Sand Sand Band's Secret Base:

-x-

At the Royal Mausoleum west of the Alubarna square, Luffy was racing barefoot down the long flight of stairs to face Crocodile again.

"CROOOCOOOODIIIIILLEEEE!" Luffy bellowed."WHERE ARE YOU?"

"What's with this weird place anyway?" Luffy wondered as he looked ahead of him at the dark room at the bottom on the stairs that was now very close. "Y/N's probably figured out what all this weird stuff is. So I don't have to know what it is. I just have to kick Crocodile's ass!"

Luffy reached the bottom of the stairs and reached the wide-opened room at the bottom that led to the Poneglyph chamber that Y/N, Cobra, Nico Robin, and Crocodile were all inside. Without really knowing where he was going, Luffy raced straight through the huge room towards the large double doors at the other end.

-x-

The red smoke that had been shot up into the air by Usopp still lingered over the city and signified to the Straw Hats, former agents, and Pell that he and Vivi had figured out where Crocodile's bomb was hidden.

The time on the clock tower was four twenty-six leaving just four minutes until the two armies fighting in the sand cloud below, as well as everyone else within three miles, were blown up.

"I'm certain of it," Vivi insisted as she and Usopp stood in the middle of a street off of the square. The tall column of red smoke floated over their heads as the waited for the others to reach them. "The cannon has to be in there! I can't think of any other options beside that place!"

"What makes you so sure it's in there anyway, Vivi?" Usopp asked.

"We have assume that the sand cloud is part of Crocodile's plan," Vivi explained, "The cannon must be in a place where the cannoneer can still see well enough to hit the target. Also, it has to be in an open place where a cannon that size can fit but can't be seen from the sky."

Vivi turned and her gaze fell on the large building that towered over the square and gave the hidden cannoneer a perfect view of their target... THE CLOCK TOWER! Ironically, the giant clock that everyone had been checking to see how much time they had left was actually hiding the very cannonn they were searching for the whole time.

-Vivi's Clock Tower Flashback-

"This looks like a good place, doesn't it?" the ten-year-old Koza addressed Vivi and the rest of the Sand Sand Band as they stood together in the large opened room behind the round clock face. The room was wide opened and the only things that took up the room were the occasional gears. It was the perfect place for their band of kids to hang out. "Let's make this our secret base!"

"YEAH!" Vivi and the rest of the Sand Sand Band cheered in agreement.

-End Flashback-

"So that has to be it," Vivi concluded, "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Okay, hold on," Usopp said as he bent down and started scratching a message on the ground. Skreessh... skreeesshhh... "We'll leave the others a message since they're heading here."

"Thanks Usopp, I'm going ahead to the tower," Vvi informed him as she raced off.

"HEEEY!" Usopp shouted after her, "Wait Vivi!"

"HURRY!" Vivi called back as he ran after her.

But they both came to a stop when a group of shadowy figures blocked their path.

"Well look at that," a man commented from inside the cloud of sand in front of them. "It's the Princess! Hahaha! The smoke signal led us straight to her!"

"More Billions!" Vivi gasped.

"OOOOH NOOOO!" Usopp screamed. "WE SIGNALED THE ENEMY TOO!"

-x-

"That smoke, its Usopp's signal!" Zoro realized as pushed passed a leafy branch and stared at the red smoke flying over Alubarna... the DISTANT city of Alubarna. "He must have found it! But why is the palace so far away?" Zoro ran through the brush in the oasis he'd somehow wound up in. Zoro's poor sense of direction knew no bounds. Getting lost in a large city was one thing but LEAVING the city and ended up in an oasis OUTSIDE of it without even noticing it was another thing entirely.

-x-

"SAUTÉ!" ZZZZZZZOOOOOOM! Sanji sped through the streets as a black and blond blur and raced towards Usopp's red smoke signal. "Good, it's not far from here!"

-x-

Chopper ran towards the red smoke in his Walk Point form now with both Nami and Ayako riding on his back. Nami was up front holding onto his antlers while Ayako was in the back hugging the older girl to stay on.

"I wonder if that signal means that they've found the cannoneer," Chopper commented.

"They must have," Nami reasoned, "LET'S GO!"

"Hopefully... we'll be able to tell them... who we're dealing with," Ayako whimpered as she buried her face in Nami's back. Now that they had a set destination Chopper was running much faster and much rougher as he bounded along the stone path. The normally laidback artist's motion sickness was back with a vengeance.

-x-

"UUUUUSOOOOPP NOOOIIIISSSEEE!" Usopp screamed as he held up a blackboard and scratched his nails on it. SKREEEEEECH!

The Billions winced and covered their ears as Usopp tortured them with the high-pitched noise.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Usopp cackled while Vivi stood beside him with her hands clamped over her own ears, "TREMBLE AT THE POWER OF MY NAILS!" While the Billions were distracted, Usopp grabbed Vivi's wrist and pulled her away, "C'mon Vivi, let's go!"

"Right," Vivi agreed as she uncovered her ears and raced off with Usopp.

"HEY!" one of the Billions shouted once they recovered from Usopp's unorthodox attack. They glared through the sand cloud after Usopp and Vivi. "THERE THEY GO! GET 'EM!"

"RAAAAH!" the Billions let out a collective roar as they chased after the Princes and the pirate.

-x-

SQUELCH! Crocodile pulled Y/N's blood-covered sword out of his stomach and tossed it down on top of the prone pirate at his feet. The wound going through the Warlord's stomach was light compared to the venom-laced blow Crocodile had landed on Y/N during the exchange.

"Now you're next Nico Robin," Crocodile announced as he glared at his former partner. The deadly woman clenched her knife and stood across the room from Crocodile and glaced down at Y/N's bleeding form.

"I don't plan to go down that easily," Nico Robin replied. "He's one of those self-sacrificing types that puts his life on the line whenever he fights for something he feels is important. I don't have any intention of defending this Kingdom to the death, only to stay alive while killing you."

While Crocodile and Nico Robin faced off, King Cobra crept backwards towards the column that would collapse the tomb. He had been willing to trust Y/N to be able to defeat Crocodile but since that had failed he was now going to do his Kingly duty and give his life to save the land the Nefertari family had been ruling and protecting for twelve generations.

"I'll admit that your skills as an assassin are commendable," Crocodile confessed, "but with One Eye as good as dead there's no one left in this Kingdom that can oppose me. THIS LAND IS MINE! KUUAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!"

THOOM! THOOM! KRAAASSSHH!

The double doors were smashed opened and everyone's attention was drawn to the figure standing in the dust cloud that had risen above the rubble of the destroyed doors.

The dust cleared and revealed heavily breathing Luffy who still recovering from all the running he'd just done.

"YOOUUU!" Crocodile snarled as he sent Luffy a glare that mixed surprise and loathing.

"Y/N..." Luffy whispered when he noticed his wounded brother.

"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" Crocodile demanded. "NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I KILL YOU, YOU JUST KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE!"

"How did he manage it?" King Cobra wondered as he stared at Luffy in shock. "How did he live and make it all the way here? Who is this boy?"

"TELL ME... JUST HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HAVE TO DIE?" Crocodile roared.

"Ugghhh... Just once..." Y/N groaned from down on the ground as he managed to roll over so he could glare up at Crocodile. "But you lack the ability to actually kill someone like him."

Eight legs grew out of Y/N's back and lifted him up off of the ground and walked him over to Nico Robin.

"Straw Hat," Nico Robin called across the room now that Y/N was safely out of the way for the impending fight between Luffy and Crocodile. "My allegiance has changed. If you can defeat Crocodile, I'll tend to your First Mate."

"That works for me," Luffy told her. POW! Luffy punched one of his fists into his other hand. "Cause I was gonna kick Crocodile's ass anyway!" Luffy returned his focus to Crocodile "There's something you still need to return Crocodile. And I came here to get it back!"

"What is this thing I took?" Crocodile questioned. "Is it money?"

"Obviously not..." Y/N interjected, "I took that."

Crocodile glared at him then looked back at Luffy, "Is it fame? Or the people's trust? Or their lives? Is it the rain? KUAHAHAHAHAHA! I have taken all of those things! SO WHICH IS IT THAT YOU WANT ME TO GIVE BACK, STRAW HAT?"

"This land," Luffy answered.

"The land?" Crocodile repeated. "Really, you should know better than that by now. I have no intention of relinquishing this country. Why would I when I'm going to become its next King?"

"We came to this island to save Vivi's country," Luffy said. "But then... when we got here it was gone. YOU STOLE HER COUNTRY!"

Luffy thought of all they'd seen on their journey across the desert to Yuba.

"I have to get to the Rebel Army," Vivi had said way back before they had made landfall. "I must persuade their leader to stop this pointless bloodshed."

"Look around everyone," Vivi instructed as they stood outside of Erumalu. "This is what Baroque Works is doing to my country. The people of Alabasta... this is what they have to go through."

The Straw Hats and the three Whitebeard Pirates that had been accompanying them made their way through the dried up and abandoned city. "Up until recently it was a thriving city filled with gardens, palm trees, and lush greenery."

"Vivi... is that really you?" the unrecognizably thin Toto asked when they had finally made it to Yuba, only to find it plagued with sandstorms and just as dried out as Erumalu. "You're alive! I can't believe it! Thank goodness, it's me Vivi, don't you recognize me? I look different... I've lost some weight, I suppose..."

"AH!" Vivi gasped in horror when she finally recognized the man. "Toto... is it... really you?" The previously fat man that Vivi had once known had wasted away along with the city.

"Please Vivi!" Toto had urged the Princess, "you have to stop these fools from tearing our country apart!"

"This is her country and I'm here to take it back from you!" Luffy announced.

"You want it to work out so nobody dies in this fight," Luffy pointed out when they left Yuba. "Isn't that right? None of the citizens, none of us either. We're up against one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and a million people on top of that. And you still want everyone to end up all safe and sound. You'll never win that way."

"AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT, HUH?" Vivi had shouted. "WHAT IS SO WRONG ABOUT NOT WANTING TO SEE PEOPLE DIE OR GET HURT?"

"Just being in this country for the limited time that I have and looking around... even I can tell..." Luffy had said when the Princess had slapped him and tackled him to the ground.

WHAP! POW! WHAP! POW! While straddling Luffy's stomach the Princess alternated between slapping him and punching him.

"WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS MORE THAN ANYTHING!" Luffy shouted through his beating. "YOU THINK THAT PUTTING JUST YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE IS ENOUGH TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING?"

"Well what else exactly should I be putting on the line with it then, Luffy?" Vivi cried as she continued alternatively slapping and punching Luffy. "WHAT LUFFY?"

Whup! Whup! Luffy reached up and caught both of Vivi's arms by the wrist effectively ending the beating. Vivi hung her head. "I don't have anything else that I can put on the line... Just me..."

Luffy threw her off of him and shouted at her, "WELL YOU CAN AT LEAST TRY PUTTING ALL OF OUR LIVES ON THE LINE TOGETHER! AREN'T WE NAKAMA?"

Vivi had broken down and cried at Luffy's loyal pledge to give his life to fight for her Kingdom.

"I will defeat you and take this country out of your evil hands!" Luffy exclaimed. "And then... VIVI WILL SMILE AGAIN!"

"RAAAAHH!" Luffy let out a roar and charged at Crocodile.

"Threaten me as much as you like," Crocodile taunted, "But without any water you're nothing."

THWAK! Luffy lashed out his blood-coated foot and drove it into Crocodile's face. The Warlord went flying across the room and smashed into the far wall. KRASH!

Crocodile sat up and glared at Luffy, "This is impossible," he thought to himself, "he doesn't have any water. So how can he kick me?"

Luffy cracked his knuckles then stretched his arm back behind him. "UAAAAAHHH!" he shouted before he shot his arm back at Crocodile. SHOOM! Luffy's rubber arm snapped back and his blood-coated fist smashed into the still-seated Warlord's face. POOWW! Again Crocodile was sent flying backwards but this time he went clear through the wall. KRASH!

"Ugghhh..." the resilient Warlord groaned as he slowly stood back up. "I see... you're using... your blood!" Crocodile stared at Luffy's blood-coated fists and feet. "Clever... for you."

"Blood can harden sand too," Luffy pointed out.

"Kuahahahaha!" Crocodile laughed, "First Rain Base and then the Royal Palace... I defeated both you and One Eye in both of those places. Now we're here in this underground mausoleum. I've already defeated One Eye here... looks like it's your turn again. You should be rewarded for your insistence on challenging me. You just keep coming back."

"WHY YOU!" Luffy shouted. SHHOOOM! He stretched his leg and lashed it out at Crocodile.

SKISH! The Warlord leapt to the side and Luffy smashed his foot through the wall. THOOM!

Crocodile showed Luffy his unveiled poison hook, "You're a pirate Straw Hat," Crocodile commented. "You've certainly proven that in your determination to defeat me no matter the cost. And I'll admit that you've become an annoyingly persistent opponent during our three encounters."

"Alright... what's that?" Luffy asked as he stared at Crocodile's hook.

"A poisonous hook," Crocodile explained. "You seem to be a competent pirate, I suppose. So surely you must understand that a duel between pirates is always about two people fighting for survival. And when that's the case, there's no such thing as playing dirty. I've already used this hook to dispatch of One Eye so now it's your turn. When the explosion goes off in the square this place will most likely crumble into dust. This will be our final battle. SO LET'S SETTLE THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

Luffy slipped into his fighting stance and prepared to finally end his fight against Crocodile.

-x-

The Nightmare Draws Near:

-x-

Zoro had somehow made it back into the heart of Alubarna in less than a minute and was now rushing through the streets towards the spot he'd seen Usopp's red smoke signal coming from.

"It was coming from this direction wasn't it?" Zoro asked. "Or was it?" He was lost again.

But the swordsman skidded to a stop when a group of Marines stood blocking his path. At the head of the group was Lieutenant Devo. He held a rifle in his left hand while what remained of his right arm was wrapped in bandages.

"Roronoa Zoro... what the hell are you doing here?" Devo growled.

"Just great," Zoro muttered, "I didn't realize the Marines were in this town now. I don't have time for this." Zoro gripped the handle of Wado Ichimonji and prepared to fight. He noted that his opponent was wounded a missing an arm but was still armed. "I guess I have no choice but to deal with it."

"Damn it... what're you doing in the middle of the battlefield?" Devo demanded.

"Well I can say the same thing to you!" Zoro retorted as he drew his sword.

"Hold on!" Devo interrupted. "Is your sense of direction that horrible? This is ridiculous." Devo pointed his gun down a street leading off to the right, "Go that way and head north at the next corner then you can reach the palace square."

"Huh?" Zoro questioned. Was the one-armed Marine trying to give him directions?

"Go back and turn right," Devo instructed. "The square isn't this way you idiot. Go north."

"Idiot?" Zoro repeated.

"JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Devo yelled.

"Huh... What the..." Zoro sputtered. The Marines weren't trying to stop him?

"GO FIND THE BOMB DAMN IT!" Devo shouted. "THAT WAY! GO NORTH!" Zoro blinked in surprise then finally ran off. Devo turned and kicked a nearby wall in frustration. "Damn it, the one time I try and help a pirate and he ends up being a hapless moron."

-x-

Usopp and Vivi raced away from the mob of Billions that was chasing after them.

"FASTER!" Usopp hollered at Vivi who was running up ahead of him. "WE HAVE TO RUN FASTER VIVI!"

"I DON'T THINK I CAN USOPP!" Vivi cried.

"Don't let them get away!" the Billion at the head of the group shouted. "A PROMOTION IS ON THE LINE!"

SWASH! SLISH! SLASH! Usopp and Vivi skidded to a stop and looked behind them in time to see the Billions collapse to the ground. Sergeant Major Tashigi and a group of sword-wielding Marines were left standing over the Billions.

"..." Tashigi was silent as she sheathed her sword.

"Uh... thank you?" Usopp said to the Marine.

"We're here to help you, not fight!" Tashigi called out to him. "Go and stop the explosion in the square, okay? Now go! Quickly!"

"Let's go Usopp, quickly," Vivi encouraged Usopp as she took off running again.

"Right!" Usopp agreed as he ran off with her.

"Thank you!" Vivi called back to the Marines.

Tashigi stared after them and thought of the last time she'd seen Captain Smoker.

"Captain... you want us to go to Alubarna?" Lieutenant Devo had asked before they left Rain Base.

"But are we chasing after the Straw Hat Pirates or reinforcing the Royal Army?" Tashigi questioned.

"That's up to you," Smoker answered as got on his Blower Bike. "You'll have to decide which is more important when you get there. Rely on your sense of justice. Lieutenant, you're in charge. Whatever happens I'll accept responsibility." And so he had driven off to the coast leaving them to deal with the situation on their own.

Tashigi thought of Lieutenant Devo's latest orders.

-Devo and Tashigi Flashback-

"Lieutenant... are you alright?" Tashigi asked as she finished bandaging Devo's wounded arm.

"My view of justice has been destroyed... just like my arm..." Devo whispered. "One Eye was the one who defeated Nico Robin. And now Straw Hat's looking to defeat Crocodile. We couldn't do anything against the likes of them. I lost my arm because I was foolish enough to try without knowing what I was getting into."

The Lieutenant sat up and clenched his remaining fist. "One Eye... he knows what's going on," Devo realized. "He and Straw Hat are fighting against Crocodile. The Straw Hat Pirates are the ones carrying out justice here. We're just getting in the way."

The wounded Marine struggled but managed to push himself up to his feet using only one arm. "If the pirates are fighting for justice... then that makes them our allies," he resolved. "If we can't do anything to stop Crocodile then we'll help the ones who can."

"Lieutenant, what about your injury?" Tashigi asked.

"That doesn't matter now," Devo told her. "One Eye and the King warned us about a bomb. The other Straw Hats are trying to find it and stop it. Your orders are to aid the Straw Hat pirates in any way possible."

-End Flashback-

"MEN!" Tashigi addressed the Marines that were with her. "The Lieutenant's orders are to assist them in any way we can! Let's go!"

-x-

The Royal Army and the Rebel Army kept fighting as Usopp and Vivi ran through them and the sand cloud around them to reach the clock tower.

"HURRY!" Usopp called out. Vivi was still ahead of him but he was running really fast for a guy in a full-body cast. "WE HAVE TO HURRY!"

"We've wasted a lot of time," Vivi told him.

"I don't know why they helped us back there," Usopp admitted, "but if it weren't for the Marines we'd be a lot worse off now."

BANG! As they ran passed one of the rebels was shot and fell to the ground. FWUMP!

Vivi slowed her running and stared at the fallen rebel. She couldn't see who it was but for all she knew he could've been one of her childhood friends.

"No, don't look at that!" Usopp told Vivi as he grabbed her hand and pulled her onward. "If we don't stop the explosion the casualties will be a lot worse than that!"

"Right," Vivi agreed. She closed her eyes and they continued onward.

"Crying about it isn't going to stop the attack from happening!" Usopp exclaimed. If crying would've stopped the bomb from going off, Usopp would've done that already.

Usopp and Vivi drew closer to the clock tower as it loomed over them and the square.

"In two minutes we're either gonna beat them or we're gonna die!" Usopp pointed out. "We still have time left! And we're all helping you!"

"Right," Vivi agreed again. Call him what you will but Usopp had a way of motivating a person.

"RIGHT THERE!" called out a familiar loud voice. "VIVI! USOPP!" Vivi and Usopp stopped and turned to see Nami and Ayako riding towards them on Chopper.

"It's Nami and Tony," Vivi realized.

"Ayako, are you okay?" Usopp inquired as he noted the sick-looking girl on the back of the reindeer.

"I'll... be okay..." Ayako gasped. Chopper stopped as she got off and staggered a couple steps while Nami leapt off of the reindeer and ran over to the other two.

"What's going on?" Nami asked. "The Marines just helped us out back there!"

"Were you able to find where the cannon is?" Chopper questioned.

"We haven't confirmed it yet but this is the only place it could be," Vivi told them. "We must've passed it a bunch of times before I realized it. The cannon is up there... I'm absolutely sure of it now." Vivi turned and pointed up at the face of the clock that towered over them.

Now that they were right in front of it they were able to tell how incredibly huge the clock tower actually was. The building structure that the tower was on top of was a good four stories tall with each story being around twenty feet tall. The tower itself was another three stories on top of the building structure. So the Straw Hats and Ayako now found themselves standing at the bottom and looking up at a seven-story tall tower that was over one hundred forty feet above them.

"The clock tower..." Nami whispered.

"I see," Chopper commented. "From up there they can get a really good shot at the square."

"We figured out who we're dealing with too," Ayako piped up. "I'm pretty sure Mr. 7 and Ms. Father's Day are up there guarding the cannon. After everything, they're the only high-ranking Officer Agents that are left. Plus they're snipers so they'd be the best at guarding it."

"We still need Pell to get here though," Vivi said as she searched the skies for the falcon-man. "It's the only way to stop it." While the rest of them would have to waste precious time climbing up the tall tower, with his falcon form Pell could easily fly up to the top. And he was strong enough to be able to defeat a pair of Frontier Agents like Mr. 7 and Ms. Father's Day. "Pell?"

-x-

SHOOO! Pell soared around the square in his falcon-human hybrid form and kept his sharp falcon eyes wide opened for both Vivi and the bomb.

"We don't have much time," Pell said out loud. "I could've sworn I saw the smoke coming from somewhere around this area." WOOOSH! Pell flew passed the top of the clock tower and circled the square as he attempted to spot the Princess through the sand cloud.

Pell didn't see the face of the clock tower crack opened. And he didn't see the frog-shaped gun poke out through the crack. BANG! Pell was struck by a bullet and fell from the sky.

"Ribbitribbitribbit!" the woman inside let out a frog-like laugh. "Did you see Mr. 7? I just shot down that big bird with my Ribbit Ribbit Gun! Quite impressive, huh?"

"Ohahahahahahaha!" the hidden Mr. 7 laughed before the clock was pulled closed once more.

"I'm sorry..." was Pell's last thought as he plummeted downward leaving behind feathers and drops of blood to fall in his wake.

-x-

"You're lucky," Nico Robin said as she stood over Y/N down in the mausoleum while Luffy and Crocodile continued their third and final fight. "After dealing with your friend and her poisoned arrows back at Rain Base I made sure to replenish my supply of antidotes." Nico Robin pulled a vial out from her coat. "This will neutralize Crocodile's scorpion venom."

"Thank... you..." Y/N gasped.

"Don't thank me yet," Nico Robin told him. "I hold your life in my hands. Before I agree to give you this you have to promise to take me to the other Poneglyph you found once you recover."

"Alright... I'll take you," Y/N agreed. "I promise. And I never go back on my word."

"Good, I had the feeling you were one of those honest types," Nico Robin commented. "Here." She tossed the vial down to Y/N. "I'm no doctor so don't expect me to tend to your wounds."

"Thank you all the same," Y/N replied as he sat himself up and uncorked the antidote. Nico Robin nodded then turned to watch the fight between Luffy and Crocodile.

"RAAAAH!" Luffy let out a roar as his blood-coated fist flew at Crocodile. SHOOOM!

SWISH! Crocodile jumped to the side and slashed his poison hook down at Luffy's extended and vulnerable arm. Luffy quickly grabbed his arm and yanked it back. WOING! But he wasn't fast enough to prevent Crocodile from scraping the side of his arm with the tip of his hook. SLIK! Crocodile's attack continued and he ended up driving his hook into the floor. SHUNK!

Luffy and Crocodile both stood back up and glared at each other.

Luffy acted first and raced towards Crocodile and stretched his arm out behind him. WOING! "GUUUUM... GUUUUM... PIIISTOOOL!" SHOOM! Luffy drew close and lashed his arm out at Crocodile.

"Humph," Crocodile grunted as he held out his hand and prepared to block Luffy's predictable and overused attack.

SKISH! But Crocodile stared in surprise as Luffy and his fist stopped short right in front of him. Luffy jumped up into the air and whipped his rubber leg around at Crocodile's head. SWISH! Crocodile managed to dodge out of the way and avoid Luffy's kick.

"RAAH!" Crocodile lashed out his hook at Luffy.

SHOOM! Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed onto the wall in front of him. SHOOM! Luffy stretched himself over to the way and out of the way of Crocodile's attack. SLIK! But Crocodile managed a glancing blow on Luffy's trailing leg.

TMP! Luffy landed on his feet and stared at Crocodile while Crocodile turned to face him and stared back. "RAAAAAHH!" Both Luffy and Crocodile roared as they charge each other.

SHOOOM! Luffy lashed his blood-soaked foot out in front of him. SWISH! Crocodile dodged the kick and lashed his hook out at Luffy as he got close. WHUP! But Luffy dodged the hook and grabbed onto Crocodile's extended arm. WHING! Luffy swung himself around Crocodile's arm like a gymnast on the bars then stretched his leg overhead and brought it down heel-first on Crocodile's head. THWHAM! Crocodile went flying backwards and smashed into a wall while Luffy landed on his feet. KRASH! TMP!

"He's so strong," Cobra thought to himself as he watched Luffy continue to fight evenly with Crocodile. "Who in the world is he? Crocodile made even our best warriors look like children. But against this boy and his First Mate he's actually struggling."

The dust cloud from the smashed wall cleared to reveal Crocodile on his knees on the ground. "Kuahahahahaha," the treacherous Warlord let out a low chuckle. "You were skewered, buried alive, and dried up..." Crocodile looked up and smirked at Luffy. "You may have made it through all of that but you won't escape this time Straw Hat! There's no hope for survival! The game is over!" Crocodile raised his hook. "This venom will spread through you soon."

"You know Crocodile..." Luffy replied, "You just don't understand."

Luffy's will was too strong. He was too determined to allow mere poison to stop him from finishing this final fight. And he wasn't going to let someone like Crocodile stop him from saving a country that meant so much to someone he considered Nakama.

-x-

"I wonder what happened?" Vivi asked as she kept searching the skies for any sign of Pell. Not knowing that the avian warrior had fallen and was now on the ground somewhere in the middle of the two fighting armies. "Pell... I don't see him up there anywhere."

"But I don't think there's any way we can get to the top of the tower in less than a minute without any help," Nami pointed out.

"Pell where are you?" Vivi wondered. "Hurry! We need you!"

"For now, we're going to have to get moving without him," Chopper resolved as he approached the bottom of the stairs that led from the first story of the clock tower up to the seventh.

"We're gonna have to climb all these stairs," Usopp realized. "You guys ready?"

"No," Ayako admitted. "But I'll go anyway."

"HEEEEEYYY!" a familiar voice called down to them.

They all looked up and saw Sanji waving from one of the windows in the clock tower structure up above them.

"MISS. NAMI! MISS. VIVI! MISS. AYAKO!" the cook called out. He was sticking out of a third-story window.

"SANJI!" Usopp exclaimed. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING ALL THE WAY UP THERE?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Sanji shouted down to him. "You left a message where the smoke way, didn't you? The message said 'go to the clock tower' so I figured I'd head up here to meet you. SO WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHERE'S THE CANNONEER ANYWAY?"

"THE TOP!" Usopp yelled. "THEY'RE AT THE TOP! GO UP FROM THERE AND TAKE 'EM DOWN!"

"SANJI?" another familiar voice called down from up above the cook. Sanji looked up and found Zoro standing on top of the fourth story of the structure and at the bottom of the clock tower itself. "HEY! WHERE WERE YOU? I WAS LOOKING!"

"ZORO? YOU'RE HERE TOO?" Sanji questioned.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?" Zoro shouted.

"FUNNY, I WAS GONNA ASK YOU THE SAME THING!" Sanji hollered back.

"It was this one-armed Marine!" Zoro told him. "He kept saying 'Go North! Go North!' So I just kept going north until I got all the way up here!"

"NORTH AND UP AREN'T THE SAME THING!" Sanji screamed.

"ANYWAY! GOOD JOB YOU TWO!" Usopp yelled up the tower. "NOW JUST KEEP ON GOING UP FROM THERE AND DESTROY THE BOMB IN THE CLOCK TOWER!"

"No way," Vivi cut in. "They can't get inside the clock tower from where they are now. You see, there are only two ways in: the back stairs on the first floor and from the sky. That's why we need Pell."

"I don't see Mana either," Ayako realized as she looked up at the sky. "She could probably use her powers to float us up there."

"Ugghh..." Usopp groaned. "But can't Zoro go ahead and destroy the wall or something?"

"We can't risk that," Vivi told him. "It could make the bomb explode even earlier for all we know. We have no choice but to take the stairs."

"Oooh noooo..." Ayako moaned, already thinking of all the running that would involve.

"No wait!" Nami interrupted. "I think I have a better plan!"

WHUP! "Thank you!" Ayako gushed as she hugged Nami around the waist. She went to great lengths to keep from doing anything overly physical. At the moment, Nami was her hero.

Nami looked down at the short girl hugging her, "Actually... get out a canvas and some paint," she instructed the artist. "You can help me draw my plan up."

KREEEEEK! Up above them the round face of the clock swung outward and laughed rang out from inside the tower. "RIBBITRIBBITRIBBIT!" "OHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The two odd-looking figures were left standing on the rim of the wide circular hole that the face of the clock used to occupy. Behind the two was an ENORMOUS cannon that was nearly the size of the hole it was point out of.

"So Mr. 7," Ms. Father's Day spoke, "According to the Boss' orders, this is going to be our final mission for Baroque Works! Ribbitribbitribbit!" The woman's clothing had a frog theme. She wore green boots with the bottoms shaped like frogs, a purple and pink polka-dotted skirt with a green frog-belt that had four frog legs draping down form it so they covered the skirt from the front, back, and both sides. On top she wore a pale green collared shirt with blue tie and a purple and pink poka-dotted vest that matched the skirt over it as well as two round green cuffs shaped like frog legs covered her shoulders. On her head she wore a green frog-shaped had that hid most of her purple hair and made her look even sillier with the two frog legs coming out of the side like a pair of antlers.

"Ohahahahahaha!" Mr. 7 laughed. "That's right Ms. Father's Day! Ohahahahaha! According to the plan we have just thirty seconds left to go! Ohahahahahaha!" Mr. 7 was shorter than his partner and wore brown shoes with the tips of the toes bent upward to look like sevens, pale blue socks, dark blue pants with pink symbols drawn on them, a matching dark blue and pink shirt, and a pale blue neck tie on his neck. Over all that he wore a long pale purple coat with ruffled sleeves and shoulders and 7's on the sleeves and the chest. His hair was white and looked like a ball, and on his forehead he wore a pair of square sunglasses that didn't cover his black eyebrows that were shaped like 7's.

Mr. 7 and Ms. Father's Day were Frontier Officer Agents and both were armed with strange looking guns.

"Is that them?" Nami asked as they stared up at the two strange-looking agents.

"That's them," Ayako confirmed as he pulled a large canvas and her pallet of paints out of her blue backpack.

"Mr. 7... Ms. Father's Day..." Vivi gasped.

"They may look silly," Ayako admitted, "But right now they're all that's standing between us and stopping that bomb." Ayako turned to Nami with her paints ready. "What's the plan?"

While the final battle between Luffy and Crocodile rages on and only a minute remaining before the explosion, the Straw Hats have to find a way to reach the top of the clock tower and defeat the two agents before the bomb obliterates all of them. There isn't much time left as the nightmare draws near.

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!