The desert never rested.
Even when the sun dipped behind the dunes and the air cooled to a brittle chill, the wind still whispered through the sand like an endless sigh, a reminder that Alabasta was still bleeding.
Far from the coast, in the ruins outside Rainbase, a small campfire flickered in the open night. Around it, what remained of the Straw Hat Pirates stirred back to life.
Luffy sat hunched over, a towel draped across his shoulders, his straw hat lying beside him. His chest rose and fell in a shallow, uneven rhythm, the aftershocks of being buried alive.
Vivi had dragged him out herself, hands blistered from digging through sunbaked sand until she hit flesh instead of stone.
He'd barely survived. And yet, somehow, the idiot was grinning.
"Man… that guy's made of sand. That' was such a pain in the ass," he laughed hoarsely, his voice cracked from thirst.
Vivi's hands trembled as she refilled his canteen. "A pain!? He almost killed you, Luffy! Crocodile is trying to destroy my country-"
Luffy stood, wobbling slightly, but his grin didn't fade. "Then we just gotta stop him, right?"
Beside him, Zoro smirked faintly, his own body wrapped in bandages that cut across his chest and arms. "Heh, at least we know his weakness..."
Sanji flicked his lighter, the glow catching the edge of his cigarette. "Tch. Guess dinner will have to wait, beautiful ladies~ I've got a score to settle with that desert freak."
Usopp groaned. "You guys are all insane… but yeah, fine, let's go die in a sandstorm, why not!"
Chopper, who'd been nervously patching up Vivi's arm, looked up, his round eyes wide. "We can't! You all need rest! Luffy, you nearly-"
"Rest when we win," Luffy interrupted, that simple conviction silencing everyone else.
Vivi looked at him for a long moment, torn between hope and despair. Then she nodded. "The palace… it's the center of the fighting. If we don't stop the rebels and the royal army soon, the whole city will be lost."
"Then we head there."Luffy tightened the strap of his hat and grinned. "Let's go beat up a sandman."
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What followed was a blur, a montage spanning days carved into the shifting sands of Alabasta.
The Straw Hats charged across the desert, riding a storm of grit and chaos.
Zoro cut down Baroque Works agents that appeared in their path, his blades gleaming under the punishing sun.
Sanji fought in bursts of smoke and annoyance, aiming to impress all women nearby, his kicks breaking through walls and egos alike.
Usopp, was mostly terrified but unrelenting, fired his slingshot at enemies ten times his size.
They stumbled into Yuba, then Alubarna, a city tearing itself apart under banners of rebellion.
Vivi screamed for her people to stop, her voice lost amid the thunder of guns and the roar of desperate soldiers.
The crew split, just like fate demanded.
Sanji and Chopper raced through the city, trying to free the captured King Cobra.
Nami and Usopp found themselves cornered by Miss Doublefinger, their fight chaotic but ingenious, full of screaming and improvised genius.
Zoro crossed paths with Mr. 3 and Mr 5, the two standing in for Mr. 1, and got the chance to be cut down by Zoro once more.
And Luffy… Luffy stormed the palace alongside Vivi.
He burst through the gilded halls like a force of nature, shouting Crocodile's name through the corridors, his sandals smacking against marble slick with dust.
The fight that followed was everything and nothing like the one before.
The first blow shattered the air, Crocodile's hook versus Luffy's wet fist. Sand met flesh.
Crocodile taunted him, drowned him, dehydrated him, again and again. But Luffy was stubborn, he refused to stay down. He fought with his heart, his rage, and eventually, his blood.
When his fists could no longer hit, he bit into his arm and forced blood to the surface, the only liquid he could still summon in that cursed desert. It stained his attacks crimson. It let him fight through the storm.
Still, it wasn't enough.
By the time the last punch landed, Luffy was on his knees, the palace trembling beneath them. Crocodile's shadow loomed over him, his coat billowing like the end of a nightmare.
"Pathetic," Crocodile said, his voice dry and cold as dust. "You pirates are all the same. You dream, and then you die."
Luffy's hat rolled away, the brim stained red. He reached for it once, twice, before collapsing fully.
Crocodile turned away.
"Miss All Sunday. We're going below."
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The Poneglyph waited in the silence of ages, a slab of history buried beneath the palace, its surface carved with truths the world government had long tried to erase.
Robin traced her fingers along the ancient letters, her expression unreadable. Crocodile stood beside her, arms folded, smirking.
"Well?" he asked. "Does it speak of Pluton?"
Robin paused. "It speaks of many things," she said quietly. "But not what you seek."
Crocodile's smirk vanished. "Don't play games with me."
"I wouldn't dare," she said, smiling faintly. "But it really isn't here isn't here."
His patience snapped.
A surge of sand erupted around him, slamming her into the stone wall with brutal force.
The impact cracked the rock, sending dust falling like ash.
Crocodile's voice was venom. "Then you're useless to me."
Robin coughed blood, her vision swimming. "Seems… you never trusted me anyway."
Crocodile raised his golden hook, but a sound stopped him cold.
A high, off-key whistling.
It echoed down the corridor before a shadow stumbled into the chamber.
"Well, well, well…"
Buggy the Clown stepped into view, coat torn, face and body half-bandaged, and a wide grin plastered on his face. "You two really know how to throw a party."
Crocodile's eyes widened. "You-"
Before he could finish, Buggy's head launched from his shoulders like a cannonball, smacking Crocodile straight in the face.
SPWAK!
"-SHOULD LEARN TO DUCK!" Buggy's voice echoed, disembodied and laughing.
Crocodile stumbled, more shocked than hurt.
His sand instinctively lashed out, but before he could reform fully, something else came flying, a blue-and-red boot that slammed directly into his nose.
THUD.
Buggy's body casually strolled in after it, catching his head midair and reattaching it with a click. "You didn't think I'd miss the finale, did you? C'mon, Croco-boy, you didn't even send me an invite."
"You… again?" Crocodile growled, the air swirling into sand around him.
Buggy shrugged. "Can't keep a good clown down. Especially one who doesn't know when to quit."
Crocodile lunged, but he didn't make it far.
Because right then, the ceiling exploded.
A figure came crashing down through the dust and rubble, hat first, bloodied, laughing.
"CROCODILE!!!"
Luffy's voice tore through the chamber as his fist, soaked crimson, slammed directly into Crocodile's jaw.
The impact sent the Warlord flying into the far wall, the sand armor shattering apart in a cloud of gold and dust. He hit the stone hard and didn't get up.
The room went silent except for Luffy's ragged breathing.
He swayed on his feet, chest heaving, eyes barely open.
Then he turned to Buggy, and smiled faintly.
Buggy tilted his head, amused. "What's this, Strawhat? You look like death warmed over."
Luffy opened his mouth as if to say something, then just collapsed. Out cold.
Buggy stared for a moment, then scratched his chin. "Huh. Guess I'm the hero now. That's a new one."
He walked over to Crocodile's unconscious form, spat on him, and kicked him in the head twice for good measure.
"You always ought to double-tap a bitch," he muttered.
Then he turned to Robin, who was still slumped against the wall, blood drying on her chin but her eyes sharp and alive.
She raised a brow. "You're late, sorry for ditching our date... I had other arrangements."
"Eh, hardly the first pretty face to ditch this circus~ And I am always fashionably late." Buggy replied, grinning. "Can't rush art."
He looked around the wrecked tomb, at the fallen Warlord, at the kid sprawled out cold beside the Poneglyph, and let out a low whistle. "Man… what a mess. You people really know how to throw a party, huh?"
Robin chuckled faintly, despite herself. "So what now, Clown?"
Buggy dusted off his hands. "Now? We celebrate. I got a half-empty bottle of cheap wine in my coat and a brick of cheese I stole from a Marine frigate. You in?"
She blinked. "Wine and cheese?"
"Yup. Fair warning -I'm the slightest bit lactose intolerant." He winked. "But if something happens, I can always shit on Crocodile's head. Maybe it'll be liquid enough to land another kick."
Robin stared at him for a moment, then actually laughed, a quiet, exhausted, genuine laugh that echoed softly through the cavern.
Crocodile had been someone to fear in her eyes, but she couldn't help but laugh now. How couldn't she? Buggy had quite literally turned him into a joke.
Luffy had also done what he had claimed, and fought the Warlord until he won, which was just as unexpected to Robin.
But if she were to choose who shocked her most during the past few days, she would certainly pick Buggy...
From the moment she first saw him, he spat in the face of authority (quite literally at that). Sometimes she wished that she also had that boldness in her...
Therefore, she saw no reason not to share a glass of wine with the bloodied clown.
And somewhere above, the first rays of dawn began to pierce through the dust and ruin of Alabasta.
The kingdom was safe. The war was ending, thanks to Vivi finally stepping up and giving a speech, very princess-like.
And in the middle of a historical tomb, a clown poured wine while using a fallen warlord's unconscious body as a chair.