"'Shitty Restaurant...!?'" Crocodile growled out.
'Oh? Judging by that tone of voice, you still remember me too! I'm touched really..'
Everyone was stunned, a light of hope dawned on the crew.
"Did you hear that voice just now..!?" Usopp muttered, astonished by the luck they had.
"The 'Shitty Restaurant'...!? Could it be..!?" Nami's face lit up in happiness.
"SAN-" Usopp and Faythe both slapped Luffy's mouth shut.
"No wait, Luffy! B.W. might not know about him yet.." Usopp whispered hurriedly.
"Giving him away will only hand over important info to Croco!" Faythe stated sternly.
Vivi slowly got up, the side of her temple was bleeding constantly, dripping over her left eye.
"Just who the hell are you...!?" Crocodile glared down at the Mini Denden Mushi.
'Me? Well... Call me "Mr. Prince."'
"Well, Mr. Prince... Where are you right now?"
'Oh, I can't tell you that. If I did, you'd come to kill me wouldn't you? And setting aside the matter of whether or not you could even kill me, unlike you, Mr. 0, I'm not so stupid enough as to give away so much vital information...'
Crocodile looked pissed.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Faythe cackled out, hearing the sweet burn Sanji served.
"PRINCE! HELP US!"
"WE'VE BEEN CAUGHT AND WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT!"
'Haha... Guess my crew's over there. Well, then I should head ov-'
The next thing sounded like some kind of fight happened on the other side of the call.
"WHA?" The crew was getting worried as they heard a different person on the other line.
'Hah... Hah... Tough son of a gun...'
'Hello!? I've apprehended a weird male attacker! Hah... Hah...'
Vivi's eyes widened as she heard the man speak, "Sanji!? It can't be..."
"Where are you right now? Tell me your location."
'I'm, uhhh... Right outside the front entrance of the Rain Dinners Casino...'
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? GOD, THAT LOSER'S USELESS! HE BETTER BE STILL ALIVE AT LEAST!" Zoro shouted.
"SANJIIII!"
"FULL PANIC MODE! PANIC! PANIC!"
"Our last hope...!"
Faythe kept quiet as she glanced at Lung Cancer who hasn't said a word since he saw Croco.
"KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Perfect! Let's go to the front entrance." Croco barked out laughing.
"Are you sure? The millions still don't know who their boss is." Ms. All-Sunday asked as they turned back into the room heading towards the staircase.
"Whoever said I was going outside as the boss of B.W.? Some random millions agent isn't going to recognize either of us as B.W. members. As far as they know, they'll see Crocodile the casino owner, coming to see what the fuss outside his casino is about." Crocodile explained with a grin.
Vivi quickly got up and started leaping from the large stone rumble. The Bananadile quickly regained itself from the distraction turning it's attention to the bluenette. It whipped it's large jaws and snapped at the place where she leaped from.
"VIVI!"
Vivi was hanging from the destroyed side of the staircase barely with one hand.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, VIVI!?"
"Don't worry! There's still some time before this room is completely flooded!" She shouted back, "In the meanwhile, I'll go outside to bring back help!"
"That's right... I somehow doubt Sanji was actually killed just now." Usopp had a quick realization, "If Vivi can just go rescue Sanji right now then..!"
"That's right, and there's also Chopper outside. They might be able to do something!" Nami stated.
Crocodile had shot out his hook with sand connecting it to his body. It slung forward at Vivi as she just got on the staircase safely.
"WATCH OUT, VIVI!"
The golden hook wrapped around her neck and yanked her, backwards down the steep and broken staircase.
"Vivi!" Luffy shouted worried.
"AHHH!" Vivi screamed out as she landed back into the stone rubble.
"Give it up already!" Croco smirked, his golden hook reattaching itself back to his arm.
Vivi now laid unconsciously on the stones, her mouth dripping with blood, staining her pale skin.
"VIVI! WAKE UP!"
"IT'S COMING FOR YOU!"
The Bananadile itched closer by the second, licking it's lips at the fallen girl. Crocodile and Ms. All-Sunday walked up the staircase that wasn't broken.
"If you like your pirate-friends so much, then feel free to stay here with them. You can all become food for my Bananadiles as this room sinks to the bottom of the lake." Croco cackled, "I'll even bring that cheeky Mr. Prince here for you... I hope you'll be satisfied with just his corpse... Hahahaha!"
And with that they left.
Faythe glanced around the cage, seeing everyone visibly shocked, Luffy was now shaking as his glare only hardened on the door.
"GOD DAMN IT!"
Faythe glanced back at the Princess still unconscious, "VIVI! WAKE UP!"
Faythe's shout seemed to bring back most of the crew as they started panicking all over again.
"VIVI!"
Faythe could see Vivi slowly move her arm.
"Ugh.." Vivi whipped out her Peacock String and slashed at the Bananadile's tongue, distracting it momentarily. She leaped onto it's shoulder, and jumping off it's banana that sat on it's head. After using the Bananadile as a step ladder, she reached the staircase safely.
"SHE DID IT!" Nami shouted out in relief.
"I've gotta hurry!" Vivi glanced back at the Bananadile seeing it back up and turn towards the staircase once again, "HUH!?"
It charged and bit another large chunk of the staircase. Pieces of the staircase went flying, some destroying the windows that kept the water out.
"OH CRAP! THE WINDOWS BROKE!" Usopp screamed, "FORGET 60 MINUTES! AT THIS RATE, WE'LL ALL DROWN IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES!"
"VIVI! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" Faythe shouted.
"EVERYONE!" Vivi's voice echoed throughout the room, it was hard to see her figure because of the Bananadile, but it sounded she was okay, "PLEASE HOLD ON JUST A LITTLE LONGER! I'LL DEFINITELY BRING BACK HELP SOON! I SWEAR I WON'T LET ANY OF YOU DIE!"
"ALRIGHT, VIVI! WE'RE TRUSTING YOU!"
"Vivi..."
"BE SAFE!"
/;/~***~/;/
"AGHHHHHHH!"
"WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
"IT'S ALL OVER FOR US!"
"THE WATER'S ALREADY UP TO OUR KNEES!"
A sudden shout from Nami startled Faythe, looking at the orange haired woman, Faythe noticed she was provoking the Bananadile.
"HEY, YOU DUMB CROCODILE! OVER HERE!"
"N-NAMI!?"
"W-WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, NAMI!?"
Nami turned towards the crew with determined clenched fist, "I'm trying to anger it so it'll bite and break open this cage for us!"
"G-GOOD IDEA!" Usopp then joined in throwing insults.
"OVER HERE, YOU BIG FAT BANANA!" Luffy threw out his best insult.
"I BET YOU WON'T TASTE GOOD ANYWAYS!" Faythe added.
"Really?" Nami raised a brow at her female friend.
"What? I'm hungry... I didn't get to eat breakfast" Faythe pouted to herself.
"Luffy, I told you that's wrong! It's the banana that's growing from the crocodile, which is why it's name has '-dile' at the end." Usopp corrected his insult, "Fore example, the word 'Monkey Dance' refers to a dance even though the words 'monkey is an animal."
"I see no difference.." Faythe tilted her head confused.
"Ya, both bananas and crocodiles are something you eat." Luffy furrowed his brows at Usopp's explanation.
"You both are helpless.." Usopp sighed defeated.
"IT'S COMING!" Nami alerted as she saw the Bananadile charge at the cage. It's large jaw wrapped around the top and bottom getting a good grip before biting down. A cracking noise could be heard where the Bananadile bit down. But it wasn't the cage that broke.
It was the Bananadile's teeth that shattered.
"HOLY SHIT!"
"IT'S NO GOOD!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CAGE MADE OUT OF!?"
"HURRY UP AND SAVE US, VIVI!"
The voice of Smoker made Faythe whip her head around instantly.
"Hey, you..."
"AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO DAMN CALM RIGHT NOW!?"
"HELP US THINK OF A WAY TO ESCAPE!"
"YA! YOU'VE JUST BEEN SITTING ON YOUR LAZY ASS THIS WHOLE TIME!"
Smoker ignored the loud statements and continued what he was going to say, "How much do you know, about what Crocodile intends to achieve..?" He asked honestly, which earned him a muffled giggle from Faythe. He glanced at the red head and carried on explaining to Luffy when he saw the straw hat was confused.
"That woman beside Crocodile... She's a wanted woman who's been on the run from the World Government for over 20 years... If I remember correctly, her bounty's worth over 70 million...!"
"O-OVER SEVENTY MILLION!? S-S-SO WHAT!?" Usopp stuttered.
"Is 70 million alot..?" Faythe mumbled.
"That's almost as much as Crocodile's bounty..." Nami whispered urgently.
"From the moment those two joined hands, their plan turned into something far more than taking over a mere country. If left alone, this might develop into an incident large enough to engulf the whole world!"
"The whole world!?" How is that possible!?" Nami fretted.
"Whoa, this is getting too big for me..." Usopp looked like he was about to call quits, but Faythe slung an arm around him and gave a large grin, "Too late to call quits here, buddy. We're already far too deep to run now!"
"Hmph, What the heck are you going on about?" Luffy crossed his arms with a huff, "I DON'T NEED ANOTHER GODDAMN REASON, TO KICK THAT BASTARD'S ASS!"
Smoker gazed at the pirate for a moment and let out a sigh, "I see... So then.. How do you plan to out of here?"
That just let the crew remember there're about to drown any minute now.
"OH CRAP! THE WATER'S ALREADY UP TO MY THIGHS!" Luffy shrieked.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Usopp was frantically splashing water away from him. Which landed on the devil fruit users.
"AYO! DON'T SPLASH ME! I CAN BARELY MOVE AS IT IS!" Faythe shouted annoyed.
"NOOOOOOO" Nami was just panicking.
Luffy looked wobbly as he almost fell over, but Usopp caught him, "I'm... Starting to feel faint..."
"NO! HANG IN THERE LUFFY! VIVI SAID SHE'LL BE BACK WITH HELP SOON!" He quickly shook his Captain around desperately.
Faythe leaned on Nami for help as she was starting to feel the effects of the sea. She could hear Nami muttering to herself about Vivi, "Vivi... It must be hard for you, what with so little time... Sorry for putting you through so much stress..."
"'One should not make any loud noises while eating'"
"ANTI-MANNER KICK COURSE!" The Bananadile was suddenly shot into the air by a powerful kick in the stomach. The kick was so powerful that it made the Bananadile cough up some staircase pieces.
There standing in front of the cage, taking out his cigar was the crew's, 'Mr. Prince.'
"'Sup. Did I keep you waiting?"
"PRINCE!!" Usopp, Luffy, and Faythe screamed out in relief.
"STOP POSING AND FIND THE DAMN KEY ALREADY!" Zoro barked frustrated already at the sight of the blonde.
"Oh thank god.." Nami sighed with a small smile.
"Nami! Faythe! Did you fall in love with me just now?" Sanji was doing a wiggle dance as he squirmed around happily.
"Yeah, Yeah, I fell for you. Now get this cage open already!" Nami ordered.
"Sanji! Your a knight in shining armor right now!" Faythe laughed out happily.
"Anything for you two!" Sanji saluted and wiggled away.
"There's no limit to his stupidity..." Zoro frowned.
"But that stupidity saved your ass." Faythe walked past Zoro with a smirk. Hearing that statement made Zoro flinch annoyed.
"VIVI! GOOD JOB!" Luffy threw a thumbs up at the blunette. who in turn returned it, "THANKS!"
Now that the bananadiles realized one of their own had just been gutted, they all started flocking in one by one.
"C'MON SANJI!"
"BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF 'EM!"
"So you all want a piece of me, do you..." Sanji sighed, he slowly raised his leg up high, "So be it. Come at me, you worthless bananas. I'll gladly kick some manners, into anyone boorish enough to harm a lady...!"
"SANJI! THERE'S NOT MUCH TIME LEFT! FINISH THEM OFF A SECOND!" Usopp shouted but then changed his mind, "NO, MORE LIKE HALF A SECOND!"
"DON'T SAY THE IMPOSSIBLE!" Faythe smacked his head.
"Tell you friend to go after the 3rd one to enter the room just now..." Lung Cancer stated with closed eyes. This caught the crew's attention.
"What, can you tell them apart?" Luffy questioned hurriedly.
"Are your ears just for show or something? That 3rd one has the exact same growl as the one that swallowed the key." Lung Cancer growled out, growing irritated.
"GOT IT!" Luffy went to go yell at Sanji.
"What the hell kind of training do they put marines through?" Faythe questioned.
"What are you talking about, it's normal basic stuff.." Lung Cancer glared at the red head.
"Oh." Faythe's face quickly morphed into one holding back a snort, "Then your the one that's weird...!"
"OI!"
/;/~***~/;/
(Word Count: 2068)
A/N: This is a little look at what they looked like when they were kids from Chapter 41