đ If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon! I'm offering advanced chapters there as a thank-you to readers.
--------------------
Check out advanced chapters on : patreon.com/Veni_V
---------------
"Gyahaha! The Ox-Ox Fruit: Model Giraffe, how's it feel to be a giraffe-man? I told you not to eat that fruit!" The wolf laughed.
"Shut it, Jabra. I like it," Kaku replied, standing on two legs.
"Lucci's a leopard, and these two are animal Zoan types too. This place is a friggin' zoo!" Ikki groaned, looking at the scene.
"How long are you two gonna argue?" Zoro asked impatiently. "We're in a hurry, so can I just cut you in half now?"
"You underestimate the destructive power of the giraffe," Kaku said, standing tall.
"Those two words don't even go together," Ikki told him.
"Transform: Human-Beast Form!" Kaku yelled.
He stood on two legs, and that was about it.
"Is this some kind of joke?!" Zoro yelled.
"Go back to the circus, freak!" Ikki told him, cringing. "You're gonna show up in my nightmares for months."
"What did you just say?" Kaku asked, his face twisting.
"Stay focused," Zoro warned Ikki. "If you don't, you could get hurt."
"I can take care of myself," Ikki shot back.
"Gyahaha!" The wolf-man laughed at his friend and his hideous form.
"How long are you gonna keep laughing, Jabra!" Kaku growled back.
Click. A pair of handcuffs locked around Zoro's wrist.
"What the...?" Zoro looked down in confusion.
"Sorry!" Usopp yelled, "Those are Seastone handcuffs. I thought we'd be able to stick them together and weaken them."
"Then why did you attach them to Zoro?!" Ikki asked, his eye twitching.
"It was an accident!" Usopp cried out.
"I've had enough!" Kaku began to spin in place. "Tempest Kick: Sky Slicer!"
"Usopp, get down!" Zoro tackled the long-nosed man, and Ikki jumped behind a rock just as a massive shockwave flew over them, slicing through the building's roof.
Look at the ceiling, Zoro said in a low voice.
"Why can I see the sky?" Usopp said, his teeth chattering.
"He cut the whole building!" Ikki said, stunned. "They're so powerful!"
"So what," Zoro said, pushing himself up. "We can still take them."
Click.
They all slowly adjusted and looked down at the new situation.
"What have you done?!" Ikki yelled.
"I'm sorry!" Usopp cried out again.
Zoro and Usopp had become stuck together with the handcuffs.
"This is your fault," Usopp said, pointing an accusing finger. "You tackled me."
"Because you were about to get your head cut off! Hurry up and get these things off us!" Zoro yelled, trying to pull away.
"I don't have the key!" Usopp wailed.
"You dumbass!" Ikki yelled, grabbing Usopp's neck. "Now you're both stuck like Robin!"
"What's the number on the cuffs?" Kaku asked. "Each set of cuffs and keys has a corresponding number, which is on yours."
"Number 2," Usopp said.
The two men looked at their keys. "Not mine," Jabra said.
"It ain't mine either," Kaku grumbled.
"That means one of the other members has it," Ikki said.
"Whoever kills them first is the winner!" the two changed back into hybrid mode and attacked.
"Do something!" Zoro said.
"Dagger Storm!" Ikki threw out a barrage of knives, but the two just ran through them like nothing. "It didn't work!" Ikki said, running with Zoro and Usopp.
"What are you doing?" Chopper asked. "It looks like fun."
"Chopper, go find key number two!" Usopp yelled.
"I can stay and fight with Ikki," Chopper said, joining them in running around the room.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ikki told him. "Kill two birds with one stone. Take out a member of CP9 and find the key we need."
"The cook, Nami, Wyper, or Franky. One of them has to have it," Zoro said, trying to get away from his opponent.
"You can count on me," Chopper said, running off.
Ikki stopped running and blocked the sharp fingers of Jabra, creating some space between the wolf-man and the others.
"Down, boy," Ikki said, slipping another knife out of his sleeve. "Hidden Blade!"
The shiv cut Jabra's wrist and spilled some blood.
"You little bitch. Finger Pistol!"
"Gah!" The attack went through Ikki's jacket and dug into his side.
"Bladed Jacket!" Ikki pulled a loose string, and the knives in the lining of the jacket emerged, forcing Jabra to jump back.
"What the hell!" Jabra yelled, looking at the jacket.
"This jacket was a gift from my uncle. Each nook and cranny has a knife hidden in it somewhere. You might be a wolf, but I'm like a porcupine," Ikki reached inside and pulled another string. "Emergency Maneuver: Needle Storm!"
The jacket exploded and showered hundreds of tiny daggers into the room. Ikki threw off the now tattered jacket, leaving him in just a tank top.
"That was my final technique. If I need a blade, all I need to do is pick one up off the floor. The only problem is now I can't use more than a few at a time."
"What the hell, you almost hit us!" Zoro and Usopp yelled.
"You two just wait for Chopper. I'll hold them off until then."
"Are you sure they took Robin through this door?" Franky asked.
"Yeah, but you need a key to open it. I'm sorry," Chimney said.
"No worries, Chimney, you did well," Franky told the girl. "Leave the door to us."
"You two get back," Luffy told her.
"Break it down," Franky said sternly.
Luffy bit his finger. "Third Gear: Bone Balloon!"
Luffy blasted down the door with one punch before shrinking to the size of a small child.
"Good job, let's go," Franky said, picking him up.
Luffy climbed up and plopped down on Franky's head. "Shrinking sucks."
"Please don't sit there, or at least hang on. We're about to go much faster."
"Onward, my noble steed!" Luffy cheered.
"Don't call me that, you make it sound weird. Anyway, let's go! Shave! I'm coming, Robin!"
"So, I meant to ask you," Luffy said. "What are you gonna do once we rescue Robin?"
"What do you mean?" Franky asked.
"Well, are you gonna take her out for meat? Can I come?!"
"Well, I did say I would take her out, but I'll do it alone. You can't come. Who knows how bad you'd embarrass me in front of Robin."
"Not more than you'd embarrass yourself," Luffy joked.
Franky slowed down as Luffy changed back to his normal size.
"What does that mean?" Franky growled.
"I just mean you'll probably get all nervous and do something dumb. Not that Robin cares; she likes you too much to be bothered by that."
"Since when are you a love guru?" Franky asked.
"Well, that's just all the stuff Nami says," Luffy answered. "She says you two need to stop with the song and dance and make out already."
"Whoa! A little fast for that. Nami's gonna get an earful when we get done here. She shouldn't be telling you things like that," Franky replied, blushing.
"Once we save Robin, I'm gonna make sure you kiss her," Luffy laughed.
"Shut it, runt. We wouldn't want Nami to find you sleeping in her bed one morning, would we?" Franky threatened with a smirk.
"You wouldn't dare," Luffy said, a little scared.
"Then you better not embarrass me in front of Robin, and we won't have a problem."
Luffy and Franky ran the rest of the way in silence until they came to a door.
"This one's not steel. I can take care of it. Whip Crush!" Franky busted through the door with his powerful attack.
"This room's wide open?" Luffy pointed out, looking around.
"It's like an arena," Franky added.
"Welcome," a man with a pigeon on his shoulder said.
"Pigeon guy!" Luffy yelled.
"Lucci!" Franky shouted.
"Wide Burst!" Wyper fired off the bazooka to knock back the two men chasing them.
"Franky Triangle Jacker!" Franky threw his sideburns at Fukuro, but the man disappeared. "He dodged!"
"Like I'd be hit by an attack like that," Fukuro said, blocking the man's punch with his forearm.
"Tempest Kick!" Wyper slid under the wave and skated towards Nero.
"Impact!"
"Iron Body!" Nero braced himself.
The dial fired, but it had almost no effect.
How can they take it like it's nothing? Wyper thought.
"Rah!" Franky threw Fukuro into Nero.
"White Hot Cone!" Wyper blasted the two men with his laser. "Get to the kitchen!"
"You're not going anywhere," Nero said, recovering.
Franky was close to the door when Fukuro appeared in front of him again.
"Finger Pistol: Solid Beast!"
Franky got punched in the face but shook it off like nothing.
"Strong Right!"
Nero pulled himself out of the rubble that the last blast created and fired two pistols at Wyper. Wyper jumped over the bullets.
"Jet Kick!" Wyper spun around and kicked at Nero with his skate.
"Iron Body!"
Wyper flipped and landed behind Nero.
"Axe Dial!" The blast cut into Nero's back.
"Impact!" Wyper blasted Nero through the wall and skated after him, aiming his bazooka. "Precision Saw!"
"Moon Walk!" Nero kicked the air and avoided the laser. "Tempest Kick!"
Wyper once again slid under the wave and attacked, "Jet Kick!"
He knocked Nero across the room when Franky burst through the wall and buried him in more stone.
"Oh, sweet, the kitchen!" Franky yelled, looking around the room.
Another wall broke, and Chopper and a large man came through.
"A gorilla?" Franky asked.
Chopper locked the man who was attacking him and locked him in the fridge.
"Yeah!" Chopper said proudly.
"Kumadori?!" The man yelled from inside the fridge.
"Dammit, gorilla, I needed something from the fridge!" Franky yelled.
"Ahh, it's the punk!"
"My name's Franky! I'm your ally, you stupid gorilla!"
"Who are you calling a gorilla?" Kumadori yelled back, offended.
"We don't have time for this, you two," Wyper said. "We need to get it together to save Robin. Franky needs cola to fight at full strength."
"I want to save her," Chopper cried.
"Then get me three bottles of cola from the fridge," Franky said.
"What idiot gets stronger with soda?!" Kumadori asked in disbelief.
"This one," Wyper shrugged.
"It's rude to ignore your opponent during battle. Solid Beast!"
Franky got tackled to the ground and began to get pulverized.
"Double Tempest Kick!"
One of the waves cut at Wyper's arm, but he avoided the other one.
"Wide Burst!" Wyper fired off a cannonball at Nero, but he jumped over it and pointed his pistols at him.
Nothing is doing any real damage, Wyper thought.
"SUPER~!" Franky yelled, sending the two men flying.
"What the hell was that?" Nero and Wyper both said, confused.
"Strong Hammer!"
Fukuro came flying past and crashed into Nero, sending them both out onto the balcony.
"Hey, wait," Chopper said. "We need to find key number 2. Zoro and Usopp are locked together."
"Those idiots. At least we know what key we don't need for Robin," Wyper mumbled, heading out to the balcony.
"Shave!" Nero suddenly appeared in front of Wyper and punched him in the stomach. Then he grabbed him and threw him off the ledge.
"Crap!" Wyper landed on the ground just shy of falling into the abyss below.
"Tempest Kick!"
"GAH!" The wave hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground.
"Impact!" Wyper blasted Nero off of him. "Screw you, cat man."
"Your toys are a pain in the ass," Nero fired his guns. "Just die!"
"White Hot Cone!" Wyper melted the bullets before they got near him.
"Shave!" Nero appeared in the air behind him and kicked him in the back of the head and sat on his body.
"Axe Dial!"
"Iron Body!"
The slash bounced off.
It went through last time. What stopped it? Did he get stronger?
"I will redeem myself! So what if I can't use Finger Pistol, an old-fashioned gun does just as well!"
He's gonna blow my brains out!
Click. "Ah, crap, it's empty!"
"Impact!" Wyper yelled, blasting him.
"I need that key now; hand it over," Wyper said, getting up. "And by the way, if you're gonna use a weapon, take proper care of it. That gun's not empty, it jammed because it clearly wasn't maintained properly."
"Why would I? It's just some cheap toy. Why do you even care? All the intel says that you just joined these people; you should just leave them behind."
"I can't do that. A friend needs me. Back home, my friends were all I had; I can't face them if I abandon the ones I've made down here. I tried to sacrifice my friends back during the fight against Enel.
That was wrong. I trust my friends, and they trust me; I won't abandon them! I don't want to walk over the bodies of dead comrades!" Wyper yelled. "I am a warrior of Shandora! I...AM A STRAWHAT PIRATE!"
"What a pathetic sentiment," Nero joked.
Wyper skated forward, jumped, and pinned Nero's arms with his legs. "I'm not supposed to do this. Chopper said it's no good for my arm, but..."
Wyper shoved the dial in his face.
"That won't work! Iron Body!"
"Eat this! Reject!"
This has to go through.
"GAH!" The blast blew Nero into the stone stairs, cracking them as he impacted it.
"My arm is killing me," Wyper stumbled over and picked the key out from under Nero's hat. "One down, who knows how many to go."