The Straw Hats' boarding of the Going Merry was a whirlwind of controlled chaos. Nami, in her arms stolen treasure, expertly directed the untying of ropes. Zoro, showing no signs of his recent one-man war, grunted as he loosened the sails with powerful tugs. Sanji and Usopp used long planks to push the Merry away from the dock, their coordinated efforts born of shared experience. In the flurry of activity, no one paid any mind to Mario or the woman standing calmly beside him.
That is, until a scream tore through the night.
"MISS ALL SUNDAY???"
Vivi stood frozen on the deck, her face a mask of pure terror, a trembling finger pointed directly at Nico Robin.
The deck fell silent. The frantic energy vanished, replaced by a sudden, sharp tension. Every head swiveled to where Mario and Robin stood, the two empty teacups on the railing a bizarrely mundane detail in the midst of the unfolding drama.
Robin placed her cup down with a soft clink, a serene, unreadable smile gracing her lips as she elegantly seated herself on the railing, observing the stunned crew like an audience at a play.
"Vivi, is she an enemy?" Luffy's voice was low, his usual goofiness replaced by a protective edge, his fists already clenched and his posture coiled for a fight.
Robin's eyes, cool and amused, flicked back to Mario. "So," she murmured, her voice barely audible over the lapping waves, "is this the sun you were talking about?"
"Not yet," Mario replied, his own smile unwavering as he watched his crewmates. "But soon."
Robin's gaze swept over them again—the furious cook, the terrified princess, the frantic navigator, the stoic swordsman, and the enraged captain. Her expression was an impenetrable mask, giving no hint of her thoughts, keeping everyone on a razor's edge.
"Everyone, stop! She is extremely dangerous!" Vivi stammered, finding her voice. "M-Miss All Sunday... what are YOU doing here?"
Robin lazily stretched her arms, the picture of nonchalance. "Well, I'm here to kill the princess of Alabasta, of course," she stated, a dangerous glint in her eye that made Vivi flinch.
She paused for a dramatic beat, letting the fear sink in.
"...But I failed. So I'm not doing it anymore." She gave a casual shrug. "Who knew the princess would employ pirates to rescue her kingdom... Interesting."
In a blink, a pale, disembodied arm sprouted from the railing near Luffy, snatching his treasured straw hat before anyone could react. A second arm manifested on Robin's shoulder, placing the hat neatly on her head.
"MY STRAW HAT! GIMME BACK MY HAT!" Luffy screamed, his outrage immediate and absolute.
"But is it going to be enough?" Robin continued, ignoring the fuming captain completely, her focus locked on Vivi. "Will you be in time to stop the war, small princess?" Vivi shivered, rendered speechless by fear.
"I SAID GIMME BACK MY HAT!" Luffy roared again, but the crew was too captivated by Robin's eerie power and chilling calm to pay him any mind.
"Who do you think you are?" Nami stepped forward, her voice nervous but defiant. "I'm going to get us there, no matter what!"
"Oh, I would love to see the show that will happen," Robin mused, a genuine note of interest in her voice.
"So, I will help you..." She produced a small, intricate device from her person and tossed it to Vivi.
"Here, a gift. This is an Eternal Pose to Alabasta. With this, you can sail without worry and make it in time with lots to spare. It—"
CRUNCH.
The sound was small but final. Luffy, in a flash of movement, had snatched the Eternal Pose from the air and crushed it in his fist, the glass and needle crumbling to uselessness.
A collective gasp went through the crew. Nami's face turned a shade of purple usually reserved for royalty.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" she shrieked, delivering a powerful fist to the top of Luffy's head. "WE COULD HAVE USED THAT!!!"
The carefully constructed tension shattered, replaced by the familiar, chaotic symphony of the Straw Hats. And through it all, Nico Robin watched, her serene smile never fading, as she gently took the straw hat from her head and tossed it back to its rightful, rubbery owner.
„Hmpf! No one will tell me where to sail!" Luffy declared, his arms crossed in a gesture of pure, immovable stubbornness. The shattered remains of the Eternal Pose lay at his feet, a testament to his refusal to be guided by anyone, even if it was the most logical course.
A slow, appreciative smile spread across Robin's lips.
„Oh? Fine, have it your way," she conceded, her voice laced with a dark amusement. „But the next island your Log Pose will lead you to is… unique, to say the least." Her smile widened, a silent promise of the strange and terrible wonders of Little Garden.
As the deck descended into a full-blown argument—Nami shrieking about the cost of their journey, Vivi pleading for her people, and Luffy shouting about the principle of the thing—Robin turned her attention back to Mario.
Her beautiful, intelligent eyes scanned him with renewed, intense interest, as if she were re-reading a cryptic text and had just found a hidden footnote.
With the fluid grace of a dancer, she stepped backwards off the railing, plummeting towards the dark water. But before she could hit the surface, the massive sea crocodile surged upward, catching her effortlessly on its back. She landed in a seated position, perfectly composed.
„So," she called out, her voice carrying clearly over the din, „I hope I will talk to you again sometime. I failed my assassination attempt, so my employer will definitely put me in a cage to punish me…" She said it with a light, joking smile.
Mario met her gaze, his own expression softening. „I hope so too," he replied, his voice firm and sincere. „And I don't think that a free bird like you suits a cage… You should be free. Like a bird. Like an…" He paused, letting the moment hang, before finishing with deliberate emphasis, „…Robin."
The effect was instantaneous. Nico Robin's carefully crafted composure shattered. Her eyes widened, the playful glint vanishing, replaced by a storm of shock, burning curiosity, and a flicker of deep-seated fear. Her true name, spoken so casually by this enigmatic stranger, was a key turning in a lock she had kept sealed for twenty years. It was a declaration that he knew far more than just her Baroque Works alias; he knew her.
Mario didn't press further. He simply gave her a knowing wink and a final, reassuring smile before turning his back on the most dangerous woman in the World. He immediately clapped his hands together, his voice booming with a newfound authority that cut through the crew's squabbling.
"OKAY, YOU GUYS, STOP!"
The arguing ceased instantly, all heads turning to him. He pointed a finger out towards the open sea, his expression dead serious.
„We need to get out of here, right now, before reinforcements arrive! And we have a kingdom to save!" he roared, his voice filled with a conviction that brooked no argument. „So stop yelling and start sailing! LET'S GO!"
The spell was broken. The immediate danger and their greater purpose snapped everyone back to reality. With a shared, determined look, the Straw Hats sprang back into action, their earlier dispute forgotten in the face of the next leg of their grand, chaotic, and utterly unpredictable adventure. As the Going Merry picked up speed, Mario cast one last glance back at the dark water, but the archaeologist and her reptilian steed were already gone, vanished into the night, leaving only a trail of questions and the echo of a name he was never supposed to know.
Mario turned to the horizon.
Little Garden.
The name itself was a deceptively quaint label for a primordial hellscape. As the Log Pose pointed unerringly towards the island of giants and dinosaurs, Mario felt a familiar knot of anxiety tighten in his stomach. He wasn't worried about the island itself; he knew the Straw Hats would emerge victorious in the grand scheme. Their will was indomitable.
No, what truly frightened him was the cost.
He remembered the story all too well: Zorro and Sanji, turned into living, conscious wax sculptures, mere inches from a grisly, beheading death. Luffy, slowly succumbing to dehydration and exhaustion, forced to break his own petrified limbs to continue fighting. They had all danced on the razor's edge of annihilation. Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek might have been presented as a comedic duo—the fastidious artist and his laid-back, paint-wielding partner—but their powers were a psychological and physical nightmare.
Their brand of villainy wasn't about brute force; it was about helplessness, about turning your own body into your prison, and they had been a catastrophically bad match for the crew's direct, brawling style.
That was the core of the problem. Mr. 3's Candle Champion was a perfect counter to Luffy's blunt-force attacks. His wax was a puzzle they had barely solved through sheer, painful desperation.
But things were different now. He was here.
Mario leaned against the Merry's railing, watching the sea spray and feeling the nascent, fiery warmth of Haki stir within his core. He had Roger's heresy simmering in his veins and a Quartermaster's resolve to protect his crew. They wouldn't have to face that particular puzzle this time. He wouldn't allow the slow, creeping horror of being turned into a statue. He wouldn't let Luffy shatter his own bones.
Mr. 3's abilities were a bad match for the old Straw Hats. Mario was the new variable. His "Kamehame-Ha" air cannon was a blunt instrument of immense force, but more importantly, his understanding of Haki was a key that could unlock a different solution. Armament Haki, even the rudimentary, internal infusion he was practicing, could potentially negate the wax's adhesion, or shatter it from within.
A grim determination settled on his face. This wouldn't be a battle of attrition. This would be a surgical strike.
While the others dealt with the giants and the dinosaurs, he would handle the real threat. He would find Galdino before he could set his elaborate traps, and he would finish it.
Not with the crew's chaotic, never-say-die spirit, but with cold, precise efficiency.
He would end the fight before it could truly begin. It was time to rewrite this particular page of their adventure.