Robin Spreads Her Wings
Another day was beginning as the familiar scene of Robin and Olivia walking up the mountain path to Dadan's shack played out as usual. Upon reaching the run-down home, Robin easily spotted the trio of siblings waiting for her, Luffy naturally waving his hands over his head as he made his way over to her, Ace and Sabo following behind. Soon enough, Makino made her appearance to talk to the ex-archeologist to have a short catch-up on the day.
"So, what are we doing today, guys?" Robin asked.
"Well, Robin…" Sabo scratched the back of his head, not able to find a way to gently tell Robin about the activity for the day.
"We're gonna be fighting!" Luffy shouted with glee.
"F-fighting?!" The dark haired girl blanched.
"We fight one another to get stronger and ready for when we become pirates." Ace explained, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
Robin felt extremely uncomfortable at the indication. She never was a fan of violence. Glancing over at Luffy, she could see that he was bouncing in place, actually looking forward to fighting his older, and bigger, brothers.
"Hey, robin!" Luffy interrupted her train of thought. "Why don't you come with us? You can watch as I beat Ace black and blue!"
"Dream on!" Ace bragged. "If you haven't beaten me before, then you never will!"
As the two borhters' argued about who was going to beat who worse, Robin's own appall of getting hurt was getting the best of her, causing her to step back a little, unaware that she was about to bump into the large, elder bandit woman behind her.
"Watch where you're going!" Dadan growled.
"Sorry!" Robin blurted out in her startled state. Dadan took note of how she was acting and decided to ask about it.
"What's got you all shook up?" The bandit woman looked down at the girl.
Robin turned her head back to the boys, still going on about how badly they were going to beat one another. "They said they're going to be fighting today. I don't like fighting…"
Dadan looked between the little dark haired girl and the three ruff-housing siblings before talking to Robin again. "You ever been in a fight before?"
"No…" The girl shook her head. "But I've been hit a lot…It hurts…"
Dadan felt sympathy for Robin, unable to see how anyone would want to hurt someone so sweet and adorable, not that she'd say that out loud of course. With a huff from her cigarette, the bandit woman got down on one knee and placed a hand on the little girl's shoulder.
"Listen, kid…when you're in a fight, weather you're taking a beating or giving one out, it's gonna hurt no matter what." She explained. "Taking a punch hurts, but so does throwing one back. Sometimes, the trick to winning a fight, is taking more punishment than the other guy, and making sure you're the one still standing when the fight's over."
"But that just sounds so…horrible!" Robin spoke in her defense.
Dadan was surprised that such a young girl could know a word like that. Then again, seeing she usually has her nose in a book most of the time, and on account on who her mother is, it can be kind of expected. But looking past the fancy words, she could see the childish minds cape the girl still had, on how bad violence is. No matter how smart she was, Robin was still a child.
"The world can be a cruel place, kid," The bandit woman went on. "When it decides to be mean to you, you either gotta be mean back, or just lie down and take it."
Robin was shocked to hear this, but as much as she didn't want to believe it, Dadan was right. After all, the world had already been quite cruel to her already…
As the girl thought about the upsetting fact, she remembered what her mother said to her after Ace had yelled at her, about how she was stronger than even she knew she was.
Could she be able to fight?
"What's going on over here?" The green haired woman asked as she and Olivia made their way over to the bandit woman and Robin. The siblings came out of they're bickering to see who was talking.
"Luffy and his brothers are going to be fighting today…" The dark haired girl muttered.
"Fighting?!" The white haired scholar gasped.
"Yeah!" Luffy beamed. "And I wanted Robin to come and watch me beat up, Ace!"
"You're not gonna beat me Luffy, and that's a fact!" The freckled boy then tackled his younger bother to the ground, the two rolling around in the dirt to try and pin the other.
"Boys will be boys I suppose…" Makino huffed as she watched the display.
"You're not going to be fighting with them are you, Robin?!" The mother panicked.
"No!" Robin defended whilst waving her hands in front of her. "But…I want to be their to help…if one of them gets hurt…"
Makino smirked to herself, as she guessed who Robin was really worried for. Olivia stared at her daughter, wondering what the best thing to do was. She then gave a sigh, caving in to her daughter's pleading eyes.
"Alright," She relented. "You can go with them. But no fighting!"
Robin beamed with delight at this. "Thanks, Momma!"
The ex-archeologist then marched over to the brothers, as Luffy and Ace stopped they're squabbling. She gathered the three together and looked them in the eye. "Look after my daughter, and see she doesn't get hurt."
"No problem, Ms. Olivia!" Sabo declared.
"We'll keep Robin safe, no matter what!" Ace proclaimed.
"You can count on us!" Luffy announced.
"That's good…" The white haired scholar leaned in closer to the three, wanting to make her next words between her and them.
"Because if anything does happen to my little girl, weather it's your fault or not, I will bury you so far away from this island and so deep beneath the earth, it will take even the greatest archeologist's in the world a million years to find your bodies…"
Each one of the three siblings shared a gulp of fear.
When Olivia brought her face back from the brothers, she had a warm smile on her face, one that hid a chilling aura behind it.
"Have a good time, boys!" She said sweetly. "And try not to be too hard on each other!"
The young siblings gave a nervous nod, when Robin's voice came out of nowhere made them jump. "Are we ready to go?"
As the three shook themselves out of their shock, Luffy then hurriedly grabbed Robin by her hand. "Yeah! Sure! Let's get going!" He pulled her towards the jungle, the girl's face blushing all the way.
The children then disappeared into the thick wild, leaving the adults the only ones in the clearing.
"What did you say to boys before they left?" Makino inquired.
"Oh, just a little something about how fossils are made…" The ex-archeologist answered politely.
"GUM GUM…" Luffy wound up his clenched fist as he charged at Ace before throwing it forward. "PISTOL!"
As his rubbery arm was launched at the freckled boy, Ace easily managed to step to one side, letting the attack pass by and strike against a tree. The fist then ricocheted back at Luffy, landing square in his face.
"OW!" The boy cried as he fell on his rear. Sabo and Robin were watching to one side sitting on a log, the top hatted boy laughing as he clutched his stomach, while Robin brought her hands up to her mouth to hold in a gasp.
"Why do you even bother with that attack, Luffy?" Ace reprimanded as he stepped toward the boy. "Your Gum Gum powers are useless, no matter what you do with them!"
"Don't make fun of my powers!" The straw hatted boy erupted. "You'll see! My powers are gonna be the most amazing thing ever!"
"Ha!" The freckled boy antagonized. "I'll believe it when I see it!"
"Okay, guys, that's enough!" Sabo leaped off of the log he and Robin were sitting on and walked towards his brothers. "Since Luffy lost that round, It's now me verses Ace!"
"Bring it on!" The freckled boy smashed his fist to his open palm.
Luffy waddled back over to the spectating log, Robin coming off her seat to check up on him. "Are you okay, Luffy?"
"Yeah, I'm alright!" The straw hatted boy chuckled. "Having a rubber body means I don't feel that much pain."
"Well…as long as you're not hurt." The dark haired girl clutched her hands, hoping that the boy was truly all right.
"Don't worry, Robin." Ace piped up as he caught the sight of the two. "Luffy's taken way more damage than that!"
"H-he has?" Robin worriedly inquired.
"Heck yeah!" Ace laughed. "The first time he even met us, he-"
"Sssshhhh!" Sabo ran up to the boy and brought a finger to his lips in an instant, wanting to shush the freckled boy before he said anything more.
"Ace!" He hastily whispered. "I don't think Robin needs to know about that!"
"Know about what?" With all the sudden secrecy, Robin was starting to get worried.
Looking back at the girl, an epiphany made it's way into Ace's mind, realizing that what he was about to tell her would be a big mistake to make. "U-uh, nothing! Nothing at all, Robin! Hahahahahaha!"
But against the older brothers attempt to change the subject, Luffy remembered what they were talking about and decided to open his mouth.
"Oh! You guys are talking about the time you let a pirate and his gang kidnap me and beat me up!"
Silence filled the small clearing in the jungle. Robin had a face of horror, while Ace and Sabo began to sweat.
"I hate you so much right now, Luffy…" The freckled boy mumbled.
"YOU WHAT?!" The dark haired girl screeched, charging toward the two boys to confront them.
"W-w-w-wait a minute, Robin!" Sabo threw his hands forward to try and ward off the girl's wrath. "We did save him, just so you know! Once we realized he'd spent the whole day being tortured-"
"YOU LET HIM BE TORTURED FOR A WHOLE DAY?!" Robin was at her wits end at hearing this.
"Not helping, Sabo…!" Ace motioned to his brother.
Robin stayed in place, her hair covering her eyesight and her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Soon enough, she lifted her arms up and struck her Hana Hana pose. Feeling a tap on their right, Ace and Sabo looked to their right to find a third arm sprouting out of their shoulder. Caught in a state of shock, they were unable to stop the resounding slap to both of their cheeks.
"OW!" The two rubbed their faces in pain.
"WHY WOULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?!" The dark haired girl was close to tears. "WHAT DID LUFFY DO THAT WAS SO BAD THAT YOU WOULD LET HIM BE KIDNAPPED AND TORTURED?!"
The two older siblings could only rub their cheeks and look at the ground in awkward silence.
"I found out about their treasure…" The straw hatted boy behind her spoke. Robin looked back at the boy with a look of surprise.
"Treasure?" Robin asked bewildered. "What treasure?"
"Luffy!" Ace suddenly shouted. "That's supposed to a secret!"
"Robin's my friend!" The younger sibling erupted, making the two boys flinch. "It's okay if she knows!"
Luffy then turned back to Robin and explained everything. "Ace and Sabo had been stealing treasure from bad guys in the Grey Terminal and hiding it in the jungle, saving it for when they became pirates."
"The Grey Terminal?" Robin wondered.
"Outside of the Goa Kingdom is a giant trash pile that they throw all their garbage and unwanted valuables into." Sabo spoke up.
Over the time that Robin and the brother's had spent time with one another, Sabo had revealed his noble lineage to the girl, who accepted him regardless of where he came from. Both she and Sabo shared the same kind of horrid house life, so they had a strong understanding and great sympathy for one another.
"People scavenge the terminal for anything worth having." The top hatted boy went on. "Most of the gold and jewels that he nobles of the kingdom throw out are instantly picked up by the surrounding gangs of thugs. No one would dare go up against them, not even us."
"The nobles throw away their treasure?!" Robin asked shocked. "But why?!"
"Probably because they get bored of it." Ace piped up disgusted. "Those old fogies are so rich, they've got money to burn…"
"I don't believe it…" The dark haired girl was appalled at such a notion. Throwing away wealth, just because you're rich enough to do so. It was as if the nobles were rubbing in the fact that they were more privileged than regular people by doing this.
Robin shook herself from thinking about the nobles and refocused on the matter at hand. "That still doesn't change the fact that what you did to Luffy was wrong!"
"We know!" Sabo called out, feeling bad enough. "And we're sorry!" He put his hand to his head, the shame becoming too much to bare. "None of this would have happened if we didn't tie him to a tree and try to kill him…"
The moment Sabo let those words slip, it was too late to take them back.
"You…you…you tried to…" Robin felt like she was about to faint.
"I think you've been spending too much time with Luffy, Sabo…" Ace muttered to the top hatted boy, who was stuck dumbfounded.
Once again, Robin struck her Hana Han pose and proceeded to slap the two repeatedly. Never had she been so angry in her whole life. These two boys, who were supposed to be Luffy's brothers, had done the most horrible things to him, worse than anything she had been accustomed to on Ohara!
No one on that island ever tired to kill her, at least not until the world government showed up. All the people on the island did was hate and shun her, and even though Aunt Roji beat her, she would never have the guts to try and kill her.
But these two…Luffy's so called 'brothers'…!
"ROBIN, STOP!" The straw hatted boy cried.
Robin snapped out of her rage, breaking her pose and letting the hands disappear, leaving Ace and Sabo laid out on the ground, their faces covered in searing red hand marks.
"Are you guys okay?!" Luffy panicked as he ran over to the two.
"Yeah…we're okay…" Sabo winced as he picked himself up.
"You were right, Luffy…your girlfriend really is tougher than she looks…" Ace managed to say through the pain.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Luffy defended comically.
"Why…?" The dark haired girl silently seethed. "Why are you helping them?! After everything they've done to you, why would you want to have them as brothers?!"
The older siblings felt a sting of pain go through their chests at these words. Those words hurt worse than the slaps.
Luffy stepped forward to Robin, standing in front of his brothers with a cold glare in his eyes. Robin took a step back at this, never before seeing this side of the boy before.
"L-luffy…?"
"They're all I have!" Luffy shouted, louder than ever before since Robin had met him. The girl leaped back, fear filling her heart as she couldn't tear her eyes away from the fiery glare the straw hatted boy was giving her.
"Grandpa would beat me if I tried to run back to the village! Dadan and her friends are mountain bandits and I hate them! And Makino isn't here to help me! If I didn't have Ace and Sabo, I'd be all alone!" At this point, Luffy was sniffing back tears, while Robin could only gape at what he was saying.
"BEING ALONE IS WORSE THAN BEING DEAD!" The straw hatted boy finished.
An empty silence came over the children, nobody making a move or a sound. After absorbing everything that Luffy had said, she just couldn't take it. Robin broke down crying, turned around and ran away, her wails fading with her as she ran deep into the jungle.
"Robin!" Luffy reached his hand out to her, a vain attempt to bring her back. As soon as her figure was out of sight, the boy hung his head, sadness overwhelming him.
"Luffy?" Ace was still nursing his sore spots as he made his way over to him, Sabo following behind.
"I made Robin cry…" Luffy muttered, droplets of moisture falling from under his straw hat. He looked back at his brothers, showing the misery plain on his features. "I didn't mean to…"
Sabo placed his hand on the weeping boy's shoulder. "We know, Luffy. We know…"
Luffy couldn't hold it in anymore and began to wail loudly into the sky.
He was looking forward to fighting today.
But not like this…
Robin kept on running, retracing her footsteps after she followed the brothers into the jungle. That was the first time Luffy, her first ever friend, had ever gotten mad at her.
The feeling was dreadful. Worse than whenever she was picked on or glared at back on Ohara. Having someone who cared about you and you them turn around and scream at you was the worst feeling ever.
What she still couldn't understand was why? After everything that Ace and Sabo let happen to Luffy, along with what they tried to do, why would Luffy want to be with them, let alone have them as brothers?
She stopped dead in her tracks when her mind gave her an answer.
The answer was the same reason she clung to Luffy when she first met him. He was the only one decent enough around to be friends with, when everyone else was either too busy or didn't like her at all.
Because he was lonely.
Just like her.
And Just like Ace and Sabo.
What Luffy said to her finally made sense. She wiped the tears from her eyes and immediately turned around, rushing back to where the trio of siblings was hopefully still gathered.
She had to apologize.
Upon reaching the brothers, she suddenly hid herself behind a large tree trunk, watching as a group of unsavory characters had the boys surrounded and down on the ground.
Two figures stuck out amount the men. One; a grotesque looking man with a giant pot-belly sticking out of a dirty white button shirt, a bald head with long, unruly hair protruding out of the back and sides of his head, and a toothless grin smeared across his face.
The other, a smart looking man wearing a dark blue petty coat, buckled shoes, socks going up to his knees, with a dark blue top hat on top of his head, long black hair with a matching mustache and a small beard on his chin, with a bored and unimpressed expression on his face as he looked down at the three young ones.
Robin did not get a good vibe off of either one of them.
To prove her point, the ugly bald man smashed his fist against Ace's head, spilling his blood out of the newly open wound which splattered against the well dressed man's cheek.
The man in the top hat then pulled out a handkerchief, complaining about the ugly man, who he addressed as 'Bluejam', getting 'commoners blood' on him, saying that he'll have to disinfect himself when he gets home.
Bluejam apologized to the rich looking man, doing what could only be described as a bad impression of acting fancy and royal. The rich man turns back to the boys and addressed Sabo, telling him that it was time to come home.
Robin guessed that this man was Sabo's father, the man who had a hand in making his home life a living nightmare.
Ace and Luffy defended their brother, yelling at the rich man that Sabo doesn't want to go with him. Sabo's father ignored them and gave Sabo a choice; watch as Bluejay and his crew kills his friends in front of him, or come home now and spare their lives, promising to never leave the kingdom again.
Robin blanched at hearing this, nearly letting out a noise in protest to the ultimatum that would have given her away. With a heavy heart, she stayed in her hiding place and watched the spectacle run its course.
With no other alternative, Sabo caved in and agreed to come home with his father, against Ace and Luffy's defiance. The top hatted boy got up on his feet and followed his father home through the jungle, sobbing all the way as Ace called out to him and Luffy silently cried at the loss of one of his brothers.
Robin brought her hands up to her face, keeping her own sounds of heartache from being heard as she wept for the boy who was forced to be a noble once more.
As soon as the father and son had disappeared out of sight, Bluejam ordered his men to grab the two boys left and take them back to their hideout. Ace and Luffy tried to fight them off, but there was too many of them.
All Robin could do was follow the two captured brothers and prey for their safety.
"Why'd you bring us here?!" Ace bellowed as he and Luffy were surrounded by Bluejam and his gang, all of them sitting around the inside of a broken up shipwreck, Bluejam's old ship without a doubt. As the two boys were standing in the middle of the group of thugs, Robin was hiding and watching behind a large crate from afar.
"Now, now! No need to be so rash!" The hideous man chided gently, attempting to clam the boys to a failed degree. "I can understand it's been a rough day for you two, having one of your best friends turn their back on you to live a cushy life in the kingdom!"
"Sabo didn't turn his back on us!" Luffy dared to shout. "He hates being a noble!"
"Ha! That's a laugh!" The run down pirate sneered. "If I had the chance to live like the rest of those lucky jerks behind that wall, I'd take it in a heartbeat! Anyone would! I bet the only reason he hung out with you in the first place was because he felt sorry for you!"
"You take that back!" The freckled boy rushed forward before having a large, rusty blade pointing at him right between the eyes.
"In any case…" The vicious bum seethed as he withdrew his sword. "We still need you boys to do a little job for us. You help us with this, you're free to go. We'll even split that treasure we found with you; fifty-fifty!"
"That treasure was ours in the first place!" Luffy shouted.
"Not anymore it's not!" Bluejam roared as he stood from his seat, easily towering over the two brothers.
"Bring out the crates!" The ex-pirate ordered his men. When the cronies came back, they brought with them a load of large wooden crates with red flags sticking out of one of their corners.
Robin's face turned white at the sight of them. She had read about these kind of crates before. Those boxes were filled to the brim with gunpowder and oil. Used in warfare, the boxes are used to cause a distraction and wide spread damage. The red flags acted as markers,signifying their placement on a designated location to be placed.
But what would these pirates want to do with a weapon like this?
"All you have to do is help us place these boxes around the jungle at these locations." Bluejam pulled out a map of the jungle and pointed at a few tiny red flags littered across the paper. "After you do that, you're free to go!" Bluejam smiled a toothless grin.
Robin had guessed right. The map was proof that those boxes were exactly what she thought they were. But that still didn't answer her question; why did these pirates want to burn the jungle down?
If only she could stop Ace and Luffy and tell them what they were doing…!
"And what if we say 'no'?" Ace growled, giving the much larger man a death-filled glare.
Bluejam pulled his sword back out and pointed it at both him and the straw hatted boy next to him. "You boys may be good at fighting off street thugs and wild animals, but we're pirates! We kill who ever we want, whenever we want! Sometimes, for the sheer fun of it!"
The bum had a point. Ace, Luffy and Sabo could take a bunch of cowards hiding down dark allies and the wildlife in the jungle, but these guys we're defiantly out of their league, even if they were a bunch of losers.
The down and out outlaw put his sword back in its sheath, replacing his sneer with a fake friendly grin. "Now that we've gotten all the ugly stuff out of the way, what's say we get to work?"
Ace and Luffy were forced to carry all the boxes over the top of their heads. Even though they were both monstrously strong and it was a breeze to carry them, it was still quite cruel of the adults to make the children do all the labour.
Robin was in a slight panic of what to do next. Running back to her mother and the others would take to long, long enough for the pirates to set aflame to what ever they planned to burn, plus she couldn't leave Luffy and Ace to Bluejam's hands.
The dark haired girl watched as the two brothers were lead away by the gang, fear and helplessness running through her. Idea after idea ran through her mind, clouding her head and making her more desperate and tears begin to prickle at her eyes.
"The world can be a cruel place, kid. When it decides to be mean to you, you either gotta be mean back, or just lie down and take it."
Dadan's words silenced anything else that came into the girl's mind.
The old bandit woman was right. Here was the world deciding to get mean and hurt Robin, and worst of all her friends. Was she going to do what she used to do back on Ohara? Run away to somewhere she can be alone and cry the problem away?
No.
Now it was her turn to get mean. It was time to stand up and give the world a taste of what it's dishing out. She was going to save Luffy and Ace, no matter what!
Robin followed the gang of pirates and the captured brothers, with new found courage lighting her path.
"I miss Sabo…" Luffy whined, agitating not only Ace, but the pirates guiding them along their path.
"I miss him too, Luffy, but what's done is done!" The freckled boy gently whispered, distancing himself from his emotions as he does whenever things get too much.
Looking back at his little brother, he decided to try and cheer him up with some made up story. "Besides, Sabo deserves better than to be with the likes of us. Now that he's behind the wall again, maybe his life will be better. Maybe his Dad started to miss him and will treat him better now that he knows what life is like without him."
"But I miss him…!" Luffy moaned once more.
"One more word and I'll smack you myself!" one of Bluejam's cronies threatened with a motion of his backhand.
Ace would have ripped the man's throat out if it was just him, but knew that doing so would bring the rest of the gang down on him and his little brother. Ace didn't care what happened to him…but if anything happened to Luffy…
"Place that one here!" Bluejam ordered, snapping Ace out of his thoughts. The freckled boy laid one of the flagged boxes down before being shoved by one of the pirates to keep moving.
Once the gang was out of sight, Robin came out from behind one of the many large tree trunks and made her way over to the large wooden crate. Taking in the size of the object and calculating how heavy it might be, Robin knew that lifting this thing would be impossible for her.
She'd need an extra pair of hands, or twenty…
Going into her Hana Hana pose, Robin protruded multiple hands to sprout out from under the crate and lift it in the air. Wincing a little at the amount of weight her hands were holding, Robin did her best to stay strong, managing to walk along with a series of conveying hands pluming out of the ground, one batch of hands having the crate to the next.
Robin deduced that she and the crate were close to the outer rim of Dawn Island itself, from all the maps she had seen and memorized. Coming from out of the jungle, a cliff viewing out to the wide open sea appeared. With a few more straining heaves, Robin managed to throw the crate into the ocean, watching it sink into the dark depths, completely out of sight.
Robin wiped her brow and gave a victorious smile, only to remember that there were plenty more crates where that came from. Running back into the wild, Robin hoped to catch up to the group and repeat her actions, until every last crate was gone.
She still didn't understand. Why would Bluejam and his crew want to burn down the forest anyway? it just didn't make any sense!
The nobles were out of their minds!
Sabo ran through the whole city, gasping for breath and desperation at the same time.
Things hadn't changed a bit since the last time Sabo had been home. Once being brought back to the kingdom, the top hatted boy was forced to make a statement to the local police department, where his father, known as Outlook III, ordered him to say that he was being held captive by Luffy and Ace against his own will. Sabo ,being the loyal and honorable friend he was, denied the statement, earning him a hard strike from his own father, who then proceeded to pay the officer off to let him back into the kingdom.
Upon returning home, Sabo found out that in his absence, his parents had adopted another boy, a snot nosed brat by the name of Shelly, who they seemed to cherish more than him. Sabo had been neglected by his parents before, but this just felt like the lowest blow they had ever felt him. Over the time spent with the female looking boy, Sabo disliked him more and more; everything that came out of his mouth was snide, rude, spiteful and arrogant, Just like his parents. Just like what they wanted him to be…
But that wasn't the worst part. The absolute worst was yet to come…
Alone in his room, Sabo was visited by his 'brother' who had the guts to start poking fun at his 'riff-raff' friends. Naturally, Sabo leaped onto Shelly and proceeded to pound his face till it was covered in black bruises. The adopted boy was singing a much more pathetic tune after that, but what he said next made Sabo turn pale.
The boy sneered as he relented the kingdom's plan to burn down the Grey Terminal, along with any unfortunate soul still routing around in the giant junkyard, just to make the kingdom look presentable for a visit from the Celestials.
Hundreds of lives…an entire forest…burned down… Along with-
Sabo had no time to finish that horrific thought as he bolted out of the house, Shelly's laughter echoing behind him.
Sabo ran into anyone and everyone he could find, telling them of the kingdom's devious plan. The reaction he got from every noble citizen he came across destroyed his hope, piece by piece, as they said they already knew and were looking forward to it.
It was now late at night as Sabo continued to run through the city, close to losing his mind at how cruel and evil this whole kingdom was.
Coming across a squad of police officers, he told them about the kingdom's plan as well, desperate for anyone to help. Unfortunately, all he got was the same response that he had been getting from everyone all day, the officers laughing him off and telling him to go back inside.
Finally losing all rational thought, Sabo ran for the kingdom's main gate,pounding at the large frames with all his might, until he was pulled away and thrown to the ground by the officers themselves.
Before blacking out from the sudden beating at the hands of the police, the last thing Sabo thought of was his two brothers, his real brothers, the dark haired girl that came into there lives and all the adventures they had together.
And then everything went black.
Olivia was pacing back and forth, growing more anxious with every minute that her daughter wasn't back by.
"Where are they?" The mother fretted.
"They should have been back by now…" Makino worried as she looked out into the forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of any of the children.
Off to the side, Dadan was taking a large swig of her liquor, watching the two women worry for the young ones. Along side her were her gang of cronies, who were making as much of a fuss as the bar-tender and mother.
"I hope they're all right…" One of the bandit lady's cronies voiced out. Dadan tried to ignore him.
"What if something happened to them?" another spoke up. The orange haired woman shut her eyes and did her best to block out the conversation mentally.
"If something did and Garp found out…" Another bandit exclaimed in fright.
That was the last straw for the bandit leader. She slammed her liquor on the ground, startling her men and catching the attention of the two women away from the shack.
"Is that all you're belly-aching about?!" The red-headed woman bellowed. "'What if Garp finds out?!'" She then proceeded to spit on the ground, as if the notion had put a bad taste in her mouth.
Dadan then raised herself from her seating position and glared daggers at her men. "If you're so worried about saving your own skin, then we might as well go in there and start looking for those brats!"
Even though Dadan was saying all of this, her henchmen could see through her words and began to tear up. She cared about the kids just as much as they did, even though she didn't want to show it.
"OH, BOSS~!" The men chorused with tears in their eyes.
"Quit looking at me like that! You'll give me nightmares!" The bandit leader roared.
"I'm coming with you!" Olivia spoke as she marched over to the redhead.
"You sure?" Dadan queried. "The jungle is dangerous enough sure in the day, but down-right deadly at night."
"The last time my daughter was in danger, I did nothing…" The ashamed mother lowered her head before shooting it back up again. "I won't fail her again!"
"I'm coming too!" Makino piped up.
Dadan grimaced about bringing the two, but seeing the pleading determination in their eyes let her know that they were not backing down without a fight.
"…Alright, fine!" The bandit leader huffed weakly. "Just stay close to me and keep your eyes peeled; for the kids and any wild animals."
The two women nodded their heads and the search party made there way into the dense dark wilderness.
Luffy and Ace finally had a chance to take a break as they sat on the ground after placing the last box in another strange location in the jungle. Currently, the two boys and Bluejam's gang were on the outskirts of the Grey Terminal, the giant junkyard that the nobles made thanks to their wasteful ways.
"Well done, boys!" Bluejam praised the two brothers as they caught their breath. "You did as you were told and were very well behaved!"
"Gee, thanks!" Ace snidely remarked. "Now will you let us go?"
"Of course, of course!" The ex-pirate waved them off, before a sickening smile spread across his face. "But before you go, I want to show you boys the results of your hard work…"
"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked, a knot beginning to form in his stomach.
"You'll see…" The down and out pirate chuckled as he pulled out a fancy gold pocket watch, something far too valuable to be in the hands of the likes of him.
"3…2…1…!"
"I think that's the last of them…!" Robin gasped as she wiped her brow with the back of her hand.
All through the day, she had been tailing behind Luffy, Ace and the vicious gang of ex-pirates. Where ever the two boys were told to place one of the large wooden boxes, Robin waited for the coast to be clear, before sneaking up to the crate and using her powers to conveyer it over a cliff into the ocean, throwing it into a pit of quicksand and letting it sink to the bottom of thick pool of swamp water.
Robin had no idea what those men had in mind with those crates, but she knew it wouldn't be good for anyone caught in their detonation.
"Now to go find Luffy and Ace!" As Robin began to run toward the groups last location, a massive explosion erupted from the deep lake she had plopped the last box into, with a geyser of water shooting up high above the trees.
Numerous more explosions sounded off across the jungle, muffled by the layers of dirt and moister they were buried under. The explosions were so great, they shook the ground beneath Robin's own feet, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
Once the explosions stopped along with the shaking ground, Robin pulled herself up and looked back at the small lake, which was now steaming from the recently released heat from the crate.
"That was too close…"
"ROBIN~!" Olivia called out into the jungle, keeping an ear out for any sound for her daughter.
"Quit shouting like that!" Dadan bellowed herself. "Who knows what you might attract out here!"
She, Olivia, Makino and the Dadan bandits were scuffling through the brush, searching for the lost boys and young girl, when all of a sudden a loud boom sounded off from a sandpit a fair distance away, spraying its mud across the surrounding area.
The search party took cover behind trees and shielded their faces from the raining dirt, before the onslaught finally stopped.
"My…goodness!" The bar-tender gasped as she came from her hiding place.
"What could have caused that?!" One of the bandits asked out loud.
Olivia came out of her shock and focused on what mattered most to her. "We have to find the children…ROBIN~!"
Sabo was awaken by what could have been the sound of thunder. As he pushed himself up from where he lay, he realized that he was down a dark alley of the city. After the police had beat him to uncontioustess, they must have tossed him into the pile of garbage where he had been laying in.
As his brain began to catch up with him, he then froze as the once forgotten fear spread through his system.
The explosions?
The nobles plan?
Grey Terminal?
He was too late.
He couldn't do anything.
Ace…
Luffy…
Robin…
He'd failed them.
He'd lost them!
They were gone! Along with who knows how many innocent lives were in the junk pile outside the kingdom!
Tears began to well up in the boy's eyes, the anguish and sorrow overflowing his senses.
As he lifted his up to the sky to cry out his pain, he noticed something. The sky was clear, the stars shining bright in a blanket of blue.
Sabo got to his feet as he began to think. The nobles plan was to burn down the Grey Terminal to make the kingdom look 'presentable' for the Celestials. That would mean that they would have to set the place on fire.
But there was no fire, no smoke in the sky, nothing but the night sky and the stars.
That could only mean one thing.
Grey Terminal wasn't on fire…
Grey Terminal was still there!
"WHY ISN'T THAT INFERNAL SCRAPYARD BURNING?!" The voice of a deeply upset old man roared as he slammed his fist on the arm of his chair, making his balanced glass of wine rock and fall to the floor.
"I-I do not know, your highness!" A butler stuttered whilst standing beside a window with the curtain drawn, looking out over the kingdom and far over the city's wall to the terminal.
"BLUEJAM, YOU FOOL!" The king of Goa thundered as he continued to pound the arm of his seat. "How could someone as stupid as you… SCREW UP A PLAN AS SIMPLE AS THIS?!"
Bluejam was stunned. He heard the explosions, he placed the boxes where they had to be, so why was nothing burning?
"W-what's going on, boss?" One of his men asked from behind him.
"Shut up!" He snapped as he began to pace back and forth, looking out into the distance for any sort of sign of a fire. Smoke, a red glow, anything!
"What were those loud booms just now?" Luffy spoke up, which only caused the toothless ex-pirate to look back at the two boys slowly, a look of pure rage building on his face. Ace took notice of this and sprang to his feet.
"What's up with you?!" The freckled boy struck a pose of keeping a hand toward Luffy in an effort to protect him and one clutch into a fist for defense.
"What did you do…?" The balding man whispered darkly as he slowly strode over to the two brothers, pulling out his sword as he moved.
"W-what are you talking about?!" The straw-hatted boy fearfully asked, only to have one of Bluejam's men grab him from behind and hoist him off his feet.
"Luffy!" Ace shouted, but before he could do anything, he was then restrained himself by another one of the thugs. As the two boys struggled, Bluejam stopped in front of the boys and hollered at the top his lungs as he pointed his sword towards them.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"Like we said!" Ace shouted as he struggled. "What are you talking about?!"
"Grey Terminal is supposed to be in flames right now!" Bluejam revealed angrily, causing the two boys to stop and look at the man in horror.
"That's what those boxes were for…?" Ace was nearly as white as a sheet.
"You mean we would have helped you…burn down Grey Terminal?" Luffy fearfully said out loud, horrified at the idea.
"You did something!" The ex-pirate deduced as he slammed the back of his sword's handle across the straw-hatted boy's face.
"Leave him alone!" Ace barked as he went back to struggling.
"You did something to the boxes when we weren't looking, didn't you?!" Bluejam then walked over and struck Ace.
"You had your eyes on us all day…!" The freckled boy ground out.
"And we just put the boxes where you told us too!" Luffy blubbered as tears began to build up in his eyes.
"SHUT UP!" Bluejam thundered as he began to pace back and forth, the anger seething within him. "You've ruined everything! Now the king will never let me and my crew into the city! We're never getting out of this pigsty!"
"The king?" Ace asked, wanting to know what in the world was going on.
"Tell me right now!" Bluejam was in front of Ace in an instant, his sword pressed hard against his throat.
"ACE!" Luffy wailed helplessly.
"I know you did something so don't lie to me if you value your life!" The ex-pirate bellowed as he got up close to Ace's face. "TELL ME WHAT YOU DID?!"
"They didn't do anything!" A voice came from behind the group as they all turned back. A small, dark haired girl came from out of a cluster of bushes and walked out in front of the men and brothers. "It was me."
"Robin?" Luffy gasped.
"What are you doing, Robin?!" Ace shouted in new found desperation. "Run for it!"
"You?!" Bluejam pulled his sword away from Ace and walked over to the young girl. "You messed up the plan?!"
"That's right!" Robin stated defiantly. "I got rid of the blast crates you made Luffy and Ace carry and place around the jungle, and stopped you from hurting innocent people and burning down my home!"
