Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Progress
Hello! One thing everyone will complain about is how I don't describe how Conan figures out the case here, but I promise it'll be explained later. The story has the potential to go many different ways here, so if anyone has a request that they want to have happen in the story, please let me know! I'm open for ideas! I've got to warn you, one very violent part in this one, but I promise the scene's short. Anyways, thank you very much for grammer advice, but to be honest, I'm too lazy most of the time to do anything else but grammer and spell check. One more thing, Conan mentions Lupin the 3rd here, I saw the crossover movie and loved it! Thanks! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece or Case Closed
It had been a week since Conan arrived; he knew because he had requested a calendar during his stay. Keeping time was a classic way to stay sane, it gave you some sense of your surroundings. It had grown into a routine he had gotten used to. He never did extra research, but he enjoyed the exercise of the basketball court when Coby would be willing to play with him, but would normally take a nap. Then he would stargaze after a long day. From what he could tell, Coby and Helemppo were good people, but they had no idea what kind of people they were working for. After his first night, Conan used his watch to shoot the bars of cell to the point where it wasn't noticeable, but enough for his small form to slip out. He had to time it fairly well,; between dodging the guards and picking locks he only had four hours of unordox research every night.
After a week of discovery upon discovery, Conan was at a loss. After researching Absolute Justice, he found out about the World Government, and inevitably the Gorosei; this didn't surprise him, but the world he was in was pure anarchy and totaltalitarian. The pirates were marked as criminals because they refused to bow their heads like sheep, and saw through the glitter the World Government put up for everyone. After researching the technology of the world, Conan had discovered the Den Den Mushi, and had finally managed to swipe one that broadcasted information. He wasn't planning to actually broadcast his discovery, but he needed some leverage over his captors. Like the Ohara incident, all he needed was Nico Robin's testimony and that could easily be proved. She was alive with people called the Strawhat pirates or whatever. But from what he discovered…the Gorosei were planning something pretty sick…as a detective, could he really leave this world at their hands? NO! Rachel and the others were waiting for him! They were counting on him! He couldn't afford to think unnecessarily now. For now, he needed to completely set up his leverage, and then set up his escape. He was certain Tsuru would help him at this point, and if he made it through the obstacles, she'd let him pass into the next stage: home.
"Edogawa." Conan turned to his side, realizing he had spent the last hour staring aimlessly at his ceiling. "Let's go. The Fleet Admiral wants a word with you."
'This can't be good.' Conan thought as he and Coby put on his chains.
"Don't worry. Sengoku-Taicho, just wants a progress report from you." Coby smiled reassuringly. Conan blinked, and panicked slightly, did Sengoku know that he had been sneaking out of cell? Well…if he did, Conan would have to switch to plan B.
At Sengoku's Office
Conan knew it was bad when Coby and Helemppo were told to wait outside, however Garp-san and Tsuru-san were in the office as well, so it might not get that ugly. "So, Mr. Kudo, any progress on the One Piece case?"
"With all due respect sir, with the limited resources you give me, I can't come to a proper conclusion." Conan sighed. He wasn't lying, but he wasn't exactly telling the truth either.
"We've given you plenty. If you haven't found it yet, that either means you're lying, or you're not as good as people say you are." Akainu growled. Conan observed that the other two Admirals were here as well, along with the other two Vice Admirals.
"Akainu, please." Sengoku raised a hand to quiet the man. "What about the information is insufficient to you? We've given you every detail we know about Gol. D. Roger's life, including his family; we've given you an exact chronological documentation of the Grand Line and the attempted voyages; a complete history of Raftel and why it's so dangerous; who Roger's crew mates and where they are now; and finally…the alliance Roger had with two of the Emporers of the New World- Whitebeard and Shanks. Leading you to know about the World Government hiring out the Warlords, as well as their intelligence agency, Ceipher Pole. Tell me, what could you possibly be missing in this pool of information?"
"A document that doesn't point a finger at Roger or his crew. I need to analyze something from an unbiased party." Conan replied, earning him a harsh punch in the face by Akainu. He dropped to the ground.
"LIAR! Don't speak to your superior, tainted scum!" Akainu glowered down at the fierce detective.
"Akainu!" Garp stood up, but was held in place by Tsuru. The old woman looked very sad for what was about to happen.
"Akainu, there's no need to get violent quite yet." Sengoku's glasses gleemed. "You see, we don't think you're lying Mr. Edogawa, we just think you're being lazy and not focusing on finding the treasure. And due to the random questions you've been asking my subordinates, I think you know what I'm talking about. Now then, you know where One Piece is, don't you?"
Conan glared. "No. I don't."
Akainu put his foot to the boy's throat, causing Conan to choke, but then panic when suddenly felt immense heat from the man's shoe. Before he realized what he was happening, Akainu's shoe had become like a hot iron and was branding Conan's neck.
"AAUGH!" Conan convulsed and started struggling violently. He had been tortured before, but nothing like this. What the hell was going on? Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, Akainu was suddenly shoved off him. Conan could barely register anything else, before he blacked out.
3hrs Later
Conan bolted awake and looked at his surroundings, he found himself in his cell on his caught, but something was different, his throat felt extremely tight and he felt sore, as if he'd been burned. Memories came flooding to him and put his hands to his throat, wincing from his own touch. His neck was completely bandaged. "You'd make a fine marine." Conan snapped his head towards the voice. He found Garp. "Tsuru told me what's going on, and why she asked to borrow Coby and Helemppo. Can't blame her, she can't trust anyone else. Sengoku's gone crazy, never thought Akainu would do that to a child. I'm sorry you had to endure that."
"I was caught, wasn't I?" Conan asked plainly.
"Ah." Garp nodded. "Just today though. Sengoku and the other Admirals are worried about what you've discovered, so they decided to scare you into amnesia. I'm guessing it didn't work."
"I don't scare that easy." The boy looked away, refusing to look at the man.
"Good. You're strong kid, you really are." The Vice-Admiral sighed. "Don't do that again. Until get out of here, don't ever cross those guys again. That power or torture you experienced, was a devil fruit Tsuru told yah about."
"So that was a devil fruit, huh?" Conan turned back to him. "Let me guess, the Magma-Magma fruit?"
"Close enough." Garp sighed. "His type are the most powerful, Logia-type. They're element based fruits that allow your body to control and become that element. In Akainu's case it's magma, in Aokiji's case it's ice, Kizaru's is light, and Sengoku has what's called a mystic zonan. That's the rarest kind of devil fruit. Zonan turn you into animals as well as give you abilities of that animal, mystic zonan allows you to become a mythitical beast. Sengoku's is to become a giant Buddha. The last type of devil fruit is Paramecia, they're the most odd and body-manipulated type. They essentially cause your body to become another substance, yah know, like rubber."
"Why are you telling me this?" the detective rose an eyebrow.
"So you know who you're picking a fight with next time." Garp sighed. "You're not a fighter, I can already tell. Don't get yourself in trouble by getting into a fight with anyone here, especially the Admirals." Garp stood up and headed for the door. "You've been given the day off. Get some sleep."
After the Vice Admiral left, Conan flopped back down on the cot and slowly allowed himself to surrender to sleep. Now that he had seen a devil-fruit power first hand, he couldn't treat it as passing thought anymore. If the Black Organization got their hands on those…Conan shivered at the thought. But if what Tsuru said was true, all he had to do was lead them to water. Smiling, the gears in his head started forming a plan.
3 days Later
Bathing was a time for the body to relax and be cleansed. He hadn't been beaten since that time, nor had he spoken to anyone since the incident. Coby and Helmeppo seemed to understand what happened to him, and after trying to coax a few words out of him, they didn't say anything else. They saw a scared and traumatized child, while Conan was plotting revenge and escape. At this point, he had a fairly good idea of where One Piece was, and he had to say, even in death, the Pirate King completely screwed the World Government over. It was true that Raftel was where the map of One Piece was located, but the actual treasure was hidden somewhere else. He quite literally meant everything he owned was in One Piece, including things that went beyond gold and silver. He had a pretty good idea of where it was, but like hell he was telling these people. There was One Piece and there was no One Piece at the same time; damn that's brilliant. He sighed and got out of the bath tub and grabbed a towel, starting to dry off. Walking up to a mirror, he sat down and picked up the medical tape left for him there. Glancing at the huge forming-scar on his neck, he sighed. How the hell was he going to explain this one to Rachel? He wrapped his neck with the fresh bandages provided, careful not open any scabbing.
"Conan?" He turned to the door at the sound of knocking and Coby's voice. "Are you okay? You normally bathe much faster than this."
"I'm fine, I'm actually done now." Conan called back. Quickly walking into the changing area of the large bathroom, he took out the pajamas placed out for him and dressed quickly. Another nice thing about the Navy was that they did his laundry for him; they had provided him with a simple white shirt and blue pants since his arrival. He assumed the symbol on the back of the shirt was the Navy's. After dressing in the pajamas, he went up to the washroom's entrance and turned the knob to let Coby and Helmeppo in.
"Did you enjoy your bath?" Coby asked as he fastened his handcuffs.
"No more than usual. " Conan shrugged.
"Took your time today." Helmeppo grunted.
"Helmeppo!" Coby jabbed him with his elbow.
"Sorry." Grunted the blond. "You'll have a roommate starting tonight." The young detective paled, that meant he wouldn't nearly have as much flexibility as he did now.
"A guard's staying in my cell with me?" Conan raised a brow.
"No! No! Nothing like that!" Coby flaied his hands in reassurance. "He just means that we have another prisoner that's going to share that hallway with you, you'll be in different cells though."
"Ah. I see." Conan nodded. Great, a spy.
"He's dangerous, though. So don't talk to him, all right?" Coby warned him.
"I won't." Conan nodded. "What's his name?"
"You'll find out." Helmeppo replied dryly. "Let's go. We're wasting time."
"Yeah. Sorry about this, Conan-kun. We'll talk to our superiors about him getting transferred." Coby smiled back behind him as Conan followed them down the hallway. The young detective didn't say anything, he was dreadfully irritated. Sengoku must've gotten paranoid, so he was probably rooming with a pirate who was being bribed to spy him. Great. Just great, he'd have to figure out a new way to move.
Back at Conan's Cell
Conan blinked at the sight before him. They had just opened the door to his prison quarters, and he was greeted with the sight of Vice Admiral Garp and Vice Admiral Tsuru, Sengoku, and Akainu crowding around the cell that was opposite to his. Coby and Helmeppo straightened up immediately and saluted their superiors.
"Ah. Chief Petty Officers Coby and Helemeppo, good to see you two doing your work so diligently. I wish all young marines were like you; Garp always seems to produce the finest. I wish I could say the same here." Sengoku gestured towards the prisoner, making Conan even more curious of the situation. The detective straightened up when Akainu stared at him.
"Put him in his cell." Akainu ordered. Coby and Helmeppo quickly did as they were told. As soon as Conan was uncuffed, the marines scurried out of the cell and waited for further orders. "Out. You have no other business here." The Admiral waved them off.
"Neither do you, Sazaki!" Garp glared. "None of you do. Out!" Garp met the eyes of the Fleet Admiral, indicating he as serious.
Sengoku sighed. "Fine. But this isn't over." He turned to the now, curious detective. "I'd hurry up on the solving the case if I were you." With that, he walked away from the boy and lead the rest of the Navy officials out. Leaving the curious detective with the Vice Admiral, who by himself, blocked his view of the new inmate.
"Kid, can I ask you something?" Garp spoke after he heard the door close.
"Sure." Conan replied quickly.
"You're a detective, helping uphold order and justice in your world right?" The big man asked.
"Yeah." Conan answered uncertainly.
"Tell me. What would you do if one of your friends or family was in the Black Organization?" That question certainly caught the boy off-guard.
"What do you mean? That's crazy!" He laughed nervously. "There's no way one of my friends-" He cut himself off when he remembered Anita. He frowned, he wondered how his friends were doing.
Garp ignored his initial answered and continued questioning. "Would you fight them? Would you kill them if it meant peace and justice? If it meant to save the world you lived in…would you kill them?"
The boy blinked, obviously not expecting that question. He looked to the ground and thought for a moment, and finally, he found his answer. "…If you have to ask those questions then that means only two things: your friend's completely betrayed you or you're no longer working for the greater good." Conan paused and clenched his fists. "If my friend betrayed me personally and did anything to harm my loved ones, then I'd kill them without hesitation." Garp turned to the boy slightly in surprise. "It's as you said, if they're upsetting the order of things by killing innocent people, then I have no choice but to act. But if it was the world against one of my friends or family…you can bet your Navy-badged ass I'd fight like hell for them." Conan smirked at that. He meant it; Anita was his ally, and he'd fight anything the Black Organization threw at him to help her.
"Even if they chose a life of crime willingly?" Garp prodded, narrowing his eyes.
Conan smirked again. "I actually have a friend who's a famous thief; he's a kind, honest man, who's never wronged a person in his life, with the exception of being a peeping tom." He laughed slightly, thinking of Lupin and Kid Kaido. "But it's as you said, he's a thief, and when I meet up with him, I have to try and catch him. I haven't caught him yet, but every time I fail, he always offers his hand to help me get back up to catch him again. If the world turned against me or him, I know we'd back each other up. So to answer your question Garp-san, I'd say that justice is law, but justice doesn't mean it's right."
Garp turned back to the other inmate again. "I see. Thank you." His voice got gruffer when he spoke to the inmate. "Behave yourself! I'll see you tomorrow!" Garp marched away without saying another word. After he left, Conan peered curiously into his cell, and what he saw shocked him. There was a black-haired, muscular young man, who seemed to be in his late teens, had an odd spelling tattoo on his arm, and wore no shirt and a beaded necklace. He was in heavier shackles than he was in. The man was chained to the wall and didn't look to be in good shape. Seeing as how the man didn't even look up Conan tried to kneel down to get a good look at his face.
"What do you want kid?" Conan jumped at the tone, and noticed the man was staring at him. But when the man saw who was staring at him, he looked shocked and angry. "What's a kid like you, doing here?"
"Er…I'm suspected of conspiracy. You?" Conan quickly lied.
"…Son of a pirate, nothing more. What's your name?" He asked, suspicious of the boy.
"Conan Edogawa." He answered. "…Yours?"
"Ace." Replied the man. "Portgas D. Ace."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone