Playing One Piece

2After Zoro left and ended up getting chased by the locals, Markus continued to stand on the roof of the hotel. He only left when the owner of the hotel started telling people that he and his crew had stayed there last night. He leaped from the roof and became a beam of lightning to reach another rooftop not too far away.     2

He waited for the other four, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper to gather together before joining them on a different rooftop. Chopper had just finished relaying Robin's goodbye message to the rest of the crew. Luffy was pissed, "Is that for real?! Robin really said that?!"     

Chopper just nodded in reply, looking extremely depressed as he did so. Markus thought about the words Robin relayed. She took credit for breaking into the building and even gave a subtle hint that they would be blamed for even more. Zoro slapped the rooftop with a sheathed sword, "It's time for everyone to wake up. Robin started out as our enemy. Then we let her on our ship. She wouldn't have left us out of fear after all this time. Before the sun goes down, we need to figure out... is that woman friend... or foe?"     

The crew discussed the possibilities for a while before making their way toward the Galley-La building. They'd talked about Robin's potential hidden message and decided to go there and capture her to find out the truth about everything. They found a large tree where they could all comfortably sit and watch Iceburg's place to wait for the party to start. Chopper was on duty to watch the place for signs of infiltration.     

After waiting for a while, Markus looked to the side directly at Robin and one of the members of CP9 wearing a large full-head mask that looked like a depressed or uninterested bear. Using his Analysis skill on the agent brought a smile to his face.     

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Blueno     

Class: CP9 Agent     

Level: 71     

Hit Points: 2,810/2,810     

Description: A member of the secret government organization CP9. An assassin that uses the Doa Doa no Mi to enter anywhere and kill his targets with ease. He specializes in the use of Tekkai from the Rokushiki and is among the stronger members of CP9.     

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Markus marked Blueno in his memory so he could find his life sign easier in the future. He planned to kill the man and attempt to take his Devil Fruit. The Doa Doa no Mi made its user into a Door Human, someone capable of making a door on any surface no matter what it was made of or how thick it is. It could even make people's body parts into doors. The ultimate Devil Fruit for thieves! It got better though. The user could also create a door in the very air itself that opened into a pocket dimension. From the pocket dimension, it was possible to not only observe the outside world but to also move vast distances in a short period of time, akin to teleportation.     

The only two major downsides were that all doors that were opened, would close automatically after a while and it didn't seem to have any direct offensive power. Though it was off the charts in the utility department. It was definitely worth having and giving to someone worthy. Though he first needed to pull out his crates. He'd bought a bunch of fruits and vegetables during his wandering and they needed to be sorted into their crates. He didn't want to have to pull them all out one at a time before killing someone for the Devil Fruit.     

The group waited and soon the party started with a bang, literally! A large explosion went off right in front of the main offices of Galley-La and started a fire. The employee's guarding the place started to scurry around like busy bees. Meanwhile, the members of CP9 began their infiltration. Markus watched the ensuing chaos with his eyes and his Haki. Eventually, he spotted Kalifa as she used Geppo to move around and beat the hell out of the shipwrights guarding the place. He paid very close attention to her and watched how she executed Geppo and compared it to his own. There were small differences and soon he realized that his Geppo was superior.     

That might sound odd since his Geppo seemed to be arbitrarily limited to a certain number of steps in the air before he needed to stop. However, his Geppo was far more efficient and he didn't cause small explosions of sound and little clouds in the air every time he stepped. The stress of the technique also seemed to be greater on her legs than on his own meaning that she was even more limited in her use of it than he was. Sure, he had to stop after taking 79 steps at its current level but he could go right back at it as soon as he landed. As long as he had Willpower he could use the technique without any negative side effects. So, his Geppo was superior.     

Markus vanished from sight the same moment that Luffy took off and got himself stuck between two buildings that were too close together. He wasn't really needed yet and it would be good for the others to learn how strong their opponents were. It would be especially good for Luffy and Zoro who needed strong enemies to be their foils and push them harder. Besides that, the members of CP9 were just too weak for him to want to deal with himself. If his friends were going to get stronger than this was a fight they needed to win.     

After finding a comfortable spot, Markus sat down and watched over the situation with his Haki. He was acting as a guardian angel in case something unexpected happened. He was also slightly annoyed that he hadn't gotten any quests yet. Usually, he got them when arriving at an island where something happened in the canon, but here he'd gotten nothing so far.     

He watched the conversations and fighting without making a move. Not until Robin left the building on her own. Markus stood and watched her leave before deciding what to do. In a burst of sparks, he moved from where he was an appeared right in front of her. She froze the moment she saw Markus standing in front of her. She instantly got over her surprise and narrowed her eyes. She gave him a cold look as she asked, "What do you want?"     

Markus crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, "Oh come on Robin. Pretending to be so cold to them all. You knew Enel could hear everything happening in Skypeia, did you really think I would hear less than that idiot? Especially when you know I'm stronger than him."     

Robin couldn't hide her surprise. She'd suspected that Markus's hearing had improved but he'd never said anything to confirm it, until now. His grin grew as he leaned closer and whispered, "I heard everything."     

She took a defensive step back and stared at him, "What are you going to do?"     

He just shrugged his shoulders and showed a nonchalant attitude, "Nothing, yet. But you know how stubborn Luffy is. You know he isn't going to just let it go. We'll be coming for you and we'll drag you back to us kicking and screaming if we have to." He suddenly smiled warmly, "But we won't have to. CP9 might be strong but we're stronger. We'll kick their asses and rescue you." His smile grew, "I'll even show you something wonderful when we do. I will show you we have nothing to fear as long as we're together."     

Before she could say anything in response, Markus vanished and returned to his previous spot. Luffy and the others were getting their asses handed to them by Lucci after activating his Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard. Markus waited for Luffy and Zoro to be thrown and kicked out of the building before catching them in mid-air and setting them down on the roof. They didn't need to go for a swim this time. Especially not the likeliest to drown, Luffy.     

Markus pulled out bandages and started using them to wrap up the wounds on his friends. His Medical skill was still unused so it hadn't leveled up much leaving him with only basic first aid. At least with it, he could properly wrap bandages. Aside from that, he poured some of his Ultra Health potions on their wounds to help them close faster. He paid special attention to Luffy's wound. He'd been stabbed clean through by Lucci's clawed finger using a Shigan. He poured extra healing potion on that wound to close it much faster. the last thing he did after bandaging them was to start setting out a ton of food. Luffy would be hungry when he woke up and Markus could buy plenty from his shop that was nice and fresh.     

As he finished the bandages he noticed Lucci about to attack Nami. He wasn't going to let that happen on his watch. With a step, he moved into the building and appeared in front of everyone. In the moment of surprise, he pulled Chopper out of the rubble from the fallen ceiling before grabbing everyone in the room. He threw Iceburg on one shoulder, Paulie on another, then scooped Nami beneath one arm, stuck Zoro's dropped sword inside of his inventory, and Chopper beneath the other arm. He smirked at Lucci and the others, "Little children shouldn't meddle in the affairs of adults." Were the words he left before he vanished from their sights with everyone in his arms.     

He couldn't use his Lightning Speed while carrying people, not yet, so he was forced to use just his footwork. Still, it was more than enough. He'd gotten it up to level 83 so he got a nice bonus of +830% to his movement speed. That boosted his Agility from 227 to 1,884 as far as how fast he could move, anyway. It was more than enough to make him faster than the members of CP9 could follow with just their eyes. Not to mention the footwork was specialized for stealth making it even harder to detect him.     

He left them in the dust and returned to where Luffy and Zoro were. Luffy was already wide awake and chowing down on the buffet of food Markus had left out. When he saw Markus arrive he stuffed food in his mouth before looking at the people Markus was carrying. Markus ignored him and set down a still alright Nami while he got to work bandaging everyone else and pouring health potions on their wounds. When he was finished with his work on their first aid he pulled out Zoro's sword and stuck it back in its empty sheath. This felt like a good day's work for him!     

While treating them all, Markus kept an eye on the members of CP9. He smirked as he watched them look around for him and the others, fruitlessly, before being forced to give up and go find their next target, Franky. While they were off doing that, Markus sat down to enjoy some food with Luffy. Nami looked around but didn't know what to do. In the end, she joined them and drank some ice tea.     

A short time later, Zoro woke up and Markus just slid him a bottle of rum. When Zoro raised an eyebrow at that, Markus grinned and said, "Just enjoy a drink and wait a bit. All will be revealed soon."     

Zoro shrugged his shoulders and started drinking the rum. When Chopper woke up, he checked everyone's bandages an wounds, including his own, and gave Markus full marks for not messing up too badly on it. Though he was curious how their wounds closed so much so soon, Luffy said it was from the food. The mood of the group was pretty down as they all ate and drank in silence recovering their strength. Markus wouldn't let Luffy or Zoro leave until Iceburg woke up. He could explain the situation to them.     

Fortunately, Iceburg was a tough bastard, the health potions helped, and woke up shortly after everyone else. He looked around and saw all of the Strawhats and a heavily bandaged Paulie. He let out a sigh and slowly sat up. After the situation was explained to Iceburg, he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them he looked determined, "First... I'm sorry. I accused you all of a horrible crime. I'll take care of that later, somehow."     

Everyone made dismissive gestures, they were pirates after all so how could they complain about being falsely accused when all technically being criminals? Iceburg continued, "It's about Nico Robin. Did her attitude change when she came to this town."     

Markus filled him in about Robin disappearing while she was with Chopper and the next thing they knew she was accused of attempting to assassinate Iceburg. How they camped out near his place in hopes of finding her tonight. When he was done, Iceburg sighed, "I'll tell you what I know..."     

What it all boiled down to was simple. The members of CP9 had threatened to use a Buster Call to rain down death and destruction on the Strawhat crew if Robin didn't do what they wanted. Robin was willing to help them make a world-ending weapon if it meant that they could all live. It seemed Aokiji hadn't taken Markus's threat to heart since he was the one responsible for giving CP9 the right to use the buster call. Markus planned to make him understand the mistake he'd made in the near future.     

When Iceburg was finished the entire crew realized that Robin was willing to sacrifice the entire world just to make sure they could leave Water 7 alive. Chopper and Nami had tears streaming from their eyes while Markus, Luffy, and Zoro all had determined looks on their faces. Seeing every member of the Strawhats present getting themselves ready, Iceburg looks helpless as he says, "Though it's your decision to go after Nico Robin, at 11 o'clock this evening, the "sea train" will depart, taking all government personnel with it. It's only a possibility but... the likelihood that they're on there is fairly high. Which means that Nico Robin will also be with them."     

He pulled a pocket watch out and flipped it open to check the time while he spoke, "The sea train will cease operations soon. Since the Aqua Laguna will be coming very soon. If you let this opportunity pass, naturally, a ship cannot be sent out and any means of leaving the island will disappear." He turns the watch around to show the crew, "You have less than twenty minutes."     

As everyone got ready to leave, they all heard a loud steam whistle. Iceburg looked in the direction of the whistle and grimaced, "It's too late, they're leaving..."     

Everyone looked in the direction of the train station. It was too far for everyone to get there on foot. Nami turned to Iceburg, "We need a ship! A big ship so we can follow them!"     

Iceburg shook his head, "No ship can sail during the Aqua Lagoona. It would be suicide."     

Luffy clenched his fists, "Then we'll find and steal one! We have to go save Robin! NOW!"     

As they all stood on the roof, rain began to fall and the always constant sound of the ocean faded away. Everyone turned and looked down at the edge of the island city. The tide had gone out, further out than it had been in decades. They stared in silence until they saw a massive wave coming toward the city. Iceburg sighed, "See? No ship could survive that."     

He sighed, "Still... there is a way, if you're willing to risk it."     

Everyone stared at him with clear determination written all over their faces. Iceburg sighed once more and climbed to his feet. Paulie, who had gone completely ignored since he woke up, called out, "Iceburg!"     

Iceburg looked at Paulie, "Go let the others know what's happened and that we're okay. They must be worried. I'll take care of Strawhat and his people."     

Everyone moved together following Iceburg through the city until he led them to an underground area with a sea train inside of it. Luffy and Chopper immediately went crazy over it. The train looked old and unused. The front of the train had been painted with a sharks face and had a long pointed nose while being made out of polished iron. Iceburg introduced it, "This is 'Rocket Man'. It can't carry any passengers on it... because it's a runaway sea train."     

Iceburg, Markus, and Zoro worked together to load the train with water and coal before getting the boiler running. As they worked, Markus tilted his head and looked toward the entrance, "Interesting."     

A few minutes later Kokoro and the mobile members of the Franky Family came charging into the underground room. Apparently, the members of Galley-La didn't know how to keep their mouths shut and they had all heard about what was going on, courtesy of Paulie. Markus just shook his head. Maybe some things just couldn't be changed? Well, they needed someone to drive anyway and Kokoro was more than happy to do it. The Franky Family begged to be allowed to come to rescue Franky. Luffy accepted.     

As enough steam to propel the train had built up, Kokoro called out, "You pirates better no get thrown off! Now we're leaving Water 7, destination Enies Lobby! Runaway sea train Rocket Man taking off!"     

Luffy being Luffy, climbed onto the top of the train and held onto the smokestack while shouting, "LET'S GOOOOO!!! We're gonna get everything back!!!"