Chapter Thirty-Four: Nami

It was the first time that Nami had ever been glad to see Smoker. She let herself be bemused by that fact for a moment while he rounded the car to get in the driver's side. Then she remembered Smoker was likely to interrogate her the moment he got into the car. Her mood darkened at that thought.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see some bad blood between those two," Smoker said as he climbed into the car and shifted gears into drive. "But are you sure it's alright to leave those two together by themselves?"

Nami glanced briefly in the rearview mirror. Sabo had a hold of Law by his shirt and was probably reading him the riot act. And Law, he had that shitty smirk on his face, probably irking Sabo. They would likely come to blows if left alone.

Whatever. Both Sabo and Law could handle themselves in a fight.

"I gotta get back to the orphanage," Nami replied. "Curfew."

Smoker shook his head in dismay. "I should take you to the hospital, looking like that."

Nami knew she looked like a train wreck, thanks to Crocodile. "No thanks. I'm fine."

"Fine?" Smoker repeated. "I'm tempted to make you wait in the car and go in and ask that damn Crocodile how a charge at his orphanage, which strictly mandates no fighting, gets into a fight."

Nami didn't bother answering, seeing as she knew for a fact that the car was bugged. If Smoker wanted to walk straight into his death, that was his choice. She didn't plan on saying anything about Crocodile or his ilk at all.

"I'm working on getting your court case moved up," Smoker told her. "I don't like that you're in that orphanage. You need to be settled somewhere, so your life can get back to normal. I think that the reason you're so prone to fighting is that you don't have the stability of a home."

"You want me to go back to my mother," Nami accused. "And for your information, I got into fights almost daily when I was with her."

Smoker chewed on the end of his cigar in agitation. "You were in a yakuza. Now you're not. Things would be better."

"Whatever," she muttered.

"Least wise, you wouldn't look like you got hit by a truck," Smoker snapped. "Your mother misses you. Your sister may not take you back, but your mother wants nothing more than to have you home."

"So what?" Nami snapped back. "Seeing as it's my life, I should get a choice in the matter. Besides, in a year, it won't matter. I'll be eighteen and able to go out on my own anyway."

If Smoker chewed the cigar any harder, he'd bite through it. "You want to spend the next year in an orphanage?"

Fuck no. Nami didn't want to be in the orphanage run by Crocodile for another day, let alone a year. But she didn't have control over that right now. As long as Donquixote wanted her with Crocodile, she'd be there. But she wasn't stupid either. If she didn't figure out something to do about the Nefeltari heir soon, she'd be pulled from her assignment and everyone in Lougetown Senior High would be on their own against Crocodile.

Try as she might, she couldn't convince herself that it wasn't her problem. Not with the guys in that school. They were too important to her.

"I'll run away before I stay long term in an orphanage," Nami answered. "I don't need anyone to take care of me."

Smoker snorted. "Looks like you did a bang-up job yesterday. About that fight—"

"Stop the car!" Nami cried suddenly. She pulled on the door handle while the car was still moving. Smoker had to slam on the brakes but he did manage to stop as Nami struggled out of the car. She was sore as hell all over and moving was torturous, but the moment she saw that brown fur running down the sidewalk, her pain went out of her mind.

Running down the sidewalk, scaring everyone in his way, was the little deer Chopper.

"Chopper!" Nami called, trying to jog after him. The little deer stopped and turned her way. His head quirked to the side as if confused before running back towards her. When he reached her, he rubbed his face and muzzle against her legs. Nami winced at the pressure on her wounds, but she could tell that the little deer was shaking in terror.

"What the hell is a deer doing on the street?" Smoker asked, having gotten out of the car himself. Nami petted Chopper's head to calm him, but the little deer would not be mollified. When Smoker approached, Chopper froze and then began to back away.

"Stay where you are," Nami called over to Smoker. He stopped, but Nami could see his hand was on his concealed carry. "He's tame. He belongs to the nurse at my school."

Chopper became agitated again. He paced back and forth and whined pitifully.

"I think there's something wrong with the nurse," Nami commented. Chopper yipped and hopped around. Definitely, there was something wrong, and it involved the nurse. Chopper was an intelligent animal and Nami was pretty sure he understood a lot more than the average animal. "Can you see if you can get a hold of the home address of the nurse of my school?"

Smoker looked annoyed. "What about going back to the orphanage?"

Nami's stomach dropped. Yeah, she needed to get back to the orphanage before Crocodile murdered her. But Chopper, he was so scared. She couldn't leave him like this. She just couldn't.

"This is more important," Nami told him. Smoker shrugged and went back to his car.

Chopper, in the meantime, was agitated again. He was shaking his head and pacing back and forth. Surprisingly gently, Chopper's mouth closed around Nami's wrist and began pulling her over to an alley a few feet away. Nami went with him because she was drawing a crowd on the street. In the alley, Chopper let go of her wrist and paced again. He looked back and forth several times before he sat down before Nami and looked at her with those intelligent eyes.

"Please!"

Nami started. There was no one else in the alley. She looked around to be sure, but there was no one.

"Please help me!"

Nami stared down at the little deer in disbelief.

"Please, Doctorine is in trouble!"

Nami felt around to her pocket where the pain pills were. She hadn't taken any of them yet, she thought. But she was hallucinating.

"Doctorine?" Nami repeated, pinching her arm directly on a bruise. It hurt a lot. She hoped the pain would clear her head. It didn't work.

"Some people from the school came and took her."

Nami refused to believe it was Chopper talking. It just wasn't possible. Animals didn't talk. She was just delirious.

"I need help! Please Nami!"

Chopper had little tear stains around his eyes. The little deer was crying. Nami couldn't be imagining that. She reached out and wiped the tears away.

"Okay," Nami said, making the decision to ignore the fact that it was an animal talking to her. "You need help. Doctorine was taken by some people. You said that they were people from school. Who exactly?"

Chopper sniffled. "Miss Crisp and some unsavories."

Nami didn't know what 'unsavories' were, but she could take a guess.

"Did they say where they were going?" Nami asked.

"An orphanage run by Crocodile," Chopper told her. Nami sighed. Of course they were going there.

"Okay Chopper," Nami said. "We're going to go get into Smoker's car. He's going to take us to the orphanage—"

"No!" Chopper squealed. "They said they'd eat me!"

Nami sighed. "I promise I won't let them eat you. But right now, you have to get into Smoker's car or someone will call Animal Control."

Chopper nodded. The two of them walked back out of the alley and over to Smoker's car. Nami put Chopper in the back seat, much to the dismay of Smoker.

"Hey! I'm not Animal Control!" he complained as he hung up his cell phone. But even as Smoker complained, Chopper laid down in the back seat and did a pretty good impression of a tame pet animal. Nami was impressed.

"He won't do anything," Nami assured him. "He's harmless."

Smoker grunted unhappily. "I found that address you wanted. It's in All Blue. You sure you want to drive all the way there and skip curfew?"

"No," Nami replied, looking back at Chopper. "Let's go to the orphanage so I can, uh, let Crocodile know that I would be going there. To drop off Chopper."

"Fuckin' wild deer has a fuckin' name," Smoker muttered under his breath. "This is unbelievable."

Still, as annoyed as Smoker was, he did as Nami asked. He was probably trying to get himself back into her good graces (even though he was never there in the first place) and Nami was happy to take advantage of him before he figured out he would never be there.

She wouldn't make it in the timeframe that Crocodile had mandated, but she couldn't do anything about that. She only had a short time before they would be at the orphanage and Nami's had would be forced.

.o0o.

When they pulled up to the orphanage, Smoker parked in the lot rather than drop her off in front of the building. It meant he was going to go with her into the orphanage.

Wonderful.

Nami sighed and winced and got out of the car. She opened up the back door for Chopper, who was shaking like a leaf again, but this time in fear rather than agitation. Chopper was practically glued to her leg as they walked to the main doors of the orphanage. It appeared that nearly every child in the orphanage was out in the yard playing by themselves. All of them stared at Chopper in wonder.

Not surprising, Crocodile was standing at the door waiting for her. He didn't even bother to hide his displeasure.

"You're late," he greeted her, eyeing her companions. Oddly enough, he looked more annoyed at Smoker than at Chopper. "I told Trafalgar Water to have you here by four o'clock sharp."

"I tried," Nami defended weakly. "I left a fight to get here earlier."

Crocodile raised an eyebrow at her claim, but didn't make a comment. Smoker, however, did.

"Speaking of fights," he interjected, "just what the hell happened to this girl? She looks like the losing end of an ass busting, no offense."

The last part was said to Nami, who rolled her eyes.

"Do come in, district attorney Smoker," Crocodile bade, easing into his slimy-pleasing-everyone façade. Instantly, Nami was on edge. Crocodile was not in a pleasing mood, and inviting Smoker into the orphanage when there were supposedly 'unsavories' in there already indicated that Smoker wouldn't be leaving with a pulse.

"Actually," Nami interjected, gesturing to the quaking deer, "we were just about to take Chopper back home. He belongs to the school nurse, and she lives in All Blue. I wanted to tell you before we went so you wouldn't be surprised."

But Crocodile was already heading inside the orphanage with Smoker in tow. "No need. The school nurse is here. Bring him inside as well."

Chopper whimpered softly, but one shaky hoof at a time, the little deer made his way slowly toward the orphanage door. Nami let out a breath of defeat and followed behind. It was when she was closing the door to the orphanage when she saw something that made her stomach drop.

Sabo had followed her and was getting out of a dark car along with several others, all of them carrying looks of violence.

Fuck.

There was no hope for this day. Nami closed the door and shuffled quickly along the hallway to catch up to Crocodile and Smoker. Chopper was at her side the whole time.

"We're about to have some, uh, guests," Nami told them when she got close. They were just outside of Crocodile's office. Crocodile paused for a moment before opening the door to the office.

"What kind of guests?" he asked, gesturing Smoker into the office.

"The kind that blow up buildings," Nami stated baldly. Smoker turned and gave her a look of disbelief. Crocodile sneered for a moment.

"It doesn't matter," he dismissed, walking into the office. "I have dozens upon dozens of operatives here. They'll never make it to my office."

Nami lost herself for a moment at the thought of all of the 'operatives' against Sabo and his crew and followed Crocodile into the office as well. "They're just children!"

"Operatives? Children?" Smoker repeated. "Just what the fuck is going on here?"

Crocodile closed the door and blocked them all in. "Why, just what it sounds like, district attorney Smoker. And though I considered it a nuisance at first, I believe the Dragon's Brood will prove quite useful when it comes to explaining your untimely demise."

Nami knew the moment that the door closed that it was a distinct possibility that Smoker wasn't getting out alive. But it wasn't until she saw the girl she roomed with appear from the shadows and put the sword she coveted at Smoker's neck that she knew it was a definite.

"Why don't you sit down and make yourself as comfortable as possible," Crocodile suggested while Nami's roommate took Smoker's concealed carry. She tossed it over to Crocodile, who caught it easily. "My dear little Tashigi will adjust while you move, so spare the desperate attempt at escape, won't you?"

Smoker took a good half minute to think through his dilemma. Ultimately, he did sit since he really didn't have much choice. Nami could see the frustration on the man's face, indicating that though Nami had tried to give him at least a few clues, he hadn't sorted it all out until that moment.

"Much better," Crocodile grinned, going to his desk and sitting as well. "Now, I wouldn't be much of an assassin's syndicate's leader if I couldn't tell that you were wearing a wire, so let's just relieve you of that as well. Nami, would you be so kind as to relieve our esteemed district attorney of his wire?"

Nami knew she had to. She didn't have a choice. So she left Chop—wait a minute, where was Chopper? Nami looked around and saw that the little deer was nowhere in sight. Had he followed her into the office? She couldn't recall. Still, she didn't want to draw attention to the fact that Chopper was gone, so she moved toward Smoker and opened his jacket and then unbuttoned his shirt. Underneath a slightly soiled undershirt, the wire in question showed. She peeled back the tape holding the wire in place and pulled the wire off of him.

"Short range transmitter," Crocodile observed. "Most likely only broadcasting as far as your car. Don't worry though, I had someone go through your car the moment you stepped into the orphanage."

Smoker was seething. He angrily rebuttoned his shirt. "I think it's safe to assume that you are more than just a caretaker at an orphanage. Hell, I'd even wager that you're more than an average mobster. Leader of assassins? You're in leagues with the Shichibukai, aren't you?"

Crocodile grinned. "Retrospect is very clear, isn't it?"

There was a knock at the door. No one, not even Crocodile, seemed to be expecting it. The girl called Tashigi adjusted slightly so she could keep Smoker where he was and also defend herself.

"Answer it," Crocodile snapped. Nami went to the door and opened it a crack, though she was sure it wasn't Sabo. He seemed more likely to kick down doors than knock on them.

Of all the people, Nami was not expecting Law. He pushed open the door farther and let himself into the room, surveying it for a moment before addressing Crocodile.

"The Dragon's Brood is here," he stated. "They're currently casing the joint, but seem a little daunted by the prospect of children."

"I wondered why I didn't hear any gunshots yet," Crocodile commented. "That blonde, though, he will find a way in. I don't doubt it."

Crocodile eyed Nami as he said this. Nami ignored him and stared at Law, wondering why he'd come. He smirked back.

"Seemed like a good fight was brewing," Law explained without being asked. "And the Boss said I need to keep you in better shape. I'm here to keep you from getting roughed up too much."

Nami rolled her eyes. He was just here for the fight. Typical male.

"So, district attorney Smoker, do you have any preference?" Crocodile asked, redirecting the conversation. "My dear Tashigi has excellent swordsmanship skills. She could disembowel you quite easily. Elsewise, have you seen Trafalgar handle that nodatchi? He's quite the surgeon. How would you like to be eviscerated?"

Smoker snorted. "I thought you were going to blame my death on the Dragon's Brood. They don't use swords."

"Too true," Crocodile lamented. "And a gunshot is so boring. But if you insist…"

Crocodile looked at Nami and smirked. He tossed the gun to her.

"Be a dear," Crocodile cooed at her, "and relieve the district attorney of his life."

Crocodile must have thought Nami would hesitate or something. Because he sure didn't look satisfied when Nami shifted the gun in her grip and aimed at Smoker. Tashigi had only a moment to move out of the way before Nami fired. The loud crack of the gun was followed immediately by the grunting groan of Smoker as he hunched over in the chair.

"For fuck's sake, girl, do you not know how to shoot a gun properly?" Crocodile criticized. "You're nowhere near the heart or head. Those are the kill shots, you stupid chit."

"How the hell would I know that? I'm not an assassin," Nami replied. "Besides, he'll bleed out eventually."

Crocodile sighed in agitation. "I suppose. But it will make a frightful mess."

Nami put the safety back on the gun and placed it on Crocodile's desk. "Look, I'm gonna go see if I can get Sab—er the Dragon's Brood to leave. Have fun watching Smoker bleed to death."

"Lame," Law proclaimed. "I thought I was going to get to participate in a good fight."

Nami rolled her eyes at Law.

"I'm in need of them to solve my district attorney problem," Crocodile reminded her.

"You're doing a cleansing," Nami countered. "Pin it on someone you're planning on killing anyway."

While Crocodile considered this, Nami left the office. Annoyingly, Law followed again.

"So, how do you plan on getting rid of your boy toy?" Law asked. "He's all amped up about you coming back to the man who beat the crap out of you."

"And just who amped him up?" Nami returned. "Who told him who beat me?"

Law just chuckled.

"I have a plan," she finally admitted. "It will probably get me killed in the end, so just FYI."

Law pulled her to a stop. "That's not allowed. You belong to the boss. He's the one who gets to kill you. No one else."

Nami pulled her arm free, wincing as her arm twinged with pain that went down her torso. "He'll just have to kill Crocodile instead. Because he's going to blow a gasket when I do this."

Law continued to follow Nami out of the orphanage. As Law had said, Sabo and his buddies were casing the joint, but not trying to actively attack. Nami side tracked into the yard where she saw the blonde little girl from the bus and went to her. Nami recalled that this little girl was called Mako.

"Come on Mako," Nami said, her protesting muscles picking the girl up and holding her on her hip. "We're going to meet someone new."

Mako didn't argue. She just looked a little stunned at the physical contact. But Nami soon felt the girl reach her arms around her neck and hold on a little tighter than necessary.

She'd been right; these kids were absolutely starved for physical affection.

Some of the other children, the younger ones, began to follow Nami immediately as if they knew that some big change was coming. Nami readjusted her course for the gates of the orphanage, where Sabo stood with another man. He eyed the children warily and Law with pure hatred.

"So, I don't have a lot of time," Nami said as soon as she got close, "but these kids need to go to 11 Cocoyashi Street. All of them."

Sabo looked around at the growing crowd of children. Nami peeked and saw at least fifteen children gathered around, and probably five or six more edging their way towards them.

"I'm not a taxi service," Sabo replied snappily. Nami just continued to stare at him. He sighed and shook his head. "What's at 11 Cocoyashi Street?"

"Ice cream," Nami answered. These children had probably never seen, let alone had, ice cream before. As Nami looked at the small crowd, she saw wonder in their eyes. "Everyone gets a scoop."

That promise brought joy. It was almost painful to see. She looked back at Sabo, since he'd made no response.

Sabo eyed her desperately. "Ice cream. Great. Just great. What about you? Are you coming too?"

"I might," she bartered. "Can you get every single kid in this yard to Cocoyashi Street?"

Sabo pulled out a cell phone. "The things you con me into doing are ludicrous."

"What about Mr. Crocodile," one of the older ones asked, looking disturbed at the reminder of their keeper. Most of the joy went out of the eyes of the children at that name.

"Mr. Crocodile said it was okay, just this once," Nami lied. She elbowed Law in the side. "Didn't he?"

Law gave her a look of annoyance. He sighed and relented though. "Sure did."

And now there were twenty-three children looking at her in wonder again.

"Anything else?" Sabo asked, looking at her. "Since you're demanding the world again."

Nami put down Mako and walked over to where Sabo stood. She pulled on his arm and whispered in his ear when he bent down for her.

"Can you make sure there actually is ice cream at my mother's house when we get there?" she asked. "And I'm not asking for the world. I'm asking to get these children out of harm's way before someone tries to blow up a building."

"Never going to live that down, am I?" Sabo asked rhetorically. "I'll work on it."

And he was back on the phone again. While he spoke, six cars pulled up and created a long line down the street. Nami looked to Sabo and he nodded at her. Nami turned to the kids.

"Let's load up," Nami told them. "Four to a car. Better hurry, or that ice cream will melt."

The children moved with a swift purpose. They were all in the cars in about thirty seconds, all except Mako, who was insisting on holding Nami's hand. Nami relented to the child; she was going to the same place that they were. Soon, Sabo was ushering her into a car as well.

And Law.

Damn Law.

He grinned a shitty grin as he got into the car with all of them. Nami wanted to smack it off him, but as soon as she sat down, her cell phone rang. She knew who this caller would be.

"Hello," she greeted unenthusiastically.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?!?" was shouted from the other end of the phone. "Where the hell are you taking my operatives?"

It was so loud that even Sabo heard the shouting. He looked to Nami sharply and then down at Mako, who was picking her nails and oblivious to the conversation. Sabo mouthed the word operatives at Nami and pointed. Nami nodded. Sabo silently cursed.

"To get some ice cream," Nami answered truthfully. "At 11 Cocoyashi Street. We'll be back in an hour. I assume you'll have disposed of the problem by then."

There was silence on the line for at least thirty seconds.

"This is your way of 'getting rid of the Dragon's Brood?'" Crocodile asked, still furious.

"It's highly effective," Nami assured him. "I think I have the entire organization taking us there."

"The entire organization, eh?" Crocodile repeated, seeming less agitated. "I suppose I can let this one go. And yes, by the time you return, the district attorney will be disposed of."

"I'll see you in an hour then," Nami confirmed and hung up the phone. She looked at Law. "You may regret your decision to follow me."

Law smirked. "I doubt it. Besides, if the Croc decides to wreak revenge on you for this, I wanna be around to witness it. Like I said before, the Boss ain't gonna take kindly to someone else destroying one of his toys. He does anything to you, I get to wreak some of my own revenge in return."

"You're just hoping to score a good fight," Nami accused. Law smiled wider.

"Maybe," he chuckled.

Sabo sighed dramatically. "Can we please talk about the elephant in the room?"

Nami looked at Sabo and for a moment he resembled a child who was upset that no one was paying attention to him.

"In a minute," she promised him. They were only a few blocks from the house now. Sabo looked put out at being told to wait. Nami figured he wasn't used to not getting his way right away.

Well, he could just deal with it for a minute or two longer.

As the cars pulled up to Bell-mere's house, Nami spied an ice cream truck pulled up in front of it, and Bell-mere standing on the front steps arguing with the poor man who was the truck's employee.

"Mako, I want you to get out of the car for a second," Nami instructed. "I will be right behind you."

Mako looked a little wary, but she did as she was told. In the mean time, Nami crawled over the front seat to where Sabo and another man sat and flicked on the radio.

"The fuck?" Sabo squawked as Nami tuned the radio. She set the MHz to 87.75.

"Give that a listen," Nami told him and backed into the back seat again before emerging from the car. Mako waited for her and grabbed her hand again. Nami sighed a painful sigh and addressed her mother.

"That's for us," Nami called out, pointing to the ice cream truck.

Instantly, Bell-mere quieted. She looked at Nami with a combination of hurt and disbelief. Nami walked Mako over to the truck and pointed at the list of ice creams available as the rest of the children emerged from the cars. Bell-mere looked at them all in disbelief.

"Why is there an entire orphanage worth of children in front of my house getting ice cream?" Bell-mere asked.

"Which one do you want?" Nami asked Mako instead of answering Bell-mere. Mako stared wide eyed at the list. She looked back at Nami questioningly.

"Which one is ice cream?" Mako returned. Nami smiled at the child.

"All of them," Nami answered. "Do you want vanilla, strawberry, choco—"

"Chocolate!" Mako yelled suddenly.

Nami looked at the ice cream truck employee. "One chocolate ice cream please."

The kid in the truck looked at her a little dumbstruck for a moment, and then at the crowd of children that were gathering. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. You paid for the entire stock."

Nami knew she owed Sabo big time for this. The children all began shouting out what they wanted and Nami shushed them, deeming they line up and go one at a time. With the chaos controlled, Nami turned around and faced her mother.

Bell-mere looked pretty bad. Very drawn and sleep deprived. Smoker hadn't been doing anything right it seemed. Nami saw herself receiving the same scrutiny. In addition to looking pained and disbelieving, Bell-mere also looked pissed.

"So you can't manage to stay out of a fight even when you aren't living with me?" she asked. "You look like hell. What happened this time?"

"The usual," Nami dismissed. "But never mind that right now. Do you have a pen and piece of paper?"

Bell-mere had that look she usually got when she detected bullshit. Luckily, she didn't call Nami on hers. "In the house."

As Bell-mere left to get the items in question, Sabo came over to her and demanded her attention.

"Tell me just what the fuck is going on?" he insisted. "No bullshit. Why am I taking Crocodile's children half way across town for ice cream? And why do you look like you lost a prize fight?"

"Did you listen to the radio?" Nami returned.

"Yes, and there's only some static and wheezing," Sabo told her. "Hardly the explanation I demand."

Nami had promised she would answer him. But she knew she had to keep certain details to herself. She took a moment to think about what she was going to say. What could she say?

Bell-mere was back with the paper and pen. Nami took them and wrote 87.75 MHz on it. She held it up in front of Bell-mere and Sabo. "Do you know what this is?"

Bell-mere's eyebrows dropped into a frown. "I do."

"I don't," Sabo snapped. "What—hey!"

Before Sabo could ask what it meant, Nami was digging around in his pockets for his Zippo. When she found it, she lit the paper on fire and let it fall into the gutter. Soon it was ash dissipating in the wind.

"Does everyone have their ice cream?" Nami asked the crowd of children. There were a chorus of yeses. "Alright, back into the cars when you're finished. Remember to wipe your hands and face on a napkin."

Sabo sighed in disgust. "So I get nothing?"

"It's not nothing," Nami insisted. "And I can't explain it."

She gestured widely at the twenty-three children around her and mouthed, 'operatives.'

Sabo cursed vividly.

"Go back to the car," Nami told him. "I promise it will be worth it."

Nami smiled sheepishly at him. He looked like he was about to read her the riot act when her cell phone went off. Nami looked at the phone in disdain; she knew the number. It was Crocodile again.

Nami's shoulder's dropped and she mouthed 'Crocodile' at Sabo. He rolled his eyes and went back to the car. He opened the door and stood next to it, waiting for her to be done presumably.

"Hey, we're getting ready to come back—" Nami began, answering the call.

"Listen very carefully," Crocodile instructed. "I want you to gather the operatives around you and call out that you're practicing a lesson seven."

Nami watched as Sabo's head jerked toward the car. He was half way in the car in a moment. Well, at least he now understood the significance of the radio.

"What's that?"Nami asked, not sure what Crocodile was instructing.

"You'll see," Crocodile promised her. "And if you're smart, you'll do it too."

He hung up. Nami felt very uneasy. Something was off. But she knew better than to disobey Crocodile so blatantly, so she called the children back together.

"Is everyone here?" Nami asked, doing a head count. She saw twenty-three heads. She had everyone. "Okay. Right now, we're going to practice lesson seven."

Instantly, half of the children dropped to the ground. The others looked around and followed suit after a few seconds as well. Nami caught on to what lesson seven was: hit the deck.

She grabbed Bell-mere's arm and yanked her to the ground as well. Bell-mere barely got out squawk of protest before squealing tires could be heard along with a roaring engines. Nami put an arm over Bell-mere for good measure to keep her down while Sabo cursed loudly, jumping out of the car.

"Fuck! It's an ambush! Get out of the cars!" he cried.

But it was too late. The shots were firing down the line of cars as the assassin's vehicles sped down the street.

A/N: Exciting cliffhanger for you. I know you're all thrilled. It's ramping up now for the climax in the next three chapters. Let me know how I'm doing on keeping it read-worthy. Cheers!