LW: Well, no point hanging around, off we go!

Rubber King and Mirror Master - Pain just keeps coming

"Why does he want you?" Nami asks, looking between the half naked weirdo with the metal nose, and her captain

"Maybe he saw what we did to his hideout?" Vivi suggests sheepishly, think back a little surprised by how much she contributed to the damages

"Hey StrawHat, I know you're down there, quit being such a pansy and fight me!" Franky shouts, clearly getting impatient and annoyed

"Hey bikini weirdo!" Luffy shouts back, making the girls faceplant "I'm right here"

"So you're Luffy. Pretty shrimpy if you ask me"

"Come down here, I'll show you this shrimp is packing some heavy duty pistols" Luffy retorts, ignoring Vivi's snort/cough/choking which Nami deals with in the background

"I got a bone to pick with you shimpo. You and your gang had a bit of a party at my place while I was gone, and I don't like unsanctioned raves, especially ones that level the entire building! Now I'm going to kick your ass and make you pay for the beat down you gave my guys. When I'm done with you, your own mother won't recognise you"

"If you find her tell her I'd like to finally meet, I sure hope she works at the hospital here because that's where I'm going to send yah"

"Hey chrome nose!" Nami yells, surprising her companions "Give us back our 200 million beri, we went through a lot of crap to get that money, nearly killed our 1st mate and the ship doing so, I'm not letting this go!"

Franky laughs "You want your money back girlie? Well too bad, I spent it already. Don't act like you have honour pirate, sounds like you stole from the wrong people and nearly got ended doing so"

"The money doesn't matter" Luffy says, in a tone that even stops Nami from arguing that it does "All i care about now is revenge, so money or not, I'm going to make you pay!"

The mohawked bluenette scoffs and readjusts his shades "You're stealing my lines ya punk. You really have a talent for pissing people don't cha?"

Luffy rolls his eyes "Don't care, fight now. So come on down here and fight me like a man instead of crowing like a poser"

Franky's response wasn't to shout back this time, but to suck in his breathe for a solid minute… the spit a fireball down at the fleeing crowd and pirates

'Holy shit!' the girls mentally shrieked as the yagura's paddle them to safety

"He, he just spit fire" Luffy gasps "How'd he do that?"

"Careful Luffy, if he can do that, he might have eaten a Devil fruit" Nami warns, a warning that was made very confusing by Franky jumping into the canal like it was a high dive

"Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not something a Devil fruit user is meant to do right?" Vivi asks, being mildly aware of DF limitations from Kaos and knowing from Luffy's fight with Crocodile that water was HIS weakness, but not having the entire picture

"Maybe nobody told him you die if you get in the water after eating one? Or maybe he only ate it recently?" Luffy guesses, before his and Vivi's boat is attacked and smashed by Franky, shooting up out of the water "Never mind it looks like he can swim"

"I didn't eat a Devil fruit, you think I'm crazy or something?" Franky asks with a fairly jovial tone (Actually… yes)

"Doesn't matter to me, I'll still kick your ass" Luffy says, cocking back his arm as he falls

Franky laughs "You dingus I already know about your special power

Strong Right

Franky's right arm shoots forward on a chain, slamming right into Luffy's abdomen and sending him crashing into the shipyard's gate

"What" Vivi gasps

"The fuck?" Nami finishes, as Franky recalls his fist and Luffy drops to the ground with a thump, both girls scrambling over to check on him

"Well, that was easy" Franky laughs

"If you're not a Devil fruit user, what the Hell was that?" the navigator asks

"Oh this. I'm an ordinary guy with a couple upgrades, I believe the term for that is a cyborg" he grins, once more detaching his hand to show off to the girls

Luffy stands, getting pissed off this guy and his mystery power were making him harder to beat down, but he hasn't given up so far and he's still standing so that's what would do, keep hitting him till he went down.

It didn't go so well.

Franky punched him through the shipyard gate, then proceeded to beat the everloving crap out of him, his metal body seemingly immune to all of Luffy's attacks, though at least aiming for his face meant he could knock him back and around so it at least felt less one sided.

It didn't help that both Nami and Franky's side hoe's were cheering their respective boss on, while Vivi groaned as she waited for it all to end. Sure she wanted Luffy to win, but the amount of collateral damage was making her wish she'd stayed at the hotel with the others right about now.

"You're a lot stronger than I thought you'd be" Luffy pants "But I'm still going to kick your ass"

Franky chuckles "Then you better up your game, your attacks are fuckign weak kid" he then twists his left arm, turning it into a cannon

Weapons Left

Luffy jumps out of the blast radius sharply, really hoping Franky would run out of tricks soon, preferably before he ran out of steam.

The fight probably could have gone on for a couple more hours, were both fighters not knocked on their asses by simultaneous punches to the face from the newly arrived shipwrights

"Well, it's too late to run" Vivi sighs and puts her hands in her pockets, her mood notably melancholy.

"Uh, Vivi, you ok?" Nami asks, then yelps when Poly wraps his rope around Luffy's neck and sends him flying into a pile of debris, the other shipwrights pulling out weapons of their own "What the fuck, why are the shipwrights fighting him too?"

"Good thing it was just the 3 of us" the bluenette comments "Zoro, Kaos and Alvida would have wanted to join in, don't ya think?"

"Unfortunately, I agree. Doesn't change our current situation though" Nami sighs, then watches as Franky gets knocked out of the docks like a baseball, only for Kaku to slam him back into the ground. Only good news for them was that Luffy seemed to be holding his own against Lucci, for the moment. Never mind, another wall bites the dust as Luffy is punched through it.

"Damn these guys are strong. Now can somebody tell me why you decided to beat me up, that would be real nice" Luffy groans as he sits up

"Straw Hat, it's us who deserve an explanation, not you" Poly growls around hid cigar "Last night, 2 people broke into Iceberg's home, shot him twice in the front and 3 times in the front, then left. Those people were from your crew!"

"Iceberg was shot, damn" Franky grunts, surprised someone actually had the balls to attack the bastard

"That's a lie, we had no reason to hurt Iceberg" Vivi shouts, herself and Nami running over now everyone seemed to have at least stopped beating the everloving crap out of each other

"That's not true caho" Lucci's dove chirps "You wanted a ship that we couldn't repair. And Nico Robin was identified as one of the attackers"

"Shit, that's where Robin disappeared to, what's her beef with Iceberg?" Nami wonders, though quietly enough the shipwrights didn't hear her

"You're lying, Robin wouldn't do something like that" Luffy yells, defending his crewmate "Plus, no of the fighters on our crew uses guns"

"I don't care what you say, we have evidence your crew took part in this and now we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again"

Franky raises an eyebrow "Wait a minute, Iceberg's still alive, after getting shot 5 times?"

"Polly scoffs "Don't sound so surprised" he says as Luffy dodges a file through the head, though it did manage to cut his cheek

"Dead or Alive. The government doesn't really care too much which. That is the reality of having a bounty on your head" Kaku says emotionlessly "Therefore you can't complain, no matter how terrible your fate may be"

"I can complain all I want when I'm being blamed for something I didn't do" Luffy fires back, getting angry again "If you knew Robin you wouldn't say those things!"

"Extra Extra read all about it, Straw hats...urf" the man grunts as Nami elbows him in the gut and steals his paper

"Fuck" she hisses "Every bountied crewmate is in the line of fire"

"Give me that" Vivi whispers her eyes scanning the paper "1,2,4,6, yeah all 8 of them are there. We're well beyond screwed right now" she groans, head in her hands "What are the chances Kaos and Alvida don't turn this into a massacre?"

Nami shrugs "He's your brother in law, and she's your wife, how the fuck should I know?"

"This is the end of the line pirate, you messed with the wrong man. Mess with Iceberg and not only do you have the entire Galley Law company gunning for you, but all of Water 7 calling for your head" Polly yells, laying things clear for the straw hats, before firing more rope which wraps around Luffy's wrist

"I really don't have any reason to fight you people, we didn't do anything!" Luffy argues, but clearly these guys were past the point of listening. Polly moves to pull Luffy towards the now blade weidling Gally Law guys, when he jumps to avoid a hail of wires

"Vivi!" Nami screams "What are you doing?"

"Trying to help Luffy. It's clear we're not getting through to these neanderthals…" a file clips off the tip of her ponytail

"You are very rude little lady" Kaku notes, as the bluenette recalls her wires "You also are of no interest to us princess so run along"

"He's right you know, Luffy will be able to escape himself we should probably get to the others so we can leave as soon as pos…"

Shing

The navigator groans "What now?"

"Just remining the general populus that we're not having a lynching today of the only unarmed person in the area" Vivi explains, Nami seeing the groove behind her the wire dancer carved into the ground "Luffy will obviously be their main focus, he's the captain and the one with the highest bounty, best we can do is distract some of the others to give him less things to worry about" she adds just as an explosion rocks the dock

"I GOT HIM" the bearded man bellows, hefting a cannon like it was a shotgun

"No, you didn't" Polly sighs, just as Lucci jumps up to the hanging crates Luffy was hiding on, cutting the ropes and sending it crash landing to the ground

"Ow. These guys aren't screwing around. Well, diplomacy failed, maybe epp" he jumps as the man with the saws tries to strike him Luffy getting a lucky break when one of his weapons was yanked out of his grasp

"Hey, give that back you little hooligan!" he shouts, 2 spikes popping out of his hair

"Hooligan? I'll have you know… ah screw it you don't care. Nami catch" Vivi groans, then flicking her wrists sends the saw the red head's way, only for her to expertly dodge it

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"No"

"One down, sort of, just...fuck" Luffy yelps as Kaku pins him to the side of the wall with his files, then the loudmouth once more aims his cannon, only this time he can't dodge

BOOM

"Hey, stop kill stealing, i called dibs on straw hat long before you punks got here!" Franky shouts, finally reminding people he was still here

"Go away Franky, we'll play with you later" Kaku waves him off dismissively

"Connector attached" was Franky's response, which in turn had the dockworkers turn to look at him

"Run, Franky's going on another rampage"

"He took out a crane with that move"

"A CRANE" the loud man bellows, then looks up "THAT LOOKS LIKE A CANNON SHOT"

Franky laughs "That may be, but I don't use something so pedestrian as an iron ball in this attack, this shot is nothing but air" he explains, his forearms begin to puff up like balloons, which was odd as they already had a slight Popeye look to them, freaking out the assembled group and making a little bit of worry creep into the shipwright's subconscious

"The fuck is that?" Lucci whispers

Coup De Vent

The pressure wave of his airblast completed the destruction of Dock One, as well as send most of the dockworkers and a good number of the crowd flying

"Well shit, cannon doesn't do it justice" Polly groans, staring up into the sky

"He really is a cyborg" Nami gapes

"Yep, really glad he stuck to punching and shooting Luffy if he had something like that hidden away" Vivi sighs, then smiles when she sees her captain running towards them "Luffy, you're ok"

"It'll take more than that to beat me. Now we need to get moving, we need to talk to Icepops, somehow"

"Luffy, in case you weren't listening, EVERYONE is looking for you and the others" Vivi explains, showing him the express paper

"Yeah it'd be suicide to try break into Iceberg's home with things the way they are now" Nami adds "It's not a good idea to be here either" she says, seeing the mob was recovring and begining to ensnare them

"You're right. Hold on" Luffy orders, Nami and Vivi quickly wrap their arms around his waist, whether they wanted to or not this was probably the best way out of this situation, and went flying as Luffy Gum Gum Rocket's them onto the room of one of the still standing buildings, the trio running across rooftops from there.

A little later

"Do you have a plan on how to get around all these reporters and shipwrights?" Nami asks from their vantage point above and in front of Galley La HQ "Because I don't see a way"

"Are you sure you need to do this Luffy?" Vivi asks, equally wary as their navigator

Luffy nods "Yes. I need to talk to Icepops myself, see what's the problem with him and Robin. Considering she's pulled a disappearing act since yesterday he's the only option we've got"

"Well at least try do this with a hint of subtlety and stealth Luffy, the entire island wants our heads" the red head sighs, Vivi chuckles morbidly, knowing she was talking to the wrong person if she wanted stealth

"Got it" Luffy nods, before stretching out his arms, grabbing the roof of Galley La and slingshotting himself into the building through one of it's many windows, scaring the shit out of the people he landed on upon entry. Lucky for him the foremen assumed Luffy and the rest of the crew would do the smart thing and try to leave Water 7, meaning they were all scouting the island and/or staking out the station for the Sea Train, meaning nobody on Luffy's level was present in the building at the time of his 'infiltration'.

They made up for it in sheer numbers though, giving him a very intense chase up and down both buildings, randomly shooting at him or waving construction equipment which he had to jump around. They weren't very good at this, but they were clearly too pissed off to care. What surprised him was when Califa got his attention, the secetrary then snuck him into Iceberg's chambers, as well as ensuring they wouldn't be disturbed

"Well, it seems you went to an awful lot of trouble, to see me" Iceberg hums, now sitting up in his bed "I presume it's not to kill me boy?"

"All I want to know, is what happened last night" Luffy replies, causing the mayor to sigh deeply

"I was attacked last night, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that Nico Robin was one of them. And I'll remind you, I have nothing against you or your crew, so I gain nothing from lying about that"

"Are you sure it wasn't someone who looked like her?" Luffy asks, trying to think of another explanation, so was a little surprised when Iceberg pulled a gun on him

"I didn't call you in here to argue Straw Hat, I did that because I have a favour to ask, one which you would be most encouraged to accept and fulfill. No matter what it takes, I need to see Nico Robin again" the request threw him, why did Iceberg want to see the woman he claimed tried to kill him?

Click

"I'll say it again, bring me Nico Robin"

"I can't do that Mr. Icepops, Nico Robin has been MIA since yesterday, right now, I know as much about her location, as you do" Luffy admits

BANG

Hearing the sound of gunfire a large mob of dock workers charged towards Iceberg's bedroom, finding the man safe, but the window broken and his flintlock expended.

"Are you ok sir?" one asked

"I had hoped to get answers, but that was clearly a fools dream. Arrest all of the Straw Hats, and get it done by nightfall" Iceberg orders, his voice weary, but with a hint of anger

On the other rooftop

"So, did you get your answers?" Vivi asks

"He says it was Robin who shot him" Luffy replies, worrying the girls "And I believe he's telling the truth, or at least what he thinks is the truth. The problem is, I don't understand how that can be true"

Unknown location

"We'll be infiltrating Iceberg's home again tonight, and if this goes south, feel free to remove all the evidence" a shadowy figure explains, Robin looking a mix of bored and uninterested "Of the possible holders, Iceberg is the last of Tom's apprentices, so he must have it. It's a matter of justice that we acquire it from him immediately"

"I understand" Robin says with a slight nod

"You better, hopefully there won't be any more incidents involving your fromer associates, or Project Mystic, both of which I'm sure you're aware" there was a smirk in his tone, making Robin clench her fists and grit her teeth

Later on - Down by the Merry

"You sure this is the right boat?"

"Are you blind? That's the straw hat's pirate flag, of course it's their ship"

"Looks pretty beat up, and there are very few supplies still here, they must have abandoned it, or been planning to and Aqua Lagoona had them speed up the timetable, leave all this junk behind"

While the dock workers searched and complains, Kaya and Usopp hid within the rocky shore, both with their weapons drawn and ready to fire, should they be discovered.

"What's up with those guys, think Luffy did something?" Usopp asks Kaya who shrugs

"Possibly, but half the crew these days are the combative type, only Nami, Vivi, Chopper and Robin look for another solution and most have a trigger that makes them as violent as the rest. What I'm saying is anything could have happened" the ami girl sighs "Maybe we should check, see if there's any news in Water 7"

"Beats hiding behind this rock, plus neither of us have bounties so they won't be able to identify us" he grins, getting a playful shove

Elsewhere

"Well Sunday, you fucked up big time" Robin nearly stumbles when she hears the voice, steadying herself she turns her head confirming her suspicions "You look surprised" Cobra muses "you of all people know Bentham's not the only one who can play the mimic" his shrugged shoulders were hidden by the cloak "What I want to understand is why you did it, because I know you didn't intend for her to get caught up in all this"

Robin scoffs "The crew is a mess, the ship is dead, Luffy won't be able to punch his way out of this mess, and there's not a hope in Hell you can convince me to come back, even for another short roll on deck" Kaos chuckles as Cobra's features melt and his own return, seemingly unaffected by the statement, which actually looked to light her currently short fuse "Isn't it Sanji who's supposed to think he's God's gift to all women, don't tell me you're following the cook down that path"

Kaos laughs "I don't believe it, as I told you the 1st time, mine in fact, but you're not exactly the type to do that for the mission, more flirt and or murder than sleep with. Besides, you're a woman who is fine giving her opinions and your only criticism was (mimicking Robin's voice) 'if you even think about stopping I will rip it off and shove it up your ass' so besides being a bitch… you're reaching, and making excuses. Every StrawHat with a bounty is being hunted right now, something I doubt you intentionally inflicted on your daughter"

"She is not my daughter!"

Clatter

Robin's eyes shrink to pinpricks, while Kaos turns and hisses

"Fuck, I thought she'd stay with Alvida" he groans, seeing Artemis, her easel on the floor beside her brush, sniffling and trying not to flood the streets early with her tears

"Artemis" Robin's voice was quiet, timid, through her eyes turned hard seeing the dark bruise on her left arm

"Robin!"

'Shit!' the archaeologist thinks, seeing Sanji and Chopper running towards her, luckily there was a canal between them, though that would only stop Chopper due to his Devil Fruit

"Hey, Robin we've been looking everywhere, just hang there we'll find a way around then we can get back to the inn. This island is going crazy" the cook jokes, both him and Chopper looked so happy to see her

"I'm afraid I won't be doing that. Water 7 is where we part ways" she says flatly, confusing the 2.

"Is this about that bullshit they were spreading in the paper? About you being the assassin that tried kill Iceberg? We don't believe that junk, pirates are easy targets"

"I do apologise for that, it was never my intention to get you all mixed up in that, for the Straw Hats to take the fall like this. But the papers are correct in blaming me, for I did shoot Iceberg" Sanji and Chopper were horrified, while Kaos actually looked… unimpressed? Oh well.

"Inside me lurks a darkness which none of you know about or can fathom, one day, that darkness would have been the end of all of you. You're about to take the fall while I escape…"

"Then go already!" Artemis screams "I hate you, you're tearing my family apart and breaking mine and Papa's hearts. I never want to se…" Silver resin covers her mouth gagging the clearly pissed off artist

"Artemis, don't say something you'll regret" Kaos says, tone flat and emotionless "And Robin" the archaeologist barely nods before being thrown up against the wall, reflect armoured hand around her throat and staring into what was once a featureless mirror, now there was a black void where his right eye should be, and currently a bloody teartrack "This won't end how you think. I guarantee it" he croons, the blank face cracks into a facsimile of a beastly maw before letting her go.

Robin coughs, then addresses the 4 straw hats "The last 5 minutes aside, thank you for the kindness you all showed me, but we shall never me…" she jumps to dodge a 4 fingered claw strike

"Don't make promises you can't keep Nico Robin"

"I did love you both, I never lied about that" she says quietly, so only the 2 on this side of the canal heard

"Now" the tone was clear, she was to leave like she promised, the reflect human's patience, and mercy, as worn as hers was. She turned on her heels and walked away, adding her own heart to Artemis' list of broken things.

"What the fuck, you can't just let her leave" Sanji yells, which Kaos ignores in favor of picking up Artemis and shimmering over to the other 2

"I can and I will" he replies "she's a grown woman, she can make her own decisions and she was free to leave the crew at any time. All of you are, or did you forget about Usopp and Kaya already?" he asks bitterly

"This is different"

"No it isn't" Chopper says surprisingly "Robin's gone, the crew really is splintering" the reindeer boy looked on the verge of tears

"I'm afraid so" Kaos says with a deep sigh "This place really has fucked us 7 ways to Hell"

TBC

LW: Well, shit. Also while that scene at the end was going to be there anyway, I wonder if that was enough of an acknowledgement or confirmation of Kaos/Robin for the guest(s) who asked me repeatedly in some chapters.