Pedro's New Sword

Chopper raced through the ancient forest atop the back of the giant elephant. He switched back and forth between his Jumping Point and Kung Fu Point to navigate the dense vegetation at a fast pace.

"...ffFFOOOODDdd…!!!" Luffy flung through the air over his head, causing Chopper to skid to a stop.

"They're already at the top! I need to hurry!" Chopper ignored Luffy and redoubled his speed.

The wind changed in Choppers favor, brushing past his face. He caught a familiar scent, "Cigarettes and cologne… that's Sanji alright!"

Shifting his direction in accordance with his sense of smell, he soon came upon Sanji, Robin, Cabernet, and Usopp.

"Oh, hey buddy! You didn't have to come pick us up," Usopp greeted him.

"Where are Kin'emon, Momo, and Kanjuro?!" Chopper hurriedly asked.

"What? They're right behind us-" Usopp said, then turned to see that they were not, in fact, right behind them. "Where'd they go?!"

The answer to that question wasn't terribly difficult to guess.

The three samurai suddenly disappearing was a mystery. Zoro also going missing at the same time was a closed case.

"That stupid mosshead…" Sanji lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "If he's going to get lost, he should at least try not to drag other people into it."

Chopper shot off in the direction they came from.

"Hey, wait Chopper-!" Usopp called out, but Chopper didn't stop. He didn't have enough time to explain the situation and their trail was only going to get colder as time went on.

…

"Are you sure we went the right way, Zoro-dono?" Kin'emon asked.

The four of them were staring out over the expanse of the ocean from the top of the giant elephant's head. Considering that they started from the rear end of the beast, it was truly impressive that they managed to get to the other side without seeing a single sign of other people.

"I just got a little turned around is all. We're not lost." Zoro said firmly.

Kin'emon opened his mouth to protest, but Kanjuro put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that Zoro-dono knows what he is doing. We got to the other side just fine, it must be a coincidence that we missed our destination."

"Hm, perhaps you're right, Kanjuro." Kin'emon relented.

In any case, there were only so many places to go on the back of a giant elephant. So they'd get where they're going soon enough, even if they meandered a little bit. Right?

…

Wayland woke up suddenly to the familiar sounds and smells of blacksmithing. He quickly got to his feet, somewhat confused until his memory started to catch up with him.

'To think my ancestor's best work, Durandal, is in the hands of a pretty boy…' It was too sad to even think about, so he quickly distracted himself with the sight before him.

Despite Cherry's new skimpy dress, she struck a figure of a blacksmith in the truest sense. Her strikes on the blade she was forging were swift, accurate, and hit with the perfect amount of force. They fell down like thunder, a dozen at a time, creating a spectacle of artisanship that had Wayland's apprentices mesmerized.

Wayland himself was quickly wrapped up into the atmosphere, gawking at the sheer mastery on display like it was his first day on the job.

It was a rapier in the style that the guardians and musketeers most often used that she was forging, using techniques that Wayland could only barely make sense of the purpose for. Then she began a complicated inlaying process using gold and he was lost. Even watching her without blinking, he couldn't understand it; normally inlays would just be metal hammered into hollowed out places, but she was doing something else entirely.

"Won't using gold inlays harm the durability of the steel?" one of Wayland's apprentices managed to squeak out.

"The steel I've prepared is a lot better than what you're used to, in addition to the fact that my inlaying technique wouldn't compromise the structural integrity anyways." Cherry answered without pausing in her work. She went on to explain the process in a way that was very detailed, but also easily digestible for those with a basic understanding of the profession.

"I had no idea electricity could be used in such a way… this opens so many possibilities!" Wayland was enlightened. Minks had easy access to electricity too, so this method was replicable by them!

Cherry finished the first blade in record time, thanks to hastening the heating and cooling process through careful application of the fusion fruit. The rest would be significantly faster than this one, but she wanted the minks to see that they could do this themselves, not just with her devil fruit powers.

She walked outside to find Pedro waiting since she had told him he'd be the first demonstration. A number of the other Guardians and Musketeers were also waiting to see the result.

Pedro took the sword respectfully, inspecting the blade with its fine patterns of gold laced across the steel. Without further ado, he used the Minks' specialty; Electro. Immediately he could feel the difference; the new sword accepted the electricity much more readily than regular steel ever did!

This was in part because gold was a damn good conductor, but also because of Cherry's prior experience working with or making weapons for lightning based cultivators.

Pedro gave it a few test swings and thrusts and found that the blade passed through the air with no noticeable resistance at all. A minor benefit perhaps, given that a sword was meant to be swung edgewise anyways, which didn't produce much air resistance; but when he saw Cherry setting up a big wooden log for him, he had a thought that couldn't possibly be true…

"Go ahead, Pedro. Take a swing at it." Cherry's eyes had a spark of temptation in them; like a devil who knew you'd already agree to her deal, no matter the price.

Pedro gulped, as did the spectators who realized the insinuation she was making. Rapiers weren't meant to be used on wood since they were too light to do any damage to it and would likely just be dulled as a result, but here she was telling him to do exactly that.

Pedro pounced forward, launching his arm forward in a deadly thrust!

*shink*

The electro-coated rapier poked through the wood to the hilt, the log only tottering slightly from the impact.

It had to be said that he didn't use any haki for that attack. He was testing the sword's performance with Electro alone, and still it felt like the wooden log was no harder to pierce than flesh.

Pedro's jaw, and everyone else's for that matter, hit the ground in comical fashion. They had expected something extraordinary, but this wasn't that. It was beyond the confines of common sense!

"Sorry, that's the best I can do with the materials on hand." Cherry apologized.

"""You can do BETTER?!?!?!""" they all shouted in unison at her, shock and disbelief written all over their cute, animal faces.

Cherry tilted her head at them, as if to ask "What do you take me for?"

Seeing was believing, though, so Cherry popped out her spear and approached the log. Pedro extracted the rapier and backed away, almost wanting to shut his eyes lest he see something that would shatter his remaining sanity.

Cherry held the spear aloft just a centimeter above the log, pointing downwards, and simply let go. The spearhead split the log in half as it fell, seemingly without the slightest resistance like there might as well be nothing but air between it and the ground. She was quick to catch it before it actually hit the ground, since the ground was made of elephant after all.

"See?" Cherry smiled cutely.

Nobody thought that smile was cute.