Freedom

As they arrived above the outskirts of Alabasta, Jack had Nojiko take the ship down into a small cove. "Let's all get some sleep, then we can head out before the sunrise." Jack said as he started walking to his room below deck.

"Can't we go-" Vivi tried to get out, but without letting her finish speaking or turning around, Jack shouted, "NO!" Ending whatever she was going to ask. "Haha, just get some sleep princess. All your problems will forever be gone from this world after tomorrow." The ever pleasant Luke said with a smile as he too went to his room.

"Blood thirsty..." Vivi mumbled under her breath as she watched Luke disappear. "Come on. Those two will only sleep for about 4 hours before they wake up, and we do need to get some sleep." Nami said as she held Vivi's hand, trying to comfort her. Reluctantly, Viv went to Nami's room with her and Nojiko and they had a girls night.

Smoker fell asleep in his chair on the deck, and Tashigi had slept enough that she wasn't tired at all, so she went for an evening swim. Dr. Kureha and Chopper went down into there lab to create some salves and ointments for some odd diseases and burns. Luke had told them that burns were a big deal on their ship, so they would need lots of burn cream.

Jack was laying in his bed staring at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. He didn't want to just head out right away and kill Crocodile because all of the really important members of Buroque Works might not be at Crocodiles casino, and he really wanted to kill all of them. He had already purchased their Transponder Snail numbers, but he didn't know if they had a code or something to know if he was a fake.

'Maybe just force the lizard to call them before I kill him?' Jack thought curiously. Ultimately he figured to just roll with whatever happened, and go from there before he closed his eyes to sleep.

His eyes shot open after what felt like only a few minutes, but he knew more time had passed than that. Pulling a clock from a drawer beside him, he saw that almost 5 hours had passed by, which he was thankful for. Ever since coming to this world, he hadn't been getting that much sleep, except when he dipped a little too deep in the Rum.

He shot out of bed and quickly got dressed before making his way to the dining area, everyone else already waiting for him. "You slept longer than I thought you would." Nami said as she turned her eyes away from a stack of berries and towards him. "Well I was thinking of having someone manage my wealth and lost track of time." Jack said sarcastically as he took a seat at the table. "Asshole..." Nami mumbled, before she went back to counting her berries.

"Could you please take us up, and start heading in that direction?" Jack asked Nojiko as he put a tray of delicious smelling food in front of her. Instead of her answering, Jack felt the ship start rising into the air. Nojiko gave him a warm smile and soft kiss before digging into her food, only to be interrupted by Nami. "Umm... Crocodile's Casino is in that direction." Nami pointed out as she held up a map of Alabasta that Vivi had given her.

Jack looked at the map, then asked, "Aren't we right here?" Jack pointed to a cove on the map. "No, that cove is over here, we are here." Nami pointed out where they were on the map, and where Jack thought they were. "And this is why we keep you around." Luke chimed in happily as the ship changed directions.

Jack gave everyone else trays of food before they all started to dig in. "So what are you gonna do today, Chopper?" Luke asked the little reindeer, who was sitting next to him. "I was going to go to the library to read up on some new medical books." Chopper answered quietly.

"That's good and all, but it isn't healthy to stay cooped up all day. We should only be gone for a few hours, but after we get back, you and I should go and see the town. I'll bet we find something cool!" Luke said cheerfully as he stuffed his face with some food. "O-okay." Chopper answered back nervously. "Awesome! The Princess here was saying there are some cool sights, and we can be the judges." Luke said as he finished the last of his meal.

Jack was standing at the front of the ship, looking down below at the city of Rainbase and the giant casino with a massive crocodile on top of it. "There are traps all throughout the building, many made of Sea Prism stone, so be careful. Not that I have to tell you, but don't let anyone touch you. You all know who to look out for, so lets go."

As soon as Jack finished speaking, he jumped off the Pearl, with Luke, Smoker, Tashigi, Nami and Nojiko following behind him. Although it was more appropriate to say that Nojiko flew instead of jumped like the rest.

Vivi and Igram could only watch sadly as they disappeared into the city. Dr. Kureha and Chopper were watching as well, but they didn't look depressed like Vivi did. They were smiling happily at the uncommon scene before them. "We sure did find a weird group, Chopper" Kureha said with a smile before she made her way back inside the ship.

As they all made their way into the Casino, Jack turned into a shadow and disappeared from everyone's sight. Luke moved around the room with Tashigi and Smoker, hoping to find the higher up's of Baroque works somewhere in the main gambling area.

Nami on the other hand, went straight for the gambling tables. She had also somehow managed to rope Nojiko into going with her, as she had a plan to get even more rich.

While everyone was on the main floor of the Casino, Jack made his way down to the lower floors where he figured Crocodile would be holding up. As he moved in and out of rooms, he started to hear voices down the hallway. Using his Haki, he could tell that there were four individuals inside, and if he was going off what he knew from the anime, and the pictures he purchased from the store, he could accurately guess that one of them was Crocodile, Nico Robin, or her alias Miss All Sunday.

The other two were Mr. 1, or Daz Bonez, and Miss Doublefinger or her real name, Zala. As he moved forward to listen in, he heard them talking about Vivi. "Some guy showed up, and from the looks of it, he killed her and her body guard. I say we forget about them for now." Zala stated in a calm tone. Jack didn't care what they had to say, either way they wouldn't be leaving this room alive.

Activating his nullification domain, Jack stepped out of the shadows. "Well if it isn't the big bad lizard and his little henchmen!" Jack said menacingly as he made himself known.

Quickly, all heads turned towards him, but before they could even register his presence, he appeared behind Crocodile. "I'm gonna need you to call in the other little insects, but before that..." Jack paused as he slammed a fist into the back of Crocodile's head, sending him crashing through his own desk.

"I never did get why most Logia Fruit user's become so reliant on their power. It just makes it so much easier to kill you when you can't use it." Jack stated as he jumped over to Crocodile's downed form. Grabbing the man by the hair, Jack pulled him up to eye level before pulling a handful of small metal beads from thin air. "Open wide bitch!" Jack shouted as he stuffed the beads into Crocodile's mouth before dropping him back to the ground.

"Now for the rest of you." Jack said as he turned his attention to the others in the room. Daz and Zala were both trying to use their Devil Fruit powers, but nothing was happening, and if their expressions were anything to go by, they were terrified.

Robin also looked scared, but she wasn't panicking like the others, instead just standing in a corner, waiting to see what happened next. In less than 10 seconds, Daz and Zala were bleeding, broken, and unmoving. They were still alive, but barely.

After dealing with them, Jack turned his attention to Robin. "Nico Robin. Please do not run or try anything stupid. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't have you interfering in my business. Understand?" Jack asked, more as a command than anything. Robin quickly nodded to him before stepping back even further into her corner.

Jack canceled his domain and walked back over to Crocodile, who was struggling to get up at that moment before crouching down to eye level with him. "I was hoping for more of a challenge, but I can't say this outcome wasn't expected. Until you can get all of that Sea Prism Stone out of your system, you won't be much of a threat to anyone, even if I leave here." Jack stated, not bragging that he took down a Warlord, instead he sounded like he just beat any other opponent.

"W-Who *Cough* are you? *Cough*" Crocodile asked warily as he started coughing. He could feel the beads of metal inside of him, going through his system and sucking his powers out of him. "That won't really matter to you in a few minutes. Anyway, I need you to call the rest of your subordinates here for me. Just the ones with Devil Fruit powers and their partners. I don't really care about the others." Jack stated as he handed Crocodile a Transponder Snail that was on the floor.

(Robin POV)

Robin was standing in the corner watching her boss, who she thought was unbeatable, be toyed with like he was a toddler. She watched as the strange man stomped on his legs repeatedly in different spots, first starting at the ankles then knee caps. After one leg, Crocodile gave up trying to act strong. "I'll make the calls!!" Crocodile shouted in pain, wanting it to be over.

The stranger had other plans. "I know you will, but we need to even out those legs first!" Thus the other leg was disfigured. "If people just did what I asked from the start, there wouldn't be a need for all this pain." The strange man said, exasperated.

After her boss finished making the calls, the stranger pulled out a few dozen crates of what looked to be fruit, but Robin had no idea what they were for so she just watched on in silence.

To her horror, she watched as the stranger killed Daz and Zala by lighting them on fire, then did the same to Crocodile. "So much death and destruction, but someone has to do it, right?" The stranger asked her in an emotionless tone. Still in a daze from what she just witnessed, Robin could only nod her head solemnly.

"I do apologize for making you watch, but it had to happen. You already know about how cruel this world can be, more than most people out there I'd say." The strange man said as he walked over and sat in a chair, then pulled another one from the wall and put it a few feet in front of him. "Please have a seat. I am not forcing you, this is entirely up to you." The stranger said kindly.

The man looked at her with a warm smile, one that she hadn't seen in many years. For so long, people had used her, manipulated her, and it had become second nature to tell when someone was lying. Looking at this man, she couldn't sense any lies or truths. She couldn't sense anything about him.

Slowly, she made her way to the chair before taking a seat in front of the stranger. "First, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jack Sparrow, but please just call me Jack. I know what you've been through, and I can't even begin to understand your pain. It's a lot to ask, but please trust me." Jack said softly, still with the warm smile.

"What was your reason for coming here?" Robin asked curiously, not being able to make heads or tails of who this stranger was and what he was doing. "I had a few reasons for coming here actually. I came to stop Crocodile from taking over the country and causing a civil war. I also want the Devil Fruits of all of his subordinates, you excluded, but we can save that for later. I brought the princess back here in the hopes of starting a branch of my Adventurer's Association here, and I came here for you." Jack stated, not hiding a thing from her.

"What is your Association and why do you want me?" Robin asked, already having her own ideas of why Jack would want her. She was after all, the only person in existence that could find the ancient weapons, so it wasn't hard to come up with that reason.

"My Association is going to be spread all over the world, everyone creating their own guilds, ect." Jack explained how the system worked, and Robin was indeed quite impressed with the whole idea of it.

"As I'm sure you already have heard, I've already claimed the East Blue as mine. The World Nobles that were there, are dead. The marines have left, and the World Government has agreed to stay away from it. My comrades have already begun to make their way to the other Blue's, and I am heading the assault on the Grand Line." Jack said, causing Robin's eyes to widen in shock. She had heard about the marines leaving East Blue, but the papers said that someone purchased it from the Nobles.

"What do you want with me?" Robin asked as she held her breath, waiting to hear those same words she has heard thousands of times. His next words floored her. Never could she have guessed that someone would ask her this. "I want you to be the Librarian on my ship." Jack said with a serious expression on his face.

Thinking maybe she was dreaming, Robin asked, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Jack started laughing, then said, "I want you to become the librarian on my ship. I have millions of books, and a crew with no respect for them. I just need to train you up, then you can be in charge of them."

Robin couldn't believe it. "You don't want me to decipher the Poneglyphs for you?" She asked cautiously. To her question, Jack started laughing once more. "It may surprise you, but I could get the locations of the ancient weapons anytime I wanted without you. I don't need to bring weapons of mass destruction back into the world to achieve my goals, I am already powerful, and I still have much room to grow." Jack said, not sounding conceited at all. He was just stating the facts.

"But why me?" Robin couldn't help but ask. Jack's smile faltered and a sorrowful look adorned his face. "I know all about Ohara and how all of it's citizens were slaughtered. I know about you all just trying to uncover the void century, and how you escaped. The government has spread countless lies about you ever since you were 8 years old. You've been running for too long Robin. I am going to leave in about two weeks time from now. I will not force you, but if you want to come and to truly be free, I'd be happy to have you aboard my ship." Jack said, trying to smile at the end.

Robin could only hear his words in her head over and over. 'Truly be free' Without realizing it, tears were pouring down her face. "I-I can be free?" She asked in a whisper.

"My guild and I intend to kill every member of the World Government. I want to travel the world, but to truly enjoy myself, the World Nobles can't be allowed to exist. Everyone of us, we stand together as a family, we will fight the entire world for each other, and I want you to join us. No one, will ever take you away from us." Jack said as he handed her a picture. The picture was of her mother and the other scholars of Ohara, standing before the Tree of Knowledge.

(General POV)

Jack decided to give Robin some time to think about his offer as he went about collecting the three new Devil Fruits from the crates, then replacing the fruits that were lost. Jack went around the room, taking anything that would be of use, even the Sea Prism Stone cage Crocodile had in his office beneath a trap door.

While he was rummaging through drawers, a figure walked into the room. Looking at the man, Jack recognized him as Mr. 3, if the big ass three on his head was anything to go by. "Who ar-" Jack didn't let the man finish speaking, quickly drew his pistol and shot the man right between the eyes.

Jack looked behind the corpse of Mr. 3 and saw a small child, who had a terrified expression on her face. "Miss Goldenweek, was it?" Jack said as he looked down at a paper to check then looked back at the child. "Baroque Works is finished. Your boss is dead, and now your partner. Go and do something else with your life, and don't try to harm the innocent ever again or I will come for your head. Now beat it." Jack said calmly, not wanting to kill a kid. The little girl didn't need told a second time and bolted towards the door, not bothering to look back. Just as the kid ran out, another figure walked in.

"Sure as hell took your dear sweet time!" Jack said, sounding happy more than angered. "Give me a break will ya? I got the creepy guy that's always twirling in circles, and Smokey is bringing the old mole lady and the moron. It took us awhile because Nami and Nojiko are causing a massive commotion upstairs." Luke said as he threw a bound and gagged Mr. 2 on the ground in front of Jack.

"What are they doing?" Jack asked curiously. Luke let out a sigh before answering, "Nami got Nojiko to touch the roulette ball, and now they're placing millions of berries on certain numbers and getting it every time. When I last saw them, they had already won over 500 million berries."

Jack let out a low whistle before he quickly shot Mr. 2 in the head. "I don't know how much more the Casino has left, but we'll let them have their fun for now. In the meantime, this here is Nico Robin." Jack said as he gestured towards the still crying woman.

Luke walked over and took the seat that Jack had previously sat in, then put an arm on her shoulder. "Don't you worry one bit. I promise I'll kill any marine or government member you ask me to, and you don't have to worry about paying me back at all."

Jack new Luke was dead serious, but for some reason Robin started laughing like she thought he was kidding. Luke shot a confused glance at Jack, but the man just shrugged his shoulders at the un-asked question. "You guys are weird. I think I'll take you up on your offer to join." Robin said with a smile on her face.

"You poor woman... Jack takes his training very seriously, and you being new will undoubtedly experience a world of it. I apologize in advance." Luke said with a small bow of his head. "Oh quit your bitching!! It wasn't that bad, and anything I made you guys do, I did and more!" Jack shouted angrily.

"Ha! When the others get here, we'll put it to a vote, and if even one person says your training wasn't that bad, I lose and I'll do the cooking for a whole week! But... If they agree with me, I get to skip out on our last bet!" Luke said, hoping to get out of being friends with that babbling bimbo. Jack looked to be thinking it over, but agreed in the end. "Deal!" Jack said, sealing the bet with slap on Luke's back, sending him falling out of the chair. "One of these days, I'll get you for all of your abuse." Luke said as he got back to his feet.

They made small talk for a few more minutes before Smoker walked in with Mr. 4 and his partner. Luke didn't even hesitate and decapitated both of them, but froze when he looked at the little dog/gun looking thing. "What the hell is it?" Luke asked curiously.

Robin walked over and explained how it was a weapon that absorbed the power of a Devil Fruit through some unknown way. "How do you feed this thing, and why is it sneezing cannon balls?" Luke asked curiously as the dog sneezed, shooting a cannon ball at a wall.

"My guess is that the weapon wasn't in the greatest condition when it absorbed the power, plus it is more machine than animal so it's probably a side effect. Granted, objects shouldn't be forced into this, but it happens." Robin said, giving her opinion on the subject. Jack didn't wait for Luke to have a mental crisis and burned the gun/dog thing to ashes.

"The only ones left are the bomb guy, and the banana looking chick who can change her weight right?" Luke asked curiously. "Do you mean Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine?" Robin asked before Jack could answer Luke's question. "That's what I just said isn't it?" Luke asked.

There was a moment of silence where everyone just looked at each other before Jack finally decided to end it. "*Cough* Yes, those two are the only ones left. They should be here shorty, if these papers are correct." Jack said as he held up a list with the names on it and where everyone was stationed.

They waited in the room, talking about small things. Smoker and Robin introduced themselves and they got better acquainted with each other. Eventually Tashigi walked in the room with a huge smile on her face, carrying a new sword with her.

"You won't believe it!! There was this guy with an 11 on his face, and he had this sword! It's one of the Meito!! I challenged him and won, and as compensation I took his sword!" She shouted happily, holding the sword close to her.

"Hey, that's great Tashigi! You can put that extra special piece of metal in your room to collect dust clear until you die. Then I'm gonna auction it, and any others you've collected off to the highest bidder for my retirement." Luke shouted with an evil smile on his face. "Asshole!!" Tashigi's good mood was brought to a complete halt because of Luke's words.

They bickered back and forth for awhile, but everyone quieted down when the door opened once more and two figures walked in the room. One was male with a big afro, and the other was female dressed in yellow. Tashigi rushed towards the woman, but before she reached her, two gunshots went off, the bullets hitting both figures in the head. Tashigi turned around and saw Luke holding a smoking pistol with an ear to ear grin on his face.

"Oops, did I take them from you?" Luke asked innocently. Tashigi just stormed out of the room in a huff, everyone else following soon after. "Why do you always have to antagonize her?" Smoker asked tiredly. "She is just too easy to annoy, and she gives the best reactions." Luke answered back as they walked up the stairs to the main floor of the Casino.

As they walked into the main gambling area, all eyes were drawn to the crowd of onlookers at the Roulette table. "All of it on 27 black!!" Nami's voice rang out, causing a few more people to put their money on 27 black as well. A few seconds later and the crowd went wild with cheers as they collected their winnings.

Jack easily pushed his way through the crowd to where a Nami and Nojiko were, then put a hand on each of their shoulders. "You already bankrupted them. They can't afford to play against you anymore." Jack said over the crowd, getting everyone's attention as the room fell into silence.

"You all can deal with that however you want to, but we gotta go." Jack said as he dragged the two girls with him outside, but not before Nami grabbed all of her winnings and stuffed it all into a bag. "This was a great night!!" Nami said happily as they walked outside the building, only then taking notice of the extra addition to their group.

"Who are you?" Nami asked curiously, still smiling from all of her winnings. "This here is Nico Robin. She is a font of knowledge and loves books. She has agreed to be the librarian of the ship, so will be with us from now on." Jack spoke up before Robin could answer. "She also has to go through Jack's training." Luke chimed in with a smile.

Everyone gave her looks of pity, and Nojiko walked over and pat her on the back trying to comfort her. "There, there. It may feel like it will never end, but it will." Nojiko said in a hopeful tone. "Is it really that bad?" Robin asked worriedly, shooting a pleading glance to Jack.

"They're just being over dramatic! It's really not that bad at all!" Jack said with an annoyed look to each of them. Luke took that moment to ask, "When we all did his "Training", how was it for all of you?" He already knew the answer, but it had to be asked.

"Hell!" "Torture!" "Unbearable!" "It was Satan's personal playground!!" Everyone called out at once, but their attention was drawn towards Nojiko because of the last comment. "Are-Are you okay?" Luke asked her, looking concerned. "*Sigh* It's fine. Just overreacting because of the power training. It actually wasn't that bad." Nojiko answered, trying to forget those memories.

"HA!! SHE SAID IT!!" Jack shouted triumphantly, as he looked towards Luke. "OH BULLSHIT!! That doesn't count!! Her first answer is the one we're going by!" Luke shouted back in defense. "That wasn't the deal. 'If anyone says it wasn't that bad, I lose.' Those were your exact words. I want the whole works for breakfast!" Jack said victoriously.

After Jack finished spinning Nojiko around in the air, and Luke finished cursing him and his ancestors, they made their way up in the air towards the floating ship. They were all standing on a small platform that Nojiko was controlling, Robin looking around in amazement.

"This is beautiful!" Robin said, causing everyone else to smile. "This is about 90% of our life now, so you will get to see a lot of it." Nami said, still smiling from her winnings and getting another girl on board.

"Oh, by the way. Robin here is on the World Governments most wanted list, so I would expect one of the Cipher Pols or some idiots from the marines to come for her." Jack spoke up with a grin.

Robin frowned at that, and was waiting for everyone to start cursing her or look at her with disdain. She however, did not expect arms to wrap her in a tight hug. "Dibs on guarding Robin from now on!!" Luke shouted happily as he held her close. "Wait, WHAT!?" Robin asked, more confused than ever.

"He wants to kill all of the world nobles, especially their dogs. With you around, it just makes so they come to him." Smoker clarified for her with an innocent smile. "You mean this is a good thing?" Robin couldn't help but ask. "It's like music to my ears!" Luke said as he finally let go of her. She turned to look at everyone else and noticed they were all smiling at her, but Jack and Luke's smiles were different from everyone else's.

Tashigi noticed how she looked between them all, and realized her un-asked question. "They are both battle junkies, and their favorite thing in the world is to kill marines or government officials." Tashigi said, getting nods from everyone else. "Why am I being roped into the same league as him?" Jack asked as he pointed a finger towards Luke.

Everyone looked at him with a blank expression that pretty much asked, 'Are you serious?' Finally Smoker asked, "Were you not the one that took on almost two Buster Calls single handed, and fought CP-0 like they were your toys?" Jack looked at all of them before turning around, ignoring the question.

It didn't take long for them all to get to the ship, then getting bombarded with questions from Vivi. After she found out that Crocodile and all of the other agents were dead, she looked quite happy.

Robin got a tour of the ship, and where her room would be, marveling at everything she saw. Finally they arrived in front of the Library doors. "Now I want you to know that this room will be your responsibility from now on, so don't let any of these ungrateful book thieves bully you." Jack said as he stood in front of the door.

"It was one time!!" Nami shouted in annoyance as she threw her hands into the air. "And the price for stealing books just went up to 15 million." Jack stated in a firm tone. There were groans from everyone at those words, but Jack didn't let it deter his good mood.

He pushed open the doors to the library, the lights turning on to illuminate the room, and an up-beat song from a record dial playing all around them. Robin's eyes went wide and her jaw almost hit the floor when she walked into the room. There were rows upon rows of books all around, and a small area to read in comfort.

"It isn't The Tree of Knowledge from Ohara, but it's damn close." Jack said happily as he saw Robin's expression. "This is ours, and we will share this knowledge to any who come aboard the Pearl. Granted, if they are enemies they will die horribly, but you can educate them first if you want." Jack said as he stepped over towards a wall that was covered with a drape.

"I kind of already figured you were gonna join, so I had this made especially for you. I hope you like it." Jack said as he pulled the drape from the wall. Robin started tearing up at the sight before her eyes. Hanging on the wall were portraits of all of the scholars of Ohara, her mother included.

"I figured it was fitting having these here. These people loved to teach and pass on their knowledge, and now they can watch as the new generation carry on their dreams." Jack said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Turning to face Robin, he noticed she was staring intently at her mothers portrait. Silently signaling everyone to leave the room, everyone made their way into the dining area. "Well that sure was nice of you." Nojiko said as she wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and gave him a soft kiss.

As the kiss broke, Nojiko's facial expression turned serious. "You try to get her or any other woman, and I'll rip it off!" Instead of acting worried, Jack picked her up in a princess carry, then said "I wouldn't dream of it." Turning towards Luke, Jack shouted, "You should start cooking, it's almost time to eat."

Then left with Nojiko in his arms towards his bedroom. As everyone sat around the table, Luke asked, "Do any of you know how to cook?" No one answered his question, instead opting to leave him alone and come back when he had figured it out. Luke sighed before making his way into the kitchen, hoping to find a recipe book or something, otherwise they would be eating eggs and bread for the next week.

A few hours later and everyone started making their way into the kitchen, hoping Luke had at least managed to make something edible. They were all depressed to see mounds of burnt... whatever it was, on plates laid out before them. "Have you tried it yet?" Jack asked curiously as he looked at the potential poison in front him.

"No, but it doesn't look too bad. Go on and give it a try!" Luke said, not sounding happy about his work. "I'm not gonna eat this." Dr. Kureha said as she slid her plate away and looked towards Jack expectantly. Not wanting to argue with the old bat, Jack slid a tray of his own food in front of her, which compared to Luke's cooking, looked divine.

Everyone else slid their food away as well and looked at Jack with pleading eyes. "Even when I win, I lose..." Jack said tiredly as he brought out food for everyone, but Luke. "What about me?!" Luke shouted angrily. "If I still have to cook even though I won the bet, you have to at least eat your own cooking for the week!" Jack said, not even sounding happy about his victory.

"Well then can you at least teach me how to cook?" Luke asked hopefully, not wanting to eat like this for a whole week straight. "Sure, but because you dislike my training so much, you're gonna have to train with me and Robin as well." Jack said triumphantly. Luke didn't even hesitate before he declined that deal. "HELL NO!! I'll take food poisoning for a week over training with you, any day of the year!" Luke said, digging into his slop.

"I'm glad you know what your getting into. Chopper and I will start working on an antidote for you later." Dr. Kureha said as she took a drink from her bottle of Plum Sake. Her words made Luke pause mid-bite, but he started eating anyway.

After everyone finished eating, Nojiko started the ship on a course towards the city of Alubarna, the royal capital of Alabasta. The sun had just started to rise when they finally got there, giving them a breath taking view of the far too round city in all it's glory. The buildings were mostly white, but looked well built in Jack's opinion.

They flew the ship directly to the royal palace, not bothering with the millions of onlookers down below them. As they got above the palace, Jack kept the Pearl high enough so no one could get on board without his say so, except maybe that bird guy that was part of the royal guards, before they all descended down to where the thousands of guards were waiting for them.

"Who goes there?!!" Shouted a tall, imposing dark skinned man with medium length black hair and a long broad nose resembling that of a jackal. "It's me Chaka!!" Vivi shouted, getting the attention of everyone present. "Princess Vivi!! Sir Igram!! Everyone, lower your weapons!!" Chaka shouted, then marched over towards Vivi. "Chaka! I'm so glad to see you all!!" Vivi shouted happily as she addressed a man in white robes as well. Pell the falcon.

*Cough* *Cough* Jack coughed to get everyone's attention. "I enjoy little reunions as much as the next guy, but I'd like to see King Cobra already. I got some stuff to do, and you are taking up my time!" Jack said, not caring about the thousands of soldiers in front of him. As everyone turned their attention towards him, something that hasn't happened in what has felt like forever, happened. It started raining.