Destined for Flames (One Piece Fanfic)

The World At A Standstill

Raya's POV

The sun's finally set, but the city hasn't gotten any quieter. People are still out looking for us, intent on seeking retribution for Iceburg's near-assassination. Us telling them we had nothing to do with it would be pointless. With Robin sighted as one of the criminals, and with her link to us, we'd never be able to talk our way out of this.

Of course, talking isn't exactly how the Straw Hats do things anyway. Hence why we're up in a tree overlooking the Mayor's mansion, with our little Chopper surveying the place through the binoculars I snuck off of Merry before we left.

"Everyone has a weapon!" he squeaks, lowering the binoculars from his eyes. "They look so strong!!"

"Yeah," Luffy replies, as uneasy as I've seen him. "Those mechanics could pin any pirate to the ground....It'll be bad if someone just barges in there recklessly."

I sweat drop, along with Nami, who says, "I wonder who tried to get through earlier....?!"

I don't even want to ask.

"Tell me as soon as you see them make a move," Zoro says to Chopper.

"Okay!"

"This is going to be a long night," the Swordsman warns us, "but don't lose your concentration. If we don't catch her tonight, we'll probably never know the truth. I don't think we'll ever get a second chance to find Robin..."

Luffy, who's sitting cross-legged on the branch, one leg dangling down slightly, tightens his grip on the cuffs of his jean shorts, knuckles turning a ghostly white. "I'll definitely catch her!!" he vows.

I swallow thickly and look away, unable to see my captain so distraught. He's determined, yes, but also hopelessly confused. As are the rest of us. What Robin's done is almost unforgivable under the current circumstances. But why? That's the question we can't answer, what we're dying to know. Why would she suddenly turn against us?

Sighing, I lean back against the thick trunk of the tree we've chosen to perch on. Nami's a few feet away, looking nervous and worried. Direct confrontation isn't exactly her style in combat, so I'm not really surprised to see her acting like this. Her Climatact isn't a warrior's weapon by any means. I've seen what it can do, and you certainly need brains over brawn to properly wield it. Her cleverness is what usually wins her a match. But someone like Robin could easily outsmart her.

I tip my head back to see the moon through the twisting branches. "How long do you think we'll have to wait?" I wonder aloud. Receiving only silence as a response, I add, "It's... what? Like nine-thirty? You think they'll be cliche and attack at midnight or something?"

"I doubt Robin's really the cliche type," Zoro offers. His head is turned away from me, eyes locked on the Mayor's mansion. Which is probably what I should be doing.

"You have a point there," I murmur, a sighing breath escaping my lips.

I go to ask another question (anything really, just to break this unending silence) when something splits the calm night for me:

An explosion.

From the mansion.

"Ahh! Something exploded!" Luffy shouts.

I slip from my perch against the tree and duck down beside Chopper, snatching the binoculars from him. I put them to my eyes and take in the scene playing out below. People are running, shouting, putting out fires.... But where is she?

"What absolute chaos," I mutter, shaking my head. "Cap'n, this has to be them. What do you...?"

The hell? He's gone!

"EH?! WHERE'S LUFFY?!"

"Baka!" I hiss, whipping my head around to try and spot him. Of course, I come up empty, as do the others. Sharing a look, we decide there's enough mayhem for us to take our chances running around, and we each drop down from the tree (with Chopper carrying Nami....) and start sprinting for a less guarded entrance.

"Why doesn't he every listen?!" Nami huffs as we run.

"No use complaining now," Zoro replies.

I just grin; I love Luffy, despite his thick head and his reckless attitude. Chopper offers up the idea that Robin might be in the crowd, which makes my hands clench into fists, tight with anticipation. But seriously, we won't go unnoticed for long.... Though from the look on Nami's face...

"Actually," she says, "this might be to out advantage. Do you think that Luffy would use stealth to enter the building?"

"Most likely not."

"Not! Not!"

"You're kidding right?" I ask, sweat dropping.

Nami nods. "He most likely flew or charged in from the front. It's good if he got in; he's probably being chased around by the shipwrights."

"Yeah. I agree."

"Agree! Agree!"

"Yeah.... When the enemy's boss appears, everyong will chase after him. So, the front of the building should be poorly defended right now. We can use this chance to get in!"

Eh... It's a good plan.... if everything she's predicted is true... But I have the sneaking suspicion that things won't go as expected. When do they ever go as expected for us? Nonetheless, when Nami instructs us to jump the wall we've come upon, we obey. Even me, though I choose to linger at the top of the fence when I catch sight of the hundreds of Galley-La workers standing guard in front of the mansion.

"Wow..." I mumble, reaching down with one hand to grip the iron fence so that I don't topple to the ground. "I was right.... Cool."

"Hey, look there."

And with that, every pair of eyes turns to us. Or, more specifically, my crew mates.

In no time at all, the whole group of guard dogs is barreling after my friends, chasing them far, far away from our destination. They pay me no heed. Huh. I guess sometimes it's nice to be a background character.

I hop down to the ground and walk up to the mansion's entrance. Not a soul is here besides myself, a fact that makes me grin. I spot an open window (a poor choose, might I add) on the second floor. Now, how to get there....

I'm going to have to scale the damn wall, aren't I?

I exhale slowly, two fingers pinching the bridge of my nose. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And I was complaining Robin might be cliche? I feel like some idiot hero from those fairy tales I thought were so imaginative when I was younger.

Well, nothing to do about it, I suppose.

The building's brick on this side, so I can at least get a footing. Or attempt to, anyway. Seeking a starting point, I fit my fingers through the first crack I deem accessible. Oh, my nails are going to murder me for doing this. I don't bite them, so I have to go ahead and grate them against brick, and possibly snap them clean off. This is logic on the most asinine level.

Shaking my head, I start the arduous task of climbing up the wall. I get maybe ten feet off the ground when I fumble for the first time, scrambling to regain my hold. Goddammit, why didn't I just break down the damn door?! Or knock out a first-story window?!

Quite simple, I'm an idiot. Zoro's right; I'm the baka out of the two of us.

I curse quite fluently under my breath, swearing with every vile word I can think of as I continue to climb. It takes much longer than it should, and there are several close calls. I'm like less than twenty feet off the ground though. If I fell and landed wrong I'd.... yeah, the worst would probably be a broken bone. And that's if I forgot to cushion the fall with my flames. I'm not worried about getting seriously hurt, but damn. I really made the wrong call here.

"Hallelujah!" I breathe, throwing my arms over the windowsill. A moment's rest is all I give myself before hauling my ass into what appears to be a second-story hallway.

Of course, it's not really average. It's littered with unconscious, bloody Galley-La workers.

Guess Robin and co. made it to the party after all.

I ignore the moaning, groaning men as best I can, knowing there's nothing I can do to help, and that time is scarce. I have to find Robin before she finishes Iceburg, or all's lost for the Straw Hats. So I follow the trail of bodies.

There's a dead-zone (meaning no blood, no bodies, no signs of a fight) around the first staircase I come across. I make quick work of the steps and emerge on the third floor, which I think is as high as I can go. That's where I'd have my room if I lived in a place like this. Which I would never do. For obvious reasons.

This hallway is fairly quiet. It's still crawling with indisposed men, but not nearly as badly as downstairs. I'd imagine the first floor is even worse. But in any case, I make my way down the hall, listening for anything that might tip me off to Robin's whereabouts.

Rounding a corner, I catch snipets of a conversation that draws the blood from my face.

"Now that you're involved.... we can't let you live."

Well shit.

My head screams at me to duck out and ignore the dark tone that just spoke, but my instinct kicks in and I skid to a halt in front of the door that let loose the offending words. Two costumed figures greet me: One is tall, and sports a scarily realistic bull head that hides their identity; the other is somewhat shorter, and uses a manically grinning skull to conceal themselves.

And this is lovely; I've just spotted that blonde dock worker, collapsed on the floor with a face painted with blood.

Now I really can't leave.

"Another pest," the bull states, turning from the blonde man to look at me. At least, I think. Hard to tell when I can't see their eyes.

"Where's Robin?"

That's my first question. I know, I know, I should be asking who they are, what they're up to, what the hell happened to the blonde guy. But my mind's on one train of thought at the moment, and I can't change it for the world.

"She's of no concern to you," he (definitely a guy by the voice) says bluntly.

"I beg to differ," I hiss in response. "I'm a freaking Straw Hat. So tell me where the hell my nakama is!"

"Not-Shameless Girl...." the blonde man pants. "Get... out...."

I narrow my eyes, but choose to remain silent about that. He's in such rough shape, and it's easy to infer the damage was caused by these two. But I won't leave. Not when I have a chance to find out what's happened to Robin. Not while there's an innocent man who can't protect himself.

I'm no hero, but I do have a conscience.

"Those are words that should have been spoken the moment you entered this mansion," Bull says, drawing my attention back to him. "They would have most likely saved your life."

"I don't need saving, Beef Boy," I growl. Flames flicker to life around my hands, casting menacing shadows against the walls behind the two stoic men.

Neither even bats an eyelash (figuratively speaking).

Wow. Tough crowd.

"Where. Is. Robin?" I hiss each word slowly, careful to enunciate each syllable for maximum effect. This time I receive a reaction.

The one in the skull mask appears in front of me before I can make a move, their leg swinging out to connect painfully with my chest. The breath driven from my lungs in one go, I'm sent flying into the wall, where I drop down to the ground without so much as a twitch of resistance.

"Is that really what your skills amount to?" Bull asks, clearly unimpressed. I say nothing, too busy trying to hold myself together while simultaneously fighting for a breath. My ribs feel demolished. Bruised, if not broken. Each breath sends a wave of agony through my chest, my lungs expanding and delfating irregularly, only adding to the misery.

What are these people?

"Finish her," Bull commands. "She'll become a nuisance otherwise."

I force myself to push up into a half-crouch as the man hiding beneath the grinning skull steps forward, intent on finishing what he's started. I can barely move. This won't be much of a fight.

However, before either of us can do a thing, someone crashes through the wall opposite us.

Luffy, stuck waist deep in the wall, struggles to break free. His body twists and wriggles, but to no avail. He sums it up nicely:

"I'm stuck!! Damn! I'm stuck!!"

"Luf....fy," I groan, at the same time the blonde man puffs out, "Straw Hat...!"

He pauses in his struggles, eyes stretching wide when he catches sight of both the man and myself. "What happened?!" he shouts. "Are you okay?! You're bleeding! And Raya! What happened to you?!"

"This is the third floor...." the man pants. "I should be the one asking if you're okay...."

"He's fine...." I manage to say as I rise to my knees. "His head is the hardest part of his body, even if he is made of rubber."

"Straw Hat Luffy...."

"Did you come here to take the blame for us?"

"Ah!! A mask?! It's a mask! Then it's you! You're telling Robin to do something!! Give Robin back, you bastards!!"

"Words are a little... useless," I cough, earning a blank stare from my captain. He really makes the most hilarious faces. I mean, this is the worst time to be realizing something like that, but it's true. He can pull the weirdest faces I've ever seen. Like now he's--

"Rankyaku!"

Skull flahes out a kick at the wall, which Luffy just manages to dodge, flying from his prison before the shoe meets his face. He lands, relatively unharmed, just feet behind the skull-maksed man. But the kick....

An entire section of the wall, in a perfectly straight line, has been damaged. Not just where his foot connected. And even the one kick was enough to make part of the wall crumble! I haven't seen anyone with that much power in their legs since Sanji!

I try to rise to my feet, but I'm stopped by Bull. He knocks me to the ground, flat out on my back, and pins me there with golden hooks that snap around my wrists, arms, legs, ankles and neck, once again choking me.

I don't see it, but I hear the same thing happen to both Luffy and the Galley-La man, much to my dismay. Even Luffy's no match...? Why do I have the feeling Crocodile was nothing compared to the situation we've been thrust into now?