Sword

Chapter 40

*** I'm sorry it's been taking me so long to post lately! To be completely honest, my writer's block and general motivation to sit down and push through it have been soooo bad lately. I'm trying so hard not to go more than a month without posting though! 

"We need to warn Luffy!" Coby cried. Vice Admiral Garp had just informed his units that they would be returning to Water 7 the following day. Shoko, Coby, and Helmeppo had hidden themselves away at the remote beach past Marineford's docks during their free time and were currently lounging in the shade of a palm tree.

Helmeppo was quick to reprimand Coby with a good smack. "Why would we warn the Straw Hats if we're the ones trying to catch them?"

Coby rubbed at the tender spot on his head. "I know.... It just feels so dirty since Garp-san told them he'd let them go."

Shoko grimaced. "You know he's right Coby." Her heart sank as his face fell. "The military needs order. And confidentiality of information. Garp doesn't want to arrest Luffy any more than we do. We'll find a way to half-ass the job without looking too suspicious."

"But what about Sengoku's reinforcements?" Coby asked.

Shoko shook her head. "We'll have to find an opening and act quickly. I don't know where they'll be or who they'll have, so there's no way to plan ahead."

She slumped back against the tree's trunk and looked up toward its branches. They swayed in the wind, allowing her to glimpse the sky beyond. She gave a long sigh, a sound that flitted away with the wind. "This sucks."

Helmeppo echoed her with a sigh of his own, draping an arm over his face as he lazed on his back in the sand.

"What if we find a way to buy Luffy and the others some time?" Coby suggested.

Shoko turned all her attention to him. Why didn't I think of that?

Seeing that his idea wasn't immediately shot down this time, Coby continued, "They're building a new ship right now, right? If we can just find a way to postpone our mission, they might at least have a way to get away from Vice Admiral Garp!"

"So, what, do we sabotage Garp's ship?" Helmeppo asked.

Shoko and Coby gave a thoughtful pause.

"I think that might be too obvious..." Coby frowned. "The Fleet Admiral already seems suspicious that Vice Admiral Garp is more loyal to Luffy than to the Marines. He'll probably suspect it right away if he thinks someone is trying to get in the way of this order."

"True, and then they might choose to send someone who won't go as easy on Luffy as Garp would," Shoko added. "We need something that seems completely out of Garp's hands, but something that keeps him from going after the Straw Hats."

She frowned, trailing her fingers mindlessly through the sand.

Sabotage won't work. They'll just make him use another ship.

A distraction? If I could just cause enough chaos to take priority over catching the Straw Hats... No. They just declared war on the World Government. I'd have to do something too extreme to be justified if I'm going to cause something bigger than that.

I have to do something to Garp directly. He's the one leading this charge. They'll delay things a day or two if he needs it, but there's no way I could possibly injure Garp. That man's made of iron.

Then...

"How can we get him sick?" she asked aloud.

Coby frowned. "What?"

"If Garp gets sick—something bad enough to keep him out of action just for a day or two—that might be the only option we have that won't cause Sengoku to send someone worse in his place," she explained.

"There was a crew last week that came home with some unknown virus," Helmeppo suggested. "They're all quarantined in one location. Can we expose him to that?"

"How long has that crew been sick?" Coby asked. "How would we get him to go to a quarantined area?"

Helmeppo shrugged. "We knock him out?"

Shoko scoffed. "How? And which one of us is going to carry that man and not get caught dragging him through Marineford? He's huge!"

"Okay, okay," Helmeppo deflected. "Then we just convince him to go ourselves! Shoko can sweet talk him or somethi—"

Shoko whacked him with her uniform jacket before he could finish his sentence. "I'm not sweet talking anyone, dipshit."

Coby waved his arms frantically. "We don't want Vice Admiral Garp to be out too long, or they'll send someone worse, remember? Let's just think of another idea."

Helmeppo slouched, sulking. Shoko turned back to the sand, attacking it rather aggressively now with a piece of tree bark from the palm tree.

"I don't think we'll be able to use a traditional virus to get the Vice Admiral sick," Coby reasoned, choosing to ignore the others' pouting. "He isn't exactly the most charitable person we know, so I don't think we'll get him to visit sick patients."

Shoko looked up from her preoccupation with the sand and frowned. "What about food poisoning? We can probably get him to eat something pretty easily, especially if he's in a bad mood about having to arrest Luffy."

Coby and Helmeppo both turned to her. Neither of them could seem to think of a reason against it.

"We can give him raw meat," Helmeppo suggested.

"Old milk?" Coby asked.

Shoko shook her head, exasperated. Coby, at least, should be smarter than this. "Seriously guys? Garp isn't an animal. Why would he eat that stuff? What about a sandwich with egg? Just undercook the egg."

"Good idea!" Coby exclaimed. "That'll give anyone a stomachache for a day or so." He frowned. "I feel bad about getting Vice Admiral Garp sick, though."

Helmeppo stood up importantly. "Life is all about making choices, Coby. Right now, you're choosing your friend, choosing justice...!"

Shoko rolled her eyes as she stood and began gathering her things from the sand, tuning out Helmeppo's wise lecture.

"Let's get going, then," she said, "If this doesn't work, we'll need to start Plan B as soon as possible."

"Plan B?" Coby asked.

"I don't have one yet, so let's hope Plan A works."