Alabasta

Jack was sitting at a large table, Luke and Nojiko on either side of him, everyone else from his crew sitting beside them. Sitting across from Jack was the king of Alabasta, Cobra Nefertari.

King Cobra is a man of average height, wrinkled face, a tied-off beard, and long, curly, black hair. Sitting beside Cobra, was of course his daughter Viv, Igram, and behind them were the other two royal head guards and a small contingent of soldiers.

Currently the room was dead silent, no one speaking a word after Jack recounted all of the events that happened since they picked up Viv from Whiskey Peak. Finally Cobra spoke, "So you did all of this, just to start a branch of your Association here in Alabasta?" He didn't look convinced, but it was only natural considering he wasn't a moron like every other person in this world.

"That was the main purpose, yes, but I also got a librarian for my ship, and some new Devil Fruits for my allies. Crocodile was most generous." Jack answered with a smile, holding a brown fruit, with an odd swirl pattern. "I can see that." Cobra said, unsure of how to respond to that. Vivi and Igram had already warned him about the people sitting in front of them, especially Jack. He didn't want to do something that could result in angering these people, so he had to choose his words carefully.

Jack could see Cobra's hesitation to speak, and having an idea of what the problem could be, Jack said, "Look, I don't really care about formalities or you trying to butter me up. I'm not one to beat around the bush, so just speak your mind. Don't worry about me doing something brash, I'm not a complete lunatic. Just be kind and respectful towards me and mine, and I'll do the same for you."

Cobra looked a bit taken aback at Jack's words, but quickly hid it with a smile. "Very well. Could you please tell me more about your Association, and these guilds you spoke about?" Cobra asked, acting more at ease than a few seconds ago.

Jack went into great detail about the Adventurer's Association, and how it would function. He also told Cobra, the kingdom of Alabasta would benefit greatly from a main branch being set up here. The Kingdom could contract them to do tasks too difficult for them to handle, escort missions to other countries, and tourist attractions when they held tournaments here.

"And who would manage this? You don't expect me to believe you're going to stay here, right?" Cobra asked, a small smile on his face. Jack had already thought about this to a certain degree, but whether or not the person agreed, was a whole different story. "I'm gonna make a call later, then get back to you on that." Jack said, sounding more confident than he was.

"So what are you going to do while you wait?" Cobra asked, more out of curiosity than anything. He couldn't stop these people from doing anything, and everyone present knew that. "Well... I was thinking, maybe you would like to make a deal. My librarian is trying to uncover the mystery of the void century, so she wants to read the Poneglyph that your family has been guarding. In exchange, I'll give you two Devil Fruits to use as you see fit. The Sand-Sand Fruit isn't up for grabs though." Jack said, causing everyone's eyes to widen in surprise.

"I'm also gonna go and pay a visit to the rebel army. No point in it existing for no reason. Plus I wanna talk to their leader about an arrangement." Jack added like it was no big deal, but to the king and his soldiers, it was a massive deal. "I accept your offer. When would you like to see the Poneglyph?" Cobra asked, not even trying to contain his glee.

"You don't care that I might want to know the location of the ancient weapons?" Robin piped in, unsure as to why Cobra agreed so readily. "Haha I really don't see a reason why you would care about the ancient weapons. You already have an extremely powerful ally, and if he really wanted the ancient weapon, there's not really anything I could do about it." Cobra answered, having already come to his own conclusions.

"Finally!! I get to meet someone who isn't stupid!" Jack shouted happily as he stood from his chair. "When I get my representative, you can have 5 of your soldiers go and train under him. He is extremely strong, and will be able to teach them how to fight against Devil Fruit users." Jack said, adding a bonus for Cobra. He mainly did it because unlike every other king in the world, Cobra and his ancestors were all for their people, while not being idiots. "I would greatly appreciate that." Cobra said, rising to his feet before extending his hand to Jack.

As they all made their way out of the palace to do their own things, Jack noticed Luke was lagging behind. "What's up with you?" Jack asked, causing everyone else to divert their attention to Luke. "I-I T-Think... I think I'm gonna be sick!!" Luke got out before he doubled over, holding his stomach in pain.

"*Sigh* Like I said. Even when I win, I still lose." Jack said as he pulled Luke into darkness. "I really hope the doc and Chopper have that antidote, otherwise he is staying in there!" Jack said, more out of concern for his ship, than he was for Luke.

"You just don't want him on the Pearl." Smoker chimed in, saying what everyone was thinking. "He knew what he was getting into when he ate that poison!! My ship shouldn't need to suffer for it!!" Jack shouted, sounding hysterical, while also confirming everyone's thoughts. Before anyone could say anything else, Jack jumped to the Pearl as quick as possible, hoping that the antidote was already done.

Running into Dr. Kureha's lab, Jack shouted, "Hey doc!! That food poisoning is finally kicking in!! Do you have an antidote?!" For her part, Kureha looked calm as ever. "Where is the patient?" She asked, sounding just as calm as she looked. Jack sighed in frustration as he pulled Luke from his domain. "If you do anything gross on the Pearl, you're cleaning it up!" Jack said, looking upset as Kureha pulled Luke to a bed, then made him inhale a small vile of... whatever it was. Luke collapsed, similar to how a puppet would when it's strings were cut.

Kureha then injected a syringe into his neck before turning him onto his side. "Chopper, bring me a bucket." Kureha called out, and a few seconds later Chopper came running into the room with a wooden pail. It was only a moment later that Luke started to convulse, but instead of using the bucket, Jack put a small area of Darkness just below where Luke would vomit.

"I don't want smell it." Was all Jack said when Kureha sent him a questioning look. Over the next few minutes, Luke spewed out all of the contents of his stomach, and a little bit of blood as well. "Remind me to never let him cook again." Jack said in disgust, then walked over to a chair and pulled out a book from his inventory.

Almost an hour later, and Luke was finally past the worst part, now he just needed to rest. Jack left a few trays of food with Kureha and a barrel of water for when Luke woke up, but she said it would be awhile. Leaving the room, Jack walked to where is room was, then pulled out his Transponder Snail.

After dialing a number, he waited for a few seconds before a voice rang out, "Hello!" Jack knew the voice pretty well and spoke, "Stain, it's Jack. How are ya?" Stain recognized Jack's voice instantly, bringing a smile to his face. "Hey Boss!! I'm doing pretty good. Just stopped here in Loguetown to rest, then I'll set out towards the Grand Line tomorrow! How are the others?" Stain said, causing Jack to smile widely.

"Everyone's doing pretty good, other than Luke of course. He tried cooking and gave himself food poisoning!" Jack said, which brought a gasp from Stain. "Seriously?!! That monster got food poisoning?!!" Stain asked in disbelief. "Yeah, it looks like he'll be bedridden for a day or two. Anyway, I called to check in with ya, and see if you were interested in one of the Devil Fruits I got." Jack said, changing the conversation.

"Hmm... I would be interested in one, but it would have to be one that would suit me." Stain said after a moment of thought. "I know, that's why I'm asking. I got my hands on a few, but there are two that I think would go with your fighting style. One is a Logia like mine. It is the Sand-Sand Fruit, and just touching someone allows you to drain all of the water from their body, killing them in seconds. And allows you to control, and turn into sand." Jack paused to give Stain time to digest his words.

"The other one is a Paramecia-type fruit. It's called the Bomb-Bomb Fruit. It allows the user to create explosions on whatever they touch. Honestly this fruit has some massive potential to be extremely powerful, but it needs to be used right." Jack said, then went on to tell him about the other Devil Fruit's he had collected as well. Being a brawler, Stain could definitely see how both of the fruits Jack selected would suit him perfectly, but he wasn't sure which to pick.

"Which one do you think I should pick?" Stain asked, hoping to get advice on a choice he couldn't take back. "Well... they are both great powers, and can be used anywhere, but I would lean more towards the Bomb-Bomb. I have written my own thoughts about it's uses, and have got quite a bit of information from the Devil Fruit manual. As far as I'm concerned, this one would be more suited to your fighting style. The Sand-Sand Fruit is good, but you know the weaknesses already." Jack said, causing Stain to start mumbling out loud.

"I think I'd like the Bomb-Bomb Fruit." Stain finally answered, sounding quite happy with his choice. "That's awesome! Now you just need to make your way to Alabasta to collect it! Also I need to ask you for a favor." Jack said, causing Stain's happiness to de-rail entirely. "What do ya need?" Stain asked warily. If Jack was asking him for something, it was most likely something he himself didn't want to do.

"Well, I made a deal with the King of Alabasta, a really nice guy actually, to build a branch of the Association here. I just don't have anyone to run it. If you could spend a few months here, recruiting and training a few people, then that would be awesome. I would also be covering all of your expenses for the foreseeable future while your here." Jack said, adding the last part to sweeten the offer.

"Let me see if I got this right. You want me to stay in a place with a nice sandy beach, all expenses paid, and give me powerful Devil Fruit, just to train some people and look out for our organizations interests? You got it!!" When Jack heard how Stain described the mission, he was a little baffled.

'When ya put it like that, it sounds like a dream job' Jack thought with a smile, liking the way Stain thought. "Well, you have my Vivre Card, and I should be here for a few more days. How are you getting around anyway?" Jack asked curiously. "I'm jumping through the air, following a compass. I'm also carrying a small boat so I can rest whenever I want to." Stain answered calmly, acting like his way of traveling was common and not mind boggling.

"Well if you just follow my Vivre Card and travel steadily for a few days, you should be able to reach Alabasta in about a week, maybe less depending on how often you need to stop." Jack said, sounding quite impressed at Stain's endurance. "I'll head out first thing in the morning. See ya soon Boss!" After confirming that he would be on his way, they said their goodbyes, then ended the call.

After talking with Stain, Jack made his way back down to the palace, then used his Haki to try and locate everyone else. He could sense Viv and her father inside the palace, but everyone else on his crew were gone. 'Whatever' Jack thought before jumping high into the sky, getting a proper view of the city.

Looking around, he couldn't help but notice a caravan of carts heading out of the city, which brought a thought to mind. 'I forgot about the rebel army. May as well go and deal with it now.' Jack took off in the direction the caravan was heading, knowing they were heading to the rebel base. It only took him a few minutes to get to his location, a place filled with tents and make-shift buildings.

Taking a deep breath, Jack shouted "HEY YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!!! THE DROUGHTS OVER!! THE WARLORD WAS THE BAD GUY, AND YOU ALL ARE IDIOTS FOR STILL PLOTTING AGAINST THE KING!! NOW WHERE IS KOZA?!!"

Jack watched as the entire camp froze in their tracks, no one even making a sound. 'Did I freeze them?' Jack thought curiously. To him, it looked as though someone had clicked the pause button on the camp, which was very weird, and slightly cool if he was being honest.

The silence continued for over a full minute before the chaos and panic happened. People fired shots towards him, some actually shot arrows, but nothing did a damn thing to him. Having enough of it, Jack unleashed his Conqueror's Haki on the full camp, rendering everyone present unconscious.

"Great!! Now I have to go and look for the fucker!!" Jack cursed to himself before making his way down into the camp. After looking through the first 15 tents, Jack had enough of it and started running around the camp, storing everything in his inventory, leaving only unconscious people lying in an open area. Then Jack used his darkness to move everyone together next to a big rock that he would use for a stage.

'This will do nicely. Now I just need to wait for them to wake up.' Jack thought happily. He wasn't in any particular hurry to go anywhere, so he just made himself comfortable on the rock, an umbrella over his head, and a bottle of Rum in hand.

It was still raining pretty good, so Jack didn't have to wait long before everyone woke up, soaking wet, but still very scared. All they could remember was feeling a presence that dominated their very souls, then darkness.

Before another panic could erupt, Jack shouted "CALM THE FUCK DOWN!! JUST BE QUIET!! I WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING FOR YOUR TINY MINDS!!" After getting their attention, Jack went on to tell how Crocodile was using his powers to absorb the water in the surrounding area's, and used Dance Powder, a green powder that when burned, took all of the water in the atmosphere and moved it somewhere else, thus creating a drought.

Jack also explained how, with the 'help' of Princess Vivi, they uncovered Crocodile's plans and stopped him. "THERE ISN'T A POINT TO YOUR LITTLE ARMY NOW, SO GO HOME AND GET A REAL JOB!! HOWEVER, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO FIGHT, I WOULD MORE THAN HAPPY TO DISPOSE OF YOU!!" Jack ended his statement by unleashing a massive wave of dark fire into the air, causing a few people to fall to their knee's in fright.

"BEFORE YOU LEAVE, WHERE IS KOZA?!!" Jack shouted, sounding a little annoyed. It only took a few seconds before a tall blonde man, wearing purple tinted glasses to make his way through the crowd. "I'm Koza!" The man shouted, not showing any fear for his life.

Jack jumped down, so he was standing only a few feet away from him, then said, "We need to have a little chat!!" The next instant, Koza disappeared in a wave of darkness. Jack didn't even bother to explain what was going on to the scared onlookers, instead he just made all of their stuff appear in a big pile, then took off in the direction of the Royal Capital.

A few minutes later, Jack was sitting a table in a restaurant, then made Koza appear next to him. "Don't freak out, just take a seat." Jack said, gesturing to the seat across from him. Koza looked terrified and on the verge of panicking, but he still took a seat.

"First let me introduce myself. I am Jack Sparrow, guild master of the Dark Phoenix guild, and head of the Adventurer's Association." Jack said, bringing a look of confusion upon Koza's face. "*Sigh* I'm the new ruler of East Blue." Jack said again, this time getting a look of shock from Koza.

"That's more like it! Anyway, I wanted to find you for a few reasons. The first was so you would stop that stupid little rebellion you had going on, as I'm pretty sure Cobra wouldn't want me killing almost 100 thousand of his people because they were trying to rebel against him. The man's such a goodie goodie." Jack said, bringing another look of confusion to Koza.

"Did you really mean what you said about the Princess and Crocodile?" Koza asked before Jack could continue speaking. "*Cough* Most of it. Vivi did go undercover to find out who was causing the problems, but I already knew. Vivi just sat back and watched as my guild annihilated Crocodile and his group. Other than that, everything I said was the truth." Jack answered, looking quite pleased with himself.

"So why else did you want to meet with me?" Koza asked, more relaxed now. Jack smiled broadly as he said, "I want you to join my organization." Koza was a little confused about this organization, so he asked, "What exactly is your organization and what does it do?" Jack explained about his organization, what guilds were, how they pretty much freed slaves and killed the world nobles, and most pirates as well.

"So you want me to be apart of your guild?" Koza asked, sounding a little excited. "No." Only to frown at Jack's answer. "I want you to join my organization. Joining my guild is a completely different story. Only those who have earned my trust and respect will ever be members of Dark Phoenix. One of my guild members is on his way here, and he is quite strong as well. He is gonna run the Alabasta branch of the Association and train new members. I want you to be one of those new members, and eventually take over the Alabasta branch, once he deems you worthy." Jack added, clarifying what he wanted.

"And I can stay in Alabasta? Cause I don't want to leave my home." Koza asked, not wanting to abandon his country. "You might have to travel to some other branches for meetings, maybe once or twice a year, but other than that, you would stay here." Jack said calmly.

"Why me though? Why not one of the Royal guards?" Koza finally asked. "Because you don't seem quite as stupid as everyone else here, the royal guards included. Plus you have a good relationship with the royal family, so you can settle conflicts easily if they ever rise up. You're also well versed in combat and weaponry. It will save time in your training." Jack stated bluntly, not trying to hide his reasons.

After thinking it over for a few minutes, Koza answered, "I accept your offer." Jack smiled, then stood from his chair. "Come to the palace tomorrow morning. We can go over a few things and get you all set up, but for now I gotta go." Jack said, then disappeared from where he was standing, leaving a creeped out Koza sitting at his table.

Moments after disappearing from the restaurant, Jack appeared on the Pearl, then made his way to the dining room. Upon entering the spacious room, Jack saw Kureha and Chopper sitting at a table while reading a book. "How's Luke doing?" Jack asked, taking a seat next to them.

"He'll need to rest for at least 2 days, and get lots of food in him. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the fool ate all of the poison he made. I'm not too sure what he put in it, but it wasn't healthy. Chopper got him to eat some soup, which should help, but he still needs rest." Dr. Kureha answered, not taking her eyes off the book.

"*Sigh* I figured he would know how to at least cook something considering he traveled alone for quite awhile, but now that I think about it, he might have just been traveling on passenger or merchant ships to get around." Jack said, sounding too tired to do anything.

"I don't think he's ever cooked a day in his life!" Kureha said seriously. They made small talk until the others started returning. When Nami and Nojiko returned, they were being trailed by a mountain of stuff floating behind them, obviously Nojiko's doing. "Did you two rob the entire city?!!" Jack asked, amazed and angry at the amount of stuff they had. He would have to give them a whole other room on the ship for all this crap, which wasn't something he wanted to do.

"No, we just went to a few stores. Got pretty great deals on everything too!!" Nami said excitedly. "And just where do you plan on keeping all of this stuff?" Jack asked, letting his annoyance show. Nami and Nojiko shared a look, then Nojiko walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders before giving him a soft kiss. "I was hoping you could expand the room downst-"

Jack didn't let her finish as he cut her off. "NO WAY!!" I'm already planning on donating everything she has down there! This isn't your own personal closet!" Nojiko could tell Jack wouldn't give in easily, so she said, "We will put it all in my room, and I'll just move in with either you or Nami."

Before anymore could be said on the topic, Jack picked up Nojiko and threw her over his shoulder as he marched towards his room, looking quite happy. "Does that mean yes?" Nami asked the fleeing duo, to which Nojiko responded by giving her a thumbs up. "Kids these days..." Kureha said, still reading her book, only now she had an amused smile on her face.

A few hours later and everyone other than Luke was sitting at the table eating, only this time they had King Cobra, Vivi, and the three Royal head guards. Jack had invited Cobra for a meal, and to see his library, to which Cobra accepted. Cobra greatly enjoyed the ship, and asked if he could come again the next day, to which Jack agreed, but he would need to have either himself or Robin present.

Jack also told them that the guards should expect Koza to come to the palace tomorrow, and he would appreciate it if they let him enter. "What is the leader of the rebel army doing with you?!" Igram asked, a look of concern on his face. Brushing away his concern, Jack answered, "I already dealt with the rebel army, now they are disbanded and back to being citizens of Alabasta who serve under the king. As for what he is doing, he is going t be part of the Adventurer's Association that works in Alabasta. Tomorrow I'm going to give him a Devil Fruit power, and give him and Robin some training for a few days until his teacher gets here."

Jack made it seem like it was no big deal, but other than his crew, Robin excluded, everyone had stopped to look at him as though he was a monster. Jack ignored their shocked glances and turned to Nami and Tashigi, them being the only two on his crew without Devil Fruits, and asked, "Do either of you want a Devil Fruit?"

Tashigi said that she might want one later on in the future if she found one she liked, but she didn't want any of the one's Jack had in his possession. Jack offered Nami the Sand-Sand Fruit, but she also declined, saying that none of them worked for her. Then Jack pulled out his book on Devil Fruit's and flipped the pages until he came to a certain fruit.

He pulled Nami away from the others, then showed her the fruit, which caused her eyes to turn into berry signs and she started jumping up and down while hugging him. "Calm down will ya?!! It will take us a few months to get to it, but I already know where it is, so you will have to wait!!" Jack said, literally having to pull Nami off of him.

As he went back to the table, Jack noticed everyone looking at him expectantly, especially Nojiko. "If you want to know ask her." Jack said, pointing his thumb to Nami. "So which Fruit is it?" Nojiko asked curiously. "You'll see in the future, but for now I want it to be a surprise." Nami said, still sounding super happy about what her new power would be.

Not being detoured, Nojiko turned back to Jack and leaned in close to his ear. "Are you sure you can't tell me?" She whispered seductively. For his part, Jack turned to face her and gave her a deep kiss before answering, "Yup!" Then went back to eating his food.

"This means that Koza is gonna get the Sand-Sand Fruit then. Looks like your kingdom will be benefitting greatly from this!" Jack said to Cobra with a smile on his face. "How so?" Cobra asked curiously. "He loves this kingdom and has no intention of leaving Alabasta. His father is one of your most loyal supporters as well, and you can contract the Association to clear out the sand out of towns, or use his power to dig Wells in the desert. He can also stop sandstorms from happening, so there's that." Jack answered, finishing the last bit of his food.

Turning to Robin, Jack said, "Tomorrow I'll start yours and Koza's Devil Fruit training, then as we sail, we can work on your physical training. We start early, so I would get some extra sleep tonight." Robin smiled happily and nodded her head, but when she looked over to the others on the crew, they were giving her looks of pity. "It might seem like he is trying to work you to death, but he is actually trying to help." Nojiko said, putting a hand on Robin's shoulder in comfort, making her smile disappear.

For the next 6 days, everyone did their own thing. Luke having recovered, went about the city with Chopper, then to the other cities in Alabasta, making great time with the help of Nojiko. Koza had eaten the Sand-Sand Fruit, or more accurately, Jack had shoved it down his throat when he came to the palace the next morning.

After learning what the power was, he was thrilled, and turned into sand in the next minute. Jack's first response was to beat him until he was unconscious, then helped Robin until he woke back up. "No matter how powerful you think you are, there will always be someone stronger than you out there. And if you solely rely on your power, you will be dead really quick." Jack said, explaining his reason for beating him.

"You couldn't have just told me that?!!" Koza asked angrily. "I could have, but this got the point across a lot better. Also, your teacher is one of the best fighters I've ever trained before, so no matter how powerful you think your power is, it's nothing compared to him." Jack said, calming Koza's anger.

Cobra spent his evenings on board the ship in the library, and even got to keep a few record dials with some songs on them. Everyone enjoyed themselves for six days, until Stain finally arrived aboard the Pearl one evening. "Hey Boss!!" Stain shouted happily when Jack walked out on deck. "Hey man, how was the trip?!" Jack asked happily as him and Stain shook hands in greeting.

"It was exhausting, but pretty fun. I rode down Reverse Mountain on my little boat, but it was so fun I had to do it again. I almost hit a massive ass whale that appeared the second time though, quite fun still. Then I came across an island with dinosaurs!! And you wouldn't believe it, but there are two giants that have been fighting on it for over a century!!" Stain explained happily.

The others came and greeted Stain as well, and Robin, Kureha and Chopper were all introduced to the man. When Koza met him, Stain looked him over for a minute before smiling evilly. "I finally get to impart my torture on someone else!! You and me kid, first thing in three days!" Stain said, sounding far too happy for training.

"Why three days and not tomorrow?" Koza asked curiously. "Because I just ran here all the way from East Blue, and now I'm tired. I'm gonna eat, drink, and find myself a brothel and enjoy myself. Only after will I start training." Stain answered, then walked inside the ship to the kitchen, where Jack laid out a feast.

"Now that you're here, we'll be leaving first thing in the morning." Jack said, causing a few people to smile, and others to frown. Cobra and Vivi wanted Jack to stay, but everyone else wanted to leave to the next place. "That's alright, just means I can train at my own pace instead of going through your hellish nightmare again." Stain said smugly, causing a few laughs here and there.

Jack just glared at him before tossing a Devil Fruit and two books over to him. "One is my thoughts on the fruits powers and how they can be used differently. The other is all about the cells in the human body. Both are useful for your fruit, trust me." Jack said, still sounding a little grumpy at everyone hating his training. Stain pocketed the books and took a bite of the fruit, almost spitting it out the next second. "Oh god, that was awful!!" Stain shouted in disgust. Everyone that had already eaten a Devil Fruit, nodded in agreement.

"So where are you going next?" Stain asked curiously, after the taste had finally left his mouth. Jack saw that everyone was waiting expectantly for an answer, and smiled evilly as he answered, "We are gonna kill a God!!"