Sand Croc versus Water Luffy:
-x-
Luffy stood in the grassy courtyard outside the palace. He had a barrel full of water strapped to his back and was ready to start the second round of his fight with Crocodile. The aforementioned Warlord was still lying prone on the grass from when Luffy had punched him with a water-coated fist. The only spectators there to witness this part of the duel were Ms. All Sunday who stood casually by the palace doors and King Nefertari Cobra who still had a pair of large nails going through his elbows to keep him pinned against the front of the palace.
"Get. Up." Luffy growled at Crocodile. "It's time to fight! Now Crocodile!"
"Kuahahahahaha!" Crocodile chuckled as he slowly sat up on the grass. His laugh increased in volume as it progressed. "Kuahahahahahahahaha! KUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KUUUAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAA!"
Luffy glared at Crocodile, not understanding what was so funny. But it seemed clear that the Warlord still didn't see Luffy as the threat even if he did have a barrel of water on his back.
-x-
At the base of the stairs leading up to the palace the rest of the reunited Straw Hats stood together with Mana, Ayako, and Pell and pointedly ignored the two armies that were fighting in the square nearby.
"While Luffy's dealing with Crocodile, you've got another problem to attend do," Y/N addressed the others. "Crocodile told us that in ten minutes, at exactly four-thirty, a bomb is going to be fired into the square. The bomb is powerful enough to wipe out everything within three miles."
"Three miles?" Chopper repeated. "Then the Royal Army and the Rebel Army will both be wiped out!"
"That's right," Vivi confirmed. "We have to act quickly."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Usopp exclaimed. "IN TEN MINUTES THIS PLACE IS REALLY GONNA BLOW UP?"
"But if Crocodile told you, how do you know it's real?" Zoro asked suspiciously.
"It's not exactly a threat that can be ignored," Y/N told him. "There are too many lives at stake. Crocodile's shown that he doesn't have any compassion for any life other than his own so it sounds like something he'd do. He used it as a threat to get the King to tell him the location of some secret weapon but you can't afford to take it lightly."
"That's not much time," Nami reasoned, "Where are we supposed to look?"
"And if the cannon's near the square then wouldn't the cannon-guy get caught in the explosion too?" Usopp questioned. "Wouldn't it be far away?"
"No," Vivi answered. "The cannon is somewhere near the palace square."
"Crocodile doesn't care one bit about his underlings," Mana pointed out, "He probably only told the agents to fire a bomb at four-thirty and not how powerful it is."
"YOU MEAN HE'S JUST GONNA LET HIS OWN MAN GET KILLED?" Chopper shrieked.
"Considering its Crocodile we shouldn't be surprised," Nami reminded him.
"They'll be killing themselves without even knowing it," Ayako whispered.
"He's just plain evil," Sanji growled.
"WAIT!" Usopp suddenly shouted. "WE'RE within a three mile range of the square! IF THAT BOMB GOES OFF WE'LL BE BLOWN UP TOO!"
"That's even more of a reason to find it," Y/N resolved.
"So we've gotta find the cannon and stop the cannoneer from shooting," Zoro stated.
"Then how do we find him?" Usopp questioned in a panic.
