-City-

-Sanji and Nami Group-

Sanji was furious. Running down the main thoroughfares along the right side of the island, he felt like smashing every goddamn cart, storage container, or government official he saw into pieces. Oh, he had tried to calm himself down, but every time he did his eyes would wander to the wrong place and then his blood would boil.

It was like picking at a scab. He knew what he would see, but he did it anyway. He looked.

Narobin was making stupid faces at him again.

Sanji grit his teeth and shouted, "GODDAMMIT NARUTO, stop desecrating Robin's pristine image or I swear to god that I will kick your ass, watch you explode, catch your clone-smoke in a jar, and fill that jar with dogshit soup! I'll do it! You know I will!"

Narobin just laughed, and Narusuke chuckled along with him.

The Robin clone didn't even LOOK right. He was lumpy in ways he wasn't supposed to be lumpy, his face was dumb, and he still sounded like Naruto doing a falsetto voice. For some reason, the clone had quickly realized that his very existence pissed Sanji off like nothing else and couldn't resist the chance to keep jabbing and needling him.

"Sanji! Focus!" admonished Nami, who was running beside them, "Keep checking the sky and the road or we're going to be ambushed!"

"Of course! I'm ready for anything!"

Even though the combined assault forces had made a clean sweep of most of the city on their rush to the Grand Courthouse, there was still the occasional Marine intelligence soldier in the road from time to time. Nami had her new and improved Clima-Tact staff at the ready, and between her and Sanji smashing people out of the way while Narusuke whipped shuriken at any windows where people started pulling out rifles, they had been more or less unchallenged so far. They had made it about half-way through the city when they finally ran into a serious problem.

Ahead, lounging in a small bit of green-space at the foot of a well-manicured tree, sat one of the CP9 members. He was so still that they almost hadn't noticed him. The CP9 assassin, Jabra, was dressed in a loose, black getup that looked like a cross between a formal suit and a martial-artist's outfit. The shirt was left unfastened to expose his chest, and he had queued hair, a long mustache, and a pair of ridiculous sunglasses. He stirred as they approached, standing up with a yawn and a stretch.

The crew had just enough time to register that their attackers had somehow made it here ahead of them when the man spun in place and sent a Rankyaku kick flying through the air. Narusuke barely dodged the fatal blade of cutting wind and went tumbling ass over teakettle to the ground, spilling Narobin as he fell.

The black-clad CP9 member pulled out a flare, fumbled with it for a moment before sending it up into the air, then waved amiably at Sanji and Nami, saying, "Hey. 'sup?"

Nami responded first. "What the hell?! Aren't you supposed to be taking her alive?"

Jabra laughed, genuinely amused by her reaction. "Lady, there's no point in fooling me. I knew those two weren't the real thing since before I got here." He pointed to his nose. "It's this sense of smell of mine, you see? Your kid over there doesn't smell like the real lady."

Sanji quietly cursed their shitty excuse for a ninja, then asked, "Alright, smartass, but if you knew he wasn't really Robin, why the hell did you even come here, anyway? Why send up a flare?"

Jabra kept laughing. "Heh, the flare's just for pissing off Lucci. He's an ass and three-quarters, but his nose is about as good as mine. He'll keep hunting until he finds the real one, and I'm not interested in fighting for scraps when there's something much more amusing running about."

With no more prelude Jabra dashed towards Sanji, his thin-soled shoes slapping against the rough pavement. At the last second, he completely changed his heading, redirecting all of his momentum to head straight for Nami. Sanji, however, was ready, jumping forward and intercepting the assassin with a fierce kick that sent Jabra sliding backward, hands raised in a block.

Jabra raised his head, baring his teeth in a predatory grin.

"Nami! I'll be fine!" shouted Sanji, "Just get yourself to safety and let me handle this guy!"

When there was no response, Sanji turned to glance at the empty space where she and the clones weren't. "-oh, you're gone already."

Jabra chuckled. "What a shame, looks like little Red Riding Hood's off to grandmother's house."

Sanji scowled across at his opponent. "Red Riding Hood, huh? I figured you'd make a try for her; you've got that sort of look in your eyes. So you think you're the Big Bad Wolf, do you?"

"Buddy, you don't know the half of it." Sneering, his body began to transform until the man grew to monstrous size, his nose protruding into a snout, fur covering his body, and nails lengthening into claws.

Sanji shook his head and cursed.

"Shit… goddamn Devil Fruits, huh? Well, looks like it's my turn to play the part of the Huntsman, after all..."

Soon after the fighting had started below, Rob Lucci arrived on a nearby rooftop and glared down at Jabra. Shaking his head, he moved on.

-Enies Lobby-

-Docks-

Kaku flew through the air, easily outpacing the land-bound pirates below him. He didn't engage them in combat, because he had a mission. Destroy all of the ships the Franky Family and the Straw-Hats might use to leave the island.

He considered their assets. Currently there were four ships docked at the city outskirts: one was Navy Intelligence, one was Cipher Pol, one was the battleship owned by Commodore Flounders that had brought CP9 and the prisoners to the island, and the last was the cruiser that had been commandeered by the Straw-Hats. The Franky Family's ship was nowhere to be seen, which he supposed meant that they had left it out at sea and come here riding their pets. Come to think of it, he couldn't see either of the tremendous sea bulls that the Franky Family had used to get to the island. Last he had heard they were being shielded by the two traitorous giants. Oh well, something to remedy later. It wasn't like two Sea Bulls could slip past him if he was guarding the gates.

The way Enies Lobby was laid out, the docks were situated on the opppsite side of the island from the Grand Courthouse. Passing through the entire citywould bring you to the City Gates. Then it was through the City Gates and then across the thin pillar of rock that supported the island itself, at which point you would arrive at the Main Gates. After that, you'd reach the Sea Train's Day Station and the Docks, which was the only way for visitors to enter the island.

Unfortunately for them, it wasn't safe for the Sea Train or any ships to dock today. Kaku would see to that.

Kaku savored the sea breeze in his face, descending from the blue sky toward the nearby ship owned by Intelligence. A single Rankyaku sheared off the central mast, much to the chagrin of the crew. He followed by destroying their emergency paddlewheel at the rear.

Kaku wasn't going to sink their ships, though Lucci probably had intended that as his order. No need to cause more damage than was necessary. Efficiency. That was his watchword.

Making the rounds, he similarly crippled the Cipher Pol ship formerly owned by Spandam, then moved to the Navy ships. A few sailors working to reclaim the Straw-Hat's stolen ship took potshots at him as he tore its masts to pieces, but he was too small a target and moving too fast for them to hit. Targeting the cruiser first, he split the mast and paddlewheel with two mighty attacks.

The last ship on his list was Commodore Flounders' battleship, and he felt a bit sorry as he approached it, still leaping off of the air two-hundred feet up.

"Sorry sir, but we did warn you," he muttered. "If it makes any difference, I'll help put your ship back together once this is all over. I rather liked being a shipwright."

Kaku began spinning in place, building up momentum for a spinning Rankyaku, when a squeaky voice from thin air answered him.

"That's great and all, spook, but I'll do you one better."

As Kaku snapped out his ship-destroying kick, he saw a mouse on his pant-leg. At the very last moment it leapt off, raised one tiny leg up high, and then Commodore Flounders un-transformed, bringing his leg down in an axe-kick that drove Kaku's leg wildly off-course. The blade of cutting wind carved a gash into the rocky surface of the docks.

Flounders, taking advantage of Kaku's disorientation, punched the other man down to the earth. The impact raised a cloud of dust, but when it cleared, the CP9 member was unscathed, rising coolly from his three point landing. Flounders landed moments later, dagger drawn.

Kaku began brushing dust off of his black outfit. "Goodness gracious, what a pain. What's the meaning of this? I believe that we established the pecking order in our jurisdiction earlier?"

Flounders, expressing a similar feigned disinterest, began using his dagger to clean under his nails. "Hmmm... sorry, maybe I didn't recognize you. Mice are good at a lot of things, but faces aren't one of 'em."

"You called me 'spook' up there. Seems like hogwash to me."

"I said 'maybe' I didn't recognize you, didn't I? That's kind of an important distinction, spook. There are plenty of spies on this island, after all. Besides, you might have jurisdiction over the island, but my ship isn't on the island, is it?"

"Don't be stupid. You know as well as I do that our control extends to the port and the ships in it. That's basic Marine Law."

"Doesn't apply to the impoundment of a Navy ship currently pursuing a critical mission objective," insisted Flounders.

Kaku raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I'm sorry, I hadn't heard. What mission is that?"

Percival examined his handiwork, then continued cleaning. "I'm sure Garp will give me something important if I ask him to back-date one."

"How petty of you," drawled Kaku. "This is an order from the current head of CP9 concerning criminals of crucial importance," Kaku said, turning his head to face the city walls. "Commodore, this is just disgraceful conduct-"

His words were interrupted by a wooden *THOCK* as a dagger embedded itself deeply in a dock post just a few feet behind his head. With a concerned expression, Kaku turned back to face the man he should have kept an eye on.

"-What in the world was that about?"

Flounders just stared back at him, shrugging. "Dunno. Must have been the wind."

Kaku carefully considered his current opponent. Percival Flounders. Navy Commodore. Owner of the Vermin-Vermin Fruit: Model Mouse. Kaku always kept note of Naval officers operating in the area near Water-7, and it was clear that this man had some skill in one of the Six Techniques: Geppou.

There were also rumors that the man had been a wanted criminal in the days before Garp had made him appear out of thin air, but nothing about those rumors was concrete.

If Kaku had to guess his chances in a fight against this man, he would say he had good odds, and that was even before he had received his own Devil Fruit. The gigantic giraffe seemed a good match-up against the modest mouse.

But this was a fight he didn't have time for. Sighing, Kaku raised his hands.

"Alright, alright. You win for now. Keep out of our way and make sure no one makes it on-board your ship. This lot is slippery, and if we end up with reason to suspect they're hiding underneath your noses then nothing will save your ship or your command. Not from Lucci."

With that, Kaku turned and left, returning to guard the City Gates and await the Straw-Hats' arrival.

-City-

-Zoro and Chopper Group-

Zoro, Chopper, and their allotted Naruto clones ran through the city streets. They were having more problems than any other group.

"Alright," said Narusuke, "Zoro, I want you to listen to me carefully. Up at the next building, we're turning LEFT!"

Zoro immediately turned left to face the nearest building and then leapt up to the rooftops. Once there, he turned left again and began heading back the way they had just come.

"No, Zoro, why are you going that way?!" yelled Narusuke, as they all struggled to follow behind him, "I said turn at the next building! You have to wait until we get there, you idiot!"

Zoro was unimpressed by his reasoning. "Like you said, I turned up the building and then turned left, what's the big deal?"

Even Chopper was getting frustrated by this point. "Zoro, if you jump up to the building to our left then turn left again, then we're going backwards!"

"Whatever," said Zoro, growing impatient with their indecisiveness, "If we wanna go straight, let's just go straight without turning." Swords flashing from their scabbards, the swordsman cut a hole through a taller building nearby and leapt through. Stunned, his companions took a moment to realize what had just happened, then began to follow him.

Despite what he had said, he did not go straight. Suddenly having lost sight of Zoro, Chopper and the two clones were forced to follow him by tracing the rubble left in the wake of his destruction, ducking through a hole in an office, barracks, or warehouse, then desperately searching for the next hole again and again. They went left, right, leapt from floor to floor and, at one point, even followed Zoro's trail up a spiral staircase. Before entering the sixth such carved hole they had already thoroughly lost their position.

Panting and bewildered, Chopper and the clones burst out of the final hole into the daylight and blinked to clear the dust from their eyes. Zoro was in front of them, and he had stopped.

"What the hell, man?" said Narusuke, "Give us a chance to follow you, maybe? I've never seen someone with such a twisted sense of direction in my life!" Then, he boggled, his eyes nearly coming out of their sockets. "Wait, where the hell are we?! Is this the entrance to the city?! We're the first ones here! What the actual hell is going on?!"

Sure enough, they were now at the gates that led out of the city. Somehow they had been led exactly where they wanted to be, and in record time no less.

"Not my fault if you can't keep track of where we're going, man," said Zoro.

"Umm… so, if we're the first one's here," began Chopper, "does that mean we're safe? Where's Robin?"

Once again, Zoro readied his swords. "No... We're not safe. Everyone, get back. We've got company."

A black-clad figure emerged from the gates ahead of them, walking with a confident and long-limbed stride.

"Well!" exclaimed a smiling Kaku, "I'm pleased that it was you who made it here first, 'Pirate-Hunter' Roronoa Zoro. You truly are as sharp as they say."

Behind the rest of them, the Naruto clones started muttering angrily to themselves. Ignoring this, Kaku continued to talk. "Out of all of the Straw-Hats, you're the one I wanted to engage the most. I understand you pride yourself on your swordsmanship, yes?"

"That's right," said Zoro, a sword in each hand.

"Wahahaha-!" laughed the CP9 assassin. "Wonderful! You're already prepared! Excellent. You see, I know a thing or two about the art myself."

"Hey… Chopper…" muttered Zoro. "I need you to stay out of this battle. When the others arrive, go with them and help get Robin to the docks. They'll need help capturing a ship, alright?" Chopper nodded, and then Zoro seemed to remember something. "Oh, and make sure those two ninjas don't get lost."

Narusuke and Narobin continued grumbling until the battle had begun.

-City-

-Nami Group-

"Nami, I hate to say it, but that was cold leaving Sanji behind like that," said Narusuke, running alongside their navigator through the city streets.

Nami shook her head and reminded herself yet again that despite the fact that the guy next to her looked and sounded exactly like Sasuke, she was actually speaking to Naruto.

"Oh no, trust me," she said, emphatically sure of her words, "You don't know him the way I do. For one thing, he can handle himself, and for another, leaving him behind is the best thing I can do for him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't seen the way he fights when a lady is around. That's what."

Narusuke laughed. "Oh, okay, I think I get the picture."

"By the way Naruto," she said, "Not that I don't appreciate the need to pull the heat off of Robin, but I don't think it's a good idea for you two to keep following me any more."

"Huh? Why not?" asked Narobin, peering quizzically her way.

Nami sighed. "You really can't figure it out? Look, I'm not really a fighter. If someone from CP9 finds me alone then you'll have to come rescuing me next, and nobody wants that. Least of all me."

"So what do you want us to do about it? If we're here then at least the real me will know if you get in trouble," asked Narusuke.

"Hey, we could run off in another direction without her," suggested Narobin, before Nami could say anything.

"But wouldn't it be suspicious if we're not being escorted?" questioned Narusuke, "They'll figure it out for sure."

"Well it's simple, then! We'll make a copy of Nami and we'll all go together!"

"Dude, have you seen yourself? You barely look human! You wanna try improvising now?"

Nami had to interrupt at this point. "Wow, I cannot understate how weird it is that you can have a complete conversation with yourself. You want to try making a copy of me? Really?"

"Well sure!" exclaimed Narobin. "I bet I can guess your sizes, and if we really concentrate then we can-"

"Okay, no. No thank you. Seriously, what the hell?"

Still bickering, the three of them were finally nearing the gates when a nearby ornamental fountain began bubbling over into a frothing cloud of white suds. The thin film of bubbles quickly flowed over the lip and began spreading along the ground. Nami was furthest away, dashing back from the unknown threat before it could catch her, but Narusuke slipped on a suddenly wet spot and fell, spilling Narobin into the cloud. In a moment he had leapt away, not even bothering to retrieve his clone partner before Narobin was pulled beneath the suds.

"What's going on?" asked Nami, backing away from the gently expanding wave.

"No clue," said Narusuke. "Hey! You okay in there?!"

"Shit!" said Narobin, poking his head out of the bubbles. "Stay out of this crap! I mean it! Something's wrong with me!"

He was right. There was something very wrong with Narobin's face. And arms. And body. Nami and Narusuke both screamed as they got a look at the goddamn horrifying spectacle. Narobin's body had been smoothed, flattened, and polished until the result looked like some shiny tube-creature.

"Holy crap! You look even shittier than you did before!" yelled Narusuke.

Struggling to support himself, Narobin's frictionless hand slipped on the ground, dropping him to the floor. A moment later the clone exploded, even though nothing had touched it.

"Damn…" muttered Narusuke, "Something in those bubbles breaks down my clones, huh?"

From inside the cloud of bubbles that was pouring from the fountain, a flare came screeching up into the air.

After that, Narusuke watched intently as a woman emerged from inside the center of the bubble cloud. She had long honey-blonde hair, a pair of slim glasses that highlighted her cold eyes, and a black fish-net dress that showed off her amazing figure. Slowly, she parted her luscious pink lips.

"That's sexual harassment," she stated.

Narusuke shook his head and grabbed control of his eyes, while Nami watched with an incredulous glare.

"Not that I mind it so much from a guy like you," the woman continued, smiling as she stepped forward through the carpet of bubbles. "You're very much my type. My name's Kalifa, and I'm rather fond of handsome younger men... It's a pity you're on the wrong side of the law, or we could really have some fun."

Suddenly faced with this aggravatingly familiar situation while in Sasuke's body, Narusuke did the only thing that made any sense. He jammed his finger straight up his nose. Beside him, Nami began laughing openly.

"Oh my god, Naruto, why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time this has happened to you?" she said, still giggling. "Geez, that guy must really be swimming in it, huh?"

"Yeah, you don't even know," confirmed Narusuke, finger still stuck up his nose.

Kalifa blinked in shock, mouth hanging open from the unexpected rejoinder.

"How disappointing," she said, after a pause. "I see how it is. You're not the real one either, and this is a complete ruse. Very clever."

Kalifa sighed, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. "Well then, I suppose I'll just be going."

As Nami breathed a sigh of relief, Naruto ruined it by opening his mouth.

"Hold it, lady! If you think you're gonna be able to find Robin through my cloud of decoys then think again. We're the only ones who know where the real one was planning to go."

Nami turned a shocked glare on Naruto as Kalifa stopped and fixed her eyes on Nami.

"Hmm, I suppose you're right," the assassin mused. "Well then, let's see if I can drag the answer out of you."

"Naruto!" Nami hissed, staff at the ready as she kept her eyes on the other woman. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Hey, don't worry, you got this," whispered Naruto, "Trust me. Just keep her busy for a little bit and I'll be right back."

Stifling a startled yelp, Nami whipped her head to the side, but Naruto was already gone. The assassin watched this, a smile turning the edges of her lips.

"How sad," she said, "Oh well… This will be over quickly, and then I'll make sure to punish your friend there for jilting you."

"Damn it, Naruto!" Nami shouted, already spinning her staff to produce bubbles of hot and cold air, "I will haunt you till the day you die!"

-City-

-Franky Group-

"Goddammit you two, for the last time, where did you come from and why the heck are you following me?" Franky shouted as they rushed along the right side of the island, heading toward the docks through circuitous back-routes.

Narusuke and Narobin had hunted down Franky after separating from the rest of the group, introducing themselves to the cyborg as the blond guy from prison in disguise. To their surprise, Franky had immediately tried to backhand them with an armored fist. The two clones had evaded the attack and were now following, undeterred, at some distance.

"Look, old man," said Narusuke, "I already told you the plan! They're going after Robin, so we gotta distract 'em as a group, you know?"

"Look, kid, I already heard your so-called 'plan,' but it was so super stupid I decided to ignore it. You think I wanna help you just for kicks?! Shit, you even knocked me off a cliff."

"Hey! You told me to! You said you could fly! You should be thanking me for getting you free, you know?!"

"Sure, thanks bunches, kid. But now you're causing me trouble. You know that those goons are after me too, right? All you're doing is making my life harder."

The clones continued running after him. "...Yeah, I'm really not seeing how this is my problem," said Narobin.

Franky looked backward for a moment, tossing a glare his way. "Watch it, kid. I said I liked you, but you're pissin' me off more than I usually forgive. Why don't you get lost and go take a- SHIT!" Seeing Narusuke's shocked expression and sensing an incoming attack, Franky turned forward and brought both armored hands up in defense of his face. Without a sound, the spherical member of CP9, Fukuro, had dropped out of the sky and thrown a punch with ridiculous speed. Franky's steel defense was blown away in a single strike, and he stumbled backwards from the attack.

The assassin's entire body was round, from his torso to his broad, neck-less head. He had a frighteningly wide face, tiny eyes, and greasy green hair. What was most unusual of all was the yellowing zipper that resided where his lips should have been. The man hadn't made a sound until the strike, and now he reached up to unzip his mouth. His voice when it spoke was unsettlingly high-pitched.

"CHAPAPA! You did pretty well to evade death there! They call me Fukuro- The Silent Owl- and you just looked so vulnerable that I had to attack you!"

"Dammit," cursed Narusuke, turning to Franky, "Sorry dude, but we're just two shadow clones. One hit and we're toast. You think you can take him on yourself?"

Franky growled in response. "Well, since you were so kind to mention that, no I'm not sure. All of my super-powered strength comes from cola, and I'm damn close to empty after blasting my butt back off that balcony."

"Totally awesome, by the way. Also, 'cola?' What the hell's cola? Can you get more?"

Franky reached into his chest cavity with one massive arm, grabbing an empty bottle and tossing it to the two Naruto clones. "I've got no time in my schedule this week to argue with primitive screw-heads who don't know the joys of cola, but if you wanna make yourselves useful then I could use a refill."

Both clones separated, abandoning their decoy ploy. "Gotcha, man." said Narusuke. "One order of a 'cola' comin' right up!"

The two Narutos brought their hands together and summoned a set of ten original-style Naruto duplicates. With their chakra split even further than usual they would be completely useless in a fight, but it should suffice for a scavenger hunt.

Disappearing in twenty-two different directions, the clones dispersed through the nearby buildings.

"Chapa…" hissed the assassin. "That wasn't Nico Robin after all, huh… Oh well, I still found our other objective! If I capture you, then everything will be alright!" With a kick that cratered the ground beneath his feet, the immense man leapt skyward, dashing back and forth as Franky readied his fists.

Franky grinned. Man what he wouldn't do for a fresh bottle right now.

As the fight began, Rob Lucci landed lightly on a nearby barracks. The cyborg was clearly losing this battle, which meant that at least one thing was going well. He paused for just a moment to watch the fight before leaping back into the search. Fukuro had this well in hand.

It was only a few minutes before a Naruto clone returned with a bottle he had found stuffed into a refrigerator in a nearby building.

Despite the quick turnaround, Franky was dented, bleeding, and panting for breath, his hair flopped down to the side like a sad blue drape. Before Fukuro could make another attack, a smoke bomb exploded on the battlefield, and Naruto slipped in during the confusion, slapping the frosty ammunition into Franky's massive hand.

When the smoke cleared, Franky straightened up with a wild smile. His hair flipped up into its normal 'do' all on its own.

"Alright, you crazy kid," said Franky, "You've earned yourself a favor. Don't go blowing it all in one place, ya hear?"

"Great, gramps," said Naruto, dispersing all but one clone, "So are you gonna show me what being a cyborg is all about, or what?"

Franky smiled, cracking his knuckles as he kept his eye on the CP9 member staring at him from the other end of the street. "Alright, but lemme warn ya… This might get a little intense for brats just outta diapers. Especially for someone who doesn't even know about hydraulics. You see, I changed when I became a new person. Before, I was just a man, but when I altered my organic bits and pieces I became something different… something new… something beautiful..."

"Wait, what? What are you-" Naruto's eyes flicked reflexively down towards the cyborg's speedo, then he immediately regretted it.

"Every bit of my flesh that used to define me as a man has evolved. What was once an ugly caterpillar has transformed into a butterfly, and now you'll get to see the results of my journey."

"Whoa, whoa, dude- uh- I mean, well- is this really the time for that now?"

Ignoring Naruto, Franky grabbed his hips and thrust his pelvis forward.

"TRANS-"

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god!"

"-FORM!"

[BATTLE-FRANKY 36: KENTAURUS]

With ratcheting noises, gouts of steam, and a number of explosive jolts of movement, Franky's body came apart at the seams. His legs and rear half split mechanically down the middle then extended forward. His torso hadn't moved, but now his lower half jutted forward impudently, looking like a laughably incompetent child had been told to play pin the head on the centaur and then pinned it on the wrong end.

Still, Naruto was relieved.

"Oh man, that's totally not what I thought you were going to do. I thought you were gonna drop your pants or something."

Franky reached into a hidden compartment in his chest and pulled out a spare pair of sunglasses. Replacing them on his face, he then turned back to Naruto and lifted them, revealing his eyeballs in a skeptical glare. "Kid, did anyone ever tell you you're a bit of a nutball?"

Naruto gawked at the centauroid cyborg in front of him. "I'M THE NUTBALL?! But- but you- but-"

He stopped sputtering and sighed, "-just finish your transformation, already!"

"I already have!" exclaimed Franky, grinning hugely.

"That's… Whatever man, you're so damn screwed."

Even the off-putting CP9 member looked vaguely concerned for Franky's mental health. Then he ruined it by opening his mouth. "Chapa… that transformation… that wasn't in the report… I think I need to call for backup..."

"OH COME ON!" yelled Naruto.

Franky just smirked. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, compadre. You're super going down, and this time it's happening Franky-style, right here, right now." With an abominable motion that looked like a cross between an inchworm's crawl and a horse's gallop, Franky charged, meeting the assassin head on.

A/N: This one's mostly setup. We'll be coming back to these encounters, but some of them can't be finished in one go due to continuity issues from the intersecting timelines. Still, there will be two more chapters in the next week as I push through this section.

Also, total side-note, but I have had a lot of people ask me questions in guest reviews over the last month which makes it difficult to respond to questions I don't want to answer for everyone at the same time, since I can't reply to those.