By the shores of Nanohana, dozens of Marine vessels were sailing in including the infamous Black Cage Fleet. By now, thousands of men in white marched onto specialized sand ships brought in explicitly to transport them through the massive desert. Leading this operation were Captains Hina and Smoker. The Black Cage and the White Chaser, two of the most decorated officers of their rank, flanked by more than enough backup to put the civil war to an end.
Of course, they both knew why they were here. They were to "assist Crocodile", according to their orders. The fact that they had heard someone broadcast the Straw Hats' news about Princess Vivi and the real cause of the war never came up. Once again, the Five Elder Stars had plugged their ears about anything "wrong" about their system.
As infuriating as it was, they had come to expect this. They also knew telling the men under their command would be pointless, since they still had a job to do. They were to protect the civilians, deescalate the conflict, and apprehend any criminal element present in Alubarna.
That could not be said for Tashigi. The minute that girl heard direct evidence that Crocodile was responsible for all of this, then received word from her commanding officers that she was going to help him? She had to be physically restrained from running off half-cocked to the capital city, crying that everything she believed in was a lie. The poor swordswoman clutched Shigure even now, her eyes closed lest she break down again.
As their convoy traipsed through the dunes and over the river cutting through the island, the soldiers had many mixed thoughts. Some never liked the Warlord system and grumbled having to assist a pirate in any sense. Others focused on protecting the innocents caught in the middle of this madness. And a few others… They looked determined, angry at the whole situation.
Those were the ones Hina and Smoker kept an eye on. They had a feeling, one way or another, today would be their last mission.
Back in the center of Alubarna, at the steps of the palace, the city was silent save for the din of the war raging in the desert outside. Luffy, with Vivi still in his arms, glared at Crocodile while the Warlord looked utterly bored.
"Vivi, go find your father. I'm sure he needs some good news at this point…"
"That's some bold words, brat. You say that like I'll just let her get past here."
Luffy leapt high in the air, easily dozens of feet, while streams of sand followed him. With a swing of his legs, his Tempest Kick managed to cut through the attack and let him land safely. Crocodile spun with another wave of sand ready to attack but Luffy's hand, dark with Armament Haki, punched holes clean through it.
Crocodile's eyes finally opened as he saw the armor shining on Luffy's hands. "Where did you learn Haki?"
"Doesn't matter!" The pirate yelled as he charged right through, his left arm stretched back. Crocodile actually had to lean his head aside to avoid the blow, making him snort.
"You cocky little shit! Think a few tricks makes you my equal? I'll show you the difference between you and me!"
With a yell, his body exploded into a cloud of sand that rapidly grew to consume Luffy. His Observation Haki had to work overtime to track where Crocodile actually was. He only barely dodged a hand racing towards him, using Moonwalk to leap out of the cloud. Luffy knew one touch from him, he'd be a husk and Vivi was left unprotected.
"Gum-Guuuuuuuuum…" Luffy sent a fist through the cloud, but then brought down his other arm to make his elastic fist bob and weave in several different directions. Sure enough, the erratic attack managed to slug Crocodile who reformed out of shock.
"…Shotgun!"
"Damn, I'm wasting time! Try this! Desert…!"
Once again, Crocodile's hand touched the ground and began decomposing the stone beneath him into more sand. This time, though, the sand reformed into several sharp blades.
"…Spada!" The cutlasses launched forward, forcing Luffy to jump and weave around them only for more to form beneath the Warlord's feet. Like a barrage of cannonfire, dozens of them came one after the other. Luffy only just noticed four coming all at once. He let loose a Tempest Kick to destroy them all but that meant taking his eyes off Crocodile.
The man appeared behind Luffy like a ghost, finally grabbing ahold of his shoulder. "Now, time to end this!"
Luffy, stuck, did the only thing he could think of: swing his fist down between Crocodile's legs. The Warlord let out the most undignified yelp of his life before Luffy followed up with a right hook that let him get some space back.
"You… You little shit…!" Crocodile growled, "Who do you think you are?!"
The young man couldn't help but grin. "I'm the man who's gonna be King of the Pirates!"
"King of the Pirates?! Don't make me laugh! You'll never get anywhere just wishing for something to happen!"
"You're right! I'm gonna make my dream real! And next up is beating your ass for hurting Vivi!"
Outside in the ruins, Reiju's crew was currently regrouping behind the largest wall they could find. The lion-woman had an idea on how to get past the baseball volley without getting blown up. And despite the fact that they were sitting ducks, the Mr. 4 duo were more than content to let them plan.
"Aw, what's the matter, girlies?!" Miss Merry Christmas taunted yet again, having been running her mouth all this time, "You wanted to square up with us, so get your fannies out here! Isn't this hilarious, Mr. 4? They outnumber us seven to three and we're still kicking their asses!"
The other assassin's only answer was to guffaw lethargically, with Lassoo barking in anticipation of wrapping up this fight so he could go back to napping. After all, they had been in the business for decades. Baroque Works was their key to getting put on easy street for their golden years. What did a bunch of girls have on them?
When the Straw Hats emerged from their little meeting, forming a line against the cocky bounty hunters. As one, the seven pirates ran ahead. Miss Merry Christmas returned to her mole form and tunneled around while Mr. 4 readied his bat and Lassoo took a long, deep breath.
Rather than charge all at once, the Straw Hats split into three groups. Reiju, Carina and Kinderella kept charging ahead with the latter two riding on a giant lioness's back. Carmen carried Makino off to the left, while Clarisse charged right with Ban in tow.
With three targets to face, Lassoo kept his attention to the group right in front of his muzzle. He sneezed out another baseball with prompted Kinderella to jump into the air. Seeing a shot, Lassoo fired straight at her. She managed to dodge thanks to Moonwalk, but the explosion still clipped her arm.
She fell to the ground screaming, cradling one arm as something lay scattered around her. Miss Merry Christmas swiftly changed course, burrowing towards her with the plan to drag her underground and let her suffocate.
Unfortunately, that meant she stopped chasing Clarisse and Ban. With no more distractions, Ban fired half a dozen rounds and Mr. 4 was too slow to block with his bat. The bullets fired straight into his elbows, knees and hands, making him holler in shock as his massively heavy bat dropped.
Lassoo yelped and turned to comfort his master, but that was another mistake. Carmen fanned her wings to create a gust of wind and sand that quickly overtook the dog-cannon. The particles flying all around him triggered his allergies, sneezing uncontrollably and letting one baseball after another fly in random distractions. While Ban and Makino kept the shots away from them, nobody stopped to help Miss Merry Christmas who couldn't see above ground.
So, when an errant fly ball happened to land right in the path of her tunneling, she was far too late to stop and was sent flying out of the ground in a massive kaboom. As she hollered through the sky, she noticed Carina rushing up to meet her.
"What the?! How'd you get up here?!"
"Fuck you, that's how!" she taunted before raising her volume to forte. With one mighty punch backed by a gigantic sonic boom, Miss Merry Christmas was sent slamming back down into the dunes in a broken pile.
"Noooooo!" Mr. 4 screamed, reaching down to grab his bat for an attack. By the time he looked up, the three Zoans of the group were surrounding him.
Between Reiju's claws, Carmen's talons and Clarisse's horn all backed with their own strength plus Armament Haki, the lethargic man was left in a heap with Lassoo trying to urge him back up.
With the pair silent for a change, Kinderella reformed her arm from shards and flipped the group off for good measure before Reiju led her team back towards the desert battle. They needed to make sure Vivi was okay and keep the armies apart.
Back in Alubarna, nobody had noticed Pell making a rough landing on a rooftop or that there was apparently a sniper in the clock tower. The people were too busy hiding from the war raging in the streets. Some of the droogs that had once impersonated the Royal Guard had snuck off and roped some of the more gullible soldiers into attacking the Straw Hats.
The trio left to deal with them had their hands full thanks to the sheer numbers. Nojiko's plants couldn't grow well in the stifling desert heat, forcing her to improvise. Thankfully, one Finger Gun to an unsuspecting gunman meant she confiscated his weapon and had turned the pistol into a makeshift vine launcher by triggering their growth midair.
While she tangled them up, Kaya and Sally kept the rest at bay with waves of gems and bees. The blondes kept darting around, firing off shots or forcing a swarm of insects to drive all of the goons over to the main staircase where one good Tempest Kick could send them sprawling down dozens of feet into the sand.
Things were not so easy for Kuina and Custard. Mr. 1, as expected of a man wanted for seventy-five million beris and Crocodile's highest-ranked agent, was no pushover. With the ability to turn any part of his body into a razor-sharp blade, a single swing or kick could mean getting cut in half or impaled on a punch.
Their katanas clanged against Mr. 1's arms, then had to retreat as his leg swung out with a sinister shing through the air.
"You two are pathetic," he sneered, "You think those little knives will work on me?"
The Straw Hats simply nodded to each other before charging again, this time going for a pincer attack. The agent crossed his arms only to find Kuina jumping over him while Custard spat out a cherry bomb which he had to slice through before it went boom.
"I thought swordsmen prided themselves on being honorable?'"
"Psh, does this look like a tournament?!" Kuina scoffed, her sword clanging against his back as it became a ridged steel plate, "And you're clearly using a Devil Fruit! Why shouldn't we use ours?"
"Good point. It'd be too easy otherwise." Mr. 1 suddenly spun around, forcing both ladies to split up from the whirling razorblade. Custard readied another fruity explosive only for the assassin to rush right past her. It took her a second too late to realize he'd sliced a nearby palm tree down to crash on top of her. She had to toss the cherry bomb at the falling timber, giving Mr. 1 the perfect opportunity to attack…
"Shave!"
Kuina blurred in just in time, a red glow surrounding her from the Wait-Wait Fruit's power. With some extra oomph, she shoved Mr. 1 back far enough that she and Custard had a moment to breathe.
"Okay, he just slices any fruit I throw at him," the latter sighed, "Any ideas?"
"Shy of getting impaled to exploit my power boost? No thanks, I had enough of that with Mr. 3."
"Wait… Maybe Devil Fruits aren't the answer!" Getting the same idea, Kuina ran ahead with her sword now coated in Armament Haki. When the Wado Ichimonji came down, the agent was shocked to find his arm almost gave way.
"What?! How-?!"
He didn't get to speak any further before Custard ran in with an upward swing, his knee actually stung in pain from his block. For once, he was forced on the defensive as the two never let up their focus. Their black-coated blades were more than enough to match his Dice-Dice Fruit and then some.
"That tears it!" he snarled, finally getting riled up, "Let's see your fancy tricks get out of this!" Mr. 1 then jumped as high as his legs would let him, about twenty feet with his leg becoming a blade on the way down. As he approached the side of a building, his silver limb cleaved right down the central pillar holding up the upper levels. And with a strong kick, the pillar toppled over and the entire building rattled and came down on top of the Straw Hats.
"Flying Cut!" they both shouted, releasing blades of wind that sliced the debris to bits before moving in again. As one, they Shaved to the sides with Mr. 1 giving a spinning kick to force them away only to gasp.
He looked down to see two crossed blades, lodged firmly in his stomach. On one side was Kuina, panting heavily. On the other was Custard, gritting her teeth as if daring him to try another attack. He let out a wet gurgle before his arms went slack.
With the fight over, Kuina and Custard removed their swords and ran back down the alleyway to help the rest of their crew.
"Father!" Vivi shouted, running down the open passageway behind the throne. Her peacock slashers were already in hand, prepared to attack anything that moved. With Miss All-Sunday's ability to spawn limbs anywhere, she wasn't taking any chances with her father's life at stake.
After rushing down many stairs and halls, stepping around all the booby traps which she'd memorized years ago, she reached the bottom. Inside was the treasure of the Alabasta royal family, more valuable than any gold or Devil Fruit: a massive eight-foot tall stone cube engraved on all sides with strange symbols.
And standing in front of it was none other than Crocodile's assistant with the man himself, King Nefertari Cobra. Standing six feet tall, his black ahri had began to turn grey with age. His handsome, noble face was lined with wrinkles from decades pondering how to best serve his kingdom, clad in luxurious silk robes with a deceptively plain green color.
"Well, well, Ms. Princess, you are a tenacious one," Robin smiled, "But you have nothing to fear. Your father is quite alright, his illness aside."
"Release him. Now."
"Oh, is that any way to talk to an old comrade? Come now, put down the toys and we'll discuss this like civilized-"
The pair of hands Robin had sprouted from Cobra's elbows to hold his wrists together were suddenly struck by Vivi's flails. Between the sudden pain and her remarkable speed, the limbs dissolved into pink petals and her father stumbled to the ground.
As Vivi ran forward, more limbs appeared from the floor trying to trip her up. But thanks to Luffy's lessons on Observation Haki, she could make out the aura of each one just before it formed on the ground. She managed to skirt her way through the ambush before wrapping both of her slashes around Robin's throat to distract her long enough to use something she picked up from Pell.
"Remember these?!" Vivi growled, slapping the Seastone handcuffs around her wrists. Robin suddenly went slack as her powers faded, the arms coming from the floor disappearing. With a final kick the back, Miss All-Sunday was left face-down on the crypt floor. And with her occupied, Vivi could finally get to her father.
Cobra looked down at her, beaming with pride as if he wasn't abducted just earlier. "Vivi… That was amazing…"
"Father… I…" That was as far as Vivi got before she crushed him in a hug, sobbing in relief at seeing him alive and well after all this time. Cobra was hugging her back, rubbing her back and relishing having his daughter safe at last.
"Vivi, I can't tell you how proud I am. You've gone above and beyond for our people. You'll be an exceptional queen someday."
"F-Father… I'm sorry… The war's still happening… The Rebel Army, they're attacking right now!"
"I've been following the newspapers recently, you know. I don't suppose that pirate crew that's been tearing up islands since Whiskey Peak and just happen to be following a course to our island have anything to do with you coming back so fast?"
Vivi looked up in shock before nodding. "They're absolutely wonderful. They've been fighting Baroque Works the entire time, protecting me from everything they had. Even now, Luffy's up there fighting Crocodile himself! Heck, he even convinced three of his agents to change sides!"
"An impressive feat. I'd like to meet him, once this is all over. For now, we need to lay low and then ease the tensions once that despot is in chains."
It was only then that they turned and saw Robin laughing to herself. Vivi stomped over, hauling her up by the collar of her jacket.
"Is this funny to you?!"
"Your reunion? No. It's this Poneglyph… It says where Pluton is… And it's on the other side of the world!"
"What?! You really can read this…" Cobra gasped, "So, the weapon isn't within our borders. I'll consider that a blessing."
"Yes… All this madness, for nothing…" Robin chuckled, but with a deep sadness in her tone, "…Just like my involvement in all this."
Before the two could ask anything else, the entire room trembled, and blocks of stone began to fall from the ceiling. Given that they were hundreds of feet beneath Alubarna, they had to race back up the passageway or risk being buried alive. While Cobra moved as fast as he could, given his cane, Vivi hauled Robin onto her shoulders.
"What are you doing?!"
"Saving you! I may hate what you've done, but you're not dying down here!"
As she was quickly carried away and up to the palace, where she was promptly locked in the nearest closet, Robin couldn't believe it. By all accounts, Vivi had every right to hate her and leave her for dead if that chamber collapsed. And now here she was, handcuffed and left relatively unharmed in a storage closet while the king and princess of Alabasta regrouped.
"Today is just full of surprises…"
"Desert Sables!" Crocodile shouted, a miniature whirlwind of sand in his grasp. As soon as he let the attack go, it grew into a full-fledged tornado headed straight at Luffy. The younger pirate already felt himself being sucked in, forcing him to jam one of his feet into the earth before he was swallowed up.
"Gum… Gum…" he chanted, forcing his bound leg to turn while his other remaining leg stretched out along with his arms. Crocodile just sneered. Whatever attack he was preparing, it couldn't possibly hit a storm. And it was only growing bigger thanks to the natural desert winds always blowing across the island.
"Tempest Volley!" As Luffy let himself spin like a top, bound by the stone beneath him, his free leg and arm began firing off Tempest Kicks and a modified version of the Finger Gun like a hail of gunfire. The pressurized bursts of air actually forced the cyclone to stop, then actually started beating the storm back.
"WHAT?!" Crocodile couldn't believe his eyes, watching the clashing winds destabilize his Desert Sables until it disappeared entirely. Unfortunately for him, that also meant he wasn't ready for several pressurized waves of air slamming into him since he was right behind said tornado. He was forced into the front of a building on the opposite end of the courtyard while Luffy stopped spinning and had to clear the dizziness from his vision.
"You damn punk…" the Warlord growled, "I'm gonna enjoy putting you in the ground with the rest of this sand pit."
"You keep saying that… And you're the one who's losing…" Luffy got out before shutting his eyes to get his balance back. He kept his Observation Haki up and good thing too as Crocodile sent several more Desert Spadas after him. They ate through the ground, forcing him to hop from place to place or drown in sand.
"You think you can win against me?! The ground itself is a weapon for me!"
"Then I'll have to send you flying!" Luffy pushed his Haki further, just barely able to see the rushes of sand before they came at him. He swerved from side to side until he landed an Armament-powered sucker punch to Crocodile's gut, followed by an uppercut to the chin. As soon as his hand left the earth, the sand attacks stopped.
"Moonwalk!" Luffy leapt up after his foe, dodging more random blasts of sand Crocodile formed from his good hand. Rather than follow after him, though, Luffy took a hard right around the massive tower they were flying past before rushing up to the roof. Sure enough, Crocodile was flying past right in the way of a Gum-Gum Pistol.
The sand-man growled as he grabbed ahold of Luffy's elastic fist before finally triggering his power to suck all the moisture out of anything. The Straw Hat flinched as he felt his hand start to shrivel up, losing all feeling from his muscles and nerves drying out.
"Oh no you don't!" Luffy wound his other fist back before a second Gum-Gum Pistol was caught by Crocodile's golden hook.
"Now what do you plan to do, pipsqueak?! It's only a matter of time before I turn you to dust like all the other riffraff!"
What Crocodile didn't notice was that the tower they were now falling down had a balcony. And with him holding Luffy in place and falling first, he ended up crashing through it back-first. The jolt made him release his enemy, with only half of Luffy's left arm dried out. Luffy, however, took the opportunity to spin mid-air while stretching his leg.
"Gum-Gum Battle-Axe!" The elastic leg cracked Crocodile in the forehead before he slammed into the ground. He got himself on his elbows in time to see Luffy had stretched both legs now before smashing into his gut.
"Gum-Gum Stamp!"
Crocodile reached out to grab Luffy's leg but the rubbery man bounced aside in time. Just as he managed to get up, Luffy grabbed the Warlord's head in both hands. With a shout of surprise, Crocodile was hoisted off his feet and was flung up and into the clock tower overlooking the central plaza just outside the palace. The real surprise was when a massive sphere of some kind fell out of the back of the building.
"What the heck?!" Luffy rushed over to see Crocodile and what he assumed were two more Baroque Works agents getting up from the debris while a gigantic black ball sat behind them.
"What is that thing, some kind of bomb?!"
"It was my insurance policy in case Koza or Vivi managed to get in the way," Crocodile groused, "Mr. 7! Miss Father's Day!"
The two agents, a short, stout man dressed in old fashioned vestments complete with a powdered wig and a woman in a hideously garish frog suit, aimed their guns at Luffy without even being asked. That didn't last long when Luffy grabbed them both by the throats and smashed their faces into each other.
"That's for shooting down Pell, jerks!"
"You really are too stubborn for your own good, brat."
"Shut up! Why is there a bomb here?! Were you gonna blow up the whole palace just to get rid of Vivi?!"
"Of course not! I was going to blow up the whole city of Alubarna! A last-ditch effort to get the armies to fight. They'd blame each other for the capital being destroyed, and if nothing else it gets everyone out of the way!"
"You… Were gonna kill everyone…" Luffy's knuckles turned white with rage, "The fuck is wrong with you?!"
"It's called ambition, kid! Something you clearly don't have! You need to be able to sacrifice everything in your way to achieve your goal! If you can't do that, then you're just playing at being a pirate!"
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUP!" Luffy shouted before wrapping both his arms around the bomb.
"I'd be careful with that! It's rigged to a timer that even I can't stop now! You have maybe five minutes before it explodes and takes both of us with it!"
Rather than stop, however, Luffy planted both his legs to the ground and swung as hard as he could. Using the bomb itself as a giant hammer, he swung down at Crocodile. The Warlord had to turn himself into sand to avoid being crushed. Like some kind of rabid monkey, Luffy kept swinging again and again using the explosive like a massive mallet to attack the pile of sand darting all over the place.
"You idiot, stop! I thought you didn't want the city destroyed!"
"What's the matter, scared?! I thought you were willing to sacrifice anything! Well, guess what?! SO AM I!" With one final yell, Luffy spun on his heels and tossed the bomb high into the air. Then, with the biggest leap he could, he raced up after it and smashed it with the strongest punch he could muster. Sure enough, the bomb couldn't take it and released an earth-shattering kaboom that broke every pane of glass in the city.
"That… Imbecile…" Crocodile growled, "Fine. I'll just find the princess and end her myself…" He stalked off, ready to complete his plan only to hear something crash behind him. He turned and promptly broke into a cold sweat for the first time in ages.
Because lying in a crater was Monkey D. Luffy, slowly getting back up. His body covered in soot, his clothes looking charred, and clearly sore given the groans coming with every movement, but very much alive.
"That… That's impossible! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!"
"Because there's one thing I won't give up, bastard, and that's my friends! Vivi still needs me to beat you, so I can't die yet!"
Stupefied, Crocodile just stood there while Luffy tackled him and leapt as far away from Alubarna as he could. He figured the city was going to need more than enough cleanup without his fight making more of a mess.
The downsides of Alvida's Smooth-Smooth Fruit? If she loses her way or trips, there's little that can stop her from sliding out of control. When a massive explosion shook the city from above, the mace-wielding pirate went from skating down the alleyways to crashing into a garbage bin after the shockwave sent her flying.
"Ugh, still an improvement from my old pirate days…" she sighed, cleaning the gunk off herself before grabbing her mace and checking her surroundings with Haki. A good thing, too, as she darted away from the wall nearest to her where several spikes emerged right through where she'd been standing.
While Mr. 1 was a close-quarters fighter who went in guns blazing, his partner was an expert at tracking her prey and lurking in wait for the right moment to impale her target with her Spike-Spike Fruit.
Alvida, however, was not stealthy. Just as Miss Doublefinger's spines retracted, she swung her mace through the wall to find the assassin standing in what was someone's larder. The blue-haired agent just chuckled before lashing out with a kick that slid right off of Alvida's stomach.
To Miss Doublefinger's credit, she recovered from the slip-up. She spun on her heel, swinging into a punch where spines extended from her knuckles. This time, she punched through a cabinet just next to Alvida's head and smashed the now-punctured wooden door on over her head.
The other downside of Alvida's fruit? Her flawlessly smooth skin relied on her concentration. So a blow to the head left her vulnerable, long enough for the agent's speared fingers to rush at her exposed face…
"Hey, Zala!" the door to the house they were in burst down as Mikita kicked her way in. Immediately, her attention turned to her one-time colleague.
"Oh, Miss Valentine, you ought not get on my bad side or else I'll use that parasol of yours to serve whatever is left of you to the Sandora River Dragons."
"It's Mikita! And you're gonna wish you stayed in that dinky café of yours!" Mikita lowered her weight to one kilo before blurring away in a sprint. Zala blinked before curling herself into a ball and growing spines all over like a massive, blue porcupine.
"Five-Hundred Kilo Kick!" Mikita changed the mass in her leg at the last second, just like Luffy had taught her, with Armament Haki protecting her from the spikes. Instead of stopping her, the spikes broke on impact and Zala was launched through the wall and slid down into the same alley in a heap.
"Oof… What the hell?! How did you-?!"
Zala didn't get any further before Alvida's mace smashed into her head, knocking her out cold. With her taken care of, Mikita picked up her old comrade and had to find someplace where Zala couldn't cause trouble only to be met with several guns to the face.
"Freeze!" several members of the Royal Guard yelled, "Drop the woman and put your hands up!"
"Wait!" Alvida yelled, dropping her mace, "We're here with Princess Vivi!"
"A likely story! Men, take them into custody!"
With no other choice, Mikita had to drop Zala and fly above the crowd before crashing down behind them. Alvida charged through the initial volley of bullets sliding off before whacking the guards. And sure enough, she found several of them had Baroque Works tattoos on them.
One of said goons, however, had a different idea. He stalked towards the unconscious Miss Doublefinger with a knife gleaming in his hand. A sinister grin was on his face.
"Hehehe, huge payday, here I come!"
He then gasped as a massive spike shot from Zala's hand, still upturned on the ground, and speared him from the bottom of the foot.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that to take my place!" she sneered, fully awake. She shot to her feet, slamming her fist into her own mook's face. And yet more of the undercover soldiers came after her, clearly intent on taking her out along with the Straw Hats.
"What the hell is your problem?! You work for me!"
"Not so happy with Crocodile now, are you?" Mikita laughed, stopping another attacker with a Tempest Kick. As he flew back, however, something fell out of the pocket of his robe. A small scroll bound in string.
Figuring that it might be some vital information, Mikita unrolled it and got an evil grin. "Oh, Zala? Want to see what your own men were ordered to do?"
The other agent was tempted to skewer the traitor but her own curiosity won out. She took the paper for herself only for her eyes to bolt open.
"'If the opportunity arises, terminate any Officer Agent?! Reward equal to the agent's current posted bounty?!'" she read before ripping it apart, "What the hell is this?! I'm supposed to be governing part of Alabasta once he takes over!"
"It's because he doesn't care!" Alvida told her, "All Crocodile wants is Pluton, and after that you all are dead weight to him!"
"Hold it, imposters!" Another crowd of soldiers ran in, this time being led by none other than Chaka. Over his shoulder was an unconscious Mr. 1, gauze wrapped around his stomach and Seastone handcuffs on his wrists.
Seeing another Officer Agent, Chaka dropped his prisoner and activated the Dog-Dog Fruit: Model – Jackal. His already impressive physique bulked up as near-black fur coated his body, his feet and legs shifted to paws and his face became a fierce muzzle as he growled at the assembled crooks.
Seeing one of the Guardians of Alabasta, most of the Millions decided to run for it. While Chaka's men went after them, he stayed to deal with the ten or so schmucks who decided they could take the nine-foot-tall angry dog-man. That quickly turned out to be a horrible idea, getting smacked into buildings or flung like ragdolls down the street.
There was one exception, as a sniper had gotten onto a nearby roof and spotted Zala just as she was getting her bearings back. Seeing an easy payday, he took aim at her and fired right at her back.
Zala looked back and gasped as Mikita grit her teeth before throwing the crumpled bullet back at the gunman.
"Damn, really need to practice that more…" she growled, shaking off the throbbing pain her hand was going through. If it weren't for Iron Body, she would probably be bleeding out after catching a literal bullet.
"You… You saved me… Why?"
"Because you may be scum, but you don't deserve getting shot in the back any more than I would've been…"
"How touching. You can continue your heart-to-heart in your dungeon cell."
The three turned to see Chaka, dropping the last member of the Millions from his mouth. Before he could attack, though, a massive shadow passed overhead. The falcon soon turned around revealing Pell who came between his partner and the three ladies.
"At ease, Chaka. I've met Princess Vivi and she's indeed been escorted here by pirates. Two of these are a part of the crew responsible for Her Majesty's safety."
The jackal-man blinked before turning back to his human form. "Is that so? Then who's the other one?"
"She is an agent of Baroque Works, she was fighting the pirates earlier. You detain her, I'll continue searching for the princess. I was shot down earlier with the captain and her in my care."
Pell took off once again with Zala holding her hands out, knowing when she was beat. Alvida and Mikita went off on their own, rushing out of the capital to help keep the armies from tearing each other apart.
Out in the desert, the Royal Army and Rebel Army were locked in conflict. Months of growing hostility, many of the rebels struggling to survive through the prolonged drought, and now the rampant distrust brought up thanks to Vivi's announcement. Some dismissed her as an imposter. Others were now furious at Crocodile. And others still sowed chaos as part of Baroque Works' plan.
Standing between them were five women doing everything they could to try to stop the fighting shy of a killing spree. Nami was summoning walls of clouds to stop charges and firing lines. Moodie was using her guns to fire condensed bullets of her cooling mist but the broiling heat was limiting their use. Honey Queen had hosed down hundreds of people off their horses. And Desire and Rasa were attacking everyone else, braining them with a pipe or throwing knives at their knees to stop them cold.
Even for Nami, the most experienced of the Straw Hats, their Observation Haki was pushed past its limit with so many people at once. They were growing tired, exhausted from the heat, and worrying about their crewmates.
And then came the massive explosion that rocked the entire island…
The armies stopped in their tracks as a monstrous shockwave roared past them, a wave of sand blinding them. In the reprieve, Koza finally got a chance to get back on his horse and tried to rally everyone together.
"Everyone! That bomb, it had to have been Crocodile! We need to break this up before-!"
Several gunshots answered him, forcing Desire to summon another barrier bubble to protect him. Of course, all that did was get accusations flying and soon the small skirmishes were turning back into an all-out brawl.
"Ugh, this is hopeless!" Honey Queen shrieked, "These meatheads are just looking for a reason to fight each other, not helped by all the rats in here!"
"We need to find some way to deescalate the situation!" Nami told them, "To get everyone to just stop for five minutes!"
A loud siren then blared over the desert, drawing everyone's attention. Dozens of massive sand ships like the Barbar Pirates crested the highest dunes.
"Attention! This is the Marines! You are all hereby ordered to stand down! We are here to investigate claims of corruption in the ruling class of Alabasta!" a stern voice said over a megaphone, the Straw Hats recognizing that as Captain Smoker talking over a megaphone backed by multiple Transponder Snails.
"Oh, now you show up!" one of the rebels yelled, "Where the fuck were you years ago when this started?!"
"Princess Vivi had to risk her life to find out the truth! Now she's in danger thanks to you!"
"And wait a minute, Crocodile works for the World Government! I bet you're here to bail him out!"
"Let's show these stooges what happens when you mess with Alabasta! Who's with me?!"
A deafening battle cry shook the desert as they charged towards the ships flying the Navy's flag. Even as a volley from the front-mounted cannons met them, the combined forces of Alabasta locked onto their common enemy.
The only one left was Koza, looking around at the bodies now littering the dunes. "This is my fault… All these people… What have I done?!"
"Do not blame yourself," Rasa said, raising him off the sand, "Crocodile manipulated just like everyone else. For now, we need to get between them or else even more lives will be lost."
"HEEEEY!" Carina shouted, "What's happening?!"
"The Marines made things worse, as usual!" Nami shouted back as Reiju's group returned, "Where's the jerks who blew up Rasa's ship?!"
"Taking a temporary dirt nap!"
The three Zoans turned their sights on the impending attack, Nami's group grabbing a few leftover horses from the late rebels and riding them into battle with Koza tagging along. He started this entire rebellion believing every lie the Warlord spread, now he was going to be damned if that sandy bastard got away with this.
"WAIT FOR US!" The group turned to see Kuina and Custard riding on the back of Carue, Vivi's loyal duck proving why he had joined the princess as he quickly made up the dozens of miles between the steps to Alubarna and the battlefield. Soon, the swordsmen were at the front of the pack with their blades drawn.
"He said Vivi is okay!" Custard told them, "She and her dad made it back to the palace and we took care of Mr. 1!"
"But where's everybody else?!" Makino asked.
"Kaya, Sally and Nojiko were cleaning up the last mooks while Mikita and Alvida took care of Mr. 1's partner! They should be fine, but we need to focus!"
"There you are! You're gonna answer for this, Straw Hats!"
The group watched as Smoker's Billower Bike raced to meet them, Hina and Tashigi riding behind once again.
"Dammit, we don't have time for this!" Carmen whined, "Someone shoot them down!"
"I'll handle this!" Ban said, aiming her guns and using her Curve-Curve Fruit to turn the two bullets right into the vehicle's tires. The two massive rear wheels exploded in a mess of rubber, forcing Hina and Tashigi to jump off their skis.
"You damn pirates!" Smoker yelled, abandoning the ruined bike before turning into a cloud of smoke. The sentient white wave flew right for Clarisse carrying Kinderella and Ban.
"Eat this, cigar-breath! Shatter Storm!" Kinderella smashed her fists together, breaking her arms down to the elbow before commanding dozens of shards to fly right at the oncoming cloud. And thanks to Armament Haki, the blackened fragments stuck and Smoker was forced to turn back to normal to avoid being impaled.
That meant Clarisse, in full-rhino mode, had free reign to charge in and slam her horn into his gut before thrusting up with all her might. The captain was sent flying hundreds of feet into the air, getting a perfect view of the battle now raging and the casualties of the previous one.
"Dammit, we were too late…" he growled, "Chaos, if you don't step up now, I'll put you under Impel Down!"
Back on the ground, Tashigi drew her sword and held it defiantly at the duck bolting towards her. "Shimotsuki Kuina, I will not fall this time! I shall defeat you and-!"
"NOT THE TIME, BRAT!" Custard said before vomiting up a starfruit that flew like a rocket as soon as she let it go. The citrusy missile flew right as Tashigi, exploding on impact and sending her flying headfirst into one of the Marine's sand-ships.
As for Hina, she was at least trying to put her Cage-Cage Fruit to good use by biding as many people as possible. While did get a few BW plants, she locked up far more royals and rebels who were even angrier seeing a Marine Captain supporting Crocodile.
"Everyone just calm down! Whatever's going on here, this is no longer your concern!"
"Not our concern?!" one enraged guard yelled, "My king and princess are in mortal danger, and you're here fighting us instead of arresting the degenerate responsible! You'll pay with your life, you government dog!"
"Excuse me?"
The man turned only to get a face full of syrup from Honey Queen. She then turned herself entirely into pink liquid as she jumped onto Hina's head, surrounding her entire upper body in syrup. Hina flailed and tried to summon her bindings but they had no purchase on a living blob, and soon the captain began to turn blue from lack of oxygen.
With her disoriented, Honey Queen leapt off and turned back to normal with one last right hook knocking the Black Cage out cold before dragging her away from the carnage.
Now with no more distractions, the Straw Hats began carving a path through the battle. Rasa and Koza moved to the front of the pack, the latter throwing her knives while the lead rebel held the reins.
"I need to get onto one of those ships! With that speaker, I might be able to talk the rebels down!"
"Desire, cover him!" Reiju ordered, "We don't need him becoming a martyr!"
"No problem!" The redhead jumped off the lion-woman's back just as Koza jumped off his horse, Rasa taking over and circling to the back while Desire used Moonwalk to get Koza above the crowd. Thanks to her Barrier-Barrier Fruit, she formed a barrier to protect them from anyone shooting up at them and a platform so she could jump across while Koza was carried onto her back.
They soon touched down on the flagship, marked by the bright green paintjob compared to the others' plain brown. The problem was about twenty men left behind to guard the ship all pointing their rifles at the two.
"Freeze, pirate! 'Enforcer' Desire, you are under arrest for-!"
"STOP!"
Everyone on deck turned to see Tashigi, jumping from the boat she crashed into to the flagship with Shigure still in her grip. Despite her jacket hanging off her shoulders and the blood matting her blue hair, she spoke with authority to rival her mentor Smoker.
"Ma'am?! This woman is a wanted pirate! We cannot let her-!"
"Are you questioning my orders?! I am Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, and right now our superiors are in critical danger! We need to stop this battle before more lives are lost! Protecting innocent lives is the epitome of Justice, and I will have you hauled in for treason if you prolong this battle for one minute longer! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, SEAMAN?!"
Shocked by her command, the men in uniform all holstered their guns and handed Koza the speaker which Smoker used to address the crowd.
"What the fuck is your deal?" Desire asked her, "First you try to fight us, now you're helping us?"
"Because right now I'm having a personal crisis, now shut up and make sure your friend here doesn't get shot."
The ex-gangster nodded, forming a bubble around Koza and as he stood on the bow of the ship.
"Everyone, drop your arms! We need to remember who the real enemy here is!"
Unlike with Smoker, the people mostly did as they were told. Those that didn't were quickly outed as Baroque Works spies, tackled to the ground and tied up with whatever they had available.
"And as for all you greedy scum, do you think Crocodile will do anything for you if he wins?! He's turned against his own agents, sent his personal hit squad out to silence them! If professional killers aren't valuable to him, what chance do common thugs like you have?!"
"Hey, pal, we don't all have the silver spoon in our mouth!" one goon yelled only for Koza to grit his teeth.
"I came from NOTHING! My home was destroyed by bandits, and it was only thanks to the generosity of King Nefertari Cobra that I stand here today! That's why I started this rebellion, because I believed the selfless king that cherished each and every person in his domain finally grew corrupt like so many other leaders!"
"But now I see what a fool I was! Crocodile was behind the Dance Powder! He's been causing all the sandstorms with his Sand-Sand Fruit! He's been building his reputation as a champion of the people while his grunts worked to undermine our faith in the king! And I'm the biggest fool of all, too stubborn to listen until it was too late…"
Koza had to wipe his eyes dry around his glasses before raising the speaker to his lips. "…And now, hundreds of my brothers and sisters have lost their lives. Princess Vivi, one of the royals some of you despise so much, spent two years of her life getting this information! She is a greater leader than I'll ever be, so compassionate and strong that she braved an entire underworld crime ring almost singlehandedly for our prosperity!"
"So, if all you care about is senseless violence, or following orders, or lining your own pockets, then go jump in the Sandora River with concrete shoes! But if you truly care for Alabasta, for our home, then you'll join me in a ceasefire! This rebellion is over, and I shall be the first to beg the Nefertaris for forgiveness along with the father I abandoned in what's left of Yuba!"
The crowd glanced around, seeing faces full of shame, remorse and exhaustion. Even some of the hired hands under Baroque Works looked down in guilt. Swords and guns thudded against the sand as others helped their comrades, or former enemies, back on their feet.
"Well, I'll be damned…" Smoker sighed from the back of the crowd. The Straw Hats, more than half of the entire crew at this point, surrounded him as they looked on. He turned to his right and noticed Makino staring off into the distance. He followed her gaze and watched what looks like waves of sand rise out of the ground.
"That's Crocodile, isn't it?"
"Probably."
"Do you honestly think that kid can beat a Warlord of the Sea?"
Makino smiled. "Absolutely."
Luffy and Crocodile crashed several miles outside of Alubarna, with the Warlord unable to escape as Luffy kept punching him the entire flight. Only when the much larger man's body skidded across the sand did Luffy jump off, cracking his sore knuckles which were now red.
As Crocodile himself got up, he finally noticed the blood leaking out of his nose. He brought his hand up and started to tremble. This kid actually made him bleed. He's defeated every agent or outright turned them against him, he's gotten hundreds of his guys locked, he managed to scare the Unluckies away from even touching him. Worst of all, Princess Vivi was back home, still alive, and had spread the word about his plan.
And now, with that bomb gone, he had no way to keeping this incident quiet. The Marines were already here sniffing around to stop the civil war. His plan two years in the making, each step carefully laid out months in advance, all gone because of this. Fucking. Child.
"You… YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHIIIIIIIIING!" Crocodile screamed, finally throwing any and all restraint away. The very sand beneath him roiled like waves in the ocean. The full power of his Sand-Sand Fruit came out, able to manipulate the very desert itself.
"I WILL BURY YOU ALIVE!" With a swing of his hook, a massive copy more than ten times the actual size of his arm erupted from the sand and rushed at Luffy.
"Whoa!" Luffy had to leap aside before another gigantic construct smacked into his back and sent him skidding across the burning hot ground.
"Oof, gonna feel that tomorrow…" Luffy then realized he couldn't lift his hands out of the sand. They were sinking!
"Still want to defend that princess, brat?!" Crocodile snarled, "This entire island is the perfect place for me! Every grain of sand is under my control!"
The Warlord stomped his foot, causing a literal tidal wave to erupt in front of him. Luffy slammed his forehead to the ground, ripping his hands free before twisting his legs around to form a makeshift fan.
"Gum-Guuuuum…" He grimaced, feeling his fingers sink deeper as his legs wound together before suddenly spinning three-hundred sixty degrees like a giant fan blade.
"HURRICANE!" Like a massive propellor, Luffy's legs spun around to release a gale-force wind that broke enough of the sand wave that it collapsed around. Plus, when his legs rebounded back to their normal shape, he slammed them down hard to enough to rip his hands free as he flipped through the air.
Knowing he had to act fast, Luffy used Shave before leaping to give himself a running jump. His feet then stretched out in front of him as he slowly turned up, hooking his legs under Crocodile's shoulders. The Warlord was about to turn to sand only to get hoisted high into the air.
"Gum-Gum Trebuchet! And now…"
Luffy closed his eyes, focusing on all of his techniques. As his fist stretched back, he covered his fist in Armament Haki. Then he remembered how in his fight with Arlong, he channeled the Finger Gun's rapid movement through his entire hand for a devastating knife strike. Now, he needed to push it through his entire elastic arm. He needed one devastating punch that would cripple Crocodile from the inside out.
Speaking of the man himself, he crashed a few miles away. His finely slicked hair was a matted mess. His muscles ached from all the blows he'd taken today. And now he could squint into the distance to see a bunch of wooden sand ships with white sails meeting the assembled armies.
The Marines were right on his doorstep and he was still stuck out here dealing with this pest…
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH! THAT IS IT!" He ripped off the golden cover his hook, revealing the metal appendage was dotted with holes which released an acrid purple smoke.
"I refuse to let some upstart beat me! One whiff of this and he'll be puking out his intestines!"
"Hey, Crocodile! Hit me with your best shot!"
"FINE! IT'S YOUR FUNERAL, CHAOS!"
The air itself seemed to stop as all the sand in Alabasta's sky for miles around compacted into a singular mass harder than stone. The gleaming brown edge shone like obsidian in the sun, connected to a ten foot-tall construct made of sand right above Crocodile. Whatever that idiot was about to try, it would get sliced clean in two.
"Gum-Gum…"
"Desert…"
Luffy's fist launched forward, Crocodile not flinching as he carefully tracked the speed of the attack. Then, at the exact right moment, his surprise dropped.
"Guillotine!"
The hyper compressed sand fell like a ton of bricks from its perch above, just as Luffy's fist stretched into sight. Crocodile gave a truly sickening smile as the blade made contact with the brat's wrist…
…And then promptly slid down the arm as Luffy's Haki was too strong.
"NO! IT CAN'T BE!"
"FINGER PISTOL!"
Luffy's fist smashed into Crocodile's chest before the real power took hold. The same piercing power of the Finger Gun channeled all throughout the point of contact, releasing a burst of pressure that shattered all of Crocodile's ribs from the inside out.
"GRUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Blood began pouring out of his mouth as Luffy's fist recoiled back.
"Hahaha, yes!" He laughed only to wince. He looked down and saw that Crocodile's guillotine did managed to do some damage. He must have let his concentration slip because there was a massive gash running from his elbow to his middle finger.
"Oh shit… Gonna need to get that looked at…" Nevertheless, Luffy could feel his strength fading. He needed to end this right now before Crocodile could pull out another trick, or had some other backup plan waiting.
But instead of running ahead, he stayed still as Crocodile came barreling towards him. Even as blood rushed out of his lips, his eyes bloodshot, and wheezing in pain. The strategic mastermind of Baroque Works was gone. This was now a wild animal looking to maul him.
"TAKE A HINT AND DIE ALREADY!" Crocodile lunged with his hook, the poison trailing behind, but Luffy just used Paper Arts to lean aside and answer with a roundhouse kick to the man's back.
"Take your own advice, jerk!" Luffy spun Crocodile around, grabbed ahold of his hook, and shattered the metal in his grip. Rather than just leaving a stub, a six-inch long dagger shot out and almost took off Luffy's fingers.
"YOU ARE NOTHING, YOU HEAR ME?! I'VE BEEN PILLAGING ISLANDS SINCE BEFORE YOU WERE CONCEIVED! I'LL BUILD MYSELF BACK UP, BUT YOU! ONCE I PUT YOU IN THE GROUND, YOUR WHORES WILL BE NEXT!"
Crocodile went to stab Luffy but he didn't budge. In fact, the blade shattered against abs.
"Iron Body."
"HOW?! WHY WON'T YOU LEARN YOUR PLACE?!"
"Because my place is with my friends, sailing to the One Piece! Your place… Is rotting in a hole in the ground!" With the last of his strength, Luffy uppercut Crocodile with his good arm before following him up into the sky with Moonwalk. Soon they were both higher than the palace, the entire desert stretched out beneath them.
"Time to smack you down once and for all! GUM-GUUUUUUUUUM!"
Luffy grabbed Crocodile in a full nelson hold before spinning them around, wrapping his own limbs around his opponent so he couldn't slip free.
"MISSILE!" The duo were soon spiraling down towards the dunes, going faster and faster until only a red and black blur could be seen. The wind began to form a tunnel around them as they hurtled towards the ground.
"YOU IDIOT!" Crocodile screamed, "YOU'LL DIE TOO AT THIS RATE!"
"IF I DIE IN PURSUIT OF MY DREAM, THEN I'LL DIE SATISFIED! THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PIRATE!"
Before they could both collide with the ground, Luffy let go with about ten feet to spare while Crocodile went spinning like a drill straight down. An explosion rocked over a mile of desert, a mountainous crack crunching through as he penetrated through all of the sand to the actual bedrock below. A cloud of sand miles high formed while Luffy flopped down on his stomach, trying to hold his last meal down.
But when the sand cleared, there was Crocodile. Buried from the waist up in the sand he loved so much, his legs impotently dangling in the air. And not moving at all, finally knocked out.
"AHAHAHAHA, YES! I DID IT! YOU HEAR THAT, VIVI?! CROCODILE IS DONE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
And with that celebration, Luffy passed out as all the bruises, burns and blood loss caught up with him. Thankfully, his huge dust cloud made it quite easy for Chaka and Pell to find him.
"My gods, he actually did it…" Chaka gasped, "That kid really did it!"
Pell just grinned through his beak. "Just as the princess said! Quickly, patch him up and we'll get him to the palace. Then it's time to finally have that menace carted off to Impel Down!"
Within the hour, King Nefertari Cobra gave the announcement over the island's Transponder system. Crocodile was being deported from Alabasta under a mountain of charges including attempting usurpation of the throne, all of his criminal accomplices were either in chains or being chased off, and the Rebel Army officially surrendered.
By his side was Vivi, weeping in joy. Finally, Alabasta would know peace again.
So, another major boss is beaten! You know what that means! Time to unwind with bounty updates and some fun times with the crew! Next time, the wrap-up to Alabasta!