The others, well Chopper, Carrot and Brook didn't want to do business or become allies with someone like Gang Bege. Well, Luffy decided they would, so they would. "Don't worry! If they do something bad, they'll have the whole Straw Hat grand fleet and the Whitebeard's after them! Shishishi!"

Zoro snorted and said he had a point. "I guess we'll just meet him, now then?"

"Yes, I have preparations to meet already. We can go now." Even with the promise of back up, the others didn't like it, but Luffy and Jinbei didn't budge. The captain was glad when Sanji said, in his goofy voice, that he'd protect the ladies. Zoro rolled his eyes, and things felt more back to normal. It was a good feeling.

They went to Jinbei's meeting place in one of the areas that seemed unharmed. "You sure caused a mess down there," Sanji said when they saw the damage and plenty of dead creatures that Luffy had set loose through the mirrors they passed. When they arrived at the mirror Jinbei had set aside, they entered into a room that had two rooms off of it.

"Where's Bege?"

"Now, now, you're in no state to see father. Go bathe and change into something more appropriate, rero," a guy with a long tongue and black sunglasses said. He watched Luffy as he walked to the left while Nami and Carrot went to the right, the girls room. The men just showered quickly - besides Jinbei who was already in perfect condition and waiting outside of the rooms.

Luffy could hear the girls in the bathroom talking and enjoying their baths. Luffy and the others wanted to get on with the process more. Once Luffy was changed and dressed in a way that was approved by Bege, he banged on Nami's bathroom door. "Hey, hurry up! We're on a time limit! Wait, why do I smell food in there? Did you get food?"

"Shut up!" Nami shouted on the other side. The door slammed open to knock into Luffy's face. Nami threw a chocolate bar at him and said, "Let me enjoy my bath time!" and the door slammed closed again. Zoro started laughing at him but Luffy was happy for a chocolate bar, and he would wait.

Eventually, Nami deemed the bathtub cold, and left. She and Carrot were both in very formal attire. Luffy had a red outfit on and a black hat over his Straw Hat, Sanji in a white loose shirt, and to Luffy's request, Zoro was wearing a plain black suit. Jinbei was still in a kimono. "Now, was it that hard to wait?" Nami asked.

"Nah, thanks for the chocolate, though," Luffy said brightly. "Ohhh, I wonder what the desserts are gonna taste like? Mmmm, I want some vanilla pudding. Sanji, let's have pudding when we get back to the Sunny."

"We're not attending the wedding Luffy. We're crashing it! That means we don't get any desserts or yummy food or booze, Zoro. We're getting Sanji's family and getting out," Nami said. "I wouldn't mind attending a wedding in this outfit, as it's so cute, but not this time."

"I've never been to a wedding before."

"I am really not surprised."

"Shishishi!"

They all entered a meeting room and sat down on a stiff couch. Everyone there were wearing suits, so they definitely would have stuck out in the dirty and sticky attire they were in before. The meeting started immediately, and Bege was staring Luffy down, and Luffy did his best to not exude the aura.

"So, you're going to die tomorrow, right?" Bege finally asked Sanji, breaking the awkward silence.

"I don't plan on it."

"You're execution was going to be the best moment to take down Big Mom."

"I don't plan on dying, and I don't personally want to assassinate Big Mom. Can you even take her down with guns or cannons? From my perspective so far, she's like an iron balloon," Sanji said. Pedro crossed his arms.

"If we assassinate her, it's going to need to be instant. There will be no second shot at it and we'll get killed if we fail our only chance," the leopard mink said.

"Hah, yonkos are really something, aren't they? Whitebeard was super hard to take down, too," Luffy mused in a carefree voice, his arms behind his head. Zoro was standing behind the couch and Luffy, arms crossed, while the others were on the couches next to him.

Nami snapped, "Of course they are! She's a monster! We barely got Brook out alive when we did! And she was just sleeping!" Brook agreed, nodding so hard his bones clicked together.

"Which also makes me wonder why you're going to do this with all those strong extras there, too," Brook asked about the strong non-pirates at the tea party. Luffy kept his eyes on Bege's who wouldn't look away. Luffy had his hat on securely. People could brush off the deal with his eyes, but the air was kind of telling. At least all of Luffy's marks were covered, but a problem was coming. He felt the pressure building in his arm.

He stood up and said he had to use the bathroom, interrupting the entire meeting. "Jinbei, show me where the bathroom is," Luffy said. He looked to the fishman and his eyes flicked to his marked arm. He nodded and took Luffy out of the room. They went out the hall, careful of where to go, and Luffy shot a tiny hole into the ground. He compressed it all into the side of his finger, and the blast left a clear, deep hole in the ground.

"You sure are better at concentrating them."

"Ever since Dressrosa, they've been fluctuating. I don't know why, but sometimes they go hours without coming, and others it's minutes. Kinda annoying sometimes," Luffy explained, both of them returning to the meeting, Luffy jumping over the back of the couch and acting perfectly at home. "So, what I miss?"

"Not much. So, what's your plan, here?" Zoro asked the enemy pirates. Bege then explained about the weapons they'd be using. A certain kind of rocket launcher that would off her in five seconds. That's all the time they needed to get it done. The Straw Hats and allies had their brows raised in surprise. Well, Zoro's narrowed in slight disbelief.

"Of course, if we miss or something goes wrong, then we'll have someone, probably a sweet commander, at our throats, and we'll be in a battle we have zero chance of winning," Bege said confidently, unbothered. "We'll need Caesar's help in this." Luffy noticed him long ago, just the scent of him, the chemical disgusting smell. They ignored him, finding him not worth acknowledgement after everything.

Well, he wasn't part of their ultimate plan anymore. Doflamingo was down, Caesar was useless to their effort against the King of the Beasts. "It's not Caesar, it's Gastino!" the clown shouted.

"Shishishi, Gas-tiny!" Luffy laughed, not trying to mock, but doing so unintentionally.

"Gastino!"

"Oh, shut up, it doesn't matter what your name is, you'll always be trash," Nami said dismissively.

"I don't care what you call me as long as you don't say it in front of Big Mom!" Caesar shouted in anger. That's right, he had funneled money from the yonko and had done nothing of promise with it. Did Bege take him personally just for this effort? If so, that was good planning. Well, even Luffy could see that.

The gas man turned to Bege. "If I help, you'll keep your end of the deal! You'll give me my heart after Big Mom is dead and we're safe! If not, I'll kill your son!"

The pink haired woman that Nami said was Lola's sister got angry, holding a baby close as he cried. "I thought that baby looked like you!" Luffy said obnoxiously.

"Luffy, please stop talking," Chopper said calmly. Luffy giggled. Everyone mostly ignored him.

"Well, whatever his name is, he's important. He's the one that made the rockets," Bege said dismissively as well.

"You should have said that in the beginning. This plan will only work because of my efforts! You should be more grateful. They'll work, and we have three of them just in case." He explained some mumbo jumbo about the chemicals inside, which were very bad and would kill anything almost instantly. Luffy didn't understand most of it, but it got the point across that they were dangerous and could possibly do the work.

"Yeah, but your gas had a big weakness," Zoro pointed out. "Does this have a flimsy cure as well?" Caesar said this was much more important. If it didn't work, he'd die, too. Of course he'd make sure it worked absolutely. "It'd better. I'm not dying because you have a shoddy weapon." Luffy giggled.

"Well, there is one weakness, but it's not just the weapon's. Big Mom's skin is thick and nothing can penetrate it if she's healthy. Not many weapons could penetrate that in the first place. There are conditions for the rockets to do their job. One: I must be given five seconds to aim and shoot it, and two: she has to be very weakened."

Chopper asked, "How will she be weak enough?!"

"The tea party is the only reason this plan will work in the first place. The conditions could not be met anywhere else or at any time! It's been a year since I joined, and she's never been hurt since. Nothing hurts her, she's as tough as nails! She really is like an iron balloon," Bege explained. He put up with their interruptions well, which seemed surprising. "There's only been one time where I saw her suffer any kind of injury."

"The Mother Caramel incident, correct, rero?" the guy with the long tongue said. Bege nodded, and continued to explain about an important photo that always was across from her on the table at every tea party, no matter when or for what reason. That photo was always there, and very important.

"You can think of it as Big Mom's single weakness!"

"A picture?" Carrot asked curiously.

Bege nodded. Mother Caramel was someone very important to the yonko, though she was long dead. Little was known about her, though. Even the family knew little of her. Lola's sister, Bege's wife, Chiffon explained about the photo. "Once at a tea party, someone had carelessly touched the photo of Mother Caramel, and Mama's reaction was astounding!"

They all leaned forwards in their seats a bit, with Zoro's arms crossing slightly tighter. "Her face grew blue and she cried out in an inhumane howl! Symptoms quite similar to a violent fit! Those around her could do little more than press their hands over their ears, the howl was so piercing and loud. Some workers began to collapse, one by one."

Chiffon sounded very bothered talking about it. Must have been scary for her. "It was made even worse since her conqueror's haki was involved without her seeming to realize or meaning to," Bege added. "It was all because somebody dropped a photo. Anyways, while she was having her fit, she fell to her knees, and scratched herself on the ground, and bled. We were all surprised she had regular blood in her veins. In any case, when she enters that state, her body loses its toughness!"

The gang leader grinned around his cigar. "Now, imagine what would happen if somebody destroyed that photo right in front of her? Mama will be weakened!"

"Then she'd be easy to pick off, distracted and vulnerable," Zoro said.

"Exactly. That's the only conceivable way we could win victory. And if it doesn't go at least a little according to plan, we're all dead!" Bege said, sounding mostly unbothered. "If we succeed, the news of her assassination will spread through the whole world!" Luffy saw Zoro grin, more than happy to attempt to help in the plot to take out a yonko.

Chopper asked about the voice that could knock them out, the answer was simple: ear plugs.

Luffy was fine with the plan. "If all we need to do is ruin the photo, that gives us lots of time to save Sanji's family!" he said brightly. Bege took irritation with this. He said they had at most three seconds to destroy the photo. It would take everything for that part, he couldn't save the Vinsmokes at the same time.

"You'll be the decoy to make it all happen!"

Everyone on Luffy's side protested making him the decoy, the one to be the immediate target. "Sure! That sounds fun! And I got a good way to appear, too, neehee," he laughed. Zoro grabbed his shoulder with a frown. "Don't worry so much, I've survived a lot more!" He lifted his left hand with a grin."

"Of course, it helps to have a mini-Katakuri on our side, as well," Bege said. The others looked at him sharply. He just grinned and said nothing of the short looks. "Just do your parts and we'll all end up happy."

Luffy nodded. He'd do his best. Chopper asked what his entrance would be. "Just trust it'll be awesome! All my entrances are awesome," Luffy bragged. Bege asked if he knew what the signal would be. "When Pudding shoots Sanji?" Sanji scowled. "I mean, when they kiss?"

"No way! That's cutting it way too close, I'd have to dodge a bullet, that'll be the signal, when I dodge!"

"Same thing. She shoots you whether you dodge or not," Zoro said.

"DO NOT start, you two!" Nami snapped. Both scowled. Looked like their truce was over. Well, it was amazing it had been there at all. Luffy looked at Jinbei. "Another crazy rescue mission, huh?"

"This time we'll be against a yonko instead of beside one!"

"Neehee, maybe I can find some monsters to help us out again," Luffy replied. It was cool seeing and working with Jinbei again on a big mission. Hordy hadn't seemed as high stakes as either Impel Down or Marineford. Or this, but Luffy hadn't been so emotionally invested in Fishman Island as he was for his nakama or family. Of course he'd wanted to keep Shirahoshi safe and all, but Hordy wasn't a strong guy. However, Big Mom was strong! So this would be more dangerous and exciting.

"You all focus on the rescue, we'll handle the assassination," Bege said, ignoring Luffy and Jinbei's conversation. Luffy appreciated he wasn't being pushy in Luffy's similarity to Katakuri. Luffy wondered if they'd have to fight. "As all of this shit is going on, this idiot'll show up, carrying Brulee for our escape plan. As soon as you do your duty, enter his mirror and he'll fly us away while everyone else is distracted and frozen by Mama's screaming," the gang boss said.

"It's Gastino!"

"Oh, shut up," Sanji snapped.

"You're all so disrespectful! You'll be indebted to me after this!" the logia shouted in irritation and frustration. Brulee, still tied up, was not happy being used in this plan against her mother. Man, what a bummer for her. Well, she attacked them first, she deserved this. Chopper and Carrot were awesome for capturing her.

Bege told them to prepare a mirror on their ship so they could get away quickly. "As soon as we reach our respective ships, our alliance is over, and we high tail it outta Big Mom's territory! Every man for himself," he said, looking ecstatic about what was going to take place. It sure would be exciting and tense.

And Luffy's entrance would be so fun! "Well, things are looking up," Jinbei said. They had two hours until the wedding. Sanji had to get back to his room, as the groom he needed to get ready.

"Sanji, no falling for Pudding if she's pretty," Chopper insisted.

"I know! She wants to kill me."

"Kalifa wanted to kill you, too, and you lost to her spectacularly," Nami said in worry. Sanji grew flustered, and Zoro pointed out Viola from Dressrosa, as well. The chef insisted he'd not do anything this time. He was to save his wretched family. He wouldn't mess this up.

"Well, we have to go, too. Pretend to set up security," the temporary-ally said. Luffy said he had to get busy with his entrance, but didn't tell Bege about it. He didn't need to know, Luffy already had it planned. Luffy excused himself and left to collect some forest animals. He created a huge net with his fingers and stuffed them all back in the mirror, Zoro accompanying him to get the creatures while the others rested.

He wondered if this was actually a good idea. "Of course it is! Can you imagine how shocked everyone will be?! Imagine their faces!" He then knocked them all out and forced Brulle to change them into versions of Luffy.

"No way! I'm not going along with anything you guys are doing to harm Mama!" the witch woman said. Luffy let off his scary aura smoothly, walking up to her and grabbing her long nose. "Fine, fine!" He really was good at that scary look. When they were all transformed, Luffy schooled them all in making the scary look.

"Like this! Grrr!" Luffy coached. They all made different noises. It didn't seem like he could teach them the scary looks. Too bad. Having a whole blanket of terror over the whole tea party could have been very helpful. With all of the Luffy copies tied up, Zoro and Luffy went into a private room in Bege's castle body, where they were all housed at the moment, and drank from Zoro. Not too much, but enough for a big fight if one were to come.

"So, you met with Katakuri?"

"Yeah, we had a calm talk," Luffy replied, sitting in Zoro's lap and resting against his chest. "Not all his family knows."

"Makes sense, there's 85 siblings. Someone is bound to be scared or disapprove." Luffy wondered why he was told to be more careful in the New World about his appearance when nobody knew a thing about it. Even Law told him to be more careful. "I'm not sure. Maybe being overly cautious?"

Luffy wondered. It just didn't make much sense to him, to be honest. Everyone was resting, all sleeping off the long day they'd had. Luffy jerked up when Zoro shook him awake, dazed before he remembered what was going on. Luffy pouted, wishing he'd explored the castle more, but rest was good. He was tired, even with a good helping of blood.

Everyone was ready, maybe a bit nervous, but determined to pull this off. Everything was at stake. "I don't see why we're saving his family. They've been assholes all this time, haven't they?"

"Do you have family, Zoro?"

"Well, no."

"Then it would be hard for you to understand," Nami said, though not unkindly. Zoro had a small scowl on. They waited outside one of the windows. Luffy bouncing on his toes with the pile of animals turned into him waiting near the mirror. They were going to help him get them all out. Due to him being the decoy, nobody could deny his wish to come out with a bang.

Brulee had been forced to create a mirror inside the cake. This would be great, and maybe he could eat some, too! "Be ready, Luffy-kun!" Jinbei said, seeing everything out the window. Zoro pulled his boyfriend into a kiss, and told him to not do something too stupid. Luffy grinned and nodded.

Carrot blushed at it, thinking it was cute. Neither noticed much as the gunshot rang out. "Go!" Zoro said, and Luffy jumped out of the mirror after a few animal versions of himself left, all the others following. When he got out of the cake, he tasted it, and it was delicious! "Big Mom!" Luffy shouted, mouth full of delicious cake. Shame it would be destroyed, Luffy would have enjoyed eating more.

Luckily, it wasn't overly sweet, but just perfect, so it didn't mess up his senses by being too strong of a smell. He was grinning, loving his entrance. It might be his greatest one yet! Everyone was confused by what was happening, and Luffy saw Big Mom in person for the first time. She was huge and fat. And the look on her face was precious!

The cake toppled and fell, slamming down and being ruined. Well, they could still eat it, it just wouldn't be in perfect shape. No need to be so upset, really! People were realizing who he was, and that he had come out of the cake with a bunch of unknown clones. Big Mom was furious at him. "Neehee!" Luffy giggled at the looks of shock.

Then the yonko seemed to go crazy, confused and so upset over the cake, begging for a new one, though they couldn't suddenly produce a new giant wedding cake. Well, she was nice and distracted, wasn't she? He took one more handful of the cake and stuffed it in his mouth. Man he wished he could take some with him!

Big Mom was so distraught she killed the chefs who wouldn't bring her a new cake, ripping out their life force, it seemed. Man, that was a creepy power. Well, he wouldn't let that happen to him. A bird man was taking photos, seeming unbothered by the whole thing happening around him. Many seemed uninterested or just slightly surprised, even though it should be clear that this wasn't a show or performance by now.

All the Luffy's came out, finally, and were wreaking havoc with the guests and the whole tea party. He could smell and hear his friends leaving the mirror world while Luffy was a great distraction. "Which one is the real one?!" Big Mom shouted, a moment of sanity back. Luffy was running. "How dare he destroy the wedding cake!"

"That one, Mama," Katakuri said, no doubt able to smell which one was the real one. Luffy anticipated him being troublesome from the start. Luffy sprinted towards the photo, and just missed it when Katakuri shot out a leg that turned into mochi. Bege had said that was his devil fruit. Luffy flipped out of the way gracefully.

He shot an arm at the photo, but was just caught by a haki covered arm that yanked him back. To stop from being pulled away completely, he thrust a fist into the ground, covered in haki, and clamped down. He yanked back on his other arm to try and make it snap back, but it was squeezed uncomfortably by the sweet commander, hand covered in haki. He was grabbed and pulled again, and dislodged his hand from the ground.

Luffy allowed him momentum to propel him towards the man, whose eyes narrowed at him as he made to punch. But he didn't hit and when he dodged, Luffy took advantage of this and kicked off of his chest, propelling himself away.

"No way! Big Brother Katakuri was distracted!" some of his siblings shouted. Mochi was shot at him, but he bounced away every time. Big Mom demanded to know the reason her powerful son wasn't catching him.

"It seems my observation haki is slower on him." He didn't sound surprised at all. But everyone else was. Only the oldest siblings, as Luffy could tell, knew of the connection, and when Luffy's hat fell off of his head and onto his back, held by the string, eyes widened in surprise and realization. Really, the hair was the most dead give away since you could see it from a distance.

"Katakuri, what a disgrace, don't attempt to save me!" Big Mom shouted in irritation. Katakuri explained that Luffy seemed to have been going after the photo. Everyone who knew about it was shocked, and the scarved man asked how he knew that.

"I'm the one that told him about Mother Caramel," Jinbei announced, standing tall and walking up beside Luffy. "You hear rumors and what not after working under you."

"He's lying," Katakuri said firmly. Looks like he could tell liars apart just like Luffy could. Damn. Did Bege not know this? Had he ever even been around this guy? "Who told you, Jinbei?" Jinbei stayed quiet.

Big Mom moved on, though. Jinbei was clearly no longer on her side, if he had ever been in the first place. "I had thought you gave up on quitting! But this looks more like outright mutiny!" Jinbei politely told her that was the case. And that he was leaving to join the Straw Hats. Luffy beamed. "I don't care what you do after leaving! Do whatever you wish. But to leave, I'll need you to make a payment! I doubt you'd want to live the shame of not doing it, either!"

Jinbei said he would pay, as long as the others weren't touched. Well, they were already being attacked. Zoro walked up behind Luffy, swords out, Wado still sheathed, though. His posture was relaxed, but he had put his bandana on, which was really something Luffy liked. He was in a suit and had his bandana on!

"I'll gladly lay my lifespan down to keep the others safe."

"Hey, what are you talking about?! You can't join my crew if you're dead!" Luffy exclaimed. Zoro stayed stoic and still. There was still a commotion going on around them, but Luffy had tuned it out just fine for now. Big Mom was happy to take his lifespan, which Luffy assumed was what had been done to the chefs moments before.

"Very well, you fool! Stay or life?" she asked, a wicked expression on and a disturbing presence coming off of her. Luffy was unafraid, but it was creepy and he could see why it would scare others. When Jinbei had no reaction of fear either, it shocked the Charlottes watching and in the area around this group.

It looked like Big Mom's fruit was fear based. So with Jinbei not feeling fear, she couldn't harm him that way. At least, that's what appeared to be the case. "There's no way a man who will join the future Pirate King's crew could be afraid of someone like you! Since I cannot offer you any lifespan, I will give my sake cup back. This is the official end of my crew and myself assisting you. Thank you for everything," he said with a bow.

"Damn," Zoro said, who was grinning in approval, while Luffy also thought he was awesome. Then he noticed Brook based on his smell skirting the area towards the photo. Katakuri realized too late, and the skeleton in a cheap facade of Luffy smashed the photo to pieces. Big Mom didn't notice at first until Katakuri brought attention to it.

"Yeah! Good job!" Luffy cheered.

"He broke Mother Caramel's photo! Who is he?!" The three men were grinning, and Brook ripped off the disguise around his head. "Ahh! He pulled his skin off!"

"This is my real face!" Big Mom was stumped that he was alive. But he replied he was dead long ago. Then it seemed to register that the photo was broken, and she started to sway. Zoro put the earplugs in along with Luffy, who had two pairs just for extra precaution for his sensitive ears. His boyfriend pulled out his swords.

Luffy could hear Sanji fighting somebody. The rescue mission wasn't going so fast, not as fast as they'd hoped, but nothing ever went to plan. But then he was pinned down by Bege. "Shut up, I'll look suspicious if I don't," he hissed.

"Rook Bege. How long have you been a traitor?" Damn, if only he hadn't said anything, then Katakuri couldn't hear it! "Are you teaming up with Straw Hat?" the man asked darkly. Well, he always sounded dark.

"That's right. All you can do is see the future. But it doesn't matter, cause everyone has the same power to change it," Bege said with a smirk, unbothered by being found out. They'd be exposed eventually. Luffy was told to show Big Mom the photo, and Luffy zoomed out of the way with gear second, avoiding Katakuri and hurrying to get the frame. Katakuri went after Bege, knowing he was the ringleader no doubt, and was more important than Luffy in the effort.

He said, "Brother Peros, shoot them dead already!" as he ran at Bege. It was bad news that Luffy could hear so well with two ear plugs in. He didn't know how bad Big Mom's scream would be, but it was hyped up to be really bad. So he could hear Sanji's dad crying over what was happening, able to see they were all trapped in candy.

Bege shot a bunch of holes into the mochi man, but the mochi moved around them to avoid the bullets. Was he a mochi logia?! Interesting! Could you burn mochi? Who would win, Ace or Katakuri? Hmm…

Luffy barely wasn't hit by a swing of mochi from Katakuri, unexpected, with Pedro jumping in the way and slicing the mochi. "Don't touch Luffy!" the mink shouted. Luffy continued to run, but was eventually caught when Katakuri wasn't even bothered by Jinbei's fishman karate! The thick substance slammed him down. Luffy bit his tongue and spit blood on him, burning the mochi and taking that one moment of surprise to stretch his arms to hold the broken pieces of the picture in front of Big Mom's face.

"Mother Caramel is destroyed!" Luffy shouted. Nobody could stop him saying that now.

Katakuri's eyes widened. "Mama, no!" Luffy bit off chunks of Katakuri's mochi and stuffed those in his ears too before Big Mom screamed that terrible scream. Everything was thrown about by the force of it, Luffy being stuck to the ground at the initial impact until Katakuri's hand jerked away from the teen, freeing him as he moved to cover his own ears, extremely sensitive to sounds just like Luffy. He smelled blood. Katakuri's eardrums had ruptured. Good! That might help them a bit. Luffy got up and ran past him, unaffected by the scream with three layers in his ears.

Big Mom fell to her knees, and Luffy could see she was bleeding. Just as planned! Sanji got to his family as the Big Mom Pirates, unprepared for the terrible scream, either passed out or clamped their hands over their ears. All glassware had shattered by then if it wasn't already broken by the fights and animal Luffy's, who were all screeching from the intense noise.

Chopper gave the Vinsmokes their raid suits, the things kept in little cans. Nami, Carrot and Chopper were there, ready to fight to get to their escape. A tall woman, a little shorter than Katakuri and with long white hair told everyone to stop Bege. but he'd already pulled out the rocket launchers. "Time for a dart nap, Big Mom!" he shouted, grinning.

If they succeeded, they'd have helped take down a yonko in her own kingdom around her own family. Sanji's family was free of the candy encasing them, to the table and their chairs. Man, everything smelled so sweet and yummy here. Well, besides sweat and blood. Zoro was sprinting away, too, and Luffy grinned at him.

Big Mom could be heard sobbing through her wailing. Luffy wondered what happened to the person in the photo. "WHERE'D YOU GO, MOTHER?!" she screeched. The rocket launchers were shot, everyone waiting for the moment she died right then and there, releasing a terrible smelling gas that had Luffy plug his nose. Katakuri was busy covering his ears, so Luffy didn't know if the smell affected him, as that part of his face was covered by a scarf.

But then the yonko released a louder wail, and it deflected the rockets. Luffy's eyes widened, and he used gear second to jump and grab the cartridge of the rocket launcher and throw it into Big Mom's mouth. Katakuri slammed a mochi beam into his head, knocking him down. But the poison didn't work, or there wasn't enough, or it was done wrong.

All that happened was her throwing up, which was gross. She'd eaten a lot of food already, and the scent of vomit was never pleasant. "Let Luffy go!" Zoro shouted, and sliced Katakuri's arm before he dashed in and grabbed his younger lover. While Big Mom was composing herself, still sobbing but not dead, the allies fled the scene. "Mission failed!" Bege declared. After all that work, it hadn't worked out. And it seemed just ingesting one wasn't enough. Luffy did his best to remedy the situation, but it didn't happen.

Caesar came flying over, demanding everyone jump into it to escape. Luffy had a headache, but he was fine to run and dropped off of Zoro's shoulder. He ran, too, they all did, before the screams shattered their escape mirror! They were all shocked and horrified, stunned for a moment. Now they were trapped!

The Charlottes had mochi ear plugs in now, the shock over. Luffy smelled blood and saw his fellow non-human drinking from a canteen. It was full of blood, but nobody knew that since it was metal and unable to see the contents. Meaning he was at full strength again.

Bege shook out of his stupor and suddenly turned himself into a castle, not just a small body like they'd been in before, but a huge castle they were ordered to enter. They did so gladly, jumping inside. Luffy was amazed by this, but not overly distracted until he smelled the mochi come right beside him, aiming towards Brulee.

Luffy latched onto her and yanked her out by the neck, hurrying to the castle before she was roughly pulled from his grasp. She coughed, and Zoro grabbed Luffy and tossed him into the castle, the swordsman entering immediately after. "Wait! You guys!" Luffy called when his crew got caught by the enemy.

But also immediately, the Germa 66 kids were suited up. Luffy didn't even get to see it, damn. The distraction of them attacking swiftly let Luffy's crew get away, Sanji scooping up Nami, and the others running after him, thankful for the timely distraction.

As they entered the castle, Luffy was amazed by it. "Wow! I didn't know you could turn into a huge castle! That's amazing!" he cheered, irritating Bege.

"Shut up, now isn't the time to be amazed! Damn it, our plan we worked on for a whole year failed! The first time I've ever failed at an assassination!"

"You could always try again-"

"Luffy, please be quiet," Zoro said. Luffy did so.

"Yonko really are on another level," Brook mused.

Jinbei asked what they do now, but Bege pretty much said they were screwed no matter what. The castle was his body. Too much damage and he couldn't use this form anymore. They'll all be expelled from the building body and out for the picking. They had no hope right now. And Big Mom woke up, Luffy could hear her raging and no longer screaming, so he took out the mochi and layered ear plugs.

She attacked Bege, and his body inside was bleeding, too. "Did you try to betray me, Bege!?" the yonko demanded from outside. "Get out here, Bege! Straw Hat!" she raged. Chiffon, with Nami trying to stop her, opened the window, and begged her mother to understand and not harm Bege or her baby. Not kill the baby's father. "Chiffon! Like always, you look like damn Lola. I thought I told you to never show your face again! So you're part of this plot, too? You won't live to see breakfast!"

Chiffon had tears in her eyes, in disbelief and pain. Nami looked devastated for her from behind. Big Mom kept beating the castle, with Bege coughing blood as if he really was being the one attacked, not a castle that was just making "oof" sounds and cries of pain. It could do nothing, not attack, not defend.

"Damn it! Let me out, I'll show her who's boss-!"

"Chopper stop him!" The reindeer turned into heavy point and restrained Luffy while Nami reasoned with him. They saved Sanij, his family, and got the poneglyph rubbing. Their mission was over! They'd done what they came to do.

Zoro said, "Let me out. I'll get us out of here. At least give a distraction." They trusted him not to mess up more than the others, and the front castle door was opened and Zoro walked out. He sliced apart the whole chateau, making the Big Mom Pirates lose their footing. He then went to work on cutting up the hardened candy and freeing the castle Bege.

"Roronoa!" the man with orange hair in a strange hairdo. He was pretty tall, too. Zoro calmly jumped back inside. Even Big Mom lost her footing as half of the castle crumbled, sliding off. The Big Mom Pirates had to move to not fall off. A good distraction. Bege was still beaten by Big Mom, and the plan formed was that he would shrink back into his normal size, with them still inside.

"I didn't give a shit about all of you from the beginning, but my beloved family is in here. I won't let them die!" While he spoke, Sanji confronted his family. Luffy watched coldly, and Zoro had the respect to look away. Sanji wouldn't want him to see this stuff. It was a miracle he'd come with Zoro hours ago anyways.

"Sanji, why did you save us? You hate us, we are your enemy. Did you feel pity?" Judge asked.

Sanji didn't look angry, and calmly said, "My real father wouldn't have liked it. To become a small man, doing the wrong thing due to a grudge or past incidents, he would be disgusted." Then his voice grew firmer. "The Sanji you pretended to know 13 years ago is dead. Vinsmoke Sanji died at sea, just as you wanted." The whole Vinsmoke family was watching in silence.

He grew angry, and walked forward, grabbing Judge's collar and pulling him down to his knees. "So you admit you were never my father, and never will be! Tell me you're not my father, Vinsmoke Judge! And don't you dare show us your face again!" he ordered furiously, finally losing his cool.

Luffy knew Sanji wouldn't ever talk to them about his childhood, and that was fine. It was his choice, regardless of whether he knew most of the other's backstories. Luffy just hoped this would give him closure, like how his grandpa's letter had given him closure, too. He could still be upset with the way he treated him, but he hadn't had hate for him in over two years.

Judge stood up. "Very well. I swear to never again approach you or the East Blue." Bege was arguing with Caesar about him flying them away to safety. It was his own neck on the line if they stayed as well. Judge interrupted them. "Open the gate, Gang Bege! Until you escape into the sky on Caesar Clown, we Germa 66 will provide you with our protection."

"That's right, Germa can fly. You acknowledge we'll be leaving you here, too, right?" Caesar was throwing a fit, and Luffy was annoyed. He gave him a deathly stare, and he caved. He was always a coward. He finally agreed, swearing profusely.

"Alright, I'll help too-!"

"No, Luffy," the chef said.

"We don't need to be indebted to a failure," Judge said.

"This is their way of doing things," Sanji said coldly. Bege turned into his much smaller human form, and the Vinsmokes left to do their duty. Caesar grabbed Bege to fly him away.

Looking out the window, Luffy knew he could do something helpful. Big Mom could control the weather when she was angry, no doubt by that cloud with the face. That was a homie, too. If Luffy could scare it to death, it would help things a lot. "Bege, what is that cloud's name?"

"Zeus," Jinbei replied.

"Give me a window or door Bege!" Luffy said. The man did so. "ZEUS!" Luffy shouted. The cloud looked at him, and Luffy heard Katakuri shouting at him to pay no mind to Luffy. But Luffy pointedly looked straight into the cloud's eyes, and let out the scariest aura he'd ever let out before in his life. Not in Impel Down, not against Surume, nothing.

He watched in absolute satisfaction as the cloud homie's eyes widened and then faded, the thing having his soul leave it, making it useless. Since it had been a cloud and was now dead, it blew away in the air, dissipating into nothing. Luffy shut the window as Big Mom was shocked and horrified at her powerful homie's death.

"I did it! Ahahaha!" Luffy cheered. Those in the room not used to this were shocked and frightened. "Don't worry!" Luffy said. Zoro was grinning. Nami pouted, wishing she could have used it for herself.

"Better to get him out of the way, now. He'd no doubt have caused a lot of problems for us," Zoro reasoned.

"Yohohoho, Luffy-san is frightening," Brook said, sipping his tea pleasantly. But when he and Sanji saw Reiju getting burnt at, Sanji jumped out, and Luffy followed, annoyed that Sanji could go but he said Luffy couldn't. Zoro stayed inside, but stood in the doorway to fight off any followers.

"I told you not to come out!"

"Why do you get to but I don't?!" Luffy replied.

"Straw Hat! What did you do to my Zeus!?" Big Mom raged. Luffy said he'd scared him to death. "You?! You'd never be able to-!"

"Mama, he's the same as me," Katakuri said loud enough for Big Mom to hear, cutting her off. Others looked confused about what he was speaking of, though surely they noticed similarities. Her demeanor changed, eyes narrowing. Luffy didn't know what she was going to say or what she was thinking.

"Mamamama! Well then, we'll just keep him for some experimentation! I could never do them on my most useful son!" Big Mom said wickedly. Luffy was unafraid.

He said, "I'm not gonna get done in from someone like you! Once we go and take down Kaido, I'll be back for you, too!" Big Mom laughed at hearing him say they'd take down Kaido. Or even get out of her territory.

"We're not killing Straw Hat Luffy!" she announced after mocking him. Sanji grabbed Luffy around the waist to get them out of there, Luffy spouting angry demands to let him "teach her a lesson". Sanji told him to shut up and let Germa do their jobs.

"I'm coming for you next, Sun!" Luffy raged. Luffy looked up to see Caesar was stuck against a clone of himself, and thought it might be what happened to him in the forest. But now they were trapped. And looking around, all of Germa 66 was defeated, and Sanji and Luffy were being followed by a genie (cool!). Both were slammed down, and Luffy heard Zoro and Jinbei jump out to save them. Luffy couldn't intimidate the genie away, since it was a devil fruit and not something living, or had once been living like a homie. Before Zoro and Jinbei could get to them, an explosion rocked the entire castle. While Zoro had sliced off some of the side, it hadn't damaged the rest.

The explosion from below knocked everyone down as the castle swayed. "Get into Bege!" Jinbei shouted. Luffy was picked up by Zoro and they all went running towards their escape vessel, Luffy rocketing them inside, shrinking just as they entered the door. They all rolled to safety inside the big room with everyone else there.

"That was close! But hey, why did it explode?" Luffy wondered, none of them able to know what was happening outside. They couldn't hear or see it, but Luffy could. Bege thought they were all done for, their castle collapsing with each one of them still there, and unable to fly to safety. "The castle is collapsing!" Luffy announced.

The Firetank Pirates were cheering and laughing. Nami had a hand on Chiffon's shoulder, her looking pretty down after the way she was treated and all. What a terrible mother, huh? As the cake castle fell, there were screams from everywhere, but they were so faint Luffy had trouble hearing.

When Bege finally landed, Luffy could smell the scent of cake, thick in the air. They were all let out of Bege's castle body. Caesar was panting. "Well, this is where we part ways," the gang boss said. Nami thanked him for getting them all out of there. "Shut it, stop thanking me. You'll make me feel like I did something good, disgusting."

"I'm the one that did the most work! You should be thanking me!" the gas logia said in anger and frustration. Nami looked at him in an unimpressed manner.

"Shut up, trash. Do you remember what you did to all those kids on Punk Hazard? We've no use for you anymore. Just go die or something," she said coldly.

They all parted their ways. Luffy told them that he smelled cake and frosting, and the Rero-guy with the long tongue said the castle had been turned into a cake. "Stresuan, huh? That guy can turn things into food-"

Luffy gasped. "Let's have him join our crew!"

Nami hit him. "Not now!" Bege told them they had a day's journey directly from there and out of the territory. Then he left. "Now what?" Brook and Chopper were going to go get the shark submerge and bring it back to the Sunny, where the rest would be heading. "Be careful. They know where the Sunny is docked," Nami said. Chopper and Brook nodded and hurried off in the direction Brook and Pedro had left the craft.

The rest ran to the woods to get out as fast as they could. But Luffy could hear some alarming noises from behind. He turned around and started running backwards until Nami shouted King Baum's name. "King Baum! I'm so happy to see you're alive!" Nami shouted. The tree king tried to get away, but Nami had thought ahead and tore the vivre card in half, the one that had been used to cow the forest creatures by had been taken away.

They used it on the tree, and Luffy shouted at it to hurry. "Wedding cake!" he heard from a distance. He heard the sounds of heavy footfalls, things breaking apart. He smelled Big Mom on her way, rampaging! "Hurry!" Luffy shouted, but the yonko was coming closer, but not fast enough to catch up immediately. She was large, but so was King Baum.

"It looks like it really was good to target Zeus," Jinbei said. "If he were still around, Big Mom would be here instantly. Our main advantage now is that she can't travel over water so easily! We can escape her, but the others will be difficult, too!" They looked at Luffy nervously, Zoro with his teeth clenched.

"Are you all seriously going to worry about me? They wanted to kill me, what's worse than killing me?!" he asked in deep annoyance. Big Mom let loose a projectile, shouting at them for a wedding cake, which Luffy was sure she couldn't smell it on him anymore! He didn't have anymore, anyways.

"Wedding cake!"

"Just cause it fell over doesn't mean you can't eat it!" Luffy shouted back before he shoved his crew and allies out of the way as the attack burst through their tree homie, destroying half of its head. "King Baum!" they shouted. "She's gonna let loose another one, we gotta get outta here!" Luffy shouted.

"I'm sorry, Mama! They threatened me…" the abused tree lamented until Nami reminded him of the tree he was seen with earlier. A female one they'd stolen him from. She told him he had to live, to run so he could get back to her! "You're right!" The tree began to run again, despite missing half of his face.

The tree ran faster than Big Mom could keep up, with the seducing woods right in front of them. Luffy's appearance made them all run, leaving open a perfect path to the Sunny. But then he frowned deeply, his brows furrowed.

"Seducing woods! Get them!" she shouted, not keeping up with them anymore. She had her angry sun or ball of fire with her, but Luffy wasn't in the right place to force it to leave like Zeus. It would be a lot more convenient if that was gone, too, but he would need its attention and he just couldn't focus right now.

Luffy instead did what he could and had to do at the moment. "Seducing woods, block her! Do you want to die like the others who I pass?!" The trees got in Big Mom's way while Luffy completely reigned in his scary aura. But there was no going around the fact that there were enemies on their ship. He could smell them, hear them.

"Nice, Luffy!" Nami said.

"There are enemies on the Sunny. How did they get there?!"

"No doubt through the mirror world," Jinbei said. Zoro sighed, disappointed in Brulee. "Well, she was an enemy. Though also an accomplice. Big Mom will no doubt kill her later." But just because Big Mom couldn't catch up didn't mean the sun couldn't, Prometheus. It grinned wickedly at King Baum, and Luffy and the others all jumped off in time to not be burnt alive by the sun as well.

Their carriage and reuclant ally was dead, burnt to ash. They shouted his name in horror, watching the soul leave him, his face going gray, dead and gone. "Wedding cake!"

"What the hell is wrong with her?!" Sanji demanded. Jinbei explained her eating fits. She went out of control if she had a craving nobody could sate. Now she wanted a wedding cake, which would not be possible to create anytime soon, and they definitely couldn't give it to her now. She would tear everything apart for the cake that was destroyed, with zero regard to anyone around her, even family or allies. "Then what do we do?!"

"Run!"

"But there's people on the Sunny!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Better them than this hag!" Zoro shouted, dodging a blast of flame. "Oi, Luffy! Take care of that sun!"

"There's no way I'll be like Zeus, that traitor!" Prometheus shouted. Luffy used gear second to jump up and grab onto Promethius's face with his new gear fourth form. He used his claws to rip at his face.

"Do what I want and I won't murder you!" Luffy snarled. Big Mom was clearly unaware of anything going on, which was lucky for Luffy. She was distracted. The sun started to sweat. "You, create a huge wall of fire to keep her out until we escape!" he ordered. The sun nodded, and Luffy zoomed away. He was in gear fourth short enough to not be a bother to him. The fire wall stalled Big Mom, but probably not for long before the fear of Luffy wore off.

He continued to keep his power in so that the homies didn't die and get in their way, as they were now running on foot, but soon Big Mom kids were in front of them, behind them, attacking. Luffy let out a burst of conqueror's haki, knocking out a handful, but not all. "He has conqueror's haki, too?!" someone shouted.