Chapter Text
It was the swordsman who saw the change first.
Waking from a restful slumber on the Galley bench, Zoro was immediately confronted with an unexpected sight. A figure with pitch black hair—similar to Robins'—and a suit that mirrored its tone was standing in the middle of the kitchen. This sight shattered Zoro's first minute of consciousness, and he sat up, eyeing the stranger with undisguised confusion.
How did this person even get here? They were at sea in the middle of nowhere for the past week! Furthermore, why are they just walking around like they own the place? (This is the Cook's place- not whoever this guy appears to be.)
Well, actually, Zoro noted, the stranger isn't walking around like that. He's simply standing still, staring at the kitchen counter—back to Zoro.
Zoro sat up silently on the couch, planning on surprising the newcomer with a glare when they decided to turn around. Or, of course, until the blond priss walks in and spots a mysterious man invading his turf and promptly kicking him through the wall. Whichever comes first, Zoro supposes.
Is this man just one of many? Maybe the ship was ambushed while Zoro was sleeping- no. Zoro's haki is too strong not to catch a fleet of whoever is storming the ship. Plus, Zoro may be a heavy sleeper, but not that heavy.
What in the world is the stranger doing, though? He was standing straight with his back turned for at least three minutes. Zoro wanted to give him the shock of his very awake face once he eventually turned around, but now he was unsure if the stranger was alive. It could be a mannequin- did they have a mannequin?- and someone on the ship is doing a prank on him.
No, the man is breathing. This is some strange person on board his ship. Enough is enough. Zoro let out a silent breath before calling, "Watch'a doing there, pal?"
The man swirled, leading with his head to look at the swordsman. Its bright grey eyes blinked a couple of times before a smile lay across his lips. "Ah. Hello, swordsman." A shockingly familiar voice answered.
Zoro sputtered, "Cook?!" He gaped, eyes stuck on the man's visible eyebrow swirl. Zoro stomped towards Sanji, closing the gap between them. Sanji watched Zoro with a steady gaze.
Face to face, Zoro could instantly see how, besides the hair, this was the same Cook he'd fought with every day. The same crooked nose, the same trim beard, the same stupid swirl of his eyebrow-
How the hell did he get the swirl to switch sides? Is that even possible?
"How may I assist you?" Sanji interrupted Zoro's thoughts. The same small smile was placed across Sanji's lips.
"Stop messing around," Zoro says, unnerved. "What'd you do to your hair?"
"My hair?" Sanji asked, head titled in a….. curious way. "It's different now. Yes."
"You dye it?" Zoro asked, leaning closer and taking a breath through his nose. No trace of any chemical smell…
Zoro just then realized he smelled the Cook's hair and promptly jumped back a yard with a grunt.
"No," The Cook said simply, staring with an interested expression at Zoro's over-the-top reaction.
Why is he staring like that? Why is he responding like that? What happened to his hair- his eyebrows? Zoros's mind buzzed from all the questions he needed to know the answers to.
"How may I assist you, Swordsman?" Sanji repeated, "If I recall, you usually come inside the kitchen to ask for… 'Booze', correct?"
He watched in awe as the suited man walked straight to the locked-off cabinet, pulling out a bottle. "Here you are," he said as he handed the drink to him.
"Uh," Zoro took the bottle, inspecting it. The bottle sparkled with a luxurious aura, its contents reserved for special occasions. Zoro lifted the bottle, meeting Sanji's eyes as he asked, "Sanji, what's this? Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" He did the same tilted head pose when he asked. "I'm just serving you. What else would you like me to do?"
He had to test it out. Sanji can't be serious- is this some sort of bit?
"Spin around in a circle five times," Zoro ordered.
He grinned and nodded, eyes closed. A chill crept down Zoro's neck as the Cook twirled. On the fifth round, he stomps his foot, ceasing the movement. "Anything else?" Sanji asked.
Zoro couldn't speak. He could hardly even breathe. What happened to their Cook? Why is he acting like some sort of all-too-willful servant? "Why," Zoro managed to find his voice, "Why are you taking orders from me?" Zoro asked hesitantly.
Sanji stayed quiet for a minute, observing Zoro as he responded, "You rank second in my chart."
"Second?" Zoro parroted.
"Yes. The captain is first. You are second. The new Helmsman is third… would you like to hear my whole list?"
What is he even talking about?
"I… I'm going to get the others. This better not be some sort of prank, alright, curly-brow?"
"A prank?" Sanji repeated. "How so?"
—x—x—x—
Once the others were gathered, Zoro made them all wait on the lawn of the top deck. All he told them was, "Come with me. I think it's important." They all ceased what they were doing to see what had the swordsman sweating so much.
"What's this about?" Nami asked as she walked up to the others. "I was in the middle of reorganizing, so yeah, this better be important."
"Just," Zoro panted, glazing to the galley door where he knew Sanji was standing in place, "Just look."
The others shared a glance as Zoro took a large breath. "SANJI!" he bellowed. “Come on out here!"
A moment passes, and then the door opens up. There he stood, inky black hair and all.
"Woah- Sanji!" Zoro hears Usopp gasp.
"Is this meeting just 'cause Sanji dyed his hair?" Nami whispered. Zoro turned back to them and shushed.
"Yes, what is it?" Sanji asked, looking straight at Zoro.
"Skip yourself down here," He ordered, to a reply of a nod. A sick dread pooled in Zoros's stomach as the man skipped down the steps toward the group.
"What…" Robin mumbled as he arrived in front of Zoro. "What is he doing? What happened to him?"
"I don't know," Zoro responded, exasperated. "I woke up, and the cook was just– like this."
"So, what, he just does whatever we tell him now?" Franky asked, scratching his neck with his large palm. "Sanji, buddy, you good?"
"He was infected by some devil fruit, perhaps?" Brook included himself in the conversation. "Some sort of… 'yes yes' fruit? He became a Yes-man!"
"Yeah, then from who?" Zoro snapped, "We've been out at sea for ages! This can't be some devil fruit side effect!"
"Luffy…" Nami whispered. "Luffy, look…"
Zoro pulled all his attention to the navigator, holding a shaking hand toward Sanji's face.
"What?" Zoro asked, a small hope of someone knowing what was going on growing in his chest. He followed Nami's pointed finger—just above Sanji's eye. "His eyebrow?"
Luffy, who was quiet this entire time, nodded with understanding. "Yeah. I saw," he mumbled.
"Saw what!" Zoro's head hurt.
"Sanji," Luffy got the man's attention. "Tell me your name, will you?"
"Of course," Sanji nodded with an all-too-calm smile. "My name is Sanji. Vinsmoke Sanji." Zoro saw Nami, Luffy, Chopper, Jinbe, and Brook stiffen and gasp. "Of course, if you'd like, you could always call me Stealth Black."
"Stealth… Stealth Black..?" Usopp asked, eyes wide. "But- But you changed that name, right? It's Soba Mask now!"
"I changed it?" Sanji asked, then nodded. "Ahh, yes. I did, didn't I? But don't worry about that. It's always been Stealth Black. As that's my code name."
"WHAT is GOING ON?" Zoro yelled. "Nami! What do you know?"
She fiddled with her hands, "His eyebrows…" She swallowed. "They're just like theirs…"
"Like his siblings!" Chopper squeaked.
Sanji has siblings? Whatever. Not what's important. "And why is that a bad thing?" Zoro found himself asking instead. They didn't answer, looking anywhere but Zoro's or Sanji's – Stealth's? – eyes.
"Oh, my eyebrows have turned back to normal," Sanji noticed, feeling the hairs on his forehead. "That's good."
"Okay, just- just give me a minute." Nami breathed, her hand rubbing the bridge of her nose softly. "I don't think Sanji would want us giving out this information like this, but…"
"Sanji, do you mind?" Luffy asked. Sanji shook his head, "Of course not, Captain."
Nami sighed," That's not the same…" before shrugging and entering the details. She recounted about the time they separated after the two groups left Zou. Her group met Sanji's siblings and his father, but she didn't go into much detail there- besides how Sanji officially cut ties with him. The important part was how Sanji's siblings "weren't human," as she put it. Just soldiers for their leader with little to no emotion. Then she mentioned how they all had the most colorful hair they'd ever seen, though their parents were blond… and their eyebrows… were precisely like how Sanji's are now.
"So…" Nami concluded, shaking. "The theory is that Sanji is, um. He's like his siblings now."
"But- but Sanji is nice!" Chopper defended. "He's not like how they acted- they were super mean for no reason!"
Sanji hasn't done anything besides stand still while the others talked. If that's considered "nice," then Zoro doesn't want to see how his siblings behave.
"Maybe Sanji is still in there and forcing himself to be nice!" Luffy theorized. He grabbed Sanji's face with both hands. "Hey! Sanji! Are you in there?" He asked.
"Yes, Captain?" The man responded, "How may I assist you?"
"Ugh, not you! Sanji!" He called out. "Blink three times in a row if you're in there!"
Stealth didn't blink, a small smile still present on his lips.
"That doesn't prove anything," Zoro said when the others stared at him in panic. Nami was tightly clutching Chopper, their eyes welling up with tears. Brook gazed at them with a worried expression, his empty eye sockets reflecting his concern. Meanwhile, Jinbe stood there, stroking his chin thoughtfully, pondering the situation
"What changed?" Robin asked, looking around the crew. "Does anyone have any theories as to why he shifted to this state?"
The memory of Sanji calling to him on the transponder snail, telling Zoro to kill him if he lost himself, suddenly hit him. What did he say before? He mentioned something about that goofy superhero costume making him feel weird, right?
"Uh," Zoro spoke. "He did tell me a while ago that he might, uh, might change."
The gazes of the crew snapped at him. "And you did nothing?!" Nami suddenly cried out. "We could've stopped this!"
"He said he was better!" Zoro retorted. "And not to worry about it- how was I supposed to know!?"
"Alright, calm down." Usopp tried, waving his hands in front of them. "Fighting won't bring Sanji back-"
"It might." Zoro interrupted.
"SO we just need to calm ourselves." Usopp glared at the swordsman. "Sanji," He turned his attention to Stealth Black. "How do we turn you back?"
He didn't respond.
"Hey, Stealth." Zoro tried, and the man's full attention was on him. "How do we turn you back?"
Sanji kept quiet for a moment before nodding. "You wish for my previous personality?"
"Yes!" Luffy cried out with a grin. "Sanji isn't Sanji like this!"
Stealth Black bowed. "Apologies, but that is the one thing I cannot do," he said with a frown. "I am far more useful like this, anyway." Sanji stood up all too perfectly straight with that soft smile once again. It makes Zoro want to yank out his hair and wipe that smile off his face. Luffy, however, didn't hold back.
"Why not!" He hit Stealth straight in the jaw. The man didn't react besides looking back at the captain.
"To put it as beta-Sanji would, you cannot unbake a cake, can you? Can you unfry an egg? I am Sanji once he is fully formed. I can not revert. I apologize."
"Stop talking like that, it's creepy…" Usopp murmurs, which Stealth promptly ignores.
Chopper sobbed, burying himself into Namis's shoulders, and she shook as well.
"Don't cry, Doctor. Would you like some sweet treats?" Stealth asked with that annoying tilt of his head. "If I recall correctly, you like anything sweet. Am I wrong? As for you, Navigator, would you like anything?"
"Don't call me doctor!" Chopper cried. "Call us by our names!" Stealth's eyes widened, and he turned to Luffy. "Captain, would you like that? Would you prefer I call you all by your names rather than your ranks?" Luffy didn't speak, shaking his head. "That is a no, correct?”
"Sanji. Go cook something." Zoro ordered. Stealth nodded with a bow, then walked straight to the galley with a wide grin. Zoro doesn't think he said the Cook's actual name this much in his entire life, and it was when the Cook wasn't even here. Franky, Brook, and Nami burst into a sobbing mess when the door closed, joining Chopper's cries. Usopp's hand rubbed Nami's back as he shook, his other hand covering his mouth.
"Sanji's dead!" Chopper wailed. "He's gone, and that- that ROBOT took his place!" Zoro's chest twisted- he had never heard Chopper so angry at the prospect of a robot. Nami fell to her knees, Holding Chopper closer. "What do we do?" Brook asked what they were all thinking. "Do we carry on like this? Or…”
"We'll get Sanji back," Luffy promised. "We have to; he's in there somewhere. I know he is." He crossed his arms in thought. "But how do we bring the real Sanji out?"
Zoro shut his eyes. He didn't want to put this out there, but he should be honest with the crew. "Sanji- our Sanji - he told me a while ago that if he ever 'loses himself,' I should kill him." That certainly got the others' attention. "So, if it does have to come down to that, I'll do it."
"No way!" Nami responded, wiping her eyes. "He's not doing any harm like this!"
"He might have thought he would become someone like his siblings. Jinbei pointed out. "If he turned into someone like them, then Zoro would be free to kill him. I'm positive that's what he meant."
Nami nodded, "Right! And if we go ahead and kill him now, there's a hundred percent chance we won't ever get to fix him. We can't kill him. Again, he's not doing any harm."
"What about what he wants?" Robin asked. "We may not be able to see it, but there is a possibility that Sanji is completely conscious inside of this… robot persona. He very well could be suffering as we speak."
"He might not!!" Chopper retorted. "Please, PLEASE don't kill him!"
"If you guys just told him to off himself, he probably would," Usopp commented. Everyone stared at him in shock. "I'm just saying-! If it does come to it, then Zoro won't have to carry the burden, alright?"
That broke out into another argument, with everyone talking over each other. However, Usopp made a good point, and Zoro respected that thought. Killing Sanji wouldn't feel right if he stood there and took it with that same aggravating, small smile. But again, the idea of staring at the now-brunet ending himself with the simple ask… not to mention the theory that Sanji somehow was still in there, aware of what was happening around him, but unable to express his opinions or thoughts….
"We aren't killing him! That's final!" Luffy shouted, his voice stern. "And no more giving him orders," he added. With that, he stormed off. The rest of the crew shared exasperated looks with one another. "So that's it. We do nothing?" Zoro asked around. They'll just wait and see how the robotic Sanji behaves before setting a game plan?
"I… I guess so…" Usopp replied hesitantly. "Maybe we could show him things our Sanji likes? What if he remembers himself? This could just be like an amnesia thing?"
The others had a touch of color brought back to their faces at that idea. That would be perfect if they could just shock Sanji back to his regular, crabby self. Stealth told them it's impossible to return to before, but it would never hurt to try, at least. And besides, whose to say that Stealth knows everything?
Chopper wiped the tears and snot from his damp fur. "I could, uh, I could maybe do an examination on him? A check-up?" He clacked his hooves together, "I could see if anything about him changed drastically- besides his hair and eyebrows and personality, I mean."
"Wonderful idea, Chopper," Robin replied with a smile. "I don't think requesting him to have a check-up would be considered an order, do you?"
"Right!" Chopper replied. This was the first twenty minutes with the "new Sanji",” they can't lose hope yet. They'll fix him—they have to —and everything will go back to normal.