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Grand Line – Paradise
Alabasta – Rainbase
Some days in the past, in Rainbase, more specifically in the Rain Dinners Casino, inside Crocodile's office.
Alone in his office, staring at absolute nothing while drumming his fingers on the table before him, Crocodile lay lost in thought.
On the table before him, the day's newspaper lay open; by that point, he had already read and reread the reports about Luffy and his crew's feats on Drum Island several times.
Crocodile isn't dumb; he knows that if that piece of paper is right, and he takes no action about it, his plans would end up being useless, and he would lose.
He had already been in this position for hours, thinking about how to deal with the situation at hand.
Then, the moment comes; his fingers stop, and the office falls silent. He has just thought of a solution.
After a few more seconds of silence, Crocodile picks up the Den Den Mushi from a corner of his desk and makes a call he personally would rather not make.
"... Pero... pero... pero... kacha... hello, who's speaking?", on the other side of the line, a female voice answers the call.
"Crocodile, pass the call to your boss, I have an important matter to discuss with him!", Crocodile says, getting straight to the point; he wanted to finish this conversation quickly.
"Unfortunately, Joker is busy at the moment...", when the voice starts to make an excuse, Crocodile interrupts her.
"And I'm sure he's not going to like missing this conversation one bit, so don't be stupid and hand that Den Den Mushi to him!", Crocodile says, subtly threatening her.
"... Wait a minute!", from the seconds of silence, it was clear that the person on the other side hadn't liked the threat, but that didn't matter in the end.
Then, a minute later, a mocking male voice comes from the Den Den Mushi; it was Doflamingo, "Fuffuffuffu, Crocodile, the quitter, the weakest Shichibukai, and that's an impressive feat considering the shadow balloon and the Amazon bitch exist! Tell me, to what do I owe the honor of this call?"
"... I have a business offer for you. But it must be discussed in person", ignoring the comment, Crocodile says coldly, going straight to the point.
"Let me guess, you're afraid to step into the New World and want me to come to your personal sandbox!", letting out an amused snort, Doflamingo deduces with a scornful smile.
"That's the condition!", with a slight tightening of his jaw, Crocodile says, this idiot didn't know anything; he was just a chess piece.
"Fuffuffuffu, funny, you're talking as if I were already interested in this business offer of yours!", laughing loudly, Doflamingo comments in a mocking tone.
"Ancient Weapon, Pluton! Interested?", Crocodile asks, deciding to lay his cards on the table, which results in an immediate effect, as Doflamingo falls completely silent upon hearing that.
"... What do you know?", after a few seconds of silence, Doflamingo asks seriously; clearly, his interest had been piqued.
"In person!", Crocodile says, leaving no room for negotiation; this matter could only be discussed face-to-face.
Funny, Doflamingo had been mocking him just a few seconds ago, but now, well, where had that mocking tone gone, huh?
"Fuffuffuffuffu, this better be worth it!", laughing loudly, Doflamingo says in a threatening tone after a few seconds of silence, agreeing to go to Alabasta.
"It definitely will, I'll give you the location of where you should go", Crocodile says, a malicious smile appearing on his face. Another chess piece was added to his board.
You might be wondering, does Crocodile really intend to share information about Pluton with Doflamingo?
Well, the answer is no. He simply used that as bait to lure Doflamingo to Alabasta.
It turns out that the information in that newspaper on his desk had changed everything, including his old plans.
The new plan in Crocodile's mind was basically the following: lure Doflamingo to Alabasta and position him in the Rain Dinners Casino, just like a chess piece.
The rebels had already moved their operations to Katorea by this point, thanks to the constant sandstorms he had been sending to Yuba. So what was once a move to delay Princess Vivi and her little friends had now become a move aimed at splitting them into two groups, one that would go to Rainbase to take him down, and another that would go to Katorea to finish off the resistance.
Monkey D. Luffy would probably be in the group heading to Rainbase, at least, that's what he expected and counted on.
So, if things go well, Crocodile has just made the Straw Hat brat and his chess piece, Doflamingo, run into each other, which he hopes will result in a conflict where the two end up killing each other. Meanwhile, he would go to Katorea to kill Vivi and finish off the rest of the brats.
These two things would happen simultaneously with the missions that would be assigned to his agents. After all that, only the checkmate would remain.
=Scene Break=
Going back to one hour before the present time, to Rainbase and the chaos caused by Luffy in the place where, until a few minutes ago, the Rain Dinners Casino stood.
"Mingo?", Luffy asks, surprised. What the hell is Donquixote Doflamingo doing in Alabasta?
"Yeah, yeah, now, before I kill you, could you do me the favor of explaining why you dropped a building on top of me? I'm curious!", Discarding the acknowledgment as if it were trash, Doflamingo asks, still boiling with rage.
"What the hell are you doing here? Where's Crocodile?", landing in front of Doflamingo, Luffy asks, completely confused.
"I'd like to know that too! I presume you were aiming for the quitter with that move, right?", having no idea where that bastard Crocodile was, Doflamingo replies before then deducing, starting to piece together what was happening.
"That's right, but since you're here, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you!", Doflamingo wasn't who he was looking for, but that didn't mean Luffy would let the chance to smash this guy's face simply pass him by and walk away. No, he'd look for Crocodile after finishing off the idiot in front of him.
"Fuffuffuffuffuffu!! Ahahahaha!! That was a good one, I think I'm going to enjoy killing you!", laughing loudly, Doflamingo says with a predatory smile before casually swinging his hand toward Luffy.
=Scene Break=
Before showing you the various simultaneous events of this arc, let's go back one day in the past, to the dinner at the Casino Rain Dinners, when Crocodile handed out the final missions of the agents of Baroque Works.
"Before we begin, Mr. 3!", before talking business, Crocodile says while turning his gaze to a handcuffed Mr. 3.
"Boss... I...", Mr. 3 tries to speak, but is immediately interrupted by Crocodile, who doesn't even give him the chance to say a word.
"Shut up, you're incompetent, we all already know that, there's no need to make your situation more pathetic than it already is!", Crocodile says in a mocking tone; it would be pathetic to see this idiot begging for a second chance.
"...", Mr. 3 stays silent, afraid to say anything and end up being killed.
"Under normal circumstances, I would've already turned you into a dried mummy, but unfortunately, these aren't normal circumstances!", Crocodile continues, implying that he wouldn't kill Mr. 3.
"I... I just need one more chance, boss! I won't fail this time", realizing there was hope, Mr. 3 stammers, pleading for a second chance.
"Did I tell you to speak?", Crocodile asks in a threatening tone.
"...", shutting his mouth, Mr. 3 shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
"This pirate crew following Princess Vivi, the Straw Hats, is a bigger problem than I ever imagined they would be, and this has strongly affected my plans! Now, I need more people, and you still have some use", Crocodile continues, casting a glance at Mr. 2 at the end, signaling him to unshackle Mr. 3.
"Thank you, thank you... you won't regret this, boss!", Mr. 3 stammers gratefully as Mr. 2 frees his hands.
"Now let's talk about the plan. The operation will begin the day after tomorrow, at seven in the morning. But before that, some tasks must be completed to make sure everything goes well, and that's where your missions come in.
Mr. 3, Mr. 4, and Miss Merry Christmas, you'll go to the capital. Your objective is to kidnap King Cobra. Meanwhile, Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day, you'll also go to the capital, but your objective is to plant a bomb and guard it until it's no longer necessary.
Mr. 1, Miss Doublefinger, and Mr. 2, you'll go to Nanohana. Your objective is to spark the final war, to make the rebel army attack Alubarna.
Mr. 6 and Miss Mother's Day, you have the most critical mission in this entire plan. You'll receive the Shichibukai Doflamingo when he arrives on the island and bring him here, where you'll stall him until the Straw Hat appears. You'll then make them fight each other, and when one comes out on top, injured and exhausted, as will probably happen, you'll finish the job by killing him.
"Here! Each of your missions in detail, read them and then burn them!", ignoring Mr. 3's chatter, Crocodile briefly outlines the mission of each person present at the table before finally distributing envelopes containing the missions in detail.
With the envelopes in hand, everyone opens them and reads their contents. Then, after memorizing the information contained within, they hold the papers over the many candles on the table and set them on fire, turning them into ashes.
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