Hello there again. Before we start, I'd like to thank all the people who followed, fave'd, and reviewed this story. Your support means so much to me. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hopefully, you enjoy this one and read until the end.
Chapter 6: A fool's errand
"Please, help us!"
Despite Gin's pleading, the patrons and the rest of the staff remained motionless, unsure of what to do. A few seconds pass before Don Krieg slips off of Gin's shoulder and he collapses down to the floor. Gin quickly kneels beside him to try and raise him up, but fails. Looking around with worried eyes, he tries to beg for help again.
"HAHAHAHAHA! That's fantastic! This is the fearsome Don Krieg? Good riddance." Patty said without any traces of empathy on his face. He points his finger to one of the waiters in the dining room. "Hey, call the marines so they can arrest this scumbag."
Gin grits his teeth in frustration. "Can't you hear us?! Dammit, I said we have money! We're paying customers!"
"Don't feed them!" Patty orders the staff, leaving no room for discussion.
"Let him starve to death. Don Krieg is a pirate and a menace."
"If he regains his strength, god knows what he'll do." Several customers said in agreement.
With whatever energy he has left, Don Krieg positions himself and kneels down in front of the chefs. "I beg you, help me... I promise I won't harm anyone. Just give me anything, even if they're leftovers." He begged with his raspy voice, despite Gin's protest.
Patty was about to kick the two out of the restaurant when he was shoved out of the way, which made him stumble down onto the floor. He looks up to see who the interrupting bastard was, and was surprised to see Sanji carrying a large plate filled with food, as well as a bottle of what seems to be wine. He puts the items down in front of Don Krieg. Without hesitation, he starts eating and drinking.
"Sanji-san, thank you again..." Gin said, his voice wavering and tears starting to form in his eyes.
"Sanji, you idiot! Don't you know who that guy is?! That pirate is a manipulative bastard! He won't honor his promise of not attacking us. You should've left him for dead!" One of the chefs, Carne, said. Sanji turns his attention to him to give him a peace of his mind. However, he fails to notice Don Krieg slowly standing up.
"Oi, Sanji-san!" Don Krieg says with a mocking tone. "You shouldn't turn your back on an enemy!" He swings his fist in an attempt to punch the chef from behind. Fortunately for Sanji, Don Krieg was slow due to his fatigued state, giving him enough time to jump out of the way.
This surprised everyone, including Gin. "D-Don Krieg, you promised not to hurt these people!" he exclaimed.
Don Krieg chose to ignore his protests, grabbing Gin's shoulder to support him as he stood up instead. The pirate looked around the ship's interior before grinning menacingly.
"I like this place. I'll take it."
This made everyone shout. Some are angry, some are confused, but most of them were fearful. As Don Krieg made his intentions known, all of the customers flooded out of the restaurant and back into their own boats, leaving the Straw Hats as the only patrons inside.
"Don Krieg, you promised." Gin mumbled.
"My old ship got ruined, so I'll be needing a new one. I have a hundred men on my crew, all needing food and water. Once you're done preparing these things, you can get the hell out of my new ship."
"This is ridiculous..." one of the chefs said through clenched teeth.
"What, are you telling us to feed and help our murderers?! We refuse!" Carne said.
The smile quickly vanished from Don Krieg's eyes and was briefly replaced with a dark, merciless expression. "That's not a request, that's an order." He said before the smile returned to his face. "Well, rather than an order, think of it as a threat. Either you obey me or you die."
Patty notices Sanji walking away. He turns his attention to him, eyes filled with fury. "Sanji, where do you think you're going?! You got us into the mess!"
"I need to prepare food for a hundred people." He said without turning his back.
This made Patty snap. He immediately stands up to grab Sanji's head before pushing it down to the ground with significant force, creating a small crack on the floorboards.
"I know what you've been doing. I know that you've been serving food to penniless customers when you think we weren't looking. Whether it's right or wrong, I don't give a damn... But this?!" He said before pushing Sanji's head further down into the ground.
"You're going to destroy this restaurant!"
"Then you better hold me down if you don't want me to!" Sanji shouted in defiance, which frustrated Patty even more.
The rest of the chefs pull out their knives with a hardened resolve to try and defend the place that they hold dear. "We won't let you take this place away, Don Krieg! He's just one man, he can't take us all on his own." One of the chefs encourages the rest. They all charge at Don Krieg with a burning resolve, fully intent on attacking the offending pirate.
Don Krieg just grins widely, which sends a chill down Gin's spine. He tries to hold back Don Krieg from what he thinks he's about to do. "Don, wait! You don't have to-!"
"Silence, Gin! I need to teach these people what happens if you don't obey." He said before shrugging off his coat, revealing a massive gold-plated armor underneath. Several gun barrels emerge from his armor, pointed at the chefs. The guns go off, and they brace themselves for the worst.
Suddenly, a massive gust of wind blew inside the restaurant, which forced the chefs to stop their charge and made everyone shield their eyes. Moments later, the chefs look around to see if anyone else is injured. They were amazed to find that everyone was unharmed by Don Krieg's attack. Upon closer inspection, they see that a portion of the restaurant wall was seemingly sliced, which surprises everyone.
Don Krieg looks to the side to see a table still occupied by six people. One of the occupants has his sword out, pointed at the direction of the cut on the wall while still remaining seated. He never paid any attention to the rest of the people inside because he was too focused on dealing with the staff of the restaurant, fully expecting all of the customers to leave the ship. Now that he's looking at this area of the restaurant, however, he notices that while some of the occupants were tensed up, the others were continuing with their meal as if nothing is happening. The boy with a straw hat, an orange-haired woman, and the swordsman from earlier who seems familiar.
"You... You're that pirate hunter, aren't you?"
"Yeah. And you're distracting us from our meal." Zoro replied without turning to him.
Don Krieg's eyes narrow at the casual amount of disrespect displayed by the swordsman. "You seem to not understand what's happening. I am Don-!"
"Yeah, yeah. Most fearsome pirate in east blue. We heard you." The woman said while waving her hand, which made her companions laugh. She raises her glass, and looks at one of the waiters. "Waiter! I hope you don't mind if I ask for another refill of your wine."
A tic forms on Don Krieg's forehead as he clenches his fist, struggling to manage his temper. He was about to retort when he saw a chef emerging from the kitchens carrying a large sack while walking towards him. When the chef got close, he drops the sack while maintaining his hard glare.
"There. That's food for a hundred people. Take it and get out."
"O-Owner Zeff, what are you-!"
"Shut it, you idiots. You're all cooks, so act like it." Zeff reprimands the other chefs
"But if his men gain the strength, then they'll attack Baratie." Patty said, slowly loosening his hold on Sanji. The latter finally rolls out and shrugs Patty off before sitting up.
Zeff's frown turns into a taunting smirk. "If they have the strength. Isn't that right, grand line reject?"
"No way. Not even Don Krieg managed to sail through the grand line." several chefs murmured.
Upon hearing this, Gin immediately covered his face. He seems to have remembered something traumatic when the word was mentioned. Meanwhile, Don Krieg was focused on other things.
"You. You're Red Leg Zeff."
"I was. Now I'm just a simple cook in the east blue."
This made Don Krieg smirk. "But you didn't have a choice, did you? Everyone thought you died at sea. But it turns out, you can't fight anymore, so you ran."
Hearing this made Sanji's blood boil. He narrows his eyes at Don Krieg, choosing instead to light a cigarette up to try and calm himself down. Fearsome pirate be damned, he thought. If he utters one more word, then he'll kick the crap out of him.
Zeff merely shrugged off Don Krieg's attempt at taunting him. "I can't fight like I used to, but I can still use my hands to cook. That's all that matters." He raises both his hands to emphasize his point. "But what are you getting at with knowing my name?"
"You sailed the hostile waters of the grand line, and managed to survive. You must've kept a log of sorts, about your voyage. Hand it over."
Zuff chuckled lightly. "And why would I hand them to you? Those logs contain the memories of my crew."
"Then I'll steal it from you once I take this ship." Don Krieg then holds up his fists before clenching it hard. "I've had the manpower, the ships, and the weapons. All I lacked was knowledge, and we were caught unprepared. Once I get that logbook, I'll set sail for the grand line and conquer it this time!"
The tense atmosphere was broken by laughter coming from the boy with the straw hat. Despite his mouth filled with food, his laughter echoed inside the building. Unfortunately, this made him choke on some food, which made some of his companions to slap his back hard to try and help him. After a few seconds, he manages to swallow his food properly before he looks at Don Krieg with a confident look on his face.
"What are you talking about? Conquering the grand line? That's weak! I'll one-up you and become the pirate king!"
The amount of confidence he showed surprised all the chefs inside, and irritated Don Krieg. He glared at the boy, seemingly offended with what he said. "You think this is a joke, boy?! We had 50 ships and 5000 men. And do you know how long we lasted? Seven fucking days! All our ships were seemingly cut by the sword of the devil!" This shocked everyone to the core, cementing their impressions of the grand line.
"That's because you're weak." Luffy says.
Don Krieg's retort was interrupted when the pirate hunter asked him a question. "It was Hawk-eyes that destroyed you guys, wasn't it?"
"H-How did you know..."
"I've heard that he's been spotted around these waters. And when you said that your ships were cut, I just connected the dots."
"Why is he doing this? Is he chasing us?" Gin's question was laced with fear.
"You must've interrupted his sleep or something. He doesn't seem to like that very much." Zoro replied without looking at them.
This raised Zeff's eyebrow. "You know him?"
"I know of him." Zoro said cryptically.
Whatever Don Krieg was thinking earlier died down. He simply picks up the large sack and turns around to head outside. Before he exits the building, he looks back to glare at the chefs to try and intimidate them for the last time.
"I'll come back to take this ship. Everyone remaining here will be killed." He said before walking out.
Gin did not follow Don Krieg as he exited the building. Instead, he looks up with a sense of worry, directed at the chefs. "Sanji-san, I'm sorry. I didn't think that it would happen like this."
Zeff waves him off. "It's fine. We serve food here, so that's what we did."
"Have you gone mad, owner Zeff?! Once he gets back, he'll kill us all!" Patty shouted in a mixture of protest and concern.
"Shut it, you idiots!" Zeff's words immediately silenced the chef's complaints. "Have you ever experienced the fear and dread of going hungry and thirsty at sea?!" He then points at Sanji, who's sitting on the ground. "This eggplant might be an idiot, but he knows what it feels like. Now if you guys don't shut up, I suggest that you exit the back and never come back."
Zeff's outburst solidified the staff's resolve. They wouldn't let Don Krieg take this restaurant away from them, whatever it takes. Gin tries to convince them otherwise.
"Are you all mad?! He's Don Krieg, the most ruthless pirate in east blue! He's going to kill all of you!"
"Gin, it's my job to feed you. Even if you don't have money, I'll try my hardest to give you a great meal." He says before taking a puff of his cigarette. "But if that bastard is going to attack us, then all bets are off. We're going to defend this place and beat all of you."
The rest of the chefs spend their time preparing for combat against pirates. Meanwhile, Gin stood there unsure of what to do. Moments later, they can hear a loud roar of cheers from Don Krieg's ship, anchored quite far from Baratie. The chefs held their weapons tightly. They willingly chose to defend this place, but they're still chefs, Gin thought. Suddenly, the pirates that were staying here seemed to have finished their meals. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami stood from their chairs before they started to walk towards the door. Luffy looks back at Zeff with that goofy grin of his.
"Hey old man. If I kick Krieg's ass, will you let me have Sanji."
"Sure, go ahead." Zeff says despite Sanji's protest.
Nami looks at Zoro with a slight grim expression on her face. "Zoro- I think I can sense him." She says quietly so only he can hear, to which Zoro simply flashes her a feral grin.
A few minutes later, everyone filed out of the restaurant to prepare for an attack. They spotted Don Krieg's massive galleon sailing towards them. As the galleon got closer, the chefs braced themselves when suddenly, the massive galleon was cleanly cut in half. This created large waves, which rocked the restaurant. Zeff ordered his staff to weigh the anchor down and to open Baratie's fins to stabilize the ship. Almost everyone was shouting in fear at this point, and even Don Krieg lost his composure. Usopp was happy that they anchored Merry on the other side of the restaurant, as if some sort of divine intervention was at play.
After everything settled down, everyone tried to focus on what caused the attack. They find a small raft sailing in between the cut.
"Don Krieg, it's him! That's the guy that attacked us." They heard one of Krieg's pirates shout.
As the raft got closer to the restaurant, everyone could finally take a closer look at the person riding it. Looking at him gives off an unnerving feeling, Usopp noted. His gaze made you feel like you were being hunted.
"I-Is that..."
"That's him." Zeff says. He still cannot believe that a famed pirate from the grand line is here.
"You bastard! Why do you keep on fighting us?!" One of the pirates says.
Mihawk simply glances at him, devoid of any emotion. "For fun."
This angered the pirates, who all aimed their guns at him before firing. Mihawk simply pulled his large sword from behind him and swings it slightly. The ones who shot him were perplexed as to what happened. As quickly as he pulled it out, Mihawk sheathes his blade.
"You can't hit him like that. He just cut your large ships in half, and you expect a bullet to do the job?"
Everyone was shocked to see the pirate hunter standing on a large piece of wreckage. He kept his eyes trained on Mihawk as he walked closer to him.
When Mihawk chased those insufferable pirates, it was to try and kill some time. Their captain seemed boisterous and powerful, but when he unleashed a few attacks, they all ran back to east blue. At first he chased them here just for the heck of it. But when he sensed some powerful auras in the direction he was headed, he became mildly intrigued. As he got closer, he finally got a chance to compare these auras to the rest.
Simply put, it was like three massive lighthouses in the middle of the night.
A strong fighter does not need to fight to gauge someone's strength; Mihawk believes in this. But what surprised him was that there were people this strong in the world's weakest sea. The man in front of him was one of them. He looked to his side, and he spotted the other two; a boy with the straw hat and a woman with orange hair. They were looking back at him as if reading his aura.
"The way you cut this ship was amazing. You really are the strongest swordsman in the world."
He turns his attention to the man in front of him. "A swordsman without skill is one without strength."
He then saw the man pull out two of his swords. "You said you're looking for fun. I'd be honored to have a swordsman's duel with you. I promise to make it worth your time."
This was different. Usually, weaker swordsmen challenge him, fully believing that they can take him on. The stronger ones, however, are far more respectful and outright casual in challenging him. His curiosity keeps growing. "What is your name, kid?"
"I'm Roronoa Zoro, and it's my dream to become the world's strongest swordsman."
Mihawk then pulls out his sword from behind him and points it at Zoro. "Your ambition is foolish. And your attempt, even more so. So tell me. Why does this strong one think like a fool?"
"I don't have any illusions of beating you. Not right now. I simply wanted to measure how far I am from the top." Zoro pulls out his third sword before putting it on his mouth. Suddenly, his blades become as black as obsidian. And even though none of the other pirates noticed, Mihawk surely did.
He simply chuckled before going into a fighting stance. "Was it luck that lead me here? Or was it fate. Very well. Whenever you're ready, Roronoa Zoro."
The next thing everybody saw was Zoro's blades crossed with Mihawk's. Their clash sending ripples on the waters next to them, and blowing some of the pirates away. None of the blades budged away, but everyone can feel the strength behind their swings. Moments later, the two swordsmen seem to have disappeared, but in reality they are simply far too fast for almost everyone to see. Despite that, they can still feel the impact of their blades meeting.
Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku were cheering Zoro on. The chefs and the rest of the pirates were in a mixture of fascination and fear for their safety. Luffy and Nami, however, were watching with relative unease.
Luffy knew that Zoro lost a ton of his physical strength. And while that would be enough against east blue pirates, facing against grand line pirates will be much more difficult. He's comforted by the fact that Mihawk won't kill him. Probably.
Nami, however, watched this entire clash with a sense of dread. When they fought Arlong back then, she remembers the bandages covering Zoro's torso. And once he pulled out his bandages and exposed Zoro's wounds for the world to see, it made her numb.
"Luffy. Their fight wasn't as close as this, was it?" She dreaded the answer to that question.
In the middle of their fight, Zoro and Mihawk slowed down enough for everyone to perceive them again. Moments later, Zoro jumps away, landing a few meters from Mihawk. "Three sword Style.." Once he lands, he quickly dashes forward to resume his attack "Ultra Tiger Hunt!" The two crossed blades once again, which again created a shockwave. This time, however, Zoro manages to push Mihawk back. He slides a bit before managing to counter Zoro's attack. He swings his sword upward, which sends Zoro up in the air. Mihawk goes on the offensive, this time, sending a massive slash towards his opponent. Zoro rights himself and manages to block it with his swords just in time before deflecting it upward. He lands back moments later.
The two swordsmen looked at each other before Mihawk spoke up. "Well met, Roronoa Zoro. But can you continue?"
At this point, Zoro is panting heavily. Despite actually putting up a decent fight this time, his body is simply too weak to be fighting a new world level pirate.
"Are you two shitbags done?!"
Don Krieg jumps towards the two. Despite being told by his crew to not interfere with the fight for their safety, he made an arrogant decision of attacking these two despite seeing how outclassed he was. He was stopped, however, by Luffy punching his face. The attack sends Don Krieg flying back to the rest of his crew.
"Don Krieg! Catch him before he falls into the water." One of his crewmates said.
"Don't worry about him, I'll deal with him later!" Luffy shouts from where he's standing on Baratie.
"He's eaten a devil fruit." Mihawk turns his attention towards the rubber man, before looking back to Zoro. "I'm right to assume that you two are friends."
"He's my captain. And I need to be strong if I want to make him the pirate King."
This made Mihawk chuckle. "A foolish captain with an equally foolish crew member. Perhaps the greatest of men were fools at one point." He says with the tiniest hint of fondness in his voice. "But how about you, strong one. Can you still fight?"
Zoro grabs his swords tightly. "What are you talking about? That was a warmup." As he said this, black-purplish lightning started flashing from his blade. Mihawk, who almost looked the least bit surprised, focused on Zoro's swords.
"Very well. Show me your strength."
Zoro jumps high up in the air. He raises two of his swords over his shoulder. "Three sword Style..." He twirls forward before rushing back down to the ground. "Purgatory Demon Slayer!" Mihawk swings his sword upward to block the attack. Once their swords crossed, a massive shockwave erupted from where their swords clashed. Those who were close enough needed to shield their eyes from the massive, storm-like winds assaulting them.
Sanji was watching from Baratie with bated breath, and his mouth slightly open. These two people fighting doesn't seem human at all. Once the winds have stabled enough, he noticed something when he looked closer.
"They're not even touching... What kind of fight is this?"
"This is the level of strength pirates sailing in the grand line have." Zeff said. He was standing behind Sanji, watching with the same amount of fascination. "I'm surprised that the pirate hunter has this level of strength within him as well. I guess that's why he has such a reputation." Zeff then stares at the sky before pointing his finger upwards. "Look up, eggplant."
Sanji turns his attention to where Zeff is pointing, only to be greeted by a sight that he will never forget.
"The sky. No, the heavens themselves are splitting." Zeff said. Sanji gasped at what he saw before turning his attention back to the fight.
Mihawk can feel the strength behind his opponent's attack, his own feet sinking deeper into the wreckage to counter. Despite not showing any changes in his expression, his interest only kept growing more. Deciding to take this fight more seriously, he put a significant amount of force on his upward swing. This breaks the hold and manages to hit Zoro, sending him flying with a shallow wound on his chest. The green haired swordsman lands on the other side of the wreckage, gasping heavily.
"Damn it! Still not enough." He said in between deep breaths.
Meanwhile, Mihawk holds his blade in front of him to inspect its edge. He looked at it for a while before he continued speaking. "Since I acquired Yoru, only one man has had me worried about my blade's edge being damaged." He then looks at the swordsman lying down on the other side. He saw Zoro slowly standing, using two of his swords to help him up. Zoro grabs Wado Ichimonji from the ground before putting it back on his mouth.
"I'll put all my strength into this attack. If I fail, at least I tried." As he said this, his blades turn darker that before. And this time, what seems to be black smoke starts emanating from them, along with some black lightning.
In response, Mihawk's sword starts emitting what looks like a bluish green aura. "Very well. To show my gratitude, I'll be giving you a gift. A taste of what the larger world has to offer"
This only made Zoro grin. "That's fine by me. Demonic Aura: Asura..."
Mihawk watches with interest as Zoro sprouts six additional limbs, each holding a copy of his swords. Without breaking his gaze, he positions his sword in preparation for a swing, with Yoru glowing much more intensely this time. With a final dash forward, Zoro swings his swords.
"Toll of the Dead!" Zoro yelled as he swung with all the strength he could muster. Both their auras intensify as another massive shockwave rocks the area that colors the sky with a mixture of dark purple and bright blueish green, split evenly from where their swords are connected. 'I'm not going to go down without doing anything this time!' he thought loudly. The two maintained their ground before eventually the darkness gave way to the bright blue aura, as if being consumed by it. As the sky turns back into its natural colors, everyone saw that both swordsmen were turned against each other.
Moments later, massive amounts of blood gushes out from the newly formed wound on his chest and the illusion of limbs, as well as two of his swords, shatter instantly. Mihawk stood there for a while before turning to his opponent. If someone were to look closer, they can see two very shallow gashes on his cheek, and a significant gash on his shoulder that's starting to bleed.
"Well met, Roronoa Zoro."
"Zoro!" "Aniki!" Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku shouted as the bounty hunters swam to where Zoro is.
Luffy kept on watching, despite the sinking feeling in his chest from seeing one of his friends being beaten like that. Zoro's aura still pulsated, which meant that he's still alive. Despite this, he still watched tensely, grabbing Baratie's railings with enough force for a few cracks to appear. Nami, however, averted her gaze entirely. Covering her mouth as she tried her hardest not to cry. This was the first time she saw this conflict. She only heard stories about it, but seeing this was another thing entirely. The only thing stopping her from interfering is Luffy's explicit order not to.
Zoro was about to fall forward when he gathered enough strength to catch himself. Despite his shaking and weakening legs, he manages to turn around and face Mihawk. With a confident grin, he holds his arms to his side, which surprises his opponent.
"Wounds on the back are a swordsman's shame."
"That idiot..." Sanji said while clenching his teeth. Though they weren't the closest of friends, he was still slightly concerned at man's sorry state.
"Stop it! Don't get yourself killed!" Nami shouts while being held back by Luffy.
Mihawk looked at his opponent in front of him. With the pathetic state he's in, one hit will be enough to kill him. This does not make sense, he thought. A few seconds later, he did something surprising.
He laughed.
Zoro's eyes widen at Mihawk's reaction. Gritting his teeth, he puts his arms down before slowly limping forward. "Are you mocking me?"
Mihawk places his sword behind his back. He then pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe some of the blood off. "You really are a fool, strong one. Why do you want to hasten your death? I was under the impression that you were simply measuring yourself."
"W-What are you-?"
"Isn't it much more wasteful to pluck an unripe fruit from its tree? Such potential to be squandered at this point in time would be much more disrespectful." Mihawk said before looking at Zoro's eyes directly, slightly flinching him. "What I simply showed you was a glimpse. Train hard, travel the world and learn as much as you can."
"Heh. Will you wait for me at the top?" Zoro asks before chuckling.
"If you have a dream, then you must resolve yourself to do whatever it takes. And when that happens, I will wait for you at the top. Although..." Mihawk says, before turning his attention to the straw hatted boy. "It seems that being the strongest is not your lone dream."
Upon hearing this answer, Zoro simply smiles before falling forward from his wounds and his exhaustion. And despite losing, he can't help but feel content.
AN: Yeah, this chapter mostly included the Mihawk v. Zoro fight. I was about to continue when I realized that I'm already 5k words in, and thought that adding more would just be too much stuff for one chapter. The straw hats vs krieg pirates will happen next, so please stay tuned for that one.
So, one issue I've had writing this one is my fear of writing the time travelers as being "too OP". I was very wary of putting in Zoro's "King's haki", but then in the next one piece chapters, it turns out to be a joke by Oda. So what do you think? Was it alright or was it meh? Were the fight scenes constructed in way that's intuitive? Was Mihawk too OOC?
And a few more things. Are my word choices alright? Is my grammar alright? I've been proof reading on my spare time multiple times and I'm sorta worried that I'm still missing some. I'd like to hear your thoughts about it.
Anyways, I'd like to thank you all again for reading until the author's note. Hopefully, I can put up decent chapters in the following weeks. See you all next chapter!