Journey to Raftel Chapter 25

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Journey to Raftel! The Straw Hats land on Sandy Island! But when they land, a certain someone gets the attention of Luffy’s slowly growing Observation Haki! But what will happen when trying to stop Baroque Works when a certain Marine Captain isn’t chasing the Straw Hats? Will things still go to plan, or will the Straw Hats upend all of Crocodile’s carefully laid plans?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 25 – Arrival in Alabasta Kingdom

The last few days sailing to Sandy Island were spent focusing heavily on Observation training. Each member of the Straw Hats was trying to get as familiar with each of their nakamas’ ‘voices’ as possible, as well as improve their overall skill with Haki. Chopper, as the newest Straw Hat, had the most catching up to do. He’d understood the explanation of Haki, but questioned if it was real until he saw Luffy successfully pulling off dodges that he shouldn’t be able to, while blindfolded. Chopper wasn’t sure if his animal heritage helped or hindered him in when it came to using Haki, but he felt like he was getting better with Observation over the last couple of days. He did seem to possess an inclination for Observation above Armament and it was showing through in the crews’ continued training.

The weather had been stable for the past day and Vivi had smiled fondly when she informed them that they’d entered Alabasta’s stable climate zone. Now the crew was tying strips of white cloth to their left arms. This would be both a diversion as well as a last resort measure to make sure that they could tell who was who, rather than Mr. 2 copying their appearance.

The sudden swelling of the ocean and the emergence of a large cat-like sea creature directly behind the Going Merry was a sudden shock to everyone.

“WHAT IS THAT?!” Chopper cried out as he pointed up at the massive beast.

“It’s a Sea Cat!” Vivi exclaimed with wide eyes.

Nami stared up at the towering marine beast with wide eyes. “It’s huge!”

“Don’t let it get away!” Sanji roared. Their food supplies were getting low as it was. Catching the Sea Cat would refill their stores enough to even keep Luffy’s gut satisfied.

“I bet it’s delicious!” Luffy declared with a hungry look in his eyes and his Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hands. All of his copies looked like they were about to gang up on the Sea Cat right then and there.

Zoro grinned as he reached for his swords. “Should be a worthwhile hunt.”

The Sea Cat visibly flinched and slowly started backing away from the ship, looking nervous from the hungry stares being directed at it.

“Stop that!” Vivi grabbed a broom leaning against the wall and slammed it into the back of the three men’s heads, sending all three face first into the railing.

“What’re you doing, Vivi?” Zoro rubbed the back of his head even as the Sea Cat dove back below the waves.

Luffy was almost pouting at not getting to try a new type of meat. “Why’d you stop us?”

“In Alabasta, the Sea Cat is a sacred animal, you can’t eat it!” Vivi stated with finality as she stared the three men down.

“Yes, Vivi~” Sanji instantly agreed with the princess.

Zoro grumbled as he went to sit down. “You could’ve just said that first.”

“Aww…but I was going to eat so much meat! I’m hungry…” Luffy moped as he half hung over the railing.

Sanji had sharp teeth in his mouth as he barked at Luffy. “And who do you think it was that ate most of our food?!” He threw a kick at Luffy, only for the Sun Wukong Man to dodge. “I had everything perfectly portioned out to last us until we reached Alabasta, you shitty monkey man!” He threw another round of kicks at Luffy, only for the Captain to dodge them all.

“You’ll be able to eat plenty soon,” Vivi assured Luffy with a bright smile. “The appearance of the Sea Cat proves that we’re close to Alabasta.”

“So do those… I think.” Carina pointed out towards the horizon.

The rest of the crew all looked to where she was pointing and spotted at least fourteen ships on their way towards Alabasta. All of the vessels were sporting the Baroque Works Jolly Roger on both their flags and sails. Not a single one of the ships was smaller than the Going Merry. Most of them were much bigger than adventurers’ own ship.

“The Agents are gathering, I take it.” Reiju surmised with a sharp gaze on the enemy vessels.

“Those must be the Billions then, the Officer Agents’ underlings.” Vivi noted the most likely people to be on those ships.

Nami observed each ship and did some quick math in her head based on the size of each vessel. “There’s probably two hundred men between all those ships.”

“These are the elite of Baroque Works. This won’t be like Whiskey Peak.” Vivi cautioned everyone as she looked at the Baroque Works fleet.

“Should we launch a surprise attack then?” Carina questioned as she looked at the far away ships. “I’m not sure how well we’d do in a naval battle though.” They were only one ship, after all.

“I mean,” Luffy grinned as he, and all of his copies, created golden clouds beneath their feet. “We could do that.”

“They don’t know what we look like or that we’re enemies yet,” Sanji shook his head before exhaling smoke from his cigarette. “Let’s focus on what we came here to do.”

“Eat good food and then kick Crocodile’s ass?” Luffy questioned and Sanji just sighed. Carina and Nami both smiled, Reiju laughed softly, and even Vivi had to stifle a giggle. Only Luffy would put defeating a Warlord as a secondary objective to eating.

“Land ho!” Chopper called out from the bow of the Going Merry.

“Alabasta!” Vivi practically glowed at seeing her homeland again.

“Quack!” Karoo cheered in his own way; the large duck having been under the weather the last couple of days. Such was the fate of a creature born and adapted to the desert having moved through multiple conflicting climates like Little Garden’s jungles and then Drum Island’s sub-zero temperatures.

“Right! From now on, no matter what happens, our left arms will bear the mark of our fellowship!” Luffy grinned widely as he extended his left fist. All of the crew smiled as they copied his action to show the cloth wrapped around their left forearms. “Now, let’s get ready to go ashore!”

Vivi clutched her left forearm gently as a smile formed on her face.

“When we near the harbor, let’s anchor in the cove just to the west. We’re not sure if Baroque Works knows what the Going Merry looks like, and we don’t want to alert them to our presence.” Vivi suggested to the crew, wanting to keep the Going Merry safe for her friends. “Crocodile likes to make shows of taking out Pirate Crews that dock in Alabasta to reinforce his image to the people. With the amount of good will he’s built up with the people, he could just say that the Going Merry was a pirate ship and no one would question him as he destroyed it.”

She truly hated how much sway the Warlord had gained with the people of Alabasta over the years.

Nami gave Vivi a gentle,, one-armed hug before calling out to the various copies of Luffy. “You heard Vivi! Turn the ship to port and head for the cove!”

-Meanwhile ~ The Port of Nanohana-

“There’s a large crowd over there, what’s going on?” A tall, slim woman with dark brown eyes and straight, waist-length pink hair, with dark red lipstick questioned her subordinate as she looked over the large crowd of civilians in front of a restaurant called ‘Spice Bean’. She wore a burgundy-purple two-piece suit over a white blouse, as well as dark brown shoes and a pair of black gloves. Over her shoulders rested a white Marine Officer’s coat. She watched the crowd murmur to each other while they all tried to take a look inside the restaurant.

“One of the customers suddenly dropped dead from what I’ve overheard.” A marine sailor informed his Captain promptly.

“Captain Hina!” Another Marine ran up to the pair quickly. “There’s a bad man in town!” The sailor took a moment to catch his breath from running all the way over to his CO in the desert heat before he elaborated further. “He was talking to the proprietor and suddenly dropped dead. He was travelling through town apparently. Some of the people think he ate a ‘Desert Strawberry’, or at least that’s what the locals are saying.”

“What’s a ‘Desert Strawberry’?” Hina questioned the man.

“Ma’am, as near as I can tell it is some type of poisonous spider. Its body looks nearly identical to a strawberry, but if you eat it, then you suddenly drop dead a few days later. None of the locals will go near the body though. It seems that the poison leaves the dead body through the pores of the skin and touching it can transfer it to you, potentially killing anyone that touches the body.” The Marine reported all the information he’d been able to gather on the situation.

“Ignorance of the local flora and fauna can be deadly, Hina agrees.” Hina said, referring to herself in the third person for some unknown reason.

Inside the restaurant, all of the patrons and the owner were keeping their distance from the body of the traveler. The young man’s body was slumped over the counter, his face buried in what remained of his meal. Even his arm was still raised in the air, his fork clutched in his hand. It was so sudden that the only thing the locals could believe was that the poor man had consumed the well-known, toxic spider thinking it was a fruit.

“Poor devil, he’s still clutching his fork.” One customer shook his head sadly. “His body locked up like that.”

Another customer sighed as he looked at the young man’s body. “The Desert Strawberry just kills you that quickly.”

“Huh, what?” The young man jolted upwards and looked around confused.

“He’s alive?!” The entire restaurant cried out in shock.

“Um… Are you alright?” A woman approached the man and spoke softly.

The guy blinked and grabbed the hand towel the proprietor had left on the bar top. He wiped his face clean and blinked at all the shocked faces looking at him.

He was a tall, muscular young man with curly black hair. On top of said hair rested an orange, wide-brimmed hat with a pair of charms on the rim. One of the charms depicted a smiling face and the other charm depicted a frowning face and both were attached to the hat by a string of red beads. His cheeks sported freckles, reminiscent of a young child. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red ‘A’ on the silver buckle over his right hip. A dagger in a green sheath hung at his left hip. On his left wrist he wore a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet, on the same arm was an orange elbow guard, and a tattoo of the letters ‘ASCE’ on the upper arm with the ‘S’ crossed out. He wore a red beaded necklace that matched the string of beads holding the two charms on his hat. From the hat two long, orange side straps hung down and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. Another rather distinguishing feature was the large tattoo on his back depicting a skull with a white mustache with a Manji behind it.

“Huh, what do you know,” The man swallowed his food. “I fell asleep.” He turned to continue his meal.

“FELL ASLEEP?!” The entire restaurant yelled in disbelief.

“He fell asleep in the middle of a conversation, while eating?!” One customer looked flabbergasted.

Another customer just stared at the young man in shock. “He fell asleep with food still in his mouth?!”

“What’s the big deal?” The dark-haired man questioned as he took another bite of his food.

“WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!!” Half the restaurant yelled at him.

“You hire these guys or something?” He asked the proprietor while pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

The proprietor smiled at the young man. “No…we’re just glad you’re alright.”

The pirate then promptly fell asleep face-first into his food, again.

“WAKE UP!!!” The customers and proprietor yelled at the sleeping man, their teeth looking like sharp fangs from their irritation.

The crowd began to break up and leave the front of the restaurant. Many calls of ‘false alarm’ and ‘he’s not dead’ were heard among the people as they dispersed. Hina walked towards the restaurant to confirm if her subordinate had correctly identified the pirate.

“By the way, Mister…” The young man pulled out a picture that was clearly cut out from a newspaper.

The proprietor sighed at the young man. “Yeah?”

“Have you seen this guy around here?” He started picking his teeth with a toothpick. “He wears a straw hat.”

“You’re quite brave to be showing your face in Hina’s jurisdiction.” Hina said as she walked towards the man sitting at the counter of the restaurant. “What’s Whitebeard’s Second Division Commander doing here, Portgas D. Ace?”

“He’s a Whitebeard Pirate?!” One customer cried out as the remaining people backed against the walls of the restaurant.

“I thought that tattoo on his back looked familiar!” One of the older customers stuttered out as she edged towards the door.

“Huh?” Ace turned to face the woman that had questioned him. The proprietor was already at the other end of the bar, well out of the way of whatever was about to happen.

“Answer Hina!” Hina demanded as her gloved hands clenched into fists. “A pirate with a position and a bounty like yours rarely comes to this half of the Grand Line.”

“Relax; I’m just looking to meet with my little brother is all.” Ace waved off with a grin. “Besides, my bounty isn’t that bad.”

“1,100,000,000 Beri says otherwise, pirate.” Hina rumbled out and every jaw in the restaurant dropped at the number.

One customer whispered to another. “Did you hear that?”

“Let’s just leave quietly, slowly, so they don’t notice us.” The other customer whispered back.

In only a few short moments the entire restaurant was empty, save for Ace, Hina, and the owner. Even if the owner was near the lone door behind the counter, looking like he was debating whether to bolt or not.

“So…what now?” Ace questioned the Marine Captain as he noticed the customers were all gone.

“Give yourself up.” Hina ordered the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Ace grinned at the pink-haired woman. “Sorry, no can do.”

Hina took a strong step forward. “Hina is looking into another matter entirely right now. Hina wasn’t targeting you specifically.”

“Then let me go.” Ace shrugged nonchalantly.

“Hina can’t.” Hina denied him instantly. “As long as I’m a Marine and you’re a pirate.” She set herself in a stance, one that had her arms spread out a bit wider than most would as it opened up her body for possible attacks from her opponent.

“Well that’s a dumb reason.” Ace said with a flat look. “I’ve already said I’m not trying to cause any problems, and you know this isn’t going to work out in your favor. So, why don’t we just try and get along and go our separate ways? Nothing has to happen.”

Hina and Ace continued to stare each other down. The proprietor of the ‘Spice Bean’ restaurant felt the temperature inside his restaurant begin to increase. When he broke out into a savage sweat he decided his restaurant meant less to him than his life and crawled out the side door behind the counter to escape. Hina didn’t flinch, even as the inside of the restaurant became hotter than the desert outside. Ace hadn’t even moved from his position leaning back against the bar and yet a heat haze was forming inside the building.

-Nanohana Cove-

“Huh?” Luffy blinked as he looked towards Nanohana for a drawn out moment. His range with his Observation wasn’t super far yet, but even an almost novice like him could feel the swelling presence at the very edges of his senses. The almost familiarity it gave Luffy put a wide smile on his face.

Said smile was not missed by Nami, Reiju, or Carina.

“Luffy?” Reiju called out to Luffy curiously.

“What’s got you smiling like that so suddenly?” Nami questioned as she didn’t see anything that would make Luffy so happy around the cove.

Carina nodded in agreement with Nami. “You’re almost too happy out of nowhere, Luffy.”

“I’ll be right back,” Luffy chuckled as he created a golden cloud beneath his feet. “I felt someone here that I haven’t seen in a long time!”

“Who?” Nami asked, wondering who could possibly be in Alabasta that Luffy would know.

Luffy’s smile was wide and bright as he looked at his crew. “My big brother!” He took off into the air and was over Nanohana before anyone could say anything else.

“Luffy has a big brother?” Chopper asked curiously, not having been with the crew long enough to learn much about his nakamas’ pasts.

Nami blinked and then her eyes widened at the possibility. “Does he mean Ace?”

“Ace who?” Zoro questioned, not knowing who Nami was talking about.

“Ace is Luffy’s big brother.” Nami turned to face the rest of the crew. Only knowing about Ace because of ‘pillow talk’ with Luffy in the early parts of their relationship when they told each other of their lives before meeting each other. “The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates! ‘Fire Fist’ Portgas D. Ace!”

“EEEHHH?!” The entirety of the Straw Hat crew exclaimed with bugged-out eyes and dropped jaws.

-Nanohana ~ Outside the Spice Bean Restaurant-

“Get back here!” Hina demanded of Ace as she tried to clothesline the pirate.

Ace chuckled as he ducked under the wide swing. “No can do.” He held his orange hat onto his head and skipped back a step to dodge the follow-up kick from Hina.

Hina growled at being unable to even touch Ace. “You are the single most annoying pirate that Hina has ever met!”

“Really?” Ace grinned as he dodged a punch, a grab, and pivoted out of the way of a roundhouse kick. “I thought Isuka was bad, chasing me all over the place. But maybe it’s just Marine women in general?” He laughed as Hina glared at him.

“Got you!” Hina spun into a spinning back elbow and struck Ace in the back. Her arm bent unnaturally, almost flowing around Ace’s torso and arms, before her arm moved past Ace’s body, looking normal again. But what was left behind was a thick iron band wrapped tightly around Ace’s body.

Ace blinked at the iron restraint he was suddenly wrapped in. “Huh, that’s an interesting Devil Fruit you’ve got there!”

Hina spread her arms wide as black metal bars began to extend from beneath her limbs. “Hina ate the Ori-Ori no Mi (Cage-Cage Fruit), anything she touches is shackled.” She sent a long line of black iron bars from her hands to either side of her, looking similar to a simple fence. “Awase Baori! (Lined Kimono Feather Cage)” Hina brought her arms together, the two lines of black iron ‘fences’ came together at speed.

“Heh…” Ace’s body dispersed into flames and the heavy iron shackle wrapped around his body crashed to the ground. The bars of the two ‘fences’ slammed together on the flames, wrapping around each other as the flames merely flickered and traveled a distance before reforming into Ace. “Sorry, but you can’t cage fire like that.” He pushed up the brim of his orange hat with his index finger. “And you should be careful with wide area attacks like that.”

“Captain Hina!” Multiple Marines cried out, bound up in the further reaches of Hina’s black iron bars. “You caught us instead!”

Hina ‘tsked’ at the outcome of her attack. “Annoyed. Hina is annoyed!”

More Marines surrounded the area, all of them aiming their rifles at Ace.

“No one has ever escaped Hina before…” Hina said as she fixed her black gloves onto her hands properly. “That’s why she’s called the ‘Black Cage’ by the pirates of the world.” She took another step towards Ace; her expression set in determination. “No pirate can escape the ‘Black Cage Corps’, not even you.”

Ace’s grin became a confident smile. “Oh, really?”

“ACE!!!” Luffy yelled out loudly, cheerfully as he dropped down from the sky.

A cloud of sandy dust was kicked up as Luffy’s feet hit the ground. With a wave of his arm, the dust was blown away, revealing his smiling face.

“Luffy!” Ace beamed at his little brother. “Looks like you found me instead!”

“Who are you?!’ Hina demanded as she looked at Luffy sharply. “Identify yourself!”

Luffy saw all of the Marines surrounding them and then looked back at Ace. “Looks like you’re in trouble, Ace! Shishishishi!” He laughed at the situation that his big brother was in.

Ace waved off the situation lightly. “Nah, I was just about to leave.”

“What?!” Hina nearly roared at Ace for so nonchalantly blowing her and the Black Cage Corps off. “You’re not going anywhere, Portgas D. Ace!”

Luffy grinned widely, mischievously, as he pointed at each of the Marines one by one. “Alright! Let’s go then! I want you to meet my crew!”

A golden cloud formed beneath Luffy’s feet again, spreading out to lift Ace up as well. In a blur of gold, the two rocketed into the sky and then shot back towards the cove that the Straw Hats had docked at.

“Fire!” Hina called out, only to widened her eyes as her body couldn’t move. “Hina…can’t move?”

“Captain, none of us can move at all!” Several of the Marines called out from various parts of the encirclement. Their bodies were still holding their rifles pointing straight at where Ace and Luffy had been.

It would be minutes later before any of them were freed from the Body-Freezing Spell.

-Nanohana ~ Outskirts-

“They’re beautiful!” Nami smiled at the outfits that the women of the crew had changed into. “I love these clothes.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have sent Sanji to shop for us?” Vivi sweat-dropped while looking over the clothes they were wearing. “We’re not exactly going to blend in with the common people. These are dancer’s outfits.”

Indeed they were, colored in navy-blue for Nami, a royal-purple for Vivi, soft pink and gold for Reiju, and violet with silver patterns for Carina. The outfits had cleavage-bearing tops that left all of the midriff exposed, showing off the trim stomachs and thin waists of the women while accentuating their bountiful bosoms. The light and airy ankle-length dresses were mostly white and meant to sway and rise at the slightest of movement. The outfits were finished off by thin, long, and flowing robe-like tops that didn’t have enough material to block the view of their bodies.

Carina laughed as she twirled a little in her outfit. “I think we look good! Ushishi!”

“What do you mean, Vivi?” Sanji was ecstatic with hearts for eyes. “Dancers are common people too. No one will suspect a thing!” He noodled around the women (barring Reiju) with excitement.

“Must you?” Reiju sighed at Sanji fawning over Carina, Nami, and Vivi. Even if the dancer outfits were lovely, airy, and comfortable in the desert heat.

“The women look great, but…” Sanji held back a snicker as he looked over Zoro and Chopper. “You guys don’t look like adventurers anymore…you look like thieves!”

“And you don’t?” Zoro cocked an eyebrow at the Chef while taking a bite off a leg of some local animal. The food they’d gotten in the port city was good at least.

Vivi looked over at Chopper as the reindeer Doctor laid out on the ground. “You okay there, Tony?”

“My nose feels like it’s going to fall off!” Chopper complained lying on his back and holding his nose.

“It’s no surprise,” Vivi looked sympathetically at the blue-nosed reindeer. “Your nose is very sensitive and Nanohana is famous for its perfumes.”

Chopper tried to block out the strong smells he was picking up. “Perfumes?”

“Some of them are very potent.” Vivi informed the suffering Doctor.

“Like this?” Nami teased as she spritzed herself with some pleasant-smelling perfume Sanji had brought back with their new clothes.

Chopper yelled at the Nami with wide eyes as the scent practically attacked his nose. “Ack! Stop!”

“Ah…I’m falling into the dungeon of love!” Sanji swooned with heart-shaped eyes.

Zoro took a swig of booze straight from a bottle. “What a fool.”

Sanji lost the heart-shaped eyes and gained a mouth filled with fangs instead. “What was that?!”

“So, we have all the supplies we need to cross the desert.” Reiju mentioned as she took stock of everything that had been bought and gathered. “Where are we headed, Vivi?” While Sanji and Zoro fought over nothing, she would need to be the responsible one.

“First of all, we have to stop the rebels, before they bathe this land in blood.” Vivi looked somber, but her eyes were filled with an unbreakable will to protect her homeland. “We’re going to the rebels’ base to find their leader. It’s located in an oasis known as Yuba. Going to Yuba requires us to cross-”

“What the hell?!” Nami cried out as everyone in the group stopped dead and looked upwards at a familiar laughter.

Luffy’s golden cloud descended rapidly and stopped in the middle of the group. “Hey, guys!” He beamed at his crew with a bright laugh. “This is my big brother, Ace!”

Ace laughed at the surprised looks of his little brother’s crew. He took off his hat and gave a short bow to the group with a smile. “I’m Portgas D. Ace, thank you for looking after my little brother.”

“No problem.” The entire crew replied in unison, returning the short bow to the infamous pirate.

“They’re interesting, right?” Luffy laughed as he smiled at Ace.

Zoro looked between Luffy and Ace for a moment while Ace put his hat back on. “Uh, Luffy, you do know your brother has a huge bounty on his head, right?”

Luffy tilted his head at Zoro. “Yeah?”

“Marimo is saying that usually we collect bounties to fund our voyage.” Sanji remarked flatly.

Ace looked amused that Zoro and Sanji thought the crew had a chance to collect his bounty. “You’re right, Luffy, they are interesting.”

“We’re not bounty hunters, we’re adventurers.” Luffy said with a shrug. “We don’t go after family.”

“Hah!” Ace laughed once. “Like you could take me down, ‘Crybaby’ Luffy!”

Luffy looked at Ace with a scowl. “I didn’t cry that much when we were kids!”

“Only when you lost, which was often.” Ace shot back with a grin.

The two brothers had a stare down while the Straw Hats watched on.

“Ushishi! They’re definitely brothers!” Carina laughed at the back and forth between Luffy and Ace.

Sanji took a quick drag from his cigarette. “You two probably want to catch up, I can make some tea once we get back to the ship.”

“Kind of you, but that won’t be necessary.” Ace thanked Sanji but waved off the hospitality. “I’ve already finished what I wanted to do here.”

“What’re you doing in Alabasta, Ace?” Luffy questioned his older brother. He was happy to see him, of course, but he knew Ace was a ‘New World’ pirate and had very little need to come to this side of the Grand Line.

“I’m looking to settle a matter of business,” Ace shrugged even though his eyes hardened noticeably when he spoke. “I also wanted to see you, since we were in the same area.”

Luffy pounded the bottom of his fist into the opposite palm. “Ah! I see.”

“So…” Ace grinned at Luffy. “How about joining the Whitebeard Pirates, Luffy? Your friends can come too, of course.”

“No thanks.” Luffy denied instantly with a laugh.

Ace laughed the refusal off easily. “Yeah, I figured, just thought I’d ask.”

“Do we need to leave soon?” Reiju questioned as she looked at Ace and then towards Nanohana. Such an infamous pirate being spotted would surely cause people to talk.

“Reiju has a point.” Zoro finished off his booze. “We should probably head out.”

Nami agreed with a nod. “We need to travel to the oasis of Yuba, right, Vivi?”

Vivi nodded once. “Yes, if I can just meet the leader of the rebels, then we can stop this war before it gets worse.” She just wanted to prevent any more pain and suffering for her people.

“Let’s set sail then!” Luffy cheered at continuing their adventure and immediately headed towards the Going Merry.

“You heard the Captain.” Zoro jumped to his feet, threw a large bag of supplies over his shoulder, and took off after Luffy.

Nami and everyone began to grab the purchased supplies. “Let’s head out!” The navigator said as the crew began to move.

“Come on Karoo!” Vivi called to her giant duck.

“Quack!” Karoo responded. The large duck was already secured with a large barrel strapped to his back.

“Wait, are we leaving the island?!” Chopper questioned in confusion as he hauled a sack of supplies on his back.

“No, we’re going to sail the ship up the river and into the interior of the island!” Vivi explained to the Chopper. “The desert lies beyond that! We only stopped in Nanohana to get supplies for crossing the desert!”

Once the crew reached the Going Merry they quickly loaded up their newly purchased supplies. Vivi unstrapped the large barrel from Karoo’s back and handed it off to Sanji, who twirled away with hearts for eyes. With a serious look in her brown-eyes Vivi spoke to her friend and mount. “Karoo, I have an important mission for you.”

“Quack!” Karoo raised a wing into a salute.

“Go straight to Alubarna and give this letter to my father.” Vivi explained as she tucked a letter into Karoo’s bag. “It contains evidence of Crocodile’s plot against Alabasta with Baroque Works. Everything that Igaram and I discovered is recorded here.” She gently stroked Karoo’s yellow feathers. “It will let my father know that I’m alive and that I’ve returned to Alabasta with powerful allies. Can you do it? You’ll have to cross the desert alone.”

Karoo gave another salute to Vivi. The large duck looked determined to fulfill her orders. “Quack!”

“Remember to drink your water conservatively while crossing the desert,” Vivi reminded her friend. “Don’t drink it all at once, but don’t wait so long that you’re already dehydrated.” She fastened a smaller barrel with a straw around Karoo’s neck. “Let my father know that there is hope for this kingdom!”

“QUACK!” Karoo radiated determination and dedication as he took off towards Alubarna. Only the large duck stopped dead fifty paces away and took a large sip from his water barrel.

“Drink it conservatively!” Vivi had sharp fangs in her mouth and a tick mark over her right eye at Karoo already drinking from his limited supply. Karoo bolted after his drink and kicked up a dust cloud as his speed increased. In mere moments the Super Sonic Duck was only a small dust cloud nearing the horizon.

“Let’s set sail, Vivi!” Luffy called out to the princess with a large grin.

“Coming!” Vivi returned the smile as she rushed up the gangplank. In short order the Going Merry was sailing along the coast from Nanohana towards the Sandora River and the desert beyond that which would take them to Yuba.

Ace smiled as he watched how Luffy’s crew interacted as he sat on the railing of the Going Merry. When Vivi was close by, Ace spoke to the princess directly. “When it comes to Logia powers, the more you know and understand about your element, the more you can do with it.”

Vivi blinked at the fact that Ace knew she had a Logia Devil Fruit. “How did you?”

Ace made a small flame appear on the tip of his index finger. “I’ve had my Mera Mera no Mi for a few years now.” He chuckled at Vivi’s surprised expression. “Understanding how the element you have the power of works, how it moves, what it’s made of, it all makes a difference to how you can use it.” The flame flared up a bit and then formed a stylized Jolly Roger in the air before it vanished.

“Understanding the element?” Vivi looked at her own hands and turned them into snow for a moment.

“Just a bit of advice.” Ace grinned at Vivi.

Vivi smiled at Ace as she stopped using her Devil Fruit. “Thank you very much.”

Ace tossed his little brother a folded up piece of paper. “Here, Luffy, take this.”

“What is it?” Luffy caught the paper and unfolded it. “It’s blank?”

“That’s a Vivre Card,” Ace explained. “If you place it down, it’ll slowly head for the one that it was made for.”

“Huh?” Luffy held out his palm with the paper on top. To the surprise of the whole crew the paper began to slowly inch its way towards Ace, regardless of the swaying of the ship or the gentle breeze.

“Hold onto it and it’ll ensure that we meet again.” Ace smiled at his little brother. “Having a little brother like you makes a big brother worry.” He looked towards the crew and smiled brightly at them. “I bet he gives you plenty of grief, but could you keep taking care of him?”

“Sure thing.” Nami agreed as she sidled up to Luffy and took his hand in hers with a warm grin.

Carina wrapped her arms around Luffy’s unoccupied arm with a soft smile. “Of course.”

Reiju wrapped her arms around Luffy’s waist from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder. “He takes care of us just as much.”

“Well, look who went and became a man while I wasn’t looking.” Ace chuckled good-naturedly at his brother having three lovers already. ‘Never expected Luffy to have a harem.’ He thought to himself with a grin.

Luffy chuckled at his lovers’ affections. “Shishishishi!”

“Well I should head out.” Ace said as he stood up on the railing and then jumped down to his own boat. It looked to be a heavily modified skiff, with paddles and some type of engine. It was almost as if someone had crossed a skiff with a boat meant for racing.

“You’re leaving already?” Luffy asked with a noticeable drop in his mood. “Stay for a bit, we haven’t seen each other in three years!”

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry.” Ace apologized as he untied the line connecting his boat from the Going Merry. “I’m on the trail of a major outlaw right now. He’s taken to calling himself ‘Blackbeard’ recently. He used to belong to Whitebeard’s Second Division; he was one of my subordinates. But he went and committed the worst crime possible for a pirate. He killed a crewmate and jumped ship.”

All of the Straw Hats either glared or went wide-eyed at what this ‘Blackbeard’ had done.

“As his Commander, I’m responsible.” Ace finished stowing the line away in a compartment within the sleek boat. “Honestly, if I wasn’t trying to track him down, I wouldn’t even be in this half of the Grand Line.” He gave Luffy a smile before he continued. “The next time we meet will be on the high seas, Luffy!”

Luffy waved his older brother off with a matching smile. “See you later, Ace!”

From Ace’s feet flames appeared and were sent into the engine at the back of his boat. The paddles began to turn rapidly as the skiff was blasted forward at a good speed. Ace was able to freely control the modified boat with just his Devil Fruit power alone. He’d had years of practice with it after all.

“Guys!” Chopper called out loudly while pointing to five ships -each larger than the Going Merry- that were rapidly approaching their position. The flags and sails proudly declaring them part of Baroque Works.

“That’s the Billions!” Vivi exclaimed as she saw the five ships. “There are at least fifty of them, maybe more!”

“Enemies?” Ace remarked as he saw the five ships sailing towards them. “Let me handle them for you, Luffy!” He called out to his little brother as he sped towards the approaching ships.

“This’ll be over quick.” Luffy said with certainty. The others paused in their haste to look at their nonchalant Captain.

Ace smirked as he increased the speed of his Striker and with a powerful jump, sent the modified skiff under the waves. He leapt through the air and even turned his legs into fire to propel himself over the tops of the five ships. Bullets from rifles and pistols blasted through the flames to no effect. The Striker emerged from under the waves a split second before Ace landed on it. The skiff had no momentum left from its submarine voyage, but Ace didn’t need anything but for it to float. He cocked back his right arm, the limb quickly turning into a raging inferno, and then threw a straight punch towards the line of Baroque Works ships.

“Hiken!” Ace declared as a massive torrent of flames slammed into the first ship with force. The first ship shattered and the powerful flames quickly blasted through the second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth one after another. In a matter of moments all that was left of the Baroque Works Billions and their ships was flaming wreckage floating on the ocean.

Not a single soul escaped the blaze; all of the Billions were gone.

“Holy shit…” Carina gaped at seeing Ace wipe out the Baroque Works forces so easily. Her only experience with Logia Devil Fruits was seeing what Vivi could do with her new ability. She’d not seen Smoker’s Moku Moku no Mi back in Loguetown.

“See you on the high seas, Luffy!” Ace pushed up the brim of his orange hat with a smirk. With the threat dealt with, Ace channeled his Mera Mera no Mi back into the Striker’s engine and the modified skiff sped off quickly. His specialized boat could out-speed most other vessels on the seas so long as he gave it enough fire. He was quickly only a mere dot on the horizon for those on the Going Merry.

As the Straw Hats sailed towards the Sandora River, Vivi walked up to Luffy with a set of clothes in her arms. The princess smiled at the Captain as she presented the garments to him. Luffy took them curiously and looked to the brown-eyed girl for explanation.

Vivi grinned at him. “I want you to wear these, Luffy.”

“Why? They look kinda thick.” Luffy noted as he felt the fabric. “Won’t they be hot?”

“The clothes are meant to be thick like that,” Vivi explained to Luffy. “It can get over one-hundred-twenty degrees in the desert during the day. Even if you don’t succumb to the heat, your skin will still burn from the sun.”

“Why aren’t you girls covering up your skin then?” Luffy looked between Vivi, Nami, Reiju, and Carina in their revealing dancer’s outfits.

“We’ll be covered up too.” Nami assured her lover while navigating.

Carina gave Luffy a flirty wink. “I’m not about to let my skin burn if I can help it.”

“What?! You’ll be covered up?!” Sanji cried out in shock and dismay.

Reiju rolled her eyes at her brother. “Of course we will be.”

“Sanji, we’d be in real trouble under the desert sun if we didn’t.” Vivi stated flatly while giving the cook a deadpan look.

“I think we just reached the edge of the island!” Chopper called out from where he was looking out over the bow of the ship.

“No, this isn’t the edge of the island.” Vivi shook her head as she moved to stand beside Chopper. “This is the bank of the Sandora River. If you look way over there you can see the opposite bank.” She pointed across the large expanse of water to the other riverbank.

“Oh wow!” Chopper had never seen such a massive river in his life!

“I drew a rough map of this region,” Vivi placed a map into Nami’s hands with a smile. “If we sail up the Sandora River, we’ll come to the north tributary. We can sail west through it to get to Erumalu. From there we cross the desert to Yuba and find the rebels.” Nami nodded along as she quickly memorized the map and the directions they’d need to take.

“So do we just beat up the leader of the rebels?” Luffy questioned Vivi curiously.

“NO!” Vivi looked at Luffy pleadingly. “I want to stop the senseless violence and bloodshed, not cause more of it.”

“You said there were around seven-hundred-thousand rebels, right?” Zoro looked at the princess. “Do you really think we can stop that many?”

“It’s not a matter of stopping them by force,” Vivi looked down with sadness. “When we get to Yuba, you’ll understand just what Baroque Works has done to this country. You’ll see how the people of Alabasta have suffered.”

“Vivi…” Nami’s heart went out to her friend. The princess’s situation brought back a lot of memories of growing up under Arlong’s rule.

“I’ll stop them!” Vivi declared even as she gripped her dress so tightly her knuckles turned white. “I’ll stop this senseless violence! I won’t let Baroque Works hurt this country anymore!

“Well said, Vivi!” Luffy wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a side-hug. “Let’s head for Yupa!” He raised his fist with a grin.

“That’s Yuba, Luffy.” Vivi corrected him with a smile as she laid her head on his shoulder from her brief emotional outburst.

-Rainbase ~ Rain Dinners-

“The plan goes into action in just two more days,” Crocodile stated with his back to his ‘partner’. “But the Unluckies have disappeared, Mr. 5 has been killed, Miss Valentine has vanished, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek have been wiped out by these so-called ‘adventurers’, and now Marines have shown up in Nanohana. Have any other arrangements fallen apart?” He looked over his shoulder at Miss All-Sunday coldly.

“The rest of the arrangements have been made,” Miss All-Sunday informed coolly. “There are one-hundred-fifty Billions stationed in Nanohana awaiting orders. The Officer Agents that haven’t vanished will all gather at eight o’ clock tonight at the Spider’s Café.”

Crocodile sneered as he looked into the large pond filled with Bananawani. “At least something is going right.” He would not be set back or stopped in his plans. Alabasta would fall so that he could attain a power far greater than any mere nation. Anyone that stood in his way would be dealt with, no matter who they were. The power of the Ancient Weapon: Pluton, would be his! “Tell Miss Obon to prepare to leave.”

Miss All-Sunday nodded once. “Sure.” She turned and left without looking back.

-End Chapter-

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Landing in Alabasta and Luffy meets Ace!

But the Marine in charge of this part of the sea: Captain Hina, is the one in Nanohana, following the trail of the mysterious Baroque Works!

Unfortunately for Hina, she’s not equipped to deal with a Logia user, much less a Yonko Commander that’s a Logia user!

Thankfully, Ace isn’t trying to cause problems. So, he just messes around until Luffy finds him. Kek!

Luffy and Ace have a fun, if brief, reunion and Ace now knows that his little brother has a harem! Hah!

Ace, as a more experienced Logia user, gives Vivi some advice! Hopefully, that’ll give our favorite princess a bit of help making progress!

After wiping out the Billions for his little brother, Ace departs on the trail of Blackbeard, after giving Luffy his Vivre Card so that they’ll meet again!

How will the trip across Alabasta go with such a different set of powers among the Straw Hats compared to Canon?

Keep reading to find out!

Until next time, later!