Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

O - O - O - O - O

It has been five days since the crew had left Drum Island. The ship sailed onward to Alabasta on a bright sunny day, albeit with some slight troubles. The crew were running out of stock for food, and Luffy kept eating the bait, rendering fishing extremely difficult. Luffy, Usopp, and Errol were sitting on the rails fishing, and had somehow tangled up Karoo in their fishing rods. Vivi had noticed this and punched all three of them in the head. She then noticed what seemed like smoke coming out from the water straight ahead, and called for Nami's help. Nami merely explained it away as merely steam, coming from a hotspot, or a volcano underwater spewing magma that will form an island thousands of years from now. The Going Merry then sailed through the steam. When the going Merry sailed out of the steam, the three of them noticed a tall man and flamboyant wearing makeup, flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme, a pink overcoat and blue medieval clothes hanging on to Karoo who was still tangled up in their rods. Distraught with the situation, the tall man let go of Karoo, but Errol stretched out his arm and caught him in time before he hit the water. The entire crew, save for Sanji who was cooking in the kitchen, all gathered around the flamboyant man now sitting on the main deck.

"Please forgive this foolish old swan for wandering onto your boat. To be rescued by pirates I've never met nor heard of… I shall never forget the debt I owe you. Now then… I am a little peckish and a hot bowl of soup right about now would be smashing, if you would please," the flamboyant man said. The others quickly protested, angry that he would ask such a thing while they themselves were starving.

"Cut that shit out you guys, we're in the Grand Line now. You're all being a bunch of que-ooooh…" Errol trailed off, noticing that the tall man was an okama, as the back of his jacket read "Okama Way". The flamboyant then looked up at Vivi, noticing how "cute" she was, creeping her out.

"So you can't swim, huh?" Luffy asked.

"Yes. For you see, I've eaten a Devil Fruit," the flamboyant man responded.

"Really? Which one?" Usopp asked.

"Hm? Well, since I do have some time to kill until my crew comes looking for me, allow me to treat you daisies with a show. Behalf my ability!" The flamboyant man exclaimed. He then pushed Luffy's face with his right hand and smashed him against the ship. Zoro was about to attack, but Zoro stopped when he realized the flamboyant now had a face identical to Luffy's.

"What!? It's me!" Luffy said as he got back up.

"Surprised? Surprised? Gahahaha!" The flamboyant man said with Luffy's voice. The flamboyant man touched his face with his left hand and his face and voice reverted back to normal. And if I touch my face with my left hand… Tada! Back to normal! This is the power of the Copy Copy fruit I ate!" The flamboyant then began demonstrating this ability with Usopp's, Zoro's, Chopper's, Nami's and Errol's face. The flamboyant man opened up his shirt, revealing Errol's fat belly. "I can even replicate their bodies!"

"I'm sorry sir, but something seems off with your Devil Fruit…" Errol said as his torso was now morphed into a perfect six pack.

"Gasp! How could this be! You were fat as a blob when I touched you! You're cursed! Cursed!" the flamboyant man cried out.

"Hah! Gotcha!" Errol said as he morphed his body back to normal. "It seems that my Devil Fruit outclasses yours! I can even do the same thing as you as well as take any other shape I desire!" Errol then morphed his face and body into a perfect identical of the flamboyant mans face. "Only without the voice thingy…"

"Impressive! But not only do you not have the ability to match hair or skin color, but you may have to remember a certain face or shape by heart to replicate it, while with my memory ability, I will never forget a face that I've touched in the past!" the flamboyant man said as he began swapping through random faces with his right hand, one of which Vivi recognized.

"Damn it, you got me…" Errol pouted as he morphed back to normal. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper cheered and danced with the flamboyant man.

"Hey! There's a ship coming this way. Could that be your ship?" Nami asked, pointed at the pink ship heading towards them.

"Oh phooie, time to part ways already? What a pity…" the flamboyant man said as Luffy, Usopp, Errol, Chopper cried in the sad news. "Don't cry, my silly billies. Farewells are an inevitable thing if you sail the seas! But remember this! The length of time spent together has no bearing on true friendship!" The pink ship had arrived at the Going Merry and the flamboyant man hopped on it.

"Let's meet again someday!" Luffy called out.

"Let us be off!" the flamboyant man said.

"Yes sir, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei!" his crew members responded, and the pink ship sailed off quickly.

…

…

…

"Mr. 2!" Usopp yelled. The Straw Hats realized that the flamboyant man was an agent of Baroque Works.

"That was… Mr. 2 Bon Kure!" Vivi yelled.

"Vivi! Weren't you aware of how he looked like!?" Luffy asked.

"I'm afraid not. I've never met Mr. 2 or Mr. 1 and his partner, and I don't know about their abilities either…" Vivi said as she knelt to the ground in defeat. "But I have hear rumors about Mr. 2… that he looks and talks like an extremely flamboyant okama, and where is a swan coat that says Okama Way on the back…"

"You really, really, really should've realized it sooner," Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Errol said in unison. Vivi then explained while sweating how she recognized her father's, the King of Alabasta, face that Mr. 2 used.

"Hm… That guy could prove quite a lot of trouble not only to us, but to the entire Kingdom of Alabasta as well…" Errol pointed out.

"Yes… If he realizes that we were his enemies, then with that memory skill, then he'll be able to change into one of us.. making ours on able to trust each other anymore," Nami added on.

"Really? Huh?" Luffy said in confusion.

"Don't you realize how serious this is, Luffy?" Nami said.

"Hold on just a sec," Zoro said as he grabbed Luffy's shoulder, "even though our captain probably doesn't have any real reason for thinking this way, I don't think he's wrong either. There's no reason to panic already. We should consider ourselves lucky for having just met him already. Because now we can set up a countermeasure."

Hm, this guy is truly our Vice Captain, Errol thought while smirking.

O - O - O - O - O

After a run in with a Sea Cat, sacred creatures to Alabasta (which Vivi wouldn't allow the crew to capture for food), as well as 200 ships comprised of "billions" working as subordinates for the Officer Agents, the Straw Hats tattooed an X on each of their left arms to counteract Mr. 2's ability. They had finally arrived to Alabama, and docked at the western side of the port city of Nanohana to hide the Going Merry. As soon as the Straw Hats set foot on land, Luffy stormed off to find a restaurant without waiting for his crew, and Vivi identified the ship that belonged to Mr. 3 was docked. They decided to leave it be for now, and go to a restaurant for food and shopping for provisions, water, and new attire fitting for Alabasta's culture and climate.

"What's in that huge barrel your drinking, Errol? If it's booze, you better be sharing it with me," Zoro said. The Straw Hats, aside from Luffy, were hanging around an abandoned and heavily damaged building.

"I'm afraid not. As much as I would love some, this climate tells me that we're gonna need a lot of water on our trip," Errol explained.

"We already bought barrels of water for everyone's use, why did you buy your own?" Usopp asked.

"There's no way in hell I want to share supplies with this crew, to be frank. I'm assuming well end up running out of water either from Luffy drinking it all up or through some other retarded shinanigans, so I bought my own barrel with my last bit of berry I brought with me while joining the crew," Errol explained. Zoro and Usopp nodded in agreement and felt disappointed in not having this idea of their own.

"Hm? What's wrong, Chopper?" Usopp asked while chewing on his nose.

"My nose feels like it's tearing apart!" Chopper said as he skirmishes on Errol's legs.

"Oh don't worry, it's probably just the perfume Nami and Vivi are wearing. Your nose is just a lot more sensitive than the average human nose," Errol explained as Nami sprayed even more perfume on to which Sanji fawned over. Errol then plugged Chopper's nose, assuming it was because his nose was far more sensitive than humans, but he skirmishes even more from the sheer force Errol exerted.

Vivi then explained that they would need to head over to the oasis city of Yoba, the base of operations for the rebel leader, to stop the rebel forces from rampaging and causing any more bloodshed. Soon after, spotted marines and pulled Vivi to the ground behind the wall. When Zoro looked up and saw Luffy running from the marines, he slumped to the ground in sheer stupidity.

"Hey, Zoro!" Luffy said, spotting him.

"Oh for the love of…" Zoro started but noticed Luffy was now running over to him. "You idiot! Lose them first before you come over here!"

"Yo! Is everyone here!?" Luffy asked, ignoring Zoro's statement.

"The rest of you stand back down!" Smoker ordered as he appeared from the group of Marines tailing Luffy. "I won't let you escape!" Smoker then fired off his fist from smoke directly at Luffy.

"Haze Flame!" a voice called out as a haze of fire blocked the punched . As the fire and smoke dissipated, Ace appeared in front of Luffy.

"You might be smoke, but I'm fire. A match between our abilities won't get us anywhere," Ace said.

"Ace…!?" Luffy and Errol said in unison. Luffy then turned to Errol, wondering how he would know about Ace.

"You haven't changed at all, have you, Luffy? And how's it going, Errol? I see you've meet up with my little bro!" Ace said looking back at the two "Since we can't talk like this, just run a long ahead. I'll catch up with you later. I'll stop these guys in the meantime. Now go!"

"Let's go!" Luffy commanded, and he along with the rest of the Straw Hats ran off back to the Going Merry.

O - O - O - O - O

The Straw Hats has finally made back to the Going Merry, and Vivi has sent Karoo to Alubarna to deliver her father a letter regarding regarding information on Baroque Works and Crocodile that she and Igaram dig up while undercover, as well as the fact that she's alive and with friends before they sailed away from Nanohana.

"Hey Errol, how do you know about Ace?" Luffy asked.

"Hm? Oh yeah, we meet a few months prior till now on an island in the Grand Line. He was chasing some pirate at the time… Anyway, he told me that he was your older brother by three years and that you were residing in the East Blue," Errol answered.

"Brother!?" Nami said.

"That guy earlier… Is your brother!?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, he's my older brother," Luffy clarified.

"I'm not surprised by the fact that you have a brother, but what's he doing in the Grand Line?" Zoro asked.

"He's a Pirate. He's also searching for One Piece," Luffy said, and turned back to Errol, "Hey, Why didn't you tell me about him when you met? I'm sure he would've asked you to meet me."

"Well, yeah, yeah he did, but… I kind of forget about that last little part of our conversation until Drum Island because I wasn't paying much attention, and even then… telling you about me meeting him afterward would've been awkward for me, hehe…" Errol said while tweetling his thumbs. The others slumped in Errol's asinine explanation.

"Did you know about his new Devil Fruit power as well?" Luffy asked.

"No, he didn't fight or anything, but I'm assuming that he acquired his Devil Fruit after starting his pirate adventure if you didn't know either," Errol said.

"That's true. He didn't have a Devil Fruit ability back when we lived together. But even then, I could never beat him in a fight. Not even once. Ace is really strong!" Luffy said.

"Y-You couldn't beat him even once? When he was just a normal human?" Nami said.

"Guess the brother of a monster is an even bigger monster," Usopp added.

"Yeah, I got my ass handed to me! Dahahaha! But I could take him on now," Luffy said.

"Take him on now my fat ass," Errol mumbled.

"You can take who now?" Ace asked rhetorically as he jumped onto the rail Luffy sat on, knocking him down.

"Sup'," Luffy said.

"Oh, but first, thanks for taking care of my troublesome little brother," Ace said as he bowed. The rest bowed their heads as well.

"Yeah, he really is quite a handful," Usopp said.

"So Errol, you meet up with my little brother, but I never would've thought you'd have joined him," Ace said.

"Yeah… I completely forgot that he was your brother till after I joined his crew, hahaha!" Errol responded while rubbing the back of his head with a sweat drop.

Ace explained that he left a message for them back at Drum Island about his stay at Alabasta, and asked both Luffy and Errol to join the Whitebeard Pirates. They both declined, unsurprisingly to Ace. After that, he explained that he stopped the Marines with his Flame Flame Fruit abilities, and that he was after "Blackbeard" (Who Errol knew was none other than Marshal D. Teach) for killing one of his crew members. Before leaving on his small raft powered by his Devil Fruit, he gave Luffy a piece of paper, which Errol later on explained as a Vivre Card and what it does. Ace then said his goodbyes and decimated five ships comprised of fifty "billions" members when combined in one fell fiery swoop. After that, the Straw Hats sailed further inland up the Sandora River to Yuba.

O - O - O - O - O

At noon on the same day, the Straw Hats eventually docked at the westside of the Sandora River and arrived at the ravaged city called Erumala, formerly known as the Green City. The Straw Hats encountered sea creatures known as Kung-Fu Dugongs, who challenged the crew only to be beaten by Luffy and Errol. They then wanted to become their apprentices, forcing Chopper, who could understand them, to bribe them with half their food so they can leave them alone. Afterwards, Vivi explained that the city was ravaged due to the encroaching sea water on the Sandora River (which explains the appearance of Kung-Fu Dugongs so far inland) and the extended drought from Crocodile's use of Dance Powder, green powder used to make artificial rain. The inhabitants soon abandoned the city, and Vivi's father, King Cobra, was framed for the whole thing. Now anxious to take on Crocodile for what he had done, the Straw Hats marches onwards to Yuba.

"So heavy… Heavy and hot…" Luffy said as he was dragging the crews luggage, save for Errol who carried his own barrel of water, through the desert.

"Hey, it's not our fault you lost rock-paper-scissors and have to carry our stuff," Sanji said.

"Make sure not to drop our bags!" Nami added.

"Aghhh! Rock sited at 12 o'clock!" Usopp said while adjusting his goggles.

"Really!? Break time!" Luffy then stormed to the rock and rested under the shade, until he spotted a bird that appeared injured, calling for Chopper, but when he and everyone else arrived, all of their stuff was gone. Vivi explained that these birds were known as Swindle-Herons, birds that trick travelers to steal their luggage for food and water. Sanji and Luffy then got themselves in a quarrel.

"Well shit, at least I still have my water barrel..." Errol mumbled as he sat down under the shade and drank some water. He then looked over and noticed several birds laughing and giving taunting looks back after they stole their stuff. Errol was going to chase after it, but Luffy already took notice and stormed off.

"Dammit! Give back our stuff!" Luffy screamed.

"No, Luffy! Don't chase after them! You'll only get yourself a loss!" Nami yelled.

"Nami's right! And you'll only tire yourself out!" Usopp added.

"Don't worry, I'll just pull him back..." Errol said, and prepared to stretch his arm out, but Luffy came running back screaming.

"What is it this time!?" Usopp asked.

"He's being chased by something!" Nami said.

"That's a Sandora Monitor Lizard!l!" Vivi screeched. The Sandora Monitor Lizard came running towards the alongside a camel. At that point, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Errol dashed toward it.

"Gum Gum Whip!"

"Tatsu Maki!"

"Épaule Shoot!"

"Tempest Kick!"

The quartet instantly killed the lizard, and cooked it for lunch with the camel staying with them. Chopper explained that the camel is a harmless camel passing by, and that he only gave rides to women (because he is a pervert), much to the dismay of Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji. Nami, however, was grateful for it, and took to calling the camel "Eyelashes".

"Vivi, get on!" Nami said.

"No, I'm fine. I can still walk some more," Vivi responded.

"Oh just get on!" Nami said, and Vivi hopped on Eyelashes. "We should be able to reach Yuba A little sooner now that we have a camel. Hey Errol, hand that barrel, I'm really thirsty."

"No," Errol responded.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no," Errol said as he starts drinking out of his barrel. Nami's face turned blood red.

"What do you mean, no!? Those damn birds stole all the other barrels of water and I'm dying of thirst! Stop being selfish!"

"We are all dying of thirst, but which ones have to waddle throughout the desert on foot now?"

"It's not my fault that we lost all of our water to some birds!"

"And I'm not the one of the guys who placed all of their trust in another simply because they lost a stupid game. Look, everyone makes mistakes, and most of us would have certainly made that same mistake had we been in Luffy's situation. What happened happened. Now we need everyone to have as much energy as possible if we are going to get through this desert all live. Traveling a desert via camel is certainly easier than on foot. I'm not trying to be mean, I just want to make sure everyone is alive. You two can wait until we get to Yuba, it's an oasis town so it surely has plenty of water," Errol explained.

"I think he's right, Nami. While they may not need water to make the journey, it would be best to be as safe as possible. Anything could happen out in these deserts," Vivi interjected.

"I guess…"

"Everyone who is walking, come get some water now so we have enough energy to finish the trip," Errol said.

"Woah, woah, woah! Who said you were the captain?" Sanji yelled as he walked over to Errol. "We already have one idiot captain, we don't need another!"

"Right now, our captain seems to be going insane," Errol pointed out as Luffy began jumping around having hallucinations and saying nonsensical things about a tsunami due to eating a Mescal Cactus.

"Whatever! You've been selfishly hoarding all that water to yourself up until now while we've had to share our own barrels, I don't care if you bought it with your own money! Not only this, but you don't do anything on the ship! At least moss head over there trains and your sub builds gadgets and repairs the ship from time to time! All you do is sit and drink all day! You're a part of our crew now, start acting like you are!"

"Well I'm sorry for not acting like a crewmember even though I helped save most of their asses back in Little Garden," Errol said. "We can discuss my role on the crew later, but right now, I'm only trying to help us out! I've been in dire situations like this and even worse multiple times!"

"If you really aren't a selfish prick, then stop being so damn stubborn and share with her!" Sanji then started tugging on Errol's barrel, starting a tug of war between the two, all while Luffy was still hallucinating and running rampant, causing Usopp and Chopper to panic to figure out what was happening to him.

"Sanji, just let it go, he's right!" Nami said trying to calm him down, but he didn't listen.

"Calm down you two, we don't have time for this! The heats just letting tempers fly," Zoro said as he walked over to them to break off the tuggle. Eventually, both crushed the barrel with their bare hands from the force they were exerting.

"Great, now look what you did, you destroyed our last source of water till we get to Yuba! Selfish asshole! You're nothing but a drunk!" Sanji said.

"Calling me a selfish drunk? Well at least I don't act a goddamn pervert all damn day by fawning over every chick with tits!" Errol retorted.

"How dare you…!" Sanji said. He lifted up his right leg and attempted to kick Errol. Errol intercepted with a kick, but he used Iron Body in addition. When their legs clashed, Sanji was pushed back a distance and fell to the ground. He got back up and prepared to attack Errol again, but Vivi stopped the both of them.

"Enough! Just stop fighting already! You're only tiring yourselves out with pointless bickering! We already have one rebellion to stop, we don't need another rebellion in our group!" Vivi ordered with tears from her eyes.

…

…

…

"Alright, guys! Let's combine our strength and blow the tsunami away! Gum Gum…!"

"And will somebody shut Luffy up!?" Vivi added. Chopper then pulled out a needle and tranquilized Luffy, putting him to sleep for the time being.

"Tranquilized!" Chopper said.

"G-G-Good job, Chopper!" Usopp stuttered. The Straw Hats then collected themselves and took off to Yuba, with Zoro carrying Luffy for the time being.

O - O - O - O - O

"Something is not right with this town!" Vivi stated. The Straw Hats has finally made it to Yuba, with Zoro now carrying a sleeping Usopp, and day has now turned into night. They group looked at oasis, but didn't see a flourishing town, but a deserted town with rumbling noises emitting from it. "It's a sandstorm! Yuba's being hit by a sandstorm!" After the sandstorm dissipated, the group entered Yuba to find it ravaged from sand and abandoned just like Erumala, except for one frail old man digging in the center of the town.

"Travelers, Eh? Well then, you must be awfully tired. Sorry to tell you folks, this town's a little bit dried up right now," the old man said, and then he stopped digging and turned around. "But you folks still ought to rest here for the night. We got plenty of inns and rooms to spare… That's one of the things Yuba is known for."

"Umm… Excuse me, I heard the rebel forces were using this town as a base. Is that tr-" Vivi started, but the old man interrupted her.

"Don't tell me you're another bunch of degenerates at that want to join the rebel force!" the old man said as he through barrels and buckets at the group. "Those fools… are no longer in this town…!" The old man then explained that sandstorms started coming to Yuba three years ago, ravaging the city over time and causing the rebel forces to relocate to an oasis city besides Nanohana called Katorea.

"It's not your fault, Vivi. You couldn't have known after being gone for all that time," Errol said.

"Shut up!" Zoro said while shaking, waking up Usopp.

"Oopsie poopsie…" Errol mumbled.

"Wha…? Vivi? Princess Vivi, is that really you…?" the old man asked.

"Umm… No I'm not..." Vivi denied. However, the old man, recognized her, and came running over to her for a tear felt hug.

"I'm so glad to see you're still alive! That's me! Don't you recognize me! I guess I can't blame you, I did lose quite a bit of weight," the old man said.

"Is… Is that you, Toto?" Vivi asked.

"Yes…!" Toto responded, and Vivi gasped. "Vivi, I still believe… I still believe in the king! He's not the type that could ever betray his country and subjects…! I'm right, aren't I…!? Those rebels are all out of their minds! Please! You have to stop them…! You're the only one who can! I tried and tried… honest to god, I tried so hard to stop them… but nothing I said was of any use… Those rebels just won't stop… but they know their supplies are running low and they know they can't hold out for much longer… That's why they're planning on settling things out once and for all in their next offensive! They've lost their minds, they're practically suicidal at this point! Please Vivi… you have to stop those fools!"

"Toto... please don't worry anymore," Vivi said as he handed the crying Toto a handkerchief, "I'll stop the rebels, no matter what!"

O - O - O - O - O

A/N: Hey everyone! I know I have been gone for a very long time. It's almost three months now, right...? So I hope this is slightly longer than usual chapter makes up for it. Well anyway, I finally graduated from high school and now I'm on summer break. I've been too busy to work on this fanfic, but now I have a lot more free time. Anyway, what I think I'm going to do is that after every big arc, I'm going to take a month break in order not to stress myself out with this fanfic… or maybe not, we'll see. Although I will say, I'm glad that I was able to make it this far into Alabasta with one chapter! This gives me more hope for the arcs in the future!