A Den Den Mushi inside Tsuru's coat began to shriek before she reached the next stairwell.
She lifted the receiver.
"Vice-Admiral Tsuru!"
The snail had taken on the strained face of a young Marine officer.
"Report."
"Captain Sakazuki has used his Devil Fruit against the Government agents! The temperature around the interrogation room rose without warning. They say he attacked them!"
Tsuru kept walking.
Jonathan and the Rear Admiral followed close behind her.
"Annoying brat... Casualties?"
"Unknown, ma'am. We cannot get a clear answer."
"Then stop repeating their conclusion as fact!"
The officer hesitated.
"Yes, ma'am."
Tsuru returned the receiver to its cradle and looked over her shoulder.
"Faster."
The Rear Admiral pointed towards the end of the corridor.
"It is just beyond that corner."
"Indeed. It is quite hot in here!" Rear-Admiral commented.
Jonathan quickened his pace.
They rounded the corner and found two Government agents standing near an open door. Sweat formed on their foreheads. One held a handkerchief against his cheek. The other kept glancing into the room while carefully remaining outside it.
Both men looked relieved when they saw Tsuru.
The relief lasted less than a second.
A third agent flew backwards through the doorway.
His shoulder struck the opposite wall. A framed Marine notice dropped beside him, followed by a thin shower of plaster.
Nobody spoke.
Heat rolled out of the room.
Tsuru clicked her tongue.
"Tsk... hot-headed fool. Just worsening the situation..."
Jonathan looked past the fallen man.
Sakazuki stood beside the table with smoke rising from one sleeve. His chair had toppled behind him, but nothing else in the room appeared damaged. It seemed that he had already calmed down.
The agent on the floor pushed himself up on one elbow.
Jonathan stepped closer.
"Are you all right?"
The agent wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"He will pay for this! Just you wait...!"
"Not you," Jonathan said. He looked into the room. "I asked Sakazuki."
The injured man's face tightened.
"How dare you!"
"Keep silent."
Tsuru raised her voice.
The agent turned towards her and stopped.
She watched him for another moment, then faced the two men beside the door.
"What happened?"
Neither answered.
One looked at Sakazuki. The other looked at his colleague on the floor.
Tsuru raised her right hand.
A pale film gathered across her fingers. It thickened between them, glossy and white, until a small cluster of foam rested against her knuckles.
The nearest agent took one step back.
Tsuru slowly rubbed her thumb against her forefinger.
"I asked a simple question."
"That Marine became violent," the agent said.
"Before or after your colleague provoked him?"
"..."
"..."
The foam spread across Tsuru's palm.
"After," the second agent admitted.
The injured man snapped his head towards him.
"You moron!"
Tsuru's fingers moved once.
The foam shifted.
He shut his mouth.
His eyes dropped to the Vice-Admiral's insignia upon Tsuru's coat. Whatever authority his own office claimed, it did not help him here.
"Continue," she said.
"We ordered him to answer. He refused. Our colleague questioned his rank and insulted him."
"What else?"
The man's eyes moved towards Nanioni's burnt cap.
"He insulted the officer who gave him that cap. Then he stepped closer and repeated it."
Tsuru looked into the room.
Sakazuki met her gaze without the slightest regret.
"I will deal with you later," she said.
...
..
The agent on the floor made an angry sound through his nose.
Tsuru let the foam dissolve from her hand. She reached for the secure Den Den Mushi carried by the Rear Admiral and lifted its receiver.
"Fleet Admiral."
Kong answered at once.
"Tsuru?"
"The situation is under control, sir."
A pause followed.
"Understood."
The connection ended.
Tsuru returned the receiver.
Before the last trace of foam had vanished from her cuff, heavy footsteps sounded from the adjoining corridor. Kong appeared first, a fresh cigar clenched between his teeth. Mikaels walked beside him in his white suit and cloak, his CP0 mask still covering his face.
The injured agent saw them.
His anger gave way to a slow, unpleasant smile.
Kong opened his mouth.
"I..."
He noticed the smile and stopped.
"At last," the agent said. "I assume you have come to deal with your rebellious subordinate."
The agent straightened as much as his bruised shoulder allowed. One of his companions gave a quiet laugh. The other covered his mouth, but not quickly enough.
Mikaels stepped forward.
The laughter ended.
His hand closed around the injured agent's collar and lifted him from the floor. The man's shoes left the stone.
"S-sir! W-what... What are you doing?!"
Mikaels drew a pistol from beneath his cloak.
The agent's next word became a hard click of teeth against steel.
Mikaels had placed the barrel inside his mouth.
Jonathan went rigid. The Rear Admiral wanted to laugh hysterically and bit his tongue to prevent it. Kong's cigar shifted between his teeth as he smirked. He had expected Mikaels to defend those cocky agents.
Tsuru's brows lowered. She was not fond of such a brutal approach.
Mikaels looked into the agent's eyes through the empty openings of his mask.
"Enough with the theatre."
The man tried to answer.
Mikaels pushed the pistol deeper. The agent gagged, both hands gripping the wrist that held him above the floor.
"Discipline is not a courtesy I request; it is the minimum condition of your continued existence. Remember that. There will be no next time."
He withdrew the pistol.
The agent dragged in a broken breath.
Mikaels released him.
"This is your last warning."
His shoes struck the floor. Before the man could stumble away, Mikaels gave his cheek two light taps. He straightened the agent's collar, brushed the plaster from one shoulder and adjusted the knot of his tie.
"Better."
Nobody laughed... yet.
Mikaels holstered the pistol and walked directly into the interrogation room.
Sakazuki watched him approach.
Mikaels closed the door behind them.
Jonathan took one quiet step away.
Then another.
"You stay."
Mikaels had not looked back.
Jonathan gulped.
He entered the room and closed the door again.
Sakazuki gave a short snort. He said nothing, but the look he gave Mikaels would have stopped a less disciplined man at the threshold.
Mikaels pointed towards the empty chair beside Sakazuki.
"Sit."
Jonathan obeyed.
Two black suitcases rested against the far wall. The Government agents had brought them in earlier and abandoned them when the temperature began to rise.
Mikaels walked behind the two Marines.
Sakazuki turned his head slightly.
"What are you..."
Mikaels placed one gloved hand upon Sakazuki's head and the other upon Jonathan's.
Both Marines collapsed.
Their bodies folded forward at the same instant. Sakazuki's shoulder struck the table. Jonathan slid from his chair and came to rest against its side. They lay so close together that someone might have mistaken them for a married couple!
...
..
This power...
The Memo Memo no Mi could do more than remove a chosen recollection. In trained hands, it could silence the conscious mind while leaving every memory intact.
Mikaels dragged the two suitcases into the centre of the room and opened them.
Rows of empty reels waited inside.
He removed his gloves.
His fingers returned to the heads of the unconscious Marines. Two translucent strips emerged beneath his touch, each one divided into countless moving frames. Images passed too quickly to follow. A burning base. Black stone. Dead agents. A white mask. A red light. A screaming woman...?
Mikaels did not stop to examine any of them.
The strips divided without tearing. Their originals withdrew into the minds from which they had come, while perfect copies wound themselves around the empty reels.
One after another, the reels began to turn.
Years of memory filled the cases.
Reading them here would take far too long. His ship was already being prepared to return to the Holy Land. The contents could be examined during the voyage, away from Marine eyes.
When the final reels stopped, Mikaels closed both suitcases and locked them.
He put his gloves back on.
Then he opened the door.
Kong stood immediately outside it.
The Fleet Admiral tried to see past him.
"Done," Mikaels said.
He carried the suitcases into the corridor and held one towards each of the two agents still standing near the door.
They accepted them carefully.
"Take these to my ship."
"Yes, sir."
Mikaels kept one hand on the second case.
"You are not permitted to open them," he warned.
He tapped the case, then drew his thumb across his throat.
The agent holding it swallowed.
"O-of course not, sir."
"Go."
Mikaels released the handle.
Both agents left for the docks without looking back. Mikaels followed them, his white cloak moving softly behind him.
Kong remained where he was.
His grip loosened around his cigar.
That was it?
He stepped into the room.
Sakazuki and Jonathan were unconscious. Neither had been bound. Neither was bleeding.
Kong checked them both, then looked towards the empty doorway.
The Rear Admiral followed him inside.
He stared at the two motionless Marines.
"What... what just happened? Was that a Devil Fruit power?"