The Brutal Truth

Morgan couldn't remember everything that happened within the last few minutes; He along with the others ran into Rain Dinners to find Crocodile, Smoker was there in tow to arrest them all. After that, they got ran into the VIP room and then nothing.

"Morgan…Morgan, Wake up, this could be bad!" Nami whispered as she kept trying to shake her captain awake and breathed a sigh of relief as he regained consciousness with a sullen groan.

Once Morgan sat up and cracked his neck, he looked around to see his new surroundings; Aside from the very thick looking metal bars in front of them, 3 walls and a drain near the center where Usopp was sitting. It was clear that this thing was built to last and even more so when he noticed Smoker sat in a meditative position and not trying to get out. "Smoker? You got caught here too?"

Smoker snorted in derision; "I got caught trying to chase YOU, Straw Hat…But judging from the look on you and your crew's faces, this wasn't something you'd plan out."

"Duh…If I wanted to knock you out, I'd kick your butt through th-" Morgan started to snark but was stopped by Nami when she placed her hand on his chest to bar him from going further.

"Will you stop it! Right now, we shouldn't be getting at each others throats…" Nami snapped at Morgan and then glared at Smoker when she heard him harumph; "And goading him into a fight like this isn't helping either, Mr Smoke for Brains!" 

"I still prefer MY nickname then Smoke for brains." Morgan smirked as he figured that if he couldn't get in a physical fight, he'd settle for the jabs.

Usopp was the next to wake up as he began to panic, though he was still eligible to panic like he normally does. He didn't seem quite as worried since he noticed that Zoro and Morgan were there too; "You had a nickname for him?" 

"Yeah, Ass Gas!" Morgan smirked; "Mostly because he's a jerkass and partly because his power turns him into gas."

"It's Smoke…And I swear to God, I will bludgeon you if you call me that again!" Smoker snarled through grit teeth.

"You're being surprisingly casual about your situation when you should be worried." A woman's voice would say as she walked up towards the bars to gaze on each of them; "It's been a long time, Pirates….And it's certainly been a while since we last met, Mr. Captain~" Miss All Sunday purred as she settled her gaze on Morgan who gave her a narrowed glare but it was Nami staring daggers at her that made her re-focus. "Oh don't give me that look~"

"You better back off of my captain before I-"

"In any case, I think you should probably thank me that I got through a lot of trouble to get you a private room and showed you such kind hospitality until Mr. 0 shows." The Baroque Works Vice Commander cooed as she looked to the group and sat in a nearby chair.

"You set Bounty Hunters on us and killed Igaram…Explain to me which part in all of this is where I should be polite to you?" Morgan sneered with a less than pleased expression on his face, clenching his fingers around the thick metal bars and tried to shake them with no effect.

"Try as hard as you might, but you won't be escaping without HIS say-so." Miss All-Sunday remarked as she then craned her head to see the doors slowly creak open; "And speaking of which."

"Glad to see you are so spirited in the face of your oncoming execution, Straw-Hat Morgan." Mr. 0 or rather Crocodile praised in his oily tone and stepped into the room with a key in hand and a tied up Vivi in the other.

"VIVI!" The group bar Smoker yelled out as they saw her captured and pushed into a nearby chair where a dinner was made up for two.

"Bastard…You better let her go before I rip out these bars and beat that slimy grin off of your face!" Morgan growled menacingly as he struggled harder to get free; "Damn it! Whatever these bars are made of is strong…."

"Good luck in trying…I take great pride in my security, from my cute little Banana-gators you see out there and that cage in which you've taken residence." Crocodile smirked as he lit up his cigar and gestured his hook at Morgan.

"Hate to admit it, Straw Hat but he's right…This stone is real thick…A lot thicker then I think you can break plus even if you can shatter stone…You'd be hard pressed to break through Seastone…" Smoker admitted as he looked up to both Morgan and then to his captor; "But you do realise that when the Marines…Not to mention the World Government notice that I've gone missing under your watch as a Warlord, they're bound to ask questions."

Crocodile snickered and then broke out his trademark laugh; "You seem to forget; in the midst of a Civil War, anything can happen…Baroque Works will be watching as the Kingdom and the Rebel army go at each other's throats while the Marines try to lessen the damage." 

"And then when both sides tire each other out, you take the controlling seat…Am I right?" Smoker asked with a rather grim look on his face as he pieced it all together. "All too easy for the "Hero of Alabasta" to claim…"

"I wouldn't call this easy…A lot of work went into this: Planting the Dance Powder to make people suspect the King of stealing water, the little "accident" of the king's delivery being discovered…And my own little touch of bringing people to believe in me along with my own agents hiding in the wings of BOTH the Royal Guard and the Rebel army." Crocodile mentioned as he revealed the full scope of his plan, angering Vivi more and more when she realised just how far he'd go for a claim on the Desert kingdom.

"All this…Just so you can act as an emperor…I'll…I'll…tell everyone, I will scream out to the crowd with every last breath that YOU are the one to blame!" Vivi struggled and thrashed to try and pull free of her restraints though stopped when she saw Crocodile holding up a key.

"If you want to make it happen then you better make it quick…Because if it all goes to plan, Mr 2 has disguised himself as the King and confessed all the horrible "Sins" he committed…With that bombshell and what comes next, who knows what'll happen…The attack will begin at noon tomorrow at the Palace so you can either leave now and possibly make it…Or you can stay here to save your friends and miss your chance." Crocodile smirked and laughed as he threw the key into an open hole leading to the aquarium below.

"He…He just told us his whole plan and left!" Usopp yelled as he was now starting to panic even more by running back and forth.

"Probably because he thinks no one will believe us." Zoro replied.

"Or he doesn't intend for us to leave here." Smoker added and then saw a plume of water shoot up out of the drain and began filling the room with water. "That seems to answer that…"


"DON'T SOUND SO CASUAL ABOUT IT! WE'RE GONNA DROWN!" Usopp shrieked as he noticed that Morgan's struggling wasn't helping but then heard the sound of a giant alligator growling and it's upheaval at the hands of Mr Prince.

"SANJI!" Both Morgan and Usopp yelled out as the two ladies sighed in relief that it wasn't all over.

"Your dashing prince has arrived, Vivi and Nami~" Sanji cheered as he grabbed the key from the Banana-gator that spat it up to let the group out; "I managed to get that shitty gator's attention by having "Mr Prince" hearing me cause havoc outside and beating up all his men." He would explain to the group as both Zoro and Morgan dashed off.

——Meanwhile Outside——

Chopper was simultaneously beating up the Millions and Billions that lined the streets in disguises while yelling out that he was Mr Prince. "Dang it Sanji, I hope this works!"

However it looked like it did INDEED work since Crocodile was roaming outside on the watch; with the excuse that someone was causing trouble outside his building.

"If it's not just the Marines, it's this Mr Prince…No matter, once we get on our way to Alubarna then we'll be one step closer to my real plan…" Crocodile thought as he then felt his body tense as the bridge leading back into the Rain Dinners collapse.

——Back Underground——

"So that explains the call and his running out…" Smoker mentioned as he struggled to move due to the moving water hindering him.

"That was some pretty smart thinking, Pervy Cook..I'm almost impressed." Zoro snarked as he and Morgan climbed down from the pile of Bananagators that threatened to eat them all.

"Don't doubt my intentions! I sensed that my dear Nami and Vivi were in trouble so I rushed to their aid as their Prince in Shining Armour!" Sanji adjusted his shades as he noticed Mr 3 crawling away after nearly getting eaten by the gators too.

"Just keep it calm, Galdino…You're nearly homefree. First those Straw Hats show up again, Mr 2 tries hunting me down, then Crocodile throws me out into this pit and now i-GYAH!" Mr 3 made his internal monologue but then had his collar roughly grabbed by Morgan.

"So, you're the Baroque Works agent that gave my friends so much grief on Little Garden…" Morgan remarked with a smile on his face.

"Y-You better let me go, Straw Hat…Otherwise with my vast intellect and Crocodile's ambition; you'll get in more trouble then you could ever realise!" Mr. 3 tried to threaten him with what Crocodile's plan was.

"Yeah, we already know…But I still have a bone to pick with you regardless." Morgan remarked as he clenched his fist. He may be pressed for time but he still wanted to layer a bucket of hurt on Mr 3 from what he heard about him.

"No time, Morgan…We need to get going!" Nami urged him as they all ran out to get to the exit.

"T-That's right, go ahead and listen to your harpy of a-GYUHK!" Mr 3 taunted him but was promptly shut up when Morgan kicked him so hard that his glasses broke and knocked him unconscious. 

"For someone who calls himself smart, that was pretty dumb…" Morgan thought to himself as he scribbled a note and then pinned it on Galdino's shirt, leaving him behind to catch up with the others.

"It's blocked!" Sanji yelled out as the water rose higher, leaving the only way through was to go underwater and up via the lake. "Crap…with that water running up fast and the time that the Rebel army will attack, we won't make it unless we swim."

"Then let's swim!" Morgan yelled as he held on to the weakened Smoker; "There's only one of us here with Devil Fruit powers so getting out won't be as much a problem." 

"Whoa, hold on a moment…You wanna take him with us?! He's a Marine, he'd sooner arrest you than say thanks for the rescue and that's IF he doesn't kill you first." Usopp pointed out and earned a few nods from the other since even though it was a cowardly thing to say, he wasn't entirely wrong.

"Maybe…But if we leave him down here then we'd be no better than the other pirates that he goes after." Morgan mentioned as he took a deep breath and submerged himself to start swimming.

"He won't admit it but he still thinks about others regardless…" Nami thought as she soon followed after and sure enough everyone was swimming as much as they could to get to the surface of Rain Dinners.

——Outside Rain Dinners——

Everyone had managed to sneak past the gate and towards the expanse of the desert without much problem except for one; "So how are we getting to Alubarna? That camel wouldn't let all of us on it and even then it's a lengthy tri-" Morgan tried to come up with a plan but someone was too excited to stay down.

"You…You're coming with me, Straw Hat…" Smoker panted as he was still catching his own breath. "I'll drag your ass back to HQ if I have to."

"Just give it a rest already!" Sanji yelled at him with a glare; "You'd rather catch a somewhat popular pirate than focus on the Warlord trying to incite war on a kingdom?"

Smoker narrowed his eyes; "Why exactly did you save me back there…You want me in your debt? Because I'm not in the mood to humour you."

"Call it a flight of fancy…You may be an enemy but that doesn't mean I want you dead, otherwise I'd be no better then Croco…" Morgan pointed out as he stretched; "But if we have to get through you th-"

Smoker suddenly holstered the jitte on his back as he let out a deep sigh; "Go…"

"What? You're letting us go, just like that?" Usopp asked with a curious look on his face.

"Don't get me wrong, I am by no means giving up on my task on bringing you in, but I'll be damned if I owe a debt to a pirate." Smoker pointed out as he then looked to the Marines rushing past on the other side of the river.

"Let's just go before he changes his mind, Besides we still have to figure out how we're gonna get to the palace in time." Zoro urged them on as they saw a chance and ran towards the edge of town through the back streets where they saw Chopper waiting for them on top of a giant crab.

"Should I even ask?" Sanji mused as he saw everyone climbing on; hearing their Doctor explain how the Crab was a friend of the camel they rode and offered to help.

——A Few Minutes Later in the Desert——

"This Land Crab is the fastest in the Desert, we'll make it to the kingdom in no time and stop the Rebels before they can attack!" Vivi said as she felt her optimism start to grow. 

Morgan nodded as he let himself relax a little to enjoy the wind blowing, but even as he was; he saw something glint in the sky followed by the sound of Vivi's scream.

Crocodile's golden hook had caught itself around Vivi's waist and started trying to pull her back towards him and Miss All-Sunday. "Just go! Run for the palace!" Vivi pleaded as she decided to let herself be a distraction while they got to the capital.

Or she would've if Morgan hadn't jumped in, grabbed onto the hook and pulled her off of it's grip to get dragged away; "I'll hold him off, just get Vivi to the Palace! I'll meet you guys there!" He yelled out to the others; Watching the Land Crab slowly shrink into the distance.

"Alright! We'll meet you there…Don't be late!" Nami yelled at him while trying to hold on to Vivi so she didn't go after him.

Morgan got to his feet and stared down Crocodile who was less than pleased that he caught the wrong person; "Now then…I think it's time that I delivered on that ass kicking I promised you!" He growled as he turned himself from the typical goof into a more serious person.

Crocodile didn't seem impressed at all as he took another puff of his cigar; "So says every other haughty greenhorn." He drawled as he then stepped forward; "You of all people should understand that there is a vast canyon of difference between our skills…Relying on others, taking pity on that snivelling wretch of a princess…You truly are a fool if you think you can make it in the Grand Line, Straw Hat Morgan." Crocodile sneered with his condescending glare on full display.

"You kidding? If you really believe all that then you're definitely the idiot out of us two." Morgan quipped as he narrowed his eyes, earning a chuckle from Miss All-Sunday as well as a furious glare from Crocodile.

"And what the hell are you laughing at?" Crocodile asked her with a voice that emanated intimidation that came from being a literal mob boss.

"Nothing~ But it is rather amusing to see you getting so riled up over someone you deem so beneath you." Miss All-Sunday mentioned as she turned on her heels and headed back towards the city; "Someone needs to head to Alubarna and see who is still standing when Operation Utopia is in it's twilight stage." She mentioned as she waved them off.

"Never once have I understood her…But I know that if I leave you be, you and your crew will continue to be as much a pain to me as that soft hearted princess." Crocodile reached into his coat pocket.

"She is right, you know." Morgan mentioned bluntly as he let the hat rest on his shoulders by the string; "You might know the way a pirate works but you don't know the kingdom or the people here…They fight harder than you or I do just to get through the day."

"Such prattle…Even listening to you annoys me to a monstrous degree." Crocodile growled as he pulled out an hourglass with a blunt needle at one of the sides before throwing it at the ground in front of them. "3 Minutes…I'll toy with you for a maximum of three minutes, after that…You won't be able to see what happens next." Crocodile warned him as he then noticed Morgan take a deep breath.

"Then I'll just need two to turn your reptile named ass into a handbag for my navigator!" Morgan then rushed forward and delivered a series of well timed punches towards Crocodile's torso. With thanks to his moment to focus; Haki began flowing freely through his fists and managed to land some solid hits on the Warlord.

Crocodile was knocked back and rested his hand on his stomach; "That…Hurt? But I don't see water on him…" He mused as he gathered up sand in his hand and drew it up; "I'm not sure how you're pulling it off but those mosquito bites that you call punches actually sting…DESERT SPADA!" He yelled and then sliced his hand down, causing a blade of sand to shoot forward towards Morgan.

The Straw Hat barely had much chance to react and it was only thanks to his Observation Haki that he was able to evade at the last second. "I can't take chances with this guy, especially not with us running out of time to get to the Palace!"

"Judging by the look on your face, this is the first time that you're dealing with a Logia in their home field advantage." Crocodile gloated as he made a cloud of sand dance in his palm; "I hold the power of the Suna-Suna no Mi, which in a place like this…Makes me untouchable." 

"A Sand Man in the desert, it's almost funny…" Morgan grumbled as he kept his Observation and his Armament Haki running once he figured out what Crocodile's abilities ranged from.

"And now you understand just how out of depth you…"

"Harpoon Hook!" Morgan yelled out as he delivered a powerful hook into the side of Crocodile's head; knocking the Warlord out of his tirade when his fist made contact.

Crocodile stumbled as he clutched his now bruised jaw; His temper starting to waver as Morgan wasn't just refusing to back down, he was deliberately refusing to let him lay out his meticulously planned operation. "You're really starting to piss me off, Straw Hat!"

"At which part, the fact that I won't let you talk? The fact that I can punch you in that smug face of your's, the fact that I can see my whole reflection in your forehead or the rather obvious fact that the fur coat you're wearing looks like a patch of giant's back hair?" Morgan smirked as he realised that he was getting to Crocodile so much more easily.

Each new jab at Crocodile seem to make his expression more and more thunderstruck; There were very little people who angered him so quickly and even fewer that could fight back like he could. "I won't take comments on appearances by some lowly pirate in rags who thinks a straw hat looks good!" He roared and began firing more Desert Spada at Morgan.

Morgan dodged and rolled away with each new blade of sand that was sent his way, before rushing forward to take advantage of the furious Crocodile; ducking under one of the Warlord's swings of his hook before ramming the top of his head upward into the stitch faced man's chin.

Snapping his head backward and inadvertently biting through his cigar; he was starting to legitimately hate Morgan before taking advantage of his reel back by swinging his arm downward and planting his hand into the dune underneath. "DESERT GIRASOLE!" He yelled out as he started to make the dune that Morgan was standing on sink inward and spiral ever downward.

Morgan tried to pull himself out as the sand moved more quickly then he anticipated and had already got him stuck at knee height when he started to struggle.

"Aa ha ha ha! Good luck digging yourself out of this…This quicksand will drag you down so fast that you'll run out of air by the time Yuba gets wiped out by its next sandstorm…" Crocodile sneered as he stared down the sinking, struggling Morgan; however the blood that leaked from his nose gave him a very ghoulish look.

Hearing Crocodile admit this made Morgan remember what he heard about the sandstorms that ravaged the village they had come from.

"So what if we haven't had rain for three years? The sandstorms can come as many times as they want! But Yuba will survive…We'll get the water back and we'll thrive as a village once more!"

Seeing Crocodile's powers in action put the final piece of the puzzle in for him; "It was you…The sandstorms, the Dance Powder…" Morgan growled as he began to struggle more and felt his own anger start to rise; "You bastard…He didn't do anything to you and you've choked all the life out of everything!" Morgan dug his fingers into the sinking sand and started to push his legs down with as much Haki enhanced into them to propel himself out.

"Don't even bother, the more you struggle in that ant-lion…The more you'll choke yourself on the desert!" Crocodile smirked as he glanced to the hourglass; noticing it was down to one minute left but he saw the slowly rising form of Morgan pushing himself out of the sand. "Hm?" Croodile raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Morgan was elevating out of the sand, not sinking.

"Rabbit Sprint…Goat Jump…Rabbit Sprint…GOAT JUMP!" Morgan kept cycling between his leg techniques as he pushed himself harder and harder with the renewed drive to punch Crocodile, however the more he pushed himself out of the sand and the furious pumping of Haki into his legs dwindled his reserves faster. With one last powerful kick upwards; Morgan propelled himself out of the sand and then delivered a powerful straight punch into Crocodile's face and knock him to the ground.

The powerful Sand-Man fell to the ground and clutched his face which had started bleeding all the more before staggering to his feet; "You…You vile little wretch!" He yelled at Morgan as when his hand pulled away; his nose had been broken inward so it made him look more like a thuggish boxer than a refined mobster now.

"Heh…Might not be a perfect knockout…But at least I knocked you off the News Coo's front page." Morgan joked as he had landed belly down on the sand, panting heavily as fighting against the quicksand and the incredible tax that using multiple of his own moves in succession had on him had drawn out all his energy. Any hopes that he had improved his Haki in this fight was now dubious since he couldn't get back up.

Crocodile was done, both in patience and in time since the hourglass had run out; "Time's up, Straw Hat…Not just for you but for your friends and that little princess." Crocodile growled as he stood over the collapsed Morgan; "Now I'm gonna show you what it means to raise your hand to me like you did." He snarled as he made a small tornado in his hands. "Sandstorms can get pretty dangerous out here in the desert, by the time this little baby picks up speed to the south…Yuba will be nothing more than a dead town and a pile of sand to show for it." He would casually say as he then threw it out onto the wind, causing the mini tornado to pick up speed and size before starting it's course towards Yuba.

"Stop…it…" Morgan croaked as he staggered to his feet and delivered a punch to Crocodile's chest, however without Haki behind him anymore; his fist just punched a hole through and quickly reformed.

"Oooooh, so that's the limit of what you're capable of?" Crocodile regained some of his composure and smirked as he realised that the hits on him no longer hurt. "I think it's time I take a little time to show you why people fear me…Desert Cutlass!" He shouted and created a sickle blade of sand on his arm and swiped it over Morgan's own swinging arm when he tried to hit him again.

The Straw Hat collapsed to the ground and gasped out as he felt this hit him harder, going into a mild shock when he saw that the arm he hit had sucked all the moisture out of where he had been sliced. Thankfully for him, Morgan still had his container full of water tied around his neck; with some tentative sucks down of water plus some quick pours of water against his dried up arm, he was able to get himself back to somewhat fighting shape. "That….That's new…"

"For a supposed smart fighter; you are surprisingly moronic…My power is that of the sands: I can dry out what I touch and wring out any moisture in a person's body…And with that ability of your's tired out in the desert heat…I can finish this for good and make an example of your friends, nice and slow on top of that purely for how much you pissed me off." Crocodile sneered as he then watched the leaving sandstorm head to Yuba and then delivered a swift kick into Morgan's stomach, causing him to double over and cough.

"You…You can talk down on me all you want, but I'm not gonna stay down like you think I will…now call off…THE SANDSTORM!" Morgan roared as he swung a kick into Crocodile's side; but seeing as he was out of Haki, all it did was bisect the Sand-Man with little harm to him.

"How many times do I have to say it? Like you are now, you can punch me, kick me or threaten me with any manner of weapon but you can't hurt me unless I allow you to." Crocodile sneered as he grabbed Morgan by the collar and lifted him up; "If you were a little more obedient or willing to hear me out, you could've made a decent agent for Baroque Works…But no, you just have to act proud and stubborn."

Morgan's simple response? He spat in Crocodile's face and smirked; "Sorry to disappoint you, but being stubborn's my specialty…" He croaked out as he couldn't fight much anymore with fatigue and the desert heat dwindling him down, but that croak soon came with a gasp and a trickle of blood as he felt something cold pierce his chest.

Crocodile felt the trickle of liquid down the side of his face and felt every inch of him burn with a newfound rage he never thought could be possible. In that moment when Morgan figuratively and literally spat in his face; He had driven his gold hook into Morgan's body and impaled him. "You…You have no idea who I am, the fact that you, a lowly pirate captain of less than a full crew…thought that you could scupper my plans and defeat me? Defeating me won't make Baroque Works stop my plans and it won't make the sandstorm stop either…A greenhorn like you has no place here in a world of real pirates…" Crocodile snarled as he then threw Morgan off of his hook and back into the sinking quicksand; "It's been fun, Straw Hat…But now it's time for you to accept your place buried in the sand." He remarked finally as he dissipated into sand and headed off for the next part in his plan.

What he didn't account for however when he left was for Morgan to be carried out of the sand by a multitude of arms back onto the dry desert ground at Miss All-Sunday's feet. She then sat beside the mortally wounded pirate who was gasping for air and clutching a hand to his bleeding chest. "Here I thought you were too stubborn to allow a man like him to win against you but I guess I was wro-hm?" She thought to herself in disappointment but then noticed a box strapped to his waist and pulled it off.

With a few separated hands and an unsurprising gift at lockpicking; Miss All-Sunday opened it up thinking it was the young man's food or a stash of money but smirked a little when she saw neither…But a Devil Fruit sat dead center of the box; "Now THIS changes things~" She would coo as she lifted Morgan's head to rest it on her lap; "I won't question why you have this on your person but now is a good time to see if you really do have the Devil's luck on your side, Mr. Captain~" Miss All-Sunday remarked to the barely conscious man as she swept away some hair from his face and then grabbed the fruit out of it's box.

"Morgan D. Ford, you bear the name of D so I'll place one extra gamble on you and your life in this unforgiving sea…But rest assured, you'll thank me for this later." The VP of Baroque Works thought to herself as she then forced the fruit into his mouth; massaging his throat to make him swallow it down and then watched to see what'd happen. Her other hand resting on his chest and feeling his heart beat slowly dwindle down and slip the mortal coil.

B-bmp, B-bmp…

B-Bmp…B-Bmp…

B….Bmp…..

BU-BMP!

With one final beat of his heart that shook his body; Morgan's eyes were forced open and let let out a deep inhale of air.