Cheshire had his back to the group.
"I see..." Sanji blew out a puff of smoke. Zoro looked up.
"What a screwed-up place," he muttered. "What now, Luffy?" Zoro looked over towards her. The space where Luffy had been seated was now empty. "Oi! Luffy?" Zoro stood up. Sanji looked over.
"AH! Stupid marimo! Where's Luffy-chan!?" Sanji yelled.
"How would I know!? She was right there!" Zoro yelled back. Cheshire's ears perked up at the conversation. He turned around.
"She didn't," he muttered.
"What?" Sanji asked. Zoro sighed.
"I think we're thinking the same thing," he said.
"So wait? You're telling me, Luffy went..." Sanji pointed back down to the path that lead to the portal they had come through.
"Damn!" Cheshire yelled. He started running to the portal. "We have to stop her!" he shouted, jumping to the portal with Zoro and Sanji on his heels.
Luffy stomped into the garden. It was empty. Her eyes blazed with anger. She looked around at the white roses. The black roses. The empty courtyard, the abandoned game. She clenched her fists.
"HEY! COME OUT! RYUU! ZYUU!" she commanded. No one came. There was a cough somewhere far off, though. She walked that way. "Hello?" She turned a corner.
"Help," someone coughed. Luffy looked in the bushes.
"Ah! It's you! The Duchess!" Luffy helped the old woman up. The woman smiled.
"Yes I am, it's splendid to see you again. How's my boy?" she asked.
"That baby? It turned into a pig." Luffy laughed. The woman chuckled.
"I thought it might," she said. Her face was pale and her eyes looked heavy.
"Are you alright?" Luffy asked.
"I'm afraid not. I seem to have over-exerted myself."
"What happened?"
"The Kings."
"Ryuu and Zyuu?"
"I tried my best to help you children. Chessy has been so good to me." She paused to cough and then shook her head. "When you escaped..."
Flashback
The kids disappeared. Ryuu let out an angry shout.
"After them! Where did they go!? Damn that cat!" he yelled. Zyuu turned.
"Who does that cat belong to!?" he yelled. No one replied. "GUARDS!" Zyuu shouted. The guards scrambled up.
"Yes, your Highness?" they stuttered.
"Whose cat was that?" Ryuu asked.
"Th-that would be the Duchess's," a guard said timidly.
"IS THE DUCHESS HERE!?" Zyuu yelled. Everyone looked around. The Duchess was gone. Ryuu crossed his arms, walking with his brother to the palace.
"Find her," he commanded.
The Duchess had heard every word. She had hidden herself in a bush and held her breath as the kings and the guards ran by. Once they were gone, she breathed in.
"Oh, Chessy," she muttered. "You were talking non-stop about that girl, but to go this far..." She shook her head sadly. The woman stood and tried to quietly float away, levitating down the familiar pathway. Her plan was to go to the poorer part of Wonderland and gather some rebels. Rise up. "She's like your sister, isn't she?" The Duchess smiled at the sky.
"There!" someone yelled.
"Oh dear!" The Duchess levitated faster forward. She floated along, the guards closing in on her. She heard shots as bullets whizzed by her body. She tripped somehow and fell face-first onto the ground where she was promptly surrounded.
Ryuu and Zyuu stood in front of her.
"Well, well, well. Your cat has been causing trouble," Ryuu said.
"My apologies, your Highness. You see, I am an old woman. He is a teenager. He's very independent and can't watch him like I used to," the Duchess said.
"That's no excuse!" Zyuu replied tartly.
"My precious Luffy," Ryuu whined.
"Yours!?" Zyuu glared.
"Yes, mine!" Ryuu challenged. The Duchess snuck away, leaving two men to bicker. She laid in the bushes for quite some time.
Flashback End
Luffy nodded.
"I see." Luffy looked to the palace. "And they're over there right now?" she asked.
"I believe so," the Duchess said. "Oh, but child! You're not thinking of - um, child?" The Duchess looked around. Again, Luffy was gone.
Zoro, Sanji and Chess
The trio had moved silently through the garden and maze. The sky seemed more gray than before, as if it were about to rain.
"Damn... we can't call for her." Cheshire pressed his back against a large statue in the palaces courtyard.
"Why are we here?" Sanji asked, watching the patrolling guards.
"Because they're bound to catch her, and when they do, they'll bring her here," Cheshire assured them.
"Alright," Sanji said, then turned. "Ah..." His eyes narrowed at the empty space.
"THAT IDIOT!" Sanji shouted as he stared at the space Zoro once occupied.
"SHUT UP!" Cheshire yelled. Shadows suddenly cast over the two. Before Cheshire could react, handcuffs were slapped onto his wrists and he fell from the weakening power of the sea stone. Sanji stood to fight. The Kings of Wonderland laughed.
"We caught one and now the other," Zyuu said. Ryuu nodded in agreement. They attacked Sanji. Everything went by so fast, Sanji could barley keep up. A blinding light flashed.
"Who are you guys?" Sanji breathed.
Then everything went black.
Luffy and Zoro
Luffy was walking through the maze. She was lost, but she was sure she had been heading to the palace.
"Oi! Luffy!" someone was yelling for her.
"Hello!?" Luffy yelled.
"Luffy?" The voice was coming from the other side of the hedge that was next to her.
"Yes?" she inquired, curious now.
"It's me!"
"Who?"
"Zoro."
"Haaa! Zoro!" Luffy smiled, putting her hands against the hedge. On the other side, Zoro smirked.
"Yeah yeah, move back, I'm slicing my way through," Zoro said. Luffy stood back and smiled as the metal sound of his swords sliced at the large bush.
Zoro and Luffy were walking now.
"So, where were you going?" Zoro asked.
"The palace!" Luffy grinned.
"What!? Why?" he asked.
"Because! I'm gonna kick the Kings' butts!" Luffy smiled. Zoro nodded in understanding of his captain's antics.
"I see," he said. Luffy nodded. "You know, Sanji and Cheshire went to the palace as well," he said.
"Oh! Let's go meet up with them!" Luffy pulled her first mate along.
"Be quiet!" Zoro growled as they came closer to the courtyard. "And be careful," Zoro said after getting the strange feeling they were being watched.
Sanji and Cheshire
Cheshire laid against the wall of the familiar cell. Sanji struggled against the chains that kept him pinned loosely against the wall.
"Sorry, I didn't think they had something like this." Cheshire lifted his hands slightly to show the sea stone hand cuffs.
"Sea stone. All Devil's-Fruit users' weakness is sea stone," Sanji grumbled. Cheshire nodded, not sure what it was but understanding that he was powerless now.
"I could make us disappear, and we could sneak out like I did last time," Cheshire muttered. "But these damn cuffs." Sanji shook his head.
"You've done all you could. The only thing we can do now is wait until that stupid marimo finds us or for the guards come down to get us and we attack," Sanji planned. Cheshire looked up at his from his spot on the floor.
"Sounds like a plan," the cat-boy said. He brought his hands up and started biting the chain that held the cuffs together. His naturally sharp teeth made tiny dents in the hard material. Sanji kicked back at the wall, making a successful crack next to where his feet were chained. The boys smiled at each other, and continued to escape, little by little.
Zoro and Luffy
Zoro sliced down another guard as Luffy took down another pack of guards. She smiled.
"It feels good to have power again!" she cheered. "Makes me wanna let loose!" She smiled. Zoro chuckled as they walked past the unconscious guards to the tower. He stood on guard, still having the feeling that they were being watched. Luffy let out a surprised gasp.
"What?" Zoro said.
"Look, Zoro!" Luffy held up a drink that read "Drink me." Zoro scowled at the tiny bottle. He looked at his captain's smiling face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's a mystery bottle! I've had some before. It makes you grow or shrink." Luffy smiled. "If we drink it, we could grow, and bust the castle down!" she exclaimed excitedly. Zoro shook his head.
"I don't think we should drink it," he said.
"Don't be stupid, Zoro!" Luffy popped the bottle open and drank half, tossing it to Zoro. Zoro rolled the bottle in his hands. He shrugged, sipping some of the liquid himself. His face twisted in disgust.
"This is..." Zoro's eyes widened as Luffy fell over. "Sea water! Oi! Luffy!" Zoro knelt next to her as she coughed.
Zoro looked around as Luffy desperately tried to spit out the sea water. His eyes fell on Ryuu and Zyuu, who were smirking at him. Zoro took out his swords, standing in front of Luffy and glaring.
"Oh, very protective." Zyuu chuckled.
"A bit too protective." Ryuu glared.
"I agree," Zyuu said. The two walked forward, keeping in-step with one another, making them seem more powerful. More frightening. Zoro charged them and they dodged.
"Damn." Zoro spun around only to be met with a blinding light. He felt weak and in pain when his vision cleared. "Luf...fy," he mumbled before falling to the ground.
His world went black.
Zoro Sanji and Cheshire
"Oi." Zoro felt a foot nudge him as an uninviting voice called out to him. He lazily opened one eye and saw Sanji leaning over him with a look of disgust on his face. Zoro glared back up.
"What?" Zoro sat up.
"Where's Luff?" Zoro looked over. Cheshire was gnawing on his handcuffs.
"Oh, right!" Zoro stood up and reached for his swords. They weren't there. He cursed and went up to the cage bars. "Oi!" he yelled.
"Quiet!" a guard yelled, coming over.
"Where's that girl?" Sanji asked.
"Oh, you mean Luffy-sama?" The guard got a dreamy look in his eyes. "The Kings sure are lucky. They should be having the wedding any time now. I wish I could attend." He sighed. Sanji kicked the bars.
"WEDDING!?" he yelled.
"Of course. Luffy-sama is the destined Queen of Wonderland," the guard explained.
"Luffy will be the Pirate King," Zoro growled.
"She has no choice in this." The guard walked away.
Sanji kicked at the bars, engulfed in fire.
"We have to hurry!" Cheshire said, chewing until his cuffs slipped off. He stood and put his hands at the bars. He fell.
"Careful, those are sea stone too." Zoro pulled Cheshire away. Cheshire staggered up.
"We have to stop the wedding! Luff will be stuck here," he said.
"But how?" Sanji snarled, up for anything.
"Just follow me." Cheshire held out his hands. "And hold on," he said. Then he disappeared.
Luffy
Luffy struggled against the chains her arms and legs were stuck to. The sea stone was wearing away at her power. She glared at the men in front of her. Ryuu and Zyuu were wearing opposite tuxedos and smiling at her. Luffy was wearing a white dress and a veil over her face.
"Do you, Kings of Wonderland, take Monkey. D. Luffy to be your Queen?" the minister asked. The men smiled.
"We do," they said.
"Very good, my Kings. Now, do you, Monkey D. Luffy, take the Kings of Wonderland to be your Kings?" the Minister asked.
"No way in hell!" Luffy yelled.
"She does," the guard next to her said. Luffy scowled. She shifted in the heels that were forced on her feet.
"Then, by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you, Kings and Qu -"
A large explosion filled the garden and the bushes and roses were engulfed in fire.
"WHO THE HELL," a voice roared as a figure walked from the flames, "THINKS THEY COULD JUST SWOOP IN -" another rose bush burst into flames "- AND MARRY MY SISTER!?" A man appeared from the flames, his orange hat on his head and his black hair darkened in the flames. Luffy looked over, flipping the veil from her face. She smiled.
"Ace-onii-chan!" Luffy grinned.