A/N: It's become customary I put a thing here but I'm wiped and got nothing. Enjoy.
Crocodile cast a disdainful look down his nose at Straw Hat, laying where he'd landed upside down in the sand. He didn't like cocky upstarts as a rule, and the brat had managed to spitefully inconvenience his plans through repeated luck.
"It seems the princess has escaped." Nico Robin said.
"No matter," Crocodile said. "We have our agents in Alubarna. Alert them immediately."
He glared through the trails rising off his cigar.
"Dead end, Straw Hat."
The brat didn't respond right away. He sat up in the sand, one arm folded over his knee.
"Vivi's greatest strength," he said. "Is her heart. It's bigger than anyone's; she wants to stop this war without anyone dying."
"No casualties?" Crocodile exclaimed with a derisive laugh. "Peace-loving fools who've never seen a real battle are the only ones who can claim such a naïve ideal. Don't you agree?"
"Yep."
Even her precious knight knew better.
"But she'll kill herself fighting so long as you're around," he said. "So I'm just gonna kick your ass here and now."
"Hmph," Crocodile scoffed, shifting his cigar between his teeth. "Like attracts like, I suppose. Giving your life for a perfect stranger; I've known and discarded a dozen fools like you."
The brat smirked, cracking his knuckles.
"Sounds pretty stupid to me."
Crocodile's jaw twitched.
"Ha ha!"
"Do you want to die, Nico Robin?"
His second in command turned her back with a shrug.
"If that's what you want, but you promised not to use that name."
"Where are you going?"
"The capital, of course."
Crocodile watched her go through one eye; he huffed.
"Years as my second and I still don't understand that woman," he muttered, reaching into his coat. "As for you, Straw Hat."
Shunk.
A sand timer struck the ground at the brat's feet. Grains slowly leaked through the neck in the glass.
"Three minutes," he said. "That's as long as I can spare for this. Any complaints?"
"Nope," he answered, flexing his arm. "Fine by me."
Crocodile scoffed. It'd been a while since he entertained anything resembling a fight; he'd give the greenhorn a lesson before he died.
Gomu Gomu no Pistol!
The brat's arm stretched and his fist shot at Crocodile. Simple enough to weave to one side and let the rubber fist fly past him. Crocodile shifted into sand, flying to close the distance and reform with his hook just shy of Straw Hat's head.
"Ugh!"
The brat bent backward, almost folding himself to avoid the strike. Clearly, he knew somewhat how to utilize his Devil Fruit; Crocodile would permit him that, if nothing else.
Gomu Gomu no-
Carrying through the momentum into a backflip, the brat launched his foot in a stretching kick at Crocodile's torso.
Stamp!
There was, naturally, no impact save sandal on sand.
No fresh face to Paradise could touch him, let alone hurt him. Straw Hat went tumbling backward over himself in the dunes.
Crocodile simply stood and reconstituted his body, even as the brat shed his cloak and hat to charge him. The fastest means of breaking a fledgling's arrogance…
Gatling!
Pff! Pff! Pff!
… was presenting them with a wall that they couldn't even touch.
"Throw everything you've got at me, Straw Hat."
Bazooka!
Bwashhhh!
"Your attacks are futile."
Ono!
Wham!
Crocodile spilled into grains, split and scattered in front of the brat's energetic onslaught. The boy stomped on the ground where he'd been standing, snarling.
"You squashed now?!"
"No matter what you do," Crocodile said, reforming again behind the brat. "You can't def"
PAF.
The brat's fist shot through Crocodile's face, momentarily turning his jaw to sand.
"… 'Def'? The hell're you trying to say, Croc?!"
Snap.
Crocodile glowered.
Apparently, he was dealing with a willful ignorance.
—
At fourteen, Vivi effectively gave up on whatever remained of her adolescence. Discarded a comfortable life so that she could discover the threat to her country and purge it. After more than two years, she could see the climax of her mission on the imminent horizon; one way or another, it would all end today.
Despite all that, the impending battle and its consequences were not the first thing weighing on her mind. Her thoughts lay behind her, on the outskirts of Rainbase; where the man who'd led the expedition to bring her home had thrown himself to the monster trying to destroy it.
And she wasn't the only one distracted.
"Say that again." Zoro growled.
"You're scared," Sanji sniped at him. "That Luffy won't win. Because the last Shichibukai beat you."
"Big talk coming from a two-bit cook!"
"Oh, you wanna fight?!"
"Both of you shut up," Usopp said, shooting both chef and swordsman a glare. "Save it for when you need it."
He said all that, though the odd tremor in his shoulders betrayed his nerves.
Chopper's anxious gaze jumped from person to person, fidgeting where he sat. Vivi, wiping sweat off her own palms, put on a practiced smile.
"I'm sure Luffy-san won't lose," she said, sitting up to address them all. "He promised we'd meet in Alubarna!"
Bonk.
A hand collided with the back of her head.
"Pep talks aren't your job right now," Nami said. "You just focus on how you'll stop the rebels."
"We know what we gotta do," Usopp said. "Worrying won't help Luffy anyway."
"Sorry about that, Vivi-chan." Sanji said, dipping his head in her direction.
Zoro grunted, plopping back down to do seated arm curls with Eyelashes balanced on one of his scabbards.
Vivi sighed. Airing things out hadn't exactly eased anyone's tension, but it'd resharpened her resolve.
"Okay," Nami said, raising her fist. "Punch it, Pincers!"
"Pincers?"
"I named the crab."
"Your names are, uh…"
The dunes of Alabasta had eyes and ears; she'd witnessed deception, civil unrest, treachery, and murder on a wide scale the past three years.
On the day Operation Utopia commenced, she witnessed the first spark of conflict, a prelude to the imminent war, outside Rainbase. A rubber boy captain squared off in the desert against a Shichibukai who was of the sand itself.
For ninety seconds, the boy threw himself at the monster, hurling every ounce of fight he possessed with no result; no better for it, nor Crocodile any worse off.
Any yet, even presented with the visible futility of his efforts, the Straw Hat boy didn't hesitate for a second.
In answer…
Desert Spada!
The Shichibukai cleaved the dunes with a blade of sand sharpened to a razor's edge. Boasting in word and in practice his mastery over his powers.
The boy only just avoided being bisected himself by throwing himself out of harm's way.
Desert Girasole!
Crocodile did not give him time to rest.
The ground beneath the boy's feet gave way, suddenly and without warning, into a huge sinkhole of quicksand. He ran against the pull of the desert's natural grave, making little headway in his efforts to preserve his life.
Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!
Only with an explosive attack that catapulted him into the air did he escape.
Muchi!
He made one more valiant effort to fight, but even with a kick that split Crocodile in two, the only result was more sand. Crocodile snared the young captain by his foot, reeled him in…
Crescent Cutlass!
And with a swipe of the Shichibukai's right hand, the boy was rendered prone in the sand.
"AGH!"
With a mummified, utterly dehydrated right arm.
And yet, even while Crocodile stood all but assured in victory, having crippled his opponent, the boy did not despair. He scampered across the sand for his cloak, tearing it away to find a small barrel with a straw poked through. With one large gulp…
Bwoing!
His arm was restored.
"Pointless." Crocodile scoffed; the boy argued against his dismissal.
Sables!
The Shichibukai remained unmoved; merely announcing that the young captain had spent his allotted three minutes.
In response to his will, a sandstorm brewed outside of Rainbase; powerful and large enough to be seen for miles out.
"Pop quiz, Straw Hat; if the prevailing winds blow from North to South, and this sandstorm moves in that direction, gathering strength as it goes, what hapless town will fall to ruin in its wake?"
The boy glared in frustrated confusion for a moment before realization dawned. Horror soon followed.
Crocodile merely laughed.
"Did you really think consecutive sandstorms would strike the same place naturally?"
The boy railed against Yuba's fate; such was his desperation that he shouted and even threw himself at the storm itself, though he must have known he couldn't contend with a natural disaster.
"Hey! Stop it, you bastard!"
He turned on Crocodile next, taking the collar of the man taller than he by more than half and demanding he stop the storm.
SHNK.
Crocodile silenced his protests.
By piercing the boy's chest with his hook hand.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" He asked in a dark tone, raising the young captain's body into the air.
Plip. Plip. Plip.
The boy's blood fell in rhythmic droplets.
"I told you, Straw Hat; you're just one more among dozens of fools to be discarded. You're nowhere near my level of pirate."
She'd seen and heard about enough.
Except the boy's hand moved again.
In piercing his chest, Crocodile had also punctured the barrel of water around his neck.
The leaking contents soaked through his sleeve and coated his arm.
Whap.
For the first time, Straw Hat laid a hand on Crocodile.
KREK.
And for the first time in at least three years, the Shichibukai's tall figure staggered.
With an expression twisted in pain, he raised his arm and hurled the boy down into the sinkhole; gurgling, choked exclamations accompanied Straw Hat's descent.
"You won't be in pain much longer."
With that, the Shichibukai turned his back to leave the boy to his burial in the sand. A few gasps persisted from the sinkhole; the sound of Crocodile departing for Alubarna.
Silence.
A minute passed.
Two.
She didn't know why she kept waiting; why she hadn't already left. The outcome had been obvious from the moment the princess recruited a fledgling band of pirates to her cause. There shouldn't have been anything more to see.
Foomph.
And yet…
A single cough came from the nadir of the sinkhole.
One more beat of silence.
And then, Robin heard the cry representing Straw Hat's refusal to perish.
"MEAT!"
"Wh-you're leaving?!"
Tashigi couldn't contain the incredulity in her voice, staring at her captain's back; Smoker letting anything interrupt his pursuit of a pirate was unprecedented. One of the first things she'd learned working for him had been that he moved according to principle, not any authority.
Often, whatever words he had to spare for his superiors were less than complimentary.
"Something came up," Smoker said. "I'm leaving you in charge here."
"Wh-Am I to pursue Straw Hat or help the Royal Army?"
"Your call," Smoker said, mounting his motorcycle. "Whatever you decide, I'll take full responsibility."
"Huh?!"
"Pay attention to what happens in this country," he said, pulling his riding goggles over his eyes. "It's on days like today that history is made."
Without another word or any further consideration for her confusion, Smoker rode off out toward the ocean. Whatever business had come up must have been urgent to command his attention.
"Sergeant! What are your orders?"
Tashigi put her chin in her hand; she'd never been given so much leeway since she'd enlisted as a marine. Let alone the latitude to take essentially consequence-free action on behalf of her commanding officer. She didn't know what to do with it.
More than once since she came under his command, Smoker had advised her to act on her sense of justice. She'd always taken it as an approval of her judgement; he did promote her to sergeant after all.
She didn't waste time overthinking.
"We're going after Straw Hat and his crew," she said. "I want all men armed to the teeth and ready to move out in ten minutes!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Usopp was stressed.
He knew the importance of not standing out as a threat to Crocodile. He knew, from his first round, that Crocodile was the first opponent his captain admitted to losing against in a fight, albeit one he paid back. He'd spent the whole ride facing Alubarna, staunchly refusing to so much as glance back lest he give in to the temptation to give Luffy supporting fire.
But he'd never expected that the Shichibukai would finish the fight so quickly. Crocodile's 'voice' had departed from Rainbase within minutes of Luffy taking Vivi's place. Even as the crew got deeper into the Grand Line and the foes they faced grew more dangerous, the number of people who could manhandle Usopp's captain in peak condition like that should have been few and far between.
It just cemented again how far out of their depth the Straw Hats had been in his first round; and how much work he had left to do.
"What do we do now?!"
The others were occupied with somewhat more immediate concerns.
"What kind of shitty crab can't handle water?!"
They were coming up on the Sandora river; a body of water nearly as wide as an ocean. And their transportation was about to hit a wall.
Namely, the fact that Pincers possessed the same capacity for swimming as Chopper or Luffy.
Usopp cast out a pulse of Haki, searching for something while the others tossed around ideas.
"Wait," Chopper said, perking up. "Pincers likes dancer girls!"
Perhaps owing to the urgency of the situation, Nami didn't even ask any questions before she discarded her travel cloak, revealing the outfit beneath that Sanji had bought.
"Like this?"
Pincers' eyes swiveled around on their stalks to look at his back; zeroing in on Nami specifically, as Sanji and Eyelashes were. Clearly wondering how her clothes would help, Nami's posture came off far more wooden than seductive.
SHKSHKSHKSHKSHK!
Evidently, Pincers only needed that much. Sparks went off in his brain and his massive legs skittered faster than ever. So fast, that…
"Holy shit!"
"Go, Pincers!"
"Creepy crab…"
He actually ran across the water's surface, manifesting a real-world miracle.
Bluburbleblub
"So much for that!"
For about twenty-five seconds.
Usopp suddenly missed Brook–setting aside the unprompted feeling, he grabbed Chopper and leapt off Pincers' back before the crab fully submerged.
"Vivi, how far to the other side?" Nami asked, once they were all in the water and Pincers had retreated to the shore.
"About thirty miles." Vivi said.
"We'll never make tha–what's the tengu doing?"
Usopp had preemptively started paddling away from another creature threatening to crest the water's surface.
"It's a Sandoran catfish," Vivi exclaimed, with much the same awe as when Chopper arrived with Pincers. "People can go their whole lives without"
"Not the time for this!"
Gnashing teeth sounded off behind Usopp.
"And humans are its favorite food!"
"START WITH THAT!"
Usopp kicked his feet; annoyed yet relieved that he'd been the one to take Chopper. The doctor had thrown his hooves into the sniper's face and impeded his vision; only Haki kept him from accidentally flailing straight into catfish jaws.
Still, the immediate situation didn't call for too much concern.
WHAM-AM-AM-AM!
Because Usopp's captain made friends wherever he went without even trying.
"Ark!"
The kung-fu dugongs had bailed them out; the unsuspecting catfish floated face-down in the river, sporting several new lumps. Within another minute, they'd all boarded the KO'd catfish with the dugongs carting them across the river.
"They said, 'We couldn't let anything happen to our fellow disciples!'" Chopper translated.
There'd been a bit more to the story than that; something about some of the dugongs splitting off from the rest after they lost sparring matches while guarding the Merry. But most everyone just grumbled about being referred to as Luffy's disciples.
"Good timing," Usopp said. "Your sensei passed on a message; move our ship further up the shore, away from any obvious harbor where the Navy might be looking. Then make yourselves scarce."
The dugongs gave him some questionable looks. Usopp sighed.
"I mean, our sensei."
He got a dozen barks in response that preceded half of their number breaking off to presumably return and move the Merry while the rest helped them cross the river.
Usopp died a little inside, but desperate times or whatever.
They made decent time crossing the river, calling thanks to the dugongs as they made it to the opposite shore.
"Okay," Zoro said, regrouping everyone. "What's next?"
"I don't know," Vivi said, taking her lower lip in her teeth in visible frustration. "We're going to cut it close no matter how fast we move. Even if Eyelashes could carry more than two of us, I don't know if we'll make it in time."
Usopp caught movement in the distance in his periphery. A cloud of dust and sand rapidly approached their position. He wasn't concerned, though.
"You've got a good partner, Vivi," he said, equipping his goggles. "Our scout's returned with reinforcements."
The confusion of a moment gave way to relief and reunion as the dust settled; Carue, standing at the head of six other ducks, snapped his wing in a salute, with his Supersonic Duck Squadron following suit. The fastest creatures in Alabasta.
"Quack!"
They had a shot.
The sun had passed its zenith in the sky over Alubarna. Two forces, both driven by long-simmering frustration and love of country, were on a course to collide in the capital before the clock struck three; each resigned and resolved for bloodshed.
The unfortunate King, captured and bound, sat almost unattended in a sequestered spot near the East Gate; not near enough to intervene, but more than close enough to hear and witness the coming chaos.
Within the capital's shadow on the opposite side of the city, those who had stoked the fires of war waited and watched; an insurance against the one person capable of preventing the clash.
The remainder of Crocodile's elite agents stood guard at the West Gate; one of five leading into the city, elevated above the dunes. And one of three accessible to those coming from Rainbase; hence, they anticipated Nefertari Vivi's approach in her desperate bid to meet and stop the rebellion.
"Is she even coming?!"
A cranky, stout old woman barked impatiently, sunlight glare reflecting off her sunglasses. She could hear the rebel army's drumbeat of hooves.
"The Straw Hats had a late start out of Rainbase."
A taller woman, long-limbed and angular, took a drag from a long pipe.
"Odds are they won't make it."
"Eh~?"
A familiar face, clad in a swan motif, spun on the spot and posed in confusion.
"But if they're a no-show, what do we do then?"
"Nothing."
A tall, broad, bald man with an open vest and the kanji for one tattooed on his chest gave a short, terse reply.
"We only need to eliminate our target. Is that too hard for you to understand?"
"Huh?! You wanna taste of my okama kenpo?!"
"They're…"
The biggest of them all, wearing a scarf and full sleeves despite the climate, tried to get the others' attention with binoculars in his hand.
"Coming… this wa-"
"SAY SOMETHING SOONER!"
The squabbling stopped all-at-once; Miss Merry Christmas snatched the binoculars from her partner.
"…!"
Farther out from the city than the rebels yet gaining ground fast astride supersonic ducks, six figures rapidly approached the capitals from the west.
"Aren't there too many?!"
"Even crossing off Straw Hat," Miss Doublefinger said. "There's also that Prince character and his partner. Two and four make six."
"Who cares how many there are?" Mr. 1 huffed. "We only need to eliminate one."
"You say that…" Miss Merry Christmas murmured. "Then you tell me, which one is Vivi?!"
Even through the binoculars, none of them could tell the six figures apart nor identify one as the princess; hooded cloaks obscured any defining features of their faces or bodies.
"AAAH! How IFFY!" Mr. 2 exclaimed.
"Get 'em, Mr. 4!"
At his partner's urging, Mr. 4 hoisted an odd-shaped bazooka onto his shoulder. One that fired a ticking baseball into the path of the six swift riders.
"Scatter!"
A cry pierced the air and fowl's formation of six broke into pairs, avoiding the explosion entirely.
"They're headed south!" Christmas shouted. "One of them must be the princess going for the rebels!"
She tailed after them with her partner in tow.
Exploding Star!
A projectile whistled through the air and erupted on contact with Mr. 1's raised hand. A second pair of ducks took the moment to break for the West Gate.
"Damn slippery–!"
"Let's go, Mr. 1!"
Which left…
"Eh?"
WHAM!
"UOHBAWK!"
The final pair barreled through Mr. 2 for the Southwest Gate.
"You won't escape!"
Thus, was the stage set:
"This oughta be far enough."
Two circled and ended their flight in the sand surrounding an old ruin outside the Southeast Gate of the city.
"You caught me~! I'm Princess Vivi!"
"N-no you're not; I'm Princess Vivi!"
Another pair led their pursuers into Alubarna's evacuated residential district.
"Heh! Honestly impressed you caught up!"
And the last ended the goose–or swan and duck–chase amid the capital's silent shops.
"Let's see who got it right~!"
In tandem, six cloaks were discarded.
Unknown to all but a small band, minutes before the first blade even met between the rebels and the royals…
"Wrong. You lose."
The climactic third and final act in the fight for Alabasta had already begun.
Vivi raced to intercept the rebels with Carue; the way cleared of obstacles, she had a straight shot to put herself between them and the capital.
'Thank you, everyone.'
She knew Koza would be leading the charge; he'd always been the type to put himself forward and take on the greatest risk on behalf of others. Had been since they were children, running around with the Sand Sand clan.
"You just look like a crybaby brat to me!"
She hadn't fully appreciated that when they first met.
"What do you know about anything, royal twerp?!"
They hadn't started off on the best of terms.
Still, as her father had taught her, people came to understand each other by talking.
"If I win, I'll be your chief!"
"As if some pipsqueak could beat me!"
Or in their case, arguing and fighting.
"Starting today, Vivi's the vice-leader of the Sand-Sand clan! Anybody got a problem with that?!"
If only she'd been able to speak to him before she took Igaram and Carue undercover, given him an inkling that other forces were at work…
She dismissed regrets from her mind and dismounted; stood at her fullest height and shed the hood of her cloak, making herself as visible as possible and staring down the massive army that left the ground rumbling beneath her.
She caught Carue shivering in her periphery.
"You don't have to stay with me, Carue."
"Quack!"
His answer was adamant and immediate.
She huffed, sparing him a fond smile.
"Don't blame me if you get trampled."
The rebels drew closer; she raised her arms, drew in a deep breath, and
"REBELS! THIS BATTLE IS A SETUP!"
Raised her voice to be heard over the trembling ground and beating hooves.
"STOP HERE! DON'T"
BOOM.
Cannon fire.
Sand erupted in front of her.
She couldn't see the rebels.
They couldn't see her.
Vivi's pulse pounded; a chill seized her spine.
Plants in the Royal army…?
"Quack!"
"STOP! LISTEN TO ME!"
The premature attack only stoked the rebels' fury.
Their rallying roars drowned out her pleas.
"KOZA!"
She screamed for the man who'd shared a promise with her years ago.
For the one who'd said they'd be partners to protect Alabasta.
RMBL.
He didn't hear her.
She caught the faintest glimpse of dirty blonde hair.
Turned to reach for it.
"QUACK!"
Was shoved down and held against the ground.
Gunfire.
Clashing metal.
Hooves.
Shaking.
Drums; ceaseless and painful.
Loud.
"Koff!"
And through it all, the feel of familiar feathers pressing her down.
"Carue…"
Thud.
He rolled sideways off her back; dirt and hoofprints marred his wings, his down all askew. A trail of blood flowing down his face had forced one of his eyes closed.
"You protected me." She whispered.
He twitched, barely responsive. Vivi hung her head; sucked in a gasping breath through clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry."
She sat up; chomping on her bottom lip to choke down tears.
"I'm not giving up; they never did!"
She'd already steeled her heart.
"Vivi!"
Before she could even take her feet, she heard a welcome–albeit unexpected–voice, accompanied by a familiar olive-toned hand reaching out to her from astride a horse.
"Let's go!" Usopp said.
"You gotta be shitting me."
Sanji glared at a battered and bruised Eyelashes, who obviously didn't have any answers for him. He'd left Chopper to handle things at the Southeast Gate, so he didn't have the benefit of a translator. And not only was the tengu nowhere to be seen, neither was his duck; he hadn't even done Sanji the courtesy of leaving a fucking note.
He'd come running because the shitty camel's duck had shown up asking for help.
Sanji scrubbed an agitated hand through his hair.
"What's that shithead doing this time?"
Given that he didn't see any sign of any okama either, Sanji could safely assume only one thing:
Vivi was in danger.
Carue honestly intended on getting up; having the hooves of two hundred camels and horses trample over him–on top of nearly six consecutive hours running from the capital to the Sandora river and back–had left him in severe want of a nap, but he knew they had a mission.
"Usopp, you're injured!"
He couldn't say he wasn't tempted to find some shade and let the marksman handle things…
"I'm fine! I lost my goggles getting away, but that's not important!"
Carue would just rest a minute and catch up. Really.
"We can't bring him with us," Usopp said urgently. "You've still gotta stop this war!"
Vivi sighed; her hand on his side gave his feathers a gentle squeeze.
"I know," she said. "What's the plan?"
"I dunno how we'll find Koza in this madness, but we'll figure something out!"
Carue's eye snapped open.
If he knew anything about Usopp after almost a month sharing a ship, he knew that the marksman's care for his nakama manifested in several different ways.
Among them: even when he pretended otherwise, even if they were threadbare, he always had some kind of plan.
He felt Vivi stiffen beside him.
She'd noticed too.
It was a minor thing. It could have been nothing.
Still…
"Are you really Usopp?"
Carue watched the purported marksman from under his headgear; subtly shifted his feet beneath him.
It hurt, but…
"What, are you doubting me?" 'Usopp' asked. He brandished the wrapping on his left arm. "Look!"
The swan.
"Quack!"
Carue shoved Vivi into his saddle, kicking up as much sand as possible into the imposter's face before breaking into a dead sprint.
"Carue!"
Or, as dead of a sprint as he could manage.
He could feel hot blood dripping down with every step; his legs wobbling and accursedly uncooperative.
"You're in no state for this! I'll fight him, don't push yourself!"
Carue lowered his head.
Pushed harder.
"Nyahahaha! You won't get away~!"
He couldn't risk a backward glance; he needed all the concentration he could muster just to maintain a straight course.
But he could hear the swan chasing them.
They were about even… provided Carue maintained his pace.
"He'll just overtake us on the stairs; Carue, please, stop!"
"Quack!"
Carue didn't go for the stairs.
"EHHHHH?!"
"Wha–?"
Skrch.
He went for the sheer wall.
TMPTMPTMPTMPTMP.
So long as he moved fast enough, he could make it up before gravity pulled them back down.
Just twenty more paces to the edge.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Fi-
"No!"
His feet dropped away from the rock face.
"NYAHAHAHA! STUPID D–!"
Fwpfwpfwpfwpfwpfwp!
Carue worked his wings for everything they were worth.
Snagged the edge of the cliff.
"–AHFUCK?!"
"Quack…"
"Carue, that was amazing," Vivi said brightly. "He won't be able to follow us up here!"
Okama Kenpo: Rélevé of Blood Sweat and Tears!
The swan didn't stop; he just started running up the wall after them.
"HAND OVER VIVI, YOU WRETCHED FOWL!"
Carue put his feet back under him.
The clash of flesh and metal blocked their path.
He felt Vivi's grip on his saddle tighten.
"Can you make it through here?" She asked tightly.
"Quack!"
"Koza could be anywhere; head for the palace! We'll find Chaka!"
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY~!"
Carue's feathers bristled; he leaned forward, braced to make another charge.
Boom.
Ghk.
All the noise around him went quiet.
His vision turned hazy.
Everything that hurt suddenly turned fuzzy.
"Carue!"
A stray bullet…
He opened his mouth to assure her; blood sprayed out of his beak.
Clench.
He didn't black out.
Clung to the pain to stay conscious.
Charged through the fighting; shut out the swan's laughter behind them.
He just ran.
Ignored the rebels, the royals; carved the quickest path through to the palace.
Carue ran…
Whud.
Until he met the ground.
"CARUE!"
Fuck.
Not a single muscle in his legs was moved by his desperation to protect Vivi.
He couldn't take her even an inch further.
"Quack!"
"It's useless, I told you~!"
Carue swatted his wing at Vivi. Begging her to keep going.
"I-I know; I understand!"
'Go, go, RUN!'
"Stay outta my way or I'll do you in first, duck!"
"QUACK!"
He felt the swan's shadow looming over them.
Tried to raise himself to shield Vivi.
POW.
"GUHBLUK!"
The familiar form of Ivan X, barreling headfirst into the swan to knock him into a building.
"Just made it."
Coupled with the scent of cigarette smoke, flooded Carue with relief.
"Sanji-san!"
"Get going, Vivi-chan," Sanji said; he cocked his head at Ivan X. "Take him somewhere out of the crossfire."
Carue stopped fighting his protesting injuries.
"Well done, commander Carue; I'll handle the rest."
Chopper swiveled his head, sweeping his gaze left and right; all the while trying to keep his ears open for Mr. 4's batting and the ticking that accompanied it. He'd switched to Walking Point for its relative agility; Heavy Point's weight didn't help him when he couldn't hit either of his targets.
Their timing and aim with their baseball bombs were so accurate that his mobility almost didn't matter, though.
He couldn't think of any way to level the playing field, let alone win. Even if using a Rumble Ball helped him come up with a plan, he wasn't sure he'd have enough time in the remainder of three minutes to execute it.
Woof.
"Damn!"
He skimmed over the tunnels; ran as soon as Mr. 4 popped up, bat cocked and poised to strike the next ball.
Crack.
Chopper skid to a halt, anticipating that a sharp backpedal might let him clear the blast radius.
Except the ball didn't come for him; it went sailing overhead. Behind Mr. 4's head.
"Huh~?"
Even the hitter himself seemed confused.
"What're you doing, you oaf?!"
Muffled from underground, Miss Merry Christmas' voice shrieked at her partner.
The ball exploded ineffectually in midair.
Mr. 4 disappeared into the tunnels again.
Chopper blinked. Twice.
Woof.
"Kill him!"
Crack.
Chopper braced his weight on his hooves to run.
A~nd the next ball was a grounder. A dead grounder. Which doofed into the sand more than ten yards from Chopper.
'This seems… familiar.'
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Yo, Chopper!"
Chopper's ear twitched; the burden of fighting alone immediately left his shoulders.
Usopp gave him a casual wave as he approached when Chopper looked over his shoulder toward the Southeast Gate.
"Nice work holding out."
"Usopp!"
That explained his déjà vu.
Something similar had happened with Wapol.
"Another brat?"
"Usopp, they–!"
"I know the gist of things," Usopp said, cutting him short. The sniper rolled out his neck. "We've got a bunch of business to take care of, so let's clean up here quick!"
Chopper reaffirmed what he'd known since meeting the Straw Hats.
"Aye!"
Pirates were amazing!