Post by Lord Bromosalino on Apr 30, 2021 2:07:19 GMT -5
"Fine by me," replied Pluto, almost in a very nonchalant manner. This led Isaac to, internally, ponder this seemingly out of character response from his acquittance. Thinking back to Bupae Island, it was again Isaac who had brought about the partnership between himself and the suspected Revolutionary Army members. And even when he had first proposed the idea of dismantling the Hideki government and their slave inducing drugs, Pluto never seemed to fully engage or take to the idea. Perhaps it was because, at the time, the ex-Marine was a stranger. But even after saving the trio from an opportunistic fishman, Pluto continued to hold the man at arm's length despite his female counterparts accepting Isaac almost immediately. It was as if the Marine had quite literally dragged Pluto along with his schemes while the boy just grumbled about the entire endeavor.
So why the sudden change in demeanor? Was it because he had been bested by the enigmatic Samael, poisoned, and sold to James Hideki? Or perhaps it was a result of the Collector forming an alliance with both the tyrant and the Super Rookie Koneku Miu and would need more "firepower" to defeat all three? Or rather, the most likely reason, was that Pluto's two great treasures had been directly placed in harm's way; Ara and Rebecca. Koneku Miu had completely destroyed the lower bottom part of The Emporium thereby placing the younger sister in danger. The more egregious transgression, however, was James Hideki pointing his blade at Pluto's girlfriend; attempting to kill Ara, even. That alone would be enough to drive the boy to anger, however calm he appeared on the surface as he sat at the table.
"Hmm," replied Isaac, musing to himself as he rubbed the back of his stiff neck. "Are you sure about leaving Ara out of this? She proved to be more than capable," an understatement from the Marine to be sure, given the young girl's ability to use Armament Haki in a controlled and practiced manner. And though Isaac could understand Pluto's reluctance and hesitance in involving his partner, the suspected Revolutionary himself had given enough cause to bring Ara. "Assuming the other two are equal or greater to her level of threat, then worst case scenario, we need to account for all three of them." Though cautious and wary, Pluto had made the argument for not tackling the situation with as much "firepower" as possible. But, as a man that had lost many close friends in battle, Isaac could understand the boy's reasons.
But, at the end of the day, the decision would be Pluto and Ara's alone. "If it's going to just be us two," Isaac started, conceding to Pluto, "we should approach this with some tact." Pulling out the red leather bound journal from the inside of his jacket, Isaac quickly flipped through the personal notes he kept regularly and to a blank page. "First," he said while writing the names of all three possibly adversaries atop the page, "we should focus on attacking them while they're separated. Assuming the other two are equal or greater to Koneku's level of threat, (he said repeating Pluto's own words) I see no reason to try to fight them head on; especially considering your need to still recover." With that being said, Isaac placed a "#1" next to James Hideki's name; he was the primary target. A "#2" was placed next to Samael's name and finally a "#3" next to Koneku Miu's. If possible, Isaac would wish to bring in all three threats to justice. But, ever the pragmatic, the Marine realized that the least acceptable victory would be bringing the dictator of an entire island to justice.
"The Nobu Villa will be the easiest place to grab James Hideki. It will be the one place he'll want to keep isolated." A man of James' reported ego and lofty view would not share his place of residence with someone that he would consider to be on a much lower social rung than he was. "He'll have two body guards with him. Guards presumably stronger than even Kory," he said, calling back to their time on Bupae Island. "Of course, this all depends on how you're feeling and when you think you're ready to go. The sooner the better, honestly."
"What's the meaning of this!?" Vein popping, knuckles white, and teeth grinding, James Hideki was outraged about the information he had just learned. The poor Marine in charge of keeping the log all vessels making port at Sabaody Archipelago was the receipt of the yelling diplomat's ire. "I don't know sir, the ship is marked to be kept from making port for the time being. There's nothing I can do about that." "Nothing you can do about that!? Is this how the World Government treats officials of legitimate governments!?" "I'm sorry sir, you'll have to wait until the ship has been cleared."
Fuming, but being dragged away by Samael, James Hideki was sure that the Marines knew who he was and were involved in the debacle at The Emporium. "Easy, friend. I'll take care of this. You go back to the Nobu Villa, I'll talk to my contacts inside the Marines." This was the true strength of the notorious Collector of Sabaody Archipelago. He was not just a collector of possessions and wealth, but of knowledge as well. And with the massive Marine presence on Sabaody Archipelago, the wealthy underworld king had his fair share of Marines in his back pocket; always ready to feed him information that he was not privy to on his own. "You'll hear from me...soon.{OC Colors}Isaac Saifer - #007299
Caroline Amyot - #f80ee5
Inspector Alec Cameron - #4ab345
Pluto - #8452bb
Rebecca - #00fffb
Ara - #ffdcbe
Miu - #ffc957
James Hideki - #55ca71
Samael - #42709c