Sorry about the wait on this chapter. I realized that I had forgotten I needed another before I jumped to the one I already had done. Hope it's worth it though! Special thanks to Phoenix and The Silver Oak for their wonderful reviews!
-yesiamweird
"Robin! I finally found you!"
"Wait a minute…" Kimi ran from behind the swordsman walking into the room he had just cut through with the use of his katana. "Luffy?" She muttered noticing her rubber captain on the other side of the room with another man right behind him.
"Oi, Luffy, where the hell have you been?!" Zoro proceeded to yell while Nami and Chopper joined alongside of the female scientist. "Robin!"
Inside the room of Iceberg's mansion were four people and Robin standing alongside of them. The man Luffy had along with him apparently knew these four people and began to wail about how they had betrayed him and the Gallery-La company.
"Oh, I see…These people must have worked for the shipwright company." She thought recognizing the square-nosed man from the Merry yesterday.
"I remember that square nose…" Zoro whispered gaining a confirming nod from the blue-haired woman. "So you mean that there were assassins in the company?" Nami questioned to the woman but Kimi only placed a finger to her lips hoping that their silence would derive answers from the people in the room.
"Paulie," A man dressed in all black with a matching top hat began to speak, "The truth is that we are undercover Government agents. Well, I expect that you'll accept our apologies. We are nakama who have labored in shipbuilding together. Would you like to see me trample Iceberg's face?"
"This is a load of shit! I've had enough!" The blonde man, Paulie, began to yell. "You wanna make a fool out of me!?" He started to run forwards throwing a set of knives attached to a rope at the man. But as if the top-hat man had disappeared to retreat, he was seen in a split-second poking Paulie through his chest.
Kimi gasped for a moment and then held her arm out to protect Nami and Chopper behind her. No way was she allowing her friends to help while the situation was still unfavorable. As much as she knew it was killing Chopper to not help, the best thing they could do was analyze their enemies before attacking.
"Oi! Rope guy!" Luffy called out from the other side as Paulie fell to the floor.
"We have achieved power beyond the limits of human strength." The top-hat man started to say, "We have forged our bodies into weapons through years of training in an advanced style of martial arts- Rokushiki. One who learns all six will attain a strength level of 100 ninriki." Paulie tried to stand once more but was kept down from the man's hand. "In any event, we have to kill you. This saddens me, my friend." He stated colder than ice. Kimi could only stare completely mortified from the similar response she had been told as a child from her own sister.
"Why are you hurting me? I said I was sorry!" The blue haired girl cried as she attempted to wipe the tears and dirt off of her face. "I only wanted to play with you sissy!"
The older girl scoffed striking her fist back down onto her little sisters head. "I don't like you! Can't you get that through your thick skull? You killed mom! How dare you think I would ever love you!"
Kimiko fell back into the dirt once again crying even louder. "Fine then…I'll just go back inside and-and-"
"No." The girl turned around with a small blade in her hands. "You won't do anything…I'm going to teach you a lesson here and now dear sister…a lesson you will never forget…" She took a hold onto Kimi's wrist with the knife hovering above her hand. "I don't want to do this, but it's the only way you'll understand sister. I'm sorry…"
"LUFFY!" Nami and the other two screamed pulling Kimi out of her vision. She had apparently blacked out for the moment completely missing the fact her captain and the top-hat man had fought for a brief moment before Paulie was executed.
Shaking her head of the vision completely, Kimi held the top of her hand in the other rubbing it gently through the thick leather gloves. "It was only a memory…" She breathed calmly trying to meditate herself out from a panic attack creeping around the corner. "Only a horrible memory…"
She closed her eyes taking a deep breath and then opened them to witness Luffy yelling at the top-hat man for wanting to kill Paulie. "Oi Robin!" He redirected his statement towards his own nakama, "If you want to leave then tell me why!" Luffy's voice was stern, almost even sterner than when he and Ussopp had been fighting on the Merry.
"Yeah!" Nami added stepping forwards, "They work for the government, tell us!"The tension was thick. So think Kimi could cut through it with one of Zoro's swords.
"I already told Mr. Cook and Mr. Doctor that I was leaving. Didn't they tell you?"
"Of course we did!" The reindeer yelled back, "But I can't accept this either, why are you doing this Robin!?"
"To make my wish come true, a wish that would never come true if I went with you. If I can have it, then no sacrifice is too great." She responded with no emotion. It was almost as if she had gain the cruelty of Kimi's sister in the brief time they were apart. For a moment, Kimi looked around the room just to be sure her relative hadn't been there.
"Is that why you tried to frame your nakama as assassins?" Zoro spat out through gritting teeth.
"I have no obligation to tell you."
"Are you seriously considering this, Nico Robin?" A scratchy voice called from the bed in the room. It was then Kimi noticed a bloody and injured man lying on his stomach. That had to have been Iceberg-San, Kimi recognized him from the picture in the newspaper. "Do you know what you're about to do?"
"Keep quiet!" Robin waved her hand and with the use of her devil fruit a cluster of hands clutched Iceberg towards the ground causing a few pop's of his spine to fill the room. "I won't let anyone stop me."
"Oi, Robin! What are you doing? Do you really mean what you're saying?!" Luffy yelled back.
The top-hat man began to walk in front of Robin's figure, "I'm sorry but we are done now." He interrupted. "We're about to go looking for someone very important. And we must hurry now that we have no further business in this mansion, and no reason to ever see you again. Califa, how much time do we have?"
The woman on his side looked down at a pocket watch, "Two minutes, Lucci." She calmly replied.
"In two minutes this mansion will be engulfed in flames. We have to destroy the evidence, you see and a fire is the perfect pretense. If you don't want to be burned with the mansion, you will leave immediately. But of course, that may not be so easy."
Kimi almost began to wonder why it wouldn't be easy to escape when her question was answered from the stance the woman, Califa and the other two men, the one with the bull-horns hairstyle and the square-nosed man took in front of the bunch.
Nami raised her weapon into position while Zoro bent down clutching one of his swords in his palm. Kimi merely made a fist feeling the tightened leather wrapping around her hand. "It sounds like they're trying to get rid of us too…" Zoro nodded to the woman on his side. Kimi nodded, "And Robin seems to be in favor of their thoughts."
"Luffy," The swordsman turned to his captain. "Are you ready to let Robin leave the crew yet?"
"NO WAY!"
Lucci shook his head, "There's no need to shout." He calmly replied as Robin began to turn her back to the crew. "Flames will soon begin spreading from several rooms on the first floor. Well, pirates will certainly be to blame since it sounds like something they would do."
"Well then, I'll be on my way." Robin muttered loud enough for the rest of the room to hear. "Yes, you have completed your assignment. You are dismissed." Lucci nodded while she made her way towards the window behind. Both Nami and Chopper took a step forwards calling out to their disbanding crewmate.
"Where are you going?" Luffy yelled running forwards, "We just found you!" He charged towards the man with the bull-horn hairstyle while stretching and kicking him in the face. The man hadn't budged one bit after the attack was done. Angered, Luffy attempted to use his Gatling gun to strike him but no such luck occurred for the captain.
"He's so big, but he's dodging every single punch!" Chopper cried out.
Kimi looked to her side giving a stern look to the man, "Zoro…" Her lips made a thin frown, "Use your head." She warned and then looked back as Luffy attempted to punch the man. Instead, he had disappeared and then reappeared right behind him.
With the attempt to retaliate back, Luffy punched once again this time making the bull-man kick his legs up so that it appeared he was floating in the air. "What!?" Kimi took a step back trying to understand this style of technique. Lucci had said it was a six-style mastery, but what all did that include?!
The square-nose and woman ran behind Luffy kicking their legs simultaneously towards Kimi and the others. "Guys!" Zoro called to the three, "Get down!" He clutched onto Kimi's forearm dragging her down to the ground.
"Why-?" Nami started to say right as a harsh gust of wind ripped the walls in half taking Luffy along with it. Nami screamed loudly while Kimi and Chopper attempted to keep their mouths closed to ward off any thoughts the group would have of them being scared.
"Their kicks cut right through the wall!" Nami stated looking towards the broken door frame. "Our kicks are so fast that they form a blade of wind. That is the Rankyaku." Califa stated.
Kimi felt the warm hand around her arm let go while Zoro charged forward towards the square-nosed man he and she had met before. Defending himself, the man pulled out two square blades while Zoro only chose to attack with two. Kimi would have liked to watch the swordsman take down the fake shipwright but she had other things to focus and worry about.
Like Robin, for example.
"Clone, clone…" Kimi raised her hands outwards creating multiple clones of herself in the room. While the members of the government became distracted for the moment, Kimi chose to place one clone right in front of Robin as she pushed aside the doors to the window.
"Why?" The clone whispered to her nakama. "I know about the poneglyphs...is all of this just because of that?" The raven-haired woman continued walking forwards as if the clone hadn't existed. "I can help you, I can-"
"Achkkk!" The real Kimi cried as a hand tightened around her throat. It was a hand from Robin…her nakama trying to hurt her.
"Pleaseeeeee." Kimi kept her hold on the clone in front of her friend while the other mental control of the others started to fade. "Don'ttttttt leaveeeeeeee…"
A piercing jab at Kimi's arm forced her face first onto the floor. The mental control on her clones faded while she attempted to recover from the blood pouring out of her arm. "Wha?" She looked above at Califa with her one finger raised and a stream of blood pouring from it.
"We will never see each other again." Robin responded back causing all heads to turn to her. "Luffy," Zoro yelled cutting Kanku's swords in half, "Hurry and grab Robin now!"
"Oh, Roronoa, you must be getting overly confident if you're letting yourself get distracted." Kanku quickly applied the same technique Califa had on Kimi's arm to his chest. The swordsman fell in the next instant. "We have no need for bullets in order to pierce the human body."
Lucci held a grip on Luffy's face stopping him from nearing Robin any further. "Go, Nico Robin." He replied and she did just as told. She fell from the window disappearing in a blur of color.
Kimi sat up while Lucci tossed him towards the side. Their chances didn't seem positive at the moment, and worse of all the two minute countdown was expiring to the second.
"How can they be so strong?" Nami wondered aloud.
"We of CP9 have known that our lives exist only for the government to use." Lucci smiled, "And we have undergone the agonizing training required to overcome human barriers for as long as we can remember. That is how we four, who carry out the world government's most critical missions are immeasurable different from a ragtag pirate crew like yourselves."
"Lucci, it's time for us to leave." Califa walked towards the rest of the group away from Kimi and the others.
"Yes, but since they are here, let's show them something interesting before we go." He smiled and then his body began to double in size taking on the form of a monster…or rather…a cheetah? Kimi and the others gasped at the sight, "A devil fruit…" Kimi nodded holding onto her pulsating arm.
"What?! Kimi are you-" Nami started to argue, "Positive." The scientist replied back watching the Zoan-type devil fruit take effect.
"It's the neko neko fruit," Lucci nodded, "Model type: leopard."
Kimi could only stare at the enormously of the monster in front of them when suddenly a dark smoke began to fill the room. "The fire…" Kimi coughed from the smoke settling in her lungs. "We have to go." She nodded to Nami and Chopper and then looked to the opposite side as Paulie stood.
"I don't know what's with this Leopardman deal, but I won't let you lay a hand on Iceberg-san!"
"We have to dispose of you before we're engulfed in flames." Lucci took a step forward as Califa made a statement, "Lucci the shipwrights are heading up the stairs."
The leopard man raised his leg to kick and then a straight line appeared just above the ceiling. "Crap. He's trying to collapse the building!" Kimi stated jumping up from her kneeling position only to feel a strong force push her forwards in the middle of the floor.
"Chopper!" Nami called out as the roof fell on top of their savior. "No!" Kimi looked for any sign of movement from the rubble Chopper was buried underneath while attempting to stand to help her nakama when a call from her captain forced her to turn around instead.
Witnessing the sight in front of her, Kimi wished she hadn't… there was her captain being pierced into the air from one of Lucci's claws like you would do to a marshmallow just before roasting it in the fire. The Zoan-type threw Luffy to the ground licking the blood off of his finger like dessert on a spoon.
"Luffy?!" Kimi called out torn between saving her captain and saving the doctor. Unfortunately, she had no time saving him as Lucci picked the boy from his head throwing him out of the room into the dark sky ahead.
"You bastard." Zoro ran forwards with a sword held in his hand. His attack had no effect as the arm of the leopard remained intact. Kimi was about to clone the swordsman to deflect any attack Lucci would cause but she wasn't fast enough as his leg swung taking Zoro out through another wall and into the dark sky just like the captain.
"Zoro!" Nami yelled as Lucci watched with his back turned and quickly Kimi thought of a plan to escape the same fate. "You too…" the monster turned to Nami and Kimi outstretching his arms to hold onto their foreheads. Using the same force he had on the boys, the girls were thrown out of the window shattering the glass against their skin as it made contact and broke.
"We are finished." Lucci looked to his members of CP9 as they disappeared with the use of their ability to kick and levitate in mid-air.
"This woman…" Men from around the Galley-La headquarters huddled around the body of a certain red-haired lady. She looked like she had been through hell and back, with bruises, cuts, and debris all around her. "She's part of the Strawhats…I just know it." Another man stated.
None of the men wanted to touch the girl, afraid that she was dead…
"She was probably surrounded by flames and couldn't escape…" One man suggested.
"What should we do with her?" One asked. "Well, when she wakes, we'll make her tell us where the rest of them are!"
Iceberg's pet mouse cried out towards the tied up man. He couldn't even raise his head to tell the little creature his apologies towards their death. On his back, was his dear friend Paulie suffering just as much, maybe even more than he. The heat was getting to him. The burning in his lungs made it seem impossible for him to even try to stay alive, but then again being tied up didn't exactly help the situation either.
His ears picked up a crashing noise in the distance and as much as he wanted to raise his head to witness his death, his body wouldn't obey.
A cough struck through his ears and for a moment he thought it was a joke, but then another cough ensued shortly after. "Don't-ack-worry…" A female's voice called above his head. A hand pulled his shoulder up and into the air while another hand found its way around his waist. "I-ack-won't-ack, let you-ack-kac- or him…die."
The voice sounded so familiar…where had he heard the voice before? His thoughts dwindled down as he felt the sharp cold breeze slap at his cheeks and then a thud as he and the woman landed on the hard ground.
"Wha?" He gasped opening his eyes as his body rolled from out of her arms and onto prickly soft grass. The blue-haired pirate woman was in front of him and just when he was about to thank her, she disappeared. Iceberg shook his head confused to think maybe she was also a part of the CP9 as well, but then he remembered she had the ability to clone herself as she had shown-off in the room earlier.
"Get them treatment now!" a man yelled.
"They're badly burned!"
"What about this woman? And the reindeer?"
"Treat her too! She saved their lives."