Hey there guys. Sorry for the extended absence. There's no excuse save for horrible laziness, so it is what it is. That and I think it really hit me how big this project has to be.
Funnily enough, this chapter's been done for a while. I just, I dunno, forgot about it? I honestly don't know. Anyway!
Enjoy!
"Okay so, maybe I'm more pirate than I thought," Nojiko said as they walked through the streets of Nanohana, following behind their marine escort. "But is there any particular reason we're trusting the Marines here?"
"He just gave us a bunch of info no one else should know," Vivi said flatly. "He knows about me going undercover, and from the sounds of it Baroque Works agents told him."
"That's right," The Marine said as he turned to look at them. "A group of them. One of them has a three in his hair, know him?"
"Mr. Three again?" Nami hissed weakly, not able to believe that Mr. Three was still sulking around. "Let me guess, a blonde woman and a guy with curly hair?"
"Yep, that's them." The Marine replied. Great, so that was another thing that lined up.
"Shouldn't we go and find Luffy?" Vivi asked. "We should all be here for this."
"Not a chance," Nojiko replied. "You really want that guy to join a strategy meeting with Marines? We'll never get anywhere with him there. Best we do the talking while he shoves his face full of food." Nami agreed with that. A guy who wanted to be King of the Pirates would want nothing to do with the Marines.
"I mean, I guess." Vivi replied. "I just can't believe we're this lucky."
"We usually aren't, so keep your eyes open." Nami said. "Marianne is already going back to Merry, so we should be ready to go if need be." Marianne had opted to look for Luffy and the others, deciding that being called out as a member of Baroque Works by her former allies was too big of a risk. That made sense to Nami. After all, the last thing they needed was to lose an ally.
After reaching the docks, Nami could see a Navy battleship docked. It was clearly the one that the Marine was heading too. As they got closer, Nami was a Marine up top on the ship with pure white hair and several cigars hanging out of his mouth. Didn't take a genius to see he was the one in charge.
"Hold on a sec, you guys." Nojiko said, grabbing Nami by the collar of her shirt, Vivi getting grabbed as well. "This is bad."
"Why?" Vivi asked. "I mean, aside from that you're a pirate trying to get help from the Marines."
"I recognise that guy,"Nojiko said, looking apprehensive. "Usopp and I saw him in Loguetown when we saved Luffy from getting beheaded. He probably came here to find Luffy."
"Shit, seriously," Nami demanded. "Wait, Luffy almost got beheaded?!"
"Not important right now," Nojiko insisted. "Listen, right now we've got no reason to tell him that we're with Luffy. He never saw you or me, Nami, so he doesn't know we're with him. Keep it that way until we've secured an alliance. Okay?"
"I never planned on telling a soul I was associated with him anyway," Nami said in a joking manner, heart beating much quicker than before. She needed to stay calm and make sure they had this guys help. As much as she hated to have to do it, they needed help. And help was the one thing the Marines were good at. Generally, anyway.
"Welcome aboard, Princess Vivi." The Man said as they came on board the ship. "It's good to see you made it home in one piece."
"I'm glad I got here too," Vivi said. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important it is that I make it to my father and the rebels."
"Of course," The man said. "But formalities first. My name is Smoker, and this is my Ensign Tashigi." He said this as he gestured to the woman with blue hair and glasses standing next to him. "We're very glad to have you on board our ship. And these ladies, I assume, are the escorts that the Baroque Works agents mentioned?"
"Yes." Vivi replied as she gestured to Nami and Nojiko. "This is Nami and Nojiko and yes, they are pirates. But I'd like to ask you to refrain from any attempted arrests until this crisis is over. We'll need their help." Smoker didn't seem to pleased by this proposition, but he nodded all the same.
"I'll abide by that," he said. "But I can't imagine that its only those two."
"It's not," Vivi assured him. "But I still want you to keep your end of the bargain. And in return, I'll make sure that the pirates don't cause any trouble or steal anything."
"I suppose that'll have to do," Smoker said with a sigh. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'll gladly work with pirates if it means we can save this country from ruin. So, what do you know?"
"Tell us first, and we'll fill in the blanks." Vivi supplied. Smoker told them how they had captured the Baroque Works agents after intercepting a Transponder Snail call from them to their boss, and how the agents had ratted out the Princess to him. He also mentioned how the agency planned on turning Alabasta into an ideal country under their boss, Mr. Zero.
"That's pretty much all we know," Smoker said. "Care to fill in the blanks?"
"Well first things first," Vivi said. "You should know that Mr. Zero is Crocodile." This caused Smoker, Tashigi, and the other Marines to gape in surprise.
"Are you serious?" Tashigi asked weakly. Vivi nodded.
"Sadly, yeah." she said. "Alabasta's self-imposed saviour is the one behind this mess." Smoker growled at this, glowering out at the city.
"I should have known better," he hissed. "I knew that guy was fishy. I bet all those pirates he's stopped over the years were people he hired to cause trouble. his complicates things."
"How could things possibly get more complicated?" Nami asked. "We have to fight a Warlord of the Sea and his army of idiots."
"Because the people of this country think he's a hero," Smoker replied. "If what you said is true, we're not getting any help from anyone else. Hell, I'd be surprised if the rebels believe us."
"We don't need to tell them it's Crocodile, do we?" Nami asked. "I mean, we can just tell them that the Civil War was manufactured by Baroque Works. Saying it's Crocodile outright isn't necessary."
"Let's hope so," Smoker said. "Now, what is it we need to do? What's first?"
"Well first we need to gather resources," Vivi replied. "We have allies out doing that right now, and after that we can-!"
"LET THE GIRLS GO SMOKEY!" Nami covered her eyes as something smashed into the deck of the ship, throwing dust and wood everywhere.
"What the hell was that?!" Tashigi called from somewhere.
"We're being attacked!" A marine shouted. As the smoke cleared, Nami could see what the problem was.
And immediately wrapped her hands around Luffy's throat and began shaking him violently.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She demanded.
"You guys were in trouble!"Luffy said, looking angry. "Smokey has you!"
"We were not captured!" Nojiko said, looking livid. "We're discussing the Civil War problem! He's going to help us!"
"Help us?" Luffy asked. "Smokey is?"
"Straw Hat Luffy!" Nami released Luffy as Smoker reappeared from a cloud of smoke, looking livid as well. "What are you doing here?!"
"You captured my Navigator and my Quartermaster!" Luffy shot back. "Not to mention Vivi!"
"We weren't captured!" Nojiko shouted as Marines rushed onto the deck and aimed their rifles at them. "We were discussing working togeth-!"
"Get your filthy Navy hands off these beautiful ladies!" Sanji's voice shouted, as he and the rest of the crew and a man Nami did not recognise forced their way on board.
"Big Sis Nami, Big Sis Nojiko, Big Sis Vivi!" Yosaku shouted, blade already drawn. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm sorry, I tried to tell them they had it wrong!" Marianne shouted amid the chaos.
"Let's get these assholes out of here!" Zoro said.
"Capture Straw Hat and his crew!" Smoker shouted. "Then we can help the Princess!"
"All of you, STOP IT!" The deck fell dead silent as Vivi shouted at the top of her lungs, everyone looking over to her. Despite the chaos around her, the Princess looked dead calm.
"Captain Smoker," she said as she turned to look at him. "You promised me you would not attempt to arrest my pirate guards. As you can see, here they are."
"You neglected to mention that your guard was Straw Hat's crew," Smoker said. "That man is worthy thirty million Berries, wanted in the East Blue and Grand Line!"
"All I did was go to Loguetown!" Luffy accused, pointing his finger angrily. "And you decided to arrest me!"
"I don't care what your past is!" Vivi said. "I was promised my guards were to get free passage, and if they can't than this deal has dissolved!" Silence came over the deck, all eyes on Smoker. After a few seconds, he growled.
"Put your weapons down, men." He said. "The country's people are more important than this new-blood pirate." The Marines lowered their guns, however slowly, and the silence came back as Vivi sighed.
"Thank you," she said. "As I was saying, what we need to do is get supplies and then stop the rebels. Their base is in Yuba. We can take our ships upstream and then walk the rest of the way. Is that okay with you, Captain Smoker?"
"Sure," Smoker hissed. "Works for us."
"Good," Vivi said. "Luffy, let's get back to the Merry. Take your ship around to the river when you're ready, Smoker. We'll meet you there." With this, Vivi ushered them down off the ship and away from the Marines, no one saying a word until they were down the street.
"We're working them that guy?" Johnny asked, gesturing back to the ship. "That seems kinda dangerous for us, no?"
"We need all the help we can get," Nojiko said. "So having his backup might save our asses."
"Man you sure got yourself wrapped up in something, didn't ya Luffy?" It was then Nami finally took notice of the man she did not recognise. "That's like you alright, immediately getting into a terrible scenario."
"I don't do it on purpose!" Luffy said. "Besides, Vivi needed my help so I'm gonna help her! And-!" It was around then that Luffy seemed to notice some of them staring in confusion. "Oh, my bad guys! I only introduced some of you! This is my brother Ace!"
Wait.
"Brother?!" Nami asked as Luffy laughed. "You never said you had a brother!"
"When did you ask?" Luffy asked. Fair enough point, she'd never asked.
"This must be the complete batch, huh?" Ace asked. "The people you've made look after you for all this time."
"I didn't make them!" Luffy said.
"Questionable," Nami replied, thinking back to when she met Luffy. What happened next though, made her question if these two were really related.
Ace bowed to them deeply.
"Thank you guys for looking after this idiot," he said. "He's lost without people to help him, so thanks for getting him this far!"
"It was a lot of work," Nojiko said flatly.
"How is your brother such a normal person and you're a freak?" Nami asked Luffy.
"I'm normal!" Luffy insisted, no one agreeing with him. As they continued to walk and talk, Ace turned to Luffy.
"So Luffy, I came to find you cause I wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah? What's that?" Luffy asked.
"You and your crew wanna come work with Whitebeard?" He asked, stunning everyone into silence.
"Did you just say Whitebeard?!" Yosaku cried out.
"That's one of the strongest pirates in the whole world!" Johnny shouted.
"Nah," Luffy replied. "Not interested." Ace just laughed as the rest of the crew stared on in shock.
"I figured you would say that," he said. "But, no damage in asking. You're aiming for the top, so there's no way you'd work for another man."
"Damn right!" Luffy replied. "I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"What if I help Whitebeard become the King first?"
"I'll just beat him to it!"
"Not likely." Nami watched in amusement as the brothers descended into an argument, the rest of the crew just watching as well. She was incredibly uneasy about having to work with Smoker, but she knew that Crocodile was too strong of an enemy to just refuse his help. They would need all the help they could get to get out of this.
"Are you sure about this, Captain?" Tashigi asked Smoker, the pair watching the Straw Hats disappear into the town to gather their supplies.
"I don't want to work with them anymore than you do, Tashigi." he said, taking a deep drag off his cigars. "But the Princess made it clear they're her help. We made an agreement to not arrest the pirates helping her."
"But it's Straw Hat!" Tashigi complained.
"I know," Smoker said. "But we were willing to ignore out duty for any random pirates, but not them? Will we allow our personal vendetta's to get in the way of our mission here? Is your vendetta against that swordsman and his disciples worth more than the citizens of Alabasta?"
"...No," Tashigi conceded.
"Exactly," Smoker replied. "It pains me to admit it, but we're aligning with the Straw Hats for now. Once we've dealt with Crocodile, we can look into arresting them."
"I still can't believe this," Tashigi replied. "The boss of Baroque Works is Crocodile?"
"We have no reason to distrust Princess Vivi," Smoker said. "So for now, we get what we need and meet up with them at the mouth of the river. Let's go, you lot!"
After gathering everything that they needed, the Straw Hat pirates got aboard the Going Merry and set sail for the mouth of the river that led inland. On their way they spotted the Marines ship waiting for them, all the men on board looking rather tense.
"I guess this is where we part ways, you guys." Ace said as he jumped onto the railing. "Any of you heard the name Marshall Teach?"
"Who's that?" Luffy asked, gaining interest in Ace's mission. Ace's expression darkened.
"A former member of my division in Whitebeard's crew," he said. "Bastard killed a crew member." Silence fell upon the Merry at this, none of the Straw Hats knowing what to say. That would be like one of them killing another. The idea was sickening to them all. "He's evaded me for half the damn Grand Line, but I swear I'll find him."
"Anyone heard anything?" Luffy asked. No one spoke up. Sorry Ace, seems we've missed him."
"Didn't expect an answer, don't worry about it." Ace replied as his smile came back. "Seems we've got visitors." Luffy made a face and turned to follow Ace's view, his eyes falling upon a group of ships tailing them. They flew unfamiliar colours, but he knew this couldn't be good.
"Those are Baroque Works agent ships!" Vivi said. "Did they see me in town?!"
"Likely," Marianne replied as she peered over the railing. "The whole country is full of agents."
"I got it," Ace replied as he turned away from the crew. "You'll owe me though, Luffy! Keep that paper I gave ya close!"
"I can handle them!" Luffy accused, but Ace gave him no time to argue and leapt from the ship onto his small skiff down below. Kicking on his Devil Fruit Powers, Ace soared towards the ships and, it one fell swoop, blasted through them with a massive gout of flame. Luffy laughed as the ships began to collapse in on themselves.
"Holy hell!" Johnny shouted, his eyes nearly popping out from behind his glasses. "How strong is your brother?!"
"He's Fire First you idiot!" Yosaku replied. "Guy serves with Whitebeard, there's no way he's just some weakling!"
"Let Ace handle them," Vivi said, also looking shocked regardless of her words. "Let's go meet Smoker on land." Luffy gave his brothers destruction one last grin before he got off the Merry for land. One day, he'd prove to Ace he was stronger than him.
One of these days.
"Hello Captain," Vivi greeted as the crew walked up to Smoker and Tashigi on the side of the river. "Are you prepared?"
"Depends," Smoker replied. "How far to we have to walk?"
"It will take some time to get to Yuba," Vivi replied. "I'd recommend packing light if I were you." Smoker made a face at this and looked back up at his ship.
"I've got a better idea," Smoker replied. "Men!" Luffy turned as a board was thrown off of the ship, presumably for gear to be transported down.
His eyes widened as five camels descended from the ramp down into the sand.
"You've got camels, Smokey?!" He asked as he ran to inspect them.
"I rented them in town," Smoker replied with a huff. "Figured it's better than walking through the desert. Although some of you may need to take turns. I didn't get a full head count of your crew, Straw Hat."
"I'll give it to ya for next time!" Luffy said happily as he mounted a camel with almond shaped eyes. "So everyone can have a camel!" Smoker just seemed agitated by this, climbing on top of his own camel with Tashigi. Luffy offered Nami a hand onto his, and she accepted. Johnny and Yosaku immediately climbed onto one excitedly, Chopper resting in Johnny's lap. Nojiko and Marianne claimed another, Zoro and Usopp as well. This left Sanji on his feet. He tried to get onto Nojiko and Marianne's camel, but he was kicked off by the painter who said his legs were good enough to carry him for a while. He whined about it for a bit, but the only person who offered to switch was Usopp, who did so as a joke to see if he could get Sanji and Zoro on the same camel. Neither wanted any part of that.
"Everyone ready?" Vivi asked as the arrangements settled. ""It will still take some time to get to Yuba. Let's go!"
Weekly updates, I promise! I'll try my best!