Luffy groaned as he dragged himself across the sandy path, the dry heat of Alabasta bearing down on his wounded frame. His straw hat flopped over his eyes, and his limbs still trembled slightly from the brutal battle with Crocodile.
"Water…" he croaked, tongue sticking out like a dried slug. "Food…"
He wandered aimlessly until his eyes spotted a modest stone building nestled awkwardly against the base of a sand dune. Smoke puffed from a towering chimney like an exhausted sigh. Large brown sacks were stacked lazily around it, almost as if the wind itself had built this structure from forgotten cargo.
Luffy's stomach growled with ferocity.
Without hesitation, he kicked open the wooden door with all the grace of a sleepwalking camel and barged in.
"HELLLOOOOOOO?! Food, anyone?"
No reply.
Inside, it was unusually humid. The walls were stained green from condensation, and a sweet-smelling powder drifted lightly through the air, making Luffy's nose twitch.
He looked to his right and saw a small table with a few flat breads dusted with greenish-white powder, some rolled snacks, and a clay pot full of candy-like pellets.
"OHH!! Snacks! Sweet! I love random houses!"
He stuffed two—no, three—of the strange snacks in his mouth and swallowed with gusto. A moment later, he licked the powdery residue from his fingers.
"Hmm… kinda weird, but tasty…"
His gaze drifted lazily across the room until it landed on the side of a large burlap sack.
Painted in thick red letters were three words:
"DANCE POWDER – DO NOT USE"
Luffy froze mid-chew.
His pupils dilated as realization hit him like a freight cannon.
"D… Dance Powder?!! The illegal stuff that makes it rain??"
He looked around at the dozens of similar sacks. A cold sweat poured down his neck.
"Ahh! I don't wanna dance right now!! I mean—if it rains here instead of other places... WAAA!!"
Panicking, Luffy grabbed all the remaining Dance Powder sacks, sprinted to a nearby iron container (probably a furnace feed box), and tossed them all in with flailing limbs.
"Take it, box! I ain't dancing today!!"
In his haste, he accidentally triggered a crank that released a puff of Dance Powder into the chimney, sending a sparkling green mist into the sky like confetti.
"NOOOO!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE IT RAIN EITHER!!"
Luffy collapsed to his knees, hands on his head.
"Why is the world full of powder that makes me responsible?!"
He groaned again, this time from his stomach."…Man, those snacks were good though."
Just then, outside the house, the faint noise of a royal troop caravan was heard—marching toward Alubarna with haste. And within it…
A familiar cloak-wearing man with a falcon on his shoulder narrowed his eyes as he passed the greenish cloud drifting from the chimney.
High above the skies of Alabasta, a golden blur streaked through the wind. Pell, guardian of the royal family and user of the Falcon Zoan Fruit, had taken to the air after witnessing something deeply unsettling—a suspicious green cloud rising from a chimney in the desert outpost near Alubarna.
"Dance Powder…" he muttered, eyes narrowing behind his flight goggles. "This could cause a diplomatic disaster."
He dove like a missile.
Meanwhile, Luffy had just finished drinking from a water barrel he'd found inside the house, shaking powder off his tongue.
"Gross aftertaste... Why do these people even make this stuff?"
A sudden BOOM shook the building as the roof exploded above him, and a streak of gold and brown feathers tackled Luffy, pinning him to the floor.
"You! What have you done?!"
Luffy blinked, staring at the angry man-bird hybrid on top of him.
"AHH! Talking birdman! Get off me!"
Pell glared, his talons digging into Luffy's shoulders.
"That green mist was Dance Powder! You were spreading it! Are you trying to destroy the entire kingdom's trust in the royal family?!"
Luffy thrashed, yelling.
"You're a crazy bird! I didn't do it on purpose, I just wanted snacks!"
"Snacks?!"
"Yeah! I thought this was a weird snack house! I didn't know I was gonna make it rain and make kingdoms go mad!"
Pell lifted him higher, eyes blazing.
"Do you even know what you've done?! This stuff can start a war!"
Luffy groaned, hanging from Pell's grip like a rag doll.
"Okay, okay! I'll tell Vivi! She should know what kind of crazy stuff people have hidden in her country!"
That sentence froze Pell.
He slowly lowered Luffy until his feet touched the ground.
"You... know Princess Vivi?"
"Of course I do, she's in our crew!"
"Crew…?"
"Yeah! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the next King of the Pirates!" he grinned, thumbs pointing to himself. "And Vivi's traveling with us to save Alabasta!"
Pell's eyes widened behind his goggles.
"You… you're the pirate the royal falcon scouts reported about. With the Straw Hat…"
Luffy gave a thumbs up. "Yup. We came here to kick Crocodile's butt and save her kingdom."
Pell's grip softened completely.
He stepped back, visibly conflicted.
"If what you say is true… then the Princess is still alive. And working from the shadows to stop the rebellion..."
Luffy nodded furiously. "Yeah! And that Crocodile guy is super shady! I fought him! He's got this sand thing and a hook and… he cheated!"
Pell sighed, retracting his wings.
"Then we must get to the capital. Now. I will fly you there."
Luffy smiled wide. "Sweet! Free ride!"
He leaped onto Pell's back before Pell could even agree.
"To the skies, big birdo!"
"…Never call me that again."
With a mighty flap of his wings, Pell soared into the sky, carrying Luffy toward Alubarna—with a new understanding, and a bigger mission in mind.
A BUILD UP CHAPTER , NEXT ONE IS GOING TO BE GOOD THOUGH.