Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Mario characters or One Piece characters. This chapter is longer than usual, sorry about that and enjoy.
Chapter 6: Grandline and New Foes Part 2
After the explosion went off the Straw Hats looked towards the direction it was. Mario then saw what appeared to be a large vulture and an otter riding on top of it flying away. Then the two strangers from earlier crawled up on shore. Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Sanji were interrogating the duo while Mario and Usopp got to work repairing the Merry.
"Wow, Mario you really are handy to have around." Usopp said.
"What do you mean Usopp?" Mario asked.
"Well, look at the Merry. You can't even tell that it was ever damaged." Usopp explained admiring Mario's handy work. It wasn't just the mast of the ship; Mario even fixed the sheep's head and the rudder control so well that it appeared the Merry was brand new. "I mean you're a doctor, a great ship wright apparently and not to mention your super strong! I still can't believe how easily you defeated that Smoker guy!" Usopp exclaimed in excitement of Mario's plethora of skills.
"Oh please, I'm nothing special. Just doing what I can." Mario replied putting the tools away.
"And humble too. Man, your just like one of those legendary heroes from adventure stories." Usopp said, still gushing over Mario. Then the rest of the Straw Hats came back on board along with the two strangers.
"Whoa, the ship looks good as new!" Luffy said in awe.
"Nice work you two, though I'm pretty sure Mario did most of the work." Nami said while inspecting the ship.
"Not really, Usopp was a great help." Mario replied making Usopp blush.
"Again, your too nice Mario." Nami said shaking her head, then she noticed Mario staring at the two extra passengers. "Oh yeah, we're taking these two back to their home at Whiskey Peak. Our log pose is already locked onto the island so it's no problem." She explained, then everyone turned to wave bye to Crocus and Laboon.
"Take this with you!" Crocus yelled tossing another log pose to Mario.
"Another one?" Mario questioned.
"Yes, just in case. You all seem to be a feisty lot so it would be best to have a back up log pose in case the first one breaks." Crocus explained.
"Thanks flower head guy!" Luffy called out as Mario put the extra log pose inside of Stuffwell. And with that they were off to Whiskey Peak, along the way they encountered strange weather and sudden unexpected changes to their course, but by working together and a lot of help from Mario they managed to make it to Whiskey Peak. As they approached the island the two strangers who identified themselves as Mister Nine and Miss Wednesday jumped off the ship into the waters and began to swim away.
"Well, they're gone, can we leave now?" Zoro asked Nami.
"Not yet Zoro, we need to stay long enough for the log pose to set on the next island." Nami explained pointing to the log pose on her wrist. When he looked, he saw that the needle was now moving back and forth, like it was searching for the next island.
They began to sail inland through a river going in, as they were Zoro spoke up. "Alright everyone, be on guard. We don't know what's on this island, for all we know it could be full of monsters, marines, bounty hunters or a mixture of all three. So, remain vigilant." He ordered as they began to approach what looked like a small town. When they got close enough, they were surprised to find that the townsfolk were cheering for them and holding up signs saying, "WELCOME ALL PIRATES!". When they came ashore, they were greeted by a man dressed like a music conductor and had tube like hair.
"Hello! And welcome to our little town friends!" he greeted. "I am the mayor of this town, and I would like to welcome you all to our festival tonight."
"A little too eager to invite a group of pirates to your festival, aren't you?" Zoro questioned the tube hair man.
"Not at all! Here in Whiskey Peak, we hold a great deal of respect for pirates. They are the brave explorers of the wild seas." The tube hair man replied, Zoro was about to say something when Luffy butted in.
"Come on Zoro don't be a jerk! They're offering us food!" Luffy shouted, annoying Zoro at how carefree he was. But with no one else protesting he just went along with it. When night came the Straw Hats partied with the townsfolk. Usopp was regaling people with stories of his many adventures, Sanji was flirting with all the woman he can, Zoro was in a drinking contest with Nami and other townsfolk and losing to her, and Mario and Luffy were enjoying the many meals the chefs kept bringing out to them. Late into the night the Straw Hats were all fast asleep when Starlow began to wake Mario up.
"Hey Mario wake up." She whispered stirring Mario from his slumber. "These people aren't what they seem, they are all a bunch of bounty hunters and are coming over to kill you all in your sleep."
"Thanks, Starlow." Mario said as he got up, "Did some investigating while we were partying?"
"No one noticed the small yellow orb following them." She stated with a smile. "Zoro is already on top of the building waiting to confront them."
"Well, we-a can't let him start the party without us, can we Starlow?" Mario asked Starlow before she ducked back under his cap. Meanwhile outside Zoro is confronting the bounty hunters.
"Baroque Works, a criminal organization so secretive that no one has even seen the bosses face, and where all the members are referred to by there code names." Zoro explained, drawing the ire of the Baroque agents.
"You are correct swordsman, and since you know so much about us you must know that the closer an agents' number is to zero, the stronger they are." The tube hair man explained. "For example, Mister Nine and Miss Wednesday, and me Mister Eight and my partner Miss Monday are more than enough to defeat you. But just in case, we have all these other agents ready to kill you and your friends. Do you still think you can win?" Mister Eight asked Zoro.
"Oh yeah, I plan to take every single one of you down." Zoro declared.
"Hope you don't mind sharing Zoro." Mario said jumping on the building next to Zoro and surprising everyone.
"Well damn, and here I thought you were out cold." Zoro said with a smile. "No, I don't mind, in fact how about we make a game out of it. The one who takes down the most agents wins, what do you say?"
"I have no problem with a friendly competition Zoro. Just don't cry when you lose." Mario said while stretching his arms.
"Ha! That won't be a problem, since I plan on winning." Zoro stated with confidence.
"Alright then, Starlow." Mario called out.
"Yeah Mario?" Starlow answered appearing from under Mario's cap. "What do you need?"
"Can you keep track of our scores?" Mario asked, getting an affirmative nod from Starlow.
"Not taking us seriously, fine then two more gravestones will be added to the cactus rocks tonight." Mister Eight declared. "Open fire!" he ordered everyone pointing at Mario and Zoro, only to see that Zoro had vanished.
"Wow, he's quick." Mario complimented while everyone else stood in shock.
"Shoot Mario!" Mister Eight ordered. Everyone then pointed and fired their guns at Mario. Mario then pulled out his cape and began to spin deflecting all the bullets. "What was that!? Was it his devil fruit power or something else." Mister Eight questioned. "It doesn't matter, it's just one person against all of us!" he shouted trying to rally his allies when a sword was thrusted next to his face.
"Didn't forget about little old me now did you?" Zoro asked standing back to back with Mister Eight. "Now that hurts my feelings, and when my feelings are hurt, I feel like cutting people." He said menacingly.
"There he is!" "Shoot him!" some agents shouted pointing their guns at Zoro.
"No wait, stop! You'll shoot me!" Mister Eight cried out in fear his pleas falling on deaf ears as the other agents cocked their weapons. "Igarappa!" he called out as he bent backwards shooting the agents about to fire with his saxophone. He then pointed it towards Zoro, "Igarappa!" he yelled firing his weapon at Zoro. Zoro dodged and hid behind a building.
"So that thing is a weapon huh, better keep an eye out for other tricks they may have up their sleeves." Zoro stated as he grabbed his swords, "Ah, my new partners Yobashiri and Kitetsu the third, now's a good as time as any to take you for a test drive and with these guys we don't need to hold back." He stated as a gun was heard cocking above him.
"Got ya." A Baroque agent said before pulling the trigger. Zoro immediately slammed open the door to the building avoiding the bullet and hiding behind the table as other Baroque agents fired their guns at him.
"First up Yobashiri." Zoro said as in one motion he sliced the table and the agents outside. "Light weight, well balanced, not bad." He said admiring his new sword. He then climbed a ladder up the building with Baroque agents in hot pursuit. As they were about to reach the top, he threw down the ladder, causing them all to fall. Just then Miss Monday, a tall, tan and muscular woman with pink hair, threw a wine barrel at Zoro. Zoro just cut it into four pieces, each of them taking out a Baroque agent who was about to attack him. "Aww, and that wine must've cost a fortune too, what a waste." He taunted irritating Miss Monday.
"You're mine!" a Baroque agent yelled, bringing down a giant stone mallet. Zoro instantly swung his sword, Kitetsu, around slicing both the mallet and the agent in one swing.
"What the!?" Zoro gasped in shock as he just wanted to block the mallet. "Alright listen here Kitetsu the Third, you're sharp I'll give you that, but you're also a troublemaker. A good sword only cuts when its master wants it to cut, you got that?" Zoro asked the sword.
"Zoro is really going all out huh?" Mario stated, watching Zoro from his spot.
"You should really be paying attention!" a Baroque agent yelled as he and his friends were about to cut Mario down. But they were blown away by a fireball.
"Who says I'm not?" Mario stated as three more agents rushed him, he threw his cap at them, launching them above his head where he launched two more fireballs at them taking them out. He then jumped off the building and proceeded to stomp on every Baroque agent he can on the way down and landed in an alley. Suddenly, Baroque agents surrounded him an began to attack, but Mario dodged, parried and countered every single attack they threw at him. After a series of punches, kicks and fireballs Mario had defeated every Baroque agent that attacked him before catching his cap and placing it back on his head.
Mister Eight just stood in shock at the strength of the two pirates. "I see now, the marines made a mistake. Red Cap Mario must be the real captain and the swordsman is his right hand man." He said in anger.
"Yeah, that makes sense." Miss Wednesday said in agreement. "There's no way that straw-hat boy has a 30,000,000 bounty."
Mario and Zoro then met in the middle of town, "So how many was that Starlow?" Zoro asked.
"Fifty for you and fifty for Mario, you're all tied up right now." Starlow said floating above the town. Mario and Zoro just nodded to each other before Miss Monday lunged at them.
"It was a good effort, but there is no man who can best my strength!" she yelled as she threw a haymaker at Mario. But Mario just parried the attack and then grabbed her ear. With his grip he brought her down to her knees before asking.
"Really?" Mario asked before dragging her to a giant boulder nearby. Zoro and other Baroque agents followed wondering what Mario was going to do. Mario let go of Miss Monday's ear and motioned to the large rock, making sure everyone's attention was on him. Then he proceeded to grab the boulder.
"Are you trying to lift that? It's impossible." Miss Monday said in confusion. Wondering what Mario was trying to accomplish. However, with little effort Mario lifted the huge boulder shocking everyone there and then he punted it away into the horizon. He then turned to Miss Monday who just sat there with her mouth a gape along with everyone else, including Zoro.
"Really?" Mario asked Miss Monday.
"What was that?" a Baroque agent asked. "That boulder must've weighed like a million tons." One of his colleagues answered back. Everyone was dead silent for a moment before, "RUN!" "HE'S A MONSTER!" "WE CAN'T BEAT THAT!" the Baroque agents screamed as they all dropped their weapons and fled in terror leaving only Mister Eight, Mister Nine, Miss Monday and Miss Wednesday to fight Mario and Zoro.
"Well, since all those agents gave up because of Mario's show of strength, the winner is Mario!" Starlow declared coming back down to Mario.
"What! Wait no! That's not fair!" Zoro yelled in protest. Then their attention was drawn to a laugh coming from Miss Wednesday.
"Alright you two, don't you dare move a muscle or your friend here is dead." She stated holding a knife to the still sleeping Luffy.
"Damnit Luffy, wake up when your life is being threatened you moron!" Zoro muttered to himself.
"Alright, hands in the air!" Mister Eight demanded while he and Mister Nine readied their guns. Mario lifted his hands surprising Zoro.
"You're seriously giving up?" Zoro asked.
"Nope." Mario replied grabbing his cap and throwing it at Miss Wednesday. She moved out of the way dodging the hat.
"You missed." She taunted. But Mario just shook his finger no and pointed behind her. She turned around just in time to see the cap flying back at her and landing on her head.
"So what, you just gave her a new hat you mor…" Mister Eight was about to say until he saw that Mario had vanished. "Where'd he go!" he screamed causing everyone to look around until.
"My hat isn't normal you know." Miss Wednesday said causing everyone to look at her. Now not only was she wearing Mario's hat, but now she also had his mustache and deep blue eyes.
"Miss Wednesday what happened to you!?" Mister Nine asked in shock.
"I captured her, anyone my cap lands on I take over their body. So, now she is my prisoner." The now possessed Miss Wednesday declared, turning the knife she held to her chest.
"What are you doing?!" Mister Eight demanded.
"Like I said she's my prisoner now, so if you don't follow our commands, I'll plunge this knife into her chest." Mario threatened.
"Nice bluff, but you'll just kill yourself." Mister Eight reasoned, trying to call Mario's bluff, but only receiving laughter from Mario.
"You really shouldn't assume things about powers that you know nothing about. If the body I captured ends up dying or being destroyed during the capture I just get sent out, completely unharmed." Mario explained. "But her on the other hand well, it would be a real shame if she came back only to find out she died in her sleep now wouldn't it." Mario finished explaining, causing the remaining Baroque agents to stand still in terror until Zoro started laughing.
"Nice one Mario!" he yelled while walking towards Mister Eight and his friends. They just turned to glare at him, "What's the matter? Don't like it when you're the ones in a hostage situation?"
"Damn you! Igarappa!" Mister Eight shouted as he fired his saxophone gun at Zoro. Zoro rushed him dodging all the bullets being fired at him, then in a blink of an eye he cut them down and destroyed Mister Eight's saxophone.
"Now that that's taken care of, Starlow!" Zoro called out. "Do I get bonus points since I took out the leaders?" he asked the star sprite.
"Well yes you would, but since Mario captured one and saved Luffy at the same time he still wins." She replied, causing Zoro to grimace at her words.
"Alright fine, you win this round Mario." Zoro admitted but getting no response. "Mario?"
"Oh, don't mind me I was reading her mind and I found some interesting facts about our assailants." Mario stated, drawing Zoro's attention.
"Really? And what did you find out?" Zoro asked.
"Well, Mister Eight and Miss Wednesday have a special connection."
"Really? Is she his daughter or are they lovers?"
"No, nothing like that. Mister Eight, or rather Igaram captain of the army of Alabasta, infiltrated Baroque Works with Miss Wednesday, who is really Vivi princess of Alabasta." Mario revealed causing shock and awe from everyone around.
"That's right." An unknown voice answered, causing everyone to turn to the source. There stood a man with dreadlocks, sunglasses and a maroon trench coat. Beside him a blonde woman with yellow, lemon themed clothing laughed with an evil grin.
"Mister Five and Miss Valentine." Igaram said forcing himself up off the ground. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're here to kill you and miss Vivi here." Miss Valentine answered.
"Yeah, you two learned the boss's secret. And that is a crime punishable by death, and you two." Mister Five said to Mario and Zoro, "We may have no personal qualms with you, but we can't have people making fools of Baroque Works, so you need to die." Mister Five stated, causing Zoro to ready his blades. "But tell you what, if you hand over Vivi nice and easy like, we'll make your deaths quick and painless." He offered to Mario and Zoro.
"Mamamia, that's a tempting offer, but no." Mario answered releasing Vivi from his possession. "You see, I have a thing for rescuing princesses in trouble, plus from what I saw in Vivi's memories I have some business I need to settle with Mister Zero." Mario finished explaining getting into his fighting stance.
"Really? Then you die painfully." Mister Five said while picking his nose. Then he aimed his booger at Mario. "Take this! My nose fancy canon!" he shouted flicking his booger at Mario. When it hit Mario, it exploded.
"What the? Does he carry bombs in his nose?" Zoro questioned, shocked by what just happened.
"No, both him and Miss Valentine have devil fruit powers." Vivi explained. "Mister Five is an exploding man, any part of his body can be turned into a bomb, and Miss Valentine has the ability to decrease or increase her weight."
"So, it's true." Mister Nine asked, "You're really the princess of Alabasta?" he asked Vivi, receiving a nod from her. "Alright then, run! Get going Miss Wednesday I'll hold them off for as long as I can." Mister Nine declared drawing his bat.
"What, but why?" Vivi asked.
"We're both going to be punished for failing our mission here anyways, at least this way we go out protecting a friend." Miss Monday answered standing beside Mister Nine, ready to fight Mister Five and Miss Valentine.
"Pathetic." Mister Five said with disgust.
"Your sentiments are appreciated, but not needed." Mario said appearing from the smoke cloud unharmed. "Let-a me show you what Mario can do."
"Stronger than you look Red Cap." Mister Five stated with a hint of surprise. "But do you really think you can defeat us just because you managed to beat a bunch of grunts?" Mario just beckoned Mister Five to fight him. "Bastard, then have another taste of my nose fancy canon!" Mister Five shouted firing another explosive booger at Mario.
"Have a taste of it yourself!" Mario retorted, swinging his cape and reflecting the booger back at Mister Five. However, Mister Five swallowed the booger with the explosion going off inside of him, but not hurting him at all. "So, you could also eat explosions huh." Mario assumed.
"Yep, in addition to being able to make explosions I can also eat them." Mister Five explained, patting his stomach. "Still, it is gross having to eat my own boogers." He stated receiving a nod and a disgusted look from Miss Valentine.
"Well eat this!" Mario shouted shooting fireballs at Mister Five and Miss Valentine. They jumped in the sky avoiding the attack, but Mario was already above Mister Five and spiked him into the ground. Then Mario shot down slamming into Mister Five and taking him out of the fight.
"Why you! Take this my ten thousand kilogram press!" Miss Valentine called out as she began to fall towards Mario. But Mario had caught her and was lifting her above his head. "What! But I weigh over eleven tons! There's no way you're this strong!" Miss Valentine said in fear. Mario then slammed her into the ground.
"Now I need you two to do something for me." Mario said as he grabbed Mister Five's and Miss Valentine's legs. "You're going to fly for Mario." He said as he began to swing them around and around until releasing them and sending them flying off into the horizon. Everyone besides Zoro just stood at awe at Mario's strength.
"To think, we tried to kill such a strong and cutthroat pirate." Igaram said in both awe and fear of Mario.
"Cutthroat?" Mario questioned, until it dawned on him. "Oh, the knife thing! No, you were right Igaram, it was a bluff. I would never have plunged the knife into Vivi's heart." Mario clarified shocking everyone.
"What! Nami was right, you're too nice Mario!" Zoro yelled, just getting a shrug from Mario.
"Anyway, did you enjoy the show Nami?" Mario asked looking towards the roof of a nearby building causing everyone to turn and see Nami just watching.
"Yep, now princess Vivi." Nami said while jumping down in front of Vivi. "It's time we discussed our reward."
"Reward?" Vivi questioned.
"Yeah, for Mario's help. I'd say one billion belli would be a fair price." Nami said, causing Vivi's and Igaram's jaws to drop at such an outlandish price.
"What the heck is that outlandish price woman! We can't possibly pay that Ludacris amount!" Igaram shouted, causing Nami to turn to him with a menacing look.
"Really, are you saying your princess's life isn't worth that much. Because I'm sure there are a couple Baroque Works agents who might be saying differently if we were to take her to them and discuss a reward with them." Nami threatened, causing Igaram and Vivi to shudder in fear. But then Mario cut into the conversation.
"Now Nami, I'll be sure to give you a monetary reward later since I put us into this situation." Mario offered, Nami was about to say something, but Mario put his finger up stopping her. "And besides, we're all already in this together since Baroque Works will be hunting us down." Mario explained pointing at a vulture wearing an aviator hat with an otter wearing sunglasses standing next to it and sketching the faces of Mario, Nami, Zoro and Luffy.
"Wow, that's really good, it looks so lifelike. WELL DAMNIT ALL I GUESS WE ARE STUCK IN THIS TOGETHER AFTER ALL!" Nami shouted as the vulture and otter flew away.
"The unluckies." Vivi said before turning to the Straw-Hats. "I'm sorry for dragging you all into this, I'm thankful for your help but I can't put you in such danger." Vivi said with despair.
"Oh come on, you've seen how strong Mario and Zoro are, and I know he didn't make much of an impression but our sleeping captain here is also very strong." Nami said pointing towards Luffy.
"He's the captain? But I thought Mario was… Look, I know they're strong, but still Mister Zero is even stronger. He's the last person that you want to cross." Vivi stated trying to deter the Straw-Hats.
"Well, who is he?" Nami asked.
"No, I can't…"
"It's-a Crocodile." Mario said interrupting Vivi. Vivi just turned to him in shock. "I read your mind remember?"
"Wait, Crocodile, you don't mean THE Crocodile, one of the seven warlords of the sea, do you Mario?" Nami asked Mario receiving a nod in response to her question. "NOOOO! Why… why did we have to make enemies with one of the seven warlords of the sea!?" Nami shouted into the sky before turning back to Mario, "Wait, why do you have business with Crocodile Mario?"
"Because he has one of these." Mario explained pulling out the power star. "I got a tip that a warlord of the sands at the desert kingdom has a power star. And from what I was able to gather from Vivi's memories I think Crocodile fits the bill." Mario finished explaining.
"What's a power star?" Vivi asked.
"They're powerful items from my world and I have been sent here to collect them all and bring them back home." Mario explained.
Vivi just sat there until a surge of realization came across her face. "Wait, YOUR world? Does that mean you're…"
"Yes Vivi." Mario interrupted, "I am from another world." Vivi just sat in awe and shock until Luffy began to wake up.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. After some explaining to Luffy about what happened and how they are now being targeted by crocodile, "I don't really get it, but it sounds like we just got to kick this Crocodile guy's ass."
"Yes Luffy, that's exactly what we got to do." Mario confirmed while Nami and Zoro let out exasperated sighs from Luffy's simple mindedness. "So Vivi, how many agents would Crocodile be sending after us?"
"Well, Baroque Works has thousands of agents under their banner so at least a thousand."
"WHAT! We'll have thousands of assassins trying to kill us!" Nami shouted.
"Fear not!" Igaram said, showing up dressed as Vivi with Mister Nine and Miss Monday dressed as Mario and Zoro holding two dummies made to look like Nami and Luffy. "We will take the direct route towards Alabasta, drawing the enemy away from you while you all take the islands around the back to get there." Igaram explained.
"Are you sure Igaram?" Vivi asked.
"Yes princess Vivi, now the eternal pose please." Igaram requested from Vivi. Vivi then pulled out something that looks like a log pose but surrounded by a wooden frame with "Alabasta" written on it.
"Mister Nine and Miss Monday, you're going with him?" Vivi asked the former Baroque agents.
"We're dead if we try to return to Baroque Works, it seems better now to try and help you Miss Wedns… I mean princess Vivi." Miss Monday replied.
"Thank you, when we get through this, I would like to offer you a place at Alabasta." Vivi offered Miss Monday and Mister Nine.
"Thank you." Miss Monday and Mister Nine answered back.
"We best get going before Baroque Works catches onto our plot, and Straw-Hats." Igaram called out getting the attention of the Straw-Hat pirates, "Please watch over Vivi." Igaram asked, getting smiles, nods and thumbs up from the Straw-Hats. As he and the others set sail everyone was waving bye until Mario got a serious look on his face and pulled his glove.
"Mario, what's wrong?" Nami asked.
BOOM!
The ship Igaram and the others were on suddenly exploded. Everyone just stood there in shock until Nami pulled Vivi into her arms. "It's okay Vivi! Baroque Works, Crocodile, it doesn't matter who comes after us, we'll take them all on. Just you wait and see." Nami then turned to Mario, Luffy, and Zoro, "And what are you all waiting for? Get Usopp and Sanji and let's get the hell out of here!" she yelled spurring everyone to action. Mario and Zoro got the Merry ready while Luffy went and got Usopp and Sanji. Meanwhile from the smoke a strange silhouette began to take shape.
"A decoy? That's almost cute." The person riding on top of the strange silhouette said.
As they were fleeing Vivi began to look around, "Karoo? Where's Karoo?" she began to ask as they were running to the Merry.
"Who's Karoo?" Nami asked.
"He's my partner, he came with us when we infiltrated Baroque Works."
"He must be very special to you." Nami stated, receiving a nod from Vivi.
"Is he a big duck with a weird hat?" Mario asked Vivi.
"Yes!" Vivi answered, Mario and Zoro then pointed towards the right where Starlow was riding said duck.
"Mario, I made a new friend! Can we keep it?" Starlow asked while Karoo just let out a big quack.
"Karoo!" Vivi shouted with joy.
"Karoo's a duck! But I thought… know what never mind. Prep the ship, we're setting sail!" Nami ordered as Luffy had just arrived with Usopp and Sanji in tow. As they were sailing off Usopp and Sanji complained about leaving so soon until Nami "explained" the situation to them. As they were leaving the fog surrounding Whiskey Peak everyone looked around the ship to make sure they weren't being followed.
"Looks like we got away." Nami stated.
"I'm just glad we were able to escape whoever was chasing us." A mysterious voice stated.
"No, we didn't." Mario replied staring at the owner of the voice. Everyone then turned to see a tall woman with black hair and wearing purple clothing sitting on the railing of the upper deck.
"Red Cap Mario, are you sure you're not the captain of the ship? You seem to be much sharper than everyone here." The strange woman asked.
"I've just been on more than my fair share of adventures miss?" Mario asked, then Vivi butted in.
"Sunday, she's Miss All Sunday the partner to Mister Zero. In fact, it was by following her one day that I was able to find out that Mister Zero was Crocodile." Vivi explained.
"Oh please, I let you follow me. I knew you were following me the whole time." Miss All Sunday declared, causing a wave of confusion to wash over Vivi's face. "Why? You're wondering. A princess doing anything she can to save her country while making herself an enemy of Baroque Works, the idea was just so… ridiculous." She taunted at Vivi, when Sanji and Usopp appeared on both sides of Miss All Sunday pointing a pistol and Usopp's slingshot at her face, as Nami and Zoro readied their weapons.
"Um… Sanji you do realize what you're doing right?" Usopp asked.
"Nope, not a clue. I just know that the beautiful Miss Wednesday needs me." Sanji replied, Miss All Sunday just frowned.
"I would appreciate it if you don't point weapons at me." She stated as Usopp and Sanji were sent tumbling to the floor and Nami's and Zoro's weapons were smacked out of their hands by an unseen force.
"What!? She has devil fruit powers!" Nami yelled.
"But which one?" Zoro asked.
"Relax, I haven't been given any orders to follow you, so I have no reason to fight." Miss All Sunday said as both Mario's and Luffy's hats were sent flying towards her.
"Hey, give me my hat back! Do you want me to go up there and kick your ass!" Luffy yelled throwing a small tantrum. Mario just stood there watching Miss All Sunday.
"So, you're the captain? I've heard so much about you Monkey D. Luffy, and you Red Cap Mario, I've heard so much about you as well, but you're still so mysterious. So many different abilities, yet you say that you have not eaten a devil fruit, claiming instead to be a star child from a different world sent to collect items called power stars. You're so fascinating." She stated as she put on Luffy's hat infuriating him even more.
"So, what now? You're going to try on my hat?" Mario asked.
"No, I know what it does." Miss All Sunday replied, throwing Mario's hat to the side.
"Did you know this? Cappy!" Mario shouted as Cappy suddenly changed his trajectory and began to fly towards Miss All Sunday.
"So, it's alive." She casually stated as Cappy was suddenly caught by some unseen force. Mario then appeared behind her, but she just chuckled as Mario was now held by the same unseen force. "Nice try." She said in a mocking tone, but Mario just smiled then shot a small fireball from his right index finger towards his left arm, confusing everyone until a gasp of pain was heard from Miss All Sunday as she held her left arm.
"So that's the trick." Mario stated now free, "You must keep it a secret or else people will find out that your devil fruit power is also your greatest weakness. I mean, if I were to have used my full strength to break your grip on me and destroyed all those extra arms holding me, I could've ripped off your actual arm." Mario declared, shocking everyone that he discovered Miss All Sunday's powers.
"Wait, what's her devil fruit power?" Vivi asked.
"Well, from what I was able to determine by watching her, she can grow extra arms out of anything. That's how she threw Sanji and Usopp to the ground while smacking your weapons out of your hands without moving. But, as I just demonstrated, if you attack these arms any damage they take is dealt to her real body." Mario explained, receiving an angry glare from Miss All Sunday. Mario just pointed behind her.
When she turned, she saw Cappy was also free and was continuing his path towards her head. "NO!" she said in shock as she was about to throw up her hands to stop it. But Mario had grabbed her in a bear hug.
"Yes, Miss All Sunday, you lose." Mario declared as Cappy landed on her head and Mario possessed her. As his trademark mustache and blue eyes appeared on Miss All Sunday, everyone began to cheer for his victory. "Thank you, thank you. Now I will begin to read her mind." Mario then closed his eyes and after a few minutes they shot open. "Ah, so that's it. Vivi catch!" Mario yelled as he pulled out an eternal pose from Miss All Sunday's pocket and tossed it to Vivi.
"What's this?" she asked, examining the eternal pose.
"That leads to an island where they have no agents stationed, apparently the island our log pose is locked onto is an extremely dangerous island called Little Garden. Funny name since the island is filled with giant dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts." Mario explained.
"But why does she want to help us?" Nami questioned.
"Because even though she is Crocodile's partner, first and foremost she is a survivor. She's always looking for the better ship to jump onto, if we win, she could say that she helped us to join our crew, if we lost, she's far too important to Crocodile for him to kill even if he believed she helped us." Mario explained. Then Luffy marched up to Vivi while picking up his hat off the ground.
"Forget that!" he yelled as he grabbed the eternal pose and crushed it.
"What was that for!?" Nami screamed as she smacked him on the head.
"She's not the one who decides where this ship goes." Luffy stoically declared, causing Mario to clap.
"Excellent choice of words Luffy! Now…" Mario released Miss All Sunday from his control and appeared in front of her. "Thanks for the information, Ni… ahem Miss All Sunday."
Miss All Sunday just stood in shock for a moment before she crossed her arms and yelled "CLUTCH!". Suddenly dozens of arms appeared on Mario and attempted to bend him backwards, but Mario just broke their grasp causing Miss All Sunday to fall to the ground.
"You couldn't beat me when you had the element of surprise, now that I know all your tricks you don't stand a chance. Just walk away, you said it yourself, you don't have orders to follow us, so you don't have a reason to fight, right?" Mario said to Miss All Sunday. She just walk towards the edge of the boat.
"Banchi!" she called out as she jumped off the Merry and onto a large turtle floating beside the ship.
"You forgot this!" Mario called out as he threw Miss All Sunday's hat at her. As she caught it, she gave Mario one final glare before sailing away.
"So, what else did you find out Mario?" Nami asked.
"A lot, that Alabasta is in the middle of a civil war and Crocodile has agents in both the rebel army and the royal army whose jobs are to make sure both sides keep killing each other. Also, that there is a ponyglyph under Alabasta that has the location of an ancient super weapon, and that Miss All Sunday can read it." Mario explained.
"What's a ponyglyph?" Luffy asked.
"They're ancient, near indestructible artifacts with an ancient language written on them." Vivi clarified.
"Yep, and Miss All Sunday can read it. That's why she's so important to Crocodile and his plans." Mario added.
"And? Did you find out anything else?" Nami asked again.
"Nothing important, the rest is just Miss All Sunday's personal history, and I won't reveal that. That's personal." Mario casually said, causing everyone to look at him curiously.
"It sounds like you've fallen for her." Usopp said inquisitively.
"No, no, no nothing like that, but I guess I am sympathetic to her. She reminds me a lot of a shadow person I know."
"Shadow person?" everyone asked.
"Yeah, they exist, and just like Miss All Sunday she also had a troublesome past. Guess I'm just a sucker for hard luck cases." Mario finished explaining while gazing off into the ocean.
Meanwhile, with Miss All Sunday, as she was putting on her hat, she found a note inside of it. It read:
My offer still stands if you ever want to take it.
Your possible friend Mario
Flashback to Miss All Sunday's mindscape, she was trapped inside a giant white top hat. When she approached one of the walls it became clear, but she still couldn't get through even with her devil fruit powers.
"You won't be able to get out." Mario said, causing Miss All Sunday to turn to him. "While your trapped, I have full control of your body and your memories." As he said this Miss All Sunday's memories began to flash in front of them.
"NO! STOP!" she cried out, but it was too late. All her memories had played out in front of Mario like a movie. When it was over Mario just turned to her with a shocked look on his face.
"Wow… that's… um… well that's rough. I know this may be hard to believe since we just met and I just invaded your inner most private thoughts, but if you ever want to talk, no strings attached, nothing about ancient super weapons or lost histories or anything else like that, just talk. I'm willing to be a friendly ear to listen, Nico Robin." Mario said as he offered a hand for Robin, but she just stood there staring at him with distrust. Mario then pulled his hand back, "Understandable, but my offer still stands if you ever want to take it. Now let's get out of here." Mario said as he released her from his control.
Back to the present Robin folded the note back up and placed it in her pocket before she place her hands over her eyes and began to cry.