Second Wind

31

"Leave me alone, Smokey!" Luffy shouted as he dodged yet another jab from the logia user's jutte. He was immediately forced to keep moving as Crocodile's hand reached out to grab him. Well this is annoying. If either of these guys land a hit, I'm crippled. He was broken out of his thoughts as Tashigi jumped over his other two opponents and swiped at him with her sword. He quickly caught her sword with his bare hand, a simple haki coating ensuring that he didn't get cut, and pulled, using the weapon to block Smoker's jutte. He then kicked Smoker out of the way, sending him flying across the sand. Seeing Crocodile homing in again, he then deliberately pushed Tashigi toward the sand man. She yelped in surprise as her sword blackened in her hands, and Crocodile's eyes widened as he swayed back to avoid the armaments hardened blade.

Meanwhile, Robin was watching the fight play out curiously. She could tell that the Strawhat captain was playing with them, which surprised her. She never thought she'd see the day when she saw a rookie pirate treat a fight with a royal warlord like a joke. But that wasn't bothering her as much as what he had said earlier. You plan to steal a force you can't hope to control.

He was talking about Pluton.

But how? How could he possibly know that the weapon was hidden in this country, let alone that Crocodile was searching for it? The warlord himself was too angry at the moment to stop and think about the implications of what he had heard. But if there was one thing Robin was good at, it was keeping a clear head. She thought back to her first encounter with Monkey D. Luffy, back in Whiskey Peak. He had known who she was right off the bat, but what he said back then hadn't been a threat so much as a warning. A warning not to underestimate him. It wasn't even hostility, really. It was only natural given how she had been antagonizing his new crewmate.

Yes, she had been playing games with the princess, allowing her to discover Mr. 0's identity only to inform him later on. She had taken the warning for what it meant: if she was going to play games, she would lose. If she hadn't thought much of it at first, seeing him taking on Crocodile and the White Hunter at the same time, along with the revelation that he knew about Pluton, may have changed her perspective a bit.

"What's wrong, Robin? Not going to join in?" came the man's voice. Robin just stared at him. He wasn't mocking her, so much as...joking around. Why was he acting this way around his enemy? She supposed he might just not view her as a threat, but his tone was almost playful, as if it was completely natural for him to act friendly towards her, of all the ridiculous things in the world.

She suddenly wanted to test something out. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she threw caution to the wind and crossed her arms, copies of which suddenly sprouted all over the Strawhat captain's body. Smoker and Tashigi suddenly stopped attacking. Smoker looked over to her, as if considering her presence for the first time. Crocodile also stopped, and shot an annoyed glare at her.

"Insufferable woman! He's mine to kill!" the sand man shouted. But Robin made no other move against the pirate, who simply stood there, seemingly trapped in her grip.

And then he smiled at her. "Well? Are you going to do it or not?" he asked. "To be honest, I'd prefer if you didn't." Robin's eyes widened.

What is he playing at? There's no way I really have him beat. Why doesn't he retaliate?

Suddenly, Crocodile lost his patience and lunged at Luffy. While the two marines didn't want to attack him while he was seemingly immobilized, the warlord was less hesitant as his arm morphed into a crescent of sand.

Later Robin would tell herself that the reason she let go was simply because she was startled. But she had never been too good at fooling herself. The hands dematerialized and Luffy jumped out of the way of the attack that could have sucked every drop of water from his body.