A/N: Hello again!
Another chapter up and ready for you! Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and Review!
I do not own One Piece, it is the property of Eiichiro Oda
A few days pass, and one of Big Mom's sweets themed ships arrives on Karaibari Island to escort the crew. As Luffy and Buggy load up the Poison Moon with supplies and twenty five hazmat suited Straw Hats, the two get aboard, Luffy looking uncomfortable but generally adjusted to the magenta suit he is wearing. As the ship departs, Luffy happily waves "goodbye" to rest of the Straw Hats and the Buggy Pirates.
"Bye guys! See you all soon!" He calls out, flailing both hands as the Straw Hats wave back with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Luffy notices Buggy sit on a barrel on board and looks at him. Buggy seems a bit uncomfortable in his own suit, a red one with cyan lining and tie, now that Luffy looks at him. Although, on second thought, Luffy decides it might be something else. "You okay, Buggy?" He asks innocently, who looks up at him with make-up still on, red nose firmly in place, and his red and white striped pirate hat still on his head. Buggy snorts,
"I'm fine, it's you I'm worried about." Buggy replies. Luffy tilts his head, curious as to what Buggy is worried about. Buggy can tell just by the look Luffy is giving him, and explains.
"I'm worried you're going to mess this up. You're hotheaded and uncompromising, that's a bad combination for a situation like this."
"Hey, you're pretty hotheaded too, you know.!" Luffy defends himself.
"WHAT?! DID YOU JUST CALL ME BIG NOSED?!" Buggy responds furiously as he stands up and gets in Luffy's face.
"OF COURSE NOT! HOW DID YOU GET THAT FROM WHAT I SAID?!" Luffy responds, quite exasperated and angry as well.
"WHATEVER! YOU BETTER NOT MESS THIS UP THOUGH, LUFFY! THE BIG MOM PIRATES'LL KILL US IF WE MAKE THE WRONG MOVE! WE'RE ON THEIR HOME TURF!" Buggy starts shouting.
"I KNOW THAT! I'M NOT GONNA MESS IT UP!" Luffy shouts back. As they continue to butt heads, some of the Straw Hats on board try to calm the two down to no avail. The bickering eventually dies down and the two turn to other activities to distract themselves, Buggy goes inside to hopefully sleep through the all-day journey, and Luffy takes up his usual spot on the head of the center hydra on the ship's figurehead.
Several hours at sea pass, and Luffy waits impatiently to arrive at Totto Land, Big Mom's Kingdom. As the kingdom appears in the distance, Buggy comes out from his nap and (all but his feet) float over to Luffy and joins him.
"I hope you thought about what I was saying earlier." Buggy says. Luffy does not look away from the horizon, but asks,
"About not screwing this up?"
"No…" Buggy starts, sounding a bit exhausted rather than his usual annoyance.
"…about the alliance, the way Big Mom usually allies with other forces…" Buggy continues, but Luffy cuts him off.
"I'm not getting married, if that's what you mean. I'm not interested, no matter how pretty you say some of her daughters are." Luffy says, adjusting his red tie with black skull and crossbones of random sizes scattered across it and pushing his straw hat farther back on his head. Buggy sighs,
"You should at least consider it, I'm certainly open to the opportunity, and you should be too. Think about the crew and the Delivery service, how far we all can go with Big Mom's help." Buggy says as Luffy turns to face him.
"Well, if you want to do it so bad, maybe you should be the one to marry one of 'em.!" Luffy says, a bit snappy and clearly tired of this discussion already.
"Just be open to it, please? They don't sound too ecstatic to even have me there, so they're going to try to marry you off first." Buggy explains. Luffy remains uncharacteristically stoic as his crew calls out
"Land ho!" Buggy does not expect an answer, and starts to float away and prepares to disembark when Luffy speaks up once more.
"I'll let you know if I change my mind." He says, still facing the horizon. Buggy decides that is the best he will get from the stubborn boy and enters the cabin with a momentarily satisfied smirk. The Poison Moon and Tarte ship escorting them both dock an island that they are told is Butter Island, and they are escorted by around by ten minor members of the Big Mom Pirates and twenty small soldiers referred to as "Chess Peacekeepers" with shields and lances resembling spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds respectively. The group leads Luffy and Buggy off the boat, but the pirates request the Straw Hats accompanying them stay on the ship, at least while Luffy and Buggy are to meet two of the ministers. The pirates protest at first, but Luffy speaks on their behalf.
"It's okay, but I expect them to be kept safe. If we come back and they've been hurt or something, I'll kill you." Luffy says, serious as a heart attack. His crew cheers,
"That's our Captain!"
"He's always got our back!"
"So dependable!" are among the cheers heard from them as the Big Mom pirates agree to his terms, commanding all of the Chess Peacekeepers to stay with the ship and protect the Straw Hats at all costs until they are dismissed. The Peacekeepers stand at attention and surround the ship, holding strong and ready for any potential threat that may come their way. Truth be told, Luffy cannot say he is too confident in their battle skill, and would feel much better if his crew could accompany him. Despite Luffy's concerns, Buggy urges Luffy to move along and keep up with the pirates, so Luffy lets it go for the time being. As they walk through the paved streets and past butter themed buildings, they are met by two figures, a man and a woman. The man is lanky with long limbs, a stocky abdomen, and blond hair that flares outwards. He has a rounded chin that sticks out, a long pointed nose, and a predominant slouch. He is wearing an open-chested, dark-colored jumpsuit with a skeleton pattern following the limbs and ribs, a dark-colored top hat with a light pink colored ribbon, as well as dark lipstick and eye makeup in the shape of a single line going down each eyelid. The woman is fairly young and of average size with pale skin and shoulder-length fuchsia hair, which curls at the ends. She has yellow eyes and notably thick eyelashes. She is wearing a red-violet dress, a dark purple feather coat, magenta gloves, and has two horns on the top of her head. She is quite beautiful, they must admit, even Luffy. The man introduces himself with a sinister grin and a deep bow,
"Hello 'Straw Hat' Luffy, 'Star Clown' Buggy. My name is Charlotte Mont-d'Or, the Minister of Cheese. We spoke over the snail a few days ago. And this is my sister…" Mont-d'Or says, gesturing to the woman who picks up the sentence where her brother left off,
"…Charlotte Galette, Minister of Butter, overseer of the island we are currently on." Galette finishes with a much more serious and stoic expression than her older brother. Buggy elbows Luffy with a small smile, but Luffy ignores it, uncharacteristically catching onto what Buggy is implying. Mont-d'Or resumes the conversation to fill in the silence created,
"Well then, now that introductions are out of the way, we shall be leading you to the main island, Whole Cake Island, shortly. We shall accompany and guide you on your ship, but you will be needing these for the duration of your stay." Mont-d'Or explains as he pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and presents it to them. Galette pulls out a similar piece of paper and presents it as well, seeming to hand it over in Luffy's direction specifically. Luffy does not notice any intention, but takes it as Buggy takes Mont-d'Or's.
"A Vivre Card?" Luffy asks, and Galette clarifies,
"Yes, the Chess Peacekeepers and many other living things in this kingdom are 'Homies,' life created from souls by Mama. They all must follow the will of her soul, and with some of Mama's Vivre Cards, you will have some control of them yourselves." She explains. Luffy and Buggy both nod to show their understanding, though frankly, the whole 'Homie' business is a bit confusing, especially for Luffy (who does not really get it all). Mont-d'Or claps his hands together and speaks again.
"Well, with that out of the way, shall we get going? The Tea Party will be starting in just a few hours, and we do not want to keep Mama and her other guests waiting." He says. Luffy and Buggy both nod again, showing their understanding and their cooperation. With that out of the way, the group make their way back to the port to board the Poison Moon and make the trip to the main island, Whole Cake Island, to attend the Tea Party.
A/N: The action is coming, I swear. *nervous laugh* You can look forward to a fight scene in the coming chapters, a chance to show off Luffy's own unique twist on the Venom-Venom Fruit's abilities, and the plot will be picking up as time goes on. While I'm here, I also thought I'd mention the reason Galette and Mont-d'Or give Luffy and Buggy the Vivre Cards, and it is for two main reasons. One, a show of trust between the Big Mom Pirates and her esteemed guests, giving them a bit of power and influence (or at least make them think so). Second, a tactic to expose potential traitors, if someone tries to use the Vivre Cards to turn the Homies against the Big Mom Pirates, Big Mom's soul would override their control, and make their intentions quite clear to everyone. As a side note, it is also a minor plot point later on. One more thing, attack techniques (and the author's notes) were originally meant to be in bold, but the text is being reverted to a plain format, so techniques have been changed to be in italics and the author's notes will just be left plain for the sake of consistency. Well, with that out of the way, please leave your feedback as usual and stick around!