A/N: Hello again!
Another chapter ready for posting, and more of an admittedly slow start. Yes, these chapters are going to be a bit more on the short side, this story was written with the intention of being read pretty much all at once, but adding notes, converting the already written chapters to a format that lets me add the A/Ns, and making some grammatical and other related corrections make the process a bit slow. Do not worry, there will be longer chapters as time goes on, but bear with me here for a little while. Anyway, enjoy, and please continue to leave reviews, constructive criticism, and follows!
I do not own One Piece, it is the property of Eiichiro Oda
After a long and uneventful trip through Paradise, a part of the sea he had navigated successfully (well, he had not literally navigated it, his sense of direction at sea was quite awful) before, Luffy arrived back in the New World. He could see Karaibari Island from the Poison Moon's figurehead, his favorite spot on the ship. Soon, he could let Buggy handle all the White Lead business and he could unwind and do some training. He was itching to hit something, maybe even drench something in his poison and watch it dissolve, he just wanted something to do. He had enjoyed getting to spend time with his crew mates, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook were his most cherished members, but the others were important too. Still, he enjoyed fishing with Usopp, playing with Chopper, pestering Zoro, pestering Nami, watching Sanji cook, watching Franky build stuff, listening to Brook's wonderful music, learning about history (or at least trying to) from Robin. Spending time with everyone made the uneventful trip significantly less boring than he imagined it would be, but he could not shake the urge to really stretch his muscles. When the ships finally docked, he and Buggy were greeted by the hundreds of pirates waiting for them, the rest of Buggy's crew and the mercenaries.
"How was the trip?" A slim woman with a mace accompanied by a man with glasses asks.
"Ah, Alvida! Good news! We're gonna be rich! We have enough White Lead to buy a country!" Buggy replies ecstatically as both crews start to unload their stock from the ships.
"I'm going inside." Luffy says before quickly weaving through the crowd of people happy to see his safe return.
"What's up with Straw Hat?" The bespectacled man asks, and Buggy replies,
"Oh, you know him, probably just a bit stir crazy is all. Anyway, how's the business been going here, Galdino?" Buggy, Alvida, and Galdino continue to talk, but Luffy makes his way into the HQ building. It is a large, imposing building with a straw hat on the top with the letters "S" "H" "D" on the front of it and the Straw Hat Pirates' flag sticking out of the top. Luffy passes through the extravagant interior of the building and goes straight out the back, a training ground.
He spent the next few hours blowing off steam by attacking the palm trees around the training grounds and the attack dummies constantly being wheeled out to keep up with the speed at which Luffy is attacking and destroying them. At the very least, Luffy is able to go to sleep that night a lot less frustrated than he had been the past week.
After about a month of use and sale of the White Lead ore, the business is booming and the Government is sweating over it's reappearance in the market, fearing the true past of Flevance will rise to the public sphere. Lucky for them, Buggy and Co. are careful to conceal the source of it, not letting the Government know who has been distributing it, but as they find out, the Government may be the only ones who were fooled.
As Luffy and Zoro are training one day, mainly letting Zoro practice his sword techniques on his Venom-Venom Clone, Buggy comes running up to them, clearly panicked.
"Luffy! LUFFY!" Buggy begins calling out as he approaches. Zoro, who was not paying any attention to anything beside his attack and target, accidentally connects his attack with Buggy, cutting him to rivets.
"Oh, sorry, Buggy. Didn't see you there." Zoro replies calmly.
"HEY, YOU BASTARD! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SWINGING THOSE THINGS!" Buggy screams out, reforming his cut up body thanks to his Chop-Chop Fruit ability with an annoyed expression.
"What's up, Buggy? Weren't you gonna say something?" Luffy asks as his Clone splatters from Zoro's attack. Suddenly, Buggy's expression becomes calm as he says,
"Oh, right."
Suddenly, his urgent expression and cold sweat return as he continues,
"A big name is on the Transponder Snail inside, and they're asking for you personally!" Buggy explains, as Luffy's interest peaks and Zoro's protective instincts regarding his captain (an instinct each and every Straw Hat Pirate has and are frankly quite proud of) are triggered.
"Oh, okay then, lead the way." Luffy says fearlessly as Buggy does so, followed closely and protectively by Zoro. When the trio arrive, they are greeted by Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Alvida, and Galdino, who are all waiting to hear whatever this big name waiting patiently "on hold" on the snail has to say. Luffy walks over to snail as Zoro stays close while the other present Straw Hats move in closer, and Buggy goes off to stand in the corner, as far away as he can while still being able to hear whoever is on the other end. Luffy then bends over and picks up the receiver,
"Hello? This Monkey D. Luffy speaking. I'm gonna be King of the Pirates." He answers rather nonchalantly.
"DAMMIT YOU IDIOT! DON'T JUST SAY THAT TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE ON THE LINE! HE'S PART OF A BIG TIME PIRATE CREW, YOU SHOULD KNOW!" Buggy shouts out scoldingly.
"Well, you didn't say that beforehand, what'd you expect?" Zoro says, defending his Captain. The person on the other end of the snail chuckles, bringing the whole room back to attention as the voice begins to speak.
"I see you're as fiery as they say, Monkey D. Luffy.! My name is Charlotte Mont-d'Or, and I am representing the Big Mom Pirates. In response to your notoriety and connections, Mama requests your attendance at her next Tea Party. A Tarte ship will arrive at your island in a few days, and you can follow them in your own ship to our country. We all look forward to your attendance, and bring that clown friend of yours with you, since he seems to have a role in your group." The voice states matter-of-factly.
"Hey! I'm the Co-leader of this organization, you know!" Buggy shouts out, though Mont-d'Or does not seem to hear his statement, or perhaps cannot be bothered to care. The snail clicks, signifying Mont-d'Or has hung up, and Luffy looks back to the room. They all have rather serious expressions, save Buggy's annoyed one, so Luffy turns to Robin, probably the smartest person he knows, to explain the situation to him.
"Big Mom? Tea Party? Big Mom is one of the Four Emperors, right? Like Shanks?" He asks innocently. All the Straw Hats are put at ease pretty quickly, their Captain's famous happy-go-lucky attitude making the situation a lot less scary, but he only makes Buggy, Alvida, and Galdino more worried.
"That's correct, Luffy. Big Mom is one of the Four Emperors, like Shanks. As for the Tea Party, from what I've heard, it is basically a formal gala for Big Mom and her associates to form or strengthen alliances and partnerships. I've also heard that she only invites those she deems to be 'of importance' to them, mostly big shots in the Underworld. Although, I've also heard that it is not exactly an 'invitation.' Big Mom once sent her crew to burn an entire country to the ground when the royal family of that country refused to attend one. She is not one you 'blow off.'" Robin explains. Luffy looks annoyed all of a sudden,
"'Formal gala?' Does that mean I gotta wear a suit? That doesn't sound like fun…I don't wanna go!" He says quite stubbornly. Buggy's hands, detached and floating over to Luffy grab him by the collar of his open, red floral patterned shirt and shakes him violently as his floating torso approaches quickly.
"YOU IDIOT! DID YOU NOT JUST HEAR HER SAY BIG MOM DESTROYED AN ENTIRE KINGDOM OVER THIS?! YOU CAN'T JUST BAIL!" He says angrily.
"Why not?! I can take her!" Luffy replies back, his confidence exasperating Buggy even more.
"EVEN YOU HAVE LIMITS! THIS AN EMPEROR'S CREW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Buggy yells before leaning in close to Luffy's ear and continues while whispering.
"Besides, if she's inviting us, she may want to strike up an alliance with us.! Can you imagine the power and influence we'd gain if we fly her flag atop our ships and our HQ? We'd be untouchable.!" He explains.
"No way! I don't want her flag flying above mine! Then it would be like we work for her! I'll never take orders from anyone! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy responds loudly and firmly.
"It doesn't matter what order the flags are in you moron!" Buggy retorts. Robin cannot help herself but chuckle, along with Franky and Brook as Luffy and Buggy continue to argue. Usopp pipes up in an exasperated voice he is sure not to let reach the ears of his Captain or Buggy,
"I don't know if I should be terrified or excited about this whole thing…" He says. Robin chuckles again,
"Well, either way, it should be interesting. Though we should be prepared if we end up having to fight them, should the Captain decide not to attend, of course." She responds.
"Right." Zoro agrees with a bloodthirsty smile.
"Hey now! Let's not go crazy! We can't go to war with an Emperor!" Galdino interjects as Nami, Usopp, and Chopper look terrified at the thought of challenging Big Mom. But the side conversation is suddenly halted when Luffy and Buggy's argument seems to come to a loud conclusion.
"Fine! We'll go! But I don't wanna wear a suit!" Luffy shouts
"You'll wear a suit and you'll like it!" Buggy responds.
A/N: Another one down, and more on the way. Re-editing these chapters to make sure they are compatible for this site is a bit tiring, and there is definitely some college homework I should be finishing, so if I upload anything else tonight, it will just be one more chapter. Anyhow, more coming soon either way, so stay tuned and let me know how you all like it as the story progresses.