One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 548 - AWOL

"Mother fucker, you better not have run off where I think you've run off to," Fleet Admiral Kuzan growled into the receiver of his den den mushi.

"Don't try to stop me, Aokiji! This is the perfect opportunity to take them out while they're still weak from fighting each other!" Admiral Aramaki shouted from the snail's mouth.

"Like hell it is!" Aokiji flipped his desk with an icy hand. It didn't come back down, but instead froze to the ceiling of his office. "I know for a fact that you read the reports about Whitebeard sweeping up Kaido's territories! Fire Fist was involved in that nonsense in Wano, which means you'll probably get there at just about the same time as Whitebeard does if you're unlucky! I might hate your guts, but I'm not about to let you throw your life away when the marines still have use for you!"

"I'll be sneaky!" Ryokugyu argued.

"You'll be sneaky? You?!" Aokiji wished he had a second desk to flip. "You'd wake up an entire cemetery if you tried to sneak through it! TURN. AROUND."

"..." Ryokugyu was silent on the other end, uncharacteristically so.

"Well?" Aokiji simmered.

"No," Ryokugyu finally said.

"I'm sending Fujitora after you," Aokiji hung up, only hearing the beginning of Ryokugyu's shouted response before the call ended.

Aokiji slumped into his seat, nearly toppling it over as he leaned back and covered his face with both hands.

Sengoku chuckled at him.

"Was I ever as bad as him?" Aokjii asked.

"Yes. In some ways you were worse, since Ryokugyu at least likes to work when he runs off," Sengoku answered.

"He isn't even going to work this time!" Aokiji growled. "He just wants revenge after Cheapshot set his ass on fire in Mary Geoise!"

"Maybe he'll take a few out with him when he inevitably fails?" Sengoku proffered.

Aokiji gave him a deadpan look and Sengoku laughed at it. They both knew that was impossible to accept. If the Five Elders caught wind that Aokiji had purposefully let one of his admirals die, then he would certainly be the next one on the chopping block.

He had originally thought that the jump between Vice Admiral and Admiral would be the greatest loss of freedom, but surprisingly a Fleet Admiral was even more restricted than he could have imagined. It almost made him wish he'd let Sakazuki have it. Almost.

"Are you actually going to send Fujitora after Ryokugyu?" Sengoku asked after a moment of silence.

"Of course I am," Aokiji said. "He's the only one I can trust to de-escalate whatever mess Ryokugyu gets himself into."

"Huh," Sengoku put a handful of crackers into his mouth without breaking eye contact.

"... Oh, you've got to be shittin' me!" Aokiji quickly dialed Fujitora's personal den den mushi number.

It rang several times. Each passing second made Aokiji's blood cool by a degree until it was literally freezing solid.

*Gacha*

Aokiji's blood pressure dropped considerably in relief.

"Hello? Who is this?" Then a voice that was decidedly not Fujitora answered.

"Who are you and WHY DO YOU HAVE ADMIRAL ISSHO'S PERSONAL DEN DEN MUSHI?!?!?!" Aokiji exploded.

"Uhhhhhhh..." *Click*

Everyone in Marine Headquarters suddenly felt a chill go down their spines.

...

*Click*

"Never would have guessed you were the type," Ryokugyu said. "Especially after Dressrosa."

"No?" Fujitora put away his den den mushi. "I didn't join the marines to sit on my hands, I'll have you know. Kaido's forces are likely to be scattering to the winds as we speak and the damage they will wreak upon the innocent cannot be estimated. We must stop them before it comes to that."

"Speak for yourself. I'm going after the big bounties," Ryokugyu said.

"It wouldn't kill you to at least try to care about the collateral damage, Aramaki," Fujitora scolded.

"If you don't like the way I do thing then let go of my leg!" Ryokugyu shook his foot a bit to get his point across.

"Without my antigravity it will take you a couple more days to reach Wano. They might all be gone by then," Fujitora spoke calmly.

Ryokugyu clicked his tongue because Fujitora was right. He'd already pointed out that fact about half a dozen times since they went AWOL and it was really grating on his nerves. Ryokugyu swore to himself that he'd leave Fujitora on Wano after this was over.

"How did you do that voice change thing?" Ryokugyu asked, mostly to fill the silence.

"The power of Gravity has many uses, including making the air in my lungs either lighter or heavier as I please," Fujitora demonstrated within his own explanation.

"Shit, really?" Ryokugyu would never admit it, but he thought that was really cool. Too bad it was wasted on this lame old man. "Why'd you lie to Aokiji anyways? You heard him when I was talking to him, he was going to send you after me anyways."

"Well, I wasn't a hundred percent certain that he would," Fujitora reasoned. "But also, it's just really fun to get on his nerves."

"Isn't it?!" Ryokugyu laughed. Maybe Ryokugyu co-workers weren't quite as bad as he originally thought they were.

It would have been better if his hero, Akainu, had become Fleet Admiral instead, though. A lot of people disagreed with him on that point.

...

"Franky!" Cherry caught up to the cyborg.

"Hm? Did something happen, Cherry?" Franky asked.

"Well, nothing important. I just thought I'd ask if you wanted to see it," Cherry said.

"See what?" Franky tilted his head at a perfect 45 degree angle.

Cherry gave him a toothy smile. "A very, very old ship."

"Well of course I'd want to see a-!" Franky paused in his shipwright fanboying as his mind caught the implication of her words. "Y-you don't mean...?"

Cherry's devilish cackle all but confirmed it for him.

Franky gulped, suddenly finding his mouth quite dry and even his internal thirst quencher system couldn't quite keep up with it.

"That is here in Wano?!" Franky whisper-shouted to her, as if anyone would understand what they were alluding to if they overheard.

"Yep," Cherry nodded. "I went looking for it after things calmed down and I happened to find it. SUPER lucky too, because it's crazy well hidden."

"I should hope so!" Franky almost shouted. "You shouldn't even be looking for it! What if someone followed you?"

"Nobody can follow me without me knowing, Franky," Cherry raised an eyebrow daring him to challenge that assertion.

"Whatcha talking about all secret-like over here?" Brook asked, making both Franky and Cherry nearly jump out of their skins.

""Nothing!"" Franky and Cherry denied in unison, sharing a conspiratorial glance.

"That's wildly suspicious, but I'll leave you to it," Brook walked away, somehow whistling to himself without lips.

"Nobody, huh?" Franky asked.

"Brook doesn't count!" Cherry rejected. "My sixth sense doesn't work on dead guys and he's really light on his feet!"

"Ahuh," Franky crossed his arms.

They stood there staring at each other for almost half a minute before Franky cracked. "Damn it all, I want to see it!"

"Hehehehe~! I knew you would!" Cherry rubbed her hands together. "Maybe we can take it out for a test drive? Blow up a country or two?"

"No!" Franky hissed and Cherry laughed at how serious he was.