Q and A [Minoru]

[Emma T. Baskerville]

It was not every day a devil fruit user wandered into as quiet a place as one of the four Blues, let alone the Northern one. The look of consternation on the Den Den Mushi's face when it informed the local Cipher Pol commander that an unidentified, cold-based logia devil fruit user had come to the Alchemist Archipelago was spectacular in its muted, almost professional panic.

"Do not engage, Bloodhound, I repeat, do not engage."

Agent Baskerville pondered those words as she carefully chewed on her croissant, the picturesque cafe she had stopped at rather pretty despite the strange yellow tubes that ran everywhere. She, of course, had not planned to engage, but at least there was some official backing for what might otherwise be considered a charge of cowardice. Not that cowardice was measured by quite the same rubric in the Cipher Pol than it was in the rest of the military, Justice obtained a bit of a different flavor when it was purely the mission that mattered, and not the philosophical bells and whistles that accompanied it.

She had assigned as many eyes as could be spared upon the pirate's activities, but as there had been no notable disasters or string of inexplicable mass murders (or even a case of drunken pillaging) the Cipher Pol Agent had let the situation lie, monstrous tourists sometimes made an appearance, it was no different here than anywhere else. Handle the situation calmly, carefully and let it go. Until she herself had the power to bargain with such demons, it was necessary that she bide her time and wait for that time to come.

And she had no doubt it would.

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a complication. Yesterday, an inexplicable meteorological event had frozen a good chunk of one of the smaller islands and in a grossly inconvenient location: the local noble had made several vociferous complaints which required some measured response. No doubt the noble believed that the pirate was about to be clapped into irons and sentenced to Impel Down, the reality of the situation, of course, was a little more nuanced.

Two combatants had been observed entering the fight, and two had left it, basically in all their component pieces. Only one had demonstrated Devil Fruit capabilities.

The other... well, Agent Baskerville was about to see him now. She had his file on hand, it was unusually detailed - but then again, ex-marines tended to leave behind a great deal of paperwork that was shuffled over to the Cipher Pol side of things. It had been quite a stroke of luck, that. Still, despite all that, it was a brief enough sketch: a young man, not even of age to inherit the family name, no particularly distinguishing actions, nor commendations to his name, known as Blue Knight to close friends for an overly developed sense of valor. One that had no doubt contributed to his treasonous actions after witnessing and participating in a buster call.

Yesterday he had confronted and remained conveniently un-murdered by a logia user.

Not something to be expected by someone without the stomach for true marine work.

If her agents were correct though, he would soon be entering this particular road. Ah, and here he was. She would have to make a note to commend Agent Cyro, it had been a bit of a last-minute assignment. Cracking her neck, she rose to her feet, white cape of justice billowing behind her like a flag.

"PRIVATE USAGI MINORU," she bellowed, in her best parade ground voice. "AT-TEN-SHUN!"

[minoru usagi]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #2F2F2F; border-radius: 8px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 30px 0px 0px 10px;][STYLE=font-family: arial black; font-size: 128px; color: #EDEDED; line-height: 30px; text-transform: uppercase;] W[/style]

[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #2F2F2F; border-radius: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 30px 5px 10px 0px;] [STYLE=font-family: arial black; font-size: 40px; color: #EDEDED; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: -3px; line-height: 28px; margin-left: -4px;]HAT I'VE BEEN LIVING FOR [/style][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 9px; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 9px; letter-spacing: -1px; color: #EDEDED; text-align: justify; padding: 0px 15px 0px 15px;]❝ AND NOW YOU'RE KNOCKING ON MY FRONT DOOR, THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN LIVING FOR, EXCUSE ME WHILE I LAUGH MY ASS OFF. ❞ [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=style,background-color: #EDEDED;][atrb=vAlign,top] [STYLE=width: 274px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; line-height: 11px; color: #737678; padding: 5px; text-align: justify; border-bottom: #2F2F2F 8px solid;] █ THE EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS DAY left Minoru in a temporary fear of everything cold. The tremendous power of his new captain made him tremble- and not just because of his body temperature. Rei Satsuki was a really intimidating girl, not to mention beautiful. He only wished that she’d have some other type of Devil Fruit, because her current one made him have no choice but to listen to her. Otherwise, he’d be one of her many ice sculptures in her office. And Minoru would really rather not be an ice sculpture. Immediately he woke up that morning, he found that he was shivering. As much as he ran around in the heat, he was still horribly cold. He had been searching throughout the whole of Alchemist’s Archipelago looking for the biggest jacket. He had no luck, most of the stores only sold raincoats, until he came across some old lady wearing one. Minoru wouldn’t usually steep so low as to steal from an old lady, but he was probably a lot colder than her. He needed it. Besides, she was a useless piece of trash that was probably going to be dying in a couple days, she should have been honored to have lost her coat to a person like Minoru. He realized that it would probably attract attention from the Marines, and he was ready to deal with them. Minoru couldn’t help noticing some people following him, who were probably attempting to be discreet. They were doing a bloody horrible job at it, though. He was prepared to attack them, but he realized that it would be wiser to let them think that he was clueless of their presence and let them make the first move. Soon the people disappeared, though, so Minoru decided to forget about them and move on with his life. He had more important matters to attend to, like how he was going to get rid of the cold that had infiltrated his body and refused to leave. Not long before they disappeared was he confronted in the middle of the street by a woman. After being called to attention, Minoru’s Marine habits took over his body. He quickly stood straight and stared forward, awaiting further instructions from his leader. After a couple seconds he remembered that he was no longer a Marine, and actions like that we not necessary. Angered and feeling like a fool, Minoru looked around for his caller. He found the woman across the street from him, standing tall and firm with a long cape flowing in the wind behind her. The moment was actually so picture perfect that it left Minoru gaping at her for a second. Snapping out of it, Minoru’s face wore a tired look as he asked, “What now? Is it because I stole this jacket?” The woman didn’t look like a Marine. She wasn’t wearing her uniform, that’s one thing. She still had the same proud attitude that a regular Marine would have, and she also carried the same tone that a person who was in charge would use. If she wasn’t a Marine, then she was a step above it- the Cipher Pol. Not many people knew about them, but being a Vice Admiral’s son, Minoru knew a lot of things that he shouldn’t. ”Oh noes. Look what I’ve gotten myself into. So, which Cipher Pol are you in? By your looks, I’d say CP1.”, he said, slowly unsheathing his knife. He wasn’t interested in using his beautiful katana on such a pest. [/style]

[atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=style,background-color: #EDEDED;][STYLE=width: 100px; height: 100px; background-image: url(http://i49.tinypic.com/2uy6e5s.jpg); border-radius: 5px; border: #2F2F2F solid 10px; margin-top: -10px;] [/style] [STYLE=width: 100px; height: 100px; background-image: url(http://i49.tinypic.com/2uy6e5s.jpg); border-radius: 5px; border: #2F2F2F solid 10px; margin-top: 15px;] [/style][STYLE=width: 120px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; line-height: 11px; color: #737678; padding: 0px 0px 10px 0px; text-align: justify;] █ TAGS Emma █ WORDS 589 █ NOTES N/A [/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=style,background-color: #EDEDED;][STYLE=font-family: arial; font-size: 9px; color: #B3B7BA; padding: 5px 20px 5px 5px; text-align: right;] made by ayu of btn[/style]

[Emma T. Baskerville]

Oh good, a child who knew the score. Truly, an unexpected pleasure.

Taking out a cigarillo, Agent Baskerville rolled it between her fingers before sticking it into her mouth, unlit. This would be a delicate game of provocation; the boy had his pride, the logia user power. How to destroy one without instigating the other? Lack of skilled observers in the fight yesterday meant projections had been uncertain. Were they aligned in their interests? Enemies? Slave and master? Old friends? Lovers, even? Given the boy's family, it was not impossible that he had heard of, and developed haki - it was said trauma could bring its efflorescence, and there were probably few things as traumatizing as a gods-be-good Buster Call. He might be an unrecognized talent, skilled enough to fight one-on-one with a vice-admiral.

Still, all speculation. She was here to confirm.

"Son," she declared, coffee cooling, unattended, in the morning breeze, "petty theft is hardly my jurisdiction. Nor the jurisdiction of the Marines: we leave such things to the local authorities, as you well know." The lies came out easily, without the slightest hint of self-awareness. "What that jurisdiction is, however, is something I can neither confirm nor deny."

She might as well started waving around a Cipher Pol flag. He knew it, she knew it, this was a mere formality. She eyed the knife, but then visibly dismissed it, unconcerned. Her hand snaked into her breast pocket where she took out a...

Lighter.

Flicking it a few times, she brought it to the tip of her cigarillo, lighting it. The smell of nicotine filled the air like incense or a benediction. The brown jacket hung off her shoulders, flapping in the wind. The streets were eerily deserted now, perfect for an assassination, or perhaps a simple, unsolicited chat. She took in a deep drag, and looked him in the eye. He still had the knife out, perhaps he had a thing against striking unarmed women with the katana? Some swordsmen had a bizarre, nigh-worthless code of honor that she had never quite managed to empathize with. Mimic, yes, understand? Never.

"There is a warrant out with your name on it," she told him. Warrant, not bounty - someone in his family had pulled strings for that to happen. Fifty strides separated them, just enough so that it would be difficult for them to hold a conversation at their current decibel level. Might as well shorten it.

Her feet hit the ground ten times in rapid succession, and the gap suddenly disappeared to just ten strides.

"But I'm willing to ignore it," she said, blowing smoke out of her nose, "if you would deign to declare what you and your... associate intend doing here in the Alchemist Archipelago."