Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Setting Plans in Motion

In the middle of the desert, a man and his companion were walking their way toward a small café named the 'Spider's Café'. The man was very tanned with long limbs, legs, and fingers. He also had a unibrow. He was very muscular apparent by his choice of clothing which was a sleeveless dark coat with golden edges and some pants. On his chest, the number one was tattooed. His companion was a beautiful woman. She had messy dark blue hair. She was extremely tall and thin. And finally, she wore a colorful bandana, a tank top, and some tight jeans with sandals.

Both of them entered the café looked around to see some of their allies have already arrived there.

One of the people inside the café was a small woman. She's clearly reaching her fifties. She had messy red hair and also wore a white dress with a Christmas necktie. Standing next to her was a mountain of a man who had blond her. The man wore a green uniform and had a bat attached to his back. Next to them was a small grayish dog.

The young female walked up to the older one and greeted, "It has been a while since I last saw you, Miss Christmas, or do you prefer Dorothy?" She then looked at the older woman's companion, "How are you doing, Mr.4? Is old Dorothy still giving a hard time?"

The young man now known as Mr.4 replied, "I'm…. doing… fine… It's… fine…" he talked in a slow manner causing his partner to hit him, "Talk a little bit faster. Will it kill to do it?"

Mr.4 seemed to space out for a bit before he registered what she said, "Okay… I'll do that…"

Mrs. Christmas slapped her forehead and looked at the younger woman, "I'm fine, and so is this hump log." She said pointing her finger at Mr.4, "And I prefer to be called by my codename."

The younger lady looked at her partner, "Do you see that, Bonez?" Old Dorothy thinks that she's too good for us. We can't call her by her first name."

The man eyed his companion, "I support her decision, but as long as we're in our Baroque Works costume, we must address each other by our codenames."

The woman laughed, "Well, the jokes on you, Mr.1" The man raised an eyebrow, "We're not in our Baroque Works costume, so I can call you both by anything I want or think of." She then looked at the bar of the café, "Plus, this is my café. How the hell did you two manage to get in when the door was locked?" she asked Dorothy.

Dorothy shrugged, "I have my ways, but Mr.4 was sure as useless as heck when it came to the infiltration." The old woman rubbed her chin, "Do you have any idea why Mr.0 called all of us today, Miss Double Finger? this rarely ever happens."

The young woman now known as Mrs. Double Finger shrugged, "I have no idea, but please call me Zala inside this place. It would raise less suspicion."

The older lady nodded as the doors to the café were opened by a kick.

Mr.2 jumped into the place and began to dance around, "Hello, my beauties. It's been a while." He began to run from one place to the other greeting them, "I missed you all. I hope you missed me."

He went to Mr.1, but the man pushed him away, "Control yourself, Mr.2. Our transport will come at any moment to take us to meet Mr.0." everyone looked baffled. They never met the boss before. The only contact they had with him was through their Den-Den Moshi.

Dorothy squawked, "Are you sure that we're going to meet him, Ba? This never happened before."

Mr.2 and Zala nodded with the latter adding, "It seems that there is something big happening if he wants us to meet him in person. Do you have an idea what's happening?"

Mr.1 shook his head, "No, he just said that he wants to see us. He didn't add anything else."

Mr.4 then said, "Mr.3… not… coming…" This caused the others to look around in confusion. Usually, Mr.3 was the first person to arrive at meetings, but he wasn't there yet.

They heard a sound coming from outside. Mr.1 then said, "Get ready. We need to move."

Mr.2 interjected, "But don't we want to wait for Mr.3 and his partner? If we leave them behind, Mr.0 might kill them because they didn't arrive on time."

Zala retorted from the side as she finished changing into her work outfit which was rather provocative, "If they didn't show up on time, it's his fault. This isn't some friendship meeting."

Mr.2 sighed and walked to the carriage. The others followed and sat inside the carriage. What they didn't know was under the carriage was Mr.3 hanging on it. The man began to laugh, "I'm going to convince Mr.0 to give me a second chance to prove my loyalty."

Mr.3 never knew about Sanji's fake report to Crocodile, so he thought that Crocodile was dissatisfied with his work and sent people to kill him. He wanted his venture to prove to the man that he was still useful.

It took them about 2 days, but they finally reached their destination. It was none other than the Rainbase. The city was considered the economic lung of Alabasta. They were taken to Crocodile's casino in the city and were escorted to a special room under the ground while Mr.3 stayed outside trying to find his way in.

The officers waited inside the special room for hours which began to annoy some impatient members of the group. Mr.2 yelled, "Come on, what's the wait for? I can't take it anymore."

He then began to slam his hands on the table, "I'm a swan. You can't tie me down like this." He then began threatening the others, "Do you want me to dance like a swan on the table?"

Mr.4 saw this as entertaining and laughed at Mr.2, while Zala said, "Calm down Mr.2." she looked at the stairs, "I'm sure the boss will be here any moment now."

Mrs. Chirstmass added, "Yeah, stop all this slamming on the table." She put her hand on her back, "It's hurting my back. Mr.4 now has to make me a massage after this is done."

A voice then came from a chair at the top of the table that they were sitting at, "You're quite the rowdy bunch, aren't you?" the chair then turned revealing a man

Everyone looked at the huge built man walking down the stairs. He had a cigar in his mouth. His hair was colored black. He had a scar that stretched across his face. He wore a fancy suit with a black overcoat on the suit. On his left hand was a huge golden hook.

Most of them lost the color in their faces when they saw one of the warlords of the sea sitting right in front of them. Only Mr.1 was able to mutter, "Crocodile? You're Mr.0?"

The man then said, "Throughout the years, you all contacted me through the den-den Moshi. No one ever saw my face to make sure that the Marines didn't suspect me." He then smirked, "But there's no need for that anymore because Operation Utopia is upon us. Baroque Works' last mission."

Everyone was still shocked as Mrs. Double Finger said, "But why is one of the warlords of the sea here? Plus, aren't you the hero of this country, or was it a façade?"

Mrs. Christmas added, "So, we've been working for some big shot all this time!"

Mr.2 exclaimed, "Are you kidding? We've been an underling for a pirate all this time?!"

Mr.1 crossed his arms and stared at the man with a nervous look, "You're really our boss?"

Crocodile's expression darkened, "Dissatisfied" Everyone felt a chill travel down their spines so they only looked at the table hoping to avoid his wrath. They definitely didn't want to test their luck against a warlord of the sea.

Mrs. Double Finger gulped and explained, "It's not that we're dissatisfied, but confused as to why you need us. The 7 seven warlords of the sea are usually allowed to do whatever they want."

Crocodile relaxed, "I suppose that's a good question, so allow me to explain." He then put out a cigar and put a new one in his mouth, "What I crave isn't money or status in this country, but something much bigger and greater than any of you could hope to comprehend…"

The man talked, "All I want is military might. This country happened to be the place where I can find it. I can't go too much into the details, but now that you will be rewarded handsomely when all is said and done."

Mr.2 got excited, "You mean that there's a strong military force here in Alabasta?" he then exclaimed, "When can we begin? I want to help you to take over the country"

Mr.1 surmised what Crocodile told them, "So, our final job is to carry out certain missions that will help us take over the country." The man hummed a little, "Alright, when do we begin?"

Crocodile nodded his head, "As we speak, I sent messages to every member of Baroque Works whether be it in the army or in the rebel army to ready themselves for the downfall of Alabasta."

He then handed each of them a piece of paper which they opened and read.

Each member of the officers then burnt the papers they had after receiving their orders. Crocodile said, "A week from now, I expect you all to do as you were ordered in these papers…" The man smirked, "When all these orders are carried, the country of Alabasta will be destroyed. The cornered rebels and the civilians will fall into our hands." The man then made his paper crumble with the other officers looking at him, "Just in one night, Alabasta will be no more. Only our 'Utopia' will exist in his place."

The man looked at the agents, "A week from now, operation 'Utopia' will commence at 7 in the morning. make sure not to fail…" Crocodile noticed Mr.1 looking at him so he asked, "Anything bothering?"

The man shook his head, "No, I was wondering why a week from now. Why not tomorrow?"

Crocodile nodded at the question, "A valid question. It's because we're missing a piece of our puzzle to take over the country." The man laid back in his chair, "Years back when I first founded the organization, I needed someone special to help me acquire the power I need."

He then took a puff from his cigar, "That someone made world news. Do you guys remember the incident of Ohara? When the island of knowledge was about to be blown sky high?"

Zala nodded, "I was still a young girl back then, but I read about it. What's so special about it?"

Crocodile carried on, "It's not the story that's special. It's one of the people involved that quipped my interest. I won't go into further details, but 3 years ago, I sent three agents of mine to kidnap her, but her daughter and a boy stopped them. It was disappointing, to say the least, but before I can sink the agents in the sea, one of them told me that her daughter was planning to set sail in 3 years and she had the same set of skills that I wanted from her mother."

He looked at them, "I was able to confirm that she was in the country a while back. I will send one of you to go and capture. Make sure to keep her alive. She's an important part of project 'Utopia'."

The man then said, "Meeting adjourned." He then smiled darkly, "Pray for victory."

A voice from the top of the stairs said, "I would request if you held your plan for a little bit, Sir."

Everyone looked at the top of the stairs and saw Mr.3 standing there. Mr.2 jumped exclaiming, "Where were you all this time?" he then shook his head, "Forget about that! How did you come here in the first place?"

Mr.3 tilted his head, "Simple. I hitched a ride on your carriage that carried you here."

Crocodile looked at Mr.3, "Need I ask you why you were late to the meeting?" he then frowned angrily, "Or why the princess is still alive after you claimed to have killed her? Because of your unconfirmed kill, she managed to meet with the leader of the rebels which set back our plans for a week."

Mr.3 walked forward, "I just came here to ask you to give me another chance to kill the princess and her companions. Please allow me to rectify my mistake and failure of carrying out my mission."

Crocodile looked at him curiously, "Rectify your mistake? To which mission are you referring?"

Mr.3 replied nervously, sweat dripping down his face, "I'm referring to the straw hat kid and his crew which I allowed to escape."

Thick silence enveloped the room as Crocodile stared at Mr.3 with killer intent in his eyes.

The warlord yelled, "Are you saying that they escaped from your hands?" he then stood up, "Are you saying that they are all alive and you didn't kill them?"

Mr.3 was lost not knowing what to say, but Crocodile carried on, "What about the report that you gave me back on Little Garden when we talked through the Den-Den Moshi?"

Mr.3 blinked in confusion, "Sir, I assure you that there must be some misunderstanding." The man gestured to himself, "I never used the Den-Den Moshi back in Little Garden."

Crocodile was confused. He can still remember perfectly the call he had with the man who he thought was Mr.3 back then. He thought for a moment that the same person was responsible for the unluckies' disappearance but shook the thought away since they went off the grid before Little Garden. This didn't the fact that there are people who know his identity.

The man sighed a little, "Well, whatever. At least, you managed to kill one or two of them."

Mr.3 gulped a little, "Well, about that…" Crocodile raised his eyebrow, "I didn't kill any of them."

Crocodile glared at him, "What?"

This made Mr.3 stutter in fear, "I swear I will kill them this time, but back there were unknown variables…" he began to wave his arms in a panic, "There was a blond-haired man and a long-nosed boy. they both took me by surprise."

Crocodile gritted his teeth as he growled in a low tone, "Why you?"

Mr.2 yelled, "Zero-chan, can you please explain to us what is happening here? We're all confused."

Crocodile looked at the Okama and said, "First, don't call me that. We aren't friends. Second, there was a group of ragtag pirates. A new group of rookies came from east blue and managed to befriend the princess. They must have helped her meet with the leader of the rebels. Long story short, they know my identity."

The man then gave them an envelope, "Here are pictures of two of them. All of them are to be killed except the black-haired girl. She is to be brought to me. Alive, but not unharmed. In other words, just bring her to me with her mental…"

He was cut off by Mr.2 yelling, "Wait a minute…" The okama jumped up, "I know these people. I meet them just a couple of days ago." He said looking at the wanted bounty posters of both Robin and Luffy.

Mr.2 then began to cycle through the faces beginning with Luffy, then Zoro, then Usopp, then Chopper, Then Robin, and finally Nami.

Crocodile then said, "Mr.2, I want you later to take some pictures of yourself wearing their faces. Exclude the pet, I don't think he's much of a threat to us."

Mr.2 exclaimed, "What about Miss Wednesday? Is she really the princess?" he then blinked before asking, "Are you telling me all of them are our enemies?"

Crocodile lit a cigar, "Yeah, she is the princess. And yes, there all know my identity so they are our enemies." The man let out a puff of smoke, "You all are to kill them on sight."

The officers nodded, but Mr.3 interrupted, "Wait, sir. Please give me a chance to kill them."

He was grabbed by Crocodile, "Shut up, you dumb moron. Because of you, Vivi was able to meet with the leader of the rebels Kozha. My spies are telling me that in 1 day he's going to head toward the capital." He squeezed his fist harder, "Do you know what that means for my plans if I didn't come up with a backup plan?"

He lifted Mr.3, "Do you know why are in a position higher than Mr.4 even though he's ten times better than you? Do you know why you're higher than him even when he's much more competent than you could ever hope to be?"

Mr.3 desperately tried to claw his way out, but Crocodile held him tight, "It wasn't because of your wits as you think, but of the cowardly tactics that you use thinking that you're smart. And when I needed them, you failed me."

Suddenly, Mr.3 began to shrivel like a plant under the sun for too long. All the officers were beyond terrified. Crocodile then threw him to the ground with the man begging for water.

Crocodile smirked cruelly, "If you want water so much…" he pressed a button on his chair's hand causing a trapdoor to open under Mr.3, "…have some."

The agents didn't know what happened to Mr.3, but his screams of terror were enough to know that his fate wasn't pretty.

Crocodile walked up to them, "That trash earned his fate."

Moments later, the pictures of the strawhat crew were put on the table, "learn those faces. They are your enemies. Kill all of them except the black-haired girl."

He then had a call on the Den-Den Moshi. He put the phone down and looked at Mr.2, "You are to quickly head toward Katorea. You are to follow the leader of the rebels and bring him to me."

Mr.1 asked, "Why not kill him on the spot? Wouldn't that be much safer for us?"

Crocodile smiled, "True." He looked at a cage at the corner of the room, "But I don't want my guess of honor to die alone." He laughed, "Don't you agree with Mr.8 or should I say Igaram?"

The blond-haired man glared at Crocodile. The two men met each other in the middle of the desert the day Igaram made his way back to Alabasta. Igaram tried to fight, but it was no use in the end.

Back with the crew, Vivi decided that the best course of action was to sail to a small port harbor to a small town east of the capital, and from there, they would march to the capital on foot.

The reason why she chose this town was because it was locally known as Pitstop where pirates usually rested before they continued sailing. Add to that, there wasn't any place on the eastern half of the Alabasta where 'Going Merry' could be hidden safely. Add to that, the town was a place where Crocodile never headed to, so it made the place a safe haven from him.

It took them a day to sail north till they reached the city and another entire day to reach the capital. Luffy was making slowly with his tongue out, "The heat is so much. Can I go somewhere and drink some water?"

Vivi laughed a little, "Just a little bit more, and I promise that you'll be able to drink as much as you want." The boy nodded and the group carried on.

They all wore disguises to head their identities just in case of some Crocodile's supporters in the city saw them. They made their way toward the castle in the center of the city.

Once they were in front of the main gates, one of the guards stopped them, "Who are you? And what business do you have coming here to the King's castle?"

Vivi replied, "We are merchants who wish to talk with the king in hopes of convincing him to buy some of our products." She then leaned closer, "Plus, we have news about the princess's location."

The man's eyes widened, but he still wasn't 100% sure if he should let the merchants enter the castle. It was a risky move that could threaten the king's life.

The guard's companion replied, "Nice try, but each day we have a hundred idiots like try to come and sell us this same story," he then took out his sword, "Why the hell should I believe you? For all I know, you could be one of the rebels planning to assassinate the king."

Vivi then took should out of her dress and handed it to the guard, "Here, take this to Pell the Falcon. he'll then allow us to enter." The guard looked at the item; it was a simple bracelet with the name Vivi engraved on it.

The man frowned a little but nodded. He then left his post to go and bring the mentioned man.

Nami leaned toward Vivi, "Who is Pell, Vivi? We never heard you talk about him before."

Vivi replied, "You could say that he's one of our nation's guardians." The girl smiled brightly, "He's really nice. He used to play with me a lot when I was younger." The girl suddenly gained a sheepish expression rubbing the back of her head, "And kept me from doing a lot of stupid things."

Robin giggled, "Like what kind of stupid things?"

Vivi looked at the ground, "Like planning with gunpowder fire…"

Robin laughed a little, "You must have been a wild child then." She remembered her times back at Dawn Island and added, "Though, you're still nothing compared to me or the things I did."

Luffy interjected, "I know you guys are having fun and all, but when are we going to head inside?" everyone looked at him, "I'm thirsty, and I'm pretty sure that Chopper is one step away from becoming a roasted reindeer." Everyone looked at the small creature and sighed in sadness.

Chopper had a thick coat of fur so walking through the desert for him was much harder than most people. He was face down on a sleight they had and breathing heavily.

Robin opened a bottle of water and dunked the poor thing in it. It was heartbreaking for her to see him like that. "I hope this made you feel better, Chopper," Robin said

Chopper looked up at her and smiled, "A little bit, but the temperature is too high for me." He changed his size to 'Human Point' and sighed, "I feel a little bit better. This form makes the fur spread more over my body so I don't over-sweat."

Zoro nodded, "As long as you're okay, big guy." He patted him on the back only to see someone heading their way with the guard that left earlier, "It seems that we have company."

The new man had a purple line running under each eye. He was wearing a long robe with star patterns on it, but one could tell that he was fairly muscular under his clothes.

Pell looked at them. He began to observe them carefully. It was like he was evaluating if they were a threat. He finally spoke, "How did you come into possession of this bracelet?"

Vivi frowned under her cover. She wanted to talk to him, but she couldn't risk it. Crocodile's spies could be anywhere. If one of them sees her here, no doubt all of her careful planning will blow up in her face. A lot of lives will be lost. No one will lose his life if she can help it.

The girl replied, "I truly can't tell you unless it's in front of the king. The princess made me swear that I will talk to him personally." She made sure to keep her voice low enough to be heard, but at the same time not to be recognized.

Pell began to maul over his options, but he saw he didn't have much of a choice than to allow them to enter. Even a false lead to the princess's whereabouts could potentially lead to an actual clue that could lead them to her location, so they can save her.

Pell then moved to the side, "You can go there," he then took out his sword, "but if I know that you hurt the princess, I will have your heads."

Zoro smirked, but Nami quickly whacked him to prevent him from doing anything stupid.

Luffy grumbled under his breath, "Finally, I can drink some water." He rubbed his throat, "Man, I'm sure that my throat is about to fall off."

Robin patted him on the back.

Nami said, "Man, I can't wait to cash in my payment for helping her save her country."

Robin asked her, "Didn't we agree that we won't be charging anything?"

Nami frowned. Sanji then said, "Don't worry, Nami-swan. I'll hug you to make you happy."

Zoro whispered, "Can't you guys talk this seriously?" he was then punched by Nami once more.

Nami retorted, "You of all people have to right to judge." She then pointed backward, "You almost went for the kill back there at the gate." She shook her head in frustration, "Do you know how much trouble you could have put us through for your short-minded approach to everything?"

Zoro rolled his eyes, "I wasn't going to grab my sword." He looked away, "I'm not that rigger happy as you think I am." He looked at Pell, "I know how to control myself and how to assess threats."

Nami hummed a little, but then said, "I'm watching you, Zoro." The man in question deadpanned at her and continued walking forward.

They finally reached the king's hall. Vivi's father sat in front of them on his throne. Vivi's father Cobra was a man of average height. He had a wrinkled face with a tied beard. He also had long black hair. The man stood up and asked, "You have information about my daughter's whereabouts, correct? She's been missing for years. Please tell me."

Vivi looked around, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you unless we're alone." She looked at Pell who tensed, "Pell can remain, however for the other guards they must leave the room." She took a dark tone, "If I tell you, word of her whereabouts might reach those who wish harm to you and your daughter."

The king was facing quite a dilemma here, but he conceded. He ushered his guards to leave. They began to protest, but eventually, Pell managed to convince them to leave.

Once they left the room, Pell walked toward the group, "They have left." He looked at them impatiently, "Now stop wasting our time, and tell us where she is."

Vivi replied, "You're being impatient, Pell. This isn't what you taught me when I was younger."

Pell was confused, "What are talking about? Tell us where the princess is?"

Cobra walked forward toward the group who kept their identities hidden till now. He was sure the voice that was talking to him was extremely familiar to him.

He reached where Vivi was standing, "Your voice is very familiar. I'm sure that I heard it many times before." He then slowly removed the hood of her clothes and gasped, "Vivi?"

Pell was also flabbergasted, "Vivi-sama, you're back?"

Vivi smiled at her father, "Hi, Dad." She rubbed the back of her head and looked at him with a sheepish grin, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The man forgot everything and quickly went to hug her and began to cry, "Thanks the heavens that you're okay, Vivi." He tightened his hug, "I thought I lost you forever."

Vivi hugged her father back, "I missed you too, Dad." She then began to cry herself.

The crew watched them reunite happily with a smile on their face.

They all waited several minutes for father and daughter to finally calm down so they can all talk.

Cobra let go of his daughter. He gently rubbed her cheek… he then chopped her on the head, "Where have you been for 3 years? you gave me countless sleepless nights."

The girl pouted rubbing the assaulted spot, "Father, I've been on a very secret mission with Igaram." She looked around and said, "Now that I mentioned him… Where's Igaram? He left before me from Whiskey Peak. He should have arrived and told you everything."

Cobra shook his head, "I'm sorry Vivi, but Igaram hasn't arrived yet." He then saw worry on his daughter's face causing him to say, "I'm sure that he's fine. Igaram is a strong warrior after all."

The girl nodded her head, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Igaram was in terrible danger as they speak here. The girl spoke, "Anyways, I found him. I found the person responsible for everything that is happening in our country."

Cobra was shocked for many reasons. The first was the fact his daughter put herself in such danger. The second was the shock that he can finally find out how is playing with his country.

Vivi carried on, "Father, It's him. The so-called hero of our country, Sir Crocodile is the one responsible for everything that happened over the years."

Cobra was flabbergasted. The hero of the country was the one responsible for all the disasters that happened in his country. He was the one that caused the people to turn against each other. "Are you sure, Vivi? We haven't seen from him anything bad." He knew his daughter was telling the truth, but he didn't believe that he handed his country over to a crazed pirate.

Vivi shook her head, "I'm sure of it. 3 years ago, I heard some whispers going about an organization named Baroque Works, so I decided to go and infiltrate it." She looked at Pell, "Igaram managed to catch me trying to sneak out. At first, he was against it, but I managed to convince him to join after hours of debate."

Cobra asked her, "Why didn't you tell me from the beginning? I would've stopped him."

Vivi lowered her head, "Because I knew of the organization. It was like an urban legend." She grabbed her dress, "I tried my hardest to tell you, but without concrete proof, it was like a fool's errand, so I knew that I have to find the boss's identity."

Cobra hummed as Vivi carried on, "So I went with Igaram in the dark of the night and we joined the organization. With time, we managed to reach high ranks in Baroque Works."

Vivi rubbed her head, "It was a hard job, because of the secrecy that the boss of it kept around his true identity, but one night, I managed to follow two agents known as the unluckies…" Vivi met her father's eyes, "They went to Rainbase and I saw them enter Crocodiles casino. I followed them carefully, till I saw them giving Crocodile reports and getting orders from him."

Cobra rubbed his head, "Dear lord, to think such heinous plans were happening under my nose and I wasn't even aware of it."

Vivi sighed, "My story doesn't end there…"

Pell asked, "What happened after that?" he then looked at their guests, "And who are they?"

Vivi replied, "I'll get to them." She carried on with her explanation, "One mission was for me to hunt down a whale. There was where I met them. There are a group of pirates…"

Pell quickly drew his sword, but Vivi calmed him down as she side-eyed Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro who seemed ready to defend themselves and the others. "Pell, calm down. If it weren't for these pirates, I would've been already dead by now."

The man eyed them for a moment but nodded his head putting his sword away, "I apologize for my behavior. Any friend of Vivi is a friend of mine." He apologized, but he kept his guard up.

Zoro did the same with one of his hands on his Wado. Vivi gulped seeing how tense the situation was so she quickly continued telling her story to distract everyone and stop bloodshed from happening, "Anyway, we came to cross paths, and safe to say that they defeated me and my ally stopping us from killing the whale. We somehow managed to lose our log pose so we asked them to give us a ride to Whiskey Peak." She chose to leave out how Nami used her as cheap labor.

Nami smiled, "No problem, Vivi. I mean you did ask nicely." He then tapped her chin, "You also helped us accumulate to the weather in the Grand Line, so that's the least we can do."

Vivi smiled, "When we reached Whiskey Peak, I tried to kill them, especially the black-haired girl since she found out who I truly was." She chuckled weakly, "Once again, they defeated me with Igaram's help this time around. I then told them everything when I saw that there was nothing else I can do. Once they knew the truth, they agreed to help me. At that point, Igaram left before me to meet you ahead of time and explain to you everything we found."

Vivi finally finished, "After that, we went to Little Garden where we had an encounter with Mr.3 and his allies. We managed to defeat them and we found an eternal log pose to here. We tried to come right away, but Robin," she said pointing at the black-haired girl who waved back, "got sick so we were forced to go to Drum Kingdom or what was previously known as Drum Kingdom to find a cure. There we encountered Wapol who we defeated and Chopper over there joined us." She said pointing at the little reindeer, "Then we came straight to this place."

Cobra sighed, "This is a lot to take in, but the most important thing is that you came back safe." He hugged his daughter. He then looked at the crew, "Thank you all for bringing her here safely. The kingdom of Alabasta will be forever in your debt."

Luffy blushed, "Ahh, stop. You're making me blush. I did because Vivi is my friend, and I didn't want to see her sad."

Vivi then added, "Father, I forgot to tell you something." Cobra looked at her, "I managed to talk to the leader of the rebels. He's coming over to talk with you to end the civil war."

Cobra was shocked and so was Pell. "Vivi, that's great." He then rubbed his chin, "But how did you manage to convince him that it was Crocodile's responsibility for everything that is happening?"

Pell said, "And how do we trust that this isn't a plot to kill the king?"

Vivi explained to them, "I know he won't do anything because he's my old friend Kozha."

Pell raised an eyebrow, "You mean the little punk who gave you once a good beating?" he still remembered how the princess that day got a beating of a lifetime.

Vivi had a tick mark form on her forehead, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Regardless of who he is," Cobra said standing up, "I think it's for the best we meet each other and end this war and focus on the real enemy."

He then looked at the crew, "I apologize, but I never introduced myself. I'm Nerfertari Cobra." He then gestured to them, "And you are?"

Luffy spoke first, "Monkey D. Luffy, future king of pirates." No one noticed the king's eyes widen a little but Robin, making her wonder why he was shocked.

Robin spoke second, "My name is Nico Robin. I guess I might be quite popular around these parts of the word after the Ohara Incident."

Pell then spoke, "I remember. You were the children that stopped the buster call from annihilating Ohara from the face of existence. No wonder you looked familiar."

Luffy chuckled, "I think I'm famous because I have a large bounty on my head."

The crew laughed a little, but Zoro introduced himself next, "Rorona Zoro, the future greatest swordsman in the world. Remember my name."

Sanji came forward, "My name is Sanji, and I'm the chef of the crew."

Usopp then talked, "I'm Usopp, and I'm technically everything on this crew for now."

Nami smacked the boy on the head, "My name is Nami, and I'm the navigator of this ship full of baboons." She looked at Usopp, "Don't take credit for other people's work."

Chopper finally introduced himself, "My name is Toni Toni Chopper, and I'm the doctor of the crew."

Cobra smiled, "That's wonderful." He looked at his daughter, "Now, I'm sure our guests are quite hungry, so why don't you take them to the kitchen?" The girl nodded and led them there to eat.

Luffy sighed in relief, "Thank god. I need to drink water."

Vivi giggled, "Alright, everyone, follow me then."

Once they left, Cobra looked at Pell and asked him, "What do you think Pell?"

The man asked him, "About what, Cobra-sama?"

Cobra replied, "I'm talking about Crocodile. Should we attack him at Rainbase and take him out before he makes his move?"

Pell shook his head, "No, I don't think we should. If we moved now, there'll be a lot of deaths on the civilian side. Add to that, if we add a chance to gain the rebels' trust, we will lose it."

Cobra nodded, "I think once we finish the talks with the rebels' leader. We should make our move to save this country from Crocodile's clutches."

The next day inside a carriage heading toward the royal castle, Kozha sat with one of his advisors and looked outside. He hated the fact that a pirate played him like a fiddle. He should have listened to his father, but he chose to be tricked like a pawn.

The advisor asked him, "Sir, are you sure that we should do this? The girl might be tricking you to take you to an ambush where you might be killed."

Kozha shook his head, "I don't this so. Vivi is my childhood friend. I trust her." He then threw a stack of papers at him, "Plus, you saw the evidence. They are real. Nothing can be fabricated to this extent. It makes sense. The man just came out of nowhere and suddenly the king became a tyrant."

Kozha looked outside of his carriage and noticed something, "Hey, stop this carriage now."

The driver stopped it and looked back at it, "Sir, is there something wrong?" he asked with a voice that made a shiver travel down Kozha's spine.

"What are you doing?" Kozha asked, "This isn't the right way. You're going in the wrong direction. You think that I don't know the desert that I live in."

The advisor shook his head, "No, you do know your way, but we took you right where you need to be."

Kozha looked back at him and understood what happened. He was tricked and they probably worked for Crocodile. He jumped out of the carriage.

He tried to escape only to stop when he saw something approaching him from the distance…

It was a… ballerina.

Author's notes:

Welcome back to a new chapter of my story. In this chapter, we saw the meeting between Crocodile and the officers, Mr.3's return, Vivi meeting her father, and Kozha's short trip. The next chapter will focus on the aftermath of Kozha's capture, and Vivi's trip to Rainbase. I know some of you might wonder why am I still going with the cannon, but it's necessary because they aren't an alternative for that, and we need to.

As always please take care of yourselves, write a review about your opinion regarding the current chapter, and tell me which arc are you excited for the most.

And finally, I hope you enjoy reading my work, and see you next time with a brand new chapter.