Out of the jaws of death chapter 2
3 reviews as of writing this, so thank you very much.
this obviously isn't what is going to happen of have happened post chapter 869 by now, but I'll continue because this is funny for me to work on.
Hope you enjoy my little tale about how I'd like things to go in the series, not realistic I know, but hey,
it's a fanfic
(out on the sea)
Aladine had become more and more distressed by the apporaching vessel.
the Jolly Roger seemed far to familiar, but it hadn't been one he'd seen in years, but the thought of what it meant shook him to his core. it puzzled him alittle they'd added a "6" to it along with another, smaller flag that he couldn't make out yet.
Why they were here he didn't know, but if they had established a connection with Big Mom it would be a disaster for the Sun Pirates, and Jinbe and the Strawhats by default. and the Firetank Pirates (but they didn't matter as much to him really).
as he worried for the future, it seemed the approaching ship had noticed them aswell, as a loud bellow og "HALT!" was heard across the foaming sea and two pair of oars were stuck into the water with such a force it created small whirlpools that could swallow lesser vessels with ease.
Aladine breathed a sigh of relief as he wondered if they could bluff or negotiate their way out of the situation,
hopefully the approaching pirates would be reasonable...
"Remove youselves or eat the GOO!" A loud call thundered over the tall waves from the vessel
"Don't say that Eiri! We're not that savage!" another call went out a moment later
... Or perhaps not...
(On Wholecake plateau)
BIg Mom was on the move,
her body being propelled, by a combination of rage and her natural sweettooth, towards the Strawhat captain,
all her wrath at the betrayal forgotten, replaced by a raw, uncontrolled, almost primal need, that manifested in a roar that shook the plateau
and kept her numerous offspring and underlings at bay,
they knew how she was when she had one of her "moods"
and that was the primary reason they feared her so...
(inside Bege)
Nami was almost screaming in frustration at her present ally
"Please Bege, open up, we can't leave Luffy to face her alone!" she pleaded frantically with the prone pirate captain
it yielded her nothing as Bege continued to stare, wideeyed at nothing in particular, trembling hands trying to steady his shaking head, while his worried wife and underlings was panic as their captain/husband/"father" saw something no one else could, something that terrified him.
Nami needn't know what her own captain was going through outside Bege's body
and then suddenly, without warning, there was a sound like a thunderbolt hitting a bomb that was going off over the course of several seconds, a warcry that terrified almost as much as it befuddled the audience:
"Weeeeeeeayayayediiinnngggggaaaaaaaaaaaage!"
every one was silent for a mere moment, until someone asked the obvious question
"What the hell?..."
"For the love of GOD Strawhat, just give her the damn wedingcake!" Bege screamed at the top of his lungs in utter horror, sitting up, pulling his hat tightly down over his head.
Everyone looked confused at Bege for his screaming, before the Blue-haired Vinsmoke broke the silence
"Cake? is he taking her on a date?!"
"Why'd he do that when he got that firecracker right there in his crew?" Yonji added, pointing a lusty finger at Nami
"He's a mad one he is" the red-haired VInsmoke consented, still smilling, steam coming out his nostrils as he looked over Nami (yet again)
Nami on her behalf was just about to retaliate, before Jinbe cut her off
"This is perfect!" responding to the panicked stares he recieved, the fishman elaborated "Big Mom is having one of her eating frenzies, she can't distinguish friend from Foe, let alone control her powers, this is the perfect time to free Bege from the candy constraints and leg it out of here!"
"Get to it then JInbe!" Bege yelled as his fortress body trembled yet again as somthing went on outside of it,
before Jinbe exited throught the swiftly opening portal he held out a hand, stopping Nami and the other strawhats in their tracks
"You stay here, you're all too afraid of Big Mom to stand a second if you face her out there"
"You can't be serious Jinbe-chan!"
"I saw Luffy when he realiised Ace had died, I'm not risking him having to put him through that again, Nami! STAY!"
his words were had the tone of an order and Nami almost followed them, before she took a step though the portal however, Sanji's hand held her back the single second it took Bege to close it after the former Shichibukai.
"He's right Nami-swann, the rest of us isn't able to..." he began before Nami silenced him
"Get your damn hand off of me!"
Sanji obeyd as if she'd struck him again, not daring to incur her wrath further, the rest of the Strawhats followed suit as Nami fumed at the situation,
not being able to help Luffy was bad enough, but she'd tried that a million times before,
but this was the first time she'd been protected by a fortress and the opponent was a very angry Yonko,
who could destroy countries like cockroaches...
(outside)
Jinbe landed in the middle of a hellstorm of dust, screams and candy bits,
it obscurred his movements but also made it harder for him to judge the situation.
as expected it seemed to him that BIg Mom's brood was not going to engage bege's body while Mama herself was on a rampage,
but she alone was more than he and Strawhat could handle, or even with the assistance of the entire Strawhat and Sun Pirate crews (even in their heyday when big Brother Tai had been captain and now with the addition of Wadatsumi)
Looking around frantically, Jinbe found what he looked for, the foundation of the candy holding Bege in place,
if he could just break enough of the blasted confectionary Bege could transform back into his human form and they could jump down from the plateau,
And so he went aabout his task, hoping,
hoping to all that he knew that Luffy wouldn't do anything even more crazy!
even as he realised the fultility of that wish he kept striking the candy wall, forming ever more cracks in the hard sugary construction.
(else where on the plateau, but not that far away)
Luffy dodged the first few swipes as he scrambled to keep a hold on his prize, a piece of weddingcake that hdan't been demolihed by him interupting Big Mom's tea party.
needless to say, he could avoid all the frantic strikes, as he took on directly to the stomach, knockiing all air out of his body, leaving him breathless.
it sadly took him back to when his grandfather used to train him, fortunately that also inspired a fear of him grandsire that overpowered his fear of Big Mom's
furious blows, saving his soul from being extracted in the process.
unfortunately it didn't save him from the next few blows as they connected with the power to crush a castle.
That, his Busoshoku haki managed, barely, as he strugled to regain his breath in time to meet the mad humongous woman that was assailing him.
"Weeedingcaaaake!" she roared again like a small scale, polkadot dresswearing, female Godzilla
"NO! I'm hungry! it's mine!" he yellled back furiously
the exchange of words made the entire audience (those that wasn't used to the strawhat antics that is) sweatdrop.
Katakuri had foreseen it of course, and thus had better time to adjust to the exclamation than his siblings, but it still left him dumbstruck that anyone would dare go against Mama so openly, and for such a small reason
"Weddingcake!"
"Get your own, it's not even your wedding!"
Not a single time in his life, had Katakuri known anyone to stand up to Mama in such a manner, it was almost admirable,
if it hadn't been so futile.
Using his kenbunshoku Haki to peer into the future, he realised something else
"Jinbe! that Fishman is out of the fortress and attacking the candy! Get him!"
His siblings hesitated, fear of Mama was enough foor them to disobey even their elder brother,
but only for a short time as they reluctantly started to circle around the fortress in order to find and deal with the former Shichibukai,
and end him.
(still outside, but behind the Big Mom pirates)
Du Feld was panting heavily,
the shaking of the plateau was intimidating enough, but the sound of Big Mom being so angry shook him to his core,
even though he was in no way on the recieving end.
but he would be if he goot caught having opened the Tamatebako!
holding on to the chest for dear life, he sprinted nearer the edge of the plateau and found a place to hide.
Securing himself and making sure he had not been seen (unlikely as everyone was caught up with the Firetank, Strawhat and Vinsmoke groups),
he pondered his next move:
being the first to look at the contents of the tamatebako only gave him a slight advantage over the other emperors of the underworld, and that advantage could only be played after Big Mom had opened it herself. in her joy at the contents she would be especially subjective to flattery and if he did well enough with that, he could get into Big mom's good graces, a spot most would sell their own countries into slavery for! (Good graces he could use to get back at Stussy for her deaththreat before!)
but if he switched the contents he could make a fortune on the black market!
just keeping the chest safe in the confusion would land him a high star with Big Mom, but only if she didn't susppect that he'd wanted to open it before her...
the possibilities were practically endless,
as were the dangers.
but that only mattered if he got caught, right?
deciding not to waste anymore time he started to pry at the Lock.
(inside Bege)
The worst of the tremblings had receeded,
Bege was no longer being attacked by Big Mom, which could only mean that the small shaking they felt was the aftershock of her attacks,
or,
hopefully,
that Jinbe had started to attack the candy wall as he had planned.
Regardless, Nami was still fuming, her hand clutching her staff so hard, her knuckles had gone white.
behind her she could hear the Firetank Pirates rushing to clean up the cannons, giving the fortress a figthing chance for a change,
hopefully Big Mom's logia user wouldn't just fill up the barrels with Mochi again, reducing the crew to use common firearms against the besiegers, crippling their chances of survival considerably.
fortunately, She could still hear Big Mom's warcry (or bakery order), which meant that she hadn't gotten what she wanted, which assumingly meant that Luffy was still alive out there,
at the moment.
Turning towards Bege, Nami could see that Chopper was doing his best to patch up the Firetank captain,
the man was not shaking like a leaf anymore and was almost standing up without aid from his wife and underlings.
Good.
"Bege-san, how are things outside?"
Coughing up a glob of blood, Bege managed to shake his head as a way of initial response
"Can't see much thanks to that damn dustcloud Mama kicks up" taking a ragged breath Bege continued "But I can hear Jinbe attacking the candy, but also that BIg Mom's crew know that too and are going to prevent him from doing that" panting heavily, Bege began to sway from side to side like a drunkyard, causing the big handed member and the one with a machinegun for an arm to leap to his side with a dismayed "Father!" followed closely by Chiffon and Little Pez, both of whom cried hysterically at the sight before them and the noise outside
Fortunately Chopper was on the spot to admonish him for standing up too soon, underlining it with a "Doctor's orders!" which Bege obviously didn't care much for giving the grimace it gave him.
But, as soon as he was put on a chair, Bege continued
"But as soon as we can bring our cannons to bear again, pant, we can hit back! Until then, sit down, pant, and don't make any more crazy demands! pant"
"Dear, be nice now, Nami is Lola's savior afterall, that practically makes her family" Chiffon piped in
Bege's only response was to grumble something about it being his body and his rules and turn his head away with a light sulk at his wife's overbearing reprimanding. The behaviour actually impressed Nami as Chioffon had been hysterical a mere moment before.
"But how soon will that be Bege-san?" while her voice was even, Nami shook in a mixture of fear and anticipation
"A few moments more, no less, my crew aren't incompent!"
A moment later, the cannons starting roaring Again, confirming Bege's claim.
Chiffon, having noted Nami's state, movd to her side to gently rub her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down
"It's going to be fine, The boys' will see to that, you'll see" she said in a soothing voice, as much to Nami as herself it appeared,
but,
as soon as the cannons went silent Again, Nami's worries multibplied,
not knowing whether or not they'd go silent Again, because they were out of shot, had just shot,
or had been blocked up again.
(outside)
Big Mom trembled as she accelerated forwards,
she didn't miss a beat as the cannon ball struck her nose and shattered in an explosion of shrapnell, smoke and the oddbit of makeup,
emerging from the cloud o0f debris as something out of a nightmare, following Luffy as a bloodhound would a fox.
Luffy on his part could care less about how Big Mom looked, he was too busy not loosing his victory snack and trying to hit back against the raging Yonko, which was hard to do when one arm was holding onto a weddingcake, that miraculously still was relatively in one piece (though sligtly crumbling at this point.
trying to get a good shot in, Luffy threw up the weddingcake behind him, making big Mom raise her arms and throw herself forward, her eyes like whirlpools and tongue lopping out of her mouth like a painting dog, trying to get a hold of the object of her cravings, leaving her wide open for Luffy's assault
"Gomu Gomu no Cannon!"
As his attacks connected, Luffy saw that the only effect they had was averting Big Mom's course slightly, not enough to cause her damage, but enough to her missing the weddingcake by an inch
jumping back to catch his snack before it hit the ground, with Big Mom tumbling to the side with an audible crash, only for her to get up a moment later, naturally unharmed, advancing on him menacingly with thick strands of drool dripping from her mouth, sizzling as the drops hit the ground.
"Weddingcake!" she bubbled as she took shaking, but powerfuls steps towards the smaller captain,
before she suddnely stopped, her attention breifly diverted
"Is this it?" gurgled inquisitively, holding up a large chunk of candy, before she showed it into her mouth to test her theory
"NO! this isn't it!" she howled as she looked around again for the elusive weddingcake
Luffy was in shock,
where did the candy come from? (and how did he get some of it?)
Looking around he saw Jinbe near a large piece of partially demolished and otherwise cracking candy wall, being attacked by a guy that looked like he had a flower around his bearded face.
Jinbe, despite his martial prowess, was being pushed back, not just by the man whose punches seemed to burn each time they were blocked, but by the bullets that flew towards his body in a steady stream.
Noticing he was being watched Jinbe called out
"Watch out for Big Mom, I'll handle this!"
even Luffy could tell that Jinbe doubted himself at that point, but as he turned back towards Big Mom, he had to admit that they were in a tight spot.
What was more nothing he did seemed to matter to Big Mom, all she wanted was the cake in his hands.
A rare moment occured,
as Luffy actually had an idea before his instincts kicked in
(inside)
Nami hugged herself tightly as the booming of the cannons continued,
the more they sounded she told herself another enemy fell,
but she felt that all the cannonballs did was miss and had to reload Again and Again, just to keep the opposing pirates at bay.
Giving her crewmates a look over she guess she should consider herself Lucky iut wasn't all of them out there,
Pedro had his blistered hands bandaged by Chopper with Carrot fuzzing over her Fellow mink, marvelling as much about the damage he'd sustained (and survived), Chopper's Medical skills and finally the abilities of their opponents, remarking that the sea was truly a wonderland.
Meanwhile Brook was standing near Chiffon, trying to lull the crying Pez to sleep with some violin music, his serene tunes making a twisted contrast to the sounds of running and rustling firetank crew as they frantically scrambled to reload and be quiet at the same time, so as not to disturb their captain's son.
In the other end of the room stood the Vinsmokes, Sanji's estranged relatives, silent and contemplative, watching their Black sheep as Sanji watched them in turn.
An unexpected sound made her jump, as it did everyone else jst as the fortress shook and trembled,
laughter,
from Bege.
given the situation he'd be the last one you'd expect to laugh,
with one of the Vinsmokes (of course) remarking that the man "must've gone mad", not caring for the scowl the Firetank crew gave him for insulting their father,
however, it all made a little sense when he began to cheer
"That's it you Little crazy nutjob! Goad that old Hag!"
"Bege what's going on out there? wha..."
"Shut it Black Leg, your captain's being an idiotic genious! He's goading Mama to destroy the candy wall while Jinbe's occupied with Oven!"
as Bege laughed again, part from his previous panic and part from overwhelming relief that there was hope yet,
the people in the room started to take Heart, even Little Pez had stopped crying out in terror.
"Bege-san, we still have to get off the plateau, any plans?"
"Hold your horses girl, as soon as I'm free of the constraints, I'll shrink Down Again, then we leg it out of here as fast as possible!"
Bege Smiled,
Nami didn't share his confidence
"Ands the fastest wayu to do that is?"
her question made Bege pause slightly, before he turned to Caesar Clown
"You can fly can't you Gastiny?" his mocking turned Caesar a Deep shade of red
"It's Gastino! And yes I can fly! But I want my Heart back right after this is done!" the scientist howled indignantly while pointing an angry and shaking finger at the captain
"... can he lift Jinbe and Luffy too? and what about coverfire?"
"The cannons will provide the cover, Jinbe should be sensible enough to get Strawhat back inside"
And with that Nami surprised herself by taking a breath of relief,
they weren't out of the fire yet, but they could see through the smoke now at least
(outside)
Jinbe blocked Again,
it was hard to fight back against an opponent that was so warm it evaporated the Water near him, making it impossible for him to use his Fishman Karate against Oven,
Fortunately he still had Haki, but he had used a lot of it figthing aginast the Big Mom pirates and he was getting slightly tired.
Stealing a quick look at Luffy's Progress, Jinbe's eyes widened, as did Oven's as he saw what was comming towards them:
Luffy, followed closely by an angry, ravenous, acid-drooling Big Mom.
Oven didn't need to think twice about what he had to do,
he fled,
Jinbe didn't have the same good fortune, as all he could do to get out of the way of the gluttonous wreckingball, was to throw himself to the side, barely avoiding having Luffy stumple over him, as he goaded Big Mom into the candywall that Jinbe had attacked when he emerged from the insides of Bege.
Smilling, Jinbe saw what Luffy was doing, and quickly surveying the scene made him realise how effective it had been so far.
Most of the candy constraints had been demolished in the matter of moments, and the frantic speed that Big Mom had avanced to made it futile for Perospero, had he been able to peer through the mist of shattered and pulverized candy, to replace them in time,
that left only two variables to Jinbe:
1. Luffy remaining out of range of Big Mom
and 2. her cataclysmic brood not getting any bright ideas as they got out of this sticky situation.
getting up, he moved to assist his future captain.
(further away, on the other side of the candy dust mist)
Katakuri cursed as he was hit by a straý Cannonball,
had he not been in his Logia-form, it would've done considerable damage,
the mist that had been kicked up out of nowhere was making it near impossible for his siblings to shoot or aim effectively,
although most weren't firering at the moment for fear of hitting Oven that'd been so reckless to engage Jinbe in a fistfight with Mama on a rampage nearby. the fortress didn't share the fullness of that handicap, as most of the cannons towered above the cloud and could shoot indiscriminately at most of the Big Mom pirates, (leaving the guests for the teaparty unharmed, but that wasn't much of a comfort) while his comrades couldn't do any lasting damage on the cannons, even his mochi was useless now as the Firetank pirates had gotten wise on how to combat it and remove it from the Cannon barrels.
As his younger Brother emerged from the pinkish sugar cloud, the shooting began anew
"Oven, what's going on in there?"
before Oven could answer his elder sibling, Katakuri continued
"You did the right thing, how much of the candy wall is was still standing?"
Oven stood stunned for a moment, still not being used to Katakuri's Kenbunshokuhaki mastery, even after all these years
Most of it, there's a at the edge of the plateau, but that's it! Mama was chasing Strawhat right beneath Bege's stony butt!"
"I can't see where to put up more walls!" Perospero howled in frustration, fully aware that their quarry was close to getting away,
Big Mom's other children started to fire Again, not concerning themselves with whether or not they hit Mama or not, knowing full well that she could take far greater punishment than that.
Katakuri didn't need his Haki to realise what the future would bring if he didn't do something fast.
Stressing his haki to the limit, he lifted his leg and made a kick into the storm of candy bits,
sending a glob of sticky mochi directly unto the battlefield,
what his Haki showed him next,
surprised him.
"Well, that didn't go as planned..." Had Katakuri's musings not been lost beneath the roar of gun- and cannonfire,
his siblings would've become very, very worried,
for that atleast, he was thankful
(inside)
"Hot towel miss" the waiter offered as nami looked at him incredulously,
not fathoming that Bege could concern himself with cleanliness at their present situation,
nonetheless she accepted it, patting away at the sweat her fear had made burst out beneath Luffy's Strawhat.
taking another look at Bege she saw him give a minute description of where he wanted Xaesar to fly the second he got out,
which wasn't where the Sunny was
"Bege-san if it's not a problem our crew would like to go in a different direction" seeing Bege's puzzled expression Nami elaborated "We can't just leave our ship"
"Oh sweetheart, that was confiscated almost as soon as you left it" Chiffon piped in, taking a short break from pampering a sleeping Pez "it got placed in a side harbour with our ship"
"Oh, well that's relief, wait what about the sub?"
"I collected that while the rest of your were sleeping Nami-san"
"Good job Pedro, then there's nothing that ties us up here then" Nami smiled gratefully, not caring for the sour face Bege put up, which Sanji noticed
"You were planning to leave us, weren't you?"
"Would have been a nice distraction, but it wouldn't have helped us at all, all of BIg Mom's crew knows that you'd have nowhere to go and just keep following us..." puffing on his cigar before he continued Bege let out a small smoke ring "...and my crew aren't exactly the speediest bunch"
"is that sideharbour where they kep our Vessel as well? It's unlikely they'll have have kept it in the main harbour"
turning her head to see who'd spoken, Nami realised that it was Sanji's father, not resembling his son in any visible way, aside from the blonde hair that clashed with the Black of his moustache and small goat patch
"Most likely, where else'd they put such a weird Vessel? As soon as we part ways are alliance ends and it's every crew for themselves"
"Bege! We can't leave Lola's friends like that!"
"I know! I know they saved Lola, but I am NOT risking my son's life for them! and that is final Chiffon!"
Nami didn't blame Bege for his cynicism, protecting your child was a hallmark of decent parenting, Judge, on his part, was indifferent
"No matter, as soon as we've reached our kingdom, you pirates would just be in the way for our military operations"
"You intend to fight them! You wouldn't last 2 minutes!"
"Perhaps Gang, but The entire Germa 66 is moored in Tottoland, we'll give them a fight to remember!" Judge said, adressing no one in particular, yet everyone felt he spoke to them personally
"Today, Big Mom sinks! And the Germa Kingdom is assured our ancient rights, as rulers of North Blue!"
no one said a Word,
the sheer grandiose ambition of the man having overwhelmed them,
almost
"A posthumous title, what good does that do you if you're all dead?"
"You actually are so naive, to think that we'd all die, Sanji?" Judge spoke with sucha patronizing tone it could be cut into pieces and sold to all the Worlds math teachers and pseudo priests "our combat prowess is great enough to crush nations and kingdoms by the tens, a Yonko... will be trouble,yes, but not so much as we all perish"
a moment of silence followed, only broken by Bege's laughter
"Good, that's an even better distraction than the Strawhats running wild!"
"A little respect, is in order, Pirate!"
"You can have your respect, your glory, and your pyrrhic Victory, Vinsmoke, as long as we have our lives in the end"
"What's the life of a few pirates to that of an empire? Heh!"
"Well said, Ichiji" Judge responded, pride and certainty filling his voice
Nami pondered wheter it did so as much as his arrogance filled his head.
(outside)
Jinbe ducked Again,
avoiding the bullets that flew over his head,
hitting evertyhing in their path.
He was just about to shout a warning to Luffy, only to see,
less than a second later,
the strawhat captain get hit by a dozen rounds, his body beding inwards where the bullets Struck, before they bounced back at high velocity,
causing Jinbe to roll to the side to avoid the returning fire
"Oh yes, Rubber human..." He mused, briefly ashamed that he had forgotten,
he didn't need to take a look at Big Mom to know the bullets bounced harmlessly off of her iron hard skin,
the same hide that hid powerful muscles beneath a hull of obesity, which even now was being used to crush the last of the constraints holding Bege's body in place,
The situation looked sunnier by the second!
(inside)
"Strawhat's almost finished, Caesar get ready!" Bege howled as he began to plan where Caesar should exit
the scientist was poised to move at a moments notice
"Something's happening outside" Sanji's kenbunbshokuhaki had screamed to him a mere moment before,
but his yell still came too late...
(outside)
Jinbe sensed it, before he saw it,
a huge stream of mochi comming throught the cover, shooting straight for Luffy who was barely dodging Big Mom's increasingly rapid attempts to grapple him and swallow him along with the weddingcake
quick as a snake, Jinbe rose, he knew he couldn't intercept either obstacle with his body,
but he stood nonetheless,
took a fishmasn Karate stance,
and Struck!
A stream of Water formed out of thin air and shot at Luffy, hiting him and propelling him a foot out of Big Mom's reach just as she drew back her arm to strike again,
the mochi landed on the ground where Luffy had stood a moment before,
Big mom took a step forward, instinctively getting withing reach of luffy, but also placing her foot directly into the mochi
being slightly outbalanced did Little to diminish the force behind the blow she had prepared, but it did redict it,
striking with an uppercut that could have levelled a mountain Big mom grazed Luffy and sent him flying and propelled her upwards,
being stuck in the mochi made her cling to the ground only momentarily, though weakening the blow slightly, it still sent her upwards,
below her foot the mochi lost it's grip on her and Big mom seemed for a moment like she had done a superman punch,
as it passed,
her bejeweled knuckles connected with the underside of Bege's fortress body,
sending a shudder through the entire Construction
(inside)
The Whole inside of Bege trembled as if it had been hit by en earthquake,
many lost their footing and the floor soon became a mess of entangled limbs and bodies
"What happened? are we free?" Nami looked to Bege or where he should have been, having jumped high into the air, both hands placed on his derriere, and just when she thought he was going to answer her,
his open maw let out a sound, she hadn't heard anything like since the time Franky became a Strawhat
it sounded like a herd of Buffalo and goat had entered a kennel and the intertwined sound of bleating, Mooing and barking had been drawn out,
as in slowmotion,
making it resemble a call from a trombone or a Didgeridoo, which gradually became higher pitched,
all happening in tune to the spasms that followed, the foam at his mouth and the tears on his face and the dull thud when his body hit the floor
Chopper was on the spot in a moment, not being stopped in his tracks like the Firetank pirates, too shocked at their captains behavior to respoinds to his howls of agony,
Caesar was crambling away from the stricken man, his face even pasler than usual.
meanwhile a hole was opening in the floor, threatening to swallow up anyone who was so unfortunate not to get out of the way.
Nami thought fast, readied her clima-tact staff and prepared to jump, in her panic she practically didn't know what she was doing, even as her instincts all told her to hold onto Chopper like a teddybear for dear life her body didn't respond to it and her mind began to formulate a plan,
even as the Whole started to close up again, she had aleready activated one of the clima-tacts mechanisms, a small cloud quickly forming at the end of it
"I'm going out there. Caesar, you're going too!"
Sanji's face shot up from the ground, taking his entire body with it, leapt to the occasion,
grabbing Nami faster than should be possible, and threw her (as gently as he could) away from the closing hole,
he knew she'd protest so he simply yelled as he jumped into the hole
"You're not strong enough for this Nami-Swann! let me do it"
the Hearts in his eyes were the last thing visible by the stunned occupants of the room, as the hole closed itself again
(outside)
Jinbe cursed as he saw the massive structure tilt to the side after Big mom's punch connected,
bringing it out of ballance just as the cannons fired, their aim higher than it should have been, leaving the rounds ineffective against the big mom pirates
(outside on the other side of the now dispersing sugar cloud)
the Big mom pirates cheered as they saw the fortress rise and fall to the side,
it's last round flying stright above their heads.
All except Katakuri cheered, as he saw what was comming in the future
"Protect the guests, you imbeciles, if they die, Mama is going to have a fit!"
his siblings scrambled to obey
(at the guests)
Pudding was hiding behind a table that had been flipped over, despite knowing how Little it would do if a cannonball came flying, her arms covering her head in a almosty as futile gesture to shield herself, all her eyes closedc in denial of what was happening
fortunately for her, a hand reached out and dragged her away by her scuff of her neck, in the commotion she felt her veil tear off.
When she opened her eyes she found herself behind a large chunk of wall, one of the guests next to her,
Stussy, the Queen of the pleasure district, sitting down,
enjoying a biscuit, and a glass of some Deep red liquid in a snifter (au: a glass with a stem, go Wikipedia!)
"Thank you madam, I..." she began, but Stussy cut her off
"No need to thank me dear, you mother will do that for you later"
taking another bite out of her cookie, Stussy continued
"When this is all done, I suggest you keep that dress, a womans weddingdress is such a good memory, especially since all of this have gone south so fast" pausing to study Pudding's face, as if she saw it for the first time Sussy continued "I must say it's not the first time I've seen the bride pull a gun on the groom", she said it with a slight nteawsing pout on her lips, as if she was proud, before she finished her cookie and reached for another one
"If you're interested I could use someone like you in my organisation, your talents would be most appreciated"
Pudding trembled, she wanted her to be silent for a moment, just a moment.
how dared she? Pudding like being seen as a good girl and the thought of working with the queen of whores, as one of her girls, wasn't to her liking in the least, it seemed to her she had found the first person to have her memnory of the events readjusted.
just as she was about to reach out for the older womans head, Stussy spoke again
"by the way, I would not ask you to cover up that cute face of yours, covering up a womans features is such a horrible thing to do, like you want them to hide behind a mask of anonymity"
Pudding stopped in her tracks, stunned, two compliments to her looks, her honest looks, were practicaly miraculous, and she felt a tear roll Down her forehead a scant moment later
"No need to cry dear" Sussy consoled as she briefly stroked Pudding's cheek,
just as a cannonball crashed through the table Pudding had previously hidden behind,
Seing her shocked expression, Stussy continued
"No need to shocked over that Pudding, we've been endangered from the moment we set foot on the plateau, it is one of Linlin's tea parties after all"
Pudding had to agree with her savior, just as she Amande, Galette and several of her other elder siblings begin to shield the other guests, such as Drug Peclo and Morgans (who couldn't shut his beak over how big news it all was)
fortunately she hadn't been forgotten as Smoothie caught a cannonball that would have landed scant meters away from her and Stussy, and would have given them hundreds of Little lethal holes.
Twisting the projectile, Smoothie wrung out a Deep dark liquid into an empty glass thatshe found lying in the ground
"I apolegize for the commotion, I hope this refreshment is to you liking" she said, slightly out of breath, offering Stussy the glass,
when she accepted it, smoothie's hand was extended to Pudding, leading her to a safer hiding spot,
but not before hearing Stussy's verdict
"Poor mouthfeel, a little too strong pepper flavour, but if you mixed it with a bit of rum and Conache juice, you might have something"
(further away)
Du feld screamed as the cannonballs started to rain Down near him,
and he'd almost managed to get the Lock up!
just as he was cursing his luck,
a particularly large cannonball hit the ground infront of his hiding spot, sending the makeshift barricade, and what was behind it, tumbling towards the edge.
Seeing the Tamatebako round the last bit of the plateau and fall Down the side of it, Du feld was certain that he was going to die,
but just as he was about to follow the chest's course a number of books surrounded him and lifted him into the air and away from the edge
"The hell you doing back here Du Feld?" Mont'd'Or rambled as the books turned Du Feld around in the air, Du feld thought quickly
"I was protecting the Tamatebako! but it fell of the plateau!" he screamed in a partially faux panic,
Something in the look Mon'd'Or told him he didn't believe him entirely, yet the look on his face as he looked over the edge and saw the tamatebako crash into the walls of the plateau (its' lid and Lock getting more and more dented), removed his suspicions, not because they were proven wrong, but for what it could mean for his immediate future
"Mama's gonna kill me..."
(on the battlefield)
Sanji landed on the ground,
and was shocked as to what he saw, sugary debris everywhere, Jinbe rushing towards luffy who'd landed in a pile of demolished candy, his legs kicking wildly trying to get out, a pile of barely recognizable weddingcake lying nearby, and Big Mom eating the candy chunks left and right screaming "is this it? is that it?", followed by an angry "That wasn't it! that wasn't it!" her voice growing ever more frantic and needy by the mouthfull (needless to say she was pretty much cleaning up the mess she'd made).
Around him he could see the Shadow of Bege's fortress body diminish, it's owner taking on his normal size, but still moaning in agony, holding his very sore butt.
What surprised him was who else he found out there with him,
Chiffon and Pez, who apparently had ot gotten away from the hole in time.
looking frantically from Luffy and Jinbe, to the stricken Firetank captain and his Family,
Sanji was in doubt.
What should he do?
He'd gone out to help Luffy, but now there was a woman and a baby out here with him aswell!
"Stay with them and keep them out of harms way Sanji!"
he knew the voice of course, but he hadn't expected to hear it out here
"Nami-swann, what are you doing here? How...?" he screamed
"I used a MIrage Tempo to duplicate myself onto the guy with the towels" noting his expression she cut him off before he could even begin "Like you wouldn't try to shield me again! I can do more out here than inside Bege, now get on with you job Sanji!"
Sanji briefly nodded, dumbstruck at how beautiful Nami could be when she was furious,
and how terrifying
and had he been an introspective individual; he'd have been worried by how much it aroused him.
Or it was the look of seeing her run towards Luffy and Jinbe that made him so happy, no one could tell really.
(amongst the Big Mom Pirates)
Katakuri was pleased, Things had finally begun to turn their way,
the fog had cleared,
Strawhat was incapacitated,
Mama was close to him,
Bege had dropped the giant fortress show
and there were now more targets than before!
he didn't need to give any orders, as to what the crew should be doing,
they were already reloading their firearms,
starting to take aim.
then it hit him, a flash of the future he wouldn't have believed in a million years, and even as he watched it unfold,
he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it.
(on the battlefield)
Big Mom lumbered forwards,
her drooling maw open in anticipation, as she waddled towards Luffy,
not giving any heed to the watery blows Jinbe fired at her,
smacking him to the side like a man would a fly.
fortunately the damage wasn't enough to put him out of commision, and he was only slightly disoriented by the slap (and the landing),
but that was a small relief,
as Charlotte Linlin's fat bejeweled hand reached out and plucked Luffy (and the pile of Candy he was stuck in) up like a jellybeam
"Is this it?" her voice trembled as her mouth opened further, revealing rows of big White teeth, like a series of White mountain Peaks that at any time could grind Luffy to paste.
A punch to the nose from Luffy didn't seem to face her in the least,
Nami was running towards the Yonko, determined to not let her captain fall prey to the massive woman,
swinging her staff at her intended target, she screamed "Sandāboruto Tenpo!"
A moment later a large thunderbolt smacked Down in the candy chunk, releasing Luffy from the sugary constraints,
enabling him to jump away from the mountain of flesh as it began to consume the chunk, resulting in an immediate response
"That's not it! Weeddiiiiinnnnnggcaaaaake! Where is it?!" the scream was frantic, as a Little child that (in it's own opinion) had been denied something for far too long.
As she waddled forward Again, Nami turned to luffy
"Luffy! We can't fight her right now, just give her the cake and at least she'll be busy with that for a second!"
"But I'm hungry!" he yelled back
"JUST GIVE HER THE FREAKING CAKE!"
Luffy obeýed, albeit reluctantly, and picked up the dirty glob that was the weddingcake, it was dirty, there was hairt on it,
and the shape made it appear more like a booger than a savoury spongecake,
yet it was the object of Big Mom's cravings and when she saw it, her tongue lopped out of her mouth like on a dog, being mesmerized by the sight.
Æuffy threw the cake high into the air, and Big Mom jumped to reach it, her fat fingers clawing at the air
as the cake came Down, it fell straight into Big Mom's waiting mouth, where, as soon as it hit her tongue, she started to chew with a vigour that would have humbled any glutton in the new world.
"This is it!, THIS IS IIIIITTTT!" Big mom's exulted voice rang out across the plateau, her hands caressing her cheeks as she landed on her backside with a loud thud.
rolling around on the ground the woman seemed to be in the grip of of absolute gluttonous ecstacy, her eyes wild at the flavour the coursed through her mouth.
Not one of her opponent wasted any time and started to run away.
the chance to flee was brief though, As Big mom sat up, and turned towards her crew
"Streussen you're a genious, it was the best you've ever made... Why the heck are you all standing over there?"
looking around, Charlotte Linlin surveyed the scene "What the hell happened here? it looks like my last bachelorette party... only with less corpses..."
finally seeing the fleeing Strawhat pirates, something clicked in Linlin's oversized, sugarcrazed head
"Ssstttrrrrraaaaaawwwwwhhhhaaaatttttt! YOU DESTROYED MOTHER'S PHOTO!"
(on the vey edge of the plateau)
Mont'd'Or had stopped the Tamatebako from Falling further out of reach with a couple of well placed books supporting the ornate chest,
but as he heard the scream of Big Mom, he felt nothing but fear
and as he lost his balance and fell backwards into Du Feld, the chest fell down once again,
knocking into the side of the plateau,
the Lock finally gave way and broke, spilling the explosive contents down the side of the giant structure,
where they set off a titanic explosion that shook the Tower to it's core,
threatening to topple it, kill all who stood upon it and bury the Capital of Totto Land with an avalanche of debris!
And that was Chapter 2,
I would have loved to incorporate Bege's speech about not wanting his crew and Family harmed (which for him was pretty epic) in it's full form, but I'm not much for doing that, or use the Sanji's "father-son" moment and the subsequent "Vinsmokes vs. Big Mom" scuffle.
There is one moment that I plan on using in a very waried form in the next chapter though, and Oh boy do I look forward to use that little gem.
a note for myself for future refference, Don't write so much! this chapter was nearly four times the length of the first one (atleast according to Word count)
stay tuned for the third chapter