Wouldn't be a story of mine if I didn't disappear.
Hello again, everyone! I apologise for the wait. I tend to lose motivation very quickly. It's a very bad habit to have. That being said, I swore I'd stop abandoning projects, so here I am!
Side note also, if you're a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, I posted a story about that, which is already completed! Check it out if you're interested!
Enjoy!
The sounds of battle had long since faded from the tunnel, leaving Robin and King Cobra in silence. She kept her eye on him in case he tried anything, but since she'd given the Straw Hats intel he had been silent. Perhaps he was planning, but it was more likely he was confused by her sudden treachery.
"I feel the need to ask again," Cobra said, "why are you after the treasure of our people?"
"You don't need to know that," she replied.
"W-Why not?"
"I don't intend to kill you, if that's what you're worried about." She saw a flash of relief go across the mans face.
"Then perhaps you feel like explaining why you betrayed your employer?" He asked, "Crocodile doesn't take likely to betrayal."
"I'm aware," she said. "But if you must know, it's because one way or the other I'm out of here after this."
"What do you mean?"
"What Crocodile wants from me, I do not intend to give. When I do not, I'll have expended my usefulness and he'll probably kill me. So, I decided tossing my hat in the ring with the Straw Hats was better than dying."
"I assume Crocodile wants the Ponegylph translated," Cobra inferred, "seeing as you said you can read them. How did you come to possess such a skill?"
"Unimportant," Robin replied, internally wincing. "But yes, he wants what it says. I don't intend on giving it too him."
"Why did you side with him to begin with, then?"
"Too find the Ponegylph," she answered coolly. Cobra looked less satisfied then he already did, but grunted and continued leading her along.
"I must ask you to not reveal the Ponegylph's existence," he said. "If the World Government were to know we had one..."
"Trust me," Robin growled, "I know what happens when they find one."
They continued on their way for a little while longer before coming across a massive stone door. Beckoning for her assistance, Cobra went to one side of the double doors and she went to the other. Using her Devil Fruit abilities, Robin helped the King swing open the massive doors. When she did, the smell of preservatives and death hit her in the face.
"A tomb," she noted.
"The royal tomb," Cobra corrected. "Where the King and Queens of Alabasta have been interred since our inception as a nation. Come, the Ponegylph is this way." Robin followed the man through the tomb, taking a moment to marvel at the architecture. It was very clearly Alabastan, and the dry climate had preserved it for hundreds of years. She saw countless inscriptions on the wall, some she could read, the older ones she could not. Coming towards a small doorway well hidden behind a sarcophagus, Cobra beckoned her forward. Once she joined him, he pushed open the door.
And revealed what she came for.
Robin tried not to show any excitement as the Ponegylph's imposing statue came into view. The massive cube and stone stood ominously in a circular room, illuminated by the torch's outside. How many years had it been since someone had come for it? How many since someone had read it aloud?
"Well?" Cobra asked, "Can you read it?"
"Of course," Robin replied. She could tell that the King was anticipating something.
"What does it say?" He asked curiously.
What indeed.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy drove his fist into Crocodile's stomach, but the Warlord was catching onto his simple attacks.
"Desert Spada!" Luffy was forced to diver his attack, lest he lose an arm to the slash. Dodging to the left, Luffy launched off the wall of the building and aimed at Crocodile.
"Gum-Gum Stamp!" His foot flew forward, but Crocodile pushed it away with his clawed hand. Luffy didn't float in the air aimlessly, instead aiming with his fist this time and letting one fly. Crocodile simply dodged to the side.
"Desert Mano Spada!" sand formed in his hand in the form of a blade, and he slashed it at Luffy's arm as it retracted cutting him deeply as it did. Luffy grit his teeth and landed on his feet. He couldn't get close with Crocodile's sword now, but that didn't matter. Grabbing a hold of the nearby rubble, Luffy began to fling it at the man without a care. Crocodile used the blade to slash through them all without any worry, but that wasn't a problem. Luffy followed close behind the last piece he through, using it as cover to get in close. He already had his leg stretched up when Crocodile saw him, eyes wide.
"Gum-Gum War Axe!" He shouted, bringing his foot down on Crocodile's shoulder. The man was forced downwards with a pained grunt, but it wasn't enough.
"Come here, you nuisance!" With his hand free of the blade, Crocodile pulled on Luffy's leg and dragged him in, forcing Luffy to stretch awkwardly to avoid the claw that swiped at him. Crocodile didn't let go of him, instead swinging him into a nearby building. Luffy scrambled to recover before another attack came, flying back out the hole he'd created.
"Gum-Gum Bullet!" His arm snapped forward but Crocodile disappeared into a haze of sand, reappearing behind him. Luffy didn't get a chance to react before he was thrown back into the building, out of the rain.
"Enough!" Crocodile shouted, coming in after him. Luffy tried to get away again, but his leg was caught by the Warlord and he was dragged back. "These foolish antics are over! Desert Encierro!"
Luffy's energy evaporated from his leg and quickly raced up. Looking back, he paled as he watched his own body wither away in front of him.
"Gah! You're turning me into a mummy?! What the hell!" Crocodile laughed at his panic.
"I cannot wait to spread your remains across my new kingdom!" He shouted, "you've thrown all my plans into disarray, but I'm still stronger than you! You cannot win without the rain, you pathetic child!" Luffy wanted to attack the roof and cave it in, but he lacked the strength. He tried to crawl away, but it wasn't working. Where was Nami? He needed backup!
"Let go of me!" He said weakly as the moisture left his lower body.
"Not until I've drained you of all your moisture, little man." Crocodile snarled, "I am owed that much for how big of an annoyance you have been. Where is your weather witch and her overgrown chicken, hm? Have they flown the coop?!"
"...Get off...!" He couldn't fight, not with no moisture in his body. Luffy's consciousness began to fade away as his head hit the floor, vision blurry. This was bad. He couldn't let Crocodile beat him, he was supposed to be the King of the Pirates! He'd promised Ace! Sabo! He had no get up!
He had too.
He had too...
"I'm off the the Royal Tomb to find my weapon, little bot. Farewell, Straw Hat."
"Do you see them?" Nami asked worriedly, riding on Pell's back through the skies. After going to help Nojiko, she'd lost sight of Luffy and Crocodile. She hoped the Captain hadn't done something stupid, but, that was a pipe dream. Luffy and 'something stupid' were essentially synonymous.
"I don't," Pell replied as he flapped his wings, "but I do see some rubble that looks more recent." Nami followed his head jerk, and agreed that the area still had crumbling buildings and debris falling.
"Why isn't there any signs of a fight?" She asked worriedly.
"No idea, but I fear for your Captain." Nami did as well. Using her best guesstimate, Nami tried to choreograph the fight and trace backwards. Pell followed her instruction and dove down towards where the rubble was freshest, and she looked around widely as she got off of Pell.
"Luffy?!" She called out, "Luffy! Where are you?!" She got no response, so she looked around wildly. Where had the fighting come from? Where had it ended? As she looked, the building near to her crumbled a bit. Deciding to check, she went towards it and jumped towards the second floor, entering in through a hole. When she did, her stomach dropped.
The only way she could tell it was Luffy laying on the floor in front of her was his straw hat and red vest. Other than that, she could have easily overlooked it as a body.
"Damn it Luffy, I turn my back for one second!" She shouted, running to his side and fumbling with her Clima Tact. Preparing it, she doused Luffy with a hose of water from the front. She waited a few seconds but, like magic, Luffy spring back to life with a gasp.
"Gah!" He said, "I don't want to be a mummy!"
"Luffy!" Nami exclaimed in relief. "Thank God. I was worried I was too late!"
"Nami?" He asked, "oh thank God for you. I was worried I was dead."
"You would've been!" She said, "do you know where Crocodile went?" Luffy made a face and rubbed his chin.
"I think he mentioned something about a dune," Luffy replied. "Or was it a loom? What even is a loom?"
"Did he say tomb?" Pell asked urgently.
"Yeah! He said tomb!" Luffy looked as though he'd cracked the case, but neither of them knew what that even meant.
"What does that mean?" She asked him, Pell looking alarmed.
"It means he's after Alabasta's oldest secret," he said, "quick, with me!"
Robin stared at the Ponegylph in silence, her eyes scanning it in alarm.
"What does it say?" Cobra asked again. He was clearly keen on knowing. Robin was silent as she reached the end of the inscription, regret and anger swelling in her chest.
"It details the location of the weapon Pluton," she replied quietly. "Exactly what Crocodile wants." Cobra looked alarmed by this.
"You won't tell him, right?" He asked weakly, "you said you wouldn't."
"I won't," she reassured him, her energy leaving her body quicker than ever before. "I just thought, I just hoped..."
"Hoped what?" Cobra asked. Robin didn't reply as countless thoughts and plans raced through her mind. Had all of this really been for naught? Had she really not found anything of value about the history of this world?
"Nothing," she answered quietly, refusing to elaborate for the King. "It matters not. We should leave."
"And why is that?" A new voice asked. Robin's blood ran cold, ans she whirled to see Crocodile standing an the entrance, looking more excited than normal.
"Crocodile," she noted, keeping her voice even. This was bad. She doubted she and the King could defeat him.
"You found my prize," The Warlord noted as he came inside the room. "Now tell me where Pluton is. I know it says where it is." Damn it all, he'd heard her. She'd been so disappointed she'd forgotten to keep it to herself.
Sparing a glance at King Cobra, Robin knew what she had to do.
"No," she replied earnestly. Crocodile glowered at her, and advanced towards her. She stood her ground, trying not to show fear.
"Tell me where it is," he threatened, raising his claw to her neck. Robin gulped and glared back at him.
"No," she replied. "I won't." Crocodile gritted his teeth.
"Why?" He asked, "why won't you tell me?"
"Because I won't allow you to use such a weapon to ruin lives," she replied. Robin saw flashes of the Buster Call in her memories. "I won't allow you to wipe people out with it."
There was an eerier silence between the three of them, no one even breathing loud. Finally, after an eternity, Crocodile let out a low laugh.
"DO you take me for a fool, Nico Robin?" He demanded angrily. "Do you think I won't kill you where you stand?"
"Go ahead," Robin replied, "but you'll never find Pluton then. Is that fine with you?" Crocodile grit his teeth so hard he bit the end of his cigar.
"Damn you woman!" he roared, rearing his claw back.
Robin took this opportunity to reach into her jacket and throw a glass bottle of water at him.
They had been too close for him to evade it, and the bottle shattered on him. Robin reacted instantly, raising her hands. Extra extremities spawned all over Crocodile, and soon she had him in a choke hold.
"King, run!" She shouted. Cobra seemed reluctant, but did as she asked and went for the door. Crocodile tried to raise his hand, but Robin stopped him. She couldn't let him dry out with his power, or it'd be the end of her. Using more hands, she bent Crocodile backwards to keep him under control.
"Damn you...!" He hissed through her hold on him.
"You were useful, I'll give you that," Robin told him, "I got to this Ponegylph with your help, But now I don't need you, or it. Give me a reason to kill you."
"...I...I'll kill you!" He managed. Robin scoffed.
"See if I care," she said. "I've been running for years. Death would be a mercy you're too cruel to give." Crocodile let out an angered roar, and he fell. Robin realised too late he'd done so to swipe her feet out from under her, and she fell, losing control of her power. The arms holding Crocodile in place disappeared, freeing him. In an instant he dried himself off and reached for his hook, taking off his sheathe and allowing the poison within to breathe.
He then stabbed her through the stomach, dragging the claw downwards with a grin as she gasped in pain.
"You think this changes anything?!" He demanded, "The bomb we planted will still go off! Alubarna will be reduced to ashes, and I will become the Lord of these Lands! Pluton can stay lost!" Robin managed a laugh as blood filled her mouth.
"No it won't," she spat. Crocodile made a face, and she smirked up at him. "I told the Straw Hats where the bomb was. I also told them how to defeat the other Numbers Agents."
Crocodile stared at her in surprise as she laughed.
"Don't you get it, Crocodile? I've been undermining you this whole time. Every plan you laid, all the time you spent, all for nothing because I betrayed you. By now, the King will have escaped, The Straw Hats have beaten the Numbers Agents, they've defused the bomb. and the rebels combined with the army will have beaten back your fighters. It's over." Crocodile continued to stare at her for a few seconds before grimacing.
"For you it is," he hissed. Robin winced as he dug the claw it deeper, trying to hurt her. It was fine. She was tired of running, anyway. She had no where to go after this anyway.
Even if this plan had worked, what then? She joined the Straw Hats? How long until her existence forced her to run from them as well? It wasn't worth it. It was better for her to die here.
To finally be free of this curse was a blessing.
Or so she thought.
"Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Robin was knocked from her train of thought when a pair of wet hands slammed into Crocodile, throwing him off of her and into the Ponegylph. The wind was knocked from Crocodile's lungs as he bounced off the nigh-invincible stone, hitting the ground with a cough.
"Run, Nico Robin!" She heard Cobra say. Turning her head right, Robin saw the King standing behind Straw Hat Luffy and his Navigator. A bird swooped into the room and slammed into Crocodile with wet talons, throwing him up into the air. Straw Hat Luffy charged into the room with a roar, his Navigator close behind.
"Are you okay?" The redhead asked, kneeling next to her as Luffy went for Crocodile. "He stabbed you, can you move?" Robin coughed weakly and gestured for the inside of her coat.
"His hook is poisoned," she said weakly, 'there's antivenom in my coat, can you get it?" She did as she asked and reached in her jacket, looking around a bit before she found it. Robin felt the vial being pressed against her lips, so she opened her mouth and let the liquid slide into her mouth. She spared a thought to wonder where the will to live had come from, but she could wonder about that later.
"Help him," she said, gesturing to the Warlord and Straw Hat. "He needs constant water."
"I know, you get out of here."
Luffy dodged Crocodile's swipe with his claw and punched him in the head, watching as his head snapped to the side.
"You don't know how to stay dead, do you?!" The Warlord roared, a torrent of sand flying from his hand. Dodging around it, Luffy bent his body sideways and stretched his leg, slamming it into the man's side and forcing him to the side.
"Rain Tempo!" He heard Nami shout behind him. It didn't take long for rain to begin falling around them, but there was no where for Crocodile to go. He was locked inside in the storm. Pell swooped down from below and clawed at Crocodile's head, and while the Warlord protected himself from that, Luffy launched himself in and punched at his head, but was blocked by the claw.
"Damn it all!" Crocodile shouted angrily, reaching for Luffy's throat with his free hand. Allowing himself to get grabbed, Luffy ignored the hand on his throat and reared his head back.
"Gum-Gum Bell!" His head snapped back to it's original position, his forehead slamming into Crocodile's. His throat was released, but Luffy latched onto the Warlord this time, trapping him in his rubber limbs by wrapping them around his arms and midsection. He repeated the previous attack again, but Crocodile turned his neck into sand and detached it, having it float over his head.
"Don't you get it, Straw Hat?!" Crocodile asked, "even if you beat me, you'll die on the Grand Line! You're not strong enough!"
"Right, I'll listen to my enemy on that!" Luffy replied, unwrapping the man, then wrapping an arm around his waist. "Gum-Gum Whiplash!" Centring his gravity, Luffy launched Crocodile in a circular motion, slamming him into the big stone in the room. Crocodile recovered quickly, and noticed Pell coming at him from above.
"Desert Spada!" He shouted. Pell had been diving fast, and had no room to evade as the slash clipped his wing, causing him to fall with a cry of pain. He then turned on Luffy, launching another slash. Luffy fell behind the stone for cover from the attacks, but this left Nami open for an attack. Wasting no time, he gripped the edges of the stone and used them to whip around it and kick Crocodile in the stomach, backing him against the stone again.
"You will die in the Grand Line!" Crocodile shouted, raising his hand to block Luffy's incoming punch. "The kind of monsters in this world are beyond your comprehension! Without a weapon like Pluton, you could never hope to fight them!"
"If I'm going to be the King of the Pirates, I'll take them all down!" Luffy replied. He drove a knee into Crocodile's stomach, then headbutt him again. He had to admit, his head was starting to hurt. Crocodile just laughed.
"You're a fool!" he roared, "bigger than any I've ever seen! Go then! Cross this ridiculous ocean, and you'll see what I mean! That is if I don't kill you first! Sables!" The wind Nami had created in the room for her Rain Tempo was now used against them, a sandstorm erupting from Crocodile's palm. Luffy felt his feet lifting him off the ground, so he made sure to grab onto Crocodile as he tried to escape. The roof above them dispersed into sand thanks to the Warlords powers, and they floated up into the sky above Alubarna. Luffy whipped his head around wildly, looking for something to grab onto. Finally, he settled on a nearby buildings spiral top, wrapping his free arm around it. The rain Nami had created from before was still present, so Crocodile could not shake Luffy's grasp without knocking him out.
"Let go of me, you stupid rubber bastard!" Crocodile shouted, slashing Luffy's arm with his claw. Luffy grit his teeth, feeling as though fire had been poured into his veins.
"Not yet!" Luffy replied, "not until you've paid for hurting the people of this country! Not until you've paid for hurting Vivi! You're done when I say you're done!"
"What kind of pirate fights for people and not themselves?!" Crocodile demanded, "you're insane!"
"Who cares what I do?!" Luffy demanded, "the kind of pirate I want to be if free to do whatever the hell he wants! And what I want to do right now is defeat you! Not just for me, but for everyone you've hurt. Gum-Gum Windmill!"
Using his hold on the building, Luffy spun with the wind of the sandstorm. The elasticity of his body soon made him spin at a frantic pace, the world around him becoming a blur. When he had gathered enough momentum, Luffy let go of the building and sailed through the air, out of the sandstorm and into open air. As he did so, he quickly righted himself.
And, using the elastic force from the wind and his own body, spun and slammed Crocodile's with more force than anything he'd ever hit before.
Crocodile was flung through an entire building, which crumbled and created a crater where it had been. The rubble fell on top of him, and Luffy hit the ground tumbling, dizzy but alive. He looked up weakly, watching the rubble in anticipation.
Nothing happened.
As the smoke cleared, Luffy saw a claw sticking out of the rubble created by the building. It didn't move. He watched it warily for a few more seconds, before letting out a weak laugh.
"I win," he said to himself. He righted himself, took a deep breath, and reared his head back.
"I WIN!" he roared. With this, he succumbed to the fire in his veins and hit the ground, head spinning.
It was over.
Frankly I don't know if the fight with Croc sucks or not, but it's time to move on. I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review!