Chapter 36: Captured! Project Utopia

Well I'm happy to say the poll is getting more traffic than I was expecting. Both options are neck-and-neck. It's anybody's game. And I need a definite answer. I'm closing the poll on Thursday so I can announce the results on Friday, so you have until then. Good luck and may the popular vote win!

In other news, Coby's Choice has reached 200 Followers! What a wonderful occasion and thank you to all the wonderful readers that like my writing enough to click that button.

Chapter 36:

Captured! Project Utopia

Vivi and Coby were surrounded by thugs, several unconscious on the ground around them. Coby was in his Hybrid Mode while Vivi had her spinning pinky-ring weapons out.

"I'll admit, princess," the lead agent, a large man with short blond hair and a broadsword, chuckled, "you've got some moves, and that's one freaky-ass pet, but we've got you outmatched."

"I am not a pet," Coby growled, turning on the man.

"Of course not," the man laughed. "You're a-" But whatever insult the man was about to use died with him, a bullet coming out of nowhere and slamming into his chest. More bullets rained down on the agents who scattered in an attempt to save themselves. A bird, one of the largest Coby had ever seen, swooped low, machine guns firing repeatedly from under its wings.

"Pell!" Vivi shouted excitedly as Coby shrunk into his Human Mode to be a smaller target. The bird, a falcon if Coby was correct, made another low pass and plucked the princess and the pirate up and into the air. Coby screamed like he use to when he was a coward, no matter what he would claim afterward. They landed on the roof of a tall, nearby building.

The two turned quickly to see the large bird, which had perched on the lip of the roof, change into a pale man with black face paint. He was dressed in white dessert robes with black, star-like markings and a matching headband. A sword with a gold-plated handle rested at his side. Coby was on guard, hands on the hilts of his own swords, but Vivi surged forward to hug the man.

"It's wonderful to see you, Princess Vivi," the man said, patting her back. "We'd received word that you had returned, so your father sent me on recognizance to scout the area. I'm glad he did."

"You received word?" the woman questioned, letting go. "That means that Carue made it safely."

"Yes, Carue is alive and well in Alubarna. And who might this be, princess?"

"Oh. I forgot to introduce you, didn't I? Pell, this is Coby, a member of the Straw Hat Pirates who have been helping me. Coby, this is Pell, one of my father's advisors."

"It's nice to meet you," Coby said, holding out his hand.

"You as well," Pell replied, taking his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some rodents to deal with." The man hopped up onto the lip and looked down on the able-bodied agents. "The Bird-Bird Fruit: Model Falcon, one of the 19 known Devil Fruits that give the gift of flight. This is what you face, for I am Pell the Falcon!" He shifted back into his bird form and dove off the side while the grunts panicked. The Alabastian made short work of the ruffians before returning to Vivi's side.

"My my," a feminine voice chuckled from behind the two on the building as the Guardian landed. Coby reacted by going for his swords, but they were not there. "Looking for these?" the woman asked, lifting his scabbards and their contents.

"Ms. Allsunday," Vivi hissed, her eyes narrowing.

"I take it that this woman is one of our enemies?" Pell questioned. "In that case..." He transformed and flew toward the female agent, ready to finish the woman's life, but it was not to be.

"Tres Fleur," Ms. Allsunday said, crossing her arms over her chest. Three limbs sprouted from the bird-man. Two of them locked his wings in place and the last one kept his sword from moving. With no control, the man spiraled into the other side of the lining.

"What did you do?" Vivi demanded angrily. Coby watched the black-haired woman warily, focused on all small movements and ready to change at a moment's notice.

"That," Ms. Allsunday answered, "was the power of the Flower-Flower Fruit, a Devil Fruit that lets me bloom body parts from any surface like flowers." She extended her right hand to the side, two more arms blooming into existence from the inside of her elbow. All three hands waved.

"I thought you looked familiar," Coby growled as Pell tried to stand. "You're Nico Robin. The woman who had a 79 million Beri bounty at the age of seven."

"Well you're a smart one, aren't you?" she asked with a smile that lacked even a shred of emotion. The extra arms dispersed into flower petals that blew away in the wind. "What gave me away?"

"I had my suspicions when we meet on the Merry since you still resemble your wanted poster, but I'd heard rumors when I was younger about a woman who could have over a hundred arms. That woman, was you."

"How interesting. Well, we must be off. I've been ordered to bring the princess and any Straw Hats with her to Mr. 0. That means you," she turned to Pell, who had risen and was about to cut her in half, "are unwelcome. Seis Fleur. Clutch." The six arms that had sprouted around and on Pell bent him backward. There was a sickening crack and Pell fell, unmoving.

"No!" Vivi cried. "Pell! Not you, too!" She moved to attack, but Coby held her back, grabbing her waist. "What are you doing, Coby?!"

"There's nothing we can do at the moment," the rosette reasoned with a scowl. "I don't know if we can beat her, and knowing Luffy, he's somewhere near Crocodile already. We need to meet back up with them."

Vivi's struggling slowed to a stop. "Fine," she ground out with a glare. "We'll go with you."

"Wonderful," Nico Robin smiled mirthlessly, clapping her hands once. "Willing participants are so much better than captive audiences."

"DAMN YOU, CROcodile..." Luffy trailed off, his hold on the bars of the cage he, and his friends, were in weakening him. They'd been there for nearly ten minutes and their baby den-dens wouldn't work. They could pick up each other's snails, but everyone that was free were either outside their cut-off range or the walls were made of something that blocked them. At that moment, Luffy had his hand on the bars, Nami standing behind her weakened boyfriend with her hands on her hips. Smoker was sitting on a stone bench in the back corner of the cage, half his face hidden in the shadows. Zoro was to the far left of the cage by the bench, trying to sleep, while Usopp was leaning on the opposite side as far away from Smoker as he could get in the limited space.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled, hitting him over the head with a fist. "You know the bars weaken you! Stop touching them!"

"But I don't understand why," Luffy moaned before Nami lifted his hand from the cage. She did not let go of it.

"This cage," Marine Captain Smoker spoke up from his seat, two cigars half-gone in his clenched jaw, "is made of a rock called Sea Prism Stone. It is only found on the ocean floor and, for reasons unknown, gives off a feeling like the sea. To Devil Fruit users like Straw Hat and me, just touching it is like being submerged in the ocean. The end of my jutte is made of Sea Prism Stone."

Luffy tapped his fist, an understanding look on his face. "So it's a mystery rock."

"That's not what he said at all," Usopp huffed as Zoro's snores came to an end.

"Yes, Luffy," Nami sighed, taking his hand again while her other hand bopped him on the nose. "It's a mystery rock. One that you should avoid touching."

"Okay. Got it."

"Now this is interesting," Smoker muttered, narrowing his eyes at the male and female. "I never would have guessed that 'Straw Hat Luffy' would have a lover." Nami turned red while Luffy just cocked his head to the side in confusion. "It begs the question; is Straw Hat really in charge of his merry band of misfits?"

"What's a lover?" Luffy asked while, at the same time, Nami cried, "We're not like that!"

"Was that a pun about our ship?" Usopp asked.

"Sorry to disappoint, White-Hair," Zoro yawned, stretching from his nap, "but I don't think Luffy knows about the birds and the bees."

"I know about birds and bees," Luffy argued.

"Really?" Usopp questioned incredulously.

"Yeah! There were birds and bees back on Goa Island, but none of them were big enough to eat." Zoro and Usopp turned toward Nami. She glared back.

"Don't look at me," she told them. "He needs to hear it from a guy."

"Hear what?" Luffy asked. They ignored him. The two other male pirates locked eyes from across the cage, lifted their fists, and played a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Usopp sighed, glaring at his crushed scissors, before dragging Luffy to one side of the cage and began to give the one-month-younger teen The Talk. If one watched, they would probably laugh as the pirate captain's face slowly grew purple.

"You all," Smoker muttered through his cigars several minutes later, "are the weirdest bunch of pirates I've ever met."

"Is that a complement or an insult?" Nami questioned. She received no answer since Zoro had already gone back to sleep and Usopp and Luffy were otherwise occupied. The cage was all but silent long enough for a thoroughly embarrassed Luffy to return to the front of the cage.

"Well you all sure are lively, I'll give you that," Crocodile spoke from the table for the first time since they had fallen into his trap, a glass of red wine in his hand. The table was spread with a feast for two people. "And Captain Smoker, what a nice surprise. Unlike your superiors, you never thought I was on your side. You were right, of course, but I'll be sure that the old coots know that you died a brave death while fighting the 'vicious Straw Hat Luffy'. On the bright side, it's almost time. I just received word that we have a special guest arriving in a few moments." Right on cue, the double doors at the top of the stairs opened, in walking Vivi, Coby, and Ms. Allsunday who still had Coby's swords in her grip.

"Ah. Vivi Nefertari, princess of Alabasta. Or should I call you Ms. Wednesday? Welcome. Please, have a seat."

"Vivi!" the pirates called in their various emotions, worry being the most prominent.

"Damn you!" Vivi yelled, bringing out her Peacock Slashers and dashing toward the Warlord. He didn't move a muscle as her weapon shot forward, blowing his head off in a spray of sand. The man's body broke apart, building itself back up behind the royal woman until Crocodile was whole again and with a grip on Vivi.

"Now now," he taunted as she struggled, unable to break his hold around either her waist or neck. "A woman of your stature shouldn't use such coarse language. As a citizen of this country, you should be aware that I possess the power of the Sand-Sand Fruit. Please-" He stopped as Coby slammed into him in his Dino Mode, blasting the sand-man apart and scooping up Vivi. Grains of sand spiraled out to wrap around the young teen dinosaur and the princess, eventually overpowering them.

"That was unexpected," Mr. 0 ground out as he reformed, the ropes of sand holding Coby flinging him into the bars of the cage where he came to a stop under a pile of sand. Coby was forced to change back upon contact with the Sea Prism Stone, his strength failing him. "With you here, I'll have to cut my well-practiced speech short," Crocodile growled. "Project Utopia has begun, princess. This key," he pulled out a plain, golden key, "is the key to the cage your friends are trapped in. As soon as I leave, this room will be flooded and the bananadiles released. You have two options: try to run to Alubarna to stop the rebellion and leave your friends to die, or try to save them here and let the Rebels-"

BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... BUDUP-BUDUP-BUDUP... CA-LICK

"What the Hell do you want?" the man yelled into the transponder snail that had ruined his moment.

"Is this thing on?" a familiar voice asked from the den-den.

"Yes, it is," the sand-man answered in the same dark voice.

"That voice is familiar. Hello, you've reached the Crap Café. Is this about a reservation?"

"You! You're the one that called from Little Garden! Who the Hell are you?!"

"You can call me Mr. Prince."

"Mr. Prince!" Usopp shouted. "We're alright!"

"That would be my friends," 'Mr. Prince' admitted. "And if you must kno- ERK!"

"Sanji!" Luffy shouted worriedly. There was static for several seconds before a new voice spoke from the snail.

"Apologies, Mr. 0, sir. We finally got that ugly bastard. He snuck up on us and stole one of our special den-den. Sorry to interrupt." The line went dead, the transponder snail going to sleep. Crocodile shook his head for several moments before speaking. He turned back to the princess.

"As I was saying, you can try to save your country and abandon your friends, or try to save them here and let the Rebels overrun the capital."

Crocodile turned and tossed the key over his shoulder. Vivi dove for it, but a trapdoor, the same one that had swallowed up Mr. 3 several days previously, opened, dropping the key into the mouth of a waiting bananadile.

"No!" the princess cried as the Warlord laughed.

"Hahaha! Goodbye, Ms. Wednesday." Crocodile chuckled as he left the room, Nico Robin carelessly tossing Coby's swords to one side and following him.

And then the glass cracked.

End of Chapter 36

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-SwordOfTheGods