(A/N: I own nothing, one piece is owned by whoever created one piece)
Summary: Broye teasing, Katakuri in denial, fishman island talk, Luffy tries Oven's food, Pekoms's intro
list of charlottes in this chapter because there's a lot of them: Broye, Brulee, Mont-d'or, Daifuki, Oven, Katakuri, Cracker, Smoothie, Perospero, Compote, Prim, Praline.
(A/N: I Don't think Big mom's children ate fishman candy, her canon self probably ate it all by herself. Considering Luffy stated somewhere(I think) that Fishman candy put meat the shame and how Big mom considered it her favorite? the siblings probably would have a similar reaction)
previously:
"He kept calling me a branch even though I am not!" Brulee said, pouting and whining like a child towards her twin while Broye put her hand over her mouth to hide her snort of amusement over this while using her other to pat her back.
"You think he would like these?" Oven asked towards his two brothers showing a bunch of fried tempuras and toasted marshmallows along with French fries. Daifuki shrugged while Katakuri huffed in amusement while patting his brother's shoulder as support.
They were patiently waiting while talking about what they did throughout the morning and early afternoon until...
Their mother along with Luffy and Mont-d'or while carrying a bag in hand came.
PRESENT:
CHAPTER 12
Upon stepping inside, Mont-d'or and their mother took their respective seats, although when Luffy walking towards an empty one...
"Ne Luffy"
Luffy turned towards the woman who called him out, she was wearing a long dress and a golden crown on her head.
"I am Broye, Brulee's twin and your older sister" she said slowly to which Luffy nodded at.
Broye than pointed to herself "Who am I?" she asked which caused the siblings to look at her confused at what she was trying to do.
"Broye-nee!" he responded cheerfully, Broye softly giggled at how he looked so bright and innocent.
She than pointed at Mont-d'or causing the man to raise an eyebrow at his older sister "Who is that man?"
"Mont-nii!" he said with the same cheerful attitude, Mont-d'or smiled at the nickname but still looked confused at where she was going with this until...
"than who is this person?"
She than quickly pointed towards her twin sister, Brulee looked surprise but than looked at Luffy who smiled brightly.
"Branch-nee!"
At this Broye just snorted while covering her mouth to hide her snickering, while the other siblings, finally understanding what her intentions was, were having similar reactions. Hell, even their mother seemed amused while her 8th daughter was clearly not amused.
"I am Brulee!" she shouted towards Luffy again who just laughed it off and took a vacant seat.
After everyone calmed down, even though Brulee was kind of sulking a bit, Big mom put the bag she was carrying onto the table which her children been eyeing at once she stepped in.
"What's in the bag?" Smoothie asked, raising her eye at the bag.
"Jinbei had came to negotiate about an alliance with the Sun pirates which will make Fishman Island our territory!" Their mother explained, at this they were interested.
"This bag contains Fishman candy! And they are..." they leaned forward to listen towards their mother's review about it
"By far the best candy I have tasted! it topples over any other sweets I have eaten throughout my life!" she said with conviction which caused all of her children to go wide-eyed and stunned except for the ones who also tasted it.
Their mother was a Sweet enthusiast, she could go very in-depth about the taste, the quality and texture of the candy she had tasted, she's even got her own book in the library where she writes reports and personal thoughts about the candy, it was very detailed and very specific about various candies and where to find them.
If someone like her says fishman candy was the best so far?...
They were either mentally or physically drooling at what heavenly taste it could offer.
Big mom Reached into the bag and handed it towards her two children(Perospero and Compote) sitting between her and they passed it down until there was no more.
After the bag was empty, their mother along with Luffy, Brulee and Mont-d'or ate theirs after receiving and handing it out and were in a state of bliss again.
Cracker, Looking at the state his siblings along with their mother were in, shrugged and ate his.
Were these that good?
As soon as his mouth closed and chewed followed by swallowing it, his eyes widened in shock.
Oh fuck they were good as hell.
And he wasn't the only one.
Most of the siblings were in a blissful state as if they had eaten food blessed from the all mighty above the clouds.
Even the most stoic siblings had a slightly joyful or cheerful expressions once the flavors and taste hit their mouths.
Except for one man.
Katakuri
As soon as he ate his without removing his scarf, his eyes widened with his pupils shaking, he wasn't in a state of joy like the rest of his siblings...
But in heavy denial.
(Impossible... something... better than doughnuts?!)
Throughout his entire Life, from his childhood to his present self, he had always enjoyed and mostly ate doughnuts, any other food consumed just couldn't compare!
to the deliciousness! the sweetness! of
Doughnuts~
When his in public or with his siblings, he makes sure to consume his food at an inhumane speed so they wouldn't get a glimpse of his mouth.
One second his giant doughnut in hand would be Whole, but in a blink of an eye, a fraction of it seemingly disappeared into thin air with visible bite marks being the only proof the man had consumed it.
He would only fully enjoy his guilty pleasure with his mask down when he was alone so they couldn't see his shameful and embarrassing state when he was enjoying
Doughnuts~
Just like any of his siblings, he too, had a state of bliss and pleasure when consuming his favorite food just like their mother, but, he had an image to uphold.
He couldn't show the same weakness like he did before when he was an ignorant and naïve child, he had to be the perfect elder brother for his siblings sake. So he always kept a cool and composed aura around him along with masking his mouth.
If anyone saw it, his perfect brother image would falter and shatter.
But right now though, The always stoic and cool elder brother, was having an existential crisis and questioning several things internally while on the outside his facial expression seemed to still be the same.
When a man had believed that doughnuts was the pinnacle of food and practically worshipped it throughout his entire life, was met with something that could top it?
Yeah expect one hell of a reaction.
Big mom was the first to snap out of her bliss so she could see her children's reaction, and to her delight, it seems they also could agree that fishman candy was good as hell.
"Mamamama~ it's quite the taste, isn't it?~" Big mom asked smiling at her children's state of joy and pleasure, they all looked at their mother and nodded in confirmation, that it is, quite the taste.
"Is there anymore?" Effiler asked with hope in her eyes, it also seemed a handful of her siblings, mostly the younger ones, also wanted more.
To their disappointment, Big mom shook her head "No, all the fishman candy that were brought here, were inside this bag..."
"But!"
"If the negotiations are successful, We will build a factory over there to produce 10 tons of Fishman candy on a monthly basis!" She announced.
Her children lit up and were happy over this revelation, a monthly supply of 10 tons of this was going to be great!
Big mom now leaned back and was rubbing her chin in deep thought (Now, for said negotiations. When I go to the island and speak to Neptune over this matter, who should I bring?...)
She looked around before immediately staring at 2 of her daughters and smiled (Of course! it should have been an obvious decision!)
"When I am going there to talk things out with Neptune..."
"Prim! Praline! you shall accompany me for the meeting!" Big mom said towards her mermaid daughters.
Prim and Praline perked up at this and looked at each other in excitement and hope.
They had always wanted to visit Fishman island to chat and converse with other fishman, but, with the fact they were part of the big mom pirates, and were entering Whitebeard's territory, they couldn't
It could cause misunderstandings, a Yonko's crew entering another Yonko's territory is normally presumed to be a raid or hostile take-over for them, considering their mother's relationship with the man, whitebeard himself? Yeah, they couldn't risk it.
Even though Whitebeard's death effectively put an end towards his crew, meaning every island that flew his banner is now exposed and open for any attack's or claim, they still couldn't really enter.
After Whitebeard's death, most of the island's under his protection had been raided and pillaged for all their worth, fortunately it seemed fishman island was left untouched, probably due to both the forces of king Neptune's personal army and the Sun pirates.
If they tried to enter and if the fishman had found out about who their mother was, they wouldn't be treated quite nicely. Any island under whitebeard's that weren't attacked, are on high alert and tense for possible oncoming hostile forces that would come, including fishman island.
They were lucky enough to come into contact with the sun pirate's captain for an alliance.
This was an opportunity to finally interact kind!
They both turned and bowed slightly forward towards their mother in acknowledgment.
"Yes mama!"
"Mamamama!~ good~" she laughed in delight, everything had been falling into place, from finally finding out and bringing her son home when he turned out to be alive and becoming quite the threat towards the marines, to the fact she had gotten to be able to talk it out with Neptune and Jinbei for an alliance for a candy factory, she didn't had to waste her forces or resort to threats for this!
With the fact that Jinbei swore to sail with her son just sealing the deal.
And heck, maybe one or both of her mermaid daughters may get interested and caught feelings for a man over there~
It was way better to see her children find true love and getting married rather than an arranged one, well maybe except for Lola, the amount of rejections were getting ridiculous.
Although if one of them dared to try to break one of her children's hearts?...
It won't be a pleasant experience for them to deal with HER.
After a couple of seconds of silence, Daifuki lightly smacked Oven's back and pointed at the food he prep before pointing at Luffy.
Oven lit up at what Daifuki was hinting at. Oh yeah, he should see what his baby brother thinks about the food he made for him.
He walked up towards Luffy and stood by his side and put the plates down in front of him while Luffy tilted his head, Looking at the food placed before him.
"What is this?" he asked arms crossed.
"This is Roasted marshmallows, Fried tempura and French fries!" he said while pointing at the 3 plates.
"Try them!" he said with a serious look on his face.
Luffy just took the food from the plates and ate them, his eyes turned into stars.
"DELICIOUS!"
Oven just grinned and laughed boastfully and patted his baby brother's back.
"Glad you like it!"
After Luffy ate Oven's cooked food, which the man was proud of knowing his brother very much enjoyed it. Then proceeding to eat more when the chefs came in until...
Katakuri pinched his nose in annoyance when he saw the future.
The doors bust open with a panicking Lion mink.
"Excuse me! Enemy ships spotted Approaching near!" he said quickly, looking panicked.
The charlottes, Instead of Looking tense and ready for a fight, were groaning in unison over this.
They were even more annoyed because they only recently gotten their brother back and it was their lunch. Heck even Tamago looked mildly annoyed.
Luffy hearing this, quickly grabbed several pieces of food and stuffed it down his throat, gulping it down before looking back at the Lion mink in confusion.
"Who are you?" he asked tilting his head while Pekoms looked surprised when he saw who said that.
Pekoms was tense and wary at who asked about him.
"Y-you were the one at marineford! w-who defeated those 3 admirals and freed fire-fist Ace! Y-you are the Billion dollar rookie! Straw-hat Luffy!" he said shocked over the fact a person who recently became quite the big shot, was eating casually with the charlottes as if they were family.
Tamago perked up in realization at his surprised expression.
He wasn't there at the viewing, and it seemed nobody told him about the fact Big mom had found her son.
Big mom noticing Luffy's curiosity, decided to explain.
"Luffy! this is Pekoms! he works under me and he along with some of his brethren are under my protection, his a mink!" she said.
(-AN EXPLANATION ABOUT PEKOMS-)
Big mom 13 years ago, was searching for the remaining races to join her island(she was also hoping for a miracle that she could find her son on her search) so when she heard about the fact a group of Minks, a race that would bring her a step closer to having every race, was coming to settle in?
She made sure to treat her new guest quite well with a warm welcoming.
She housed Pekoms with his group and treated them with hospitality, with Pekoms deciding to become part of her crew while the rest becoming official residences, which she accepted with Joy.
After 5 years of Pekoms service, he had came and informed her about an arrival of his former crewmates, the Nox pirates.
Pekoms had filled her in about his former crew when the giant woman asked him if he was apart of any which he did.
Pekoms had told her about his past when the Emperor seemed trustworthy after 5 years of service, she had even shared chocolate with him if she had any from time to time.
Big mom found it quite interesting to hear about pirates hunting for Poneglyphs and with this information, she could easily narrow down the reasons they were visiting to 2.
1)They were trying to catch up and talk with Pekoms, a casual conversation over a cup of tea with fellow friends who haven't seen each other for quite some time, quite touching and nice.
Or
2)They are going to catch up with Pekoms with the addition of trying to inspect her Poneglyph. Or they could do a little trolling and attempt to steal hers. She wasn't fond of the last guess of what they were going to do.
So, asking Pekoms about the time they were coming...
She along with Pekoms waited for their arrival.
(-Flashback to 8 years ago-)
when Big mom heard how Pekoms's friends were arriving on her territory and how they were chasing Poneglyphs for a long time?
Yeah, she was definitely joining in on the conversation and getting to know their motives behind why, especially since she owned one.
Right now, she was hiding behind a building with her homies acting as citizens by talking with each other and everyday social interactions.
she was waiting for Pekoms to talk with his former crewmates, Pedro and Zepo.
The actual citizens around the area were ordered by my homies to evacuate the premise for a period of time and were given a small compensation which made them leave without any issues.
It was silence until...
"Yo! Pekoms!" it seems they have arrived.
"Zepo! Pedro!"
"It's been a while! you doing good, buddy?"
"Yeah! it's nice to meet you guys again... also sorry about this"
"Eh?"
And that was her cue to step in.
Dramatically coming out from behind the building and Looking down at the now surprised Jaguar and Polar bear mink who gawked at the fact they were facing an emperor.
"What's the meaning of this Pekoms?!" the Jaguar mink shouted surprised.
"So you are Zepo and Pedro... Let's go settle down and have a nice conversation over tea at my Castle, you don't got much of a choice on the matter though" she said as she motioned towards the surroundings.
They Looked around and were pale once they realized their position.
She had ordered her children to position in several places, just in case they tried to escape or anything funny.
Outside of a café next to their side, Perospero was sitting on a chair, enjoying a cup of tea while Looking at them carefully. While Compote was reading a newspaper next to him, taking occasional glances to look at the minks.
On the other side from the alleyway, Smoothie stood tall facing them, arms crossed with his sisters behind her leaning on the walls.
Behind them in the ocean, Prim and Praline were just floating in the sea with Mont-d'or on a ship behind them with Numerous den den mushi laid out on a table with him sitting on a stool, ready to give orders if they tried anything.
Hell, even in the skies directly above them, Zeus and Prometheus were ready to either electrocute or burn them.
To summarize their situation, they were completely surrounded by all sides and compromised.
"What will it be?" Big mom asked, raising an eyebrow at them before leaning forward and grinning maniacally.
"LIFE"
"OR"
"DEATH?"
Naturally, they responded with the most reasonable option.
(-At the castle, Big mom's office-)
Big mom was sitting with Pekoms and his 2 friends who were on guard.
Right now, she was slipping her tea while Pekoms was eating Chocolate by her side while sweating a bit under the glare of his former captain.
Zepo after a few seconds of silence hesitantly proceeded to eat the food, after tasting it and finding it quite delicious, he ate more.
After a few seconds, Big mom noticed how Pedro was not eating anything on the table, still seemingly on guard.
"Pekoms why not you leave Pedro with me while you talk catch up with Zepo outside?" Big mom said which Pekoms agreed to while dragging Zepo outside with their respective food in hand.
Pedro and Big mom were now alone to converse.
After putting her cup down after taking one last sip, she let out a sigh before looking at Pedro who still was tense.
"I am not planning to kill you guys" Pedro eyes widened at that statement before narrowing his eyes.
"How can we be sure of that? I think you know about our reputation and why we are here, don't you?" Pedro asked, Pekoms probably also told her about what they were infamous for.
"Yeah. Pedro, Captain of the Nox pirates, a bunch of minks in search of Poneglyphs, right?" Big mom said while Pedro nodded slowly.
"And considering the fact that I have a Poneglyph..." She said trailing off but he knew what she was gonna say next.
"You are hear to steal it or at least get some a copy of the writings" she finished off now leaning forward with her arms on her chin, she was curious on the reasoning and proceeded with her next lines.
"Why are you so hellbent on finding them?" she asked the million dollar question, was he trying to take after roger?
At this Pedro leaned back in his chair, contemplating if he should tell.
after a while...
He decided he could tell her, Pekoms seems to trust her and she hadn't tried to bring any form of harm towards them.
"I am waiting and preparing..." Big mom raised her eyebrow at that.
"For what?"
"For the next person to Follow in Roger's footsteps!" She now widened her eyes at the reasoning but instead of bursting into anger at that, she laughed in amusement.
"Mamamama!~ is that so?!" she said while laughing before calming down and looking at him.
"You are trying to get your hands on the Poneglyphs so you could give it to a person who would one day show the potential for such a feat?" Pedro nodded at that.
"Yeah!"
"You should probably stop your search and go back to being one of the guardians of Zou" At this Pedro flinch in surprise, How much did Pekoms told big mom about him for her to even know his former role back in his homeland?
"And why should I?"
"Because there will be a coming of a new dawn" Pedro widened his eyes at that.
"It may take a decade or so for that to happen, hell, maybe it would take a century!..."
"But it will come! No matter how much the marines, the government and the celestial dragons try, someone will find his treasure and then..."
"The next pirate king will emerge!"
Big mom finished off looking directly at his widened eyes that turned soft.
"Is that so? how are you sure?"
"Consider it a gut feeling" she said shrugging but inside she knew.
It doesn't matter how much the government tries to prevent it, it will come and the world will bend towards his will.
After a couple of seconds of Pedro being mute, he sighed before looking up at the emperor.
"Can I visit and talk with Pekoms anytime?" Big mom nodded while smiling.
"Of course! his your former crewmate after all~" Pedro stood up and bowed slightly.
"You have my sincerest gratitude, Big mom!"
"But if I may ask...don't you also want to be King of the pirates?" Pedro asked and to his surprise, she shook her head.
"No, After something happened, it made me realize I never wanted to take after roger but..."
"Rather take care of my family" She said with a soft look in her eyes.
"That so" Pedro replied back.
After that Pedro and Big mom had small talks, mainly about what "Nox" Meant, before Zepo and Pedro left to go to Zou.
Pedro and Zepo had hugged Pekoms and gave him their contact so they could talk to anytime.
Pekoms was grateful for Big mom not stealing an ounce of their soul when he begged her not to before they arrived and handling it peacefully.
(-FLASHBACK ALONG WITH EXPLANATION END-)
Now back towards Pekoms whose scared shitless over Luffy.
"Pekoms do you know about how Big mom had a son that was kidnapped?-bon" Tamago asked towards Pekoms who nodded.
"Yeah! why are you bringing that up?! we have a bigger problem over there!" he said pointing at Luffy while the charlottes were starting to get amused, it was quite hilarious seeing the surprise faces of people when they find out who Luffy was to them.
"The son has been found!-Soir!" Tamago announced while Pekoms was surprise at this news.
"Really? where is he?!"
"Why do you think he is here?" Tamago said pointing at Luffy.
Pekoms looked at Luffy than Tamago
Then looked at Luffy
Then looked at Tamago
Then looked at Luffy
Then looked at Tamago
Then looked at Luffy
Until he finally connected the dots.
Pekoms was gaping while pointing at Luffy, shaking his body a lot.
"Y-y-you are Big mom's son?!"
"Yeah" Luffy said as if it was obvious
Pekoms looked at Tamago who nodded at him and took his cup of tea on top of his head for a sip, then looked at the charlottes who nodded at him with looks of amusement.
"Huh"
.
.
.
He fell backwards and was unconscious from the situation.
"Guess it was to much for him to handle-bon" Tamago commented with amusement.