Chapter 52: Wanted

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 52: Wanted

The next morning, right after leaving the alley. The trio heard the citizen of Water Seven having a loud argument.

"Did you hear what happened to Mister Iceberg?"

"It has to be Franky and his goons! only them would do something like that."

"Nah, I bet it was one of those nasty pirates. They are always visiting the Galley-La company and fighting with the carpenters there."

"What's going on?" Wondered Usopp.

"They mentioned Mister Iceberg, Isn't that the man Luffy and the others talked to?" Asked Chopper.

"Yes. He is the owner of the shipbuilding company. It seems like He was attacked." Said Vivi, pretending not to know what had happened.

"Let's go back to the ship for now."

They both nodded.

—----------------------------------------------------

Once they got back to the Going Merry, Zoro was waiting on the deck.

"You guys are back." Said Zoro, looking a bit tired.

"You didn't sleep, uh? Is everyone inside?." Asked Vivi.

Zoro nodded.

"Sanji just got back."

They went into the kitchen where everyone was sitting down.

"Yo!" Vivi greeted and went to take a seat.

"Captain, sorry for hitting you."

Luffy chuckled. "That's fine."

Vivi gave Usopp a look and this one understood.

"Luffy, sorry for overreacting yesterday."

Luffy scratched his head.

"No…I also said some things I shouldn't. It's all good."

"............"

"Shake hands already!" Cried Nami, who could not take the awkward silence.

They both shook hands and laughed again.

The rest of the crew could sigh in relief at the adverted crisis, at least one of them.

"Changing to a less happy subject. Robin is still missing. I just came back from the city and could not find her or that masked man she left with." Said Sanji.

"Did you hear what people are saying? Apparently, someone attacked that Iceberg guy yesterday. They suspect pirates." Commented Vivi.

"Iceberg ?, the president of the ship-building company?" Asked Nami.

"I heard about that. He was actually shot in his house, but He is still alive." Said Sanji.

"That guy was shot? I wanna go take a look!" Said Luffy.

"Captain, I don't know if it's a good idea. If they are suspecting pirates…" Said Vivi.

"We were nowhere near his house last night!." Said Nami.

"I'll go with you, Luffy."

"I'm going to keep looking for Robin." Said Sanji.

"I'll go speak with the dock manager. I want to secure a place to keep the Merry for the time being, until we decide…how to say goodbye." Said Usopp with difficulty.

Luffy gave him a reassuring tap on the shoulder before leaving.

Zoro turned to Vivi.

"What about you?."

"Me?, I'm going to take a nap while you guard the ship." Vivi chuckled.

"What?!, Oi!, I wanted to do that!...Oi!!" Zoro complained.

—----------------------------------------------------

"Wake up! you lazy ass!" The sweet voice of Zoro woke her up from her slumber.

"What is it now…." She stretched her arms.

"Vivi, we need to move the ship. They say that something called Aqua Laguna is approaching. Any ship on the regular docks needs to be moved or they'll be destroyed." Said Usopp.

"And we have another problem…" Zoro threw a newspaper at her.

"They started distributing these an hour ago."

"What?" Exclaimed Vivi. "Isn't it a bit late to start distributing newspapers?, its almost midday!"

"That's not the problem!. Read the front page!" Yelled Zoro.

She did read it. It wasn't really a surprise.

"They claim that Robin is the one that tried to kill Mister Iceberg... are Luffy and Nami still out there? " Asked Vivi.

Zoro nodded.

"Ok, let's go check on them. Usopp, can you take care of the ship by yourself?"

"Of course!, leave it to me." He said with confidence.

—------------------------------------------------

"Tsk!, I can't believe we have to hide like criminals!" Said Zoro.

"Lower your voice!" Whispered Vivi.

As soon as they went into the streets, people started chasing them and screaming for their arrest. The news that Nico Robin from the Strawhats has tried to kill their beloved Mayor has spread through the whole city.

As they were moving, Vivi was using her observation haki to locate Luffy and Nami.

"Zoro!, I found them" She finally said.

Luffy and Nami were hiding under a bridge. After calling for them, they went for cover in a nearby alley

"You guys had a bad time, uh?" Commented Vivi after seeing their rugged state.

"Bad? the whole city is trying to kill us!" Cried Nami.

"That Iceberg guy said that Robin tried to kill him!. There is no way that's true!." Said Luffy with anger.

"Well, there is no denying that Robin's actions have been strange as of late. Why hasn't she contacted us in any way? And that Iceberg guy has no reason to lie either." Said Zoro.

"So you think that Robin actually did it?" Nami questioned.

"I don't know. But she does have some explaining to do." Said Zoro.

"What about you, Vivi? What do you think?" Asked Luffy.

"She definitely did it. Mister Iceberg has no reason to lie about that. The question is…why did she do it?. She has never met that guy before so she has no reason to want him dead. But maybe someone else does, like the masked guy that was seen walking with." Suggested Vivi.

"Are you saying that she was forced to do that?" Asked Nami.

"If that's true…ill make them pay!" Luffy clenched his fists.

"We won't know for sure until we find her. But for now, I think is best to stop drawing conclusions. Everyone else is already doing that." Said Vivi.

"How can we find her, we can't even walk through the streets without being hunted down." Said Zoro.

"We don't need to wander the streets. We already know where she is going to go." Vivi pointed out.

"That's right!" Said Nami with excitement. "The assassination attempt on Mister Iceberg failed. Im sure they'll try again. Probably at night."

"Well, we have a plan then! Tonight we sneak into that Iceberg guy mansion and wait for Robin." Said Luffy.