I burst onto the courthouse roof, all adrenaline and cautious flames meant to catch some baddies off guard. But no; it's only Luffy standing at the edge, staring defiantly up at the building opposite us. An inappropriate (for the situation) smile graces my lips.

I can smell the sea again. 

That intoxicating aroma of salt and misty water. I feel renewed, just being out in the open again. As much of a risk as this position puts me in, I prefer it over the confined conditions of the courthouse I've just exited. So, smiling a smile that shouldn't be seen in a hundred-mile radius, I sprint for where my captain is standing atop the pillar-things that make up the edge of the roof.

"Hey, Cap'n!" I shout in greeting.

He twists at a dramatic rate, almost convincing me he'll topple off into the roaring "waterfall" I can here below us. But he keep his feet planted firmly on solid ground and manages his overenthusiastic grin when he spots me standing beneath him. "Raya! You made it!"

"Course I did," I reply nonchalantly; I can't help showing off for my adorable captain. "You think these baka are a match for the Red-Haired Demon?" I may hate the name, but damn, Zoro's right; it is pretty fitting for someone like me.

It makes me hate it all the more.

"Shishishishi! I wasn't worried! My crew's amazing for sure!" he assures me, throwing his fists skyward. I laugh a little at the sight. Even amongst all this insanity and uncertainly, he remains his childish, ridiculous self. It's part of the reason why I love the guy so damn much.

I look around and, spotting no routes up to join Luffy - makeshift or otherwise - I grin. Just gotta be creative, I guess. Luffy cocks his head to the side, puzzlement written all over his goofy face. He opens his mouth to voice a question (an obvious one, most likely) but I raise a hand to silence him. I bend my knees a little, preparing, then let loose a torrent of flames from the soles of my feet, jumping at the same moment, and propel myself up onto the column beside Luffy's.

He shouts excitedly, "So cool!"

I can't help but grin in agreement. These Devil Fruit powers are so cool, as he so casually puts it.

"So what's the situation, Cap'n?" I ask, crossing my arms under my chest, jerking my chin at the Tower of Justice. 

Luffy scratches his chin in a thoughtful manner; I barely keep from snickering at the display. C'mon. My captain, thoughtful? Not in a million years. "Dunno," he says at last. "I yelled for Robin, but she won't come out! Those bastards are probably keeping her from us."

I sweat drop, only because I heard his shouts on the way up here. It had confirmed that Luffy was up here but... did he really think Robin would just waltz out of the Tower and hop back over to our side? I mean, I want that as much as or more than anyone, but let's be realistic here. Robin chose these guys, for our safety. Just yelling ain't gonna convince her it's safe to come back.

Do I tell my oddball of a captain that, though? Of course not. It wouldn't get through to him, anyhow. 

I rub my hands together eagerly. "Alrighty then! So while we're waiting for the others, who may or may not be dead at the moment, what kinda havoc do you wanna wreak?" I momentarily twinge at the mention of our friends. I know they're not dead. Obviously. Honoo's told me Zoro, at least, is fine, and he's with them, hence my certainty in their safety. The Demon Swordsman would not allow any real harm to come to my crewmates (excluding Sanji).

Again, Luffy looks thoughtful. Or constipated. With his face scrunched like that, and his muscles so tight, I can't really be sure. 

"I was gonna just attack 'em..."

"Bad idea," I put in quickly, waving my hands in a "don't be stupid, don't be stupid, don't be stupid, goddamn it!" kinda way. His head cocks again.

"We could--"

He's cut off by the thunderous sound of part of the Tower exploding. Raising a brow, I watch the weathered stone of the Tower being blow outwards, before falling into the inevitable abyss of the waterfall. the explosion also mows down a bit of fencing just edging around the walkway of the tower and, shading my eyes, I make out two figures slingshotting back from the wreckage back onto the walkway.

"Well, that escalated quickly," I mutter dryly.

Luffy chuckles, bobbing his head. He could not be more excited right now.

Such a goddamn child, it's not even funny sometimes. Luckily, this isn't one of those times.

I squint, trying to see through the smoke (which has one seriously nasty odor coming off it). Those figures... My breath catches in my throat.

The word is caught; I can't speak.

Luffy does it for me. "Heeeeey!!! Robin!" he shouts, waving his arms ecstatically. "I'm glad you're still here!!"

Before I can say anything, shouting erupts on their end (Robin's with some muscle-man with blue hair, wearing a speedo, of all things) and another blast rocks the Tower. 

"Franky's there too, isn't he?" Luffy wonders. My jaw drops. That's Franky? Oh Kami. Those followers of his make a lot more sense now. Kami. Oh Kami. He's wearing a that outrageous shirt and a speedo. 

But it looks like he's taking care of the Enies Lobby guards coming after him and Robin, so I suppose I can forgive the man this once. But for Kami's sake, if we get out of this relatively unharmed, I am going to spend an hour teaching this man about humility, because clearly he is lacking severely in this area.

"Okay!!" Luffy's shout snaps me from my reverie. He starts running off his column, still shouting to keep Robin's attention. "It's kinda far, but I'll try to jump over there!!" He looks to me eagerly. "Come on, Raya! Grab my arm!"

"No," I state bluntly.

"Awww! Come on, Raya! We gotta save Robin fast!" he whines. 

"No," I repeat, then shake my head, glancing over at Robin, and shift gears. "No, I mean, you're not gonna be able to jump that Luffy! And even if you can you--"

But he's not listening; he's already down on the roof, hands linked around the pillar he's just jumped from, arms stretched and taut, ready to make his death-defying leap. I try once more to call out to him, trying to say just how stupid this plan of his is, when someone beats me to the proverbial punch.

"Wait!"

Robin. I tear my eyes away from luffy's idiocy to see her. Her face, much like Luffy's muscles, is taut, anxious. I can't imagine what she must be feeling right now, but still. Shouldn't she look a little happier to see us? Sure, this ruins all her plans to "save" us, but doesn't it show her how serious we are about bringing her back? The Straw Hats aren't the Straw Hats without Robin. Not now. Not after so long, after all we've been through.

"I've told you several times!" Robin shouts, gritting her teeth in what looks like an effort to keep herself in check. What's she holding back from, I wonder. "I.... I'll never come back to you!"

Luffy and I both flinch at the blatant harshness of her voice. 

"Go away!!" she screams; her voice breaks from the pure desparation. "I never want to see your faces again!!"

Even Franky looks over now from where he's beaten the last of that round of guards. He seems as surprised as my captain and I. And Robin isn't even done yet.

"Why did you come to rescue me?!" she demands. "When did I ever ask you to do that?!"

She takes a deep breath, during which I hold mine. This... I can't...

"I just... want to die!!!"

"Well, too bad."

Robin starts, stilling even her now-ragged breathing. Luffy, eyes still wide from her revalation, looks at me. Franky, too, puts his attention on me. 

I exhale slowly, lowering my gaze briefly, tightening my crossed arms. The time's come to tell her how we really feel, eh? So be it. This needs to be said. "Stop being a bitch, Robin," I say flatly.

A round of silence answers me; even Luffy, who'd normally give me one of his childish rants about how I shouldn't insult my nakama.

"So what if you want to die?" I ask, shrugging. "It's not like we're going to let you. And so what if you didn't ask us to be here? We came anyway. We'll always come. It's what nakama do." I flash a rather cheeky grin. "This is all your fault. What were you thinking, making friends with a bunch of insane pirates like us? You saw how determined we were in Alabasta with Vivi. Didn't you think we'd put the same effort in for you?"

Too shocked to speak, Robin only looks at me. At least she's looking. There's no hooded glare, no scolding temper in her eyes. She just looking, unable to understand what the hell is coming out of my mouth. Too bad for her, I've still got my one outcome. I'm not leaving this godforsaken rock without our archeologist. No chance in hell. At this point, I'd even face Aokiji again to win her back. Granted, I don't really want to fight Aokiji again. Getting my ass kicked in two seconds was more than enough the first time.

But the meaning remains the same: I'd do anything to have our crew whole again.

And his extends to Usopp as well. No matter what that cowardly sniper thinks, he's a Straw Hat. And maybe Zoro was right. Maybe letting him go is the right thing, if he really doesn't want to be here with us. But he wouldn't be here, on Enies Lobby, if that were the case. So I'm willing to wait. A little while longer, anyway. 

"I'm a little surprised a demon could be so sentimental."

My teeth flash in a snarl; just the shipwright I didn't want to see. I watch with muted fury as Kaku, that square-nosed bastard, effortlessly kicks Franky into the wall of the walkway, effectively shutting him up.

I hear some insane laughter from behind him, and someone shouts, "Kaku! Did you do that out of spite?! Huh?! Because you ate that weird fruit?!"

I stiffen. No way. He can't be serious. A weird fruit?

"Oh, shut up," Kaku replies over his shoulder. "Besides, I like it!"

"Cap'n," I breathe as four more people jump up from window below to join Kaku and his friend on the walkway with Robin and Franky, "you ready to kick some Government ass?"

His face remains uncharacteristically stony and hard, but the clenching of his fists provides an adequate answer. He stares down Robin, unwilling to let up his sober gaze. Robin, too, refuses to back down, trying her best to tell us to leave her the hell alone. Even after my lovely little speech. I'm honored she cares so much.

Another voice booms out from the relative safety of Justice Tower:

"Wahahaha! Glad you're all here CP9! But, let's wait for a while... The Straw Hat crew... has begun to fall apart. Let's see where this is going!! Wahahaha, this is amusing!"

Whoever this guy is, I want to kick his face in. Repeatedly. With a flaming foot. 

The other members of CP9 are... well, to put it politely... freaks. Abominations. Oddities. Just plain weird. It's Kalifa (in a much more revealing outfit then before.... Paulie would not approve), some giant with cotton-candy pink hair that floats around the small of his back, a man who thinks wearing an tie over an open black jacket and no shirt is cool, Lucci (and his infuriating pigeon), Kaku (who's possibly eaten a Devil Fruit) and another "giant" who's so damn rotund I have no idea how he fits through doorways on a regular basis. And there's a zipper attached to his lips. 

I really have absolutely nothing to say to that.

Oh, and there's Blueno, passed out somewhere behind Luffy and me. I spotted him on the way over here but didn't give it much thought. If Luffy beat him, it's all I honestly care about.

I cock my head at the sound of... something, something wild going on in the floors below us. I wonder... I shake my head. I can think about that later. Right now, with the Government's strongest task force so clearly belittling us.... Well, I'm not going to stand for that.

"Oi, Kaku!" I shout, waving my arm for his attention. His passive eyes meet mine and I grin one wicked grin. "Grow any skin back lately?"

The tie-wearing moron snickers as Kaku consciously flexes his fingers, rolls his shoulder. Even from here I can see the red-raw skin of his hands. I'm oddly proud to have inflicted such damage. 

"So you're the little fireball who gave Kaku and Kalifa so much trouble!" said moron cackles. Still grinning, I allow a curl of flame to lick over my hand (held finger-gun style) as I tip back an imaginary hat. I really need to get a hat. My bandana just doesn't cut it, really. And my imitation of Ace is severely lacking without the hat.

"Pleasure to meet you, and to kick your asses!" I greet the CP9, giving a gentleman's bow. "My name is Flynn D. Raya, known to the Marines as the Red-Haired Demon. And I'd very much like to burn you all alive."

There's a few more snickers from the group, obviously underestimating my power. And my hate. Oh man, how they must be underestimating my hatred of them. As people. As Marines. As my enemies. 

"Sorry, Luf," I add, grinning sheepishly at my captain, who cocks his head in confusion. "Think I stole the spotlight for a bit. If you wanna grill Robin, go on ahead. I'm done ranting for the time being."

He nods, a small smile flickering across his face, before it returns to that harsh glare he's been giving for some time now. He defiantly crosses his arms, straightens his back, and demands of Robin, "You want to die?!"

He's incredulous, and understandably so. I've gone though a lot of shit in my life, but I can't remember a time where I sincerely wanted to quit this thing called life. 

"That's right!" But there's a pause before her answer, as though she's reaffirming the fact for herself. Not us; her.

I give Luffy a supportive nod as he goes on, even as I'm sweat dropping. He sounds so serious, but with that face, and his finger stuck up his nose...

"Robiiiiiin! Is death what you want?!" he challengers, perhaps picking up on her subtle discomfort with the fact. "What the hell are you talking about?! You!!"

The rumbling below us abruptly escalates, and I smirk. Well, this'll get interesting pretty fast.

"Listen, Robin--"

The section of roofing just behind us explodes, raining stone down around us. Neither Luffy nor I flinch.

"--we've come all the way here--"

A group of my favorite people in all the four oceans tumbles, falls, and miraculously lands among the wreckage.

"--so we're gonna rescue you anyway!! And... if you still wanna die, then die afterwards!!"

I can't help but love the look of shock on Robin's face. She just doesn't get it. We all love her. There isn't a thing in this world that would keep the Straw Hats from saving a friend. With that in mind, I spin on my heel and offer a mock salute the those who've just joined the party. "Welcome, you untimely bastards!"

Three-fourths of the group sweat drop, while the last fourth cheers, throwing his hands in the air. "Raya-chan! You're safe!"

"Oh, so that was you who left a bunch of semi-conscious guys in the courthouse." Zoro sounds unduly proud to be saying that, and I grin in response. "Not bad, Aka, even without Honoo."

"Thank you, that really warms my heart, Swordsman." He just smirks, shaking his head, and looks over his swords. I'd guess it was him who cut his way up through the floors and blew apart the roof just for a "shortcut". It could have been Sanji, but from the way he's screaming at Zoro about beating him here, I'd have to shoot down that possibility. And clearly, Nami and Chopper were caught up in Zoro's assault and probably wouldn't have been here had he not almost killed them in the process.

I pause in my watching of the Ero-cook&Marimo show when I catch sight of some weird projectile rocketing up beside the courthouse. It takes a second, but I recognize the batetred form of Sogeking pretty easily as he sails past, and eventually crash lands a little ways away.

"I beg of you, Robin!!"

I snap back around at the sound of Luffy's voice. He's shouting again, and while I'm still unsure if it'll do any good, it's all we've got until someone makes the first move.

"I don't care what you want, whether you choose to live or die!! But whatever you decide... say it while you're with us!!" Luffy concludes, and the rest of us pick up his voice, with similar calls of "That's right, Robin!" and "Robin, come baaack!"

I rock back on my heels for a moment, studying my scuffed boots, before looking back up at Robin, spotting the tears that well up in her blue eyes. "Jeeze, don't get so emotional," I tell her, giving a closed-eye smile. "That's my thing in this group."

Nami and Chopper give me odd looks, misunderstanding, probably. But Zoro gets it. I can tell by the way he tilts his head, neither looking at me nor attempting to. He just gets it.

In the next heartbeat, each Straw Hat is standing on a column, totally determined and not the least bit wavering. Not even Sogeking, who stands on Luffy's other side. In fact, he might look the most courageous out of all of us, standing here despite the massive fear he must be feeling deep down in that fragile little heart of his. That new-and-improved green slingshot of his helps his image a lot, though. He looks just slightly more badass, even with that ridiculous mask and cape.

"Now, leave everything to us!" Luffy declares.

I smile. 

Finally, I'm gonna get a chance to release this mind-numbing anger on someone.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so, so, so, so, so sorry I haven't updated in a month! Things were just so busy! I had major tests and other stories I've been neglecting! But I hope you like this chapter, and the pic on the side. C'mon. Zoro's just too hot in those goggles, useless though they may have been.

Any comments will be appreciated. I'd like to know if you guys are ok with how the story's been going. Like, if I'm boring the crap out of you, or something. 

Well, anyway, this chapter may have been short, but I loved this stopping point too much to add to it. I'm hoping the next one will be longer! Till next time guys!