Cobra

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My trip to Alabasta was very much an impulsive decision. I was entirely unsure whether Nico Robin had already joined the Baroque Works or even if she had yet to make her way to Alabasta. All I knew was I had a small window of opportunity to find Nico Robin, as one thing I knew for certain was Crocodile found Nico Robin in Alabasta this exact year and had her join the Baroque Works.

I realized this oversight not even an hour after I left Baltigo, and I still had the chance to go back, but I refused. If there was even a 0.1% chance Nico Robin was there, then I would take the chance.

There was a reason that Nico Robin was called the 'light of the revolution', and that reason was because she was a prime example of a victim of the World Government. She was all but a kid and an innocent bystander when the World Government destroyed her home and she was forced to live on the run for the past 20 years, going through hardship after hardship.

Most people stayed ignorant towards the truth and believed the story of her and Ohara, but some people saw through the lies and inspired so many people to take up arms against the World Government and join the Revolutionary Army.

Her story was the very reason people fought against the tyrannical rule of the World Government and to stop stuff like this from happening. If Nico Robin was found, she would have truly found a home and a safe place to stay. It would heavily boost the morale of the movement, so it was a once in a lifetime opportunity I needed to take.

Of course, even without all of these benefits influencing my decision, I would still do my best to save her. Like most people, I was a sucker for people with sad backstories, and although memories of my past life are barely a blur, I vividly remember bawling my eyes out watching Robin's backstory. Any person with a heart would do their best to save her.

Anyway, getting back on track, I finally saw the country of Alabasta on the horizon. Located on Sandy Island, the Country was separated by a large river which separated the 2 pieces of land that made up the Alabasta kingdom.

I made sure to travel to the correct area, which was where the capital of Alabasta, Alubarna was located. The reason for going to the capital? I had already concocting a plan, and it involved him. The easiest way to find Nico Robin would be with the King's help, and if I could tell him the perpetrator behind these little schemes of dance powder which have recently been popping up, then he should be able to help me back.

My other option was to try and find Robin by myself, among the millions of citizens and cities in Alabasta. This also wasn't taking into the account the fact she couldn't even be here! I could only wish I had the luck of a protagonist and everything worked right for me.

A couple of miles after reaching land, I finally arrived and saw the first glimpse of civilization and a place I recognized from the anime…Nanohana. If my memory serves correctly, then it was the place where Luffy reunited with Ace who fought Smoker.

Looking at my black attire I usually wore, I took a mental note to get some proper clothes and supplies in a country as hot as Alabasta, especially if I wanted to rush to the Alubarna. This trip was quite literally a race against time, and it was a race I had no plans of losing.

While shopping for some supplies, I took a moment to look around the streets of Nanohana and saw the happy faces of kids running around playing, the elderly relaxing in the sun and the massive market that was so full of life. I let a quiet sigh escape my lips, In 4 years most of this would be gone, kids will have grown up to teenagers and would have joined the rebel army to go off to war. Areas of Alabasta will be poverty stricken with shortages of rain and fighting to survive everyday.

I tightly clenched my fists, cursing Crocodile who plunged a country into a war just for his ambitions. He had already enacted the first stages of his plan and gained the trust of the people by taking care of pirates who frequently attacked the city, and had begun starting the remnants of a rebellion by buying large shipments of dance powder used to frame Cobra.

That wasn't going to happen, not on my watch. I wasn't going to sit back and watch a monster plunge the country into war all for power, it would go against my very nature if I sat back and watched.

I was unsure whether I would find Robin in the country of Alabasta, however one thing I knew for certain was that before I left here, Crocodile would be dead.

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(3rd person pov)

Despite lying on his bed for hours, Cobra couldn't help but stay awake. His mind raced a thousand miles an hour as he thought about the current issues he was facing. Cobra tried to close his eyes and get some deserved rest, but his mind strayed from counting sheep's to an issue he is facing, leading to another tangent in his brain which couldn't be stopped.

He got up from his bed, resigning himself to another sleepless night of pondering. He glanced outside the window, watching the heavy rain pour down on his balcony with tired eyes. Rain was usually a good sign in a country like Alabasta gave him the opposite feeling, especially when his mind went into another rant about the consequences.

With the heavy amounts of rainfall in the capital because of the rain powder, other areas of Alabasta would suffer with long lasting drought. That was how dance powder worked, it caused a heavy downpour of rain in one area in exchange for other areas. It brought both joy and despair, and was a weapon of mass destruction. A devastating substance that deserved to be removed from history.

He already heard rumors that people were beginning to start a rebellion against the King. All it would take was one last push and a rebellion would begin, taking millions of lives. Who was the person behind this, and what did they gain doing this? What did they want with him and his country?

He rubbed the sides of his head in annoyance, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming. If only his wife…his beautiful wife was still alive, she would know what to do

'Titi…Why did you leave me?' Cobra felt the tears brimming in his eyes, something he found him doing more the further he got into the night. He distracted himself from his feelings during the day with work, but at night all of these wistful feelings caught up to him and hit him like a train,

[A/N: I feel like Cobra went through a lot of stress during these years. Post-timeskip all that stress catches up on him and that's why he looks really old]

"Looks like you're in need of some help…King Cobra." A voice said from the shadows, startling Cobra enough to bring him out of his downtrodden mood.

"GUA–" He tried to scream for help, but a hand covered his mouth and muffled his plea. He then began struggling against the intruder, trying to escape his grasp, but the man kept a strong grip on him.

"Relax, I'm here to help you." the cloaked figure said in a calm manner, taking one of his fingers off the roof of Cobra's mouth.

"Who are you?" Cobra asked through the small space the intruder opened. If he wanted to survive, Cobra needed to stay calm and assess the situation.

"Hmm…" The figure paused for a moment, "Call me…Hades…"

"Hades, what do you want?" Cobra asked, adopting his professional persona he had perfected over the many years of being a ruler. First he needed information, then he needed to use that to somehow get out of this mess, and if he couldn't then he only hoped his daughter would live.

"Stop prying for information, I'm not here for you or your daughter, I'm an ally. I will tell you all the information you need."

"Anything I need?" Cobra asked, and the all black figure nodded.

Cobra continued: "Well then…what's your real identity?"

Hades blushed, and if Cobra wasn't in such a dire situation then he would have felt the second hand embarrassment from the mess up.

"Ahem…" Hades cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure, "Let me rephrase my statement, I'll tell you who is behind the dance powder plot. It's what you want to know right?"

"Who!?" Cobra demanded, his rage making him forget that he was quite literally one action away from death. Thankfully Hades was not actually here to hurt him, so he forgave the blunder.

"Do you promise to stay quiet and not call the guards?" Hades asked, and at Cobra's resolute nod, he let him go.

Now free, Cobra turned around to see the figure of the man who could have easily killed him. He was dressed in an all black attire that seemingly blended into the darkness and added to his fear factor. However, the thing that stood out the most was his mask, which was truly the maker of nightmares.

[Image of the mask]

"Crocodile." Hades spoke first, breaking the silence that filled the King's chambers. The words carried a huge weight as Cobra's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Crocodile? No…He protected this island from pirates on numerous occasions and helped us greatly." Cobra said in shock.

Hades just shook his head like he was disappointed in a child, "Some part of you believes the truth, I can tell. Surely the thought of it has crossed your mind? How after Crocodiles arrived everything has been going bad? Sometimes the answer is right in front of you, such is the case here."

"But…But…" Cobra opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unable to form a coherent sentence as he slowly began connecting the dots in head. It all made sense, how along with Crocodile shortly came the guards and the influx of bounty hunters. How they managed to stage the dance powder incident, and the fact that they managed to get so much dance powder despite it's expensive price. Only someone with a large amount of money and backing could do that, and Crocodile fit that bill quite well.

Cobra walked up to Hades and grabbed him by the shoulders with conviction, "Tell me everything."

Hades nodded and smiled under his mask, "His plan is to take over Alabasta, for what reason I'm not sure. He plans to do this by inciting a rebellion with the use of dance powder by framing you. He owns a criminal enterprise called the Baroque Works which functions as a bounty hunting organization, however they follow Crocodiles orders without question, so they are against you. Even some of the members are in your royal guard." Hades explained, leaving some of the details out which could be used for later. He had some form of trust for Cobra due to his good nature shown in the anime, however he couldn't 100% trust him. It also would be too suspicious to know so much.

"How do you know this?"

"I have sources." Hades merely replied, and Cobra decided not to push his only possible ally further. He already had enough information.

"You need a trusted group of royal guards and drop the rest or send them away from the capital. If you don't trust them and they have joined recently, they most likely work for the Baroque Works. The members are also pushing the ideas of a rebellion, so that will be a problem."

Cobra nodded, "Thank you for the information. Now with this I believe I actually have a fighting chance. I only needed someone to open my eyes, and you did so…"

"It's no problem, however I have something to confess…Right now you stand no chance against Crocodile."

"What?"

Hades crossed his arms and nodded, "Mhm, there's a reason he became a Warlord of the sea. He's strong, and in his strongest environment with the power of the Sand Sand fruit. He is practically invincible, I'm sure you've seen his power when fighting pirates who come here. By himself you may have a small chance at winning, but with the Baroque Works…You will be wiped out."

"Well…I'll just get the Navy's help!" Cobra insisted, slightly raising his voice, but Hades seemed to have an answer for everything.

Hades shook his head, "Crocodile is a part of the World Government, so it's outside of the Navy's jurisdiction. Even with evidence against Crocodile, he still has the World Government to fall back on."

"Even if he is trying to take over a country!" Cobra shouted in rage, slamming his fists through his desk. His rage was clouding his decision making, and he was desperate. He knew these things, but only when Hades pointed them out did he finally remember how corrupt the World Government was.

"Lower your voice. But yes, as long as the World Government gets their celestial tribute and the loyalty of the king or queen, they don't care who sits on the throne." Hades said, recalling from his memories how Dalton became the king of Drum kingdom without any problems.

"Getting evidence will be hard…no, almost impossible with how well Crocodile covers up his tracks, and you can't just openly accuse the savior of Alabasta of plotting to overtake his country, it would make public opinion of you drop even further. You're in a very tough position."

Cobra adopted an expression of rage and anxiety and started biting his fingernails, causing some blood to form at the edges of them. After a few minutes of deliberation he finally looked up to Hades, who stood still the whole time.

"What do you want?" Cobra asked with some reservation. He knew Hades wanted something, and he was his only option. "To stop the rebellion and defeat Crocodile, what do you want?" He expanded.

'My plan worked' Hades smirked under his mask, but on the outside he kept a calm and cold exterior.

Hades pointed 2 of his fingers up, "I need 2 favors, one of which I wish to redeem right now."

Cobra sighed and gave a reluctant nod, gesturing to him to continue.

"There is information on a woman I need, her name is Nico Robin. More specifically, I need her location." Hades handed him a bounty poster of a woman that looked to be around 20 years old with a 79 million bounty.

"Weed out the fake royal guards and send a good portion of them on meaningless or unimportant tasks. Use your loyal guards to fulfill my request, because this information would be bad if it falls in Crocodiles hands as I believe he is after Nico Robin as well." Hades requested, no, demanded of Cobra.

Cobra just sighed, silently praising the masked man's intellect. He held his hand out towards the masked man, and after a second he shook it.

"I'll return every night for information, good luck. I'm here for a month. After that, your little Crocodile problem should be gone." Hades said before swiftly exiting the window and dashing off into the night.