I'll open this chapter by letting you guys know that there's a sequel in the works! It's still in the early ages of production at the moment, and won't actually have much to do with the central plot of this particular story at all, as it will be taking on an entirely new one. Having said that, there have already been one or two very small hints at events to come in the sequel, good luck trying to guess them (: Without further ado, here's the second last chapter!
Chapter Nine: Breaking Walls and Burning Bridges
Franky blasted down walls as he hurried through town. There was not a person in sight, but that wasn't what was concerning him.
He had to find her. He had to find them. He knew that wherever Victorigen was, Robin would be as well, and he was experiencing a nagging sensation that the pair were no longer back at the manor; Victorigen had been within close enough range to target the boat he was supposed to be on after all. Unless of course, he'd been watching via den-den mushi transmission. Watching something on the screen was a lot different to experiencing something in the flesh however, and Franky knew that given the type of man this Victorigen was, he'd have wanted to see Franky's demise with his own eyes. And he would want Robin to be there for it as well… to see her hope fade, to see despair and realisation set in, just as he would have seen all those years ago when he'd revealed his true nature to Robin after months of deceiving her…
Franky picked up his pace. He needed to show her he was okay, and make sure that she was okay, and only then could he pummel Victorigen from the plane of existence. Such an intense hatred was rare, but no stranger to Franky. It had been spent on probably only one person in his life. Until now.
He stopped as he came near the observation tower. He'd passed it a few times during his earlier visits into town. It was the tallest building on the island. Perfect, he figured, for Victorigen to have enacted his plan. A quick scout however, and Franky found the building to be empty. If they had been in here, they were gone now. Where could he search next? Time likely wasn't on his side.
He chose to follow his instincts. Securing the red ribbon around his wrist, he turned from the tower and traversed the street opposite, past a channel, and onwards. He soon reached a building near to the towns centre. He and Robin would have passed it a few days earlier, upon arriving at this place. He drew to a stop just outside. Something had led him here.
He listened. There was sound coming from the interior, only muffled. But it was enough.
He brought down the first wall with brute force, before running deeper into the structure, through the open doors. The final set of doors were closed. Franky smashed his way though, and encountered exactly what he'd been looking for.
Robin lay discarded at the base of the opposite stone wall. Victorigen stood over her prone form, his stature tense as though ready to attack. He barely had time to turn and acknowledge the new intruder when Franky made his move.
"Get away from her!" he roared, aiming the canons in his left knuckles and firing with precision.
Taken unaware, the shots caught Victorigen in the chest and sent him crashing through the wall behind him and the walls in the next two rooms after. A subsequent tremor indicated part of the ceiling had come down atop him, wherever he had fallen.
But Franky didn't concern himself in wherever the other cyborg had landed. "Robin…" he breathed, making for the motionless body across the room. He reached her side and knelt down, lifting her into an upright position.
She slumped limply against his chest, her breath even but with a slight quiver, as though one of her ribs had been cracked. Franky felt rage simmer with radiant heat beneath his artificial skin, but put it aside for the time being. His first priority was to get Robin to safety.
He gathered her into his arms and stood, turning back the way he'd come. It would not go any further than this. He'd see to that himself.
Robin slowly opened her eyes, the jostling rousing her into consciousness. A painful ache pounded throughout the side of her body as she winced, squeezing her eyes shut again and trying to make sense of the situation amidst her discomfort.
She was moving. Two large arms were holding her close as the one who carried her ran from the premises. What was going on? What was this feeling of security?
She blinked open her eyes once again, her vision slowly fading into focus.
Blue hair… loud shirt… the scent of cola…
"Franky…" she realised, blinking herself into full awareness, "You're alive!" The relief that flooded her body was so intense she felt her shoulders tremble and her body contract, as though she'd fall apart if it weren't for Franky being right here, holding her together.
"Robin! I'm okay," he confirmed, "I wasn't even aboard that boat. But what about you? You're not hurt too badly, are you? I'm sorry I couldn't get there sooner."
With a soft exhale, Robin set aside the anguish of however long it had been since witnessing the boat combust (she really wasn't sure how long it had been). Her hope had returned, but their situation was still dire. She needed to explain herself and the situation to Franky, "It's Itzal," she began, "He's –"
"He's Victorigen, I know."
Robin felt confusion momentarily cloak her features at the extent of Franky's knowledge.
"Ernest filled me in on everything," Franky explained, "I know what Victorigen did to you eleven years ago, Robin," he said.
Robin felt him subconsciously cradle her closer.
"I know what happened. You don't need to explain anything. I super won't let him hurt you anymore."
Robin felt a lump form in her throat, and her hand gripped tightly to the fabric of his shirt as she leant in. "Franky…"
"Hey now…"
Before Franky could say any more, a large and furious blast from somewhere behind them announced Victorigen's return.
"I'm getting you to safety," Franky said, his pace quickening, "We can talk more once this has blown over. For now, I'm getting you away from here."
"What are you going to do?" Robin asked over the sound of a nearby building collapsing, victim of an enraged Victorigen.
Franky's eyes focused on a building further away, determined to reach it. "I'm going to kill him."
Upon reaching the building, they rounded a corner and ducked behind the structure for shelter.
Franky gently set her on the ground against the wall, remaining crouched opposite her for a moment. "Stay here," he said, his hands steady upon her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes, "I'll end this quickly…"
"Franky, he's dangerous…" Robin attempted to argue.
"Not as super dangerous as what I am right now," Franky reasoned as he stood. "You've been protecting me these past few days, haven't you?" he enquired, "How about I protect you for a bit now, eh?"
Robin glanced at him for a moment, unable to retort.
Franky took the pause as an opportunity to offer her a soft smile, before his expression hardened again upon glancing back the way they'd come. Without another word, he turned and rushed out into the would-be battle zone.
Franky rounded the corner on his way back towards the place he'd discovered Victorigen with Robin. The island's resident bounty hunter-turned governor couldn't have gone far, and Franky didn't doubt the man was in pursuit of him.
Well bring it, he thought, I'm ready, whether you are or not.
Ducking between the buildings, it did not take Franky long to locate the other cyborg; as anticipated, the enraged form of Victorigen wasn't hard to find.
Upon seeing him, Victorigen took on an offensive approach. His usually calm features had contorted into a grimace as he thundered his way toward Franky.
Franky dodged a pounding of bullets that were fired from the cyborg's shoulders, the unsuccessful bullets shattering the windows of the building behind him.
Victorigen prepared to fire again. His normally annoyingly perfectly placed hair and clothing was dishevelled, and Franky knew that was his own doing. "Where did you take her?" he demanded, "How are you still alive?!"
"Neither are any of your business, Victorigen," Franky said, fist clenched.
"That boat was blown to pieces! I saw to it myself. Your dear Robin saw it as well, although it took some prompting on my part for her to come to terms with it, of course. I believe I got to her in the end however."
It was almost amusing to see the man Franky had come to know as the calm and refined Governor Itzal losing his cool to such an extent. It may have humoured Franky, had he not been so enraged himself. There was only one thing he wanted to do regarding Victorigen right now. "Strong Right!"
The former bounty hunter had no time to prepare as Franky's iron fist harshly rocketed forth and connected with the side of his face.
Franky felt bones compress and break beneath his knuckles, bringing upon a certain satisfaction he'd only felt very few times in his life beforehand.
Victorigen went hurtling across what might usually have been a bustling laneway, crashing unceremoniously through the outer wall of the building opposite.
"You're going to regret ever laying a hand on her…" Franky said, flexing his hand back into place as he advanced on his opponent, "Ever going near her…"
Victorigen scrambled into an upright position from his place amongst the ruined wall. He snarled, staggering to his feet as Franky moved to strike again. This time however, he managed to dodge the attack that came his way.
"My only regret until today was letting her escape all those years ago!" he hissed, "But now I regret something else along with that. You. Bringing you to this island was nothing but a mere after thought! I should have waited until Robin was on her own! But no matter… In the end, you'll be nothing but a slight hindrance, Cyborg Franky," Victorigen seemed to regain something of his cool composure, "And then I'll find her. You can't have taken her far from here. I'll find her and start back where I left off. Perhaps I'll put a little extra effort in, drag out her pain and misery just for your sake. Let's not waste any time."
Franky anticipated the subsequent fire of bullets, managing to elude them as he did the last. It was time he took on his firearms as well. He pushed his left fist forward, utilising the set of gun barrels in his knuckles and shot at his opponent. In the weapon's recoil fire, the red ribbon around his wrist came undone. Franky barely had the time to watch as it spiralled out of his grip in the wind, unable to salvage it before defending himself in another onslaught from the other cyborg.
If only he had the Franky Shogun, Victorigen wouldn't know what hit him. But no, Franky could only use what he had.
A few of Victorigen's bullets struck him, but didn't penetrate the skin.
This battle was taking longer than he wanted. He would need to up his game if he wanted to get anywhere.
The sounds of battle were muffled by the buildings between her and the two contenders. Robin pressed herself against the wall, clutching her side as it throbbed tenderly. Any sudden movement sent an aching spasm through her ribcage, limiting her mobility somewhat.
But could she really sit here and do nothing? He said he could do it… I have faith in him… she thought.
Still, there was so much her mind was processing from the past day alone. Itzal's identity as Victorigen and the memories from eleven years ago that were associated with him… the fact he'd gotten the better of her again, and how she'd had to say those words to Franky as a result… sending Franky away, and then believing him to have been killed, only for him to return to her, to console and assure her as she stumbled over her words, that he understood all that she had gone through. It felt as though all that had burdened her during her time on Oculto had been obliterated, or was at least in the process of being so.
She curled in on herself, bringing her knees to her chest and ignoring the pain in her side. Canon fire sounded, and she couldn't tell who it belonged to. She only knew that Franky was out there fighting for her, just as he'd done in the past when she was barely more than a stranger. Her shoulders shook and she gripped herself tighter. If there was anything she could do at all to be of use to Franky, she would go through with it without a moment's hesitation.
Her thoughts were interrupted when her ears picked up the sounds of nearby footsteps. Accompanying the gunfire in the background, she figured it could be neither Franky nor Victorigen. Her hand clasped her side in effort to lessen the pain as she rose to her feet, using the wall for support, and quietly stepped into the confines of the building just as a set of people rounded the corner. Their destination seemed to be the source of the gunfire.
Robin frowned at the look of them. While Oculto housed many civilians—of whom she guessed had been taken to the other side of the island—there was no knowing how many underlings were taking direct orders from Victorigen. There were these six, at least. And based on where they were heading, Victorigen had sent for reinforcements for a one-on-one battle. This wasn't as simple a fight as Franky had thought.
Putting aside her discomfort, Robin quietly exited the building and followed them. There was something strange about the way they moved. It was almost as though they were being controlled. From what she could see, no weapons were held on their person. Were these even underlings of Victorigen's? Or just a group of civilians who had wondered over to investigate? They couldn't be; they were far too calm. Their expressions were blank and their eyes were lifeless as they wandered towards the sounds of destruction.
Robin kept up her pace and remained on full alert, ready to attack and defend if the need were to arise. After a few minutes, they were near the battle. Robin could smell the gunpowder in the air and hear the brawling sounds of what must have been a close fight.
Rounding a corner behind the group of people she noticed Franky skid into view, firing rockets from his shoulders. It seemed as though he'd taken a few hits, but it would take a lot more to bring him down entirely. Although the same could probably be said for Victorigen.
"Now!" Victorigen's voice shouted, and the group of people suddenly broke into a run, infiltrating the open space in which Franky and Victorigen had been fighting.
Clearly, Franky had not expected the sudden troop of ambushers. Yet simultaneously, they had not expected Robin.
She flicked her wrist and the one nearest to Franky was bawled over by a massive hand that had materialised. It proceeded to knock down another of the human-like beings, sending them sprawling. It probably wouldn't be enough to put them out of action, but while they struggled themselves upright, Robin disabled another pair with a simple clutch. They were vulnerable to all the attacks that could take down normal humans, so it seemed.
"Robin…" Franky realised before taking down the remaining, sending them flying with a Strong Right.
"Well well, look who decided to join us," Victorigen observed as Robin stepped into his view.
"I thought I could be of use," she said, taking her stance beside Franky.
"I'd rather you didn't push yourself," Franky said, disapproval evident in his voice, "You're not exactly bullet-proof."
"You're not indestructible either," Robin said, "We don't know what else this man has planned. So let's protect each other."
Franky frowned but nodded, his eyes set on Victorigen.
However, the other cyborg was not finished with his subordinates. More of the strange people were coming, surrounding the Franky and Robin from all directions.
Robin stood with her back to Franky's, arms poised to fend them off with any warning.
"What do you think of my subordinates?" Victorigen questioned the pair, "These were once normal people, you know. They fell for my charm much like you did, Robin, only they weren't so lucky to escape. I was able to preserve them and then modify them into robots-like beings. Of course they're a lot more destructible, but it has been an interesting experiment nonetheless. They live about the town participating in mundane events from day to day, but what they're made for is battle. How will the two of you do against a mass of them, I wonder…" he contemplated.
From the surrounding buildings more of them emerged, before Robin gave up on hope of counting them.
"What a cowardly tactic…" Franky muttered, "Getting these guys to do his dirty work for him."
"He was never one to fight his own battles now that I think about it…" Robin recalled.
"It doesn't matter," Franky said, his stance ready to fight back, "There might be a lot of them, but they're weak.
Robin looked out at the crowd before her. Franky had known something was off about some of the townspeople from the start. He hadn't observed them close enough to deduce what they truly were, but now, with so many of them around, what they were exactly would be far more apparent. Not that it helped their situation much at all.
Furthermore, Victorigen seemed to have harnessed plans for his subordinates. "Destroy the cyborg!" he ordered, "Bring me Nico Robin!"
"That super isn't going to happen!" Franky retorted.
What followed was a fleeting battle Robin could barely comprehend. Victorigen's modified subordinates weren't able to reach closer than a few meters from her. And she made sure the same would be the case for Franky. Giant hands swatted and giant feet stomped. Robin did all she could to stop the subordinates from advancing further upon them.
A few of them had been fitted with in-built guns. Franky made them his priority, sending them crashing into buildings before they could do damage to himself or Robin. Before long, the crowd was already thinning.
"Can you hear that?" Franky asked her over the noise.
"Hear what?"
"Never mind, you probably can't place it. There's a buzzing somewhere around their bodies, indicating flaws in their construction."
"I know almost nothing about cyborg technologies," Robin said.
"It's time you learned a few basics," Franky informed her as he fired another round of bullets, "Some of it is super simple. He's mass-produced these guys. They might look different from one another, but none of them are unique on the inside. They all have the same weak point. It's a set of gears down where their inner organs once would have been. Aim for that area."
"Alright," Robin began using clutch technique on the surrounding subordinates, noticing the way the satisfying crack seemed a lot more effective than the whacking and stomping from earlier.
Finally, only one last group of the subordinates remained. Robin stood beside Franky and exchanged a quick eye contact.
"Together!" Franky muttered.
Robin nodded, and they attacked simultaneously, their combined attack disabling the majority of remaining subordinates at once. A cloud of dust and gunpowder seemed to have accumulated in the sky above them, churning overhead threateningly.
"Great help you all were," Victorigen growled eventually, taking down the final few, "Want something done, you've got to do it yourself…"
Franky situated himself firmly between Robin and their only remaining threat, who glanced out at the two of them, observing how they'd taken down all his subordinates.
"Well then," Victorigen said, "It seems we've come full circle. Well… almost full circle," he corrected himself, "Once I destroy this nuisance of a cyborg, we'll be right back where we started, Nico Robin. Think of this encounter as an unfortunate yet momentary hindrance. In fact—"
Before Victorigen could continue his premature gloating, a giant hand bloomed from the ground and slapped, causing him to plummet through the air momentarily and into a building. Robin panted slightly, releasing her stance and straightening upright.
"That was super, Robin!" Franky congratulated, giving her a thumbs up.
Robin found herself smiling through her anger at Victorigen's words, before fatigue began to settle in. A fresh sensation of pain swathed her side and she hissed as her hand clutched the wound to lessen the pain.
Franky drew closer to her, mild concern evident in his stance. "This won't take much longer," he said, his hand brushing her shoulder, "I promise."
"Damn right it won't take much longer!" Victorigen bellowed as he smashed back through the wall he'd been sent into. He aimed the canons in his shoulders, firing immediately.
Robin felt Franky's hand suddenly on her waist as he leapt the two of them out of the attack's destructive range. She clung to him tightly as they landed, his right hand still secure on her waist as his left began to fire a seemingly infinite supply of arsenal at their attacker.
Her hair whipped in her face from the battle's intensity, the gunfire ringing loud in her ears.
"Tell me, what do you gain from protecting that sinful woman?" Victorigen's voice questioned above the onslaught.
Franky pushed her behind him. "Stand back, Robin," he said, "I don't want you to be caught up in this."
"That's rich coming from you," Victorigen noted, "You don't want Robin to become involved in a fight that was birthed of your intervention in an exchange between her and I? What precisely have you done here? You should be the one not getting caught up in this."
Robin found herself stepping back and leaning against the fall again for support, though remained wary of the battle in front of her.
"Why, Cyborg Franky? What has this woman done for you? What have you done to earn the right to intervene?"
"This isn't about what I've done," Franky said, firing another attack, "It's about what you've done. It's about what you did to Robin all those years ago."
Victorigen grit his teeth and glared, fending off Franky's attack.
"I don't care if it happened today or eleven years ago," Franky continued, "You hurt the woman I love. There doesn't need to be another reason."
Robin looked on as the two cyborgs clashed in a bombardment of arsenal, keeping her distance from the dangerous exchange.
Victorigen seemed somewhat dumbfounded. "'The woman you love'?" he scorned, "Not Nico Robin, surely. Only a mad man would fall for her."
"Then I must be out of my mind…" Franky muttered, "Radical Beam!"
Wind from the blast rushed back over Robin at full force, and she clung to the wall. The bright flash from the beam pummelled Victorigen, sending him sprawling once again into one of the nearby buildings, which crumbled under the intensity of the attack.
There was a moment of quietness. Robin was on the verge of wondering if their enemy were defeated, before he emerged from the rubble, a killing intent raging at full force.
But then something odd happened. Robin looked away as a blinding light arose from within Victorigen's body. At first she thought it was some sort of attack he was harnessing, but then she discovered otherwise.
"Damnit!" the cyborg cursed, distressed by the impromptu malfunction, much like eleven years earlier, "Why, at a time like this?!"
Robin narrowed her eyes to see what appeared to be a series of small detonations occurring within his body. "…What's happening to him?" she wondered.
Franky looked on at the scene, a hint of recognition in his eyes. "When you build your body internally, you have to be careful," he explained as though instructing a class full of young, newly-developed cyborgs. "If you miscalculate or don't make time for regular maintenance, accidents can happen."
"So in other words…"
"You can become the ultimate weapon against yourself."
Franky watched as Victorigen fell, defeated by his own modified body. Despite his enemy's oncoming demise, he maintained preparation of the weaponry in his left arm.
Victorigen hit the ground with a dull thud, his body internally combusting at odd intervals, before silencing, leaving nothing but his rasping breath. He was clearly still alive, but for how much longer was uncertain. Even if Franky were to simply walk away right now, Victorigen would surely succumb to his injuries eventually; they were internal after all, and there was only so much more the man could do to implement cyborg technologies on the inside.
Franky prepared himself to end the man's life once and for all. He was already near death. It would be super easy. He thought of what this man had done to Robin… What would Robin have felt those eleven years ago, the moment she realised the truth about this man and his comrades? Franky couldn't bring himself to imagine the loneliness Robin had endured in her time, much less how Victorigen would have shattered whatever small hope she would still have harboured back then.
What had Robin felt just today when she'd thought Franky had died at this man's hand? When all that unresolved pain and despair from eleven years prior had resurfaced? Franky was about to fire when a smaller hand clasped over his arm, stopping him. He glanced down, his gaze softening when he discovered Robin at his side.
Despite a noticeable tremble in her stance—it seemed she was pushing herself just to have walked over to him—her stare was cold and without remorse as it looked down upon the broken shell of a man before her. "Don't," she said to Franky, "He isn't worth it."
Franky nodded his understanding and slowly lowered his arm. It was tough fighting off the urge of every muscle in his body to obliterate the man from existence, but one look at Robin, and Franky was willing to go through with whatever she asked of him.
He was about to say something to her, when an unexpected murmuring came from the near-dead cyborg. "It's been two hours…" Victorigen smirked weakly, reaching for the dial on his arm and pressing down.
Franky's eyes widened. Shit… With no time to think things through, he scooped Robin into his arms and ran for cover at the fastest pace he could manage.
The detonation that surged in the next few seconds was vast in size, and only promised to grow larger.
Franky grit his teeth and pushed himself to run faster. That bastard knew he was done for, and wanted to take the two of them down with them in a last moment opportunity. But Franky refused to let him have his way. He felt the heat on his back before the initial shockwave caught up with them, sending them momentarily flying with the debris the blast had so far managed to collect.
Buildings behind them, closer to the epicentre creaked on their foundations, sure to give way. They needed to get to shelter, and quickly. This was more than just a single explosion. This would be like a storm, just like the event that brought them here to begin with.
Robin shifted in his arms. "Observation tower…" he heard her say, "There's a passage underground…"
"Got it," he responded, noting the tower was not far ahead of them now.
Upon reaching it, Franky ducked inside and quickly located the hatch into the passage. He used a free hand to pull up the door, jumping down into the pit as he did so, and pulling it shut over them. He then took a few paces into the passageway, keeping distance from the hatch in the case it were to cave in. It was dark down here, save for a few relatively dim lights that Franky vaguely wondered how long would last.
Above them, the explosions were becoming more frequent. It seemed as though the initial blast had set off a whole series of them. Rumbling tremors shook the passageway. Buildings were crumbling above them. The walls of the passageway were sturdy and Franky trusted them not to collapse. It wasn't like there was much else he could do it their current situation. Kneeling down, he cradled Robin close and waited for the storm of explosions to pass.
After a few minutes, everything was silent. Franky straightened up, now noting the passage's ceiling was barely much higher from the ground than he. He glanced at Robin, her focus anxiously edging up towards the place they'd run from, "Are you alright?" he asked.
She nodded. "Are you?"
"I'm super alright," he replied as he set her on her feet. He proceeded to head towards the exit and ascended the first rung of the ladder that led out. He pushed upwards on the hatch, which (sure enough) didn't budge. He'd need a lot more force to get it open. "Stand back, Robin," he instructed.
Robin took a number of paces back, and Franky positioned himself a little away from the door, raising his left hand and aiming.
"Coup de Vent!"
A large burst of air beamed from the palm of his hand. The hatch was blasted off its hinges, along with all the debris atop it, permitting cool night air to spill down into the passageway from above. Evidentially, the walls of the observation tower had been demolished.
Franky lowered his arm. He could really use a few bottles of cola right now. But that would have to wait. He reached a hand out to Robin and she approached, allowing him to help her ascend the ladder and climb out into the open air.
Carnage. Nothing in the town had been spared from extensive damage. The buildings were flattened and rubble was widespread and seemingly infinite. About half a dozen spot fires were scattered about the town's wreckage, promising to burn away anything that remained if left untended.
Simultaneously, the pair looked out to where the initial explosion had occurred. Undoubtedly, they were both thinking the same thing; at such close quarters, there was no way Victorigen wouldn't have been caught up in his own explosion.
Franky glanced down at Robin, who had begun slowly making her way back the way they'd come. Obviously she wanted to assess the damage. It wouldn't be over until they did.
The sky was a dark grey and the air smelled of gunpowder. Light debris fell like snow as Robin picked her way through the ruined town,
If Victorigen was dead—which he almost certainly was—she wanted to see. She wanted to be sure this time. She trod carefully, covering the ground at a steady pace and shivering slightly in the dusk air. She had no idea how late in the night it was, only that it had not become dark enough for her visibility to be reduced greatly. Perhaps tonight wasn't so dark a night.
It was silent. The soundscape was a far cry from the raging battleground that had been in action only minutes earlier. Now the only sounds she could her were her own footsteps against the soiled pavement of the once immaculate town, as well as Franky's somewhere behind her. A soft breeze funnelled through the foundations of the buildings, or at least what stood of them. The atmosphere set by the lightly falling ash seemed rather alien, in a way Robin couldn't relax. Loudest of all the sounds however, was her heart beating in her chest. She was unsure of why it raced as it did. Perhaps it was still caught up in the adrenaline of battle. Or maybe it was just trying to keep up with her actions. No matter, she wouldn't stop until she'd found what she was looking for.
A few moments passed as she and Franky edged nearer to the point of detonation. They had to be close now. Victorigen, or whatever remained of him, had to be somewhere around here.
After another short moment, Robin drew to an immediate halt. There was movement at the edge of her peripheral vision. Heaving in the rubble. She turned her head, and found exactly what she'd been looking for.
Victorigen lay amongst the wreckage, his once pale skin now blackened to charcoal. He seemed to be missing a limb or two, and his body had been pounded with an extent of injuries, notably a large piece of debris that had wedged itself in his gut, impaling him all the way through. It was the sound of his breath that was most noticeable, however. Loud and rattling, rasping. Somehow he was still alive. But death would be certain. At this rate, it would also be slow and painful.
Robin took a few steps nearer, vaguely aware of Franky trailing close behind. She regarded the man through her narrowed gaze. This man she'd once fallen for, only to find he'd been playing a cruel game the entire time. This was the man her younger self had been convinced she'd owed her life to, only for him to try and claim that life. This man, who'd caused her to live a six-month lie, of a life she only ever could have dreamed of at the time, only to take away all those warm memories and then some. This man who'd taken away any ounce of trust a younger Robin may once have still harboured and left her an empty shell until she'd encountered her true Nakama, who she'd been convinced had perished all those years ago, only for him to return again and pose threat to her crewmates, to Franky…
He was before her right now, defenceless as she once had been, and injured beyond repair. A victim of his own revenge
Robin closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest, softly inhaling the cool breeze for a moment as it ruffled through her hair. She opened her eyes, taking in the form of the man before her one last time. "Seis Fleur," she whispered softly.
Arms sprouted along the man's wrecked body. He made no attempt to swat them away.
"Clutch."
With an audible crack, Victorigen's body went entirely limp. The strained rise and fall of his chest weakened to a complete stop, as though he'd been deflated of air. The whites of his eyes faded into an endlessly vacant stare, unblinking as it gazed out into nothingness.
Robin remained in position, her breath heavy. She felt Franky's eyes upon her, carefully watching from behind as her focus remained fixated on the form before her. Eventually, her arms flopped to her side and she let her stance relax.
Victorigen was dead.
A heavy weight seemed to lift off her shoulders, yet simultaneously the reality of all that had been burdening her hit back at full force. In her relaxed stance she stumbled, but Franky was beside her instantly. His hands secured her by the upper arms and she steadied herself, her hands clinging atop his for support, before she slowly looked up into his soothing eyes.
He returned her gaze, a mix of gentle concern and relief reflected.
The walls were coming down. Robin couldn't hide from him anymore. She didn't need to. She couldn't tell if her heart was beating faster or slower or somehow both. Only that Franky was here, his large hands over her trembling shoulders assuring her that all was okay. Finally, she allowed herself to lean into that touch, and once she did the tears that had been threatening to surface began to spill uncontrollably.
But Franky's arms encircled her protectively, offering a comfort she never wanted to leave, holding her close as she relinquished pain from the past few days and eleven years earlier. There was nothing to hold back. Franky was there, holding her. And right now, that was all she needed.
Thank you all for your consistent reviews, follows and likes for this story. With only one chapter left to tie it all together, I hope to have this complete within the fortnight! Again, thanks everyone. Any questions, don't be shy to ask.