Chopper rushed forward as Bege froze in shock. His instincts as a doctor called him to perform his duty on the injured Pekoms.
The sudden movement released the tension. Bege's men turned their weapons at the reindeer charging towards their boss, ignoring Cat Viper in favor of protecting Bege.
"Hold it!" Bege ordered with a shout, causing his men to pause.
Chopper hadn't slowed at all in response to the weapons trained on him and reached Pekoms side with his doctor's bag.
"This is all just a misunderstanding," Bege said to Cat Viper, whose eyes had narrowed dangerously and whose metal clawed hand rested on one of his men's necks, having paused just before taking the man's head clean off.
"Isn't that right, Mr. Vinsmoke?" Bege leveled his eyes on the Straw Hat's chef, both threatening and pleading with him to agree.
Bege had had some (misplaced) confidence in dealing with those present if he had to, or at least getting away if he couldn't. However the inclusion of Cat Viper skewed things out of his favor; and judging by how fast the massive cat man had moved, he didn't have much confidence fleeing either. Now was the time for diplomacy.
"... That's right." Sanji said.
"Sanji?!" Luffy couldn't believe he said that.
"Lets' go, Bege." Sanji said, stepping towards the gangster.
Bege smiled. "Of course! The groom can't be late for his own wedding."
"Wedding?! To whom?!" Nami was shocked.
"To one of Big Mom's many daughters, of course. I myself am happily married into the family." Bege said. "Though, his marriage is to be more political than mine was. Just have to make the most of it, yeah?"
"I suppose I will." Sanji said, then turned to look at his crew mates. "It's been fun, but I suppose this was never going to last forever."
With another step, Sanji disappeared into Bege's body and Bege's men swarming inside as well.
"Make sure Harpin D. Cherry will arrive on time, if she knows what's good for her!" Bege spoke his parting words, then his legs turned into tank tracks and sped away.
"SANJI?!" Luffy called out, but received no answer.
Cat Viper looked over Pekoms and Chopper sighed in relief. "Nothing important was hit, fortunately. He'll be okay."
Cat vIper nodded and turned to the reeling members of the Straw Hat pirates. "You could still catch up, you know? Those odd wheels of his won't work too well in the forest."
"There's no need for that. Sanji has made his choice." Robin said.
"Robin?! He's our friend!" Usopp shouted at her.
"And now it's time for us to make OUR choice," Robin amended with a smile. "Specifically, whether we're going to let Cherry have all the fun trashing Big Mom's tea party."
Luffy's fist came down onto his palm. "That's right! You're so smart, Robin!"
"It's not smart to just remember something that important, Luffy…" Usopp said.
"You forgot too, though." Luffy said.
"No I didn't! I was just caught up in the moment, damn it!" Usopp defended himself unconvincingly.
"I'll leave you to your discussion. I have a metal hand to test." Cat Viper said.
"That thing reminds me of Kuro." Usopp shivered.
"Oh, it does! I bet you could beat Kuro all by yourself now, Usopp." Luffy said.
Usopp paused. "You really think so?"
He wasn't too sure about it himself, since he'd been pretty pathetic back then. Too pathetic to properly gauge how strong Kuro of a Hundred Plans had been from memory, just that he'd moved faster than he could see and that Luffy had beat him.
Since Luffy said so then it was probably true, right? Has he really come such a long way since then?
Usopp pointed his long nose in the air proudly, and laughed! Of course he was strong now!
"Kuro was only worth 16 million Beri, stupid. Of course, you're stronger now." Nami stole the wind from his sails.
…
"This new leg is pretty nifty." Duke Dogstorm said, examining the mechanical leg Cherry and a tired looking Franky strapped to his stump leg.
"It comes with razor sharp claws." Cherry said.
"And a SUPER beeeaaam!" Franky said, striking a pose. "It's not as good as my nipple beams, though, so don't go getting your hopes up!"
"Nipple beams…?" Duke Dogstorm was confused.
"Don't ask." Cherry spoke bluntly.
"DO ASK!" Franky said, starting to gear up.
"I won't ask." Duke Dogstorm said, causing Franky to deflate. "I'll go test this out. We never know when Jack might be back, so I need to be ready as quickly as possible."
"Okay, cool. I'm going to get something to eat, see ya later." Cherry said, leaving the smithy behind. Franky followed in a sulking mood.
Awkwardly, Duke Dogstorm was actually going the same way as them, at least for a while. So they were forced to walk side by side after already having said goodbye in complete silence.
Thankfully, this painful period of their lives didn't last longer than a few minutes before they came across the clearing where the other Straw Hats were supposed to be enjoying a pleasant breakfast. Instead they were standing around discussing something and Sanji seemed to have gone off somewhere.
"Hey, guys. What's got you all worked up?" Cherry asked.
"Sanji left with Big Mom's subordinate, Bege. He's got an arranged marriage, which is apparently the excuse for the tea party you were invited to." Jinbe explained calmly.
Cherry looked at Pekoms lying on the ground as Chopper tended to his wounds and frowned. "So they're dragging Sanji into this as well? Big Mom is awfully full of herself."
"One of the four emperors of the sea is 'full of herself'. That describes all of them, Cherry-ya, and certainly not without reason. They've grown accustomed to being unchallengeable for decades." Law said. "I don't suggest going after Sanji either, at least not right now. We've already picked a fight with Kaido, remember?"
Suddenly a commotion started up among the minks. Many of them were scrambling to get Duke Dogstorm to leave quickly, but of course he was being stubborn. "I still need to test my leg."
Soon the reason they were so flustered became apparent, as Cat Viper was now returning from his own test and met eyes with Duke Dogstorm.
"How perfect it is that we meet here and now. It seems I'll get to test my new arm on a living target!" Cat Viper taunted.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about my new leg. Since I haven't had the chance to test it at all just yet and you have, we'll be on more equal footing, won't we?" Duke Dogstorm shot back.
The minks were despairing. A fight seemed inevitable between their two kings now that they've met, and none of them were strong enough to stop them!
"See! I told you that asking Zoro-dono to return us to the ship would lead us to the city!" Momonosuke's voice sounded out.
"What?! You tricked me!" Zoro complained, embarrassed. "I mean, I never intended to return to the ship in the first place! I was coming here all along!"
Everyone in the clearing was now staring at Zoro and the three samurai with gawking expressions.