A/N

I'm going on holiday for the next three weeks, but I'll try my best to be writing. Probably during the three day car trip. *sigh*

Enjoy!

Anni's POV

My eyes fluttered open and I sat up, rubbing my neck. I immediately took in my surroundings. I was in a large cage with Luffy, Ace, and... wait, was that the guy who we ran into back in Nanohana? He had the same grey hair and outfit, and he was holding the same dark weapon. Maybe he was the one who captured us. But no, he was in the cage with us, so he must have been caught by the same person.

"How did you guys get caught?" I asked, standing up and leaning against the wall.

Luffy scratched the back of his head and laughed, "I don't really know! One minute we were walking around, and the next, we were in this cage! This weird lady was there too with some kind of rock. I think she must have caught us."

I shrugged. "Well, I got caught by this guy in a room with lots of knives. It was cool, but kinda creepy at the same time. Anyways, let's get out of here," I said, readying my fist to break through the bars.

Luffy beat me to it. He punched the bars so hard that the ground shook. A moment later, his energy kind of fizzled out and he stood there slouched with one arm touching the bars.

"I... I have no more energy. What's wrong?" He asked slowly.

Ace went up and touched the bars quickly. Shaking his hand like it gave him an electric shock, he said, "It's a rock called Kairoseki. It imitates the power of the sea and stops Devil's Fruit users from using their powers when they're touching it."

I pulled Luffy back from the bars and walked up to them. I placed my hand on them gently. I felt a slight numbness in my hand, along with the faint sensation of being just under the surface of the water and running out of air. I whipped my hand away in panic.

"That's crazy! How... What... It-it feels like I'm drowning!" I said in shock. I drew back my fist and punched the rock like Luffy did, but instead of stopping, the bar cracked under the impact. For another test, my hand burst into flame and I touched the bar. The flame flickered, but didn't go out.

"That's strange, it didn't have the same affect on you that it did on Luffy and I. Anni, you ate a Devil's Fruit, right?" Ace asked with confusion written all over his face.

"Well, you see-" I broke off. The grey-haired man sitting in the corner was watching us intently. I remembered Nami's warning to not tell anyone about my special situation, so I said, "Yeah, um, about that, I almost drowned when I was younger, so I guess that this stuff made me think of that," I laughed nervously, avoiding the question.

Luffy had lost interest in our conversation, and was trying to see out of the cage into the giant room that surrounded us. I went back to my original spot on the floor and leaned back on the wall. Ace came to sit down next to me and whispered, "So I'm guessing that you didn't really eat a Devil's Fruit."

I looked away and nodded almost imperceptibly.

He chuckled. "That's what I thought. I was amazed that your powers were almost identical to mine, and I was wondering how two Devil's Fruits could be so similar."

"Well, I'll get into more detail later, but I was brought up in an Academy where I... I guess you could say that I learned my powers there," I explained.

"I've never heard of someone having these kinds of abilities without eating a Devil's Fruit. Was this Academy on the Grand Line, or in one of the big seas?" he asked, lowering his voice until I could barely hear it.

"...I'll tell you later," I whispered back, then Nami's warning hit me, "Ah!" I gasped.

"What?" Ace said in surprise.

"Nami's gonna kill me..." I moaned.

He smirked. "Now why would that be?"

"Because I told you about my powers, and she specifically said to not tell anyone unless she was there," I stated.

"Well, if we don't tell her, she'll never know." he reasoned.

"Trust me, she will."

~Far away, heading towards the city of Alubarna, Nami sneezed.~

"Hey, who's that?" Luffy pointed across the room, where a figure was walking down the stairs.

The figure reached the midpoint in the stairs and stopped. Its long cloak suddenly billowed around in an unseen wind. The figure dissolved into a stream of sand that swept through the room and collected in the middle to reform itself.

I rushed to the front of the cage, as close to the bars as I could get to get a good look at the man. His black hair was slicked back from his face, which bore a long scar across the nose. He wore a long fur-trimmed cloak and the smell of smoke drifted through the room from the cigar that he held in his mouth. What got my attention, however, was the gold hook that replaced his left hand.

He slowly walked up to the cage. The smell of smoke grew stronger.

"Mugiwara crew. You are the ones assisting Princess Vivi, are you not?" he said it more like a statement.

"You know Vivi?" Luffy asked as he came up to stand next to me. I could tell that he didn't like the look of this man. Neither did I.

"Yes, I believe that you also know me. I am Crocodile," he revealed, "The head of Baroque Works."

The grey-haired man at the back of the cage lifted his head. "Crocodile. I don't care if you're a Shichibukai, I will arrest you for this when I get out of here."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were here. Who are you, by the way?" I asked. The man's eye twitched and he turned back to Crocodile.

I leaned over to Ace and whispered, "Who is that?"

"His name is Smoker, and he's a captain in the Marines," Ace whispered back.

I nodded and turned my attention back to Crocodile, who was having a passive-aggressive argument with Smoker. The argument was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of a Den Den Mushi.

"Puru puru puru... Puru puru puru..."

Crocodile swept over to the table it rested on, and picked up the receiver.

"This is Crocodile," he growled.

The person on the other line sounded calm as he talked to Crocodile. The Shichibukai, however, got red in the face at the sound of the voice. As they kept talking, Crocodile's hand shook as he gripped the table.

Eventually, Crocodile slammed down the receiver. Scowling, he glared at the Den Den Mushi and placed his only hand on it. To my surprise, it shriveled up under his stare and turned a sickly pale colour.

He turned his murderous glare to us. "I will be leaving now to go help the rebellion in Alubarna after destroying a certain someone. You will never see me again, because you will drown in this place in half an hour." he said.

He pushed a button, and the floor opened up. With another push, water started to pour up through the floor.

"Woah, how did you do that?!" I asked in admiration.

"Do what?" Crocodile growled, glaring at me.

"Do the death-glare-dry-up-snail-zappy thing!" I exclaimed, waving my hands around as if it helped my explanation.

He chuckled darkly. "That was the power of the Suna Suna Fruit. I can drain the water from anything I touch. Now that you know that, you can die in fear of my greatness!" he declared.

He then dissolved into sand and swept up the staircase, leaving us with the rising water.

"This is bad," Luffy noted, shooting his hand through the bars towards the table. Searching around, he found a ring of keys. He grabbed hold of the them and pulled them back towards the cage. As he was pulling them over the hole in the floor, his arm touched the Kairoseki and he dropped the keys into the rapidly rising water.

The keys now gone, we had to find another way out. There was no time to try and retrieve them from the water. The giant crocodiles were swimming around outside the windows and below the floor, waiting for a chance to get in and eat us.

We had to get out fast, because I was the only one who could swim among the four of us. My fist flared up and I hit the Kairoseki as hard as I could. The existing cracks lengthened, and small chunks fell off. One more punch and it shattered.

As an afterthought, I picked up a fist sized piece of the Kairoseki and dropped it into my bag. It could come in useful when fighting Devil's Fruit users.

"Come on! Up the stairs!" I cried, pointing towards the huge set of polished stairs. We splashed through the knee deep water, but just as we were almost there, a burst of water shot through the floor, followed by one of the enormous crocodiles.

It flew over our heads and landed on the stairs, smashing the lower half of them. It turned to us and licked its lips.

Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Woah! A huge banana!" he gushed in amazement.

It did have a striking resemblance to a banana, so he wasn't totally off. I could see how someone like Luffy could get them mixed up.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. I looked out the window past the crocodiles to see the bridge collapsing.

"The bridge is falling. We have to get out fast," I called.

The crocodile lunged at me, but before it could strike, two weak attacks of fire and rubber hit its head. Distracted by the sudden interference, it shook its head. Looking to Ace and Luffy, I could tell that the two of them were losing strength fast in the waist deep water.

Mustering up my strength, I sent I fireball straight towards the crocodile. It hit him right between the eyes and flared up, temporarily blinding him. I grabbed Luffy and Ace and ran up the tail of the beast. Once up on its back, I leaped onto the stairs.

Suddenly, I heard a smash from behind me. Looking back, I saw that the crocodile had regained its eyesight and was furious. It lashed out at the stairs, carving huge paw marks into the stone.

I readjusted my nakama on my shoulders and ran towards the top. I dodged the flying stones with miraculous luck until, just at the top, one hit the back of my knee and sent me sprawling.

"Anni-chan?!" came a surprised voice from in front of me.

"Sanji!" I gasped in relief. I pointed to Ace and Luffy who were out cold and briefly explained what had happened. It turned out that Sanji was the one who had called Crocodile's Den Den Mushi to lure him out, and he was also the one who sent the bridge to the bottom of the lake so that the Baroque Works members couldn't get in.

After the rushed explanations, I grabbed Luffy while Sanji grabbed Ace. We sprinted to the exit and ran across the railing that was all that remained of the bridge.

As we laid them down on the road, Luffy coughed and said weakly, "What about the Smoker guy?"

"We.. uh, I left him back there," I answered honestly.

Luffy coughed up more water. "Go get him too. He has a Devil's Fruit ability, so he can't swim."

"But-" I protested, but Luffy raised his hand. I sighed. "Okay. I'll get him."

Sanji reached out a hand to try and stop me, but I took off towards the crumbling casino. I ran through the chaotic hallways until I reached the huge room.

I scanned the waves for the grey-haired marine. There. He was drifting towards a broken window.

I sprinted down the stairs and leaped off the back of the crocodile that was still at the bottom of the stairs. The water was up to my neck, so I propelled myself with jets of fire shooting out from my feet.

I grabbed the marine as I passed him and rocketed out of the broken window. The glass scraped my forearm, but I dismissed it as a scratch. We shot through the water and burst up onto the side of the road to many shouts of surprise.

"Smoker-san!" The relieved shout came from a young-looking purple-haired marine.

I put Smoker down on the road and heated myself up to dry off my clothes. Immediately, I was enveloped in a tight hug.

"Anni-chwaaaan~! For a moment you looked like a lovely mermaid leaping out of the water! Your beauty is unparalleled by any other lady!" Sanji exclaimed, letting go and twirling around.

As Sanji continued to 'spout nonsense' as Nami would say, Luffy and Ace stumbled to their feet.

"Thanks. We wouldn't have gotten out back there without help," Ace grinned.

"Yeah! We would have drowned!" Luffy laughed.

I scratched the back of my head. "Well, even if I wasn't there, I'm sure Sanji would have gotten you," I said, unused to praise.

"Mugiwara," came a low voice from behind me. I turned to see Smoker sitting on a short wall, "I seem to have underestimated you. As thanks for saving me, I won't arrest you today."

"Shishishi~" Luffy laughed, "Okay!"

"Sanji?" I asked, "Where did Crocodile go to kill you?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I'm not sure. I told him that I was behind the casino. We should go before he comes after us."

"But weren't we here to defeat him?" I asked.

We started walking in the direction of our supplies as the crowd started to disperse.

"Yes, but we need to go and meet up with the rest of the crew. Ace and Luffy are still recovering from the water and the Kairoseki, and I'm sure that a delicate lady like you needs to rest after such an event," Sanji said, "I also think that it would be better to consult with the entire crew on this matter."

"Okay." I nodded.

Suddenly, Crocodile's voice rang out in my head.

'I will be leaving now to go help the rebellion in Alubarna'

I gasped. "Actually, we need to leave now! Crocodile is going to Alubarna to help the rebellion!"

"That's where Nami-san and Vivi-chan are!" Sanji exclaimed, "Oh, and the rest of them," he added.

The four of us walked to the small grove of trees to recover our supplies, only to find that most of the sled was destroyed. Food was scattered everywhere and most of it was missing. Luffy picked up the water jug that Toh-Toh had given him and hung it around his neck.

We searched the place for anything that was vital to survive the journey to Alubarna, such as water and food. Then, we headed out into the desert to start our umpteenth trudge through the hot sand.

We were about halfway to Alubarna when we ran into trouble. A flurry of sand surrounded us, and when it cleared, Crocodile stood before us. Luffy stepped forwards and put a hand out.

"I'll deal with him. You guys go on ahead!" Luffy declared, moving into a ready stance.

I looked to the other two, who had the same expression of worry.

"Luffy, are you sure?" I asked, concerned.

"Yes," he said, determined, "Go!"

I stood on my tiptoes to whisper something in Ace's ear. He grinned and said, "Let's go!"

Ace and I ran on either side of Crocodile, igniting our fists. We slammed them into his shoulders, melting the sand that his body was made of. Sanji followed up with a kick that shattered them both.

Crocodile shouted in pain and readied himself for a counter attack, but the three of us were running away at full speed.

"Luffy! We'll leave this to you!" Ace yelled to his little brother.

"See you in Alubarna!" I waved.

"Be careful!" Sanji shouted.

Luffy threw a fist in the air and yelled, "I'll see you guys there!"

I just hope he'll be alright.

XxX

An hour later we stood at the foot of the wall surrounding Alubarna. Sounds of fighting and clashing swords rang out from the city. Screams of pain and terror mixed in with triumphant yells and insults. Gunshots and cannon shots blasted through the chaos.

Ace, Sanji, and I formed a plan within seconds. Sanji and I would go into the city and look for our nakama while Ace would scout around the outer wall to see if anyone was out there. Unless something changed, we would try to stop the fighting and bring the crew together into the center plaza.

Wishing Ace good luck, Sanji and I ran into the city and went our separate ways. As I searched for familiar faces in the streets, I broke swords and melted guns regardless of the side they were on. Hell, I couldn't even tell with half of these people!

I ran and ran and eventually found myself in the back streets. The buildings were smaller and more spaced out, but the streets were dustier.

Suddenly, a crash came from a street near me. I ran around the corner to see Nami scrambling away from a hole in one of the houses. She almost got to her feet, but a dark blue arrow-like thing shot out and caught her shoulder before retracting back through the wall. Nami collapsed on the ground with a scream.

Before I could help her up, a lady stepped out of the hole and giggled sadistically. She had huge blue hair and wore black leggings with spiky high heels. I was amazed that she could balance on them. She wore a small fur-trimmed jacket over a bikini top that reminded me of a spider-web. Ugh, and that monstrous Fluffy was still on the Merry.

The lady pointed a finger at me that grew longer and sharper like a thorn. My eyes widened and I tensed in anticipation. However, instead of attacking me, she walked up to Nami and drew her hand back.

I rushed towards her just as she plunged her hand down. I knocked away the thorn and used the momentum to spin around and punch the woman in the stomach. She crashed into the wall with a yelp and fell still.

I offered my hand to Nami. "Can you stand up?"

She took my hand and stumbled to her feet. She thanked me and briefly explained the situation. The lady was Mrs. Doublefinger, an agent of Baroque works. She ate the Toge Toge Fruit, which allowed her to turn any part of her body into a thorn-like weapon.

Nami leaned heavily on my shoulder and I guided her to a box that she could sit on.

"My Clima Tact," she breathed heavily, "Can you get it for me?"

Puzzled, I followed her finger to the hole in the wall. I walked across the road and leaned over to see if anything was there. Looking around, I spotted three short blue metal staffs that looked as if they could fit together.

I picked them up and was about to turn and ask if they were the Clima Tact, when Nami screamed. I whirled around to see what was the matter, but instead I was met with a stabbing pain in my gut. I yelled in pain and grabbed at whatever stabbed me, ripping it out.

I fell to the ground and rolled away, but another one stabbed my thigh. I pulled it out, breathing hard. Putting a hand over my bleeding gut wound, I stumbled to my feet using the wall as a support.

Blue hair grinned down at me as I struggled. Mrs. Doublefinger jabbed her long fingers into the stone wall around me. I tried to wriggle out of the small cage, but she put a finger to my throat. I dropped the Clima Tact and it rolled out into the street.

"Isn't it wonderful when they squirm?" she purred, dragging her finger across my skin and leaving a shallow cut.

Behind her, Nami, holding her shoulder, crept out and grabbed one of the parts of her Clima Tact. She drew her arm back and prepared to hit Mrs. Doublefinger over the head with it, but the thorn lady turned halfway around and pointed a sharp finger at Nami.

"Sit down on on of those boxes, musume-chan," she ordered. Then, turning to me, she giggled.

"Let's play a game, shall we?"

A/N

Mrs. Doublefinger is a little more sadistic than in the anime because, hey, sadistic characters are fun to write! Also, if you want me to start a bunch of outtakes or deleted scenes in another story, let me know and send ideas! I've written a bunch of strange, funny and slightly perverted ones because my mind lives in a gutter and I have no life.

Anyways, hope you're all having a great summer!

See ya!