The next chapter is now here dear readers! I'm happy that you're all enjoy this story so far, I'm enjoying your theories on PEW too. SOME of you are taking some real good guesses on him and just WHAT his abilities are, rest assured you WILL get answers as this story progresses. So let's proceed with this chapter and see what ELSE we can discover, also WHO will he run into now!

I'd also like to apologize in advance if anyone in this story is out of character…we ALL make mistakes and that's nothing to be ashamed of. We're human after all…NOT machines. Also, I'm going to try and be fair and use the Japanese/English names for things like Devil Fruits etc.

(By the way…all flames and flamers will be ignored thank-you. I'll make an exception for CONSTRUCTIVE reviews on what needs an adjustment or suggestions for other chapters/stories, for they are most welcome. Remember if you don't like my work then don't read or review it! NO-ONE is forcing you to! This is just a fanfiction story for people to ENJOY the creativity, to have FUN reading it and HOPEFULLY encourage them to add something fun and creative to this site.)

Disclaimer: I sadly DON'T own anything from One Piece, not the people OR the places (except my OWN characters, places and so on) they all belong to Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonen Jump Manga and that genius Odo Eiichiro.

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PART FIVE:

PEW really hated Alabasta with its almost endless hot weather and deserts! Wearing his hooded cowl and robe made him hellishly humid and sweaty. If he didn't have business here, he wouldn't bother with this place at all! But considering the message he'd gotten a few days ago, he had to come regardless of his feelings.

******Flashback******

After finally making it back to the Grand Line, PEW was sitting casually at his table in the main deck of 'The Enlightenment' enjoying the fresh sea air. As he sat, PEW was busy writing in his notebooks, taking an occasional sip of some tea he'd made for himself. Just then PEW heard a light 'thud-thud' as what sounded like two pairs of feet landing on the deck in front of him. Glancing up briefly from his work, PEW saw standing before him a small brown furred Otter with white fur around his snout. He was wearing a long sleeved, long blue coat with purple polka-dots and some black sunglasses covering his eyes. The Otter was also carrying a pair of bivalve sea-shells with short claws along the front edge.

Standing next to the Otter was a large black-feathered Vulture with white feathers towards the neck. Its skin was pink, and its beak was a light yellow colour. It was wearing a yellow aviator cap dotted with red flowers and a pair of black goggles covering its eyes. Strapped on the vulture's back was a pair of machine guns.

"Well if it isn't my favourite pair of 'Unluckies'," PEW said casually carrying on with his writing. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence here Mr 13 and Miss Friday?" he asked finally putting his pen down and looking up at them.

Mr 13, the Otter, silently reached into his pocket and produced an envelope, which Miss Friday, the Vulture, took in her beak before passing it to PEW. Nodding his thanks PEW took the envelope, opened it up and withdrew the letter within.

"'The Person Extremely Wanted is required at the Rain Dinner's Casino/Restaurant in Rainbase Alabasta as soon as possible.'" PEW read out loud. "The other half of the money for your services is now available, yours sincerely Mr 0 President of Baroque Works.'"

"Has it really been four years already?" PEW asked the Unluckies who silently nodded in confirmation to his question. "Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?"

So saying PEW picked up his pen and started writing back his reply for his visitors to take back to their employer. As the Unluckies patiently waited for PEW, they didn't notice a pair of beady eyes slowly appeared over the port side of the ship's railing behind them. As the eyes continued watching, a couple of tentacles slowly started reaching out for the two unsuspecting animals.

Sensing movement, PEW glanced up, saw what was happening and gave a quick brief shake of his head. Almost immediately the tentacles withdrew and the eyes disappeared out of sight again. PEW chuckled to himself when a sudden splash off the side of the ship made the Unluckies turn around in surprise at the unexpected noise.

"Relax you two," PEW smiled as he finished his letter before putting it back in its envelope and sealing it. "It was probably just a flying fish, no need to get jumpy. Anyway here's my reply to your boss," he said getting up and handing over the sealed envelope. "Now if you'll excuse me I got to set my course, thanks for dropping by."

******End Flashback******

So here PEW was now, in the Alabastian port town of Nanohana, his one stop before heading off to Rainbase. It was a long hot trip across the desert, even using his Geppo and PEW wanted to be prepared. So he had taken his time going around the market places getting a few provisions to put in his hydration pack, which basically looked like a regular back pack, but the difference was that had a built in reservoir which held up to five litres of water. PEW could get the water he needed by sipping it through a built in hose on the back of his pack. But before heading off across the desert PEW decided to stop and have some lemonade and ice in a place called the 'Spice Bean Restaurant.'

As the Information Dealer sat at the bar enjoying his drink, he was suddenly joined by a tall muscular young man with curly black hair and childish freckles on his face. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. He also wore a short second belt with a large red 'A' on the silver buckle over his right hip, but left it unfastened and threaded the free end along the back of his shorts.

There was a dagger in a green sheath hung on his left hip. On the young man's left arm he wore a Log Pose and a red and white striped bracelet around his wrist, an orange elbow guard and a tattoo on his upper left bicep that spelt out 'A S CE' but the S had a line through it making it spell out 'ACE.'

Completing this young man's appearance was a red beaded necklace and an orange hat with two smileys (Jolly Rogers) one frowning, one smiling and a string of red beads sitting above the hat's rim. Two long orange side straps hung down the sides of the hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels. On the man's bare back was a tattoo of the Whitebeard Pirates, purple bones formed a cross behind a purple skull with a white moustache.

"Well, well, well!" the young man chuckled to himself as he took a seat next to PEW. "I come here looking for a few answers and I find the one guy who has them! How's that for luck?"

"Well if it isn't Portgas D Ace himself," PEW smiled to his visitor. "Been a while now hasn't it?"

"It sure has," Ace smiled back.

PEW absently patted the young pirate affectionately on the back, then winced as he remembered he had taken his gloves off to let his hands have a bit of open air on them.

"You still suffering from migraines I see?" Ace observed as he saw PEW wince.

"Yeah," PEW replied painfully reaching into his pocket for his trusty aspirins

"Can I get something to eat here please?" Ace called out holding up a hand for some service. "Also get my friend here another lemonade too."

"Thanks," PEW said in quiet gratitude as he tipped a few aspirins into his hand before swallowing them while finishing off his first lemonade.

Just then a tall bald middle aged man approached the two men with Ace's order. He was wearing a chef's hat, sandals, and a blue robe with a purple lining that had yellow circles on it. Under his robe, he had a yellow shirt with orange lining and a large star on it. This was Mr Yoshimoto the owner of the 'Spice Bean' and he was very, very nervous. He knew the two men in his restaurant and the last thing he wanted was trouble from any of them.

"Here you go gentlemen," Yoshimoto said with a nervous smile putting down a new glass of lemonade for PEW and a plate of food for Ace.

"Thanks," PEW said helping himself to his new drink with one hand, while tossing the chef a wad of Berries back at him. "That's for my friend's meal, it should cover the extra servings he'll be wanting. So if I were you, I'd get cooking until its value runs out."

Hearing this Yoshimoto hurried off back to his kitchen to comply with what PEW had said.

"Am I really that predictable?" Ace asked PEW innocently as he started eating his meal.

"Oh yes," PEW said simply as he sipped on his drink some more.

"Then you must know I'm looking for Blackbeard," Ace said bluntly to the hooded figure. "I was told he might be around Alabasta somewhere, you seen him lately?"

"Not around here I haven't," PEW replied honestly. He paused for a moment as Yoshimoto returned with a fresh plate of food for Ace as he had finished his current plate.

"Look Ace…" PEW went on slowly once they were alone again. "I heard what Teach did…it was an unforgivable traitorous act any pirate can commit to a fellow crewmate. God knows if I were in your shoes, I would want to hunt him down to the ends of the world for his actions too. But believe me when I tell you…Blackbeard is NOT worth it."

Hearing this Ace stopped eating and glared angrily at PEW. "So you think it's alright he murders a fellow crewmate to get what he wants, someone who trusted him implicitly and get away with it? You sound just like Whitebeard," he went on bitterly before he began eating on his next plate of food that had been served during the pause.

"I think you'll find," PEW said patiently to Ace. "That Whitebeard, like me, really does understand how you feel Ace. I'm also sure if he had a chance he'd want to punish Teach severely for what he did."

"Well then why am I the one going after Teach and not Whitebeard?" Ace demanded to know.

"Perhaps it's because he knows what I know," PEW told him.

"And what's that?"

"That Marshall D Teach is a fat ,ugly, cowardly, delusional little SCAB!" PEW said fiercely. "He's a weak joke of a man Ace, and he's trying to be strong! That also goes for any fool who chooses to follow him and his crazy thoughts on 'fate' and 'destiny!' That's why you shouldn't bother with Teach, Ace! It's also why Whitebeard isn't tearing up the Grand Line looking for the idiot, if Blackbeard wants to act like a maniac so be it! He's a problem for the Marines and World Government like any other Pirate, going after him WON'T bring back your dead friend now, will it?"

"He'd rest in peace a lot easier if I gave Blackbeard the retribution he so rightly deserves!" Ace said determinedly. "I've come this far and I'm not giving up now, I just can't let him go."

"There really is no telling some people is there?" PEW said quietly to himself before turning to fully face Ace. "If Blackbeard is here in Alabasta Ace, try your luck in Yuba but I doubt he's there either. But as you are so hell bent on going on with this foolish quest, let me give you some good advice. Don't try facing Teach all by yourself, take a few of your allies with you. Despite of all the things I said about him, Teach is deceptively strong."

"I can take him," Ace replied stubbornly. "I can do it!"

"Try to understand Ace when I say 'You…can't…do…this…task…ALONE!" PEW snapped furiously rapidly reaching the end of his patience. "Just listen to me and I'll tell you why!"

But before PEW could go on Ace suddenly fell face first into the next plate of food he had just been served with a sudden 'splat.'

"Oh no," PEW groaned to himself as this happened. "Not again! I thought he got over this problem!"

"Oh my God!" PEW heard someone exclaim. "He's dead!"

"He must have been bitten by a 'desert strawberry'" he heard someone else say. "It's a deadly parasitic bug, who's bite can be lethal but so small and unimportant the victim doesn't even notice it not even until the last moment."

PEW realized that during his talk with Ace he'd forgotten that they were in a restaurant with loads of other people around them. So, seeing a customer fall face first into his food would cause alarm and panic in people's mind. Especially to poor Mr Yoshimoto who was not only the owner but the cook as well and looking on in horror.

"Everyone just relax and go back to your business," PEW said calmly to the gathered shocked customers as he got off his seat. "Despite what you're seeing this man is not dead, he merely fell asleep during his meal."

To demonstrate his point, PEW carefully grabbed the back of Ace's neck and lifted him out of his plate of half-eaten food. He then grabbed a water jug and splashed its contents onto Ace's face, before grabbing a napkin and wiping it clean. To everyone's astonishment Ace was indeed fast asleep, snoring lightly despite the fact his face was wet.

"Why did he choose to fall asleep while eating?" Yoshimoto asked PEW in puzzlement.

"He didn't," PEW said calmly. "Ace has Narcolepsy," he explained to everyone as he carefully lay the still sleeping pirate back on the bar. "It's a rare sleeping disorder," he went on as he carefully turned Ace's head sideways so he could still breathe. "A person with narcolepsy like Ace here," he said taking up a lecturer's tone as he got out a notebook and started writing in it. "Means he has excessive daytime sleepiness and has repeated episodes of sleep attacks. That means, he can't control where and when he falls asleep. For some strange reason Ace normally always falls asleep when eating, he's lucky he hasn't choked to death before now."

"Will he be alright?"

"He'll be fine," PEW reassured Yoshimoto as he finished writing in his notebook. "He'll wake up in a little while and act like it didn't happen. However, I have to go as I have an appointment that can't wait…so be a pal and give Ace this when he wakes up."

"What is it?" Yoshimoto asked as PEW tore the page out of his notebook and passed the paper to him.

"Tell Ace when he wakes up it's my written reason as to WHY he shouldn't face his quarry alone," PEW told him as he put his note book and pen away. "It's up to him whenever he takes my advice or not, but at least I tried. Thanks for your help," he added giving Yoshimoto a few extra berries for a tip.

"Th-thanks," Yoshimoto said nervously as PEW left the restaurant with the customers parting around him like the sea around a ship as he did so.

"Now then," PEW said to himself once he was back in the hot sunlight outside the 'Spice Bean Restaurant.' "Time to get myself to Rainbase."

"Well don't you turn up in the most backwater of places PEW," a familiar voice suddenly spoke up.

Turning to his right PEW was surprised to find Smoker emerging from the crowd of people passing all around them.

"Smoker? I never expected to see you here and in Alabasta of all places."

"It's a bit of a long story," Smoker told him. "The short version of it is that Straw Hat Luffy and his crew up at Lougetown, along with Buggy the Clown and his own crew of pirates. They caused a huge disturbance, I tried to arrest them all, but they managed to slip through my fingers."

"Oh I see," PEW said nodding in understanding. "So being the proud responsible Marine Captain you are, you took Tashigi and your men to set out after them."

"I contacted my superiors about my decision and they okayed it," Smoker went on with his story. "So Lougetown will get some other officer to look after it from now on. I followed the rumors and sightings of the Straw Hats out here to Alabasta, so I decide to start my search for Luffy here in Nanohana. While looking around I hear a disturbance coming from this restaurant, I come to investigate and now I find you. So what's going on?"

"Oh it's nothing really," PEW said dismissively. "Just a friend of mine making an unnecessary scene in the restaurant that's all."

"Is he now?" Smoker said thoughtfully his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "I'd better go and caution him about disturbing the peace."

"Do what you must Smoker," PEW said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I've got things to do myself, so good luck in your mission."

"Thanks," Smoker smiled giving the Information Dealer a friendly slap on the shoulder. "See you around and stay out of trouble."

"Perish the thought," PEW said innocently as he made his way through the crowd of people around them and disappeared from Smoker's view.

"I don't know who to feel sorrier for," PEW chuckled to himself as he made his way through the streets of Nanohana. "Ace or Smoker? As their Devil Fruit Abilities are so similar they'll be at a stalemate no matter how hard they use them in a fight. They'll need someone to help break their problem!"

Just then a red and blue straw hatted blur ran right by the information broker yelling "I smell food this way! Meat! Meat! Meat!"

"So…Luffy is here in Alabasta after all," PEW mused to himself before resuming his own journey. "Between him and Ace…I pity poor Smoker the most!"

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And that's it again for now dear readers! Short and to the point I know, with new questions that will be demanding answers.

"Just HOW is PEW involved with Baroque Works?"

"WHAT was that sea creature partner of PEW's that tried to grab the Unluckies?"

"WILL Ace actually take PEW's advice on Blackbeard?"

"What will HAPPEN when Smoker and the Straw Hats find out that PEW is somehow involved in Baroque Works?"

You'll find out ALL the answers to said questions later on as the story progresses. For PEW now has to get to Rainbase, what will happen there? You'll find out next chapter so until then…read and review like always please. Good Health, Clear Body, Strong Mind!

Also please remember once again, if you don't like my work then don't read or review it! NO-ONE, is forcing you to! See you soon!