"So let me get this straight," Varin said slowly, rubbing his temples as he stood in front of the crew like a very tired daycare teacher who had already lost three children today. "Everyone trusted everyone else to watch the prisoner. Which means no one actually watched him. And that somehow led to him escaping."
Silence.
Varin exhaled through his nose. "How. Did. He. Escape. He can't bloody swim. So, unless you missed it, an entire ship did not quietly pull up alongside us, kidnap the man in a swan skirt, and sail away without a single one of you noticing."
Luffy scratched his cheek. "Not like you noticed either."
Varin's head snapped toward him so fast it was a miracle nothing cracked. "That's because," he growled, "I was in Chopper's office figuring out how the hell me and him are not going to die of heatstroke the moment we set foot on that bloody island."
Chopper nodded rapidly. "We were talking about water intake and shade and how fur traps heat and how I might pass out."
"A very important conversation," Varin added flatly.
Nami crossed her arms. "He probably slipped his bonds when Usopp and Luffy started arguing about who would punch a crocodile harder."
"That was important too," Luffy said.
"It was not," Varin replied without missing a beat.
Usopp raised a hand. "In my defense, I was guarding him. For like. A minute."
"A minute," Varin repeated. "Marvelous. Truly. I feel safer already."
Sanji frowned, lighting a cigarette. "He could've used that face thing. Turned into someone trusted. Walked off."
Varin stared at him for a long second, then slowly dragged a hand down his face. "Into the ocean?" he shot back. "Once again, we are on a ship. A ship. He cannot fly, he cannot swim, and he did not sprout gills."
He spread his hands wide, gesturing at the open sea around them. "Which means once again, another ship had to have pulled up close enough for him to jump across. Close enough that you could hear ropes creak or boards knock. And every single one of you missed it."
Usopp shifted uncomfortably. "I mean… it was really windy…"
Varin's eye twitched. "The wind does not carry away an entire vessel, Usopp."
Luffy leaned over the railing, peering down like Bon Clay might still be clinging to the hull. "Maybe he jumped really far."
Varin pointed at him. "He. Can't. Swim."
Vivi swallowed. "If they were close enough to take him… they know where we're headed."
Varin let out a slow breath through his nose, rubbing at his temple. "They already knew that, lass. Ever since the day we ran into you. That vulture and otter pair. The Unluckies, aye? Once they laid eyes on you, the path was set."
He straightened, gaze sweeping the deck and the sea beyond it. "So there's no point pretendin' we still have the element of surprise. That ship sailed the moment Baroque Works realized you were alive and moving."
Vivi's shoulders dipped slightly, guilt creeping in. Varin noticed and shook his head. "Not on you. This was always going to happen. Guess it don't matter much in that equation anyway. What's done is done."
He turned fully toward her then, expression firm but not unkind. "From here on out, princess, you stay near someone at all times. Me, Nami, Zoro, anyone. Doesn't matter who, just not alone."
Nami crossed her arms. "Kidnapping her off our own ship would be insane."
"Aye," Varin replied dryly. "And yet, based on recent events, we've proven ourselves blind enough to let exactly that happen."
Usopp sputtered. "Hey now."
Varin shot him a look. "No offense. Just facts."
Vivi nodded slowly. "I understand."
"Good," Varin said. But he was cut off before he could continue.
"Actually, Varin, can I ask you something, since we're all here?" Nami said.
Varin looked over at her, one brow lifting in a silent go on. That alone made a few of them pause. Nami wasn't the asking type. She was a taking, bargaining, or threatening type, depending on the day. The fact that she was phrasing it like this meant she'd been sitting on it a while.
The others shifted their attention to her, too.
"Back on Whiskey Peak," Nami continued, "you said you'd explain about that man. The one you ran into. I think we all kinda forgot in the chaos of going against a warlord, but… I didn't."
Varin exhaled slowly through his nose. The sea rolled beside them, steady and patient, like it had all the time in the world for bad stories.
"Ah… him…" he muttered. "Right. Figures that'd come back around."
He straightened, resting his forearms on the railing, eyes on the horizon instead of any of them. "Alright then. Chopper. Vivi. You'll be missin' a bit of context, but I ain't gonna sugarcoat it."
Chopper stiffened. Vivi leaned closer without realizing she'd done it.
"That man," Varin went on, voice lower and rougher, "was Loki. Aye. That Loki. Same bastard from the story I told you when we met."
Ussop and Nami's jaws hit the floor,
"YOU ATTACKED HIM?" Nami screamed, hands flying up like she might physically throttle the idea out of his head. "You attacked an actual god?!"
Usopp made a noise that could only be described as a dying teakettle and promptly collapsed against the mast, eyes rolled halfway back. The moment Nami actually said the word god out loud, Chopper followed suit, legs locking, fur puffing out as he let out a strangled bleat and dropped beside him.
"G-g-g-g-god," Usopp whispered, foaming slightly. "Like… lightning and curses and smiting and—"
"He's going to die," Chopper whimpered. "We're all going to die. Kureha told me this would happen if I left the island."
Zoro stared at Varin. Sanji's cigarette hung forgotten between his fingers, smoke curling uselessly into the air. Vivi looked like she'd forgotten how to breathe.
Luffy, meanwhile, squinted. "So he's like… really strong?"
Varin rubbed a hand over his face. "Captain, that is the understatement of the century."
Nami spun on him again. "You don't just pick a fight with a god! People don't do that!"
"Aye," Varin snapped back, heat bleeding into his voice. "Most people don't."
That got her to pause, just long enough for him to keep going.
Sanji finally found his voice. "You're tellin' me a god is now personally aware of us."
"Aye."
"And alive."
"Aye."
"And not happy."
Varin snorted. "He was happy about it. That's the problem."
Nami dragged both hands down her face. "I hate this crew. I hate this sea. I hate you."
"Fair," Varin muttered.
Vivi stepped closer, voice quiet but steady. "You said… he wants you to fight Crocodile."
"Aye." Varin's eyes darkened.
Zoro straightened a little. "And you?"
Varin let out a slow breath. "You were there for it. All but the cook and the sniper." He glanced briefly toward the rail, like he could still see it. "After my little outburst when the trickster sat himself on Karoo's back."
Vivi's hands clenched together at the memory. Nami looked away. Chopper shifted closer to Usopp without realizing it.
"I've got a choice," Varin went on, voice low, rough. "At least that's what he claims. But truth is, I'm already headed for that bastard anyway. Crocodile's tangled himself into your country, princess, and that puts him square in my path, whether a god whispered it or not."
"So you're doing what he wants," Sanji said flatly.
Varin shook his head. "I'm doin' what I want to do. That's the difference." His eyes lifted, sharp. "Loki just likes pretendin' he owns the road."
Zoro snorted. "Figures."
Luffy tilted his head, thinking hard in the way that usually meant he wasn't thinking hard at all. "So we're gonna fight a Warlord."
"Aye."
"And a god might be watchin'."
"Aye."
Luffy grinned. "Sounds fun."
Nami slapped him on the back of the head. "NO, IT DOESN'T."
Varin actually laughed at that, a short, tired sound. "Relax, navigator. If gods want blood, they'll get it whether we worry or not. Only thing we can do is keep movin'."
Vivi nodded slowly. "Then… Alabasta doesn't change. We still stop Crocodile."
"Aye," Varin said, meeting her eyes. "That part was never up for debate."
The ship creaked as it cut through the water, the desert sun looming closer with every mile. Somewhere far away, whether by fate or coincidence, something was watching.
Later, when the ship finally settled into a steady rhythm and the shouting above deck dulled into background noise, Varin had retreated below. The air down here was cooler, blessedly so, the heat muffled by wood and shadow instead of beating down like a hammer. He lay against the wall near the storage crates, one arm folded behind his head, the other resting over his ribs. Not asleep. Just still.
It didn't take long before soft footsteps approached.
He didn't open his eyes.
"Need somethin', princess?" Varin asked, voice low and lazy, like he hadn't been interrupted at all.
There was a brief pause. Then a quiet laugh. "I don't know how you do that," Vivi said as she sat down beside him. "Your eyes aren't open. And I didn't say anything."
Varin huffed, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You all walk different. Zoro's steps are tight, like he's ready to spring at any second. Sanji's heavier, but careful, like he's always worried about slippin'. Yours are lighter than the rest. Softer. Harder to miss."
"Huh," Vivi murmured. "That's… kinda neat, I guess." She glanced around, then down at where he'd settled himself. "You know you've made a little spot down here. Like an actual dog would."
He cracked one eye open at that, then shut it again. "Watch it. I bite."
She smiled, but didn't move away. Instead, she leaned back against the crate beside him, knees drawn up slightly. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The ship creaked around them, wood groaning as it cut through the water, every sound reminding them that land was closer and closer.
Vivi smiled, small and fond, and leaned back against the wall beside him. The wood creaked softly with the motion. "You curled up before I came in. Knees tucked, shoulders in. Looked… comfortable."
"Don't spread that around," Varin said dryly. "I've a reputation to maintain."
She laughed again, quieter this time, then fell into a brief silence. Not awkward. Just heavy. The kind that meant something was coming.
"…Are you scared?" she asked at last.
Varin sighed, long and tired, like he was letting something old finally settle. "I've had this conversation too many times, for too many different reasons. No. I lost interest in being scared." He glanced away, jaw tightening just a bit. "Spent so long living in it that it got dull. Fear stops working after a while. Starts repeating itself. Same thoughts. Same weight in the chest. Same ending."
He rolled his shoulders once, a small motion, like shaking off snow. "So no. I'm not scared. Not brave either, before you ask. Just past it. When something bores you, you stop reacting to it."
There was a pause. He looked back at her then, eyes steady, voice lower. "Doesn't mean I don't understand why others are. Just means it's not mine anymore."
"Do you think we'll be okay?" Vivi asked. For once, there was no edge to her voice, no careful diplomacy or practiced calm. Just worry. Real and unguarded.
It took Varin a second to understand why she was asking him of all people. Then it clicked. She wasn't asking a commander, or a fighter, or a man who swung a blade. She was asking someone who had already decided how this ended for himself.
He let out a slow breath through his nose. "Aye. We will, princess." His tone was steady, almost casual, but there was something firm beneath it. Anchored. "Someone like Crocodile isn't enough to take us down."
He shifted his weight, boots scraping softly against stone. "Men like him rely on fear. On people breaking before the fight's even finished. That's how they win." Varin glanced toward the horizon, where the desert blurred into heat and dust. "But fear only works on folk who still think they're supposed to survive at any cost."
His gaze returned to her, sharp but not unkind. "To take me down, it'd take more than power, more than a big name and a bad reputation. It'd take something that could make me care about dying again. And I don't think that exists."
There was a pause, longer this time. His voice dropped, quieter, more honest. "So aye. We'll be okay. Not because it'll be easy. Not because no one will bleed. But because we're still standing, and he's just another bastard who thinks the world will fold if he pushes hard enough."
Varin straightened, rolling his shoulders once. "And it won't. Not today."
The words had barely left his mouth when his body went rigid, like someone had poured ice down his spine. Instinct flared before thought. He slowly opened his eyes, muscles tight, ready to move if he had to. Then he felt it. Weight. Light and careful.
He turned his head just enough to see that Vivi had leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder like it had always belonged there. The tension didn't leave him all at once, but it eased, inch by inch. He didn't pull away.
"Thank you," Vivi said softly.
Varin didn't answer right away.
"I know I kind of forced this on all of you," she continued, her voice gaining speed as if afraid she'd lose the nerve if she stopped. "And I haven't been very useful, not really, and I know I'm not strong like you or Luffy or Zoro, but still… I can't thank you enough. You're all helping me when you didn't have to."
She swallowed, breath hitching just a little.
"You almost died because of me," she said. "Everyone was so hurt. Zoro nearly cut his foot off. Luffy had a mountain dropped on him. We almost became statues." Her fingers curled into the fabric near his arm. "If anything had gone just a little worse…"
She stopped there, forcing herself to breathe. Then she tilted her head and looked up at him. Blue eyes met silver, searching, uncertain, heavy with guilt she hadn't let herself show until now.
Varin stared back at her for a moment, unreadable. For a few seconds, he said nothing at all. The ship creaked around them, distant voices above deck, the steady rhythm of the sea slapping against the hull. Vivi's words hung heavy in the cooler air below, piled on top of each other like she'd been holding them in too long and they all came out at once.
"You didn't force anything," Varin said at last. His voice was low, rougher than before. "No one here was dragged along. Luffy doesn't know how to be forced. Zoro would've left the moment he smelled a leash. Sanji would complain, but he'd still stay. That's just how they are."
He finally turned his head enough to look at her properly. Silver eyes steady, tired, but clear. "And don't confuse getting hurt with being wrong. We get hurt doing stupid things, too. This just happens to matter."
Vivi opened her mouth, like she wanted to argue, but Varin kept going, gentle but firm. "Aye, I almost died. So what. I've almost died for worse reasons than helping someone who actually gives a damn about her people."
He shifted slightly so she wasn't leaning awkwardly, careful not to shake her off. "Zoro'll laugh about his foot in a few weeks. Luffy already forgot the mountain. And the statues?" He snorted quietly. "Wouldn't be the strangest thing any of us has turned into."
Then his tone softened, losing some of its edge. "You're useful because you care. Because you didn't run. Because you're still walking into that desert knowing exactly what's waiting for you." He glanced away again, toward the dark stairs leading back up. "That's more than most rulers ever manage."
He looked back down at her, meeting her eyes without flinching. "If we die out there, it won't be because of you. It'll be because we chose to stand where we're standing."
For a moment, he hesitated. Then, quieter, almost like an afterthought. "And for what it's worth… I don't regret it. Not even a little."
"Heh… you really should've eaten a bear fruit," Vivi said, a soft laugh slipping out before she could stop it. "For someone who acts all rough and scary, you're basically just a big teddy bear, you know?"
Varin huffed, the sound more breath than laugh. "Careful, princess. Say things like that too loud, and my reputation'll die faster than I do."
Vivi smiled against his shoulder, the tension easing out of her just a little. "I mean it. You act all gruff and scary, but then you sit down here in the coolest spot on the ship like a guard dog and tell me everything's going to be fine."
"Aye," he muttered. "Guard dogs bite."
She shifted so she could look up at him again, clearly not intimidated in the slightest. "Only when they have to."
That earned her a glance. A real one this time. There was something amused in his eyes now, faint but there. "You're braver than you think," he said. "Most people wouldn't joke after all that."
"I think I'd break if I didn't," Vivi replied honestly. "If I stop laughing, then I start thinking. And if I start thinking too much…" She trailed off, fingers curling lightly in the fabric of her sleeve.
Varin let the silence sit for a moment. "Then you picked the right place to sit. I'm very good at not thinking."
She laughed again, quieter. "Liar."
"Professional," he corrected.
They sat like that as the ship rocked gently beneath them. The heat from above never quite reached down here, just the steady smell of wood and sea. Vivi's breathing slowed, no longer sharp or uneven.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, princess, you know the drill, stay close, scream bloody murder if ya need somethin'," Varin said as they stepped off the ship.
The port hit him like a wall. Noise first. Voices layered on voices, shouting prices, curses, laughter. Then motion. People everywhere, carts rattling past, sailors unloading crates, kids darting between legs like fish. And then the heat. Gods, the heat. It crawled under his skin and settled there, heavy and wet, turning every breath into work. He rolled his shoulders again, jaw tight, eyes already tracking without thinking.
"Varin, you know we can't actually go into town," Vivi said, giggling softly. "We talked about this."
Her words made him stop mid-step.
He blinked once, then twice. "…Ah."
She watched the realization land, lips tugging upward like she'd been waiting for it.
"…Right," Varin muttered, scratching the back of his head. "You're the most recognizable person in the damn country, ain't ya."
She nodded, amused but not mocking. Patient. Used to this.
He glanced back toward the ship, then around the port again, then down at Karoo, who looked just as lost and offended by the heat as he felt.
"So that means…" Varin sighed. "You, me, and the duck are just gonna sit around for a bit?"
Karoo let out a sharp quack, offended at the phrasing.
Vivi laughed, really laughed this time, light and honest. "For a little while, yeah. The others will handle supplies and information. It's safer this way."
"Aye, safer," Varin echoed, though his eyes never stopped moving.
They moved off to the side of the dock, settling near an old wall that offered shade. Varin leaned back against the wood, crossing his arms, posture loose but ready. From here, he could see the main road leading inland, the banners fluttering above it, the palace road hidden beyond the sprawl of buildings and dust.
This was her home. And it looked like a pressure cooker.
Vivi sat beside him, folding her legs neatly, Karoo settling between them with an indignant huff.
"You okay?" she asked, quieter now.
Varin snorted. "Princess, I've been in worse places than this."
She gave him a look. The kind that said you did not answer the question.
He exhaled through his nose. "…I'm fine. Just don't like crowds when I don't know who wants my head."
"That would be most of Alabasta if they recognized me," she said gently.
He glanced at her then. Really looked. No crown, no guards, just a girl in traveling clothes sitting in the dirt like anyone else. Shoulders still straight, though. Always straight.
"Then it's a good thing they won't," he said. "Anyone comes sniffin' too close, they deal with me first."
She smiled at that, softer than before. "I know."
They sat there like that for a while. The noise washed around them. The heat pressed down. Somewhere inland, a kingdom waited to either survive or break.
Varin closed his eyes again, just for a moment.
"Alright," he muttered. "Guess we're on duck guarding duty."
Karoo quacked proudly.
Vivi laughed, and for just a second, despite everything coming, it almost felt normal.
Sanji was the first to return, arms full of food and sporting a fresh bruise along his jaw. According to Luffy, it was about a meal's worth. The bruise probably came from the cook getting a little too familiar with a woman and stepping past whatever boundary she'd drawn, like he tended to do. Sanji didn't comment on it, just lit a cigarette, blew out a puff of smoke, and acted like nothing had happened, pride bruised worse than his face.
The others filtered back not long after, arms weighed down with supplies, new clothes, information that only half made sense. All of them except Luffy. No one had even bothered pretending to be surprised. The moment they set foot in town, he had vanished, chasing food, trouble, or whatever shiny thing caught his attention first.
What did catch Varin's attention was the other bit of news. Quiet at first, passed between Zoro and Nami, then said out loud once Vivi asked what was wrong.
There was a Whitebeard pirate on the island.
That made Varin still, in a way, the heat hadn't managed all day.
Not just any pirate, either. For one of Whitebeard's crew to be this far out, this close to the first half of the Grand Line, it meant they were strong. Trusted. You didn't survive under that flag by being forgettable.
Varin leaned back against the stone wall, arms folding slowly as his thoughts turned heavier than his armor ever had. New World pirates didn't just know legends. They knew names. Families. Bloodlines. If the old man back in Loguetown hadn't been lying and Varin had a sister sitting in an admiral's chair, then someone like that would absolutely know who he was. Or at least what he was.
He rolled his jaw once, feeling heat prickle under his skin that had nothing to do with the desert sun.
If they crossed paths, it might not be a conversation. It might be a test. Or a message meant for someone else entirely.
Varin exhaled slowly through his nose and pushed the thought aside for now. One problem at a time. They had a kingdom to save, a warlord waiting at the end of it, and a captain loose in a city that probably couldn't afford him.
Still, his eyes drifted toward the distant rooftops, instincts humming low and constant.
But he wasn't stupid enough to lie to himself either. If it was a commander under Whitebeard's flag, even he would be hard pressed as he was now. Strong, aye. Stubborn enough to keep standing, sure. But strength like that wasn't something you powered through on grit alone. It was earned, layered, sharpened over years of blood and discipline.
The thought settled heavy in his chest, not fear, just clarity.
He needed to get stronger.
Not louder, not angrier. Sharper. More precise. The kind of strength that didn't rely on instinct alone but on things learned and drilled until they lived in the bone. That meant sorting through the mess in his head. The fractured memories from that damned rock where time blurred, and pain became routine. There were holes in there, entire stretches locked away behind exhaustion and survival, but buried in the mess were things worth digging up.
Training. Real training.
He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing slowly, trying to pull at threads that didn't want to be grasped. He remembered hands correcting his stance with bruising force. Voices that didn't comfort, only demanded. The weight of Battle was heavier than anything he carried now. Footwork drilled into him until his legs shook, then drilled again. Lessons about when to advance and when to hold, when killing was the point, it was always the point. Family lessons. Before his exile. Before their names turned sour.
Varin's jaw tightened. He hadn't wanted to think about them. About what he'd been before he was cast out, stripped of place and purpose. If he was going to stand between this crew and monsters like Crocodile or worse, things from the New World that knew his blood better than he liked, then instinct wouldn't cut it forever. He needed control. Memory. Technique.
He opened his eyes again, gaze steady now.
Fine then. He'd dig through the wreckage in his head. He'd pull up every lesson worth keeping and beat the rust off the rest. Whatever waited ahead in Alabasta or beyond, he wasn't meeting it half-formed, not like Little Garden.
He was snapped out of it by noise. Not the usual port chaos, but shouting sharp enough to cut through the heat. Varin's head lifted as the others peeked around the corner of the wall, voices rising all at once. He pushed himself up and followed, the height difference making the scene almost ridiculous for half a second, like a bad cartoon sketch of giants and children scrambling.
Then he saw why.
Luffy was sprinting down the street, arms flailing, laughter mixing with panic, and behind him surged a wall of white and blue. Marines. Too many. At their head walked a familiar shape wreathed in drifting smoke.
Smoker.
"Shit, we gotta go," Sanji said immediately, already scooping up the food like his life depended on it.
The rest moved fast, bags yanked shut, purchases abandoned or stuffed wherever they fit. Controlled chaos. They'd done this dance before.
Varin didn't move.
A dumb idea sparked in his head, the kind that arrived fully formed and refused to be ignored. If Luffy went down here, the rest wouldn't get out clean. Someone needed to slow that tide, even if only for a few breaths.
"Go," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
His body shifted mid-step, bones rolling, muscles swelling, fur bursting outward as he vaulted the wall in a single motion. He hit the ground hard, claws carving shallow scars into the stone street as he landed squarely between Luffy and the oncoming marines.
The smoke hesitated.
Varin threw his head back, jaws opening wide, and howled. The sound tore through the street, deep and brutal, echoing off stone and sending civilians scrambling. It wasn't just a warning. It was a challenge.
The sound cut through the street like a blade. And for a heartbeat, the chase stopped cold. It wasn't just loud. It was wrong. A deep, rolling howl that rattled shutters and sent birds screaming up from rooftops. People froze mid-step. Merchants dropped crates. Even the Marines faltered for half a second, boots skidding as instinct kicked in before training could catch up.
Varin hit the ground hard, claws scraping stone as sand puffed up around him. The heat barely registered now. Fur bristled, spine arched, silver eyes locked forward. He planted himself squarely between Luffy and the oncoming line of white coats.
"Oi," he rumbled, voice carrying even without shouting. "Wrong direction."
The Marines slowed, rifles raising, ranks tightening. A few of them swallowed when they got a proper look at him. Big. Too big. Built wrong, like something that belonged in a story told to scare kids into behaving.
Smoke rolled in a heartbeat later.
Smoker stepped through his own haze like he owned the street, jitte resting on his shoulder, cigar burning like it didn't care about the heat. His eyes flicked from Varin to Luffy and back again, sharp and assessing.
"…You," Smoker said, lips curling faintly. "You weren't on the report."
Varin bared his teeth in what might have passed for a grin if it wasn't full of fangs. "Been gettin that a lot."
Behind him, Luffy skidded to a stop, staring up. "Whoa. Varin, that was awesome."
"Run," Varin snapped without looking back. "Now."
"But Smokers right there."
"Aye," Varin said, lowering his stance, claws digging in. "That's the point."
Smoke surged forward, coiling, reaching. Varin didn't wait for it to wrap him. He lunged, not at Smoker but at the space in front of him, slamming his weight down and cracking the stone street. The shockwave rippled out, knocking marines off balance, breaking the formation just enough.
Smoker slid back a step, boots scraping. His eyes narrowed, interest sharpening. "Zoan?"
"Somethin like that."
Smoke rushed in again, thicker this time, trying to bind, choke, slow him down. It burned his lungs, tasted like ash, but Varin pushed through it, muscles screaming as he swiped wide, not aiming to hit, just to force space. Claws passed through smoke, dispersing it long enough to see Smoker's silhouette reform.
"Persistent bastard," Smoker muttered.
Varin laughed, a low sound. "Been called worse."
He felt it then. The shift. The crew moving. Footsteps retreating. Vivi safe. That was enough.
Varin took one last step forward, looming, forcing Smoker to hold his ground instead of advancing. "Another time, smoke man. I ain't your quarry today."
Then he turned and bolted, leaping rooftops in two bounds, sand and stone raining down behind him.
Smoker watched him go, smoke curling tighter around his shoulders. "…Alabasta just got a lot more interesting," he said, raising a hand.
"After them!" a marine shouted.
"Not gonna happen," a new voice cut in.
Varin caught it even at a distance, sharp and confident, carried over the chaos as he surged forward and rejoined the others. He risked a glance back.
A man stood between Smoker and the street they had just fled, posture loose, almost lazy. A wide-brimmed hat. Freckles. And tattooed across his back, clear as day, the purple cross.
Whitebeard.
Heat rippled around him, not the suffocating desert kind but something alive. Fire bloomed at his feet, curling up his arms as smoke met flame and hissed in protest. A flame logia. That explained the sudden inferno swallowing the street behind them.
Varin felt his hackles rise despite himself. Strong.
He barely registered Luffy's voice at first, shouted back over his shoulder as they ran.
"That's my big brother," Luffy yelled, grinning like this was the best possible timing. "Ace!"