Hello friends! Okay, I intended for this chapter to have the fight between Zoro and Mihawk, but decided against it. So that will be next chapter while this one sets up few things. See if you can guess what. Enjoy!
Gin's Growing Doubt! The Krieg Pirates' Doomed Voyage!
Chaos; that's what followed. All of the customers flew into a panic and ran for the rear exit, taking boat after boat in order to get as far away from Krieg as possible. Meanwhile the cooks were very scared, especially Patty who woke up to see Krieg standing up and giving demands.
"I'll make this short," He said. "I have one hundred starving men on my ship. Give me enough food to feed all of them right now."
"No way!" Carne yelled. "We're not going to feed your crew only for them to ransack us!"
"You must've misheard me. That wasn't a request, it was an order. And if you don't follow it I'll kill you all," Krieg growled.
"Dammit Sanji, this is all your…Hey where are you going," Carne yelled.
"To the kitchen. I've got a hundred people to feed," Sanji said as he walked away.
"Heh, looks like one of you can follow orders," Krieg said with a smirk.
But as Sanji walked away, he was suddenly surrounded be all the cooks who now had pistols pointed at his chest.
"What are you? Krieg's pet?" one of the cook's demanded.
"Who's side are you on anyway!?"
"If you really want to stop me, then go ahead and pull the trigger," Sanji said calmly with his arms spread wide. "My job as a cook is to feed hungry people, no matter how rotten they are. Is that so wrong?"
WHAM! Patty clasped his hands together and hit Sanji hard in the back. He then ordered two other chefs to restrain Sanji as he fell to the floor.
"Sanji, you've always snuck food to every one of the bastards that I kick out of here," Patty said. "Sometimes you're right to do that, but this time it's definitely wrong. You messed up so you're going to stay right there while I protect the Baratie alone. He may be Don Krieg, but he's only one man. Taking care of pirate scum is nothing new to us."
With that he pulled out a lobster shaped bazooka and aimed it at Krieg.
"If you liked that food, then I hope you left room for dessert. MEATBALL OF DOOM!"
The bazooka was fired, and the giant cannon ball was sent hurling toward the pirate admiral.
"Impudent…" Krieg muttered.
BOOM! Krieg was hit head on and the explosion sent him out of the restaurant and tore the doors off their hinges.
"Damn, I broke the door. The Head Chef ain't gonna like this," Patty muttered.
"He'll understand if it's to protect the Baratie," Carne assured him.
"You call that garbage desert?" came the voice of Krieg from within the smoke.
Not only was he fine, with only his shirt burned off, but now he revealed mounted guns on what appeared to be gold colored armor.
"No way…" muttered a shocked Patty.
"That was the worst desert I've ever tasted… SO DIE!"
And with that, Krieg fired his guns releasing about 14 rounds quicker than anyone could see. The chefs scattered in a desperate attempt to avoid the bullets, inadvertently letting Sanji get back up. As soon as Krieg stopped, he began to rant.
"I am the strongest in the world! These powerful arms gifted with immense strength," he said as he flexed his right arm. "The armor I wear is made out of wootz steel, the strongest metal in the world! I have diamond-knuckled gauntlets that can smash through anything, and a massive arsenal of weapons at my disposal! I am Don Krieg, commander of fifty battle ships each with a hundred members! If I tell you to do something, you should do it without question! Don't you dare oppose me or I'll-"
"OH, SHUT UP!" Luffy screamed.
All heads snapped from Krieg to Luffy, all of them face-faulting.
"Kid are you crazy?!" Patty yelled. "Didn't you just hear what kind of man power he has?"
"What's your point? Look at where that got him in the Grand Line. What good does having that big a crew do you if most of them are weaklings?"
Krieg snarled at this declaration, unaware that Gin was struck by these words.
'Now that I think about it, most of them were pretty weak. In fact aside from Krieg, only two of us have any real battle expertise.'
"You brat. I'll kill you for your-"
Krieg stopped in mid-sentence when Zeff dropped a massive bag of food at his feet.
"You needed food for a hundred men right? Well here it is," Zeff said.
"Owner Zeff! What are you doing!?" one of the chefs exclaimed.
"Yeah! If they regain their strength they'll ransack the restaurant!"
"That's if they still have the will to."
"What?"
"Was the Grand Line too much for you?" Zeff asked looking at Krieg. "It was so rough that you ran from it, didn't you?"
"NO WAY! YOU MEAN EVEN DON KRIEG COULDN'T HANDLE IT?!"
"You…You're Red-Leg Zeff!" Krieg said after realizing what the cooks called him. "So you are still alive."
"So what? As you can see, I'm just a simple cook now."
"I can see that," Krieg said with a grin on his face. "You're no longer the Red Leg Zeff of legend. You were a fearsome pirate and cook who never once used his hands in battle, instead you used all types of kicks to defeat your opponents. Your leg strength was so great that you could break bedrock and dent steel."
Zeff remained silent as Krieg talked.
"Everyone says that you died in a shipwreck along with the rest of the crew. It seems even though you survived, you lost one of your legs in the process. That means you no longer have the power you once possessed."
"I wouldn't say that I've lost my power," Zeff said as he lifted his hands. "As long as I have my hands I can still cook. Besides, legs aren't important when it comes to cooking. Now where are you going with telling everyone my life's story?"
"You've been to the Grand Line old man. Not only that but you sailed those blasted waters for a whole year and returned safely. As the Captain you must've kept a log book of your journey. Give it to me right now!"
"My log eh? Well you're right that I kept it. Surprising since it was in my cabin that day. But I ain't giving it to you. That book is a testament to me and my crew when we traveled together. Handing it over to the likes of you is out of the question."
Krieg's smirk turned into a snarl at Zeff's answer.
"Fine then. I'll take it by force! I had the essentials going into the Grand Line; power and big crew, and ambition. What I lacked was information. Unlike the fools that usually go there I was never afraid of it. I simply had to make a tactical retreat. But with that log, I will rebuild my crew and go back to Grand Line where I'll reign over this era as King of the Pirates."
"Now wait just a damn minute," Luffy spoke up pointing an accusing finger at Krieg. "First of all having that log book won't do you any good if you just repeat your mistakes and second I'M the one who will be King of the Pirates!"
"Ha! What do you know kid? You really think your crew can do better than mine?!"
"He sure does and so do we," come the voice of Nami as she, Zoro and Usopp walked up to Luffy.
"You Krieg Pirates can't be all that good if you have to resort to skullduggery," Zoro said.
Krieg just looked at them with a glare before breaking into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is your crew boy!? They're just a bunch of kids!"
"Actually I have another."
"How many times do I have to say I'm not part of your crew!?" Sanji yelled.
"Humph! I'd love to shut you up right here and now, but I have a hundred men to feed. If you all know what's good for you, you'll leave now or I'll kill you all."
With that Krieg picked up the bag of food and walked out of the restaurant.
"I'm sorry Sanji," Gin said while clutching his shoulder. "I had no idea it would come to this."
"You don't need to apologies," Zeff said. "Everyone here does what they think is right."
"Owner why are you defending Sanji?"
"Yeah! He's the one you got us into this mess!"
"You're working Krieg aren't you Sanji? You want to take over this restaurant!"
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Zeff exploded, silencing all in the room. "None of you chowder-heads know what you're talking about! You don't know what it's like to be starving on the open ocean. But Sanji does, he's actually experienced it."
"H-he has?!" a stunned Patty muttered.
"If all you're going to do is gripe, then just walk out the door."
"We're not leaving, Head Chef," Carne declared as he lifted his kitchen knife.
"Yeah. This place is our home. Those damn pirates won't take it."
"Everywhere we've ever worked, we've been fired for fighting. But here we can cook and fight to our heart's content!"
"Have you all lost your minds!?" Gin demanded. "You just saw how strong Krieg is and you still want to fight him!?"
"Listen to me good Gin," Sanji said with a cold look in his eyes. "My duty is to feed people and it's generally not my business what they do after that. But if anyone does what your captain just did, then I'll kick the loving shit out of them. That includes your mates and you."
"Gin, are you sure Krieg is that strong," Luffy asked. "What exactly happened while you were at the Grand Line?"
Gin face turned to one of horror.
"I-I don't know. None of it seems real. We had no idea where to go. We pretty much sailed aimlessly for six days. On the seventh day, we were slaughtered. That entire fifty ship fleet was utterly destroyed by one man."
"WHAAAT!?" the cooks exclaimed.
"One man?!" Nami repeated.
"T-t-that's terrifying," Usopp stuttered.
"Had it not been for that storm, the flag ship would have been destroyed too. Up until that point, I had full confidence that Krieg could and would conquer anything. But we were so outclassed…the minute I saw that man it felt like we were already dead. That man with the eyes of a hawk…"
"What?" Zoro asked shocked.
"There is only one person in the world with eyes like that," Zeff said. "It must've been ol' Hawk-Eye."
"Hawk-Eye?" Patty asked.
"The description is proof enough. Having eyes of a hawk coupled with destroying fifty ship so quickly, there is no other person it could be."
"But who is Hawk-Eye?" Carne asked.
"He's the man I've been looking for," Zoro said. "I originally set out to sea to find him. According to Johnny he frequently visits this place but…"
"Never seen a Hawk-eye in here, but there was old 'red-eyes'."
"Yeah the poor bastard got so drunk his eyes turned red. Then he lit himself on fire. 'Twas a beautiful sight though."
"Dammit Johnny you gave me the wrong information," Zoro muttered.
"What the hell did you do to piss of this guy so much," Nami asked.
"Nothing at all! We didn't do as much as wake him from a nap and he just attacked!"
"That's the kind of place the Grand Line is," Zeff said. "The impossible happens there on a daily basis."
"Shishishi. That's sounds exciting," Luffy said.
"Come on aren't any of you scared at all?" Usopp asked.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Nami said. "But I'll push that aside if it means making sure my friends don't get killed."
"The lady is smart but the rest of you are idi-"
Sanji stopped in mid-sentence Nami suddenly had her bo-staff at his neck.
"Do not call my captain stupid for his dream." Nami said in a warning tone leaving everyone stunned at her defensiveness.
"My deepest apologies miss," Sanji said quickly.
"You'll see Sanji. We'll conquer the Grand Line. But first we deal with Krieg, I'm not about to let anyone take away the title King of the Pirates from me," Luffy declared.
Zeff smiled at Luffy's conviction while Gin was shocked at the Straw Hats comradery.
'They can't have been together very long, yet the girl is willing defend her captain from a verbal insult? Hmm… maybe I can use this battle to see whose bond is stronger,' Gin thought.
Meanwhile, back on the flagship, Krieg had fed all of his crew and told them they would return to the Grand Line. When one of them objected, Krieg shot him dead in the chest. Needless to say, the rest of them immediately agreed to attack the Baratie. And so both side were gearing up to battle when suddenly.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
"CAPTAIN THE SHIP IS LISTING!"
"MY GALLEON SHIP IS SPLIT APART AND LISTING?! THAT'S IMMPOSSIBLE!"
The crew of the Baratie scrambled to move the floating restaurant out of the way of the whirlpool that was created by the ship's destruction.
"Oh my god! What happened?" Nami wondered aloud.
"I don't know. It's like someone cut that ship in half." Usopp said.
They got their answer as they look further out at the sea. They saw what looked like a coffin shaped boat with candles on the edges that burned with a green fire. The mast looked like a crucifix and there was only one seat for a passenger. As for the man on this boat, one would only have to look at his eyes to know who it was. The piercing eyes of a hawk…
"It's him," Zoro said. "It's Hawk-Eye Mihawk!"
There it is folks. This should give you an idea of what I'm going to do with Gin in later chapters. Please read and review. See you soon.
