Chapter 230: Slimey Doom
"There you are!" Franky (Usopp) shouted.
"Oh, hi Franky. Were you looking for us?" Cabernet said.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"I'm not Franky, I'm Usopp." Franky (Usopp) corrected.
Cabernet gave him a funny look that said "Sure you are."
"No, really! Trafalgar Law swapped our bodies!" Franky (Usopp) said.
"Prove it!" Cabernet demanded.
"Bah!" Merry concurred.
"How am I supposed to do that?!" Franky (Usopp) asked.
"Show us your nipples!" Cabernet ordered.
"No!" Franky (Usopp) refused instantly.
"I guess he really isn't Franky." Cabernet said to Merry, then turned back to not Franky. "But that doesn't mean you're Usopp!"
Franky (Usopp) was at a loss, but a light bulb lit in his mind and he started to sing. "On the Sniper Island~!"
After finishing the song he stood before the two ships looking very proud of his idea.
"Why is Sniper King pretending to be Usopp?" Cabernet asked Merry.
"Baaah." Merry shook her head, for she didn't understand the mysterious man's motives either.
"Good enough..." Franky (Usopp) muttered with a sigh. "We have to get back to the others! I see you've found the samurai's torso."
"Samurai?" Cabernet inquired.
"I'll explain later! For now let's get-!" Franky (Usopp) hurried.
In the distance, a strange silhouette appeared, halting Franky's (Usopp's) words in their tracks. At first you might think it to be a mountain due to its massive scale, but the translucent pink color and the two giant glowing eyes told a different story.
Franky (Usopp) had no desire to find out what that thing was, so he did his best to get the two ships to pick up the pace.
...
Tashigi (Smoker) and Smoker (Tashigi) had found themselves in a rather annoying dilemma, to say the least.
Not only had Law taken Smoker's heart, but he had swapped the captain and vice admiral's consciousnesses as well. If that wasn't bad enough, they now found themselves in battle with the forces that dwelled in the laboratory here on Punk Hazard. Meanwhile, the facility seems to have entered some sort of lockdown.
Tashigi (Smoker) knew that something bad was going to happen. He'd already guessed that Caesar Clown was the mastermind of this place, and with the sudden lockdown of the facility he was fairly certain they were about to be faced with a poisonous gas of some sort. Caesar's men didn't even have protective gear on, which told him that this was likely to be a test and possibly even a demonstration of a chemical weapon, judging by the den den mushis observing from a distance.
"Hello, friends! You can come inside right over here! Oh hey, if it isn't Tashigi-chan and Mr. Lung Cancer. I must say, Smoker, you're looking very nice today. But Tashigi-chan, on the other hand, seems to have given up her femininity altogether! What a shame, Hehehe~"
Cherry called out.
Tashigi (Smoker) didn't have time for Cherry's bullshit and directly lunged at her with his
jitte. Cherry casually sidestepped the attack, allowing her (him) to pass through the makeshift doorway unobstructed. Seeing that Cherry was walking away from her (him) without even looking back, she (he) suppressed his anger and ordered her (his) men to use the new entrance
to enter the facility and hopefully reach safety.
Smoker (Tashigi), did not leave Cherry to her own devices, though.
*Swish**Clang!*
Smoker's (Tashigi's) sword was blocked by a sword that appeared in Cherry's hand from
seemingly nowhere.
"Couldn't wait until we got inside to have a look at my sword, hm? You're very passionate about swords, aren't you Tashigi-chan-?" Cherry teased.
Electricity crackled along the blade and prickled at his (her) hand, but he (she) held firm.
"I cannot allow such a weapon to remain in the hands of a pirate!" Smoker (Tashigi) said with
conviction.
"Sakura Tengoku was made specifically for me and modified by me, darling~ There's no more appropriate place for it to be than in my hands. I don't plan to be a pirate forever, though, so maybe you can just wait a while and you'll achieve your goal without any effort whatsoever?"
Cherry smiled.
Smoker (Tashigi) opened his (her) mouth again to speak, but was interrupted by the surprisingly gruff voice of Tashigi (Smoker). "Get your ass over here, Tashigi! Forget about
her for now!"
Taking another look around, Smoker (Tashigi) realized that his (her) subordinates had
already all gotten inside and the poisonous, explosive slimes were only growing in number. Cabernet, Franky (Usopp), and Merry landed behind Cherry as well, making it clear she was completely out of her depth here and that the wisest course of action was a strategic retreat.
Swallowing his (her) objections, he (she) rushed over to the door and funneled inside, followed soon after by Cherry and her own little group.
Once inside, Cherry resealed the makeshift door and fused it shut. When she turned around
she found herself surrounded by rough looking marines at gunpoint. Cherry shot her hands high into the air above her and shouted "I surrender!"
"What?!" Franky (Usopp) shouted in disbelief, having been rather confident in their chances
of breaking through.
"..."" Tashigi (Smoker) and Smoker (Tashigi) were rendered speechless.