Hello there! Sorry this chapter took a while. I was suddenly caught up in some school work, which delayed this a bit. Anyways, that's not important right now. Again, before we start, I'd like to thank the people who viewed and reviewed the previous chapter, it means a lot to me. And with regards to that, I'll be answering a few reviews and questions at the end of the chapter so if you're interested, please read until the end.
Disclaimer: I don't own one piece. And honestly, I wish 4Kids never owned the license to dub one piece back in the day.
Chapter 7: To rebuild a dream
Johnny and Yosaku manage to grab Zoro before swimming back to safety and away from Mihawk and the Don Krieg pirates. Once they arrived back, they checked whether he was still alive, grateful to hear him slowly breathing.
Meanwhile, Mihawk kept his eyes trailed on Zoro's body being pulled away, as if to keep an eye on him in case one of these buffoons tries to attack him. Once he was sure, he walked back to his raft to depart when he heard heavy footsteps walking towards him from behind.
"Where do you think you're going- I thought you were going after me?"
Don Krieg was standing behind him. The rest of his crew mates begged their captain not to bother Hawk-eyes any longer. Mihawk, however, doesn't even bother looking at him.
"I've had my fair share of fun for today. You're lucky- despite all you did, you and your crew will be spared."
This annoyed Don Krieg. With his eyes narrowed, he deploys the gun barrels inside his armor. "Spare my life?! Don't bullshit me! I'm not done with you."
"In the world of pirates, that is the greatest gift one can receive. And besides, my fight is not with you." He says, before proceeding to hop back onto his boat. Don Krieg was about to fire his weapon, but Mihawk did not seem fazed. He pulls out his sword again and prepares for what seems to be an attack. Despite knowing that Mihawk might deflect his bullets, he still decides to fire all of his guns. With a swing of his massive blade, Mihawk creates a huge wave of air that launches his raft racing away from them.
"He escaped just like that?" said the slightly stunned Don Krieg.
He turned his glare towards Baratie before grinning menacingly, as if imagining of doing something to the chefs. "I see that they haven't left. Good. I'm pretty pissed right now. Might as well take it all on you." He then points at the restaurant before facing his men. "That will become our new ship, lads! Once we take it, we'll start preparing to head back into the grand line!"
"B-But Don. What if we meet someone like Hawk-eyes again?" asked one of the pirates. Don Krieg, in his angered state, immediately shot him with a pistol.
"I won't accept cowardice and insubordination among the crew. There are a bunch of pirates out there who wouldn't hesitate to work for me. Don't forget your place." He keeps his gun back in his pocket before looking back to his men with a hardened gaze. "And the owner of that restaurant is none other than Red Leg Zeff. He's sailed the grand line for an entire year. He must've kept a log somewhere in that place. We'll take it along with his ship. With that log in our possession, we'll conquer the grind line!"
Don Krieg's speech gave his crew a morale boost, who began shouting and cheering while raising their weapons. The chefs of Baratie heard this. Most of the chefs needed to swallow the lump forming in their throats to calm themselves down, despite their fear. They notice the straw-hatted boy and the orange haired girl standing in front of them. The former holding a hand to his side as if to tell them to hold still.
"We'll deal these people for you." Luffy said with a neutral tone.
Most of the chefs, however, shook their heads while slowly walking towards one of Baratie's fins. "No. It's our job to defend this place. Owner Zeff has given us a home, and we'll be damned if we allow strangers to do our jobs while we sit here doing nothing." One of them says.
Thinking that there's nothing he can say that can convince them otherwise, Luffy simply sighs in resignation. The pirates all start charging towards the restaurant, fully expecting it to be a relatively easy task considering they're up against chefs. As the two groups met and clashed with each other, some of the chefs managed to hold their own. Others, however, fell down almost immediately, not used to fighting extensively.
"Nami, can you handle this?"
"Just kick Krieg's ass." Nami said, clearly not in a good mood. Luffy guessed that she was ticked off by what she had seen earlier.
"Johnny, Yosaku! Keep Zoro safe!" Not waiting for a reply, Luffy launches himself towards Don Krieg.
Nami was about to attack when she felt someone gently grabbing her shoulder. Looking back, she sees Sanji holding her. "Nami-san, let me fight them." With a sigh, she lowers her weapon.
While everyone was fighting, Nami thought back on the previous timeline's events. Around this time, she was sailing towards Cocoyashi village on board the Going Merry. She imagined that if Zoro, despite his skills and techniques, was already brought to this sorry state, what more could've happened the previous time. She felt a slight tinge of regret.
Usopp notices Nami's sad and bitter expression. "Nami, is something wrong?"
Trying to calm herself down, she breathes in deeply before shaking her head. "No, I'm fine Usopp. Thanks for worrying." She said with a forced smile.
Patty and Carne are currently engaged with the rest of the Krieg Pirates. And while they were faring much better compared to their other companions, the enemies' sheer numbers were simply overwhelming.
"Party Table Kick Course!"
Seeing Sanji take down a number of pirates was a very welcome surprise for the rest of the chefs. As he was about to flip himself upright, some of the pirates decided to attack him while he was relatively vulnerable. They were stopped, however, when Nami appeared in front of them. She swings her staff at the attackers, which knocks them away.
"Nami-san is so strong!~" Sanji shouted at Nami in admiration, holding his hands together and with hearts in place of his eyes.
"Oi Sanji, don't get distracted!" One of the chefs reprimanded him.
Usopp decided to join the fray, shooting a few pellets from his slingshot from relatively far away. Not expecting this level of resistance from these unknown people, the invading pirates took a step back, unsure of what they should do. From the corner of their eyes, they spot something familiar heading towards them from the sea. A few seconds later, a tall man wearing a large circular armor emerges from the water. He slowly rises up onto the deck before shaking off the droplets from his body.
"Tch. To think that some of Don Krieg's 'pirates' are struggling to fight these people. Even our esteemed commander is hesitant." He said while taking a glance at Gin before immediately dashing towards Patty and Carne. He then uses his armored wrist to smash these two, sending them flying away. "Ha! I'll fight these weaklings. I'm the invincible Pearl!" He shouted, sending the remaining pirates into fits of cheers.
"Patty, Carne!" Sanji exclaimed, worriedly looking at his fallen comrades before turning his attention to Pearl, glaring at the man. "You bastard." Sanji quickly runs towards Pearl, aiming a kick at his face. Pearl casually blocks the attack with his armored wrist, rattling Sanji's legs. Sanji then jumps backwards, wincing in slight pain as he lands.
"Ha! Is that all you got? I must admit, I felt your kicks through my armor. But that won't be enough! Nothing can break these things." Pearl boasted.
Sanji taps his legs on the deck to try and feel if Pearl's block did some damage. Satisfied, he starts running towards Pearl again. Instead of blocking, the armored man swings his arms in a lariat. Just before it hits, Sanji ducks down to dodge the attack. Once he sees an opening, he hits Pearl's face with an upward kick, which stumbles the man. Once he regained his footing, Pearl was surprised to feel a foreign sensation on his face. He puts his hand on his nose, only to see blood on his fingers.
The chefs were confused as to why the pirates started panicking once they saw that Pearl's face was now bleeding. "N-No Pearl, don't worry. I-It's just a nosebleed. No big deal." They said to try and calm him down.
Pearl suddenly goes up in flames, which surprised the chefs. "Danger! Get away from me!" he shouts in panic.
Pearl launches several bursts of flames from his hand. The pirates jump away to avoid the trail of fire left by the attack. It hits Baratie, which causes some of the wooden parts to catch fire. The chefs, despite their battered state, hurriedly tried to douse the fire in whatever way they can. They succeeded in doing so moments later.
"You scum. Now, you've really done it! With my flames and armor, I'm really invincible!" Pearl shouted.
He slams his armored fists together before lunging at Sanji, swinging his flaming arms to punch the chef. Sanji dodges again by jumping up. He then uses his opponent's outstretched arm as a platform to jump on to gain more height. At the peak of his jump, he does a downward kick directed on the top of Pearl's head, which causes the armored man to fall down on his back, bringing him to the brink of unconsciousness.
CRASH
Everyone looked to the source of the large crashing sound. They were stunned to see Don Krieg's battered form lying on the wooden wreckage. They were equally surprised to see that the straw-hatted boy seemed to be unscathed.
"N-No way... Don Krieg..." one of the pirates uttered in disbelief.
"That straw-hat bastard must've cheated! Don Krieg is unbeatable!" another tries to rationalize, not wanting to believe that his captain was beaten that easily.
To the pirates' relief, Don Krieg slowly gets up. Despite his shaky legs, the arrogant look on his face remained. "You think you could beat me like that?"
"I know I can kick your ass." Luffy says without hesitation, which angers Don Krieg further. He pulls out a spear from his armor. The sight of the weapon being brandished sent all of the pirates into loud cheers.
"I won't be defeated by anyone, especially by a dreamer like you. Adventure? Friendship? Those things don't matter!" Don Krieg said to try and insult Luffy.
"No way Don Krieg will lose with that weapon."
"Yeah! Not one single person in east blue managed to survive a single hit of the Don's explosive spear!"
Luffy was about to resume the beating when he heard Gin shout.
"Stop whatever the hell you are doing!"
He turns his attention towards Baratie, only to see Gin pointing a gun on Zeff's head. The chef laid down on his belly, his wooden leg broken, and Gin's leg pinning him down on the wooden floor.
"Gin, you son of a bitch!" Sanji shouted, gritting his teeth in frustration.
"I'm sorry... I don't want to hurt you, but I can't betray the Don. Just please, leave this place. I'll give you my word that none of you will get hurt as you leave." Gin grumbled. Although if you look closely, his gun wielding hand is shaking.
The chefs shouted in protest before rushing in to aid their fallen boss. They were stopped, however, when they saw Gin cocking his gun. "Don't move, or I'll blow his brains out." He said, which frustrated the chefs further. Gin then looks at Luffy. "That goes for you too, straw hat! Move an inch, then I'll kill him."
Luffy simply stares back at Gin, but he still follows. The other chefs notice Don Krieg swinging his spear towards the defenseless boy with a victorious smirk on his face. They try to warn him to dodge, but Luffy refuses. Moments later, the weapon hits Luffy then explodes. The explosion covers Luffy and Don Krieg in a smoke of dust and debris. Most of them, including Gin, winced upon seeing this.
The pirates started grinning, sure about their victory when suddenly, Gin's face exploded in a puff of smoke, which sends him stumbling forward. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, Usopp used the distraction to fire a smoke pellet aimed at him. Sanji then capitalizes on Usopp's attack to dash towards Gin. Once he was close enough, Sanji twirled on one foot to gather momentum before kicking Gin to his side. The attack sends him flying sideways, nearly making him go overboard. Zeff looks up to see Sanji with that confident smirk on his face.
"Cheeky eggplant." Although it may sound like he's trying to insult Sanji, there's a hint of pride in his voice.
"Commander!" the pirates shouted.
"Hey punk. You haven't beaten me yet."
Sanji slowly looks behind to see Pearl towering over him. The large man already has his fist swinging down for a strike aimed at his head. 'Crap, I can't dodge or he'll hit the damn geezer.' He thought. 'Well, I guess It's my turn to be hurt for his sake. Maybe this old worthless boy's got some use to him.' With that in mind, Sanji chooses to shield Zeff with his body.
Pearl's attack was halted when Nami swung her staff at the man's midsection, shattering his armor on both sides instantly. The impact was hard enough that everyone felt it through their feet. The attack, which creates a small yet noticeable wave of air coming out of Pearl's back, staggers him. He falls down on his back a few seconds later, his eyes turning white, signifying that he was knocked out cold.
Nami glares at the fallen man, her expression dark and her eyes shadowed. "Don't interfere." She says with anger, echoing what Luffy said to her. She already saw one comrade getting hurt, she thought. She wouldn't let another one be battered if she could help it.
Everyone was stunned at how easily she broke Pearl's defenses. The pirates' morale plummets upon seeing what Nami did.
She turns to Sanji, her expression becoming much softer. "Don't sacrifice your life that easily. Do you think he'd want to see you hurt yourself?" Sanji's eyes widen at what she said. Quickly looking back on everything Zeff has said to him. He then stood up straighter than earlier before dusting his suit.
Meanwhile, Gin slowly rose up from the floor, rubbing his head to try to ease the pain. He looks at Sanji with a mildly impressed look. "You really don't hold back against pirates, huh?" He then pulls out a pair of tonfas before walking towards Sanji. "I suppose I should give you the benefit of dying by my hand, considering we owe our lives to you."
In response, Sanji lights up a cigarette. "Thanks, I guess. Though I'll have to disappoint you. Because I'm the one that's gonna kill you."
Gin initiates the fight, thrusting one of his tonfas at Sanji's ribs. Sanji managed to block his attack with his leg, but this left him relatively vulnerable. Gin then swings his other weapon in a sweeping motion directed at Sanji's legs, who dodges the attack by jumping up. He then spins up his tonfas to gather enough momentum, and he uses the other one to feign an attack with a sideward swing. Predictably, Sanji ducks down to dodge, but what Gin didn't expect was his ability to connect hits quickly. Because after Sanji ducks down, he follows up with an upward kick at Gin's chin, which connects. However, this left Sanji vulnerable again, as he was unable to dodge the spinning tonfa, which was swung downward, right on top of his chest. The two were staggered at the same time, providing both of them with a chance to gather their bearings.
Sanji rolls to his knee, clutching his injured rib, while Gin rubbed his chin, surprised at the force behind the kick. "You know, you could've just left this place and prevented all this hurt."
"We're the fighting cooks of Baratie, not the fleeing ones." He said before standing up again. He slightly winces in pain but ignores it for now.
The two clashed again, but this time Gin was on the defensive. Sanji continued kicking him in quick succession, forcing him to dodge instead of blocking. Sanji aimed multiple kicks on Gin's face, arms, and abdomen to try and weaken his opponent. Choosing to attack this time, Gin immediately swung his weapon at Sanji's face. Seeing the attack coming, the chef then aims a kick at Gin's hand, which hits. The attack disarms Gin, making him drop one of his tonfas. Gin tries to recover by swinging his remaining weapon at Sanji. Unfortunately for the pirate, Sanji manages to see through the attack. He steps on the hand holding the weapon, locking Gin in place.
"Collier shoot!"
The kick, which was directed at Gin's neck, hit hard. It manages to break a few bones before sending him flying again. Gin gets up his knees to regain some sort of stability while gasping for air. He started coughing blood a few seconds later and his vision became hazy. But he is still conscious, albeit barely. He picks up his nearby weapons to resume the fight once more.
"L-Look! Straw hat is..." one of the chefs uttered. Gin looks back at the pirate captains. He gasped in disbelief at what he saw as the dust settled. The straw-hatted boy remained unscathed. In fact, he was holding the edge of Don Krieg's spear.
"Let go of my damn weapon!" Don Krieg demanded, his voice mixed with a hint of confusion.
"You call yourself the king of east blue? You can't even last a few weeks in the grand line." Luffy said with a serious tone. He strengthens his grip on Don Krieg's spear before, moments later, the bladed end shatters in his grasp. Luffy's expression darkens before grabbing the collar of Don Krieg's armor, pulling it closer to him.
"A pirate without a dream is not worthy of being called a pirate!" He shouted, which everyone heard. Suddenly, Luffy's arm stretched far back behind him before snapping back in a closed fist. Don Krieg tries to pry the rubber man's hands, to no avail. He then aimed a punch at Luffy's face with all the strength he could muster. The two attacks connect at the same time. While Don Krieg's punch did not even look effective, Luffy's managed to crack the don's skull. His hold on Krieg meant that his opponent's face took the full brunt of the punch. A few seconds later, Luffy lets go of Krieg's collar, causing him to slump down to the floor unconscious.
Upon seeing Don Krieg fall, the chefs celebrated. The pirates wanted to continue the attack, but seeing that their top combatants are down, they were hesitant. Gin, however, just feels weak. He should've known that they weren't strong when Hawk-eyes trashed them in the grand line. But seeing these unknown people beat them so easily is just a slap in the face. With a sigh, he stands up and dusts himself.
"I guess this is our loss. We'll retreat..." He looks at a few of his crew mates. "You three. Grab the Don. We're leaving." He commands, which the pirates immediately follow. He turns back towards Sanji with a regretful look on his face. "We won't attack this restaurant anymore. This is goodbye, I guess. Thank you for everything you did, and I'm sorry we did this."
Sanji simply lights up another cigarette. "It's fine. Take care. Don't ever go back here, you shitty pirates." He turns to his fellow chefs and tells them to give them a boat or two. They protested at first, but Zeff silenced them.
"Just give them a boat so they can sail far away from here. Would you eggplants rather let them stay here?" The chefs immediately complied.
Gin walks towards Pearl's fallen body before pulling him up and carrying him on his shoulders. He then looks Sanji with a smile. "Hey. If you talk to that straw hat friend of yours, tell him I said thanks. What he said to Don Krieg earlier, it made me realize a few things..." He said cryptically, which confused Sanji. Without waiting for a reply, he slowly limped his way to the boats the chefs prepared.
A few minutes later, the rest of the Krieg pirates boarded the two small boats given to them, along with their fallen companions. With a nod, Gin orders them to sail out. It would be a few minutes before the pirates' boats disappear into the horizon. And once they were sure that it was safe, the chefs began celebrating once more. The loudness of their cheers woke Zoro up, who slowly sat up with the support of his arm. He looks around before asking. "Did I miss something?" This just made everyone laugh. Usopp began cheering with the rest of them, and Johnny and Yosaku, upon confirming that Zoro is fine, joined in as well.
Meanwhile, Sanji's exhaustion catches up to him. With his fight done and his goal achieved, his body loses all stability and he falls forward. He closes his eyes, fully expecting his face to hit the floor when he suddenly feels someone catch him. Looking up, he sees Nami supporting him with her arm and shoulder.
"You did well in protecting this place. You earned this rest." Nami says to try and comfort him.
Too fatigued to focus on a woman's touch, Sanji simply falls asleep in Nami's arms.
Baratie's staff decided to close their restaurant to repair the damages brought by the battle. Despite that, they continued serving food for the straw hats while they stayed. And, as thanks, they told them that their food was free of charge. Although some of them started questioning that decision when they saw the crew's appetite in full swing, especially the captain and the first mate. Despite the sinking feeling in their stomachs, and especially their wallets, they were still in a good mood from the previous day's events.
It was the third day since the battle when they decided to reopen Baratie to the customers. It's currently a few hours before opening. The staff are still preparing for their shift while the straw hats, along with Johnny and Yosaku, are lounging around in the building. Sanji was the one currently serving their breakfast. And although the sight of Nami lingering was a godsend, Luffy and Usopp's antics started to slightly annoy him.
"Oi Luffy, that food is for Nami-san! Don't just grab it with your hands!" He says while swatting the rubber man's hands away. "Anyways, I'm surprised you guys stayed here for a few days. Even after you've somewhat recovered." He takes a glance at Zoro's wounds. Thankfully, there was a medic on board their restaurant that was able to help Zoro.
"I told you we won't leave until you come with us." Luffy said plainly, which somewhat irritated the chef. He was about to reply when they were interrupted by Zeff walking out of the kitchen.
"Hey eggplant, why don't you join them? You're too much of a pain in the ass to keep."
Sanji clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Then why don't you fire me, old geezer? I told you I won't leave this place. Besides, do you want me gone that much?"
"You hit all my male customers, hit on all the women you see, and give food to penniless scum. I'm running a business here, and you'll ruin the hell out of me."
Sanji simply shrugs before heading back into the kitchen. "Whatever. My job is to cook. And I'm doing it better than everyone here."
Zeff sighs. "Why do you want to stay here that badly?" Usopp was the one who asked this time. Curious with the chef's stubbornness.
"None of your fucking business." Sanji spat, his blood close to boiling at this point.
"Why? Can't answer a question, eggplant?" Zeff eggs further.
"Because I promised you, dammit!" Sanji shouted, finally pushed to his limit. His outburst grabs everyone's attention as they start to listen in. "When we were stuck on that stupid rock, I promised to help you in your dream in building this restaurant. If I leave now, I'd be disrespecting the person who saved me." He says with a clenched fist while glaring at Zeff.
"That's not my only dream, you know."
Sanji raised an eyebrow in confusion, which made Zeff sigh again. He takes a seat on a vacant chair before returning his gaze back to Sanji. "Remember why I rescued you when you fell off the ship during that storm?"
Sanji struggled to remember for a while. The incident happened long ago, so his memories are a bit blurry. He looks back on that day. When he was an apprentice cook, to when they were invaded by pirates, to when he picked up two knives to defend the ship. Then there was a massive storm, and he fell down into the ship. Then...
'We have the same dream, you and I. To find all blue...'
Sanji's eyes widen upon finally remembering. His expression changing into one of fondness and admiration. "You want to find all blue..."
Zeff smiles, finally able to get through to his apprentice. He then raises his wooden leg and looks at it. "Unfortunately, I can't sail anymore. And with my old age, I'm weaker than what I used to be. I've already accomplished one of my goals, But the reason why I sailed in the first place might be too much for me right now." He then looks back up, his smile turning into a confident grin. "It would be nice if someone were to find all blue and tell me all about it."
Sanji's tears start falling from his eyes, despite his attempts to stop it. "You damn geezer. Why don't you just tell me what you wanted in the first place." He rubs his eyes clear before facing the straw hats. "Fine, I'll be the cook for your ship."
The rest of the crew started laughing, finally getting a new crew member on board. Sanji insisted that since they finally got him to join, the least they can do is to sail now, as to avoid exhausting Baratie's supplies. However, Zeff orders his men to load a few crates of fresh food into the Going Merry, going even as far as telling Sanji to bring an extra refrigerator, just in case. Despite rejecting his offer, Sanji relents.
An hour later, the supplies had been loaded into the ship. The rest of the straw hats are on board the Going Merry to prepare for their voyage, leaving Sanji inside the restaurant to sort his stuff. A few minutes later, he walks out of the building, joined by his coworkers to see him off.
"Don't forget; salting preserves the meats and adds a little flavor. You're going out in the open, so it's great trick to stretch your resources."
"Also, don't put fish sauce out in the open and near the heat, or it'll go bad."
"I know, I know. I'm a professional chef, you know." The chefs that were seeing Sanji off are fussing over him. They kept on reminding him of cooking techniques and the such, which annoyed him a bit. Although, the thought that his former companions really care about him warmed his heart. He gently pushes them off to try and walk towards the ship. The straw hats that were watching this giggle at the sight.
"Hey eggplant."
He was about to go up into the Going Merry when Zeff called to him. He looks back, seeing him on the balcony floor. With a smile on his face, Zeff was resting his chin on his hand that was leaning on the balcony railing.
"Take care out there."
Zeff's farewell sends him over the edge. With tears falling freely down his face, he bows in front of his former companions. "Thank you all for taking care of me! I won't forget you!"
This made everyone cry, including Zeff, who started tearing up a bit.
"Dammit, don't forget about us once you become a famous pirate!"
"You better go back and visit once in a while, or we'll hunt you down!"
Zeff started wiping any traces of tears from his eyes. "Damn sentimental cooks. I thought they were stronger than this."
Sanji immediately ran up to the Going Merry. Once on board, he looks back again as the anchor is raised and the ship starts moving. "Goodbye, you idiots! I'll miss you all!"
"Hey everyone. Thanks for letting Sanji join us!" Luffy chimed in.
"Take care of the little eggplant for me, straw hat!"
Luffy flashes Zeff a goofy yet sincere smile, signifying of his promise towards the old man.
As the ship sailed further, Baratie faded out of view. An hour passes before Sanji settles himself on his newly assigned room. After fixing his belongings, he goes out into the deck once again. He sees Luffy talking with Nami while Usopp is hanging around with Johnny and Yosaku. He can hear grunting coming from the back of the ship. He guessed that Zoro is currently training. He walks towards the captain and the navigator to try and integrate himself properly.
"Yo shitty captain, I remember you saying that you want to go to the grand line. The guys back in Baratie prepared a lot for us since they thought that we won't be able to resupply for a week or so."
Nami is the one who answers him. "Not quite, Sanji-kun. We're going to do a few stops before we head into the grand line."
Sanji becomes curious at this. "Where are we going?"
He notices that an uncharacteristic grin appears on Nami's face. "We're heading to my hometown. I'm going to pay someone a visit."
AN: So yeah, while it this chapter is a relatively combat focused one, the emotional parts were some of my personal favorites. I leaned in a bit on Luffy's habit of telling Nami to not interfere when she's about to do something that's too emotion driven. What do you guys think? I hope the events weren't too nonsensical. What I noticed while I was writing this chapter was how different my approach was to the previous chapters. Back then, I was thinking of creating scenes in my head, and just winging the connections between those scenes. But now, I feel like I should be more meticulous with what I write, considering that One Piece is a narratively connective story. Like, how previous decisions and changes would logically affect future scenes. Before I proceed to the reviews, I want to say thank you to everyone that got interested in this story. I promise to keep you invested as much as I can and prove that your support wasn't wasted. Anyways, I'll be addressing some reviews now without giving too much spoilers.
Rosetrang628: Thanks for your review. And yeah, I thought the same. But what really inspired me to write this trio in particular was some of the manga arts and scenes that focus on the cardinal trio, or either three of them. And come to think of it, Zoro and Nami's loyalties were established the earliest and were the ones that never wavered once their loyalties were set. And personally, I just love their dynamic.
Williams1996: I'd like to thank you for your honest reviews. Yeah, to be honest, in retrospect, Luffy using any of the gears against any of the east blue opponents is a bit of a joke. Though, what I was thinking at the time was that Luffy wanted to show him how outclassed he is in speed, despite his full power. Unfortunately, I realized too late that him using no gears at all will do the same.
Kae Membrana: Thanks a bunch for your reviews. I'm happy that I'm reaching an international audience with this story. About your latest comment, yeah I was actually worried that some of the scenes are out of place or Mihawk is too OOC. But with what we've seen so far from him, I tried to replicate his outlook in life as much as I can.
Nami4Life: Thanks for being one of my most regular reviewers, that's just amazing. I'm glad that you loved the zoro v. mihawk rendition. I was actually afraid of that scene because I might display that the straw hats are absolute monsters. Which, despite their comparative strength when compared to east blue peeps, they're mostly not.
2Booty Enjoyer: Thanks for the review, my man/manette. I know that Zoro using conqueror's haki was a bit predictable, but I think it's a good type of predictable. You know, that's actually what I thought of back then. The way that I can nerf them is to limit their stamina and sorta prevent their abuse of their techniques. Like imagine if Luffy enters Gear four, I'd imagine that his haki would be depleted in under a few minutes because of his weaker body. Will I include movie charas? Yes. Which ones? That's a secret.
Glitchet: Thank you so much for the review. And yeah, Nami will be much closer to the top of the straw hats combat-wise this time around. But in all honesty, I think she's a bit of an underrated character. Sadly, while there are scenes in the new world where she shines, she's been mostly relegated to eye candy, which makes me a bit sad.
Yamatoxnakama: Thanks for the review. And I like the nickname. I don't know if this is a terrible opinion but I'm actually biased for Yamato in joining the crew. But you know what would be better? Carrot and Yamato 4 strawhats. Anyway, since this review contains a lot of questions, I'll try to answer them as short as I can.
- Yes, I've already read until chapter 1013 of one piece
- Yes, Jinbei will join the crew. Rest assured that I won't remove anyone from the straw hats.
- If I release the flashback chapter at some point, it will probably contain a lot of speculation, head-canon, and a lot of made up stuff.
- The Barto thing. Oh, I'll make something up. Bartolomeo is one of my favorite characters. If the entire One Piece fandom got self-inserted as a character, he'd be one of them.
- Yamato or Carrot? I dunno- Err, I mean, it's a surprise~
I didn't answer some of the questions because I feel like it'll sort of give away the direction in which I want to take this story. And even though I didn't reply to your reviews, I assure you that I've read them all. All of them were well-wishers and to them, I say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so so much for your support, it really means a lot. Anyway, I hope I can see you all in the next chapter. Take care!