Condescenion: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story. I guess Miguel's fear would be a little odd if you don't know the story but it's because of that battle I mentioned. He was stuck in the worst of it and his phobia is a result of the trauma he suffered back then. now fire reminds him of that nightmare. Actually, this is mentioned in the chapter and I'm going to expand on it pretty soon.
Yeah, I thought about it a bunch and I already made up my mind a while back. The Elysia Arc is going to be right after Water 7, that's about the best time for it.
Chopper couldn't make sense of what was going on.
He was delighted to know that his fears about joining the crew were unfounded since they had all accepted him. Heck, they had gotten on brilliantly since. He really felt like he would fit in great just like Luffy and Miguel assured him.
That wasn't the problem. The problem actually happened a few minutes ago. Chopper had just been hanging out with Luffy when before he quite knew it, the two were surprised by a big bird who swallowed the rubber teen.
Shocked and scared, Chopper ran to find help only to come across Zoro, Sanji and Usopp, who were playing cards and explained what happened. What left the doctor appalled was how dismissive they were of the situation. They thought so lightly of something like that. He didn't understand, weren't they friends? They should be looking to help Luffy too!
The reindeer stopped in his tracks when he fortunately found someone else.
''Miguel, help! Luffy got eaten by that big bird!'' Chopper pointed at the avian soaring above the ship. ''I tried to tell the others but they all just said that he'll be fine.''
Miguel's response threw him for a loop ''Well...that's actually true. Give it a minute.''
That was proven correct rather quickly as they could see a pair of arms stretching out around the bird and twisting it around until it was too dizzy to fly. Then, the stunned bird was thrown onto the ship with enough force to knock it out.
Chopper's jaw dropped as Luffy came out with a scratch on him while Miguel half-smiled. ''That's record timing for you getting out of trouble, Captain.''
Luffy grinned back ''You think we can have this for lunch?''
''I don't see why not but you should check with Sanji first.''
''Yeah!'' He took off.
''See?'' Miguel smiled at Chopper. ''It might have sounded cold but they just trust that he's tough enough to take care of things.''
''I get it...that was cool!'' He beamed.
As it turned out, Sanji thought the bird would make for an excellent ingredient and so he had no problems using it for their lunch.
''Man, I'm stuffed!'' Usopp grinned.
One person was unfortunately not so satisfied ''Man...Sanji's a great cook but he's so stingy!'' Luffy grumbled. ''I don't want to wait until lunch to eat but he made sure the fridge was blocked...''
''That's because you don't even know what self-restraint means, we'd be starving if we left this matter to you!'' Sanji snapped.
Luffy had an idea ''Miguel...''
''Luffy, we're been through this. I'm not taking the shield down.'' He said, exasperation clear in his tone. ''Also, before you ask, I don't know what the code to the refrigerator's lock is seeing as I don't need to. And I wouldn't tell you even if I did.''
''Aw, come on...'' He sulked.
''Shut up!'' Sanji barked.
''Luffy, you just ate.'' Nami said irritably.
''He's got a black hole for a stomach, remember?'' Zoro said dryly, leaving her to nod with a sigh of annoyance.
Sanji was thankful that Miguel had been so good about helping him, otherwise their supplies may have taken quite a hit. As it were, they were doing well on that front. ''Look, if you're just going to keep whining then get fishing! I don't have a problem cooking what you might find but I am not using the supplies meant for the crew just because you're greedy.''
''Okay!'' Luffy exclaimed. ''Usopp, where'd you leave the fishing rods last time?''
''Gotta like that enthusiasm, Captain. Even if you're a horrible fisherman.'' Usopp smirked.
''I am not!''
''Oh? I'm sorry, when was the last time you actually caught any fish?'' The sniper looked smug at the lack of response. ''That's what I thought.'' He turned to Chopper, who had joined them to try to learn fishing. ''Just watch, Chopper. I'll show you all you need.''
The reindeer nodded with a smile. Both started as Usopp's rod tugged forward and the sniper stood ''There we go!'' He heaved with all his might, revealing that he had hooked about Chopper's size.
''Wow, Usopp, that's cool!''
The teen grinned back ''Right? I know my stuff, just leave it all to Captain Usopp!''
Around the same time, Nami and Vivi were talking nearby, with the latter telling the former about some of the things she had learned since she left Alabasta...
''Wow...so wait, the only reason wizards have a bad reputation in the Blue seas...'' Nami started.
''...is mostly because of a lack of information.'' Vivi affirmed. ''The people there are detached, they don't understand what went down in Elysia or the consequences beneath it. Learning what really went down and seeing what the war caused really hit the marines' reputation hard, a lot of people agree that they went too far. The Elysians already proved that they just wanted to live freely and even then the government treats them horribly. If anything, the marines' reputation took a terrible hit afterwards. And for good reasons. I've seen the aftermath of the battle Miguel told us about, the one that caused his phobia-it was horrible. At least a quarter of the Elysia archipelago was ruined and the numbers...Let's just say after learning he was in that disaster, having scars makes all too much sense.''
The navigator held back a wince, thinking her tone told volumes. Miguel had also let slip that the battle had claimed people he was close to and Vivi's words put the situation into a whole new perspective.
Yeah, their friend's phobia made plenty of sense. She wouldn't be surprised in fact if the root of the problem was that fire reminded him of all the death and destruction he had seen back then.
When Vivi made to go below deck with Carue, she noticed Miguel nearby, holding a shimmering lacrima in one hand. He placed it down and the item gave a strong glow, before what she recognized as runes appeared around them. They seemingly melded with the ship in moments, giving off a faint light which quickly disappeared.
''What was that?'' She inquired.
''I thought we could use a little help for Merry so one of my friends made runes to reinforce her.'' Miguel admitted.
The princess began to smile ''That's some good thinking, sailing those seas could be rough on some ships.''
After she went down, Miguel heard someone cheer ''All right!''
Curious, he went to the source to find Chopper reeling in his rod after transforming and placing the fish he had caught on the pile with Usopp's, who was grinning.
''Way to go, Chopper!''
The little reindeer beamed ''I just did what you said. Miguel, look what I got!''
The latter smiled ''I saw the whole thing, nice work.''
''We definitely got a good haul.'' Usopp remarked, glancing at the box where the fish currently were.
Luffy's muffled groan made the three look at him, Miguel raised an eye as he turned to Usopp ''...Same as usual?''
He snickered ''Same as usual.'' At Chopper's puzzled look, he explained. ''Luffy never caught any fish when we tried before, I wasn't kidding about his horrible luck. I told him to let me give some advice but he just turns me down every time.''
''Oi, I can...!'' Luffy paused as he felt his rod's tug. He grinned ''Here we go!''
''No way...!'' Usopp stared.
''Oh yes way, told you I can do it!''
''Shouldn't you focus on the rod?'' Chopper frowned.
''Yeah, save the gloating session for when you pull this off.'' Miguel added.
''Relax, I got it!'' Luffy heaved then, pulling his catch out of the water.
The four couldn't help but stop and stare. Why? The rubber teen's catch turned out to be a man.
Nami, who had come over in the middle of the commotion, found herself just as stumped. The man was dressed in a mostly white outfit and odd looking shoes. Despite being soaked and clearly tired, he seemed more worried about his make-up.
Actually, she didn't remember seeing a man wear that much make up ever. It was too much even for her...
''Look, who cares about your make-up right now?'' An exasperated Usopp cut in on the man's growing rant as he fumbled for supplies which he had apparently lost. Chopper figured that the man could use something warm so he went to talk to Sanji.
''What's with him?'' Zoro asked Nami.
''I wish I knew...''
Miguel handed the man a soaked cloth which he took with a thanks and wiped his face before taking the towel that was offered next. The man reminded him of a couple of stories he heard back in Elysia, of a country where men dressed up and wore make up like women. He couldn't remember the place's name at the moment but he had to admit the man was like what was described in the stories.
''Much better...'' The newcomer sighed in relief.
''That's good, afraid the make-up front is out of hand though.'' Miguel stated, bemused.
''Regardless, thank you. It's been a long time since I've had this much of a nice reception.'' The man smiled. Usopp silently marveled at Miguel's calm temperament. Sometimes it really looked nothing fazed the quartermaster.
''So how'd you wind up there?'' Luffy asked.
''We hit a rough patch a short while ago. Before I knew it, I'd fallen off our ship...'' The man trailed off, noticing Chopper come back with a steaming mug of tea, which he happily took when offered. ''...this is perfect, thanks!''
He stood after finishing the tea ''I must do something to repay this...oh, I know!''
Then, before anyone knew it, he reached out and smacked Luffy on the head, making him fall. Zoro scowled ''What're you doing?!''
Luffy pulled himself up ''What was that for?!''
The teen froze when instead of the man's face, there was one that was a mirror of his own. ''WHAT?!''
The second Luffy grinned and reached out to the others, who all tried to get away, thinking he was going to hit them too. But only Zoro and Miguel were successful. ''My name is Bon Clay. I ate the Clone Clone Fruit, which lets me transform into people who I touch. I might have gone overboard a little at first but that's why-here, look!'' He tapped the side of his face, transforming into an exact look-alike of Nami. ''And it's not just their faces either, see?'' He pushed his shirt down, revealing that he could even copy their bodies perfectly as his figure was just like Nami's now.
''Stop that!'' The girl in question snapped, embarrassed and angry upon noticing how Usopp and Luffy were staring. She quickly punched the two hard, noting with a little relief that Miguel had covered his eyes once he realized what was going on.
''That's so cool!'' Luffy enthused, jumping right back up.
''Can you do it again?'' Chopper asked, just as eager.
''Sure!'' Bon Clay grinned, transforming into Usopp for a second before turning back to himself and then to Chopper, even shrinking just like the reindeer does in Brain Point. It was as if they were staring at a reflection.
''Amazing!''
''How many faces can you do?'' Usopp asked with interest.
''Oh, loads!'' He said proudly.
Vivi happened to come closer at all the commotion, just as Bon Clay was showing them the transformations he had gathered over time. One of them made her blood run cold as she immediately recognized the person.
Wait, she frowned as she made sure to remain hidden and observed him. His antics made her think, he sounded like...
''Hey, you said your ship was nearby when you fell-is that it?'' asked Usopp, pointing at the approaching vessel.
Bon Clay perked up ''Oh, yes!''
''Boss!'' Several voices cried out.
''I'm here, I knew you'd come!'' He ran to the side as one of the men came with a small boat to get him. He grinned at the Strawhats before leaving ''Thanks for everything!''
''Come on, Mr. 2, we have to keep going!''
''Right, right!''
Zoro stiffened ''Did that guy just say...?''
''He's Mr. 2?!'' Usopp cried.
''He's one of them? But he was so nice!'' Luffy exclaimed.
''...It's the truth.'' The three turned to look at Vivi as she walked over. ''I may not have met some of the higher ranked agents but I did get as much information as possible. Mr. 2 was said to be a flamboyant man who is fond of make up and he is particularly famous for his excellent ability in disguise. After seeing that...''
Nami bit her lip ''Yeah, with that fruit, it'd be perfect.''
''That's not all.'' Vivi grimaced. ''I recognized one of the faces he could use. It was my father's.''
Zoro's eyes narrowed ''If he can impersonate a king that then could cause a whole lot of trouble.''
''And he can copy us now too!'' Chopper reminded. ''What do we do against that?''
As everyone thought this over, Miguel looked down, knowing that this may have actually been a good thing. The man likely didn't know about them. While they were caught off guard, at least they could get ready to face him. But speaking on the subject of preparation...
Everyone was surprised when Miguel asked them to get together a short while before dinner but they all came up to meet him on deck.
''So what's this about?'' Sanji asked. He had been brought up to speed by Chopper and knew they needed to be more careful.
''I think we need to talk about...everything.'' Miguel said after a moment. ''Vivi, are you sure about this plan? I think we need to have some sort of contingency just in case.''
''I think it'll be fine.'' Vivi returned. ''Kohza's a good friend of mine, I know he'll listen.''
''It's not that simple though, is it?'' Zoro could see what he as getting at, and judging by the look on his face, so did Luffy.
''I've been thinking about this for a while. What happened before just made more sure than before, we can't keep going like this. There has to be more we can do. You saw how perfect Mr.2's transformations were and going by the rising tensions, it's almost certain Crocodile could use that to his advantage.''
Chopper tried to think, a way that Crocodile could use those quickly came to mind.''Wait, if he had the king's face and they could use that...then if they found someone connected to the rebel army-!''
''Exactly.'' Miguel was relieved that they were catching on to his line of thought. ''Vivi's friend might be willing to believe us and that would help, but things have been going on for this long...all the unrest and trouble must be really getting to everyone. That kind of building up tension leads to anger...and angry people make stupid mistakes.''
''You...almost sound like you're talking out of experience.'' Sanji remarked.
''It's just...what we heard so far made me wonder...Remember that battle I told you guys about? The reason behind my phobia?'' Miguel saw them nod and went on. ''Things were really bad back then, everyone was so fed up and furious, they wanted to take it to the marines. It took a lot to convince them to back down and even then it didn't work, not fully...eventually things calmed down because no one wanted to lose anyone else.''
Ah. Put like that, the cook could see his point. The rebels sounded awfully similar to this. It was easy to understand that he was hoping to avoid a similar scenario in Alabasta.
''Kohza might be the leader but he can't speak for everyone. You have no idea what it was like back then, I really hope the rebels aren't that bad off but we still need to be flexible.'' Miguel stated.
Usopp bit his lip ''That...makes a lot of sense. Sorry, Vivi, I'm with Miguel on this. It kinda feels like we're just rushing in and hoping for the best.''
''I hate to admit, but maybe...and going by what Crocodile's partner was going on about, they must know we're coming here.'' Nami frowned. ''I can't see them not doing anything to stop us. Crocodile's too clever to leave things up in the air like that.''
''So we need to be ready to fight, right? We can do it!'' Luffy exclaimed.
''D-do you really think it'd come to that?'' Vivi wanted to know.
Sanji felt bad for disappointing her but he could see that Miguel really had the right idea. If anyone here would know what it was like dealing with war and its consequences, it would be him. ''Sad to say, Vivi-chan, that might be our best course of action. We should have planned earlier actually. Going by those newspapers, it's hard to say that just talking would work. Baroque Works already got in our way before, I think they're definitely going to try again.''
''I know you don't like fighting Vivi and that's okay, not many would.'' Miguel said gently. ''It's just that we need to be ready, if they're willing to go that far than we have to do the same to make a difference.''
''Yeah! We said we'd help, remember? Don't do everything on your own.'' Luffy added, Chopper nodded to this.
''Even if you are the princess, that doesn't mean you can't have some good old support there for you. That'd be us.'' Nami winked.
''This is the point where your resolve would truly come to the test, you're determined to protect your country. Don't let anything hold you back.'' Zoro advised.
''I...'' Vivi closed her eyes for a moment. ''...you're right. We've come this far, I won't let anything mess it up. How do we go about this?''
''First things first, we're going to need information. About Alabasta, and what you came to learn about Baroque Works. Then we'll decide how to go about things from there.'' Miguel returned.
Later on, the crew would agree that the meeting was an excellent call. They all felt better after talking things through for one thing. For another, it cemented their plans for their next destination and in good time as they were closing in on the desert kingdom.
First, they decided to find information. Not just about the rebels but about the state of things in the country as a whole. If too much questions were raised, they agreed to act lke a shipwrecked crew of travelers. While Luffy's wanted poster could cause problems, meeting Bon Clay had given Nami an idea so she suggested using a little make up to change Luffy's features, hiding his scar for instance. Since they couldn't convince the teen to part with his hat even if for a short while, she also had the idea to obscure it with a painted cloth that would cover it whole. Their talk had also gotten Nami thinking on another front, so she approached Usopp for help to get her a weapon when the time came to confront Baroque Works. While they were about as eager for a fight as Vivi, they knew it was coming and would be ready. The girl, who had become an important friend to them, worked so hard for her home and they wanted to help her.
Vivi had heard that Mr. 2 was a fighter who relied mainly on a style that revolved around kicking. Miss All Sunday had been one of the few that the princess couldn't find much information about, leaving them all the more wary of her. But the crew came to agree that all they could do was brace themselves for the worst. The princess did tell them how Mr. 1 was said to be a swordsman who had defeated many other blade wielders in the past. While she didn't know much about it, he had a devil fruit that made his abilities that much more formidable, this left Zoro all the more interested in fighting him.
His partner, Miss Doublefinger was a strong, if cocky assassin and while there wasn't much information about her at first, Vivi eventually managed to learn that she had eaten the Spike Spike fruit, which lets her grow spikes from her body. Mr. 4 was mentally slow but strong and his partner Miss Merry Christmas had eaten the Mole Mole fruit and was adept at using her abilities.
Currently, the three biggest problems were looking to be Miss All Sunday, Bon Clay and of course, Crocodile.
Crocodile would be right in his element, having eaten the logia Suna Suna fruit. He couldn't be more powerful than in the desert. Being a Warlord made him that much more of a bigger threat, all Vivi knew of him proved that he deserved his reputation. They had deliberated what kind of weakness such a man would have and Miguel had a very good guess. He gave the group some lacrima he had stored, all filled with water. All they had to do was throw them and the water would flow out. Since water hardened sand, they knew it would be good idea and thus promised not to use the lacrima unless absolutely necessary.
As for Bon Clay...
''I've been thinking...'' Zoro said suddenly. ''...there's a way we can use to deal with that okama too.''
The swordsman's suggestion turned out to be for them all to mark their wrists and hide them carefully. This way, only they would know about the identical black x marks they all bore and could definitely find out if it so happened that the man tried to trick them.
''That's clever!'' Chopper smiled.
''Yeah, almost too much so...''
This made him blink and looked at Sanji, puzzled at the wording. But the cook was giving Zoro a scrutinizing look ''...are we sure he isn't an imposter? This isn't like him.''
''Good question...since when does Zoro think things through like that?'' Usopp wondered.
''What the hell is that supposed to mean?!'' The swordsman retorted, making him recoil while Sanji chuckled.
''Oh, that's him...''
''That was uncalled for, it's a good idea.'' Vivi chided lightly.
''Yeah!'' Luffy glanced at the mark and smiled. He held up his marked arm, with the rest soon following suit. ''This can be a mark of our bond! We've come this far so we won't let Baroque Works stop us. Let's do this!''
''YEAH!''
Vivi's heart swelled, she had never imagined things would have worked out so well. And yet they had, she came across this wonderful group of people, who were giving it their all to help her. Words couldn't express her gratitude for their continuing support, with them at her side, she felt ready.
Yes, they would get Alabasta back for sure.
They reached land at the port town of Nanohana. As agreed earlier, they would split into three groups. The first group, Miguel and the girls would look into restocking their supplies. When Sanji tried to protest this placement (since of course, he wanted to be with them instead), Nami and Zoro had admitted their suspicions that he wouldn't even be focused on the job and more on the girls so he was better off going with Chopper to find them clothes appropriate for the desert. Of course, he wasn't about to argue against Nami so he had to concede.
The third group would be Luffy, Zoro and Usopp, who were to look into getting information along with the first group.
''Come on, let's go!'' Luffy exclaimed, only to be forced back when Nami pulled his ear. ''Ow!''
''For the last time, we have to be careful! Anyway, we'll split up and meet at the town's exit later, okay?''
Everyone nodded and they made to head off. Miguel paused ''Oh, right...Chopper, hang on a sec.''
The little doctor stared at the pale blue translucent object which he held up then ''I think I read about this. That's an ice crystal, right?'' Miguel nodded. Chopper remembered seeing a few around Drum. Ice crystals tended to form with high concentration of magic and cold climates, they tended to be very cold to the touch but they were very resilient, melted over a long period of time and made for excellent coolers if used right.
Miguel wrapped the crystal with a cloth before tapping it with his ice sword, willing his magic forth and leaving it to give a faint glow before handing it over to Chopper. ''I was thinking you'd have it the worst out of us all. It's kind of a last minute idea but this should help.''
Chopper perked up, it was true, being here was already hitting him hard. The crystal already made him feel better, it was so nice of Miguel to think of him now. He put it in his bag, beaming. ''It's brilliant, thanks a lot!''
''Sure thing, let's not keep our friends waiting now, okay?''
''Okay!''
All right, I'll have to stop here.
I hope this was good, I know it was short but I do need to get this part out of the way. I honestly think things could have gone better in Alabasta if they had more of a plan so I wanted to try something like this out. This is just to start their entry into the desert kingdom out, I'll get into details starting next chapter.
I should be able to finish the next chapter (which will be bigger) since I'm almost done with this arc, there's just a couple of issues that are getting in my way now. This is especially annoying seeing as I got ideas for some arcs in the future while I was planning things out but this one sure gave me trouble. Progress is progress, I guess.
Well anyway, thanks for reading. Working with this story really turned out to be fun so I hope you enjoy it, till next time!