Disclaimer: Godzilla and One Piece are the sole properties of Toho Co. LTD and Eiichiro Oda respectively. KP360 claims no ownership of anything save for any OCs, abilities, and locations.
(Song: Mad Paced Getter by Tomohisa Sako)
"How… how are the two of you not passed out?!" Mr. 8 demanded.
"A real swordsman never lets alcohol dominate him." Zoro stated.
"And I didn't drink anything, remember?" Gian reminded him.
"Grrr… it doesn't matter! You guys don't know what you've gotten yourselves into." Mr. 8 replied.
"Don't we? I already know what this is. The entire town pretends they are all friendly with pirates, when in reality it's just a façade to capture them and steal all their belongings. After all, what else would a town full of bounty hunters do?" Zoro grinned "Am I right, Baroque Works?"
Mr. 8's eyes widened "H-how did you know-"
"A few years ago one of your agents came into contact with me and proposed I join your little organization. I shot him down then, but I know a bit on how you guys work. Your agents use codenames, and they are usually paired up with a man and a woman on each duo. You guys don't even know the identity of your boss. That sums it up does it?"
"He knows it, I don't. Although your name isn't exactly a small one." Gian added. "What would a criminal organization want with a few pirates like us?"
"You don't have to know that. You've already meddled in our business too much for us to let you just saunter off scot free. So we are capturing you right here." Mr. 8 grinned.
"Just the 4 of you? Considering we already showed the two stooges who thought they could take us at Reverse Mountain what's up already, you guys couldn't be that different." Gian scoffed.
"Well then, would you like to put that bluff to the test? Let's see you guys handle 100 bounty hunters at once!" Mr. 8 shouted. And indeed, upwards to 100 bounty hunters showed up out of nowhere, brandishing weapons of all sorts and glaring menacingly at the duo.
"Oh, you were serious… Well let's not keep them waiting Zoro!"
"Get them!" Mr 8 commanded, and the bounty hunters all charged at once. But before they could even move, the two disappeared.
"W-where did they go?" one of them asked.
"I don't know, it's too dark and I can't- AUUUGH!"
He never finished as Zoro appeared beside him and cut him down with a single sweep of Sandai Kitetsu.
"Shoot him! Shoot him!" the bounty hunters cried out. Their attempts were in vain however, as Zoro's was always one step ahead of them. They only managed to fire at themselves. The ones who weren't injured found themselves facing Zoro, only to be struck by Yubashiri.
Zoro was grinning, the rush of battle was making his blood pump. The two new swords he got back at Loguetown were far superior compared to his old ones, especially Sandai Kitetsu; Zoro thought he was imagining it, but he felt as if the sword was actively begging for more bodies to cut up.
"I'm really glad I found the two of them, both Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu are perfect for me…"
And he would get plenty more chance to cut them up, for more bounty hunters rushed at him. Zoro grinned and got into a new stance before leaping up into the air.
"Nitoryu: Taka Nami!"
Twin blades of high winds shot forward, slicing apart multiple foes. More bounty hunters tried their luck but only met the same fate. They were completely outmatched.
Within 5 minutes, Zoro had taken down all 100 bounty hunters, and he was barely winded. The look on the remaining Baroque Works officers were as if they just saw a demon.
"I-impossible… he took down 100 men?!" Mr. 9 squawked.
"The 'Pirate Hunter'… his reputation really isn't farfetched…" Mr.8 gritted.
"Does anyone else want to try?" Zoro sneered.
"S-so you can defeat a couple of underlings… you will see that I am different from them…" Miss Monday muttered as she strode forward.
"Wait… wasn't there two of you? Where is-?" Mr. 8 suddenly remembered. Before a loud crash sounded and Miss Monday found herself sprawled on the ground, almost hitting the other Baroque Works members.
"Zoro, you should've told me when you were finished with the small fry…" Gian sighed "I was getting so impatient."
"You know you were free to join in at any time, right?" Zoro told him.
"Really? Must've slipped my mind. Well I'll make it up with this." And Atom Splitter was out, slamming into the ground and sending a cloud of dust into the air.
"You were fast to surprise me" Miss Monday groaned as she picked herself up "But I will overpower you with my strength!"
Said woman then threw a punch, actually sent Gian skidding for a few inches.
"Well you weren't lying when you said that…" Gian smirked "But compared to my strength, that is nothing."
"Don't get cocky!" Miss Monday snarled and brought another fist forward, except this time Gian simply held out his hand and caught it, much to her shock.
"You know, if it isn't too much trouble, you should tell me your workout technique after this." Gian said as he began to squeeze his hand down on her fist, ever bit of pressure greater than the last. Miss Monday let out a scream of pain before Gian stomp kicked her back again.
"That's one off the list."
"You bastard… Igarappa!"
Mr. 8's suddenly pulled out a saxophone and blew into it as anyone would, except what came out was not music, but a scatter shot of bullets. Gian had to spin Atom Splitter around to form a makeshift shield, the Guandao spinning fast enough for some of the bullets to ricochet around, though some still managed to graze him.
"Holy shit… where were you hiding that?" Gian drawled. His answer was another barrage of bullets, forcing him to jump out of the way this time.
"Ok… if you want to compare projectiles, then I'll humor you." Gian nodded before leaping up into the air.
"Igarappa!" Mr. 8 fired again, believing him to be wide open.
"Atom Ray!" Gian's heat ray lanced through the air, consuming and melting the bullets and crashing into the ground before Mr. 8, sending the shocked man flying backwards.
"Seriously, this is the power of a criminal organization? My little brother hits harder than this! Zoro, you really should've accepted their offer, at least you could've whipped them into shape."
"Heh, I told them I wanted to be the boss, but they won't accept that, maybe they will now." The swordsman joked back.
"Don't you two mock Baroque Works, I'll show you! Nekketsu Nine Konjo Bat!" Mr. 9 shouted.
Mr. 9 swung both of his metal baseball bats down hard in an attempt to strike the Kaiju-zoan user's skull. He found himself blocked by Gian raising Atom Splitter ever so slightly, and just like before found that he had locked weapons with the other man. Mr. 9 was in another losing battle of strength.
"This weapons weighs 45 kilograms, have you ever lifted anything that heavy?" Gian sneered. Mr. 9's eyes widened when he heard that, noticing too late that Gian had already swung the Guandao upwards, sending him flying skywards.
Gian was about to deliver a downward slash with the polearm until he heard something whistling through the air. He swiftly moved his head to the side just as what appears to be a flying bladed disk attached to a flexible string whizzed passed him.
"Careful now, you wouldn't want your head to be taken off by my peacock slashers, now would you?" Miss Wednesday smirked as she dashed towards Gian atop what appears to be a large yellow duck.
"I've seen sharper things." Gian frowned and brought Atom Splitter directly down in the path of the blue haired girl, causing her and the duck to go sprawling. He was about to move again before he felt something metal wrap around his arms.
"I got you now! He's wide open Miss Wednesday!" Mr. 9 gloated as two chains extended out of his metal baseball bats, tying themselves around Gian.
"You think that can stop me?" Gian snarled and, throwing his body forwards, literally lifted Mr. 9 off the ground. He swung his arms forwards and spun around in a circle, using the king-dressing man like a makeshift flail. Mr. 9 ended up smacking into the recovering Miss Wednesday and her duck, sending the 3 of them flying over multiple buildings; they could even by at the other side of town…
"Ok, if you guys are done playing around, we'd like to go get our nakama now, so stay out of our way." Gian glared at the now recovering Mr. 8
"Dammit… you're 'Beast Warrior' Gian are you? How are you worth less than your captain?" Mr. 8 gritted. Comparing the two people, this tall, muscular man having a smaller bounty than the smiling kid is preposterous! "Are you sure that either you or the swordsman isn't really the captain?"
"Heh, please. The two of us already mopped the floors with you guys. There's a good chance that you wouldn't be conscious if Luffy were to get in on this." Gian stated.
"I believe that, I wouldn't be surprised by this point after seeing all this." Mr. 8 coughed. "Maybe I can trust you guys with my mission…"
This caught the two men by surprise. "Mission? Explain." Zoro growled.
Mr. 8 sighed "My real name is Igaram, I am the captain of the Alabasta Royal Guard. A while back I infiltrated Baroque Works with Vivi-sama in order to find out who the leader behind it all really is, as well as their goal. We managed to learn of that, and the truth is quite sinister. Right now I beg of you, please escort Vivi-sama back to Alabasta, it is of utmost importance that she makes it back safely!"
"And you expect us to trust you, why? After all you and 100 of your guys just tried to kill us." Zoro stated.
"I understand that our first impressions wasn't the most pleasant, but this is very important. Right now the Boss of Baroque Works is planning something terrifying for Alabasta, and we're the only ones who knows this! At least she has to get back! Vivi-sama's survival is key!" Igaram pleaded.
"Wait, Vivi? Who's that?" Gian scratched his head.
"Mah-Mah, my mistake. Vivi-sama has taken the codename of Miss Wednesday." Igaram reported.
"Oh you mean the blue haired girl I threw across town?" Gian remembered.
"Yes, as much as I want to punish you so badly for that act, you will have to go retrieve her."
"You do realize that we're thinking that you're setting up a trap for us right? No dice." Gian scoffed.
Igaram was getting anxious "I swear on my honor for my country! This really needs to-"
"My, My… how sad that 4 of our frontier agents have fallen to merely two people." A new masculine voice said.
"Kyahahaha, what do you expect Mr. 5? It's no wonder why we are ranked higher than they are!" a high pitched female voice also was heard.
Two people were standing atop the roof right behind the trio. One of them is wearing a brown trench coat, his hair unruly and his eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses. The other was a woman wearing a lemon colored dress, while carrying an umbrella.
"Mr. 5! Miss Valentine!" Igaram called out.
"It's a good thing you are here Mr. 8, saves us the trouble of locating you later." Mr. 5 sneered.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what we mean, Mr. 8. Or should we say, Igaram of the Alabasta Royal Guard?" Miss Valentine cackled. Igaram's eyes widened.
"That's right, we already figured out your identity some time ago. You as well as Princess Nefeltari Vivi! The Boss had been concerned with that there were spies within the ranks that could learn of his identity, and thus we were sent to eliminate them." Mr. 5 declared.
"Dammit… They found out who I am! You two, I implore you one more time to consider this! You must ensure that the princess is to be escorted back to Alabasta! Go now! I will hold them off!" Igaram shouted.
"They will never get the chance." Miss Valentine sneered before snapping her fingers, and just like that, about 100 more bounty hunters showed up.
"Wait, what? Where were these guys hiding?!" Gian deadpanned.
"It's just more trouble for us…" Zoro growled.
"I won't let you lay a hand on Vivi-sama! Igarappappa!" the captain of the royal guard suddenly revealed that his hair contained multiple gun barrels, each one firing simultaneously at the two superior agents. However, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine simply avoided them with ease.
"Pathetic." Mr. 5 muttered before flicking a small black object at Igaram. Upon contact, it created an explosion that sent the man flying into a building.
"P-Protect… Vivi-sama…" Igaram hissed in pain, barely conscious.
"He shouldn't last too long, let us go get the princess." Mr. 5 ordered as the two departed.
"Well… looks like he was telling the truth. Ah crap I forgot where I threw her! We have to find her again!" Gian was about to follow but suddenly he was blocked by the bounty hunters from before.
"Looks like we have make them move first…" Zoro hissed.
"I really hate when people add more difficulty to things I do…" Gian growled before swinging Atom Splitter in a wide arc to combat the advancing Baroque Works members.
A bit later:
The explosion managed to stir Nami from her drunken stupor. Shaking her head, she blearily stepped outside.
And came across the scene of Gian and Zoro taking care of the last few bounty hunters.
"That made us waste so much time! Those two could have found her by now!" Gian shouted.
"Yeah… this is problematic, hey old man, sorry we doubted you." Zoro mumbled.
"No need… to worry about that now… You have to… find Vivi-sama…" Igaram hissed.
"Gian? Zoro? What is this all about?" Nami questioned as she tried and failed to comprehend the situation.
"Oh, Nami's up. Well, we apparently got escort duty to do now. You see…" And Gian gave a light explaination to what they learned these last few minutes.
"Please hurry… I promise that you will be rewarded handsomely for completing this mission…" Igaram implored again.
"Well… after hearing all that it's a bit hard to believe…" Nami nodded "But you said there will be a reward? OK! If you give us 1 billion beri then we'll be more than happy to!"
"YOU COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT!" Gian facefaulted.
"Greedy witch…" Zoro scoffed, before Nami cuffed him.
Needless to say Igaram was flabbergasted at the ridiculous request "I-I can't promise you that much money! I'm just a mere soldier… Perhaps you can negotiate with Vivi-sama herself for something… But you have to save her first! Her survival impacts Alabasta's future itself!"
"Ok… so we go save the damsel and act as her coachmen for the duration of this, and we get money. Sounds like a good plan, now where did I throw her off to again?" Gian pondered. His thoughts was interrupted when everybody's attention was snapped up to the sound of an explosion in the distance.
"That might be her."
Meanwhile:
"Run… Miss Wednesday…" Mr. 9's smoking body gave a hiss before slumping to the ground.
"NO!"
"Are you just gonna keep hiding behind other people? This will be quicker if you just accept it." Mr. 5 growled as the two of them got closer to the princess.
Miss Wednesday, or as we now know as Princess Nerfeltari Vivi, is in deep trouble right now. It turns out that the Leader of Baroque Works knew more than he let on, and she and Igaram's identities have been revealed. Vivi is very worried whether the captain of the Royal Guard is alright or not, but she has bigger things to be concerned about right now. In a surprising act of heroics, Mr. 9 had used himself as a shield for her even as her true identity came to light, putting his friendship on the line. But it wasn't enough, For Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were still locked onto her.
"Carue, go faster! We need to get to the docks!" Vivi shouted to her duck. The duck tried it's best to dash as quick as it can towards the location. The princess herself looked much worse for wear, her hair, once tied up, now hang loosely around her face and her clothes were a bit tattered.
"You're not escaping that easily!" Mr. 5 growled as he flicked another black object. The projectile narrowly missed the princess, but the intended target was a building ahead of her. The explosion caused multiple pieces of debris to rain down, blocking her path.
"Kyahahaha! Nowhere to run now!" Miss Valentine closed in on her.
"Not if I have anything to say." Another voice alerted the 3.
"M-Miss Monday?" Vivi whimpered as she saw the larger woman appear in front of her.
"Go, I will hold them off. You can reach the docks taking this detour." Miss Monday declared firmly, planting a wooden log beside her.
"B-but what about-?"
"Don't worry about me, leave now! Or do you want Mr. 9's sacrifice to be in vain? I will be punished regardless for my failure, so I might as well be a shield for a friend! "
Vivi tearfully nodded before racing off in the direction pointed atop Carue. Not a moment later did she hear another explosion and looked back in horror to see Miss Monday slumping over.
"Same old weaklings… Always preaching that garbage about friends… it makes them weak!" she heard Mr. 5 growl; they were gaining on her again. Inside she was beating herself for having to rely on so many people just to escape. Both Mr. 9 and Miss Monday were now possibly dead and she could do nothing. It was not a good feeling.
"End of the line, Nefeltari Vivi!" Mr. 5 grinned before launching another black projectile. This time there was nowhere to dodge and she watched helplessly as the black ball fly closer and closer to her.
That was before a blade cut in front of her, slicing the black ball in half, causing it to explode harmlessly. Vivi shielded herself from the dust, and when it cleared her eyes were wide as she noticed that the person who came to her rescue was the green-haired swordsman who fought them before.
"I found her, Gian now can we hurry up and get her back so that witch can get off of mine?" the swordsman muttered gruffly.
"I heard that Zoro!" a female voice snapped somewhere in the distance. Vivi couldn't see her, but she vaguely recalled an orange haired girl was among them when she saw them back at Reverse Mountain. That was probably her.
"What? More people getting in our way?!" Miss Valentine hissed. The two agents were about to retaliate when a blue beam of light lanced towards them. The two barely jumped out of the way; they can feel the intense heat even as it missed them.
Vivi then felt the black haired man that faced her earlier land beside her "Hey, I didn't throw you too hard, right?" he asked.
"N-no…"
"Good, because we don't have a doctor aboard yet so if you had gotten hurt we might not be the best people to ask."
"Who are you people? Why do you get the way of our mission?" Mr. 5 demanded.
"Just a bunch of pirates who are bored, why do you ask?" Gian shrugged.
"W-what are you people trying to do?" Vivi whispered. The same people who she fought were now seemingly helping her? That doesn't look right.
"Just relax, we'll explain later."
Needless to say, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were not happy in the least.
"You people have gotten in the way of the wrong people. I'll have to take care of all of you! Nose Fancy Cannon!"
The same black projectile, now revealed to be the result of the man picking his nose, was launched forward at high speeds. Gian's eyes widened as he brought Atom Splitter down in a single slash, cutting the projectile in two and having it explode on either side.
"That is the power of the Bomu Bomu no mi, my entire body is a living bomb, even down to my mucus!" Mr. 5 gloated.
"Wait… T-THAT WAS FROM YOUR NOSE?!" Gian shouted. "AW SHIT THAT WAS SO DISGUSTING! MY BLADE JUST TOUCHED SNOT! ZORO WIPE IT OFF!" he groaned as he thrust the blade towards the swordsman.
"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Zoro snapped back with shark teeth.
"BUT IT'S UNCLEAN!"
"THEN CLEAN IT YOURSELF!"
"ZOROOOOO-!"
"Hey! Stop ignoring us!" Miss Valentine shouted angrily.
"Shut up! Your partner tainted my weapon and I still haven't told him what for yet, so wait your damn turn!" Gian broke her off like some child having a tantrum.
"Grr… Mr. 5, you know what to do!" the man nodded before kicking at the grown, causing another explosion. Miss Valentine then unfurled her parasol, catching the updraft and lifting high into the air. When she reached the highest point, she sneered before suddenly dropping rapidly.
"10 000 Kilo Press!" and just like that, the woman slammed down into the pavement, which the little group just barely dodged to the side. The result of this was a massive crack in the ground as the increased weight forced the earth to cave in.
"Kyahahaha! My Kilo Kilo no mi will crush you all!"
"So they're devil fruit users… that actually makes my job easier!" Gian thought as he brought out Atom Splitter once again. "Zoro, let's get this done."
"Yeah, we've wasted enough time with these idiots."
"You still think you can prevent us from taking out the princess?" Mr. 5 frowned.
"Yeah, we'll end this right now. After what we've seen, you guys aren't much." Gian scoffed.
"Arrogant bastard!" Mr. 5 snarled as he ran forward to deliver a punch. Gian however simply slid under the incoming arm, before swinging Atom Splitter in a wide arc, hitting the man with the blunt end of the blade, pinning him to the ground.
"W-what? This weapon has… Kairoseki?" Mr. 5 groaned in shock.
"Bitch you guessed it, HOOH! Youse right." Gian affirmed "Glad you know what it does, now begone." He then delivered a kick to the man, causing him to crash into a nearby building. Hearing a shrill scream a few distances off he saw that Zoro had managed to defeat his opponent quickly as well, With Miss Valentine lying a few distances away.
"I-impossible… how strong are they?!" Vivi whispered from the sidelines. Defeating two agents that ranked higher than them with a single blow? Who were these guys?
"Well, that's done, now let's-"
"AAAAAARRRGGHHH! ZOROOOOO! GIAANNNNN!" an angry voice suddenly screamed.
"OH WHAT NOW?!"
"HOW DARE YOU TWO DO THIS?! THESE KIND PEOPLE GAVE US FOOD YET YOU BEAT THEM UP!" Luffy angrily pointed at them. After finally waking up from his food coma he came across the scene of people lying around, heavily wounded. Only two people could possibly have done this, and to think his own nakama would be so ungrateful!
"Luffy, what are you talking about?!" Zoro snapped.
"You… don't know what's going on here… do you?" Gian realized.
"I KNOW ENOUGH! HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNGRATEFUL?!"
"Yeah… he has no idea what's happened. Hey look- OH SHIT!" Gian tried to explain but it was clear Luffy was not listening as he immediately attempted to strike the two. It devolved into the 3 of them tumbling around in a dust cloud, beating each other up.
"W-what is going on? Aren't the 3 of you nakama?" Vivi asked perplexed as she witnessed the entire scene.
"You tell me! He's the one that's rabid right now!" Gian snapped before he was dragged back into the fray. The 3 continued their scuffle, until divine intervention came, though not in the form they expect.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE 3 OF YOU?!" Nami screamed as she proceeded to bash the 3 of them atop their heads with her staff. That was enough to end the fight as the 3 of them clutched their bumps.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS, YOU ALMOST CAUSED ME TO LOSE MY 1 BILLION BERI!" she continued.
"You see Luffy? I'll tell you the real reason now!" Gian snapped. And thus he explained, in his own words, how everything went down.
"Oh, so those guys were bounty hunters? Ok, good job beating them up you two!" Luffy's expression was a complete 180 from before.
"JUST LIKE THAT?!"
"Anyway, let's see the princess!" Luffy declared.
"Thank you all for saving me, but why? We were enemies before this!" Vivi pointed out.
"Because I want my 1 billion beri! Now fork it over!" As usual, that's what came to Nami's mind.
"1-1 billion? What are you even asking?!"
"Come on! You're a princess, 1 billion should be like pocket change to you! If you give us that, we'll escort you back to your country!"
"But I have nothing on me right now! I sincerely thank you all for saving me, but I must return to Alabasta!" Vivi pointed out.
"Oh yeah, why were you two infiltrating them in the first place anyway?" Gian asked.
"Alabasta currently is in turmoil. A group of rebels have banded together in an attempt to overthrow my father, and constant conflict like this has turned my once peaceful country onto the verge of a civil war… And at the center of all this is Baroque Works! Igaram and I posed as Baroque Works agents to find out their true motive. And indeed, Mr. 0, the leader, is planning something much worse. He says his goal is to make a utopian society, but it's just a guise of his true plan to take over Alabasta!" Vivi slammed her fist into the ground angrily, she never felt so helpless before.
"Wow… I never thought something that major was happening…" Nami whispered.
"Who is this Mr. 0 anyway?" Luffy asked.
"I-I can't tell you that!" Vivi suddenly became flustered.
"What? But don't you know?" Nami asked as well.
"I do! But if you knew it would be bad for you guys!"
"We might have to come into conflict with the guy eventually anyway, so at least this will be a heads up so we know what we're up against." Gian reminded her.
"That's not the point! I know you guys are strong but Mr. 0 is on an entire other level! You can't fight against Crocodile! He's one of the Shichibukai!"
You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.
"Did…did you just tell us?" Zoro facepalmed.
"Oh no…" Vivi realized her mistake.
"T-that's who he is?!" Nami whimpered.
"Oh my god… we're in deep shit now… WE ARE IN SUCH DEEP SHIT!" Gian moaned.
"Really? How is he so bad?" Luffy asked.
Before Gian can tell him more, the group suddenly spotted two new figures. One is a sunglasses wearing sea otter, while the other is a vulture, also wearing sunglasses. The otter of the group immediately began scribbling rapidly, and revealed the faces of the 4 people beside Vivi. The two then immediately flew off.
"That was pretty talented… how does it learn to do that?" Gian asked, but Vivi had a horrified expression on her face.
"Who were those two…" Nami hissed.
"The Unluckies…" Vivi whimpered.
"And why did they draw our pictures?" her voice was dripping with false sweetness.
"Um… they're reporting it back to the boss-"
"GODDAMMIT! WHY DID YOU JUST DO THAT?! YOU JUST PUT US ON THEIR HITLIST!" Nami screamed while shaking the princess back and forth, with Vivi apologizing profusely.
"Why does this have to happen? We just entered the Grand Line and we're already targeted by a Warlord… Why is this even happening?!" Nami wept on the side.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… um, I have savings! I can give you 500 000 beri…!" Vivi tried to coax.
"But wow! A warlord knows who we are!" Luffy on the other hand, was not worried.
"About time we get a challenge" Zoro grinned.
"YOU TWO SHUT UP!" Nami screamed back.
"While I agree our opponents thus far have been weak and I would like some more challenging foes as well, this is something that is way too out of hand…" Gian sighed. Just their luck, having pissed off one of the 7.
"He can't be that bad!" Luffy brushed him off.
"Except he is. If this Crocodile is the same 'Sir' Crocodile of the Shichibukai, then he will be the most powerful opponent we'll face thus far. If you thought Arlong was powerful, wait until you get a load of him."
"You know him? Vivi asked cautiously.
"Only by reputation, but it's an infamous one. Crocodile was once a big time super rookie that once had a bounty of 81 million beri before he became a Warlord. In retrospect, that's almost double of mine and Luffy's combined."
"THAT MUCH?!" Nami almost fainted.
"Wow! He must be very strong!"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
"Strong is an understatement. Did you know that he once fought Whitebeard? He lost of course, but to even be able to face one of the Yonko…" he didn't even need to finish, that along was impressive, terrifyingly so.
"We're so dead…" Nami whimpered.
"In anyway, since he now knows about us, we'll have to be extra prepared. This is the most dangerous person we could face up to this point. Do not take him lightly."
"Perhaps you will not have to!" another voice boomed. The group turned to see Igaram walking up… Dressed like a woman…
"What's with that outfit? It looks so stupid!" Luffy laughed.
"Perhaps so, but it is necessary. Soon Baroque Works will know of this incident." Igaram continued.
"And then they'll sent up to 1000 bounty hunters after us!" Vivi realized.
"Yes, and perhaps even the upper echelons of officer agents. So that is why I will wear this disguise and lead them on a wild goose chase so you can get to Alabasta in time!" Igaram then revealed multiple wooden dummys.
"But… what about you?" Vivi was concerned.
"Do not worry about me princess, it is my job to make sure you are safe. Now, I entrust her to you, make sure she return to Alabasta safely!"
"We can still turn him down! There's no way we're gonna live!" Nami tried to persuade the crew one last time.
"Yeah, you can count on us old man!" but it was for naught as Luffy clearly disregarded the dangers.
Later:
The group gathered at the docks, where Vivi and Igaram will separate. After brining Usopp and Sanji up to date with what's going on, with Usopp almost having a panic attack after hearing who they're up against, the crew was ready to depart.
"How will you get back old man?" Luffy asked.
"Don't worry, I have an Eternal Pose." Igaram raised his hand to reveal a Log Pose "It's like the Log Pose you have, except it permanently locks on to one single location. This one points to Alabasta. I will go there after throwing them off." The man nodded as he pushed off, sailing in the opposite direction of the Merry.
"I entrust the princess to you all!" he called back as he sailed further and further.
As the Going Merry also depart, Vivi gained a sad expression on her face. Igaram had taken care of her since she was a little girl, and has been a part of the Alabasta Royal Family for years. The two were very close with one another.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine." The princess looked up to see Gian looking at the departing ship as well, respect in his eyes "And if something happens, I'm sure he's more than willing to put his life on the line for yours."
Vivi nodded, before scooting away. The scene of the monster from Reverse Mountain is still fresh in her mind, she doesn't know what to think of him. Gian noticed this and sighed, clearly this princess has some unspoken thoughts about him, but he'll have to think about it later.
Everything seemed to go fine until the ship that Igaram was supposedly on suddenly exploded, shocking everyone at the scene.
"IGARAM, NO!" Vivi screamed as she tried to jump over the rails, Sanji and Usopp having to hold her back in her anguish.
"They found us already?!" Nami shouted.
"We need to leave, like now!" Gian shouted.
Fortunately for the crew, the same dense fog that greeted them when they first came here enveloped them once more. At the very least, they'll be covered.
"From now, we are officially hunted." Zoro pointed out. Everybody aboard nodded as they got busy trying to sail further. Vivi was devastated, but she resolved herself to make it to Alabasta.
"We're almost out of here! Just keep looking out for attackers!" Nami reminded them.
"Good to see you're all professional, now be careful of the shallows and you'll be alright." This made everyone's heads almost snap off their necks as a silky smooth voice surprised them out of the blue.
The crew turned to see another woman sitting aboard one of the rails of the Going Merry. This lady had tanned skin and, although sitting down the crew could see that she is quite tall. Her outfit consisting of all purple, a pair of purple cowgirl boots, a purple miniskirt, a separate corset covering her chest and topped with a purple cowboy hat. A bemused expression adorned her face as she looked down at everyone, while her raven colored hair provide contrast to her pale blue eyes. If the situation wasn't so dire, Sanji would be swooning at the sight of such a beautiful woman.
"You guys have a nice ship." Her voice betrayed nothing.
"She got on here and nobody noticed…" Gian whispered.
"Is she an enemy?" Zoro asked, reaching for Wado Ichimonji.
"Miss All-Sunday!" Vivi let out a scream
"Oh my, good to see you Miss Wednesday, I just saw Mr. 8 not too long ago, did the two of you meet up?" Miss All-Sunday smirked.
Vivi's expression turned to anger as she realized what she meant.
"Hey! What are you doing on my ship?!" Luffy shouted.
"Vivi, who is she?" Nami asked.
"She's Mr. 0's partner!"
"Crocodile's?!" Gian looked alarmed.
"So they know then, no wonders The Unluckies alerted us of this."
"What do you want?!" Vivi snarled.
"That's for you to guess." Miss All-Sunday's smile never left her face.
"Ah, so she's a bad guy then!" Luffy deduced, and just like that Sanji and Usopp both pointed individual weapons at her.
"Now, there's no need for that. I would like it if you didn't point such dangerous things at me." Nobody saw what happened, but Sanji and Usopp were then thrown to the ground.
"A Devil Fruit power!" Zoro realized.
"Then that's where I come in." Gian stode up and lifter Atom Splitter, the blade resting just inches from the woman's neck.
"Oh, I don't believe we've met yet." And her mysterious smile still adorned her face.
"We'll get to the introductions later, I don't appreciate people messing with my friends like that." Gian snorted.
"Hey, shitty monster! Don't cut a pretty lady like her!" Now Sanji saw how beautiful she really was, any hot blooded male couldn't deny it. Gian noticed that too, and it was a good thing that his sense of duty got in the way.
"Don't' worry Sanji, I won't hurt her. Not unless she does something first."
"How brave of you, though I mentioned that I don't like weapons pointed at me, especially not something that has Seastone." And just like before, Gian was flipped to the ground as well.
"I would never expect that 'Beast Warrior' Gian was like this in person. And I assume the one with the straw hat is Monkey D. Luffy?" Miss All-Sunday smirked.
"Hey, give me back my hat!" Luffy shouted as, indeed, the straw hat was suddenly flicked into the hand of the woman by an unseen force.
"What a series of unfortunate events, you having to pick up a princess and take her to her kingdom. It is even more unfortunate when you realize where you're heading."
Miss All-Sunday pointed to the Log Pose "That Log Pose leads to an Island called Little Garden, it is full of danger and if you go there you may not make it to Alabasta."
Another object then rolled on the deck towards the crew "That right there is an Eternal Pose that points to Nanimonai Island, just a few miles from Alabasta. If I were you I would go there, it would make you go around some unnecessary routes."
The idea seems like a good one to Vivi, being able to avoid danger is a pretty logical thought. However, Luffy wasn't having any of it, and he immediately smashed the Eternal Pose against the deck of the ship.
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Nami smacked him.
"I don't care what you have to say, you don't decide where to go!" Luffy shouted at the older woman.
Miss All-Sunday had to stifle a giggle at that. These people are so amusing. "That's a very interesting way to say it."
"It's how things are done here, milady." Gian made a tipping motion with his hand "The dim-witted straw hat boy calls the shots and we heed to his command."
"You sure are a lively bunch, I would never expect a big bad monster like yourself to be following somebody, but then again history has never been wrong before."
"…Elaborate. Now." There was no way she could've known that! Nobody aside from the crew knows about it! Heck, even their passenger doesn't! (Except she figured it out already). Gian's heart was pumping; how much does this woman know?! And what was that part about history? Has similar Kaiju-zoans appeared before?
"I think you know what I mean 'Beast Warrior', it isn't has well-hidden as you'd think it is. The age of Kaiju is returning, and soon you will be at the center of it." This statement gave Gian a hint of forewarning, but he couldn't figure out why.
"I have to say, you've all certainly entertained me today. Perhaps we'll meet again." With that Miss All-Sunday suddenly leapt off the Merry, and upon further inspection it is shown she landed on the back of a massive sea turtle.
"Wait! What did you mean by what you said earlier?" Gian shouted back. But Miss All-Sunday only smiled mysteriously as the two locked gazes for a few moments more. Then she drifted too far and disappeared from sight.
"That woman is so confusing…" Vivi muttered "I'm sorry we had to go through that."
"It's fine" Nami assured her "Now we gotta get you back home."
"Yay! Miss Wednesday is a part of our crew now!" Sanji cheered.
"She has a name you know?" Zoro reminded him.
"I feel like something bad is gonna happen…" Usopp whimpered.
"Ok! Set sail!" Luffy ordered, and just like that everything was back to normal… except for one person.
"Gian, you alright?" Usopp noticed the kaiju-zoan user is just staring blankly at the sea.
"Oh… yeah… I got some thinking to do, don't mind me." Gian mumbled as he made his way to the back of the ship, leaving everyone else slightly confused, but shrugged it off as something he could probably handle.
Gian's mind however, is full of thoughts right now.
"Age or Kaiju… what is that supposed to mean. She said it like I'm supposed to play a part in that or something! Triton-senpai never mentioned any of this, so why is it only now that I'm hearing about this? And why do I get the feeling that I'll be fighting again really soon? And what is with that Devil Fruit of hers? I didn't see it, but I felt like I was grabbed by something…"
"Miss All-Sunday… just who are you?"
Little did the Straw Hats know, the mysterious woman they just met will be tied with them more than they initially believed.
A/N: Ok, Whiskey Peak is complete! I promised I'll get it done this chapter and it did. So Gian finally meets Robin in this chapter, and as you can see their first encounter is rather peculiar. It'll take some time for their relationship to develop, and to be honest I won't focus on it a whole lot other than some scenes. One Piece isn't about romance after all. But yeah, you can expect them to interact more in the future, because as you can see, there's a secret about Kaiju-zoans that Robin knows, but Gian doesn't, at least not yet.
So I'd say that- um… are you alright?
G: She-She's beautiful! Thank you author for letting such a goddess grace my presence! This feels like a picnic!
What the heck? Why are you turning into Sanji all of a sudden?!
G: Hey don't compare me with the ero-cook! My love is genuine!
WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN THERE YET! SLOW DOWN!
G: then hurry it up, I wanna see her again.
Great… I made a Casanova… lord help us all.
Anyways, response to reviews, and DAMN I got a ton of them last chapter! So much that it's become the most reviewed of all of them! Thank you all, truly. I never would've thought that many people enjoyed this.
To Kakusei:
We're glad to deliver!
G: yes we are!
To Chance Green G King:
I'll tell you what. You're right on one of those. Go and guess which one it is. And as for Mr. 0.5, he's gonna be a unique case in Baroque Works, you'll find out soon.
G: And we saw the message! Author-san really likes your Fairy Tail fic, even though he doesn't read Fairy Tail that often.
To tamagat:
Don't think that's possible. Unless Oda thinks of something that lets devil fruit users swim, I'm abiding by the rules.
And as for awakening, I do have a plan for it. Hint, it's in one of Godzilla's video games.
G: It's still a mysteryyyyyy….
To Guest…1:
There's 3 of you guys, so I think you're all different people. Well Gian, what do you have to say about that?
G: BITCH YOU GUESSED IT! HOOOAH! YOUSE RIGHT!
That meme deserves to die…
To Guest 2:
It will be, and it's actually an arc we know well.
G: I still want to know myself.
To Guest 3:
MUTO will be featured, but perhaps not as Kaiju-zoans. And those two that were teased are much better known.
As for Monster X, he will not be Gideon; he's an entire different character altogether. However, Gideon and the counter-part for Monster X share a history together, one that is quite unfortunate.
To KingOfAwesome:
Don't worry we continuing! In fact here is this!
To Johnny Spectre:
Eh-hehehhe… heh…
To anquan:
G: good you're alive. And do I like cute animals? Is the Pope Catholic?
Where did you go for the last 3 reviews?
*hides picture of Robin* …Nowhere…
To Guest… one of the above apparently:
Yes, Orga will be in the series in the future.
To pokemonking0924:
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! And as for the whole Rumble Ball idea, it's not gonna be that, but it's something Godzilla fans are familiar with. More details to follow.
To SunWuKong66:
I plan to do something with the Rumble Balls, and if you've watched Godzilla movies before, it's gonna be something like that.
And don't worry, I plan to have Gian do most of that. Full Transformations are a bit bigger than Oars after all!
And that's all! We'll- DID YOU LEAVE AGAIN?!
G: Shut up and let me look at my future love interest in peace!
What have I created…
We'll see you next time…
Just leave a review this time; this dumbass is too distracted to do anything…
G: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
SHAKESPEARE?!