Chapter 149: Level 2

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One Piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 149: Level 2

As soon as they landed on the next level, they started to hear animalistic growls.

"Garurururu!"

"Gyaaaa….Gyaaaa!"

Very strange animalistic growls…

"Nooo!" Cried, Buggy. "I don't wanna be here again!"

The place looked a lot like the beginning of the first level. Long corridors with cells and walls made of stone blocks, like an old dungeon.

The most peculiar part of this level was how high the ceiling was.

"What kind of dangers are at this level?" Asked Nami to the clown.

The defeated man looked up."You are about to find out!"

A guttural noise came from above them.

"Gahhhh!!" Shouted Luffy as he saw a giant best staring at them.

"What is that thing?!" Cried Nami.

"It looks like a giant rooster…honestly is not that scary." Commented Vivi.

"I wonder what it tastes like…" Said Sanji.

"That's not a rooster!. It's a mutant, a beast among beasts!." Buggy trembled in fear.

"Is a snake born of a chicken!... Its a BASILI-"

"Gomu Gomu no…Jet Rifle!" Luffy's smoking fist crashed against the giant beast's face.

"Don't scare me like that!" Their Captain shouted in indignation at the creature.

The basilisk's eyes turned white and it fell down on the ground, unconscious.

"Yes…a beast among beasts indeed. " Commented Vivi in a mocking tone.

"I almost forgot how much of a monster you guys are…" Said the clown in defeat.

"I would like to take a sample of that meat." Sanji was eyeing the beast.

"Sanji!, we don't have time for that now!." Luffy's commanded. He glanced at the basilisk and his mouth started to water.

"We'll try to grab it on our way out."

"So…Mister Guide" Vivi addressed Buggy. "Which way to the level 3?" But she already knew the answer.

"I-I…" He seems to hesitate. "I don't know…"

"What do you mean? you said that you could guide us to where Ace is held!" Shouted Luffy.

"I have never been beyond this level, okay? I have only heard stories about the other levels but never been there!" Cried, Buggy.

"So, you never planned on guiding us that far, huh?" Nami looked down at the clown with an angry expression.

Buggy started trembling.

"I-I…"

"I bet he was planning on ditching us after getting the Captain's armband." Said Vivi.

"What?!, you mean he lied to us?" Exclaimed the innocent Chopper.

"I say that we feed him to the next beast we find." Threatened Sanji.

"Nooo! Please!" Begged the clown.

Luffy sighed and looked at him with disdain. "Fine…just go."

He turned around and walked away.

Nami, Sanji, and Chopper followed him.

When Vivi passed by his side, the clown looked at her with terror. She moved her head to face him.

"My Captain said that you can go…"

She continued walking past Buggy like he wasn't even there.

"W-Wait!"

They only took a few steps before he called for them in desperation.

"You can't just leave me here! I'll get eaten!" Shouted the clown.

"So..now we have to be your bodyguards? you have to be joking. After you failed to keep your part of the deal." Nami looked at him with disgust.

"I'll give it back, here!" Buggy took out the armband that he had accepted from Luffy and gave it to Nami.

"Please!, help me get out of here and I will be in your debt."

Nami rose an eyebrow.

"Debt, huh?..."

She looked at Luffy and this one shrugged.

"Fine then…but it will cost you. Well, talk about price at a better date."

"Thank you!" The clown had tears in his eyes.

"Grrr!!!"

Several growling sounds were heard.

"Oi!, you lot!. I don't know how you escaped the cells but you better go back inside!."

"Yeah!, if you don't go back to your cells, the manticores will eat you!"

Some nearby prisoners shouted from inside their cells.

"The keys!"

"Give us the keys!"

"Who said that?!" Asked Luffy.

They then saw four big lions with human faces coming towards them.

"Those are the manticores? they just look like lions with weird faces." Commented Sanji.

"Let us out of here!" Shouted one of the lions.

"They can speak?!" Exclaimed Luffy.

"All the beasts here are the combination of two or more animals…" Started Buggy.

"Are you saying that someone mixed a lion with a human?. Is that why they can speak?" Said Nami with horror.

"That's awful!. That's like what Doctor Hogback used to do!" Exclaimed Chopper.

"They just repeat what they hear from us." A prisoner explained.

"But this is not the time for that!" someone else shouted.

"Run, you guys!" The prisoner shouted in panic.

The manticores were almost upon them.

"Strawberry panties"

"Sadi's tits are the best!"

"Show them to me!"

The first three manticores shouted.

"What the hell? what did you guys have been teaching them?" Screamed Sanji with clear disapproval.

"I love hairy asses!" Shouted the last manticore.

"What did that last one say?..." Asked Vivi.

"Diable jumble!...collier strike!" Saji managed to connect his flaming kick with one of the manticores and sent it flying against another one, knocking them both.

"Gomu Gomu no…pistol!" Luffy sent the third one crashing against the ceiling.

The fourth manticore jumped at Vivi with its mouth open, reading to rip her apart.

Vivi placed her arm in the way of the beast and this one bit on it, drawing a splash of blood.

This took the crew by surprise. They all knew that she could turn her body into water to avoid being injured and the beast was clearly not using haki.

She did not even flinch at the injury. Instead, she just looked at the manticore with empty eyes.

"You know…I'm not very fond of genetically engineered beasts…" She said in a monotone. Her eyes turned pure white and her skin started to take a blue tint.

The beast listened to its instincts screaming at it to run away. It released its bite, turned around, and ran as if its life depended on it...because it did.

Vivi seems to regain her senses and her body returned to normal.

She looked at her surprised crewmates and smiled at them.

"Pretend that you didn't see that, okay?"

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