"We need to scour the entire city as fast as possible. Can you narrow down the location?" Chaka asked Masur as he transformed using hisDog-Dog Fruit, Model: Jackal.
"Don't worry, Pell, Solomon, and Marouf are the eyes in the sky." Masur noted, pointing opwards to see the aforementioned Trio in the sky; Solmon deep in a meditative trance as Marouf, fully transformed into his Dragonoid form, sniffing the air for anything off.
"The rest of us just gotta keep our ears to the ground!" the redhaired galdiator beckoned the jackal man as they began dashing through the streets, with multiple eyes from the Royal Guard and the Chimera Carpet in action, they began quickly narrowing down the location.
"for maximum effectiveness, the bomb should be in the center of the town." Luna noted as she and the other straw hats joined in the search.
"…Grandma and Hiruluk had ideas for 'medicine-bombs.'" Chopper then added, before he and Lasso, sniffed something. "Wait! I..I think…"
Chopper, Rolf, Lasso, Marouf, Pell and Solomon all realized at the same time:
"THE CLOCK TOWER!"
And with that, all the parties involved converged on the clock tower in the center of Alabarna, cheering with delight as they saw Vivi easily besting the two Agents defending the bomb….
Only for the countdown to still be started. With only two minutes. All could hear the ticking clock on it.
Vivi fell to her knees. All her and the Straw Hat's hard work. All the adventure, fighting, exposing of Crocodile…and they still were going to lose. She's failed to…
"Vivi?" Solomon asked, bringing his niece out of her tears. She looked and tried to speak, but was cut off by a hug and kiss on the forehead. "Well done. Your mother would be as proud of you as we are. Let me handle it."
And without another word, the third-in-line of Alabasta's throne stopped forward, reached over the bomb and let out a wave of energy that engulfed the bomb, muting the silence as he then picked it up.
Outside, everyone heard the ticking stop as Solomon stepped forward, holding the stopped bomb, whose frozen clock read 25 seconds.
"And all of that with just Haki." Marouf smirked, delighting in the shocked looks of the Straw Hats.
"We still have the bomb to deal with." Masur noted, only to see and feel someone rush to the sky.
"Your majesty!" Pell called out; his eyes steeled with determination: He was Alabasta's sacred guardian beast and defender of the royal family; the family who had do0ne so much for their kingdom when it should've been his responsibility.
He had failed before due to Crocodile's manipulations. He would not again.
"Pell, no!" Vivi cried out in worry as her friend raced to the sky, Solomon's Haki no longer freezing the timer. Pell smiled; proud to having seen the Princess grow int6o such a brave young woman and that the late Queen's brother had returned. Alabasta was in good hands.
"Pell." Another voice, thick in authority yet also gently calm, cut in. "Give it to me."
The falcon turned and gasped: Behind him, nearly blockimng the sun and changing the clouds with the very flaps of its wings; was a gigantic blue bird sparkling with electricity: THE BIRD-BIRD FRUIT: MODEL THUNDERBIRD. A mythical Zoan eaten by Sinbad himself.
The falcon did as the pirate commanded, and Sinbad's gigantic claws, either of which which could easily carry an elephant, grabbed the bomb, crushing it to bits before, just to be safe, tossed the remaints upwards as he took on a hybrid form, drew his sword and roared:
"BARARAQ!"
And from the sword, came a massive bolt of lightuing that destroyed whatever was left of the bomb, causing the pirate to smirk as he began to float down to the ground…
Just in time to see his best friend tearfully reunite with his young son as the others all let out sighs and cries of relief. That alone, along with Alubarna being safe, was all he could've asked for.
-OP-
At the same time, the Four Captains headed down a narrow hallway into a secret room, having also been listening in on the Transponder Snail. They were elated their friends had succeded and the country was safe, but they still had one last thing to do.
"Crocodile's going after an ancient Poneglyph, hidden beneath the royal palace," Draco said. "Vivi showed me years ago when dad stopped by for a week."
"And it seems Jafar accidentally wrote down its location and the paper wound up in Miss All-Sunday's hands, so now Crocodile has it." Ben mused, not liking this situation, even if Miss All-Sunday had been helping them through her own Transponder Snail.
"Just what is he looking for?" Sonson wondered.
"Some mythical superweapon. No one's sure if it exists. But it's said the raw power it holds could even rival an Emperor." Draco said.
"And that Aladdin kid's Devil Fruit isn't it?" Luffy inquired, getting a shake from Draco.
"From what Vivia and Dad told me; the Human-Human Fruit: Model Genie was meant to be a deterrent in case the weapon was ever used against them or too soon."
"Sounds about right." Sabo's voice suddenly came over through a Snail Sonson had swiped earlier. "The revoluntaires are on route to bring medical and food aid….But it seems you guys minimized the damage. Not that Dragon or I am surprised."
Luffy and Sonson blushed at their brother's words.
"We're about to confront Crocodile." Luffy then stated. "Going silent now."
"Understood." Sabo said, ending the call there and then.
FOUR CAPTAINS
Sir Crocodile and Miss All-Sunday were already at the Poneglyph.
"So this is it. Alright then, Nico Robin, go ahead and translate what's on it." Crocodile ordered. "You don't have much time, after all. I'm sure you'd rather end your tenure with Baroque Works having no deaths on your conscious."
Miss All-Sunday, or rather Robin, scoffed but started to read the text. She started reciting off a number of dates and events, but Crocodile started to get impatient.
"Skip ahead!" he snapped. "Does this Poneglyph say where Pluton is or not?!"
"I doubt it."
Crocodile spun around to see Mifune jump down, looking absolutely maddened with bloodlust as he reached inside his body and drew his first blade. Robin smirked as she leapt back.
"He's all yours." Was all she said.
If Mifune heard her, he didn't respond, his vision focused solely on Crocodile.
"ODA HAVE MERCY...!" The Swordsman roared as he swung Kabutowari's axe towards the Warlord with all his might. "ON YOUR SOUL!"
Crocodile barely had time to shift his form to sand and avoid the axe, only to be hit by the hammer head of the weapon and sent skirting backwards
"DESERT LA SPADA!" Crocodile roared as his arm suddenly transformed into three blades that raced towards his attacker, determined to kill him and then Nico Robin for this betrayal.
"HIDDEN MIST TECHNIQUE!" Mifune raced forward and met the attack head on, "SILENT KILLING: SANDSTORM TSUNAMI!"
flawlessly weaving Kabutowari so that the chains deflected the blades into the way of the hammer
as Mifune then began to shatter the foundations of the area. This made Crocodile smirk.
"Seems vengeance has blinded you." He smirked, delighting when Mifune stopped. "I can just turn to Sand and survive a collapse."
"Uh, so can we, ya dingus."
It was then that Crocodile realized this upstart wasn't alone; The Fouir Captains of the Straw Hat Pirates made themselves known
"H-how…?" he managed. "How did you find this place?"
"Being childhood friends with a Princess has its advantages." Ben smirked. "Ain't that right, Draco?"
The son of Whitebeard glared at the Warlord; both in rage for what he'd done to Vivi's country, but also for how far he'd fallen; he recalled the proud rookie who'd challenged his father so fearlessly; bulit an empire from nothing but his own hands…and how he had gone from a pirate to a terrorist with delusions of taking over the world.
Such a waste/
"Those Poneglyphs were originally scattered by the Alabastan royal family to hide it from the World Government. Don't you think this is the first place those nobles would look?" Draco pointed out.
Crocodile looked dumbfounded because the logic made too much sense.
"You've forgotten what it means to be a pirate," Luffy said, holding her hat down with a glare. "And I don't just mean because you decided to make a deal with the World Government. You had one loss to a tougher opponent and decided to take a shortcut to greater power. A true pirate, no matter what their goal, never takes shortcuts. They always train harder to get back up, again and again!"
"Damn straight, sis." Sonson growled.
"Oh, and by the by?" Ben smirked, his grin infectous. "That Pluton thing you're looking for? It's in Wano."
….
….
You could hear a pin drop, it got so quiet.
…
…
"…What?" Crocodile asked.
"Wano. Kaido's territory." Ben elaborated. "Granted, he doesn't know either, but…."
A chuckle escaped Crocodile's voice. A demented chuckle that quickly changed intyo full on maniacal laughter.
"All this time. All this planning. Manipulating. Forced smiles…and I wasn't even close to the right country?!"
He opened his palm, a small tornado forming in his hand…before said hand was chomped on by Samehada. The Warlord held back the pain and regrew his arm, focusing on his attacker, who was petting the living blade and then motioned it away….before he Crocodile, who smirked as he moved to grab him and drain his moisture...only for Mifune to turn into cold mist.
"The hell?!"
"Mist-Mist fruit!" Mifune declared as he drew Kubikiribocho. "You may be able to absorb moisture, but you need to actually touch!"
Mifune then swung his favored blade down onto Crocodile, who barely managed to deflect it with his hook and leapt backwards as the swordsman then drew Shibuki and let explosions not only fill the room, disorienting his foe, but continue to destroy the foundations of the room.
The Warlord, having faced someone like this before, turned into sand and snuck under Mifune, only for Shibuki to strike his reforming body, sending him flying backwards and then screaming as Mifune stabbed Kiba into both of his shoulders, releasing a massive burst of electricity through his body. The Warlord was too stunned to move as Luffy moved next.
"GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
Luffy's fist was hardened by Armament Haki, allowing her to hit Crocodile. The Warlord wound up slamming into a nearby wall before slowly pulling himself to his feet, snarling as he took off the gold covering to his hook hand, revealing a silver one lined with holes.
Mifune glared. "That hook...the same one you used to cowardly weaken Zabuza and Ringo before striking them down!"
"There is no such thing as cowardice in a duel to the death." Crocodile mused, l;etting Mifune get a good look at the hook, now dripping with a purple liquid of sorts. "All that matters is that you win."
As the Warlord raced towards Mifune, his foe, returning Shibuki and Kiba to his form and drawing out Hiramekarei, turned into Mist that he began to swing madly at. Grunting, Crocodile became a spiral of sand that mixed with and clashed with the Mist
"Ooooh…." Ben and Draco winced. "Bad move…On Croc's part,"
Indeed. For mere seconds later, the now bloodied and sweating Warlord returned to his human form, new bruises and his clothe damaged.
"The Straw Hats have many Logia users among them." Mifune explained as he slowly began to return to flesh. "And we all spar, so I've noticed common areas they attack from."
"Yup. We taught him that!" Ben smirked, Draco nodding.
The swordsman then tore off his mask, revealing his teeth to be sharpened. Despite it all, Crocodile decided to mock his foe.
"Ooooh, Sharpened teeth. Like I haven't faced that before."
"Did you?" Mifune asked. "Did you ever REALLY face anyone? Cause your type? The shadow leaders? The tricksters? Yeah, they can have a good move or two….but they're pretty weak in the grand scheme."
"…What. Did you. Call me?" Crocodile glared.
"What? Sand in your ears?" Mifune smirked. "I said: That after getting your ass kicked by Whitebeard? Instead of training to get stronger, you decided to hide behind people. Let them do the heavy lifting for you. I mean, you settled into a country where your Devil fruit would make you look and feel like an emperor and gave up your pride to work without the worry of being hunted day and night. Not exactly what a wannabe 'King of the Pirates' would do, right?"
"DAMN RIGHT THEY WOULDN'T!" Luffy snapped.
"Says the brat who follows these naïve rookies." Crocdile managed, trying to ignore what Mifune had said.
"Naïve and yet they've bested you." Mifune smirked.
"And you're any better than me?" Crocodile asked. "All you've done is exchange.."
Mifune then charged at Crocoduile, redrawing Kubikiriocho and using it in tandem with Hirameki to force the Warlord on the offensive.
"They raised me up! Cared for me! Made me strong enough to get here!' Mifune snapped as he began to regin hell on the man he hated most of all. "All you did was lie and cheat, like the washout WEAKLING YOU ARE!"
"DON'T CALL ME WEAK!" Crocodile roared as he FINALLY landed a hit on his foe, the poisoned hook stabbing Mifune in the side. But he hade no time to enjoy this, as even amidst the poison Mifune smirked as he returned the other two swords as Samehada leapt into his hands, its mouth in a vengeful smirk.
With his vision failing and exhaustion taking over, Mifune swung Samehada with all his strength, raking it across Crocodile's chest, straight through his Logia defense as his stamina was drained.
"GET OVER HERE!" Mifune roared as he then drew Nubari, the Seastone needle penaterating Crocodile and bringing him back to the swordsman…
But Crocodile was still not done yet
"SABLES!" He roarted, finally summoning his tornado and slamming it downwards. "PESADO!"
"MIFUNE!" The captains cried out.
"Get out of here!" Mifune begged. "You don't need to filthy their hands with your disgusting taint! I'll execute you myself on behalf of all of Alabasta!"
Mifune then switched to Nubari, restraining Crocodile.
'Kushimaru.'
He then switched to Kabutowari and slamming both the axe and hammer down onto Crocodile.
'Jininin'
He then switched to Kubikiribōchō and slashed off Crocodile's hook arm at the elbow, making him scream in pain.
'Zabuza.'
"I knew from the start I was damned to hell no matter what path I took...after all, I bear the Will of a Devil inside me..."
Mifune then switched to Hiramekarei and struck Crocodile over the face, sending him crashing into the wall, just as the posion struck Mifune with a vengemnace.
'Chojuro.'
lunging and striking with Shibuki, releasing an explosion that severely mutilated the Warlord.
'Jinpachi.'
As the room began to collapse and the poison made breathing difficult, Mifune managed to grab the last two swords: Kiba, and use them to keep him standing.
'Ameyuri….'
"Do it." Crocodile spat, already unable to move from all the damage he took. "Do it, you son of a bitch...JUST DO IT!"
"For the Seven Swordsmen...For King Cobra...For Vivi...FOR ME!"
With one last roar, Mifune thrust both of Kiba into Crocodile's throat, making him gurgle before pumping as much electricity as he could into his body. The Four Captains stood back and shielded their eyes from the bright light before watching in shock as they saw Mifune hunched over Crocodile's charred, unrecognizable husk...before collapsing himself.
"MIFUNE!" He heard his captains scream for him as they rushed forward, not caring for the debris. With the last bit of strength he had, Mifune used his Devil fruit to create a barrier of Mist, wordlessly telling Luffy, Ben. Sonson and Draco to leave him be.
"Kenjujujuju…This is a good death." With his strength depleted, Mifune looked upwards; expecting a block to crush him, maybe the sunshine or even the gates of hell itself…but all he saw was Fuu.
Her smiling face. Her pout. Her telling him stories of her homeland. Bandaging him up. How adorable she looked playing with Chopper, Marianne, Calvin and Kirby. Her sweetly smiling face as she slept….
And then he realized something: He was in love with her. Him. A monster who only murderers could raise and care for. In love with the miracle medicine girl he'd promised to escourt back home.
'Sorry Fuu. Really wanted to see Wano with you.' Were Mifune's last thoughts before he finally let the darkness engulf him.
"Not yet, gaki." A voice cut in.
Mifune's eyes opened in shock; there, unbothered and untouched by the collapsing rubble, stood Grimm D. Reaper, lifting him upwards.
"Not just yet." He then tossed Mifune aside, way from the collapsing rubble before turning his attention to Crocodile's body. "Hola, Gator."
Crocodile then stirred, and unlike Eric and Kuro? He chuckled when he saw the Reaper.
"Damn, finally got to me, huh? Oh well I got pretty damn far anyways. And knowing it took a D to kill me? That'll soothe my spirit a bit."
Crocodile leapt downwards, Grimm moving to follow, but then he paused for as second:
"You know that eventually, we will meet for real..." He promised the swordsman, "But for now? Live your life, Mifune D Nobunga. Live it well."
With those parting words and one last whistle, Reaper and Crocodile left through the hellfire portal. Mifune slowly closed his eyes, the last thing he saw was the worried faces of Luffy, Draco, Sonson, and Ben...
Knightmare Lord A/N:
OH MAN, HAVE I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! Crocodile is no more, fallen not by Luffy's hand but by the blades of the seven warriors he had killed wielded by their son/successor!
Anything on your end, Mrotrax?
Mrotrax A/N:
Hope this was worth the wait! The battle between Mifune and Crocodile was the primary reason this took so long to finish; I took some cues from Demon Slayer for
And yes, I skipped ov3er the agents guarding the bomb; they really didn't add much to this, I feel.