Back up on the surface, Princess Vivi had not fallen through the floor. She had managed to grab a broken window frame when the floor turned to sand.
She pulled herself up and looked down at the massive, chaotic city plaza.
The war was raging louder than ever. Seven hundred thousand desperate rebels and the Royal Guards were fighting a bloody, terrible battle. Swords clashed. Cannons boomed. People were screaming in pain.
Vivi's heart broke. Crocodile was gone, but the fighting had not stopped. The lies had already done their damage.
Suddenly, a small beep-beep sound echoed near the broken stones.
Vivi turned around. One of Crocodile's communication snails, a Den Den Mushi, had fallen on the floor. It was ringing.
Vivi carefully picked it up. She recognized the voices on the other end. It was the Billions, Crocodile's elite soldiers who were hiding in the city.
"Mr. 0, do you read me?" the bad guy's voice said through the snail. "The backup plan is ready. The massive bomb has been placed inside the central clock tower in the plaza."
Vivi froze. The blood turned completely cold in her veins.
"The timer is set," the voice continued. "In exactly ten minutes, the bomb will explode. The blast radius is over three miles. It will completely wipe out the Rebel Army, the Royal Guards, and the entire capital city. Operation Utopia will be a complete success."
The snail clicked off.
Vivi dropped the snail. Her hands shook violently.
Crocodile never planned to let anyone win. He planned to blow everyone up at the exact same time. The massive clock tower stood right in the very center of the fighting plaza. In ten minutes, her entire country, her childhood friend Koza, and hundreds of thousands of innocent people would be burned to ash.
"No..." Vivi whispered. "I have to stop it. I have to get to the clock tower!"
She turned and ran. She ran down the grand stone stairs of the palace. Her legs burned. She had no weapons. She was just one girl. But she had to try.
Inside the massive, chaotic city plaza, Sanji was fighting a brutal, one-man war.
Earlier, Sanji had told Vivi to run to the palace while he stayed behind to fight the fake Royal Guards. The curly-browed cook moved like a blur of black fabric and blonde hair.
"Collier!" Sanji roared, slamming his black shoe into a guard's neck.
"Épaule!" He spun around, kicking another guard in the shoulder and sending him flying into a stone wall.
Sanji landed smoothly on his feet and lit a crushed cigarette. He looked up toward the palace, expecting to see Vivi running up the grand stairs. But she was not there.
Sanji's eye widened. He scanned the massive, bloody battlefield. Seven hundred thousand men were fighting, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Through the smoke, he saw a flash of blue hair.
Vivi was not running to the palace. She was running directly toward the massive central clock tower.
"What is she doing?!" Sanji panicked. "That is the most dangerous spot in the plaza!"
Sanji sprinted after her. He dodged swinging swords and flying cannonballs. As he got closer, he saw the terrible danger. A massive squad of Baroque Works Billions—Crocodile's elite soldiers—were blocking the base of the clock tower. They raised their heavy rifles, aiming right at the running princess.
"Don't let her pass!" the lead soldier yelled. "Fire!"
Vivi closed her eyes, bracing for the bullets.
"Mouton Shot!"
Sanji dropped from the sky like a falling meteor. He slammed his leg directly into the ground in front of Vivi. The pure kinetic force of his kick shattered the stone paving, sending a massive shockwave of rocks and dust flying into the soldiers. The bullets missed, shooting harmlessly into the air.
"Sanji!" Vivi cried, tears of relief falling down her face.
"I told you I would protect you, Vivi-chan," Sanji said smoothly. He did not look back at her. His eyes were locked on the dozens of angry soldiers pulling out their swords. "Why are you running to the tower?"
"There is a bomb at the top!" Vivi yelled, pointing up at the giant clock face. "It is going to blow up the whole city in three minutes! I have to cut the fuse!"
Sanji's face turned completely serious. The flirtatious, goofy cook was gone. The deadly, calculating fighter named Mr. Prince took his place.
"Three minutes," Sanji growled. He dropped his cigarette and crushed it under his black shoe. He looked at the massive army of soldiers blocking the spiral stairs.
"Go, Vivi," Sanji said. His voice was low and hard. "Do not stop running. I will clear the path."
"But there are too many of them!" Vivi cried.
"I am the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates," Sanji smirked. "I specialize in kicking garbage."
Sanji charged forward. He became a terrifying tornado of devastating kicks. He did not use his hands; his hands were strictly for cooking. His legs were deadly weapons.
He kicked swords in half. He kicked men through solid stone walls. He paved a bloody, brutal path straight to the base of the tower.
"Climb, Vivi!" Sanji roared, taking a harsh cut to his shoulder but ignoring the pain entirely.
Vivi ran past him, her boots clattering loudly as she began to sprint up the spiral stone stairs of the clock tower.
Sanji stood at the bottom of the stairs, breathing heavily. Blood dripped from his black suit. The remaining soldiers glared at him, ready to charge.
Suddenly, a massive, three-sword slash ripped through the air, cutting the front row of soldiers to the ground.
Sanji looked over his shoulder. Zoro, Nami, kai,Usopp, and Chopper had arrived. They were completely exhausted, covered in dirt and blood, but they stood in a tight line next to the cook.
"You look terrible, curly-brows," Zoro grunted, holding a sword in his mouth.
"Shut up, moss-head," Sanji smiled a bloody smile.
The Straw Hat Pirates stood together at the base of the tower. They formed an unbreakable wall of friendship. No one was getting past them.
Princess Vivi ran up the spiraling stone stairs of the massive clock tower. Her legs burned like fire. Her lungs felt like they were going to explode. But she did not stop. She could not stop.
The clock was ticking. She only had a few minutes left before the massive bomb blew up the entire capital city of Alubarna.
"I have to make it!" Vivi gasped, wiping sweat from her eyes.
She reached the very top of the tower. She pushed open the heavy wooden doors and stumbled onto the high, windy balcony.
Right in the middle of the balcony was a giant, terrifying black cannon. Inside the cannon was a massive, round bomb. It was huge. It was big enough to wipe out the entire city plaza and everyone in it.
"I found it!" Vivi cried out in relief. She ran toward the bomb to stop the timer.
"Not so fast, Princess!" a mean, laughing voice echoed from the shadows.
Vivi froze. Two people stepped out from behind the giant cannon. They were the final Baroque Works agents protecting the bomb.
One was a man wearing a bright yellow suit with the number '7' painted all over his clothes. He carried a weird, yellow gun. His name was Mr. 7. The other was a woman wearing a ridiculous frog costume. She carried a long sniper rifle. Her name was Miss Father's Day.
"Mr. 0 told us you might come," Mr. 7 laughed, spinning his gun on his finger. "But you are too late. The fuse is already lit!"
Vivi looked at the back of the cannon. A thick, sparking fuse was burning down fast. There was less than one minute left.
"Get out of my way!" Vivi yelled.
She reached into her pockets and pulled out her weapons. They were her Peacock Slashers—sharp, spinning metal rings attached to thin, invisible wires. She swung her arms, sending the sharp rings flying through the air.
"Fire!" Miss Father's Day shrieked, aiming her sniper rifle right at Vivi.
BANG!
Vivi dodged to the side. The bullet missed her shoulder by a single inch. She did not slow down. She spun her hands, making her sharp rings dance through the air like deadly, shining birds.
SLASH!
The sharp rings cut right through Mr. 7's yellow gun, slicing it completely in half.
"My gun!" Mr. 7 panicked.
Before he could pull out another weapon, Vivi dashed forward. She swung her arm hard, slamming the heavy metal handle of her weapon directly into his face. Mr. 7 was knocked completely unconscious. He fell heavily onto the wooden floor.
Miss Father's Day gasped in shock. She tried to run away, but Vivi spun her wire around the woman's legs. With a sharp pull, the frog-woman tripped and hit her head on the stone wall. She was out cold too.
Vivi did not waste a single second celebrating. She dropped her weapons and sprinted toward the back of the giant cannon.
The fuse was burning incredibly fast. There were only twenty seconds left.
Vivi grabbed the sparking, burning string with her bare hands. The fire burned her palms, but she did not care. She pulled as hard as she could.
Riiiip!
The thick fuse tore away from the bomb. The sparking fire went out.
Vivi fell backward onto the floor, panting heavily. Her hands were burned and bleeding, but a massive smile spread across her face.
"I did it," Vivi laughed, tears of joy welling in her eyes. "I stopped the bomb. The city is safe!"
Tick. Beep. Tick. Beep.
Vivi's smile instantly vanished. The blood turned completely cold in her veins.
She slowly stood up and looked closely at the massive, round bomb sitting inside the cannon. There was a small, flashing red light on the side of the metal shell. Right next to the light was a digital clock.
00:15
00:14
00:13
"A timer..." Vivi whispered in pure, unadulterated horror.
Crocodile had lied to his own agents. The fuse was just a fake trick. The real bomb had a digital timer hidden inside of it. It could not be stopped. It could not be turned off. It was going to explode in ten seconds.
Vivi looked at the massive bomb. It was too heavy for her to lift. It was too big to push off the tower.
She had failed.
"No..." Vivi sobbed. She fell to her knees on the hard wooden floor. She looked down at the massive, chaotic plaza far below her. Hundreds of thousands of people were still fighting. Sanji, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Kai were all down there. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't save you."
She closed her eyes and waited for the blinding flash of death.
SWOOSH!
A massive gust of wind blew across the high balcony.
Vivi opened her eyes. A large shadow fell over her.
Standing right in front of the giant bomb was a man. He wore a white robe, and his arms were transformed into massive, beautiful brown wings.
"Pell!" Vivi gasped in absolute shock.
Pell, the brave Guardian Spirit of Alabasta, looked down at the crying princess. He had just dropped Luffy off at the palace, and he had flown as fast as his wings could carry him to find Vivi. He looked at the giant bomb. He saw the red digital timer.
00:07
00:06
Pell did not panic. He did not look scared. He turned around and looked at Vivi. He smiled a warm, gentle, and incredibly brave smile.
"Princess Vivi," Pell said softly. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve you and your family."
"Pell? What are you doing?!" Vivi screamed, realizing what he was about to do.
Pell did not answer. He fully transformed into his giant, majestic falcon form. He wrapped his massive, sharp talons tightly around the giant, heavy metal bomb.
With a powerful, deafening flap of his great wings, Pell lifted the massive bomb right out of the cannon.
"NO! PELL, COME BACK!" Vivi shrieked, reaching her burned hands out toward the sky.
Pell ignored her cries. He pushed his falcon wings to their absolute maximum limit. He flew straight up into the air. He flew faster than he had ever flown in his entire life. He flew higher and higher, aiming straight for the dark clouds gathering above the city.
He looked down at the beautiful white city of Alubarna. He thought about King Cobra. He thought about watching Princess Vivi grow up from a small, happy child into a brave, strong leader.
I will protect this country, Pell thought proudly.
00:02
00:01
00:00
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion was apocalyptic.
High up in the sky, far above the city, a blinding, terrifying flash of orange and yellow light exploded into the clouds. The sound was so loud it shook the very foundation of the earth. A massive shockwave ripped through the air, shattering the glass windows of the clock tower and blowing the dust away from the entire battlefield.
Down in the plaza, the millions of fighting soldiers stopped swinging their swords. They covered their eyes and looked up at the massive fireball in the sky.
If that bomb had gone off on the ground, the entire city would have been turned to ash. But because Pell had carried it so high into the air, the deadly blast radius only burned the clouds. The city was completely safe.
On the high balcony of the clock tower, Vivi was crying uncontrollably. "Pell..." she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. The brave falcon had sacrificed his own life to save her and everyone else.