"What the hell is this?" Cherry asked with a scowl.
"My hubby would prefer to meet you all in formal wear," Chiffon explained.
"A cocktail dress is not formal wear," Cherry pointed out.
"It is for gangsters," Chiffon shrugged. "It's too late to tailor something else for you anyways."
"Why did you get this for me and not Carrot then?" Cherry complained childishly.
"Nami said this was what you wanted," Chiffon said.
Cherry turned a glare and a pout at Nami, who turned her head away and whistled innocently.
"Ugh, whatever. I'll just wear my armor; that's formal enough, right?" Cherry said.
"We're going to negotiate an alliance, wearing armor makes it look like we're going to war. You can't wear it," Nami denied.
"Bege already knows I can tear him and his whole crew apart with my bare hands; my armor won't make any difference," Cherry argued.
"I'll tattle to Robin," Nami threatened.
Cherry narrowed her eyes. "You're bluffing. I've got all that money in my pockets, so maybe I should misplace it?"
"Fine, wear the armor, but it wouldn't kill you to wear something nice every now and then," Nami huffed and crossed her arms in exaggerated disappointment.
"I wish I could wear armor, it looks so cool!" Carrot gushed.
"..." Cherry paused, then sighed.
…
Nami and Cherry walked out of the dressing room wearing cocktail dresses, the former looking smug and the latter looking supremely uncomfortable.
Carrot marched out with a pep in her step, also with a fair amount of clanking metal plates and clinking metal rings. "This is so COOL! Thanks for letting me borrow it, Cherry!"
"Yeah yeah, anything for you, food buddy," Cherry smiled in spite of herself. "It looks great on you, I'll make a set especially for you sometime."
Carrot bounced in excitement, giving a garchu to Cherry in thanks.
"I don't know what you were so worried about. You look great in that dress," Chiffon complimented.
"That's what she hates most about wearing dresses," Nami said. "I think it's because she hates being seen as a beautiful woman before a powerful warrior."
"No I don't. I hate how breezy they are and the way men gawk at me when I wear them," Cherry admitted. "And first the first thing people should see me as is a world infamous criminal who might kick them in the ba-"
Cherry was interrupted by a hard rap on her noggin by Nami. "Don't be so crude!"
"Look at her, trying to mother me like one of the boys," Cherry half whispered to Chiffon. "They grow up so fast, I swear. Be sure to cherish the early years with little Pez."
Cherry smirked as she saw Nami squint her eyes and purse her lips dangerously at her.
"WHAT?! No fair!" Luffy appeared from the men's side of the bath and pointed an accusing finger at Carrot.
Carrot smiled knowingly at him and struck a knightly pose, which only further stoked the fires of Luffy's jealousy.
"Cherry! Did you finish my armor yet?!" Luffy demanded.
"Sorry, Luffy. I was busy arming the minks and didn't have the time to make the armor sets that you guys designed," Cherry betrayed his expectations. "Can't exactly do a proper forging session on a wooden ship, after all. Unless all you want is something whipped up to look like armor. I can do that with my fusion fruit easily; it just wouldn't be authentic, a costume essentially."
"Hmmmmmmm…" Luffy looked truly conflicted at that moment. He carefully weighed the options before disappointedly saying, "I want the authentic armor…"
"I thought you might," Cherry nodded. "I did finish Chopper's armor, though."
"You did?!" "No fair!" Chopper and Luffy exclaimed at once.
Soon Chopper was wearing his very own set of shining armor and Luffy was pouting with the most outrageously puffed up cheeks anyone has ever seen.
They all marched into a lounge where Bege was lighting up a cigar and waiting for them. "It's about time. You kept me waiting."
The serious atmosphere shattered as Pez squealed in delight at the sight of his mother and Bege similarly gushed over his wife. Once Chiffon had Pez in her hands, Bege returned to his 'serious business' persona.
Everyone settled into the circle of fancy leather arm chairs and couches.
"Now, why don't you tell me why I should bother to ally with you instead of just silencing you on here and now?" Bege not so vaguely threatened.
"Cut the 'I'm the big boy in the big boy britches here' crap, Bege. You can't kill Sanji because it's his wedding tomorrow that you're planning to use for your little assassination attempt, you can't kill Luffy because he's stronger than you, and you can't kill me because I'll make sure that little Pez doesn't ever have any siblings if you try it," Cherry laid out.
Bege looked like someone shat in his corn flakes and his men looked downright murderous. Fortunately for the goons in the room, they had enough restraint and sense not to immediately attack Cherry for her rude words.
"Ahem, your point about Blackleg is certainly true," Bege acceded.
"We didn't come here to fight or taunt Bege, Cherry. Be diplomatic," Jinbe said in exasperation.
"You're right of course, Jinbe," Cherry said.
Jinbe thought that that was far too easy, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Unbeknownst to him, Bege was building an image of a Cherry in his head that could be reined in by her comrades, exactly according to Cherry's plan.
"There's no need to make this complicated. We're going to kill Big Mom at the wedding tomorrow, are you in or not?" Bege asked bluntly.
"And we're saving Germa at the same time," Sanji added.
"Does he speak for you, Straw Hat?" Bege asked, without even looking at Sanji.
"Yeah," Luffy answered seriously and wearing an equally serious expression. He was still a bit miffed about not having his armor yet, after all.
"Fine, we have an accord," Bege put his hand out.
Luffy grasped it and after a brief hand crushing contest they were satisfied.
"How exactly do you intend to kill Big Mom, anyways. I haven't been her for long, but even I know that her skin is nigh impenetrable. Guns and cannons aren't going to cut it, and that seems to be your whole schtick," Sanji expressed his doubts.
"We've come up with a way to pierce her thick hide; but even then it's as you say, guns and cannons aren't going to cut it," Bege explained. "We have these."
Bege motioned to his men who put down a briefcase onto the coffee table between them and opened it revealing three colorful bazookas with oversized hypodermic needles on the ends.
"It would have been better to have Caesar's help," Bege shot them a dirty look. "But the poison cocktail we've created ought to do the job or if not, then at least greatly weaken Big Mom."
"Poison, you're going to use poison? Heavens above…" Cherry rubbed her temples as if she had come down with a mean headache.
"You got a better idea? Big Mom is still only human and we've got enough poison in each one of those bazookas to kill a giant," Bege defended.
Cherry opened her mouth, then Nami shot her a look so she closed it and sat back with her arms crossed.
"I thought not," Bege smiled victoriously.
Bege laid out the entire plan.
After destroying the portrait of a woman called Mother Carmel, Big Mom would become so distraught that her unconscious protective haki would be compromised. There would then be a small window in which they could use the poison launchers to pierce her skin.
"We'll be the ones to do the killing, so you're going to be the distraction, Straw Hat. You just need to break the picture and we'll make our move, then you can save the Vinsmokes," Bege explained. "Nobody will be able to stop us, because Big Mom's scream will paralyze them, and we'll have the invisible symphonia system here."
Bege produced a pair of normal ear plugs, getting skeptical looks in return.
"Hold on a minute! Why does it have to be Luffy? You just want to use him as bait!" Nami complained.
"No, I'll do it. I thought up the perfect way to make an entrance, shishishishi!" Luffy laughed.
"Oh oh, what are you going to do? Will it be fun?" Chopper asked him.
"I don't want to spoil the surprise," Luffy smiled widely at him.
"After the job is done come the tricky part; the getaway. Fortunately, you've brought us just the people to make it possible. Cheapshot there can carry Brulee and let us escape into the Mirro-world without any chance of pursuit," Bege smiled. That part in particular had been troublesome, so he was glad to have a solution handed to him on a silver platter.
"Wait wait wait, I'M the escape plan? How's that fair?!" Cherry complained this time.
"Sounds perfect to me. It's the most important part of the plan and there's no one more reliable than you," Nami said.
"I know that, but what if these goobers fuck it all up! For all we know, they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Which is important since their target is the size of a barn," Cherry said.
"My men could thread a needle with a cannonball. Their competency isn't in question here," Bege defended, causing his men to go misty eyed from the praise.
"Whatever. The point is, what's plan B when things go horribly wrong?" Cherry asked.
"You think plans to kill an emperor of the sea grow on trees? This is our one shot and I'm taking it. Fortune favors the bold," Bege spoke confidently.
"..." Cherry thought that this guy was nuts, then she smiled. "I suppose that it does, doesn't it? Alright, I'll make sure that everyone gets out."
'And I'll make sure to get a shot or two in at Big Mom while I'm at it, hehehe~' Cherry chuckled to herself, which unnerved Bege.
"In any case, once this is over we'll escape to your ship via mirror and once we have parted ways this alliance is over and you're on your own to escape Big Mom's territory," Bege said. "There are ten hours left until the wedding begins, so you had best prepare yourselves and not get my men killed because you were tired."
"And I need to get back to my room before they suspect anything," Sanji stood up and straightened his shirt.
"That would be for the best. My men and I have to make a show of our security duties as well," Bege said. "Good luck, gentlemen."
"And ladies," Cherry corrected.
"Of course," Bege said. "Feel free to rest here, no one will find you in my compound."
Everyone started to clear out of the room, Chiffon offering to show the Straw Hats and friends to a place that they could sleep.
Cherry picked Brulee up by the rope bindings and took her along with her. When they eventually arrived in the room and settled in, Brulee spoke up from her place on a couch.
"This won't end well for you, you know. Going against Mama like this," Brulee said. It wasn't clear if she said it out of some sense of concern or a threat.
"You don't want to live your whole life under her thumb do you? Don't you want to be free?" Cherry asked.
"Given the choice between freedom and security, most people will choose the latter. I'm no different. Mama protects us," Brulee said.
"Does she?" Cherry retorted. "She seems to be as much a threat to her children as she is to anyone else when she gets into one of those moods of hers."
"Mama's hunger pangs are manageable. Mama's enemies, though, are kept in check by their fear of her. If Mama dies, then they'll come out of the woodwork like rats, ready to feast on us," Brulee said.
Cherry gave her an incredulous look. "Even without her, you'll still be one of the most formidable crews in the world. Bege isn't planning to kill anyone else, he just wants to see a headless snake writhe around until the nerves stop firing and I'll bet that Chiffon isn't nearly as upset with her siblings as she is with her mother, so I doubt she'd allow it either."
"THIS crew isn't the same as other pirate crews, though. You have bonds that are stronger than those between common pirates, AND you have a new head waiting to take the current head's place if it comes down to it," Cherry finished.
"Katakuri-onii-chan?" Brulee had certainly imagined it before, her precious big brother taking over the family. "He wouldn't want to…"
"All the more reason then. Few people who desire positions of power are worthy of them," Cherry said. "I wouldn't overthink it if I were you, though. Personally, I think Bege is going to fail. Too many things can go wrong with such a narrow window for success."
"Huh? Really? Why are we teaming up with Bege then?" Chopper asked, overhearing the conversation.
"Because we don't actually care about the assassination, we just need to save Sanji's rotten family and book it," Cherry explained to him.
Brulee briefly considered trying to convince them to betray Bege in exchange for her helping them extract the Vinsmokes, but Mama wanted Germa's tech too much to forgive her for letting them go.
Not that Cherry would have accepted the offer. She was fully capable of getting the Vinsmokes out of danger all by herself. She was just letting her young friends take their own shot at it first. The experience would be invaluable to them and she believed that they understood that point as well.
"Well, best get to sleep, you two. We have a long day ahead of us and we have to look our best for the wedding," Cherry stood up and stretched.
"You fight every attempt to make you look your best," Nami said, walking into the room wearing silk pajamas. "I suppose that you're ucky you get to where whatever you want, since you'll be lying in wait with Brulee."
Carrot came out wearing pajamas of her own and handed Cherry's armor back to her in a bundle. Cherry equiped the armor with a touch and said, "This IS the best look for me, especially for crashing a wedding!"
"I guess I can't argue with that," Nami conceded.
Cherry saw Luffy watching her longingly from the corner of the room.
"Alright, fine, Luffy. I'll go find a blacksmith and make your armor tonight. Not like I meed the sleep anyways," Cherry shook her head exasperatedly.
"YEAH!!!" Luffy cheered.
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