Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Mario characters or One Piece characters
Chapter 17: Straw Hats Caught! Luffy is a Traitor?
Three days ago in the alleyways of the Alabasta capitol
We see four figures skulking around constantly looking around to make sure they weren't being followed.
"This isn't a good idea."
"I agree, we should leave and make a break for the waters outside of the grand line."
"Do you honestly believe that would save us? Mister Zero would just send assassins after us, we would still be dead. Our only hope is to plead with him for a second chance."
"But Mister Three..."
"What is it Miss Golden Week? Do you have a better plan?" Mister Three asked his younger partner. The young girl just lowered her head in response.
These were Mister Three and Miss Golden Week, and Mister Five and his partner Miss Valentine. After their defeat at the hands of Mario and Donkey Kong they had found their way back to Alabasta, though conflicted about what to do next.
"And do you think he would be so merciful Mister Three? All we're doing is walking into our deaths."
"I agree with Mister Five, we should just get out of here." Miss Valentine stated as she and Mister Five turned to the exit. Miss Golden Week stood there, torn between loyalty to her partner and her own gut telling her to leave.
"Go with them Miss Golden Week." Miss Golden Week turned to her partner in shock at his words. "Consider this my final order."
"But..."
"That will not be necessary." A unknown voice called out startling both of the agents. Suddenly a darkness covered the alley ways swallowing both of them before they could even cry for help. "Don't worry. While Crocodile may not forgive you, he definitely won't kill you either. You are far too useful right now." The unknown entity stated before all the darkness vanished.
Inside of Crocodile's Rain Base
A large table with chairs surrounding it was in the center of a large room with some of the seats being filled. These were the remaining Baroque Works agents. Mister Two, an okama wearing a pink coat over a blue ballerina tutu and wearing swan slippers and a swan head dress, he was alone as he does not have a partner like the other agents. Mister Four, a large man with a blonde bowl hair cut wearing a large green jacket, and his partner Miss Merry Christmas, a short woman with sunglasses and green overalls with a white shirt and frazzled hair. And the final duo Mister One, a tall, tan and muscular man with a shaved head and wearing a black vest, and his partner Miss Double Finger, a tall slender woman with blue curly hair and wearing a leather top and leather pants. All the agents waited patiently until Mister Two got and slammed his hands on the table.
"What the hell is taking Mister Zero so long!"
"Quiet down you okama freak or else I'll make you." Mister One said while shooting a glare towards Mister Two.
"Just you try it, you bastard." Mister Two declared while stepping up onto the table. Mister One was about to engage when Miss Double Finger's fingers shot out and at was thrusted near their throats.
"Settle down you two. We don't want to cause a disturbance with Mister Zero when we are so close to our goal now." She reasoned, with that said both Mister Two and Mister One sat back down as she withdrew her fingers. "Still, it is taking quite long for Mister Zero to show up."
"I'm already here, I apologize for the wait." A new voice answered causing everyone to turn towards the source. They saw Crocodile standing at the top of the staircase looking down at them.
"What, you're Crocodile one of the seven warlords. Are you telling me that you're Mister Zero." Mister One said with shock on his face as well as the rest of the agents.
"That is correct Mister One."
"Well that's surprising, but what's even more surprising is that new look you have Sir Crocodile." Miss Double Finger stated drawing the agents attention to Crocodiles new rabbit ears on his head, as well as the dark substance that floats around him.
"Ah yes, allow me to explain." Just then Cursa appeared beside Crocodile. "This is my new partner, Cursa. She is a dark celestial being, in other words some kind of god. Now whether you choose to believe that or not does not matter. What does matter is that her power is very real." Crocodile then snapped his fingers and four Baroque Works stooges brought out four tied up prisoners.
"Hey hey! What's going on here! Aren't those other agents!?" Miss Merry Christmas asked.
"This is Mister Three and his partner Miss Golden Week. And here we have Mister Five and Miss Valentine. All four are guilty of failing to carry out their duties." Crocodile explained.
"It's surprising they are still alive after failing you Crocodile. Maybe someone here is guilty of failure as well." Mister One said giving a glance to Mister Two who was starting to sweat nervously.
"Yes, Mister Two was sent to find and eliminate Mister Three, but as you can see he did not. But do not fret Mister Two. As you said, he was not on the island when you arrived. I can only assume the Straw Hat pirates were not as thorough with them as they were with the unluckies." Crocodile stated causing Mister Two to relax.
"So, if I may be so bold, why are they still alive?" Miss Double Finger asked.
"Good question my dear. And that is because they will serve as a demonstration."
"A demonstration? You mean the price of failure?"
"That too Miss Double Finger, but mostly to demonstrate Cursa's power. If you would my dear."
"Of course Crocodile." Cursa said as she flew up to the tied up agents. Suddenly four dark celestial hands shot our from under her cloak and grabbed each of the agents foreheads. "Don't worry, it won't hurt a bit. It'll hurt a lot!" She stated as Darkmess began to cover the agents, their screams of pain and fear confirming her words. As soon as the screams started they stopped, and now the four agents had glowing yellow eyes and rabbit ears as well as some sort of dark substance emanating from them.
"Now to demonstrate the effects of their transformation, Mister One and Miss Double Finger, I want you two to fight Mister Five and Miss Valentine." Crocodile explained. With his orders giving the now Darkmess infested Mister Five and Miss Valentine broke their bonds and leapt to the bottom of the stairs to face their opponents.
"You want us to fight them Sir Crocodile?" Miss Double Finger asked.
"Yes, keep going until I say to stop. If any agent dies before then well, you were simply too weak to be apart of us." Miss Double Finger winced at Crocodile's cold and cruel explanation, but after seeing Mister One get ready without worry she relaxed. After all these were still the low ranking assassins that were sent after weak targets. How strong could they have become with this Darkmess fusion?
With that said everyone waited and watched until, "START!" Crocodile yelled. With that Mister One and Miss Double Finger charged at their opponents. Mister One turning the front of his right arm into a blade and Miss Double Finger shooting out her right fingers as they became spikes. Mister One did an upward slash on Mister Five and Miss Double Finger seemed to hit Miss Valentine. Assuming that they had already won the two gave a smug grin. However Mister Five and Miss Valentine just stood there, completely unaffected by the attacks.
"What the... How!? How are you still standing?" Miss Double Finger asked with frustration in her voice. Miss Valentine just gave her a creepy grin before her and Mister Five began their counter attack.
Mister Five thrusted out his palm causing a small explosion on Mister One's chest and forcing him back. Miss Valentine grabbed onto Miss Double Finger's fingers and pulled Miss Double Finger towards her. As Miss Double Finger was about to reach her, she jumped up and increased her wait in an attempt to crush Miss Double Finger. Miss Double Finger quickly pushed herself to the side avoiding the attack. But as she was getting up Miss Valentine was already upon her was dropping down an axe kick. Miss Double Finger jumped back, but as soon as the axe kick landed Miss Valentine had used the momentum to do a front flip following Miss Double Finger with a series of flips with heavy axe kicks forcing Miss Double Finger to continue moving back.
"How fascinating. She seems to have gained a fine control of her devil fruit. She is increasing the weight of her leg at the moment of impact and decreasing it as soon as she does her flip in continuous succession." Crocodile stated.
"Yes Crocodile, the Darkmess infusion has wiped all emotions from them turning them into our obedient slaves. Of course without emotion to cloud their thoughts they can think more practically and use those new ideas in devasting deadly ways." Cursa explained.
Back with Mister One he was rubbing his chest where Mister Five had delivered his attack. The explosion was small but much more powerful than it should have been. Before he could ponder on this further Mister Five was blowing into his hand and created four dark clouds that floated around him. He then rushed toward Mister One and tried to grab him with his right forearm. Mister one ducked under the attack and was about to launch a counter attack when one of the clouds hit him causing another explosion and knocking him onto the ground. Back with Miss Double Finger she was forced into a wall and was about to receive the axe kick when.
"ENOUGH!" Crocodile shouted causing Mister Five and Miss Valentine to stop their attacks. "Good work you two." Mister Five and Miss Valentine just stood silently angering Crocodile.
"Crocodile, I'm afraid the sudden Darkmess infusion has stripped them of their ability to speak." Cursa explained.
"Really? But they can still understand me correct?" Crocodile asked Cursa receiving a nod in response. "Nod if you two can understand me." Mister Five and Miss Valentine nodded. "Excellent, now as you can see this "Darkmess" has drastically increased their combat prowess. Now I would like you all to undergo the same process before we start the next phase of our plan."
"And would we end up like them?" Mister Two asked.
"Allow me to explain. They are mindless due to how quick the Darkmess infusion was as well as the type of Darkmess I forced into them. But their are other ways to obtain my power. As you can see Crocodile is also Darkmess infused and he is certainly not mindless. For the next couple of days I will begin to infuse the Darkmess into you. Slowly so your body may adapt to the changes as well as your mind." Cursa explained. After hearing her explanation all the agents agreed to undergo the process to obtain this "Darkmess" for themselves. Crocodile began to laugh manically at how all the pieces were finally starting to fall into place.
Present back at the rebel base
Vivi was speaking with Koza about how this all started.
"Crocodile had called for all available citizens to gather at his casino saying that he had information on the sand golems that had attacked both the rebel and the royal armies earlier. Of course many went, some believed he had a hand in it others thought he had caught the true culprit. Everyone had gathered there me, your father and of course his personal guards. That was when he unleashed this "Darkmess" we tried to fight back, but the more we fought the more men became corrupted by that stuff. I was forced to retreat, but you father would not abandon his people and Pell and Chaka would not abandon him." Koza explained causing Vivi to gasp in horror.
"So my father is..."
"Not to worry Vivi, even if your father is corrupted by the Darkmess once we defeat Cursa he'll return back to normal." Mario explained.
"Thank you Mario. Now are we all ready?" Vivi asked. Mande and Nain gave a thumbs up as the soldiers loaded up the last of the exploding ice barrels Mario had made. Vivi then turned to Mario and the rest of the crew and they gave a thumbs up as well.
"Ok, so it'll take a day to reach the capital. We will approach from the west side while your group approached from the east. At dawn of the next day is when we strike, while we are distracting the main forces you will sneak into Crocodile's casino and steal that power star." Koza explained, Mario then walked up to him.
"Here, if things go south use this to escape." Mario handed Koza a stop watch.
"A watch?"
"It's a stop watch. A special item that stops time for about ten to fifteen seconds." Koza just stood in awe at the powerful item he was just given. "Now don't get any ideas, it only has one use so use it wisely." Koza nodded in understanding.
"Alright everyone, MOVE OUT!" He ordered. With that everyone left the cave towards the capital of Alabasta. While on the way Vivi was pointing out land marks and some of Alabasta's natural beauty.
"Everyone come look!" Vivi called out. Everyone else walked up and saw a beautiful oasis that had remained untouched by Crocodile's and Cursa's influence.
"It's beautiful." Nami said in awe.
"What's the big deal? It's just a giant puddle." Luffy said with disinterest causing everyone to look at him in annoyance.
"What the hell you moron. Can't you appreciate anything besides food and fighting?" Sanji asked ready to kick Luffy in the head for disrespecting Vivi's homeland.
"We're not here to appreciate beauty, we're here to kick Crocodile's ass!" Luffy shouted while he jumped down from the hill the others were using to watch the oasis. They all stayed up there watching the oasis for a bit longer. "Heh, go ahead and appreciate that oasis a bit longer you losers. It'll be the last piece of beauty you will ever see soon." Luffy said to himself with a sinister grin.
After a days worth of trekking through the desert the straw hats arrive at the outskirts of the capital. Vivi just stood in horror at how much of the town was covered in Darkmess. Mario then placed his hand on her arm, giving her a reassuring look. With that Vivi calmed down and helped everyone set up a camp as night has come and the distraction would not be taking place until morning. After a good nights rest the group awaken at the crack of dawn and awaited the signal. Soon and explosion went of on the west side of town, the straw hats watched as all the Darkmess infused soldiers rushed towards the explosion leaving an open path for them. However, they soon encountered problems while sneaking to the rain base.
While they were sneaking along a wall to avoid some guards that were left behind, Luffy had knocked over a barrel alerting the guards. They had to run into alley ways to escape them, throwing them off the path they had determined to be the quickest way to the rain base. Soon they were hiding behind some boxes waiting for some Stooges to walk by. But Luffy had knocked them over, once again revealing the straw hats to the enemy. They were once again forced to run into some alley ways Luffy had found, sending them further off course. They finally made it to what they believed to be a back entrance to the rain base, but not before Luffy had once again alerted some guards to there presence by accidentally opening a door to a room full of stooges. They had to run into the back entrance and shut out the stooges. Once that was done Sanji grabbed Luffy by his robe.
"You dumbass! Are you trying to get us caught!"
"Yeah Luffy! I know you're not the brightest, but even you should know what "sneaking in" means." Nami said in agreement.
"Sorry guys, my bad." Luffy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"What the... "my bad" is all you got to say? Really!? That's all you got to say!" Zoro yelled while shaking Luffy.
"Enough! We have to keep moving." Vivi said getting everyone to continue on their mission to get the power star from Crocodile while Koza and the resistance distracted them.
Soon they entered a large dark room with a huge cage in the center and filled with water that reached their ankles. In the cage they saw supplies, some covered by a large cloth and in the center was the power star. As they were about to walk towards it, Vivi and Mario nodded to each other and Mario grabbed Luffy by the shoulder.
"Hey Luffy, once we stop Crocodile and collect the reward, you'll be able to finally buy a proper captains hat and ditch that old straw hat of yours."
Luffy grinned as he grabbed his hat. "You're right Mario. Can't wait to ditch this old thing and get a proper hat." Luffy said while throwing his straw hat to the side.
Nami had grabbed the hat before it lander in the water and began to look solemnly at it.
"Luffy would never do that." Luffy turned to Nami, confused by her words. "This hat is his greatest treasure, who the hell are you!" She shouted.
Everyone had turned to Luffy and he began to back up while holding up his hands.
"Come on guys. Stop messing around, it's me. Your pal Luffy."
Zoro had unsheathed one of his katanas and pointed it towards Luffy. "No you're not."
Luffy was frantically looking back and forth as Usopp had prepped his slingshot, Sanji lifted up his leg for combat and everyone else began to close in on him. Then his gaze landed on Mario and a grin grew on his face.
"Nice one Slick. Got me real good."
"Did you just call me..." Mario was interrupted when Luffy had snapped his fingers and a Darkmess tentacle shot up and began to flail about.
Everyone was dodging the tentacle while Luffy just stood there while laughing maniacally.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Sanji said while dodging another swipe of the tentacle.
"Doopliss!" Mario shouted getting everyone's attention.
"Glad to see you remember me slick. Nice to see you again. Too bad for you though, saying my name won't break the spell. Luffy has to say my name and he's not here right now. Not that he would be able to speak after what I did to him." Luffy(Doopliss) gloated.
"Hey Mario, some context here. Who is Doopliss?" Nami asked.
"He's a specter who specializes in stealing bodies. He must have taken Luffy's when we were all separated. Did anyone come across a shadow person while we were separated?" Mario asked while dodging strikes from the Darkmess tentacle.
Vivi and Sanji suddenly stopped in their tracks as Vivi covered her mouth and Sanji placed his hand on his head.
"Oh no, that was Luffy. He was asking for help." Vivi said.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Zoro asked.
"Well, I might've, sort of, may have, kicked Luffy into the side of a cliff." Sanji said with defeat.
"You what!? Way to go curly brow! You kicked our captain while this imposter took his place." Zoro said while glaring at Sanji.
"How the hell was I supposed to know! He didn't even look like Luffy!" Sanji yelled in his defense as he dodged another swipe of the Darkmess tentacle.
The Darkmess tentacle took another swing at the straw hats as they all dodged it. During it's attack it had destroyed the front of the cage and removed the cloth revealing two men in handcuffs tied to the boxes and gagged. Vivi saw the men and motioned for Mario to help her free them.
"Is that?" Mario thought as he helped the men get free.
"Man this is so much fun! Cursa and Crocodile are missing one heck of a show!" Luffy(Doopliss) said with a grin on his face.
"FIRE FIST!" A voice yelled as a huge fire ball was shot a Luffy(Doopliss).
He had dodged the attack and hid behind the tentacle. Everyone turned to the source of the attack and saw a tall man with black shorts, no shirt, a brown hat with a pair of goggles on top, one with a grin and the other with a frown, and a tattoo of a jolly roger with a long white mustache on his back.
"Who is that?" Usopp asked in awe.
"Nice to meet you all. Name's Ace, second division commander of the White Beard Pirates."
"Wait, White Beard? You don't mean the White Beard do you?"
"That's exactly who I mean mister long nose."
"But what's the second division commander of the White Beard Pirates doing here?" Zoro asked.
"I'll explain later, but for now." Ace turned to Luffy(Doopliss). "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to my little brother." He stated causing shock to everyone. He then turned to Mario. "You must be Mario, nice to meet you."
"You know me?"
"Yeah, I'm a friend of your bro Luigi."
"Where is he?" Mario asked with concern.
"That Darkmess thing swallowed him up earlier."
"Oh no!"
"That's right slick. And now you will join him!" Luffy(Doopliss) shouted as he pointed towards Mario, directing the tentacle to attack him.
Mario dodged the attack, but it instantly swung towards Ace. He shot fire out of his hands to stop it, but the tentacle was unaffected by the flames.
"Look out!" Mario shouted as he shoved Ace out of the way.
Mario was then slammed into the wall by the tentacle.
"Mario!" Ace shouted.
The Darkmess tentacle rose, but Mario was gone.
"What the?" Luffy(Doopliss) rubbed his head in confusion. "A clone, how clever."
"That's right Doopliss, Mario was onto you so he made a clone to stay with us while he went to find the real Luffy." Vivi stated in triumph.
Luffy(Doopliss) began to laugh at her statement. "So Mario, your best chance to beat me, isn't here right now. And you have no idea when he'll be back."
Doopliss's words sunk in and everyone just stood in shock at the revelation.
"That's a pretty stupid plan princess." A gruff voice said.
Everyone turned to see Smoker of the marines standing there with them.
"When did you get here?" Usopp asked the marine.
"Later, right now we have to hold out for your friend." Smoker replied while he got into a fighting stance along with everyone else.
"Ha! Let's see if you can do that you bunch of losers!" Luffy(Doopliss) shouted with a sadistic grin growing on his face.