...
Shanks, shamefully enough, hesitated. His eyes glinting red but for a moment before his expression worsened as he realised it really wasn't a trap. In fact-
"Another one..?" The blue haired girl's lips seemed to tremble at the sight of them, her eyes widening as her face paled. "Another Yonko?" She whispered, almost hauntedly, her eyes narrowing as she gripped the toy in her hand tighter, her body shaking.
Shanks didn't waste a second further as he pushed the bars loose, promptly walking through towards the girl. His sword, faster then the eye could see, cutting her cuffs loose.
The girls terrified expression felt akin to a stab in his chest.
"Don't worry..." he reached a hand out.
She flinched, inching away from his touch, her eyes widening further.
"D-Don't!" She screeched, Shanks' expression wincing as he withdrew his hand back. His bemused expression clear. His thoughts bundled as he stared at her, unsure what to do. From what he'd managed to deduce so far...
It didn't look pretty.
"Jeez. Ya ugly mugs scaring her off!" Yassop, promptly pushed him aside, a serious look on his face. One that immediately turned into a smile at the sight of the girl. "Hey! My name is Yass-"
"I know who all of you are!" The venom behind the words as the girl's face twisted, took the sniper by surprise, his head leaning back the slightest. "You're Pirates is what you are! Like that monster!" She jabbed one hand out, for a moment giving the Red-haired Yonko a panic attack.
"That monster?" Benn Beckman questioned, a steel tone to his voice. His eyes not remotely believing what he was seeing.
"Kaido of the beasts!" The blue haired girl turned a finger towards the red-haired Yonko in the room. Another furious look on her face. "What are you even doing here!? Don't you think you've done enough!?"
Shanks blinked wide-eyed at the complete change in nature. The blue-haired girl crossing her arms as she promptly stood up. Her eyes glaring at all of them.
"Oi! Shanks hasn't done anything!" Luffy's voice suddenly broke through, the boy pushing himself past the others to stand face to face with the still sniffing girl.
"He killed him!" The girl snapped back, matching the rubber brains glare.
"Ah! Yes, he did do that." Luffy nodded. "But he didn't do anything else!"
"Oi..."
"Besides.." The girl grit her teeth, her gaze quickly turned down towards the toy in her hands.
"Who is that?" Benn Beckman's question went ignored, the man quickly developing a tick at being ignored.
"It's his fault Kaido came here..."
Shanks eyes widened the slightest at the accusation, the Yonko immediately straightening himself up, his expression wary. "What do you mean?"
"Your stupid hat! That's what!" She shrieked.
"Whose Kaido?" Luffy grumbled.
"The big toy in the throne room." The girl calmly answered, her expression turning somber at the sight of the Straw Hat's current owner.
"So it wasn't shredded?" Beckman questioned lazily, and noticing the girl still had no intention of answering him, Beckman immediately turned to the rest of their silent audience, handing out orders to start searching.
"The people.. They were-"
"I know." The girl cut the Yonko off. "I didn't have any other choice."
Shanks blinked. "What do you mean?"
He caught the sudden tremble in the girls lips.
"... I made a deal... And given your here..." Her head turned downcast. "Given he isn't... Kaido no longer has any reason..." The girl stopped, her shoulders trembling the slightest, her expression hidden from sight.
"He's currently a toy, if anything-" Beckman started, before, to his surprise, the girl reacted to him, cutting him off instantly.
"I can't wake up my people without waking him."
Shanks winced. "Your people..? You're not a princess or something..?"
The girl narrowed her eyes at him, sticking her nose up as she crossed her arms the slightest bit tighter.
"So what if I am... Are you going to kidnap me? I can tell you now, no one-"
"I am not going to kidnap you!" Shanks clarified, a sweat drop forming on his head.
"Oh... That means you know Vivi! Her country was in a lot of trouble too!" Luffy grinned.
"Whose the toy in your arms?" Beckman questioned, entirely indifferent to the way the conversations changed.
The girl, once again surprising him, actually answered his question. Briefly looking down towards the toy, contemplating what she should say.
"... It's someone important... Someone that... Cannot be here when everything's undone." Her lips trembled, though her eyes oddly enough to the pirates in the room, including the Rubber captain, held hate.
Beckman frowned, his mind wracking itself as it took every, small as it were, piece of information he could recall and tried to piece it together, the pieces falling scattered though the further back he went, the more convulted arcs linking randomly between each other... From the the World Government's current list of problems to the Auction- His eyes widened as he realised what the girl was insinuating. "Someone that even you, Pirate emperor-" She momentarily turned her attention to the man in question. "-wouldn't pick a fight with." The girl, barely reaching half his height, proceeded to match Beckman's disbelieving glare with her own sneer.
"An honest to god Celestial Dragon."
Funnily enough.
Benn Beckman, without a shadow of a doubt, believed that.
"Oh! I think I punched one of those!"
Once again, despite the situation itself, amusement quickly filled Shanks as he remembered reading that particular snippet in the paper. Before it started it's vendetta against him and his crew. But mostly him. Beckman incredulously stared on while Yassop simply blinked owlishly, his internal worry for his son growing by the second.
The princess on the other hand merely stared, entirely unsure, nor prepared for the comment. Her mouth opening and closing rapidly.
"Don't worry!" Luffy grinned, holding a thumbs up, his signature laugh coming out. "Your country's going to get better as well! Just like Vivi's!"
"...You can't just promise that." The girl eventually settled on, a mildly uncomfortable look on her face.
"Watch me! Shishishi!"
...
...
Shanks stepped aside, blinking a few times as he watched the girl promptly stand up and walk past them. Yassop snapping to the left, a yelp coming out as he kept himself out of range. Benn on the other hand simply took a single step to the side, an indifferent look on his face.
Luffy on the other hand promptly walked up towards her and stood in her way. One hand stretched out towards her, blocking her, a frown on his face.
"Oi! No wandering off on your own!"
Sugar blinked, her passive expressions straining. "Excuse me?"
"Princess's need bodyguards! That's what Vivi taught me!" Luffy nodded his head promptly.
...
Elsewhere a certain blue-haired sand princess rolled in her grave of pillows.
...
"...Right." She turned towards Benn Beckman, given Shanks was trying and failing to hide his laughter. "How would you feel about me toying your friend?"
Beckman snuck a look towards the laughing Yonko and deadpanned in response.
"Only if you start with my captain."
Sugar nodded. That was something she was fully willing-
"O-Oi! She's actually considering it!" Shanks suddenly called out, a sweat drop going down his face. The red gleam in his eyes disappearing.
That, Benn Beckman, to Sugar's surprise, evidently found hilarious enough to reward her with an amused snort.
Without another word, Sugar promptly turned back towards a frowning Luffy, the Straw Hat in question having somehow found a sword. "Very well, would you like to be my knight." She found the words somewhat difficult to force out.
A sparkle promptly lit up on the Straw Hat's face as he begun nodding- Only for Sugar to raise a single hand and promptly walk past him. "I wasn't asking."
It was at that point the others promptly scrambled to their feet. Yassop immediately appearing by her side again, earning a quick sneer.
"Uhh.. Right, so what's your name- err, What do we call you?" He stammered, clear discomfort showing through. Though he knew the Hobi Hobi No Mi generally forced people to stay at the age they consumed it, it wasn't the unknown age that was really causing it.
The pirate was simply hopeless when it came to Royals. And all their rules!
"Your Highness." Sugar deadpanned.
...
"Your deal," Beckman started from the side, his hands routinely lighting another cigarette. "Do you know who it was with?"
Sugar promptly stopped on her feet, her eyes going comical, her expression as passive as can be as the others stopped.
"You know who it is?" Shanks questioned hurriedly, a smile growing on his face-
"How do you not know..?" She deadpanned.
An uneasy glance went between the captain and his first mate.
"-Pretending to be a pirate!-" The sudden sound caught Sugar off-guard, the girl almost missing a step as she turned towards the crew sniper. The man in question had a tone dial out, his eyes narrowed.
"Did he sound anything like this?" He questioned seriously.
Sugar minutely nodded her head. "You really don't know?"
"Know what? What's everyone talking about!? Shanks?"
The red-haired captain waved his hand distractedly, his steps carrying him in front of the girl. "Who is it? It'll make things so much eas-"
"Joker." The name set the room into dead silence.
"...Shit." Beckman grit through his teeth, one hand on his face. It just had to be the one 'retiring' didn't it... If word was to be believed at any rate. Of course, the only way a Broker retired was by cashing in all of their assets. Literally. And without the slightest idea on who it truly was underneath... Nor where to even start in finding it... Negotiations were certainly out of the question. And given the, currently toyed, pirates already involved in what was going on...
Sugar, truthfully, found everything about what was happening around her completely and utterly surreal.
"You made a deal with Joker?" Shanks questioned incredulously.
"... I didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter. It was either that or he cashed in my people."
"Cashed in your people..?" Yassop mouthed the words, unsure what they meant. Nor if he even wanted to learn.
"Long story," Benn and Sugar exclaimed tiredly. One, of course, entirely staged.
...
...
Beckman narrowed his eyes the slightest, though he kept his pace up, a few steps behind that of the princess's. The girl herself was currently hooded as she walked everyone else out of the castle and into the forestry clearing. Luffy the only one ahead of her. The teen-captain taking in the sights with glee. Oddly happy, even.
"You look like you've never seen another island," The princess stated, Beckman's mind whirling at the fact the girl seemed to, if he didn't know any better, read his mind.
"Hmm?" Luffy's head twisted around in a complete 720. A beaming smile on his face. "Oh, I am usually too busy punching someones head in to investigate!"
Shanks snorted from the side, Yassop copying him.
"You have an unhealthy obsession with punching heads..."
"It solves all of my problems. Saved Ace too!"
Sugar blinked, faltering for one step before regaining her balance. A geniune smile on her face as she nodded. "I saw that! Very good execution!"
Luffy's laughter quickly filled the clearing.
"Oi, girl-"
"Your highness." The royalty snapped back, a glint in her eyes.
Benn matched the look, entirely indifferent to the foreboding feeling that had filled the air. "Is there a reason we've left the castle?"
The princess, to his surprise, took a few moments to process the question before letting out a sigh, rolled her eyes and promptly kept walking past him.
Worse, to his irritation and their amusement, his crew followed her.
"...So where are we going? Everything's that way!" Luffy questioned, his mouth for some reason drooling, his arms pointing in the wrong direction anyway.
Sugar, still walking, simply sighed.
"I don't know what you're all here-"
"I am here to help. Shanks is here to kill people-"
"Luffy!"
"But- I have a job to do. So if you're all going to insist on following me, then at the very least stay out of my way."
"So where are you going?" Luffy questioned immediately after she'd stopped talking, earning a tick on the girls head.
"... Dressrosa's people." She eventually remarked, speeding up her pace the slightest. "I need to make sure they're all on board..."
Benn narrowed his eyes again, briefly locking gazes with Shanks for a minute. The Red-haired Yonko once again looking into the future, albeit with more difficulty then earlier. But to both of their frustration, nothing else seemed to show.
"On board?"
Sugar nodded, a resolute look on her face.
"The Island's lost-"
"Why?" Benn snapped, his irritation having reached it's peak. "Why is it lost?"
Sugar tilted her head to the side, a bemused expression on her face. "Are you an idiot?"
Beckman glared.
Yassop snorted.
"We're going to Dressrosa's people, no?" She questioned, a sardonic tone to her voice. "What did you see in Acacia? The port-town you entered my castle from."
Silence filled the clea-
"Lotta toys." Luffy deadpanned, one finger up his nose.
"...Gross. Any guesses as to who they are?"
"Kaido's ship?" Shanks remarked, somewhat numb.
Sugar nodded. "I am planning to use his ships to transport the country."
"...Have you not considered the marines?" Beckman quickly took control of the conversation. The girl, once again taking him by surprise as she turned towards him and answered.
"And tell them what? That there's a Yonko at my doorstep? You really think they'll care with the problems they have going on?" Sugar shook her head the slightest, her hands clutching her hood closer as she started walking again. Luffy the only one to immediately follow.
"How do you plan on sailing a Yonko's fleet by yourself?" Yassop questioned, quickly catching up to the crazy princess. Though to his surprise, the question seemed to earn a smile out of her.
"Oh, I've got some help for that! An army of little helpers even!"
...
Shanks aborted his attempt to catch up to the rest, a hand having clamped down on his shoulder. Beckman's glare not softening the slightest even as the princess walked further and further away. Yassop and Luffy on her heels.
"I don't trust her." He stated.
"I can see that," Shanks sighed, his one hand scratching the back of his head.
"She's telling the truth, or I haven't caught her out in a lie. Which is weird enough on it's own, she is a royal. She refuses to answer most of my questio-"
"Maybe she just doesn't like you specifically?"
Beckman blinked, unsure what to make of that, before shaking his head and continuing.
"She was crying when we first saw her."
"Well, yeah I mean she..." Shanks' eyes widened. "She was expecting someone else wasn't she? Joker? No... No, he was waiting for someone else as well wasn't he?" And without skipping a beat, the Red-haired emperor promptly turned and dashed back to the rest a panicked look on his face.
Benn Beckman twitched. His hand shaking the slightest as he palmed his forehead. That wasn't at all what he'd been trying to say... From what he could tell, the girl seemed to be feeding them enough crumbs to keep them curious but not enough to know how big the trap was...
Yet the trap couldn't be for them... The girl had had plenty of time to try and attempt to use her devil fruit on them. And there was hardly an easier way to, for lack of a better word, cripple them. Even now, given he could still recall who had went on ahead with her meant that-
"What!? Why the hell didn't you mention that earlier!?" Yassop's cry quickly broke his thoughts, Beckman feeling a headache coming as he promptly dashed to catch up to the rest.
...
"Big Mom's on her way!" Yassop exclaimed, both hands on his hands going to his head as he walked on. "Three Yonkos on this island- What is? Was? Joker planning!?"
Funnily enough, Beckman found his gaze locked onto the indifferent princess walking ahead. The man about to comment on the fact before suddenly realising, or perhaps seeing a hint of why the girl didn't seem to like him so much...
After a moment of thought on the fact he promptly shrugged and asked her anyway.
"You're awfully calm, give-"
"I have the face of a twelve year old, if I show emotion, you don't take me seriously." The girl snapped. Almost as if she'd been waiting for him to bring it up.
A small part of him was definitely starting to understand why she didn't like him...
"Do you have a problem with me?" He questioned, his eyes going to the upcoming gate. The small clearing of trees had had him thinking it would lead out. Yet here they were walking to the gate of another city, likely taking the long route. The princess entirely undeterred, if not purposeful, as she kept walking.
A small part of him felt for her at that moment as well.
He could certainly understand one needing a final glimpse of their home. Powerful as his crew was, two Yonko's and a country to protect? That was above Whitebeard's pay grade. Let alone theirs.
"You tell me," She stated, not even looking his way. "Smartest man in the East Blue."
He grit his teeth, knowing what was coming.
"And what do you do with that genius?" She turned an eye towards him. Her walking undeterred, Luffy's gaze snapping to and fro the empty restaurants coming into view.
"You choose to become a Pirate."
...