A/N: Hello!
Welcome back everybody, to another chapter! We are finally getting to some bigger plot points and have reached the Tea Party! What will await as Big Mom's castle looms ahead? Find out now!
I do not own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda
As they would expect, the castle's interior is ornate, beautiful even. It keeps the sweet theme, many objects and furnishing made to emulate (or perhaps, made of) types of sweets, paintings of candy and pastries adorning the walls, and striped candy paint jobs for the walls and pillars.
"The Tea Party will be starting shortly, so please sit down in the seat with your names on them at the head table." Mont-d'Or explains, while Buggy turns to Luffy and raises his eyebrows at the words "head table." Prestigious, yes, but worrisome as well. Right up and personal with Big Mom, Luffy will really have to watch himself.
"Mama will be joining us in about ten minutes, so please make yourselves comfortable until she arrives." Mont-d'Or finishes as the Chess Peacekeepers go over and open the door to the Tea Room. The Tea Room is rather extravagant, for sure, but it seems somewhat different from the rest of the castle they have seen. The whole room is an indoor garden, has a rather cartoony, child-like aesthetic to it, and the walls are painted like a blue sky in a way one might expected to see in a nursery. The room is filled with flowers of all kinds and colors, that look almost like they are made of candy, tea sets, and tables and other pieces of furniture that are all quite frilly. Not exactly how Luffy or Buggy imagined one of the rooms of an Emperor's HQ, but they say nothing as they make their way to the head table. Luffy sits first with Buggy sitting in the chair on Luffy's left. Mont-d'Or plops down on Buggy's left and Galette on Luffy's right. Across from Luffy sits three particularly tall Charlotte Family members, fellow Super Rookie and apparent ally of Big Mom's, Capone Bege, and a long tongued subordinate of Bege's. Bege has a big, somewhat devious smile on his face as he looks toward Luffy, while his subordinate's gaze goes who knows where (on account of his glasses covering his eyes) and he flicks a cherry around on his tongue. Luffy looks around the room to get an idea of who else is present at the party, but it is just an excuse avoid Bege's stare, since Luffy is not very familiar with the people who run the Black Market trades (especially for someone who is technically part of it). Luffy does not recognize anyone, but he can tell by the way they carry themselves that they are all big deals, or at least they seem quite sure they are. He remembers what Robin had told him before he left Karaibari Island, that most of Big Mom's guests would likely be big timers from the Underworld. They apparently were the type to have major connections and think full of themselves, so Luffy decided it would be best to keep an eye out for them, but being responsible for reviving the White Lead Market made the Straw Hat Delivery an Underworld organization too, so they probably had the same thoughts regarding Luffy and Buggy. The ones who carry themselves more casually are likely the sons and daughters of Big Mom, and their appearances are particularly variant, especially for siblings. Then again, maybe Luffy should not judge. People say he looks a bit like Ace, though neither really looked like Sabo, but they were brothers all the same. Luffy missed Sabo, he was always the smart one, he'd know how to get Luffy through this whole thing. Luffy sighs, waiting impatiently for Big Mom to make an appearance and get this over with, tapping his finger against the table with one hand and adjusting his tie with the other. Buggy smacks his leg under the table to get him to stop, and Luffy cannot help himself from throwing a disappointed pouty face at him, causing Mont-d'Or and Galette to chuckle a bit under their breaths. After a few more minutes of waiting, the woman of the hour comes thundering in.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma-hahaha! Hello, my honored guests!" She booms as she comes into view. She is a round, obese woman with a chin hidden by her torso. She has an enormous, giant-like physique, and is easy to mistake for a giant. She has moderately round, has orange eyes, prominent eyelashes, and wears thick purple eyeshadow. She has a very wide mouth with full lips sporting red lipstick, and large, round teeth. She also has long, curly, and wild pink hair that falls halfway down her back, as well as a beak-like nose, and plump, round cheeks. Luffy notices a tattoo on her left shoulder and arm, a large, red heart framed by thin lines curled at their bottom ends, which all tops a far smaller heart. Big Mom also has on a large pink bicorne hat bearing a Jolly Roger different than the one on her flags on the front, which has two crossed sabers behind it, and possesses small lateral flame patterns. She also dons a pink dress with red polka dots and white ruffles on its neckline and hemline, with a wide, rippling white cape attached to its back that falls to the ground. She has on a lot of jewelery, gold rings on all her fingers, and other priceless, bejeweled bracelets on both arms. She has quite the intimidating appearance, if not for...
"Damn, she's ugly." Luffy whispers, loud enough so only Buggy can hear him.
"Shut up! You'd better not say that again.!" Buggy whisper-screams at him. Big Mom takes a seat at the head of the table, which causes a slight rumble throughout the room, and begins to speak again.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! You're Monkey D. Luffy, aren't you?" She asks, looking right at Luffy as she does. He nods, straight-faced as he can be while doing so.
"Yes, I am Monkey D. Luffy, and this Buggy, my Delivery partner." Luffy says, gesturing to Buggy to move the focus away from him.
"Yes, Star Clown Buggy, your majesty.!" Buggy yelps, not having expected to become the center of attention. The attention does not stay on him too long, as the musicians present begin to play a campy tune and some small objects begin circling the tables, almost like they are…alive.
"La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch!" The objects call out as the circle they create closes in and they jump onto the table. All the objects are all food and silverware! As they all swirl around, two living pots of tea leaves coming running up to Luffy while singing their own contents.
"Tea!"
"Green Tea!"
"Tea!"
"Green Tea!" They call out, almost as if arguing, before presenting themselves before Luffy. The music and singing stop for a moment as they do.
"Green Tea!" Luffy replies, suddenly in a much lighter mood and a smile on his face. The "tea" shouts, feigning anguish, as the "green tea" whoops with joy and pours it's contents into a teapot with a face as well. The music and singing picks up again with gusto immediately after. All the food, the containers, the tea cups, the silverware and fine china, they all have faces and are singing loudly and proudly.
"La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch! La-la-lunch!" They all continue singing as the food serves itself to everyone at each table on the singing plates with glee.
"Eat us! Eat us!" They all sing giddily as they announce what they are while the tea kettle pours the tea and the full tea cups slide over to each person.
"Donuts!" Sing the donuts.
"Scones!" Chant the scones.
"Cookies!" Belt out the cookies.
"Sand-wich-eeeeessssssss!" The sandwiches finish with crescendos and a held out note.
Luffy looks at the food with a gaping, drooling mouth and stars shining in his wide eyes.
"WOAH! HOW COOL! TALKING FOOD!" He calls out as picks up a shortcake and takes a massive bite. The shortcake then sings a loud note before asking in the same falsetto,
"How do I taste? Am I good?"
"Yep!" Luffy says simply before eating the rest of the shortcake while it sings how happy it is to be delicious. While Luffy helps himself and starts to scarf it all down, Buggy seems a bit disturbed by the prospect of eating sentient food, but snaps back into it when he sees Luffy.
"You idiot! Wait until Big Mom starts eating before you do!" Buggy shouts and hits Luffy upside the head mid-bite. He starts coughing for a moment before giving Buggy a glare, which Buggy returns right away.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! That's quite alright! Everyone, feast to your hearts' content!" Big Mom calls out, causing the guests and the food alike to cheer loudly.
"Shishishishi! Thank you for the food!" Luffy says, now smiling and returning his attention to digging in and sipping the hot tea quickly, as if the food is going somewhere (which, to be fair, it could if it wanted to). Mont-d'Or's smile is a lot less sinister looking as he watches the notorious pirate act this way, and Galette has to cover her mouth and stifle her giggles to maintain her "tough girl" persona while she watches the scene unfold.
"You've got quite the appetite, Straw Hat!" Big Mom says before laughing once more, while he responds,
"Mmhmm." with a full mouth. Buggy decides to just go with it and starts to dig in himself. As the party continues, Buggy fields all of Big Mom and Mont-d'Or's questions involving the Straw Hat Delivery and the White Lead sales while Luffy continues to gorge himself and Galette tries hold a conversation with him, and he of course continues to eat whatever he can get his hands on (much of it from Buggy's plate when he is not looking despite the food constantly serving new helpings to him).
"Do you like sweets, Straw Hat?" Galette asks, just wanting to keep talking with him while he seem rather distracted.
"Mm! (I prefer meat, but sweets are nice, too!)" Luffy says with his mouth stuffed full of donuts and candy. Galette laughs at this, seemingly a bit out of character for her as they continue to "converse." Big Mom and Mont-d'Or observe the scene with some level of fondness, and Big Mom speaks up,
"Those two are getting along quite well, eh?" She says.
"Indeed, Mama.! I have not seen Galette smile like that in quite some time!" Mont-d'Or adds, causing Buggy to look over at the scene. Buggy smiles a scheming smile, hoping this could be the prelude to a very fortuitous alliance in the future.
"Gyahahahaha! Of course, Straw Hat is a man who can make an ally out of anyone! And very loyal too! I can't even begin to tell you all the times he has thrown himself into the throes of danger and death to help his friends." Buggy says, hoping to make an alliance with the Straw-Clown Alliance even more appealing to Big Mom.
"MAMA! MAMA!" A voice suddenly shouts out, drawing all the attention to who the voice belongs to, a pirate who just burst in. A "Hm?" escapes Big Mom's mouth as the pirate comes up to her. The pirate takes a moment to pant, as it would seem he has come running from quite a distance, before speaking up,
"Mama! We're under attack! A ship is firing on the island! It's Eustass Kid! The Kid Pirates are attacking Whole Cake Island!"
A/N: A threat appears on the horizon! What will Big Mom do about her pesky party crasher? What will Luffy do about the arrival of (another) fellow Supernova? Find out next time! On a side note, props to anyone who gets the reference I made with Vito's appearance in this chapter (hint, he and the referenced character are famous for the sound of the tongue swirling, "Rero Rero Rero Rero"). Meanwhile, look forward to some action next chapter and an exciting display of strength from all parties involved. As another thing just to thrown in there, since Buggy and Luffy have both sailing together since East Blue, and since both of them are responsible boosts to their cannon bounties, Buggy is technically a Supernova in this universe (go ahead and let that sink in). Well, see you next time! Don't forget to Favorite, Follow, and Review!