Whole Cake Island
Part Eight
"We're here! This is Bege's hideout!" Luffy said, eyeing the fort was built into a column shaped mountain. "Wait, what kind of guy is Bege?"
"Just think of him as a mafia boss," Sanji said.
"I hope nothing goes wrong with teaming up with him." Neo pressed against Law's arm.
"It'll be fine." Law kissed her hair.
The doors opened and a tall man with big hands and a curled tongue stepped out. "Whoa! My hero! The Germa! Vinsmoke Sanji! I'm glad we could meet again."
"You, huh," Sanji said.
"You know him? Neo asked.
"He was on the Bege's ship when they brought me here. His name is Monster Gun Vito."
"Hey! Where's everyone else?! Are you Bege?" Luffy pointed at the man.
"Don't get your britches in a twist, boy. The others are here," Vito said.
"Luffy! Sanji! Neo!" Chopper came running out the door, juice box in hoof, and jumped into Neo's arms. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." Neo nodded and stroked his hatless head. Freshness wafted up from his fur. "Are you and Carrot okay? Did you get hurt?"
"Carrot and I are fine. I just got out of the bath," Chopper said taking a drink of his juice.
"Sounds like a good idea. That weird sugar rain got us all sticky." Neo glanced at a strand of her hair plastered to her shoulder.
"This ain't the time to be lounging about! We're in a hurry here! And I thought you hated baths!" Luffy said.
"Nope, you guys got to go," Vito said. "Father will not meet with you if you are dirty." Another man appeared. "We'll show you to the showers."
"Neo will stay with me," Law said.
"Fine." Vito and the other man led them inside, down a couple hallways and into two separate rooms.
"Oh." Neo turned in a circle, observing the bathroom they had been lead to. It was large with a shower on the wall and a tub that could fit at least five people.
"I'll have some clothes brought in for you to chose from." The man left them.
With her magic out, Neo turned on the faucet to the bathtub. Once it was hot enough she plugged the hole and started taking off her clothes. "Gross. So sticky."
Law watched her before taking off his own clothes. He turned on the shower. They stepped under the falling water, scrubbing the stickiness off their skin before crawling into the tub.
Heat rushed over Neo's body as she leaned against Law's chest. "This is nice."
Law hummed in agreement. "We can't stay long."
"I know. Wish we could."
"Once we get back to the sub."
Neo sighed. "They're okay."
"Of course they are." Law kissed her shoulder. "Let's get out now."
"Fine." Neo pulled herself from the water. Wrapping a towel around their bodies they stepped out into the bedroom where several clothes had been placed. She huffed at the dresses. "They could have brought me some pants."
Reluctantly she pulled on a mini black dress, ignoring the high heels, and examined herself in a mirror. "I don't look like myself in this." She caught a glimpse of Law in a black suit. He was looking at a hat before putting his own back on. "You look like a gangster."
"That's Bege's style."
They left the room to find the man from before waiting for them. He lead them through the building and into a room where the Straw Hats had already gathered. Her eyes landed on the unfamiliar woman in the room, who was holding a baby, before her feet froze at the sight of Caesar. The scientist had his hair spiked up and was wearing the same style of clothes as Bege's men. Rage at his treatment of the children on Punk Hazard came flooding back. Before she could get a word out Burlee said, "I won't forgive you for this, Chiffon! You bloody kid! I can't believe you'd join hands with someone trying to kill Mama!"
"Lady Chiffon! Please, rethink your course of action. Trying to assassinate Mama is all but impossible!" a man in the shape of a train said.
"Brulee! You know exactly what Mama did to me, don't you?" Chiffon said. "Lola's life is in danger too. Bege and Pez are my family now! They're all I need."
Law tugged Neo to sit on the couch before Bege and his crew entered.
Neo pulled her feet under her and leaned against Law.
Bege sat in a chair across from the pirates. "All right. Looks like everyone's here. I trust you lot managed to clean yourselves up a little, eh? Clothes make the man, they say. I have no interest in talking to fools who can't even present themselves properly. Now then, we've got three hours and thirty minutes. Let's get down to it. First things first, do we join hands or not? As far as me and mine are concerned, you lot are nothing but a big pain. Offing you all here would save me some sweat off my back, but..."
Neo glared at the man, wishing her magic was working.
"If I die, your chances at assassinating Big Mom drop to zero. The whole ceremony itself will be called off, after all. And if I don't make it back at least two hours before the party starts, people are going to start getting suspicious," Sanji said.
"Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, you're right," Bege said. "I definitely can't kill you."
"We don't have time to flower and smolder at each other," Jinbe said. "Luffy, what does your instinct tell you? Feel like joining up with these guys?"
Luffy remained silent before noticing Caesar. "You! You're Caesar, aren't you?!"
"Caesar?! Where?!" Chopper looked around.
"How are you just realizing now?" Nami sighed.
"He's right there for crying out loud." Sanji nodded at the scientist.
"Cae-Caesar? No... I'm Bege's brother!" Caesar said. "Gangster Gastino!"
"Gastino? Really?" Neo shook her head. "You're a terrible person. Guess it shouldn't be surprising you'd choose a terrible fake name."
"Hey! You shut up!" Caesar snapped.
"Oh. Must have gotten you confused for someone else. My bad," Luffy said.
"No, you're actually right for once! That's Caesar! Come on!" Nami said.
"So it really was you, huh?! What the heck are you doing here?!" Luffy said.
"You think I want to be here?! You utter dolt! Because of you idiots, I got handed over to Big Mom! I was about to say goodbye to this world, but then this guy got my heart and now is using it to order me around! And you two idiots!" Caesar looked at Neo and Law. "So help me I'm going to kill you both!"
Neo's mage came back. She summon her crystals.
Caesar shrieked and pulled away.
"Enough of all that! We don't have time for this." Bege squeezed Caesar's heart. The scientist grasped his chest, gritting his teeth. "Straw Hat. Trafalgar. Shall we join hands?"
"I'm here for Neo," Law said. "She wants to save her friend."
"You're such a good boy." Neo patted his head.
"Fine, but first let me punch you once for shooting Pekoms." Luffy lifted a fist.
"Wait! Luffy! What's the point of that?!" Jinbe held out a hand.
"But he shot my friend!" Luffy said.
Bege's men took a step forward. "I won't let people talk that way to Father!"
"Stop that, Gotti!"
"I don't care! Go ahead!"
"That's right! Kick these jerks out of here!"
"Always excited with the Straw Hats around!" Neo laughed.
"Do you like Big Mom?" Jinbe asked.
"No! I hate her!" Luffy growled.
"And that's what we call an allied army. You all can kill each other later. But if you join hands here and now each of you has something to gain out of it," Jinbe said.
"So what's your plan going to be?!" Luffy got up in Bege's face.
"I've already got a perfect one," Bege said.
"Just hurry and get this over with! So I can finally be rid of you cursed idiots!" Caesar said.
"It's your own fault you're here," Neo said.
"Just shut up!" Caesar snapped.
"I'm not too interested in pulling off the assassination of Big Mom myself, but is Big mom even the sort of person that'll die to guns or cannons? As far as my first impression of her goes, she seems like an iron balloon. I doubt we can even put a scratch on her," Sanji said.
"Indeed, if we were really going to pull off an assassination we've got to finish her off in an instant. Or we'll get surrounded and killed instead," Bege said.
"Emperors really are something else, aren't they?" Luffy said.
"Of course! She's a monster we almost died just trying to get Brook back from her while she was asleep," Nami said.
"When did you do that?" Neo asked.
"You were with Sanji," Nami replied.
"Right you are. Which makes it all the more puzzling that you'd choose to carry out this plan at her tea party, where all her strong underlings will be gathered as well," Brook said.
"Assuming certain conditions are met, I can take Big Mom's head in five seconds," Bege said.
"Just five seconds?" Chopper asked with a mouth full of food.
Neo pulled a banana from the table. "Is that even possible?"
"Creating a five second opening at the tea party is no small task-rero," Vito said. "After even an instant, someone, most probably one of the commanders is going to be at your throat."
"And if that happens, it's an all out battle. A battle we have exactly zero chance of winning." Bege chuckled darkly. "This assassination plot starts with ensuring Caesar's cooperation."
"It's Gastino! Don't you dare call me Caesar in front of Big Mom! Not even by mistake!" Caesar said.
"If Straw Hat can figure out who you are then Big Mom will have no problem doing it," Law said.
"You shut up!" Caesar snapped then pointed at Bege. "Once this plot is over, you're going to give me back my heart and set me free! That's our agreement! Don't for get it! Or I promise you, I'll come for your son's life!"
"How dare you even worry about that, Gas-Tiny! Bege keeps his promises!" Chiffon said.
"Gas-Tiny?! It's Gastino!" Caesar said.
Luffy laughed. "Gas-Tiny!"
"Who cares what we call him?! He's still trash!" Nami said.
"In any case, this guy's job is pretty important." Bege jerked his thumb at Caesar.
"Indeed." Caesar laughed. "This shall be my job." He waved at strange guns lying on a table. "The deadly poison gas bullet, the KX launcher! One's more than enough, and we've got three! Each cartridge directly delivers five grams of toxic organophosphate poison directly to the body! An absolutely godless weapon of slaughter! Die! Die, you fools!"
"I see. Now it makes sense. So we've got weapons that we know will kill her. We just got to make sure we hit her?" Sanji said.
"Sadly, not exactly. That cartridge won't be able to penetrate Big Mom's tough skin when she's hale and hearty. There aren't many weapons that can," Bege said.
"She's that strong?" Neo asked and Bege nodded.
"What?! So what are we going to do?!" Chopper asked.
"There are two conditions that need to be met for this KX launcher to work properly." Bege picked up a launcher. "One, ensuring that all present are, for at least five seconds, unable to prevent me from firing the thing. And two, that Mama's body is sufficiently weakened."
"What is with those overly convenient conditions?" Law asked.
"Those overly convenient conditions can only be met at the tea part," Bege continued. His son cried. "Aw! I'm sowwy, baby! Daddy spoke too woud, didn't he? Daddy's sowwy!"
Neo blinked a couple times then looked at Law. "Are you going to act like that?"
"I'll cut off my tongue before I do," Law grumbled.
"Anyway, it's been close to a year since we joined Big Mom's crew," Bege said. "And she just doesn't get hurt. When she's wrecking the town, or when she's sinking ships, or even when she eats direct gun or cannon fire her tough as nails body simple doesn't suffer as much as scratch. She really is an iron balloon, as you said. There's only one time that I saw Mama's body sufferer even the smallest injury."
"The Mother Caramel photo incident, right?" Vito asked.
"Indeed." Bege nodded. "At her tea parties, the seat right in front of Mama is always reserved for a certain special photograph. That picture is very important to Big Mom."
"A photo?" Nami asked.
"Indeed. A photo of Mother Caramel. You can think of it as Big Mom's one weakness. Mother Caramel is like Mama's lifesaver but little is known about her," Bege said.
"Is she dead?" Nami asked.
"She apparently ran away some time ago. Even we family member don't know much about it," Chiffon said. "Once at a tea party, someone carelessly touched the Mother Caramel picture. And that moment, Mama's reaction was astounding. Her face grew blue, and she cried out with a piercing, almost alien sound. Symptoms quite similar to a violent fit. Those around her could do little more than try to cover their ears and protect their eardrums. Some workers began to collapse, one after another."
"Because, in addition to that strange voice of hers, she's liable to even active her conqueror's haki. All this just because someone dropped a photo," Bege said. "Anyway, when all this happened Mama took to her knees with the shock. And doing so scraped her knees. She bled. To be honest, we were all quite surprised that regular red blood runs in her veins. In any case, when she enters that state, her body loses its toughness. Now, what will happen I wonder, if one of us splits that precious photo of hers right in two? Mama will be weakened! We'll have at least five seconds to ourselves, without interference from anyone else. And just then, the KX launcher will demonstrates its effects. Big Mom will die. And news of her assassination will spread the world over!"
"Kind of sounds like what happened to me back when that elemental took your hat and ring from me." Neo looked up at Law. "Maybe this Caramel person helped Big Mom is someway."
"That is possible," Law said.
"But... what about that voice? What if we end up being unable to move?" Chopper asked.
"Don't worry. I've got these." Bege pulled earplugs from his pocket. " The invisible symphonia system!"
"Fancy name for earplugs," Neo said.
"If just splitting that photo in two is going to cause that big of a ruckus, then I'll use that time to save Sanji and his family!" Luffy sat his ankle on his knee.
"Hey! Quit acting all cocky!" Bege pointed at Luffy. "There's going to be a three second gap between when that photo breaks and when Big Mom's fit will start. Just managing to survive those three seconds, where nothing will have happened yet and we're surrounded by enemies. Will be a miracle in and of itself. We're going to have you play that part, Straw Hat."
"Wait a minute! You're going to have Luffy be a decoy?!" Nami asked.
"Bege, Nami and the others saved Lola. Why are you basically sentencing them to their death?" Chiffon asked.
"It's cool!" Luffy grinned. "I'll do it! Besides, I just thought up a super cool way to make my entrance!"
"Really?! What is it?! Tell me!" Chopper said.
"Nope. Can't spoil it just yet," Luffy said.
"How reliable of ya. You know what the signal will be, right?" Bege asked.
"When Sanji and Pudding kiss, right?" Luffy asked.
"No! We ain't going to kiss at all! We can't!" Sanji said. "She's going to try and shoot me just when we're about to kiss. And I'm going to have to dodge it. So let her gunshot be the signal."
"Okay. That's easy!" Luffy said.
"All right. Makes things simple. As soon as Big Mom screams, the ball's in our court. You guys focus on the rescue," Bege said. "We'll focus on the assassination. At worst, you should be able to get in all done in ten seconds. As all this stuff is going on, this idiot will show up." He jerked his thumb at Caesar.
"You mean this genius! Who are you calling an idiot, idiot! Listen up! As I, who can fly, make my appearance, I'll be holding the mirror we're going to use for escape! And this woman, of course!" Caesar looked at Brulee.
"Don't just randomly count me as part of your team! Mama's going to kill me!"
"To be honest, I'm glad you all manage to bring Brulee with you. There aren't very many abilities in this world as useful as hers when it comes to escapes," Bege said. "As soon as you all finish your respective jobs, quickly jump into Caesar's mirror. Those around you should still be under the spell of Mama's voice. All that's left after we're all inside is just running away through the mirror world. You all should prepare a mirror on your ship. That way we'll all be able to escape as quickly as possible. Soon as we each reach our respective ships, this alliance is off. We hightail it out of Big Mom's territory. Every man for himself. May war's fortune be with you!"
"Okay!" Luffy said.
"Looking good, huh," Jinbe said.
"About two and a half hours left. I've got to get back to my room. I am the groom, after all." Sanji glanced at the clock.
"We've got to go, too. Gotta pretend like we're setting up security," Bege said.
"Hey, Bege! I've got a favor to ask. When I make my funny entrance..." Luffy said.
"Quit focusing on whether or not it'll be funny! You're going to get yourself killed!" Nami said.
"Sanji." Neo jumped from the couch. Pushing up on her toes she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Please, be careful."