Annabelle's preparations for the day were quite simple. Her Marine uniform, that of a marksman for them, was donned upon her as she, her survival pack, and the cute rifle she had began to make their way out of the large building that she called home. A request from Ohara had reached the Marine's and The Laniakea's eldest daughter had been told that she and another of her choice would be going to help out with the problem there. The person she was bringing was simple; her younger sister. She seemed in shape enough to fight at least, and they did not say it had to be a marine, and it would be nice to have her sister there to work with her.

According to her mission letter, a crew of tobacco growing pirates had threatened the entire island of Ohara if they did not evacuate the whole island. That was clearly not going to happen, not if the World Government had any say in the matter; which they did of course. The archeologists would get to stay and continue their research for as long as they needed. The tree would also be allowed to stay standing as a continued marvel in this world. It was a good thing for the Marines and World Government to do. Lords knew they needed to do something good for all the bad they had done so far. A look at the Celestial Dragons would tell one everything you needed to know about the corruption all around them.

It was so odd to be back home, able to sleep in her old room. While she had to lay out a bed for herself, as it had been changed into a loft for entertaining guests, Reina didn't care as the shape was enough to bring her some comfort. Her father and mother had yet to return, which was concerning in more ways than one. Were they the ones who posed the problem? Reina certainly was worried that they were the source, but until they got back she couldn't fully check, there was too many staff personnel and her returning was already suspicious enough, she had to look natural. What surprised her today, however, was that her older sister wanted her to join her in some form of marine mission. it was strange, they had just met back up together and already she was being asked to help? In the message Annabelle left for Reina, it made it sound like Reina was sort of helpless. In a way Reina was happy her sister thought she wasn't super helpful, it would let her get away with a higher level of discretion in battle and around the house. Perhaps she could even avoid looking powerful in the first place, though that would mean holding back. With a prayer, Reina would hope the enemy wouldn't be all that powerful.

Getting ready, Reina left some of her weaponry behind, only bringing her executioners pistol and her little last resort. Meeting her sister outside, Reina wore her typical dress as to appear serious, it was a mission after all.

"So sis, you wanted to have me go on you for this job? Shouldn't you bring a detachment of the local marines?

[286]

It would not be too long of a wait before her sister would meet her outside. She wore a dress, one that would work for battle, and seemed to have no weapons with her. "Yeah, I wanted to take you with me. It's been a long time since I have seen you, and I'm sure you would work better with me on the field than any of those terrible spotters the Marines have around here. I can spot and snipe by myself better than relying on one of them with me. We always worked well on anything we did when we were younger and surely that has not changed much in eight years, right?"

Annabelle really hoped she was right on this, and that she would not get her sister killed in the process. Surely after eight years she had picked up some kind of combat practice or self-defense, right? If not this would be dangerous, but the fact that her little sister was actually prepared to go showed that she was not too worried about was going on. "Did you have any questions? I can answer them on the way there if you want." The woman would make a motion to show she was moving, something out of habit and training more than anything, before she began making the light walk that they needed to take so that they could board the boat taking them there. After that it was just a short trip there so that they could defend the island from these stupid pirates.

"I suppose I've trained a bit in my time away. Haven't really played the role of a spotter though, should I just yell whenever I see them? Might give me away though, I could make a smoke signal? Nah, too obvious. Flip the bird perhaps? I don't know, what sort of signal do you normally go for, aside from boy toys."

It was a convoluted way of expressing what sort of team they would be forming up, normally it would be no nonsense from Reina, but today she was trying to pass off as a bit of a novice. How much of a novice she could look like was yet to be determined, it had been a while she had been in the blues and the difference between the blues and the grand line was night and day. A warlord out in the blues barely qualified as anything in the grand line, heck a warlord out here would be lucky to survive his first island encounter unharmed, especially due to the arrogance he probably held. That made Reina wonder, just how strong had her sister become in the time they were apart? She had always been a good shot, and great at spotting weaknesses, perhaps that had been honed, both on the field of battle and in the home whenever someone made a mistake. Judging by how the staff around sometimes in a panic, Reina could guess that at the very least it was true in the household.

"If I'm being serious my main question is what sort of guy is this pirate? he clearly has some form of goal, what sort of weapons is he famous for?"

Truly, Reina had never heard of him, but then again her definition of notoriety probably wasn't the same as everyone else's around here.

[301]

The response that Reina had given her based on the spotter thing was an odd one. It made her sister sound like the worst type of novice, and there was no way that was true! Anna would go along with it, however, as her sister might just be uncomfortable doing such a thing like spotting for someone in combat. It could be stressful, and many found it too much of a burden to help in the killing of someone from so far away. "Well, it's actually a lot more simpler than that. When you see someone that isn't part of the group we're protecting you make a small hand signal and then point me in the direction to look. You'll be sitting right next to me, it's just easier for someone else to use the scope as my weapons don't have their own. I need to get a really good one down the line. Even then a spotter is still helpful as it gives an extra pair of eyes to help find those unwanted." The hand signal was just a small hand movement of raising a fist lightly to get her attention before pointing out the person, a signal she would make as she spoke about it.

The only other main question that her sister would ask is information on the pirates they were dealing with. That was simple, as her higher ups had provided that information already! "Well, he's some tobacco kingpin pirate that's known for claiming whole islands for his growing operations. Apparently, Ohara is a prime growing island once the giant tree is cut down. He has a pair of iron scissors in place of his left hand, some sort of accident I presume, and latest sightings say he has a steel sword as well." With that said they would reach the docking point for their boat, which would depart immediately upon them setting foot on it.

"Tabacco? So he smokes a lot and just wants to create an island to grow new plants to smoke? Why would someone invade an island just to grow plants? So odd, couldn't he just find an uncharted island? Oh well, some people seem to think the world belongs to them. As for spotting, got it, I'll point towards them."

The boat was simple and the criminal they were after wasn't the smartest of the pirates she had encountered. This guy probably thought he was amazing in the world of piracy, but he had no idea just how much of a baby he really was. If Reina was trying she could probably solo his entire crew and his friend's crew. Scissors for a hand, what was his name Edward or something? Such a strange quirk, did he think it was scary to have a missing hand, all it did was weaken him to the point of uselessness. Perhaps this dude was just angry at the world, but to invade such a guarded island, this guy was for sure foolish. Briefly, Reina considered not holding back, but at the same time, she wanted to see just how skilled her sister was, her potential and if she could possibly be the one who was involved in the main reason Reina was even here.

The boat ride was smooth, arriving at the island exposed that was something was wrong immediately. The sky was filled with smoke from what smelled like, tobacco. Were they smoking while fighting? That seemed really stressful on the lungs. Reina always disliked the smell of smoke because of that, seemed to weaken the body rather than help it.

"Well, looks like we already had a lead..."

[286]

Reina would comment about the pirate and his crew, as well as the spotting, and was glad to hear she understood everything quite well. They had both been quick learners, as had their brother, and it was clear that none of them had really lost that in the last eight years. The boat ride to Ohara was not a super long one. It was in the same part of the Blues, and thus Annabelle would spend most of it taking apart and cleaning her new steel rifle. She had named it 'Misery's End' on a whim, but the statistics on it were top notch. Where most of her rifles dropped off at the one hundred and fifty-meter mark this one could manage three hundred. Not to mention she had managed to shoot straight through the steel targets like they were paper mache rather than the material they actually were. After being sure all parts would in perfect condition she would quickly put it back together before loading the ten bullets into the lever-action rifle.

Not long after arrival, not even having a chance to step off the boat, they would see the smoke in the air. Reina would talk about already having a lead, and the Elder sister could not argue with that due to how true it was. "Yeah, let's carefully make our way to a higher area and take them out. We can't let them do any more harm than they already have." With that said she would step off the boat and point towards an area that lead up partially into the tree. If they got a little ways up they would have a clear view of the area in question, then it was up to their abilities to put an end to the conflict.

"I guess we could also lure their attention up towards us? I mean, it's risky but if we take them away from part of the townsfolk then we will be doing our jobs. That is unless you prefer to just pick them off while they do as their please, they are just people we don't know after all."

The last part was incredibly out of character for Reina, she, of course, cared about the townsfolk, she wasn't some pirate who desired only murder or a revolutionary who hated the world government so much that it didn't matter who got in the way. it was more a test to see if an extreme reaction would be had by her sibling in order to try and pinpoint any potential moral downfalls. It pained her to do it, but her job required it. Of course, Reina was stating this while going up the path, alone, with her sister in front. Depending on her answer there may not be a sister anymore, and if that was the case Reina may just quit the marines. Despite how cold she had made her heart, she couldn't bare the thought of having to take her sister from this world, and couldn't have the right mental state for the jobs she was required to do. What would she do then? She didn't know, it wouldn't be piracy, perhaps she would just help some people on a different island, disappear. Assuming the answer didn't completely trigger Reina, she and Annabelle would get up to the spot and begin to look for them.

"See, down there in the smoke? A few of them are trying to rob a store, are you still as good as you were 8 years ago?"

[305]

Wait, had she really just said that to her? What kind of monster would say that they could just let the innocents down there die while doing this? Of course she was going to try and stop them from doing any more damage than they already had! Why would she let the people here die when she had been sent out to save them! As a matter of face, these things would come out of her mouth as they began the trek up the walkways around the tree to get to a higher spot.

"How could you even think of saying something like that! I'm not like some cowardly pirate that uses people as pawns in a game of chess, to throw their lives away at my leisure to make plays behind the scenes!" The hushed yelling she did was well practiced. She was trained to keep her voice from carrying far and thus only a short distance around her would the words be heard.

It would be silent after that until they got to their spot and Reina pointed out a few robbing a store down below at the same time as challenging her shot. Was she as good as she was before? No, of course not! She was better. There was no scope on the rifle she held, but that did not stop her from taking aim and landing the first head shot on a pirate that was trying to kick in the door to the shop in question. A quick move on the lever would ready her next bullet even as she breathed out and fired the second kill shot on the pirate that was looking at the now dead one he had been watching kick. Moments later, just as the third one would look in the direction of the gunfire, the final man would drop to the ground. "Three spotted, three down. Do you see any more, Reina?"

"If I had to guess, I would say that most of them would be heading towards the tree, they wanted to cut it down for no reason right? Couldn't bro just make what they want to but in candy form and far easier? Heck, these guy's must not be very good at their job if they already fell to just a few shots."

The comments were cold and cruel, out of character for Reina, but on purpose. She wasn't foolish, she knew what was about to happen. The tree was their main target, the town was a distraction, a terrible one, but was a distraction. There weren't enough of them to take it, and soon the other marine forces would rally to fight against them, the sheer fact that they arrived when they did was lucky, arriving right as the first attack began, what kind of plot convenience is that huh? Still, if the main goal was to get rid of the tree, then that would mean...

Suddenly, from one of the side bushes of the tree came an imposing man with scissors for a hand. it was an ambush that Reina totally didn't see coming. moving to swipe towards Annabelle, Reina quickly moved to the side of the attack to try and stop it, but with a right backhand knocked her off of the tree to fall downward, totally not be Reina's own desire to take a quick way down.

"Nooooooooo."

She did a terrible no, as it was apathetic, as she fell. Making sure to grab a branch, Reina would land near the base without flinching. As she landed, Reina came across a bit of fortune, as managed to land directly in the middle of a group of nefarious people. If she had to guess, Reina would assume these were the pirates, especially since all of them were smoking.

Yar, what do we have here?"

As they started to laugh as readied their swords, Reina noticed the lighter fuel and the unlit torches next to it. Well how about that, they were going to try and burn the tree down with just that? Oh man, these guy's were amateurs in the field of pyrotechnics. Reaching for her pistol, Reina got a bit frustrated. She had only brought 6 bullets, darn.

"Look, before we do this... I should have all of you know, I only brought 6 bullets, so I hope you guy's learned how to share in school."

[429]

"Yeah, Leo could definitely do this way better than any of them ever could. Hell, Leo could probably get these guys addicted to something better than this smoke inhalation damage they want to grow. And a few shots isn't too much of a surprise when I have one of the best rifles out there right now. They still haven't even made targets that can take the hit without piercing through, not without making them too costly to be worth making." It was true. Unless they made titanium target she was stuck shooting at multiple steel targets stacked up to see how many simultaneous hits she could manage.

Almost immediately after their short talk would things complicate, with Reina being knocked off the edge by a backhand from a pirate that seemed to fit the bill for the description that they had been given for Captain Cutter. The surprise and anger at seeing her sister fall, and not being able to tell if she was all right, made yet leap up and charge at Cutter. At first he was not expecting the tall woman to charge him like she did, a full rifle butt hitting him in the face but not quite bringing him down and out of the fight just yet.

"Arr har har! You'll be havin' ta do more than dat to keep me down, lass!" The scissor hand of his snapped in anticipation as he said the words, smoke billowing out from his mouth even as the tobacco pipe managed to stay where it was between his lips.

Bang, the first shot was fired and met two of them between the eyes. Not good enough, only five shots and there were still 21 of them left. Five attacked in a wave together, but they were so slow it was easy for Reina to simply move to dash to the right and open fire. Bang, four fell and one was knocked out. The bullet couldn't quite go through all of them, even at this range. She supposed it was a miracle in the first place that four of them fell to a single shot. Now she was down to just 16 counting the one knocked out. Four shots left. Seeing the spectacle the various pirates decided to try and light up the fluid in the barrels. Annabelle would be pissed at Reina, but she had a plan. Firing a shot at the barrel just as they started to pour and light the fluid she managed to catch a spark and set the barrel on fire, setting three of them on fire in the process. Three shots left and 13 left. This would never work. Rushing her all at once, Reina fired three times for three kills. She was out, but it was no problem, she was just trying to be fancy before, at least she took out a good number of them with just one mag. Dashing to avoid the slices as they flashed in one by one, she managed to move to the far left of the pirates and grab him right sword hand with her left hand.

"For me? You shouldn't have."

Gripping down the man's grip loosened and snatching the sword with her right hand she proceeded to cut him across the chest. The next few moments where Reina slicing and dicing like a ballet performance. While the sword was below her standards of quality she made it work, and quickly they all fell. Normally she would have liked to keep them alive in one to question them, but even the one she knocked out she finished off. At this point it would be better to bury them then keep any of them breathing, especially since, if they were connected to something bigger, she didn't want them running back to their boss explaining who she was, and how she had the skill to take all of them out. Oh, and the fire? Well, she just told it to chill and it went out. Reina, however, would now focus on returning to the ship, as well she heard something which gave her the clue that her sister had finished off the boss man, and good for her too. Reina was proud, though she would never admit it openly.

[459]

Gunshots could be heard from below even as she tried to block an attack from the pirate captain that resulted in her being pushed back near the edge of the tree. This was not good, not at all. This guy was much stronger than her. If it came down to a fist fight he would likely win. Well, not that she was going to let it be a fair fight. The woman would turn her rifle and try to let off a close range shot, a shot that was almost avoided. Sadly she only managed to shoot him in the ear. It wasn't an easy shot, no, but it was enough to surprise the man with how close he had come to dying. A quick jab forward would knock her weapon out of hand before he went in for her throat.

The sloshing sound was disgusting as his weapon struck true, though not from the sound of blood. The surprised sound from the man as his arm was suddenly swallowed up into her body was all he would get to make before she absorbed the rest of him into her before spitting him out over the edge; his scissor hand and tobacco pipe no longer with him. No, those would stay with her. She could surprise people with them later.

With her job here complete, given that the sounds of fighting had now died down, the woman collected her gun and quickly went to look for her sister; who was completely safe and seemingly unharmed. How had she managed to get out unscathed? It was a question to answer much later on, she had a debriefing to catch and there was no time for delay.