Chapter 68: Battle on the Train

Chapter 74:

Battle on the Train

"Dammit," Nami cried, glaring at the spot in the distance that was the Puffing Tom. "We missed them. How are we supposed to get Robin back now?"

"We'll figure something out," Luffy stated, pulling her close. Usopp stood by, equal parts sad, angry, and awkward due being the third wheel. Two conductors watched them from the shadows, trying to come up with their own interpretation of the event.

("Who do you think that Robin is?"

"Could it be that that guy has two girlfriends? And that Robin is the other one?"

"No way! She's probably with that long-nosed guy!"

"Impossible! He looks more awkward than distraught!")

"We're too late, aren't we, Don Luffy?" The three pirates sadly glanced backwards at the voice, finding the rest of their crew (minus Sanji) at the bottom of the steps with Granny Kokoro, Chimney and her pet, and several Galley-La shipwrights including Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone. Gin was once again wearing his headband since the rain that had begun was messing with his powers, making him an electrical hazard for his friends. Amy had woken up, but Chopper had still insisted on carrying her while she recovered.

"Captain Luffy?" Coby questioned, getting the teen's attention. "We found out why Robin did what she did."

"Why?" Usopp asked.

"She was trying to protect us," Zoro stated. "She turned herself in so that we could all leave safely. She didn't know about the Merry being at the end of her life."

"We will get her back," Luffy growled. "I don't care who gets in our way."

"Now hold on, Straw Hat," Paulie ordered. "You can't go out in a storm like this. If we gave you our best ship, you might have been able to survive a normal Aqua Laguna, but this is the worst storm Water 7 has ever seen."

"We have the world's best navigator on our crew," Luffy boasted. "We'd survive this storm in anything. But that doesn't matter. If you're not going to give us a ship, then we'll take one by force."

"Nagagagaga!" Granny Kokoro laughed at the declaration, breaking the tension that had formed between the pirates and the shipwrights. Taking a swig from the bottle at alcohol in her hand, she hiccupped and said, "Now, now, kid. Paulie's right on this one. Going out there in a ship is suicide. You'd need a sea train build by a legend. Luckily, I have one."

"You have another sea train?" all the adults gasped simultaneously.

"Yeah. *hic* Yeah, I do. Follow me." The woman turned and trudged up the stairs. Confused and excited for various reasons, the rest of the crowd followed her. She lead the way to a hidden workshop, only to find that someone had beaten them there. Out of an old train came Iceberg, covered in sweat and grease.

"Well, it looks like I was right," he commented, dropping onto a bench as the pirates looked over the train. Unlike the Puffing Tom, this train was rather crudely built with a pointed nose and shark teeth. It only had one compartment attached to the train itself. "I've put her in the best shape I could with the time, but there's still no guarantee that you'll survive the ride."

"This is Rocketman," Kokoro introduced. "She's a runaway train."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Coby asked.

"Rocketman was the failed prototype of the Puffing Tom," Iceberg explained. "There's no way to control her speed."

"Then it's a good thing we don't care for subtlety," Amy smiled.

"Everyone get on the train!" Luffy ordered. "We're getting Robin back!"

"Now wait a minute!" Paulie tried. "This is your last chance to turn back! Do you even know what island they're taking Nico Robin to? Enies Lobby!"

"I don't give a shit," Luffy spat. "They could take her to Raftel and I would chase them down. No one messes with my Nakama."

"You'd be all but declaring war on the World Government!" Lulu cried.

"After what the government pulled here, I think it's deserved," Gin put in.

"Our crew does the impossible every week," Gin chuckled. "We killed God last month. Declaring war on the world is almost disappointing after that."

"You did what?!" Paulie yelled while Amy laughed at his reaction. "And you two!" He pointed at Nami and Amy. "Put some pants on!"

"We're wasting time," Zoro snapped. "Every second we wait, Robin gets a little bit further away."

"Straw Hat!" Out of the stairs fell Zanbai and the rest of the Franky Family, all of them bandaged from the beating the Straw Hats had put them through. "Take us with you, Straw Hat! They have Big Bro Franky! Please, let us come with you to try to save him! We're begging you!"

"Ok," Luffy shrugged. "Get on."

"What?!" the shipwrights yelled. "Are you crazy?!"

"...Maybe a little?" Grace answered.

"But, Straw Hat, we-" Zanbai stopped cold. "Wait. Did you say yes?"

"Yeah," the pirate tilted his head. "We both need to save someone precious to us. Why not to it together? Get on."

"We don't actually need the train," Zanbai waved off. "We'll follow you with our King Bulls when you depart. Thanks, Straw Hat!" The Franky Family turned and left quickly, presumably to get the "King Bulls" Zanbai had mentioned.

"Alright." With another shrug, Luffy boarded Rocketman and the rest of his crew followed. Kokoro climbed into the conductor's seat and, with Coby and Gin shoveling coal, began the departure.

"Hurry up!" Luffy shouted impatiently. "To this Lobby place to rescue Robin!"

"Did you have to shoot that bar into the train?" Amy demanded, indicating the connection shot that the Franky Family had lodged in the back of the train, her question receiving shrugs from Zanbai and the Square Sisters. Rocketman was proving its name as it thundered down the tracks while pulling along the Franky Family's portable home and King Bulls, Sodom and Gomorrah. The pirates, Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbi (who had snuck on), and Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone were in the compartment discussing their plans. "And why are you guys here?" she added.

"RAAGH!" Tilestone yelled. "WE WANTED TO COME ALONG BECAUSE THOSE GOVERNMENT GUYS TRIED TO KILL ICEBERG! RAAGH!"

"Keep your voice down, Tilestone!" Paulie shouted.

"We still aren't sure exactly who they are," Lulu muttered, flattening some stray hairs on the right side of his head only for some to pop up from his moustache, "but we have a pretty good idea who it is."

"I… You guys you guys deserve the truth," Paulie sighed. "I don't want to shock you, though."

"JUST TELL US!" Tilestone roared.

"It was Lucci, Khalifa, Kaku, and Blueno from the bar."

"WHAT?!" the other two shipwrights gasped.

"You mean you didn't know that?!" Paulie demanded.

"You said they went home! We thought it was Bill and Ted from the backstreets!"

"You believed that?!"

"It doesn't matter," Luffy stated, interrupting their conversation. "I know that we fought both the Franky Family and Galley-La back in Water 7, but now we're allies with a common goal. We fight together." Luffy stuck his right arm out, palm down.

"Right," Zanbai agreed, quickly placing his one arm over Luffy's. "I'd risk my life for Franky; I'll do anything to get him back."

"Galley-La stands with you, Straw Hat," Paulie nodded, putting his own hand in. "Those government dogs are going to pay for attacking Iceberg."

"Alright," Luffy smiled, dropping his arm. "Chopper, make sure everyone's good to go. We have a long day ahead of us."

BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... CA-LICK

"Hello?" Nami greeted, opening the shell on her wrist.

"Hey," Sanji replied through the snail, the invertebrate somehow breathing smoke. "I'm on the sea train."

"You're what?" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp sputtered.

"Yeah, I've got this Franky guy, too. He's a little ruffed up, though."

"Big Bro Franky!" Zanbai cried, grabbing Nami's wrist to talk through the snail. Luffy glared at him for the action.

"Zanbai!" Franky answered.

"Sanji, we found out why Robin left," Nami stated, becoming serious and yanking her arm from Zanbai. "She's trying to sacrifice herself so we can get away." Sanji was silent for a minute, the sound of Franky crying about something being the only sound.

"Captain?" Sanji asked.

"Go ahead," Luffy answered. "We can't stop you."

"Oi, Love Cook!" Zoro jumped in before they could hang up. "Don't get yourself killed. I don't want to have to eat crappy food while we try to find a new cook."

"Whatever you say, Marimo." The snail went to sleep, severing the call.

"Hey, Bro!" Franky yelled, the rain and wind doing nothing to ruin his ice-blue hair. "I wanted to talk to Straw Hat!"

"Too bad," Sanji answered, glaring at the cyborg through the rain. "I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to Usopp."

"That was my boys, not me," Franky responded before gaining a sheepish look. "Oh, that reminds me. All that money you all had on your ship is back at my place. I kind of took your ship to try to lure out Straw Hat and decided to take your money while I was at it."

"And that reminds me, asshole," Sanji growled. "You mentioned the Merry when those government bastards had you. What was that about?"

"You don't know?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you."

"Fine, fine," Franky surrendered, holding up his arms. "Geeze. Tell me, have you ever heard of a klabautermann?"

"A what?" Sanji questioned.

"They're also known as Wood Fairies," the cyborg explained. "They only-"

"Ah! They're up here!" The government had found them.

"Mutton Shot!" Before the man could warn his companions, Sanji's leg shot forward, kicking the marine off the train. "Shit. We'll have to continue this another time."

"Uh, sure," Franky sighed. "Let's go." With a nod from Sanji, the two took off toward the back of the train. "So what's the plan, Cook-Bro?"

"Just play along," the blond ordered as the two dropped onto the end of the caboose. Sanji knocked on the door.

"Hello~!" Sanji called, waving at the man who opened the door before the cook slammed it shut. Franky quickly nailed boards to it to keep the door shut. The two climbed the latter back up as gunshots began and a perfectly-square cut separated the door from the rest of the train. With a smile, Sanji locked the door two cars down and separated them from the rest of the train. The others would handle them.

"That was cars 6 and 7," Franky commented. "Only five more to go."

"Then let's get started." The chef opened the door, the sound of several guns clicking filling the air. His one visible eye widening, Sanji dove to the side as the government agents let loose. Franky, however, did not, the bullets hitting him with the sound of metal striking metal. Despite being shot at, Franky grabbed the seat on his right, tore it up from the floor, and threw it at their opponents. The stop in the firing was all the time Sanji needed to rush in and finish off the remaining agents in the car.

"What are you?" the pirate asked, turning to his new ally.

"I forgot to mention that, didn't I?" Franky chuckled. "I'm a cyborg."

"Huh," Sanji grunted. "Just when you thought you'd seen it all." With a shrug, the two men exited the car and separated it as well. With car five gone, that only left four others.

No problem, right?

Rocketman sped forward for about ten minutes, giving the Straw Hats and their allies plenty of time to prepare for battle. Paulie was not ok with the women's chosen battle attire, even if Nami was the only one to change clothing into a short, brown dress (while using Luffy and his stretchyness as a divider), but Lulu, Tilestone, and Zanbai were very ok with it, and that earned each of them a punch from Luffy for looking at the navigator.

"Captain Luffy!" Coby called from the window where he was on watch. "There's a stationary train car or two ahead with a Marine Captain standing on the tracks. He's got a sword."

"I'll handle it," Zoro yawned, stretching before climbing out the window. Coby followed to watch.

"Halt!" the marine ordered, his ripped cape fluttering in the wind. He was a tall, gaunt man with grey skin, making him hard to see in the cloudy night. A centurion's helmet sat on his head with blue adornments fluttering in the howling wind, but the man never wavered from his straight posture. "I am Marine Captain Teebone! I hate crooked men like you and crooked swordplay! Right Angle Slash!"

"Three Sword Style: 108 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro's flying slash cut through the marine's perfectly-vertical one as well as his sword while going over the marine's head to cut both cars perfectly in half.

"My men!" Teebone cried worriedly. "I will save you!" He dove into the water, out of the way of the runaway sea train.

"Bye!" Luffy and Usopp waved from the windows.

"Sorry about that!" Coby apologized. "I hope your men are ok!"

"Damn you, you crooked pirates!"

Wonzai the cook of CP5 landed in a crumpled heap in the middle of car 3 where CP9 had been sitting in silence. The eyes of the agents turned to the smoking blond that had kicked the man as he stepped out of the kitchen car and onto the third. A second later, Nero, CP9's newest recruit, was smashed through the ceiling of the third car with Franky on top and his metal fist in the Sea Weasel's face.

"That was one Hell of an entrance," Sanji commented as the cyborg stood. "What have you been up to?"

"Ow! You know, kicking ass like usual," Franky responded, kicking his defeated opponent so he came to rest by the fallen cook. "You?"

"Kicking ass," Sanji replied nonchalantly.

"I recognize this moron, somewhat," Lucci spat, kicking Wonzai onto his back. Despite the changes to his face that Sanji's kicks had done, he was still somewhat the same and his hair hadn't been affected. "Who is this moron, though?"

"That is Nero, the Sea Weasel," Khalifa provided, unnecessarily adjusting her glasses. "He is supposed to be CP9's newest recruit. He has gone through training and has mastered four of the six powers."

"You won't get away with this," the wounded rookie coughed, blood soaking into the train's rug beneath him as he turned to glare at Franky. "I'll teach you what happens when you cross me!"

"...Khalifa."

"Yes, Lucci?"

"On the official report, say that the new recruit was too weak and that he was killed in battle with the Straw Hat Pirates."

"Yes, sir," the woman responded, making a note on a clipboard.

"And you," Lucci directed his attention on the man trying to get up. "You are a disappointment. I'll give you three seconds to run for your life."

"What?" Nero questioned. "Who am I running from?"

"One," Lucci began. "Two."

"Shave!" Nero cried, running as a blur toward Sanji and Franky.

"Three. Finger Pistol." In a flash, Lucci had caught up to the weasel-like man and stabbed him in the back with his finger. Nero coughed more blood as he died.

Lucci had stabbed his finger into the man's heart.

With an unmerciful grunt, the agent ripped his finger out of the man's body and chucked it out the window. With blood dripping down his hand, the former shipwright turned to the intruders.

"Unfortunately, we have been ordered to not kill you. That was part of our agreement with Nico Robin. Cutty Flam, however, will still be coming with us. If you know what's good for you, pirate, you'll turn around right now and leave."

"Sorry," Sanji growled, "but I can't do that. There's a beautiful member of our crew waiting for me in the car in front of you."

"Kaku," Lucci ordered.

"Shave," the long-nosed man muttered, blurring out of sight. "Finger Pistol." Sanji didn't have any time to react as the agent's pointer finger buried itself in his side, missing all the vitals.

"Sorry about this," Kaku apologized. "Nothing personal. Just business." With a flick of his wrist, the ginger threw the chef out the same window Nero's body had smashed.

"Eyebrows!" Franky yelled. "You bastards!" The cyborg charged the agents, but it was no use. Just like when they'd captured him the first time, Khalifa wrapped him up in her spiked whip within a matter of seconds.

"Blueno, put him in the first car with Nico Robin," Lucci ordered. The bull-like man nodded and grabbed the struggling cyborg before exiting the car.

Next stop: Enies Lobby and the Gates of Justice.

End of Chapter 74

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods