Chapter 18- Breaking In
One Piece © Eiichiro Oda
William Henley, Beau-Père, Wonderland Island, Noppera Spark, Silvios, Neko Beckett, and the G-13 Base © HatOnFire/Me
The Thousand Sunny was quietly sailing around the G-13 Base, careful to avoid the spotlights. The ship moved with the waves until it found a large slab of stone to hide behind.
"Drop the anchors, now!" Brook whispered, and Chopper and Henley dropped the anchor on one side of the ship, while Zoro and Franky did the same with the other.
Below the Sunny, the anchors sank all the way to the bottom, effectively stopping the ship from drifting.
"Alright," Chopper spoke up, "This rock should keep us hidden, for now."
"Once Nami and the creepy runt get to the base," Franky's voice echoed across the helm deck, "They'll get rid of those spotlights in front of us, and we'll follow them to the stronghold."
"Where's that bitch, anyway?" Zoro scoffed, crossing his arms and looking to Henley. "She should be here with your worthless hide."
"For your information," The half-breed replied, "She's going to use a 'waver,' whatever that is, to get to the base."
"Since she doesn't want to depend on someone who can turn into a spider," The musician quipped, "That would make sense."
"Hey, I chose this power for good reason!" Henley shot back, miffed. "It's not like I wanted to creep out anybody that I would ally with."
"Right," The cyborg muttered, walking to the steering wheel. "Anyway, I've gotta open the Soldier Dock System so she can go."
'Maybe,' Zoro thought to himself, 'When Luffy's safe, we'll get lucky and the little bitch gets killed at the end of it. God knows she doesn't have the spine to do it herself.'
"So are we going to have to figure out how to scale the barrier?" Sanji asked, stomping on the cigarette he dropped.
"Leave that to me," The bright redhead assured, "I carry you, Nico Robin, and the reindeer to the barrier inside. But, I'll do it after I lure Beau-Père out of the base. He's too strong for you to deal with."
"And how are you gonna do that?!" Usopp questioned, almost popping a vessel from Henley's slight adjustment of the plan.
"Just let me handle it. Anyway, I'll join those three and help them open the drawbridge and take out the cannons. And you guys can do what you do best, beat the crap out of everybody."
"This better work, runt," Zoro glowered at their guest, "If this doesn't work, I'll cut your tongue before I bite the dust."
"I get the picture, buddy. It'll work."
'But if it doesn't,' He silently spoke mentally, 'I have to run for it. There's no way I'm gonna die when they need me back at Wonderland Island.'
XXX
Inside the Soldier Dock System...
Nami knew that she accepted a grueling task. However, she wasn't going to let someone else take the weight she deserved to carry. She took a deep breath and walked over to White Rocking Horse I.
"So, I'll be going in with the waver," She said to Usopp and Robin, "And just the Clima-Tact, along with Henley. We'll get rid of the spotlights on this side of the island so the Sunny can dock along the coast."
"And when you've done that," Usopp chimed in, "You two will scale the walls of that place. Then, you'll sneak into the detention center as Henley heads off to sabotage the marine battleships."
"The rest of us will take care of the defenses of those walls and keep the marines busy," Robin finished, "At least until you get Luffy back."
"Assuming you don't screw him up again," Usopp muttered to himself, earning a glare from Robin.
"Robin, it's fine," Nami gestured her to stop, "It's not like I don't deserve this. But I promise I'll bring him back."
Then, Nami jumped aboard the Rocking Horse, ready to go.
"Alright, I guess this is goodbye."
"For now," Robin uttered.
"Who knows?" Nami joylessly looked to the side, clutching the handle of the waver. "Who knows anymore?"
As the large door in front of her opened up, her demeanor became apathetic. She started up the waver and rode it out of Channel One, traversing along the ocean water.
Robin stared at the departing navigator, glum from her response. Sadness turned to disappointment when she shot daggers at Usopp.
"When she comes back," She stoically spat, "You will apologize to her. You and Zoro."
"W-Why should I?" The sniper questioned, "She said it herself, she deserves this. Besides, she shouldn't be here anymore."
"She deserves a chance to redeem herself," The archeologist calmly argued, "The same chance that you got."
"W-Well," Usopp stammered, "T-That was different! I was out of line with Luffy, but she went further than I did!"
"Everyone aboard this ship, except for Chopper and Brook, crossed a line. I did, you did, and she did. If you think you can lessen the blame off of yourself, then perhaps you shouldn't be here, don't you think so?"
Before Usopp could retort, Robin briskly went on her way back to the top of the deck.
XXX
Outside...
"Mr. Henley," Brook called out, "Ms. Nami's out. You should go."
"Thank you, sir," Henley nodded and prepared to jump. However, before he could go...
"One question, first," Brook asked, making the half-breed turn around. "Are you sure this will work? Sending Nami to save Luffy, I mean."
"Not really," Henley admitted, "But I have hope that it will work."
"At least you're honest," The musician tipped his blue tricorn hat to the young man, "More honest than this crew, at this moment."
"Sky Walk!" The bright redhead jumped from the ship and kicked up some air, hopping to the sea level. At an impressive speed, he caught up to the navigator. "Ready?"
"Let's go," Nami nodded as she and her ally raced in the dark atmosphere, heading to the shoreline.
XXX
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, in the ocean...
A silhouetted, strange figure was swimming to the coast of the base. He raised his oddly-shaped head as if he was looking around. When he felt secure, he crawled up to the sand, and stood on his multiple tentacles.
His appearance looked very well like a jellyfish, having multiple maroon-colored tentacles for legs and using two for arms. The top of his head was a mauve jellyfish bell with two bright purple stripes traveling on the dome. As for his lavender hair, it hanged under the bell, covering his face.
He is wearing a blue yutaka with black roses imprinted all over and a black belt. A red sun tattoo can be seen in the middle of his chest, besides the fact the yutaka is covering up most of it. He firmly grasped his stick, unsheathing it to reveal a blade.
NOPPERA SPARK. FORMER SURGEON AND SWORDSMAN OF THE SUN PIRATES. (PURPLE-STRIPED JELLYFISH MERMAN.)
He began to scurry into the forest, but before he could, he noticed two figures coming behind him from the sea. He drew the sword at those figures but lowered them when he realized they were fish-men.
The first man's skin was gray, he possessed fish-like eyes, his ears were pointed, and his face was slightly chubby. His head was shaven and was bleached blonde. He wore an orange hoodie with an agape mouth displaying sharp teeth in the middle, as well as blue jeans and brown sandals.
The first most distinguishing feature was his six long, inclined fangs sticking out of his mouth from his lower jaw. The other feature he has is a turquoise light dangling from his forehead, which is connected to his head.
SILVIOS. ARLONG PIRATES FANATIC. (ANGLERFISH FISH-MAN.)
As for the other one, he was wearing a cool gray, sleeveless shirt with a white cat's face embedded on it, along with bronze yellow cargo shorts. The cat had green eyes, a pink nose, and it was sticking its tongue out. Strapped to his waist was a black sheathed ninja sword. He had cat claw-like attachments, curved finger knives at the ends of each finger on his hands.
He had taupe-colored skin, brown lips, and his fin was seen from his shirt. He had black facial hair that was identical to a catfish and he was bald, save for multiple strands of hair sticking out all over. His nose was practically nonexistent, leaving only two nasal holes.
NEKO BECKETT. ANOTHER ARLONG PIRATES FANATIC. (CATFISH FISH-MAN.)
Noppera Spark put his weapon back in its place and crossed his arms in disapproval.
"Okay," Beckett was the first to speak up, "You're probably wondering why we're here and not back at our ship, right?"
The jellyfish merman didn't reply, but motioned for the two to leave.
"Look, Bell-head," Silvios crossed his arms, "Just because you and Arlong were all buddy-buddy, that doesn't mean you should bust him out by yourself. I should be the one who could do it."
"You?!" Beckett exclaimed, "Look at that light of yours! You won't be able to get within ten feet of that place with that thing glowing! A sneaky warrior like me should go! Then, Arlong will have to take me in his crew!"
Suddenly, Noppera grabbed the two with his tentacle arms and slightly stung them both. The pain was minor, but it hurt them enough to make them quiet.
"Word of advice," He softly told the two, "You are leagues beneath my power. You can either leave or stay at your risk. But stay out of my way and don't get caught. If you become expendable..."
"O-Okay, we get it!" Silvios and Beckett raised their hands back and forth in a panic, "We'll shut up!"
Noppera shoved the two back into the ocean water and moved for the base.
'The plan has become complicated,' He mused internally, 'There can be no room for error this time. I sincerely hope his plan is foolproof. If not, that human's brain will be lobotomized.'
Behind him, the two fish-men came up from the water. They followed Noppera into the forest part of the base.
"Geez," Silvios muttered, "What crawled up his ass?"
"He's got every right to be tense, you know," Beckett explained, "He was in the same crew as Arlong was in until they went their separate ways. And when he got caught, Noppera tried to bust Arlong out, but his plans were no good."
"And now we're forced to get help from a human to bring our boss back," The anglerfish fish-man finished, "Why does he even want to help, anyway?"
"Maybe he needs him?" Beckett suggested, "I mean, when you're a former associate of one of the Seven Warlords, Jimbei, then you need that kind of muscle."
"Maybe, but I don't trust him. He's a smart human, too smart to help us out of charity."
"Well, that's why I like him. He's smart."
"I thought it was because he gave you those finger knives?"
"W-Well," The bearded fish-man stuttered, "Okay, maybe that, too."
Just then, Noppera Spark turned around in succession, halting the two chatterboxes. He slowly unsheathed the sword in the stick, forcing them to keep quiet. When he was sure they would stay silent, he sheathed it back in and moved on.
'Must I be plagued with idiotic fanatics?' He mentally questioned.
XXX
Meanwhile, on the coast...
Nami and Henley have made it to the beachside of the base. Upon arrival, Henley utilized his Devil Fruit, the Arachnid-Arachnid Fruit: Model Comb-foot, to grow four spider legs out of his back.
"I'll take care of this tower," He said to the navigator, "You hid that thing for now."
"Y-Yeah," Nami replied, slightly disturbed by the other redhead's extra eyes on his face. She put the image aside as she took the White Rocking Horse I and hid it behind a bush. Making sure she could remember where it was, Nami grabbed a small handful of seashells and put them in a small pile next to the bush.
'There,' She thought, 'Four seashells, better remember this.'
As she did that, Henley used his spider legs to climb up the wooden watchtower. When he was a few feet below the marines above him, he pulled out a grenade and twisted the knob, releasing a blue cloud of smoke.
"Chemistro Grenade: Sleep!" Henley sent the grenade into the tower, forcing the marines up there to fall into a deep slumber.
Next, Henley crawled over to the spotlight and jabbed one of his spider legs into it, putting it out of commission. For good measure, he shot webs on the knocked out marines, making sure they couldn't it couldn't be used again.
"Cobweb Line!" The eight-limbed boy shot a line of web at the underside of the tower and used it to descend down to the bottom. "What do you think?" He grinned at Nami.
"I think," She began to snark, "I should've bought some bug repellant from the last island."
"Well, everyone's a critic," Henley chuckled, landing on the sand with his two normal feet. "Let's split up for now. We need to cut off all the spotlights on this part of the base so your crew doesn't get seen."
"Got it," Nami went off the opposite direction as the half-breed, who began scurrying on the ground quietly with his other legs.
Over in the next tower, a marine was using a spotlight to look out to the sea. He was too busy looking out there, he didn't notice Nami sneak up behind him with her Clima-Tact.
"Thunder Charge," She murmured as the tip of her weapon sparkled with electricity.
"Cobweb Maiden!" In another tower, Henley was wrapping a marine up with webs, covering his mouth and binding his arm and legs.
"MMMPH!" The marine tried to scream, to no avail as the intruder lightly tapped him, making him fall.
The two lathered, rinsed, and repeated this process with a few more guard towers until they were sure this was enough. Then, they met up back at the first tower that was taken out.
"I think this is about as good as we're going to get," The navigator stated, "We should get to the base right now."
"Yeah," Henley nodded, "I think it's time."
XXX
Back aboard the Sunny...
"Well," Brook spoke up, finished with his cup of tea. "It has been a few minutes since they left."
"In that case," Robin walked up to the helm deck, "I believe we can go."
"How do we know they took out the spotlights?" Zoro questioned, "What if they still haven't gotten rid of them?"
"Only one way to find out," Franky took control of the helm, "Let's weigh anchor."
The anchors were raised and the ship drifted out from behind the large rock. It turned at the behest of the crew, into the darkness. From their view, there aren't any lights as far as they could see.
"They did it!" Chopper quietly cheered, "We won't get caught now!"
"Tch," The swordsman clicked his tongue, "Anything can still go wrong. It's not like they saved Luffy yet."
"Will you cut it out, Moss-head?" Sanji demanded, "No cares what you think."
"I would like to remind everybody why we're here," Usopp chimed in, wearing a satchel over his collared blue shirt. "So can we please focus on that?"
XXX
Nami and Henley slowly walked through the forest, taking care in hiding from patrolling marines and stepping over pressure plates strewn on the ground.
"Having a special sense really helps out, doesn't it?" Henley whispered, using his extra legs to walk over the plates.
"I guess," Nami replied, jumping to a tree and using the momentum to leap over the traps. "These guys must know their way around the place since they haven't stepped into any traps."
"Yep," The half-breed agreed, morphing to his normal form. "And if they know their way around, that means we can follow one of them to the base."
"Okay," Nami hid behind a tree to avoid a marine's flashlight, "But how do we know one of these guys are going to go there?"
"Alright!" A marine muttered drowsily, "The first watch is over!"
"Good for you, pal," Another marine's voice could be heard, "I'm stuck guarding this spot all night, cause of you-know-who."
"Well, that's why you don't beat the prisoners! Especially not the new arrival!"
"Whatever," The thin mustached marine muttered, "Cocky little punk had it coming."
The tired marine walked on, leaving his fellow soldier behind. When they went their separate ways, Henley gestured Nami to follow him. She complied.
Sneaking through the forest very tough, mainly due to there being little bushes to hide in. Besides that, the trees can provide cover, but the defense is remedied by walking around them.
Soon, something happened that almost compromised them both.
*SNAP!*
Nami had accidentally stepped on a stray stick and broke it in half. Henley was slightly startled by the sound, and as for the marine they were following...
"WHODID?!" He woke up and raised his hands in a chopping motion, walking backwards. After looking around in a paranoid manner, he calmed himself down.
"What am I saying?" He said to himself, "I'm just so tired, I thought someone was stalking me. But no one would come here. We're totally secure." He walked on, feeling better about himself.
Little did he know, he was being watched from above, mainly by Henley, in his hybrid form, holding Nami by her waist and clasping her mouth closed.
"Phew, okay," Henley breathed, looking at Nami with his eyes. "Listen, we'll keep following him, but no more sticking to the ground. I'll let your mouth go, but don't freak out. Okay?"
Nami nodded, mumbling in reply.
The arachnid redhead released Nami's mouth, and she breathed out a small sigh.
"You are still creepy," She murmured, "But I'm not actually afraid of you this time."
"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?"
The navigator wondered as Henley carried her through in the trees, moving from branch to branch.
'Strange,' Nami uttered in her head, 'I feel like this could be my last night in this world. It might as well be, but... I don't feel afraid. I'm not afraid of dying anymore.'
Her mind wandered through the barely visible green leaves and brown bark coupled to the ground.
'Maybe it's because... The thought of death means nothing to me. Nothing when compared to losing Luffy forever... Maybe that's it?'
She shook her head, unsure of her answer.
'I-I mean, I'm still a little disgusted, sure, but not as much as I should be. I'm so used to it, it's not... Gross to me at all. But that's not the point. The point is, I don't want anything else to happen to Luffy. I do care about him, but isn't it because I feel guilty? Because I put him in another terrible position?'
It all dawned on her. The way she continued to worry about her captain, how she always felt safe whenever he was around, and how she felt about him. She admired his bravery, his willingness to go to any lengths for someone like her, and how much he valued his own dream. Sure, it almost felt cliché, but she actually liked other qualities he possessed.
Aside from Luffy having such amazing strength, he has some kind of magnetism, which draws in people, danger, and even inspires courage. He's sometimes selfish, but he can act extremely selfless when the situation gets dire. On top of that, he has the brightest smile she's ever seen on a person.
It all became crystal clear in her eyes: She has feelings for Luffy.
Her heart rate accelerated and her cheeks almost went bright red from the realization. But besides that, she found out the reason she became adamant about saving him, personally.
Because she cares about him, she's willing to die for him.
"Oh my god," She softly emitted in awareness, "I... I feel that much for him...?"
"There!" Henley's voice took her off guard, "We're here!"
Nami looked right in front of her, and she saw the back of a dome building, along with the detention center, surrounded by a barrier and a moat.
"This is where you get off," The bright redhead quipped, before letting his spider legs allow the two to jump in midair.
"Moonwalk Jumping Spider!" Henley took his passenger up to the wall and stuck to it. He began to leap over it, but not before finding an opening to jump past the marines without getting seen.
"Okay, Nami," He instructed while climbing down to the ground with her, "Luffy is in that building with the bars. All you have to do is sneak in and get him to come back."
"And then what?" Nami questioned, "Just turn tail and run?"
"You might not have any choice but to run. These marines were persistent in taking Luffy, they're stronger than me, I think, and lastly, we're not trying to pick a fight with them."
"You do know we'll have to fight our way out no matter what, right?"
"Well, yeah," Henley admitted, "But still, these guys... Their hearts are good. I wouldn't want them killed."
"If they're all strong, then they can take whatever the crew can throw at him."
"Anyway, the bars are made of Sea-Prism Stone, really indestructible stuff. Also, if I try to break open the roof of that place, the marines will be on us in an instant. So, you'll have to sneak in there the old-fashioned way, through the front door."
"Maybe I can sneak inside when the others cause a disturbance outside?"
"That could work. But you could also run into a bunch of guards. Be ready for anything."
"I find Luffy's cell, and get the keys to it. And once that's done, we run."
"Fingers crossed hoping this works, good luck," Henley dropped Nami off, hanging a few feet above the ground.
As Henley allowed his legs to carry him along the walls, over to the other side, Nami ran for a stack of boxes and hid from a few marines walking in formation.
Her eyes were on the prison her captain resides in. She pulled out her weapon and gripped it as possible.
'Luffy,' She thought, 'What I've done when Shiki almost killed you, what I had to do to keep you alive, it's because I cared about you. And, well, I guess I wanted to think of you as something more than a crewmember, more than a navigator. I honestly don't know if that's my answer, but...'
She gazed at the entrance to the detention center with great intensity.
'But I realized I cared about you more than I originally believed I did. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but this doesn't look like something I can deny this time.'
Her black eye slightly hurt from staring out, but the sting failed to register to her mind.
'The way I see you, it almost felt like it just attraction, but... It felt more meaningful than that. So... Did you...?'
Her good eye twitched, making her wear an unsure expression.
'Did you actually... Were you... Feeling the same for someone like me?'
Nami quietly sighed, careful to keep her noise at a minimum.
'No... That's probably unimportant. Besides, any chance I have with you, I spat in your face and ruined it all.'
Nami's mind was filled with images of Luffy. From his declaration of friendship above the ruins of Arlong Park, to the same boy, smiling while laying on a cloud. From the ridiculous captain dancing with chopsticks in his nose and mouth, to him glaring at a levitating Shiki, while wearing a red collared shirt with a black tie. The final image that appeared was the captain wearing his bright smile.
'Luffy, I hope you know how much I cared about you when I'm gone. I also hope you can keep going and become the Pirate King. Because now, more than ever... I'm ready... No...'
She adjusted the straw hat, letting the shadow cover part of her already concealed face.
'I AM WILLING TO DIE FOR YOU.'
At this moment, 'Cat Burglar' Nami's heart was no longer filled with uncertainty, but confidence. She vowed she would bring her captain back, and intended to keep that promise.
XXX
Meanwhile, along the beach of the base...
The other Straw Hats were quickly running around the forest, following the sand. The guard towers were a little troubling, but each member stopped to take down the marines looking around inside.
"That's another one," Sanji told the group, jumping off of the ladder of a tower. "Let's keep going."
"This is stupid," Usopp muttered, "Why are we going around the island just to get into the base?"
"We don't know if going straight into the forest will take us to the base, Usopp," Brook pointed out, running along the beach once more. "Besides, you and other certain crewmembers aren't as quiet and cautious as Nami, Sanji, Robin, or Mr. Henley. There could be guards out."
"You have a lot of faith in that creepy runt, Skeleton-bro," Franky noticed, catching up. "It's like you took a shining to him."
"He's actually an honest young man, Franky," The musician retorted, "But then again, you, and the others, were honest too."
"Okay, listen here!" The cyborg slightly raised his voice, "I get you're mad, but you weren't there! You don't have the right to be angry!"
"Would you quit it?!" Chopper hissed, running in Walk Point form. "We shouldn't keep tearing each other apart like this! If we keep arguing, Luffy might not want to come back!"
"He's right!" Robin agreed, "We can't let ourselves be distracted by this kind of talk!"
"Very well," Brook conceded, "But I'm only restraining my voice for him, not because I want to."
"Ditto," Franky responded, and the crew kept on running.
Further down the beach, they could see multiple marine battleships lined up. They had made it to the docking bay of the base. Which meant they were getting closer to the central buildings.
"We're getting closer," Sanji panted, "Just a few more yards."
"Wait, wait!" Usopp quietly shouted, forcing the crew to slow down. "A few more guards there!"
"I'll handle this," Brook sped ahead of the group, unsheathing his cane sword and pulling a violin out of his coat. He stopped right in front of the startled marines.
"Lullaby Parry!" He strummed the violin with his sword and played a soothing tone, forcing the marines to fall to sleep.
"Cool, Brook!" Chopper complimented, dashing up to him. "You took them down!"
"Yes, but not for long," Brook placed his sword back inside the cane and put the violin away, "Not that it will make any difference when we arrive at the main building."
"Come on!" The cook motioned as he and the others ran past the two, "Not too far now!"
He was right. It only took them a few minutes to arrive at the outside, though they did have to hide from some marines. The Straw Hats that weren't needed to scale the barrier hid in an outpost. The marines inside the small space weren't any trouble.
"We should be alright here, for now," Franky stated, holding an unconscious marine in his hand.
"Luffy is just beyond these walls," Zoro whispered, eying Sanji, Robin, and Chopper sneaking along the trail to the base. "That runt better be here."
"Speak of the devil," The sniper mumbled, seeing the half-breed creepily scurry down from a gap in the barrier. "There he is."
"Well, I can see exactly why you would be spooked by him," Brook looked out the window, "Possibly the same reason for me."
At the moat, Sanji, Robin, and Chopper had arrived at the moat. Due to the spotlights checking the ground surrounding the trench of water, they couldn't risk getting close.
"No good," The archaeologist's eyes followed the lights closely, "Unless the young man gets down here quick, we'll have made it up here for nothing."
"Wait, here he comes," Chopper saw their ally arrive from above, using his extra legs.
"Okay, I'm coming to you guys now," The redhead whispered, beginning to jump from the walls and past the discernable gap. He successfully made the bound and started carrying all three of them at once.
As the cook and Robin were lifted by their waists, the doctor tightly held on to Henley's head.
"Here we go again," Henley muttered, leaping from the ground and to the barrier. Once he stuck the landing, he climbed up to the space he crawled out of.
'Wow,' The doctor uttered in his thoughts, 'This guy's jumping ability is something. It's probably greater than my Jumping Point.'
When they got it inside the large walls, Henley took them up to the ceiling.
"What are you doing?" Sanji bitterly questioned, "Aren't you going to let us down?"
"Wait for it..." Henley mumbled, seeing some marines go up to the drawbridge cranks and turn them.
"Oh, that's why," Chopper whispered, resting his chin on top of Henley's head. "You got the commander to leave."
'T-This is not how I pictured this...' He thought, looking up at the reindeer and turning red from embarrassment.
Robin quietly chuckled, no doubt finding amusement from this.
XXX
Beau-Père walked off of the downed drawbridge, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm really not in the best of moods right now," He talked to himself, "This is the last thing I want right now."
The Commander walked down the trail in a brisk manner, looking at the ground. As he did so, the drawbridge was hoisted back up.
"Who knows?" He started joking, "Maybe this is just a ploy to get me to leave the base so the Straw Hats could get in."
He chuckled, clearly noticing some barely visible footprints that looked like they came from high heels. A woman's shoes.
"Well, I'll let them have what they want for now..."
He continued walking down the trail, preparing to let the following events happen...
XXX
Back inside the barrier...
"Okay, ready to knock some marines around?" Henley asked, almost in anticipation.
"Do you need to ask?" Robin raised an eyebrow, and Sanji and Chopper let go, allowing gravity to bring them down.
As Sanji dropped right on top of a marine, Chopper landed on another's head and immediately started biting him.
"AGH!" The soldier screamed, dropping his weapon in a panic.
Then, the doctor jumped right in front of him, in Heavy Point, and reeled his fist back.
"Heavy Gong!" Chopper punched the marine in his face, knocking him flat on his rear end. He looked behind him, seeing a marine pull out his sword.
Sanji ran up to a tall marine and wrapped a leg around his neck. Then...
"Reception!" He brought his face down to the floor.
"We have to keep this as quiet as possible," Henley stated as he let Robin gently down, "We can't have any gunshots nor can we let these guys sound the alarms!"
"Then look after Chopper's side," Robin ordered, heading off to a face a group of marines. "I'll assist Sanji."
Sanji didn't need too much assistance, as he was handling twenty of these guys just fine.
"Party Table Kick Course!" He got in the middle of the group, on his hands, and proceeded to sweep his legs all around them.
While he was able to take care of that group, he saw at least six marines point their rifles at him, intending to fire.
"Dieciocho Fleur; Disarm and Clutch," Robin sprouted eighteen arms around them, disarming them of their weapons and breaking their backs.
Henley scurried on the walls as quickly as his extra legs could allow him, then landed on the stone ground in front of Chopper. He then began to tower over the marines, staring at them with his four pairs of eyes and grinning menacingly.
"W-What the hell is that thing?!" One of them exclaimed, shivering.
"Comb-foot Pollaxe!" Henley raised a spider leg up and slammed it down on that marine's shoulder, and began to do the same to the other few.
"Holy crap!" The doctor cursed in amazement, "That's actually cool!"
"Your powers aren't too bad either," Henley broke off his assault to address the little guy, scratching his head in glee. He even got down on his normal feet to do so.
A heavyset marine tried to take the opportunity to attack Henley with a cutlass, except he noticed the two spider legs on the half-breed's left close in together...
"Comb-foot Partisan!" Henley swung the back of those legs into the marine's side, sending him back a few feet. Then, he combined the extra legs on his right and darted towards the large man.
"Comb-foot War Scythe!" The other set of legs curve, hitting his opponent into the side again, this time knocking him into a wall. The marine passed out from the collision.
Chopper ran at a few soldiers in Walk Point and knocked them over, beginning to attack another crowd via Heavy Point. He swiped his fists wildly, sending them flying.
"Chopper, shield your eyes!" Henley pulled two pins out of two grenades and threw them into the air, trying to target a cluster arriving towards them.
"Cobweb Line!" He shot two web lines at the grenades, sending them closer to the group. "Chemistro Grenades: Flash!"
A blinding light burst from the small orbs, blinding the marines and making them drop their guns and swords.
"Comb-foot Arrows!" Henley began charging at them and striking them with all of his spider legs.
"Hey!" Chopper cried out, "Save some for me!"
On the other side of the long hallway, Robin was dispatching marines left and right.
"Cinquenta Fleur!" Robin began sprouting fifty arms on a wall, right in front of some marines. By themselves, they don't look threatening, but Robin had an idea in mind.
"Un Pierna!" The arms combined themselves to form a large, womanly leg from the ground. It began to reel back a bit.
"Kick!" Suddenly, the leg started to strike some of the marines in one blow. It hit some more until it dissipated, leaving only the enemy with the wind knocked out of them.
"If only I thought of doing that to Kuma when he arrived," She mused, watching Sanji fight on.
"Collier!" He kicked a marine in his shoulder, before proceeding to attack the others. "Épaule! Côtelette! Selle! Poitrine! Gigot!"
The cook looked at a large marine charging at him with a club. He also noticed that he was leading a few others behind him.
"Big mistake, buddy," He muttered, grinning before delivering the finisher to him.
"Mouton Shot!" The devastating kick was just enough to send back the muscular soldier into his men, effectively taking them down.
"Do you think that's all of them?" Robin questioned, asking the cook.
"Probably," He thought, "If not, we can always deal with them later. Now let's get that drawbridge down again."
He was ready to turn a crank, which looked about bigger than the steering wheel on a ship, when Chopper came up to him, prepared to help.
"Chopper, where's the stain?" He asked, only to get a few puzzled blinks from him.
"Stain?" The doctor wondered, tilting his head. "My clothes are clean!"
"He was referring to the redheaded young man," Robin corrected.
"Oh, well, he said he was gonna keep the battleships from running and told me to keep being strong!"
"It appears he took a shining to you," Robin smiled, making the reindeer beam.
"Yeah, but that doesn't change what he set in motion," The cook walked up to the crank and started turning it. "He may look like a charmer, but he's a jackass with a heart of stone."
"He's just trying to make up for what he's done!" Chopper argued, moving another crank, identical to the one Sanji was turning. "That's the point of helping Luffy, isn't it?!"
"It is, but I don't like that runt. He's probably going to run now that he's done helping us out."
"We'll see in a few minutes, once we save Luffy," The archaeologist said, crossing her arms in thought.
XXX
The drawbridge came down to the ground before the other Straw Hats eyes, from the view of their little hiding spot.
"There!" Franky pointed at the sight, "It's down!"
"Time to go," Zoro murmured, tying the bandana over his head.
"For Luffy!" Usopp shouted, opening the door to let the other crewmembers go ahead of him.
Up the trail they ran, leading to the center of the base, where they will face off against every marine they can find. For the sake of their captain, they will fight harder than ever before. However, they aren't the only ones looking to spring someone...
TO BE CONTINUED...
