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Grand Line – Paradise
Alabasta – Nanohana
"Woof woof woof woof woof! Woof woof woof" "That was kind of anticlimactic, to be honest! I didn't have to do anything", Chouchou barks, pretending to be a little disappointed.
"Are you kidding me, right, Chouchou? It was anticlimactic only for you; I had plenty of action!", Chopper, tired and completely drenched in blood, retorts before moving to some ruins that were on the edges of the area they had used as a battlefield, where he grabs up his travel backpack that he had hidden among some rubble before getting involved in the fight.
"Woof woof woof woof, woof woof woof woof!" "Of course I'm kidding, you did awesome!", Chouchou barks, praising the little reindeer's performance.
With the backpack in his hands, Chopper returns to where Tashigi was and begins to treat her, cleaning and closing her wounds before then bandaging her completely, so focused on the task at hand that he doesn't even notice that Chouchou, whom he admires, had just praised him.
Kaya, meanwhile, does the same, retrieving her bag that she had also hidden, before beginning to treat each marine they had taken down, with Chopper helping her after finishing with Tashigi.
When they get to Smoker, who was the marine with the most injuries, and begin treating him with as much care as possible, since his condition was worse than Tashigi's, they realize that he was awake, his eyes fixed on them, unable to move his body, head included.
"What are you two doing?", Smoker asks with difficulty, his voice hoarse from his dry throat.
""Healing you all!"", Chopper and Kaya answer in unison, without looking at his face, too concentrated on cleaning his wounds, working together.
"Why?", Smoker asks, confused. They were enemies, so shouldn't they be killing him instead of healing him?
"Because we're doctors and because we want to!", Chopper replies while grabbing a white case from his backpack and taking a needle from it. There didn't need to be a reason for them to heal them; they were doctors, and that was enough.
"Our job is to heal, whether friend or enemy, it doesn't matter if it was us who put you in this state or not, as long as Chopper and I are here, you are forbidden to die! And, of course, if you attack us again, the cycle will just repeat itself, over and over", Kaya says while helping Chopper suture Smoker's now clean, open wounds, taking the opportunity to warn him that if they tried something later, the result would be the same.
"Huph, I can barely move, do you really think my priority right now is to attack you idiots? No, I know very well what I have to do from now on!", letting out an amused snort, Smoker says. It might not be today, but he would certainly capture them in the future, and even so, that didn't mean he would allow the Straw Hats to easily escape the island.
"Not bad, Vivi! You coordinated really well with us", giving pats on the princess's back, Nojiko comments with a smile.
"Well, this isn't my first fight, I spent two years infiltrated in Baroque Works, I've been through many battles! So I think I have a little experience", Vivi comments, becoming a little embarrassed when she realizes that her words could give the impression that she was bragging about her past deeds.
"But it's your first fight using an Akuma no Mi, and you did really well!", joining the two, Nami throws an arm around Vivi's neck and comments with a smile, praising her.
The conversation between the three ends up catching the attention of a fully bandaged Smoker who, upon spotting Vivi, quickly connects the dots and then asks, "Why is the princess of Alabasta walking around with pirates?", having concluded that she was the missing princess of Alabasta.
"What's your rank, marine?", Vivi asks, briefly looking at Smoker. After all, it didn't make sense to give out information to someone who couldn't do anything.
"Captain", Smoker informs her.
"Alright, how familiar are you with the Grand Line?", Vivi asks, this time turning her full attention to Smoker, having changed her mind and decided to entertain the marine a little.
"Well enough, I believe! My entire training was here", Smoker says. He was born in Loguetown, enlisted in the Marines when young, and after a while was sent to a training base in the Grand Line. There, he rose in rank until becoming Captain and was then transferred back to his hometown in the East Blue.
"Ok, do you know that the Shichibukai Crocodile is the leader of the Baroque Works organization?", having finished her introductory questions, Vivi asks to test the waters.
"No, I didn't know! But honestly, I'm not surprised, I never liked the Shichibukai system", Smoker replies sincerely, having an idea of where this conversation was headed.
"Well, the thing is, Baroque Works, under the facade of being a mercenary organization operating at the beginning of the Grand Line, has been secretly setting up situations here in Alabasta, situations that basically started, inflamed, and continue to inflame the civil war happening in the country", despite the chances of Smoker knowing anything being slim, Vivi plays along, clarifying to him about Baroque Works' involvement in the civil coup happening in Alabasta.
"And Crocodile is behind all this, right? Was the World Government warned?", Smoker asks, furrowing his brow. The situation was more serious than he expected.
"Very well, we're reaching one of the main points, we requested support from the Navy when we realized that the civil war was orchestrated, that was a little over two years ago, no one has come to investigate until today, now the question is, does the Navy, and consequently the World Government, still not know what's happening here or do they know and simply ignored us?", Vivi asks incisively, of course, she already knew the true answer, but she wanted to see, more out of curiosity than anything else, if Smoker, despite his low rank, knew anything.
"Alabasta is a World Government–affiliated kingdom. A situation like this wouldn't just be ignored, especially when support was requested. There must have been some kind of mistake in the passing of information at HQ", Smoker replies after racking his brain trying to find a plausible reason why the Navy simply ignored Alabasta's request for support.
"That may be so, but honestly, it makes no difference in the end; the time has already passed, and knowing this doesn't change the fact that we were on our own! So, after a few months waiting for help that never came, I rolled up my sleeves and did what had to be done to prevent my kingdom from being painted red in a senseless war. I infiltrated the enemy's lair, discovered their secrets, and now I'm receiving help from friends willing to fight by my side", Vivi says. Smoker seemed to be someone with a strong sense of justice, but was it worth revealing some of the World Government's dirty secrets to him?
"She promised me a crate of whisky from the royal cellar if I helped", Zoro says jokingly, but if the opportunity to actually get a crate of whisky as a reward arose, he wouldn't refuse it.
"I was even going to ask for money as a reward for helping her, but the poor girl here is even poorer than us", Nami joins in the joke, teasing Vivi.
"Vivi is a crew member! Of course, we were going to help", Usopp comments, nodding his head, trying to look cool and confident.
"Ha, a crew member? Look, I swear I'm trying to believe, the money thing and the whisky I can accept, but holy fuck, a crew member? You guys are terrible liars!", letting out a mocking laugh, Smoker breaks his serious-man facade for the first time in a long while and comments amused.
"Believe what you want, smoke man!", Zoro comments, not really caring about what Smoker believes to be true or not.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get back to the point. Why is Crocodile doing this? What's his goal?", Smoker asks, wanting to know what Crocodile's objective was in causing this civil war.
"He wants to become king, to build a kingdom on top of the skeleton of Alabasta! You really have no idea what's happening here, do you? In that case, either the World Government isn't sharing information with the Navy, or it's you who doesn't have access to more sensitive information!", Vivi replies before deciding to lay it all out about the World Government to him. What would result from this in the future is unknown.
"What do you mean?", Smoker asks, confused, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Crocodile has been trying, since the beginning of his operation, to keep his identity and his organization's involvement in the civil coup in Alabasta a secret, but there are people who know what's really happening here and what is the final goal of him, and it turns out the World Government is one of those who know, they know, its just that they ignore it; as long as the celestial tributes are being delivered correctly, it doesn't matter to them what's happening here, that's the truth", Vivi says, explaining to him what she knew, after all, she trusts what Luffy said.
And just to make it clear, in the end, what Luffy said is true, the World Government really knows about what Crocodile is doing in Alabasta and what his objectives are with it, Cipher Pol and all that, but on the other hand, the investigation was superficial, since the people responsible for it weren't the most competent, so the truth is, they have no idea that the Shichibukai is after Pluton and that Nico Robin, the Devil's Child, is with him.
And it may seem like a stupid decision to let Crocodile continue with his machinations, since Alabasta already delivers its celestial tributes without fail, but it's worth remembering that the Nefertari family has a history with the World Government, so there are hidden motives.
"...", Smoker falls silent, his brain processing the new information at full speed, the seed of doubt already planted in his mind.
"Alright, enough talking! Chopper and Kaya already did what they wanted to do, so let's tie them all up and go look for Luffy and Sabo, so we can get out of here already", Zoro says, putting everyone to work, except Chopper, who was all battered. Well, Vivi had some injuries too, mainly from not knowing how to use Haki to protect herself, but compared to the little reindeer, her injuries were nothing more than scratches.
And then, after finishing tying up all the marines together in one pile, Zoro turns to walk away, but finds himself stopped by a hand grabbing his ankle, and when he looks down, he sees Tashigi awake, staring at him intensely.
"Roronoa Zoro, you are not worthy of wielding those named swords!", Tashigi growls weakly.
"Ufff... I'm pretty sure I've already told you this before! But let's go, one more time, it's not you who decides whether I or anyone else is worthy of wielding a named sword, it's the blade that decides! All named swords have at least some degree of consciousness; they're alive, so to speak! Understand that, stop whining about everything and start training, or do you want to remain pathetic like this forever?", letting out a tired sigh, Zoro explains how ignorant and clueless she is before once again giving her a brutal reality check, without mercy. That would definitely be engraved in Tashigi's mind.
"Woof!" "Holy shit!", Chouchou exclaims, shocked, Zoro just soloed this girl with words.
So, leaving a dazed Tashigi and Smoker behind, the Straw Hats quickly check with their Hakis if Luffy and Sabo were in the city, not finding them anywhere.
"Found them, they're in the desert with another strong presence, I think they're fighting", Usopp informs them after using his Observation in a larger search area.
"Let's go!", Zoro, also using his Observation to locate Luffy and Sabo, says before starting to move toward where the three brothers were fighting, using Soru and disappearing from where he was after just a few steps.
Everyone then follows him, Nami and Nojiko carrying Chopper and Vivi, who still didn't know how to use Soru, with them.
=Scene Break=
Meanwhile, back to the tied-up marines, Smoker closes his eyes and says, "Tashigi, we need to train!"
With furrowed brows, Tashigi says determinedly, "Yes, sir!"
"I want you to call HQ and request as many reinforcements as possible as soon as we can move again, if those idiots think they'll be able to set sail from the island without trouble, then they're very mistaken", Smoker gives his orders in advance, he may not be strong enough to capture the Straw Hats now, but he would make sure to give them a hard time.
"Will we still pursue them, Captain Smoker?", Tashigi asks, referring to the Straw Hats.
"Yes, only now our goal is different, we can't face them as we are, so we'll let them do what they came here to do and act as damage control, tying up the loose ends", Smoker says, the plans having changed due to the circumstances.
"Captain, I was unconscious so I didn't hear, what exactly did the Straw Hats come to do in Alabasta?", Tashigi asks, doubtful.
"Basically, Crocodile is behind the civil war here in Alabasta, that shitty Shichibukai wants to become king! The missing princess of the kingdom is receiving help from those Straw Hat idiots, and they're here to end the civil war and take down that bastard. The plan is to let them do it for us and in the end, be there to capture the defeated", Smoker explains what's happening in Alabasta and takes the opportunity to reiterate his plan, there was absolutely no chance he would leave this island before sorting out all this mess, and since he wasn't strong enough to intervene on his own, acting smart was his only option.
His plan is basically to let the Straw Hats do the job for them, capture Crocodile and anyone connected to him, and then use the reinforcements sent by the Navy to capture these idiot pirates or give them trouble. Now, whether it would work or not, there's no way to know.
=Scene Break=
Back with the Straw Hats, in the desert, they find themselves unable to get close to the fight; the explosions and the constant clash of the three brothers' attacks made approaching practically impossible unless you were strong enough.
Everyone, except Vivi and Chopper, who were the weakest, tried to approach a few times before giving up, but Zoro and Chouchou, well, those two tried over and over without stopping, in the end, they only didn't end up in the same state as when they fought against Aramaki because the rest of the crew stopped them from continuing to try.
So, with no other options, they decide to wait for the fight to end on the edge of the city, and as time passes, Sanji joins them as well, coming to see what had happened since they were taking too long to return to the ship, even making his own failed attempts to get closer to the battle.
And so, they stayed awake through the night. The city, meanwhile, seemed deserted, even though it wasn't, very different from the commercial center before, which even at night shone and was full of activity; all the citizens were hiding inside their own homes and establishments, afraid to go out and get caught in the crossfire, the constant blasts from the three brothers' fight only increasing this fear, but fortunately there were no civilian casualties, only property damage and a few people with minor scratches.
Then the day breaks, and when the sun is already high in the sky, everyone feels the impact of the last exchange of blows from the three brothers, yes, the one that left the sea rough.
And it is precisely right after this moment that Robin arrives in Nanohana and locates Vivi and the rest of the crew.
'Looks like I'm late! Well, I didn't intend to carry out this suicidal mission anyway! Alone again then, I mean, when have I ever not been alone, right?', analyzing the situation from afar and realizing that the fight between the Straw Hats and the Navy had long been over, Robin reflects internally, letting out a tired sigh before turning and heading toward the city's port, her goal being to infiltrate a certain charismatic ship with a ram figurehead.
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(AN: 2,785 Words)
If you guys decide to give ideas or suggestions about things I should pay attention to in the story, keep in mind that on Patreon, the fic is currently at the Alabasta Arc, more specifically, on Alubarna.
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