Another Nakama
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, if I did, the 4-Kids dub would've never existed.
A/N: There's an important author's not at the end of this chapter that everyone reading this should read and take note of once they've finished the chapter.
The Don's Offer
---x---
"Wait, don't tell me you're going on board that thing?" Nami asked Ricky as he slipped his shirt over his head. Right now she was too worried to care about seeing the First Mate shirtless.
"I thought you of all people would appreciate some good treasure," Ricky commented as he stood there in his pants, boots, and eye patch.
"What does not wearing a shirt have to do with hunting treasure?" questioned Usopp.
"When a male anime character takes off his shirt it makes him immensely more powerful," Ricky explained. "It's not exactly a law, but it holds true here too." (A/N: Watch Lanipator's Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged on YouTube.)
"Oh," said Usopp, "Wait... WHAT!?"
"I've got treasure to steal," Ricky announced. "And judging from the state of the ship, the crew won't be in any shape to stop me."
"Ricky, be rational," Nami attempted to reason with him, "We can't just climb on board Don Krieg's flagship and steal all of his treasure! That thing's probably crawling with pirates!"
"Pirates that look like they just went through a hurricane," Ricky countered, he removed Akaikyuuketsuki and its sheath from his waist and put it down on his shirt. "Zoro," said Ricky as he turned to the swordsman, "Do me a favor and put that stuff inside for me. My sword doesn't like the water."
"You're really serious about this aren't you?" asked Zoro as he picked up Ricky's shirt and sword.
"That's Don Krieg's flagship," Ricky reminded him. "His bounty's worth seventeen million berries and he's known as the King of the East Blue. He's bound to have something valuable on there. I can't pass up an opportunity like this."
"I guess I can't stop you," Zoro realized. "Just be careful and try to come back alive."
"I'll be fine," Ricky assured him, "but in some chance that I don't make it… you can be First Mate." Zoro smirked then carried the stuff off into the ship.
"Hold on, that's not fair!" Usopp protested. "How come he gets to be First Mate?"
"Do you want to fight him for the title?" asked Ricky.
"On second thought… he can have it," Usopp decided. "I didn't really want to be Captain anyway. I'm happy being the ship's sniper."
"Good," replied Ricky. "Then as the First Mate and resident treasure hunter, I'm gonna have to ask you to buzz off."
Usopp shook his head at Ricky and walked off, if Ricky wanted to get himself killed, he was welcome to. But climbing onto an enemy ship while the enemy was still on it was just insane!
Nami was having similar thoughts, "Ricky, I rob pirates, but even I have to draw the line somewhere."
"Weren't you the one that wanted to go to the Grand Line and steal one hundred million berries from the pirates there?" Ricky inquired. "If you can't handle Don Krieg's ship, you'll never be able to handle the stuff in the Grand Line. Clearly he couldn't."
Nami stiffened but remembered that she told him that and silently cursed the fact that he was the one person on the crew that appeared to have long-term memory. "Going on that ship is suicide," Nami told him. "I'm not going to risk that, I can't afford to throw my life away."
It was quiet for a moment.
"You're leaving soon aren't you?" Ricky suddenly asked, startling Nami.
"No I… how did you know that?"
"Because you collected a lot of treasure," answered Ricky, "Half of Buggy the Clown's treasure, all of the Black Cat Pirate's treasure, a little under half of the treasure I found on that island, and anything else you found before that."
"Speaking of that, where are you keeping your treasure?" inquired Nami.
"There's a barrel in the far corner of the storage room. Inside of it are two hollowed out cannonballs and what's left of the treasure I stole from Fullbody, it's a little over a million berries."
Nami stared at him in surprise, "Why'd you tell me?"
"You need it more than I do," Ricky pointed out with a casual shrug. "Buying a village is more important than anything I could ever do with it. I just hope its enough. You wouldn't risk throwing away a good thing like this if you weren't close."
Nami stared at him, he was giving her his treasure. He was trying to help her. Never in her eight year history as a thief had she met a pirate that had done that.
"Aren't you going to try and stop me?" Nami asked.
"That depends," replied Ricky. "Will you be here when I get back?"
"I need to take the ship while everyone else is gone," Nami admitted. "This Krieg-guy could serve as a good distraction."
"Too bad," said Ricky, "I would've given you anything I got from Krieg's ship."
"Why are you so strange!?" Nami blurted out, causing Ricky to raise his visible eyebrow. "You're not like any pirate I've met before. You and the others… you help people. You don't terrorize people like a pirate's supposed to!"
"That's because you haven't met any decent pirates before," Ricky countered. "But I can't blame you when a pirate's holding your village hostage."
Nami's eyes went wide, "How…?"
"It's obvious," said Ricky. "I just hope he lives up to his end of the deal. If he doesn't, we'll deal with it when Luffy finishes his inevitable fight with Don Krieg."
"Don't be stupid," Nami scolded him, "he'd kill you before you even set foot on the island! You wouldn't stand a chance!"
Ricky just shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "Don't even think about it!" Nami warned him as she poked him in the chest with her finger. "Promise me you guys won't try to fight him. Promise me you won't get yourselves killed."
"I can't do that," Ricky refused. "I don't go back on my word. But I will promise you this, we're Nakama and we'll help you if need us." With that he lunged backwards and flew over the railing and off the boat. He plummeted into the water below the ship, SPLASH!
Nami stared after him as he swam off in the direction of Don Krieg's ship. This was bad, he knew too much and knowing him that wasn't all he knew. Nami needed to get out of here before he had a chance to follow her.
---x---
Inside the Baratie the cooks, customers, Sanji, and Luffy were all getting over the shock of the fact that Krieg wanted the oceangoing restaurant.
"Outrageous!" Carne exclaimed. "Krieg wants the Baratie?"
Meanwhile all the customers were running out the back door in an attempt to escape. They boarded a boat and sailed off as fast as they could, they didn't want to get caught up in this.
But through all the screaming and the commotion, Patty had finally reawaken, "Huh? What's all da ruckus?" questioned Patty as he glanced around him.
"Don Krieg, you swore!" Gin said from the ground.
"Gin are you okay?" asked Luffy.
Patty suddenly looked up as saw Don Krieg standing in front of him, "What's going on?" he wondered.
"My ship's a wreck," Krieg explained, "I need a new one. So when I'm finished with you, I'll dump you. I have one hundred men left on my ship that still draw breath, they're dying from wounds, hunger, and thirst. I need one hundred rations of food and water, you will prepare them. Some have already starved to death, so there's no time to waste."
"You expect us to feed one hundred pirates so they'll regain strength and take over our ship?" questioned a cook, "We refuse!"
"Refuse?" repeated Krieg, "You don't understand. It wasn't a request. IT'S AN ORDER! DO NOT DEFY ME!"
"Sorry Sanji," Gin apologized, "I didn't know…"
"You!" Patty snapped as he turned to face Sanji who started walking passed him, "you got us into this mess! Where are you going Sanji?"
"To the kitchen of course," Sanji replied. "We have one hundred meals to prepare."
"WHAT?" exclaimed all of the cooks.
"Heh, that's right," Krieg chucked.
"Sanji…" Gin and Luffy whispered.
Suddenly the cooks all drew pistols and pointed them at Sanji, "Are you Krieg's bitch Sanji?" Carne demanded. "We can't let you into the kitchen! We're not going along with this. It's an outrage!"
"If you want to stop me, then fire," Sanji offered, as he held his arms up. "I know they're unredeemable villains, but it's my job to feed people, not to judge them. It's not that complicated. If a man is hungry, I feed him. That's a cook's job! So what's the problem?"
WONK!! Patty came from behind and slammed his large forearms into the back of Sanji's head, knocking him to the ground, "Hold him down!" Patty ordered the cooks before turning to Sanji. "Sanji, I know you feed the people I chase off, maybe you're right to do that sometimes. But this time you're wrong. Now you keep still, I'm going to defend this restaurant. He may be Don Krieg but he's just one man. He can't beat all of us!! This is the Baratie! We deal with rowdy pirates everyday! And we know what kind of customer service to give 'em." Patty reached to the side and pulled the cover off of the bulky object he had beside him, it was a handheld cannon. "YOU'VE EATEN! HERE'S YOUR DESSERT! THE MEATBALL OF DOOM!!" BOOM!! Patty fired the cannon and blasted it at Krieg.
But as the cannonball whizzed at him, Krieg didn't move, he wasn't intimidated, "Impudence," Krieg growled as he allowed the cannonball to hit him, KA-BOOOM!! A large explosion rang out and a large cloud of smoke appeared. When the smoke cleared there was no sign of Don Krieg, the doors had been blown off of their hinges.
"Damn, I busted the doors," Patty complained. "The Chef'll have my hide!"
"That's nothing," Carne consoled him. "It's a small price to pay to save the Baratie."
"What about the men on Krieg's ship?" questioned Sanji, who had since freed himself from the cooks that were holding him down.
"I say we smear butter on it and set it on fire!" Patty suggested.
"Sounds delicious, Chef," came a voice as Don Krieg walked back through the door and back into the restaurant. The clothes Krieg had been wearing had been burned to bits and torn off, revealing the gold plated steel armor he had on underneath. The blast hadn't affected him at all. "That dessert was a little heavy for my taste," Krieg remarked, "hardly a four-star meal."
"His body! It's all shiny!" exclaimed Luffy when he noticed Krieg's armor.
"Steel body armor! What a dirty trick!" snapped Patty as he started charging at Krieg, "RUSH HIM!" The other cooks rushed at the Don along with Patty.
But suddenly golden circular panels on Kreig's armor popped up to reveal gun barrels, they were on his sides, on his shoulders, and on top of his gloves, "INSOLENT FOOLS!!" Krieg shouted as he opened fire and blasted the chef. BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!!
"Bullets!" exclaimed Luffy as he and Sanji watched the cooks crash to the ground after getting pelted with bullets.
"No one defies Don Krieg, you worthless scum!" Krieg growled. "I am by far the strongest man in the world! I have arms of steel, stronger than any flesh! A carapace of the strongest wootz steel! Diamond fists to demolish anything! And a built in array of weapons! I command fifty ships and five thousand men! I've never lost a battle! I am the Don of the Pirate Armada! IF I TELL YOU TO PREPARE FOOD, YOU'LL SHUT UP AND DO IT! NO ONE DEFIES ME!!"
---x---
Over on Don Krieg's ship Ricky had reached the treasure hold but stopped and stood in the doorway and stared at the 'guard'.
The starved pirate staggered up off of the floor and shakily stood in front of Ricky, "You're not on this crew… right?"
"Since you're hardly a threat, I'll tell you," replied Ricky. "I'm 'One Eye' Ricky, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire and I'm here to steal your Captain's treasure."
"Uggg…" grunted one pirate as he held his stomach in agony. "Captain Don Krieg… is the Strongest Pirate in the World! He's got a fleet… of fifty ships and five thousand men! He's gonna be… King of the Pirates."
"You make an interesting point," commented Ricky as he stood in front of the pirate. "I'm sure Krieg is plenty strong… but on the other hand…" POW!! Ricky shot out his hand and punched the already weak pirate right in the nose, he crumbled to the ground and went out like a light.
"You have no idea what the rest of the world is like," Ricky lectured the unconscious pirate. "Don Krieg may be strong here in the East Blue but there are pirates ten-times as strong as he is in the Grand Line. You guys clearly found that out first hand." Ricky looked up and noticed the treasure in the room and his eye went wide, "Jackpot."
---x---
"Outta the way, kid," came the voice of Head Chef Zeff. He came out from the kitchen carrying a giant sack and placed it down in front of Krieg.
"Chef Zeff!" exclaimed one of the cooks.
"There's food for one hundred," Zeff informed Krieg. "Take it to your men."
"Zeff?" Krieg repeated in his mind, "Did he say Zeff?"
"Chef what are you thinking?" asked Carne. "If you feed those pirates, they'll come and overrun us!"
"Unless they're all spineless dogs," Zeff commented, causing everyone to turn and looked at him in shock as he turned to Krieg. "You went to the Grand Line and ran scared, eh?"
"Whoa!" exclaimed a cook, "He called Krieg a coward!"
"The tyrant of the Eastern Seas, who commands fifty pirate ships, couldn't handle the Grand Line," Zeff remarked.
"The Grand Line?" repeated Luffy, that's where he was heading.
But suddenly, Krieg had a realization, "YOU'RE 'RED SHOES' ZEFF!"
---x---
Off in a distance, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp were watching the Baratie from a safe distance away. "Looks like things are getting started," Zoro observed.
"Yeah," added Usopp, "Someone just got blown through the door!"
"You two had better check it out," Nami suggested. "Like Ricky said before, Luffy might need some help."
"Y-you want us to g-go over th-there?" Usopp stammered in obvious fear.
Nami was saved from answering by Zoro's response, "Good idea. Usopp, you come with me. Nami, stay here with Johnny and Yosaku and guard the ship. Let Ricky know where we are if he comes back."
Nami nodded with a blank look on her face, "Good luck guys," Nami said as Zoro and Usopp prepared to leave, "Goodbye."
---x---
On Krieg's ship Ricky was still in the treasure hold and had loaded almost all of the treasure in a sack that was half his size but twice as bulky. The only thing left was a thick-looking safe.
"Whatever's in there is worth five times the rest of this," Ricky thought to himself as he stared at the safe, "Krieg went to great lengths to keep it safe, this thing looks like it's really thick. But they haven't made the safe yet that can keep me out." Ricky quickly got to work.
---x---
Steer Clear
---x---
"'Red Shoes' Zeff," commented Don Krieg as he glanced at the Head Chef, "So you're alive. You were quite the unique pirate, the Captain-Cook."
"So what if I'm alive?" questioned Zeff. "What's it to you? I'm now exclusively a Chef."
"Heh! You say that like it was a choice," Krieg laughed. "But did you CHOOSE to be a cook? Or was being a pirate too tough for you? It looks like your Red Shoes days are behind you." Everyone took a moment to glance at Chef Zeff's peg-leg, "'Red Shoes' Zeff, the master of the deadly kick. He never used his hands in battle. His awesome leg strength could smash stone and leave footprints in steel. The blood of your enemies died your shoes, thus your unusual nickname. They say you died at sea… but it appears that you didn't lose your life. But you did lose one of your precious legs."
"I can't fight any more," Zeff agreed. "But I can cook as long as I have these two hands. Now what do you want? Spit it out."
"'Red Shoes' Zeff, you once sailed the Devil's Nest, the Grand Line for an entire year," Krieg reminded him. "But you returned unscathed. You kept a record of that voyage for that year. Give me your logbook!"
"You've been to the Grand Line too, old man?" Luffy questioned, it was starting to look like everyone had been there, Ricky, then Gin and Don Krieg, and now Zeff.
"Aye," Zeff answered Luffy, before turning back to face Krieg. "My logbook, yeah I still have it. But I won't give it to you. For me and the men that sailed with me that book was a testament. I won't give it to the likes of you!"
"Then I'll take it from you!" Krieg decided. "It's true that I did not succeed on the Grand Line, but I am Don Krieg, mightiest of all! Weaklings do well to shun the dark route, but I had plenty of strength, ships, men, and ambition! The only thing I lacked was knowledge. That's what stopped me, I didn't know enough. I'll have that log… and this ship too!"
"You can't have it," Patty refused. "This ship's all we've got in the world."
"Yeah, we've been cast out from everywhere else," Carne added. "Chef Zeff is our savior, he took us in when nobody else would! We won't let you take our ship."
"PUNY FOOLS!" Krieg shouted, "NO ONE CAN DEFY ME! YOU'VE SEEN THAT I'M THE STRONGEST OF ALL! I'LL TAKE ZEFF'S LOG, ASSEMBLE ANOTHER ARMADA, CAPTURE ONE PIECE, AND RULE OVER THE ENTIRE OCEAN!"
At that, Luffy clenched his fist, "HOLD IT!" Luffy interrupted, "I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES! AND MY CREW IS GOING TO FIND ONE PIECE!"
"Chore Boy!" exclaimed Patty. "Stay out of this, kid! He'll murder ya!"
"I can't, not out of this!" said Luffy.
"Did you say something, boy?" questioned Krieg. "Are you sure you don't want to take that back?"
"Nope," Luffy replied, "I'm only stating the facts."
"This isn't a game!" Krieg snarled.
"Obviously," Luffy quipped back.
"Weren't you listening," came a voice, "The Grand Line was too much for Krieg! Can't we just call it off? Going there is suicide!"
"Quiet, stay out of this," someone next to the first person scolded.
Luffy turned around to see Zoro and Usopp sitting together at a nearby table. "Time to fight Luffy?" Zoro inquired, "I'll lend a hand."
"Zoro, Usopp, you guys are here?" questioned Luffy.
"Nami and Ricky sent us," Usopp admitted.
"Of course leaving those two alone on the ship once Ricky gets back might be a bad idea," Zoro commented.
"Well don't worry, I can handle this," Luffy assured them.
Krieg turned to look at Zoro and Usopp then started laughing, "Hahaha, that's your crew?" laughed Krieg. "A little thin isn't it?"
"Wrong, I've there are three more," Luffy told him.
"DON'T COUNT ME!!" yelled Sanji.
"DON'T BE SO COCKY KID!" Krieg yelled. "I HAD A FLEET OF FIVE THOUSAND MEN! IN SEVEN DAYS WE WERE SMASHED TO BITS BY THAT DEMON SEA!" Beside him Gin flinched in terror.
"Seven days?" Patty repeated, "Krieg's Armada was destroyed in seven days! What could have done that?"
"Did you hear that?" asked Usopp who was so scared he was practically crying, "Fifty ships in one week!"
"That's pathetic," Zoro remarked. "Ricky was there for two years."
"Reckless impudence!" Krieg growled, "You're not funny, watch your mouth or I'll kill you right now!"
Krieg turned away from Zoro and glared at the cooks as he hoisted the large sack of meals onto his shoulder, "Now listen carefully," Krieg ordered, "I'll give you one chance. I'm taking this food to the men on my ship then I'm coming back. Anyone who doesn't want to die had better be gone when I return. All I want is the log and the ship. But if you're eager to die, wait for me. I'll kill you then bury you at sea! It's your choice." With that Krieg turned and left, taking the sack of food along with him.
---x---
"Brother Zoro and Brother Usopp went in there," Johnny pointed out to Yosaku, while still on board the Going Merry. They suspiciously eyed the Baratie wondering what was happening inside.
"Yeah, and now everything's gotten really quiet," Yosaku observed.
"Sister Nami, should we go in there too?" Johnny asked. The Bounty Hunter duo turned their attention to the orange-haired navigator, who was leaning on the side of the boat staring at a piece of paper.
"Huh?" Nami said as she turned to face them.
"Are you alright?" Yosaku inquired.
"Oh, of course," Nami replied with a fake smile as she slipped the paper behind her back… it was a wanted poster.
---x---
"Forgive me Sanji," Gin apologized. "I didn't think he would do this. I…"
"It's not your fault," Zeff said. "The cooks helped bring this on us as well."
"Chef, are you siding with Sanji?" questioned Patty, "Are you crazy? He's the guy who started all this trouble. Sanji wants to destroy your precious restaurant." Patty then turned and glared at Sanji, "Don't you Sanji, you'll do anything to become Head Chef! Either that, or your insane, which is it?"
"SHUT UP, YOU MORON!" Zeff scolded him, Patty was instantly quiet. "Have any of you ever actually been truly hungry before? Have you gone for days without food or water on the high seas? Do you have any idea what agony that is?"
"What are you saying Chef?" Patty asked.
"This difference between all of you and Sanji, is that Sanji knows," Zeff said, the blond cook in question was sitting off to the side once again smoking a cigarette. "If you're going to keep moaning, then just walk out the back door and never come back."
In response the cooks only picked up their weapons again. "I'll stay and fight," Patty announced, "I can't stand to let Krieg have his way."
"Me neither! This restaurant is my home," Carne agreed. "Besides, we've got nowhere else to go!"
"What?" questioned Gin, "Are you fools? You've seen what Krieg can do! You'd better run!"
"Gin," Sanji said, "Listen to me. As a Cook, I see it as my duty to feed the hungry. BUT! Now that your crew is well fed, I have no obligation to them. It's with a clean conscience that I can beat every one of them to a bloody pulp. If anyone tries to take the restaurant, they're dead. I'll kill them without a moment's hesitation. Got that?"
"First you feed them, then you kill them?" Patty growled. "Good idea Sanji!"
"Be quiet crap-cooker," snapped Sanji.
"See, he's tough isn't he?" Luffy said to Usopp and Zoro.
"Who cares!" Usopp replied as he prepared to run away. "We gotta get out of here!"
"Relax, they're wounded and starving," Zoro reasoned.
"Besides, I've got to fight Krieg," Luffy resolved. "He's a powerful rival and I'll have to take him down some time." Luffy then turned and glanced across the Dining Room at Gin, "By the way Gin, you said you didn't know anything about the Grand Line. But you've been there!"
"I know nothing at all," Gin confessed, "What happened to us on our seventh day on our journey in that cursed sea… I don't know if it's some crazy dream or reality. I saw things that I can't bring myself to believe. It's almost impossible to believe… for that entire fleet of fifty ships to be eradicated by just one man!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Usopp screamed in terror.
"Whoa!" Luffy gasped.
"Impossible!" exclaimed Patty. "KREIG'S ARMADA WAS DESTROYED BY ONE MAN!?"
"It all happened so fast…" Gin recalled. "As soon as this man appeared he began to systematically sink our ships one after another. If that storm hadn't come when it had, then that monster would've destroyed our flagship as well! I don't know if a single other ship that made it out. It all seems like a terrible nightmare burned into my memory. I just want to forget. Those eyes… they were like a hawk's… sharp and murderous… his gaze alone felt like the cold hand of death…"
At that revelation Zoro's eyes shot opened, "WHAT!?"
---x---
As those of you that have already read the series know, that one man was the World's Greatest Swordsman Hawk Eye Mihawk. Next chapter he follows Don Krieg from the Grand Line looking to finish the job he started. The chapter after that, Zoro faces him looking to make his dream come true sooner rather than later.
As some of you may know, after Zoro's duel with Mihawk the Straw Hat Pirates split up. Luffy is left at the Baratie to fend off Don Krieg and try to recruit Sanji while the others go off after Nami and encounter the villain of the next arc.
Here's the question: Since Ricky leaves along with Zoro, Usopp, and the others, should I skip the fights following the Zoro/Mihawk fight? Here's my reasoning, this story is basically about the CHANGES to One Piece that would happen with the inclusion of Ricky from the beginning. If Ricky sails off and leaves before the end of the arc it WON'T change anything.
However, I know that some of my somewhat regular reviewers are big Sanji fans, so I leave the choice up to you the readers. Should I skip over the fights between Luffy and Sanji and Don Krieg's Crew? Or should I rewrite them even if there will be no changes to them?
I've posted a poll on my profile page. I'll post my decision after the Zoro/Mihawk fight. I'll either skip to the last chapter of the arc and summarize the fights or I'll continue with the rest of the arc. It's up to you to decide.
Until then, the Straw Hats, the Baratie Cooks, and the Krieg Pirates will have hands full next chapter with the oncoming storm.
'Till Next Time…
Peace!