The Straw Hat's Red Devil - Sky Island Saga (No 3)

by DeadGirlEtarnal

She's the Daughter of Red-Haired Shanks; she was dropped off to live with Luffy. She met Ace & Sabo, but when Sabo died, it was the last for her as she vows to take revenge. Years later she leaves the island and sets on adventures of her own, she soon meets up with her baby brother and travels with him, finding love in more than one place. I ONLY OWN MY OCS!

29. SA - Part 4: Stop Operation Utopia

SAVING ALABASTA - PART 4: STOP OPERATION UTOPIA

Alabasta Saga - Alabasta Arc - Episode 111 - 127

DAKOTA'S POV:

"Vivi, what's wrong?" Usopp asks the princess.

"There's a sandstorm over towards Rainbase! It's him!" Vivi announces, and I look up to see the large storm where we left Luffy, I cling onto my desert robes, to stop myself from interfering with Luffy's fight with Crocodile.

"Luffy…" Nami mutters, and I look back down into my lap.

"He'll be okay, Kota," Zoro assures me, using the nickname he gave me and I nod.

"I know, but I'm scared to lose anyone else, I can't, not anymore," I tell him in a hushed tone, but I know he heard me as he places his large manly hand on my head and I feel my cheeks grow warm.

"I know," I hear him whisper back.

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I fall back as Zoro moves away, I look over to see him and Sanji leaning towards each other in a heated argument at a time like this, I sit up growing annoyed. "You wanna go at it?!" They snap at each other and Nami wallops over their heads, knocking them down.

"Cut it out! This is pointless!" Nami snaps at them.

"Take it easy, everyone. Luffy won't lose. I mean we promised him, didn't we? That we'd be waiting for him in Alubarna?" Vivi asks us, looking as worried as the rest of us.

"You seem more worried than any of us, don't you?!" Usopp questions, then Nami taps her on the forehead.

"You should just worry about the rebellion," Nami tells her as the princess rubs her forehead and the boys get up from Nami's hit.

"Sorry about that, Vivi." Sanji apologises.

"If you have to cover for us, we're done for." Zoro comments, looking grim.

"All right, then, switch your minds over to 'Alubarna'! Let's go, Scissors!" Nami orders the crab, and it picks up speed.

"What's that?" Usopp asks her.

"A name for the crab," Nami tells him.

"You made that up!" Usopp snaps.

"No good?" Nami asks him, giving him a glare.

"Nothing wrong with it." He replies, cowering away from her mean glare.

"What a baby." I tease him, and he looks over at me as I say it loud enough.

"Hey!" He complains, and the sun finally sets behind the sand dunes, and the night sky takes over as we grow closer to the Sandora River. "What?! We can't cross the river with this crab?!"

"Moving Crabs are creatures of the desert, so they don't take to water," Vivi explains.

"But it's a crab, right? A crab! Not a lobster! Do something! Hey, this is a problem. Not good. Look here." He says and gets out the map, pointing at the river that splits the island. "If we just blithely swim across this river, as wide as a sea, we're not going to make it in time! And look! After we cross the river, there's still dozens of kilometres worth of desert! If this crab can't get to the other shore, are we supposed to run from there on?!" He asks, and he's got a point and what about Chopper and me?

"We don't have a choice." Nami points out.

"There's no way we'll make it in time! It's absolutely impossible!" Usopp exclaims.

"Uh, oh. Hey, the river!" Sanji announces. "I can see Sandora River!"

"What?!" Usopp gasps as he crawls over.

"Do something, Scissors!" Nami begs the crab.

"I know! Scissors loves dancer girls!" Chopper informs us, and Nami throws off her desert robes, revealing her dancer girl outfit underneath.

"Will this do?" She asks.

"Probably." Chopper grumbles as both Eyelash and Sanji drool at her appearance, and even Scissors turns his eyes on her. "Ah, he's looking this way!" The crab seems to enjoy the view as he starts picking up speed. "We're accelerating!"

"Nami!" Sanji swoons after her.

"You've now messed up two animals with all this nonsense!" Zoro snaps.

"All right, pervy power!" Chopper cheers.

"So, what has this solved? Chopper!" Usopp demands as we reach the water and the crab speeds up as he runs over the water.

"Go!" Chopper orders him as he rushes across the water. "He did it!" I get to my feet, not sure how long it will last.

"Hey, now, this crab is incredible! I don't believe it!" Sanji gapes like the rest of us.

"Whoa, way to go! It's a miracle! Just stay on the water, and run! Run, run, run all the way! Go! You can make it! Keep going! You can do it! This crab can do it!" Usopp cheers but soon the crab begins to sink into the water. "Hey, what's this?! Am I imagining things, or are we sinking? We are sinking here!" He yells and the crab sinks into the water, I cling onto Zoro as he swims.

"No time to whine about it. Keep moving forward." Zoro snaps at him as we move forward.

"H-hold on a second! Aren't there any boats? How many kilometres to the other shore?" Usopp asks Vivi.

"About 50 km." She answers him much to his horror.

"Who can swim that?!" Usopp shrieks.

"Thank you! Thank you, Scissors!" Chopper waves goodbye to the giant crab from Sanji's shoulders.

"This is no time to be casually waving goodbye!" Usopp picks on the reindeer, and something appears out of the water, in our way.

"What?!" We all scream as we look at the large fish with sharp teeth towering in front of us.

"It's a rare Sandoran catfish! They're only very rarely seen!" Vivi exclaims.

"You don't have to explain that!" Usopp shouts as it dives into the water, creating large waves.

"Also, humans are their favourite food!" She shouts over the crashing waves.

"You might tell us that first!" Usopp shouts when something underneath the giant catfish begins beating it, we all watch in shock at the scene in front of us as the large catfish lifts out of the water with dozens of Kung Fu Dugongs flying up with it before it splashes back down. "Kung Fu Dugongs?!" We all swim over to the beaten catfish and hop on as Chopper explains what the Dugongs are doing as they start pulling the catfish towards the other side of the river.

"They say they won't neglect their senior pupils." Chopper finishes explaining.

"Well, it's not like we're Luffy's pupils or anything…" Usopp complains a little.

"They did save us." I point out as I dry myself.

"All right. Just a little further! Hang in there!" Usopp encourages them.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

We make it to the shore and hop off the fish that gains consciousness and swims away quickly from the dugongs. "Thank you!" Vivi waves goodbye.

"Bye-bye!" Chopper waves goodbye as well.

"Things have been going smoothly. Can we make it?" Zoro asks the princess.

"That's a tough one. Even riding on Eyelash, I'm not sure there's enough time." She tells us.

"What's more, he could only carry, uh… two of us! And if Baroque Works is going to attack us, it will be from here on. Isn't there any way for all of us to act together?" Usopp asks and is met with silence. "Damn, there isn't, huh?" The wind shifts and I look over into the distance to see something coming towards us fast.

"Look over there!" I exclaim as I point out and the others all look in the same direction.

"What, is it the enemy? A-a-are they here already?!" Usopp stutters, beginning to panic.

"N-no! That's…! Karoo!" Vivi shouts as the sand clears to see a flock of ducks heading towards us with seven other ducks all with different hats on. "And the Supersonic Duck Squadron!" They come to a fast halt in front of us. "You've come to get us, haven't you?!" They salute us. "Karoo!" She runs towards her bird and hugs him, looking close to tears. "Everyone quickly!" We all hop onto a random bird, I get on the one with a blue sunhat, and we begin running into the desert. However, Vivi rides on Eyelash as we go over the plan, leaving two of the ducks' saddles empty as we continue on our way to Alubarna.

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The sun begins to rise as we grow closer to Alubarna and come to a stop to let Eyelash and Vivi onto the two remaining ducks and put on the matching cloaks to hide our identities as we begin running again, letting Vivi stay behind as we take on the Number Agents that are waiting for us. As we grow closer, the Number Agents become clearer, which means they spotted us and the big green one gets a cannon and fires something towards us, it lands in the sand in front of us, but it doesn't detonate on impact. "Stay away from it!" Zoro orders and we begin to split up as planned, Sanji and Chopper head towards the South Gate, and it looks like two of the agents are splitting up as predicted.

"Special Attack: Fire Star!" Usopp exclaims as him and I along with Eyelash run past the agents, he launches his attack, aiming for the big guy who stops it with his hand as Nami and Zoro head for the West Gate. I ram into the pink coated ballerina the others told me about as he gets in the way and Usopp rams into the woman dressed in blue. "Okay, we're going to the Southwest Gate!" Usopp puts on a girlish voice as we run off heading for the gate, leading all of the agents away for Vivi to stop the rebel army.

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3RD POV:

Usopp, Eyelash and Dakota head into the Southwest Gate with Mr 2 and Miss Hallows Eve following behind them, the three ducks run up the stairs towards the royal army who allow them through, and they run deep into the city when they come to a sudden stop. "Thanks for following us all the way here," Dakota tells them with a smirk under the hood of the cloak.

"What?!" Mr 2 exclaims in surprise.

"You moron!" Miss Hallows Eve snaps at the male ballerina.

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With Zoro and Nami, they run deep into the city's West side with Mr 1 and Miss Doublefinger close behind them. "Stop! Stop!" Nami orders the ducks who come to a sudden stop, turning around to face the top two Number Agents. "You guys have good instincts! That's right, I'm Princess Vivi!"

"What are you talking-" Zoro snaps in his normal voice but switches quickly to his best female voice. "Er, talking about? I'm the real Vivi."

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Outside the Southeast Gate within the ruins, Sanji and Chopper come to a stop with Miss Merry Christmas and Mr 4 who slowly catch up to them also stop. "I wonder if this is far enough?" Sanji wonders in a feminine voice. "It's amusing how well you folks have fallen for this. Now…" Sanji starts to remove the cloak along with Chopper. "Let us show you who we really are."

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All of the Straw Hat crew along with Eyelash take their hoods away to reveal to the Baroque Works agents that they've been duped. "Too bad, you guessed wrong!" They all say together in separate places within the city of Alubarna.

"What?!" The agents all shout in surprise.

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In the Southwest part of the city with Usopp, Eyelash and Dakota facing off against Mr 2 and Miss Hallows Eve the agents aren't happy about being duped by the pirates and a camel. "A camel?! And I know you from earlier! Though I don't know you!" Mr 2 snaps and points towards the three of them as he talks, though Usopp clings onto Eyelash in fear.

"S-sorry!" Usopp apologises with tears running down his face.

"Don't apologise!" Dakota snaps at the cowering sniper.

"How pathetic." Miss Hallows Eve mutters, shaking her head.

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On the West side of the city with Nami and Zoro facing off against Mr 1 and Miss Doublefinger, Zoro keeps trying to get Nami to stay next to him following Dakota's words of warning but the strawberry blond is too scared by the Number Agents. "Go on, Zoro! Let them have it!" Nami tries to cheer for him, but he won't budge.

"You keep quiet! Get here!" Zoro snaps at the navigator.

"They got us." Mr 1 grumbles in disappointment.

"How much was that debt, again?" Nami plays the same card as always.

"You've already forgiven that!" Zoro snaps at her.

"Quite the farce, huh?" Miss Doublefinger mutters as she watches them.

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At the ruins outside of the city's Southeast Gate, Chopper and Sanji stand in front of Mr 4 and Miss Merry Christmas who aren't happy about being played. "There's not going to be a rebellion now," Sanji tells them.

"What?!" Miss Merry Christmas exclaims in anger.

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In the Southwest part of the city, Mr 2 jumps into action as he aims a kick towards Usopp and Eyelash as Miss Hallows Eve runs towards Dakota, the fight is over quickly between Mr 2 and Usopp along with Eyelash. "Morons." Dakota hisses as she clashes fists with the woman clad in blue. "Stomp! Ivan X! Go get help!" Dakota orders the ducks who salute before running off. "Sunny! Get those two out of here!" Dakota orders her duck who salutes her before dragging Eyelash into an alleyway as she dodges another hit coming from the woman. Dakota jumps away, flipping in the air heading towards Mr 2, kicking him into a building as he turns into Usopp now dressed in his clothes.

"Miss Hallows-Eve!" Mr 2 now as Usopp orders his female partner as he comes struggling out of the building.

"Shut up! You damn ballerina!" Miss Hallows Eve snaps at him, and she throws out her hand, a blue ring of light, she flicks her hand out, the circle of blue light flies towards the disguised Mr 2, and he disappears, reappearing outside the city.

"What the hell!" Dakota exclaims as she looks in shock.

"I'm a Portal Woman." Miss Hallows Eve explains with a grin. "I can create portals big or small, and they can open up wherever I choose." She leaves out a few weaknesses making Dakota worry about who she's up against.

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The afternoon after the crew met Mr 2 and witnessed his Devil Fruit though meeting Miss Hallows Eve quickly, the pirate crew came up with a plan to counter the Clone Clone Fruit. "Listen up. That degenerate's transformations are perfect. There's no telling when he might pose as one of us, and make an attempt on Vivi's life. If you feel that any of us is acting the least bit suspicious, take off this wrapping, and show each other your marks." Zoro explained and pulled at the bandage wrapped around his arm to reveal a blue cross underneath. "If they can't do that, they're a fake."

"Whoa, having a two-stage plan is uncharacteristically smart of you. So does that mean you're that degenerate already?!" Sanji asked him, angering the swordsman.

"I'll cut you down!" Zoro threatened the cook.

"Ah, that's Zoro." Luffy sighed.

"That is Zoro." Usopp sighed as he wiped his brow.

"Dummies," Dakota muttered under her breath.

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Dakota throws a punch at the Baroque Works agent, who tries stopping it but the force of the punch sends her flying deeper into the city. "Sunny, protect Usopp and Eyelash!" Dakota tells the bird who nods rapidly as Dakota runs off to find the female agent.

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"Dammit! I sent her too far away!" Dakota scolds herself as she runs past all of the buildings going deeper into the city trying to find the agent.

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Once everyone had put the marks on their arms along with placing the bandages over their marks, the group of friends all stood in a circle with their left arms all placed within the circle showing off their bandages. "It's a sign of our friendship!" Luffy told the others with a grin, Karoo seemed moved to tears as he began crying.

"Oh, what are you crying about, Karoo?" Usopp asked him, gaining the others attention.

"Leave the duck alone!" Dakota scolded the sniper.

"Leave it to us! Vivi is our friend." Luffy told him, holding up his left arm, making the duck tear up even more.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

Dakota runs, seeing one of the buildings in front of her completely demolished, she comes to a stop as the bricks start moving and a light comes from the cracks, Dakota looks around as it goes dark again. Dakota falls through a portal that suddenly appears under her feet, she falls through finding herself high above the ground, free-falling towards the ground. "Akuma Akuma no Demon-Human Form: Demonic Wings!" Dakota shouts as she falls towards the ground picking up speed as black bat-like wings sprout from her back through her desert robes, tearing the material. Dakota flaps the wings in time to avoid the ground just in time though another portal opens up in front of her, too quick for her to avoid again as she flies through, ending up going through another portal one after the other. It feels like hours as Dakota continuously flies through the same two portals in the same spot as Miss Hallows Eve walks towards her and she closes the portal in front of Dakota as she flies through the first one. Dakota flies into one of the buildings, breaking the sidewall, the brick crumbling over her as Miss Hallows Eve laughs.

"Poor baby. You honestly think you can defeat me?! I don't think so!" Miss Hallows Eve snarls as she moves her hands out in front with a sinister grin as a large portal opens up underneath the building Dakota is inside as it sinks through. Miss Hallows Eve throws her arm up into the air making another portal appear showing the building in front of her crumbling apart through the portal, parts of the building fall towards Miss Hallows Eve but no Dakota.

"Watch what you say, bitch!" Dakota snaps as she appears behind the woman as she kicks her in the back, sending her into her own portal. The portal above suddenly closes, and another opens in front of Dakota with Miss Hallows Eve jumping up sending a blow at the redhead's chin, sending her into the air, another portal opens up above the floating woman where Miss Hallows Eve's foot appears, kicking her back down into the ground. Dakota slams into the ground, cracking it on impact, she coughs out blood as she lies on the ground, and Miss Hallows Eve slowly walks towards her, thinking she's won.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

Out within the Southeast Gate ruins, Miss Merry Christmas and Mr 4 lie in the sand beaten badly by Chopper and Usopp who too is badly beaten as he falls back into the sand after seeing that the two Number Agents aren't getting back up as an explosion goes off. "Usopp! Hold on! Don't you die! Someone get a Doctor! A Doctor!" Chopper shouts into the desert in a panic at his beaten friend, who slaps some sense back into the panicking reindeer.

"That's you!" Usopp snaps at him, and at the Southeast Gate Battle, the winners are Chopper and Usopp.

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Miss Hallows Eve stands over Dakota's lying form with a smirk, thinking she's won. But Dakota kicks out her legs, sending the woman on her back, as Dakota jumps to her feet, and throws her arm out, coating it in Armament Haki before punching into the ground as Miss Hallows Eve disappears into a portal that quickly closes up after her. Dakota closes her eyes, allowing her Observation Haki trying to sense the oncoming portal woman as she appears next to Dakota, who moves out of the way in time. Miss Hallows Eve opens another one, and Dakota keeps moving out of the way with her eyes closed, but rebel and royal soldiers come fighting their way through towards the women as they fight. Dakota becomes distracted as one of the rebels comes towards them. "No, stop!" Dakota shouts and Miss Hallows Eve opens a portal, sending her fist through, opening a portal by Dakota's face, punching her clear across the face while she's distracted. Dakota falls to the ground, and the royal army soldier trips over her fallen body, and the rebel soldier slices him down.

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Within the city's South Block, Mr 2 lies on the ground after the series of kicks Sanji gave him, Sanji walks over to the fallen ballerina to see he's still conscious. They exchange a few words making the Number Agent cry a little as Sanji offers his hand which he takes before Sanji kicks him on the side of the head, taking Usopp's goggles back. In the Battle of Polka Street in the South Block of Alubarna, Sanji wins his fight with a prize of a little camaraderie with the male ballerina.

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Dakota clumsily gets to her feet as she looks over her shoulder at the fallen soldier and looks up at the rebel soldier, she kicks him around the face sending him into one of the buildings. "Idiot." Dakota spits as she looks over at Miss Hallows Eve who frowns at the younger woman. "I'm done being nice, I'm done being beaten by you! Akuma-Akuma no Demon Form: Aldinach!" Dakota's skin begins to turn crimson as her hair turns silver. "Flood of tears!" She throws her arms out, as water flows out of her hands, rushing towards, knocking her off her feet, sending her a few meters away.

"Is that all you've got!" Miss Hallows Eve hisses as she gets to her feet and Dakota rips off her desert robes, revealing her red dancer girl outfit underneath.

"No, I've got more!" Dakota snaps back as she swipes her arm out in front of her creating a strong gust of wind, knocking Miss Hallows Eve onto her back and tossing her away again.

"You freaky demon girl, you're playing a dangerous game." She warns Dakota, but she just grins.

"You know, I used to be an assassin, I was offered your position actually, but I declined, I guess you were just Crocodile's second choice or maybe third." Dakota digs at her, angering the woman clad in blue.

"Portal Portal Multiple Changes!" She yells as portals open all around Dakota, she looks around waiting for an attack as Miss Hallows Eve opens another portal in front of her, she steps in, disappearing but a dozen portals remain.

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In the North Block of Alubarna, Nami sits by one of the buildings with a Miss Doublefinger silhouette hole as she raises her new weapon in the air in victory as the Battle behind the Mehdi Assembly Hall finally has a winner.

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Dakota waits for the attack to come as she stands within the middle of the dozen portals when Miss Hallows Eve starts hitting her, Dakota flies to the next one, getting hit again by Miss Hallows Eve's fist, Dakota falls forward and is met with another fist hitting her in the cheek, sending her to the floor with another fist aiming towards her, before the hit can meet Dakota's flesh, she grabs hold of her wrist and snaps the bone with her superhuman strength before she reverts back to her usual self and dives under the portals as they begin to disappear. Dakota gets to her feet quickly as Miss Hallows Eve walks out of a portal holding her right wrist in her hand with bruising beginning to form around the broken ligament. "So sorry, but we've played for too long," Dakota growls as she charges at the woman, holding her arm out as she hits the woman's neck, sending her to the floor. "I won't let all that Vivi has worked for, go to waste." Dakota punches her in the stomach, crumbling the stone underneath, thinking she's finished starts to walk away but falls down into another portal.

"You stupid child," Miss Hallows Eve snarls as she gets to her feet, and drops Dakota onto the ground in front of her. "So like your idiot Captain, and soon you'll join him in death." Dakota snaps her eyes towards the woman clad in blue with anger, she opens a portal in front of her, she kicks Dakota through before she can move to stop her. Dakota finds herself falling to the ground again, and sprouts her wings, catching herself in time and flies towards Miss Hallows Eve who drops into a portal.

"My brother may have lost to Crocodile, I'll accept that, but he's too stubborn to die!" Dakota yells as she flies up above the buildings as Miss Hallows Eve opens a portal in mid-air grabbing onto the leathery wings, tugging her down towards the ground, but Dakota halts her fall quickly. The portal closes before Dakota can reach her and another opens in front of the demon woman who manoeuvres out of the way of each portal as they open and close as quickly as they come.

"Stand still!" Miss Hallows Eve sneers as she opens another portal over Dakota, grabbing her wings, making her fall towards the ground as she straightens her wings out to half her fall again. Dakota flies up high into the sky, seeing that the portals can't go much higher than just above the buildings. Dakota flies over the buildings just out of reach of the portals as Miss Hallows Eve follows behind her, opening portals after portal as she chases after the red-head. "Dammit! She's fast!" Dakota flies higher into the sky before falling towards the open portal as Miss Hallows Eve appears out in a split second, Dakota punches the blue-clad woman in the stomach than another hit in the face.

"Stay down!" Dakota exclaims as she sharpens her nails into talons slicing into her neck, shallow enough to survive, and she falls onto the top of a building. "Damn woman." Dakota feels faint all of a sudden and begins to fall towards the ground as her wings disappear.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

In another location within the North Block of the city Alubarna, Zoro finally able to cut through steel as he defeats Mr 1 in the Battle in front of the Mehdi Assembly Hall not far from Nami. He falls onto his front feeling the blood loss but happy to have won his battle, wondering how everyone is doing at that very moment, thinking about...

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… That morning, as they discussed the plan and drew lots to see who was pairing up with who, Usopp drew the same as Eyelash leaving only Dakota left. "What?! I have to pair with Eyelash?! He's a camel for god's sake! Don't underestimate how weak I am!" Usopp complained and Dakota sighed at the whining.

"It was because you were unlucky in the raffle! Just give up!" Sanji snapped at him as they all put on their matching cloaks.

"All right, then! Then promise me one thing. When we're in a pinch…! Make sure you save us, please!" Usopp begged the cook.

Dummy. I only save ladies." Sanji told him as he looked at the bowing sniper.

"Don't worry Usopp, I'll go with you," Dakota announced and the sniper started crying along with Eyelash.

"Oh, Killer, thank you!" Usopp wept.

"Thank you… everyone…" Vivi told the others as they got ready.

"It's too early to thank us," Zoro replied as he stood next to Dakota.

"He's right. Besides, if you wanna thank pirates… you have to let us see some goods…" Nami grinned.

"Just what are you trying to leach out of this country?!" Usopp gasped at the audacity of her request, and they all climbed onto their ducks then began to trot towards the city.

"Oh yeah, Vivi. just remember this. After a battle… That guy eats tons…" Sanji reminded the princess.

"Yes…" She answered him and looked up to the sky as dawn began to break.

"Now, this will be the crucial point," Sanji told the others, and they broke out into a run.

"Don't goof it up!" Zoro warned the others as they ran towards Alubarna.

"Let's go! See you at the Alubarna Palace!" Sanji shouted back at the princess.

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Dakota falls towards the ground picking up speed as below her, Zoro gets clumsily to his feet and looks up as he stretches, making his wounds worse, and he looks up to see Dakota falling towards him, he steps around trying to find where she'll fall. He lunges forward in time catching her, he staggers a little at the weight that suddenly falls into his arms as he looks at her beaten form. "Hey! Dakota! Wake up! Dammit, woman! Come on!" Zoro snaps in fear, but he sees her eyes moving and moves in closer, close enough to feel her breath on his lips and leans in further as she snaps her eyes open to see the greenette's face leaning close to her, she leans in as their lips almost touch for the second time when Nami finds the two of them.

"Hey! Come on, you two!" Nami snaps, and they pull away, looking over at the strawberry blond who grins back at their glares.

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DAKOTA'S POV:

Zoro ends up carrying Nami on his back as we run through the streets of Alubarna with royal and rebel soldiers all fighting each other along with Baroque Works' minions added in and dust making it hard to see. "Again, I'm saying that my injuries are obviously worse than yours." Zoro points out as we run through the streets heading for the Royal Palace.

"You're a man, so stop whining! My leg is injured! I can't stand!" Nami argues with Zoro when a Baroque Works minion steps out into our path, and I punch him out of the way so Zoro can focus on carrying Nami. "Ahh, I'm fainting. This is bad." Nami plays around.

"You're lying!" Zoro snaps as we reach the Square to find the others all standing in front of the stairs.

"Ahhh! What the hell, Vivi?! You're hurt so bad!" I hear Sanji cry out to the princess who comes into focus and Nami jumps off Zoro's back running towards the mummy of Usopp, hitting him over the head with her new weapon.

"Usopp!" Nami snaps at the sniper as he falls to the ground in pain.

"Nami… Mr Bushido… Dakota… everyone's alive…" Vivi sighs in relief.

"Ever had any doubts?" I joke as I stand with Zoro looking as if he's keel over anytime.

"Who asked you to create a prop for parties?" Nami snaps at Usopp.

"Hey, you're standing!" Zoro snaps at our navigator.

"Nami!" Sanji swoons over her. "Dakota!" He swoons over me next as we're both showing off our dancer girl outfits.

"It… it did have a powerful attack, didn't it?" Usopp asks her as he lies on the floor, tears falling from the new injury.

"I'll deal with you later!" Nami promises and walks over to the princess. "Vivi… so what's going on? What's with this dust devil?" She asks her, changing her tune.

"Yeah…" Vivi replies, beginning to tell her.

"Hey, you jerk! Why are Nami and Dakota injured?! I'm gonna gut you!" Sanji snaps at the wounded swordsman.

"They're fine, aren't they…?" Zoro replies, struggling for breath and I place my hand on his back, trying to heal some of his injuries. "Don't, you're hurt enough." He tells me, and I pull away nodding.

"Ahh… Chopper, I have a favour to ask. Will you bury my body in a wasteland?" Usopp requests when he pretends to faint, freaking the innocent Chopper out.

"He's already got fatal wounds!" Chopper panics.

"Sorry, guys. I lost against him once… so… so… I won't lose again! I'll leave the rest to you!" Luffy tells us, and I smile at the goofball.

"Go already," Zoro replies.

"If you can't win… who can?!" Usopp encourages our Captain.

"I'm gonna put an end… to all this!" He vows and looks back at us.

"Yeah!" The coward squad cheers him on as we all smile.

"Everyone… I still have… this many friends…" Vivi tears up, wiping them away as Luffy springs up to fight Crocodile.

"You bastard!" Luffy growls as he goes to face the sandman, leaving us to do the rest and Vivi gasps sharply and begins telling us what we've been left to do.

"What?! A cannonball will be shot into the Square in ten minutes?!" Usopp exclaims in surprise at Crocodile's scheme.

"That's right. The attack is scheduled at 4:30." She confirms.

"4:30?!" Nami exclaims at how little time we have.

"What?!" Chopper gasps.

"Once it's shot, no one within a 5 km diameter will survive. That's what Crocodile said!" Vivi explains.

"Within a 5 km diameter… then…" Nami stutters at the thought of how large amount of damage this bomb will do.

"Both the royal army and the rebel army will be completely destroyed!" Chopper points out.

"That damn Crocodile." Sanji sneers.

"Wh-what the hell will we do?" Usopp asks us.

"Find the cannoneer, duh," I answer him.

"What?" Usopp exclaims.

"We'll stop the attack!" Zoro orders us as the First Mate.

"Find the cannoneer?" Chopper repeats.

"So how do we find him?!" Usopp demands.

"In ten minutes?!" Nami points out.

"We don't have time to think, right?!" Zoro snaps at us.

"But a 5 km diameter means this guy's aiming at least 2.5 km from here, right?!" Usopp questions.

"No, that's not true! The cannoneer is probably near this Square!" Vivi argues.

"What?! Why?! If that's the case, the cannoneer will also be blown up…" Usopp exclaims.

"So that's the kind of man Crocodile is…" Nami sneers.

"He doesn't care if his own men die?!" Chopper exclaims.

"That's been proven already," I mutter.

"What a crafty bastard…" Sanji spits.

"Let's go already!" Zoro tells us when the new guy raises his sword, I look behind Vivi to see a large shadow looming over her, Sanji and Zoro take him down quickly, and more minions surround us.

"We found you, Princess Vivi! I wonder how far I'll be promoted if I kill you…" One of the goons sneers.

"Billions!" Vivi exclaims.

"Ten minutes minus how many seconds?!" Sanji questions as he looks at Zoro.

"Hey, we're wasting time by talking." Zoro snaps at the cook.

"Two seconds!" The boys agree and start beating the Billions down as we all run off.

"We'll go on ahead!" I shout back at them as we run off, heading away from the fighting.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

We run off further into the dust devil as we start our search for the cannoneer. "Let's split up! At any rate, we gotta get out of this dust devil first!" Usopp yells over the fighting, and we split into groups, I jump up onto the top of nearby buildings, running on the roofs, jumping from rooftop to rooftop but I still can't find anything resembling a cannon. I stop as I look around seeing nothing on any of the buildings' rooftops and sigh, thinking to myself as I look around all of the buildings as time runs out, with only 5 minutes left to find the cannoneer. I jump back towards the Square.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

I jump onto another rooftop when I see a stream of red smoke heading towards the sky, I dash over towards the building's street-side, jumping over the wide gap heading for the red smoke. I look down to see Baroque Works Billions in the streets, I jump down, creating a cloud of dust, and attack them as they're distracted and look around yet I don't see Usopp anywhere, I look on the ground, and something catches my eye, it's 'CLOCKTOWER', I look up towards the tower and grunt as more agents come towards me, I snarl as I pull out my daggers, slicing them down. "I don't have time for this! Get out of my way" I yell as I start running heading towards the Clocktower as more people get in my way.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

I finally reach the Clocktower to see Zoro standing up at the top of the building with Sanji leaning out of one of the windows and Usopp, Chopper, Nami and Vivi standing in the street. "But Zoro can destroy the tower wall and…" Usopp tries to think up a plan.

"We don't know if the cannonball can bear that kind of shock!" Vivi argues. "We have no choice but to go up the stairs after all!"

"What stairs are those?" I ask as I walk over to them.

"Dakota!" Everyone yells, and I raise an eyebrow at their cheer at seeing me.

"Hi, there!" I wave, feeling unsure.

"I've got an idea!" Nami exclaims as she looks at me and suddenly the Clocktower face begins to slowly open, we all look up to see an old man and a woman wearing a frog costume.

"Who the hell are they?!" I exclaim as I look at them.

"Mr 7! Miss Father's Day!" Vivi gasps at the sight of them, not good.

"They've lit the fuse!" Usopp cries out, and Nami pushes me towards Vivi.

"Get her up there!" Nami orders me, and I pull the princess into my arms.

"Get ready to jump high," I tell her and she looks at me in shock. "Teleport." We disappear then reappear by Sanji and Vivi jumps into the air. "Teleport." I snap, feeling the strain as I grab onto the falling princess as we disappear again.

"10!" I hear the goons up at the entrance shouting into the air above us as we reappear by Zoro and Vivi jumps again, and the two goons notice us.

"Oh, no!" Vivi gasps.

"Miss Wednesday!" They gasp.

"Teleport!" I yell as I cough up blood and grab onto the princess one final time as we disappear and reappear in front of the duo with their guns drawn towards us. "Vivi, jump!" I snap and get out my daggers, throwing them at them, hitting Mr 7 in the neck and Miss Father's Day in the chest, Vivi comes towards me, and I grab hold onto her arm throwing her towards the opening, she lands on the rim with her weapon drawn to slice the fuse before it can ignite. The two goons fall down as she lands and I hold onto the rim, trying to pull myself up when Vivi comes over, pulling me up and I hear a faint ticking coming from inside the cannon.

"There's a problem! Everyone!" Vivi shouts down to the others.

"Vivi?!" Nami shouts back.

"The cannonball has a timing device! If we don't do something, it'll explode!" She tells them, and I hang my head, trying to calm my breathing.

"What?!" The others all shout.

"Dakota! Could you send it away!" Vivi pleads with me.

"I wish I could, but even if I did a Demonic Shift, I'd shred my organs, and I can barely move. I'm sorry." I tell her, and she nods as she looks into the cannon at the cannonball.

"Dammit! What the hell…! The attack was stopped, but the cannonball…" Sanji growls.

"... has a timing device?!" Chopper yells.

"If it has the power to destroy a 5 km diameter, the Square and the town won't survive after all!" Zoro concludes.

"What's gonna happen?! Does this mean that it was impossible from the start to stop the explosion in the Square?" Usopp questions and it reaches up to Vivi as she pounds on the rim of the cannon.

"He made us come this far to look for it…! He even announced the attack...! Just how far…" Vivi cries and falls to her knees as she holds onto the rim of the cannon. "...does he have to go to make fools of us?! Just how much does he have to mock us?! Crocodile!" She screams with anguish and someone steps into the Clocktower.

"Hey, birdman." I greet him, and Vivi looks over to see him.

"Pell!" She exclaims in surprise at his sudden arrival.

"This place brings back memories… the Sand Sand Clan's secret base…" Pell reminisce.

"Pell, listen! The cannonball has a timing device and is ready to explode at any moment!" Vivi tries to tell him, but he keeps talking.

"Your unprecedented actions really gave us lots of trouble all the time," Pell says, and I realise he's saying goodbye to the princess. "I feel proud from the bottom of my heart that I was able to serve you, the Nefertari Family." He changes into his Falcon form, and I move towards the princess, stopping her from getting in the way as he takes the bomb in his talons and heads towards the sky.

"Pell! Stop! Pell!" She screams into my ear as he goes higher and the time runs out, I throw my arm out behind me.

"Demonic Shift," I whisper and aim for Pell, even if I can shift him a couple of seconds as it explodes he'll survive. I look up into the sky as the bomb detonates, clearing the dust devil away and I hope that I could save Pell for Vivi, the shock of the explosion is still enough to shatter windows, throw rocks and people with the strong gale wind it created. "I'm sorry, Vivi," I mutter as I cough my more blood, feeling my insides trying desperately to repair themselves and I hear nothing, till it soon returns, the shouts of fighting as the soldiers all get to their feet and continue the pointless battle.

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!" Vivi continuously shouts into the air, but none of the soldiers hears her pleas as they continue to fight with one another. "Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

"Vivi! They can't hear you!" I snap at her and cough more blood up.

"Please… stop fighting!" She screams, ignoring me as she tries to reach her people. I get to my feet with the last of my strength and jump down towards the others as Nami grabs Usopp as I land behind them, I fall to my knees at the rough landing as we all rush into the Square to stop the men from fighting.

"Hey, look…. Look there!" Sanji yells, and we all look over to the cook to see him pointing, we all follow to see a familiar figure in the air.

"Crocodile?!" We all exclaim as he falls towards the ground, in the middle of this conflict he created.

"I don't know why he flew out from such a place, but…" Sanji says as we all watch his descent.

"That's right! I knew it from the start! But in any case…" Usopp exclaims as we all can't help the smiles and tears.

"He won!" We cheer for our Captain, and I jump to hug Zoro, who catches me with a grunt from pain because of his wounds.

"Oops, sorry." I cringe as I look at him.

"Please stop fighting!" I hear Vivi scream again, and I feel a shift in the air as drops of water seem to be falling, I look up as more begins to fall till it becomes a downpour and the men seem to be hesitating in their attacks.

"The air is clearing up due to the rain…" Chopper states and the dust begins to disappear, making it clear all around us in the Palace Square.

"Please don't fight… any more…!" Vivi screams, and this time everyone hears her anguish.

"Vivi's voice has reached everyone…" Nami sighs and some of the men talk among themselves as they all stare at the Clocktower where the princess stands, and Crocodile finally crashes to the ground gaining their attention as they crowd around his fallen form.

"Sir Crocodile...? How come he fell into a place like this…?" The men question.

"'Sir' Crocodile, you said?! I'll tell them what he did to this country," Usopp growls as he steps towards them, but Sanji holds onto his head, stopping the sniper.

"Wait a sec. Just stay here." Sanji tells him, and we look over to the Clocktower.

"The rain falling right now… will fall again as it used to… since our nightmares are… all over…" Vivi announces, and I look at Zoro with a smile and I feel myself start to blush crimson as my hair and I start to lean in towards him, I see him leaning towards me with a making blush, and our lips finally meet, I smile into the kiss as we fight for dominance.

"No!" I hear Sanji cry out as I caress Zoro's cheek and I feel him pull me closer as he wraps his arm around my waste.

"Hey, there are innocent eyes here!" Usopp scolds us, and we pull away to catch our breath to see our sniper covering Chopper's eyes.

"Don't be so mean," I whine as I cling onto Zoro's arm.

"It's about time!" Nami chuckles, and I blush a little more.

"Shut up! Come on! We need to find Luffy!" I snap, and we start to leave the Square, I feel Zoro take my hand in his as we walk out, avoiding everyone, I slick my wet hair back as we walk off down one of the streets.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

"Hey, walk steady." Sanji snaps at Usopp still in a foul mood because of Zoro and me.

"Ahh… well, listen… I'm coming down with 'if I walk more, I'll die' disease…" Usopp groans as we continue to walk and lies on the ground

"Well, wait there," Sanji mutters and grabs the sniper by his foot.

"What?! Well, w-wait! Whoa! Hey! Hey! Hey!" Usopp exclaims in protest as we start walking again, dragging him behind us. "Why're you pulling me by my foot?"

"Found him," Zoro announces as we see a man carrying Luffy on his back who seems unconscious.

"Who are you?" The man asks us as we approach.

"Ahh… thanks for carrying that guy on your back. He's one of ours. We'll take him now." Sanji tells him, pointing to Luffy.

"Then you're the pirates who brought Vivi back to this country?" He questions.

"Who are you, old guy?" Sanji asks him.

"Daddy!" I hear Vivi shout and look over to see her running towards us. "Everyone!"

"Ah, it's Vivi!" Chopper announces.

"Daddy? Vivi's father?!" Sanji exclaims in shock.

"That would make you the king?" Zoro asks him.

"Yes. I prepared myself to die at one point, but he saved me…" He tells us as he places Luffy on the ground, leaning a little against one of the buildings. "When his body was exhausted after the fight with Crocodile, he carried two people and rushed above ground. What unbelievable strength…"

"Then there's no more need to worry about the poison?" I ask him, growing worried for my baby brother.

"Right. It should be neutralised by now." He assures us. "But his injuries need to be treated… yours, too." Zoro and I move to sit next to Luffy, Zoro leans against the building as I lean against him, our hands still intertwined.

"More importantly, Vivi, go already," Zoro tells her.

"What?" She questions, looking at us.

"Go back to the Square," I tell her as I lean my head back and Zoro leans his forehead against mine.

"Of course! The rebellion has finally stopped. It wouldn't be proper if the king or princess didn't say a few words." Usopp tells her, and I feel Zoro peck my forehead and I can't help the smile spreading across my face as I close my eyes and he leans his forehead back against mine.

"Yes… then I'll tell them about you, too." She exclaims, but it's for the best we're not mentioned.

"Vivi. you know how it is…" Sanji tells her as he lights a cigarette. "We're notorious. We have no intention of getting involved with a country.."

"I'm hungry." Chopper tells her with his tongue hanging out.

"We're going on ahead to the Palace. I'm exhausted." Nami invites us, and they nod to confirm before heading off back towards the Square, and we all begin to drop due to exhaustion and our injuries, I close my eyes falling into a deep sleep.

ONE PIECE - ALABASTA ARC

I open my eyes to see a white ceiling, I slowly sit up to see we're in a medical ward within the Royal Palace, I cringe feeling an ache in my chest, and place my hand over my heart and see I'm wearing a grey cotton robe, I look around to see the others all sleeping in other beds as the sun begins to rise. "Dakota, you're okay?!" Vivi announces herself as she walks into the room and rushes to my side. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was smashed with a mountain, but I should be healed by the end of the day," I tell her with a grin.

"I'm glad the others were worried about you." She tells me, and I look at her, confused. "You've been asleep for two days."

"Wait, seriously?!" I ask him, and she nods. "Man, I should be healed by now, that damn woman." I huff and peek under my clothes to see the bandages wrapped from the top of my chest to the bottom of my stomach.

"Demon!" Nami attacks me in a hug, I yelp in pain at the sudden pain coming from my right side. "Oops, sorry."

"It's fine, how's everyone else?" I ask them.

"We're doing fine, we're just waiting on Luffy now," Sanji tells me as he walks over and I look over to my right to see my baby brother lying in bed next to me.

"Don't worry, he'll be okay!" Chopper assures me as he walks over and I nod.

"That's good," I reply.

"You had us worried," Zoro tells me, and I look at him as he caresses my cheek and I can't help but lean into his touch.

"Leave her alone, you damn moss head!" Sanji snaps at the swordsman, pushing him away.

"Shut up you damn fancy eyebrows!" Zoro snaps, pushing him back and they begin fighting, throwing punches and kicks at one another.

"Morons," Nami grumbles to herself, but I can't help the smile, glad to see everyone is safe. "Quit it!" She snaps at them, punching them to the floor.

"Ahh! Nami!" Chopper cries out as he panics at their fallen form and I can't help the laugh that escapes, and soon the others all join in.

TO BE CONTINUED….