Their landing on the deck of the Sunny was...a lot softer than any of them imagined it might be considering the height of the fall. After a sound beating from Nami for doing it, they quickly made their preparations and set sail. It going to take a few days of sailing to reach Whole Cake Island. Hopefully the ceremony hasn't taken place before then or the whole plan is going to be all the more difficult. They've barely left the massive Zunesha behind before they find that they've got themselves a stow away!
"This ship looks so heavy!" laughs Carrot. "But it's still floating and moving forward!"
"Why are you here?!" demands Luffy, staring at the Mink.
"How long have you been on board?" Run asks. "How did you get on board?"
"Carrot!" calls Perdo. "What are you doing here?"
"I came along with you!" Carrot tells them all. She lunges forward quickly, and nibbles on Luffys ear as her way of expressing minkship. Next is Nami, then Chopper, Run and finally Brook...who she deems as too hard to nibble on.
"I'm sorry, but can we go back?"
"Don't do that! Wanda will be mad at me!"
"Are you trying to cause trouble for those who saved us, Carrot?"
"I just wanted to go on an adventure at sea along with Luffy and the others once!"
"We're sneaking into a Yonko's base. We're not playing!"
"Please, I'll do anything, so take me with you! I didn't wanna cause trouble so I brought..." She quickly digs into her backpack and pulls out a handful of carrots, some carrot juice stored in a canteen and even a single change of clothes. "...it's enough for half a day! The sea is vast, isn't it?" For a few moments they don't have the heart to tell her that it's not going to be nearly enough for the trip but eventually Nami breaks the news to her. "What?! It's going to take days?! I can't believe the sea is so big and vast! It's like a wonderland! It's going to be my first sleepover!"
"Oh, well," Luffy says around a mouthful of carrot. "You're here now, so it can't be helped. Can you protect yourself?"
"Yes! I'll be...why are you eating my carrots?!" Carrot charges Luffy, tackles him to the ground and bites him on the shoulder.
"Oh, hell, no!" Run says quickly, grasping her by the ankles and lifting her straight up. "Let go, Carrot! Spit him out!" He shakes the girl up and down quickly, trying to loosen her grip on Luffy's shoulder...unfortunately, it has the effect of battering his captain against the deck of the Sunny.
"O-O-Oi, Run!" shouts Luffy. "S-Stop shaking me!"
"Luffy, pat her head!" Nami screams. Luffy reaches up and pats her on top of her head quickly. Seconds later she lets him go and Luffy falls back against the deck.
"Th-That was close," mutters Luffy. "You almost killed me! You're so strong!" Run stares down at the girl for a few moments before carefully setting her down on the deck. Who would have thought she'd get so bent out of shape over a few carrots.
"It's ok," Carrot says. "You can have the carrot!"
"I'm hungry. Let's eat!" The red head sighs heavily and starts moving towards the stairs leading to the upper-deck. If they leave it to Nami she'll probably just charge them for her cooking, Luffy doesn't know the first thing about cooking, Chopper can't reach the stove and Brook...well, when's the last time he actually had to cook a meal?
"I'll get it started," Run says. Luffy quickly jumps to his feet with a big grin on his face.
"Ohhh! It's been a while since you cooked, Run! I want lots of meat!"
"I'm making curry, eat it or don't." Luffy follows after the red head into the kitchen where he starts getting all the ingredients together. While they're doing that Brook takes Carrot on a quick tour of the ship. While Run's in the middle of cooking, and trying to prevent Luffy from tossing things into the mix, Pedro barges through the door with newspaper in hand. The rest of the crew follows behind him while he shows the paper off to Luffy. Apparently, the Revolutionary Army's base has been attacked, and not by the Marines but by Blackbeard.
Pictures of Dragon and Sabo are emblazoned on the front page with the article, and Luffy stares intently at the picture of Dragon. When he finally draws the connection between himself and Dragon he seems to be completely surprised.
"That's my dad?!" Luffy shouts. "Hmm, he doesn't really look like me! Anyway, I'm worried about Sabo!" Out of the corner of his eye, Run catches something moving quickly in his direction and quickly swats a small fish out of the air.
"Stop trying to add things, Luffy!"
"C'mon! I want a bunch of meat!" Nami takes the paper from Luffy and quickly scans through it. According to the paper, their base was found as a result of an anonymous tip, and after butting heads with CP-0, Blackbeard beat a hasty retreat. The number of casualties hasn't been released but since there's no mention of Dragon or Sabo being captured, they can assume that the two of them managed to survive and slip away before the Navy caught up with them. Another movement and he swats a shank of meat from the air before turning to face Luffy.
"You're gonna ruin this if you keep trying to toss things-" Several quick splashes follow and Run looks back at the pot. "Ahh! Damn you...!"
It took less than two days of traveling to completely deplete their food stores. Every time the red head turned around Luffy was tossing something into the pot, and several times he had to throw out the meal and redo it. Now, they're reduced to fishing for their meal. To make matters worse, the temperature seems to have risen drastically over the last few days. This heat makes them feel like they're back in Alabasta...well, all of them except for the red head. He sits on the railing beside a rather dehydrated looking Luffy looking no worse for wear.
"I'm gonna dry up," mumbles Luffy. "Sanji...ice cream."
"I can't stand the heat," complains Chopper. "I wish I could take off this fur skin..."
"We're like you," adds Pedro. "We Minks have low tolerance for heat."
"It's really hot," continues Brook. "I'm gonna become a mummy...a mummy! Nami, if I become a mummy, it'd be a bit of a resurrection for me, wouldn't it?"
"I don't care," Nami tells him.
"In that case, can I see your panties?"
"I don't have the energy to smack you. Catch some fish before we all starve!" Run glances over his shoulder at Nami, Pekom's and Carrot all doing their best to stay in the shade. Maybe it's a result of eating the Flare-Flare Fruit but...this heat isn't all that bad to him. He turns his attention back to the sea surrounding them, the surface of which is boiling wildly. The odds are...kind of against them, aren't they? As if to spite the red head, Luffy's fishing pole flexes downward very suddenly.
"Luffy, you've got a bite!" shouts Pedro. "Quick, reel it in!" He begins to reel in the fish quickly, a giant shadow showing under the boiling sea and the ship tilting to one side under the weight. With a powerful jerk, Luffy pulls the fish from the sea and onto the deck. It's a giant, brightly colored fish with a mouth full of sharp teeth.
"It's color," mutters Chopper. "It doesn't seem...right. Are we sure this is edible?"
"What are you saying?" huffs Luffy. "There's no such thing as an inedible fish!" Run shakes his head slowly in response but approaches the mouth of the fish. Chopper quickly runs off to retrieve an encyclopedia of fish from Sanji's locker. He digs out the hook, succeeding in pricking the tip of his finger in the process.
"Ouch," mutters Run, pulling his hand back. "Damn thing." Luffy quickly busies himself ripping off a piece of the fish's skin, and before he can shove it into his mouth Run takes it from his hands.
"Oi, what the hell, Run?"
"Wait for Chopper, Luffy. You can wait a few seconds." Luffy whines and crosses his arms in frustration but waits for Chopper who comes sprinting back to the deck. He tells them all that according to Sanji's notes the skin of the fish is extremely poisonous but the flesh can still be consumed. The red head quickly tosses the piece of skin he's holding over the railing and into the sea and then looks at his cut finger now covered in the fishes blood, and juice. It said poisonous if eaten...but what about exposure to a cut? There's no stinging beyond the initial feeling of being cut, and there's no burning sensation...it should be fine, right?
They quickly butcher the fish, disposing of the skin by tossing it over the railing of the Sunny. To their surprise, Nami actually volunteers to cook this time...and doesn't even bring up a price for her services. They've barely finished before Run starts to feel chills. He shakes his head slowly and takes a seat on the staircase, sweat beginning to form on his brow.
"O-Oi, Chopper. That book said that the fishes flesh will kill you if you eat it but...what happens if it gets in your blood?" The red head shows his cut finger to Chopper who immediately panics and sprints to retrieve his doctor bag. He digs through his bag quickly, looking for anything to give to the red head to treat his poisoning.
"Waaah! Run's going to die!" screams Luffy. "Give him something, Chopper! Come on!" Unfortunately, they're short of any herbs that might be used for treatment. They're only hope is going to be stopping by a island on the way to Whole Cake Island. Pekoms, who has been relatively quiet these past few days, finally starts to pull his bandages off and approaches the railing of the Sunny to look around.
"That's not gonna be possible," Pekoms tells them. "We're about to enter Mama's territory. There are some islands in the area around Whole Cake Island. I'd say Black-Foot and the others have passed through those islands and reached Whole Cake Island by now." A heavy fog suddenly surrounds the Sunny, obscuring their vision in all directions. "Our best bet is to stop at the first island. We can pick up and antidote there." The red head looks up at the sky as it starts to...snow? No, that's not snow. It's not cold enough, and the 'snow' looks fluffy?
"Am I hallucinating or is that...cotton candy?" Nami takes a long look at the clouds for a few moments before it finally dawns on her.
"Sugar clouds," Nami says.
"That's right," Pekoms tells her. "It's Cotton Candy Flurry that's falling." Chopper perks up quickly, dashing around the deck of the Sunny with his mouth open to catch the falling cotton candy. "You all need to hide or disguse yourselves quickly."
"I see something, Pekoms!" shouts Pedro from the crows nest. "It's a ship! A ship is coming towards us!"
"That quickly?! They're here already?!"
"Who's here?" Luffy asks him.
"It's probably a TARTE, one of our scout ships. I'll handle it somehow! You guys go and hide!"
"We can't move Run," Chopper says, attracting their attention to the slumped over and sweating red head. "The poison has spread through his system too much! We need to treat him immediately! Don't they have an antidote on that scout ship?" The fog clears to reveal a massive ship, the number '66' emblazoned boldly across his sails.
"This is Germa!" announces a voice. "Is that the Straw Hats' ship? Why are you here, Straw Hats?!" They spot a man standing by the railing of the massive ship, and staring down at them while hidden under a cloak. But even so they can still make out the man's swirling eyebrows and assume that they've found Sanji.
"Sanji!" shouts Luffy, grinning from ear to ear. "Oi! Sanji! What are you doing up there?! Come down here! Run got poisoned! We need some help!"
"Stop calling me 'Sanji'. My name is Yonji!" The man pulls his hood back to reveal a head of green hair. He has the same eyebrows as Sanji and sort of resembles him...they must be family. "My relationship with your friend Sanji is a secret of secrets. It's absolutely confidential!" Another man approaches him from behind and after exchanging several words lost across the distance, he turns away from them. The red head breaks out into a loud coughing fit, and heaves several times before collapsing back against the stairs heavily.
"Run!"
"The poison is spreading!" Chopper tells them, pushing up one of Run's sleeves to reveal a rash. "Run's strong but he won't last much longer without help!" Chopper jumps onto the railing of the Sunny. "Please! I bet you have antidotes! We used what we have but we need more!"
"Sorry," Yonji tells them. "I'm not in the business of saving people. Why don't you try robbing the medicine from us like pirates?"
"You bastard," growls Luffy, raising his fists. Before Luffy can make a move Yonji is suddenly kicked from the ship and sent splashing down into the water. Luffy catches sight of someone moving through the air seconds later, tracking them as they land on the deck of the Sunny several feet away. "Oi, who are you?"
"Sorry about that," the woman says. "My young brother is a cold-blooded jackass."
"She has twirly eyebrows, too!" Chopper says quickly. Yonji suddenly breaks the surface of the sea, hovering above the deck of the Sunny and staring down at them.
"Reiju!" screams Yonji. "How could you humiliate me!"
"Don't be selfish!" Reiju retorts. How he's hovering is certainly confusing. If he were a Devil Fruit eater he'd have been weakened by the water, and it doesn't seem to be through the use of a technique. While they're wondering how he's doing it Pekoms tells them that it's through the use of science. Germa 66 is something of a scientific fighting squad, always on the cutting edge of modern technology. In fact, that's what Big Mom is after. Reiju approaches the red head. "Alright, may I have it now?"
"Huh?" grunts Luffy. "Have what?" Reiju grabs his right hand and looks at the small cut on his index finger, and the rapidly spreading rash moving up his arm.
"It looks like he was exposed to the poison of an Armored-Stone Fish from the Boiling Sea. He didn't eat it but instead got some of the venom in his cut...he's quite lucky. It looks like he only received a small dose." Reiju leans over the red head with a smile. "He's quite lucky. This venom...is one of my favorite things!" All of them freeze in place when she slants her lips to the red head's own. Several seconds pass before her pink cloak begins to flutter, dots slowly beginning to form across the cloth as the color returns to Run's skin, his rash fading quickly.
"She's sucking out the poison?!" Chopper gasps. Reiju pulls away from the red head seconds later, and swallows the poison before stepping back from him. Run brow furrows, his eyes snap open and he sits up quickly looking around. "Run!" Chopper and Carrot rush the red head, nearly smashing him back into the stairs as the jump into his arms. "I'm so happy you're alright!"
"What happened?" Run asks them.
"You were poisoned," Luffy tells him. "But Sanji's sister saved you by sucking it out with a kiss!"
"You let her kiss me?" Run looks pointedly at the woman who licks her lips.
"It was quite delicious," Reiju says, giggling. The red head wipes his lips with the back of his palm, his nose curling slightly in response.
"You'll forgive me if I don't say thanks." Nami is quick to smack Run in his head, yelling at him for being ungrateful to someone who just saved his life. Reiju tells them that were out this way with the purpose of meeting with Sanji as he was brought in. Apparently, they've been looking for Sanji for quite some time, and they were initially misled into believing that Duval was Sanji due to the poor drawing on his wanted poster. After actually getting a photo of him, they updated his wanted poster to 'Only Alive', all for the purpose of bringing Sanji back to them.
"Where is Sanji now?" Luffy asks her.
"Who knows," Reiju tells him. "He could be with Big Mom or father, already. Well, if he can attend the tea party, that's all that matters. I also got to meet all of you. Thank you for looking after my brother all this time." She turns away and starts to walk in the direction of her ship.
"Oi, Sanji's sister. Thank you for saving Run's life. But...I still want Sanji back! He's my friend! I'm gonna take him back at any cost!"
"Hey, you!" shouts Yonji. "You're Pekoms from the Big Mom pirates, aren't you? Why are you with the Straw Hats?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you!" Pekoms shouts back. "There's no bond between us yet!"
"You're right," Reiju says before leaping skyward and landing on the railing of the Germa ship. "I'll pretend I didn't see anything for now. But we'd best all tread lightly for now." Reiju looks pointedly Run, favoring the red head with a wink. "'Til we meet again, red hair." Their ship begins moving, pulling away and disappearing into the fog surrounding them.
"Not a word of what happened to Robin," Run finally says. "You all hear me? Not a single word about that." They press forward now as well and Chopper quickly retrieves his doctor bag to examine the red head. Whatever Reiju did seems to have completely cleansed his body of poison. Pekoms takes the time to give them a little information about Whole Cake Island. There are apparently thirty-four islands that surround it with thirty-four minsters, one to run each island. This vast area is called Totto Land, and all of it is completely under the control of Big Mom.
Their first stop is going to be Cacao Island, where they can pick up some supplies before continuing on to Whole Cake Island. When they do reach Cacao Island, they've barely dropped anchor before Luffy and Chopper have bound over the railing of the Sunny and are sprinting straight for the town in the distance.
"I...should probably be concerned about that," mutters Run. "Oi, Pekoms, what kind of place is Cacao Island?" He explains that just about everything on the island is made out of chocolate. In fact, you can eat as much as you like so long as it's not the roof-tiles, window glass, construction posts or private property...basically, don't eat any of the buildings or anything not made out of chocolate. "Ohhh...we might have an issue."
"Huh?" grunts Pekoms. "What do you mean?" Shouting and screaming in the distance drags a heavy sigh out of the red head.
"There it is." Run leaps the railing of the Sunny quickly and sprints towards the town in the distance. It doesn't take for Pedro and Brook to catch up, and for the three of them to find a bloated Chopper and Luffy being interrogated by a man they assume to be a member of the police force. Behind them, what looks like a half-eaten house lies in ruins.
"Should we attack, Run?" Pedro asks.
"We can't make a scene. It'll give us away."
"What should we do, then?"
"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'."
"Wait, Chocopolice!" shouts a female voice, as a woman descends from the sky on what seems to be a flying carpet. She swoops down, landing several feet away from them just as Nami and Carrot catch up with them. She dismounts from the carpet and the police officer salutes the woman, identifying her as the owner. "Oh, no! What did you do?!" She approaches Chopper and Luffy, hands on her hips. "How could you leave this much? This isn't what we agreed on! You have to finish it properly!" Is the woman...covering for them? She explains that they were 'demolishing' her cafe before it expired, and the man buys it without a second thought, even wishing the woman, Pudding, congratulations on her up-coming wedding.
"Talk about lucky," mutters Pedro, placing a cigarette in his mouth. Run raises his hand and snaps his fingers. A flame roars to life at the tip of his index finger, and Pedro quickly lights his cigarette before Run extinguishes it with a sigh.
"He's got the devil's luck..."
"So, your name is Pudding!" laughs Luffy. "Thanks so much for saving us!" After barely avoiding being arrested through this woman's good graces, she was even kind enough to bring them all to her home so they could speak with her. She's even allowed Luffy and Chopper to eat parts of her home while they sit around a table in her kitchen.
"No, no!" Pudding tells him. "I should be thanking YOU. Because you said...it was too delicious. That chocolate at the cafe was a new blend that I came up with! Did you like how it melted in your mouth? I added milk to cocoa butter and high purity beet sugar and kneaded it for three days straight!" The red head blinks in response. All of that work just for some chocolate?
"We really want to stay and thank you," Nami begins. "But we really have to go."
"Really? That's too bad. Before you go would you like a cup of tea?" Since it seems like they won't be able to refuse, they agree and she quickly goes about pouring each of them a cup of tea. "Oh! I never did get to ask you what your names are."
"I'm Luffy! I'm gonna be King of the-" Run covers his mouth quickly...but it seems to be too late as Pudding turns to face them quickly.
"Luffy?" She takes a close look at Luffy and then screams loudly. "Now that I look closer, you look familiar! You're Straw Hat Luffy!" Pudding backs up against the counter. "You're really the Straw Hat Pirates! You're Sanji's comrades!"
"That's right!" Luffy tells her. "Wait, you know Sanji?"
"Wait a minute!" shouts Nami. "You're Charlotte Pudding! Luffy, she's Big Mom's daughter! The one who Sanji is supposed to marry!"
"Ehhh?! You're marrying Sanji?!"
"Y-Yes," mumbles Pudding, her face flushing red. "B-But you people shouldn't be here! Mama is a scary pirate and you're in her territory!" Pudding finally seems to realize that she's talking to pirates and grasps a knife from her kitchen counter. "You people are scary pirates, too!"
"Calm down!" Nami says quickly. "We're not going to hurt you!" Pedro moves in an instant, disarming Pudding and pressing the blade of his sword against her neck.
"What should I do?" Pedro asks. "Shall I kill her?"
"No," Luffy tells him. "Let her go. We just came to take Sanji back." After releasing Pudding and eventually getting her to calm down, she sits down at the table across from them.
"I knew he didn't consent," Pudding says. "She even uses her children's marriage to strengthen her pirate group. When you're one of her children, you only have two choices...give up on love or run away. One of my older sisters that I love very much did just that. She ran away and set sail on the sea looking for love."
"Arranged marriage," mutters Run. "What a crock."
"I read in the newspaper that you're 'Red Haired' Shanks' son...isn't it the same for you?"
"Not even close."
"Just out of curiosity," begins Brook. "The invitation said that you're the thirty-fifth daughter of the Charlotte Family. Does Big Mom have thirty-five daughters?"
"Well," sighs Pudding. "She actually has thirty-nine daughters, and forty-six sons. We're eighty-five brothers and sisters."
"Wow, so many!" shouts Luffy.
"We have different fathers. Mama has forty-three husbands so we're actually a family of one-hundred and twenty-nine people. Some of my older brothers and sisters already have children, so if you count them then we're actually an even bigger family. The Big Mom Pirates consists mainly of her blood relatives."
"Have you met Sanji yet?" Chopper asks her.
"Y-Yes! Although, it was only once...and his eyebrows were twirly, he was very kind and gentlemanly. Even though he's got heart eyes, he taught me so much about making sweets. I heard that his feet are black but he's tough and very dependable."
"You're in love with Sanji," Nami says, almost accusingly.
"L-Love?! Well, I mean...Mama's decision can't be over turned. If I have to marry someone, I prefer..."
"We should tie her up," Pedro tells them. "If we leave her as is, she'll tell them that we're here. If they find us on the outer-most islands, then we'll never be able to reach Sanji. We can't forget that she's Big Mom's daughter."
"I won't tell Mama about Straw Hat and the rest of you. I'm Big Mom's daughter, so I know it's hard to believe me but...I AM scared of Mama but I've made up my mind. If you've all come to take back Sanji, I'll help you! I can still let go of my feelings for Sanji." Pudding retrieves a pen and paper and quickly starts drawing a map for them. "The people of Totto Land...all of them are giving me their blessing for my marriage. None of us could disobey Mama's order so I knew I couldn't marry for love, but I've been dreaming of it ever since I was a child. I always wondered what my husband would look like...and then I met Sanji. He was such a wonderful man but he told me, 'I want to marry you but I can't'...'I want to go back to my friends'."
"I-I knew he wanted to continue the adventure," cries Luffy.
"It wasn't just him," Pudding says. "Because all of you came here to take him back at the risk of your own lives. Even if it's Mama's decision, it'd be hard for me to stay with someone who didn't want to get married. But most of all, I know you all care about Sanji so much and I can't take him away from you." Pudding completes the map and passes it across the table to them. "Take this route. It's the only way you can get there without Mama knowing which only her children know about. If you follow this route, you can reach Whole Cake Island...but Mama won't give Sanji up without a fight. So, let's meet up at the southwest shore of Whole Cake Island tomorrow. I'll bring Sanji there at any cost."
"Are you sure?" Nami asks her. "Won't you be punished by Big Mom?"
"I'm her daughter. I'll be fine. You should worry about yourselves, you're in enemy territory after all." A loud banging on the front door draws their attention. "That must be the guards. They're here to take me to Mama." Pudding motions towards a window facing towards the back. "Go through there, and go in the direction of the cafe. Move quickly, and I'll see you tomorrow." They all quickly pile out through the window as quietly as they can but Brook is the last one.
"Say, Pudding," begins Brook. "Before we leave, may I see-" A hand tightly grasps him by the front of his shirt.
"Would you give it a rest?!" Run whispers quickly, yanking him out of the window...
