Not long after Katakuri left, they were surprised by another guest. Pudding. She walked over, and Luffy was not in a good mood. He was uncomfortable and worried over Nami and him being unable to fight. He was waiting for Zoro, though it would be best if he wasn't the one to break them out. Though he'd be a good help in escaping this place. A blast was slowly building. He had to make sure it was big enough to blow them out of that room.

The teen walked up to them, looking shy. "You don't need to lie anymore. I knew you were lying about a ton of stuff since the beginning," Luffy said, not in the mood for fake simpering and crying. Pudding looked surprised, before her entire demeanor shifted, and she was suddenly looking sadistic.

"I see. Well, I thought you were too foolish to see through it, but I guess I was wrong. Well, pretending to be sweet is easy for me in the first place. I'm a pathological liar, you could say," she said smugly. Nami was scowling at her like she was the most disgusting creature in the world, lips curled up slightly.

Luffy asked if she was going to be like this with Sanji, too. "Oh, I don't care what Sanji thinks as long as we make it to the altar. Because there, I'll shoot him in the middle of his eyes," she said, pointing to her own brow line. "And then the rest of the Vinsmokes will die, too, and Mama will have full control of the Germa army." Luffy's eyes were wide, and Nami gasped.

When Luffy knew Pudding was lying, he had no idea she was like this! And Sanji was completely fooled by her appearance alone. He'd been attracted to Alvida even after hearing what a bad person she'd been. Sanji would never see it coming. He would die. Luffy squirmed around, trying to get out of the book.

Soon. Soon, he'd get them out. Then they'd save Sanji from Pudding! From all of them.

"You two won't be getting out here alive, either. Well, goodbye, you idiotic little shits," Pudding sneered, and walked away and out the room. Luffy yanked on his binds, and Nami demanded if it was ready yet? He nodded. The only other person in the room at that time was a guy that looked like cream or another substance was dripped all over him from above, like he was soaked in it.

If it didn't smell like some sort of watery frosting, it'd be disgusting to look at. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, looking worried when Luffy kicked his sandals off and aimed his feet up.

"Ready!?"

"Yeah!" Nami said, ready for any impact it would put on them. Luffy shot out a blast from his feet (which were usually weaker and stung a bit) and destroyed the bars of the book cage, while making the nails in their hands disappear, leaving little holes, but with no blood. Luffy shot up and helped Nami up before they ran from the room, only to run right into Jinbei, with Zoro right next to him!

"Jinbei?! Zoro!" Luffy cheered, jumping into his arms. Nami was so relieved, but her clothes were in tatters. "Jinbei, what the heck are you doing here?" Luffy wondered as Nami shamelessly undressed and redressed right in front of them. Undressing in front of Luffy and Zoro wasn't a big deal for her, but Jinbei, too?

"Long time no see, Luffy-kun! I hear you've been on quite the adventures since we last met," Jinbei said, looking genuinely happy to see Luffy. The captain laughed and nodded. Everything had been really interesting.

"And I'm teamed up with Ace, too!"

"I saw that, I'd like to meet with him once again, as well," Jinbei said. They ignored Nami while she got a new outfit on by improvising. Luffy heard all sorts of noises from the books. While Jinbei started to explain how his crew worked under Big Mom right now, Luffy started sorting through all of the books.

Grinning, he devised a plan, and continually let out all the strange creatures and trapped people, and kicked out a wall opposite of the one to the hall they would leave through. He released hundreds of odd creatures and trapped humans of all sorts. He smiled proudly as he heard the ruckus it all caused as the animals flooded the floor and headed up to the other levels.

"That's what you get for putting me in a cage! Neehee!" He was confident Katakuri wasn't anywhere near, and Zoro and Jinbei would have had to pass by him on their way if he was still close. "So, why do you work for Big Mom?"

"He just explained! To protect Fishman Island, remember?!" Nami shouted in irritation. Jinbei laughed. "So, the unfinished business, did that have to do with Big Mom?" Nami questioned. The fishman nodded. He'd just taken care of the business.

"But first, let's find somewhere safe. Zoro-san was about to slice open a hole in the wall, but I found him and headed here with him."

"I knew Zoro would find us," Luffy said, clamped to his back with a smile before he turned angry. "That Pudding is planning on killing Sanji, Zoro! We have to stop her!" Nami raged about that bitch, wanting to kill her, instead. "Yeah! She was terrible," Luffy agreed with an angry face on.

Zoro said, "Well, we can off her on our way out, then." Nami faltered, but didn't protest. She said Zoro got too into killing. "What do you think happens to all of the people you electrocute? My way is just more messy." She looked down and away.

"Well, why don't we stop talking about this? We have to go find Sanji, fast," Luffy said with conviction. Zoro kept him from wandering away. They were going to stay in a group. Jinbei worked under Big Mom and had to have a lot of helpful information. "Oh yeah. Jinbei, help us save Sanji!"

"I was already planning on it, Luffy-kun," the fishman said. Luffy smelled deeply, and said he could smell Sanji. He jumped off of Zoro's back and ran off. "Wait, Luffy-kun!"

"Take care of Nami and Chopper!" Luffy shouted and zoomed away.

"Damn idiot, take me with you!" Zoro shouted in annoyance, running after him as he shoved and pushed away everybody in his way. "Do you have a plan?" he asked as he helped shove people out of the way in the crowded hall of humans and interesting creatures, not bothering to take out his swords. His voice was calm even as he and Luffy punched their way down a hall, running into the creatures Luffy let loose, which were causing havoc everywhere, the walls destroyed, being eaten by animals or pissed and crapped on.

In all the havoc, it was almost hard to make out Luffy and Zoro running through it all. "Find Sanji and save him from Pudding," Luffy replied, bouncing around to get past everyone while Zoro had to manually shove and push.

They ran right up to a door that was suddenly swung open, both of them yanked inside, and then closed and locked. This room smelled fresh like Sanji. "He was just here!" Luffy said. Then he looked at who had dragged him in. It was Sanji's sister! But she was wearing a more normal outfit today. And she looked injured. "Sanji's sister!" Luffy announced. Zoro narrowed his eyes. "Hey, was Sanji here? I think he was just here, wasn't he?" He didn't want his senses to be wrong again.

Reiju nodded. "Sanji was just here a moment ago, but he left."

"He was tricked by that damn Pudding! She's gonna kill Sanji and you all tomorrow at the wedding," Luffy spat. Reiju put her hand up to stop him talking. Sanji had found out by overhearing. He knew all about Pudding's plan, and the true nature of this marriage. "He knew?!"

"He just found out a few moments ago," Reiju said. She sighed, and said, "I tried to convince him to run from here, but he's hung up on hostages in the East Blue and keeping you all safe. He doesn't want you to be harmed." She looked disapproving. Zoro had a flat face on, standing near the door, making sure nobody came in. There was such a ruckus happening in the halls that nobody heard Luffy's raised voice.

Luffy shouted, "The people on the Baratie, right? We know them, we met them. If they're in danger, we'll just go save them, too!" he insisted. Why didn't Sanji know this? He should know that they'd never let anything happen to his family, no matter the effort it would take to get them back to the East Blue.

He then smiled, and added, "Well, I'm happy he isn't tricked and going to die! Can you imagine going to get married to someone and they kill you? That would be horrible!" Reiju looked a bit surprised by Luffy, compared to how serious he'd been when first meeting them and scaring their poor snail ship.

By now, he wasn't hiding anything weird on him. Not the marks or his eyes, and his hat had fallen off of his head. "You know, I think you're a good one. You aren't like his brother, Four." She looked taken aback, and Zoro smirked from behind. "Well, do you know where he went? So we can go get him?" Luffy asked.

"He left the room a few moments ago, I don't know where he went, but he left to clear his head. It's a lot to process."

"And he thought she liked him. Poor Sanji," Luffy said sympathetically.

"Don't feel too sorry for him, his panties will get in a twist. We'll get your stupid little brother outta here and back where he damn belongs. Let's go, Luffy," Zoro said firmly. Luffy grinned and left the room with him, following Sanji's scent.

"Ne, Zoro almost sounded like he cared," Luffy said before he swerved them through the hall to the left, and found a mess there. Zoro grumbled at him he was only doing this for Luffy's sake. "Well, that's good enough." Though Luffy could tell he was feeling sorry for Sanji, which would royally piss the chef off more than if Zoro was a jerk to him. "No feeling pity with Sanji."

"I don't!" Luffy ran forward and a piece of the upper floor, damaged by what he heard was a manticore, a big one talking about panties (that threw him way back to Impel Down), and the roof crumbled, separating them, Luffy just barely avoiding the fallen ceiling. Luffy tried getting through, but the area was unsteady, and started to fall apart more.

"Luffy! Are you okay?" Zoro's voice called.

"Yeah! But it's no good going through the mess, it keeps slipping! It'll fall on us. Now what?" he asked before there was a swarm of pirates behind Luffy. "I'll go around and meet you back! Don't get lost!" Zoro grumbled that he wouldn't, and Luffy ran off to find a way up a floor and then back down.

The whole building was a mess thanks to the beasts Luffy had unleashed. He worked his way to the stairwell, making sure he didn't run into one man, before he used gear second to zoom through the hallway. There was another staircase that he could smell his scent wafting from, showing he'd recently been there.

There was a massive lizard occupying the space. Luffy grinned, having a good idea. "Oi, lizard!" he said darkly, making it jerk over to stare at him with huge eyes. "Go after the Big Mom children. I'm sure you can make them out," he commanded. The lizard backed away before scurrying off.

Luffy immediately heard screams about the lizard eating somebody. Luffy took a bit more time going after Zoro by telling all of the creatures to work under him, and hunt his enemies. Everytime he passed one, and made it submit in fear, the building was either further damaged or there were screams.

This reminded him of escaping Impel Down and working alongside the monsters to defy their own owners. Only this time, he wasn't on a time limit that made him feel he was going to throw up. When he did make it back to where Zoro was, he was alarmed but not very surprised that his lover wasn't there.

There was proof he'd been there with the mass of bodies, most not dead, and a triangular shaped doorway out to the garden. It still stunk of the sugar rain, but he'd smell Zoro anywhere. He jumped down, wanting him with him for safety purposes, and not wanting him to get lost. Hopefully they could meet up with Sanji again, soon!

He then heard, "Oi, Luffy! Look what I brought back." Zoro sounded smug, and was walking over with Sanji behind him, looking to the side. Neither looked like they were about to kill the other. Luffy was impressed with his boyfriend.

"Sanji! Zoro, how did you find him?!" Sanji looked at the teen and looked utterly ashamed. He couldn't make eye contact. "My injuries are all gone, you don't have to feel bad anymore. I know you didn't mean all that stuff anyways," Luffy said brightly. "Well, we can go now!"

Zoro said, "He wants to stay."

"Huh? Why?" Luffy insisted. Zoro shrugged, and walked to stand next to Luffy.

"I shouldn't come back. You shouldn't allow me to," Sanji said quietly. "Not only did I attack my captain with everything I could when he wouldn't fight back, I said such hurtful things, and it's my fault that you all got caught in the first place. I shouldn't come back." Luffy glared at him. "Also, my family, and my friends at the Baratie, who all raised me, are being held hostage unless I go through with this. And… I hate them so much, and I never want to see their ugly faces again, but those assholes are all going to die tomorrow… and I can't leave them!"

Luffy didn't make a face at the tears in his eyes. "Just leave me here to die." Zoro made no expression at the tears.

"You should know by now that I can tell when you're lying, whether you like that or not!" Luffy said in irritation. "I know you don't wanna die here! But I know you wanna save them, too, even if you hate them." He smiled and then said, "So let's all work together and crash that wedding! That's just you, right? You're too nice not to want to do that! We're not running away at all!"

Sanji looked away and composed himself fairly quickly before smiling a watery smile at him in relief, and nodding. Luffy cheered. "I want to meet that strong guy," Zoro said conversationally as they searched for the others. Nami and Jinbei had to be there somewhere. With the animals Luffy used still wrecking havoc, the halls were relatively empty.

"I met him! We had a conversation while I was in prison," Luffy said simply. Zoro snorted, and Sanji stayed quiet. Luffy made sure he was still following them. He wasn't running off anytime soon. Luffy really wondered what Zoro said to get him to come back with him. It was Zoro! Mosshead! He must have really swallowed his pride, and Luffy was proud of him. Helping bring their family back together.

They ran down the halls before Luffy heard Chopper's voice behind them a bit. He backtracked, and saw they were all in the mirror! Everyone plus Jinbei. "Guys! You're all together!" Luffy cheered. Zoro came over, and Luffy grabbed Sanji and shoved him in front of the mirror. "Look what we got!"

"Sanji!" Chopper and Nami shouted in relief. Brook let out a sigh even if he had no lungs and reached out his hand. The three looked around and stepped into the mirror. Chopper tackled Sanji's legs, crying about missing him.

The blonde looked guilty, and apologized for upsetting them all. "You can apologize in full later," Nami said, a hint of coldness in her voice, but relief on her face. "I'm surprised Zoro didn't chase you off instantly." Luffy said nothing of him being the one to fetch Sanji somehow.

"Oh hey, it's the witch!" Luffy said rudely, pointing to Brulee, who was bound, gagged and stuffed in a very large backpack. She was angry. "I talked to your brother. He seems like a reliable guy." She grew angrier and confused. "Well, we're not leaving yet."

"But we even got the poneglyph and now Sanji, too," Carrot said. Luffy beamed at hearing his crew and ally were competent enough to get the poneglyph rubbings! Luffy explained, since Sanji was pretty quiet, that they were going to save his family. Even though they were jerks, they were going to crash the wedding and save them from their doom.

"But-!"

"Hey, I did the same for Ace. It would be bad if I didn't do the same for Sanji, right?" They couldn't argue. Jinbei wasn't too surprised, but warned them that the tea party would be nothing like what they'd faced so far with the yonko crew.

He explained about Big Mom's temper and how she'd go ballistic about her tea party being ruined. "Besides her wrath, all of the strongest Charlottes will be in attendance. Even though you had trouble fighting before. Not to mention, Katakuri will be there. I heard he was fairly civil with you before, but he's not an ally or someone we can trust to not kill us when we cross Big Mom."

"I never thought of him as a friend, and I knew we might have to fight him. That wasn't why I talked to him. But I was locked in a cage anyways, shishishi," he admitted. "But even if it's dangerous, we've done lots of dangerous stuff before," the teen pointed out truthfully.

"Well, we've never gone up against a yonko like this. At least, not yet," Zoro said. "Well, shouldn't be too hard."

"Of course it'll be hard!" Chopper shouted.

"We just gotta do it. That's all there is," he replied stoically, arms crossed.

"It's not just Big Mom and her crew, but much of the underworld communities. None of these people are the forgiving type. If you cross Big Mom, then they will fight naturally on her side, out of fear or gain. So, pretty much every guest at that tea party will be our enemy. There are nine of us against hundreds of them," Jinbei explained emphatically. Chopper looked terrified. He wondered why Sanji wanted to save them. Luffy had said he hated his family.

"I don't know why. I do hate them. I never want to see them again. I don't know what the reason is," the chef said honestly. "But I want to save them. I'm not going to say something like 'I'll do it myself, you don't have to come' because I know you guys would be mad about that. But still."

"Well, you're right about one thing: you're not doing this alone," Nami said tersely.

Jinbei spoke again, and said, "Forgive me for changing the subject, but I have a plan, but it involves teaming up with an enemy." They all looked over curiously. "Have you heard of Gang Bege, Luffy-kun?" Luffy nodded. He was the guy that took Sanji and shot Pekoms. "Correct. He's also one of the Worst Generation, a contemporary of you and Zoro-san, and a huge mafia boss from the West Blue, one of five in control of the whole underworld in that sea. Gang Bege is the boss of one of those families."

The fishman then explained in detail about Gang Bege's violent but successful past, becoming strong and feared for his cruel methods of killing and getting things done. He was smart and cunning, and had placed himself under the Big Mom umbrella. He was known for being crazy, a loose canon, but still got things done in an efficient way.

Jinbei knew, somehow, that the mafia boss and his crew were planning on killing Big Mom at the tea party just the next day. "This tea party is full of conspiracies!" Sanji said.

The fishman nodded, and then angered Luffy with his explanation of where Pekmons had gone when he left the ship, and that he was shot by Bege and into the sea. Though the Sun Pirates found and rescued him, so the lion mink was alive. "That asshole! All he does is terrible things! I've had it with him!"

"Wait, Luffy," Zoro said, and Luffy silenced.

"I know you have resentment towards him, and I knew from the start that you'd be here to rescue Sanji from the wedding, but we've only been planning for a few minutes on what to do. In contrast, Bege and his crew have been planning this for a long time, going over the details meticulously. I want you and Sanji to team up with Bege!" Jinbei insisted.

"... You have a point!" Luffy said, surprising everyone with his answer. They assumed he'd still hate him. "Well, I don't like him as a person or what he's done, but Jinbei said it's a plan! He's good at plans." Nami put her hand to her face, and Jinbei laughed, expecting no different answer.