Chapter 2: Truth
Everyone was gathered in the middle of the Sunny's lawn. All eyes were on Robin because she was the one who assembled the meeting this late at night, though Luffy was so tired he could barely open his eyes
"What is…it…Robi-yawwwwwwwwwn." A big yawn escaped Luffy's mouth which made Nami feel a bit disgusted, but she controlled her desire to hit him. She diverted her attention to Robin instead.
"Yes, Robin! What is so important?" Nami asked Robin.
Her expression looked very serious. Instead of her trademark smile, there was a slight frown on her face which expressed that this issue must be very crucial.
"Hmm…and I see that moss-head is still not back." Sanji scanned the Sunny once again from left to right "Just where is he?"
"The answer to that…" Robin stretched her hand out which held a tone dial "…is here"
"A tone dial?" Ussop was surprised.
"Listen carefully. Don't ask anything until the very end. Just listen." Robin pressed the apex of tone dial and it began presenting whatever news it was hiding.
"Yo, everyone…" That was clearly Zoro's voice, which was easily identified by every Straw hat listening to this 'broadcast', but keeping Robin's advice in mind for the time being, no one said anything. Even Luffy's eyes widened and his sleepiness seemed to disappear within a moment.
"I hope everyone is there listening. Guys…I have to say, it has been a great time. You must be wondering where I am and what I am doing. Let me answer. I have joined a specific group. They are neither pirates nor revolutionaries; they are just a group of warriors who have focused all of their attention on one goal. There is no need for you guys to know that goal or name. As you might suspect, I am leaving the crew. I have one thing I want to tell Luffy, so I hope he's paying attention. Luffy, this isn't like the time when Robin left, or when Nami was kidnapped by Shiki, or when Ussop left. I am leaving of my own accord. There is no reason for you to come after me. If you still act as recklessly as always and try to force me to come back …then you would leave me no choice but to face you myself. I hope you understand. Lastly…thank you for everything. Goodbye. Consider this my resignation…Captain…"
Everyone speechlessly stared at the dial in Robin's hand, their faces fallen in disbelief. How could Zoro do this? He had been the most loyal one towards Luffy, always giving lectures like being a pirate wasn't a game and all. Now he had gone and joined a stupid group of warriors.
"This…can't be Zoro," Nami said in a husky voice with lifeless eyes.
"Zoro-san would never do something like this," Brook added in his low voice.
"N-no, no, no…there should be an explanation. I mean…Robin did something like this too right? He must be in a difficult situation…" Ussop stammered.
"A situation even he can't handle? Besides, he said he is leaving of his own accord," Franky said bluntly with a frown.
"Anyone can be forced to say what they don't want to if they're in a bad enough situation! Don't doubt Zoro so easily!" Ussop screamed at Franky, becoming unreasonably infuriated.
"USSOP!" Sanji threw a death glare at him. "There is no use getting angry at others. For now, whatever we perceived from what we heard can be a possibility"
"Sanji is right," Franky added to support Sanji's statement. "We can't say anything unless we know the whole story."
"Even so…" Chopper's eyes started to become wet. "I don't want Zoro to leave. This must be a joke. He wants to make fun of us. That's why he is doing it."
Chopper had always looked up to Zoro the most. Tears started flowing out of his eyes and Luffy, who had been silently standing all this time, stepped forward and placed his right hand on Chopper's head. "Yes, he must be joking. If he's not, then I'm gonna kick his ass and drag him back to Sunny," Luffy said in very angry tone covering his eyes with his straw hat.
Robin, who silently observed this whole performance, smiled and spoke up "Yes, I feel the same way."
She earned everyone's attention once again. "But just as Zoro said, this isn't like any of the times before. We are in grave danger…at least, Sunny is." This was even more surprising, for no one was able to comprehend Robin's words any longer.
"What do you mean?" Nami asked.
"Those words from the tone dial hold no particular meaning for us." Robin closed her eyes and crossed her arms, still holding the dial. "They were used just to cover the real message to fool someone, maybe the one who is responsible for Zoro's actions."
"Then," a sudden flash of happiness appeared in Ussop's eyes, "you mean that he's been forced to do it after all, right?"
"Just wait a minute now," Nami interrupted him. "I don't understand at all. Someone else is responsible for his actions? Just who is capable enough to force Zoro to do something? What did you mean by Sunny is in grave danger? And how can you say all of this, Robin?"
Everyone was getting a little bit too confused and curious at the same time.
"I'm sorry for not telling this to you beforehand, but everyone just got emotional all of a sudden, so I didn't get a chance to state the truth." Robin lifted up the dial from her palm and pulled a piece of paper from the inside of it.
"Besides, it was amusing to see how much everyone cares about Zoro." Robin unfolded the piece of paper in her hand and turned it towards the others so they could see. "This is the real information he wanted to give us".
Rewinding time a little bit…
"Join me, Roronoa Zoro, as we conquer this world. I'll be queen and you'll be…my king."
Zoro narrowed his eyes as he stared coldly at her face, which was still wearing that cold sinister grin.
"What makes you think that I would agree to your proposal?" Zoro kept staring at her indifferently but didn't get the reaction he expected. She just kept smirking like before.
After waiting for a moment, he spoke again, harsh in his straightforwardness. "I'm not interested in this ambition of yours nor I am interested in you." She let out a sigh and unwrapped her arms. Turning around, she walked up dejectedly to a table beside the wall and picked up something like a remote control. By the press of a button, a video started on a screen on the opposite wall. Zoro was quite surprised that he didn't even notice that there was such a massive video screen in the room until this moment.
"Observe carefully. You wouldn't want to miss it." As she said these words, Zoro snapped out of his thoughts and turned his attention back to the screen. A big ship, probably a galleon, could be seen. There was nothing that seemed particularly significant until Mikumo pressed another button from yet another device. Just as she did, several explosions occurred at different spots on the ship, and it was blown to pieces. Nothing but bits and pieces remained, the last parts sinking quickly into the ocean.
"What is the meaning of this?" Zoro inquired as coolly as always. Without an answer Mikumo opened a drawer beside the table and picked up something again. She threw the item to Zoro, who caught it instinctively. Zoro glanced down at his hand, holding whatever she had flung at him. It was a black bean like object with a black spike on its top and something which appeared to be a…micro-chip.
"It's an explosive we have created. Small in size, doesn't contain much firepower." She sauntered towards Zoro. Passing by him, she grabbed her sword where she had placed it before and turned back to him again. Getting closer, she grabbed the explosive from Zoro's hand while caressing his fingers seductively. Zoro kept staring at his empty hand for a moment, not paying any attention to her actions until she ambled to the window and opened it. She chucked the explosive outside and quickly unleashed a slash which hit the explosive directly resulting in an explosion. The explosion wasn't too big, but it wasn't so small either. Moreover, her sword skills were good.
"Yet, it contains enough power to kill three humans," she stated while looking at Zoro from over her shoulder. She spun to face him once again. "Three normal humans. Of course, the ship you just saw had about thirty of these implanted on it. Your poor sense of direction helped me greatly in executing this plan successfully."
Hearing this from her caused some veins to appear on Zoro's forehead.
"I might have an idea where this is heading, but you better choose your words carefully," Zoro muttered, angrier than before.
Mikumo giggled before continuing. "During the time you were on your way here, for roughly one hour, your ship was unguarded. That was plenty enough time for my subordinates to implant at least a hundred of these on your ship."
Zoro's eyes widened.
"Do you understand what this means Roronoa Zoro?"
"So, you are trying to blackmail me after all." Zoro's voice became rougher as he clenched his fists and teeth in fury.
"You can say that." Once again, she moved closer and draped her arms around Zoro's neck. "Even if you kill me, my subordinates will do the job with just one click of a button. Your friends' lives or at least your beloved ship's existence is in my hands."
Moving her lips closer to Zoro's ear, she whispered seductively, "All I want is you…stay with me and there will be no harm done to your friends or to your ship."
Letting go of him, she moved to the previously stated drawer and this time picked a tone-dial from it.
"Looks like she's been to Skypiea as well" Zoro thought
"I will be generous with you. I know how reckless Straw Hat Luffy is. So, it is up to you how you convince them to stay away and leave you alone." She tossed the tone dial to Zoro which he caught easily with his left hand
"Compose a convincing enough farewell message for your former friends. I'll even let you deliver it yourself while my subordinates accompany you. Just one more thing…" Getting closer to Zoro and holding his chin, she lifted his face up to stare into his icy, murderous eyes.
"My! This is why I want you so much…but remember, just try to be smart with me even once and your friends are dead. Even if they are not normal humans and may survive the blast, your ship will not survive. You are mine…Roronoa Zoro!" Closing the distance between them, she placed a light kiss on Zoro's lips but it didn't change his expression even an inch. Zoro was completely apathetic to her actions. Witnessing this, Mikumo's eyes started gleaming, and her cheeks started to get red as a blush appeared on her face.
"Ah! You excite me so much." But she stepped away from him. "I should not bother you for some time now. After all, these are your last moments as a Straw hat."
Despite her words to give him some time, she stayed in same room always keeping her eyes on Zoro. After pause of few more minutes, Zoro moved the dial closer to his lips to compose his farewell message…
Back to the Sunny…
Robin turned the piece of paper back to herself. "This is Zoro's vivre card and the substance used to write on it seems like…blood."
"What?" was most of the straw hats' response.
"He probably didn't have anything else to use at the time."
"So, what does it say?" Franky asked.
"I'll read it out loud; listen carefully." As the atmosphere got more intense, Robin started reading the contents of the paper.
"Everyone, sorry about this, I had no other choice. Ignore what I said in the dial and read this carefully. There are about a hundred coin-sized explosives implanted in Sunny. Thirty of these are capable of destroying a big galleon. Leader of the group I talked about is kinda obsessed with me and wants me to stay with her. I'm still not sure about the reason though. There is nothing any of us can do as long as we are on this island. These explosives can go off by click of a button and we are continuously under surveillance by these women. Please, Luffy, you have to understand. Leave it to me this time. I'll take care of it myself. As soon as I'm finished here, I'll be on my way to you guys. As long as you're on this island I can't do anything, so leave this island as quickly as possible." Robin stopped reading. A smile appeared on her face and she resumed, "Is Sanji there?"
Sanji's left eye twitched, he had a fair idea what was coming.
"This group is entirely made up of women and as I've said their 'Mistress' is obsessed with me. Take that ero-cook, I've beaten you even in this."
That was the end of message, as there was no more place on the vivre card to write anything. Sanji started firing up like always. Hearing this was painful in itself, but on top of that he had to hear it from his precious Robin-chan's beautiful lips. He was unable to contain his irritation any longer.
"YOU BASTARD MARIMO, I'M COMING TO KICK YOUR ASS! I SHOULD'VE BEEN IN HIS PLACE, DAMMIT!" Sanji was burning in his flames of passion. Nami was getting annoyed by now. After sighing once, she signaled Franky about something.
"Ok, got it!" He quickly grabbed Sanji, tying him up with steel chains. Franky threw him down on to the lawn.
"DAMMIT! LET ME GO, I'M GONNA KICK THAT ASSHOLE'S ASS ALL THE WAY TO SHITTY KINGDOM!"
Nami stepped closer to him. "Sanji."
Sanji calmed down within a second after hearing Nami's voice. She sat down beside him and asked seductively, "Do you want to go to those women and leave me here alone?"
Sanji's eyes turned into hearts in an instant. "No way Nami-san, I'll never leave your side!"
"Then stay here quietly." Sanji received a punch on his head, and Nami strode over towards Robin, leaving Sanji on the lawn semi-conscious.
"Angry Nami-san is so amazing…"
Everyone just ignored him.
"So this is how it is." Franky said, holding his chin. "Whoever this woman is, she sure is clever. She must have known how much we care about our ship. There is no way I'm gonna let Sunny be destroyed!"
"So," Luffy was still covering his eyes with his hat, "do we leave Zoro here alone?"
"Luffy, I know it's hard but…we have no other choice. I believe in Zoro. No matter what kind of situation he's in, he'll be able to survive, but Sunny is not that strong" Nami said.
"No way! I'm not leaving anyone behind" Luffy was becoming angry.
"I agree with Nami. Try to understand, Luffy. This is not like before. I have a plan though," Robin said.
"Plan? What kind of plan?" Brook and Franky asked in unison.
"We will not leave anyone behind. But for now we have to leave the Island. As Zoro said, these explosives are controlled by a button, which means they should have a transmitter. In other words, they will not work out of a certain range."
"I see," Franky interrupted Robin. "So we get out of their range and get rid of these explosives. Then we come back to help Zoro out. That sounds like a good enough plan."
"I also understand." This time Nami spoke up. "Now, if we leave before the log pose sets, then we can get back here whenever we want."
"Y-you sure this is gonna work?" Ussop asked anxiously.
"There isn't any other suitable plan," Robin answered.
"As for these explosives, I think I know how to handle them," Franky said with a smirk.
So, it was decided. Even though Luffy still disagreed and insisted on staying behind to go help Zoro all by himself, everyone somehow managed to convince their captain. They departed the Island shortly after.
In the fortress, Zoro was given a room of his own. Standing at the window, he was staring at the barely visible ocean in a 'not-very-happy-mood'. Mikumo entered the room, and Zoro turned to face her.
"Your former crew mates have left," she said, putting her katana aside. She received just a grunt in response. Once again getting closer, she enveloped him in her arms, resting her head against Zoro's shoulder. "They left so easily, considering how close you were…this is quite surprising."
A few moments passed and Zoro pushed her away from him, startling her a bit. "I am going along with this game of yours, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."
Mikumo narrowed her eyes. "You don't get it do you? I don't merely want to be with you."
Stepping towards him again, she placed her right hand on Zoro's shoulder. "I want to own you as my belonging."
Suddenly Zoro felt a stinging pain in his shoulder. He quickly jerked her hand away, only to realize that there was a very small syringe in her hand. How could he be so careless? He let his guard down for a brief moment and this happened.
"What have you done?" Zoro asked her in harsh tone.
"Liquefied KYP…it has capability to intoxicate even the heaviest of drinkers within five seconds."
Zoro started to lose his balance as he stumbled a little bit, eventually falling on to the floor, barely able to see a blurry image of Mikumo.
"You are a wild horse. To make you my loyal servant, I have to break your spirit first." Sitting beside an almost unconscious Zoro, she caressed his cheek lightly.
"Sleep well…my love. A New World awaits you" were the last words he heard before the drug took over him completely.
Yo everyone, here's the second chapter. I just took my readers' advice and had someone help me with my grammar. I hope there are less to minimum mistakes in this one.
As always...THANKS FOR READING...please review cause I'll be waiting for your kind reviews :)
Oh and...all those readers who informed me that my grammar is bad...I'M GREATLY THANKFUL TO ALL OF YOU...