The desert outside Rainbase was not just a battlefield; it was a weapon. And Sir Crocodile was its absolute master.
The blistering sun beat down relentlessly, baking the yellow sand until it was hot enough to scorch bare skin. The air shimmered with intense heat distortion, making the towering dunes look like rolling waves of fire.
Luffy stood his ground, his chest heaving, his straw hat casting a dark shadow over his fiercely determined eyes.
"Gum-Gum... Gatling!"
Luffy's fists blurred into a wall of high-speed rubber projectiles. He threw everything he had into the barrage, his punches packing enough kinetic force to shatter solid boulders into dust.
They struck Crocodile squarely in the chest. But there was no impact. No sound of flesh hitting flesh.
Instead, Crocodile's torso simply disintegrated. The Warlord's body dissolved into a swirling, hissing mass of dry sand. Luffy's fists punched violently through empty air, the friction of the coarse sand scraping painfully against his knuckles like shattered glass.
Crocodile didn't even drop his cigar. He re-formed his upper body a few feet away, looking down at the rubber boy with an expression of absolute, bored disdain.
"Is that all the Pirate King can muster?" Crocodile sneered. His deep voice carried over the howling desert wind. "You are fighting the desert itself, rookie. I am a Logia user. My Suna Suna no Mi makes me untouchable."
Luffy stumbled forward, pulling his arms back. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the stinging cuts on his hands. "I don't care what you are! I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Crocodile sighed, a cold, ruthless glint flashing in his eyes. "You are a persistent little insect. But it's time to end this. Desert Spada."
Crocodile swung his right arm downward in a smooth, sweeping arc.
The desert floor instantly erupted. A massive, razor-sharp blade of highly pressurized sand shot forward through the dunes like a torpedo. The sheer force of the attack cleaved the earth in two, carving a bottomless, jagged canyon directly toward Luffy.
Luffy's eyes widened. He threw his body wildly to the right, tumbling across the scorching sand. The Desert Spada missed him by mere inches, the terrifying wind pressure from the attack ripping a gash in his red vest. The blade of sand traveled for miles, splitting the horizon itself before dissipating into dust.
"Whoa!" Luffy yelled, scrambling back to his feet and staring down the massive chasm. "That's cheating! You can't just cut the ground!"
"Fairness is a concept invented by the weak," Crocodile laughed darkly. He raised his massive, golden hook, the metal gleaming blindingly in the harsh sunlight. "In the Grand Line, power is the only truth. And you have none."
Luffy glared at the Warlord. He reached behind his back and grabbed the massive, heavy wooden barrel of water he had brought from the city.
"I have this!" Luffy shouted.
He popped the cork off the barrel. Opening his mouth incredibly wide, expanding his rubber cheeks like a massive balloon, he began to chug. He drank with desperate, cartoonish speed, swallowing gallons upon gallons of water in mere seconds.
His stomach instantly bloated outward, stretching into a massive, comical sphere that made him look like a giant water balloon with arms and legs.
"Water Luffy!" he proudly announced. The water sloshed loudly inside his belly with every step he took.
Crocodile stared at him. For a moment, the Warlord was genuinely speechless. Then, a vein bulged visibly on his forehead. "Are you mocking me? You think turning yourself into a fat joke will save your life?"
Luffy didn't answer. He smacked his bloated stomach with both hands.
Patoo!
A high-pressure bullet of water shot from Luffy's mouth. It flew incredibly fast, whistling through the dry air.
Crocodile scoffed, intending to simply let the water pass through his sand body. But as the liquid struck his shoulder, something went entirely wrong.
The water hit his thick fur coat. It soaked into his expensive shirt. It splashed heavily against his skin. And instead of phasing through, it stayed there. The sand clumped together, turning into heavy, wet mud.
Crocodile looked down at his soaked shoulder in genuine shock. That patch of his body hadn't turned into sand. It remained solid, vulnerable flesh.
"Ah ha!" Luffy cheered, jumping up and down, his water-filled belly sloshing violently. "I figured it out! Your weakness is water! If you get wet, your sand sticks together! You can't dodge anymore!"
Crocodile's expression darkened entirely. The arrogant smirk vanished. The bored amusement was gone. What replaced it was a mask of pure, unadulterated murderous intent.
"You figured it out," Crocodile growled. The air around him seemed to grow heavier, the ambient moisture completely evaporating. "Congratulations. You just bought yourself exactly three more seconds of life."
Crocodile didn't walk. He dissolved.
The desert wind howled, and the Warlord reappeared instantly right in front of Luffy, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
"Gum-Gum—!"
Luffy pulled his arms back, stretching them far behind him, aiming directly for the wet, vulnerable spot on Crocodile's shoulder. "Bazooka!"
Luffy's palms slammed forward with devastating force. Because Crocodile's shoulder was wet, the attack connected. CRACK. The impact sounded like a cannon firing. Crocodile was thrown backward, his boots skidding heavily across the sand. A thin trail of blood leaked from the corner of the Warlord's mouth.
Luffy had actually hurt him.
But Crocodile didn't fall. He dug his heels into the sand, stopping his momentum. His eyes burned with a terrifying, demonic rage.
"You insolent brat!" Crocodile roared.
He lunged forward faster than Luffy could react. Crocodile's right hand shot out, grabbing Luffy tightly by his extended, rubbery arm.
"Let's see you bounce back from this. Desert Girasole!"
Crocodile activated the terrifying, moisture-draining power of his right hand.
The effect was instantaneous and horrific. The water inside Luffy's arm was violently, forcefully sucked away. The rubber skin instantly shriveled. It turned a sickly, ashen gray, cracking and tearing like a dead, dried-out branch. The agonizing pain shot straight up Luffy's nerves.
"GAAAAAH!" Luffy screamed, falling to his knees as his arm was completely mummified. The water sloshing in his stomach wasn't enough to rehydrate the dead limb.
Before Luffy could recover from the blinding pain, Crocodile stepped in close. He raised his left arm high into the air. The massive, golden hook caught the sun one last time.
"Die."
SHLUCK.
The sound was sickeningly wet.
Crocodile drove the golden hook forward with brutal, merciless force. It pierced cleanly through the left side of Luffy's chest. The curved metal tore through skin, muscle, and ribcage, exiting out of the boy's back.
Blood sprayed violently into the hot desert air, raining down and staining the pristine yellow sand a dark, horrifying crimson.
Luffy gasped. His eyes went incredibly wide, the pupils shrinking to pinpricks. The air rushed out of his lungs. All the strength completely left his rubber body.
Crocodile lifted his arm, hoisting the impaled boy effortlessly into the air. Luffy dangled from the golden hook, his blood dripping down the curved metal and splattering onto Crocodile's expensive shoes.
"Did you truly think you could defeat me?" Crocodile whispered coldly, looking into Luffy's fading eyes. "There are levels to this world, Straw Hat. You are nothing but a speck of dust. Your crew will die. This country will fall. And you will be forgotten."
Luffy coughed. A thick stream of blood dripped from his chin. His prized straw hat slipped from his head, catching the wind and landing softly in the sand a few feet away.
But the rubber boy wasn't dead yet. The fire in his chest refused to go out.
With the absolute last ounce of his fading strength, Luffy raised his good, un-withered arm. He reached forward and grabbed Crocodile tightly by the wrist.
Crocodile's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Luffy's hand was completely covered in his own blood. The thick, wet crimson liquid soaked into Crocodile's skin, clumping the Warlord's sand together just like the water had.
Luffy squeezed with everything he had, leaving a bloody, defiant handprint on the Warlord's wrist.
"I'm... gonna... beat you..." Luffy wheezed, flashing a bloody, terrifyingly determined grin.
Crocodile's face twisted in pure, visceral disgust. He violently yanked his hook out of Luffy's chest.
He tossed the dying boy away like a piece of garbage. Luffy's limp body hit the ground hard, tumbling and sliding down the steep slope of a massive sand dune.
"A futile, disgusting gesture," Crocodile spat, wiping Luffy's blood from his arm with a handkerchief.
He raised his hand, using his Devil Fruit to manipulate the terrain. The sand beneath Luffy's body began to swirl and sink, forming a deadly, localized quicksand vortex.
Luffy's unconscious body began to slowly, inevitably sink into the suffocating depths of the desert.
Crocodile turned his back. He didn't even bother to watch the boy sink. He pulled a small Den Den Mushi from his coat.
"Mr. 0 to Miss All Sunday," Crocodile spoke smoothly into the snail. "The trash has been disposed of. I am heading to Alubarna to claim my throne."
A few minutes after the Warlord vanished into the heat waves, the desert was silent once more.
The quicksand pit had stopped churning. Only the bloody straw hat rested on the surface of the dunes.
Suddenly, the sand shifted.
A pair of pale hands emerged from the dune. But they weren't attached to a body. They simply bloomed out of the sand like eerie flowers. The hands grabbed the limp, unconscious body of Luffy and hauled him forcefully up from the suffocating depths.
Nico Robin stepped out from behind a large sandstone rock.
She looked down at the boy. There was a massive, bloody hole in his chest. His breathing was incredibly shallow, his life force clinging by a thread.
"Why do you fight him so recklessly?" Robin murmured softly, her dark eyes filled with a complex, unreadable emotion. "People with the initial 'D'. You are all so incredibly foolish."
She knelt beside him, placing a gentle hand on his chest to check his failing heartbeat.
Suddenly, a loud, piercing screech echoed from the blinding sky above.
Robin looked up. A massive bird was diving straight toward her at terrifying speed. It was a man, transformed into a giant, brown-feathered falcon.
"Get away from him, agent of Baroque Works!"
Pell, the Guardian Spirit of Alabasta, landed heavily on the sand, his talons kicking up a cloud of dust. He drew a sharp scimitar from his waist, his hawk-like eyes locking fiercely onto Robin.
"The Tweet-Tweet Fruit, Model: Falcon," Robin noted calmly. She didn't stand up. She didn't even reach for a weapon. "One of the five known flying Devil Fruits in the world. How majestic."
"You are Miss All Sunday," Pell growled, taking a threatening step forward. "I saw Crocodile leave this area. What have you done to this boy?!"
"I am currently saving his life," Robin replied smoothly. She stood up, dusting off her long, purple coat. "But you are welcome to take over. I have a schedule to keep."
Pell hesitated. He looked past her to the bloody boy on the ground. He instantly recognized the straw hat. Princess Vivi had sent a letter to the palace weeks ago, describing a pirate crew that was risking everything to help her save the country.
"This is Straw Hat Luffy," Pell gasped, dropping his sword into the sand. He rushed over to the boy, horrified by the massive, gruesome chest wound.
"He needs medical attention immediately," Robin said quietly. She reached into the folds of her coat and tossed a small glass vial onto the sand next to Pell. "It's an antidote, in case Crocodile used his poison hook. And he needs water. A lot of it. The dehydration will kill him before the blood loss does."
Pell caught the vial. He looked at the Baroque Works agent in deep confusion. "Why are you helping him? You are our enemy. You are Mr. 0's partner."
"Perhaps," Robin smiled faintly, a hint of profound melancholy in her eyes. "Or perhaps I simply want to see what happens when a storm finally hits the desert."
With a swirl of purple petals, Nico Robin vanished, using her Flower-Flower Fruit to slip away into the ruins.
Pell didn't have time to question it. He scooped Luffy's bloody body gently into his arms.
"Hang in there, Straw Hat," Pell whispered, his voice thick with respect. "You fought for my princess. I will not let you die here."
Pell transformed fully into his massive falcon form. He grabbed Luffy carefully in his talons, spread his great wings, and took to the sky, flying desperately toward the nearest royal outpost.
The Great Desert — Racing Toward the Capital.
Miles away, the Straw Hat crew was moving at breakneck speed.
They were riding securely on the back of Scissors, the giant Moving Crab Chopper had befriended. The massive crustacean scuttled across the boiling dunes, its eight legs moving like pistons, kicking up a massive dust cloud in its wake.
The heat was suffocating, but the tension among the crew was even worse.
Kai held onto a jagged spike on the crab's shell. He wore his sandy-tan Alabasta cloak, but he had pulled the hood down to let the wind hit his face. He tapped the orange face of his Power Watch.
"Elemental Power: Water!"
A brief flash of cyan light surrounded his hand. Kai pulled a small amount of moisture from the air, creating a cool, refreshing splash of water that he splashed directly onto his own face to keep himself from overheating. Because it was only Level One, it wasn't enough to share with everyone, but it kept him sharp.
"How are we looking, Bot?" Kai asked over the rushing wind.
"I'm keeping my optical sensors peeled, Kai!" Bot's robotic voice buzzed cheerfully from the watch speaker. "We're making great time! This crab is super fast! And don't worry about Captain Luffy. He's our friend! He's tougher than an old tire. He's gonna be just fine!"
Kai smiled softly at the robotic companion's unwavering optimism. "Yeah. You're right, Bot."
Up near the front of the crab, Vivi sat next to Nami. Her hands were clasped tightly together, her knuckles white. She stared at the horizon, praying they weren't too late.
"We're almost there, Vivi," Nami said comfortingly, placing a hand on the princess's shoulder.
Sanji stood near the edge of the shell, lighting a fresh cigarette, his suit somehow remaining relatively un-creased despite the desert trek. Zoro sat cross-legged near the back, his arms crossed, his visible eye shut in deep concentration. Usopp and Chopper were clinging to each other for dear life, terrified of the giant crab's bumpy ride.
Suddenly, the hazy, shimmering outline of a massive structure began to rise from the desert horizon.
It was a towering, majestic plateau. High walls of white stone encircled a sprawling, beautiful city. Grand domes and towering minarets reached into the sky.
"There it is!" Vivi cried out, tears of relief welling in her eyes. "Alubarna! The capital!"
But the relief was incredibly short-lived.
As they got closer, the true horror of the situation became undeniably clear. A massive, suffocating cloud of dust was rising on the western horizon, moving rapidly toward the city gates.
It wasn't a sandstorm. It was an army.
Seven hundred thousand furious, starving, and desperate rebels were marching directly toward Alubarna. The sound of their boots against the sand sounded like rolling thunder. Leading them at the front of the vanguard was Koza, his face twisted in a mask of righteous fury and absolute heartbreak.
On top of the high walls of the capital, the Royal Army stood in perfect formation. Their rifles were loaded, their swords were drawn, and their cannons were primed.
"Oh no..." Chopper gasped, his eyes wide.
"The Rebel Army is already here," Sanji growled, crushing his cigarette under his heel.
"We have to stop them! I have to talk to Koza!" Vivi yelled desperately.
"It's not going to be that easy," Zoro said, standing up and drawing his swords. He pointed toward the massive stone gates of the city.
Standing in front of the gates, waiting for them, was a group of figures.
They weren't Royal Guards. They weren't Rebels.
It was Mr. 1, Miss Doublefinger, Mr. 2 Bon Clay, Mr. 4, and Miss Merry Christmas. The elite Officer Agents of Baroque Works.
"Looks like the welcoming committee is here," Kai said, hopping down from the crab's shell as it skidded to a halt in the sand. He cracked his knuckles, the orange light of his watch glowing steadily.
"They want to stop us from reaching the rebels," Nami said, drawing her Clima-Tact.
"Then we go right through them," Zoro smirked, a terrifying, bloodthirsty aura radiating from his body.
The clock had completely run out. The final, bloody climax for the fate of Alabasta had arrived.