A/N: And there's the end of Enies Lobby. I'm actually surprised to reach this far, I mean planning for it is one thing but actually writing it is another. So I'd just like to thank all of you for sticking by me for all these while. Maybe we'll still be here when One Piece ends :D
As some of you might have already known, the next one after this is the G8 arc, but not before some intermissions :)
As usual, enjoy! :D
Thunder roared in the distance while the two groups stood facing each other, the wind blowing in between them.
Spandam had already gone weak in the knees, his eyes bulging out of their sockets while snot dribbled down his nose.
"Give Robin back," Luffy repeated once more.
Robin was quick to step forward with a frustrated look, "I don't want you to save me! I never wanted you to come after me! Why can't you just let me die?!"
Spandam regained his bearings from her words, "Y-y-y-yeah! Ju-ju-just let her d-d-die! L-l-leave us a-a-alone!"
"Oi, oi… You're really saying that after he came all this way?" Franky frowned.
Robin ignored their words, "Can't you see that no matter how hard you want to try to protect me, others will always come to take me?! You'll just be caught up in a problem that's not even yours! It's better for me to just disappear from this world!"
Spandam felt his confidence growing, "Yeah! Let her disappear! This world doesn't need a blight like her! Just-"
"Shut up," Luffy glared at Spandam, causing the man to whimper back in fear.
Robin could feel the eyes of the other CP9 agents resting on her, as though expecting her to resolve this standoff.
"Just… Just let me die, Luffy… It's easier for everyone…"
Luffy's features softened when he saw Robin's resigned face, before completely ruining the moment by picking his nose with a finger.
"What are you talking about Robin? We came all the way here to save you, so if you want to die, then die after we save you."
Everyone else on the bridge stared at Luffy incredulously, shocked by his selfishness.
Robin gritted her teeth, "Don't you get it? I refuse to be protected by you anymore! I don't want to be seen as a burden by you, of all people!"
Luffy flicked the booger that had been on his finger off to the side, "I feel like I've said this somewhere before but… I refuse your refusal! You don't tell me who I can protect or not! I want to protect you, so let me protect you! So stop being so selfish, Robin!"
Spandam pointed an accusatory finger at him, "You… You're the selfish one right now!"
Even Franky had to agree with him this time.
Luffy glared at him again and the director wisely shut his mouth.
"My enemy is the world…" Robin stared at Luffy with tearful eyes. "You can't protect me from them since you're part of them…"
"That is where you're wrong," Luffy declared without an iota of doubt.
Robin widened her eyes at his proclamation, "Do you… Plan to desert the Marines?"
Spandam's face was as white as sheet at the current moment.
Luffy tilted his head at her, "What? No? Even if I do pass the paperwork to Nami, I used to do my own admin matters before I met her you know? Just have the right people know the right things and all will be set."
Robin noticed that Luffy glanced pointedly at Spandam, the archaeologist realised that he had been aware of the Admirals' bet on them all along.
"And if anyone else is still set on snatching you away after this…" Luffy grinned at her before throwing his fists high into the air. "I'll conquer them all! A person's existence should not be their sin! I will protect you!"
His declaration hit her like a truck, her mind recalling Jaguar D. Saul's last words to her.
"There is nothing more ridiculous than being born in this world to be alone... Someday you will meet brave friends who will protect you! Go and live with them Robin!"
"So say it Robin! I haven't heard it from you! What do you want to do?!" Luffy asked.
The tears that had been welling up flowed freely at that moment, her past memories of a life on the run filled with constant betrayals and terror flashed past her eyes.
How many people had sought her death? How many people she had ended up betraying just to save her own neck? How long had she been able to sleep peacefully at night or walk around without looking over her shoulder?
She looked at the Rear Admiral standing in front of her, he had his fists clenched and a confident look in his eyes. There was never any doubt in him from the beginning.
The Marine who had taken her in. The Marine who had furled his protective wings over her to protect her. The one shining light in this dark world of hers. Why was she still doubting herself?
"I… I… I WANT TO LIVE!" Robin finally shouted, her secret wish finally revealed for all to hear. "Please… Will you protect me?"
Luffy grinned the widest grin he had since coming to Enies Lobby, "You bet I will!"
Franky was crying at the sight as well, "Oh damn you guys! You're only a Marine! How can you be so super?!"
Lucci stepped forward at that moment, his pigeon already flying off his shoulders after sensing the impending conflict.
"I'm tired of this farce… Step aside Marine."
Luffy glared at the assassin, his grin disintegrating from his face, "We are of the same sides… But our beliefs are different. Because of that, we will be against each other."
The Rear Admiral cracked his knuckles, taking a single step forward towards them.
"I will ask the same of you, will all of you return my charge to me with the addition of the scrapper?"
Spandam was about to respond but Lucci cut him off before he could.
"We will not back down, so we shall have to fight for our beliefs."
Spandam stared at him in horror, "He… Hey… Lucci… I didn't…"
"But that's just an excuse," Lucci admitted with a smirk. "What I really want… Is to fight you… Strongest agent of CP9."
Luffy held his steely gaze without flinching, "I see… In that case I'll take you all on… I'll even give you guys a handicap: I shall not use my haki here and fight you all as a CP9 agent would."
Kaku frowned, "You would do well not to underestimate us, Marine."
Luffy grinned at him, "You forget I was once part of the unit, it is you guys who should not be looking down on me."
Blueno tossed Franky to the side of the bridge, the scrapper yelping out in surprise when he found himself crashing on to the floor without warning.
Faster than a normal person could see, Blueno appeared in front of Luffy with his fist sailing towards his face.
The larger man's fist was easily caught by Luffy's single hand, the Rear Admiral shoving him back with a push using the same hand.
Blueno looked at the scrawny Marine who had just took his punch and shoved him back without any trouble, "I guess Fukuro was not lying about your doriki…"
Lucci's grin turned vicious, "Everyone… Fight him seriously."
The other agents behind him nodded.
Franky was trying to wriggle himself back on his feet, his bindings only allowing him to crawl on the ground like an earthworm. Spandam had already collapsed on the ground after Robin's proclamation, his legs giving way to fear. Robin moved to the side, confident that the Rear Admiral will pull through with his promise to her.
Blueno pushed the air in front of him, opening an air door before stepping inside it.
Luffy narrowed his eyes, "So that's how you have been hiding Robin from me… I can't pick out Voices in another dimension…"
Lucci did not answer him as he shifted into his half leopard form, his eyes remained locked on to the Rear Admiral in front of him.
The two of them stared at each other before the tension was broken unexpectedly by a yelp of surprise behind Lucci.
Turning around, the feline agent found a full grown giraffe staring back at him with an embarrassed face.
"Crap… I meant to transform to half giraffe, not full giraffe," Kaku explained before transforming himself to the hybrid form he had been looking for.
"Another Zoan huh… Olivia would have a field day mocking you guys too," Luffy remarked.
Lucci turned back to regard the Rear Admiral, seeing the Marine looking at Kaku with great interest.
"So… You guys ready yet? I can still wait," Luffy smirked.
Nero was the first to charge forward, wanting to prove himself to his seniors and debunk the fear the other members seemed to have of this scrawny ex-agent.
The weasel man aimed a punch towards the Marine's chest, his other hand reaching behind his back for his pistol.
Luffy slapped the punch away with the back of his hand, his other hand shooting upwards to push the pistol's muzzle away as soon as Nero whipped it out from behind him.
The gun did not even get a chance to fire before Luffy's fingers closed around it, crushing it into splinters.
Nero jumped over the Rear Admiral, discarding the useless pistol to kick an air blade at him from above.
Luffy took a single step to the side to avoid the blade, his hand shooting backwards just as Nero descended behind him, grabbing his shirt collar.
The Rear Admiral threw the assassin over his shoulder at Lucci, the feline assassin sidestepping the throw before lunging towards the Marine.
As Luffy prepared to meet Lucci's lunge, the floor under him suddenly gave way, his feet falling into two small 'doors' that had not been there before.
"Tekkai!"
Luffy barely managed to harden his body in time before the half-leopard's punch met his chest, impacting him with a solid boom.
He threw a fist forward, Lucci easily avoiding it by stepping back before moving forward again to punch at his face.
Luffy fell backwards to let the punch sail above him, curling himself into a ball to roll backwards to get his feet out of the hole at the same time.
Kaku was next to rush forward, his two blades already unsheathed and slicing towards the Rear Admiral's neck.
"Kami-e"
Luffy floated back, the blade missing his neck by mere millimeters.
The Marine kicked his leg upwards, sending the airblade flying towards the CP9 agent. Kaku kicked his own leg out, his pride as the best swordsman of the assassins on the line.
The two air blades clashed against each other, deflecting each other off course a mere inch away from their targets.
Lucci moved forward again, a clawed finger extended towards the Marine.
Luffy punched at Lucci's wrist from below, hitting the leopard man's Shigan high into the air. The Rear Admiral turned on his heel to deliver a roundhouse kick but Kalifa was there to catch his leg with her hands.
"Golden Hour!"
The female assassin slid her hand down Luffy's leg, a trail of soap bubbles appearing along where her hand passed by.
Luffy felt the strength in his leg leave him and tore himself away from her embrace in alarm.
Lucci had taken advantage of his confusion and delivered a punch to his abdomen, sending the Marine crashing into the ground a few feet away.
Luffy groaned as he looked down on his right leg that Kalifa had touched, wondering what the assassin had did to him.
"Devil Fruit huh…" Luffy frowned. His leg had became ridiculously shiny and smooth and any attempts to stand on the leg resulted in his leg slipping uncontrollably.
"Correct," Kalifa adjusted her glasses with her hand. "The Bubble Bubble Fruit lets me wash away your strength with my touch."
"Huh… Almost like grandma Tsuru…" Luffy remarked, standing up on his other leg. "Bubbles get washed away with water… So if I soak my leg in water this will come off right?"
Kalifa became flustered, "It's… It's not like you'll get an advantage if you know that! Okay?!"
Luffy grinned before back flipping off the bridge, dipping his right leg in the seawater before using Geppo to get back on the bridge in an instant, his leg returning to normal.
The Marine took the time to grin proudly at the agents.
"If you still intend to stand in our way, then you have to die!" Nero yelled, charging forward with Soru.
"This amateur…" Lucci mumbled under his breath.
"Tekkai"
Luffy took the punch to his chest without budging an inch, his fist immediately shooting forward after taking the hit to bury itself in Nero's abdomen and send him flying away.
Kaku dashed forward, his right hand slashing towards the Marine's neck.
Blueno appeared from an air door behind the Rear Admiral, his finger extended to aim a Shigan at the back of his neck.
Luffy took a step forward and shot out his left palm to halt Kaku's hand from completing the arc, stopping his blade from reaching him. At the same time, he moved his upper body to the right, avoiding Blueno's Shigan as it passed to the left side of his neck.
The Rear Admiral's right hand gripped on the bull man's finger, pulling hard to throw him over the shoulder to crash against Kaku and sending both of them flying away.
Kalifa leapt over her colleague's airborne figures, throwing up her hands to send a wave of bubbles towards the Rear Admiral.
Luffy leapt backwards to avoid it, just as Lucci appeared from behind him to kick him back into the bubble wave's path.
"Rankyaku!"
Luffy kicked out an air blade, dispersing a portion of the bubble wave for him to pass through unharmed.
Kaku and Lucci converged on Luffy from both sides, one aiming a kick at his leg while the other slashed at his neck.
"Kami-e"
The Rear Admiral floated his body upwards parallel to the ground, both attacks passing by underneath or below him without touching him.
While still in the air, Luffy twisted his body to kick out both legs towards his attackers. Kaku raised his other blade to block the kick while Lucci raised his own arm to defend himself.
The kick had a much greater force than both anticipated, forcing them back a few steps away from the Rear Admiral.
Kalifa and Nero moved forward while Blueno disappeared inside his air door once more.
Luffy ducked under the female assassin's Shigan, his hand shooting forward to deliver a palm strike to her abdomen to send her skidding away.
He then immediately sidestepped the Rankyaku that Nero tried to kick out from above again, throwing up his arms to block a punch that Blueno had thrown right after he exited his air door from in front of him.
Luffy spun on a heel, kicking his leg towards the side of Blueno's head.
"Tekkai!"
Luffy's heel hit the bull man just as he strengthened his body, the Marine's much higher physical strength easily crushing through the CP9 agent's iron defence like it was paper.
Blueno gasped out in pain as the kick sent him flying towards the sea, the agent hastily opening another air door just before he hit the water.
"Bigan!" Kaku's neck shot out at blinding speed, his nose heading straight towards the Rear Admiral's chest.
"Tekkai!"
Luffy took the attack head on without moving an inch. Before he could follow up with a counter, Lucci, Kalifa and Nero appeared from behind Kaku, all of their fists raised in the air.
"Bigan!"
Kaku's nose impacted against Luffy's hardened chest once more, the other three agents throwing their own punches at the Rear Admiral's chest at the same time.
Luffy grimaced as their combined might broke through his Tekkai, sending him skidding a few feet away from them.
The group of assassins rushed forward, intent on continuing their advantage. Lucci lead the front while Kaku and Kalifa spreaded out to his left and right. Nero immediately used Geppo to get in the air while Blueno reappeared behind Luffy, closing any route of escape for the Marine.
The five agents closed in instantly, delivering a flurry of blows down on the Rear Admiral. Luffy gritted his teeth as he braced himself with his Tekkai, unable to move from the absurd number of hits he was taking.
Pulling his finger back, Lucci revealed a sadistic smirk before striking his finger forward in a flurry.
"Shigan: Oren!"
Luffy felt multiple stab wounds on his body before being blown away, crashing a few feet away with several wounds on his body.
Robin gasped in worry while Spandam finally regained a part of his senses.
Looking at the wounded form of Luffy, a smile crept on the director's lips, "Ah… Ha ha… As strong as Luffy is… He can't take on five trained CP9 agents at the same time!"
Spandam reached a hand to grab Robin by her arm while his other hand held on to Franky's hair, pulling and dragging them towards the end of the bridge.
"This is perfect! While they hold him here, I'll just slip past them and it'll still be my win!"
Robin furrowed her brows and tried her best to resist his pulling, Franky joining in her struggle as he put his full weight on the ground.
"You bastard! You think we'll let you win that easily?!" Franky roared, half in pain from his hair being pulled.
Spandam's feet ground to a halt as soon as the scrapper started struggling, the director lacking the strength to pull both Franky and Robin with him while they were resisting.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he drew his sword and dropped it on the floor.
"Funkfreed! Help me drag these stupid criminals with us!"
The sword transformed into an elephant before wrapping its trunk around the shipwright and archaeologist, easily lifting both of them to follow its master.
The elephant took two steps forward.
That was all it remembered doing before a fist was sent flying towards its head, smashing it all the way to the other end of the bridge.
Luffy pried Franky and Robin out of Funkfreed's trunk before they could fly off with it, dropping the scrapper on the ground casually while lowering Robin carefully.
"Ouch man… I'm a victim as well... Can't you be gentle with me too, Marine bro?" Franky whined from the ground.
The Rear Admiral ignored him and lunged forward again, his sights set on Spandam this time.
Before he could reach him, Lucci had put himself in his path, his own fist lashing out to meet Luffy's and creating a shockwave from the impact.
"Your fight is with us," Lucci declared with a bloodthirsty smile.
Luffy narrowed his eyes at him just as Kaku leapt from his side, the blade in his left hand slashing downwards at the Rear Admiral's head.
He took a step back to avoid the slash, his other fist already shooting forward for a counter.
A whip coiled itself around his arm, stopping his fist dead in its track.
Lucci's fist went straight into the Marine's unprepared abdomen, sending Luffy flying high into the air.
Nero was prepared to receive him with a mid-air roundhouse kick, sending Luffy crashing back into the ground.
"Tekkai Sai"
Blueno flew straight into Luffy's prone form, his hardened fist smashing into his abdomen and creating a giant crater on the bridge.
Flipping backwards, the bull man landed beside his colleagues at the edge of the crater.
"This is the best agent in CP9's history? You sure they didn't make a mistake?" Blueno sighed.
Kaku frowned, "Remember that he's taking on five of us at once. I think that's pretty impressive by itself."
Spandam took the break in the fight to grab on to the prisoners again, pulling them towards the gate. Again, both Robin and Franky resisted their captor, hindering him as best as they could.
Luffy leapt out from the crater, his sights switching from the five agents to the director before switching back to them.
Lucci smirked at him and gave him a come-hither gesture.
The Marine kicked the air behind him, his fist extended and pointed towards the group of agents.
"Tekkai Sai!"
The five agents leapt out of the way just in time to avoid Luffy's impact, the crater that he made at least five times larger than Blueno's.
Nero brandished his last pistol, shooting a bullet at the Marine.
Luffy shot his hand back to catch the bullet in between his fingers, spinning around mid-air to dodge Kaku's Rankyaku before deftly flicking his wrist towards the weasel man.
Nero gasped in shock as the bullet he had fired was launched back towards him at an impossible speed, the projectile piercing his pistol through the barrel and shattering the firearm.
"Tekkai Rin"
Blueno hardened his legs before he started revolving towards Luffy, his steps leaving imprints in the ground.
"Tekkai!"
Luffy crossed his arms above his head, catching Blueno's downward kick in between his arms with a loud boom.
The Rear Admiral flicked his left hand towards his side, his fingers curling around the bull man's leg and pulling the agent towards him.
"Shigan: Teashi"
Luffy's free hand shot forward twice, burying his index finger in the assassin's shoulders. Blueno gritted his teeth in pain before kicking out his other leg at him, forcing Luffy to back off from his Rankyaku.
Lucci appeared from behind Luffy, delivering an elbow strike to the Marine's unprotected back.
Kaku immediately dashed forward after kicking out both his legs, following right behind the two air blades he had kicked out.
Luffy leapt high into the air to avoid Kaku's air blade, his eyes set on the giraffe man as he leapt up to meet him with his two swords.
"Kami-e"
Luffy swayed back just in time to avoid the slash, kicking the air below him to recover before turning back around to punch his fist forward.
The Bigan that Kaku shot out with his nose clashed with the Marine's punch, blasting out a shockwave that shook the bridge.
Spandam lost his footing and tripped over himself, losing his grip on his two captives.
"Come on! Get going! I can't run while I'm tied up like this but your legs are free!" Franky yelled at his fellow captive.
Robin took one look back at the Rear Admiral still engaged in combat with the CP9 agents before forcing herself to run.
"You're not going anywhere!" Spandam screeched, diving towards Robin to tackle her to the ground. "I'm so close to the gate! Stop struggling already!"
Robin furrowed her brows and glared at the director.
Luffy was fighting so hard to protect her, why was she not fighting to protect herself too?
She bit down hard on Spandam's shoulder, enough to break the skin and draw blood.
Spandam yelled out in pain and released his grip on her, screaming bloody murder.
The archaeologist forced herself back on her feet before starting to run again.
The director cursed under his breath, "Damnit! Someone stop her!"
Nero kicked out a Rankyaku that cut at her legs, Robin gasping out in pain and collapsing on to the ground.
The weasel man leapt towards her, his index finger extended in preparation to further disable her.
There was a gust of wind before Luffy appeared beside Nero, his fist flying straight towards the side of his face and blasting him away.
Almost at the same time, Kaku, Kalifa, Blueno and Lucci struck Luffy with their own kicks, sending him tumbling away.
Luffy flipped himself off the ground before he could crash into it, landing on his feet with his eyes glaring straight at the other four agents.
"Rankyaku Sen!"
Kaku stomped his leg on the ground, sending a straight air blade towards Luffy.
"Tekkai"
The Rear Admiral hardened his body, pushing out his palm at an angle in the blade's path and deflected it off to the side.
Lucci moved towards him, his fists a blur as he rained down punches on the Marine.
Luffy narrowed his eyes as his own hands became a similar blur, blocking and deflecting every one of Lucci's blows.
Their blows became faster and fiercer until their attacks started a gale, both of their eyes never leaving the other's.
All of a sudden, their attacks stopped. Both of Lucci's fists caught in Luffy's hands.
The leopard man kicked his leg forward without hesitation, Luffy enduring it with his Tekkai while preparing to follow up with a counter.
"Relax Hour!"
Kalifa threw a cloud of bubbles toward Luffy, forcing the Marine to let got of Lucci and leap backwards to avoid the strength draining attack.
Behind him, Blueno appeared using his air door and drop kicked his back, sending the Marine crashing into the floor.
Luffy smashed his palms into the ground, pushing himself airborne just in time to avoid a heel smash from the just barely recovered Nero.
He spun himself in a circle while upside down, his legs kicking out in an arc to deflect Kaku's blades that had been slashing towards him.
Pulling his fists to his sides, Luffy's hands shot forward in a double palm strike against the giraffe man's chest and sent him crashing into the ground.
Robin frowned as Kaku crashed beside her, the CP9 agent dusting himself before getting up again, completely ignoring her.
The archaeologist furrowed her brows as she tried to stand up on her feet again, the cuts in her legs preventing her from doing so.
A hand reached down to pull her hair, forcing her head up to stare at the furious face of Spandam.
"I told you to stop struggling! Damn it! I'll just take you along and forget about that Cutty Flam, at least having one is better than having none!"
He dragged her by the hair towards the gate, ignoring her painful cries.
Luffy roared in rage when he saw Robin's mistreatment, kicking the ground multiple times in an instant to rush towards him.
Lucci barred his way again, the leopard man's leg kicking upwards to send an air blade towards him.
The Rear Admiral kicked at the air to avoid the air blade, spinning away from another Rankyaku that Kaku had thrown from behind him as well.
"You have a Devil Fruit, no? I don't see you using it," Lucci pointed out.
Luffy glared at him just as another thunder roared in the distance.
The Rear Admiral lunged forward, punching towards Lucci's chest.
The CP9 agent crossed his arms in front of him to block it, but the blow still made him skid backwards a few feet.
The other four agents immediately converged on Luffy, throwing their own punches and kicks that prevented him from continuing his assault on Lucci.
Lucci rushed forward with Soru, his fist burying into the Rear Admiral's abdomen and sending him airborne.
"Geppo!"
The leopard man leapt into the sky, delivering another flurry of punches at the Marine who just barely managed to block them in time.
"Why are you not using it?! Use it! Fight us with it! Fight me! I want to fight your strongest!" Lucci roared.
Luffy ducked under a punch and threw his own at the agent's face, sending him crashing into the ground.
With a quick burst of speed, the Marine landed in front of Spandam just as he was about to descend the stairs towards the boat.
Kaku immediately appeared before him, his swords and legs lashing out in a deadly blade dance to keep Luffy away from the director.
Nero snuck up from behind, his leg kicking in an arc to slash the Rear Admiral in the back with a Rankyaku.
The weasel man laughed when he saw the blood on the Marine's back, "Hahaha! Best CP9 agent?! You're just a young punk that's full of himself!"
Luffy turned to strike Nero but felt two more slashes connect on his back.
"Turning your back on me… That was a mistake on your part," Kaku declared as he swiped his blades clean of blood.
Both CP9 agents lunged forward at the same time, Kaku slashing at his neck while Nero kicked at his chest.
The Marine ducked his head, both attacks sailing past harmlessly above him.
Spandam squeezed past them while still dragging Robin along, his previous hopeless face now replaced with one that had an ounce of hope.
"Soru"
Luffy kicked the ground hard, slipping past Nero to get in front of Spandam again.
This time, all five agents appeared in front of him with their fists raised.
Luffy crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Tekkai!"
Five punches met his guard, breaking past his Tekkai and sending him crashing to the bottom of the stairs.
"Wahahaha! Even Luffy can't stand up to five of you at once while distracted by this woman's plight!" Spandam laughed maniacally while continuing his way down the stairs.
Lucci lunged forward to punch Luffy back into the ground the moment he tried to stand up.
The leopard man looked down at him in disdain, "How long are you going to hold back? That woman will be lost to you and your unit will be disbanded you know?"
Luffy gritted his teeth and his arm changed into lightning for an instant.
Memories of the searing pain he felt when Enel pierced him with his spear flashed through his mind. The stab wound was nothing, he had endured much worse before. But the shock of the lightning that coursed through his veins gave him the worst pain he had ever felt.
For a whole day and a half he felt himself drifting between life and death. He was conscious that his heart was failing and that he was going to die. Under other circumstances he might have came to terms with it and accepted that fact, but it had happened so fast that he did not even have the chance to smile at his crew one last time before passing out.
On the surface, it might seem that the youth was afraid of causing the same pain to others. But deep inside, his true fear was that it reminded him of the time he almost died to that power.
Lucci snorted, "I see… You're afraid of your own power. Pathetic."
The leopard man reached down to grab him by the neck, bringing the Marine up to his eye level.
"Such weakness… You are not fit to have been one of us. It's better that you die here, along with your unit and that woman."
Luffy's eyes shot towards Robin, finding her desperately struggling against Spandam's restraints.
The leopard man punched him in the stomach, bringing his attention back to him.
"With such a power, you still hesitate to use it? Why? Such a pathetic boy like you, who managed to fight his way through the guards of Enies Lobby… Only to fail at the end because you fear your own strength. Weak!"
Lucci punched him again.
Spandam tore a few strands of Robin's hair off when she tried to run, the archaeologist still trying her best to flee.
"You see that? Your woman's being taken away, and you can't even do anything to stop it. Spouting such fantastical words like some sort of hero at the beginning, then only to get beaten down like an incompetent idiot. Where was that confidence you had?"
Another punch.
Spandam slapped Robin onto the floor before she could run, his hand now reaching for her neck.
"The only thing that is notable about you is that selfish attitude and that big mouth. What else can you do?"
Another punch.
The director dragged her by the neck, Robin clawing away at his hand helplessly.
"Is that all you can do? Weren't you supposedly the best agent in history? What a pathetic sight you must make for us right now."
Another punch.
Spandam kicked at her hands, pulling even harder at her neck towards the ship.
"I had expected more from you. Everyone else had been boring, I wanted a real fight and not your stupid pretend heroism. Maybe I'll go back and kill the rest of your unit too, that should satisfy me a bit at least."
Lucci punched again, but a palm was there to stop him.
The leopard man looked into the Rear Admiral's eyes, he realised that the Marine's eyes had never lost its light. In fact, it seemed to glow even brighter now.
"My own weapon… Not his… My own to wield…" Luffy mumbled to himself. "My own ideals to sacrifice… To protect everything…"
Lucci raised an eyebrow, "What are you-"
An electrical shock ran through his arm, shocking the agent into letting him go.
Luffy disappeared in a flash of sparks before his feet touched the ground, reappearing in front of Spandam just as he was about to board the ship.
Luffy threw up his arm in an arc, thunder roared and a pillar of lightning came striking down from the sky, engulfing the entire ship and disintegrating it.
"Lo… Logia!" Spandam gasped, his grip loosening around Robin in shock.
Luffy turned back to glare at him while electrical sparks were rampaging all around his body, striking the ground near him.
The Rear Admiral glanced at his archaeologist, bruises and blood now marred her once smooth face.
An anger he had never felt in a long time surfaced within him, the storm mimicking his anger with its raging thunder.
Spandam tried to throw up his hands in surrender but the Marine was already in front of him with his fist raised.
The lightning clad fist was shot forward with such speed that a shockwave was formed before the fist even hit Spandam's face.
The director was thrown back towards the stairs, Luffy appearing in his flight path with a leg in the air.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN MISTREAT MY CHARGE?!" Luffy roared, swinging his foot down on his face just as it transformed into electricity.
Spandam was smashed into the ground while electricity coursed through his body, shocking the director into unconsciousness.
The director's body bounced up from the ground from the impact, only to have Luffy punch his face back into the ground again. On cue, a bolt of lightning struck down at where Luffy's fist met Spandam's face, further electrocuting his already charred body.
It really was a wonder how the CP9 chief was actually still alive.
Nero leapt forward, his leg kicking towards the Marine's back.
His leg went through Luffy as he dematerialised his back into pure lightning, shocking the weasel man with an electrical current.
The Rear Admiral reformed his body above the agent, his knee shooting forward at lightning speed to impact against Nero's chin.
The weasel man was sent flying away faster than the eye could see, his figure disappearing into the horizon.
Lucci grinned devilishly as he felt his blood boil in anticipation. Finally someone worthy enough for him to fight with his full pow-
Luffy appeared in front of him before he could finish his thoughts.
The youth's lightning clad fist buried itself in his abdomen before anyone had even realised he was there.
Lightning exploded out from the leopard man's back and he too, was sent flying backwards to crash into the stairs. The leopard man finally realised they had picked a fight with someone way out of their league.
Kalifa rushed forward, her arms lined with soap in an attempt to 'wash' the Marine's strength away.
She reached her hand out to grab his arm, her fingers curling around his limb only for the figure to fizzle out of existence.
It took her but a second to realise that she had attempted to grab at his after image, Luffy already moving behind her with his own hand gripping onto her shoulder tightly.
"Discharge"
Kalifa screamed as she felt electricity passing through her body, her vision fading to blackness a second later.
Luffy let the female assassin drop to the ground, his eyes already staring at the last two agents.
Blueno immediately opened an air door while Kaku kicked out two air blades with his legs.
Luffy dematerialised himself to let the blades pass through him harmlessly while the CP9 swordsman was already rushing forward with his blades held by his sides.
Kaku slashed his swords at the Marine's neck, Luffy avoiding it by taking a single step back.
Both of his hands shot out at lightning speed, catching both of the swords by their spines in between his thumbs and index fingers.
Kaku felt an incredible force pull him forward, the knee of the Rear Admiral burying into his chest and sending him high up into the air. Luffy immediately rushed upwards with a burst of static, his lightning clad leg shooting downwards to crash into Kaku's abdomen.
The giraffe man crash landed near the edge of the bridge, his body spasming from the electricity still coursing through his body. His body reverted back to its human form a while later when he slipped into unconsciousness.
The Rear Admiral landed back on the ground, senses tuned to find the last CP9 agent.
From above, Blueno reappeared through his air door, hoping to catch Luffy off guard.
His hands touched empty air as Luffy disappeared from where he had been with a spark, reappearing a distance away with his palm facing the bull man.
Blueno felt his hair stand on end, a bead of cold sweat rolling past his brows before tilting his head upwards to look at the overcast sky.
A bolt of lightning struck the CP9 agent, his eyes rolling to the back of his head before collapsing heavily on the ground.
Luffy exhaled slowly, electrical sparks still coursing around his limbs from time to time. He had expected himself to feel disgusted, wielding the power that once threatened the existence of an entire country for himself.
But somehow he felt liberated, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he was now free to fly however he wished.
Robin stood stunned at the side, even Franky was awed from where he lay on the ground, having crawled to the edge of the steps to witness the Rear Admiral's fight.
"Holy crap… That was the most suuupeeer thing I've seen all week!"
From underneath a pile of rubble, Lucci pushed himself up, spitting out the blood in his mouth.
Luffy turned to inspect him with an eye, the feline assassin standing up on his feet slowly.
"So… You were still holding back… I didn't think you had a Logia of all things…" Lucci remarked through bloodstained teeth.
The leopard man took a few steps forward before stopping, "But I'm not done yet… No… I've yet to be satisfied."
Luffy narrowed his eyes at him, ready for anything he might do.
"Tell me… I smelled the unmistakable scent of fear in you when I asked about your Devil Fruit… What happened to that?" Lucci asked.
Luffy raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "I decided to sacrifice that fear to protect what is important to me."
Lucci stared at him incredulously, "What?"
"Jabra told me that I could not protect everything without sacrificing something… So I decided I could sacrifice that."
"Sacrificing your fear? You mean just be fearless?"
"Eh… Something like that?" Luffy scratched his head.
Lucci's jaw dropped, not believing how simple the youth's solution to his fear was. It was like the Marine had concluded that being fearful of the power was too troublesome and just decided to throw that fear out the window without a second thought. Such a thing should not have been possible to an ordinary person, but the assassin did not know the Luffy had gone through extraordinary circumstances.
Garp had influenced the young Marine that with just the right motivation, Luffy could overcome anything that may obstruct him. The Vice Admiral had no choice after all, since he had to get creative in order to train Luffy to become even stronger than anyone else.
Lucci gritted his teeth, he could not accept that someone like Luffy could become the strongest in CP9 with that kind of mentality.
"How… Did you get that strength?"
Luffy grinned as he finally understood the feline agent's temperament, "You know… You're almost like Crocy back in Alabasta. He only knew how to destroy and that's where he got his strength from. Only in finding things you want to protect would you be able to be much stronger."
"I protect Justice!"
"By destroying everything with your 'Absolute Justice'," Luffy pointed out. "That's not protecting at all."
Lucci clenched his fists, "Then show me how much better your 'Protective Justice' is!"
Luffy smirked at him, "It took five of you just to match me with a handicap… Do you still think you can fight me alone?"
Without waiting for an answer, the Marine reached out a hand and gave him a come-hither gesture.
"Still, why don't I let you experience it yourself?"
The leopard man lunged forward his claws reaching out for the Marine. Luffy disappeared from his position with a spark, reappearing above the CP9 agent to deliver a heel smash.
Lucci crossed his arms above him, barely in time to block the blow. The leopard man gritted his teeth as he realised the Rear Admiral had sent a small current of electricity through his heel, momentarily paralyzing him in place.
Luffy rolled off behind the agent, delivering a double palm strike to his back.
Lucci growled as he spun back around to face him, having been sent skidding forward a few feet from the strike.
The Marine was already in front of him, his fist burying into his abdomen as a lightning bolt and sending him crashing back into the stairs in a cloud of dust.
Lucci groaned, reverting back to his human form, "Protective Justice… Huh… With this strength…"
The CP9 agent knew when he was beaten, just from that punch alone he had already felt several of his ribs crack and the electricity had all but numbed his limbs.
Lucci let his head collapse back, his body going limp.
Seeing no signs of the agent rising from among the debris, Luffy turned back to see Robin staring at him.
The Rear Admiral grinned at her, "It seems you're back under my charge now, Robin!"
"So it would seem… Luffy…" Robin said with a smile.
"Hey… You guys didn't forget about me right?" Franky asked. "As much as I like seeing that Spanda getting his ass handed to him… I er… Don't have any blueprints to give you..."
Luffy raised an eyebrow, "Blueprints? What blueprints?"
The scrapper frowned, "Didn't you try to rescue me so you can get the blueprints of Pluton yourself?"
The Marine dug his nose with a finger, "What's that? Is it yummy?"
"Er… You don't know?"
Luffy flicked the booger away, "Well if you're offering to build us a ship, we actually do have a need for a new one. I got some blueprints of the ship we used to get here so you can use that. I don't need your boring blueprints."
"Even if my blueprints builds something that can destroy whole islands? The reason why I actually ended up here?"
"Eh? Sounds troublesome, don't want it. Just burn it or something if you don't want to get caught again."
Franky gaped at Luffy. For once he never felt so glad to see a such a carefree Marine in his life.
"Heh, heh… Marine bro you're really interesting! Let me see those suuupeeer blueprints of yours and I'll see what I can build!" Franky offered with a grin.
"Awesome! I'll hold you to that!" Luffy cheered.
The Rear Admiral turned around to smash Robin's Sea Stone cuffs with a chop of his hand, grinning uncontrollably at her.
"So, can we leave now?" Luffy asked.
On the Tower of Justice, the rest of the Straw Hats noticed the overcast sky clearing up. Near the entrance to the hall, a charred weasel man was currently embedded upside down in the wall, unmoving.
"So he's done it huh…" Zoro remarked.
"Well, either that or we're out of job." Sanji took a puff of his cigarette.
Usopp adjusted his goggles to focus on the bridge, "I see him carrying Robin on the bridge. He did it!"
"Yay! I knew Luffy could do it!" Chopper cheered.
Nami breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, I'd hate to abandon all that gold if we were to be labelled as criminals."
"Yippee for you…" Jabra congratulated half sarcastically. "We're the ones in trouble now."
"Oh shut up you noisy dog," Olivia remarked while making her way into the room. "It's not like we never planned for this eventuality already. Stop being so dramatic about it."
"Olivia chaaan! Did that stupid Luffy hurt you?" Sanji pirouetted towards her.
Olivia stuck out her pinky finger and struck towards his abdomen, sending Sanji crashing towards the wall.
"Oh crap… That was a reflex action… I hope Luffy senpai doesn't mind…" Olivia scratched her head in embarrassment.
Zoro grinned, "Don't worry about it, that guy deserves it."
There was a loud boom of thunder before Luffy appeared near the hole of the Tower, Robin in his arms.
"Hey guys, I got her back!" The Rear Admiral laughed while setting Robin down carefully.
Luffy disappeared again before anyone else could react.
"ROBIN!" Nami rushed towards her, pulling the archaeologist into a tight embrace. "Don't you ever lose faith in us again you hear me?!"
Robin hugged the navigator back before releasing her with a smile, "I apologise, Nami… I won't do it again."
Nami nodded before wiping her tears away, handing Luffy's cloak and hat to her, "I think he wants you to return him these…"
Robin took both items and nodded in understanding.
"Ah! Robin! You're hurt! We need to get you to see a doctor!" Chopper panicked upon seeing her cuts and bruises.
Usopp slapped his head, "You're the doctor!"
"Oh! That's right!" Chopper exclaimed before rushing forward with his medical supplies.
Luffy appeared near the hole again, this time with Franky thrown over his shoulder and Kaku slung under his arm.
He tossed both on the ground before disappearing again.
"God damn it! I said I'm a victim too you know?! Stop treating me like I'm some sack of potatoes!" Franky whined, still bound in his chains.
"Now that you mention it… We never knew why this guy was taken do we?" Zoro asked, pointing a finger at the scrapper.
Nami glanced at the scrapper, "Ah, Iceburg mentioned about him having a blueprint right?"
"Before you ask, I already burnt it! So you guys can't get anything from me anymore!" Franky shouted out.
"Huh? We never cared about any blueprints," Usopp shrugged. "We only came to get Robin back."
Franky's eyes widened in surprise. Then he realised that a carefree Rear Admiral would have a carefree crew as well, he could not have been more thankful to have met this particular group of Marines.
Luffy reappeared once more with Blueno over his shoulders while Kalifa and Lucci were slung under his arms.
The Marine tossed them into a pile in front of Jabra before dusting his hands, "Well, that's everyone. So we getting you guys out or what?"
Fukuro unzipped his mouth at the side, "Chapapa… We had planned to lay low in Saint Poplar for awhile… Then maybe head back to our homeland after that..."
Olivia wagged a finger at them, "Not for me, I'm going to Amazon Lily. I'm done with the Cipher Pol shit."
Luffy nodded, "I can give you guys a ride back to Water Seven on the ark. Then you guys can take the Sea Train to Sweet Popcorn before panda face wakes up. I can take Olie to Almond Lobster myself later."
Zoro pointed a finger at the pile of unconscious CP9 agents, "You think they will just leave without giving any trouble?"
"Yoyoi! They will! We had overheard chief's plans to pin the blame on us if we were to lay defeated!" Kumadori explained.
Jabra sighed, "And as much as we hate that guy, killing him won't solve anything either. The Gorosei will still persecute us anyway, so we're done here. Oh and before I forget..."
The wolfman dug underneath his shirt before tossing a file towards Luffy.
"That's the report about a certain giant destroying the battleships instead of Robin. The one I told you about that should clear her name."
Luffy grinned at the wolf man, "Thanks Jabby!"
"Gods I hate that nickname…" Jabra sighed.
"Well, I suppose we should get going?" Usopp dusted his knees with a smile.
"You ready to go, Robin?" Nami asked.
"Of course, my place is here with you guys." Robin admitted.
"Yay! We got Robin back!" Chopper cheered.
Zoro pulled Sanji out from the wall, "Told you she could kill you with her pinky."
Sanji grimaced, "Shut up…"
"Come on you lousy mutt, at least help me carry one of these arrogant pricks," Olivia kicked at Jabra while Blueno and Lucci were thrown over her shoulder.
"Always that damn sharp mouth of yours…" Jabra huffed before getting up on his feet.
Fukuro picked Kaku up, "Chapapa… We'll still keep in touch, Olivia."
Kumadori lifted Kalifa over his shoulder, "Yoyoi! These bonds shall not wither! We shall meet again!"
Robin placed the straw hat in its rightful place before wrapping the Marine cloak around Luffy's shoulder, the Rear Admiral grinning at her all the while.
The archaeologist took a step back to join the rest that were gathered in front of Luffy, their eyes looking at him expectantly.
The Rear Admiral gave them his usual grin before pointing a finger at the entrance.
"MOVE OUT!"
"YES SIR!"
Franky wriggled helplessly on the ground, "You guys didn't forget about me right?"