You were walking through the carts of the Sea train sneakily without letting the government agents notice. Before you went on separate ways, you gave Nami, Iceburg, and Paulie a communication device you made to insert in your ear.
"Nami, have you found the others yet??" you asked, speaking through the device.
"No, I haven't. I found a note from Sanji saying that he and Ghin have gotten onto the Sea Train and Usopp and some arrogant thug with a ducktail is there" she replied.
You sweatdropped. That thug she's talking about is Franky. The ducktail is enough for you to recognize it. You shrugged. You'll let her figure it out herself.
"Oh, wait. I think I see something . . ." Nami said.
"What is it?? What do you see??" you questioned.
"I see something between the buildings . . .is. . . Is that Luffy??"
"You found him??"
"He's stuck between two buildings. That idiot!!"
You could hear some yelling and background noises but decided to call off and focus on finding Franky and Usopp.
_________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile~
"Robin's got a bounty on her head. No matter where she's taken, she'll see hell beyond that point!! Each moment we sit here talking, she gets closer to the Gates of Justice!! There's no way we can wait until morning!!" Nami yelled.
There was silence for a while as Paulie and Nami stared at each other in the eyes until he spoke up. "If you know that much, I've got only one thing to say. Even if the sea were calm and you were able to sail out, you shouldn't go there. Don't forget that you are pirates" he continued. "As you said, Enies Lobby is the front door that leads to the World Government's hub. Naturally, battle lines are drawn up taking that into account. No pirate would think to get back crew members taken to that island because it crystal clear what would happen"
Paulie hardened his glare and yelled, "Are you trying to pick a fight with the hub of the World Government?!"
"H-He's right!! You should give up!!" One of the people shouted.
"You can't sail out until morning because of Aqua Laguna!!"
"Even if you go after them, you'll get killed!!"
"There's no chance of you guys surviving!!"
Shouts of protest were heard from the people supporting Paulie's claim while Luffy's eyes were shadowed by his hat.
"Luffy . . ." Nami muttered.
"Then we'll . . ." Luffy got into his fighting stance and declared, "Steal a ship and go!!"
A massive wave of water comes crashing in, knocking some of the people behind Paulie out of the ground.
"We're gonna sail out now!!"
Paulie stared with his glare still hardened.
"Our friends are waiting!! Don't stand in our way!!"
"Wha-"
"Does he wanna fight?"
"Boy, that scared me"
Paulie grabbed his ropes, preparing to fight. "Fine. I'll take you on!!
The rest of the Straw hats all grabbed their weapons to prepare to help Luffy in the fight until they were stopped by the old lady named Kokoro.
"It's you who's wrong here, Straw hat. Paulie is right, you idiot" she said.
"Shut up!! It's none of-" Luffy retorted but was cut off by Kokoro.
"None of my business, huh?? Well, listen. If we let you be, you're going to risk your lives, aren't you?? Look, if there exists a ship that can get through Aqua Laguna, it could only be a sea train built by a legendary man"
"But it's not here right now!! That's why we're trying to go in a ship!!"
Kokoro turned around and said, "If you're prepared to die, then come with me. I'll give you a ride . . .on a sea train!!"
"You should follow her, guys"
A voice spoke up as Nami and Paulie looked around but realized that you were speaking in the comms.
"(First Name)??" Nami tapped on the comm.
"I heard everything from the comms, even the rough conversation with Kokoro-san. I just got the news from Iceburg. He just finished servicing the sea train that you guys were talking about" you informed.
"Iceburg did?!" Paulie exclaimed.
You hummed and said as you grinned, "All three of us are thinking the same thing. We just can't help giving idiots a hand, can we??" then you laughed. "Now go. We don't have much time before Robin reaches the Gates of Justice"
Nami nodded and told the rest of the Straw hats the news. Luffy grinned widely and followed Kokoro to the warehouse.
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Iceburg was tightening the rusty loosened pipes at the warehouse with his hammer as he listened in on the conversation.
"Hahaha, you hear that Iceburg?? They're fools but not the type to abandon their friends. Even going against the World Government" you said as you blocked off the comm with Nami and Paulie.
"Well, as you said, we can't help giving idiots a hand, can we??"
You grinned and chuckled. Iceburg then asked, "(First Name) . . ."
"Hm??"
"When we first met, was your unmasked self the real you or a facade??"
You were silent. "That was the real me. Arsene is also the real me but it's a front when facing the Marines and the World Government. I truly never liked them in the first place but I became the so-called government dog just to get the Marines off my back and set my plan in place. I can't tell you everything considering that the blueprints are already a heavy burden to carry for you" You sighed and then continued. "It's not that I don't trust you, Iceburg. Due to the rumors about me and what the government told the public, I have quite a bad reputation but the main reason for not telling you is mainly because I was scared"
Iceburg didn't say anything as he finished with the pipes and now turned the wheel. You took it to be silent as well.
"Then . . .that was enough for me"
"Huh??"
"If everything that you said is genuine, then that's enough for me to believe you. Even if you're the rumored Shichibukai, you're still the same woman the whole company had known. Including me" he said.
You smiled. "Thanks, Iceburg. To be honest, I was nervous about how you would react when you found out"
"With all the things I had seen today, it was understandable for your case. You didn't want to bring any trouble nor harm us, unlike the ones that betrayed me"
You hummed in response. "Oh, I gotta go, Iceburg. I just found both Franky and Usopp all tied up!! And hold on, is that Sanji and Ghin??"
"Huh?? Wait-"
He heard a click, meaning you turned off the comm. He sighed as he started to clean up.
__________________________________________________________________
With you, you got out of your hiding spot and walked towards them. Usopp noticed you and exclaimed, "A-Arsene!! What are you doing here?!"
Sanji and Ghin turned around and were surprised to see you. "Arsene. What are you doing here??"
"Finding the three hostages, particularly Robin, Usopp, and that guy over there" you pointed at Franky who just woke up. "Don't worry about the rest of your crew because they're all on their way to Enies Lobby to save Robin"
"That's good to know. We'll wait for the captain there" Ghin said.
"Ah, before I forget. Take these and put them in your ear" You reached out your hand in your pocket and handed the comms to them. "We'll use these to communicate with the others whenever we get separated. Nami, Paulie, and Iceburg have it so you can talk to them through it"
The both of them took the comms from your hand and inserted it in their ear.
"So you three are . . .pirate friends, huh??"
"Former friends" Sanji, Ghin, and Usopp said in unison.
"Who the hell are you??" Sanji questioned.
"I'm Franky, a demolition worker and the face of the Water 7 underworld" Franky answered.
Suddenly, Sanji kicked Franky in the face while Ghin hit him on the head with his tonfa.
"So you're Franky?! You damn bastard!!" Sanji sneered.
"How dare you give our long nose a terrible time, then?!" Ghin added.
"How many pieces do you want me to cut you into, you jerk?!" Sanji raised his foot at Franky who lay unconscious.
Usopp crawled in between Franky and Sanji. "Ah, Sanji, Ghin, hold on a sec. All sorts of things happened after that" he tried to explain while Sanji put his foot down while Ghin put his tonfa on his shoulder.
Franky immediately got up and yelled, "You sons of bitches!! Just you wait till I get untied!!"
Usopp turned his head to Franky and whispered-yelled, "Stop saying things like that!!" then turned back to them. "Well, he saved the Merry once . . ." but a sudden hit of realization came in and his face dropped. "Oh, that's right . . .The Merry is . . ."
Sanji and Ghin continued staring at Usopp while you watched with a bit of sympathy. Yea, you admit. You're still hurt about what happened but that's under the bridge and it seems that he knows that Merry is beyond repair.
"Hey, hey, wait a sec!! This is no time to start moping!! Anyway, mister, please untie me!!" Franky started struggling to be free from the sack he was tied to.
"Who'd untie you?! You should stay captured for the rest of your life!!" Sanji retorted.
"You bastard!! How dare you talk like that when I asked you nicely?!" Franky retorted back.
"Who the hell do you think we are to untie you?! Do you take us for idiots after what you did to us?!" Ghin joined in.
"Stop it. . .!! You guys!! If we don't hurry up, they'll find us, right?!" Usopp butted in to stop the fight.
The three of them started fighting and it won't take long for the Marines or the government agents to notice. You decided to step in to stop them from fighting any further. You whacked all of their heads, giving them visible bumps on it.
"Shut up, all of you!! Because of your fighting, we attracted unnecessary attention from the next cart!! And it won't be long before they come and attack us!!" you seethed.
With your observation haki, you sensed different auras coming here from the next cart and clicked your tongue.
You instructed, "You deal with them while I hide since it's your fault. I can't let them see me because of you-know-why!!"
Then you quickly hid in one of the crates.