Into the Domes
Part Five
"That no good son of a…" Zoro clenched his swords tightly. Anger erupted inside of his chest like multiple volcanoes going off at the same time.
"Neo is going to be one very unhappy Elemental," Franky said.
"I can't believe we're forced to be his slaves!" Zoro said. "The first chance I get I'm cutting him in him half!"
"So this thing is a machine, huh?" Franky said as he stared down at their new companion. "I wonder how it works."
"Who cares about that thing?" Zoro said.
"You should care since this thing is what's going to lead us to the shard and get us back to our friends," Franky said, rubbing his chin.
"Fine. Let's just get this started so we can get the heck out of here. How does this thing work? Do we need to press a button or something?" Zoro said.
Franky picked up the monkey and looked it over from top to bottom. "I don't see any kind of controls on it." He righted the monkey in his hand. "All right, monkey thing, you are supposed to show us where this shard is, so show us where the shard is."
The monkey's eyes lit up and formed a holographic map for them. It showed three dots clustered together before expanding into a larger map, revealing a fourth dot. Franky rubbed his chin while he studied the map in thought. He then pointed at the dots they saw. "These are some very bizarre lines on this map here. I have no idea what they say but I'm going to assume these three dots here represent us and that fourth one over here is the shard. It looks like it might be in that city over there."
"At least we're not too far from it," Zoro said as he walked back to the edge of the cliff. He looked to his left and saw the spot where Franky had told him they might be able to get down from. The ledge was a lot narrower than he thought it was. "Can't you build something to get us down from here?"
"Like what?" Franky said, looking around. "I don't have my tools with me. And all we have around here is trees. We're just going to have to climb down."
"Fine," Zoro said. "But don't complain to me when you fall and break every mechanical bone in your body."
"That won't happen," Franky said. "Let's just go already. The sooner we get to the bottom the sooner we'll get to the shard and back to Neo."
The monkey freed itself from Franky's grip. It sat there, waiting for the pirates to lead the way.
"Yeah, let's go," Zoro said, heading towards the narrow ledge. He placed his foot on the ledge, some rock and dirt crumbled under the pressure. The rocks pinged against the side of the cliff before they ricocheted away. "Oh man. This isn't very solid at all."
"We don't have any other choice," Franky said. "Unless you want to jump."
"This is such a pain," Zoro complained while slowly easing himself onto the ledge. "If it wasn't for Neo, I would be doing this at all."
"I knew you loved her," Franky said, patiently waiting for his turn. "She'll be very happy that you're doing this for her."
"Oh, shut up!" Zoro said, his cheeks flushing red. He moved farther out on the edge. More rocks crumbled from the side but it appeared that it would be fine for them to work their way to the bottom. Staring downwards he saw his boot hung over at least two inches and he found that he was very glad to not be afraid of heights. Still, he couldn't help but be a little nervous from being up this high. He had gotten so use to having Luffy and Neo around to catch him if he ever fell. He never missed them more than he did right now. If he did fall he hoped that he would remain close enough to the cliff to stab his sword into it to slow his fall.
Once Zoro was out about six feet, Franky made his own way onto the ledge. It was more awkward for him to move along the ledge with his big body. His rounded shoulders kept scrapping across the rocks behind him. He had to move a lot slow than Zoro did. Slowly, they inched along with their monkey friend following them quietly and slowly. In about two hours, with their bodies burning from inching along, they had finally gotten close enough to the bottom to jump without obtaining injures.
Zoro was the first to jump. He landed on the ground with a thud and stood up straight. Cracking his neck, he said, "About time. I have no idea how much more of that I could handle."
"No kidding," Franky said just before jumping down himself with the monkey on his shoulder. His landed was a lot harder than Zoro's. He shook the ground and put a small dint into it. "At least we're down now."
"How long do you think it'll take us to walk to the city?" Zoro asked. He stared up at the tallest towers hovering over the treetops. "An hour or two?"
"Possibly," Franky said, scanning over his eyes over the thick forest in front of them. "Maybe even longer considering this forest looks as thick as the one up on the cliff."
"No worries there." Zoro grabbed the hilt of his sword. "I can easily clear things out."
"That's cool, bro. But it's not necessary," Franky said. "There looks like there's a path just over there."
"Hm?" Zoro looked to where Franky was pointing. There was a clearing just thirty yards from them. "Great. It'll be a lot faster that way."
They walked over to the path. Upon entering it they found several strange footsteps pressed into the ground. Some looked like normal human sized shoes while others were a lot larger, and deeper in the ground, and were in all kinds of abnormal shapes.
"Those are some seriously weird footprints! What do you think made those?!" Franky asked. "Do you think it's a shoe fashion around here?"
"Who cares? Let's just get going already," Zoro grumbled as he continued to walk down the path. Their footsteps soon mixed in with the odd sounding bird chirps and whistles. He looked up to find a bird with a long black beak sporting large bright green eyes, silver with blue tipped feathers, with one feather sticking up on top of its head like a cow lick. "That's a strange looking bird."
"You're strange looking," the bird squawked.
"What did you say?!" Zoro pulled out his swords. "Say that again! I dare you!"
"Stupid stranger. Dumb looking stranger," the bird chirped.
"Oh yeah?! Get over here and fight me!" Zoro snapped.
"Strange looking, stupid stranger," the bird said as it flew off.
"Come back here and fight me like a man!" Zoro charged forward to go after the bird.
"Hold on there," Franky said, grabbing Zoro's shoulder to keep him from running off. "I don't have time to let you get lost. We're going straight for the city."
"Not until I kill that bird!" Zoro growled.
"Give it up," Franky said. "That bird is long gone by now."
"Fine!" Zoro said, putting his swords back up. "But I better not see that thing ever again! If I do, I'm going to kill it and then eat it!"
"Sure thing, bro," Franky said before shifting into his tank form. "Come on. We'll get there faster this way."
"Yeah." Zoro jumped upon Franky.
The two pirates fell back into silence after that. The only sound they could hear were the humming of Franky's wheels and the snapping of sticks when they rolled over them. An hour and a half later they finally broke free of the forest. More of the strange machines flew passed them along side some floating yellow markers.
"What's going on?" Zoro asked.
"It looks like they're racing or something," Franky said.
"Racing?" Zoro watched as another group of fliers shot passed them. Bring their attention back to the city, they walked forward and entered it.
"Ow! Now this is my kinda city!" Franky exclaimed when they saw the city was made up of machines. The oil and grease from the maintenance of the gears was thick and fresh in the air.
"Are they robots?" Zoro asked when he saw a dark haired robot's legs expand to twenty feet high. The guy pulled out a rag and started cleaning a window. "Or are they cyborgs?"
"I don't know," Franky said, eyeing a robot as it changed its shape into multiple objects at the same time. A small group of kids were around the robot laughing harder each time it changed its shape. "This technology is very sophisticated. That one kind of reminds me of a clown."
"I wonder where we are," Zoro said. "So what do we do now?"
"Look for the shard. Hey, monkey guy, could you-" Franky stopped talking when a loud crash was heard near by. The crash was followed by a very angry voice.
"You stupid piece of junk! I didn't order this!" the voice said. Franky and Zoro turned their attention to a well dressed man at an outdoor restaurant. The man was standing up while another robot was kneeling on the ground trying to pick up the broken dishes and food.
"It's a good thing Sanji isn't here," Franky said. "He would go nuts see how that food was wasted."
Zoro didn't reply. He only kept his gaze on the mess before him, wondering what was going to happen now, while he pressed his thumb to the guard of one of his swords.
"I am so sorry, sir," the robot coward down as it continued to pick up the shattered pieces of the plate. "But, sir, this is what you ordered. I wrote it down on your tick-"
"Silence!" The man kicked the robot in the head, sending it flying backwards into a table. The people scattered as their own dishes crashed to the floor. Oil leaked down the robot's face while it lay there. "How dare you backtalk to me, you inferior piece of junk?! Now look what you've done?! You've broken even more dishes! You are so worthless! You should be dismantled for scrap!"
"Such insolence. My husband is not a man for lying. If he says you brought the wrong dish then you brought the wrong dish." The woman sitting at the table with the man gave the robot a smile that was very condescending. "Is that really so hard for your computer brain to understand? You cyborgs need always remember your place. You're only still alive to work for us."
"Cyborgs? So he's like me then?" Franky questioned as he and Zoro took a closer look at the robot on the ground. That's when they noticed it wasn't a robot at all. It was indeed a cyborg. And the oil they thought was leaking out was actually blood. "Bro, is what's going on here what I thinks going on here? Or am I imagining things?"
"You're not imagining anything." Zoro nodded. He turned away from the cyborg and took a closer look around the city again. Upon a closer inspection he found that all of the robots were also cyborgs. He also noticed that their smiles were fake. They weren't happy at all doing their jobs. In fact, they looked down right miserable. They looked like slaves.
"I am going to submit a report for your insolence!" The man shouted. He brought his leg back in preparation to kick the cyborg again. "You'll pay for this!"
"No! Please, don't hurt him!" A woman came running forward. Her cheeks were red and stained with tears. But, before she could get close enough to do anything, two other guys sitting down jumped up and grabbed her arms. She struggled to get free to no avail. "Stop it! Let me go! He didn't do anything wrong!"
"Why are you protecting that thing?" one of the guys who grabbed her asked. "It's just a machine, not worthy of the space it takes up."
"Die!" The man kicked his foot towards the cyborg.
The woman screamed and closed her eyes.
Zoro rushed forward. Pulling out his sword, be blocked the man's leg with the back of his sword. Smirking, he said, "Big mistake."
"Who the heck are you?" the man asked.
"It's best we don't answer that," Franky said while grabbing the man's foot. "You wouldn't like it anyway."
"Unhand me, you freak! How dare you touch me, you stupid machine?!" the man screamed and tried to free his foot from Franky's solid hold.
Franky was so focused on the man's foot in his hand that he didn't even notice the man spinning around to slam his other foot into his head. He only felt himself flying for several seconds before crashing into the wall of the steel building across the road then crumpled to the ground.
"Now that was a huge mistake." Zoro slammed the back of his sword into the man's noses, breaking it, before placing the tip right up to the man's throat. He heard the woman this man was with scream but didn't bother to look at her. "You're the one who attacked that guy. And for no legitimate reason I might add."
"What are you talking about?! I didn't attack any guy at all! I was putting a machine in its rightful place! Just like you should do with your cyborg!" the man snapped, holding his nose while blood dripped down onto his nicely pressed shirt.
"My cyborg? What are you talking about?" Zoro asked. He was unaware of the monkey down by his leg chattering at him in an attempt to gain his attention, even when the monkey grabbed his pant leg. He just pushed the monkey away from him. "Buzz off. I'm busy here. Hey, Franky, you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Franky got up and brushed the dirt off himself. He tilted his head, cracking his neck, before balling up his fists for a fight. "Well, this really isn't what I was expecting to do upon arriving here, but since you want to fight, then we'll fight. I have no problem with that. But make this quick, okay? We have more important things to do than play with like likes of you."
"You can't be serious," a man said.
"Do you two have any idea of the trouble you're in?" another one asked.
"Trouble?" Zoro blinked, unfazed but curious as to what they were meaning.
The bloody man pressed his thumb to his nose and easily pushed it back into place. He stood up, flexing his muscles they started to expand. He got taller while hairs sprouted out on his arms and face. His shirt ripped down the front, revealing more hair. He turned to Franky. "You are nothing but a worthless piece of machinery. And you will learn your place whether or not you want to."
"What the heck? He's Zoan user?" Zoro stared continuously as the man's body shifted from human to that of a gorilla. Suddenly, his instincts told him that they were in danger. He drug his eyes around the people that surrounded them. He could feel it then. They weren't human. For a split second, he thought that they might be Elementals, but he knew from being around Neo that Elementals didn't give the impression that you were their prey. And he got that from just about everyone here. He could feel their blood lust as their eyes stared him down. His body told him to run. So he did. He ran over to Franky. "Something's not right here."
"I kind of noticed that when that guy turned into a gorilla," Franky said.
"I think they all can turn into animals," Zoro said. "And I don't mean through the means of Zoan Devil Fruit."
"What?" Franky looked at the swordsman standing beside him. "What do you mean by that?"
"I think they were born with the ability to become animals," Zoro said. "Where the heck did that guy send us?"
"I've never heard of someone turning into an animal without the help of a Devil Fruit," Franky said just as more of these strange people morphed into gorillas. They gathered around the first man who transformed, pounding their chests and roaring for a fight. "You ready for a fight, bro?"
"More than ready." Zoro nodded.
The monkey jumped upon Franky's shoulders. It chittered and squawked as it tried its best to get the pirates attention. Franky picked the thing up off his shoulder. Placing it back down on the ground, he said, "You better stay out of this, little guy. We'll handle them then get right back to you."
"You'll handle us?" one guy said. A rumbled of chuckles passed through the gorilla group.
"That's hilarious," another one said.
Crowds began to gather around, the majority of them cheering for the gorilla group to rip off the pirates' heads. Just as the two groups were about to engage in their rumble, something large flew down and grabbed onto Zoro and Franky, sweeping them off their feet and into the bright sun above them. The two pirates shouted in annoyance and surprise when they felt their bodies flying through the air against their wills. The monkey, which had grabbed onto Franky's ankle before they were lifted into the air, continued to cling to the cyborg ankle.
A female voice shouted to them over the rushing wind. "Just hold on! We're almost there!"
"All most where?!" Franky asked.
"Did you take lessons from Luffy?!" Zoro asked.
The female didn't reply. And due to the way they were hanging, from whatever they were hanging from, they couldn't see where they were going. They had no choice but to just hang there until their ride decided to slow down and descend back to the ground. Their hair and clothes blew wildly until they were finally dropped onto the ground in from of a run down little white house with a dark blue roof.
Growling, Zoro looked up to find a young teenage girl riding in some kind of flying vehicle. Rubbing his neck, he said, "What's the big idea grabbing us like that?"
"Yeah," Franky said. "We were just fine."
The girl didn't response. She just pushed a few buttons and the craft she was riding lowered to the ground. She then said, "Do you two have a circuit loose or something?! What were you thinking trying to pick a fight with Rumble?!"
The craft landed on the ground with a whoosh of air before the humming stopped. Its side slid open and a ramp spread out from the bottom of the door. The girl inside then came out of the craft revealing that she was in a hovering chair. She took off her cat eared helmet, letting her long white hair flow over her back. Beside her the craft clicked and hummed while it shifted into a human form with navy blue hair and eyes. He stood beside the girl and asked, "What were you two thinking?"
"What are you talking about? Who's Rumble?" Franky asked.
"And you," She took off her goggles, revealing her bright orange colored eyes, and pointed right at Franky, "do you want to be dismantled and sold for scrape parts? You of all cyborgs should know better than to speak out like that, especially against Rumble!"
"Seriously, what are you two talking about?" Franky asked again as he and Zoro stared at these two new people before them.
"Cressida, I have checked the records and scanned for an ID chips. These two are not registered in the database," the cyborg said. "There's no record at all of them existing anywhere on this Time Dome. They're not from this place."
"Seriously?!" Cressida looked up at her cyborg, her eyes widened in shock. Her bright orange eyes then shot back over to the pirates. She looked them over a couple times, noting their clothing wasn't from their area either. "Then how in the Time Stream did you two possibly come here?"
"We came here on our ship," Zoro lied.
"Ship? It's impossible for ships of any kind to travel between the Time Domes." Cressida narrowed her eyebrows at them. "Seriously, where did you two come from? How did you even get here when the Time Spheres haven't been working for five hundred years?! Don't lie to me! There's no possible way for you two have come here from another Time Dome! Your clothing isn't from around here! You tried to pick a fight with Rumble! Tell me now! Where did you two come from?!"
Franky and Zoro exchanged looks. Both were thinking the exact same thing. There was no way they could lie their way out of this. Their eyes then went to their monkey companion that was standing between them. But they couldn't tell the truth either. They were stuck in between a rock and a hard place. A thick silence fell over the group, all waiting to see who was going to make the next move. The pirates readied themselves to strike these two so they could escape. Then, before anyone could say or do anything else, sirens shrilled out in the distance and worked their way closer to them.
Cressida tossed a look over her shoulder towards the sirens. "Crap! They're coming this way! Ky!"
"Yes, ma'am." Ky rushed forward to Zoro and Franky. He grabbed their arms and pulled them towards the little house. "Hurry up! Come with me right now!"
"What the heck? Let go of me!" Zoro said.
"What's going on?" Franky asked.
"There's no time to explain right now!" Cressida said to them as the sirens drew ever closer. "Hurry up! Don't just stand there! Get inside! Now! Unless you want to be arrested!"
Unsure of what to do, Zoro and Franky turn and followed after Ky. They pushed into the house. Their feet thumping on the wooden floors as the cyborg lead them right to a closet. He opened it and ushered them inside. "Hurry up. Get inside, keep as quiet as possible and, whatever you do, do not move an inch. They will open this door, but they won't be able to see you if you don't move."
"What's going on?" Franky asked.
"I can't explain right now. Just do as I just told you and they'll leave soon," Ky said before shutting the door.
The pirates exchanged looked before settling in to the tight space. They listened as Ky walked somewhere else, clicks and beeps rang out before footsteps took over as he apparently walked back outside. A minute or two later, footsteps were heard once again in the house. They stiffened up. Whoever had come here had entered into the house with Kay and Cressida.
"I hope you understand why we are doing this," a man said.
"Of course I do. Go ahead and look around all you want," Cressida's voice said with confidence. "You won't find anything. I told you that already."
"I assure you we will make a thorough sweep of your…humble little home, Miss Cressida," the male voice said. "And I really do hope for your sake that you are telling the truth and those fugitives aren't here. You know the laws here. If they are you will be arrested too as their accomplice and your filthy robot will be dismantled. Those two have broken the ultimate law."
"Of course we all know the laws," Cressida said. "Rumble has made sure to throw them in our faces at every turn."
"Watch your tongue!" the man hissed. "You will not speak ill of Master Rumble! He has does wonders for this place! He's gotten the filth right where they need to be!"
The pirates didn't hear Cressida respond. The only sounds they heard after that were the thumping of footsteps, things bring pushed around or dropped on the floor, and more footsteps then some dishes being dropped onto the floor.
"Stop that! It's unnecessary to break my dishes!" Cressida snapped. "I highly doubt that my dishes are big enough to hide people of any size! You might be the law around here, but that does not give you the right to act like barbarians!"
Suddenly the door to the pirates hiding spot flung opened. They both almost flicked upon the light filtering into the their small hiding place. Their hearts pounded hard in their chests. They took slow breaths in an attempt to silence their pounding hearts. Glancing down at their monkey companion, they both hoped it didn't move an inch. Lifting their eyes back to the man standing in front of them, they watched as he ran his sunglasses hidden eyes roam over every inch of the small closet. The Straw Hats were getting annoyed at the man. How long did it take someone to notice this small room was really empty? The room couldn't have been more than six feet wide and four feet deep. Finally satisfied that no one was in the closet, he closed the door and said, "All's clear over here, Chieftain! They're not in the closet!"
"All's clear upstairs too," a voice said.
"See? I told you they weren't hear," Cressida said.
"Very well then. It must have been someone else that helped them escape. We will continue our search elsewhere now. Good day to you, Miss Cressida," the Chieftain said.
The pirates remained still and hidden for several minutes passed before Ky opened the door once more. He said, "You can come out now. They're gone."
"About time," Zoro grumbled, leaving the small confinements of the closet. "What the heck was that all about anyway?"
"How is it possible that they didn't see us in that closet?" Franky asked while looking back at the small room they came out of. "It's not that big of a room."
"The room is protected by a hologram," Ky explained. "When the guard looked inside all he saw was the small broom closet that it really is. But if you moved you would have disrupted the illusion. That's why I stressed for you two to hold still so much. This entire house is rigged to project illusions to prote-"
"Ky!" Cressida snapped.
"We can trust them, Cress," Ky said, turning to her.
"Trust them?! How can we trust them when they've already lied to us once?!" Cressida demanded from him.
"I have examined their biorhythms since we first spotted them. They have no ill intentions again us, Cress," Ky replied.
"You can't be serious! But, fine, whatever! Do what you wish!" Cressida scoffed then disappeared into another room, slamming the door behind her.
"Charming hostess she is. She saves us then bites our heads off?" Franky blinked at the closed door. He turned back to Ky with tons of questions but he only asked one. "What's up with her?"
"Forgive her," Ky said. "She can be…a bit difficult to understand from time to time." He gestured to the chairs around the table while moving towards the small refrigerator in the room. "Please sit down so we can talk."
Zoro and Franky exchanged looked before they sat down at the table. While Ky moved around the tiny kitchen to get them drinks, the pirates looked around the room for a closer look. It was a combination kitchen and living room. The only other rooms were the one they just came out of and the one Cressida went into. A small staircase just in front of the main door led up to a second floor.
Ky placed two cups on the table and sat down. "You two are on the Time Dome of Cyborg Slaves."
"Cyborg Slaves?" Franky asked.
"Yes." Ky nodded. "This place has always view cyborgs as inferior beings since the beginning but in the past six thousand years thing have only get worse for me and my cyborg brethren. Rumble, the man you attacked in the city, is descended from the people who came into power here and made this place into a living nightmare for those of us who are cyborgs."
"We noticed that you all were working as slaves in the city," Franky said.
"That's just the beginning of it," Ky said. "While we are forced to work such jobs with little to no pay, we also have to fight in tournaments so we can feed our families."
"Fight in tournaments?" Zoro asked.
"Yes." Ky nodded. "If we refuse to fight, we automatically get sent to be dismantled for scraps."
"Why don't you all just refuse to fight then?" Zoro asked.
"We can't," Ky said. "It's the law here. We must fight, literally, for our right to live. If we speak out against these law then we're automatically thrown into the scrap pile and killed."
"That's seriously twisted," Franky said. His eyes dropped down to Ky's body. Upon a closer look he noticed several dints in the man's body and several repairs had been done to him.
"It is. Before the Time Spheres stopped working Empress Futura was in talks with Rumble about abolishing the slavery of cyborgs. I don't know if she would have been able to convince him since he's such a stubborn and selfish man, but it gave hope to many. But all of that hope was dashed against the rocks when the Time Spheres stopped working. Empress Futura hasn't been able to come here for centuries now. So we have really no hope for her return."
"Empress Futura?" Zoro asked.
"She governs the Time Stream you two are currently floating in. Though many of the Time Domes aren't under her jurisdiction so she can't really interfere much on them." Ky looked at the two pirates sitting across from him. They both were giving him confused looks. "Oh, yeah. I forgot that you two aren't from around here. You two are literally flowing along with time. You are in the past, the present, and the future while also not being in the past, present and future. It's quiet complicated indeed."
"Hold on there, bro. Why are you telling us all this when you obviously know we're not going to tell you a single thing about us or where we come from?" Franky asked.
"I know it's a bit odd since we only just met, but I trust you both whole heartedly." Ky looked at him with a sincere smile. "That is just the way Cress built and programmed me. I can easily tell when someone's going to cause harm, when they're good, when they're bad…I can just tell that you are here on a mission and can't share details. Besides, anyone who stands up to Rumble, like you two did, are good in my book. I wished you could have continued your fight with him."
"Hold on! You mean that girl built you?!" Zoro casted his eyes back to the door Cressida went through. "But how?! She can't even walk!"
"She did indeed build me." Ky nodded. "Her disability doesn't really hamper her in doing anything, especially with the technology around here. She is one of the smartest people on this Time Dome. Both her parents were geniuses as well so she got it from them. Her parents were two of the top doctors skilled in cyborg technology. But, unfortunately, they were under the employment of Rumble when they were alive."
"Were?" Franky asked.
"Although there is no actual physical proof of this, Rumble murdered Cress's parents about nine years ago. You see, it use to be when people became cyborgs it was because of an accident that mangled their body up beyond repair of normal means. But when Rumble's family came into power they started to abuse that technology and turned people into cyborgs at whim for any reason, or no reason at all. They felt like people who were cyborgs are no longer living beings with the rights to choose how they should live. The Rumble family threatened Cressida's parents into putting control chips into all cyborgs by telling them they'd kill Cressida if they didn't listen. These control chips can hurt the cyborg or even kill them if they step too far out of line. And as I'm sure you can already guess, that out of line can be anything the Rumble family wants it to be. They really have no set limit."
"That's awful!" Franky cried. He rubbed the tears away only to have more fall down his face. "I feel for you all, my brother! If there was only something we could do for you!"
"Eventually, Cressida's parents had enough with them constantly changing the rules and using the cyborgs as their own personal for of entertainment. So they started to make it where the control chips would malfunction. This little malfunction would set the cyborgs free of control. Then all they had to do was escape the city and hide in the mountains where there are other people who want to free the cyborgs as well. But, someone betrayed her parents they thought that they could trust. And when this person told Rumble what they were doing, he called for their execution. They tried to flee this place with Cressida when they were attacked, however…the control chips that Cressida's parents were using were linked back to Rumble's master mainframe. With Rumbles own cyborg specialist they were about to turn the chips into control chips, literally. Rumble used the cyborgs as puppets to track down Cress's family. Now the Rumble family has its own army of cyborgs that only that family can control if the population ever gets out of control or decides to retaliate like Cress's family did. That's why no one ever stands up to Rumble anymore. He far too powerful for anyone to stop."
"That's just wrong," Franky said. "So many lives are being destroyed in more ways than one."
"So how did you two meet? Are you a part of her family too or are you just a friend of the family?" Zoro asked.
"Now I am her family. The only family she has. I use to be a slave, however. But, unlike so many others, I don't ever remember not being a cyborg. I have no idea who my biological family is or even if they're still alive. Cressida found me shortly after her parents were killed. She was on the run from Rumble since he tried to kill her as well, but she managed to escape him and his army somehow. When she found me in a ditch I was barely working. I looked like such an awful mess. I wanted to just die right there and get it over with. Then when I saw her, I realized there were others in this place that was hurting far worse than I was. And, for whatever reason, when she found me, she wanted to save me. I guess she thought I was the sorriest looking thing on the dome. And here we are." Ky placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Still together after all of these years."
"How did she end up in that chair, if you don't mind me asking?" Franky questioned. "Was she always like that?"
"No, she wasn't. A few years, after she saved me, Rumble tried again to kill her. I wasn't strong enough then to prevent it completely and she was paralyzed in that attack. I told her she could become a cyborg, but she turned it down. I don't and can't blame her at all for that. If she did she'd put herself at risk. Rumble would use the opportunity to take control over her. I wouldn't be able to do much of anything then." Ky gave a soft smile. "I don't want to ever lose her. I love her far too much. I want to always be with her."
"Okay, that might be a bit too much information, bro," Franky stated.
"I'm sorry. Sometimes my heart takes over my mouth. What I really want is to take her far away from here, but she won't go," Ky reported.
"Why not?" Zoro said. "Doesn't seem like anything's holding you two here."
"You're wrong. There is one thing holding us here. And that's the rest of the cyborg population. The control chips are still malfunctioning. And when that happens we help them escape from the city. Cress feels responsible for those that are under Rumble's control. She wants to continue with what her parents started. She wants to try and free them all at once. But there are so many to help, so many risks, and the biggest one is Rumble's desire to try and kill her again. I don't know how much longer I will be able to protect her. He might succeed next time. And I wouldn't be able to bare that."
"Free all of them at once? How is she planning on doing that?" Franky asked. "Sounds like it will be something extremely difficult to do."
"It would be if Cress wasn't already prepped on how the chips really work. And this house is actually a beacon in disguise. We built it so that we can send a disruption wave over the city to disable the control chips all at once, but we don't have it working yet." Ky then tapped a plate on his chest. A door clicked and popped open, revealing a mirror inside that had no reflection of any kind in it. Franky and Zoro's eyes widened upon seeing the sharp. "We found this a few months ago. This piece of material has some strange abilities within it. It, somehow, has completely destroyed the control chip that was inside of me. We believe that this thing should be enough to charge the beacon and free the cyborgs. But Rumble has been getting suspicious of us as of late. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to keep him from realizing what we're up to here. We're lucky that he hasn't busted into this place and completely tore it apart." He took a deep breath and released it. "Anyway, right now we need to get you two set up in this world before you're caught."
"Set up?" Franky asked.
"I'm already working on getting you two planted into the system's data base," Ky said. "As long as I move slowly, I can get it where you two will take over the lives of some who have already passed away. Then all I have to do is construct control chips for you two."
"Hold on there a second!" Zoro said. "I don't want a control chip inside of me! I'm not a cyborg!"
"I might be a cyborg, but I don't want one either!" Franky said.
"I'm sorry," Ky said. "I probably shouldn't have put it that way. These chips won't control either of you. They're more like ghost chips." He pointed at Zoro. "The one you'll be wearing is only use to keep you linked to your cyborg here. I guess you could basically call it a leash. If they scan either of you, you'll be linked together by the chips and contacted if something happens to either of you." He pointed to Franky. "For you it'll be a bit different. It'll send mental messages to you when or if you step out of line. The chip will tell you how you need to react when Rumble using his control over you to calm you down."
"I think I understand, but I still don't want that thing inside of me," Franky said.
"It won't literally be inside of you," Ky said. "Cress with attach it around your temple and color it so it blends in with your skin tone. That way you can easily rip it off when needed."
"Rip it off?" Zoro asked. "Won't that damage stuff?"
"No." Ky shook his head. "It won't damage anything at all. It will be completely safe."
"So when will we put the chips on us?" Franky asked.
"I hope to have the chips here by tomorrow since you two will need to enter into your first fight tomorrow to gain your rations for the day," Ky said. "I need to speak with Cress about it and make sure she'll do it. But I know she will. She doesn't want anyone to get hurt here."
"So we're going to have to fight," Zoro said, smiling.
"Only the cyborgs fight," Ky said. "You'll basically be his owner."
"That's just great," Franky and Zoro mumbled.
"I'm sorry, but that's just how it works around here," Ky said. "People also place bets on the fights. Though I doubt you two have the type of money we have around here. So you most likely won't participate in the gambling."
"Sounds like it's going to be a real bore here," Zoro said. "I wonder what the others are doing right now."
"Whatever it is it can't be as bad as this," Franky said.
"I'm tempted to ask what you mean by that," Ky said, causing the pirates to stiffen up in defense. "But don't worry. I won't ask you anything like that."
"Thanks a lot," Zoro said. "We really appreciate it."
"Well, I should get supper started now," Ky said, standing up. "We don't have much but we're happy to share with you two."
"Thanks a lot," Franky said. The two pirates then just sat around the table as the room filled with the smell of whatever Ky was cooking them. It has a slight bitter smell to it. But at this point they were hungry enough that they didn't care what it smelled like or even tasted like. They ate alone with Ky. The cyborg took his friend a bowl of the grit like looking slop before rejoining them in the kitchen.
"I'll show you to your room now," Ky said once they were finished. "I hope you two don't mind sharing. We don't have a lot of space here."
"It's fine," Franky said. "We're use to sharing."
"That's good to hear," Ky said, leading them up the stairs and into the one of the two rooms in the small hallway. "That other door is the bathroom. There's towels and everything in there if you wish to take a shower."
"Where do you sleep?" Zoro asked.
"I sleep in the same room with Cress," Ky said. "Since Rumble has tried so many times to kill her, I don't like leaving her side for every long. You can come get us if you need anything."
"Thanks," Franky said just before Ky left them alone. He saw down on the floor. "Man, this place is really messed up."
"Yeah." Zoro nodded while he sat down on the only bed in the room.
"But the shard is right here," Franky said. "What do we do now? We can't just knock them out after everything Ky just told us."
"I figured you'd say something like that," Zoro said. "But this isn't our problem. We have our own."
"Are you suggesting we just knock them out and take the shard?" Franky frowned at the swordsman. "After everything you heard down there?"
"Are you suggesting we stay here forever?" Zoro shot back.
"No, it's just that I…" Franky dropped his eyes down to the floor. Her gripped his large hands together and gritted his teeth.
"Look, I know how you feel, especially with you being a cyborg yourself," Zoro said as gently as he could, "but this really isn't our fight. We have our own problem. Remember that Neo is waiting for us."
"I know she is," Franky said. "And she would want us to help them."
"Huh?" Zoro lifted an eyebrow at his crewmate.
"You know she would," Franky said, locking eyes with Zoro. "You know she would relate to them on being a slave. She basically was one to the whole world. She might not have been used like the cyborgs are here but she-"
"All right, all right!" Zoro said. "We'll so what we can. But if it looks like we're getting in too deep, we're grabbing the shard and getting the heck out of here."
"Ow! Thanks, bro!" Franky said. "You won't regret this at all!"
"I already regret it," Zoro said, frowning. His eyes wondered over to the silent monkey. It was standing in the corner just watching them with its typical silent stare. He wondered if Pendulum would do something to them and Neo for waiting on taking the shard.
…
The next day the pirates were up before the other two were. They waited until they heard movement down in the kitchen before heading down themselves. Ky was moving about in the kitchen until he noticed them. He said, "Good morning. Your chips will be here shortly after breakfast. When they arrive we will put them on you and set you up for your first fight which will be after lunch."
"Great," Zoro said, sitting down with the monkey by his feet.
"Your first fight here will be easy," Ky said to Franky. "They always are. But it will get harder after that."
"No problem," Franky said. "I'm a pretty good fighter."
"Glad to hear it," Ky said. "I won't have to worry so much then."
Not long after that, Cressida came out and breakfast was ready. She pulled her chair up to the table without a word. Their meal was small and unfamiliar to the pirates once again. But at least they had something. Then a knock came on the door. Ky got up and answered it, coming back with a package in his hand. Cressida nodded and headed back to her room.
"Come on," Ky called.
The pirates got up and followed after the cyborg. They gasped when they entered into the room. It was a lot bigger than they thought it would be. To their left was a surgery like room with several buttons and machines that neither of them could identify. To their right were two beds and another door, which they assumed, was a bathroom.
"This place is amazing," Franky said.
"I never would have guess a room this size would be in a house this small," Zoro said.
"Holograms do wonders," Ky said.
"Let's just get this over with," Cressida. "Lay down, cyborg."
"Franky." Franky laid down on the table. "Be gently."
"I think you'll survive," Cressida said, pulling goggles down over her eyes. She went quiet after that while she worked on Franky and the chip. With in fifteen minutes, she had the chip attacked to Franky perfectly. She then started working on Zoro's chip.
"That was fast," Franky said, sitting up.
Cressida grunted but gave no other response. Five minutes later, she was tossing a bracelet to Zoro. "There. That should do."
"Great," Zoro grumbled. He slipped it on his wrist. Looking down at it, it looked like a normal bracelet with a silver faceplate.
"Ky?" Cressida looked at her friend.
"I got them." Ky walked over with a pile of clothes in his hands. "Here. You'll need to put these one. We need to try and disguise your looks so Rumble, or anyone else, doesn't recognize you."
The pirates took the clothes. They weren't that much different from the clothes back in the pirate world.
"We'll also need to change your hair," Cressida said, eyeing Franky's easily spotted buzz cut.
"Don't worry about that." Franky pushed his nose and went through a couple different hairstyles before landing on a military style cut.
"That was amazing." Cressida's eyes sparkled.
"She really loves this cyborg stuff, doesn't she?" Zoro asked frowning at the eye patch he was going to have to wear to cover up his left eye. He didn't want to, but he knew they both had to hide what could easily target them as the two who attacked Rumble.
A few hours later, Cressida and Ky were leading the two pirates back to through the city. They all were on edge to see if anyone would notice Zoro and Franky from yesterday. No one did. The locate clothes they were wearing blended them in perfectly, at least for now.
Ky opened a door. The cheering sounds erupted from inside, as well as the smell of blood, sweat, and oil. They entered. Walking along a catwalk, the two pirates looked down to find several cage matches were going on. Bleachers were in place on the sloping floors and multiple screen boxes were hanging from the ceiling to give the viewers easy views to all the fights that was going on.
"This way," Ky said.
They continued to follow their friends.
Cressida moved up to table.
"ID scan," one of the men behind the table said.
Cressida brushed her wrist across the scanner the man held out.
"Ring Six at one thirty," the man said, bored. "Next."
Cressida and Ky moved out of the way.
"ID scan," the man said again.
Blinking, Zoro scanned his wrist under the scanner as Cressida did.
"Ring Seven at two o'clock," the man said.
Zoro and Franky followed Cressida. Franky said, "Well, that was a little too easy."
"I worked on all of this last night," Ky said. "You need to eat. And to eat you have to fight."
"Right." Zoro nodded. "You've already told us that."
The group of five found some empty seats and sat down. They watched the fights until it was time for Ky to enter his.
"Be careful, Ky," Cressida said.
"Aren't I always?" Ky smirked at her before entering into the ring he was assigned to.
They sat back and watched. The announcer started the fight, causing another uproar in the crowd. Franky and Zoro could feel the bloodlust in the crowd as they started to shout out for the red liquid. The fight started with an exchange of punches. Despite Ky's opponent being twice his size, he held his own. He dodged kicks and punches before throwing his own back then blocked again. It was easily for the pirates to see that Ky was using his size to his advantage. With his opponent's bulky size, he was easily faster. After fifteen minutes Ky's opponent was wearing down. He took his time to strike, easily taking the cyborg out with just a few punches. The other cyborg fell backwards, knocked out cold. The announcer announced Ky as the victor. He was meet with a mix of cheers and boos.
A few minutes later, it was Franky's turn.
"Take it easy," Zoro said. "We don't want to reveal our true strength in the first match."
"I know," Franky said, bouncing on his feet inside of the ring. He sized up his opponent that was about the same size he was.
The announcer started the fight.
Franky's opponent came out swinging, knocking him in his left ear. He went flying. Picking himself up, he hoped the chip was sturdy enough to withstand behind hit. He figured it was. If it weren't Cressida would have warned him not to let it get hit. He dodged a punch, and then clipped the cyborg in his chin. More punches and kicks were exchanged. Franky knew that Cressida and Ky had spoken the truth. This fight was one of the easiest he's ever been in. The look in his opponent's eyes also informed him that he was new to fighting and scared. A twinge of guilt filled him. He had years of fighting under his belt and was a wanted pirate. He decided to take it easy on this one. So he pulled back on his punches, but still kept enough force in them to give a good show and not let anyone get suspicious of him. After fifteen minutes of exchanging blows, Franky decided the guy had enough and ended it with one more punch.
The cyborg teetered on his feet before falling back on the floor with a mechanical thunk. The crowd cheered. More guilt filled him with a young girl ran into the ring, bawling her eyes out. She said, "Daddy! Daddy!"
The cyborg was her father. Franky wanted to apologize, but figured it was best not to. He had no idea what the protocol was here for this kind of situation.
"Not bad," Zoro said when Franky stepped out of the ring. "And don't feel guilty. We need the food and we wont be here for long."
"I know," Franky said. "This place is just nuts."
Zoro nodded. "We'll get out of here."
"Yeah," Franky said. The two didn't say anymore after that. They just followed Cressida and Ky to pick up their rations for the day and schedule their next fight for tomorrow.
"You did good," Ky said once they were back outside in the heat.
"Thanks," Franky said.
"The fights will only get harder from here," Cressida said.
"I'm not worried about the fights," Franky said. "We're pretty good fighters where we're from."
"That's good to hear," Ky said. "Then you shouldn't have any problems. And don't worry about your opponents. They still get their rations even if they lose."
"Good," Franky said.
"We should pick up a few more clothes for you two before heading home," Cressida said. "You're going to need them."
Franky and Zoro didn't reply. They didn't want to buy clothes here. It made it feel like they were going to permanently be here. Their eyes slid to Ky's chest. Both having the same thoughts as they looked at him: They could grab it so easily. And Neo was waiting for them. How long were they going to have to stay here?
Forcing their eyes away before they got caught, they looked around the city, carefully taking in all the details just incase they had to fight in this city or escape from a fight.
…
Author Notes: If I can get them written up, I'm going to start post multiple chapters a week to get this done. I want to get back to my other stories I have going and want to start others. Thanks for reading.