Italics indicate thinking

Bold is for attacks

Steve's POV

"BRRR~" the transponder snail hung up.

"Provoking Mama in her own castle!" some of her children guarding us laughed "What fools."

"GRR Shut up and fight me!" Luffy yelled trying to run out of the cage but getting stuck to the nail on the wall like the rest of us.

"HEY!" some kid came riding in on a caterpillar.

"What do you want Anglaise?" the pink haired woman asked.

"There's an intruder in the treasure room Yo!" he said.

"An intruder?"

"Yeah, and I ain't brushing my teeth tonight either." He said.

"Shut up! God you're a brat!" I groaned "Clearly no one taught you manners."

"Useless brat would be better off dead!"

That got me glares from the siblings and then Luffy headbutted me to silence the voice.

They all left in a hurry to deal with the intruder while leaving that weird cream guy to watch over us, but after a while a woman entered. She wasn't with the group from before and unlike most of the freaks around here she seemed kinda normal.

"Pudding!" Nami gasped.

This is the girl Sanji's supposed to marry?

"Opera." She addressed the cream man "Would it be okay for me to go in and speak with them?"

"I don't mind." The man shrugged.

"Let us out!" Luffy yelled.

"Hmm?" I looked at her as she approached.

"We haven't met." She said squatting in front of us and looking at me "I am Pudding, you must be the other captain. My brothers and sisters must have done awful things to you."

She leaned in closer to whisper.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the coast." She said "Sanji proposed to me. That made me happy but I know he only did that because he's a good person, I feel like I'm the one screwing everything up. So, don't worry I'm not going to marry Sanji because-."

She leaned in even closer.

"I'll never marry him because that idiot is head over heels for me." She smiled darkly "And I'm gonna shoot that dumbass right between the eyes during the wedding. None of you are getting out of here alive."

"Your face." Monet gasped "You're a member of the Three-eye tribe?! Pedro was right about you, we should have killed you at the start!"

"Goodbye." She stood up and walked off with crocodile tears "You filthy rats."

"PUDDING!" Luffy ran into the bars as soon as she got outside.

"A third eye?" I was still surprised.

"They are an incredibly rare race born with a third eye on their foreheads." Monet explained "They say those with the third eye can achieve a 'true awakening' and hear the 'Voice of all things' which allows them to decipher the thoughts and words of inanimate objects and creatures, we saw this on Zou when Momonosuke and Icarus could hear the voice of Zunisha the elephant and I believe that it is why Luffy heard the voice in your head. It's an incredibly rare gift few possess."

"RAAAH!" Luffy kept throwing himself at the bars.

"Luffy stop that!" Nami said "You'll tear your arms off!"

"That's the point!" he yelled "I'd rather lose a hand then be stuck here! We can't just sit here waiting for someone to save us!"

"Luffy!" I yelled "ENOUGH!"

He stopped.

"Screaming and flailing around isn't gonna do crap." I said "We need to think about this for a second alright. If we don't actually figure this out than Sanji's gonna die and so are we!"

I looked up.

Big Mom want's Nami to tell her where Lola is and she said she plans to keep Monet as a slave with Caesar which means that crackpot is in this castle somewhere. I need to get someone outside this cell but how…

"So girl Mama told me to make you reveal where Lola is." The cream guy said.

"I'll never sell out a friend!" Nami glared.

"Okay I'll get the torture devices then." He nodded.

"That escalated quickly!"

The man picked up a crossbow and put an arrow in it.

"That's not a torture device that's just a weapon!" Nami yelled "This is bad!"

"Anyone in here?" a voice called out.

That voice?!

"Hey you're not allowed on the castle grounds right now." Opera said.

"Well there was so much chaos I didn't think it mattered right now, sorry about this by the way."

"5000 Brick Fist!"

With one punch Opera was sent flying across the room and there was a large round fishman standing there.

"JINBEI!"

"I heard some people got captured." The fishman said "We'll talk later but first how about we get you all out of there."

"YES!" Nami begged "PLEASE!"

"Hurry too or Luffy's gonna rip his arms off." I laughed.

"Get ready." Jinbei warned "I'll have to burn this book."

"WHAT?!"

Suddenly there was a rush of heat and the nails binding us snapped off but the walls were peeling too.

"Hang on to me!" I grabbed the others and kicked off as soon as I was free.

"Hold still!" Jinbei grabbed a bucket and doused us with water to put us out.

"Phew." I slid to a stop.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered.

"Are you alright Monet?" Nami helped her up.

"Yes, fire and I don't get along very well." She said.

"How similar, we met for the first time in prison." Jinbei said.

"There were many people in that book." Monet said looking at dozens of other pirates that fell out.

"One of Big Mom's sons, Mont-d'or is a Book man." Jinbei explained "He can trap things in books."

"Big Mom's kids are all freaky strong." I said "Pain in the ass that's for sure."

"Why are you on this island Jinbei?" Nami asked.

"Well my Sun Pirates are one of the crews under Big Mom." He said.

"You did just assault one of her sons." She said "So are you rebelling?"

"That unfinished business you mentioned at Fishman Island, this is it, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it's taken care of." He nodded and smiled at Monet "I'm sorry I don't believe we've met."

"We haven't." she said "Monet, Strawhat Researcher."

"Still making new friends are you." Jinbei laughed.

"What can I say we attract the best." I joked.

"So hungry." Luffy fell forward.

"We've got reports of screams from the library!" the intercom buzzed.

"They're moving fast, we've gotta hid." Nami said.

"Luffy isn't eating." I explained to Jinbei "Not till he gets Sanji to cook for him again."

"Pudding tricked us." Monet said "And now Sanji is also in grave danger."

"We gotta tell him." Luffy stood up on shaky legs.

"Alright bud let's not go killing ourselves now that we're free." I picked him up and put him on my back "I'll take Luffy, girls go with Jinbei."

"Where are you going?" Nami said.

"There's business to take care of." I told her "You know that."

"Very well we shall regroup soon." Monet nodded "Good Luck."

"Come on Luffy." I headed out the back door.

As soon as I got into the hall there was already a group of soldiers in the way.

"At least wallowing in that cell brought my stamina back." I opened my mouth "Brimstone!"

I shot the ceiling and caused it to collapse and block us off.

"This way." I turned "Luffy?"

Crap he hasn't eaten and he normally stuffs his face he's practically withering away like this…Sanji hurry please.

"HMPH!" A woman suddenly blocked my path.

She was huge with silver white hair, she was a Longleg and she was carrying a massive sword.

"Die." She lifted it.

"Hang on Luffy!" I slid between her legs "Shave!"

I used my speed to get around her long reach and did a tuck and roll through the nearest window before spreading my wings and flying off quickly.

"You're not getting away." She leaned out the window and pointed her sword "Juice Shot!"

"GAH!" I felt one of my wings get clipped by her ranged blast.

I'm gonna crash!

I slammed into one of the windows and landed in a pile of glass.

"In here!" I was pulled from the ground into a room by a woman.

"RAH!" I started pulling my bandages off.

"Wait I'm not you're enemy." She said.

This woman was leggy as well but not as much as the last girl, she had pink hair and a swirling eyebrow.

"Sanji-Sis…" Luffy groaned.

"You're one of Sanji's siblings?" I asked "I didn't meet you earlier I'm a captain with this idiot here, Steve."

"Reiju. You even managed to piss off Smoothie too. She's one of those Sweet Commanders" She peered outside "You're making a lot of noise you know."

"Where's Sanji." Luffy asked "Pudding is gonna kill him! You're hurt."

"Hmm." Reiju rubbed her leg which was wrapped in a bandage "Yes, thank you for worrying but I'm fine. As for Pudding I know, and so does my brother. He learned about it just now. I tried to convince him to run but he's hung up on all these hostages."

"If they're in danger I'll save them too, the guys from Baratie right?" Luffy said as his stomach growled.

"How do you even plan to get there." I sighed "But Sanji knows, good he wasn't tricked then. He's still sharp."

I looked out the window.

"I think I can use my wings again Luffy, and that woman is gone so I should be able to get you to the meeting spot."

"Let's go!" he cheered running out the window.

"Pitch-Black Wings!" I grabbed him and flew across the plains.

Monet's POV

"Snow Rampart!"

I slammed my hands down and cut off another passage.

"They just keep coming." I hissed trying to keep up with Nami and Jinbei while defending us.

"There are still one's behind us." Nami said taking out her weapon "Thunder Rod!"

"GAH!" Chopper got zapped "Nami what the heck?!"

"Bropper?!" Carrot yelled.

"You two?!" I was surprised "How?"

"We came to save you!" Carrot said "This way hurry! The mirror!"

We stepped into the mirror and got sucked to the other side, a bizarre world of twisting and warped shapes.

"Bropper!" Carrot shook him "You're all burned up!"

"This exists behind the mirror." Nami looked around.

"It's like a whole different dimension." I looked around "Fascinating."

"Jinbei!" Brulee yelled "You are working with these punks! I heard you tried to quit but refused to spin the Roulette!"

"You made the right call then." Pedro said "My comrade spun that once and lost his life, it's rigged to kill anyone who plays, I'm sure of it."

"Anyone who betrays Mama dies!" Brulee said.

"Get on the cart." Chopper said recovering "We still need to find Brook, Wyper, Sanji, Steve and Luffy."

"Don't worry about the last three right now." I told him "They're busy, we need to find Brook and Wyper first."

"Find these people!" Carrot held up a strange picture.

"I see that aggressive looking man!" one of the mirrors sad.

"There!" Carrot pointed.

"Wyper?!" Nami walked up to the reflection.

"There you are…whatever." He looked into the mirror "There's a problem, we were trying to steal the Poneglyph rubbing and Brook got caught, that oversized freak wants to add him to her collection of exotic objects."

"And you?" I asked as he stepped through the mirror

"Well turns out Shandorians are rare around here so I'm got the VIP treatment for some reason." He said "And by that, I mean I got locked in a room and not allowed to leave but it's no cell. I guess Big Mom likes exotic creatures and people, she was planning to keep me and Brook as her newest specimens but since you guys were tearing up the palace, she had to wait till the Book guy showed up and dumped me in a room for the wait."

"How did you two get caught?" Nami asked.

"She just showed up." He said "I tried to blast her but one of her damn kids took the shot and then we got swarmed."

He looked at his latest contraption.

"Still needs more fine tuning I guess." He grumbled.

"We need to find Brook." I said "If he's with Big Mom he won't have much time."

"Find Brook!" Carrot held up the picture again.

Steve's POV

"You're so needy." I sighed sitting on a pile of tree roots "You know if you weren't always stuffing your face you wouldn't be eating yourself alive right now."

"Ugh…" he groaned.

"Oh…you're here." I said looking up "Sanji."

He didn't say anything at first.

"If you're expecting me to make a rousing speech right now, you're mistaken." I said.

"San…ji…" Luffy groaned a bit.

"I never said you should wait." He said dropping a basket "Fine, eat it if you want it."

"Yeah." Luffy smiled opening it "Oh?"

"Yeah I might have dropped it on the way." He sighed.

"Hmph!" Luffy didn't even hesitate "Yummy! It's got everything I like!"

"It's also not looking so hot." I laughed as Sanji sat down facing away from us "But you'll eat anything anyway."

"You liar…" Sanji mumbled.

"Ahh much better!" Luffy said finishing up.

"You ate, now leave." Sanji said.

"Welp, if you're staying, we're staying." I told him.

"I disrespected and injured my captains despite you coming to save me, that's why I don't deserve to return to your ship." He said "Two…that shitty gramps and those others chefs from when we first met are all being held hostage to make sure I don't mess this up. Three, my biological family has been tricked by Big Mom and will be killed in a few hours. They're all rotten to the core but I just don't have it in me to let them die. Those are the reasons I can't go back with you. So please leave."

"HMPH!" Luffy pulled back and clocked him with a punch.

"Man, you're a bad liar." I sighed getting up "Or at least you've become one, you used to be a good one, remember that stunt you pulled in Alabasta, you lied to Crocodile like it was nothing. Maybe I'm wrong though, maybe you're a great liar, because you still won't tell the truth even now!"

"I…" Sanji looked down "I just…"

Suddenly he was crying, I couldn't remember a time I ever saw Sanji cry.

"I wanna go back to Sunny!" he said "But I can't run from this either! Once that ceremony starts, I'll lose all ability to stop it! My family, they're almost all irredeemable but I don't want them to die!"

"Okay then!" Luffy laughed "Let's crash the wedding!"

AN

Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.

Pick up- Chapter 857

I wanted to take a moment to mention over the last week or so I updated all previous 176 chapters of this story with some minor and major changes, here's a small change log, my personal thoughts/reasoning are listed next to them in parenthesis.

Minor-

Spelling and Grammar adjustments to the best of my ability (I'm sure there are still some here and there but I think I got a lot of them)

Minor changes to the wording of some scenes to make it clearer who was talking or where a character was. (In rereading I found there were some scenes where it was too unclear who was supposed to be the one speaking)

Removed old dated Authors notes that were no longer relevant (You don't need to know I was busy with school for one chapter 3 years ago lol)

Major-

Fixed some plot contradictions most notable of which was the drinking contest in Whiskey Peak. (This was the complaint I got a lot and what spurned me to reread and update the old chapters, it's since been changed to have Rose knock Steve out cause she thinks he's entering to contest, also fixed some other plot contradictions like a scene where Lilly's hair was said to be blue when it should have been Green because of her Devil Fruit.)

Added more foreshadowing of Steve's Drinking problem in earlier chapters as well as more explanation of his emotional factor where he will get stressed and upset. (I realized that these two characters traits kinda came out of nowhere and needed to be better explained)

Added some minor thoughts from Steve saying he needs to be stronger or faster prior to Enies Lobby in order to better set him learning Shave and Tempest Kick up (Just wanted to flesh that part out to give it a bit more reason)

Added some additional Post-War interactions between Steve and Hancock to better flesh out their relationship. (I saw that these two almost never interacted and it didn't make sense, they should basically both see each other as a bad influence on Luffy)

Added some more minor flirting interactions with Robin and Steve. (It never hurts to have cute flirting so I added more)

Removed the use of Life Return: Thin Form from the fight with Trebol (This will be relevant later but for something I'm planning having Steve using it there doesn't make sense)

Reduced Rose's early lovey-dovey act with Zoro to keep them more in line with their characters. (In rereading I found that their interactions were really weird and awkward, especially in Whisky Peak. Rose is still crushing on him prior to their break up in Skypiea but it's less obnoxious and annoying now.)

Added additional dialog for Wyper and Monet to help flesh out their backstories a bit in relation to joining the crew, also added Luffy to the scene where Steve asks Wyper to join them to better facilitate that interaction. (I felt that Wyper joining was a bit too sudden so I added some additional dialog for him that better explains why he wants to go to the Blue-Sea.)

Normalized the Bounties across the chapters. There should be no more instances of character's bounties randomly increasing and decreasing across chapters (This was a common complaint, that Steve's early bounty seemed to bounce between 15,000,000 and 20,000,000 but now it should be 20,000,000 all the time)

Also reduced Wyper's initial and post-Dressrosa bounties (His post Enies Lobby bounty is now 55,000,000 and his Post-Dressrosa bounty is now 82,000,000, I felt the old numbers were simply too high there was no reason his Enies Lobby bounty should have been almost as high as Sanji)

Reduced Lil's initial bounty Post-Dressrosa, it's now 100,000,000 rather than 120 million (I found Lil's old bounty to be a little too high for a 12 year old girl who's only known criminal activity is defeating one Vice-Admiral, so I lowered it by 20 million, she's still cracking supernova level but not dwarfing most of the crew like she was before. There's also a reason she's higher even if she's done less that will be explained in the future.)

Significantly overhauled the Conductor's flashback on Zou (I realized when rereading that because of the recent Oden Flashback in the manga there were too many timeline contradictions for it to have been taking place when it was. The Flashback is now farther back in time and doesn't have Inuarashi in it.)

That's really all the major one's I can think of

Till Next Time!