Kinda shocked that some people are still reading this, not gonna lie. Thanks if you are, means a lot.
"So, do you know about Doflamingo and the Police Officer?" Zoro asked.
Law frowned. "Police officer?"
Zoro and Law were walking through the hospital back to Ace's room, Zoro taking the opportunity to fill Law in on the new information he had learned. "It's... a long story. But basically, there was this Police Officer back home who worked with Ace and the others, but he was a traitor working with Robin's dad. He got caught last summer but escaped. It turns out he's working with Doflamingo and he's in this city now," Zoro replied, before adding, "He's the one that did this to Ace."
Law's eyes widened. "Seriously? I had no idea about any of that..."
"Yeah. We probably need to discuss all this with the others as soon as possible."
"About that... Roronoa, I'm going after Doflamingo, tonight."
Zoro stopped and scowled at Law. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Law looked seriously back at him. "Monet won't be free until he's either dead or behind bars. If I can stop him now, before she has a chance to run away, then she'll be able to come home with us."
Zoro looked evenly at Law, before nodding. "OK. I'll come with you. We'll check in with the others and then we'll go."
"Roronoa, you don't have to come with me-"
Zoro scowled at Law before continuing walking. "Weren't you listening to what I said before? We're going to work together to stop Doflamingo."
Law sighed before following after Zoro. "Wait, Roronoa!"
Robin bit her lip. She wasn't surprised that things had turned out this way, but the situation was still uncomfortable. On one side of the corridor were her, Nami, Usopp and Franky. Sabo stood opposite to them on the other side of the corridor. Not a single word had been said since Sanji had left with Luffy around twenty minutes ago now, a tense silence settling between the five. Robin steeled herself, knowing that this couldn't go on and someone needed to say something. "I think now, given what's happened, it's important for us all to stick together. If there are problems... we can deal with them after this is all over."
"Robin!" Nami exclaimed.
"She's right," Sabo agreed.
"You would say that!" Franky angrily retorted.
"Luffy trusts Sabo. That's enough for me," Robin said simply.
"So what! Luffy's always looking out for us, this time we need to look out for him!" Nami said.
"I'm no threat to Luffy!" Sabo protested. "Please, you have to trust me!"
"Oi, what's going on over here?"
Robin's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the familiar voice. Before she could even turn around, Zoro and Law walked past her. Zoro looked at Nami. "What's this about a threat to Luffy?"
"Zoro!" Nami exclaimed, before remembering Robin and looking nervously at her. The dark haired girl meanwhile was staring spellbound at Zoro, who hadn't even acknowledged her yet.
Zoro continued to look at Nami. "What's going on?"
"That guy knows Luffy's dad," Franky said seriously, nodding towards Sabo. "He was that man from yesterday, Dragon."
Zoro's eyes widened, as did Law's. "L...Luffy's dad?! Woah, are you serious?!"
"Yeah... We were all pretty shocked."
Zoro turned to Sabo and looked evenly at the older man. "Oi... What's your angle? That can't really be Luffy's dad, I don't believe it."
Sabo looked calmly back at Zoro, unfazed. "He is. And I don't have any angle, I just want what's best for my little brother."
Zoro and Sabo continued to stare each other down before Zoro nodded. "OK. I'll trust you for now."
"What!? Zoro!" Nami yelled.
Zoro looked at her. "Just my gut instinct. Besides..." Zoro's eyes drifted over to Sabo. "If he tries anything, he won't get far. I'll make sure of that."
Sabo nodded once. "Understood."
"Straw Hat-ya's dad... It's so unbelievable..." Law muttered.
Nami looked angrily at Zoro but sighed. She didn't like it, but she felt like the best thing to do was to trust in Zoro's judgement. Robin suddenly stepped towards Zoro and nudged him discretely. "Can we talk?" She asked quietly.
Law and Nami looked worriedly at the two whilst Zoro nodded and the couple disappeared from sight. Nami then turned to Law and narrowed her eyes at him. "Actually... I want to talk to you as well."
Law was surprised, but when he saw the look on Nami's face, he realised she definitely knew what had happened between him and Robin. And she clearly wasn't best pleased. "Yeah... OK."
"Wait where are you two going?" Usopp asked.
Nami ignored his question and continued to look coldly at Law. "Follow me."
Law wordlessly obeyed and the two also began to walk off. Franky turned to Usopp as they did so. "Is it me or... Is there SUPER a lot of tension between everyone right now?"
Usopp nodded. "Yeah... But why?"
"You're lucky Luffy or Sanji-kun isn't here right now..." Nami said calmly, her and Law finally stopping in one of the hospital's stairwells.
Law looked blankly at her. "Huh?"
Nami's calm expression morphed into a fierce glare. "Because if they were... I'd tell them to kick your ass."
Law remained outwardly calm, although even he couldn't help but feel intimidated by Nami's angry expression. "Yeah... I would deserve it."
"What the hell were you thinking?! Doing that to Robin and Zoro! Aren't they your friends!?"
"I wasn't thinking... My body... just moved. I regret it so much..."
"Yeah, you damn well better! Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused Robin? And Zoro... I don't even want to think what he's going through!"
"I know..."
Nami paused at the sight of Law's anguished expression. "Hmph. Well it's nice to see you have some shame."
Law didn't respond so Nami spun on her heels. She glanced back at him and glared coldly at him. "You're so lucky... If it were up to me I'd tell everyone... But Robin made me promise I wouldn't tell Luffy or anyone else about what you did. I'm sure Zoro will be the same and will keep everything to himself. You're getting off lighly because of their kindness, the people you hurt. Remember that."
"Zoro... I think we should talk about this."
"Now's not the time," Zoro dismissively replied. "This can wait until we return home at least."
Robin and Zoro were sitting on the same bench outside the hospital that Law and Monet had been on about an hour earlier. The couple's individual expressions were a stark contrast. Robin looked visibly anxious and unhappy whilst Zoro was completely calm and at ease.
"I need to know how you're feeling at least," Robin said calmly. Zoro shrugged.
"Like I said, we'll discuss this later. Ace is the most important thing currently. Everything else can wait."
"Zoro I'm so sorry... You know I would never want to hurt you..."
"Yeah, I know. Listen, I understand that what happened wasn't your fault. But..."
Zoro looked seriously at Robin. "There's a reason you protected Law and didn't tell me, right?"
"Because he's my friend! And your friend! Nothing happened, so... I didn't think anything needed to be done about it..."
"If it wasn't Law you would have told me."
"Zoro..."
Zoro stood up. "Let's talk about this later. Now's not the right time."
Robin looked miserably at her boyfriend, who seemed to have ended the conversation for now. How was it that their relationship which had been so strong felt like it was collapsing so suddenly?
"Seriously? You're going after Doflamingo tonight?"
It was evening now and everyone had returned to the University dorms, settling in the rooms Dragon had procured for Luffy and his friends. However Zoro and Law, as planned, were preparing to head out into the Baltigo night, the two determined to find Doflamingo and apprehend him tonight. Before leaving though, Zoro and Law had taken Sanji aside to tell him what they were doing.
Law nodded. "We are. We need you to stay behind and watch Straw Hat-ya and the others, in case anything happens. Especially make sure Straw Hat-ya doesn't know why we've gone. If he finds out he'll come after us and after what happened to his brother, I don't think he's in the right frame of mind for this."
"Forget it, if you're going out I'm coming too! How can I let you two do this alone?"
"We don't have a choice. Luffy's in no condition to help us and we need to find Doflamingo tonight," Zoro shortly said.
Sanji gritted his teeth. "Well yeah, that's exactly why we shouldn't do this tonight!"
"Black leg-ya... Joker's in this city right now. This is the best opportunity we'll ever get to take him down."
"But... I mean, even if he's here, how the heck are you going to find him?"
Zoro looked at Law. "We don't know. But we have to try."
Sanji sighed. He knew Zoro and Law well enough to know there was no convincing them to reconsider. "... Listen, if something happens, call me and I'll come running. In the meantime, I'll watch over Luffy."
Zoro smirked slightly, almost a silent thank you to Sanji that the blonde purposefully didn't acknowledge, Zoro turning around and beginning to walk away. Law chuckled slightly at the interaction before following after Zoro.
Law and Zoro decided to go to the hospital to begin their search. They needed information and the ones who had it were undoubtedly the police officers watching over Ace. Law and Zoro didn't know how they were going to obtain said information, but they knew that that was their starting point.
However much to their surprise, when they reached the hospital and were just about to enter the building, they noticed some familiar faces were loitering around in the entrance area. It was Sabo, Dragon, a man with purply blue hair and eyeliner, and a giant man with long bushy dark hair. Law was about to call out to Sabo when Zoro held his hand up and shook his head. He and Law moved back outside, out of sight of those in the entrance area. "Sabo... I think we can trust him but he's up to something. As for the guys with him, I don't recognise them but I... have a weird feeling about them."
Law frowned. "I assume the other two are teachers or professors? Like Sabo and Straw Hat-ya's uh... dad."
"I don't know. Let's follow them. I think there's more to them than meets the eye."
Law nodded, seeing Zoro was serious and deciding to trust in his instincts. Law glanced around the corner into the hospital and saw that Sabo and the others were on the move. He nudged Zoro and the two teenagers entered the building and began carefully following after Sabo's group.
"Fuffuffuffu... Any word from Teach?" Doflamingo asked, leaning back in his chair, a glass of wine in hand as he momentarily relaxed in his Baltigo hideout.
"Neh neh Doffy," Trebol, one of Doflamingo's right hand men, chuckled. Trebol was a large unkempt looking man with long dark hair and a strangely 'gooey' appearance. "Are we going to go help Teach?"
Doflamingo shook his head. "Teach said he could handle Whitebeard on his own. All that we have to do is wait for the good news."
"Why do we need to kill Whitebeard specifically though Doffy?" Diamante asked.
Doflamingo chuckled. "He and his men have been sticking their nose in mine and Teach's business for too long now. We need to teach them a lesson. Besides... with their boss dead, his underlings will be completely lost. Plus with that Ace guy in critical condition, Whitebeard and his men are all distracted, making this the perfect opportunity to take him out."
Diamante nodded. "I see."
Doflamingo turned to Trebol. "Our focus is finding Monet. She's the only other person who knows about Caesar's secret research. We need to find out what she knows and then..."
"Eliminate her," Pica said, completing Doflamingo's sentence. Said man grinned.
"Exactly."
"Ace isn't the one they're after?" Sabo exclaimed.
Dragon nodded. "The information I've gathered seems to indicate that the chief is the one Marshall D Teach, or Blackbeard, is targeting. It seems that Teach and his men are going to try and kill Edward Newgate tonight."
"Mmmfufufu... how brazen this Teach fellow is... trying to kill such an high profile Police chief," the man with purply-blue hair said.
Dragon nodded. "Yes but... from what I can tell, Luffy is in no immediate danger. Nor is this Ace. I wonder... do we really need to intervene here?"
Sabo glared at Dragon. "Of course we do! Regardless of who they're specifically targeting, Ace and Luffy are undoubtedly involved in this whole situation. We need to find and stop Teach tonight! Ivankov, Kuma, you two agree with me right?"
The man with blue hair smiled. "Well if you're so passionate about this Sabo, how can I refuse? What do you say Kuma?"
Kuma, the giant man with the bushy black hair, nodded. "If you wish to act to stop Teach Sabo, then I'll lend my support."
Dragon sighed. "Very well then..."
Meanwhile, Law and Zoro hiding around the corner heard everything and were giving each other panicked looks. If Whitebeard was in danger, that meant all of his men, Law and Zoro's friends, were in danger too. The two teenagers scurried in the direction of Ace's room, knowing they needed to warn Whitebeard about what they had just found out.
"So that's what's happened," Sanji said, done explaining where Zoro and Law were to Usopp, Chopper, Franky and Brook. "I don't want to tell Robin-chan because I don't want worry her. I did want to tell Nami-san but she has an interview tomorrow and is probably sleeping."
Franky nodded. "It's a good thing for you to stay here Sanji to watch over Luffy in case anything happens, like that Teach guy coming back. In the meantime, the four of us should go and meet up with Zoro and Law to help them search."
Usopp gulped. "I think I've contracted I-can't-go-outside-or-I'll-die-disease..."
"But if this is the only way that Monet can come home, then we need to do whatever we can to help!" Chopper said, determined.
Brook nodded. "Law and Monet are our friends. We have to help them."
Usopp sighed. "Yeah... I know. No matter what, we have to bring Monet home to Law."
Sanji smirked, able to see everyone's determination to help Law. "Thanks guys, I'm counting on you. And if anything happens, let me know and I'll come help."
"Marco!"
Said police officer, sitting outside Ace's room, looked up at the sound of his name being called out and was surprised to see Zoro and Law hurrying towards him. "Why are you two here at this time?"
"Where's your boss?" Law asked, ignoring the question.
"Pops? Why, what's wrong?"
"That guy Teach, he's coming after Whitebeard, tonight! He wants to kill him!" Zoro said frantically.
Marco's eyes widened. "Wait, what? How did you find this out?"
"It's a long story but you have to warn him! I bet Teach is going to ambush him. Where is he?"
"He uh.. he said he was heading out to investigate something. I think he went alone, shit. Could it be a trap that he's walking into? I'll tell the others who are around, thanks for this guys!"
"Wait, take us with you!" Zoro exclaimed, just as Marco was about to run off.
"Huh? You're kidding right? There's no way we can just take you with us, this is dangerous."
"It'll take too long for you to gather your colleagues. If you set off now with me and Law, we can get to Whitebeard as quick as possible and help him out. We don't have time to waste!"
"Roronoa-ya's right," Law agreed.
Marco sighed. "Look guys, I appreciate the offer, but if I took you, I'd have to worry about protecting you alongside helping Pops. I know you guys are tough and can handle yourself, but I can't just take that for granted like I can with my colleagues. If you guys wanna help, then stay here and watch over Ace while I'm gone. We can't rule out someone might come for him. I'll send someone to take my place but in the meantime if you stayed here that would be the biggest help right now."
Zoro gritted his teeth. That was true, Ace could definitely be in danger and he couldn't leave Ace alone no matter how much he wanted to go after Teach and Doflamingo. "OK..."
Law sighed, thinking the same as Zoro. He couldn't leave Ace unguarded either. Marco smiled at the two. "Thanks, I appreciate it. One of my colleagues should be along shortly, thanks a lot for this."
Doflamingo grinned as he stepped out into the cold winter Baltigo night. Diamante held the door open for him as he entered the back seat of his car. Gladius, in the drivers seat, glanced back at him. "Where to, Doffy?"
"Fuffuffuffu... It's time to pay our old friend Monet a visit..."