Chapter 19: The Plan to End All Plans

"This plan has multiple steps, but I know it can be done," Steven told the group.

Steven had requested the aid of Genevieve to provide visual accompaniment. She had set up several canvases on the off-chance it required it. By this point, though Steven was accepted as a part of the crew, he was still perceived to be an inexperienced boy. Of course, having an imaginative mind might provide them with alternatives teenagers and adults might otherwise have dismissed as childish.

"Based on Vivi's map, we are landing here in a place called Nano...Nano..."

"Nanohana," Vivi offered. "It is the easiest place for us to dock."

The boy nodded. "What she said. So, the goal is to make it to that place Mr. 2 told us about: Spiders Cafe. That's alllllllll the way out here!"

Genevieve painted a fast replication of the map while he was talking. She created plots for all of the key areas of Alabasta, including Nanohana, Yuba, Rainbase, the palace, and (of course) Spiders Cafe. Whether they would actually be traveling to any of these places was beyond her. She was just as in the dark about this as anyone was.

"Now, why do you think it would be a good idea to meet out in a secluded cafe out in the middle of nowhere?" Steven asked the group.

"Murder?" Petrea asked.

"Staying out of the line of fire from a bomb?" Usopp guessed.

"Really good food?" Luffy tried.

"No! I've played enough games to know that bars and cafes are where missions are given! This means that the next part of Baroque Works' plan will be revealed there!" Steven concluded. He waited for that information to sink into their heads.

"...Steven, we knew that already," Nami shook her head. "That was kind of easy to figure out."

A look of disappointment appeared on Steven's face for a moment, but he was undeterred. "Ah! But that isn't the actual plan! That is the set-up to the plan!"

"Woah!" Luffy and Chopper clapped their hands, thoroughly and utterly impressed. "Keep going!"

"Well, we ALSO know that Crocodile owns that place in Rainbase. I bet that either Crocodile will hold his evil gathering at that restaurant or the cafe place!" Steven elaborated. "We need to be prepared!"

"We've got that!" Damian shouted. "What do we DO about it?!"

"I propose that we split-up: Scooby Doo style!" Steven explained. "The Garnet Group will be composed of me, Genevieve, Petrea, and Damian going to Spiders Cafe."

The young painter drew quick approximations of the four people near the building in question. Damian and Petrea cocked their heads as they looked at their pictures.

"...my hair does NOT look like that!" the chocolatier fumed.

"I dunno. I look pretty good."

"Our goal will be to infiltrate the meeting with Crocodile, record his plan, and sneak it out to Vivi's dad!" Steven continued. He looked at the painting and examined himself. "I'll be Tiger Millionaire of course, so could you please paint my character to look like that, Genevieve?"

"...okay..."

Sanji lit a cigarette and took a deep breath. "Okay, so what if Crocodile finds out you are trying to undermine him? And why would 'Tiger Millionaire' show up to a secret meeting?"

The young Gem snapped his fingers and pointed back to the canvas. "Ah, I've thought of that! That is where Amethyst Group comes in! That's Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Usopp!"

Genevieve got straight to work painting while Steven continued with his speech. "Okay; so are you all following along? If something bad were to happen at the meeting, the Amethyst Group will bust in and save us!"

"...how will we know to save you?" Zoro scratched his head.

"We will be wearing a wire!" Steven said proudly. "Not only will we be recording everything on our end, we will have a SECOND wire that will go to you in case something happens to the other one!"

The crew fell silent as they tried to put all of the pieces together. "Steven, I have one question for you," Petrea asked.

"Fire away!"

"...what's a 'wire?'"

*AGITR*

"...so then the Pearl group will try to get Vivi back to the castle with the information given by the Den Den snail-thing that you guys will have," the half-Gem wiped more makeup off of his face.

It had been over an hour and a half since Steven had started explaining his master plan and the Straw Hats were no closer to understanding how a plan this convoluted would work in any variation. Zoro had whipped out a flask that he was sharing with Damian, Sanji had already smoked five cigarettes, and the only two people who seemed to be amazed at this point were Luffy and Chopper. Even Genevieve (the girl who had professed that she 'believed in Steven') had stopped drawing Steven's plan and just started free painting on one of her canvases.

"And that, my friends, is how we will save Alabasta!" Steven clapped excitedly. He slumped into a chair and started to pant. "Any questions?"

It took three minutes for someone to speak. About half of the group had stopped following along completely and the other half had been putting the pieces together with little to no luck.

"So..." Nami rubbed her temples in frustration. "You have created a plan where practically everyone gets captured by Crocodile (who could easily kill us all if he wanted to) and are basing it around the hope that we can not only get several Den Den Mushis in Alabasta that can be used as evidence against Crocodile...but that he will be arrogant enough to leave us alive?"

He nodded.

"And you are going under the assumption that just by meeting all in one place, we can call the Royal Guard in early? It's not illegal to meet in a public place!"

"But they are evil," Steven countered. "And we will GET the proof!"

"This is not even counting the fact that you as the Tiger...guy...makes no logical sense in the eyes of Baroque Works. Why would Genevieve even BRING a random person to a secret meeting?"

"Because he's the best at what he does!" Steven told her. "Trust me; it will work."

"But you can't just be that optimistic! You need to think of every and every possibility for it! Why...?" Nami began again before she was cut off.

"He wants to be the new Mr. 3," Genevieve said.

"What?!"

"Tiger Millionaire will try to prove his loyalty so he can take the spot of Mr. 3," she repeated. "I can endorse him."

"That's GENIUS!" Steven adopted a giant grin on his face. "I'll be there for a try-out! It will be perfect!"

Taking a quick swig of his flask, a drunken Zoro stood up. "This might be the stupidest plan we've ever thought of, but screw it! It's bold, straightforward, and will probably kill us all; but damn it, at least there should be a good fight out of it!"

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" Nami roared at the man.

"I agree!" Damian hiccuped. "I mean, we've got this. I used to be Mr. 5, damn it. Mr. Goddamn. 5. I didn't get that number for being a pissant. I could have been Mr. 1 if I wanted to, but I liked people thinking I was weaker. Made it all the more easier to sneak up on people!"

He rambled on for a few more minutes in a drunken stupor, mainly claiming how manly he was and how the plan was the perfect way to show the world it. While it clearly made the ladies uncomfortable, it did do one thing: roused up Luffy, Chopper, Steven, and the equally intoxicated Zoro.

"Steven, this plan is amazing! Where do I go in and kick Crocodile's ass?!" Luffy asked.

The young Gem thought about it and looked back at the drawings. "Um...in the fourth contingency plan: if we were to get kidnapped by Crocodile and we were left in a death trap, then you would be able to have the rest of the Amethyst Group free us while you go stop Crocodile until the Royal Army can arrest him!"

"Perfect!"

Lufy began to lead Steven in a cheer, egged on by the drunks, the naive reindeer, and the bemused painter. Nami, Vivi, Petrea, Sanji and Usopp, however, looked more worried than excited.

"I don't know whether this is so convoluted that it is brilliant or that it is the worst plan in the world," Usopp sighed. "Who the hell puts all their faith on the chance that a 'bad guy' will have a lapse in judgement?"

"A young, impressionable child," Petrea sighed. "He doesn't know just what Crocodile can do. He was intimidating when he was just Mr. 0, but as a Shichibukai? I'm mortified beyond belief."

"So, where do we go from here?" Nami asked. She looked at the people who she considered levelheaded (and Usopp). "If Luffy is committed to following this thing, we can't technically go behind his back."

The blond chef lit another cigarette and turned his head back to the canvases. "Honestly, there are some things that can be considered workable. Infiltrating the Baroque Works meeting, however dangerous it might be, seems to be the best option. We aren't going to get a second chance at this...but that's not up to us," he looked at Petrea. "You would need to risk your life, Petrea-chan...and that is something I do not feel comfortable with."

The woman bit her lip and gazed down at her trembling legs. She was clearly having an internal debate about it. Vivi moved her seat closer to the chocolatier and nudged her. "Look, you don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with. I can't ask you to put yourself in that much danger like this. We can think of a different way...a better way..."

"No," Petrea gulped, tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. "I told you I would make up for my actions in Baroque Works. If this is what I have to do to save your people, then I'll do it."

"Petrea..." Vivi said weakly.

"Besides," she pointed to her drunken partner. "If he acts half as brave as his boasting, we should be fine."

The ship's resident sniper looked over and chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe Steven will get the other members of Baroque Works to change sides too? He's got three out of four...no pun intended."

The blonde shook her head. "Don't hold your breath. The 'Mr. 1 Pair' are both vicious killers and the 'Mr. 4 Pair' are too stubborn to even think of anything like that."

"That leaves Mr. 2," Nami frowned. "But meeting him was better than nothing. We at least know how to beat him when it comes that."

This got the group's attention. "Oh? And how can we do that Nami?" Usopp pried.

"Simple: we need to create something...anything really...that will allow us to know if we are the genuine article or merely Mr. 2," the navigator explained. "If he can change into anyone, he can easily sneak up on us and get the rest of our faces. I think he only touched Luffy's face, but we can't be sure. It is better to be safe than sorry."

"That plan is just perfect, Nami-san!" Sanji bowed to her. "I am in awe of your genius!"

"So...what do you have in mind?" Usopp asked. "A secret code phrase? A handshake?"

Breaking away from Luffy and Steven's antics, Zoro had sauntered over and was listening into the conversation. He downed a shot of sake and raised up the bandana he tied to his arm. "I've got an idea. I'm thing we go a route a bit more...concealed."

*AGITR*

With Nanohana in sight, the Straw Hats were in high spirits. They were finally about to dock on dry land and they were one step closer to the greatest gift of them all: food. Though it took considerable effort, Nami had managed to calm down her rowdy crewmates and explained Zoro's idea to them.

"By tying these to our arms," she explained to them as she passed out pieces of cloth. "We can instantly tell just who is a real member of our crew. From this moment on, we do not say what is under here. We will have no way of knowing who we can trust with that man on the loose."

"I have to admit, this is rather ingenious. Good job, Zoro," Petrea patted him on the back.

"Yeah. This was a really thought-out for you, moss-head. How do we know you aren't that shitty ballerina?!" Sanji cried out in an accusatory manner.

In response, Nami hit him in the head. "You're an idiot! Now isn't the time for acting childish! We need to get moving if we are going to help Vivi save her people!"

"Then its decided!" Luffy announced when they all tied their arm bands on. "This will be a symbol of our eternal friendship! Who is with me?!"

"Aye!" everyone called out at once in joyous celebration. It was a tender moment and one that signaled the lasting bond that tied the Straw Hats, the former Baroque Works members, the princess, her duck, and the half-Gem together forever.

Unfortunately, the moment ended the second they landed at the desert kingdom. Luffy took one whiff of the air and started to run. "A RESTAURANT! I'M SAVED!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Wait! Come back! I'm hungry too!" Steven tried running after him, leaving most of the Straw Hats behind in confusion.

"Does he even remember that he has a bounty?" Nami smacked her face. "How can he be so brazen?"

"It's okay," Zoro shrugged, ignoring the oncoming daytime hangover. "The kid will keep him in check. He'll be fine."

They nodded and went back to tying up the ship. A few moments later, they stopped working at the same time. "Wait...the kid?!" Zoro realized what had just happened.

"He's only a kid! He can't keep up with Luffy! He's going to get lost!" Petrea wailed. "We need to go after him!"

"Do you have to be so loud?" Damian rubbed his forehead. "I can barely see straight."

"Well, whose fault is that?!"

"Guys, Nanohana is one of the largest town in all of Alabasta," Vivi tried telling them. "Do you realize how hard it will be to find them?"

Sanji let out a low chuckle. "Don't worry, Vivi-chan, I'm sure Luffy will be at the noisiest spot in the town. If we check there, we'll find him."

"But what about Steven?!"

He rubbed his jaw. "Yeah...at least Luffy stirs up trouble. Steven...shit, that's not good. He's too polite to make a ruckus."

"He also doesn't have any idea about the Marines!" Usopp realized. "Do you think he realizes that we are technically fugitives in the eyes of the law?!"

The sense of dread creeping up on them, the Straw Hats realized just how much of a problem Steven's naivety would be if he wasn't kept in check. If the Marines were to catch him or Luffy, there would be nobody to stop Crocodile and the country of Alabasta would fall into ruin. As such, only one option presented itself:

"WHY ARE WE JUST STANDING AROUND AND TALKING?!" Nami yelled as she started to run. "WE NEED TO CATCH THEM!"

The remaining Straw Hat pirates ran as fast as they could into the bustling town of Nanohana. Unfortunately, by leaving in such a hurry, they failed to notice a ship that was docked not too far away from the Going Merry.

A boat with a "three" on it.