'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 III
The Honorable Duel, the Anticlimactic Conclusion and…Nami's betrayal?!
NO ONE'S POV
While the two blonde chefs had their moment, the cooks, and Usopp, around them brought out napkins and dabbed their eyes at the touching scene. Nami and Zoro shared a glance and chuckled, patting their touched marksman on the back. The swordsman's good mood turned to confusion however, as the lack of a certain raven haired captain dawned on him.
'Where's…?' Zoro's eyes landed on the Captain who was turned away from the scene…shaking? "Luffy? Is everything-"
The swordsman's questions died in his throat when he heard something…beautiful. A sound similar to the one he made when he practiced, swinging his sword, cutting through the breeze. No it was the sound of a sword cutting through the breeze…but…different…perfect.
CREAK! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The sound of wood creaking and objects crashing into the seas filled the restaurant, breaking the touching moment between the two blondes as the Sea Restaurant began to shake violently. Zeff began shouting orders around to his staff to keep the ship afloat while the Krieg Pirates' galleon outside sank into the depths. Luffy, who'd still been shaking, inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly, turning to his crew with a glare.
"Nami, stay behind me and stay away from the fight. Usopp, hang back and keep an eye out for wherever Johnny and Yosaku might be. They will probably arrive shortly. Zoro…" Luffy had given his orders clearly and concisely without wavering once, until he turned to his swordsman. "Remember who you are…and where you currently stand."
Nami and Usopp turned to each other with raised brows, while Zoro nodded as he followed his Captain out the Baratie…and into a massacre, a lone figure in the distance stood on a small boat of sorts, with a drawn sword.
"It's him! It's really him!" Zoro uttered to himself, shaking in delight while Usopp and Nami surveyed the wreckage around them with gaped mouths.
"Yeah…it is." Luffy said with a half-lidded gaze, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his father's hat.
The mist parted with Luffy's words, the figure on the ship becoming clearer just as Sanji, Zeff and the Baratie workers started filling out the restaurant. Zeff staggered and stood ramrod straight as he took in the man's features.
A lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache, and sideburns that pointed upwards. His most striking facial features were his eyes, sharp yellow eyes that seemed to pierce deep into one's soul, a hawk's eyes. A predator's eyes.
The man wore an open black coat with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar, white pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked into large boots. A crucifix pendant around his neck, and on his head rested a wide-brimmed hat decorated with a large plume, giving him the likeness of a Spanish swordsman. The sword he wielded looked like one from the West, a cruciform and well-ornate weapon with a curved single-edged, black blade resembling an oversized kriegsmesser.
"The Greatest Swordsman in the world, One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Rival of Red-Hair Shanks himself…Dracule Mihawk." Luffy said as he locked eyes with the man on the coffin-like boat that glowed ominously with the spectral green flames that burned on large candles at the man's side.
"BIG BRO ZORO!" Nami and Usopp turned back to the restaurant to see Johnny and Yosaku had arrived…and we're clearly frazzled if their haggard appearances and greedy gasps for air were any indication. The swordsman paid them no mind however as he watched Hawkeye's ship sail closer.
Zoro stepped forward and began making his way towards the man he idolized and aspired to defeat, to claim the title he seeked, to complete his oath to her. The green haired swordsman began to sweat as he came closer and closer, the power of the other swordsman exuding outwards and engulfing him like a tsunami. '"Remember who you are…and where you currently stand."' Luffy's words echoed in his head amidst the confused, angry cries of the Krieg Pirates who cursed the warlord's name.
One of the pirates drew his two sidearms, flintlocks, and fired both at the Hawk-eyed swordsman who didn't even turn. Instead he lifted his blade to the side and tilted it ever so slightly, adjusting the trajectory and thus averting them away from him.
"Wh-what?! I aimed straight at him!" The blonde dreadlock pirate said angrily.
"He averted them." Zoro explained, calmly continuing while the man gasped in shock and backed away from him, not realizing the green haired swordsman was there until Zoro was right behind him. "He gently changed the course of the bullets using the point of his sword."
"That can't be true!" Blonde dreadlock argued, his mind refusing to accept that such a thing was possible. Zoro walked past him indifferently, disregarding his protest. "Hey! Who are you?!"
"Three swords…could it be…" A bald pirate, save for a small patch of orange hair slicked backwards, muttered staring at Zoro's blades.
"I've never seen a sword move so gently." Zoro said, oozing with admiration and respect. Mihawk broke his gaze with Luffy to glance at the newcomer, the swordsman who was by the man's side earlier.
"There is no strength in swordplay based only on force." Mihawk said, watching Zoro dismissively.
"That's the blade you used to slice up this ship as well, isn't it?" Zoro questioned, his eyes lit with resolve that burned like wildfire.
"It is." Mihawk answered, still not having much interest in the younger swordsman.
"I set out to sea to meet you." Zoro said, removing his bandana from his bicep to tie around his head.
"Your purpose?" Mihawk questioned, a little spark of curiosity now present in his eyes.
"To become the strongest." Zoro answered simply, grinning widely.
"Hmph…How foolish." Mihawk smirked, amused by the greenhorn's display.
"You must have time to spare if you're here in the East Blue. Let's fight!" Zoro declared unsheathing Wado Ichimonji.
"Th-This guy is Zoro! Roronoa Zoro of the Three Swords Style!" Blonde Dreadlock exclaimed, to the shock of his fellow Krieg Pirates. Don Krieg himself leaned over a railing as a man, a doctor presumably, attended him to watch the pirate hunter with interest.
"Z-Zoro's gonna fight him?!" Usopp yelled, clearly in protest. "L-Luffy, you have to stop him! Zoro can't-"
"This is Zoro's dream, Ussop." Nami stated coolly, her fists tightening at her sides as she realized what Luffy's strange words to Zoro actually meant. "Luffy won't interfere with his or any other friend's dreams…no matter the consequences."
"Th-that's crazy! He's going to die!" Usopp screamed only to be attacked from behind by enraged bounty hunters.
"You saying Big Bro Zoro's weak?! Huh?!" Johnny growled.
"Take back what you're insinuating, Usopp!" Yosaku demanded.
"Zoro won't die." Luffy said coldly, causing Johnny and Yosaku to grin happily, thinking Usopp would get what's coming to him for doubting Zoro. "Probably." Johnny and Yosaku blanched. "He definitely won't win." Johnny and Yosaku began protesting once more but two swift slams from Nami's staff ended it.
"...If Zoro falls…What will you do, Luffy?" Nami asked, worry painfully evident in her voice.
Luffy didn't answer her, not verbally anyway. The drop in temperature spoke more volumes than any words ever could have.
"Fight? Hmph! How pitiful, weak one…" Mihawk, to everyone aside from Zeff, Sanji and the Straw Hat Gang, disappeared and reappeared a little ways away from Zoro's right with crossed arms. To Zeff and Sanji, they saw Mihawk tense and jump before blurring, but to the Straw Hats, they saw it as a powerful leap. To Luffy, in specific, Mihawk's jump was but a slow gentle hop. "You should be able to see the disparity in our abilities even before we cross swords. Is it your courage or ignorance that causes you to turn your sword on me?"
"It's ambition that drives me." Zoro answered, placing Wado Ichimonji in his mouth before drawing his other two blades. "And it's also because of a promise I made to one I hold dear!"
Mihawk, leveled his cold indifferent glare at Zoro briefly, before plucking his cross necklace off his neck, removing the longer bottom section, revealing it to be a small blade, a kogatana. "One does not use a cannon when hunting a rabbit." Mihawk said impassively, gauging Zoro's reaction. The two screaming buffoons from earlier already proving themselves incompetent as they began screaming and sputtering in protest once more. 'Imbeciles.' "Even if you're a swordsman who's earned a bit of a name for himself, this sea, the East Blue, is the weakest among the four." Deciding to play up his taunt game, Mihawk leaned back slightly as he pouted at Zoro sadly. "Unfortunately, I don't carry any smaller sharp instrument than this one."
"BASTARD! YOU'LL REGRET THIS DAY!"
"BIG BRO ZORO WILL WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOU! YOU HEAR ME!"
"In other words, prove myself worthy to fight you at your best." Zoro's calm assessment threw Mihawk for a loop for a second before the man collected himself as Zoro rushed to engage. 'Perhaps there was a wolf pup among the harmless sheep.' Mihawk thought with a smirk that came and went in a flash. "ONI GIRI!" Zoro wasted no time and brought out his strongest right out the gate knowing only his best would have any chance against this opponent.
To the shock of Johnny and Yosaku however, the technique that had never failed to hit its mark and end any it had been used on had been stopped. Stopped by a small blade thrust right where the three blades Zoro wielded connected.
'But a pup is alas, just that. A pup' Mihawk concluded as Zoro proceeded to assault him with a flurry of slashes, each one either blocked or sidestepped with laughable ease. Johnny and Yosaku began to sweat as they begged Zoro to get serious, refusing to believe their Big Bro could ever be outclassed like this.
"What ferocity your swordplay has…" Mihawk commented as he continued to gauge the young swordsman's actions. 'Calm enough to not lose it completely, he advances forward testing for cracks or patterns…you're not a mindless beast so what is it that drives you to your death, young man?'
On and on their dance continued, Mihawk leading Zoro through each succeeding step with every block and evasion, their audience enraptured by the spectacle, unable to turn away as the man feared as the best in the East Blue was made nothing more than a toddler in comparison to the one recognized as the best in all the world.
A memory of Kuina played in Zoro's mind with every few failures in hitting his mark. The duels they had, the rivalry, the friendship…the promise. It was in these moments where Zoro would be ever so slightly slower, moments Hawkeye used to attack the young man himself, never using the kogatana itself but instead chops or thrusts from his hand.
"What do you bear on your shoulder?" Mihawk asked, genuinely curious as to what drove the greenhorn. "What do you desire once you've obtained power, weak one?"
"I can't lose…" Zoro muttered, the calm he retained had waned with each dodge and deflection Mihawk countered with and the memories of Kuina were joined with more recent ones. Meeting Luffy and the others. Fighting alongside them. Training with them.
"Tiger…" '"The Pirate King wouldn't have anything but the best! I've decided you're joining my crew!"' "Trap!"
Zoro's blades hadn't finished their descent by the time Mihawk thrust his small kogatana into Zoro's chest, right where his heart is. Time seemed to freeze as Johnny and Yosaku moved to jump towards Zoro, only held back by Luffy who kept them from going further by pinning them down into the deck.
Nami felt breathless as memories of the past resurfaced, a helpless, outclassed individual on the verge of death, their life in the hands of one who stood far above them.
Usopp screamed, moving to notch an arrow only to fall unto his knees as a pressure slammed down on him, his Captain seeming much, much larger as his form seemed to eclipse everything around him, daring him to intervene.
Drip…drip…
"Are you just going to let me pierce your heart?" Mihawk asked. "Why aren't you withdrawing?"
"I…If I step back now…All the promises, oaths or vows I made in the past will be shattered, and I will never be able to return to where I am now…" Zoro's answer began as a mutter, before it became a composed and sure statement.
"Yes, that's what defeat is about."
"Then, all the more reason I can't withdraw…"
"Even if you'll die? All for honor?"
"Better than living without it."
Zoro's conviction struck a chord in Mihawk, the older swordsman's face breaking out of impassiveness and into disbelief ever so briefly. Pulling his kogatana out of Zoro's chest, Mihawk took several steps back, sheathing the small blade and ordering Zoro. "Young man…State your name."
In response, Zoro took on a new stance, both fists pushed out straight in front of him, the right blade pointed downwards and the left upwards, both tilting to the left. "Roronoa…Zoro."
Responding in kind, Mihawk unsheathed his black blade once more "I'll remember it. I haven't seen anyone like you in a while, strong one. Thus, as a swordsman's courtesy, I will end this with the world's strongest black sword."
"I appreciate it." Zoro responded gratefully. 'This is it…I…I won't win this.' No cracks or slip ups ever appeared when he assaulted Mihawk with his flurry of slashes. Zoro began rotating his blades unknowingly coating them in a black sheen, Armament Haki, "Three Swords Style Secret Technique!"
'"Remember who you are…and where you currently stand."'
"Fall!" Mihawk declared as he leapt towards Zoro, eyeing the blackened blades curiously. 'Armament Haki in the East Blue of all places…'
"Three Thousand Worlds!" The sound the two spinning blades Zoro made was…unsatisfying, as if they were cheap knock offs of a real blade, but that didn't make sense. At least until Mihawk's own blade flowed through the air as the two swordsmen rushed past each other…a beat of silence…and then
SHATTER! SPLURK!
Zoro's two handheld blades broke, only small blades near the base remaining, the black sheen fading away, and a diagonal cut from his lower left hip to his upper right shoulder spurted out blood as the young swordsman fell onto his knees.
"So this…this is the power of the world's strongest…" Zoro stated, calmly removing Wado Ichimonji from between his teeth and returning the blade back into its sheath. Standing back up, Zoro turned to Mihawk…and spread his arms outward.
"What are you…" Mihawk once again lost his cold indifferent composure as he was puzzled by the action, waiting for the young man to explain himself.
"Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame." Zoro explained with a grin, bloody and battered yet still exuding resolve. This was the world's strongest? So be it. Perhaps not today. Perhaps not tomorrow. But someday, some tomorrow, he will face Dracule Mihawk once again, and he will be the world's strongest.
"Admirable." Once more, the beautiful, perfect sound of a blade cutting through the breeze reached his ears. To make such a sound with every swing of his own blade, that was his next step Zoro decided. It would be his next step to achieving his goal. And as he resolved to do just that, Mihawk's blade, Yoru, sliced Zoro's chest forming a new cut, from his upper right shoulder down to his lower left hip. A beat of silence passed yet again and then
SPLURK!
"Do not live too hastily, young man." Mihawk said as he began seeing the younger swordsman in a new light.
"ZORO!"
Blood burst forth and his name was screamed out, but by whom he was not sure. 'Kuina…Forgive me…' Zoro apologized to his dearly departed friend as the difference between him and the warlord became ever clearer, and his consciousness faded. 'My name won't reach the heavens…reach you…just…yet.' This was Roronoa Zoro's last thought before unconsciousness took over and his body sank beneath the waves.
CRASH!
The next few seconds were a blur. Nami jumped into the sea and swam towards the drowning swordsman with no hesitation, Johnny and Yosaku following suit after a beat of stunned silence. Sanji and Usopp made no moves, no one else did for that matter. Not the remaining Baratie Cooks, not the scattered Krieg Pirates, no one. All of them were frozen and their gazes locked on the tall young man with a straw hat as the temperature plummeted to absolute zero and they could hear it. The moment the Captain who'd stood by to honor his Vice Captain's wishes…snapped.
LUFFY'S POV
I watched. I stood by and watched as my First Mate, my best friend, one of my brothers fought against the Greatest Swordsman in the world. I stood by and watched as he learned how far he still had to go. I stood by and watched as despite the chasm becoming ever clearer, he never once truly lost control of himself. I stood by and watched as he accepted reality but still did not give up on his dream. I stood by and watched as he presented himself to be finished off from the front, because scars on the back would shame him till the end of time…I could no longer stand by and watch as he began sinking into the depths.
"MIHAWK!" The demonic voice shook everyone around us in their very souls but I didn't care. My mind was too far gone to register the fear I was causing to even my close friends. All that was on my mind was the image of one of MY boys being cut down, and that was enough.
My body erupted in black flames making me look like a comet hurtling towards Mihawk. The man who had been indifferent for most of his fight with my Vice Captain now looked on guard as he raised his blade to meet my fist, both the fist and the blade coated in Armament Haki.
Proper Martial Art Techniques were normally better than uncoordinated brawling, but against him? My instincts screamed that unpredictable wild sequences posed more of a threat than choreographed movements against a man who'd held the title of Greatest Swordsman for so many years, and like always my instincts weren't wrong.
The ease and grace at which he evaded, blocked and parried my swordsman was gone, as if it was never there. Instead of a leisurely dance, I pushed Mihawk back, whatever attack he moved to block would be pushed forward forcing him to either go with the momentum as a means of escape or attack. This was no dance, there was no rhyme or reason in it, just pure violence. Each time we clashed the air rippled as waves pushed outwards, the sky above us had split since the first exchange but neither of us had noticed. What the two of us focused on was the force emitting from our weapons. His blade, the strongest black blade in the world, Yoru, no longer just coated in a sheen of Armament but exuded blackish red lightning. My fists continued burning with black flames that had begun affecting my clothes as well, black wisps curling and flickering around them.
"Strange." Mihawk commented observing my flames. "I was told it would be silver, not black."
I stopped in my advance hearing his words and moved to question him about where he learned that when I was pulled out of my blind rage.
"L-Luffy…Can you hear me?" Turning to my side I saw Nami, Johnny and Yosaku had pulled Zoro out of the sea and onto the bounty hunter duo's ship, my swordsman raising the one sword that hadn't broken in his last skirmish with Mihawk. I was quiet, dumbfounded for a moment before relief washed over me.
"Yeah! I hear you, Zoro!"
"Did I worry you? You need no less than the world's greatest swordsman, right?" Zoro asked, coughing up blood much to his rescuers distress.
"Big Bro! Please don't talk any more!"
"Zoro, just shut up and-" Nami tried to reprimand Zoro but the swordsman shifted his face towards her and she stopped. Zoro unsheathed Wado Ichimonji and thrust his treasured blade to the sky.
"I…I will not be defeated ever again!" Zoro declared, swearing another oath, one that made my heart thud in my chest. "Until the day I defeat him and become a master swordsman…I'll never be defeated! Got any problems with that…Pirate King?!"
I didn't need to turn to know Mihawk and I shared the same shit eating grin. Internally I berated myself for losing control like that, the sight of my comrade being hurt destroying all reasoning I had while valid would ultimately be a costly vulnerability, one I'll need to get over…again. 'Indeed, it is. Your display was quite embarrassing, pup.' Ignoring the bastard within, I chuckled. "Not at all!"
"Hear me! Roronoa Zoro! My name is Dracule Mihawk!" Mihawk yelled out, catching everyone's attention. "It's still too early for you to die. Learn about yourself! Learn about the world! And become strong! No matter how many years it takes, I will hold this seat of the strongest and wait for you. Surpass this sword! Surpass me! Roronoa Zoro!"
Turning away from my first mate, Dracule Mihawk turned his gaze on me once more. "What's your goal, Luffy?"
My eyes narrowed briefly before remembering just who this guy was…and once more I felt like an idiot for losing it. "I'm sure you already know…Uncle Mihawk." I finished with a smirk, enjoying gasps and sputtering that followed from our audience. Mihawk just took it in stride and grinned.
"That's a goal even harder than surpassing me, boy." Mihawk remarked with an amused smirk.
"Nothing worth anything comes without a price." I replied simply as Zeff and Sanji shared a look as they figured out why I called Mihawk, 'Uncle.' The rest of our audience didn't, however, but in Nami's case I'd give her a pass seeing as she was more concentrated on patching up the once again unconscious Zoro than actually listening to Mihawk and I's conversation.
"Hawkeye!" Krieg thudded against the floating remains of his ship and glowered at Mihawk and I "Didn't you come to take my life? The life of the East Blue's ruler, Don Krieg?"
'Seriously? This joker didn't get the memo when I ruptured his insides back in the restaurant?' I shook my head as I threw a glare at Krieg, who'd crossed his arms and glared at us like the petulant child he was.
"No, actually I didn't." Mihawk dismissed Krieg so flippantly with an uninterested wave of his hand that it gave some of the Krieg Pirates whiplash. I smirked seeing why, one moment we were locked in mortal combat, the next we heard heartwarming and awe inspiring speeches and oaths, after that came some random comedic bit and now we were back to indifference. It kinda felt like being in a brain dead author's story. "You happened to be on the way to Luffy so I thought I might as well have some amusement. Now that I'm here though I've had enough of you." Oh? Mihawk was here to see me was he?
"You may have had enough, but I'm tired of getting beaten." Krieg's smug personality put his underlings on edge as they began voicing their concern over his sanity. "Die before you leave!" Krieg pulled out two twin barrel pistols and activated his armor's hidden weapons.
'Fucking pest.' Gathering energy in my wrists I slammed one behind the other, releasing a shockwave that not only took care of Krieg's bullets but a good chunk of his remaining galleon as well.
"Tch. Bastard turned and ran." Krieg grumbled not seeing Mihawk had shaved to stand behind Zeff with a disappointed shake of his head. Krieg didn't even seem to realize the shockwave came from me. 'Looks like Mihawk's gonna get some lunch while I take care of this dumbass.' I mused as Nami and the bounty hunter duo made their way to the Going Merry with a heavily bandaged Zoro, scarred and unconscious but alive.
"Boys we had some interference but now? We're taking that ship for our own!" Krieg declared, getting mixed reactions from his crew. Some cheered in approval while others shot him looks like he was crazy.
"Don!" A familiar voice cried out in distress, it was Ghin. "Didn't you see what the kid just did?! How he fucked you up in the restaurant?!"
'Ah looks like there's at least one person who isn't a complete ape.'
"I was caught off guard, Ghin. I, foul play Krieg, had been…hehe foul played!" Krieg started with an amused smirk, deluding himself into thinking it was so. A younger man getting the drop on him with underhanded tactics of his own.
'...can we just kill him already?'
'It's very tempting…'
Oh how very tempting indeed. The delusional twat kept spouting off more plans on what the Krieg Pirates would do after taking command of the Baratie. Using the Baratie's funny appearance as a means of getting others to lower their guards, their tried and true raising the white flag then backstab strategy etc.
My eyes narrowed and my blood boiled as I snarled seeing Krieg raise his gun and shoot one of his subordinates. Ghin discreetly dove after the poor man, who'd just asked what Krieg had planned if they met someone like Mihawk again.
"Still afraid of someone like that? Huh?!" Krieg demanded rhetorically. "You think an ordinary human can slice up a large sailing ship?!"
"Dracule Mihawk clearly has the power of a devil fruit. Although those with devil fruit powers are considered by society to be legends, the Grand Line is crawling with them. Mihawk obviously used some strange power to slice up the ship!" Krieg explained, nursing his wounded pride by badgering Mihawk's reputation, something that ticked me off greatly. "That Straw Hat bastard is the same! Some strange power that causes damage to someone's insides, same reason he had those black flames!"
"Red Leg Zeff is a pirate who sailed the Grand Line for a whole year and as such must have had some way of dealing with Devil Fruit users!" Krieg deduced, smugly turning to his crew who were eating up their captain's delusional bullcrap like it was Sanji's cooking! Darn now I'm hungry again. "And those methods must be written in his logbook. If we're lucky, so is information on the 'One Piece.'"
Out of the corner of my eye I watched as Sanji looked back at the restaurant with eyes lost in the past. The guy didn't even seem to notice Zeff had gone inside after Mihawk tapped the old chef's shoulder, giving the former pirate captain a fright realizing who was standing behind him. 'Guess I'll be able to talk to Mihawk over lunch.'
"Just because you know I'm a devil fruit user doesn't mean you figured out a way to deal with me you know." My comment dampened the cheery mood of the idiot pirates while Krieg just continued smiling smugly. "I've also had my fruit since I was a kid, so just dousing me with Seawater won't work anymore."
"Hehehe, you seem to forget who I am." Krieg chuckled as he seemed to reach for something behind him.
'Ah let me guess…He's gonna go for floating floorboards.'
Unfortunately for him though Patty and Dark Shades came around on some weird ship…wait a minute. "The Baraties Figurehead was its own ship?" Admittedly I was impressed, wouldn't have ever expected the figurehead to be able to detach and be used as a warship. At the same time I wasn't really keen on having these two schmucks get involved. 'To me he's small fry, to you…Yep. Definitely out of your league.'
Patty and Dark Shades were able to deal with some of Krieg's underlings but the Don himself? The guy just lifted Patty and Dark Shades warship off the ocean and flung it towards the Baratie like it was nothing. Before the warship could crash into the Baratie whose resident cooks, plus Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku, started screaming and running around like headless chicken in a panic. Nami looked mildly concerned and glanced at me but I just nodded towards the warship as a particular blonde wasn't among the panicking cooks. 'Surprised there was space for them to run…Oh the restaurant had 'fins' for more space in case there was a surge of customers? Neat…how did I not notice them get deployed till now?'
SLAM!
Sanji leapt up and kicked the warship away from its initial course and into the seas beside the ship instead, shocking everyone around us into silence. Krieg gasped recognizing the foot technique as I just grinned. 'Oh yeah, it's all coming together.'
"Sanji! Are you trying to kill Carne and I?!" Patty said indignantly as he burst out the sinking ship. 'Ah so Dark Shades is Carne, huh…'
"I'll skin you alive you crazy bastard!" Carne screamed, shaking his fist violently at Sanji who just lit up a cigarette before calmly responding.
"Yeah"
"Don't 'yeah' us, you crazy stew!" Patty said back with shark teeth and white eyes.
"You almost lost powerful assets, you stupid spaghetti!" Carne supplied glaring through his dark shades, pointing accusingly at Sanji, who just shrugged and stood guard waiting for Krieg's next move.
Chuckling, I shaved next to him and slung an arm around his shoulder with a grin. "You and I are gonna get along real well when we set sail, Sanji. Shishishishishi" I chuckled as Sanji grinned back in amusement, eyes darting to the smoke filter mask I'd put back on.
"Long as I can still have a smoke, we'll get along just fine." Sanji replied, taking a deep one as he burned through the cancer stick.
"Oi oi." I sweatdropped seeing him burn through another cigarette before pulling out another.
"I haven't had a decent smoke in almost a week." Sanji threw me a half hearted glare as I just shook my head.
"You think you have time to make jokes!" A soaked pirate said angrily as he made his way onto the ship's fins. "Kill them all! That devil fruit user can't take us all on!"
'I really could but I think I'll let Sanji and his friends have this one.' And with that thought, I stood back to observe the fight between the Baratie Cooks and the Krieg Pirates. Sanji himself didn't jump into the fray but instead nudged me to Nami who was leading Johnny and Yosaku away, the two men carrying an unconscious Zoro.
"You're not going to check on him? He's your First Mate isn't he?" Sanji asked as if the two of us were discussing over lunch instead of being in between a battle.
"He's alive. Nami will handle the rest…" I paused for a moment before giving out an order to my marksman. "Usopp go along with them and stand guard. Johnny and Yosaku don't exactly instill me with confidence in keeping anyone safe."
The archer nodded with a salute, 'What am I a marine?', before going off to carry out his task, ignoring the outrage voiced by the two bounty hunters. "I think you're going to be joining the fight now." I commented off-handedly as I sensed someone approaching from the waters below.
"Why's that?" Sanji asked right before Patty came flying towards us. Now I could have been nice and caught him with my hands but…nah. One axe kick later and Patty is taking a nice little nap on the deck. "..." Sanji silently stared at me, eyes flickering over to Patty from time to time, as I whistled with my hands in my pockets. "This mean I can kick Marimo's ass when I feel like it as well?"
"...Well if you two keep fighting that'll count as extended training so I don't see why not."
"Just what're you guys doing?" An impressively tall man with dark green hair asked. He was a strange man with two large iron plates covering his front side and his back side as well as wielding two small plates with a large pearl in the center on each hand and elbow. The man chuckled before striking a pose, "Unassailable! Hence, invincible! When someone says, "Pearl, the Invincible Shield of the Krieg Pirates," they mean me!"
'Great another weirdo…hey where's Ghin?' Ignoring Pearl's monologuing, I stretched out my senses to find out where the missing man was. When I did figure out where he was and the direction he was going in I was both incensed and amused. 'Well, we'll see if Usopp can deal with you or if I'll need to up his training.'
I turned my attention back into the fight just in time to see a ticked off Sanji kick a Krieg pirate away from Patty's unconscious form, Carne next to him in a similar state of unconsciousness as Patty. 'Wait when did Dark Shades get downed?'
BONG!
Oof, that had to hurt. The poor bloke Sanji kicked away took a few of his mates with him straight into Pearl's front plate making one hell of a reverberating noise.
"A kitchen knife is a cook's soul." Sanji declared holding Patty's knife. Looks like the Krieg pirate tried to pull it off Patty's downed body. "Don't you amateurs carelessly put your hands on it!"
"S-Sanji!" Patty muttered regaining consciousness long enough to take the offered knife back before fainting again, still holding the knife tightly. 'Is he actually fainting or just a drama queen?'
"We won't be beaten by a mere cook!" Some Krieg pirate said as he and a few of his pals charged Sanji. They didn't make it more than a few steps though after making that remark. With a whoosh, Sanji's form disappeared before a flurry of kicks sent them all flying.
"A mere cook, you say? I'm gonna cut you in three, you bastards!" Sanji said with a death glare. Note to self, don't make any jabs about Sanji's position, or food in general.
"Ha! How impudent you are to beat them using only kicks." Pearl said with a laugh. "Is that a policy of yours?"
"To cooks, hands are most important. I can't have them hurt in battle." Sanji explained before thrusting out on foot towards Pearl tauntingly. "I'll take you down with this leg as well."
"Take me down? That's impossible." Pearl said back with a confident smile. "I'm an invincible man that won 61 of my battles unharmed. I've never shed blood in a battle, not even a drop!"
Pearl thrust his hands up as a twisted smug expression came upon his face. Honestly the guy had a pretty attractive face…long as he wasn't making faces like this and you know…not talking.
"Winning unharmed is the very proof of my power." Pearl emphasized his claim by smacking his two hand plates against each other. "I'm a shield man and a gentleman. I'm refined, aren't I?"
"...How many screws loose does this fucker have?" I couldn't help but utter as I witnessed this…I don't have the words to describe him honestly…
"You should be more aware of your surroundings, Straw Hat bastard!" Without looking back I tilted my head to the side and let the spiked ball Krieg threw at me sail past…straight towards Pearl.
BOOSH!
Damn, he may be crazy but he can take a hit. A normal person would have had their head crushed if the spiked ball collided with their head but Pearl just staggered slightly.
"Ah shit." Krieg cursed under his breath, sounding more annoyed than apologetic. I sighed disappointedly at that. Another Captain who only saw their crew as pawns on a chess board.
"P-Pearl calm down ok? It's just a little blood a-and it came from Don Krieg! He's the Captain, it's only natural he'd be able to actually harm you!" A Krieg Pirate said nervously backing away from the shaking Pearl.
"Y-Yeah! It was also a sneak attack! So nothing on your record, hehe…" Another Krieg Pirate supplied as Pearl touched his bleeding temple with a trembling hand before inspecting the bloody appendage.
"What the hecks with these guys' reactions?" A cook voiced out his confusion behind us.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"Calm down, Pearl! It's just a little bleeding! Don't lose your cool!" Krieg commanded with frustration laced in his voice. Must not be the first time the 'refined gentleman' acted this way.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"What the heck is he about to do?" Sanji wondered as I pressed my headset tighter against my ears as I grimaced. Jeez even with these things the guy's bloody loud.
"Danger! Danger! Danger!" Out of nowhere white flames just erupted out of Pearl's plates as he threw his arms up in the air.
"Oh, no! It's started!" A Krieg Pirate shouted anxiously as another added.
"When Pearl gets upset, he catches fire!"
…So this guy has a devil fruit…Wait no he just swam to get here so it can't be that…Those pearls in the center of his plate armor maybe?
"Fire Pearls…" Yep, it was the pearls. "Special Treat!" And the flames burst forth igniting anything it landed on, the deck, other Krieg Pirates, etc.
"Burn! With this flame and the flame shield, you have no idea how invincible I am!" Pearl exclaimed with glee as his crew reprimanded him! After all, if the restaurant burned they wouldn't be able to commandeer it. "No one steps into flames for they will burn! And so with this I am truly, Invincible!"
Sanji however, proved Pearl's claim to be false as he jumped into the fire without an ounce of hesitation and attempted to deal a flying kick to Pearl's temple. The kick was blocked though as despite being contradicted Pearl wasn't shocked enough to not raise his arms up to defend himself.
"Dumbass. If I was afraid of flames, I'd be unfit to be chef." Sanji grinned as he held out a cigarette into the flames to light it.
"D-Dammit! What a refined guy he is!" Pearl commented right before Sanji began his assault by going into a handstand to provide more momentum into his next kick which knocked Pearl down. "Crazy bastard! Fine, how do you like these! Fire Pearl Barrage!" Pearl threw out more fire pearls and hurled them towards the restaurant, Zeff walking out with crossed arms.
"Ah! Chef Zeff, look out!" A Baratie cook shouted in worry, too wounded to get up and push his boss away from the line of fire.
"Owner Zeff, take cover!" Another cried out clutching their shoulder in pain.
"Hmph!" Zeff huffed before performing a swift spin kick, the gust generated from which blew out the flames of the Fire Pearls. "Child's play."
If Zeff's here that means Mihawk's gotten his order. 'Guess it's time to wrap this up.'
"Now that it's come to this, I'll sink you all with the fins before the restaurant catches fire!" Krieg declared pulling out a handheld cannon and firing it up to the sky, aiming for it to crash right between Pearl and Sanji…like hell that was gonna happen.
Shaving up to the cannonball's apex of trajectory I grabbed the cannon and flung it back down next to Krieg, hitting the pillar next to him. "Timber!" I jokingly called out before noticing something…the pillar was gonna land right on-
BONK!
"Gehuk!" Aaaaaand down goes Pearl. POMPF!
Landing next to Sanji, I sheepishly scratched the back of my head before apologizing.
"Sorry, I wasn't planning on interfering."
"Ah it's fine. The sooner we're done here the sooner we can set sail." Sanji waved it off with a smile. I grinned back at him happily before turning my attention to the side of the restaurant, still smiling.
"You really want to do this Ghin?" I called out the man who remained behind the corner, hiding as he gathered his wits only to flinch at being found out. "You can come out. I know you're there. I know you've got Nami with you too."
There was a pause from everyone, even Krieg, before Ghin walked out from behind the corner with one arm around Nami's neck holding her close and another pointing a gun to her head. Despite the precarious position however, Nami seemed completely calm, bored even…The same could not be said about Sanji.
"Ghin! You dare handle a fair maiden in such a barbaric way! Disgraceful!" Sanji roared as he, figuratively, burst into flames. Ghin paused for a second before blinking in confusion, Krieg and his crew following suit. Zeff and I just sighed and facepalmed.
"Sanji…They're pirates, and some of them are even rapists, for god's sake, they aren't going to care about using a woman as a hostage." Nami said with a shake of her head as she closed her eyes disappointedly, probably wondering if Sanji was worth the headache after all. Honestly I was having the same thoughts as well but then I noticed something…and grinned gleefully as I pointed it out.
"So…does anyone know where Sanji disappeared to?" I asked looking around for the man who'd vanished into thin air, the rest of us, excluding Zeff, doing the same. Ghin blinked before panic and nervousness set in as his eyes darted around rapidly only to see the confused faces of his crewmates and opponents.
"The fuck?! Where'd Sanji go?!" Ghin asked before the smell of cigarette smoke hit him hard and he was engulfed in the feeling of being locked on in a predator's gaze.
"Right behind you." Sanji slammed his foot down on Ghin's head with a resounding BOOM!, the Krieg Vice Captain's eyes shaking violently from the impact before his form crumpled down onto the floor. With the threat incapacitated, Sanji bowed theatrically to Nami who just stared at him blankly before turning to me and mouthed the word, shave, questioningly.
Admittedly it would certainly seem like it since it looked like he teleported but…I grinned and shook my head side to side. "I'll explain later, love." I promised Nami as Krieg started shaking violently, purple with rage and Pearl shook his head to get his bearings also getting back up to fight. "'Bout time I wrapped this up."
"Correction, good sir." Pearl said, clanging his hand plates against one another once more, igniting them into pale flames. "I will be the one wrapping this up! Ahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!" With this declaration Pearl rushed towards Sanji who just exhaled a long puff of smoke with a bored stare directed at the refined gentleman.
"Mouton Shot!" Sanji flipped up into the air towards Pearl before sending a flurry of kicks right to the towering man's face. He'd performed the technique so quickly Pearl hadn't even had time to block the attack this time and thus joined Ghin in becoming a crumpled heap on the deck.
"GAGH! Must I do everything myself!" Krieg roared angrily, bringing out a gas mask and plucking off one of his golden shoulder guards with a deep sneer. "All of you drabble…move away."
"Don! That's-That's"
"M…MH5! The strongest poison gas weapon!"
Several Krieg pirates joined in the panic, Sanji and Zeff also beginning to look nervous as Krieg smugly prattled on and on about how 'might makes right' and anything was fine as long as you won but the monologue bored me so I just focused on the tidbit mentioned earlier about poison gas…
'I have an idea.' Smiling smugly, Nami groaned and held her head in her hands recognizing the expression on my face, one she's dubbed, the crazy douchebag face. Apparently I make a certain expression when I plan on going out of my way to be a total ass…hehe she ain't wrong.
"Deadly Poison Gas…MH5!" Krieg shot a large red sphere that contained the deadly toxin with a crazed expression. A crazed expression that crumpled and turned to shock when he felt something go down his throat.
"Luffy…I can't tell whether to be proud of you or yell at you for being insane." Nami said tiredly as she rubbed her eyes watching Krieg and I's position. The enemy pirates dropped their masks with horror painted on their faces as they witnessed the Don's face turn into a sickly purple shade and blood began streaming out his eyes.
For context let me rewind the story back a few seconds to like the paragraph before the one before this one. Krieg fires MH5 containing an explosive sphere, I catch a toxic sphere and shave behind him, shoving it into his mouth and forcing him to swallow it and let it blow up inside him. Kapish? Kapish.
'Who the hell are you talking to?'
I have no idea.
Letting Krieg collapse on the ground as a twitching mess with blood pooling out every, and I mean every, orifice I stretched my body and cracked my neck a bit before giving my audience a chilling smile. The desired effect was instantaneous as the enemy pirates, and a few conscious Baratie cooks, paled in fear just before a spherical wave washed over the entire area.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! CRASH! THUD! CRASH! CRASH!
Ah, looks like some of them fell into the ocean…oh well.
"What the hell was that?!" Sanji demanded answers as he clutched a hand over where his heart would be, considerably paler than before and breathing very deeply. Zeff wasn't much different but Nami? Nami just looked at me reprimanding…uh oh.
"I have a pretty good idea of why you let Ghin get to us…doesn't mean I'm happy about it." Ah shit. Scratching my head sheepishly I did a quick sniff around before grinning happily as I shaved away to my target before shaving to Nami's front, presenting her with a large bag of gold, gems, and jewelry. The desired reaction was instantaneous. Belly symbols for eyes! "You can test Usopp anytime, babe!"
'For fucks sake, what kind of woman did you fall in love with?!'
I just laughed as Nami pecked me on the cheek with her arms around my neck, Sanji's desire for answers snuffed out as he fell on the deck with a depressive cloud over him. Ah so while he won't do anything to ruin a relationship he'll still be butt hurt about it, Shishishishishi!
"You were the chosen one!" Usopp cried, pushing the door of the Baratie out dramatically. "You were supposed to stop his insanity, not join it!" Streams of tears cascaded down the archer's face as his eyes shined with hurt from betrayal. "You were supposed to bring balance to our lives! Not leave it in darkness!" The marksman was covered in bandages. Looks like Ghin did a number on him before he was brought down. "You were my sister Nami, I trusted you!"
Nami paused in her inspection of the plunder briefly before she took out a crown and placed it on our head and twirled to Usopp with a sweet serene smile as she leaned back into my chest and purred, "Sorry sweetie, but Luffy's just… so much better." She drove the performance home by feeling up my abs…ah fuck.
'...Are you freaking kidding me? This is yourkink?'
Oh shut up, it's not like I'm actually going to do anything like take away another guy's girl. I rolled my eyes and scoffed internally as I could feel the wolf bastard's disapproving glare. Little did I know that in the not so distant future, while I wouldn't take away a girl from a committed relationship…I do kind of steal her away from someone who'd been pining after her for years…Oops.