"(Y/n)! (Y/n)! Zombie!" Instantly driven into alert at the shout, you rushed around the corner and body slammed the said zombie into the asphalt.

Once you were sure the being was a well and splattered bug against the pavement, you stood up again only to have Usopp and Nami embrace you from both sides in a tight hug.

"You're a hero! No! A goddess! Thank you so much for doing patrol with us (Y/n)! You're the most powerful and magnificent creature to ever walk these streets!"

"(Y/n)-chan! Thank you so much! You're such a good girl! We'd never know what to do without you!"

Sweat-dropping at the pair's groveling, you gently pushed them away and gave your friends firm pats on the back.

"We're friends, of course I'll always have your backs"

That only seemed to succeed in making them cry more, though, and much to your waning patience, had them smothering you in bear hugs.

"Waaaah! (Y/n)-chan!" The duo wailed.

Eventually, long after Usopp hesitated before shying away from every shadow, and Nami jumped over every shrill sound from the distance less frequently, the streets of the surrounding area were splotched with appropriate amounts of blood and gore.

Without the continuous drone of zombie grunts and shuffling feet echoing around the periphery, the city sounded truly dead, and the absence of life in such a large and open space almost made you more uneasy than when it was infested.

Usopp must have been feeling the same way, as the young man spent little time in contacting Franky to leave.

"Hey, Franky! We finished our patrol around the upper east of town, and could use a pickup soon.."

"Owww! I'll be there in ten bros! Almost done gathering some wicked supplies!" Despite not being on speaker, the older man was heard loud and clear through the dead air, and you couldn't help but pull a smirk at his enthusiasm.

"Good, good, everything alright on your end? We went through a bit more waves than usual but I think we actually have the area nearly cleared"

Not particularly interested in the ongoing conversation, you decided to distract yourself with Nami's sweater, or more accurately, to just chew on it.

Typically you'd think twice before putting your mouth near any of Nami's items, considering her unruly temper when provoked, however, not only was this sweater a hand-me-down from one of the guys, but you knew she didn't agree with how it clashed with her hair.

And, the most obvious point, the only reason she would wear such a thing out zombie-weeding was because she didn't mind losing it should it get contaminated.

The texture of cotton between your teeth was a very comforting feeling, and you couldn't restrain the drowsy rumble that escaped you from how nice it felt as you slowly came down from your adrenaline high.

'I'm definitely taking a nap as soon as we get home...'

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before you were snapped out of your state of half-wakefulness as Usopp was quick to throw a fuss over your fading consciousness.

"Ah! Don't fall asleep (Y/n)! There might still be zombies around!" Jerking you away from where you latched yourself to Nami's sleeve, the tanned man made sure to rattle you back and forth in a way that forced your attention.

Nami wasn't to fall behind, and she began to hover over you with a now frightened look about her, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! You gotta stay awake and protect us until Franky gets here! We're vulnerable out here!"

'Not my problem, Franky said he'd be here in ten so it's fine, you guys can take care of a few zombies...'

Although, aloud it only came out as a slurred, "mwahshawaah.." as you resolutely rested your eyes in exhaustion.

"Ahhh! She's falling asleep! Usopp do something!"

"Franky! Hurry our ultimate defender is fading fast!"

Despite all the fuss, your consciousness flitted between a muted bliss and a jarring awareness up until the screeching of tires brought you back into an irritable recognition.

"Owww! Need a pickup bros?!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Claiming the entirety of the Mini Merry's trunk as your bed, you starfished over the makeshift cot without a care, leaving both Nami and Usopp to explain your success to Franky without your first-hand input.

"Bro, sounds like you two just stood aside and had (Y/n) clear them all herself" Franky's tone wasn't exactly disapproving, but you could tell the older man was displeased at the news.

"Sh-Shut up! There were a lot more around the shopping center this time! It was safer and faster to have (Y/n) plow through them then trying to pick them all off in small groups!" Nami vented her frustration out on Usopp's hat, knowing better than to actually strike out at a driver.

The mechanic didn't seem moved in the slightest, "still, you shouldn't complain about having her fall asleep on you if you're gonna make her do all the heavy lifting"

"I wasn't complaining about her falling asleep, that was Usopp!"

"What?! No! You were just as freaked out as I was! And I didn't have a problem with (Y/n) falling asleep, it- it's just scary that's all!"

"That sounds like a problem to me bro.."

"Mwep!"

The argument was quickly diffused as you abruptly launched your head over the backseats of the van and clamped your mouth over Usopp's hat.

Before the teenager could even startle, you tore the said hat off his head and just as quickly darted back into the trunk, now more content than ever in drifting off with a comforting chew toy to gnaw on.

"Hey-! (Y/n)!" Usopp leaned over the car seat and narrowed his eyes harrowingly at the sight of your back.

"Leave it bro" Franky just laughed, "Y'know she won't be giving that back anytime soon so you might as well fish out a new one from the barn"

Usopp looked ready to argue, however, the ring of a phone beat him to it.

Without looking, or stopping the vehicle, Franky answered the call and set the phone to speaker.

"Yo! Franky here!"

"Franky, Luffy told me you and a few others were in the area?"

The mood was greatly turned on its head, from the unexpected voice of Charlotte Katakuri on the line.

"What's up?" Without even needing to be asked, Franky immediately took a hard turn and changed the vehicle's direction.

The voice on the other side of the line drew a deep sigh, "I'm sorry to spring this up on you so suddenly, but I was wondering if your group could come t'wo the estate and act as representatives in a renegotiation with Whitebeard's flock"

"Negotiations? Us?"

"With the news of Mama's death now spw'eading, Newgate has demanded our two groups have another try at reaching an accord.. most likely he pw'obably wants to take advantage over the fact that we have new management"

"What do we have to do with that though?"

"Well considering it was one of your own that put me in this position of power, unintentionally or not, and considering how close our groups have gotten since our changes, it's only expected that you'd have a say in how things might sh'ange for the Charlottes"

Nami leaned forwards from the back, giving both Franky and the phone a sideways glare, "what do you think Whitebeard exactly wants from these negotiations, and what do we get out of joining?"

"Do we really need to profit from everything..?" Usopp whispered under his breath.

"Obviously, he'll want to make changes to our flimsy little non-aggression pact, maybe establish business or suggest we become a protectorate under his banner, worst case scenario he starts demanding tew'itory from us, then we'll have no choice but to push back"

There was a short shuffle on the other side of the line, someone spoke to Katakuri, too far to hear clearly, and the ghoul made a sound of agreement.

"As for what you get out of this, well, unless you're fine with the possibility of Newgate wanting to investigate our little ghoul situation, then aside from that, I can't imagine you losing much else"

Recognizing the tension forming in the van, you sat up from where you were curled up in the trunk and grit out a greeting to Katakuri, not exactly easy with a hat clamped between your teeth, "you mw'ean the Whitebeards don't know abou' ghouls yet? Didn't you guys tell 'em that time with Dofla'ingo?"

The people in the vehicle gave you affronted looks.

"Of course not, the only reason Whitebeard lets us stay so close to his territory is because one of Luffy's older brothers is a member of his group" Usopp exchanged a pinched grimace with Nami.

"He has no real obligation to look out for us, and he can still always come after us if he wants to" both teens bristled with an excessive shudder, looking as if they were revisiting unpleasant memories.

"But then why did he help us out when Big Mom attacked?"

Nami rolled her eyes, "because his rival, Big Mom, was involved, we called him under the assurance that there was no way he'd sit back and let her possibly claim so much territory so close to his border"

"Katakuri, what are you gonna do when Newgate shows up with you looking like that?" Franky, ignoring the unnerved whispers now being shared between you and the cowardly duo, settled the phone against the dashboard as the Mini Merry began to trample over dirt and roots.

"My b'others helped me cover up my face with a scarf, but I'm still having a bit of difficulty in covering my lisp, though I doubt that will be enough to give us away"

"Wha' abou' me?" You poked your head out from the back and landed your chin against Nami's shoulder, chuckling impishly as she soon rose a fuss when slobber quickly began to soak into her sweater from the hat.

"Well Torao already fixed up your face for the most part, we should probably find you a face mask or something to hide that hole in your cheek though, aside from that you don't have any lisps to hide, so you should be fine"

You chirped with a grin, feeling reassured and content with the plan already forming between you all.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time your group rolled up to the Charlotte's estate, there were already an assortment of vehicles parked along the lawn.

Most of them were neatly branded with Whitebeard's unmistakable insignia.

"Looks like we showed up just in time" Franky's eyes slid along the lineup, and you could tell that he was no doubt building an image of the owners' characters from the builds alone.

"Remember, we're here to mostly listen not talk bros"

The four of you hopped out of the Mini Merry as one of Katakuri's brothers approached.

You could never have his name stick with you, but since he'd always have his hair styled up with lit fuses tied at the end of them, you dubbed him as 'Cracker' like firecrackers.

"Everyone should be ready in the lounge, you're the last to show up"

Cracker led you guys down to the room where you've previously fled from under Big Mom's rule, and as if to symbolize how much has changed since then, the layout of the ballroom was drastically altered.

What once was a makeshift throne room was now more like a rough copy of king Arthur's roundtable, with the largest table you've ever seen fashioned in the center of the dancefloor.

Circling the said table were a variety of loveseats, couches and desk chairs, each one occupied in little groups, who were currently keeping to each other in quiet conversation.

At one end of the table, closest to where Linlin's throne once sat, you could spot Katakuri engaged in an intense discussion with a few of his siblings, and from what you could feel from your shared brainwaves, he was more agitated with the situation than he showed.

The feelings of frayed nerves and bubbling anxiousness made you want to growl and chew on something, fuck you should have asked Franky to stop for gum or something along the way here.

On the other end, almost completely on the opposite side of Katakuri, you could see the man that Franky would later point out to you as Newgate aka the dread Whitebeard.

He was.. older, and more visibly worn out and mortal than you were expecting, from the way Nami and Usopp fed you horror stories with so much fervor, if you were to come face-to-face with a biblical demon, or even a Norse war god, it wouldn't have been as off-putting as this man at near-death.

You didn't have any more time to ogle the other people in the room, as Cracker, alongside your group's entrance, cleared his throat with a near frown.

"The Strawhat representatives have arrived"