Night, a time of joy and festivities on the tournament grounds. On the streets surrounding the main stadium, the glowing lights of lanterns illuminate the festive people, both fighters and audience-goers alike, as they partake in the evening's pleasures. Eating, drinking, merry-making and every known pleasure of the flesh was available to those who knew what they wanted. Yet even amidst all of the chaos of revelry, the forces of the World Government were standing on guard, making sure that things didn't go too out of control. Though the tournament was outside their main jurisdiction and several agents, particularly those of the shadowy Cipher Pol 9, were fighting as part of it, they were still asked to keep abreast to make sure that the pirates and civilians weren't too out of line. The moment something happened, they would just jump to action, do what they had to, and hopefully get them disqualified under the guidelines of absolute justice.
As one of the various agents within the infamous and feared CP9, Kalifa knew the duties of the enforcement of "Absolute Justice" wherever and whenever she was, day and night. Having spent five years undercover as the secretary of famous shipwright Iceburg on Water 7, she already knew that she had to take note of anything and everything that she came across. But just because she knew her job and knew how to do it well didn't mean that she liked doing it every moment with every observation she made in her glasses-covered eyes. In fact, she only had one feeling in her mind as she maneuvered through the joyful streets of the city while watching people running amuck, doing whatever they wanted in the midst of this chaotic celebratory mood:
"I'm getting Spandam for sexual harassment for making me work tonight. If that idiot thinks that I'm going around on watch while Blueno sits around in front of a bar, Kumadori does ceremonies for his mother, and Lucci just lays in the hospital after taking a giant metal ball to the head, he has to be kidding himself." There really was nothing she could do with Lucci, considering he was still recovering after a hard loss to Vice-Admiral Garp, but her feelings regarding being the only agent on duty that night with the others making up excuses just made her think they only pulled this on her because she was not doing anything else…and because she was a woman.
"I really need to transfer to another agency where my work would be better appreciated instead of being mocked," Kalifa continued to think, adjusting her glasses over her eyes and brushing her hair back as she felt a bit of soapy slickness form in her hand allowing her to give her blond tresses more sheen. "Maybe I could convince someone to set up a killer corp of secretaries which I would teach instead of being bossed around by that...hmph!" She passed more revelers partying the night away, a few being some pirates of an unknown crew who seemed to be just lying there in a drunk stupor as she attempted to walk over them in her heels. Kalifa just wanted to get out of the way and make this night as easy as possible both for herself and for those running amuck around her to her disgust.
But in the midst of the screaming and yelling of rouges and rapscallions, a small voice seemed to echo out and approach the ears of the female CP9 agent. It sounded like it was the whimpering of a young girl, upset over something important. Kalifa heard the voice and looked around, trying to find out what it was and where it was coming from. Strangely, no one else around the crazy streets of celebration could hear the girl, all of them blind to it as they continued their parties. The blond female in the black outfit followed the voice, hearing the crying in her ears become louder the closer she maneuvered towards it. Kalifa didn't know why but she had to know what it was, particularly from how familiar it sounded.
As she made her way far from the partying street, the CP9 agent arrived at what appeared to be a darkened allyway, placed between two stone buildings. None of the buildings, either on the outside or inside, appeared to have a light anywhere on in any part of the vicinity. Kalifa adjusted her glasses, feeling slightly confused on where she was and what was going on that had lead to this. The crying had seemed to dissapear when she arrived at this alley and there was nothing but the stillness of the night, with everything surrounded by darkness.
"What the heck was that all about," the female agent thought to herself as she stared out at the alley. "Why in the world would I be brought here of all places? And what happened to that strange crying? Don't tell me Fukurou decided to pull something like this, that whiny-sounding zipper-mouth."
But as Kalifa prepared to turn around to return to her planned duty of the night, she felt an incredible force coming from somewhere nearby. A massive feeling flew right out towards her, making her freeze right in her tracks! She thought for a moment it was a gust of wind and prepared to put her hands down on top of her skirt to keep it from showing anything, but it felt internal, like her mind was frozen right in place. Kalifa's eyes widened, her skin froze and her throat seemed to choke like she couldn't breathe as she tried to figure out what was going on.
"Miss, miss...are you OK, miss?" A small voice, similar to the crying girl that Kalifa had heard that lead her here, started to speak somewhere nearby. Kalifa still felt the chill of that strange feeling, but turned her glasses-covered eyes downwards as she tried to regain herself. As she stared down, a girl stood right in front of her that seemed awfully familiar in the middle of the alleyway. She was a small girl in a dress that went down to her feet, with a black hairband on top of tresses that went down past her shoulders and big rectangular glasses. As she stood in the alleyway, she seemed like she came out of a black-and-white movie, her hairband, dress and even her shoes pitched black while her skin and hair were in various shades of gray. Kalifa didn't know who this girl was, but couldn't help but listen as she spoke in a courteous fashion.
"Miss, sorry if I'm bothering you, but I left a notebook at the back of this alleyway here. It has some very important notes I've been taking and I need to have it for later. But the alley is so dark and I'm scared to go in there myself at night. There's...something back there and I don't know if I can face it."
The voice rang through Kalifa's ears as she attempted to regain a cool composure that a government agent should have on duty. All that fear was brought about by a little girl? She couldn't put her foot on why the girl seemed so familiar, but somehow hearing that she left a notebook in a dark alleyway just opened up a feeling of sensitivity in the female agent. She had a soft spot for girls like her, studious types who tried to do their best but seemed to be picked on or have problems beyond their own control. Looking down at her, feeling pity as well as a sense of familiarity in her situation, Kalifa responded almost immediately.
"Don't worry, child. I don't know what's back there but I'll get your notebook for you. Then you won't have to be afraid any more." The spectacled girl smiled at the spectacled woman and seemed to move slightly out of the way, opening the path into the alleyway. With little choice but to keep her promise even if she had no idea what she would face and if she would feel that horrific force once again, Kalifa walked right into the dark space, keeping her eyes open to looking for the notebook for the gray little girl. But almost immediately after entering the alley, she felt a strange scary feeling within her cool, composed form. She didn't know why she felt this way or how this came over her, but she figured that her nerves were still slightly unsettled after what had happened moments earlier.
"How far is that notebook, girl," Kalifa asked as she tried to get a friendly response to steady herself. "I want to get it but I need to make sure where it is before I can go for it." But as she spoke, she heard no response coming from the direction of the small studious female. It started to make her more nervous than less, making her doubt what was going on and the truth as to why she was here. She felt a fluid begin to emerge from her face, similar to sweat but slicker with a soft film similar to soap, a slight side-effect of the power she possessed. Desperate, Kalifa turned around hoping that she would see the girl once again, see that small fragile face that would ease her tensions and make the sweat go away.
But as the agent turned around desperate for the last hope of her sanity, she felt the strange force coming across her once again. Kalifa was frozen in her tracks as her head remained turned around, but through her glasses she saw that her behind was now completely dark, as pitch black as the alleyway she was walking into! Her ears felt a whoosh that sounded like the wind, but nothing touched her exposed skin or against the black outfit she wore except the soapy sweat that crawled down her face towards her exposed neck. Not a sound came to her ear at this moment, either the crying of the girl like before or even the revelry that was occuring back in the streets! Kalifa tried to become brave but knew that her fear was taking over: what was there to be afraid of in here that made her turn out like this!? Why did she feel something so horrific nearby but saw and felt nothing but darkness? But with her body bound and her mind reeling on who or what caught her in the darkness that she heard a coming from the direction she was formerly facing in the alley.
"So, this is the face of the World Government these days...still as weak-willed and by-the-book as ever before. And I see that they take in the cute, stupid type as well..." It was a deep voice, rough in sound like he meant business but still with great respect and gentlemenly. Kalifa had never heard anything like it before but knew he meant business both from the sound of power as well as the immense force coming from him. She wanted to see who "he" was, but couldn't with her body literally frozen either from fear or force.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" The blond agent tried to speak with as much force as possible to eliminate any feelings of fear she had, but knew she had it hard with whomever was on the other side.
"Well I guess the government is as good as ever in one thing: covering up the truth of the world," the voice replied. "It's been over 20 years but already my deeds have been forgotten thanks to the lies and propeganda they spread." Kalifa thought she heard footsteps of the voice coming closer as it spoke, but shouldn't tell who or what they were. The anger of being so helpless and trapped in a dark alleyway, still unknown on being trapped with a notebook she still had to get but feeling the anger of trying and failing to break through in some way. If he was going to talk like this about who she was employed for, she wanted to give him something to show they were nothing like his claims.
"Take that back you," Kalifa yelled out, hoping that the disembodied voice would hear her. "The World Government is not as weak as you think. And how I look has nothing to do with what I can do to take you down!" Slowly she began to turn around, bit by bit working with the force surrounding her in the darkness as her head began to look right out at her original target like before. She still felt suppressed but knew that if she did nothing, she would be just as weak-willed as the voice said she was. She didn't know if she could do much but if she could at least defend herself against 'him', then 'he' would at least let her get back out into civilization instead of this light-less nightmare.
"I may not know who you are, but I do know this: anyone who stands in the way of a member of Cipher Pol 9 will be dealt with. Absolute justice will prevail!" Kalifa took a stance with her leg high in the air and her arm out front, as bubbles begin to float around her sleeves. She was prepared for either direction: whether it took her Rokushiki or her bubble-making ability from her Devil Fruit, 'he' would somehow go down!
"Well, this may be interesting after all...a young government agent goes up against me...I'll entertain her for a little while," the voice spoke in the darkness of the cornered alleyway. As he finished speaking, a strange flash seemed to illuminate the corner for a split second, allowing Kalifa to see who the "voice" was...but didn't quite know what was going on. If her eyes were looking correctly, the CP9 female thought she saw a tall-looking man in a large, long-sleeved overcoat with messy hair, a thick black mustache and two, dangerous eyes. Seeing that visage seemed almost like a page from a history book flashing right before her...but was she really fighting...that so-called Pirate King?
(intro fic by Tokoro Ataru)