Second Wind

32

3:55 pm, Alubarna

Tashigi rushed to keep up with Captain Smoker as he glided across rooftops using his devil fruit. They only had 5 minutes before the bomb was fired. They had to get to the clock tower quickly. As the building came within sight, Tashigi noted that it would take time for her to actually get to the top, but Smoker could simply glide all the way up.

"Tashigi!" the smoke man yelled. "I'm going to give you a boost!"

"Right!" she consented, before grabbing hold of her superior's hand. Smoker wasted no time and took them both straight to the top just as the clock, which turned out to be a door, opened to reveal two eccentrically dressed agents carrying pistols and laughing. Behind them, Tashigi could see the cannon that they were going to use to fire the bomb. They stopped laughing when they caught sight of the two marines flying towards them, and started shooting, Smoker evaded the shots, but as they drew closer, Tashigi took note of the match in one of the agents' hands. Smoker saw the same thing and threw Tashigi into the clock tower just the fuse was lit. Tashigi quickly drew her sword and incapacitated the two agents before turning to the fuse and severing it. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, but it caught in her throat as she heard the ticking coming from the bomb. Realizing what was happening immediately, Tashigi turned to Smoker, who had just landed beside her.

"Smoker-san, the bomb is timed!" she yelled frantically. Smoker froze as he came to the same conclusion. He seemed to think for a moment before he walked toward the opening of the cannon.

"Only one thing to do then," he muttered. In an impressive show of strength, he pulled the bomb out of the muzzle and hoisted it over his shoulder. Tashigi's eyes widened.

"Smoker-san, what are you-" But Smoker had already jumped out of the tower and was rising into the air, carrying the bomb with him. It was with horror that Tashigi realized what he was going to do. She screamed after him as he flew higher and higher, the bomb ticking away all the while. It was only when Smoker was far too high to hear her desperate shouts any longer that the bomb detonated, and she had to cover her eyes to shield them from the blinding light of the explosion that seemed to block out the sky. When the sky cleared, Tashigi just stared up at it numbly, not believing what had just happened. When it finally sank in, she dropped to her knees, tears flowing down he cheeks. Sobs racked her body as she wondered how he could just leave like that, without so much as a farewell...no, how could he leave her at all? What was he thinking? What-

"What are you crying about?" a voice asked from behind her. "You call yourself a marine, you over emotional clutz of a girl?" Tashigi froze, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. She slowly turned around, towards the source of the all too familiar voice, to face Captain Smoker, standing there without a scratch on him.

"Captain..." she said numbly.

"What?" Smoker asked in annoyance. "You do know I'm a logia right? What the hell did you expect to happen?"

But Tashigi just tackled him in a hug, ignoring his indignant protests and half hearted threats.

"Desert Sword!" Crocodile shouted as a long fissure appeared in the sand below Luffy's feet, prompting him to jump over it to avoid being speared and falling in. He quickly readied his own assault as his blackened fist twisted behind him.

"Gomu gomu no...Ape Rifle!" The blow was dodged by the sandman, who dispersed into sand a fraction of a second before it connected. Crocodile reformed in front of Luffy and tried to gut him with his poison hook, but Luffy deflected it with his haki imbued hand. He grabbed the warlord by the arm and swung him over his shoulder into the air. Crocodile barely had enough time to right himself before Luffy was in front of him again, his arms reared back, ready to strike. "Gomu gomu no...Pan Bazooka!" His attack hit dead on this time, sending Crocodile through the air like a rag doll before he rolled to a stop on the sand below. He quickly recovered and stood up.