Ch. 29- One Icy Woman

One Piece © Oda

Blizzard, Aika, Kumi, and Jupiter © Me

"A brat- I mean, a child who was transformed into a dragon?!" the guard asked.

"Yeah, like that girl who turned into a wolf," the little girl asked.

"And just where did you hear something like that, little miss?" the other guard asked her.

"I saw it happen," the girl answered. "I just didn't tell anyone, since it was the Secret Room, but…I got worried for him, since we came on the same boat."

"Ah, I see," said the guard. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much about him! He's just fine!"

"He's right!" his comrade answered. "This is a big laboratory, you know! He have many medical rooms! He's just being kept in a different room, that's all!"

"Is he eating, now?" asked the girl. "Earlier, he wouldn't eat anything."

"Of course he's eating well!" the guard answered. "I'm sure he's fine! Just remember, you need to keep news about the Secret Room hush-hush from the other children. All right?"

"All right," the girl answered.

XXX

Meanwhile, in Caesar's lab, which is in Building C on the 4th floor, Luffy and Blizzard are facing off against Monet, and it looked like she was giving them a rather hard time, too.

"Hey!" Luffy shouted. "What's the big idea, Bird-lady?!"

Monet chuckled as she trapped Luffy and Blizzard inside a large dome of snow.

"This is my Ten-Layer Igloo," Monet said as she appeared on the walls. "It's my same Igloo defense, only ten times as thick. What do you think? Do you like it?"

"No, I don't!" Luffy shouted. "Are you just trying to buy time?! Blizzard and I will just smash this thing to pieces in seconds! This is all pointless! We can't imagine losing to the likes of you!"

"I suppose not," Monet said. "I can't imagine beating you, boy…but battle prowees and winning and losing are different things, aren't they?"

GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWR! Blizzard roared as he lunged at Monet, but then, she disappeared and he ended up landing in the snow beside Luffy!

"Where'd she go?!" Blizzard questioned.

"I dunno, but she's somewhere!" Luffy replied. "Stay sharp, Blizzard!"

The two Straw Hats looked around, trying to locate Monet…when all of a sudden, they froze upon sensing a familiar presence.

"Boo…!" Monet whispered in their ears, but before they could turn around and attempt to attack, they found themselves suddenly caught in the bird-woman's embrace!

"H-huh?!" Luffy muttered.

"W-w-what the hell?!" Blizzard questioned. "She's freezing! Even with all this fur on me, she's really cold!"

"Yeah! It's like she's m-m-made of ice!" Luffy shivered. "L…let go of us…you…bitch…!"

"Oh, I'm not letting go for anything," Monet whispered in a soothing voice. "And before long, you two won't even the strength to move."

Blizzard groaned as he and Luffy suddenly started feeling very sluggish. Their eyelids grew heavy and their bodies started to feel numb.

"This freezing body of mine will sap all your stamina, little-by-little," Monet said, "and then…even your hearts will freeze."

Not long after, snow began to fall all around them and began to cover Luffy and Blizzard.

"See?" Monet asked. "Look at all the pretty snow all around us…you two must be getting sleepy."

"…Yes," Luffy whispered.

"Doesn't it feel good?" Monet asked. "You just wanna close your eyes…and be at peace."

Before long…Luffy and Blizzard are lying down, face-first in the snow while Monet watched.

"Goodnight," Monet whispered with a sweet, yet cruel smile.

However…just when Luffy was about to drift off in deadly slumber…he suddenly something very important.

"GET A FREAKING GRIP AND GET SERIOUS, YOU MORON! REMEMBER, WE'RE IN THE NEW WORLD, NOW!"

Luffy and Blizzard gasped before they woke back up, the former unleashing a burst of Conqueror's Haki as he pushed Monet back!

"W-what in the world?!" Monet questioned.

"Gum-Gum…JET SPEAR!" Luffy shouted before he stomped a huge hole in the floor!

"The…the floor?!" Monet asked in shock.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed…before he ended up falling through the hole he made! "WHOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"YOU DUMB-ASS! OF COURSE THAT WOULD HAPPEN!" Blizzard shouted…but then, a huge crack split from the hole, right in between Blizzard's legs, causing him to fall, too!

"OH, SHIIIIIIIIZZ!" the wolf-dog howled as he fell down along with Luffy.

Monet only watched as the two Straw Hats fell right through the floor.

"Such power," Monet said. "However…doing that will send them falling through the air ducts and all the way down to the trash dump, deep underground." She then turned to leave. "Those two won't be coming back up, unless they can fly. They just dug their own graves, so to speak…farewell."

And with that, Monet flew off to who-knows-where.

XXX

Meanwhile, somewhere deep underneath the entire laboratory…

"…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

THOOM! Luffy and Blizzard ended up in a gigantic pile of scrap metal and old food scraps.

"Unh…!" Luffy groaned as he got up and shoved a metal pipe off himself.

"You idiot!" Blizzard said. "What the hell were you thinking, man?! Blowing a hole in the floor?!"

"Hey! I didn't see you coming up with any ideas!" Luffy argued.

"Oh, whatever," Blizzard grumbled before he looked around. "Now where the hell did we end up?"

Luffy looked around as well before he found what looked like a remote control of some sort. He picked it up and flipped the switch several times, but nothing happened.

"It's not working," Luffy said before threw the device away. "So is this a garbage dump or something?"

"I guess we ended up falling all the way down here, huh?" Blizzard asked. "Well, what do we now?"

Luffy hummed as he crossed his arms, as if deep in thought…but not long after, his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of his rumbling stomach.

"Ugh~!" Luffy groaned as he fell to his knees. "I'm so hungry~!"

"Seriously?" Blizzard asked.

"I can't help it!" Luffy answered. "I've been running around for so long! Not to mention I puked a lot at the thought of…well…that certain thing that happened that I don't like to talk about!"

Then he started digging around the garbage.

"Isn't there anything for me to eat around here?!" Luffy asked. "Dammit! Nothing here but trash!"

"Uh, hello! It's a garbage dump!" Blizzard said. "Of course there's not gonna anything to eat around here!"

Luffy grunted as he picked up a large piece of scrap metal and tossed it aimlessly, nearly hitting Blizzard as he did!

"H-HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING THINGS AROUND HERE!" Blizzard cried as he dodged. Not long after, another yelp was heard as a shadowy figure also dodged the piece of trash Luffy threw.

"Huh?" Luffy muttered. "Hey, Blizzard! You hear that?"

"Yeah, I did," Blizzard said.

"Hey! Is someone else here?!" Luffy called.

A pause…but then, someone came out from behind a metal pipe. It is revealed to be none other than Aika, in her human form…completely nude.

"Aika!" Luffy exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"And why are you in your birthday suit?!" Blizzard asked, averting his eyes to give Aika a bit of dignity.

"…I fell down here," Aika answered. "I was only trying to hide, like you told me to, Luffy…but then, I kind of found these cookies in the kitchen."

"Cookies?!" Luffy repeated. "Do you have any?!"

"No," Aika answered.

"Ah, fudge," Luffy grumbled.

"Luffy!" Blizzard scolded. "Sorry, Aika. Continue."

"I wandered around for a little bit," Aika went on, "but my clothes kept getting caught on all the scrap metal, and they tore off. Now…I've got nothing to wear."

A pause…but then, Luffy gasped.

"Aika! You're naked!" he cried.

"REALLY?!" Blizzard questioned in comical anger.

Aika blushed and looked away, embarrassed at her nudity.

"Luffy, what do we do?" Blizzard asked. "We can't leave Aika like this!"

"Uhh…" Luffy muttered, but then he grinned and snapped his fingers. "Ding!"

Then, the Straw Hat Captain stripped himself of his cardigan and threw it on Aika.

"Here!" he said. "You can cover up with that until we get you some new clothes to wear!"

"Thanks, Luffy," Aika said as she put the cardigan around herself, tying the sleeves behind her back so that it would stay.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, but then a small sneeze was heard.

"Gesundheit," Blizzard said.

"I didn't sneeze," Aika answered.

"If you didn't sneeze, then who did?" Luffy asked.

The three looked up to see…a shadowy figure, sitting on a piece of garbage nearby, shivering.

"Uh…what's that?" Luffy asked.

XXX

Concurrently, near the Biscuits Room, Chopper is still trying to hold back the rampaging children!

"Kids, please!" the monstrous reindeer begged. "You've got to listen! I know it's hard, but you have to be strong! Don't ever eat that candy, ever again! Don't you wanna go home?!"

"RAAAAAAAARRGH!" a little boy cried as he tried to hit Chopper with a lead pipe, only to miss.

"I'm not letting any of you get passed me!" Chopper shouted. "You can't go to the Biscuits Room!"

"Ow!" cried a little girl in Chopper's hands. "Let go! You're hurting me!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Chopper apologized. "I wasn't trying to-"

KRANK! One of the kids hit Chopper in the shin with a pipe!

"UGH!" Chopper cried.

"Get outta my way, you monster!" shouted another little boy as he kneed Chopper in the gut, causing him to fall down.

"Move it!" shouted another little girl.

Soon, the children started to pummel Chopper in an attempt to get passed him.

"It's not your problem!"

"Give us the candy!"

"It belongs to us!"

Chopper groaned as he tried to stand, but he refused to fight back. He knew that if he tried to attack, he'd only hurt the kids, and he didn't want to. As Chopper tried to stand, some of the children got passed him!

"Now's our chance!" shouted a little boy. "Get to the Biscuits Room!"

"No! Stop!" Chopper cried. "You can't go in there!"

Suddenly, Chopper winced and his body to shudder. He looked at his hands…and saw that they were beginning to shrink!

"Oh, no!" Chopper said as his voice began to return to normal. "The Rumble Ball's…wearing…off!"

POP! Chopper ended up shrinking back into his Brain Point form, and now, he would not be able to walk for a few hours. What's worse: he couldn't stop the children, who all cheered at the thought of their getting their precious "candy".

"All right! We're almost there!"

"Finally, we can get our candy!"

"Yay! Candy!"

"No…wait!" Chopper cried. "You can- OOF!"

One of the children stomped on him in her rush to get to the room.

"No…no!" Chopper cried. "You can't! Kids, please don't go!"

Suddenly, the little reindeer gasped upon feeling a familiar pair of hands grabbing him and picking him up. It is revealed to be Nami and the others.

"Nami! Guys!" Chopper cried.

"Chopper, are you okay?!" Nami asked with Kumi riding on her shoulders. "What's going on here?!"

"MOMONOSUKE~!" Kin'emon called out. "ANSWER ME! IT'S ME, YOUR FATHER!"

"Explain the situation to us, Chopper!" Usopp said.

"Oh! Right!" Chopper said with tears of joy in his eyes. "I'm so glad you're here! I couldn't stop them! Caesar's trying to turn them into huge, violent soldiers! You need to stop the kids, right now! The Biscuits Room is down the hall to the left! That's where their candy is!"

"I'll stop them, Chopper!" Robin said. "Mille Fleur! Gigantesco Mano!"

Before long, the children entered the Biscuits Room, cheering happily.

"Finally! We made it!"

"Now we can get our candy!"

But then, two humongous hands appeared, stopping them in their tracks!

"What the?!"

"Where'd these hands come from?!"

"Good work, Robin!" Nami praised.

"Nami!" Chopper said. "There's a girl named Mocha who's managed to regain her senses and helped me out. We were working together to stop the other children, but now, she's in danger! She's guarding the candy in the Biscuits Room!"

"What?!" Usopp questioned. "That can't be good! They're crazy for that stuff!"

The kids roared as they began to hit and bite Robin's Gigantesco Mano, causing her to flinch in pain.

"Get these stupid hands outta the way!"

"What are they doing here?!"

"Agh!" Robin cried. "They're getting so violent, now! I don't think they'll be easily subdued! Even if I scolded them, it won't help!"

Before she knew it, the children got passed the Gigantesco Mano and into the room. There, they found Mocha, holding a large ball of candy.

"Hey! Mocha!" Synd shouted.

"Isn't that our candy?!" Dolan questioned.

"Give it here!" shouted Ally. "Gimme that candy!"

"No! You can't have it!" Mocha shouted. "Get a grip, everyone! Remember how we asked Chopper and his friends for help?! We can't go home if we don't listen to them!"

"It's no good, Mocha!" Chopper shouted. "They won't listen to reason! RUN FOR IT!"

Mocha gasped before she turned and ran, taking the "candy" with her. However, this only succeeded in angering the children even more!

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

"No fair, Mocha! You can't take it all for yourself!"

"Get back here!"

Mocha looked ahead and gasped upon seeing a wall of snow, blocking the exit…and Monet standing there.

"Oh! Miss Monet!" Mocha cried. "Please, help me!"

"No, Mocha!" Chopper shouted. "You can't trust her, either!"

Monet smirked as she looked at Mocha with a mocking motherly expression.

"Now, now, Mocha," she said. "You shouldn't hog all the candy for yourself, you know. Now play nice and share with your friends."

Mocha gasped in horror at this.

"Who the hell is that?" Zoro asked.

"DAAAAAAAH!" Usopp screamed. "IT'S HER! REMEMBER?! IT'S THAT BIRD-WOMAN I TOLD YOU ABOUT!"

XXX

In the S.A.D. manufacturing room, it looked like Law and Jupiter are having a bit of trouble themselves…because Vergo had finally caught up to them.

"Room!" Law shouted as he created a large dome around him, Jupiter, and Vergo. "Shambles! Come back to me, my heart!"

However, just when the vital organ had returned to Law's hand, Vergo appeared and kicked Law in the face, sending flying into a railing!

"Ugh…!" Law groaned as Vergo caught his heart in his hand…and squeezed it, causing him to scream in agony.

"BASTARD~!" Jupiter roared as he lunged at Vergo…only for the ex-Vice-Admiral to punch him in the jaw! He didn't have to use his Armaments Haki to do so!

"Bad dog," Vergo said. "Now just sit there while I kill your idiot of a master. When I'm done with him, you're next."

Then, he went over to Law…and smacked him in the jaw with a Haki-imbued elbow. It was so hard, he caused Law's hat to fall off his head. Vergo wasn't done there. He started to punch Law, over and over!

"Ugh…!" Law groaned as he held up both fists. "COUNTER SHOCK!"

BZZAAAAAAP! Vergo was hit by a powerful electric shock from Law's hands. However, when the smoke cleared, it is revealed that Vergo is still standing. However, he did have a bit of a bloody nose and mouth.

"I have a message from Joker," Vergo said. "He says…'What a shame'."

'So it didn't work, huh?' Law thought before he gave a cocky grin.

"I knew exactly how to get my heart back from Caesar," said the Surgeon of Death. "My only failure…was not predicting your arrival…Vergo."

Vergo gritted his teeth in anger at this.

"That's Mr. Vergo to you!" he shouted before he began to squeeze Law's heart, very hard, sending him to the floor, writhing and screaming in agony.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGH!" Law cried, even coughing up blood as Vergo continued to squeeze.

"Law…no!" Jupiter said as he tried to stand up.

But then, as quickly Vergo started…he stopped, causing Law to pant heavily before passing out.

"…I'm a bit indisposed at the moment," said Vergo. "Can't it wait…Vice-Admiral Smoker?"

Jupiter looked over and saw Smoker approaching Vergo, armed with his sea stone jutte.

"…Either way, I will be silencing you and that bitch of yours," Vergo hissed.

"Tsk," Smoker scoffed. "The sooner, the better. I can only stand to look at trash for so long before I have to take it out…Vergo the Pirate!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Ugh...here comes Momo the little turd.

Review, please!