"What is going on?" The voice of her boss reached her ears, Crocodile, one of the seven warlords of the Sea.
Standing behind Miss Sunday, Crocodile had a devil smirk on his face, a cigarette between his teeth as he inhaled on it.
"Not much, just some small fries acting like a big deal, and people are praying for you to come and save them," Nico Robin informed him turning around to face her boss with a neutral look on her face, her piercing blue eyes like ice along with a pretty smile.
A sneer escaped his lips before his eyes looked at his subordinate seriously. "I'm not interested in little kids playing pirates. I will deal with them soon enough; I'm interested in anything big that I should know about," Crocodile demanded, slowly menacingly approaching Robin.
The woman didn't look fazed by his figure or his strength. "Well, apparently Portgas D. Ace has been seen in Sandy Island," Robin informed him, this time her voice a bit grave, mentioning the second in command of Whitebeard Pirates.
This new information caused Crocodile to stop dead on his track, his eyes narrowing slightly. So, Whitebeard has sent one of his pets, or maybe he's here on its own?! I wonder...
"Any idea why Whitebeard's pet is here?" Crocodile prompted, his voice louder when he spoke the emperor's name. Not many knew, but Crocodile deeply hated the Emperor, something no one knew why.
A sly smirk grew on Robin's face as she put a hand on her right ear as if wanting to hear something far away. "A little ear told me he's searching for Blackbeard and Straw Hat Luffy, the same ones who defeated Mr 3," Robin explained slyly.
A groan escaped Crocodile's lips; when he had eventually figured that Mr 3 had been defeated by a bunch of no-name pirates, he had been livid; but in the end, it didn't really matter; they were walking towards their own grave, sooner or later they would arrive in Alabasta to stop him because of Princess Vivi, he would personally kill their captain, to show him why he was a Warlord.
"I see, I don't know who this Blackbeard is, but someone like the Second Commander of Whitebeard shouldn't be taken lightly." Crocodile spoke, knowing someone like him was dangerous, especially after his little incident in Sabaody with the Celestial Dragon, increasing his bounty in the process.
"Should we engage him?" Robin asked carefully; while she didn't know Ace, she had been surprised by his actions in Sabaody. She didn't exactly want to fight him before she got some answers first.
"No, if he is not after us, then we don't need to; as long as he's not a nail in our feet, then we have no business to step on it," Crocodile said before turning to walk towards the door that leads outside.
"Now is time for me to play the Hero," Crocodile said mockingly before disappearing, soon reappearing at the top of the building, looking down at the pirates causing havoc on his town; his presence was quickly noticed by everyone around.
"Crocodile has Arrived. We are Saved"
"Please Save Us, Warlord"
"Kill the scummy pirates once and for all."
Crocodile laughed, hearing them cheer on him as the little pirates aimed their guns at him; Crocodile didn't try to move away as they fired their guns, only hitting sand, where the bullet hole should be instead was sand.
"If you won't attack, then allow me," Crocodile taunted before raising his hand, swinging it down, shouting, "Sand Storm."
A huge sand storm formed where the pirates were, and people ran away from the storm, shielding their eyes from the increased amount of sand in the air.
Soon the storm disappeared, showing the three pirates lying on the ground; their eyes were no longer in their eye sockets, blood leaking out from almost every part of their bodies, the sand had moved so fast that it had pierced their bodies like a bullet, and the sand storm had millions of these bullets flying around in a ridiculous speed. The sand had turned red from the blood.
Seeing the pirates dead, the people came out from where they were hiding before cheering for Crocodile for saving them from the pirates.
The Warlord simply smiled slyly, Nico Robin hiding behind a corner with a frown, seeing the ignorant people cheer on someone like Crocodile.
Going Merry
It had been weeks since they left Drum Island; Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were busy trying to catch something but so far, no luck. Luffy's stomach started protesting, telling him to eat meat; the straw hat captain was drooling from his mouth, thinking about all the food hidden in the ship by Sanji.
"We Need Meat," Luffy shouted at the sky; the luck seemed to have run out; there was light on the horizon, only a dark abyss; how could he survive like this? Was this truly the end...
"Don't worry, Luffy; we will soon reach Sandy island; once we get there, you can eat as much as you want," Vivi's voice reached his ears, snapping him out of his stupid thoughts.
That seemed to do the trick since he straightened up. Perhaps he just needs to wait; sooner or later, they would catch something or maybe sneak at Sanji's kitchen at night and eat food.
"Sanji, prepare tea for everyone," Nami ordered, standing on the deck, looking at the weather; perhaps a cup of tea could help her captain.
"Of course, Nami-Swan," Sanji said with a perverted grin on his face, full pervert mode on, much to Zoro's annoyance, who was busy doing push-ups.
As Sanji was preparing the tea, the crew noticed steam coming out of the ocean; wondering what it was all about, they got a closer look, especially Usopp, who used binoculars.
"What's happening?" Chopper asked with a hint of fear in his voice, taking a step back and standing behind Zoro's feet as if it was an indestructible shield.
"I have read about this; this is an underwater volcano," Nami informed the crew with a smile; the first time any of them had seen one, Sanji started chatting that Nami was smart.
"Underwater Volcano?! Didn't know there was such a thing!" Usopp commented, not worried since he didn't think it was harmful.
"Actually, there are more volcanoes underwater than above water; a few thousand years later, and an island will be born here," Nami said, looking at the ocean around them with amazement.
"That would be an amazing sight to see," Chopper commented, not hiding behind Zoro anymore, looking at the approaching steam with awe.
Much to Nami's surprise, Luffy was quiet, too quiet. "Luffy, you alright?" She asked, thinking that perhaps something was bothering him.
"Ah, everything is alright. You know, my grandpa once told me that this is how the Red Line was created; he said that it is speculated that a long time ago, underwater volcanoes all around the world suddenly erupted at the same time, eventually creating the Red Line," Luffy said, in a tone as if he remembered something unpleasant.
"That makes sense; that could explain it," Nojiko remarked, just as the ship was sealing through the steam.
The steam temperature was nothing that could bother them, but Luffy heard the voices near them; as they were sailing forward, he noted that two voices were going away while one of them was stuck here.
He briefly glanced at his crew, wondering if any of them noticed it, but it seemed they didn't notice shit.
Releasing a sigh, the ship came out of the steam; only then did Usopp notice the man hanging on the fishing tackle.
"Well, Hello there, friends," the strange man greeted them, causing Usopp and Chopper to scream, taken entirely by surprise.
The man was clearly some type of crossdresser, wearing flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme. He was wearing a pink overcoat and blue medieval-like garments, with his shorts appearing almost like a large ball around the man's hips and thighs. He wore heavy makeup, and his exposed legs were rather hairy.
Nami had seen all kinds of strange clothes, but this one was at the top.
"Where did you come from?" Sanji asked, coming out of the kitchen when he heard the screams.
Before the strange man could answer...
"He was in another ship; when we were in the steam, he was caught by Usopp's fishing rod; this also means that yet again, you were taken by surprise," Luffy said with an innocent smile at the end, stretching out his arms much to the horror of his crew, knowing their captain didn't like when they didn't show results in their Haki training.
"Who are you?" Nami asked, pointing at the strange man who, after being addressed, he straight up.
"Oh, my name is Bon Clay; it is good to meet you all," He said, wanting to kiss Nami's hand, but she pulled her hand away before he could.
"Perhaps you should go back to your ship before it gets too far," Usopp suggested looking at him.
Whirling around but more like dancing, he looked at Usopp. "I can't swim. I'm a devil fruit user," he informed him, drawing the attention of everyone.
"Which one?" Nojiko asked curiously, wondering if he perhaps had some kind of powerful devil fruit.
Bon Clay smiled before turning at the Straw Hat boy, extending his arm, touching his face; they were suddenly two Luffy standing there. One was wearing normal clothes and the other with the weird clothes of Bon Clay.
"This is my power. I can turn into anyone whose face I touch," he explained, showing a couple of different faces before touching the face of Usopp, Chopper, Zoro, and finally Nami.
"Not just my face, but my body changes as well," He revealed with Nami's face before removing his upper clothes; Sanji went flying with a nose bleed, drooling like a dog.
"AAAAHHHH" Bon screamed in pain when Nami suddenly hit his head with as much Armament Haki as she could, causing a big swelling on top of his head.
"Don't try that, or I will turn you to ash," Nami screamed with shark teeth and fire in her eyes to Bon, who was crying Anime tears.
"Man, you guys are brutal," he murmured, holding his head in pain; Luffy laughed at his antics.
"You're funny but don't actually try that again," Luffy said with a cheerful tone, but everyone could pick on the threat of his words.
Standing up, he gave him a thumbs up with a wink, his teeth suddenly shining like a star. "You have my word," he promised, just as Nojiko was about to ask how he would return back to his ship.
A new ship returned with two people on board; seeing his ship approaching, Bon jumped on the deck railings, standing only on one foot, turning at the Straw Hats.
"It was fun; I hope we see each other again," he said before jumping to his ship with the strength of one leg.
"He was a funny man," Luffy commented, smiling as the other ship sailed away from them.
"Where were you, Mr 2?" The Straw Hat crew heard as the other ship sailed away, making almost everyone gasp in shock.
"He Was Mister 2?!" Usopp screamed in fear, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Luffy narrowed his eyes at the ship before turning to face his crew with a serious look on his face.
"You didn't know his face, Vivi?" Luffy asked seriously, sounding like a Captain.
"I didn't really know him; all I knew was that he was someone who wears heavy make-up, wears ridiculous clothes, and likes ballet," earning a deadpan look from Zoro, who was checking his swords.
"That pretty much describes that man," he remarked before turning to look at his captain.
"He just touched our faces; we should do something about that," he said, knowing the last thing they needed was being in the company of someone acting like someone of their crew.
Vivi, who felt stupid for not recognizing him, suddenly looked at Luffy with a pale face. "One of the faces he showed was my father's face," she revealed, remembering the familiar face of her father.
Zoro frowned, his hand resting against the hilt of his swords. "Who knows what he can do with the face of a King? He can easily do something and put all the blame on him," He said grimly, making Vivi turn paler, knowing that was most likely the reason he had that face in the first place.
I should get there as soon as possible, Vivi thought, her forehead resting against the railing; she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, calming her slightly.
"Don't worry, Vivi. We will soon end this rebellion; nothing bad will happen; I will personally punish Crocodile for what he did," Luffy said warmly, trying to reassure her that everything would be alright.
Vivi smiled, her hand touching his hand, squeezing it tightly, already feeling better. "Thank You, Luffy," she said before wiping away the tears from her face, turning to look at him with a hint of blush on her face, something noticed by Nojiko and Nami, the latter having a devil smirk on her face.
"We will need a way to know who's the real one," Zoro suggested; soon, it was decided for every member, including Vivi and her duck, to draw an X symbol on their arms before covering them with bandages.
Three Days Later
For the last three days, Luffy had tortured his crew with his so-called 'Training,' and it was mainly Observation Haki; the crew didn't know why he didn't allow them to train their Armament Haki but didn't question it.
With a bat in his hand that no one knew where he got it from, Luffy was walking around his crew, all of them blindfolded, sitting on the main deck, only their Observation Haki left to save them from getting hit.
A swing, Usopp dodged immediately; Luffy smiled; it seemed from everyone in the crew that Usopp had the best Observation Haki behind him.
Another swing, Nami dodged, and so did Sanji, Zoro, and Nojiko; Vivi and Chopper failed; one thing Luffy had noticed quickly about Nojiko was her Armament Haki was already good enough; he figured she could get excellent soon; the only thing left was for her to either eat a devil fruit or choose a weapon, a sword perhaps, or maybe a pipe, or maybe Nami's old staff.
"Some of you might be curious why we are training Observation Haki," Luffy started gaining the attention of his crew as he walked around, the bat still in his hand.
"Mister two has the ability to turn as one of us, but if you have good enough Observation Haki, then it won't matter, he can change his face all he wants, but his inner 'Voice' will never change," Luffy explained seeing that he had distracted his whole crew with what he said, at that moment he used his speed to hit each one and see if any of them would react in time to dodge, or at least try to dodge.
Usopp, Sanji, and Nami almost dodged, but everyone else didn't even see it coming, Zoro, because he was better at Armament Haki.
Holding their heads in pain, only then did Luffy remove their blindfolds, allowing them to stand up; Zoro had an annoyed look on his face, but it was directed at himself rather his captain.
"We are finished here with the training. Now let's make our way to Crocodile," Luffy shouted, but just as he shouted, sudden waves rocked against the ship, making some stumble back; everyone turned around to see a Sea Monster coming out of the water.
"AAAAAHHHH" Usopp and Chopper screamed, hugging each other for dear life while Luffy and Zoro were preparing to eat it.
"MEAT" Luffy shouted, drooling, ready to throw a bolt of lightning at him; Zoro was preparing to slice him to pieces, and Sanji raised his leg.
"NOOO, you can't hurt him," Vivi screamed at them with a raised fist; the sea monster dove back below the waves.
"Why not?" Luffy asked, with a sad look that he couldn't enjoy a new type of meat.
"Sea Cat is a sacred animal in Alabasta; you can't eat it," She ordered, looking at the three of them down.
"Of course, your majesty," Sanji agreed immediately with hearts while kneeling.
"It wouldn't hurt to tell us sooner," Zoro grumbled before returning to his training.
Luffy heard his stomach demanding more food, his head hanging down against the ship's railing, his eyes briefly glancing at Chopper before looking at Vivi, whose anger disappeared a bit.
"Don't worry, Luffy, once we reach Alabasta, you can eat as much as you want; the appearance of The Sea Cat proves that we are close," Vivi said, hoping her words would help.
"So do these?" Nojiko said, pointing towards the horizon.
Everyone turned to see what she was pointing at, only to see ships sailing towards Alabasta; all of them were much larger than Going Merry.
"They're the ships of Baroque Works. The agents are gathering," Vivi said with a grimace.
"They must be the 'Billions' then; they are the officer agents underlings. Unlike Whiskey Peak, these guys are Elite; this won't be easy," Vivi said, frowning.
"Can't we just attack them now? They don't know who we are. We can easily launch a surprise attack but having so many ships against us," Usopp suggested walking over to the cannons of the ships.
"Well, I can easily deal with them; one simple Strike, and I will sink them," Luffy suggested, his hand engulfed in lightning.
"There's no need, captain; they're nothing but small fries; we can deal with them later; right now, let's deal with what we came here to do," Zoro suggested, his hand on the hilt of his special sword.
"You're right. We eat first, and then we can kick Crocodile's ass," Luffy proclaimed; Nami giggled at his words, trusting someone like Luffy to say that eating food was more important.
Sandy Island
A large group of marines was walking through the small town; one of them was smoking two cigarettes; near him was Tachigi, who noticed the number of people gathered around a restaurant.
"What's happening there?" Smoker questioned his soldier, seeing the people who had gathered from afar, making their way towards the restaurant; soon, a marine approached them.
"Ser it seems a client had fallen victim of the Desert Strawberry, he was talking with the chef of the place when he collapsed dead on the spot, and people inside are afraid," the marine reported saluting towards the captain, Smoker cock an eyebrow.
"Desert Strawberry! What is that?" He asked his soldier, inhaling his cigarettes.
"I have read about them apparently in Alabasta; there are these spiders that look like a strawberry, but if you eat them, you will get infected, and within a few days, you will drop dead; not only that, but the poison spreads around your body, is contagious, it can spread from skin to skin contact," Tashigi explained to her captain who grumbled, but couldn't help but have a feeling that something was off.
"It seems ignorance can get you killed in this country," Smoker remarked.
Meanwhile, inside the restaurant, every client was looking at the young man with shock and pity; the chef was the only one who wasn't trying to keep his distance like the others.
He was a tall, strong young man with black hair that was curled. An orange wide-brimmed hat with two charms on the rim was perched atop the mentioned hair. A string of red beads held the two charms, one of which had a smiling face and the other a frowning face, to the hat. He sported a blue bag belted around his left leg, black boots, and black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt. Over his right hip, he wore a short second belt with a big red "A" on the silver buckle. At his left hip, a dagger with a green sheath was hanging. He had an orange elbow guard, a tattoo of the initials "ASCE" on his upper arm, a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet on his left wrist. In order to match the string of beads holding the two charms on his hat, he wore a red beaded necklace. Two long, orange side straps protruded from the hat and came together at a sizable medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. The enormous tattoo of a skull with a white mustache and a Manji behind it that was visible on his back was another pretty distinctive characteristic.
"The poor soul, he's still holding the fork," one said with sadness.
"Man didn't know something could kill you so quickly!" someone else commented.
"Huh! What's happening Here?" The young man suddenly asked, seeing everyone suddenly freaking out.
"You're ALIVE?!!" Everyone screamed; the young man was still confused before he whipped his face using the dress of one lady nearby; the said lady screamed flustered, before running away.
"Man, it seems I fell asleep," the young man said, earning deadpan looks from everyone.
"You fell Asleep; We Were Worried for YOU," everyone screamed except the chef, who chuckled before handing him a glass of water.
Seeing the strange people talk like that, the young man turned toward the chef, who handed him a glass of water. "You hired them? Are these your actors?!" The young man asked, pointing at the people behind him, eating meat from his pork.
The chef simply shook his head, "No, we are just happy that you didn't die," The chef said; suddenly, the young man fell flat on the dish again, sleeping...
"WAKE UP, You Idiot," Everyone screamed, not fooled this time.
"So, there you are!" A voice spoke as a person walked inside holding some kind of weapon. Ace woke up before turning around to face his guest.
"You have got so nerve to show yourself, Portgas D. Ace, the second commander of Whitebeard pirates," Smoker spoke, his fist slowly becoming smoke but not actually attacking.
"EEEEEHHHHHH?!" everyone inside screamed when they heard the identity of the young man; before starting to talk to each other.
"I knew I had seen that tattoo before."
"What should we do?"
"We need to leave; these people from Whitebeard pirates are crazy, especially the commanders," one said as everyone slowly left the restaurant, some from the front door, some from the windows.
"Ah! Who might you be?" The man identified as Ace asked with a smirk, his index finger turned to flame, tipping his hat a little higher.
"Captain Smoker, I would ask you to surrender yourself, pirate," Smoker demanded, but knowing the pirate wouldn't do that, he was glad that the civilians had left the area, except for the stupid Chef, who for some reason was still hanging around.
Ace yawned, not at all impressed. "Not impressed. I was hoping to see someone else, not you," Ace remarked with a snarky smile, remembering Isuka for a moment, but knowing her, she would probably chase him around until she got what he had promised her.
"What are you doing at this side of the sea after the little trick you pulled off in Sabaody?" Smoker asked with actual curiosity in his voice, ignoring the pirate's comment about him.
Like everyone else, he had read the newspaper; while Smoker held no love for the Celestial Dragons, he wondered what his problem was with them.
Saying that Ace's face actually darkened a bit, the temperature inside the bar increasing by the second.
"That's none of your business, Marine Captain; now, can we just forget about this and go our separate ways?" Ace asked, still sitting on the chair unmoving.
"No, can't do; as long as I'm a Marine and you're a Pirate, it is my job to put you down," Smoker answered, his whole arm becoming smoke.
"You know that's stupid, right? Why can't we just talk this out over a good drink?" Ace asked with a smile, the temperature increasing more, sending a wave of his Conqueror's Haki around, causing Smoker to stumble back but still keep his composure, preparing to fight.
Luffy
Everyone, especially Luffy, immediately noticed the wave of Conqueror's Haki.
"He's Here??!!" Luffy suddenly shouted as they were walking around the town, a bright smile on his face.
"Who, Luffy?" Nami asked, seeing her lover smiling brightly like this.
"My brother," were his last words before disappearing in a flash of lightning.
"Luffy Has A BROTHER?!!"