Smoker squinted his eyes, he observed the dark shapes getting closer to them.
They were walking like they knew they were going to win.
When Smoker saw their faces, his brow tightened.
"So it's those guys," he muttered.
Baroque Works had arrived.
First came Mr. 1. His face was uninterested, but his hands had turned into swords.
Next to him, was the seductive lookng Miss Doublefinger. Spikes grew from her arms, shoulders, and chest.
Then came Mr. 2 Bon Clay.
"Oh ho ho~! Can you believe it? Mr. 0 is Crocodile!" He laughed loudly, while changing his face over and over
"I could be anyone!" he said with a twirl.
Mr. 3 walked in next. Wax dripped from his fingers. He had created a long sword from wax and gave it a lazy swing.
Miss Goldenweek followed behind him, painting signs on a coloring board. She didn't talk, just kept drawing.
Mr. 4 was dragging a giant bat. His dog-gun Lasso walked next to him, with snot coming out of its nose.
Besides him, the ground caved in and Miss Merry Christmas popped out of the hole, like a mole.
"Hurry up, you big lump!" she yelled at Mr. 4. Then she disappeared back underground.
Crocodile chuckled.
He wasn't nervous anymore. He looked completely in control.
Smoker stepped forward, gripping his jitte.
"I should've guessed you'd bring your whole team, but it's pointless." he said.
"I am a logia user, numbers mean nothing to me, more people will only slow me down."
Crocodile didn't answer him. He wasn't even looking at Smoker.
He was instead looking at the ground under Smoker's feet.
Suddenly, Smoker felt his footing shift.
"What?!?"
The sand under him moved, he dropped straight into a box. Thick gray bars slammed shut around him, trapping him inside a greyish cage.
His whole body felt weak. He dropped to one knee.
"A Seastone cage!?"
Smoker slammed his fist into the bars. He tried to turn into smoke, but nothing happened.
No powers.
This was a real Seastone cage. His Devil Fruit was useless. He had fallen into a trap.
Crocodile walked up to him.
"You lost, Captain Smoker," he said, voice calm.
"You were too distracted by my men, and forgot to watch your surroundings."
Smoker glared at him. He wanted to fight—but his body wouldn't move.
Crocodile looked away.
Just a few steps away, Robin was still fighting. Her face sweaty.
When she saw Crocodile had won, she calmly wiped dust off her shoulder like it didn't bother her.
"Let's go, Robin," Crocodile said.
She nodded.
She was about to walk back, when the sand under her feet rose and pulled her up.
The sudden movement caught her off guard, she tried to keep her balance, but her top slipped down.
For a short second, the world stood still.
Smoker's eyes widened.
Robin blinked, clearly realising what had happened. She took a deep breath, two arms grew from her back, holding her top in place.
As the sand carried her past the cage, she looked at Smoker.
She gave him a small smile, knowing she was facing him just now.
Then she was gone.
He also heard Crocodile's voice in the distance.
"With you causing this much commotion. News of my actions is bound to leak. I can't take over Alabasta anymore."
"But it doesn't matter! Truth is, Project Utopia wasn't about creating an Utopia, I never cared about being king. That was just a bonus."
"My real goal's the royal treasure of Alabasta—that's what I really want. Now that my plan's exposed, I might as well take it by force."
"We're heading to the royal palace!"
He laughed as his voice faded.
"You lost to me Captain Smoker. Now sit and watch your crew die!"
Smoker clenched his teeth, he held the seastone bars tighter.
"Dammit…"
He could hear the fighting behind him. Without his support, the Baroque work's agent were a significant threat, but he couldn't move to save his crew.
Tashigi noticed that he was trapped, but she wasn't in a position to help. She was barely standing, pointing her sword at the two enemies before her,
Mr. 1 stepped forward. Miss Doublefinger followed close behind.
"You are a swordsman? Give up, I'm a sword human, my body is a living sword. You can't beat me," Mr. 1 said.
Tashigi had a feeling he was right, but she didn't have a choice and ran forward.
Her sword hit his arm with a loud clang—he didn't even flinch.
His fingers turned into swords and slashed at her. She barely dodged the attack.
But then Miss Doublefinger rushed in, and stabbed a sharp spike into her leg.
Tashigi cried out and fell to one knee. Another spike cut across her back.
She gasped in pain, but pushed herself up again, breathing hard.
Mr. 1's arm turned into a giant sword.
"This is it," he said. "You're finished."
Nearby, Mikita stood before Mr. 2 Bon Clay and Miss Merry Christmas.
"You joined the Marines?" Bon Clay was shocked. "Miss Valentine, how could you~?"
He touched his face and transformed into her.
"Look! I look like a traitor!" he laughed.
Then he kicked her hard in the chest. She flew backwards, coughing up blood.
"1 kilogram!" she jumped, trying to fly into the air.
But Miss Merry Christmas popped up behind her.
"Too slow!" she shouted, slashing her mole claws across Mikita's back.
Mikita screamed and fell to the ground. Blood ran down her back and soaked the sand.
In another place, Gem faced off against Mr. 3 and Mr. 4.
"I'll blow you both to pieces!" he yelled, and fired a blast of explosive snot at Mr. 3.
Mr. 3 quickly made a wax wall. The blast hit it hard, melting it—but not breaking through.
"You're disgusting, Mr 5," Mr. 3 frowned. He made several wax knives and threw them like darts.
Gem dodged to the side, rolling through the sand.
Then a shadow covered his body. Mr. 4 had appeared behind him, posing like a batsman.
"Home run," he yelled.
A giant metal bat slammed into Gem's ribs.
CRACK!
Gem flew through the air and landed far away in the sand dunes.
He didn't get up again.
Vivi was stumbling back in from the edge of the battlefield, she was almost mummified from Crocodile's attack, but she didn't stop.
She limped toward Miss Goldenweek.
"Get away from my friends!" she shouted hoarsely.
Goldenweek casually ate a cracker and painted a symbol on the sand.
Vivi suddenly stopped moving, she tried to walk—but her legs refused to obey.
She looked down at the sand. The word FREEZE was written on it.
"I can't move," she whispered, then looked in horror as the gun dog Lasso, walked upto her.
Then Lasso sneezed, and a cannonball like object shot out its mouth.
Vivi's eyes shrunk, before the ball could reach her
"QUACK!!"
Karoo, the super-sonic duck, ran like wind and jumped in front of Vivi.
BOOM!!
The cannonball exploded. Karoo rolled across the sand, his wings bleeding.
Vivi screamed like a madwoman. She tried to move again—but the painted word froze her.
She couldn't even reach her friend. Tears ran down her cheeks.
Back at the cage...
Smoker held the bars tightly.
He could see his team was failing, bleeding, and losing one by one.
He slammed his jitte against the bars, but nothing happened.
He was stuck.
Crocodile was gone, Robin was gone with him.
And his team, they were getting massacred.
The situation was dire. Even if he escaped now, what could he do?
Save his crew? Like a Captain should.
Or chase Crocodile? Like a Marine should.
Smoker clenched his fists.
He tried again to turn into smoke—but still nothing.
"I have to get out of this cage." he whispered.
"I should've seen it coming.."
His voice dropped.
"dammit."