5. Hero In Disguise

Crocodile, the hero of alabasta, and one of the revered seven warlords. But was that all to be seen? Or did he hide a malicious face underneath his 'hero' disguise? Because if it was the latter, the kingdom of Alabasta may be in for the biggest ride of it's life.

It was the afternoon when a ragtag group of pirates decided to pillage a city in alabasta known as rainbase. The city would become the headquarter of an orginazation known as baroque works, in the nearr future. And because of this, they continued thrive even during the drought that was orchestrated by a certain individual. It would be referred to as the "city of dreams."

It is a luxurious booming city, with tons of casinos and restaurants.

The group of pirates was led by a large man with a white-yellowish mustache. The man unsheathed his sword as the head of the city was brought beneath his feat. "Ehehehe, Give us all of your money and jewelry! Or else..." He gazed around at the petrified faces of the citizens.

The guards to the city were no where to be seen as they had been handled by a third mysterious party, that didn't show himself. As to who that third party was, not even the pirates themselves knew.

All they knew was that someone would help them pull off their heist, and if it worked, it could make them immensely rich.

The captain shouted to his subordinates as he raised his blade in the air, towards the sun. His saliva flew all over the scene. "We're going to be rich boys!"

"Yeah!!"

They greedily invaded each home, snatching out whatever valuables they could find, and handed them over to their boss. And by valuables, it also meant that gorgeous young women were not excluded either. Hell, they would even take the uglier women as long as they could have their needs met. For so long they had been getting picked off left and right by pirate groups, that their stress levels rose to an all time high.

A glint passed through the captain-Bevils eyes as he spotted an exotic young girl. He turned his head towards his right hand man, and pointed to her. "You see that young lady? Bring her to me."

His right hand's gaze followed the direction he pointed and nodded. "Right away boss."

The man who had been sent couldn't help but lick his lips as he forcefully snatched the girl from her parents. Kicking them both to the ground in the process. The young girl was curvy and had big 'assets' unnatural for her age. Other days she may have been praised for her beauty, but today it seemed to be the cause of her downfall.

'Maybe boss would let me have fun with her after he's finished.'

"Let me go! Let me go!" The girl struggled and wailed her feet in the air. She bit whatever her sights landed on, and scratched the man like a ferocious cat. Luckily her nails weren't very long, and she didnt have shark teeth like a certain someone.

"Damn bitch!"

As the man roughly set her down, his boss nodded his head and stepped towards them. The girl took a step back as her heart raced with nervousness. The greedy expression on the mans face scared her. Add that to his large size and height, it was like looking at a mountain. A very ugly one.

"Where ya goin sweetie? Daddy's right here, ehehehehe." The man grabbed her wrists, forcefully pulled her towards him, and licked her neck as she tried her best to push herself from his enormous body. "What's wrong, ya don't like it? Don't worry, it'll feel good soon enough."

He made an attempt to reach towards where her legs meet. But was stopped forcefully by another persons hand. He furrowed his brows as he looked back towards where the hand originated. "Who are you?"

He narrowed his eyes, scanning every part of the new 'guest'. He towered even over himself. His dark hair was slipped back, and stitches were strewn horizontally from one side of his face to the other. He wore a slim coat that reached his ankles over his dark green shirt, and black pants. With his wide shoulders, and thick neck, he looked rather intimidating.

But the thing that stood out the most, was the golden hook that replaced his hand on his left arm.

He talked with a cigar in his mouth. "I've yet to meet a pirate who doesn't know about me."

"It's crocodile!"

"Huh? Crocodiles here!!"

"Thank god, we're saved!"

The citizens hope had been rekindled with crocodiles arrival. He was a man who had been going around and saved every town that was met with a pirate attack. He was the joy and hero of Alabasta, that even the king respected. And personally rewarded for his efforts.

"I've only come to collect a couple of bounties. I had no intention of saving you people," Crocodile said.

The citizens laughed. "That's what you always say, but you always show up to save the day!"

"Right, thank you so much Crocodile!"

"Crocodile!" They chanted his name throughout the city, much to bevils annoyance. The girl had also been freed and joined the city in their chant. At this moment, crocodile became her knight in shining armor. She looked at him with eyes of deep reverence.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Bullets were fired into the air, hushing the chants. "Everyone shut up!" Bevil sneered as crocodile released him from his tight grip. After he caressed his wrists he pointed his sword towards crocodile. "So you are crocodile, one of the seven warlords eh?"

Crocodiles face stayed stoic as he replied, "So you do know." In fact, he looked more of a villian than they did. If Eiji could see him currently, he would surely think crocodile was some sort of Italian mob boss.

One of the men whispered into Bevils ears. A slight shake in their voice, most likely from nervousness. "Sir, I'd think it would be wise to retreat. Warlords have immense strength, and with how we are now, we have no chance of defeating him."

He was right. Warlords were the third strongest group of people in the world, after the yonkou and admirals. One could only imagine how strong they were, and what it took for the government to take notice of you and offer such a title.

Bevil gazed at the boy who had just entered his adult years. "Let me see your gun."

Clueless, the boy handed him his gun, only for Bevil to aim at his skull, and let it off. He may have had a long life planned out ahead of him, but that all was taken away from him in a single instance, just because he provided a logical solution for the current predicament. The blame fell on him as well, he knew what kind of man Bevil was when he joined his crew.

Bevil eyed each one of his subordinates. "Does anyone else want to run away?"

They gulped and shook their heads. They didn't want to die before they had their fun. He then blew the smoke off of the gun and pointed it towards warlord. "Seven warlords, seven dukey stains, whatever you wanna call it. No one, and I mean ABSOLUTELY no one... gets in my way."

Unimpressed, crocodile watched as Bevil let off another shot, that went straight through him. Crocodile had eaten the sand sand logia fruit. And as a logia, he couldn't be harmed through normal means. So in alabasta, the desert kingdom, he was nearly invincible. Water was one of his major weakness, but once his plan began to be put in motion, it would become a thing of the past.

"W-what?" Bevil staggered as he traced his footsteps watching crocodile picking his ear and blow on it, as if nothing happened at all. He wasn't the only one surprised, as all the citizens and pirates jaws nearly dropped to the ground.

"As expected of our hero!"

Pew! Pew!

"Fire men, fire! Kill him!" Alongside his subordinates Bevil shot until he had no more rounds. Miraculously, no stray bullets managed to injure or kill anyone. Bevil dropped his gun, fear evident in his eyes. And the thought of running immediately crossed his mind. Only now had he seen the might of a warlord, and crocodile didn't even taken action yet.

"What? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now?" Crocodile taunted with his usual gruff face. A shiver ran down Bevils back as crocodile slightly narrowed his eyes.

"Run!!!"

Sand gathered like a tornado. It covered the whole area as it continued to blow ferociously. But not enough to blow everyone away. As it finally cleared, neither crocodile nor the pirates were anywhere to be found.

Rainbase citizens looked up into the sky where crocodile stood for a little bit. A white bag over his head as he turned his back and left.

"Our hero!"

"I love you crocodile-San!"

"Please marry me!"

Tears streamed down the faces of those who may have lost their children or parents. And happiness arose from those that were able to see their savior in action, effortlessly able to destroy the pirates.

Hidden in the shadows of the roof crocodile was on, a tanned man stepped out. He had long thin limbs and was quite muscular as could be seen from his sleeveless open coat. The number "1" in Japanese characters was tattooed on his stomach. His beige pants were held up by a white sash around his weight, Daz Bonez. "Is it done?"

Crocodile glanced towards him, and continued to walk as Daz Bonez followed closely behind. "It is. How goes recruitment?"

"I've made a list of a couple of people that may be interested in joining the organization. Would you like to take a look?"

"No. Not now," crocodile replied. "Did you make the city guards deaths look as if it were pirates work?"

"Yes. It shouldn't be possible to trace it back to us."

Crocodile mouth arched upwards. "Good... good. Soon we shall begin, my operation utopia."

***************************************************

King cobra left with his entourage, after giving Eiji another heartfelt thanks and urging Vivi to do the same. Usually she would be outgoing but that didn't seem to be the case around Eiji. She was shy and feared to make eye contact with him. At times she would play with her dress, and look around the room to distract herself.

Cobra took a secretive peek at his daughter who kept gazing back at the door they had just shut. 'I'm sure she's looking forward to Eiji-kuns answer as well. Or maybe it's something deeper than that...'

Eiji gazed out of the window as he reviewed the wise kings words. The deal he had been offered was to become a 'special guard' in the alabastan army. With that title, came benefits such as being trained by the kingdoms top warriors, and getting access to knowledge your everyday scholar wouldn't know, under strict surveillance of course.

However, the down side to this deal was that he was expected to serve the country for as long as he lived, and guard the troublesome princess as well. Something he did not want to do. And who could blame him? Becoming a babysitter or a slave was the last thing he wanted to be.

That being said, there weren't many alternatives to get stronger. Another option was to join crocodile for a short while and get access to something like a rokushiki manual. As a warlord, Eiji didn't doubt crocodile could somehow get his hands on said book, if he didn't already have it in his hands.

Or... 'Maybe I could do both.'

Eiji didn't plan on serving alabasta for the rest of his life, so if he accepted cobras offer, he'd have to betray him later. Sure, it might leave a bad taste in his mouth, but who cared about that. This was his life, and strength was all he pursued.

'Ugh. I'll think about it later, I have a week left anyway.'