"Look at it this way, Nami," Ben said, patting the navigator's trembling shoulder as they stood amidst the unconscious bodies of a hundred bounty hunters. "We were bound to fight other pirates eventually. In the East Blue, we fought the biggest fish in the pond. Now we're in the Grand Line. Might as well start by punching a Warlord in the nose, right? It builds character."
Nami looked at him, her eyes wide and watery. Then, her survival instinct kicked in, overriding her fear with pure, unadulterated rage.
"BUILDS CHARACTER?!" she shrieked, shaking him by the collar. "IT BUILDS A GRAVESTONE, YOU MANIAC! A WARLORD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?! IT MEANS DEATH! EXPENSIVE, PAINFUL DEATH!"
"Details, details," Ben waved her off, magically conjuring a cold compress for her forehead. "Now, come on. We need to wake up the heavy sleepers."
They found Sanji and Usopp still snoring in the rubble of the party house.
"Wake up!" Nami yelled, kicking Usopp in the ribs.
"Gah! I'm awake! The Sea King was made of pudding!" Usopp yelped, sitting up.
Sanji rose more gracefully, dusting off his suit. "Nami-swan? Why are we screaming? Is time for breakfast?"
"No, you idiot! We've been betrayed! The town is full of bounty hunters, we're targeted by a Warlord, and oh yeah—Miss Wednesday is actually the Princess of Alabasta!"
Sanji's brain processed the information.
Miss Wednesday...
Blue hair...
Princess...
His eye turned into a heart the size of a dinner plate. Steam shot out of his ears. He began to vibrate.
"A... A... PRINCESSSSSSSSS?!" he howled at the moon. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW HER BEAUTY WAS ROYAL! MY LOVE WAS NOT IN VAIN! VIVI-CHWAAAAAAAN! I, YOUR KNIGHT, AM HERE TO SERVE!"
He began pirouetting toward where Vivi was standing with Zoro, creating a small tornado of love-hearts.
Zoro, watching this display, just sighed, sheathing his swords. "Ero-cook."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, MOSS-HEAD?! DON'T JEALOUS OF MY ROYAL CONNECTION!"
"Enough!" Ben commanded, herding them like cats. "To the ship."
They gathered at the docks. The Going Merry was waiting, bobbing gently, looking like a haven of sanity. But before they could board, a strange sight stopped them.
Walking down the pier was... Vivi. Or rather, someone dressed exactly like Vivi, but with broad shoulders, a square jaw, and a very distinctive, sausage-curl hairstyle.
"Igaram?" Nami blinked. "Why are you wearing a dress?"
"Igarappoi!" the man boomed, adjusting his wig. "It is a decoy! I shall take a separate boat, dressed as the Princess, to draw the pursuers' fire! You must take the real Princess and flee via the usual route!"
Vivi covered her mouth, tears in her eyes. "Igaram... you..."
"Go, Princess! For Alabasta!"
Igaram jumped into a small sailing boat, struck a heroic (and very unconvincing) feminine pose, and set sail into the mist.
"What a brave man," Usopp sniffled, saluting.
The boat sailed about a hundred yards out. The fog swirled around it.
And then—
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A blinding flash of orange fire erupted from the water. The boat disintegrated instantly, shattered into a thousand burning splinters by a massive, hidden explosion.
"IGARAM!" Vivi screamed, falling to her knees.
The Straw Hats stared in shock. Nami gasped. Usopp's jaw dropped. Even Luffy's eyes went wide.
Ben, however, just watched the fire with a calm, detached expression. He knew from the anime that Igaram was alive. But for the sake of the narrative—and Vivi's resolve—he had to be "dead."
"He's... gone," Ben said, infusing his voice with somber gravity. "We can't let his sacrifice be in vain. Board the ship! Now!"
Shaken, the crew scrambled onto the Going Merry.
---
They gathered on the main deck, the mood heavy. Vivi was sobbing quietly. Nami was checking the Log Pose, her hands shaking.
"That explosion..." Sanji muttered, lighting a cigarette, his face grim. "That wasn't gunpowder. That was precision."
"Indeed," a smooth, calm, unfamiliar voice drifted down from the railing above them. "It was quite the show."
The entire crew froze.
They looked up.
Sitting on the railing of the upper deck, casually cross-legged, reading a book, was a woman. She wore a white cowboy hat, a purple corset, and an aura of mystery so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"Who are you?!" Zoro growled, his hand instantly on his sword.
Vivi gasped, her face draining of blood. "Miss All Sunday!"
"Miss All Sunday?" Nami repeated.
"She's... she's the Vice-President of Baroque Works!" Vivi cried, stepping back. "She's Crocodile's partner! She's the brain behind the entire organization! I followed her to know who Mr. 0 was."
The woman smiled, a small, amused curve of her lips. "Well, you were trying so hard. It would have been rude not to let you peek."
"Why are you here?!" Vivi shouted.
"Just to see," Robin said calmly. She looked at Luffy. "Monkey D. Luffy. The man with the 30 million berry bounty."
She raised a hand.
Suddenly, a hand—a literal, human hand made of flesh and blood—sprouted from Luffy's shoulder. Before he could react, it snatched his straw hat.
"Hey!" Luffy yelled.
The hat flew through the air, passed between a chain of sprouted hands, and landed on Robin's finger, spinning.
"A nice hat," she mused.
Luffy's face darkened. He didn't yell. He didn't stretch. He just looked at her with a cold, captain's glare. "Give it back."
Robin smiled and tossed it back. It landed perfectly on his head. "Touchy."
She then reached into her coat and pulled out a small, glass Eternal Pose. "The route you're taking... Little Garden... it's a death trap. If you want to survive, if you want to get this Princess home... use this. An Eternal Pose to Alabasta. It's a straight shot."
She tossed the glass sphere to Luffy.
Luffy caught it. He looked at it.
Nami's eyes lit up. "A safe route?! Luffy, that's great! We can—"
CRUNCH.
Luffy squeezed his hand. The glass shattered. The needle broke. The Eternal Pose was dust.
"LUFFY!" Nami and Usopp screamed in unison, their eyes popping out. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"
"I am the captain of this ship," Luffy said flatly, dusting glass off his hand. "And I decide where this ship sails. Not her."
Robin looked surprised for a split second, her eyes widening slightly. Then, she chuckled. "I see. A pity. You'll die, then."
She stood up on the railing, preparing to leave. "Well, this was entertaining. Farewell."
"Not so fast," Ben said.
He was standing by the mast. His expression wasn't angry; it was curious.
"You walked onto our ship," Ben said calmly. "You threatened my captain. And now you think you can just... hop off?"
Robin smiled, confident. "Can you stop me, Mr?"
Ben patted the mast. "Merry? Would you do the honors?"
The ship creaked.
It was a low, menacing groan that vibrated through the deck.
Robin frowned. "What—"
Suddenly, the rigging—the ropes used to hoist the sails—snapped to life. They didn't just swing; they struck. Like cobras, four thick ropes shot out from the mast.
Robin crossed her arms. "Seis Fleurs!"
Six arms sprouted from the ropes to push them away.
But the ropes twisted. They moved with a consciousness, anticipating her block. They wrapped around her sprouted arms, binding them tight, and then snaked around her real body.
"What?!" Robin gasped, her cool facade cracking.
In seconds, she was bound. Her wrists were tied behind her back, her ankles secured, and she was hoisted five feet into the air, dangling upside down like a captured fish.
"UNHAND THE LADY!" Sanji screamed, kicking the mast. "MERRY! I TAUGHT YOU BETTER MANNERS! THIS IS NOT HOW WE TREAT A MADEMOISELLE, EVEN IF SHE IS A VILLAIN!"
Robin hung there, swaying. Her hat had fallen off. Her face was flushed, her eyes darting around in genuine confusion. She was an assassin. She could handle Marines, pirates, and Warlords. She could not handle a boat that tied her up.
This ship... it's... alive? And... he controls it? Panic, cold and sharp, began to rise in her chest.
"She's a high-ranking officer," Ben said, walking over to the dangling archaeologist. "If we let her go, she reports to Crocodile. If we keep her... well, we have leverage. And intel."
He looked at Luffy. "Captain? What's the call? Brig? Interrogation? Or... swimming lessons?"
Luffy walked up to Robin. He looked at her upside-down face. He picked his nose.
He stared at her for a long, uncomfortable minute. Robin stared back, trying to regain her composure, expecting death or torture.
"Put her down," Luffy said.
"Aye aye," Ben murmured. The ropes gently lowered her, untying themselves as her feet touched the deck.
Robin rubbed her wrists, wary. "Why?"
Luffy grinned. "You're not a bad person."
The silence on the deck was deafening.
"HAAAAAAH?!" Nami, Usopp, and Vivi screamed.
"Luffy!" Nami shrieked. "She's the Vice-President of the murder organization! She blew up Igaram! (Allegedly!) She's an enemy!"
"No," Luffy said, adjusting his hat. "She didn't attack us. And she gave us the compass thingy, even if I broke it. She can stay."
"STAAAAAY?!" Usopp yelled. "ON THE SHIP?! WITH US?!"
"Sure," Luffy shrugged. "We have room."
Ben smiled. Classic Luffy. His instinct for people is sharper than any Haki.
"You heard the Captain," Ben said, holstering his wand. "Merry, she's a guest. But..." he leaned in close to Robin, his voice dropping to a whisper only she could hear. "...keep an eye on her. If she tries to leave, or hurt anyone... you have permission to get creative with the anchor chain."
Robin shivered. She looked at Luffy, who was already asking Sanji for food. She looked at Ben, who was smiling enigmatically. She looked at the ship that had just assaulted her.
These people... are insane.
"Very well," she said, putting her hat back on and regaining her composure. "I suppose I have nowhere else to go."
Sanji was already twirling. "A NEW GUEST! A MYSTERIOUS MADEMOISELLE! I SHALL PREPARE A WELCOME SNACK!"
"Wait," Ben said. "One more thing."
He walked to the rail. Below, floating in the water, was a giant, majestic sea turtle wearing a cowboy hat and smoking a cigar. It was Robin's ride, Banchina.
"We can't leave your ride," Ben said. He pulled out a small, battered leather suitcase. He placed it on the deck and flipped the latches.
"Capacious Extremis."
He opened the lid. Instead of clothes, the inside of the suitcase revealed a ladder leading down into a vast, magically lit space.
Ben pointed his wand at the giant turtle. "Wingardium Leviosa."
The massive reptile floated up, looking incredibly confused, hovered over the suitcase, and was gently lowered into it.
From the depths of the suitcase, a splash was heard.
"There," Ben said, closing the lid. "I have a nice saltwater pool in there. He'll be comfortable. I call it the 'Newt-Suite'."
Robin stared at the suitcase. She stared at Ben.
For the first time in twenty years, Nico Robin, the Demon Child of Ohara, felt completely, utterly out of her depth.
---
Night fell. The crew, exhausted and emotionally drained, slept. Zoro, who had slept through the entire afternoon, was on night watch in the crow's nest, training his biceps with a set of magic dumbbells which Ben made so that he could adjust the weight.
Ben sat in his cabin, the door locked and silent. He pulled out the small, two-way mirror.
He tapped the surface. The glass swirled like smoke, then cleared to reveal a sharp, tattooed face.
"Dragon-san," Ben said quietly, offering a respectful nod.
"Ben," the Revolutionary leader replied, his voice crackling slightly with static. "You called. Did you retrieve the package at Whiskey Peak?"
"I did," Ben confirmed, tapping his pocket. "The manual is safe. Thank you. It will be... invaluable for our crew."
"Good," Dragon said. "Where are you guys now?"
"We've left Whiskey Peak," Ben said. "En route to Little Garden, then Alabasta. I have the Princess of Alabasta on board. And... a new, unexpected guest. Nico Robin is traveling with us."
Dragon's eyes widened slightly, the tattoo on his face shifting. " The survivor of Ohara? With Luffy?"
"For now. She's a captor. But I think she might join our crew in the future." Ben leaned in closer to the mirror. "But listen, Dragon-san. The situation in Alabasta is critical. Warlord Crocodile is planning to take over the kingdom. He's using Dance Powder to frame the King. He plans to seize the country... and looking for the Pluton."
"Pluton..." Dragon murmured, his expression darkening. "So the rumors were true. If a Warlord obtains an Ancient Weapon..."
"The World Government is blind to it, or complicit," Ben said. "You should use this opportunity to secure an alliance with the king of Alabasta."
Dragon nodded slowly. "I cannot come in person there as I am attending another matter. And it would also draw too much attention from the Admirals. But... I can send support."
"Send someone capable then," Ben suggested, a knowing glint in his eye. "Who can infiltrate without raising an army's worth of alarms?"
Dragon considered this. "I have one. He is currently in the Grand Line. I can divert him. Where should he meet you?"
"Nanohana," Ben said. "The port city in Alabasta. Have him meet us there."
Let the brothers meet naturally. Let the shock be real.
"Very well," Dragon said. "My Chief of Staff will be at Nanohana. Ensure my son does not get himself killed before then."
"I'll try," Ben chuckled. "But you know how he is."
"I do," Dragon said, a hint of a fatherly sigh in his voice. "Thank you for the information."
The mirror went dark. Ben leaned back, a satisfied smile on his face. Sabo was coming. The stage was set.
---
Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the ocean, miles away from any recognizable landmass...
Marine Captain Smoker stood on the deck of his ship, his cigar smoke mingling with the thick sea fog. He was growling. He had been growling for forty-eight hours straight.
"Tashigi!" he barked. "Status!"
Tashigi, looking flustered and clutching a map that made no sense, ran up. "Captain! According to the Log Pose... we should be at Whiskey Peak! But... there's nothing here! Just water! And... that flock of seagulls laughing at us!"
Smoker stared at the Log Pose on his wrist. It was pointing confidently, unerringly... straight.
"This... damn... thing..." Smoker snarled. He tapped the glass. Suddenly, the needle spun. It did a little jig. Then it pointed at Smoker's nose. Then it pointed at the moon. Then it just went limp.
"IT'S DEFECTIVE!" Smoker roared, slamming his fist onto the railing, turning the metal into smoke. This was the Log pose Ben transfigured.
"Captain!" a marine shouted from the comms room. "We're low on supplies! We've been sailing in circles for two days! The men are starting to eat the decorative plants!"
Smoker grabbed the Transponder Snail. He dialed the emergency Marine frequency. His pride was burning, but his ship was lost.
Puru-puru-puru... Gatcha. "Marine Headquarters. Identify."
"This is Captain Smoker," he gritted out, smoke billowing from his ears in a furious cloud. "Requesting... navigational assistance."
"Captain Smoker? The White Hunter?" The operator sounded confused. "What is your position?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Smoker screamed into the receiver. "MY LOG POSE IS A DUD! I AM LOST! JUST SEND A SHIP TO GUIDE US OUT!"
He slammed the receiver down, crushing it. He looked out at the empty, fog-bound sea.
"Straw Hat..." Smoker hissed, his voice a promise of violence. "When I find you... I'm going to turn you into ash."
Far away, on the Going Merry, Luffy sat up in his bed and sneezed. "Someone's talking about me."