Steel Heart

Ch 77 - A Demonstration

Nana woke up to see the calm, slightly amused face of Nico Robin. The historian's smile made the mechanic wince just by looking at her. Nana's head was throbbing and she felt slightly queasy. Did Robin not feel any of that? Was it just her? Nana blinked and tried to move but then heard the rattling of chains. She looked around her and realized they were all trapped in a metal cell with their hands bound behind their backs. She turned her head and was met with the glowering glare of Trafalgar Law.

"Law? What are you doing here?" Nana asked and then winced at how the slightest sound made her head ache.

"I should ask you the same," Law replied coldly and then he let out a little grunt, "Take deep breaths, Mizu-ya. You're just lacking a little oxygen right now."

"Thanks," Nana muttered and sucked in a long breath. She let it out slowly and it did soften the aching a bit. She let herself breathe like that for a few moments. Then she turned her head to face the more preferable side, "How are you feeling, Robin?"

"I'm fine," Robin said and then nodded towards her lap where a sleeping Franky was practically drooling on, "Franky is taking some time to wake up though."

His face was just where Nana's feet were and she gave his metal chin a hard kick. "Wake up, idiot. This isn't your first nap of the day."

"OW!" he cried just as Luffy woke up from the other side of Law.

"Oh! We're in a cell...How did that happen?" Luffy asked brightly and then turned to the people closest to him, "Smokey! I didn't realize you were here."

Nana watched as Tashigi-Smoker struggled against her chains but it was no use. "Sea Prism Stone?" Nana asked and then gasped when her bare skin grazed the metal mesh of the cell wall behind her. My glove is gone!

She turned to Law, "They took my-"

"Ah. They took my sword too," he said, cutting her off from finishing the sentence. He then gestured with his eyes towards the front of the cell.

Nana followed his direction and realized they were in the middle of Caesar's lab. Ah...the less details I give away about my weapons the better...

Suddenly, a pale, green-haired woman with large white wings and stork-like legs came walking into the room. "You're all awake, huh?" she asked sweetly.

Behind her followed a burly man with lightning-shaped mutton chops and a half eaten hamburger patty stuck on his right cheek. He wore sunglasses and no smile. "You all look better than I thought," he said.

Both Tashigi-Smoker and Smoker-Tashigi gasped at the entrant. "You're the head of the G-5! Why the hell are you here?! Vergo?" Smoker-Tashigi demanded.

Automatically, Nana turned to Robin and frowned.

"The G-5 is a marine base stationed in the New World," Robin explained patiently.

Nana formed an O with her mouth and said nothing else. She turned to Law and was taken aback by how intensely he was looking at Vergo. She returned her gaze to Vergo and she studied him closely.

Pururupurupuru. Purupurupurupuru.

A small transponder snail rang out from the other end of the room.

"Hey, could one of you two get that?" Nana called out, "My hands are a little tied at the moment."

Both Robin and Franky stifled a laugh but the marine named Vergo did not take too kindly to that. He took out a long bamboo stick and coated it with his Armament Haki. He poked it through a hole in the metal mesh and thrust it hard into her stomach.