Towering Memories and Treasured Dreams

by RoseDragonWitch

Sequel to 'Warm Memories' story. Already, a few weeks had passed since their adventure on the 'ghost island'. Still, they continue forward, preparing themselves for any challenge that awaits them. But it seems that their memories aren't willing to let them go just yet. A distant tower... a mysterious force that haunts the seas... will their trust with each other be strong enough?

27. Floor 25: The Secret of the Merry

Floor 25: The Secret of the Merry

No one spoke a word as they quickly left the floor below them and raced up the dark staircase—Franky leading the way with his nipple lights. These stairs were longer than the others before them, and with every step they took, it felt like there was some sensation of dread weighing heavily down on them like some invisible weight.

"What if the flood rushes up to catch up with us?" Chopper asked worriedly, looking back as if to make sure he couldn't see the water lapping at their heels. He was still damp from their last dip into the ocean and shook out his fur as Nami glanced back as well—clearly just as nervous.

"We'll deal with it when it comes," Sanji cut in, sounding firm but there was no hiding the anxious look in his eyes. Even if they could get through the memories quickly, that water was rising up very fast and half of their crew couldn't swim. He was sure to get Robin out of harm's way and he could trust the others with Luffy, Chopper, and Brook… but seriously, what is happening here? Nothing about this freaky tower made any sense. He was sure that they only spent hours here but it felt so much longer than that.

He gritted his teeth and knew that their only option right now was to keep climbing and hope that they could either get to the top or find a window or something that they could at least get outside with. If they could, he was sure that Luffy could rocket half of them up and he could use Sky Walk for the other half. All he knew for sure was that they couldn't stay still for too much longer.

Sadly, no sooner did he think that did Franky's lights come to yet another door and they all felt nervous. If they were going in order, then there was a good chance that they would be seeing more memories from Water 7… which held some of their best—as well as worse—memories as a crew. Still, with no other option, Sanji took the lead this time and opened the door.

He was sure that everyone was as nervous as he felt though for not even the goofball trio were jumping about happily. What they have seen so far seems to have traumatized some of them. But as soon as they stepped through the door and let it close behind them, the sun was back and they were standing in Galley-La's shipyard once again.

"I'll never get used to that," Franky growled, but it was only halfway grumpy, for he looked relaxed to be around such familiar surroundings again. "So… what now?"

"Oh, no…" Nami sighed at the sight of what was going on. They seemed to be picking up immediately where they left off and they were watching themselves talking with Iceburg and the others… learning of them being unable to repair Merry.

"Why?" Usopp moaned at the sight of it. Though he had long since accepted Merry's fate, it never got easier to hear. It looked like they had just witnessed Kaku returning from his inspection of the ship and revealing since the keel is too badly damage, there was no way that they could fix her without entire building a new ship.

It seemed that memory Luffy and Nami were lost as to what to do… but didn't have time to worry about it for they had just found out about the two empty suitcases… as well as memory Usopp was nowhere to be seen. That was when Lulu, who had been listening in, stated that he saw someone who looked like Kaku with the Franky Family.

"THAT'S USOPP!" memory Luffy exclaimed and Usopp lowered his head, a dark cloud now really over his head.

"You saw him with the Franky Family!" memory Nami yelled at them.

"Well, you could say he was with them," Lulu admitted and Brook was startled to see when he pushed the spike of hair into his head to get it to behave, it ended up being pushed out in his mustache. "Or maybe you could say they were dragging him away.

"THAT'S CALLED KIDNAPPING!" memory Nami yelled at him.

"I really wish I thought about hitting him," present-day Nami sighed at the sight. Really, when you see someone being dragged off in tears, that's usually a sign that they were being kidnapped! Why didn't they think to call out to them or something? Maybe they could have avoided all of that mess to begin with.

Memory Luffy rushes off aimlessly into the city while memory Nami decided to head back to the ship after finding out where the Franky Family lived from the other workers.

"Does your family have a habit of doing this?" Zoro asked Franky, who was torn between looking proud of his boys and ashamed of what he had done before.

"Well, yeah…" he admitted with a sigh. "It's nothing personal though. Most don't see pirates as nice guys and the treasure they have is usually stolen from others anyway. So…?"

"When you put it like that, I guess I can kinda understand," present-day Nami agreed as they went racing off after her memory self, who still had their one remaining case, and jumped into one of their Yagara's. After all, wasn't that what she used to, and still, did? She didn't want to steal from ordinary citizens, but with other pirates, she always saw that as a grey area. After all, why not steal from those who stole it first? She liked to think of it as Karma.

They followed after memory Nami this time as she urged her Yagara to make it back to the shores where they docked the Merry as fast as possible. They must have been heading through the canals for only a few minutes, not too far away from the shipyards, when she spotted a gathering of people directly on the walkways below her. She didn't pay much attention to it at first, but when she saw the crowd continue to gather, she yelled for the Yagara to stop so that she could get a better look. They all looked to see what had drawn a cloud—with present-day Usopp sighing as he realized what this had to be—and that was where they spotted him.

Memory Nami didn't notice him there until one of the people moved and she got a birds-eye view of memory Usopp lying there on the street. He was bleeding and dirty, actually covered in faint footprints as if he were just stepped on by a mob of people. He was on his back as blood dripped from his head, his eyes rolled back and his nose looking like it was broken, at least, in two places.

"USOPP!" memory Nami screamed as she left the final case in the back of the Yagara and immediately jumped down to reach him.

"Were you trying to kill him?!" Chopper yelled at their Franky, who held up his hands defensively.

"Whoa, bro! I wasn't even there! I didn't know about any of this until Zambai and the others got back with the cases and said that they stole it all from pirates!" he tried to reason. Though, even he had to admit that they may have gone too far.

"Usopp! Hey! Say something!" memory Nami cried as she flew to his side and dropped down next to him. She then began to urgently, but gently, shake him to try and wake him up; as if she were afraid of making his injuries even worse.

"Usopp? Are you alright? Hey, open your eyes! Usopp!" she pleaded, shaking herself from all over. She continued to try and wake him up when one of the townspeople watching hesitantly asked if the two of them were pirates, which got her angry as she barked, "SHUT UP! QUIT STARING AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!"

"Seriously?! What were they all doing? Couldn't one of them have called for a doctor or something?" present-day Nami hissed angrily as Luffy was looking seriously pissed off all over again. "Who just leaves someone bleeding on the ground like that?"

"Oh, no," memory Nami croaked, "Usopp who did this to you? Was it the Franky Family?"

Memory Usopp seemed to be coming around from her pleas, but when he finally was able to focus on her, tears only began to form in his eyes. Seeing him like this, now it all seemed to be that much clearer to the Straw Hats why everything ended as badly as they did when it came to the Merry. And it only felt like a punch to the gut when he could only wheeze, barely able to form any words, and it was so low that they had to strain their ears to make it out.

"It was… it happened… because I'm weak…" he whimpered, "They took… they took all the money…"

"Usopp, that's not true!" Chopper said to their Usopp, who couldn't even watch the scene. He had his back turned to them all and kept his head down so that his eyes were shadowed over. "You are strong, in your own way!"

"He's right," Sanji agreed lightly, "You may not be the most physically strong in the crew, but I can think of a few times you got us out of tight spots."

Usopp didn't answer him as Sanji gave him a clap on the shoulder, knowing that even if it was painful for them to watch, it had to be even worse for Usopp to relieve his mistakes.

Meanwhile, memory Nami just stared at him in horror at what he said, but it didn't seem that it was about the fact that they had lost more than half of their money at once. Rather it was how broken up that he was taking the news. And what he said next seemed to just break her heart.

"Nami?" he whimpered, "How can I… face the others… now? We were finally… able to fix the Merry." Tears continued to fall as his head fell backwards. "I'm so… ashamed. Damnit…"

She just pulled him up into her arms and hugged him, memory Usopp resting his chin on her shoulder as she looked ready to start crying as well. The present-day Nami understood completely how he felt. They had a discussion like this shortly before arriving in Alabasta, and it was for this reason that she first asked Usopp to make her clima-tact for her. She knew that they weren't as strong or had any powers that could help them to fight like the others. They had to learn to fight smart and so she understood his frustration of being considered weaker by the others. But the fact was that Usopp could have stood up to the Franky Family members if he wasn't caught off guard or outnumbered like that! She was sure of it. It wasn't his fault and so, despite losing all that money, she couldn't be angry with him… especially after seeing how broken up he was about it all.

"Usopp," memory Nami reassured him in a very gentle voice, "I understand. Don't worry about the money, we'll get it back together."

If the situation wasn't so serious, a lot of the crew would have gasped out at the sight of seeing how calmly Nami was taking losing so much money. But no one dared to say a word as memory Nami was now looking around, trying to figure out what to do. That was when she carefully pulled him to the nearby wall and set him up against it.

"What are you doing, Nami?" Luffy asked their Nami, "We needed to get him to Chopper."

"I know that," she shot back, "But you see how badly hurt he was? If I tried to pull him back into the Yagara it could have made his injuries worse. I don't know, I'm not a doctor?"

"No, this was the better choice," Chopper reassured her. "I can see from here that he was hurt pretty bad. If you tried to move him too much then it could have done some even more damage. The best thing would have been for him to rest until we got there and carry him back to the Merry."

"How could you expect me to wait after all that?" present-day Usopp asked, more upset than ever.

"Look, stay right here, ok?" memory Nami asked him. "I'm gonna go back to the ship to get the others to come and help. Chopper'll have you fixed up good as new in no time. And listen, don't worry about the stolen money, alright? From what I've heard, their hideout isn't too far away from here. We'll crush them and that'll be the end of it, ok?"

Memory Usopp didn't answer her as the crowd continued to watch on and she rounded on them, "HEY! YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF SHOW? GET LOST!"

She then leapt to her feet and began to yell back as she made it to her Yagara, "Stay put, alright? I'm going to get you some help! I'll be right back!"

But memory Usopp wasn't waiting around any longer. It took a few minutes, but it seemed that when he heard that the Franky Family wasn't far from here, it seemed to light a fire in him. He weakly asked one of the townspeople, who hadn't gone running off from Nami's threat, where he could found them. They nervously mentioned how the Franky House was set up down shore, and that was all that Usopp needed to know.

The present-Usopp sighed as he remembered thinking to himself that it was down near the shoreline like with the Merry, it was still a good distance from the ship. He had to do it. He had to make up for his failure, or else he would never be able to look at his crew in the faces again. Not after all that they went through to earn that money from their adventure in Skypiea.

So he watched as his memory self was able to force himself up to his feet and limped away, leaving a slight trail of blood behind him as he forced his wounded body to go.

"What were you thinking, Usopp?!" Chopper demanding, jumping up to his shoulders, "Why didn't you wait for me? You could have made your injuries so much worse just by moving around!"

"Look," he snapped, "I had to at least try make up for it! This was important to me! And I was the one in charge of the money! I had to do what it took to make things right!"

That was when Nami hit him in the head and snapped back, "I'll take you over any case of money! Don't you ever do anything like that again!"

Present-day Usopp stared at her, but nodded slowly, too scared to do anything else but to agree as they ran after his past self. He eventually was able to make it to the shore and it wasn't hard to find the Franky House… honestly, that house stood out loud and clear so how could you not find it?

Either way memory Usopp went rushing in.

He didn't waste any time as he burst his way in, determination blazing like a bonfire. But it was shown right away that he was completely outnumbered and outmatched by memory Franky. Memory Franky, who was dressed in a long blue cloak and a star-like mask, just laughed at Usopp's attempts.

"What's with the getup?" Zoro couldn't help but ask.

"Shut up, I look SU~PER in it!" Franky countered. "Besides, there was a festival going on and I was getting ready to go off and enjoy it."

Even more so when he suddenly got 200,000 beris to spend! Not that he was dumb enough to say otherwise. Though, now that he thought of it, even as memory Usopp began to yell that they worked hard for that money and were going to use it to fix up their ship, if Usopp had stopped them from taking the money then they never would have become such good friends… nor would he have been able to get the wood to build Sunny. Maybe, in some way, they should thank Usopp for getting them the Sunny after all?

He kept that thought to himself though as he sadly watched how his memory self sent Usopp sprawling at his feet. He stood over them with the case in his hands, so small compared to him that he only needed a finger on each handle to hold them up.

"Ahhh… what are you so worked up about?" memory Franky asked him through his mask, "Seems you love your ship quite a bit." He then laughed and added, "No matter. Whatever kind of condition's she's in, this money belongs to us now. Understand?"

"Damn you…" memory Usopp panted, shaking as the rest of the Franky Family watched on with amusement.

"Unfortunately, in this world, stealing from pirates isn't seen as a crime," memory Franky pointed out. "Besides this is perhaps dirty money you swiped along the way here. Just let us have it." Usopp glared before Franky suggested, "Maybe you can beg the Navy for help? Nah, they'd just arrest ya."

"You are seriously pissing me off here, Franky," Sanji said, but he had to admit that he did make a good point. No one would care if Franky and the others robbed from pirates.

There's justice for you.

"Too bad for Straw Hat Luffy," memory Franky said, sounding slightly piteous right then. "He's got himself a useless crony who can't even handle the simple task of guarding a little money. Such a shame."

"What?!" Luffy yelled at their Franky.

"Enough," Robin cut in before anymore arguing could be made. "Let us remember that we didn't start off on the right foot, but that doesn't mean that we have to keep fighting like this?"

"Sorry," the two said. It was pretty quiet from them from that point on because they knew that she was right. What's done is done. They only could watch as memory Franky walked up and kicked memory Usopp hard in the face, sending him flying back. He spit up more blood as he laid there, almost blacking out as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Alright boys," memory Franky called to them, "Show them all the hospitality of the Franky House while I'm gone. No time like the present to start shopping with all this pile of money!"

But he was mistaken if he thought that Usopp was done. He suddenly sat up and had a projectile in his hands, ready to fire. He then fired an Exploding Star, however, memory Franky just turned around and punched at it, and it exploded against his fist, taking memory Usopp by surprise.

"Remember my name, long nose," he said darkly, "It's Franky. If you wanna leave this city alive, I suggest you never cross me."

"Well, considering how beat up you left me, I really hated to know just what you were going to do to me if I did cross you. Leave me in a matchbox?"

"Geez, I can tell that I'm going to be hearing about this for a while, huh?" current Franky sighed. "Look, I said I'm sorry! I just thought that you guys were just your run-of-the-mill pirate! Give me a break!"

Soon the other members of the Franky Family grabbed hold of him and held him down as they knocked the slingshot out of his hands. Memory Franky just gave a friendly wave as he walked out and Zambai came up to punch Usopp in the gut. But Usopp still wouldn't give up even as the doors closed and he was beaten senseless… he couldn't even fight back anymore as the Franky Family kicked and stomped all over him.

"Usopp-san," Brook said softly, while their Usopp was looking away again and this time even present Franky was now hanging his head so low that it looked like he had just gotten hit by one of Perona's ghosts.

"Please… don't…" present-day Usopp begged, not wanting to discuss this any further. Living through it once was bad enough… seeing it from Luffy's memories was even worse… worse than any of the injuries he got that day. But again? He didn't know what he did to have his mistakes thrown back into his face again and again after he had already paid for it. Didn't he already pay enough for his stupid mistake? Didn't he try his damnest to make up for it though? He didn't know anymore.

He was so conflicted on that he didn't notice the icy cold breath that seemed to cling to him in that moment.

No one said a word to him after that request though, which he was glad for, only Chopper came up to hug his leg, and even then, he wasn't sure if he really wanted it. He just felt sick with humiliation at seeing how beaten he.

"At least I got a better fashion sense than those guys," present-day Usopp stated and there were rounds of laughter.

"What are you saying?" Franky demanded, "Look at my boys! They looking amazing!"

"How do they go to the bathroom in those things?" Zoro asked, unable to help himself as Luffy laughed out at the look on Franky's face.

"Yes, it would seem to be rather difficult," Robin pointed out in amusement.

"Hey why would anyone want to be taken too seriously?" Franky grinned out. "Besides, it was always our goal to always be ready for a spontaneous beach party! You can't deny that we're ready for anything!"

More laughter, which was something they all desperately needed at that moment, faded soon the memory shifts. They find the memory Straw Hats arriving to try and find memory Usopp, but all they find are bloody footprints and realize that he must have gone after the Franky Family.

For this next part, no one wanted to go in and watch the events unfold again—they already knew what happened, after all. They just waited outside of the Franky House when they arrived to find memory Usopp so badly beaten up. Soon all the windows were blow out… then the walls… and just to make a point, they blew up the rest of the house and left the Franky Family in bleeding heaps on the ground.

Franky seemed like he wanted to say something but didn't know what he should say. On one hand it was hard to see his boys all getting beaten, but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to be mad at the Straw Hats either for their reaction. He just grumbled to himself—oddly wondering what he would have done if the other Straw Hats arrived before he left.

Well, no use crying over the past now, right? Besides, he was never someone who believed in things such as fate… but he couldn't help but feel that maybe Tom had a hand in this somehow? He smirked slightly at the thought—it would be just like Tom to do something like this.

"Usopp! What were you thinking going in there on your own?!" present-day Luffy demanded. "Why not wait for us?"

"What? It was all my fault that the money was taken!" present-day Usopp shot back, knowing that he had messed up here and didn't need Luffy reminding him.

"No, I mean why risk your life like that for something like money?" Luffy snapped back as their memory selves were going through the rubble and memory Chopper had rushed back to the memory Usopp and began to treat him.

Usopp blinked at that before snapping, "How many times do I have to explain it? It was my fault and I needed to make up for it!"

"You idiot! I rather have you than that money!" Luffy yelled back and Usopp's anger faded at once at that. "You made us all worried sick for you! Isn't that what you're always telling me off for?"

"What he said, Usopp!" present-day Chopper cried out and was now scolding him. "I got a good look at your injuries! You're lucky that you were able to walk again after that beating the first time and you still got up and went ahead? Don't be stupid like Luffy!"

"Yeah!" present-day Luffy agreed before he realized what Chopper said and yelled, "Hey!"

"Now, boys," Robin scolded lightly, "Haven't you've already forgiven each other?"

"True," current Zoro agreed, his expression calm. "Let us all say that we were going through a bad few days at Water 7 and let it go from there."

"Even the very best of friends fight sometimes," Brook added gently. "When I was with the Rumbar Pirates, it was all too easy to get on each other nerves. Especially considering the crew was much larger, so fights tended to break out a lot more often."

"Really? And how did you all deal with fighting?" Sanji asked in interest. He didn't want to think that their crew could be broken up like that again, but it would be good to get some advice on how to calm fights before they could ever escalate to that point again. "I imagine that they must have gotten heated at times."

"Yohohoho, sometimes," he agreed. "Though Captain Yorki would just string them up by the mast and hang them upside down until everyone calmed down."

"Wow! Sounds like a badass move!" Franky laughed. "Normally, Nami just hits everyone until they behave."

"What?!" Nami yelled before shit hit him hard in the head and he let out a loud yell of agony, which was what put an end to the conversation.

Memory Chopper was still angry but he was very gentle as he tended to memory Usopp. They could see him wiping the furious tears from his eyes every once in a while as he bandaged him up and treated the worst of his wounds. Once he was reasonably convinced he had done all he could here, he began to work on a makeshift stretcher to carry him back on.

The rest of them were watching their memory selves just looked back to the destroyed house and Franky sighed at the sight of it. There were so many good times spent in there and seeing it blown up like this—seriously it looked like someone had taken a bomb to this place—and see it as nothing more than a pile of rubble was like a serious wound. He wished that he had time to at least build up something good before he left—he could still remember the sad piece of junk that his bros worked on before he left…?

Well, he was going to go back to Water 7 someday and really show off what he had learned! He was determined to make sure that their pad was twice as SU~PER as he was! Which was a feat in and of itself. He smiled as he went over the design in his head and couldn't wait for the day when they got to visit again.

The memory versions of Sanji and Zoro were sitting there among the broken debris—most of their anger having subsided at this point, and already discussing what they should do while memory Luffy stood up on the burnt crescent moon that had once hung on the outside of the house, and looked out at the sea, as if lost in thought.

"Should we go after Franky?" memory Sanji asked as he kicked out a piece of shrapnel as he stood up.

"And start looking where?" past Zoro asked him dully as he retired his bandana around his arm. No one could come up with a counter to that, knowing that he was right. Even if they left right now, where would they start to search for Franky in a city this big?

Memory Sanji spat on the ground, his anger still clearly visible when he looked to the broken members of the Franky Family.

"Aw man, looks like these idiots really didn't know where he took the money," he grunted while lighting up another cigarette, "And if we do find him, if he's spent it, then there's no getting it back."

"Nope," Franky said happily. "I was already on Transponder Snail and making the deal at this point!"

"Shut up!" Usopp and Nami both yelled at him as memory Chopper finished his first aid treatment and called out for help to carry memory Usopp back to the ship.

Well, at this point there was nothing else that could be done. As they often liked to joke about, their adventures in poverty must continue on. It seems that memory Zoro had already accepted it, telling him that sticking around this dump wasn't going help anything now. Memory Sanji agreed, saying that he was worried about Nami, and Robin was still missing, and they had to figure out what to do about the ship now. He then called up to memory Luffy, who still stood there.

"Luffy-san? What were you thinking of, if you don't mind me asking?" Brook asked curiously. He remembered this the first time, of course, but he had been wondering just what was going through his captain's head. He knew that it wasn't an easy choice, but just what was he thinking that caused him to change his mind when he had been so certain of Merry-chan's strength before.

"Huh?" present-day Luffy asked, having clearly not been listening to him as he watched himself. Before Brook could repeat himself, memory Luffy had spoken. Without turning to look at anyone, he told them all, his voice firm but there was still an unhappy tone about it as he declared, "I've made a decision… about the ship."

They looked at him as he finished before the memory faded, "It's time we part ways with the Merry. We'll say goodbye to her here."

"Merry was our ship," the present-day Luffy said sadly as everything faded and they were left in the dark again for a moment. "But… she couldn't go any further, could she?"

"Maybe, but she had a spirit stronger than anything ship," Franky reassured them, tearing up proudly as he thought of Merry and her courage to see them all to safety. Though the Sunny will always be number one in his heart… Merry was one hell of a ship that outshone them all. He could only hope that Sunny will have half the strength that brave little Merry did.

"Don't beat yourself up, captain," Usopp reassured him sadly. "I… I know that I didn't take the news well. I know that you were only looking out for what was best for the crew but…?" He couldn't go on. He didn't blame Luffy… he never did. He knew that Merry was at her limits… but he was still so angry about his own apparent worthlessness that he couldn't think straight. And then hearing about how their ship, a gift from Kaya, was being left behind…? It had been too much to deal with at the time. He wanted to say that he could have handled it better. Perhaps if he had heard the assessment first-hand then he could have accepted it with more grace?

He sniffed and rubbed his head, determined to get them dry before the memories came back. He couldn't bring himself to cry now when he knew that he messed up. He had to face it again strong and accept that these were his mistakes. He was here now with everyone and that was all that mattered.

The memories soon returned and they had returned to the ship. They were all on the deck as memory Nami stood there with the final case of money and surrounded by a collection of swords and pistols around her. She was on high alert, waiting for the others to get back, and when they did she panicked and fired a round at them. Thankfully, it had been memory Zoro about to climb over the edge first and he dodged in time.

"What the hell, Nami?!" he demanded as she saw who it was and relaxed.

"Don't you yell at her MOSS HEAD!" both Sanjis yelled at their respective Zoros, who just grunted in respond.

"Sorry," memory Nami called before gasping when they brought memory Usopp up. She asked what had happened and memory Chopper just gave a basic idea to his injuries as they carried him to the Galley where they set out the mattress for him to rest on.

"You can help him, right Chopper?" memory Luffy asked in worry.

"Yes," memory Chopper reassured him. "I treated the worse parts but what he needs now is rest. I'll have to keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't get an infection, but I think we're over the worst of it."

"I'm starting to think you have sort of superhuman ability for healing with how fast you heal, Usopp," present-day Chopper informed him, thinking about how badly he was beaten back in Alabasta and managed to fully recover after only a few days.

"Yeah, well… what do you expect? I'm the great Usopp! Of course a few bruises aren't going to be enough to keep me down!" present-day Usopp said proudly.

Everyone in the memory soon gathered to keep an eye on memory Usopp, but the rest of them couldn't stand to stay there and see it all. They stayed outside and hung out on the Merry—feeling a sense of peace being back with Merry despite all that was happening around them. If only Sanji could cook up something tasty for them, or they could sit down and have a picnic or something. They watched as the sun slowly moved across the bright blue sky, slowly sinking the horizon at this point. The air went from very warm to a slight chill in the air, as if it knew what was coming.

The clear blue soon turned to a bright array of red and pink and then to a deep golden color, washing the ship and ocean as it sparkled like a sea of gold and diamonds. The water lapped gently against the wood as it creaked slightly, as if also holding its breath.

They didn't really talk, save for the goofy trio running about on deck and played games like tag as if they were young children. The rest of them sat about and talked, though the most important discussion turned back to the tower.

"I don't know about you, but something about this place is making my skin crawl," Zoro stated as he looked up to the sky. And though he knew that there was really nothing there and that they were somehow in the dark tower again. "I can't help but feel that there's something here watching us."

"Yeah," Sanji agreed darkly as he lit up another cigarette, his hand shaking slightly as he breathed out smoke. "I think that's a good way to explain what it's like. More than once I felt as if someone's eyes were on me."

"Robin-san?" Brook asked as she looked to him, "Were you able to come up with any theories to what this place is or how it works?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I wish I could give you more of an answer, but I really don't know. She put her hand on the deck of the ship but she couldn't feel anything there. It was as if she was touching empty air and she frowned at that. "All I know for sure is that this tower is old… very old. Several centuries at the very least. If I had to guess though, I would say that it goes back at least back during the Void Century. Maybe even before then?"

"Really?" Nami asked curiously. "But how is it able to show all these images?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out," Franky agreed as he frowned and glanced about them. Everything here is in too much detail to ever some kind of dream or illusion. Could a Devil Fruit be behind all of this? That seems to be the only explanation he could come up with. So far he hadn't run into any kind of wire or machines that could be doing this. Unless they all hit their heads when they first arrived and were all having a very realistic dream.

"It's strange about these as well," Robin said as she pulled out the little flower petal and stared at it as if it were part of some complicated puzzle. "And Zoro… you said that a child gave it to you?"

"Well, yeah," he answered as he pulled his own out and frowned slightly.

"And you didn't think to help her out of the water too?" Nami suddenly demanded hotly.

"What, no, why would you… Wait… how was she able to breath?" he said and was startled that he didn't think that over before.

"Wait, you mean she was breathing under water?" Sanji asked, "How could you not notice that?"

"Was she a mermaid or something?" Franky offered but Zoro was shaking his head.

"Not that I noticed," he answered softly. He couldn't be sure though. She was definitely standing there with the flower in her hand after seeing them. But there was no doubt in his mind that she held no fear in her face as she let the flower go. This flower, or at least the pieces of the petals, were somehow a key that they needed. That was when they all pulled out their own petals and looked at them.

Robin was looking lost in thought as she studied her own. It didn't seem to be anything special. Only that it was like any other fragile flower petal. But she couldn't help but feel that they needed to hold onto them. She carefully tucked it away and told the others, "Let us not risk tossing them out until we find the way out of here."

"Easier said than done, I fear," Brook sighed. "This place holds so many mysteries that it is enough to overwhelm the mind. Ah, not that I have one, I suppose, Yohohoho!"

"I don't know, I feel that this is a trap of some sort," Sanji said before an idea came to him and he asked quickly, "Hey, what if that's the point? Those people pretend to be all harmless and they tell pirates to go up to the tower and they use some kind of Devil Fruit to drive them crazy?!"

"But didn't that little girl say that no one had been here for decades?" Nami questioned.

"Yeah, that's what she said," Sanji said, "But she could have been lying!"

"What? Why that little…!" Franky growled out as he punched his fists together.

"Enough," Robin said calmly, and they topped at her command as if she blew a loud whistle to get their attention.

"We need to be prepared for whatever comes here," she said. "I can't help but have a bad feeling that the island where we first saw Luffy's memories has some kind of connection with this one."

"What? Why would you say that, Robin-san?" Brook asked and she just ran her hand through her hair in a tired way.

"I can't say for sure," she said sadly, "But I could not help but notice that the building style and architecture are very similar to the ruins we saw before. Even if they are not connected, I'm willing to bet that the same ones who built the ruins were the same ones who built this tower."

They let that sink in, really not sure what to say as Robin became grim, but still held that familiar stoic expression that secretly hid how worried she was.

"I wasn't sure at first, but the further that we go the more I begin to believe that we are inside something that we aren't supposed to be," she said.

It was very quiet after that.

"Well… that sucks," Franky mumbled and no one could find themselves to laugh at that. They were really up the creek without a paddle. Nah, forget up the creek, they were miles downstream and were heading towards rapids. That's what it felt like anyway. They were on board with no means to control their destination and they were along for the ride. The only fear they had now was where it would take them?

That was when they heard the shouting from inside the galley and everyone stopped dead, knowing what was going on. Even the goofy trio stopped dead in their games when they heard memory Usopp's voice start to yell.

No one could speak, instead they moved from the ship and to a distance on land so that they didn't have to hear what was happening. But nothing could block the angry yells. They heard how memory Usopp's voice continued to rise with every second before he began yelling at Luffy, asking how he would just abandon their friend, their home, just because some stuck-up shipwright told them to.

Memory Luffy seemed to be trying hard to keep calm, but he was quickly losing his temper as he yells back that he had thought long and hard about it and that it wasn't an easy choice to make. As the shouting continued, memory Luffy finally lost it and began to scream that if Usopp doesn't like the way he leads the crew then he should leave. Before he could finish his threat, memory Sanji steps in and also yells and there was a loud crashing sound, where he kicked Luffy.

Soon they could hear memory Luffy and then Sanji yelling at each other, though they couldn't make out the words that were being said, and then silence. They waited with baited breath before they heard a door open and there was memory Usopp. He was covered in thick bandages, but there was something in his face that was hard… something had broken inside him.

Again, they were all silent… and present-day Nami came over to hold their own Usopp's hand tightly at the sight. She didn't care if he didn't want her to, she knew that she couldn't face this on her own. And she was grateful when she felt him squeeze her hand back tightly.

Meanwhile, memory Usopp had just jumped ship and stepped a few yards away from Merry as the rest of the memory Straw Hats—minus Robin—all came out to watch.

"I know that you're the captain of this ship! So the Merry belongs to you!" he added before he finally turned around to look at them, and they could hear Luffy almost growling like a wild animal about to attack. "That's why I want you to fight me! Monkey D. Luffy…" they glared at each other, "I CHALLENGE YOU DO A DUEL!"

Present-day Usopp couldn't hold back the tears as he watched his past self run off, leaving the rest of his crew behind. Memory Nami was now telling Luffy off, trying to get him to bring Usopp back before doing something stupid, but Luffy just ignored her as he went back inside, going down to the hammocks and didn't bother to speak.

"I'll never understand why you men and your pride demand all this," present-day Nami stated bitterly.

"It's easy," present-day Zoro said as his past self went back to the galley with Sanji standing there for a moment longer before putting out his cigarette and told memory Chopper—who was looking the most upset out of every one—to just come back inside. "Even out here on a pirate ship there is a code of conduct that has to be followed."

"Sorry, but the idea of pirates following any kind of rules just seems…?" Nami sighed as Robin patted her shoulder.

"I know it's hard to understand," she told her. "But know that they felt that they had to do this… to make it official, I suppose. While it's hard to watch, we all know that no one could have stopped them."

"But why?" Nami whimpered to her, still confused and Robin just shook her head. The fact was that Robin realized with how upset that Usopp was, she doubted that anyone could find anything to say to calm him down. Usopp wasn't the type of person who would put his life on the line for things that he didn't believe in.

Aside from hearing some slight fighting between memory Zoro and Sanji—something about Sanji blaming Zoro for not stopping this—everything else here was so tense that it felt like a snake about to coil up and ready to strike.

"How is any of this my fault?" present-day Zoro snarled at Sanji, who just shrugged.

"I was pissed and you make it so easy," he answered back as a muscle began to pound in Zoro's forehead. As for their memory selves, memory Nami was able to get them to stop picking fights with each other, which was a welcomed relief.

The sun soon disappeared and night arrived, alone with rather darker clouds—signs that Aqua Laguna was about to arrive. Not that any of them were aware of this, they were just all waiting.

True to his word though, memory Usopp arrived at ten o'clock on the dot. He seemed to step out of the dark, ready for his duel. They could only watch—not daring to speak—and saw the battle unfold such how Usopp used his Usopp Spell and Ketchup Star. But those seemed to have been smaller techniques that were covers for several new attacks that he had been working on. His strategy all along was not to give Luffy a chance to attack, and even managed to get several damaging hits… if it was just the two of them fighting hand to hand there was no doubt who would win. But this was just how Usopp fought, something that they were both aware of.

It wasn't until the explosion from a stored up Breath Dial, did it really start to show how serious memory Usopp was. When memory Luffy attacked with his Gum Gum Bazooka attack, Usopp was able to absorb it with his Impact Dial… and sent it right back at him. Still, that attack did more harm to Usopp than it did to Luffy, who managed to get back up and finished it with one last Gum Gum Bullet.

During that last hit, the rest of them merely looked away, not able to stand it.

It was over… and though memory Luffy won, he let Usopp have the Merry as he said that the rest of them were to leave the ship.

It was like a punch to the gut to watch… but the worst part—for present-day Usopp anyway—was seeing his captain, his friend, trying to hide how much pain he was in. He held his straw hat up to his face but he could still see the tears falling, the crack in his voice as he whispered, "It's too much…"

It was perhaps only to Zoro he could have ever revealed how painful this was to ever admit. Present-day Zoro understood completely. He knew that what happened this hurt more than any wound he had received. But it couldn't be helped.

Present-day Zoro's one good eye glanced at the X-shaped scar still marring their captain's chest at that thought.

Luffy looked at him and suddenly he knew that they were both thinking back to what was witnessed again at Thriller Bark. They just watched each other for a moment as memory Zoro's words seemed to echo inside their minds:

"This is what it means to be captain. You can't doubt yourself. In times like these, if you lose your confidence… then who can we have faith in?"

Luffy just looked away from him as memory Chopper jumped off the ship. He didn't approach memory Usopp though as he let about half of his medical supplies next to him before he went running back to the others—looking ready to start bawling at any second.

Memory Zoro sighed as he said, "Let's pack our things and go. You know as well as me… that after tonight… we can never return to the ship again."

As the memory faded, everyone felt as if they had just went through a traumatic event… again. Usopp couldn't hold it back as he bawled out, his heart being crushed once more. He prayed that he never had to see that image ever again. Honestly, if they were sent off to another freaky island and had to watch more memories then he would lose his mind.

He took in a deep breath and said, "You guys… I'm…" he gulped down and said, "I'm sorry!"

"Usopp, you don't have to…" Chopper began as Franky turned his nipple lights back on so that they could see what was going on. But Usopp was already going on.

"No, I have to do it! I'm so sorry that I put the crew through that! If I just thought it over then maybe I wouldn't have…?" Usopp cried, looking ready to go on and on about how terrible he felt. But there was someone who felt that there was no need to explain.

"It's ok…"

The answer had come from Luffy… and despite the darkness around them, they could see enough of their captain's face thanks to Franky's lights. And though there was a pain there in his eyes, he was still smiling.

"You apologize… that's all that matters," Luffy said brightly.

Usopp just stared at him with the tears continuing to flow down his face.

"L-Luffy…" he whimpered before he lowered his head and tried to compose himself. But his words gave him the peace that he had been wishing for.

He just gave a sniffle and rubbed his eyes.

The memory soon returned to what looked like the early hours of the afternoon. They were at an inn, with the remaining members of the Straw Hats before getting word of Iceburg being attacked. Memory Luffy and Nami decided to go and see what was going on but as they headed over there by Yagara, they ran into an unexpected foe.

"Aw yeah! And here comes the best crew member here!" present-day Franky grinned out as his theme began to play all across the plaza and everyone was looking around in panic.

And there he was… appearing as if on stage on top of one of the gates, as his voice echoed across the whole of Water 7.

"I'm Water 7's Super guy!

I'm the face of the underworld and you know why!

I'm the man with the plan, power, and fame,

And people everywhere call out my name!"

And by striking his signature pose he called out, "WOW! FRANKY!"

"Yeah, Franky!" present-day Luffy cheered out.

"Now that is one SU~PER guy!" present-day Franky laughed out, admiring his old pompadour and reaching up to his own hair to cause his old classic hairstyle to instantly bloom out of his head. He should make a habit of using it more often. After all, how can you improve such manly perfection?

He then watched as his past self moved up his sunglasses so that you could see the red veins standing out in his eyes—showing just how pissed off he was.

"COME OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF STRAW HAT!" memory Franky yelled out in a challenge. "Come on Straw Hat you can't hide from me! Stop being such a pansy! Come out and fight me!"

"I'm guessing that you just got home and saw that we made a mess at your pad yesterday?" Sanji asked knowingly.

"Hey, I'm all about having a good party," present-day Franky said with a shrug, "But you guys made it hard not to notice."

"Man, we really need to finish up that fight," present-day Luffy laughed at that.

"Challenge accepted bro!" present-day Franky also laughed out as he had Luffy in a headlock and ruffled up his hair for good measure. It was good to laugh after such depressing thoughts. "When we get outta here, I'll give ya the beating of a lifetime!"

"You're on!" Luffy grinned wildly at the thought. "I only hope you aren't to mad when I kick your ass!"

"What? If there's gonna be any ass-kicking here, it's gonna be from me!" present-day Franky countered.

"Now boys, play nice," Robin reminded them with a chuckle before turning back to watch the fight in the memory. It was as wild as one would expect with Franky, including his cyborg body and ability to breathe fire. Memory Luffy and Nami were startled at this—sure that he was using the power of a Devil Fruit before watching him fall into the water and swimming back for a surprise attack.

"Would you really never eat a Devil Fruit?" Chopper asked him innocently as memory Franky cried out that he would never eat such a thing.

"Hey, having a Devil Fruit is cool and everything, but how can a shipwright do his job if he can't swim?" present-day Franky asked him. "I like being able to swim. Besides, I'm more than SU~PER enough without one!"

"But just as freaky," present-day Nami sighed with a roll of her eyes. Honestly, why does this crew seem to attract all the weirdos?

But their fight, just when it was getting good, was cut off when the members of Galley La attacked them. It was after that did they learn just what was going on. How Iceburg was attacked in his own home and that he had claimed that one of them had been Nico Robin. Memory Luffy, of course, refused to believe it, but was still forced to escape with Nami—this time with Luffy breaking right into Iceburg's home to ask about Robin.

"I must say, Iceburg-san is something else," Brook said in an awed way after Iceburg all but ordered Kalifa to let Luffy in. "He truly did believe that you were all behind the attack but still allowed Luffy to meet with him?"

"I think he just wanted to confirm the truth as much as the rest of us did," Zoro pointed out as they watched how the two meet and Iceburg confirmed for them that he truly saw Robin, before pulling out the gun and asking Luffy to let him see her. "Though for what end…?"

"Wouldn't you want to know why you were shot for no reason?" Usopp asked.

"Nah, Iceburg knew that it was only a matter of time before they targeted him," Franky said knowingly, having never understood until that moment at Enies Lobby why he agreed to do whatever the World Government told him. They couldn't risk attacking him outright, not when practically all of Water 7 was in love with the guy.

Memory Luffy came inside the room, demanding to have answers, and that was where Iceburg confirmed that Robin had been one of the attackers, but then pulled out a pistol on Luffy—most likely unaware of Luffy's abilities—but threatened that he wanted to meet Robin in person. But memory Luffy confirmed that he didn't know where Robin was… which quickly escalated when Iceburg shot at him—forcing Luffy to escape through the window.

"He was one hell of a guy," Franky sighed, half of him annoyed and the other half was fond. "He really hasn't changed since we were kids. He gets shot but he doesn't let it show no matter what. I hope that he and the others are doing alright."

"Were they invited to Reverie this year?" Nami asked curiously as the memory faded around them. "If so, maybe we could…?"

"Nah, I doubt that," he said with a wave of his hand. "Ice-for-brains wouldn't want to deal with the World Government any more than he had to. At least, I get that now. But I can't wait to see what he's been up to when we go back to visit someday. I hope that his skills hadn't gotten rusty. It won't be any fun otherwise."

"Fun? What, are you gonna challenge him to a building contest or something when you next see him?" Sanji asked and Franky grinned back.

"Hey, a little competition is good for you," he proclaimed proudly. "Besides, we're both Tom's Workers! One of us has gotta be better than the other. And it's only a matter of time before I prove it's me!"

He laughed as the memory returned and they were suddenly standing in a different part of town, this time with memory Chopper and Sanji, who were both running about town—trying to find Robin. Suddenly, the three present Straw Hats grew tense when they realized what it was about. At one point, memory Chopper seemed to freeze and turned down to a nearby flight of stairs as memory Sanji skidded to a stop and ran after him.

"What's this?" Nami asked curiously as their Sanji let out a long breath of smoke, not bothering to answer as Chopper did his best to stay strong but it was hard as he fought the tears. He remembered how scared he had been and when he caught a whiff of her flowerily scent, he was so relieved. But when he found her standing on the other edge of the water… he knew something was wrong.

"H-Hey, are you okay?" memory Sanji called as he followed Chopper down the steps. "Chopper! Are you okay? Did something happen?"

They all followed him down the stairs to find memory Chopper staring ahead across one of the canals and Sanji sighed in relief, scolding him, "Geeze, don't go running off like that. What on earth is going on…?"

He stopped dead when he saw memory Robin standing there.

"Oh, Robin-san?" Brook asked in surprise, relieved that she was safe… at least until he caught hold of the expression. It was as cold as one of Aokiji's attacks… her eyes, which normally held such a bright glow were suddenly empty and dark… like a candle that had gone out.

"Robin!" the two memory Straw Hats yelled as she looked on, not reacting at all.

"Oh, Robin! There you are!" memory Sanji called happily, but even he seemed concerned by her lack of a greeting. "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you! Everyone's worried sick, now let's go back to the inn and… well, a lot happened while you've been gone. I'll explain on the way back. Stay there, I'll look for a way around to you."

But he barely took two steps when she called, "No, that's okay. There's no need to come."

The two stopped moving, turning back in surprise as she went on, her voice emotionless, "I can't… return to you guys. I'm afraid that we're parting ways here… in this town… for good."

Present Robin could remember that moment. She fought the urge to put a hand over her heart… remembering how it felt like it was breaking apart into countless little pieces in her chest that day. She didn't show any emotion though as she watched on.

"Wh-What're you saying, Robin-chan?" memory Sanji asked in confusion, "Hey, if you're worried about the newspaper, don't be! None of us believe it's true. We're pirates so being accused of crimes is part of the territory."

"Yeah," memory Chopper agreed but she was already shaking her head.

"I'm sorry for pinning an unreasonable crime on all of you," she apologized, "But that article is true. I did infiltrated the mayor's residence last night."

That shocked them both at that. Already they could see the confusion settling in; the gears turning in their heads to how that could possibly be true.

"I seriously thought that I was dreaming when I heard that," present Sanji sighed. "And not in a good way… which is strange because whenever I dream of you and Nami-swan, I'm in paradise."

"I'm not even going to ask what you dream about," Nami hissed, wanting to smack him.

Memory Robin didn't try to explain herself. She only told them, "I carry a darkness within me that you guys don't know about. This darkness will destroy you someday."

"And what of you, Robin-san?" Brook asked their Robin in concern. "You cannot expect them to have just left and let this darkness destroy you? Especially alone?"

"No, you are right," she answered with a faint smile. "Wish I thought of all that before putting us through it."

"It's alright, we forgive you Robin," Luffy said cheerfully, "Just don't do it again!"

"Well, we all got issues if that makes you feel any better," Zoro offered with a rather smug grin. "So I don't think that you stand out too much in this crew."

She actually chuckled and Sanji swooned at that as he cried, "Now that's a smile that makes you even more beautiful than ever, Robin-dear!"

"I'm framing you for this crime and I will leave this island," memory Robin went on.

"What are you talking about? Why are you doing this…?" memory Sanji cried, his voice cracking from the emotion that was seeping in and Chopper was looking like he was about to break down at any second.

"My reasons are my own," she answered back, "I'm afraid you can't hope to understand."

But Sanji wasn't taking it as he yelled, "Robin-chan! Of course we don't understand! What happened to you?!"

"Please Robin! Come back with us!" memory Chopper cried out and present Robin felt her heart crack at the sound of Chopper's voice.

But her past self didn't dare let it show as she shook her head and answered, "Though I only spent a short time with you…" her voice trailed off there for a moment and then a second later she changed what she was going to say and simply told them, "After today… we will never meet again."

They watched, as if in slow motion, as she slowly turned and the wind—the first sign of Aqua Laguna was approaching—and blew her hair about as they could only hear her whisper, "Goodbye…"

Though they couldn't see her face, present Robin remembered that she turned away for that reason. They would have seen her tears.

The two were so stunned that neither knew what to do but when they saw her leaving, they finally leapt into action. Memory Sanji leapt into the water and tried to swim over to reach her, yelling at her to stop.

"ROBIN!" memory Chopper screamed out and the current one could only start crying again as Robin knelt down and he jumped into her arms in a big hug.

Neither of their memory selves knew what to say… both of them were clearly shook up by this. Memory Sanji, especially looked crushed… but there was something else in his eyes. There was a suspicion that he knew that something was up. And the present-day one knew it to be true as well. He didn't believe that. He wasn't sure if this was just the first trace of his Haki awakening, but he just knew that something was terribly wrong. There was no way that their Robin would have left them like that for no reason.

And that look in her eyes… he could all but feel the sorrow coming from them.

In that moment, he was sure of it. Someone was forcing her to do this. He had to find out and see if there was anything he could do to help her. He knew that Nami-swan would be safe with the others, so that left him the time investigate.

So it was here that he told memory Chopper to go back and tell the others what happened, but when Chopper asked about him, he just responded that he had something else he needs to do.

"Something else to do?" Brook asked again. "Ah, that's right! You were on board the Sea Train with them, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I needed to see with mine own eyes," he answered coolly as the memory faded. It soon reappeared though, this time they found that Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper were lucky enough to avoid capture long enough to meet up on the rooftops and discuss what they were going to do. Memory Zoro was pointing out that it may not be good for them to have false hope since they didn't know what was going on with everything in Robin's life… they still didn't know much about her at this point.

Memory Nami and Chopper both seemed willing to give Robin the benefit of the doubt and think that maybe Robin was being forced to do this—especially when they remembered that she had been seen with a man in a mask during the attack.

Meanwhile memory Luffy was looking torn up at the thought that Robin really had betrayed them. But he decided that there was only one way to know for sure. They would confront her should she attempt to go back after Iceburg.

Not that it was easy; it looked like all of Water 7 were there, serving as guards for their mayor, many of them holding weapons as they stood outside his home. But the memories soon shifted as they were back in Iceburg's room… with Robin soon joining him.

Despite his beaten state, Iceburg tried to put a stop to her then and there, but she managed to disarm him almost too easily. Now the whole crew knew that she had done all sorts of things during her twenty years on the run. But rarely do they ever see it… so rarely that despite her strength it was easy to forget that underneath the crewmate they all knew and loved… was someone who could be as cold and deadly as an assassin.

They watched, all of them holding their breaths as memory Robin sat there on top of Iceburg, growing about a dozen arms out of the floor to hold him in place—all the while pointing the pistol directly at his head.

If she was afraid of what she was doing, she buried it down and kept her face completely emotionless as Iceburg struggled to breath, blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

Chopper watched anxiously, knowing that Iceburg was dangerously close to opening up his wounds. No matter how tough that Franky said he was, he did get shot several times mere hours before this. He gulped down as his eyes went back to memory Robin and felt a shiver going through him. He didn't like seeing Robin like this. Though he knew that this was far from what she normally was, he couldn't help but feel a little scared… but more for her than of her.

It was a tense few minutes before the unmistakable sound of a mini den den mushi begin to ring from memory Robin's cloak.

Memory Robin froze at that, waiting an agonizingly long time, before she finally reached into her green cloak and pulled out the small snail—though she never once took her pistol from against Iceburg's head.

"It's me," said a voice on the other end of the snail. It was one of CP9, but it was gruff and so it was hard to make out who. "We hit a snag in the plan. Everyone head to the bedroom immediately. Don't shoot the director."

The voice died down as memory Robin didn't react at all—though, perhaps there was the tiniest trace of relief in her eyes. But Iceburg was far from done. If these were the last few moments he had left, he was determined to make them count.

"Do you understand now?" Iceburg wheezed out as blood dripped from his mouth and he struggled for the tiniest of breaths for his starving lungs. "The blueprints that they have found… they are fake."

If he hoped that memory Robin would be surprised, he was disappointed. She even looked like she had been expecting this.

"Oy, Robin," Franky said, finding this a lot harder to watch than he first thought. "Just wonder…?"

"I wasn't the one who shot him before," present-day Robin reassured him. "It was Blueno who did that."

"But would you have shot him here?" Franky asked her. He didn't sound angry with her, just generally curious. In truth, he wasn't sure how he should feel. Sure, there had been plenty of times he wanted to bash that ice-for-brains Iceburg while he was growing up and working alongside with Tom. But he never wished for something to happen to him for real!

He looked at their Robin, whose expression was just as stoic as it had been back then. He knew the answer just by looking at her. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect her friends. He sighed, only grateful that things didn't turn out as bad as they could have been.

"I don't care," Iceburg went on, his voice so faint it was hard to make it out through the wheezes, "I would rather die than hand over that information over to the government! But now it's not that simple. If you decided that you're gonna help them, and you're searching for the poneglyphs yourself, then I have to do everything I can to stop you!"

"I understand your concern," memory Robin answered, her tone that the same she used when she was Miss Sunday. "But I'm only studying the poneglyphs to learn more about the true history of the world. I don't care about the weapons."

But her words seemed to frighten him even more.

Iceburg forced himself to raise his head so that he could look her in the face as he yelled out as loudly as he could, though it was more of a croak, "You have to take responsibility!"

For the first time, memory Robin looked surprised at this as he went on, "Even if you don't use this knowledge as intent, your actions can still hurt people! If your curiosity for history leads to the distraction of the world then you are better off dying right here right now, Nico Robin!"

Franky's eyes saddened at that as a distant memory returned to him.

"Listen, Franky… even if you weren't trying to… weapons are made to hurt people! Whether you want them to or not they can hurt your friends!"

He was right. In the wrong hands…?

"Robin-chan?" Sanji asked their Robin in concern, who didn't answer as she stood there still and watched the scene continue to play out.

Her memory self finally seemed shaken by his words. But what he said next sparked a reaction of anger in her that none of them had seen before. The only time that it had ever come close was when she stood against Aokiji when he taunted her before arriving at Water 7.

For when Iceburg blurted out, "Even after seeing what happened to the devils of Ohara, you still want to walk this path?!"

Her eyes flashed and she screamed out in rage, "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT OHARA!"

There was silence all around them at the outburst.

"Ohara?" Luffy repeated in confusion as their Robin sighed.

"My homeland," she answered softly. She closed her eyes and she could still see it there… the beautiful Tree of Knowledge… the archeologists all there with happy grins as they welcomed her into their ranks…? Surrounded on all sides by countless books as she dreamt of being able to join her mother on her travels to discover the truth…?

She opened her eyes again as she struggled to remind herself that Ohara isn't dead… not yet. She carried with her the weight of their hopes and dreams and so long as she survived then her homeland was not gone.

The other Straw Hats were confused, but didn't question her. To this day, they knew only vaguely what happened to Robin's homeland, but they never knew everything that happened back then. But they would never ask Robin. The past didn't matter so long as she didn't want to talk about it.

But back in the memory, Iceburg was the one who was looking surprised at memory Robin's outburst, her hands now shaking so violently that she almost dropped the gun. She managed to hold onto it, but her head lowered, so that she resembled a kicked puppy or a bird with a broken wing…? It was agony to watch.

"You have no idea how much the World Government has warped my life! Do you hear me?" she hissed at him, taking Iceburg completely aback.

"Those bastards!" Sanji snarled, shaking in suppressed rage. How dare those government scum hurt his dear Robin so dearly? He would beat the crap of anyone who even looked at his beautiful angel the wrong way! He'd gladly go marching right through every damn marine in the world if she needed him!

"If you hate the World Government so much…" Iceburg said, confusion leaking into his voice before demanding, "Then why help them?!"

Memory Robin didn't speak for a long time before she finally raised her head, half of her face cloaked in shadow as she confessed, "Because I have a wish that I will sacrifice anything for."

"A wish…?" Brook whispered slowly as present-day Robin smiled sadly, realizing just how foolish she was back then. If she had known back then what she knew now… she never would have turned herself over to the government. Still, as strange as it was, as traumatic and frightening it had been, a part of her was glad that she went through with it since it showed her, without a shadow of a doubt, that she found her place in the world.

At last, her memory self stood up and her hands holding Iceburg down disappeared as he continued to stare at her. She then turned and took a few steps away from her captive as he caught his breath and sat up.

"When I came to this town…" memory Robin explained, still not looking at him, "CP9 presented me with two conditions. The first was to pin your assassination on the Straw Hats… and then leave the crew."

"Why on us?" Nami asked in confusion.

"To cover up CP9's involvement," present-day Robin answered. "Though you would be framed for murder, I felt that was better than risking the Buster Call."

They were pirates, after all. Still, she figured that they would survive that somehow until they could set sail. She smiled sadly and said, "I'm sorry. I promise that it won't happen again."

"You better!" Chopper said loudly, also as grumpy as Luffy had been. They were not happy, but let it go. Present-day Robin couldn't help but chuckle at how cute they were.

Her memory self suddenly trailed off, as if there was something caught in her throat. Iceburg slowly pulled up his light jacket up to his shoulders like a blanket as he listened.

"The second was to turn myself over to the Government and follow their every order without question," she went on. Iceburg, however, just realized that his gun was on the floor within reach, and it was clear he was wondering if he could pull the trigger in time. But he seemed more fascinated by what she was trying to say. To learn why she was doing all of this.

"You realize that they won't let you live," he reminded her gruffly. "You escaped them for twenty years. Why would you agree to something like that now?"

"In this instance, CP9 has been given permission to activate a Buster Call against the Straw Hats," she answered.

The term certainly caught Iceburg off guard as he repeated in confusion, "A… Buster Call?"

"It's an emergency order which summons five vice-admirals and ten battleships to a single location," memory Robin answered sadly, "No matter how strong you are, no one could survive a full scale military attack of that caliber. Under normal circumstances, only the three admirals and the head of the navy, the fleet admiral, are allow to exercise that kind of authority. However, this is a special case. Just this once, Admiral Aokiji has given CP9 the right to make the call. When I heard his name, I surrendered. If I hadn't agreed to his conditions then me and the rest of the Straw Hats would have been annihilated. For the past twenty years I have been able to run away and survive, no matter what the circumstance. But it's only because I had nothing to protect. Because I was willing to betray others and use them as shields. But not now. For the first time, in all these years, I can't do that."

At that, Franky began to start sobbing, tears flooding down his face as Brook quickly joined in, knowing all too well the pain of being alone for so long.

Memory Robin's voice trailed off there as Iceburg continued to stare at her.

"They picked up the life I had gave up on," she went on, her tone in the same reverence she held only for ruins and learning something new. "Returned the heart I'd lost… and continued the dreams that I no longer believed in. Even after all I've done… my found friends still believe in me…?"

"Oh, Robin… I feel like I'm gonna cry," Nami whimpered, knowing what she was going to say and tears filled up her eyes. Robin wasn't one of those people who would come out and tell someone their heartfelt feelings often… but she felt as if her own heart was being squeezed as she heard Robin lay her heart bare.

"Of course we believe in you, Robin!" Usopp sobbed out at that as Sanji stared at the scene.

She was proclaiming just how her heart had been returned? Did that mean…? Was this a love confession?

"I see," Iceburg said slowly, "But then… what is your wish?"

Memory Robin looked like she was struggling with something very painful but, as if she could not help herself any longer, she turned around and proclaimed loudly, "That, excluding me, all of the other Straw Hat Pirates be allowed to leave this island safely!"

"Oh, Robin!" everyone but Zoro cried out, though even he was looking touched by how much she cared. Nami and Chopper couldn't help it as they ran at their Robin and hugged her since they couldn't do it with her memory self.

"Don't you ever feel like you need to do that for us!" Nami cried.

"Yeah! I'll beat up everyone who hurts your, Robin!" Luffy cheered out.

"You got it bro!" Franky cheered as he struck his signature pose.

"Count me in! I got you covered, Robin!" Usopp proclaimed proudly as he held up his slingshot, ready to fire his plants of death at a moment's notice.

"Not if I beat them all before you!" Sanji cried out, fire burning at his body once more with the heat of his determination.

Robin just smiled back at them and muttered, "Thank you all."

Yet it seemed the only one who wasn't touched was Iceburg, who now seemed more scared of her than ever. He just looked on as if he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"And as long as you have that…" he cried, his voice rising again, "You don't care what happens to the rest of the world?!"

"No, I don't!" she declared without a shred of hesitation.

Iceburg was shaken to the core but he grabbed hold of his gun and pointed it at her.

"I've heard all that I can take!" he declared as she stared down, not flinching, not even stepping back.

"Don't you dare!" Sanji roared out, looking ready to leap in and take the bullet, but there was no need.

Iceburg could have shot her and put an end to it once and for all. Yet, they saw how his hands were shaking so badly as he tried to take aim… but it was like his fingers would no longer pull the trigger even though his life was at stake… in the end, he just couldn't do it.

"Why did you bother telling him all that?" Zoro asked her suddenly as their Robin patted Nami and Chopper on their heads in a motherly way.

She looked up, a little taken aback by the question.

"I don't know," she confessed as she looked back to her past self, struck by how different she looked there all of a sudden. "I guess… I just needed to say it to someone."

Iceburg slowly lowered his hand and shook his head, as if ashamed of himself.

"I must say the rumors are just as they say about you… but also completely wrong," he said as he ran his hand through his messy hair. "Answer me just this one thing… are the lives of six people truly mean more to you than every other living person on this earth?"

Memory Robin just looked at him.

"Yes," she said. And at that moment, the memory faded.

"That is one deadly threat," Zoro growled at that, his hand twitching slightly.

"Those lowlife pieces of shit!" Sanji snarled in fury, wanting nothing more than to break all their faces for what they put their beloved Robin through.

"You ok, Robin?" Chopper asked her worriedly and she smiled back down at him. She honestly didn't mind seeing it again as much as one would expect, for seeing these memories only showed her more and more just how much she was loved and cherished by her friends. It made her heart soar just to think of it.

The memories shifted once more to find them outside the Galley-La headquarters, where they saw the memory versions of Nami, Chopper, and Zoro breaking in after Luffy disappeared.

"Where did you go anyway, Luffy-san?" Brook asked.

"Huh? Oh, I got stuck in a wall," Luffy confessed.

"You what?!" Nami demanded in annoyance as their past selves screamed at the sight of the people all there and all began to book it.

"What I want to know is what the rest of you were thinking?" Usopp pointed out as the three past versions were running about from the angry mob. Why did they run right into that? Sure, Luffy he could understand but he thought that they all had the sense not to do something like that.

"We thought that Luffy would have distracted all the guards by himself when he went running in," present-day Nami sighed after she grabbed hold of their Luffy's face and was pulling at it in annoyance. "What we weren't expecting was for this idiot to get stuck inside a wall!"

"Ok! I'm sorry!" Luffy groaned out as she pulled at his face before she let it go snapping back and he fell to the ground as she huffed.

"Yeah, you could have killed those people, Zoro," Franky pointed out as memory Zoro struck at them with his blades.

"I used the blunt side of them," present-day Zoro pointed out as memory Nami and Chopper yelled out the same thing.

"That's still enough to kill an ordinary person!" present-day Chopper yelled.

They ran after their memory selves as they managed to get away from the mob long enough to get into the manor. The memories were shifting very quickly, one after another, and soon they found themselves back in Iceburg's room, with Robin watching as he was at the mercy of CP9… how they were trying to get the information about the blueprints by checking his pulse.

"Bastards," Franky growled. It felt strange to know that Iceburg would rather die than rat him out. Though he suspected it was mostly through the blueprints, he was still touched at the gesture.

Nor had he forgotten that he knew them for five years before all this madness started. How could they go that long knowing the people only to turn their backs on them all? Just what did they get off working for the World Government? He didn't get it at all… and he only felt his anger grow when they saw how Luffy and Paulie were pinned to the floor after all that. Sure, he always thought that Paulie was fanboying over Iceburg to many times, but he always knew that he was a good guy… especially since his spending habits were almost as bad as his own.

The next few memories were of them returning to room where the rest of them had made it in to find the other agents trying to get information out of Iceburg over the blueprints.

"What blueprints?" Luffy asked at that.

"Right, you probably don't know about it," Franky sighed. "But basically, my old master had some super powerful blueprints that he entrusted to Iceburg, who then entrusted them to me."

"Oh, for what?" Luffy asked.

"Just a weapon to fight a weapon, no big deal," Franky shrugged. Looking back, he really was surprised that they were so worried over those silly sheets anyway. He frowned. Tom didn't have to die because of them.

He just watched on as the four CP9 members revealed themselves as the foremen Lucci and Kaku, Iceburg's secretary Kalifa, and the bar owner Blueno.

"I just don't get why that Lucci guy didn't try talking at all before," Zoro pointed out as Lucci spoke very coldly to them all.

"Probably not to give anything away," present-day Robin shrugged as her past self just looked on coldly, not revealing any of the feelings she held before. "They had to play their parts well. Besides, I think that it lured everyone into a false sense of security when he used Hattori to speak for him."

"Yeah, I mean, who would imagine that a guy who talked with a pigeon on his shoulder to be taken seriously?" Sanji couldn't help but ask.

But it seemed that just one after another kept breaking into the room. Luffy, Paulie, Zoro, Chopper, and Nami all broke in around the same time and soon they were trying to plead with Robin to tell them what was going on. But Paulie was distraught when he saw what was going on and tried to attack Lucci—but was easily sent flying.

They made it very clear that they thought them a step above them all and warned that they were beyond any other human at this point.

"What arrogant little pricks they all are," Sanji stated as the present-day Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all began to boo at Lucci's words. "I imagine that a few in the New World could have stepped on them and turned them to mush in a blink of an eye."

They were getting ready to leave, but the memory Straw Hats were trying to get an answer out of memory Robin as she turned to the window. She didn't even try to explain herself… only stating that she had a wish she wished to accomplish and that she just could not do it while with them.

"That was cold, sis," Franky said.

"It must have been so hard for you, Robin-san," Brook added sadly.

But they were far from done. For CP9 had just set a firebomb in the building to go off. But not before Lucci transformed into his half leopard form and attacked them. The memory versions of Luffy and Zoro didn't stand a chance here as they were thrown right through the wall and out of sight.

"Owww, I hurt just looking at it all!" Usopp whimpered, a part of him glad that he avoided getting beaten here, but still upset that he wasn't aware of what was going on until after they got on the train.

"Did you know that they were going to burn the whole building down?" present-day Zoro asked their Robin, still sore at how easily that he was sent flying off and across the whole of the island.

"No, not until after I left, but I knew that you would all be alright," Robin reassured him and he looked away, seemingly annoyed as she beamed happily. The memories soon faded as memory Chopper ended up saving Iceburg, Nami, and Paulie after CP9 all left them.

"Oh, Chopper!" present-day Nami gasped as she hugged their doctor tightly, "You saved our lives! Thank you!"

Chopper just blushed and tried to wiggle out of Nami's arms as he tried not to look too pleased with himself.

"Shut up, you big dummy! You saying such nice things doesn't make me happy or anything!" he said, his arms all but dancing about excitedly, "Now be quiet!"

The memories continued to play themselves out… but this time it took a completely different angle when they were suddenly back at the shore and found memory Usopp at the mercy of the Franky Family once more.

"Hey, I remember this!" Franky laughed as memory Usopp began to panic at the sight of them there.

"What were you doing?" Nami demanded.

"Well, I wanted to draw out Straw Hat Luffy, and if he came for his crewmate once, I figured he'd do it again," he shrugged. "Only, I didn't know that you guys went your own ways after you bombed my place. Oh well, what can you do?"

"Ah, that explains how you two ended up together on the train," Sanji said in understanding as memory Usopp was tied to the mast by the Franky Family and brought the ship a little further inland and down some alleys. Memory Usopp was making a point of making sure they regretted taking them by yelling and lying the whole way and just being annoying. When they came to the very edge of where they needed to be, several cranes were lowered and suddenly after they were hooked up to the ship, the Merry was lifted up and out of the water.

"So… what's this place?" Luffy asked eagerly. "Someplace cool?"

"Part of my pad," Franky proclaimed proudly. "This is a safe spot where me and the Franky Family went whenever Aqua Laguna comes to town. Our usual place is close to the ocean so it's not safe to stay there."

He smiled at the memories this place held for him. This was once the meeting place for Tom's Workers, after all. So when he filled it with his bros, he couldn't help but feel like it was home.

Once things had calmed down, and they untied memory Usopp, they let him go ahead and work on the Merry if it kept him quiet. As he hammered, memory Franky told the boys to go out and find the other Straw Hats and let them know what was going on. Zambai and the others were only too happy to do so and so that left Franky, Mozu, Kiwi, and Usopp all behind.

Franky pretty much allowed Usopp to do what he wanted as he waited… even going as far as to taunt him by informing that he had already spent the 200,000 beris—which they saw the muscle going in both Usopp's head.

After a time though, he began to point out that Usopp wasn't doing the repairs right and even offered advice on what to do—which Usopp was grateful for. As they continued to wait, Franky came right out and told him what his plans were, but Usopp got annoyed as he stated that it wasn't going to work since he was no longer part of the crew, and even explained all about the fight he had with Luffy and that he left, taking Merry with him.

Memory Franky was bawling his eyes out as memory Usopp continued on giving a rough description to what happened after they beat him up and left him to die outside of the Franky House the day before. The three seemed stunned that so much could happen in just a day, but the more that they heard, the more fascinated they seemed by everything that he had done for that ship.

Present-day Franky knew that this was something special when he first heard it. He thought that Usopp was just being stubborn about being proven wrong and that he knew better than the professionals. But it turned out to be so much more than that. As a shipwright himself, he couldn't help but feel a great deal of respect for their sniper. Perhaps when they got out of this stupid tower, he could give Usopp a basic idea of ship repair. Sure, his SU~PER self was always going to be the better shipwright, but he had a feeling that Usopp would enjoy learning it.

Soon enough, his memory self, and his sisters were all crying—with the girls so incoherent that they couldn't understand what was being said.

"I have to ask, are they really your little sisters?" Zoro asked him and he laughed.

"My baby sisters in every way but blood!" he proclaimed proudly. He remembered when he first found them stumbling from a bar, so drunk that they could barely walk straight, and he knew that he couldn't leave them alone. They never had anyone look out for them and he decided that he would do it for them! He would be their big bro and take care of them, and protect them from any man.

"So you can look the other way, cook," he added in warning to Sanji.

"Why are you looking at me?! As if I would ever mistreat a lady!" Sanji snapped back, truly insulted at that remark.

Memory Usopp, who was still working away at the wood seemed to be growing tired of all the noisy cries and finally asked, just wanting to know what was going on with those three idiots, "Why in the world are the three of you crying about it?"

"What? We're not crying you idiot!" memory Franky sobbed, though the declaration was ruined with all three were on the ground with their tissues. "I was just thinking about everything you've been through to protect that ship of yours all alone and it touched my heart!"

"Do you even still have one with all the metal inside you?" Sanji couldn't help but ask curiously—still slightly sore at him.

"Hey!" present-day Franky snapped.

"Yohohoho, that is interesting, for can a creature survive without a heart?" Brook asked before he tilted his head and added, "Ah! Though I don't have one either, do I? Yohohoho!"

"We're not crying! None of us are crying! Really!" the Square Sisters sobbed out dramatically. Honestly, despite the fact that the three of them weren't really siblings, you would never have guessed that with all this drama.

"What the heck is wrong with these nitwits?" memory Usopp muttered as he continued hammering. And when they continued to wail, he finally turned around and barked, "Anyway, you get the gist of it, right? We're no longer friends! The Straw Hats are part of my past now!"

Present-day Usopp sighed as he lowered his head, realizing just how stupid he was acting here. Even if it was for Merry, he knew that his behavior was as foolish as it was childish. Maybe… maybe if he just calmed down and told the others why it was so important to him then maybe…?

"It's so sad!" memory Franky said before he grabbed his guitar and said, "So sad that I'll have to sing about it! This song is called 'Severed friendship, Northwind chop!"

"Yeah! Sing it bro!" the Square Sisters cried.

"Hey! Are you making fun of me!" memory Usopp demanded.

"Yohohoho! That sounds like the beginnings of a great song!" Brook cried out as he strummed up his own guitar. "Allow me to sing along with you, Franky-san!"

"OW! Alright, Bones!" present-day Franky said and before anyone could even think to ask, the two had their guitars and looked ready to continue before Nami yelled at them, "SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION!"

"Geez sis, you're no fun at all," present-day Franky frowned in disappointment as Luffy laughed at it.

If they were trying to distract them from the scene, it did work. For during all that, they missed how things calmed down and memory Usopp went back to work and memory Franky continued to watch him. Kiwi and Mozu soon wiped their tears and they brought out some refreshments for them and Kiwi asked if memory Usopp would like to take a break and have some to.

"Yeah? Thanks I really appreciate it," memory Usopp said eagerly as he looked to her with a mouth full of nails. "I'll have some as soon as I take care of this one spot."

The sounds of hammering echoed around them as he went back to work on a patch of the Merry's side that was more splinters than working wood at this point. Memory Franky didn't say a thing as he sipped his own tea… his eyes fixated upon Usopp again when he accidentally hammered his finger.

"Your hammer skills suck," the present-day Franky pointed out. "Though, the intention is well-meaning."

"That's a nasty way to give a compliment!" present-day Usopp yelled at him.

"Hey, gotta question for ya, brother," memory Franky finally spoke up as both Usopp's looked back. "I'll just get straight to the point. What are ya gonna do once you fix that ship?"

That was what everyone else, but the present-day Usopp and Franky, had been wondering. After all, even if Usopp was able to fully fix up the Merry good as new… where was he going to go? Despite the Merry's small size, the fact is that one person can't hope to sail that ship all on their own; and not only that, though Usopp's sense of direction was pretty good compared to other members of the crew, he was no navigator. He was all but asking for a death sentence if he chose to set sail on his own. But it seemed that even memory Usopp was surprised by the question as if he had never given it any thought.

"Well, let's see," he said as he thought it all over before smiling, "First we'll go on a few adventures together and eventually I'll sail her back to our home in the East Blue!"

His present-day self just sighed at that, knowing that he was ranting at this point. Deep down, he knew the truth—he knew before anyone else did—before they even came to Water 7—that the Merry was no longer in any shape to sail.

But the fact was that he was so in denial that he was lying to himself that it was all going to be alright… it would be worth it for a friend.

His memory self just let out a nervous laugh as memory Franky just watched on.

"I know we didn't sail around the world or anything but the Merry and I made it all the way to the Grand Line! I call that a successful voyage that will end with a triumphant return!" memory Usopp proclaimed with excitement. "So with our heads held high…"

But before he could finish, memory Franky cut him off.

"No," he said, his voice cold and matter-of-factly. "Sorry. Not gonna happen. You can't go all the way back to the East Blue. It's too far away."

"You knew?" Zoro asked him as present-day Franky nodded. Everyone else in the memory looked at him in confusion as he set down his cup and walked over as memory Usopp was already starting to get mad.

"I took a close look at your ship while we were bringing it up here earlier," he said as he looked at the rather sad-looking ship. "Got to see her from every angle."

They remembered when they pulled the ship up here even as Usopp continued yell out threats. They thought of the damage and how memory Franky seemed to be fascinated by the bottom of the ship at that point. He paused there for a moment longer than necessary, but he hadn't said a word as he allowed Usopp and the Merry inside.

"That ship is at the end of her life," he finished bluntly. "Galley-La's assessment was correct. As an expert in the demolition business I suggest that you dismantle her."

"What? That's ridiculous!" memory Usopp shot back, refusing to believe it.

"I'll even help you do the job," memory Franky offered as he cracked his knuckles together, clearly not listening. "Like I said, I'm an expert."

"To be fair… I didn't know how special she was," present-day Franky defended himself. If he had known, he never would have touched her. This ship was all but a miracle!

"Are you crazy?" memory Usopp demanded, "What in the hell are you talking about, you jerk!"

But memory Franky took a step forward and memory Usopp began to panic.

"Hold on! Don't come any closer!" he yelled as he pulled out his slingshot in warning, "Stop! I mean it!"

The Square Sisters cried out in worry, but Franky didn't look concerned.

"Take it easy," he answered, "I'm simply offering to help demolish this ship, that's all."

"I know! I know! Jeez, give me a break!" present-day Franky yelled out as almost everyone was giving him nasty looks.

"Quit screwing around!" memory Usopp yelled, "I'm not gonna let you anywhere near her, understand!? Get lost! The Merry is MY ship!"

"You're wrong," Franky said with a firm stance. "Listen. That old girl's no longer a ship."

"What? What do you mean?" Luffy asked, "Merry was our ship!"

"Yeah, she was the best!" Chopper agreed, also as confused as Luffy.

"She was, but… time knows how to wear you down," present-day Franky said as memory Usopp's eyes became wild, almost savage, as he snarled, "What'd you say?"

"Earlier I asked you a question," memory Franky reminded him. "About what you planned on doing once you fixed that ship. Now if you had said that you were planning on casting your life away and go down with her… well, I wouldn't have had anything to say about it. No questions."

That was cold… but, at the same time, they were realizing what he was trying to do. Memory Franky was trying to help Usopp face up to the fact that no matter how much Merry was patched up, she was at the end of the line and simply could go no further. All he was trying to do was prevent Usopp from doing something so stupid that it would get him killed.

This was confirmed as memory Franky stated, "But… since you just told me you plan on going all the way back to the East Blue with her… well, now I have to stop you, brother."

Memory Usopp glared at him as Franky went on. "That ship is at her end. She won't even make it to the next island. Listen… a ship is born with one promise. To carry you across the sea from one shore to another—that's her sole purpose. The reason for her existence. Which means… when the time comes that a ship can no longer carry you across the sea…"

"But then… what are they?" Chopper asked, his eyes widening as he finally understood what Franky was saying.

"That… they are ships who earned their rest," present-day Franky said grimly as he watched how his past self leapt up to the side of the ship as Usopp screamed at him to stop, which he ignored him.

"Then that promise has been broken! AND SHE'S NO LONGER A SHIP!" memory Franky said as he pushed down and they watched as he ripped off the side. The ropes broke as the boards creaked and snapped as if it were a twig—and it hurt them all to see it. But no more than memory Usopp—who had tears streaming down his face.

"NO! STOP ITTTTTTTT!" he screamed out even as memory Franky threw the piece into the air and landed with a loud crash that echoed off the metal walls. "YOU BASTARD! KEEP AWAY FROM THE MERRY!"

And then, as if on instinct, memory Usopp loaded a projectile into his slingshot and fired. Franky took an Exploding Star right to the face and soon the unmistakable bang echoed nearly as loudly as the broken ship part, and everything was engulfed in smoke.

When it cleared, they saw how memory Franky had been hit, but barely took any damage other than some ash on his face. Still, it was enough to knock him back several feet, and making him angry.

Present-day Usopp could think of no other excuse other than that he wasn't thinking. He had been so surprised by his own action that he just stared ahead. He knew that Franky was just trying to help, but he just couldn't stand there and watch him do it. But memory Franky was now seriously pissed off.

"SON OF A BITCH!" he screamed as he charged and memory Usopp barely had time to react. Franky just grabbed hold of him and tossed him into the air. Chopper tried to cry out, in worry for Usopp's injuries, but he covered his mouth with his little hooves as memory Franky leapt up after him.

"If you don't understand…" he warned as he suddenly appeared in memory Usopp's line of sight and screamed, despite memory Franky screaming over the noise, "TAKE A LOOK WITH YOUR OWN DAMN EYES!"

And with a mighty smack, he hit Usopp hard in the gut and sent him flying straight to the water below… where he sank like a stone, where he would be directly below the Merry's underbelly… and clearly see the damage.

"Harsh," Brook sighed sadly.

"Hey, someone had to do it," present-day Franky said with a frown. He could tell that Usopp was refusing to face reality here. If he honestly thought that he would go ahead and set sail with a ship in that bad of condition, which he wasn't completely sure if he would, but if he did then he was just asking to drown.

Present-day Usopp could only sigh. What level of hell was he in right now? He could remember what he saw underwater… how he was drifting there and saw the cracks running through the keel. He knew the truth but still he wouldn't admit to it.

He just watched miserably as his memory self came back up to the surface and pulled himself out of the water. Memory Franky just glared at him as he watched him cough and splutter before he limped over to the broken piece of the ship that was ripped off mere moments before and tried to haul it back to the ship—still refusing to admit defeat.

The others watched, both amazed and frustrated in him, watching in silence as he made the effort to try and hammer it back into place. The Square Sister were both silently crying at the sight of it as memory Franky just stood there without saying a word.

"This is hard to watch," Robin sighed.

"Yeah, I just couldn't figure it out back then," present-day Franky agreed.

"Usopp-san…?" Brook said quietly but Usopp just shook his head, not wanting to hear any words of pity or kindness right now. his memory self could barely lug the wood behind him—it probably weighed more than him at the moment—and stumbled more than once on his way back as he tried to piece it all together.

Memory Usopp was barely able to hold himself together as he continued hammering; whispering to Merry that he was sorry for letting that happen and that he would fix her right up.

Zoro just shook his head. This wasn't healthy. Yes, it was terrible what happened to Merry, but he couldn't say that this was good for anyone. But he didn't say anything knowing that their Usopp learned from this and knew that how he acted here wasn't right. There was no need to bring it up this time… especially since his memory self looked like he was close to losing it.

But memory Franky had enough.

"Hey! Enough already, Long Nose!" he yelled. "You saw the bottom of the ship, right? The keel is broken right down the middle! The outer panels are slipping off and the frame is shot! With a hull like that, the first wave'll rip her apart! And you think that a complete amateur like you can just grab a hammer…!"

Memory Usopp threw the hammer aside and knocked over the pile of wood and box of nails at his feet as he spun about with fire burning in his eyes. Memory Franky was taken aback by the wild look in Usopp's eyes.

"YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" he bellowed out. "I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANOTHER WORD OUTTA YOU! IF YOU SO MUCH AS BREATHE, I'LL KICK YOUR TEETH IN! YOU HEAR ME?!"

Luffy watched on, feeling both hurt and angry that Usopp had to go through that alone. He wished that they knew everything sooner. He frowned, trying to think of what they could have done though, and no matter how much he tried to think—which hurt his head anyway—he couldn't think of anything that he could say to have changed it.

Chopper shivered, hiding behind Robin's legs, feeling really scared at Usopp—this was almost as bad as watching him and Luffy fight! The girls seemed to see how frightened he was and both patted him on the head to soothe him as their Usopp—knowing where this conversation was heading—turned around and sat on the ground so that he couldn't look at anyone.

There was silence around them as memory Usopp began to cry. They started off small but soon they could hear them loud and clear as he shook. It was as if he was struggling to say some kind of secret; as if there was something he was aching to say but couldn't bring himself to do so. Eventually though, his shaking so badly that he dropped to his knees, and finally spoke, "Besides… I already knew."

You could hear a pin drop, the shock from everyone in the crew was so great that you could have knocked them over with a feather.

"W-What did he say?" Luffy asked, not sure that he heard the right thing. Usopp knew? He knew that Merry couldn't be fixed? But the… why…?

Memory Franky asked what he said, but it was clear that he did understand exactly what was said.

"To be honest… I knew it all along," memory Usopp whimpered as he cried openly. "I knew…" He then looked up and began to cry out loudly, "I KNEW THE TRUTH! I KNEW THAT THE MERRY WAS AT THE END OF HER LIFE!"

The Square Sisters cried as Franky stared at him, baffled at all this.

"You mean you knew and still put us through all that?!" Nami yelled at their Usopp, looking ready to rant, until she got a good look at their Usopp's face. How crushed he was looking and on the verge of tears.

"Deep down I… I knew it," memory Usopp confessed as he seemed to give up and sat back. "When I heard the assessment… I knew that what I saw that day back in Skypiea really happened. At first, I thought I was dreaming. That there was no way that it could be real. One foggy night in a forest lit with nothing but moonlight… I heard the hammering strikes of a wooden mallet. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of the ship… but at the time, there shouldn't have been anyone on board. I crept closer and confirmed the sound was coming from the Merry. The fog was thick, but I'm sure that I saw someone there. Striking away with the wooden mallet. I couldn't figure out who it was…"

"Wait, who do you…? Was it…?" Brook asked quietly as he tried to figure it out.

Present day Usopp didn't speak as he thought back to that foggy night while in the Upper Yard. How he heard the hammering and went to see what it was… and there up on the altar… was the tiny figure, almost like a child, dressed in a raincoat and carrying a mallet.

"When we awoke the next day, we found the ship had been passingly repaired," his memory self went on. "Even the broken mast was back where it had always been. But there was something even more peculiar that was bugging me. Whoever fixed the Merry knew how she was supposed to look. Despite all the modifications we made to her, this mysterious person had brought her back to her original shape. She was still in rough condition… but she was still the same old Merry she had been before."

Nami's eyes widened when she realized that he was right. No one else beside their crew could have known what Merry first looked like before Cricket and the others worked on her. And no one in the crew could have made those repairs…? Why didn't she think to question it more?

Memory Usopp sniffled at that as he finished, "The whole situation remained a mystery. But for some reason, these words lingered in my heart… I don't know if it was something I actually heard someone say… or maybe just something I imagined… Don't worry… I'll carry everybody for a little bit longer…"

"Merry spoke to you?" Zoro asked softly as there were cries from more than a few members of the crew and their Usopp nodded.

"I'm sure she did," he said with certainty. "I just can't think of anyone else who could have said it. I know I didn't dream it. So it could only have been Merry. She was looking after us."

"I know it sounds ridiculous," memory Usopp admitted, "But I think… I think it was… an incarnation of the Merry… and she spoke to me."

Memory Franky didn't say a word as he looked to the ship again, a new understanding in his face and even respect. He just turned back to the couch and walked to it without saying a single thing, all the while memory Usopp went on with a strangled sob, saying that he was already aware that she knew she was at her limits and he believed that she appeared in that form to reassure them that same thing, to let them know that it would be alright, and that was what he thought of when he heard of her assessment.

"So… was that the reason why you were so angry?" Chopper asked their Usopp, with new understanding.

He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes.

"Yeah… well, mostly," he said just as his memory self, who also sniffled and rubbed at his nose, spoke with a bitter voice, "You think I'm completely outta my mind, don't you?" He said all of that as if daring Franky to come out and agree that it was crazy. "I don't care, you don't have to believe me."

Memory Franky was still silent before he took his seat and the Square Sisters looked at him.

"Whether I believe it or not… you said whoever it was you think you saw looked like they were holding a wooden mallet, right?" he asked.

That got memory Usopp's attention and he spun his head around to stare at him.

"That's right," he confirmed, "Does it mean something?"

"Yeah it does," Franky agreed, "It means that you saw a Klabautermann."

"Do all crabby-man look like that?" Luffy asked their Franky curiously.

"Kla-bau-ter-mann," present-day Franky spelt out for him. "And yeah, at least, that's what I heard. Most of the time they appear in the forms of children, wearing sailor's raincoats, and carrying some kind of ship building tool in their hands though most legends agree that it's a wooden mallet."

He remembered how Tom used to love those legends. So that was why every ship he built, he would build them with the greatest of love and care, saying that someday, a Klabautermann may come and remember him and his gusto. Franky had always though that they were just stories that made Tom laugh… he never believed them to be true… until this moment.

Memory Usopp was looking taken aback by that word and tried to repeat, "Kla… Klaber-what?"

"A Klabautermann," memory Franky repeated. "It's an old legend that's passed down from shipwright to shipwright. It's a very particular kinda fairy, it only dwells on ships treated with great care. You can say it's the ship's spirit. They say it carries a wooden mallet in its hand and wears a sailor's raincoat. In times when the vessel is in danger, it runs around the ship and finds a way to warn everyone. I heard it helps sailors in other ways too. But to be honest this is the first time I've ever heard someone who's said outright that they've seen one."

"You think that with all the ships in the world, that there would be more stories about them?" Chopper asked.

"One would think, but sadly, not every crew treats their ship as one of their crewmates," Robin pointed out. "I'm guessing that this isn't something that happens often?"

"Nope," present Franky agreed. "Sure, I grew up on the stories, my old master had plenty of them, but I never thought that I would get to meet one."

"Awwwww… I wish I had the chance to meet lamb-chan!" Brook cried out sadly, feeling truly heart-broken at the thought that he would never get the chance to ride Merry. Though… he didn't truly have a heart, now did he?

"The more care a ship receives, the more they appreciate the sailors," memory Franky went on, before a rather gentle smile appeared on his face as he looked at the ship in great interest. "This ship must have been determined to make sure you make it to the next shore… no matter what."

He smiled even wider and added, "Just think about it. This ship had a caring crew that was so special to them… she even appeared in human form to reassure them that everything's gonna be alright. I betcha she's been very happy."

"I love you Merry!" Chopper and Luffy cried out sadly.

"We all do!" Nami cried, as if Merry could hear them.

"Hey, you think that Sunny will get a Klabautermann someday?" Luffy asked their Franky suddenly.

"Maybe," he grinned. "Know that it doesn't happen overnight, but so long as we continue to care about her, I think that there's a good chance. Especially since Sunny inherited Merry's spirit!"

"You can count on me!" present Usopp vowed, knowing he would do whatever it took to make sure that Sunny was taken care of in Merry's place.

"Me too!" Chopper, Brook, and Nami all cheered at the same time.

"All the more reason we need to find Sunny too," Zoro confirmed as memory Usopp was staring at memory Franky before he slowly looked back to the forlorn Merry.

"Merry?" memory Usopp croaked as tears flooded down his face again. "I see… so it was you. You're the one who made those repairs and spoke to me back then, weren't you? Merry."

It was a touching moment, and perhaps they were all imagining it, but it seemed that Merry was agreeing with what Usopp was saying, silently letting them know that it would be a right.

"As amazing as that is, I'm still confused," memory Franky said, his tone going back to serious. "Tell me, why would you have a big fight with your crew when you knew the ship was done for?"

Memory Usopp wiped his tears as Square Sister began to cry openly.

"It's not that simple," he said and the sisters wept about how stupid men are.

"That is so true, girls," Nami sighed, wondering just how they could do such stupid things all the time?

Suddenly, a bell at the door began to ring, which took the three Franky Family members by surprise. Apparently someone was at the door, but all they could think of who it could be was Zamba and the others; yet why come in through the sea side?

"I should've guessed right away that something was wrong," present Franky growled. This was one of two different entrances. They only came in through the sea side if they were carrying heavy cargo or something, like the Merry. And even then, it wasn't like his boys needed permission to come in. This was part of their home as well, really the fact that they started knocking and ringing doorbells all but screamed out warning flags. He wished he had been the one to answer that door, that way his little sisters wouldn't have gotten that beating.

"Maybe they had to if they were able to capture Straw Hat?" Mozu suggested before memory Franky gasped.

"THAT'S RIGHT! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT! I KIDNAPPED YOU TO USE AS BAIT TO DRAW OUT YOUR CREW!" he yelled but memory Usopp, as cold as ice, just glared at him.

"They won't come," he said, "I'm no longer a part of that crew, remember? That plan won't work," he snapped before getting back up and memory Franky huffed with a cross expression before the girls, sick of the ringing, went to answer it.

Still, memory Franky was far from done.

"Alright brother," he said, "I think what you should do is go back to your friends."

Zoro raised his eyebrows at that. So, even Franky felt that Usopp should come back? He figured that he, of all people, would have supported his decision to protect the ship since he was a shipwright himself? But then again, he didn't understand anything about ships and so figured that maybe it was best that someone like Franky took care of this.

Memory Usopp was surprised by that and confessed, "It's impossible to do that now, I challenged the captain to a duel for starters. Then there's the matter of the ship that hasn't been settled yet."

Memory Franky was now looking annoyed at this—though it was hard to say if it was because he thought that Usopp was being difficult or because his great plan wasn't going to work anymore.

He sighed as he asked, "What do you mean hasn't been settled? If your ship can't sail anymore, then it can't sail anymore. That's the end of it, right? Just leave her here with me, ok? I'll take care of her in a way you'd approve of, 'kay? Problem solved. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing earlier. I tried to dismantle the ship without thinking about what was best for you. It'll be different this time."

"What would you have done?" present Usopp asked him wonderingly.

"Probably keep her here," he shrugged, "At least until Aqua Laguna was over. Maybe patch her up so that she would look as good as new, but getting her to sail again was a big no-no. Honestly, her last great voyage defied all reason, but I'd make sure that she was taken care of."

He honestly thought of maybe turning her into part of a playground for the kids of Water 7, maybe Merry would have been happy with all those kids playing on her, pretending to be pirates, or something like that. He wished he could have asked her what she wanted though.

But memory Usopp still wasn't having it.

"THIS IS MY PROBLEM! STAY OUT OF IT!" he yelled and soon they were going back and forth with Franky offering to help, but Usopp still refusing to accept it.

Present-Day Franky though was watching his sisters, knowing what was coming, but his memory self had finally lost his temper and was almost yelling as he moved his sunglasses up so that they could see his eyes. Which was usually a sign of how ticked off he was.

"Don't you understand the situation?!" he demanded hotly. "As hard as it is for you, it's worse for the ship! She loves you guys so much she appeared before you in human form! If she sinks to the bottom with all of you on board, then all of that would have been for nothing?! Get it?! If that happens then her final moments would be filled with regret! She won't be able to die in peace!"

"If that's what you'd do? After everything you've been through together, you'd leave one of your friends behind to die on their own?" memory Usopp yelled back as he grabbed Franky by the front, "Just throw them aside like trash?!"

Present Franky was sure that she appreciated all that Usopp did for her, but he personally felt that it would only have made her even sadder. If it were him, he would rather have gotten dismantled than either seeing them all fight, or that they all go down with him.

Did he suddenly find it strange that a ship seemed to have more common sense than half the crew?

"That's not the same thing at all!" memory Franky yelled back, "It's completely different!"

"It is the same thing!" memory Usopp yelled, "And it's exactly what's going on!

"YOU JUST DON'T GET IT!" memory Franky yelled, looking ready to give him another good punch if he thought that it would help, but their argument was cut off when Mozu was sent flying back towards them and slid several feet on the ground. Her glasses were cracked and blood was dripping from her lip as they stared at her.

Memory Franky seemed too stunned at that, but it quickly sank in what happened as he gasped, "Mozu!"

And then there was a loud thud and they all looked up in time to see that Kiwi had fallen as well from a kick to the neck.

"Were they badly hurt?" Brook asked as Sanji was all but enraged seeing two ladies being struck in such a heartless manner.

"I think they were just knocked out," Chopper promised them.

"I don't get why they went through all the trouble to play dead to the Galley-La people but didn't even bother to hide themselves against the Franky Family?" Nami hissed as Franky quietly steamed at the sight.

Robin suspected that they were expecting no one else to care what the Franky Family said or what became of them. She suspected that it wasn't the first time that they would have told great lies to the city or gotten members of Galley-La in trouble. Also, she suspected that they were running short on time and had to get out of there as soon as possible with her before Aqua Laguna fully came.

"Kiwi! WHO IN THE HELL DID THAT?!" memory Franky roared out before CP9 stepped out. There they were: Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, and Blueno all standing there in black and looking every bit the assassins that they were trained to be.

And it had been Kalifa who had landed the kick and brushed her hair aside as she readjusted her glasses

"I apologize for the interruption," she called, as if they were in the middle of a business meeting. "It's just that those two ladies weren't being very accommodating about letting us in."

"Yeah, like hell they would have let you losers in," present Franky snarled, now practically burning steam at the sight of them all there. Hoenstly, he hadn't forgotten that they also attacked his family! If he ever saw them again, and for their sakes he hope he doesn't, but if he did he was sure to take them all down! He only wished he had been the one to take out Kalifa for kicking Kiwi and Mozu like that.

Memory Franky, however, seemed completely at a lost to what was going in before it all hit him what was going on. He had completely lost it and charged right ahead as he bellowed like an angry bull, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU BASTARDS DOING DOWN HERE?!"

But as he threw a punch to Kalifa, Blueno stepped in and blocked it. That took memory Franky completely by surprise and stared at him before Blueno smirked.

"Iron Body," he grinned as his punch bounced off him as if he hit a steel wall.

"HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!" memory roared as he threw a punch at his face. Blueno took it head on as Franky reached out and grabbed him by the face and demanded, "What's your deal, Blueno? You got some kind of problem with me?"

"That was one nasty shock," present-day Franky said, "Though I guess I should have guessed that he could hold himself in a fight from how many times I've seen him kick people out of his bar."

That was Blueno reached back and grabbed hold of Franky's own face and held him tight and both of them squeezing harder and harder with every second.

"Trying to pull a reverse move? You dumbass, you should know better than that!" memory snapped back as he spoke with a muffled tone with Blueno's hand over his face.

In terms of strength, memory Franky seemed to be winning as he squeezed hard enough for Blueno to let go and struggle to pull him off.

"You should be pouring me a drink, remember?" memory Franky barked, "What? You'd forget you're just a bartender?"

"Wow! I think you got him, Franky!" Luffy said excitedly.

"I'd like to think I could have beaten Blueno even with his stupid door powers," present Franky stated sourly. "But that Lucci? Damn, he was in a league all his own!"

But Blueno seemed to have had enough. He held up his finger as memory Franky was demanding answers. It looked like Blueno was prepared to use his finger pistol straight to his face but Lucci finally stepped in. He grabbed Blueno's wrist to stop him while also dealing a hard kick straight to Franky's gut. He did it with a move that was so graceful that it looked like it wouldn't have harmed a baby—but it was more than enough to send memory Franky flying clear across the room and towards the opposite wall. Memory Usopp screamed at the sight and dove out of the way as Franky hit the ground hard.

"Whoa! Are you ok?" memory Usopp cried as Lucci told Blueno off for that stunt.

"Killing him now would put our mission in jeopardy," he reminded him coldly. "We need him alive."

"Right," he growled back as he rubbed his face so that he could breathe properly again.

"Geez, and I thought that we were rude house guests to you guys before," Sanji offered.

"Hell, you guys are only a little messy compared to these losers," present Franky snarled as he clearly remembered what was going to happen.

"Hey, what's going on here?" memory Usopp demanded to Franky, "I mean, what'd you do to piss off these shipyard guys so bad?"

"That was a good question," present Franky said as he counted off on his fingers in his head. "I mean, I've done plenty of things to tick them off over the years, but I couldn't think of what I did to them recently that would have caused that."

"Well, maybe they were just using all this government, secret agent, act as an excuse to kick your ass in," Nami sighed at that.

"The freak with a bird? How'd you get a hit off like that on me?" memory Franky demanded, not answering Usopp. "What's the deal? Why're you guys coming in on my turf with a chip on your shoulders acting like you own the place? And hitting girls? That's so not cool!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but right on!" Sanji cheered out, wishing that he could have kicked them twice as hard for that.

"Kiwi and Mozo are like my little sisters, you know?" memory Franky demanded. "How'd you freaks even find us here anyway? This is my ultra-top secret base!"

"How we found you is irrelevant," Lucci said in that dead tone of his that seemed to send shivers down all their spines. "We are here right now. But know this. We came to this town as part of a covert operation. We're special agents, spies working for the world government."

That caused memory Franky's eyes to widen in shock.

"I assume you know why we came here," Lucci said. "And what we're after. Franky, we know the secret that you're keeping. Cutty Flam."

"Cutty Flam?" Luffy asked as Franky sighed at that.

"That's my stupid name when I was a kid," he growled. "I never liked it either. But because of all the teasing that I got from it, Iceburg said we should start calling me Franky."

Though, he started calling him 'Flunky' instead after a while. Damn that ice-for-brains Iceburg.

"Really? Your real name's Cutty Flam?" Brook asked and it seemed like he was having a hard time keeping the sniggering out of his voice.

"Hey! Shut up or I'll find another name to call you!" Franky barked back. "I don't want to hear that name again!"

"Agreed, it doesn't fit you," Sanji nodded, knowing that names can always be tricky to get rid of.

"Yeah, I like Franky more," Luffy agreed, knowing that he would still call him Franky even if Franky wanted his old name back.

As for memory Franky though, he was looking stunned at hearing the name again. Lucci just went on, "The rumor was that Tom's apprentice perished about eight years ago. But you're still alive."

"Yeah, you can't just kill a shipwright!" present Franky declared proudly.

"That's some pretty amazing detective work," his memory said slowly, "I'm real impressed. But I'm starting to get a sour feeling down in my gut."

His present self was doing a good job of holding it together but he knew right away what this meant the moment that he heard that they were from the government. He knew that the government was aware of the existence of the blueprints. And if they knew about his real name, they surely would have known that Iceburg was also a member of Tom's Workers and seemed to be the more logical choice in which of them had the blueprints. And if they were here then that meant that they must have found out that he didn't have them… which meant…?

"Where is he?" his memory self hissed darkly, "Where the hell is Iceburg?"

"He's dead," Lucci said menacingly and memory Franky's jaw dropped open in horror. "It's too late to feign innocence. We already know everything."

But Franky only stared at him, as if he didn't believe him.

"Man, I was so glad to hear that he was as stubborn to kill as ever," present Franky sighed in relief.

"Yeah, don't worry," Chopper reassured him. "I checked on his injuries myself after we all got back from Enies Lobby! He was sure to make a full recovery and everything. Aside from a few scars, I know that he would be just fine."

"Thanks bro," Franky laughed, glad to be reminded of that. "You're the best."

"Tom entrusted them to Iceburg and Iceburg entrusted them to you," Lucci went on as memory Franky just seemed too stunned to respond. "It's been a long game. Now… we're in checkmate. See, I know you have the plans for the ancient weapon. Hand over Pluton's blueprints, Cutty Flam."

Still, Franky didn't move, didn't seem to even be aware of what was going on around him as his mind seemed to be racing a thousand miles an instant. Lucci seemed to notice this and was growing impatient as he barked, "Are you listening? Hand them over this instant!"

Hearing that order seemed to have been what sparked the outrage.

"Did you just say hand?" memory Franky yelled as he used his Weapon's Right to fire his fist right at them, connected by the chain.

"You can't say he didn't get what he asked for," Zoro said, though he knew that it would have been pointless. And like he thought, Lucci easily dodged it though and came flying at him before sending Franky flinging back and through the wall with the palm of his hand. Memory Usopp let out a cry of shock, still not understanding what was going on as he cried out to Franky. But it seemed that Franky was knocked out at that moment as he laid there, flat on his back, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Blood dripped down from his forehead as the dust cleared and revealed a darkened room behind the wall.

"You ok, Franky?" Luffy asked him at once.

"Yeah, I was more worried about my pride," present Franky reassured him, before he sighed at the sight of the room.

"What's this place?" Zoro asked as he approached and got a good look inside. Robin looked past him to see that there were three drafting tables set up with paper, rulers, and a pencils. There were also some half-drawn designs upon those stacks of papers, as well as a handful of books. There was an entire bookshelf filled with books on different ships and designs, all covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. It looked like no one had been in here for years.

Franky frowned at the sight of it… felt a terrible ache inside him at the sight. If there was anything that he could use to sum up his childhood it as this room. After he returned to Water 7 after the… accident. He had nowhere else to go except for this place. Seeing this place was painful for him, but he couldn't destroy it either… especially since so many of Tom's designs were left here. Perhaps it wasn't as different from Usopp and his stubbornness to let go of Merry… but it was like if he held onto this room then he would be able to hold onto Tom as well.

Tom wasn't the father he was born too, but he was the father that he needed.

"Oh my," Lucci said in interest ad he and the other CP9 came closer.

"You found a room," Kalifa said as if this were a pleasant surprise. And they quickly realized that this room was set up with the drafting tables and that this is where blueprints are made… or hidden. Lucci ordered them to search, which they did. Blueno wasted no time in calling everyone to attention to the nameplates up on the walls.

Cutty Flam, Iceburg, and Tom.

"Those jerks," present Franky snarled and Luffy could see just how angry he was as he clenched his hands tightly. But Lucci was suddenly draw to a picture up on a table, but that was when memory Franky seemed to wake up.

"Keep your paws off of that!" he roared as he got to his feet shakily and snarled, "You're poking your noses into my personal space! My memories! This is the place where I grew up! What used to house the ship-building company Tom's Workers! Where the best damn shipwright to have ever lived plied his craft!"

"Where you grew up?" Nami said in amazement as she got a better look at the room and was suddenly reminded of her childhood home back on her home island and surrounded by Bellmere's tangerine trees.

"Yeah, and it was important to me!" Franky confirmed, still shaking with anger at the disrespect that those government dogs were showing it. "This was my home! And that picture…?"

He sighed as he opened up his stomach and pulled out the same picture. He just couldn't stand to leave it all behind after all that. He supposed that a part of him was worried that it would be found like that again and decided to keep it with him at all times.

"Franky?" Luffy asked as he got a good look at it and he understood at once how important it was to him.

"That's your master Tom there in the middle," Robin pointed out and he nodded, forgetting that he showed them the picture the first time they went diving into memories.

"Yeah, this was where he took me in," he said. "I wanted to break their freaking necks for this."

Seeing how upset that Franky was, only made Luffy even angrier. He glared back to that pigeon bastard and wished that he thought to give him a good punch for Franky for this.

Speaking of Lucci, he raised his eyebrows at Franky.

"Interesting," he said. "Many ships were born in his cobwebs room. Now look at it. Filthy."

And then, he went ahead to pick up the picture and gazed at it as he recited, "Tom… Iceburg… and Cutty Flam. This place must hold countless memories of those days you shared with those two. And now you call it your top secret base. That's heartbreakingly adorable."

"Damn you…" memory Franky snarled before shouting out, "JUST GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE ALREADY!"

"We won't leave till we get what we're after," Lucci warned. "Make this easy for yourself."

"THERE ARE NO BLUEPRINTS IN HERE!" he roared back.

"Then were…?" present-day Usopp began before seeing how Franky put the picture away in his stomach and suddenly understood everything.

"Oh, right," he said.

"Oh no? You don't say?" Lucci asked and he kicked one of the desks over—making it clear he was prepared to take this whole room apart if he didn't cooperate with him. Memory Franky was outraged and looked ready to charge in to fight but Lucci then called for Kalifa, who bound him with the barbed whip. Memory Franky screamed in agony before he was dragged down to the ground. Now tied up and unable to move, he just began to unload a string of profanities to Lucci, who was standing over him with that air of superiority.

Lucci didn't look phased at all and instead warned him that they already know all about his past that he felt that he wouldn't want that getting out.

"For example," he went on, "We know what happened eight years ago. And that you are guilty of committing a very serious crime back then. Just like your dear old Tom."

"YOU SHUT UP! TOM WAS NEVER A CRIMINAL!" memory Franky roared. "YOU DON'TKNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. YOU FREAK!"

"What? What are they talking about?" Nami asked in confusion as present Franky growled.

"What they mean is that their dumbass boss stole some of my battleships when I was younger and used them to fire on the city and blame me and Tom for it!" he hissed in outrage. He will never be able to recover from that injustice no matter what happened to him. His only comfort was that Spanda got his face completely broken for that stunt.

"They did what?" Chopper cried out in shock as he nodded.

"Tom was going to be sentenced to death because he was the one who built the ship the King of the Pirates rode on," he explained. "But when he told the judge his plan for the Puffing Tom, they gave him ten years' probation to build it. The deal was that if he could build it in that time then the charges against him would be dropped. Tom did what they told him and then…? That punk Spanda showed up and since Tom wouldn't give him the blueprints…?"

"That's… that scumbag!" Sanji said in outrage as Luffy and present Usopp roared in fury at that.

"But why would they blame him for that when he just built a ship?" Chopper asked.

"Anyone who had any connection to Roger was considered a criminal," Robin explained sadly to him, but her heart was blazing with indignation on Franky's behalf. She knew the pain that came from knowing that cowardly, scummy man. She could almost smile at the memory of seeing Franky hit him with the elephant over again.

But Lucci finished giving Franky a kick to the face and he hit the ground, coughing up blood.

"I disagree," Lucci said. "You're both criminals. And as such you should be made to feel the consequences of your actions."

"You talk like you know everything," memory Franky snarled. "You don't know Tom. And you don't know anything about Water 7!"

"Yeah! That's right!" Luffy cheered.

"You'll get your comeuppance soon!" present Usopp cheered, a little disappointed with his past self as he just stood there like a wallflower. Seriously, he remembered how shocked he was, but why didn't he jump in? Oh, right… he would have had his ass kicked. Seriously, these guys were even able to give the Monster Trio a beating.

But CP9 stood over him, really getting annoyed at this point at his lack of cooperation. Meanwhile, the wind blowing outside began to shake the doors and windows, showing that Aqua Laguna was well on its way and if they waited too much longer then they would be unable to leave until it left.

"We heard that Tom was an excellent craftsman and a created genius," Lucci said. "But also he was an uncontrollable fisherman with inhumane strength. We asked the citizens about him but they really don't have much to say. It must be difficult to apprentice under a man like that. Right Cutty Flam?"

If he thought that he was trying to earn some sympathy for Franky to agree to listen, he was sorely wrong. Memory Franky just glared up at them and snapped, "That ridiculous question doesn't even deserve a reply. You government goons are all piles of crap!"

"Well said!" Nami cheered as memory Usopp was trying to get Franky to calm down before he made them really angry.

"During that incident more than a hundred people, including marines and navy officers were severely injured here in Water 7 and the culprit behind it was you," Lucci went on. "Causing the World Government that much trouble is a serious crime."

"So then why did they not investigate to find out who was driving those ships?" Sanji hissed out at the injustice of all this.

"Because that Spanda jerk had some kind of power to get everyone to believe him," present Franky answered. "Pffft. It was so obvious that he did it, I can't believe that no one else asked him where he was."

"But because you were confirmed dead in a Sea Train accident that very same day all of the charges against you that day were nulled," Lucci went on and several of the crew were confused at that line. "Seeing as how you're actually alive, you'll be taken away to Enies Lobby as a criminal. There, you can take your time answering this one simple question: where are the secret blueprints for the ancient weapon known as Pluton?"

"I think that ice-for-brains Iceburg said it best," present Franky said. "I rather die than help you bastards do it."

"That wasn't what he said," Chopper pointed out from earlier.

"I know! I improved it!" he countered as memory Franky snarled and Lucci told Blueno now, who held up a transponder snail that looked like was covered in fishnet stockings. The former bartender took it off the hook and approached as Lucci stated that when he first reported what they found, their boss said that he wanted to speak with Franky as soon as possible.

At first there was silence until Blueno told the chief that he could go ahead and talk. It seemed that the rest of the Straw Hats were expecting some big, scary voice on the other end… at least, that was until they heard someone yelling that it was hot and that he had spilled his coffee on him. Several of them, including Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook all fell over at that.

"What the hell is that?" Nami demanded as she got up and they heard the sounds of something breaking as if they threw a cup across the room.

But as soon as the voice realized that they could hear him, he cleared his throat and said, "So… you're still alive. Greetings Cutty Flam."

As soon as that oily voice spoke up, both present Franky and Robin glared on at the snail while the memory Franky on the ground looked confused.

"Long time no see. It's hard to believe that you somehow survived the accident," the slimy voice said. "Hard to believe but good news nonetheless."

"Is that so? Who are you?" memory Franky demanded.

"You know? If I just kept playing dumb even after I figured it out, I think that it would have just pissed him off," present Franky sighed, wishing he thought of that.

"For the past eight years, every time my scars hurt I was filled with this unquenchable anger that I couldn't take the proper vengeance that I deserved," the voice went on as if he hadn't heard what Franky barked, "Cause the criminal responsible for those scars was dead you see?"

"I SAID WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU?" memory Franky yelled.

"Don't you remember me?" the voice asked slyly, "I'm the man from Cipher Pol number 5? I'm the one who arrested Tom's Workers when I caught them red-handed viciously attacking the judicial ship eight years ago."

"So he was the one who framed you guys?" Nami demanded hotly.

"Yeah, piece of shit that he was," present Franky said before he spit out on the ground. "I swear, it was almost worth going through all that just so that I could permanently break that bastard's face. I hope that he's still an ugly mess… not that it would have taken much to have done that."

"YOU'RE THAT SPANDA GUY AREN'T YOU?" memory Franky yelled out at the top of his lungs, his eyes now ablaze with a fire that looked ready to kill.

"SPANDAM! YOU'RE MISSING THE 'M'!" Spanda yelled back before laughing. "But I'll have plenty of time to drill that into your head once you arrive here at Enies Lobby. Make it quick, men! I'm simply dying to teach that criminal a lesson!"

But then they heard him yell out in pain and yell about a lamp and something broke again before it hung up.

"I haven't even seen the guy and already he's a complete loser," Zoro said.

"Well said," Robin said as they all nodded in agreement. Well, CP9 wasn't wasting anymore time as Kaku ordered Blueno, the biggest, to tie him up and drag him out. Not that memory Franky was making it easy for them, he yelled and insulted them the whole time before he was bound in a thick bag with only his head sticking out, and thrown over Blueno's shoulder. They were just up and leaving until memory Usopp, who finally snapped out of it and yelled for them to stop and let him go before holding up his slingshot. But after getting one look from Lucci, he seemed to realize that he was out of his ledge and he bowed his head as he apologized.

"Seriously, bro?" present Franky sighed.

"HEY! IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA HELP DON'T GO AND GET MY HOPES UP LIKE THAT!" Franky yelled before Kaku seemed to recognize him and point out that he was one of the Straw Hats.

Honestly, if memory Usopp did nothing then they probably would have left him alone. But as memory Usopp tried to explain that he was a pirate, he had left the Straw Hats and was no longer part of the crew. But, of course, just by admitting that he was a pirate was all they needed to hear.

Memory Franky sighed as Kaku took Usopp out with a single hit. As he crumbled to the floor, he asked him, "So what you're saying is that you left the Straw Hats but that you haven't given up your life of crime? What a shame. If you're a pirate you're going with us."

"Why bother with you though? You were no threat to them?" Nami asked in confusion.

"Just couldn't resist it?" present Usopp sighed as he looked back to the Merry, not sure if he can handle watching what came next.

Kalifa came over to Usopp up as Kaku looked over the ship as well, asking why they hadn't gotten rid of it yet.

"What's he doing?" Zoro asked, not liking in that he was questioning it.

"Stay away, don't you dare touch her," memory Usopp warned. But Kaku had already let go of the hooks and Merry bobbed dangerously in the water as memory Usopp demanded to know what they were doing.

They all watched tensely as they realized what he was about to do when he reminded him, "Even if it was only a temporary disguise we are still respected shipwrights."

He had gone to the doors and threw them wide open so that they could all clearly see the dark clouds and threatening sky. The storm was nearly at their doorstep at this point and Nami gasped, her hands over her mouth before turning away as Kaku stated, "When we say your ships' done for you do well to listen to us."

"WHAT DO YOU CARE? IT'S NOT EVEN YOUR SHIP! I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT WIT IT!" memory Usopp yelled.

"Yeah, but it still has a pirate flag on it," present Franky pointed out, knowing that these guys were so blinded by their idea of 'justice' that they don't see ships as anything special. They're either pirate ships or navy ships in their eyes… and with that flag, it's best that they take it out.

He watched on sadly as Kaku asked about the lever to release the water as memory Usopp all but lost his mind and struggled to get up.

Water soon rushed in from the other end of the warehouse and Merry was being lifted up.

"No! Don't do it!" Chopper cried out with tears in his eyes as he finally realized what they were about to see.

"Merry!" Luffy screamed.

"Merry-chan!" Brook gasped.

But even as memory Usopp found the strength to stand and ran to it, it was already too late. Kaku had pulled the lever and the water was too great to be stopped. Memory Usopp screamed out for him to stop as Kalifa bound him with the thorny whip like how she did with Franky and he fell in pain.

But not a single person, past or present, were able to tear their eyes away from the Merry as it had no choice but to ride the waters to the edge and fell over the edge and out of site to the depths below… with memory Usopp screaming out in his heart-broken cries, "MERRY!"

(Man Water 7 had to be one of the hardest arc out there. But with one of the best arcs coming up right after, I can't rag on it too much. So yes, hello everyone! It feels good to be back and writing again! I feel that I did skip over a lot of stuff, but I wanted to get to the real stars of this chapter and that were Robin, Franky, and especially Merry. So we are getting ready for perhaps my favorite pre timeskip arc with Enies Lobby, and so next time please look forward to the journey from Water 7, were Sanji and Franky will be up against what I like to call the rejects of CP9. Thank you all so much for your support over the years and I certainly hope that this chapter was worth the wait! And for those of you asking, yes, I am doing much better, thanks for asking. And my two trouble makers have decided to 'help' me with this chapter by sleeping on my keyboard and in my arms while I worked. XD. So I guess they should get some credit too! So until next time!)