redhairedknight | Mission 20 [voice]

Eat lots of popsicles.

[ What... summer is perfect for them and it seems like a good answer to the question. In fact, it sounds like she's slurping on something that may be a popsicle. ]

Fishing.. are ya not good at it or something?

...That wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Besides, I'm sure I'd get sick of popsicles eventually. [Cake, on the other hand... XP]

It's not that - the fish here are rather small. [At least, that's what she keeps telling herself - she's not about to admit that she might be bad at something.]

How can ya get sick of popsicles? [ This is like

blasphemy to her :| ] Well I guess they aren't for everyone. There's a ton of summer food though.

... The fish are small? Really? Hm.

[ CHALLENGE. ACCEPTED. ]

You can get sick of basically anything if you eat a lot of it, at least in my experience. I'm sure some of my friends would argue with that, though. ["Some of her friends" eat fire and metal, though, so their appetites aren't exactly what most people would call normal.]

Yes, from what I could catch on the shore. ...Maybe if I got a boat and went further out, I'd find something that's significantly larger. It would have to be a big boat, though... Wouldn't want it to sink when I get them on the deck...

[Oh Damn it. Figures he'd miss her being a cute kid.]

Ice cream. And training.

[At least he didn't say stacking rocks this time? Clearly he needs a hobby though.]

Ice cream's certainly been a popular suggestion. And as far as training goes, I'd like to try spreading it out a bit. I've been sticking to the battle dome recently, but the old-fashioned training methods in the barracks tend to work well.

I'm more of a barracks fan really.

Although it's good to have something else to do.

Speaking of "something else to do", I heard you wanted to start some kind of police force, right? How's that coming along?

So far I've got two interested people, but they're both pretty damn competent. Thinking of joining?

I'm certainly considering it; it would be nice to have something like that in place, even if it just acted as a deterrent. What sort of people have shown interest so far?

Especially if it was a deterrent.

Ginia, she's mute, but tough and great with technology and the journals. Kind of reminds me of Tashigi actually.

And Inspector Zenigata is a professional international cop, several decades on the job. Can't ask for more than that.

I suppose. I can't see it stopping people like Yuber from behaving like they normally do, but at least it'll help stop most criminals.

They certainly sound like the right sort of people for the job. ...Who's Tashigi?

Fair point, but some is better than nothing.

My Ensign -- second in command.

At least it would save the village a lot of headaches in general.

It's good that you've found someone like that, then. If she reminds you of someone you trust, then that's definitely a good sign.

Indeed.

I hope so anyway. If I had an army of Tashigi I could probably rule the world. [Not that he wants to. Too many headaches. BUT YES, he trusts her.]

...You never struck me as the sort of person who'd want that. Too much paperwork, plus you'd be considered too important to go out and arrest criminals personally.

Way too much paperwork. And complaints, and fighting all these additional wars, and getting complaints about dumb things like weather. I'll definitely pass on that.

People complain to the government about the weather? Seriously?

Weather's a bit more treacherous in my world. And people; a lot more stupid.

Still, have you seen this place? People complain about anything.

I suppose, but in our case, we know that certain people are responsible for just about everything bad that happens here.

What do you mean "treacherous"? It's just weather - it can be predicted, to some extent.

Usually, but even then, how many things get attributed to them that they didn't directly cause? Just that people are here. People will find a way to complain.

Not on the Grand Line. It's a lot more insane there. And some devil fruit users can have an effect. Not to mention illegal substances.

I suppose so. But as long as there are people out there willing to try and do something about the problems that the world faces, everything should turn out all right.

From what I've heard about Devil Fruit users, that seems believable. What kind of substances are you talking about, though? [Aside from magic, she can't think of anything from her world that can change the weather.]

Agreed. Or at least, better than it was before.

Boogie Powder. When burnt the ash and smoke collect moisture in the atmosphere to cause rain to fall early on that spot. Which can cause huge problems and droughts where the rain would have normally carried to. It's outlawed all over the world of course.

...That could be useful in areas where there already droughts, but I could see how that would be problematic if it wound up being abused. Compared to that, the problems of my world sound so simple. Gangs of bandits, rampaging cities, illegal mage guilds...

We have bandits and pirates that rampage cities as well. [Yeah... he didn't catch the meaning of a city going on the rampage....]

Illegal mage guilds?

...Well, they do attack cities, but I mean the actual city being used as a weapon. It doesn't happen often, but I had to deal with one just before I was brought here.

They're guilds that break laws and lose the recognition of the Magic Council, but continue operating regardless. Their numbers range anywhere from thousands of mages to just six. Some use forbidden dark magic to cause chaos and destruction, while others simply have no qualms with murder, but all of them are threats to the stability of the world.

How do you use a city as a weapon? [Too bad Smoker doesn't know of the events in Movie 7 or 10...]

Thousands? Hn. Those do sound troublesome. Like pirate crews or criminal organizations I suppose... Did you often deal with them?

It's a long story. An ancient tribe used magic to make their city mobile by giving it giant legs, and they turned it into a weapon that would turn evil individuals into good ones. All of that negative energy built up over time, and eventually, the city could also reverse the process, turning good people evil if the person controlling it desired that. Anyone who couldn't be converted to whichever side the user wanted would be simply crushed. We managed to destroy the city, thankfully, so nobody should be able to use its power again. [She acts as though destroying a city is normal. Then again, she acted similarly when she said that she would destroy the moon, though thankfully she never intended to literally do that.]

Quite often, yes. Though generally, I've found that the more members a Dark Guild has, the weaker the individual members are, not counting the high-ranking ones. Usually, it's the smaller groups that need to be worried about.

I see... [No he doesn't, but crazyness is all part of the New World, might as well start trying to get used to it.] How does it turn someone evil?

So exactly like pirate crews or criminal organizations then. Baroque Works was completely based around that. The smaller the number, the stronger the member was. The "millions" and "billions" were just the low level flunkies of the group, and then the higher members were code-named things like Mr. 12 or Mr. 3.

I never witnessed the process first-hand, thankfully, but from what I heard, it happens automatically if someone's in the area. It effects people who are wavering in their alignment quicker - if someone who's considered evil has good intentions, for example, then they'll switch sides faster than someone who is pure evil.

Really... So how powerful was Mr. 1, then?

Unnerving.

Daz Bones was pretty strong. He was an infamous pirate hunter in the West Blue known as "The Killer." I'm not sure what level he was put into in Impel Down, but he was with Crocodile when Straw-Hat broke them out. Idiot.

I see... And who's Crocodile?

An ex-shichibukai. A shichibukai is a legalized pirate. Crocodile was the head of Baroque Works; Mr. 0 and running the organization as an attempt to overthrow a country and use Nico Robin to find weapons capable of destroying half of the world.

Legalizing piracy? That seems to be self-contradicting.

That's just... I can't even imagine destruction on that scale.

And it doesn't work well. Crocodile was working against the government, Jinbei turned on them when they wanted him to fight his old friends, Blackbeard just used them to break out prisoners from Impel Down. And Boa Hancock is a bitch who fought marines when she was pretending to be helping them. I can't wait to see who they've got in mind for it now.

Hn... And hopefully it'll never be seen.

If all of them are like that, I can hardly see why they're even needed. Still, you can hardly fault someone for standing by their friends - if you betray your friends in their hour of need, you're less than scum in my eyes.

While I agree, pretending to have new friends for personal gain only to betray them likewise is perhaps only to be expected of pirates.

Yes, that's extremely deplorable as well. Still, if they clearly can't be trusted, why doesn't your government remove the position entirely?

Desperation. It was believed to be the only means of holding the pirate emperors in check. Turn pirates on other pirates. Sometimes they do more good than harm, but they're certainly unreliable and untrustworthy.

Pirate emperors? What are those?

I suppose it all depends on how much each of them obeys orders. Which, from what you said, doesn't sound like it happens often.

4 top class pirate crews. One of them was said to be as strong as Gold Roger himself, and the others are just as powerful.

Definitely not. They don't take orders, they simply pretend to let their interests coincide with the government's, and only so long as that's useful to them.

...I see. The only similar title I can think of from back home would be the Ten Wizard Saints, the ten most powerful mages as recognized by the council, but that title is only given to members of legal guilds, not criminals. [Here, she smiles, filled with pride.] The master of my guild, Makarov, is one of them.

Are there responsibilities to go with the title?

Nothing in particular for the title itself. However, wizards who have that level of power tend to be guild masters, if not members of the council itself, so they must act in a way that provides a good example for the rest of the wizarding community.

...Some wizards, however, let the title go to their head - one waged a war on our guild over a petty grudge, because he believed that the title meant that he was unstoppable. His title was removed shortly after, thankfully, and his guild was disbanded.

I see. So just a note of strong members of the citizenry? That can do magic.

...That's simplifying it significantly, but yes.

They're not anymore beholden to anyone just from being given the title?

Well, they're usually leaders to begin with, so I suppose not. But the title recognizes their importance and influence in the magical community, as well as their power, so it's quite an honour to receive it.

Sounds like a pretty impressive honor I suppose then.

It certainly is.

[And, now that it's come to mind...] ...Also, as far as that law enforcement group that you're planning - what sort of laws would you be enforcing? Aside from the obvious things, like no killing, or no stealing. [Seeing as everything's free here, that last one might not mean much, but it's the principle of the thing that matters.]

Just that. [It's definitely the principle, because why else would anyone steal?]

Most laws only come into place when they become necessary, so might as well operate on that philosophy for now.

Makes sense. Too many rules at once, and some people seem to get annoyed. [She doesn't understand it herself, but it's something that she's noticed over the years.]

I'm that way myself. [At least he can admit it?]

[Admitting that you have a problem is the first step towards solving it. Or something.] Figured you might be. Plus, with a group this small, trying to keep track of a large amount of laws might become a hassle.

Precisely. And while I have personal reasons to prefer otherwise; I do agree that events from other worlds cannot be punished here. Only things that happen here.

Really? And what sort of reasons would those be? [As far as she knows, the only pirates from his world who are here would be the Straw Hat Pirates, and they don't seem to be a big enough threat that Smoker would still want them arrested here. She supposes that appearances could be deceiving, but she still has her doubts.]

My prey from home is here. But here, much as I hate to admit it, he's more help to the citizens left free than captured.

...I see. Any other pirates from your world here? I find it best to stay informed on that sort of thing.

The Straw Hat Crew, the Heart Pirates, Blackbeard, and I believe Marco of the former Whitebeard pirates.

"Former"? Did that crew mutiny against their captain?

One member did, but Whitebeard was killed, no one's sure what direction Marco will take the crew now. I doubt he's even told his own crew members. Assuming he knows himself.

Hm... Well, replacing a leader is always hard, I suppose. I'm just glad that my guild hasn't had to deal with anything like that back home, though there have been some close calls... If the master died, I don't know what we'd do.

Hn. I suppose guilds and pirate crews are closer with their leaders then.

Our immediate leaders, maybe. The council that oversees all of the mage guilds has made some... questionable decisions as of late. Besides, if you were replaced or dismissed back home, I'm sure that the people working for you wouldn't want anyone else in charge. [Smoker may be grouchy, but he seems like he'd be a good leader.]

[Snorts.] I'd rather my crew didn't follow me, though I suppose I have no choice when we go to the New World.

I was thinking more about Sengoku and the Admirals though. Fuck knows what'll happen now.

I'm sure they come in handy. Many hands make light work, after all.

So something happened to your higher-ups as well? Your world must have been through a lot, then. [Well, more than usual, anyways.]

Hopefully.

Yeah well... there's no way Sengoku is going to stay in power after everything at Marineford. As for which admiral becomes the new fleet admiral, and who then takes that admiral's place, that remains to be seen.

Which of these admirals do you think would be best for the job? [She's heard a bit about the higher rankings of the Marines previously, though she hopes that at least one of them is a decent person.]

[Shrugs.]

Hm.

Aokiji is sick of his desk job, but he has the best sense of justice. Maybe if he makes enough changes, he can just run it his own damn way. Akainu is more likely to have the government's favor though since he killed Fire-Fist, but he goes way overboard, and they'd have to be delusional to think they could control him. Not to mention some has to try to deal with Blackbeard, it's likely to be the strongest fighter they can egg on. Weirdly, I think Kizaru would be fine, just because it's unexpected to the world, he's good at desk jobs and fighting, and he doesn't get too extreme.

It's not my position to decide though. And Aokiji is an old friend, so for my sake, if he's the Fleet Admiral, it's more likely I'd be able to get the position in the New World that I want.

I see. Well, I suppose it's good that two of the three candidates are decent people, for your world's sake. The third one, Akainu - what do you mean when you said that he goes overboard? [I don't recall if she's heard about the Buster Call or not, but at any rate, some of those comments set off alarm bells in her head.]

[Not from Smoker at any rate, since I'm not sure how much Smoker knows about them either.]

He kills other marines, innocent lives. Anything to try to kill pirates. The argument being that they will kill more than he is if left to roam free.

He kills his own comrades? [That's basically the worst thing ever in Erza's eyes.] Who would want to promote someone like that?

The idiots who run the World Government.

[She sighs.] I'm starting to see why you're not a fan of theirs.

Hn. Not much. But they aren't going to change from the outside.

Well, good luck with that. Hopefully Aokiji gets the job - that should make it easier for you.

With luck. And thanks.

[His grin? You can practically hear it over the journals.]

Way I figure it, Red, that just made us even.

[ooc: How did I miss this? /sneaks in and pretends she was here the whole time.]

What, you mean all those comments about your hair? It's hardly my fault that you insist on keeping it so long.

((OoC: /pretends you were here the whole time))

HAHA! And here I thought it was the height of fashion. Was I misinformed?

Long hair on a man? The height of fashion? Yes, you were definitely misinformed.

Trends have to start somewhere. Besides, I make this look good.

...Ah, it's a trend now? And here I thought you'd be the only one to keep your hair that unruly.

VOI, braids are for wusses!

Mark my words. In no time if you see a swordsman here, he'll have long hair.

I'll be sure to hold you to that, then. [Not really.] That kind of hairstyle would still look rather silly on some swordsmen, though.