This is the 27th chapter. I don't own the series of One Piece.
Crocodile, Seven Warlords and Hero of Alabasta! Mr. 2 on a Ship!
Alabasta, Nanohana
At the coast of Alabasta, the pirates disembark as they invaded the town and looting everything on sight, causing the people of Alabasta to panic. The pirates were looting the gold from the people of Alabasta and the food from the market while surrounding the people with their weapons. The guards of Alabasta were riding through the desert to get to Nanohana, but Crocodile got here first when he revealed himself from the top of the building. The woman noticed the silhouette of Crocodile, sheds a tear with a smile on her face.
"It's Crocodile."
Soon as the pirates the Warlords name, they turn their heads to the figure of Crocodile at the top.
"Crocodile! He's here!"
"He's here to save us!"
The Captain and his crew looks up at the tower, saw Crocodile standing there at the top which the people of Alabasta are telling the truth and cheered for him.
"Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords?"
"Calm down, ignorant peasants! I only came to your pathetic little town for that pirates head!" Crocodile shouts with annoyance, but the people of Alabasta are still happy to see him.
"He's so great!"
"And modest, he comes and saves us, but he won't take a credit for it! Three cheers for Crocodile!"
While the guards of Alabasta are hurrying to Nanohana as fast as the horses can go, the people of Alabasta cheered for him which it got the Warlord of the Sea smirked and placing his hand on his golden hook. He laughed as he spoke.
"You peasants can call me whatever you want! But you, you pirates should've stayed out of this country!" Crocodile states. "Now, you're gonna pay!"
The pirates didn't like his remark because they thought Crocodile is gonna fight them all on his own, feeling insulted.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! I think you're underestimating us a bit!"
"What?! Are you gonna take us all on?! There are a lot of us and only one of you!"
"That's right! And you're just the Governments little dog! Who do you think you are, acting like a hero?!"
"All those who wish to live, lie down now!" Crocodile ordered, readied his golden hook.
"What an idiot! Perfect for target practice! Get this guy, every last berry in this town is ours!"
Soon as the pirate Captain gives the order, his crew readied their weapons when Crocodile leaps off the top of the building. When he lands on the ground, Crocodile pulls himself up with a serious expression, but the pirates thrust their weapons, impaling him in the chest with the triumphant laugh.
"Nothing but a pathetic puppet!"
However, the pirates are trying to pull their weapons out, but neither of those weapons are budging. Crocodile raises his golden hook up at the sky, calling out the sand as it forms into a sand twister. When the sand twister hits Nanohana, the people of Alabasta quickly takes cover and the pirates were caught off guard and getting swept by the twister. The sand twister then dried up the produce at the market, breaking the stalls, dry the palm trees, and cover the people in sand as it them calms down and vanished. After the result of the sand twister, the pirates were left nothing but dried corpse and died in the process. Crocodile is the only one standing, lowered his golden hook with a serious glare on his face.
"I'm a puppet, huh? I don't think so. Idiot pirate." Crocodile states with a scoff, looking at the dead pirate.
The people of Alabasta smiled at Crocodile when he left Nanohana with the big bag on his shoulder. They then cheered his name which Crocodile ignoring them, leaving the town without saying a word. The guards of Alabasta arrives at Nanohana, but they're arrived too late when they heard the people of Alabasta cheering for Crocodile. Though, they're not surprised that Crocodile beats them to it.
"Looks like he beat us there again." The guard said with a glare.
Alabasta, Alubarna
Soon as the guards have returned to the palace, the two men arrived at the throne to inform Cobra Nefertari.
The first guard is a tall, imposing dark skinned man with medium length black hair and a long broad nose resembling like a jackal. He wore a long, light-green tunic, revealing his muscular chest, has two belts around his waist; a striped pale-red and crimson large one, and over it a purple thinner one. Around his neck he has a necklace consisting of big golden beads, and he wears a dark-green coat draped on his shoulders like a cape. He carries a massive sword, with blue hilt and a sheath on his right hip.
The second guard is also a tall man, but with a purple line under each eye that runs down the sides of his face, making him resemble a falcon. Underneath his robe, he is fairly muscular, and has two large star-shaped scars on his torso. He wore a long white robe with brown star-like motifs on it and a matching hat. He has a big orange necklace around his neck, and also sports striped socks under a pair or normal shoes. He carries his sword on his right hip, so it might be assumed that he is left-handed or even ambidextrous.
Cobra is a man of average height. He has a wrinkled face, a tied-off beard, and long curly black hair. He wore a green robe with yellow edging, an orange and beige sash around his waist, and a purple coat. He also wears black shoes and a necklace.
"Seems like he's always one step ahead." Cobra states with a serious scowl.
"By the time we arrived, the pirates had already taken cared of." The guard explains.
"I see. Well as long as the citizens are safe, I suppose there's no need to worry." Cobra told him. "Crocodile has been a great help."
Somewhere at sea
The next day, everything is so peaceful at sea. Ventus, Shanise, Ivan, Anna, and Zoro have finished their usual training before they can get to Alabasta to help get Vivi home and find Crocodile. The Straw Hat pirates are right now doing their own activities, Zoro is napping as usual, Anna and Shanise are teaching Ventus, Usopp, Carue, and Chopper are fishing, Ivan, Nami, and Vivi are going through the map, and Luffy is laying at the figurehead while looking at the sky. Sanji however, was at the kitchen, checking for the food he and Ventus divides for 12 people which it was gone.
"Hey, did any of you been into the food?" Sanji questions.
"Not since we've done training this morning." Ventus told him. "Why?"
"Because you and I carefully divide them into 12 people, so it'll last until we reach Alabasta. It suddenly winds up disappeared in the middle of the night." Sanji explains seriously.
"Well, it ain't us and we don't have a ravenous appetite, unlike a certain glutton who keeps eating." Anna states, made Sanji realize who.
"Luffy." Sanji growls, walking out of the kitchen to find Luffy.
While at the outside of the cabin, Nami and Vivi are still going through the map while looking through the Eternal Pose, meaning they're at the right direction and heading to Alabasta.
"There's no mistaking it, I hope you're ready. We've almost made it to Alabasta." Nami told her with a smile.
Little did they know, Ventus, Anna, and Shanise have overheard of Nami which it got them smile that they're close to Alabasta.
'Father, I'll be there soon.' Vivi thought with a smile, thinking about her father.
"Don't lie to me, Luffy!" Sanji shouts, earned their attention when Ventus, Anna, and Shanise walks out of the cabin. "Tell me what you know, right now!"
Luffy is avoiding eye contact with Sanji which the chef is in no mood for games, kneels to his level as he grabs his face, forcing the rubber Captain to look at him in the eyes.
"Don't look away from me! I want you to look at me in the eyes right now and tell me the truth!" Sanji demands.
'He has a terrible poker face.' Ventus thought which Anna and Shanise are watching, agreeing to the young Dragoon.
"No idea what you mean, Sanji. I don't know anything. No clue." Luffy told him innocently, waving his hand which he's obviously lying and sweating bullets.
"Then, let ask you." Sanji said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth with a serious glare. "How did enough food for 12 people which Ventus and I carefully divided up, so that way it'll last until we reach Alabasta suddenly go missing in the middle of the night?"
Ventus, Anna, and Shanise already knew that Luffy was the one who's been stealing food which of course, he's always stealing food in the middle of the night because of his horrendous appetite. Luffy keeps moving his eyes since he won't say anything.
"Lying is pointless, so just tell me the truth! You have a terrible poker face!" Sanji demands, grabbing Luffy's face when he belched. He then lets go of his face as he stood up. "Oh hey, it looks you have something around your mouth there."
"I FORGOT ABOUT THE CRUMBS!?" Luffy blurts it out with his face pale, gave himself away when Sanji growls.
"I KNEW IT WAS YOU!?" Sanji yelled with white eyes and shark-like teeth, kicks Luffy in the face as he was sent flying and knocked unconscious, smacks against the wall.
"Idiot." Ventus muttered with annoyance.
"Jerk." Sanji muttered, turns to Nami and Vivi, now in lover boy mode. "Hey Nami, we need to do something. We need a better way of keeping the food safe from Luffy. Can we please buy a refrigerator that locks?"
"Well, maybe..." Nami said with her eyebrow raised, noticed Usopp, Carue, and Chopper are eating the food while fishing which she's starting to agree of Sanji's suggestion. "Might be a good idea since it could be a matter of life and death."
Sanji, Ventus, Anna, and Shanise turn their heads to the three, who's been also stealing food while fishing.
"Well, we do need to catch something for Sanji!" Usopp ordered, swallowed his food when Carue quacks.
"So, how's the fishing going?" Sanji asks with a smile and calm yet dangerous tone, leaving the three panicked.
"Uh, well, it's uh..." Usopp said nervously as he, Chopper, and Carue looks away.
When they looked at the sea, Sanji placed his hands on their heads with a chuckle, and then hit the three upside their heads.
"Pathetic, I take my eyes off anyone." Sanji growled with his veins popped on his head.
Ventus couldn't help but sigh, figured Chopper would get himself into trouble like Usopp and Luffy since the two got into a lot of trouble.
Few hours later, Ventus was able to caught a number of Sea Kings at sea while putting them in the food storage to keep them frozen so Sanji can make due by divided up into 12 people again before reaching to Alabasta. Shanise gives the chef a helping hand by cleaving the Sea Kings into pieces so it'll be enough room to fit, but the rest of the remains of the dead Sea Kings are cooked while Anna use the scale to make medicine, with a little help from Chopper.
Usopp and Luffy are now fishing at sea, but they still don't have much luck of catching something. Luffy's stomach is growling as he spoke.
"I'm so hungry. And the fish weren't biting at all." Luffy whines.
"Really?! You do realize this is your fault! Ventus and Anna warned you many times not to eat the bait that we had! Fish aren't ever going to bite if we don't give them a reason!?" Usopp shouts at him, showing his white eyes and shark-like teeth.
"You ate some too!" Luffy argues.
"I'm smart enough for not getting on to Ventus' bad side or Anna's!" Usopp retorts. "You on the other hand, you always get yourself into a lot of trouble for stealing the food and the bait!?"
"Hey, guys." Vivi greets them when she approaches the two. "So, how's it going? Catch anything yet?"
She then heard the squawking sound as she pushes the two and leans closer, causing her to scream when she saw Carue being tied up and used as bait.
"CARUE?!" Vivi yelled with her face pale and shark-like teeth.
"Do you think we catch a shark?" Luffy questions curiously.
"Don't know. I really want to catch a Sea King." Usopp states with a grin which Vivi isn't too happy about it.
"Stop. Fishing. With. My. Duck!?" Vivi growled with a tick mark on her head, hits them upside their heads. "YOU JERKS!?"
It got both Usopp and Luffy knocked out, causing their fishing rod dragged up along with Carue, who's squawking and wants to get out of these ropes. Vivi scoffed, turns around and saw the steam coming from the sea which it got her eyes widen a bit.
"Over there, you two." Vivi muttered when they sail closer to the steam.
"What is that stuff?" Usopp questions seriously, shocked of what he saw.
"Cotton candy?" Luffy guessed with his tongue sticks.
"You guys wait here, I'll go get Nami." Vivi told them as she rushed upstairs to the kitchen.
At the kitchen, Vivi opens the door which it got their attention as she spoke.
"Is something wrong?" Anna asks.
"Yes, there's something wrong! Come quickly!" Vivi told her as they got of the kitchen, looking at the steam. Ventus sniff the air, plugged his nose in repulse.
"Ugh! P.U.! It smells like rotten eggs!" Ventus exclaims with disgust.
"I guess you caught a whiff of sulfur, right?" Anna guessed with a mischievous grin, making the young Dragoon growled at her and leaving Sanji and Ivan snickered a bit.
"Oh yeah, I see. Nothing to worry about. It's just a little steam." Nami assures with a smile.
"You're saying that steams come up out of the ocean?" Vivi inquires curiously.
"Uh-huh, a hot spot. That's all." Nami answered with confirm.
"What's a hot spot?" Luffy asks, turns to them.
"It's an area of the sea where magma is made." Shanise explains for the navigator. "Below the steam over there has an undersea volcano."
"There are volcanos underneath the sea?" Chopper asks, turns to her.
"That's right. In fact, there are actually more volcanos under the sea than there are on dry land." Nami explains, leaving Usopp amazed.
"So I guess we can't eat the steam then, huh?" Luffy muttered.
"No you idiot, the steam has sulfur which it smells really stinks." Ventus told him.
"Well, there will be a brand-new island over there, thanks to the volcano, but the process will take tens of thousands of years." Nami continues.
"Oh, wow~! You're amazing, Nami~!" Sanji praises her, gone goo-goo eyes again.
"Wonder if I can live that long?" Luffy questions.
"I planned on dying some time before that." Usopp states as they lift Carue, who's still quacking as Sanji approaches them.
"Have you caught anything?" Sanji asks the two.
"We're so hungry! Can't you cook us something?" Luffy whines, turns his head to the chef.
"You guys are just hopeless, but I'll go and search the storage area anyway to see if we have anything left." Sanji reluctantly complies, but not telling him that there's the meat of the Sea Kings inside as he went inside of the storage.
Until, they sail right towards the steam as the pirate crew starts coughing while covering their mouths, sailing through the steam.
"Yuck! Ventus is right! It smells like sulfur!" Usopp chortles.
"I can't see anything! There's steam everywhere!" Luffy complains.
"Phew! It really does smell like rotten eggs!" Ivan added, agreeing to Ventus' statement.
"Just bare with it! We should be out of the steam soon!" Nami told them.
Meanwhile, Mr. 2 and his crew sail towards the sea to find and kill Mr. 3. Last time they went to the Little Garden, they weren't able to find Mr. 3 because he manage to recover and escape from the island due to his intellects. One of his crew have spotted the steam in front of them.
"Excuse me, Mr. 2!"
"What is it now?!" Mr. 2 demands.
"There's a whole bunch of smoke at 12 o'clock!"
"I'm not afraid of some smoke! Keep going!" Mr. 2 ordered with a smirk. "No matter what, we've got to take care of Mr. 3 or else the next target is going to be me!"
"Yes sir! We're going in!"
As soon as they sail towards the hot steam, they began to cough while covering their mouth from the smell of sulfur.
"What is this?!" Mr. 2 exclaims, coughing.
"I have no idea!"
When they were able to sail out of the steam, Mr. 2 is no longer on the ship which his crew didn't know as one of the spoke.
"We've made it through!"
They then notice Mr. 2 is missing as they scream with panic.
"MR. 2 HAS COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED!"
"LETS CHECK THE CANNONS!"
And with that, they began searching for their Captain which they couldn't find him anywhere on the ship, causing them to panic even more. On the Going Merry, both Luffy and Usopp manage to catch something, but it got them both surprised and confused when they saw Mr. 2 holding on to Carue. It got Carue quacked and Mr. 2 glance at the duck as he spoke.
"No! Really?! This is getting out of hand!" Mr. 2 exclaims with his face pale. "One of these days, I need to stop jumping on every random dock by sea!"
"What is that?" Luffy muttered as he and Usopp glances each other with confusion.
Suddenly, Mr. 2 accidentally let's go of the duck with a scream as he falls down into the water.
"You have to help me, please!? Get out of here please! I can't swim!" Mr. 2 pleads, tried to swim but drowns.
As soon as they pull Mr. 2 out of the sea, he was now on the deck when the rest of the Straw Hat crew, except Anna and Ventus, gathers around, pants heavily and completely soaking wet. Both Shanise and Ivan recognizes him, causing to scowl at Mr. 2.
"I thought I was going to die there for a minute." Mr. 2 groans with a raspy voice, turns to the crew with a smile ad he bows to them. "Hey! You saved me! Thanks! I never imagined my life will be saved by a group of complete strangers. Thanks again, I'll never forget your kindness. Although, could I trouble you for a cup of one soup? A chicken noodle will do."
"NO WAY!?" The Straw Hat crew, except Anna, Shanise, Ivan, Vivi, and Ventus, yelled in unison with white eyes and shark-like teeth.
"WE CAN'T EVEN FEED OURSELVES!?" Zoro added with his veins popped his head. Mr. 2 then turns his head to Anna and Vivi with a smile.
"Oh, hey, you two are just an absolutely cuties, aren't ya? Oh yeah~! Sexy~!" Mr. 2 said, blow them a kiss with a wink.
"He's so weird." Vivi muttered quietly with disgust.
"Sorry, but you're not my type." Anna told him with disgust.
"Knife through the heart, I'm hurt." Mr. 2 playfully whines.
"So uh, you can't really swim, huh?" Luffy inquires.
"That's right~! You see, I ate a Devil fruit. So, I can't swim even a little bit." Mr. 2 answered simply.
"Yeah, what kind fruit?" Usopp questions as Mr. 2 pulls himself up.
"Let's see. Well, since I can't go anywhere until my ship picks me up, there's no harm in little fun." Mr. 2 suggests with a smirk. "For saving my life, I'll show you."
Both Shanise and Ivan aren't liking where this is going and neither does Ventus and Anna when Mr. 2 readied his stance.
"Now, get ready! This is my power!" Mr. 2 shouts as he strikes Luffy with his palm to the face, knocks him out.
It got them shocked for what Mr. 2 did to Luffy, but Zoro drew out his swords.
"Why you-"
"Wait, wait, hold on a second! This is all just for a little fun, remember?" Mr. 2 protests with a smirk, in Luffy's form while waved his hands in defense. It got Zoro widen his eyes with shock. "Hey now, mean guy! Relax!"
"Wait!" Luffy said, bounces himself back in his position, put his straw hat on his head with shocked expression on his face. "That's me!"
"Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!" Mr. 2/Luffy said repeatedly with a laugh, turns to the crew. "And if I touch my face with my left hand, I'm back to normal. Now, that is the power of Clone-Clone Devil fruit, you see."
It got them surprised of Mr. 2's Devil fruit power that can turn into any human form along with mimicking voices.
'I get it, his powers is like Mimicry spell. His Devil fruit power allows him to shapeshift into any human form and imitate voices.' Ventus mentally states with surprised look on his face.
"Amazing!" Nami said with awe.
"The body and the voice match perfectly!" Usopp added with awe.
Luffy was also amazed of Mr. 2's power when he pat their faces, except Vivi, Shanise, Ventus, Anna, and Ivan with his right hand gleefully.
"There, but honestly, I didn't really have to slap you around like that. Kay'? Now watch." Mr. 2 states, turns to him while turning to the crew. He then use his Devil fruit power to turn into Usopp, Zoro, Chopper, and Nami. "All I have to do...Is touch my right hand to you...As you can see, I can mimic anyone...That's not all, I can change bodies too."
Soon as Mr. 2 revealed the chest in Nami's form after pulling his jacket, it got Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp blushed with steam coming out of their ears. Ventus turns away with a blush of embarrassment. It also got Anna, Shanise, and Nami very annoyed as they punched him very head, leaving him a big bump on his head.
"STOP THAT!?" Nami, Shanise, and Anna yelled with angry red faces.
"Uh, guy, are you okay?" Luffy asks.
"I'm terribly sorry." Mr. 2 groans, sat up. "But, I shouldn't demonstrate my power anymore."
However, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper wants to see Mr. 2 do more of his Devil fruit power.
"Oh okay, if it absolutely insist, I guess I can show a little more." Mr. 2 said, waving his hand and got them cheering for him as he pose like a ballerina.
"He's really hamming it up." Nami states with annoyance when she and Zoro leans against the wooden rail, watching him twirls around.
"Well in that case, I have something more incredible. I'm equipped with a memory feature." Mr. 2 sings with a glee, stops twirling. He then uses his right hand, change faces as Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper laugh, but Vivi was deeply shocked when she saw him change his face into Cobra, her father. "And around and around and around we go~!"
"This is just boring." Zoro states with annoyance.
"And twirl, open pirouette." Mr. 2 hums, stops twirling. "Well, did everyone enjoy my very special secret talent? It's quite impressive, but I almost never show it off."
Vivi however, knew who that ballerina really is, he's one of the Baroque Works top agent, Mr. 2. Then they joined in by gathering around, singing and dancing as if like they're friends in an instant. To Ventus, they only just met and they became friends already.
"Oh, whatever." Nami muttered with annoyance, sighed when she noticed a swan-like ship that has a mark of 2. Ventus and Anna widen their eyes, realized who that ballerina really is. Mr. 2 noticed his ship is here as leaps up toward the wooden rail and spoke.
"It's time to say goodbye already? What a shame." Mr. 2 states, causing the three to gasp with shock and disappointment.
"No! You can't leave! Please don't go!" Usopp begs with teary eyes.
"Try not to be sad. Journey must always include farewells and yet, I will never forget you all today." Mr. 2 told them sadly, turned his shoulder. "It's been brief, but true friendship isn't determined by tiMe. Don't cry, friends!"
As soon as the ship is near, Mr. 2 leap towards the other ship.
"SEE YA, COOL GUY!" Luffy yelled as he, Usopp, and Chopper cries.
"Now quickly, let's be going." Mr. 2 orders his crew.
"Yes sir, Mr. 2! Mr. Bon Clay, sir!"
And with that, Mr. 2 and his crew sail towards the sea, leaving the rest of the Straw Hat crew, including Vivi gasped in shock.
"MR...2?!" Usopp exclaims with his jaws dropped.
"That guy is...Mr. 2?!" Vivi added with shock.
"Vivi! You mean you didn't know just by looking?!" Luffy questions, turns to her.
"Uh-uh! I've never met Mr. 2 or Mr. 1 and his partner. I don't know much about any of them or with their powers maybe." Vivi told him which it sounds reasonable, leans against the door and then collapse down to her knees. "Though, I have heard rumors about them all."
"And what rumor will that be?" Anna inquires.
"A rumor about Mr. 2 is one of them." Shanise explains seriously. "Neither of us have met Mr. 2 in person, but a rumor about him is different."
"And apparently, Mr. 2 is a tall ballerina and talks like a woman. And he always wears a swan coat." Ivan added with an explanation. "The coat says 'Bon Clay' on the back of his coat."
"Didn't know?!" Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy states, airslapping her.
"Vivi, what's the matter?" Ventus questions, noticed her face is pale.
"I saw something in his memory...in the faces that he showed us." Vivi told them. "One of those faces...belonged to my father. Cobra Nefertari, my father, the King of Alabasta!"
It got them very grimaced on their faces, should've known they would meet someone who saved was one of the top agents of Baroque Works.
"That's not good. If he can mimic the face of a King that easily, Mr. 2 has the potential to cause a lot of trouble." Zoro muttered with grave tone.
"Looks like we really let a bad guy get away today, huh?" Usopp said seriously, crossed his arms.
"So that guy is our enemy?" Chopper asks, turns to him.
"Seems so and having him on the other side is not a good thing." Nami answered, walk towards them. "If Mr. 2 realizes that we're the ones Baroque Works is after, then he can use the memories he got earlier to transform into anyone of us. We won't even be able to trust our own friends."
"Really?" Luffy asks seriously, but confused.
"Okay, I'll explain it again-"
"No, hold on a sec." Zoro interrupts, placing his hand on his shoulder with the smirk. "Luffy is slow, but he's right not to be scared. Just hear me out on this one and I think you'll agree. It's actually a good thing that we ran into Mr. 2 when we did, because now we can prepare and can beat him at his own game."
Meanwhile back at Mr. 2's ship, Mr. 2 is twirling around like a ballerina which his crew were confused as one of them spoke.
"You sure seem to be in a particularly good mood for some reason, Mr. 2."
Mr. 2 then sits on a chair after tried to find out how to say four, burst with a laughter.
"It just so happens I made some new friends today." Mr. 2 states happily.
While back at the Going Merry, before they could formulate a plan while heading towards Alabasta, the ship is starting to shake, and something came out of the water from the back of the ship, revealed to be a big cat.
"THAT THING IS HUGE!" Luffy yelled shockingly.
"A sea cat!" Vivi and Ventus shouts in unison.
"THAT'S A SEA MONSTER!?" Chopper yelled when he and Usopp's eyes with budging, shark-like teeth, and their tongues were sticking out along with jumping in the air with their arms raised.
"IT LOOKS LIKE FOOD TO ME!" Zoro states with his swords drawn.
"YEAH! LET'S GO!" Luffy added with an agreement.
"We're on the right track." Nami muttered, going through the Eternal Pose while ignoring the situation. "Now, if we can just get there alive, that'll be great."
"FOOD FOR ME!" Luffy growled with hunger, losing it when the sea cat is grown scared.
Ventus decided to intervene as knocks them out with his Iron Spear, sent them flying against the wooden rail.
"It's okay, you can go now." Ventus told the sea cat as it then starts leaving.
"Ventus! You jerk! What are you doing?!" Luffy demands.
"Ventus...What the hell was that for?" Zoro grunts, rubbing his sore head.
"You guys are hopeless." Ventus told them with a sigh. "Sea Cats are sacred creatures in Alabasta. And there's no way I'm letting you eat that Sea Cat."
"Even so, we haven't eaten for days!" Luffy complains.
"Oh? And can you tell me again what happen to the food supply that Sanji and I went to all that trouble for divided up into 12 people to last enough until we reach Alabasta?" Ventus retorts with a question, leaving Luffy speechless. "I thought so. If you have someone to blame, it's you."
"He's right. And we're very lucky that we were able to store some more food, thanks to Ventus killed off the Sea Kings." Sanji told him, got out of the kitchen.
"Really?! Hurry up and cook them! I'm hungry!" Luffy demands.
"No way, Luffy!" Sanji refuses. "Ventus wants me to not cook a food for you. You shouldn't go around stealing food in the storage room. Also, you better let that lesson be learned."
"What?!" Luffy shouts with shock, turns to Ventus. "Why'd you do that?!"
"Because I have to do all the work by finding some food at sea for my crew and not telling you that I found one. So, you should consider that as punishment for stealing all of our food." Ventus told him. "So as the First Mate of this ship, you're not getting any food until we reach to Alabasta. And I won't take no for an answer."
That got Luffy's face paled, not liking his idea as he then leans against the wall and pouts like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Vivi, is it true about that Sea Cat he's talking about?" Sanji questions.
"Yes, it's just as he said." Vivi nods in confirm.
"There are more animals in the ocean than I thought." Chopper states with a smile.
"If you're still scared of that stuff, then you have a long way to go." Usopp told him with his legs trembling, quickly recovers as he stood up while laugh it off. He tells a story about himself which it was a lie, but Chopper is falling for it.
'You say that, but you also have a long way to go.' Ventus thought with a sweat drop as he then head down the stairs. Nami passed through him as she walk towards Vivi and spoke.
"Vivi!" Nami called her, earned her attention. "The wind and weather is seem to be stablizing."
"We're entering the climate area of Alabasta island." Vivi confirms, turns to the sea. "And seeing the Sea Catcame out of the water is proof as well."
"And those things you see behind us over there, are all the proof I need that we're getting close." Zoro told her with a smirk on his face.
Vivi then noticed there's something at sea, noticed the ships that marked as the Baroque Works. Ventus caught the whiff of the air, knew there's trouble at sea which it caused him to return to the back. Anna, Shanise, and Ivan went to the back of the ship and saw the ships sailing to Alabasta.
"It's a lot of ships, huh? Who are they?" Luffy asks, looking at the ships at sea.
"There all flying the Baroque Works symbol on their mast, this can't be good." Usopp said with fright, looking through the binoculars.
"It looks as if all the Baroque Works employees have started gathering." Vivi states.
"If I remember correctly, these are the Billions." Shanise told them. "They're the subordinates under the officer agents."
"Which means that there are at least 200 enemies waiting for us." Nami added seriously.
"And if I'm right, these are the elite agents of the Baroque Works." Ventus guess.
"That's right." Vivi agrees. "This group will sure be a lot better than the bounty hunters at Whiskey Peak."
Usopp then readied the cannon, aiming at one of the Baroque Works ships. Usopp is suggesting that they should just blow them away, but Luffy suggests on charging after them which his stomach starts growling, still feeling hungry.
"It's best that we don't start the fight." Anna suggests. "It'll be unwise to after them without a plan."
"She's right. They're not worth it. Don't bother." Zoro agrees with a smirk.
"We need to keep our eyes on the prize or we might lose this all together." Sanji told him with a smirk. "After all, 12 against 200 sucks."
"They may not notice us until we reach to Alabasta. Meaning we've got plenty of time to formulate a plan." Ivan added with a smirk.
As soon as they form a strategy, they began wrapping the bandages around the left forearms.
"Just sure and tie it tight. I don't anyone fooled by the enemies disguises." Zoro told them, tied the bandage tightly.
"What a good plan." Vivi said, wrapping the bandage on Nami's arm.
"We'll always knew who our friends are, just look for the bandage on our arm." Nami states.
"This Clone-Clone fruit guy, so, is he that similar when he turn into someone else?" Sanji inquires.
"You have no idea! It's the same, not just similar." Usopp corrects him. "It was crazy, really! You should've seen it Sanji, he changes into every one of us! Even Nami and then we got to dance with him!"
"Be that as it may, but there are some flaws about his Devil fruit powers." Ventus states.
"Like what?" Sanji inquires curiously.
"The way he acts, for starters, and how he can change back." Ventus explains. "He acts like a ballerina, and he can turn back with his left hand."
"Not only that, he hasn't touched me, Ventus, you, Shanise, or Ivan." Anna added. "There's a chance that he will realize his mistake and try to pose as one of us."
"I see." Sanji confirms.
"We know that some of his powers is among the enemy. So, we need to be really careful to be on our guard at all times." Zoro suggests.
"Hey Ventus." Chopper called him, earned his attention. "What should I do?"
"Whatever you can to help the crew since that's been the case. However, in this kind of situation, you just need to do whatever you can." Ventus suggests. "If you face an enemy that's too strong for you, just try and think of a strategy on how you can beat them. Take advantage of your surroundings and your opponent's abilities."
"Whatever I can. I got it." Chopper said with determine smile.
"That's the spirit." Ventus said with a smile.
"I can see the island now!" Luffy shouts when he saw an island.
"We can stop at the town called Nanohana. We have to hide the ship." Vivi suggests.
"Okay! Whatever happens on that island, remember, this thing on our arms is a sign of our friendship!" Luffy said with a smirk as they gathered around, forming a circle on the deck as they put out the left arm into the circle. Chopper stood on the crate as he did it. "Now, let's land, okay? And eat! Oh and help Vivi."
"STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR STOMACH!" Ventus scolds with a tick mark on his head.
"Get your priorities straight!" The crew shouts in unison with annoyance.
Vivi touches her left arm, watching Nami lecture Luffy about the Baroque which he's still not getting it at all. She then smiled, glad that she made new friends.
That's it for the 27th chapter.