Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, that honor belongs to Eiichiro Oda

Haha I know what you're thinking: Shouldn't you be working on TMODETD instead of writing new fanfics? And yes! I should be! You are absolutely right!

What the hell was he doing?

Smoker knew he had always been a bit of a delinquent in the eyes of the marines. Impertinent, they called him, obstinate. He knew he was hardly the ideal marine, but he was strong enough that most overlooked his... rougher edges.

And despite his often poor attitude towards his superiors, Smoker had always taken great pride in being a marine.

So why for the love of all that was good in the world was he even considering this?

"Well?" Spoke Dr. Vegapunk, voice like cracked leather. "What business do you have with me?"

The philosophy of 'Absolute Justice' had gained more and more followers as Smoker climbed the ranks of the marines. By the time he had been a Vice Admiral, he wouldn't have been surprised if most marines supported it, especially in the upper ranks.

It's not like he couldn't understand why. Pirates and other dangerous people threatened the safety of the world with their actions, and often didn't care about who was hurt along the way in their quest for power. Smoker had always hated those types more than anything else. People like that needed to be dealt with swiftly and without hesitation. What they needed was a ruthless pursuit that only ended with the capture or otherwise removal of the criminal in question.

But there had to be limits. There had to be limits to how far you were willing to go. Smoker drew that line at dead civilians.

Not all marines did.

They were all too willing to let innocents get caught in the crossfire. Or, hell, even attack civilian settlements in the hopes of killing a single enemy of the government.

That was how Smoker found himself in this position in the first place afterall.

"I need everything you've got on time travel." Smoker demanded. His teeth ground on the ends of his cigars. He grimaced at the taste.

"Ah." Vegapunk said. He didn't sound surprised. "I was wondering when someone would come by asking about such things."

Smoker wished he could blame it all on Straw Hat.

The Sovereign War is the official name for it. The Last War of the Pirate Era.

To Smoker it would always be the great Marine Civil War.

It was difficult for him to pin down exactly when it started. Was it when Vice Admiral Coby refused to shoot down Straw Hat, and instead took up arms next to him to fight Teach? Did it start when Smoker himself refused to relay the orders to send a Buster Call to the neighboring islands, so that the marines could blame those deaths on Straw Hat? Could it be that this had just been the inevitable conclusion of the Whitebeard War?

Or perhaps it all started over twenty years ago on a small island in East Blue, when Monkey D. Garp hid the son of the Gol D. Roger from the marines in the hopes of sparing a single child whose only crime was being born with the wrong father.

"You know I've had no way to test any of this technology. It's purely theoretical. And should it work... well, all it can do is create a new path, not erase an old one."

"I don't care. I'll take it."

"I'm trying to tell you that it won't change anything." Vegapunk told him harshly. "Your subordinate will still be dead."

Smoker slammed his fist onto the table, his mind white with rage.

There had been, of course, innumerable casualties. It was inevitable, really, when so many had stake in the outcome.

What started off as a grudge match between the Blackbeard Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates over the title of Pirate King quickly evolved into something on a much grander scale.

First the Revolutionaries got involved. They always were whenever the outcome could effect the world on a global scale, and no doubt that having their boss' son as Pirate King would tip the political world in their favor. And if the rumors about the Chief of Staff being Fire Fist's brother were true, well, really, no one had been surprised when the Revolutionaries made their appearance.

That's when the marines got involved. At first High Command had hoped the Straw Hats and Blackbeard would finish each other off, but with the Revolutionaries acting as reinforcements for Straw Hat they could not afford to wait any longer. It was Top Priority to make sure there would not be another Pirate King. So they pulled out all the stops, even the Fleet Admiral himself making an appearance, to end it all before it could get started, to show the world that the true power did and always had belonged to the marines.

Not that it happened that way. Not when one of Straw Hat's greatest talents lay in the allies he could make. Not when said allies wanted to make sure he became Pirate King.

It turned out that while the marines had some knowledge on the people Straw Hat was allies with, they were vastly misinformed on just how many there actually were. Not just other pirates, but representatives from the minks and the fishmen, as well as fleets from Alabasta, Sakura, and Dressrosa to name a few came to fight for Straw Hat.

So the Gorosei decided to end it.

The sound of flesh hitting wood reverberated throughout the lab. If Smoker's outburst had startled Vegapunk, he didn't show it.

As the last of the echoes faded, so did Smoker's energy. He sagged against the table his fist still rested on and let his grief and desperation show.

"I don't care." He said again, quieter this time. "I have to try."

"No."

The Gorosei had hoped to not only defeat Straw Hat and Blackbeard, but to also turn the world against pirating forever. And something like that could only be accomplished if the unspeakable happened.

Straw Hat, for all he was a pirate, wasn't ruthless enough to commit the acts the marines needed to get the public on their side. And while Blackbeard had the viciousness, he was too preoccupied with Straw Hat to do anything at the time.

So the Gorosei decided to do it themselves.

Why they decided to pin the blame on Straw Hat was beyond Smoker. Anyone who had ever met the crew would never believe them capable of slaughtering two islands full of civilians just to get to the last member of Blackbeard's crew like the official story said they did.

Smoker wasn't even sure if any of the Straw Hats were still alive by that point of the war.

All he could think of was that the Gorosei used Straw Hat as a scapegoat because he was the most well-liked pirate and his 'betrayal' would shatter any trust or admiration the public harbored for any pirate crew.

Smoker's head snapped up to meet Dr. Vegapunk's eyes in shock. "What the hell do you mean 'no.'?" He snarled, fury overtaking him. His fists shook as he stared down the doctor.

Vegapunk met his gaze steadily. "Why should I help you run away from your guilt? From your grief? The world must face their losses and move on, what right do you have to be the exception?" The accusation clear in Vegapunk's voice was the biggest display of emotion the stoic doctor had shown since Smoker had arrived.

When Smoker had heard what the Gorosei wanted, what they had planned, he had been appalled. He knew that if he refused then he would simply be replaced and no one would be the wiser to stop them.

So he found himself turning against the very organization he swore his life to.

Smoker had fully expected his mutiny to be his and his alone. He hadn't expected Tashigi, or Coby, or so many others to follow him and turn against their superiors. And so the marines split, the followers of Moral Justice against the followers of Absolute Justice.

War was too clean of a word to describe it. Bloodbath was better.

It still hadn't been enough to stop anything.

"Dammit it's not about me!" Smoker shouted, finally losing control of his temper. "It's about them! All of those people that died and I couldn't do a damn thing to save. There's nothing I can do for them now, and there's nothing I can do for the survivors. I don't know if you even know what the outside world's like now, or if you're too busy hiding out in your lab being the military's pet scientist to care, but there's no one left! Anyone who could do anything to bring justice to what's left of this world is either missing, dead, or too weak to do anything but die if they try!"

Vegapunk had yet to show any reaction to Smoker's rant, and was further unfazed when the ex-marine got up in his personal space to press a finger up against his chest threateningly.

"So if you think I'm not going to chase every hope for these people I can, then you are sorely mistaken." Smoker told Vegapunk lowly. "Maybe you're right." Smoker added, finally stepping back from Vegapunk. "Maybe there's nothing I can do for the people here, not anymore. But if there's a chance that some version of them could persist in a more peaceful world then I owe it to everyone, the victims, the people who sacrificed themselves to try to save them, the survivors, to make sure they don't suffer the same fate, to make sure every loss here wasn't in vain, that something better could come out of all this bloodshed."

Vegapunk regarded Smoker with a look Smoker couldn't quite figure out. Pride? Resignation? Grief? "If that's the case," the old doctor finally said, "then perhaps I may be able to help you after all."