(Location: Alabasta)
(General POV)
It took only three hours of travel before Alabasta finally came into view, at which point Jack pulled out a map of Alabasta, showing them where the city of Rainbase was located, it just so happened to be where Crocodile's casino was, which was also the HQ for Baroque Works. Nami pointed them in the right direction based off of the map, and an hour later they could see the city off in the distance.
"Radek, if you would be so kind as to open a portal back to the East Blue." Jack said, then told Kureha, Chopper, Vivi and Igram that they were better off going through the gate for now because he was going to make the Pearl disappear for a while, and they were all too slow to keep up with the rest of them. Vivi tried to complain, but Jack wasn't hearing any of it and practically threw them through the gate before Radek closed it.
Once they were gone, Jack then put the Pearl inside of his [Inventory] before they continued the rest of the way to the city on foot. He would have taken the Pearl all of the way there, but a flying ship kind of stood out, and right now he didn't want to announce to anyone that they were here. "Oh this is such bullshit! I want to fly!" Nami whined as they trudged through the desert sand. "You complain a lot." Smoker said dryly.
"You know, I could just open a gate there." Radek said, at which point Nami looked as though she were going to strangle him. "If you could open a gate this whole time, why the hell are you just telling us now?!" She cursed at him. "No one asked me, and since I can literally see the city off in the distance, I can make a gate there. You know this, so why didn't you figure it out?" Radek said calmly, though he was also using Jack as a human shield to guard against the fiery orange-haired girl. "He does have a point, Nami." Nojiko said, shooting Nami a chastising look for yelling at Radek.
After some grumbling, Radek opened a gate near the city's outskirts, at which point they all stepped through without any fanfare. Finding Crocodile's Casino was easy, it being the largest building in the city, and it had a giant gold crocodile on top of it. "There are traps all throughout the building, many of them made of Sea-Prism Stone, so be careful. And just a reminder, don't let anyone touch you." Jack said, then splitting up, they all entered the casino.
Jack found a dark corner and turned into shadow and began moving about the place, meanwhile Luke, Smoker and Tashigi went about to try and find any members of Baroque Works. Nami dragged Nojiko to the gambling tables, and Radek went to go and get himself some ice-cream from a stand outside. This wasn't an area where his powers would be very useful, so he opted to just wait and see how it all played out.
Creeping through the Casino, Jack eventually found the stairs leading to the lower floors where he knew Crocodile to be, and after moving through a number of rooms filled with cash, which of course he stole, he finally heard voices down a hallway behind a large set of doors. Using his Haki he was able to see that there were two people, and if he was a betting man, he suspected that one of them was Crocodile.
Entering the room from underneath the door, Jack crept into a dimly lit corner that gave him a good view of the room, and it was then he saw a large man sitting behind a desk with a scar across his face and a golden hook for a hand, and standing opposite him was a dark-skinned woman with raven black hair that he knew to be Nico Robin. She looked just like her WANTED poster, though in this room he knew she didn't go by her true name, but rather Miss All-Sunday, which was a lame codename, but then again, who was he to judge?
"That's what they said. Apparently Jack Sparrow just showed up and took both her and Mr. 8, then warned them that Baroque Works would be disappearing soon." Robin said to Crocodile, clearly reporting on what happened in Whiskey Peak. Seeing as how that was yesterday, Jack was kind of surprised Crocodile was just getting this information now.
"I don't know why Sparrow would take Miss Wednesday or Mr. 8, but if he has them then we best consider them dead. As for what we do about him, there is no way he knows who I am, so let's forget about him." Crocodile said, and upon hearing that, Jack felt it was the perfect time to make his presence known. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Mr. 0." Jack said as he materialized from the darkness, already having activated his area of nullification to cancel out both of their Devil Fruit powers.
Both of their heads snapped towards him, and Crocodile shot to his feet, clearly surprised that someone had managed to get into his office undetected. "You! What are you doing here?!" Crocodile shouted in shock upon recognizing Jack. "I came to kill you of course." Jack answered, then used Shave to appear behind Crocodile and grabbed him by the back of his head before slamming it down on the desk. "
I never did get why most Logia users become so reliant on their powers, it just makes it so much easier to kill you when you can't use it." Jack said, then as calmly as could be, he pulled Crocodile up by his hair, then made some Sea-Prism Stone beads appear in his hand before he shoved them into Crocodile's mouth and held his hand over it so he couldn't spit them out. Knowing he still wasn't completely subdued, Jack cut off Crocodile's hooked arm at the shoulder, then seared the wound close so he wouldn't bleed out just yet, then dropped him to the ground like a dirty rag before he turned his attention to Robin, who looked terrified as she stared back at him.
"I'm going to give you the use of your powers back, so please don't do anything stupid. I don't want to hurt you." Jack told her, and without saying anything she gave him a small nod of her head, then moved over to sit in a chair. Given how shaky her legs were, Jack decided not to say anything as he turned his attention back to Crocodile. "With all of that Sea-Stone in your system, you're helpless, so when I ask you to do something, I expect you to do it or be punished." Jack said simply to the Warlord who didn't look to be doing so good.
"W-What- *Cough* *Cough*-do you want?" Crocodile choked out as he held his chest, most likely feeling a bit uncomfortable with the metal objects inside of him that were draining him of his power. "I told you, I'm here to kill you. I can't let the people of Alabasta suffer simply because you want to be in control of it. So now, be a good little reptile and call the rest of your subordinates here. Just the single-digit agents and their partners." Jack said, getting a cold look from Crocodile. Before the guy could say anything, Robin of all people piped up from where she was sitting. "None of the other Baroque Works agents know Crocodile is the leader of the organization. I'm usually the go-between for him when he wants to give orders." Robin said, sounding as calm as she could, though Jack could tell she was scared.
"Is that right?" Jack said with a grin as he looked back down at Crocodile. If that was true, which he sort of remembered being the case, then he didn't actually need Crocodile anymore. Making the crates of fruit appear beside him, Jack brought out his gun from thin air and shot Crocodile right between the eyes, ending him once and for all.
*****
(Nico Robin POV)
Nico Robin was not your average woman. At eight years old she had received a bounty of $79 Million berries and had been fighting for her life every day for the last twenty years. She knew Crocodile was a bad man, and though she loathed to actually help him with his plans, he protected her for the last few years. Still, that didn't mean she would let his dreams come to fruition. She had been actively planning for ways to warn the royal family of Alabasta about the incoming problem, and if all else failed, she intended to try and assassinate Crocodile herself when the time came, however now it seemed that was unnecessary.
She had just been giving Crocodile a report on Jack Sparrow when suddenly the very same man appeared in front of them, and with what looked to be no effort at all, he disabled Crocodile before he began to order him to do something. She didn't know what it was that made her speak up, but for some reason, she felt it would be better for all parties involved if she did, and what followed next was Crocodile getting a bullet to the head. She didn't know that she had just saved the man from being tortured before he ultimately would die, but that wasn't a concern for her any more. What did concern her was now the man was looking pointedly at her.
"Sorry you had to witness that, but I couldn't have you run off anywhere, and he really needed to die. Anyway, my name is Jack Sparrow, but please, just call me Jack. It is a pleasure to meet you, Robin." Jack Sparrow said calmly, and Robin couldn't help but wonder why the man sounded so genuine. 'He surely wants something from me, just like the others.' Robin thought with a sad smile.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to call the members of Baroque Works here for me? Just the single-digit ones." Jack asked kindly. "I can, but do you mind telling me why?" Robin asked, and only after asking did she suspect what was going to happen, which is when she looked down at Crocodile's corpse. "I won't lie to you, I intend to kill them. I won't let them run around the country and cause problems for the people." Jack admitted honestly, which was a surprise for Robin. She didn't expect him to tell the truth. "What about me? Do you intend to kill me too?" She asked, feeling as if this was going to be the inevitable end to their discussion.
"I will be honest with you again. I have no intention of killing you. Even if you decide to leave right now, I won't stop you, but I can promise you, you will be making a mistake. If you so desire it, I would invite you to join me as part of my guild, but if you don't want to do that, then I can take you to the Revolutionary Army. I know they would treat you fairly and honorably, and they could help you to become stronger. They know the truth of what happened on Ohara." Jack said, his words truly shocking her. She had never expected his offer, nor did she know what to do with it.
"Why? Why help me?" Robin asked, finding that she needed to know. "I know what you've been through, and I can't even begin to understand your pain, but I want you to trust me when I say that I only want you to find happiness. I never knew her personally, but I knew of your mother, Nico Olivia. I know of Clover and the other scholars of Ohara, and I know the pain and misery the World Government causes each day for the simple fact that they don't want anyone to know about the void century. I don't care about the Ancient Weapons or their locations, I simply want to know the history written on the Poneglyphs, same as you. I can help you find them, and I give you my promise that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, so if you wish to join me, then I would be honored to have you." Jack said, his words making Robin's heart skip a beat.
"It's a good thing Nojiko didn't hear that, I think she'd have been jealous." A voice sounded from the doorway, causing Robin to snap her gaze around to look at the newcomer. "Shut-up, Luke! I didn't mean it in a romantic way, and you know I'd do the same for any of you. Even Tashigi, and I'm not really a fan of hers." Jack told the man now known as Luke. "I know, I'm not really a fan of her either." Luke said to Jack with a laugh, then he looked at Crocodile's dead body before looking at her, and for some reason, Robin felt as though the man wasn't sizing her up, but was looking inside of her.
"It's an honor to meet you. My name is Luke Strauss. I know it's probably not my place to say, but I respect you for everything you've gone through so far. The World Government has tried for twenty years to catch you, and you persisted alone all this time. When they captured me, Jack had to save me, otherwise I'd be some asshole's slave right now. You're the kind of person I'd be honored to travel this world with." Luke said as he extended his hand out to her. Surprisingly, Robin saw no deceit or lies in his eyes, in fact, they were the eyes of a kind man. For so long, people had used her, manipulated her, and it had become second nature for her to know when someone was lying, and she could tell this man wasn't lying.
Hesitantly, she took his hand and shook it gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Luke. My name is Nico Robin." She greeted him, using her real name for the first time in years. She had always been scared to reveal her name to people in fear that they would try to turn her in for the bounty on her head, but she could tell this man wasn't thinking that. "So, did Jack ask you to be his librarian yet?" Luke asked, smiling broadly at her. "Librarian?" Robin asked curiously while looking at Jack.
"Ah, well, I have something like a million or so books, and I don't trust these ingrates around them. If you did join me, I was going to see if you would become my librarian and watch over my books." Jack told her, again surprising her for she didn't know how many times already, and she had only known him for a few minutes. "I don't suppose you could tell me what a guild is first?" Robin asked, remembering how Jack wanted her to join his guild, whatever that was.
Jack and Luke then gave her the rundown on The Order, the Sentinels, and the Adventurers Association. They told her about the guilds and everything they had managed to achieve thus far, and even told her a little bit of his plans for the future. Needless to say, but she didn't feel as though she had to be concerned that they would be turning her into the World Government, because if they achieved their goals, there would be no World Government left to hunt her. "I guess I'll be in your care from now on." Robin said, finally agreeing to join them. Of course she'd still be wary about them, but if they were like she believed, then just maybe, maybe she had found a place where she belonged.
*****
(General POV)
"So, any chance you'd be willing to call the Baroque Works officers?" Jack asked again once Robin agreed to join them. "I will, but not all of them are currently in Alabasta. It will take almost a week for all of them to get here." Robin admitted, throwing a wrench into Jack's plans. He wanted to kill Crocodile and the rest of the Baroque Works officers and be done with this place, but it seemed that wouldn't be the case. "Which of them are here?" Jack asked curiously.
"Mr. 1 and his partner, Miss Doublefinger are currently at the Spiders Café, which is the meeting place for Baroque Works officers, and Mr. 5 and his partner, Miss Valentine are actually here in Rainbase. They're down the block in a hotel. Mr. 4 and his partner, Miss Merry Christmas are in the capital, Alubarna. They've been creating a few secret tunnels for the last few weeks below the city. As for Mr. 2 and Mr. 3, they're a few days away on different islands awaiting assignments." Robin explained, getting a nod from Jack.
Mr. 2 he didn't really care all that much about, simply because Bon Clay was actually one of the most honorable people in the whole damn series, and had died for Luffy, but Mr. 3 was kind of a dickhead who delighted in binding people before slowly turning them into statues. "I don't suppose you could call Mr. 3 and have him meet up at this Spider Café place? It'll probably be faster if we go and deal with them there." Jack said, already planning on dealing with the agents right now.
Before Robin even got the chance to make a call, Smoker walked in carrying an unconscious Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine with Radek beside him, which was odd because Jack thought Radek was staying outside. "Radek saw them across the street and came and got me. Don't worry, we weren't seen." Smoker said calmly before he dropped them down onto the ground. "Good work, Radek. Tell you what, after today, you get the week off to go and do whatever you want." Jack told him, getting a small grin from the man. As much as he wanted to add more places to his repertoire, Radek did want to go back to the East Blue to check up on things and just chill out. "Thanks." Radek said simply, then he turned to go back upstairs.
Robin wasted no time in calling Mr. 3 and his partner back to the Spiders Café, as well as Mr. 4 and his Partner. Jack was going to just go to Alubarna and kill them, but then he realized that he didn't want to search the whole freaking city for them. As for Mr. 2, Jack decided that he was going to wait until he dealt with the others before he got Robin to call the guy and tell him that Mr. 0 had been killed and that Baroque Works was finished. If he managed to stay out of trouble after that, then good for him. If he somehow managed to get himself killed, then that was that.
"So where is this Spider's Café?" Luke asked Robin once Jack had killed both Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. "Just so you know, Nami and Nojiko are robbing the casino blind." Smoker whispered to Jack while Robin told Luke about the Spiders Café. "What are they doing?" Jack asked curiously. "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 walked by their table, they were already well over a hundred million." Smoker explained, and Jack couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose.
"She's so greedy. I thought Nojiko would be more restrained with her." Jack said tiredly. "Mr. Kettle, Mr. Pot called. He said you're black." Smoker said dryly, thinking Jack was the last person who could call someone greedy, and as for keeping someone restrained, he couldn't do that either. "Fuck you, Smokey." Jack told him, which only earned a grin from the man.
"Hey, do you know how Vivi told us there has been a drought here for the last few years?" Luke said, getting their attention. "Vaguely." Smoker admitted. He really didn't listen to the princess very much, but in his defense, he didn't care. "Robin said there is a Baroque Works ship that travels along the shore burning dance powder, you know, the powder that's illegal because when you burn it, it draws the water from the surrounding areas in the clouds and pulls it to where it was burned. That means if we take out the ship, we end the drought." Luke said, adding something else for them to take care of. "Okay, after we leave here, we'll go and deal with the ship before we deal with the rest of the Baroque Works agents." Jack said, adding the ship on his list of things to destroy.
Knowing there weren't going to be any other Baroque Works officers here, Jack cleared out all of Crocodile's stuff, even going so far as to take the Sea-Prism Stone cage that was supposed to be used to trap people. After that, the group went upstairs where they saw a large crowd of people watching the roulette table where Nami was placing large bets. "That's it. Shows over. We're leaving." Jack told the two sisters before he grabbed them and began to haul them outside, though not before Nami collected all of her winnings from the teller, who looked more than a little grateful at Jack for getting rid of them.
"What are you doing?! We could have made a whole lot more!" Nami shouted at him once they were outside. Apparently nearly three-hundred million berries wasn't enough for her. "Probably, but since I already stole everything down in their vaults, I don't see how they would have been able to pay you." Jack told her, causing Nami to understand what was going on.
After walking outside, Jack introduced everyone to Robin, and they all seemed more than happy to welcome her into the group, Luke especially. "You and I are going to get along swimmingly." He told her with a grin. "What he means is, he's very much looking forward to killing all of the Marines and World Government agents that are hunting you." Tashigi commented. "What does a dog like you know?" Luke asked her with a frown, which in turn got a frown from Tashigi who wisely chose to backoff. "Ignore them, they don't like each other. I'm glad to meet you." Nojiko said, welcoming Robin to the group.
Unlike before, Jack no longer cared about being stealthy, simply because they had already killed Crocodile, so he simply made the Pearl appear, then everyone climbed aboard before it took off towards the coast, where after flying for a short while they spotted the ship producing green smoke from the top of it. Luke was quick to kill everyone inside of it, then Jack stored it away inside of his [Inventory] before they moved to their next destination, the Spider's Café.
Jack killed both Mr. 1 and his partner, Miss Doublefinger before they headed towards Alubarna, where just outside the city, Smoker pointed out the giant figure that was Mr. 4 and his much smaller partner, Miss Merry Christmas. Taking the opportunity for what it was, Jack killed them both, even going so far as to incinerate the gun that had somehow eaten a Devil Fruit. All that was left was Mr. 3, but it would still be a few days until he arrived, so after getting to Alubarna, they decided they would be stopping there for the next few days.
Radek of course took this time to disappear back to the East Blue, though not before he brought back Vivi and Igram. Kureha and Chopper opted to stay in the East Blue for the remainder of the time they were going to be staying in Alabasta, choosing to stay in the cooler climate and see the East Blue instead of seeing an island of sand. The Pearl remained still above the royal palace of Alubarna, and Jack figured with how high they were, no one but the falcon guy should be able to get aboard the ship without his say so.
Next, he took Vivi and Igram down to the ground where hundreds of soldiers had already gathered to wait for them. "Halt! Who are you?!" Shouted a tall, imposing dark-skinned man with a long broad nose. "Chaka, it's me!" Vivi shouted, getting the man's attention, as well as the attention of most of the guards who immediately recognized her. "Princess Vivi?! Sir Igram?!" Chaka shouted in surprise before he commanded all of the guards to lower their weapons. "Chaka, I'm so glad to see you all are okay!" Vivi cried happily as she ran to embrace the man.
"Okay, so I'm going to leave you to explain to all of them what's been going on. I'll be back in an hour, so until then, just tell your father everything." Jack told Vivi, who nodded her head before the guards led her inside the palace. As for Jack, he jumped back up to the Pearl where the others were, and it was then he decided to give their newest member a tour of the ship.
Jack showed her to her room, the bathrooms, the training room, music room, control room, saving the best for last, which was deliberate. When they were standing in front of the library doors, he turned to look at the group trailing behind him, though mostly Robin since everyone else had already seen the room, though not the new little touches he had put in a short while ago when they were crossing the desert.
"Now I want you to know that this room will be your responsibility, so don't let any of these ungrateful book thieves try to bully you." Jack said as he shot Nami a dirty look. "It was one time!" Nami shouted in annoyance as she threw her hands into the air. It had only been one time, and she'd only managed to make it to her room before Jack stopped her and confiscated the book from her, but that was still one time too many.
Pushing open the door, Jack turned on the lights to illuminate the room, and then made a record dial appear in his hand that began to play soft piano music. Robin's eyes went wide and her jaw fell open when she walked into the room and saw the rows upon rows of books. Behind them, Nami rolled her eyes at how dramatic Jack was being, but she and everyone else bit their tongues. Jack was a bit eccentric, and to ruin his moment was just asking for trouble. These little shows of drama were amusing to him, and it was amusing to everyone else at just how childish he could be.
"It isn't the Tree of Knowledge from Ohara, but it's damn close." Jack said happily upon seeing Robin's surprised expression. He let her bask in the moment for a few seconds before he turned her attention to the wall adjacent to the doors, and it was only then everyone noticed the large piece of fabric covering the wall.
"After we left Rainbase I came down here and set this up. I hope you like it." Jack said before he pulled the drape from the wall. Upon seeing what was revealed, Robin's eyes immediately began to fill with tears and she couldn't stop herself from slowly approaching the portraits of all of the scholars of Ohara, which also included one of her mother. She never had a picture of her mother, and only briefly ever met her.
"I figured it was fitting to have these here, after all, 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, however Robin didn't seem to hear him. She had eyes only for her mother's portrait and tears were freely falling from her eyes, and it was then that Jack realized she needed time alone so he silently signaled for everyone to leave the room.
Once they were all in the dining room, Nojiko wrapped her arms around his neck before giving him a kiss. "That was very sweet of you." She said with a smile that vanished just as quickly as it came. "If you try to sleep with her or anyone else, I'll rip your dick off." She warned him, then gave him another kiss. Instead of acting worried, Jack picked her up so her legs were around his waist, then he whispered, "I wouldn't dream of it." After that he carried her back to his room. What did he care if he was late to see the king, he wasn't all that important.
*****
A few hours later, Jack was sitting at a table in the royal palace, and sitting across from him was King Cobra Nefertari. Sitting beside Cobra was his daughter, Vivi, and his three head guards, Igram, Chaka, and Pel, and sitting beside Jack was Nami, Nojiko, Tashigi, and Robin. Vivi had already told her father everything that had happened thus far, and honestly it was a bit much for the old man to believe, but the fact that it was his daughter telling him really sold it home. Plus it actually made sense because who else but Crocodile could have pulled off something like this?
"I cannot begin to thank you enough for everything you've done." Cobra said, then he bowed his head to Jack, which for some reason caused his royal guards to freak out. Jack didn't see anything wrong with it, because he didn't give a shit if someone were a king or not. It made no difference to him, and it's not like it changed anything about them other than the fact they now held a higher position in society.
"We take cash." Nami said, which earned her a pinch to the arm from Nojiko. They had already made themselves almost three-hundred million berries at the casino, and that wasn't even counting whatever it was Jack stole from Crocodile's vaults, so to hear Nami trying to get a reward for helping someone was kind of embarrassing. "Instead of a monetary reward, I was more hoping I could expand my organization to Alabasta." Jack said, surprising the king.
Vivi had already told him all about The Order and everything she had seen when she was sent to the East Blue, so to hear that that organization wanted to move into his borders was something else altogether. Of course there was fallout that would no doubt come from the Marines and World Government if they did accept The Order, but then again, Cobra felt if they didn't advertise it out in the open, then there was nothing the Government could do. Besides, if they started off small by simply allowing the Adventurers Association to have a guild here, it would be the same as having a mercenary guild to help stem the outbreak of pirates, something that the Marines couldn't even handle here in Alabasta.
Cobra told all of this to Jack, who actually thought it wasn't a bad idea, and agreed to it almost immediately. He would still need to find one of the Adventurers who were willing to come and spend some time here, but he could figure that out later. They weren't in any rush to leave Alabasta just yet anyway. "Your majesty, there are two men who claim to be with Sparrow, and they have a prisoner with them." A guard reported, which caused almost everyone to turn their gazes upon Jack.
"They're with me. They should have fixed the last bit of your country's issues." Jack told Cobra, who told the guard to let them in. A minute later, Luke and Smoker entered the room, carrying a bound and gagged man with sandy blonde hair who was wearing purple tinted glasses. "Koza?!" Vivi cried out in surprise upon seeing her friend, who just so happened to be the leader of the Rebel Army.
"Sorry we're late. As you can see, he wasn't very cooperative." Luke said calmly before he dropped Koza's bound form to the ground and moved to sit at the table near Jack. "Of course he wasn't cooperative. You called all of the Rebels complete morons, then you used your Conqueror's Haki to knock most of them unconscious, and then you kicked the crap out of the ones who managed to stay standing. When we finally found him, instead of telling him what was going on, you made fun of him for twenty minutes about how stupid he was." Smoker said, a little annoyed at Luke.
"Why didn't you step in and stop him?" Tashigi asked, which was a stupid question. Luke was a freaking monster, and even with his Devil Fruit, Smoker wasn't his match, and Tashigi and everyone else knew that. "The important thing is you found him. So what happened to the rest of the Rebel Army?" Jack asked curiously, completely ignoring the king and princess.
"After Luke made fun of him, I did eventually tell him everything that happened, but he was still a little upset at what Luke said to really listen, hence the need to keep him bound and gagged. I told the other Rebels what happened, but I think they'll need a bit more convincing before they believe me." Smoker said, which was fair. They didn't know or trust him, and he had arrived with someone who kicked the crap out of them, so looking at it like that, Jack wasn't sure he would have wanted to listen to them either.
"You can't tell me they're not stupid. They started a whole rebellion and for what? Because Cobra wasn't making it rain? I'm not a fan of kings either, but I at least would have tried to meet with him to discuss what was happening, instead they went right to trying to overthrow him." Luke said with a sneer at Koza. "I don't believe for a second you would have chosen to meet the king. More likely you would have killed him and waited to see if anything good came of it." Tashigi commented, which earned her a look from Luke. "What was that, DOG? I couldn't understand you with all of your barking." Luke said, getting a huff of indignation from Tashigi.
"Oh well, I'll go and talk to the Rebels later. For now, let's deal with their leader." Jack said, then released Koza so he and Vivi could explain everything. As proof, Jack even made the ship that burned Dance Powder appear in the palace courtyard, and seeing the Baroque Works symbol really did it. Vivi's testimony went a long way, but it was seeing the ship that sealed the deal.
"So what now?" Koza asked. He had rebelled against his king, and started an uprising, and now he was ready to face the consequences. "I think you should go and explain this to the Rebel Army so they disband, but after that, I think the decision should be up to the king." Jack told him, then looked to Cobra to see what he had to say on the matter.
"You did only have the best interest of the people in mind, and for that, I cannot punish you. However I would like to extend an offer for you to be Princess Vivi's bodyguard. She seems to trust you, and you seem to trust her." Cobra said, the offer surprising not just Koza, but Vivi and everyone else. Koza did eventually agree, but with the stipulation that he didn't have to follow her around like some lapdog, something which Jack approved of.
What followed next was Koza being taken back to the Rebel Army, and after telling them the full story about everything, they disbanded. To give his thanks and at Jack's request, Cobra allowed Robin to go into the Nefertari family tomb and look at the Poneglyph, something which Robin never expected. When asked if he was interested in finding the Ancient Weapons, Jack merely laughed. He was interested to know about them, but he didn't want them.
On the contrary, he knew that by having the Ancient Weapons it would only cause further problems down the road. Besides, if he did want them, he could get them on his own. At least two of them. He knew Princess Shirahoshi, the mermaid princess of Fish-Man Island was actually Poseidon, and then he also knew where the blueprints were for the Ancient battleship, Pluton. It was in Water-7 inside Franky's cyborg body, and Jack knew he could get his hands on them without a problem, so if he actually wanted to build Pluton, he could.
Robin seemed a little disappointed with the Poneglyph, stating that it had nothing to do with the Void Century, but Jack assured her there were many more Poneglyphs out there, and that he knew the locations to a number of them. Of course he could have just bought the damned Poneglyphs from his [STORE], but they were $5 Billion berries each, and that was the price for the regular ones.
The four Road-Poneglyphs that would guide the way to Laugh Tale were a $100 Billion berries each, and Jack realized he was better off to just find the damn things on his own. Besides, he knew where two of them were, and suspected he knew where the other two were. One was on Zou with the Mink Tribe, and the other was in Totto Land, guarded by Big Mom. He suspected Kaido and Shanks had the other two, but he wouldn't be able to confirm that until later.
*****
Later that evening, Jack went to his room before he took out his Transponder Snail and called Haedrig. He wanted to know what all of the Adventurers were doing, and wondered if any of them might be interested in coming to Alabasta. According to him, most everyone had sort of banded together in their own guilds and went off on their own. Even Xander was off somewhere in the West Blue doing who knows what, only he chose to go alone because he didn't want to travel with people. The only other person who was alone was Stain, and Haedrig reported that he set out from Loguetown for Reverse Mountain that morning.
Figuring that Stain was his best option, Jack gave him a call. "Hello." Stain's voice sounded after the second ring. "It's Jack. Are you busy?" Jack asked. "Hey, boss. Yeah, I'm a little busy. I'm just about to go up Reverse Mountain. Can this wait for a bit?" Stain said, and it was only then that Jack could hear the sound of the rushing water going up the mountain. "Call me back when you get to the bottom of the mountain." Jack said, at which point the call ended.
It was quite a while later before Stain called him back, and by the sounds of it, he was breathing rather heavily. "How was it?" Jack asked curiously. "A warning about the big ass whale would have been nice." Stain said, sounding a little annoyed. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. We sort of flew over it." Jack said simply. "So what's up?" Stain asked curiously.
"I called to check in and see if you would be interested in coming to Alabasta and starting your guild. Maybe recruit a few people and get the word out." Jack said, getting a thoughtful "Hmm…" from Stain. "I also think I have a Devil Fruit you might be interested in. It's called the Bomb-Bomb Fruit. You can cause explosions on contact with people." Jack said, adding a little incentive into the mix. He knew the fruit fit what Stain was looking for, so he decided to offer it up.
It took explaining a bit more about the Devil Fruit before Stain finally relented, having been drawn in by the potential of the Devil Fruit. It also fit his fighting style more than any Devil Fruit he had ever heard of, so he wasn't going to say no to it. "Call Radek and see if he'll open a gate for you to Alabasta. He might complain that he's on vacation, but just tell him I'll owe him a favor." Jack said, to which Stain agreed, then ended the call. Less than five minutes later found Stain walking through a gateway in front of the royal palace.
"Radek says he wants a million berries and before you guys set off to your next destination, you have to take him to a tropical island with a resort." Stain told Jack upon seeing him. "He basically gets a vacation anyway, but okay." Jack said, not one to argue with a request like that. "It's actually for a bunch of little kids. He lost the game of hiding-go-seek, and now he owes them a trip to a tropical island." Stain said, this time surprising Jack. "How did he lose, and why the hell did he bet something like that?" Jack asked. "You know Radek. He's basically a little kid at heart. I'm pretty sure he lost the game on purpose, and now he wants to let them have fun." Stain told him with a laugh.
Ignoring all of the problems that would no doubt come from sending kids to a tropical resort with that much money, Jack tossed the Bomb-Bomb Fruit to Stain and a book he had written himself with all of the ideas he had on how to use it most effectively, and he actually did have a number of ideas because this fruit had been the topic of a discussion on some of the most underrated Devil Fruits in One Piece back in his old world, and now he simply gave those ideas to Stain, with a few extra ideas of his own.
"God, that's awful." Stain remarked coolly after taking a bite of the Devil Fruit. "We'll be staying for a week or two, so I can help you out a bit with training, but after that it will be entirely up to you." Jack told him, which only got an eye-roll from Stain. "Great. That means you're basically going to torture me before you go." Stain said, not the least bit impressed. "Not just you. I got a new guild member who's going to need training, and I was thinking about giving another Devil Fruit to someone else in the Royal Guard." Jack said with a laugh, not bothered that everyone seemed to despise his training.
"Quick question, since this is basically a request from the Association, what kind of pay am I looking at?" Stain asked as they moved towards the palace doors. "How about a hundred million, and you create a good foundation for The Order here?" Jack said, going a little high, but he knew it would be worth it if they got a good foothold here. "Deal." Stain said quickly, not bothering to try and haggle even the slightest.
He knew he was already getting a steal of a deal, especially when one considered how rare and expensive Devil Fruits were, not to mention all of the training Jack had imparted upon him. Jack had already done so much, he could have offered him nothing and Stain probably still would have done it.
*****
Jack introduced Stain to King Cobra, then almost as an afterthought he offered up Crocodile's Devil Fruit, the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit. He suggested that it be given to princess Vivi since it was the ideal Devil Fruit for a ruler to have in a country like Alabasta, but surprisingly, Vivi didn't want it. Instead she offered it to Koza, stating that as a ruler it was better that she didn't have a power that could make her people scared of her, and that it was perfect for Koza because he could use it to keep her safe and he could help and protect the people of Alabasta. Jack didn't care one way or the other, and after letting the guy eat it, he told him that he was going to have to go through a bit of training for the coming days.
Over the next few days, Jack trained with Stain, Robin, and Koza, teaching all of them a bit about their Devil Fruits that they hadn't known before, and for Koza and Robin he taught them about Haki. Koza had at first thought he was invincible, but after getting the crap kicked out of him by Stain, Luke, Jack, and Smoker, he realized just how vincible he really was.
After the fifth day of training, Mr. 3 finally showed up to the Spider's Café, at which point he was incinerated alive, and the little girl that was his partner, Miss Goldenweek was promptly told to fuck off and that Baroque Works was done for. Robin then called Mr. 2 and told him that the boss and all of the other officers were dead, and that it was in his best interest to move on with his life, to which he agreed to rather quickly after expressing his gratitude to her for telling him all of the information.
Nothing else of note really happened in Alabasta for the next week, other than the city of Yuba seeming to flourish, though whether that was due to the sudden stopping of sandstorms or the fact that Koza used his Devil Fruit to make the city a lot better, no one could say. Robin was still learning the basics of Haki, and Stain was turning into a downright monster. Jack had also taken a few hours out of his day to take Radek to a tropical island with a resort. Conveniently there was one that only took them a few hours to get to, and after telling Radek he had to watch over the kids if he was going to bring them here, he went back through a gate to Alabasta, leaving Radek to sort out his own problems.
After a little over a week and a half of staying in Alabasta, Jack finally decided it was time for them to leave, though not before he asked Stain to continue Koza's training, something which Stain agreed to rather quickly. He liked Koza, and if he was willing, he would invite him to join his guild, which he still hadn't figured out a name for.
"So where are you guys off to next?" Stain asked curiously as everyone else was moving to board the ship. Already Kureha, Chopper and Radek had been brought back and were now waiting to depart. Chuckling a little darkly, Jack grinned at him before answering, "We're going to kill a God."