The crazy things people do for friends.
Raid an entire base of marines.
Reject your friend's depression.
And maybe just crash the front of a train into the side of a building.
Stone and marble had been flown around the room and crushing some agents in the process. But who were we the pirates to care. We were only looking after our own.
"All right! We've made it!!!" Luffy busted out of the carnage first.
Franky looked across the room with a blank face. "Strawhat."
"Thanks for the help, Monster Baa-san!"Luffy looked over at the bleeding nose--mother and daughter duo, "Hey, guys! Get up already!! That was nothing!!"
"We-we're not made of rubber like you... There's n-no way... For h-humans... Made of flesh and blood... To make a plunge like that... and stay... UNINHURED!!" Everyone in the crew threw themselves up in hyped up battle adrenaline. Also while throwing off the massive stone walls that covered them.
Luffy looked at the deranged group with cross arms and a blank look, "They're all fine."
Franky watched with a deadpan, "You guys are all weird. Just so you know."
Luffy perked up and started speed walking in one direction, "There's a staircase over there!! Let's hurry and get to Robin!!"
"WAIT!"
Everyone searched for where the weird high pitched voice came from. It took awhile because the man was in the corner—high up the wall like a spider.
Wyper was the first to find him, "What the hell...?"
Luffy furrowed his brows, "What's that!?"
"It's got zippers for lips..." Faythe cringed.
"Chapapapapa...!! They've broken in!! You won't find Nico Robin... Even if you go to the room you saw earlier. Lucci took her to the gates of Justice." The man was egg shaped. His head looked merged with his body—no neck spotted. And his limbs were sticking out because of how small they were. On top of his head sat greasy looking green hair.
"EH!?"
"Ah... And Chief, too." He spilled, "He's heading there now, but I won't tell you how to get there... And us CP9 won't allow you to follow because we received an order to obliterate you!! Chapapa! There's no way for you to free Nico Robin, unless you defeat us."
Faythe nodded and turned to Wyper, "Alright, Wyper, shoot that mother fucker down."
"On it." He aimed his massive gun at the large fellow.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT—!! Chapapapa!!" The zipper lipped man held up a small key, "Look at this."
"A KEY!?"
"A KEY TO WHAT!?"
Faythe place her hand on the gun and lowered it with squinted eyes never leaving the key, "Is that what I think it is...?"
"It's a key to the seastone handcuffs that Nico Robin is restrained with!" He smiled.
Chopper perked up and glanced over at Faythe, "The same material as Faythe's cuffs?"
Nami frowned, "This can't be good."
Chopper gasped, "So that's why Robin's been so obedient, even though she's strong!?" He frowned in worry, "I bet she's mortified."
"Which is why we gotta hurry." Faythe clenched her fists up so that her cuffs were eye level.
"If you don't mind that, then go rescue her now. Chapapapa—!!" He immediately dodged a quick jab of Luffy's rubber punch.
"THEN, GIVE IT TO ME!!" His fist came reeling back with a grunt, "...Looks like he can use that technique, too."
The zipper lip dude had appeared on the far side of the room with his back turned, "Don't rush...!!! I never said this was the real key."
"WHAT!?"
"Mock keys!?"
Zipper lips began to use that weird technique that allows the user to sky walk, "Maybe it's the key to a different pair of handcuffs. Chapapa! There are six members in CP9 members in this tower, each of us holding a key and waiting for you."
"Then we won't know if it's real or not until we take the keys from you and try them on Robin or Faythe's handcuffs?" Zoro inquired.
Sanji huffed with an irritated frown, "What a crappy way to play for time...!! While we're wasting our time here, you're probably planning to take Robin-chan to the Gates of Justice. Aren't you!?"
"...But we should take care of Robin first!" Nami spoke up, her mind racing for answers in their tough situation, "We should make sure to get Robin back, and take care of getting the keys afterwards!" She then turned to glare at the still jumping in the air--CP9 Member, "Forget about him and let's hurry!"
The CP9 member grinned with a belly laugh, "Chapapapa. You're smart. But if you do that, I'll just toss this key into the sea!! CHAPAPAPA!!" He dangled the key playfully, "We're just giving you a chance. See ya!!" He then ran off to some place through the window.
"YOU!! WAI--!!" Luffy was just about to sprint after the massive CP9 member, until Zoro grabbed the Captain by the face.
"HEY, WAIT! YOU, WAIT!!!" Zoro was getting dragged by Luffy's persistent strength.
"HOGAAGAGAGAGGA!" Luffy was so strong that even the great Sniper King had to get involved, "FUNKGOAHHH!! LEGGO OF ME, DAMMIT!!"
"HOLD IT FOR A BIT!! WAIT UNTIL WE CONFIRM THAT EVERYONE'S GONE FROM HERE!!"
Faythe looked up to see Wyper watching the entire scene with a satisfied grin. It was probably because Luffy was dragging both men, "Your not gonna join in?"
"And look like those fools?" Wyper raised a brow.
"Valid."
"Lucci is that pigeon guy, right?" Sanji asked the group. Faythe and Wyper turned to them, ignoring the three boys literally wrestling in the background.
Franky nodded, "Yeah, he is."
"He's most likely got my key." Faythe added with a more or less aggravated look.
Wyper crossed his arms, "This could get ugly real quick..."
Sanji nodded in agreement, "If he's with Robin-chan, we can just let Luffy go ahead." He then turned towards Luffy who was being sat on by both Zoro and Sniper King, "Luffy! Just go and beat up that Pigeon guy!!"
Luffy perked up, "The one that put those cuffs on Fae?" His face immediately dropped as he managed to shove both Zoro and Sniper King off, "I'll give it to him tenfold, just leave it to me!" He nodded to Faythe who slightly nodded back.
"R-Right..." Faythe stumbled over her words for some reason. A soft tickle could be felt in her chest at his notion.
Sanji nodded, "Excluding Luffy, there are eight of us. We'll find the six CP9 that are here, get all six keys for Robin-chan's handcuffs, and then meet up with Luffy!!"
Sniper King nodded, "If Robin-kun enters the gate, it's all over. Time is very important here."
Zoro frowned, "It's a waste of time to lose..."
With that everyone began to run off in sync, not wanting to waste another second, "SO WIN, EVEN IF YOU DIE!!" They hyped each other up.
/;/~***~/;/
Everyone had separated into different directions, a short scene played out in Faythe's head as she turned a corner and rushing up a flight of stairs.
"Faythe!"
The red head stopped in her tracks as she turned to Wyper, "Yes?"
"Can you put your hands out." He asked.
Faythe nodded and did as he asked, "What are you doing?"
"Giving you some more leverage." He wrapped around her hand a buckle and strap to restrained her arms into a more lethal position. Also handing her a few snails that he had in his baggy harem pants.
Faythe watched as he helped clip the snails onto her buckle and sash. Her eyes widening as she noticed an impact dial equipped, "You..."
"I trust you know how to use this?"
Faythe nodded.
"Good. Now make it hurt." Wyper patted her head before blasting off down a hallway on his shooters. His massive body build crashing down a door.
Faythe clutched her sash full of fun time toys. A smile blooming on her face as she tried looking for one of the CP9 members.
"The sooner I can find one, the sooner I can beat their ass, and even more sooner I can go hug Robin!!" Faythe saw a door at the end of the hall and rammed her rifle right into the doorknob, knocking the door off his hinges.
Taking a deep breathe she surveyed the room with a more relaxed and proper tone.
"WHOSE READY TO KISS ASS—!??"
Though the chuckle that followed was not her's alone.
"Oh. Looks like I didn't have to find you myself, afterall."
Faythe's entire figure froze at the man's tone. She slowly rose up and turned around. Her eyes falling onto a hand that had closed the door behind her. Following up the arm, she was met with a pair of feline eyes.
"You came flying straight to me."
"Lucci." She released a nervous smile.
"The Bloody Raven." Lucci walked around her slowly, as if he were prowling, "The rumored sibling of the Raven Monarch. Quite a find if I do say so myself." He chuckled lowly.
Faythe watched him carefully, her hand clutching her rifle close to her chest, "Charmed. I'm sure. But... Aren't you supposed to be,.. Oh, I don't know, escorting Robin and that Man Child you call Boss."
Lucci grinned, almost flashing a pair of sharp canines, "I've left my superior and the criminal in good hands. Her power could be rivaled with Kaku if I could scale her capability."
"Well isn't that just great." Faythe hissed, her feet slowly taking her into a slow stride, making sure she was on the opposite side of the room when Lucci kept circling, "I can guess that you also don't have the key to my handcuffs?"
"That would ruin the fun of breaking you into my image," Lucci smirked, his tone going into a more sarcastic and satisfying expression, "Who would want to ruin that?"
"Me." Faythe stopped in her stride—resulting in Lucci to do the same. Her rifle was quickly slung from over her shoulder as she pulled out a specific dial, "BREATH DIAL—!!"
A massive gust of rushing wind was thrown at Lucci as he had to cover his face with his arm. Though because of these strong winds—Which were the wind that was blowing outside the Rocket Train when they were rushing to Enies Lobby—he was pushed back a few paces.
"You—!"
Faythe placed the breath dial on a nearby pillar that faced Lucci, before taking out her rifle and firing at the lock on the door. Scrambling to take it off, Faythe swung the door open, "If you don't have my key, or Robin's, then I have no reason to fight you! Because that's Luffy's job!!" With that she ran off down the hall.
Faythe clutched her arm as she ran, her nerves skyrocketing as she ran scenarios on who was escorting Robin. Since Lucci mentioned a 'she', it narrowed it down to two ladies. One was either Kalifa or that chick who was glaring daggers at her from the roof.
"AGHHH THIS IS SUCH BAD LUCK!!!" She screamed. She felt her alarms ring out in her head as she suddenly ducked down.
Just mere moments later, the same pillar that had the breath dial latched on to it—came hurling through a nearby wall and crashed right where her head was earlier.
Blinking, Faythe slowly turned to look through the hole to see a pissed off Lucci. A mean scowl painted on his face as he glared right at her.
"Oh shit."
She took off running just as Lucci started to sprint after her, "Wait! Wait! Wait! This isn't fair!! I have these cuffs on!!! I can't fly!!" She shrieked when her senses went off again and she slid to the right, dodging a finger bullet that was aimed at her back knee.
Sucking in a harsh wheeze, Faythe veered into to a pair of staircases. Reaching for the rails, she elevated her legs up and twisted so so that she could swing them in a full circle straight at Lucci when he came around the corner.
And just as he did, her feet met contact with his fast reflexes. His hand grabbed hold of her ankle and tossed her against the wall.
Faythe caught herself in the tight space by using her hands to push herself off the wall and spring back with another arial attack.
Pulling a full arch kick, Faythe slammed her heel right into his forearm—before he could even think of casting on that Iron Body—disabling it for a few seconds before landing on the ground beneath him.
Lucci let out a small hiss before trying to throw a quick punch her way while his other arm was immobile.
Faythe twisted around his arm and threw an upper cut.
He dodged it and leapt back to gain distance, "What a very dangerous fighting style... Slowly disarming your opponent and then taking them down swiftly in one fell swoop." He flexed his disabled arm, seeing the color come back as he noticed it started to swell a bit from where she nailed him, "Tell me... Why haven't you used that rifle...? There have been plenty of chances to use it for a killing blow, but you haven't...?" He stroked his chin in petty thought, "Are you afraid to take a life with it? Afraid of the consequences..? No... Or else you wouldn't have that look in your eyes."
"What look...?" Faythe clutched the weapon.
"The look that you've killed before. A look that you wouldn't mind killing someone for another." Lucci smiled coyly at her pointed glare, "So it's not your guilty conscious... It's that weapon... Hm. Pity." In just seconds he had his hand around her throat while she was in mid daze, "We'll just have to get rid of that issue if we want you to join us."
Faythe gritted her teeth at such tactics, "Crap—!" She choked out.
/:/~***~/:/
Right when Robin, Man Child, and the separate CP9 member were about to walk through another set of doors, the member stopped in her tracks as she looked back into the hall.
"Quinn! What are you doing! Come escort me! We don't have time for your silly shenanigans...!!!" Man Child stomped his foot impatiently.
But Quinn stood still as her eyes were trained on the wall.
Just as Man Child was about to make another retort, the wall she had been staring at had exploded as a familiar red head came crashing through.
"AH! It's one of the pirates!"
Robin's eyes brightened, "Faythe!"
Though she quickly recovered as she tucked and rolled to absorb shock damage on her fall. She rolled backwards with her back facing the wall and her eyes trained on the massive hole in the wall.
"Stay back, Robin!!" Faythe called out, her breathing coming out in short takes as she felt like she was being cornered, "I.. I'm not sure I can get you out right now..." She took a small gulp in a small attempt to calm her nerves but it did little in the face of her adversary.
"Hahaha—!! I'm glad you know where you stand...!" Lucci climbed through the hole with a calm poise. He dusted off his sleeves with little thought as Faythe watched him like a Hawk. Her focus on his actions the only thing keeping her alive in her dangerous position.
Lucci watched with a tilted head as he knew he had to make the first move, "Don't disappoint me now, Bloody Raven—!!"
Faythe gritted her teeth as she noticed he disappeared in a blur of speed. But in some spots in the room he would appear to touch the ground and make an action.
Her hair felt a slight breeze as it shift. She instantly whirled and used her sea-stone cuffs as a shield to block against his finger bullet aimed at her back.
She tried fighting against his strength but it proved fruitless as she was sent flying against the wall behind her.
"This! This is the one that you wanted to get revenge on? This pathetic sight...? It's almost laughable, Quinn!" Lucci walked over and grabbed Faythe by the scruff of her collar. Blood was seen dribbling down her forehead from the collision.
Her hands weakly pulled at his wrists, his sleeves, knuckles, curled fingers—anything to get his disgusting touch away from her. The weight of her cuffs were pulling her down but she couldn't stop here. Not with Robin watching with such a desperate look.
"Faythe...!" Robin tried to run forward but she was thrown back into Man Child's clutches by the lady—Quinn.
"This resistance is getting slightly irritating the longer you proceed to do so." Lucci's grip on her collar started to constrict her breathing, "Aren't you getting tired of this little game of Cat n Mouse?"
Faythe felt her bottom lip wobble, frustrated tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, "F-Fuck you...!" She spat at his face.
Lucci frowned, using his free hand to wipe off the saliva from his cheek. His glare aligning with her defiant look, "Seems you just don't know when to quit!" He raised a finger and placed it directly at her forehead.
"NO! FAYTHE!!" Robin struggled against her cuffs.
"Shut it, wench!"
"Hey! You said I would deal the finishing blow if she didn't accept your offer!!" Quinn stepped forward with a nasty scowl on her lips.
"My patience has run thin..." Lucci all but said as Faythe felt her eyes widen—realizing what he was about to do.
"Wait..."
"It's time you began to see just how cruel I can be, Bloody Raven." Lucci smiled twistedly.
"Please..."
"Finger Bull—" Lucci was sucker punched in the face by a speeding fist. The stretched out hand reeled back from a broken wall, and snapped back into place. The CP9 agent was sent flying into a nearby crate, his grip on the redhead loosened—resulting in her falling back against the wall.
The boy tilted his Strawhat up with a scowl on his lips, "Your fight is with me, you bastard."
Faythe gasped at the sight of him. A bright smile blooming on her face, "LUFFY—!!"
Robin felt a breath of fresh air fall from her lips, "Thank god..."
"Damn. Why'd you suddenly punch this wall...??" Wyper coughed out the dust and peered around the room, his eyes falling onto Faythe's position and Robin on the other side, "My lady! Robin-San!"
"THEIR MULTIPLYING—!!" Man child shrieked. Yanking at Robin to follow, she released a small groan as she watched the door close her view on the people left in the room.
Wyper blinked and was confused on how they were gonna do this, "I knew this was gonna get ugly."
/:/~***~/:/
AWWWWW SHIT!
YA'LL READY!?
We bout to have a showdown!!
And Quinn is introduced!! Can't wait to plop her in with lost and forgotten foreshadowing!!
Hope y'all enjoyed the Cat n Mouse chase!!
Word Count:(3162)