Chapter 124 - Chapter 241 - 250

241

Robing observed Zoro and didn't notice the fishman that had walked up to him.

The fishman had walked over with a tray full of takoyaki that were still steaming. On his shoulder, the sea king Momoo (who was now the size of a house cat) was nibbling on a takoyaki as well. "Here's some for you," the Fish-man politely said, handing over a few takoyaki to each, with his six hands.

After that, the six armed Fishman moved on to distribute his food to the rest.

Robin internally was very surprised. Of course, the crewmates of the Straw Hat seemed to believe in Hatchan. Still, he was a Fishman, and a former crewmate of Arlong. And they were letting him make and distribute food. Something very wrong could happen. Though after eating the takoyaki she did appreciate the Fish-man for his skills.

Coby came out from one corner with a bucket full of fried chicken, munching everything down, even the bones. And it seemed the bowl was finished. "You guys seen Kuina? I needed some help with training later."

"She's busy honing her blade for Crocodile," Zoro said. And right as he said that, a bit further away a small rock formation turned into ice. Surprising Robin.

'So, that's where the ice comes from.' she thought.

After the fight with Ace, Kuina had gotten what she wanted. A true challenge for her ice. But while she was able to push Ace back, none of Kuina's attacks were able to damage him. Ace was just playing with her so to speak.

But that didn't matter, fighting strong opponents such as Ace made her see some of the flaws in both her Sword technique and Virf. Sparring so long with Luffy and Zoro had made most of her fights mundane. So she wanted something new that challenged her.

Kuina's Virf had an advantage, such was that even without Haki, she would be able to harm a logia because her ice element allowed her to. And yet the temperature around Ace was so strong that even the ice on her blade melted before it could touch him.

That was why none of her attacks landed on Ace. And the flame user wasn't taking the fight seriously either. That irritated her. That was why she was preparing. She couldn't beat the fire logia, but she would make sure to beat the sand logia. That was why she was out in the open sun, practicing her blade.

Making her Ice power stronger. She would fight Crocodile in a few hours, so she needed to prepare.

But what the White Lady didn't know was that the time was far closer than she expected.

Zoro then looked at Coby and thought about something, before a grin appeared on his face. "But I'm free… let's see how strong you have gotten Pinky."

"Um… you know I think I heard someone calling me from over there…" But Coby was caught by Zoro before he could run, holding the pink-haired pirate by the back of his collar. It seemed like Coby wasn't going to get out of this.

"Come on, I've heard that you finally learned how to cut steel… let's see that." With that Zoro dragged Coby out of the camp, going somewhere.

"Don't get lost!" Usopp said, but the swordsman was already gone.

"Too late," Gin said, "But at least Coby is with him." The tonfa user walked near where Zoro previously sat and sat down. He took in a breath of air before he looked at Robin.

"Is there something you want to say, Mr. Man-demon," Robin asked in a polite tone, but she was a bit tense. Unlike the other members of the crew that acted childish, Gin was different.

She could spot a fellow killer in him. And that made her tense.

"There is no easy way to say this… But we are crewmates now… I will trust you with my life, in return I will protect you with my life." He said, with a solemn tone. "Captain trusts you… and so do I. Don't break that." With that, he stood from his seat and left.

Robin blinked. That was it? She had expected him to say something along the lines of, 'I will keep my eye on you,' or 'Don't get too comfortable…' or at least something along those lines.

"Eh… don't mind him," Sparky said, bringing Robin's attention back to the six-armed monkey. "But he is right… Mr. 2, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek have been on our ship. But they aren't part of the crew. You are!" he said pointing at her. "Luffy sees something in you… don't prove him wrong. Luffy… he's a good guy." With that he jumped towards the nearest Straw Hat and hung off his shoulder, going away.

Robin just nodded. She didn't know what to say. The girl had been in other crews, and each crew wanted her loyalty in different ways. But the Straw Hats seemed very direct about it.

A part of her told her that maybe this was the crew. But the other part of her told her not to be naive.

She just jumped from one Warlord's crew to another potential Warlord's crew. No one would trust her, all of this was just an act to make her let her guard down.

But Robin was vigilant. Even though the Captain of the Straw Hats wasn't here, she was easily able to keep an eye and ear on him. Listening to his conversation with her powers was easy, or so she had thought.

She didn't know that Luffy knew about what she was doing, but willfully ignored it. And so did the other Observation Haki users on the ship. Heck even Masked Decue could easily detect her power usage, but didn't say anything.

Robin was listening into the conversation the three brothers were having. And she was quite surprised from what she heard. Planning to take down the World Government, working along with the Revolutionaries, and Whitebeard pirates… that was very surprising information.

More so the fact of how well connected the three brothers were. The information was dangerous. And in the wrong hands, it could be deadly.

But then again, Robin would never stop anyone from bringing down the World Government, not after what they did to her home and the few close people she had.

The interaction with the crew, and the grand goals of the captain. Everything… this crew wasn't as simple as it looked.

Just then her transponder snail buzzed, "Pereperepereperepere… Pereperepereperepere…"

...…

A/N: I wanted to make Robin's interaction and trust in the crew to feel authentic. A genuine slow build of trust. Now, will she know that she's basically Luffy's big sister?

Yup, how? Well, I will try to make it a good reveal. That's all I will say.

...…

242

"Pereperepereperepere… Pereperepereperepere…"

Nico Robin blinked as she took out her ringing transponder snail. Hearing the call, almost every commotion in the party stopped as all of them looked at her. Heck, it even stopped Sanji from kicking Mr. 2's face in mid-kick.

Robin picked up the call and put it on loudspeaker. A sign of trust on her part. "Hello, this is Miss All Sunday," she said. The call was from an unsecured link, so she was also curious who called. Not many had her number.

"We have to get back to Rainbase immediately," It was Mr. 1, or more infamously known as Daz Bonez. He seemed to be in a hurry, "We have been attacked… Sir Crocodile is currently fighting a marine captain who has some smoke-based Logia. The boss called us back, immediately!"

Robin blinked, "What?" she said, even she was surprised. She didn't think the Marines would make a bold move. "The Marines are onto us?"

Daz Bonez snorted, "And the bastards are full of themselves… Get back to Rainbase immediately. I have planted the bomb as instructed in Alubarna Plaza, so don't get anywhere near the Capital."

Everyone who was hearing the conversation were wide-eyed. Vivi looked on in horror.

"Wait, I thought you were sent to Katorea to stir up some trouble for the Rebel Army? Did Mr Zero lie to me?" Robin said, a bit irritated that again Crocodile withheld information from her.

"Now isn't the time, Miss All Sunday. Come back to Rainbase right now… we don't know what Boss's next plan will be. For now, we should be at his side." Daz Bonee said.

"What about the others… the other agents, I mean?" Robin asked, trying to get some information for his new crew. "Were you attacked?"

Daz Bonez grunted. "Yeah… a marine bitch even managed to cut me." he said, "I had to retreat from there… but don't worry. The bomb was planted. But unfortunately, Mr 4's whole team was captured… that's why I'm warning you."

"Yeah, well… warning me won't work." Robin said, her voice had a bit of an edge. An act to play Mr. 1, "Crocodile doesn't even trust me with his information… why should I go back…? And besides, the plan is likely to fail. With no one protecting the bomb? It's still in the watchtower right?"

Mr One growled, "Now, isn't the time to throw a tantrum, Miss All Sunday. And don't worry, the plan won't fail. I have set a timer, It will blow up in fifteen minutes. Mr 7's team is also there, but they are unaware of the bomb. His team is currently helping the Billions to create some clash between the Rebels and Royal guards." Daz Bonez said. "Though it's not helping much."

"Why's that?" Robin said, before she said in a flat tone, "Let me guess, the marines are acting on stopping both sides from escalating?"

The transponder snail reflected a grim expression, mirroring Daz Bonez. "I'm already nearing Rainbase, and I'm sure Sir Crocodile is all right… no marine will be able to take him down. We will use the explosion of the capital city as a distraction to get off the island."

"O-Okay, Mr 1. I will return from Tamorisk, immediately." She then looked at Mr. 2 who looked quite horrified, and signaled him to get near her. "I already found Mr. 2, so I'm bringing him along with us."

Bon Clay was wide-eyed, and gestured to him, "I-I'm here One-chan." He said, "I will get there to help Zero-chan immediately." Bon Clay didn't like going against Crocodile, but he had his own reasons.

Bon Clay sought out the Revolutionary Army before he joined Crocodile. But only because he was promised that they were acting against taking down a kingdom affiliated with the World Government.

But after his initial capture, and after Sabo revealed who he was and that the real Revolutionary Army had nothing to do with Crocodile's schemes. The Okama felt betrayed and almost heartbroken after learning that he was actually on the wrong side. This was also the reason why he wasn't too bothered about getting captured. At least he learned the truth now.

"Fine, just hurry… boss won't like how his plan failed. Get there as quickly as possible"

"We will," Robin said, and Mr. 1 cut the call.

With that, there was a pause as all of the Straw Hats took in all the information they just heard.

"T-The capital has a bomb!" Vivi said in a horrifying voice, tears already on her face. Sanji had his fist clenched seeing a woman cry, as sparks of electricity and fire appeared around his body.

"We have to move out immediately." It was Coby who spoke, the boy seemed a bit bruised maybe from his sparring with Zoro, but it didn't matter. He was angry, "We have to do something. Where's Captain?!"

"Here!" Luffy said, jumping down from the Going Merry, "I heard everything… thanks for the help, Robin." The captain said, before looking at the rest of his crew.

Things were moving a bit too sudden, even for him.

"You heard it guys… now we need to break into two teams. One to kick Crocodie's ass and save Smoker, while the other group would need to go and save the plaza from the bomb."

"Wait, how do you know the marine who's fighting Crocodile is Smoker?" Bartolomeo asked, "Okay, that's a stupid question. He's the only marine captain with an all-powerful logia. Heh, I can see him going for the fight… all high and mighty with a justice stick up his ass." If it wasn't clear he still didn't like Smoker.

Luffy just nodded, "We need someone to go to the Plaza and take care of the bomb." he said, before looking at Robin. Making the older woman uncomfortable, "What do you think Robin?" he asked with a small smile.

Robin blinked, was he testing her…? It didn't matter. "The Billions have infiltrated the Rebel army and the Royal Guards over the years. I'm sure Mr. 7 is using them to create some commotion in the capital, though with the Marines being there that shouldn't be a problem… but I don't get why the Marines are suddenly fighting Crocodile. I didn't see the Marines actually attacking a Warlord head on… wouldn't it create more distrust amongst the other Warlords?"

"I think it's Smoker alone, he's a good guy so to speak… him and a few others. I can see him not following orders. Maybe he doesn't know that I was tasked with taking care of Crocodile." Luffy thought, it was possible. He couldn't see Sengoku saying that another pirate was going to take care of their own problem.

And thus creating a misunderstanding. Also sending a marine to deal with a Warlord would make the other Warlords' less trusting of them. It might even break the already fragile relationship between them and the Marines. Even if the said Warlord was at fault.

That was why Sengoku didn't protest much regarding Luffy taking care of Crocodile.

Robin then looked at the crew, "Someone needs to get to the plaza… someone fast." she said, but she had a bit of doubt that anyone could get there in time.

Hearing that everyone, except Robin —because she didn't know— looked at Sanji.

But the cook on the other hand looked at Luffy. "Luffy, I don't think I can go to the plaza." Sanji said, honestly. "I'm still not fully able to control my powers yet… it would be a risk. I have cracked a few plates just by touching them. I don't think I should be near a bomb with this…" Sanji said, as he held up his hand, which was constantly vibrating, with a few arcs of electricity.

"So, you are a human vibrator now?" Everyone looked at Zoro. "What…? His hand is vibrating," Zoro said with a small smile on his face.

"Now's not the time for your dry humor, Mosshead," Sanji grumbled, a bit pissed that he was being called a glorified vibrator of all things.

"Fine, I will take care of the bomb… I can make it there in time." Luffy said, bringing everyone's attention to him. "Though I would need some directions… the bomb might not even be at the Watchtower, so Robin you will have to go with me."

Robin nodded. 'Perfect, now I have to risk my life going into a potential blast zone to earn my new crew's trust. The things I do for survival.' she internally sighed. Sure she didn't like that a lot of people might die if the bomb wasn't stopped. But she still valued her own life the most.

But then again what was her reason for surviving? Unlike others she didn't have any reason for living, anymore. Robin shook her head, there was still way to get access to poneglyph. She could only hope that she was able to find her answers there.

But then Luffy's voice broke her out of her thoughts, "Okay, then Sanji, you have to bring the others to Rainbase…"

"Others, as in the whole crew?" Sanji asked, blinking. "There's more than twenty of us. The weight shouldn't be an issue… but the size is…"

Luffy just smiled, looking at Usopp, who was wide-eyed as he got what he meant.

"Don't worry, the great Sniper Usopp is here to help!"

———————

A/N: I always couldn't figure out why Bon Clay joined Baroque Works, or mainly helped Crocodile. But I had a theory that maybe Bon Clay just wanted to get back at the WG. And helping ruin one of the kingdom's under it, might be what he was trying to do.

Or he was just seeking out Ivankov. So I just added both.

It's not uncommon that Crocodile at that stage of his life (where he didn't believe in trusting others) to fool members into joining his cause with false promises.

Remember Crocodile changed a lot after getting sent to prison… it was only that time he started to trust others. Such as Daz Bonez, looking at him as an actual ally, not a replaceable chess piece.

Like I said, this might be an AU. But I try to represent everyone's personality as they are. Cause I have to say, Oda did a dang well job fleshing out characters, and their growth. It would ruin the story to change their characters.

243

A storm was brewing in the sky of Rainbase Town. But it wasn't an actual storm. More like two forces of nature were duking it out.

Smoke and Sand clashed in the sky, creating wind and shockwaves that destroyed anything in their vicinity. The town famous for gambling and luck was now in ruins, due to the ongoing fight between two logias.

Smoker clashed with Crocodile, as both the sand and smoke logia duked it out in the sky.

The area was mostly cleared out. Civilians, Bounty hunters, thugs, crooks and Baroque Works agents had all cleared out from the town. Smoker had called out the Warlord for his crimes and used his position as a marine to tell everyone in the area to leave.

Rainbase was a thriving town in Alabasta, mostly for its big casinos. The Warlord Crocodile set this place up as a false hope.

The whole situation of Alabasta is mostly his doing, and the people's lives were already miserable. And with a large casino set up that promised wealth to the bold. Many people came selling their all and trying their luck. This was one of the ways that Crocodile was able to gather so many Baroque Agents in both the Royal Guards and Rebel Army.

Those that weren't able to pay their debt were forgiven if they worked for the bounty-hunting organization. Thinking nothing of it, they agreed, and with a bit of motivation, most of the agents working easily became quite loyal to the organization.

Gaining loyalty was easy when you had a common goal. The people of Alabasta had suffered much in the four years and they blamed the Royal family for all of their misery. With this Crocodile was able to gather quite the amount of force in the land.

But now things changed, when Smoker came and called Crocodile out for his schemes and how it was mainly his fault for the country's situation people became conflicted.

A good majority still supported Crocodile because they saw the Warlord saving them from pirates everyday. There was no competent marine on the island. So they wanted to fight against Smoker as well.

But the Marine Captain was having none of that. And used his powers to subjugate anyone that tried to harm him, or get in his way. Smoke can be quite suffocating to one's lungs, and they learned that the hard way.

Seeing this Crocodile himself came out. And that is how the fight between the two logias started.

The Billions members of Baroque Works ran as they saw what both of them were capable of. Luckily the Rainbase town had no large residential area. Those that were, had been evacuated by the small force of Marines that Smoker brought along with him.

"Did the Marines really send one Marine Captain against me?" Crocodile asked, as his hook clashed against Smoker's Jitte. "They are really understaffed if that's the case."

"I will be enough for you, scum!" Smoker said.

Crocodile chuckled, "Very original line, there. Been reading comic books?" He taunted, pushing him back.

Smoker's brow twitched as he struggled to hold against Crocodile, "And I'm not alone either."

"….." A large anchor was thrown at Crocodile, which the Sand logia had to dodge by morphing his body around the attack. And before he could grab the anchor, Smoker attacked. Letting the anchor get pulled down by its attached chain.

"I'm also here, you shitstick!" Popeye D. Anchor said, jumping into the air with all of his strength, trying to strike down Crocodile.

The Warlord avoided the attack and countered as Anchor fell down. Unlike Smoker, Anchor didn't know how to fly. And he couldn't use Geppo either, so he just used his exceptional strength to jump very high in the air and attack Crocodile.

The Warlord snorted, "You really think you guys can stop me…? Now that the Marines know about my plans. I will have to just speed things up… But before that, I have to remind them how terrifying I truly am. I am going to destroy the country with my powers and rebuild it from scratch!" He said with deep malice, "Don't forget, Sand is my domain!"

Large amount of Sand started to come out from the city as they formed small spikes, attacking both Smoker and Anchor.

Smoker could easily deal with the attack, since it seemed the rumors were true. Crocodile wasn't able to use Armament. But while Smoker could dodged the attacks easily, Anchor had to tank them.

Anchor took out a round shield from his back as he protected his side using the shield. All of the sand attacks were strong, easily able to destroy buildings and yet all the sand spikes slipped away the moment they touched the shield.

But Crocodile wasn't bothered in the least. While the two opponents were strong, they were not at his level. He was merely playing with them. Unlike Smoker, he had Observation Haki and could easily dodge the attack coming from Smoker and Anchor.

'It seems that the princess was somehow able to convince the marines about my plans… No matter, there is still a way to take over the country. I have planned for this for years… I won't let it go to ruin.'

Crocodile would have to take the gamble and attack the Alabasta royal family himself to take care of things. The Marines might have known, but he was still a warlord.

And if he did take over the country, it wouldn't be as stable as he would have wanted. But it would still be better. It was a known rumor that as long as a country paid the World Government tax, they wouldn't care who had control over it. But at the end of the day, it was still a rumor.

Smoker and Anchor were very much struggling against the Warlord. Even without Haki, the Warlord was powerful.

'I will have to get the princess… if I go for King Cobra, he would most likely rather die than to give me control over the kingdom. But getting his daughter on the other hand…' A small smile crept on the Warlord's face. 'But the problem is that the girl is with the Straw Hats… I will have to get through them.'

While the Warlord knew that the Straw Hat crew was strong, at the end of the day, they were just newbie pirates who were way in over their heads. He has been on the Grand Line for more than a decade now. He won't be taken down by the likes of them.

Though he had to be a bit more cautious around the 'Fallen Hero' Luffy. That kid had a reputation for being unnaturally strong. But it shouldn't be a problem.

'I have to do it fast as well…' Crocodile thought, unless the Marines could spare one or two Vice Admirals, he should be mostly fine. According to his calculations.

He had to take over the kingdom by the end of the day. Crocodile was sure that the marines were not too understaffed on the Paradise side, as any good marines should be at least a few days away from Alabasta, so he had to do it fast.

Crocodile's plans had a lot of flaws. But after years of painstakingly making his plan, he couldn't just run with his tail behind his legs. 'It won't be like last time.' he gritted his teeth, the phantom pain from his lost hand flaring up, remembering what had happened.

If he couldn't take over the kingdom, he could always escape. He had perfected his logia powers over the years and flying away was always an option. And besides, sand was his domain. It was his territory.

It was a given that he took it for himself.

As the fight carried on, both of Crocodile's opponents were starting to get in bad shape while the Warlord was completely unharmed.

244

Crocodile ducked under one of Smoker's attacks before his hook latched onto Smoker's Jitte, and he angled it in a way to take it out from the marine's hands.

Smoker was surprised and wanted to retrieve his weapon, but before he could, Crocodile was backing away.

"Coward! Give me back my weapon." Smoker said, before he pushed both of his palms forward. "Smoking Flame Vortex!"

From Smoker's hands black smoke came forward that had bits of sparks of fire in them. Very high in temperature. Smoker saw no need in holding back anymore, though he knew he could give little challenge against the Warlord.

But Crocodile wasn't worried, as he sent streams of sand from nearby. Most of it turned into glass due to the high temperature, but Crocodile had more sand to spear.

Logias had two abilities; One was control of the element, and the other was summoning it.

Smoker's fruit relied mainly on his ability to use the most of his powers to summon smoke. While Crocodile could just use sand from the surrounding vicinity, and if needed he could also add his own sand.

Crocodile suddenly had to back away when a shield was slammed into the Jitte (Smoker's weapon), disarming it from him. The Warlord grumbled before he grabbed the shield and tried to break it, but to his surprise, most of his strength seemed to slip away from the shield.

It wasn't like sea stone, no, his sand was just slipping away if he tried to put pressure on it. A very strange shield.

Crocodile was even more surprised when Anchor appeared right in front of him to deliver a blow with his weapon that was also covered with sea stone.

But rather than being annoyed, a cruel smile donned his face. As suddenly his body exploded into sharp sand spikes, impaling Anchor. "Desert Senku!"

"No! Anchor!" Smoker said, who had now recovered his jitte. The marine's body was littered with wounds. And of course, Crocodile had used his poison laced hook, so the marine was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded.

The ex-marine with large forearms was thrown away, crashing into a small building.

"Let's finish off the weak bastard first." Crocodile said, before controlling the sand around the building that Anchor was lying in, and enclosing it like a dome. Crocodile squeezed his hands trying to crush his enemy.

Or at least he tried, before everything around the small building to even the body of the ex-marine got frozen. Ice taking over everything in sight. And he could see three figures around the ex-marine suddenly appear.

"Chopper, see to it that the blacksmith is all fine or not…" Kuina said casually as she rested her sword on her shoulder as she looked at Crocodile. "I will deal with the Warlord."

By his side, Chopper nodded, Zoro was also by his side. But the swordsman didn't do anything as he sat down while Chopper started tending to Anchor.

The blacksmith in question coughed up blood as he gave Zoro and the reindeer mink a grateful nod. At least he could relax a bit.

Smoker wanted to say something but someone grabbed him by the shoulder. "Our beautiful White Lady here wants to challenge the Warlord. Please refrain from attacking the Warlord." It was Sanji, who seemed very casual about the whole thing.

Smoker was in shock, 'How did he get behind me?!' he thought, 'In fact how did both of the swordsmen reach Anchor before the sand dome crushed him…? How were they so fast?' he asked himself. There was Soru of course, but even then it added only a burst of speed and he could follow most Soru users.

Smoker wanted to say something but instincts screamed at him to not go against them now. 'They are more dangerous than the Warlord?!' he asked himself, before biting down on his cigars, 'How fucking strong did they get in this short period of time?'

Smoker didn't know what to say, but he stood still. He tried to look at the bright side. Maybe they could stop the Warlord. The wounds on his body were also many, so he could use some rest.

"Where's your captain?" Smoker asked, he looked around. "We need a Haki user to beat the Warlord."

"We don't need to do anything." Sanji said, pointing at Kuina, "She will do it for us… just don't get in her way."

"You should also worry about yourself." Coby said, "You have been poisoned you know… here take this." Handing over an antidote.

Smoker felt his brow twitch, 'When did the pinky appear beside me…? Just what's with this crew and their insane speed!?' he just shook his head, before he swallowed the antidote.

Previous incidents made him trust this particular pirate group. He just hoped that he was right about it.

Poor Smoker was only feeling a fraction of the frustration that the rest of the crewmates faced every day from their Captain, who had a habit of randomly popping up beside them. So as crewmates, it was wise to follow in the footsteps of their captain. And also, it was very funny when you get the trick down and find out people's reactions to it.

Crocodile looked at the newcomers and gritted his teeth. His Observation was able to get a good read on the newcomers. The Straw Hats, even without their Captain, were strong.

Especially the one with green hair carrying three swords and the blond cook. They were able to use Haki, in what way he didn't know. But his instincts told him to be careful of them.

Along with them, he stopped the other Straw Hats. The only one he didn't see was the captain. His eye searched around for the Alabasta princess, but she wasn't there as well. Crocodile then looked towards Kuina.

The White Lady, a day ago, she was seen fighting 'Fire Storm' Ace. His Observation was having a hard time getting a good read on her abilities. It seemed… odd.

Both Kuina and Crocodile glared at each other, before both of them moved at the same time.

"Desert Spada!"

"Bleeding Serpent!"

An arc of sand and an arc of frost clashed as the battle between two pirates started, creating a shockwave large enough to throw away any dust clouds that remained.

Both pirates jumped back, Crocodile and Kuina both in the air with their respective abilities. Both of the pirates jumped forward as they clashed once more.

Creating small shockwaves of chilling frost and grinding sand. The desert wind was now getting colder as the fight stretched.

Hook against blade, sand against frost. The fight ensued. But Kuina pulled back as she used 'Geppo' to get some distance between them. Crocodile didn't move, merely studying his opponent.

Kuina was done holding back, now that she got a basic understanding of Crocodile's power level.

Kuina held her blade in front, as she breathed in a well-familiar pattern and the connection with her powers increased.

Her eyes gained a small amount of whiteness around her pupil, as a flower-like pattern grew in the base of her blade, small bits of ice growing around Wado Ichimonji. When Kuina breathed out, it left some fog in the air.

With her powers at bay, she looked at Crocodile before suddenly moving in speed that even caught the Warlord by surprise.

The Warlord recognized the technique, 'Soru'. His Observation Haki saw the attack, and yet he was a smidge too slow to react.

With a burst of speed, she appeared right in front of the Warlord, as she slashed downwards diagonally..

"Gah!" Crocodile bled as he was thrown back, surprised from seeing blood running down his chest. The Warlord remained in the air as he glared at the girl with fury. She was able to damage him without Haki. Crocodile's fist tightened, "I will make you a shriveled prune of a corpse!"

Kuina wasn't paying attention to the warlord's threat, she was only disappointed that the wound was too shallow. "Are you done?" she asked the warlord with a flat tone as a small smile traced her face, "Then Bring it!" She was up for the challenge.

———————

A/N: This Crocodile is stronger obviously.

He can use O. Haki. But not armament. *cough *cough …not yet at least.

Water is still his weakness, by extension ice. But he's also smart. And strong. I honestly don't like to power up villains in the story, just to be a challenge for the MC. But his character needed some push, he wasn't lazy like Gecko Moria. So he should have been stronger in the story.

And in this story, he is. The current Crocodile, in Alabasta, would at least take a Vice Admiral to beat him. Because of the passive boost of the sand landscape.

But of course Crocodile declined in his strength, as he isn't in his prime. And due to loosing to Whitebeard and loosing an arm. It broke his will, making him weak. The reason why he's a warlord is cause of the fame he had gained back in his previous days.

245

"Sables!" Crocodile gathered a swirling mass of extremely dense sand in his hand, then hurdled it at his opponent.

"Howling Serpent," Kuina slashed her blade downwards, creating an arc of frozen wind that traveled and met the sand attack head-on.

Both attacks collided creating a large explosion, the blowing gusts of wind destroying some nearby land. But that wasn't the end, Crocodile moved forward with his golden hook as Kuina did with her Wado Ichimonji, clashing in between. Sparks of fire and frost flew as they went against each other.

The fight between two pirates has been going on for almost half an hour now. The landscape around them had been changed drastically.

At the start of the fight, Kuina made sure to bring Crocodile out of the Rainbase town. According to Nico Robin, most of the valuables in Baroque Works were stored there. That was why Kuina made sure that their fight was outside in the barren landscape.

Everything around the two pirates was either covered in sand, or encased in ice. Destruction could be seen everywhere. Small rock formations were leveled, craters were formed, and yet the fight was still more or less in a stalemate.

Kuina had multiple wounds on her body, her clothes having cuts in multiple places, while Crocodile only had one wound on his body. The wound he received at the start of the fight.

Even though Kuina had a lot of injuries, she wasn't worried about it that much. She might not be as good of a Life Return user as her captain, but she could take care of most of her wounds with them. Giving her almost a passive recovery of sorts. But that didn't mean the wounds hurt any less.

The fight against the Warlord was far from easy. During the whole fight, Kuina needed to be vigilant. Luffy had told them about what he knew about the Warlord, mostly common information about how he was once a great pirate from the New World. So he shouldn't be taken lightly.

Both Crocodile and Kuina landed on the ground, not taking their eyes off each other.

"It's taking longer than I should. But I have to say, you are strong for a woman." Crocodile admitted.

"Wish I could say the same for you." Kuina said, a small smile on her face, "For a man you are rather weak."

Crocodile growled, "Watch your tongue little girl. Or I might just make your death a lot more painful."

"Is that the only thing you can say?" Kuina asked, almost as if she was disappointed, "Death threats are getting a bit boring. Why don't you try something new?"

Crocodile didn't say anything as he attacked. Kuina attacked using her own blade, clashing against Crocodile's golden hook, leaving sparks in the air along with small shockwaves. Each of their blows were strong. Enough so to destroy anything that was nearby.

Both pirates clashed in the middle, struggling against each other.

"Tell me, how does it feel to have years of planning ruined by some newbie pirates, Mr. Warlord?" Kuina mused as she pushed her blade forward. "And not only that… now even the World Government will be gunning for you. You really screwed up big time didn't you?"

"You talk too much, woman…" The Warlord glared, holding her off. "You should have picked the whore house, rather than the sword. Maybe that way, you could have used your tongue better."

"Uh-huh," Kuina didn't feel too bothered by his words, "Thanks for the tip… are you speaking from experience?" she mused, "But then again, even as a woman, you would look ugly."

Crocodile's brow twitched, as he continued his assault.

[A/N: I teased a little One Piece theory here, guess what. Lol]

Kuina continued her own assault, striking with fury and grace. Her speed was good, giving her the advantage that even Crocodile's Observation Haki was barely keeping up.

And yet she was still getting injured by her opponent. Observation Haki wasn't just for dodging attacks, it could even point out where to strike. That was the reason why she was getting small cuts on her body.

But due to the antidote that was provided by Nico Robin, the poison on the attacks wasn't doing much to her. And even then she had a pretty good understanding of Life Return and could counter most poisons now.

While Kuina didn't have Observation Haki, she was fast enough to react to most of Crocodile's attacks. Heck, his attacks weren't that fast, from all the training she had with her captain and cook. This was also the reason why most of the damage she took was only skin wounds.

But that didn't mean Kuina was winning, no, far from it. She was always on the back foot, trying to avoid the sandman's attack. And every time she would strike, Crocodile would morph his body to avoid getting hit using his Observation. It was getting kind of annoying.

'There's no point in holding back right now… my body should be cold enough,' she thought, 'I will have to make this count…'

Kuina breathed in, and breathed out, in a systematic pattern. Breath in breath out, fog started coming out of her mouth as she continued. And just like that she felt her body temperature drop significantly, her skin gaining a shade of light blue. Kuina jumped back from Crocodile's attack as she used her technique. "Ice Breathing: Dance of the Yuki Onna!"

Suddenly mist exploded out from Kuina's form, drowning the whole battlefield in it. The influx of mist covered the whole battleground, enveloping it completely. The temperature in the surroundings dropped down as the mist stretched everywhere.

Crocodile frowned, before his eyes widened as the moment the mist touched the sand it started freezing. "Sables!" he said hurriedly, trying to push back the toxic mist that threatened to freeze anything in its path.

Because of him being too focused on the mist he didn't notice Kuina until she slashed her sword, "Ugh…" Crocodile said, throwing the sand ahead to attack her as he fell back. "What the…" The Warlord saw the wound on his chest freeze.

It took a few seconds for Crocodile to realize what had happened by then Kuina was on him again. The Warlord quickly twisted his hook deflecting the blow from her, the blow throwing him away.

'She's too fast for my observation haki to keep up.' Crocodile thought, it wasn't if his observation haki couldn't predict where she will attack. It did, he could read her intent, but it was his own body that was too slow to react.

Crocodile gritted his teeth, if this was the previous him that kind of speed wouldn't have bothered him. But now it was almost life threating to him.

But even with that Crocodile was a seasoned pirate. His ears picked up a sound, reacting on instinct quickly he jumped back, "Desert Spada!"

A long sand blade came up from the ground, attacking the mist. Crocodile heard his sand clash against steel, so he sent a few other sand slashes in the sound's general direction, but it was gone before it could hit. His sand slashes hitting nothing but endless mist.

The mist that froze his sand. This was getting a bit annoying he needed to get rid of it.

Crocodile frowned, before he held up his hook at the last moment, as it clashed with Kuina's blade. Sparks flying in the air. He might not have been as fast as Kuina but he could certainly do minimal movements fast enough to avoid lethal blows.

"You are pretty annoying you know that!" Crocodile said. The Warlord swiped his other arm in a claw-like manner, but Kuina's figure suddenly disappeared like a ghost.

As if she was never there.

246

Crocodile looked around waiting for his opponent, he needed to calm down and not be agitated so that his Observation Haki could work.

But it was hard as he was furious by his own weakness. His pride of being a seasoned pirate fueled his anger. The wounds on his body were only superficial, but it hurt his ego the most that a member of the newbie crew was able to do so.

His observation haki flared up as he felt the ground suddenly getting colder. He jumped away at the last moment, as a pillar of ice erupted from the ground, reaching a few meters high.

The Warlord clicked his tongue as he kept his senses sharp and an idea formed in his mind.

Again Kuina attacked from Crocodile's other side this time, but this time the warlord ducked by turning his body into sand, and used it to make giant spikes that attacked everywhere. "Piquet de Sable!"

This time Kuina wasn't able to get away, as one of the spikes managed to stab her in the shoulder knocking her off balance. Kuina was able to correct herself and the swordswoman jumped back as Crocodile reformed

The warlord frowned as even though he knew he stabbed his opponent, there was no blood. In fact the part of the sand that had stabbed her had turned into solid due to the cold.

Crocodile was about to follow through but Kuina mixed in with the mist, disappearing.

Crocodile knew better to follow her in there. The toxic mist that was around the area threatened to freeze anything if it got near. The mist was getting problematic, he needed to remove it.

With that Crocodile controlled the sand around him, before a twister made out of sand and wind appeared around him. "Desert Sables: Pesado!" the hurricane of sand, drawing in the mist and clearing the view.

Crocodile smiled, seeing the mist around him finally clear out as he looked at Kuina. But his smile dropped a bit when he had to put his hook upfront to block Kuina's sword.

"You are getting slow White Lady," Crocodile said, pushing her back as multiple sand spikes hit her. Kuina skillfully moved her blade cutting down the sand strikes as she tried to close the distance. "It seems that you can't keep up that kind of speed."

Kuina's response was to hone in on her opponent while she tried not to let her emotions rile her up. "Maybe…" she said, getting near Crocodile as both pirates exchanged multiple attacks. Golden Hook laced with poison verses Wado Ichimonji coated in ice. "But I don't always need to be the faster one… sometimes its more wiser to slow down your opponents."

Crocodile was wide eyed when his observation haki was able to read her intent. But he was too late.

"Ice Breathing: Dance of the Yuki Onna!" Mist exploded out of Kuina's body freezing his sandy body. Kuina was going to follow through with a sword attack, but she had to block the wave of wave of sand that exploded out of Crocodile's frozen body.

Both pirates fell back eying each other, Kuina wiped the blood out of her mouth as she eyed her opponent.

"You almost caught me there…" Crocodile admitted as he dusted of the pieces of ice that clung to his body. "But there are some perks of having a logia body… one that I have fully mastered."

Kuina's response was only to narrow her eyes, before she sighed as she sanded straight. She wouldn't let her emotions rile her up, while it worked for some, it wasn't her style. A small dawned his face, "Be careful Mr Warlord, I almost caught you…"

While she looked wound free on the surface, but Kuina knew she was very much in her limit.

Her ice skin took a shade of light blue color, boosting her passive defense incredibly it had saved her from getting stabbed and cuts from Crocodile. But it did little for the internal damage and bleeding she was having.

That was also the reason why Crocodile was unable to draw blood with his previous attack.

Ice Breathing: Dance of the Yuki Onna was a technique that increased the connection to ice powers in a Virf user. And it resulted in mist exploding outwards that consumed anything and froze it.

While the techniques had it's few down sides, against most logia users it worked well. Her technique had improved significantly after fighting with Ace. As his fire was a nature counter against her ice.

Both combatants eyed each other before they made the moved same time.

"Desert Grande Espada!"

Crocodile was on guard, rather than letting her get near Crocodile attacked with his sand the surrounding area around him. Throwing flying sand slashes around him in random directions. The swordswoman easily jumped into the air with Geppo, going from one spot to another and avoiding the strikes silently, as she made her way to the Warlord.

While Kuina had speed it was nowhere near the level of Sanji or Luffy could use. All the matches with Sanji had improved her speed, but she had her limits. She dodged the attacks skillfully using 'Soru', using 'Geppo' sparingly to stay up in air.

"Ice Sword Style: Crystal Sakura Hurricane!" A powerful tempest of frozen wind, along with ice petals, like sakura leaves, attacked her foe. It was as if a wave of sakura leaves, each one as sharp as a crystal sword, attacked Crocodile. This attack was even grander than before due to Kuina bringing in more of her ice power.

Crocodile saw the attack coming from his left side and countered.

"Sables!" Crocodile threw in his own attack to counter Kuina's attack, but was surprised when his attack got overpowered. The Warlord jumped back as the attack exploded, nullifying both attacks and even throwing him off.

Crocodile landed on the ground, digging his heels in, so that he wouldn't get thrown back.

But Kuina didn't give him time to recover as she was on him immediately with strikes of fury. Slashes that were precise and deadly, each targeting towards a vital spot or with the intent of dismembering him.

The Warlord was overwhelmed, as he used his hook to parry the strikes from the smaller woman. He was on the back foot now as Kuina didn't even let him get a breather.

Both opponents hit each other, while Kuina's attacks did harm Crocodile all of the wounds were too shallow as the warlord was boosting his defense passively with his fruit's ability.

Kuina on the other hand could feel her arms aching, ribs crying and ears humming from the strikes that were doing mostly internal damage. But that wasn't only it, Kuina could feel her ice skin having cracks underneath her clothes.

The swordswoman grit her teeth as she sallowed in the pain and continued her assault.

Finding a chance the ice user ducked under one of Crocodile's hook strikes, kicking him in the stomach, before striking horizontally with her blade.

The Warlord was thrown away but recovered quickly, growling furiously towards Kuina. He felt a trickle of blood on his face. A horizontal cut appeared right on his face, adding another scar to his face that ran parallel to his previous scar.

"Huh, was aiming for your head…" Kuina said flatly, hiding away the winching pain she was paining behind fake bravado. "Sorry, for hitting your ugly mug… I hope you understand, it was merely an accident."

The Warlord gritted his teeth as the sand around Crocodile started to hum, gathering around him.

"I will show you why I'm one of the most feared pirates of the sea!" The sand user said, as suddenly large vines of sand erupted from multiple spots on the ground, all under the control of the Warlord. "I'm done playing games… now die! Drying Death!"

A dozen or so sand vines targeted Kuina, but the swordswoman in question didn't move from her spot, taking the challenge head-on. Not that she could move, her legs were shaking from all the use liberal use of Geppo and Soru.

She held her blade, flowing her energy into it, as the guard of her blade took a flower pattern made out of ice. The surroundings dropped a couple of degrees in temperature.

"Ice Sword Style: Dancing of the Moonlight Blades!" With that, she swiped her blade as thousands and thousands of Sakura petals formed, each one sharp as a sword. Creating a wave of ice-like sand that crashed into Crocodile's sand attacks.

A technique that was the final evolution of her Sakura Hurricane. An original technique so to speak that had gained quite a lot of power due to her ice breathing.

A large explosion rang out, as each vine from Crocodile's attack met Kuina's attack. Nullifying each other.

The Warlord sent another wave, Kuina sent her own. Both Crocodile and Kuina attacked each other, as a tsunami of ice petals crashed into the wave of sand. Both of their attacks seemed endless, neither of them backing off.

Their attacks created huge explosions that rang off around them, creating a spectacle of epic proportions. It was as if two forces of nature were fighting amongst each other for superiority.

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Their attacks created huge explosions that rang off around them, creating a spectacle of epic proportions. It was as if two forces of nature were fighting amongst each other for superiority.

But even with that Kuina knew she was on the back foot, so when Crocodile sent out another wave of attack, the ice user didn't defend against it.

Kuina disappeared from her spot, using Geppo to jump away from the attack and using Soru to speed up on the warlord.

With her incredible speed, she ran. Her form ran down the vines that targeted her, as she skipped from one spot to another, gracefully avoiding the attacks, as she made her way towards Crocodile.

Corocdile honed in on his observation haki as he tried to predict Kuina's next move. While he might not have be able to react in time, he could counter her attack in other ways.

He had realized something while it was a bit stupid on his part, he didn't want to use this method. But then again he was a pirate.

The Warlord smiled, as suddenly his body turned to full sand merging with the sand around.

Kuina, who was making her way towards him, was surprised as she looked around for her opponent. Unlike him, she didn't have observation haki.

The sand around her erupted creating a small sand cloud that hindered her vision.

She was about to use her sword to clear her view but it was too late. A hook made out of gold suddenly shot out from the sand behind her as it dug into her side.

The poisoned hook dug into her skin breaking the second layer of ice skin. She grunted but before she could do anything, the hook pulled her…

"You are dead now!" she heard the warlord's voice. With that, multiple sand spikes rushed towards Kuina who was getting pulled by the hook that still dug into her stomach.

"Shit," Kuina cursed, "Ice Sword Style: Crystal Coffin!"

Before the spikes could hit her, Kuina's form was suddenly encased in a block of crystallized ice.

It protected her from the attacks also freezing Crocodile's hook that was on Kuina. When the attacks died down Kuina grabbed the hook and slammed her hand into it breaking the hook.

"You are full of surprises, woman." Crocodile said, "A bit unfortunate that I had to sacrifice my hook for that attack."

He now had no hook but a stump where his hand should have been. However, the warlord quickly made a new hand made out of sand. "But make no mistake… your tricks won't work on me anymore." He said, "And you are also running on the clock, the poison the hooks is quite strong you know…" he gave a grin that promised pain. "But don't worry, I can end this quick… just don't resist it."

"Shut up," Kuina said, wiping off the blood from her mouth as she stood up. The wound on her stomach was critical she had frozen the wound and was using life return to keep it in bay.

But with all the things going on, she had little time to worry about her wound. She needed to end the match fast. Wado Ichimonji pointed at the Warlord. "Ready for another round, New World reject…?"

Crocodile growled as he could feel his anger boiling inside of him. "You will regret this… all of you!"

"Yes, like you regretted going after Whitebeard," Kuina smiled, she usually wasn't the one to taunt her opponents. But all the fights with her captain, made her pick up a few tricks or two.

Crocodile growled before the sand started getting pulled into his body. The Warlord didn't grow in size, yet the density of his body increased quite a lot, his skin took a bronze shine to it, after he was done.

"I haven't used this in years… be grateful that you will die like this." Crocodile hands moved in swiping motions as the sand around Kuina turned into spikes, hooks, vines, and other shapes as they started to attack her.

The woman took to the sky, and yet the Warlord sent multiple giant-sized orbs of sand that followed her and attacked.

"Ice Sword Style: Howling Crystal Serpent!" Kuina attacked as she froze two of the giant orbs, before moving away from another. She moved, cutting up the giant orbs one by one, yet it seemed like they were endless. "Ice Sword Style: Bleeding Crystal Serpent!"

The swordswoman looked down. It appeared that whatever move Crocodile used made him a bit slow, as he wasn't chasing her down anymore.

She also had used a few flying sword slashes that the Warlord tanked using his body, taking seemingly no damage. It seemed rather than turning his body to sand he opted to increase his durability. But that shouldn't be a problem, she was able to cut steel.

Or thats what it would usually mean.

'My attacks don't cut deep enough as it is… now with that transformation I don't know if I can harm her or not.' She thoguht, as if hearing her thoughts her sword vibrated. As if telling her that she would be able to to do so.

'I need to at least weaken his defense in a certain area if I want to cut him.' She thought. The Swordswoman stepped forward, her form into a blur as she used her maximum speed with Soru. Appearing right in front of the Warlord. "Ice Sword Style: Sub-Zero Vipershot!"

Her blade hummed as the frost energy gathered at the tip of Wado Ichimonji. Kuina thrust her blade forward, like a sniper shot it connected right into Crocodile's chest, trying to stab his heart.

Her sword was able to penetrate his skin, but the wound was too shallow. Going only one inch deep. And yet the surrounding area at the point of impact had turned into ice immediately due to it.

Crocodile coughed blood as he took several steps, quickly grabbing the blade as Wado Ichimonji still connected to his chest. She wanted to do a follow up attack, but Crocodile didn't give her the chance.

Kuina tried to yank the blade out, and yet the Warlord didn't let her. "Desert Girasole!"

Kuina was wide-eyed as a large slash came up from below, the sand nearly ripping into Kuina as it tore through her shirt and broke her ice skin as it blew her back across the ground.

Kuina's form skipped across the ground a few times due to the sudden attack, before she was able to steady herself and stand back up. Her clothes were ripped and a large shallow wound appared on her midsection.

The previous attack would have gutted her if she didn't have her ice skin. While her inisdes remained intact, it didn't make the experience any less painful.

Her insides hurt, it was getting hard to breathe, and she was even seeing spots in her vision. No doubt the poison that had slipped into her system. Though she did take the antidote Nico Robin provided, so maybe it was just fatigue and pain that was dragging her down.

But the swordswoman was determined, though she was horrified when she noticed what Crocodile was doing.

Crocodile grabbed the blade and yanked it out, "I will destroy this first!" He announced his intent, trying to crush the blade, but he was in for a surprise when suddenly the flower on the guard of her blade exploded into ice. Freezing his arm solid and encasing it in ice.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kuina cashed in.

"No Sword Style: Clawing Serpent!" Kuina took the chance and appeared right in front of the pirate without any swords as she clawed through Crocodile's frozen chest, and took her blade away from his hand.

The sandman took several steps back, grunting in pain due to the claw-like wound on his chest. Even though the wound wasn't deep due to his body being denser.

But the Warlord didn't appreciate acquiring another wound. The sand user growled as he didn't back down and attacked Kuina before she could get away too far.

Kuina also retaliated with her own strikes. As both pirates battled each other. Sand and Ice, Warlord against the White Lady.

Each of their blows carried massive power in them, as they ripped into each other.

Large amounts of sand and ice petals crashed into each other, vying for dominance.

248

The fight between the two pirates looked to have no end in sight as their figures turned into a blur. Each trying to kill each other. Sand and Ice clashed.

The temperature of the surrounding area had dropped considerably due to the open fight.

As the fight continued, the blade of Kuina started humming white, donning all of her attacks in white.

"I will not lose here!" Crocodile screamed as he continued his assault, with multiple wounds on his body.

The Warlord stepped forward with his own volley of attacks, as his sands changed in color, taking on the Color of Armament, making it look like volcanic sand.

Even the Warlord was surprised to see the manifestation of his own Haki, but it was a surprise he welcomed.

It had been years since he lost his ability to use Haki. After getting beat by Whitebeard, after losing his arm, he had lost his will. Resulting in him loosing his Haki. But now it seemed the death battle had reawakened something inside of him, making him regain his power.

Even though Crocodile was grateful for seeing the Color of armament mixed with his sand, he was also furious that he had to resort to using this against such an inferior being. "You are done now, little girl!"

"Shit…" Kuina gritted her teeth as she had to put more effort into countering Crocodile's endless barrage.

She skipped back trying to buy some distance, but Crocodile followed through gaining what appeared to be second wind. The sand attacks increased in strength, and she was on the losing end.

Now all of Crocodile's attacks were leathal. As each attack could cut through her ice coated skin like butter. The Color of armament denied all her defenses as it cut through every one of Kuina's attacks, putting her on the backfoot.

Seeing this the Warlord wanted to end this. "Desert la Spada!" Crocodile attacked, a large tsunami of black sand crushing crashing down onto the swordswoman. Intending to crush her.

Kuina gritted her teeth as she held Wado Ichimonji in front, standing against the wave of sand.

Seeing the attack coming she felt dread, but she held on. She couldn't lose now. No. She refused to lose. Not only for herself, but her friends as well.

It felt impossible as the seconds went by. But yet she had a near unbreakable will as she stepped forward, her breathing getting more chaotic. As she channeled all of her will to manifest ice.

A deep, ancient power tugged inside Kuina. A power that manifested due to her unyielding willpower and mastery over Virf. And she grasped that power, molded it, shaped it around herself and her blade, empowering her. Making her connect with her blade and power on a much deeper level.

The muscles in her body cramped with power, the veins around her arms became visible because of the increased pressure. Unknowingly a mark started spreading from the back of her head around her forehead, white in color. Creating a unique mark of sorts, taking the shape of a small snowflake on the right side of her forehead. But that wasn't all, the strength behind Kuina's attack increased dramatically as she struggled against the wave of sand.

Rather then aimlessly struggling against the sand, she used her increased strength to get out of the situation. It seemed what ever happened to her made all of the pain and fatigue go away from the body. Adranilin, maybe. She didn't know.

She was more focused on her blade, Wado Ichimonji. It seemed what ever anchint power did, it also affected her blade.

She could feel it, her blade, it was calling to her. It was saying something, no, it was as if she could feel the emotions of her blade. It was calling out to her.

It told her to pour her all energy into it. To trust it. And so she did.

The marking from her forehead started to spread around her body, small snowflakes stretched out from underneath her kimono, going around her forearms before meeting the blade and mixing with it.

Wado Ichimonji started turning pure white due to the frost, before it took a black shine along its edges, manifesting Kuina's own will into the sword, awakening her Haki.

But it was unstable so she had to act now. Kuina attacked so did Crocodile, a last effort of strength between the pirates.

"You will die here!" Crocodile growled, "I will show you what true strength is… I will show you what despair is… I will make you and your crew regret even stepping foot on the country." He said with venom in his voice.

"Do you ever shut up!" she grunted, her will not wavering against the superior opponent. Kuina stepped forward, putting all her effort into the strike, drawing her blade downwards in a beautiful arc of frost and ice.

The black sand in front of her split immediately, digging a trench in its way as the arc traveled from her sword, a white slash, its borders black, that took the shape of a crescent moon. Freezing everything in its sight before destroying it.

Crocodile stared in shock as he saw the attack coming but it was too late to do anything he tried to block it with sand and haki. But Kuina's attack proved to be stronger.

Still the Warlord struggled, gritting his teeth, as he tried to push back the attack.

But rather than pushing it back, the flying slash destroyed anything in it's path cutting Crocodile's body.

"I-I lost," Crocodile stood still glaring at Kuina, before he fell apart into two pieces. Blood and guts dyed the sand in red, marking the end of the Warlord as he fell to the ground, regret and anger evident in his eyes.

Kuina looked at her opponent one last time, before her eyes became hazy, Wado Ichimonji still in her hand as she fell to the ground. The last thing she remembered was getting caught by a particular greenhead before her world turned dark.

.

A bit earlier,

Mr. 1 made his way towards Rainbase city, a large wound on his body that stretched from the left side of his shoulder to the right side of his torso. The wound was still fresh, drawing blood, but he didn't have time to even tend to it.

A gift from a certain female marine whom he crossed paths with back in the capital. But it didn't matter, he could deal with the pain, but for now, he needed to get to his Boss's side.

The Baroque Agent skated on the ground using the blades on his feet, using it for fast travel as he made his way toward his destination. He was almost near his objective and could see the Rainbase city, but that wasn't what surprised him. No, it was the fact that there was a battle going on.

Just from the Sand and Ice he knew who they were. "Why is the White Lady here?" Mr. 1 frowned, he had seen Kuina in action against 'Fire Storm' Ace, those occasional pillars of ice that clashed against sand gave away who Crocodile was fighting.

"I have to get to the boss's side immediately." Mr. 1 said as he sped up, entering the Rainbase city as he made his way towards the fight. If the White Lady was here, that means the other Straw Hats were here as well.

'Sir Crocodile might need my help…' Daz Bones thought, 'I have to get there, now.'

Suddenly a large flying slash made the Baroque Agent stop in his tracks. The slash dug a deep trench in front of him, as if stopping him from going any further.

"This is as far as you will go," Came a voice from the side as a pink-haired boy came out of the corner. "Please, don't make it hard."

"Get out of my way… brat." Mr. 1 said as his arms morphed into blades. He recognized the pink-haired boy. The Hero of the Navy port incident, Coby.

"I really don't want to fight you…" he said casually, "Don't wanna get any more blood on my clothes, that's all."

Mr. 1 growled as he moved his fingers morphing into a smaller blade as he jumped at Coby.

The pink-haired pirate in question just sighed, as to him the attack was too slow to even view as a possible threat. A bone-like claw came out of one of his arms and he swung it sideways.

"Gah!" Mr. 1 was thrown back as the attack not only damaged him, but created a deep wound from the right side of his shoulder towards the left side of his torso. The new wound and the previous wound, made an X-shape scar on the bounty hunter's chest.

Daz Bones was thrown away as he went through several buildings due to the attack. But Coby wasn't done.

Before Mr. 1 could even get up, the pink-haired pirate appeared right in front of him, pulling back his fist. "Tekkai," he said, before putting the pirate to sleep with one punch that sent his head a few feet deep inside the ground, creating a small crater.

"Another shirt ruined," Coby sighed, seeing the blood marks on his clothes. He shook his head as he took out the sea-stone cuffs from his pockets and cuffed the pirate's arms behind his back, before dragging him away from the fight between Kuina and Crocodile.

——————-

A/N:

Honestly, I love Crocodile's character. Heck, I might even write a fanfic on him. Him being an SI or sort. He was a villain that was taken care of too early in the story.

But its good that he's also making names in the current One Piece Manga right now.

Anyway, the things that I love about Crocodile, are the things that made his downfall evident. Crocodile isn't a man that would run away from a fight against the Straw Hats. Surely not against Kuina.

And even if he was somehow able to beat Kuina, there was Sparky, Zoro, Sanji, and not to mention others were there as well. And it would be stupid to keep him alive for plot convenience.

Also, Luffy told Kuina to not hold back, and give it her all. With all shit that Crocodile did to Vivi's country, I don't see any way how Crocodile will live. That's why rather than forcing him to stay in the story. I made him go bye bye.

Hope you guys understand.

Anyway, I hope you liked Kuina's powers. It's a mix between Senbon Zakura and Breathing style, mainly drawing inspiration from both.

The chapter took longer than I expected. But anyway, enjoy!

Also these are all of Kuina's move set so to speak:

[Kuina]

Swords: Wado Ichimonji.

Techniques: Single sword Swordsmanship, Ice Manifestation, or Virf

Student of Whitey Bay and Tsurara Oikawa

Techniques:

Bleeding Serpent – Basic Flying sword-slash that follows it's target like a whip

Howling Serpent- A sword Thrust that is very destructive, and has freezing effect.

Sub-Zero Viper-shot- Where Kuina stabs her sword in her enemy and freezes her inside out.

Sakura Hurricane: A powerful and swirling that created a tempest of frozen wind, along with ice petals, like Sakura leaves and attacked her foe, intending to encase them in ice, and cut them to pieces with the frozen sharp leaves.

Ice Pillar: Basic Ice pillar that erupts from the ground to strike her opponent.

Ice Breathing (Learned from the books left by Tsurara Oikawa.)

Currently has three techniques:

Ice Breathing: Dance of the Yuki Onna!

Ice Breathing: Yuki Onna, is a technique that increased the connection to ice powers in a Virf user. Increasing the durability on the skin, along releasing mist that froze anything in it's path.

Ice Sword Style: Crystal Sakura Hurricane

No Sword Style: Clawing Serpent

Ice Sword Style: Crystal Coffin

Ice Sword Style: Howling Crystal Serpent (evolution of Howling Serpent)

Ice Sword Style: Bleeding Crystal Serpent (evolution of Bleeding Serpent)

Ice Sword Style: Dancing of the Moonlight Blades (evolution of Crystal Sakura Hurricane)

Ice Sword Style: Sub-Zero Viper-shot (evolution of Point Zero Viper-shot)

Freezing Moon: An epic white sword slash parted out from Kuina's blade, with it's insides pure white and it's borders black, it showed of her mastery over her frost manifestation that was now empowered her armament haki.

249

Right after the call with Mr. 1, most of the Straw Hats went towards Rainbase for Kuina's and Crocodile's evident showdown.

Ace, Masked Deuce, and Sabo went to another part of Alabasta where there were rumors of Blackbeard being there. Even though it was just rumored, Ace wanted to check it out before leaving the island.

And then came the last group that went to the capital to fix the bomb issue.

Nico Robin didn't feel good as she held her stomach. She did not puke right now. Along with feeling nauseous, she was also very irritated. She gave a light glare to her new captain. Along with her was Vivi, who was also glaring at Luffy.

The boy in question, scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, but in my defense, I did warn you guys that it might be a little bumpy." Luffy said, holding out his hands toward both of them, "And we did get here in time. Heck, we still have around ten minutes left."

"I really hate you," Vivi took the boy's hand and picked herself up, still glaring at him.

"Nah, honey, you love me." Luffy winked, while the blue-harried teen grumbled.

Robin, on the other hand, picked herself up without Luffy's support. But she was on wobbly legs, so Luffy did have to support her before she fell back down. Other than giving her captain another glare, she said nothing.

All three of them were on top of one of the buildings in the capital. Underneath, they could see some fighting going on between the Royal Army and the Rebels. The Marines had also been spread out trying to stop the infighting as a female Marine Captain guided them.

Even though Robin didn't know who she was, she suspected it was the famous marine known as Black Cage Hina. But even with her help, the fight was too spread out for the marines to stop it.

"No…" Vivi said horrified looking at Luffy, "We have to stop them."

The Straw Hat nodded, and held her by the shoulder. Vivi looked like she was holding herself back from going down there and stopping the whole fight.

Robin shook her head, feeling a bit bad. She was one of the reasons why the country was in so much chaos. But again, she justified her reasoning, telling herself that she did what she needed to do to survive.

Robin then glanced at Luffy, who was thoughtfully looking at the situation, with a solemn expression. Most probably, trying to figure out how to stop the whole mess from escalating any further.

She wondered how her new captain could move so fast. She was sure that her captain just casually broke the sound barrier a few times during his sprint towards Alubarna, the capital of Alabasta. And that was with two passengers over his shoulder. That level of speed was just unimaginable and absurd.

Moreso when you consider the fact that it had nothing to do with his devil fruit power.

The distance between Katorea and Alubarna should at least be a hundred or so kilometers. And they just crossed that distance in just a few minutes.

Even though Luffy wasn't bothered by the fast travel, his passengers were. Robin was yanked off her feet along with Vivi, before they were carried like sacks of potatoes, over the boy's shoulder during the whole ride. And that was the reason why two females had been glaring at Luffy.

Nico Robin just glared at him, before sighing. Now wasn't the time. "The bomb is in the Watchtower…" Robin said, bringing both of their attention to the whole situation. She brought her arms under her chest as she pointed at the Watchtower "Now, get going before the whole thing explodes, and we all die." She said dryly, a bit of concern laced in her voice, that she hid professionally.

She really didn't like it that Luffy had brought her here, in the radius of the bomb. Things could go very badly for her…

"Hey, don't worry, Robin," Luffy said, giving her a thumbs up. "Even if the bomb explodes, I'll protect ya… you and Vivi both. Can't let my friends get hurt. Now, let's stop the chaos and make our entry."

Robin blinked wondering what Luffy meant. They were here, early, the bomb had still about ten minutes left before it exploded. So she wondered what the Captain of the Straw Hats was planning.

Robin suddenly felt Luffy's arm wrapped around her waist as he did the same for Vivi.

"Head's up," Luffy said, before jumping from his spot along with Robin, towards the Castle Wall. With a few jumps in the air, the Straw Hat landed in between the Royal Guards that were on the castle wall, all of them panicked pointing their weapons at the intruders.

"Who are you, folks?!" One of the guards asked, pointing their weapons at both of them. "Wait… that straw hat?!"

"Wait… Princess Vivi?! Is that you?" one of them asked, it was Chaka, one of the head guards of the Alabasta Kingdom.

Before Luffy or Robin could say anything a figure came down from the sky, like a falcon.

"Pell the Falcon…" Nico Robin muttered, looking at the man as he transformed back to his human form.

Vivi stepped up, "Pell… Chaka…" she said, before looking at Luffy and Robin, "They are my friends…"

"Princess…" Pell said, "Where have you been…?"

But Vivi cut him off, "We have to stop the fight, immediately… there's a bomb here in the capital. And if we don't do anything… it won't end well."

Hearing that all of the guards were shocked, "What?! Princess, are you sure? Where?"

"It's in the watchtower." Vivi said, "We have to hurry and defuse the bomb…"

All of the people present looked at the watchtower before their expressions turned grim.

"But princess… the rebel army is guarding the place… even the marines aren't able to stop the fighting," Chaka said as the Watchtower was on the rebel's side of the army. Even Pell wouldn't be able to get there unless getting shot by guns and arrows.

"Well, defusing the bomb was never an option. I can maybe do something about it. But before that…" Luffy said, walking towards an elevated platform on the wall, where he could address all of them. "Now… you guys should cover your ears."

Vivi and Robin hurriedly held her ears, prompting a few others to do the same.

Luffy took a deep breath before he yelled, "STOP!"

He roared the command, his voice sparking with red lightning and the Authority of Conqueror's Haki. Freezing the whole fight down below, as the walls shook, glass shattered and many people were on their knees panting in a cold sweat due to Luffy's outburst. Some of the guards that were near Luffy were unfortunate enough to lose consciousness. The whole fight between more than twenty thousand soldiers stopped.

Luffy could have easily knocked them all out, if he tried. But held back as that wasn't his goal. Now everyone was looking dumbfoundedly at the Fallen Hero. Afraid and awed by the power displayed.

Some were gasping that a famous pirate was here, others were surprised as they saw Princess Vivi, and others were asking themselves what just happened. All in all, all of them were confused.

250

"Shishishi… now that's good." He said, loud enough so that everyone could hear, "Hey, stop the fighting, if not, the next time, I'm gonna knock all of you out." He shouted. It sounded absurd, and yet they knew it was a serious threat.

One of them, a rebel, looked up at Luffy and bravely asked, "Why should we listen to you?! You are a pirate."

Luffy smiled and held up one finger, "One, 'cause you guys are stupid for trying to kill each other, especially when you want the better for your own country." He said, "And two there's a bomb in the watchtower set up that might blow up any time."

"Wait, what?!"

"A bomb?"

"Am I hearing things?"

"The pirate must be lying."

All of the people down below were muttering their own thoughts.

Luffy shouted again, "Hey!"

All the muttering stopped, as they were hit by another wave of Haki, this one a bit more mellower than the last. Still, it did the job just fine.

"Good… all this shouting is kind of getting annoying. Listen, I'm going to take care of the bomb, and then me and the princess right here would discuss what's been happening as of late. Also, Sir Crocodile is hereby relieved of his duties as a Warlord, I'm gonna also explain how that shitty pirate is related to all of this. For now, let's take care of the bomb first."

All of the people down below saw Luffy jump from the castle wall towards the Watchtower, jumping a few more times in the air. Before going inside the building, and after some time, the top part of the building got blown away by some strong wind-like attack.

Right after that all of them saw a large round-shaped object being thrown from the watchtower into the sky.

Just when the others were about to ask about the validity of the Fallen Hero's claim the round shaped object exploded in the sky, lighting up the sky for miles.

All of the people of Alabasta could see the sky lit up, and the people of Alubarna City could feel the heat from the explosion. Now all of them looked gratefully at the Straw Hat, wanting to hear the famous pirate out. They did just get saved by him.

.

Days passed and the things in Alabasta returned to normal. Luffy was crowned as the new Warlord of the Sea, bringing him and his crew under the protection and service of the World Government.

The news of Crocodile's defeat also spread out, mainly so that one of the members of the Straw Hat crew had defeated him.

'White Lady' Kuina had taken down Crocodile of the Sand alone. And not only that, but she was able to defeat him, a sand logia in Alabasta, the country of sand.

And rumors were that the same level of strength was possessed by 'Black Leg' Sanji and 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro, making their crew a lot more interesting in the grand scheme of things.

In turn, by making Luffy a Warlord, they are also gaining further help from upcoming powerful pirates like Kuina, Sanji, and Zoro. Making their crew more appealing in the eyes of the World Government.

Of course, none of them knew that a certain six-armed monkey also possessed the same capabilities as the other three, but shied away from the spotlight. But even without bringing Sparky into consideration, all of the Straw Hats had gained quite the reputation in the sea.

The five elders didn't hesitate when Sengoku proposed the idea of bringing Luffy in as a Warlord. More so because, in a way, they could keep an eye on him, among other things.

Of course with this, any future attacks from a certain World Noble stopped as the five elders made it clear to hold respect for their new Warlord recruit.

The fall of an old Warlord and a rise of a new one created quite the stir amongst the general public.

The real news of Crocodile's deeds was hidden from the masses. As the newspaper revealed a completely different story.

It told that Crocodile had essentially tried to kidnap Princess Vivi and tried to have his way with her. Along with it, they painted horrible crimes such as sex trafficking, kidnapping and other sorts of criminal activities in his name.

And right as he was about to have his way with the princess, the 'Fallen Hero' Luffy showed up and saved the day.

Luffy didn't like the story one bit. It was laced with false facts, and even though Crocodile was scum, he mainly did crimes that weren't as severe as the news portrayed him to be. Heck, Crocodile could have made a living by selling tons of people in Aalabsta into slave trading, but he didn't.

The man might be scum, but he had standards. But neither Luffy nor Morgan could do anything about the news.

The World Government wanted the old Warlord to be hated and out of their system, without revealing that he was trying to take over the country.

Of course, most of the population of Alabasta knew the real story. After Luffy took care of the bomb, Luffy revealed everything about what was happening and how it was related to Crocodile.

The people of Alabasta needed to know the truth, and so Luffy delivered it in a way that would calm the masses.

But outside Alabasta, the world knew nothing about the real story. The World Government couldn't let it happen.

It was balanced in a way, the World Government didn't want people to know that a Warlord tried to take over a kingdom, and almost succeeded at that.

That would put all of the remaining Warlords in a bad light. It would be implying that the World Government had no control over the seven pirates.

And the general public would be less prone to liking the Warlords, which the World Government didn't want. The Warlord system was built to balance out the powers against the Yonkos of the New World. It was a flawed system, but it was a good enough system that worked in the World Government's favor.

The World Government didn't just want the Marines under their rule, no it was in their name. They wanted to rule the world. The Marines were their front cover, to appease the masses.

The Cipher Pol, and the Warlords are their hidden cards in a way.

And even though they painted all pirates as evildoers, they tried their best to make the Warlords seem like the good guys. All in all, having the Warlords under them had many benefits.

Funnily enough, the Warlord system was hated by most Marines, even the Absolute Justice war dog Akainu hated the system. But it was a system that the World Government was unwilling to banish.

So that is why Luffy took full advantage of the situation. If he was right, it would take at least two years before the Warlord system was abolished. Heck, it might not be at all. So that's why Luffy became one of the Warlords.

It would give a lot more freedom to do what he planned in the future. And at the same time gather allies using his new position.