Haunted Hotel

"Lead the way then, I suppose. I had business with her anyway, gao." Pekoms decided to just go with the flow.

What if it was a trap? Who do you think he is, some two-bit pirate anyone can pick a fight with? No! He's one of THE Big Mom Pirates, damn it!

'Plus, I haven't been sent to kill her, so I'll be fine.' Pekoms nodded to himself as he followed behind Raise Max.

It wasn't long before, after riding the V.I.P. elevator, they arrived at the floor where Cherry was apparently staying. Pekoms was a bit shocked to find that there was only a single door in the hallway. That likely meant that the room Cherry was staying in took up an entire floor!

'Just what did she do to get such special treatment from Gild Tesoro?' Pekoms asked himself, before shaking his head. 'No point thinking about it. I can just ask if it comes up.'

*knock knock*

"Harpin-sama. I have returned with your guest." Raise Max chimed with his quickly improving 'butler voice'.

*creeeaaak*

The door swung slowly open with the creepiest creaking sound that either of them had ever heard a door make. The inside of the suite was bathed in darkness, only illuminated by the moonlight that slipped in through the half destroyed blinds and the light of the hallway.

"Um… I'm not good with scary things, so… after you?" Raise Max gulped audibly and looked at Pekoms pleadingly.

"Are you sure this is even the right suite?" Pekoms asked, not too keen on going inside either.

Raise Max actually checked the room number and the floor number on the elevator, to Pekoms' annoyance. He came back and nodded his head. "This is the right one, but… it wasn't like that when I left ten minutes ago…"

Pekoms studied his face, searching for any deception… or rather for an excuse not to go inside. Unfortunately, he found none and it wouldn't do for a subordinate of Big Mom to chicken out here.

Pekoms puffed out his chest and squared his shoulders before confidently striding into the dark room.

*SLAM* *BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!*

The door slammed shut and was followed quickly by a very fast series of pounding on the door. Pekoms spun around and removed his sunglasses to better see in the darkness. To his horror, the pounding stopped the moment he laid eyes on the door… and saw that it was quite thoroughly nailed shut from the inside.

The light from the hallways that could still be faintly seen emanating from the thin crack beneath the door went out.

"EEEEEEEKKKK-!!!!!" Raise Max's girlish screams were heard loud and clear through what should be a fairly soundproof room, before suddenly cutting off.

Pekoms was terrified, though he had enough experience to not let it show in his demeanor or expression. That same experience told him to 'turtle up', which he swiftly obeyed lest he find himself with a knife in the back.

*step step Step Step STEP STEP*

He heard the sound of charging steps headed straight for him from behind, along with the prickle of his observation haki telling him he was being attacked! He whirled around with perfect timing to counterattack his aggressor and… nothing was there.

A shiver went down his shelled back. He couldn't trust his ears or his haki and his eyes, whilst much better than a humans in the dark, weren't doing him much good here either.

Just as he was thinking that throwing himself out of one of the windows to retreat was a good idea-

"Pekoms…" an ethereal voice whispered in his ear.

"Grrraaooaoaoaorrr?!" Pekoms seemed to squeal and roar at the same time.

The lights flicked on. *Gacha*

Cherry was standing a couple of meters in front of him with a camera den den mushi and removed the printing photograph she had taken of him at the height of his terror from the snail shell, giving it a wave to dry it.

"Hehehehehe~! This is going on Sanji's fridge~! So cute~!" Cherry chimed with a cheshire smile.

Between the terror from a moment before, his eyes adjusting to the light, and his general confusion, Pekoms stood perfectly still in shock for almost a full minute.

"You-! YOU-!" Pekoms couldn't even find the words, he was so outraged.

"Me~?" Cherry smiled innocently at him. "OH! Did you want to see the photo?"

Cherry zipped over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, holding the photograph up with the other hand so he could see it. The sight of himself looking so frightened after what was essentially just a prank filled him with great shame, followed shortly after by fury!

"I think I captured your 'essence' perfectly, don't you think so~?" Cherry asked. She added for good measure, "My widdle putty tat~?"

"GRAH!" Pekoms swung his claws at her, alight with electricity.

"OoOoOoH~! How did you do that~?!" Cherry clapped delightedly as she casually dodged his swipes.

"Hold still! GAO!" Pekoms redoubled his efforts.

Cherry ducked around a corner and Pekoms followed in close pursuit, before his sense of balance went haywire as he found himself pulled upwards by the leg and left hanging upside down from a snare trap.

Before he could cut himself free, Cherry's hand clamped down on his face and started to scratch like one might do to a housecat.

"You're sooo soft~! How do you keep your fur so fluffy~? Hehehehehe~" Cherry giggled, apparently unfazed by his attempted assault.

"S- Stop that r-right this instant! Gao…" Pekoms put up a feeble resistance, but her hands felt so nice against his fur that his heart was betraying him. "L-let me down! We have b-business to d-discuss!"

How long had it been since he had some proper physical affection? Humans were much more conservative about such things than Minks were, and the Big Mom pirates were even more so. Cherry's belittling 'scritches' weren't exactly like a traditional Garchu, but she was wearing away at the dam he'd built to keep his affectionate side to himself and he needed her to stop before he passed the point of no return!

"Business? What business do you have with me?" Cherry poked her cheek cutely in thought, then raised the finger into the air to indicate that she had an idea. "Oh right! You're here to assassinate me because of Big Mom's kill order!"

An oppressive aura slammed into Pekoms' consciousness; Conqueror's Haki. He had to exert an active effort to resist blacking out because of it. There was a sinister undertone to it that when combined with Cherry's appraising gaze gave him the impression that she'd like his fur just as much as a rug as she does still attached to his body.

"Wait, wait, WAIT! That's not what I'm here for! Mama rescinded the kill order!" Pekoms explained quickly.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the aura vanished.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Cherry chimed happily. "What do you want then? I won't become your new mama if that's what you're after~!"

*snap* *bamf*

The snare trap broke and dropped him square on the head. "Gao…"

Pekoms unfortunately wasn't out of the woods just yet. He rubbed the small lump on his head, carefully considering his next words and hoping that Cherry wasn't the "kill the messenger" type of pirate.