3:55 pm, Alubarna
Tashigi rushed to keep up with Captain Smoker as he glided across rooftops using his devil fruit. They only had 5 minutes before the bomb was fired. They had to get to the clock tower quickly. As the building came within sight, Tashigi noted that it would take time for her to actually get to the top, but Smoker could simply glide all the way up.
"Tashigi!" the smoke man yelled. "I'm going to give you a boost!"
"Right!" she consented, before grabbing hold of her superior's hand. Smoker wasted no time and took them both straight to the top just as the clock, which turned out to be a door, opened to reveal two eccentrically dressed agents carrying pistols and laughing. Behind them, Tashigi could see the cannon that they were going to use to fire the bomb. They stopped laughing when they caught sight of the two marines flying towards them, and started shooting, Smoker evaded the shots, but as they drew closer, Tashigi took note of the match in one of the agents' hands. Smoker saw the same thing and threw Tashigi into the clock tower just the fuse was lit. Tashigi quickly drew her sword and incapacitated the two agents before turning to the fuse and severing it. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, but it caught in her throat as she heard the ticking coming from the bomb. Realizing what was happening immediately, Tashigi turned to Smoker, who had just landed beside her.
"Smoker-san, the bomb is timed!" she yelled frantically. Smoker froze as he came to the same conclusion. He seemed to think for a moment before he walked toward the opening of the cannon.
"Only one thing to do then," he muttered. In an impressive show of strength, he pulled the bomb out of the muzzle and hoisted it over his shoulder. Tashigi's eyes widened.
"Smoker-san, what are you-" But Smoker had already jumped out of the tower and was rising into the air, carrying the bomb with him. It was with horror that Tashigi realized what he was going to do. She screamed after him as he flew higher and higher, the bomb ticking away all the while. It was only when Smoker was far too high to hear her desperate shouts any longer that the bomb detonated, and she had to cover her eyes to shield them from the blinding light of the explosion that seemed to block out the sky. When the sky cleared, Tashigi just stared up at it numbly, not believing what had just happened. When it finally sank in, she dropped to her knees, tears flowing down he cheeks. Sobs racked her body as she wondered how he could just leave like that, without so much as a farewell...no, how could he leave her at all? What was he thinking? What-
"What are you crying about?" a voice asked from behind her. "You call yourself a marine, you over emotional clutz of a girl?" Tashigi froze, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. She slowly turned around, towards the source of the all too familiar voice, to face Captain Smoker, standing there without a scratch on him.
"Captain..." she said numbly.
"What?" Smoker asked in annoyance. "You do know I'm a logia right? What the hell did you expect to happen?"
But Tashigi just tackled him in a hug, ignoring his indignant protests and half hearted threats.
"Desert Sword!" Crocodile shouted as a long fissure appeared in the sand below Luffy's feet, prompting him to jump over it to avoid being speared and falling in. He quickly readied his own assault as his blackened fist twisted behind him.
"Gomu gomu no...Ape Rifle!" The blow was dodged by the sandman, who dispersed into sand a fraction of a second before it connected. Crocodile reformed in front of Luffy and tried to gut him with his poison hook, but Luffy deflected it with his haki imbued hand. He grabbed the warlord by the arm and swung him over his shoulder into the air. Crocodile barely had enough time to right himself before Luffy was in front of him again, his arms reared back, ready to strike. "Gomu gomu no...Pan Bazooka!" His attack hit dead on this time, sending Crocodile through the air like a rag doll before he rolled to a stop on the sand below. He quickly recovered and stood up.
Luffy knew that fighting Crocodile in the desert would be no walk in the park. His victory last time had been due to a combination of luck and overconfidence on the logia's part. Through sheer circumstance, he had discovered Crocodile's weakness and had been able to exploit it. But it wasn't until he had seen the former warlord in action during the War of the Best that he had realized just how effective that weakness had been. Coming into contact with water didn't just prevent Crocodile from turning into sand; it weakened his body significantly. If it hadn't been for that factor, Luffy knew that for all he had gone through in Alabasta, he never would have kept the New World veteran down for long. But every time Luffy had utilized water in his assaults, he had chipped away at Crocodile's endurance and stamina until their encounter in the royal tomb, where the warlord had been fighting at a small fraction of his usual ability. Even so, he had lost twice before pulling off a victory. Sometimes, looking back, he wondered if luck was actually a matter of innate talent rather than probability. Was he just good at being lucky?
Even now he knew he had to be careful. His resistance to poison had not reverted back to his younger body as far as he knew, and he wasn't willing to find out the hard way. And then there was that whole 'dry you up with a single touch' thing. Croc's fruit is stupid, he decided.
He was broken out of his musings as the sand beneath his feet gave away. "Desert Sunflower!" Crocodile growled as Luffy jumped into the air and used geppou to escape the range of the sinkhole.
Not just haki, but rokushiki too? Who is this rookie? His body dissolved into sand again as he attempted to intercept the rubber man in midair. "Desert Crescent!" Luffy ducked under the crescent shaped blade of sand and aimed a kick at Crocodile. The sandman grunted as he blocked with his forearm before dematerializing and reforming behind Luffy.
"Sables," he said as he caught the rookie in a miniature sandstorm. Luffy was blown back into the sinkhole that Crocodile had made and landed in, but as the warlord tried to bury him, Luffy escaped with his air walking technique again. Crocodile grimaced, realizing that his home field advantage was neutralized by the rubber man's mobility. He appeared behind him again and tried to impale him through the back, but Luffy twisted around the moment he materialized and redirected the jab.
"Gomu gomu no..." Crocodile's eyes widened as Luffy's body started to steam again and his obsidian black arms took on a familiar red tinge. "Eagle Bazooka!" The sandman was launched back through the air and skidded along the desert sand, unable to right himself this time. He finally rolled to a stop and groaned as he picked himself up. He suddenly hunched over and coughed up a wad of blood. Before he could even recover, his opponent was in front of him again. "Hawk Rifle!" The punch impacted with his face and he was sent hurtling across the sand again. He struggled to get up, and for a split second, the world around him turned hazy before his vision cleared.
"No," he growled. "Unacceptable! I will not be defeated, especially not by some run of the mill rookie pirate!" Luffy smirked at the statement and spread his arms out in open invitation. Crocodile almost charged again, but controlled himself. Instead, he channeled his focus into the environment, into the surrounding desert. The sand around them began to stir, and Luffy's eyes widened imperceptibly.
Suddenly, the desert seemed to rise, as if awoken from its slumber. Waves of sand rose to incredible heights as the ground itself surrounded the two pirates before it came crashing down on them.
"Desert Tsunami!" Crocodile shouted with a dangerous grin on his face. Luffy did the one thing that would make sense in the situation, which was to use geppou to ascend straight upwards, avoiding the tidal waves of sand. But Crocodile flew into the air after him, and the colossal waves followed behind as they took the fight to the sky.
He never used this last time, Luffy thought. Then again, they had only fought in the desert once, and during that time Crocodile had controlled the fight with ease, to the point where he probably had no need to. Suddenly, Luffy paled, having realized that he'd forgotten about Robin. In his haste to end the fight, Crocodile had done the same. Luffy quickly locked onto her with his observation haki. He sighed in relief as he noted that she had managed to take refuge on top of one of the buildings, but the sand was still rising, and would reach her soon. In fact, if this kept up, the civilians in Alubarna could be in danger as well. He had to end this quickly.
As Crocodile ascended towards him, Luffy used geppou to speed up his own descent. His haki imbued arms stretched out behind him, taking on red tinge and then erupting into flame. "Gomu gomu no..." Crocodile ignored this new development as he readied his own assault. The widespread waves of sand surrounding him took on the shape of giant blades as they were launched up at Luffy.
"Desert Rapier!" Crocodile shouted just as Luffy brought his arms down.
"Red Hawk Cannon!" His armaments and flame enhanced arms pierced through the sand like a hot knife through butter. His fists made contact with Crocodile's abdomen, resulting in a massive explosion that sent the warlord hurtling down towards the ground. The impact caused widespread destruction across the city block, and a couple of buildings collapsed even as the previously rising waves of sand started to recede.
Luffy landed smoothly in front of the bloody, burnt, and unconscious heap that was Sir Crocodile of the Seven Warlords. He reached for the hat that was now dangling around his neck and placed it back on his head. Off to the side, he heard Robin jump down from the building she had taken refuge on and land with a soft thud. She stared at Crocodile in shock. Which was understandable. It wasn't every day a rookie from East Blue took out a royal warlord without so much as a scratch to show for it.
Luffy then turned towards Robin, who stiffened. He took a few steps toward her, but stopped when she took a step back and crossed her arms. He raised his arms in a placating manner. "Relax. I'm not going to attack you." Clearly she didn't believe him. Luffy winced as fear rolled off of her in waves. She was good at hiding it. Outwardly, she actually looked calm, save for her rigid posture, but Luffy's observation haki didn't lie.
Suddenly, Robin let out a breath before slowly lowering her arms to her sides. Her eyes lowered along with them, refusing to meet Luffy's. Her posture was defeated, and her smile bitter.
"I'm on the losing side of this game," she recited. "So it would appear."
There was an abundance of things that Luffy wanted to do at that moment. This was Robin. Crewmate, comrade, friend. Family. He wanted to comfort her and tell her to hang in there. He wanted to run up to her, grab her by the shoulders, and scream at her, telling her she wasn't alone. In the end, he settled for the next best thing.
"That depends which side you're playing on. You haven't lost just yet."
Robin looked up and met his eyes, and was confused by what she saw in them. It wasn't hate, or scorn, or even disappointment. She could pick up on such emotions with a single glance. But this was different. The look in his eyes was familiar, but it was something she hadn't seen in so long that she almost forgot what it looked like. She almost found herself wishing he would glare at her like everyone else. That way she'd be in familiar territory. But a small voice in her mind, a part that had long been silenced, suddenly spoke up for the first time in years, telling her that this was better.
She suddenly laughed, dryly, humorlessly, and yet somehow still melodically, as she considered his words. "I don't think there's a winning side for me, Monkey D. Luffy."
"Well then," Luffy said, before a grin stretched across his face. "I'll just have to prove you wrong."
Robin stared at him in open curiosity. "Not many have accomplished such a feat."
Luffy's grin turned amused as he wordlessly pointed toward Crocodile's fallen, defeated form. "And I'm guessing that's a first too."
Robin blinked, and a small, amused chuckle escaped her lips despite her efforts to contain it, which caused Luffy's grin to widen.
"See? That's much better," he said cryptically. Robin stiffened, having caught herself, and her mask fell back in place. Luffy pouted internally.
"What's better?" Robin asked in slight confusion.
"Your real laugh. I like it. It's much better than that fake smile you put on."
Robin was silent for a moment. "Someone once told me that a fake laugh is better than no laugh at all," she finally said.
Well crap, Luffy thought. Robin had told him the story of Jaguar D. Saul once. He had listened very intently to every detail, and this was paraphrasing at its finest.
"Then I'll just have to make you laugh for real from now on," he replied. "Don't worry, I'll be able to tell the difference."
Robin's eyes widened, but then narrowed. "What are you planning, Monkey D. Luffy?" she asked in suspicion.
At that moment, it was all Luffy could do to keep the hurt from entering his features. He quickly recovered.
"Hmm, that's a tough question," he answered. "I'm not really a planner, you see. But to give you the quick rundown, I'm planning to hand Croc over to Smokey and meet up with the rest of the crew. Then you'll become our crewmate, and we'll escape from the Marines, go on lots of adventures, piss off the World Government a bit, make it through the Grand Line, and find One Piece. I'll leave the details to you since you seem good at that."
Robin was well and surely dumbfounded. She had received many invitations to various organizations in the past, but never in such a manner. She didn't know whether to laugh or run. The man whose comrade she had wronged on so many levels was offering him a position in his crew, and he seemed sincere. Almost like he had no ulterior motive. She felt like there was danger, but she couldn't see it. His posture was relaxed, even friendly, as she stared at her, waiting for her to respond. It was as if...
As if he was indeed speaking to someone he considered a friend. There was no pity in his eyes. He wasn't acting like he expected her to flee, even if her experiences told her she should. Hell, he wasn't even expecting her to decline. He just kept looking at her with that childish (and yet somehow charismatic, her mind duly noted) smile of his, like she was already one of his crewmates, and he was having a casual conversation with a friend. Her mind screamed at her to rethink that, but that was exactly what it seemed like.
This man...he had no hostile intentions whatsoever.
All these thoughts passed in the span of 5 seconds, and Luffy waited patiently as she took another 5 to consider his offer. Robin's life was a cycle of betrayals, each of which led her to the next betrayer. Such a life was tiring, but that life had taken her far, and had ultimately led her here, to Crocodile, who would have been next in line. Would have been... if not for this strange pirate who claimed he could break the cycle. But if her experiences were right, and they always were, then he would be a part of it, no matter what his intentions were right now. So why was she so tempted to accept?
"I'll...have to think about this plan of yours," she whispered finally, taking a chance.
Luffy shrugged. "Suit yourself. Take all the time you need."
It was ridiculous. It would never work. Eventually the darkness of her existence would come to shadow him and his little crew, and she would have to either betray him or be betrayed. But would that be so bad? Even Alabasta's poneglyph was a hopeless dream now. Her life...it no longer had any purpose. She had seen with her own eyes the carefree nature of the Strawhat pirates. Maybe she could pretend she could live that life, just for a little while. Until things went downhill. Then...would she finally accept her fate? Only time would tell.
"Well, for now," Luffy said, catching her attention. "Let's go find your poneglyph."
Robin's eyes widened. "So you did know?"
Luffy smiled. "I know a lot of things."
Of course. He knew who I was ever since Whiskey Peak, and he knows about Pluton as well. That means he knows what I'm looking for.
"You don't seem like someone who would be interested in the poneglyphs," she said carefully.
"Your interests are mine," he said simply. Seeing her puzzled look, he elaborated. "Now that I've invited you to the crew, I can't just disregard your goals, can I?"
It wasn't quite that she couldn't figure him out. It was just that she could barely believe he was real.
"You know what I'm after and you're willing to help me?" she asked numbly.
"Well, I'm not exactly doing this for a history lesson...although it would be cool to know what happened."
Robin felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead as she let his words sink in. Could this really be happening? Could she still have a chance?
Luffy's face suddenly turned solemn. "But don't put all your hopes into this. You might not find what you're looking for." The words stung like ice in Robin's veins. He was right after all. Even if they could find it, she wasn't even sure that this was the Rio Poneglyph. In fact, if she were to take an unbiased guess, she would say that it wasn't. But she was far from rational right now. This was her last lead, and if she didn't find what she was looking for...
Luffy hid his guilt, knowing what the outcome of this would be, as he hoisted Crocodile over one shoulder. He walked up to Robin and tossed her over the other, ignoring her gasp of protest, before taking off in the direction of the royal palace using sky walk.
A/N: See ya later, shitty gator. - Mr. Prince
Tell me what you thought of Luffy's fight with Crocodile. I tried to make it interesting despite the inevitably huge gap in strength between the two. I feel like if I make it too difficult for Luffy it will just betray the canon portrayal of his skill level, so I kept him at the level I felt he was at in Marineford.