Beginning Of The Selection

Whitebeard's eyes coldly kept looking at Crocodile. Nico Robin shifted uncomfortably as the tension slowly began to rise.

"He picked a fight with us a little bit after Roger's execution. I think Ken was the one who took him out when he attacked us....he's been locked up in our ship ever since," I explained.

"Hm? What's that got to do with me?" Whitebeard asked blandly.

"I didn't know what to do with him, so I thought that you would," I replied.

"Quit treating me like I'm some animal. I can talk to you, too." Crocodile snarled.

I looked at him before turning right back to Whitebeard.

"Get rid of him, I don't care," Whitebeard remarked.

"Hm? I thought that you'd want to invite him to the crew?" I lightly teased as I exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Does that brat look like he'll join? Look at that snarl," Whitebeard nudged his chin at Crocodile.

"There's no way in hell I'll be joining your little family...but since I'm here...." Crocodile immediately turned into sand and rushed right at Whitebeard.

I didn't even bother moving because Stussy had already beat me to it. She kicked the ground and reappeared right in front of the sand storm that was Crocodile. She had already coated her fists with Armament Haki, so all she did was slam the sandstorm with a nice hook.

The sandstorm immediately materialized before slamming into the ground. The appearance of a disheveled Crocodile stood, replacing the previous wave of sand.

"You might as well just leave or stick around and have yourself a drink. I don't really care," I remarked before walking away.

Stussy's eyes remained locked on Crocodile as he slowly got out of the crater that had been created as a result of his abrupt crashing. He dusted off the remaining dust that littered across his shoulders before grabbing a cigar from his pocket and sparking it. 

"I'll be seeing you soon," Crocodile remarked as he slowly walked away from the camp.

Whitebeard gurgled some more liquor.

"What's his problem?" Whitebeard asked.

"I don't know. I thought about killing him, but I felt that it would have been more troublesome than it was worth," I replied.

"You could have gotten his devil fruit," Whitebeard pointed out.

"I already had this dialogue by myself; it's just too much of a bother for me," I remarked passively as I rested on the base trunk of a decently sized tree.

"He said he'll be seeing us again; what're you gonna do when he attacks us again?" Stussy asked curiously this time.

"I don't know; I'll figure it out in the future," I remarked before closing my eyes.

I could still hear the sounds of Nico Robin laughing around with Whitebeard and the rest of the crew. Eventually, it was those noises that lulled me to sleep.

...

[ Third Person POV ]

Crocodile was still salty about the events that had happened earlier. 

All he wanted to do in the first place was bully the Whitebeard Pirate affiliates until he reached the New World to fight Whitebeard, when he became stronger. That was a stupid decision from the get-go.

He ended up meeting the damned Zero Division, and he got his ass handed to him by somebody who wasn't even the vice-commander. It was a testament to just how strong those bastards were. 

It also didn't help that when he went to attack Whitebeard, he almost got knocked out again by the vice-commander of the Zero Division. This wasn't a good look for Crocodile. Although he wasn't the strongest pirate out there, he sure as hell was more than strong enough to contend with some heavy hitters out there.

"So this was where you were; I guess the reports of you getting abducted by the Whitebeard Pirates were true," A voice echoed around him.

Crocodile's guard was immediately raised as he looked around wearily for the source of the voice.

When he spotted an irregularity within his surroundings, he immediately turned before he swept his hook down viciously.

"Sables!"

The irregularity immediately popped out from the shrubs and landed right in front of the crocodile.

"It's good that you still have your wits about you. The power also doesn't seem to be overexaggerated as well. I believe that you've met all the qualifications for the position."

Crocodile's veins began popping out of his forehead as he listened to the seemingly mad ramblings that the man was making right in front of him.

"Who the hell are you?" Crocodile growled as he summoned a miniature sandstorm on his hand.

"Make no mistake, I come bearing no ill will towards you. Rather, I come bringing an opportunity for you," the man remarked.

Crocodile remained unfazed, and he was about to throw his sandstorm at him.

"Wait, I really do not come with bad intentions! Look!" The man immediately raised his hands in surrender as he showed him a piece of paper.

Crocodile froze and looked at the piece of paper. On the title, there was a big, capitalized, bolded sentence that served as the headline for the entire paper's content.

He got closer to the man before grabbing the paper off of the man's grasp and carefully scanning through the paper's contents. 

"The Seven Warlords of The Sea?" Crocodile echoed the title of the paper.

"Indeed, the World Government is offering you a position as one of the Seven Warlords of The Sea. It's a very lucrative offer, especially considering the fact that it's an initiative. Meaning that we're giving you nearly all the leverage to this agreement," The man remarked.

"The World Government....to think that you'd be this suicidal to offer me a simple offer," Crocodile remarked.

"Well, they probably already know that I'm here. As long as I, no we, don't do anything that will turn their attention to us into action. I think we'll be just fine," the man remarked, "after all, you're still alive, aren't you?" 

Crocodile froze upon hearing that.

"You sound like you know them well," Crocodile remarked.

"From the few skirmishes that we've had with them, we've come to learn that it's better to know of our opponent's behavior," the man replied.

"What about me? Did you learn my behaviors?" Crocodile asked.

"I wouldn't be here to give you this offer if I hadn't, now would I?" 

"Fair enough, but the contract doesn't specifically entail the benefit of joining in. Are you tryna screw me over?" Crocodile's eyes flashed coldly as he glared right back at him.

"Well, the contents of that piece of paper mostly concern the agreements within the contract, so I can't blame you for being unsure about it," the man remarked.

"Well, out with it then, what's in it for me?" Crocodile growled.

"Well, we're giving you the freedom to raid any town that isn't affiliated with the World Government. Moreover, we'll be giving you full autonomy of what you should be doing," the man replied.

"Is that it?" Crocodile asked.

"Heaven's no! Those were just the major benefits I had read before I made my way to you. There are plenty more advantages that are going to be awarded to you once you sign the contract," the man replied.

Crocodile looked at the contract once more, his mind racing with thoughts of the possibilities that could happen once he gave his signature.