Capítulo 25: Chapter 25: The End of Crocodile and Nico Robin!
The sun was setting over the deserts of Alabasta and standing in the middle of the desert outside of Rain base were Luffy, Crocodile, and Ms. All Sunday. Luffy and Crocodile were locked in a staring match with a serious look on both of their faces while Ms. All Sunday stood off to Crocodile's right with a smile that was clearly fake staring at the two men.
"It would seem as though the princess slipped through our fingers once again," She said breaking the tense silence between the group.
"It doesn't matter," Crocodile replied causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow. "The agents are still scheduled to meet in Alubarna. Contact them at once," he ordered while taking a glance at his subordinate. Luffy chuckled for a bit, getting both of their attention before he spoke in a calm tone.
"It doesn't matter where your agents are," he said calmly. "The is no way they are getting past my crew," he added confidently.
"That is a lot of faith you are putting into a bunch of people you only known for about a month now," Ms. All Sunday said while looking at Luffy.
"No one knows a crew better than the captain," Luffy replied as he turned his attention to the sole female there. Ms. All Sunday just looked at Luffy and chuckled. Luffy was about to say something else but before he could a blade of sand shot up from the ground off to his right and sliced his body in half. Luffy just looked down at the blade of sand that is currently separating the upper half of his body from the lower and sighed before he spoke to Ms. All Sunday once more. "It would seem as though I am going to have to cut our conversation short. Your boss is apparently getting jealous. We will continue once I am done, Ms. Robin," Luffy said using Ms. All Sunday's real name surprising her a bit before she simply smiled and nodded before she replied.
"I'll give you boys some room to play," she said before she moved to stand a bit away from the duo. The warlord saw that he was still being ignored and growled before he raised his right in into the air and sand began to swirl around it, covering his entire wrist with sand.
"Desert Spada!" he yelled out as he brought his hand down and then stabs it into the ground, extending it along the ground like a torpedo racing straight to Luffy who just stood there unmoving. The sand sliced through Luffy and a rock behind him right down the middle like a hot knife through butter.
"So, I was right," Luffy said as the two halves of his body reattached itself. "You don't know haki," he added in a slightly disappointed tone. "Guess it was wrong of me to assume that you would have been able to pose a challenge to me," Luffy said as he adjusted his straw hat.
"You bastard!" Crocodile growled out in frustration. "Take this!" he yelled out letting his anger get the better of him as he raised his right hand and turned it into a spearhead made of sand before stabbing it into the ground while yelling out.
"Desert Girasole!" he yelled. Luffy was expecting something to happen right away but nothing happened. He waited for a few seconds to see if anything was going to happen and just when he was about to ridicule Crocodile for his attack failure the sand beneath his feet collapsed a giant pit of quicksand about 30 ft wide formed causing Luffy to begin to sink into the ground while Crocodile stood on top of the giant pit staring at Luffy smugly. Luffy didn't move a muscle or even showed an ounce of panic on his face. He just stood there staring at Crocodile with a bored expression on his face.
"Ever heard of quicksand?" Crocodile asked arrogantly. "It makes for an easy dessert burial when you need to get rid of someone in a hurry," he said with a smirk. "With my Sand-Sand fruit, I am unbeatable when fighting in the dessert!" he added with a smug smile on his face causing Luffy to sigh.
"Is that so?" Luffy asked from inside the sinking pit. "Well then, let's just see about that," He added before his entire body turned into a bolt of lightning and shot straight out of the pit towards the direction of Crocodile. When the bolt of lightning was 2ft in front of the warlord it transformed back into Luffy with his fist reared back covered in Haki. Luffy then delivered a haki infused superman punch to Crocodile's face sending him tumbling back about 15 ft. "Would you look at that. Guess you're not that unbeatable," Luffy said in a bored tone as he adjusted his straw hat.
"Why you!" Crocodile growled as he shakingly got began to try and stand up. When he stood up Luffy saw the Warlord staring at him with an angry look on his face as blood leaked out of his nose and the side of his mouth. "It's time to die, vermin!" Crocodile said as he held his right hand in front of him.
"Sables!" he yelled out causing a mini sand tornado to form in the palm of his hand before it began to grow until it was a giant sandstorm. Luffy saw the giant tornado of sand heading for him but he didn't do anything. He simply stood there, narrowed his eyes and raised his left hand into the air and covered his palm in lightning.
"Judgement!" he yelled out as he brought his hand down in a swift motion. As his hand reached his side a large bolt of lightning came out of the clear sunset sky and covered the entire sand tornado leaving behind a glass statue of a tornado.
"Funny thing about lightning," Luffy said as he began walking towards the statue. "It is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun," He added before he punched the glass statue causing it to shatter into millions of pieces. "I think I messed around enough. Don't you think so?" Luffy asked rhetorically as he tilted his head to the side. "It's time to get serious," he added in a cold emotionless tone. Now Crocodile was slightly scared when he heard that. He just saw Luffy take care of one of his most powerful attack like it was nothing and now he is saying that he wasn't even serious, he was just messing around. That was absolutely ludicrous to Crocodile. Luffy narrowed his eyes at Crocodile before he kicked off from the ground and dashed forward towards Crocodile in a great show of natural speed. In a blink of an eye, Luffy appeared in front of the warlord and buried his knee into Crocodile's gut knocking the wind out of him and causing him to cough up some blood. Luffy then raised his left hand into the air made a fist before he delivered a powerful haki infused punch to Crocodile's back sending the arrogant warlord crashing into the ground while forming a small crater in the process.
"Beg," Luffy said coldly as he looked down at the beaten warlord. "Beg for your life, vermin," he added. Crocodile coughs up some more blood onto the sand before he tried to stand up.
"Never...will...I... beg...you...for...anyth-" Crocodile said in a rasping voice before he was cut off by a haki infused kick to the face sending tumbling back into the sand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. My foot seems to have interrupted you," Luffy said mockingly before he looked down at his feet and saw a tooth stuck into the sand. "Huh, would you look at this," he said as he picked up the tooth. "It would appear as though you are missing a tooth," he added with a chuckle before he dropped it back into the sand and stepped on it. "Now beg!" he said as the amused smile on his face disappear and a cold emotionless look took its place. Luffy then released a strong wave of conquerors haki directed at the warlord alone. Luffy knew that Crocodile would not be knocked out by the haki but in his current state, it would mess with his mind and do the one thing that Luffy loved the most...insight fear. The wave of haki hit Crocodile full on and the moment the wave hit him a chill ran down his spine causing him to shiver slightly. He then raised his head from out of the sand and looked at Luffy with a small amount of fear present on his face. He saw Luffy began walking towards him causing him to avert his gaze to Luffy's feet where he can hear footsteps in his head. He knew it was impossible but with every step Luffy took it sounded like someone walking across a wooden floor with metal boots and with menacing step Luffy took the sounds grew louder and louder in Crocodile's head increasing his fear until Luffy came to a stop in front of his face. An extremely terrified Crocodile looked up at Luffy and saw he was staring right back at him with glowing red eyes that seem to stare right into his soul.
"Beg," Luffy said in a menacing tone sending chills down the spine of an extremely terrified Crocodile. Crocodile tried to speak but his voice won't come out and after seeing Crocodile not saying anything Luffy narrowed his eyes and looked at the badly beaten warlord with a dangerous look before he raised his right leg in the air and covered his foot from his shin down in lightning and proceeded to stomp the warlord's head into the ground. "I said!" *Stomp* "Beg!" *Stomp* "Now beg!" *Stomp*
"Please stop!" Crocodile yelled out finally in a hoarse voice causing Luffy to stop.
"There, now that wasn't so hard," Luffy said before he placed his right leg on Crocodile's back.
"Bind!" he said in a commanding tone causing ropes of lightning to sprout out from under his foot and bind the warlord in place.
"That should hold you," Luffy said before he looked off to his right where Nico Robin was standing and signaled her to come. The second in command to Crocodile walked her to Luffy swaying her hips ever so slightly causing Luffy to smile.
"You continue to impress me, Straw hat," she said with a smile causing Luffy to chuckle.
"I aim to please," he replied before he began looking around the desert.
"What are you looking for," she asked.
"Someplace to sit down," Luffy replied causing her smile.
"I think I can be of assistance," she said before she brought her hand up to her lips and whistled loudly causing Luffy to see something running towards them from Rainbase. In a blink of an eye, the creature appeared in front of the duo surprising Luffy. It looked like a banana gator, but it was different, it was slightly smaller and had a saddle strapped to its back.
"What is it?" Luffy asked as he examined the gator.
"It's an F-Wani, or better known as an Accellegator," she said as he walked up to the gator and hoped on before moving over for Luffy to hop on. "It is a sub-type of Banana gator, less ferocious than the usual breed, and capable of very high speeds in the Sandora Desert," she educated as Luffy hopped up onto the saddle with her.
"This is quite comfy," Luffy said as he sat down. He then reached into his coat and pulled out a bottle of whiskey along with two glasses. He handed one to Robin before he poured both of them a drink. Robin took the glass of whiskey and drink it before immediately regretting that decision. She began coughing and eyes began to water causing Luffy to chuckle. "You're supposed to sip it, not gulp it down," he said in an amused voice.
"Thanks for the advice," she said sarcastically. "Why are you so relaxed?" she asked as she looked at Luffy. "Aren't you going to go help your crew stop the war?" she asked in confusion.
"I'll stop the war," Luffy replied. "But my crew needs to fight their own battles," he added before taking a sip of his drink.
"So, you are just going to leave them to fight the numbered agents?" she asked.
"Yes, I can't keep coming to their rescue all the time. They need to learn to fight on their own," he said causing her to nod her head. She was about to say something else but before she could someone landed on the ground between the gator and Crocodile taking everyone by surprise. When Luffy looked over he saw a man wearing a long white robe with brown star-like motifs on it and a matching hat. "Who are you and where the hell did you come from?" Luffy asked not liking the idea that he was so easily surprised.
"That is Pell, he is one of the two head guards in Alabasta," Robin said causing Luffy to nod his head.
"Who are you and why are you with that woman?" Pell asked as he placed his hand on his sword causing Luffy to narrow his eyes.
"I'm the one the princess hired to save this country," Luffy replied calmly.
"If you are here to save the country what are you doing with that woman?!" he asked while pointing at Robin.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it is rude to point, and at a lady no less," Luffy said causing Robin to chuckle. "As for your question, she works for me," he said taking both Robin and Pell by surprise. "She was my spy inside Crocodile's organization. Now that Crocodile is out of the picture, she has come back to rejoin my crew," Luffy lied smoothly.
"Where is the princess?" Pell asked.
"I sent her and the rest of my crew to Alubarna. If you hurry you can catch up to them," Luffy said while pointing off to the direction where the giant crab carrying everyone went. Pell looked off to where Luffy was pointing and was about to take off in that direction but stopped and looked at Luffy.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked causing Luffy to chuckle.
"I'm a lot faster than you so you go on ahead," Luffy said before he turned and looked at the bounded Crocodile. "Plus, there is still something I have to do," he added in a cold voice sending chills down Pell's spin. Pell nodded before he transformed into a falcon and flew away.
"So, I work for you now?" Robin asked in a teasing voice causing Luffy to chuckle.
"Well, I was going to ask you to join my crew," Luffy said as he turned and looked at Robin.
"And why would I do that?" she asked.
"You won't have to be running anymore," Luffy replied causing the smile to disappear from her face. "You want to read the Poneglyph that the Nefertari family have in their position, right?" he asked surprising her.
"How did you know?" she asked in a shocked voice.
"Come on, it wasn't that hard to guess," Luffy said before taking a sip. "At the end of all this Alabasta will become my territory. I can ask the king to take us to the Poneglyph for you to read," Luffy said causing her to look him for a few minutes before she chuckled.
"Why is it that all of you D's always cause so much trouble?" she asked not really expecting an answer only to be shocked when Luffy replied.
"It is our will. It is the Will of D," Luffy replied causing her head to snap around and look at him with eyes the size of dinner plates.
"You speak as though you know the meaning of the D," she said causing Luffy to chuckle.
"I do," he replied surprising her even more. "Let's just say two idiots who know the full history of what happened in the void century got drunk one night and deciding to spill their guts," he said causing poor Robin to literally start shaking with excitement. "I barely managed to run away before they could tell me everything," Luffy said with a chuckle.
"Why did you run away!?" Robin asked raising her voice slightly.
"Cause, if they just told me that would have taken all the fun out of finding out what happened for myself," Luffy said causing her to understand.
"I'm sure you don't want me to tell you what I know right now. That would just take away the satisfaction of finding out on your own and it would make that which your people died for have no meaning," he said causing some tears to form in her eyes.
"So, it does exist," she whispered to herself. "Rio Poneglyph does exist," she said as tears leaked out from her eyes. Luffy smiled and put his arm around her before pulling her in for a hug.
"Yes, it does exist," he whispered back causing he began sobbing into his chest.
"I had given up hope," she said between sobs. "If this Poneglyph in Alabasta had turned up nothing I was going to give up but you...you just said you know someone who knows the full history, right?" she asked still not believing.
"Yes, if you join my crew, I'll let you meet him when we get to the Sabaody Archipelago," Luffy replied before he wiped away her tears. Robin let go of Luffy and began drying her tears before she spoke to Luffy in an excited tone.
"I have to go," she said with haste. "If what you say is true, I need to begin searching for the rest of the Poneglyphs," she said as she adjusted her clothes.
"Calm down," Luffy said as he grabbed her shoulders. "You need to slow down. Do not rush this, the Poneglyphs aren't going anywhere you need to take this one step at a time," Luffy said calmly in a serious voice. "Ohara was too impatient, they were moving ahead too fast for a short amount of time and it led to their destruction," he said grimly causing her to flinch slightly at the mention of her hometown. "You need to take your time. Don't rush to your death, take some time and stop and smell the roses, see the world. If you continue at the rate at which you are right now you will only attract the unwanted attention of those five bastards in the government," he said with a slight growl at the mention of the five elder stars.
"How can I stop and smell the roses when everywhere I go people try to kill me?!" she yelled/asked.
"That's why I asked you to join my crew," Luffy replied calmly. "I can protect you anything the government throws at you...even an admiral," he said trying to calm her down.
"Yeah right," she said not buying what Luffy was selling. "But seeing as how my current employer is out of business," she said as she looked past Luffy to the bounded body of Crocodile. "I think I'll join your crew," she said with a smile causing Luffy to smile back.
"Perfect, I'll leave it up to you to try and convince the crew you won't kill them," Luffy said jokingly.
"Sounds easy enough," she replied confidently. "So, what are we going to do with him?" she asked while looking at Crocodile.
"I promised Smoker he'll get him when I'm done with him," Luffy replied before finishing his drink.
"I'm actually surprised he hasn't tried to escape as yet," she noted.
"He can't," Luffy replied confusing her. "The lightning is infused with haki and while it is binding him it is also sending small amounts of the same haki infused lighting through his nervous system," he said as he turned and looked at the badly beaten warlord.
"That's a bit overpowered," Robin said causing Luffy to chuckle.
"Everything about me is overpowered," he replied causing her to laugh. Just as she was about to say something back at Luffy, his transponder snail began to ring.
*purupurupuru* *purupurupuru* *purupurupuru* *Clachak*
"Hello?" Luffy said into the snail.
"We're all set here, captain," Gem said through the phone getting Robin's attention.
"How many did you get?" Luffy asked.
"We managed to get all the millions and the billions that were around the different towns in Alabasta. The only ones that remain are the one Crocodile has acting as rebels and royal guards," Gem said shocking Robin even further.
"So, all that remains is for us to recruit the numbered agents," Luffy said with a smirk.
"I'll leave them up to you, captain," Gem replied causing Luffy to chuckle.
"All the fun begins at daybreak, I'll make my move on them then," he said before he turned to Robin and asked her a question. "Do you know of a secret location where I can hold a meeting?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"Yeah, the Spider's Cafe," she said in a hushed voice as well. "It is in the desert between Nanohana and Alubarna," she said causing Luffy to nod before he turned back to the snail.
"Listen," he said getting Gem's attention. "I want you, Mikita, Marianne, and Jiro to head for the Spider's Cafe in the desert between Nanohana and Alubarna," he said in a commanding tone. "And wait for me there," he added.
"Aye, sir," Gem replied "We'll head over there now," he said.
"Good, I'll see you then," Luffy said before hanging up and tucking the transponder snail away in his coat.
"Who was that?" Robin asked with a curious expression on her face.
"You would know him as Mr. 5," Luffy replied with a smirk causing her eyes to widen slightly.
"So that is a lot of our agents haven't been responding," she said causing Luffy to chuckle. "So, what is the plan now?" she asked causing Luffy to sigh and look over at Crocodile before he spoke.
"Now we wait for the fun to begin," he said before he turned and looked at her with a curious look on his face before he asked her a question. "You wouldn't by chance know what he has planned in Alubarna, do you?" he asked.
"He has a bomb set to go off in the plaza, but I do not know where he hid it," she said.
"That's helpful," Luffy said before he began to think. "Now only if there was a way to tell Smoker that," he said to himself loud enough for Robin to hear.
"Are you two working together?" she asked in an amused tone.
"It's more like a temporary ceasefire," he said causing her to chuckle.
"I'm sure he'll figure it out somehow," Luffy said before he hopped from the gator. "It's time we made our way to Alubarna," he said as he looked up to the sky and began trying to summon a thundercloud.
"Well then, hop on and let's go," she said causing to chuckle slightly.
"I got my own ride," he said as a thundercloud began to slowly descend from the sky taking the former Baroque Works by surprise. "It's a lot cooler at night and there is a lot more moisture present in the air. It should be enough to sustain a cloud," Luffy said before he walked over to the bounded Crocodile. He then picked the warlord up and threw him onto the cloud before he hopped on and looked at Robin. "Aren't you coming?" he asked knocking her out of her shock.
"Ummm, sure," she said slightly hesitant about the idea of sitting on a cloud. She hopped off the gator and walked over the cloud where Luffy stretched out his hands for her to grab on to. She grabbed Luffy's hand before she was carefully pulled up onto the cloud. Luffy then gave a mental command to the cloud to make two chairs for them to sit on which it did, causing Luffy to lead Robin over to the seats. After they sat down three bolts of lightning shot out of the cloud and wrapped themselves around Crocodile's body acting as safety belts.
"Wouldn't want him to fall," Luffy said in a joking manner. The cloud then shot off and began its ascent to the sky where it leveled out at about 3000 ft.
"Wow, this is amazing," Robin said as she looked at the cloud and down at the world below.
"Yeah, it is," Luffy replied as he looked around. They were currently traveling at about 40mph above the deserts of Alabasta. "The night is so calm," Luffy said as he leaned back and looked up at the stars. "It is such a shame the deserts will be dyed red with blood tomorrow," he added with a dark chuckle.
"I thought you were going to stop the war before anyone could cast the first blow," Robin said as she looked at Luffy in confusion.
"I was...but that princess is too much of a pacifist," he said in a serious tone. "I think it will do her some good to witness death," he added.
"So, you are just going to let them kill each other just to teach the princess a lesson on death?" she asked raising her voice slightly.
"Yes," Luffy said causing her eyes to widen. "If he is going to one day become the queen of this land it is something she needs to learn," he said as he adjusted his hat and looked down at the world below. "She spent her entire life at the beginning of the Grand Line, she has no idea just how evil and vile this world actually is," Luffy spat out in a disgusted tone. "The deeper in the Grand Line you go, the worse it gets," he added. "And it's all 'THEIR' fault," he growled out. Robin could tell he had a lot of hatred for whomever he was referring to, so she remained silent and didn't say anything. Luffy was about to say something else but before he spoke something down below caught his eye. "Would you look at that," Luffy said as he leaned slightly over the edge of the cloud.
"What is it?" Robin asked as he leaned across Luffy to take a look.
"It's my crew," he said with a slight smile. "And they're riding on ducks," he added with a chuckle.
"That must be Alabasta's Supersonic Duck Squad," Robin said causing Luffy to look at her weirdly.
"Supersonic Ducks?" he asked refusing to believe that something so ridiculous could exist.
"Yeah, they are the fastest in all of Alabasta," she said before returning her attention down to Luffy's crew. "Are we going down to meet them?" she asked.
"No," Luffy replied getting her attention. "As I said earlier, this is their battle. If things are going sideways, I'll step in," he said causing her to nod.
*Daybreak*
Luffy and Robin stayed with his crew the entire night, following them as they made their way through the desert on duck back. It was finally daybreak and the capital city of Alabasta, Alubarna was finally in sight. As they were approaching the capital Luffy saw every member of his crew put on matching robes covering their entire body.
"Smart," Robin said with a smile as he looked down at her new crewmates. Luffy didn't say anything he simply smirked at his crew decision. He looked up and took a glance off to the dire of his cloud where he saw a large dust cloud traveling through the desert making its way to Alubarna.
"And that must be the rebel army," Luffy said as he stared at the dust cloud. "It would appear as though the party is about to begin," Luffy added before turning his attention back to his crew.
"Your crew is about to have company," Robin said as she pointed towards the capital. Luffy looked at where she was pointing and squinted his eyes trying to make out what she saw. It took him a few seconds to make out what was there and even then, he still couldn't be sure. From what he can see, it appears to be the outline of five individuals standing by the city walls.
"I take those are the agents' Crocodile sent here?" he asked while Looking at Robin.
"Yes, that is Mr. 1 and his partner, Ms. Double Finger, Mr. 2, and Mr. 4 and his partner, Ms. Merry Christmas," she said causing Luffy to take a glance at his crew.
"What are the nine of you going to do now?" Luffy asked himself as he stared at his crew through narrowed eyes. Just as the group was approaching Alubarna Luffy noticed three of them began to slow down before pulling away from the group and hiding behind some rocks. Luffy immediately stopped the cloud and had it hover in between the two groups. "Now what do we have here?" he asked himself as he stood up and began using his observation haki.
"Why did those three stopped?" Robin asked as she stood up as well.
"Those three are the princess along with Johnny and Yosaku," Luffy said before he turned and looked at the remaining members of his crew who began splitting up into groups one by one drawing a pair of Baroque Works agents to follow them. "That there is Nami, Nojiko, and Zoro," he said pointing at the three ducks heading for the West gate with Mr. 1 and Ms. Double Finger right on their tail. "That there are Usopp and Chopper," he said pointing to the two ducks heading for the South Gate with Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas following behind them. "And that is Sanji and... a camel," Luffy added in a deadpan tone with a sweat drop as he pointed to the pair of ducks running for the South-West gate after running over Mr. 2.
"Quite the interesting crew you got there," Robin said with a chuckle.
"You have no idea," Luffy replied before turning his attention back to the princess and the bounty hunting duo. The three of them then peeked out from behind the rock to check if the coast was clear. After making sure no one was around the three of them took off in the direction of where the large dust cloud was approaching the capital. "So, they are heading straight for the rebel army," Luffy observed.
So, who are you going to follow?" Robin asked while looking at Luffy. "Are you going to check up on your crew, or the princess?" she asked causing Luffy to chuckle.
"As much as I want to see what the princess does, I think I want to see how much my crew have grown since entering the Grand Line," Luffy said surprising Robin.
"You know, you are really hard to figure out," she said causing Luffy to laugh.
"Don't feel bad," Luffy said with a smirk. "Sometimes I have a hard time figuring myself out," he added causing her to chuckle before he narrowed his eyes and took on a serious look. "Let's go see if my crew's training paid off," he said. "And for their sakes, I hope it did," he added before the cloud shot off in the direction following Zoro and Nami.
**CHAPTER END!**
Author's Notes: **I would just like to apologize for this chapter being as short as it is. This chapter was originally supposed to be longer but I got writer's block around where this chapter ends and tried for two weeks to get over it but sadly I still have it. Instead of making you guys wait even longer for the chapter I decided to upload what I already have. And instead of finishing the Alabasta Arc in this chapter I will end it in the next. Fair warning for the next chapter, the fights between the straw hats and the numbered agents won't be that long. It will be in a way short and sweet. Again terribly sorry for the wait and for the short chapter.**
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