Before the crew starts getting ready to leave for the next leg of their journey, they're happily enjoy the breakfast Sanji prepared at the abandoned restaurant next to the inn.
Rose enjoys her meal in her own silence, but stops when she realizes that Luffy didn't start the food picking battle, that they've been doing at almost every meal. She looks towards the captain, who's sitting diagonally from her, to see that he's stuffing his face like usual. Seeing as he's not doing anything else strange, she lets it go, and goes back to her meal.
But, she failed to notice that the captain has been giving her a sideways glance every now and then, throughout the meal.
Luffy ignores the odd stares, that he's receiving from some of his friends, as he keeps eating and sneaking glances at the wind girl. He keeps thinking of what could be causing Rose's wind to turn cold, but he's stumped. Whatever emotion it is, it must be something bad for her to keep hiding it, wait...
He suddenly stands up while he smacks his hands on the table to get everyone's attention. "You make cold wind when you're hungry!"
Rose nearly spits out the food that's in her mouth, before she clamps her hand over her mouth to force it down. *WHAT THE CRAP?! AFTER EVERYTHING I SAID TO HIM, HE DIDN'T EVEN TAKE AN HOUR TO START THE BET?!*
Vivi and Chopper rush to make sure she's not choking while the others look at him in confusion.
"What are you going on about now Luffy?" Nami asks with Luffy explaining what's going on.
"Rose and I agreed that if I find out what makes her wind cold then she'll join the crew. So was I right Rose?"
The others look from him to Rose in utter shock as the freckled girl forces herself to swallow her food.
She catches her breath, and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand in irritation. Obviously, talking him out out of it won't work anymore, so the only way to get out of this is to win...
Rose narrows her eyes at Luffy. to show that she going to follow through with the game, as she shakes her head. "I don't make cold wind when I'm hungry. Now you only get one more guess today."
Luffy groans in disappointment as he sits back down. "I got nothing..."
The wind girl nods as she gets up from her seat. "In that case, I'm gonna start getting ready."
The others watch in silence as she leaves to finish packing up for the journey.
Usopp raises an eyebrow at the sudden departure, then turns to Luffy. "What did she mean by 'you only get one more guess today'?"
"I can only guess twice a day until we leave. I gotta figure it out on my own too, so don't help me!" Luffy says as he grabs the remainders of Rose's meal and chows down.
The rest of the group can only sit there in silence as they process his demand, but they silently agree as they get back to their breakfast.
Meanwhile, Rose finishes packing her backpack at the inn, and grabs her camera. She heads outside to take a few pictures of the town as she waits for the others. She tries her best to distract herself from her bet, when the swordsman comes out.
Zoro pauses when he sees her take a picture of him, then scowls at her. "Haven't you run out of film yet?"
Rose chuckles at his reaction, as she puts the camera away. "Nope, I bought a few rolls back in Nanohana, so I can capture everything."
He quirks an eyebrow at the comment, and looks at the abandoned town. "It's just some old buildings."
She shakes her head at his misunderstanding. "I don't mean just here, but this whole desert journey. It's been one crazy thing after another."
Zoro nods before they experience a moment of awkward silence.
Rose clears her throat to try to break the silence, and rubs the back of her neck. "You were right about Luffy. He's even more stubborn than I gave him credit for."
He chuckles at the complaint. "I told you he would be. Who's idea was it to settle it on a guessing game?"
Rose sighs as she looks back at the restaurant, where the rubber man's still stuffing his face. "Luffy's, I agreed to it, so we wouldn't go back on that argument loop. I even told him about my research to try to throw him off, but he barely hesitated..."
Zoro chuckles at the comment, as he believes that her attempt was just about the research being a taboo, because he didn't learn the extent of it like Luffy did. "Telling him how your research could be dangerous won't help your case. You might as well have said, you'll join the crew if that's all you're arguing with."
She narrows her eyes at the remark. "Shut up, I'm not giving up yet. I just gotta win this bet and he'll have to give up on me."
He sighs at her stubbornness to be alone, even though almost the whole time he's seen her with the crew, she's managed to get along with everyone. "Is that what you really want?"
She pauses at the question to see his hard gaze on her. "What do you mean?"
"Do you want to be left alone, even if your research is taboo?"
Rose widens her eyes at the concerned question before she shrugs it off, and gives him a smile. "I'll figure it out when the time comes. As for what I want, right now I just want us to make it through the fight."
A teasing smirk begins to grow on her freckled face as she starts floating up. "Didn't think you'd be the type to care about what happens to me though. Sanji's personality must be rubbing off on you."
Zoro twitches an eyebrow at the remark. "As if I'd ever become like that dart brow cook!"
Rose snickers at the complaint as she keeps taunting him. "You never know. With all the fights you have with him, I wouldn't be surprised if you start love twirling, and saying 'Nami-swaan' soon."
A feeling of dread grows inside the swordsman when an image of him twirling with hearts in his eyes, just as how Sanji spins for the ladies, shows up in his mind. He nearly gags at the thought before he glares at Rose. "DON'T GIVE ME NIGHTMARES LIKE THAT!"
He tries to whack her on the head, but she quickly dodges, and flies onto the tallest building where he and his swords can't reach her.
Rose chuckles at the angry expression on the swordsman's face. as she acts like she did nothing wrong. "Yeesh, didn't think you'd get so mad from a simple comment. I'm gonna stay up here while you cool off."
She playfully sticks her tongue at him before she turns around to look out for anything approaching the town.
Zoro scowls up at her, and considers chasing her onto the roof, but decides against it to avoid more scary mental images. He groans at the taunt, then mutters under his breath. "Damn woman, I shouldn't get involved."
He sits down with his back to the building, and starts taking a nap.
Rose looks down to see that he's not going to attack her again, and relaxes as she looks out at the horizon. When she thinks back on Zoro's question about her research, she starts to realize that she needs a plan. A plan to not just to learn whether or not the Timore comet is a taboo, but how she can find out the truth without showing that she's researching it. That way, she won't have to go through the World Government's bullshit as she continues her work.
She sighs to herself, for she doesn't know where to start, and lies down on the roof as she starts playing with her necklace while she stares at the morning sky. She remembers Vivi talking about the royal astronomer, so that'd be a perfect start after the war. As soon as she can get close to the scientist, she can ask the astronomer for answers, as a scholar, without being suspicious. For now though, all she can do is win the bet against Luffy and get out of this arc in one piece.
She chuckles at the accidental pun she thought up about this anime world's title, then sits up. Once she sees that the others are coming outside, she floats down to join the others.
Once every traveler is grouped together, Nami turns to Vivi. "So what's the plan Vivi?"
Vivi sighs at how things turned out as she stares at the path that they just took. "We need to head back the way we came to get to Katorea. If we're lucky we can reach the rebels before they start their battle."
The others silently agree as they start heading out, but before they leave Mr. Toto runs outside with small barrel of water in his hands. "Wait!"
The group stops when then they see him catching up to them. "Perfect, I didn't miss seeing you off!"
As soon as he reaches the group, he bows before his princess. "Thank you for easing my worries Vivi-chan. I'm deeply sorry for how I acted last night."
Vivi softly smiles at him. and motions for him to raise his head. "It's alright, I promise to do what I can."
Mr. Toto smiles back at her then goes over to Luffy. "Please take this with you Luffy."
He hands him the barrel of water causing the captain to smile from ear to ear. "Is this water?!"
Mr. Toto nods as he points back to his ditch. "Right after you kids fell asleep last night, I managed to reach the water level. I managed to squeeze out, and distill just enough water for it to fill the barrel. I'm sorry that this was all I can give you all."
Luffy shakes his head as he grabs the rope, that's attached to the small barrel, and hangs it around his neck. "Don't worry about it. This is great, I'll drink it carefully. Thanks."
"My pleasure, good luck on your journey." Mr. Toto says with a smile as he waves the group off as they leave the town until they're out of his sight.
Mr. Toto gives one last smile towards the direction that Vivi and her friends travelled towards, then goes back to digging in hopes of recreating his town's oasis.
***********************************************
After the group loses sight of the town they left behind, they continue walking towards the direction that they came from to get to Katorea.
Rose looks back at the direction of the town they left while she tries to remember what she knows about the next part of the Alabasta arc. She knows that they'll be going to Crocodile's casino town soon. If she can help the group avoid being caught by Crocodile, or at least hep them escape faster, then that'd be perfect. The only problem though is Bon Clay recorded her face too, so she doesn't have the element of surprise on her hands...
She keeps a contemplative look on her face as she keeps thinking of her options, then snaps out of it when she hears something drop behind her. She looks back to see Luffy sitting down with his back to a small tree. Knowing what's coming next, the freckled girl stays quiet while the others find the captain lounging around.
The group looks at him in confusion, while Vivi steps up. "What's the matter Luffy?"
Luffy keeps his seat as he looks back to them. "I quit."
His crew looks at him in shock at as they try to understand what he's saying.
Nami furrows her eyebrows at his resolve. "What do you mean 'you quit'?! We don't have time for your games! Get up!"
"But we're just going back the way we came."
Sanji twitches an eyebrow at his stubbornness. "Weren't you listening to Vivi-chan? We need to take the path we took yesterday in order to get to Katorea and stop the rebellion."
Luffy sighs as he keeps his hands behind his head. "Booring~!"
"WHAT?!" Sanji fumes in irritation, but his captain ignores his complaints.
The rubber man keeps his relaxed spot as he turns his head to the princess. "Vivi."
"What is it?"
"I want to beat the crap out of Crocodile."
Everyone, but Rose and Zoro, widens their eyes at what he's saying. However, they all remain quiet as he keeps talking. "If we stop the rebels, then will Crocodile stop messing with this country? If you just want the rebels to stop, then you don't need us."
Sanji nearly drops the cigarette that's hanging from his mouth after he hears Luffy's explanation. "Sometimes he can hit the nail on the head without even thinking."
Usopp slowly nods. "That's Luffy for you..."
Vivi looks at him worriedly as she tries to give him a reason to stop the rebels. "Well..."
Luffy doesn't give her a chance to make an excuse as he keeps going. "You just don't want anyone to die in this war right? Not the people in your country, us, or anyone else right? That's naive."
Nami widens her eyes and goes to stop him. "Luffy, that's-!"
She cuts herself off when Sanji blocks her off. "Wait a minute Nami."
Nami looks from him to Luffy then decides to remain silent.
Vivi however, glares at the captain as she finds her voice. "How is that naive?! What's wrong with not wanting people to die?!"
"People will die no matter what you do."
The princess couldn't take it anymore, and gives Luffy a punch across the face that knocks him onto his knees. "Don't you dare say that again! That's exactly what we're trying to stop! It's not the rebels or my people's fault, so why should they die?! This is all Crocodile's fault!"
Luffy grits his teeth as he gets up, and punches her back. "Then why are you risking your life?!"
Vivi narrows her eyes at him as she tackles him, and starts punching him repeatedly. "I need to in order to protect my country!"
Luffy ignores the pain in his cheeks as he glares at her. "You risking your life is not what this country needs!"
"What?!"
"You just risking one life isn't enough to help Alabasta!"
"Then what am I supposed to risk?! There's nothing else I have to-!"
Luffy grabs her wrists and sits up. "Why not try risking our lives too! I thought we were friends!"
Vivi's anger immediately washes away, and is replaced with mixed emotions as tears fill her eyes. She gets off of Luffy, and tries her best to hide her tears, while the others look at her with sympathy in their eyes.
Luffy sighs as he dusts himself off. "See, you want to kill Crocodile the most. So where is he?"
Once Vivi calms down she goes into her bag to bring out a map. She spreads it out so that everyone can see it, and then points to a town that's North West of Yuba. "Crocodile's based in a town called Rain Base. The town's north of here, and will take about a day for us to get there from here."
Chopper looks at the map for a moment, before he turns to Vivi with hopeful eyes. "Will there be water?"
Vivi nods. "Yes, this town should have it. It's a gambling town, that's separated from all the fighting, so it shouldn't have been affected by the war."
Beli signs begin to appear in Nami's eyes at the sound of gambling, as a large smile forms on her face. "It's a gambling town?!"
Zoro rolls his eyes at the money loving navigator's antics but stays quiet.
Usopp looks at the map pensively for a moment, when he spots Luffy's water barrel. He goes to grab it but Luffy quickly pulls it out of his reach.
"You're not getting it Usopp!" Luffy says as he keeps moving the barrel to make sure that Usopp can't reach it.
Usopp groans as he keeps trying to grab it, but Luffy keeps pulling it away. "One sip won't kill us! He gave it to us!"
Luffy shakes his head. "No way! The old man dug all night for this water! We can't just drink it right away!"
Nami blinks at Luffy's newfound restraint then starts smiling. "Wow, you can actually restrain yourself when you want to."
"Of course I can! How rude!" Luffy says as he makes sure Usopp can't grab it.
The others grin at the exchange, as Zoro starts leaving in the opposite direction. "Alright already, let's just go."
Before he can keep going Rose picks him up with her wind, and turns him in the right direction. "We gotta go this way."
The swordsman looks at the brunette in shock, as she puts him down and walks with the others. He groans to himself as he follows the rest of the group on their journey to Rain Base.
*************************************************
A half an hour has passed since the crew has redirected their journey to Rain Base, and the heat has begun to take effect on almost everyone.
Luffy and Usopp continue whining as they use walking sticks to keep themselves from collapsing.
"Shut up guys!" Nami says as she keeps riding Eyelashes.
"Easy for you to say, you're riding a camel." Usopp says.
Luffy nods as he turns to Rose. "Can we use your blanket to fly again?"
Rose pauses at the request before she starts considering it. Honestly, if she can get them earlier than before, it might get them to avoid the marines altogether.
She opens her mouth to give him her answer when her nose starts twitching. She tries to stop her sneeze by covering her nose, but it's no good as she unleashes another sneeze that sends her flying.
She groans to herself as she quickly catches herself with another gust of wind, then lands herself next to him. "I would, but I don't wanna drop you guys with my sneezing again..."
Rose thinks over the different ways that she can stop her sneezing, when an idea pops up in her head! "Wait, I got it!"
She digs into her bag, and grabs a white handkerchief, then ties it around her face for a makeshift medical mask. "I'll give it a try with this to avoid sneezing."
"Awesome!" Luffy says as the others sweat drop at the eccentric girl's mask.
Nami raises an eyebrow at Rose's actions, as she watches the wind girl set the sheet up with her wind. "Are you sure you wanna try again? It didn't take long for you to get tired last time."
Rose nods as she hops onto her makeshift ride. "I'm sure, we gotta get there as soon as possible after all. As long as I'm not racing Eyelashes again, I won't tire out too quickly. When I get exhausted, I'll just stop the ride and we'll walk the rest of it."
Vivi looks at her with hesitance for a moment, before she nods with a smile. "Alright, if you think you can handle it. Thank you for your help."
"My pleasure." Rose says as she makes sure that all the boys are seated, before she starts moving the ride along.
Eyelashes follows suit without challenging her to a race this time, to keep the remainder of his pride.
Vivi looks towards the group, then smiles at Luffy. "Thank you as well Luffy."
Luffy looks back at her, and tilts his head. "For what?"
"I wouldn't have come to this decision without you."
He blinks at the gratitude before he smiles at her. "Don't worry about it. You can pay me back in food when this is all over."
Vivi chuckles at the request before she nods. "I promise."
Rose looks back at her friends with a small grin before she returns her focus to the desert ahead with thoughts of Rain Base in her mind. She keeps a smile on her hidden face as she and the others travel through the desert for the rest of the morning.
********************************************************
Halfway through the journey, Rose grew too tired to continue using her wind without the risk of collapsing, so the decision was made for her, and the guys to walk the rest of the way.
Rose takes off the handkerchief, and puts it away along with her blanket with satisfaction of getting the group to move a little faster than in the manga.
She remains quiet as she keeps walking with the boys, while Vivi and Nami ride on the camel. As the heat builds up, Usopp and Luffy go back to relying on walking sticks to travel.
Zoro looks over the reindeer, who's using walk point to travel, to see that he's not complaining one bit. "You're not getting tired?"
Chopper shakes his head as he keeps walking. "No, I can manage."
Sanji sneaks a glance at the corner of his eye, and smiles in pride of his crew mate as he lights up his cigarette.
After what feels like an eternity of walking, a town starts coming into view.
"Hey Vivi-chan, is that the place?!" Sanji asks as he throws away his finished cigarette.
Vivi looks at the large town from the distance, and immediately recognizes the large crocodile head at the top of a pyramid shaped building. "That's definitely Rain Base!"
Luffy grins in triumph as he raises his fists into the air. "YEA, WE'RE COMING FOR YOU CROCODILE!"
"SHUT UP LUFFY! WHAT IF HE HEARS?!" Usopp yells as he whacks his captain on the head.
Rose sweat drops at his worries. "Relax, I think we're still safe, at least till we reach town."
Nami gives the dangerous town a quick glance, before she turns to the sniper. "Hey Usopp, were you able to finish 'that' yet?"
Usopp pauses at the question then remembers the weapon request that she's talking about, and he digs into his pockets. "Yea, I was able to finish it."
He pulls three blue rods out of his pocket with a smirk then shows them to the navigator. "Captain Usopp is proud to present your new weapon: the clima-tact!"
Nami blinks at the name as she takes the three rods from him. "The clima-tact?"
"Yea, you can put them together to make them into a staff, and you can change your attacks depending on how you use them."
Usopp takes a piece of paper from his pocket, and hands it to her. "Here's a list of instructions to help you start out."
"Great, thanks!" She takes the piece of paper, starts studying the instructions, and playing around with her weapon.
Zoro looks towards the town then turns to Vivi. "Hey, do you think Baroque Works knows that we're here?"
Vivi nods at the question. "It's possible since we met Mr. 2, and Mr. 3 should be here as well."
Luffy tilts his head in confusion. "So what?"
"This means that they know we're coming. We lost the element of surprise." Usopp says.
He shrugs off his sniper's worries. "We don't need to surprise them. We just need to kick their asses."
Usopp groans at his captain's recklessness. "We can't just bull rush there! We have no idea where they could be hiding!"
Zoro hums in thought as he looks back at the town. "Assassination is their specialty after all."
Luffy doesn't see what the problem is as he looks at the town. "Then let's just kick his ass before he gets us!"
Usopp whacks him on the head again. "Were you even listening?!"
Vivi glances at the incoming town, before she shakes her head. "Wait Usopp, Luffy's right. We don't have a lot of time to think up a plan. We should rest up for a moment then reach the base."
Usopp trembles at this, so Chopper looks at him in confusion. "Are you scared?"
"Of course not! Nothing scares captain Usopp!"
Nami rolls her eyes at this when they reach the town borders, and stops at an intersection. "In that case Usopp, you and Luffy go into town to get us some water. We'll wait right here."
Usopp and Luffy quickly nod at this before they run deeper into town to get some water.
Rose chuckles at the quick retreat as she looks around, and spots the giant crocodile monument at the top of the pyramid, when her stomach lightly growls. Even though she didn't plan to overdo it with the flying carpet trick, to the point of getting hungry, she can use this to peel away from the group to scope out the place.
With the plan in mind, she turns to the group with a smile. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get a snack."
Sanji blinks at this, then grabs his bag. "Hold on, let me come with you."
She quickly shakes her head. "It's fine, it'll only take a few minutes."
She starts walking off when Chopper goes up to her.
"Can I come with you? I need to head to the bathroom anyway."
Rose pauses at the request, but one look from the adorable reindeer's face takes away any resolve to say no. "Sure doc, let's go."
The pair walks off while Sanji looks at them in shock. "Why does the reindeer get to go?!"
Zoro chuckles at the complaint as he relaxes. "Probably didn't want to deal with your crap."
"What was that?!"
"You heard-!"
Nami whacks Zoro on the head to stop him from starting a fight. "That's enough from both of you! Once the others get back we're moving so no fighting!"
"Yes Nami-san!" Sanji says with hearts in his eyes as he sits down while Zoro just huffs and takes a seat.
Vivi looks at the crocodile building with determination, to finish the war, in her eyes then sits to wait for the rest of the group to return.
***************************************************
Rose and Chopper walk down the street through the crowds, and search through the stands as if they were tourists.
Chopper sees an empty street nearby, that leads to the outside of town. "I'll be right back."
Rose looks at the street, that he wants to take, then nods. "Ok, if you can't find me, just head back to the others."
Chopper nods as he splits up with her.
She walks further down the street towards Crocodile's casino, and looks around for something to eat until she finds a fruit stand. She quickly goes over, and buys a few apples, before she continues her stroll.
She keeps munching on the apples, as she keeps walking with her hood over her head. As she continues to walk, she can't help but give sideways glances to every alleyway she walks past in case an assassin jumps her. From what she can tell, no one's noticed her yet, she just needs to keep it that way.
She snaps out of her thoughts, when she bumps into a large back. She shakes her head, which accidentally removes her hood, then bows her head, while the white haired man she bumped into turns around. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was-!"
"It's you! Straw Hat's hostage!"
Rose pauses at the feminine voice then lifts her head to see Tashigi and Smoker looking at her in shock.
Rose mirrors their facial expressions as she doesn't make a move. *Oh crap! Wait, they still think I was a hostage, so I'm ok!*
She quickly re-composes herself, and starts to play in her innocent hostage role. Confusion forms in her purple eyes as she looks at the dark blue haired marine. "I'm sorry, have we met?"
Tashigi blinks at her attitude, when she realizes that they never formally met. "Right, I'm sorry, we never met. My name's Tashigi and this is Captain Smoker, we're marines."
Rose widens her eyes, as if she suddenly remembers who they were. "I remember now, you guys were chasing the pirates that grabbed me in Nanohana!"
Tashigi nods as she adjusts her glasses, and scans over the brunette for potential injuries. "That's right! How did you escape the Straw Hats?! Did they do anything to you?!"
Rose takes a step back from the nosy marine before she rubs her arms, and lightly trembles, as if she's a shaken hostage. "I-I'd rather not talk about it..."
Smoker easily falls for the well acted line, as he nods in understanding. "Very well, but you should come with us. We can arrange for some officers to escort you back to your family."
Rose pauses at the invitation before she shakes her head and gives them a sad smile. "Thanks, but I don't have a family. I came to Alabasta for a fresh start."
The marines widen their eyes at the story when Rose tries to turn the conversation around by getting a close look at Smoker's face. "Wait, that face..."
They grow confused by her comment, when her smile starts to grow. "I knew it! I should've guessed from the cigars! You're Bobby's twin brother!"
Tashigi raises an eyebrow at the announcement, before she turns to her superior. "You have a brother, sir?"
"No I don't!" Smoker says, before he turns to Rose. "And I don't know any Bobbys."
Rose blinks at his defensiveness, and acts like she didn't expect it. "Really? He knows about you though. You two have to be related in some way, because you look just like him. The only real difference is that he's blond."
Tashigi widens her eyes at the comparison then looks at Smoker to imagine him with blond hair. She quickly covers her hand to smother her laughter from the mental image, with the brunette biting the inside of her cheek, so that she doesn't join her.
A tick mark begins to grow on Smoker's forehead from all the laughing, but he keeps his temper under control for the sake of the hostage. "Like I said, I never met the guy. Anyway, I still want you to come with us. The Straw Hats might be around, so you could be in danger. Anything you can tell us about them would be helpful too."
Rose loses her smile as the topic changes back and considers her options. If she runs now, they'd just be suspicious. If she stays with them though, she can back up Usopp and Luffy if they're still at the restaurant.
Rose nods at the suggestion with a shy smile. "I-I'm not sure what help I'd be, but I'll do what I can."
Tashigi brightens up at the answer, as she links arms with her. "Great, let's go."
Smoker nods as he leads them through town. "I know a restaurant not too far from here that's quiet. We can still arrange for you to be escorted back to Nanohana if you'd like Ms..."
He trails off when he realizes that he never caught her name. "Hey, what's your name anyway?"
Rose pauses, when she realizes that she never introduced herself, before she gives them a friendly smile. "My name's Rose. Thanks for the offer, but I'm still exploring my options. So where's this restaurant that you were talking about?"
Smoker blinks at the dodged question before he looks around and spots a restaurant at the end of the street. "It's over here."
He walks ahead with both girls closely following. Once they reach the building, Rose gives the window a sideways glance, then turns her head with wide eyes to see Luffy and Usopp gulping down a barrel of water, then ordering a meal! *TAKE THE FOOD TO GO DAMMIT!*
Rose quickly looks to see that Smoker's about to open the door, but quickly uses her free arm, to touch his shoulder, and stop him. "Wait, don't go in there Bobby the second!"
Tashigi snorts from the nickname, and clamps a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter.
Smoker however, is not amused as he stops what he's doing, and looks back at her. "I already told you that I don't know who this Bobby is..."
"Sorry, but we can't go in there." Rose says as she takes her arm back from Tashigi, and moves away from the window to keep their attention from it.
"Why not?" Smoker asks as he and his subordinate grow confused.
Rose looks around for an excuse, then points at the direction they just took. "I think I saw a place that's less noisy back there. It might be easier to talk about everything at that restaurant instead."
Tashigi raises an eyebrow at the suggestion then looks at the door. "I don't see much of a difference. Are you worried about being seen by the Straw Hats?"
Rose quickly nods her head, before she looks around as if she's fearfully looking for the pirates. "They can be anywhere after all. The restaurant I saw back there looked like a place they'd never-!"
She freezes on the spot when Smoker places a hand on her head to ruffle her hair, as if she's a child, to ease her worries. "It's alright, we won't let them hurt you. Let's go inside and talk more."
She blinks at his kindness, and grows a bit guilty about the role she's playing, when she sees him go to the door with his subordinate following behind. The brunette opens her mouth to try to call out to them when her nose begins to twitch. She curses her terrible timing, and goes to cover her mouth, but stops midway when she finds a way to make it useful.
She mutters a small apology, for what she has to do, then turns her back to them, and prepares for her sneeze when Smoker opens the door to see his target casually sitting at the bar.
Smoker and Tashigi looks at the pirates in utter shock, as they draw their weapons. "IT'S STRAW-!"
"ACHOO!" Rose cuts them off with her sneeze, as she sends herself flying backwards, and crashes into the marines to send them flying with her!
Smoker widens his eyes from the blow as he's about to reach the counter with the girls behind his back. *Why does this keep happening to me?!*
Luffy and Usopp both have their cheeks full of food, as their eye bug out from the sight of Rose and the marines flying towards them. However, they miss the pirates, to crash into the seats right next to them, and break through the counter. The patrons and pirates are completely speechless, as the cloud of dust reveals Rose lying on top of Tashigi, who in turn is lying on top of her disoriented superior.
The pirates couldn't recover from the surprise quick enough, to stop themselves from accidentally doing a spit take on the collapsed group. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Rose is the first to recover, as she gets up, and wipes the food off her in disgust. "Seriously, what the-! WAH!"
She exclaims in shock, when Luffy suddenly picks her up over his shoulder, with a barrel of water on his other shoulder.
"Why does this keep happening?" Rose mutters, more to herself than to anyone around her, as Luffy runs out of the restaurant with her in tow, while Usopp follows with a barrel in his arms.
Smoker widens his eyes at the second 'kidnapping' as he gets up, and goes after them.
"Tashigi, assemble the men! I'm going after them!" Smoker calls out as he runs out of the building.
Tashigi gets up to go follow her orders, when an old lady grabs her jacket. "Hold on, you have to pay for the damage!"
The marine blinks at the owner's demand. before she takes her wallet from her pocket. "Right, I apologize for the damage."
"You need to pay for the food and water those kids took too!"
Tashigi hesitates for a moment before she gives her the money. "Here!"
She runs off before any more distractions can be made, and goes off to assemble to officers.
Meanwhile, Smoker is running relentlessly in order to reach the pirates who took the freckled girl again. He doesn't understand thus at all. Why is this girl so important to Straw Hat? She's just a civilian, isn't she?
He remembers how his smoke kept missing when he was chasing Luffy and Rose in Nanohana, then looks back on how he got sent flying after hearing Rose sneeze. He looks at the pale girl to see that she's keeping a perfectly frightened expression on her face to avoid looking suspicious. *She couldn't have done it right?*
He shakes his head to get the idea out of his head and decides to get his answers after he rescues the hostage.
Luffy looks back in shock to see that Smoker's still on the chase. "Why are the marines here?!"
Usopp does the best he can to keep the barrel of water in his arms as he keeps running. "How should I know?! Wait, what were you doing there Rose?!"
Rose groans as she covers her face with her hands, and keeps her head down to keep herself hidden. "I was walking around town, when those marines bumped into me. They didn't know we were friends, so they brought me to the restaurant to talk. Good thing I went with them, or you guys would've been stuck without an opening."
"COME BACK HERE!" Luffy and Usopp look back, to see the marine captain trying to pick up the pace with his officers joining the chase. They look at them in horror before they run for their lives.
"Let's just focus on losing them!" Usopp says as he drops his barrel, to keep up the pace with Luffy, as they reach the rest of the crew, except for Chopper who's still in town.
The rest of the crew looks at the chase in utter shock as it comes towards them.
"Why are they bringing the chase here?!" Nami asks as they make a run for it.
Luffy and Usopp catch up to them as fast as they can with the marines not too far behind.
"Hey guys, the marines are here!" Luffy says with Sanji glaring at him.
"You're the one who brought them! And why are you carrying Rose-chan like that again?!"
"Because she sneezed on the marines!"
"That doesn't mean you can carry her like that! At least carry her like a lady!"
Usopp widens his eyes at the complaint. "That's what you're mad about?!"
Vivi looks around while running, to see that Chopper isn't with them, so she goes next to Luffy to talk to Rose. "What happened to Chopper?"
"He and I've split up after we left you guys. He should be fine on his own." Rose says soft enough for her, and half the group, to hear while she keeps her head down.
Luffy ignores the crowd as he keeps running. "Where's Crocodile Vivi?!"
Vivi looks around the tall buildings then points to the pyramid, with a crocodile structure on it. "His hideout is at the building with a crocodile on it. It's the casino he owns called Rain Diners."
Zoro nods when he sees a fork in the road coming up ahead. "We should split up and meet there."
Sanji and Luffy nod when they reach the two roads with Sanji, Nami, and Usopp taking the right road, while Zoro and Vivi take the left road. Luffy however, jumps into the air with Rose still on his shoulder.
"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" Smoker calls out as most of his men start taking the paths that Zoro and Sanji's groups took.
Luffy makes it on a rooftop, and jumps to the next one, while he sticks his tongue at Smoker with a shit eating grin. "COME AND GET ME SMOKEY!"
"Don't think you can run forever punk!" Smoker mutters under his breath, as he quickly turns his body into smoke, and sends it spiraling towards the captain. "White bind!"
Rose goes to block the smoke, but it quickly switches direction to go behind Luffy before she can react, and wraps around his waist in mid air!
Luffy reacts quickly by taking a deep breath, and expanding his stomach to break the smoke. "Gum gum balloon!"
He manages to push Smoker off of him, to send the three of them falling towards a horse pen, and lets go of the barrel.
"Whoa!" Rose yelps in shock when they start free falling, and sees Smoker falling towards them. She quickly uses her wind to send the falling barrel flying into Smoker's side, so that he crashes into a pile of hay.
The marine groans from the crash landing as he gets up, then widens his eyes to see that Luffy's landing is being slightly slowed down by a gust of wind that would've been unnoticed if he wasn't paying close attention. He knows for sure now that something strange is happening around Straw Hat. Ever since that girl showed up...
He looks at the fragile looking girl who still has her frightened mask on as Luffy carries her away. He ignores his suspiscions for now quickly gets up, and returns to the chase between him and Luffy. Even if this girl has a devil fruit, Straw Hat could be forcing her for all he knows. Right now, he needs to catch up to them and get his answers!
Rose widens her eyes when she sees the fierce look in the marine's eyes, as he keeps running after them. She knew he could be fierce, from both watching his chases in the manga and from her experience with Bobby, but it looks like an even stronger fire lit under his ass this time to make him more dangerous.
She keeps her head down and her arms blocking her head, so she can speak softly to the rubber man. "Luffy, whatever you do keep running. I'll do what I can to cover you from Smokey's attacks."
Luffy nods when he looks back at her to see her frightened face. "Hey, you ok?!"
She takes her mask off to give him a mischievous smirk, while her arms are keeping her face covered from the marine. "Yea, I'm not scared, I'm just messing around with Fumezilla."
Luffy chuckles at the nickname, before he looks at her in shock when he comes up with an emotion for her cold wind. "Wait, you make cold wind when you're scared don't you?!"
She loses her smile at his guess, that only reminds her of the bet, and sighs. "Now's not the time for that, and I haven't made a scared mood breeze yet. Just keep running."
Luffy drops his shoulders then puts his focus back to running for his life with Smoker on his tail.
Smoker tries to attack Luffy with his smoke, but Rose uses her wind to slightly deflect it so it looks like he missed. He clenches his fists in frustration as he keeps running. *Dammit, what kind of power does she have?! Is she even a hostage or is she playing me?!*
He looks at the girl's frightened face for any cracks in the mask, but he can't see any signs of it being fake.
Rose looks away from his fierce gaze, that's making her even more nervous, and helping her to keep a convincingly scared look on her face.
Smoker keeps his intimidating stare on the girl to try to figure out what's going on when he remembers what she's doing on this island. *"I came to Alabasta for a fresh start..."*
The eyes that he saw when she spoke those words held nothing but the truth, and dashed his suspicions of her being a pirate. He shakes his head to snap out of it, and decides that the most important thing right now is to go after the target and rescue the hostage.
***************************************************
Usopp and Nami keep running as fast as they can, while Sanji takes care of the marines that were chasing them.
"How much farther until we reach this alligator building?" Usopp asks as he keeps his eyes forward.
Nami looks at the alligator looking building, that will be coming up ahead. "We're almost-!"
She stops herself when a bullet flies past their heads, which makes them scream in terror. They look back, to see four low class members of Baroque Works agents chasing them with rifles in their hands.
"We got them now! Take aim and fire!" One of them calls out as the group stops running to aim for the pirates, just when they reach the building.
Nami and Usopp scream in fright when they see them aiming, but when the trigger was about to be pulled Zoro runs in from out of nowhere to kick the closest one. The kick sends him flying towards his three comrades, and sends them crashing into a nearby building to knock them out.
Usopp gapes at the sudden rescue when Nami looks around to see that the princess isn't with him.
"What happened to Vivi?!"
Zoro looks around to see that Vivi isn't in the area yet. "I let her go ahead, so that I could take care of the marines. She's not here yet?"
Usopp looks back at the building in thought. "She might be in there already."
Nami nods as she looks back at the building. "Come on then, let's-!"
"GUYS!" The group looks back to see Luffy yelling for him, as he runs towards them with Rose still on his shoulder, and an angry marine captain not too far behind.
"STOP, DAMMIT!" Smoker yells as he keeps running after them, but Luffy doesn't give in.
"GUYS, GET INSIDE! SMOKEY WON'T STOP!" Luffy yells, so his crew mates act fast, and run inside with Luffy close behind.
Smoker goes towards the doors, but he's blocked off by two security officers. "We're sorry sir, but government officials aren't allowed here."
The marine widens his eyes at this, as he tries to go in, but the two guards keep holding him back. "Are you kidding me?! Those pirates have a hostage!"
"We'll call security to take care of them then, but you can't come in!"
Smoker narrows his eyes at the bullshit, as he gets ready to break through.
Meanwhile, the pirates quickly run through the casino, and stop at the slot machine area when they see the marine not chasing them.
Rose manages to get off of Luffy's shoulder, while Luffy looks around for Crocodile. "CROCODILE, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!"
Nami and Usopp stop him from shouting by smacking him on the head. "SHUT UP!"
Luffy rubs his head, then scowls at them. "How else are we supposed to find him?"
Usopp pauses for a moment, when he realizes that Luffy's right. "Now that you mention it, without Vivi we won't know what he looks like."
"Where is Vivi anyway?" Nami asks with the three of them having no answer to that question.
They get ready to shout when Rose lifts them up in the air to stop them, turns them to face her and Zoro, and then sets them down. "Don't start shouting again! Look, Crocodile owns this place right? So he probably has some big shot office! We can start there!"
The others stare at her in shock, for the assertiveness before Luffy nods. "Alright, then let's go kick Crocodile's-!"
"THERE YOU ARE STRAW HAT!" The others look back at the entrance in shock, to see that Smoker bull rushed past the guards, and barged through the doors.
"Oh crap, Smokey!" Luffy says as he, and the rest of the pirates, make a run for it.
Rose goes to run on instinct, when a line of white smoke wraps around her waist, and pulls her backwards.
She looks down in shock to see that the smoke's lifting her back, and looks to see that the others didn't notice her being grabbed. She decides to stay quiet, as Smoker takes her from the chase, to make sure that they don't try to fight the marine.
Smoker sets her down behind him, then goes back on his chase for the pirates. "You're safe now, so get out of here!"
Rose widens her eyes at the 'rescue', when she realizes what's coming next, and goes after them. If they keep this up they're heading for the trap door, she's gotta intercept the pirates!
She flies up to search for the crew, then freezes when she sees them heading to a door that says 'the VIP Room', where they're being lead by a few of the employees, with Smoker not far behind. "WAIT!"
She flies after them and tries calling out to them, but the shouts from the distressed gamblers who are being pushed because of the chase, along with the loud slot machines are blocking out her voice.
Not too far from the chase, a dark haired woman in her late twenties and wearing a white cowgirl outfit, keeps a calm smile on her face as she watches the freckled girl fly after the others. "Now what's this?"
Rose ignores the attention she's receiving, as she flies after her friends who are going into a hallway that splits into two paths.
Nami looks at the two signs at the end of the hall, that have one pointing to the right that says 'Pirates', and the sign pointing to the left saying 'VIP room'. "We need to go left guys!"
Luffy looks at the signs, then shakes his head. "Wait, the one to the right's for pirates! We should go there!"
"That's obviously a trap!" Usopp says, but his captain doesn't listen, as he goes to the right with the rest of the group to reluctantly following.
Smoker turns the corner after them just when Rose reaches the hall.
"AAH! A PIT TRAP!" Rose widens her eyes at Luffy's shouting, and rushes to the room just when the pit trap in the pirate room finishes closing.
"CRAP!" Rose goes into the room and tries to blast her wind on the doors to open them, but they won't budge. She flies up and slams herself down on the door to try to phase through, but she only slams her right shoulder into the door without leaving a single dent. She groans in frustration as she rubs her shoulder and stands up. She'd just waste time by trying to break through there, she needs to hurry downstairs and find a key to their sea stone cage.
She turns around to leave the room, but freezes when she sees the woman. that was watching her fly around in the casino, wearing a calm smile as she blocks the doorway. "Looks like I was right in guessing that the trap wouldn't work on you. Now what shall we do with you?"
The tension begins to fill the air as Rose finds herself alone with Nico Robin, who's the crew's enemy right now, and finds that the only way out is being blocked by her. She clenches her fists as she gets in a stance for a fight with only one thought in mind. *HOLY FREAKING SHIT! I GET TO FIGHT HER?!*
TO BE CONTINUED