There was now a stand-off between the chefs of the Baratie and Krieg and the remainder of his pirates.
Hiccup was standing on the railings and turned his eyes to Zeff. "Okay, you promised that if I take care of these pirates that my debt to you will be paid."
"That's the deal," Zeff nodded. "I see saving my restaurant from a gang of hooligans is more than efficient of a chore."
"That's put it mildly," Hiccup smiled.
Zeff looked at him curiously. "So, kid, you said that you were going to be King of the Pirates, were you serious?"
"I was," Hiccup nodded.
"I've seen a whole lot of pirates in my day, but you're the first to state his desire so clearly and without doubt."
"I imagine you probably have better blot of pirates, considering you used to be one, right?" Hiccup looked at him curiously. "So, tell me what was your goal when you started out the life of a pirate?"
"I do my best to forget about the past," Zeff admitted. "I am the owner of Baratie now and that is quite enough for me."
Krieg meanwhile was rallying his men to his cause, no doubt realising that several of them were quite nervous after the arrival of Hawkeye.
"Men, if we can capture that ship, the Grand Line will be ours for the taking," he said pointing at the restaurant. "No more pretending to be Marines all raising the white flag of surrender. None of our enemies will suspect that we're a threat with a ship like that, in that though they will always be a sneak attack."
The pirates began to nod in agreement.
"He's right, that boat would come in handy."
"No one would think that pirates were in such a ridiculous-looking ship."
However some of the pirates was still uneasy about returning to the Grand Line.
"But Krieg, even if we enter the Grand Line again using that vessel what if we come across someone like Hawkeye again? Then what we do?"
Krieg looked at him in frustration and immediately shot him. "I really appreciate the input, sailor. Anything else?" He then pointed his pistol at the other pirates.
"N-No!"
Krieg narrowed his eyes at them. "Do you think any ordinary man can cut up a sailing ship like that? That man probably has the power of the Devil Fruit. Although all those with Devil Fruits powers are rare and legendary to us, I assure you they are commonplace on the Grand Line. Hawkeye must have used some sort of strange power when he sliced our ship to ribbons, one where on the Grand Line those powers won't be special even that freakish runt will be considered normal."
He then clenched his fist and looked directly at Zeff. "That old geezer, Red Foot Zeff, sailed those seas for a year. It stands to reason that he had strategies in dealing with those monsters, the techniques of surviving that parade of weirdos must be written in the old man's logbook along with clues to the One Piece."
The pirates began to smile.
"I see, you're a genius."
"All we have to do is to get that logbook and the ship, then we'll be able to find our way to the One Piece again."
"You hear that boys, now let's get to it! The restaurant will be ours!" Krieg roared.
All the pirates immediately cheered.
Gabriel and Zale then made their way to the figurehead and then sat down in a few seats inside of it.
"You pirates go will have to get through us first," Gabriel smiled.
"We must protect the ship, no matter what happens," said Zale.
The two of them then place their feet on top of some pedals, but they were completely flummoxed by the buttons and levers.
"Now how does this thing work?" Zale pondered.
"Hurry up!" Gabriel yelled.
Ragnar sighed. "This restaurant will be a battlefield."
He then began to remember as a kid that he had sailed on a ship which was sailing through a rough storm. The sea had been so powerful that it had knocked him off the deck of the ship.
"In times like these make you reflect on your life," said Zeff's voice. "I think that I was meant for something else, I think if I can make it out of this life I'll build a restaurant as my final purpose. A restaurant is my final purpose."
Ragnar then turned to one of the cooks. "Go to the control room and open up the fins."
The cook stared at him. "What? No, that's a bad idea. If we do that we would be giving the enemy a foothold."
Ragnar then tapped the restaurant. "And that's just fine, we've got to do whatever it takes to keep those guys out of this place. If they destroy the inside then the old man will complain forever."
Zeff narrowed his eyes. "Did you just say something you brat?"
"You heard me," said Ragnar and then turned to the cook. "Now go."
Cook nodded. "Yes, sir."
The pirates then came rushing in and Hiccup began to make his move.
"I hope you guys already, because I'm coming for you," said Hiccup as he flapped his wings and flew into the air.
The pirates immediately panicked as they saw him heading towards them.
"He's coming this way!"
Hiccup then began spinning into a barrel wall. "Barrel Roll! Multiple Blasts!"
Hiccup then fired a rise of plasma blast's that it me that struck the pirates like ducks in a shooting gallery. Krieg looked at him in annoyance as his men fell into the sea one by one, Hiccup soon straightened out and hovered right in front of him.
The cooks just smiled in admiration.
"Did you see that? Go, kid!"
The pirates were completely winded by the attack.
"What's up with that guy?"
"Yeah, he's crazy."
"I see that Hiccup hasn't lost his stuff," said Ragnar.
"Ragnar, you should pay special attention on how that boy fights," Zeff advised. "Don't take your eyes off him for a second until this fight is over. Is that clear?"
Hiccup was hovering in midair looking down at Krieg.
"Let me get this straight you are attacking the restaurant that gave you food, looks like I'm going out to teach you some manners," said Hiccup folding his arms.
Krieg laughed. "So you want to fight over the water where there's no place to stand, huh? A bold move from someone like you, the Devil Fruit has taken your ability to swim, hasn't it?"
"I don't see how that has any bearings on your situation," said Hiccup bluntly. "In case you haven't noticed I'm able to fly over the water so I say I'm the one with the advantage."
Meanwhile the chef from earlier had managed to reach the control room.
"Ragnar, here comes the fins!" he yelled.
He then pulled down on the lever activating a mechanism and then suddenly the water began to stir ferociously. Then from out of the water to wooden platforms emerged like a pair of fins on a fish.
"What is this?"
"Now we have somewhere to fight them."
Ragnar then stepped onto the platform calmly. "My cooks and I will never give up defending this place so you can expect a hard fight."
Krieg smiled. "I see, good plan bringing up all that extra decking genius. Now we don't have to take the fight inside, I would hate to damage my future ship and make no mistake it will be mine."
The cooks and made their way onto the platform or them holding weapons.
"We will never let you have the restaurant!"
"That's right, we mean business," said Gabriel's voice.
"We're battle cooks, now!" Zale yelled.
Suddenly the restaurants figurehead detached itself from the ship and then three large cannons emerged from its mouth. Gabriel and Zale were inside pushing down on the pedals to make it move and began to guide it towards Krieg.
"Set sail Mackerel Head One, the Baratie's secret weapon," Gabriel smiled.
"So, if you want to live I would suggest running away now!" Zale yelled.
Krieg didn't look very impressed. "What is that thing?"
"No idea," Hiccup admitted.
"Paddle faster!" Gabriel yelled at Zale.
"No you paddle faster!" Zale yelled back.
They then positioned themselves towards the pirates and aimed the cannons directly at them.
"Fire!" Gabriel ordered.
They can instruct what was left of the ship causing many of the pirates began to panic as the remainders of the ship began to sink beneath the waves. The cooks on the restaurant cheered for them enthusiastically.
"Yeah, get them!"
"Yeah, get them guys! Get them! Blow them away, you can do it!"
Gabriel was laughing as they demolished what remained of the ship.
"Keep your eyes on the prize, Gabriel! This one counts!" Zale yelled.
Gabriel nodded. "Right." They then began to turn the ship towards Krieg, who just stood there. "Krieg, say your prayers! Little did you know that this Sea Restaurant Baratie had a powerful weapon just waiting to be unleashed!"
They then fired the cannons directly at Krieg, but he merely raised his hand and blocks the attack. Then he caught the ship just before it rammed into the wreckage of the galleon.
"What happened? Did we bump into something?" Gabriel asked.
"We're not moving!" Zale yelled as he pressed down on the pedals as hard as he could.
"I am Krieg, the man that will rule the oceans!" Krieg roared.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's going to be me," said Hiccup narrowing his eyes.
"I don't have time for these stupid games! Yet out of here!"
Krieg then immediately lifted the boat into the air with his bare hand.
"No way! He's so strong!" Gabriel stared.
Krieg then send the ships flying into the air towards the restaurant causing a bit of panic amongst the chefs.
"It's coming straight for us!"
"The restaurant, oh, no!"
Ragnar then jumped into the air so high that it looked as if he was flying and he was heading straight towards the falling boat. Then to everyone's amazement he stopped it with a kick and began heading straight towards the fins.
"Ragnar!" the cooks cheered.
Krieg was utterly astonished by Ragnar's technique. "No way."
"I see hasn't lost his stuff either," Hiccup smiled.
The pirates were completely astonished from what they just witnessed.
"He's got legs of steel!"
"He kicks back that crazy boat just like it was nothing."
"Very impressive," said Krieg reluctantly.
"Nice one, Ragnar," said a cook.
"They think they were impressed with his kicks, wait until they see how he shoots," Hiccup smiled.
The only two that weren't impressed by this display was Gabriel and Zale and the two of them had just climbed out of the wreckage and they were pretty annoyed with Ragnar.
"What's the deal?" Gabriel roared.
"Are you trying to crush your friends?" Zale glared.
"So you would have preferred if you wrecked the restaurant?" Ragnar asked raising an eyebrow.
"I'll shut up you crazy fool!" Gabriel muttered.
"And quit acting so cool, you wouldn't be so smug if you had killed us," Zale glared.
"All right ladies, do you think you can wrap this up another time?" said a voice. "We have business to attend to."
They turned and saw the pirates has climbed onto the fins and all them had drawn their swords.
"Get them!" a cook yelled.
He and a few other cooks in charge of the pirates, but they merely sliced or crushed their weapons with their swords and clubs. They then sent the cooks flying against the railings, it was easy to see that they were completely outmatched.
"You guys still don't get it," said a pirate. "Even well-armed you're still cooks and we're expert fighters that are way out of your league. So, why don't you be good little cooks and run along to a safe to restaurant, perhaps one on land, huh?"
"Come on, guys, why are you letting them beat you up so easily, huh?" Zale yelled.
"And you still call yourselves fighting cooks?" Gabriel roared.
"Well, these pirates are really good. They're totally different from the ones we fought before."
A pirate glared at them. "It's insulting that you compare us with that average riffraff. We are the great Krieg Pirates and we are the absolute rulers of the East Blue!"
"Let it be known to all that this garish boat already belongs to the great and powerful Krieg Pirates," said Krieg.
Ragnar merely smiled. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, you and your cronies will never set foot in our restaurant."
Zeff nodded. "He's right, men!"
"You know what, "said Gabriel as he picked up a harpoon. "I've been a cook or my life, I have worked at a lot of restaurants and got fired from them all from scuffling and living hard."
"And after years of wondering we finally found a home here," said Zale.
10 years ago a very young Gabriel and Zale were looking for jobs is cooks and eventually made their way to the Baratie.
"Anybody here?" Gabriel yelled as he and Zale burst into the restaurant. "This is a restaurant that owned by a guy named Red Foot Zeff, right?"
"Hey, we found this damn cook wanted sign, is it true?" said Zale holding up a flyer.
The only ones inside the kitchen were Zeff, who was peeling the potatoes, and a young Ragnar, who was busy cooking.
"Yeah, it's true," said Zeff without turning round to face them. "But you need to understand that this is no ordinary restaurant. It really doesn't matter who they are or where they come from, if someone comes in hungry we will feed them until they're stuffed. Do I make myself clear? Can you handle that?"
"Sir," said Gabriel and Zale saluting.
Soon they were wearing the uniform and began cooking, Zeff was watching them and immediately tasted this suit that Gable had been making.
"I wouldn't serve anyone slop like this!" he yelled tackling Gabriel's head with a ladle.
Gabriel then punched Zale out of the blue.
"Hey, why did you hit me?" Zale yelled.
"Share victory share defeat," said Gabriel simply as he placed him in a neck lock.
Back in the present Gabriel and Zale were smiling at the pirates with glee.
"We like fighting and cooking. So, this place is perfect for us" said Gabriel.
"That's right," Zale nodded. "There's no other place like this."
Ragnar looked directly at the pirates. "You hear that? Now that is true fighting spirit!"
"Committing ourselves to cooking and fine conceding day in and day out is a fierce battle," Gabriel continued. "Compared to that, these pirates are nothing."
The cooks nodded and began to pick themselves up.
"He's right, yeah."
"Let's fight!"
Gabriel and Zale then immediately led the charge.
"Protect Zeff!" Gabriel roared.
"Protect the restaurant!" Zale yelled.
The two of them then knocked the pirates aside as if they were bunch of bowling pins and soon the fighting commenced.
However, a beefy man began swimming towards the restaurant, he was wearing armour completely encased his body and was holding a pair of small hand shields. Engraved upon the arm and shield were pearls and he was even wearing a large one on top of his head.
Suddenly, something hard struck Gabriel and he was sent flying.
"What the hell was that?" said Zale startled.
The armoured man began to lift himself onto the deck and then he flexed something. A split second later something struck Zale and he was not the deck just like Gabriel.
"Just what do you guys think you're doing?" said the armoured man.
Hiccup blinked. "Who's that?"
The man laughed. "So, let's do this, but before we begin it's only fair that I give you a warning. I am Pearl the invincible shield!"
The pirates beamed upon seeing him.
"Yeah, it's Pearl!"
Zeff looked at Gabriel and Zale. "Gabriel! Zale! Are you boys okay?"
"I'd say that pair is far from okay," said Pearl. "Those two have just experienced my Pearl Surprise, one of my signature punches you bumbling pathetic idiot."
A pirate then approached Gabriel and saw his kitchen knife. "Hey, look at that," he smiled as he grasped the knife. "Nice knife, I think I'll take it."
Gabriel then immediately grabbed hold of the knife and tried to seem as the pirate couldn't loosen his grip.
"What? Come on, let it go! I said give it to me!"
It was then that he noticed that Ragnar was looking down at him with a dark expression and a split second later he kicked him hard in the face. The kick was so hard that the man was sent flying and slammed into another bunch of pirates. The kitchen knife began spinning into the air and Ragnar courted perfectly in his hand.
The pirates were sent flying until they slammed right into Pearl's armour and they struggle so much force that they were knocked unconscious.
Hiccup smiled. "Ragnar's iron hard kicks never cease to amaze me."
Ragnar then glared at the pirates. "Kitchens knife is a cook's soul! How dare you filthy pirates tried to desecrate one with your grubby little hands!"
Gabriel winced as he looked up at Ragnar. "Ragnar."
Ragnar then handed in the knife. "Just stay down and hang on to this." Gabriel took the knife and nodded. "I'm going to teach these bozos a lesson."
The pirates immediately charged at him with their swords drawn.
"You must be out of your mind if you think we're going to be beaten by a mere cook!"
Then as quick as a flash Ragnar immediately grabbed his pistols and aimed them at the pirates. The sound of gunshots were heard and the pirates collapsed to the ground one by one, each and every single bullet hit in the exact same place on each individual pirate.
"I'll show you mere a mere cook after I fflé every one of you bastrds," said Ragnar darkly.
Pearl scoffed. "How very impudent of you to defeat them all with just with your kicks and your guns. Am I to be impressed by that?"
"I'm a cook remember, I couldn't do my job very well as I've ruined my hands in battle," said Ragnar as he raised one of his legs. "Which is why I have created a fighting style that relies only on my legs and pinpoint accuracy with my bullets."
"Is that so, I'm sorry to disappoint you but you won't leave a scratch on me," Pearl sneered. "I'm a hundred percent invincible you see, I have one of my 65 battles completely and totally unscathed. It is quite remarkable really, no one has ever shared a single drop of my blood in battle. No one." He raised his shield is gleefully. "Now do you see my power?" He then began slamming the shields against one another. "I might very well be a gentleman, but I am not gentle. Got it?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be a joke, because it wasn't even a little bit funny?"
Krieg then began spinning a wrecking ball around and looked directly at Hiccup, whose back was turned at the time.
"Dropping your guard is a good way to end up dead you brat!" Krieg yelled and tossed the wrecking ball directly at him.
Hiccup turned around in time to be struck with the wrecking ball and it sent him flying towards the restaurant.
Pearl was still looking at Ragnar with absolute confidence. "Even battleships cannons don't work on me. I come out from any attack completely unharmed!"
Hiccup then slammed into the back of Pearl's head and he landed on the ground next to Ragnar. Hiccup began lifting himself up and dusted himself down.
"It's a good thing my scales are harder than iron or else that could have turned out nasty," said Hiccup.
Pearl just stood there and it appeared the contact from Hiccup and created a nosebleed. With his fingers he began to examine the blood and he looked utterly horrified.
Krieg groaned. "This isn't good."
The pirates immediately panicked upon seen the blood.
"Blood!"
"No!"
"Pearl, don't worry!"
"It's only a nosebleed, Pearl!"
"We know that it's not a battle wound!"
"So just keep calm, okay."
Pearl looked utterly flabbergasted and horrified upon seen the blood. "These people aren't just mean… there dangerous."
Everyone was confused and was wondering why they were so panicky about a simple nosebleed.
"So, uh, mind tell me why everyone is freaking out?" Ragnar asked.
Hiccup shrugged. "Why would they be worried about a simple nosebleed?"
Pearl then began slamming his shields together in a panic.
"Calm down! It's just a nosebleed, don't lose your cool! Relax!" Krieg yelled.
Pearl did not relax, he just kept on slamming his shields together.
"What is that guy doing?" Ragnar asked in confusion.
"Danger! Danger! Danger!" Pearl yelled repeatedly. Suddenly his entire armour was entirely consumed by bright blue flames. "Danger!"
The pirates immediately panicked upon seen this.
"Oh no, it started!"
"When he gets upset, he catches fire!"
Hiccup looked at them. "Come again?"
"Fire Pearls Special Treat!" Pearl roared and immediately fired several pellets covered in flames in all different directions.
Hiccup and Ragnar barely avoided them, the pirates on the other hand weren't so lucky and were panicking as they try to put themselves out.
"Perish in my flames, with my shields and this inferno I am invincible!" Pearl roared.
Krieg groaned as he saw the flames consuming the fin. "That moron! We need that ship and he's going to destroy it!"
Hiccup looked at Ragnar. "All this for a nosebleed? Overreact much?"
"You're not kidding," said Ragnar.
The pirates in the ocean could only watch as the flames consumed the fin.
"Oh no, were either going to burn or drown."
"This isn't good, the restaurant is going to catch fire."
Ragnar narrowed his eyes. 'Not on my watch.'
Ragnar then immediately jumped into the ring of fire, which was the only place not consumed by flames as Pearl was standing there.
"Wait, you'll get burnt!" Gabriel yelled.
"There's no way let you torch our dreams!" Ragnar yelled and then slammed a powerful kick against Pearl's shoulder.
However, the armour he was wearing a saw the impact. Ragnar then quickly jumped back to avoid getting burned from the flames.
"That guy is either brave or dumb," said a pirate.
"That cook is going to burn."
Pearl looked at Ragnar in bewilderment. "But these flames scare everyone away!"
Ragnar folded his arms and smirked. "Well, if I was scared by fire I wouldn't be a very good cook would I?"
Pearl looked at him furiously. "I hate him! I hate that defying gentleman!"
Ragnar merely just stood there calmly and then quickly stood on his hands and dealt another's devastating kick. This time he struck Pearl in the face where there was no armour to protect him or flames. The attack was strong enough to knock Pearl to the floor much to the astonishment of the pirates.
"Whoa, he got in good."
"Yeah, he just broke through Pearl's invincible wall."
Pearl picked himself up and was now much more furious than he was to begin with. "You foolish cook, you're totally insane! I'll… kill… you!" He then crossed his arms over his chest. "Fire! I need more fire! Fire Pearls!"
Then just like before he unleashed another barrage of flaming pellets and they were aiming directly at the restaurant or more precisely the entrance.
"No, the whole boat is going to burn!" a pirate panicked.
A cook looked a bit frantic. "If the blaze gets to the kitchen the ship will explode."
Zeff merely stood at the entrance, in fact he hadn't moved an inch from it since the battle began.
"Move Zeff!"
"Get out of there! Run!"
Zeff did not move and instead spun around on his one good leg. He swung his peg leg around creating an updraught which immediately put out the flaming pellets they fell to the ground harmlessly. Everyone was utterly amazed with the way he dealt with Pearl's attack.
Pearl just stared openmouthed. "What? No way, he put out my Fire Pearls?"
Zeff just stood there. "Fire Pearls, hey? That's kid stuff."
"Wow, a gust from his kick put out all of those flames," said a cook astonished.
"Impossible!" a pirate yelled in bewilderment. "I don't believe it! Red Foot Zeff, is still just as strong as ever!"
Hiccup smiled. "Way to go, old man. I'm impressed."
Krieg wasn't too pleased with this development immediately grabbed the chain of his wrecking ball. "So, it's finally come down to this, huh? I've got no choice, I have to smash the fins or else the boat will burn."
He then began spinning the wrecking ball over his head and immediately launched it towards the fin more precisely where both Ragnar and Pearl were standing on.
"Ragnar, watch out?" Gabriel yelled.
"He can't escape, he surrounded by fire," said a cook.
Ragnar could only stand there was the wrecking ball got closer and closer towards him, Pearl too was panicking. Then emerging right through the flames was Hiccup in his dragon human form which clearly shielded him from the heat.
"The chore boy!" a cook cried.
"Dragon Fist!" Hiccup yelled slamming his fist into the wrecking ball.
The impact of his punch sent the wrecking ball strictly back to Krieg much to everyone's amazement and it slammed into the massed of his wrecked ship. The mast then began to tip towards the fin, Hiccup and Ragnar moved out of the way, but Pearl, whose back was against the mast, was unaware of what was going on. As a result the massed struck him right on top of the head knocking him out cold.
"Pearl is down and he's not get backup this time!" said a pirate.
"No, Pearl!"
"Well, that's one way to take down the invincible shield," said Ragnar.
"We should have watched his back," said Hiccup.
Krieg was now furious. "You want something done right, you've got no choice but to do it yourself."
Suddenly everyone heard a yell coming from the entrance belonging to Zeff. They quickly turned and saw Squall standing over Zeff, pinning him to the ground with his foot.
"The battle ends right here," he said as he aimed a pistol right at Zeff's head.
"Shot him! Do it now!" Krieg ordered. "All we have to do is kill the geezer then the restaurant will be ours!"
No one dared to make a move as they knew that Zeff's life was in the balance.