Heya everyone.
Sorry this took so long, but as it was, me and Swift were working on a number of other things, and while this had actually been done a week or so ago, I just kept forgetting to post it. Lol
Anyway, thanks for the support so far, and hope you enjoy. Also regarding Kyurangers, as many noticed, Garu was made into a Mink to fit into the world of One Piece. The same will be done for various other members to make them a mix of their canon selves and in a way that allows them to be part of this world better. Enjoy.
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"You seriously got into East Blue from the Calm Belt...via a Sea King sneezing while you were on top of it?!" Garu asked bewildered as currently he and Lucky were on the ship that had once belonged to the Galley Pirates...after a bit of refurbishing. Originally Lucky had been looking to use the ship he had come with...but in light of the fact that he was aiming to gather a crew...and the fact that his original ship was a tad small...the marines at the base suggested they take the ship confiscated from the Galley Pirates...something Garu agreed wholeheartedly when he saw the ship Lucky had. So after turning the once pirate vessel into something more fitting for a marine, they were soon on their way.
Currently the two were on some smooth sailing, so they had the time to talk, and Garu happened to ask how Lucky came into East Blue from the Grand Line. That lead to the above question.
"Yep!" Lucky grinned. "I was in a bit of a bind when the paddle system on my boat broke, but then those Sea Kings showed up. Yosha Lucky!"
Garu...didn't know what to say. It seemed Lucky really did live up to his name. "There's gotta be a limit to how lucky a guy can get," he couldn't help but say.
Lucky just chuckled at that. "At any rate, now we're on the sea, we should plan to start getting a crew together. Can't go into the Grand Line again without being prepared."
"Technically we could, but still not that great an idea," Garu shrugged. He sure managed well enough so far..even if it did involving jumping ships here and there. "So first things first we'll need to plan the crew."
"We'll definitely need a cook, and a navigator at least," Lucky nodded. "Sure I can read a sea map well enough, and I even got a Log Pose on me, but I'm nowhere close to Grand Line level," he shamelessly admitted.
"I can cook well enough, but we're gonna get bored of the same old dishes VERY fast if you leave it to me," Garu also shamelessly admitted. Neither of them were too proud to admit that they were...ill equipped...for the voyage ahead.
"As for a doctor...I know some basic medical stuff, so as long as it's not some life threatening disease we should be okay," Lucky mused.
"Same here. Had to do plenty of self treatment here and there," Garu agreed. "So which are we gonna go look for first?"
In response, Lucky brought out a map of East Blue and a compass, did a rough check of their location, and did a double take at something. "Huh...convenient," he blinked. "We'll see if we can find a cook first," he said.
"Why is that?" Garu blinked.
"Cause if I'm reading this right, we're actually not far away from the route of the Baratie," Lucky said.
"Baratie? You mean that famous restaurant that's literally also a ship and sails the East Blue?" Garu blinked, having heard of the famed restaurant.
"The same one," Lucky nodded with a grin.
"Good as any place to start," Garu agreed. Not like they were on a strict time table either way. Their job WAS just to patrol the East Blue for now. With that in agreement, the two began making their way to their next destination.
The next day, the two managed to get their hands on some info from a News Coo that came by, so aside from getting a daily dose of what was going on in the world, they also got access to the rough schedule of the Baratie, so they knew where it would be, within a day or two, which fortunately wasn't TOO far away from them even if it did bring them a bit close to the Grand Line...not that either of them were particularly worried.
Along the way though...Lucky brought up an interesting point. "I just remembered, since our unit is sorta independent, we need a name for it," he said.
"Name, huh?" Garu mused, currently using a fishing rod to try and catch some fish. Sure they still had supplies, but it never hurt to see if they could get anymore. "Can't say anything in particular comes to mind. Got any ideas?"
Lucky opened his mouth...then closed it. "...honestly, I'm not sure," he admitted sheepishly.
"You got permission for your own unit and you didn't think to name it?" Garu asked flatly.
"I was too excited to think about the name okay," Lucky said embarrassed.
Garu chuckled a bit. "Eh, we'll think of something eventually. Not like we've done anything to really get known. We literally only just started."
"Good point. Speaking of which, we might want to go looking for more bounties, since that 5 million berries I got from catching the Galley Pirates won't last us forever. They'll last a while, but never hurts to have more ready."
"Once we get to the Grand Line, or at least places around or near it, we're bound to find all kinds of pirates. Shouldn't be hard to go snag the first one we find," Garu shrugged.
"First BAD pirates we find," Lucky corrected. "I know it sounds weird coming from a Marine, but I DO believe some pirates just want freedom to live how they want, so until proven otherwise, we don't make any arrests."
"Don't worry, I believe ya. Heck, I would be having second thoughts if you were one of those 'Absolute Justice' types. A friend of mine used to be a Pirate like how you described and he's a good person," Garu nodded.
"Glad to hear it," Lucky grinned as they continued on their way. The voyage was relatively uneventful, though they'd been able to keep their supplies in control by fishing whenever they could, and rationing the supplies. At this rate they hopefully wouldn't need much before they reached their next destination.
XXXX
Meanwhile, a good distance away at the floating restaurant, Baratie…
It was another busy day as it was the lunch time rush, the chefs busily preparing meals for the various customers. Once again the part time waiters weren't around so some chefs had to be the substitute. That was why it came to a bit of an oddity to some of the patrons when the person serving as their waiter was what appeared to be a a humanoid swordfish with a decently muscular build, albeit one that would have been considered a bit skinny by his kind's standards. He was dressed in an outfit that resembled more of a sushi chef's robes than a restaurant chef, with a cap on his head which had short brown hair peeking out from under it, and a long sharp nose coming out of his head.
Normally this would have been a bit off putting to some customers, but the regulars had seen this character here and there before, and his friendly expression helped to alleviate most of the worries of the other customers. Overall, while it was unorthodox, it was a peaceful enough day for the Baratie...a rarity honestly.
"Welcome to the Baratie. What would you like, sir?" the fishman said politely.
"Ah...uh...I'll try the...lunch special?" the customer said a little nervously.
"Excellent choice. Might I interest you in the the soup of the day to compliment the main course?"
"Well...it does look good, so...sure?"
"Very well, we'll have your order shortly," the fishman said, writing that all down, and quickly going between the kitchen and the tables, balancing taking and delivering orders.
A couple of hours passed, and soon his turn as waiter for the day was over, and soon he was back in the kitchen.
"Great work out there, Spada. Sorry to have you do this on such short notice," one of the cooks, Carne said.
"It's no problem at all. It's unfortunate though that the part time waiters are leaving more and more," the fishman, Spada, said with a sigh, before he was soon at his cooking station, with a decent variety of ingredients nearby. Taking a moment to take stock of his ingredients, and make sure his knives were nice and sharp, he got ready for the next meal rush. True enough.
"An order of Fruits of the Sea Platter for the shity party on table 6," came the annoyed voice of a certain blonde haired cook who found himself subbing as a waiter again.
"Coming right up!" Spada nodded, and with practiced ease and speed, he retrieved the ingredients and began chopping them up and preparing them on the platter. "Though...do you have to put it that way again, Sanji?" he sweat dropped, as he got into the more detailed part of the preparation, though not before sparing a glance at the cook in question.
"Maybe if they weren't such shitty idiots I wouldn't have to talk about the shitty truth." Sanji said easily, earning some sighs from the other cooks.
Spada sweat dropped at that, but didn't say anything, instead choosing to focus on his job. And went another typical day at the Baratie. Seriously, some of them were quite sure it was only the quality of their food that kept customers coming back, or most sane people would have bailed by now.
XXXX
Lucky let out a yawn as he came out of the room, seeing as it was his turn to keep watch again. Seeing as it was just him and Garu on the ship, they'd taken turns keeping watch at night, giving each a couple of hours rest before it was time to switch. This was the last night watch before morning came. "Let's see...if we're going...here...and we've been traveling...we should be...here…" he mumbled as he looked at the map. He was no navigator, but he at least knew how to read a map like any other sailor. If he was reading it right, they SHOULD be there soon enough.
With that in mind, he made sure the boat was sailing in the right direction, and continued onward. The morning was relatively uneventful, all the way till the end of the shift and Garu got out, stretching a bit.
"So, how far we got left?" Garu asked with a slight yawn.
"Definitely gonna reach it today," Lucky said quietly.
"Glad to hear THAT," Garu nodded, before they both began manning the ship. "Hope we can get a good cook. It'd be bad if we go the whole way and come back empty handed."
"Well, we can't FORCE anyone to join if they don't want to. A seafaring restaurant is just the best place to start looking," Lucky shrugged.
"Fair point. I wouldn't feel good if we up and forced someone to help us. That's just not right," Garu nodded in agreement.
Before long they could see their destination. A fish-like ship with a sizeable structure on top with the sign 'Baratie' on it.
"Well, if they were going for the restaurant look, they really did it right," Garu chuckled, as the two soon docked their boat, and entered the building (though Garu once more pulled on his cloak and hood disguise, as he didn't care much for when people gawked and stared).
"And looks like we came at a good time too! Yosha Lucky!" Lucky grinned when he noticed that there were a few empty tables still.
"Welcome to the Baratie," came the voice of what appeared to be a rather burly man who seemed to be a chef judging by the apron. "How may we help you today?"
"Table for two please," Garu said, holding up his fingers.
"Of course, right this way," Patty nodded, leading them to one of the smaller tables so as to fit 2 people. Once they were seated, and quickly given their menus, the two began browsing through the selection. After a few minutes, they both ordered, Garu going for a couple of meat dishes, especially steaks, while Lucky was trying a seafood and rice dish.
Once they'd ordered, Lucky soon got out of the chair he was in. "Hold the table please, I'm gonna go talk to the owner while waiting," he said.
"Don't take too long. I might decided to help myself to your share if you do," Garu joked.
"Then you'd better eat and run fast," Lucky shot back with a chuckle.
Walking to the back, he went to look for one of the chefs...and was rather surprised to find a fishman of all people working here. Not that there was anything wrong with that, he just always thought fishmen usually stayed around Paradise or even the New World.
"May I help you?" the swordfish fishman asked politely.
Lucky realized he was staring and quickly shook his head. "Sorry. Wasn't really expecting to see a fishman around these parts," he apologized sheepishly. "I'm Lucky by the way."
"Spada. It's nice to meet you, and don't worry. I get that a lot," Spada said, waving it off with a light chuckle. "Judging by the coat, I see you're a Marine Captain. May I ask what business you have here, other than dining of course?"
"Well, I was hoping I could talk to the Owner of this restaurant," Lucky said. "Truth is, I'm looking for a cook to join my crew, so I was wondering if anyone here might be interested."
"That...might be difficult," Spada mused. "The cooks here can be rowdy, but we're a loyal bunch. Strictly speaking, Owner Zeff shouldn't have a reason to say no, but that all depends on whether or not anyone wants to come, but as long as you don't force anyone, it shouldn't be a problem," Spada explained.
"Yeah...that sounds fair," Lucky sighed before he walked after Spada and soon found himself in a room that belonged to the head chef, to which he was shown in, revealing a man in his 60s, with blonde hair, a very...impressive...braided moustache, and most notable of all, a peg leg.
"Are you Zeff, the owner of this restaurant?" Lucky asked, keeping his tone respectful.
"Yes, that's me," Zeff nodded. "To what do I owe the visit from a Marine?"
"I'm Captain Lucky. I'm looking for a cook to join my crew and was wondering if anyone here would be interested," Lucky explained.
"That so?" Zeff mused. "Well you're certainly an odd one. Normally I'd expect a marine to demand things rather than ask nicely, so that's got your foot in the door."
"I'm most definitely not demanding anything," Lucky nodded. "I merely ask if you have anyone who would be willing to join my crew."
Zeff thought about it for a moment. "Well...nobody really comes to mind, but you seem like a good sort, so how about this. You can take anyone you want...provided you can convince them to join. Of course, if you try to twist their arms to do it, well...the last marine to demand rudely and unreasonably was thrown out of the Baratie. Flying," Zeff smirked. "Cooks we may be, but we know well how to defend ourselves."
"A cook who can fight? I gotta admit, I like that," Lucky grinned. "Alright, you got yourself a deal," Lucky nodded, extending his hand, to which Zeff took it and shook it firmly. However, that was when Lucky happened to look out the window...and saw a cannonball coming their way. Acting quickly, he pushed Zeff down, and quickly got between the older man and the incoming cannonball, hardening his arms with Haki and using them as a shield, so when the cannonball broke through the room, it was stopped by the hardened arms, pushing him back a bit.
"What just happened?" Zeff groused as he got back up, seeing the cannonball falling to the floor after hitting Lucky's arms, before looking at the hole in the wall of this room.
That was when an arm extended and grabbed the edge of the broken wall, leaving both men looking on in confusion, before a body came flying after the arm, the body seen to belong a young man wearing a sleeveless red jacket and blue shorts, with sandals on his feet, a straw hat on his head, and a scar under his left eye. At the sight of the damage, he jumped in and was soon on his knees and bowing forward "I-I'm really sorry!" he apologized, right as Zeff came up, and when the young man looked up and saw Zeff's leg, his eyes practically bulged out of his skull. "Ah! Your leg!" he shouted in panic, clearly thinking the cannonball had done that.
"You idiot!" Zeff roared, stomping on the boy's face. "Did you really think this happened just now?" Zeff deadpanned.
"What? Oh, it wasn't me?" Luffy asked, relief creeping into his voice.
"Even if it was, nobody gets a wooden leg done in literally 3 Minutes or so," Lucky deadpanned almost tiredly.
Zeff eventually kicked Luffy back with an annoyed sigh. "Repairs are going to be expensive. How do you intend to pay for this?"
The young man got up, looking none worse for wear, something Lucky immediately picked up on. "I'm not gonna bargain with you on that," he started, catching Zeff's attention. "But...I have no money!" the young man said with a straight face, causing Lucky to sweat drop while Zeff seemed...confused...before he smirked.
"Well...that's truly unfortunate," he said. "If you've got no money, you'll have to work it off then."
"Ok, I can do that!" the young man said cheerfully.
"You'll have to work for one year," Zeff said.
"Okay! I'll have to work for one year!" the young man said cheerfully.
"Only then will I forgive you," Zeff finished with a nod.
"O-one year you said?!" the young man suddenly said, his eyes wide, making it clear he only JUST realized what he'd agreed to now. "By one year, you mean a WHOLE year?!"
"...slow," Lucky muttered under his breath, right as he looked out the hole...and noticed the ship with a jolly roger on it. "You're a pirate?" he blinked in surprise.
"Me? Yeah, I'm not just any pirate, I'm the guy who's gonna be the King of the Pirates!" the young man grinned.
"...you seriously said that...to a Marine..." Lucky said flatly.
"Eh?!" the young man gasped, now FINALLY noticing the uniform.
Lucky groaned tiredly with a face palm at that, before just turning around to leave. "So just to be clear, you're fine with me taking one of your chefs, PROVIDED they agree to come fully willingly, no strings attached?" he asked Zeff. Never hurts to double check.
"That's correct. Now, feel free to enjoy the restaurant while I deal with our new chore boy," Zeff said, to which Lucky nodded and soon went back to the main restaurant. When he got back…
"...is that Fullbody?" Lucky blinked, recognizing the pale pink hair and metal knuckles. Lieutenant Fullbody was a marine he'd met a few times in the past, and a rather arrogant one at that. He was also currently having the looks of someone who clearly lost a fight and was currently being held threateningly by the blonde haired young man in a black suit, looking quite livid at him.
"At sea, if you ever provoke your cook, you're signing your own death warrant. Remember that," the blonde man said coldly...before a scaled hand put itself on his arm.
"That's enough, Sanji," Spada said with a frown and shake of his head.
"Stay out of this, Spada," Sanji said.
"Oh, I heard what this was about and I agree," Spada said, glaring at Fullbody. "You shouldn't waste food, especially not like this. But the fact is we're still a restaurant."
Sanji looked at him for a moment, before sighing and putting Fullbody down.
"Good move putting him down, or I'd have made you put him down," came the rather angry voice of Patty. "How many times have we told you NOT to get into fights with the customers?!" he growled. "To a restaurant, customers are everything!"
"It doesn't matter if he's a customer or whatever. He not only ruined our dishes, he insulted us chefs," Sanji said.
"Enough you two," Spada sighed tiredly, putting himself between the two before they could argue further. "Let's not cause more of a ruckus than necessary…"
However, at that moment, Fullbody decided to open his mouth. "What kind of restaurant is this?!" he growled/gasped. "Do you treat all your customers like this? How does it even stay in business?" he glared. "I'll destroy it! I'll destroy your precious little restaurant! I'll contact my superiors right now and have a fleet all pointing their guns at this place!"
The response he got was Sanji looking livid...only for Spada to stop him. "Allow me," Spada said coldly, before turning to Fullbody. Grabbing Fullbody by the collar he was soon lifted up so he was at eye level. "Don't think I wasn't watching. You have SOME nerve putting that bug into the soup, and now you're threatening our restaurant and over what? A glass of wine and a few laughs?" he hissed, looking Fullbody in the eyes, and suddenly Fullbody felt VERY small. "I don't care much for needless violence, but I will say this…" Spada said, and his voice dropped into a snarl. "Even THINK about touching the Baratie, and when I get my hands on you, they'll need to scour the depths of the Florian Triangle and beyond just to find what's LEFT of you. Capiche?"
Fullbody nodded so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.
"Good," Spada's expression went back to its default friendly expression, before he dropped him onto the ground, and casually went to a nearby storeroom...and got a spare table. "I apologize for the disturbance. Please return to your meals," he said to the other customers and went to replacing the table.
"Wh-what is with this restaurant…!" Fullbody trembled. "I won't come back here again. Ever," he said as he started to crawl away….and realizing much to his shame, that he'd peed in his pants a bit.
"Well that was...something," Lucky didn't know what ELSE to call it. "What the heck happened while I was gone?" he asked Garu, who was already halfway through his own meal.
"Heh. You should have seen it. Happened, about a minute after you left," Garu smirked and told him of what happened. Once he was done… "So...if we're gonna go get a chef, can we get the blonde guy with the strong kicks?" Garu said.
"You just enjoyed the show he gave you don't you?" Lucky said in amusement, and Garu didn't even try to hide the truth of those words.
Suddenly, a hole was made in the ceiling, as the owner of the restaurant, and the idiotic pirate that Lucky had encountered earlier crashed through it… right onto Fullbody.
"Oh man that surprised me." the pirate said as he sat up, putting his straw hat back on his head.
"Owner Zeff, what happened?" one of the chefs asked in surprise.
"This restaurant is nuts," Garu said before smirking. "We should come more often."
Lucky sweat dropped at his friend's words, and ultimately decided not to say much about it beyond, "I'll keep that in mind. Both things I mean." and took a bite of his food. "Whoever made this, it's delicious!" he said to the chefs who were still there.
"Why thank you, please enjoy," one of the cooks grinned.
"What the hell is wrong with this restaurant?!" Fullbody groaned as he got out from under the two men. THAT was when the door slammed open.
"Lieutenant!" a marine burst through the door. "The prisoner! He got out!" he said in panic.
"What?! But we haven't fed him or anything since we caught him! How could he possibly have escaped?!" Fullbody gasped, and at the same time, Spada and Sanji looked at him with wide eyes at the declaration, Sanji especially.
"We don't know sir! We thought he could give us a lead on Krieg, but we've already lost seven of our men!" the marine said, some fear in his voice.
"Krieg?" One of the customers said in fear.
"Does he mean Don Krieg? The strongest pirate of the East Blue?" Another customer added, just as afraid as the first, the fear spreading amongst them.
"I'm really sor-" the marine started to say but was cut off as a gunshot was fired, right into his back at that, collapsing forward with his eyes rolled back as the man who did the deed stood behind him.
A new figure stepped into view from behind the man. He was rather ragged looking, wearing an outfit that would appear plain on anybody else, except his own was ragged and dirty, with splotches of blood here and there, the part that stood out the most being the dragons printed on the front, and the headband around his forehead, a short and scraggly beard on his face.
The man lumbered through the restaurant, clearly more than a little out of it, and judging by the growling they were hearing, starving. He lumbered to a table, and sat down. "Food...bring me food. I don't care what," the man said.
"Of course," Patty said, walking up to him. "But first, might I ask how you intend to pay for this, customer?" he asked.
"I don't have any money," the man said with a groan.
The smile promptly dropped from Patty's face. "Well then, that's going to be a problem."
"I said, bring me some food," the pirate growled, and aimed the gun almost drunkenly. However, in his unfocused state, he pulled the trigger by accident, sending a bullet flying into the restaurant to accidentally hit a hapless customer...or that WOULD have been the case if not for a blur, and suddenly the bullet was caught in a hand as black as steel, the bullet soon crushed.
"That's quite enough," Lucky said with a small glare as he walked towards the pirate, who's eyes widened and in a panic, shot several more shots...all of them meeting the same result. However, before he reached the pirate, he was stopped when Sanji stood before him.
"He's starving. At least let me feed him first. What you do next is your choice," he said.
"Out of the question!" Patty growled, moving to throw the man out, only for Spada to stop him.
"A cook's job is to feed people. Money or not, it's still not right to just let someone die of hunger," Spada said.
"He does make a good point, so I don't mind," Lucky said, before noticing the other customers. "But I don't think the other customers want that much."
"Not a problem, and thanks," Spada said as he hefted the pirate over his shoulders and nodded to Sanji who soon went into the kitchen.
Once they were gone, Lucky went over to the fallen Marine, and checked him over. Seems he'd only been knocked out, the bullet not hitting any lethal areas and only sending him in a state of shock. Nothing a bit of rest and proper care wouldn't fix. "What were you thinking, keeping a prisoner in your ship while you're here to...I'm guessing on a date?" Lucky asked flatly at Fullbody.
"Ah...Captain Lucky...I had...no idea you would be here," Fullbody gulped a little, having met him before.
"I'm here on semi official business, but that aside, get this man for some medical treatment. He shouldn't have any critical damage, but he needs help," Lucky said urgently, to which Fullbody nodded and went for his ship. He wanted to get out of here as fast as he could anyway.
Watching him go, Lucky was soon back on his table, digging into his now cold meal. "Well...that was the most eventful meal I've had in awhile," Lucky couldn't help but say.
"But it does keep things interesting," Garu chuckled. "So...saw anyone we might want? You know who I'm going for if we can."
"If it's not the one you're talking about, I think that fishman, Spada, might be a good choice. Friendly, approachable, and you can tell he's pretty strong when provoked," Lucky said with a chuckle.
"So we can have anyone, as long as they agree to join us, huh?" Garu mused. "Sounds fair to me."
"Thought so too. Well, glad you like the restaurant, cause we might be here for a while," Lucky chuckled.