It's a long chapter that was sort of cut into two.
Hope you enjoy!
I, I'm feeling your thunder
The storm's getting closer
This rain is like fire
And my, my world's going under
And I can't remember
The reason that you cut off the line
What About Love- Austin Mahone
"Zoro!"
"Zoro, my man!"
"You're back for betting?"
"Well, well."
Numerous faces greeted him and hands slapped his back. Zoro brushed them off. He didn't come for anything. Maybe he might fork out some cash for betting on drinks. Other than that, he was really accompanying Luffy and his brother to this event. He didn't feel any tingles of excitement at all. Nor did he take in that familiar heavily intoxicated air of drink, sex and drugs. He felt no attachment to this place. Of course not. Zoro swiped at his tingling hands. He would feel nothing.
"Hey Zoro, we're going to the all you can eat competition!"
"There's no such thing," Zoro snorted.
"Yes there is!" Luffy bounded up and down. "It's special!" Zoro followed their gazes and saw, indeed, there was an all you can eat competition.
"Hey!" Luffy greeted the wary faces of the chefs milling around the tables. "The food looks so good!" Zoro laughed as the faces fell even further when Ace joined in. A chef groaned.
"I can't do this," he said, leaning over the table in defeat. His workers slapped his back.
"Come on! We need to hold up the fort while Sanji is gone!"
"As if!" another person interjected. "We're perfectly fine without him! He's always too busy waltzing another girl off or being a rich prick to cook with us." They continued bickering. Zoro snagged a bottle off a table as he stalked to a corner. It'd be difficult to find one, he realised. The club was going to be jam packed tonight. There were already numbered tables propped up, with the owners setting out their merchandise or game for the night. Maybe it'd be better to take a snoop around some of the stuff. No, not the card games or dice games and not the crummy little toys they sell at the front. The sweeter stuff that the back and underground. Like weapons and drugs.
"Oi!" a hand snagged the two brothers by their collars and threw them backwards, effectively breaking their connection with the table. The brothers squawked in shock and choked, scrabbling to down some water.
"Ace, Luffy this is my newish boss, Hatchan. Hatchan, these are my friends, Ace and Luffy. There's a lot more who'll come but I'll leave them for later." Sanji airily gestured between them when the brothers have recovered.
"Nice to meet you," Hatchan vigorously shook hands with his acquaintances.
"Same!" Luffy enthused. "Do you like meat?" He hadn't bothered to wipe his greasy mouth.
"Hm, not particularly. I like takoyaki balls though. Do you?" Sanji rolled his eyes. The café did all sorts of takoyaki, so much that when he closed his eyes to sleep, he saw visions of takoyaki balls.
"Oh Sanji, so that's what you smell like!" Luffy had the senses of a hound when it came to food.
"Shut up," the chef grumbled. Takoyaki was not enticing to a woman.
"It's all good! Anyway Hatchan, have you tasted the food yet?" Luffy dragged his acquaintance along.
"What are you looking at tonight Sanji?" Ace leaned closer to Sanji's ear and dropped his voice. "I heard there were Excaliburs somewhere tonight."
"No way." Sanji's eye widened. Ace grinned. "Are you serious?"
"It's a rumour," Ace whispered, winking.
"No way. Who the heck puts that up for betting in a club?" Sanji couldn't fathom what kind of idiot would put these top grade, luxurious as fuck, lavish, delicious cigarettes that oozed a distasteful rich kid aura up for betting in some club. In living memory, Sanji had one of them. Golden rods with silver tips and encrusted with precious stones. They were euphoric. Absolutely delicious. It was stupid and wasteful to have, sure, because the whole thing just flaked off into nothingness and you were left with a pile of gems and flecks of gold on the floor, but it was luxury. It had one of the best tastes he ever experienced for a cigarette. Perhaps it was the high of the first experience that he never wanted to light one up again because the second would never equal it but Sanji felt the itching desire to empty his pockets for the cigarettes.
"I don't know." Ace shrugged. "It's going to be around table fifty, in case you're interested." Table fifty? Sanji wondered, glancing around the milling mass of bodies. As far as he could see, the tables only went up to forty… nine.
"Are you serious," he muttered. He lit up a cigarette. "Ace! Where the heck is table fifty?"
"You haven't been there?" Ace snagged a drink off the table, unhearing to the protests from the group. "Man, you've been missing out. Come on." He took a large gulp and licked the foam off the top of his lips. Sanji followed the man deeper into the club, squeezing between the crowds. It was suffocating. "In here," Ace said, gesturing to a door. He plunged into empty darkness.
Sanji stood stark still, frozen.
"Chill man," Ace reassured him. "There's lights at the bottom. Be careful of the stairs. I think there's like thirteen stairs?"
"Okay." Sanji started descending, the taps of his shoes echoing in the tunnel. They stepped into the light.
"Chill boys." Luffy's brother waved off a few goons. "He's with me." The men backed off and resumed their places near the entrance. "Welcome," he said, turning to Sanji, 'to the underground of Baratie. It's a fabulous place but keep your guard up. Preferably, unless you can handle it, don't come alone." They continued walking. "There." He pointed. "Tables fifty. They do drugs and weapons and all that. Sixty's deal with assassination. Seventy is like Doflamingo's goons doing their shit. There's another rumour tonight. Apparently, Doflamingo's slave trade will be auctioning off."
"What the fuck?" Sanji rubbed his forehead. He took a deep draw from his nicotine stick. He had heard of rumours like these before. Sometimes whispers reached his ears in the kitchen or upstairs but he had always dismissed them, believing they were just far-fetched stories to gain attention or strange light. There was a high chance of Hatchan's friend being in danger.
"You don't have to be here you know." Ace's forehead crinkled in concern.
"I'm fine. Besides, I want to be here for the Excaliburs." Sanji grinned fiercely. His friend rolled his eyes.
"I'm going to check out some weapons. Maybe you can find some knives for your kitchen?"
"I don't need a black market to get kitchen knives."
"Whatever. There's some sweet shit to check out." Ace sauntered to the tables and began talking amiably with the owners there.
"Yo Zoro! So you were here huh?" He waved and Sanji followed his gaze. The man Ace greeted was… oh he saw him with Luffy on Monday. So he really did have green hair. He seemed familiar somehow, the way he walked, talked little and had a stern proud face. The cool almost callous gaze that swept across the room. The way he greeted Ace and the fierce but affectionate grin.
"Sanji, Zoro. Zoro, Sanji." Ace gestured between them. "I'm pretty sure you guys have met before."
"That's what I was thinking," Zoro said in his rich baratone. He crossed his bulging arms and scrutinised the blonde before him, arched brows drawing together. Sanji brought the cigarette up to his lips.
"Many people do recognise my shitty up top name, Mr. Prince," Sanji offered, exhaling the smoke. Zoro's eyes widened briefly. He scrunched his nose.
"The cook who cursed non-stop and only fought with his legs?"
"Nailed that." Sanji drawled, slightly sour. "I'm not a cook. I'm a chef. We create." The green haired man snorted.
"Big difference."
"There is! A cook is just a goon who brainlessly fries crap and…" He ranted on and Zoro turned away, adjusting his attention to his black haired friend.
"Man, tonight is so pumped with specials, it's a little scary." Ace mused, replacing a knife in one of the blocks.
"Yeah. There was even someone selling Marco's stuff," Zoro agreed.
"Ridiculous." Ace shook his head. "How much?"
"Too much."
"That's cheap coming from the one who got one for free."
"I didn't ask." They laughed.
"Where did I see you? Besides on Monday," Sanji interjected.
"I don't know." Zoro deadpanned, seemingly uninterested. "Why are you here anyways, Mr Prince? You've never had a reason to."
"So? I can come if I want," Sanji said hotly.
"He came with his boss," Ace added.
"He wanted," Sanji started, "ugh, he heard that his friend was kidnapped. He says she's especially exotic, so he thinks she's on the slave market tonight."
"Holy shit," the other pair breathed.
"Sanji, I'm not even sure if you'll be able to buy her back. How special are we talking about?" Ace drummed his fingers on his knife.
"Hatchan said… well, like a fish. He says people called her 'the mermaid'."
"She's definitely going to be here tonight. People are going bat shit crazy about her. No doubt she'll fetch the top price. I don't think we should bother buying her."
"What are you talking about?" Sanji hissed. "She's a person, not a thing!"
"Hey, I just meant we should look at other ways to get her. Money is something we can win with." The black haired man held up his hands. He saw Sanji open his mouth but overrode him. "How much are you willing to bet?"
"I've got around ten million."
"Well, if some big players come tonight, they'll bet in the billions. They're an unpleasant lot and they boast about their old link to the Government or creators of the world or some shit so they can call upon a shitload of officers on us if we touch them."
"What?"
"Celestial Dragons. They're a gang to say the least but they have powers above the ground and in such a rich bitch position they can do whatever the hell they want. I've seen them everywhere. Betting, drugs, murder, thievery, you name it, they've done it."
"How are we going to win her back if we're up against these people?"
"Well, well my friend," Ace grinned. "This is where we can hire the Baroque Works. Remember what I said about the tables in the sixty's? It deals with assassination and stuff but it's also includes uncover work and infiltration and all that jazz." Zoro's head perked up.
"Who are you getting?" he asked.
"Ms All Sunday." Zoro scowled deeper.
"I don't like her."
"Dude, she's one of the best and when she kills, there's no blood."
"Just the sound of necks being broken," the green haired man muttered darkly.
"Would you rather someone else? She gets every job done and done well."
"Fine." Was all Zoro said but Sanji could tell he wanted to say more.
"Who is this woman?" he asked, curious.
"Right this way. She's on the table tonight, which is really rare." Ace jerked his thumb and lead them to table sixty.
"Ms All Sunday," he greeted. The woman looked up from beneath her cowboy hat. The lighting cast a dark shadow on her face, but it was apparent she was a mysterious beauty.
"Mr Ace," she nodded, voice pleasantly smooth. It was a tad deeper than Nami's but it was showed off maturity and hints of seduction. Nami's voice was high, energising and stark, whilst this lady's voice was the kind that enticed men to devour lies that would effortlessly roll off her tongue. Sanji was in love. Nami was cute but this madam sexy. Of course, he had nothing against the beautiful Nami-swan but he appreciated all beauties and that meant all types of beauty.
"Oi cook." Zoro elbowed Sanji not-too-gently in the ribs. "Listen up." Sanji shot him a glare before listening to the plan.
"We need you to get a slave."
"Which one?"
"The Mermaid." Ms All Sunday paused slightly.
"The Mermaid," she repeated. "Why are you after her?"
"She's a good friend of my boss," Sanji stepped forward, bowing low. "It would be of the utmost importance that she would be rescued, my lady." He straightened up and caught the coy smile. His insides flipped. Ah mellorine!
"Is that so Mr Prince. How loyal of you." Ms All Sunday propped her elbow on the desk and leant on her hand, the same smile on her face. Her eyes sparkled. Perhaps with amusement. Or perhaps with wicked pleasure. She picked up the pen and began writing.
"It's a big job. I need a partner." She looked up expectantly. Ace sighed.
"You know we're not suited for this."
"You aren't," the woman agreed. "and you aren't either." She nodded along to Zoro before zeroing in on Sanji. Much as he liked this lady, a small knot of apprehension formed in his stomach.
"Mr. Prince, you seem to know undercover work."
"How would you know madam?"
"I have my ways of observing."
"Ah, how could I have forgotten your other name, Madam Seer."
The woman stood and gestured.
"Follow me." Sanji glanced back and saw Ace give him the thumbs up. They entered a doorway somewhere behind the tables. They emerged into a dim dressing room.