Chapter 102: War Cry!
"Nico Robin," Chief Spandam greeted, sneering as she was led in chains, together with, some percent in Speedo's. The chief of Cipher Pol 9 was a shady man with greasy, purple hair that fell to his shoulders and a face plate that covered the right side of his face. He was dressed in a suit and drinking from a mug of fresh coffee. "How nice of you to finally turn yourself in." Robin in turn said nothing, choosing to simply glare back at the man before her, him to click his fingers together; resulting in Rob Lucci appearing and striking her hard in the guts. Turning his head now towards the rest of CP9, Spandam looked over the other captured prisoner. "Ahh yes, of course, we can't forget Cutty Flam, here", he laughed, "it's always such a shame when people didn't just do what the government wants. Huh...Flam, you should know. How long was it been since the of man Tom died?" Franky, or Cutty Flam, immediately started hurling insults and death threats to anyone who had hurt his "friends", which received snorts of derisive laughter from the other CP9 agents; Fukuro and Blueno. Continuing, Spandam stood up from his desk and walked over to where the shirt and speedo clad man sat in chains. "Why didn't you just cooperate? If you had we could have avoided everything that has just gone down". The chief grinned sadistically, "your friends will be dead by now; as will every member of Galley-La. Our civilian uprising should have all of Water Seven nicely in the hands of government sympathisers now". Bending down in front of the man, Spandam was now right in Franky's face, "so I'll ask one last time before you officially become CP9's plaything. Where are the plans for Uranus!"
"You bastard!" Franky screamed, spitting a glob of phlegm all over the Chiefs face; Lucci did nothing but watch with morbid fascination and amusement as his boss was humiliated and then head butted by the prisoner. There was suddenly a crash as the doors to the chief's office were thrown wide open. "Chief Spandam sir!" A navy officer yelled, saluting his superior, "we've just received news that a bunch of pirates have invaded the lower level of Enies Lobby. They apparently hijacked a sea train and smashed it into the drawbridge, freeing and then recruiting the two captured giants!" Pulling himself upright, Spandam marched right back over to Franky before drawing his sword and plunging it into the man's stomach. Then turning back to the entire assembly of Cipher Pol 9, the Chief responded; "kill them all!" From her place on the ground max Robin flinched, tears welling in her eyes as she realised that her friend had refused to leave and come to rescue her; "please guys just go..." she whimpered. Lucci grinned as Robin's action had just confirmed a theory of his. 'Straw Hat and Nico Robin...to kill the boy in front of her would be sweet'. And so all seven of CP9 vacated the room: Kumadori, Jabra, Blueno, Khalifa, Kaku, Fukuro and Lucci.
Dragging Robin out on the veranda of Tower of Justice, the second inner tower of Enies Lobby, Spandam gapped as he witnessed the carnage below, not to mention the utter wreck that was once the Tower of Law. "This is impossible," chief spandam muttered, "our intelligence says there's only seven of them. No pirate group this small should be this strong!" For the slightest of moments Spandam thought about activating the Golden Transponder Snail but he swatted that idea away, 'Cipher Pol won't lose'. "You see that Nico Robin! Your friends are here to rescue you, but all they'll find instead is their own doom!" He laughed pushing the archeologist to the front of the ledge for a better view. As she took in the sight of smoke and debris, Robin heard the sounds of familiar shouts down below, all meeting their subsequent opponents. 'Luffy,' Robin thought angrily. 'Why do you care?'
"Nice shot, Kāshī!" Sniper King complemented, affixing his mask more firmly against his face, and his super rifle on his back. His pouch of home made Lead Stars, was at his side each of them curved slightly differently for a more distinctive strike. "Black Hole!" Luffy muttered, creating a mass of swirling blackness beneath his feet; that began to eat up the surroundings, clearing the way towards the Tower of Justice. To the marines and government lackeys that were lucky enough to avoid being lost trapped in the void, they were dodge left utterly horrified by the blank canvas of land, now before them. "36 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro shouted, firing several slashes into the air; colliding with incoming mortars, the bombs being cleaved down the middle before exploding. "Cyclone Tempo!" Nami yelled, swinging her Clima-Tact in a downward arc, creating several tornadoes that tore through the on-site lesser military precinct, base of the Cipher Pol 5. Rain then began falling in the immediate vicinity, drenching the ground and trying it into a mess of mud. It was then that a several people appeared all holding pick axes and shovels but instead of rushing the pirates they ran past screaming, "the Franky Family is here!" And just like that the Straw Hats gained even more forces on their side, as the distance between them and pirates the Tower of Justice grew smaller.
"Onward!" Luffy yelled to Gerd, whom was carrying the straw hat pirates and running behind Kāshī barrelling through marines, making way for the Franky family coming up as backup. "Do you have a plan, Luffy?" Gerd asked before throng her head towards Sanji and Zoro. "The plan is simple: beat the kidnappers and save Robin", luffy responded by tying a violet sash around his wrist; a memento of when Robin saved his life from Crocodile. "Don't worry too much Gerd", Sanji mused, "luffy is the man whom will become the king of the pirates. He'll win this fight!" A series of mortars rained down from over on the other side of the last remaining drawbridge, which exploded perilously close to Kāshī. "Ikkoku Sovereignty," the lead giant yelled, swinging his axe around him once more. However, this time instead of relaxing the series of spherical strikes, the giant released his axe sending it soaring through the air; and then bisecting the entire courthouse, which was connected to the Tower of Justice by the second drawbridge which took prisoners sentenced to either death, life imprisonment or hard labour to the Bridge of Hesitation, over the three interconnected whirlpools that surrounded the main judicial centre, and towards the allotted navy ships going to either Impel Down, Mariejois or the G-0 base, formerly Ohara.
Above, on the veranda of the Tower of Justice, Chief Spandam gawked at the sight of the giants strike. "No way..." He mumbled but then caught sight of Nico Robin smirking at him. "What's wrong you were so confident?" She drawled mockingly. Spinning around he directed a kick to her stomach, which made him feel a lot better. Amongst the ruins of the courthouse, Spandam saw the prone bloodied body of one of his seven CP9 agents; against a slab of concrete with his arms and legs impaled by metal rebar with his own blood pooling around and dripping onto the ground. Horror entered his eyes as he realised that the pirates and CP9 were no longer equal in numbers. Whilst their clash was now unavoidable, there would be one pirate that would have no opponent and would surely head this way; and given that Spandam was the chief he would be the target of that persons rage. "Captain Lujan!" Seconds later a tall purple haired man dressed in a black suit appeared, "yes Chief, what may I do?" Walking grackles inside the tower to his office desk, he took a piece of paper and began writing orders down. "Take this and carry out the orders I have given. However, should CP9 fall I want the entire base evacuated immediately".
Giving the orders a quick once over, Captain lujan spun around and hurried out of the room but not before telling the members of CP9 to assemble on the balcony, "to show the pirates whom to expect in their way".
Standing on the roof of the ruined courthouse, departed by the still raised second drawbridge, were; Luffy, Nami, Vivi, Sanji, Zoro, Chopper, Suki and the masked Usopp, all stared up at the Tower of Justice. The remaining members of CP9 all standing on the balcony, all staring down at the pirates below, disdain and anticipation on five faces, the sixth was deathly, almost regretfully, pale. "Robin!" Luffy yelled, his voice reverberating off the buildings and echoing across the island. "We're here for you, just say you want to come home!" Then, with her arms chained behind her back, Robin was brought out. Bruises covered her face, and the smallest trace of blood was staining her blouse top. Next out onto the balcony was the man who had ordered the robbing of the straw hat treasury; Franky. He was also in chains together with a muzzle on his face.
Tears streamed down her face as she saw the resolve on her friends faces, and as she took in the expressions of each of her former crew mates; standing up to the world for her, and she was suddenly filled with self-loathing. "Why are you here! Can't you leave me alone?!" she screamed. "Just let me go! I just want to die!" Whilst her words obviously got a raise out of Franky; who started thrashing about trying to get her attention, no doubt trying to tell her how stupid she was about rejecting her friends love of her company. Robin still felt empty. Luffy frowned at her words, and the deep sense of sadness and self deprecation that oozed from them. "If you still want to say that after we've saved you, that's fine," Luffy resolutely replied, "but anything you say, you say as a part of my crew! You got that? You'll always be my friend!"
It was at this moment that Spandam walked out again onto the balcony and held aloft the Golden Transponder Snail. "Are you people still insisting on going against us?!" The chief growled, "I hold in my hand the power to summon the greatest power of the World Government down upon you! Just like my father did to Nico Robin's homeland of Ohara twenty years ago! Do you not understand what this flag means?" Spandam screamed, pointing upward at the flag flying above him. "It represents the combined might of over 170 countries around the world! You can't win against such a force!" Luffy's face became hidden by the brim of his hat, as he looked down clenching his fists; darkness swirling around him. "I get it," Luffy stated, pointing at the World Government flag. "That's the reason Robin doesn't think she can come with us. Why she doesn't feel she can ever be free". Then turning to the masked individual, the captain spoke, "Usopp, shoot it down."
The previously quiet masked boy now looked flustered at having been found out. Luckily though his mask hid that, and his friends weren't looking at him. The enemies before them took priority. "Yes Captain." Usopp replied, pulling his sniper rifle off his shoulders and holding it up to his eye, scoping distance and velocity. After loading one of his special home made bullets, he took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. "Special Attack: Firebird Star!" It all happened so fast. A bolt of blue fire shot from the rifle; burning through the air like an eagle soaring in on its prey. And then the flag was pierced straight through leaving a gaping hole and burning fabric. Spandam gawked, he had never seen pirates brazen enough to actively declare war on the government; and he knew that the outcome of this fight would be huge. He couldn't go down as the leader who lost Enies Lobby to a bunch of teenagers.
"Tell us, Robin!" Luffy yelled, "what do you want?" Robin stared up at the burning flag, tears pouring from her eyes. The sense of love and friendship in the faces of her shipmates as concrete; unwavering. Looking down at her captain; she blurted out "I—I want to live! Please take me away from here!" The whole crew smiled up at her, before yelling, "Understood!"