Hey, sorry this chapter is so late. It would have been up about around the end of April, but when my brother got hit by a car, this wasn't really a high priority, and I forgot it was even finished.

No promises on the next chapter. On top of everything that's happened, plus work, I've got a few other fan fiction stories I'm working on that I haven't put on the site yet. Plus, I have a life. So yeah, fan fiction is kind of way down on my list of things to do.

~Chapter 6~

For Luffy, waiting was hard. It was made all the more difficult by his apparent lack of success in recruiting Sanji. The man wouldn't budge.

He tried, after a suggestion from Zoro, to use Kaya and Nami to recruit him, but Usopp threatened to mutiny if he tried to use Kaya like that, and Nami alone was clearly not enough if the way she was acting already wasn't working.

So, he resorted to simply begging, demanding, and implying it was an already made decision.

Luckily, despite waiting three days to change Sanji's answer, there was something else they could do. And Nami couldn't back out of it this time.

Training.

Zoro had made excellent progress, and Luffy found his own power rising in response to the threat Zoro was slowly becoming to him. He'd taught them all the basics of ki manipulation, but for the most part, he told them to stick to enhancing their bodies with ki. Externally used ki was dangerous to the ships after all. And Zoro took to it like a fish to water. From what Luffy could gather, Zoro was probably already using it subconsciously all his life to have gotten so strong so quickly while being only a mere human.

Usopp was just as receptive to the training. He was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone so weak, and Luffy guessed he too must have subconsciously used it to increase his speed over the years. As a result from all his current training, and the use of ki during it, it was having a noticeable effect on his body. His once scrawny twig like arms were getting bigger, and muscle that was developing was well defined.

Jango took a bit longer to understand ki manipulation, but once he'd figured it out, he'd loaded his pendulum with it, and found he could fire off concentrated discs of energy from it, or use his energy to subtly, yet quickly, hypnotize someone.

Jango was the reason Luffy forbade them from practising external ki attacks on the ship. The mast still had a millimetre thick and half an inch long, hole in it from Jango's display.

Kaya was still trying to figure it out, but she was getting better about the movement portion of learning to defend herself. Luckily, the cooks at the Baratie had dealt with poison before, and knew some good recipes that would help with poisoned people. So long as the poison wasn't lethal. Sanji himself took care to make her meals, as he'd learned the best from the head chef when he was just a boy. Sanji estimated she'd be fine with only a week of the meals, which he'd prepare for her when they left, if they left before she was better.

Trying to use that to get Sanji to come with them hadn't worked either, to Luffy's dismay. But he wouldn't give up. He'd made his decision that Sanji would join them. Sure, they'd have to leave to take care of Nami's problem today, but they'd be back.

Nami was the hardest to train, as she was the only one who didn't really want to. Her insistence that she was a navigator and thus too valuable to risk was met with questions of what she'd do if she had to defend herself. That was the only reason Luffy could get her to train at all. But a reluctant fighter wasn't a good one, usually.

And it showed with how slowly she was improving. Even Kaya was catching up with her, and Kaya was still recovering from being poisoned for over a year.

They were having one last breakfast on the Baratie before they'd leave for Nami's home, and thus, it was Luffy's last chance to recruit Sanji for at least a day or two.

"Come on! Please!" Luffy insisted. "What'd be wrong with being a pirate?"

"Nothing, except I'm not leaving!" Sanji countered. "Here's your breakfast. Enough bacon to feed an orphanage for a week, enough eggs to feed an impoverished nation, and enough toast to build a house. I'll be right back with the rest of the tables orders in a moment."

He was over exaggerating the food amount, but Luffy really was a tough one to cook for, if only because of the sheer amount of food he required. His tastes were relatively simple in comparison, for which anyone who'd ever cooked for him was no doubt grateful. If it was edible, Luffy would eat it.

"It's the women, isn't it?" Luffy decided, going with a plan Usopp came up with. "You're secretly gay, and you don't want to have to put on an act for the rest of your life."

"How dare you!" Sanji roared. "I'll show you how devoted the boobies I am! I accept, and I'll totally sleep with Nami!"

Luffy grinned. Nami twitched in annoyance, but tried to ignore it, having no immediate plans on ever letting their new cook complete this stated goal.

Sanji froze. "Ah, shit. I didn't mean it! I was just joking! There's no way I'm going to be a pirate!"

"Too bad, eggplant." Zeff shouted from the kitchen. "Everyone heard you. Unless you want to be a liar. You don't want that, do you? I don't recall ever raising a liar, so if you do go back on your word, I'm throwing you out."

Sanji grit his teeth in anger. "Damn it! Fuck! Fine! Give me a few hours to get my shit ready then."

Sanji stormed off, as Zeff exited the kitchen with everyone's orders, while Luffy inhaled what Sanji had brought him earlier.

"It's about time you figured out how to get him. He needs this. He really does. He'll regret it the rest of his life if he never follows his dream." Zeff explained. "You just promise me you'll take care of him, alright? He's like a son to me."

Luffy nodded. "You got it, old man!"

Suddenly, the front door slammed open, and Gin was back. This time, he had a man over his shoulder.

"Please, I need food for my captain!" Gin said urgently. "I have money this time, so we can pay!"

Patty, another cook, sneered. "Yeah right! That's Don Kreig. You think we're dumb enough to fee him? He'll kill everyone after he's done."

The man, Kreig, coughed, and pushed himself to the ground, on his knees. "Please. I'm begging you. Just one meal."

Zeff had vanished at some point, and Luffy noticed why, as he saw the man walking from the kitchen with a bowl of soup and rice. "Here. Both are light and easy on the stomach."

Kreig had tears falling from his eyes as he mumbled something, and began digging in.

"But... Chef Zeff..." Patty started.

"I will never let anyone starve at sea." Zeff stated simply. "I'll go get started on more food. He's got a hungry crew waiting."

"That's, right. I do." Kreig said, looking much better then he did a moment ago. "And this ship looks interesting. I'll take it too."

Luffy turned to face him, finishing his meal.

"What'd you say, pirate?" Carne, another chef demanded.

"I'm taking your ship." Kreig repeated.

"But, Don! You promised you wouldn't hurt them!" Gin said, shock flowing through him that his captain would go back on his word.

"Shut up, Gin. It'll be the perfect element of surprise. No one would dare think pirates would sail in this thing." Kreig explained. "With my power, and the amount of crew members I have, we're only missing one thing. Information. Fortunately, that was Red Leg Zeff, and he's sailed the Grand Line before."

"Aye, I have." Zeff said, walking back, and dropping a sack in front of Kreig. "Food for about 100. Should be enough."

"I'm taking your ship. And I'll want your logbook of your travels in the Grand Line." Kreig stated.

"No. Go feed your men. I'll kill you when you get back to try and take my ship." Zeff said simply.

"Hmph. The only thing I lacked was information. With your logbook, I'll become the Pirate King." Kreig stated loudly.

This declaration would have captured most peoples attention, in fear, had the room been filled with lesser men. As it was, only the cooks that worked under Zeff and Sanji were shocked at the declaration. Gin was both horrified and awed.

He was awed at the dedication his captain showed to achieving his goals, but horrified at the lengths he was willing to go, even breaking his own word to his first mate. He was unsure how to feel about this. Whether he should be impressed that his captain would do whatever it took to reach his dream, or insulted that he, the closest person to his captain, was just as worthless to him as anyone else.

But all of those feelings of Gin's, and the feelings of fear felt by the cooks, were ground to a halt by the childish snort of a teenager.

Luffy, the one who'd snorted, looked at Kreig mockingly. "You're wrong, you know? I'm the one who's going to become the Pirate King. And I'll tell you why. You started all wrong. You built the army, and then tried to take the throne. I bet a power core never even occurred to you."

"What'd you say, brat?" Kreig glared.

Luffy smirked at him and spoke as if explaining to a child.

"Allow me to educate you. When taking a throne, you must first start by building a power core. People who are close to you, and powerful enough to stand next to you on the battlefield. People you would trust to stand next to you. You can go after the throne while building that core group, or after you've built it, but it's important that it's reasonably developed before you start going for the throne in earnest. Once you start making some headway for the throne, that's when you can begin recruiting the army. The people who'll trust you to rule them fairly. I mean, we're pirates so that's subjective, but even a Pirate King needs some morals. With both your power core and your army, you can delegate control of the army to your trusted members, and focus on bigger things without fear. Without the power core, you've got to watch over the entire army, which means less time planning for other stuff. It limits you. One it's all set up though, that's when you strike for home and take the throne. And that throne is mine. I will be the Pirate King. Consider me the Pirate Prince if you want, cause it's already been decided that the throne is mine. I'm just on my way to the coronation ceremony."

"That's not funny, brat." Kreig stated, just as angry at the declaration as he was angry at being spoken to like a child, by, what he considered, a child.

"I wasn't laughing." Luffy countered, the look in his eye leaving no room for argument.

Kreig sneered, to cover the hint of fear he felt at that look. "You've all got ten minutes. Once my men have eaten, I'm taking control of this ship."

Sanji came back down. "What's this about someone taking control of the ship?"

Patty filled him in swiftly, as Kreig left.

"I see." He stated, before turning to Luffy. "Tell you what. You help defend this ship and get rid of Kreig, and I'll join you without complaint."

Luffy looked to Nami.

Nami sighed. "Fine, but hurry. We definitely have to be out of here before lunch.

Luffy smirked.

He walked out of the restaurant, his crew following him. Not even ten minutes later, they heard cheering and roars of approval coming from Kreig's rundown ship. Men began pouring out of the ship, with Kreig following behind a large group of them, Gin next to him.

"Are you all ready to die?" Kreig sneered.

"Are you?" Luffy threw his words back at him, dropping into his fighting stance.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but he felt there was someone really powerful nearby. Stronger than even him. He wouldn't be able to just mess around this time, like he had before. This person was on his grandfathers level. He didn't know how he knew this, but, somehow, he did. What he didn't know was where they were.

Before the battle could begin however, the massive wrecked galleon was split in two, and Luffy's eyes widened as he turned to look at the source of power he had sensed, that had, for a brief moment, become focused. Through the spray of seawater, and over the sounds of cracking wood and splashing, and screams of terror and surprise, his eyes locked onto the owner of the massive power. Pitch black eyes, devoid of any sense of display of emotion, contrary their owners face, stared into the hawk-like eyes of the ship-destroyer.

A massive black blade slipped back into it's sheathe, the owner's eyes leaving Luffy's to look at everyone else, as if Luffy wasn't worth his time.

His pride damaged at the subtle and unconscious dismissal, Luffy's anger raged forward.

Before he could act on it, Kreig's crew roared and screamed insults and obscenities, before someone fired off a shot. Luffy's eyes followed the bullet as if it flew in slow motion. And faster than he could see, the bullet vanished from his view, with a black blur.

Zoro spoke, having realized what happened.

"The galleon... it was cut in half." Zoro spoke, drawing the attention of the powerful man, and Luffy. "Those eyes, and that sword... and the grace with which you deflected that bullet... there's no doubt about who you are. You're Dracule 'Hawk-Eyes' Mihawk, aren't you?"

Mihawk spoke, a voice rich and mature with culture and experience. "Some call me that, yes. Who is it that is asking?"

"My name is Roronoa Zoro. I'm impressed with the way you wield that massive sword." Zoro stated, eagerness barely restrained in his voice.

"A swordsman who has no grace with his sword can not be called a swordsman. Power alone gets a man nowhere." Mihawk stated.

"I agree. Listen, I'm going to kill you. Not for any stupid reason like revenge though. I'm going to become the worlds greatest swordsman, and the current owner of that title is you."

"Is that so? Very well, I do have some time to kill. I was going to spend it terrorizing this pathetic crew some more, but playing with some weakling swordsman sounds even more amusing." Mihawk agreed, pulling his cross necklace off and revealing it was a tiny blade. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I have no smaller weapons.

Zoro scowled. "Don't mock me!"

"I'm not. I'm just not the sort to hunt a rabbit with a cannon." Mihawk informed him simply.

With that Zoro rushed Mihawk in a rage.

Yosaku swallowed nervously, and Johnny voiced their worries. "Can brother Zoro actually win this?"

"No." Luffy stated immediately. "Zoro is going to die."

His crew looked at him sharply. "What?"

His pride wouldn't let him admit it, so he worded it differently. "That man could probably make me really work for a victory. I still haven't fought Zoro seriously yet myself, and he still hasn't beaten me. That man is going to kill Zoro."

Nami shouted. "Then get in there and help him!"

"And have him hate me for the rest of his life?" He asked.

He'd never outwardly admit that if he did try to help Zoro, all he would accomplish is giving Mihawk two lives to take instead of one. It pained his pride to even admit it to himself. Admitting it to others would probably cause him physical pain

"Zoro is the sort who would never forgive someone for interrupting something like this. This is his dream. If we stop this fight here and now, it'll be like we're denying him his dream." Luffy explained. "And I know full well that if anyone of you tried to stop me from completing my dream just because it might cause my death, I'd kill the person who tried to stop me. Our dreams are what we live for. If we can't even put our lives on the line for them, then we ourselves aren't worthy of having those dreams."

Nami didn't understand. She still didn't, as far as she was concerned, this was just stupid manly pride.

Kaya understood. It saddened her, but she understood, because she knew Usopp was the same way, and she would never deny him his dream, knowing it would kill him inside.

Jango didn't understand. He once did, but he had long forgotten what it was like to dream. But those words were reminding him.

Johnny and Yosaku understood, not because they got what Luffy meant, but because they knew Zoro would rather die than be saved in a one-on-one fight between swordsmen. In a skirmish, or all out war, it would be different, but not in a one-on-one fight for honour like this.

Sanji was listening to this, and was somewhat amazed at how far Luffy, and even his first mate, were willing to go for their dreams, without throwing their allies under the proverbial ship. Knowing this, it was easier to accept that he'd stupidly agreed to join this crew in defence of his sexuality. His dream was the same as his mentors. Putting his life on the line for his dream would be worth it.

Everyone, even Kreig and his crew watched as Zoro proved how far ahead of everyone else he was, and as Mihawk proved how pitiful everyone, including Zoro and Luffy, were in comparison were to him.

Usopp noticed this. "Luffy... could you beat Mihawk if you gave it your all?"

Luffy frowned. He never wanted to admit it, but he hadn't considered his Oozaru form. He'd never fought seriously in that form, not even against his grandfather.

"In this form? Probably not. If I transformed, it'd be tough, but... I think so." Luffy admitted. "I'd be a much bigger target, but I'd also be ten times more powerful."

"What do you mean transform?" Usopp asked.

Luffy frowned, before remembering that, while he'd explained that he was a saiyan, he never once mentioned the transformed state of the Oozaru to them.

"I'll explain later." He promised, as Zoro was impaled on the tiny knife of Mihawk's.

"Why do you not step back?" Mihawk asked, his voice silencing anyone who might have been talking.

"I dunno. I feel like, if I did, I'd be giving up on everything I've ever held close to me. That I'd be abandoning every promise I've ever made. That I'd never be able to face you again if I did." Zoro explained, as the words came to his head. A stream of consciousness turned into words.

Mihawk nodded his head slightly. "That's what they call defeat."

"Yeah? Well, I'd rather die then admit defeat." Zoro told him.

"Is that so? I've underestimated you." Mihawk said, replacing his knife-cross necklace with his large black sword. "You are no mere wannabe swordsman. You are a true swordsman, and I've insulted you by not treating you as such. Come, I will finish this with my greatest weapon. The greatest sword in the world, Yoru, wielded by the greatest swordsman in the world."

Zoro nodded. He prepared himself to use his ultimate technique. "Let's end this then. Three Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds!"

Mihawk needed no special move for this. He simply swung.

Zoro's two blades in his hands shattered on impact, while the blade in his mouth nearly flew out of the grip his teeth had on it. As it was, his neck and mouth became sore from the exertion he felt from forcing himself to hold onto it. His grip, neck, and the sword itself, all too great to break from the impact of Mihawk's, admittedly, half-hearted swing, caused his head to be twisted to allow Yoru, Mihawk's blade itself far too great shatter in response to the resistance Zoro showed, to pass him by.

He dropped the useless handles in his hands, and tossed the two useless sheathes for them away, drawing Wado's sheath, and putting the weapon away. Holding the weapon, sheathe and all, in one hand, he turned and held his arms open wide as he face Mihawk head on.

Mihawk blinked, wondering if he'd truly found a real swordsman.

"What are you doing?" he asked, hope barely tracing the edges of his voice.

Zoro explained. "Wounds on the back are a swordsman's shame!"

Mihawk displayed his first bit of emotion since he'd arrived, smiling as if he'd just stumbled upon the greatest of all treasures, as he raised Yoru. "Magnificent!"

And then he swung, and Zoro's world went red as he was blasted into the sea.

"Brother Zoro!" Yosaku and Johnny dove in to rescue him.

Luffy, heedless of the danger roared in rage, and launched himself at Mihawk. No one noticed, but not once did he need a platform to bound off of to continue on his path towards Mihawk, despite the vast distance between them, and his horizontal trajectory. Nor did they notice that he'd stopped in midair when his first punch missed, only to turn around and swing again. Not even Luffy noticed this, as his feet hit the ground again, and he swung unleashing all his rage.

Mihawk simply sheathed his sword and dodged as if avoiding a child's temper tantrum. "He's still alive."

Luffy halted, turning towards Johnny and Yosaku, who'd fished Zoro out of the water.

"Captain!" Zoro shouted, raising his sword high. "I'm sorry I lost. I swear to you, right here and now, I'll never lose again! Is that alright with you, Pirate King!"

Luffy's grinned, his anger gone. "That suits me just fine!"

"Pirate King?" Mihawk asked. "You've even bigger goals than your friend. Impressive. I came here to kill time and get through another boring day. Instead, I've had a truly wonderful day. I thank you for that."

Mihawk bounced over to his coffin shaped ship, with all the effort one might put into taking a step forward.

Kreig was having none of that. "Hold on a moment. You might be done here, but I'm not done with you!"

Mihawk scoffed, and slashed the water, unleashing torrent of water on him. When the wave subsided, Mihawk was just a dot in the distance.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted. "Two hours until lunch. That's how long we've got."

Luffy nodded. "Alright."

He raced back over to them. "I'm offering this to anyone who doesn't wish to die. Get lost. Swim back to shore. You'll have better luck swimming back to land than you will staying here and fighting me."

No one took the offer.

"Kill him!" Kreig shouted. "Kill them all! Don't harm the women though. They've still got some use."

Gin looked at his captain at that implication. "Captain... no. We can't do that! At least let them die too!"

Kreig back-handed him. "Are you questioning me, Gin?"

Gin shook with anger. "I... I..."

Whether the anger he felt was at himself, or at his captain, he didn't know. What he did know was that with the display today, his captain had proven only one thing to him. He wasn't the man Gin had thought him to be.

"Tell me, captain... why did you save me that day?"

"What? That should be obvious. To have a loyal powerful man under my command. But you've proven to be useless if you won't even follow orders." Kreig sneered.

Gin roared and swung with all his might, as he rose to his feet. The tonfa in his hand, with a cannon ball-like tip, crashed into Kreig's face sending the man into the sea.

Had Kreig not been a fearful coward at heart, he would have been able to swim to the surface and fight back. But he was, and he couldn't.

Wearing massive steel armour, and loaded down with all sorts of hidden weapons, Kreig sunk like a brick. Without time to hold his breath, Kreig had no air in his lungs to hold, and had instinctively tried to grab some breath when he realized this, getting nothing but water in his lungs. He was unconscious long before anyone even thought to go after him, and too deep to rescue by the time anyone did think of it. And too heavy for anyone except the injured Zoro, and water-weak Luffy to rescue to begin with.

Kreig's crew turned on Gin immediately. "Traitor!"

They attacked, and Gin barely managed to fight back in time.

Before he could be overwhelmed, Sanji and Luffy broke through them. The fight was entirely one-sided.

"Gin." one of the crew members said simply, glaring at him with nothing but a wrathful look in his eyes. He was large, easily ten feet tall, and had huge shields on his arms, back, and stomach. Each embedded with what seemed to be huge pearls.

"Pearl." Gin said sadly. "I'm sorry. Please, stand down. I don't want to hurt you."

"Allow me." Sanji stated. "I need to show the captain what I'm made of."

Pearl was strong, but Sanji was much stronger. Even with Pearl's fear of bleeding sending him into a berserker's rage, Sanji crushed him, knocking him unconscious, inside five minutes of fighting, without even getting injured. Most of it was just a display of his fighting style.

Gin sighed after the battle was done. "I'll load Pearl and the other unconscious men on a boat, and put the dead on what's left of the galleon, and burn it down. I guess I should take Pearl and the others and try and lead what's left of Kreig's crew."

"Or you could come with us. They consider you a traitor now, right? I don't think they'll listen to you. Leave the crew to that shield guy." Luffy said, holding his hand out.

Gin swallowed. "Why? Why do you want me on your crew?"

"Multiple reasons. You seem strong. You're a good guy. And you're not afraid to hit your captain when you feel he's betraying your trust." Luffy explained. "Most importantly, you know how to lead a large group of men. I eventually do plan on recruiting a large group of pirates, and having someone skilled at leading large groups already will be very helpful. You'll not only be useful to me, but you'll be necessary to help the command structure. I can't promise you'll be happy, but I can promise you'll be needed and appreciated for what you do. Most importantly, if you've got a dream, I not only want you to try for it, I demand that you do your best to achieve your dream. If you can't agree to that last bit, then tell me right now, so I can retract my offer."

Gin smiled. "I guess it's my best option. Alright... I suppose I can join you. My dream isn't very complex. All I want is to feel like I belong somewhere."

Luffy grinned. "Welcome aboard, Gin."

Zeff spoke up. "Thank you for your help, brat. In appreciation, Sanji is going to load up your kitchen with some food from our stores. I wish you luck on your journey kid. Not that you'll need it, eh?"

Luffy's grin, though it seemed impossible, got wider at this. The wonders of being made of rubber.

Two hours later saw Luffy and his crew leaving the Baratie Floating Restaurant. Nami making sure they'd make the absolute best time to get to her village

"When we get close to Cocoyashi village, you guys need to hide inside." she stated. "Otherwise, the Arlong pirate will think I've betrayed them, and sink the ship before it gets close, and just bring me back there on my own."

"But you did betray them." Luffy pointed out.

"Which I don't want them to think!" Nami shouted. "We need the element of surprise, or else not only will I be in danger, but my village will be too."

"There's still about a week till we get there." Luffy said suddenly. "The deadline is a day or two after that, right?"

"Yes."

"Then we've got a week to train. You're training too this time." Luffy told her. "Kaya, you can alternate between taking care of Zoro, and following Nami's sailing directives, okay?"

"Yes, captain!" Kaya nodded, still working on stitching Zoro's wound.

"How long until he's healthy again?"

Kaya shook her head. "I don't know. Even if you and him weren't battle freaks who healed abnormally fast, I'd still be unable to tell you that. I doubt he'll be fighting fit by the time we get to Cocoyashi and Arlong Park though."

Luffy nodded. "Alright. Everybody else, get to the main deck. We're going to go over the training schedule this week, and then Sanji can make us lunch. Once we're done eating, we'll get started on training."

"Aye, captain!" came the response, varied in wording thought it was.

"This time next week, I want us to be eating sushi!" Luffy roared, getting grins of approval from Nami, Sanji, Gin, Yosaku, Johnny, and Jango, while Usopp and Kaya pondered whether or not it would be a form of cannibalism, since fishmen were vaguely human-like.

Either way, this would be the first real test he and his crew would face as a crew. And that just made Luffy all giddy inside.

~Chapter End~

Still feel like I'm doing something wrong with Sanji, but I'm hoping as time goes on, I'll get better with him. I hope you can bear with it for now, or that perhaps I'm not doing something wrong with him, and I'm worrying for nothing.

I know Gin is overdone as a recruit in stories where Luffy recruits more people, but hopefully my reasoning for it is understandable, cause he does have experience leading a lot of people, even if Kreig didn't trust anyone but himself, so Gin will be able to teach Luffy and the others how to do so when and if they ever recruit a large group of pirates.

Here are the power levels for characters who fought in this chapter, for those curious.

Luffy: 3,400

Zoro: 2,400

(Injured) 200

Gin: 1,115

Pearl: 900

Kreig: 1,000

Mihawk: 7,050,000

Sanji: 1,114

For those who care about power levels, yes, that means Mihawk is literally more than 2,000 times stronger than Luffy at the moment. In fact, he's about 2,073 times stronger than Luffy. And he's not even the strongest guy in this series. But of course, Luffy is a saiyan in this, and we all know the kind of strength he gained in Canon. And saiyans gain strength much faster than humans.