Hi, guys! I'm shifting my posting days from Fridays to Tuesdays and Thursdays for now. Hope that no one minds!
Thanks to Milley02, hadrianlopex1, tartanarmygirl, and starkdfrey for the Favs and Follows!
Laradhel - Like Elhini Prime (TF/LOTR author) says, it's fun to write the cliffhangers, but not so much to read them. :) And Oda writes some pretty terribly nail-biting cliffhangers, if I do say so myself. If you need any help with your English, might I suggest a beta reader? If you have any grammar or spelling problems, that can be a great help!
Cyannel - Yes! I know, right?! And Funimation did an awesome job picking his English voice actor - what Maria screamed was practically what I was screaming! I felt the most immense satisfaction when he was finally taken care of by Robin. Maria was VERY passionate - she had seen what had happened in, say, Hoenn and Sinnoh first hand, and that purple-haired moron was even worse than Archie, Maxie, and Cyrus, so of course that was going to get her to go off.
Tsukino Aisuru - A - Ouch indeed! Maria's going to be just fine, though. :)
And here we go!
Chapter 25 - Tower of Law
Maria shook her head and cracked one eye open when she stopped moving, then opened the other the rest of the way out of completely surprise.
The train was lying among the debris of the stone wall they had come flying through, and none of the Straw Hats were in sight of the train. In fact, Maria found herself mildly amazed that she'd managed to go sliding the distance she did without getting hit in the head hard enough to give her a concussion or something.
Cautiously, Maria got to her feet, then made sure her red and orange baseball cap was securely on her head before dusting off her jeans, red shirt, and orange jacket. As she dusted herself off, her eyes scanned the dark room: high ceilings, simple pillars of some kind...and a general sense of foreboding.
"Hey, Granny! Are you okay?! Talk to me, will ya? Just what the hell did you think you were doing?!"
Maria turned her head upon hearing Franky's voice, and her eyes widened when she saw him shaking the forms of Chimney and Kokoro, who were lying flat on their faces.
The amnesiac started running over to where Franky was kneeling. She didn't like or dislike the turquoise-haired man, really - she didn't know what to think of him, what with this being the first time the two had met - but Kokoro and Chimney were a completely different matter. The two of them had helped out enough times that Maria didn't want them to die here - besides, Robin wasn't really their friend; they'd opted to help completely on their own.
"Pulling a flat-out stupid stunt with Rocket Man like that," Franky continued, looking back and forth between the girl and the old woman. "I-I mean, thanks for saving us and all...hey, can't you hear me? Get up! Please, don't die on me!"
Maria reached Franky and the two unconscious figures just as Kokoro, Chimney, and the meowing rabbit got up from where they had been lying. The blue-eyed amnesiac saw a trail of blood go down from one side of all three's noses.
"Bloody noses," Kokoro and Chimney stated together.
"You're lucky a bloody nose is all you got!" Franky barked at them.
"They were riding in the train, though, so they didn't get hit as badly with the debris as we did," Maria pointed out, looking at Franky.
"Eh? Oh, yeah - I guess you're right." Franky smirked for a moment, but then he looked Maria up and down and frowned. "You look kinda familiar somehow."
Maria blinked in confusion, frowning. "I do? But we haven't met before."
"Maybe not face to face." Franky got up to his feet. "But I think I saw you hanging around Dock 1 a couple times when I came with my bros to drop off some lumber that could be reclaimed." His frown deepened for a moment, and then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah! Maria, right? That little amnesia-ridden kid?"
Maria blinked a couple times. "Uh...yeah, that's right."
"Pleasure to meet ya, kid. Name's Franky, head of the Franky Family." Franky held out a hand, which Maria shook out of respect.
"Maria, but you already knew that."
"YEAH! We made it!" Luffy roared, rising out of a pile of rubble.
"Guess he's fine," Franky commented dryly, looking over at the black-haired teen as Maria turned to look in his direction.
"Well, Luffy's made of rubber, so the impact mustn't have affected him all that much," Maria remarked, shrugging. Her eyes scanned the rest of the rubble around them. "Everyone else, though..."
"Come on, you guys! Get up! You've been through worse than that!"
Maria blinked when she saw that Luffy was yelling down at the rubble in front of him. From where she was standing, she could just barely make out what looked like one arm from each of the people Luffy had dragged in with him - excluding the amnesiac, who had ended up getting thrown in a different direction.
"Luffy, we're kinda not made of rubber like you are!" Maria called out to her captain.
"So?" Luffy shrugged, then started walking over. As soon as he had left the pile of rubble, Chopper, Sogeking, Zoro, Nami, and Sanji burst up out from under the rubble, all yelling like they were mad. "See? I told you they were fine."
"Honestly, you guys are all a bunch of weirdos," Franky commented, his arms crossed over his chest. "I just felt like I should point that out."
"Hey, it looks like there's a staircase over there," Luffy remarked, looking around Franky.
Maria turned her head and looked back, blinking a couple times when she saw the stone stairs that led upwards. "That probably leads into the rest of the tower," she noted. "It could be our way up to Robin."
"We'd better move it if we're going to find her," Luffy stated in a determined tone.
Maria could hear the slap of his sandals, and then she caught sight of him running past towards the stairs. The amnesiac decided to do the same and started running after him, with the others following close behind.
"Not so fast!"
The group came to a stop when an unfamiliar voice reached their ears. Maria looked around for a moment in order to find the source, then caught sight of a figure far above them in a corner of the ceiling.
"What the hell is that?" Luffy asked, eyes wide in confusion.
"It's the fat green guy with the zipper lips who was on the balcony with the CP9 guys!" Maria identified. "He's one of them!"
"Cha-pa-pa-pa-pa. So, you've finally made it to the Tower of Law," Zipper Lips noted. "There's no point in going on. You won't find Nico Robin - Lucci's already taken her to the Gates of Justice."
Maria stiffened while Nami, who was standing nearby, let out a soft gasp.
"Oh, and the Chief's with them, too," Zipper Lips added in a condescending tone.
"Oh, really?" Nami replied a knowing smirk crossing her face. "Thanks for telling us where we should start looking!"
Zipper Lips' face shifted to one of disappointment. "Cha-pa-pa. Why'd I tell them that?"
"He's not too bright," Chopper noted.
"I think that's why they added the zipper to his lips," Maria commented, making a motion as though she was zipping her own mouth shut.
Chopper glanced over at the amnesiac and gave a nod. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"It doesn't matter," Zipper Lips declared. "I may have told you where they're headed, but I'm not gonna tell you how to get there. And you'll never make it past our CP9 agents - we've been given direct orders to eliminate you, cha-pa-pa."
"Ah, great," Maria muttered under her breath. "We're gonna get a death match."
"If you want Nico Robin, you're going to have to fight through every one of our agents if you plan to succeed," Zipper Lips continued.
"Duh," Luffy replied, sounding somewhat annoyed. "I liked it better when you were telling us things we didn't already know."
"Cha-pa-pa. You've got some fire in you. But, I've got one more thing to tell you." Zipper Lips removed a hand from the wall and raised one finger.
"Say it already!" Luffy responded. "We're listening!"
"Ah -" Zipper Lips looked surprised upon hearing Luffy's statement. "W-well, thank you." He went digging around in his suit with his free hand. "Just gimme a sec. Take a look at this!" He pulled out the item he seemed to have been looking for, and Maria frowned as she looked at it.
"A key?" Chopper noted, frowning as well.
"What's it for?" Sanji asked.
"For all you know, it might be the key needed to unlock Robin's Sea Stone handcuffs!" Zipper Lips replied haughtily.
Maria frowned. "Sea Stone...isn't that the stone that acts like the sea?" The amnesiac turned to look at Nami, who gave a nod in response. "Why would Robin be wearing those?"
"Robin's a Devil Fruit user, like Luffy and Chopper," the orange-haired navigator explained.
"Really?"
"Well, now we know why Robin hasn't been fighting back," Chopper noted, turning to look over at Maria and Nami. "I knew it wasn't adding up!"
"Yeah," Sanji agreed. "She's not one to give up so easily. I'm sure she'd be mopping the floor with their ugly mugs if she had the choice."
"She must feel so helpless," Chopper muttered quietly.
"That sucks," Franky commented.
"Even if you were able to get past us and save her in some imaginary world," Zipper Lips continued, "that Sea Stone is tougher than a diamond. She'd have to live with them on her wrists for the rest of her life."
"Tougher than a diamond?" Maria repeated, amazed. "That's...that's a pretty tough rock. How were they even able to make the handcuffs if it's that tough?"
"Cha-pa-pa...why do I keep telling them this stuff?" Zipper Lips moaned.
"He really is dumb, isn't he?" Chopper asked, shaking his head at the sight.
"So, be my guest! Go and try to save her if you can! Cha-pa-pa-pa-pa."
"Fine!" Luffy barked back. Maria watched him throw his arm back, then bring it forward towards the man up in the corner. "Give me that key!"
A grin appeared on Maria's face as she watched Luffy's fist zoom up to Zipper Lips, clearly intended to punch him in the face. However, seconds before the two could connect, Zipper Lips suddenly disappeared from sight and Luffy's fist hit the wall before the captain brought it back.
Maria's grin fell as her eyes widened in surprise. "What was that? Did he eat like a...a Speed Devil Fruit or something?"
"No," Nami replied with a shake of her head. "This is just another one of those powers of theirs. Like the Finger Pistol Lucci hit you with."
Maria spluttered out of surprise. "Seriously? He trained his body to move that fast?"
"Seems like it." Nami's voice and facial expression were grim.
"Guess all the members of CP9 can use that move," Luffy muttered, annoyed.
"Don't be hasty."
Maria whirled around when she heard Zipper Lips' voice, and she caught sight of him standing with his back to them.
"You don't know if what I've got is the real key or not," Zipper Lips continued.
"The real key?" Maria repeated, blinking.
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!" the others around the amnesiac barked.
"It might be the key to another pair of cuffs for all you know, cha-papa-papa!" Zipper Lips sang out as he started to spin around on one foot. "In this great Tower of Law!"
Maria gained an annoyed expression. "That guy has a really bad singing voice."
"Yeah, no kidding," Sanji agreed. "Even Moss-Head has a better voice than he does, and that's saying something."
"Hey!" Zoro turned sharply to glare at the cook. "You've never even heard me sing!"
"Well, I'm guessing that it's got to be pretty bad then, if you've made a point not to!"
"Who says I decided against it?!"
"Guys!" Maria quickly got between the two of them and pointed at the ball-shaped CP9 agent. "He could still spill something!"
Zipper Lips suddenly jumped up into the air, somehow managing to stay elevated by just kicking his feet as though he was jumping on solid ground. "There are five members of CP9 with keys, including me!"
"So, are you saying we have to beat every one of you guys and try all the keys on her handcuffs?" Zoro demanded. "And that's the only way we're going to find the real one?"
"What a stupid way to keep us busy," Sanji muttered. "While we're wasting time on your key-hunting game, your chief is going to have made it through the Gates of Justice with Robin."
"That's exactly the plan! Ugh, why can't I keep my mouth shut?!"
"Retrieving Robin is our first priority," Nami stated while Zipper Lips continued to climb higher into the air. Maria watched him go with some nervousness; these CP9 guys were going to be a lot of trouble if they could do that without needing a Devil Fruit. At all.
"If we focus on getting Robin first, we can worry about getting the keys afterward," Nami continued. "Let's just ignore that weirdo and start searching!"
"Cha-pa...Cha-pa-pa-pa-pa. Hey! You've got some brains! But I'm afraid that if you do that, you'll leave me with no choice! I'll toss this key into the ocean! Cha-pa-pa-pa-pa!"
Maria glared up at the zipper-lipped ball of a man and growled in annoyance while the others gasped.
"We're kind enough to give you guys a sporting chance, though, so I'll see ya later!" With that, Zipper Lips took off through the air and out of sight.
"Hey! Get back here!" Luffy started running after the man, but his right cheek was grabbed by Zoro, keeping him from going to far.
"Hold on!" the swordsman barked. "Could you just hang on a sec?!"
Luffy just continued yelling in rage as he continued running forward, causing Zoro to slide on the stone. Sogeking dashed over and tried to pull Luffy into a stop, but that didn't necessarily work out too well, either.
"Stop running and listen to me!" Zoro yelled at his captain. "Let's decide what we're gonna do before we split up!"
"Shut up and just let me go!" Luffy yelled back. His speech was a bit contorted because Zoro was holding onto his cheek, but the angry words came through loud and clear anyway.
"Get a hold of yourself, Straw Hat!" Sogeking ordered in his lower-octave voice.
"I'm guessing Lucci's that pigeon guy?"
Maria turned her head from watching Zoro and Sogeking struggle with Luffy and looked over at Sanji, who was sending Franky a curious look.
"Yup," Franky replied, smirking.
"From what that other guy told us, he's the only one who's guarding Robin," the chef commented. "Our best bet is to send Luffy after them."
"Since he claimed dibs on Lucci," Maria commented, nodding in agreement.
"Luffy, since you're raring to go, you can hunt down that pigeon guy!" Sanji called over to the rubber captain, who was still struggling with Zoro and Sogeking, who were both pulling at his face now in an attempt to keep Luffy in place.
Maria absently rubbed a cheek and wondered if Luffy could actually get hurt that way. Rubber bands did eventually snap if you pulled on them too hard.
"Excluding Luffy, we've got a head count of seven," Sanji continued, looking back at the others.
"But Zipper Lips said that only five CP9 agents have keys," Maria spoke up, recalling what the round man had said a few moments ago.
Sanji gave a nod. "So I say we spread out, take them down, and catch up with Luffy."
The others nodded in agreement to the cook's statement.
"If they drag her through those gates, we'll never get her back!" Sogeking called back to the others. "It's a race against time!"
"Then let's get going!" Zoro declared. He let go of Luffy's cheek, sending the rubber captain charging forward and Sogeking to the ground from the resulting force Luffy ran off with. "Let's take 'em down, or die trying!"
"YEAH!" Maria and the others agreed. Then they took off after Luffy and started up the stairs and deeper into the Tower of Law.
*Snicker* Zipper Lips...of course I was gonna call him that. XD
Well, where's Maria gonna go next? You'll see next week Tuesday when I post the next chapter! See you then!