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Wealth, Fame, Power…

Chapter 24: Impasse

"W-what!?" Sanji stuttered in surprise at the man's words, asking him to join his crew was the last thing he expected Gin to say.

"C'mon, join us! We need a great cook like you on the ship, and you can even fight! Plus, since we're taking this place, it'll be like you never left! Trust me Sanji, you won't regret this. Don't you wanna be there when Don Krieg becomes the next King of the Pirates?"

The blonde man hesitantly opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get his words out Luffy emerged from behind him. "Like hell! Didn't I already tell you!? I'm gonna be the king!" The rubber man screamed, looking Gin dead in the eyes.

Gin didn't back down in the slightest, bringing on his most aggressive and bloodthirsty glare. "Good one kid, now how about you run along and let the adults talk. If you couldn't already tell, I was trying to recruit someone to my crew."

"No! Sanji is gonna join me! So if you want him, you're gonna have to kill me first!"

Gin's intense glare instantly turned into a malicious smile. "Is that so? I can arrange that."

"Come on then, I'm not scared of you!"

As the conversation got more and more heated, Zeff found his eyes widening more and more. Either this kid is crazy, or he's got the biggest pair I've seen in a while. Hell, maybe it's both.

In fact, everyone in the room was awestruck, even Sanji. The only one who still had a straight face was Zoro, and it was starting to curve up into a grin.

Gin's evil smirk quickly turned into a look of anger. "Alright, that's it, I've put up with your childish attitude for long enough. All I wanna do right now is kill you so I can end your pathetic Pirate King delusions. Don Krieg is the one who will be king!"

Luffy didn't even blink at the threats being spewed. "Bring it on then! After I kick your ass, I'll go outside and do the same to your bastard of a Captain!"

Without another word, Gin pulled out two metal tonfa with weighted spheres on the end of them. After spinning them around a bit, the man bolted towards Luffy at full speed with the intent to kill.

"Move kid!" Zeff yelled. He knew a wicked spirit when he saw one, and right now, one of them was heading right for the boy.

"Luffy get out of there!" Sanji yelled as well. He was about to run over and try to stop the rabid Krieg Pirate, but someone grabbed his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw the green haired man from Luffy's crew.

"There's no need, just watch," Zoro said calmly.

Because of the interruption, Sanji was forced to turn back and watch the encounter. It was too late to do anything, all he could do was observe like the boy's crewmate said. Gin was gonna reach Luffy any second now, but he wasn't even flinching. In fact, he wasn't even getting his guard up. The boy was just standing there.

As Gin sprinted to his opponent at top speed, all he could think about was the bloodlust driving him forward. How he longed to hear the sickening crunch of the boy's ribs when his tonfa collided with them. He almost couldn't contain his excitement, and when the time came to strike, he gave it all he had. With all the force in his right arm, Gin slammed his weapon into the ribs of the boy, making sure to look him in the eyes to see the agony.

But when the boy's facial expression didn't change from a glare to one of pure pain, Gin realized he never heard that sickening crunch. With his eyes bulging, the Krieg Pirate attempted to retreat out of the attack and jump back, but it was too late. Before he knew it, the straw hat teen had his left hand gripping his neck tightly.

Lifting him up off the ground, Luffy continued his staredown with the man. Although it wasn't much of staredown anymore, with Gin's face being one of utter bewilderment right now.

It was also safe to say that all the other people in the restaurant were in the same state of mind right now, barring Zoro and Usopp of course.

"W-what the hell is he?" Sanji asked no one in particular, rubbing his eyes to make sure they were working. He just ate that attack! He took it like it was nothing!

Even Zeff was speechless, the only explanation could be a devil fruit, but still, this Krieg Pirate was no pushover. Who the hell was this kid?

As for the crowd of chefs, at this point they were all hugging each other in one massive huddle. They had no idea what was happening, all they knew was that they wanted out already.

Everyone in the room was taken out of their thoughts suddenly when Luffy made another move, no way in hell they were gonna miss this. After a solid minute of pure glaring, he finally spoke. "If you really gave a damn about Sanji, you wouldn't be pulling any of this crap."

Gin attempted to talk back, but Luffy tightened the grip on his neck, effectively cutting him off. "This restaurant belongs to the old man, and since Sanji wants him to be happy, then so do I," the boy finished as he lifted the pirate higher and cocked back his fist. "SO I'LL DIE BEFORE YOU TAKE THIS PLACE!"

Don Krieg was in an extra good mood today. Not only had everything gone completely according to plan, but he even got a bonus of seeing Red Foot Zeff! He would have really preferred to avoid taking the old man's ship like this, but he would understand right? Of course he would, he just got the honor of meeting his number one fan, the geezer would be happy to give up the dingy old place. He used to be a pirate too after all, he would totally understand. I'm gonna have to do my best to try and treat that blonde kid like the rest of my underlings. Don't want anyone to start thinking I have favorites, even if he is the apprentice of Red Foot Zeff.

The large purple haired man was almost finished with feeding his men when he turned his head at a loud scream coming from the restaurant. He couldn't really tell what it said, but it still piqued his interest. "What the hell? What did someone say about dying?"

With perfect timing, as soon as Krieg finished uttering the sentence, his eyes were met with action. Out of nowhere, the wood above the double doors of the restaurant shattered, and a body flew out like a ragdoll. The purple haired man instantly recognized the limp figure to be Gin, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

Krieg watched as his second in command was launched out of the restaurant and sent flying towards the Dreadnaught. The captain was hoping his underling would land in the ocean for minimal injury, but that was not what happened. Instead, Gin's back collided harshly with the side of their ship, creating a large crack in the hull of the vessel.

Clenching his fists, the pirate admiral let go of his high mood for the day. Allowing himself to feel anger as he watched Gin fall from the indent in the hull and into the ocean. Without wasting another second, he turned to face the sea restaurant and shouted as loud as he could. "WHO DARES TO DEFY ADMIRAL KRIEG! COME OUT AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!"

Waiting patiently for his victim to emerge from the fish-themed ship, Krieg gritted his teeth. Was it Zeff? Or that kid that he took as an apprentice? No, it couldn't be. I clearly expressed how big of a fan I was, and I even let them all leave peacefully.

The purple haired man's thoughts were all pushed away as a figure slowly walked out of the restaurant. Getting a good look, Kreig saw a teenager with a straw hat, his eyes being covered by it. This couldn't be right, there was no way this scrawny little kid beat Gin. "And who the hell are you!?"

Luffy tilted his head up slightly, revealing his eyes, along with the stern look. "I'm the guy who's gonna kick your ass, because I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

Don Krieg's eyes widened in fury at the boy's words, was this some kind of joke? "What the hell!? Watch your mouth kid, don't you know who I am!?"

"I don't care who you are! You're not getting back on this ship, I won't let you!"

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" Kreig argued, as he reached to his shoulder and discarded his shirt and coat. What lay under was very unexpected indeed. It appeared to be solid gold armor, and it was clearly made with the purpose of catching the eye because he even had diamond knuckles on the suit. Overall, our old friend Captain Buggy would be proud.

After shedding his layer of clothing, Don Krieg didn't hesitate to leap off the deck of his ship in a spiteful attempt to board the Baratie once again. "Watch me kid! I'm gonna take this thing by force!" He said in midair. With his current trajectory, he was going to land right on the rubber man.

Not only that, but the pirate admiral was also beginning to get his reinforcements back. Some of his starving men were already getting up and cheering for their captain.

"Yeah! Get em Don!"

"Crush that little twerp!"

"No one messes with the Krieg Pirates and walks away!"

While the purple haired man was getting more and more confidence on the way down, Luffy prepared himself. Ready to shove this guy's plan right back in his face. "Gum gum," he started as both of his arms began stretching back behind him. He had to time this just right, once Krieg was just at the right spot in front of him, he would unleash one of his more powerful attacks.

Waiting for that moment to come, the rubber man concluded his charge up, both his hands reaching back as far as they could inside the restaurant. And at a perfect time too, because Don Krieg was right on him. "Bazooka!" He shouted, sending out his attack at a slight upward angle. His timing was perfect as well, because he hit the pirate admiral right in the center of the chest.

Krieg had no idea what was going on. One moment he was powerfully and confidently coming down on his opponent, and the next he was being sent back into his own ship at an incredible speed. Flying right through the crack that Gin created earlier, as well as through the floor of the main deck. With two more layers of his vessel destroyed, the pirate admiral struggled to stand up, now back on the Dreadnaught Sabre somehow.

Slowly trying to catch his breath, Krieg held his chest. His armor seemed to be fine still, but that attack still knocked the wind out of him. What the hell was that? Did that kid stretch?

"Don! Are you ok!?" One of his underlings asked. As a matter of fact, all of his conscious men were now surrounding him, and he didn't like it one bit

"What kind of question is that!? Of course I am, get down there and board that ship you worthless bastards!"

The Krieg Pirates didn't need to hear anymore after that, they knew how scary their boss was when he was mad. "Y-yes sir!"

Meanwhile, everyone inside the Baratie at the moment was trying to figure out if what they just saw was real or not. A puny little teen just launched Don Krieg through two layers of lumber, plus he stretched his arms like he was some sort of freak!

As the rubber man turned around to face everyone again, all attention was on him when he spoke. "Old man, I'm gonna go board that ship and take him down. But it looks like he's sending more guys down here, will you guys be alright?"

Zeff smirked a bit and answered the boy honestly. "We'll be fine kid, we may be cooks, but we know how to fight with the best of 'em. Isn't that right Patty?"

The large forearmed man replied very enthusiastically to his boss's question, glad that he was back on his good side. "Yes sir! C'mon men, let's defend this restaurant!"

"Now that's something we can agree on," Sanji muttered. Walking over and joining his fellow cooks. He still didn't know what to make of Luffy's actions yet, so he decided to focus on the here and now.

"Perfect," Luffy nodded, turning to his two crewmates. "You guys can help defend too. I know you're hungry for a fight, Zoro."

Letting his excitement flow, the swordsman reached for his scabbards shakily. "Finally."

Usopp however, wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about entering battle. "Hehe, well um… I think you guys have it all under control. I'm a chore boy after all, I uh, need to be cleaning dishes! Heh."

Before Luffy could protest to his sniper's excuse, Zeff addressed the boy. "Oh yeah, while we're on that topic, this straw hat kid is on your crew right?"

Usopp looked quizzically at the older man and just nodded. "Um, yeah."

"Well in that case, I'm gonna have to increase your debt again. He launched that pirate right through the wall, that wood isn't cheap you know."

"Damn it Luffy!" Usopp screamed at his friend, proceeding to face Zeff again. "Hold on old man, I was lying before. He's the Captain, not me!"

"I don't care who the Captain is anymore. If you don't want me to raise it even higher, then you better fight like the rest of the staff."

Sighing deeply, the long nosed teen gave into the demands. Hesitantly reaching into his satchel and pulling out both his goggles and his slingshot.

"Alright, that settles everything on our end," Sanji informed the whole room. "We don't want to damage this place anymore than we already have. We need to open up the outer fins, that way we have room to ward them off."

"Good idea Sanji," Patty began. Marching up beside the boy with a small army of chefs behind him. "Let's defend the Baratie everyone! Otherwise we'll lose the best damn job ever!"

"Yeah!" All the cooks cheered together.

"Hurry your asses up and board that damn restaurant!" Don Krieg yelled at all of his conscious crewmates. He didn't get around to feeding all of them right away so a third of them were still laying around trying to recover. "I already told you dumbasses, nothing can hurt me! So start raiding that ship!"

All of the men standing before Krieg nodded reassuring at his request. In all honesty, their will to fight was badly drained, but they knew better than to question one of the Don's orders.

Without wasting another second, all seventy-five or so men jumped overboard and into the sea. Their next destination, the Baratie. But before they arrived, many of them stopped swimming, the current in the water beginning to shift and change direction.

Before any of them could ask what was going on, a wave pushed them away from the fish-themed vessel, something was coming up from under it. Before their eyes, the sea restaurant gained two giant platforms on the outer rim, it was quite an interesting sight to behold. Immediately, all the Krieg Pirates in the water began to cheer.

"Wow, check it out! It's our lucky day!"

"Yeah! Now we have a place to fight, thanks guys!"

As the pirates began climbing up onto the newly surfaced platform, their eyes darted to the lone figure standing at the entrance. All of a sudden, the men froze, they knew exactly how strong this kid was. He shot their captain back through their ship like a madman after all.

Gulping, the few pirates that had already climbed up to the platform began to shake with fear. They continued staring at the boy until he eventually made a move. Without saying a word, Luffy sent out his open right hand, aiming right in the middle of the crowd of Krieg's men. When all of them saw this, they hit the deck without hesitation.

When nothing happened after that, one of the men decided to open his eyes to see what was going on. And when his vision was met with no one standing at the entrance of the restaurant, he turned around in confusion. "What the hell!? Guys, look!"

The other Krieg Pirates opened their eyes and looked in the direction of the ship where their crewmate was pointing. What they saw was mind boggling. It was that straw hat kid, he was holding onto the side of the Dreadnaught Sabre. It looked like he used his powers to slingshot himself over to their ship! Forgetting about that for the moment, the men turned to face the Baratie again. But this time, there were a lot more people standing there than before.

At the front of the group of armed chefs was Zoro and Sanji, with Usopp doing his best to hide behind them. "Can one of you two explain how your Captain can stretch?" Sanji questioned.

The pirate hunter drew his three swords, and as he usually did, he put the white and gold hilted one in his mouth. "He's made of rubber, that's all you need to know."

"Hmph, whatever," the blonde muttered as he lit a new cigarette, he was really burning through these today.

As more and more Krieg Pirates boarded the platform, Zoro was getting tired of only seeing weaklings. "What the hell is this!? Don't you guys have some kind of Vice Captain I can fight or something?"

Seeing the swordsman step forward, one of the underlings grabbed his hair in fear. "Oh shit! That's Pirate Hunter Zoro! He's gonna cut us to pieces! We're no match for a guy like that!"

While the fear in the men's eyes did help boost Zoro's pride, it didn't satisfy his hunger for battle at all. He was about to complain again, until he heard someone speak from behind all of the Krieg Pirates.

"Haha! You're in luck boys, because I'm not afraid of some pathetic swordsman. I've got a perfect way of blocking all of his attacks."

"Pearl! We're saved!"

Zoro watched as a large man pulled himself out of the water and onto the platform. It was pretty safe to say that this guy was wearing the most ridiculous looking armor known to man. He had two large circular iron plates covering his body, one on the front and one on the back. He also had smaller ones on his hands, knees and elbows. On his head he also had a stupid looking pearl-like helmet, that must be where he got the name.

"So I guess you're my opponent," Zoro smirked.

Pearl ignored the Straw Hat Pirate and gave a command to all of his men. "Charge men! Take the restaurant and leave the swordsman to me!"

When he finally arrived at his destination, Luffy tumbled onto the deck of the enemy ship. Coming to a very ungraceful landing in front of Don Krieg. "Dang it, almost had it," he grumbled while he got up. Just now noticing his close proximity to the pirate admiral.

Towering over the boy, Don Krieg attempted intimidation again. "You sure you wanna do this brat?"

Getting up and matching the glare of his opponent, the straw hat teen gladly shot back his own intimidation. "I'm not afraid of anything. All that gold crap you're wearing is gonna crumble after I'm done with it,"

"Shut up you stupid kid! It's not gold, it's wootz steel! And it's impenetrable!"

"Yeah? Well I don't know what that means, but I'm gonna destroy it!" Luffy challenged. Cracking his knuckles and getting in the man's face some more, he seemed to be quite committed to his resolve.

The purple haired man widened his eyes a bit at the response he received. This kid was definitely ballsy, that was for sure. "Alright then, have it your way. You're gonna regret this though!" Krieg yelled as he raised his diamond covered fist above the boy's head.

And just like that, the battle had begun