Serious; The Justice Gamblers; Chapter 1: New Game (Open to the Justice Gamblers)

Little East Blue, Grand Line...

In the main office of the 129th Branch of the Marines, a marine was sitting on a table, reading the news. The marine had red eyes, a slim mouth and medium sized ears, as well as black hair of medium length. He had white skin and his height could not be understood because of the fact that he was sitting on a chair. As for his clothing, only the upper part of his clothes could be seen. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt with many different colored spots. Some of them were black, some others red and some others yellow...

Apparently, the marine was reading the news. Some things had happened a few days ago that were changing the place... One of the dangerous pirates that earned himself a big bounty, Maximillion Maimou, according to the newspapers was successfully defeated in a mission that was organized by Darnel Warshack, Lenny Celeste and of course, the well-known Vice Admiral Derge Sr. Namikaze. Those were some big news.

"It seems that some major things are going on out there..." the man whispered as he closed the newspaper because he was bored of reading the whole article. Then, he closed his eyes in order to take a nap. However, before he took his nap, a marine entered his office and he started reporting "Captain Tenma Karma! I have to inform you that the new recruit from the Headquarters has not arrived and who came instead...". "I see... So he finally came." Karma sai without paying too much attention "Tell him to enter the office.". "Yes, sir!" the marine answered and he said "You can enter the office, sir!"

A man with a rather big posture and a red custom suit entered the room.He was seemingly annoyed and sad down rather aggressive.''Damn those guys..Earning all the fame by defeating some good for nothing pirate..''.The man did not show any sign of formality you would usually see from marines..but I guess that was just how vice admiral raymond rolled..''And I brought a seemingly potential 'recruit' with me..''

Surprised by the fact that the man who just entered the office did not look as the recruit he expected, Karma got up from his chair and looked at him with a strange look on his face. He could not understand who that person was. He had never heard of him before and he had never seen him. There was nothing about him in the files he received about the new recruit... And obviously, he was not the new recruit. That guy looked much older than the recruit that Karma expected in his basement.

With a rather annoyed look on his face from the sudden appearance of the man, before the marine that reported to him said anything, Karma walked towards the marine messenger and said with a serious voice "Allow me to pressume that this old shit bag is not the new recruit, right?".

Upon saying that, the marine vanished from the office without saying anything and only the newcomer and Karma were the only ones inside...

Raymond heard the man talking and abruptly stood up from his chair.''Who are you to call me an old shit back you little brat!How about we duke it out?''He was eager to fight because he was already pissed off, and then some little brat came around and insulted him right..behind him!.But then Raymond came to the realization he actually came with a reason this time.''Oh wait, don't have time for that..Erm, I am vice admiral Raymond D. mountain, I was supposed to inspect this base and see if everything is functioning well..and such..but no worry's, as soon as I am done you will have a nice view at the grand line when I am done with you''.If his rank did not at-least intimidate him, then he was hoping at-least his trash talking would..

Upon listening to the old man, Karma was completely surprised. He did not expect him to be a Vice Admiral. He was in such a rush to meet the new recruit and he was so surprised with the fact that this old man that he did not even know came to his office, that he did not even pay attention to the marine coat he was wearing. Yes... Indeed. That really was a Vice Admiral's coat and Karma had just made one of his biggest mistakes in his life.

Eager to correct his mistake, the marine looked towards the Vice Admiral with a surprised look on his face and he trembled in fear as he noticed that the Vice Admiral was so angry with him that he would take him on if he did not have to inspect the whole place. However, even if he would not take him on, he would definitely give a report with bad words about Karma's way of ruling the place that he would probably end up being the captain of a basement on a desert island.

"S-Sorry, sir! I-I am really sorry!" Karma said with a voice that was apologizing before he moved towards his desk and moved the chair backwards so that the Vice Admiral would sit on his chair. "I was not informed that you were about to come, you see, and I am also so busy with the work that I am quite rude this days! I am sorry!".

[[129th branch office docks area]]

The ship docked at the area.There was afew people leaving the marine vessel. One of them was bowing to the ground "THANK GOD WERE HOME!!!!!" Some of them were reuniting with their families. A few of them agreed, and some were happy. One man said nothing. His sunglasses on, he walked towards the offices of the 129th branch. He looked in at the reception desk "Im looking for Captain Karma? Ive been reassigned here by the Enies Lobby Branch?" The woman at reception looked at him and was shocked to see the long rifle strapped. The man himself was quite good looking. The woman then spoke softly "umm, Captain Tenma is busy with a guest at the moment, what is your name?" The man slowly lifted his sunglasses off his face, the light coming his sharp golden hawk like eyes focusing on her. "Lieutenant Luis Krieg........" The woman recognised the name immediately. This guy used to be the pride sniper of the marines. He took out major targets on his own and was renowned for his prowess for hunting his prey for days at a end. It earned him the nickname Silent Wolf in his campaigns. The Government however took him for special ops and he wasnt heard of for 2 years. The lady smiled and said, "Ill tell the Captain your in Lieutenant....." She rang the den den mushi linked to Captain Tenmas room "Sir, i have a lieutenant Krieg here? He has been assigned to your unit sir......"

[[Lieutenant Luis "The silent Wolf" Krieg]]

As the captain was desperately trying to explain to the Vice Admiral why he behaved to him like that, the den den mushi rang. Apparently, it rang from the reception... "Wait over here, sir, please. Sit on my chair and wait." the young man said and he instantly grabbed the Den Den Mushi in order to see who it was. It was a message from the reception. The captain had been called for something and that was nothing else than the arrival of the new recruit...

"Damn... Why did he arrive now?" Karma thought, as he was trying to deal with the Vice Admiral in order to ensure that his base would be approved and that the inspection would not end up the way it started. However, even if so many things were going on, he could not do anything else but to accept the new recruit. "Tell him to enter the office." Karma said to the woman and he turned the Den Den Mushi off in order to continue his conversation with the Vice Admiral. "So... where did we stop?" he asked in order to start the conversation again, while expecting the Lieutenant to enter the office.

The woman at reception nodded and replied "Right away Captain" She turned to look at Lieutenant Krieg who was standing and waiting for his next move. He remembered the report he got when he was hunting some pirate crew which had stumbled on secrets the government wanted to keep hush hush. He had gone from running operations in Shabondy and the area around the Red Lines, and finally they threw him back into this place. Not that he complained, but they refused to put him back under Nishki. It seems since acheiving admiral status, the navy wanted their poster boy to have members they approved of. And having a government hitman along side him wasnt good for image. The lady then said "The captain will see you now Lieutenant" Krieg nodded and then walked into the Captains room. He saw an old man and the captain. The Captain was at his desk and he seemed like a nice man. In a way,Krieg heard he was a pacifist unless things got serious, someone reliable. The only reason Krieg agreed to this move was because of the captains good reputation, it reminded him of how Admiral Nishki was considered in the navy. The old man looked familiar, he decided to salute to the captain and then he suddenly realised who this was "Its nice to meet you, Captain Karma and Vice Admiral Raymond sirs. Im Lieutenant Luis Krieg......"

''Ah, I see you finally saw the error in your deeds, although no need to get formal with me, when you've done enough things and you'll be at the same rank you will drop me like a brick if we get this kind of a relationship, so let's keep it more casual ok?''.Raymond saw that yet another marine entered the room speaking to him in an formal way.Raymond got kind of annoyed with all the formality's, even more annoyed then he really was.''Erm, do you have any files or something about the recruits stationed at this base?''.

As the lieutenant was about to enter the office and he was about to introduce himself, the Vice Admiral responded to the captain who was quite gentle with him as soon as he learned that he is a vice admiral. Apparently, the captain was the first captain at this newly created basement and so he did not want any trouble with the higher ups. He was eager to be more gentle than he would normally be in order to ensure that the basement would be approved by the marines. However, when he listened to the response of the Vice Admiral, he calmed down as he noticed that the Vice Admiral was quite friendly with him and that he wanted a more casual relationship between himself and Karma.

"I see, sir." the man said with a smile on his face that came out because of the admiration that he started developing for Raymond. "I shall hand you the files in no time!" he said and he moved towards a self, grabbing a pile of papers and handing it to the Vice Admiral. While handing them, the door opened. Apparently, the new recruit had finally arrived.

As Luis introduced himself, Karma smiled. He walked towards him after handing the papers to the Vice Admiral and he raised his hand in order to shake hands and welcome him to the new basement. "Welcome to my basement Luis." Karma said. "I am captain Karma Tenma and that man over there is Vice Admiral Raymond Mountain. It is nice to meet you. I have heard many things about you, so I am expecting the best from..."

Before the captain could complete his sentence, something unexpected happened. A cannon shooting was heard. Somebody was using a cannon... As soon as the cannon was heard, an explosion took place and a fuss came out of the little village of Little East Blue. "What the heck?!" the captain said before the receptionist came to the office to tell him what is going on.

"The island is under attack, sir!" she said and Karma started running out of his office in order to see what was going on. A battle was about to take place in Little East Blue!

Raymond grabbed the files, sat down, and looked through them carefully.Of-course karma's own file was in there, that's what he was actually after.Looking through it he saw all kinds of boring stuff like medical conditions and such..tough everything seemed fine.Then raymond started browsing the rest of the files inspecting the members of the little east blue basement.But just when he started on the third file an annoying noise could be heard.It was the sound of a cannon.''Dang it those pirates don't know when to quit..''.Even though he said that he did not show any sign of taking action..it looked like he expected something from karma.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" the people of the streets of the small village screamed as they run across the streets after the island got bombarded by the cannon of one pirate ship that almost reached the beach of the island. "THEY ARE BACK!" some others screamed and they run like they were crazy as soon as they looked at the flag of the pirate crew that was attacking.

Apparently, the ship carried a flag that was well known around the area. The jolly roger of the crew was an original jolly roger with the difference that between the eyes there was a big hole caused that looked as if the skull was shot with a pistol. "The Bang Pirates... They are back." an old man, who was standing on a cane because he happened to have a frail back, commented as he looked at the flag. "The Bang Pirates?" Karma asked surprised. Apparently, he had recently returned to the island to take over the basement as he was in the Headquarters, training himself and going to missions. "Yes, Karma. They use to attack us often and steal anything we have! They are really dangerous! If we don't give them our belongings, then they threaten us to kill us! The last time they even took my cane... Please stop them." the old man continued saying with tears on his eyes.

"I see." Karma said with a serious look on his face and he started running towards the beach, approaching the pirates more and more in order to stop them and take them on.

As he run, the captain of the ship who was standing at the edge of the ship's figurehead looked towards Karma. His appearance was just like that of a regular captain's. On the top of his head he wore a pirate hat, he had an eyepatch and he wore a long pirate coat. He had many rings on each of his fingers and he carried a flintlock and a sword on his waist. Apparently, he could not see his face clearly but he could recognize that he was a marine. "Well, well... What do we have here?" he commented with a smile on his face. "There's a marine here my bastards! Jump down and get him!" he commanded and a few of his subordinates prepared their flintlocks and their swords in order to take on the marine. A battle between Karma and the Bang Pirates was about to start.

Luis who was about to say something suddenly heard the boom and steadied himself. Who the hell would be foolish enough to attack a known marine base area. Karma had run ahead and Luis sighed "Oh boy... this means i need to work.... ill be seeing you later Vice Admiral sir!!!" Krieg ran out and headed for high ground, he climbed up through the ledges of the building making his way to the top. he reached the top and turned around, he whipped his rifle out and adjusted it, pointing towards the source of the noise. He saw Karma about to jump into battle with the pirates. Luis sighed, he pulled out his cigarette, he lit his ciggarette and took a puff before steadying his rifle, the reticule pointing at the pirate who was about to slice Karma first. He eased and squeezed the trigger causing a loud and powerful boom to emit. There was a splatter and the pirate who had tried to attack Karma first was blown away, a huge gaping hole in his forehead. Luis grinned "One down..."

"Huh?! What was that?" Karma said with a surprised look on his face, as soon as he looked at the pirate that was about to attack him getting hit with a shot on the head and ending up killed. That was incredible... There was no marine to snipe him, around. At least he did not think so... However, as soon as he turned his face towards the place where the shot came from, he looked at the figure that looked very familiar and more precisely, just like the new recruit's. Could that guy be Luis? If he was, that was something incredible. "Amazing..." he said as he turned towards the pirates, more determined to fight than before as he knew that he had somebody to cover him.

As the incident started taking place the few marines that were in the basement were gathered around. They all stared towards the incredible sniper and the marine captain that were about to take on the Bang Pirates. A few of them cheered "Way to go Captain!" and a few others "Kick their butts, Luis!" as they stared at them without doing anything.

"Well, well, Bang Pirates..." Karma said with a smile on his face. "My subordinates are cheering for me... And I cannot let the new recruit get all the attention... So prepare to face my wrath! FOR LITTLE EAST BLUE!" he screamed and he started running towards a pirate, slashing him at the chest deeply and knocking him unconscious. As he slashed him, another pirate attempted to slash him with his own sword, only for Karma to say "One Sword Style - Turn!" before grabbing his own katana with both hands and slashing the pirate's sword, cutting it in half before cutting the pirate on the chest as well. Three pirates were down and from the looks of it, 10 more remained!

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!" the marines from around screamed and they stared towards their captain who was about to say something. They all stopped so that they would listen to him. As he was about to speak, he raised his katana upwards and he pointed with it towards the captain of the Bang Pirates. He said "Bang Pirates... I am giving you the opportunity to leave from this island, otherwise you should be pretty sure that I will ask my higher ups to give you a nice sentence in Impel... No. Not in Impel Down. I have something better for you. The Tower of the Fallen Angels.". Karma was clear with his enemy...

The threat of Luis Kriegs rifle made some of the pirates scared. There was another blast from Luis's rifle, this time sending one of the pirates flying off the ship. The power of the shot was heavy and massive. Luis took a whiff of his ciggarette and leaned foward, he was covering Karma completely now. The noise around him was blocked out by his utter focus.

Raymond watched as the pirates and the marines fought.-they have potential..but nothing more then that pehehehehe.-
He stood up from the chair he was sitting in and moved forward through what was supposed to be the battle field and close to the pirate ship.
He ignored the pirates who seemed to be afraid of that luis guy and smiled.''alright, I, Raymond Mountain, hereby arrest all of you pirates.All marines put your weapons down, no use to fight pirates who cannot escape..''.Just as he said that he began looking..bronze?Raymond quickly grew and his marine coat fell off.Raymond had now transformed into a bronze looking giant, standing pridefully above all.''Giant style=rankyaku sen!''.Raymond took a stance in which he stood sturdier, and quickly punched with his iron fist forward, creating a extremely quick streem of air, resembling the normal, smaller rankyaku sen.Not was it extremely powerful but in addition to his strength and giant form it was twice the size of their pirate ship.The air beam was sent toward the pirate ship and quickly wiped it out.A strong gust was going through the base as the blast radius was big and the ship was blown to smithereens.''Now pirates, lay your weapons down and go to the nearest prison if you will..''.Raymond grew back to his regular size and put on his marine coat back on.

As the attack of Raymond hit the ship, the ship immediately got destroyed and the majority of the Bang Pirates ended up getting extremely damaged by the powerful attack, before falling in the water unconscious and unable to do anything. All the marines and the people of the village who were around were shocked to sea that the old man could destroy those pirates they could not stop for a while and they screamed in amazement at his view. That guy... Not only he possessed such strength but also... He was a fruit user. A strange fruit user with an awesome ability that instantly piqued the attention of the people of the village. They started liking it very, very much.

"Awesome..." Karma said as he looked towards the Vice Admiral who was turning back to his normal form and put back his marine coat, as if nothing happened. That guy... That was the reason he was a Vice Admiral. Raymond had just proven himself to Karma and to the whole crew. He had just done something in a second which would probably take hours for Karma to do. "Th-Thanks for the assistance, sir!" he said while running towards the Vice Admiral. "I really apologize for what I said before!" he continued saying while truly meaning his words.

However, while he talked to the Vice Admiral and praised him for his excellent work, something unexpected happened. The captain of the Bang Pirates, who was still conscious even after receiving the great damage from the attack and having his ship destroyed, run towards the people when nobody expected it and he grabbed a little girl as a hostage. "Give me a boat to leave or I shall kill her!" he said while putting a knife on the girl's neck. The girl was crying...

"Let her down." Karma said as he turned his head to find out what happened. "I am giving you a few seconds to let her down..." he continued saying and as the captain did not listen to him, the man used his Hana Hana no Mi power; a hand bloomed on the pirate's body, grabbing his flintlock and shooting him from a very close distance at the chest, making him fall down and scream in pain while leaving the girl out of his grip.

With a smile on his face, Karma started running towards the pirate that was lying on the ground. A marine who was watching dropped him a pair of sea-stone handcuffs. He placed them on the man's hand and he said "Funny, huh? The Bang Pirates just got banged. Hahahahahaha."

Raymond looked as the girl was being taken hostage, and angered himself with karma's actions.
''Karma..You idiot..Is your duty to shoot down any pirate you see?After seeing your powers you could have easily detained him..and so could you do to the other pirate.I am deeply disappointed at the way you are using your powers.I'm afraid HQ is gonna hear of your loosely reactions in dire situations.This basement was set up in order to protect the civilians of this island, and a marine should always first attempt to arrest the subject before shooting''
Raymond walked toward karma and pounded him on the head.''remember that you dummy.''

"Ouch!" Karma said as he got pounded on the head from the Vice Admiral. Apparently, the way he just behaved was actually not the way he would normally behave. However, at the view of the little girl that was at a grave danger, Karma forgot his morals and before he could think of an action to do, he decided to just shoot the pirate to stop him. "I am sorry, sir..." Karma said with a disappointed look on his face, as he started walking back towards the marine basement. As he walked back, the marines simply opened the way for him to walk while having a saddened look on their faces, just like their captain. However, as Karma walked, the little girl moved towards him and said "Thank you, sir." while kissing him at the cheek. "Haha." he said with a disappointed look on his face "That was nothing. Now, medical unit... Start cuffing those pirates and treat their wounds. I shall be in my office, waiting for the report. As for those that died, we shall bury them at the age of the island along with the rest of the inhabitants of the island that died.". Soon afterwards, he departed towards his office and he started thinking all these things that Raymond said to him.

Raymond followed mantra to his office and sat down looking serious at mantra.
''Due to certain events..I hereby discharge you as the leading head of this basement, and transfer you as the head of an marine ship.It is not a demotion, I am ordering you to lead a marine ship so I can monitor your actions, I don't want you to turn into one of those G-5 dogs who only care about torturing and killing pirates.Also I will be your personal adviser and trainer on that matter.And luis''He said expecting luis was nearby.''If you would be so kindly to join?actually make that an order''.He grinned a bit, it seems his tense look had loosened.''Name the ship and crew however you see fit.And don't worry, I will make sure this base will be monitored by someone not so eager to pull the trigger.''.

"I guess I should be thankful for not starting over as a Lieutenant Junior Grade..." the marine said as he looked at the Vice Admiral with a sad look on his face. Apparently, he was somewhat right. If Karma kept acting like that, the whole place could end up like G-5 and that was something that he really did not want to happen. He had no other choice than to agree with the Vice Admiral. "I see, sir." he said as he started picking up a few personal things from his office and he got out. He was about to move towards his house and take his clothes so that he would be prepared to sail away from the island, immediately if possible. He could not see his former basement anymore... He would only return there when he would get the approval of the marine... And that quite sucked. However, he was eager to work hard and regain his position...

As he got out of the basement, the marine was confronted by the people of the island. The old man looked at him with tears in his eyes and he thanked him for trying his best against the pirates, while the rest of the people were all trying to cheer him up. Karma did not do anything. He only slightly smiled with tears on his eyes and he kept walking towards his house. He was about to pick up his stuff before leaving.

Raymond walked to the towns square where the towns folk seemed to be thanking karma.''Now don't be sad, just because he's never going to get the chance to come back until he is at the same rank to defy me doesn't mean you're never gonna see him again, I mean, you have pictures right?''Raymond seemed to be joking as he laughed loudly.It was his mean,dry humor after all.If karma wasn't going to get used to it, it would become a loooong voyage...

Luis sighed as he packed up his rifle, he replied "Right away Sir" Luis lugged his rifle on his back and returned base behind Captain Karma. "So Captain, looks like im your first surbodrdinate, ive already got my gear in check, i just need you to sign this marine transfer form so that HQ knows im an official squad member and that i havent deserted the marine force." Luis didnt like all these formalities, but best get them out of the way. He then asked "Whats our next assignment anyway ?"

"I don't even know, Luis." Karma said to his subordinate who had followed him after he left the basement in order to sign up his transfer papers. "I don't really know. It is up to Vice Admiral Mountain to decide what we are about to do... Especially now that he decided to send me out at the seas... We shall do whatever he says... And who knows... One day, we might return to the basement. One day...".

Then, Karma raised his head above and stared towards the sun. He said "I gambled my future here to impress the Vice Admiral and I failed... Oh wait, I just had an idea. We could be named Justice Gamblers, the gamblers who fight for justice. Hahaha.". Then, he started heading towards the Vice Admiral's ship so that he and Luis would depart from the island. Apparently, he did not want to greet everybody, as he hoped that someday he would return to the island as the leader of the basement.

And so... That was how everything began. That was how the marine crew of Justice Gamblers was formed.

[End of the thread]