Part 3, here is.
Title: Intermission at the Marine Base
Theme: Den Den Mushi
Claim: Robin
Words: 1367
Rating: T
Warnings: Off-screen nudity (no, sorry, I'm not kidding this time).
The sun shone brightly above the metal lifeboat, heating the vessel as well as the calm surface of the water. The wind had died down a while ago, causing the boat to stop moving and simply drift along with the gentle waves.
Bentham lightly tapped Robin's cheek. She frowned and groggily swatted him away. Unperturbed, Bentham continued tapping her until she woke up.
"Is there something wrong?" Robin asked, rather irritated, Hina's sunglasses still perched on her head.
"There's an island there." Bentham pointed over her head, his expression unusually serious. Robin sat up and turned around.
Sure enough, a little less than a mile away, was a little blob on the horizon. Robin narrowed her eyes. The silhouette was much too tall and narrow to be a normal landmass. It was a Marine base.
"Maybe we shouldn't stop there." Bentham said, rummaging around beneath the benches for the emergency supply of canned water.
"No. We need to. With what we have here, we wouldn't last another day on the open sea." Robin said, staring straight ahead at the distant base. "We need to steal a ship, maybe a Log Pose."
"Are you crazy?" Bentham's eyes bugged out. "We just got away from those other Marines!"
"So who's to say we can't get away again?" Robin shrugged. Several arms grabbed oars and began rowing towards the Marine base.
-X-
Somewhere, seas away, a dinosaur carrying a man, woman, and girl flew above the clouds. The woman clutched her lemon yellow umbrella while the man clung tightly to the flying creature's leg. The girl seemed, for the most part, completely relaxed on the back of the dinosaur.
-X-
"Find an unattended ship and I'll meet up with you as soon as possible. I'll search for a map or a Log Pose." Robin said quietly as they steered the boat to a secluded cliff behind the large complex.
"Okay! If you need any help, just call for me!" Bentham nodded. The boat bumped up against a dirt overhang and they jumped out onto solid land. Robin slipped away to the side while Bentham ran off in the opposite direction.
"Man, Hina taisa sounded pretty pissed."
Robin ducked behind a tree. Two Marines passed by her, talking.
"Yeah. I heard that she…" their voices faded as they walked away.
Without sparing another minute, Robin entered the Marine base. Several eyes kept her posted on the locations of passing Marines as well as the surveillance Den Den Mushis stuck on the walls.
The first one she encountered was a little green snail that lazily swept its eyes across the hall, yawning. An arm sprouted above it and grabbed the transmitter off its shell, causing the snail to jerk in surprise. The hand crushed the device, letting it crumble to the floor. Robin stepped out and paused beneath the Den Den Mushi. It stared back at her with half-lidded eyes.
Robin blinked and continued deeper into the Marine base.
-X-
Bentham chortled silently to himself. He found the docks where the ships were, but there were a few Marines on patrol. The little one at the very end would do. Bentham put on a straight face and tapped his cheek, transforming.
"Hello, boys." He said in a sultry voice, the pink coat hanging loosely off his- her- shoulders. The Marines jumped in surprise.
"Ma'am, this is a restricted area, I'm afraid we-" he froze as the woman brushed up against him. Bentham struggled to hold in his laughter.
"I just need to borrow a ship for a while." Bentham purred. The coat threatened to slip off completely.
"Uh, we, uh, can't let you do… that…"
Bentham let the coat pool around his- her- feet. The group of Marines roared and fell backwards, blood jetting out of their noses.
"HAHA! OKAMA KENPO!" Bentham laughed, turning back into his regular appearance and attacking the dazed Marines.
-X-
Robin had found a small office. It was quite tidy and had only a small desk, a chair, and a bookcase filled with leather-bound books and atlases. If she had more time, Robin would have loved to go through them.
After ruffling through some papers and searching through drawers, Robin managed to find a map of the surrounding islands. She rolled it up and pocketed it.
"BLEEE! BLEEE! BLEEE!"
Robin stepped back in surprise as the red Den Den Mushi that had been sleeping on the desk began screeching, red lights going off everywhere. She cursed inwardly. They must have noticed them.
"HERE! IN HERE!" shouting came from the closed door. She was cornered. The door slammed open and she found several rifles pointed at her, cocked and ready.
"Oh dear." Robin sighed.
"Don't move!" the Marines yelled. Robin's arm twitched and her other limbs did the work for her, knocking rifles out of firm grips and twisting necks and joints.
"BLEEE! BLEEE! BLEEE!"
"Quiet." Robin shot at the Den Den Mushi. To her surprise, it looked back at her and stopped blaring in her ear.
She wasted no time maneuvering around the strangled and twisted Marines and sprinting towards the docks.
-X-
"GAAHAHA!" Bentham laughed maniacally, dancing around, preparing the ship for departure. Two hands grabbed onto the railing, followed by another two, and another two, until Robin pulled herself aboard. "Aah, Sunday-chan, you made it!"
"Let's go." Robin briefly said, glancing behind her. The sirens were still wailing loudly. They probably didn't even have a minute left.
"Okay!" Bentham leapt across the deck and raised the anchor. Almost immediately, the ship lurched and began to move.
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!"
"Ochenta Fleur!"
A wind blew through the formation of Marines, followed by the grotesque sound of dozens of spines and limbs snapping simultaneously. The loud screams of pain followed the stolen ship as they sailed away from the base, which had red lights going off at the top of the tallest watch tower.
"We made iiiit!" Bentham cheered, twirling.
"They're going to start firing cannons." Robin panted, rubbing her arms.
"THOSE BASTARDS!" Bentham yelled.
"We can make it. They won't stop us." Robin said, taking on a determined stance. "We already made it this far."
The okama beamed. "That's the spirit!"
Seconds later, cannons began to fire off. Bentham leapt into the air, kicking away most of them while Robin set up shields of arms that made them bounce away harmlessly.
"Okama-san! Steer the ship, I can handle the cannonfire!" Robin shouted.
"Stop joooking aro-"
"Go!"
Bentham hesitantly ran off to get the drifting ship under control. More cannons collided with Robin's arms, making her wince. There would probably be bruises later.
"KURAAAAH!" Bentham roared, spinning the wheel around. The ship immediately veered to the right, away from the Marine base. The cannons began to fall into the water and the network of arms disappeared.
"YAAAAY!" Bentham cried, grabbing Robin in a tight hug. He noticed her discomfort and backed off.
"My arms…" Robin looked down at them. There were dark bruises already beginning to bloom. She shook her head. "No. Forget about that."
"But-"
"I got a map." Robin quickly changed the subject. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the wrinkled map, unrolling it. "The next stop… Kyuuka Island."
-X-
Two days later, a seagull dropped two pieces of paper on the deck of the ship, which had probably gotten stuck on its foot. Robin quickly scooped them up before they could blow away.
She blinked.
"Okama-san?"
"Yeeeees?"
"What is this?"
"Mm?" Bentham twirled over and peered over her shoulder. He broke out into a big grin. "I got a bounty poster yo! 32 million! Gaaahahaha!"
"And this?" she motioned to the other poster.
It was Robin, a crazy grin on her face and a nearly maniacal spark in her eye. She was peering over her shoulder, but it was evident she was topless.
"Aah, uh, about that." Bentham laughed nervously. "Your bounty didn't go any higher!"
"No, but they updated the photo I see."
"I was fighting those Marines at the dock! Someone must have taken a photo yo! It wasn't my fault!"
Robin laughed. "Well, as long as you put your powers to good use…"
"THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED!"
Part 4 tomorrowwww *falls over*.
Reviews will be greatly appreciated.
