CHAPTER 16: THE CASINO AND THE WHITE SMOKE MAN

The town of Rainbase did not look like the rest of Alabasta. It had actual water running down the sides of the streets in little stone channels, which made Luffy jump off his camel before it had even stopped moving.

"Look! Splash water!" Luffy screamed, throwing his whole face right into a stone ditch. He came up sputtering, his black soot-covered cheeks half-clean now, showing his big wide grin. "It doesn't smell like old mud, Nami! It smells like... like nothing! It's great!"

"Get out of the gutter, you idiot," Nami hissed, grabbing him by the back of his red vest and hauling him onto the dry paving stones. She looked around the square, her eyes darting between the large stone hotels and the big palm trees that grew out of white painted tubs. "This place is crawling with people. Look at those clothes. They aren't wearing desert cloths; they have actual silk ties and those shiny black shoes."

It was true. The streets were full of rich people from the coast towns who had come to gamble their berries away at the big gold dome. There were men in green velvet coats and ladies with large pink feathers in their hair, all walking up and down the wide steps of the shops. Nobody looked hungry here. Nobody looked like they had been digging for water with old iron spoons.

Vivi pulled her white hood very low, until her blue hair was completely hidden in the shadow of the wool. Her fingers were shaking a little as she touched Leo's shoulder. "The central building... that's Rain Dinners. It's Crocodile's main office. He owns the whole cellar where they keep the gold tables. If we go through the front gate, the Millions will see my face instantly."

"We'll just go through the back hole," Zoro said, his hand resting flat against his three swords. He was looking at a small side street that smelled like cooked onions and wet horse hair. "Every big house has a place where they throw the old garbage out. We can find the stairs from there."

"I don't think it's that simple, Zoro," Kaelen said, rubbing the back of his neck where the sand was still itching under his collar. He looked over at the big gold dome, then back toward the town gate they had just come through. "I mean... there are guards with those long navy rifles on every corner. They aren't the green-coat boys either. Look at those blue shirts. Those are regular marine soldiers."

"Marines?" Nami’s voice went very high and sharp. "Why are the marines here? Crocodile is a warlord! The government isn't supposed to interfere with his town!"

Before Leo could answer, a giant cloud of white smoke came blowing down the middle of the main street. It wasn't smoke from a fire; it smelled like heavy tobacco leaves and old sea salt, and it was moving against the wind, thick and fast like a big white blanket sliding over the stones.

"Hey! It's the smoke guy!" Luffy yelled, pointing his long rubber finger right into the middle of the cloud.

The smoke gathered together all at once, turning into a tall man with a massive gray coat and two thick white cigars stuck in the corner of his mouth. It was Smoker, the captain from the log town near the grand line entry. He had his big iron jitte spear strapped across his back, and his eyes were completely gray and angry under his short white hair.

"Straw Hat," Smoker growled, a big puff of gray cloud coming out of his nose as he spoke. "I knew you'd show up here. The navy office at the coast said a group of sea tramps was riding the camels along the dry river bed. You're under arrest for piracy in a protected king's district."

"I'm not going to jail!" Luffy shouted, his feet instantly snapping into a wide stance on the smooth pavement. "We have to see the sand guy! He took Vivi's dad's letters!"

"The warlord doesn't care about your letters, brat," Smoker said, his right arm instantly turning back into a long stream of white smoke that shot across the ten feet of space, heading straight for Luffy's neck. "And neither do I. Move an inch and I'll choke your whole crew out right here in the square."

"Run!" Nami screamed, turning around and grabbing Chopper by his pink hat. She didn't wait for Zoro or Sanji; she just bolted down the side street next to the onion shop, her wooden staff clattering against her hip.

Zoro didn't run away. He drew his black sword with a sharp shwing sound, blocking the smoke arm before it could touch Luffy’s collar. The metal blade went right through the white cloud, but it didn't cut anything; it just made the smoke swirl around like water in a pot. "He's made of vapor, Luffy. You can't hit him with your fists."

"I can hit anything!" Luffy yelled, his arm stretching back until it hit the wall of a dress shop twenty feet behind him. "Gum-Gum... BULLET!"

He threw his fist forward, but Smoker just let his chest turn into a big white cloud, the rubber hand passing straight through his ribs without slowing down at all. The punch hit a stone post behind Smoker with a loud CRACK, sending a shower of gray chips into the street.

"Idiot," Smoker muttered, his smoke legs expanding until he was floating three feet above the ground. He swung his big iron jitte downward, the heavy tip heading right for Luffy’s shoulder.

Leo didn't try to use his sword. He grabbed the back of Luffy’s red vest and gave it a massive pull, hauling the rubber boy backward into a narrow alleyway behind the horse stables. His left boot caught on a rusted iron ring in the dirt.....click, click, click.....three short, sharp snaps as he regained his balance in the dark space between the two buildings.

"We need to go up, Luffy," Leo said, pointing toward a wooden ladder that led to the roof of the stable. "The smoke can't rise as fast if the wind is catching it over the roofs."

"Okay!" Luffy grabbed the top rung of the ladder, his legs stretching out like two long red strings as he hauled himself up to the dry pine boards above.

Sanji was already on the roof, his black suit looking very clean compared to everyone else's dusty gear. He had Karoo tucked under his arm, the big duck’s yellow beak clamped shut with his hand so it wouldn't make any loud quacking noises. "The girls went toward the big fountain, Leo. Kaelen is with them, but there are forty blue-shirt marines coming up from the lower alley. We're getting cut off from the gold dome."

Down in the street, Smoker was rising up like a giant white chimney fire, his cigars glowing red in the middle of the smoke cloud. "You can't hide on the shingles, Straw Hat! The whole town is surrounded! Give up the princess and I might let your navigator keep her shoes!"

"Never!" Luffy yelled down from the roof edge. He didn't use the ladder to go down; he just jumped straight toward the next building, his body bouncing off a canvas awning with a loud thwack that sent him flying through the side window of a large office building.

CRASH.

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny pieces, and Luffy vanished inside the dark room.

"Luffy!" Zoro groaned, running along the roof ridge and jumping through the same broken window, his white sword scabbard clicking against the wooden frame as he went in.

Leo and Sanji followed them, landing on a thick green carpet that smelled like old paper and ink. It was a large office room, with four big oak desks covered in white forms and small brass inkwells. Sitting behind the middle desk was a very small man with a giant white mustache and a blue coat that had the Baroque Works number '12' painted on the pocket.

The small man looked at Luffy, then at Zoro's swords, then at the broken glass on his green carpet. He reached down very slowly and picked up a small brass bell, ringing it three times. Tink. Tink. Tink.

"The pirates are in the accounting room," the small man said into a tin pipe that was stuck into the wall next to his chair.

"Shut up, grandpa," Sanji said, kicking the tin pipe until it bent flat against the plaster. He grabbed Luffy by his straw hat string. "Come on! The stairs are right through that side door! I can hear Nami shouting from the lower floor!"

They ran down a long spiral staircase made of gray stone blocks. It was dark down here, the only light coming from tiny slits in the wall that looked out over the casino's back yard. At the bottom of the stairs, the door opened right into the central hall of Rain Dinners.

The hall was massive, bigger than the church back in Leo's home village. The floor was made of black and white marble squares that shined like ice, and the ceiling was a giant glass dome that showed the blue sky above. In the very center of the room, sitting inside a massive iron cage with thick bars, was a giant green crocodile with two heads.

"Whoa! A big lizard!" Luffy shouted, running straight up to the iron bars and poking his nose through the gap. "Hey! Lizard! You got any meat in there? My middle is doing the flat thing again!"

The two-headed crocodile didn't answer. It just let out a low, wet hiss that smelled like old fish, its yellow eyes tracking Luffy's red shirt with a slow, heavy look.

"It's an Alabasta banana-gator," a smooth, deep voice said from the top of the marble stairs.

Sitting in a massive leather armchair at the top of the room was Crocodile. He looked exactly like his picture on the navy bounty bills, but bigger. He was wearing a long green fur coat over his black shirt, and his left hand was completely gone, replaced by a giant gold hook that looked sharp enough to cut through an iron anchor chain. He had a fat gray cigar stuck between his teeth, and his face was covered in small white scars from old knife fights.

Standing right next to his chair was Miss All-Sunday, the tall lady with the dark purple cowboy hat and the long black hair. She was holding a small silver tray with a cup of hot black coffee on it, her face completely calm and smiling as she looked down at them.

"Welcome to Rain Dinners, Straw Hat," Crocodile said, blowing a big ring of blue smoke toward the glass ceiling. His voice was so deep it made the marble floor vibrate just a little bit under Leo's boots. "I've been watching your little ride from the river mouth. You boys make a lot of noise for a crew that doesn't even have a real navigator."

"I have a navigator!" Luffy yelled, pointing his finger up the stairs. "Nami is the best! She can tell when the rain is coming from three miles away!"

"There isn't any rain coming, boy," Crocodile sneered, lifting his gold hook and letting the light hit the polished metal. "Not today. Not next year. The country belongs to the company now. The King is currently locked in the cellar under the clock tower, and his little army is about to turn into gray dust at the coast gate."

"You're a bad guy!" Chopper’s voice yelled from the entrance hall.

Nami and Kaelen ran into the room, their boots skidding on the smooth marble squares. They were completely out of breath, their shirts covered in gray dust from the alleyway, but they had their weapons out. Nami was holding her wooden staff like a spear, and Kaelen had his old iron short-sword drawn.

"Vivi!" Nami gasped, looking around the big room. "Where's Vivi? She was right behind us when we hit the fountain!"

"The Princess is currently visiting the lower office," Miss All-Sunday said, her voice soft and sweet like honey. She tapped the silver tray with her long fingernail.....click, click, click.....three short, sharp sounds that sounded exactly like the coffee machine back on the Merry. "Mr. 2 caught her near the water channel. He was wearing the King's face, so she ran right into his arms before she realized his shoes were too small."

"You tricked her!" Luffy shouted, his teeth going flat and sharp as he ran toward the stairs. "Give her back, sand guy! Gum-Gum... STAMP!"

He jumped into the air, throwing his right boot straight toward Crocodile’s face. But before the leather could touch the scars, Crocodile's whole head turned into a giant pile of loose yellow sand. The boot passed clean through the dust, hitting the back of the leather chair with a loud BOOM that tore the green fur right off the frame.

The sand gathered together again three feet away, Crocodile’s face forming back out of the dust with that same ugly sneer. "I told you, brat. I am the sand. You can't hit the desert with a rubber shoe."

He swung his gold hook around in a wide circle, the metal tip catching Luffy right across the ribs. THUD. The force of the blow sent Luffy flying backward across the room, his body crashing straight into the iron cage where the two-headed crocodile was waiting.

The banana-gator didn't wait. It snapped both of its massive jaws downward, catching Luffy’s blue trousers in its teeth and dragging him through the bars into the wet mud at the bottom of the cage.

"Luffy!" Nami screamed, running toward the bars.

"Stay back, navigator," Zoro said, his arm going out to catch her shoulder. He looked up at Crocodile, his eyes narrow and dangerous. "He's not dead. He's just stuck. Leo, take the left side. Sanji, keep the lady with the cowboy hat from moving her hands."

Before anyone could move, the heavy oak doors at the back of the hall burst open with a loud BANG.

Smoker ran into the room, his gray coat completely surrounded by that thick white smoke cloud. He had twenty blue-shirt marines behind him with their long rifles ready. "Crocodile! This area is under navy jurisdiction now! The high office says you're harboring the Straw Hat pirates in your private casino!"

Crocodile didn't look worried at all. He just took another puff of his cigar and pointed his gold hook at the iron cage. "I'm not harboring them, Captain. I'm arresting them for you. Look inside. The rubber boy is already in the lizard box, and the green-head is right here for the tying."

Smoker stopped his smoke legs, his heavy black boots hitting the marble floor with a loud thud. He looked at Luffy, then at Zoro, then at Crocodile's gold hook. His gray eyebrows came down hard. "The warlord system is a piece of garbage. You think because you have a government stamp you can run a pirate camp in the middle of the capital?"

"The stamp is legal, Smoker," Crocodile said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous hiss. "And if you don't like it, you can go back to the log town and chase the small fish. This is the big water now. The company runs the west."

"I don't leave the fish, sand man," Smoker growled, lifting his iron jitte spear over his head. His whole lower body turned into a massive white cloud that filled the entire central hall until you couldn't see the marble squares anymore. "Marines! Fire at the green coat! Take them all down!"

The room went completely chaotic in one second.

The twenty marines started shooting their long rifles.....BANG. BANG. BANG......the lead spikes bouncing off the iron cage bars and the stone walls like a swarm of angry bees. Sanji jumped into the air, his boots kicking two of the rifle barrels sideways before the soldiers could get a second shot off.

Zoro ran straight up the marble stairs toward Crocodile, his black sword swinging in a huge arc. "Three-Sword Style... ONI GIRI!"

He hit Crocodile right across the middle of his shirt, but the metal just made a loud swoosh sound as the sand split apart again, the yellow dust blowing all over Zoro's green hair until he looked like he had been buried in the dunes.

Leo stayed near the iron cage where Nami and Kaelen were currently trying to pull the heavy iron pin out of the lock. The banana-gator was thrashing around in the mud inside, its two heads snapping at Luffy, who was currently trying to tie its long green tails together into a knot.

"Leo! The pin is stuck!" Nami shouted, her face red from the heat of the gunpowder smoke that was filling the room. "The sand guy must have rusted the iron with his fingers!"

Leo knelt down by the big lock box, his fingers touching the dry gray metal. It was covered in a fine layer of yellow dust that felt completely dry, like it had been sitting in an oven for ten years. He reached into his green coat pocket and pulled out his small iron oil can.....the little one he used for the coffee machine gears back on the ship. He squirted three drops of the clear oil right onto the center pin.

He took his short iron wrench from his belt and hit the top of the pin three times.

Click. Click. Click.

The three short noises were tiny compared to the rifle fire and Smoker’s roaring smoke cloud, but the rusted iron teeth finally let go inside the box. The heavy pin slid downward with a loud clunk, and the big iron door swung wide open, hitting the marble floor with a huge clang.

"Out! Get out!" Kaelen yelled, reaching into the mud and grabbing Luffy by his red suspenders, hauling him out of the cage just as the banana-gator's left head snapped shut three inches from his heel.

Luffy bounced onto the marble squares, his body instantly stretching back to its regular shape. His face was covered in green swamp mud, but he was laughing, his big teeth shining through the dirt. "Haha! That was a good lizard! It had the blue tongue!"

"We need to go, Luffy!" Nami screamed, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the back door where the spiral stairs were. "The smoke guy is fighting the sand guy now! The whole roof is gonna fall down!"

It was true. The glass dome above them was cracking from the force of Smoker’s white clouds and Crocodile’s sand storms hitting each other near the ceiling. Giant chunks of heavy glass were raining down on the marble floor, shattering into sharp gray splinters that looked like ice.

"This way!" Chopper shouted, his little blue nose pointing toward a small iron grate near the bottom of the stairs that led down into the water channels. "The duck found the tunnel! It goes under the street!"

Karoo was already inside the grate, his big yellow webbed feet splashing through the shallow water below. Sanji jumped in next, carrying Nami over his shoulder so her shoes wouldn't get wet, his black trousers getting completely soaked in the gray city water.

Zoro and Leo came last, their swords out to block the three marine soldiers who were trying to follow them into the hole. The iron grate slammed shut behind them with a loud thud, and they were down in the dark, the noise of the casino fight fading away above their heads like distant thunder.

The water in the tunnel was cold and moved fast, reaching all the way up to Leo's knees as they walked in a single line behind the duck. It smelled like old moss and stone dust, but it was better than the gunpowder smoke and the yellow sand of the casino hall.

"Where does this go, Vivi?" Kaelen asked, holding his iron short-sword up so the light from his small match hit the stone walls.

Vivi wasn't in the front. She was sitting on Karoo's back, her blue hair completely wet from the tunnel spray, her face pale and quiet as she looked back at the iron grate they had just left. "It goes to the old clock tower, Kaelen. The central plaza. If my father is still down there, we have to find him before Crocodile's men light the big match under the gate."

"We'll find him, Vivi," Luffy said from the back of the line. He was currently trying to see if he could use his rubber ears to block the water from splashing into his collar. "The sand guy is strong, but he's too dry. Next time I see him, I'm gonna bring that big bucket of river water from the boat. I'll make him into a big mud pie!"

"Just don't drink the whole bucket first, rubber head," Zoro muttered, his boots squelching in the gray mud of the tunnel floor as they kept moving toward the center of the city. The sun was right above the town now, and the real trouble was waiting under the big stone clock.