Chapter 12 - The Invitation
"This… is the life." Nami said, stretching her arms as she was laying on her foldable chair right alongside Lucy, Erza, Robin and Weiss, each dressed in their signature swimsuits and laying in similar chairs to get a tan under the sun.
"Yeah. It feels nice." Lucy said, adjusting her new sunglasses.
"We were lucky to find a nearby island to take a small break. And worth the trouble." Weiss explained, sipping on her cold mango smoothie Sanji made, and pretty much enjoyed it.
"It does feel lovely," Robin said, reading her book with an umbrella tucked in the sand to give her shade. "And not a repeat of the last vacation."
"But if it weren't for that, none of us would've oddly met." Erza countered.
The five girls giggled in agreement. No argument there that meeting up, even though forced from their worlds, wasn't a bad thing for a vacation.
"Speaking of… everyone else seems to be having their own fun." Lucy explained.
"Yep." Nami said.
XXX
A week has recently passed by since the members of Fairy Tail, Team RWBY, Karasuno and Totsuki came to the New World. They spent that time to find any leads to the person behind the Blue Sea Resort incident that knows about other worlds, but haven't found any luck. They do spent that time getting used to their new dynamics and learn many things from each other. Recently, they stopped by a deserted island to have a little fun, making up for the Blue Sea Resort.
Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were riding the waves together on a large surfboard together, but ended up in a "wipe out" when the waves grew and threw them off course. Of course, Zoro (begrudgingly) dove in and easily saved all three of them, getting them to shore.
"What did you three idiots expect when you were surfing on your own." Zoro warned, specifically to Luffy and Chopper. "Two of you are Devil Fruit users."
"We're sorry…" Luffy and Chopper apologized.
"Why am I getting yelled at too?" Usopp questioned.
"Whatever. We should check on how the others are doing." Zoro explained.
"Oh yeah! Let's see how the cook-off between Soma and Takumi are going!" Luffy demanded, immediately getting up.
"YOU'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE FOOD!" Zoro and Usopp snapped, annoyed at Luffy's only in it for the food.
XXX
On the Thousand Sunny docked near Nami and her group's area, a Shokugeki between Soma and Takumi was going fierce with no dish theme and just cooking any kind you'd make at a BBQ party in the summer, reaching the final stages as the two Elite 10 chefs were nearly done cooking their dishes.
The judges were Erina, Megumi, Gray, Juvia and even Sanji. Being MC is none other than Ruby, and watching from the sidelines were Evan, Wendy, Carla, Hisako, Franky and Brook. Snowy and Mustang were also in attendance, having horse feed to keep them occupied.
"Man, those two go at it hard-core." Franky commented.
"Can't wait to see what they come up with this time." Evan explained, his mouth getting a little watery.
"And it will end up like-" Hisako attempted to state the "obvious outcome", only for Ruby to comically karate chop the back of her head.
"Don't ruin the mood!" Ruby argued, getting a glare from Hisako.
"Order up!" Soma hollered, showing his dish by being the first to serve: a Yukihira Style BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with well-cut French fries covered in BBQ sauce for the side dish.
"It looks normal from first glance…" Erina silently said, but she knew better than to underestimate Soma as he has surprised her many times in the past, and today's gonna be no different.
All five "judges" ate the first bite and immediately were taken aback by its' meaty flavor combined with several spices that mix well together, along with an extra topping that gave the pulled pork the extra kick to increase the taste with no nasty mistakes.
"Woah! This pulled pork isn't ordinary!" Sanji commented.
"What did you add in it Soma-kun?" Megumi asked, out of curiosity.
Soma chuckled. "Big Bad BBQ Ale that is made from brown sugar, cinnamon, paprika, garlic and onion."
"BBQ ale?" Gray (without his shirt on) questioned.
"It must a strong taste that it makes the mouth on fire." Juvia complimented, already going for a second bite. Soma had his hands on his hips with a confident smirk.
"The fires also taste pretty well covered in the BBQ. It has to be honey flavored, yes?" Sanji asked, having taken a bite and enjoyed one piece the honey flavored BBQ covered fries.
"Correct. Instead of regular BBQ, I used honey to make it sweet to help with the spicy of the sauce in the pork." Soma answered, getting the Shokugeki Peanut Gallery to say "ooh" in response.
"You surprised me, Soma. I can't believe it myself." Erina commented, having used her God Tongue to find there is no flaw in his dish that looked like a commoner's grilled dish, but Soma's ingenuity and experience in a diner has made the impossible possible, expected of the new 1st Seat of Totsuki Academy.
The five were soon done with their pulled pork-french fry combo dish ten minutes later, ready for more.
"Let's see your dish, Takumi." Soma called out, which the 7th Seat calmly walked with his dish already to order.
"Buon appetito!" Takumi hollered, now showing his dish: an Italian meatball sub combined with long spaghetti, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese and shredded parsley.
"Yummy~!" Juvia and Megumi hollered in unison, getting excited.
"Let us have a taste." Gray said, which he, Erina, Sanji, Megumi and Juvia braved the unknown and took a bite. The essence of the sub combined with the pasta, mozzarella and parsley was overwhelming to the sense of taste.
"Damn! This is nuts!" Gray stated.
"Since when did you get better, Aldini-kun?" Erina questioned, having no idea at all of how Takumi has gotten better with his cooking.
"Since watching YouTube back home - ways to up my game." Takumi answered.
"The pasta adds flavor to the meatballs like it would on a regular pasta and meatball dish. But combine it with an Italian sub and you get something altogether." Takumi added.
"I added mozzarella after slicing them as one of the toppings thanks to its' low fat and lack of calories." Takumi finished.
"And the parsley?" Gray asked.
"For a healthy flavor to also help with any health problems due to its' nutritional properties." Takumi answered.
"You've outdone yourself, Takumi-kun." Megumi commented, making Takumi blush lightly.
"And now… for the judges' voting!" Ruby hollered, holding on a microphone.
The five judges took their time to decide the overall victor and placed their votes in. And the voting was:
Soma Yukihira: 2
Takumi Aldini: 3
WINNER: TAKUMI ALDINI
"AND TAKUMI WINS~!" Ruby shouted, so loud everyone on the ship had to cover their ears hard.
"TOO LOUD!" Erina, Gray, Hisako, Evan, Carla and Franky barked in unison.
"Yes! Grazie!" Takumi hollered.
"One more time." Soma declared, confusing Takumi.
"We're going again later this evening! And while I may have won the mezzaluna again, I won't let this slide!" Soma hollered.
"Huh?!" Takumi exclaimed, now getting into another round of petty squabbling. Ruby and all the others on the ship have sweat drops at the sight.
"What's that make of their constant Shokugeki this week?" Gray asked.
"Think I've lost count." Wendy answered.
"To think Takumi got three votes over Soma's two." Franky stated, impressed with Takumi getting another win off his rival.
"Well, Erina-san and I vote for Soma." Sanji truthfully said, annoying Erina.
"I won't say it's delicious." Erina muttered, blushing.
"She's such a sucker for Soma." Ruby thought, knowing Erina isn't good at lying.
"Guessing Fullbuster-san, Lockser-san and Tadokoro were the ones who voted for Alidini." Hisako commented, only to get a little creeped out at seeing Juvia showing her weird affection not at Gray, but at a mortified Megumi.
"I knew our beloved Takumi would win, Megumi-chan." Juvia commented.
"And I still can't get over the fact you could look like the child Gray-sama and I dreamt of." Juvia added, now creeping out Gray.
"One Inui-san was already creepy enough for me!" Megumi thought, having dealt with lots of Hinako's unwanted affections despite her good intentions, and now Juvia is showing the same level of affection (for that whole week time-skip) that makes her very uncomfortable.
"If we add Kageyama-kun, these two would be like our children, Gray-sama!" Juvia hollered, creeping everyone out and pissing off Sanji.
"Her obsession just keeps getting worse." Wendy and Carla thought together.
"Damn you, Gray!" Sanji thought, gritting sharp teeth out of pure jealousy.
XXX
Kageyama shivered from getting the eerie feeling Juvia is talking about him.
"I'm gonna murder her if she mentions me again!" Kageyama internally feels the urge to "strangle" Juvia, but got interrupted by Natsu smacking the back of his head.
"Focus, dumbass!" Natsu barked, being part of the three man block with Kageyama and Hinata. Kageyama made a mental note to beat up Natsu later.
Near the other side of the Sunny, a volleyball game was going on with Team A being Hinata, Kageyama, Natsu, Yang, Blake and Akira. They're up against Team B comprised of Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Alice, Ryo (in Berserker Mode), Gajeel and Levy. Referee being Yachi, and Happy and Lily keeping tabs on the scoring board. It is right now one set with Team B in the lead, reaching set point.
Team A: 23 | Team B: 24
Alice tossed the ball up to Gajeel, who spiked over the triple block and was about to score. But Blake dug the ball up with diving receive and got the ball back up.
"It's up!" Yang hollered, getting everyone in Team A into position with Kageyama setting for the ball. Team B had their toughest lineup with Tsukishima, Gajeel and Ryo in the front, and Yamaguchi, Alice and Levy in the back.
Kageyama tossed the ball and it looked like Hinata was gonna spike it, but like his namesake, he was the decoy for Natsu to make the shot with no one to block in time.
"Eat this!" Natsu hollered, slamming the ball down with powerful force. It was now a deuce with both teams tied.
Team A: 24 | Team B: 24
"Booyah!" Hinata, Natsu and Yang hollered in unison, doing a triple hi-five. Kageyama, Akira and Blake silently pumped their fists in triumph.
Now it was Team A to go on the offensive with the front line consisted of Natsu, Hinata and Akira, and the backline consisted of Kageyama, Yang and Blake.
"Nice serve!" Blake called out to Kageyama. Focusing without letting anything distract him, Kageyama did a powerful jump serve, spiking the ball towards Yamaguchi, who barely managed to receive it well.
"His serves are crazy strong as ever!" Yamaguchi thought out of amazement and slight fear.
"Chance ball!" Levy hollered, calling out to her side to get ready for an attack. Alice got under to be ready for a pass.
"Left!" Ryo called, which Alice smirked and tossed the ball to her boyfriend to the left attack side. Hinata and Akira were ready to intercept.
"Two blockers!" Yamaguchi warned, but Ryo didn't care and spiked over the two and hoped to get a score.
Blake quickly received with a dive, digging the ball up in the air for a chance ball. Kageyama quickly followed and dug the ball to Yang's direction for a back attack.
"Get it!" Natsu cheered, which Yang attempted to spike but Tsukishima and Gajeel quickly intercepted and blocked Yang, reflecting the ball over to Team B's side. "One touch!" Tsukishima hollered.
"Chance ball!" Levy hollered, bumping the ball in the air.
"This one's ours!" Alice hollered, catching the ball before tossing it to Gajeel, but Hinata and Natsu quickly blocked him by a hair and landed the ball on their court, gaining match point for Team A.
Team A: 25 | Team B: 24
"Suck it!" Natsu and Hinata teased, annoying Gajeel.
"You two runts…!" Gajeel threatened, getting a laugh from Happy and annoyed sighs from Levy and Lily.
Kageyama was up to serve once more and did another strong jump serve, only to hit the net and bounce to the other side, to Kageyama's annoyance for rushing his serve.
"Up front! Up front!" Gajeel ordered to Ryo, begrudgingly forced to receive and allow Levy to bump the ball upwards to Team A's side.
"Chance ball!" Yang hollered, bumping the ball up to Kageyama to send to Hinata.
With his speed, Hinata jumped and spiked hard, but Tsukishima and Ryo blocked and got a one touch, which Yamaguchi received in time. Alice once again got under and tossed the ball to Gajeel, who attempted to score over Natsu, but got received cleanly by Blake.
"Kageyama!" Blake called out, which Kageyama moved to position, getting under the ball and sending it to Hinata, who jumped with lightning speed. With Kageyama's precision and Hinata's athleticism combined, they used their Minus Tempo Quick Attack and scored before any of the opposing blockers or receivers have time to react, allowing them to score the last point and win the match; Yachi blew the whistle as the game ended.
Team A: 26 | Team B: 24
"Yeah!" Hinata, Kageyama, Natsu, Akira, Blake and Yang cheered.
"Damn. This might be a well-balanced team." Levy said, panting a little.
Alice puffed her cheeks in annoyance, while Tsukishima was annoyed and Gajeel and Ryo roaring in defeat. But Yamaguchi wasn't bummed out, more like seeing everyone having potential, and helping his fellow first-years get even better.
"Kay, guys, let's head back to-" Yamaguchi didn't get to finish the rest because a large blue explosion in the southeast direction occurred, alerting the group's presence.
"What was that?!" Gajeel questioned.
"That came from where Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper were!" Happy hollered, out of concern.
"Then let's go!" Natsu stated, running off first.
"Wait up, man!" Hinata called out, grabbing his two katana before following the Dragon Slayer.
"Don't leave me! I'm coming too!" Happy hollered, flying right behind Hinata.
Soon enough, everyone in their group grabbed their weapons (except the wizards) and followed right after them.
XXX
It wasn't just Natsu and Hinata's group who saw and followed the explosion to where Luffy's group was. Nami's group, and everyone on the Sunny saw the same and quickly ran off in the same direction as Natsu's and Hinata's group, now worried about something bad happening to
XXX
A few minutes earlier…
"WAIT UP, IDIOT!" Zoro and Usopp called out to Luffy, to no avail as the captain was running at mad speed. When it comes to food, nothing can steer Luffy from that.
But suddenly, Luffy was blasted in front of him by some strange force, knocking the captain on his butt. Zoro quickly stopped and prepared to draw his swords, while Usopp and Chopper, having stopped as well, screamed.
"What the heck was that?!" Usopp exclaimed.
"Luffy! Are you alright?!" Chopper asked Luffy in concern.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Luffy groaned, getting up before assuming a fighting stance. "Who did that?!"
"I hoped you were better at dodging that, Straw Hat. Disappointing." A mocking voice that got Luffy annoyed, coming from the sky to reveal Holland and his companion with the large sword.
"Hey, you're that guy who attacked us at Blue Seat Resort!" Usopp hollered, pointing to Holland despite his shivering legs.
"And it looks like he's not alone." Zoro stated, drawing Shusui first as he eyed Holland's partner.
"My name is Kaiser Jaeger. And we're here to deliver you and your comrades a message," Kaiser introduced.
"What message?!" Usopp frantically asked.
"It's-" Kaiser couldn't answer because Luffy and Zoro attempted to attack him and Holland, only to blocked by Kaiser's sword that intercepted both Shusui and a Haki-enhanced fist from Luffy.
"You should listen. But that's what to expect of pirates." Kaiser warned, generating intense heat from his sword that Luffy and Zoro quickly backed away from.
The heat from the sword intensified until it ignited a pale blue color, with Kaiser raised the sword behind him with one hand. "Satan's Fire!"
Kaiser shot out a massive crescent blue flame wave at Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper, the latter two screamed in terror. But Zoro quickly reacted fast with a 360 Caliber Phoenix causing an immense explosion from the two attacks colliding.
Luffy followed Zoro's lead and attempted to strike while the "iron's hot". "Gum-Gum Eagle Bazooka!" Luffy shouted, entering Second Gear while covering his arms with Armament Haki, stretching his arms backward before releasing them forward at Kaiser. But Holland used his own power, which was dangerously powerful ice with jagged edges that not only froze Luffy's arms, but dealt a horrible frostbite to them, making Luffy groan in pain.
"This is ice is more dangerous thank Aokiji's!" Luffy hollered, hoping to smash the ice but had to hold off out of instinct he could accidentally shatter his arms.
"This ice is more powerful than ordinary ice, and has a jagged edge to them, making this ice much deadlier in both offense and defense." Holland explained, generating the same jagged ice on his right hand.
"Are they devil fruits?!" Usopp questioned, never seen these types of Devil Fruits that possess such dangerous power.
"Oh no. These powers are from a greater source that you'd never find in this world." Holland answered. "And these powers will be your end!" Holland added, preparing another jagged ice attack.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" A massive blast of fire came straight at Holland and Kaiser, only for the latter to coat his sword in blue hellfire and smash the attack in two. They, along with the four Straw Hats see Natsu, being held by Happy for flight, rushed to join the fight.
Soon enough, every other member of the Straw Hats have arrived, backing up Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper.
"You guys alright?" Yachi asked, in concern.
"We're fine. But Luffy's hands are incased in ice that's not ordinary." Zoro answered.
"I got it." Gray said, meeting by Luffy's side and shocking eating the ice, hence his recently new Demon Slayer powers. Luffy was in awe, but Gray didn't pay him any mind.
Both Kaiser and Holland smirked at the turn of events.
"Good. All of you Straw Hats are here." Kaiser said.
"I figured we run into Holland, but who's the other guy?" Sanji asked, blowing a smoke from his cigarette.
"S-S-Said his name's Kaiser." Usopp answered, still shivering.
Kaiser took something from his right pocket and threw it at Luffy, who caught the object easily and saw it was some kind of card with the front having a pirate skull with royal designs.
"What's this?" Erza questioned, eying the two foes with suspicion.
"An invitation - to Neo Pirates Fest." Holland stated, surprising most of the group.
"Neo Pirates Fest?" Robin asked quietly, getting interested.
"If you ever want your new friends to return to their worlds, you will come to Neo Pirates Fest and prove your worth." Holland demanded, before he and Kaiser disappeared instantly.
The Straw Hats were all looking at the invitation card Luffy is holding. What could this mean? And how is this so-called "Neo Pirates Fest" will have the answers to who's behind this and bring their new friends back to their home worlds?
Next time: Chapter 13 - To Neo Pirates Fest!
The top two minions made their message to the Straw Hats and have dangerous abilities. But the real question is why are they conducting an all-star event completely similar to Pirates Festival? The next few chapters may give answers that bit by bit will lighten the truth, and how dangerous will it be from here on.
A fellow author reviewed about the bounties I posted, and yes, they don't make squat since they aren't even a threat to the World Government and haven't beaten any high-ranking Marines. But, there's the suspense behind it, and only Deckard, Haruka and even Holland, Kaiser and the mysterious Big Bad have the answers why; it's all part of a bigger conspiracy, but I refuse to give spoilers. But just to make things right, I have reduced most of the bounties the new members to make it better.
This was also my first time doing an official Shokugeki with details about the dishes Soma and Takumi made. The BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich and Italian Pasta Sub were inspired by me watching lots of YouTube videos with cooking ideas from many YouTube chefs like ChefRush, albert_cancook, patrickzeinali, Cabin77Films, OverTheFireCooking, BayashiTV_, Lionfield, NickDiGiovanni, shelbyscanda, itsQCP, etc. Might get another one in later chapters soon.
One more thing, after 12 chapters, I'm gonna take a break for a while - like a month. Just wanna plan the rest of the story out and give my brain a big break, along with restarting the War Chronicles in a new direction, but I'll hold onto the old stories instead of deleting them just to help if only a little.