The six siblings soon headed back to the Merry with the other Straw Hats, who stood there watching as Luffy and Ace had an arm-wrestling match, with it being even, all things considered. It ended with a draw, Draco having to stop them before they broke a precious water barrel.
"Glad to see you still keep the peace." Sabo smirked.
"And you already have a good crew." Ace mused. "You've been out for what? A few months? I only he Deuce…"
He suddenly tensed, as did Mifune, Zoro and Kuina, who reached for their weapons. Chopper suddenly transformed into Horn Point.
"…What's wrong?' Luna asked her little brother.
"Someone followed you." Sanji noted as the Straw Hats all turned to see two making their way aboard the Merry: a handsome man with an eyepatch and a blind man.
"Well, this is a nice change of pace." The eyepatch wearing man mused, his one eye focused on Sonson. Luffy suddenly fumed, literally!
"HEY!" Luffy, picking up on this, snapped. "Sis is off limits!"
"Well, isn' that her choice?" The man replied, barely dodging a swing from the blind man.
"Behave, Choi. We're putting them on edge as is…especially the children."
Kirby, in Kaya's arms, was mirroring Calvin in trying to put up his dukes while Chopper readied to charge. What was so intriguing was that they were still rather far away.
"…How..?" Luffy guessed when she realized this; Ben and Draco shared her feelings of being impressed, but wagered on the same answer; which was proven.
"Now, I may be blind," the man smiled. "But my hearing, among other things in certain circumstances, more than makes up for that loss."
"VIVI!" The two beamed, racing to hug the princess, who was elated to see them again.
"I assume introductions are in order: My name is Hakkai Choi." The eye patch wearing man explained with a gentlemanly bow. "And beside me is N'Doul."
N'Doul dipped his cane.
"We're just a pair of humble vagrants, trying to get back amidst these troubling times."
"'Humble', they say." Vivi chuckled. "These two have been on and off the wanted lists since I was 10; they take only what they need and always help the guards bring in worse criminals. And yet, they refuse to join the army."
"We like our freedom, grateful as we are for when you saved us all those years ago." N'Doul smiled, meeting Luffy and the other captains' smiles…before frowning. "Choi. Stop."
Luffy became enraged yet again when she saw that Choi had made his way over to Sonson and pecked her hand.
"OFF! LIMITS!" Luffy readied a Gum-Gum Pistol, but Choi blocked it with a trident
"So what are you both doing here in Alabasta, big bro one and big bro two?" The monkey girl asked Sabo, partly to move the discussion to anything and anywhere else.
"I don't know about Ace, but the Revolutionary Army has sensed something sinister behind the scenes with the recent civil war going on here. So as the second-in-command, I was tasked with checking things out." Sabo explained.
"Whoa...Luffy's brother is so cool!" Calvin said as he looked at Ace with stars in his eyes.
"Hmmm...Nice." Luna smirked, eyeing Ace's shirtless abs.
"COME ON OUT, FIRE FIST ACE!" A voice boomed. "WE KNOW YOU'RE ON BOARD!"
"Oh boy, looks like we got company." Draco sighed.
Ace went to see who was speaking, Luffy, Sabo, Draco, Ben, and Sonson accompanying him as they saw an entire armada of Billions from Baroque Works...all 200 members.
"Wow, only 200 of them? That doesn't seem fair." Sonson noted while picking her nose.
"There's six of us, what say we try and see how many we can take down," Ace smirked.
"I was thinking the same thing..." Draco smirked, black lightning crackling around his eyes.
Sabo nodded. "It'll be nice to see how far we've all come."
Several of the Billions fired off their rifles, but Luffy easily bounced the bullets back with her rubber body while Sonson spun her staff in front of her, creating a twister that deflected the bullets coming her way. Meanwhile, the bullets harmlessly phased through not just Ben and Draco, but also Ace. And his body seemed to be giving off flames.
"Ace, you ate a Devil Fruit?" Sabo asked in surprise. "Aw man, that means I'm the only one of us without superpowers!"
"Sorry about that, Sabo, but some time after we all set out, I ate theFlame-Flame Fruit, a potent Logia type that lets me create, manipulate, and transform into fire."
Ace demonstrated his power by blocking one of the Billions' sword strikes, emitting flames to melt the blade down to slag.
The Straw Hats and their guests all looked on in awe as the Billions were taken out in a flurry of blows. By the time the seven were done, they saw Sabo already sitting on a pile of knocked-out goons polishing his lead pipe.
"What took you guys so long?"
Sonson pouted. "Show-off."
With all that done, the siblings returned to the ship.
"So besides Luffy, have any of you guys gotten a girlfriend yet?" Sabo asked.
"Well, Penny here fancies Ben, and Draco and Vivi seem to have some history together." Luffy grinned as she gestured to the android, who waved cutely.
"Sal-U-Tations! It is a pleasure to meet Friend Luffy's brothers!"
"Let me turn that question back on you, Sabo; how's things with Koala?" Ben asked with a smirk.
Sabo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "No luck, other than her bashing me over the head whenever she gets annoyed."
"Well, you're wearing her down. Soon, she might just smack you instead." Sonson quipped.
This got the siblings all laughing together as Chopper couldn't help but stare in admiration.
"Brothers are amazing."
"Hey, hey! Don't be counting sisters out!" Luna teased.
Once the fighting was done and the crews were introduced (alongside Ace and Sabo teasingly praising and apologizing to Nami for having fallen for Luffy or all people), the two guests remembered what had happened before finding their baby sibs:
"Anyone in the mood for a Devil Fruit?" Ace suggested. "They're all STRONG ones!"
"He says before checking the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia." Sabo smirked, pulling said book out.
"Hey, the Merchant said…" Ace started.
"Whoa, whoa! Hold up!" Ussop called out. "The Merchant? As in hooded guy who pops in and out of nowhere?"
"Oh yeah, he's a regular supplier for the Army." Sabo said, then sighed, as Ed, Double-D, Eddy, Rolf, and Calvin had each grabbed one of the fruits.
"ED WANT SUPERPOWERS!"
"I never liked swimming anyways." Calvin smirked.
"ROLF SHALL MAKE USE OF WHATEVER ABILITY THE DEVIL'S GAME OF CHANCE HIM!" Rolf said
"With this bad boy, I'll be laying into instead of being laid into for once!" Eddy cackled.
"And I will NOT be weak!" Double D added.
As they prepared to bite down, Ace and Sabo smiled knowingly, but also asked:
'How does HE always know?"
The five all ate their fruits and….well, aside from the gagging from the awful taste? Nothing seemed to happen.
"Wait, I feel something...a tingle in my brain!" Calvin said. "Hobbes, I think I'm getting mind powers!"
"Really, what do you think you can do?" Hobbes asked, only to pause when he realized something wasn't right.
The two looked to see the rest of the Straw Hats plus their guests were all staring in shock at Hobbes in particular.
"What? Haven't you people seen a real tiger before?" Calvin asked.
"Not one that walks on two legs like a human..." Double-D muttered.
"HOW LONG…has he been here?!" Kaya asked as she cautiously kept Kirby in her arms, the pink little guy reaching to hug Hobbes, who waved and then offered him a finger.
"As long as I have!" Calvin snapped before his eyes widened in shock at a realization. "…You mean to tell me….you all thought…I was talking to a stuffed tiger this whole time?! Oda and Watterson, you all must've thought I was crazy!"
No one confirmed or denied such thoughts, which gave Calvin times to remember something else:
"Wait…how come Dorry and Broggy could see Hobbes just fine, then?!"
"That's what I'd like to know!" The tiger added in
Sabo thought for a moment before coming up with a solution.
"Um…Calvin? Where did you find Hobbes?"
"Mom and dad gave him to me just before I washed ashore on New Garden; Dad says an auctioning house was giving him away for free."
"Why I never!" Hobbes shouted in annoyance
"…Maybe…" Sabo realized. "Maybe realizing Hobbes isn't just a tiger, but an IF."
"A what?"
"An IF; a spirit that only certain people can see." Ace explained.
"Possibly natives of Elbaf...that or because you were so close to them, they could see what you saw." Sabo shrugged. "I'm not a hundred percent sure."
N'Doul and Choi looked at each other wordlessly before turning to Vivi.
"Princess?" N'Doul called. "In the spirt of aiding your allies, may we?"
With an excited nod from Vivi, N'Doul suddenly transformed into a beared fish-man like being.
"I ate the Fish-Fish Fruit: Model Sha Wujing."
"Whoa! And here I thought I was the only one!" Sonson excitedly exclaimed, as where Axol and Ruby
"Just wait, beautiful." Choi suddenly turned pinky, grew a snout in place of his nose and small tusks jetted from his lower jaw. "I ate the Pig-Pig Fruit: Model Zhu Bajie."
"ALL THREE!" Sonson beamed, then grinned. "You two wanna fight?"
"Later, as awesome as that would be." Draco smirked.
"We better get going."
"….I wanna fight…" Sonson and Choi pouted.
-OP-
In the home of the World Government, a certain moustached Elder grumbled in annoyance.
"…My counterpart is about to cause trouble, I just know it."
"Just focus on your duties."
-OP-
As the Going Merry sailed off, the Marines working under Smoker rounded up all the defeated Billions.
"Make sure their ships are scuttled. We don't want Baroque Works to regain any resources." Smoker ordered as he took a deep puff of his cigars. "I've always hated the Warlord system. Working with pirates should only be done when absolutely necessary, otherwise, what's the point of Marines? But Crocodile is someone I especially detest. He's far too clever, and he's never been the type to just quietly obey the World Government."
"So we're heading for Alubarna then?" Tashigi asked.
"We are, that thing I said earlier about only working with when necessary? Well, this is one such time." Smoker said. "The Straw Hats for whatever reason are helping Princess Vivi with whatever is causing problems in this country. We've been sent to do that very same thing. And with Crocodile being such a dangerous man, it wouldn't be wrong to seek help wherever we can find it."
-OP-
The crew had been sailing off for a while and Calvin, the Eds, and Rolf still couldn't fully figure out what their Devil Fruits did.
"Well, besides Calvin allowing all of us to see Hobbes the way he can, I don't know what you guys can do," Nojiko said. "Not like we have one of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedias on hand or anything."
"Yeah, I always wanted to read one of those!" Calvin said before a sparkle of light manifested a giant tome with a Devil Fruit on the cover. "Whoa, what the heck?!"
"Okay, so apparently, Calvin can also manifest stuff into existence," Marianne muttered. "And I still don't know what mine does either."
"Well, since we have an encyclopedia now, might as well scour to see what we have," Sabo noted.
As Sabo, Calvin, Hobbes, The Eds, and Rolf looked through the encyclopedia for a reference on their Devil Fruits as well as Marianne's, Ace turned to Draco.
"By the way, did you happen to run into Blackbeard on the way?"
"The only time I heard about him is when he attacked the Drum Kingdom for whatever reason. No way in hell did Dad authorize that."
"No, Teach has very clearly set off on his own," Ace agreed, "He used to be part of the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, working alongside me. But then he committed the worst possible sin on a pirate ship. He killed a crew member and fled."
Draco was stunned. "B-But why would he do that?! Teach had always been one of the most sociable members of the crew!"
"Who did Blackbeard even kill?" Axol asked.
"The Fourth Division Commander Thatch," Ace explained.
Draco was left paralyzed. Teach, a man he had considered an older brother, had murdered the man he had considered an uncle in cold blood for some unknown reason.
"Anyway, as commander of the same unit Blackbeard was on, it's my responsibility to find him and eliminate him. I came out here because I caught word that Blackbeard was seen in Yuba." Ace said.
"Well, that's convenient. We're heading for Yuba as well." Vivi said.
"Guess we'll all be traveling buddies for a while, then," Ruby said. "This sounds like it could be fun. I'd love to get to know Luffy and the gang's brothers more!"
"Also, Ace, friendly word of advice; if you're going after Blackbeard, make sure you have plenty of backup." Heart said. "From what we heard at the Drum Kingdom, he's got a crew of nine other people helping him out."
Ace sighed in annoyance. "Well, this just got more complicated. But if it turns out Blackbeard isn't here, I'll just return to the fleet and get some help from the crew. And hey, while I'm here I might as well help you guys stop a civil war."
"Hey, I think we found the Devil Fruits Calvin, Ed, Double-D, Eddy, and Rolf ate! And Marianne's too!" Sabo called out, turning to the pages he had found.
"Calvin, looks like ate the Imagine-Imagine Fruit, a Paramecia that allows the user to harness the power of imagination."
"Might explain how we can all suddenly see Hobbes." Ussop guessed.
"Ed ate the Earth-Earth Fruit, a Logia of the Earth Element." Sabo continued, the paused. "Hey Ace, didn't one of Hanafuda's crewmates have that fruit?"
"Oh yeah, their chef!" Ace mused. "A mid-fighter honestly, but his fruit apparently helped ensure all their produce was well and grown."
Sanji and Nami grew interested in that; maybe it could help with them growing crops? Ed seemed to have a similar idea.
"GROW ON ME!"
"…I feel I should recognize that name; Hanafuda." Penny noted.
"Me too…" Nami realized.
"Oh, he was one of the first elected Warlords of the Sea. Also a business partner of Kaido's; specialized in selling Ancient Zoan fruits." Draco mused.
"And I kicked his ass." Ace smirked, delighting in Luffy and Sonson's eager pleads for details.
"Speaking of which?" Sabo continued as he flipped to a new page. "Looks like Rolf ate the Fish-Fish Fruit: Model Land Shark."
"…Sharks on land?" Ussop cowered along with Calvin.
"Um, hello?" Axol pointed out, bringing an equally offended Ruby close to him. "Fishmen, right here."
"Yeah, why the scare?" The Kraken girl inquired.
"All due respect, I think a Shark with speedy dinosaur legs is scarier than a Fishman." Zoro bluntly pointed out.
"Sides, Rolf is already crazy strong, add an Ancient Zoan on top?" Kuina noted.
"ROLF SHALL MASTER THE BEAST, LIKE NANA'S THREE-DAY OLD STEW!"
"Eddy ate the Metal-Metal Fruit, a Logia of the Metal Element." Sabo kept reading. "The fruit allows its user to make and become ANY metal that's not seastone."
Eddy was delighted at that: Sure, there was Haki, but at least now he wouldn't HAVE to feel slapstick levels of pain. And if gold counted as a metal….
Nami seemed to catch onto Eddy's thinking and took his aside.
"Eddy. Buddy. How'd you like to…?"
"NO." Nojiko said, endng that plot…for now.
Sabo whistled at what he read next:
"Marianne it seems, ate the Wisp-Wisp Fruit, a Special Paramecia that harnesses colored space lights that each have a different unique power."
The teenage girl was intrigued and delighted! Her powers were about to go through the roof!
"But...Double-D...It can't be possible..." Sabo muttered. "There's no way it exists!"
"I'm seeing it too, my friend...and I'm having just as hard a time believing it!" Double-D agreed as he showed everyone what the book described:
If what it said was true, then Double-D eaten the one Devil Fruit thought to be a myth among myths; The Water-Water Fruit!
-OP-
Meanwhile, at the palace, King Nefertari Cobra stopped the guards from antagonizing the civilians looking for help with the current crisis.
"Forgive me, my people. My lack of strength has put you through such unbearable suffering. Those who wish to speak are welcome to enter and explain your problems, and I will do my best to alleviate them. For now, all I can do is share your suffering as if it were my own, but this I can assure you. Help is coming. If you will endure for just a little longer, I promise you our country will see peace once more. Even if it costs my life!"
He showed the people a large bandage around his arm, and many saw something underneath it, almost like a scar. With that settled, Cobra walked off with Pell.
"I've just been informed that Solomon and the rest of the Chimera-Carpet are due to return soon, Your Highness," Pell said.
"Good, though I doubt Crocodile put all his eggs into a single basket."
This truly did set Cobra at ease, knowing his brother and the others were on their way.
"…Any luck finding my nephew?"
"None yet." Sighed. "But with the transpoder snail sharing, it is possible Vivi and the Straw Hats have heard something."
"I hope so."
"Be safe, nephew. And brother, please, please hurry back."
-OP-
Inside his sanctum, Crocodile was approached by Miss All-Sunday.
"It seems all the Billions got wiped out. And our agents in the rebel forces have hit a brick wall in regards to getting the coup started."
Crocodile sighed as he lit his cigar. "I knew there would be setbacks when making this scheme, but I didn't think so many would crop up this close to the endgame. What about the Lizard Runners?"
"We've sent them out with new orders. We should be hearing back before long." Miss All-Sunday replied.
With that, she excused herself and went to make a quick stop:
Entering a brothel not too far away, she focused on the giggling that filled the air and brought a smile on her face.
"Ah, Miss All Sunday!" The matron beamed. "Here for some fun or…?"
"Just to check on Aladdin." The younger woman cut off. "…although maybe afterwards…"
The older woman smiled and motioned her forward.
"Wee bit hands on in his innocence, but he has been a huge morale booster." She explained to the pirate, who then spotted her quarry:
A little boy, no older than 8, currently being cuddled by several of the dancers and giggling the whole time.
"Hello, Al." She cooed, getting his attention.
"Robin!" He beamed, leaving the now pouting women and giving her a hug. The women sighed sadly and headed back to work, leaving the two alone.
"How are you doing?" Miss All Sunday asked.
"The girls are all nice and pretty," Aladdin beamed, his smile then lowering, "Some of the fellas don't get that no means no, though…"
Miss All Sunday sighed.
"Yes, I have experience with that…." She grumbled, recalling some…less than pleasant encounters. "On another note, how's figuring out your powers coming along?"
"I have turned my arms and legs big and blue and get really strong when I do!" Aladdin said. "But no magic yet."
This filled the woman with both ease and worry; if Aladdin didn't figure out his powers soon, Crocodile would move towards putting his Devil fruit back in circulation the old fashioned way…
"You'll get there." She assured the boy, a hand manifesting to tickle his nose and wipe away a tear. "Took me about a year to figure out most of my powers."
She the decided to start sowing the seeds of chaos.
"Aladdin, have you heard anything on the snails, recently?"
"…Not really. Miss keeps most of them away, unless one of the girls leaves. Why?"
Oh, this was going to make Crocodile's fall epic….
-OP-
As the Merry started to approach the shore, they were suddenly intercepted by a group of strange creatures, ones that looked half-turtle, half-dugong.
"What sort of creatures are those?" Rosa asked. "They look kinda cute!"
"Kung-Fu Dugongs. I've only seen them once before." Draco explained. "A really tough one fought Pops to a draw ten years ago."
"Holy crap, really?!" Ace asked in surprise.
One of the Kung-Fu Dugongs approached and held up his flipper to signal them.
"Hey, hold on! We're gonna get you translated!" Hilda said as she held up Gottfried.
"Speak, pal!" The Transponder Snail said.
"Ahoy there! If you wish to get to shore, then you must fight one of us!" The Kung-Fu Dugong said after getting used to his new voice.
Sonson smirked. "Sounds fun. I accept your challenge on behalf of the Straw Hat Pirates. Can I ask my opponent's name?"
"I am Boss Dugong!" Chopper translated. "I dream to learn every martial art in the world and fight the mightiest opponents!"
"Well, you're in luck, Boss!" The Monkey Queen beamed. "You're looking at the future King of the Pirates, Sons of Whitebeard, and yours truly, the Great Warrior Sage Equal to God!"
"Then prepare yourself!" Boss declared.
The two flew right at each other, the Straw Hats and the rest of the Kung-Fu Dugong herd watching in awe as the two brawled.
Sonson started by enlarging her staff with the intent of crushinh Boss, who quickly evaded the blow and raced upwards, punching her skyuward before leaping top join her. The Monkey girl smirked as she pulled and then threw some of her hair at the dugong, which became clones of her that starting laying into him…for a bout a few seconds before Boss' tail destroyed them.
By then, Sonson cauight up to him and picked up where her clones left off, the two blocking each other's blows as they fell, occasionally landing powerful hits, when their fists and feet shined with Haki. Sonson recalled her staff and slammed it downwards to send Boss back to earth, but the Dugong landed on his flipper and then lifted some of the earth that he threw at his foe.
Sonson sighed as she manifested two more pairs of arms and rapidly reduced the stone to rubble, barely dodging a tail strike from Boss when he caught up with her, but that left her open to a Haki embuded punch.
"Bad day for monkeys." Boss smirked as his foe crashed to the floor and hurriedly got on her feet
And all the way? They both cackled in delight.
"FINALLY! A FOE I CAN GO ALL OUT ON!"
4 hours later!
There was now a crater where the battle had taken place. And in the middle of it, the two fighters gasped for air with bloodied and bruised faces of elation.
"…So…" Luffy looked to Choi,a proud smirk on her face. "You STILL want to date my sister?"
"Dear Oda, yes!" Hoi swooned.
"…remind me to stay on the monkey's good side." Hobbes whispered to Calvin, who nodded.
"As long as you do the same for me but for Boss."
"You are truly amazing!" Boss praised as Sonson scratched the back of her head playfully. "I've known for years that sitting around in Alabasta won't help me reach my dream...please, may I have the honor of joining your crew?!"
"We'd be more than happy to have you!" Luffy grinned. "I'm sure you know what's going on in Alabasta, right?"
Boss nodded. "Indeed, Sir Crocodile has been sabotaging the kingdom's water sources."
"We're planning on taking down Crocodile...and I'm planning on taking his head," Mifune said, stepping up. "We'd appreciate an extra hand on deck."
"I accept your generous offer on behalf of following my dreams!" Boss bowed. "What shall we do first?"
"We're heading off for Yuba. To try and meet up with the rebels." Ben explained.
"Bad day..." Boss frowned. "They relocated months ago to Katorea. It'd be better to make your way to Alubarna at this point."
"That's not good. If we can't reach Kohza before he starts the rebellion..." Vivi said worriedly.
"Don't worry, all hope is not lost!" Boss reassured. "They've been stuck for a few weeks now due to recent developments from their Transponder Snails."
Vivi gasped in delight. "So they've been listening to Harvey's TB! That means they know about Baroque Works and at least some of Crocodile's plans!"
"Well, for right now, we should let Boss Dugong stay on the ship to guard it for right now," Draco advised. "Kung-Fu Dugons can't survive out in the desert."
"Yeah, me and Axol will stay behind here," Ruby said. "Deserts are no place for Fishmen."
"It's a good thing too! I'll have plenty of time to draw that spectacular fight Sonson and Boss had for my manga!" Axol grinned.
"Okay, some of us will stay here to guard the ship while the others will head out to Katorea to meet Vivi's friend," Sonson said.
It was decided that alongside Boss, Axol, Ruby, and Nojiko would stay behind as well. Nojiko would be there to use herGun-Gun Fruitto provide defense for Merry.
With everything established, the rest of the crew, including Marianne, Gem, and Mikita, followed Vivi and Carue as they were led through the desert, passing by a destroyed town as they did.
"What was this place?" Nami wondered.
"It used to be Erumalu, the City of Green. As you might imagine, rain is scarce in a desert kingdom, so we save up every drop that does appear." Vivi explained. "The rains have never stopped completely, so for us to go three years without rain is a serious issue."
"Couldn't you just pipe in water from the river?" Sabo asked.
"Once we could have, but not anymore. However, in all of Alabasta, there has been one place where the rain always fell more than any other place. The capital of Alubarna" Vivi said. "The rains fall there so much that the people used to call it the King's Miracle. That is, until the day when a cargo cart broke and the bag it was carrying broke open, revealing it to be full of Dance Powder. The people pulling the cart stated that the powder was to be delivered to my father, right within earshot of dozens of civilians."
"But they weren't actually couriers, were they?" Kaya realized. "They were Baroque Works operatives."
"Dance Powder is outlawed by the World Government, and for once they have a very good reason for it. When burned, Dance Powder can summon rain by accelerating the creation of ice particles in clouds." Gem explained. "But you can't get something from nothing. Even Devil Fruits that can generate matter rely on the user's body as a catalyst to manifest. When the Dance Powder creates rain in one region, it deprives another region of rain."
"Why would something that causes relief and misery at the same time be called Dance Powder?" Usopp asked.
"I agree, that is absolutely ridiculous!" Double-D added.
"Because when the country that created it first used it, they danced in joy...until they found out the neighboring country had a drought. It caused a war to break out as a result, with many lives lost as a result." Penny explained. "Father told me about it."
"That controversy is why the World Government has banned the use of Dance Powder," Ace noted.
"Can't say I blame 'em!" Eddy said.
"Crocodile created the fake accident and the phenomenon of all that rain falling on Alubarna. Suddenly the people were under the impression that there was no miracle at all." Gem said. "Dance Powder was indeed used to create that miracle, but Cobra had nothing to do with it. He was as clueless to what had happened as anyone else."
"Normally one of the members of his inner circle, the Chimera-Carpets, is the one who brings rain to regions that need it most. Their Devil Fruit grants them the ability to create and control storms. But they and the others had gone off to train their newest member just days before the King's Miracle began."
"But that alone wouldn't frame your father for its use. After all, it's not like any Dance Powder would be found in his possession." Sanji pointed out.
"Sie Crocodile thought of that too. He secretly had a massive amount of Dance Powder smuggled into the palace." Mikita said.
They soon came to a dried-up canal in the middle of the town.
"Good heavens..." Penny muttered.
"Wow, this place is pretty bare..." Hobbes noted.
"This canal here used to connect to the Sandora River, but someone destroyed it. Crocodile went to great lengths to make sure no one could secure water without outside assistance." Vivi said. "When the fighting started, the people abandoned the city out of exhaustion. And it just... Withered away."
"This is the perfect country Crocodile promised us?" Marianne asked in disbelief.
"Did he say it was for all?" Mifune growled.
"Mifune…." Fuu tried to firmly but gently stop him, but Ben shook his head.
"Lass, I think she needs to hear this."
Mifune then looked Marianne straight in the eye and told her.
"Your ex-boss killed the only people who'd take a Devil fruit eating orphan like me in. Sure, they were blood and battle thirsty and their training was hellish…!"
He paused and smiled sadly.
"But they gave me a purpose; a reason to grow and get strong. And for all their flaws, which they all recognized? They still tried to do good in this world. Yeah, its not perfect, but anything is better than slaughtering innocent people willy nilly."
He then turned and walked to the back of the group to calm down. Fuu inched closer and embraced him.
-OP-
The group soon began trekking through the desert with Draco using a black ice dome to create a pocket of cool air so they wouldn't suffer heatstroke.
"What's up with these sand dunes?" Usopp said. "I thought a desert would be more flat."
"Hardly. The Sandora Desert is so old that the churning sands have made the dunes up to 300 meters high." Vivi said.
"Thank Oda and Watterson that Draco's ice isn't melting!" Calvin said in relief.
"I wish I could help provide water with the power I've been given..." Double-D sighed as he looked at his hands.
The heat was a problem during the day, but at night the lack of anything to block out temperature meant the nights were extremely cold. Luckily Draco and Ace were able to work together to create a fire large enough to warm everyone up.
While going through the dunes the group had to contend with Warusagi bandit birds trying to trick them to steal all their supplies, and then saved a camel from some carnivorous plants. Which had apparently attracted a pair of giant lizards called Sandora Dragons that the six siblings promptly killed when they appeared.
"What's up with this crazy desert?!" Eddy called out.
"I'm starting to think the same thing!" Kuina said in exasperation. "And this is the Grand Line so we should be already expecting this crap!"
"Well, at least we have plenty of meat to work with!" Noire said optimistically, Sanji nodding in agreement.
The camel, who Nami, Penny, and Fuu all affectionately named Lashes, was willing to help carry the group's supplies. The two giant lizards were turned into lunch and quickly consumed so thankfully he wasn't carrying more than he could handle. As the group continued to trek through the desert, they suddenly heard something.
"What is that?" Heart wondered.
Usopp took a look through his sniper goggles and his jaw dropped.
"I-It's a ship! A ship sailing across the sand!"
"Usopp, did you eat the cactus I warned you not to eat?" Chopper said.
"No, I'm seeing it too," Sabo said.
The ship pulled up, and a huge man wearing an umbrella on his head leaped down.
"Greetings, fellow desert travelers! I am Barbarossa, captain of the Barbar Sand Pirates!"
"Greetings back at you!" Ed waved back.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, these are my siblings Lor D. Draco, Sparrow D. Benjamin, and Monkey D. Sonson! We're the Captains of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
A young woman, with her hair tied up in an umbrella, also leaped down in front of Vivi.
"Most of these people are outsiders... But you're from here, aren't you? You're even traveling with a super spot-billed duck."
Vivi stared the woman down for a moment, and Carue looked like he was readying his wings.
"Oh, lay off them, Rasa. So what if she's from this kingdom? That just makes us neighbors and friends." Barbarossa said. "As our crew motto goes, the only thing you don't eat in the desert is friends. Speaking of which... Oy, Zaba! Bring out that meat we just caught!"
Another man with an umbrella covering his head started reeling in something large. It turned out to be a giant sand scorpion or rather the corpse of one. The beast was cooked up and the whole group sat down to enjoy the meat.
"Tastes quite a lot like lobster. I think I'll file this little culinary tidbit away for later." Sanji noted.
"Why did you not come back after all that time?" Rasa asked Vivi as she sat down next to her.
"Melias wasn't the only oasis getting buried during that period. Were you waiting all by yourself instead of traveling with your people?" Vivi pointed out. "Rasa, staying in one place is only going to make you blind to the world outside. The Nefertari family has an entire kingdom to look after. And if too many things happening at once keep us from returning to a single spot we visited... Honestly, I spent all that time trying to figure out where you'd gone. When I heard your family vacated I tried to reconnect with you, but your parents said you'd stayed behind. I thought you'd gone and tried to look for me and Father. I never thought in a million years..."
"That I'd stay and wait hoping you'd return?" Rasa finished. "Yeah, when you put it like that I suddenly feel stupid. No person in their right mind would do that, even a child. I guess Barbarossa taking me in was the best thing for me."
The Straw Hats explained the current situation and the Barbar Sand Pirates agreed to help.
"I can take a Sand Slider out and reach Katorea in as little as a few hours," Kaba offered. "I'll speak with the rebel leader and ask him to meet with you in Yuba."
"Personally, we'd all be happy to help. I once thought the desert belonged to everyone equally, but that was just conceit. The desert belongs to no one, which is why we can live free within it." Barbarossa said. "We'll take you as far as the town of Ido. After dropping you off, we'll start scouring for Baroque Works' messengers. Most likely they'll be using Lizard Runners, so we can hunt them down anywhere."
As the Sand Sled sailed off upon dropping the crew at Ido, Vivi saw Rasa waving at her, a gentle smile on her face.
"We'll resupply quickly in Ido, then head on to Yuba. We can only afford to wait there for a day, so let's hope the rebel leader is willing to meet with us there." Heart said.
TO BE CONTINUED…..