Ch. 12- Commencing Operations
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, Lucky, and Kuro Diablo © Me
BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! The clock on the Leoro struck 8 as night fell. Outside the golden tower, the Straw Hats stood at the bottom with Carina, all of them wearing determined expressions. Luffy, Franky, and Blizzard were all wearing leather outfits, with Franky wearing a camouflage patterned vest and a black burglar mask on his head while Luffy and Blizzard both wearing leather jumpsuits (no pants for the latter) and goggles. As for Nami, she, Chopper, and Brook wore outfits similar to circus performers, with Nami wearing a blue leotard with a leopard spot pattern and even a tail and top hat, Brook dressed like some sort of clown, and Chopper wearing a soldier outfit, and his whole body had been painted green. Usopp, Sanji, and Robin were all dressed as janitors...but for some reason, Usopp's outfit seemed more...feminine.
"Any questions?" Carina asked, wearing the outfit she wore in the V.I.P. Room last night.
"Yeah, I got a question," Usopp said. "Does this outfit make my butt look big?"
WHAP! Sanji smacked the sniper in the back of his head at that question.
"All right, awkward question aside," Carina began, "is everyone ready now?"
"Hell yeah!" Luffy answered. "Let's do this!"
A pause.
"Wait, what are we doing, again?" the Straw Hat Captain asked, causing everyone to groan.
"Seriously?!" Carina questioned. "We just discussed this, this morning!"
"Typical Luffy," Nami said. "Always forgetting even the simplest details."
"Oh, kiss my rubber ass," Luffy hissed.
"Please stay focused!" Robin shouted.
"Yeah, you can kill each other later!" Usopp added, causing everyone to glare at him. "...Sorry"
"Fine," Carina grumbled. "I'll brief you on it, one more time."
Flashback
As the Straw Hats were eating their breakfast (except Aika, who had still locked herself away in her room), they sat around the coffee table, looking down at a diagram of the Leoro that Carina had drawn...quite accurately, at that.
"Okay, then," Carina started, "the vault is located here, inside the Hyper Suite Area. It looks like the middle finger on the Leoro, see?"
"Uh-huh," Luffy nodded, munching on a barbecue bacon double cheeseburger with grilled onions, extra ketchup, extra mustard, and extra barbecue sauce.
"Luffy, don't eat that burger over the diagram," Nami said. "You'll get condiment stains on it."
Luffy only glared at Nami before he took a messy bite out of his burger, chewed it for a good 5 seconds before swallowing before he let out a belch and even blew it in Nami's face, causing her to gag.
"Eww! Onion breath!" she cried.
"Luffy, c'mon, stay focused!" Usopp shouted.
"As I was sayng," Carina said with a glare, "the vault is hidden inside a golden tank dome, and that's where we'll find the Tesoro Stash. The floors, the wall, the ceiling...every inch of that room is made of solid gold. It's practically impenetrable."
"You mean we can't just break in?" Franky asked.
"Nope," Carina answered. "You see, Tesoro is an Awakened Devil Fruit user, and he's pretty much connected to all the gold in the entire city. If any of his gold takes a powerful hit, he'll notice it, right away."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to get inside?" Usopp asked.
"Right here," said Carina, pointing to what looked a zigzag pattern on the diagram.
"What's that?" asked Chopper.
"It's a spiral staircase that leads up to the dome," answered Carina. "It's the only way up there. However, the place is being kept under surveillance by lots, and I mean LOTS of Video Transponder Snails, so if we just waltz in there, we'll get spotted in an instant. Luckily for us, there's an opening, and that's why I recruited you and your crew. First off is Team A, consisting of your captain, Franky, and Blizzard."
"Us?" Luffy, Franky, and Blizzard asked.
"You guys will climb up the tower from the hotel," Carina began, "and infiltrate the Leoro through the clock face, thus entering the control room. Above that is the Host Transponder Snail. If you put a White Transponder Snail on one of the cables, you'll be able to momentarily pause the surveillance footage from the Video Transponder Snails. Then we switch to Team B, consisting of Nami, Robin, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Brook, and myself. We'll sneak in using the elevator from the V.I.P. Room. Of course, we'll have to sneak passed Kuro Diablo and Tanaka's checkpoint, too, which will lead to the Hyper Suite Area. That will give us an opening to the spiral staircase. Once we're passed security, it's just a beeline through there. Running straight ahead will take us right to the spiral staircase. While surveillance is down, we'll climb all the way to the top and use them to open the vault with this key!" She then help up the key in her hand. "And that will be that! We'll sneak out, using the laundry carts of the hotel and escape through the back door. Mission complete!"
She then looked up at the Straw Hats with a grin.
"So...you guys get the plan?" she asked.
"Yeah," the Straw Hats answered.
"Wait, I have a question!" Luffy spoke up. "How come Aika and Kumi aren't part of the plan?"
"That is kind of strange," Nami added.
"It's for the best," Carina answered. "They'll just get in the way."
"...I beg your pardon?" Robin asked.
"What do you mean, they'll get in the way?" Usopp asked.
"Think about it," Carina answered. "Do you know how dangerous it will get if the guards see them? Or worse, Kuro Diablo?"
Everyone all tensed up at this before they glanced at each other.
"You guys know that he has it out for the kid," said Carina. "After all, she did scratch his nose."
"...For once, Carina's right," Nami said. "Aika and Kumi should stay here."
"I think so, too," Luffy said.
"The first thing they've ever agreed on since they got here," Usopp muttered, causing Robin to shush him. "What?!"
"So I suppose we'll just pick them up when we get back," Brook added, causing everyone to nod in agreement. However, Blizzard momentarily glanced back, but when he did, he caught a glimpse of a certain little D. Carrier's tawny brown eyes, glaring through a crack in the door.
Flashback end
After that briefing, the Straw Hat had begun to commence the heist. Luffy, Blizzard, and Franky were climbing up the Leoro, but as they did, Blizzard stopped and stood at a ledge with Luffy, who was climbing using his Gum-Gum powers while Franky used his Strong Right to pull himself up.
"We're pretty high up, huh?" Luffy asked.
"Uh, yeah," Blizzard answered. "Hey, Luffy, can I talk to you, really quick?"
"Okay, what's up?" Luffy asked.
"You think when this whole thing is over and we get Zoro back," Blizzard began, "you can...oh, I dunno, patch things up with Nami? Seriously, all you two have been doing is get on each other's throats since you two got here."
"Psh! Please," Luffy scoffed as he prepared to climb up to another ledge.
"Look, Luffy," Blizzard said. "I'm not just saying this just because I want you and Nami to get over yourselves. I'm saying that you should really patch things up for Aika's sake."
Upon hearing his younger sister's name, Luffy's eyes went wide.
"You think she likes hearing you two yell at each other, all the damn time?" Blizzard inquired. "Remember what I said back on Dressrosa? Don't think about how YOU feel, think about how Aika feels!"
Upon remembering that, Luffy looked down, a guilt-ridden expression on his face.
XXX
Meanwhile, Team B was waiting for the right moment to enter the Leoro. Until then, they had to remain hidden.
"Uhh...hey, Nami?" Usopp whispered.
"What is it, Usopp?" Nami asked, softly.
"You think maybe you and Luffy will make up after all this?" Usopp asked. "You two have been fighting since we got here, pretty much."
"Look, it's Luffy's fault for losing the girls," Nami answered.
"Maybe so, but you put him in charge of the girls in the first place," Usopp pointed out.
"He does have a point," Brook added.
"Look, will you two just be quiet and stay focused?!" Nami whispered, harshly.
"Nami, we're not just saying this because we want you and Luffy to work things out," Robin whispered, "but also because we're worried about Aika."
"What?" Nami asked. "What does Aika have to do with this?"
"Nami, Aika's clearly upset about you and Luffy getting on each other, all the time," Sanji whispered. "Are you saying you didn't even notice until now?"
"... ... ..." Nami only looked down, a guilty expression on her face.
XXX
Concurrently, somewhere inside the Leoro...
"Ummm...Aika? I really don't think this is a good idea."
"Shh~! Be quiet, Kumi!"
Aika and Kumi were in the air vents, the former in her wolf form as she looked over the diagram of the Leoro that Carina drew. They were both wearing what looked like kunoichi outfits, and even had hoods around their heads.
"I'm trying to figure out where we are," Aika whispered.
"Aika, I don't see why we're doing this," Kumi said. "You really think that by getting all that money first, Nami will love you, again? ...Wait, what am I saying? She never stopped loving you!"
"I'm not saying she did!" Aika argued. "I'm gonna prove to that meanie Carina that Big Sis Nami loves me more than she loves money!"
"And how is this gonna help?" Kumi asked. "All this is gonna do is land us in big trouble! You heard what Carina said! What if that jaguar guy finds out we're here?!"
"Not if we stay out of sight, he won't," Aika answered as she crawled down the duct. "Now come on. I think the Hyper Sweets thing is this way."
"You think?" Kumi repeated, questioningly. "Aika, do you even know where you're going?!"
XXX
Outside, Luffy, Franky, and Blizzard had reached the halfway point of the tower.
"Only halfway up, huh?" asked Franky.
"The rest of the wall is to slippery," Luffy answered. "I can find anything to grab onto."
"And if I hook my claws into the wall, Tesoro will notice," added Blizzard.
"Well, I guess this calls for the special spy gear that Usopp made for me," Franky answered.
"Huh?! Spy gear?!" Luffy asked, excitedly.
"This I gotta see," Blizzard muttered.
"Just watch this," Franky grinned, a glint in his teeth. "Franky...SUCTION CUP ROCKET LAUNCHER!"
He soon fired rockets out of his shoulders, but instead of the usual explosive napalms, the heads had black suction cups on them, instead. The suction cups soon flew up and attached themselves to the wall.
"Cool~!" Luffy exclaimed with starry eyes. "We're really like spies!"
"...Okay, I'll admit it," Blizzard said. "That is impressive."
XXX
Meanwhile, inside the Leoro's basement...
"Oh, that reminds me," Brook said. "Mr. Sanji, can't you fly? Don't you think you should've gone with Mr. Luffy, instead?"
"You think I can fly all the way up there?" asked Sanji.
"You do have a point," Brook concurred.
"Shh~!" Nami shushed. "Here come the guards!"
The Straw Hats looked around a pillar to see some guards pulling a giant metal cup on a cart behind them.
"Let me handle this," Carina whispered as she came out to greet them. "Well, hello, boys~! And what are you big, strong men doing, pulling that heavy thing?"
"M-Miss Carina!" exclaimed the guards in surprise.
"We're just bringing this up to the V.I.P. Room," said the guard with spiky hair. "Master Dice keeps breaking them, so we're bringing up another."
"Oh, let me see," Carina said as she walked up to it. "Wow...just look at it!" She squeezed her big, luscious melons with her arms, making them jiggle a bit. "It's so...big!"
"Oh, yeah...!" the guards said with hearts in their eyes. "They're big all right!"
"And so firm, too!" Carina added.
"Yeah! Really firm!" agreed the guards.
"The Innocent Boob Flaunting trick?!" Nami whispered. "...I gotta remember that one. Anyway, let's go!"
With that, the 6 Straw Hats hurriedly clambered inside the cup, avoiding the sight of the guards as they did. Soon, Carina was finished with her little "performance" and waved the guards off.
"Thanks for showing me, boys!" she called. "Keep up the great work!"
"Of course!" the guards answered, while the songstress smirked.
"Suckers."
XXX
A bit later, Tanaka, the three guards, and the giant cup, emerged from the elevator door and entered the V.I.P. Room.
"That's three of Dice's subordinates," said Tanaka, writing it down in his book. That's when he heard a knock on the door. "Hmm?" He stuck in his head through the door. "And who is this?"
"Hi, Tanaka," said Carina.
"Ah, Lady Carina!" exclaimed Tanaka. "Please, do come in."
He soon took Carina by the hand and pulled her through the door, allowing her to enter the V.I.P. Room. However, she looked around, she gasped when she saw that Kuro Diablo was looking at the giant cup.
"Before you take it to the back room," Kuro Diablo began, "you better let me look at it, first!"
"Wait, K.D.!" called Carina, taking the jaguar-man by surprise.
"Carina?" Kuro Diablo asked before he gasped and covered his scarred nose. "Oh! I-I wasn't expecting to see you! I was hoping you wouldn't see my nose like this. That damned wolf brat...if I ever see her again, I'll claw her nose right off her face! And an eye, too, for good measure!"
Nami, who happened to hear everything, growled as she attempted to climb out of the cup and beat some sense into the younger Gild brother, but Robin, using her powers, grabbed her and held her back.
"Don't," the archaeologist warned in a hushed voice.
"Oh, I don't think it's so bad," said Carina...playing her hands on Kuro Diablo's shoulders and pressing her breasts up against his chest with a sultry look in her eyes. "In fact...I think you look rather...distinguished."
'Ugh! Such simple words, yet they taste like vomit,' she thought, while Kuro Diablo smirked.
"You think so?" he asked. "Well...I guess these marks me look rather...rugged."
"Mmmm..." Carina hummed. "I'll say. I'll tell you what: why don't you head to your suite, and I'll meet you there, my big, strong, cat-eyed warrior?"
"Of course," Kuro Diablo answered, cupping her chin, "my little songbird."
With that, Carina followed the guards inside a back room while Kuro Diablo watched...but as he did, he noticed something that seemed to flutter down from the vents above. He dusted it off his shoulder, thinking it was nothing at first...but then he got a good look and saw it was hair of some kind. In fact, it wasn't just hair...it was fur...wolf and puppy fur to be exact.
That's when Kuro Diablo looked up at the air ducts...and he could've sworn he heard the sound of little paws pattering against the metal, causing him to glare angrily.
"Mice..." he hissed. "I can't stand mice...!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Aika, you really stepped in it now.
Review, please.