This one took me a while because I was debating between several songs that I thought would fit what is going to happen next. But as I listened to each of the songs, this is the one that I actually saw what was going on. The scene played out in my head and everything! Let's hope I can write it as well as I saw it.
The song of the chapter is 'Rise' Skillet!
In a world gone mad (in a voice so sad)
Sometimes it's crazy (crazy)
To fight for what you believe
But you can't give up (no)
If you want to keep what you love (keep what you love)
Keep what you love (keep what you love) Keep what you love
Never give up, no!
Disclaimer: Anything One Piece or Harry Potter related is not mine. Song not mine, either.
Claimer: But Atticus and Estrella are mine, so deal with it. XP
Here the Chapter Starts
Atticus had to stop himself from laughing out loud several times as Spandam taunted Robin and Franky, ignoring the reports that his subordinates tried to pass on. He had no doubt that the original report of four hundred was accurate since Luffy is more than likely on a rampage. Hearing 'Five' after that had to mean 'five hundred' and the man reporting was just added to the rubber captain's tally, if he heard the agent Fukuro correctly.
Judging from the explosions he keeps hearing in the distances, and the smoke he can see through the window that Spandam is forgetting to glance out of occasionally, Luffy is well on his way. Far ahead from the rest, if he is to guess. Some buildings further back were being rocked around, showing something massive moving through the streets. Perhaps even a large force, though he was curious as to who else would come along.
"Hey," Franky called to him coldly. "I don't get something. You're one of the Mugiwara Pirates, right?"
"In a sense," he answered.
"So why aren't you trying to free your friend?" the cyborg pressed harshly, gritting his teeth. Estrella hiss at him irritably in response.
"Who says I need to?" he shot back. "You heard my father. He gave me orders to make sure Nico Robin remains in government custody."
"So you would listen to that guy over saving a friend," Franky scoffed.
"It's more complicated than you're making it sound," Atticus argued, glaring to the blue-haired man. "Why do you even care, anyway? Last I checked, you were pretty pissed off at Luffy for beating up your guys."
"I heard more of the story," the man pointed out, jerking his head away. "About how that money was supposed to go to fixing your ship. The ship can't be repaired, and your captain and sniper fought it out over it. I heard enough." He glared back at the tall blonde. "What I don't get is you turning against one of your nakama!"
Atticus sniffed then looked to Robin. His brows lowered as he squatted in front of her, trying to make eye contact. "I don't know why you're surprised over the agreement breach," he commented. "If the agreement specified Water Seven, then that is all it would cover. I told you Luffy and the others would come here after you."
She flinched, turning away.
"Robin," he sighed lowly, leaning closer. "We are getting you out of here, no matter what you say or do."
Her eyes snapped open, staring at him in shock. "You-!"
He quickly shushed her then lifted his sunglasses enough to give her a quick wink. Just as he rose to full height, Spandam emerged from his office with a confidant swagger to his step. He blocked out most of what the CP9 Chief was saying, already knowing the man was way over his head and sadly misinformed.
Upon hearing the agent frantically give the report, Atticus grinned wildly and looked to the stunned chief. "I told you, that's why I'm here," he reminded. "Any moment now, Luffy will defeat the agent across the way and he'll win. I know that Blueno guy isn't your strongest, so Luffy, as determined as he is, will win and he will find a way to get over here."
Spandam clenched his jaw, running to his window to look, for the first time, just how much trouble the island is actually in. "Damn it," he muttered. "How could this be happening?!"
"Quite easily, given the opponent," Atticus chuckled lowly, turning to Estrella. "Find a way out without drawing too much attention. We may need a quick exit later." She nodded to him before slithering off, hissing sharply at a few of the guards in the hall whenever one tried to get in her way. "She's a flying creature. This space is too cramped for her. Let her have some fresh air already… or get eaten."
He scoffed in humor as the agents and marines scrambled to get out of the speeding serpents path. Leaning against the wall, he watched as Spandam gave the order to collect the agents of Cipher Pol 9 and to get the two criminals ready to go to the gate. If the others don't hurry up, and if Robin doesn't say what he needs to hear from her, she will soon be out of their reach.
Here is a line!
"Why did you come to rescue me!? When did I ever ask you to do that!?"
He could hear every word echoing across the gap between the tower and the gatehouse. Every shout. Every voice.
"I just want to die!"
Each of the agents started coming to the balcony where Franky took Robin. Two of them have new devil fruit powers, zoan and paramecia. He can't tell which is which, though, or what they are. The zoan is probably herbivore since he isn't getting as strong of a signal as he gets from Lucci or the other man, Jyabura. The paramecia is almost as silent to his senses as Luffy's Gomu-Gomu no Mi. Generally meaning it is a weak power.
Spandam was joyous about the agents being on the balcony as well, ignoring how they were commenting Blueno's defeat. The Chief wanted to see how the scene would play out, Luffy risking his life to save a woman that doesn't want to be rescued.
"Say it, Robin," he whispered, his fingers clenching his arm as he waited. "Just say it." He hasn't let the others see him yet, less risk the ruse falling apart. Besides, with the agents watching Luffy, they're not keeping an eye on him. Which gives him the opening he needs. But he needs Robin to say the right words or he saves a woman struggling to go back to government hands. She has to say what she knows is the truth, deep down inside.
"You want to die?!" Even Luffy knows that it's a lie.
"That's right!" Robin, however, can't seem to understand the truth.
"Robiiiin! Is death really want you want? What the hell are you talking about?!"
Spandam's reaction almost made him laugh, the blonde clamping a hand over his mouth as his body trembled to hold in his amusement. Luffy would say something like that while doing such a nonchalant gesture like picking his nose.
"Listen, Robin! We came all this way to rescue you! So if you really want to die, then die afterwards!"
The number of voices grew, signaling the arrival of the others. Each one made it to the roof across the gap, usual shenanigans in tow.
"Robin!" Luffy called out. "I don't care what you want, whether you choose to live or die! But whatever you decide, say it while you're with us!"
One after another, at least the softer members of the crew, they called for Robin to return.
"Leave everything to us!"
Atticus finally allowed a chuckle to slip out, sending out a small pulse of his magic to get a feel for where Estrella went. She's up on the roof, waiting for him to grab Robin and bolt. The thing is, he knows how thickheaded the Mugiwara Pirates are. Luffy won't give up on Robin, and Robin won't go back to them if it means putting them in danger. That, or she's saving herself from another betrayal that she believes will eventually come.
Then Spandam, idiot that he is, started taunting with the power of CP9 at his call and the Buster Call he can activate with a press of a button. Robin argued against it, informing that the call would destroy everything. He knows it will, too. While he has never seen a Buster Call in action, he does know what will happen.
Robin, on the other hand, has seen it. Ohara was her home, and she was just a child when it was utterly destroyed. She knows the devastation it creates. Maps, as she said, don't show people.
Finally, she admitted her fear. She does consider them nakama, but she fears that they will turn their back on her, betray her like so many others. Atticus smirked knowingly as he pushing himself off the wall. A low snicker slipped out.
Luffy had a chance to be rid of her. He chose to ignore it, just like Atticus suspected he would. When his Aunt Luna called him and told him her vision, that was all the confirmation he needed. This crew, these people, fight for each other. None of them would ever think of betraying Robin.
Spandam indicated the flag flying above the building, a white fabric with the symbol of the World Government proudly printed upon it. A flag carrying a symbol is a powerful thing to a pirate, for it symbolizes their life, their pride. A flash of light streaked across the window, burning brightly as it flew up to the flag and engulfed it in flames.
Pirates do not destroy flags unless they mean to pass on a powerful message.
"Are you bastards insane?! Don't you dare even dream that you'd survive having the World as your enemy!"
" I'D BE HAPPY TO LIVE WITH THAT!"
His snickers turned into true laughs now, his hand pressing against his forehead as he almost bowed over, his feet carrying him into the room. He had to stifle his amusement the closer he got to the window.
"Robin! I haven't heard it from you yet! SAY YOU WANT TO LIVE!"
Say it, Robin, he wanted to yell at her. Just say it!
"I WANT TO LIVE! TAKE ME WITH YOU, BACK TO THE SEA!"
He grinned, his feet pushing him towards her. "Wish granted!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her waist then jumping off the balcony. Looking over his shoulder, he yelled out, "Surprise! I lied!"
"Atticus!?"
He whistled sharply, calling Estrella to him. His familiar swooped down underneath, his hand reaching out to grasp her reins as she shot back up, heading towards the rest of the crew. "Faster, Estrella!" Her wings beat as strong as she could manage, scooping wind underneath in an effort to reach the gatehouse before they could be stopped.
"How pointless," a voice behind them stated.
The blonde glared over his shoulder in time to see Lucci raising his leg in preparation. "Shit," he hissed.
"Rankyaku."
The leg swept in their direction, Estrella unable to evade it and Atticus unable to put a barrier up in time with Robin under one arm and the other hand holding the reins. The attack stretched across Estrella's wings, slicing her primary feathers and even slicing through flesh, across her back right behind where Atticus sat. The agathodemon shrieked as the pain was registered, her injured wings and damaged feathers unable to keep her from ascending much higher.
Lucci aimed a Shigan into the teen's shoulder, yanking Robin from his grasp before Atticus could twist around and throw a kick his way. "Damn!" The agent started jumping away, Robin struggling in his grip. "Robin! We're going to get you back!"
"Hold on!" Estrella snapped at him, stretching her wings as far as she could upon seeing the drawbridge start to lower. Even as damaged as they were, she was able to glide to the drawbridge, barely grasping it as it shuddered to a stop only halfway down.
"You bastard, Donquixote! You will pay for this! And I'll drag that deceiving father of yours down with you!" Spandam yelled out.
"Fuck you!" Atticus yelled back, flipping his middle finger up towards the shouting man. "Robin is our nakama!" He snorted off to the side. "I'm more surprised that you're surprised we lied." Sighing heavily, he leaned against his familiar, trying to inspect her wings as she tucked them in. "One battle to another," he grouched. "You okay?"
"My wings and my back… they hurt," she whimpered. "But I'll live. The feathers will grow back and the wounds will heal." Her head rose, lips parting to show sharp fangs as three men started barking orders to the marines. "I think we're in a fire right now."
"Atticus!" he heard Luffy yell from above. "You still alive?"
"Yeah!" he yelled back. "Come on, Luffy! I'm harder to kill than that, sesesese!"
"Can you get back up here?" Zoro shouted that time.
"Not by flying! Estrella's got damaged primary feathers and her wings are injured! She can't fly! Hell, we got lucky enough for her to glide down here! We'll make our way up the long way once I'm done with the bozos down here!"
"You dare think you can defeat us?" one of the justices growled.
Atticus smirked, turning towards the trio of older men. Holding out his hands as light gathered in his palms, he cast, "Aqua Eructo!" Water shot from his hands in twin jet sprays, knocking the trio back with the force as well as flooding the floor. "Hope you know how to swim!" he taunted with a laugh, canceling the spell with a flick of his hands. "Let's head up, Estrella."
"Actually, I think we should stay here for right now," she denied, shaking her head.
"Why?" he asked, drawing out the word.
"Listen," was all she said in response.
Furrowing his brows, he brought his hands up to his ears. Beyond the usual background noise, he could hear something else. Grinding metal, scraping stone. "What the hell am I hearing?" he asked lowly, raising a hand to cup behind his ear. With a scowl, he glared up towards the balcony where a burst of flame danced in the air. "Okay, I have a guess to who did that, but what the hell was it about?"
"I believe that was Franky burning the plans for Pluton," his familiar informed. "Little master, what shall we do?"
He sighed, looking back and forth between the Tower and the direction the sound was coming from. "Well, I'm the impatient type of person," he admitted with a wide grin, ignoring the crowd that was gathering around them to yell out to Franky. "I say we get as close as we can and move from there."
Nodding in agreement, Estrella wrapped around Atticus, waiting for him to take them both elsewhere. Inhaling deeply, he pictures the office in his mind as clearly as he could before grabbing hold of Estrella by her neck and Apparating them both. The group around them jumped as the pair disappeared with a loud crack in the air, nothing left but a few damaged feathers floating down. They were distracted from the odd occurrence, however, when they noticed their Big Bro Franky falling into the waterfall.
Another crack in the air signaled their arrival back into the hallway outside the room. "Hide away," he whispered, casting the Parseltongue spell to hide both himself and Estrella as Spandam marched by, dragging Robin with Lucci walking along behind him. Though the zoan did paused and look over the area for a moment, only to go back to following the ranting chief.
Strange. Apparation is normally instant. Unless the second it took for them to Apparate back into this building was long enough for the others to get over here. How, he wasn't quite sure but they always have their odd ways.
Once they were out of sight, he glanced into the room then removed the spell upon seeing no one else occupying the area. "They must have used Geppo to get to wherever they want," he commented, scratching his head.
"What is the plan now, Atticus?" Estrella asked curiously.
"Robin is wearing kairoseki cuffs," he reminded her. "I happen to see the number on it, so we have two ways of doing this. One is way more dangerous than the other because Lucci can't blow his cover here. He's vital." He placed a hand on his still bleeding shoulder and rolled it, grimacing at the shock of pain that traveled up and down from neck to elbow. "And he won't go easy on us."
"Our options are what, then?"
"I can summon the key to me and we go following after then, thus getting Robin from them sooner, but that would involve confronting Lucci," the teen explained, already heading down the hallway. "But I don't know who has the key, how far it is, or if the agent guarding it will follow it to us, which gives us another opponent to deal with. And don't tell me they aren't guarding any keys, because I can't imagine them leaving all the keys in a box on the wall when there is an enemy attacking."
"I take it that is the most dangerous hand," the agathodemon sighed as she watched her master pace. Though not a usual thing like the Rose when she senses danger of some sort, it is something he picked up from her. It is just more of an 'thinking of options' kind of thing and not really liking any of them.
"Yep," he sighed, rubbing his head. "The easier hand, though with its own risks as well, would be to find out what the top of the tower looks like so that I can Apparate us over there and do what I said I would when Robin left Water Seven. Wait on the bridge for her. If we do that, chances are Luffy will already be fighting against Lucci, which takes him out of the equations. The others will be fighting the agents, get those keys, and be heading that way anyway."
"Drop the other shoe, Atticus," the serpent sighed, her aching wings drooping as she turned her head to lick her forked tongue across the wound on her back. Enough to injure her, but not enough to cripple her. Lucci, if he put more power into his attack, could have left her paralyzed from a severed spine.
"We don't know what kind of forces will be up there," the blonde confessed, rubbing the back of his head. "Not to mention what multiple Apparations can do to us. I may end up splinching us pretty bad."
Huffing, Estrella turned from her wound and gave her master a bland stare. "Risks in both hands," she summarized with a flutter of her wings. "Because it's not like we're in the middle of a government island or anything. So of course, there is no easy route. I don't know why I was expecting anything else."
"Your sarcasm is not appreciated," Atticus informed his familiar, rubbing her chin gently. "I don't have anything that can grow you new primary feathers quickly. So we have to do this the hard way. Which hard way is the question."
"Would you like to hear what I saw when I was flying around the tower?" she asked knowingly. She could see the curiosity in her master's eyes as he lowered his sunglasses to look up at her. "There is no bridge between this tower and the next. So how is Spandam getting over there with Robin and Lucci?"
Atticus was silent for a moment, tapping his chin in thought before he brightened with a grin. "Underground tunnels!" he realized. "He has to get to the entrance, travel the distance, and climb the next tower just to get to the gate."
"Meaning we have some time to get there," Estrella added on. "The Apparations do not have to be rushed because they are not going to get there within five seconds. Spandam is slow. If Robin fights back against him after Lucci is distracted by Luffy, he'll slow down even more."
"Then we should get moving before anyone tries stopping," the blonde suggested with a smirk. "I vote up so that we can try and see the top of the other tower."
"Lead the way!" Estrella accepted with a sharp nod of her head, ignoring the twinges of pain from her injury.
Here the Chapter Ends
Gonna end it here. Though it is a little shorter than usual, I am gonna end it here. Next chapter may be a bit difficult for me to write because I am actually having some difficulties keeping my own interest in this. More like, difficulty focusing on this because other stories keep popping into my head.
Chances are that, in a couple of chapters, updates for this story may actually slow down because I am running out of pre-written chapters for this story. I will let you guys know when that happen, but it is getting pretty close.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think! ^^ Ja ne, minna-san!