Nami and Conis hurriedly dug through the debris. They cleared away the rubble. The air was thick with smoke and the acrid smell of burning wood. Mikita got up and her legs wobbled. Nami and Conis caught her. Conis wrapped an arm around her waist, helping to steady her as Nami supported her other side.
"Easy now, we've got you," Conis said.
Mikita nodded. "Sorry but that was the best I could come up with," Mikita replied.
"You saved all our lives doing that," Nami replied.
A few feet away, Vivi and Maya worked together to free Paulie and Iceburg from the debris. Iceburg was barely conscious. His shoulder was badly wounded. Paulie's injuries left him struggling to stand. Vivi pulled Iceburg's arm and pulled him through the crack in the wall. "That hurt," he remarked.
"Sorry," Vivi replied as she pulled gently.
They all left the burning building and sat in the garden. They could hear the flames crackling and the creaking of the building.
"Iceburg, are you alright?" a voice called out as a group of men came rushing toward them.
"There's a member of the Strawhat and Love Pirates over there!" another man shouted, pointing a finger in their direction.
"We should grab them, they're behind all of this!" someone else added, as the crowd began to murmur in agreement.
"This could get bad," Nami muttered, glancing at the injured Iceburg.
"No," Iceburg rasped, his voice weak. He winced in pain but forced himself to speak louder. "They saved my life. The Love Pirates and Strawhats are not behind this," he stated.
The crowd hesitated. "Then who is?" one man demanded.
Iceburg coughed, a spatter of blood staining his lips. "We can figure it out later," one of the men in the crowd said. "Right now, we need to get him medical help," he added.
They started to treat Iceburg.
Nami, still supporting Mikita, exchanged a glance with Vivi. "We need to get back and tell everyone," Vivi said.
"Yes, we need everyone's help to take them on," Conis agreed.
"Robin," Maya said to herself.
"I should find Luffy," Nami said.
Iceburg looked up. "Check on Paulie and get that fire under control," Iceburg ordered as he got up.
They all nodded. Iceburg got up and shouted, "Wait, I need to tell you all something."
Vivi, Mikita, Nami, Conis and Maya stopped. They looked back. Iceburg approached them. "Firstly I would like to apologize for falsely accusing you of Strawhats and Love Pirates. I wanna say something about Nico Robin," Iceburg said.
"What do you know?" Mikita asked.
"Did she change suddenly once she came to town?" Iceburg asked.
Conis and Vivi thought for a second. "Yes she had changed since she disappeared this morning," Conis replied.
"I don't know why but there is something wrong," Vivi said.
"They are pressuring her," Mikita said. She added, "But what was the wish part about?"
"I think I know. When she met CP9 this morning, their government operation was already going. I want to know that both I and Robin have a way of bringing back an ancient weapon capable of destruction," Iceburg explained.
Mikita, Vivi, Conis and Maya stayed silent. They knew about the ancient weapons. "Nico Robin was about to kill me. She said the world government had messed up her life for 20 years. Yet she is working with them for one reason and one reason only. To protect her crew, her friends and love," Iceburg explained. "She said, if she did not do it, they would make a buster call and kill all her friends and crew," Iceburg said.
"I knew it," Vivi said.
"Robin would never betray us," Conis added.
"There was never a doubt in my mind," Mikita said.
"Let's go now, we need to save her," Vivi urged.
"Nami, we are going back to the Miss Love Duck," Vivi added.
"I will go and find my friends and tell them about this," Nami said. "We are with you," she added.
They all nodded. At that moment, NT and HQ landed nearby. "There you are," HQ said.
"We were all getting a bit worried," NT added.
"Where is Robin?" HQ asked.
"Let's go back now, we will explain everything," Mikita said.
"Yes, we need to hurry," Vivi agreed. NT took Maya and Conis. HQ took Vivi and Mikita as they flew away. Iceburg thought they looked like demons. There was something strange about this crew, he thought. Nami had run off.
They all arrived back on the Miss Love Duck. The wind was very strong however HQ and NT flew right through it. As they landed, they saw Raki and Zala on the deck.
"Where were you all?" Raki asked.
"The wind is getting dangerous here," Zala said, her hair blowing left and right. "Where is Robin?" she added.
"Where is everyone?" Mikita asked. She had scratch marks on her.
"In Ben's room," Raki replied. She could feel the gust blowing her.
"Let's go and we can see Kaya there," Vivi added.
"For you as well, you took a big hit," Conis interjected. Conis thought Vivi was able to receive a hit from that slash which destroyed a wall and she was fine.
"What happened?" Zala asked.
They all headed down to Ben`s room. There they saw Kaya, Marianne, Honey, Nojiko and Saphir.
"You are all back," Nojiko said as she hugged the girls. Marianne also went to hug them.
They separated. "Where is Robin?" Marianne asked.
"We can explain," Vivi replied.
"And why are you hurt Mikita?" Kaya asked.
Vivi recounted everything. Her eyes reflected the weight of the story. "It all started when Robin went missing in the morning," she began. "We didn't think much of it at first, but then we heard that she was blamed for an assassination attempt on Iceburg, the mayor of this town. Because of our association with her, the Strawhats were blamed too. The whole city turned against us."
She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "We knew we had to find out the truth, so we went to Iceburg himself. He had survived the attack, but when we found him, he told us that it was Robin who had shot him. It was a shock, but we knew there had to be more to the story," she continued.
"Luffy, Zoro, Mikita, and I confronted the real masterminds CP9, a secret government organisation," Vivi said, her voice dropping as she recalled the encounter. "But we were completely outmatched. They were far stronger. We fought but in the end, we lost. Luffy and Zoro went flying out of the building with a single punch," she said.
Vivi's expression grew sombre. "Robin… she sacrificed herself to save us. CP9 threatened to kill us all with a buster call unless she cooperated with them. So, she made the only choice she felt she could. She gave herself up to protect us, to keep us safe." She paused and continued, "Robin did all of that just to protect us," Vivi repeated. "She wanted us to be happy, even if it meant sacrificing herself. She believed that by leaving, she could take all the danger with her and give us a way to escape without her," she ended.
Mikta, Conis and Maya stayed silent. The entire room was silent. Raki and Zala looked angry. They lost again, the thought. Marianne had tears in her eyes but angry tears. Honey held Marianne.
"What!" Ben shouted as he got up.