Chapter 23
Every straw hat, and Hancock, were all terrified at the thought of Marineford, the greatest naval base in the world, being cleaned out, as well as the village that surrounded it. The shinobi were more shocked at the fact that 9 million people are dead. Sasuke was the only shinobi who was scared with the straw hats.
"Surely not THAT Marineford… that old man in Alubarna… he said a place called Marineford was attacked 64 years ago by Psycho and Cyclone, but they just left after… 64 years later they attack again? What for?" Sasuke thought to himself.
"100,000 people…" Nami said softly as she fell to her knees.
Sanji, Zoro, and Franky all held neutral faces as they looked at the distressed man in the room.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH! WHO WAS CRAZY ENOUGH TO ATTACK THAT PLACE?! AND KILL ALL THOSE PEOPLE!?" Usopp screamed.
"KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN YOU'LL WAKE THE OTHER GUESTS!" The man yelled.
"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!" Usopp yelled back.
Luffy stared off in the distance. Naruto took notice of this and asked him about Marineford.
"Hey… Luffy? What is this Marineford place anyway?" Naruto asked.
Luffy looked down.
"A navy base…" Hancock said.
Naruto looked up at Hancock.
"A navy base?" Naruto asked.
Hancock nodded.
"The world's largest navy base at that. There was a major war there a couple years ago… Luffy's brother and Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate… died there." Hancock said.
The visiting shinobi all looked at Luffy with shock.
"But I thought Luffy's brother was Sabo! He's alive and well!" Naruto said.
"Luffy had another brother, Ms. Hancock?" Kakashi asked.
Hancock nodded, small tears forming.
"He alone was the reason the war began… "Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace is what he was called. He ate the flame flame fruit and became a fire person but was captured by the navy and was to be publicly executed. Luffy and Whitebeard teamed up to go free him, but… of course that didn't happen…" Hancock explained.
Naruto looked at Luffy.
"Luffy… I'm sorry you had to go through that." Naruto walked over to Luffy and put a hand on his shoulder, Luffy still didn't move.
"Why was his rescue a failure? If you don't mind me asking. Did someone interfere?" Sasuke asked.
Hancock looked over at Sasuke.
"Well, if you count the navy officers, captains, vice-admirals, and admirals, even the fleet admiral as interfering… then yeah. They interfered big time. The admiral Akainu was the one who killed Ace." Hancock answered.
"I see. So, he didn't get involved then." Sasuke thought to himself.
Naruto took his hand of Luffy's shoulder.
"Let's go find this Akainu guy and kick his ass then! For Luffy's brother." Naruto said.
Hancock looked down, her hair covering her expression.
"NO!" Hancock yelled.
The pirate empress got everyone's attention.
"Akainu is a very dangerous man! Probably even more dangerous and blood thirsty than even Psycho is! He only cares about absolute justice! He'd put a kid up for death if he stole a candy bar!" Hancock yelled, "I let you fight Psycho and look what happened to you and Luffy! I don't know what kind of people you deal with where you're from, but it's an entirely different world over here. I refuse to let ANY of you go any further with this." Hancock snapped.
The straw hats, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi stared at Hancock with neutral expressions.
"It's not even about Akainu anyway! Did you forget DEATH is running around? I'm willing to bet my life on it that Psycho is behind this massacre. Do you realize how many people got killed? IN ONE DAY?" Hancock snapped again.
Naruto grunted and balled his fist.
"WHO CARES?!" Naruto yelled.
Hancock gasped.
"I DON'T CARE WHO IT IS! AKAINU, PSYCHO, CYCLONE, DEATH, OR ANYBODY! IF YOU MESS WITH MY FRIENDS… YOU'LL DIE FOR IT!" Naruto yelled, "It is a different ball game over here like you said… I don't know anything about devil fruits or how they work, but I'm willing to learn what I can and beat up whoever I have to if I want to save this world!"
Hancock's tears fell heavier.
"Did you think Psycho beating me the other day was going to make me quit? HELL NO! Psycho told us that day that our next move determined where we stood right? When we threw our punches at him we officially declared war on that damn organization! I don't know what their plan is, but 100,000 innocent people dying… THAT'S THE LAST STRAW!" Naruto said.
Hancock was shocked at the young man's response. Luffy balled his fist and ran past Hancock, taking his hat back, and running out the door.
"Luffy!" Hancock yelled as she ran after him.
Naruto and the others stared in shock.
"Luffy…" Naruto said softly.
"You." Kakashi said, looking at the man who ran in.
The man nervously looked at Kakashi.
"Who did it? The Marineford massacre." Kakashi asked.
The man gulped.
"I… I… I don't know. All they said was that two masked assailants ran in and started killing people…" The man explained.
"Masked? Could it have been Psycho?" Franky asked.
"I wouldn't doubt it. I vaguely remember something about DEATH wanting to stay hidden for a while." Sanji added.
Robin looked towards the ground.
"I'm going to get some fresh air." Robin said, walking towards the door.
Zoro watched Robin leave.
"Yeah. Me too." Zoro said.
The remaining people in the room looked on with confusion.
"What has gotten in to everybody?" Sakura asked.
"I'm not sure, but I'm going to find Hancock and Luffy. I want to know more about what happened during that war." Kakashi said.
"Yeah I'm going too!" Naruto added.
Kakashi nodded.
"Anyone else?" Kakashi asked.
"This is too much for my weak heart… I'm going to bed… see you all tomorrow guys." Usopp said.
"Yeah me too! This is all too scary for me!" Chopper said, following Usopp.
"Same even for me… the hairs on my skin have raised from the fear… except I don't have skin! YO HO HO HO HO HO!" Brook said.
"Is this really the time for bone jokes you jerk?!" Franky yelled, "But I'm going to hit the bar. Tomorrow is probably going to be busy so I'm gonna enjoy my night."
"That sounds like a splendid idea Franky-san." Brook said.
Franky and Brook left the room. Sanji helped Nami on to her feet and held out his arm.
"Nami-san and I are going to see if we can find a bite to eat." Sanji said, getting ready to leave.
Sanji and Nami then left the room. Sakura looked at Sasuke.
"Sasuke… what do you want to do?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke looked over at Sakura.
"I need to go clear my head. If you want to come with, you can." Sasuke said.
Sakura nodded, threw on a coat, and followed Sasuke out the door.
"Since when did Sasuke start letting Sakura tag along?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi, the man, and Naruto were the only ones in the room now.
"Well I guess it's just us Naruto. Come on let's get going." Kakashi said.
Naruto nodded.
ON A MOUNTAIN IN SAKURA KINGDOM
Luffy had ran for a while, but finally stopped at the top of a mountain. Hancock still followed.
"Luffy! Luffy!" Hancock yelled out.
Luffy looked down at Hancock, annoyed.
"Stop following me! I want to be alone!" Luffy yelled down to her, as he continued to run.
"Damn it Luffy just stop and listen to me!" Hancock said, chasing him more.
Luffy tried to keep running but slipped going up hill and fell back down the mountain. Hancock saw Luffy suddenly fall and roll towards her, but he was rolling to fast to do anything and she got hit. Luffy and Hancock rolled down the mountain together until they finally slowed down, Hancock was on top of Luffy.
"Finally… I stopped you!" Hancock yelled.
Luffy grunted and strained.
"GET OFF ME!" Luffy yelled.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hancock yelled.
Luffy's eyes widened.
"I'M HOLDING YOU HERE UNTIL YOU CALM DOWN!" Hancock yelled, "You ran out the room because of Ace didn't you? Because you remembered his death?"
Luffy grunted.
"Yeah so what if I did? That was my brother and I miss him!" Luffy yelled.
"And that's how we would all feel about you! How I would feel about you if you died!" Hancock barked, "You've got great new friends now who want to help you Luffy! You weren't running to get closure… you were about to go fight weren't you?" Hancock asked.
Luffy stopped looking at Hancock.
"WEREN'T YOU!?" Hancock screamed so loud her voice cracked.
Luffy tried to stop looking at Hancock, but drops of water on his face made him turn and look up at her.
"Luffy… please… I love you so much… I don't want to ever have to say goodbye to you…" Hancock said, tears falling.
MARINEFORD
Psycho stood up and holstered his sword. As he walked down his throne he kicked a body out of the way.
"Use the transponder snail to start moving a bunch of our men here. This is our island now, we need it to be cleaned and remodeled." Psycho ordered.
Cyclone closed his book and stood up.
"Consider it done. With our speed we could do it much faster though." Cyclone suggested.
"If you want to do it alone then by all means go ahead. I have a meeting I have to make." Psycho said.
Cyclone looked at Psycho.
"A meeting with who?" Cyclone asked.
Psycho paused for a moment.
"Kataka." Psycho said as he left.
SAKURA KINGDOM HARBOR
Robin stood at the harbor of the Sakura Kingdom carnival that was now closed. The beautiful, colorful lights that shined were now off and the harbor was lit only by a hanging lamp.
FLASHBACK
"You're still into world history and archeology correct?" Psycho asked.
Robin nodded her head slowly.
"Good. You see there's a library that I was intending on visiting again for the first time in a while and I'd love for you to go with me. There's plenty of knowledge for you to dig into, stuff you've never even heard of before." Psycho explained.
Robin's eyes widened at the mention of such a place.
"Re… re… really?" Robin asked.
"Oh, of course. I really think you'll enjoy it. I'm going to be leaving in two days. You'll have the rest of today and all day tomorrow to make up your mind." Psycho said, heading back to his seat. He walked right by Naruto and Luffy in the process.
"Just let me know what you want to do. You'll know where to find me when the time comes." Psycho said, sitting back down.
"Robin!" Psycho yelled out.
Robin stopped and got shivered.
"My offer is still on the table. Remember, two days." Psycho said.
END OF FLASHBACK
"How many days has it been since then? It's technically the day I have to come up with an answer… but… It's about to get serious soon, and I don't want any recklessness messing up my chances of seeing this library." Robin thought to herself, "Plus… he's at Marineford now. I'm not even past Alabasta… how could I possibly get from here to Marineford in only a day?"
Robin stayed in deep thought until footsteps behind her stopped them.
"What are you thinking about?" Zoro asked.
Robin looked at the swordsman and smiled.
"Oh nothing, just… thinking, about all this." Robin said.
"All what?" Zoro asked.
"DEATH and just everything really, it's been so crazy, we still have to beat Arlong and Kuro just to get to Cyclone then we have to beat him to get to Psycho… I don't know how we'll pull it off." Robin confessed.
Zoro smiled.
"Doubting the straw hat pirates aye?"
Robin smiled.
"Never. I know what we're capable of. And we have these new guys here to help us, they're incredibly strong too. It gives me a lot of hope." Robin smiled.
Zoro smiled back, then became serious.
"Don't even think about it."
Robin's eyes widened.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. This harbor, that boat, I know what you're planning, and I'm not letting you see through to it." Zoro said.
Robin grit her teeth.
"This library holds information that nobody other than he has seen before! As an archeologist and scholar, I have to go!" Robin yelled.
"You don't have to do anything. What if it's a trap? And we have to come save you like last time?" Zoro said.
Robin stepped back.
"You say that like you had a problem with it…"
"No I'm not saying that! I'm saying you're going to put yourself in a situation like that again." Zoro explained.
"I won't! You see how he talks to me versus the way he talks to all of you? It's different with me. He even kept me safe all the way until I started working for Crocodile. Why would he betray me now?" Robin asked.
"Because you're friends with the team who declared war on his organization! That's why!" Zoro yelled.
Robin bit her bottom lip.
"No… it's different… I know it is. How he talks to me, it feels deeper than just being good friends with me." Robin said.
"We've already established that guy isn't as young as he makes himself out to be. What kind of creep is good friends with an 8 year old?" Zoro said, "Stop thinking about your rocks and books for a moment and use your head!"
Robin's expression was hidden behind pitch black.
"Rocks and books? That may be what they are to you, but to me they're everything! I was raised on an island of scholars who only wanted to learn everything they could about the world! If he can take me to a place to learn things nobody in this part of the world have ever learned before then of course I'm going to be curious!" Robin yelled.
Zoro became agitated.
"I swear it's so annoying to be involved with you! Always doing your own thing, nobody ever knows what the hell you're thinking, you try to sacrifice yourself and almost get killed, and now you want to go to a guy who just EMBARRASSED us the other day! I won't allow it!" Zoro snapped, grabbing his sword.
Robin became angry herself.
"I'm a grown woman! I don't care what you'll allow and won't allow! I'm going with him to this library and there's nothing you can say to stop me." Robin said, walking towards the small boat.
Zoro stared down.
"If you step in that boat. You're no longer a straw hat." Zoro said softly.
Robin's head shot up and tears formed. She clenched her fists and bit her bottom lip.
"We can't have someone like you that wants to keep leaving and doing what she wants to do, disrespecting this group and what we stand for. Nobody would agree with what you're doing, and you know it. Hmph, right when… I thought things were going okay, you're trying to pull this stunt. Sometimes I feel like I chose the wrong person to-."
SLAP!
Zoro was smacked hard by Robin, who had his legs and arms bound with her sprouted arms.
"What the hell are you doing?" Zoro asked.
"SOMEONE LIKE ME?! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Robin yelled, "You've never trusted me from day one I get it! But why would you… in Yuba… and here…. when we…"
Tears fell from Robin's eyes heavily.
"It's true I've grown to have feelings for you alright!" Zoro spat, "But what the hell good will they do when we're at war with a freak organization like DEATH? I haven't had feelings like this for anyone else… I don't even know why I feel for you like I do, but I do."
Robin looked down.
"Zoro… do you, love me? Because… I love you." Robin asked.
Zoro's eyes shot open. Robin used her hands to try and keep her tears in, but they fell through her fingers.
"Do you love me Zoro?... Is that why you're so weird around me? Please don't tell me these feelings are one sided. I've gone through so much stress and pain trying to figure this out… and what the musician said doesn't make it any easier." Robin explained.
FLASHBACK
"Yo ho ho ho ho. Robin-chan, Zoro told you how he felt that night." Brook laughed.
Robin stared at Brook.
"You didn't notice? Almost kissing you, stopping abruptly, both are signs that he feels almost or equally the same." Brook said.
Robin became agitated.
"Then why leave? Why couldn't he just tell me how he felt and maybe I wouldn't feel so weak!" Robin yelled.
"Robin-chan, please sit, I can't answer for why exactly Zoro jumped off that roof and left you alone, but what I can tell you, is that he is hiding something. You'll have to abstract that information from him though, if you really want it." Brook said.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Tell me… right now! Tell me right now that you love me if you do. And I won't go anywhere." Robin said, tears falling with no resistance now.
Zoro struggled and pained for a moment, staring into Robin's eyes.
"I… I…" Zoro started.
Robin's eyes widened a little.
"I can't do it…" Zoro gave up.
Robin's eyes filled with back up tears and she turned and got into her boat. Zoro, still locked up, tried to yell.
"ROBIN! Gahh gahh, ROBIN!" Zoro tried, but Robin had disappeared into the dark.
MISTY AND DARK ISLAND
Psycho landed on an island full of mist. It was a ruined city, with destroyed buildings. Burned, looted, and even collapsed. He walked through the ruins looking for a certain entrance. He heard that he stepped on something and looked down. A wanted poster.
WANTED: ONLY DEAD, KATAKA "THE CRYPT KEEPER" REWARD: B 1,500,000,000.
Psycho smiled at the paper and crumbled it up. As Psycho continued to walk through the mist, zombies of pirates, navy, and civilians started to show up. They all looked at Psycho and let him pass. Eventually he came to a large cave entrance. He read the sign posted out front.
WARNING: DO NOT ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Marine.
Psycho again smiled at it and walked into the cave. As he got farther it got hotter and darker. Weird, sticky, and slime like black material started becoming present all around him and he could smell sea water, the cave running directly beneath the sea. He walked a little farther until he came to an opening with another giant entrance, this time it was pitch black. Psycho stared at it and held up his hand, a chidori formed, giving him light. As he walked deep into the darkness he could hear a female child singing.
"Kataka the crypt keeper, the civilians couldn't bear the risk to keep her, so they threw her into the devil's arms so that he could keep her." The child's voice sang.
Psycho looked up and a large bug ran across the ceiling. It was cold, damp, and it smelled like the tar. The ground was solid, yet squishy. The walls and ceiling were sticky to the point where nothing that landed in it was getting out. Psycho shook his head and continued walking. The voice still humming.
"Kataka the crypt keeper, the civilians couldn't bear the risk to keep her, so they threw her into the devil's arms so that he could keep her." The child's voice giggled at the end.
Psycho finally came to a dead end. He brightened his chidori and looked around the room. A giant throne made of bones sat in the center with glass lid coffins behind it. The massive collection was arranged in a curved square 1,000x1,000. Each coffin had one body in it, mummified without bandages. Psycho admired the collection.
"I had forgotten how many people she had in her collection… it's been a while." Psycho said to himself.
Before Psycho could speak again, the child sang.
"Kataka the crypt keeper, the civilians couldn't bear the risk to keep her, so they threw her into the devil's arms so that he could keep her." The child giggled again.
Psycho sighed.
"If I hear that verse one more time I'll lose it." Psycho said.
The room around him rumbled, but he didn't move an inch.
"I'm so sorry. It's just my favorite song." The little girl's voice said.
"Sing it on your own time. I'm here to talk business. Come out and stop wasting my time." Psycho ordered.
A wall on the left side of the room came down and somehow the darkness in that room was darker than the one Psycho would be in if his chidori didn't light up the room a little. Psycho stared at the opening. Moments later, he heard the giggles of a little girl. A giant bone arm grabbed the side of the wall and the other, scythe in hand, grabbed the other wall. The figure poked it's head out and its face was completely covered by hair. The monster was at least 25ft tall and as it came out of the room, it was shown to have a hunch and wore a large black robe. The monster's feet couldn't be seen as it just glided across the room. Psycho watched the beast as it went over and sat in its chair. The beast set the scythe against the wall and leaned towards Psycho, pulled it's hair back to reveal a black and white porcelain doll mask and spoke in a little girl's voice.
"It truly has been a while… Psycho-sama." Kataka said soflty, with a playful giggle following.