There was him, Crocodile. Once, he was a feared pirate on the Grand Line. He was a Warlord until that a rookie with a Straw Hat defeated him using his blood and an early awakening of Haki. Then, after of months locked out on the last level of the hell, that same brat rescued him.
Who would say that he would die sacrificing his life on the dawn of the new king of the pirates, Monkey D. Luffy? The Marines had decided sent all his forces decided to finally exterminate the new king of the pirates and the son of Dragon the Revolutionary. The Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, the admirals Kizaru, Fujitora and Ryoukugyu, all the vice-admirals, rear admirals and other kinds of marines like Giants, all the Pacifistas… All the forces of the Marine were sent to exterminate the forces of the fleet that Luffy was able to build.
Crocodile wasn't actually interested on be on any side. But after that three of the four emperors were defeated by Luffy, it was clear that there was coming dark days for the pirates, so he was the best bet. And even more when the Marine decided finally stop everything related with the Warlords so, former Warlords like Gekko Moriah (Who had a debt after that 'Strawhat' Luffy defeated the person who destroyed his crew and his mental sanity) and Trafalgar Law, and Warlords like Boa Hancock, Buggy and, obviously, Crocodile accepted help on a war that could mean the beginning of an age of Freedom or more time with the Celestial Dragons and the WG being free.
On the past, he was defeated by Whitebeard, and after of the War of the Best, the words of Whitebeard still sounding on his head about have become weaker years later of his defeat against Whitebeard. So, after of escape of Marineford he and his last partner Daz Bones decided to develop Armament Haki and don't continue being just a Logia that all the time needed depend of his Devil Fruit.
And thanks to it, he could fight against the rear admirals, the Giants, all the seamen… But, on a point of the fight against Luffy and Sakazuki, the last one was close to destroying Luffy under a thick coat of pure magma. So, in a crazy act, Crocodile protected Luffy using his Armament Haki, but sadly that wasn't enough to defeat the destructive Devil Fruit of the Fleet Admiral. In a blink of eyes, Crocodile became glass. Seconds later, he passed away. But at least died knowing that the last chance of the Pirates could continue fighting. He could die on peace.
.
.
.
.
Or that he thought. Because then, he opened his eyes and breathed. He was…
"Alive?" Crocodile asked for anybody. He was alive, was still wearing his clothes and even his famous golden hook was still on his left arm. As the last test, he extended his right hand and a little twist of sand appeared. With a smirk, he got up and watched around of him.
"Now, where am I?" Crocodile asked, just seeing large towers made with bricks and concrete. He just knew some limited places where the building are made of that material, and those are Water 7 and Marineford, and the last time that he was on both places there wasn't any building with such height made.
But for discovering more; he needed to leave the alleyway where he woke up to discover where he was. Ignoring it, there was someone observing him on the top of a building with a pair of binoculars. His body completely made of ice and snow, 'hair' made completely of ice, a long and pointed nose, wearing a dark blue shirt with glitter, a striped (Dark blue and Light blue) scarf, light blue gloves, light blue pants and dark blue pants; and playing with a snowball with his free hand, he giggled.
"Well, well, Sir Crocodile, let's see what…" Then, the unknown person threw the snowball to the sky. "…is the way that you will choose. Then maybe I can find enough entertaining bring more." Then, the snowball fell over but magically transformed into a hat.
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"Weird" That was the only thought of Crocodile while he watched around him. It should be mid-day for the position of the sun and the number of people on the streets. But that wasn't the reason for that thought. The reason was the people around him. Some were normal, but others were weird: Hairy as a wolf, others with horns like reindeers, others with other kinds mutation…
Crocodile was a needle in the haystack, with maybe his not-so-usual height of 2'57 meters. And the golden hook wasn't helping to hide.
"On those moments, is when I wish to have one of my cigars." Crocodile thought. He sighed and, quickly, abandoned the streets and just walked watching the buildings, the signals and all the differences between his house and that world.
And that was that he did: Walk, with just his thoughts as partners on that new trip. On a moment, he found himself leaving the place where he woke up. Knowing that there wasn't any place that he knew, he found better go back to the city.
Don't wanting waste time on melancholy, he preferred to look for a library and investigate about where he was. Hours he spent looking for one, until that he found it. Quickly, he called the attention of everyone, but he didn't care.
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Crocodile had spent hours reading books. He had been looking for the books with basic information: History, Geography, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Politics… And he has been fascinated about what he had read. First, that wasn't his world: There isn't a Grand Line, there isn't a Red Line, any of the Blue Seas… Just giant continents where the majority of the continents were connected; Second, the science had advanced very far: It was similar to the technology that Dr. Vegapunk had developed, but this was on a higher level. Planes, cars, cameras, computers… All that and that there wasn't any kind of Transponder Snail in this world; Third, there wasn't any signal of Devil Fruits; Fourth, the kingdom had lost all the importance and the figure of the king or emperor were now diplomatic more than authoritarian, so now all the power of the country had been moved to chambers, ministers and Presidents or Prime Ministers; But the fifth and the last one was the most interesting to Crocodile: The Quirks, and all the changes.
The 80% of humanity had different kind of powers, and that those were adapted to be useful on society. Some of them were used on legal business, and others were found as useful on a work of 'Pro-Hero'
"Basically, Superheroes…" Crocodile mumbled, thinking on a man with the ability to transform part of his body on blades. "I don't know how that can be useful to me, but at least it has been useful."
While he left calmly the library, he smiled. "Now, the chances on this world are better to me now." Crocodile thought to himself "No more 'World Government', no more 'Absolute Justice', no more Admirals…" Then, the smile of Crocodile grew "Now I could repeat what I tried to do on Alabasta, but this time there wouldn't be any rookie that can stop me."
But he was forgetting one little detail. New world, new money. And this Crocodile was out of money. And he didn't want to have a reward too soon. In fact, this time he didn't want a reward under his head.
Crocodile tried to find a little store, something old enough to know that there wouldn't be anyone there and that any security system would be installed there. On a little street, he found it: An old candy store, with any kind of decoration, signal or anything flashy. Just the name painted on the window.
Crocodile opened it and behind a counter, there was an old lady sat down. "Good Morn-" But even before that the old lady could conclude his sentence, Crocodile grabbed her off the neck and using the powers of the Sand-Sand Fruit, he started to drain all the water of the old lady. In less of a minute, Crocodile left to fall a dry corpse.
"Too simple" Crocodile mumbled. Quickly, he broke the cash register with his hook and took all the bills and coins. In total, there were 43.820 yens. "I hope that this can be enough to buy a mask and a place to rest for a time." And when he was ready to leave, he observed something interesting under the counter: A wooden box that Crocodile recognized.
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"So, now what?" Crocodile asked for anybody but himself. He had found a little hostel enough quiet to rest for some weeks with the money. Also he had bought a mask, one very similar to the same that he saw on the festivities of Water 7 and Saint Poplar: A serious face, with a golden decoration that covered the majority of the face, except for the zone under the nose and the mouth, which was similar to the white porcelain. But it was a disappointment: Instead of porcelain, it was a breakable plastic; and the golden decoration was part of the plastic with just cheap paint. But it would work for now.
"Before, I was the hero of Alabasta. Here, I can't have power if I don't have even an identity." Crocodile groaned. "I can't ascend into the positions of power in this country." After groan, he threw the cigar that he smoked and continued groaning "And even if I had an identity, What Could I do? I was a hero thanks to defeat pirates. Here, there are those heroes all the time."
Crocodile abandoned the room where he was resting. But before to leave, he unhooked his hook of the arm, leaving his limb free and hidden his injured arm on the pocket of his jacket. He walked for the corridors of the hostel till coming to the cafeteria, where he just sat down on a table hidden on a corner and took one of the newspapers.
For Crocodile, it was nice finally have options to read more than the words of the World Government, but it was clearly obvious which position had each newspaper when you read different titles of the same news. But something had called his attention between all the news. There was five news about suicide and while each one was different people (An alcoholic builder, a high-ranked student, an engineer and a married couple), they were similar on one thing: Quirkless.
"Curious. It is just the people that didn't birth with powers. Could this be a patron?" Crocodile asked, looking for the old and forgotten newspapers of that week. 38 deaths. 26 of them Quirkless. 16 of them for suicide, 8 for attacks of villains and 2 were just casual deaths.
Crocodile raised an eyebrow "Ummm... Discrimination for the minority, I see." Crocodile smirked, closing the old newspaper. "I will make that the people pray for me again: The minority, for my help; the majority, for my changes." He went out of the cafeteria and while he came back to his room, he started to smoke another cigar. "I think that I know where I could start tomorrow."
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The Next Day.
It was 2.00 a.m. on Hihidaruma's Beach, one of the most favorite places to stay during the summer on Musutafu. The sand was clean and soft, the water was as clear as the air itself, it was very large and very far of the dirty coast of Dagobah's Beach.
But what the people didn't know is that also was the favorite place for the smugglers to bring and buy immigrants that were looking for a new opportunity. Those usually were North-Korean immigrants accompanied by some Chinese ones, escaping the former of a dictatorship that has been extended by centuries and the latter of a horrible economic situation.
A person was waiting for the new cargo of immigrants next to a truck enough big to keep an entire class of a college. "Where are those rice-eaters and their neighbors obsessed with a World War?" The worker asked nobody, losing his time with his smartphone. Then, he saw a light pointing at him since the distance. A little boat with a capacity of 20 passengers was carrying 63 immigrants. 23 minutes later, the boat landed on the beach.
"It was notified that there will be 72 exact passengers. What did happen with the rest?" The worker asked to one of the people that was navigating the boat. He just pointed to some mature women that were crying. "Then it is their problem, not mine." After of it, he opened the pockets of his jacket and give a wad of bills to each navigator of the boat before that those left the coast.
"Okay, everyone!" The worker yelled, calling the attention of each immigrant while he pointed to the truck. "To the truck and quiet the entire trip…" Then he took a Beretta of another pocket "Or else".
He started to walk till the door of the driver when he felt a little bit of sand hitting the back of his head. He took the gun and started to turn around. "Okay, who was the fu-?" But his words disappeared of his mouth when he saw that, where there was seconds ago alive immigrants, there was now dried corpses on the sand. Some few were moving but just died seconds ago. And before that he could curse, a whirl of sand appeared in front of him.
And since that whirl of sand, a long arm, and a big hand sprouted and grabbed him off the neck. When the whirl stopped, a man had appeared. It was wearing a long cape that covered his tall body, a hood, and a Venetian mask to cover his head and face. On his left hand, there was a golden hook that covered his arm till a little bit down of his elbow.
Before to realize in which situation he was, the tall man raised him to a height enough to be able to see eye to eye. And then, he talked.
"Bring me to your boss." Crocodile ordered, with any doubt on his voice. The worker just smirked and while he thought that Crocodile wasn't watching him, he took his Beretta and shot 10 bullets to the chest of the man. In the same second that he shot all his bullets, the worker realized shocked that there wasn't any blood, any scream of pain, any signal of having been shot… Instead, there were 10 holes with sand that were being closed.
"Auh" Crocodile said sarcastically.
"B-B-But how…?" The worker started to ask worried, but then he started to feel dizzy and tired, with intense pain on his throat being the worst part. He watched to his hands and started to see how the liquids of his hands, arms and (even if he wasn't able to see but feel) were being absorbed by that man. When he was close to being another corpse, the man freed him of his hand.
He wasn't able to move, just drag on the sand and supplicate with a weak voice. "W…Wat…Water."
"You want water?" Crocodile asked. Then, since the inside of his coat, he took a canteen and moved it, making that the water was able to hear. Crocodile opened the canteen and started to throw the water to the sand.
"No." The worker groaned weakly, trying to move faster. But Crocodile just put a foot over his shoulder, making that the worker wasn't able to move.
"You will get water if you move me to your boss." Crocodile offered, showing another canteen to the worker, who nodded while his eyes didn't abandon the canteen. Crocodile threw it to the worker and walked to the truck, where Crocodile saw that it was how the worker moved to the beach.
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Crocodile was quiet, sat on the second seat of the truck. He hadn't taken off his mask or his cape. The driver had recovered a little bit but was still very dried. "The people of this world must be weaker than any pirate of the East Blue." Crocodile thought.
The worker didn't drive into the city. Instead, he moved around the city till park on a port, clearly with any employer at those hours. Crocodile didn't move, didn't talk or even watched right to the worker. He Just waited for the entire trip. When he abandoned the truck, it was a signal of leaving the truck too and follows to the worker.
The worker walked slowly, still feeling dizzy for the attack that happened just an hour ago. Some eternal minutes later, he was in front of a door and called knocking heavily twice and softly four times.
The door opened and the worker walked slowly into the warehouse. Crocodile was following close to the 'close-to-die' worker. At this point, he was finding it annoying. But, that could wait. Right now, his main interest was the person that was sat down on a chair with a table and two bags to his sides. Behind of him, there were 5 guards with heavy machine guns pointing to them.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" The man asked, with a voice tone that didn't show any signal of being worried.
"B-boss, h-" The worker started to talk weakly, but his voice disappeared in the exact second that Crocodile stabbed him with the hook. He died just seconds later. But the man on the chair didn't move. Instead, the guards ran, protecting him and started to shoot all the bullets to Crocodile. Each bullet made a hole on the sandy body of Crocodile, but any pain. Instead, he slowly started to dissolve until all the bullets were used.
The guards saw that the body of the unknown person who killed one of the workers of his boss dissolved into sand. But before that they could watch the sand, each one felt pain at the same time that a voice yelled an attack. "Desert Grande Espada". Then, gallons of blood started to fall to the floor, while the life of the guards was disappearing and Crocodile was forming his body again.
"Now that everyone will be quiet and on his places, could we have the pleasure of meet us?" The man asked, offering a chair.
"The business must be always first. Then we will talk of my person." Crocodile demanded.
"Clever man. Clearly wasn't the first time that you did that." The man commented. "What are you looking for?"
"I could see that you were buying immigrants, and I can be sure that those bags must have all kind of identifications. It's obvious that you must be a smuggler with strong connections inside of the governmental offices, giving easily identities to anyone who can pay you." Crocodile revealed, receiving a nod for part of the smuggler. "I want that you can provide me one."
"Uhuh, I can make that. But then we must talk about the price. It's not easy to find good guards, even when those were members of a gang band that I found close to my neighborhood. And a loyal worker, who worked for 12 years, was gone" The smuggler started to mention when Crocodile extended his hand.
"I won't pay it. I can't now, and I'm sure that you're not one of those that can wait years to be paid." Crocodile answered. The smuggler raised an eyebrow.
"Then I hope that you have something that can be enough to me." The smuggler demanded, with any signal of rage or anger on his voice or his look.
"I will acquire a debt not easy to pay right to you. I can see for your fortitude to my massacre that you have seen a lot of powerful monsters." Crocodile started while he invoked a whirl of sand on his hand. "But I'm sure that you haven't seen anyone like me on power."
The smuggler chuckled while he watched the sand. "Actually, there is a Pro-Hero whose quirk allows him turns into sand, but something like you… You would be very prized on the market of Pro-Heroes and Villains." Then, the smuggler got up of the chair and extended his arm to Crocodile, who he accepted. "You have acquired a debt with Giran. That means that you will have just a work, it won't be easy, you will wait a lot of time and it must be taken, you liked or not."
Crocodile nodded to the smuggler, now revealed as Giran and took the chair that Giran offered minutes ago.
"Now, can I see the face of my new client?" Giran asked. Crocodile grabbed the mask and took it off, revealing his deadpanned face with his famous long scar. Taking that chance, he grabbed one of his cigars and a lighter to smoke it. "The hook, the scar, the attitude, such power… On the past, you could have been a powerful pirate."
"I could have been." Crocodile commented, laughing on his head for the irony of those words.
"I must take your basic information, you know: Name, birthday, age, height… Just basic information." Giran said, preparing a little notebook with a pencil on it.
"My name is Crocodile, with any surname known; my birthday is September 5th; I'm 46 years old; my height is 2'57m; my national country is Egypt; I don't have any degree or studies, just the basic ones and my experience; and how you have seen, my power is based on the sand." Crocodile answered, lying on some of the basic information, but with any change on his voice that showed doubt, while Giran wrote all the information. "But I don't want that my power can be identified. Instead, I want be identified as Quirkless."
That surprised to Giran, but didn't abandon his smile. "That's interesting and challenging. Why would you be marked as Quirkless with such powerful Quirk? Know what? Don't answer that to me, I want to see what you have planned." Giran asked, just to stop and continue writing. "But your lost hand and the scar-"
Giran was interrupted when Crocodile left the hook over the table and showed to Giran his handless arm. "Don't mention anything about a hook. And mark my scar and my lost hand as negligence made by some Pro-Hero on a fight against a villain." Crocodile answered. "Have a special emphasis on the Pro-Hero negligence, and not on the villain attack."
"Another criminal that hates Pro-Heroes, nothing new." Giran mumbled. Crocodile proceeded to leave the warehouse when he was interrupted by Giran. "So I won't have even an address or a phone number."
"You're the smuggler, I'm the client. You should be able to identify where I'm resting in less of an hour, and even more with someone like me." Crocodile answered while he put his hook on his left arm again. Crocodile could hear how Giran chuckled before that he talked for last time.
"I see that you have experience with those deals. Who was the smuggler that you dealt a lot of?"
Crocodile threw the cigar and step it before to answer. "He was the biggest headache on the black market." And after of answer, he transformed on sand and transported himself on the wind.
