Just some more, leftover KH3 hype. After this, I should be back to updating my other stories, for those of you who like to read them as well. And let me say this now; I made some major changes here compared to the anime, but not enough to change the canon completely. Don't worry. Everything will still fall in place as it should be. I have it all planned out, guys. So, let's start this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. I do not own Guthrie and I kind of own Allen.
*OPENING*
(Lala intro)
(Xion Guthrie come down sliding panels one at a time, followed by Nami next to Xion Ussop next to Guthrie. Nami shows the Log Pose to Xion, telling her where to go, while Ussop looks pompous while Guthrie shrugs his demeanor. Nami Ussop are replaced by Zoro Sanji respectively, and glare daggers at one another as Xion Guthrie push them away from another. The two are replaced by Chopper and Robin respectively. Chopper dives into Xion's arms as she does a spin hug with him, while Guthrie observes the book Robin is reading with interest. The two are replaced by Allen Chirithy, with Allen patting Xion's back, grinning at her as she blushes a bit, while Chirithy stands on a barrel, both he and Guthrie causing sparks to shoot at each other from their eyes. The two disappear, and Luffy appears between Xion and Guthrie, grabbing their shoulders and pulling them in as he grins. The two look at one another, and grin, as the background scene shifts to them being on the Going Merry, with the rest of the crew behind them.)
Hello, goodbye to repetition
We cannot be stop
Time to go around to our
Happy days, happy days
(The scene shifts to the sky, with the title of the story appearing)
Hello, goodbye, it cannot be stopped
Because there is desire
(Scene shifts to the Straw Hats on the ship, with Luffy Ussop fishing, Nami looking at the Log Pose, Zoro sleeping on the crow's nest, Xion helping Chopper with medicine while Chirithy watched, Robin reading her book, Allen practicing his dancing, and Sanji cooking with help from Guthrie.)
It's a journey that does not endKeeps going, going!
(Xion steps back, wiping her forehead, then looking ahead to the endless sea beyond, wondering what lies ahead.)
You, are
Being shaken by your ragged feet
(Panning through a screenshot of Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe and Yokozuna, to the Galley-La crew, to the members of the Franky Family, with Franky in front of them, to the masked members of CP9.)
Still, still
No one has much of anything!
(Nico Robin turns and walks away to the tower in Eniss Lobby, with Jabra, Kumadori and Fukuro silhouetted above, followed by Spandam, then Xaldin and Saïx. This shifts to the angered faces of Guthrie, Luffy and Xion.)
I feel like I can fly
I can fly anywhere
Whenever I'm with you
(The trio run through the town of Eniss Lobby, striking numerous marines in their way, while the screen circles around the trio, ending with them standing in the middle of their Straw Hat crew (and Sniper King) on top of the building, facing Robin, Franky and CP9.)
No matter where we are
I feel like I am
Shivering everywhere
(The two Keyblade wielders thrust their Keyblades up at the villains, only to be interfered by the two Organization XIII members. They leap towards them, with Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats following in pursuit. CP9, led by Saïx, Xaldin Leopard Lucci, leap at them, ready to clash.)
Together when I am with you
If you clench strongly
(Through all the battles of the Straw Hats, Second Gear Luffy starts fighting Leopard Lucci, with Xion fighting Saïx as hard as she could.)
No matter what happens
I'm moving forward
(Guthrie fights and parries off Xaldin, calling out to Robin with a free hand raised to her, as she stands there in the pitch black darkness.)
Together when I am with you
If you clench strongly
(Robin looks back at him, then closes her eyes as she recalls the memories of Ohara. A tear falls from her eyes, hitting a ground, which turns the darkness into the open sea and sky. More teardrops fall, forming white birds that represent each Straw Hat as they soar in the sky together.)
No, no
No matter where we are
I feel like I can fly
(The birds fly over the Going Merry, as it sails into the sun, with silhouettes of the Straw Hats smiling and grouped together as they prepared for their adventure.)
Last time:
When Luffy was by the ship, everyone turned to him.
"... This is tough..." he muttered out.
"But that's... what it means to be a captain... right?" Allen asked.
"Don't lose yourself," Zoro advised the victor. "If you waver, who can we trust?"
"Let's vacate the ship," Xion suggested, as Chopper jumped out of her arms and ran to Usopp. Unlike before, Xion didn't do anything to stop him. Unlike his previous intention, the small pirate was only leaving some medicine and bandages by the sniper's side to use when he wake. "We can no longer... return to this ship."
It was the day after the duel. The Straw Hat Pirates had long left Merry and Usopp and got themselves a pair of rooms at an inn, one for the guys and the other for the girls. However, with things as they were, no one felt like relaxing in their rooms. While Sanji and Nami went out for a bit, everyone else were at the rooftop.
A door opened, and Sanji had arrived at the roof. "So this is where you guys are," he said. "We went to the trouble of getting a pair of rooms at this inn, and yet no one's in there. I guess you all couldn't sleep." The chef noticed someone was not with the rest of the crew. "Where's Luffy?"
"Up there," Chopper answered, looking towards a tower, where the captain sat, and had been sitting at since they left their ship.
"Where have you been, Sanji?" Allen asked, as Sanji leaned against the rails and started to smoke.
"I kept a lookout at the rocky cape last night, thinking that Robin-chan might come back," he answered.
"I'm guessing she didn't?"
Sanji breathed out a smoke. "No. I wonder where she went, without saying a word to us."
"Speaking of, I wonder if Guthrie is okay," Allen spoke.
"Hmph. Like he's needed here anyway," Chirithy, who sat by the rails, facing the city, scoffed, to a few's surprise.
"But Chirithy, aren't you two friends?" Chopper asked.
"What made you think that?! We're not friends! I only stuck around with him to teach him about the ways of being a Keyblade wielder and make sure that he hasn't strayed from his mission!"
"Hey, you damn cat! Don't-"
"Stop it, Sanji," Xion interrupted the chef. "Don't any of you see? In fact, you stop as well, Chirithy."
"What are you saying?" the talking Dream Eater questioned, not turning her way.
"You know exactly what I mean. We're in a state of mourning right now."
A few seconds was all it took, and Chirithy had tears forming in his eyes, as he silently cried his heart out. The Dream Eater really and truly missed Guthrie and was still hurt that the guy decided to leave them, even if it was temporary.
"It's been nothing but trouble since we got to this island," Chopper muttered. "We had our money stolen, and moreover... look what happened with Usopp. He's badly wounded... I bet he's running a fever right now and can't even move!"
"Chopper," Zoro called. "Stop talking about him."
"I'm gonna wander around town looking for her again today," Sanji said, referring to Robin.
"I wonder if we can find her," Chopper said.
"Who knows. It's not like I have specific places to check in mind."
"But we do know that she still has to be here on the island, right?" Allen pointed out.
"We should all search for her," Xion said. "Let's meet back here if anything happens."
"I'll go look for her too!" Chopper said.
Just then, the door slammed open, and a frantic Nami entered. "Luffy!" she called.
"Nami-san!" Sanji gasped in shock.
"This is terrible! The whole town's talking about it!" she said. "Luffy! Last night, Iceberg-san from the shipyard was... He was shot at his own home!"
Her words brought the captain's attention to her in shock. "Ice pops was?" he asked.
She nodded before added, "They said he's unconscious right now."
"Everyone thinks the world of him. Why...?"
"Who's Iceberg?" Allen asked.
"Someone who helped us yesterday," Nami answered. "He's the president of the shipbuilding company and the mayor of Water Seven."
"Sounds like he's quite the big shot," Sanji said.
"If he is, then this must be big news for everyone on this island," Xion stated.
"I'll go check," Luffy said, leaping off the roof and running off to, most likely, Iceberg's place.
"Wait, Luffy! I'll come too!" Nami called, exiting the rooftop.
"Should we follow after them?" Allen asked.
"You can if you want to," Xion said. "We should best split up from here. Some of us will look for Robin, and the others will follow Luffy and Nami and check out Iceberg-san. Even if that guy doesn't have anything to do with us, he did offer us a ship."
"And for those of us that wants to do neither?" Zoro asked. "I kind of want to wait it out and see where things go from here."
"The rest can do what they want. We meet back here." With that, the rest of the Straw Hats, with the exception of Zoro, split. Sanji and Chopper went to find Robin, and Allen, Xion and Chirithy went to follow Luffy and Nami by the rooftops.
As Xion's group continued to the shipyard, which is most likely where Luffy was heading off to, Chirithy couldn't help but pout at the situation. "Hey, why do we have to be worried about some big shot of this city?" he asked.
"Isn't it because we're good people who are concerned for other good people?" Allen asked. "Plus, aren't we getting a new ship from that guy?"
"Even so, that doesn't mean we have to check on him! We don't know him like Luffy and Nami does!"
"Chirithy, don't belittle other people," Xion told him.
"What are you talking about? Right now-" The female Keyblade wielder stopped in her tracks, causing the Dream Eater, perched on her head, to tumble off. Before he could hit the roof, Xion caught him.
"Now look here! I may have an idea as to why Guthrie has a mission to protect me, and I don't care! But when there are others that need help, you do not just turn a blind eye on them! It doesn't matter if you do or don't know them; ignoring a person in need of help over one other person is heartless! Don't think I don't know about your argument with Guthrie! He may have a mission to protect me, but that doesn't mean he has to prioritize me over everyone else! To take care of one person is to take care of the whole crew! Keep that in mind!"
Chirithy slowly processed over Xion's words. He knew for sure that protecting her was the top priority, but even she found that to be annoying. No, not just annoying; unreasonable. Couldn't she see that this was for her own good? Or was it that... it was him who couldn't see the bigger picture? For a Dream Eater who was asleep for so long, and woke up with not much of personal memories, it could happen. But still... Is it really important to care about someone else rather than the mission?
"Come on. We're wasting enough time as is." Xion tossed the Dream Eater at Allen, much to both their surprise, as the dancer caught the small creature. Without another glance, Xion continued on to the shipyard.
Allen perched Chirithy on his head and followed after her. As he followed the vice, he told the Dream Eater on his head, "She didn't mean that in a bad way."
"I'm just trying to fulfill my mission. Is it that bad?" he asked.
"It's not that it's bad. Just that there are times when you have to focus on other people, even if they are strangers or not so important people. Believe me, I know. Back before she disappeared, when I get myself involved in her missions, it was practically the same thing. There was a time when she had to choose between taking down this big, dangerous Heartless, but I got myself surrounded by some other Heartless, and the one she was after was going to escape. Between me and the Heartless, she should've gone for it. But instead, she saved me. I asked her why, when she knew that going against her mission in any way would give her a good scolding from her superior. She told me that she couldn't bear leaving me to die. What she was trying to tell you is that every life is worth saving; there's no such thing as priorities when there's a life worth saving for."
Chirithy was in deep thought at his lecture, wondering if maybe, he had it all wrong after all.
Just then, a siren was heard, prompting Xion and Allen to stop in their tracks.
"Attention, please," they heard. "This is the Water Seven Weather Forecast Center. An Aqua Laguna warning has just been issued all over the island. Its arrival time at Water Seven is estimated to be after midnight tonight."
"Aqua Laguna?" the Shandian repeated in a questioned tone. "What is that?"
"Never heard of it," the female Keyblade wielder answered. She looked around and saw one citizen at their window, taking in some plants that were left out. "Excuse me!" she called, getting her attention. "Can you tell us what that broadcast was about?"
"Oh. Are you travelers?" the woman asked. "You came at a bad time then. Aqua Laguna is a storm surge."
"A storm surge?" Allen questioned.
"That's right. Though you're not wrong to go to higher ground like you two are now, it's safer to be on higher ground indoors. Like at the shipyard for example. The lower part of this island will be submerged in sea, you see."
Hearing that surprised the pirates. "It'll be submerged?" Xion gasped.
"That's how bad Aqua Laguna is. But don't worry, this happens every year, and this island is still standing. According to the forecast, the storm won't be until after midnight tonight. Plenty of time for people to evacuate to higher ground. If you have friends who are also travelers like you, you best warn them as soon as possible. And I advise you do not stay on the roof during the storm. Do be careful now."
"Sure. Thank you." With that, the woman took in her remaining plants and closed the window.
"There's a storm that bad?!" Chirithy asked in surprise.
"So we were told," Allen answered. "What do we do, Xion?"
"Our best course of action is splitting up from here. There's no doubt in my mind Nami, Sanji and Chopper are asking about the storm, so they're okay. And Nami will most likely relay the message to Luffy when she catches up to him. But there's also Zoro, Guthrie and Usopp to worry about. Allen, can you go back to the inn and tell Zoro of the storm? I'll find Guthrie and Usopp."
"Got it."
"I'll go with you, Xion," Chirithy said. "You'll need help looking for Guthrie. And since Dream Eaters are kind of linked with their Keyblade wielders..."
The vice captain of the Straw Hat caught on to what the little guy was saying. "Okay. I'm counting on you." Chirithy hopped off Guthrie's head and landed in the girl's arm. As soon as he did, the trio of pirates split to their roles.
It didn't take long for Xion and Chirithy to find themselves on a field of ship scraps somewhere between where they fought the Franky Family, and where they parked the Merry, where Chirithy sensed Guthrie to be.
"You sure you're not gonna tell him with me?" she asked.
"It's fine," the Spirit huffed, sitting behind a boulder where Guthrie wouldn't see him from where the guy was. "It's not like he'll give a damn about his mission like he does for that woman."
As much as Xion wanted to berate him for downgrading her crew member like he did, she knew how futile it would be, if her earlier lecture wasn't enough to get the little Dream Eater to know that he was in the wrong. That being said, she left him to walk over to the sound of training on the field. Guthrie was practicing his magic and techniques, using scrap piles he found or built up by hand as targets. He had unleashed an Aeroga spell on one of them, blasting the scraps a far distance from him.
"Nice shot," she commended him.
Guthrie stopped and looked to her, then away from her as he asked, "What're you doing here?"
"Just here with a warning or two. Apparently a dangerous storm is going to arrive soon, one that will possibly sink the island," she answered.
"Oh? And how would you know that?"
"Because it was forecasted less than an hour ago in town," Xion answered, sitting on a broken mast next to him. "And apparently it's a yearly thing. Honestly, saying that out loud, I am amazed that this island and its city is still standing if that bit about the storm is true."
"I see..." Guthrie simply answered, resuming in his training.
"By the way, have you heard from Robin?" He stopped upon hearing that question.
"You mean she still hasn't returned?"
"Sanji stayed the night near Merry in hopes that she'd come back. But apparently, she didn't. He and Chopper are looking for her right now."
Guthrie turned to Xion. "Just them two? What about everyone else?"
"There's talk about the mayor of the city, who's also president of that shipyard company, getting shot last night. Luffy and Nami, both who knew the guy, went to check on him. Allen, who was with me when we went after the two, went back to the inn we were staying at to warn Zoro. And Chirithy..." She trailed off there, not sure what to say considering the situation between the male Keyblade wielder and his Dream Eater.
Guthrie simply sighed and said, "Well, I wish I could be of more help to you guys about where Robin is, but I haven't seen her myself. She just up and disappeared on me and Chopper when we went to a bookstore in the backstreet shopping district."
"Do you have any idea where she could be? Surely you've studied her as a counselor as you had with us. Any hint on where she may have gone?" Xion asked.
Guthrie placed a finger on his chin in wonder. "Hmm... It's possible that she went to find some ruins, but there were no sign of one or anything ancient where we were. There wasn't even an antique shop near that store."
Xion sighed at his answer, a bit sad and disappointed that even he couldn't help much with their search for their missing member. "I see..."
A thought came to the former counselor of the Straw Hat's head. "Although... there might be one other option."
His added words caught her attention. "One other option? Like what?"
"Well-"
"There she is, boss!" came a voice familiar to Xion.
The two Keyblade wielders turned and saw, to the vice-captain's dismay, a few of the Franky Family members that she beat up. Said members were all bandaged up and were with a pair of identical girls and a guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a speedo.
"That's the girl that messed up our house!" the guy she recognized as Zambai informed the speedo-wearing man.
"Ho? So you are Starlight Blade Xion," the guy said, doing some stretching exercises with the twins. "So it was you who went on quite a rampage while I was gone. Even now, I cannot believe the state of my house here. It's completely unrecognizable! How dare you treat my underlings so badly?" The trio crossed their arms in a 'no' formation. "I can't take it anymore. Girl or boy, no one can stop me this week! No matter what you say, until I tear you like rags, my anger won't subside!"
It didn't take Xion long to catch on to what he was saying. "So you're Franky?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's right. And if you think you can demand the money back from me, too bad! I've already spent it all! But what does it matter to scums like you? After all, it was just money that you stole from somewhere, wasn't it?!"
"Hey, that's not true!" Guthrie called out.
"If not that, then you must've stolen something of equal value and cashed it in. In the end, that money doesn't belong to you guys anyway, so it's not like we actually stole them from you!"
Guthrie tried to reason with the guy, when Xion placed a hand in front of him, much to his confusion.
"So you're the ringleader of that group," she said, glaring at him. "Good. With everything that's been going on, I actually need something to take out my frustrations on. And I won't stop, until I'm satisfied."
Hearing her say that shocked him. "Xion?"
"It's me who is frustrated, you bastard!" Franky exclaimed.
"If you want a fight, then bring it! I'll make you pay tenfold for what happened to Usopp!" the female Keyblade wielder exclaimed.
Guthrie, on the other hand, was just confused at the whole situation at hand. Yes, he knew who Franky was, just by the name itself. Yes, he was aware that this guy is responsible for their lost money. And yes, he knew that there will be a chance of meeting the guy and that certain people will be after his head, especially when Xion took all the 'fun' the other day. What he didn't expect, however, was the girl herself acting the way she was. If it was Luffy, for example, he'd understand. But Xion?
If only he knew, though. If only he was watching his former vice captain from the front. He would see for himself... that her eyes were changing to yellow. Due to the far distance between them, Franky and his group were oblivious to the color change, as the leader took in a lot of air.
Xion raised a brow at this. 'What is he doing?' she wondered.
After he inhaled the maximum amount of air he can breathe in, he exhaled... out some flames from his mouth!
The Keyblade wielders widened their eyes in shock at this and quickly moved to avoid the flames.
"That guy breathed fire?!" Guthrie gasped in shock.
"Don't tell me... A devil fruit user?" Xion assumed. "If so then... Spark Dash!" She rushed in at her opponent, cloaked in lightning, and struck him in the chest with Fire of Shandora. "Sweep!" She instantly followed it up with a lightning-cloaked, jumping spin attack that forced him in the air. "Muscle Strike!" While he was in midair, Xion ended the chain of attacks with a good strike to the chest, sending him into the ocean. Once that was done, she landed on the ground. But... even though she sent him in the sea, where Devil Fruit users are at their weakest, something felt very wrong.
'Xion... She beat him, didn't she?' Guthrie thought. He looked over to the Franky Family, who all had smirks on their faces. 'If so, then why aren't they crying out for their leader?'
'Something's not right here,' the vice captain of the Straw Hat pirate thought herself. 'Those hits... they didn't feel like I was hitting a normal man. That victory felt too easy against an opponent like that.' She went to the edge of the cape and looked into the ocean. She saw air bubbles coming up to the surface, as well as a shadow in the waters. Instead of the shadow getting smaller, though, it looked more like it was getting bigger, which made her even more concerned.
Soon enough, Franky emerged from the sea, his right arm pointed at the girl. "Strong Right!" His fist suddenly shot out of his arm, connected to a chain, and hit Xion hard. The girl didn't at all expect an attack like that and was sent skidding across the cape. Once she was far enough away, and the chain was at its length limit, Franky jerked his fist back in place.
"What the-?! That was definitely not human!" Guthrie gasped in shock.
"Hm? So you really don't know? Then let me tell you," Franky spoke. "I'm a modified human. A cyborg!"
Xion used a Cure magic to heal herself of the hit. "A... cyborg...?"
At the same time, back in Water Seven, more specifically at Dock 1's shipyard, Luffy and Nami, on their rented bull, arrived at their destination, where they saw a lot of people gathered for the same reason as them. The pair already asked if there was a way to Iceberg's place, at the very least, but apparently the way there is through Dock 1's closed gate.
"What should we do, Nami?" Luffy asked, looking at the gate before them.
"Like we have a choice. We can only wait out here like everyone else," the girl answered. "I really hope Iceberg-san is okay. Just who could've done this?" After a few seconds of staring at the gate and pondering, she turned to Luffy to suggest that they return to the inn... only to see him gone. "Huh? Luffy?"
"Hey! Who is that?!" she heard.
"Is that guy crazy?! That's trespassing!" she heard after.
A horrible feeling was felt on her spine as she turned and, sadly, saw her captain on the other side of the gate.
"What happened to waiting it out here?!" she demanded.
Back to Luffy, in the end, the guy just couldn't sit back and wait for the news like everyone else. He was too worried for Iceberg to just wait; he had to see him himself and confirm if the guy really was okay. It took a lot of jumping, arm stretching, and some Gomu Gomu no Rockets here and there, but he managed to make it to the mansion. At the front, there were many reporters gathered, no doubt to hear news of Iceberg's situation.
"Okay, I'm here," he said to himself. "Now if I can just get in..."
"Oh, Iceberg-san! I'm really glad that you came around!" he faintly heard.
Luffy looked up and saw an open window at higher ground. "Is that where he is?!" he wondered, as he ran to find an obstacle that could take him to that very window.
Inside the building, in the very room Luffy was to enter through soon, Iceberg was in bed, bandaged and awake. In the room with him were some of his most trusted shipwrights and his assistant, Kalifa. By the door was another one of his trusted shipwrights, Paulie, and outside the room was also a trusted shipwright, Tilestone.
"You speak each and every word too loudly! That isn't good for him, right?!" Paulie scolded Tilestone.
"Oh! You're right! I'm sorry!" the big guy apologized, though still a bit too loudly. He realized something, something very important for them all to hear. "Oh, that's right! There's trouble! Listen, you guys!"
"Don't come inside the room. Speak from where you are."
"The pirate Straw Hat, who came yesterday, trespassed in Dock #1 and is said to be making his way here!"
This caused the other shipwrights and Kalifa to narrow their eyes. They were just talking about how Nico Robin, one of Luffy's crew members, had attacked Iceberg with one other accomplice, and now the captain of the very crew that assaulted their mayor and president was coming here?
"Straw Hat..." a pigeon on one of the shipwright's shoulders, Lucci and his pigeon Hattori, spoke. "Iceberg-san!"
"That bastard...! How dare he make his way here now...?" Paulie growled.
A shipwright with long nose, similar to Usopp only in a square shape, looked towards the open window and saw something heading their way. "Hey. What's that?"
This grabbed everyone's attention, as they looked and also saw the figure make their way to the room. In the very room... Through the window! Unfortunately, just as they processed through that thought, before any of them could do a thing about it, the figure was inside. Good news, they didn't hit Iceberg. Bad news, they struck Paulie and caused the two to get knocked into Tilestone and get skidded back some ways away from the room.
Luffy quickly got back up and looked around. "Good, I made it," he muttered. Looking behind him, he saw Kaku, Lucci, and Lulu by the door, ignoring the two, unfortunate shipwrights under him. "Oh! You guys! How is Ice pops? Is he okay?" he asked.
They offered no answer. No... After what they heard? Seeing his face... was the last thing they ever wanted to see.
Luffy grew concerned of their silence and thought something was wrong with the patient. "Hey! Is Ice pops okay?" he asked again.
"You bastard..." Paulie spoke, causing Luffy to look down and just now realize who he was on top of, or that he was even on someone.
"Oh! Sorry. Are you two okay?"
Rather than answering, Paulie grabbed the guy by the ropes in his sleeve, much to his shock. "Just in time. We were just talking about you, Straw Hat," he said, glaring at the pirate, as did everyone else.
Next thing Luffy knew, Paulie ran back in the hospital room and leapt out the window the pirate came from, dragging said pirate with him. "Oshioki: Ippon Dzuri!" Once they were near the ground, the rope wielding shipwright slammed the pirate head-first down, getting his head stuck in, and landed on his own feet. "To pull that sort of crap you went and did... Just what the hell is your goal, Straw Hat?!" he demanded. Luffy was busy trying to get his head out of the ground.
What the guy may or may not have noticed, however, was that the reporters gathered at the front door now had their attention directed to him and Luffy.
"Isn't that...?"
"One of the foremen of Dock #1?"
"But who is that with him?"
"Doesn't look like a foremen I know of."
"Nor I."
"He said 'Straw Hat', didn't he? Then isn't that...?"
"Straw Hat Luffy?!"
Many questions were popping out of their heads, along with some assumptions. One thing they knew for sure, the two guys before them were not on good terms with each other. Or at least it was just Paulie who didn't like Luffy.
"I'm surprised you have the nerve to show your face here again," the shipwright said.
At this point, Luffy finally got his head out of the ground, taking a good breath of air. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "We came here because we heard the news about pops."
"If you play innocent, then we'll just put the screws on you. Rope Action: Half Knot!" Paulie tied his rope around Luffy's neck, choking the guy. "Air Drive!" He then proceeded to slam him down on some crates.
With the rope removed from his neck, Luffy let out some coughs and stood up from the crates. "Hey! Wait! I don't have the slightest reason to fight you guys!" he tried to say.
Gunshots were heard, and a pair of bullets struck Luffy's rubbery body from the side. There, at the front door of the mansion, now clear of reporters, were the rest of Dock #1's foremen.
"He's... got Devil Fruit powers?" mused Lulu, who was responsible of those gun shots.
The bullets were sent back, but because Luffy didn't anticipate them, he lost his balance when he reflected them and was left vulnerable to a good kick to the face by the gunner, thus was sent skidding back a few more feet.
Tilestone was next, picking up a large log nearby and rushed at Luffy. Just as the pirate stood back up, he was hit by the log and, like a batter to a baseball, was sent flying further back. As if it wasn't bad enough, Kaku, who leapt into the air ahead of time, grabbed the rubberman and tossed him even further away, all the way to Dock #1's gate.
There, for all to see, Luffy was knocked down. Nami, who didn't move from her spot since her captain and friend left, was shocked to see Luffy back and in the middle of a fight. "Luffy?!" she gasped.
When the Devil Fruit user got back up again, he found himself facing face-to-face with Lucci. The guy delivered some ferocious palm attacks, in which the pirate went on the defensive against, especially as he really did not want to fight any of them. But that didn't mean he wasn't getting annoyed by this. "You jerk...! Stop it!" Just as he knocked one hand away, Lucci came around with his other hand, and unleashed a destructive strike on Luffy, knocking him down once more.
Nami was shocked at this development, as were everyone else. 'Hang on! Why are the shipwrights fighting against Luffy?!' she wondered.
Luffy panted and slowly got to his feet again. "These guys really are strong..." he muttered. "Dammit! What's with you guys?! Tell me the reason at least!"
Paulie approached him. "Straw Hat... We're the ones who want to know why," he spoke. "The culprits who broke into our main office last night and attacked Iceberg-san... were from your gang, weren't they?!"
Nami was shocked to hear that claim. "But that...! That can't be...!"
Luffy was also puzzled at the reason, especially when, as far as he knew, everyone was at their inn last night, or near the Merry in Sanji and Usopp's case. The only ones who weren't at either of those places were Guthrie and Robin. But it was not possible for either of them to do such a thing, was it?
"D-... Don't be ridiculous! Why... Why would we do such a thing?!" he questioned.
This didn't play well with the shipwrights. "So you'd play innocent to the end, huh?" Paulie accused.
"But we really didn't-"
"The culprits... When Iceberg-san came around, he told us that he remembered the two culprits. One was a big man with a mask on. The other was a tall woman. When we asked the government, they said she's one of you guys. Nico Robin, one of the woman with a bounty on her head!"
The two Straw Hats were shocked to hear the name of the person supposedly involved in Iceberg's attempt assassination. "Robin?!" Luffy gasped out.
"Did you come to this island in order to kill Iceberg-san from the start? Or did you decide to do so after you guys met him yesterday?" Paulie questioned. "I don't know how you pirates think, but now that we've come to know you're the culprits, we won't leave you at large."
His words were all getting to the citizens of Water Seven, all who were getting the same feeling as the five shipwrights before them towards the male pirate.
"The reason you came here is to see if the deed is done, isn't it? And now that you've confirmed that he isn't dead, you guys will still come back until the deed is done, huh?! Before that happens, we'll take care of you here and now!"
Kaku tossed a chisel at Luffy's head, in which the latter managed to dodge with only a cut on his cheek. "Dead or alive..." he spoke, recalling the words on his wanted poster. "They don't care if you're captured alive or not. Do you know what it means to be on the wanted list? You pirates can't complain, no matter who does what to you. In other words, the world's laws won't protect you guys."
"You're right," Luffy agreed, knowing full well of being on such list. "We are outlaws. I know that, but..." He wiped the blood forming from his cut off his cheek. "Don't say things like that when you know nothing about Robin!"
Nami looked at him with a hint of sadness and uncertainty. "Luffy..."
"Let me see Ice pops! I'm sure he was mistaken! There's no way it was Robin!"
"Why would we let you get closer when we don't know what you'd do?!" Lulu retorted, declining Luffy's request.
Everyone of Water Seven's citizens cheered in agreement.
"That's right! Tie up those culprits!"
"They tried to kill our town's hero!"
"Send them to the gallows!"
"H-Hang on! What are you saying?!" Nami questioned, trying to reason it out with everyone.
"You bitch!" One guy jumped on Nami's boat and got her in a chokehold. "Hey! You were with that Straw Hat guy earlier, weren't you?! You must be one of them, right?!"
"Is that true?!" a woman nearby asked.
"Yeah, he's right! I saw her, too!" another woman vouched. "We're not gonna let you get away!"
"Don't try to fight!"
"Wait, stop it!" Nami tried to reason again.
Luffy saw her situation and grew concerned. "Nami!"
"Let go of me! I said let me go! What did we do?!" she futily questioned.
"Don't play innocent! You guys are assassins!" the guy holding her hostage said. "How dare you shoot Iceberg-san?! We won't let you get away!"
"Hey! Stop it, you guys! We're saying we didn't do anything!" Luffy shouted.
"That's right! For one, Robin doesn't have a reason to go after Iceberg-san, either!" Nami pointed out.
"Just keep insisting that," Paulie said, not believing a word they were saying. "In any case, this is it for the two of you. Learn that harming Iceberg-san, means that you're turning us, Galley-La Company, into your enemies... And that you've made enemies out of everyone in Water Seven!"
"Why are you saying groundless things like that?!" Luffy questioned. "Let me talk to Ice pops!"
"Just give up, pirate! The information will spread throughout the town immediately. There's no longer a place for you to escape! We'll bring down everyone in your gang!"
Everyone in the sidelines all cheered in agreement, all encouraging the foremen to take Luffy down.
Meanwhile, back with Xion, she was having a really difficult time with Franky. The guy was full of surprises. Not only did he have a mean punch, he even has various firearms in his left arm. Her attacks didn't seem to be doing much to him; if anything it was like hitting some sort of steel wall. And it didn't help that the guy's left arm is also his shield which he can use to block Xion's attacks and counter with his hard punches.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's the matter, Starlight Blade?" Franky asked in a mocking tone. "I could've sworn you wanted to beat me up."
Xion stood there, Keyblade embedded in the ground to prevent herself from falling to her knees, panting in exhaustion. Guthrie and Chirithy stayed where they stood, shocked at the scene before them.
"Xion's getting beaten?" the male Keyblade wielder gasped.
"That guy... Is it possible that he's-?!" the Dream Eater assumed the worst.
"I think it's time for you to say good-bye to this world, Starlight Blade," Franky said, taking out a T-shaped pipe from somewhere and connected both his arms on the top end and pointed the bottom at Xion. Next thing the Keyblade wielders knew, the guy's arms were growing larger, as the sound of wind getting sucked in was heard.
"What is he...?" Xion questioned, getting a horrible feeling of what will happen.
"Coup de Vent!" Before she knew it, a blast of compressed air was fired from the pipe.
The girl made an attempt to block the attack, but found herself getting sent flying by the force of it. In fact it was strong enough to send her flying yards back, all the way to the bull rental shop.
"Xion!" Guthrie cried out in concern, while the conscious members of Franky's group all cheered for him.
"Heh. Now then, if I recall, she has a high bounty, doesn't she? I guess it's time to collect it," Franky said, walking to the shop he blasted her into. However, before he could get far enough, Guthrie stood before him, blocking his path. "Hm? And who are you?"
"My name is Guthrie!" he introduced. "And if you think I'm going to let you take Xion, you got another thing coming!"
Those words didn't sit well with Franky, as he lifted his sunglasses with his thumb. "So you're a member of her crew?"
"That's in the air, right now. But I am not letting you hurt my friend!" He summoned his Follow the Wind Keyblade and prepared himself for battle.
Franky narrowed his eyes and raised a brow at the sight of the weapon in his hand. "That weapon... Looks similar to Starlight Blade's." A smirk formed on his lips. "Interesting. Then let's see how you fair!" Letting down his sunglasses, he pointed his left arm at Guthrie. "Beans Left!" He shot out some bullets from the arm at the guy, all in which Guthrie blocked. "Strong Right!" Franky threw a punch at the male Keyblade wielder's way, causing the guy to move from his spot away from the fist.
Seeing an opening on Franky, Guthrie made his move. "Sonic Blade!" He rushed at Franky and delivered a consecutive dashing thrusts into the guy. As he struck him from all angles, he felt something off from each hit.
'What the heck? Why does each hit feel different?' he wondered.
"You bastard..." Franky seethed, breathing in some air. "Fresh Fire!" He breathed out flames from his mouth once more at Guthrie.
"Aeroga!" The guy deflected the fire with his wind magic, dispelling the flames. What he didn't realize, however, was that it was a distraction, as Franky's fist was shot through the flames and struck him hard in the gut, sending him skidding across the field like Xion had.
"You're not bad, man. Too bad you're a pirate," Franky said, retracting his fist once more.
Guthrie healed himself up from the powerful hit, mainly in his torso area, and stood back up. "Okay... That was harder than I thought..." he uttered out, a bit surprised Xion didn't cough out blood when she got hit by that attack.
"No one said you can take a breather here! Weapons Left!" With his left arm pointing at Guthrie, and his wrist opening up, Franky shot out a cannon ball from his arm.
Guthrie made an attempt to block it, when something else came and knocked the ball off course.
Everyone was shocked to see Xion standing there. But the most surprising thing was familiar dark wisps being emitted from her body. "That hurts, damn it..." she spoke, lifting her head and glaring at the cyborg opponent.
Franky's lackies all trembled at the sight of the wisps, recalling what happened back in the house before it was destroyed. It was bad enough when the girl fought without those wisps, but when they came? It was as though a demon from hell rose to the surface and caused the damage in her steed.
"It seems I was a little easy on you," she spoke. "Allow me to apologize for such a poor performance... by beating you to pulp."
Franky thought she was only bluffing and simply laughed. "Oh is that so? In that case, to accept your 'apology', I'll give you one freebie. Go on. Land a hit on me," he challenged.
Xion smirked at his words. "You better not regret it. Dark Haze." Cloaked in the dark wisps, Xion charged at Franky at high speed. To his shock, the hit was actually much stronger to the previous times she attacked him. Xion then grabbed the guy by the head and pointed her Keyblade right at his back. "Dark Volley!" Dark projectiles were shot out of her Keyblade, hitting the guy at point blank, as he let out some screams in pain.
"Aniki!" his boys and the twins called out in worry.
Xion's smile grew as she listened to Franky's screaming. "As I thought. You may be a cyborg, but some part of you is still made of human flesh. I just had to find it," she said, as her shotlock died down. "Now that I know, that hit you dealt me with the compressed air hurt a lot. Allow me to repay you for that pain." She spun her Keyblade, calling upon some wind pressure that surrounded her. "Tornado... Strike!" Xion performed a spin attack, smacking Fire of Shandora into Franky's back, as well as summoning a tornado.
Guthrie and the Franky Family couldn't believe what they were seeing. Not only was Xion beating Franky up the way he had to her, she even summoned a tornado that carried the guy off. However, they would be fools if they think she was done with him there, as the female Keyblade wielder jumped and performed another devastating spin attack on the vulnerable cyborg's back. This hit was strong enough to, with the combined force of the tornado, send Franky flying farther away than his Coup de Vent.
"Aniki! No!" Zambai cried out.
"That can't be- waina!" one twin in pink gasped out.
"Aniki has been-!" the other twin in yellow followed.
Xion landed on the ground, and turned to the family, causing them all to flinch. "So... who is my next victim?"
The group all flinched and shed anime tears in fear, not wanting to be the unfortunate victims.
"Hey, Xion! That's enough!" Guthrie said, approaching the girl.
"Huh? And what makes you-?" Before Xion could finish that question, Guthrie slammed Follow the Wind's guard straight into her gut, knocking her out. As soon as she was down, the former counselor carried her over his shoulder and turned to the Franky Family.
"So, if we can just pretend that this never happened, that would be lovely," he said to them. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking her and go." Not waiting for a response, Guthrie made a break for it back in town, with Chirithy following after him.
Back with Luffy and Nami, the captain was having a really difficult time with the shipwrights. No matter what he said, no one would listen to him. It didn't help that they were scary strong for a bunch of shipwrights. All he could do was defend against them. Soon enough, he found himself embedded in a wall by Kaku's chisels.
"Damn it! I can't move!" he cursed.
Looking up, he saw Tilestone approaching him with a big gun pointing at him. Before he could fire the gun, however, something crashed into the large Shipwright. Everyone looked and stared at the sight before them with wide eyes. The reason? The one that crashed into one of their heroes... was none other than Franky.
"Ow! That really hurt!" he exclaimed, rubbing his back and winced in pain. "Damn you, Starlight Blade... Holding back your true strength against the super me! Just you wait!"
"Franky! What the hell are you doing here?!" Paulie demanded.
The guy turned and, after a quick look around, just realized where he was sent to. "Oh? If this isn't the shipyard of Dock #1 and its foremen." He stood back up on his feet. "This is just great. I got some anger I want to unleash." He distanced himself from the shipwrights and Luffy, took out his pipe, and locked his arms into it like before.
"Hey. What the hell is Franky doing here?" one citizen questioned.
"He looked like he was sent flying here," another pointed out.
"Then, does that mean that someone fought him?" asked another.
"And it looked like they almost won too," said another.
While they were all questioning on why Franky was here, the speedo guy was already sucking in enough air in his arms, causing his arms to grow twice as big as when he used this certain attack on Xion. "Coup de Vent!" He shot out the compressed air at, not any of the foremen, but at a crane that had been toppled over during their fight against Luffy. Unlike before where the attack was only strong enough to blow Xion away to a building, this attack broke the crane and the ship that was being built behind it. And that's not all; it even blew the standing foremen into the air and sent them crashing back down.
"Ow... What the hell was that? It felt like high-pressured wind crashed into us!" Paulie questioned.
But wait, there's more from that one attack, as another crane nearby was starting to fall... right where the innocents were. The people and the bulls reacted fast enough to get the hell away from the falling crane and the shipyard and towards safety.
"A shipyard like this should be... crushed!" Franky shouted, satisfied with the destruction he caused.