The Straw Hat Wolf

by KrazeeBeagle

Luffy sets out to achieve his dream of becoming the Pirate King, form the best crew to sail the seas and help them all achieve their dreams as well. Standard One Piece. Differences? A non-canon Mythical Zoan fruit, with a power and history the Five Elders has no interest in dealing with again. Vastly-Slightly Different Luffy and co. Rated M for Violence, Implied Smut Only

8. The Baratie (II)

'Thoughts'

"Speaking"

'Quotes/Emphasis'

"Techniques"

'The Wolf Within'

"Luffy's words are echoed/amplified by the Wolf Within"

'Luffy's thoughts are overlapped by the Wolf Within'

The Baratie II

Don Krieg Appears & Sanji's Promise

NO ONE'S POV

Four days pass as the Straw Hat gang continues to frequent Baratie. The prices of the Sea Restaurant are no joke and while the gold and treasure on the ship would last them for long periods, Luffy felt his safety at night would be…tested if he just kept using up those funds.

'Of all the women in the world, you choose the greediest one there is.' Luffy rolled his eyes internally as he continued stalking towards his prey. 'Honestly, I've been around for millennia and I have never seen any other with as insatiable a desire for gold as her.'

'If you take away the specificity of gold, I'm sure your greed outclasses hers by light-years.' Luffy mentally retorted as he crouched behind some bushes, watching his target anxiously peek around before taking a drink from the calm river. No longer keeping its eyes on the lookout for predators, the large herbivore's life came to an abrupt but painless end as Luffy shaved right next to it, embedding his claw through the beast's brain from underneath its jaw. 'That's another day of free meals.'

The large herbivore was about 3 meters long and 2 meters wide, that is to say, those were the dimensions of its main body. It had a long tail that ended in a spiked club and a short furry head. The creature stood on four stubby legs and was protected by a large, sturdy rock-hard shell. To be honest it looked like an overgrown pig with a turtle shell, and a mixture of a stegosaurus and ankylosaurus tail.

The bizarre creature was one that Zeff rarely got to cook since the majority of people capable of hunting it were few and far between here on the East Blue. To Luffy however, the thing was a pushover.

'Makes me wish we could return to Dawn Island and hunt those massive bunnies. That old hag may look rough but she could cook one hell of a rabbit stew.' Luffy groaned at the memory, knowing the bastard was right and oh so wishing the beast would shut up already. Muttering strings of curses that would have Makino scrubbing his mouth with soap, Luffy tossed the creature over his shoulder and started jumping his way back to the ship, docked at the far side of the island.

"Luffy's got the weird but delicious animal, raise the tails and lift the anchor!" Nami ordered as she walked to the wheel of the ship, adjusting course to return them back to the Baratie.

THUD!

Dumping the strange creature onto the deck, Luffy stretched his arms upwards before taking a rock and throwing it towards the back of Usopp's head, the marksman tilting to the side to dodge the projectile without even turning around. Luffy smiled as he took another rock and threw it towards Zoro who, in response, drew his swords out and made multiple slashes before grabbing the sculpted rock right as it was going to hit the floorboard, the rock now in the form of a wolf head, similar to the Jolly Roger they flew but without the straw hat and crossbones.

"Don't bother Luffy, I can already hear your intent of throwing it at my right foot." Nami stated impassively before she made her way to Usopp's workshop. The marksman chuckled, patting his pouting captain on the shoulder before going inside his workshop as well.

A few minutes pass in comfortable silence between the wolfman and his vice captain, both enjoying the cool windy day that helped push the Going Merry along her way even quicker. The mood however dampened as Zoro sighed, something clearly weighing on his mind.

"...We're getting close to her deadline, Luffy." Zoro leaned against the wall, sliding against it as he took a seat, observing the carved stone. "Ero-cook hasn't done whatever it is he needs to repay and Mihawk hasn't shown himself yet."

Luffy sighed before taking a seat next to his first mate. "I think Nami and I will have to pay her village a visit ourselves and just double back to pick you guys up…something tells me we won't have to though."

Zoro raised his eyebrow in question hearing his captain's last comment. "Mind sharing, why that is?"

"Somethings not right." Luffy answered, his eyes narrowing as he sniffed the passing winds. "Nothing dangerous to me or you…I can't say the same about Nami or Usopp though." The Sea Restaurant was in the distance, its form harder to see through the fog.

The swordsman turned to his Captain curiously. "Even with the training you've been putting them through?"

"Usopp doesn't have actual machetes yet and while his marksmanship is superb it leaves him vulnerable to opponents who can close the distance between them." Luffy stated coolly. "Nami has certainly built up some muscle and has one hell of a punch but while her Observation Haki has definitely grown a lot she hasn't been able to consciously activate Armament Haki."

"You're right. Unless it's decking you, me or Usopp when she gets frustrated she hasn't actually been able to trigger it." Zoro mused, the navigator seemingly only able to draw upon Armament Haki when she teaches any one of them a lesson. "Since you said it's not a threat to me though…"

"It isn't Mihawk." Luffy answered, shooting his vice captain a sympathetic look. The swordsman sighed in disappointment as the Going Merry entered the fogbank, only a seconds away from the Baratie. That was when Luffy noticed a silhouette in the distance, its features indistinguishable in the fog but clearly a very large sea vessel. "Say…what was Krieg's Jolly Roger again?"

"Don Krieg?" Zoro questioned to confirm, continuing after Luffy nodded. "An hourglass on each side of the skull…why?"

"Looks like the so-called Ruler of the East Blue is paying us a visit, and Ghin was probably the one who led him here." Luffy indicated to the silhouette in the distance, a distance that was quickly getting smaller and smaller as the ship became ever larger.

Both ships arrived at the Baratie simultaneously, the fog dissipating at the exact same moment to reveal the Krieg Pirates ship…or what was left of it. "What could do that to a Galleon that big?!" Nami exclaimed as she exited Usopp's workshop.

"Definitely not anything natural, doesn't look like it came from cannon fire either." Usopp commented equally surprised by the massive ship's current state before noticing the flag. "AH! IT'S THE KRIEG PIRATES!"

SLAP!

Luffy hit Usopp up the head glaring at the archer as he clutched his ears, Usopp having screamed at the top of his lungs right next to the wolfman. Zoro was giving Usopp a look that promised pain in their next sparring session, leaving the marksman to gulp nervously.

"Grab your weapons. We're gonna see what this guy's made of." Luffy ordered as he jumped off the Merry and made his way to the restaurant, whistling without a care in the world.

"IS HE SERIOUS?! WE SHOULD BE-"

BONK!

Zoro huffed as he grabbed the unconscious Usopp by his foot and started dragging him towards the restaurant without a word. Nami just sighed as she went to grab her and Usopp's weapons, knowing Luffy was in Captain mode right now and any protest she may have would fall on deaf ears.

---

Inside the restaurant, the patrons stood stiffly, anxiously observing the large shadow making its way towards the door. The chefs, bar Sanji and Zeff, in similar states of nervousness, Patty sweating bullets the most.

"Look what you've brought upon us, you buffoon." A shorter cook with brown hair and dark round shades glared daggers at a disproportionate man, who held his head in his hands in fear. "You're gonna get rid of them, right?"

"I-I didn't think Krieg would go so far for just one man!" Patty yelled back, hyperventilating.

While the cooks and patrons all panicked, Zeff and Sanji stood by and waited calmly, the Straw Hat gang however were mostly bored. "Maybe Nami and Usopp could take them on after all…Krieg and Ghin aside." Luffy mumbled as he widened the scope of his Observation Haki to get a read on the crew Krieg had. "Even if they we're full, that crew of his is pathetic. All they have is quantity and next to no quality…"

"So I take Ghin and you take a crack at Krieg?" Zoro asked his Captain with a bored look. "Nami and Usopp dealing with the rats he has on board?"

Nami looked vaguely irritated with the assessment, she was fine with not being able to stand up to Krieg, the man was the Captain and strongest after all but Ghin? "Ghin's most likely the Vice Captain of the Krieg Pirates, Nami." Zoro said with narrowed eyes, watching Ghin bring Krieg towards the door. "Talked to Johnny and Yosaku after the guy left before, apparently he's got a higher bounty than Jango, and is known for being a front line combatant."

"In other words, you've made great progress. Fighting him and living to tell the tale is definitely possible for you. Defeating him? Well, you could but…" Luffy didn't finish his statement, and Nami didn't need him to. She knew she could beat Ghin, maybe even Krieg, but it definitely would not be a fight in her favor.

Now as said earlier, most of the Straw Hats were bored, Usopp was too panicked and filled with the horrifying tales of the Krieg Pirates to think straight thus not even considering checking with Haki if he could stand up against them. This resulted in a slap to the back of the head from the navigator who reprimanded him and ordered him to man up and clear his head.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're the Captain." Usopp grumbled, but did as told anyway.

"She is going to be his wife so…" Zoro trailed off with a smirk as the marksman groaned right as the door opened to reveal Krieg in all his…glory?

Instead of the terrifying Pirate Captain of the Krieg Pirates, known for having fifty pirate ships and five thousand pirates, the man who stood at the entrance looked like someone who just went through the wringer. His impressive 8'0" height hunched over as he was supported by Ghin, his eyes that were said to strike fear in all who entered his gaze, unfocused and tired.

"S-Sorry…Can I have some water and food?" Krieg asked, shivering continuously , throwing everyone for a loop. This was the infamous Don Krieg?! "We have money…tons of money. I…I don't even remember the last time I ate. Please… give me some food…some water."

Sanji stared down at Krieg for a moment from the stairs leading to the kitchen before ascending them. No one but Luffy and Zeff noticed but neither paid much attention to it. Moments passed as the patrons and cooks whispered amongst one another in disbelief, watching the undignified and pathetic display of the so-called Strongest Pirate Captain in the East Blue.

Krieg groaned in pain before he lost the strength to even stand, the new unexpected weight causing Ghin to panic as he could no longer support his captain who crumpled and laid flat on the floor.

"C-Captain!" THUD! "D-Don Krieg!" Ghin cried out in panic as his Captain's already unfocused eyes became clear white. "P-Please! Help our captain! He's really about to starve! He hasn't eaten anything for days! He'll die if he doesn't eat!"

Ghin's pleas fell on deaf ears, as the patrons got over their anxiousness and glared at him and his captain in disgust.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS GOOD! IT'S A RIOT TO SEE THE INFAMOUS ARCH ROGUE DON KRIEG LIKE THIS!" Patty sported an ear splitting smile, all traces of fear and nervousness gone when he saw the Pirate Captain collapse.

"We have money this time. We're customers!" Ghin yelled at Patty who just stared down at them haughtily.

"Don't be ridiculous! Hey, contact the Navy right away." Patty said, pointing to a random cook.

"What?" Ghin began sweating more, if the Navy arrived now it would truly be the end of the Krieg Pirates. 'And right after we escaped that monster!'

"He's at his weakest right now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Patty exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips as he grinned gleefully. "There's no need to feed him anything. Keep him under arrest."

"He's right! We don't know what he'll do once his energy's back."

"He's done bad things!"

"He deserves to starve because of everything he's done!"

"Once he's back to normal, I bet he'll attack this restaurant straight away. There's no need to give him even a glass of water." A cook said with crossed arms as he glared at the pair of pirates, Ghin losing hope fast only to turn to his Captain in shock.

"I won't do anything. Once I eat, I promise I'll leave quietly." Don Krieg said, prostrating himself with his head down submissively. "P-Please…help…me"

"Don Krieg, please stop! Stop begging! It's not something you should do!" Ghin protested against his captain's disgraceful display with pain in his eyes, the towering man of power he served reduced to this.

"I promise…Please…I'll take leftovers or anything…Anything!"

"Ha! Are you trying to gain our sympathy?" Patty asked incredulously, not noticing Sanji had come out of the kitchen.

"Out of the way, Patty." Not waiting for the man to move on his own, Sanji slammed Patty's head into the pillar behind the man with a kick, knocking him out and sending him flying down the stairs.

"S-Sanji!" Ghin muttered as he saw the cook who saved him from starvation just a few days prior make his way towards them with a large serving of fried rice, pork it seemed, Chao Fan perhaps.

"Here, Ghin. Let him eat it." Sanji said coolly as he put down the meal in front of Don Krieg.

"Th-Thank you!" Don Krieg thanked before shoveling the food into his mouth.

"Hey, Sanji! Take that food away from that man this instant!" The shorter cook with dark shades from earlier demands. "Do you realize what kind of man he is?! He's the man who's called the East Blue Ruler, Foul-Play Krieg!"

Dark shades started going on about Krieg's backstory, how he started in a prison where he pretended to be a marine soldier before taking over a navy ship by killing the senior navy officer. How Krieg would fly Marine flags to enter into the harbor without alerting anyone in order to attack the towns and passenger ships, even raising a white flag and then attacking enemy ships. He did anything to continue winning which is what brought him to where he was now.

"Leaving after eating? That's not possible with him!" Dark shades answered his own question with fury. "Letting such a wicked fiend die without help is for society's sake!"

Then quicker than Sanji expected, Krieg stood and swung his arm at the blonde sous-chef, knocking him down into the floor. Ghin, the patrons, and Sanji's fellow cooks watching his sprawled out form in mixtures of shock, fear and worry. Luffy who'd been watching the whole time growled quietly in the background as his pupils shifted to shining gold but he made no move to interfere, yet. The fear eventually broke on of the patrons, who screamed in fright before running away, the other patrons following suit.

"Th-This isn't what we agreed, Don Krieg! I brought you here under the condition that you wouldn't touch this restaurant!" Ghin yelled at his captain, reproachfully. "And that man saved our lives…"

Before Ghin could continue however, Krieg lifted the man up by his shoulder. "Yeah, that was delicious." SNAP! Ghin's shoulder was crushed in Krieg's grasp. "I feel alive again."

Krieg hummed to himself as he observed the ship, his eyes pausing briefly at the Straw Hats who remained seated, before smiling approvingly. "This is a good restaurant. I'll take this ship." Krieg declared.

"So…that's what you want…" Sanji muttered, blood running down from his mouth.

"My ship became a wreck, so I wanted a new one." Krieg said, explaining his desire for the ship. "You'll get off this ship after you take care of what I tell you to do."

"Wh-What?!" Dark shades glared through his glasses as a tick mark appeared in his temple.

"Don Krieg…This isn't what you promised." Ghin groaned out as he glared up at his captain who ignored him.

"There're about 100 of my underlings still alive on my ship. They're weak with hunger and severe injuries. First, prepare 100 meals and water for them. There're some who've already starved to death." Krieg demanded. "Bring them over immediately!"

"You're telling us to revive pirates just so they can attack us?!" Dark shades yelled out angrily. "We refuse!"

"Refuse? Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not placing an order. I'm giving you orders." Krieg clarified with ice cold fury. "It doesn't matter who you are…don't defy me!"

The cooks all broke out in cold sweats, fearing for their lives while Sanji just sat up and wiped the blood off his face. Calmly observing the Pirate Captain and his crumpled underling who looked betrayed. Neither the cooks nor Sanji noticed Chef Zeff coming down from the kitchen with a sack over his shoulder until he dropped it right in front of Krieg.

THUD!

Zeff looked at the infamous man with a tired glare. "There's enough food here for the 100 starving pirates on your ship. Take it and leave." Zeff said coldly.

"O-OWNER ZEFF?!" The cooks screamed out in shock, as Krieg's eyes sparked in recognition.

"Zeff?" Krieg muttered in disbelief. 'No…it couldn't be…could it?'

"He's right, Owner Zeff! Why would you do this?!"

"Owner Zeff, explain yourself!"

"Owner Zeff, what are you doing?! If you give them food, they'll kill us all!"

"If they still have the will to fight, that is…" Zeff said calmly, effectively cutting off all protests as his cooks looked to him in confusion. Zeff turned back to Krieg as he continued, "Right, defeated warrior of the Grand Line?"

Krieg's grimace was all the answer the cooks needed.

"C…Can't be…"

"Don Krieg is a…defeated warrior…"

"Then even the ruler of the East Blue couldn't… Even the pirate fleet with 50 ships couldn't sail across…"

"You…You're Red Leg Zeff aren't you!" Krieg said in a mixture of awe and disbelief with wide eyes. "So you're alive…The incomparable pirate who was a cook and yet also a captain…"

"So what if I'm alive? It has nothing to do with you." Zeff replied boredly. "As you can see, I live as a cook now."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! If you put it that way, it sounds nice…though rather than living as a cook, it looks like you can only live as a cook." Krieg jeered. "Red Leg Zeff was a master of kicks who never used his hands in battle. His strong legs, capable of crushing bedrock and even leaving footprints on steel. The Red Leg epithet gained from your shoes being covered in the blood of your foes that spattered as you kicked your enemies down…"

"But you no longer have that precious leg of yours…" Krieg grinned arrogantly. "How unlucky for you to have an accident at sea…Losing one of your legs meant losing the ability to fight on."

"So? I can cook without a leg as long as I have these hands." Zeff stated, presenting his prized hands to the pirate captain. "Cut to the chase already Krieg. What is it you want?"

"Red Leg Zeff, you're the man who once entered the Grand Line and came back unhurt…" Krieg began as his eyes burned with ambitious light. "There should be a logbook with the full year of your journey chronicled in it…Give that to me!"

'You've got to be kidding me…' Luffy shook his head and crossed his arms as his opinion of Krieg was cemented, utterly pathetic and useless. Nami and Zoro had come to similar thoughts and conclusions and adopted similar expressions, Usopp on the other hand looked somewhat confused at his friends' disappointed expressions. Luffy noticed and would have explained but kept his peace, having a feeling that Zeff would cover it anyway.

"My logbook huh? Yeah, I have it with me." Zeff admitted still looking at Krieg dully, as if he wasn't worth much of the old chef's time. "But I can't give it to you."

Krieg, who'd been smiling like he'd won the lottery, frowned upon hearing the chef's decision.

"The logbook is the pride of all the crewmen that I traveled with. It's too important to give to you or anyone else for that matter." Zeff explained.

"Then, I'll just take it from you by force." Krieg declared, raising a fist to close it in front of him. "Is that supposed to be menacing or something?' Luffy wondered before Krieg continued. "It's true that I fell from the Grand Line. Even if that's the case, I'm still Don Krieg, the strongest man. It's merely a dark sea route. To sail across it, I have enough power, forces as well as ambition!"

Krieg paused briefly in his speech before continuing, "The only thing I lacked was information, I just didn't know things. I'll take your logbook and then I'll form a large pirate fleet again, and seize the One Piece. And then, I'll stand on top in this Great Pirate Era!" Krieg finished with a flourish as he dramatically swept the raised fist to the side, causing his cape to flow briefly.

"What a petulant child." Luffy said, leaning back against his seat as he gave Krieg a disappointed look. The comment froze the blood of all the cook's still present, except for Sanji, who observed the wolfman from the corner of his eye and Zeff, who continued to look at Krieg like the 40 year old pirate was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

"What was that?" Krieg asked coldly, leveling a dark glare at the young man.

"I said, 'What a petulant child.' Maybe you need your ears checked as well, old timer." Luffy's words aggravated Krieg who grit his teeth. "First of all, strongest man? Last I checked that was Edward Newgate, a.k.a Whitebeard, one of the four emperors of the sea. Second, while information is definitely something you need for any sea voyage, getting Chef Zeff's logbook wouldn't do much for you, the Grand Line is known for its unpredictability because there is no rhyme or reason to its patterns so whatever he went through sure as hell ain't gonna be what you'll go through. Third…honestly what are you 12? Clenching a raised fist at us as if that were menacing, constantly demanding everything, forcing dramatic scenes with exaggerated poses? On a young teen or man I'm pretty sure everyone would just roll their eyes or laugh but on a geezer like you?"

Luffy's smirk and sheer flippancy made Krieg more incensed than he'd ever felt in his entire life. So enraged the old pirate was that his face skipped red and went straight to purple…unfortunately that only served to amuse Luffy even more. "Oh hey, didn't think there was an Eggplant Man! Seems like a pretty useless devil fruit though."

"Please don't bother him, Luffy." Nami said admonishingly, causing Krieg to smirk, his rage still simmering but pride recovered as the young attractive woman was clear on her and the buffoon's place.. "Honestly, dear, wasting your time on degenerated fossils? You have much bigger fish to fry than this decrepit pillock."

"WANT TO RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN, BITCH! I'LL BEND YOU OVER RIGHT HERE AND-" Krieg's vulgar words were cut off as Luffy shaved in front of him, delivering a devastating blow to the taller man's stomach with a glowing silver fist. The 'Descent of the King' enhancement technique, injecting rippling waves into Krieg's body to go on a rampage, battering him from the inside, causing him to cough up a worryingly large amount of blood. "How did you-"

Uninterested in explaining or even having to spend any minute longer with Krieg in his presence, Luffy wordlessly slammed both his hands onto the sides of Krieg's skull, rippling waves rupturing the man's ear drums continuing its onslaught in his braincase. There was a pause of silence before Krieg fell on his knees and screamed as blood rushed out his auditory canals and his mind racked in pain. Ghin looked to his side in horror seeing his Captain's state after just a few seconds.

"Wh-What the hell!"

"H-He just-What did he even do?!"

"He incapacitated Don Krieg in an instant!"

Luffy ignored the looks and comments in favor of delivering a savage kick to Krieg's face.

CRACK!

Breaking Foul Play Krieg's nose, the kick also lifted the man off his feet and out the restaurant, flying through the air before crashing into his ship, breaking the sabertooth cat figurehead on the way.

"Like Chef Zeff said, 'Take it and leave.'" Luffy told Ghin coolly as he nudged the sack of food towards the shocked and horrified vice captain. "Sanji, willing as I am to wait for you to repay whatever debt you have I do have other appointments to attend to…"

"I'm honestly surprised you stuck around as long as you have. Flattering, honestly." Sanji said with a smirk as he placed an unlit cigarette between his lips. "Unfortunately, I'm still staying until-"

"Just go, Sanji. I don't need you here as my sous-chef." Zeff said with a sigh as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You go out there and achieve our dream, find that which we sought, what any true seafaring cook seeks."

"...I'm not leaving till you keel over, old geezer." Sanji replied stubbornly causing Zeff's tiredness to evaporate into exasperation as he moved to open his mouth only to close it as the cooks and Ghin all began shouting asking for explanations as to how and why Sanji, Zeff, Luffy and the Straw Hats weren't freaking out about what the wolfman had done to Krieg.

"Jeez Ghin, I called him Emperor's son didn't I?" Sanji said with a sigh as he gazed down at a lighter longingly, his eyes lighting up when Luffy pulled out a smoke filter mask and gave a thumbs up.

"Figured it was torture for ya." Luffy shrugged nonchalantly as Sanji lit his cigarette and took a deep breath…a concerningly deep breath. "Oi oi, you burned through half the cancer stick in one go…"

"HOW ARE YOU SO NONCHALANT?!" The cooks cried out indignantly, the Krieg Vice Captain standing now, the bag of food slung over his good shoulder silently agreeing with the cooks with a confused glance at the Straw Hatted man.

"He's the son of an Emperor and he name dropped Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors in the New World, in the second half of the Grand Line earlier." Zoro stated, wearing noise canceling headphones, the kind used by construction workers with heavy duty equipment. "He's seen and lived among pirates stronger than anyone in the East Blue, people like Krieg are nothing but fodder to him."

Now the cooks and Ghin just silently gaped at Luffy who just ignored them as he looked at Zeff waiting for the man to speak what he'd had meant before being interrupted. The cries of outrage and confusion giving him time to calm himself, Zeff walked to stand right in front of the boy raised as his own.

"I ain't keeling over for at least a hundred more years so just go out there and sail the seas would'ja, Eggplant." Zeff raised his hand to stop Sanji from protesting as he wasn't finished yet. "I did not give you all the food while I crushed my leg for my own sustenance so you'd waste your life away repaying whatever debt you think you need to pay me."

Gasps of shock and demands for explanations rang out and filled the restaurant, the sound bouncing off the walls and amplifying itself so much Luffy had run to Nami for his pair of heavy duty headphones. The Navigator already had them out and ready for the Captain in advance much to the wolfman's relief. Zeff sighed and sat everyone down so he'd be able to give them the explanation they wanted, Zoro and Luffy being able to hear the story as if it was being whispered to them. It wasn't ideal but the two would take that over having their ears ring for when the cooks would inevitably start shouting again. Ghin had left in a panic after hearing Luffy was the son of one of the yonko and thus was no longer in the restaurant to hear Sanji and Zeff's tale.

The tale began with a raid. Fresh from returning from the Grand Line, Red Leg Zeff, Captain of the Cook Pirates, led a raid on a passenger ship. A passenger ship Sanji had been working in as a chore boy for the kitchen staff. During the raid, a young naive Sanji stood up against the Cook Pirates, thinking fighting would be his best chance at survival, clearly it was not. Zeff himself had taken to dealing with the young Sanji but the lad wouldn't give up, refusing to accept dying there, dying without fulfilling his dream of reaching the All Blue. But Zeff didn't need to kill the boy, he wasn't even a threat after all, so he ordered his crew to withdraw as the storm that followed was larger than anticipated.

Before the Cook Pirates could leave however, a massive wave, the first of many, crashed against the passenger ship and carried the young Sanji away into the ocean depths with it. Much to the dismay and confusion of his crew, Zeff leapt into action to save the boy, unaware of the tragedy that would follow.

The morning after, Sanji awoke to find himself stranded on a small land formation, Zeff a few feet away from him with two sacks, one larger than the other. Zeff gave the smaller sack to Sanji and left to the other side of the island with the larger one for himself after giving Sanji some advice on budgeting his food and orders to remain on that side of the island, only bothering Zeff if a ship was called over. Sanji had been given 5 days worth of food, and he was to make the most out of it. Begrudgingly accepting Zeff's advice Sanji budgeted his food and made 5 days work into one day short of 3 weeks. In those 3 weeks only 1 ship passed by and try as he might, the ship was too far away to notice Sanji's calls for rescue. From there days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and ten days into the 3rd month Sanji disobeyed Zeff's orders and made his way to the Captain's side of the island.

It was on the 70th day, 45 days after he'd lost all his food, that Sanji approached Zeff in hopes of getting food from the large sack Zeff had with him, clinging to the faint possibility there may be even just a few scraps left. What Sanji found however was a bag full of treasure and a pirate renowned for fighting only with his legs…no longer having his left leg. Sanji confronted Zeff. Why? Why would he sacrifice his own leg to sustain himself to help someone who tried to kill him?

Zeff's answer? Because they shared the same dream. The old Cook Pirate Captain may not have found the All Blue in his one year voyage on the Grand Line, but he never once believed it was not out there. With his crew gone however, he would never set sail to search for it again, they may not have believed the All Blue existed but they were his beloved comrades, his dear family all the same and to sail without them was unthinkable. So he decided to entrust his dream to the young spitfire, placing all his faith into the little runt who'd been crazy enough to stand up and fight.

Zeff then shared a different dream, another ambition he had, one that he'd gained while sailing the seas and gone through periods without meals as well. A restaurant on the seas, where any sailor could go to eat, be they marine, pirate or just a regular joe, if they wanted to eat, he'd let them in to eat. It was at this point where Zeff's body and resolve finally began to crack causing Sanji to burst into defiant tears like any selfish child who desired something but was being refused. The boy made an oath, an oath to make the old man's dream of a sea restaurant a reality. Zeff was touched but he never was one for emotional crap so he taunted the young Sanji, getting a laugh after the boy's predictable outburst and string of curses.

15 days later, on the 85th day of being stranded, they were found and they were rescued. From there, Sanji upheld his oath and worked tirelessly alongside Zeff to make the ex-pirate's dream of a restaurant on the seas a reality. 9 years later, the restaurant is renowned for its mouthwatering dishes, and 9 years later it was time for Sanji to leave.

"I'm not-" Sanji began protesting once more but was cut off yet again. This time by Luffy.

"You're telling me you're paying your 'debt' by sticking around and helping Zeff run his already successful, well-known restaurant." Luffy said with a blank face. A blank face that quickly became exasperation. "You're one of the biggest dumbasses I've ever met."

"That mean we can get a different cook?" Zoro asked excitedly, ignoring Sanji's squawks of anger. "You're flirtings a deal breaker for me. Not to mention the fact you look like a guy who wouldn't dare to ever harm a woman no matter what the circumstances."

"Zoro, he can't be that ba-" Usopp waved his hand dismissively at what had to be the dumbest thing he'd heard. Hitting women was obviously bad but like not hitting an enemy pirate or marine cuz they were a woman? No ones that-

"Naturally! All women are queens!" Sanji declared, glaring at Zoro, daring the swordsman to deny it. The swordsman, wolfman, and marksman collectively facepalmed while the navigator…the navigator was too dumbfounded to comment or actually make any actions.

"He won't hit a woman but he will find non-harmful ways of dealing with them." Zeff stated with tired eyes, clearly the man had to deal with a lot because of Sanji's aversion to harming women. "Last time a female pirate came around to start trouble he managed to deal with her by tying her up."

"How'd he manage that if he can't even hurt them?" Zoro asked, unsure if he even wanted to know the answer.

"Somehow he managed to pull it off after grabbing her hands and pulling her into a dance, the Tango I believe." Zeff answered with a hint of mirth in his eyes. "Eggplant still won't explain how he'd managed to get the ropes around the woman without her noticing or any of us actually seeing it until it was over."

"...So he's a magician too?!" Luffy jumped up and down excitedly. "Please let me take him, Chef Zeff! We'll sail to the ends of the Earth and beyond to find the All Blue!"

The wolfman stopped jumping around like a child on Christmas Eve and stood next to the blonde man, slinging an arm around the sous-chef's shoulder. "And when we're done, we'll bring your son right back to catch up! Maybe even get him to settle down with someone so he'll calm down along the way!"

"Luffy! Don't make decision for m-"

"Deal! Take him! He's all yours!" Zeff exclaimed, stomping on a certain plank of wood that actually descended…like a button?

PLOMP!

"Here's the lad's clothes as well as some utensils and ingredients. Take this perverted idiot son of mine to the seas and let him accomplish our dream." Whatever protests Sanji had died in his throat hearing Zeff acknowledgement of him being the old pirate's son. "You sail the seas and find the All Blue, you learn all you can as a cook on your travels, and when you're done…" Zeff paused to walk closer to the boy he's raised for the past 9 years. "When you're done…you come home."

Luffy stepped back as the Chef threw his arms around Sanji who looked too shaken to respond verbally, both men's eyes watering but neither shedding tears as the younger chef also threw his hands around his mentor, his father.

"I will." Sanji promised. "I'll find the All Blue, I'll become the Greatest Chef in the World and learn every dish I can on my journey…and then I'll come home, Dad!"