Chapter 20 - 20: Journey to Alabasta and Grand Line Pirates!

It has been about three days since the crew left the Drum Kingdom. Luffy was currently sitting on the figurehead of the Going Merry with Chopper sitting beside him staring off into the horizon. The rest of Luffy's crew were all at different parts of the ship doing their own thing. Nami, Nojiko, and Marianne were sitting on lawn chairs at the rear deck enjoying the nice weather that they were experiencing. Zoro, Sanji, Gem, and Usopp were on the main deck playing cards, Johnny was up in the crow's nest looking out, Mikita and Yosaku were fishing, and Vivi and Karoo were sitting on the bow looking out at the sea with Luffy and Chopper. After they left the Drum Kingdom the entire crew partied all night celebrating their new crewmate. The two days that followed that was the crew showing Chopper around the ship and teaching him how things work but out of everything that Chopper was experiencing, the one thing that he couldn't seem to get enough of was staring out into the ocean.

"Wow, Luffy," Chopper said in an astonished voice. "The sea seems to go on forever!" he said as he brought his hand up above his eyes as he looked out into the horizon.

"Yeah, the sea is pretty big," Luffy replied in a nonchalant tone as he poured himself a glass a whiskey. "And only pirates are the ones who get to have great adventures on it all the time," Luffy added with a small smile.

"Incredible!" Chopper said with stars in his eyes. "Being a pirate must be really great!" he added causing Luffy to chuckle before he replied.

"Indeed it is, Chopper," he said before he took a sip of his drink. "Indeed it is," he added once again. Luffy then got up and hopped over Chopper and landed on the deck of the bow next to Vivi all without spilling a single drop of his whiskey. Luffy then turned his crew and spoke. "Alright, listen up!" Luffy yelled out as he walked forward and looked down to the main deck getting everyone's attention. "We are going to be arriving in Alabasta soon so this is no time to be slacking off," he said causing Chopped to hop of the figurehead and come stand beside him.

"What's Alabasta?" Chopper asked while looking up at Vivi.

"Alabasta is the country that Vivi's father rules over," Luffy said before he began making his way down to the main deck with Chopper, Karoo, and Vivi right behind him.

"Yeah, except there is this guy name Crocodile trying to take over the country," Usopp added as him and the guys put down the cards and were paying attention to Luffy.

"And to make matters worse he is a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea," Nojiko added as she, Nami, and Marianne come down from the main deck.

"Who are they?" Chopper asked with a confused look on his face.

"They are pirates who were giving authority by the World Government," Luffy said as he leaned against the side of the ship.

"The governments actually support pirates?" Chopper asked in a surprised voice.

"It sounds weird but you see the Seven Warlords of the Sea are seven powerful pirates who go around defeating other pirates one by one and that's by the government supports the warlords," Luffy said educating his crew on the Seven Warlords. "The idea is to have the pirates get rid of all the other pirates," he finished causing Chopper to nod his head showing he understood.

"Crocodile is considered a hero back home," Vivi said causing everyone to look over at her. "He defeats all the pirates that attack Alabasta however, his good deeds only appear good on the surface but under that, he is an evil man," she said with an angry look on her face.

"He's a pirate," Luffy said in a deadpan tone.

"In truth, he is manipulating the citizen of Alabasta to cause a civil war so he could take over the country," Vivi said ignoring Luffy.

"Relax princess," Zoro said as he stood up and walked towards his captain. "I don't care if this Crocodile is a Warlord, he isn't beating my captain," Zoro said causing Luffy to chuckle while everyone but Chopper smile.

"Don't you think you guys are taking this too lightly!?" Vivi yelled with an angry look on her face. It absolutely pissed her off at how relaxed they all were. In her head, they didn't truly understand the power of a warlord. Sure Luffy was powerful, but he was not warlord powerful in the eyes of Vivi. "Luffy may be powerful but this is a warlord we are talking about! These are pirates that the World Government deemed powerful enough to work for them! Don't you all understand that!?" Vivi yelled/asked as she looked at them with an angry look on her face.

"Calm down Vivi or you'll give yourself a stroke," Nami said as she walked and stood beside Vivi. "And besides Luffy was a member of a Yonko's crew. So this is pretty much a walk in the park for him," Nami said causing Luffy to nod his head in agreement with part of what she said. She was right it was a walk in the park for him but not because he was part of a Yonko's crew, but because he was simply really powerful. There were a bunch of people who were part of an Emperor's crew that couldn't take on a warlord, so simply being a part of an Emperor's crew doesn't make you're powerful you have to be powerful on your own.

"You-you was a member of one of the Emperor's crew?" Vivi asked while staring at Luffy with a disbelieving look on her face. Luffy simply sighs and nodded his head. He was starting to get really tired of this princess if it wasn't for the fact that they had a deal he would have tossed her overboard a long time ago.

"You keep on underestimating me princess," Luffy said with a sigh. He was about to say something else but before he could Chopper spoke up.

"What's a Yonko?" he asked while looking up at everyone. No one answered him instead they all looked to Luffy for him to explain it to him.

"The Yonko or better known as The Four Emperors are the four most notorious and powerful pirate captains in the world," Luffy said causing Chopper's eyes to widen. "These four individually reside within the second half of the Grand Line known as the New World, exerting impressive influence and control over dozens of other pirate crews and self-governing islands," he said causing Chopper to look on in awe while some of his crew also looked on with a surprised look on their face. Luffy then smirked and decided to blow their minds a bit further. "One thing that all four of these pirates have in common is...they all have a bounty that is over 1 billion berries," Luffy said with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"O-over ONE BILLION BERRIES!" They all screamed in unison causing Luffy to chuckle.

"That's crazy," Sanji said while the others just nodded their heads in agreement.

"The four of them make up part of the Three Great Powers," Luffy said causing some of the surprised faces to morph into a confused look.

"Three Great Powers?" Vivi asked with a confused look on her face causing Luffy to nod his head. "What's that?" she asked while looking at Luffy.

"I've heard that term used before but I never knew what it means," Gem said from his position on the ground.

"Yeah, I think I head it too during my bounty hunting days," Zoro added from his position beside Luffy.

"The Three Great Powers are the three greatest military forces on the oceans. It is made up of the Navy, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and The Four Emperors," Luffy said earning everyone's full attention. "The three powers exist in a delicate balance of power in the world. If this balance gets disrupted, the world itself could descend into anarchy, and the balance itself very fragile as the loss of even one key member like an Emperor or a Warlord would throw the balance off," Luffy said causing everyone to nod their heads showing they were understanding what he was saying.

"So let say one of the Emperors were to die, what would happen?" Nami asked with a curious look on her face.

"You got to remember that each of the Emperors has multiple islands under their protection/control and the more territories you control the more influence and militarily strength you have," Luffy said pausing to see if she understood. "If one of Emperors were to die then all of his territories would be up for grabs," Luffy said causing her to a look of realization to flash across her face.

"And from there they start fighting for the territories," she said causing Luffy to nod his head. "I understand now. Wow, that's crazy," she said causing Luffy to chuckle. Luffy was about to say something else to the rest of the crew but a shout from the crow's nest stopped him and got his and everyone else's attention.

"Captain!" Johnny shouted getting their attention. "Pirate ship coming our way!" he yelled while pointing off to the left of the ship causing Luffy to turned around and look while everyone else got up and waited for their orders.

"All hands prepare for battle!" Luffy yelled out causing everyone to run and get ready for a fight while Zoro stood by his captain's side as he tied his bandana around his head. Luffy then looked at Chopper who didn't know what to do with himself and spoke. "You are about to experience the life of a pirate, Chopper," Luffy said with a smile before he hopped up onto the side of the ship and folded his arms as he watches the pirate ship approach them. As the ship got close it pulled up alongside the Going Merry a man who clearly the Captain of the ship spoke.

"Surrender all your treasure or else you will fell the wrath of the Hell Hound Pirates!" the man yelled causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow. Luffy then looked around the ship and saw every person on the ship was wearing a shad shaped like a dog's head.

"And who might you be?" Luffy asked in a bored tone.

"You don't know who I am?" the man asked sound extremely surprised that Luffy didn't know who he is. "I am Jiro Kurosawa, the bloodhound from hell!" Jiro said proudly. Jiro looked to be in his late thirties, he was shorter than Luffy only standing 6 feet tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He was well built with quite a bit of muscle on him with a tattoo of his jolly roger, a dog's skull with two cross bones, on his left bicep. All in all, Luffy was anything but impressed.

"Never heard of you," Luffy replied causing him to deject slightly.

"You...I was going to let you keep your lives, but now I want you all dead!" Jiro said in a menacing tone. Luffy simply shook his head and turned his back to the pirate and hopped off the side of the ship back onto the deck.

"You're not worth my time," he said as he began walked away to the upper rear deck. "They're all yours guys, just make sure you don't kill any of them," Luffy said to his crew.

"Aye aye, Captain!" they all replied before they leaped off from the Going Merry and onto the Hell Hound Pirate's ship. Usopp stayed on board and was currently sniping people out with his slingshot from up in the crow's nest. Luffy sat down on his throne and poured himself a glass a whiskey before he turned his attention over to the pirate ship to see how his crew were handling the situation. When he looked over he saw Zoro was fighting against the captain of the pirate ship while everyone else was handling the rest of his crew. Zoro had all three of his swords drawn while Jiro transformed into a rather big dog. Luffy assumed that the man ate a Zoan type devil fruit and judge from his moniker it was the Dog-Dog fruit: Model bloodhound. It was an okay devil fruit in Luffy's opinion but it probably couldn't do much in terms of combat. Deciding to find out whether he was right or wrong he decided to pay attention to Zoro's fight.

*Zoro vs Jiro*

Zoro stood across from the pirate now transformed into a giant dog/man who was looking at him while slobber dripped from the side of his mouth.

"When I'm done with you I'll go pay that little captain of yours a visit and show him just happens to people who mess with the Bloodhound from Hell!" Jiro yelled before he dashed forward towards Zoro on all fours. He was running faster than what any ordinary person could track with their eyes but sadly for him, Zoro wasn't any ordinary person. Jiro appeared off to Zoro's right and tried to swipe at his midsection with his claws only to have Zoro block the slash with his Kitetsu with ease.

"Is that all?" Zoro asked as he held off the man's claws. "Because if this is it you honestly stand no chance against the captain," he added before he pushed the man off his sword.

"Why you!" Jiro growled in frustration before he dashed forward once more this time trying to bite Zoro. The first mate of the straw hat crew saw the attack coming a mile away and sighed.

"It's useless, I'll just end this," Zoro said before he took on a serious look on his face and got into battle stance.

"Oni Giri!" Zoro shouted as he stepped forward slashed with all three of his swords while completely evading the bite from the giant bloodhound. Jiro stared off the ship into the open ocean with his eyes widen in shock at what just happened. He blinked a few time as he heard the sounds of swords being sheathed. It wasn't until three simultaneous 'clicks' of the hilts of the swords touching their scabbards was head that pain struck through his body and blood sprayed from three carefully place cuts causing him to fall face forward onto the deck of his ship. When he fell forward he realized there were a few things that felt off. First, he was still alive, barely but still, alive none the less. And secondly, he didn't hear his crew's cry of shock or rage that their captain had just been cut down. He used as much strength as he could muster at the moment to turn his head to the side and look for his crew and what he saw shocked him to the core. His entire crew was being decimated by the Straw Hat crew. Majority of his men were lying unconscious on the ground and the ones who were still standing weren't doing so good.

"W-what-what the hell is going on here!?" he yelled/asked in a horsed voice but no one answered. The straw hat crew didn't as much as look in his direction even though they heard him. His own crew didn't look in his direction, they were too scared that they would die if they took their eyes off their enemy. The thing Jiro heard was a chuckle coming from behind him causing him to strain his eyes off to the side in order to try and see who it was. He couldn't see the person clearly but from their outline and the blurry colors, he was seeing he assumed it to be the man who defeated him.

"A bunch of fools of think because they have a boat with a flag that they are pirates," Zoro said with a chuckle. "And Grand Line Pirates no less!" he said before he started laughing causing Jiro to growl. Zoro then looked behind him and saw his captain still sitting on his throne looking at what was going on.

*With Luffy*

Luffy was quite pleased with the way how Zoro handled his fight. In fact, he was quite pleased with the way his entire crew handled themselves in the situation. The one thing surprised Luffy however was how easily this pirate crew was disposed of, he was expecting them to put up more of a fight giving him a chance to truly see each of his crew member's fighting capabilities but that wasn't the case. Every member of his crew easily took down multiple enemies with Usopp covering them from the crow's nest.

'I'm not even sure if these pirate can survive in the East Blue much less the Grand Line,' Luffy thought to himself as he watched Nojiko dispose of the remaining pirates. As he was watching her skillfully wield her three section staff his eyes caught brief moments when the staff would turn pitch back for a few seconds before it disappears. Luffy narrowed his eyes as he watched Nojiko slam her staff on the last of the enemy before he began thinking to himself. 'Nojiko seems to be the only one who has awakened both observation and armament haki while the others only have their observation,' Luffy thought before he sighed and took a sip of his drink. 'Guess they need some tougher opponents,' he said with a sigh as he turned his attention away from the crew and looked up to the sky.

"Hey, Captain!" Zoro shouted getting his attention. "What should we do with these guys?" he asked from over on the pirate ship.

"Bring their captain here..." Luffy said while looking at Zoro. "...and have chopper come as well," he added causing the little reindeer to hop over back to the Going Merry and make his way towards Luffy. Johnny and Yosaku walked over to the downed pirate captain and picked up and dragged him to their captain. When they arrived on the upper rear deck of the Merry they threw him face first at Luffy's feet while the rest of Luffy's crew made their way over as well wanting to see what their captain was planning. Luffy looked at the downed man with an emotionless look on his face before he turned to Chopper and spoke. "Patch him up, Chopper," Luffy said surprising everyone and causing Jiro to growl.

"I don't need your pity!" Jiro lashed out at Luffy while scaring Chopper at the same time. Luffy just looked at the bleeding man with the same emotionless look on his before he kicked the downed man right in the face knocking him over onto his back.

"I'm not someone who is known for letting my enemies live...but I am going to let you live," Luffy said before he took a sip of his drink. "So, you will take whatever pity I give you or I'll just toss you into the sea to die a slow and painful death," Luffy added in a menacing tone scaring the crap out of Jiro.

There's the captain we all know and love,' Zoro thought in his head as he walked and stood beside Luffy. The past few days since the crew left the Drum Kingdom the entire crew noticed their captain seem to have mellowed out a bit and was smiling more than usual. They had all knew it was just Luffy trying to ease Chopper into the life of a pirate but Zoro honestly preferred the more serious Luffy, in his mind that is how a captain of a ship should be.

"Patch him up Chopper," Luffy said in a commanding voice causing the little reindeer to nod his head and cautiously walk over to Jiro with his little medical kit and began treating his wounds. After Chopper finished treating Jiro's wounds, Jiro was now sitting in front of Luffy's throne staring up at the Thunder Demon with a confused and angry look on his face. "Jiro, you and your crew are extremely weak," Luffy said causing the mad to growl and grit his teeth. "So, I am going to make you an offer," Luffy added surprising everyone.

"W-what kind of offer?" Jiro asked in a shocked and slightly frightened voice.

"Join my fleet and sail under my flag," Luffy said surprising everyone once more but none more than Jiro. "You may be weak, but you may have some use to me and my organization," Luffy said causing his crew to understand why he was doing what he was doing.

"What organization?" Jiro asked with a confused look on his face.

"An Underworld crime syndicate," Luffy said causing his eyes to widen and his jaw and hang open slightly. "All you have to do is work for me in the black market and I can make you famous and rich beyond your wildest imagination," Luffy said sweetening the deal for the man.

"I don't know," Jiro said sounding slightly apprehensive to the idea.

"I see you are still a fool," Zoro said from his position next to Luffy.

"What are you talking about!?" Jiro asked angrily while looking at the green haired swordsman.

"You are thinking about this offer as though you have a choice whether you want to accept it or not," Zoro said causing Luffy to smile while Jiro looked confused.

"W-what do you mean?" he asked sounding scared.

"You fool," Sanji added as he lit a new cigarette. "Either you accept and join the fleet or we rob your ship of all the food and money before we break off your rudder and leaver you here in the Grand Line at the mercy of nature," Sanji said in a bored tone causing Jiro's eyes to widen before he snapped his head back around to Luffy.

"Is that true?" he asked while looking at Luffy causing him to chuckle.

"More or less," Luffy replied nonchalantly. Jiro thought about the idea long and hard for five minutes before he gave Luffy his reply.

"Very well, I'll join your fleet," Jiro said causing Luffy to smirk.

"Smart choice," Luffy replied before he got up from his throne and walked to the side of the ship and looked over at the Hell Hound Pirates' ship. "Get your men ready and prepare to sail to Alabasta," Luffy said in a commanding tone before he turned and looked the three former Baroque Works agents and spoke. "You three go with him, you know what to do once you get to Alabasta," Luffy said before he walked back over to his throne and reached into the cloud. He then pulled out a transponder snail and handed it to Gem before he spoke again. "Contact me when everything is all set," he said as he handed the snail over of Gem.

"Aye, Captain!" Gem replied before he hopped onto Jiro's ship. Luffy looked at Jiro who was still trying to process everything that going on around him and spoke.

"Jiro, you are still in command of your ship, however, you take order from them for now," Luffy said causing the man to nod his head slowly still trying to process everything. Marianne and Mikita walked over to Kiro and helped him over to his ship. As they were walking over to his ship Luffy spoke once more. "Those three will fill you in on what's the plan once you reach Alabasta. After you guys finish that you will wait for my orders on how to proceed," Luffy said causing the four of them to nod their head. "Oh, and Jiro," Luffy said getting his attention. "Add a straw hat to that flag," he said while pointing at Jiro's jolly roger. Jiro looked confused for a bit before he turned and looked up Luffy's flag. He looked at it for a few seconds before he eyes widen in horror and he started to sweat slightly.

"Y-you...you...you're the Thunder Demon: Straw Hat Luffy!" Jiro screamed out in fear and shock causing his crew member who was unconscious to jump to their feet with their eyes the size of dinner plates.

"You didn't know that?" Nami asked in a surprised tone. Jiro shook his head saying no.

"What a fool!" Zoro said as he started laughing causing a tick mark to appear on Jiro's forehead.

"Enough!" Luffy said causing everyone to go silent. "You four have your orders, carry them out," he said before he turned and walked back to his throne with his coat billowing in the wind.

"Are we waiting for them to get ready and follow us?" Nojiko asked Luffy as she watched him sit down on his throne. "Or are we leaving them here?" she added. Luffy thought about it for a few seconds before he looked over at Jiro's pirate ship and spoke.

"Hey, Jiro!" Luffy called out getting his attention. "Do you know how to get to Alabasta?" he asked the first captain under his command. Jiro looked at Luffy before he spoke.

"Yeah, we left there a few hours ago," Jiro said causing Vivi's eyes to widen.

"Good, we will go on ahead, you guys get your stuff together and start making your way there," Luffy replied before Vivi had a chance to start blurting out questions. Jiro didn't reply he simply nodded his head. Luffy then looked to his navigator and spoke. "Nami, resume course to Alabasta," he said causing Nami to nod her head before she looked at Luffy with a confused look on her face.

"Luffy," she said getting his attention. "If those guys just left Alabasta how are they going to get back there, I thought the log pose only points to the next island whose magnetic field it needs to record?" she asked causing Luffy to chuckle slightly.

"You're right, that is how it works, however, the log pose points in two directions," Luffy said surprising her. "It points to the next island we need to go to nd to the previous island we visited whose magnetic field is recorded," Luffy said causing her to look at her log pose strapped to her wrist trying to understand what Luffy was talking about. After studying it for a few minutes a look of realization flashed across her face.

"I get it," she said in a cheerful voice. "The red half points to the next island while the bottom white half points to the previous island," she said while looking at the log pose.

"Bingo," Luffy replied as he took a sip of his drink. "Now, get to work!" Luffy shouted causing all of his crew members to scramble to get the ship moving again.

"Are you sure we can trust them," came the voice of Zoro off to Luffy's right causing Luffy to look over his shoulder at him and see him staring at Jiro and his crew.

"No, I don't," Luffy replied in a serious voice as he looked at Jiro with narrowed eyes.

"So why did you have him join the fleet?" Zoro asked as he turned and looked at Luffy. "They are extremely weak and won't last a minute in this business that you are going to be involved in," Zoro added.

"You may be right, but he has some use to me," Luffy said with a sigh. "It's not like he is going to be one of the high ranking commanders in the organization. He is just an ordinary foot soldier," Luffy said causing Zoro to nod his head.

"Makes sense," Zoro said as he walked over to the side and take a seat on the deck. As the ship began sailing away from Jiro and his crew and was heading full speed ahead to Alabasta Luffy got up from his throne and began making his way to the main deck.

"Come on," Luffy said to Zoro who just got comfortable on the ground. "Now ain't the time to relax," he said causing Zoro to grumble under his breath about not being able to sleep. When Luffy got to the main deck he saw every member of his crew was gathered there. "Okay Vivi, I want to know the exact structure of Baroque works and just how many people Crocodile has worked for him," Luffy said as he walked towards the group. Vivi took on a serious look on her face before she replied to Luffy.

"The layout is quite simple actually," she said as she petted her duck. "First, at the very top of the organization is the boss, Crocodile. he's known as Mr.0," she said causing everyone to nod their heads. "There are a total of 12 agents and one animal who receive orders from the boss directly. For the most part, these 12 mal agents operate in a pair with a female agent," she said before going through and listing all of the agents and their partners. "The agents with code names 1 through 5 are known as officers agents. They each possess one of the devil fruit powers are only sent on the most important missions," She said causing Luffy to nod his head understanding what she was saying.

'I'll need to recruit some of these officer agents,' Luffy thought to himself.

"But there is more," She said knocking Luffy out of his thought. "Under the officer agents are 200 men called billions, and there are another 1800 men under them who are known as millions," she said causing Luffy to smile. He was already aware of those guys and had given Gem, Mikita, and Marianne the task of recruiting them.

"Let's see, 200 plus 1800 equals uhh..." Usopp said as he began calculating in his head.

"They're 2000 of them!" Chopper screamed out in shock.

"2000 of them!?" Usopp screamed when he heard what Chopper said. Luffy started chuckling causing everyone to look at him with a confused look on their face.

"Calm down," he said with a chuckle. "Don't worry about those guys," she said confusing them more. "Gem and the girls are going to handle them," Luffy said causing his crew to finally understand what the order Luffy to those three.

"I see, so you were thinking ahead all this time, captain," Nojiko said with a smile.

"Why of course," Luffy replied with a smirk. "I like to be one step ahead of my enemy," Luffy added as he leaned against the railing of the stairs. He was about to say something else, but before he could a shout from Vivi interrupted him.

"Luffy!" she shouted getting everyone's attention. "What's that!?" she asked/yelled while point to the front of the ship. Everyone turned and looked at where she was pointing and saw green smoke rising up from out of the ocean.

"Hmm what is that?" Nojiko asked as she stared at the smoke.

"Oh don't worry about that," Nami said calmly while Luffy nodded his head agreeing with her. "It's just steam from an underwater volcano," she said causing Usopp and Chopper's eyes to widen.

"There's volcanos underwater?" Chopper asked in an astonished voice.

"Yeah, it is said that there more volcanos underwater than above the surface," Nami said causing Chopper to stare at the smoke in awe.

"I would try and hold your breath if I were you," Luffy said as he stared at the steam cloud they were approaching pretty fast. "That thing stinks," he added causing everyone including himself to take a deep breath just before the ship sailed into the green steam. At the speed at which they were traveling it didn't take them long to come out of the other side of the steam cloud. When they exited the cloud Luffy to looked at Sanji and spoke. "Hey Sanji," Luffy said getting his attention.

"Yea, captain?" Sanji asked as he released his breath and looked at Luffy.

"Why don't you go bring up some of that nice dinosaur meat that we got from Little Garden and get lunch started," Luffy said as he began walking towards the front of the ship to sit on the figurehead.

"You got it, Captain!" Sanji replied with a salute before he began making his way down below deck. As Sanji began making his way down to the storage area Luffy was making his way to the figurehead of the Going Merry, but before he could reach there the voice of Zoro stopped him in his track.

"Hey captain, there is a man on the side of the ship," Zoro said calmly as he leaned over the side of the ship and watched a strangely dressed man holding on to the side of the ship.

"What do you mean there is a man on the side of the ship?" Luffy asked as he stopped and began walking back towards where Zoro and everyone else was standing. When he got there he leaned over to see this man that was hanging onto his ship. "Hmm, would you look at that, there actually is a man on the side of the ship," Luffy said as he stared at the strange men with a bewildered look on his face.

"You have to help me please!" the man pleaded with the crew causing everyone to raise their eyebrow at him. "You can't let me fall in the water! I ate a devil fruit so I can't swim!" the man cried with a pleading look in his eye.

"A devil fruit you say?" Luffy asked in a bored tone as he looked at the man.

"Yes, that's right, a devil fruit!" he said causing Luffy to nod his head before he looked at Johnny and Yosaku.

"Pull him up," he said to the bounty hunting duo causing them to salute and pull the strange man aboard. When they pulled him up the man flopped down onto the deck of the ship and began breathing heavily while everyone moved away from the side of the ship and positioned themselves at different parts of the deck to be able to defend the ship effectively if necessary.

"Man, I thought I was going to die there for a second," the man said between breaths as he sat on the ground. Luffy walked over to one of the barrels on the deck and sat down on top of it before turning his attention to the strangely dressed man. "Heyyyy, you saved me thanks!" the man said as he bowed slightly to Luffy and the crew. "I never imagined that my life would be saved by a group of complete strangers," he said in a relieved tone.

"So what kind of devil fruit you ate?" Luffy asked as he placed his right leg up on the barrel that he was sitting on.

"Well let's see, seeing as how I can't go anywhere until my ship picks me up I don't see the harm in having some fun," the man said as he stood up. Everyone immediately placed their guard up and stared at the man. The man walked up to Johnny and smacked him in the face causing Johnny to fall back and everyone else spring ou their weapons and take up the battle positions. well, everyone except Luffy was still sitting on the barrel with an emotionless look on his face.

"Why you!" Yosaku and Zoro said in anger as they got ready to attack the man.

"Now now, there is no need for all of that," came the voice of Johnny from where the man was standing causing everyone including Luffy's to widen in shock. "We're just having fun!" the man said happily as he moved his hands away from his face only to reveal a perfect copy of not just Johnny's face, but also his voice and his body.

'The Clone-Clone fruit!' Luffy thought as he stared at the man with a surprised look on his face. 'Now he can prove to be useful,' Luffy added in his head with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell," Johnny said from his position on the ground. "It's me!" Johnny said as he stared up at a perfect image of himself in every way except for the clothes that he was wearing.

"And if I touch my face with my left hand," The man said in Johnny's voice as he touched his face with his left hand. "I am back to normal," he said as he returned back to normal. "now that is the power of the Clone-Clone devil fruit you see," he added causing everyone to look at him with an astonished look on their face.

"Interesting devil fruit you got there Mr...?" Luffy said as he trailed off waiting for the man to say his name.

"Oh forgive me, where is my manners," the man said as he bowed slightly. "My name is Bon Clay!" he introduced himself.

"Well then, you have an interesting power there Mr. Bon Clay," Luffy said as he watched the man go around and touch the side of each of his crew members face one by one.

"Yes, I am quite proud of it," Bon Clay said as he walked up and touched the side of Luffy's face. Honestly, Luffy still didn't trust the man, but he didn't see any harm in the man being able to impersonate him, it wasn't like he could clone his devil fruit or his strength. Bon Clay then took a few steps back and began changing into each of Luffy's crew member even Luffy himself, but when he reached Nami he stopped and spoke. "That's not all, I can change bodies too!" the man said as he pulled open his clothes showing everyone the very n.a.k.e.d body of Luffy's navigator. All the men on the ship except for Luffy and Zoro had their eyes widen and their jaws on the floor while Luffy just looked on with an unimpressed look on his face.

"hmmm, I've seen better," Luffy said with a shrug causing Nojiko to chuckle while Nami punched Bon Clay right in the head.

"Stop that!" Nami yelled as she punched him before she turned to Luffy. "And what do you mean you've seen better!?" she yelled/ asked. Luffy just shrugged his shoulder with the same unimpressed look on his face causing her to grumble under her breath.

"I am terribly sorry, but I shouldn't demonstrate my powers anymore," the man said as he got up from the ground and nursed his head.

"No! Do more!" Usopp and Chopper cheered while Luffy looked on with a small smile.

"Well if you insist," the man said before he started changing into a bunch of random people one after another as he twirled himself around in circles while Usopp, Chopper, and Johnny cheered on. After Bon Clay was finished further demonstrating his powers he began dancing around with Usopp and Chopper on the deck. It was then Luffy and Nami noticed a ship quickly approaching from the starboard side of the Going Merry. When Bon Clay saw the ship he stopped dancing and hopped up onto the side of the ship and turned his back towards the crew before he spoke. "It's time to say goodbye already? What a shame," Bon Clay said in a sad voice causing Usopp and Chopper to become sad as well.

"Noo, you can't leave just yet!" Usopp said with some tears in his eyes.

"Try not to be sad, journeys must always include farewells," Bon Clay said while Luffy nodded his head in agreement. Bon Clay then hopped off of the Going Merry and onto the side of his own ship. "Now then Let's get going!" Bon Clay said to his crew.

"Yes sir Mr.2 Mr. Bon Clay Sir!" one his crew members replied with a salute using the straw hats eyes to widen in shock and causing Luffy to spring off the barrel and onto his feet.

"Did he just say...?" Luffy asked as he watches the paddle ship sail away at an impressive speed.

"Mr. 2?" Zoro added to Luffy's question.

"That guy was Mr. 2?" Vivi asked in a shocked tone.

"So, not only does our enemy knows what we look like, but he can also turn into us," Luffy said with a sigh.

"That's not all," came the distressed voice of Vivi. "I saw something in his memory of all the faces he had copied," she said causing Luffy to narrow his eyes. "One of them was...my father," she said causing their eyes to widen in shock.

"Crocodile may be a bastard, but I have to give it to the man he knows how to take over a country," Luffy said as he folded his arms and leaned against the side of the ship.

"Yeah, having to ability to impersonate a king that easily can cause a whole lot of trouble for a country," Zoro said with a serious look on his face.

"We sure let a bad one get away, huh?" Usopp said as he shook his head.

"To make matters worse when he finds out that we are the ones Baroque Works is after he can transform into any one of us and we won't even be able to trust our own friends," Nami said with a serious voice as she walked to the middle of the deck. Luffy couldn't help but agree with Nami, sure he trusts his crew but they have only been together a couple of weeks now and so far someone already committed treason on his ship. The last thing this crew need is someone impersonating one of them and causing even more trouble from the inside.

"That's true, however, this may be a good thing for us as well," Luffy said causing everyone to look at him with a puzzled look on his face. "With us knowing his ability we can beat him at his own game," Luffy added with a smirk on his face. "Okay everyone, gather round, Johnny go get Sanji!" Luffy said causing everyone to step forward in a circle with him in the center while Johnny raced into the kitchen to find Sanji. While Johnny was getting Sanji, Luffy began rummaging around his coat looking for something. After about a minute Luffy found what he was looking for and pulled it out for everyone to see. In Luffy's hands was a plain old black marker. When everyone saw what it was they all sweat dropped.

'How are we going to beat Mr. 2 with a marker?' They all thought in a deadpan tone. Just then Sanji and Johnny joined them on the deck and took a place in the circle around Luffy. Naturally, Sanji positioned himself between Nami and Vivi.

"Okay, stick out our left arm...and wing," Luffy said adding the last part when he saw Vivi's duck Karoo in the circle as well. He then went to each of his crew members one by one and drew an X on their left hand just above their wrist. "From this point on no matter what happens. This left arm is proof that you are members of my crew and more importantly, we're all friends," Luffy said as he drew the mark on his own hand and stuck it out.

"Aye, Captain!" they all replied with a smile on their face.

"Oh and find something to hide the mark," Luffy said causing them to nod their heads. Zoro was about to say something to his captain but before he could the entire boat started to rock back and forth violently and the water around the boat began to get extremely rough. Suddenly something extremely big began to rise up from the water off the right side of the ship causing everyone to panic.

"What the hell is going on!?" Yosaku screamed as he and Johnny pulled out their bisento.

"Something is coming out of the water!" Nojiko screamed as she took out her three section staff and got ready for a fight.

"It's a Sea Cat!" Vivi yelled as the creature became more visible. Out of the water came a giant cat-like sea monster staring down at the ship.

"It's a sea monster!" Chopper and Usopp screamed as they hugged each other.

"It looks like food to me!" Zoro yelled as he unsheathed all three of his swords getting ready to attack the thing.

"No, can't can't eat it!" Vivi yelled at Zoro causing him to stop. "Sea cats are sacred animals in Alabasta, I cannot allow you to eat it," Vivi said with conviction causing Zoro to sigh and sheath his sword.

"Fine, we will just have to scare it away," Luffy said in a bored tone. As he said that aloud thunderclap came from the clear blue sky scaring the giant sea cat away.

"We must be getting close to Alabasta," Vivi said with a smile as she watched the sea cat swim away after being scared by the thunder Luffy caused.

"Yeah, well those things you see behind us over there is all the proof I need that we are getting close," Nojiko said with a smirk as he stared out the back of the ship causing everyone to look at where she was looking.

"That's a lot of sh.i.p.s," Luffy said as he stared at about 50 sh.i.p.s.

"Yeah, and they are all flying the Baroque Works symbol," Usopp said as he looked through a telescope.

"It would seem all the agents have begun to gather," Luffy said in an excited tone.

"These must be the billions, they are the subordinates directly under the officer agents," Vivi said as she stared at the ship.

"Ignore them for now," Luffy said in a serious voice. "We've got to keep our eyes on the prize," Luffy said.

'Plus I don't want to be killing my future employees,' He thought as he stared at the sh.i.p.s with a smirk.

"Hey, I see the island!" Johnny yelled causing all of them to stare at the front of the ship and see the desert island of Alabasta.

"Let's dock in the town of Nanohana, we need to hide the ship," Vivi said causing Luffy to nod his head in agreement. The entire crew began running around and getting ready to dock the ship while Vivi and Luffy made their way to the upper deck to oversee everything.

"You must be happy to be home," Luffy said to Vivi who is standing to his right. "Do you have any plans on how to deal with the rebellion?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, I do have a plan but I don't know how well it is going to work," Vivi said as she stared at the desert island. Luffy didn't bother saying anything to her he knew whatever plan she had in mind involved her trying to save lives on both sides. Luffy been around the world and saw multiple conflicts, he knew that there was no way of ending this thing with no bloodshed. It took them another 15 minutes before the ship docked at the safe location near the town of Nanohana. When the ship was safely docked Luffy went down to the main deck and spoke to his crew.

"Okay, remember from this point on the mark that is under here," he said as he held up his left arm showing a white bandage wrapped around his wrist. "is what separates us from our enemy," Luffy said causing them to nod their heads. he then reached into his coat and pulled out a small sack of money and tossed it to Sanji before he spoke again. "Use that to restock the kitchen with whatever you need," he said as he tossed him the bag.

"Sure thing, Captain," Sanji replied.

"And the rest of you keep your guard up," he said causing them to nod their heads before they all hopped off the Going Merry and made their way into the town. They all made their way through a small desert area before they arrived at the town. Usopp and Nami and given Vivi and Karoo hooded coats to wear so they won't be recognizable by the public until they can buy clothes to blend in with the locals. As they entered the town they saw it was a busy market place and Luffy and his entire crew stuck out like a sore thumb. The group quickly found a deserted part of the town where there weren't that many people around and hid there for a while.

"This is bad," Nami said as they hid behind the broken down wall. "If we keep on walking around this we will definitely be noticed by Crocodile's men," she said with a voice filled with distress.

"Yeah you're right but we can't just go walking around out in the open and buy disguises," Luffy said as he leaned against the wall. "I have a bounty on my head, Vivi is the princess, and Mr. and who knows who else know what you all look like," Luffy said with a sigh.

"They don't know what I look like," Sanji said causing everyone to turn and look at him.

"Yeah, he is right!" Usopp said before he turned and looked at Chopper. "And he isn't the only one, Chopper as well!" he added with a grin. Luffy nodded his head and took out a much smaller bag filled with money and handed it to Sanji.

"You two go buy disguises for everyone except for me," Luffy said causing everyone to look at him with a confused look on their face wondering why he didn't need a disguise. "I'll draw all of our enemy's attention, that should give you guys the freedom to do what you need to do," Luffy said as he pushed off the wall.

"So you are going to be walking around out in the open while we try and blend in with locals and operate from the shadows in a way?" Nojiko asked causing Luffy to nod his head.

"Exactly," Luffy said as he adjusted his hat. "Zoro, you're in charge of everything except navigation," Luffy said to Zoro causing him to nod his head before he looked at Luffy with a confused look on his face.

"Wait, why not navigation as well?" Zoro asked causing everyone to look at him with a deadpan look on their face.

"Cause you can get lost while walking on a straight road," Luffy replied with a sweat drop on his head while Zoro folded his arms and grumbled under his breath.

"Fine," Zoro replied in an annoyed tone causing everyone to chuckle.

"Good, we will meet up later," Luffy said before he turned and began making their way out of their hiding place.

"Wait, how will we know when to meet up?" Nojiko asked as he watched Luffy walked away. Luffy turned his head and looked at them as he walked away before he spoke.

"Oh you'll know when it's time to go," Luffy said with an all-knowing smirk on his face causing everyone to sweat drop at their captain. Luffy left his crew and began making his way back into the market place of the town. When he arrived there he saw the market was quite busy, there were people all over buying and selling products of all kinds.

'This may be a great place to get some information,' Luffy thought to himself as he began walking through the market. As he was walking through the market he noticed a small stall with a short old man behind it selling shish kebabs. Luffy walked over to the stall and picked up one of the shish kebabs before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of berries and handed it to the man. He then took a bite of his shish kebab and savored the taste.

"Wow, this is pretty good, old man," he said as he chews on the meat.

"Thank you, young man," the old man said with a smile as he placed the money away. "It's been a while since I had a customer," he added with a grateful smile.

"Reall?" Luffy asked with a confused look on his face. "With good tasting food like this, I would think people would be running you down for food," Luffy said as he took another bite of the shish kebab.

"It used to be that way," the man said in a sad voice before his face took on a grim tone. "But that was before those stupid idiots started this stupid civil war over some stupid dance powder," the man said with anger clearly present in his voice.

"Dance powder?" Luffy asked with a confused look on his face. He had never heard of anything called dance powder before so he was intrigued by it especially if it is the reason for this civil war. The man looked at Luffy with a bewildered look on his face before he spoke.

"You're not from around here are you?" the old man asked as he looks at Luffy with a calculating gaze.

"No, I'm just passing through," Luffy replied as he finished his shish kebab and purposely turn around flashing the jolly roger on the back of his captain's coat for the man to see.

"You're a pirate!" the man said in a whisper.

"Yeah, I am but don't worry I'm not here to cause trouble just waiting for my log pose to reset," he said causing the man to look at him for a while before he nodded his head. "Now, tell me about this dance powder," Luffy said as he picked up another shish kebab.

"Dance powder is a green powder that is used to make artificial rain," The man said causing Luffy's eyes to widen slightly.

"Artificial rain?" Luffy asked in a surprised voice. He had never heard of something like that before in all the years he's been in the Grand Line.

"Yes, the dance power when burnt emit a mist-like vapor that would rise up in the air. It speeds up the creation of ice particles in sub-freezing temperature clouds and causes rainfall," the man explained amazing Luffy. "However, the powder, unfortunately, caused long periods of drought in other countries," the man said causing Luffy to understand what was going on.

"I see," he said taking a bite of his second shish kebab. "And I take it the rebels wanted the king to use the dance power to create rain but the king refused due to the risk of starting a war with another country," Luffy said between bites.

"Exactly," the old man said as he nodded his head. "These young people today have no patience what so ever," the man said causing Luffy to chuckle.

"It's not all bad though," Luffy said as he looked around. "This town seems to be doing pretty good," he noted as he watched people happily go about their day in the market.

"That may be true but not everything is as it seems," the man said to Luffy. "People may look happy but deep down they're all terrified of the war. The one thing that keeps them in high hopes is the fact that Crocodile comes to their rescue whenever there is trouble," he further elaborates causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow.

"The warlord?" Luffy asked acting as though he wasn't aware of Crocodile being here in Alabasta.

"Yes him," the man said with a nod. "These people may trust him with their lives but I don't," the man said.

"Oh, and why is that?" Luffy asked as he bit down on the final piece of meat on the shish kebab. "I mean if he saves the people when they're in danger why don't you trust him?" he asked.

"He is a priate...no offense," the man said causing Luffy to wave him off. "I've been around far too long to believe that he actually cares for these people," the man said causing Luffy to smile.

"I take it that is also one of the reasons why your stall is so empty?" Luffy asked with a chuckle.

"I've been told I'm a stubborn old man," the man said with a chuckle causing Luffy to chuckle as well before he reached into his coat and pulled out a small bag of money and tossed it to the man.

"Thanks for the meat, old man," Luffy replied before he turned to leave. The man looked at the small bag and looked back at Luffy before he spoke.

"Hey, this is too much!" the man yelled at Luffy trying to get him to take back some of the money. Luffy just raised his right hand in the air and waved goodbye to the man as he walked away. As he walked up the busy market street he couldn't help but notice the stares of everyone locked onto him causing him to smirk internally.

'Only a matter of time now,' Luffy thought as he placed an emotionless look on his face. 'News will soon reach you that I am here, Crocodile,' Luffy thought as he walked through the busy street. Luffy kept on walking for about another 10 minutes around the market before he came to a sudden stop in the middle of the street and he turned his head to the right and looked at what appears to be a restaurant with a smirk on his face.

"So, I guess Shanks was right, you are here in Paradise after all..." Luffy said to himself. "...Ace,"

*CHAPTER END*

**Author's Note: Please leave suggestions for what you want Luffy's organization to be called in the comments. Also If you guys would like to see more OC like Jiro in the story do let me know and if you have any ideas for an OC let me know and I'll find some place to add them in.