"Hey, Zambai," Franky spoke up as he picked up a card from the deck they were playing with.
"Yeah, Aniki?" Zambai replied, eyes not leaving his hand.
"You ever feel like you're missing something that you should really be a part of?"
"Sure. It usually happens when I'm missing out on a big score."
"Yeah, me too, but it's not money this time. I feel like I'm missing some action."
"Not to be rude Aniki, but you get more of that than the rest of us combined, and I don't need to know what you mean by "action," to be sure of that, because it works both ways."
Franky sighed. "Never mind," he said as he pushed all his chips toward the center of the table. "All in."
"Fold."
"Fold."
"What!? Are we playing poker here or doing origami?" Franky demanded. "Learn a little from Zambai, at least he's still—"
"Fold."
"Cowards, the lot of ya."
The Franky Family was interrupted from their dead end game when the door to the Franky House got blown down for the second time that day.
"Are you kidding me!? I just fixed that!" Franky shouted. "That was two and a half seconds of my life! You better have a good explanation for this, Idiotburg!" Upon looking more closely at his old friend, he added in a slightly concerned voice, "And how did you get those injuries? Who are these guys?"
"Franky! You have to run! Take the blueprints and get out of here! CP9 is on its way!" Iceburg yelled urgently.
Franky's demeanor immediately grew serious. So...this day has finally come.
"CP9 did this to you then? I'm surprised they got passed Galley-La," Franky commented.
Iceburg gritted his teeth. "I was betrayed. They had agents in Dock 1. Lucci and Kaku. Kalifa and Blueno are with them too."
Franky's eyes widened. That was a serious breach. They had all been living in this city for years. To think they'd been the enemy all along...
"Never mind that now, Franky," Iceburg said. "You have to go into hiding. If they get their hands on the blueprints—"
"Screw that," Franky said instantly. "I told you the day you gave them to me that I wouldn't just leave Water 7, and I'm not about to leave now when the shit hits the fan."
"Dammit, Franky! Can you swallow your pride for once? The world is more important than this!"
"You're quite right," came a voice from behind them, causing them both to freeze. "That's why, for the sake of the world, you'll hand over those blueprints, Franky," Lucci said as he walked into the building. "Or should I say, Cutty Flam?"
Marine Admiral Aokiji was starting to get annoyed. Just a few minutes ago, it seemed as if his battle with the two notorious East Blue rookies had begun to draw to a close. Now, it seemed as if they had gained a second wind. They were fighting even harder than before, and although he was far from fatigued, Aokiji was actually beginning to feel the effects of their long fight. It wouldn't be so frustrating, perhaps, if he was dealing with two of the higher ups of a Yonko crew, but Paradise rookies? This was ridiculous.
He knew he would have to go all out if he wanted to defeat these two. But he couldn't do that in the middle of the city. He was a Marine, not a mass murderer of the innocent. So with that in mind, he leapt backwards, forming a pair of wings out of ice, and took to the air.
"Pheasant Flight," he muttered, before taking off in the direction of the sea. Luffy and Zoro, who had been preparing another collaboration strike, stared after him in bemusement. They shared a quick look at each other before taking off themselves. In the opposite direction. The direction of CP9 and Nico Robin's auras.
Aokiji inwardly groaned. I suppose I should have given them more credit than that. He quickly switched directions and prepared to intercept them again.
Franky coughed up blood and fell backwards onto the floor again as he tried to remember if Kaku had been anywhere near this strong the last time they fought. He was leaning heavily towards no.
Things weren't looking good. Zambai, Mozu, and Kiwi had already been defeated along with the rest of the Franky Family, and the strangers that had arrived with Iceburg were faring about as well as he was. Although he had initially had the upper hand against Blueno, it had all gone downhill once Lucci and Kaku stepped in. He struggled to his feet and prepared to continue the hopeless fight.
Kaku sighed. "You know, we really don't have time for this, so..." he blurred forward, delivering a barrage of kicks to Franky's stomach before the cyborg could react. "Could you please stay down?"
Franky couldn't seem to muster of the strength to stand up again. He was lifted off the ground, and felt a whip wrapping around him, the thorns digging into his steel body. Although they wouldn't draw blood, they still hurt, and achieved their role of immobilizing him.
Blueno finished searching the place and turned back towards Lucci. "There's no sign of the blueprints," he reported.
"In that case, it seems we're taking Franky as well," Lucci said, as if it didn't really matter to him either way. "We're going. Leave Iceburg alive, as per Admiral Aokiji's orders." He seemed a bit annoyed as he said that. The plan to make Iceburg's death in the collapsing building look like an accident to the Admiral hadn't gone over well, after all.
"What about the Revolutionaries?" Kalifa asked.
"Kill them," he said simply.
The heavily injured Revolutionary Army members looked on with hard, fearless expressions as Kaku and Blueno drew closer.
Usopp's eyes cracked open, sunlight filtering through his eyelids, and he groaned. Slowly, he forced his eyes open, and sat up. What was he doing lying in the middle of the street at sunset again?
At once, the memories came rushing back to him. "Robin!" he shouted, looking around frantically. Both she and her abductors were gone. Panic started to take hold. He hastily ran toward Sanji and shook him by the shoulders. "Sanji! Wake up! They took Robin!"
Slowly, Sanji's eyes began to crack open as well, before he shot up into a seated position, headbutting Usopp in the process. As the sniper rubbed his head, Sanji began to observe their surroundings. Catching sight of Nami and Chopper's prone forms, the bitter sting of defeat welled up inside him once more. He had failed. He would not fail again.
Reaching out with his Observation Haki, he found Robin's aura, along with those of CP9, and one other, at the edge of the island. He growled as he inferred that they were about to leave, and jumped to his feet. He quickly leapt over to Nami's side, gently shaking her awake, as Usopp went and roused Chopper. They had to move quickly.
Aokiji's brow furrowed in confusion. He was currently giving chase to the two leading members of the Strawhat crew, who had switched up their strategy and were now using hit and run tactics as they attempted to move the fight in the direction of the seatrain. But that was just it. While it may have been there goal to save Nico Robin, shouldn't they know better than to take the fight to the sea? Devil fruit user or not, the sea was his territory. They were already hard pressed to win this fight, and they were planning on giving an ice-man a practically endless supply of water? Granted, they were causing quite a lot of property damage, something which he should have prevented, but to his shame, he hadn't foreseen the difficulties he'd be facing against these two. Still, they were pirates. Shouldn't they be letting him worry about that?
It didn't add up.
Soon the coast came into sight as the two of them made their way full speed towards the water, Aokiji following behind. For the love of all things sane, what were they playing at? The minute they reached the sea, he'd be free to use Ice Age, continuously.
...
And freeze the seatrain's only route to Enies Lobby in the process.
Aokiji cursed aloud as he caught on to their plan. It was annoyingly brilliant. Rather than giving him free reign to use his ice powers to their fullest extent, they were forcing him to use them more carefully. Such was the status quo until the seatrain departed. They were counting on the fact that they could take down CP9, or better yet, disable the seatrain, before that.
As the two both aimed ranged attacks at the seatrain, Aokiji quickly cryo phased in front of them before flash freezing the surrounding air, causing a large ice wall to materialize from the moisture in the atmosphere, and blocking their attacks. He wasn't surprised when the wall came crumbling down moments later, but it but him enough time to form a far larger one behind him, one which grew into a dome that quickly encased the three combatants. The water froze over beneath them, just enough for them to stand, but the rest of the ocean remained untouched.
Once again coordinating without a word, the two aimed another collaboration strike against the top of the dome, hoping it would come crashing down. To their dismay, the dome held, and started to repair itself.
"I wouldn't bother with that," Aokiji drawled. "That ice is far too dense for you to go smashing it so easily. Like it or not, you'll have to get passed me first." He narrowed his eyes. "Did you really think I'd let you reach the seatrain that easily?"
Luffy smirked. "Did you really think I'd need to reach it?"
Aokiji inwardly cursed again at his lack of forethought as a wake of haki spread out from the Straw Hat Captain, passing by the ice wall and reaching the sea train undeterred. He attempted in vain to fight off a migraine as he felt the auras of all of the government officials and seatrain operators in the vicinity dim. The only ones left conscious were the CP9 agents approaching the seatrain along with Nico Robin, but this would still delay their departure, which meant he had to continue this tedious game for that much longer.
"You're resourceful, Straw Hat Luffy. I'll give you that much. But you seem to be relying on my desire to preserve the seatrain a bit too much. Even if you destroy it, there are other ways of getting Nico Robin to Enies Lobby."
"Maybe, but you'll have to wait until after the Aqua Laguna," Luffy said determinedly. "We'll just have to defeat you before then."
Aokiji blinked. There was silence for a few moments before he spoke. "I don't know where you're getting your information Straw Hat, but the Aqua Laguna isn't until next week."
Luffy's expression didn't change, save for the buckets of sweat that started dripping down his face. Frickin time travel.
"You also seem to be awfully confident that you can beat me," Aokiji said emotionlessly, as ice crept over his body. "Perhaps a bit too much..."
"Get ready," Zoro grunted, as Luffy cracked his knuckles. "The real fight begins now."
"Ice Age."
Sanji, Chopper, Nami, and Usopp were making their way towards the sea train when they all felt a chill run through them. It was as if the air had dropped 10 degrees in temperature. They were shocked to find that all of the waterways in the city had frozen over completely.
"What could do this?" Nami asked fearfully, from atop Chopper's back.
"It's him," Sanji said, sweat dripping down his face despite the cold. "The one Luffy and Zoro are fighting. This guy is seriously bad news. I just hope they have an ace or two up their sleeves."
"We'll worry about them later!" Usopp shouted, also riding atop Chopper's reindeer form. "Robin's completely defenseless right now!"
"I know that, you idiot!" Sanji yelled in frustration. "Chopper, pick up the pace!"
"Gear Fourth: Boundman!"
"Nine Sword Style: Asura!"
Aokiji watched in shock as the Straw Hat captain's entire body blew up like a balloon, and all of his first mate's limbs multiplied. This sight would almost be comical if it didn't mean they were holding back the entire time.
The admiral acted quickly, flash freezing the colossal wind cannon that came his way, but Luffy was on him in an instant, moving far faster than he had before. He effortlessly barrelled through the ice wall had created while his arm grew to the length of a giant's behind him.
"Gomu gomu no...King Kong Gun!"
The blow was too fast for him to phase through it, so he attempted to take it head on in his ice form. If it had been a simple punch as he'd been expecting, he may have succeeded, but as the giant, armaments hardened limb rushed towards him, he realized it was wound into itself like a spring.
The spring unwound as it made contact, cracking a few of his ribs even before he was blown straight through the wall of the ice dome behind him. The entire structure came crashing down as Luffy flew after him, his speed and agility in the air having increased drastically.
Aokiji quickly reformed his wings and took flight again. It was then that he realized that Zoro had disappeared while he'd been focused on Luffy...
Instinctively ducking under a sword slash, the wind blade continuing on for over a mile across the ocean, Aokiji was forced to weave and phase through 9 swords, quickly realizing that they were all quite real and dangerous, somehow.
"Pheasant Peck!"
"One Mist Silver!"
The two attacks collided, and even as Zoro cut through the ice, he felt his swords slowly starting to freeze even though they were coated with haki. The battlefield was Aokiji's now, and it was showing. The cold crept into every pore in their bodies. If they dragged out this fight too much, they'd be in serious trouble.
"9 Sword Style Secret Technique..."
Aokiji seemed intent on freezing him alive before he could use what he considered the deadliest move in his arsenal. Spreading his arms out wide, he used another Ice Age right as Luffy and Zoro both charged. Every droplet of water in the atmosphere froze solid as they pressed on through the ocean sized blizzard.
"Gomu Gomu no...Phoenix Carbine!"
And then, all at once, the blizzard cleared a path for the firestorm that erupted from within it. Aokiji's eyes widened as it approached, and he hastily maneuvered out of the way. The attack still grazed his arm, but what alarmed him was that the attack continued on towards the sea train.
In his momentary distraction, he was slow to dodge as Zoro completed his technique.
"9000 Realms!"
Pain dominated his senses as 9 wounds opened across his torso.
Lucci was getting extremely impatient. He was quite convinced now that these government personnel were completely useless. They were all unconscious from the wave of power that had spread over the area previously. He'd never heard of something like this. Even Kalifa and Blueno were affected, though they stayed on their feet without too much trouble.
But since they couldn't be roused, this meant CP9 had to operate the seatrain themselves. Kaku, Blueno, and Kalifa were inside the sea train, trying to do just that, while Lucci guarded Nico Robin outside. After the previous complications they'd had, he didn't exactly trust anyone else to guard their mission objective.
His ears soon caught the sound of running, and turned with a sigh towards the newly recovered Straw Hat Pirates. Didn't these people every stay down? Could anyone honestly blame him if he killed them at this point?
The pirates stopped in front of him and got ready to fight as he stepped in front of Nico Robin, who was seemingly close to having an emotional breakdown at the sight of all the ice. Did this woman have post-traumatic stress? The shit he had to put up with...
Well, it could be worse. Spandam could be here.
He was broken out of his musings as his senses screamed danger, and he turned toward the seatrain just in time to see it erupt in an enormous explosion, getting blown off the track in the process. As the ground shook from the impact, and he remembered that Kaku, Blueno, and Kalifa had been in the seatrain, only one thought seemed to cross his mind.
He would still take this over Spandam.
Aokiji gritted his teeth as he felt the auras of three CP9 agents dim. The only one left conscious was Lucci. Come to think of it, he wasn't doing too well himself...
"You're making a mistake here, Monkey D. Luffy," he said. "Even if you escape here, that woman will bring your crew to ruin. There will come a day when the weight of the world becomes too much for your little ship to carry, and on that day, she'll be the first to betray you."
Luffy gritted his teeth in anger. "You don't know what you're talking about," he said, keeping an eye on Zoro, who was catching his breath after using his ultimate technique.
"Don't I?" the admiral asked. "You may not know it, but it was I who let that woman go all those years ago. At the time, I was hoping she would be able to live a normal life. But I was wrong. Her fate was sealed the minute she learned that ancient language. I should have known there was only one road for her."
"You're so full of shit!" Luffy snarled. "Do you really believe that? Do you honestly think she had any choice after what you all did to her!?"
"At the time, I did," Aokiji admitted. "That was my mistake, and one I intend to rectify now."
"My ass you will! Robin isn't some mistake you can fix!" Luffy shouted, before activating Gears Second and Third along with Fourth and getting ready to use his own strongest move. "Gomu gomu no..."
Aokiji spread his arms out, condensing all of the water in the area into a wave of subzero ice.
"Primeval Chill," he whispered as the ice blasted out towards Luffy. The ocean froze beneath it, the ice stretching out for miles from being in mere contact.
"Millenium Dragon Firestorm!"
The onslaught raged against Aokiji's already injured body as Luffy's arms were nearly frozen solid. As they began to fail him, he was repelled by another wave of ice as the admiral regained his bearings. Not enough yet!
Aokiji emerged from the inferno, fury etched across his face as more ice lashed out against the rubber man. "What would you know about my mistakes!?" he shouted, losing his cool for the first time since the fight began. "I let that little girl go so she could be happy one day, not so she could suffer a fate worse than death! Not so she could live a cursed existence where she has to betray everyone around her, not even to live, but just to survive! What would you know about it to begin with!?"
Luffy, who had been momentarily forced out of Gear Fourth, exhaled slowly as Zoro came back in and repelled the waves of ice that were assaulting him. "I know enough. That's why I invited her into the crew," he said quietly, and watched as Aokiji's' expression morphed from fury into one of complete shock.
"Zoro, let's end this!" he shouted.
"Right!" the swordsmen said, activating Asura again as Luffy did the same with Gear Fourth.
"Gomu gomu no..."
"9 Sword Style..."
"9000 Caliber Phoenix Warhead!"
Water 7 shook.
As the smoke and flames cleared, Aokiji could be seen kneeling on a patch of ice, breathing heavily, covered in severe burns from head to toe. He slowly stood up onto two feet, slowly limping across what was left of the ice.
Luffy was also kneeling, covered in ice and frost burns, Gear Fourth having run its course. That's it...my haki's shot for at least half an hour...
Zoro wasn't faring much better, but he was still standing readily enough that it was obvious which side would be victorious if the fight continued.
"Can you really do it?" Aokiji asked. "Are you confident that you can melt the ice around that woman's heart? Can you really give her what no one else could?" he asked, his ragged voice laced with desperation. Luffy looked into his eyes unflinchingly.
"I can."
Whatever was left of Aokiji's resistance seemed to melt at those two words. He stood noticeably straighter as he turned around and started limping away, out onto the open sea.
A/N: Hey all. Don't worry, I'm not dead. I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to write, but I had to take an extended break from fanfiction, first of all because I'm taking summer courses, and second because I'm beginning to write my own work of original fiction. But don't worry, this story will continue. I still have a lot planned out. I hope the chapter was worth the wait. Remember to review, as always.