, so feel free to guess.

Finally caught up to SB

 

[Krieg Schnee]

It didn't take long for them to arrive back at Marine HQ. Amy sat behind Smoker as he sat forward enough to fit. His bike was quite impressive, being powered by his own smoke. Sadly, more than a few people managed to see them, despite it getting rather late. Some even threw Amy death glares. Well at least that meant they didn't recognize her at first, until someone posts it on PHO and calls her out.

Carol was going to kill her.

"Shouldn't you be wearing a helmet?" Amy said as Smoker pulled into the garage.

"Nope. I've been told that I'm rather hardheaded." Smoker grinned as he reformed his legs, got off the bike, and extended a gloved hand towards her. Amy took it and he helped her off.

"That was a horrible joke and you know that." Amy said bluntly. Smoker simply shrugged his shoulder and took some puffs from his cigars when two men dressed in white uniforms walked up to them. Amy vaguely remembered their faces from the time she gave them a check up. They had...unique facial features.

"Captain Smoker Sir!" They both saluted at him, but seemed a bit confused when they saw Amy.

"Shoko, Karaburma." Smoker said simply. "Miss Dallon is our guest."

Amy stood there awkwardly.

"Yes sir. We will begin our maintenance now." One of them answered, saluted again, and scurried past them.

"Strict huh." Amy said as Smoker led her through a door. It seemed funny that this was the same guy who helped that little girl with her kite in the tree.

"I prefer the term tough love." Smoker grunted as they walked past several Marines playing cards, and even an off duty PRT Agent? The female officer kept their PRT officer badge on.

"Soooo, how's being a Protectorate member being?" Amy knew that question was wrong, but Smoker seemed fun to bother. She vaguely heard some whispers coming from a different direction.

"Protectorate affiliated." Smoker corrected her. Amy shrugged after she almost bumped into a wet floor sign. "And decent I suppose. They supply us with some equipment, we have our own chain of command, and we just supplement their forces when needed."

"Supplement?"

Smoker stopped walking and looked down at her.

"They're using me just like I'm using them. Give and take. Nothing in this world is free. I'm sure they called in a favor when you gave us medical attention."

This guy was even more pessimistic than Amy. She liked him. The noise was getting louder.

"Yeah, wait, how do you know where my sister is in this big building?" Amy asked all of a sudden. She didn't remember asking anyone for directions. Amy then heard a loud scream. So that was the noise.

"That's how."

Smoker quickly guided her through some hallways before stopping at a door.

"In here."

Amy gave him a sideway look, and opened the door slowly.

"RAAAAAAAAAAA!"

They were greeted to the sight of Tashigi and Vicky playing a game of cards? Judging by the scream, Vicky was losing. She...wasn't normally this much of a sore loser.

"YOU SURE YOU NEVER PLAYED BEFORE?"

"I ONLY PLAYED ONCE BEFORE! AND WE USED DIFFERENT RULES AND CARD SETS!"

"I BET YOU COUNTED THE CARDS-"

Smoker and Amy simply observed the exchange for a few seconds and closed the door silently.

"I dont think they're here." Amy said dryly. She wasn't about to enter that mess. Smoker seemed amused and chuckled a bit.

"Agreed. Shall we head to the mess hall until they're done?" It seemed funny that the guy who managed to beat Lung in a fight was too chicken to get in the middle of a cat fight.

"Sure."

They quickly got away from the door before Vicky and Tashigi could notice that they were there.

Only a handful of marines were in the mess hall when they got there. Smoker simply kept smoking after they sat at a table away from the others.

It was...a good silence.

"Here." Smoker pulled out a cigar and held it out for Amy. "You seem like you need it. If your sister shows up I'll just say I tried using three at the same time." Amy stared at it for a second before grabbing it. It's not like anyone could see her here. Well aside from Vicky, but she seemed busy.

"Is this one like the one you gave me?"

Smoker shook his head slightly. "That's a Cuban apparently."

"I never smoked a cigar before. I'm more used to cigarettes." Smoker simply shrugged his shoulders and explained to her how to use it.

Not even five minutes later they were both puffing smoke.

"I hear that smoking here is quite unhealthy." Smoker said after some moments of silence.

"They are. They cause your lungs to blacken, lowering your stamina in the long run and can cause cancer." Amy said simply. Of course he wouldn't know. The man could turn into smoke and was literally named Smoker. "I'm immune to it though thanks to my power."

Smoker simply nodded in silence.

"And...they help me relax after a long day at the hospital, home or school." Or after dealing with Carol.

"Family problems I assume."

Amy nodded slowly, blowing a puff of smoke. These were pretty nice.

"Aren't you going to ask me about them?" Amy asked. She usually wasn't this open with her problems.

"It's not my business if you tell me or not. If you want to you can. Your choice. We barely know each other after all." Smoker said simply, causing the smoke to swirl around him casually. This guy was awesome.

"Tough love huh."

Smoker nodded. "Tough love."

They sat there in silence for a while, with Smoker even putting on a little show for her with his smoke. A few of his marines joined them with smaller cigarettes. Shit, she was going to smell like smoke. Oh well, she could manipulate something to change her odor.

"Ammmmmmy where are youuuu?"

There went her peace. Quickly taking the cigar out of her mouth, Amy threw it at Smoker who caughted it and removed the smoke surrounding her. Seeing this, the other marines quickly started hiding their cigarettes when Vicky and Tashigi entered the mess hall.

"There you are!" Vicky walked up to their small group. She caught sight of Smoker. "Hiya Papa Smoke."

Smoker scowled at Vicky. "Hello Glory Girl."

"Tsk tsk. Call me Vicky or Victoria out of costume old man." Vicky said as she sat in the seat next to Amy.

"When didja get back?" Vicky pulled out her phone.

"Not long ago." Amy said, sighing.

"Cool cool. Shoot, I'm going to be late for my date with Dean. You ready to go Amy?"

Great...another double date.

"Sure."

"Great!" Vicky turned to Tashigi. "I'll beat you next time." And turned to Smoker. "See ya Smokey. Thanks for having us over." Vicky quickly pulled out her phone and started talking to Tashigi again who kept trying to push her away.

"If you want a place to relax, Marine HQ is always open." Amy heard Smoker said softly who simply grinned.

Amy...was sure she was going to take him up on his offer in the future.

A/N

What's One Piece without some filler?
More fights will come in the future, maybe even sooner than you think. I just need Smoker and co settled in completely

 

[Krieg Schnee]

Being born in the Grand Line, and rising through the Marine ranks often meant a lot of training. Smoker was used to training. It meant getting stronger, better. He didn't rise to the rank of captain by being a slouch.

He punched an old ship as hard as he could. Smoker decided to train in the "Boat Graveyard". Plenty of room to train and try out new moves. He turned his entire body into smoke, and split off into different directions quickly, until reforming on the deck of an old rusted ship.

Smoker needed to get faster, stronger, better. The ship became blanketed in smoke and his body disappeared. He reformed a fist to smash into the hull of an old freighter, his jutte punctured a hole through an old engine. He turned back into smoke again.

If his crew was going to survive here, Smoker needed haki. He had seen its use many times when serving under Admiral Zephyr.

Smoker closed his eyes, and focused after reforming his body. He focused on the feeling he felt during his fight with Lung.

"RAAAAAA." Smoker focused into his fist and punched the hull, his fist going through. Nothing. He stared at his fist, turned the lower half of his body into smoke and flew up into the air, eventually turning all of himself into smoke.

He was going to need to train harder. Smoker was going to push himself to his limits. Lung was simply the start. Soon, Kaiser and his 'Empire', and Skidmark with his parasites. Smoker would be the exterminator this city needs. He reformed his body on the top of a ship's bridge.

Ring ring ring. His pocket started vibrating. Was Tashigi calling him? He took his phone out. Hmm, an unknown number. Not many people knew Smoker's personal phone number.

His eyes narrowed as he pressed the answer button, and placed it near his ear.

"I-Is this Smoker?" A young familiar voice said. The bug girl who was there with Lung. Smoker looked around slowly before answering.

"It is."

"I-I need help. I think the Undersiders know who I am." She said softly.

Smoker clenched his other fist. Damn cowards targeting a new hero in her civilian identity. While he didnt agree with wearing a mask and secret identities, it seemed like a necessity for those who don't wish for their families to become involved.

"Tell me where you are. I'll be right there."

Smoker was going to enjoy capturing them. He wouldn't make the same mistakes he did with Luffy.

He was sure of it.

---

Tashigi smiled when she heard the familiar whistle from her kettle pot. Yay! It's time for her coffee. She drank it black of course. Quickly preparing her cup by grinding some beans, Tashigi was enjoying her drink not even ten minutes later. Ahhh, bitter just like she liked it.

Sitting on her new coach, Tashigi let herself relax. Captain Smoker would work them all to death soon. He had already given her a few books on rokushiki. She would have to see which ones fit her style the most, but she would do her best to master them!

She took a few sips from her coffee mug, when she heard a knock at the door. Oooo her guest was here. Carefully placing her mug on her coaster, Tashigi went to answer the door.

"Hi Hannah!" Tashigi said happily. Miss Militia stood at the entrance to her door in her civilian clothes.

"Hi Tashigi." Hannah smiled in return. Tashigi felt honored that Hannah trusted her enough to reveal her secret identity.

"Come in." Tashigi motioned her in. "Would you like some coffee?" Hannah simply nodded with a small smile.

"Sit wherever you want." Tashigi said as she prepared another cup of coffee. Hannah went and took the seat across from Tashigi's.

"How do you like your coffee?"

"I like it black. Thank you."

Tashigi placed it on a coaster in front of Hannah and went back to her seat. She liked her talks with Hannah, it's not like she could talk about girl stuff with the guys. That would make most of them uncomfortable, and she was their superior officer. Plus Hannah's powers involving weapons were so cool!

"How was work?" Tashigi asked as she took a sip of her beloved coffee.

Hannah took a sip of her coffee as well.

"It was...ok. Armsmaster placed me in charge of the Wards." Hannah said and took a longer sip. Tashigi nodded along.

"It's tough?" Tashigi knew what she felt like. While most of the Marines were grown men, some acted like they were younger than they actually are. Most Alby.

"You have no idea. Shadow Stalker has been antagonizing the team, Clockblocker still keeps pranking Vista." Hannah sighed. "It's much harder than I thought it would be."

Yup, being in a position of authority was a lot of work. Organizing training, overseeing said training, dealing with Captain Smoker, the list just went on and on.

"It's hard being the one in charge." Tashigi said, finishing up her coffee. Hannah continued drinking her coffee nodding.

"Do you miss home?"

Tashigi paused for a second and thought about it. She did miss it a little, and her few friends that she had made back home.

"A little. I just had to change some of my goals.." Like her goal of gathering the meito's. Tashigi still had her book about them. "But as long as Captain Smoker is here, I'll be fine."

"You trust him that much?" Hannah asked, her coffee cup now empty.

"Yup. I trust Captain Smoker with my life." Tashigi looked into Hannah's green eyes with determination. "He believed in me when no one else did. I won't misplace his trust in me."

"I see." Hannah leaned back in her chair slightly, and looked out the window that faces the backyard. "Is all that a training dummy?"

"Yup! Most of it arrived yesterday." Tashigi had ordered some wooden swords, and an assortment of training equipment to turn her backyard into her training center. "Want to check it out?" Tashigi often trained with the other Marines, fighting up to five at a time, but it seemed they were tired of losing.

"Sure."

Too bad Alby wasn't here for shooting practice. He made an excellent target.

---

Adjusting her mask, Taylor swallowed the build up in her throat that she didn't know she had. It was...creepy. How did those criminals know who she was? Why did they want to meet her? Taylor's attempt at finding information on them was mostly a bust as there wasn't much information on the Undersiders period.

Everyone knew that Tattletale was a thinker who claimed to be a psychic, and it was obvious that Trainwreck was a tinker, but there was less information on Grue and Regent. Only Hellhound had the most news about her, a murderer. Her swarm covered Taylor's blind spots.

Taylor wasn't going to take any chances, even if she did help arrest Lung. That's why she called Smoker. Armsmaster would most likely want to get her to join the drama filled Wards, but Smoker just screamed badass rebel, despite the military theme the Marines had going for them.

Now she was standing at the mouth of an alleyway in the uninhabited part of the Docks. She had called him with a payphone across the street.

Taylor was soon taken out of her thoughts by the appearance of white smoke. Is he here yet?

"Boo." A voice said behind her, and Taylor squeaked, sending her swarm to her would be attacker. Turning around, she saw Smoker's grinning face as bugs flew around trying to swarm his smokey body.

Taylor quickly called her swarm back. "I'm sorry! You scared me." She felt...dumb.

Smoker simply waved it off and reformed his...body that seemed like a Greek gods. Damn fanart.

"You did the right thing. Killer instincts you have there." Smoker puffed out some smoke, yet Taylor didn't smell its signature odor?

"I-I guess." He was easily way taller than Taylor.

"You said the Undersiders, a group of criminals, have figured out your identity?" Smoker said simply with a calm voice.

Taylor nodded. "I was at a library when one of them texted me through PHO, wanting to meet up."

"Suspicious indeed."

Taylor had done the math. Independants didn't last long in Brockton Bay. She would be dead in six months or less. The Wards seemed so...untouchable, New Waves had an open mask policy, but the Marines seemed so...chill?

Their uniform literally included a baseball cap that said Marine in all caps. Plus they didn't seem all professional the night Lung was captured when they all scrambled to stop Smoker from killing that Alby guy.

Smoker fought for Taylor to get credit for Lung's capture, even standing up to Armsmaster for her. Hopefully her trust wasnt misplaced...like all those other times before.

"You said to call whenever I needed help."

Smoker nodded. He came immediately too, probably dropping everything he was doing to come meet her.

"I-If I join the Marines, would I have to unmask?"

Smoker kept looking at her smoking.

"I dont care."

What? Of course he wouldn't care about her-

"I don't care if you choose to unmask. That's your business. If you want to unmask to the public, your choice. If you want to unmask to the Marines, your choice." Smoker started speaking. Taylor stared at him in shock.

"If you want to unmask to a select few, that's your choice. Just know that if you join the Marines..."

Taylor felt his gaze burn through her mask's goggles.

"...I won't ask more of you than I would anyone else." She saw...the determination and passion in Smoker's eyes.

Smoker extended his hand. "It's your choice if you want to join or not. Just know that we will be by your side."

Taylor stared at his large hand and slowly, slowly reached out to grab it.

"Welcome to the Marines.." Smoker said slowly. Oh! He wanted to know if she had chosen a cape name. Shoot, she forgot to choose one. Glancing to her right, Taylor saw a spider she hadn't called into her swarm, weaving its web.

"Weaver."

Smoker grinned again, his cigars not falling out.

"Welcome to the Marines, Weaver."


A/N
This arc is finally over. Next chapter is going to be a PHO one. Mostly. Spoiler but it's going to be a Q and A. So feel free to dm/pm me some questions privately or post them in the thread. I'll put your username as the one asking the question. The chapter will be posted once I have enough so no hard feelings if yours isn't chosen.
BAM. Taylor is now part of the Marines. If anyone has a better name for her let me know and if I like it I'll go back and edit it in. You'll get credit of course.

 

[Krieg Schnee]

■

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■

♦ Topic: Marine Q&A
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay
SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Posted On Apr 7th 2011:
Hi everyone! I'm Tashigi with the Marines, Brockton Bay's newest hero team! We are new to town so we are having a Q&A so everyone can get to know us better! Don't worry, we don't bite. (...thank you Glory Girl for the idea stop bothering me about it!)
Captain Smoker, myself, and a handful of other Marines will be here to answer whatever questions everyone has!

(Showing page 1 of 5)

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
What do you guys think about Brockton Bay so far?

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Brocktonite03

Brockton Bay is very charming in its own way

►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE) (Pun master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
You single?

►Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Clockblocker

*smacks him on head*

Shaddup

@ SwordFreak

Do you wanna be friends????

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Clockblocker

Lol yes. Why?

@ Vista

Of course!!!

►Aloha
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
I heard that a marine named Alby drew that...delightful drawing of Smoker. Is that true?

►NotAlby (Artist) (Marine)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Aloha

Yuuup, but ya didnt hear it from me!!! >.>

►Eibon_Alain (Nice guy)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Does anyone know if Alby accepts orders???
I would like a drawing of sexy Smoker for my bike.

►NotAlby (Artist) (Marine)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@Eibon_Alain

Sure just send me a dm

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

(Showing page 2 of 5)

►Smoker (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Marine Leader) (Daddy)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@NotAlby

Im going to kill you

►Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Who's ya best friend?

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@Glory Girl

Uhhhhhhh

►bothad (Bored)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
We've all seen the footage about Smoker's fight with Lung, but what exactly are your powers?

►Smoker (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Marine Leader) (Daddy)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@bothad
Smoke

►Bagrat (The Guy in the Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Nice hats. Where can I get one?

►Gunderson (Marine)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@Bagrat
We will be selling replica's at the souvenir stand outside of Marine HQ.

►GstringGirl
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
What do the Marines plan on doing in the future?

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@GstringGirl
We plan on helping our local community to the best of our ability! And help the Protectorate as needed

►Kriketz
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Its true. I saw a video of Papa Smoker helping a little girl with her kite stuck in a tree. Sooooo cute!

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

(Showing page 3 of 5)

►Mr. Fabuu
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
I saw that video! Who knew that Smoker was such a softie!

►Ultracut
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
I was at the Boardwalk with my daughter when we accidently ran into him. Literally, and her ice cream fell on all over the sidewalk. Smoker literally gave her a ten dollar bill to go buy a bigger one

►Saskatchew
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
(This user has been temporarily banned)

►TheGnat
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
(This user has been temporarily banned)

►Tin Mother (Moderator) (Admin)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Please refrain from NSFW comments, post or answers.

►Concerned Mom (Karen)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Smoker is such a bad role model!! Promoting smoking and an unhealthy lifestyle!!

►Space Zombie
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@Concerned Mom
Stfu and leave daddy alone

►Tin Mother (Moderator) (Admin)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Please refrain from arguing

►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE) (Pun master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Hey Papa Smokey, how did you get all those muscles?

►Smoker (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Marine Leader) (Daddy)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Training

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

(Showing page 4 of 5)

►Aegis (Wards ENE)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Clockblocker
You need a dictionary to know what that means?

►Shadow Stalker (Wards ENE) (Edge Lord)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Clockblocker

Hahaha get burned mofo

►Miss Militia (Verified Cape) (Protectorate Employee)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Shadow Stalker
Language

►Robby
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Nice katanna. Does it have a name?

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Robby
Why thank you . Yes! Her name is Shigure

►Laserdream (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Sis, Ima need that workout

►NotAlby (Artist) (Marine)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@ Laserdream
Mine???.?

►Gunderson (Marine)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@NotAlby
Not you idiot

►Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@SwordFreak

*pouts*

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@Laserdream
My what?
@Glory Girl
._.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4

(Showing page 5 of 5)

►Armsmaster (Verified Cape) (Protectorate Employee) (Master Tinker) (Tin Mother's Man)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
I look forward to working with you Captain Smoker

►Smoker (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Marine Leader) (Daddy)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
Likewise

►SpecificProtagonist
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
@Smoker
Can I get your autograph??

►Smoker (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Marine Leader) (Daddy)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
What

►SwordFreak (Original Poster) (Verified Cape) (Marine) (Sword master)
Replied On Apr 7th 2011:
That'll be it for today! Thank you to everyone who asked questions. Im sorry if we didnt to your question. It was fun!

End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

■

♦ Topic: The Marines
In: Boards ► Brockton Bay
Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy in the Know) (Veteran Member)
Posted On Jan 1st 2011:
The Marines are Brockton Bay's newest hero team. Here is a list of what we know!
Smoker v Lung *here*
Smoker helping little kid with kite *here*
Tashigi being chased by Glory Girl and Panacea at the Boardwalk *here*

Smoker: The leader of the team and a powerhouse. According to my sources, he has been given the ratings of Brute 6, Mover 5, Breaker 3, Stranger 2, and Shaker 3. He also has become a celebrity overnight due to a....certain van. Smoker is always seen with at least two cigars in his mouth, and like his name suggest, controls smoke.

Tashigi: She apparently serves as the groups second in command. She is at least a Brute 4, Mover 1, and Thinker 1. She has been spotted with Glory Girl and Panacea in a very public altercation. Tashigi for some reason, also has the body of a goddess and wields a sword named Shigure.

Alby: The creator of the infamous porn van. Other than his skills in art, not much else is known about the Hentai Master.

Unknown Cape: During Smoker's fight with Lung, some have managed to point out that an unknown cape was also on the scene. Nothing else is known yet, but I will update the thread when information becomes available.

(Showing page 1 of 1)

►Glory Girl (Verified Cape) (New Wave)
Replied On Jan 1st 2011:
Make sure to put down that I'm Tashigi's best friend

►NotAlby (Artist) (Marine)
Replied On Jan 1st 2011:
Nice to see my skills are being appreciated.

End of Page. 1

■

A/N
Sorry the PHO thread is pretty bad

 

[Krieg Schnee]

Smoker was busy with some paperwork when someone knocked on the door to his office. Hmm, he didn't have any meetings lined up today. Last he heard, Tashigi had taken it upon herself to personally train their newest recruit, Weaver. The girl had killer instincts, a unique power, but little to no skill in hand to hand combat, or any kind of combat. Tashigi would be fixing that soon. Despite being a swordswoman foremost, Tashigi still knew the basics in hand to hand and would thrash the other Marines, mostly. Tashigi was the best swordswomen in Smoker's crew, and was easily stronger than all of them, except Smoker, but Gunderson had more technical skills in unarmed combat. Smoker would have prefered letting Gunderson take charge, but allowed Tashigi to take on her new protege since she kept bothering him.

The person behind the door seemed to have gotten tired of knocking and simply barged into the smoke filled room, revealing a tired Amy Dallon. She simply walked in and jumped onto his couch. Smoker gave her a weird look, but continued working at his desk. Stupid paperwork and online forms.

"I like what you've done with the place." Amy said, taking out a cigarette box she had stashed somewhere in the room from her previous visits.

"It helps me keep my focus." Smoker said simply, blowing some smoke from his mouth. He looked up slightly. "You don't usually arrive till after your hospital shift." Panacea usually came after school or her hospital shift to 'destress'. In a sense, Smoker was a glorified therapist. Honestly, he didn't mind. She seemed to have a lot of problems. Hina would have made fun of him.

"Had another fight with Carol. I didn't want to hangout with Vicky and Dean, so I decided to come here instead of school." She replied, smoking cigarette in hand. Smoker simply nodded and went back to work, a silence filling the smokey room. She played with her phone for a bit.

The Protectorate was going to be out of town for a few days, which meant New Wave, the Marines, and the Wards were going to be in charge of keeping the peace until they returned. Hellhound had been causing a ruckus, attacking Empire dog fighting rings. The ABB were surprisingly quiet, but Smoker was sure the silence wouldn't last long.

"Shit. I need to go to the bank in a few days."

Smoker simply grunted his response. Patrols needed to be organized. Squad One and Two would take over the Protectorate patrol's, which left eight more Marines beside himself and Tashigi. He supposed he could deploy two Marines to the Boardwalk to assist the Wards. The other six would remain at Marine HQ. Tashigi would lead Squad One, and Smoker would transfer Squad Two to Gunderson, with Weaver joining him. Yes, that would work well.

"You can control any type of smoke right? Not just the one you can make." Smoker heard Amy ask. She was getting...bolder when it came to asking questions, mostly about back home.

"Yes. If it's smoke, I can use it."

"Cool. So say if there was some type of knockout smoke, could you just…" She made some weird hand signs. "Control who it affects by preventing it from entering friendlies?"

That was...actually a good idea. He would look into that when he had time.

"Most likely."

Amy swelled up with pride. "Im so smart."

Smoker nodded and went back to his work for the hundredth time. The Undersiders were also surprisingly quiet after breaking into that casino. Smoker would catch them, and make sure that they stood trial to the full extent of the law. Tattletale would have to learn when to keep her mouth shut. In a fight, you always take out the thinker first, by any means. Causing some smoke to make spiral formations, Smoker spoke up.

"I know you're the one who took the kite video."

"Shoot."

-----

"One, two three, one, two, three. Catch up Weaver." Taylor took deep, deep breaths. Tashigi was making her do a workout more intense than anything Taylor had ever done. Currently they were in Marine HQ's workout room. They were doing jumping jacks for a whole hour now. Nonstop, jumping jacks.

"I-" Taylor started. "I'm trying." She knew she wasn't this unfit! Tashigi was wearing a simple tank top as she worked out next to Taylor, without breaking a simple sweat. Taylor tried to avoid looking at her.

"The body must be in shape if you're going to learn how to fight." Was all that Tashigi said. Wearing her mask made it harder.

"Remind me-" Deep breath, "Why do I have to wear my costume while doing this again?" Another deep breath. This made Tashigi pause for a second, causing Taylor to follow her example.

Taylor still hasn't revealed her identity yet. She wasn't sure how Tashigi would react to her neighbor being the Marine's newest recruit. Smoker, like he said, didnt care if she chose to reveal it or not. Taylor really appreciated that, though he seemed stricter than she thought he was.

"So you'll be used to fighting in it of course." Tashigi stretched for a few seconds before turning to Taylor. Taylor made sure she made eye contact.

"Our next workout, I want you to also focus on your swarm. Bother Alby with it or something. We're going to focus on you multitasking today." Tashigi really loved to bother Alby for some reason. What an overused gag. What is this? Some Earth Aleph comic book?

"Sure. What's next anyways?" Taylor bent over and stretched too. Her costume was going to smell like sweat and ass by the end of the day. Dad...didn't have to know. He was barely home anyways.

Tashigi walked over to a stand with some wooden swords, apparently an upgrade from clubs. She threw one to Taylor, which she barely caught.

"We're going to try out different styles of fighting to see which one fits you the most." Tashigi gave her sword a few practice swings. "Every Marine has their own unique style. Captain Smoker has his jutte, Gunderson has his fist…"

Tashigi entered a foriegn stance with her sword.

"I have my sword."

Shoot, Taylor wasn't going to like this. Tashigi kept a smile on her face.

"I want to see what you know before teaching you some stances."

Taylor definitely wasn't going to like this. No wonder that Kazuki guy cackled like he came out of an Earth Aleph cartoon when she told him Tashigi was going to train her.

Apparently, Tashigi used to serve as a drill sergeant before her promotion to Master Chief.

Attempting a pitiful imitation of Tashigi's stance, Taylor lunged at her.

This was going to hurt her more than Tashigi...literally.

A/N
The plot thickens. What types of Rokushiki do you guys want to see Taylor eventually learn? I have an idea for Tashigi, but it's not concrete yet. I have a lot of plans for the Undersiders, and Dinah. I hope they don't disappoint.
I'll write as much as I can as I'm currently unemployed. I didn't get to have my graduation or prom back in May but that's ok.

 

[Krieg Schnee]

"Ready for your first official patrol?" Tashigi was leading Weaver towards the garage, where Captain Smoker had called Squad One and Two for a pre-patrol meeting. Weaver was...nice! A little standoffish, and in need of some confidence, but Tashigi liked her! She worked hard whenever they did training, and refused to back down when losing. Weaver even managed to avoid a strike or two, not that Tashigi was going all out. That would be unfair, but Weaver seemed more confident afterwards!

"A little." Weaver replied nervously. She was wearing her grey uniform, with a standard Marine cap on her head, obviously looking out of place. They didn't want her to be confused for a criminal after all! Tashigi understood why she wore her mask too, they need to earn each other's trust.

Tashigi placed a hand on the taller yet younger girl's shoulder and smiled. "You'll be fine. Gunderson is an excellent Marine, just like you."

Weaver seemed to perk up a bit after that. Not long after, they arrived and walked up to the small group gathered around Captain Smoker.

"It seems that everyone is here now." Captain Smoker started speaking. Everyone stared straight at him. He stared back, smoking his two cigars casually. "Squad One led by Tashigi will take Protectorate route 1. Squad Two led by Gunderson will take route 2."

Tashigi and Gunderson nodded. Captain Smoker had given Gunderson the brevet rank of Staff Sergeant.

"Squad One will drop off Kazuki and Spencer near the Boardwalk to handle the Ward's normal patrol." The two Marines nodded.

"I will be on standby should any emergency arise." Captain Smoker made eye contact with every single Marine. Weaver seemed nervous under his gaze.

"One last thing before we depart." Tashigi gripped Shigure.

"Back home, many of our fellow Marines would preach to follow the rule of Absolute Justice…" Tashigi had told Weaver about the truth of their arrival. Keeping secrets from her would only alienate Weaver from them. She took it...surprisingly well.

"To eradicate all evil, by any means necessary. To fight evil, with evil for the greater good. Some even preached Thorough Justice, that evil must be burned down to its roots…" Captain Smoker made eye contact with Tashigi. It was true, many of their fellow Marines followed these interpretations.

"Some would even say that evil must be cleansed from the hearts of villains." Smoker paused and looked at Weaver. "Do you know what I say?"

Gunderson looked at Mifune who shrugged in confusement.

"I say...follow your own personal justice." Smoker said with conviction. "Follow the justice that's in your heart! FOLLOW THE JUSTICE THAT YOU CREATE." Kazuki had a tear running down his eye, with Weaver taking a deep breath.

Tashigi saw Captain Smoker's determined eyes soften slightly. "Stay safe out there and don't do anything stupid. Dismissed."

They all saluted. It was time to make Captain Smoker proud.

-*-

Shortly after dropping Kazuki and Spencer at the Boardwalk, Tashigi's squad followed their GPS to their patrol route. Mifune was driving the van, while Tashigi sat in the passenger seat. The other five sat in the back.

"Mind if I play some music?" Mifune asked. He kept begging since they left Marine HQ.

Tashigi sighed and nodded. "Fine, but not so loud. We need to be on guard."

"Yay!" He turned on the radio, and some song in a language Tashigi didn't know started playing. A tapping took Tashigi out of her thoughts. Private Seo had opened the tiny door that allowed those in the back to talk to the front.

"Mifune put something else on, your music is ass." Seo said dryly. Mifune bristled at that and simply turned up the volume.

Tashigi sighed and ignored them. This was going to be an extremely long patrol.

"Hey Master Chief, do you see that?" Mifune said pointing at something with one hand, with the other firmly on the wheel. Tashigi looked up, and saw a young girl being chased by some men dressed in black suits. Suspicious indeed. The young girl caught sight of them, and started running in their direction. That was...worrisome.

"Keep the engine running. I'll go and check it out." Tashigi quickly got out of the van and ran to the young girl, her sheathed Shigure in hand. She didn't notice the vans radio come to life as dhe got off.

"Please help me Miss!" The young girl said quickly as she slammed into Tashigi's legs with tears streaming down her face. Kneeling down, Tashigi patted the young girl on the head, keeping an eye on the men in black suits.

"Slow down. Who are they?" The young girl looked up at Tashigi, her face wet from tears.

"There's an 80 percent chance that if I go with them something bad will happen to me." What? Was she a parahuman?

The group of men got closer to them. Keeping her hand on shigure, Tashigi stood up, standing in front of the young girl.

"Please step away from Miss Alcott. Her family had contacted us that she ran away." The one standing in front said, his hand on his holster. Tashigi quickly glanced down at the girl who shook her head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Tashigi replied firmly. These were kidnappers then. Their leader quickly pulled out his gun, but Tashigi was faster. Slicing his pistol in the same motion as she unsheathed Shigure, Tashigi placed the tip of Shigure at his throat. The men next to him pulled out their own guns, but simply pointed them at Tashigi.

The footsteps behind Tashigi told her that she wasn't alone. Private Seo finally decided to come help.

"Step away from the Master Chief." Private Seo said, pointing his gun at a kidnapper. The other Marines, except Mifune, had joined them. Their guns and cutlasses aimed at the suited men. Tashigi had to admit, they hid their nervousness well.

"95 percent chance that you'll win." Miss Alcott mumbled softly. Tashigi smiled softly. She liked those odds.

The Leader of the would-be kidnappers pressed a finger to the weird device in his ear, and quickly barked orders, telling his men to lower their weapons.

Tashigi glared at them as they ran away. Turning back to the young girl, Tashigi knelt again.

"I'm Tashigi. What's your name?" Tashigi gave her a comforting smile as Private Seo and the others formed a protective circle around them.

The little girl hugged her and whispered in Tashigi's ear. "I'm Dinah Alcott." Tashigi patted her head and picked her up.

"We'll take you someplace safe." They quickly walked back to the van, with Private Seo sitting in the front with Mifune so Tashigi could sit in the back with Dinah.

"Do you want us to take you home?" Tashigi asked, Dinah still holding onto her. She simply shook her head.

"96.73 percent chance that they'll get me."

"Police station?"

"99.88 percent chance they'll get me." Tashigi's eyes widened. Why were they after this sweet young girl?

"And if we take you to Marine HQ?"

"99 percent chance I'll be safe." She must be a parahuman. Tashigi nodded and opened the tiny door to the front.

"Take us to Marine HQ and contact Captain Smoker." Tashigi ordered. Seo handed her the radio as Mifune changed course.

"T-This is Weaver." Weaver's voice answered instead of Captain Smoker. What was going on here?

"Weaver, where's Captain Smoker?"

"The Undersiders are robbing the Brockton Bay Central Bank, Captain Smoker just went in."

This wasn't good. He must have left Weaver with the radio since her bugs allowed her to control the battlefield.

"Ok. Tell Captain Smoker we prevented an attempted kidnapping and are heading back to base." Weaver confirmed on her side and the connection suddenly went out. Tashigi looked at the other Marines and Dinah, who simply looked back at her.

"Step on the gas Mifune." Tashigi said calmly. She felt the van speed up.

"70 percent chance they'll try to attack your base." Dinah said softly. Tashigi cursed internally and called Marine HQ.

"Contact Quartermaster Shoko. I'm activating Siege Protocol: Loguetown. Be ready for our arrival."

"Bravo-Delta-Zoro."

Tashigi got a good look at the side mirror from her spot at the door.

A few unmarked cars were following them at a distance.

If they want to get Dinah, they'll have to step over Tashigi's cold dead body.

This is the justice that she would choose.

 

[Krieg Schnee]

Shortly after Smoker's speech, Taylor boarded the van that Squad Two was assigned to, ignoring that Kazuki guy's jealous stare. Now she was sitting in the back of a van, surrounded by men she had only seen in passing. Most were about her height, if not slightly taller, and despite looking goofy in their uniform, all kept the face of a professional.

Taylor made the wrong assumptions before she joined up apparently. At least she won't be mistaken for a villain with the Marine cap sitting on her head. It looked stupid and out of place on her. Taylor leaned her head back and sighed.

Her first official patrol with the Marines. Hopefully she wouldn't mess it up. After a minute or so, someone else got on and off they went.

Gathering her swarm quietly, Taylor started marking the Marines, did that guy really have ticks? Apparently he does.

"First time right?" A voice to her left said. Turning her head slightly, Taylor saw Gunderson with a small smile. He was...about above average if it came to looks, with shoulder length blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His hair didn't seem like it belonged in hand-to-hand combat.

"Yeah."

Gunderson nodded and sat back relaxing. "You must be something special since Captain Smoker and the Master Chief seem interested in you."

Taylor blushed softly. How come everyone was saying that?

"Really?" Taylor asked. Gunderson nodded his head again.

"Yup. Captain Smoker may seem all tough on the outside, but he's a big old teddy bear on the inside." Gunderson said simply. The Marine to Taylor's right started snickering.

"I'll let him know you said that Sarge." He said with a grin. Gunderson's face dropped as fast as lightning.

"Please don't. I don't want to be the next Alby." They argued for a little bit before calming back down.

Gunderson turned his attention back to Taylor. "Captain Smoker may seem all strict, but he cares about each and every one of us." He smiled again. Taylor nodded. Everyone seemed to be telling her this.

"Patrol route starting now." The driver said from the front. Taylor closed her eyes, and focused on her bugs, spreading them out, while keeping a swarm ready to respond if needed.

Gunderson simply cracked his knuckles, while the Marine on her right prepped his pistol. Taylor had seen their firearms from their world...and they were a bit old fashioned. Smoker had the Marines upgrade their arsenal with modern weaponry, but kept their swords and stuff. Taylor was stuck with her baton and pepper spray until they were sure she wouldn't accidentally hurt someone.

"Attempted mugging in the alleyway to our right." She directed a few dozen roaches up the man's pants. He quickly freaked out and dropped his gun when a few butterflies dropped a spider on his hand.

Their van stopped, and Gunderson immediately started shouting orders.

"Kilpatrick, Ichiro go assist. Jiro, call the police."

The Marine to Taylor's right immediately jumped up and ran out the van. The man surrendered as soon as he saw the Marines approach him. Not even five minutes later they were on their way again, the police taking over from there.

"Good job Weaver." Taylor felt Gunderson pat her on her shoulder. It was surreal...being called Weaver. Taylor simply nodded quickly as she spread her bugs out again.

She would have to build more hives. Maybe that could be a project in her off time.

Suddenly, their radio came to life.

"The Undersiders are robbing the Brockton Bay Central Bank. Hostages confirmed. The Wards have been deployed, but further assistance will be needed." The PRT agent on the radio said. Taylor froze slightly.

"Smoker enroute." Smoker's deep voice said over the radio. Gunderson grabbed the radio.

"Marine Squad Two enroute."

Taylor gripped her baton.

It was time to be a hero.

---

Smoker narrowed his eyes as he saw the scene that was unfolding before him. PRT officers had formed a defensive line behind a cloud of darkness. The Ward's were in there fighting the Undersiders, a mostly unknown yet elusive group of criminals.

This darkness was produced by the one known as Grue. Well, it wasn't darkness, but more like a special type of smoke.

Smoker grinned as he raised his smokey fist and slowly had part of the darkness swirl.

This cloud of darkness was made of smoke. Turning to the PRT officer next to him, Smoker opened his mouth.

"When my men arrive, have them cut off any route of the Undersiders escaping."

The officer nodded, and Smoker walked into the darkness. The Officers never noticed him making a pathway clear of the black smoke. The darkness that protected them would prove to be their downfall.

Smoker started spreading his own smoke and kept grinning.

The Undersiders were screwed.

---

Lisa didn't like taking hostages. She prefered her jobs being simple, in and out with a load of cash. Just like the Casino job, but the Boss said take some hostages in broad daylight and cause a lot of attention, so she did just so. It's not like Lisa had a choice anyways.

Now she was stuck here, a gun aimed at Glory Girl, while Alec had a knife at Panacea's throat. For some reason Brian had decided to cover the front of the bank in his black stuff. Fighting happening outside. Trainwreck is beating Kid Win's ass, Clockblocker managed to freeze one of Bitch's dogs. Gallant's armor is being chewed up by another one. Shit, that wasn't good. This would have been easier if they had bug girl instead of Trainwreck. Maybe Lisa shouldn't have texted her in her civilian identity.

"Get in the vault Glory Hole, and I won't pull your family apart." Lisa said with her signature grin. It was fun getting on people's nerves, it made them angry, which meant they made more mistakes.

"What are you talking about?" Glory Hole seethed as she stood there. Not willing to risk the safety of her sister. Lisa gave Panacea a sideway look. Is desperately in love with her sister. Wants to give me cancer and acne.

"The truth about your sister's adoption of course."

"Can you guys hurry it up? I wanna go home." Alec whined, though he never moved the knife away from Panacea's throat.

"Everyone knows, it's a public record."

"Tsk tsk tsk. I don't mean that." Lisa eyed both of them.

"I mean the truth of her parentage." Panacea's eyes widened. Wants to know, but not know at the same time. Glory Girl seems confused.

"Your daddy dearest was a villain who was Birdcaged by the Brockton Bay Brigade." Lisa started, all while keeping her grin. Panacea in shock. Never expected father to be criminal. Now understands why her adopted mother treats her that way. Damn this girl had problems. "They raided his home, and found his daughter hiding in a closet." Lisa stared at Panacea who looked away uncomfortably.

Glory Hole took a step forward, when Lisa fired her gun, the bullet easily bouncing off of her forcefield.

"We both know the next bullet will go through so get in the damn vault." Lisa said slowly. She wants to punch my organs in.

"Want to know who daddy is?" Glory Girl stood her ground, while Panacea simply stared at her reflection on the floor.

"Amy Dallon's father is-"

They were interrupted by a body smashed through the window, and the darkness suddenly disappeared. Trainwreck's mangled body unconscious on the floor. Trainwreck got his ass beat. What! By who-

Smoke started flooding the room. Not tear gas or tinkertech. Only one hero in the Bay is associated with smoke. Smoker. Oh shit.

Alec was then thrown against the wall by the smoke . Can control the density of the smoke. Lisa had to get out of here. Glory Girl quickly flew towards her, but paused when Lisa fired off two more bullets. Where was he?

Then, Lisa went flying and slammed against the wall. That was going to hurt tomorrow. Groaning, Liss tried standing up, only for the dense smoke to be circling around her like a snake. Smoker has fine control over smoke. Took over Grue's darkness to keep me occupied. Grue's darkness was a form of smoke. This was bad. Struggling against the smoke, Lisa's lack of strength failed her.

"Hehehe." A familiar face started forming in the smoke. With two cigars, a large grin that easily matched Lisa's own, Smoker's face stared back at her. Is angry that I approached Bug Girl in her civilian identity. Easily defeated Trainwreck, Bitch and her dogs. Gallant and Kid Win defeated Grue. Restrained Glory Girl from spilling my guts. Wants me to stand trial. Well that was comforting at least.

Reforming his body, Smoker stared down at her.

"Tattletale, you're under arrest."

At least she would temporarily be safe from the Boss. Now if she could only stop Glory Hole from killing her.

A/N
Better fight scenes will come soon. Smoker vs the Undersiders would be extremely one sided. be extremely one sided.