Before Nami could answer the strange boy squatting on the table, a huge hand suddenly appeared and grabbed him by the collar of his cape. The boy let out a choked gasp as he was swung backwards and slammed into the floor.
"DAMN IT LUFFY!" Burgess roared down at the younger chef. "When are you gonna stop asking every single pirate crew that passes through that?!"
"When you finally let me go along with one!" Luffy shot back, pulling himself up and standing up straight to glare straight into Burgess' eyes. Of course, he really had to crane his neck given Burgess' immense height.
"Ain't happening! Now get your sorry ass back in the kitchen!" Burgess growled as he grabbed Luffy's collar once more. He started spinning around rapidly, turning into a beefy tornado. "Burgess Big Swing!"
He let go and threw Luffy straight into a hatch leading into the kitchen, helpfully marked 'Luffy Hatch'. Clearly Burgess throwing Luffy back into the kitchen was a common occurrence.
"Sorry about that. Just sit tight, and I'll be back with some of my famous Jesus Burgers!" the titanic luchador grinned, giving the seated Straw Hats a thumbs up before lumbering back towards the kitchen.
"So… is this like a common thing, or…" Nami asked awkwardly, glancing between Chopper and Porche.
"Well, yeah… Luffy really really wants to be a pirate" Porche nodded, scratching the back of her head. "But Burgess won't let him tag along with anyone."
"He usually forgets about it the next day though" Chopper shrugged.
"Well, Chopper did mention that there's a lot of great chefs and strong fighters here" Nami said as she scratched her chin. "Might be useful to recruit someone from here, actually."
"You'd be better off finding someone who's not Luffy, honestly" Porche sighed. "Burgess is only really that controlling of him and him only."
"Ooh, you should come with us, Porche!" Chopper beamed, standing up in his chair.
"I-I'll have to think about it, ok? You guys aren't leaving here right away, are you?"
Indeed, the Straw Hats ended up spending several days at the Baratie. Chopper got to sleep in his own room again, and retrieve all the navigation supplies and maps he had. He'd already decided he wanted to travel alongside the Straw Hat Pirates when they shipped out again, but a few more days at home would be needed to properly reunite with everybody and say goodbye.
One day, Burgess stood on a small balcony overlooking the ocean, his one arm dangling at his side as he stared contemplatively at nothing. Soft footsteps alerted him to Porcha approaching from behind.
"So you're ok with Chopper tagging along with them, but not Luffy?" the blue-haired girl asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Technically I haven't really given my blessing to Chopper either. But he's your little brother, so I don't really have the authority to stop him" Burgess replied, not turning to face her. "I don't want to let either of them go with some random pirate crew. Most pirates are rotten. I'll only give my blessing to a crew that has proven that they've earned having them."
"They brought Chopper back, and he trusts them" Porche pointed out. "Isn't that enough?"
"It should be" Burgess sighed. "I know that. But I'm an old fart, I don't trust easy. Chopper is young and naïve, he wouldn't be able to see through someone just pretending to be nice. And as for Luffy… kid's tough and skilled, but he's dense. And he's got more potential than I ever did. I don't know these fellows, plain and simple."
"Then come on down to the restaurant and hang out with them."
"When it comes to pirates, I'll only know who they really are once I've seen them push themselves. When their lives are on the line, what matters to them when their own blood flows and death looms. Who's to say they won't sacrifice Chopper to save their own hides?"
"That is a pretty morbid way of thinking, old man" Porche sighed as she turned to leave.
"It's the reason I've been able to get old" Burgess replied, still staring at the ocean.
For a short while only the sound of waves crashing against the Baratie, and the occasional cries of seagulls, could be heard.
"For what it's worth…"
Burgess' eyes widened in surprise, looking down from the balcony to see Nami sitting on a platform on the floor beneath.
"... you have my word I'd never sacrifice Chopper no matter what."
"How long have you been there?" Burgess sneered.
"I didn't even know you were there until you started talking" Nami shrugged. "I know I shouldn't be listening in, and I'm sorry."
"Hey, you admitted to it. More than most would have done" Burgess chuckled. "To be honest, it's not just being nice and strong that does it for me. There's a certain… spark, I guess. Something that's hard to explain, but it's the thing that separates real pirates from the ones who get blasted to pieces halfway through the Grand Line."
"You were a pirate yourself, I'm guessing?"
"Hell yeah! The Spice Pirates! Piledriving enemies through their own ships" Burgess grinned, reminiscing about his days as a pirate captain. "It's when I met Luffy, actually. He was on a ship I boarded, when a storm sank both that and my own ship. Far as I know only Luffy and I survived."
"So you feel a bit connected to him?"
"Yeah, I suppose… I've seen that kid grow up from a short-tempered whiny brat to a short-tempered punchy brat."
They chuckled a bit, and let silence linger in the air for a little bit.
"So… how did you lose yours?" Nami asked suddenly.
"Got stranded after the shap sank. Had to eat it to survive, cause I gave all the food I'd saved to Luffy" Burgess replied. "You?"
"Cut off by a giant animated tree with a sword."
"Huh… haven't seen anything like that before."
"My friend ended up turning it to splinters, so there's not really anything left to see."
"Yonko?" Franky asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Yes, you dummy!" "Don't you know anything?" Mozu & Kiwi groaned as they both slapped the back of Franky's head.
"I ain't a reader! Besides, I was too busy making bombs to study up on the world."
"I've been focusing on the Warlords myself" Usopp shrugged, leaning back in his chair as he looked out the window. "There's a certain person there I want to meet…"
"Well, if you guys are gonna head to the Grand Line, you need to know all about the Yonko! Mozu, tell em about the Yonko!" "You're the bigger expert on Yonko here, Kiwi! You tell them!"
"WHY WERE YOU GETTING SO MAD ABOUT ME NOW KNOWING IF YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING EITHER?!" Franky yelled, clenching his fist in rage.
"The Yonko are the four pirate Emperors of the sea!" Chopper stated, standing on a table to get everyone's attention. "They're the captains with the most powerful crews, largest territories and army-shattering strength. They're all found in the second half of the Grand Line, the sea where the One Piece is. They're the ones closest to being the new Pirate Queen!"
"Kiwi… we're getting schooled by a plush toy." "I know."
"S-sorry… I read a lot, so I figured I'd just tell you what I know" Chopper mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "A-anyways! The four Yonko are Praline 'the Siren', 'Doctor Witch' Kureha, 'Grand Father' Garp, and 'Monster Surgeon' Hogback."
As Chopper spoke, it was almost like four silhouettes appeared behind him depicting a massive mermaid, a woman with a slim body, a broad-chested bearded man and an egg-shaped man with round glasses and sharp teeth.
"Well, guess that's a target list" Nami shrugged. "If I'm gonna be Pirate Queen, I'll need to surpass all four of them."
"Hey, hey!" Franky called out. "Didn't you say that my dad was with Praline's crew?!"
Nami confirmed with a nod.
"I have a connection with Praline myself" she smiled, adjusting the straw hat on her head. "By the time we reach them, we'll already have taken down the other three. I don't want Praline to see me before I'm standing on the top of the pirate world."
"Well, you've certainly got ambition!"
"So, we should probably set out soon, right?" Nami asked before taking a sip of coffee.
"Yeah, as delicious as the food here is, a true warrior of the sea can't be cooped up in one place for too long!" Usopp declared with a nod.
"Shame we couldn't get any of the cooks to come with us though. Luffy wants to, but Burgess is being stubborn about it" the captain sighed, taking another sip. She glanced behind her as she noticed people getting out of their seats and rushing to the entrance and windows on one side. "What's going on?"
Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Mozu, Kiwi, Porche, Burgess and Luffy were all drawn to the gathering crowd on the floating deck on the outside of the Baratie, curious about what was going on. The deck was designed to let people eat under the blue sky if they wanted, though right now it was more being used as a gathering hall and viewing platform.
"It's a flying ship!" someone yelled.
And indeed, descending from the sky with the bow pointed straight at the Baratie was a large wooden ship. It wasn't falling like it should have been, instead it was travelling in a straight angle towards the Baratie. People were understandably panicking, but one man in particular absolutely lost it.
"DAMN IT!" he screamed as he ran across the deck of the Baratie, leaping into the sea and starting to swim away in a desperate panic. Surprisingly, the ship turned in the air to follow him. "So this is why you told me to stay behind at the Baratie!"
He looked behind him as the waves around him went black from a huge shadow.
"CAPTAIN DECKEEEEEEE-"
The ship collided with the sea, sending large waves that spilled over onto the Baratie's deck. Its strange physics-defying behaviour seemed to stop upon crashing into the water, as it settled like a normal boat afterwards. Several clearly nauseous pirates leaned over the railing, taking a well-deserved breather after having flown through the air in a ship.
"Ah, we're alive, I suppose!"
A figure stood up amongst the pirates, immediately standing out due to his height and oddly-shaped spiky hair. His shoulders went up to almost the top of his head, upon which rested a tan fedora, and he was clad in a yellow cape, white shirt and green overalls. Other noticeable features included his beige skin and the fact that he had four legs.
"Bahohohoho" the fishman laughed, walking up to the railing to gaze over at the Baratie. "Successful execution, I suppose. Back at the Baratie safe and sound! Well, except for… whatever that guy's name was. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, I suppose. At least you got to die with a full stomach! Bahohoho!"
"What the… who the hell is that guy?" Nami asked incredulously, not taking her eyes off the strange man.
"Vander Decken… him and his crew ate here a few weeks ago" Burgess scoffed. "Lousy guy, really."
"His crew's called the Maybe Pirates" Luffy added. "I tried to join them, but Burgess suplexed me when I asked."
"Every day it feels less special that you asked to join us…" Nami sighed.
Suddenly, Decken raised an eyebrow as he stared at the large crowd gathered outside the Baratie.
"HUH?! WHY ARE THEY ALL STARING AT US?!" he cried out in surprise, falling backwards.
"MAYBE BECAUSE YOU USED A FLYING SHIP TO SMASH A GUY!" the entire crowd yelled back in chorus, as Decken staggered back to his feet.
"Well, whatever. I suppose we'll just head back to-"
He was interrupted by a large crack appearing across his ship. Followed by the entire ship snapping in two and starting to slowly sink. The violent crash down into the sea had caused internal damage to the ship that didn't appear on the outside at first, but once it did it became clear that this boat would never sail again.
"...change of plans, we're taking the Baratie, I suppose" Decken shrugged, seemingly unfazed by the event.
"People staring at you shocks you, but your ship breaking in two is fine?" Usopp mumbled, as Burgess stepped forth with a frown.
"Now you listen here, Decken!" the titanic wrestler-chef yelled while pointing at the fishman captain with his one remaining arm. "This is the Baratie! The floating restaurant where the cooks are the bouncers! We're not gonna let some punk like you just take!"
The other Baratie staff cheered in agreement.
"Ah, this is a pickle. We had to flee the Grand Line because someone took all our weapons, and-"
"But… we still have the spare weapons in stock." "We tried to tell that to you before you sent the ship flying."
"AH! Well well, then we'll be taking the Baratie by force. Go grab weapons, everybody! We're gonna kill some cooks, I suppose."
"And I suppose I'll have to crack some skulls today" Burgess grumbled, flexing his arm a bit to warm up. "Everybody who's not looking to fight should clear off! These pirates are about to taste the sautered fury of the Baratie, weehahaha!"
"I suppose we should grab our stuff as well" Nami sighed, as the civilians around them started fleeing to their respective boats. She and the other Straw Hats ran to the Batty to grab their weapons, while the Baratie chefs did some stretches to loosen up their muscles. For a few minutes there was a calm before the storm, as everyone either fled or prepared for the battle ahead. The pirates aboard the sinking ship were desperately saving as many weapons as they could, pulling guns, swords, axes, clubs and many other pointy and blunt objects out of chests, weapon racks, drawers, wardrobes and fridges.
As his crew was just about ready, Vander Decken himself walked up to the diagonal railing of his sinking ship with remarkable balance, resting a giant double-bladed axe on his shoulder. As he looked down upon the Baratie, he could see Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Luffy, Burgess, Porche, Mozu, Kiwi and about two dozen Baratie staff preparing to fight on the Baratie's deck. But through all of that, the one thing that stood out to him was the axe Nami was resting on her shoulder.
"YOU'RE RIPPING ME OFF, I SUPPOSE?!" he roared as he leaped off the ship, swinging his axe at Nami.
"That's not the right use of that term!" Nami shot back, swinging her own axe to deflect the blow. The rest of the Maybe Pirates jumped off as well, using the scattered debris that had fallen off their ship as footholds to leap between and reach the deck. The battle for the Baratie had begun.