Ch. 11- My Dream
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard and Monkey D. Aika © Me
Rokuji © Gakuto1991
Sanji stood at the balcony, looking down at the bracelets on his wrists with incredible unease. Usually, he was so cool and collected, but he had every reason to be fearful...especially when he kept hearing Judge's words, over and over in his head.
"If you try to escape this island, they will blow your hands off at the wrist! We are GOING to see you married off!"
Sanji attempted to pull the bracelets off, but Reiju stopped when the bracelets began ticking.
"There's no other way to get them off except with the key. Why would it be any other way?"
The way she smiled at him, all nonchalant...it made him sick. He remembered the day when Zeff taught him about how a chef's hands were important. He accidentally cut himself when he tried to put up a fight with one of the staff, and Zeff kicked him for using his hands for fighting instead of making precious food. The more he looked at the bracelets, the more frustrated Sanji felt, so much so he began to ruffle his hair and growl in anger...but his anger soon stopped when he heard sniffling behind him. He turned around and saw Aika, sitting on the bed and sniffling as she clutched her dress.
"Aika?" Sanji asked as he went to her side. "What's wrong?"
"This is all my fault," Aika answered as tears fell from her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Sanji...now you're trapped here because of me!"
"Aika, no!" Sanji said as he pulled her into a hug. "That's not true! You're not the one I'm angry at! It's my so-called 'Father' and that sister of mine! They're the ones who did this to me! You had absolutely nothing to do with it!"
Aika sniffled as she looked up at Sanji, who gave her a reassuring smile.
"Look," he said. "I know that things are crazy right now, but...look on the bright side. You're here with me...and maybe, just maybe...that'll make things a bit more bearable for me."
Aika smiled up at him before she returned his hug. However, despite the tender moment, Sanji looked up with a serious expression.
'This just got more complicated,' he thought. 'I should've known Luffy would come here and look for me...but for once, I actually wish he'd just stay away.' He then looked down at Aika. 'The least he could do is get Aika outta here, at least.'
XXX
Meanwhile, around Sweet City...
"What?! Boss Jimbei betrayed us?!"
"Yeah, it happened, yesterday!"
Some townsfolk were reading a newspaper with Jimbei on the front page.
"Too bad," said a man with a pencil thin mustache. "He was so cool, the way he just strolled in and stopped Big Mom's hunger pangs, then boldly claims that he wants to quit, and then when he hears the price, he wilts and changes his mind!"
"Really?!" asked a rather portly man. "Man, what a wuss!"
"Hahahaha!" laughed a talking giraffe. "Yeah, you said it!"
"I guess being the 'Knight of the Sea' is nothing but a title!" said an old woman. "How disappointing."
"Yeah, he's not just a traitor, he's a coward, too!" said a little boy.
However, while the townsfolk were talking, they had no idea that two certain outsiders had been listening in, and it was none other than Brook and Pedro.
"Jimbei..." Brook whispered as he looked at the newspaper. "So he's part of Big Mom's alliance, and that's why Fishman Island is under her protection."
"He is a former Warlord of the Sea," Pedro whispered, "and he's working under her, as well! Do you-gara know him, Brook?"
"Yes, I do," Brook replied. "He is a most important person to us!"
He then remembered Jimbei's and Luffy's promise, back on Fishman Island after the former gave the latter a blood transfusion. He remembered how Jimbei said he had some loose ends to tie up before he joined the Straw Hats.
'So this is what he meant,' Brook thought. 'Still...this article sounds nothing like Jimbei. Does this mean that he does not intend to join us, anymore?'
"Psst! Brook!" Pedro called, causing the skeleton to turn and look at the Jaguar Mink as he pointed to a nearby window. Brook peered inside and saw Pudding with Baron Tamago and a few other women.
"It's Miss Pudding...!" Brook whispered.
"Please!" Pudding begged. "I just have a little errand to run!"
"Nothing is more important than choosing your dress!" Baron Tamago replied. "Listen, s'il vouz plaît, Lady Pudding!"
"Look at this dress!" exclaimed the shopkeeper as she held up a pink dress with a spotty lace. "It suits you oh so well!"
"And what about this?" asked another as she held up a light purple dress. "Doesn't it look just lovely?"
"Well...yes, but-" Pudding started.
"Oh, I knew it!" said another woman. "Which one do you think your new husband will prefer?"
"What?!" Pudding questioned with a blush. "But...we're not married, yet! And I only met him once!"
"What's she doing in there?" Brook asked, softly.
"It seems that she-gara is trapped by all those handmaidens," whispered Pedro.
"I thought she had met up with Luffy and the others by now!" whispered Brook.
"That would mean Sanji doesn't even know we're here," Pedro concluded.
"If that's so," Brook began, "then who was it that Luffy saw at the coast?"
"He-gara must have been mistaken," Pedro replied before he peered into the shop again. "And that man there...that is none other than Baron Tamago!"
Just then, a pair of soldiers approached Baron Tamago.
"Baron Tamago, a word," said one of them.
"Hmm?" Baron Tamago hummed as he and the soldiers went outside.
"It's about the Straw Hats' ship, which landed at Chocolat Town, yesterday afternoon," said one of the soldiers, causing Brook and Pedro to gasp in shock.
'THEY KNOW?!' they cried, mentally.
"It seems that when they left again," the soldier on right began, "Pekoms was already nowhere to be seen."
'This isn't good!' thought Brook. 'They know everything!'
Then, the soldier held up Luffy's, Blizzard's, Nami's, and Chopper's wanted posters, and a drawn picture of Carrot. "As of today, five of the Straw Hats had wandered into the Seducing Woods. There's no escape for them. They might as well be considered captured."
'LUFFY AND THE OTHERS HAVE BEEN CAPTURED?!' thought Brook and Pedro, mouths gaping even more.
"However," said the mustachioed soldier, "the whereabouts of Humming Brook, a Leopard Mink, and this little girl that the Straw Hats had brought with them are currently unkown." He then held up Brook's wanted poster and a drawn picture of Pedro and Aika, respectively. "This is them, here."
'THAT'S US!' Brook and Pedro thought as they peered from around the corner.
"How can they-gara have so much info on us?!" Pedro questioned, thought not too loudly. "They had us pegged from the very beginning!"
"How could they be spying on us?!" Brook asked...unaware that two flowers were watching them."
"That Mink is not a leopard," Baron Tamago pointed out. "He is a jaguar who goes by the name of 'Treetop' Pedro!"
"You know him, Baron?" asked one of the soldiers.
"We...have a past, I suppose you could say," said Baron Tamago, while Pedro remained unsettlingly silent. "I believe I have an idée of what he might do. You squad's job right now is to search for Pekoms."
"Yes, sir!" the soldiers saluted.
"Since he is alive," Baron Tamago began as he took his teacup off his head, "I had hope, for the sake of our partnership, that we would go to Mama and plead her forgivness with him. Such a handful he is, alas." He then took a sip of his tea.
'THINGS ARE LOOKING REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BAD!' thought Brook and Pedro.
XXX
Concurrently, at Whole Cake Island's north coast.
"WAAAAAAAAHH! AWAAAAAH~!"
"Aww, it's okay, son! Be a good baby and shush for Dada, okay?"
Bege then made a silly face at a baby boy wearing a blue onesie, had pink hair, and, for some reason, had five o'clock shadow, like him. He even had a cigar-shaped pacifier. He giggled at the mobster-like pirate captain, causing his mother, the same lady who tugged Gotti away for threatening Sanji earlier.
22ND DAUGHTER OF THE CHARLOTTE FAMILY
(BEGE'S WIFE)
CHARLOTTE CHIFFON
BEGE'S SON
CAPONE "GANG" PEZ
"Oh, look, dear!" Chiffon said. "Pez is smiling, now!"
"Kyahaha!" Pez giggled.
"That's better," Bege said, lovingly to his son. "Who's a good widdle baby, huh? That's my junior! Who's gonna gwow up and be a good godfather, huh? Dat's wight, you are~!"
(A/N: Bege babytalking...so weird.)
Gotti and Vito only glanced at each other, awkwardly.
"This is just disgusting-grawr~!" Pekoms growled as he stood before Bege...his body bound in seastone chains.
"Isn't it just dazzling?" asked Bege. "The light of new life...and the fading of yours. It's almost like a painting! This is the fate you chose, Pekoms. I gave you your chance, and you up and blew it."
"I didn't think it was much of an opportunity-raaawwr~!" Pekoms growled.
"As I said back in Zou," Bege began, "compassion isn't worth a single Berry in this world. You're not cut out for this line of work."
Down in the water below...there were sharks leaping about, gnashing their teeth at the thought of a new meal.
"The coast is the perfect place to make a body disapper," Bege mused. "Let's just say that traces rarely remain." He then pointed a pistol at Pekoms, which seemed to make Pez start crying again.
"...You Worst Generation moron!" Pekoms shouted. "You have absolutely no idea what you're getting into with Mama!"
"WAAAAAAAH~!" Pez wailed...just as his father pulled the trigger.
KABANG! The gun went off...and Pekoms coughed up blood as he fell into the water below, while Bege gave a malicious grin.
XXX
In the Queen's Chamber of Whole Cake Chateau, which had all sorts of desserts with faces all lined up, Big Mom sat on a throne that looked like a giant ice cream sundae...and standing before her was Caesar, who gulped nervously.
"I believe I gave you an ample funding, Caesar Clown," Big Mom said as she glared down at Caesar.
"Y-y-y-yes, ma'am, you did!" Caesar stammered, looking as if he were about to soil himself. "And I continued the research the entire time, of course!"
(A/N: Lyin' sack of horseshit.)
"My dream," Big Mom began as she had a whimsical smile on her face, "is for al people and races around to the world to be a family...and sit at the table at the same eye level! And you're the one who will make that dream come true for me, Casear! I want you to make my family grow to the size of giants...with the power of science!" She then glared down at the scientist. "You certainly had a constant refrain! 'I'm almost done, I'm almost done!', you kept saying! 'Just a bit more research funding!', you said! I was so eager to see the results, I poured the money in! So how did it go?!"
"Uh...q-quite well, thanks to you..." Caesar answered.
'Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN!' he thought. 'The gigantification of the human body! Yes, I did the research. The entire world wants that kind of technology! But my experiments were to raise kids to be huge! I can't guarantee their survival! But this hag wants me to make some magical pill that will make ordinary people grow huge, and obviously, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! So I pumped her for all the money she'd give me...and then...' He then had a perverted grin on his face.
'Shulololo...! And then I called all those girl ships to the island so I could drown in cash, booze, and women! Shulolololo! Oh, those were the days. I could hide in Joker's shadow and get away with whatever I wanted!'
His face of perverse joy soon took on an expression of anger and despair as tears welled up in his eyes.
'Who could have guessed that Straw Hat would defeat Joker and plunge me into this miserable situation?!' he thought.
"What's with those looks on your faces, Caesar?" Big Mom asked with a disapproving look in her eyes.
"YEEEEK!" shrieked Caesar. "I-I'm sorry! Please, please, trust me! This is all the fault of that brat, Straw Hat Luffy! I was running short on sleep, working tirelessly for your sake, Big Mom! And just when my research was about to bear fruit, Straw Hat Luffy and Trafalgar both showed up, and if it wasn't for them, I'd have completed my gigantism drug by now! It was well within the grasp of my genius!" He then fell to his hands and knees.
"But...sadly...!" he wept. "The advanced research lab built by the World Government...the perfect environment for me to fashion the results you desired...all that funding you invested! The lab containing my work! They are now gone...and I can no longer create the drug you so desire! BWAAAAAAAAHH~!"
"You mean like the lab in Punk Hazard?" Big Mom asked. "I built one, right here."
"...Eh?" Caesar squeaked, snot dripping out of his nose.
"I got the blueprints to it, ages ago!" Big Mom answered. "And my eldest son, the Minster of Candy, can build anything with his candy-making skills. Don't worry. It won't melt. The candy's been reinforced with iron, and you have unlimited funds at your disposal." She then grinned at him. "So...when will it be finished, Caesar? 1 week? 2 weeks? Mamamama! I can't wait."
A little while later, Caesar found himself in a giant laboratory, just like his old one.
'I can't believe this!' he thought. 'All of humanity could research for centuries, but they would never actually succeed at this!'
"Perorin, perorin~!"
Standing beside Caesar was a tall and slim man with brown eyes, a pointed nose, pink lips, and a long, thick tongue that couldn't fit into his mouth. His attire consisted of a long, yellow coat with a tall collar and the top buttons resembled large, purple and pink striped pieces of wrapped candy. The bottom of his coat had a blue-and-white checkered design and large beads along the hem. There's a dark colored beaded bracelet on each wrist and his long sharp fingernails are painted dark. His large, orange and red striped hat has rainbow colored lollipops along its rim and a large, pale pink plume. Something large and navy blue with baby blue polka-dots comes out from under his hat and curves upward on either side, and his shoes had a long tip spiraling inward. In his hand was a large, pink-and-red candy cane, which he slurped on.
ELDEST SON OF THE CHARLOTTE FAMILY
CHARLOTTE PEROSPERO
MINISTER OF CANDY
CANDYMAN WITH LICK-LICK FRUIT POWERS
"Does this meet your standards, Caesar?" asked Perospero. "Kukukuku! Almost makes you doubt your eyes, since it's so similar, eh? Kukukukuku! And it's the exact same on the inside, too, perorin!" He then held up a familiar cube-shaped object: Caesar's heart. "This isn't interesting, don't you think?" He then squeezed it, causing Caesar to scream in pain.
Earlier, when Sanji had arrived at Whole Cake Island, he had given the heart of the scientist to Gotti, who ended up giving it to Perospero. Now, with the heart in Perospero's possession, it seemd Caesar had no choice but to give in to Big Mom's demands.
"Now then," Perospero started, "you have precisely 2 weeks to prepare that gigantism drug for Mama. Any longer, and I'll turn you into a candyman and lick you down inot nothing~! Kukukuku!"
'2 weeks and I'll be dead!' thought Caesar. 'I have to do something about this!'
XXX
Later that night, in the Seducing Woods...
WOOF-WOOF-WOOF! MRROOOWR-ROOOOWR! CHIRP-CHIRP! RIBBIT-RIBBIT! OOKA-OOK!
"Haa...haa...!" Luffy panted. "How many dozens of times do I have to see your freakin' faces?!" He then dropped someone before the buried giant. "Okay...I...found some more."
"Yeah, you did," said the giant. "There's a whole bunch of 'em, now."
It was revealed that Luffy had caught Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Carrot, Pudding, and even Blizzard and Aika, and tied them all up in rope...but for some reason, they were all making different animal noises.
"I'm glad I found more of 'em and all," Luffy began, "but how come they're acting so weird?! And further more, why are there so many of them?!"
It seemed that this was just the beginning of a long night for Luffy.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next time on One Piece: The Whole Cake Island Arc!
?: Leave or life?
Woman: Life.
Luffy: So wait...I caught Nami, Chopper, Sanji, Pudding, Carrot, Aika, and Blizzard?!
Nami and Blizzard: LET US GO, YOU MORON!
Luffy: HUH?!
Blizzard: We've been trying to find you and tell you we got attacked by somebody!
Carrot: AH! I'm being sucked into a mirror! Help me!
Chopper: Nami, Blizzard! Go find Luffy! I'll handle this! *turns into Monster Point* BUOOOOOOOOOH~!
Brulee: Oh, my! Another interesting creature for Mama's collection!
Giant: Every six months or so, every resident of Totto Land has to pay the kingdom a month's worth of their soul in exchange for Mama's protection. Linlin- I mean, Big Mom has the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit! *suddenly gets yanked from the ground by someone*
Cracker: Have you lost your wits, you fool? What kind of moron goes and gives the enemy the information they want?!
Next time: Kingdom of Soul.
Review, please!