I look at the body with a cold look and leave with a closed face. I don't like to kill, life is important to me, but he left me no choice. My feet land softly on the wet lawn. The drops of water glisten slightly in the moonlight, as does my white hair, giving the impression that the reaper is standing in the middle of the garden after taking a life.

I take a deep breath, the cold air in my lungs bringing me back to earth. There is a commotion in the office, a sign that the mercenaries are waking up. Without wasting a second, I return to the inn. I'll have to move tomorrow because the thief knows my address. He may come back for revenge, but it is more likely that he will loot the nobleman's house tonight. Arriving in the room, Aoi and Maru look at me with small, tired eyes and a yawn that I quickly mime.

"I am... Wouaaaa... back." I leave Seima and Hebi on the table and go back to bed, ready to finish this night.

In the early morning, waking up is particularly chaotic. The voices of several groups of people passing under my window forced me to wake up earlier than expected. It is only 7 o'clock in the morning! Fucking hell! I was about to bury myself deeper into the covers, but Seima reminds me that today is the day that Crocodile is going to carry out his plan. I instantly get up and quickly dress as Sandy, while packing my things into my travel bag. I walk out leaving a few bills on the counter, under the astonished look of the innkeeper. Following the bursts of voices, I quickly find the source of all this agitation. In the person of Sanji, who beats the guards in front of the casino. Oh! Luffy and the others have arrived here. Sanji easily sends the men flying. Quickly a pile of bodies is strewn on the ground. I start to move forward to join him but when he sweeps the place with his eyes and stops on me, he immediately gets back on his guard.

"Do you work for Crocodile too?" I stop as I hear him. He hasn't recognized me at all and he thinks I'm a potential enemy. An amused smile appears on my lips. I'm finally going to be able to fight him.

"Who knows... And you? Who are you?" I ask with a low tone, while putting my things in a corner. Aoi and Maru take the opportunity to hide in the bag so they won't be seen and burn me.

Sanji plunges his hands in his pockets and takes out a cigarette which he lights. He takes a deep breath and exhales the smoke, while giving a kick in the back of one of the men who tries to get up.

"I'm Mr. Prince and you? You don't look like any of the other thugs I've met so far." I let out a low laugh as I set Seima down next to the bag.

"I'm Sandy, a traveler passing through. But I guess you want to know if we're going to fight or not." I approach with Hebi on my belt, he's never seen it, so it's not a problem.

"I have more pressing things to do, so if you'd be so kind as to leave me alone, I'd appreciate it." I stop five meters from Sanji and look at him from head to toe. His hair is matted and his clothes are full of sand. Clearly, they have just arrived in town.

"Unfortunately for you, you won't be able to get rid of me without fighting me." Sanji bites the filter of his cigarette in irritation.

"Don't come crying to me after I kick your ass!"

"Bring it on kid! "

Sanji knew this guy was strong when he saw him. His red eyes shocked him, who has such eyes? What about his red hair? Why does every swordsman he meets have to have such a flashy look? But he didn't think he would have so much trouble, especially since the swordsman wasn't using his weapon at all, just his legs, like him.

"Will you stop making fun of me?! Stop using my techniques and use your sword!" Sandy gives him an amused smile, which pisses him off even more. Despite Stella-chan's training, he can't be faster than this guy.

"So what? What's the problem? If I fight with your fighting style, that's my choice." Sanji kicks harder than the others, but it only makes the man skid a few inches and his leg hurts horribly, like he kicked a wall.

"Fuck! What are you made of? Steel?!" Sandy smiles at him and lifts his sleeve to show his skin turning black. Sanji inhales sharply. Haki of Arms.

"Sorry Mr. Prince, but your blows aren't likely to do much damage to me at the moment." The cook swallows, he can't beat this man. Currently he is not doing any damage to him and the man just seems to be having fun with him, not really serious. Sanji's fists clench in frustration, the others are in danger inside. He is just wasting time with this man. He jumps to put some distance between him and the man. His leg throbs with pain from all the assaults on his haki-covered body. Fortunately for him, Sandy does not attack him right away.

"Problem?" Sandy resumes a relaxed stance, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Confirming to Sanji that he's not here to kill him, at least for now.

"Sorry, but I really don't have time for you, my friends are in danger." Sandy's eyes crinkle.

"Really? Why didn't you say so before, you moron! Go save them!" Sanji looks at the man with wide eyes and open mouth, he could have gone to look for the others long before if he had told him from the beginning... He shakes his head, chasing away all the insults that are on the edge of his lips. Better not to waste this chance.

"I'll get right on it." Sanji grabs one of the barely conscious men while dialing Crocodile. After forcing the poor man to answer the Den Den, Sanji knocks him out again, then rushes into the casino. But one thing he didn't anticipate was the swordsman following him with all his stuff. "Why are you following me?!" Sandy easily runs alongside him despite the extra charges.

"If your friends are in danger because of me, should I at least try to catch up? Besides, I want to continue our fight, I could teach you a few things." He flashes a big smile that could have rivaled Luffy's. Sanji is so stunned that he doesn't know what to say in response. "By the way. Do you know where you have to go?" Sandy's question brings him back to earth.

"I know they're locked in the basement, but there's Crocodile right now. If you really want to help me, you have to follow the plan that's been laid out." Sanji explains that one of his friends will lure Crocodile away from the casino and they will destroy the bridge to prevent the Shichibukai from returning. Then once the coast is clear, they will go after the others. Sandy doesn't say anything about the plan, but specifies that Crocodile must not see it. Sanji asks why, but he doesn't want to explain further. Sanji and Sandy wait patiently for Crocodile to come out of the casino and start chasing Chopper in his gorilla form and the bridge explodes a few minutes later.

"The coast is clear." We run down the hallways to run into Vivi, literally.

"Ha! I'm sorry! Huh?! Sanji!" Vivi is lying on top of the cook who has passed out from happiness on the floor. Sandy rolls his eyes and reaches out to Vivi.

"Are you okay miss? You didn't hurt yourself?" Vivi looks up to see the red haired man. At the bright red eyes, Vivi blushes as she shyly catches the outstretched hand.

"No, no, everything is fine, thank you. " She slowly gets back on her feet and the man releases her hand before shifting his gaze to Sanji.

"What about you Mister Prince? Is everything alright? " Vivi frowns.

"Mister Prince?" Sanji quickly stands up.

"Yes Vivi of love! That's the name I gave myself for this rescue mission!" Sanji swirls around Vivi with a trail of hearts. Vivi becomes serious again and starts to panic.

"It's true! The others are in danger! They're locked in a sea granite prison and the water level keeps rising! Plus, there are Bananas Crocos that won't let me near the cage!" Without waiting, we follow Vivi to the basement. When we arrive, the room is already filled with water up to the level of the thighs and a huge Bananas Croco attacks the cage, just to break its teeth. In the cage, it is the panic because of the water which rises. Without waiting, Sanji gives a huge kick to the crocodile which spits out the piece of staircase which it had swallowed. Sandy whistles with admiration. But even though Sanji knocked out the crocodile with one blow, his leg shakes slightly from the impact but he tries not to show it.

Sanji takes a deep puff of his cigarette before pointing it at the prisoners in the cage in a dramatic and elegant pose.

"And here I am! I haven't kept you waiting, have I?" But his cool appearance quickly comes to an end. "Hi Nami! Do you like me like this? How do you like me?" Nami and Zoro are depressed by Sanji's behavior.

"Hey Vivi! Good job!" Luffy shouts in Vivi's direction with a thumbs up, a gesture that Vivi is quick to imitate with a proud laugh. But other giant crocodiles come to invite themselves to the party.

"Go Sanji ! Smash their faces in!" Sanji looks at the crocodiles with a relaxed look, hands in his pockets.

"Come and fight, you crocodiles! Picking on women, what a lack of manners! I'll teach you table manners!" He said as he raised his leg high, ready to defend himself, but lowered it slightly as he heard a splash beside him.

"Do you need a hand Sanji?" Sandy asked, drawing his black sword.

"As much as it kills me to ask, can you help my friends out of this cage?" Sandy gives him a small nod and turns to said cage.

"Sure, no problem."

"I don't know who you are but one of the crocodiles swallowed the key! We have to get it back to open this cage!" Usopp shouts, looking warily at the red-haired man.

"YOU! What are you doing here? Are you with the straw hats?!" Smoker yells as he clutches the bars of the cage, thanks to his gloves he doesn't suffer too much from the sea granite. Sandy raises his eyebrows in amazement.

"Well, hello Captain Smoker. I didn't expect to find you behind bars with pirates. Have you decided to change jobs?" Sandy asks with a hint of mockery as he approaches the cage.

"Don't mess with me! And answer my question! Are you with the straw hats?!" Sandy stops in front of Smoker, raising his sword.

"Does it really matter now?" The red-haired swordsman asks before waving his sword in front of him and sheathing it. Everyone frowns, obviously nothing has moved. Sandy turns to Zoro.

"Hey you! The green-haired swordsman. What do you think, is it possible to cut the bars of this cage?" Zoro frowns.

"A few weeks ago, I would have said it wasn't possible, but someone made me realize that nothing is impossible with willpower and strength." Sandy's smile turns into a mischievous sneer and he gives a little tap against the bars.

"Good answer." As if by magic, all the bars fall into the water with a loud noise. Everyone's eyes bug out and their jaws drop.

"Wooo... THIS IS SO COOL!" Luffy and Usopp shout, their eyes glistening. Everyone gets out of the cage. Luffy and Zoro go to help Sanji get rid of the crocodiles while Smoker angrily approaches Sandy and grabs him by his jacket collar.

"So you're just a dirty pirate after all! I can see why you don't like the Navy!" Sandy looks at him, unimpressed with the taller man and sighs.

"I'm not a pirate, Captain Smoker. If I'm here, it's just a coincidence. You can ask them, I'm not with them." He says as he nods toward the straw hats sending the crocodiles against the walls. Smoker frowns, turns to the others and opens his mouth to ask them questions, but a loud crack is heard.

"HAAA! The wall has collapsed!" Water rushes into the room, completely submerging it. Smoker is swept away by the current and can't struggle because of his devil fruit. His consciousness is already starting to leave but he feels someone grab his arm and pull him to the surface. He is thrown to the ground, forcing him to spit out the water that has seeped into his lungs and suck in great gulps of air.

Meanwhile, Sanji pulled Luffy up, Zoro took care of Usopp who had lost consciousness and the girls wrung out their clothes.

Smoker turns his head slightly towards the person next to him who saved his life. Sandy drains the water that has seeped into his bag and wrings out his jacket.

"Why?" Sandy stops wringing before resuming.

"I have nothing against you, so why should I let you drown?" Smoker straightens up on his feet and points his marine granite weapon at Sandy.

"You hate Navy men and I'm one of them. So yes, I do wonder." Sandy rolls his eyes and gives the weapon a little jab to push it back slightly.

"I don't hate the navy, I hate those who misuse it and those who run it." Smoker squints his eyes.

"You hate the chief admiral of Sengoku? Why?" Sandy looks at him before bursting into laughter as he bends in half. The marine bites his cigars so hard that he cuts them in half. "What's so funny? Dirty pirates!" He swings a big blow with his gun in Sandy's direction, but the redhead stops the gun with his hand as if it were just a piece of wood, while wiping away his tears of laughter.

"Calm down, it's just the fact that you think Sengoku is the leader of the navy that's funny, even though it's logical that you think that. But no, I don't hate Sengoku, I like him. It is thanks to him that the navy stays in a certain balance. He does a monstrous job of keeping everything from going to hell." Sandy's hand closes on the marine granite weapon and fires in one shot, snatching it from Smoker's hands. He spins it around before planting it deep into the ground. "I hate the celestial dragons who are the real rulers of this world on the brink of explosion. These bastards think they are gods when they are just spoiled children." Smoker is shocked at how easily this man took his gun from him. He glares at Sandy, who looks at him gravely, as if trying to convey an underlying message.

"It's not all that, but we have to go! Sandy! Thanks for the help, I don't know where we would be without you. " Said Sanji with a big smile, hands in his pockets. Sandy smiles back and walks up to the cook, holding out his hand.

"No problem, but we have a fight to finish. Will we fight the next time we meet? Promise?" Sanji looks at the hand before shaking it.

"Count me in, next time it won't be so easy. I'll kick your ass!" Sandy chuckles.

"I can't wait to see that, Sanji." Footsteps can be heard in the surrounding streets.

"They're over here, hurry!" Navy men begin to emerge in the square.

"Ha! The navy men! We have to move now!" Sanji and the others start running.

"What are you doing Luffy? Hurry up!" Luffy looks Sandy in the eye before smiling.

"We have to get to Alubarna, but we'll meet up later! Have fun!" Luffy shouts as he runs after the others. Sandy blinks before bursting into laughter. Smoker looks at Sandy with a frown, he will never understand this man.

"Don't let them get away!"

"Captain! You're not chasing them?!" The navy men are growing in number, soon Smoker and Sandy are surrounded.

"No, there's no point in trying to catch up with them. Tell all the soldiers to return... and contact headquarters! Have all ships in the vicinity of Alabasta move closer to the kingdom. " Said Smoker, addressing a particularly agitated Navy man.

"You're calling for reinforcements?! I'm not sure the hierarchy would agree to mobilize ships for a bunch of pirates..."

"You know what I think of the chain of command?" Replied Smoker, glaring at the poor navy man as he ran off to call in the ships.

"I... Got it! A... Aye!" Smoker watches the marine leave before directing his gaze to Sandy who hasn't moved from his position. He is in a relaxed stance despite the navies around him looking at him suspiciously.

"When you, Mr. Sandy, come with me!" Sandy raises an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because as an outlaw, it is my duty to arrest you." For all answer, the swordsman lets out a sigh and rubs his hair at the soldiers' pointing.

"I am not a pirate, nor a bandit, nor anything else... I'm just an explorer. Anyway, you can't stop me."

"And why can't we stop you?!" Sandy smiled.

"You'd have to catch me first." He disappears from his position despite all the soldiers surrounding him.

"Where did he go?! Captain Smoker?!" Smoker clenches his jaw and his fists. He thought he could stop anyone, but he let criminals escape twice.

"Leave him, we have no time to waste. We need to get to Alubarna as soon as possible!"

"Yes Captain Smoker!"

Several alleys over, Stella runs towards the exit of the city. Luffy and the others head for Alubarna, where Crocodile will do the most damage and take a beating. A smile appears on her lips.

"I don't want to miss this! Aoi, Maru, are you okay?" The two Den Den lightly pop out of the bag and push a few notes, indicating that everything is fine. Their speech would be different if the water was sea water. The Den Den hate salt. "Get ready for another trip across the desert!" Without waiting, Stella dashes into the sky at full speed, looks around and eventually spots a trail of sand in the distance. She runs in that direction but sees something below that makes her blood run cold. Luffy and Crocodile face each other, the young pirate gives a multitude of blows to the big corsair, but he does no damage to the logia. Luffy raises his foot high in the sky and almost touches Stella.

"GUM GUM AXE! " His foot explodes the ground in a great plume of sand, but Crocodile received no damage. This time, it's Crocodile's turn to counter-attack with his sand blade, which Luffy dodges in extremis. Stella observes Luffy who continues to fight and even tries to eat Crocodile who starts to be seriously annoyed. The Shichibukai summons a sandstorm that starts to move south. The sand swirls all around Stella, blocking her view.

"Fucking sand!" She steps out of the storm, removing all the sand that has crept into her clothes. Her eyes return to Luffy and she nearly falls through the air. Crocodile holds Luffy, impaled on his hook and throws him violently to the ground. Luffy's blood colors the sand red and his body slowly sinks into the sand until he is completely buried. Stella clenches her fists so hard that her nails cut her palms.

"Calm down, he's not dead. Just wait until Crocodile is gone." She whispers but Seima reminds her that she should not act and just watch. Stella takes a deep breath and blows out softly. "It's true, I have to let them work it out, but... I promised not to interfere during their fight or decision. Currently Crocodile left without checking if Luffy is dead. So I can give him a hand." Aoi and Maru look at her flatly and Seima doesn't say anything else, obviously my promise has an escape route when the straw hats aren't in combat. Scrutinizing the area, Stella feels that Crocodile is still moving away but that there is no one else around who can save Luffy. She could leave him to it but Luffy is Ace's little brother, who is the most important person to him. If Luffy were to die so stupidly when she could do something about it, Ace would resent her for the rest of his life and wouldn't want to talk to her or see her. This thought alone is unbearable for her.

She drops to the ground, puts down her bag and swords, coats her body with haki and dives into the sand, letting her observation haki guide her. The sand attacks her skin but she doesn't care, her hand touches something solid that she identifies as skin. Without thinking, she grabs Luffy's arm and pulls him to the surface. In an explosion of sand, the two fighters finally emerge from the sandy trap. Luffy is covered with blood and sand that sticks to his skin, he breathes weakly. His life is not in danger despite the hole in his stomach.

"You're really going to drive me crazy, Luffy. And to think we're still a long way from Sabaody." Luffy's eyes twitch and slowly open, before opening wide and sitting up with his fists raised.

"I'M HUNGRY!" He falls back heavily to the ground, tongue hanging out. Stella blinks before giggling into her hand. Even exhausted and beaten to death, Luffy is still hungry.

The captain turns his head towards the giggle and sees the red-haired swordsman.

"Ho it's you. What are you doing here?" Sandy slowly stops laughing and stands up, dusting off his clothes.

"I watched your fight with Crocodile, I couldn't let such a promising young man die this way." Luffy looks at him before giving him a big smile.

"Thank you for not interfering in our fight. I'm the one who has to beat the crap out of him!"

"Don't worry straw hat, I don't plan on fighting him. He's all yours."

"If you think there's a chance to beat him, that's your choice. But the chances are slim." We turn to Miss Allsunday who is holding Luffy's hat in her hands.

"What do you want? What are you up to? And give me my hat back!" Robine gives the pirate a long look as he scrambles on the floor to retrieve the straw hat.

"Calm down, young pirate." She tosses the hat, which lands on Luffy's chest. "I'm not here looking for conflict. I just have a few questions to ask you about the D."

"The D?" Luffy is circumspect, what's so interesting about that simple letter? Robine looks at him, determining if he knows anything or not. Her gaze drifts to Sandy who is picking up his bag.

"It's nothing, forget it. Crocodile is also heading to Alubarna. If you really think you can put a stop to this, then you need to go. "Robine and Sandy look into each other's eyes, the archaeologist's hard look meets the swordsman's guilty look. This tense moment is quickly cut off by the arrival of a man in a bad way.

"I found you! What have you done to Vivi!"

"Here, awake already?" Robine asks with a small mocking smile.

"Now that I know your power. I won't fall into the same trap again!" Shouts the man as he uses his longsword to stay up. Robine looks at him before starting to leave.

"Don't push yourself too hard, your wounds are deeper than you think. Since you're here, wouldn't you rather take care of this boy? After all, it was this brave pirate who escorted your precious princess back to the kingdom and rest assured. She is currently on her way to Alubarna, nothing has happened to her. But I can't guarantee anything for the future." She walks past Stella and whispers to her. "I don't know if I will ever forgive you, but I don't hate you." Stella tenses up at the harsh but somewhat reassuring words of Ohara's newest inhabitant.

"I know all the excuses in the world won't bring them back. If you want me out of your life, I will respect your choice. But if one day you want to find a quiet place then don't hesitate to find me. My door will always be open to you, no matter who you are." Stella whispers. The archaeologist says nothing and continues on her way to a crocodile that has a car design, she climbs on it and leaves towards the horizon.

Stella lets escape a long sigh. Behind her, the man falls to the ground from his wounds but keeps his gaze where Robine has gone in a trail of sand.

"Shit..." Luffy crawls towards the man smearing his blood in the sand and grabs the sleeve of his coat with an iron hand.

"EAT!" The man looks at the young boy with wide eyes and turns his gaze to the red-haired swordsman who begins to head after Robine.

"Wait! Aren't you taking care of that young boy?" Stella stops and turns to him.

"It seems that this task is for you. Besides, I also need to get to Alubarna as soon as possible. It is obvious that the most interesting things will happen there. Find a large amount of food for the straw hat and it will be up and running in no time."

"But..." He looks at Luffy who is about to faint. "Wait... How do I know you're not on Crocodile's side?" Stella gives him a long look before answering in a neutral voice.

"This boy promised the princess that he would rescue her and beat Crocodile. And unlike the woman who just left, I'm sure he will. So tell me why I would let him live if he is able to end this war and counter Crocodile's plans?" The man doesn't know what to say in response, but he is even more stunned when the swordsman rises into the air. "The fate of the Alabasta kingdom is in your hands now. The better this boy gets, the greater the chances of victory. With that, I leave you." Stella turns toward the desert and takes off at full speed, creating a gust of wind that nearly knocks Pell over.

"Who... Who is this man?" His question falls on deaf ears as Luffy is passed out on the sand. Without waiting, Pell picks him up on his back and heads for the city.

Stella runs at full speed to where the rest of the group left, 30 minutes have passed since they left. They must have traveled quite a distance but she didn't think it was that much. 15 minutes later, she sees a large trail of sand, caused by a giant crab running. On its back are all the others who are in the middle of a discussion. She finally catches up with them and follows them from above. 2 hours later the river is visible, the only problem is that the crab is unable to swim and sinks after having managed to cover a hundred meters after a lightning acceleration. She looks warily at the straw hats swimming away.

"Are they serious? The river must be 50 km wide, they'll never make it." To further complicate their journey, a huge fish appears before them and opens its mouth wide to swallow them.

"HAAAA! "The fish receives a punch that forces it to close its mouth, but does not knock it out.

"KWOOO!" A small Kung-fu Dugong is next to the fish and rushes at it again. The fish gives him a big swipe with his tail that sends him waltzing into Stella, who catches him in the air.

"Kwoo?" The little creature looks at the strange man who smiles at him.

"Everything okay, little one? Nothing broken?"

"Kwoooo!"

"Good, then." A big explosion gets our attention. The fish is back on top of the others, who are fleeing in all directions. The dugong flails in its arms, wanting to fight the sea monster.

"Don't worry, I'll help you." He looks at it quizzically until the swordsman teleports in front of the fish and holds out his hand in front of it.

"Stop!" The sea monster immediately stops and turns his gaze to the red-haired man. "If you don't want to end up as sashimi, you'll help these humans cross the river. " The fish growls aggressively but shakes with fear as another wave of haki hits it. "I didn't ask for your opinion. That's an order and don't try to act smart because I'm watching you the whole way across." The fish nods. The dugong sits on his nose. "You're in charge of navigation, do you think you can do it?"

"Kwo kwo kwoo!"

"Perfect! And don't tell them it's me." The swordsman disappeared again. The whole negotiation went unnoticed, the others were too focused on fleeing to see anything. What a surprise it was when the Dugong asked them to get on the back of the sea monster.

"Is he serious, Chopper?"

"Yes, he beat the fish and now he is more willing to help us cross."

"He beat the fish? Yet he was sent away." The Dugong begins to sweat and starts to gibber. Chopper looks at him and raises an eyebrow.

"He says... he has a secret boot that he keeps hidden and he used it when we weren't looking."

"Oh... But why did he help us?"

"Because we are Stella's disciples."

"Let's stop worrying and get on that fish before he changes his mind, it's not like we have a choice anyway." Said Zoro as he swam towards the sea monster, Chopper on his head.

Everyone climbs on the fish, which takes off at full speed. The crew desperately clings to its scales to avoid falling into the water. Thanks to its speed, the river is crossed in less than 30 minutes. They land on the ground with relief. Usopp is on the verge of nausea. Vivi and Nami remove the smell of fish that is on her. Zoro puts Chopper on the ground who is dizzy and Sanji asks the girls if everything is okay.

"Kwooo!"

"Thanks for the ride!" The fish doesn't stay any longer and dives into the depths, wanting to escape the man right above him. The dugong says goodbye to them before diving back.

"Thanks to this fish, we were able to gain time. Do you think we'll make it in time?" Zoro asks.

"It will be difficult... Even if we ride Long-cils (the dromedary), I don't know if... " Begins Vivi.

"There are only two of us who can ride this thing! And if Baroque Works puts obstacles in our way, we're not there! There has to be a way for us to all move forward together?!" Usopp grumbles after having recovered from his nausea. Footsteps are heard, what was their surprise to see a squadron of super ducks with Kaloo in the lead.

They all get on the back of a duck and head for Alubarna with Stella following them from the sky.

Anxiety can be read on all the faces. There are only 3h30 left before the final battle.

Hi, thanks for reading this far. As you've noticed, I've changed my writing style to third person when Stella is disguised as Sandy to distinguish between the two. What do you think about this? Is it a good idea in your opinion? Is it not too confusing?

Tell me in the comments so I can improve and make this story even more enjoyable to read.

See you soon!