Inside the biggest gambling house one could see in Alabasta , a multitude of things were happening. On one side , in front of a gambling machine –with multiple people watching- was a dark curly haired male. He had been there for half an hour at most and everyone could see the large amount of money he won already.

"I am rich!" he shouted , the people cheering after him , for different reasons.

On the other , darker side of the casino , there were two men , talking about things that could change the future of the country.

"You see , we need more spies in the rebel army for this plan to succeed. We can't start a shootout with the numbers you are giving me." Marco said , sitting in front of the man who would shape the country's future.

"Hmm… you are correct , we'll double the spies in Alubarna. There is another matter at hand , the contract that your 'partner' has." The man was tall ,with broad shoulders and slicked back hair. The part that made him seem off was a scar on his face. Starting from ones cheekbone and ending at the other –going through the nose- this man radiated an aura of superiority. This was the man who planned the fall of Alabasta , this was Crocodile.

"That contract won't change your plans , it is ours after all." Marco replied. He was going into dangerous territory , this man was smart , and Marco hoped he would keep them out of this using his words as a mean of getting what he meant through.

"Hmm… who is the contract from?" Crocodile asked , his tone showing distaste at Marco's words. They had the potential to help with the rebellion , their powers outclassing everyone else in Baroque Works , except himself of course.

"We only have the name of the target , rest of the information is gibberish." Of course that was only half the truth , they didn't have the name of who sent the contract to Marco , who sent it to Aren. But the rest were coded , and Marco was trying to solve it. Crocodile nodded , although everyone could see he was far from believing or understanding the problem at hand.

"Your… talents are really rare , I would like it if you worked with me." Crocodile said. Marco noted how he said 'you' , Crocodile didn't want Aren. Which meant he didn't know what Aren was capable of. 'I can use this to my advantage' he thought , taking a deep breath. Marco himself didn't want to work for Crocodile , so he would do all he can to get both him and Aren out of this guy's reach.

"We need to take care of our target before accepting your offer." Of course they weren't going to accept , but since none of the agents could take care of them , they could leave after the contract. Marco didn't know why Aren was so excited about their target , except that it was really important to the kid.

Who is this Leonidas , anyway?

Marco had a 'network' of sorts that he used to keep information running through both parts of the Grand Line. He had asked around this network since they got the contract two days ago. There was no information on the guy. That was weird , since this network had ties with several islands , islands that had information running like a flood. At least some whispers about most people , especially about people who now had a bounty on them , were supposed to exist. The only thing he heard was that this Leonidas person had ties with the New World , and he recently joined a crew –the Strawhat Pirates.

Marcos realized that neither occupants of the room had spoken , and he took that as his cue to leave.

"It was a pleasure working with you." Marco said , walking towards out of the room. There were no pleasantries , no useless talk between people who were so deep within the underworld. Crocodile just nodded , reaching to a Den Den Mushi for reasons unknown to Marco.

He was now in the 'lighter' part of the casino , searching for Aren. They had no business here for now. Marco also needed to discuss several things with his partner.

Finding him was easy , the kid had luck , too much luck , all one had to do was look for a huge pile of money and people. Marco smirked , extra payment was always welcome.

-x-

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose , wondering why he joined this crew in the first place. Oh right , he seemed like a nice guy. Muttering curses under his breath , he sat next to Zoro.

They had arrived in Nanohana , the first of many Alabasta cities they will most likely come to see. The problem was , the food shortage on the ship , which starved them until they landed. Their captain just ran off , without even thinking.

They knew there was no helping it –and after wearing some disguising clothes- they went into town themselves. Leo was wearing a white shawl and a light colored cloak and surprising everyone around him , he was bare feet.

After getting supplies , they his behind a broken wall. Apparently , some stupid pirate was getting chased by marines. Leo knew who it was , which was the reason for his distress.

The whole crew –minus their captain- waited , until Luffy came running at them… with an army of marines.

Muttering even more curses that made Zoro flinch – he wasn't used to Leo swearing like no tomorrow , even if it was in good reason- and they ran from the marines.

Leo sensed , rather than seeing it , someone powerful was heading their way. But Smoker is already here. Then he heard it , flames licking away everything around it , he turned around to see a man. He wore an orange cowboy hat , a red pearl necklace and cargo shorts –he didn't have a shirt or anything to cover his top- but that wasn't the thing that made him get attention.

His body was covered in flames. No , his body is the flame itself.

He –and everyone else- stopped to look at the indescribable spectacle. Devil Fruits are cool. He enhanced his vision to the fullest and blinked. The flame man was red , and it wasn't the flames.

This was something Leo found out after seeing Chopper with his evolved eyesight. The next day everything had been normal , but when he fully enhanced his eyes –meaning four lenses for each of his special orbs- he could see other peoples network of aura –Leo didn't find a name yet- and small points where this energy gathered.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts , Leo ran –backwards- , watching smoke and fire collide in an amazing tornado of sorts.

Leo was side by side with his captain , so they turned in the same direction.

The Complete. Opposite. Way.

-x-

Aren sighed , walking through the desert was tiring. How does Marco do it? he thought , looking at the red head , who was walking next to him. Marco's steps were light , no sound of sand moving or anything. If Aren didn't see him walking , he wouldn't believe it.

Sure , Aren was cheating a bit by keeping sand off his feet but , it was still tiring.

"Where are we going?" Aren asked the twentieth time since they started their journey. This had become a routine , he would ask where they were going and Marco would reply with a soft but firm tone.

"The capital , I have intel that says our target will be there in a few days. We will stay under the radar and only focus on our target. The contractor says that this one is pretty strong." Marco explained , not bothering to look at his partner , he was deep in thought.

The contracts were sent to him by his right hand man , who scouted people on the hit list and sent the contracts to him. They would be high risk high reward hits , not that Marco minded , but never with a warning.

"Why the warning?" Aren asked , apparently they were thinking the same thing. Marco turned to his partner , thinking for a moment.

"There are multiple reasons why there could be a warning. First is that my right hand is shaky –he might have been forced to send us a really dangerous contract. The second is that he actually knows this person and think he is too powerful for us." Aren snorted at the thought , sure they had hard opponents but no one could actually beat them.

"There are more ridiculous possibilities as well , like maybe someone took over the network and is sending us to beat non existing or important figures." That wasn't likely , but this person not existing and just being a trap was.

"Anyways , let's get going." Aren sighed , he hated listening for a long amount of time.

So the deadly duo kept walking through the desert.

-x-

God , what did i do to deserve this? was Leo's first thought as he leaned on the wall next to his captain. They had accidentally ran the opposite direction and Leo was resting –that was a hell of a long run after all.

"So , who was that fire guy? I remember you calling him 'Ace' or something." Leo said , now looking at his captain. Luffy turned to him , grinning like no tomorrow.

"That is my brother , Ace." He explained , much to Leo's confusion.

"You have a brother?" he asked , and before Luffy could respond , someone else did.

"Of course he does." Leo looked up , truly seeing Ace for the first time. He doesn't even show the power I see in him. This person , while not in battle mode , still couldn't hide anything from Leo's eyes.

Ace jumped next to Luffy , observing his brother's lookout. Leo noticed his brows scrunching as if Ace was trying to do something with them , but he shrugged it off. This person didn't seem to mind his eyes , he couldn't say that wasn't rare.

I think I remember him from somewhere. Ace though as he looked at the boy in front of him. His posture , relaxed while still being ready for anything , his hands were near the pocket of his hoodie , barely holding something.

Ace knew most of what was going on in the Grand Line , his duty to hunt down that traitor assured that. There were a lot of dull rumors as were there real –still unbelievable , but real- rumors going around.

Talks about floating islands and crews full of animals -ahemZoanahem- and the like were real , true talks going around. Ace could barely remember something that screamed for attention after he saw Leo , but he just couldn't grasp it.

"These people are highly traine-"

"I swear one of 'em destroyed an entire marine fleet!"

Ace shook his head , turning to his brother and reminiscing old times –while arm wrestling.

Leo smirked , amused with the whole situation.

-x-

Meanwhile , the crew had boarded the ship , waiting for their captain and lookout. They were gathered at the deck , watching for approaching marines and crew members. Zoro sighed , that man was Luffy's brother , at least that was what he said.

"We need to start sailing , marines are bound to catch up!" Nami ordered , explaining her reason afterwards.

"They can catch up to us , we will hover around the area." Zoro nodded , they were better not captured when their captain and Leo arrived.

The crew quickly got to work on moving the ship.

Okay , I am using these 'short' chapters as a way of introducing new characters while still giving you guys a view of the situation. I will leave a note between the 'switches' between characters about time difference. Marco and Aren are important for Leo's background and development as a character , which I haven't been working on. I only gave Leo upgrades on abilities but rarely as a character. Tell me what you think about Marco and Aren ,they still have little character to show so I can change things depending on you guys. I will probably create more OCs over time , both friendly and hostile. I hope you enjoyed , there will be more and don't forget to review.

Speaking of reviews , I will answer a message from my trusted reviewer Zulazuka.

Thank you for still following the story , and this story will go for a while. Hope you keep reading it :D

Now , for my new review from 'Snake'.

I am glad you like the story man , there will be more!