Facing Bondrewd, Franky felt as though his mind had stopped working.
Water 7 was the world's foremost shipbuilding city and a major island hub, so news traveled fast there.
Of course Franky knew about Bondrewd. At least, he had some understanding of everything publicly known about him.
For the first time since becoming a cyborg, he felt his entire body freeze.
"You seem rather nervous, Mr. Cutty Flam."
The vertical purple light on Bondrewd's mask flickered faintly. His black coat tails swayed gently in the wind, and the mechanical armor on his limbs gleamed dully in the sunlight.
He held Franky's wrist without much force. Yet Franky found himself completely unable to move.
He wasn't locked in place. It was something deeper, an instinctive sense of oppression that made every part of his body scream a warning: Don't resist.
Meanwhile, Sephiroth was thinking that the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was simply unbeatable against cyborgs. They were even easier to handle than ordinary humans.
This was practically Magneto meeting Wolverine.
Franky could only watch as Bondrewd drew the blueprints out of his hand, as casually as taking a piece of candy from a child.
"B-B-B-B-B-Bondrewd!!!!???"
Spandam had mentally checked out the moment Bondrewd appeared. Now that he had come back to his senses, he sounded like he was sending a telegram.
Useless though he was, he was still CP9's chief. His clearance gave him a thorough understanding of the information available on Bondrewd.
"L-L-L-Lucci, h-help, help me-"
What Spandam actually meant was for Lucci to take him and run, but he couldn't get the words out.
Yet Lucci had already transformed into his hybrid form in a panic. Every hair on his body stood on end, and he was hissing furiously.
His teammates were equally alarmed, their pupils trembling.
"Damn it-how-why is he