Chapter 71: Scrambled Eggs
"Don't get cocky just because you blocked one punch, punk!" Franky shouted.
Franky placed his arms together with a metal tube in between, then his arms started to inflate.
"Hey Franky, I don't know what you're doing, but don't go destroying the neighborhood. The people who live here aren't involved in this." Cherry said, feeling that Franky's next attack would be less discriminate in its scope.
"Ah! You're right, I almost blew the whole neighborhood away..." Franky said, deflating his
arms.
'This guy is a real piece of work. Since he's a shipwright I was wondering about maybe roping him into the Straw Hats, but now he seems like more of a liability.' Cherry thought. "Enough talk! You attacked me first, so don't blame me for being rude!" Tremis shouted.
"I didn't attack you though, he did?" Cherry said, pointing at Franky.
"Oh, in that case hand over the Devil Fruit." Tremis was confused, but went with the flow.
"No, I don't think I will." Cherry shut him down.
"Then why did you stop me?!" Tremis yelled in frustration.
He was done talking for real this time and charged towards them. "I'll show you not to make a fool of me!"
Cherry drew her pistol in a flash and fired three shots; one towards Tremis, and the other two into the unfortunate goons behind him.
Tremis sensed great danger through his Observation Haki and put up his arm at an angle, coating it with Haki, to deflect the incoming bullet.
He felt the impact slam into his arm like a cannon ball. He glanced back at his subordinates just in time to see them stumble to the ground screaming in pain, each missing a leg at the knee. A chill went up his spine.
Now he knew not to underestimate the woman in front of him. He could see she had a custom revolver with six shots, three already fired. He wouldn't have to deal with the gun for too long.
He was only briefly stalled by the force of the bullet and continued forward. He was confused that no more shots were coming his way, but did not miss the opportunity.
Cherry was just probing with her revolver, so naturally she had stopped using it when it didn't do much against the camel man.
She drew her sword and met Tremis head on. Tremis punching with a Haki coated fist. Cherry swinging a Haki coated sword, with some Hashoken for good measure.
When Tremis opened his eyes, hours later. He gripped his pounding head. "What happened?" When he tried to remember, remember anything, nothing came to mind. Nothing at all.
...
During the same night, in a mansion near Galley La's shipyard.
Iceburg heaved a sigh after the World Government official, Corgi, left his office. It wasn't the first time the man came knocking on his door, asking about the blueprints to Pluton. He feigned ignorance this time, same as every time before, but they were persistent if nothing
else.
Tyrannosaurus squeaked, also seeming happy to see the obnoxious man leave.
Tyrannosaurus dropped down into his pocket, then came back up holding a bit of cloth in his mouth.
"Ah, did you chew out my pocket lining?" Iceburg asked cutely, taking the fabric from him.
However, he noticed the edges of the cloth were far too straight and clean to have been chewed off. Then he saw that something seemed to be written on the cloth, almost like it was
burned into it.
He opened it up so he could read it.
[ Kaku, Kalina, and Rob Lucci's martial art is very unique. I'd love to know what school they learned from. Love, Cherry. ]
He thought it was a strange message and an even stranger way to deliver it.
Having nothing better to do he pondered on it and the longer he thought the more questions
it raised.
When he thought about it, those three did seem to fight in similar ways. If it's a unique martial art, as Cherry said, then why did it seem they only just met after arriving at Water 7?
The clues piled up in his mind and a picture started to come together. Little details and inconsistencies he had never spared a thought for seemed to scream out at him now.
He heard the window behind him open.
He turned and saw someone enter that he didn't expect to see. Nico Robin.