A/N: Hello and welcome back!
Looks like Luffy has really made quite the impression with Big Mom, that is if he can avoid doing something stupid and messing it all up. Can he do it, or will he undo all his progress? Let's hope not...
I do not own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda
With the threat eliminated, the Tea Party resumes, but Luffy spends a good hour trying to wake Buggy from his unconscious state.
"Will he be alright, Straw Hat?" Galette asks Luffy as Buggy sits slumped in his chair, foaming out the mouth.
"Shishishi! He'll be fine, it's always like this 'cause Buggy's not as strong as me." Luffy says honestly as he waves away her concerns.
"Oh, and call me Luffy!" He adds. Galette smiles and nods,
"Okay then, Luffy." She says. Luffy chuckles a bit more and Buggy finally starts to come around.
"Woah…what happened?" Buggy asks in a groggy voice, looking around and totally out of it. Luffy chuckles again.
"You passed out, Buggy! While I was fighting Kid and Killer!" Luffy says as Buggy sits up and gets his bearings back with his hand on his head.
"Oh, Ms. Galette, I apologize for that, surely the combined might of Luffy and myself must have been too much. Please tell your mother I meant no disrespect or anything." Buggy tells Galette, trying to puff himself up despite the actual reason he lost consciousness.
"None taken, Mr. Star Clown.!" Big Mom herself says from her seat at the table.
"GYAH! BIG MOM!" Buggy shouts in surprise while he flails about in dozens of floating pieces.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! Please relax Mr. Buggy. I believe I owe you and your associate a debt of gratitude after all! And who would have thought Straw Hat could use the Haki of Conquerors?! Very interesting indeed!" Big Mom says to try to put Buggy at ease, but Buggy cannot help but remain a bit unnerved. She turns her attention to Luffy, and continues,
"My son Dogtooth and I are also able to use Conqueror's Haki, so we can understand you're hesitation to join us." Big Mom says, also gesturing to the tall son with the scarf from before. Luffy's expression turns serious when he replies to her,
"Of course! I don't like to take orders because I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!" He says proudly, nearly putting Buggy into cardiac arrest.
"GYAH! LUFFY, YOU IDIOT!" Buggy shouts as he tries desperately to keep Luffy's mouth closed as Luffy flails around and protests in a muffled voice under Buggy's hand. Big Mom seems not to react at first, but soon laughs again.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma-hahahaha! You've got a fiery spirit, boy! I like that!" She says before eating some singing cake and chewing it quickly before speaking up once more,
"I believe we have the makings of a strong alliance on the near horizon, you two! Ma-ma-ma-ma!" She finishes. Buggy practically goes pale, he was sure Big Mom would have killed the both of them for what Luffy just said, but instead she's offering them the alliance Buggy was hoping for this whole time as part of a "best case scenario." Incredible, and absolutely unbelievable.
"GYAHAHAHA! Of course we're interested, surely we shall meet again to discuss this further!" Buggy says triumphantly with a huge open smile. Big Mom laughs back enthusiastically, and responds to Buggy,
"That we shall! I will look forward to when we meet next, the both of you!" She bellows with enthusiasm.
After the Tea Party concludes, Luffy and Buggy start to load up with the rest of the suited-up Straw Hats on the Poison Moon. They are seen off on the shore by a number of Big Mom Pirates, including Mont-d'Or, Galette, and, surprisingly, Dogtooth.
"Well, have a safe travel now, Luffy. I'll look forward to seeing you again soon." Galette tells him as his crew mates load up the ship and prepare to embark.
"Yeah! I will, Gal-y! See ya!" Luffy says, calling her by a nickname because he, admittedly, does not really remember how to pronounce her name. She blushes just a bit at the nickname and stifles a laugh with her glove. Luffy does not notice, because before he even has a chance to look back in her direction, Dogtooth approaches him.
"You are a valiant fighter, Monkey D. Luffy, I look forward to meeting you again. Perhaps we can spar someday, too." Dogtooth says in a deep and admittedly menacing voice. Despite his massive size (being at least three times taller than Luffy), his deep and intimidating voice, and "rough and tumble" look, Luffy gets a positive vibe from him. He gives him that famous smile and says,
"Sure! That sounds like fun!" Before turning to his ship to walk aboard. Suddenly he stops, and approaches Galette, who is still concealing her blush. He digs through his pockets and finds what he was looking for, the Vivre Card that she gave him earlier.
"I didn't have to talk to the 'Homies' or whatever, so I didn't need it after all.! Here ya go!" Luffy says, scratching his head beneath where his Straw Hat sits and offering the card back to her. She stares at it for a moment, but after thinking on it, she pushes the hand holding it gently back toward his body.
"That's quite alright, I want you to keep it." Galette says with a small but warm smile. Luffy looks a bit surprised, but his smile reappears quickly and he tucks it into the red band of his straw hat.
"'Kay!" Luffy says, and turns back to the ship one last time to board. Once he gets back on, Mont-d'Or pipes up,
"Oh yeah, that reminds me! Star Clown! I, for one, would like my Vivre Card back!" He says, causing Buggy to fall over in exasperation. While muttering to himself, he retrieves the Vivre Card from his pocket, floats the hand holding Mont-d'Or's card to him, and Mont-d'Or snatches it back from him. As the ship sets sail to return to Karaibari Island, Luffy stands on the aft of the Poison Moon and waves both his hands.
"Bye bye! See ya later!" He shouts as they depart, and continues to wave until Whole Cake Island is a ways in the distance. Buggy approaches him once he stops waving, and puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, I underestimated you, Luffy! We really pulled that off!" Buggy says, and Luffy chuckles.
"Shishishishi! We sure did!" He responds, not noticing that he pretty much did all the heavy lifting and Buggy was sort of just "along for the ride," meaning it was not so much "they" who did it after all.
With the Tea Party over, Luffy has really made his mark! What will come of this? Will opportunity knock? And if so, what will fate plop in the Straw-Clown Alliance's laps? A shorter chapter, I know, but this is one of the shorter ones (I believe the shortest one so far), the next ones will be a bit longer. So, before anyone says anything, there is a good reason for referring to Katakuri as "Dogtooth" in the story. The reason will be shown rather bluntly in the next chapter and expanded on much later, so don't worry for now. Also, told you the Vivre Cards would have some significance, and they've still got a role to play in the story. How? Find out next time! And don't forget to Follow, Favorite, and Review!