Chapter 33: Too Much Sand 4

Nami was finally beginning to realize that Rosan and Luffy weren't the exact same levels of chaotic.

How did she come to that conclusion?

Well, it was actually because she came to a new one.

Rosan was absolutely more insane.

Of course he was more insane. How could she never see that before?

Luffy was a complete idiot! He had no choice but to be the way he was!

Rosan on the other hand, was one of the smartest people she knew and still chose to be this chaotic. Controlled chaos could be far more dangerous then uncontrolled and her scout finally opened her eyes to that.

You might be wondering what caused her to come to this new conclusion.

Well, it was simple really—

"It is unwise to lose focus on the enemy, Master Nami," Clima supplied helpfully.

"I KNOW THAT!" She roared, making Miss Doublefinger furrow her eyes in concern.

"Are you alright?" The agent asked. It seemed like fighting her had finally caused the girl to lose her mind…

Poor thing.

"Oh I'm completely fine," Nami waved her off, smiling politely at the woman. She then immediately glared ferociously at the weapon she was holding again.

Miss Doublefinger sweatdropped.

In her quest to find out what exactly Rosan had done to her weapon (and realizing how useless Usopp made her weapon in the first place), Nami discovered some things.

It all started when she first connected all three pieces of the Clima-tact. The moment she did so, Nami let out a short gasp of pain at getting pricked by something from her weapon.

She ignored it but there was absolutely no way to explain what happened next.

"Greetings, Master Nami," a male voice suddenly sounded in her mind, making her jump 10 feet into the air with a shriek.

(This was also the beginning of Miss Doublefinger thinking Nami had mental issues)

"W-W-What the hell?!" Nami said in confusion. Was that… Oh Kami please don't tell her that was the weapon who said that.

"Correct, Master Nami! I don't understand why Master Rosan insisted you were so stupid, you caught on quite quickly," the staff praised.

She was going to kill that stupid redhead next time she saw him.

"I am the Creation of Local Instantaneous Modified Ambiance or Clima for short! I'm an AI created alongside your weapon to help assist you in battle and dissuade you of cowardice," Clima greeted politely.

Nami felt a headache forming at that.

So Rosan gave her a weapon with an AI… that could now speak to her—

"Jump to the left."

Without any hesitation, she followed the voices command and leapt to the left, avoiding a spiked drop kick from Miss Doublefinger in the process.

"See! I can be helpful!" The weapon preened. "And you don't have to speak to me aloud. It would make you appear crazier then you already are!"

Rosan was so dead.

"So… are you the surprise addition Rosan didn't want to tell me about?" Nami asked, keeping an eye on her opponent the entire time.

Despite her annoyance… Clima did just save her life.

"I am one of them!" He replied, sounding as if he were smiling.

Nami's headache got worse.

"We can discuss the perks Master Rosan gave me as the battle goes on. Let us focus on defeating this unruly, scandalous, less attractive then my wielder villain!" Clima said.

Despite sweatdropping at his words, the navigator nodded. Clima (Oh Kami maybe she was going crazy) was right. She had an opponent to beat and despite her annoyance, Rosan never let her down before.

Sure he may have given her weapon a voice to almost certainly piss her off, but at the end of the day this was still a weapon made by Portgas D. Rosan, her redheaded scout who was one of the most versatile people on the planet.

It would not disappoint.

"Now, you wanted to be able to control the weather and the liar created this weapon with that in mind. Master Rosan expanded on that but focused on making the weapon itself useful. Block this incoming attack."

Nami did just that and marveled as Clima collided perfectly with Miss Doublefinger's spiked fingers.

Not only that, the woman actually hissed and recalled it, stepping back and regarding Nami warily.

"Enhanced reinforcement courtesy of Modification along with some temperature tampering alongside the whole weapon. This turns you into both a formidable close ranged battler and soon, a far ranged one as well."

Nami couldn't help but grin at that. Temperature tampering along with enhanced durability? Maybe she wouldn't kill Rosan after all.

"Why doesn't the temperature change affect me?" Nami couldn't help but ask.

"Because I am your weapon of course," Clima replied like it was common sense. "But seeing as you won't accept that reply due to your fiery temper… Right as you pieced me together, I bonded myself to you so now you're immune to most of what I can do!"

Modification was pure nonsense. Nami didn't even think the World Government fully understood what the scope of that fruit did because if they did, they'd be a lot more concerned that someone like Rosan, who despised their organization, had it.

"Most of what you can do?" She couldn't help but ask.

She immediately regret her decision as the Clima-tact drenched her in water.

Nami threw the weapon onto the floor with a furious scowl. "I HATE THAT STUPID REDHEAD!"

"Are you sure you're alright?" Miss Doublefinger asked warily. Was she dealing with split personality right now? One second she was dangerous, the next… this.

"I'm totally fine!" Nami assured, smiling at the women.

"Please pick me back up, Master Nami. I'm very sorry for showing you what I'm capable of despite you asking me."

The navigator grit her teeth but bent over to pick the weapon back up. "Don't do that again. Next time just tell me."

"Understood."

"I feel bad for you… using a weapon that's clearly malfunctioned… I'll put you out of your misery soon enough," the agent said, sounding genuinely apologetic as she watched the girl pick her weapon up.

Nami was about to retort, but the sudden drop of temperature from Clima made her pause in confusion.

"Malfunctioned? This worthless agent thinks I've malfunctioned?" Her new weapon asked incredulously. "Unacceptable. Let us teach her just who created me, Master Nami."

All hints of playfulness her weapon had vanished and it caused Nami to straighten up.

It seemed this weapon had Rosan's ego as well… That was good for her.

That meant she was going to win this fight.

"I am able to rapidly change my temperature between hot and cold, and I can store a large amount of water for your use. Using your genius of the weather, I'm sure you can utilize me to my fullest."

Rapidly change his temperature? Along with some of the functions Usopp added, such as the Heat Ball, Cool Ball and Thunder Ball…

She could make this work.

Much to Miss Doublefinger's surprise, Nami charged her to begin a close quarters battle and it caused the woman to narrow her eyes.

Did this girl really think she could defeat her in close combat because she could heat up her staff?

The agent quickly morphed her hand into one giant spike and ducked into the charging girl's guard, ruthlessly stabbing her through the stomach.

She gained a look of confusion at the lack of blood and watched in shock, as the figure of the girl wavered and vanished.

"Ah!" Miss Doublefinger gasped in surprise at the feeling of cool water drenching her form.

That surprise quickly morphed into pain and she was sent tumbling at the positively icy pole that crashed into her wet form. She couldn't help but writhe at the extreme change in temperature her body just went through.

From the scalding heat of the desert to the sudden freeze… it felt like her body was about to go into shock!

Nami gazed at her weapon with a delighted look in her eyes. "You can summon Cool Balls for me without me having to blow it out of the pole!"

She requested that Clima summon Cool Balls so that they could clash with the heat of the desert and allow her to form mirages. Then, she had him drench Miss Doublefinger in water while reducing his own temperature and she ruthlessly smacked the woman with her staff.

This… This was incredibly useful!

"Controlling the Liar's half is a simple matter for me. I am the entirety of the Clima-tact after all. Now let's continue our assault."

Nami nodded and shot out a Thunder Ball at the soaked woman, getting a shriek out of her as it collided with the water and sent spasms throughout her entire body.

The Thunder Ball was very weak, but combined with the water, the effects were devastating and Miss Doublefinger shakily pulled herself back up, tremors shooting through her body all the while.

"What is that weapon?" She thought to herself in disbelief. She thought it was some broken toy but it was anything but, inflicting punishment on her that made her think twice about approaching her like this.

It was difficult to move her body right now but not impossible. She needed to somehow cripple that girl…

Miss Doublefinger made a show of collapsing on the floor again, unable to keep her form straight and she waited with bated breath as Nami slowly let her guard down.

"Wait! Don't let your guard down! Strike her!" Clima shouted but it was too late.

Nami was confused at the panic in Clima's voice but it was soon revealed, as the agent leapt forward with a spiked hand, ready to impale the navigator.

It was only the warning her weapon shouted that allowed her to keep her guard up enough to avoid serious injury.

The navigator leapt back but wasn't quick enough to dodge the attack in full and Miss Doublefinger pierced the woman's arm successfully.

Fighting through her pain, Miss Doublefinger mercilessly grabbed her needle like arm and made sure to stab it right through Nami's other good arm, rendering it completely useless for this battle.

"AGHHHH!" Nami screamed at the pain of being impaled and uselessly swung Clima with the arm she could barely swing. Despite the fact that it lacked any sort of power, Miss Doublefinger leapt away from it, wary of the other things it could do.

The agent shook again as jolts went through her body but stared at Nami with fury, occasionally twitching.

"Why on Earth did you let your guard down?" Clima asked curiously. Was this what Master Rosan meant when he said they were all slightly naive?

Nami huffed in pain, one arm hanging uselessly to the side as blood poured down her exposed body. "I thought she was done for… I didn't want to beat on a dead horse."

"But this isn't a horse. These are assassins, murderers, killers. They will kill anyone in their way if it means completing their mission, Master Nami. Now look at you. She used your good will against you and the fight that was overwhelmingly in your favor, is now looking bad for us," Clima chided sternly, trying to teach her despite the dire situation before them.

The navigator bit back a yelp of pain as she leapt back from the nearly feral Miss Doublefinger. The woman was no longer playing any games with her and her whole body was riddled in spikes that were trying to tear her apart.

"I-I know, okay! Please channel your inner Rosan after we get out of this situation!" Nami yelped, turning a foot and beelining away from the porcupine while she racked up some plans.

Her arms were practically useless right now. She couldn't swing them with any force, much less use any technique she was currently thinking of. Maybe she could throw up a mirage but her other moves were out of the question.

"Stand. Still!" Miss Doublefinger grit out, repeatedly stabbing out and missing as the thief continuously dodged her attacks with constant yelps.

Her arms were a useless bloody mess right now so how was she able to ignore that and keep running?!

She was at her wits end with this orange haired idiot.

"We are in quite the predicament…" Clima hummed. "Very well, there is still one surprise that I have not revealed yet that you should be able to do even despite the state of your arms… Consider it a gift from Master Rosan himself and proof that he does in fact like you."

Nami couldn't hold in her curiosity at that. What else could Rosan have given her that was worth keeping as a surprise?

Well, hopefully it would save her.

Nami ran as fast as possible, turning corners, running through buildings throwing Cool and Heat Balls in any direction due to not being able to aim them properly but Miss Doublefinger was never too far.

The only reason she hadn't gotten caught yet was because the agent was still suffering from the aftereffects of getting shocked while soaked. She would periodically freeze up and twitch, which allowed Nami to make great headway but never for long.

The agent clearly had enough of this game of cat and mouse because with a snarl, she stabbed herself right on the legs.

"Toge Toge Doping!"

Nami looked back for just a moment to see the sight of Miss Doublefinger's legs becoming incredibly muscular and she paled as the woman crouched lowly.

The ground cracked beneath her as the human pincushion soared through the air, intent on impaling every crevice of Nami's body with her own using brutal momentum.

She grinned in satisfaction at the wide eyed look of helplessness from Nami and braced herself for impact—

Only to let out a noise of confusion as she flew right through it.

"Oh no, the mirage again," Miss Doublefinger thought, bracing herself to be shocked once more.

It would hurt but she'd be able to survive and continue the fight—

"WILDFIRE!" Nami roared, appearing a safe distance away and aiming Clima at the shocked woman.

Miss Doublefinger paled at the sight of an absolute massive amount of red flames flying towards her, burning even the stone around it.

I-If that hit her—

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" The woman shrieked as they slammed into her, shoving her out of the room and burning her ruthlessly.

Nami watched in slight awe and horror at the damage she managed to do, staring at Clima with a fascinated gaze.

"Wildfire fits your weather motif. Of course a wildfire doesn't hold a candle to Ragnarok's flames but I quite like the name," Clima praised, pleased with the results.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for Master Rosan) Nami's injury and their close vicinity meant he wouldn't dare use the full force of Ragnarok's flame which meant that agent was likely still alive.

Ah well. Those burns would remind her just who was malfunctioned.

Nami continued to stare at her weapon in awe.

Rosan implemented his own flames into her Clima-tact. Those destructive flames that burned anything in their path… and she could now use them!

"I can hold quite a lot but it is finite. Be sure to check with Master Rosan occasionally so that he may refill it back up for you," Clima advised smugly.

Nami nodded hesitantly.

Such dangerous flames shouldn't be used so carelessly. Even without using it's full effects, Miss Doublefinger suffered severe burns to her body and was lying unconscious on the floor, smoke wafting off of her unmoving form.

She could kill someone with these flames if she wasn't careful… This was the power Rosan so easily threw around?

Maybe she'd have to ask him for some more tips. He seemed just as interested in the elements as her.

She wondered if he was trying to gain control of them as well. If he was, there was no way she was getting left out of that.

"I like the way you think! Continuing to receive help on me from Master Rosan will only serve to make you stronger!"

Stronger… Yes, she'd be able to fight for herself! With Clima (who she could begrudgingly admit was incredibly useful) at her side, she'd be able to compete in the big leagues with her much stronger crew mates.

She managed to defeat one of the strongest members of Baroque Works!

By herself!

Nami looked at the body of Miss Doublefinger and felt a well of sympathy at her state, that was ruthlessly stamped down by the knowledge of how much Vivi had been suffering.

"I need to get patched up… I don't suppose you have anything that could heal me?" She asked, trudging away from the battleground.

"Of course not! Perhaps this knowledge will help you approach battles with a level of ruthlessness I expect from you! The best medicine is making sure your enemies are dead so they can't hurt you after all!" Clima responded cheerfully.

Nami felt her headache deepen at that very Rosan statement. She now had her very own nuisance.

Just great.

Things were never simple when it came to her and the scout of their crew so she wasn't even surprised her brother figure decided to give her weapon a personality that would immensely annoy her.

She needed to make sure to get her revenge on him after this… right after thanking him for giving her such a useful weapon—

Nami stumbled and yelped in surprise, as the area she was in was suddenly consumed by a powerful sandstorm. She swiftly dove for cover and watched in terror as it nearly broke a building in half.

W-Was this Crocodile? What was he doing right now? D-Didn't he want to take over Alabasta? Why was he trying to destroy an entire city?!

"Staying here will be dangerous. You need to find better cover," Clima urged.

Nami nodded and reached for her cloak, putting it back on and placing the hoodie over her head.

She watched in fascination as Clima formed a sort of shield of water for her so as to protect her from the vicious sands and looked at the weapon again with delighted eyes.

"Perks of being created by a Computer Man, I have slight Modification as well!"

She really needed to make up her mind on whether she was going to kill Rosan or not because he kept changing it on the fly.

As Zoro clashed with Mr. 1. He recalled a conversation he had with Rosan once while they were training.

"Forget Mihawk, you aren't even a better swordsman then me. Your three sword style is nothing to scoff at but your one sword and two sword are severely lacking," the redhead said harshly, glancing down at the panting swordsman.

Zoro hated to admit it, but he was right. The redhead absolutely thrashed him in a sword fight just now.

It made him wonder why the redhead refused to call himself a swordsman.

"I do not have the drive that swordsman have that makes them hone their craft," Rosan replied calmly, transforming Ram into a beautiful silver and black katana. "I refuse to limit myself to only one weapon. The sword is simply one of the weapons I happen to use and I happen to be proficient with every weapon. That is why it's unacceptable that I'm better at using it then you are."

He hoisted the swordsman up with a contemplative expression. Robin watched the two curiously, resting after her training with Rosan and calmly sipping a cup of water.

"How can he improve?" She asked the redhead, getting up to perform some stretches.

"Fighting strong opponents," Rosan replied and Zoro nodded along with him. "He already trains like a workhorse. Fighting me constantly should also help you improve by miles like it did with Luffy."

"That reminds me, Zoro's opponent is Mr. 1 and he's a man made out of steel. Do you know how to cut steel?" Robin spoke up once more.

Rosan nodded but Zoro shook his head no.

"How do you cut steel?" The swordsman asked the redhead in shock.

Rosan opened his mouth, before closing it. "I'm not sure? I just cut it. I've been able to cut it since I was 13 but I never really put thought into accomplishing it. I just could."

"Monster," Robin said offhandedly. She was fairly sure Rosan just used brute strength to do it. The man was just bludgeoning the material and abusing the fact that Ram was practically unbreakable.

Zoro groaned. That didn't help him at all. Rosan was basically just admitting to being a freak of nature. He wanted to be able to cut through steel like it were a person and their scout was not doing it like that.

"My teacher once told me that there are swordsman in the world who are able to not cut anything and that these same swordsman have the ability to cut steel," the green haired man suddenly said, recalling that conversation from when he were a kid.

Rosan hummed. The ability to cut without cutting? Perhaps that was not only exclusive to swordsman… he'd like to learn something like that.

"This is a perfect challenge for you then," Rosan said calmly, readying himself up for another round. "Your opponent will be Mr. 1. Your challenge will be to cut his steel body. Your goal is to win. Doing this will bring you one step closer to being better then me and being closer to Mihawk."

"And if I fail?" Zoro asked, turning his screaming body towards the redhead.

"You won't," Rosan replied calmly. "If you ever find yourself in a losing position think to yourself, "Would Rosan lose to this?" until you are a better swordsman then me. Until you are better then me, you are not allowed to lose. And then, when you're better then me, I won't accept you losing unless it's to me."

The swordsman grinned viciously, placing Wado Ichimonji in his mouth and dashing forward, poised to clash with the steady redhead.

"Sounds good to me!"

Zoro's swords collided with Mr. 1's arm until he disengaged and leapt back.

"I need to be able to cut steel to beat him but how do I do that?" He contemplated, staring at the unscathed man with a glare.

It was not his time to lose here. Rosan would trash this agent and if he were able to cut steel, he'd be able to do so too.

But he just didn't know how.

A sword that doesn't cut anything…

Well, there was no point pondering about it now. He wouldn't get anywhere just thinking about it.

It was time to do.

Zoro dashed forward again, swords set in a bull pose.

"Bull Needles!"

His attack connected solidly to the agent… to little effect. Mr. 1 stared neutrally at him and began his own assault.

The two continuously clashed with sword and arm respectively.

Zoro swung with his left and collided with Mr. 1's right, then he attempted to do the same with his right, colliding with the man's left instead.

They began to exchange a flurry of strikes, colliding over and over again but despite that, Zoro was making no headway on the man.

"Is that all, Roronoa Zoro?" Mr. 1 asked calmly, forcing the man back with a chop that shattered the ground beneath him.

Zoro said nothing, crouching lowly and dashing directly into the man.

"Oni Giri!" He roared, ending up behind him and sending the dice man tumbling backwards.

Not allowing the man to catch his breath, Zoro jumped and stopped right over Mr. 1, grabbing his swords and driving them right into his gut and causing him to crash into the ground.

"Tiger Trap!"

He stared at the debris falling and as the smoke settled, Zoro scowled in annoyance.

"Didn't I tell you that I've never been harmed by a swordsman since eating this fruit?" A completely unharmed Mr. 1 asked, leaping towards the green haired swordsman with deadly intent.

Zoro hastily blocked the bladed drop kick flying his way and grunted at the force behind it, reminding himself that the man's entire body was a weapon and being prepared for the possibility of fighting every single part of him.

Luckily his training partner was Rosan… that man was also a living weapon in battle.

Mr. 1 spun and delivered a heel kick with his other leg, sending Zoro skidding after he was forced to block that one again, and dashed forward with his hands connected wrist to wrist.

"Sparkling Daisy," he intoned, crashing into Zoro.

The force of the blow was so powerful that the wall behind him was sliced as well.

"Fall," Mr. 1 said, sending his opponent flying into the cut building.

He watched with a cool gaze as the structure collapsed directly on top of him only to raise a brow at watching the swordsman cut right through the stone.

Zoro huffed slightly, avoiding the falling debris with a focused glare.

He was getting nowhere like this but that didn't matter. He'd win this battle because that was his duty. It wasn't a matter of losing after a hard fought battle. It was a matter of fighting until he won.

Mr. 1's eyes widened a bit at the rapid increase in Zoro's speed and found that it was getting a bit difficult to keep up with him.

That mattered little though because the swordsman still couldn't scratch him.

His forearms turned into drills with the speed he was spinning them at and he began swinging at Zoro ferociously.

Despite that though, Mr. 1 couldn't stop the bead of sweat at watching the swordsman completely keep pace with him and even deflect his powerful drills with little effort.

Zoro said absolutely nothing, focused on one thing and one thing only. He swung his blades over and over again, causing sparks to fly over and over again between the two.

He struggled against the increased power of the drills on Mr. 1's forearms but he refused to let that deter him and pressed on.

Mr. 1 bit back of grunt of annoyance. He could not cut him but with that perseverance…

He shouldn't risk it.

Zoro noticed too late that Mr. 1 applied the drill to his legs as well. Only his training with the flexible Rosan made him notice it quick enough but it mattered little.

He tried to block the upswing of Mr. 1's leg but the moment he diverted his attention to his lower half, the man struck with one of his drilled forearms and drew a spurt of blood from Zoro's shredded chest.

Zoro's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as he doubled over from the follow-up punch from Mr. 1 to his gut.

Then, the agent reeled his drilled leg back and smashed it against Zoro's ribs, sending him flying into a tall spiral building.

Zoro let out a bloody rasp as his body went slightly limp before he regained coherence.

"You're still alive?" Mr. 1 asked, staring at the bloody mess that was Zoro.

The swordsman began pushing himself up but collapsed and the agent almost sighed aloud.

Without any hesitation, the agent crossed his bladed arms and swung horizontally, cutting through Zoro and the building behind him as if they were made of butter.

"Spar Break," Mr. 1 said coldly, a tone of finality in his voice.

He stood up and glanced away from the building collapsing on the green haired swordsman.

How effortless. Roronoa Zoro was formidable but as he said many times, he wouldn't lose to any swordsman.

The agent suddenly grunted in surprise at the sudden surge of a sandstorm and began sweating a bit nervously at the power behind the sandy winds.

Was Mr. 0 displeased with them all? What was the meaning of this? This sandstorm was not apart of the pla—

Mr. 1 froze at the feeling of movement behind him and he stared in disbelief at the figure of Roronoa Zoro staring at him.

Zoro looked like a dead man walking. Blood was pouring from every crevice of his body, his green hair was soaked red, and his clothes was almost completely shredded. One small gust looked like it would send him into the grave.

But despite that, he had a serene air around him.

"W-What?! How are you still able to move?! How did you dodge the building?! I cut you to ribbons!" Mr. 1 said in disbelief.

Dodge? No, he didn't dodge.

He knew.

He knew where they wouldn't land. He knew where his swords were. He knew that this battle was over.

What was this feeling? What was this sensation?

The power to not cut anything… was that related to this sensation? The sensation of hearing?

Could he cut through the steel he could hear breathing right now?

He could. His goal was far above cutting steel.

His goal was to be the best after all.

"Would Rosan lose to this? No. He wouldn't," Zoro thought, his resolve setting in as he gripped his lone sword.

Mr. 1 stared at the living corpse with wild eyes.

He shouldn't be alive right now. He was cut up in all places. He was a corpse for all intents and purposes!

How was this even possible?!

"It doesn't matter. I'll finish you off here!" The agent snarled as he lost his composure and dashed forward on steel skates to deliver his final attack.

Zoro stared at him calmly and placed his sheathed sword upright, watching the man approach with a cool gaze.

"Atomic Bracer!"

The ability to cut steel…

"One Sword Style: Lion Strike."

Quicker then Mr. 1 could blink, Zoro unsheathed his sword, dashed through him, and sheathed his blade again.

...He'd have to remember this feeling for the future. Perhaps Rosan would be able to help him.

Mr. 1's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as a river of blood began pouring from the cut on his chest and his mouth.

To improve so much…

"Are you... going to cut through… a diamond next?" The agent couldn't help but ask, respect for his opponent mounting at the fact that he achieved what he set out to do.

"That would just be a waste," Zoro muttered.

Mr. 1 huffed repeatedly, blood pouring from his mouth as a wry smile made its way on his face.

"Hah, you got me."

With that, he fainted to the floor with a resounding thud.

Zoro glanced back at the defeated man, unmindful of the withering winds and began the process of finding his swords before collapsing on his knees and clutching one of his many wounds.

How shameful, he should not have taken so much damage in this fight. But, he learned something from it and he was even stronger now.

With this fight, he was getting closer and closer to the monsters known as Portgas D. Rosan and Monkey D. Luf—

A figure, one that looked disturbingly like Crocodile, sailed past the near dead swordsman for a split second before crashing through building after building and continuing on its path.

Another one soon showed up, clearly in pursuit of the first one and Zoro regarded them in shock.

"Oh, Zoro!" Luffy grinned, bloodied and steaming red. "You need to get some sleep! I'll handle the rest!"

Not waiting for a response, Monkey D. Luffy vanished from his sight with speeds he couldn't even track.

The swordsman of the crew collapsed at that, not quite believing his eyes.

Did those two still have more in their arsenal?!

Seems he still had a long way to go…

Rosan and Luffy's full power… Zoro couldn't hold back the eager shudder at finding out the limits of their strength.

Crocodile was confused.

Why? Well, it was simple really.

Since hearing the words "Gear Second" uttered from Straw Hats mouth, he had been reduced to a living punching bag.

In his arrogance, he didn't realize just how much stronger this technique made Straw Hat, content to insult him for steaming up.

That was a mistake.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol," Luffy uttered, holding out a palm as if taking aim and throwing out his other fist.

Before he could hurl out another insult, spit flew out Crocodile's mouth, due to the fist impacting with his gut at speeds he wasn't able to react to.

He was launched back a few feet and held his stomach in disbelief gazing up at the one who did it—

There was no one ther—

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Bullet."

Another fist impacted with his face and sent him soaring through the air but not before a rubbery appendage snaked around his leg, gripped him and began slamming him up and down at speeds he couldn't keep up with, blood spurting out of his mouth at the continuous impact.

"What the hell is this?" Crocodile grunted, back whining in agony from the excessive slams that seemed too fast.

This speed, this power… Who was Straw Hat Luff—

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Rifle."

His eyes flickered as his gut caved in from the punch and he hastily formed a sandstorm to hide his body, desperately trying to catch his breath from the overwhelming onslaught threatening to knock him unconscious.

This wasn't what he was expecting. He wasn't able to keep up with him at all right now, just getting constantly bombarded by the rubber boy and his strange new ability.

The rubber boy was so much faster then him now, it was baffling. Crocodile had been toying with him before and now he couldn't even track him...

This was bad. He needed to think of something and quick.

"Ground Death," He groused, draining the floor of all moisture and drying it up completely.

But that's not all.

Luffy watched the entire floor crumble up and realized he'd probably be joining it next so without any hesitation, he began rapidly kicking his legs until he began to fly.

It was a good thing Rosan made Garp show him techniques he could add to his arsenal! It served him really well learning Soru and Geppo!

Now… he needed to get Crocodile out of the desert because he was pretty strong in here!

Crocodile couldn't believe his eyes at seeing the rubber nuisance actually fly.

Was he capable of flying just like the redhead too?! Just who the fuck were these pirates?!

He only had a moment to brace himself before Luffy rocketed towards him at speeds he couldn't react to.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!" The captain of the straw hats roared, planting both his hands into Crocodile's gut.

Pain bloomed into something overwhelming almost immediately.

Crocodile's body contorted awkwardly, as he went soaring from the sheer force of the blow and the Warlord was nearly knocked fully unconscious, only managing to wake up when he went through the first building of many.

He lost count of how much material he flew through but by the time he was done, he realized he was in a sandstorm free Alubarna.

The Warlord had never felt so humiliated, at realizing that he lost control of the technique while getting sent flying by Straw Hat.

Crocodile crashed onto the floor and began tumbling repeatedly until his body crashed into yet another building, this time not breaking it and resting back first (his back was a bruised mess) against it.

He vomited up blood and came to the conclusion he had internal damage currently.

It was a miracle he was even still awake. He hadn't taken damage in a long time and only the training he did in the past few days kept him conscious.

As Straw Hat appeared in his vicinity, Crocodile blearily looked up at him and began sweating in disbelief.

Was he… Was he going to lose here? To this greenhorn? All of his careful planning… His goal to amass an army… His plan to find the Poneglyph... his goal to find and utilize Pluton to force the world into submission...

All of that was about to go up in smokes by this deceptively monstrous rubber boy?

That just couldn't be.

Luffy glared stonily at him, skin steaming hot from Gear 2 and aimed an open palm at him, ready to take out the defeated man with one more attack.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol."

Crocodile braced himself but knew there was no way he could take this attack and began cursing Straw Hat, the redhead, and Nico Robin.

He felt himself snap at the actions of the three.

Damn them. Damn them. Damn them!

They ruined everything! He had accounted for so much, he had gathered useful pawns, he even had someone to read the Poneglyph and NONE OF IT MATTERED BECAUSE OF THIS CREW!

DAMN THEM!

He didn't even see the attack fly out but he already knew how fast it was… The Warlord snarled in rage at the look of finality in Luffy's eyes and vowed to get his revenge on Straw Hat in any way he knew how...

...

Something wasn't right.

Why was he still awake?

Crocodile watched his sandy stomach turn back into its original state and grinned violently despite the excruciating pain he was in.

He was dry.

Luffy's eyes went wide as the Warlord instantly vanished from his sight in a gust of sand and a bloody laugh.

"WAIT! COME BACK HERE!" He roared looking left and right wildly.

Where did he go?!

A bloodied Pell panted over the bodies of the defeated Baroque Work agents that were guarding the bomb that would blow up all of Alubarna if allowed to set off.

He looked at how much time was left and let out a sigh of relief, holding his ribs in pain.

6 minutes. That was more then enough time to fly it somewhere that wouldn't result in the casualties of millions.

The agents had done quite a number on him, shooting him repeatedly while he flew to the clock tower and combined with that freak sandstorm that showed up battering him every step of the way, he was quite beat up but he was still capable of moving the bomb far enough.

Not wasting any time, he transformed into his hawk form and grabbed onto the bomb with his talons, flying off into an isolated area in the desert.

As long as he got far enough from Alubarna he could just leave it there and everyone would be saved from its effects.

The hawk man flew off with the bomb in tow, flying as fast as his injured body could take him and soon, he was out of Alubarna.

As he flew, Pell allowed himself the time to think.

Right about now, Princess Vivi should be in the process of stopping the rebellion. Crocodile was being preoccupied by one of her allies and the missing King Cobra should have now been accounted for.

There was just actually defeating the Warlord, fully stopping and explaining the rebellion and dealing with this bomb—

Pell froze as the bomb began suddenly beeping.

What?

He had only been flying for about a minute? The royal guard had just flown out of Alubarna when the bomb began beeping.

There was still supposed to be five minutes left and not only that, it hadn't even been lit up!

What was happening?

Why was it about to explode—

A deafening explosion went off.

"So Crocodile is the one who orchestrated all of this and not the King?" Koza asked in disbelief.

Their guardian of Alabasta… was the one behind all of this?

They had all been tricked?

But... King Cobra had... and he... when they...

What...?

"Yes. For years now, Crocodile has been sabotaging our entire kingdom and pinning the blame on the royal family," Vivi explained patiently, glad that Koza was capable of listening to reason.

An injured Cobra nodded along, glad that they were able to talk this out. After the arrival of the sandstorm he thought all hope was lost and Alabasta was doomed to collapse.

Vivi had already tried to announce her presence and get them to stop fighting but the sandstorm stopped her voice from reaching them and she was forced to take cover, lest it deal real damage to her.

The rebels and guards were caught off guard by the strength of the sandy weather but they ignored it and continued to fight, heedless of the fact that their injury tolls were rising from Crocodile's attack.

Koza, using that monstrous sandstorm, snuck onto the top of the kingdom to understand just why the king was doing all of this, but the shock of seeing Vivi had stopped him from doing something reckless.

She then took the chance to explain everything to him and to say he was shocked, would be a vast understatement.

In the midst of explaining to him that Crocodile was the one who was doing all of this, the sandstorm abruptly stopped and further proved her point.

Vivi glanced in awe as the weather turned back to normal like it was never there in the first place.

It was impossible for Koza to prevent the stab of guilt from piercing him through his heart as the princess explained everything to him.

All this time… All this fucking time he had been getting strung along, playing right into the palms of that… of that bastard!

The king didn't forsake his people… Koza did by doubting him and bringing it to this point.

All because of Crocodile.

"Where is he? Where's Crocodile? He needs to pay!" Koza snarled, unable to believe he had been tricked so thoroughly.

He would pay for this. Crocodile would be dealt justice for trying to bring ruin to their countr—

"Who needs to pay, boy?"

Everyone froze at that voice and Koza hesitantly looked down at the poisoned hook piercing his chest and slowly lifting him.

Crocodile sneered down at the idiot pawn and ruthlessly removed his hook from the man, discarding him to the side and not paying any more attention to his fallen body.

Koza did not move.

"K-KOZA!" Vivi screamed in shock, unable to believe her eyes.

This couldn't be real… In just a matter of seconds he was… No, please no.

Crocodile stared at them all with a crazed look in his eyes, looking like he had been through a war.

His normally neat appearance was gone, clothes torn in multiple places and blood pouring from different spots of his battered body.

"Your use ran out long ago, rebel boy," the Warlord intoned, staring Vivi down. "You've brought along quite the pesky crew, Princess. I don't know where you found them but they've managed to unravel my plans by quite a bit."

Straw Hat Luffy and Rosan… those two ruined everything for him. A greenhorn rookie worth 35 million and his scout who didn't even have a bounty.

They were both monsters in their own right and Crocodile begrudgingly acknowledged that they could very well defeat him today.

But he wouldn't make it easy for them.

No, he'd make them suffer every step of the way until he won.

"It seems like you were tipped off about my bomb too," he remarked calmly, disturbingly calm despite the situation he was in. If Straw Hat showed up... even if he were dry again, he'd be in trouble.

"I assume that hawkman… Pell was it? Has it," Crocodile commented, utterly unbothered by the tears streaming down Vivi's face. "I wonder if he knows the timer on it is wrong."

Everyone's gaze snapped up to him at that.

"W-What do you mean?!" Cobra asked in hesitation. If the bomb's timer was wrong then that meant…

"Pell…" Chaka said, rage forming on his features. "WHAT DID YOU DO, CROCODILE?!"

The Warlord sneered, sand seeping off of his body. "I don't trust a soul on the planet but myself. After some thinking and more then enough failure, I decided to speed up the detonation of the bomb by 5 minutes on the off chance that it never gets set off."

This was exactly why he never expected anything out of his allies. They couldn't even light up a hidden bomb.

Oh well, that 15 minute timer was actually on a 10 minute one but the timer hadn't been updated.

If that Pell took too long to retrieve and get rid of it, he'd likely be caught off guard by the explosion and die.

Vivi fell on her knees at that, eyes white with shock as the tears continued to fall.

Pell… too? No. No. N-Not Pell...

"CROCODILE!" Chaka roared, transforming into his Jackal form and charging the sandman with a single minded fury.

"CHAKA NO!" Cobra cried out. He wouldn't be able to defeat him even with the injuries sustained!

The jackal hit nothing, phasing through the man who absentmindedly grabbed him and drained him of all his moisture before tossing him aside like yesterday's trash.

The mummified form of Chaka fell on the floor without a noise, defeated in an instant.

It didn't matter how injured Crocodile was. All of these people were weak. They were so weak that they should have never been able to challenge his takeover of Alabasta.

Princess Vivi got lucky managing to find an upstart pirate crew full of freaks but they weren't here to save her right now.

He brandished his hook and began walking towards the frozen princess.

"No more games. I've had enough of today so I'm going to kill you now and bury this country in the desert, retreat and regroup with the few useful agents I have, then make every single Straw Hat pay," Crocodile grunted, raising his hook up high.

Vivi let out a choked sob, staring into the eyes of her bloodied tormentor.

She hated him. She hated Crocodile. She hated him. Hated him. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Crocodile swung down his scythe and blood soared through the air, as his attack struck true.

"!" Vivi let out a teary gasp.

Crocodile's face morphed into one of shock.

"But how?! How did you find me so quickly?!"

Monkey D. Luffy glared at Crocodile with barely suppressed fury. "Because I heard Vivi's cries loud and clear."

"L-Luffy!" She sobbed heavily, both in relief and horror.

Luffy turned back towards her and grinned reassuringly. "It's okay Vivi, I'll finish this!"

Vivi didn't stop crying though. How could she?

After all, there was a massive wound across Luffy's chest, courtesy of the hook that Crocodile threw out to kill her.

Crocodile's shock soon turned into a dark satisfaction as he took in the wound.

Oh this was good.

"It's only a matter of time until you die now, Straw Hat. Not only are you poisoned… but that technique of yours speeds up your blood flow doesn't it?" He asked knowingly.

The poison was going to course through his body even faster now if he kept it up. Crocodile just needed to outlast him and with his intangibility back, it would be simple.

Already, Luffy was breathing harder and harder, audibly panting now.

Crocodile's grin widened and he began laughing maniacally. Straw Hat would die here before the redhead could interfere. Then, he'd bury this place in sand and be done with this filthy country—

"You just don't get it," Luffy said lowly. "As long as Vivi keeps fighting to save her kingdom… THEN SO WILL WE BECAUSE SHE'S MY FRIEND!"

Cobra's eyes widened at that and he looked at the rubber boy in shock.

Who was he? This was the person Vivi chose to put her trust in?

Vivi covered her mouth at his conviction. If possible, even more tears began falling and combined with all the events of today, she finally let it all out.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vivi cried freely, throwing her head back and screaming to the heavens. "L-LUFFY, PLEASE SAVE US! P-PLEASE SAVE ALABASTA! PLEASE STOP CROCODILE!"

Luffy, who had fallen on one knee, shakily pushed himself back up and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Of course I will. I won't lose to a creep like this," was all he said.

Crocodile felt a vein form. "WHAT CAN YOU DO? YOU'RE PRACTICALLY DEAD STRAW HAT! YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME LIKE THIS!"

He was a dead man walking! The poison was working even faster then he expected and combined with his extensive injuries and that no doubt draining technique, he should be unconscious.

He was just full of bullshit! Crocodile wasn't going to lose to this dead greenhorn!

HE WASN'T GOING TO LOSE HERE UNTIL THEY ALL PAID IN BLOOD.

"Sables: Pesado!" Crocodile roared, launching the dense swirling sand at the stubborn NUISANCE.

"FALL WITH THIS KINGDOM, STRAW HAT!" The warlord announced victoriously, watching the ensuing shock wave that took out the entire section of floor it connected to and then some.

That was it. There was no way he could have dodged that. Straw Hat was finished—

A bloodied hand gripped his shirt.

Crocodile froze in disbelief, realizing the rubber boy was using his blood to grasp him.

He looked at the Luffy who was red now not only because of his Gear Second, but because of the sheer amount of blood that was currently on him.

"I'm going to become the King of the Pirates," Luffy declared simply, powering through the agony he was currently in.

With that, he heaved Crocodile dozens of feet into the air.

Crocodile couldn't believe it. Who was this? What was this boy? How could he continue to fight? What drove him?!

WHY DID HE PISS HIM OFF SO MUCH?!

"YOU KING OF THE PIRATES? DON'T MAKE SUCH AN IMPOSSIBLE CLAIM!" The warlord roared, unable to comprehend the anomaly that was Monkey D. Luffy.

"MEN WITH MORE STRENGTH THEN YOU COULD IMAGINE CAN'T EVEN ACHIEVE THAT TITLE!"

Crocodile would know. He was one of them at one point.

"THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SEA, THE MORE IMPOSSIBLE SUCH DREAMS WILL SEEM AND I'LL BE THE FIRST TO SHOW YOU."

Forming several bladed fans of sand, Crocodile prepared for this to be his final attack and got ready to launch it towards Straw Hat, Vivi and Cobra.

"Desert La Spada—"

He never got the chance.

The steaming Luffy appeared right next to him with a look of finality in his gaze, bloody fist cocked back.

"Gomu Gomu no Missile Strike."

Crocodile's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as Luffy delivered a rubbery punch that carried him through the sky, only to appear behind him and deliver another, sending him in another direction, only to appear yet again in his flight direction to deliver another.

Utilizing his Devil Fruit and speed, Luffy sent Crocodile in every single direction and followed after.

Soon, Crocodile was turned into a human pinball and all Vivi could see was a shockwave and the occasional rubbery fist flying through the air.

There was nothing the Warlord could do about it but accept the punishment and he felt bones breaking from the impact.

Over and over again, Luffy delivered blow after blow on him untrackable with the human eye as he seemingly teleported from one end to the other, battering Crocodile all the while with punch after punch.

Cobra watched it all with wonder in his eyes, not knowing how someone such as Monkey D. Luffy could exist. He was… He was doing it!

He was defeating Crocodile!

Vivi, even despite the fact that she was crying so heavily, watched Luffy do what he promised her he would do.

He was… He was incredible.

Luffy… he really was the man who was going to become the Pirate King. Vivi had no doubt about it.

Because of him, she was allowed to cry freely. Because she could trust him. Trust that he would make things better.

Finally, mercifully, Luffy stopped his unstoppable onslaught and appeared above the prone Crocodile.

Kicking his leg far into the sky, Luffy stretched and stretched and stretched and stretched until they couldn't see the end of his foot anymore.

Without any hesitation, he swung that extended foot down and crashed the sole of his sandal right into Crocodile's gut.

The effects were immediate.

The Warlord of the Sea, Sir Crocodile, was sent plummeting towards the ground with unforgiving force like he were a meteor.

As he fell, knocked unconscious from Luffy's relentless assault, the rebel and royal army were stunned still as rain droplets began to hit their bodies.

"What…?"

"Rain?!"

"It's raining?!"

They were further shocked as a figure plummeted directly in between both parties.

Crocodile lay there on the ground, utterly defeated. The Warlord was bloodied and battered, with no sign of waking up anytime soon.

"What happened to Sir Crocodile?!"

Then they heard it.

Crying.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vivi let her cries be heard throughout the whole kingdom. "PLEASE! STOP FIGHTING! THE NIGHTMARE HAS FINALLY ENDED!"

The princess was crying?! Princess Vivi was crying?! Why?!

Was it… Was it because of them?!

What… What were they even doing...?

One by one, the royal guard and the rebels began dropping their weapons, losing the will to fight due to the sight of their beloved princess crying so freely.

Luffy's eyes fluttered as he allowed his, no longer steaming, body to fall and he landed right next to King Cobra.

Cobra looked at the one who saved their kingdom and bowed his head low. "You have my thanks, Luffy."

The bloodied boy grinned widely. "It was nothing."

The birds watching chirped in satisfaction, pleased with the job done.

Before Luffy Activated Gear Second

Robin awoke to protective and warm presence near her and a soft hand holding her own.

Opening her eyes slightly, she let out a slight gasp at the sensation of being immediately engulfed by strong and safe arms, relaxing almost instantly in their grasp when she smelt the familiar scent of roses.

Fully awake now, she saw a shock of red hair and her gaze softened as the memories came rushing back.

No doubt, her idiot partner was blaming himself from her error. She hadn't been expecting Crocodile to so ruthlessly take her out the battle with the looming knowledge that she could translate the Poneglyph for him and had let her guard down slightly as a result.

But he did and now Rosan was absolutely blaming himself.

"Rosan…" Robin began gently, stroking his hair gently.

"I'm sorry," Rosan said, voice muffled due to burying himself in her hair. "I… I told myself that I'd keep you safe at all costs but you got hurt in our first fight together."

No matter how he was, or what he tried to cover, Rosan would never be able to hide that self critical nature of his from Robin.

Narrowing her eyes, she gently grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look at her.

The look in his heterochromatic eyes… she didn't like it one bit.

"I know what I signed up for staying behind with you, Rosan. I knew of the dangers of fighting Crocodile and I prepared myself for an outcome like this. Don't you dare get upset with yourself because I messed up," she scolded, frowning warningly at him.

None of what happened in that fight was Rosan's fault. The fact that he took the blame was utterly insane!

She knew he was self critical but this was too much. If something bad even happened to his loved ones, he would automatically think about what he could have done better.

The woman sighed and tested her body a bit.

Her body felt sore but that was it. She guessed that she had been treated by Demon because this looked like Maro's castle.

Rosan still frowned deeply. "I almost let anger rule me again, Robin. When I saw you get hurt… I nearly forewent getting you medical attention immediately so that I could kill Crocodile. If not for Mod-chan, you could have been in even worse condition."

Robin sighed at her idiot, smiling fondly. "You got that angry on my behalf? That's a fantastic first step Rosan. Remember, we're taking this slowly and you haven't had your emotions for years. Of course it will be difficult to gain control of them when they surprise you like that."

She pulled the redhead onto the bed and hugged him close, not minding her severe lack of clothing. "It's alright, Rosan. Please stop criticizing yourself when you did nothing wrong. We can't make any progress when you're like this."

"She's right Rosan. Remember what she said all those years ago when you had that nightmare? You can't just go hating yourself because of what you think, when all facts point to something else," Mod joined quietly, stroking the sleeping Ram's hair gently.

"We'll solve our issues together, okay? No more deciding things on your own… okay?" Robin demanded reassuringly.

Rosan's self critical nature was only enhanced by the fact that he had no emotions so having him decide everything on his own was a recipe for disaster.

Rosan said nothing for a long moment, before the tension bled out of his body and he squeezed Robin back with all his might, burying himself into her.

"...Okay. Okay," he repeated softly.

It was times like this, that reminded Robin that Rosan had been emotionally stunted since he was 12 years old.

Devil this, monster that... Rosan was just someone that needed help. When he got all his emotions back... he would be no better then when he was still a child.

The development would hit him all at once and he might get overwhelmed by it.

They hugged for a bit, before breaking it up and Robin decided now would be a great time to put some more clothes on.

"What's happening in Alabasta?" The Devil Child asked, thanking Rosan for handing over the comfy purple blouse to her.

"I'm not sure," Rosan admitted, much to her surprise. "My birds are currently Streaming the action to everyone but I've been here with you the whole time, so I haven't seen anything since I left."

Robin blinked at that before a tiny flush made its way onto her cheeks and she smiled a small smile.

"That boy didn't take his eyes off of you for a second. I'm pretty sure he didn't even blink! He wanted to be sure he was there for you the moment you woke up," Mod supplied helpfully, grinning fondly at the two.

She had been watching the events of Alabasta through the stream, content to let Rosan stare at Robin the entire time and digesting the information for herself so she could update him when he wanted to know.

The Devil Child couldn't help but stare at Rosan in appreciation at that, touched that he still cared so much for her.

The level of care for her… the fact that he had so much even with so much of his emotions missing…

She wondered how much he'd care for them all when they were all unlocked.

A tiny part of her recalled the way he kissed her and she immediately banished it.

He still needed to pay for that.

"Let's go join the others watching it then," Robin decided.

Rosan was immediately by her side. "Are you fine to move on your own?" He asked softly, watching her every movement with a searching gaze.

"Yes," she replied, knowing that wouldn't satisfy him.

He was such a worrywart sometimes… he must have inherited that from Mod.

True to her point, the redhead picked her up and placed her on his back with no effort, walking off to where he left his stream with calm and careful steps so as to not jostle her too much.

"Just to be safe," he said, making sure she was secure.

Robin rolled her eyes but just let it be, wrapping her arms around his neck and getting comfortable.

It didn't take them long to make it to the lounge area where they were watching the events of Alabasta and Sabo immediately locked eyes with the two, a relieved smile making its way on his face.

Maro caught the slight movement of Sabo's head and whirled around, eyes lighting up in joy at seeing Robin awake and well.

"ROBIN!" She cheered, hugging the surprised woman (and Rosan by proxy) and jumping in glee. "I can't believe you're already awake!"

The bluenette carefully pulled the woman off of Rosan, who looked close to attacking her but stopped at her pleading glance, and engulfed her once more.

Angel and Demon quickly joined the group hug and squeezed Robin tight. "We're so glad you're okay!"

"How are you feeling? You're moving faster then I anticipated so I'll be running a check-up on you later," Demon prodded, inspecting her body up and down and noting that she seemed fine, if not a little sore, at a glance.

"I'm just a little sore but Rosan won't let me move alone anyways, so I'm fine," Robin assured, a little floored to be on the receiving end of so much affection.

She wasn't really used to this. Her sole sources of affection for the longest, were Rosan and Mod-chan so for so much different people to suddenly be so affectionate…

It felt nice.

"I have to admit… seeing Crocodile so ruthlessly attack you, made me very upset," Marianne said quietly.

After all, to the Baroque Works Agents, Miss All Sunday (learning that she was the Nico Robin threw them all for a loop) may as well have been their actual boss. They never saw Mr. 0 and she was his proxy, speaking for him instead and being the face they saw most often.

Seeing Crocodile so ruthlessly stab her, his supposed partner, made them glad that they had betrayed him. He didn't give a damn about any of them, only caring about furthering himself and achieving his plans. They wouldn't be surprised if he threw them away after finally winning.

He was nothing like Queen Maro, who genuinely cared for them despite meeting them so recently.

Gem and Mikita both nodded at that, not believing Crocodile was so ruthless. After spending so much time around their Queen, they realized that they didn't deserve to be treated the way they were in Baroque Works and promised to do everything to help Maro and Celadon out.

Robin was surprised by that. The agents respected her more then Crocodile? Well, she supposed that made sense.

All things considered, she may as well have been Mr. 0.

"I'm fine now," she smiled at them all reassuringly. "Thanks to you all, I was able to quickly get patched up and the poison didn't even get a chance to be life threatening."

They sighed in relief at that, pleased that she was doing fine.

"Now, what's going on in Alabasta? How are the others?" Robin asked, taking a seat next to Rosan and let out a pleased sigh as he tucked her into his frame, not even allowing her to put the slightest of strain on her body.

It felt good to be pampered.

"Usopp, Chopper, Sanji, Nami and Zoro all won their fights," Sabo began, listing off each Straw Hat.

"Oh! I noticed Nami and Usopp using some very familiar flames," Maro said, eyes glinting as she stared at Rosan.

Kaori nodded along with Maro's statement. "Those flames look the exact same as the ones you used on me," the fishman pointed out.

She instinctively shuddered at the sight of those destructive red flames rushing towards that agent.

"That's right. I gave her weapon the ability to store and use my flames. As for Usopp, I created some ammo for him," Rosan replied, tilting his head to the side. "I take it Nami fought Miss Doublefinger? That's the only agent she should need to use it on, lest she somehow got in a fight with Mr. 2."

They all nodded at his assessment.

"They all looked really injured…" Marianne frowned, biting her lip in worry at the sight of the burned woman.

The former agent couldn't stop the well of sadness at seeing the state Mr. 4 was in (he was almost certainly dead) and felt concern for both Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger.

All the agents had been soundly defeated barring Crocodile himself… She didn't want any of them to go to jail.

Maro eyed the little girl from the corner of her eye and nodded to herself.

Sabo was surprised to learn that these three were also apart of Baroque Works and he had his slight suspicions on them, but they swore that they were loyal to Maro now and wouldn't do anything that would displease her.

Maro herself had vouched for them and that was good enough for him. If they had their uses, they had their uses.

"Ah that reminds me," Rosan muttered, eyeing Maro. "Did any of the agents catch your fancy? I can go retrieve the ones who did since you saw what they were all capable of."

He was only intending to recruit 1, 2 and Doublefinger but Maro saw them all so she could make the decision on her own if she wanted any or none.

Maro, without hesitation, said, "All of the remaining ones if you can... Besides Mr 4. I think he's dead."

Rosan blinked.

Marianne jolted at that, looking wildly at the queen due to her response.

"You want the rest of them?" The redhead asked, raising a brow.

Maro nodded rapidly, smiling widely. She wasn't really interested in them (her current agents were awesome!) but she saw the look in Marianne's eyes and decided recruiting some more of them wouldn't hurt.

Besides there was one of them that she wanted above all.

"I want that Bazooka Dog especially!" The Queen beamed greedily.

Oh just imagine! Her very own Bazooka, that could transform into a dog! That was so cool! Just call her the collector of unique pets!

Everyone sweatdropped at that.

"Right. I'll go retrieve them after this then," Rosan replied.

Maro nodded eagerly and glanced down at the feeling of someone tugging her sleeve.

Marianne looked up at her with pure adoration and said, "Thank you, my queen."

The Dokkaebi smiled gently and hugged the little girl to her side. "Anything for my cute little citizens."

"What about Zoro?" Robin asked curiously. "Did he manage to defeat Mr. 1?"

Everyone there nodded with a hint of awe on their faces, recalling the battle with varying expressions.

They retold it to the two who just listened with calm expressions.

"He's a real damage sponge," Rosan nodded. Zoro was capable of taking plenty of punishment and it was something that served him well. Unless he was well and truly dead, he would keep fighting.

Rosan liked that. The two were remarkably similar in battles.

"So he did manage to cut steel… I wonder how? Was it brute strength like Rosan?" Robin muttered.

"No, it was haki," Sabo replied calmly.

Everyone froze at that.

"What?" Rosan and Robin asked, slightly stunned.

"In the final moments of that battle, after Zoro got up, he began subconsciously using Armament and Observation," the revolutionary explained.

He didn't get hit by a single piece of that building, knowing where it was going to fall. That was definitely Observation Haki at hand.

He also managed to effortlessly cut through the steel body of Mr. 1 with just one attack. Sabo was confident, that if he used that exact same attack on Crocodile, it would have connected.

Rosan hummed at that. "So Zoro was the first one of us to begin using Haki... that's unexpected."

"It's a good thing we managed to catch it, otherwise he might have taken much longer to begin tapping into it," Sabo said, cupping his chin.

There were plenty of people who subconsciously used Armament or Observation in dire times but due to not knowing anything about it, they tended to never actually unlock the ability to consciously use it.

It would still be pretty difficult, but Zoro already had one foot in so it was good for him, especially considering he knew about Haki already.

"I'll be sure to inform him. It'll be a boon if he begins consciously using it," Rosan said, pleased with this outcome.

"Haki?" Kaori asked curiously, glancing at an eager Maro.

"I'll explain it to you guys later. It would be great if I could get you all started on a routine too," the queen informed them.

The soldiers nodded at that.

"There's just Luffy and Crocodile left…" Angel said, glancing at the screen in worry.

Crocodile was in the midst of summoning a massive sandstorm in Alubarna and not only that, he managed to stab Luffy right through his stomach with a crescent blade of sand.

She began gnawing her teeth in concern, chancing a glance at Rosan to see if he was going to save their youngest brother.

"Trust Luffy, Angel," Rosan said calmly. "Didn't I tell you? He's gotten strong over the years. He won't lose here."

She wanted to protest, but stopped at the sight of Luffy placing his fist on the ground and immediately calmed down.

"What's he doing?" Kaori asked, watching as the rubber boy's legs began… pumping?

"Ah! Gear Second!" Maro beamed, sitting upright to see this.

Luffy had never used the technique on anyone else but her and Master so she wanted to see just how good it was against a person who hadn't spent years fighting him.

"Gear Second?" Sabo asked, noticing Demon's face shift into one of slight displeasure.

"Gear Second is a technique Luffy developed to keep up with my speed and Maro's teleportation," Rosan began as Maro nodded along eagerly. "He speeds up the blood flow in his body and it makes him much faster and stronger as a result."

He began developing the technique when he was around 16 years old.

One day (when Ace had already left), Garp had visited to deliver his beat down quota and Rosan managed to get him to use a technique called Soru. With that technique, he was able to achieve massive speeds instantly that made it hard (absolutely impossible) to keep up with him.

"You could probably keep up with other users of it but not me," the old man bragged, sticking a finger up his nose as he puffed up at the blatant interest on Luffy's face.

Luffy, seeing the technique, instantly developed an interest in it and, with Rosan's assistance, began reverse engineering the technique for his own use (they all hated asking Garp for help).

This was in order to keep up with the immense speeds Rosan achieved when he applied a Boost to himself or when Maro decided to be particularly annoying and displace herself all over the field.

At x2, Luffy found it nearly impossible to match him and whenever Rosan activated it, their fights would end quickly.

That's where Gear Second came in.

Learning Soru wasn't enough for the rubber boy (Rosan technically knew it too but he refused to use it… he wanted nothing from Garp and he was already fast enough). The battle genius quickly connected the dots and used his foundation of Soru, to learn Geppo (in order to reach Rosan when he was flying) and his trump card, Gear Second.

It was a stunning technique that pushed his Devil Fruit creativity to the limits and both Rosan and Maro had praised him for coming up with something so ingenious... right before Demon chewed him out for developing such a dangerous technique.

The doctor demanded he find a way to reduce its strain on his body and with some help, they managed to get it to levels that made Demon's hair not go gray.

Everyone watched in awe as Luffy threw out a fist so fast, it blurred on the screen.

Crocodile couldn't react in nearly enough time and what followed next, was a thrashing they weren't expecting to ever see.

Robin was in a bit of awe. She never expected little Luffy to be handling Crocodile like this! She knew that the captain was incredibly strong, but this was something else!

"He's gotten better at using it," Maro grinned, watching him pummel Crocodile with a look of glee.

"We basically exclusively practiced with not making it so strenuous the last few months before setting sail," Rosan said calmly.

"Good, that technique is bad on his body. The more he develops and masters it, the better I'll feel," Demon frowned.

"He developed this to keep up with you two?" Sabo asked, impressed by the battle genius Luffy displayed. He was proud of the rubber boy but he couldn't really explain why.

Rosan nodded.

"Could you have beaten Crocodile?" The revolutionary prodded.

"Yes," he replied nonplussed. "His Logia intangibility is his greatest advantage but otherwise, I can beat him and so can Luffy. Maro most likely can too. I don't think Crocodile has the power needed to pierce her defenses and she's also versatile."

The agents looked at their Queen with wide eyes and saw the smug grin on her face.

They knew she was strong... but had they really never seen her go all out?

"I'm the most naturally durable in our family!" She preened, slapping her chest heartily. "Maybe I'll show you guys what I'm fully capable of against Master one of these days!"

They nodded eagerly, curious to see just how capable their carefree leader was, before focusing on the one sided beatdown.

Seriously, it wasn't even close.

"His rate of growth is insane," Maro muttered, shaking her head as she perfectly tracked the fight. She was a prodigy but Luffy was a true genius in battle like Master.

It was only her years of experience and absurd Devil Fruit (she was a very good matchup into Luffy and any close combat fighter really) that gave her the edge but even then, Maro found it hard pressed to beat Luffy when they were going all out.

It was only a matter of time before the youngest fully surpassed most of them. After seeing what he turned the Gomu Gomu no Mi into, there was no doubt in her mind that eventually, Luffy would be standing near the top of their little ranking list.

Most of them couldn't even keep up with what Straw Hat was doing.

Rosan, Sabo, Maro and Robin watched the battle like it were happening normally, tracking every movement with an easy gaze.

Everyone else only saw Crocodile getting battered. Luffy was moving too fast for them currently and it filled them with as much awe as it did envy at the fact that the former four were capable of doing so.