Chapter 41: Luffy VS. Crocodile, Round 2

So I guess I forgot to mention that I didn't write out Zoro's fight. Looking back now, I probably could have, but the results would be exactly the same as in Canon, so I tried to leave it as is. All the other fights were different, but I couldn't think of anything that I mentioned that would have impacted Zoro's fight a great deal. Usopp and Chopper had help this time. So did Sanji. And Nami didn't have to learn how to use her weapon mid-fight, but Zoro? No changes.

On a different note, I reached 200 Favorites! Yay! *Confetti rains from the clouds*

Chapter 41:

Luffy VS. Crocodile, Round 2

"There's a bomb?!" Usopp cried hysterically, running around the courtyard in a panic. The Straw Hats, covered in various injuries ranging from 'mildly annoying' to 'how-the-Hell-are-you-still-alive-and-conscious-Zoro?!', had gathered within the palace along with the Rebel leaders and Vivi. The princess had just explained that Crocodile's contingency plan, a bomb, was planted somewhere in the city set to go off at 4:30. That gave group 15 minutes to find it and shut it down. Chaka, who was sleeping in the palace where Vivi had moved him and the other living soldiers, had woken up long enough to tell Vivi what he knew before he was dragged back into the realm of unconsciousness.

"Yes," Vivi nodded, causing Usopp to let out a squeak. "Luckily, we have numbers on our side." She gestured to the courtyard where the Royal Army was waiting for orders. Word of the Rebel Army camping just outside of firing range had reached them and they were restless, some of them calling out to just go and attack them already. Vivi stepped up to the edge of the palace, catching their attention, and called down to them. "Royal Army! Many things have happened! Too many to explain in the time we have and I will explain when all this is over! For now, all you need to know is that the Rebels are not our enemies and that a bomb has been planted somewhere in the city with enough power to destroy everything in the area! It's set to go off at 4:30! Find it!"

The soldiers shouted their response and scattered throughout Alubarna on the lookout for this weapon of mass destruction. They were confused, of course, but the orders had come from Princess Vivi Nefertari herself; they weren't about to question them. Kohza and his generals wanted to leave to pull the Rebel Army into the city to help with the search, but Vivi advised against it since there were Baroque Works agents hiding inside the Royal Army and possibly some in the Rebels that had managed to avoid Coby and Grace. One attack and all their work could be undone.

"What are we waiting for?" Zoro asked. "Let's get looking."

"Just don't get lost, Moss-Head," Sanji muttered.

"What was that, Ero-Cook?" Zoro questioned, pulling out his swords.

"You heard me, Marimo!" Sanji shot back. Nami appeared behind them, bandaged but mostly healed, and beat both of them over the head.

"We don't have time for this, morons!" she yelled. "Now get out there!" The men ran as if their lives were in danger. Although, with Nami in the mix, that may have been a possibility. Vivi quickly joined the chase while Amy floated up into the air to survey the area.

With so many people searching, it was only a matter of time until the bomb was found in the clock tower and Mr. 7 and his crazy, frog-suit-wearing partner, Ms. Fathersday, were subdued. There were still five minutes on the bomb's timer, more than enough time for Pell to swoop in, take the bomb away from the city, and get back before the explosion destroyed the sand hills to the west. The blast superheated the sand to the point that everything in the bomb's five-kilometer diameter became shiny, reflective glass that gave the impression of standing on the sky. The people rejoiced while Vivi asked Coby and Grace to go through the Royal Army like they had the Rebels to find the agents hidden within.

"Straw Hats!" a voice yelled. The soldiers parted to show a group of marines led by Sergeant Major Tashigi into the square. She glared at Zoro in particular, but remained professional. "In the name of the World Government, you all are under arrest. Please come quietly. And where is your captain?"

"Please wait," Vivi tried to reason. She opened her mouth to say more, but before she could, something hit the ground between them and the marines.

This was not what Luffy had expected.

Upon reaching the bottom of the hidden stairway, the pirate captain had found three people in a large, crumbling room. The king, Vivi's father, Cobra, was glaring at an angry Crocodile while the Warlord's partner, Ms. Allsunday/Nico Robin, lay unmoving in front of a giant, black cube covered in unknown writing. The woman's white coat was stained red, a hole through her stomach much like the one that had been in Luffy the night before. However strange the situation, Luffy did not comment on it. He moved forward just outside of the enraged sand-man's vision.

"Where is the Pluton?" Crocodile demanded, punching the wall over Cobra's head. The king sneered at him.

"I led you to the Poniglyph," Cobra spat. "Are you not satisfied?"

"Of course I'm not," Crocodile growled. "Tell me where the Plu-" He was cut off as a wet fist slammed into his face, flinging Crocodile into the black cube where he exploded into powder. Luffy stepped over Cobra, ignoring the man's surprise.

"Excuse me," Luffy told him. "I need to kick this guy's ass real quick."

"What the Hell?" Crocodile growled, reforming himself and stepping over the bleeding woman. "How are you still alive? I left you with a hole in your stomach in the middle of the dessert!"

"It doesn't matter," Luffy stated. "Your company hurt Nami, so I'm going to beat the Hell out of you."

"Hahahaha!" Crocodile laughed, thin lines of blood running from his lips for the first time in years. "Are- haha! Are you saying that you're here to fight me again because one of my agents hurt your girlfriend? That's one of the stupidest things I think I've ever heard!"

"That's not the only reason I'm here. You threatened this country and the lives of my friends. I'll never forgive you."

"You think I care about your forgiveness?" the Warlord sneered. His remaining hand twisted the gold hook that took the place of his left, pulling it away to reveal a steel hook riddled with small holes underneath. A purple gas rose from the openings, releasing a putrid smell into the air. "I might have underestimated you earlier, but this time, you will die." Crocodile lunged at the teen, his poisoned hook ready to impale the younger pirate. Luffy twisted out of the way, a glob of water coming out of the hose from the barrel on his back to hang in the air he'd just abandoned. The Warlord flew into the airborne liquid, dousing himself.

"I know your weakness," Luffy taunted as Crocodile angrily combed wet hair out of his face. "Water makes you solid, doesn't it? That's why you took away the rain."

"I'll give you props for figuring it out," the sand-man admitted, "but it doesn't matter. You'll die here with this pathetic king and Nico Robin and I'll take this country by force!" Crocodile propelled himself toward his foe once again, forcing Luffy to twist out of the way to avoid the toxic chemicals coming from the other Devil Fruit user's hook.

Using his momentum, Luffy brought his left hand around in a backhand strike, hitting the older pirate in the back of the head. Crocodile stumbled, but remained on his feet. He turned and lashed out with his hook, but Luffy's wiry frame was too nimble for him to hit so easily.

"Not so good now without your powers, are you?" Luffy asked, ducking forward to bury his fist in the other man's gut. Crocodile, however, refused to double over or rise to the obvious bait. The man's hand shot up, grabbing Luffy by the face and flinging him into one of the walls which caved and toppled. The younger pirate shoved the debris off of himself before throwing it at his foe. Crocodile shifted out of the way, letting the improvised projectile sail past him and into one of the remaining support pillars, said pillar crumbling from the force.

"Gum-Gum Gatling!" Luffy's arms shot out, several punches hitting the Warlord who tried to block with his hook. The poisoned appendage did nothing to stop the attack, but it did scratch the pirate, introducing its toxin into his system. Under the glare of the younger man, Crocodile pulled himself out of the wall Luffy's attack had pushed him into.

"It's too late, boy," the older man spat. "The poison is already in your bloodstream. You're done."

"I don't care!" Luffy yelled, his leg swinging out to kick his opponent. The appendage swept through the man, Crocodile having dried himself While in the wall to remove the water. Luffy let out an angry growl before stumbling, purple smoke rising from several cuts on his fists.

"Why do you fight so hard?" Crocodile asked. "You'd survive if you just abandoned the stupid princess and this pathetic excuse of a country."

"It's because Vivi's my friend!" Luffy responded, willing himself to overcome the poison in his system. "You've hurt her and tortured her so much! You want to destroy her country! And I won't let that happen!" The younger pirate brought the barrel of water in front of his face before punching it from both sides. The barrel caved, the water inside dousing Luffy from head to toe. The rubber-man's fists met in the middle with enough force to break the skin, covering his hands in not only water, but also his own blood. Crocodile watched him with a hint of annoyance.

"You've been a pain in my side for quite a while, Straw Hat. Now die!" Crocodile launched forward, his hook out to impale the younger male for a second time. Luffy waited before twisting, one hand pushing the man's hook down and into the ground while the other grabbed a fist full of the Warlord's hair and shoved his face into the teen's knee, breaking his nose. While he was dazed, Luffy flipped the man forward, Crocodile's hook dragging across the crumbling tile floor until it caught on a crack and snapped.

"You...!" the Warlord cried through a mouthful of blood as his broken hook clattered to the floor. He tried to form a complete sentence. This brat had the... the audacity to show up, foil him at every turn, and now he was bleeding for the first time in years! "You...! You insolent welp! Just die already!" The broken remains of the poisoned hook popped off, a simple six-inch blade taking its place.

"Sorry to disappoint you, you sandy bastard," the raven-haired teen spat, raising his fists, "but I'm the man who'll be the King of the Pirates!" Luffy dodged under Crocodile's wild horizontal slash, his fist coming up in an uppercut that smashed into the Warlord's chin. The force pushed the older man off of the ground, but Luffy didn't stop there. Another uppercut bent Crocodile over at the waist before another snapped into his face. More and more punches pushed the Baroque Works leader further up until he was shoved against the roof. The shadows of the roof seemed to hide the Warlord and the fists pummeling him, but Luffy's hands gleamed in the darkness as if something was reflecting what little light there was.

Crocodile didn't understand. How was the boy keeping his hands wet? Luffy's knuckles had busted when he broke that barrel, but with his constitution, those should had scabbed by now. The confusion lasted for only a half second until a black fist slammed into his face, dazing him.

"Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Luffy yelled, one more hit blasting Crocodile through the roof, tearing through the bedrock and into Alubarna. The Warlord's unconscious form floated through the air for several seconds until gravity took hold of his body, depositing him in between a group of marines and the other Straw Hat Pirates, the man forming a small crater.

"S-Sir Crocodile!" Tashigi cried out in surprise. "What are you-?"

"Ha!" Usopp laughed out, interrupting the marine and kicking the unconscious Devil Fruit user in the side. "Take that, you stupid, country-ruining bastard!"

"Luffy did it," Vivi whispered, a happy tear rolling out of her eye. The pirates and the, admittedly confused, Royal Army celebrated, hugging Vivi and each other without a care for the government men and women only a few feet away. A fast minute later, Coby lumbered onto the scene in his Dino Mode, Grace and several depressed soldiers on his back. The two youngest pirates unceremoniously dumped the men next to their boss, their Baroque Works tattoos revealed to the world.

"These are the last of the royal infiltrators, princess," Coby grunted, shrinking back into his human form. "They were pretty easy to find. We just had to look for the soldiers not celebrating."

"Too much work too fast," Grace complained. She poked Coby in the face, dragging his attention to her. "Shade."

"What?" She didn't respond. All she did was stare at him as if wanting to convey her message via telepathy. Coby blinked. "Dear Goda. You are so lazy. What do you want?"

"Shade. Sleep."

Coby sighed before transforming again. He laid down, Grace sitting in the shade he provided. Chopper joined her, liking the reprieve from the harsh desert sun. Usopp scrambled over as well, the marines shooing him off so they could arrest Crocodile and his spies. Nami dropped next to Grace.

"Anyone know we're Luffy is?" she panted from a mix of the heat and her fading adrenaline.

"We'll find him eventually," Sanji shrugged, pulling out his last two cigarettes and passing one to Gin. "I'm betting he's with Vivi's dad right now."

"I'd say that's a safe bet," Vivi nodded, sitting next to Nami. The marines were pulling out, Tashigi continuing to glare at Zoro but prioritizing the traitorous Warlord over the pirate crew that was, apparently, friendly with the princess of the kingdom.

"I don't know who you are or what you just did," King Cobra gasped, "and right now, I don't care. Both Alabasta and the Nefertari family are in your debt." The older man was staggering along toward the center of Alubarna, leaning heavily on the teen he'd watched defeat Crocodile, Nico Robin draped over the boy's opposite shoulder. "Please, tell me. What is it you want?"

"While Nami would tell you money, all I want is food."

"Then food you will have," the king responded. "I'd say your victory deserves a feast at the Royal Palace."

"Great," Luffy smiled weakly. "Vivi promised me food before we got here."

"How do you know my daughter?"

"She didn't mention us in her letter? Huh. Well, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who'll be King of the Pirates, and the captain of the ship that brought Vivi back to Alabasta."

"So your crew were the friends she mentioned?" Cobra blinked. "She failed to say you were pirates."

"Hey, Old Guy. Can I see the palace?"

"Of course."

"Great! I'd... I'd... I'm going to sleep." And just like that, Luffy passed out.

End of Chapter 41

To all of you who were probably like "Hey! That was Haki! Does this mean that Luffy can use Armarment Haki now?", the answer is, yes and no. Yes, he just used it, but I specified that his arms were mostly in the shade of a dark, undergound room. Luffy doesn't know what he just did; he believes it was the remnants of the water and his blood, not some power he's never heard of. So no, Luffy will not be consciously using Haki anytime soon.

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-SwordOfTheGods