*Breathing deeply in a paper bag*
Xion: Okay, I know I did not cause... whatever is going on over here. But what's wrong? It can't just be my mere appearance; we're at peace with each other now. Especially when you told me of your plans after seeing KH3.
Coral: *high pitch* No! No! It is not you!
Xion: *sweat drop* Then... What?
Coral: Just did something that may as well be the stupidest thing I've ever done or a turning point in my life is all...
Xion: ... What did you do?
Coral: ... a book...
Xion: Huh? Sorry, I didn't quite catch that.
Coral: ... -blished a book...
Xion: A little louder please.
Coral: I SAID I RECENTLY PUBLISHED A BOOK, OKAY?!
Xion: *wide-eyed* You published one of your fanfictions into a book? Are you mad or something? No one is going to-
Coral: No, not a fanfiction book, a book book! I wrote an original story and published it on Amazon Kindle!
Xion: *wide-eyed* ... Is this really something that should be told here?
Coral: I don't know! But I just want to get that off my chest! Sure I had a few friends reading it and saying that they were completely in love with the story, but having strangers read it is something else entirely!
Xion: Wait, then why did you publish it?
Coral: *fiddling fingers together* I was encouraged... All this time writing, I got to making my own, legit story, it kind of made me want to be a writer as a career. Spoke to someone about my life choice, and he supported it...
Xion: ... I am quite curious what the story is. *takes laptop and browse through story ideas*
Coral: NO! Please! Don't look! STOP!
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:
"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.
"Ho? So you are Starlight Blade Xion," the guy said, doing some stretching exercises with the twins.
"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."
"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. "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.
'Something's not right here,' the vice captain of the Straw Hat pirate thought herself.
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.
"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. I think it's time for you to say good-bye to this world." Franky took 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. "Coup de Vent!" Before she knew it, a blast of compressed air was fired from the pipe. "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. "It seems I was a little easy on you. 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. 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.
Luffy quickly got back up and looked around the hall he crashed into. "Good, I made it," he muttered.
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.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "We came here because we heard the news about pops."
Gunshots were heard, and a pair of bullets struck Luffy's rubbery body from the side. 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 Lulu, 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.
'Hang on! Why are the shipwrights fighting against Luffy?!' she wondered.
Luffy panted and slowly got to his feet again. "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?!"
Soon enough, Luffy 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.
While everyone was 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. 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.
Seconds passed since Franky used his destructive move on the pillar. The dust was starting to clear up, revealing complete and utter destruction of the shipyard. Everyone had long evacuated the area by now, leaving Luffy, Nami, and the shipwrights.
"What is he?" the navigating pirate questioned. "A cyborg? Where did he get that kind of technology?! And what was that weird cannon?!" Nami looked at herself and realized something. "Ah... But... I was able to escape thanks to that!"
"Nami! Run!" Luffy shouted, rushing over to the girl.
"Luffy! Are you okay?"
The captain knelt down to her. "No way I'd be brought down by something like that!" he exclaimed, catching his breath. "Anyway, I don't get it. Let's go see Ice Pops somehow!"
Nami looked at him in shock. "What?! We're going?! It's not possible in this commotion!"
"Hey look! Straw Hat is getting away!" a civilian noticed.
Just like that, many others nearby looked and saw the pair of pirates getting up from their spot.
"Oh shoot!"
"We're gonna get surrounded!" Nami stated.
Luffy looked around and got an idea for their escape. Grabbing hold of Nami by the waist, he stretched out his arm. "Hold on tight!" he advised.
"Don't let them escape!" a bystander shouted, running to the two.
Thankfully, Luffy managed to grab the edge of a rooftop in time and shot both himself and Nami up to a building. Once they were at the top, they made a break for it from the roofs.
"They're getting away!"
"Go after them!"
Back with Guthrie, Xion, and Chirithy, the male Keyblade wielder managed to get the trio to a safe place on a building's rooftop, where he set down the unconscious female wielder. Chirithy looked around the area, hoping that none of the Franky Family was coming after them.
"Looks like we're safe," he said. "How's Xion doing?"
"She's resting, that's for sure. Don't know what will happen when she wakes up. Hopefully she'll be back to normal by then," Guthrie said.
The two guys stared at the unconscious girl, worried for her.
"Just what in the world happen back there? Xion fought like a completely different person. In fact, she acted like a different person," the Dream Eater said.
"That's what I want to know. You're supposed to be the expert at this stuff," Guthrie retorted.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well you're the one who kept telling me to protect Xion, especially when she's being targeted by the organization. You never said why, so I'm guessing this is the reason."
Chirithy was silent at the point he made.
"So Chirithy? Talk! What was that back there? Some sort of special power Xion has? Something the organization implanted in her before she escaped from them? That power seemed so much like darkness. What is it?!"
The Dream Eater looked down, a grim expression on his face. Guthrie swallowed the bit of saliva gathered in his mouth, waiting for the answer. "That is..." The male wielder nodded scooting a bit closer to Chirithy. "It was..." He drew closer. "That power... it was..." Guthrie felt his eyes widened in anticipation, red lines being shown, as he was not sure how much longer he could hold his curiosity and demand in. "I don't know what the heck it was!" Cue the anime fall.
Guthrie grabbed Chirithy by his cape and shook him relentlessly. "What the hell do you mean 'you don't know'?! This is something very important here, Chirithy!"
"Waaaahhh! Hey! There are things even I don't know of! Stop shaking meeee~!"
... Am I the only one having a de ja vu here?
"There you guys are!" came Allen's voice.
Guthrie stopped shaking the poor, dizzy Dream Eater and looked to see the dancer pirate approaching them from above, along with a newspaper in hand.
"Allen! What's wrong?" the male Keyblade wielder asked.
"This is what's wrong," he answered, handing Guthrie the paper in his hand.
The ex-pirate took the newspaper and he couldn't believe what he was reading on the front cover. "Wait, what?! Straw Hat Pirates are culprits of Mayor Iceberg's attack?! What the heck is this?!"
"That's what we want to know!" Allen exclaimed. "Earlier we heard that the Mayor got attacked, and now we're hearing this..." It was then, he noticed Xion lying unconscious on the roof. "Xion? What happened to her?!" he asked, kneeling down to her side.
"Take a guess," Guthrie answered, running a hand through his hair.
Allen's eyes widened at the response. "You mean... it happened again?"
Chirithy looked between the pair. "What? Do you know something, Allen?" the Dream Eater asked.
The dancer looked down at his vice-captain, worried for her, and wondering if it was okay to tell Chirithy now.
Guthrie placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it's fine to tell him," he said, having a good idea what the guy was worried about. "Xion's unconscious now. I don't think she'll hear any of this."
Taking those words into consideration, Allen explained to Chirithy what he knew about Xion's situation.
"Weird power takes over Xion when she's angry?!" he gasped.
"You saw for yourself what happened earlier. She never displayed this sort of power back on Sky Island before she left," Allen said. "I can bet you my dancing skills that that power is the exact reason why the organization is after her."
"That really does sound plausible," Guthrie said. "And there's also that voice in her."
Allen turned to him in confusion. "What 'voice'?"
"You don't know yet? I thought you knew by now."
"About what?"
"There's another soul inside of Xion's," Chirithy answered. The dancer faced him in shock. "Well, we don't know exactly if he is a 'soul' per say, but he is a voice inside of her head. A voice who seems to know a lot about the Keyblade."
"So wait. You think this voice is the cause of Xion acting this way or something?" Allen asked.
"We're not sure yet, but I don't trust that guy one bit. I'm getting bad vibes off of him," Guthrie said.
"Can't we ask Xion about him?"
"If we do, it'll be clear how suspicious we are of him. And unfortunately, since he helped her train the ways of the Keyblade, I highly doubt she'll be willing to hear us out when we say that there's something wrong with that guy. Plus, if we do ask her about him, if he is connected with what's happening to Xion, wouldn't that make her even more worried? I thought you don't want me to tell her anything that's connected to her situation."
"I know! I know I was the one who asked you to keep that quiet, but this has gone on long enough! I can't keep using her battle against Larxene or any future battles against any of the Organization members as an excuse! I don't want her to get any more confused about herself than she already is! Or worse, any more worried about her situation!"
That silenced the male Keyblade wielder and his Dream Eater. While Guthrie may have been quite worried about Robin, that didn't mean he stopped paying attention to the other members of the Straw Hat crew. He recalled back after Xion recovered from her fight against Aokiji; she couldn't remember anything that happened during the fight. And despite people saying that it was fine, Guthrie knew that Xion knew something was wrong. And though they managed to avoid the question of her blackout back at Franky House the first time, this time? They couldn't use the same excuse twice, nor can they hope for the same miracle to come twice.
A groan was heard. The two boys and lone Dream Eater turned and saw Xion waking up.
"Xion! Are you okay?" Allen asked.
The girl opened her eyes and placed a hand on her head. "I... I think so..." she uttered out. As she sat up, she felt some pain in her gut and rubbed against her tummy. "Ow... Why does my stomach hurt...?" she asked out loud.
Despite what they said about telling her the truth, the trio didn't feel like now was the time. "You sure it's not just a stomach ache?" Guthrie asked.
Xion perked up at his voice. "Guthrie?" One look at him, and she remembered what happened before she blacked out. Well, most of it that is. "Wait, what happened to Franky? And the Franky Family?! And... why am I on the roof in the middle of Water Seven?!"
"H-Hey, it's okay. There's nothing to worry about now," Allen assured.
As they feared, however, that answer was no longer cutting it for her. "Don't say that everything's okay! Lately, I've been blacking out in the middle of my battle and find myself away from it! If it was because of exhaustion, I would understand, but my fight with Larxene ended weeks ago! And not only that, but I've been recovering so much ever since the fight against Aokiji! You cannot say I'm being delusional or overreacting when I say that there is something wrong with me! There has to be! It's not normal for me to keep passing out like this!"
Guthrie, Allen, and Chirithy looked at each other with uncertainty. Though they knew they had to tell Xion the truth, though they had decided they would tell the truth, they weren't sure how she would react if she knew.
Xion noticed the looks they had on their faces. As much as she wants answers, one look at their expressions told her that now may not be the time. Taking in some breaths, calming herself down somewhat, she then said, "You know what? Forget it." The boys looked back at her, this time confused. "You guys obviously know something, but you won't tell me. Either it means it's better off unsaid, or I'm not ready for it. Then fine; I'll leave it be."
This caused them to be relieved. "Thanks for understanding, Xion," Allen thanked.
However, the relief left as soon as it came, as Xion continued, "Although... I really wish you guys at least trust me enough to tell me that I'm not ready for the truth, rather than have me say that it's okay to keep it a secret."
Now placed on their faces were slight regrets.
"Hey! There they are!" came a voice.
Confused, the group of pirates faced the source and saw the owner, and a few others, on the roof of another building, all holding their own variety of weapons.
"Don't let them escape!"
"They'll pay for hurting Iceberg-san!"
Xion, who was unconscious while the guys were talking about the rumors going around, was confused with their claims. "Wait, what are they talking about?" she asked.
"No time to answer; just run for it!" Guthrie answered. At that one suggestion, the four pirates ran off.
As they ran, they faintly heard shouting from below, mainly about them being on the rooftops.
"At this rate, the roof won't be safe for us any more!" Chirithy exclaimed.
"No kidding. And there's the Aqua Laguna storm to worry about, too!" Allen added.
"Let's go back down below! There's still the alley!" Xion suggested.
Nodding in agreement to the idea, the group of four jumped off the roof and started to blend in with the shadows.
After they managed to conceal themselves in the dark alleys, Chirithy snuck out to the open streets to overhear anything of importance, mainly about their situation. Dangerous as it was for him to be out alone, especially with people knowing that he's also a Straw Hat pirate, he can just poof himself away and reappear back with Xion and the boys.
Speaking of, as the three were hiding, Allen and Guthrie got Xion all caught up with why there were suddenly on a run.
"We were framed for attempting to kill the mayor?!" she gasped. Thankfully, she wasn't loud enough to alert anyone of their hidden location.
"That's what it says in the papers," Allen said, handing Xion the very newspaper that spoke of how they were involved with the assassination attempt.
"I highly doubt that any of us actually did it. I mean, I was at the Franky House, or what was left of it at least, all night. You guys were at Merry, especially with... well, you know..." Guthrie trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.
"And there's no way that it could be Usopp either..."
The two males kept silent, wondering how they could be framed into doing such an act.
One thing came to Xion's mind about their situation. "Do any of you know where Robin was last night?" she asked.
This caught the pair's attention. "What do you mean?" Guthrie asked.
"Look at this newspaper." She placed down the paper. "It's got my, Luffy, Zoro and Robin's bounty on it. As far as I know, people would only know we're pirates if we have a bounty or if we're around them. What if Robin was at Iceberg's place last night? I'm not saying she was the one who did it, but what if she got involved somehow, and Iceberg only mentioned her name, which miscommunicates to her being the one who tried to kill him, thus leads to us all being involved in the assassination attempt?"
Both Allen and Guthrie kept silent at those words. At first, Xion thought they didn't believe her, thought she may have gone crazy or something. But one look at them... she saw they were considering the option.
"You guys are not disagreeing with me about this..." she muttered. "Do you guys think it's possible?"
"This... is exactly what I was about to say before the Franky Family came," her 'Guardian' said. "I was going to say she might have met someone of her past while she was out with me and Chopper and went with that person. And with what the papers are saying, it's possible that this person is someone that Robin can't go against and provoked her into attempting to kill Iceberg. Or rather... what if they told her to shoot him without killing the guy on purpose? Doing so will cause him to be alive to tell that one of our crew members was involved in the attack? She wouldn't even think of blaming the crew she cares for unless..."
"...Unless someone wanted us to take the fall by using her," Xion finished, catching on to what he was saying. "So someone is forcing Robin to commit the crime, and she's just going along with them for some reason. I wonder if it's the Organization..."
"Doubtful. Those guys are after you, not Robin. Besides, after Larxene and what I read about the other two members you fought, this doesn't sound like a method they would use. Maybe it has to do with the Navy, or maybe the World Government."
"What do you think, Allen? You've been awfully quiet," the vice-captain asked the dancer. This prompted Guthrie into looking over to the Shandian.
"... That would explain why she's with that person..." he muttered, much to the Keyblade wielders' surprise.
"You mean you saw her?!" Guthrie asked. "Why didn't you bring her with you?!"
"If I could, I would've. I was on my way back to inn we were staying to inform Zoro of the Aqua Laguna, when I saw her with someone else nearby. I followed after them, but lost them. I would say I lost them in the crowd, but I had a bird's-eye view."
"What do you mean?" Xion asked.
"They were making a turn into a small alley. I rushed to that alley, but found no trace of them. It's almost like they just disappeared. And trust me, I would know if I saw them exit out from one side or the other."
Hearing that worried them even more. "We need to find Robin. Do you know who that other person looks like?"
"They had a mask on. But whoever this person was, they were big."
"If this person is someone of the Government, we have to save Robin from them," Guthrie decided. "Let's find the others."
Just as Xion and Allen nodded in agreement to the idea, they heard hasty footsteps approaching them. They looked, and saw, to their dismay, Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Chirithy on Zoro's head... being chased by a group of people holding long saws... heading their way!
"Ah! Xion! Allen! Guthrie!" the captain called and waved.
"Why the hell are you guys being chased now?!" the trio shouted, now joining their crew on the escape.
"There's the rest of them!" a citizen exclaimed.
"None of you are escaping this time!" shouted another.
"Stop right there!" came another.
"How did you get the whole town to find and chase after you?!" Guthrie demanded Luffy.
"Blame Zoro! He led them to us!" the straw hat-wearing pirate defended.
"Like I said, it was going to happen eventually!" Zoro defended.
"We'll play the blame game later! Just run!" Xion shouted.
And so they ran as fast as they could, away from the mob that was still chasing them.
"Xion! Can't you use that freezing magic?! You know! That one you used for that train the other day!" Luffy suggested.
"Do you want to give them more reason to come after us or something?! Even if it will help us escape, I am not going to use my magic on them!"
"She's right! Besides, using a Keyblade against innocent people is treason!" Chirithy shouted.
Some time of running later, the crew finally managed to lose the mob by hiding under a bridge. By some miracle, Luffy managed to hold them all up and clung onto the bottom edge of the bridge long enough for their pursuers to move elsewhere. Of course, they then dropped into the water when Chopper, in his Heavy Point, practically came out of nowhere and spooked him out. But the most important thing was that they got away.
They were currently hiding out on top of a roof. Thankfully, it didn't seem like anyone was looking from above at this time, especially with Aqua Laguna approaching.
"I guess things have finally calmed down," Zoro sighed.
"'Finally calmed down'?! You had all those shipwrights chasing after you! That's why we ended up getting dragged into it, too!" Nami exclaimed.
"Yes. And then you guys came in and got us involved as well," Guthrie added in.
"Like I said, it was unavoidable," Zoro reasoned.
"It's a good thing Chopper found us. But where's Sanji?" Allen asked.
Chopper looked down at the question. "Well..."
He began to explain to them what happened. How he and Sanji met up with Robin... and what she told them.
"Did Robin really say that?!" Luffy demanded in an enraged tone. Chopper somberly nodded in confirmation.
'I knew she was bad news,' Chirithy thought, crossing his stubby arms.
Zoro clasped one of his swords. "We all... were prepared for it, right?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Allen asked, the only one not knowing much about the oldest female member.
"Even if it was for a short time, we let Robin, who showed up as an enemy, come on board." The dancer was shocked at this revelation. "It'd be embarrassing if we ran away because we got scared. Isn't it about time for us to settle the matter... as to whether that woman is... a friend or a foe...?"
"She has to be a friend!" Allen exclaimed.
"And how can you be so sure? She said it herself; she wouldn't see us after today," Chirithy argued. "It also sounds like she's declaring to do something that could worsen the situation before the day is over. Look at how big a fuss the attempted assassination of the mayor caused in this town. If it's possible to make the situation worse, there's only one thing she can do."
"This time for sure... assassinate the mayor," Nami realized.
"We can't let that happen!" Guthrie said.
"It's natural to think that way. But we know that she's pinning her crime on us on purpose, so it's possible that this could be a trap to lure us out to the scene of the crime," Zoro said. "If we're at the spot of the assassination carried out tonight, the crime will be easily pinned on us."
"Hey! You make it sound as though Robin is our foe!" Nami told him.
"For once, I agree with Nami here! Robin's a friend!" Guthrie added.
"I'm only talking about the possibility," Zoro corrected. "And you seem sure that Robin won't do what I'm saying."
"It's not that we seem sure of it," Xion corrected, bringing attention to her, Guthrie and Allen. "Earlier, we were talking about the attempted assassination and how Robin is connected to it. In fact, Allen saw her earlier with someone else."
This revelation shocked them.
"You did?!" Chirithy asked.
"Yeah. I didn't get a good look, but something tells me that guy she was with is bad news. I tried following them, but I lost them," the dancer explained.
This made Nami and Luffy perk up, as they recalled something. "Iceberg-san said the same thing," the former informed. "She was with someone wearing a mask. But that can't be any of us. He has to be the reason why Robin suddenly changed."
"Then he's making Robin do bad things?!" Chopper asked.
"That'd be fortunate," Zoro said, hoping it was the case, as deep down, he really didn't want to fight someone who was their friend, even if it was for a short while. "But if this guy's Robin's real friend, that'd be misfortunate."
"And even if I do remember what sort of mask that guy had on, he could just change into a different one..." Allen added in.
"So then, what is our goal?" Nami asked.
"We'll capture Robin," Luffy instantly decided. "Otherwise, we won't know anything."
"True as it may be, don't forget one thing," Xion spoke, as her captain got up. "She's been on the run from the government for about twenty years. To just say that we'll capture her is easier said than done."
"But if we want to know the truth, that's the only way," Nami pointed out.
"Okay. I'll do my best too!" Chopper decided.
"I'll help out any way I can too!" Allen followed. He turned to Guthrie. "What about you? I know you're not a part of the crew at the moment but-"
"Let me join in!" he interrupted and requested Luffy and Xion. "This is not something I can just ignore! I want to help, too!"
As much as the female Keyblade wielder wanted to instantly give the okay, it was this kind of situation that the captain has the last say.
"We need all the help we can get right now," he said. "Now let's go. To the Galley-La Company!"