Here we are with the final chapter of the Baratie arc. A few of you guys pointed out to me in the last chapter that there is indeed an explanation for Johnny telling Zoro about Mihawk. Thank you so much for the correction, I was completely ignorant to that fact seeing as I don't primarily read the manga. With that in mind though, I still don't regret adding that little gag onto Mihawk's character. After all, it was mostly for comedic purposes XD

Wealth, Fame, Power…

Chapter 28: A Humble Sword Swings Faster

"Come on now, don't tell me you've lost your nerve?" Hawkeye mocked, egging his fellow swordsman on.

But Zoro wasn't listening, he just couldn't shake this heavy feeling lingering over him. My body… It won't move! Am I afraid? No, that's ridiculous. I want nothing more than to cut this guy to bits right now. So why won't my body listen to me!?

"Very well then. If you won't make a move, then I will."

Blinking away his thoughts rapidly, Zoro saw nothing but a black flash come at him with great speed. Shit! I'm dead! The swordsman thought rapidly, awaiting the feeling of his body getting sliced in half as his opponent appeared right on him.

However, Zoro was not dead. Not only had he just parried the incoming attack without even knowing it, but he also did it in record time, pulling moves out of his ass that he didn't even know he had. How the hell? What is going on with my body?

"It's your instincts," Mihawk stated, as if reading his mind. "It seems as though you actually have some skill to back up your enormous confidence. But that is only one piece of the entire puzzle," he finished, withdrawing his blade once again and letting his opponent speak.

Zoro panted a few times before making eye contact with the man. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by pieces to the puzzle?"

"Are you braindead or something? It is a simple metaphor to depict the fact that a true swordsman needs many tools in order to become strong. And you happen to be lacking many of them."

Ignoring the insult, the green haired man scoffed at what he was hearing. "Tools? So like that layer of crap on your sword preventing me from getting through to the metal? I don't need any of that. Like you said, it's just a gimmick, and I'm gonna find a way around it."

Mihawk couldn't hold back his eyes from widening a bit at what the man in front of him just said. He felt my haki? From just clashing swords twice? "Ah, so you felt that, how truly mind boggling. And yes, that is one of the skills required to be the best. But forget about that for right now, something like this is far too complex for you in your current state."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"It means I'm impressed with how sharp your senses are as a swordsman. Perhaps I underestimated you before, let us see if you possess more puzzle pieces than I first presumed."

Zoro watched in awe as Hawkeye jumped back to the edge of the deck and raised his sword above his head gracefully. Wordlessly bringing it down in a vertical swipe. In incredible fashion, Mihawk produced a large green slash. Much like the one that was used to cut the ship in half and give Don Krieg a couple of free amputations.

With red flags shooting up all over the place in the pirate hunter's mind, it didn't take long for him to tumble to the floor and out of harm's way. That was just too close.

Mihawk observed in amusement as his opponent sat on the floor with an unreadable expression on his face. "Oh come now, don't tell me you can't manifest your slashes into projectiles?" The yellow-eyed man asked sarcastically, knowing full well what the answer to his question was.

Quickly getting up to his feet, the pirate hunter picked up his blades and prepared himself again. "Don't you mock me! I don't give a crap about what you can do! I will defeat you!" He finished loudly, gathering his wits and charging the opposing swordsman.

Sighing disappointedly, Mihawk raised his blade again. This green haired fool just wasn't getting the point. Without wasting another moment, he put both hands on his large sword and dashed forward to meet with the stubborn oppressor. The two didn't clash for long though, only taking passing blows and ending up a few meters apart with their backs facing each other.

Hawkeye of course, was unscathed. But Zoro… Well, let's just say that he was in the process of witnessing something that he never even thought was possible. Staring at his shaking hands with wide eyes, the pirate hunter examined the hilts he was holding onto. As in, only hilts. Mihawk's glancing attack had just shattered two of his three beloved swords like they had been made of paper!

Seeing that the man was completely lost for words at the moment, Hawkeye took this chance to speak up. "Why so shocked? This can't be new to you."

When the green haired man still said nothing, Hawkeye came to a surprising realization. "Well, this is unexpected… You dare to call yourself a swordsman when you can't even cut metal?"

Zoro slowly looked up from his two broken swords, tightening the grip on the one in his mouth out of anger. What the hell is all this! How can I still be this far behind!? He just keeps revealing more crap that's supposed to be impossible!

"Such a shame," Mihawk began again. "You have so much talent, yet you limit yourself to the miniscule boundaries of normal humans, rather than the endless potential of a true swordsman. There are many things in this world that are deemed impossible, but that is only an illusion. You must free yourself from these wicked bindings if you ever hope to attain real strength."

With humiliation beginning to stack on top of his anger, Zoro couldn't help himself as all of his emotions boiled over. Turning around to face his opponent in an attempt to strike him. But that plan went down the drain quickly when his stomach was met with the sharp stab of a large blade.

…

…

…

"ZORO!" Luffy screamed from atop the crows nest, debating on whether or not to interfere with the fierce battle. He knew how much this meant to his friend, but this was getting hard to watch.

Trembling at the odd sensation in his stomach, the pirate hunter's mouth opened in shock, his white and gold hilted sword falling out of it in the process. Looking down, he saw that his opponent's blade was buried in him almost all the way to the hilt. The swordsman was so in awe right now that he barely processed the new words coming out of Hawkeye's mouth.

"Ah yes, let us not forget about your most obvious shortcoming, that arrogance of yours," he explained calmly. Waiting another few seconds before yanking his sword out of the pirate hunter's stomach violently. Turning back around to walk away, Mihawk couldn't help the curious turning of his head to glance at his opponent. It was tradition in his mind to watch as they fell to the ground for the very last time.

The only problem in this little arrangement though, was the strange fact that his adversary was still standing. As a matter of fact, His posture hadn't even wavered one bit. Skeptically narrowing his eyes at the green haired man, the world's strongest swordsman addressed him. "Why don't you fall? Are you too stubborn to admit defeat? Or are you simply crazy?"

Standing there with one of the most profound wounds he'd ever had the displeasure of experiencing, Zoro had nothing to say, his mind going completely blank. Having nothing else to respond with at his unexplainable feat of standing tall, the broken man spoke his heart. "I don't know anymore."

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at the vague answer, waiting patiently for him to continue. "I… I thought I had it in me. I've trained for so long, and for it to just blow up in my face like this…"

Not hearing what he was hoping to hear, the yellow-eyed man turned around and started walking away from his fellow swordsman. He just won't learn.

"But I see now, how completely outclassed I am…"

Halting his trek towards his small boat, Mihawk turned his body halfway in curiosity. Come now boy, man up and say it!

"As much as it kills me to admit after all I've been through, I… I'm weak compared to you Hawkeye. I realize now how big the gap between our power is."

Smiling, Mihawk turned around fullt to face the man again. This time however seeing him as honorable.

"But my dream won't die here!" Zoro cried out with every single fiber of his being. Bending over to pick up the katana that held onto his dream for so long. "With this sword that I made my promise to, I'm gonna see this battle through to the end. And mark my words Mihawk, I will not die here today. I won't ever die! Not until I'm the single greatest swordsman that this world has ever known!"

Hawkeye couldn't help the way his lips were curving upwards at the declaration he was hearing. "Well come then, show me your resolve!"

Taking off at full speed towards the yellow eyed man, Zoro readied his only blade. Ignoring the way his body ached and cried out for him to cease his movement. "One sword sty-"

But before he could even get the words out, Mihawk was on him, his large blade pressing against his throat. Having been completely stopped in his tracks, Zoro dropped his only sword as his arms went limp. Agonizing pain coming back all at once with the absence of adrenaline in his system.

"Swordsman, state your name."

The pirate hunter was doing his best to just keep his eyes open right now. It was starting to become apparent to him that he'd lost a considerable amount of blood already. Nevertheless, he answered the question he was given almost immediately. "My name is Roronoa Zoro, the man who will be the world's strongest one day."

Making a mental note of the man's distinct title, Hawkeye nodded to himself. "Roronoa… I will remember that name, for you have earned my respect here today. All I can ask of you now is that you set out and see the world. Become strong, learn new things, and above all else, never limit yourself again. I look forward to the next time we clash swords."

Noticing that man was wrapping things up, Zoro spoke up quickly. There was something he needed to know first. "Wait, this isn't over."

"Hmm?"

Zoro didn't hesitate once he had the yellow eyed man's attention, grabbing the middle of his shirt with boths hands and ripping the garment off. "I need to know if I can live through one of your direct hits."

Mihawk almost laughed at the man's odd request. "Direct hit? And what would you call that hole I put in your stomach?"

"Cut the crap, you and I both know that you weren't trying to kill me with that. Now strike me down! Like I said before, I do not intend on dying today!"

Hawkeye couldn't believe this nonsense. This man sure did have a pair on him, that was certain. "Ah, the stupidity of youth, I remember it like it was just yesterday. Are you sure about this? If you survive, it will leave quite a nasty scar."

Zoro only smirked at the question he was given, not even having to think about the answer. "You of all people should know how highly we swordsmen think of our battle scars. It'll be a permanent motivator of how badly I want to beat you."

Matching his adversary's smirk, Mihawk raised his blade proudly. "Very well then Roronoa, feast your eyes on the incredible power of my black blade, Yoru!"

Throwing his arms out to the side, Zoro's grin widened to convey maximum maliciousness. He was gonna eat this slash for breakfast. He was so amped up right now that he didn't even hear the loud cries from his crew in the distance as the large sword pierced his skin.

The slash was made downwards diagonally, starting at his right shoulder. All throughout the deep cut slicing through his chest, the pirate hunter couldn't change his facial expression if he tried, completely satisfied with his happy show of bloodlust. To everyone looking on in horror, it almost looked as though he liked the pain. When the attack was concluded, Mihawk stepped back to observe his handiwork.

"You are an honorable swordsman Roronoa, I hope you survive," he finished as he sheathed his prized blade gracefully.

Seeing the man he wanted to beat for so long walk away from him only added fuel to Zoro's fire. Giving one last smirk up to the heavens before finally falling to the floor and passing out.

"NO!" Luffy screamed, completely seeing red at the state his friend was in. This was not gonna fly with him, the boy didn't care how injured he was. He was gonna fight tooth and nail for one of his crewmates. Instantly, he propelled himself off the smaller mast and shot towards Mihawk like a bullet. Rearing back his uninjured left fist in the process.

Again though, Hawkeye blocked the attack like it was nothing. Waiting until the very last second to draw his sword and block the boy's fist with the flat of the blade.

As soon as the rubber man's hand connected with the swordsman's weapon, he knew something was off. Primarily because for the first time in his life, his fist hurt like hell when he punched something that wasn't sharp.

Never one to give up though, Luffy ignored the pain in his hand just like he was doing with the rest of his injuries. Putting his main focus on this bastard that might've just killed Zoro.

But before the straw hat teen even had a chance to get riled up, the yellow-eyed man before him pushed him off of his blade. Sending him back onto the platform before speaking. "Relax boy, he needed to experience this defeat in order to advance in his swordplay. I'm quite confident he will live as well, I don't think I've ever met someone so stubborn."

"I don't care! He's my friend, and I won't just let you get away!"

Having sworn he'd heard that exact phrase somewhere before, Hawkeye smiled at the boy without even realizing it. "How noble, it amuses me how similar you and your friend Shanks are. It truly is uncanny."

Stopping dead in his tracks, Luffy's rubber jaw hit the floor with a small thump. "Woah! You know Shanks!?" He exclaimed childishly, forgetting about why he was so worked up before.

"I do, he is a very powerful pirate. That's his hat you're wearing, is it not?"

Luffy gave his trademark grin and reached behind his neck to place his treasure back onto his head. "You bet it is! And I'm gonna return it to him one day. Because I promised him that I would be King of the Pirates!"

"King of the Pirates?" Hawkeye asked as he sheathed his sword behind his back again. "My my, you two sure do have ambition, that can't be argued. And what would your name be?"

"Monkey D. Luffy."

Taking the name he just heard into consideration, the yellow-eyed man definitely had an opinion on it. Interesting, he is of the D bloodline as well. You never fail to surprise me Shanks. You and I will have words the next time we meet. "Very well then Monkey D. Luffy, I will be off. Make sure to tend to your friend, that's quite a bit of blood he's lost there," Mihawk joked. Walking over to his tiny boat and boarding it.

Luffy watched as the man eerily floated away in his vessel, his words taking a while to click in his head. "Hey! Wait a minute, you distracted me from our fight!" He yelled out into the ocean, no longer having a way to reach the man without drowning.

"Ow! Damn it old man, that hurts!" Luffy conplained, squirming out of Zeff's grip once again.

"Shut the hell up kid! What happened to all that macho crap from before!" Currently, the owner of the Baratie was trying to bandage up the teen's shredded up arms. They were by far the most injured part of his body, being both cut up badly as well as burnt through pretty deep.

Sanji meanwhile, was sitting next to the duo, unsurprisingly smoking a cigarette while watching over Zoro's unconscious form. After the huge battle with their number one customer, all of the restaurant employees gathered up and brought the two fighters in for treatment. The swordsman was quite easy to stabilize, considering he didn't resist at all. Wrapping him up in bandages and getting him in bed was no problem at all.

His captain, on the other hand, was being extra difficult. "Heh, how about that? The guy who feels no pain is crying like a baby," Sanji muttered.

"Hey! I heard that!" Luffy pouted.

Getting the boy's arms wrapped up at last, Zeff spoke seriously to him. "Alright kid listen up, All of your other wounds should be fine, but the ones that really concern me are the burns on your arms. They're still gonna heal, but it's gonna take time. Now I'm no doctor, but I recommend that you not stretch your arms out for any reason for at least a week. You got that."

"Yeah, sure old man, whatever you say," Luffy said nonchalantly. The hurting in his arms was forgotten as he observed the white wrappings on them in amusement. "Heh, check it out Sanji, I look like a mummy!"

Exhaling some smoke, Sanji shook his head in disappointment. "You're such a dumbass, you know that? I can't believe a moron like you was strong enough to take down a big shot like Don Krieg."

"Now now Sanji," Zeff addressed the boy. Speaking in an almost condescending tone. "That's no way to talk to your new Captain."

Both boys suddenly turned to the older fellow with very baffled faces. With Luffy conveying pure joy and Sanji conveying utter confusion. "What the hell are you talking about you old geezer!?"

"Yay! I found my cook!"

Without warning, Sanji stood up to get in Zeff's face, grabbing the elder's shirt collar and bringing him closer. "I already told you old man, you aren't getting rid of me! I'm staying right here and working for you until the day you die!"

Zeff growled lowly at the boy's disrespect, shaking free from his grip and shoving him to the floor. "Shut your mouth you damn brat, I'm doing this for your own good! I've still got another million years of life in my veins… And you still have a powerful dream in your soul that you can't let go to waste!"

The sous chef stood up from the floor, ready to argue to the last breath. "I don't have a damn dream you geezer! I gave up on that childish crap a long time ago! So don't even start with all that good for me bullshit!"

Luffy awkwardly sat on the side as he watched the two men argue. If this kept on escalating any further, he was gonna have to leave the room while they fought to the death. The rubber man was just about to start picking his nose in order to take his attention off of the two cooks, but right then, Zeff decided to bring him in on the tense conversation.

"Hey kid, has this brat talked to you about any dreams? If so, then please tell me. We can settle this debate right here and you can have yourself a world class cook on your crew."

Being put on the spot all of a sudden, Luffy gulped. Looking at the faces of both men before thinking of his next course of action. Zeff's face was showing some pretty decent confidence, as if he had just reached checkmate in a dragged out game of chess. Sanji on the other hand was starting to lose color in his face, Like he was slowly accepting a crushing defeat.

No longer needing any more convincing, Luffy stood up from his seat on the floor and tipped his hat down to cover his eyes. It simply wasn't worth it to him to sacrifice his friendship with Sanji just to have him on his crew. Lifting his head slowly to reveal his eyes, the rubber man gave his answer. "Sorry old man, but he hasn't said a thing to me."

It was pretty obvious by the looks both chefs were giving that they were not expecting the response they got. Zeff was the one who recovered first though, replacing his shock with a small smirk. Sanji was going all out with showing surprise though. He couldn't comprehend why he wasn't just outed by the straw hat teen. He had everything to gain, yet he didn't pull the trigger.

"Hahahaha!" Zeff laughed, breaking a new record for laughs in one day by the old man. "You really are something special, kid, so strong of both heart and body. And even honorable enough to not rat out a friend! Hahaha!"

Ok, now even Luffy was confused. Both him and Sanji looked at the elder man oddly.

"Don't stare at me like that you brats! I was there when you two had that cute little talk outside on the balcony. So you can't fool me Sanji, I saw how happy you were when you told this kid about the All Blue."

"Shit…" Sanji muttered in disbelief. He was sure as hell screwed now.

Zeff relented on being forceful though, crouching down and holding his apprentices shoulder. "Hey, c'mon Sanji, you need to do this. Dreams can't be forgotten or ignored like this. You have to set out and seize them with all that you have!"

The blonde boy listened to his mentor's words with a heavy heart, trying all he could to avoid eye contact. Because he knew that the second they locked eyes, his resolve would crumble. "But Zeff… I owe you my life, I can't just leave like this just to chase something so personal…"

Smiling sadly at the boy, Zeff brought up his final point. Trying to keep his own emotions in check the best he could. "Well then my boy, how about instead of going out and chasing your dream… You go out and chase ours."

Sanji couldn't help but meet the man's eyes at that heartfelt statement. And as soon as he did, he regretted it, because instantly the boy was bawling his eyes out and crushing Zeff with a hug. Just the thought of leaving the man who was like a father to him felt so heavy that it was unimaginable.

"Damn it brat," Zeff wavered, his voice cracking as few tears escaped down his cheeks. "Men aren't supposed to cry like this."

Pulling back from the man, Sanji failed to stop his tears and bowed his head to the man who saved his life all those years ago. "Zeff, thank you for everything! I owe my life to you, and now I swear on that life that I will find the All Blue one day! And when I do, I'll take you there! So you better not die you damn geezer!"

The owner of the Baratie was right in the process of happily accepting his apprentice's terms for going out to sea, but something had to come in and ruin it. Or more specifically, someone.

"Alright! Sanji's gonna join my crew!" Luffy exclaimed as he leapt at the boy to hug him.

Before that action could be accomplished though, the rubber man's face was met with a strong kick from a sturdy pegleg. "Damn it kid, you ruined the moment!"

As the straw hat teen tumbled against the wall roughly, Sanji appeared to also have words for him. "Don't get so excited you rubber bastard. I'm only joining you so I can see my sweet angel Nami again."

Standing up and dusting himself off, Luffy got a quizzical look on his face, the blonde haired cook reminding him of the navigator. "Oh yeah, where is Nami anyway? I haven't seen her since before Krieg got here."

Suddenly though, the doors to the room flew open out of nowhere, revealing the long nosed Straw Hat Pirate, and he was looking quite panicked. "Luffy! We have a problem! It's the Merry, she's gone!"

A quick note on Mihawk's sword, Yoru. All of the names of the legendary blades are the only things I'm going to leave in Japanese. I thought this would be more appropriate and authentic. Also, on my update schedule. I fully intended to get out two extras this week, but obviously that didn't work out the way I wanted it to. Work has been a total bitch lately, and I've barely been getting any time to write. So with that said, I'm gonna slow down to only one extra per week for a bit. I'm really sorry about this, but I'll do two again when I am met with more free time. But two chapters a week is still pretty fast right?