A/N: Second chapter in a week, I'm trying to make up for the fact I didn't upload last month.
I really hope that you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think!
WARNING: This chapter may get a little graphic; there is talk of gore and some people having their faces blown inwards.
Ulpia Rililus had to find Ebony to tell her that the bomb was no longer an issue and that she had to find the minions and rescue them from their doomed position in the tower. The could see her up ahead with a group that included the Rebel Leader, the Princess Vivi and Pell the Falcon. The green-haired swordsman and the man who had left with the other Outlier were fending off several armed Baroque Works members.
They, the swordsman and the blond were quick to make work of the cannon fodder. Privately Ulpia couldn't help but be gobsmacked by the strange hair colours that the people of this world had. Green was not normal, neither was the blue that the Princess had.
"Ebony!"
The woman turned around, facing Ulpia who was running towards the group. A majority of the group tensed, readying themselves for a fight but Ebony and the blond man did not.
"Ulpia! What are you going to do now?"
The Straw Hat crew relaxed, but those from Alabasta did not. Ulpia couldn't say that she blamed them, but she thought that her very public betrayal of Crocodile would have been enough to get them to at least relax around her.
Having caught up with the group, she spoke. "I'm going to go and rescue my men. They've managed to stop the bomb but they're being surrounded by the marines on all sides."
BOOM!
They weren't even given a moment to take in the news that the bomb wouldn't be going off anytime soon when a shot was fired, right at the group making them scatter in all different directions.
"We've got to find that shooter and get to that clock tower!"
That was something that everyone there was in agreement with, pairing off and taking off in a sprint towards the general vicinity of the clocktower.
Ebony stayed with Ulpia, reassuring her crew mates that she would be fine. The blond man gave Ulpia a look, knowing exactly what she had done to his friend the last time they had been left alone together. (She did hope that the lightning wouldn't scar, but it was more of an inevitability than not that it would.)
"Did the minions mention how they stopped the bomb?"
"No, they did not."
Ulpia had forgotten that they hadn't actually said how they had stopped the bomb from going off, only that they had.
She really hoped that she wasn't leading herself and the others into a trap.
Nico Robin was in agony.
She couldn't have cared less about the torture that her body was currently undergoing, her body beaten, bloody and nearly broken. No, it was her mind that was crying out.
The True History was not there. Oh, there was a wonderful lot of history to do with the country of Alabasta and full of interesting little details that she would have at any other time salivated over, but there was nothing to do with the Void Century.
Absolutely nothing.
She had come all this way, four years of working for and under Crocodile had come to this. Of course, she had to accidentally confirm to him that Pluton was an actual thing, and now he wouldn't stop looking for it.
She was dipping in and out of consciousness, but the fury of Crocodile was palpable as he quietly breathed out.
"You damned kid…"
She tried to open her eyes to see if what her ears were hearing was true, but the rubble on top of her made that very difficult. She wasn't even able to use her devil fruit powers with how weak she was in that moment.
The situation was only made worse when she blacked out completely, her surroundings lost to her when she heard the D.
"Blood can stop your sand, too. Isn't that right?"
She knew no more.
Vivi was worried.
About the war, about her father, about her people, about Luffy, about the rest of the Straw Hats and especially about the bomb.
It wasn't as if she didn't believe Ulpia when she said that the bomb had been stopped, but she literally could not believe the other woman when she said that.
Ulpia had been a part of Baroque Works, willing or not, she had been a part of the organisation and Vivi had seen her commit some awful crimes in the process. It wasn't even the fact that she was an Outlier that was the problem, Ebony had proven that Outliers were not as they had been portrayed.
There was something in Ulpia that terrified Vivi to the core, even more so than Crocodile who Luffy was currently fighting. There was underlying cruelty in Ulpia's eyes whenever she faced off against someone, a madness that seemed to want to eat the world.
To devour the world whole.
(What Vivi didn't know was in those moments it was Alduin's soul that was foremost present, that the curse of being the holder of the Mace of Molag Bol, which took more than it's own fair share of energy to hold back the urge to corrupt and enslave the souls of mortals.)
That Ebony was going to be alone with the woman, again, scared Vivi more than she cared to admit. She wasn't sure if Ulpia would even care for another person.
She could see the two fighting off a group of millions; a flash of lightning from Ulpia took care of most of them, but there was a number that seemed more resilient.
Ebony swung an arm out in a controlled manner, seastone knuckledusters seeming to gleam in the sunlight. For a moment it looked as if her attack had done nothing, making the millions laugh at her but the next moment they went flying through a group of millions behind them and through the lower floors of some buildings behind that.
"Shit."
Everyone was able to hear that comment coming from Ebony's mouth, but no one seemed to expect that.
"Sorry for the property damage, Vivi!"
Vivi felt an unexpected laugh leave her mouth despite the seriousness of the situation.
"No problems! We've just got to find the shooter!"
"What about the clock tower?"
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Ebony shouted back before throwing a millions member over her shoulder and slamming him to the ground.
Kohza facepalmed, "How could I have forgotten the damn clock tower?"
Usopp interjected, not paying attention to Kohza who glared mulishly at the sniper.
"It's the only place where you have a clear view of everything; a perfect sniper hideout."
The clock tower could be seen from where they were. It was a good distance away and even if the bomb wasn't going to go off it was going to be difficult to get close enough to stop the sniper from shooting them all.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Chopper and Nami running towards them.
"What's going on?"
"We were saved by the marines!"
Nami sounded just as shocked as Vivi felt at that statement.
Ebony though nodded in understanding, "It was Tashigi, wasn't it?"
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Both her and Ulpia had finished up the last of the underlings, with Ulpia tying a rope around several groups of them.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
"Yes it was!" She seemed out of breath, but she had been running for a while. "Have you found the shooter?"
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
"They'll be in the clock tower," Kohza answered. Vivi's friend was still unsure around the group of pirates, she could tell, but he couldn't afford to be wary at the moment.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
"Where did Pell go?"
"The falcon headed off towards the tower."
Ulpia kept her distance from the main group, even as Sanji joined them.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
The clock ticking could be heard even from the distance they were from it.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
"Where have you lot been? I've been looking all over for you!"
Zoro was covered in blood and sand, standing on the building above them.
"Need to get him a damn GPS."
Ebony muttered, evidently not expecting anyone to hear her as she blushed when everyone looked at her. No one had any idea what a GPS was, but it had something to do with telling which direction was what and nobody could deny that Zoro needed something like that.
(Except for maybe Zoro.)
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
"The marines told us to go north."
"North or up, marimo?"
"Tch."
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Usopp rolled his eyes, used to the arguing between his crew mates.
"Just keep on climbing, you'll get there."
"No."
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
Silence.
An ominous feeling fell over the group as the clock face exploded outwards, several limp bodies landing in bloodied heaps on the cold, hard ground around them. These people must have had faces once, but no longer.
Vivi covered her mouth in shock, whilst Usopp and Nami started to dry heave. Zoro and Sanji looked at the bodies, then up at the tower; a look of fury on their faces. Chopper ran to Ebony, hiding his face in her leg while the woman herself had a look that matched that of Kohza. Utter sadness mixed with a hideous rage.
The sight of the men was horrific. Their skulls had been caved in with what looked to be a cannon ball. They looked as though they had been tortured, Perhaps even the bomb that they had stopped themselves.
"Oh dear."
Ulpia was the only one who didn't seem shocked, her attitude showed that she had seen this or worse before.
Two mad cackling laughs filled the air, as two figures could be seen where the clock face once was.
"Our last job!"
The woman covered in frog-themed clothing raised a frog-themed pistol in the air.
"It's been fun, oh how they screamed."
The man covered in the number seven also raised his weapon, giggling
"Especially for you, Miss Midsummer Eve."
Vivi could see the other ex-Baroque Works member start to shake, possibly from rage but her face was downcast at the ground.
"Come along now Miss Father's Day, our job is not yet complete."
"No, it is not, Mister Seven. No, it is not."
A sharp crack rang out through the silence, as the sound of thunder and lightning filled the sky.
"They were my men. My men. And you slaughtered them. Why?"
The two Baroque Works members had no knowledge of the danger that they were in, as they laughed and jeered.
"Miss Midsummer Eve, well. Because we could."
"You really shouldn't have said that."
An intake of breath, and a rumble before an oppressive air filled the space. Vivi was reminded suddenly of a calm before the storm.
A lightning storm to be more specific, as from Ulpia's hand a continuous stream of lightning hit the two snipers where they stood.
"Cover your ears!"
Ebony shouted, before following her own instructions. Vivi managed to raise her hands just in time, as even through her hands she could hear the screams of pain as Ulpia, calm in her rage, shocked them within an inch of their lives.
Vivi shut her eyes, too. She felt Kohza pull her into his arms, a comfort that she wasn't sure she wanted at that moment.
Ulpia was terrifying, but Vivi had been proven wrong.
She did care about others; similar to Luffy in that regard.
Fiercely protective of those they considered theirs, and if they were threatened (or killed). Well, more fool you.
Luffy couldn't believe his luck.
The blood trick had worked, but now the entire structure of the tomb was collapsing around them. All of that history being ruined because of a fight that Luffy hadn't been able to finish off sooner. Crocodile had gotten in a hit with his hook, covered in poison.
Damnit!
He needed to get stronger, that much was clear. He knew that his crew thought him to be incredibly powerful, and he was. But it wasn't going to be enough, especially since the closer that they got to the One Piece the harder everything was going to become.
He wasn't stupid, nor unobservant. They all had to get stronger if they wanted to be able to survive, to live, to thrive.
"You've been buried alive, dried out and continued to stand…" A sinister smile broke out across the warlord's face. "That poison though, you won't be able to stand that for much longer."
Luffy gritted his teeth, "You have no idea. You understand nothing."
"You said I understand nothing?"
Luffy wasn't going to let Crocodile monologue, leaping through the air and throwing a punch through the man. The warlord shifted his body, the sand moving to the side which was followed quickly by Luffy who threw another punch.
This time it connected.
"GOMU GOMU NO GATLING!"
The fast-paced motion unexpectedly threw Luffy off, even as he managed to hit Crocodile a few times before he felt the poison kick in. He felt woozy and stumbled slightly.
"I understand nothing, and you're the one whose been poisoned!" Crocodile started to laugh as if Luffy had told him an incredibly funny joke. "Your body is starting to become numb!"
"Doesn't matter if you win, or I win. You're going to be stuck under here. It's almost a miracle that you're still alive."
Luffy had had enough, standing up and swinging his leg out, almost managing to kick a hole straight through the middle of the logia.
"Why do you still fight?"
The laughter that was present just moments before had turned to seething rage.
"YOU'RE NOT EVEN SEEKING ANYTHING HERE! WHY ARE YOU EVEN DOING THIS FOR SOMEONE ELSE? WHAT IS THE POINT OF DYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE? IF YOU HAD JUST LET THE PRINCESS DIE, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE NEEDED TO GET INVOLVED!"
Luffy was on his hands and knees, slowly rising from the ground.
"Like I said, you do not understand. You have absolutely no idea."
No idea what it is like to have nakama, no idea what it is like to have to fight for everything you have ever had, to love those the world itself was against.
"Even though Vivi keeps saying no to death, she keeps trying to throw her life away."
Luffy could see the King flinch, knowing what Crocodile was saying to be true. Luffy had no idea what it was like to have a father, he only had Gramps and the mountain bandits and Makino and sometimes he could picture Shanks as being like a father. But Vivi's dad seemed like a good guy, even tied up and beaten to a pulp as he was.
He fell to the floor, making Crocodile laugh.
"Your body can't take much more! This is definitely your end!"
The man still cackled as he went, periodically taking a look at his pocket watch.
"It's over!"
Luffy wondered if the bomb had gone off, even as he struggled to move onto his knees, knuckles digging into the ground. Surely he would have heard the bomb go off, even as far underground as he was.
There was no sound of a bomb going off, the tomb still crumbling around them.
Luffy took the time to drag himself up off of the ground, hands resting on his knees.
"If it's you against me, you won't be able to defeat me."
His breathing was stilted, but he hoped that his point was getting across.
"Heh, you could barely even speak those words! That pathetic look suits you."
Luffy continued on as if Crocodile hadn't spoken, "Because I will be the one that becomes King of the Pirates!"
I will protect my nakama and their dreams! We will be free!
I had forgotten that the rage of a dovahkin was a terrible thing, and even then Ulpia held back. She could have easily shouted them off of the clock tower, bringing the wrath of whichever Daedra she invoked at that moment.
But she didn't. I did suspect that she used her strongest shock destruction spell, so that was something.
"We'll bury them, Ulpia. Or burn them, whichever gives them more honours."
She gave me a weak smile.
"I had thought this world soft, but I was wrong. The cruelty of men is a sickness that pervades all realms it seems."
I had nothing to say about that. It was true.
"We should check on the bomb."
Everyone was in agreement, starting to make our way up to the clocktower. All of us were avoiding the bodies on the ground, trying not to think about how these men had tried to do the right thing and suffered because of it.
I could see Pell hovering above the tower, watching over us and making sure that no harm came to Vivi as we made our way up. The members of Baroque Works that were left avoided us, gazing at us with wary and fearful eyes, forms trembling when Ulpia even glanced in their general direction.
"What will we do with the bomb?"
Kohza still had not let go of Vivi's hand, apparently trying to reassure himself that she was there. She had been 'missing' for two years after all.
"I think it will have to be detonated, far away from any civilisation."
Vivi hummed in the back of her throat, "I agree. That way no one is hurt and the weapon is gone."
The rest of the way up was made in mostly silence, with the only noises coming from Chopper. He hadn't quite recovered from seeing the lack of faces on Ulpia's men, with my arm still wrapped around his small form.
He was only fifteen, a fact that had slipped my mind up until that point.
It was a horrific sight to see at such a young age, especially since it was an age when you were most impressionable.
"Your Highness, the bomb's timer has been reset."
We all let out a sigh of relief at pell's words, not realising that we had been holding it in.
"That is good; now all we have to do is wait for Luffy."
It wouldn't be too long now, even with the fighting seeming to get worse all around the city. Vivi had a look of despair on her face, watching her people fight each other over a war that should never have come to pass.
"Everyone! I've got an idea. Do you still have the speaker and microphone I gave you, your highness?"
She nodded, pulling it out of a pocket that I had no idea she had. Everyone was listening at this point.
(Also, how on earth was she able to hide that? Manga and anime logic is the only thing I could think of.)
"Ulpia, could you shout to get everyone's attention? And Usopp, we're going to need something flashy to keep it."
He grinned, having a fair idea of what I was thinking of.
"We need to put on a show, long enough to keep their attention until Luffy succeeds."
The snipers had one thing right; you really could see everything that was going on around Alubarna.
Usopp liked where Ebony was going with this. He was a showman at heart and this plan was speaking volumes to his soul.
The other Outlier was to shout to get the attention of everyone, stopping the fighting in its tracks. Although Usopp was confused as to why a single shout would stop the fighting, no one could be that loud unless they were Luffy.
Once she had finished shouting Usopp was to fire off his flashiest attack to keep the attention on them. Pell and Kohza were to stand with Vivi, and address the fighting groups of rebels, soldiers, Baroque Works members and marines with the Straw Hats are a quasi-guard.
"I do think that could work."
Ebony's face broke out into a relieved smile, "Good because I have no idea what else to do."
"It's something, which is better than nothing."
Zoro put a hand on her shoulder, saying nothing. Usopp knew that Zoro had a hard time trusting a crew member when they first joined, but Ebony had been with them for a little bit now, but the weight of her secrets always gave Zoro pause. But this gesture was definitely one of comfort and it made Usopp happy to see Ebony lean into it.
The crew had slightly distanced themselves, not enough for outsiders to notice after her Outlier reveal. They definitely hadn't meant to, but it didn't mean that they hadn't hurt her.
Usopp could only hope that by following through with her plan now, it would go to give some of that trust lost back.
"Ready Ulpia?"
A feral grin was the only response.
"You may want to stand behind me."
They did so, alert to the actions that the woman was going to take.
"MUL QAH DIIV!"
Usopp had no idea what to expect, but it wasn't that.
Ulpia was now covered in scaled armour and a set of massive protruding horns from her head. She seemed to be glowing. No, she was definitely glowing as she levitated above the tower itself.
Usopp could scarcely believe his eyes; she had to be a dragon. An actual real-life dragon.
He didn't have time to take in her new appearance, as he had to show off his flashiest attack. (Even thinking the word flashy gave him Buggy the Clown flashbacks, or at least what he knew from the others.)
He readied his ginga pachinko, seeing a large number of the fighters stop and stare at the clock tower in confusion.
"AKAHEBI BOSHI HISSATSU!"
The flaming snake was larger than the normal attack, flying high above the clock tower, circling it before diving at those who hadn't stopped fighting. They had to duck so that they wouldn't be set on fire, looping around them before flying into the sky and dissipating.
"Okay, that's got everyone's attention. Vivi?"
"Ready!"
Usopp hoped that this worked, though they did look quite imposing if he did say so himself.
It didn't seem to be working as well as they had hope, with both rebels and soldiers shouting up at the Rebel Leader and the Princess.
They needed something else, something more to prove that the civil war was a farce.
Fate was on their side for once, as Crocodile came soaring out from a crumbling building. As if in slow motion, the so-called Hero gracefully plummeted to the earth landing on his back with a large crash.
Almost immediately it started to rain.
At first, it was only a few drops, not enough for most people to realise that it was actually raining but then it only got heavier and heavier, the voice of Vivi the only other thing to be heard over the sound.
"Everyone, please! Put down your weapons!"
The young man had done it.
Crocodile had been defeated, and Vivi, their people, their country was safe.
Cobra had thanked him profusely for his help in saving his country, saving his daughter and for being his daughter's friend. Luffy couldn't understand why the king thought that it was necessary to thank him for all of that, but he did know that he was going to have to have help getting out of this place as weak as he was.
Lifting Luffy onto his back was easy, Cobra couldn't believe that for someone as strong and determined as the young pirate Captain was he was very light.
"Luffy!"
"Captain!"
"Your Majesty!"
"Papa!"
A cacophony of voices called down towards where Cobra was walking, carrying Luffy on his back. Cobra looked up towards the clocktower, only to see shadows flying down towards him.
Pell was carrying both Vivi and Kohza, with the Straw Hats following behind via the stairs.
The silence in the space was palpable, with both the King and the Rebel Leader facing off. Cobra wasn't going to let go of Luffy until someone from his crew arrived, which happened to be the swordsman.
"I've got you, Captain."
The swordsman took his captain into his arms, before nodding in thanks to the King.
"Your Majesty, we need to move forward. We have done some terrible things."
Kohza used a hand to cover his eyes in shame at his past actions. Cobra could relate to the young man in front of him, both saddened by the circumstances that had brought the war to fruition and proud of the man standing before him.
"That we both have, the past cannot be forgotten but we need it to unite our two sides together and do our best to live on!"
Cobra offered the man his hand.
"We will rebuild this country together!"
Kohza looked at the King, and then around at the people.
"Yes, we will."
Cheers rang out through the square.
The civil war was over at last.
A/N: A/N: So the fighting in Alabasta is done! The bomb was stopped, Ulpia lost her temper (just a little) and Pell didn't need to "die". There's going to be a little after this, of course, but the plot is going to continue on after this. It may change a little after this, kind of like a "filler" episode before the next "arc" begins.
I feel that at points in this chapter it got a little convoluted, and sometimes a little rushed. (There is, however, only so much fighting I wanted to write in this chapter so that's probably the reason.)
Gomu gomu no gattling: meaning rubber rubber gun battering, probably one of my favourite Luffy attacks to be honest.
Mul Qah Diiv: meaning strength armor wyrm, or in other words the shout for Dragon Aspect.
Akahebi Boshi Hissatsu: Meaning red snake star sure kill.
I'm trying a new thing where I attempt to reply to as many reviews as I can from the last few chapters. I'm not sure how well I will do going forward and I might miss one or two but regardless I read each and every comment that is made and I thank you all for taking the time to read my story.
CherryBlossomSuki
OMG!
This is seriously one of the best compliments that anyone could have given me! Thank you so much!
Vivienne001
It's a bit like a rollercoaster. Just a bit.
I don't want to call the dovahkin harmless, but there are going to be other Outliers that won't be immediately recognisable by Ebony.
InOnePiece
ahhhhhhhhhh! This makes me so happy to know that you really look forward to the chapter alerts!
Alliycat8
I'm most definitely Australian, born and raised! It's amazing that so many of us are seemingly now just popping out of the woodwork! Especially since it seems to be mostly Americans, tbh.
Girl-luvs-manga
Luffy will definitely cry, but he knows that Ebony would prefer the vegetables so he'll probably end up giving her his when no one is looking. (chapter 15)
Yeah, it was a little brief. But they were being chased by the marines and everyone is on a bit of a tight schedule. If there weren't any really pressing issues, it definitely would have been a LOT longer. (chapter 16)
Thank you so much! (chapter 17)
sketchtheunicorn
I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story! I'm not sure which chapter it's in, but in an Outlier's eyes there is a shifting movement of gold that's a bit like Aurora Borealis or Aurora Australis that appears and disappears at random, mostly though when emotions are running high. A little different, but yeah that's how most Outliers are found out (apart from when they bleed).
I'm really glad that you like the story!
Lurk
I'm super happy that you're enjoying the story!
Please get some sleep though and don't be late for work! My story will be there when you finish your shift!
Leah
I'm really glad that you enjoyed the upload!
And thank you so much for your well wishes for my exams! I did fairly well in them so I'm happy!
Cookie-koko
Oooooo! I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story!
scarlet rose white
It really gives me the warm and fuzzies whenever someone says that they love my story! (chapter 19)
FEELS~ I always want to hit people in the feels with my writing, so I must be doing my job right! (chapter 20)
Boggie445
All good, I do the same thing with some stories. I reckon, especially if there is a few chapters, its easier to get a feel for the story when it's one of the later chapters rather than the first.
A zoan devil fruit would be interesting; it's definitely something that I'm might consider. I appreciate the comment and I really hope that you enjoy the story as it progresses!
Vongola10
AHHHHH! You're making me blush!
I'm really glad that you're enjoying it, especially since you've been with me since I started the story way back when~
GodzNo
I'm really glad that you're enjoying it! I wanted to try something a little different to what some of the SI/OC stories that are out there and I figured that if someone from our world could find themselves in One Piece, why wouldn't there be others from other worlds?
thomashailey67
I'm super happy that you're enjoying this and I really hope that you have liked the latest updates!
TreesoftheWild
YAY! I'm always super nervous about how to introduce my own characters into a world that is so beloved by many; it's not an easy formula to nail down so I'm glad that my method seems to be working.
I feel like some of the characters within the canon don't necessarily get enough love or development by the stage it's their time to shine. Nothing against Oda-sensai, but with so many characters in the world some of them drop off a little when the story gets going. I kind of want to give my characters a little more time, if that makes sense?
(Awesome name, btw!)
Guest
That's a really interesting idea, thank you.
Solemn Nonsense
I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!
Lorelei evans
I won't give away too many spoilers, but as much as I love KHR it's not anyone from that series.
Maybe in the future someone with Flames will get dropped into transgredi….maybe….
TheAngelicPyro
COINCIDENCE!
Binge reading is something I do a lot of, too! I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story!