LW: I don't really have much to say as an intro, other than hoping all my readers are ok given everything happening in the world right now, mostly corona-virus. Stay safe and enjoy everyone.
Rubber King and Mirror Master - A ray of hope
A little later
"Bro don't"
Crack
Franky is barely back on the ground when he's dodging pellets and syrup balls
"You bastard, there are less destructive ways of getting your point across!" Usopp shouts
"We get what you're saying, but breaking the Merry was a bad decision" Kaya growls, her devil fruit turning her hair into honey coloured tendrils
"Fucking idiots the both of you" Franky grunts, running forward, slamming Kaya into the wall causing her to explode into syrup before grabbing Usopp by the throat "You're still not listening, the ship is done for. Take A Look!" he jumps high then throws Usopp into the water directly beside the Merry, then waits for him to surface, his girls keeping their eye on the sniper's companion. After a few minutes he heard splashing as Usopp pulls himself out of the water "Understand now kid?" he asks, calmer than last time.
Usopp doesn't respond at first, instead moving to the broken piece of the Merry and begins dragging it back into place, Kaya assisting out of concern of him overexerting himself and opening up any of his recent injuries. "And, there" he whispers to the blond, who smiles sadly "Now she's almost good as new again"
Franky groans "You moron! You saw it for yourself, the keel's shot and the panels are already starting to come loose and lose cohesion. You wouldn't survive a bad wave never mind the trip back to the East"
"Shut the fuck up!" Usopp shouts, throwing the hammer and just barely missing the cyborg "I know that" the statement surprises Franky and his girls "I know what we're doing is like putting a band-aid over a bullet wound, but… I don't know what else I can do" his eyes water and tears start falling hard and fast, the sniper falling to his hands and knees, while the medic slides down the side of the hull onto her butt.
'What?'
"I've had suspicions for a while, that the Merry was getting to the end of her journey. Even back as far as Skypeia. Kaos thinks him and Robin are the only ones who know the legends, but I saw it, I know what it means. I heard the mallet strikes in the dead of night, even though nobody should have been up there. The next morning, the ship had been noticeably, though haphazardly repaired, even removed the add ons and modifications we put on to help get us up there, back to default so to speak" he explains, now sitting and trying to remain calm "Someone who knew what she was supposed to look like, back when we first took off from Syrup Village in the East. Then there were these words, I felt them more than heard them, so for a while I thought I'd imagined them, 'Don't worry, I'll carry us for a little longer'. It sounds silly, but it felt like it was the Merry reaching out and speaking to me, somehow" the tears had returned and the sniffling "She most likely knew she was at her end, and wanted us to know we'd make it this far, that she wouldn't let us die up there. That was my thoughts after hearing the shipwright's assessment" at this point everyone but Franky was teary eyed or crying "You may not believe me, but I don't care it's what I saw"
"Big Bro?" one of the girls call as Franky sits down, expression unreadable
"Whether I believe you or not is ultimately unimportant, but you said it looked to have a wooden mallet right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because then what you're recalling is accurate, you saw the Merry's klabautermann" he stated seriously
"It is real" Usopp gasps, giving a teary smile
'They were right' Kaya thinks, shuffling over to Usopp
"Um, big bro…"
"Care to explain what a klabautermann is?" the girls ask
"A klabautermann is a type of fae, who is drawn to ships treated with great care and love, most look at it as the spirit or soul of the ship. The most common description of it was small with a wooden mallet dressed in a sailor's raincoat, and in times of danger it would find some way to warn everyone. They help in other ways from what I've heard, but you're the first one I've actually heard claim to have seen one of these elusive spirits. The more care is given to the ship, the more it grows to love and appreciate the crew. Damn, think about how much this one loved you and your crew it appeared to you and spoke to you, how much she wanted to help you make it to the next safe shore. That's actually beautiful" Franky explains, complimenting the straw hats during his story "Despite all this, what I don't understand is why you had a big fight with your captain over something you knew wasn't something you could fix" Franku wonders aloud, causing Usopp to sigh
"It wasn't that simple, there was a lot more to it than that" he argues, though everything stopped when the bell at the door began to chime
"Someone's at the door, should we open it bro?"
"Who could be out on that side at a time like this? Plus if it's the boy's, why haven't they just come in? Weird" Franky hums, then waves it off and lets them open it "Now personally, I think you should just get back with your crew…" Mozu is sent flying across the room "What the?"
"I apologise" Califa says, fiddling with her glasses after kicking Kiwi into a wall "These girls were just… in our way"
"You wouldn't believe the amount of work it's taken for us to find you, Cutty Flam" Lucci says flatly, causing Franky to tense and the former straw hats to look confused
"How do you know that name, and how did you find me here, nobody knows about this warehouse base?" Franky asks/yells
"Well, since you're not going to see tomorrow I have no problem telling you: We're secret agents working for the World Government. We were sent here on a secret mission 5 years ago. Considering what I just called you, I think you know what I'm talking about. The rumors and reports all said you died 8 years ago, and we believed them for quite some time, spending most of our time undercover tailing Iceberg. But it was all in vain, given you had what we were searching for, not him" Lucci explains
"This is giving me bad vibes, has been since you people walked in. Where's Iceberg?"
"He's dead" Sui answers with a grin, sending chills down Franky, Usopp and Kaya's spines
"It's too late to feign innocence now Franky, we already know everything, that Iceberg had the plans, and then he passed them on to you. Now what we want, is for you to hand over Pluton's blueprints to us now" Luci orders, frowning when Franky stands there like a statue "Hey moron, I said hand them over!"
Franky's eyes harden "Did you say hand?" he asks, shooting his arm out by it's chain, which the agent dodges smoothly, then punches the cyborg in the gut, sending him playing and destroying the wall behind him
"Hm, so it appears his secret bunker has a secret room, intersting" Kaku notes
"Those are drafting tables, where blueprints are usually designed, and where they can be hidden amongst several other designs" Sui says, using soru to get to the opening
"Well don't just stand there, find it" Luci commands, CP9 beginning to search the secret room for the correct blueprints
"Interesting, the name plates here, are Cutty Flam, Icebarg, and Tom, as in the shipwright" Bluno says, after wiping the dust off the plaks so they could be read, while Lucci finds an old picture of Tom and his workers
"Hey, paws off that. You creeps are poking around my stuff, and I don't like it" Franky growls, getting back to his feet and standing in the opening "This is my home, my childhood, and I won't let you contaminate it with your filth! This is where Tom's Workers, the best damn shipwrights on the island used to work out of"
"So, this is it. So many ships were built in this old place, but look at it now, broken, decrepit and forgotten" Lucci sighs, picking up a photo "Tom, Iceberg and Cutty Flam. This place must be a treasure to you, all those memories. And now you call it, your top secret base, that's actually cute"
Franky growls "Shut the hell up and get out of here already"
"We can't leave, not until we have the blueprints" Bluno states
"So make this easy on yourself and just hand it over" Sui adds
"There aren't any blueprints here, not in years. I'm a dismantler not a builder, what do I need blueprints for?" Franky argues
"So you claim, meaning this is worthless to you" Lucci purrs, kicking over one of the desks "Califa, restrain him"
Franky holds in a scream of pain as the spiked cord of Califa's whip wraps around his body, the 2 former straw hats frozen in fear "Bastard" he grunts out, glaring up at the leopard man on his knees
"Try to fight all you want, we know more about you than you think, including several things I'm sure you'd prefer remain buried. Like what happened 8 years ago, and your hand in those events, the crime you still remain unpunished for. A dirty criminal, just like your old master, Tom"
"You take that back, Tom was a great man, not some criminal, you stupid freak"
Lucci's initial response was to kick Franky in the face, shutting him up if nothing else
"From where I'm standing, you and him are the same, and therefore need to suffer the consequences of your actions" Lucci replies, while Franky grits his teeth
"You smug fuck, you think you know everything don't you? Well you don't know a thing about Tom, and you don't know a thing, about Water 7!"
Meanwhile - With Zoro
"Ow, that fucking hurt" the swordsman groases, pulling himself to his feet "Never been glad to be in the middle of a storm, but those waves saved me the trouble of swimming back, well most of the way" he sighs, looking up at his destination "You stupid furball, all you've done, is piss me off" he says to himself, before begining to jump his way across the rooftops, back towards Galley La.
And we're back
"We've heard Tom was an incredible shipbuilder and designer, but he was also an uncontrollable fishman, their genetic super strength not exactly helping matters" Sui notes, smirking as she steps closer to the bound Franky "The people here don't exactly have a lot to say about him though, even when he's only been gone what, 8 years?" Franky clenches his teeth "Must have been hard to apprentice under someone like that"
"Though Iceberg was in the same position and he seemed to come out of it reasonably normal" Califa argues
"True" Lucci nods "Anyway, during the incident over a hundred people, both marine and civilian were injured in the attack, caused by your ships. Causing the World Government that much trouble, is a bad idea Cutty Flam, want me to show you why?"
"Why don't you go fuck yourself, I ain't talking to goons like you" Franky yells, Usopp and Kaya wince, even as they reach for their weapons just in case, not that either of them thought they stood any chance against these people.
"Because Spandam's report said you were killed in a Sea Train accident that same day, all charges against you were annulled, but seeing as you're still alive…" Lucci purrs "You'll be taken to Ennis Lobby to face justice, immediately"
"It's a two for one special" the smaller agent chuckles
"Ahem. There, you will have all the time in the world to answer one simple question: Where are the blueprints to the Ancient Weapon Pluton?" He then turns to Blueno who had retrieved a Den Den Mushi from… somewhere "Is it ready?"
"I just got a connection"
"Excellent. When we gave our latest report our superior wanted to speak to you the moment we had you apprehended. Remember to be on your best behavior, he's the current Head of CP9" Lucci chuckles, his shoulders slumping as Bluno brings the snail over to the bound Franky
"We're good boss, you can talk" Blueno says flatly
"OW! HOT HOT HOT! I JUST SPILT COFFEE ON MYSELF, STUPID COFFEE!" The snail bellows at uncomfortable levels, getting sweat drops or sighs of annoyance from all the assembled groups "Well, we meet again Cutty Flam, nice to see you're not dead. It's so strange to believe you actually survived the accident, but I guess it's good fortune for us"
"Wait is that Spaz-dick?" Franky thinks aloud
"SPANDAM YOU SIMPLETON! SPANDAM!" Spandam yells through the snail "When you arrive at Ennis Lobby, I'll make sure you never forget it again. Get to it… OW OW OW, STUPID LAMP"
"Fucking moron" Sui grumbles, but was ignored
"Regardless, we still need to tie him up so he can't escape during transport" Kaku states, before Blueno essentially shoves the cyborg into a sack and ties it, before throwing him over his shoulder and CP9 begin to leave, more or less ignoring the scared Kaya and Usopp, until
"Let him go!" Lucci turns and raises an eyebrow "sorry, never mind" Usopp mumbles
"Jeez you idiot, don't get my hopes up like that" Franky complains from the sack
"Wait a minute" Kaku hums, turning to look at the 2 "Weren't you 2 members of the Strawhats?"
'Shit'
Meanwhile/earlier - Galley La
"This isn't working, the wind's just making the fire bigger!"
"Well what else can we do, Iceberg might still be in there, we need to put out the fire, try save some of the building and him too"
Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound as above them the window was broken, by a reindeer with a sword in its mouth, Iceberg and Poly on his back and a fearful Tyrannosaurus on his hat. How the animal managed to stick the landing is unknown but impressive nonetheless
Chopper pants heavily, smoke inhalation, burns and the injuries caused by having part of a building dropped on you not exactly putting him in a good place at the moment, even less when he sees some of his crewmates 'Nami! Alvida! I need to help them' he thinks, trying to put one hoof in front of the other, and failing after the first one, falling to his knees before slumping onto his belly.
"Wow, that reindeer just saved Iceberg!" One of the workers cheered
"Polly too" another adds laughing, then stops, wondering aloud "But wait, I thought this thing was part of the Straw Hats, Hm"
"Not important right now, just check on the boss" a 3rd man shouts
A little while later
"You're alive, I'm so glad to see you've made it Sir" one of the dock workers smile as Iceberg opens his eyes, sighing deeply as he stares up into the sky
"We need to stop, there's no hope this building is coming down!" was yelled, then the signal was given to shut off the hoses
"Hey guys, what are we going to do with these girls? They're straw hats, should we tie them up and question them or something?" one asks
"Don't worry yourself about it" the man turns and nearly jumps
"Mr. Iceberg, you shouldn't be standing in your condition"
"Relax" the blue haired man waves off the concern "I need to speak with these 2 women privately. If you come across anyone else from this pirate crew, please send them my way" he orders, looking down at a battered, bruised, and annoyed Nami and Alvida, before sitting between them.
"1st, I want to apologise about accusing your crew of trying to kill me, that was wrong" Iceberg says in a soft, but tired tone "I'll have that cleared up as soon as possible"
"Right now, I don't give a fuck, our reputation in Water 7 is the least of our concerns" Nami snaps, wanting this day to be over now more than ever
"True. So for now, I want to talk about Nico Robin. Did she start acting strange when she arrived?"
"Robin was acting fine, until some fat guy bumped into her and she didn't follow us into the bookstore" Iceberg turns his head to see a sad looking Artemis walking over to them, Vivi not far behind
"Oh thank God you're ok" Nami sighs in relief "But how?"
"Aunt Vivi tried break my fall as best she could" Artemis admits, wrining her hands "I think she broke a rib"
"Artermis, relax. Chopper will check me out later" Vivi says as she joins the 3, now 5, pulled into Alvida's arms who gently began checking her for damages
Iceberg tunes the couple out and returns focus to the 2 redheads "So everything was fine, until she disappeared?"
"Yeah, when Papa found her she was talking about how she had darkness inside and that it was our final goodbye. She also said, much like you did, that she was sorry we got caught up in all this" the artist replies
"Of course we didn't believe any of that, least of all Luffy, so, we decided to break into your mansion, stop the 2nd assassination attempt and hopefully see Robin again, trying to get some real answers along the way" Nami adds, her expression a mix of sadness and disapointment, while her fists were clenched on her lap "What kind of wish was so important she needed to give up and throw away her friends, her family?" Nami asks, not expecting an answer, but needing to get it out in the open
"I think I can explain this, or at least give a good guess" Iceberg says, drawing the 4 straw hats attention to him "This entire incident began pretty much the moment you all lost sight of her, CP9 drew her into their plans once they became aware she was in the city. I can continue, but before that, I need you to understand, that Nico Robin and I, both have the power to unlock an ancient weapon of unimaginable power"
"Shit, this is Pluton all over again isn't it?" Victor asks, overhearing it after beign directed by one of the workers to the gathering, Valentina running behind him
"You look fine, which is really annoying right now" Alvida says, gritting her teeth
"It takes more than a collapsing building to hurt a bomberman" he replies, smirking before looking over at Iceberg "Is it Pluton, or one of the other 2?" he asks
"Yes it is. CP9 are here in this town because I held the blueprints for Pluton, and as one of only 3 people who can read the Poneglyphs Nico Robin could have lead them to the original one, as well as the other 2. When I confronted her on this, how her desire for knowledge was going to get people killed like it did the Devils of Ohara…" he stops and gasps when a paintbrush is painfully thrown into his bruised liver
"Artemis!" Nami shrieks, looking about ready to scold the girl
"Mother isn't a Devil, you don't get to talk about things you know nothing about" she growls, getting a bitter chuckle from Iceberg
"So you do know her history, well enough I suppose. Anyway, when I hit a tender spot, she revealed a few things, such as why she caved to CP9's demands so easily, despite knowing once they had a hold on her she wasn't going to survive this mission: They had been given the authority to order a Buster Call be deployed and used against your crew"
"Um, sorry, East blue newbies, but what's a Buster Call?" Alvida asks, Nami nodding alongside her
"5 Vice-Admirals and a contingent of Battleships, all focused on a single target. It's usually seen as overkill to be used on an island, but a single ship, it's insane"
"Why were these monsters given that kind of power?" Vivi asks
"They wouldn't normally, most of the time, only the 4 highest ranking marines have that kind of power, the Admirals and the Fleet Admiral. But CP9 were given the power, by Admiral Alkoji"
"Fuck that icicle bastard, we should have all tried kicking his ass when we ran into his earlier" Valentina shouts angrilly
"We had priorities, namely unfreezing Robin" Nami reminds her "Plus Luffy sent us away to duel him one on one, so he'd let us leave be, rather than freeze and smash us all without breaking a sweat"
"Regardless, she did everything they asked, because she couldn't just disappear like she always had before, especially not leaving you to deal with a Buster Call alone. She… she said you made her want to live again, set her heart beating again and returned life to her dreams. She cares about you, so she chose the lesser of 2 evils in order to protect you as best she could. She made a deal, her compliance, for allowing your crew to leave this island"
"Well we already know how well that turned out, Catman wasn't exactly interested in letting us walk away after all" Alvida grumbles
"As long as my family lives, fuck the rest of the world, more or less" Iceberg concludes, staring Artemis in the eyes, the artist now wriggling under his scrutiny "I wanted to kill her, even more after hearing that, but I couldn't"
"Papa was there, what did he say?" she asked
"If you honestly believe we'd be happy with that deal, and aren't about to go Arlong Park on these shitbags, you're not as clever as I thought you were dearie" the mayor quotes, causing Artemis to laugh and Nami to lose all colour in her face
"So Robin isn't a traitor, she's just an idiot?" Valentina asks, getting nods from the rest of the crew "Great, now why does Nami look like she's about to throw up?"
The navigator looks nervous for once in her life "I don't exactly advertise it, but like Robin, I've betrayed and abandoned the crew, as well as stolen the ship. Arlong Park, is the name of what used to be my metaphorical prison the home of the Fishman Arlong"
"I've heard of him, he was a big shot because of how strong fishmen are, especially given how quiet the East Blue is" Alvida hums
"Yeah, well now Arlong Park is a pile of rubble and Arlong is rotting in the ground with a piercing stab through the brain and heart. All thanks to Luffy and Kaos respecitively, though the rest of the crew at the time helped, they just each dealt a finishing blow" Nami explains
"So that's why he ran off"
"He did it for me too, I'd call him a vanguard, if I didn't also call him a moron" the navigator sighs, then gives a small smile "I'm happy about one thing though, that Robin didn't betray us, she was trying to protect us. I also know what's going to happen once Luffy hears about this, hint hint Vivi we've done this all before" the princess nods, looking resigned to their fate
"We're going to kick ass and save Robin, everyone, we need to find Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Chopper. Let's go!"
Iceberg gasps "What are you doing, you already lost to CP9, you don't stand a chance"
"Who decided that?" he stops, looking into the determined eyes of the artist "The straw hats never back down, and never surrender, we've stopped the destruction of a kingdom and fought God, we're not going to let the Government stand in our way"
Nami nods "She's right, we haven't even started fighting yet, now we have something worth fighting for with all our heart. Luffy's not here so I guess it's my turn: Nakama!"
"Nakama!" the others shout, raising their right arms into the air, then begin to panic when their navigator starts slapping Chopper awake
The Seatrain station
"Nice of you to finally turn yourself in, 20 years is a long time to be on the run" Agent Corgi sneers as he brushes past Robin, both waiting for the arrival of CP9. The Last Oharan sighs as she awaits her end, unaware of 2 sets of eyes watching her intently, one thought shared between them
'This isn't over Robin!'
TBC
LW: And that's it. We're almost finished Water 7 and moving swiftly on to Ennis Lobby. See you all in 2 weeks
Justme(X2): While I had thought about doing a spin off with the movies, as I'm not exactly sure how they fit into the One Piece timeline, with the exception of 4 and the retellings of the Drum and Alabasta Arcs, I hadn't thought to do the same with filler arcs. Maybe one day, but yeah Kaos and Artemis would probably have made Robin's scenes a little more fun, or at least stranger.
Would anyone be surprised if I told you Spandam's English dub Voice Actor is also the Joker's? Not Mark Hamill, Christopher Smith. Amongst other things he's done, Lego Joker, Zoria from the Seven Deadly Sins movie and Molag Bal from Skyrim are the ones I actually recognise. He's also a voice for High School DXD and Attack on Titan, but I haven't watched either of those things so all I can say is 'That's nice'
