Out of the jaws of death
How to get away from Charlotte Linlin? Happens second after chapter 869
The pounding was extreme.
Seeing Bege recieve it all was almost heartbreaking, not because he was likeable, but because Nami knew everyone else would recieve the same treatment if, or when, Big Mom tore a hole in Bege's fortress body.
looking around her, she could see that most had come to the same realisation, most were shiwering, except the Vinsmokes (not counting Judge, who were sweating bullets) who seemed to take it all in stride.
looking at her own, Nami couldn't help but be alarmed, Chopper and Carrot looked like they were ready to die from crying, Sanji puffed on his cigarette like a barnfire, Brook tried to remain calm but his teacup was shaking, spilling the warm contents all over his bony hand.
Jinbe was scratching his chin , trying to figure something out.
and Luffy was...
(outside)
Charlotte Katakuri stood stock still, his arms outstretched (even the one holding onto Brûlée), holding his various siblings and other combatants of the Big Mom Pirates back,
earning him more than his fair share of confused stares, but their disbelief was nothing compared to his own:
"No... no one is that crazy!" he said in an almost reverent tone,
not being able to believe what his kenbunskoku Haki was showing him of the imminent future...
(inside Bege)
"Where's Luffy?!" Nami looked about her frantically before the answer was pushed down over her eyes.
As soon as she felt the rim, she knew what he had done, placed his strawhat on her head as he sometimes did to calm her down and stop worrying.
As if by instinct, she also knew where to turn her head as soon as she'd pushed the hat up to clear her vision.
Luffy was marching straight for the wall, where the pounding was the strongest
"Hey Bege, Open up!"
"WHAT?! Are you Crazy?" Bege managed to scream through the pain
"I'm not dying here! I going to be PIRATE KING!"
As the pounding and shaking of his body resumed, Bege complied with a barely contained "Maniac..."
As the wall began to flow and morph, Nami almost couldn't believe what she was seeing, was her captain being a bigger moron than ever! Considering the two years she had been part of his crew, it went without saying that she could.
Jinbe tried to intercept Luffy's mad charge, but as soon as an opening appeared, luffy's feet left the floor and he was out of reach for the former Shichibukai.
But not of the enraged Yonko awaiting on the other side.
or rather She was within his reach as he screamed "Gum-gum gatling" at the top of his lungs , landing a storm of blows on the surprised, but unharmed, Yonko, ending with a "Gomu-gomu Kong Gun" that shook the fortress and managed to get Big Mom to Loose her grip on the walls that made up Bege's face.
Her grip lost, Big Mom fell like a thunderbolt, landing on the ground with a heavy thud that shook the entire Tower.
Luffy, instead of doing the logical thing, like jumping back into safety, landed not far from Big Mom and cracked his knuckles loudly
"Get up and lets get this done!" his words were spoken softly but with such a determination that one one doubted his sincerity and even the receeding rumble from Big Mom's fall didn't drown it out, leaving the big mom pirates and the people inside of Bege look at him in absolute shock.
and with that Bege gathered his wits about him and closed the Strawhat captains exit point.
(far out at sea)
As the Sun Pirates made their escape from Totto Land, Aladine was far from pleased as he looked out at the endless seas.
He knew that Jinbe was going to do something extremely dangerous in order for Strawhat Luffy to survive,
hopefully that didn't include sacrificing his own life before he even became a memeber of the Strawhat Pirates, whom he had practically prescribed a nearly mythical character and nobility, especially the navigator Nami for her stnace towards fishmen, even after her experiences with Arlong.
that was the very reason
Aladine's bad mood had already made him partially snap at Praline, for which he had been relegated to the bow of the ship by his rather displeased wife, whom had already begun to reconsider the punishment. Aladine didn't mind since his wife could get quite clingy at times, and it helped him focus on someting else for a while,
like the empty Horizon.
A Horizon that he found was not so empty afterall,
as he spotted a large sail appear amidst the rolling waves, a jolly Roger proudly placed on the Square fabric, boasting to the World that the ship carried pirates,
Aladine could also hear a faint sound, a chant as the Vessel came closer
"All Hands on deck, we've got company, Get Wadatsumi to come up from the Deeps, we might need him soon!"
amidst the frantic responses of "AY AY captain" and Praline's "Darling, get away from there!",
Aladine heard the chant Again, closer and clearer this time:
"ROW! ROW! ROW!" the chant went as it turned from a whisper to a roar, followed by a strange "Whomever doesn't pull their weight eat the mush!" az shout nthat only made the rowing more frantic, but no less disciplined.
As he saw the ship approach theirs at an alarming speed, Aladine took in the sight,
the skull at the bow bode ill, but not so much as the sheer size of the thing,
slim as it was, the ship could still easily have housed Wadatsumi and then some,
and the crew seemed only to need two pair of oars to make it moce...
"Get Wadatsumi up from the depts immediatly" Aladine roared as he unfastened his trident
"Prepare for a rough fight!"
(Outside, on the rooftop of Whole CAke Chateau, Totto Land)
Big Mom began to rise,
the fall having done nothing,
the blows, nothing,
the barrage of blows hadn't even managed to make her anger worse.
regardless, as she shook the dust off of her body, few people upon the seas would have dared to think of Big Mom's rage as something capable of being worse.
Steam was practically fuming out of her ears, her eyes were bloodshot, pupils the size of rice grains, nostrils flaring and her teeth gnashing like a regiment of craftsmen just scraping Flintstone over rough files, producing about as many sparks aswell.
in short, even Whitebeard would have given the large woman a wide berth at that moment.
Yet Luffy didn't have the luxury of that opportunity at the moment.
All he could do,
was stand his ground,
as the Yonko started her enraged charge towards him...
(Inside)
Aside from Bege's panting and Chiffon's worryingly fuzzing over her Husband; Silence reigned.
Most stood in disbeliving shock over what had just transpired, and few dared to move a muscle
"Pffft! That idiot's dead!"
Turning sharply Nami was not surprised to see whom had spoken, one of the Vinsmokes, the redhaired one, whatever his name was (problably ending with -ji), who was smiling haugthily at the situation.
Frowning, Nami turnbed towards the wall where Luffy had left. The arrogant fool behind her was right ofcourse, If Luffy didn't get out away from Big Mom, he was indeed a dead idiot.
looking at Jinbe, she saw that he had come to the same conclusion, his jaw clenching in an angry scowl.
Nami knew what had to be done, she just had to gather up her courage to do it.
"Chopper..." she began, barely able to contain her trembling voice, making all heads turn towards her
"Huh, Yes Nami"
"take care of Bege, make sure he's well enough to move, Brook you stay and help him. Sanji, Carrot, Jinbe-chan, get ready!"
taking a quick breath to steady herself, Nami gripped her staff tightly:
"Bege, As soon as you can, please open a new hole. We're going out there!"
(outside)
Big Mom stormed towards The smaller captain,
her bulk so massive, it seemed impossible that anything could make it move,
yet it did, and at a tremendous speed,
a speed that brought her to the Strawhat captain a mere moment after she set out.
Lashing out with a ring encrusted fist, Luffy barely managed to avoid it as it slammed into the ground, creating a great crater and causing rubble to launch into the air
Luffy, naturally, was caught in the ensuing destruction.
with debris all around him, Luffy reached out an grabbed athe largest chunk nearby, stretching out his arm, he used it as a makeshift sling,
slamming the projectile hard into Big Mom's mouth, other chunks that had been cought in the arc of his bouncing arm, soon followed,
filling Big mom's gaping maw with debris.
undetered, Big mom began to chew and spit out the now further broken stones, which were now partially dissolved by her acidic saliva,
and looked angrily at the youngster infront of her
"My mouth is meant for sweets you cheeky little bratty pest! I'll pulverize you for giving me that bland stone!"
Luffy didn't have the time to braze for impact as the next punch fell like a meteor
behind Big Mom her children had entered a celebratory mood, not believing that anyone could be stupid enough to engage Mama directly,
snickering broke out from most of the teaprty guests and guards at the oncomming massacre,
exept for Du Feld, who, unknown to everyone, was still scrampering for the Tamatebako,
and Katakuri, who had paled considerably over the course of nanoseconds,
before he yelled in a frantic, almost pleading voice:
"NOOOOO! Don't do that Strawhaaaat!?"
(inside)
a Brief moment of hesitation was followed by hectic activity, mostly outraged shouting
"Woman, are you insane! If a hole is opened they have access straight to us!" Sanji's father raged behind her
"I love your personality! Way easier to flee with that moron taking all the heat!" Yonji piped in with Hearts in his eyes and a tongue lopping out of his mouth
Sanji was about to retort on her behalf, when Nami turned towards his indolent little Brother, her face looking more like a thundercloud than a human being, a warning that only arroused the young man further, making him drool.
Realising the futility of scolding the Prince, Nami quelled her anger, focussing on the task at hand
"We're going out there to assist him, not flee, we're sitting ducks inside Bege anyway"
turning towards the Firetank captain, she saw that he was improving slightly under Choppers care
"Bege-san, as soon as you're able, please..."
(outside)
Luffy looked confused at the tall man that had yelled at him,
not understanding what he was on about at all.
Big Mom only dismissed her second son as she was still in the throes of rage,
rage at being betrayed,
at having Mother Carmel's portrait destroyed right in front of her,
having been twarted in her assasination plot of the Vinsmokes,
and if that wasn't bad enough, the Little brat, that hadn't just stolen her sweets,
that hadn't just destroyed her wedding cake, but also eaten it before she could taste it!
it was all too much!
Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, was trembling with rage and as she summoned her personal Homies, Zeus and Prometheus, to eradicate the Little pesky captain of the worst generation in a way that would cause even Kaidou to shiver in fear.
Luffy, still confused at Katakuri's plea, was oblivious to the danger he was in,
instead he had tried to figure out why he had been yelled at, which had rapidly given him a headache,
rubbing his overheated head, he looked Down,
and som,ething caught his attention,
"Sweet! I getting hungry" he said as he picked it up, smilling hapily as he did so.
behind Big Mom, her children began to realise why Katakuri had pleaded, and a collective "no..." was whispered with disbelief.
Big Mom stopped dead in her tracks, immediatly recognising what it was in the young man's hands
"Strawhat... Give me that Weddingcake!"
(Inside)
"That's suicide!"
"You can't go out there without a plan"
"I can't let you go out there Nami-swann, let me twice go in your place!"
"SHUT UP! All of you!" Nami screamed at her nakama and the Firetank Pirates that had dared voice their shock at her request
"We have a plan, Help Luffy trying not to get killed!"
"That's not much of a plan Nami-san" Jinbe concluded "but it's all we've got" he admitted reluctantly
"Bege, please open an exit, the rest of you, try to get the cannons firering again!"
while the Firetank Pirates scrambled to obey, Jinbe turned to Bege Again
"Bege!"
but Bege couldn't hear him,
because unlike everybody else,
he could see and hear exactly what was going on outside of his fortress-body.
(outside)
"No"
the response was simple,
yet it carried with it a tremendous gravity,
not because Strawhat Luffy was in any position to back up a threat (had he spoken one) at the moment,
but because there was no telling what Big Mom would do without her weddingcake.
the clump that Luffy had found wasn't anything special, it wasn't that large either (at least for big Mom's prodigious appetite),
barely larger than Luffy,
it was a piece of the rim with frosting, a red marzipan rose with an orange tint, a sprinkle of diced berries of nearly all kinds and a good chunk of chocolate and cinnamon Spongecake (authors note: I have no idea what goes into a weddingcake normally, so don't flame me for getting something wrong about the composition of it).
It was simply put, weddingcake,
which Big Mom wanted to eat above all else
"Give it to me!" She demanded again
"No"
"GIVE IT TO MEEEE!" Big Mom's roar made the chateau tremble, yet Luffy didn't budge,
none of Linlin's children moved a muscle either, they knew what would happen if they got between Big Mom and her sweets, some having the horrific memory of Moscatto flash before their eyes repeatedly in that very moment.
Big Mom looked at the Strawehat captain as he started to frown and look annoyed,
and then he took a bite out of the cake!
First chapter Down
and a warm welcome back to me after a several year hiatus, so I might be a bit rusty with the writing.
Started writing this the 26th of june, so I'm pretty happy with how much I've actually gotten done over the course of 3 days.
anyway stay tuned for chapter two, RnR and all that