"What the hell happened…?" Franky groaned, pushing himself up from a pile of rubble. Dust rolled off his shoulders as he blinked around.
"One minute I was getting ready to use my Cola Burst… and the next— EVERYTHING got sliced into tiny pieces."
Kalifa clapped slowly, smirking.
"That was impressive. I love big, strong men like you. Want to go on a date… as my prisoner?"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Emma shouted, clearly annoyed.
Kaku rubbed the back of his head and sighed.
"Listen up, pirates. Let's make this a game. If you want to save Nico Robin… you must defeat us. Each of us holds a key. ONE of these keys might open the handcuffs on her hands."
"Shave."
Lucci vanished instantly, taking Robin and Spandam with him.
"Oh—I almost forgot!" his voice echoed in the air. "You only have ONE hour. And you'll have to FIND us." Kaku said before vanishing.
The rest of CP9 disappeared one by one.
"Go on ahead. You guys must win and get those keys." Noah said as he brush off his pants.
"What about you two?" Chopper asked.
"We'll fight THESE guys," Noah replied, nodding toward CP5. "Judging by their number… they must be pretty strong."
"What?! You two can't fight all FIVE of them at once!" Sniper King yelled.
Noah slowly smiled.
"We can handle them."
MEANWHILE OUTSIDE....
Paulie, the Franky Brothers, and the shipwrights clashed with waves of Marines.
Luffy points at Franky.
"Oi, Franky! Wanna fight with us?"
Franky dusted his shoulders and cracked his knuckles.
"Sure do!"
The Straw Hats each ran in different directions, splitting up.
Luffy and Franky went straight after Lucci.
Emma drew her blades.
"Now it's just us."
Noah unsheathed his sword.
"Yeah."
A man stepped forward from the CP5 group.
"Let's introduce ourselves," he said. "I'm Kurotsuki, leader of CP5."
"I'm Tsubaki, and I can't wait to kill you," she said with a grin.
"The name's Ranmaru… I hate people," the next one muttered.
"I'm Hikaru," another said calmly.
And I'm Ayame.
Kurotsuki smirked.
"Together, we are CP5."
Emma opened her mouth to speak, but Kurotsuki raised a hand.
"No need. We know exactly who you two are. Emma— also known as the Ghostly Merchant."
His eyes moved to Noah.
"And you… Noah. The Destroyer."
Emma blinked.
"Ghostly Merchant? When did I get that name?"
Noah shrugged.
"It sounds badass."
Emma points her blade at him.
"And since when do they call you the Destroyer?"
Noah shook his head and sighed.
"I don't know… but it also sounds badass."