So, they got in the group to leave. Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Zoro and Brook. Not to mention Pekoms, who they had to go and help out. But then Luffy's ears picked up a sound of people from below, yelling, before the whole elephant shook, and a loud moan was made. The elephant was shaking more, and houses were falling, minks and pirates thrown around.
Luffy wrapped a rubber arm around Nami and Usopp, and latched onto a tree branch before he heard a loud voice in his head. "Hurry, please!"
"Whose voice is that?!" Luffy demanded, as it was very loud and he couldn't hear anything anybody else was saying. It was so loud it hurt his head. But he noticed neither of his eardrums were in pain. And nobody else seemed to hear it but for Momonosuke, who was also shouting about the noisy voice yelling in his ears.
"Stop yelling!" Luffy shouted, eyes shut from the overwhelming volume of the voice. It didn't sound male or female, it was just there. In his head, unrecognizable. "Please command me! If you are out there!"
Luffy was getting annoyed with the disembodied voice, and asked it to stop yelling, and tell them what it was talking about. It continued to beg for a command. Then Luffy spread his senses out as far as he could, ignoring the voice, and heard the sounds of explosions. His eyes snapped open, and he went running towards the source.
"Where are you going?!" they called. He dashed through trees and broken city, passing all the minks as he came to a step right near the side of the elephant. Ships were attacking the legs. Luffy heard more begging and shouting. He wished the voice would respond to him, but it didn't. He felt this had happened before. When he heard that sea king talk! Was he hearing more sea kings? But he was high above the water! He felt bursts in his arms, which he had noticed were much calmer and less frequent when he was in a relaxed place like Zou.
He looked around before he saw a boulder, and carried it with him to the elephant's edge. He tied a toe around a tree before growing both hands by inflating each, and then holding the boulder right above where the ships were. Instantly, he let out the burst in both arms, and shot the boulder down like a giant cannon call, smashing it into one of the ships, decimating it.
Unable to do much else, he ran back to everyone. "There's ships attacking!" Everyone was already on the move, already knowing. "The pain! Please do something, if I fall, everyone will be in danger!" It was the elephant crying! "Hey, tell it to do something! How do we help it?!"
Momonosuke was hearing much more than Luffy was. Like information was just appearing in his head. The minks were scrambling to do something, protect Zunesha. "Please, give me a command! Let me fight, just this once!"
Could the elephant fight against Jack? What would it do? It was slow and had no real weapons as it walked along the seafloor. Finally, Momo gave it permission to fight back, to get rid of Jack once and for all. "Understood!" They all waited, not knowing what to expect. But then there was a noisy cracking like sound, and they could see the trunk raised high above the trees. It wasn't going to attack with its legs, but its trunk!
Luffy wanted to see, but didn't get there in time before the very, very old elephant moved the old trunk and slammed it into the many ships remaining at her leg. Luffy heard the sounds of crashing wood, and not even any screams, as everyone on board the ship was caught in the sudden attack.
The elephant then went still and silent. It got too quiet too suddenly, it seemed to throw them off a bit. "The voice stopped."
"Robin, remember when I said I could hear the sea king? At Fishman Island? I think I could hear the elephant!" Luffy said. Ace raised his eyebrows high, and the minks were surprised. They relatively moved on after a moment of awkward shock from the minks before they commented that Zou was unsafe if Jack had found them again. And the surprise of Zunesha communicating with somebody after they assumed she was just a walking relic without any thought for herself. Luffy wondered if the elephant would ever find any family, or would walk alone forever. For however long the creature had to live.
"Well, go get Jack again if he bothers you! You got this big, strong elephant to guard you now, you'll be okay! But man, how crazy to think now we have more strong people on our side! First we get that grand fleet and now Zou backs us up! Shishishi."
"Grand fleet?" Nami asked in confusion. Zoro said they'd explain later.
"Oh, yeah, we gotta be going now, huh? To save Sanji and get that poneglyph and all," Luffy said brightly, glad to get back on the ship and sail as fast as possible to get Sanji. They were already days late, which was unfortunate. But they'd get there in time.
Chopper went to help heal Zunesha's wounds while Luffy went around and took all the meat he could find and stuffed it into a backpack, like he had with Hancock's lunches not so long ago. So much had happened, since then, though. Then he headed to where Pekoms was to fetch him for their journey.
He found the house he was in destroyed, but Luffy smelled no dead body, and heard the sounds of someone living in the otherwise quiet place. "Oh, Pekoms! What are ya doing, lounging around in that mess?"
"The house fell on top of me, what does it look like, gaoh!?" he said in annoyance. Luffy brightly said he looked alive enough. "I'm still on the verge of death!" he shouted.
"Hup!" Luffy said, pulling the lion mink up onto his backpack like another sack of food. "Well, time to go to Big Mom, now!" the teen announced, and carried Pekoms to his crew, where those going to go with them were waiting.
Ace was speaking with Nekomaushi, saying that Marco had declined to help, but that Izo would like to do so. Marco just had too many responsibilities as captain, and he was needed even more with two commanders to be absent. The mink leaders understood why Marco couldn't come, and were grateful to have two commanders regardless. "Ace, we're going now." The older brother smiled at him, and hugged him.
"Don't be too reckless. I sure as hell don't want you coming to Wano with another yonko on your tail, got it?" he asked.
"Neehee! I won't!" Luffy promised. Then he was told they had one more guest coming with them to deal with Pekoms. Which was weird, but the guy looked strong. What was one more person? Now they had seven people going with them. Well, they'd be sneaky anyways. Luffy was good at being sneaky. He lasted a couple minutes sneaking around Impel Down, after all!
"Well, nice to meet you Peropero," Luffy said to the leopard mink.
"It's Pedro, and I'll make sure to not get in your way," he vowed. Zoro said he'd hold him to that. "I have no problem with that," the mink said sagely. Everyone else was standing across from the Sanji-retrieval group, wishing them good luck. Usopp said they had to get Sanji back, even if it was tearing him away from a wife.
"Well, we could steal her, too! Maybe Nami and Robin could have another girlfriend."
"And love-cook might stop being a perverted freak if he had a woman," Zoro said lightly. "He's sure been begging for them long enough."
"That is if he doesn't die of a nosebleed in front of her," Robin said just as conversationally.
"Well, we're off!" Kanjuro offered to help them down. But they didn't need any help. Luffy wrapped his rubbery arms around all of them and joined hands right in front of his chest so they were all held securely. They froze, with Zoro wrapping his arms around Luffy's pressed to his chest, knowing and accepting what was about to happen.
Luffy propelled himself and his group off of the elephant and to where Sunny lay waiting below. "See ya in Wano!" Luffy shouted.
"Don't let Big Mom catch you!" Ace and Usopp shouted. None of the Straw Hats were shocked by this, like everyone else was. Well, but for Law, who just looked irked.
"Got it! Later!" Luffy shouted as they fell down the drop from the top of Zunesha. "Goodbye, giant elephant!" No response. He was glad, the voice in his head was annoying and confusing. And he was mostly uninterested in what had happened when he was thinking about saving Sanji.
They landed just fine when Luffy inflated himself, and Luffy laughed at their responses. Zoro got his bearings first and went to rest against the railing of the Sunny, his swords beside him. "C'mon, let's get a move on!" Luffy cheered to his dizzy and dazed crew, having fallen directly off of the elephant's back. "Hurry, hurry! We gotta get to Sanji!" Luffy insisted.
"You shut up! Give us a moment to recuperate! Somebody thought jumping off Zunesha was cute!" Nami raged, looking ill and pale. Luffy huffed slightly as Pekoms complained about his injuries that Chopper was already treating.
"Well, I'll get us there, then!" Luffy said, and went to the wheel before he was grabbed by the ear and yanked off.
"You don't touch the wheel! We're already off course from trailing along Zunesha. But I'll get us there. Can you smell Sanji?" she asked. Luffy took in a deep smell. He couldn't catch his scent at all. They'd long strayed from where he'd departed. Nobody was surprised to hear he could not smell him.
They began sailing and got a couple miles at least away before Luffy smelled another presence here. There was somebody else on this ship. He followed the faint smell, which was masked by the sour scent of soy sauce. He hurried into the kitchen and saw a mink, Carrot, who always chewed on his ear, hiding under the bar table, her hands soaked in soy sauce to mask her scent.
"A stowaway!" Luffy declared. Carrot jumped him and started chewing on his ear. "What are you doing here?" Then Pedro and Nami came in, one shocked and the other furious with her presence here. "She hid her smell with food! You cheater!" Luffy complained as she rubbed against his face.
Zoro walked up and yanked her back by the scruff of her shirt to get her off of Luffy. Nami put a hand in front of her mouth to not laugh. Pedro angrily asked them to turn right back around to take Carrot back where she belonged. "Nooo! Don't take me back, Wanda will yell at me!"
Pedro demanded to know if she wanted to slow them down. "This is not some cheery adventure!"
"But I wanted to go out to sea! Don't take me back, I even packed things to help out!" she said, and grabbed her bag and pulled out a bunch of different carrot themed items. Zoro said that wouldn't help them jack shit. "Please don't send me back! I won't be a nuisance! Please!" she begged. The bunny mink desperately wanted to go to sea.
Luffy said, "Well, we can't go back. Might as well take her with us. But hey, this stealth group keeps getting bigger, huh?" he asked, eating the carrot she had brought. "You can take care of yourself, right?
"That's right! But who said you can take my carrot?!" she demanded, and kicked him away, taking the half eaten carrot and shoving it into her mouth. He landed hard on the ground and bounced, only to be tackled by her. But when he was told to pat her head, she calmed down. But now he was hungry after his carrot was taken away, and started to dig into the bag of meat he'd nabbed.
They were on their way to save Sanji! Luffy wondered what a yonko's territory was like? What kind of people were on her crew, anyways? All the Whitebeard big shots seemed like strong guys, too. And Ace was strong, also. Were the Big Mom guys strong like Ace, too? And he wondered if they actually had somebody like him there.
While Zoro demanded Carrot not touch Luffy in any way, no biting or hugging or licking, Luffy went into the infirmary with Pekoms and Chopper. "Pekoms, I want you to tell me about Katakuri."
"Gaoh, never!" he shouted, with Chopper ordering him not to yell or move around, as many of his wounds had been worsened by the landing and Luffy's rough handling. Luffy scowled at him. Luffy asked Chopper to leave.
"Why? Who's Katakuri?"
"Somebody I'm interested in from Big Mom's crew. I want to know more about him," Luffy said simply. "But Pecoms won't tell me. So I'll get it out of him another way." By now, the mink looked concerned. Chopper didn't look like he approved, so he stayed in the room in case there was any other issue. Maybe if he was shocked by the feeling Luffy would purposely let out right now.
He took off his hat and showed the white spots, and tilted his arm to face him, taking his wrap off, slipping it down his forearm to show the strange tattoo. The marks on his stomach were already showing regardless with his open shirt. Pekoms looked at him in apprehensive worry. Luffy's eyes widened slightly, and he let off his terrible feeling, even making Chopper shiver slightly.
Luffy's deep red eyes looked directly into the mink's tiny ones. "Tell me about Katakuri, now."
Pekoms was shaking, and said he didn't know much, but that he was a terrifying man who Luffy reminded of him in a bad way. If he met the man he was as good as dead. He had a billion berry bounty. Luffy relaxed, and smiled, asking if that was so bad. Then he left the room. He came out to see both other minks watching him. "Don't worry!" he said brightly.
They relaxed, but Luffy could still hear Pekoms freaking out at the overwhelming fear he'd just felt. So, it was pretty much confirmed that this Katakuri, with the huge bounty, was like Luffy and Law. And the others, too. He wondered if he was the only one he knew of, thought he was alone. Well, he was an enemy, a strong one. They couldn't sit down and eat meat or anything together and talk.
When they got hungry, Luffy offered to make some food. Zoro grabbed his shoulder. "No way in hell are you cooking anything on this ship," he said firmly.
"But I'm a good chef!"
"Since when?"
"I watch Sanji make meat all the time!"
"That doesn't make you a chef," Nami said in annoyance. "I'll be doing all of the cooking. You two, stay out of the kitchen or I'll beat you up worse than Big Mom ever could."
"Gaoh, a frightening woman," Pekoms said, resting outside. He was wary of Luffy and wouldn't even look in his direction anymore. Well, he'd learned something about this Katakuri, and that was worth scaring someone who wasn't even their ally, just a convenience in their mission. They had a common goal and helped one another out, but unlike Law, well, Pekoms just wasn't an ally with the same goal or dream.
Nami went inside to cook them food while Luffy swung on the swing hanging from the tree on the grassy deck. He swung back and forth leisurely, distracted. Zoro came up behind him, and started to push him gently forward and back. "It's nothing you did that made him leave."
"I know. I just can't help but be worried. I know he's strong and can take care of himself and all, but I'm still worried," Luffy said honestly.
"It's a captain's job to be protective and worry over their crew's safety, but it's also their job to trust in their abilities. I think it's fine to feel both. But that's just my opinion," he said in a kind voice. Chopper came over and jumped into Luffy's lap, and asked about their time at Dressrosa. Brook came over to listen, as well as Carrot. Pedro was keeping look out on the crowsnest.
Luffy explained the gist of everything that happened, and Chopper started to cry over forgetting Luffy, too. "That's okay. You couldn't help it. I forgive everyone. But it sucked! I was this weak stuffed dog. Then that interfered with my fight against Doflamingo. He was harder to defeat than both Moria and Crocodile."
"Moria isn't saying too much in the first place, though," Zoro commented. Chopper was still hung up on the toy problem, angry that anybody had ever done that to people. "Well, Usopp and Luffy got to her, and then Ace took out the annoying snot guy. I never want to see one of Ace's victims again," he said in disgust. Apparently he'd seen the state of Trebol after Ace clashed with him. Chopper felt sympathy for Luffy having to kill Doflamingo, which he hadn't wanted to do much. Especially not rip his organs out of his body. It seemed his body had never been found based on the talk of the marines he'd heard and in the newspaper.
Nami called them in for food, and they ate some plain tasting food, cooked fine, but Luffy felt he was biased because it wasn't Sanji's cooking, which he thought was the best cooking out there. He ate all his food and leftovers, so he didn't dislike the meal. But he was certain he would be able to cook on his own. He had watched Sanji lots of times!
The refrigerator was promptly locked and all the cooking ware put away in locked cupboards as well. Luffy was completely insulted, and pouted over it until Zoro enticed him into the boy's room, where they were alone. Luffy didn't protest, but he could hear Nami tell Carrot to not go in no matter what.
"Huh, why?"
"They're having personal time." She didn't even sound awkward addressing their activities. Well, she'd been with them from the start and had already seen some graphic stuff before. Sanji didn't know that fact or he'd kill both of them on the spot.
Luffy got a good helping of blood from Zoro after the fun, Zoro falling asleep cutely with Luffy still draped over him. Luffy had to get up, though, when he felt a burst coming. He got dressed and laid the blanket over Zoro, planning on coming back, and managed to stay on his feet and not fall backwards by releasing a blast. Hopefully they could stay away while he relaxed, but he was no longer on Zou, a relatively safe feeling place covered in strong fighters. Now he was back on the ship, back in dangerous waters.
He had no doubt they'd become regular again. He went into the bedroom again and laid down between Zoro and the side of the bunk. He sighed and snuggled into his chest, wondering where Sanji was and what he was doing.
"You were dying because you didn't have any blood?!"
"Well, no. And Zoro was not in any shape to give any-"
"You could have asked me! I mean, not like how it is with Zoro, but I could have dripped it into your mouth or something."
Luffy sighed, and leaned his head more against Zoro.
Later that day, when Nami was making dinner," Luffy asked her how she felt about Sanji leaving. "Sad, disappointed. I'll be very upset if he chooses whoever he's supposed to marry over us. Even though it's clear I'll never be interested in him, I still want him around, even if it's never how he dreams. Or maybe it's just because I have boobs and a vagina."
"Yeah, girls do have those," Luffy mused, and Namu snorted. "I think he'll come back. He doesn't like his family, why would he do what they want? Plus, Big Mom abused Fishman Island a lot, and he wouldn't ever wanna be married to family with her," Luffy added. Nami nodded, though she was still sad.
"Chopper said you were asking Pekoms about someone named Katakuri. Who's that?" Nami asked. Zoro was napping out on deck, Pedro keeping an eye on things, Chopper with Pekoms and Carrot just wandering around and looking at everything.
Luffy said he didn't really know, other than he was a Big Mom kid with a big bounty. "But why were you interested?"
"It's stupid," Luffy said flippantly. Nami turned and gave him the face. "I heard his name back on Fishman Island after I let off my scary aura. I wondered why. Then I asked Pekoms and he pretty much confirmed that the guy is like I am." He didn't know how much the Straw Hats other than the few who knew actually knew about Law, so he wouldn't include him. "I was just wondering what kind of guy he was. If he had any more information about the stuff."
"You don't want to talk to him, right? If he's a strong enemy, it's not exactly like we can have a peaceful conversation with tea and coffee," she said harshly.
"I know. I just can't help but wonder about other people like me. What kind of lives they lived because of it. Just curious, I'm not actually gonna go outta my way to talk. The only reasons we're going to Big Mom is because of Sanji and the road poneglyph," Luffy replied. Nami nodded, and dinner was served and Luffy got everybody else.
