Pekoms found himself tossed back out into the hallway shortly after his conversation with Cherry after dinner. She claimed that she needed her "beauty sleep" and didn't want him to wake her up early crying for his breakfast.
The night passed quietly and peacefully. Cherry woke up in a large, silk covered bed and sat up with a stretch and a yawn.
She looked down at herself and around the room. "Well… at least I didn't wake up with a princess in my bed again, but…"
Wrapped snugly around her body was a rose gold suit of armor that most certainly wasn't pajamas. It was surprisingly comfortable, though, so she could see how she ended up like this. It was kind of annoying that she went ahead and made it when she hadn't decided whether to do so while sober yet; especially since Drunk Cherry decided to throw the pocket devil fruit in as well.
Cherry reached her hands towards the seams of the armored plates and pushed them inside of cleverly hidden pockets. After rummaging around a bit she pulled her hands out and nodded her head. "That's a lot of stolen gold alright."
It was kind of impressive to her that an extra dimensional space could be contained in the form of a pocket. Even the most precious spatial storage rings from the myriad realms didn't have open holes to normal space in them lest the pocket dimensions collapse in on themselves. She'd have to study it in detail later.
Cherry clambered out of the bed, then paused whilst looking at it. It was a very nice bed…
A few minutes later, the entire luxury suite was stripped bare of furniture and decoration. Not even the carpet and wallpaper were spared.
*knock knock* "Miss Harpin, I'm here reporting for duty." came the voice of Raise Max outside the door.
Cherry opened the door after quickly getting dressed in something that didn't make her look ready to go to war.
"..." Raise Max blinked at the empty V.I.P. suite and decided to ignore it. "Is there anything you require of me, my lady?"
"... Who are you, again?" Cherry asked, placing her hand on her chin in thought.
"..." Raise Max didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You don't remember anything? I didn't think you were THAT intoxicated last night…"
"Well, I COULD remember, but what would be the fun in that?" Cherry said, having deliberately not searched her mental sea for memories of the previous night. She'd get around to it eventually, but she was a little scared to look.
"Er, I don't know what else you were up to, but you got me out of Tesoro's prison by faking my death then 'resurrecting' me in front of Tesoro to trick him for some reason. You asked him to hand me over to your custody, and you had me bring a lion guy named Pekoms to you. You talked about-" Raise Max started enlightening her about what he knew about her night.
"Stop, stop, stop! I didn't ask you to recite it to me!" Cherry stopped him. "I'm 'working for' Tesoro now, though, huh? Weird."
Cherry pushed past Raise Max and made her way to the elevator, with Raise Max following behind like a lost puppy. He needed to play the part of a man who has given up resistance until it was time for him to escape, lest he find himself locked up again.
*ding*
Cherry stepped out of the elevator and came face to face with Baccarat.
"Did you have a good night's sleep, Miss Harpin?" Baccarat asked with a gentle, professional smile.
"Nope. The bed was terribly uncomfortable; I feel like I slept in a suit of armor." Cherry said bluntly.
"I see. Tesoro-sama would like to see you." Baccarat said, just blatantly ignoring the complaint.
"Okay?" Cherry said, before starting to walk away.
Baccarat put a hand on Cherry's shoulder, her devil fruit priming itself to steal her luck. "Your position here is not quite set in stone. I recommend that you behave, especially since you abandoned those friends of yours for money."
'I guess if he gets too annoying I can throw him off the roof of that ridiculously tall tower he likes so much. I'm kind of curious what the others are going to do though…' Cherry thought before saying, "Fine."
Baccarat gave her an arrogant smile, completely ignorant of just how little control she actually has in this situation.
She tried to pull her hand free of Cherry's shoulder, but strangely found it stuck to her shirt. Before she had time to properly question what was happening, she was swept off her feet and slung over Cherry's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"I don't have all day to follow you around in those heels, so I'm going to speed this up a bit. You don't mind, right?" Cherry said.
"What are you doing- AHHHHHH!" Baccarat screamed as Cherry catapulted into the air at breakneck speeds.
She didn't have much time to contemplate how high in the air she was before they both crashed through a large window that then miraculously pieced itself back together before the broken glass could hit the floor.
"You sure know how to make an entrance. Though I would ask that you don't enter my office unannounced." Gild Tesoro said in a voice that undoubtedly annoyed.
"I didn't come unannounced. See?" Cherry dropped Baccarat unceremoniously to the floor. "Announce me, please."
Baccarat was only just getting her bearing before realizing where she was and what was going on. "I'm sorry, Tesoro-sama!"
"Forget it." Tesoro waved his hand dismissively. "Go back to your duties, Baccarat."
Baccarat picked herself up and walked across the room to the door as swiftly as she could without actually running.
"YOU?!" the other occupant of the room shrieked, whilst pointing a robotic hand at her accusingly.
"Me? Do we know each other?" Cherry asked nonchalantly.
"Don't pretend you've forgotten me, bitch! You cut off my hands and legs at Enies Lobby!" Spandam squealed in indignation.
"Doesn't ring any bells." Cherry spoke dismissively.
Of course she did actually remember him, the man who tormented her dearest, lovely Robin and didn't even have the strength to back up his wanton arrogance. However, she knew that pretending she didn't remember hurt him more than the dismemberment had.
"You're a dirty liar!" Spandam seethed.
"Now now, no more of that." Tesoro said calmly, though he was himself glad to see the little shit cut down a peg; apparently in the literal sense in this case. "I'll add another 10 million Beri to your… fee. So why not let bygones be bygones, at least for right now."
Spandam opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to decide the money was worth more than mouthing off at two people who can kill him in a heartbeat. "I shall be magnanimous… THIS time!"
Cherry looked him up and down. "Franky is a cooler cyborg than you. Those hands and legs are lame as hell."
Spandam tried to shout back at her and kept his mouth shut at the same time, making an oddly whistling sound reminiscent of the sea train, ironically. He turned tail and ran away… er, retreated like a man, slamming the door as he left.
"Enies Lobby, huh? The World Government tried to keep that quiet, but some of the details have gotten around in Underworld circles. I'm sure it was quite scary with all those warships and vice admirals running around, but you're no longer stuck with that lunatic who declared war on the world, so rest easy." Tesoro said, paying no more mind to Spandam's tantrum.
"You're telling me! I'm so glad to be rid of that fool, good riddance!" Cherry declared unflinchingly, much to Tesoro's liking.
"I just wanted to be certain, now that you're sober, that you can truly repeat your feat of restoring the dead to life for someone who has long passed?" Tesoro asked, paying close attention to her expression.
"Wow, I just went and blabbed about that?" Cherry lied as naturally as she breathed, catching onto what she was conspiring whilst Drunk Cherry had taken the wheel. "I've been trying to keep it on the down-low, you know? If the Celestial Pigs find out about what I can do, then they'll stop at nothing to catch me."
Tesoro nodded enthusiastically, barking a laugh when she referred to the world nobles as "pigs" instead of "dragons". A much more appropriate designation in his opinion; especially since he has them begging for his table scraps twice a year. The idiots didn't even realize he was just using them until he was strong enough to dispose of them as they had him and his love so many years ago.
"I'm sure that you're right about that! Who wouldn't want assurances against death itself? You're quite wise to avoid them, for they would not enrich you as I would for your services; rather they would collar you as they would any of their slaves, and treat you no better either," Tesoro said, meaning to stroke her ego.
"So who is it you're wanting to bring back? My apologies if you already told me, but my memory of last night is a little fuzzy." Cherry moved the conversation along, eager to leave.
Tesoro hesitated for a moment before saying, "Someone who is very important to me, and who didn't deserve to die as she did."
'Ah, so that's it? Give him hope, then mercilessly dash it upon the rocks.' Cherry concluded. "I'm sure that we can manage that."
Tesoro didn't miss the 'we' in that sentence, indicating that she was completely on board already. "Excellent. It'll be some time before the preparations are finished, so just enjoy your time on the Gran Tesoro in the meantime. Oh, and don't miss the special show we have tonight."
Cherry nodded to him semi-committedly and left the office. Through the door this time.
'You could have opened it first…' Tesoro thought, his good mood ruined at the sight of a cherry shaped hole through his office's door.
"Hey, there, cutie~ You come here often?" he heard Cherry say outside the door.
'And now she's trying to steal my secretary… Whatever.' Tesoro pulled out a bottle of bourbon and didn't bother with a glass. This wasn't much to put up with if he could see his sweet Stella once again.
…
Law was VERY curious why the Straw Hats hadn't come back to their ship the previous night. He supposed they got other accommodations, but there was always the possibility that they fucked up big time.
The fliers advertising Zoro's impending execution should they not pay a debt of over 300 million Beri answered his question.
"Bunch of fuckin' idiots, haaaah…" Law rubbed forehead to get ahead of the headache that was undoubtedly in its early stages.
Cabernet set a bowl of oatmeal and a banana in front of him before starting to eat her own breakfast that consisted of the same with the addition of about 10 pounds of burnt bacon.
"Does your head hurt?" Cabernet asked cheerfully, in as good a mood as anyone can be right after waking up.
"Your buddy Zoro-ya is going to be executed," Law said, placing a flier on the table. He reached over to take some of the bacon, but Cabernet moved the plate away from him.
"That's weird." Cabernet didn't seem remotely distressed. "This is MY bacon."
"Room." Law chimed and swapped his bowl of oatmeal with the plate, before promptly vanishing who knows where.
"AH! You dirty cheater!" Cabernet flared up angrily.
'Does she not like Zoro-ya, or is she so blindly confident in their survival?' Law wondered to himself, quickly stuffing charred bacon in his mouth before Cabernet could find him. 'I suppose I have to be the level headed one, damn it…'
That was easier said than done, though. He couldn't use his Room to search the ship for Zoro since the effect was easy to see. He would have to rescue him at the actual 'event' to avoid giving the enemy an advantage.
'It'd be a lot easier if I had any idea where the rest were, though…' Law complained silently.
…
The Straw Hats were in the midst of planning the ultimate heist when they were interrupted by Cherry crawling out of a hole in the floor. She brushed the dust off of her shirt and looked around before locking onto Robin.
Cherry leapt through the air and landed directly in Robin's arms. Or she would have, if Robin hadn't sidestepped out of the way. Sanji swooped in to perfectly position himself to catch her instead, only to be toppled over by the unexpected force.
Sanji lay on the floor, a bit dazed from the blow, with Cherry sat on his chest.
"Don't try to catch me if you're not prepared, fool." Cherry admonished, pinching and pulling on his ears. "It makes me look heavier than I am."
"Then why did you use armament haki?" Sanji asked abashedly, though not-so-secretly enjoying the situation.
"Huh?! Are you back talking to me, you pipsqueak? Even Zoro doesn't skip leg day, but you think it's fine to take it easy with your upper body?" Cherry pulled his ears harder, making his yelp in discomfort.
Cherry stood up with ease, her feet digging into his gut, before stepping off. She embraced Robin lovingly with a goofy smile, and was fortunately not rejected a second time. "I missed you~!"
"Did you, now?" Robin asked in mock exasperation as she returned the hug.
"Hmph, and you had the nerve to say that I was crushing on Nami?" Carina said, pointing out Cherry's 'hypocrisy'.
Cherry raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask 'Are you stupid?' before giving Robin a long kiss. When she broke it and looked at Carina again, her face was beet red with her hands failing to cover her own eyes.
"Stop teasing her, Cherry." Nami admonished half-heartedly. In truth she was greatly enjoying how easily flustered Carina was about romance; she never could have imagined that ever-confident thief would fall apart so quickly.
"Dahaha! She looks like a tomato!" Luffy flat out laughed at her, followed shortly by Usopp and Chopper.
"S-shut up!" Carina feebly shouted before storming out of the room, more out of embarrassment than genuine anger.
"Are you alright, Cherry?" Jinbe asked.
Cherry was caught off guard by the question. Jinbe was well aware of her capabilities, but he asked regardless. "Yeah, I'm fine big guy. Tesoro is a pushover; I got him wrapped around my little finger. Turns out he's very polite when you have something he desperately wants."
"What does he want?" Brook asked curiously.
"He hasn't said who, but I convinced him I can bring back the dead and he's willing to pay any price to bring her back. I'm guessing a lover. I can't wait to see his face when I tell him I can do no such thing, hehehehe~!" Cherry chuckled darkly.
A shiver went down the spines of the Straw Hats and the samurai, making them happy to be on the same side as her.
Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen
Kommentar absatzweise anzeigen
Die Absatzkommentarfunktion ist jetzt im Web! Bewegen Sie den Mauszeiger über einen beliebigen Absatz und klicken Sie auf das Symbol, um Ihren Kommentar hinzuzufügen.
Außerdem können Sie es jederzeit in den Einstellungen aus- und einschalten.
ICH HAB ES