Chapter 23
Rice-cracker Party
Eli examined the interior of the strange house. It had a single room and was kinda small with two round windows on each wall. Furnishing was kept very simple. There was a table covered with a checkered tablecloth and surrounded by three stools and an arm chair. The only decoration apart from the tablecloth was a hole in the floor letting a small tree in. Everything was made of hardened wax.
"Look, there's tea !" Eli said happily, pointing at a lovely steaming tea set.
"And it's still warm," Sanji said, examining the teapot.
The pair sat down comfortably to enjoy an odd tea party.
Sanji poured the tea in two cups and handed one to the girl. "Here you are, Elisabeth chérie."
This is fun, she thought while sipping the warm beverage. Somehow, the tea must have had a calming effect on the pirates since their worries about their crewmates simply vanished.
"Bulu bulu bulu... Bulu bulu bulu..."
The pair looked around questioningly to find the source of the ringing, and they finally found a denden mushi in a straw picnic basket. Eli also found a small bag of rice crackers and took it while Sanji sat down and picked up the denden mushi.
"Hello," he greeted, "thanks for calling. This is the shitty restaurant." He gave Eli a wink. "Do you want to make a reservation ?"
Eli giggled as she nibbled on a rice cracker. 'Shitty Restaurant' was how the staff commonly referred to the Baratie.
"Cut the bullshit !" the man on the other side of the denden mushi said coldly. "Dickhead...."
The insulting tone of the man instantly froze the jolly mood.
"Your report is late."
"Huh ? Report ?" Sanji asked. "And by the way, who is this ?"
"It's me..." the man said, "Mr. Zero."
The pirates' faces darkened on the spot. This was a serious matter. They were talking directly to the boss of Baroque Works... a Shichibukai on top of that. Maybe they could use that to their advantage. Eli noticed that Mr. Three was written on the denden mushi's side. She silently pointed it out to Sanji.
Mr. Three... So they were in their enemies' hideout, which meant that Baroque Works was on this very island. This was probably why their crewmates hadn't returned to the Merry yet. The worries that had previously left them came flowing back full force.
I hope the others are okay, Eli thought, biting her bottom lip.
"I gave you orders days ago... Mr. Three. What's going on ?"
Eli rolled her hand to motion the cook to continue talking.
"I'm asking you a simple question, asshole." The man was growing impatient. "Have you killed the princess and those straw hat kids ?"
The girl and Sanji exchanged a knowing look.
"Ah. Yes, I killed everyone," Sanji replied in a relaxed manner, leaning back in the armchair. "Everyone who knew your secret is dead. No need to hunt them down anymore."
"I see... Good work," Mr. Zero said. "I sent the Unluckies to see you. They have an Eternal Pose to Alabasta for you."
Unluckies ?
"You and Miss Golden Week shall go to Alabasta. We've entered the last part of our plan. I'll give you further instructions after you've arrived."
At that moment, two strangely dressed animals appeared in the two windows.
In one window, there was an otter wearing sunglasses and a polka dotted sleep suit holding a pair of seashells with sharp claws on the fingers. The other window was occupied by a vulture also wearing sunglasses as well as a bathing cap. It had a pair of machine guns strapped to its back.
I guess those are the 'Unluckies', Eli thought, frowning at the two newcomers.
As the animals pointed their weapons threateningly at the pirates, they stood up briskly. When the vulture opened fire at the pair, they both evaded the bullets and quickly hid behind the table.
"What's going on ?" Mr. Zero asked over the denden mushi.
"I'll take the otter," Eli whispered in Sanji's ear.
The cook nodded.
The pirates jumped out of their hiding spot simultaneously. The otter jumped forward brandishing its seashells, but Eli launched her fist rapidly into its stomach, throwing the animal so violently into the wall that it left an imprinted mark behind. At the same time, Sanji jumped and caught the vulture's head between his feet, twirling in the air and breaking the animal's neck with a loud cracking sound that sent a shiver down Eli's spine.
"Oi ! What was that sound ?" Mr. Zero asked angrily.
Sanji quickly picked up the denden mushi. "Nothing... sir," he said, slightly panting. "One of those kids was still alive... but don't worry, I broke his neck. Rest assured."
Mr. Zero stayed silent for a few heavy seconds.
"Still... alive ?" he said slowly as if to weigh the words. "I thought you told me that you killed them..."
"Well.. yeah. Sorry, but those kids were stronger than I thought," Sanji replied, smirking.
"That means you gave me a false report... Mr. Three," Mr. Zero said coldly.
Not very forgiving, are you, Mr. Zero...
"Well... if you want to put it that way..." Sanji said carefully, "but now I'm sure they are 100% dead, aren't they, Miss Golden Week ?"
Eli leaned forward to get her mouth close to the receiver. "They sure are," she confirmed.
"Whatever.... Just go to Alabasta." He hung up.
Searching through the Unluckies' bags, Eli found the Eternal Pose to Alabasta. Hehe... With that, the pirates would be able to leave Little Garden right away without having to wait for the Log Pose to lock onto the next island. She smirked while showing the Eternal Pose to Sanji.
"MY LOVELY LADIES !" Sanji came out of the jungle with his arms spread and his famous loving eyes focused on Nami and Vivi. "I'm so glad that you are safe !"
Eli rolled her eyes, walking behind the love cook. She was glad to see they were all okay, males included, but her eyes widened seeing that not only Ace, but now Luffy, Nami, and Zoro were shirtless.
What the hell...?
"Oh my dear Nami ! You're so sexy !" Sanji wooed, his eyes popping out of their sockets as he stared at the redhead's bra.
"Why is everyone shirtless ?" Eli asked, looking questioningly at the group. "Are you some kind of guru, Flame Boy..." She trailed off as her eyes fell on a frakingly huge foot.
Oh... my... god... The girl's jaw dropped, her gaze slowly trailing up to a pair of huge faces belonging to giants.
"What's wrong, little lady ?" one of the giants asked in a booming voice, leaning forward to look at the gaping girl.
Luffy laughed. "Little lady ! No one has ever called Eli little !" He grinned.
Eli gulped. The girl had read about the existence of giants, of course.... Truly, she had read quite a lot since the subject had always fascinated the girl, but being able to actually face the real thing was really, really different from reading books. It thrilled her.
"Can.. can you.. carry me ?" she stammered nervously like a fangirl.
The giants laughed loudly, and one of them offered his huge hand for the girl to jump on. She didn't even give it a second's thought and hopped on right away. As he brought his hand to his shoulder, the girl looked in awe at the amazing view Little Garden had to offer.
"... awesome," Eli breathed.
Soon, Luffy joined the girl rocket-style. "Eli is a big fan of yours, guys !" He laughed at the girl's amazed face and offered her a rice cracker. "Hey, giants ! I forgot to ask before but... can you poop ?"
Eli's eyes widened as she pictured the size of a giant's poop. "Luffy !" She elbowed the curious boy. "Of course they can poop !"
Luffy just laughed again.
"Anyway ! This is just great !" Eli said with a large grin plastered on her face. She gazed at the two smiling giants. "I have to draw you !"
While Eli was sketching the giants, Sanji told the group about the little hideout in the jungle, the Unluckies, and the little discussion he and the girl had had with Mr. Zero who had thought they were Mr. Three and Miss Golden Week.
"So... you had fun ?" Ace asked, sitting next to the girl.
"Of course," Eli replied, still focusing on her drawing. "Sanji is really fun to hang with. What about you ? Busy burning everything down, I suppose?"
"What can I say? Fire against wax... not a real challenge."
"Did you really have to burn off Nami's clothes, though ?" she asked, pointing her pen at the shirtless navigator.
Ace laughed, fixing his hat. "Aw, come on, at least I left the bra, right ?"
Eli sighed. Pervert... she thought before resuming to her sketch.
When Sanji showed the Eternal Pose to Alabasta that they had managed to retrieve from the Unluckies, Vivi flew into the young man's arms happily which, of course, made Sanji even happier.
The pirates didn't have time to linger in Little Garden anymore; they had to head to Alabasta right away. Eli closed her book and thanked the giants, hoping they would meet again.
"It's time to say goodbye." Luffy waved at the two giants. "Good luck !"
After a little fight between Sanji and Zoro about the size of their respective hunting loot which, to the rest of the crew's opinion, were both about the same, the Merry was sailing up the river to leave Little Garden. When the pirates spotted the two giants on the shore opening the path to the sea, they happily waved goodbye. Eli was sad to leave the giants so soon, but like Usopp, she promised herself that she would one day go to their motherland, Elbaf.
Must be frakingly awesome, Eli thought, picturing the giant streets, buildings, and meals...
"You have protected our honor with your lives. So, no matter what will come..."
"...we won't let anything happen to you."
"Trust in us."
"And no matter what happens, keep heading straight !"
The crew was puzzled at the giants' mysterious speech.
"We shall meet again !"
The Merry was now in the open sea. As they started to sail peacefully away from Little Garden, a ginormous goldfish emerged from the waters, creating a large wave that shook the ship violently. The crew gawked staring at the monstrous fish. It was almost as big as an island and it clearly wasn't friendly as it opened its huge mouth to swallow the little ship.
"Hurry up and change the course !" Nami yelled frantically. "Usopp, hurry up !!" she ordered upon seeing that the marksman hadn't moved.
"NO !" Usopp shouted, frowning at the navigator. He turned to look at Luffy. "We will head straight ! Isn't that right, Captain ?"
How brave he was. Even though he was the perfect picture of fear, the long-nosed boy trusted the giants above all.
"Yep ! Absolutely !" Luffy smiled. "Here Nami, take a rice cracker." He handed the last cracker to the trembling redhead.
Heading straight toward the monster's open mouth, Nami was sobbing as she nibbled on her rice cracker.
"Heading straight, Luffy !" Usopp yelled with fear in his voice.
"Going FORWARD !!" Luffy yelled back, his voice nothing but confidence as he threw an arm in the air.
Yeah right, going straight to our deaths... Eli thought, gripping the railing.
The goldfish closed its gigantic mouth on the ship as the majority of the crew screamed. They soon found themselves sailing in pitch black. Eli's grip on the railing tightened. She closed her eyes praying for their safety....
"HOLY WIND LANCE !!!"
Eli snapped her eyes open and blinked rapidly in the sudden light, not quite sure of what had just happened.
The Merry had been shot through a large hole in the goldfish and was now flying through the air.
"YAHOO !! We're flying !" Luffy yelled ecstatically.
After a few long seconds of flight, the ship landed and splashed heavily on the surface of the sea.
"HEADING STRAIGHT !!" the giants shouted, pointing their broken weapons forward.
to be continued
Betaed by Iwin Ulose.
Little Garden... done !
I hope you enjoyed spending some time with Sanji :)
Thank you for reviewing ThexWhitexPhoenix, kaaayyytteee and Shibo26 :)
Never tried aloe vera ice cream Tropicall, doesn't seem really... appealing XD I like Flame Boy ! And Ace is so cute with cat whiskers...