(A/N: Sorry for inconsistent updates, again, but I've been having issues with having the motivation and energy to do literally anything. I've slept through weeks upon weeks, and now I'm at the point where I probably need to see a doctor. Also, I didn't realize this until it was too late, but the entire time I was writing the last chapter I mixed up Sodom and Gomorrah, so it's actually Sodom every time I wrote Gomorrah and vice versa. But don't worry, it's right now. Anywho here's an update, and I hope y'all enjoy it!)

Chapter Seven:

" I Want To Live "

(NO POV)

Tragedy struck just as the Straw Hats were about to make it to the courthouse. Someone shot down Sodom, one of the King Bulls, while the Straw Hats were riding it, and they had to switch to Gomorrah with the Franky Family. Granny Kokoro then explained that since there's no direct way from the courthouse to the Gates of Justice, someone would have to pull some levers at two side towers in order to lower a drawbridge leading to the gates. Chimney also mentioned that she saw Luffy on the rooftop of the courthouse. She explained that there was a lot of debris and smoke coming from there. While she was on the phone, the Marines successfully managed to take down Gomorrah and surround them.

A chunk of the rooftop came down from the building, and there stood Blueno of CP9. "He's already fighting CP9..." Sanji said. "Dammit! We're too late! But we can't catch up because we're surrounded! And after that last hit, I don't think Gomorrah can move anymore!" Zambai cried. "We have to jump ship!" Zoro shouted. "It's our only option!" Nami agreed. But just as everyone was about to jump off Gomorrah's back, Chopper shouted, "NO ONE GET OFF!"

"Huh? Why?"

Gomorrah slowly began to come back up from beneath them. "Gomorrah says so! Now hold on tight!" The Franky Family cheered for their companion, and as Marines continued to try to shoot him down again. 

"GO GOMORRAH! CHARGE!"

As Gomorrah made his way towards the courthouse, he kept crashing into various buildings. "Gomorrah, what's wrong!? Why do you keep crashing into buildings!?" Zambai shouted. Gomorrah roared, causing Chopper to gasp, "Gomorrah can't see! That last shot weakened his retinas; he's gone blind!"

"Gomorrah, stop this, please!" cried Mozu

"You can't go on like this; you'll kill yourself!" cried Kiwi.

Chopper sniffled, tears forming in his eyes, "He promised Sodom to take us the rest of the way!" 

Gomorrah was about to rush into a dead end, causing the entire Franky Family to beg him to stop, but with the combined efforts of Sanji and Zoro, they cleared the path and finally made it to the courthouse. Zambai and the rest of the Franky Family made their way to keep the Marines at bay while Nami, Chopper, and Isaac met up at the doors of the courthouse with Zoro and Sanji.

"Can you see Luffy?" Nami asked. 

"Nope," Sanji replied. "If the rooftop is that high, then we can't exactly just jump up there."

"Yeah, it's not like we're made of rubber," Zoro added. 

"How many members of CP9 did you guys see up there?" Isaac asked. "It was just that big guy with the bullhorns," Zoro replied. Sanji took a puff from his cigarette; "It's hard to believe that Robin, Franky, all of them, are behind those doors." Sanji said. 

"We need to catch up with Luffy quickly! Then we can save Robin together!" Chopper exclaimed. "We need to keep moving. Reinforcements are arriving! But how are we gonna open these thick stone doors!?" Zambai asked. Zoro brought down the entire door only a few moments later. "We're going in first! Stay close and don't fall behind!" He shouted. 

"HOLY CRAP HE CUT THROUGH THEM LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!"

"Zambai! Let's split up! We've gotta charge both of those towers!" Mozu said. "Each side has a lever to lower the drawbridge!" Kiwi added. Zambai nodded, "Yeah, good thinking! Alright, we'll separate into three groups: most of you go with Kiwi and Mozu; the rest are with me! Good luck, everyone! Move!"

Zoro took down the first handful of Marines as the Straw Hats and Franky Family entered the courthouse. "Not as much resistance as I expected. We should be able to tear right through." He said. "WOAH THAT GUY HAS THREE HEADS!" Isaac exclaimed, pointing upwards. "He's just like that dog that guards the underworld!" 

"Berberus?"

"IT'S CERBERUS!"

The three-headed man banged a gavel against a surface, "ORDER IN THE COURT! THIS IS A SACRED CHAMBER OF LAW, YOU HOOLIGANS! YOU HAD THE NERVE TO BUST IN HERE, SO NOW SHUT UP AND TAKE YOUR SENTENCE!" He/They shouted. Yokozuna, the giant frog, and the Franky Family stayed back to keep the Marines out. "Which way do we go, Nami!?" Zoro asked. "Straight ahead! There are stairs on both sides, so let's take them to the top!" She replied. "On it!"

Taking down more soldiers along the way, the pirates made their way to the stairs. "HEY HEY HEY WAIT! OUT OF THE WAY, REINDEER! OUT OF THE WAY MOSS-HEAD!" Sanji shouted, running into the courthouse. "SOMEBODY'S GONNA NEED TO PROTECT NAMI FROM ALL THESE BAD GUYS AND THAT SOMEONE'S GONNA BE ME DAMMIT! NOW MOVE!" Sanji kicked at Chopper and Zoro. 

"If you wanna settle this, then bring it!" Zoro growled. "Shut up! This is your fault for trying to hog Nami all for yourself!" Sanji barked. Nami looked at Isaac, "You wanna interject here?" She asked. "I mean, Sanji is accusing your boyfriend of hogging my attention." Isaac sighed, "Honestly, at this point I couldn't care less about the stupid things these two fight about." He replied. 

"And you don't want to hit him at least a little for that comment?" 

"You know what, why not?"

Isaac slapped the back of Sanji's head, "SANJI! BAD CHEF! BAD!" He scolded. Sanji turned around, holding the back of his head, "What was that for, Isaac!?" Isaac pouted, "For being stupid. Now, let's all focus on what we're here to do. We're here to save Robin!" Sanji's eyes widened, gasping. "I bet she's waiting for me! She's waiting for her prince to rescue her!" He began sprinting up the stairs. "She's probably crying because she misses me so much!"

Nami, Isaac, and Chopper ran up after him before stopping when Chopper screamed. "COME ON, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Isaac and Nami turned to see what Chopper was yelling at and of course, it was Zoro running off in the wrong direction. 

"ZORO, YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" Isaac shouted. Zoro stopped in his tracks, turning around to look at the three, "Are you sure!?" 

"HOW CAN YOU SCREW THIS UP WHEN THE STAIRS ARE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Nami scolded. "WELL, MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED GIVING ME SUCH CRAPPY DIRECTIONS THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN!" 

"NO WAY ARE YOU BLAMING THIS ON ME!"

Zoro began going up the stairs. "Zoro, I'll try to make some medicine for you later. For your brain problem." Chopper said.

"BRAIN PROBLEM!?"

"Hold on, I've got a better idea." 

Isaac took out his spellbook, flipping through the pages before smirking to himself. "Here we go!" He grabbed Zoro's hand in a handshake motion, "Materialize: Close Bonds!" A pink ring enveloped Zoro and Isaac's wrists, and when Isaac released Zoro's hand, he tugged his wrist back, causing Zoro to stumble. "What the Hell did you do, Pinky!?" Isaac put a hand on his hip, "To put it simply, you've been leashed. As long as this spell is active, you have to go wherever I go. That way you won't get separated from the rest of us." He explained. Nami grinned, "Smart!" 

(ISAAC'S POV)

"OH NO, HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED!?" I cried as Zoro took out enemies one by one. "The spell completely backfired on me, and now instead of us being caught up with the others, you led both of us astray!" After all the Marines were taken down, Zoro chuckled. "I gotta admit, maybe this spell wasn't such a bad idea after all." He teased with a slight tug of his wrist, pulling me forward. 

I moved away, "You don't get it, Zoro! My whole family's legacy is that I'm supposed to be the son of some famous sorceress! I don't know who my father was, and I'll probably never know, so being a witch is all I have to connect me with my family! Not to mention, as the only witch on the crew, I'm the only one who could possibly take down Dell and their immense power! And if all I am is a failure of a witch, then what do I have to contribute to our crew!?" He cried. 

Zoro frowned, realizing that he'd joked at a bad time. I sighed, clenching my fists. "I'm not as strong a swordsman as you, I'm not a skilled navigator like Nami, I can't cook like Sanji...Usopp may have felt powerless, but at least he was a great sniper! I can't even get a single stupid spell right..." 

"You're not a failure," Zoro said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I may not really know anything about this magic stuff, but I know you've been working hard both with this and your sword training. You are strong. Now let's focus on saving Robin, okay?" I nodded. "Right. That's what matters the most. But how are we supposed to catch up to the others?" 

Zoro smirked, "Well, as long as we go up, everything should work out fine. Now hold on tight, Pinky!" I got onto his back as he pulled out his swords, shouting, "TATSUMAKI!" Within mere seconds, we had reached the top of the courthouse! "THERE YOU ARE! I KNEW IT HAD TO BE YOU!" I looked over and saw Nami and Chopper, the former yelling at Zoro. "Oh, hey, guys," I said with a casual wave. "HOW ARE YOU ACTING SO CASUAL AFTER THAT TORNADO!?" 

A few seconds later, Sanji showed up, "I'm the first one here, no doubt! I've kept Robin waiting long eno-" He then noticed the rest of us, mainly Zoro; "WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE, MOSS-HEAD YOU'RE GONNA RUIN EVERYTHING!" 

"Hey, what took 'ya so long? You get lost or something?"

"DON'T YOU DARE EVEN GO THERE!"

From behind us was a familiar screaming, and Chopper shouted, "IT'S SNIPER KING!"

We all watched Usopp/Sniper King fly into the air. "He's flying!" Nami exclaimed. Zoro narrowed his eyes. "How is he supposed to land?" I held out my arms, trying to gauge where Usopp would land, "Don't worry, I got him!" And unfortunately, I was a smidge off, and he fell right next to me. "Sorry..." I cringed. 

"C'mon Robin, work with me here!" Luffy shouted. "You can say whatever you want! If you wanna die or whatever, that's fine! But when you say it, you say it as part of our crew!"

"Robin, he's right!"

"Come back with us, Robin!"

We all stared up at Robin, who seemed visibly conflicted. "Hey, Sniper King. Can you stand?" Zoro asked Usopp. Usopp chuckled half-heartedly, "Yeah, of course. A fall like that has nothing on me!" We each stood by Luffy's side, staring up at Robin with determination. 

"From now on, leave everything to us!"

 (NO POV)

"Those fools braved Aqua Laguna to get here. They're determined, if nothing else." Said Kalifa. "Either that or their just lucky." Added Jabra, another CP9 member. "Remember, we have permission to kill this time." Lucci reminded them. "But if we kill them, it'll be over before we have any fun." Kaku interjected. 

Lucci looked over at Dell, who was glaring intently at Isaac. "Something the matter with you, Dell?" He asked. Dell shook their head, "It's nothing, Sir Lucci." They replied, but from Isaac's perspective of Dell, he could see a little bit of conflict underneath the witch's cold, unnerving gaze. The leader of CP9, Spandam, turned to face his subordinates, "CP9! Here are your orders! Kill the intruders! But only engage with them here, at the Tower of Law!" He barked before cackling. 

"Stupid pirates! You may act tough, but you have no idea what you're getting yourselves into! Open your eyes! You don't think you can beat all of CP9, do you? And what about the Gates of Justice? You don't think they can be opened, do you!?" He mocked. "And if things go wrong, I have this!" He held up a golden transponder snail. "With this golden transponder snail, I have the authority to issue a Buster Call!"

Robin gasped, "A-A Buster Call?" Spandam nodded, "That's right. I'm sure you remember the power of the Buster Call well. After all, it is what wiped out your homeland 20 years ago. What was it? Ohara? Hard to remember the name when it was wiped off the map." 

Robin was visibly panicked, "Don't! Anything but that! I'm begging you!" She pleaded. Spandam smirked, "What's that? You don't want me to initiate a Buster Call and annihilate all your little friends?" Robin glared at Spandam, "You're insane. Do you have any idea what will happen if you press that button?"

"I do. It'll eliminate all the chances of your pirate crew leaving alive! Just with this single button." 

"If you think that, you don't understand a thing!"

"Are all those memories coming back now? Maybe I should press it then, after all, it might be fun." Spandam laughed again until Robin shouted at him, "This isn't a joke! Stop it!" Spandam glared down at her, "I'm the one who makes the demands here, Wench."

"You say Ohara was wiped off the map. But your map doesn't show the lives of the people who lives there. Your view of the world is so distant, so twisted, that you've lost sight of your humanity!" Robin trembled, falling to her knees. "There's a limit to how much you can sacrifice in the name of justice...A Buster Call is going too far. You can't use it...Anything but that!"

Robin was momentarily silent. "If you trigger a Buster Call...Everything here will be destroyed. That includes all of Enies Lobby. And most likely, you as well."

"Don't be ridiculous! They wouldn't kill a V.I.P. like me! I'm not falling for your bluff!" Spandam protested. "20 years ago, everything was taken from me. And many innocent lives were lost. With one push of a button, that Buster Call..." Robin turned to face the Straw Hats. "And now that attack is targeting the friends I was finally able to find, with whom I can be myself. The more I wish for us to be together, the more my ugly fate bears its' fangs at you!" 

"Even now, no matter how far we sail, there's still an enemy that haunts me at every turn. Because I'm facing the world, and all of it's darkness. First with Aokiji, now with CP9! I've dragged you into my troubles twice! If this goes on forever, no matter how kind you may be...Someday you'll see me as a burden! Someday you'll be forced to betray me and throw me away! That's what I'm most afraid of! That's why I didn't want you to rescue me! If that's the only future I have then I'd rather die! To save me the pain!" Robin cried. 

The Straw Hats all stared at her, wide eyed. Isaac clenched his fists, 'She feels the same way as I do...'

Spandam laughed, "There you have it! Right on the mark! What a sorry case! Even if you make friends you'll just drag them through the mud with you! You can't win pirates, just look at this flag!" He pointed upwards at the World Government flag above them. "This represents the unity of 170 countries, a power spanning the four seas and the Grand Line! This is the world itself! Don't you realize how powerless you are to stand against it!? Do you realize how strong our organization is!? Do you realize how devoted we are to capturing her!?"

Luffy stared up at the flag. "If that's Robin's enemy, then I know what to do. Sniper King...Shoot down that flag."

Usopp nodded, "Roger." He held up his new slingshot, "This is my new weapon. A huge slingshot by the name of Kabuto! Behold it's power! Special Attack: Fire Bird Star!" With one shot the flag was set ablaze. "Mission accomplished."

"You idiots! You can't expect to challenge the entire world and win!" Spandam chastised. 

"BRING IT ON!" Luffy shouted before looking up at Robin. "ROBIN! There's still something I want to hear you say!"

Robin trembled, tears pricking her eyes. "Tell me you want to live!"

After so many years of being told her existence was a crime, after having lost hope so long ago. Robin stared at all her friends, realizing that they were truly on her side.

"I WANT TO LIVE! TAKE ME WITH YOU! TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE!"

TO BE CONTINUED...