Luffy rushed in close to the blood soaked pirate, Captain Butch, his arms trailing behind him.
"Gum Gum Bazooka!"
Luffy's arms raced forwards and slammed directly into the unmoving Butch who wore a sneer on his face. Then his arm penetrated through his torso and splashed blood all of the wall behind Butch.
"EHHHH?! I killed him?!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise, not expecting this particular outcome.
"Hoink hoink hoink..." A strange, throaty laugh came from Butch.
Sensing something was wrong, Luffy tried to extract his arms, but found they were stuck within Butch's torso.
"First time facing a Logia, meat?" Butch mocked with an evil smile. He wasted no time raising his hefty cleaver into the air and bringing it down upon the trapped Luffy.
Thus came the end of Luffy's quest to become king of the pirates, like so many others before him.
Or it would have, if Zoro hadn't run in to block the strike. It was rather close as Zoro was nearly overpowered despite blocking with all three of his swords.
"Oh, this'll be good practice for you guys. Do your best! I won't step in unless you're going to die." Cherry said nonchalantly, while the rest of the crew was panicking.
"You say that like you have a way of dealing with him?!" Nami asked incredulously.
"Of course I can deal with him. What kind of idiot would come to the Grand Line without a way to fight Logia users." Cherry said shamelessly, as if she hadn't done the same thing.
Sanji and the swan man joined into the fray, kicking into Butch's abdomen on either side of him and bisecting him. The resulting opening allowed Luffy to free his arms and create some distance.
Butch's halves quickly stitched themselves back together. "It's been a while since I've had the chance to chop up some upstarts who don't know how wide the world is. I hope you can help me work up an appetite!" Butch said, both his voice and his stomach growling.
"Cherry, I didn't know you could eat people?" Cabernet asked innocently. Though by the look on her face it didn't seem so innocent.
"Eating people is almost always a bad thing and never a good thing, Cabernet. Don't follow their example." Cherry explained plainly.
After a few rounds of futile attacks and close calls, the three men and the swan guy who kept counting his kicks in some language Cherry had never heard before seemed ready to abandon the wasted effort.
"Our attacks just pass right through him, how are we supposed to kick his ass?!" Luffy shouted in frustration.
"Think outside the box, Luffy. Not every problem can be solved with your fists alone. He's made a blood, so what can hurt blood?" Cherry prompted him.
It was Sanji who had an idea first. "There are plenty of dishes involving blood. We can use fire to burn him!"
He leapt over to the still burning bonfire and began kicking the flaming logs up and towards Butch.
Butch showed annoyance for the first time, swatting the logs as they flew at him, but some still got through. He only sustained some minor burns. "That's not enough to deal with me, meat. I'm the one who'll be cooking you in the end!"
Then it was Luffy's turn to have an idea and he excitedly jumped over to the Going Merry, disappearing inside.
"Looks like the chewy meat ran away, hoink hoink hoink!" Butch observed.
Luffy reappeared shortly after carrying two barrels. He jumped up into the air and launched the two barrels at Butch.
"Useless..." Butch swung his cleaver smashing the barrels apart and inadvertently splashing himself with the contents. They were filled with rum.
"AH! Not the rum, damn it!" Zoro exclaimed.
"Uh... oh..." Butch staggered off balance. "Thish ishn't good..."
Cherry applauded. "Nice one Luffy. Not only is the rum flammable, you even remembered that alcohol in the blood is what causes drunkenness and anticipated that Butch might absorb it directly."
"Hm? I did?" Luffy asked, pointing at himself.
Sanji didn't waste any time and launched a burning log at Butch causing him to be set aflame.
"RAAAAGH!" He roared in pain.
Unfortunately, his instincts kicked in and he desperately tried to get rid of the flames by shedding blood everywhere, spreading the flames all over the place.
"Well, it was a decent idea and got you in the right headspace." Cherry said, approaching the still somewhat burning Butch.
When she reached his side, she reared back a fist and thrust out. Her fist flashed with black light and buried into the flesh of his gut, not allowing him to turn intangible.
Butch's ribcage shattered and he went flying overboard into the ocean, causing many of his crew to shout in alarm.
"Of course, the best way is to push them into the ocean, as always." She smiled with satisfaction.
"How did you do that?!" Luffy asked.
"How did I push him into the ocean? I just showed you how, weren't you paying attention?" Cherry answered jokingly.
"Mmm, that's not what I meant!" Luffy exclaimed.
Getting the reaction she wanted from him, she stopped teasing him. "It's called Haki, specifically Armament Haki. You can use it to strengthen your attacks and more importantly to force a Logia fruit user to remain tangible. I'll tell you more later. For now we should get going."
...
The Going Merry moved away from the blood soaked ship having accomplished their goal of saving the swan man from being cooked and eaten by cannibals.
The swan man introduced himself as Bon Clay, a self proclaimed Okama. He thanked them from the bottom of his heart, then shamelessly asked for a hot meal.
To show his appreciation, he put on a little "show" for the crew with his devil fruit. He was able to copy the appearances of those he touched the faces of with his right hand. Cherry naturally declined for both herself and Cabernet.
'Oh, Nami's chest is very nice, as expected. Ah, she hit him.' Cherry thought. 'His ability is very unique and interesting, though. I've gotten some good data from this.'
It wasn't long before Bon Clay's ship appeared on the horizon. He left with some words about friendship not being determined by the time spent together. Cherry would have dismissed such fanciful thoughts before, but she's seen first hand how quickly Luffy worms his way into peoples' hearts.
After he boarded his ship he told them to set off immediately and his crew answered, revealing him to be none other than Mr. 2 of Baroque Works, much to the surprise of the crew.
Strangely enough, it was Zoro who suggested that it was a good thing to meet him, so they could think of a countermeasure to his ability.
They thought up their countermeasure for the remainder of the journey, encountered a sea cat, slipped passed a fleet of Baroque Works' ships, and finally arrived in Alabasta.
When they dropped anchor in a decent hiding place, Luffy immediately rushed into the city in search of a restaurant.
The others expressed their exasperation at his antics and followed after him once they were situated. They went shopping for supplies while Cherry took Cabernet to gather information about the current affairs in Alabasta.
Cherry wasn't expecting to learn such shocking information, however.
King Nefertari Cobra has stepped down from the throne due to insanity. The Shichibukai and hero, Crocodile, has been appointed temporarily as the Regent of Alabasta.
"When did this happen?" Cherry asked the information broker.
"Just yesterday, the whole country is confused. My sources tell me Sir Crocodile was completely blindsided as well and said he would go the the capital, Alubarna, to find out what was happening. On the other hand, King Nefertari hasn't been seen or heard from since." Said the greasy information broker.
Cherry asked the man some other questions, such as the locations and movements of the rebel forces and leader. She found out the rebels had moved their base of operations from the town called Yuba to the town of Katorea.
When she finished, Cherry went outside to meet with Cabernet, but the silly ship was nowhere to be seen. 'Where the hell did you go, Cabernet?!'
It wouldn't really be all that difficult to find her, as Cherry can simply use their blood bond to track her down. Unfortunately, Cherry could only send thoughts to her within a certain range and Cabernet could not send her own to Cherry. The blood bond was not designed with two-way communication in mind.
There was still time before she was meant to meet back up with the Straw Hats and Princess Vivi, fortunately. So she went in search of her mischievous ship girl.
Cherry walked in the direction of Cabernet until she reached the eastern border of the town they anchored near, Nanohana. There was no Cabernet in sight, only the desert and the occasional traveler coming and going.
"Damn it..." Cherry was in a foul mood. She had no way of knowing if Cabernet was in any danger. She couldn't just leave her be, Cabernet was something like a little sister to her.
Ultimately, Cherry decided to pursue her. Though she wanted to tell the others what she had learned from the broker, it would have to wait.
Cherry sprung forward and ran at her top speed. She was a bit faster than Cabernet on foot under normal circumstances, though the sand did slow her down a bit. Cabernet shouldn't be flying after Cherry made her cover her wings and hair, then promise not to reveal them.
It didn't take too long to catch up with Cabernet as she wasn't trying to create distance. It turned out she just got into a covered carriage out of curiosity and didn't think to get off when it started moving.
"Seriously, Cabernet?! Why didn't you get off when it started moving?!" Cherry interrogated, exasperatedly.
"There were interesting things inside of it and it was so cool and comfortable. I'm sorry..." Cabernet apologized sincerely.
Cherry couldn't stay angry at her. Sometimes she forgets that Cabernet is literally only a year old, two years if you count her time as an ordinary ship.
"It's okay. Let's just go back." Cherry said, giving Cabernet a consoling hug.
A little while later they made it back to Nanohana. Cherry went to the designated rendezvous point, but did not find anyone waiting there even though she wasn't that much later than the agreed upon time.
It wasn't hard to guess why, seeing a number of marines rushing about.
'I guess I'll go to where the Going Merry was anchored, stealthily of course.' Cherry thought.
"Excuse me." A voice asked from behind her.
Cherry turned around to find a woman with short black hair, wearing red glasses, gloves, and a very nice sword on her hip.
"Do you mind if I have a look at that sword? I'm Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, a marine, so I won't steal it." She asked politely.
"Well... I guess you can have a look, just for a second..." Cherry answered, ignoring the judging look from Cabernet. Cherry sent her a thought. 'You wasted a lot more time than I did! This'll just take a moment!'
Cherry handed her sword to Tashigi, who inspected it closely and with great enthusiasm.
"Amazing, I don't recognize this sword, so it's not one of the Meito, but it's of the same caliber as a Great Grade Meito. Do you know who made this sword, if you don't mind me asking?" She asked, repositioning her glasses.
"I'm afraid I do mind, unfortunately. The old man just wants to enjoy his retirement in peace after making his masterpiece." Cherry answered. "However, I know everything there is to know about the creation of this bad boy, if you want to know. I'm quite the skilled blacksmith myself, you see. I even created the alloy myself."
Cherry and Tashigi chattered away frivolously about swords for about 10 minutes before they were interrupted. "TASHIGI! We're going, so get over here!"
"Ah! Yes, Captain Smoker! Sorry, I have to go!" She said goodbye after handing the sword back and rushed away.
With that pretty distraction out of the way, Cherry snuck out of town and towards the place where the Going Merry had been anchored, only to find it was no longer there.
'Haaah, I figured as much. They wouldn't stick around with the marines looking for them. Oh well, I can just do things my way.' Cherry thought, ignoring the piercing gaze of Cabernet which seemed to blame her for missing them.
'Vivi shouldn't know the rebels are in Katorea, so I guess I'll head there. I doubt their leader would just believe my words without hard proof, but I figure there is no way Baroque Works wouldn't infiltrate both armies. All I have to do is find a few of them.' Cherry decided.
...
"Is it really okay that we just left Cherry and Cabernet?" Vivi worried.
"It's fine, you've seen how strong they are. Even if they run into Crocodile himself, they can use that Haki stuff and kick his ass!" Usopp insisted.
"Usopp's right, and also time is precious. We need to go warn the rebels at Yuba like you said, Vivi." Nami agreed.
Vivi knew that to be true, but she could help but to worry. The desert held many dangers that could kill even the strongest warriors if they didn't know to avoid them. However, many lives were on the line, she could not afford to be worried about just two, no matter how it pained her.
"Alright, I'll trust them and hope for their safety." She declared.
...
The next day, Cherry and Cabernet arrived in Katorea. It normally took 2 or 3 days to reach on foot, but Cherry and Cabernet were both fast, strong, and had no need to conserve energy, so they made excellent time.
Finding the rebels wasn't hard at all, you couldn't exactly hide hundreds of thousands of people. The tricky part would be figuring out who was in charge of them all. These weren't soldiers, they didn't exactly wear identifying marks.
Cherry had to be very careful. A stranger skulking about and asking questions would raise a lot of red flags. Obviously she couldn't fight a whole army, though she was confident in running away.
While Cherry was lost in thought she overheard Cabernet speak to a group of rebels. "Hey, can my sister and I join the revolution?"
'I swear this girl is a tribulation sent by the heavens!' Cherry screamed inwardly.
"Hm? You want to join the revolution? Why?" The man in the middle asked, peering through his orange sunglasses at them. He had dirty blond hair, a scar next to his left eye, a red coat on his shoulder over a white t-shirt, and a blue scarf.
Cherry did her best to save the situation. "When we heard of the Alabastan peoples' plight, our hearts broke. It is such a terrible thing that brothers must spill one another's blood."
"So my countrymen's blood should be spilled by strangers instead?" He probed.
"No. We are quite strong, so we could perhaps capture some key figures of the other side. Hopefully that would be enough to prevent some otherwise unnecessary bloodshed." Cherry elaborated. This man should be someone near the top of the rebel command structure, given his questioning.
The man pondered for a moment before speaking again. "Come with me."
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