Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Mario characters or One Piece characters.
Chapter 14: Darkmess Takes the Sands, Arrival at Alabasta
In a hidden base in Alabasta
Crocodile is sitting at his desk talking to Mister Two, whom he had sent to kill Mister Three. In a fit of rage Crocodile slams his fist into the desk.
"What do you mean you couldn't find Mister Three!?" Crocodile yelled into a transponder snail.
"It's as I said sir, when we arrived we couldn't find any trace of Mister Three or his partner. And when we found his wax hideout we discovered the bodies of the unluckies." The voice on the other end explained.
"Very well, return back to Alabasta immediately. We need to start preparations for phase two."
"Yes sir!" CLICK. After Mister Two had hung up Crocodile leaned back into his seat, a wave of frustration washing over his face. He then opened up a drawer in his desk and pulled out a power star that he had found.
"At first I thought this was a gift from the heavens, the things I was able to do with its power." Crocodile held up the power star and his hook began to glow, then two giant sand golems appeared. "These sand golems I can create with this star were undefeatable, I sent one to fight the royal army and one to the rebel army and neither golem could be defeated." He stated with a smirk, before it quickly turned into a scowl. "But now, I have this Red Cap Mario searching for the power stars and in every report about him he seems to have more and more abilities. His strength seems limitless." Crocodile stood silent for a bit until he slammed his fist on the desk again. "And now I hear reports about a similar person in green clothes who is also searching for these stars is here in Alabasta!" Crocodile slumped back down in his chair and snapped his fingers dispersing the golems. He gazed into the power star, deep in thought. "Can I beat them? This Red Cap and Green Cap? Even with the star, is it possible?"
"No, you have no hope of defeating Mario and Luigi." A voice called out from the darkness. Crocodile instantly rose out of his chair and assumed a fighting stance.
"Who's there? So yourself!" He demanded. He only received laughter in return as Cursa revealed herself from the shadows.
"Now, now, now dear child, no need to be scared. I only speak the truth. It's not your fault that you are weak." Cursa stated angering Crocodile.
"Child? Weak? How dare you!?" Crocodile yelled as he charged at Cursa and grabbed her by the throat. "Who's weak now, you damn wench?" Crocodile proceeded to try and suck out the moisture out of her, but found that he could not. "What the?"
Cursa began to laugh as dark tendrils came out of her cloak and wrapped around Crocodile's arms. He tried to escape by turning his arms into dead sand, but he couldn't. What power was this? Did it ignore devil fruit abilities? Was it a kind of devil fruit he had never heard of? A million questions ran through his head as the tendrils continued to wrap around his body.
"Oh my dear Crocodile, I am the incarnation of darkness and corruption in the universe, a dark celestial being. Do you think your little devil fruit can harm me." She said as got closer to Crocodile. "And compared to me, you are weak. I once defeated and possessed a goddess who watches over the creation of the universe. And I have been alive since the dawn of the universe, so compared to me you are a child." Cursa explained as she caressed Crocodile's cheek, before smacking him down to the ground. She then released him and floated over to his desk where the power star was resting.
"Are you here for the power star as well?" Crocodile asked as he got up.
"Oh this?" She asked waving her hand over the power star. "It can be useful, but..." She suddenly got up in Crocodiles face. "I want to start a partnership instead." This statement took Crocodile aback. Why would she want a partnership, if she was powerful as she stated she has no need for a partnership with him. "You see, I was defeated by the Mario brothers before. Now they had others help them and the power of the sparks, both which are not here in this universe yet. But, my resurgence has not gone unnoticed. Rosalina, the goddess, will send those friends and the sparks here to this world so Mario and the others can hunt me down. But until then, if I can strengthen my power then I can defeat them this time. So that is why offer you this partnership."
"And what do I get out of this partnership?" Crocodile asked, receiving maniacal laughter in return.
"Why, you'll get power that surpasses even the power star. Those little golems you made are child's play compared to me. I once defeated Rosalina, the creator of the power stars." Cursa's offer perked Crocodile's interest. With this partnership he can obtain even more power, a power that even Mario cannot defeat without special items he does not possess yet. And he can wait for an opportune moment to take that power all for himself.
"Very well, I accept your deal miss..."
"Cursa, now I will need something from you Crocodile. I need a body."
Out at sea on the Going Merry
The straw hats were all relaxing on deck as they sailed to Alabasta when Starlow's star antenna began to glow.
"Mario! We're getting another message from Rosalina." Star said getting all the straw hats attention.
"Rosalina?" Vivi and Chopper asked in unison.
"Oh you'll see." Nami explained. Starlow then projected the image of Rosalina from her antenna. Vivi and Chopper just stood in awe at her cosmic presence until Sanji leapt up.
"Oh my goddess Rosalina you have returned! I am truly blessed to witness your cosmic beauty again." Sanji stated while doing his weird noodle dance. Rosalina giggled a bit.
"It is good to see you to Sanji, and the rest of you as well." Rosalina said with a gentle tone. She then laid her eyes upon Chopper and Vivi. "Oh, did you add more members to your crew?"
"Yes we did." Mario walked up to introduce Vivi and Chopper, who was trying to hide behind Vivi. "This is Vivi, princess of Alabasta. We are heading to her country where a warlord has obtained a power star and is trying to take over country."
"Oh my, with a power star it certainly is possible to topple a kingdom. If ones will power is strong enough they can use to create a universe even." Rosalina explained causing Vivi to gasp in shock. "But not to worry, with Mario and the Straw Hats I have no doubt you will defeat this terrible warlord and retrieve the power star."
"Yes, I believe so as well." Vivi said in relief. Rosalina then turned to Chopper and knelt down to see him.
"And who is this little guy."
"This smart little guy is our newest doctor, Tony Tony Chopper." Mario explained. Chopper then walked out and introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm Chopper. The new doctor for the Straw Hats."
"My, you are adorable. And you must be quite the doctor to receive praise from Mario." Rosalina said, causing Chopper to blush and start doing his happy dance.
"Oh stop it you two. I don't need your praise." Rosalina giggled at his little dance before her expression saddened.
"Rosalina, is something wrong?" Mario asked.
"Yes, unfortunately I must bring bad news Mario. Cursa has returned." Surprise and shock washed over Mario's face at Rosalina's statement.
"How? We destroyed her with the sparks."
"It is my fault. I was too lax with my vigilance and believed her to be gone forever. Fortunately she has not regained her full power, but due to the instability caused by the power stars she has escaped to that universe." The Straw Hats are shocked at this statement, Nami then walks up to Mario.
"Hey Mario, who is this Cursa?"
"Cursa is a cosmic being comprised of darkness and corruption." Rosalina answered. "She once defeated me and took over my body, but thanks to Mario and his friends I was saved and, with the power of the sparks, she was defeated."
"Sparks?" Usopp, Luffy and Zoro said while tilting their heads. Rosalina then pulled up a small star shape being with tiny rabbit ears.
"These little ones. They contain the power of light and life in the universe and that power can be channeled to stop Cursa. It is why she was hunting them down the first time she tried to conquer the universe." Rosalina explained. Usopp and Zoro seemed to get it, but Luffy was still confused.
"I don't get it." He said, receiving a smack from Usopp.
"I'll explain later, so Rosalina without the sparks can we beat Cursa?" Usopp asked with a hint of fear in his voice.
"Sadly no. Not even Mario can win without the sparks." Rosalina answered shocking everyone besides Mario. He was the strongest person they had seen, pulling of feats of strength they never thought possible. Not to mention all his powers and abilities, and he couldn't win without these sparks.
"Hey Mario, she's joking right?" Nami asked hoping that it wasn't true, but Mario just shook his head. "What! Seriously! And that thing is here in our world!?"
"Not to worry." Rosalina said gathering everyone's attention. "I have already told Beep-o and he and Jeanie have already gathered your allies and are heading to that world with the sparks and Mario and Luigi's weapons."
"All of my allies? Including Bowser?" Mario asked confusing the Straw Hats. From what Mario had told them Bowser would be the last person he would want to team up with.
"No, Bowser is missing. I assume he is in another universe, trying to find the missing power stars." Rosalina explained. "We will have to deal with that later as Cursa is the more pressing threat. And as for Rabbid Rosalina." Just then a smaller version of Rosalina appeared, but she seemed to be some short of rabbit creature.
"I'll be staying here with Rosalina just in case Cursa tries to possess her again." She then pulled out a stuffed toy and revealed it to be some sort of weapon. "I won't let Cursa get her this time."
The Straw Hats just watched the small Rosalina creature with curiosity.
"What is that?" Chopper asked, receiving a scoff from Rabbid Rosalina.
"I'm Rabbid Rosalina, weren't you listening." She asked in annoyance.
"Yeah we were, but what are you?" Usopp clarified.
"I'm a rabbid, you've never seen a rabbid before?" Rabbid Rosalina asked. The Straw Hat crew all tilted their heads.
"Rabbid?" They all said in unison. Rosalina then pulled Rabbid Rosalina into a hug.
"Rabbid Rosalina, they don't have rabbids in that universe. None of them have ever seen a rabbid before." She then put Rabbid Rosalina down. "Rabbids are rabbit like creatures that entered our universe some time ago from an unknown location. There arrival was chaotic at first, but they seemed to have adapted and have built civilizations on many of our planets and are thriving."
"So if there is a Rabbid Rosalina does that mean there's a Rabbid Mario?" Luffy asked.
"Come on Luffy, I'm sure that Rabbid Rosalina is just a coincidence. Like there's going to be a rabbid counterpart for Mario." Usopp stated as a matter of fact.
"No he's right. There's a Rabbid Mario and even my brother Luigi has a rabbid counterpart." Mario explained causing shock to the Straw Hats. Luffy then had stars in his eyes.
"So, does that mean there's a Rabbid Luffy? Do I have a rabbid copy?" Mario and Rosalina pondered on this for a bit.
"Well, since they don't exist in your universe I don't think so. But the rabbids seem to have an effect on whichever universe they go to, so there might be a Rabbid Luffy some time in the future." Rosalina explained.
"Alright! I'm going to find him and get him to join my crew." Luffy stated before receiving a smack from Nami.
"Please don't, dealing with you is troublesome enough already. We don't need a mini Luffy causing even more trouble." Nami said with the rest of the Straw Hats, besides Mario, nodding there heads in agreement. Mario just laughed at their antics before turning to Rosalina.
"So, my old team is heading over to this universe along with the sparks and the spark based weapons to fight Cursa, right?"
"Yes. So until then please do not confront her, if you come across Cursa just run." Rosalina answered as her hologram began to shake. "It seems the signal is becoming unstable. Mario if you can do not let Cursa get a power star." Rosalina said before her image was cut out and Starlow fell to the ground.
"It's getting harder to maintain signals between universes." Starlow stated as Mario picked her up.
"You did good Starlow, now rest up." Mario said as he placed her under his hat.
"Thanks Mario." Starlow said while falling asleep under Mario's hat. Mario then turned to the rest of the crew.
"Sorry you guys are being dragged into these things because of me." Luffy then walked up to Mario.
"Forget about it Mario. Your our crewmate, our nakama of course we'll help." Luffy said with the rest of the crew agreeing. Mario smiled with gratitude as they continued to set sail.
After a few hours Mario was resting on the back of the Merry. "Hey." Mario looked up to see who was speaking but found no one. "It's me Miss Sun... no Nico Robin. I want to take you up on your offer to talk. I am behind the ship on Banchi, jump on." Mario looked around to see everyone was doing there own thing. He pulled his glove to make a clone to stay there while he jumped down onto the large turtle where Nico Robin was.
"Well hello Miss Robin, glad you accepted my offer."
"Yes, I have many questions I believe you can answer. But, I would like to not be interrupted by your crew if they get curious."
"There is always the mindscape." Mario said as he grabbed the lip of his cap. Robin understood that she would be possessed again as they talked in her head. She was hesitant at first, but Mario had already seen all her memories and no one would be able to spy on them in the mindscape.
"Fine, let's do it." Robin said in agreement. Mario then flicked Cappy onto her and was pulled into her mind. With Mario's deep blue eyes and mustache appearing on her, she sat down and we are taken into her mindscape. Once again Robin finds herself inside a giant white top hat, but she has prepared herself for it. "Not going to freak out?" Mario asked appearing behind her.
"No, I think I got use to this." Robin replied while waking over to Mario. Mario then twirled his hands around and two chairs materialized from the mist surrounding them. "I didn't know you could do that."
"Neither did I, but Cappy let me know about this."
"Since every time we used the capture ability we were moving or in combat you never really needed use this before." Cappy clarified.
Robin then took a seat along with Mario. "Okay Mario first question, do you know what the will of D is?"
"Will of D?"
"I see, to simplify, it is a theory that those with the initial D are among those that will bring great change to the world."
"Hmmm... never heard of it, or rather no one has brought it up. But it's just a theory right?"
"Well, there are examples such as the first king of the pirates, Gol D. Roger. And not to mention your friend Monkey D. Luffy, he seems to have a power that can draw in others to his cause." Robin explained. Mario thought about this for a moment as she had a point. He would have never guessed that he would join a pirate crew on his quest to gather the power stars. However, something about Luffy just made him feel this was the best decision.
"You have a point. But Luffy has never mentioned this "Will of D" to me. Plus I don't think he would know anything about it."
"I see, then onto the next question. What are star children?"
"Well, I can tell you what I know." Mario began to explain that star children are those born with an incredible amount of power and destined to do great things. He also explained that, as far as he knows, there are only seven star children. Him, his brother Luigi, Princess Peach, Wario, Bowser, Yoshi and Donkey Kong.
"I see, and is it possible for new star children to be born."
"Yeah, I just don't know the frequency or if the fact that if other star children exist others will not be born. Rosalina would know more about this than me."
"Rosalina?"
"Oh, she's the one who watches over the universe and governs over it's maintenance and creation. She's the one in charge of creating items like the power stars."
"I see, thank you Mario. We should get back now."
"Before we go I have a question of my own. Why did you join Crocodile?" This question caused Robin some shock. "I saw your memories and intentions back when I went through them, I know you have no intention to actually let Crocodile get that ancient weapon. So why stay with him? He's just going to kill you once he finds out."
Robin remained silent for a bit, but then she looked up. "Because, I'm tired. I'm tired of the endless chases, the constantly watching my back. I just want it to end." Robin stated as she got up. Mario then walked up and place his hand on her arm.
"This may be rude of me to pull from your memories, but as your friend Saul said no one is destined to be alone." Mario's words caused Robin a mix of shock and anger. "And to prove my point here, let me be your first friend." Mario offered his hand for her to take. Robin was shocked, she wanted to slap him or something. But she wasn't sure if she could in this realm he had full control over and when she looked into his eyes she didn't she hidden motives or any sort of deception, just kindness, genuine kindness.
A smile formed her face as she began to laugh a little. "My, one would think that you have fallen for me Mario." Robin's words caused Mario to turn beet red and he began to stutter as he tried to explain himself.
"N-N-No it's not like that... I mean your a beautiful woman but... um..." Mario's antics just caused Robin to laugh some more, but Mario wasn't angered by this. He liked that she seemed to have some genuine happiness, after all she reminded him of Vivian as was determined to save Robin just like he saved her. "We should go." Mario said, but before he undid the possession he looked Robin up and down assessing her.
"Oh, am I so beautiful that you can't take your eyes off me?" Robin teased causing Mario to go red again, she enjoyed teasing the plumber turned pirate.
"No, it's just an old foe from my past named Cursa has come to this universe and she needs a host so she could access her full powers. And the more I look at you the more perfect you seem for that role." Robin's smile faded fast as she heard these words.
"And is she powerful?" Robin asked with concern.
"Yes, she once defeated and possessed Rosalina. The goddess that created the power stars and even I can't defeat her without the sparks. So, if you come across a floating black cloak with a rabbit mask, just run. Run as fast and as far as you can."
Robin was curious about this Cursa and these sparks, but before she could ask.
"Mario, what are you doing back there?" Nami's voice came from outside the mindscape.
"We should really go." Mario said as he released Robin from the mindscape. Once outside Mario bid Robin farewell and got back on the Merry before Nami or the others saw him with Robin.
Robin sailed back to Alabasta pondering Mario's words. "I'm the perfect host huh. It seems I will have to watch out for this Cursa as well."
Back on the Merry, Mario explained his leaving a clone behind that he had some private business to take care of. Luffy assumed that Mario pooped in the sea and thanks to the antics that followed after no one prodded any further into what this private business was.
Back in Alabasta in Crocodile's secret base
Robin had arrived a full week before the Straw Hats and was summoned by Crocodile.
"You summoned me, Mister Zero." Robin asked while taking a bow.
"Yes Miss Sunday, it has come to my attention that you have had a meeting with Red Cap Mario." This did not surprise Robin as Baroque Works had eyes and ears every where. It is why she was thankful for the mind scape Mario could access, so no one could eaves drop on their conversation.
"Yes I did. I was trying to learn what exactly a star child is."
"And? What did you find out?"
"That there are a total of seven star children, but luckily besides Red Cap and that green fellow who is his brother. The others are not on this world."
"And what else did you find out."
"That they have tremendous power and can accomplish great and miraculous feats."
"So I've heard." Crocodile said as he got up. "But that wasn't it was it? What else did you and Red Cap discuss?"
"Just the star children sir."
Crocodile narrowed his eyes at Robin. "Your lying." He began to walk towards her. "Your assuming that since you're the only one that can read the ponyglyph that you are too important for me to kill. Am I correct?"
Robin just stood in silence.
"Your silence is all the proof I need. And you are correct, you are too important to kill, but for other reasons." Crocodile stated while giving her a devilish grin. "She's all yours Cursa."
"Cursa!?" Robin gasped in horror at that name. As she stood in shock dark tendrils shot out of the darkness immobilizing her. Then Cursa revealed herself.
"Oh yes Crocodile, she'll do nicely." Cursa began to wrap herself around Robin. "Don't fight it child, just accept it and give me control."
"NOOO!" Robin cried out as she could feel Cursa's influence entering her body and mind. Robin let out some pain filled screams before her and Cursa collapsed to the ground. Then as she rose up Robin's body was completely covered by the cloak as dark cosmic hands protruded from under it. Her face covered by a swirl of darkness with one red eye peering out.
"So, do we begin Cursa?" Crocodile asked receiving a dark and evil laugh in return.
"Yes, Mister Crocodile. Let us start the conquest of this world and then the universe."