Authors' Note
Here's chapter eleven! Lots of things happen...it's pretty great (though we're a bit biased lol). Hope you like it!
Review Responses
Final Syai Lunar Generation: Welcome back! The onesie was one of the best things we've written so far...it was adorable...and will be *wink wink* Yeah, Kuri's a bit...overprotective...so Luffy won't go to any meetings unless he's forced. We always look forward to reading your reviews, thanks a lot!
Jordansdevil: *squints* was...was that a pun? Lol respect. As funny and awkward as a kangaroo would be isn't it ironic to turn him into a small creature that doesn't really kick things?
Azedriel: First of all, there is really no need to apologize for something like English not being your native tongue, you made perfect sense to us! (and your sentences were better than many native English speakers have written so good job!) We are definitely glad that you hate Flambe more because she is a horrible person and deserved everything Katakuri did. Thank you, we try to be as accurate as possible with the characters! Looking forward to the second part of your review ;)
Jui-Imouto-Chan: ...you know, we think you might be the genie here...you're so good at predicting things that we (sometimes) haven't even written yet...are you psychic? Yes, if something happened to Lu we would join you and destroy whatever dared to harm him, though we don't have to worry about Kuri, he's a pretty great guy...and he loves cats soooo... Poor Sanji, he's gonna be a puppy for quite a while. Loved the review, see you next time! :)
Guest: Thanks for the review, hope you stuck around for the next chapter! XD
Yukino76: We appreciate the feedback! Hope you stick around for more :)
Warnings:
- Zoro laughs
- Katakuri parent mode activated
- Drunk Mihawk?
ZORO'S POV
Zoro didn't think it was possible to laugh as hard as he had been for the past three hours but every time he attempted to calm himself, all he had to do was glance at the awkward corgi puppy and he was sent into another torrent of laughter. It really wasn't that hard to figure out who the dog was, not with those eyebrows...as well as the pile of clothes out in the hall and the way the puppy had insisted that he pick up the partially eaten breakfast biscuit off of the floor. The stupid cook got what he deserved for kicking down his door and bothering him every chance he got.
Once he had calmed down from his most recent fit of laughter, Sanji began attacking his pant leg,
"What? Gotta go outside or something, Mutt?" that earned him a particularly nasty bite on his ankle, but it was worth it.
"Ow! Fine, fine. What is it?" Sanji ran over to the closet and barked until Zoro opened it for him,
"You...want to play a boardgame?" he asked, earning a halfhearted growl as the puppy scanned the different boxes.
"Alright, which one?" Zoro asked, running a hand over the stack. He paused when Sanji began barking and looked at the game in question, "You want to play Monopoly?" he asked in disbelief, and the corgi shook his head. Zoro looked back at the stack of games, "Oh, wait, you want Scrabble, don't you?" Sanji answered him with a short nod and watched impatiently as he pulled the box out and opened it, dumping the pouch of letters onto the floor.
Sanji set to work immediately, pushing the letters around with his nose after realizing that his legs were a bit too short for him to paw the tiny squares into place.
"...U...R…" Zoro read as the puppy worked, sitting on the floor next to him and flipping any of the tiles that had ended up face down.
"U R A JERK. Wow, thanks Mutt," Sanji sent him an amused look and began spelling something else out but before he could finish, Zoro glanced at the clock and gasped,
"CRAP! I'VE GOT A LESSON WITH MIHAWK IN TWENTY MINUTES AND HIS DOJO IS ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN!" he ran around stuffing his things in a duffel bag, strapping his swords to his belt before scooping up the puppy and running out the door.
"CURLY BROW YOU'RE NAVIGATING!"
KATAKURI'S POV
"Everyone just always assumes that I'm the one who did it! I may be a killer, but I'm not responsible for every crime in this city!" Katakuri complained as he scratched King's belly, the cat purring loudly where he lay stretched out on his back. Katakuri went to pull his hand away but King latched on with his front paws, his big eyes looking up at him pleadingly. The man chuckled, "alright, alright, just a bit more then."
"Brother, they've arrived." Brulee said as she opened his door. Katakuri sighed and gently scratched under King's chin before standing,
"Sorry, King, this will have to wait until I've cleared everything up with these people. Hopefully it won't take too long."
SABO'S POV
Sabo could not believe that one of the many mob bosses in this city lived in the suburbs.
"No wonder we couldn't find him." he mused, looking at the fairly average neighborhood. The house was insanely normal on the outside, an exact copy of the one only a few houses down, the three cell towers Smoker had been able to trace the phone to all visible from the front porch.
"This guy is smart."
The door was opened by a creepy guy that looked like a mix between a scarecrow and a mime,
"Whitebeards, welcome!" the man said, "I am Mont d'Or, we spoke on the phone. Please come in,"
Marco said nothing, leading the way inside. As they walked in, Sabo noticed the scanners set in the doorframe and was glad that Marco had insisted they leave all weapons behind in an attempt to keep the meeting peaceful. A few minutes later, they found themselves in a very nice parlor which seemed out of place, considering the bland outside of the house.
"Tea, anyone?" a woman asked, entering the room with a tray that held teacups and a kettle. Sabo, never one to turn down good tea, was the first to ask for a cup, ignoring Ace's pointed glare.
"Thank you, is this earl grey?" he asked politely, smiling at the woman.
"Yes it is, cream and sugar?"
"Please." he accepted the cup and took a sip, watching out of the corner of his eye as Marco firmly grasped the back of Ace's shirt, keeping him seated, "This is wonderful," he told the woman, "There's nothing that can calm my nerves quite like a cup of earl grey. Ace, would you like some?"
Five minutes later all four of them sat on the couch sipping their cups of tea (Ace reluctantly so) and eating small biscuits when Brulee re-entered the room,
"Katakuri will be with you shortly," she informed them,
"I wonder what he looks like." Sabo mused, "Marco and Thatch said he's dangerous but I've never been given a description." At that, the door opened and possibly the most terrifying man he had ever seen walked into the room, making him nearly spill the last of his tea. He was easily over six feet tall, dressed all in leather with spikes throughout, a scarf obscuring the bottom half of his face though parts of a scar and neat stitches were visible above the fabric. The massive tattoo that spread from his arm to his chest added to his intimidating aura.
"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed without thinking, earning a sharp elbow to the ribs from Thatch and a raised eyebrow from Dogtooth.
"I do hope you didn't spill any tea on the carpet." the man commented, his deep voice splitting the air and, if possible, making him even more terrifying as he moved to sit across from them. Marco placed his teacup carefully on the coffee-table and cleared his throat,
"Well, let's get down to business." he began and Ace immediately interrupted,
"Yes, where is my brother?!" which earned him a jab to the ribs that looked very painful,
"I apologize, Ace is very hot headed."
"Indeed, he reminds me of some of my own younger siblings." Katakuri said,
"Wha-" Ace began, only to be forcibly stopped by Marco's hand over his mouth.
"Let me cut to the chase," Dogtooth said seriously, "Never have I had, nor have the intention of kidnapping your brother. To my knowledge, he has never been here and I have never even laid eyes on him."
"LIAR!" Ace shouted, breaking free from Marco's grasp, "LU CALLED FROM HERE! HE SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT HE WAS IN CHARLOTTE KATAKURI'S BEDROOM!"
"And we have some very specific questions for you about that," Sabo added, "... ...Sir…"
Marco and Thatch buried their faces in their hands, groaning in disbelief even as the guy that stood by the door yelled back,
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL BIG BROTHER A LIAR! HE'S A MUCH BETTER BIG BROTHER THAN YOU ARE SINCE HE'S ACTUALLY CAPABLE OF PROTECTING HIS YOUNGER SIBLINGS!"
This began an argument between the three of them, Ace and Sabo leaping up from the couch to shout right back at the oddly dressed man while Marco and Thatch looked on, knowing that they really couldn't stop them. What eventually did stop them was Katakuri raising his voice and fixing all of them with a dangerous glare,
"ENOUGH!" he roared, "Cracker, I don't need you to defend my honor. Get back to your post. And as for you two! Sit down and stop acting like spoiled brats! This is a conversation for adults and I expect you to act like it." Sabo quickly sat down, along with a tongue-tied Ace as Thatch snickered. Katakuri sighed, "I understand that you are concerned about your brother, truly, I do. But I can assure you that he is not here. What is this about a phone call?"
"We received a call from Luffy yesterday morning and he said some...disturbing things." Marco said, "The phone used was traced back to this area and the boy himself said that he was here, in your room."
"What?" Katakuri asked, "That is not possible, no one is allowed in my room and no one is stupid enough to try. Granted, I did find my phone out of place with a phone call to an unknown number yesterday morning." he pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket as he finished speaking, opening it and pulling up his recent calls. "Is this your number?"
"Uh, yeah, that's mine." Ace answered quietly, leaning forward to see the digits on the screen.
"This is, a bit of a mystery then." Katakuri said, "At this time, I still have no idea who could have placed this call. My room was empty when I returned from a meeting and found my phone on the ground."
"If Luffy truly wasn't in your room, prove it." Sabo demanded, still as politely as he could.
MIHAWK'S POV (A FEW HOURS EARLIER)
Mihawk stood outside of the dojo, glancing at his watch.
"...thirty minutes late...I'm going to kill that boy." he muttered. Zoro might be one of his best students but he tended to never arrive precisely on time. Thirty minutes late was a new record.
He heard the motorcycle before he saw it and when he did he raised an eyebrow at the sight of a puppy's head sticking out of Zoro's leather jacket.
"I do hope you have an explanation." Mihawk drawled.
"I know, I know," Zoro rushed to get out, "I'm late and I'm sorry I -"
"I meant the dog." Mihawk interrupted
"...he's the reason I'm late." Zoro informed him, "It's actually kind of funny but this is Sanji, my neighbor, you remember him."
"Excuse me?"
"Look at his eyebrows!" Zoro said, holding up the dog so that his teacher could get a better look at him.
"You can't possibly expect me to believe-"
"Talk to him! Ask him any yes or no questions and he'll respond!" Zoro interrupted, thrusting the puppy forward again, Mihawk sighed,
"Fine. Are you Sanji?" the dog nodded and Mihawk's eyes widened, "Can you understand me?"
This time, the dog rolled his eyes but nodded anyway. "Roronoa, how did this happen?"
"I...I have no idea." he admitted, "I found his clothes out in the hallway and a half eaten biscuit that he wanted me to save for some reason bu-"
"His clothes?! In a pile with all of the buttons still fastened?!" Mihawk interrupted,
"Um...yes?" Mihawk rushed inside and grabbed his keys,
"We're going back to your apartment!" he told his student as he locked the door, "Give me Sanji, he's riding with me."
"But-"
"There's no time! Get in my car!"
"But my bike!" Zoro protested even as he did as Mihawk said,
"It'll be fine! No one is stupid enough to touch it. Now, we have to go!"
Approximately twenty minutes later, Zoro rolled out of Mihawk's car, groaning.
"You drive like a maniac, you know that?!" he gasped out, only to be ignored as the older man lept from the car and began dragging him down the hall to his open apartment, the door still lying on the ground where he'd left it.
"Show me everything, Dog." Mihawk ordered, placing the puppy on the ground. Sanji rolled his eyes before trotting over to the table where the biscuit lay and barking once. Mihawk rushed over and pulled out a handkerchief, carefully picking up the half-eaten breakfast.
"Is this what you think turned you into an animal?" Mihawk asked seriously and Sanji nodded. The man straightened and turned to Zoro.
"I'm borrowing your dog, we're heading to the police station."
"My dog?" Zoro spluttered in protest, "He's my neighbor-"
"I don't care. While I'm gone, I expect you to return to the dojo and run through all of the katas you have learned."
"But...ALL of them?!"
"Are you questioning me?" Mihawk asked, eyebrow raised
"No, not at all." Zoro replied quickly, shaking his head.
"Good." the older man said, picking up the puppy once again and leaving the apartment.
SMOKER'S POV
Smoker was...frustrated...no, beyond frustrated. He was angry. Over the past few weeks, they had literally gotten nowhere. People were still missing, Hina was still in the hospital, they were apparently facing an outbreak of a strain of the plague that most people had never heard of, and, to top it all off, Police Chief Akainu had decided to go on vacation in the middle of it; this is what lead to Smoker banging his head against his desk repeatedly.
"S-sir? Captain Smoker...sir?"
"What, Intern?!" Smoker growled at the young, pink-haired boy, "I am really not in the mood."
"W-well, Sir...there's...um...there's-"
"Spit it out boy!" Smoker snapped,
"Now now, Captain Smoker, this is the third intern in the past week. Please don't keep scaring them off." Tashigi said, walking up behind the intern in question, "Coby is doing a good job so far."
"Well sorry that the first intern you convinced me to get put my partner in a coma!" Smoker shot back, glaring at the woman who didn't even flinch. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to force himself to calm down, "Sorry about that. Coby, what did you want to say?"
"Well Sir, there's someone named Dracule Mihawk here to see you. He says it's urgent."
"Alright, alright." Smoker said, standing to make his way to the lobby where he found Mihawk with a dog under one arm and something in a handkerchief in his hand, pacing and muttering under his breath.
"...it all makes sense! The blood spatter...the evidence...it all points to this!" at that the man looked at whatever was in his hand, not even noticing that Smoker stood there, staring.
"Um...Mihawk?" he asked,
"Captain!" the detective exclaimed, lunging towards him, "you must examine this biscuit posthaste!"
"...Dracule...are you drunk? It's not even noon! If the case is too much for you-"
"I'm not drunk!"
"OH...did...did you find Luffy?! Is he-"
"I'M NOT DRUNK! JUST LISTEN!" Mihawk shouted, "I believe that someone is attempting to turn the city's population into animals using these biscuits and possibly other foodstuffs."
Smoker stared at the man in disbelief, unable to force any words out of his mouth.
"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true." Mihawk assured him, "I need to speak with Doctorine immediately!"
"I heard the whole thing." the woman in question said before Smoker could respond, "And so did the whole neighborhood, you guys are far too noisy!"
"This dog!" Mihawk exclaimed, rushing over to the woman, "He's Vinsmoke Sanji! He bit into this biscuit and turned into a dog!" Doctorine took the puppy from him and nodded,
"Yes, I do believe that is exactly what happened." she agreed.
"You're kidding, right?" Smoker asked incredulously but Doctorine shook her head,
"Chopper and I have already been testing the substances found during our many autopsies." she informed them, "and...well...perhaps it would be better to just show you. Chopper!" Smoker's jaw dropped at the sight of a kid who, last he had checked, had been completely human yet now looked like a...tanuki?...deer?
"Hi!" Chopper said, "It would appear that someone is attempting to turn everyone in the city into animals. Oh, hi Sanji." there was a few seconds of silence before Smoker groaned,
"I'm glad we've had a break in the case but magic?! Really?!"
"I don't think it's magic," Doctorine put in, "we're still testing the substance but we believe it's some sort of drug."
"Do you believe that it's been distributed to people using foods other than these biscuits?" Mihawk asked and the woman shrugged,
"It's certainly possible." she admitted, "As far as we know, it could go into anything."
"The donut!" Mihawk exclaimed, rushing to trade the handkerchief and biscuit for the dog that the woman held, "I must go! I believe I have solved my case!"