🏴☠️️Ch.67: Captain Caught by Colors! Betrayal Amongst Baroque Works?🏴☠️️
As the pumpkin half-dome spins at a rapid pace now, raining down more wax flakes onto the unwilling victims, the free Straw Hats are in a tense staredown with their Baroque Works opponents.
"Zoro...why are you standing like that?" Nami inquires to the swordsman, who has his katana in hand, raised and pointing to the sky in a dramatic pose.
"If I'm gonna be a statue, I prefer this pose." Zoro answers.
"This is no time to be playing around!" Vivi berates.
"Who said anything about playin'?"
"Do you think you could at least do something about all this blood?" Nami inquires. "I'm getting nauseous just looking at it."
"Then just don't look at it." Ghin provides the simplest solution.
"It's kinda hard to ignore!" She throws back. "Do you still think it was a bright idea to cut your legs off so we could escape from here?"
"That wasn't the point." Zoro argues. "I was going to cut them off so that we could fight."
"Oh, was that the plan? 'Cause that's an even worse idea!" Nami retorts.
Zoro struggles to return his head forward. "Whatever..."
"Seriously, sometimes I think you were born without any common sense at all." The navigator huffs.
From her place, Vivi watches the swordsman and navigator exchange words like their lives are no way in any danger. 'We are stuck here about to be turned into wax statues, and the two of them are bickering! They really don't seem to understand the danger of the situation at all.'
"Hey, sword guy...Is that all the fight you got left in ya?" Broggy asks, the grin on his face already half-covered in wax.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to let someone else take over from here." Zoro states.
"Heh! All right."
"They don't seem terribly worried about what's going to happen to them, Mr. 3." Ms. Goldenweek announces, ponting to those trapped in the wax. Though her sitting shoes off and seiza on an outdoor blanket, in front of the Siren wax statue, while munching on rice crackers, doesn't give her much room to talk.
"And you don't seem terribly worried about making sure it happens, Ms. Goldenweek." Mr. 3 snaps. 'Solidify already...'
"If you wanna die in a cool pose, Nami, you'd better hurry up." Zoro comments, nonchalantly.
"I got other things to worry about." Nami barks.
"Mr. Bushido, could you please take this a little more seriously?" Vivi pleads. "Mr. Arnis, can you talk some sense into him?"
"No point, princess. He's just stubborn like that." Ghin responds.
"Hey your pose could use a little work, too."
"Shut up about the posing already!"
"They're acting so careless like this for no other reason than to mock us! This is very annoying!" Mr. 3 growls in agitation. 'They've been acting this way ever since he showed up...Of course!' His gaze zeroes in on Luffy standing before him in a battle stance.
"All right!" The rubber captain pounds his fists together in anticipation.
"Though he doesn't seem to be a very reliable man...If you ask me. How could he, of all people, win the Siren over to his crew."
"Mr. 3." The Wax-Man's musings are interrupted by the calls of Mr. 5.
Said number agent steps forward with his partner. "We'll be happy to take care of the Straw Hat pest."
Mr. 3 hmphs haughtily in response. "Take care of him? Please. Don't be ridiculous. I sent you to take care of him once already, and look! He's standing in front of us alive and well, interfering with my artistic process and coming to reclaim my now Muse. I think it's clear that you can't handle him. He's obviously too much for you, wouldn't you agree?"
Mr. 5 growls in offense but offers no retort.
The wax man takes a ready stance. "You two can deal with the others. If you think you're up to it, that is. I'll take care of him. I think a Straw Hat Luffy statue would make an excellent addition to my collection." He finishes with a laugh.
"I think I've had way more than enough of you." Usopp states from his place atop Carue's saddle. "And if you cretins know what's good for ya, you'll give up now."
🌺Usopp, we'll handle the blonde harpy. Richie, you help him take care of the Bomb Man.🌺 Carmela instructs, as she, Umi & 'Quetz' glare down Ms. Valentine.
"Is that right?" Mr. 3 smirks as he activates his Devil Fruit.
"Let's go!"
Despite the tone of conviction in his battle cry, Carue, instead, charges backwards into the surrounding jungle, leaving Richie to stand besides those who are really willing to fight.
"'Kay, we're safely in position now. We got your back from here, Luffy!" Usopp shouts while hiding behind a tree.
🌺WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?🌺 Carmela berates them, while her animal brethren sweatdrop at the sniper's logical thinking playing on cowardice.
Luffy remains oblivious to Usopp's gutlessness, glancing over his shoulder ignorantly. "Hm? Did you say something?"
"Now I've got you!" Using Luffy's distraction to go on the offense, Mr. 3's hand shoots out a stream of wax. "Candle...Lock!"
The animal fighters scatter but Luffy's legs are caught in another one of the wax man's candle-shaped bar shackles.
"What's he doing?" Usopp gapes.
"Luffy!" Vivi gasps, as the Straw Hat captain is seemingly immobilized.
"Damn! He got caught already?" Zoro huffs.
"Moron!" Nami growls.
🌀This is no time to be distracted, rubber brain!🌀 Exclaims Ahio.
Ghin, merely shakes his head in disapprovement.
Shifting himself onto his backside, Luffy glances at the white substance keeping his legs locked up. "What is this thing? Whatever it is, it's nice and heavy."
"Almost too simple...All right, just once more." More wax drips from Mr. 3's hand as he sets his sights on the animals who now stand in his way.
But despite the onslaught of wax globs thrown their way, the beasts skillfully dodge. The Pack members then break off into two separate groups. Richie and Umi keeping the Baroque Works agents occupied on the ground, while Carmela and 'Quetz' take out the burning flames atop the half-dome. That would at least keep the crew from having their airways smothered by wax.
As the animals continue to hold off the number agents, Luffy's eyes suddenly beam with an idea as he knocks his hand against the wax keeping his legs bound. "Yeah! This should be perfect!"
"Candle...Lock!" Another gob of wax is hurled at Luffy, but the rubber boy is ready this time.
Maneuvering out of the way just in time, he stretches his arm out to grab hold and wrap a few times around one of the horns of Broggy's helmet.
"Hey, giant guy! Excuse me!" Luffy apologies as his body is slingshotted forward.
Mr. 3 is thrown for a loop at the rubber boy's actions. "Uh...What the...? What is this weirdo doing now?"
Taking advantage of Mr. 3's distraction, 'Quetz' snatches him up off the ground before spinning and hurling him into Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.
As his body spins around the helmet horn, he gains more and more momentum.
"Gum-Gum...Mallet!"
The Candle Lock is used in Luffy's favor as it smashes the wax pillar holding up the half-pumpkin dome in two.
Mr. 3 yelps in horror, while the trapped members of the Straw Hat crew are elated beyond belief.
"All right!" Nami and Vivi exclaim.
"Woo-hoo!" Luffy cheers.
The half-dome hangs in the air for a few moments as it's spinning comes to a slow halt before it finally plummets perfectly upright onto the Candle Set's highest tier, startling those still trapped on it, thinking it was about to crush them at that moment rather than meet the slow pain of suffocation by wax.
"Hey, the thing on my legs broke at the same time." Luffy chimes, happy with himself. After his arm unravels from his attack on the Candle Set, Luffy remains atop the horn of Broggy's helmet, unaware as to why his crewmates still remain where they are, despite their obvious fear at being nearly crushed. "Um, but wait...Why are they still there?"
Nami pants heavily with relief. "We are okay now."
"We didn't die." Vivi exhales.
"We're still alive but that really didn't help at all." Zoro states their still trapped condition.
"That was a close one! But why didn't you guys run away?" Luffy asks obliviously.
"Because we're stuck here! Isn't that obvious?!" The girls bark, becoming fed up with the captain's cluelessness.
Luffy, ever oblivious, was completely unaware that they were trapped to the thing he was just asked to destroy. "Oh, really? So that's what's going on? The only thing you guys kept saying was that I needed to break the pillar...So that's what I did."
"Mr. Bushido! Mr. Arnis! Do you really think it's a good idea to put our lives in that guy's hands?" Vivi questions, clearly distressed by Luffy's carelessness towards their lives.
While the swordsman and quartermaster share in her understandable worries, they both reluctantly respond bearing the same thoughts in mind.
"Not left with very much choice at this point, Princess." Ghin replies.
"And I don't know about you, but I'm having a little bit of trouble moving right now." Zoro adds.
"And the both of you don't seem to be bothered by it, somehow!"
Hearing the swordsman's case and point, Nami realizes that their mobility has decreased greatly. "I...can't move...What's happening? My body...I don't know...It...It won't move...I can't move at all..." She panics as the wax has covered the majority of her body, leaving only her eyes and mouth with the capability to move.
Mr. 3 cackles with delight, having lifted himself back onto his feet from the forceful throw he was put through by the pteranodon. During the Straw Hat's arguing amongst each other, he set the giant candles atop the half-dome ablaze once more and kept up the spinning. And now with the half-dome even closer to them than before, there is very little space in-between from when the wax falls and lands on the trapped victims than there was when it was still atop the pillar.
"You fools! All you did was move the candles closer! And by doing so, you only sped up the solidifying process. You'll become wax figures even sooner, now! Well done!"
"Ugh! That guy! I wanna to punch him, right in his smug little face!" Usopp groans in annoyance from his spot behind the tree, his comment earning a squawk of agreement from Carue.
"Wait! You guys are gonna turn into wax figures?" Luffy gasps.
"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Nami barks.
🌺Luffy, that thing needs to be destroyed if we want our friends have even a chance at getting out alive.🌺 Carmela warns, aggravated at having her and 'Quetz''s work all for naught if Mr. 3 could just start the flames back up whenever he pleases. But she and her animal friends weren't about to sit around and do nothing.
Now knowing the dangerous state his crewmates are in, Luffy is fully prepared to get serious. "Right, yeah, I'm on it!"
🌺Seed Surprise...Vine Lines!🌺 Ruffling her feathers, Carmela frees lose some seeds kept hidden within and makes them grow in her wing before throwing them into the ground and letting them take root.
The vines grow to long length, wrapping a hold onto spinning pumpkin half-dome, halting its movements. Hopefully, it would buy more time for her brother and the rest of the crew.
But Mr. 3 isn't going to stand by again and let his "artwork" be destroyed. "I don't think so, Straw Hat! Now, get out of my way! Wax-Wax...Harpoon!"
The slew of wax forms into a sharp-pointed harpoon.
'Quetz' instantly snatches up Luffy out of the harpoon's trajectory.
"Exploding Star!" Usopp lets the explosive pachinko ball fly, having Mr. 3 dead center on target.
But the explosive projectile hits a different target. If one could call it a "hit".
Mr. 5 slides into the pachinko ball's path of fire and swallows the thing whole, having it go off in his stomach, smoke coming out of his nose and ears. All the while, he remains unfazed by it. "That's not very flavorful. Your gunpowder must not be too good." He states blandly, burping up a smoke ring.
"There's no way! He ate it!" Usopp exclaims, horrified.
"This isn't really looking good for us, ladies..." Zoro states gravelly.
🌀You're telling me.🌀 Ahio remarks, now nothing but a moving beak on a wax shell. 🌀Even with my sister's help, this thing is still flaking all over us. And at the rate I'm waxing up, I don't know how much longer she can stay in the fight.🌀
"Good thing I've got my pose ready."
"Moron!" Nami berates.
🌀Will you drop it already with the pose stuff?🌀
Trigger growls in agreement behind his muzzle.
"Come on, Luffy! You have to hurry!" Vivi pleads.
Luffy wastes no time stretching his arms back. "Right! So the pumpkin thing has to go. I'm on it now! Gum-Gum...Bazooka!"
"It's no use! Candle...Wall!" Mr. 3 summons a wall of wax to block Luffy's attack.
Richie leaps in to lunge for the wax man, paw raised above and ready to cut the number agent to ribbons, only for his instinct to yell at him to get out of the way. And not a moment too soon as a loud explosion goes off where he would have stood to cut up Mr. 3.
"Huh...Kitty's still got some spry in his step." Mr. 5 taunts, arm still out after, surprisingly, having picked and flung an explosive snot rocket from his broken nose.
Richie snarls in anger at being bested again, only for his snarl to turn into a smirk, disturbing Mr. 5 greatly.
Leaping back, seemingly retreating from the Baroque Works agent, it isn't until Ms. Valentine calls out warningly.
"Mr. 5, behind you!"
Umi slithers quickly from behind, jaws wide open and lets out a stream of purple sludge.
With his partner's warning coming a few seconds in his favor, Mr. 5 dodges a split second just in time. Instead the sludge makes contact with the grassy clearing, melting it into a black, lifeless crater.
Even with the power behind the momentum of Luffy's retracting arms, Mr. 3's waxy wall doesn't budge and bounces right off.
"Hey! Outta my way!" Luffy growls in annoyance.
Mr. 3 smirks. " I was just thinking the same thing. I would greatly appreciate it if you would quit interfering with my creative activities. Candle Lock!"
Instead of trapping Luffy's legs again, the rubber boy's arm is caught by the wax instead. Yet, this doesn't deter Luffy in the slightest. He actually looks gleeful at having his arm trapped. "I got a mallet!" He chimes, grinning as he points to his wax-covered arm.
Before Mr. 3 can realize that he gave the enemy another edge, Luffy reels his wax-coated arm back. "Gum-Gum..."
"No you don't! Candle Wall!" Mr. 3 brings up another wall of wax. However, much to Mr. 3's shock, Luffy's attack breaks right through this time, the Candle Lock around his readied fist shattering upon contact with the Candle Wall before said fist continues on its intended path, punching the wax man right between the eyes and sending him flying while screaming shrilly.
Coming out from their hiding spot, Usopp and Carue dance in victory, while Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine gawk in bewilderment.
"M-Mr. 3?!" Mr. 5 gasps in disbelief.
"No way!" Ms. Valentine shares in her partner's shock.
"Luffy! Hurry up and free Siren and break this thing before we die up here!" Nami calls out desperately.
"Um, no..."
Luffy blunt answers shocks the Pack.
"Quit joking around and hurry." Nami barks.
"Nuh-uh." Luffy replies like a child who doesn't want to do as he's told.
Zoro splutters at the captain's blatant disregard to help them and his still statue-ized first mate. "Quit being an idiot! Now's not really a good time!"
"Luffy! Please just do it!" Vivi begs.
The captain's once fiery-eyed stare has now become an expressionless void within his black orbs. "Not now... I...just don't feel like saving you."
Nami can only question in horror at what has come over the captain. "Luffy, what's wrong?"
"My Colors Trap." States the voice from the only one who didn't seem to do any fighting, as she bites into another rice cracker.
There is a heavy tenseness in the air and it's not just because wax has started to cover everything around the Candle Set.
Luffy remains frozen in his spot, an unsettling blank expression on his face.
"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro calls. "There's no time to space out now! Do somethin' about this already!"
"Yeah...I know." Luffy replies with a dead-soul monotone.
"Then quit just standing there, will you?" Vivi pleads.
"Come on, Luffy!" Nami yells.
"I know what I should do. But...I don't feel like it..."
"Damn it! Why do you keep saying that? We're about to be turned into wax statues! Do you understand me? We're going to die! And Siren is going to be hauled off and taken away from us! Do you care about what happens to her?" Nami snaps.
"Yeah...But for some reason, I can't get motivated to help..." Luffy answers, unblinking.
"What do you mean, 'can't get motivated'?!" Zoro, Nami and Vivi exclaim angrily.
Ghin remains quiet in all this, eyeing something, curiously, under Luffy's feet.
Usopp, who has gone back into hiding, eyes the scene through his goggles, questioningly. "What's going on here? What is wrong with him? Our friends are going to die and Siren is going to be taken to a Warlord if he doesn't do something to help them soon." He states softly. "I'll snap him out of it. Let's go, Carue."
The duck quacks in agreement.
However, two obstacles have now come to stand in their way. Looking up, Usopp and Carue shriek in terror upon the sight of Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine standing right before them.
"Where did you two come from?!"
"Just give up. Your friend has already fallen into a nasty trap. And your most powerful crew member is still imprisoned." Mr. 5 divulges.
Ms. Valentine giggles snidely. "That's right. Haven't you noticed what he's standing on?"
"Standing?" Usopp echoes, confused. He flips up the lenses on his goggles and peeks around the Baroque Works agents. "Let me take a look." There, he finds the strange black marking that Ghin is staring at. "What's that? There's a strange black pattern on the ground. I don't get it. What's so important about that thing?"
"Yeah, you're right. You really don't get it at all, do you?" Ms. Valentine giggles madly.
"What's funny?"
"Paint...That's what's funny." Mr. 5 answers cryptically. "It's just paint...You and your friends don't stand a chance of escapin' or reclaiming the Siren for yourselves now." He lifts back his leg ready to blow the sniper and duck to ashes.
Luckily for the sniper, his reflexes kick in and he jumps back out of the foot's way, letting it blow up the tree he was hiding behind.
Both Usopp and Carue scream in dread, not wasting another second in sticking around with the Baroque Works agents now having their sights set on them.
"Carue, let's make a run for it!" Usopp orders, already having the duck by the reigns.
"Oh, great, now they're running away." Ms. Valentine frowns in annoyance.
"Let's get 'em." Mr. 5 scowls.
And just like that, the two of them give chase to the cowardly duo, leaving Ms. Goldenweek to deal with the remaining Straw Hats.
🌺Well, if you are not going to save them, then we will!🌺 Carmela proclaims as she uses her remaining strength to destroy the candles at the very least, while they're still trapped in her vines.
Her noble actions are halted mid-air, as she grabbed right out of the sky and thrown right into Ms. Goldenweek's clutches.
Richie, Umi and 'Quetz' attempt to pick up where the female macaw sibling left off, only for Luffy to repeat the same actions. Taking ahold of Richie, Luffy slams the lion into the sea snake and quetzalcoatlus, sending them all rolling across the ground.
🌺You guys! Luffy what is the...meaning of...this...🌺 Carmela's questioning comes out in heavy pants, as she's suffering the effects of her shared bond with her brother, who's now nearly completely covered by the wax. The poor bird can barely keep her eyes open to glare at the young girl who now has her in her grasp. 🌺So much for kindness repaid...I knew a Baroque Works agent like you couldn't be trusted.🌺
Ms. Goldenweek paints the same symbol but in a cloud white color on Carmela's back before laying her on the picnic blanket behind her. The sister macaw lies in what appears to be a soft slumber.
"Ms. Goldenweek's responsible!" Vivi glares down at the youngest Baroque Works agent.
"The kid?" Ghin parrots, finding it hard to believe but is certain that she's doing something to their captain, despite her uninterested expression.
"I know that this is your doing!"
Ms. Goldenweek munches on another rice cracker. "It's my Colors Trap. Betrayal Black. If you touch the paint, you'll want to betray your friends, no matter what they might say. Even if they beg and plead for help." She explains, emotionlessly. "And Slumbering White. You'll be put into a sleep you'll never want to wake up from."
"What's she talking about?" Nami queries. "I don't understand what's going on here."
"She's a painter. She uses her paint to create different emotions. Each color is a feeling." Vivi clarifies.
Nami glances at the princess curiously. "Huh?"
"Her sense of color's so complete, she can manipulate your mind. Just a splash of one of her colors, and you'll be under her control."
Zoro's eye twitches at this news. "Under her control?! Well, that's not good. This simple minded oaf is already too easy to control. The last thing we need is someone messing with his mind."
"So if we get him away from the colors, he goes back to normal? Well... as normal as he can be." Ghin theorizes.
"He could." Ms. Goldenweek speaks up. "Or he could just stand there and let you all become Mr. 3's wax statues. You could stay in my Colors Trap and not free the Siren. Just stay there all day and not save your friends."
Vivi gapes at the partner agent's words. Though sounding cruel and heartless to those trapped in the wax, her words actually spur Luffy up in their favor.
"No way." Luffy backs out of the symbol of Betrayal Black.
"Did she just...?" Zoro trails off.
"She did." Vivi responds, equally stunned.
"But why? Why would she...?" Ghin queries.
Immediately after stepping off the Colors Trap, Luffy is back to his normal clueless self that the crew is used to. "Oh, hey! What...What just happened? I was acting really strange. Did I really say that I didn't want to save you and Siren?"
"Luffy! Help us now!"
Circling his arm round and round, he readies to throw another punch to break the Candle Set. "Okay! I'm on my way right now!"
With a few graceful strokes of her brush, another symbol is painted on the back of Luffy's vest, this time a bright yellow.
The Straw Hat captain then bursts into loud fits of laughter. "Never mind. I just wanna laugh right now!"
The trapped Straw Hats jaws hang open in shock.
"Luffy!"
"Moron!"
"What now?!"
"Colors Trap again. Laughter Yellow." Ms. Goldenweek explains.
"What's this girl's play? First, she gets Luffy to free himself, and now she's back to keeping him under her control." Ghin mutters to himself.
Luffy rolls on his stomach, his fist banging against the ground as his laughter continues.
"Now it's on his clothing!" Nami takes note of. "Luffy! quick! Take off your shirt."
"I'd love to, really. But right now, I'm too busy laughing." Luffy manages to answer as he sits up, clutching his aching stomach from laughter.
"Sorry to do this, but I have to keep up appearances should Mr. 5 & Ms. Valentine come back."
The trapped pirates look to her in confusion. She was apologizing to them? Why? Wasn't she their enemy?
"It's getting bad." Zoro grunts. "If the wax keeps falling at this rate, we'll be lucky to stay alive for five minutes."
(First Name) is still trapped, along with Astro, Hanabi, their familiars and Firouz and who knows for how long the free Pack members can keep fighting.
Then, barreling out from the surrounding jungle, comes Usopp atop Carue's back, screaming as they run to escape the still pursuing Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine.
"Did you guys come here just to play tag?!" Zoro shouts as he can only watch as the duck and sniper run all around the clearing while they're still stuck in wax.
While racing to evade the growing wrath of Mr. 5, Carue mows down Luffy in their escape before taking off again into the jungle.
Upon hearing the laughter stop, Nami spots the marking on Luffy's vest now smeared. "Look! When Usopp ran into Luffy, the paint smudged!"
Luffy pants heavily from laughing so hard, struggling to catch his breath. "Jeez! What's going on?! I felt all weird again!" He whips around to confront Ms. Goldenweek. "Hey, painter girl! Would you stop messin' with me already?!"
"Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine were coming back, so I had to put you into another Colors Trap." Ms. Goldenweek clarifies, plainly. "And you looked like you were having such a good time. Wasn't it funny?"
"Well, yeah...It was kinda funny. But stop!" Luffy barks, getting fed up with being messed with. He whips around to face the Candle Set, intent to destroy it once and for all. "I've got to see about breaking that pumpkin now." He stretches his arms back. "Gum-Gum..."
Ms. Goldenweek dabs her brush into another colored paint. "Another Colors Trap! Time for Bullfight Red.
"Bazooka!" Luffy's arms go flying, but not at his intended target. Instead, his rubbery palms land on the red pattern painted onto a certain pteranodon by Ms. Goldenweek, slamming him against the Candle Set.
"What were you aiming at? The dinosaur's on our side, right?!" Zoro barks.
"I just can't let you break it. At least, not so easily." Ms. Goldenweek explains cooly. "Mr. 3 wouldn't be happy about that at all. If you want to free your Siren and all your crew, you're going to need to fight even harder."
"What'd you do?!" Luffy demands, becoming more and more fed up with each Colors Trap he falls into.
"During a bullfight, a bull can't control his urge to attack the red cape. Likewise, you can't do anything now but attack that red circle. That's what I did." Ms. Goldenweek explains.
Luffy roars angrily. "'Kay, that does it! I'm mad now!" He stretches his arms back once more. "Gum-Gum...Bazooka!"
But again, his fists go flying towards 'Quetz' who had fallen at the base of the Candle Set. The quetzalcoatlus dodges, split second before Luffy's hand could connect with the literal target painted on his stomach and his hands actually slam against the Candle Set, causing cracks to break out along the lowest tier.
"Having fun?" Ms. Goldenweek remarks rather wittily.
"Aw...Oh, great..." Nami bemoans. "At this rate, he's never gonna be able to beat her. Now all of his strength is useless."
"I'm not so sure." Ghin speaks up after a contemplative silence on his part. His fellow trapped Straw Hats look to him, confused.
"What do you mean, Mr. Arnis?" Vivi queries.
"Her decisions in fighting. She's being helpful in Luffy's favor, then having him back under her control the next."
"Yeah, so? She's just toying with us." Zoro argues.
"It may seem like it at first glance, but I don't think her behavior is her being playfully taunting towards us. It's like she's aiming Luffy to free us under the guise of keeping him trapped."
"Why the heck would she do something like that? She's part of Baroque Works. We're enemies."
"Call me crazy, but I think her actions are because of (First Name)."
"(First Name)? What makes you say that?" Nami rebukes.
"I've noticed she's been staring a lot at her and when Mr. 3 took off her hood, she looked almost...surprised. Like she recognized her and wasn't expecting her to be who she saw under that hood."
"But how could she know (First Name) through all this?"
"That is the question now, isn't it?"
"Now, to finish up! We'll mix the Laughter Yellow on your back with some Sadness Blue! The last Colors Trap: Tranquil Green."
Luffy tries to fight the colors, but ultimately succumbs to it, sighing restfully as he now sits on the picnic blanket, sipping tea alongside Ms. Goldenweek and the unconscious Carmela. All the while, beneath the wax statue-prison of (First Name).
"Ah...That's some good tea!"
"LUFFY!!" The crew roars.
"So...What happens now?" Questions Nami, in defeat.
"See, I told you, you should have posed, but you wouldn't listen to me. And now it's too late. You're gonna die like that." The swordsman smirks, still aloof towards their nearing demise.
"Are you really still talking about that?" Vivi retorts sternly.
In what is only mere minutes, Usopp and Carue find their way back into the clearing only to come face to face with their trapped crewmates, now completely covered by the wax and frozen into living--but who knows for how long--statues.
"This really is some nice tea." A calm voice states.
Breaking free from his frozen state of horror to look toward where the voice is coming from, Usopp spots his captain having tea with the enemy.
"Really nice."
"Luffy! Hey! Wake up!" Usopp snaps.
Luffy appears to be fighting against the tranquility forced upon him. "It's nice tea...So nice...Very nice." His voice comes out strained through his gritting teeth.
"WHY ARE YOU JUST DRINKING TEA?!" The sniper bellows demandingly.
☠☠☠
☠TO BE CONTINUED . . . ☠
On the next One Piece. . .
"They haven't been hard for long. We still have time to save 'em!"
"Really?"
"We're coming now, guys!"
"I'm counting on you, Carue. Let's go!"
"Quack!"
"I'm not going to let anyone else die today!"
"It'll be hot, but it's the only way!"
"Wake up, everyone!"
"It won't be the only thing burning, today."
"You broke out of your dedicating debut statue?! But how?!"
"Guess you really did underestimate her abilities, huh, Mr. 3?"
"What's the meaning of this? Why are you standing in my way?"
"This is really strange...Why hasn't anyone come back?"
🏴☠️️Ch.68: A Siren's Blood Boils! Usopp's Quick Thinking!🏴☠️️
☠☠☠
☠Current Crew: Luffy | (First Name) | Zoro | Nami | Usopp | Ghin | Sanji☠
🐾The Pack: Carmela | Ahio | Tito | Umi | Trigger | Calder | Richie | ChouChou🐾
💙Pets: Nestor the Hermit Crab | Firouz the ???💙
💎Gems: Jimanekia the Yellow Pearl | Kylie the Emerald💎
🔮The Guild: Hanabi (Familiars: Akihiro | Xìngyùn) | Astro (Familiar: Hunter)🔮
☠☠☠