Northeast of Drum Kingdom

The crew of the Strawhats had been sailing for just over a day as they made their way towards Alabaster and they had finally escaped to cold weather. After breakfast that morning Luffy introduced Chopper to the various exercises the crew did to develop not only their own strength and fighting styles but also their haki. Chopper was having more difficulty than the rest of the crew, not only because he was new but also because fighting just wasn't in his nature.

Despite his weakness for combat and not being as strong as some of the rest of the crew he was determined to be stronger. This was so he could fight for the people who had taken him in and treated him as family if the need ever arose.

Just as the crew was resting while drinking a fruit smoothie prepared by Sanji Luffy suddenly stiffened. He quickly ran to the top deck deck of the Merry and looked over the stern of the ship. Stretching out his senses he honed in on the aura he sensed a moment ago.

"Guys get us out of here!" Luffy's frantic voice stilled everyone that was gathered on the deck of the Merry as they had never seen Luffy even remotely worried about anything. "I mean it get us outta here! I don't care if everyone's gotta blow in the sails to get more wind while paddling just get us outta here!"

Nami who had rushed to helm to steer the ship into a better wind current frowned. "What the hell's up with you?"

"I've just sensed someone behind us and they're gaining on us."

This however didnt answer Nami's question. "And why's that got your knickers in a twist?"

Suddenly a cannonball hit the water on the port side right next to their ship and seconds later another hit the water right behind their ship.

"Eh! What the hell's going on I didn't even hear any cannons firing!" Usopp screached without stopping rowing.

"Thats 'cause they didnt fire no cannons, he just threw them." At the crew's incredulous looks Luffy realised he needed to throw his crew a bone so he shouted down to everyone who were currently busy trying to maximise their speed. "Guys the ship that's chasing us is my shitty gramps."

Hearing this everyone looked surprised only to have their jaws fully drop not even a moment later as they saw a massive, grey haired bulky man seemingly flying through the sky towards their ship. "Luuuuffffyyyy! How dare you run from me you little shit!"

Moments later the large man in a marine's uniform with vice admiral pips on his coat landed on the top deck right in front of Luffy. Seconds after he landed he threw a punch at Luffy that he dodged, albeit barely. "Ha!" Luffy shouted in triumph at having doged, triumph that was quickly shattered moments later when the vice admiral launched another puch that this time did connect sending Luffy crashing into the floor.

"You thought you could avoid the Fist of Love did you brat!" At seeing his captain attacked Zoro moved to intervene and as he stepped forward with a hand on one of his swords Alvida stopped him by putting her giant mace in his path.

"I think we should stay outta this one." Zoro only looked at Alvida with a raised eyebrow in silent question. "I reckon this is just a bit of family drama is all." Zoro looked at Alvida sternly before turning his gaze to the scene on the top deck before thinking about how crazy his captain is which in turn made him think about how crazy the rest of his family must be. With this in mind Zoro could only agree with Alvida while he let out a snort of amusement.

Just as Luffy was dragging himself to his feet his grandfather shouted his signature move one more time. "Fist of Love!" Once more Luffy was sent face first into the floor from the punch to the top of his head.

"Ow! Shit! What the hell you shitty old fart!" Sadly for Luffy this comment earned him another 'Fist of Love' which left him almost seeing stars.

"How dare you run off to be a pirate, you were supposed to be a strong marine like me." Luffy who was slowly getting beack onto his feet and was holding onto the railing took a moment to pull himself together. "Tch, I blame the red haired brat for this. If you'd never met him I bet you would've joined the marines."

Despite receiving several 'Fists of Love' Luffy was able to think quickly to cut off his grandfather's typical rant, after all he had heard varients of this particular rant several times. "What the hell do you want shitty gramps."

Luffy's grandfather, Garp the fist, just gave Luffy the stink eye. "What so I can't even come see my grandson now?"

"What. Do. You. Want."

Garp suddenly grew even more serious "We need to talk," was all he said before he walked off the top deck gesturing with his head for Luffy to follow him.

"Tch, silly old fart thinks he can order me around on my own ship," mumbled Luffy under his breath just quiet enough for Garp not to hear him. Nevertheless he, along with the rest of the crew as everyone was curious, followed Garp into the dining area of the ship.

Once everyone was seated Garp once more gave Luffy the stink eye. "What do you know about your family? And I don't mean your brothers."

"Tch, what the hell's Dadan done now?"

"I'm being serious now Luffy." Luffy was taken aback slightly as he had never seen his grandfather this serious. In the past any time he yelling at him and Ace or lecturing them he would still have the ghost of a smirk tugging at lips, or have a hint of amusement in his voice. However at that moment Luffy's grandfather was completely straight faced with his arms folded.

Luffy thought about what he knew about his family and he realised he actually knew nothing about them, after all growing up with Makino and the mountain bandits with Ace as a brother his blood family had never mattered much to him. With this in mind Luffy could only shrug his shoulders and shake his head in answer to his grandfather's question.

Garp let out a long exhale through his nose at this, he knew deep down that he should have had this conversation with his grandson years ago but he had always put it off. "Your father is Dragon, Dragon the revolutionary."

The gathered Strawhats had different reactions to this bombshell that Garp had just dropped. Sanji choked on a lungful of smoke as his cigarette fell from between his lips, Nami and Usopp screeched in shock and worry. Meanwhile Gin and Alvida shook their heads in worry knowing full well how much trouble this could bring the crew. The swordsmen trio just sat there looking confused, they had never heard of this Dragon, after all the current affairs of the world was not really their cup of tea.

Luffy was not stupid, far from it, so of course he had heard of Dragon the revolutionary. After all Dragon was the most wanted man in the world as he was fighting against the corruption of the World Government and the celestial dragons. Luffy looked his grandfather straight in the eye, "Meh, I don't see what difference it makes. He's him and I'm me so it doesn't make much difference to me, well as long as he doesn't plan on getting in the way of my dream."

Hearing Luffy mention his dream Garp gritted his teeth, he had lost count the number of times Luffy had declared he was going to be the pirate king and no matter how many times he heard it it would never not infuriate him. "By being his son you'll paint a target on your back. The World Government will target you to get at your father." Garp let out a sigh before he continued. "I've done everything I can to bury this information, not even Senny knows about this. But Luffy the more stunts you pull the higher your bounty is gonna climb and the higher your bounty gets the more certain people are gonna look closely at you. I don't know how long I can keep this buried."

The entire room was silent for a moment before a confused Nami asked the question that had been plaguing her since Garp's bombshell. "So you're telling us that you, Garp, the hero of the marines, had a son who's now the most wanted man in the world?"

Garp growled slightly, "That brat isn't my son."

"Eh but...but..." Nami couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Luffy's the child of my child. Still dont know what my beautiful daughter saw in him but at least she had the good sense to give the brat my family name."

"You're hiding something Gramps, what is it."

"Dragon's father was a pirate until his death thirty four years ago." Garp stopped here hoping that his answer had satisfied Luffy, sadly for him he was mistaken as Luffy was more excited than ever.

"Really that's so cool! So who was it! I bet he was awesome, he was awesome wasn't he?"

Garp rolled his eyes and tutted as he stared down Luffy in a silent battle of wills. "Tch he was Rocks D. Xebec the pirate that tried to make himself king of the world and had to be taken down by me and Roger. Rocks was a beast that had a crew of monsters, in fact three of the four emperors were on his crew."

"That's so cool!" Luffy shouted as he jumped out of his seat in excitement, sadly for Luffy the rest of the room didn't share his enthusiasm for the news so reading the room he quickly sat back down. "Still doesn't change anything. Like I said before he's him and I'm me so I won't let it bother me."

Garp stared Long and hard at his stubborn grandson. "Just be careful brat I'll keep this from getting out for as long as I can but I can't protect you forever. This is why I wanted you to be a marine, if you were a marine when this information got out you'd be a high enough rank the government would just watch you closely not hunt you." Garp hunched over slightly and once again let out a sigh before straightening back up with a broad grin on his face. "So which one of you lovely ladies is gonna give me great grand babies?"

The three women in the room who were all sat in the dining area next to each other looked at one another. Before anyone could say anything Nami caught Alvida's eye and they came to a silent agreement in that moment. "She is!" They both shouted in unison as they both pointed at Vivi as they threw he under the bus to avoid the crazy old man.

Garp focused his gaze solely on Vivi. "So who are you then?"

Vivi was incredibly nervous under the gaze of Garp while she was also mentally cursing Nami and Alvida. "I'm erm...I'm Vivi. Luffy's just taking me back home to Alabaster."

Garp's grin got even wider, "So you're not a pirate then?" When Vivi shook her head in the negative Garp gave a loud booming laugh and slapped the table, send the cups and glasses that were on it to the floor. Mid laugh however Garp froze then tilted in head in thought. "You're not princess Vivi of Alabaster are you?" Garp took Vivi look of alarm as all the confirmation he needed and in an instant he had picked Vivi up in a bear hug and was rubbing his face on hers. "This is great, my good for nothing grandson is going to marry a princess and give me beautiful great grand babies."

Vivi by this time was bright red with steam practically coming out of her ears as she glared at Nami and Alvida. Luffy seeing that none of the rest of the crew were going to help the poor girl decided to take pity on her. "Tch, calm down shitty gramps you'll give yourself a heart attack at your age. 'Sides it ain't like that."

Hearing this Garp began to cry crocodile tears as he set Vivi back down before he grew serious once more, the sudden change in demeanour almost giving the Strawhats whiplash. "And do you wanna tell me why you have a crown princess on board your pirate vessel."

Luffy gave his grandfather a small smile. "Basically Crocodile is starting a civil war in Alabaster from the background to take over the throne so me and my crew are gonna kick his arse." After saying that he gave his grandfather a thumbs up and a full grin, a grin that Garp returned fully.

"Bwahaha that's my grandson. Listen I shouldn't tell you this but captain Smoker's in Alabaster looking for you, he's a good man and a damn strong marine so if you play your cards right he might help you out." After saying this Garp walked out of the dining area and onto the deck of the Merry with Luffy in tow and the rest of the crew following Luffy.

The crew saw the marine ship that had pulled up alongside the Merry while they were in the dining area talking. "Wait so you like aren't gonna try and arrest us or anything?" Nami asked confused.

"Bwahahaha I haven't been given orders to bring you in so why would I?" Luffy just rolled his eyes as that was as close as 'I love you' that he would ever get from his grandfather. Luffy then looked closely at the marine ship and on the deck he saw a mop of pink hair and he grinned.

"Yo Coby! Long time no see."

"Bwahaha that's my new protégé, well him and some blonde brat called hippo or something. By the time I'm done with them they'll be kicking your arse up and down the Grand Line then all the way to Impel Down."

"Tch whatever, silly old fart." Sadly Luffy didn't say this as quiet as he had meant to and Garp heard him.

"Fist of Love!" Grap bellowed out as he punched Luffy in the head once again sending him face first into the floor. Giving one last laugh he jumped onto his ship and gave the orders to sail back to Marinesford.

The crew of the Strawhats could only stand there in stunned disbelief over the whirlwind of chaos that was Luffy's grandfather. Seeing that Luffy was still struggling to get to his feet after the last punch from his grandfather Zoro stepped forwards and hauled Luffy to his feet. However he then had to grab ahold of Luffy once again as he was so unsteady on his feet.

"Your orders captain?" Zoro questioned trying to get Luffy to focus and keep him conscious.

"Erm...what...yeah. Nami do the steering thing, Usopp lookout and Zoro...erm everyone train...haki...yeah. I'm just gonna go lay down." Luffy then began to stagger his way to his cabin, stumbling every few steps.

"I think I should go look after him, he doesn't look so good." Vivi said with worry evident in her voice.

Gin saw an opportunity and took it, "Psh you just wanna get started on making those great grand babies." When he said this he held his hands out to the sides and was rewarded with Johnny and Yosuku high fived him.

Vivi once more turned bright red and steam came out of her ears as she waved her hands in front of her in denial as she walked backwards to follow Luffy. The rest of the crew simply laughed at either Gin's joke of Vivi's misforfortune.

Zoro was still chuckling as he relayed Luffy's orders in a more comprehensive way and watched as everyone got to work and he drilled the training into the rest of the crew. Their training was vital because after all they were only a few days away from Alabaster and each and every member of the crew would need all the strength they could get.


The Strawhat pirates had been sailing for five days and were now only a day or so away from Alabaster. With this in mind Luffy decided it would be prudent to have a crew meeting to plan out their course of action.

Standing in the middle of the deck he observed Nami Zoro dodging the bokken being swung at him by Gin. This was something that made him grin as ever since Zoro had first unlocked his observation haki he had trained diligently until he could dodge consistently, this was evidenced by Gin's swings at Zoro's head missing every single time.

Luffy then turned to see Nami swinging her own bokken at Sanji with a big smile on her face. In Nami's mind, while this may indeed be training for her it was the perfect stress relief as for at least an hour a day she could wail on Sanji as much as she wanted and then at the end he'd thank her for it. Just before Luffy was about to call it a day with training Sanji leaned forwards just enough for the bokken to miss his head, this was a feat he repeated again with Nami's follow up strike.

Sadly however his streak ended there but it was still enough for Luffy to congratulate him. "Yo Sanji! Well done you're the second on the crew to awaken your observation haki." Sanji grinned at this as he removed his blindfold and lit a cigarette. "Just like we did with Zoro we need to get you using it consistently though." Sanji could nod to Luffy's words as he knew himself he needed to improve and improve quickly.

The sound of a wooden sword completely shattering silenced any further comments and everyone turned to look at the source of the noise. Above Zoro, who was calmly sitting on the deck, was Gin who was holding the handle of his wooden sword with the other pieces scattered around Zoro.

Gin was confused as he looked at the handle he was holding and he scratched his head as he wondered what had just happened. His confusion was put to rest moments later as Luffy called over to Zoro. "Ha well done Zoro! Everyone look! Zoro was the first one outta everyone to use armament."

The cigarette in Sanji's mouth fell due to his shock and he stared open mouthed. "How is that shitty moss head so far ahead of me?" This was a question that received no answer however as everyone present was focused on Zoro.

"Well since I can already do the observation most of the time I wanted to try armament. So I kinda just focused my fighting spirit and energy on the spot he was gonna hit me."

Luffy could only grin at Zoro's perfect summery of armament haki. As simple minded at Zoro could sometimes be it couldn't be denied that he was a martial prodigy. Luffy suspected that the training and dangerous lifestyle he had lived before the two met was what had helped Zoro develop his haki so quickly.

"Right everyone gather up, we gotta plan what we're gonna do when we get to Albaster."

"What do you mean Luffy I thought you were going to help end the civil war." Vivi looked genuinely broken hearted at that moment in time.

"We are don't you worry about that, but what I mean is how exactly are we gonna do that." As he said that he sat down on the deck of the Merry and gestured for everyone to do likewise.

Realisation dawned on Vivi and the relief that Luffy was still going to help save her country brought tears to her eyes. Taking a seat herself she spoke, "Well what we need to do is get in contact with the rebels who are based out of Yuba. When we meet up with the rebels I can convince them to stand down and we can avert the civil war."

Silence was all that greeted Vivi when she laid out her plan and several of the Strawhats winced at the simplicity of it. "That's your plan?" Alvida asked incredulously only to have Luffy hold up his hand to silence her.

"Vivi I'm not usually much of a planning guy I just usually let my fists do the talking for me."

"You can say that again." Nami said under her breath which garnered chuckles from Zoro and Gin.

Rolling his eyes in fond exasperation Luffy continued. "But I thought since we're trying to stop a warlord from starting a civil war in your home country you might've given it a bit more thought."

"But...but if we meet the rebels and stop the war what more do we need to do."

Before Luffy could answer Zoro spoke up, "Hows about we start with info, how do we even know the rebels are in Yuba? You said yourself you've been undercover in Baroque Works for the last three years, so how do we know your info isn't outdated."

Alvida spoke up next seemingly continuing on from Zoro as if they were of one mind. "Plus it's obvious Crocodile has been planning this for years so he's bound to have back up plans and fall backs for the back up plans. So it's obvious we need to deal with him."

"Plus if you went undercover then what's to say Croccy didn't send people undercover too with the royals and rebels. Let's face it it makes sense don't it?" Gin said which was the final straw for Vivi as her faith in her plan was completely shattered.

Luffy too a deep breath and though for several moments. "Nami, you got any maps of Alabaster?" At this question Nami gave a nod and left to retrieve what Luffy had asked for.

When she returned she handed it to Luffy who spead it out on the deck in front of him and studied it intently. "I swiped it from Whiskey Peak when I looted their treasure," Nami announced to the crew who were looking at her wondering where the hell she had gotten the map from.

"Right this city right here is Nanohana, it's the largest city on the coast so we'll dock there and gather whatever intel we can about the rebels. Right Vivi where abouts is the Palace?" At this Vivi leant over the map and Luffy had to try desperately hard not to stare down her top at her cleavage.

"Here's Alubarna, that's the city the Palace is in."

Looking at the spot on the map Vivi was pointing to Luffy had to wince. "Shit, that's gonna take ages to get there through that big arse desert. And it needs to be done since we can't not tell your dad about what you've found out about Baroque Works and that we think Croc could have spies in the Palace."

Vivi perked up however, "We can send Karoo! He's a super spot billed duck, they're made to travel through the desert quickly. I can give him a letter for my father to deliver while everyone else takes care of everything else."

Luffy let out a sigh of relief as it was one less thing he had to worry about and he was about ask his next question but was beaten to it by Zoro. "Where's Crocodile gonna be?"

"He should be here in the city of Rainbase, he's got several businesses there as well as his casino. Rainbase has basically turned into Sir Crocodile's personal Kingdom." Vivi's tone turned decidedly bitter at the end of her reply to Zoro.

"Well how're we gonna get to Rainbase? It's almost as far as Alubarna just on the opposite side of the river." Usopp asked he too now leant over the map as he studied it intently. "How deep does this Sandora river go? Can we sail the Merry up it?"

"Oh yes, the Sandora river is easily wide and deep enough for a ship like this to sail up."

Luffy had now heard enough and a plan was forming in his mind. "Right so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna dock at Nanohana and while we're there I'm gonna have a look around a bit and explore. While I'm doing that I want Sanji and Alvida to get some desert clothes for everyone. Gin, Nami and Vivi I want you out with the people and finding out where we can find the rebels. When we know more we can sail up the Sandora and let people off where we need to."

"Huh? That's actually way more detail than I was expecting from you shitty captain," said a surprised Sanji, this gained a round of chuckles from everyone present.

"Tch, I can plan when I wanna I just don't need to most of the time. Right everyone go do whatever it is you wanna do for now, I'll be speaking to some of you separately about stuff."

With that said the Strawhats went their separate ways to either run the ship or kill time in their own special ways. Zoro dragged Johnny and Yozuku to train some more while Gin and Alvida spent their time maintaining their weapons. Nami was followed by Vivi as she went to the helm to maintain their course.

It was Usopp that Luffy followed as he went below deck to the workshop. "Yo Usopp I've been meanin' to ask how's the special ammo coming along?"

Usopp, who had been in his own little world, had not noticed he was being followed and jumped when he heard Luffy's voice. "Gah! Don't sneak up on me dammit!" Usopp's anger only caused Luffy to snicker at him. "Tch, whatever. It's going go, I've already made exploding rounds as well what I call fireshots." At this he grinned manically as he looked back at Luffy. "They're special rounds that'll set whatever I shoot on fire."

"Ha that's awesome I can't wait to see it in action. Anyways I was wondering-"

Luffy got no further before Usopp cut him off, "I've drawn up some initial plans for that special boat of yours."

"Shishishi you know me too well. Anyways I just wanted to say this shit I'm Alabaster is gonna be dangerous so I don't want you worried about going for the kill if you have to. You just do what you have to to keep yourself safe, yeah."

"You don't have to worry about me captain." Usopp knew what Luffy was saying and despite his nerves he gave Luffy a thumbs up before he went into the workshop of the ship.

When Luffy emerged back onto the deck of the Merry he frowned slightly. After a casual observation of the deck Luffy stuck his over the side of the Merry and winced slightly. The rapid weather changes and rough seas of the Grand Line had caused far more damage to the ship than he had realised. With this in mind he added getting the ship repaired to his mental to do list for Alabaster.

"Oi Luffy!" Called Nami from her spot at the helm. Luffy looked up at her and when Nami saw she had his undivided attention she continued. "When we raided that King Wapol's ship and stole all his stuff we managed to get our hands on this!" As Nami said this she held up a thick book which she then threw down to Luffy. "It's the complete devil fruit encyclopedia witten by Dr. Vegapunk."

Luffy realised immediately what Nami was getting at with this, after all the had a devil fruit sitting in his cabin. After a few minutes of flicking through the book Luffy had finally matched the devil fruit they had to the correct picture in the book. "Hey guys I've found it!" Luffy called out excitedly getting the entire crew's attention.

Everyone, even the one's that had no interest in eating the fruit or couldn't eat it, gathered round eager to know about the mysterious fruit. "It's called the sun sun fruit," as he said this he passed the book to Gin before gesturing for him to read it then pass it on. "Apparently it's a paramecia that increases the user's; strength, speed, stamina and constitution with the rising of the sun. So the closer it is to noon the stronger and faster the user gets and at noon for exactly one minute the user will be all but invincible." Luffy waited a moment for everyone to have read the book. "So who wants to eat it?"

"Nah, I think I'll pass. I'm a sniper so it won't really help me as much as it would someone else," said Usopp as he shook his head.

"I'll have to pass as well captain. Ever since I saw one of those encyclopedias when I was a kid there's only been one fruit-women's bath- that I want to eat -women's bath. I knew as soon as I saw that fruit -women's bath- that it would be a power -women's bath- that I would use for good and noble -women's bath- purposes women's bath-."

Every time Sanji said the words women's bath his head would flick to the left making him look deranged. The entire crew could only stare at Sanji incredulously as it seemed it he didn't even realise he was saying the words women's bath.

"Tch, always knew he was a pervert but that takes the piss," grunted Zoro.

Nami however was nowhere near as calm with her disgust as she punched Sanji on the top of his head. "You're never eating that fruit you got that?"

Seeing that Sanji was about to argue Alvida brought her mace down on Sanji's head, dropping him to his knees. "Never!"

Luffy took pity on Sanji after his heartbroken face. "Don't worry Sanji after all you can just peep on women's baths without the devil fruit." This cheered Sanji up and he gave his Luffy a large smile.

"Don't encourage him!" Shouted both Nami and Alvida which only caused Luffy to chuckle. Wanting to get the conversation back on track he turned to Johnny and Yozuku and raised a single eyebrow in question.

The two looked at each other and seemingly had a silent conversation with one another. Finally after several long moments they turned back to Luffy. "Nah we're a team," said Johnny.

"And we can't have one of us far stronger than the other," finished Yozuku causing Luffy to nod his head at them.

"Well if nobody else wants it I wouldn't mind eating it," said Gin.

After seeing that nobody objected Luffy went and retrieved the devil fruit from his cabin. Handing the fruit over to Gin Luffy had to suppress a small smirk as a small prank came to mind. "Here you go," Luffy watched as Gin slowly brought the fruit to his mouth and took a bite.

As soon as the fruit hit his tongue Gin grimaced in disgust as he choked down the mouthful of devil fruit. "Gah! That's gotta be the worst thing I've ever eaten."

"Don't forget Gin, you gotta eat the whole thing for it to work," said Luffybas he fought against the smirk that was tugging at his lips.

Gin frowned down at the fruit and tried not to vomit at the thought of taking another bite as he brought the fruit back to his lips. He was saved from this fate however by Alvida. "I think you're mistaken captain, it only takes a single bite."

Hearing this Gin gave Luffy the stink eye as he threw the rest of the devil fruit over the side of the ship and returned to what he had previously been doing.

Just as the rest of the crew began to disperse the Merry began sailing through dense steam radiating from the sea. Chopper who had run to edge of the Merry to look at the new sight. "Wow what is this?"

It was Nami that answered him as she steered the ship. "It's steam produced by the heat from the underwater volcanoes."

Chopper had literal stars in his eyes as he vibrated with excitement. "Wow so there's even volcanoes underwater."

Nami could only chuckle slightly at Chopper's childlike enthusiasm. "Yeah, in fact there's more volcanoes under the sea then there is on land."

"Wow! That's amazing! And to think I never would've seen any of this if I'd never left Drum with you guys."

Unseen by the Strawhats a ship passed by them incredibly closely however it went unnoticed due to the thick steam.

"Guy's do you hear anything?" Gin asked suddenly alert.

"Help! Help me please! I cant swim, I'm a hammer!"

Hearing the voice that nobody on the ship recognised everyone ran over to the starboard side of the ship and peered over the side. Gin and Zoro wasted no time in throwing a rope down to the man and hauling onto the ship.

The entire crew could only stare at the man in shock as he was wearing a long pink coat trimmed with white fur, a blue striped medieval outfit that exposed his incredibly hairy legs. On his back were two swan figurines that extended past his shoulders. When he looked up to thank them they all saw that he was wearing green eyeshadow and red lipstick.

"Phew, thanks for the save. If you guys hadn't rescued me I'd have died for sure."

"How comes you can't swim anyways?" Usopp questioned the newcomer.

"Ah you see," as he said spoke he stood up and balanced on his left foot's tiptoes and began to spin on the spot. "The thing is I ate a devil fruit, so if I fall in the water I'll just sink." Even while he spoke he never stopped spinning.

"Cool! What devil fruit did you eat?" Asked Luffy.

This question got the man to stop spinning. "Ah! Where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself. I am Bon Clay, Okama extraordinaire and I ate the clone clone fruit. Here let me show you." Having said that he slapped Usopp who was the nearest Strawhat pirate to himself and sent him flying back several feet. The rest of the crew immediately began drawing their weapons at what the felt was a hostile action.

"No wait that's just how my power works look." Having said that he then touched his face with the hand he just slapped Usopp with and immediately transformed into a carbon copy of Usopp. "See with my right hand I can copy a person, and with my left I turn back into me." As he said that he touched his face with his left hand and retook his original appearance.

Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were all excited at this ability all called to see more.

"Oh I couldn't possibly do more." Bon Clay said sounding bashful and before anyone could argue he continued. "Oh well if you insist." With that he quickly maneuvered around the deck touching several of the Strawhats with his right hand. "And just like this I can become any one of you, and it's not just faces I copy but I can do bodies too." After that last comment he ripped open his clothes while wearing Nami's face and giving everyone a look at her naked body.

Nami however was furious, "Pervert!" She screamed at him as she she brought her fist down on the top of Bon Clay's head in a way very reminiscent of Garp with Luffy. "And the rest of you that'll be a hundred thousand beli each for the free show."

The rest of the crew simply rolled their eyes at this though.

"And once I've learned a face I never forget it." Bon Clay then began cycling through many of the faces he had memorised, the sight of one in particular caused Vivi to gasp slightly.

"That's so cool! You should definitely join my crew." Luffy declared.

"Ah but you see I already have my own crew." Hearing this Luffy sagged in disappointment and was about to argue further when another ship pulled up alongside the Merry. "Ah! Here's my crew now!" Bon Clay then jumped onto the guardrail and looked over his shoulder at the Strawhats and saw that several of the crew looked disappointed to see him go. "Fear not for even though we must part now as we go our separate ways we do so as friends."

This comment earned a smile from the Strawhats that had been sad to see him leave. Smile that quickly fell when they heard the crew welcome back Bon Clay and call him Mr Two.

"Shit! Well that ain't good," said a grim Zoro.

"No it's worse than you think! When he was cycling through all of those face I recognised one of them! It was the face of my father." Vivi was nearly in tears as she said this, frustration at the situation and worry for her father dominating her thoughts.

Luffy seeing this grabbed ahold of Vivi and pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't worry Vivi, I promised you that we'd save your country and kick Crocs arse and that's exactly what we're gonna do." When he said this Vivi sobbed harder, only this time in relief.

The crew was silent for several moments before Alvida spoke up. "This might actually be a good thing." This comment got the entire crew's attention and everyone turned to look at her. "At least we know now that Baroque Works has someone like him that can turn into other people, rather than be surprised about it later."

"Plus we know for a fact that Baroque Works can get close to the king. And if they can get close to the king then they can do the same with the rebels." Nami said evenly.

"Yeah that's all well and good and all but that guy can turn into anyone of us," said Johnny.

Silence once more decended on the ship as the crew thought about their predicament. Sanji who had emerged from the kitchen with a tray of drinks just as Bon Clay was leaving lit a cigarette. Breathing out a mouthful of smoke he spoke up. "What we've gotta do is mark ourselves in a way he doesn't know about."

Hearing Sanji's idea Usopp pulled out a pen. "We can use this permanent marker and draw a cross on our forearm, and as long as we cover it up with summet he won't know about it." The Strawhats all smiled at this idea and one by one the crew drew an x on their forearm and tied a piece of fabric around their arm to hide it.

Just before Luffy covered his he stared at it while smiling. "You know this x is like a symbol of our friendship, it's summet that links us all together. So when we're fighting in Alabaster and if things get tough I want you guys to look at that x and remember what we're fighting for."

Relief for the pirates that were saving her country flooded through princess Vivi and she spun around from her place in Luffy's arms so she was facing him. Throwing. her arms around him she hugged him as hard as she could before kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you, just thank you for everything."

Luffy was unable to help himself as he let his hands wander slightly and he squeezed Vivi's shapely rear. This caused Vivi to turn bright red and step back as she slapped him on the arm, laughing as she did so.

"How long 'til we reach Alabaster?" Zoro asked.

Vivi turned to him and was thoughtful for a brief second. "Not long now, maybe a few hours at most."

"In that case I want everyone resting up so we're all raring to go when we dock at Nanohana." Luffy announced to the rest of the crew, and with that said the crew dispersed to rest up. Just as she was about leave Vivi jumped when she felt Luffy grab her rear once more. "What can I say? With an arse that perfect I just can't help myself."

While Vivi once more blushed fiercely unlike previously with Luffy's flirting she fought back. "Who knows, maybe when all this is over and done with you might get more than just a quick feel," Vivi said through a grin as she walked away backwards, never once taking her eyes off Luffy.


Just three hours later Alabaster was in sight. However it was not the sight of Alabaster that had gained the attention of the Strawhats but rather the dozens of Baroque Works ships just off the coast.

"What should we do captain?" Asked Alvida.

Luffy thought for a moment. "Ignore them for now," upon seeing his crew's incredulous expressions he continued. "If we attack them it'll just put all of Baroque Works on alert and Croccy could move ahead with his plans. But if we sneak past them then they won't even know we're in Alabaster 'til it's too late."

Various aye aye's rang out from the assembled crew and so the Merry, under Nami's careful steering, avoided the Baroque Works blockade.

After docking in Nanohana Luffy sent Sanji into the town with some money to procure cloting for the rest of the crew to blend in. This however did not sit well with Nami and she made her displeasure known.

"You seriously sent that pervert out there by himself to buy clothes for everyone!" Nami was genuinely concerned over what kind of outfit she would be forced to wear due to Sanji's perverted nature.

"Meh, what can I say I'm kind of interested in seeing what he comes back with. 'Sides ot wasnt like I had too many options. Zoro would just get lost, Johnny and Yozuku would get distracted, me and Chopper would draw too much attention to ourselves. And lets face it you and Usopp would take all day to get the clothes 'cause you'd spend all day haggling to save a single beli."

Nami found that Luffy actually had a bit of a point which took the wind out of her sails somewhat. "Well what about Gin or Alvida? You could've sent them."

Luffy just shrugged carelessly. "Well Alvida's hot as hell so she wouldve drawn too much attention to herself, it's not normally a bad thing but we're trying to be sneaky remember. I suppose I could've sent Gin but..."

"But what!"

Luffy knew he was getting under Nami's skin so he was now sporting a huge grin. "But I wouldnt br able to see three goddesses such as you three in whatever skimpy outfit Sanji comes back with."

Nami just huffed as she walked away to talk to Usopp about thr new staff he had made for her.

It wasn't long before Sanji returned and just like Nami had predicted the outfits he had bought for the girls was indeed revealing. Nevertheless the girls still put on the skimpy belly dancer outfits and while Nami grumbled slightly about everyone getting a free eyeful Alvida was pleased with what she was wearing.

Alvida's belly dancer outfit was red while Nami's was blue and Vivi's purple. After twirling on the spot to show off slightly Alvida called out to Luffy to get his attention before swinging her hips rhythmically in an imitation of a bely dance.

Vivi giggled slightly, "Belly dancing originated in Alabaster." As she said this she too began to dance except it was obvious her moves were far more practiced and fluid. As Vivi and Alvida danced in front of him Luffy and Sanji couldn't tear their eyes away from the swaying of their hips, Sanji's nose even started to bleed.

"Tch can you're perversion shitty love cook."

Sanji just glared at Zoro when he heard his comment. "Tch, that's enough outta you shitty moss head." Even while arguing with Zoro Sanji never once took his eyes off the scantily clad girls in front of him. It was also at this moment that Luffy and Sanji had their first true bro moment as Luffy without taking his eyes off thr girls held his fist up to Sanji who, without missing a beat, gave him a fist bump.

Looking up at the sky as if praying for strength Nami spoke up. "So what's the plan of action now?"

Several moments passed without answer and so she cleared her throat. Another several moment passed without an answer to her query so she took off the high heeled shoe that came with the outfit and threw it at Luffy with all her might. This action finally got a response as he seemed to shake himself out of his stupor before grinning sheepishly.

"Ahem, well we need info about the state of things. We need to know about where Croccy is gonna be, where the rebels are and any info about this whole civil war that you may not have heard while you were away Vivi." Luffy paused and thought deeply for a moment, "We need to send people that can be more incognito. So Gin I want you to take Usopp, Nami and Alvida and see what you can find out."

"Aye aye captain," and with that the quartet made their way off the ship to complete the task given to them by their captain, each of them fully aware of how serious and important this task was.


An: The whole thing about Luffys family was actually a fan theory I found on Google and thought it not only sounded plausible bit was also interesting. The fan pointed out that at no point does Garp refer to dragon as his son and that Luffy is the child of his child, they also point out that dragon's appearance is very similar to what has been shown of Rocks so far.

Basically I just wanted to do something a bit different and ran with it.