Leaders Meet:

-Royal Palace-

"MOVE IT! GET OUT OF THE WAY! STAND ASIDE!" someone shouted outside of the Royal Palace. Four people charged up the palace steps towards the double doors that still had Ms. All Sunday's sixteen arms coming out of them. "RAAAAH!" One of the men raised his sword and slashed the nearest arm. SLISH!

-x-

Passed the gate, inside the courtyard outside of the palace, Ms. All Sunday recoiled and held her arm in pain.

Y/N was still sitting shirtless at her feet with his arms bound behind him and his legs tied together with the chain from Vivi's Peacock Slashers. He had managed to maneuver himself so he was sitting with his legs out in front of him while his hands held him up from behind. He noticed when the woman standing over him flinched and looked over at the outer doors just as they flew opened. WHAM! Four men charged into the courtyard.

"LORD CHAKA! PLEASE WAIT!" one of the new arrivals shouted.

"Huh? Who're they?" Crocodile wondered.

"The Guardians..." Chaka said as he recognized the men.

"The Kicking Claw Clan!" Vivi exclaimed.

"The what?" Y/N dead-panned, he and Ms. All Sunday shared a confused look before turning back to the new arrivals.

The four men were wearing the uniform of the Royal Army as well as dark hooded capes with white decorative ears on the sides of their hoods. Each of them was armed with a different weapon and wore dark face paint.

The first man was a large muscular man with a pronounced chin that was coated in a short layer of stubble. His weapon was a huge sword that was as big as he was and looked like a huge butcher knife. A single dark line of face paint ran down from the brim of his hood, went between his eyebrows, down his nose and stopped at the end.

The second man was pale-skinned and hunchbacked and his eyes were hidden by his light brown hair. A dark line of face paint went down the middle of his nose and stopped at the end. He was wielding two large bladed spears, one in each hand.

The third man was tall and thin with a pointed chin. He had a line of dark face paint going down his nose, as well as around his eyes, and along his jaw. He was wielding a double-edged sword with a golden hilt.

The fourth man was bulky and kind of fat. He had a line of dark face paint going down his large nose and dark circles around his eyes as well as two thick lines under his eyes. His weapon was an ax with a dark blade and a shaft that had holes in it and made it look like a flute.

These four men were the elite Royal Guards known as the Kicking Claw Clan. They served under Chaka and were the Guardians of Alabasta.

"Don't attack men!" King Cobra pleaded with the four warriors. He still had nails going through his elbows effectively crucifying him against the front of the palace. "You'll only be throwing your lives away!"

"Hmph..." the thin guard with the sword grunted.

-x-

"THEY BROKE THE DOOR DOWN!" one of the Royal Army soldiers shouted from down in the square.

"A daring move," another soldier commented.

"PLEASE! SAVE HIS MAJESTY AND PRINCESS VIVI!" Knowing that the Kicking Claw Clan were the elite of their army and that the rest of them would only be a distraction if they went in after them, the rest of the Royal Army remained outside in the square.

-x-

"Your majesty," the large muscular man with the big butcher knife sword addressed the King. "Defending you to the death is not only our mission it is the highest honor and privilege. Therefore we can not simply avoid him."

"He is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea," the thin man with the double edged sword said. "The only way to beat him is to fight dirty."

"WE FOUR ARE AS ONE!" the four elite guards chorused.

"We fight for your honor," the fat guard with the ax announced.

"And to set things right," the hunchbacked one with the two spears added.

"It seems that you have quite the reputation," Crocodile commented. "Therefore, I will spare your lives. Leave now and go home."

"We can't do that," the ax-wielder replied as the four of them readied their weapons.

"There is another reason we will not withdraw," the hunchback admitted.

"Reason?" Crocodile repeated.

"If the rumors are true," the thin one said to Crocodile as vain popped out of his cheek, "and you really are the ringleader, the architect of this whole rebellion... GRRRAAAH!" The warrior trailed off when he let out a loud roar and clenched his fists. His arms bulged but also showed a line of dark purple bruises running down them from shoulder to wrist.

"Those bruises..." Chaka gasped. The other three clenched their weapons and their arms bulged and showed the same line of dark bruises on their arms. "What have you men done?"

"Uggghhh..." the fat ax-wielder groaned in pain.

"Shall I?" Ms. All Sunday offered as she took a step forward.

"You needn't waste your time on these cretins," Crocodile told her.

"They didn't..." Cobra whispered as he stared at the bruises in horror. The four warriors were growing more muscular but all of them appeared to be in an incredible amount of pain.

"Chaka what's happening to their bodies?" Vivi asked in alarm.

"I fear... to temporarily increase their power... they dark the legendary Hero Water," Chaka explained. "It grants incredible superhuman strength... but then... kills the host."

"OH NO!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Dead men walking," Y/N muttered.

"At least they won't die thirsty," Nico Robin commented out loud. "Hopefully the water that's killing them tasted good."

Y/N's eye narrowed as he craned his neck to look up at the woman, "You're kind of morbid aren't you?" he asked. She simply shrugged in response.

"Kuahahaha!" Crocodile chuckled as he stared at the doomed warriors. "You bulked up to challenge me? I'm flattered. But what good is victory is you're not around to enjoy it?"

"Chaka please..." the muscular man with the butcher knife sword called out. He was even more muscular than before but now had veins bulging all over his body. "Forgive us for doing this without consulting you... but we had to take drastic measures to end this country's suffering." They'd all seen the damage that Crocodile's manipulations had done to their country and were all desperate enough to drink a fatal elixir if it meant ridding themselves of the menace.

"Those idiots..." Chaka growled in a low whisper, "How could they?"

"WE HAVE TO MAKE HIM REALIZE..." the ax-wielder shouted, "THE FURY OF THIS COUNTRY!"

"RRAAAAAHHH!" the four warriors charged Crocodile and slashed him with their respective weapons. SWOOSSSHH! Crocodile became a cloud of sand and floated away from the warriors then reappeared casually sitting on the top of the palace.

"Kuahahaha," Crocodile laughed. "That wasn't the smartest decision. A person should value is life above all else. But it's too late for regrets, yes? KUAHAHAHAHA! And if you're all going to die anyway I don't have to bother killing you myself, right?"

"You don't even have the decency to fight?" Chaka snarled. The men were willing to die to face Crocodile but the bastard had just floated away so they'd die from the Hero Water without him having to get his hand dirty.

"You sound surprised," Y/N remarked. "It sounds just like something a dirt-bag like him would do. You four! If you value your lives announce your names!"

"What good would that do?" Nico Robin asked, genuinely curious.

"Nameless lackeys, no matter what side they're on, die with little trouble," Y/N answered. "But once a character is named it's near impossible to kill them unless they die in a martyr fashion."

"What?" Nico Robin questioned. She hadn't understood a word of that. And she could understand dead languages.

"OI! Call out your names!" Y/N insisted.

The four guardians stared at each other and then at the bound pirate in confusion.

"Just do what he says!" Vivi called out. "It might not make any sense but I trust him!"

"Very well," said the thin man with the double-edged sword. "I am Arrow."

"And I am Brahm," the hunchbacked one with the spears added, "We're not afraid to die to protect our country."

"I am Barrel," the fat man with the ax announced, "Crocodile, your scheme ends here!"

And I am Hyota," the large muscular one with the butcher knife sword concluded, "We won't let you harm our country and further!"

The four shouted as one, "TOGETHER WE ARE THE GUARDIANS OF ALABASTA! WE ARE THE KICKING CLAW CLAN!"

The guards were shaking and the bruises lining their arms were getting darker. But they didn't fall. In their simple reintroduction they had been motivated to keep fighting against the Hero Water that was slowly killing them.

"Worthless," Crocodile muttered as stared down at the guardians.

"What did that accomplish?" Ms. All Sunday asked.

"Now that they're named they're official minor characters," Y/N stated. "Even minor characters are difficult to kill off in an anime. If they hadn't said their names they'd be dead already. But now they've established themselves and motivated themselves enough to fight against the water."

Nico Robin blinked. She hadn't understood the first half of Y/N's explanation but the second made some sense. "So... mind over matter?" she questioned. "With just a few words you worked them up enough to fight against that water that would have otherwise killed them already."

"That's about right," Y/N agreed as he dropped onto his back. "Sorry about this..."

"About what?" Ms. All Sunday inquired as she stared down at him.

Whip! Y/N in a split-second used his bound hands to push himself off the ground as he swung his bound legs around and swept Ms. All Sunday's legs out from under her. THWAK! THUD! Ms. All Sunday fell to the ground while Y/N pushed off of the ground with his hands and launched himself up into the air. TMP! Y/N landed and managed to maneuver his legs so he landed with one boot on Ms. All Sunday's stomach. "That," Y/N answered. The Sea Stone bar on his boot rendered her helpless as he turned to Chaka and let out a whistle. TWEEEEEEEE!

"Hey Captain," Y/N called out, "Gimme a hand here?"

Chaka didn't have to be a genius to remember that Y/N had managed to land several hits on Crocodile and that his assistance would be undoubtedly helpful. SWISH! Black fur grew out of his body as he rushed at Y/N at an impressive speed. SLASH! He drew his sword and slashed the wire binding Y/N. TINK-TINK-TINK! The severed wire from Vivi's Peacock Slashers dropped to the ground.

"Thanks for WHOA!" Y/N turned to face Chaka and saw a man-beast standing behind him. He stood on two legs and still wore his tunic and cape but every bit of his exposed skin was covered in short black fur. His nose had grown into a snout with a wet dog nose on the end. And his ears were long and pointed and stood up above his head. Chaka, like Pell, was a Zoan Type Devil Fruit User.

"I ate the Dog Dog Fruit Model: Jackel," Chaka said to explain his human-jackal hybrid form.

"Interesting," Nico Robin commented from down on the ground as she glanced over at the enormous statue of a jackal that stood beside the door. On the other side was an equally large statue of a falcon. "The other one had Falcon Zoan Devil Fruit Powers. What are the odds that this Kingdom somehow managed to get those exact Devil Fruit?"

"Devil Fruit are weird like that," Y/N replied.

SKISH! A split-second later, Y/N and Chaka were both standing in front of the groaning Kicking Claw Clan. All six of them glared up at the Warlord on the roof.

"You guys hanging in there?" Y/N asked the four warriors behind him without taking his eye off of Crocodile.

"We won't give in to the Hero Water until we've made him pay!" Hyota vowed.

"You guys stay down here," Y/N instructed, "Me and the puppy'll bring him down."

"Puppy?" Chaka repeated.

"Hey, why're you in charge?" Barrel questioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I hadn't realized that any of you had experience dealing with Seven Warlords," Y/N sarcastically apologized. "I, however, have been dealing with those guys all my life and have met four of the current seven. But if any of you can top that, I'll happily defer to your judgment in this situation."

"Four?" Chaka repeated while the Kicking Claw Clan goggled in shock.

Y/N flashed him a sly grin, "Did you think I was just a simple pirate?" he teased.

"Just who are you?" asked Nico Robin, vocalizing the thoughts of everyone else. She'd gotten back up while no one was watching her.

"'One Eye' Y/N Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire," Y/N reintroduced himself. "Now, if we're all on the same page, let's take that dirt-bag down."

"Yes sir!" Chaka and the four guardians chorused. Y/N now found himself in command of the Acting Captain of the Guard and his Jackal Zoan Powers as well as his four elite warriors that were powered up by the Hero Water.

-West Block-

"Uggghhh..." Zoro groaned to himself as he laid on the ground near the remains of his battle with Mr. 1. The defeated assassin was unconscious but Zoro hadn't let himself pass out despite all the blood he'd lost during the fight.

"Damn it," Zoro cursed to himself as he managed to sit up. "Lost too much blood... Guess I should be thankful the cuts aren't that deep... But it does... hurt like... hell... uggghhh..." With that last groan Zoro fell to the ground again.

"I wonder how the others are doing," the swordsman asked out loud. "I wanna know what's going on... those idiots had better not be dead..."

"I CALL RICKY!" Nami, Usopp, and Chopper had all shouted before they launched themselves at Y/N and glomped him.

"You will look after her right?" Y/N had asked Zoro once he'd sorted out the pairs. "This is gonna be dangerous. Don't let her get killed."

"I'll look after her," Zoro had agreed.

"Thank you," Y/N replied with a genuine look of gratitude.

"Did Nami get away?" Zoro wondered.

-x-

"Huff," Nami sighed when she finally removed the wind-up birds and the wires from the unconscious form of Ms. Double Finger, "They finally came off. Calling it a powerful one-shot attack is a bit of an understatement."

Nami looked out of the alley she was standing in and saw the rebels and royal soldiers fighting out on the main streets.

"The fighting's come far," Nami commented. "They're just around the corner. I guess the situation's changed. Anyway, I'd better get to the palace." Ignoring the pain in her foot, Nami ran off.

-South-East Block-

"Usopp... are you crying?" Sanji asked as he carried the heavily bandaged sniper through the street. Mana was running along beside him and Ayako was riding Chopper behind them.

"Who's crying?" Usopp questioned as he fought to wipe away his tears. "I'm not crying, you're crying! Whoever smelt it dealt it, ya dealter!"

"What's the matter Usopp?" Ayako inquired.

"That old hag... she said... she said that Luffy was dead!" Usopp cried.

"Luffy can't be dead, can he?" Chopper questioned sounding uncertain.

"Kyahaha," Mana laughed, "You guys don't actually believe that do you?"

"Of course not!" Usopp quickly protested. "Luffy's alive! What do you think we are? Stupid?"

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Chopper exclaimed. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT EITHER! LUFFY IS ALIVE!"

"If anything, our idiot Captain probably got lost or stopped to eat," Sanji reasoned.

"That does sound like something he'd do," Mana agreed.

"Let's hurry onto the palace," Sanji decided. "Y/N has his Vivre Card. He'll be able to show us that Luffy's perfectly fine."

"Do you think the others are too?" Ayako chimed in.

"I hope so," Sanji replied as he thought of the last time they'd spoken to Nami, Vivi, and the other two.

-Flashback -

"Thank you... everyone..." Vivi had said to them as they were putting on their white cloaks.

"You're welcome," Zoro replied, "But it's too early to thank us."

"He's right," Nami agreed. "Besides, if ya really wanna thank pirates ya have to let us see some goods."

"Nami!" Usopp complained, "What is it you're trying to leach out of this country anyway?"

"After everything we've been through together you're still going to charge her?" Y/N asked. "Vivi's our friend, and we help our friends free of charge."

"Obviously," Nami retorted. "But you've got all that money that you got from Crocodile's casino stashed away somewhere. I figure there's enough there for us to leave with something. I know you like giving away almost all the money you get from our enemies but you do have a crew of pirates to support Mr. Financial Manager."

"Oi, lovebirds!" Zoro interrupted causing Y/N and Nami to flush and look away from each other, "Argue over money when we've won. We've got a job to finish first."

"There's one thing you've gotta remember," Sanji told Vivi. "After a battle these guys put down a ton of food."

"Okay," Vivi agreed with a fond smile. The Straw Hat's mounted their ducks and raced off.

"Everyone remember the plan," Y/N instructed the others.

"Don't screw this up!" Zoro added.

"SEE YA AT THE PALACE!" Sanji called back to the Princess.

-End Flashback-

The Straw Hats had all finished their battles and were now heading for the palace. Or at least... most of them were.

"Oh," Nami said when she spotted Zoro lying on the ground in the middle of a street. "There you are. This is no time to be resting, we've gotta get to the palace."

"Uggghh... whose resting?" Zoro groaned as he attempted to get up.

-Royal Palace-

SKISH! Y/N and Chaka in his human-jackal hybrid form raced up the front walls of the palace towards Crocodile.

"Flying... ARROW KICK!" Y/N flew feet-first towards Crocodile but the Warlord dodged to the side and the pirate flew passed him.

"HOWLING FANG!" SLISH! Jackal-Chaka drew his sword and slashed through him at an impressive speed but Crocodile's body turned to sand and all Chaka's attack did was take a chunk of sand out of the Warlord's chest.

"Pointless," Crocodile muttered as he turned around to face his opponents while the hole in his body filled itself with sand.

"JAVELIN KICK!" As soon as Crocodile turned to face them Y/N drove the bottom of his boot into his chin. CHUNK! Crocodile was knocked backwards off of the roof of the palace and fell down towards the Kicking Claw Clan. "He's all yours guys!"

"RAAAAAAH!" the four guardians roared and slashed Crocodile with their respective weapons. SWOOSH! Crocodile was reduced to a pile of sand. SHHWWOOO! But the sand swirled around and Crocodile reformed and stood with a bored expression in the middle of the four warriors.

"Damn," Y/N cursed, "He doesn't even have to be conscious for his Logia powers to kick in. He turns to sand on pure instinct."

"What now?" Chaka asked.

"I'll give them an opening to use that enhanced strength of theirs," Y/N told him. SKISH! Y/N jumped off of the roof and drew his sword. "Red Storm... AVALANCHE!" SWISH! Y/N slashed his red blade downward and a red air blade off of it and cleaved Crocodile in half.

TMP! Y/N landed on the ground in the middle of the Kicking Claw Clan. SHUNK! Klak! Y/N's sword dropped to the ground when Crocodile's golden hook sank into his right side.

"RICKY! NOOOO!" Vivi screamed as blood poured out from where Crocodile's hook was embedded in Y/N's side.

"You're starting to repeat yourself," Crocodile taunted Y/N as he reformed in front of him. "You just made your last mistake One Eye. Now I've got you."

"No," Y/N replied. "I've got you." WHAP! Y/N reached down and grabbed onto Crocodile's arm which was soaked in Y/N's blood. Y/N kept Crocodile's hook embedded in his side so he could keep his hold on the wet sand then dropped down onto his back. THUMP! Crocodile was forced to bend over as his arm was wrenched downward when Y/N simultaneously raised his feet and pressed the Sea Stone bottoms of his boots into Crocodile's chest. "It's called taking one for the team. GET HIM NOW!" With Y/N's boots planted on Crocodile's chest the Warlord was left wide-opened and vulnerable to the next attack.

"RAAAAAHH!" the Kicking Claw Clan charged Crocodile with their weapons poise to attack. The purple bruises on their arms were almost black and their bulging and pulsating muscles had become huge and veiny and actually looked kind of gross.

"Diez Fleur... Branch!" A chain of ten arms grew out of the ground and swung around Y/N and Crocodile. WHAP-WHAP-WHAP-WHAP! The four warriors were knocked off course and their attacks missed. WHAP! The chain kept going and slammed into Crocodile and knocked him off of Y/N and onto his back.

Y/N and Crocodile looked over at Ms. All Sunday. The former looked annoyed while the latter looked relieved.

"I told you already," Ms. All Sunday stated. "I need him so I can't allow you to kill him."

"THEN WE'LL FINISH YOU!" Arrow snarled as he and the other three guardians charged at Ms. All Sunday.

"Veinticuatro Fleur!" Twenty four arms sprouted out of the four members of the Kicking Claw Clan. "CLUTCH!" KRA-KRA-KRA-KRACK! As with Pell, the six arms on each warrior wrench backwards and broke their backs. THA-THUMP! The four warriors fell to the ground. Severely injured from their broken backs and with no way to stand up they finally succumbed to the Hero Water and died there on the ground.

"Sh-she killed them!" Vivi stammered in shock.

"I am an assassin," Ms. All Sunday pointed out. "But in this case, they attacked me and I defended myself. They might not have died from their injuries if they hadn't been foolish enough to drink fatal water for a brief boost in strength."

"YOU WITCH!" Chaka howled as he launched himself at Ms. All Sunday with his sword drawn.

"Seis Fleur!" WHAP! Two arms sprouted out of the ground and rooted Chaka in place while another four arms came out of Chaka's back and wrenched his arms behind him. KLAK! Chaka's sword dropped to the ground as the human-jackal hybrid was left immobilized.

SLISH! Crocodile blew in and slashed Chaka across the chest with his hook. The arms disappeared in a small cloud of petals. Chaka spat up blood and dropped to the ground unconscious. FWUMP!

"CHAAAAKAAAA!" Vivi cried out in horror. She dropped to her knees as tears ran down her face at the sight of seeing the Acting Captain struck down.

"KUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Crocodile laughed cruelly as he turned to face Y/N who had pushed himself up onto his knees and was holding a hand over his bleeding side. "Good help is so hard to find, isn't it, One Eye?"

"What... what am I seeing?" came a new voice. Everyone turned to see Koza who was staring at the scene in front of him in shock. The King was crucified on the front of the palace, the Acting Captain of the Royal Guard was bloody and unconscious, the elite warriors from the Kicking Claw Clan were all dead, the Princess had returned but was on her knees crying, and a strange red haired man was bleeding and on his knees with a sword on the ground next to him while Crocodile stood over him, accompanied by a mysterious woman, and was displaying a clearly bloody hook.

The clock tower that loomed over the square outside the palace read 4:05. There was twenty-five minutes left until Crocodile's bomb exploded and wiped out everyone in the area. Currently, the leaders of the two armies had finally met... but they were all now at the mercy of Sir Crocodile.

-x-

White Flag:

-x-

"Koza..." Vivi gasped as her as attention as well as that of anyone else who was conscious was drawn to the leader of the Rebel Army in surprise.

"It's you!" King Cobra realized. "I see you came through the shortcut you used to use."

"This can't be..." Koza said, "What am I seeing here?"

"Oh, so that's Koza," Y/N noted, "Bad timing."

"I came in hope of persuading the Royal Army..." Koza stated. But the Acting Captain of the Royal Army was bleeding and unconscious. "Chaka..." Koza's eyes drifted back over to King Cobra, "And the King... I can't believe my eyes!"

"Kuahahahahahaha!" Crocodile laughed. "Now things are starting to get interesting. Here we are in the midst of an epic war and yet the leaders of both sides aren't on the battlefield. Fate has..."

"No!" Y/N interrupted with a growl. He picked up his sword and got back up to his feet and glared at the Warlord. "Fate had nothing to do with this! You caused it!"

"What... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Koza demanded as he pointed accusingly... at Y/N. Y/N, Crocodile, Robin, and Vivi's eyes all widened in astonishment at Koza's surprising and inaccurate declaration.

In Koza's defense, the strange man had an eye patch and a red cutlass and looked like a pirate. Chaka and the Kicking Claw Clan were all down or dead while Crocodile, a Warlord known for defending the country from pirates, was standing in between the pirate and the King. Chaka's wound looked as if he'd been slashed... although the wounds weren't visible so it was hard to tell with what. The pirate had a wound that looked as if it had been made by a hook and Crocodile's hook was bloody.

"Wow..." Y/N commented. "You put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and came to the wrong conclusion." Y/N looked over at Crocodile. "I'm not gonna take credit for that line but do you wanna take credit for your evil scheme?"

"Credit?" Koza repeated.

"Koza, he's my friend!" Vivi corrected him. "He and his crew brought me home and are helping me save the Kingdom from him." Vivi motioned to Crocodile. "He did that to my father, he attacked Chaka, and he's the reason this country is at war."

"What?" Koza gasped.

"You seem confused," Ms. All Sunday observed. "Let me help you. Relax and open your mind. Then imagine being faced with the worst possible scenario."

"Koza... purge your mind of all suspicion," Toto had once told him.

Koza heeded the woman's advice and his eyes went wide in horror. He looked over at the King.

"Do you love this country?" the same man asked all those years ago.

"This is my home," Koza had replied.

"Mine as well," the King had said.

Right now, the King was being crucified and didn't look guilty of doing anything. And even if he wasn't in his current situation, why would the King do something so terrible to his home and the country he loved? And if what Vivi had just said was true...

"Koza, listen..." Vivi urged him as she came closer.

"Vivi... who is responsible for the drought ravaging this country?" Koza asked.

Vivi looked over at Crocodile who grinned.

"That honor belongs to me," Crocodile admitted. "Over the past two years each and every malicious deed you attributed to the King's doing was in fact perpetrated by my company, a trap that saw you playing right into our hands. It was a flawless systematic plot of deception. I must say, it was entertaining watching as the Royal Family and its mighty army desperately chased out shadow. Kuahahahaha! Pity. You probably would have died in ignorant bliss not knowing these brutal facts. Kuahahahahahaha!"

"KOZA! LISTEN!" Cobra shouted. "There's still some time if you have the courage. You must act now, save as my citizens as you can."

"Ugghh..." a groan came from Crocodile's feet and everyone saw that Chaka was awake, "In less than half an hour the whole palace square will be blown to Kingdom Come!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Koza demanded.

"So... you're still alive are you?" Crocodile asked the wounded man at his feet before raising his hook to finish the man off.

"HUUUURRRYYYYYY!" Chaka screamed as Crocodile brought his hook down.

KLANG! Y/N lunged forward and intercepted Crocodile's hook with his sword. "There's a bomb set to go off somewhere in the square," Y/N stated. "I'll hold him off so you two can deal with it."

Koza turned and ran towards the fallen doors hoping to reach the Royal Army out in the square and warn them about the bomb before his Rebel Army got there and the fighting started.

"So impulsive," Y/N grumbled. "Vivi, go after him and stop him before he does something stupid, I'll handle things back here."

Vivi chased after Koza and managed to catch up with him and tackle him to the ground. WHUMP! "STOP!" Vivi shouted at him.

"VIVI!" Cobra called after his daughter.

"Get offa me!" Koza snapped as he managed to roll over and now had Vivi on top of him. "What're ya doing? There's no time! The battle's about to spill into the square! If it's really set to blow up... GET OFF!"

"You have to listen to me!" Vivi ordered him. "Think this through! Please! What will happen if you tell the armies the square is set to explode? The men will panic. It would only add more chaos to the battle. And even if you stopped the bomb it won't stop the fighting. Either way, PEOPLE ARE STILL GOING TO DIE! YOU WON'T SAVE ANYONE! Understand?"

If Koza had made it to the square and told everyone about the bomb it would've caused chaos. Since they didn't know where the bomb was everyone was still likely to get blown up.

"Kuahaha," Crocodile chuckled, "What a perceptive girl."

"Our only hope is to do what should have been done at the start!" Vivi continued. "We have to stop the rebellion and end this bloodshed! And you... you're the only one who can do it!"

Koza reached up and took hold of Vivi's hand and moved it off of his chest so he could sit up. The Princess' words had done enough to calm him down. "Vivi..."

SHHWWOOOO! Crocodile disintegrated into a cloud of sand and blew past Y/N after Vivi. Y/N turned to chase after him but two arms sprouted out of the ground and caught him by the ankles. FWUMP!

"Hey, stop getting in my way!" Y/N complained.

"I was going to say something similar to you," Ms. All Sunday replied. "I'm not going to let you ruin everything. You'll have to knock me out to keep me from interfering but you can't bring yourself to hurt a woman... can you?"

"..." Y/N silently glared at her. She was using the information she'd gotten from Ms. Goldenweek against him. He reluctantly rubbed his sword in the drying blood on his side to satiate the blood sacrifice and returned it to its sheath.

"I, on the other hand, have no such problem," Ms. All Sunday continued. "You may be interesting but if you continue to jeopardize our plans I'll be forced to eliminate you."

Crocodile's head and arms appeared out of the cloud of sand as it bore down on Vivi and Koza. "Did you really think I was going to sit back and watch passively as you tried to ruin my plans?" He lashed out at Vivi with his hook looking to stop her interference once and for all.

Koza fumbled for his sword but wasn't fast enough. KLANG! Chaka appeared, still in his human-jackal hybrid form, and intercepted Crocodile's hook with his sword.

"CHAKA!" Vivi exclaimed.

"I am... Alabasta's Guardian deity," Chaka growled as he struggled against Crocodile despite his wounds, "Destroyer of all who threaten the Royal Family! I am... THE JACKAL!" The huge jackal statue still loomed overhead. "I'll fight as long as there is breath left in my body!"

"Some call that brave, I call it stupid," Crocodile replied.

"Do what you must, both of you!" Chaka called back to Vivi and Koza. "I will hold him back for a few more minutes!"

"Chaka..." Koza thought to himself.

-Koza and Chaka Flashback-

"Such a shame that the leader of the Sand Sand Band is so weak," Chaka teased Koza as they stood out in the same courtyard many years ago. Chaka was currently training Koza in swordsmanship and both of them were currently wielding bamboo bokken. King Cobra and Princess Vivi were watching from off to the side. "Boy? What's the matter?"

"GRAAH!" Koza shouted as he charged Chaka and swung his bokken at him. SWISH! The Royal Soldier easily side-stepped the amateurish attack and brought his own bokken down on Koza's head. WHAK!

"Ahhh..." Koza groaned as he held the red lump on the top of his head. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? I'M A CHILD! YOU CAN'T TREAT ME LIKE THIS!"

"You're a pain in the neck, kid," Chaka commented. "Koza, you asked me to train you. Or have you forgotten that already?"

-End Flashback-

Koza cast one last glance at the man who had trained him as he struggled to hold Crocodile at bay then he and Vivi ran off to save the people in the square.

-South Block-

"Report from Guard Unit Two to Headquarters!" one of the royal soldiers manning the streets called into a Transponder Snail. "Report from Unit Two to Headquarters! Line Four has been breached! The enemy has broken through! The Rebel Army is currently passing through the Central Plaza and is heading for the North Block! They will reach the palace!"

-Palace Square-

Vivi stood on top of the outer palace wall above the broken doors and shouted down to the Royal Army that was gathered in the square.

"RAISE THE FLAG TO SURRENDER!" she ordered. "ROYAL ARMY, YOU WILL SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY!"

"Princess Vivi... is she serious?" one of the soldiers wondered.

"But why?" another soldier asked.

"That's absurd!" a third soldier snapped. "If we do as she says then that would mean the end of this country!"

Their attention was drawn to the doors as Koza walked out and stood at the top of the stairs.

"Hey look! That's... IT'S KOZA! What is the Rebel Army's Leader doing here in the palace?"

"HEAR ME, THE PRINCESS SPEAKS THE TRUTH!" Koza addressed the soldiers. "WE NO LONGER DESIRE VICTORY ONLY TO END THIS CONFLICT! BOTH SIDES HAVE SPILLED ENOUGH BLOOD!" The royal soldiers stared up at Koza in surprise as he continued. "I WILL MAKE EACH AND EVERY REBEL UNDERSTAND THE POINTLESSNESS OF THIS CIVIL WAR! THEY WILL SEE AS I DO THAT WE NO LONGER HAVE REASON TO FIGHT! IN THE INTEREST OF RESTORING PEACE AND PRESERVING LIFE, I ASK YOU: WAVE THE WHITE FLAG! PLEASE!"

-Outside the North Block Square-

The remaining soldiers of the Rebel Army charged up the street towards the palace square and prepared to meet the Royal Army for the final battle of the war.

"THE KING'S HEAD WILL ROLL THIS DAY!" one rebel shouted.

"I CAN SEE THE CLOCKTOWER UP AHEAD!" another rebel called out.

"WE'RE APPROACHING THE PALACE SQUARE!"

"PREPARE TO ATTAAACK!"

The rebels reached the end of the street and were met by a sea of white in the square.

"WAIT! STOP!" one of the rebels commanded, bringing the others to a halt.

The Royal Army was filling the square and they were all flying the white flag. Koza stood in front of them holding up a white flag of his own.

"White flags?" a rebel questioned. "The Royal Army is waving white flags! WE DID IT! THEY SURRENDER!"

"It's Koza," another rebel realized.

"What's going on?" a third rebel wondered. "What's Koza doing here?"

"THE BATTLE IS OVER!" Koza called out to the rebels. "EVERYONE, QUIET YOUR ANGER AND LOWER YOUR WEAPONS! THE ROYAL ARMY WILL STAND DOWN! LET NO MORE BLOOD STAIN THE STREETS!"

"Please listen to him," Vivi thought to herself as she stood up on the palace wall overlooking the two armies and the white flags. At long last it looked as if her hard work and suffering was paying off. The war was going to end.

More rebels joined the rebels that were already crowding the streets. They all stared at the Royal Army and their white flags of surrender.

"Is this the truth, Koza?" one of Koza's rebel leaders asked.

"Yes," Koza answered. "The battle's finally over."

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bullets rattled Koza's body and blood poured out of the already wounded rebel leader.

Two royal soldiers with the Baroque Works symbol tattooed on their arms smirked as they watched Koza fall to the ground. His red blood stained the white flag.

"KOOOOOOOZAAAAAAAAAA!" Vivi screamed.

-x-

Vivi's Voice Goes Unheard:

-x-

Everyone stared in shock at the fallen form of Koza and the white flag that was on top of him.

"KOOOZAAAA!" Vivi screamed from up on the wall above the palace door as she watched her childhood friend fall.

"You just wait until it's finished," the boy had told her years ago before he and Toto set out to create Yuba. "This town will bring good fortune and joy to so many people! It's gonna be the best town ever! When it's up and running I'll purposely give you the Grand Tour."

The rebels stared in horror at their fallen leader but were too far away to hear him whisper with the little strength he had remaining, "Don't... fight... Rebel Army... Don't... fight... them..."

"HOW COULD THEY SHOOT KOZA?" a rebel demanded.

"GET THEM!" another shouted.

From her vantage point up above the square Vivi spotted a pair of royal soldiers each holding a smoking rifle. Tattooed on their arm was the mark of Baroque Works. "AAH! IT'S BAROQUE WORKS!" Vivi realized. Once again Crocodile had used men that had infiltrated the Royal Army to keep her from restoring peace.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" a royal soldier snapped at the imposter soldier. "WHY DID YOU SHOOT?"

"Uhh..." said the Baroque Works Agent. He didn't even bother coming up with a lie of an excuse to cover his actions.

"Listen to me now Rebel Army..." Koza whispered, his voice was soft and weak and unable to reach his men. "Do... not fight..."

SSSSHHHWWWWOOOOOOOO! A cloud of dust and sand suddenly rose up and began swirling around the square. Everyone's vision was obscured by the cloud.

"WHERE DID THIS SANDSTORM COME FROM?" a royal soldier exclaimed.

"Listen Rebel Army..." Koza once again tried in vain to call out to his troops. But now not only could they not hear his voice but they couldn't see him either.

BANG! A gun fired through the sand cloud and one of the rebels fell to the ground.

"THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US!" a nearby rebel growled. "HOW DARE THEY? GRRRRR!"

Up above the square Vivi could only watch in horror as Crocodile's manipulations once again undermined all of her hard work.

"Where did all of this sand come from so suddenly?" a royal soldiers wondered. "We can't see anything!" BANG! A gun went off and the soldier fell to the ground. The soldiers around him stared down at him in surprise but when they looked up to find the culprit the sand kept them from seeing where the shot had originated from.

"DAMN IT!" a soldier cursed. "BASTARDS!"

BANG! BANG! A guns continued to fire through the sand cloud and members of both armies fell.

"DON'T SHOOT CARELESSLY!" one of the rebels shouted towards one of their own gunmen.

"Hah, they still don't know what's happening," a man wearing a cowboy hat with 'Baroque' written on the front chuckled to himself. "What's going on you idiots is that Baroque Works Agents are posing as soldiers on both your armies!" The agent pointed his handgun through the sand cloud and fired into the tightly packed cluster of royal soldiers. BANG! Their being caught off guard and close proximity meant that the agent didn't even have to see or aim properly to shoot someone down.

Everyone was pray to the Baroque Works imposters. Right now the only one safe was Koza but that was because he was already on the ground bleeding after being shot four times.

"STOP! NO!" Vivi shouted in a panic.

"Come on, just hang in there," one of the rebels urged his fallen comrade. He looked up at the rebels gathered around him. "They aren't surrendering. They ambushed us by raising a phony white flag! So this is how the Royal Army plans to win... by using dirty tricks like that!"

High overhead, the clock on the clock tower read 4:13 and Vivi could only watch in horror as the Rebel Army attacked the Royal Army and fighting broke out down below her in the square.

"NO! STOP IT!" Vivi yelled. "DON'T DO THIS!" But Vivi's voice was already far away from her position up above everyone. Now that the fighting had officially broke out her voice was completely drowned out by the loud sounds of combat. "PLEASE STOP FIGHTING! SOLDIERS! LOOK UP HERE!"

"Stop... Rebel... Army..." Koza wheezed from down on the ground. The rebels were barely able to avoid trampling their fallen leader let along hear his weak voice over the sounds of combat. "Stop this... This battle is..."

BANG! Another soldier dropped to the ground. Up until now the Royal Army had been fighting mostly defensively from the attacking rebels. But after seeing another one of his comrades struck down a soldier called out to the men around him, "LAUNCH COUNTER ATTACK!"

BOOOM! A cannonball was blasted into the crowd of rebels and the Royal Army charged and began attacking the rebels in earnest.

And although Vivi screamed and pleaded with both armies at the top of her lungs her voice went unheard over the sounds of fighting.

"Stop it..." Vivi whimpered as she stared down into the sand cloud. She couldn't see very well from her position on top of the wall but she could easily hear her people killing each other. "STOP FIGHTING! Please don't fight... Stop now..."

"Vivi!" Y/N called out in alarm. SKISH! He lunged out of the way and managed to avoid four sprouted hands from Ms. All Sunday.

"You fought long and hard, Princess, and did well," Ms. All Sunday addressed the Princess while still keeping Y/N on a desperate defensive due to her arms being able to sprout from anywhere. "But now... give up. Your voice will no longer reach them."

SWISH! Y/N jumped up into the air to avoid another cluster of arms that tried to grab him and anchor him down. "You'd just stand by and watch this happen?" Y/N growled at her.

"Even if I wanted to, there's nothing I can do to stop it at this point," Nico Robin pointed out. "And if you knew what the World Government would do to keep the information on that Poneglyph hidden you'd realize that what's happening her pales in comparison. Now hold still. You're only delaying the inevitable."

WHUP! Two arms sprouted out of Y/N's legs and grabbed hands to lock them together. WHAP! But Y/N wrenched his legs apart and broke the grip Ms. All Sunday's two arms had on him.

"You may be able to sprout arms wherever you want, but they're only as strong as you are," Y/N realized. "And unfortunately for you, I'm stronger than you." SKISH! Y/N stared at Ms. All Sunday and then managed to avoid another cluster of hands. "It's times like this that I really wish I had two eyes again because that'd make this a whole lot easier."

SKISH! Y/N jumped to the side to avoid another bunch of arms.

"How do you keep avoiding my arms?" Ms. All Sunday wondered. He was strong enough to overpower the arms she made on his body but he always seemed to be one step ahead of her and jumped away before her new appendages she sprouted on the ground before they even had a chance to fully form.

"Hmm," Y/N said with a sly grin adorning his face. "She doesn't know that she's giving herself away. By focusing on her eyes and looking where she's looking I can tell where she's going to make her arms appear next and jump out of range before they get a chance to grab me. If I had decent depth perception I'd be able to get further away from her but because of my limited vision I have to stay close by if I want to read her properly."

SWISH! Y/N lunged to the side and avoided another cluster of arms. Ms. All Sunday's eyes narrowed at her agile adversary continued to elude her grasp.

"He's very good," Nico Robin thought to herself. "As long as he's focused on me he seems to be able to avoid my attacks. It was so much easier to grab him while he was distracted."

"..." From where he was nailed to the front of the palace, King Nefertari Cobra could only listen to the sounds of his Kingdom destroying itself.

"UUGGGGHHH!" Chaka groaned and collapsed to the ground at Crocodile's feet.

"So this is it..." King Cobra whispered to himself as the Acting Captain of the Royal Guard laid on the ground unconscious. "YOU HAVE TO RUN AWAY VIVI! GET AWAY FROM HIM! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

Vivi turned around fully, "I won't," she resolved then glared at Crocodile, "You made this sandstorm, didn't you? But still... there's time." It was still only 4:14. "If I can stop the explosion that's scheduled in fifteen minutes I can still reduce the number of casualties."

Crocodile stepped over the prone form of Chaka and advanced on Vivi. "If I try this the rebellion will stop... if I try that the rebellion will stop..." the Warlord mocked her. WHAP! Crocodile's hand flashed out and he grabbed the Princess by the throat and hoisted her up into the air in front of him. "It's time to wake up, Princess. I'm tired of your useless idealism. It's gotten pathetic."

"Aaaah... aaahhh..." Vivi gasped as she grabbed at the strong hand clutching her throat.

"What good are your happy ideals if you can't do anything to make them a reality?" Crocodile taunted her. "Then they're nothing but dreams.

A long tear dripped from Vivi's eye as she struggled futilely against the Warlord's grasp.

"Aahh... I don't care what you think of my ideas!" Vivi called out as loudly as she could with the hand clutching her throat. "Aaahh! I'm never going to give up on them! A monster like you would never understand! I'm this country's Princess! Aaahhh... I won't give up! I won't give in no matter what!"

"You really are a sad little girl," Crocodile remarked.

"I refuse... agghh... to give up!" Vivi gasped. "I WILL SAVE... aaahh... ALABSTA!"

SHHWWOO! Crocodile's legs turned into a spiral of sand and he floated up onto the top of the wall and from his new position held Vivi over the edge from the highest point on the palace wall. The two armies were fighting hundreds of feet below them. Vivi would never survive the fall.

"Vivi!" Cobra exclaimed when he saw his daughter's peril.

Y/N's sensitive ears picked up on the father's cry of alarm. For a split second he turned to see Crocodile dangling Vivi over the palace wall.

WHAP! That split-second distraction was all the time Ms. All Sunday needed. Four arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed Y/N's calves. Then another four arms sprouted out of his legs and clasped together effectively binding Y/N in place. WHAP! Another four arms wrenched Y/N's arms behind his back and held them in place.

"I finally got you," Ms. All Sunday taunted.

"Damn it," Y/N cursed. Rooted in place, he could only crane his neck to see Vivi's perilous predicament. "Vivi..."

"Kuahahahaha!" Crocodile laughed. "You have only fifteen minutes left until the square is blown up. More of the rebel forces are gathering as reinforcements arrive one after another, without even realizing that they're marching to their death."

Vivi desperately kicked her legs to get free. With both her and Y/N caught in their enemy's grasp this looked like the end.

"You know, you could have warned the Royal Army of the coming explosion earlier," Crocodile told her. "If so, maybe there would have been a panic, but then you could have saved tens of thousands of innocent lives."

"STOP IT!" Cobra shouted. "PLEASE CROCODILE! LET HER GO!"

"Poor choice of words," Ms. All Sunday remarked morbidly. If Crocodile 'let her go' Vivi would fall to her death.

"In the end, your plans for saving this country have done more harm than good," Crocodile taunted her. "Your wretched failures have only ended up hurting the precious citizens who you love so dearly. From the beginning of my operations here the sheer stupidity of your country has amused me, so pathetic, so easily manipulated. You did a decent job of spying on our country for the last two years, I will grant you that much. But when it was all said and done you really had no hope of changing anything. Stopping the rebellion, saving the kingdom, all those worthless ideas you've clung to for so long. In the end, they just created more victims for me."

Vivi thought of all of Crocodile's victims. Igaram who had died in the explosion, Pell who was taken out by Ms. All Sunday, Toto who was shriveled and skinny, all the other people that had died because of the drought, the Kicking Claw Clan that had died for a chance to fight him, Chaka who was lying on the ground motionless, Koza who was lying bleeding on the ground in the middle of a battlefield, and finally all the casualties that both of the fighting armies in the square had suffered. Everyone had suffered because of Crocodile, or at least because of someone working for him.

"Let me tell you something," Crocodile said, "You're never going to save this country. Good bye Princess." SHWOO! Crocodile's hand disintegrated into sand and Vivi fell.

"NOOO!" Cobra screamed.

"KUUAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!" Crocodile laughed manically. "KUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It was then that Y/N finally reacted. In a split second he grabbed one of the arms holding his arms behind his back and snapped the wrist. CRACK!

"AAH!" Ms. All Sunday yelped and reeled back as she clutched her own wrist and felt the phantom pain of the one that was broken.

WHA-WHAP! Y/N capitalized and wrenched his arms free and quickly drew his sword. SWISH! Y/N slashed the curved red blade in front of him and while it wasn't fast enough to create an air blade the gust of wind that he created was enough to blow Ms. All Sunday backwards and slam her into the wall beside the King. WHAM! The arms clutching his legs disappeared in a flurry of flower petals as Ms. All Sunday dropped to the ground.

"Sorry," Y/N apologized, he went against his nature of not attacking women but this was a desperate situation. "VIIVII! Speed Step!" Y/N kicked the ground thirteen times in under a single second and sped across the courtyard at an incredible speed that was faster than he had ever moved before. ZZZZOOOOOMM!

Without a second's hesitation, Y/N vaulted passed Crocodile and over the edge of the hundred-foot high wall after Vivi.

"If you really want to die along with her, I suppose I can oblige you," Crocodile taunted him, "A fitting end to a noble fool like you. Just like her, you couldn't save anybody. KUAHAHAHA!"

Y/N tucked his legs and arms into his body and dove head-first after Vivi. WOOOSH! The wind rushed passed him and his compact form caused him to fall faster and gain on the Princess.

"Don't worry Vivi," he reassured her, "I've got you." Y/N closed in on her and reached out to grab her.

Whap! Vivi grabbed his hand then yanked him downward and her upward and clutched him in a desperate hug. WHUP! Y/N kicked his legs and managed to maneuver them so they were both falling feet-first.

Now that he'd caught her Y/N's next step was to stop them. But this was made incredibly difficult by the fact that Vivi was pinning his arms to his sides in a vice-lock hug.

"Vivi... I need you... to remove my eye patch," he instructed her.

"What?" she questioned.

"Do it now!" he ordered.

Vivi stared at him in confusion then slowly reached up to grab his eye patch.

"KUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Crocodile was still laughed up above them when he suddenly saw a speck flying overhead. As the speck got closer and large Crocodile realized that it was a falcon wearing white desert robes.

Pell the Falcon had made it to Alubarna but more importantly, so had the familiar pirate riding on his back.

"It can't be..." Crocodile whispered.

"!" Luffy hollered as Pell flew him closer. He had a barrel strapped to his back, had recovered from his injuries from their fight the night before, and now looked ready to try again.

-x-

A Hero Descends:

-x-

"GRAAH!" Crocodile snarled as Luffy descended on Pell's back. "IT CAN'T BE!" WOOOSH! Pell swooped down passed Crocodile and dove after Y/N and Vivi.

Vivi stared in surprise at the Eye of the Devil as it was revealed to her for the first time and watched as the red eye glowed and the speed of their descent slowed. By the time they reached the ground they were barely moving. TMP! They landed safely at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the palace and Y/N released her.

"How did... what is... why didn't..." Vivi stammered.

Y/N didn't have to use the eye's powers to sense her confusion. "Think of it as a kind of Hero Water that gives me special power," Y/N explained. "Except instead of killing me, using it in a fight usually ends up killing other people. I didn't use it against Crocodile because I didn't want to risk killing someone who didn't deserve it. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention seeing it to anyone." Y/N reached up and pulled his eye patch back down over his eye just before Pell swooped down and landed next to them in his falcon form.

"LUFFY!" Vivi exclaimed when she finally noticed the pirate on Pell's back.

"Sorry I'm late," Luffy apologized as he got off of Pell and stood there with a barrel with a hose coming out of it strapped to his back. Vivi launched himself at him and hugged him out of sheer desperation.

"Luffy... help..." Vivi pleaded as she broke out in tears. "There isn't much time left until the square is blown up... Everyone is already fighting... My voice can't be heard no matter how loud I yell. At this rate... the country... will fall apart..."

"Don't worry, Vivi," Luffy reassured her. Vivi looked up and saw the rubber pirate's smile. "As long as we're here your voice will always be heard." Vivi smiled and buried her head in Luffy's chest. Luffy looked over her head at Y/N then glanced down at the trail of dried blood on his side. "Are you okay?"

"It's nothing," Y/N told him. "I held out as long as I could but there was so many distractions that I wasn't able to take out either of them. Now that you're here I'm hoping you can give the dirt-bag the beating he deserves."

"I lost to him before," Luffy confessed. "But it won't happen again."

-North Block-

"I'm telling you again, my injures are a whole lot more severe than yours are!" Zoro complained as he ran down a street towards the palace square with Nami on his back.

"Oh quit whining and act like a man," Nami scolded him. "My leg is hurt so I can't stand. Aahh... I'm gonna faint."

SLISH! A rebel with a sword got in their way but was quickly cut down.

"YOU ARE SUCH A LIAR!" Zoro shouted as he ran passed the fighting men that lined the street and approached the square.

-Palace Square-

"RAAAH!" Luffy roared as he wound his rubber arms up and prepared for a big stretch. WHUP-WHUP-WHUP-WHUP-WHUP!

"Best of luck, Luffy," Pell told him as he stood by in his hybrid form. "Be careful."

"I ate tons of meat, bird-guy!" Luffy replied as he continued winding his arms. "I'll be just fine!" He could barely making out the tiny speck that was Crocodile standing on top of the palace wall that towered over his head.

Luffy stared up at Crocodile while Crocodile stared down at Luffy.

"I won't... lose to you," Luffy resolved.

"How did he make it out of the quicksand with all of his injures?" Crocodile wondered.

"..." Nico Robin got back up and brushed her coat off.

Luffy held his arms wide and prepared launch himself into another fight with Crocodile.

"HEY! It's Luffy!" a familiar voice exclaimed. Luffy, Y/N, and Vivi glanced behind them and saw that it was Mana, accompanied by Ayako, Sanji and Usopp.

"BIG BROOOOTHEEEER!" Y/N was nearly knocked off of his feet when a furry brown missile slammed into him.

"Tony!" Vivi exclaimed when she spotted the reindeer hugging Y/N..

Y/N grinned, "Good to see you too, little guy. I guess this means you survived your first battle as a pirate. Well done. You can tell me all about it later."

"LUUUFFYYY!" Usopp cheered. He pulled away from Sanji and made his way towards the Captain in a hobble that was hindered by his full-body cast.

"And Vivi and Y/N are here too!" Ayako noted from beside Sanji.

"SEE! SEE! HE'S STILL ALIVE!" Usopp shouted. "What did I tell you? I KNEW IT ALL ALONG?"

"Kyahahahaha!" Mana laughed, "Really? Cause, if I remember correctly I think someone was just crying about him not being alive."

"For someone who knew it all along you sure look surprised," Sanji remarked.

WOOOOIIING! Luffy cast his wound arms upward like a big rubber dual fishing line and watched as his arms stretched up towards the top of the huge palace wall. WHAP! After a considerable amount of stretching Luffy's hands grabbed the wall near Crocodile.

"Usopp and Sanji are here too," Vivi realized when the other Straw Hats and the two former agents joined them. "And you two..."

"We're on your side now, Princess," Mana assured her. "We even took out bombs for brains."

"Oooh !" Sanji gasped, "What happened? Are you okay, you look like you've been hurt!" Sanji turned to Y/N and completely ignored the wound that could still be seen on the shirtless pirate's side despite Chopper still clinging to him in his tiny hybrid form. "ONE EYE! HOW DARE YOU LET MISS. VIVI GET HURT!"

"Why don't you try taking on a Warlord and his right hand lady and see if you can do any better," Y/N retorted, he grabbed Chopper and shifted the reindeer around so he was hanging from his back.

"And at what point did you lose your shirt?" Mana inquired as she blatantly eyed the shirtless pirate. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"Well, your former partner blew off most of it," he told her. "I'd explain my reasoning for removing the rest of it but you wouldn't understand."

TMP! TMP! TMP! TMP! Someone ran up behind them. WHOMP! Usopp was hit over the head with the Clima-Tact.

"Nami too!" Vivi gasped as she saw the angry navigator standing over the fallen Usopp and noticed the injured swordsman staggering along behind her. "And Mr. Bushido... Everyone... is still alive!"

"YOU HAD THAT COMING FOR A LONG TIME!" Nami yelled at Usopp. "WHO ASKED YOU TO CREATE SOME USELESS PROP FOR PARTIES?"

"HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!" Zoro wheezed as he stood behind him and panted from the exertion of running with Nami on his back while still feeling the lingering pain of his injures. "OH COME ON! YOU'RE STANDING UP JUST FINE!"

"MISS. NAAAMIII MY LOVE!" Sanji swooned.

"Well... it did have a powerful attack," Usopp pouted while Ayako patted him on the head.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Nami snapped at him. "You're lucky Ollie decided not to hold a grudge on you because of what your stupid boxing glove did to her!" Nami walked over to Vivi. "Vivi, what's going on? What's with all this sand flying around everywhere?"

"Umm..." Vivi attempted to answer.

"That's Sandy's doing," Y/N told her. "He's probably got men infiltrating both armies and doesn't want anyone to see who they are." Nami looked passed Vivi at Y/N. "It's good to see that you're okay."

Y/N's eye traveled downward, at first Nami thought he was perving on her in her dancer girl outfit and she was going to let it slide because she was basically doing the same since he didn't have shirt on but then she realized that his one-eyed gaze was on her bare neck.

Nami's eyes widened and she quickly reached into the pocket she'd sewn into the inside of her dress and pulled out her Y/N Original and put it back around her neck.

"I got in a fight," Nami told him. "I didn't want my favorite piece of jewelry to break."

Y/N smiled at Nami. Nami smiled at Y/N. BOOOM! A cannonball exploded near them but everyone ignored it.

"Are they gonna kiss now or are they just gonna stand here?" Ayako piped up.

Y/N and Nami realized that the other Straw Hats, the two former agents, and even Pell were all watching them. The two blushed faintly and looked away.

Mana shook her head, "You just made the same mistake I did at Drum Kingdom," the blonde lectured the other former agent. "The two of them can flirt up a storm but the second you call them on it they get all flustered and deny everything."

"WE WEREN'T FLIRTING!" Nami protested.

"See?" Mana pointed out.

"HEY MOSS BALL!" Sanji snapped at Zoro, "How could you let Miss. Nami get injured like that, idiot! What happened?"

"She's fine... let it... go..." Zoro wearily panted in response.

"Listen Ayako..." Usopp groaned. "Do me a favor and bury my body out in the wastelands when I'm dead and gone. GAH!" He went limp.

Ayako blinked, "Is now really the best time for that?" she asked.

Luffy smiled as he listened in on his Nakama's conversations. He was clearly happy that they were all still alive but he had something important to take care of. Mainly, the trecherous Warlord looming over them on top of the palace wall.

"I'm sorry, you guys," Luffy apologized. "I know I lost to him once already. This time... this time I'M GONNA WIN!"

"You'd better," Y/N replied. "I spent long enough keeping him busy for you."

"THEN I'LL LEAVE THE REST TO YOU!" Luffy called out.

"So get going already," Zoro encouraged him.

"Hm," Sanji grunted in agreement and smiled.

"IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THIS GUY," Usopp shouted, "THEN I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY WHO CAN!"

"I'm gonna put an end to this... FOR GOOD!" Luffy told them.

"YEEAAAH!" Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Mana, and Ayako all cheered. Y/N, Zoro, and Sanji settled for smiling.

"Thank you," Vivi said as she wiped her tears away. "After all that's happened... all of you are still with me."

"..." Pell stood by silently, now back in his human form, and watched Vivi and her friends.

"GGRRRAAAH!" Luffy growled before his stretched arms finally retracted and sent him speeding up towards Crocodile. SHOOOOOOOM! "CROOOOCOOOODIIIIILEEEEE!"

"I guess you didn't get enough the first time, huh?" Crocodile taunted.

WHING! Luffy's arms left the wall and he was launched up into the air and over Crocodile's head. "RAAAAH!" Luffy roared, his bicep bulged as he drew back his fist.

"Hmph..." Crocodile grunted. His face started disintegrating into sand as he prepared to avoid Luffy's obvious attack. He didn't realize that his sand was being met by tiny droplets of water coming off of Luffy's fist until it was too late. POOOOWWW! Luffy's fist slammed into the side of Crocodile's face and sent him flying off of the wall an crashing down to the grassy courtyard. THUD!

TMP! Luffy landed safely and grinned and the fallen warlord. There was blood coming out of the villain's mouth just from the one punch.

"..." Nico Robin stared silently while King Cobra gasped in surprise.

"He took down Crocodile! Just who is that boy?"

"You know remember the red-haired pirate that was giving us so much trouble?" Nico Robin asked. "He was the First Mate. This one's the Captain."

The Royal Army and Rebel Army continued fighting down in the square. The clock tower read 4:18 as Luffy stood over Crocodile and prepared for Round Two of their fight.

"GET UP!" Luffy urged Crocodile. "I figured something out when we fought last time. Once you touch water, you can't turn into sand anymore." Luffy pulled on the hose that was coming out of the barrel on his back and squired the water inside onto his fist. "Last time I was only using spit but now I've got a whole barrel. You took away all the rain because you're afraid of water!" Luffy clenched his soaking wet fist and glared at the treacherous Warlord that was still lying on the ground from when Luffy had punched him. "I know how to defeat you, Crocodile! Our real fight is starting now!"

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!