Original Characters © Eiichiro Oda. Cover Art & Creative Story © shipfiend.

"Alarm" (TroyBoi Remix) – Anne-Marie

"Mihawk!" Zoro shouted into the empty house. It looked so much smaller than when he was with her. Stumbling as if she did not know how to walk. Pretending with her stupid smile. "Mihawk!" he called again with agitation.

"Yes, let us have the ceiling come crashing down on us with all your needless screaming." The well-dressed man came down the steps. He ran a hand through his smooth black hair. "What do you want, boy?"

Mihawk took in the bandaged man in front of him with quiet disinterest. Quite frankly, he did expect him back here so with Boa upstairs, he came down to essentially throw Zoro back onto the street. However, Zoro threw his tattered gloves on the floor, and without another word brought himself to his knees and his forehead to the floor. "Train me."

Mihawk's golden irises took in the scene before him with a solid scowl. It was in his nature to know things, so he knew the boy had gotten himself in trouble. More specifically, he knew the boy got his backside handed to him. Now Trafalgar D. Law was playing his doctor. How is it that this fighter is in the center of everything? Nonetheless, his loss was inevitable, as all things were. Mihawk scoffed as he took in the stupid display.

Mihawk titled his head to the side, chin up. "I'm disappointed in you, Roronoa. Are you asking your enemy for instruction? We're practically in the same league as Nami and the people who took her."

He mumbled quietly, "You're different. She trusted you."

He was tired of hearing this sappy excuse. What he and his wife were to Nami was not something Zoro could just bank on. They were not a halfway house for halfwits. "For shame, Zoro. I'm not a magical creature in your fairytale. Get out of here. I have no time for a boring man who can't manage to lift his damn head up. I think I was overestimating you."

Mihawk turned to go back up the stairs but Zoro remained on the floor, almost trembling. It frustrated to Mihawk to see such weakness. A few stabs and the idiot was on the ground. Of course, Mihawk did not care either way. What was being played out would be played out, with or without the fighter. It was not in his best interest to get more involved, yet he managed a cold review, "What are you still doing here? That's just embarrassing. I know what's going on in your head…what you think this is about. Just give up if you're so willing to lower yourself like this."

Zoro's teeth ground so hard that it hurt his head. The blood rushed to his ears as he felt the heat from his anger and his desire battle it out. "I don't give a fuck about what you think," he spat. "I want to get stronger!"

Mihawk put his hands back in his pants and scoffed, "You were beaten by the lowest bar and you couldn't get to her, so you came back here. I have nothing to teach someone like that."

"I will beat whoever stands in my way. I already have, whether it be thugs, police, you stupid royals, CP9 or the entire World Government – I don't care. I'll beat them all." His fingers gripped at the loose rubble on the floor as he felt the sweat drip and the blood pool around his wounds.

Mihawk was surprised. CP9? What is the boy doing fighting them? He smirked, perhaps there was more to the man than he initially expected. What a clumsy fool. Call a war on the World Government is practically suicide. Mihawk understood that for someone like him to swallow his pride, it's always for someone else.

"You're the only one left to beat here!" Zoro shook his head slightly as he yelled into the floor. "But I'm not so stupid as to think that I'm good enough to beat you!"

Mihawk walked back, his interest piqued. "I don't understand. You see me as an enemy, don't you? I'm not here to rescue your girlfriend or apologize for our hand in it. Why are you bowing to me and asking for my guidance? What's the purpose?"

"I wanna beat you!" he shouted without hesitation. "Whatever is coming for us, it is big. Bigger than what I know…and for now, you are the highest bar. So…train me."

Mihawk laughed, and for a moment Zoro was confused. It was a hearty chuckle, unlike the usual scathing and scoff-like snickers Mihawk and his vile wife would give him. Zoro did not know which was scarier. "You asking me to train a fighter that wants to kill me? You are a strange man, and what you're asking is nonsense." Zoro listened as Mihawk shuffled out of his jacket and tossed it to the floor. "Even so, what you're doing is still embarrassing." He walked forward until he was right in front of Zoro, his Italian leather boots by Zoro's head. "Seems like you found something more important than your ambition."

When Zoro returned with the unconscious Franky, it dawned on him that he was weak. CP9 and the incidents leading up to Nami being taken proved to Zoro that he was in a league far wider and more dangerous than he had experienced before. The fights were one thing, but this was a war. Even if they charged forward, he knew they did not have the means to last very long. It was a new world filled with government assassins and metal men. Though they had resources, Zoro needed to be better. They needed to stop and get stronger. Only then could they find her and bring her back…and ensure that nothing could ever touch any one of them ever again. He would not let anyone else get taken, no matter what.

"I'm better than this, I know my worth," Zoro said as he rose. "I'm not done yet."

Mihawk cracked his neck and rolled up his sleeves. "Boa will tell me, 'I told you so'…but I am intrigued by your style, boy." He motioned for Zoro to come forward, "I've always been a sucker for a wild boy."

Zoro came forward, and Mihawk easily pressed Zoro's hand away and clipped him in the jaw. As Zoro was thrown back, Mihawk straightened himself. "I am not interested in watching a rerun. Either you show up and prove what you need to do…or leave."

If only Mihawk knew that it was like an alarm ringing in Zoro's head. No matter what he could do, sirens were going off and until he got her back, he would not rest. He felt his chest heave uncomfortably as if trying to escape through his neat stitches. Law would kill him for popping them, but Zoro was not one to hold back for anyone. He spat some blood out of his mouth. "You don't hit like your wife. Try harder…I barely felt it."

"We seem to be working through the motions smoothly," she said as if convincing herself of her words.

Boa gave a slight smile as she lifted her chin to look before her. "You sound surprised, Robin."

"You must admit, Boa, when you told me of this plan…it was impossible."

"You're only a small piece. Stay focused on your part, and it will all fall into place," she responded assuredly.

"Not confident in the overall plan?" Robin asked sarcastically.

Boa chuckled as she threw a knife and it cut into the wall as the papers around it fluttered. Its point right in the middle of a picture, the smug grin taunted Boa. "Why would I tell you if I was? You asked something of me that no one else can give you…and I will provide you escape."

"As you did Nami?"

"Karma is a bitch," Boa said with finality, another knife left her fingertips, another photo with a knife between their eyes. "But I have taken care of her, haven't I?"

"Only if she will play her part. Otherwise, we are expendable, aren't we?"

Boa shifted the phone in her hand, "Have you been unsatisfied?"

"Will I still get my funds?" Robin asked flatly.

"Do not worry. If you are going to chase after Franky, then I'll be sure to move the boy near you."

There was a pause and Robin asked innocently, though it was always double-edged as the two women played to see how much the other knew. "Now, why would that be the case?"

Boa smirked as she let her dark eyes look through the dirty glass to the grand open space below. Her husband sparring yet again with the boy that was surprisingly tougher than she anticipated. "Do you know what I love about impossible plans, Robin?" She did not let the woman ponder the question as she continued, "Because it is only impossible for the weak. The unsure. The fools that think that they cannot find a way."

"Of course," Robin cooed, "It seems like you are always a step ahead of everyone…but one of these days, a trap is going to spring and crush those delicate ankles of yours."

Boa chuckled, "Why do you think I send you out ahead of me?"

"To die, I'm sure."

Boa looked back to her mural, the years of tolling, the fears that it battled. Every line, every plan, every individual handpicked to ensure a merciless end to every person that dared to look at her as anything less than what she was. Queen. "There is nothing in this life that is assured to us…except death. To control someone's death…that is a power bestowed on a god."

"Are you calling yourself a god then?"

"I'll make a believer of you yet."

With that, they disconnected. Boa put her hand on her hip and pulled the two knives out of the wall. The images were nearly unrecognizable from the number of tears her weapons have made over the years, but she knew her targets. There was no way she could forget the faces of the men that took her life from her. From them. From their child.

Heart-wrenching anger had ebbed away to an inhumane chill that was only hardened by the means of the Nami's and Robin's of the world. From the Revolutionary Army to the Yonko. No matter who it was, she would use them as she had been used. Lied to. Stolen from. If it was not her for the love of her life, she would have lost her soul, but he shared the same wrath behind his golden eyes. They would watch the world burn together and dance atop the ashes.

She took in the blooming red lines drawn in from the damaged center. Each petal a different fold on an elaborate ruse: plans within plans, deaths within deaths. From the man charged with faking documents to the Shichibukai, every single person that a hand in their demise would feel their wrath. Just as impossible was for the weak, so was mercy. She was not weak.

Her hair swayed as turned and walked away. Out of the room, past the broken nursey, down the steps to the grunting men. "Shall I take a swing, mon batte? I am so intrigued by your style, boy."

Zoro smirked but he already felt heavy and slow, and though he said the taunt to Mihawk before, they both knew Boa's hits were much deadlier. Mihawk cut to kill, but Boa targeted to maim. Like a python restricting the air from their prey until they are nothing but lifeless carcasses to be devoured whole.

Mihawk was at her side at once, a heated kiss caressed her knuckles as he took the phone and she stepped forward. "Of course, cara mia."

Franky tried to gauge where he was, but the shackles that bound his wide wrists to the strange chair gave no wiggle room.

"Can you stop all that grunting?" Usopp asked without looking. His face was illuminated by the multitude of screens in the dark room. He clicked away on several keyboards as Franky still fidgeted.

"The hell is this made of, bro? Freaking space metal? I can't even bend it!" Franky fumed.

Usopp finally swiveled in his chair to give him an exasperated look. "Man, I don't know. Perona has some weird shit, okay? I'm pretty sure it's some kind of sex chair, so please don't move too much. God knows if that thing comes alive and sticks something up your butt."

Franky blanched, "Right. It seems like that is a thing for you guys."

Usopp gave him a fearful expression. "Um, no. False. Ew. God, please don't-"

"So you aren't the dude that shot something up my ass?"

"Yes, but-"

"And someone didn't take my speedos off?"

"Okay, we did, but-"

"Look, is this some kind of sex ring?"

"What!" Usopp rose in a flurry. "We literally told you the reason we are all together."

"Yeah, yeah…for Nami. But-"

Usopp threw a newspaper at Franky's bare feet. "Look, Franky. Your family…they are being taken to Impel Down. They have been charged for the kidnappings and the bombings."

If Franky could have, he would have torn himself from the frame of the chair, but he was melded to it and still low on cola. His body was still running on fumes. He squinted to look at the faces of his family members, beaten and broken. How anyone could think his family could have done what they said? Sure, they may be not the most honest citizens, but the Franky Family were not hardened criminals. Impel Down was where the World Government locked away "the worst of the worst" forever, no rights, no hope, and no escape.

Franky tightened his hands into fists as he knew how it happened. When people are afraid, they are willing to do anything. Fear drives the masses and democracy is shit when people in power want a scapegoat. He'd deal with Iceburg for not proving their innocence. Iceburg and Franky clearly did not see eye to eye, but he knew Iceburg to be somewhat decent and would not willfully let innocent people rot in the most fearsome prison known to mankind for a crime they clearly did not commit.

Franky flung his words to Usopp, "You act as if that should make me help you lot. My family is suffering, so why should I give a damn about yours?"

This was where Usopp has practiced his speech, all his lies being put to the test. "We have ties to Shichibukai that can get into Impel Down. We can rescue them, but only until you tell us about Nami."

"And if I don't?" Franky tested the waters.

Usopp walked back to his desk and brought back a bottle of black liquid. "When you collapsed, you said something about cola, and so…I did some poking around. Your body that is. Between Perona, Law, and I…we figured out what you needed. It's not the same, it's better. You call it 'cola' right, but it's basically a carbonated oil that augments the tech integrated into your body."

Franky licked his lips, even though he did not necessarily drink this cola. His body was dying of thirst and it was a miracle that he even woke up from his collapse. "Look, what if I can't help you? What if I don't know shit?"

"You know about Pluton?" Usopp asked, dangling the liquid before Franky's wide eyes.

"Cut the shit, bro. Why the fuck you need that?" First, it was about a girl, and now it was about a war machine. These guys keep changing their story.

Usopp hit a button on his mouse and a young girl's face appeared on the screen. "When we were in Water 7, CP9 and this woman were after Pluton. Iceburg said that he had the blueprints, but I don't think that's true because those guys burned the blueprints in Iceburg's place. They also said they were after a Cutty Flam."

Franky was too busy staring at the screen until Usopp said that name and he physically tensed up. Usopp watched him but continued with a bit more confidence. "Now, Brook said Tom had two apprentices…Iceburg and…Franky, you. Iceburg was hell-bent on getting you out the town, so…that can only mean you are Cutty Flam. Am I correct?"

Franky said nothing as his eyes drifted back to the screen, "So that woman is after Pluton, too?"

"Yes. But we don't care about that…we just want to find Nami."

"And I told you that the last time I saw her…she was about to get captured and then-" Franky stopped and looked back at the screen. The wanted poster that shimmered on the screen was of a child, however that black hair and those blue eyes…It's her. It has to be. Nico. Robin. He had thought the woman was a part of this team but apparently not if they were not aware of her familiarity with Nami. There was something about her that he just did not understand. Perhaps it was him trying to hold his cards close to his vest, but if they were only keeping him alive if he had information about Nami then he could not tell them that the woman was the one who took her, especially if she's been on the World Government's since she was a child. Where does that leave me? Especially if they don't give a shit about Pluton.

"She was taken." Franky continued.

"You're lying," Usopp stated firmly. "Brook said you would know where she would be."

"Look, I don't know who this Brook bro is, but all I know is what I know. I don't know where Nami is…" Usopp banged his fist on the table and scowled, but Franky spoke again, "But I could probably tell you where she is."

"How?" Usopp looked at him, and for a moment, Franky felt bad. He had beaten the younger man up, stolen his money which was apparently for Nami's rescue…but again, Franky needed to think of his family.

"There is only one way off Water 7 and that is by boat or by the Sea Train. If she took the Sea Train, there are only two places she could have gone from Blue Station at Water 7. Shift Station…I once knew the old lady that ran the lighthouse there, but that place was destroyed a long time ago. The other place…is Day Station, located at Enies Lobby."

Usopp's eyes went wide and he steadied himself on the table. "Wait…Enies Lobby? Isn't that…"

"Yes," Franky said firmly, "The Judicial Island…a government-controlled stronghold. Also known as the headquarters of CP9."

"Why would she be-"

"I told you…when I was after her, it was for a bounty made by the World Government. I don't know what the girl did, but compared to the other faces on those papers…" he glanced at the screen again, "For you to get a wanted poster, you were deserving of being captured dead or alive."

"You know you have a wanted poster, right? We practically all do now."

"Good shit. Fuck the World Government bro, but I'm just telling you that if she was as important as you say…perhaps CP9 took her. You said she was a cat burglar, right? Maybe she stole the blueprints. Pluton's plans are worth more than any of you know."

"But you have them, right? If we just take it from you…perhaps we can exchange it for her whereabouts…and maybe even her release," Usopp said hopefully, willfully wagering one man's life for his friend's. Usopp was still a little wary of working with a man who only a few days ago knew him as nothing more than a broken body on his floor.

Franky chuckled as he leaned back, trying to look cool and comfortable in the chair. "If you were able to dig around as well as you did, then you should know…I'm a cyborg."

"So?"

"So…those plans everyone's so hell-bent on finding…they're in my head. So, if you and anyone else wants them…you better keep me alive. And be my friend."

"Friend?" Usopp asked incredulously.

"Look, bro, you don't need to trust me. But I would like to have some mobility sometime soon. We can make a deal. I'll help you find the girl. If she's in Enies Lobby, we'll know. I still know bounty hunters, so they'd tell me if she was taken off the list. If she's on a boat, then I'd also be able to tell you who made it. Iceburg may know all the legal shit, but when it comes to things without a trace, I'm your guy, bro."

"Stop calling me bro…" Usopp said with a turn of his head. He looked at the screen; Nico Robin's face peering back at him. When Brook had told him to search for the Revolutionary Army, there were many things he found. Nico Robin was the most surprising. There were no recent images of her as if she disappeared off the face of the Earth after she was marked by the World Government as "The Devil Child" and charged with decimating an entire island.

Before Water 7, Usopp would not have believed it…but the world was getting much bigger. For a man who practically lived on the internet, the real world was becoming more and more unreal by the day. Be it cyborgs or assassins, Usopp was going to get his best friend back. He had to. He owed her.

"Fine, Franky. I'll talk to the others…"

"Once you get your girl, you better hold your end of the deal and get me my family. I am not a forgiving man…"

Usopp turned with a scowl, "We will keep our word."

He left the room as Franky protested but Usopp closed the door behind him as he ran into Brook.

"Ah, Sir Computer Genius…how is our newest comrade?"

Usopp pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Difficult. He doesn't know where Nami is…but it looks like we may have a lead. However, we need to promise to help him get his family back…from Impel Down once we get Nami."

"Impel Down?" Brook gasped, "Are you sure we can do that?"

"Well…I did sort of name drop, not exactly, but I told him we have some Shichibukai in our pockets."

"You do?" Brook gasped again. "And how did that happen?"

"Long story…but….uh, Brook. How did you know that Franky was Cutty Flam?"

"Cutty Flam? I didn't. I was simply told that Franky would know where Nami was."

"By who again?" Usopp looked up with serious eyes.

Brook did not fidget and instead coolly leaned down, "My little birdie."

"You keep saying that but-"

"Usopp." He was taken aback from Brook using his real name for once. "Some questions are better left unanswered. All you need to know right now is that we are all here to find Nami…and perhaps, Franky or Cutty Flam, whoever he is, can join us freely."

"I'm not so sure about that," Usopp said as he rubbed the tired muscles in his neck.

Brook patted his shoulder as he moved past him. "Give me a few minutes with him…perhaps an old bag of bones can convince him otherwise. Yohohoho!"

Before Usopp could object, Brook had opened and closed the door to Franky's "dungeon", as Perona put it. Usopp furrowed his brows as he tried to settle the uneasiness in his stomach. He did not like not knowing all the facts. Perhaps Nami's logic was right…knowledge is always power, and I need to figure out what I'm missing here.

A/N: For reviewer moi, when I read your comment about missing Boa and Mihawk, I smiled as I looked at my plans. See what I did there;) They're back…and badder than ever.

I actually really love how this story has gotten bigger and bigger. I'll admit, the original was quite tiny, perhaps capitalizing on Arlong, but what's the fun in that? I get to see power couple Mihawk & Boa bust out and basically own ish.

There are more characters and fun stories to play out. It's fun. I mean I THINK IT IS…but once ya'll comment, I'll never know;P

FUN FACT: I had originally written out the Mihawk/Zoro interaction much differently. Mihawk was more taunting and Zoro more hotheaded, but then I rewatched how canon (anime) played out Zoro asking Mihawk to train him and I stuck to that a bit more rigidly – with my own twist, per the song.

PLOT TWIST: Robin is working with Boa? WHOA. I mean, who knew? Mind you, now I'm kinda scrambling to go back and forth to make sure I am not leaving plot holes anywhere without spoiling anything. It seems they know Law, hmmmmmmmmmm. And I've added in the fun of Impel Down! I feel like that was like a Crocodile redemption arc, but I wasn't biting.

Well, let's see what is gonna happen. Ace is with Nami…out in the middle of nowhere. Mihawk AND BOA are training/beating up Zoro. Franky is plotting on his own…Usopp is digging. Who is Brook's little birdie? Will Robin show up and pop the mystery bubble? Stay tuned!

P.S. How much fun would it be for Kokoro to see her dear Cutty Flam again? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

XoXo shipfiend