Disclaimer I do not own the right to any Mario Characters or One Piece characters.

Ch.15 Darkmess Takes the Sands, Arrival at Alabasta Part 2

A week later at the edge of Alabasta

The Straw Hats have arrived and are dropping anchor at what appears to be an abandoned coastline.

"Are you sure about this Vivi? Shouldn't we land at a port town?" Usopp asked.

"No Usopp, it would be troublesome if we were spotted by Baroque Works agents. It's best we land here and make our way in land." Vivi explained while her and the rest of the Straw Hats get dressed for the hot desert weather and conditions.

As they were about to get off some strange seal creatures jump out of the water and start barking at them.

"If you want to get on shore then you weaklings have to beat me first. Is what he said." Chopper explained.

"Kung-Fu Dugongs." Vivi gasped out.

"Ha! That's it? I guess they didn't know that I, Usopp, was the greatest fighter in the east blue!" Usopp shouted as he jumped off.

"No Usopp, Dugongs are known to be strong." Vivi tried to warn him, but Usopp was already beaten and bruised.

"They're not so tough!" Luffy shouted as he and Mario had beaten the Dugongs.

"That's even worse!" Vivi shouted back. Just then the Dugongs got up and bowed to Mario and Luffy. "If you beat them they accept you as their master."

"Alright! Now left! And Right! Now a kick!" Luffy shouted as he began to go through the motions with his half of the Dugongs. Mario's half just stared at him waiting for instructions.

"Okie dokie, let's-a go!" Mario shouted as he pulled out a small block from his pockets and in a poof all the Dugongs had a block above them. "One thousand jumps, start!" The dugongs followed his instruction and began to jump into the blocks.

"Okay that's enough, we have to get going." Zoro stated as he and the rest of the crew got off he ship.

"Looks like we have to go." Mario announced to the Dugongs, they looked at him and Luffy with sad eyes. "Don't look at us like that, here." Mario pulled out a book and handed it to the Dugongs. "Just follow these instructions and one day you might be as strong as me." The Dugongs all cheered while Sanji walked up to Mario.

"Hey, what was that book you gave them?"

"Oh, they are fighting lessons from my dojo."

"You have a dojo?" Sanji asked getting everyone's attention.

"Yeah, back in my world I have my own fighting dojo where people can learn "Mario Style" fighting." Mario explained while rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course you have your own dojo. I wouldn't be surprised if you said you had your own planet at this point." Sanji said while letting out a puff of cigarette smoke. Mario just sheepishly turns away and tries to cover his face with his cap. "Wait, you actually have your own planet!"

"It was a gift from Rosalina for saving the universe." Mario explained while the others stood in shock Luffy had stars in his eyes.

"So cool. I want my own planet!" Luffy said as giddy as a child.

"You have to save the universe first Luffy." Mario explained causing Luffy to pout a bit.

"Okay, enough antics everyone. Let's get going to town." Nami ordered. As soon as the Dugongs heard they were going into town they all rushed at the Straw Hats and tried to pull them back. They frantically barked at them.

"Don't go into town. There is something dark and evil in there. Is what they are saying." Chopper explained.

"Dark and evil, could they be talking about Crocodile?" Mario asked.

"Maybe, it has been some time since I left. He could have increased his influence with Baroque Works or his status as a warlord." Vivi answered. Mario then turned to the Dugongs.

"Don't worry, that's why we're here. We are going to beat that evil dark thing in town." The Dugongs gave him a worried look before Mario reassured them with a thumbs up. The Dugongs nodded and let them pass.

As they approached town they were not prepared for what awaited them. The town appeared abandoned as they're were no townspeople in sight for what should be a bustling port town. But, that was just the least of their problems. A dark inky goo covered the town. Some forming into tentacles and protruding our of the buildings. A there were large yellow eyes formed by the dark substance that stared at the Straw Hats. Vivi just stood in shock at the state of the town.

"What happened? What is this, this dark substance?" The rest of the Straw Hats were also wondering what this was when Mario broke the silence.

"Guys, we need to leave. NOW." Mario said in a serious tone, the others agreed and were about to leave.

"What's the rush Straw Hats? You haven't truly appreciated the renovations we have done to this town." A voice called out. Suddenly the sands around them began to pick up into a storm, until it formed a person that hovered in front of them.

"Crocodile!" Vivi called out with anger. "But you look different, what happened to you? What happened to this town?" Crocodile just laughed at Vivi's question.

"How kind of you to notice my changes." Crocodile mocked, he now had rabbit ears protruding from the top of his head, his eyes glowed yellow and the same dark substance that covered the town seemed to flow from him like sand.

"Cursa!" Mario defiantly shouted.

"Correct Red Cap. You have made some powerful enemies and you know the saying. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, for now." Crocodile said, he whispered the last part to himself. He then snapped his fingers and four figures came out of the Darkmess covering the town. Two were rabbid sized with Darkmess radiating off of them. The other two were human sized but wore rabbit masks and also had Darkmess radiating off of them. They also had the tattoo of Baroque Works on their arms.

"Stooges! Don't try to fight them! You won't be able to hurt them without spark power!" Mario called out receiving laughter from Crocodile.

"Correct again Red Cap, Cursa is rebuilding her army and Baroque Works is more than willing to help out." Crocodile then snapped his fingers and the Stooges attacked the Straw Hats. Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro seemed to have dispatched them easily, but the Stooges kept getting back up.

"Damn it! It's really true, without these spark things we can't hurt them!" Zoro yelled in frustration. Mario then jumped forward grabbed two of the Stooges and threw them into the horizon. The other two attacked Mario, but he just caught their fists and proceeded to through them away as well.

"Very clever, you couldn't defeat them normally so you just sent them away. But they'll be back." Crocodile stated in a mocking tone.

"But we'll be long gone by then." Mario retorted.

"Will you!" Crocodile yelled as he charged Mario. Mario blocked him and blasted him away with a fireball. But, just like the stooges, Crocodile could not be hurt.

"Run! I'll keep him busy!" Mario shouted as he got into a fighting stance. Everyone listened and began to run away.

"You think so Red Cap? Then try this, Darkness Storm!" Crocodile yelled as he placed his hand on the ground. Suddenly a sandstorm mixed with Darkmess swallowed Mario and the Straw Hats. Just as quickly as it appeared it was gone along with the Straw Hat pirates. "Now that you are scattered across these lands, experience and enjoy the new Alabasta. Before the desert sands swallow you all." Crocodile began to laugh triumphantly before turning into sand and vanishing into the air.

In the Middle of the Desert

Luffy awoke next to an old abandoned shack. He looked around and saw that he was alone.

"Ah man, that sand, darkness bastard split us up. I got to find everyone quickly." Luffy was about to leave when he heard the sound of someone moving around in the old shack. "Hello? Is someone there?" Luffy called out as he went inside.

Luffy kept looking around the shack, but was growing frustrated as he could not find anything. As he turned to leave the door shut and the sounds of a struggle could be heard inside the shack. After a few minutes Luffy came out.

"Now, to find the rest of them. Can't wait to see you again slick." Luffy said as he walked into the desert.

Somewhere else in the Desert

Vivi awoke and was standing up while rubbing her head.

"This darkness stuff is more dangerous than I thought. If this Cursa has teamed up with Crocodile then we don't stand a chance without Mario's friends. I hope they arrive soon." Vivi said to herself as she observed her surrounding. It appeared she was in an old town that was abandoned and swallowed by the desert sands. She was walking through town when someone grabbed her.

"Who's there?!" Vivi screamed as she freed herself and got ready to fight.

"Don't worry Vivi it's just me." Sanji said as he revealed himself.

"Oh Sanji, it's just you. Thank goodness." Vivi looked around her surrounding once again. "It seems we have been separated from everyone else."

Sanji lit up a cigarette and took puff. "Yeah, any idea where we are?"

"No idea, but.." Vivi look to the sky as it was twilight and the stars were starting to show. "If we go in this direction we should be able to reach the town we came across earlier."

"Really?"

"Yes, the stars can serve as a great map."

"Wow, your so smart Vivi!" Sanji exclaimed with hearts in his eyes. "But, do we really need to go back to that town covered by whatever that stuff is?"

"We won't be going into town, but it would be best if we get back to the Merry." Vivi explained with Sanji nodding in agreement.

In front of the Merry

Zoro was laying unconscious on the coast. He was resting until something slapped him awake. He got up to see it was the Dugongs all giving him worried looks.

"About time." Zoro turned to see Nami already prepping the ship.

"Hey, where's everyone else?"

"No idea, we got separated by whatever Crocodile did."

"And your just going to run away and abandon everyone?" Zoro asked receiving a smack from Nami.

"Of I'm going to run, we can't hurt that guy or his minions without these spark things Rosalina is sending over. But I'm not abandoning our friends. Let's search the coast and try to keep as far away as possible from Crocodile and whoever this Cursa person is." Nami explained.

"And do you think we'll be able to find them like this?"

"Well it's better than just wandering aimlessly in the desert."

"I think we should wait here." Zoro stated getting a shocked look from Nami. "Think about it, they all know that the Merry is here. If we wait long enough they'll probably all arrive and then we can take off." He reasoned, Nami didn't like the idea of waiting but he had a point.

"Okay then, we'll wait. But if we see any of those Darkmess creeps we're out of here." Zoro agreed with this idea knowing that he would have no chance against these things.

Somewhere in the desert

Mario was waking up when Chopper hugged him.

"Mario, you're awake. Thank goodness, I was so scared." Chopper cried out while Mario just pat his head.

"Oh good, you're awake." Usopp said as he came down from a nearby rock. "We were all separated by that Crocodile jerk. Man this Darkmess stuff sucks, nothing could hurt those guys."

"Yep, that's Darkmess for you." Mario said as he dusted himself off. "Wasn't expecting Crocodile to make an alliance with Cursa. She must have been weakened when we defeated her." Mario then began to think, there's no way Cursa could pull this off without a suitable host. That's when his eyes widened. "Robin." Mario whispered.

"Huh, who's Robin?" Chopper asked getting Usopp's attention.

"Never mind, let's-a go." Mario stated as he pulled his gloves. Now there were two Mario's and both had wings on there caps. One grabbed Usopp and the other grabbed Chopper and flew off. "Keep a look out, let me know if you see the Merry."

"Right." Usopp answered as he adjusted his goggles. After a few minutes Usopp spotted the Merry. "Down there!" He pointed and Mario followed his directions. Soon they landed and all the Dugongs rushed up to their master.

"Hey guys, did you keep our ship safe?" Mario asked the Dugongs while Usopp and Chopper walked towards Nami and Zoro.

"Oh good, you guys made it." Nami said waving them down.

"Yeah, are we the only ones that showed up?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, Mario can you fly over the island and find the others?" Nami asked Mario, he gave her a thumbs up before he and his clone flew off to find the others.

On the outskirts of the Port Town

Sanji and Vivi had just arrived and were hiding behind a rock on the outside of town.

"Okay, we made it." Sanji said in a hushed tone, not wanting to alert the Stooges that were guarding the town.

"Yes, now if we can get around the town without alerting them we should be able to make back to the Merry." Vivi stated. When they were about to walk out something grabbed Vivi's leg startling her. "What the!? Who are you!?" She asked as a strange shadow person seemed to try and say something while pointing to himself.

"Get off her you creep!" Sanji yelled as he kicked the strange shadow person into a nearby cliff. Unfortunately the commotion had alerted the Stooges standing guard and they gave chase after Vivi and Sanji. "Ah crap, run Vivi!" Sanji yelled as he and Viv booked it in the opposite direction.

"This is bad, we're running away from the Merry."

"I know Vivi, but we can't beat these things."

"Hey! Up here!" Mario called out getting Sanji's and Vivi's attention.

"Mario!" They said in unison. Mario and his clone dove down and picked them up. Saving them from the Stooges and heading towards the Merry.

Back at the Merry

Zoro and the others were waiting for Mario as the Merry was prepped and ready to sail.

"Hey guys." A voice called out from the desert.

"Luffy!" Usopp and Chopper said in unison as they were happy to see their friend safe and sound.

"Wow, I'm surprised you found us." Nami said in amazement Luffy didn't get lost.

"I know right, I must be pretty lucky to have found you guys." Luffy said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Now, all we need is Mario, Vivi and curly brow and we are set." Zoro stated. As soon as he said that Usopp saw something in the distance.

"Hey there they are." Usopp stated as he got a better look at them. "Oh crap and they're being chased by those things." He explained as behind Mario a group of Stooges were trying to shoot him down.

"Get the ship ready!" Mario shouted. With that everyone got on and set sail, Mario had landed on the Merry as they sailed away.

Mario waved by to the Dugongs while they dove into the ocean to escape the Stooges. "Luffy aren't you going to say by to the Dugongs? We are their masters now."

"Oh right, bye my minions." Luffy said confusing everyone.

"Minions? That's kind of mean Luffy." Usopp stated while everyone agreed.

"Sorry, slip of the tongue." Luffy explained while rubbing the back of his head.

Mario was confused, Luffy was acting strange and the Dugongs looked at him with indifference, like he was a stranger.

So the Straw Hats have arrived to Alabasta only to find it conquered by Cursa and Crocodile. Now the situation has grown dire with our heroes unable to so much as lay a scratch on their enemies. Will Mario's friends arrive in time to deliver the spark weapons needed to stop Cursa and Crocodile. And why is Luffy acting so strange. Find out next time.