Nolan watched with quiet amusement as Luffy strode toward Crocodile, his sandals kicking up little clouds of dust with each determined step. No hesitation, no fear, just pure Luffy.
"Tch. He didn't even wait for my pep talk," Nolan muttered, though he wasn't really surprised. Robin had already briefed Luffy on Crocodile's weakness hours ago, not that their captain ever listened to strategy meetings.
Around them, the crew prepared in their own ways. Usopp fumbled with his oversized water balloons, nearly dropping one on his own foot. "G-got your back, Luffy!" he squeaked, despite standing a safe hundred meters away.
Zoro leaned against a broken pillar, swords still sheathed. "Idiot better not need help," he grumbled, though his sharp gaze never left the impending fight.
Sanji exhaled a long stream of smoke. "For once, I agree with the marimo. This is the captain's fight."
Robin's arms shifted slightly around Nolan's shoulders. "Still planning to contribute, Mr. Sloth?" Her voice carried that teasing lilt he'd come to recognize.
Nolan responded by lazily raising his pistol toward Crocodile - and promptly lowering it when the warlord flinched. "Pfft. Jumpy," he snorted, enjoying the way Crocodile's face twisted in rage.
"YOU DARE-"
"Oh shut up already," Nolan yawned, cutting off Crocodile's villainous monologue. "We get it. Evil plan, yada yada." He waved a dismissive hand. "Just fight already."
To his genuine surprise, the crowd erupted in agreement.
"Listen to the blue-haired angel!"
"He's right! Less talking!"
"Just arrest him already!"
Nolan blinked. He'd barely said anything, yet the entire square hung on his every word like he was dispensing divine wisdom. Even the royal guards were nodding along.
Robin chuckled, her breath warm against his ear. "Still doubting your own charm, I see."
Crocodile's enraged roar shook the buildings as sand swirled violently around him. But Nolan barely noticed - too busy wondering when exactly his lazy mutterings had become gospel truth.
"Crocodile! Fight me!" Luffy shouted before releasing a punch towards Crocodile.
BOOOOM!
The punch landed like a cannon shot, Crocodile's head snapping sideways with an audible crack. Sand exploded from the point of impact as the warlord skidded back thirty feet, his boots carving trenches through the palace stones.
"Gah-! What the-?!" Crocodile touched his bleeding lip, staring at the crimson smear on his glove in disbelief. That shouldn't be possible. He was sand. Intangible. And yet...
Luffy shook out his stinging fist, water droplets flying from his soaked sleeve. "Shishishi! Robin was right! Water messes you up good!"
The warlord's golden hook gleamed as he wiped his mouth. "You little brat..." His body dissolved into a swirling sandstorm that darkened the sky. "I'll drain every drop of moisture from your-"
PFFFT!
A water balloon exploded against his reforming face, courtesy of Usopp's slingshot. "BULLSEYE! How's that for moisture, ya overgrown beach?!"
Crocodile's enraged roar shook the ruins as Luffy pressed his advantage. "Gomu Gomu no...!" His water-coated leg stretched skyward. "WHIP!"
CRACK!
The kick sent Crocodile crashing through three crumbling pillars. But the warlord recovered mid-air, his body scattering into sand only to reform behind Luffy with murderous speed.
"Desert... SPADA!" His hooked hand slashed downward, the compressed air blade capable of bisecting stone-
ZZZT!
-and vanished in a shimmer of blue energy as Nolan's bullet erased it from existence. The energy consumption from The Third Eye sent Nolan stumbling back into Robin's arms, his breath ragged. "Tch... that one... stung..."
Luffy didn't waste the opening. "THANKS NOLAN!" His fist rocketed forward unimpeded-
CRUNCH!
-right into Crocodile's solar plexus. The warlord's eyes bulged as spit flew from his mouth, the impact lifting him off his feet.
But Crocodile was no rookie. Even as he flew backward, his free hand morphed into a massive sand blade. "SABLE!" The crescent-shaped attack sliced toward Luffy's exposed back-
CLANG!
-only to be intercepted by Zoro's swords. "Oi, shitty cook! The west wall!"
"On it!" Sanji was already mid-air, his legs a blur as he kicked apart a collapsing balcony that would've crushed a group of fleeing civilians.
Meanwhile, Usopp loaded another water balloon with trembling hands. "C-come on, come on... just need one good shot-"
Crocodile, now bleeding from multiple wounds, panted against a broken statue. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was a Warlord. A master of the desert. And yet...
Luffy staggered forward, his own breathing labored. Blood dripped from a nasty gash on his forehead where a sand-encased fist had grazed him earlier. One of his sleeves hung in tatters, revealing angry red welts from sand abrasions.
But he was still grinning.
"Had enough... sandman?" Luffy spat out a tooth, cracking his knuckles. "Or do I gotta... knock out the rest?"
Crocodile's face twisted in rage. The surrounding sands began vibrating violently, the very ground trembling as he tapped into his ultimate technique-
The air itself seemed to vibrate as Crocodile gathered every grain of sand within miles, his body dissolving into a swirling maelstrom that darkened the sky. "DESERT... LASAGNA!" The ground trembled as he prepared to bury the entire city under a tidal wave of crushing sand-
"JET... GATLING!"
Luffy's water-soaked fists moved faster than sight. Hundreds of punches impacted Crocodile's reforming body in an instant, each strike sending visible shockwaves through the warlord's torso. The unfinished attack collapsed as Crocodile's eyes rolled back, blood spraying from his mouth in an arc.
BOOM!
The warlord crashed through the remnants of the royal palace's walls, skidding to a stop in the rubble. His vision swam as he struggled to remain conscious, one hand feebly reaching toward the distant clocktower. "Fools... even if you defeat me..." he coughed out blood, "the bomb... in the city... will still-"
His words died in his throat as his blurry vision focused on the clocktower's peak. There, silhouetted against the setting sun, stood Nolan - The Third Eye smoking in his hands as the massive explosive device dissolved into harmless particles.
"How...?" Crocodile croaked, his remaining strength fading fast.
From his perch high above, Nolan gave a lazy two-fingered salute and the most infuriating smirk Crocodile had ever seen. The last thing the warlord registered before darkness took him was Chopper's distant cheer and Robin's amused chuckle carrying on the wind.
Down in the ruins, Luffy collapsed onto his back with an exhausted "SHISHISHI!", his straw hat covering his face as the adrenaline faded. Usopp immediately started ugly-crying while Zoro and Sanji pretended they weren't impressed.
Nami sprinted toward the clocktower, shouting up at Nolan, "ARE YOU OKAY?!"
The sloth yawned dramatically as Robin helped him down. "Too... much..." he mumbled before passing out mid-descent, forcing Chopper to scramble and catch him.
As the citizens of Alubarna tentatively emerged from cover, Vivi stood amidst her reunited people, tears streaming down her face. The war was over. The nightmare had ended.
And high above, the first real rain in years began to fall on the desert kingdom.
----