Ch. 54- Pudding Coincidentally Appears!


One Piece © Oda

Blizzard and Monkey D. Aika © Me

Rokuji © Gakuto1991


In the Seducing Woods, bodies were strewn across the ground, groaning and limp. Smoke billowed into the air and electricity sparked from the ground. In the middle of the forest...was a humungous crater.

"WOW!" Luffy exclaimed. "DID YOU SEE THAT?!" He then hugged Nami and kissed her cheek. "YOU WERE SO AWESOME, BABE!"

Nami could only laugh. "Oh, Luffy!"

"You did it, Big Sis Nami!" Aika exclaimed.

"Well, my Clima-Tact normally can't make lightning that powerful," Nami said.

"You think it could have wiped them all out?" asked Pedro. "I don't see Big Mom, anywhere!"

"Maybe she's at the bottom of that crater," said Blizzard. "Still, that was crazy! I bet she's lying down there, out cold!"

"That means we win, right?!" asked Carrot.

"Hold on," Jimbei spoke up. "Don't celebrate, just yet."

"Huh?" Aika asked. "Why not?"

Suddenly, the ground trembled, causing the group to gasp...and the trembling came again!

"You see?" Jimbei asked. "There are her footsteps...I knew it wouldn't be enough."

"Oh, come on!" Luffy complained.

"Wed...ding...CAAAAAAAAAAAKE!" Big Mom bellowed from within the crater!

"Are you kidding me?!" Blizzard questioned. "She's gonna climb out and chase us, again!"

However...the Emperor didn't emerge.

"H...hey," Aika stammered. "Where is she?"

"Is the hole so deep, she can't climb out?" asked Sanji.

"It's not that," Jimbei said. "She's still moving."

Down below...Big Mom was walking THROUGH the dirt!

"When Big Mom is having her hunger pangs," said Jimbei, "she's practically unstoppable!"

"WEDDIIIIIIIING CAAAAAAAAAAKE!" Big Mom roared, again.

"W-what the-?!" Luffy questioned...as the ground began to split open!

"Don't tell me," Nami said. "Is she...splitting the ground open?!"

"Bring...me..."

KABLOOOOOW! Big Mom burst out of the ground!

"WEEEEEEDIIIIIIIING CAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

"RUN FOR IT!" Jimbei yelled, and the group did just that!

"STRAW HAAAAAAAAAAT!" Big Mom yelled, causing Luffy to cover his ears. "I KNOW YOU HAVE MY WEDDING CAKE!"

"What is she talking about?!" Luffy questioned. "I don't have her stupid cake!"

"Straw Hats! Up here!"

Everyone looked up to see Pudding and Chiffon, flying in on Rabian.

"Huh?!" Nami asked. "Pudding and Chiffon?!"

"Pudding?! What are you doing here?!" Aika asked, angrily.

"Yeah, what do you want?!" Luffy asked. "You tricked us!"

"I knew we should have tied her-gara up!" Pedro added.

"What, you wanna go?!" Luffy questioned, holding up a fist.

"What?!" Pudding asked. "No, I don't 'wanna go'! Just listen to me!"

"Pudding!" Sanji exclaimed. "You're actually okay! I was actually worried for a while, there!"

Pudding gasped...before she started foaming at the mouth and hearts formed in all three of her eyes.

"Pudding!" Chiffon cried. "Get a hold of yourself!"

KABOOM! Big Mom's foot stomped against the ground, causing it to tremble.

"AAH!" Aika shrieked.

"SHE'S COMING THIS WAY!" Blizzard yelled.

"Oh, no...Mama...!" Pudding whispered in horror.

"Pudding, we don't have much time!" Chiffon said. "Hurry and be direct!"

"R-right!" Pudding answered as she looked down to the Straw Hats...with her same evil glare. "Look at you miserable lot! You'll never get out of here, alive! Don't waste your time trying to escape by ship! Mama will chase you all clear across the sea until she sinks you to its depths! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"HUH?!" the Straw Hats questioned.

"What are you saying, Pudding?!" Chiffon questioned.

"KYAA!" Pudding shrieked in horror. "You're right! What am I saying?!"

"I'll take it from here," said Chiffon. "You see, Mama thinks that you guys stole the wedding cake she's so obsessed with! She'll chase you to the ends of the sea, just to get it!"

"What?!" Luffy questioned. "But we don't have her stupid cake!"

"That's right!" Pudding shouted, her evil face showing, once again. "So come with me, Sanji!"

"Huh?" Sanji muttered.

"Stand at my side and savor the living hell that is watching Mama slaughter your worthless friends!" Pudding sneered.

"WRONG!" Chiffon yelled. "What are you saying, Pudding?!"

"EEK!" Pudding shrieked in horror. "I did it again! I'm not Evil Pudding!"

"Hmph!" Aika scoffed. "You could've fooled me..."

"If all you're gonna do is insult us, then get lost!" Luffy barked.

"Hang on!" Chiffon said. "Pudding, let me do the talking, all right?!"

"Y...yes, please!" Pudding nodded.

"Listen, Black Leg Sanji," said Chiffon, "Pudding, here, says that you're a really great cook! You can even make fantastic sweets, am I right?"

"Well...I don't wanna toot my own horn-" Sanji started.

"Sanji's the best!" Aika piped up. "He even makes really good cookies! He can make anything!"

"That's perfect!" said Chiffon. "In that case, Black Leg Sanji, we need your help to bake a cake! If you can make a delicious wedding cake that will stop Mama, we'll let you leave with your crew! Okay?"

"Chiffon...!" Nami whispered in awe.

"After all," Chiffon began, "you guys did save Lola, a long time ago, and I owe you one! If I'm going to repay you for helping her, I might as well risk my life to do it!"

"That might end up being the case for Sister Chiffon," Pudding started, "but not for me! I'm not doing this for any of you! It's just coincidence that the cake I wanted to bake and eat is the same cake that Mama is after! And it...only a c-c-coincidence that I was wandering along and happened across you people!" She then glared at the Straw Hats with all three of her eyes...but at the same time, she was blushing. "S-s-so it's definitely not the case that I came to stop Mama, just because I didn't really want you to die, Sanji! ...Dear."

"EEEEEEEEEEEH?!" the Straw Hats questioned.

"Ooookay," said Blizzard. "She's lost her marbles."

"I think she's having some kind of bipolar disorder," Nami muttered.

"Well...I get the gist of it!" Sanji said. "So where do we need to bake this cake, huh?!"

"The ingredients we need are in Chocolat Town!" Chiffon answered. "We'll make it at top speed and carry the cake back by ship! That will distract Mama! The rest of you just need to hold out until then! Even if you manage to set sail, Mama's forces will try and intercept you! But even then...I believe you guys will be able to get away!"

"I understand," Sanji nodded. "I'll go!"

"Sanji, wait!" Luffy called as he grabbed Aika. "Take Aika with you!"

"What?!" Aika questioned. "No!"

"Aika, Luffy's right!" Nami spoke. "You're better off going with Sanji! It's too dangerous here, right now!"

"PUDDING~! CHIFFON~!"

"AAH!" Carrot screamed. "It's her!"

Behind the group, Big Mom growled as she raised Napoleon!

"She's going to use that attack, again!" cried Blizzard.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?!" Big Mom roared as she prepared to swing.

"Black Leg! Climb on!" Chiffon cried as she grabbed Sanji by the hand, helping climb up on Rabian.

"Luffy! Toss Aika to me!" Sanji called as he held out his hands.

"Here she comes!" Luffy called back as he tossed Aika up to the carpet, where Sanji soon caught her in his arms.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed.

"IKOKU..." Big Mom roared.

"HERE IT COMES!" Blizzard yelled.

"Luffy!" Sanji called. "We'll rendezvous at sea, okay?!"

"Got it!" Luffy answered. "Take care of Aika until then!"

"Big Brother!" Aika called as she threw down her Lucky Cherry Blossom. "You better bring that back, okay?!"

"I promise!" Luffy grinned.

"LOOK OUT!" Jimbei yelled as he looked back.

"SOVEREIGNTY~!"

KABLOOOOOOOW! Big Mom sent a powerful blast of air at the fleeing group, but thankfully, they managed to jump out of the way, or in Rabian's case, fly out of the way, just in time!

"Phew!" Sanji sighed as he looked back and saw a huge hole in the mountain. "That was way too close!"

"You think Big Brother and the others are okay?" asked Aika.

"I sure hope so," said Chiffon.

"Wait a minute!" Pudding cried. "We're going off course! Rabian! Fly back down! Go back to the previous spot, straight to the coast!"

"Roger that, Lady Pudding!" Rabian answered before he flew down. "Here I go!"

Soon, they spotted Luffy's group, all of them still present and accounted for, running away.

"Hold it! Straw Hat!" Pudding called.

"Huh?" Luffy asked. "Pudding? The Good Pudding?!"

"Yes, it's me!" Pudding answered. "Follow me, quick! You're headed for a dead end!"

"But I thought we were going straight!" Jimbei replied.

"Look out!" Nami cried as she pointed at some Tree Homies in their way!

"Tree~!" they all sang, wickedly.

"I'll handle this!" Pudding exclaimed as she held out her hands, causing a peculiar film to appear. "Memory Filament...FLASHBACK!"

Suddenly, the Tree Homies were enveloped in a light pink glow...and some of them began laughing, crying, and all kinds of other expressions!

"WAAAAH! My big brother hit me~!"

"It's time for me to take my dog for a walk."

"Has anyone seen my son?! He's gone missing!"

"Oh, dear! I need to go shopping! Now, where's my list?!"

"Uh...what just happened?" Luffy asked.

"The memories of the soul's original owner," Pudding began, "come flooding back to the Homies, but only temporarily! For that period of confusion, they're not under Mama's control!"

"Which means they can get away, freely, now!" Sanji realized. "Great idea, Pudding!"

"Thank you," Pudding said...before she balked. "Wait a minute! Sanji?! What are you and Aika doing there?!"

"We've always been here, you ding-dong!" Aika spat.

"G-get off and swim the rest of the way, you fools!" Evil Pudding shouted.

"Pudding!" Chiffon yelled.

"KYAA! What am I saying?!" Pudding questioned.

"Oh, no! Look down there!" Aika cried as she pointed down below, where the Sunny was moored. "Chopper and Brook! They're surrounded!"

"What?!" Sanji questioned as he looked down, too, and saw Chopper and Brook fighting off enemies, left and right! "Oh, no...GUYS!"

"Is that your ship, down there?!" Chiffon asked.

"Yes, it is!" Sanji answered. "And it's under attack!"

"They must have headed you guys off!" Chiffon cried. "I should've known!"

"And our siblings down there, too!" Pudding cried.

Down on the Sunny's deck, Brook and Chopper were fighting as hard as they could to get the intruders off their ship. They could handle the Peacekeepers just fine, thanks to Brook's soul powers...but the higher-ranking foes proved to give them a much harder time.

"You're quite powerful against the Peacekeepers," said Katakuri, casually leaning against the wall.

"Of course!" Brook wheezed, his Soul King familiar hanging over his body. "I'm not called 'Soul King' for nothing!"

"Haa...haa...!" Chopper panted. "They just keep coming out of the mirror, Brook! They're coming out from the mirror in Luffy and Nami's room! You think they'll be mad if they break it?!"

"We should break it if we can," said Brook. "I'm sure they'll understand! There's time for apologies, later!"

"Kukuku!" Perospero laughed. "And just who are you going to apologize to-perorin? Didn't you see that humungous lightning bolt? Your friends are dead...no one's coming for you."

Katakuri looked at his brother before glancing at Brook and Chopper.

"That's enough," Brook said. "What a foolish line of questioning. I'm sick and tired of answering you!"

"Yeah!" Chopper shouted. "Get off our ship, right now! The Sunny is our home!"

XXX

"Look!" Luffy exclaimed as he pointed ahead. "I can see the Sunny! We're almost there!"

"We're saved!" Carrot said. "Does this mean that Pudding is on our side, after all?!"

"I don't know," Nami began as she looked back, "but we'd better not let our guard down until we're out of here!"

XXX

"Zeus, you bastard!" Prometheus yelled. "What the hell were you doing, hitting us, too?!"

"Sorry! I didn't do it on purpose!" Zeus answered. "Although...that thundercloud egg sure was tasty~!"

"WHAT?!" Prometheus yelled.

"Wed...ding...CAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!" Big Mom screeched, causing Prometheus and Zeus to yelp in fright.

XXX

"So we're just gonna leave them behind?!" Aika asked.

"Sorry, honey," said Chiffon, "but there's no turning back!"

"But...but Chopper and Brook need help!" Aika cried.

"Don't worry about them, Aika," Sanji said. "Your brother's on his way to the ship. He'll save them! You know that!"

"...Mm-hmm..." Aika nodded as the cook gently pulled her into a hug.

"It'll be okay," he said. "In the meantime, we need to get to Chocolat Town as fast as we can!" He then grinned. "We'll make a good so good, it'll knock Big Mom's lights right out!"


TO BE CONTINUED...


Next time on One Piece: The Whole Cake Island Arc!

Chopper: AAAAH! BROOK, HELP!

Brook: I'm afraid I can't do much of anything, either, Chopper!

Perospero: Kukukukuku! I'll turn you both into candy men and lick you both down to nothing! 3 minutes is all you have left!

Luffy: HEY! GET OFF OUR SHIP!

Perospero: What?!

Katakuri: Straw Hat...

Blizzard: Oh, no! Brook! Chopper!

Luffy: DAMN YOU~!

*Luffy and Katakuri clash fists*

Nami: The ship is trapped in candy! How are we gonna get out?!

Perospero: Kukukukuku! Escape is futile! Just give up, now!

Pedro: I don't think so...

Carrot: Wait! Pedro, what are you doing?!

Pedro: ...Goodbye...Carrot.

KABOOOOOOOOM!

Carrot: PEDROOOOOOOOOO~!

Next time: Bittersweet


...Once again...I'm not looking forward to what happens next.

Review, please!