Aren't I good to you guys? I got into a writing mood Sunday night and BAM here we go. It is a tad bit short than usual, but it's more of a gap chapter/episode. Next chapter we start getting into the ass kicking!
As always enjoy!
The chef's of the Baratie were as confused by Zeff's actions as the Monkey siblings were, maybe even more so. Leo was able to piece together what she had gathered into a general idea of what was going on, which Luffy was then able to read through the smallest changes in her expression and body language. Growing up Ace would often comment how freaky it was that the two were able to read each other so easily and so deeply. He often accused them of hiding weird 'twin telepathic' powers from him, ignoring Leo when she pointed out that that was impossible and they weren't twins.
"What's the meaning of this? What are you thinking?" the bruised and bloodied chef's demanded as Zeff turned and walked away from Krieg
"If his crew gets better, they'll take over the restaurant!" they tried to reason
"Only if they've got the guts" Zeff responded, turning to smirk mockingly at Krieg, "Isn't that right? Mr couldn't-get-through-the-grand-line?"
That shitty old bastard! Krieg was going to enjoy crushing him under his boot,
"N-no way!" One of the younger chef's gasped, not believing his ears, "Even Don Krieg couldn't get through?"
What kind of horrid place was the Grand Line?! For a man as fearsome and powerful as Don Krieg to fail...how did anyone ever stand a chance in those cursed waters?!
"Even the King of the East Blue, with his 50 ship fleet couldn't get through?!" Ok from now Leo was calling that chef Carne...it was annoying not knowing any of the chef's names beyond Sanji, Zeff and Patty.
"The Grand line?" Luffy voiced,
"Obviously he's not so great if after one attempt he scrambled back here with his tail between his legs" Leo muttered to her brother.
"You" Krieg breathed heavily, eyes wide in horrified realisation, "You're Zeff the Red Leg! So you're still alive eh?"
"Course he is, he's gonna live another hundred years at least" Leo couldn't help herself, the window was there and she had to dive through it. She shrunk back as the chef's snapped their heads towards her in disbelief, now wasn't the time to be back chatting a dangerous pirate was always time to back chat up themselves, over-hyped cowards...they just didn't know it yet.
"The captain as well as the cook, one of the greatest pirates in history" For his part Krieg ignored the tiny little bug, he wasn't even worth his attention, not when there were bigger fish in the pond.
Leo was growing ever more concerned about the number of 'historically significant' pirates she had literally never heard of.
"I'm alive, so what?" Zeff shot back with an unimpressed glare, "It's none of your concern. As you see, I now make my living as a cook"
The old cook's words brought laughter to Krieg's belly, this was going to be even easier than he originally thought!.
"That's a nice way of saying it" he grinned nastily, "Because from the looks of things, it's not that you chose to be a cook, rather it's the only thing you're able to do."Ok now he was just getting lazy, seriously? Picking on the peg leg? He couldn't even be bothered attacking his abilities as a captain or a chef. Hell he could have even gone for his age ot his weird ass long braid moustache...but nope he took the lazy route and went for the peg leg.
"I've heard about Zeff the Red Leg. He's an expert at fighting without his hands. His legs are so strong that they could break rocks, or even leave a footprint in iron. He earned the name 'Red Leg' from his shoes, dyed red with the blood of his enemies. But it seems that you've lost that ever-so-precious leg of yours." Again with the leg? Did this man have no imagination. He then grinned smugly, "I heard a rumour that you had an accident while sailing...For you, losing a leg means you can no long do battle."
Leo frowned, where on earth did he get that idea for. She glanced down at the cooks wooden leg, she didn't know what kind of wood it was made from, but it must have been very hard and sturdy...he managed to kick Luffy through the floor after all! And Sanji into a table...he had even thrown a few kicks her way when she had started to get annoyingly underfoot in the kitchen while shadowing her brother (years of having Garp for a grandfather was the only thing that saved her skull from being dented by the death stick) Besides his other leg was perfectly fine..and it was his balancing leg as well, which was just as important as your kicking leg.
"Why would I need to fight" Zeff shot back, "I don't need my feet to cook, as long as I have a pair of hands" he held out his arms to illustrate his point, "Just cough out what you really want to say" Obviously Zeff was also getting tired of the pirates long winded beating around the bush,
Kreig just let out an amused huff,
"Zeff the Red Leg, I know that you're the only man who's come back alive from the Grand Line." not true...Shanks had been to the Grand Line and he came back alive, funny enough his most serious injury had been in the 'safe' East Blue, "You must have kept a journal of that voyage...Hand it over!"
Zeff narrowed his eyes at the cocky upstart, did this arrogant worm think he was really going to just hand his precious journal over because he demanded it? Oh he had another thing coming if he did.
"Not bad old man!" Luffy praised, "So you've been to the Grand Line too?" Of course that's what Luffy latched on to...to be fair, Leo was still stewing over the whole 'only man to return from the Grand Line alive' comment.
"Kinda." Zeff indulged the chore boy, "Indeed I have this journal, but I'm not giving it to you." Krieg's smug grin dropped instantly, yeah take that you shiy bastard, "That journal isn't just mine, it's the pride of my entire crew. It's far too valuable for the likes of you."
"Then, I'll just have to take it from you. True I couldn't get through the Grand Line...But behold, for I am Don Krieg, the greatest" Leo couldn't help but snort at the statement, only the weak and cowards went around trying to convince people they were strong, "I was strong enough to make it through. I had enough ammunition, enough ambition...the only thing I lacked was information." ok sure having ambition was great, but were was the drive behind it? You could have the biggest dreams, the biggest guns and the biggest crew...fuck it didn't matter how much information he had! The result was going to be the same! Leo let out a frustrated huff, why were adults so stupid?
"That's the only reason why I failed"
"You failed because you're a coward!" Leo couldn't stand to listen to this bullshit any more, gods what was it with pirates and long winded speeches? Was this some requirement that she didn't know about? Because nearly every pirate (and bandit for that matter) they had encountered had some sort of speech...maybe she should plan one.
"What was that?" A vein started to bulge in the large man's forehead, "Who dares call me a coward!"
Half of Luffy wanted to cheer his sister on, to watch her verbally tear this man a part. The other half (the protective heavily Sabo and Ace influenced big brother side) wanted to hide her somewhere where she couldn't say or do anything to get herself badly hurt...he wasn't entirely sure which one was going to win out. For once the smarter idea won as his hand went to her wrist, squeezing it urgently. Leo made a frustrated noise in her throat, snapping her jaw shut. She would hold off...for now.
Satisfied that he had frightened whoever it was who dared insult him back into their place, he turned his full attention back to the old man,
"I must have that journal! And organize another pirate fleet to get that One Piece! Then I'll become the Pirate King!"
Leo turned her head to her brother with large pleading eyes, Can we please put this gut in this place now?! The answer was an easy one for Luffy. Now was not the time to be a brother, now was the time to be a captain! Nodding his head, Leo nearly burst with glee as she grinned widely. Stepping aside she allowed her brother to pass her, sticking her hands in her pockets she followed close behind. She stood to the side, but was in very clear view, while Luffy continued forward to stand in front of Don Krieg, Luffy placed one hand on his hip while pointing at the older pirate,
"Hold on right there bud!" Luffy announced, "The one to be Pirate King will be me!"
"Do you honestly think a coward like yourself could ever be Pirate King?" Leo snorted, "Like fuck! That's our title!"
The siblings statement sent ripples of shock and disbelief through the chef's. Such a statement coming from one as powerful as Don Krieg was no real surprise, but to come from their clumsy unseemly waiter boy? And his tiny brother? And what the hell were they thinking going up against Don Krieg?!
"Hey! Get out of there waiter boy! The fuck are you two thinking?!" Patty cried out, "Even if the two of you fought him, you're no match for him!"
"Oh I'm not going to be doing the fighting" Leo smiled amused, "I'm not immune to bullets like Nii-chan. I'm just here to irk and irritate. And keep any potential low life bastards from interfering. This one's all yours Luffy" she called out.
"I can't do that" Luffy informed Patty, "Leaving things as they are"
"We can't just let people go around making wild and untrue statements about becoming the Pirate King" Leo stared at Patty like he was an idiot, "They'll get the wrong idea thinking they have any chance at the title"
"What did you say boy?" No one was sure wither Don Krieg was addressing Luffy or Leo at this point, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that.."
"You don't have to" Luffy cut him off, "I'm just announcing the truth"
"And you can pretend all you want" Leo slipped naturally, "It's not going to do you any good because we'll keep shouting it to the heavens."
"This is no game" Kreig warned them seriously.
Leo snorted as her brother replied for them a grin never leaving his face,
"Of course it's not. We're going to be the one's who'll get to the Grand Line!"
"And we're the one's who're going to find the One Piece" Leo finished.
Sanji watched in fascination, the way Leo instinctively moved to cover his brother's back while he faced Don Krieg...the way Leo's taunts and Luffy's bold statements flawlessly flowed together...as if it were one person speaking instead of two...Ever since he heard the words 'co-captain' he felt the burning curiosity to see if those words held any weight in reality...and here was his opportunity.
"That's not funny you brats!" Krieg shouted, "It may have just been a lack of information, but even a fleet of 5000 men was defeated in seven days! What makes you think you can make it?!"
"Sev-seven days?!" Patty gasped out
"Krieg's men only lasted seven days?!" Carne stuttered out,
"They only lasted a week because they're all weak willed coward!" Leo snorted, Luffy made sure to carefully watch Krieg for any sudden movements,
"Say that again you little bastard?!" So this was the runt who had been insulting him? He almost laughed it was so funny,
" .Cowards" she repeated much more slowly, like she was explaining this to child, "You hide behind thick shiny armour, and fancy weapons because you're too scared to actually put yourself in dangers way. You're not willing to place risks. You expect the world to just bow before your 'power'. And then the moment the world pushes back you crumble, like sand." She kept pushing, kept poking the holes in his mental armour, "You found out that you're not as big a fish as you thought you were, sure in a tiny sea like the East Blue you seem big and powerful...but out in that ocean? You're nothing more than bait fish!"
With every jab Krieg found himself growing more and more furious, who the fuck did this half bite runt think he was?! Screw old man Zeff, this little punk he was going crush. Right after he blew the runts brother off the face of the planet,
"You're playing a dangerous game runt...you call me a coward, and yet here you are hiding behind your brothers back!" he spat
"Oh I'm not hiding" Leo grin grew, "I'm just letting the better fighter take the lead."
"Tch, then I should do him the honours of destroying him first"
"If you think you're up to it" Luffy moved into his 'about to kick ass' stance, taking over the lead.
"What?!" These two were really starting to piss him off, "Very well then. You want to be sent to the next world?"
The shoulder plates of his armour hissed as they lifted open, revealing the hidden guns beneath them. Leo inched slightly more to the left, suddenly realizing that maybe challenging another pirate when she had yet to replace her hammer wasn't a very bright idea...it was the main reason she was stepping back to allow Luffy to take the full lead...if he didn't have that damn armour she may have been fine...but he did, so she fell back to the ancient art of taunting one's enemy. If she managed to piss him off enough he would get sloppy, leave himself open in his attempts to silence her, then Luffy would strike!. It worked wonders when fighting thugs in the Goa kingdom...same logic.
Don Krieg stared Luffy done for a few moments, before something caught his gaze. Whatever it was it seemed to frustrate him even further. Leo tilted her head back, shutting her eyes as she grinned up at the stairs,
"Starting a brawl Luffy?" Zoro clicked the handle of Wado out of it's sheath, "Aren't you meant to keep him from starting fights?" he added to Leo,
"I literally have no idea where you got that idea from" she offered him an innocent smile, "In what universe would I ever keep Nii-chan from teaching some cocky nobody a lesson about claiming titles that aren't his?"
Zoro grinned back her, he couldn't help but feel relief at her statement, his ruthless tiny captain was still there beneath the anxiety and panicky youth.
"Need a hand?" He offered them both
"W-we don't have to, y-you know" Ussop stood beside Zoro, legs spread apart so his shaking knees wouldn't knock. His nose thrown high in the air as he forced what little of his courage he had forth.
"Zoro! Ussop! You dropped by!" Luffy sounded so surprised, Leo wanted to smack herself, had he really forgotten that their crew had been waiting outside for them? More than probably.
"It's okay. Just sit and watch" Luffy assured them,
"Yeah Nii-chans got this all under control" Leo watched fondly as Ussop tried not to look too relieved,
"Oh Okay...that's too bad then...If you don't need us, there's nothing we can do about that.I-I'll help ya, if you still need it!G-good luck!" he stuttered out before Zoro elbowed him in the face,
"What the hell was that for Zoro?!" The sniper whined
"Shut up and stay still" Zoro grunted.
"Don't worry Ussop" Leo reassured her panicky friend, smiling fondly, "I've got Nii-chan's back covered. He's good for now."
Don Krieg watched them, and was unable to hold his laughter in, what a pathetic excuse for a crew!
"Are these your men? Are they all you've got with you? They're almost as pathetic as that runt of a brother you have yapping behind your back!" he couldn't keep the amusement from his voice. Who the hell was he calling a runt? If Leo had a hammer in her hand's she'd crack this bastards skull open...but she didn't...so she'd have to leave the skull cracking to her brother.
"What are you talking about?" Luffy sounded so confused, "There are two more!" He held up two fingers.
"Oi! Why do you keep counting me in?" Sanji growled.
As much as Krieg would have loved to blast these shits to pieces...he didn't have time for that right now. He turned his gaze back to the old geezer, who had been watching the entire scene with hard eyes. With a huff the shoulder panels hissed back down, covering the guns,
"I'll take care of you guys later. Right now, I need to feed my men." Ok she had to admit, at least he did consider his crew's well being of more importance than picking a fight... though probably not out of a sense of loyalty or trust...still, it was more than she could say about that black cat bastard who wanted to kill Kaya.
Heaving the massive sack over his shoulder he addressed the entire restaurant,
"For those who don't wish to die, you'd better not be here when I return. The only things I want are the journal, and the ship." He turned to exit the restaurant, pausing at the entrance way, "However, if you really want to throw your lives away...I'll have to go out of my way, but I'll be happy to send you to the bottom of the ocean.! Keep that in mind!" Where his parting words as he turned back towards his ship carrying the precious life saving cargo with him.
The entire restaurant remained silent for several moments afterwards, not entirely sure how to process what was going on. Although Leo knew two things for sure, this guy was an ass hole and someone needed to punch his face in. And she needed to get her hands on some sort of hammer or clubbed weapon before he returned.
"I'm sorry Sanji-san" She blinked in surprise as she glanced at Gin, oh yeah she had completely forgotten he was still there. Poor bastard was still on his knees, shaking and clutching the arm Krieg had yanked and crushed. The young pirate frowned, was that the kind of captain Krieg was? He only cared about your well being until you were no longer useless? Despicable.
"I never would've imagined things to turn out this way..." he tried pouring his soul into his apology
"You obviously didn't know your captain very well" Leo muttered as she turned to pick through the scattered wood and debris from the earlier fire fight, maybe she could find a sturdy enough bit of wood?
"I don't need an apology from the likes of you fool!" Zeff snapped at the shaking man, "We are but cooks in this establishment,we'll feed anybody who comes along."
"Boss!" Patty cried out, "Why are you siding with Sanji?! What's going on here?"
Oh lord adults really were stupid, Leo rolled her eyes as she continued her search for a make shift weapon. It really wasn't that hard to work out, Sanji had obviously gotten this belief from somewhere, he had also been here the longest meaning he had been around Zeff the longest...the old man's ways were going to rub off on in one way or the other.
"Yeah! This is all his fault!" Another cook accused, "He's going to destroy your precious restaurant!"
Leo went to open her mouth to defend her soon-to-be nakama, but Zeff beat her to her,
"Shut the hell up you stupid eggplants!" he roared silencing them, "Have you ever had the experience of starving to death?! Can you imagine how horrible it is? Having no food and water in this vast ocean" Leo glanced over at Sanji, who placed a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it. Totally called it. Luffy owed her something fluffy.
"W-what do you mean Boss?" Patty's brain was in over drive trying to understand his words.
"Oh for gods sakes you're all hopeless" The chef's attention snapped to Leo, who was currently testing the strength and weight of a broken table leg. The metal hinge was still on the end, giving it a bit of weight, "He's saying that unlike you dumb-ass's, Sanji actually know's what it's like to starve, and we're not talking 'haven't eaten all day' starve. Proper, agonizing 'haven't eaten for weeks' starve. The kind that drives you eat dirt and worms just to ease the pain" She glanced over at Zeff, "Am I close?"
Zeff watched the brat as she swung the table leg a few times, insightful little brat. There was definitely more to both her and her brother than met the eye.
"You are correct" he nodded. With a cheer Leo threw one arm in the air, she loved it when she guessed right.
It took the men a little time to process the information...Sanji understood what it was like to starve? But how? They had never seen it...
"Rather than just standing idle with petty talk, you'd all better leave this place now!" Zeff cut through their thoughts.
What? Leave? He expected them to flee? What was going through his mind?!
"I'm staying right here to fight!" Patty declared, "I can't simply let them trample over me!" he stamped his giant fork to the ground
"Me too! This is where I work!" Another cook announced,
"I have no place to go anyway" another added lifting his own weapon.
Each and every chef stood, holding their weapons firm and their heads high. This was their home! Like hell they were going to leave it without a fight!
As the chef's rallied, those without weapons quickly leaving in search of their own, Zeff tapped Leo's ankle with his peg foot when she grabbed a non-broken chair to sit in. She tugged at her binder as she coughed a couple times, another reason for letting Luffy take the lead. She wasn't to sure how she would fair with this binder, Kaya, bless her heart, had given her several different types in several different sizes. This particular one was a tad bit too small, safe enough to wear, but enough to make anything more than normal breathing a hassle. She just needed a moment to rest her racing heart.
"Oi brat" he caught his attention while everyone else was busy getting battle ready, "I'd get rid of that before the fight if I were you."
Leo snapped her head up at him, her heart racing for a completely different reason. Get rid of what? He couldn't possibly know about the binder? Did he mean her table leg?
"I know it's not the best of weapons" she rattled off holding it up, "I do usually lean more towards War Hammers, but they're not exactly easy to come by, you don't seem to..."
"I'm not talking about the stick brat" she wilted under her gaze,she was hoping he had,
"Yeah I know" she muttered.
"I'm gonna be frank, I could care less what's in your pants or how you identify yourself, but if you try and do battle in one of those" he pointed under her shirt where the shoulder strap of the binder was showing, she quickly yanked her shirt back over it, "You're going to burst a lung, or your heart's gonna cark it"
"Why do you care?" she frowned snapping,
"I don't. But I do prefer that the people defending my restaurant at least be able to fight for longer than a few minutes at a time before they need to sit down"
She let out an annoyed huff, shoving the chair away to stand, making her point very clear. This brat was even more stubborn than his own brat. Good, he grinned, the little shit needed someone with a skull thicker than his own to shove him in the right direction...and between the runt and his older brother they had enough skull to probably crack open iron!
"There's a few spare hammers in the back of that cupboard" he nodded to where Patty had pulled the shrimp cannon from, " They're not war hammers, and they're certainly no sledge hammer...but they're better than a broken table leg"
Leo blinked, before eyeing him for a moment,
"Right...thanks..." she turned quickly towards the cupboard in search of the promised tools.
And the brat was willing to listen and take suggestions...Zeff nodded in approval, he was starting to understand this whole 'co-captain' thing the more time he was forced to be subjected to these raven haired annoyances.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"What are you doing?!" Gin could not believe these men! They were given a chance to escape with their lives and their response was to arm themselves?! "Didn't you see how strong our leader?!"
"Hey Gin" Gin glanced up at Sanji, who was back on his feet, "Feeding the hungry is what being a cook is all about" He stopped in from of a knocked over table, one of the few that still had solid unhinged legs...probably the last one to be honest,placing his foot on top of one of the tick legs "However" pushing down on the leg with great force he sent the rest of the table shooting upwards. Kicking down to prevent it from flying off he pushed it down back into against it he brought his cigarette to his mouth, taking a long drag.
"Now that your captain's all filled up, he's nothing more than a plunderer. Whatever I do to your pals...don't come bitching at me. I'll kill anybody who tries to take this restaurant! Even you!"
Sweat dripped down Gin's face, and it wasn't from the pain in his shoulder either,
"Got that?" Gin swallowed at Sanji's cold stare.
"Heh! You saved his life just to kill him off? You're so thoughtful Sanji" Patty scoffed
"It's called 'allowing him a chance to die on his feet like a man!'" Patty did not let out a shriek when Leo sudden appeared by his elbow, with two large work hammers in her hands. The metal heads were at least the size of one of Patty's fists and were slightly longer than his forearms. They were too much on the short side for Leo's liking, preferring to use one two handed weapon rather than two one handed ones, but she'd deal with it. After all she wasn't planning on doing any of the hard core fighting. "Because unlike you Sanji actually has a decent amount of honour and shit"
"The fuck did you say to me runt?" Patty growled down at her,
"Call me runt one more time and I'm sticking one of these hammers so far up your arse you'll need a dentist to get them out!" There were many names and insults that didn't really faze her. Runt was not one of them,
"Why you little...I'll I'll" Patty grasped at his words,
"Shut up, you fat-ass cook!" Sanji cut him off, earning a bright smile from Leo. He clamped down on the light bubbly feeling trying to rattle his chest and knees, now was not the time to be losing it over one brilliant 'put the sun to shame' smile!
"Didn't I tell you he was something?" Luffy grinned up at Zoro and Ussop,
"Oi, I was the one who found him" Leo walked over to her brother, jabbing his elbow lightly, "Don't take credit just because you think he's cool and amazing" It was so hard to fight down the urge to gush, the tiny ball of light said he was amazing!
"Who cares about him now?" Ussop gripped the stairs rails so tightly his knuckles were turning white, "Let's just get the hell out of here!"
"No way! Things are just getting interesting!" Leo grinned up at him, maybe a little too evilly,prompting whimpers from the dark skinned man,
"Calm down" Zoro didn't even glance down at Ussop while he spoke, instead focusing on his two captains, their separation issues did come in handy at least, he could keep an eye on both of them at one, "Even though he's Krieg, he's all battered up."
"Hm?" the words sparked a thought in Luffy's head, well a memory really. Leo followed her brother's gaze as he turned to address Gin,
"Gin!" he called out, "You said once before that you knew nothing about the Grand Line, right? But you have been there, haven't you?"
"Hey yeah you did say that!" Leo puffed up, "You were lying to us?" she sounded so betrayed
Gin stared at them, swallowing loudly, glancing away from them, unable to meet their eyes,
"The truth is I don't know anything" he insisted, he sounded so...hollow so...broken, "What happened at the Grand Line on the seventh day...was it a dream? Or reality?" he wasn't talking to them any more...or even really at them, it was like he was trying to unscramble his own thoughts, "It's still fresh in my mind...it was unbelievable...Just one man" Gin brought his hand back up to his face, clutching it tightly...was he trying to push out the memory or ease the stabbing pain? "One man destroyed a whole fleet of 50 ships!"
Leo dropped her hammers, which landed on the ground with a thud, her jaw falling open. Everyone else was in a similar state, letting out cries and gasps of disbelief, shock...and maybe a bit of fear.
"WHAT?!"
One man completely annihilated the most powerful pirate fleet in the East Blue?!
"It all happened so suddenly..." Gin continued his story, "He showed up out of nowhere and started sinking our ships, one after the other. If a storm hadn't come along, our maiden ship would've been destroyed too." The man began to shake again, this time from the memory of those horrible days, the terrifying heart tearing terror still imprinted itself into his very soul, "I have no idea how many of my mate's ships survived...But it was too scary for me to accept it all. I don't want to even think about what happened!"
Leo couldn't help the sudden burst of empathy in her chest for the man, to face something so horrible, so soul crushing that it literally branded your very being...and to try and continue living after that? His captain may have been a coward and a complete arsehole, but she couldn't fault Gin for that...she couldn't fault him for crumbling...how could she? When she couldn't even look at a candle flame without acid burn through her belly trying to dissolve her heart...and he was willing to follow his captain back to the source of his terrors...dammit she hated it when she felt bad for the enemy.
"That man...his stare pierces through you like the eyes of a hawk!"
"What?!" Zoro nearly flung himself over the railing in shock, "What did you say?" he rasped out
That name meant something to Zoro, Leo frowned, a man with hawk eyes? Why did that sound familiar? Like a name you heard in passing once, a long time ago..." she pressed the palm of her hand to the bridge of her nose, where had she hear that name before?
"He must be the man known as Hawk Eyes." Zeff crossed his arms as he continued, "The fact that you noticed his eyes, leads me to believe it was him."
Ussop watched in concern as Zoro grit his teeth, leaning dangerously far over the railing so not to miss a single word the old man was saying. His breaths were shook with his body,
"The Hawk Eyes Man!" he gasped out.
"Eh, you know that guy Zoro?" Luffy leaned back to look at his first mate, glancing to the side as Leo made a frustrated noise, she knew she knew that name from somewhere!
His captain's voice quickly snapped him out of his shocked state, composing himself he leaned back,
"That's the man I've been looking for. I sailed across the oceans in search of him." he told him, inside he was still shaking. This was it, he finally had a solid lead.
"There you are Leo" Luffy stood up straight again, "That's how you know him!" he had been watching his sister struggle over the name, it was always so frustrating when you knew something but you weren't sure what it was you knew,
"No it's not" She waved the idea off, "Zoro never mentioned his name, just that he was looking for a certain man"
"You know him?!" Zoro frowned as he leaned forward again, "What do you know?"
"I don't know" She dropped her arm in frustration, "I don't know what I know, I don't know how I know...I just know that I know something..."
Zoro let his captain drop it, while she was certainly a far better actor than her brother he could almost feel her frustration from here...this wasn't an act.
"Maybe he had some kind of grudge to settle with you guys" Sanji suggested,
"Not that I know of" Gin shook his head,
"Perhaps you disturbed his nap" Zeff suggested himself, that always made him want to tear apart entire fleets
"Stop the bullshit!" He shouted at them, "Why in the world would he destroy our fleet just for that?!"
Zeff chuckled, it was always so much fun getting snot nosed brats all worked up,
"Don't get so worked up. I'm just making assumptions." he said, "Stuff like that happens at the Grand Line."
"Just want kind of place is that?" Ussop muttered, his heart thumping against his chest,
"A place where anything can happen" Zoro answered him. Nope it didn't help
"Hey Luffy, Leo! Stop this right now!" he cried down at them, "We can't got there! Luffy! Leo!"
He blinked when he noticed his captains were...well they were shaking. Heads down physically shaking, Leo was even grasping Luffy's wrist tightly like she did when she needed something to ground her,
"Hey guys..." Ussop asked again worried.
"Gah! I'm so pumped!" Luffy shot up with excitement, "I was hoping the Grand Line would have all this!"
"Men who take down fleets before disturbing their naps! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Leo looped her arm around Luffy's, skipping them in a circle, her brother's excitement easily bleeding into her, "No more of this basic entry level bullshit! Real pirates with real adventures!" she stopped her spinning as she stared out into space dazed, "And I bet you can get real weapons." Her head snapped to her brother, "I could get a real War Hammer!" And the Grand Line has to be here Ace was!
"Can't you two be more concerned for you safety?!" Ussop growled,
"That's what Nii-chan is for" Leo pointed to her brother
"Now with all this talk...I guess my destination will really be the Grand Line" Zoro stated as he walked back to lean against the wall, a grin on his face. So this is what fate had planned for him? Then so be it."That man...I will definitely meet him there!"
Why was Ussop surrounded by suicidal meat heads? He just wanted to cry, even Leo! She was meant to be the reasonable one!
"Are you morons?" Sanji scoffed, earning a glare from Zoro, "You must be eager to die"
"That's right" Zoro shot back, Sanji stared back at him. Gods he did not like this arsehole, "But it's none of your business. When I decided to become the greatest swordsman in the world, I threw away the rest of my life. I'm the only one who can say that I'm an idiot." The two men stared each other down.
….maybe recruiting Sanji wasn't the best of ideas...nah
"Me too! Me too!" Luffy threw his hand in the air
"As a man of the sea, same here!" Ussop at least tried to sound convincing, Zoro lifted his katana, jabbing Ussop in the head with the end of it,
"Stop lying" he grunted
"Wither I live or die...it doesn't matter" Ok so apparently it was a requirement as a pirate to have some sort of awesome speech, "Fuck it doesn't even matter if we find the One Piece, or if we even reach the Grand Line!" Leo passionately puffed her chest out as far as her binder would allow, "It doesn't even matter if we make it out of this alive! I made a promise, that I would live my life without regrets. And that's exactly what I'm going to do, and if I die, well then I'm going to die free and without a single regret in the world!"
Sanji glanced between them, before turning his head away,
"Fools" the lot of them, throwing their lives away for what? A dream? What a waste of life.
Zeff agreed, they were fools...but, he smiled fondly, but there it was, the thing he was looking for in them.
"Hey, hey!" Patty was getting really sick of all this pointless chit chat!, "Do you bastards realize what's going on here?" Had they completely forgotten what was going on around them?! "Don Krieg's ship is right in front of this restaurant! You can talk all you want, after we get out of this mess!"
He did make an excellent point.
No one else had a chance to say or do anything else. A terrible creaking and groaning was heard when suddenly Don Krieg's massive ship started to tear itself apart! Everyone watched in horror as the decks split apart from each other, crashing down onto the water, slowly sinking as water filled the empty spaces! What the hell was going on!
The massive waves shook the Baratie, threatening to capsize it.
"Hoist the anchor!" Zeff ordered, "Or our ship'll get pulled under with them!"
Horror gripped Leo's heart,
"The Going Merry!" she gasped as she sprinted, as best she could, towards their ship,
"This is bad!" Zoro jumped over the railing chasing after his captains, "Nami, Yosaku and Johnny are still on our ship!"
"Dammit, we may already be too late!" Ussop swored as he whacked his head on the bars, racing down the stairs after his crew.
They made it outside in time to watch Don Krieg's vessel disappear beneath the water,
"Aniki!" She heard Johnny shouting for them in the water, "Aniki!" oh thank the gods they were safe, but where was Nami?! She frantically searched the water for any sign of their navigator...or their ship. It was no where
"Are you guys ok?" She called down to them, "Where's the ship? What happened to Nami?"
"She's... I'm sorry Aniki" Johnny whimpered, "She left! Nami-aniki, she took off with all the treasure!"
It took a moment for them all to process his words,
"What did you just say?!" They all cried out
Great now they had more shit to deal with! Ok one crisis at a time. Survive this, then track down Nami. And kick her ass.
"It's him" Zeff's disbelieving voice caught their attention. Zoro frantically looked out to the water, trying to spot him. Leo squinted, pulling her goggles up as a tiny one person ship came into view. It took a little bit of time for it to get close enough for her to properly see who was on it. Her stomach dropped as ice flooded her body as she met piercing yellow eyes.
She knew those eyes.