Flunked Attempt, Failed Diplomacy and Escape

____________ POV Narration ____________

Bege and his group felt a bit odd, not sure why exactly they received the signal from Luffy and his crew to act already.

They, at first, wanted to wait and destroy the portrait of Big Mom's relative. But Enel's appearance seemed to have shifted their plan completely...

And unfortunately, it was Enel's fault completely. Luffy took his earlier greeting and nod, to be a sign that he was there to help them... Which was what led to the current situation.

Caesar, who was currently carrying Bruelle tied up on his back, was shitting bricks. He was supposed to be on their way out of there, but their acting so soon made the situation a lot worse, as the Sweet Commanders now also acted faster than they had anticipated.

Big Mom just scowled when she saw the three men with Bazookas appearing out of the woodwork.

She didn't think it was related to Enel, as she doubted he would try to pull off that type of joke.

There was also the fact that Enel seemed to be just as confused as her.

Katakuri acted first, a large wave of dough immediately got in between the 'would-be' assassins and Big Mom, their Bazookas blasting the dough apart, but were unable to get through as it turned black when the Sweet Commander decided to also use Armament.

The Sweet Commander only huffed before his wave of dough grew and extended towards Bege and his crew.

Katakuri appeared on the other side of that wave, trident in hand as he immediately went towards impaling the assailants.

This action earned a panicked shout from Luffy.

"Cool Hat!" It was random, Enel assumed it was just what Luffy called Bege.

The Strawhat Captain immediately entered Gear Second and appeared in between Bege and Katakuri, rushing to their side with the greatest speed he could muster and punching down towards Katakuri.

The Sweet Commander's body just turned to dough around Luffy's fist, allowing it to pass through, before solidifying again and trapping his fist within his torso within a thick layer of hardened dough.

Katakuri then turned his staff upwards, turning it black and slamming it into Luffy's head, sending him flying away.

The Strawhat Captain's arm stretched far as he was blasted through a building. Katakuri then noticed that the assassins were starting to flee, which made him even more annoyed.

Thankfully, Persopero and Smoothie both acted quickly. Perospero put a wall of candy in front of them, stopping them in their tracks, and Smoothie immediately went to strike them down, only to be intercepted by... Zoro?

At that moment, Big Mom's eyes narrowed even more.

"Straw Hat, Bege! What is the meaning of this?!?" Her anger was felt throughout the venue as many people were starting to retreat further away.

On the podium, Sanji stood in front of his soon-to-be wife, Charlotte Pudding, who was dressed in her wedding gown and clearly panicking as well.

Pudding had already accepted her fate of being married off in order to form an alliance with the Vinsmokes and the Strawhat Pirates.

Thankfully, Sanji even turned out to be good-looking, and a gentleman. Still, it would take a while for her to accept the fact that her future would be tied to him.

She had little to no respect for him, and he didn't even know her true nature. So to her, the marriage was nothing more than a formality.

Still, it was supposed to be only a matter of time before she got to see Sanji's reaction to her actual face. To her third eye.

Only for the entire wedding to be derailed by Enel's arrival, and now the assassination attempt that his crew was apparently involved in.

Needless to say, things weren't looking well, as Luffy was already engaging in an all-out fistfight against Katakuri, who seemed to be wiping the floor with him for the most part.

Enel slapped his forehead as he tried to understand what was going through their heads to even try and attempt such a stupid thing.

He knew that the Linlin in front of him was vastly different from the much more sadistic one in the show. But even she would not forgive such a transgression.

"I'm not letting you take Sanji away!" Luffy finally managed to respond to her question as he was being pressed into the ground by a burly dough arm.

Big Mom scoffed at that moment.

"Tsk, if you want to refuse my offer just say so and leave! I don't care about you small timers! But Sanji stays, the alliance with the Vinsmokes will still happen whether you like it or not."

The scowl on Big Mom's face was bigger than Luffy's entire body as she crossed her arms and looked towards Vinsmoke Judge, who also seemed to be taken aback by the situation.

But Judge ended up nodding and slowly getting up, followed by his children, Sanji's brothers.

They all prepared to fight alongside the Big Mom Pirates, which seemed to please Linlin greatly.

Smoothie was having a tough time fighting against Zoro, as the swordsman's blades had already left quite a few cuts on her.

But she didn't fight alone for long, as her younger siblings quickly came to her assistance.

But Zoro was also not alone, Franky and Robin were there to help him, and they could at least help take care of the dregs.

Robin took care of even more than that, going after Perospero without any hesitation.

Just as things were starting to look worse and worse, Brook also arrived, his preparations already made.

"Yohohoho~! Sorry for being late, everyone!" With him, he brought an electric guitar and a large boom box.

Without wasting any time, he immediately started singing, once again taking aback most of the people present.

Only Big Mom and Enel managed to instantly tell what was going on.

'Don't tell me...' Big Mom's eyes widened as she felt her grasp and control over all of the Homies and Chess Soldiers present.

And they all reacted wildly to the music, immediately starting to attack both each other and Big Mom's other subordinates.

The scene immediately turned to chaos, as Katakuri let go of Luffy completely to go after the skeletal musician, only to be met with a powerful punch to the side of Luffy's burly arm.

In that entire chaos, he had already managed to enter Gear 4th. But even then, his punch barely did any damage to the Sweet Commander, who managed to block it thanks to his foresight and experience.

"You lot will regret ever crossing mother..." That was all Katakuri said as rings of dough appeared all around him and Luffy.

By that point, most of the people present were either in the process of fleeing or already fled.

It was then that Big Mom got MAD... And she decided to show her anger outwardly.

"ENOUGH!" Her shout made the entire Whole Cake Plateau tremble, as all of the people nearby(besides Enel) rushed to cover their ears from her deafening screech.

Katakuri and Luffy both stopped, and the entire hall stood still as Brook's sound amplifier also seemed to break down, which appeared to relinquish the musician's control over the Homies.

"Straw Hat Luffy! I'll make sure you rot within my prison until you're nothing more than a husk! As for the rest of your crew... I've no use for them!"

Her Conqueror's Haki proudly spread out through the venue as she targeted the straw hats and their allies specifically.

Most of Bege's crew besides the captain himself seemed to pass out, while the Straw Hats that were present seemed to bear with it for now.

Meanwhile, Linlin's children seemed to be gaining the upper hand in all of the conflicts taking place.

Robin was still thankfully in control of her fight with Persopero, and she constantly sprouted giant hands out of the ground which kept most of the Homies and Chess Soldiers away from her.

But if Big Mom's other children and the Vinsmokes got involved, she was also bound to lose.

Sanji became concerned at that point, and he was prepared to jump in and save his former comrades.

He simply couldn't bear to watch all of them get hurt for his sake while standing by and doing nothing...

It was at that point that an exasperated sigh could be heard in the room, and a single clap was the next thing everyone heard.

It rang out even louder than Big Mom's scream, and it instantly killed off any momentum her Conqueror's Haki was giving her.

"Huh?" Even Linlin was confused before she sweated a bit as she looked down.

Enel was still right by her side, his palms brought together as he studied the entire room with a scowl on his face as well.

"So you're siding with them in the end, huh?!"

Big Mom immediately drew her blade, her face filling with anger as she prepared to clash with the Emperor in front of her.

But she immediately stopped herself when seeing Enel's reaction, who just continued looking around the room, his gaze finally settling on Luffy, who was still in Gear 4th and facing Katakuri.

"What the fuck are you doing, Luffy?" Was all the Emperor asked, and it seemed to be enough to trip up the Straw Hat Captain and all of his companions. Sanji included.

Big Mom blinked a few times and decided to wait and look at the situation a bit more before actually acting against Enel.

Luffy seemed flabbergasted at the question.

"She is trying to take away Sanji! She's also really mean to her children and stuff!" The Captain of the Straw Hats protested as he looked at Big Mom with a bit of hate in his eyes.

"... What exactly stops Sanji from joining your crew back after he gets married?" That was the only thing Enel said.

A question that seemed to make all of the people present stop in their tracks. Especially Sanji and the Straw Hats.

"Well, Big Mom did say that she was going to keep Sanji here for a few years or at least until he gives her some grandchildren..." Brook spoke out this time around, he slung his guitar over his shoulder and scratched his chin.

Enel turned his gaze towards him, then towards Luffy, who nodded with a grave expression on his face.

Then the Sky King turned to Big Mom, who also confirmed the skeleton's words.

"Yes. I don't care what he does afterwards, but we need the alliance with the Vinsmokes to be solidified... And more grandchildren never hurts." The Empress spoke out in a haughty tone, while Enel just grabbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

'God, I feel like I'm dealing with children...'

"What the hell happened to making Luffy and his crew your allies? I can think of a million and one ways to go about things without outright starting a war..."

Big Mom widened her eyes at that, before shaking her head.

"Allies? I wasn't looking to ally myself with some newbies! I was giving him the opportunity to come under me with this marriage! Same for the Vinsmokes, and they seem to know their place better..."

Vinsomke Judge's expression seemed to turn a bit sour when hearing Big Mom's words, but he didn't try to refute it. His children also seemed to look down in shame for a few moments.

Luffy looked at Big Mom defiantly when he heard that, Enel could distinctly hear him say something along the lines of 'I'm going to be Pirate King, I don't plan on ever working under anyone!' Which was certainly a fair thing to say.

Enel just shook his head once more.

"So is there no way for me to convince you to let this matter with the straw hats go? And to let Sanji go with them after the wedding, of course."

Enel still tried to bargain, although he had an inkling that he knew the answer already.

Big Mom had changed a bit, but she wasn't a fundamentally different person. She was still going to do what benefitted her most in such a situation.

And unfortunately, Luffy and the others had already crossed her.

Enel could feel Bege and a few others already retreating into Brulee's mirror dimension as he sighed once more, preparing to hear Big Mom's answer.

"Maybe if they hadn't acted in such a brazen manner and tried to assassinate me... But they did just that, so they'll get what's coming to them." Linlin scoffed, and the Emperor just scratched the back of his head, already expecting to hear that.

At that point, the skies turned dark again, black clouds thundered above them as Enel was now forced to shake his head.

"Unfortunately, I can't let that happen... Luffy is an ally of mine, Dragon's son and Garp's grandson... You're threading on really thin ice here, Big Mom..."

The Emperor's face turned a bit cold as he addressed the empress in front of him formally.

"Hmph, they're already your allies and my enemies. What thin ice am I even threading on?" At that point, Big Mom crouched down slightly and grasped her blade even harder.

Her eyes shone in an unholy light as she prepared to face off against Enel.

The Sky King merely gazed to the side and gestured for Luffy and the others to get away. And they all seemed to catch the message, all moving towards Caesar, who was strangely still waiting for them.

And in a rebellious bid, Sanji grasped his future wife's hand once more, smiling warmly to her and whispering something to her, before he also dashed towards the rest of his crew.

Lightning fell from the skies and halted both the Vinsmokes and the Big Mom Pirates that tried to go after the Straw Hats, making all of them halt and pay full attention to Enel.

The Emperor in question just shook his head and braced himself.

'I was afraid it would come to this.

But I also expected it. In the end, choosing the future Sun God over my already strained relationship with Big Mom is a no-brainer...

I just hope Oven will be able to forgive me for what I'm about to do.'

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Hope you liked the chapter! Yeah, still trying to get the upload schedule back on track, feeling slightly better today too, so that's nice

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