"Can't you hear them Ms. Wednesday? All of them seeing the destruction around them, all of them drying up and fighting back… all of them fighting to defend their homeland. All of them shouting, 'Defend Alabasta… defend Alabasta!' Ha ha ha ha!"
We watched as Vivi struggled against the bonds keeping her in a chair. Everyone looked angry, but Luffy was furious, punching the bars, getting weak one second, back to normal the next and punching out again. It might have been funny, if it weren't such a horrid situation.
Vivi struggled and squirmed, until the chair she was in fell over, and she continued to pull herself along the floor as best she could.
"What are you doing, Ms. Wednesday?" Crocodile asked, his voice full of sarcasm. He was a sadistic man, enjoying the the moment each time that he could crush the hope from Vivi, and was endlessly frustrated when she continued to look for a new solution, a new way to achieve her goal.
"There is still time! I will," she panted, trying to get her breath, "stop this! I just have to get to Alubarna and stop the rebels!"
"Well then," Crocodile smirked. "I'll give you a choice." He pulled a key out of his pocket, showing it to Vivi.
"Is that key to this cage?!" Luffy yelled out, interrupting. "Give it to me!"
Crocodile turned his head to give us a wicked looking smirk. I wished I had something to draw with, because it was a perfect moment to capture, a villain thinking he had won. Then I felt bad, it was not the time for that. I looked back up to see Crocodile looking at me, eyes narrowed, and I looked anywhere besides his face, embarrassed that perhaps I had said something or made a noise. I looked at my crew mates, grateful that they weren't looking at me.
Crocodile dropped the key on the floor. "Your choice is simple. If you want to stop the rebellion, you would have to leave right now. Otherwise, hundreds of thousands of people… your people… will die. Or… you could stay here and save your friends, just by opening the cage." He stepped forward, triggering the trap door, and Nami and Usopp squawked as the key disappeared. "Oops. Unfortunately, I dropped the key into the bananagators' pen." He paused and gave Vivi a careless shrug. "Well, there are your choices, Ms. Wednesday." Vivi was finally successful in getting out of her bonds, and went forward to peer down the trap door at the key.
"Hey! Look!" Luffy shouted, drawing our attention. "There are gators growing out of those bananas!"
We looked out of the windows behind the cage, and I almost asked Luffy to point them out, because I couldn't see them. Then, where I was looking for an alligator, I saw an eye. I could hear the others talking, but I couldn't understand them, as I swallowed hard, fear gripping me tightly. The reptile was gigantic, and made me think of a dinosaur, rather than a reptile. It felt as if that huge eye was looking right through me, and I became more panicked as I noticed how many there were, my breathing erratic.
I don't know how long I stood like that, but eventually I felt a hand on my shoulder. I assumed it was Zoro, he was always one to watch out for his crew mates. I felt myself being led to the bench, and turned to sit. Now that I couldn't look at the gators any longer, it was like I came out of some sort of trance, and I looked up. Smoker stood in front of me, blocking me from everyone else, and said quietly, "Deep breaths, nice and slow."
I did as he said, closing my eyes and concentrating on my breathing, until I felt myself calm. I was still terrified of the gators, but reminded myself that I didn't have to face them. Oh crap, Vivi! I thought, my eyes flying open, to see her narrowly escape from a gator's jaws.
"Buru-buru-buru… buru-buru-buru… buru-buru-buru- cah-lick."
"Yes?" Ms. All Sunday asked after she answered the baby transponder snail.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I hear you," she replied, though the voice wasn't convinced.
"Are we connected? Hello?" the voice asked again, and I smiled as I recognized it, both from memory, and because I had heard him speak not long ago.
"Hurry up and state your business," Crocodile snarled, not appreciating the interruption.
"Ah, now that voice sounds familiar," the voice said casually. "Hello, you've reached the Crap Cafe…"
"It's Sanji," I said quietly, so happy that we were about to get out of here, the others looked back at me momentarily, and Nami looked relieved. I could hear her say, "thank goodness."
Usopp quickly kept Luffy from shouting out his name, covering his mouth and speaking softly to him. "Don't say it, they don't know about him, or Chopper yet." Luffy nodded, and Usopp released him.
We went back to watching Crocodile, who looked much less amused now, though Ms. All Sunday still wore a smirk. "Who is this?" Crocodile demanded to the voice on the snail.
"Who am I?" he responded. "You can call me… Mr. Prince." That was all it took before Luffy and Usopp starting shouting.
"Get us out of here Prince!"
"Hurry, there's not much time!"
"Ha ha, sounds like my crew mates are there with you. I guess I'll just…"
We didn't hear what he was going to say, as there was an extremely loud gunshot, and what sounded like an explosion. The others looked stricken, but I just sighed, resting back on the bench. All this upheaval was making my head pound.
"You're awfully calm."
I turned my head, remembering at just that moment that Smoker was still sitting beside me. I gave a small smile, thinking quickly. There was a lengthy pause before I said, "Sanji is too strong to be taken down by Baroque Works peons."
"Seems your friends don't share that sentiment," he mused, gesturing to where the others were panicking, Zoro being the exception, though he looked really angry.
I looked back at Smoker and shrugged. "Oh, and thanks. For… earlier." He grunted at me, which I assumed meant, "Not a problem for a charming and beautiful young lady such as yourself." I may have read a little into it, but… that's what happens when you don't communicate properly.
Sitting in a cage and unable to do anything, made this whole thing seem surreal, like it was a show. I watched as I had read before, how Crocodile laughed, feeling again as if he had won. How Vivi ran for the broken staircase, barely escaping the bananagator, only to have Crocodile throw her back down. The others yelled, giving her encouragement and in desperation when it looked like she might not succeed.
Finally she was again atop the stairs, though at the cost of some windows in the underwater room. The water began pouring in much more rapidly, and she shouted as she ran, "I won't abandon you! I'm going to get help!"
"Okay! We're counting on you Vivi!" Usopp yelled back.
I sat there quietly with Smoker, as Nami taunted the bananagator into biting down on the cage, only to break its teeth on the bars. The gator was slightly less scary now as I watched in surprise as it went miserably to a corner of the room… like it was… pouting? It was very strange.
"So… Kia, was it?"
I glanced at Smoker again, nodding in answer to his question.
"Exactly how much do you guys know about what Crocodile is up to here?"
"HEY!" We faced forward, looking at an outraged Usopp and Luffy. "Are you friends now or something?!"
"How can you be so calm?! Get over here and help us!"
I gave them a look that clearly stated, "are you serious right now?" and gestured to Smoker with a hand. "Being respectful and friendly, does not make someone your friend. He is a marine captain, and I am sailing with a pirate crew. Those two things don't mix."
I huffed a little at the implication, but inwardly, I was kind of wishing I could be friends with Smoker. That would be so awesome!
"And we're not over there, because he," I said pointing to Smoker, "ate a devil fruit, and therefore would be worthless in the water, and I… am trying to stay dry."
Smoker made a sound like he almost laughed, but quickly covered it up with a cough. I gave him a big smile, which he didn't return, but I still felt great about it. "We're here to help our friend, that's all." I finally replied to his earlier question.
Smoker's gaze hardened slightly as he told us about the implications of Nico Robin joining up with Crocodile… implications that would affect much more of the world than just Alabasta.
Luffy had remained stoic as he listened, but finally had had enough. "I don't need any more reasons to kick Crocodile's butt!" he shouted.
"Very well," Smoker replied. "What's your plan then?"
Luffy's willpower was able to do amazing things, especially if he didn't think about what was going on around him. But as soon as he looked down and noticed the water reaching his thighs, he slumped over onto Usopp. "Aah! Ugh… I feel so weak."
Usopp started shaking Luffy, shouting at him to hang on, Vivi was bound to come back soon. Nami was looking up, asking Vivi to hurry, and Zoro was glaring at the cage, grousing that he was too weak to slice the bars and save his crew. And, another bananagator made it into the room and started heading for our cage, growling loudly.
"It's not polite," we all turned and stared, looking for the source of the new voice, "to roar at the table!" I grabbed Smoker's arm without thinking, grinning up at him.
"BAD MANNERS KICK COURSE!"
The gator was kicked directly in the middle, almost folding over due to the power of the hit. It coughed up several pieces of… something, and rolled over onto its back, looking like it was passed out.
"Hi," Sanji said coolly, as he tapped out his cigarette into the water. "Been waiting long?"
Usopp and Luffy cheered, Nami breathed a sigh of relief, and Zoro ground his teeth together.
"Quit showing off, and get the key already!" Zoro yelled.
Sanji spotted us, and started doing his love dance. "Nami… do you love me now?"
"Yes, yes, now get us out of here!" Nami said, exasperated.
"Of course my sweet!" His voice and posture changed as he faced the gators again. "Come at me crap-bananas! I'll teach you to attack my ladies!"
"Sanji!" Usopp hollered. "We don't have time for this, just kill them and find the key!"
"The third one!" I shouted, at the same time that Smoker said, "Kill the third one in."
"Huh?" Luffy asked, "Why that one?"
I smirked and gestured to Smoker to answer. "What are your ears for, decoration? That one has the same growl as the one who swallowed the key," he said, glancing at me. Luffy looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded along.
Sanji went for the gator, kicking it in the gut to make it cough up the key. Instead we got a huge ball of wax that was Mr. 3, still alive, but barely. After a lot of commotion, and some of Sanji's persuasion techniques, Mr. 3 used his powers to create a key that would open the cage. As soon as the door opened, Luffy and Zoro ran out, and killed every single bananagator.
I couldn't blame them, we were all stir crazy from being in a cage for so long, but their excess energy made it more difficult for all of us. The water pressure pushed against the damaged walls, to the point of crashing them in, and water flooded the rest of the room almost instantaneously.
I grabbed onto the nearest person, who happened to be Smoker, and yelled, "Deep breath!" I put him in a rescue hold, and started swimming for the surface, waiting momentarily for the press of the water filling the room to stop. As I cleared the room, I could feel Zoro grab Smoker's arm, helping me pull him to the surface.
We broke the surface of the water, the last to make it, and Zoro let go when he noticed I was able to keep Smoker's face above the water on my own. He got out first, and took a heavily panting Smoker from me out of the water, then assisted me in getting out as well.
Most of us were squeezing excess water from our clothes, though Luffy and Usopp were still laying on the ground. Sanji told Nami to spray her perfume, and swooned from the smell once she had. I took my hair out of it's ponytail, and flipped it over my head, bending over to wring it dry, and looked up when I felt someone standing in front of me. I pushed my hair out of my face, and looked at Smoker in question.
Zoro stepped in front of me, and without even seeing them pull out their weapons, the jutte and sword were in a battle as well, holding each other back.
Smoker glared at me, water dripping down his face. "Why?" he asked.
"You have a devil fruit, you can't swim." I said, as if I was stating the obvious. Which technically, I was.
Smoker glanced over to Zoro, questioning him as well. "Captain's orders. I'd have let you drown."
He looked between the two of us. "Then you'll have no problem if I do my duty now," he began, just as Luffy and Usopp jumped up.
"Where's that Crocodile!" Luffy grumbled.
"Let's go! On to Alubarna!" Usopp shouted, then they turned to look at us. "Aah! It's Smoker! Watch out Luffy! Run away!"
"Smokey!" Luffy brought his fists up, ready to throw down. "You wanna fight?" he demanded.
Smoker just looked at him, both of them staring at the other, and then his eyes closed. "Go."
"What?" Luffy stated.
"This is the only time I will let you get away." He looked over at me, and I felt as if he was trying to understand something that I couldn't begin to. "Next time… you're dead meat, Straw Hat."
Luffy didn't back down, and Zoro started laughing. The others looked at each other in shock, before they all took off running. We could hear the Marines coming towards us, and Zoro pushed me forward as he called out, "Luffy! Come on!"
"Okay," Luffy replied, before turning back to Smoker. "Hey, you're all right."
I giggled as I heard Luffy running away from Smoker's angry rant.
We ran as fast as we could, though we got tired fairly quickly as we headed out of town.
"Are we going to run all the way to Alubarna?" Usopp complained.
"Maybe we can get some horses?" Luffy asked Vivi.
"But the Marines are all around town," she replied.
"Just relax," Sanji stated with a smile. "Look up ahead."
Most of us stopped immediately, some of us skidding on the sand as we tried. In front of us, was a huge crab, as tall as the buildings in the town. I'm sure my mouth hung wide open. And up on top of it was…
"Chopper!" I yelled, so happy to see him again.
"Hop on everyone!" He called down to us from atop the crab.
"We can ride it?!" Luffy yelled with a grin and stars in his eyes. "So cool!"
"Yeah, but he's looking at me all creepy-like," Nami said quietly.
"He's Eyelash's friend! He has lots of friends here, since this is his hometown!" Chopper called out, as everyone started climbing onto the crab's giant claw. I just eyeballed it, even though I wasn't the shortest among us, I didn't think I could jump that high.
"I'll help you Kia my heart!" Sanji said in a sing song voice, coming over to me, just as Zoro grabbed my waist and threw me up on top of the claw.
"Aah!" I yelped, as I landed on Luffy. "Thanks for the assist, Captain," I said to Luffy, who laughed. "You too Zoro!" I yelled out, only to yelp again at Zoro jumped up next to me, startling me.
The crab raised his claw once we were all on, brought it level with his back, and we moved over to sit on his back. I walked over and sat next to Vivi.
"Pretty amazing, isn't it Vivi?" I asked as I sat down. She looked at me, and gave me a small, tight lipped smile. I could tell she wasn't angry, but I had hurt her feelings, and she hadn't quite gotten over that yet.
I turned slightly, so I could watch the town behind us. Chopper yelled, "Giddy-up!" and the crab started moving, it feeling so fast because of how large he was. I kept my eyes peeled, looking for any sign of-
I interrupted my own thoughts, as I saw the gleam of his hook, coming straight for Vivi. I had originally planned to just move her out of the way, so that he didn't get any of us, but that isn't what happened. I pushed Vivi, and in my haste, not only put myself where she had just been, but pushed so hard that she crashed into Luffy, toppling over him.
"Kia, what-?" Zoro didn't finish as the others gasped, as I was being pulled away from the crab, floating in the air above the sand by a golden hook around my waist. The hook that was following a trail of sand back towards the city.
"Chopper, make it stop!" Zoro shouted.
"KIA!" I could hear them all shouting and I reached out, trying to get free. My hand was grabbed, and I grinned, relieved, as Luffy rocketed towards me, his body coming to meet his hand that had grasped mine. He tried for a moment to free me, before he stopped, and turned to shout back.
"I can handle this! Keep going!"
"Luffy!" the shouts came as we got further away.
"Take care of Vivi!" he yelled.
"Make sure she gets to Alubarna!" I added, as loud as I could. I couldn't see their faces any longer, but I knew Zoro smirked, and directed Chopper to get the crab moving again.
"Don't worry Kia," Luffy said to me. "I'll protect you."
Zoro stood resolutely, even as Usopp and Vivi yelled at him about abandoning Luffy. Didn't they get it? He was giving them a way to help Vivi achieve her goal! Nami got it, she was smart enough, but even the stupid cook understood, so why didn't they?
"Listen Vivi," Zoro said, because she needed it. "Time is ticking down on this kingdom's fate. If the royal and rebel armies clash, then Alabasta is finished, right? You are the only hope of preventing that… so you are the one that must survive… no matter what may happen to the rest of us."
Sanji rolled his eyes at the muscle-bound jerk. Couldn't he be slightly less blunt towards the princess? She was delicate, after all. "Vivi, when you started this several years ago, you had no idea the true nature of group you took on," Sanji said gently. "But, you need to remember… you're not fighting all alone any longer."
Vivi looked, and could still see the small speck that was Luffy and Kia, left in the sand behind them. She had to let them know she believed in them. "Luffy! Kia! WE'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU IN ALUBARNA!"
She smiled as the answer came drifting in much more quietly than it must have been originally.
"Yeah!"
She sat back down, feeling much lighter than before, though confused. After a time, "Nami?" she asked quietly, her friend seated next to her. "I've been horrible, and she still did that…"
Nami smiled, rapping on the princess's head with her knuckles. "Because silly, we're friends. "She may have accidentally hurt you, but she never stopped caring."
"I guess I haven't either," Vivi admitted. "I'm so worried about what Crocodile will do…"
