One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 521 - Tears and Tanks

"They went that way!" Apoo directed some Gifters who were apparently on the hunt for the party crashers.

Slowly, the army of Beast pirates was waking up. The fact that they weren't responding quickly at all in response to the infiltration of their home base was incompetent to a point that bordered on unbelievable.

Granted, they were pirates, not marines. Even then, though, this was ridiculous. This was an Emperor of the sea's fortress!

Cherry wasn't complaining though. The slower they were to mobilize, the better their forces would fare in the battle.

Response times weren't what she was concerned with at this very moment, though. She had prey to stalk.

"Aaatatata!" Apoo cried out once he was alone. He rubbed his chest in clear discomfort; Kid had hit him pretty hard.

Cherry dropped from the rafters and landed behind him with barely a sound.

However, that was enough for Apoo to hear her. He spun around and slapped the top of his own head at once.

Cherry felt a sword slash her down the chest despite there being no actual sword. For a moment she was simply focused on the effect before-

"Oh, whoops," Cherry caught the two halves of her bikini top before they fell away. A quick fusion and it was good as new. "Rude."

Apoo tried to launch himself away, but Cherry grabbed him by the bottom jaw before he left her reach. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere wuh here!" Apoo spoke as best as he could.

"You recognize me?" Cherry asked.

"O' course I do!" Apoo whimpered.

Cherry believed him. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen anyone so terrified of her after taking a single glance at her.

"You're a lot more cowardly than I'm used to. Or perhaps you're just more pragmatic," Cherry said. "Either way, it seems that you know just how deep the shit you're in is. If you want out of here alive, then you'll cooperate with my demands."

Apoo tried and failed to nod his agreement, but Cherry felt the attempt through his jaw so she released him.

Apoo stumbled back a step and forcibly stopped himself from going further. He couldn't afford to be mistaken for fleeing again. "What do you want from me? Information?"

"Of a kind. I'm a devil fruit enthusiast, and your devil fruit has caught my interest," Cherry spoke truthfully. "I figured it'd be easier to learn what I can from an experienced user than to kill you and hunt down the fruit again when it reconstitutes."

Apoo nodded vigorously. "Yes, indeed it is! In fact, it's super complicated and difficult to use, so you totally shouldn't kill me or it'll be really annoying for you!"

If all Cherry really wanted from him was the technicals regarding his devil fruit, then he didn't even need to risk Kaido ire by giving intelligence to the enemy! Moreover, he might even secure his own life in the event of Kaido's loss!

A cheap price to pay for his little life.

Cherry clapped him on the shoulder just a bit too hard, causing him to wince. "Good. Now then..."

...

"YOU! WHERE IS YOUR CAPTAIN?! COME BACK HERE!"

*CRASH* *BOOM* *Distant screaming!*

Nefertari Cobra perked up in his bath. After listening to Big Mom's cries grow quieter as she got farther away, he realized this was his chance!

He practically threw himself out of the tub and haphazardly dressed himself.

Peeking out of the bathroom door just to be sure he was alone, he swiftly and stealthily made his way towards the hallway.

A massive gaping hole was torn through the wall of his room to the outside. Big Mom apparently didn't fit through the paper screen door.

Cobra peeked into the hallway. The guard that had been at his door was gone, which made things easier for him. Although the man hadn't looked too tough, he wasn't certain he could handle the pirate by himself, even with the element of surprise.

He nodded to himself and steeled his nerves. Getting caught out of his room would be bad, but what else was he to do? Wait for that monster to come back? No thank you.

At least it seemed like something was happening now. Hopefully there was enough of a distraction for him to slip away unnoticed.

No sooner than he'd had that thought that he turned a corner and ran straight into someone.

He looked up into the menacing visage of none other than X Drake, traitor to the marines turned pirate.

Drake grabbed him by the collar before he could even attempt to talk his way out of this mess and was firmly tucked beneath Drake's arm.

"Well, this is unfortunate..." Cobra muttered.

...

"AHHHHHHHH!!!" Usopp screamed in terror.

"Stop, Usopp! If you're scared of her, she'll rip out your life span!" Chopper begged.

"Like you're one to talk! You're crying like a baby!" Usopp shot back.

"Am not!" Chopper denied.

"I suppose you're just leaking clear blood from your eyes then?!" Usopp asked.

"Mm-hm!" Chopper latched onto the excuse without shame.

"Like hell you are!" Usopp growled.

"GOTCHA!" The tank they were in lurched as they were lifted into the air.

""AHHHHHHHH?!?!?!"" Usopp and Chopper squealed in unison.

Chopper started hammering the controls at random whilst Usopp had a nervous breakdown.

*Honk!* *BOOM*

The tank fell to the ground with a thud and Usopp quickly grabbed the controls away from the still panicking Chopper and sped them away.

"YOU LITTLE BRATS! I'M GOING TO BREAK THAT STUPID TOY OF YOURS!" Big Mom's shout was heard loud and clear, showing no sign that the shot from the tank did any real harm to her.

"What the hell are we gonna do, Usopp!" Chopper blubbered. "She's gonna eat us ali-i-ive!"

"Damn it, don't give up, Chopper! We're the most slippery members of the crew! Nobody's better at escaping than we are!" Usopp tried to rally Chopper courage as well as his own.

"No we aren't! Cherry's better!" Chopper wasn't having any of it.

"Cherry doesn't count! She's a freak of nature! No, nothing about her is even remotely natural!" Usopp argued.

"She looked all natural to me," Reiju said.

""AHHHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?"" Usopp and Chopper screamed bloody murder again.

"When the hell did you get in here?!" Usopp interrogated.

"I've been here the whole time," Reiju said. Seeing their questioning looks, she spoke again, "I thought the tank looked really cute. Nothing Germa makes is ever cute... except for me, of course."

"Why aren't you panicking?!" Chopper demanded, as if that were an important thing to know right this second.

"This thing can't beat Big Mom," Reiju said.

"No shit!" Usopp shouted.

"But it's more than capable of giving her the slip, I think," Reiju finished. "You two just suck at driving it."

"Well, why don't you give it a try; preferably before we all die!" Usopp didn't hesitate to release the controls and shimmy out of her way as best as he could in the confined space.

"Don't mind if I do~" Reiju slipped into the driver's seat and immediately sent the tank spinning to the side.

"What are you-?!" Usopp tried to asked before-

*BLAM!*

-Big Mom crashing feet first into the spot they had just been.

"No back seat driving. I need to concentrate!" Reiju bit her tongue with a smile on her face.

""Yes, ma'am,"" Usopp and Chopper dutifully shut up.