Chapter 33: Too Much Sand 3

"You guys are excited to see Master fight, huh?" Maro grinned knowingly. "Well, sit back and enjoy, we might not see this often!"

They all nodded and got comfortable. Angel began resting her head in Maro's lap and the queen hummed as she raked a hand through her red hair.

which prompted Mikita to sidle a bit closer to the Doctor who was so pleasant to her.

Demon shot her a side glance at the physical contact but said nothing, focusing back on the screen after simply shooting her a reassuring smile.

She flushed. Ah, Mikita had it so bad.

"KANNA, STOP MAKING OUT WITH RIN AND MAKE US SOME POPCORN!" Maro screamed.

"STOP EMBARRASSING ME, MY QUEEN!" A voice roared back.

"WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT?!" The Queen shouted.

"You two act more and more like mother and daughter," Angel said dryly, burying herself deeper into Maro with a pleased sigh at those strong but tender hands.

"Oh please! If Kanna was my daughter, Rin's pretty little bones would be paste already! My child won't be dating until they're 30!" Maro grinned shamelessly.

They all sweatdropped at her honesty.

"That reminds me… Sabo, you don't happen to have a girlfriend, do you?" Angel asked with narrowed eyes.

The blonde blinked at that. Girlfriend? A Revolutionary didn't really have time for that... the closest thing he had to one was probably Koala but she was just a girl that was his friend so he guess that was out of the window.

"No, I don't. Would it be a problem if I did?"

"Of course! You haven't even introduced us to her!" Angel scowled.

"...I've had amnesia for ten years."

"And? You're the only one agonizing over the small details!"

Sabo blinked once more.

Small... details?

They sweatdropped at Angel, deciding that acknowledging the utterly unreasonable queen was not worth it.

"Don't you fucking ignore me!"

Nico Robin was confused.

Why was she confused exactly?

Well that was an easy question to answer.

She was confused because her best friend was currently groping and kissing her in front of their enemies.

It was as inappropriate as it sounded too. Rosan was full on making out with her in a way that would have most people blushing scarlet. It was a long sensual kiss that gave absolutely no illusions… which is probably what her scheming partner had in mind.

Not to mention, the grip he had on her... butt was baffling. He knew exactly what he was doing currently.

Robin's childish crush on Rosan had long since dissipated. She was glad that they were together again but a relationship was not something either of them needed right now, so currently, she had no interest in furthering their relationship and she was sure he was the exact same.

After all, of course they both realized how they looked to other people. They were never far from each other, slept in the same bed... Rosan was the person who saw her naked the most and vice versa so it was normal to assume they were dating.

But they weren't. They had a private talk about it and came to a mutual agreement that neither needed it at the moment.

It seemed like he was trying to throw all of that out of the window with how well he was kissing her.

She knew what he was planning and she tried to resist, she really did.

Rosan and Mod made the girl very confident in herself in their 4 years together and made sure she knew her worth, so she made sure that part of her stayed as she traveled alone.

She may have been the Devil Child, but even the Devil had standards.

No one was allowed to touch her and that had remained true over the years. She was too caught up in her grief and showed a genuine lack of interest in anyone else so debasing herself was not an option.

Crocodile was well aware of this aspect of her, considering they had been partners for years. He saw what she had done to anyone dumb enough to try and make a move on the beautiful woman and made no comment on it besides showing slight amusement and understanding her boundaries.

Good, she was fairly sure the Warlord was partially attracted to her and that was not a thought she liked entertaining. It was a good thing he was also a narcissist and far too caught up in his own schemes.

Rosan truly did know her too well because by making out with her like this, and the fact that she had yet to push him off (much less remove his hand!), he would either shatter Crocodile's perception of her or reinforce the idea that she was brainwashed.

Robin realized this and tried to push him off, but she only weakly grasped his cloak instead, when the conniving redhead immediately caught her intentions and began using his tongue, preventing any and all resistance immediately as it melted in the desert heat.

Oh he was in so much trouble after they were done here.

Gone her crush may be, Rosan was still the person she trusted most in the world and he had grown up to be as handsome as he knew he was.

She also had a terrible habit of letting him get away with nearly everything because of her passive tendencies... something he was clearly well aware of…

The Devil Child was also not used to such intimate affection so she was rather stunned by his actions.

She didn't know how long he kissed her for, but by the time he broke it she distantly realized she had melted in his grasp, while he held her up by the waist with a satisfied glint.

The dazed women stared into his glowing eyes and she was glad (for once) that he didn't have emotions because the amount of teasing he would have submitted her to…

"You are in so much trouble. Count your days," Robin eventually said, cheeks red in mortification as she tried and failed to gather her thoughts.

Did he really have to grope her butt? That was excessive!

"Ram told me the more excessive, the more convincing so that's what I did. Punish her," Rosan replied calmly, turning his glowing gaze towards Crocodile, who looked convinced off that action.

"I'm sorry for them Robin, it was too fast for me to deny it. I didn't even know that was their plan," Mod moaned in disbelief, face scarlet as she buried her face in the nearest pillow.

What was wrong with these two? How did she consistently prove that she was the most normal?

"I will accept any punishment!" Ram beamed, grinning so widely that her cheeks began to hurt.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. That was a fantastic kiss and I'm sure anyone would be glad to feel you up," Rosan reassured.

"I don't need to hear that right now. You didn't even warn me and you grabbed my butt," Robin said flatly, ignoring the part where he said someone would be glad to feel her up for her own sake.

His plan undoubtedly worked and she made it no better. He knew what he was doing by kissing her for that long. Any shorter and she might have been coherent enough to potentially dissuade Crocodile but with how silent she currently was…

Robin sighed in annoyance. He didn't need to try so hard to protect her. She was strong too.

"We're in the desert fighting a sand man. I won't risk losing you again and having him think you're brainwashed will keep you safer. We just need to stall him. We're not here to finish him off because Luffy has dibs," Rosan grunted.

Crocodile had been in the Grand Line and fought his share of Devil Fruit users so predicting his thought process would be pretty easy.

Kill or knock Rosan unconscious to undo the effects of his Devil Fruit and free Nico Robin so Utopia can continue.

Most emission type Devil Fruits that affected another person's body, were undone when that person was knocked unconscious or killed. It was natural to assume that Rosan's was the same.

It wasn't but it was a logical conclusion.

Modifications changes were permanent unless he himself undid it. Even if you knocked him unconscious or killed him, the modification would remain on a person…

But it hadn't always been like that.

Modification used to actually be temporary according to Mod-chan. Due to Vegapunk combining it with a blank zoan the transformation aspect of the Zoan integrated itself into the Fruit and made it's changes permanent.

It was why the fruit was so desired. It had been fundamentally changed from a strong, but temporary, Devil Fruit, into a weapon of war with unmatched versatility.

It was like how Mythical Zoan's felt like they were Zoan combined with Paramecia/Logia due to the extra abilities it granted. Mod was basically a Special, or Mythical, Paramecia fruit and probably the only of her kind.

And she was his.

He locked his glowing eyes onto Crocodile to further solidify the idea that Nico Robin was hypnotized and was satisfied to see he was a majority of the man's focus.

"A Devil Fruit that can hypnotize people, allows you to float and use fire? Not to mention everything else you're capable of..." Crocodile rumbled, sand seeping off of his soaked body. "Killing you would be a waste. After I defeat you, I'll have you and Nico Robin join my side."

How funny, Rosan thought the same thing but he wouldn't say that aloud.

"You plan on fighting me while wet?" Rosan asked curiously, getting into position. Luffy still had dibs so he was just here to stall. "Maybe you should have dried off to give yourself invulnerability again… not that I haven't prepared for this already."

Robin crossed her arms in preparation for the upcoming battle.

Crocodile scoffed. "Don't get cocky because you have a strong Devil Fruit, rookie. I'll show you our difference soon enough."

Rosan's eyes glowed brighter. "You're wasting away in this country and you think you can beat me? I look forward to it."

"Are you ready for the performance, Robin?"

"Lead the way, Rosan. I'll match every step."

Watching these three battle, Smoker was made starkly aware of just how out of his league they were.

If that didn't make it clear, the explosion earlier, courtesy of Rosan, that took out a vast majority of their men did.

There were hardly any survivors. Smoker and Hina had tried to the best of their abilities to negate the blow but they were just too weak to save everyone.

The charred bodies of his subordinates surrounded him and he couldn't bite back the snarl of anger at the damage done by that explosion.

He hated to admit it, but this outcome was better then every single one of them dying so Crocodile had inadvertently saved their lives.

Well... some. Most of his soldiers were dead and the rest were injured but would survive.

"Monsters," Hina gasped out, body screaming in agony. She had gotten a little marred from the explosion but her Devil Fruit had managed to protect her and the whimpering Tashigi from the brunt of it.

She had tried to spread it out to the best of its abilities but it wasn't enough because her own injuries were the most extensive and would need further checkup if they made it out of here alive…

Which was looking more and more likely because the fighting pirates were not even paying attention to the remaining Marines. It would have been insulting, if they weren't so out of her league.

Right now she could only call it a blessing that at least some were alive... the fight was drawing away from them as well so it looked like they'd actually be able to escape... something they'd need to do now because they would become collateral otherwise.

"Desert Spada."

Rosan's eyes narrowed at the torpedo of sand careening their way and leapt to the left, while Robin jumped to the right.

Dashing forward, the redhead charged Crocodile with a speed the Warlord was not expecting, if his slightly surprised gaze was anything to go by.

Ram, who was in the form of a katana, crashed into Crocodile's golden hook with crushing force, immediately pushing the Warlord back.

Crocodile grunted at the surprising amount of strength displayed and tried to make distance, only to let out another grunt at the multitude of arms keeping him in place.

Rosan ruthlessly took advantage of that.

Transforming his katana into his trusty gloves, the redhead placed a glowing hand flat on Crocodile's chest and said, "Retribution."

The Warlord spat out a mix of blood and spit at the explosive energy erupting on his chest and he was rocketed backwards from the force of the blow.

"You shouldn't underestimate me," Rosan advised calmly, gloves smoking from the technique. "I'm a lot stronger then you think."

He could have ended the fight right then and there... Oh well. He'd give it a bit more time before Vivi and the rest managed to quell the rebellion.

When Rosan accounted for Crocodile showing up, he didn't expect the man to forgo drying himself in his rage. It meant he couldn't kill the Marines but it also made battling him much easier.

"If we buy maybe 10 - 20 more minutes, it should be enough for them. Stay on your toes," Robin advised.

"Of course."

Crocodile narrowed his eyes at the redhead, wiping the blood from his mouth.

He had been underestimating him. After all, who could defeat him in his own domain? Inside of the desert, he was unstoppable and some no name redhead wouldn't be able to change that.

But he was much stronger then he looked. Close quarters combat wouldn't favor Crocodile if it got to that point and he did himself no favors allowing himself to remain wet.

They even knew of his weakness to moisture. Knowing the redhead, he had a backup to deal with the Logia.

Sand began seeping from his body and it coalesced on top of his outstretched arm.

As if his sudden tangibility would suddenly give these fools an advantage.

"Sables."

"A SANDSTORM AND IT'S HUGE! WATCH OUT!"

"WAIT…? ITS NOT MOVING?!"

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

The sound of the concerned citizens rang through the air as they witnessed the giant sandstorm laying waste far into the desert.

"That has to be Crocodile," Vivi muttered, watching the massive sandstorm with a stony gaze.

They were all atop the crab that was quickly headed to Alubarna.

"He must be fighting Robin and Rosan," Nami said worriedly.

After what Rosan did, the Warlord must have been furious with the redhead.

"That bastard better keep Robin-chan safe," Sanji swore. If anything happened to her, he'd have his former hero's head on a silver platter.

"He has the Marines to deal with too…" Zoro frowned at the sandstorm. Maybe Luffy should have stayed behind with the two,

"Don't worry you guys! Rosan's really strong," Luffy assured, looking wholly unbothered by the fact his brother was fighting a Warlord. "He's the reason all of us are strong so they'll be fine!"

Vivi nodded in determination. "The fact that their fighting Crocodile when they could easily escape, means they're buying time for us! We can't let this opportunity go to waste so let's meet them at Alubarna!"

"RIGHT!" They all chorused.

Rosan was expecting this. For the Warlord to further transform the battlefield to favor him even more. He was already formidable in the desert but with an active sandstorm…?

"Modify: Vision," Rosan thought to himself. The sand flying around didn't bother him but it did obscure his vision and that wouldn't do so he modified his vision to view heat sources.

He quickly dashed over to Robin's side and applied the vision to her as well, placing a comfortable mask on her face in the process.

"Thank you," she replied.

Before he could say anything, he grabbed the woman and immediately jumped out of the way of the golden hook flying towards them.

"Find cover," he grunted, dashing to meet Crocodile again.

He wasn't permitted to get close this time though, due to Crocodile actively wanting to keep his distance.

The sandstorm picked up in intensity and began buffering him with even stronger winds, making him pause slightly. Frowning a bit at that, Rosan grabbed the hoodie of his cloak and threw it over his head to better protect him.

That split second of distraction was all Crocodile needed.

The Warlord appeared directly to the left of Rosan with his right arm raised, a crescent of sand following him, and said, "Barjan."

It connected solidly with the redhead's left arm and drained all the moisture out of it.

Then, Crocodile grabbed his hook and tried to stab it into Rosan's chest, grunting in confusion at connecting with the raid cloak.

Not dwelling too long on it, he dipped back into the sandstorm to avoid the swift swipe of the katana that was only a second to slow due to being swung with that dehydrated left arm.

"Are you alright? I've seen with that dehydration does," Robin asked worriedly.

"I'll survive as long as he doesn't drain all of me. Mod-chan," Rosan replied.

"Right."

The Devil Fruit, with her intricate control of Rosan's body, distributed the moisture in his body back into his left arm, returning life into it.

He clenched his fist and nodded in satisfaction.

Crocodile watched it all in shock. Without drinking any water… he managed to get his arm back to normal?!

Just who was this greenhorn? Would it even be right to call him a greenhorn?

His thoughts were cut short at the multitude of arms trying to force him into submission, positioned in a way to avoid his hook.

Crocodile struggled to escape and he was making good progress, until a gloved fist connected solidly with his face and sent him soaring through the sky.

The Warlord tumbled on the sandy floor unceremoniously, groaning at the power behind that blow.

"Not used to getting hit huh, Mr. Logia?" Rosan asked quietly, appearing on top of him with a sneakered foot raised high, poised to stomp his skull into the desert sand.

Crocodile tried to move out of the way, but those damned arms formed again and held him in place, ensuring he didn't have enough time to avoid the attack.

These two…

With his quick thinking, the Sandman palmed the floor and used another of his techniques to get him out of this pinch.

"Desert Girasole," he intoned, stabbing the ground and causing a pitfall to begin forming beneath them all.

It disrupted Rosan's balance for just enough time for the Warlord to deal with the arms surrounding him.

"Release him," Rosan ordered, watching sand begin to seep off the Warlords body in order to damage Robin from a distance.

She immediately listened to his order and released the Warlord just in time to avoid the spiky sand technique.

The redhead would not be deterred at his attack being disrupted, dashing forward once again to capitalize on Crocodile still not getting up—

"Desert Grande Espada."

—Only to stop at the blade of sand stabbing him at speeds too quick for him to react. If not for the Raid Suit, it'd have pierced right through his body (and be rather annoying to heal) but it managed to stop it from doing so.

"ROSAN!" Robin gasped, resisting the urge to rush out and grab him.

"I'm fine," Rosan grunted, spitting out blood. That would have been much more troublesome if he didn't have his Raid Suit donned on but it still hurt a tad.

"Relentless aggression backed up by impressive durability," Crocodile praised. "But you're too aggressive, rookie. Fighting like that will get you killed in the Grand Line. You'd do best to learn some defense."

He begrudgingly found himself respecting this redhead's skill set.

"I don't need to take advice from a Logia struggling in his domain," Rosan replied, allowing the Philosophers Stone to heal his slight injury back up.

"He's been training," Robin informed him. Crocodile wasn't this strong before. It wasn't too big of a change but he was stronger then before.

"I've seen what I've needed to see. We are stronger," Rosan replied calmly.

He was strong. But he was not as strong as he should be. Even in a 1v1 Rosan would have defeated him with difficulty.

Rosan transformed Ram into his signature gloves once more and activated his sneakers so he could float above the field.

Then he held out a palm flat up.

An orb of red energy formed and Rosan gazed down at the field below him. Releasing the orb, it began rotating faster and faster and he let his attack remain there in the sky.

"Discern."

The orb pulsed and Crocodile immediately morphed his lower half into sand, to avoid the sudden hail of red projectiles aiming for him. The orb spun as it remained in the sky and repeatedly shot out beam after beam in hopes of filling his body with holes and the Warlord grunted as the numbers increased.

A plethora of hands formed right atop and tried to shatter every bone in his body.

This allowed some of the hail of projectiles to catch up to him and he summoned a wall of sand to weather the hail, getting ready to let loose the spikes once more to dissuade Nico Robin from grasping him.

He grit his teeth in annoyance. If not for the moisture, Nico Robin would be a non factor right now but in his rage, he had foregone drying himself up and the desert wasn't doing a nearly fast enough job.

Due to his tangibility, the hypnotized Devil Child was providing fantastic coverage for the redhead and it was nullifying the advantage he gained by surrounded by so much sand.

Rosan rocketed down and slashed downward with a set of gauntlets but it was barely blocked by Crocodile's hook. The momentum of the fall caused the Sandman to buckle slightly and he grunted in exertion.

Then the hands made their presence known again and began strangling him, cutting off his wind and allowing Rosan to quickly gain an advantage.

Thanks to a quick and shoddy sand armor, Crocodile didn't suffer nearly as much as he should have from the force of those gauntlets almost caving him into the ground beneath, forming a very visible crater.

Capitalizing on the close proximity, Crocodile swiftly removed the golden part of his weapon, revealing the poisonous hook underneath and swiftly slashed inside the hole of the hoodie, connecting with the man's cheek and injecting his lethal venom inside of him.

"Poison," Rosan hummed, leaping back to assess his bleeding cheek.

"I have an antidote for it. Do you need it?" Robin asked worriedly.

He shook his head. "No, I am mostly immune. My body is purging it as we speak."

It wouldn't be too long now. Crocodile had acquired quite a bit of injuries and if he were smart, he'd go back and tend to himself. By then, it should be too late.

"Let's finish this and meet back up with them," he commented, eyeing Crocodile's panting body.

He clenched his gauntlets into a fist and began sprinting to the Warlord's location.

As he rocketed forward at speeds too quick to react to, Rosan prepared to land a non lethal finisher on him and mercilessly slammed the gauntlets into his gut, connecting cleanly and causing a burst of sand to spray everywhere.

…

Wait.

Sand?

A gasp of pain made Rosan's blood run cold and he watched the Crocodile (the man made a clone...?) he attacked, dissolve into sand.

Turning around towards the noise of distress, Rosan saw Robin being ruthlessly impaled through the stomach by Crocodile's poisonous hook. He held her up with a sneer, as blood pooled from her mouth and stomach.

"There, now the nuisance is dealt with," Crocodile grunted, tossing her aside uncaringly and watching her tumble into the sand.

It was a good thing Nico Robin used that clone of hers so frequently. He found the idea behind them quite useful and decided to learn how to make sand clones himself.

"MOTHER!" Ram screamed, eyes going wide in terror as tears began leaking from them.

"ROBIN!" Mod shouted in horror as she resisted the urge to take over and rush the woman's body.

"You can keep fighting me and she'll die from the poison or you can submit right now and join my side. If you do that, I'll give her the antidote," Crocodile offered. "You hypnotized her for a reason. You know how useful Nico Robin is. It would be a waste to let her die here."

Rosan said nothing, staring at Robin's body with a shocked gaze that began slowly shifting into a familiar rage that he had long forgotten. A snarl of rage made its way to his face, eyes glowing with bloody murder.

She wasn't moving right now because of this man right here. Robin wasn't moving. Robin wasn't moving. Robin wasn't movin—

"NO!" Mod yelled in genuine terror, turning white as a sheet. She felt it.

Mod felt it. Mod felt them. She felt P—

If this kept on, Rosan was going to use the Virus and then Robin would never be saved.

"Rosan, remember what we learned from our failures! Ensure your target is always safe! Don't fall victim to your own anger and seek to relieve it when we can still help Robin."

Rosan snapped out of that foggy rage and briskly nodded, anger melting off his face in favor of blatant concern as he quickly came to his senses.

Crocodile jumped to the left to avoid the massive column of flames aimed his way, that blocked Miss All Sunday from his view, and realized that the redhead probably didn't care what happened to Nico Robin if the fates of his other agents meant anything.

That was no good. He'd need to quickly defeat him then so he could administer the antidote to her. He still needed the Devil Child to tell him of Pluton's location—

He realized too late what the redhead was planning. Summoning another sandstorm, he quickly banished the flames and his face morphed into one of rage, at seeing both Rosan and Nico Robin missing.

Twice now. Twice he had gotten away from him. And this time he took someone who was pivotal to his plans…

Again.

Crocodile turned towards the direction of Alubarna with murder in his eyes and vanished in a gust of sand.

"Demon, heal her please."

The onlookers jumped at how swiftly the Rosan on their screen vanished, only to appear right next to them.

In his arms, he was holding the steadily bleeding Nico Robin who was just poisoned from Crocodile himself and didn't seem to register the blood making its way onto his body.

"R-Right!" The Doctor swiftly pushed himself up, alarm on his features at the raw desperation in Rosan's voice and he dashed off, redhead hot on his heels.

The onlookers were quick to follow after the trio.

"She was poisoned but she mentioned having the antidote on her," Rosan informed him, quickly and gently placing the woman down on the table.

"Right, thank you for informing me about that." Demon prepared everything with a speed and meticulousness that spoke of years of experience. After doing so, he quickly rummaged through Robin's clothing, until he found the antidote mentioned and quickly prepared to apply it to the woman.

"Mikita, could you help me? I don't know where Rin is and an extra hand would be helpful," He requested, not glancing up from what he was doing and gently removing the injured women's clothing so as to assess her injuries.

"Oh! O-Okay!" She stammered slightly, shooting Rosan a fearful glance but pushing through due to her admiration for Demon.

"Master I wouldn't dare kick you out so could you find a seat somewhere?" The doctor requested softly.

"…"

"Master?" Demon glanced up in confusion and gazed at his older brother.

The Doctor went pale and shakily took a step away, fear making its way onto his face.

Rosan, who paid Demon no mind, was staring at Robin's bleeding body with a dark glare on his face. His handsome visage had shifted into a terrifyingly rare scowl that they hadn't seen in years and though it was not directed towards the youngest triplet, it still evoked a deep rooted trauma out of him.

Why?

Because the last time Rosan made a face like this, it was directed towards the twins.

"Demon?" Maro said quietly, watching the terror on the clones face and stepping forward in worry.

A shaky gasp, alerted her to the presence of her wife and the Queen glanced to her right and saw an equal level of terror on Angel's own face.

"I-I'm sorry, M-Master," she said instinctively, taking a step back as tears formed in her eyes from that deeply buried fear that she thought she had done so well dealing with.

But as soon as he glared at them like that, it brought it all to the forefront. It reminded her that at the end of the day, a part of her would always be terrified of her older brother because they had killed Meiko.

"I-It was so stupid on our part to l-leave Meiko alone a-and I know we deserve anything you do b-but please! We really are sorry!"

Maro and Sabo both furrowed their brows in noticeable concern and the queen realized both the twins were zoning her out completely, too focused on appeasing the creator who wasn't even paying attention to them.

What was happening? Why were they reacting like Rosan was upset with them —

Oh.

Rosan didn't notice the twin's distress, simply staring at Robin's prone body with a boiling dark anger that made Mod nervously quiet.

Robin was hurt. Robin was hurt under his watch. He was supposed to keep her safe but she was still harmed because of him.

Worst of all, he nearly let his anger get the best of him again. He was about to throw caution to the wind and just eliminate Crocodile right then and there if not for Mod-chan reminding him about a more important goal.

But if it had just been him… What was wrong with him? Was he incapable of changing his negative traits?

Of course he wasn't. That's why Meiko was dead. That's why they thought Sabo had died for 10 years. That's why Robin was lying on the bed with a hole in her stoma—

Two hands touched his shoulder and his gaze snapped up.

Maro and Sabo both looked at him with clear concern on their features.

"It's gonna be alright, Rosan. Robin's safe here," Sabo explained calmly.

That deep sense of self loathing… It wasn't healthy at all. He could feel clear as day how much Rosan despised himself.

"Yeah Master she's fine... but Demon can't attend to her while he's this scared… of you," Maro explained softly, engulfing him with a tender expression in her eyes as she tried to calm her teacher down.

Rosan's anger tapered off and he glanced at his purple triplet in question, fury vanishing completely at Demon's teary visage. Mikita was desperately trying to soothe him but he was utterly unresponsive, just staring at his creator with clear terror in his eyes as he shuddered.

A quick look over at Angel showed that she was curled up into herself with a concerned Kaori rubbing her shoulder.

"They saw that look on your face and it reminded them of just how angry you were with them on the day everything went wrong…" Mod whispered, sounding subdued.

She had been soothing a sobbing Ram the entire time. The ring wasn't used to being concerned about someone's well being and her first time was when Rosan had gotten sick.

Now Robin, her designated mother, was injured? It was safe to say she was a rightful mess and Mod had quickly put her to sleep with a gentle song.

Afterwards, she quickly departed to the castle to ensure nothing was amiss.

There was nothing but… but that familiar destructive energy was getting more and more oppressive…

Mod bit her lip and remained silent.

Rosan came to a realization as he stared at their tear streaked faces.

His clones were still afraid of facing a version of him who was fully emotional. Even after all these years, they still were uncertain about just what he'd do to them after gaining all his emotions. Even after he showered them in love and care, their trauma was too prevalent.

They weren't sure what to expect from their unpredictable Master and Rosan had always been a vindictive person.

Seeing that anger in their eyes reminded them of a possible future where he remembered what they did and destroyed them.

…

"Angel. Demon," he called the two.

They went ramrod straight at his voice and began breathing heavily. The two began panicking as they recalled that day that he changed for the worst. The day when they thought they would lose their lives, but their Master ended up losing his instead.

The day that would forever haunt every single one of the triplet in different, but so similar ways.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?!" A 12 year old Rosan snarled in pure, overwhelming anger. They didn't miss the sinister glow in his eyes, shining so brightly it could have replaced the sun.

They didn't miss how he directed that murderous glare towards them.

"YOU DIDN'T WANT TO CAUSE A SCENE? I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAD TO DESTROY AN ENTIRE ISLAND TO DO SO, I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE TO RUIN MILLIONS OF LIVES AT ONCE, MEIKO ALWAYS COMES FIRST, YOU FUCKING IDIOTS."

That's right. They were idiots. Complete fucking idiots.

"Y-Yes, Master?!" They said in unison, fearing the worst. Was he going to finally fulfill his wish and destroy them like he planned on doing? A-After all this time was he going to kill them—

"Please."

The two blinked.

"I'm so sorry for traumatizing you two. On that day… when I said those things, I was angry and not thinking straight but even despite that, I was never going to destroy you two," he told them honestly, eyes closed in pain. "I loved you guys even then and I love you guys even now. That's why I'm here asking for help. Because I trust you two with my life."

Much to their utter surprise and awe, the redhead uncharacteristically bowed his head low to them.

"You have my word that no harm will befall you guys when I get my emotions back if I can help it, so please help Robin heal from my stupid mistake," he said softly, a hint of desperation in his voice that made their heart wrench.

"Oh Rosan," Mod said sadly.

The twins were shell shocked, snapped out of their fear with wide eyes.

Master was… bowing to them…? He said that he always loved them? H-He trusted them with his life? Even after their mistake caused the death of someone they all loved with their heart?!

Then Demon heard his final request and snapped out of his daze.

"I-I'm sorry, Master! I don't know what got over me!" He apologized, quickly whirring back into action. "Please just find a seat somewhere close and watch the procedure. I promise you that Robin will be fine!"

Angel let out a choked sob at the overwhelming happiness she felt and nodded, pushing herself up in the process. "Please don't bow, Master! That's unbefitting of you! We should be sorry for still fearing you after you went out of your way these years to show you love us!"

Rushing the prone redhead, she hastily straightened him and guided him to a seat that would keep Robin in his view.

Rosan said nothing, thankful that he managed to snap them out of their fear and remained stationary in his spot, staring at Robin's body the whole while.

Maro scooped up Angel in a reassuring hug and let her wife sob in her chest, shooting Sabo a grateful look all the while.

The revolutionary tipped his hat, frowning slightly at the image of how much Rosan seemed to loathe himself.

It wasn't just that he was missing his emotions. It was being walled up by an unhealthy amount of negativity.

"We should clear out the room," Maro said softly, turning on a heel and marching out with Angel in her hands. "Let's give them some space and go watch what's happening in Alabasta."

Everyone not involved nodded and shuffled out but not before gazing at the mysterious redhead who's actions only gave them more questions then answers.

Sabo placed a reassuring hand on Rosan's shoulder again and was satisfied to see the redhead acknowledging him with a short nod.

"Don't beat yourself up too much for something that's not your fault. You strike me as the type of person to do that," the revolutionary advised, departing moments after.

"He's right. Robin knew the danger she was in and would be furious if she realized you were pampering her to the point of your own detriment," Mod said softly.

The best way to get through to Rosan, was to have him see it through another's perspective instead of his own while being blunt.

"…" Rosan took a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah you're right. She'd be upset if I blamed myself for this so I won't and we'll just continue to train so that it doesn't happen again."

"Of course!" Mod smiled gently, pleased that he was seeing reason. He was much more receptive to things like this over the years due to their family and she was so glad.

"Will you be going back to Alabasta?"

Surprisingly, he shook his head. "No, I want to be there for Robin when she wakes up. Luffy will save that kingdom, Robin needs me right now."

"...Right," Mod said, smiling even brighter. He was forgoing his vindictive nature to be with his best friend and that touched her heart.

Mod always did think they'd be a cute couple when they were kids and they even had a crush on each other!

It was natural considering the two were close in age and spent time traveling together in isolation. Not to mention, Rosan was incredibly possessive of Robin and showered her with attention and vice versa.

Alas, only Robin fully realized her crush. Rosan was too young to fully get a grasp on his own and they got separated just when he was about to. His crush is probably what the Virus used to fully turn him against her and then he met Meiko…

Perhaps what he needed was to find someone to love again. If they got him and Robin together… If they got Rosan to admit that he was in love with her, would he finally be saved?

Well, she was all aboard getting her two emotionally stunted idiots together.

"We've… We stabilized her Master," Demon said softly, snapping the dazed Rosan out of his reverie. "If you want, you can get closer to her."

The redhead immediately took that invitation and moved his seat right next to the sleeping Robin.

"Thank you, Demon, Mikita. You have no idea how much this means to me," Rosan said softly, turning towards the two and allowing them to see the slight tension drain from his face.

For once, he wasn't a stone wall. The Rosan who looked like he had everything under control at all times was gone, replaced by the weary man who had too much on his plate from such a young age.

He didn't look like the demon everyone thought he was. He just looked tired.

"I'm sorry for scaring you and yet you still did this for me… I won't forget this," Rosan assured quietly, closing his eyes and grabbing one of Robin's hand.

Mikita stepped back in shock, eyes wide in surprise. Though it wasn't specific, Rosan apologized to the both of them and not only that, he thanked them too! The former agent never expected to be thanked by the one person who made her feel worthless…

Did that mean… Did that mean she was useful…?

For once, Rosan didn't look like the Devil she thought he was.

"You don't have to do anything, Master," Demon assured in return, grabbing his brother in a tentative hug. "Her injuries weren't life threatening. Only the poison was truly a problem and she had the antidote ready at hand. We simply patched her up and thanks to being a Devil Fruit user, she's already healing faster then normal."

"Still. If you want something just ask," Rosan requested quietly, returning the hug and ending the conversation there. He turned his gaze back to Robin with intense focus and clutched her hand, idly applying Modification to her to alleviate some pain.

"We'll keep that in mind… C'mon Mikita," Demon urged, delicately grabbing the women and escorting her out the room.

"R-Right!" She said, lighting red at the touch.

"Thank you for helping me on such short notice. Remind me to treat you to dinner sometime this week. You did a fantastic job," the doctor said, smiling gently down at her and patting her blonde head.

The woman turned scarlet at that, looking at Demon like he just offered her the world and nodded rapidly.

Demon seemed out of her league but maybe just maybe… If she continued to prove her worth, he'd see value in her?

It was worth a shot.

Mod blinked at the interaction.

Was Mikita crushing on her little Demon? Mod had quite the soft spot for him, considering he opted to have purple hair and red eyes like her, and the youngest triplet never expressed any sort of interest in anyone outside of hookups with both genders.

She honestly thought he and Rin were going to get together but Angel informed her that Demon only thought of him as an assistant and maybe he had been attracted at one point but the doctor never did forget how willing he was to snap the boy's neck at a moment's notice... or for not mentioning what really happened to his father.

Demon was also afraid of commitment and didn't want to truly open his heart for anyone.

Rin had understandably not taken it very well (Angel mentioned him crying) and the two had become much more distant, something Demon didn't seem to mind at all, which only made his assistant more upset.

Well, at least he and Kanna seemed to be a thing now. Demon was quite the cold heartbreaker without realizing it sometimes because even that didn't bother him at all, only granting them a congratulatory smile when it was revealed.

Now that he was so experienced with his work, the purple haired clone was allowing himself much more liberties but he still never committed to anyone, much preferring to fool around instead.

Mod hoped he found someone worth settling down with. The most popular person in Celadon deserved it.

Maybe he'd end up liking Mikita?

Or maybe he'd break her heart like dozens of others on Celadon. Demon was quite difficult to chain down, something he did not share with his twin sister who was as loyal as could be to Maro.

Perhaps he was afraid of opening up his heart fully like Rosan had done… perhaps he didn't want to go through that potential pain.

It was a thought for another time. For now, she would make sure Ram was alright and keep an eye on Robin (and Alabasta) as well.

She sent a soothing pulse to her charge who had not taken his eyes off Robin once and assured him that everything would be fine.

Rosan didn't reply, too focused on the Devil Child to do so. He idly raked her hair before registering Mod's reassurance.

"She will be fine," he agreed quietly.

Of course she would. If she wasn't going to be fine, he wouldn't be so artificially calm right now.

No, if Robin was deeply injured, there'd have been hell to pay and the world would finally understand that there was a Demon that they had been nourishing.

The Straw Hats were making incredible progress through the desert right now.

They ran into an issue with crossing the river in a timely manner but after the Dugongs Luffy defeated much earlier in their journey came to assist them (much to Nami's annoyance) in crossing the river, they were making fantastic progress to Alubarna.

"I see some of the agents up ahead!" Usopp hissed, using his goggles that Rosan modified some time ago to spot a group of people, presumably, waiting for them.

They were desert proof now and granted him even better vision then he already had (they even had heat vision)! The redhead also offered to upgrade his slingshot but Usopp had rather fearfully denied it.

His hammer was good enough...

Nami, with her quick thinking, instructed them all to place their hoodies on so that they could confuse them and split up in order to let Vivi gain free access into Alubarna.

Based on the confusion in their eyes, it was working out well for them and soon, they'd be able to divert their attention and lead them away from all the entrances.

Of course, things were never quite that simple.

Without warning, Luffy turned on his spot-billed duck and launched his fist out, colliding with a wave of sand and mostly neutralizing the attack.

"That attack…!" Vivi whispered in horror.

Crocodile?! What happened to Robin and Rosan? Weren't they fighting him? Were they all right?!

The Warlord appeared in their vision and it was clear that he had been in quite the fight. He was soaked, with some dried blood and his outfit was torn in places.

But most interesting was the hot rage on his face. Despite, presumably, winning his fight, the Warlord didn't look pleased whatsoever.

"D-Did he kill Robin and Rosan?!" Usopp stammered in fear.

The Straw Hats didn't want to think about that possibility but Usopp had brought it to attention and now they couldn't stop dwelling on it.

Was Rosan actually… was he dea—

"Of course he didn't!" Luffy scowled. "Rosan wouldn't lose here! Something happened that made him leave."

They glanced in a bit of awe at the absolute faith Luffy had in his scout and realized he was right, there was no way Rosan would lose here!

Right on cue, a blue bird flew into view and landed on Luffy's shoulder, chirping all the while to the rubbery boy.

"Robin got hurt so Rosan took her away?" the captain frowned.

The bird trilled at that, nodding rapidly.

The crew paused at that. Robin was hurt?! What happened to her? Was she alright?!

"Don't worry, I'll kick Crocodile's ass," Luffy assured confidently, glaring at the furious sandman.

"How does he understand the bird?" Everyone thought in confusion. It was just chirping and not even Chopper could understand it because it wasn't actually speaking in animal tongue.

Rosan's little scout chirped happily and rubbed its cheeks against Luffy's in satisfaction before flying off. They watched it fly into the sky where it seemed to meet up with two other birds.

Just how much birds did Rosan have out at a time?

Crocodile's teeth were creaking due to how hard his jaw was clenched.

That redhead had ruined his plans one too many times.

Nico Robin was right there and now she was out of his grasp again. Over and over again, Rosan one upped him and now he had no idea where he was.

Well, no matter. He'd lure him out again by dismantling his crew this time.

"You guys go ahead and distract the others," Luffy ordered as he stared down the Warlord. "I'll keep this guy right here to stop him from interfering anymore."

The Straw Hats were much more hesitant to leave Luffy behind by himself but the captain shot them a reassuring grin.

"Don't worry! Rosan didn't lose and I won't lose either! We need to stop the rebellion," He beamed, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

Not wanting to reveal their identities any further, they simply nodded and urged their respective ducks forward, leaving Luffy and Crocodile behind.

"You think I'll let them get away for free?" Crocodile snarled. Holding out his hand, he summoned a miniature sandstorm in his palm and prepared to let it fly.

"Sable—"

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

The Warlord was forced to cancel his technique in order to block the rubbery fist careening his way. Using his hook (that was still fully exposed from his previous battle) he blocked the attack and focused his attention on the rubber boy.

"You and that redhead just love getting in my way and I'm getting tired of it," Crocodile rumbled. He'd make this quick. If this was really the captain of their crew, the redhead would make sure Straw Hat Luffy didn't die.

"You made Vivi cry so I'm gonna kick your ass," Luffy said simply, putting up his fists to do just that.

The Warlord snorted, not taking the rubber boy serious at all. "You really think you can beat me without that redhead?"

"I don't need Rosan to beat you and Rosan doesn't need me to beat you!" Luffy grinned challengingly,.

Crocodile felt a litter of veins riddle his face at that statement. This one wouldn't be getting away if he had anything to say about it. He was fed up with this random rookie crew.

"Let's see how confident you are after I'm done with you," The leader of Baroque Works muttered darkly.

The Straw Hats had a simple plan to let Vivi freely enter Alubarna without interference.

Throw up a simple disguise and go to every single exit, distracting the agents at the same time and splitting them up by pairs.

The sudden arrival of Crocodile threw them out of sorts but Luffy choosing to stay behind actually worked out well for them.

Usopp offered to go deeper into the desert due to his newfound goggles and Chopper opted to follow him, concerned for his well being.

Nami and Zoro went the other, mostly so that the navigator could keep the swordsman on track and be protected by him as well.

Sanji, Vivi and the camel went in another direction. By hiding her form, they made it appear as if it was only two of them and made the princess hide but on the off chance she was discovered, Sanji would go and save her.

The Agents didn't stay idle of course, splitting up into their own pairs to give chase.

"Alright. Time to see what this things made of," Nami muttered, facing off Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger with Zoro next to her.

W-Why did she have to go up against the two strongest agents?! W-Where was her bodyguard when she needed him!

Well… At least he worked on this clima-tact for her. She just needed to figure out how to activate Rosan's part.

It shouldn't be too hard. Rosan was much more… bloodthirsty then Usopp was.

"Can I leave the girl to you?" Zoro grunted, staring down Mr. 1 with a calm glare.

"Y-Yeah! Leave it to me!" Nami said nervously, eyeing the two killers.

If she ran now, Rosan would never let her live it down. If he heard that she ran after he went through the effort of modifying her weapon—

"If you have to fight someone, you better win or else, Nami," Rosan had told her calmly.

Nami whitened at the idea of him forcefully training her.

She needed to avoid that outcome at all costs.

"Let's split up," Nami instructed. If they fought them 2 on 2 they'd get slaughtered by the partners for years. Her and Zoro didn't have great teamwork at all.

Robin informed all of them of what each agent was capable of and these two were the most dangerous next to Mr. 2. Based on what she heard about all of them, Nami reluctantly came to the conclusion that she was one of the few choices in the crew who would be facing Miss Doublefinger.

Mr. 1 would probably handle most of their crewmates with little issue due to his Devil Fruit so they all agreed that if it came down to it, Zoro would fight the human swordsman.

The other's were up for grab, but Sanji would never hit a woman so that ruled him out and they doubted Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger would go into the desert where Usopp and Chopper went…

Nami understood all of that but why did she have to fight the strongest female in Baroque Works besides Robin?!

"Both her and Mr. 1 have Devil Fruits that do well against my own. I can still defeat her but it would be easier if someone else did the job instead," Robin had told her apologetically.

Right, she could do this. She knew about Miss Doublefinger because of Robin (she loved that woman) and the best way to fight her, would be to keep a safe distance.

Luckily for her, she had the clima-tact.

Zoro raised a brow at her. "You want to split up?" He asked in disbelief, looking at the other coward of the crew like she had grown a second head.

Just who was this person? This couldn't possibly be the Nami he knew. Zoro was expecting to deal with Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger, while the coward ran away.

"S-SHUT UP!" She barked, fumbling for the clima-tact and preparing to run off.

"Why would we split up?" Mr. 1 asked with a raised brow, making her freeze at his intelligent question. "What's the point? We'll just kill you both right here and complete our mission."

Zoro snorted at that answer. "Look at this mindless slave with no will of his own. Content to follow your bosses orders until you die? Know you can't win alone so you're gonna rely on your partner to help you outta a tough spot?" He taunted.

Miss Doublefinger sighed in amusement at watching Mr. 1 twitch.

Crocodile's strongest male agent glanced at Zoro with a dark glare on his features.

Right, this was the little bounty hunter who got offered a position in Baroque Works but denied it and killed Mr. 7 in the process after making an outrageous claim that he'd join if they made him the boss.

Now he was here calling him a mindless slave?

"Miss Doublefinger, don't interfere with my battle," Mr. 1 rumbled, focusing his full attention on Zoro.

"You're falling right into their trap, you know?" She shrugged helplessly, focusing on the fleeing Nami.

"Falling into their trap implies they can challenge us. Go deal with the other one," he instructed.

Miss Doublefinger was already on the move, following after Nami with a roll of her eyes.

The moment she vanished from their sight, Mr. 1 dashed into Zoro, blade arms gleaming as they collided with the swordsman own swords.

Usopp and Chopper were not having a fun time right now.

Miss Merry Christmas and Mr. 4 were in their element with the terrain and they used it to a vicious degree.

The two were bruised and battered, Usopp to a much greater degree as they tried to locate the mole woman's location.

There were holes in the battleground, courtesy of the female agent and she was currently camped out in one of them.

This was what had been happening the entire fight. She would pop out, grap Usopp and drag him over to Mr. 4, so that he could deliver a hellish blow to him.

Usopp in question, was a bloodied and battered mess. He had been taking the full brunt of their onslaught and he was sure most of his bones were broken.

But he couldn't fall yet. He wouldn't leave Chopper alone with these two.

"You have potential."

"Chopper, I have a plan," Usopp muttered, spitting out blood as he steeled himself.

The reindeer looked at him in confusion but nodded at the sudden confidence.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT OVER THERE!" Miss Merry Christmas howled, bursting out of a hole and charging Usopp and Chopper.

Before she could approach them, Chopper transformed into his walk point and Usopp leapt atop as the two rocketed off towards Mr. 4.

The agent and his bazooka dog, gazed at the two charging them and prepared to silence them.

At the same time, Miss Merry Christmas growled in annoyance and jumped back into one of the many holes she created.

"Now!" Chopper shouted as he grounded himself to a halt right in front of the dog and his master and launched Usopp through the air at the same time he transformed into his heavy point.

Usopp took aim and the moment Lassoo opened his mouth, the sniper shot a pellet inside.

"Special Attack: Pepper Star!" The sniper shouted hitting home.

Chopper lunged and grabbed the dog, before forcefully aiming it at Mr. 4 and making a mad dash away from them.

The effects were immediate.

The Dog began unleashing sneeze after sneeze and because of its nature, each sneeze meant it was unleashing a salvo of exploding baseballs directly onto Mr. 4's body.

The explosion that followed suit was deafening as everyone of Lassoo's cannonballs connected.

"MR. 4!" Miss Merry Christmas shouted in horror as she tunneled to his position.

The man was unconscious and charred, body smoking as he twitched.

"Y-You..." the woman stewed as she gazed at her defeated partner. "I'll make you two pay for that!"

With that declaration, Merry Christmas dove back into her tunnel system.

That mistake would prove costly.

Usopp grinned in victory as she went underground again, ignoring the pain at landing awkwardly, and pushed himself up.

Grabbing his slingshot once more, the sniper made a mad dash over to one of the holes with a gleam in his eyes.

Then, he painstakingly took aim inside and shot his specialized pellet.

Sometime Ago

"You want me to give you some new type of pellets?"Rosan asked curiously.

"Yeah! I need something that packs a real punch!" Usopp nodded.

The redhead tilted his head. "Sure, why not. Just remember my warning, I'm a rather lethal person."

The sniper wilted a bit at that ominous warning but pushed through. "Sometimes, we have to do things we don't want to do! If I want to catch up with you guys, I need to be able to push through the discomfort!"

Rosan stared at him for a while, expression impossible to read, before the redhead nodded in approval.

"You're well on your way to becoming a brave warrior of the sea. Very well, I'll create something worth firing on that slingshot."

"Special Attack: Explosive Mine Star!" Usopp shouted, using his newly created ammo.

He aimed into the hole and fired.

Mine Star (he just thought of that name mind you!) utilized a new type of pellet created by his scout himself.

Usopp had no idea what was differences were in these pellets and Rosan had said it would be more fun if he figured it out himself and to not use it unless he felt like he needed to.

"It has a lot of firepower," Rosan had said cryptically. "Feel free to use it in tough situations... If you dont wanna be a murderer make sure your opponent is somewhat strong or far away."

He had went a bit pale at that warning and nodded hesitantly, taking the unassuming bag of red pellets out of Rosan's hand and stuffing it in his satchel.

It was a good thing he heeded the redhead's warning.

Chopper and Usopp's jaw went slack, as a light filled the tunnel created by Miss Merry Christmas due to the massive explosion that erupted from the pellet he just fired.

It engulfed every tunnel and they watched as Miss Merry Christmas was forcefully ejected from one of the holes with a howl of pain, skin burned and smoking as she was caught in the attack.

She was so far from the hole he fired in but still got caught...

"D-Did he fill up my pellets with his fire?" Usopp whispered to himself in disbelief as he saw the woman desperately role around in pain.

Rosan did. He had formed a super condensed orb of fire and modified it into a small pellet that Usopp could fire, giving the sniper about 2 dozen for his first round.

It was like an explosive star on steroids... what the hell...

He gazed at Miss Merry Christmas rolling around in an effort to stamp her burns but she eventually succumbed to the pain and with one last whimper, fell unconscious.

A quick glance over at Mr. 4 made Usopp hastily gaze away from the man.

Yeah... they definitely won their fight.

"I didn't even have to use my special technique, whack-a-mole," he muttered, falling back and letting out a groan of pain as the adrenaline wore off.

Everything hurt. Mr. 4 didn't hit soft. Miss Merry Christmas didn't hit soft. That damn dog gun didn't hit soft. No one hit soft and he had been the target of their aggression for the entirety of the fight.

Chopper jumped at the noises of pain coming out of Usopp, before remembering he was a doctor and dashing over to tend to him.

"You're not as useless as Rosan made you out to be, Usopp!" Chopper praised enthusiastically, wrapping him up with bandages.

"He's such an ass. A useful ass, but still an ass," Usopp groaned.

But he won! The Great Captain Usopp beat two agents from Baroque Works! He actually did it!

These pellets from Rosan actually gave him quite a few ideas too! He would consult more with the redhead to see if he could put them into practice.

"Oh you guys won? I thought I'd have to help you out," A bloodied Sanji muttered in surprise.

He glanced at the two defeated agents and balked at both their conditions.

Damn, he didn't think they had it in them!

His fight with Mr. 2 had been… complicated to say the least. He shouldn't have struggled as much as he did but the agent had a very powerful counter to Sanji…

Namely, being able to transform into Nami.

Sanji would never lay a hand on Nami and there were no exceptions, even if it wasn't actually his beloved navigator.

That wasn't to say that was the only issue… Mr. 2 wasn't weak whatsoever, packing a punch that made his counter to Sanji legitimately deadly.

Luckily the man was an idiot and had a key weakness in which he couldn't fight unless he was in his actual body. After realizing that, Sanji made quick work of the okama and left him lying unconscious in the middle of the streets.

"What happened to Vivi?" Chopper asked in concern, noticing the princess wasn't with him.

Sanji waved off his concerns. "I held Mr. 2 off so she could run ahead. She wasn't able to stop the rebellion yet but she should be about to soon."

Right now, Vivi should be at the castle right now so that everyone could know she was alive and well.

The way things were going, Baroque Works would be defeated without even remotely completing their goal—

The three straw hats froze in horror, as the most massive sandstorm they ever saw slammed right into Alubarna, engulfing the entire capital with gusts of sands that battered all in their path.

Worst, it seemed like as time passed, it was getting stronger.

"Is that bastard trying to kill everyone in there?" Sanji muttered with a bead of sweat, watching the power Crocodile displayed and biting his cigarette hard.

"Is Luffy gonna be okay?" Chopper asked worriedly, looking in the direction where their captain was fighting Crocodile.

"He'll be fine, I need to find Nami then go check if Vivi is alright. Chopper stay here with Usopp," Sanji ordered, already running off to go do that.

"D-Don't you mean Nami and Zoro?" Usopp groaned. He couldn't really move right now considering he was in a full body cast.

But maybe that was a good idea… he didn't really fancy going into the sandstorm riddled city right now.

Yeah… he did his part! It was up to them now to do theirs!

Vivi had no idea what was going on right now.

It seemed like every step of the way, someone was trying to screw her over because whenever she planned on doing something, it all went to shit.

(Excuse her language).

She failed to alert the rebellion of her presence due to the explosions kicking up sand and they ran right past her.

Then, she got separated from Sanji and before he found her, Karoo was injured protecting the princess from Mr. 2.

Luckily the blonde did manage to make it in time and he quickly had her run off to finish her job which she was doing an admirable job of!

Well, up until that really rude someone made their presence known once more.

She had just managed to reach Chaka, one of the two head guards of Alabasta's army, when a freak sandstorm hit the entirety of Alubarna with such force, that Vivi was sure there were already casualties on both sides.

It had hit the area with so much strength, she had been flung to the ground.

The princess grit her teeth in rage and worry. Only Crocodile would do that but… was Luffy alright? Did the Warlord perhaps defeat him and decide to focus his attention on Alubarna?

But why…?

Wasn't his goal to take over Alabasta? Why would he try and kill so much people? There were millions of people currently in Alubarna and the sandy wind buffeting them was getting even stronger.

Vivi shook her head violently. There was no time for her to be doubting Luffy. He was alive and fine and the fact that Crocodile had to summon a sandstorm instead of showing his face, told her he was still occupied.

She needed to focus on her own mission and what Robin had told her before they all separated.

Flashback

"There's a bomb in Alubarna and it's big enough to take out the entire city,"Robin informed Vivi.

On Rosan's orders, the Devil Child had swiftly departed from the casino to assist the princess with the Baroque Works agents, while distancing herself far away from Crocodile in the process so Rosan had a way to gain a large distance when activating Save Point.

It had been painfully easy for her to deal with all the agents converging on her and with the help of a very confused Pell, they made great distance and even picked up Sanji and Chopper in the process.

"I'll go find the bomb," Pell said, knowing now was not the time for questions when so much was at stake.

"Unfortunately, Crocodile didn't give me the exact whereabouts, so you'll have to find it on your own," Robin apologized, tugging her pendant idly to inform Rosan they were far enough and getting a swoon out of Sanji in the process.

"Leave it to me," the hawk man stated, transforming back into his Zoan and flying off quickly to go and retrieve the bomb before something disastrous happened.

"Thank you so much for telling us about this, Robin!" Vivi thanked, bowing to the woman and getting a kind smile out of her.

"Thank me when the bomb is neutralized," she replied.

Flashback End

Right about now, Pell should have been tracking the bomb but with the sudden surge of sand in the air, it would only be all the more difficult for him, especially considering how powerful the sandstorm was getting…

No doubt he was suffering great damage from the buffeting winds.

Vivi bit her lip in concern and looked in the direction she left Luffy at.

He was fine. She needed to focus on making sure as much people were safe as possible. Hopefully this freak sandstorm stopped them all from fighting but knowing the rebels, it likely only invigorated them.

They'd never be able to hear her like this either…

This was impossible… What happened to make Crocodile decide to do this? Was Luffy giving him a hard time…?

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Crocodile leaned to left to dodge the incoming fist and scowled at this joke of a captain.

This was who the redhead chose to follow? How disappointing.

After managing to begrudgingly earn his respect, almost all of it was being dashed away by this rookie.

"Desert Spada," the Warlord intoned lazily.

Fine, he'd make the redhead regret leaving it up to this idiot. Even if he was currently tangible, this fight would be nothing to him.

"W-Woah!" Luffy said, quickly calling his fist back and leaping out of the way of the torpedo of sand in time to avoid being cut in half.

The rubber boy was given no respite because Crocodile quickly appeared in his guard to swing that poisonous hook at him.

Luffy performed an expert backflip to avoid the swing of the hook and said, "Gomu Gomu no Stamp," mid flip.

His sandal collided with the weapon and Crocodile grunted in annoyance at the fact he couldn't hit this weak nuisance.

Before Straw Hat could withdraw his sandal, Crocodile swiftly reached out and grabbed the appendage with his good hand, draining all the moisture out of it immediately and slamming Luffy on the floor.

The rubber boy recovered disturbingly quick, catching the fall with his arms and pushing himself into a handstand, punishing Crocodile's action by launching his good foot into the man's gut that made him skid back a good distance.

It was then he noticed the leg that Crocodile grabbed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH MY LEG!" Luffy screeched, eyes bugged at the flabby piece of skin hanging uselessly there.

The rubber boy began rolling in panic, wondering how he could salvage this and go back to normal before his eyes lit up.

"Here," Rosan's memory replayed in his head. "Water so that you can make contact with Crocodile. As long as you hit him while you're wet, you'll be able to connect to him."

"Oh and something else," Robin chimed in, ensuring the water supply was secure on Luffy's person. "Crocodile can dehydrate you with just a touch but if you drink water, you can counteract its effects."

Ah, Robin and Rosan were the best!

Crocodile watched the idiot with a scowl on his face, not believing he was wasting his time with this and not believing he actually got hit by him in the process.

That scowl only got deeper, at watching Straw Hat take a deep gulp of his supply of water and regain his previously lost leg.

So everyone knew how to counter him… Nico Robin completely sold him out.

"Why would Nico Robin choose to follow a group of idiots like you all?" Crocodile couldn't help but snarl aloud, mostly speaking to himself.

Just how potent was that redhead's hypnotism? To so thoroughly fool her even after stating she was hypnotized? What was he fully capable of?

He couldn't believe he let them both get away from—

"Because Robin's our friend and Rosan's best friend!" Luffy retorted with a glare, not realizing he was sabotaging his older brother's plan in the process.

Crocodile raised a brow in disbelief. "Friend? Best friend? What the hell are you talking about, rookie?" He asked the moron.

"Robin and Rosan have been friends since they were kids! Of course she'd pick him over you, stupid!" The rubber boy retorted, shaking his leg to make sure it was alright.

The Warlord actually froze at that.

It was as if a key piece to the puzzle had been missing the entire time and Monkey D. Luffy had gracefully placed it into his palm. No doubt the only intelligent member in his crew would have been thoroughly annoyed but it was too late because now Crocodile knew everything.

Nico Robin really did betray him of her own volition and she didn't care whatsoever, which was why she tried to convince him she wasn't hypnotized.

There was no hypnotism in play but that cunning redhead managed to still convince him because he had key information Crocodile did not.

Crocodile could never quite place a finger as to why Nico Robin would ever betray him with how much protection he gifted her. No one even knew she was on Alabasta because of him so why would she ever throw that away?

He knew there was absolutely nothing Mr. 3 could offer her and hearing he was dead solidified that for him.

That was why he so easily believed in the redhead's claims of hypnotizing her. By using all the information he fed to Crocodile, he came to a logical and sound answer that would effortlessly fool him.

It wasn't possible for him to be able to see through that because the redhead was able to get away with things not a single person was able to, when dealing with Nico Robin.

Now it all made sense. Crocodile had first met Robin when she was 21 and she had a broken look in her eyes.

When he proposed they joined forces, there was no complaint from the woman and she readily accepted and that had been the birth of Mr. 0 and Miss All Sunday.

The broken look in her eyes, that made her so compliant and useful, was no longer there. He thought it was due to the hypnotism but no, it was because the woman had been reunited with someone important to her…

Crocodile grit his teeth, eyes smoldering with rage.

That Rosan had thoroughly tricked him every step of the way. He spent years building up this intricate plan and he was getting foiled at the tail end of it by something completely out of his control.

Nico Robin never once indicated anything about this Rosan. How was he supposed to know they were lovers? It was nonsense and now he couldn't even use her to decipher the Poneglyph.

Since entering the Grand Line, the Straw Hat pirates had done nothing but piss him off and he was tired of it.

Nico Robin, Rosan, Straw Hat, they could all go to hell.

"You must care a lot about your friends," Crocodile suddenly said gravely.

"Of course I do!" Luffy replied. What was he talking about—

Luffy's confusion turned into horror as he watched Crocodile form a sandstorm in his palms.

"Sables Grande."

Without any hesitation, Crocodile launched the technique towards Alubarna and they both watched as it very quickly became massive before crashing into the country.

"Unlike my normal Sables, that one progressively gets stronger so the longer it stays, the more dangerous it gets. But if you defeat me in time you can stop it. You're on a timer now, Straw Hat," Crocodile taunted.

"What?! But your friends are in there too!" Luffy gasped in horror.

He glared hard at the Warlord and immediately began his assault anew…

...To little success. Luffy looked down in disbelief at the crescent of sand stabbing him through his gut.

Crocodile let out a low, menacing, laughter as he watched the blood begin seeping into the sand and dispersed his own attack.

"Friends? I don't have any friends, Straw Hat," the warlord said coldly. "I don't need anything so stupid when I could have disposable servants instead. If they die or not… none of that matters to me because I can just get more."

Luffy held his bloody belly and glared at Crocodile with hot rage, furious at his callous attitude.

Crocodile grinned mockingly at the injured rubber boy. "Going to fight me with that injury? You're too eager, just like that redhead of yours. Come on then, I'll show you the gap in our skills and we can watch my sandstorm engulf all of Alubarna while you struggle."

"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!" Luffy roared, throwing out his twisted fit. He paid no mind to the blood or injuries on his body and pushed on without hesitation.

His attack was largely unsuccessful though, due to the wave of sand blocking his path from Crocodile.

"Just because I'm suddenly tangible, doesn't mean it's easy to defeat me," He grinned mockingly, launching another Desert Spada at the rubber boy.

Luffy barely managed to dodge the full effects and grit his teeth at getting nicked slightly, blood pouring from his leg now.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

He rapidly punched the air over and over again, pounding the sand repeatedly until he finally began to make headway—

"You're too slow, Straw Hat," a voice mocked behind him.

—Only to get blasted away by a wave of sand from behind.

The rubber boy grunted in surprise and began tumbling across the sand before stopping and shakily pulling himself up.

"I don't want to kill you immediately, Straw Hat," Crocodile informed him calmly, grinning smugly at the rookie.

"I want you to watch as my sandstorm destroys everyone in Alubarna. I want you to see all your friends perish to my might. Then, I want that redhead crewmate of yours to try and save you, only to fail as I get rid of the both of you."

The Warlord began laughing darkly at the struggling Luffy.

"As long as I'm in the desert, no one can beat—"

"Shut up."

Crocodile gained a vein of annoyance at that. He watched the rubber boy push himself up to fix him with a glare and nearly discarded the idea of making him suffer.

"For Vivi's sake, I'm gonna kick your ass, Crocodile," Luffy began, crouching down and placing a fist on the floor.

"You've made this country suffer for too long and I'm gonna stop it right now," he promised, pumping his legs.

Crocodile stared on in confusion. What the hell was he doing?

"Rosan didn't need help beating you and I don't either," Luffy said gravely, looking up and fixing Crocodile with a hard glare.

These injuries didn't matter when Vivi was suffering for so much longer. When she was hurting so much more.

None of what he was dealing with right now was anything compared to what the princess endured for years.

And it was all this man's fault.

"You lose now, Crocodile," The rubber boy declared.

"Gear Second."