World Event #1: SMILEs All Around!
Apr 18, 2022 15:06:38 GMT -5
Jade, Kami-Gaz, and 2 more like this
Post by Vio on Apr 18, 2022 15:06:38 GMT -5
SIX MONTHS AGO
Somewhere in the New World…
Glug… Glug… Glug… …Thud! The sound of a bottle slamming upon the floor shook the chamber and the souls of those present as they nervously awaited what was to follow. A deep breath made them hold theirs for fear of making themselves targets, for they’d already delivered the unfortunate news. At the raising of a hand, each man flinched, but found temporary relief as an enormous palm set itself upon a chiseled visage.
Please don’t be angry… If he laughs, don’t laugh with him…! K– Kaido-sama is…?
“Owoooooooh…! Woooooooh… Why? Why did this happen?” the Emperor bawled, enormous tears streaming down his face. “How could this happen to my army? We’ll never recover from this…! Bwoooooh…” With a sniffle and a wipe of his face upon his arm, Kaido grasped a second enormous bottle, taking it to his lips before guzzling its contents down.
“Ah! Governor-General,” one spoke up, palms raised in a meek gesture of calm. “The strength of our army is still growing. It’s only a minor setback…!”Whoosh– Slam!
“Gyack…!!”
“A minor setback?! MINOR SETBACK?! Every shipment lost is DOZENS of Artificial Zoans WASTED!” Kaido roared, his spiked club withdrawing from the wall against which the barely conscious and broken body of a man had been impacted. “Joker had better fix this mess! If not, there’ll be consequences…! Someone WILL PAY…!!”~~~~~
Dressrosa…“Guh– Please!” strained a man:
“Stop this…! Let me go…!”
“Fuffuffuffu…! Now, why would I do that?” asked the Warlord, fingers twisting as he sat upon the edge of his seat, a sinister grin upon his face. Before him stood a man, sword drawn and held in a two-handed, reversed grip, pointed at his own stomach. His movements were strained and stiff as if trying to resist. “You’ve slighted me. But I’ll tell you what — I could be persuaded to reconsider, if you give me a name…?”“I can’t do that…!”“You can’t?” he asked:
“Or you won’t?”“Screw. You.”
“Hm,” the smile vanished. Fingers flicked, sword clattered to the ground, and the man collapsed as the figure clad in feathers leaned back in his chair. “That one was insufferable,” he spoke after a moment of silence, allowing time for another figure to lift the lifeless body and discard it from the scene.“Ne, ne, what do we do now, Doffy?”
“I’ll have Vergo head to Punk Hazard,” the young master replied, reaching for wine on the table beside him and swirling the blood red beverage in its bottle. “Caesar will have to double-down on production to cover for this mess, and I trust Vergo’s presence will be persuasive enough. And on the topic of persuasion,” Doflamingo continued, his smile resuming. “Trebol, head to Green Bit and ‘persuade’ a few more ‘fairies’. We’ll need the extra help…”~~~~~
Elsewhere in the New World…
Purururu… Purururu– Gacha!“Ah… Hello?”“Admiral Fujitora,” the snail spoke:
“Are you in private right now?”
“Oh, Fleet Admiral! Hmm,” Issho replied, holding the receiver of the Den Den Mushi in his hand as he paused to listen to his surroundings. “Yes, I am.”
“Good. What I’m about to tell you needs to remain between us. Kizaru has also been informed, and I’ll be contacting Ryogukyu shortly,” Sakazuki’s voice growled, causing the blind man to realize the gravity of the situation even before it was explained to him. “I’ve received reports from operatives that a shipment of ‘special armaments’ in transit to Wano Country was attacked and intercepted by a currently unidentified force. The resulting collateral has complicated the situation massively.”
“Understood. Do we know the purpose of these weapons?” asked the Admiral.
“The shipment consisted of artificial Devil Fruits, just like those reported to be appearing in the ranks of the Emperor Kaido’s forces,” Sakazuki explained. “Stay alert, Fujitora! We have to do everything in our power to prevent the spread of these artificial abilities. If too many fall into the wrong hands, an Emperor’s forces may not be our only major concern in the current state of the world…!”“Artificial…,” Issho repeated:
“Are such things even possible?”
“Intelligence suggests so. Remember, keep this quiet, but be prepared to deal with any potential instances,” the Fleet Admiral added, certainly sounding displeased about the predicament, and perhaps rightfully so. “We have no idea how far or how many could spread due to this incident.”“Of course,” Issho nodded:
“I’ll do what I can…”Gacha…!
“Mmm,” he exhaled, frowning as he put the Den Den Mushi’s receiver down carefully upon its shell. “All this secrecy is going to stab us in the back if this gets out of hand,” were the words he muttered beneath his breath…~~~~~
Meanwhile, at Punk Hazard…“EHHH?! An entire shipment was stolen?!”
“Yes, Master Caesar,” a goat-legged goon responded, bowing deeply to the mad scientist who floated before him while staying wary of the vials that had almost fallen from the half-vaporous man’s hands in his moment of shock at the news delivered.
“Well, that’s not my problem,” Caesar shrugged. “I’ve produced enough SAD for an extra shipment anyway, so if Joker were to request an extra batch, I don’t have to worry about anything! Shurorororo~,” he laughed maniacally, self-assured in his contingencies as the door opened and a familiar figure stepped through. The word ‘HAPPY’ upon her shirt, wings holding a mug of coffee which she set down upon the counter, she spoke.“Caesar,” Monet began over the laughter:
“SAD production has been sabotaged.”
“Shurororo– …? WHAT?! HOW?! That’s impossible…!! There has to be a spy! Nobody else could be here! And where’s Law? If there’s a rat here on the island then he’ll want to know, too,” Caesar yelled.
“Oh, about that,” the winged lady answered as the cloven-hooved messenger from before made a hasty exit. “Law seems to have disappeared entirely from Punk Hazard,” she explained, flippantly putting an end to Caesar’s shouting as she provided the facts and sat herself down. Before he could even get another word in, she finished the string of news with one last fact, wings picking up the newspaper from the counter. “And Joker is sending someone over.”
“EHHHHH…?! Oh-no! Oh-no! What will I do? This is a disaster! I have to get out of here,” he panicked, becoming mostly gaseous for a moment. “No! That will only make things worse! Joker has connections! He will find me… I need to fix this and get SAD production back online…!”