Activity at Alubarna, specifically the palace, was rising at a frenzy as everyone there knew that the Rebel army was on the warpath once more, intending to finish this battle.

Chaka and Pell, the acting captain of the royal guard and Alabasta's strongest warrior respectively, were the leading forces on this front.

''We must prepare the forces. This has to end!'' The first said strongly.

''That's right, we'll...'' Pell started.

''That's enough!''

The strong outcry made them look back at their king, who seemed angry. ''What're you talking about? This isn't the way and you know that!''

''But your majesty, if they take the Palace, they'll seize power and then...!'' Pell started.

''So what if they do?'' King Cobra demanded. ''I could care less about my rule right now. It wouldn't be the end. Our people who define Alabasta, not the Palace or its rulers. My duty as the king is to stand up for those very people and do what is best for them. I'm ashamed of my own weakness and inability to help as much as I would like to-that's what pushed things to this point but I refuse to stoop this low. Alabasta truly would be lost then!''

Both were floored as they took in those words, realizing that it was just another proof of their liege's mettle. It went to show how much Cobra loved the kingdom and everyone in it.

But they could see what he was getting at, if the people endured, the kingdom could carry on. At the end of the day, the Palace was just another building. Their king was looking at the big picture, still remaining loyal to his people above all. That truly was admirable.

The duo bowed to their king, their already high respect of him elevating all the more. ''What would you have us do, sire?'' Chaka asked.

''Carue returned recently, with a letter from Vivi.'' Cobra started, leaving them surprised. ''...She told me everything-knowing the truth about the situation now...it's precisely why we have to do this the right way. What we should be standing up against is the person behind this war.''

As Cobra took the letter out of his pocket to give it to them, his thoughts drifted to his wayward daughter. He prayed for her safety and success, vowing to do all he could do on this front to help.

That same daughter was on her way to Rainbase with her friends, all looking to stop the mastermind.

With Sera and the others helping them, there was a way to reach the Rebel army but in the end, despite their best efforts they had been too late. The odds of reaching them and getting a chance to talk to Kohza and hopefully stop the war were slim.

Dealing with Baroque works on the other hand...

Yes, it was more than likely a tough fight but that didn't mean it was impossible. Even if the war had been stopped, they still would have had to do something about Crocodile. Him being a Warlord meant the government would simply turn away so in the end, it was up to them.

Vivi hadn't liked this when Nami and Miguel pointed the facts out to her earlier but it helped that they all sat down and talked things through. She knew they were right but a part of her still hated that she couldn't stop the war in time. But as her friends reminded her, it just proved how cunning Crocodile was.

Her thoughts were put into a screeching halt when they ran into some bounty hunters who had somehow gotten desert creatures to fight for them.

Thankfully, the fight quickly turned in their favor. That was when Nami decided to try using new weapon, the Clima-tact. She had read the notes Usopp gave her about it and frankly, she would prefer finding out what it was like sooner than later.

''Let's see...'' She pressed buttons on the staff pieces. ''...Rain Tempo!''

The girl froze when the pieces simply proceeded to spout water into the air. ''...What?''

She missed one of the hunters rushing at her with a sword at the ready but Sanji jumped in and kicked him hard. ''Nami-san, are you all right?'' She nodded and thanked him. ''Anything for you!'' He returned in his usual chivalrous tone.

Sanji blinked ''So what happened...wait, that's the weapon Usopp made for you? A sprinkler?''

Nami more than undestood his incredulousness as it was a feeling she shared. ''Well, there's supposed to be more to it...'' She checked the notes. ''...wait, I thought I messed up before. That's how the attack was supposed to go? What's Usopp playing at?!''

''Seriously, he had better not have been messing around here.'' Sanji scowled. It was only lucky Nami decided to test the weapon now, he didn't want to think of how it could have been worse. This weapon could help save her life, was Usopp taking this seriously?

''Hey, come on.'' Luffy, who had jumped closer to see what they were doing, said. ''Give it another shot, Usopp wouldn't have given you a dud.''

''I guess you've got a point...'' Nami trailed off. ''...all right then...''

She quickly put the staff back together before using it to stun another hunter with a blow to the gut. Luffy and Sanji took down another desert creature, looking back in time to see Nami using the staff as if it were a rifle. Both were baffled when it simply released some flowers.

Nami ground her teeth in anger. She really counted on Usopp and this was what she got? No, this wasn't the time. She had to stay focused, there was a way to take advantage of this.

After a moment of thought, she decided to use another attack she remembered from the notes. Putting the staff together in a T, she watched as a dove flew out of each end of her weapon and ensnared two hunters. The T spun quickly, finally shooting the two with plenty of force.

''Whoa, cool!'' Luffy enthused as Nami stared at the result in shock. ''See, I told you! Usopp knew what he was doing.''

''Of course I did!'' The sniper, who happened to see this two, beamed. ''You should never doubt the great Master Usopp, no one can stand up to my creations!''

Sanji gave him an unimpessed look. Nami could admit that it was actually useful but his bragging along with the close call she had earlier made this especially aggravating. Thus, she proceeded to punch him hard.

''What was that for?!'' Usopp cried.

''What is this supposed to be? I asked you for a weapon. No wonder some of those notes looked weird-it's like you just stuffed it with small tricks!'' She snapped.

''You don't have to say it like that, it worked, didn't it?''

''Just barely!''

''It's innovative! I made the best of what I had. Besides, I gave you those notes for a reason!''

''Your lousy notes couldn't have prepared me for this!'' Nami retorted. Seriously, they hardly explained what the techniques were really like. ''It's less innovative and a whole lot stupid.''

Usopp frowned and grumbled ''Everyone's a critic...''

Her eye twitched before she punched him again ''Shut up!''

Zoro cringed, knowing how hard her punches were ''...Was that necessary?''

She pointed to the two unconscious hunters, who were still entangled with the doves. He blinked ''What the...?''

''That, would be part of what he considers this weapon's best attacks.''

''...Seriously?'' Now he was beginning to see why she was so angry. Usopp's bragging probably made it that much worse. It occured to him that the only reason the weapon worked out this well was that Nami was clever enough to make it happen.

Okay, when he looked at it like that Zoro could admit that Usopp had it coming.

''Luffy, come on!''

''No way!''

''Just a little!''

''I said no!''

Vivi stared at the arguing Luffy and Usopp curiously up ahead ''What's going on with them?''

''Usopp wants some water and he knows Luffy still has that barrel from yesterday.'' Miguel returned.

''Wait, really?'' Nami looked impressed. She honestly thought Luffy would've finished it long ago.

''Yeah, it took me by surprise too but he's hardly touched it.'' Zoro added. He figured the way they were traveling might have helped. After all, Miguel's lacrima had kept the temperature somewhat tolerable. But the main reason was that Luffy really appreciated Toto's efforts in getting that water so he treated it with extreme care.

''Huh, so he does have restraint after all...''

''It's all right, you two. We're nearly there...I think I can actually see Rainbase now.'' Vivi amended after a moment, her gaze concentrated ahead.

Usopp fixed his googles on and squinted, seeing that there was indeed a town nearby ''Oh yeah! There's going to be water...''

''And food!'' Luffy added brightly before they both took off.

''...What was that about restraint, Nami?'' Zoro drawled.

She sighed ''Yeah shows what I know, doesn't it?''

''Guys, we better follow them.'' Chopper pointed out, they nodded back and everyone hurried ahead.

''I don't see them anywhere...'' Vivi frowned. ''...Tony, can you find their scents?''

Chopper shook his head ''There's way too many people around here...I can pick up a trail, it's faint but I think it's because Luffy and Usopp were in such a rush.''

''Those idiots-what do we now?'' Nami ground out.

Luffy and Usopp had dashed into a restaurant and seized the chance to get plenty of water.

Just when it seemed that their luck had been turning around, it turned out that it really hadn't. If anything, it might have been going worse.

Why? Because they wound up sitting next to none other than Captain Smoker and Tashigi!

The two marines appeared just as thrown off to see them. Just when the former had recovered from the surprise and reached for his tonfa, both captain and sniper wound up spitting the water they had been drinking in their faces before running off.

Smoker's eye twitched in annoyance before he ran out, intent on not letting them get away.

''Hold it!'' One of the restaurant workers called to Tashigi as she made to go after them. ''You obviously know them. Someone has to pay for the water you all took.''

Tashigi grimaced, paying for Smoker was one thing but those pirates too?

Well, there was no getting out of this...

''Of course.'' She returned. ''How much would that be?''

The rest of the group had decided to get on with the plan they had agreed on earlier.

After Vivi told them that she learned that Crocodile had Dance Powder in Rainbase, Usopp suggested that they expose this to the marines. This could help cause chaos in the town and spread dissent among the enemy's ranks. After all, it was well known that Crocodile held disdain towards the king to the point that he hadn't ever once had any interactions with the man. It was something that had endeared him to those who had lost faith in Cobra, believing that he understood how they felt.

The plan had been to split up in groups to avoid attracting any attention while being careful to try avoiding as much trouble as possible. But well...thanks to Luffy and Usopp, that was thrown right out the window.

However, it was a good thing they had decided to follow through with the plan after all. As Zoro found out when he wound up getting seperated from Chopper, for their wayward friends had been going as fast as they could to avoid Smoker and other marines who had realized what was going on that they wound up bringing the group's attention on to him.

''Ah, Zoro, the marines are here!'' Luffy exclaimed unnecessarily.

''Gee, thanks Luffy! I completely missed that!'' He retorted sarcastically. Did they have to bring them right this way?

While he wouldn't have much trouble fighting them, the real problem was Smoker and his logia powers. They were lucky to have Ace helping them last time and before that it was Miguel. But without them...

''What were you doing there?'' Usopp wanted to know.

''That's my line! We already agreed on what to do, and it was your idea! What the hell did you bail on us for?!'' Zoro demanded.

''W-well, we were thirsty...''

''And hungry!'' Luffy added.

''Oh, just shut up!'' Zoro returned irritable. When wasn't Luffy hungry?

''Just keep running, we've got to lose them!'' Usopp said at last.

Vivi blinked when she saw Chopper catching up with them ''Tony? Wasn't Mr. Bushido supposed to be with you?''

''I don't know where he is-we were hurrying up here and then he just vanished.'' The reindeer returned.

''Well, seeing as it's Zoro we're talking about, that probably means one thing.'' Miguel stated flatly.

Sanji groaned ''Yeah, the idiot must have gotten lost again. Why the hell didn't he just stay with his partner?''

''Never mind that now-we've got to focus.'' Nami reminded, looking at the building behind them. ''Vivi, this is the place, right?''

She nodded and Sanji braced himself, lifting a leg while Miguel's hands glowed with magic and Chopper transformed into Heavy Point as the cook called ''All right, let's do this!''

Many people came to a halt when they heard the sound of an explosion a moment later. Thick smoke arose into the air. When people followed it to the source they were surprised to find a heavily damaged building with no one or nothing nearby to indicate what caused the destruction but what really drew many to a halt was the storage area that held a good amount of Dance Powder.

Now many of them were familiar with the substance, thanks the trouble it brought the country. Which raised a number of questions, why was this here? Why did Crocodile of all people have it?

''Maybe it's a set up?'' One of the people who had been at the casino suggested. ''Crocodile's been getting rid of all the pirates-he made it clear that he thinks the king's a fool. There's no reason he would have this.''

''You say that but he's a pirate too, remember?'' Another person countered. ''And even with all the accusations from that incident, no one found much of any proof that his majesty had anything to do with the Dance Powder.''

''It has to be him, who else would it be?''

''He's done so much to help us-even now, he's all but given us the shirt on his back. This drought's affecting him too just as anyone!'' A third argued.

''Well, I think you're wrong. It's his own fault!''

''Oh, be fair! How can you just turn on him after all he's done for this country? King Cobra is among the best rulers we've had in a long time!''

Vivi felt heartened as she overheard the exchange, glad to know that there were more out there who believed in her father.

At any rate, it looked like the plan had worrked. The marines who had arrived at the scene were currently heading off to question Crocodile about this find. Perhaps people would listen to her if she addressed them now?

The princess stopped herself just as the line of thought struck. As much as she wanted to, it would do no good. She had been away for years and it would take more than to convince the people of the truth. They were close but they had to keep going. Crocodile must be stopped, no matter what.

The chase eventually lead Luffy, Zoro and Usopp to Rain Dinners. They missed a number of people rushing out around the same time in all the chaos but if they had stuck around longer they would have known those were Baroque Works agents. As it were though, they had no choice but to keep going.

''They're closing in on us!'' Usopp wailed.

''Shut up, this is all your faults!'' Zoro snapped.

The sniper was about to respond when Luffy called out ''Hey, look!'' They had arrived at a long hall that lead to two doors with each one being marked. ''What do those signs say?''

''Eh? Weird...one sign says the room's for VIPs...'' Usopp started.

''What's VIP?'' Luffy blinked.

''It means very important people but that's not the point.'' He said quickly. ''The other sign says pirates.''

''A VIP room? Doesn't this kind of place have drinks for the guests?'' Zoro wondered.

''Why would you ask that now?! Who cares?!'' Usopp snapped.

''Let's just go this way-we're pirates after all!'' Luffy stated, changing directions.

''Oi, wait!''

''Hey, this is fishy no matter how you look at it!''

Zoro and Usopp called but the teen was already heading off so they went after him as he screamed about kicking Crocodile's ass...

Sanji kicked another Baroque Works agent down. ''...I think that's the last of them... Oh, Nami-san!'' He exclaimed when the girl came around a corner, her Climatact at the ready. ''What's wrong?''

''I can't see Vivi anywhere.'' She admitted, leaving them alarmed. ''I lost track of her in all that chaos when those morons came at us from everywhere. The next thing I knew, she was gone.''

''Oh, no...Vivi-chan!'' Sanji cried. ''What could have happened to her?''

''Wait, I heard a few of those guys were say something about Rain Dinners before...'' Miguel thought back. ''...that's where Crocodile is, right? He's known we're here for a while so even if he has to deal with the consequences of our trick before...''

''Yeah, he could just as easily send his minions to force her there. Vivi didn't have much trouble handling them but with those numbers...they must have trapped her.'' Nami frowned, feeling bad for not keeping a better eye on things. ''Defeating Baroque Works is one thing but Vivi's the one among us who has a shot at getting through to the people and stopping the rebellion.''

''Then we go to Rain Dinners, right? Vivi did say it's like Crocodile's base now.'' Chopper added.

Sanji nodded ''As much as I want to find her right now, I know it can't be easy. The bastard's too smart for that, we better use our heads too. We shouldn't rush into things.'' He glanced at the casino's building that wasn't too far away. ''Though I gotta say, I'd really like to know how he explained the Dance Powder...''

As it just so happened, that was far from easy.

Crocodile had known the Straw Hats had arrived since he received word of sightings of Luffy and Usopp. He didn't doubt for a second that they had been the ones behind the reveal of the Dance Powder. It had been something he used to raise the tension in the country. The man had actually been thinking of moving the powder to a new place but he never thought that Vivi had actually known about his storage all along.

That could have been bad but he managed to make the marines leave by making up a story about how he wound up finding the Dance Powder with a few of the pirates he defeated. The reputation he'd come to gain during his stay in Alabasta had been useful in that regard. Crocodile suspected that it was really his status as a Warlord as well as the fact that he had captured Smoker, who was the one marine in the area who he highly doubted he could convince. Baroque Works' information network was top notch and that was why Crocodile learned that Smoker had actually come because of the situation in the country. The man had just been so focused on chasing the Straw Hats that he happened to fall right into his trap. He figured the pirates had used the chaos their trick caused to sneak around the city. It was a clever trick, he'd give them that.

But in the end, it didn't matter. His men had even brought Vivi right to him. The princess and her new friends were proving to be a thorn in his side and if things had gone differently, they could have had a chance to reach the rebels and possibly stop them. He was proud to say that he was far above them and he wouldn't let anything get in his way now...he was so close to his goal.

First things first, he thought as he entered a room...

Usopp wondered how they could get out of this.

The three of them along with Smoker had fallen into a trap. They were currently in a cage made of sea prism stone, a material known to weaken devil fruit users.

''So what the hell brought you here? You couldn't have come to capture us seeing as you had no way of knowing we'd come here.'' Zoro remarked.

Smoker glared at him for a moment but both were distracted when Luffy called out ''CROCODILE! Come on out, I'm gonna kick you ass!''

But all his energy faded when he grabbed the cage's bars, leaving him to groan weakly.

Usopp pulled him back ''We told you, don't grab the bars!''

''...So you're here to deal with Crocodile too.'' Smoker concluded, making the three look at him. ''It's true that we didn't expect you to be here. The situation in Alabasta is suspicious, this civil war kept going worse and it was rather strange for a usually peaceful country. Everything I heard about the royal family proves them to be just and yet there were those who decry them out and about.''

''It really does look fishy when you say it like that but how come no one did anything so far?'' Usopp wanted to know.

Zoro had a good guess ''Crocodile's a Warlord, remember? I heard they get a few perks by working with the government. Guess it was true.''

''Unfortunately so.'' Smoker conceded grudgingly. ''We actually caught one of his followers recently, he mentioned a few strange things when we intercepted his call to Crocodile. They mentioned your crew as well as Princess Vivi, who had left years ago. Everything seems connected to Crocodile and his organization, but as Roronoa said, his status means the government would look away without proof. That's why I decided to get to the bottom of this.''

''Well, you sure didn't do much about that. It's your fault that we fell in here!'' Luffy exclaimed.

''This, coming from the one who ran right into the suspicious area? What did you think would happen when you went screaming about defeating that bastard?'' Smoker retorted. ''Either way, it looks like Crocodile knew what I was planning. As they say: once a pirate, always a pirate.''

Put like that, it made Zoro wonder why the government employed the Warlord system but the man they had quickly guessed to be Crocodile arrived before he could voice the thought.

''Well, well, look who we have here.'' He smirked.

''Crocodile! I'm gonna kick your ass!'' Luffy declared.

''Oh? And how are you going to do that when you're locked up?'' The man sneered back. He was followed shortly by Miss All Sunday, who was holding none other than...

''Vivi!'' Luffy and Usopp exclaimed, surprised. The princess looked just as alarmed to see them there.

''Now everyone's here.'' Crocodile stated, looking at the girl then as Miss All Sunday stepped back after releasing her. ''I underestimated you, Princess Vivi. You proved to be a thorn in my side but it proves you've learnt quite a bit from Baroque Works.''

She glowered back at him ''You have no idea what I'd do to see you pay for all this. I wish you died in your cradle, you monster!''

''You don't say?'' Crocodile drawled. ''Soon your beloved country will fall and my ultimate plan will be fulfilled. Soon, Alabasta will be no more. But you don't need to worry about that, you and your friends are going to die soon.''

As much as Vivi wanted to attack him here, she knew it wouldn't do any good. What was worse, she had lost the lacrima intended to target his weakness in the struggle earlier. At the moment, the girl wanted nothing more than to make this man suffer and she hated her own powerlessness to do so.

And then there were her friends...was there anything she could do to help them?

''Mr. 0, it's time.'' She heard Miss All Sunday inform nearby.

''Ah, I suppose we've wasted enough time here.'' He acknowledged. ''Very well, The final phases of Operation Utopia will begin! Everything for the past three years has been for this moment, I procured the Dance Powder, unleashed the sandstoms on many places like Yuba.'' A malicious glint entered his eyes upon noticing how Vivi and Luffy appeared outraged at this. ''Ah, I suppose you would've seen it then? It's a wonder they haven't died yet. The foolish rebels believe they will save the country but it's their own passion that will destroy it.''

Vivi couldn't take anymore ''How could you...how could you be so cruel?!''

''My goals are far beyond your understanding. It's the final step to my victory.'' Crocodile glanced back at the cage. ''Now to deal with you...'' a hatch opened in the wall, they could soon see a few eyes glowing in the dark area before a number of Bananawani crawled out. Usopp recoiled with a fearful cry and the man smirked ''...how pitiful. You thought you could stop me? You never stood a chance.''

''You're wrong! Let me out of here and I'll show you!'' Luffy retorted.

Smoker's eyes narrowed when he noticed water flowing in the room from the hatch. Crocodile then went on ''This room will disappear in less than an hour. I do have the key to your cage but...ah...'' He trailed off as the key fell and one of the Bananwani ate it. ''...looks like it slipped.''

''Liar!'' Luffy snapped. ''Vivi, get us out here and we'll show him!''

''Are you crazy? She can't deal with those things!'' Usopp scolded.

''There's got to be something...'' Zoro scowled as another of his attempts to cut the cage failed. ''...it's no good. This is too hard.''

''Well...''

The three started at the sound of ringing, which they realized was coming from Crocodile's Den Den Mushi. The man looked irritated as he picked up...

Sanji allowed himself a smirk as he spoke ''Hello, this is the crap cafe.''

''What? Wait a minute, you...!'' Crocodile clearly recognized his voice from that time when they were in Little Garden. ''Who the hell are you?!''

''Ah, so you remember me? Well, isn't that nice. Call me...Mr. Prince.'' He decided.

''SAVE US, MR. PRINCE!'' came Luffy and Usopp's voices. Sanji's eye twitched, so they had been right and the idiots got themselves in trouble. No wonder Chopper had found a trace of their scent earlier.

He found it odd that Crocodile hadn't responded given how angry he seemed to be but he soon realized why when the door to Rain Dinners opened and the Warlord came out.

His smirk widened when he spotted a pair of spheres landing near Crocodile before they released two blasts of water, leaving the man stunned. Sanji landed before the Warlord and unleashed a few blistering kicks that sent him crashing into a wall.

''What do we do now?!'' Usopp wailed as the Banawani came closer and closer to the cage.

''I'll...I'll find some help-the others must be nearby and...'' Vivi gasped when another of the reptiles blocked her path.

''Vivi!'' Luffy cried.

''Oi, be careful!'' Zoro warned.

The girl took a step back, wondering how to get past this. But it turned out she didn't have to worry-for a moment later, all the Banawani were blasted by golden rays of starlight that came from the room's entrance.

Vivi couldn't help the smile on her face as she as well as her friends, recognized the spell. They looked over to find that Miguel had arrived.

''Miguel!'' Luffy and Usopp called out happily.

He smiled in return before raising a hand, a red spell circle appeared beneath the cage before it levitated. Slowly but surely, the gravity magic wrenched the cage bars enough for them to let them out. Smoker jumped down with ease while Luffy and Zoro helped Usopp land.

''So that's what happened-quite the ploy there.''

Everyone stared at the voice and saw Miss All-Sunday make her presence known. ''I wondered why only a few of you would be facing our boss. There's certainly more to your crew than meets the eye. But we can't have you interfere now.''

Zoro put a hand on his swords as Usopp fingered his slingshot but both froze when she created arms on Miguel's torso in response. ''It's just like last time...'' The first grit his teeth. What sort of power was this?

''Stop that!'' Luffy snapped as the arms closed in.

Contrary to their expectations, Miguel appeared calm. And they began to realize why when his body was surrounded with a golden aura that seemed to sting Miss All Sunday and consequently made her release him.

''I think you've got that backwards. We're not about to let you win.'' He stated.

''You're far more dangerous than I thought. I assume you're the reason the other three could pull that trick.'' Miss All Sunday remarked.

''You're awfully calm there, think you can take us on?'' Zoro demanded.

''I don't need to.'' Before anyone could make sense of that comment, she stepped back outside and the room's door closed.

''Whoa, hey! We've gotta get out of here!'' Usopp exclaimed.

''Do you know what they're planning?'' The sudden question made everyone look at Smoker. ''That woman-Crocodile's partner has had a bounty of 79 million for years.''

''That's almost as much as Crocodile himself...how'd that happen?'' Zoro asked. 'Miss All Sunday' was of course a codename but even Vivi had admitted that she had little luck finding much of any information about her.

Smoker seemed to choose to ignore the question ''You really don't seem to have much of an idea about what you're dealing with here. People like them would be making big plans, especially considering she's involved in this.''

Miguel frowned, he already knew Miss All Sunday was dangerous to say the least but from Smoker's wording...there was more to her than it appears. Which left him to wonder, just who was she?

''We have to go!'' Usopp reminded.

Miguel started ''Right...''

''Hey, guys?'' They turned to Luffy, who was staring at a big white sphere nearby. ''What do you think this is? It rolled out of one of those funny gators' mouths.''

''That's strange but we don't have time...'' Vivi almost jumped back in surprise when the sphere suddenly began to crack. In seconds, it fell apart, revealing someone inside. It was in fact ''...Mr. 3?!''

''Sanji-kun!'' Nami ran to the cook, who was leaning against a building, breathing heavily. ''What happened? We lost track of you after we released the second lacrima.''

''Are you okay?'' Chopper added.

''Y-yeah, just give me a minute...'' He returned. ''...the bastard's damn tough. He has some ability that let him dry a lot of stuff around us. I held him off but he was clearly rushing to get to Alubarna, I barely got to avoid a serious injury. I'm really glad we had those lacrima, he might have had a field day otherwise.''

She frowned ''...No matter you look at it, that creep's got the advantage. He can make the maximum use of his powers in the desert.''

''We shouldn't worry about that, least of all now. What about the others?'' Chopper reminded.

''Let's go and find them. We're running out of time, looks like Crocodile and the agents are heading out.'' Sanji stated. ''Chopper, we'll handle this part. Think you can help us find a way to get us moving on the double?''

''I'm on it!'' The reindeer returned.

When the three reached Rain Dinners, it was to find that one wall had crumbled while a good part of the area had a lot of water. But there was no sign of their friends anywhere.

''Hey!''

Sanji and Nami looked up at Usopp's voice, seeing him with Vivi, Miguel and Zoro floating above the air. The strange part was that Usopp was holding a dazed Luffy up while Zoro was hauling none other than Smoker.

Miguel dispelled the gravity magic, allowing them to land. It was just then that they noticed someone else who had been floating at a distance from them.

''Is that Mr. 3?'' Nami stared.

''And Smoker?'' Sanji blinked. ''What's going on here?''

Vivi explained how Crocodile had them trapped and talked about his plan. They weren't quite sure how but Mr. 3 had wound up inside wound up inside one of the Bananawani and they happened to discover this by chance. Deciding to do something to prove himself to Crocodile, Mr. 3 had activated a hidden mechanism that made much water fall. Thus, Miguel had reacted fast, making them float with gravity magic before blasting a hole in the building to help them get away with Pleaides.

''So that's it...and you helped them?'' Sanji cocked his head.

''Why would you do that? Both of you?'' He added, remembering that Zoro had hauled him up shortly after the water almost flooded the room.

''It's captain's orders, idiot.'' Zoro said flatly.

''I wanted to.'' was all Miguel had to say to that.

''...Hmph, kindness to your enemies may get you killed.'' Smoker scoffed.

''Who can say? I decided long ago that I'll stay true to myself. I don't want to have any regrets.'' The quartermaster returned. He didn't care much for the marines in general but that didn't mean he could just leave one to die. It was a case of doing what he believed was for the best, that was all.

The captain grunted and turned his back to them ''Go.'' The group looked on in surprise. ''You saved me so I'll let you off. This is all I can do anyway since Crocodile was smart enough to cover his tracks from the government. You're the only ones who can do save the people from him.''

Luffy began to grin ''You're not such a bad guy, Smokey!''

''Get going!'' He retorted.

''All right, come on!'' The rubber teen called out to his friends.

Fortunately, Chopper had been able to find them a ride with a little help from Eyelash the camel. The moving crab, who he had names Scissors, had agreed to take them up to the capital.

Just as they had been gaining speed, Scissors was almost thrown off by a sudden force that seemed come from their left. The crab barely managed to regain its balance, though everyone was clearly rattled.

''What just happened?!'' Sanji cried.

''It came from over there!'' Usopp pointed over and they saw a man clad in a jumpsuit as as well as armor covering his shoulders, arms and legs rushing over. A second later, Scissors backed off just in time to avoid another blast of force and the assailant jumped up high, a scimitar at the ready.

His blade was met by Miguel's, who had flown up with Meteor to intercept him in time. Both landed a bit of distance away from Scissors while the others looked on.

''Miguel!'' Chopper cried.

''Don't stop now!'' He returned. ''We don't have time for this, keep going. I'll catch up!''

Vivi looked worried while Nami grimaced but she called out ''Yeah, you better show up or else I'll fine you big time, you hear me?''

''And I'll be making sure you pay when we spar.'' Zoro added.

He looked amused ''Well, we can't have that now. You've got a deal, guys.''

''Yeah, beat this guy!'' Luffy called.

Miguel nodded, seeing them begin to head off then. His adversary then called ''You think I'll let you...?''

He was forcefully stopped when Miguel requipped his wind sword, which had caused a forceful gale that almost threw him off then. The man let out a breath at this ''I'd hoped to stop more of you at least but there's no helping it...you're going to be sorry you interfered, kid.''

Miguel leveled his sword as he braced himself for the upcoming battle ''We'll see about that.''

Well, let's stop here.

I hope it was good. This chapter gave me some trouble for a while but funnily enough, I was able to finish it in less than two days when I gave it another go later. I guess, inspiration struck or something...

Anywho, I had to think of how to handle things with the changes I put together so I wasn't sure what to do. The next chapter starts when they run into Crocodile, which is shortly after this. Oh and to clarify Miguel's opponent isn't a wizard, I was looking through the one piece wikia when I remembered a specific power that would make what he did here possible. But more on that next time.

Well, thanks for reading and I hope you keep it up. Till next time!