12: alabasta 1

while the crew gathered at the rope bridge leading to the bottom of the mountain the crew sees luffy walking over with a smile on his face

"he's telling the old lady that he's coming with us! ooh that was close!"

luffy says after a axe flew through the spot his head was a second ago

" i don't think she likes being called old."

alex states while looking at the axe next to her foot with a sweat drop on her head.looking towards the castle she sees chopper running towards them pulling a sled while doctorine chases him from behind throwing various weapons at him and screaming about how he can't leave.

"Everyone! get on the sleigh! We'll go down the mountain!"

chopper yells before the crew scrambled onto the sleigh and he jumps into the rope way. Reaching the bottom chopper keeps pulling them towards their ship until he hears an explosion coming from the mountain.Looking at the mountain chopper starts to break out bawling while thinking of doctor and doctorine as he looks at the giant cherry blossom doctorine created of the mountain using the doctors invention.

Arriving at the merry the crew quickly sets out for alabasta, while chopper learns more about the crew from nami. The crew quickly learns that chopper can talk to animals as he was originally an animal but gained human intelligence, bye translating what karoo says the reason he was frozen in the water for.

"That's incredible chopper! To be able to do that along with your medical skills!"

nami praised causeing chopper to do his happy dance while denying that he's happy. the crew minus alex who was also tended by chopper were shocked that he was a doctor, they along with luffy thought he was just another monster like the, so he'd fit in perfectly. The crew then continued to celebrate the joining of a new crew member while sailing away.

The next day luffy catches a giant bird causing chopper to understand that the crew he joined was amazing, before asking why they were headed for alabasta. the crew went on to explain how they are going there to stop a warlord named crocodile from taking over the country.

"Hey chopper can you help me learn how to control my devil fruit now?"

alex asked after the crew finished the explanation.

"Sure!"

" No! You can't do that on the ship, you are way to large to do that, if something goes wrong you'll sink the ship!"

nami yelled over chopper while trying to hit alex in the head, but she ducks under the punch and under nami while sneakily tying nami's shoes together.

" i don't mean the transformation part, though i would like to practice that to, i meant more of the extra stuff i got with it."

"extra stuff? there shouldn't be any extra stuff since you only have a zoan devil fruit. They are known to only change the body unlike logia and paramecia that give powers to the users."

"Hmm? but i cam tell i have those as well? i don't know what they are but i have them. They feel dark and burning kinda like flames but like something else as well."

alex explained to chopper.

" i don't think you should try those on the ship either, might burn it down."

chopper says before joining usopp in fishing. Alex agreeing that maybe she shouldn't try anything that seems fire related goes to see what luffy is doing, and finds him in the kitchen going through the fridge.

"Oi luffy save some for me!"

alex yells before shoving luffy away and grabbing as much of food as she can carry and running away to go eat it somewhere else.

'baka! sanji is totally going to notice him eating the food, that's why you take it somewhere else heeheehee'

alex thought while eating behind the tangerine tree. When she finished she come over to the deck just in time to see sanji hitting luffy for eating the food

'just as i thought, he was caught by sanji again. At least he won't snitch on me."

sanji them went to hit usopp, karoo, and chopper as they were also eating food.

'think i'm going to get some more shut eye'

alex thought while yawning before going back to nami's tree and falling asleep on one of the branches.Waking up because the heard yelling she went towards the deck to find the noise changing to what she thought was celebrating.

'those bastardized better not be eating without me!'Alex thought as she sprang onto the top railing and looked down and he crew

'Hey since when did we have an okama in our crew?'

alex questioned, while staring at a man crossdressing in ballerina attire with a swan theme, before seeing him slap luffy in the face and switch to his appearance. After watching him collect everyone's faces except hers into his devil fruit power, which he explained as clone clone fruit she went back to her branch and fell asleep.

Waking up again awhile later she sees alabasta in the distance so she goes to deck to join the crew, and see if they had any idea on what they are doing upon reaching the island.

"hey guys finally made it i see, but what are we doing here we dock? are we going straight at crocodile or doing supply run first?"

"first you need to put an x ,ark on your left arm then wrap a cloth around it."

"why should i do that?"

"because bin clay has our faces this way we can tell who is who if we get separated."

"yes but he doesn't have my face. i was sleeping in the tree when this happened"

"Just put the mark on!"

"fine fine! jeez your a mean woman"

alex say while sporting a numb from nami punching her in the head.

"answering your earlier question we are resupplying ourselves first then searching for crocodile."

"Ok but i'm going to go eat, i'm starving, just give me a list of items you want me to collect while i'm in town."

alex said. After getting the list she jumps off the ship and goes searching for food. Walking around town she sees a crowd gathering around a restaurant and thinks that it must be good or have that big of a crowd, so she climbs through a window a sneaks a seat next to a guy with an orange hat who is on his face. Ordering her food she looks around quickly to asses dangers and escape options.

Getting her food alex starts to stuff her face when she notice the guy next to her not moving, alex thanks to her newly enhanced hearing can tell he just fell asleep, so she continues to eat.

while eating her food alex turns to the owner looking guy and asks why the places was so crowded if no one was there to eat, he starts to explain how the guy next to her suddenly dropped dead due to eating a desert strawberry, which is actually just a really poisonous spider that looks like a strawberry, when all of a sudden the guy wakes up. looking around he spots a lady to his left so he reaches over and uses her skirt as a napkin before going back to eating.

"Oh, whoops,. I fell asleep."

the man says before asking what the commotion was about, when the crowd yells that they were worried about him he just asked the owner if they do comedy skits or something, before falling asleep again.Waking up later he finishes his food before asking the owner if he has seen a one monkey d luffy, but before the owner can answer the marine alex met way back in loguetown when she was a kid walked into the bar.

The man asked what the second division commander of the whitebeard pirates is doing in a small country like this, before the orange hat guy said he was looking for his little brother. As the two were having a staring contest, everyone could hear the yell of

"FOOD PLACE!"

the marine stating that even though there is a pirate he want to hunt more right now, he would have to bring the orange hat guy in as he was a pirate. As the two seemed about to come to fists, they hear

"gum gum rocket!"

before luffy comes flying in through the door crashing into the back of the marine and sending him and the orange hat in front of him flying through walls and building, as luffy just sits down and orders food.Alex just looks at luffy who is now sitting beside her in confusion about what just happened, one moment she was waiting for an epic brawl to break out the next she's sitting next to her captian.

'well at least i took those guys things on the way past. heeheehee'

luffy finally noticing alex orders more food for the both of them as he laughs

" Man it took me forever to find this place. shishishishi. how did you get here so fast alex?"

"Ah, i just asked a person in he street and they gave me directions to the food district, i saw this place had a huge crowd and decided to come here."

alex explained as she took a cup of rum the owner brought her.

"hey luffy wanna do something fun?"

"sure like what?"

"eating competition! Winner has do carry the others luggage while travelling while helping vivi."

"deal!"

luffy said with stars in his eyes. The owner who heard the. decided that he needs more cooks and runs to nearby restaurants to get them to help him.

"on your marks, get set, Go!"

yelled the owner after placing the food in front of the two. While cramming her mouth with food alex made sure to pay attention for anyone nearby who might cause them trouble, or interrupt the contest. Six dishes of food down neither of the two were slowing even as their stomachs started to get bigger from all the food, ten dishes down and both are still going hard. when they reaches the twentieth dish alex hears two people rushing towards them from the hole in the wall

'Ah must be the two guys luffy sent flying'

the marine jumping over the orange hat while slamming his face into the ground rushes up in front of them, before standing in front of luffy saying he's been searching for him.

"quit eating!"

the marine yells as me and luffy both continue our contest, me because i won't wast any food or lose any food competition, and luffy because he's trying to remember the marine from somewhere. Upon recognition luffy spit his food out and asks the marine now known by alex as smoker what he's doing here? Alex taking this chance quickly swipes the table clean of food so that when luffy goes to stuff it all in his mouth before running there was nothing left.

"I win!"

alex yells while standing in celebration.

"That's cheating!"

luffy complains while looking at alex, then at smoker, then back to alex, before finally back to smoker, then he bows to the chefs thanking them for the food before he grabbed alex and bolts out the door with her dragging behind him.Smoker seeing this runs after him, while the orange hat guy finally gets up and also runs after them, the cooks who were left behind are stunned as none of the four people paid for all the food they ate.

Luffy while running, let's go of alex after he jumps onto the roof of a building while dodging a sword strike. alex seeing her chance grabs luffy and drops down into an alley before smoker can see how they disappeared from his smoke. Luffy ends up bolting down another road gaining smokers attention as alex calmly merges into the crowd on the street, and making her way to a clothes store as she still stands out.

leaving the store alex is dressed more like a commoner of alabasta in a cream coloured coat with a grey shemagh over hear hat. looking around she sees luffy is still being chased by the marines, so she decided that she's going to raid their ship. Arriving at the docks with the marine ship she sees a bunch of baroque workers there as they seem to be killing a member of the numbered agents who was tied on the deck, seeing as it has nothing to do with her alex makes her way further into the ship.

Entering what looks like the captains cabin she quickly goes through everything gathering what little information or valuable items she can find, like a book about devil fruits, before making her way to the treasury.

'Man what's with people and leaving the treasury on the ship unguarded if they don't even have a safe or vault for the items inside it?'

alex thought as she made her way out of the treasury with an additional 250,000 beri in items and gold.

leaving the ship she made her way towards the merry before hearing an explosion in the distance, looking over she sees a mixture of fire and smoke going up into the air and the strawhats running away from it.

Arriving at the merry she joins up with the rest of the crew while waiting for luffy as they seem to have lost him on their way.