~General~
The marines and government agents stopped what they were doing. Everything was silent for a moment.
Shooting down the flag representing the world government was a clear act of war, this would paint an enormous target onto the back of the pirate.
This wasn't on their mind for long, though. Because suddenly, everything shook. It felt as if the planet itself was protesting.
Those of weak will started dropping like flies. Those, who withstood the pressure saw a single handsome man on a tiny boat, formed like a croissant, entering through the gates he just blew open with a single fist. And he looked pissed.
~Luffy~
He felt it before the man even arrived.
A foreboding feeling, that he only ever experienced, when his grandpa was especially angry.
Someone strong was coming, someone he couldn't beat. He would try if he was an enemy, Luffy was no coward after all.
But he was sure, as sure as never before, that if he had to fight this person, he'd likely die.
A light crunch was the first sign of arrival, and only those with exceptionally well developed senses could even hear it.
Then came the explosion of the gate, inwards it flew and skipped over the water as if it was a flat stone, like those, that he learned to throw correctly from Sabo.
His words though, they brought a facesplitting smile to Luffy's face.
Robin was his nakama, well that made him Luffy's nakama too.
~Robin~
Robin, standing on top of the tower by now, immediately recognised him.
It was no one else but Charlotte Croquant, the young man who kept her afloat in the chaotic sea that was her life.
Standing just above 2 metres in height, he was slightly above average in that regard.
His pale blue hair was spiking upwards, giving him a wild charm in combination with his handsome visage, usually set in a lazy grin.
Not at this moment, though.
His features set in a scowl with his blood red eyes glinting with malice, he spoke, barely above a ragefilled whisper, yet it travelled all the way up to her.
"What do you think you are doing to my best friend?..."
The pressure on them increased as a vein popped on his temple.
With a voice harsher than anything she had ever heard from him, he pressed out.
"What are you doing to my family?!"
He considered her as close as family? Even though she kept him at distance until even now?
The emotional turmoil was simply too much. First, the unconditional support from the strawhats, not even a single one had even flinched while they declared war on the world government.
And now the person who, over the years, had become her pillar of stability had rushed to her aid. She couldn't take it anymore.
With tears streaming down her face, she screamed out: "I WANT TO LIVE!! Take me with you onto the seas, captain!"
~Croquant~
And that was all he needed to hear. Robin would sail with the strawhats, of that he was sure. He'd make sure of that after all.
Wave after wave of raging Haoshoku crashed against the marines.
Even as pissed off as he was, he had enough control over his Haki to not directly target those, who came to Robins rescue.
Those, who were targeted and still conscious, had never felt anything like this. All their instincts were screaming at them to get as far away from him as possible.
With his Kenbonshoku, he was able to cover the whole of Enies Lobby and more, so he perceived their frantic movements and desperate emotions.
The only ones, who had a semblance of calm, were CP9. Well, except for Spandam, who had already fainted with the first wave of Haoshoku.
Idly, he thought, that there were some good seedlings hidden here.
The application of Haoshoku, that he used was only the most basic of the basics.
A simple wave of reduced potency, followed by three more waves with increasing strength. Those, who never even heard of haki, and still managed to stay conscious throughout the first three waves, had a firm will.
CP9 managed to, but that was nearly a given with the indoctrination and mental training they went through. What surprised him was, that there were two others who managed to hold on until the last wave.
'They felt like the good kind of righteous, so I'll let them live. I hope they don't loose themselves in the corrupt cess pool called Marines.'
As he stepped from his boat to continue his rescue, he felt CP9 arrive in front of him.
"Scram, or I'll show you what I can do when I really mean it..." he growled.
'They won't back off. They may have unique personalities, but they are basically drones of the world government, they only have a very limited range of Independence.'
True to his thoughts, they simply fell into a battle ready stance.
What they didn't expect was him phasing out of existance and reappearing behind them.
Well that's what it looked like to them at least. They also didn't expect for this so be the last thing they'd ever see.
'As if those scrubs could even touch me.' He scoffed internally. If he had trouble with someone, that the strawhats managed to beat pre timeskip, then he might as well commit suicide.
As he looked up, he could see Robin near the top of the Tower of Justice, breaking down for the first time since forever.
He felt compassionate about her situation, but he had a hard time empathising with her at the moment. Oh, he knew this was a trauma for her. Logically at least.
Emotionally, for her to not contact him when she was about to die was borderline betrayal from his point of view.
They went through a lot together.
The least she could have done was contacting him one last time.
Of course, he knew, she likely thought, he'd assault Enies Lobby, should he know she was there.
An absolutely accurate assumption, as the present situation proved.
But even so... He sighed.
He could understand her point of view, but he wasn't quite ready to let it go yet.
'Emotions truly are a complicated concept.' He thought and kicked the ground.
Within less than a second, he stood beside Robin. "Let's go, your friends are waiting..." His voice came out harsher than intended, and her reaction sent a small pang of guilt through him.
She looked at him with tearfilled eyes and a startled gasp. She then nodded silently, reading the mood and refraining from actually talking to him.
She stiffened slightly when he pulled her into a loose hug and whispered.
"Let's talk later. I'm happy you are safe."
After those words, she relaxed slightly.
The monstrously powerful minister of foreign cuisine looked down at her hands, cuffed together with seastone, with a frown.
"Hold still." He ordered and put his hands onto the cuffs.
He wasn't yet as experienced with Internal Destruction as he would have liked to be, but for something like this, it was enough.
Robin looked down in wonder as the seastone she was bound with simply crumbled to dust.
He pulled her into his arms again and prepared to geppo them down to meet the strawhats. Of course, he didn't forget to take the struggling Franky, who witnessed the happenings silently, with them.
"Oy, let me go!" The Cyborg shouted, only to look down and change his mind.
"Oy, don't let me go, keep suuuuper carrying me!"