AN: Many thanks to Cedezbenz, Moonlit Mage, and Aska the light. ^-^ I was kinda feeling down and only working on this here and there but you guys have given me motivation again!!!! Thank you!!

My sweet hubby and I have been re-watching One Piece and we just finished this arc yesterday. Le sigh, I love this show. But I had forgotten about the filler episodes....mwahahahaah! I am going to vastly enjoy playing around with those. xD

As for this chapter...um...not much to say except that it's long. Sorry about that. I write and it's only when I'm going in to edit I remember it has to be broken into chapters. xD So this one is pretty long, and you have my apologies.

Chapter 21: In which there is much confusion and Robin gets angry

***Square***

"It's Roronoa Zoro! He's finally appeared!!"

The three Strawhat pirates were again running full tilt, this time with a mob of mechanics behind them. "What happened to Luffy!?" Nami shouted.

"I saw that woman with them earlier today!!"

"How the heck would I know?" Zoro answered.

"Don't let them get away!"

"They're Strawhats!!"

"Waaah!!" Chopper shouted. "Why is this happening!?" He wailed.

"Damn it...!" Zoro stopped, all three swords drawn and at the ready as he turned to face the incoming crowd. "There's no point in running!! In any case they saw us jump over the fence, so..."

Nami and Chopper had run past him, unable to stop as abruptly as he did. "Ah! What are you saying, Zoro?" The woman yelled.

"There's no point running around the house! We should just charge in...and find Robin!!"

The furry zoan user almost whimpered. "But they're the shipwrights! They aren't our enemy!" If Zoro actually fought them...Who knew how many he'd hurt or even kill..!

"No problem...I'll hit them using the back of my blades...Get outta my way!" This last part was directed to the first wave of carpenters. They were unprepared for Zoro's strength and speed...men went flying in every direction.

"!!?"

"Aaah!!"

Nami and Chopper stared after the demon as he charged back through the ranks of carpenters. "Y...you're still causing serious injuries!"

"***Roof next to HQ***

"Heh...heh...ouch..." Luffy rested on the roof of the building he had been stuck against. 'I finally got out...so unlucky...'

"Whew!!" He stretched his arms out again. Nothing was going to stop him this time!

"Gomu gomu no....Rocket!!"

***Iceburg's room***

She watched him fight his pain. "Heh...heh...heh...Nma...I was surprised to meet you here...I never thought I would see you here, Nicco Robin." The older man held his shoulder while looking up at her.

"!?" 'What does he mean?' She narrowed her eyes at him calculating.

"...Have we met before?"

He leaned over as he panted. "Last night was the first time...but I had always...w-wanted to meet you..."

"...?" She shifted from one foot to the other under her heavy green cloak. 'What is he trying to do?' She watched him carefully. He was injured but Robin doubted he was beaten. He had been stubborn enough to survive the first attack and then to accuse the Strawhat's of it, in spite of her own guess that he would have succumbed to his injuries by now, so she couldn't take him lightly. It seemed CP9 truly did know what he was capable of.

"Heh..heh.."

With his body hunched in on itself she almost didn't see him move in time. "!!?"

They had their guns out and pointed at each other at the same time. The mayor's eyes were hard as he held his gun steady, filled with a deep anger and loathing. "In order to kill me...?" She asked coolly. She wasn't surprised, most people thought she deserved to die.

"That is correct. Before you...destroy the world..!! Heh...heh..." Even the amount of pain couldn't make his arm shake as he kept his gun steady on her.

"...!" Robin's eyes had widened ever so slightly and she inhaled softly but sharply. 'What does this man know!?'

She was certain the man in front of her had seen the small signs of her shock, and as he spoke he watched her carefully...most likely hoping to catch her off her guard more. "Seeking, studying, and deciphering the true history...heh heh...I'm sure you already know that though."

Aware of his intense scrutiny the lovely woman forced herself to relax again, her face falling back into it's blank mask of indifference. "How do you know about the true history?" She asked in an almost conversational tone. Her unconcerned manner made her target's eyes narrow speculatively. "Heh...Just knowing that the Glyphs exist...heh...heh...is not a crime..."

For one quiet moment they only stared at each other, metaphorically sizing each other up. Robin admit to herself again that CP9 had been right to warn her not to underestimate this man. He made a show of being injured beyond his ability to move but his mind was not dulled by pain in the least. 'What else,' She wondered. 'Does this man know? And how does he know it?'

As if in response to her thoughts the injured carpenter's lips twisted into a grimace. "But in this world, there is only one person who can decipher it...and that is you!" His voice gained strength as he accused her of crimes he knew nothing about. "That is the reason, since you were only eight years old...there has been a high bounty on your head!"

"........."

She had nothing to say to that, nothing she could say. It was the truth. 'But how does he know about it?' Everything had happened long ago. Long enough that the details behind it were forgotten by everyone except a few. What would a man, even one who worked with the government, half way across the world know about it...and why? She was curious as to how he had learned even that much but...in the end it didn't matter. He really was just as stupid and ignorant as everyone else. 'Self-righteous cowards...'

"You are the only person in this world that can resurrect the ancient weapons...heh...heh..."

"...So you know about that too..." She said quietly. She forced herself to stay relaxed but her mind churned with emotion. 'The poneglyphs, the true history, the ancient weapons...How does he know?' And from the last quiet corner of her mind she wondered, 'How does he know that I'm the last one who can read them?'

"If you are with CP9...you must have left the Strawhats...heh...and are now working for the government...heh..." He continued. "Nma...I find it weird on their part to hire someone they have been trying to arrest for so long...But I don't care about their reasons for doing this. Because once the weapons are revived...It won't matter if the user is good or evil...One thing is certain...heh...heh...the weapons will never bring peace to this world...instead they will destroy it." His voice, though it still showed the strain his body was going through, was accusatory.

'It's so easy,' She thought to herself bitterly. 'To label me as evil...just because I have knowledge that they don't...' She didn't let any of this show on her face though. It was just like history...fools destroy what they cannot understand and subsequently fear.

"The things that have been buried along with history...should never be unearthed!" He finished quietly, his eyes still on her face, watching for any reaction.

"Yes, I agree." No emotion on her face or in her voice.

"!!?"

This time it was his turn to be surprised and his thought was clear on his face. 'She what?'

"But you should mind your own business. Regardless of how I choose to study history...you're just an outsider, you have no place to say anything."

Whatever surprise her words had given him he was quick to jump back in. "...That is not so..."

"?"

"The truth is, I'm very much involved...Because I hold the blueprint of the ancient weapon, Pluton!"

"!!!!!?"

This was beyond being surprised. Knowledge about the poneglyphs was rare but not unheard of, even people who knew what her original crime was were out there...but this was not about her finding and awakening one of the ancient weapons. She hadn't even thought that the blueprints for such thing were still in existence! 'That is what the CP9 is after?!!'

"Blueprint of a weapon!?" She heard herself repeating through her shock.

"Heh..heh..Pluton was constructed on this island long ago...it is a warship..."

"...!!"

Of course this would explain why he was aware of those other things...but how and why he knew was hardly important now. If those blueprints fell into the Government's hands it would be the same as her resurrecting the weapons herself!!

Briefly Robin closed her eyes tightly, trying to force herself to stay detached. 'I am not involved! Whatever he has to say does not matter! I will fulfill my wish, and I do not care what happened afterwards!' These thoughts did nothing to block out the mayor as he continued speaking.

"But it's power was so great everyone feared it. Back then the engineers of the ship worried that the weapon might one day fall into the wrong hands. At which point a power that matched it must exist in order to stop it. Thus, the blueprint was passed down through generations."

This confirmed what they had said earlier. A blueprint that had been passed to Iceburg from the legendary Tom. But they hadn't told her what it was for...and she had resigned herself to not knowing. Not knowing what it was she was assisting in....would have made everything easier. Damn him!

"The world government wants it so bad, they have gone this far to get it. You don't even know about this. Any you are helping the government. How foolish!"

She longed to wipe the condescending look off his face but she remained impassive on the outside. She could not afford to loose control of herself or her emotions. But Iceburg was an intelligent man...he carefully calculated what to say to get the most reaction from this impassive woman. And so his next words broke through her outward calm once again.

"Tom, who entrusted the blueprints to me, had always been uneasy around the girl...who alone had survived the Ohara incident."

"!!"

The mayor continued, undisturbed by her exclamation of surprise. "She was so young, but she had the same devilish mind as the Ohara demons..."

The woman's eyes narrowed. It was the first definite expression he had ever seen on her face, and it was hatred. Despite the shiver of fear she gave him he continued to taunt her.

"Having inherited the will of the engineers before me, it is my duty to stop you. After the World Government found out about the blueprint...I should have just burned it."

He suddenly moved, judging this to be the best time to attack, while she was off guard. "But I can't do that because as long as you are alive there is a chance that the weapons will be awakened from their slumber!!"

"!!?" Even as he tried to shoot her, arms sprouted from his own, she twisted his neck to disarm him and then held him down against the floor. She didn't care what kind of pain he suffered like that...she had...she had...

"Uu...ugh..."

She was on top of him, both her original arms pointing the gun to his forehead. "!!"

"Is that all you have to say before you die?" She asked...and her voice wasn't cold anymore, it was burning, scorchingly hot with hatred. "Although...even if you did kill me...won't your blueprint still be taken?" Her extra arms held him down spread eagle so he couldn't move at all.

"...Nma...heh...Then I will...heh...tell you one more thing...heh...heh...The group that was really deceived...is yours..."

"!?"

***President's office***

"You are no match for us." The bull masked man said coolly as he watched Paulie bleed. "Heh..!! Heh...heh..." The shipwright carefully held the blueprints. He would not...let Iceburg-san down. "Heh..heh..."

"Now hurry up and hand it over...Before you get blood all over it."

Paulie stood. He was a bit messed up but..."Ha!"

Just laughing hurt. "Damn it...I thought I could win too...heh...heh..."

The second masked assassin moved so fast Paulie couldn't follow him. All he could do was fall heavily to the floor, unable to soften his landing at all. His muscles...Whatever the bastard just did had made his muscles unable to respond to his commands.

The man stood on his wrist, the hand relaxing as pressure was put on it, and the blueprints rolled from his limp fingers.

"Heh...Iceburg-san wanted...heh...me to...escape immediately...heh...heh...leaving that thing behind...and just saving myself...heh...because that thing....is a fake..." He managed to laugh at their shocked silence.

"!!?"

"....!!" The man in the bull's mask had unrolled the blueprints. "......A fake..!?" His shock and fury were heard in his voice and Paulie laughed again, coughing up a bit of blood as he did so. He could feel a tingling in his extremities and he hoped that meant he was going to regain the use of his limbs rather than being a bad sign.

"...!!! Stop this nonsense..." The other man said quietly, tightly controlled fury could be hear in his voice too. His voice...Damn it! Why couldn't he think straight!?

"I don't know who the hell you are, but...haa...haa...your plan has failed." The blond goaded them. It was the least he could do...or rather, the most he could do at the moment.

"Haa...What a scene...Unfortunately, I don't even know what you're looking for..." Which was still technically true, they were blueprints passed down from Tom-sama but...he had no clue what they were of...

"...Brat...." Ha! They were annoyed and he felt some satisfaction for that at least.

"But even though you're just bait, now that you're involved..." The man in the bull's mask finished, he had regained control of his voice. "...We can't let you live."

"Oh...haaa...haaa...You were going to just let me go before?" He asked cheekily.

All three men jerked as something hit the office wall, hard. It had cracks all through and now had a huge hole through the middle. "!!?"

"I'm stuck...!!" Strawhat Luffy's head down to his upper arms was stuck in the hole like a cork in a bottle. "Damn! I'm stuck again!! Nng!!"

'What the hell!!?'

"..!! Strawhat..!!" 'What the hell is he doing here at all? But especially why did he suddenly appeared in the wall like that?!'

The teenager ceased his struggling to look up when he heard his name. "Huh? Ah!! You're the guy with the ropes!!"

'Did he just noticed?!'

"What happened? Are you okay?! You're bleeding!!"

He was ignoring the two masked men...or he just hadn't seen them...

"This is the third floor...I should be asking if you're okay..." Paulie replied dazed. What the hell was happening?

"Strawhat Luffy..." The man in the skull mask said. "Did you come here to take the blame for us?"

The young pirate looked at them in confusion. "?" Sudden understanding lit his face. "Ah!! A mask!? It's a mask!! Then it's you!" He glared at them, seemingly completely unaware that he was trapped and they were cold blooded killers.

"You're telling Robin to do something..!! Give Robin back you bastards!!!"

Skull mask stared at him for a long moment.

"Ranyaku."

Whatever he had done was insane. It was like the wall hadn't ever been there. "!!?"

"What!?" The pirate landed beyond where Paulie lay. "...!! The wall broke from one kick!!"

Skull mask turned again. Paulie saw the movement behind Strawhat. "...!! Oi!!" He was too slow.

"Huh?"

The bull mask knocked him from behind. "Guheh!!" He threw the rubber man to the floor and pinned him there with strange circular metal pieces at the wrists, ankles, waist, and throat.

"It's an emergency." Bull face looked down at him as he struggled. "We don't have time to hang around with you."

"Ugh! I can't move!!" The kid jerked all around trying to get free. "Hey stop him too--! There's no time for fighting."

"Okay."

"Ugh!" Paulie also jerked against the restraints uselessly. Not enough muscle strength had come back and they were too tight. The assassins began to walk away.

"B-bastards!!" The blond shouted after them uselessly. 'Iceburg-san!!!'

***Inside the HQ building***

*Ring, ring, ring*

All three of the other invaders looked up as their Den den mushi's rang. 'Click!'

"It's me. There's a hitch in our plan. Everyone head to the bedroom. Don't shoot Iceburg yet." 'Click!'

Robin stared at the man beneath her...He would die as soon as the others got here...

Iceburg looked up at her as she returned the communication device to her cloak. It seemed they had figured out about the fake already. He wondered if his apprentice had escaped in time...but then Nicco Robin pulled the gun away from his forehead and began to speak.

***Courtyard***

"Excuse me..!! I have something to attend to..." The first invader, still holding the deadly wire whip, had been facing off against Lulu. "What, are you running away!?" He snarled. Damn! This bastard wasn't even out of breath..!

"No.." Lulu gasped in pain as the assassin suddenly rammed him in the gut. The foreman fell heavily...no longer conscious. "I have something to attend to...so I'll finish you off quickly."

He disappeared as the Galley-La workers shouted in shock. "Wah! Lulu-san!!

"That's impossible..!!"

"One...one attack and...!?"

"W-wait!!"

******

AN: Words, say, talk? What's my line? Uh....did you know ice cream has no bones?!! xD