9/2 A/N: It's 4:30am EST, and I'm editing now? Dear lord, why!? Oh right, because you guys deserve it.

9/8 A/N: Only yours truly could edit a story...and make the damn thing 2000 words longer! Sheesh! Well, I guess so long as everyone's cool with it, I see no harm in it...

You know, looking back on this chapter, I remember I just wanted to end the battle of the Baratie in three chapters. I'm not entirely sure how I completed it, but I am glad that it was so well received by you guys. Thanks for your support and your patience! Good news, the rewrites are almost done! Most of Arlong Park is pretty much fine, so it should go by pretty quickly! Now, without further ado (save for one fan's answer that I would never remove), onward!

King0fP0wers: Hook's past will be discussed eventually, but not any time soon... possibly. As for the bit about the weird guy, he'll pop up again soon...


Chapter 15: Compassion

Hook acknowledged that Krieg said something. He acknowledged that Gin and the others were worried about what was said. He acknowledged that Pearl was up again. He acknowledged Sanji being annoyed, Ussop sounding fearful, Yosaku saying something Ussop's fear. But those weren't his main priorities right now. What he was focused on was ripping Krieg in half. Preferably slowly.

As Hook began to walk forward, Pearl glared at him, ready to strike. "You! Worthless Shrimp! Do you know I have not shed blood in-"

"Sanji, sorry about taking Gin." Pearl squawked indignantly at Hook ignoring and talking over him. "You can have Pearl."

"What!?" Pearl reared back his armored fist. "You can't just pass me off-!" was as far as the large man got before he was blocked by Sanji's leg.

"Tch. Don't go pushing your crappy leftovers on me," Sanji griped, then looked over at Pearl. "So, how's about I crack open that hard shell, ya shitty bastard?"

"Gin," Hook called over his shoulder without breaking stride, "go sit by the other chefs…and I'll show you how a real captain fights!" Stopping at the edge of the fin, he matched Krieg's smug visage with a sneer of his own. "And as for you! I'm gonna break every bone in your body for what you've done to me, to the Baratie, to your crew, AND MOST OF ALL, WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO OTHERS BEFORE!"

With that final battle cry, Hook jumped onto one of the floating platforms between him and Krieg. As he leaped to the next one, the skull on Krieg's pauldron opened up and fired a grapefruit-sized cannonball. "AHHH! THE GAS!" With alarming speed, all the men floating in the water put on some type of mask and dived underwater.

"Gas, huh?" With nary a second thought, Hook used Quicksilver to catch the bomb as it got closer and jammed it into the water, just as it exploded...into a shrapnel bomb of shuriken, that cut up his hand and arm! "Ouch! Bitch!" he howled as he pulled back his hand, stinging from the saltwater, and dislodged a throwing star from his forearm. "Is trickery and backstabbing all you're good for!?"

Krieg's answer was swinging out a big-as-hell Morningstar and smashing it into the platform just as Hook jumped to the next one. "Fool! This is war!" crowed the armored man as he released the hidden weapon. "All that matters is victory! Winning means everything!" With that, he raised his pauldron as its outer rim folded back to reveal many gun barrels.

Unphased, Hook jumped to the next platform...just as Krieg flicked something into the water underneath the current floatsam-

SPLOOSH!

…and the resulting explosion from the trinket sent Hook flying! As he flailed through the air, Krieg launched his next salvo: metal spikes that shot from his shield's hidden barrels! Krieg's laughter and projectiles hitting flesh is all that could be heard for a full minute. Mercifully, it ended, leaving Hook to land in an ungrateful heap, just barely, on the last platform before Krieg's.

As many gasps and a few "Get up, Hook!" sounded from the spectators, Krieg took the time to gloat. "Imbecile! This would always be the outcome! The Krieg Pirates are the strongest! You and a bunch of two-bit cooks are no match for-!"

The rest of his speech died in his throat when the crowd was treated to another unthinkable sight-Pearl flying off of his feet, his invincible armor completely shattered by Sanji's kicks! "Oh ho! Sorry to interrupt. Were you saying something?"

"Impossible!" One pirate said. "Pearl's armor... that guy's as strong as Gin!"

"This is nuts!" his fellow pirate cried. "Gin, now Pearl! We're done for!"

One was even crying. "That does it! That swordsman, these guys! If they're the type of people in the Grand Line, I quit-"

That man's speech was immediately cut off by the report of Krieg's bullet in his throat. As for Krieg, he was absolutely livid! "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU! GIN'S NO BETTER THAN A WUSS, PEARL WAS CRUSHED BY SOME TWO-BIT CHEF, AND NOW YOU ALL ARE QUITTING!? THE ONLY WAY ANYONE IS QUITTING IS DEATH!" Being proven wrong again did not agree with Krieg if the deranged look in his eyes were anything to go by. As he raised his pauldron, he issued his final order to the Krieg Pirates: "All of you. Drop your mask into the water. As of right now, I'm doing it my damn self."

As the ex-crew glanced at one another, trying to grasp their mass dismissal, Krieg gave a demented, yet victorious grin…

"Wow. And I thought my opinion of you couldn't get any lower..." Only for it to be traded by one of confusion.

"What the-!? Where-" Krieg's voice died of shock as Hook-bloodied and with more than a few holes in his clothes-leaned out the blind spot and smirked, seemingly unbothered by his various wounds. Although most everyone's shock probably came more from Hook standing in the one spot no one would dare hide in – right in front of Krieg's gas spewing barrel! His confusion gave the young pirate just enough time to vault over his weapon…and punch him hard enough to break his mask, jaw, and nose in one strike!

"A captain should lead by example...so you lose your mask first!" Hook cheesed as Krieg gave a wordless roar of pain. Bringing his pauldron to bear on his assailant, Krieg fired metal spikes again, only this time Hook was expecting them. Through his pain and discomfort (probably a torn muscle), Hook dodged, dipped, ducked, dived, and dodged every projectile. Once the weapon clicked on empty, Hook took a swing at Krieg…and collided with a cape covered in spikes! "Ow, motherfu-!" As he stepped back, nursing a (now more-so) profusely bleeding hand, Krieg stumbled back from the punch. As the gilded bastard reset his nose and jaw, Hook spoke loud enough for all to hear, "This is the full might of Don Krieg! A helpless trickster who uses his fear to keep others in line!"

Krieg adjusted his rigged mouth before hissing back, " 'ou 'till under'and nuthin'! When 'ou a'e p'epa'e 'a 'in…eve'y'hin' is 'ai' 'ame!"

Hook fell silent at that. Finally, he said, "Yeah, I got none of that. I broke your jaw, remember? Dumbass." That response only served to make Krieg angrier as he unleashed a nozzle from under his wrist guard. Not waiting to see what new trick he had left, Hook used Quicksilver to speed into Krieg's guard and bat away his hand just as it spat flames hot enough to sear the hairs on Hook's right side as it missed. As a follow-up, Hook jabbed with his unmangled hand to rebreak Krieg's jaw! "Doesn't matter. You got nothing I want to hear anyway." With that, Hook laid into him, but not before Krieg pulled out his cape again. This time though, on top of said defense not stopping Hook from hitting him, but this time the strike was enough to propel Krieg a good five feet away!

"Jeez," Sanji muttered. "You're tearing your body up…Hey! I get you're trying to say something, but I can take over if you-"

"It's fine!" Hook tightened his wounded fists, drops of blood squeezing out between fingers. "This is nothing!" It certainly didn't look like 'nothing' to the spectators, what with Hook's spike-riddled body standing at what could only be described as on Death's doorstep but refusing to enter. Hook panted through the pain as he glared at Krieg's rising form. "I DON'T CARE THAT THE GRAND LINE BEAT YOU! Me and my Crew are a hundred times stronger than you!"

While Krieg was in no shape to say anything, one of his (former) crew spoke up for him. "H-hey, kid! No matter how strong you are, you can't really think you're strong enough for that! That Hawk-eyed swordsman lives there! How would you even…"

"Clakakakaka!" Hook laughed at the former(?) Krieg pirates' trepidation, crossing his arms and staining his clothes even redder than before. "Don't sweat my limits! I haven't even used my Devil Fruit yet!"

The pirates looked at each other in confusion, while most of the chefs looked flabbergasted, only just now remembering that. "W...what?" Gin, barely still functioning mentally, seemed to hoarsely whisper his puzzlement. "Devil...Fruit...you mean they're not...legends?"

Sanji nodded as he removed his cigarette to speak more clearly. "Oh yeah. He's apparently got the Clank-Clank Fruit. He can absorb and use a lot of different objects."

"W-what?" One pirate looked at his friends. "That's crazy. If he really could do that… then the Captain would have…"

Hook flexed his hand, shifting it to black and gold, and shutting the doubters up. Many pirates forgot to tread water for a second in shock and had to be pulled onto flotsam by their allies. "I could have ripped that armor offa this jackass at any time…but like I said earlier! If you attacked the Baratie, I'd beat your whole damn crew with my bare hands! So, how'd I do, you bastards!?"

While most everyone was picking their jaws from their navels, save Ussop who was taunting the shocked pirates with how out of their depth they were, Krieg had slammed his shoulder armor together, a staff and a spearhead popping out of them. 'He's subverted my tactics...my men... even MH5 has been rendered useless! This kid...this child will not best me!' Krieg lunged forward, Hook getting back into a defensive stance as he was in midswing. 'I am...still the strongest in the East Blue!'

'Damn...I can't keep using my hands to fight like this...Oh! Idea!' Smirking, Hook Quicksilvered past Krieg's swing, and slammed a bloody fist into his barely straightened nose, only slanting it more. As he stumbled back yet again, Hook pivoted on one foot and slammed it into his solar plexus, in an attack stance a little to Sanji's. "Silver Heel!"

Rather than be blown away like all the other times, Krieg didn't budge, digging his foot into the driftwood. He retaliated swiftly as he spun his spear overhead and brought it down on Hook! The young pirate just barely missed being kabobbed-

BOOM!

Only to be blasted back by an explosion! As he reeled back, Krieg pressed the offensive; Hook kicked out in defense, colliding with the spear for yet another explosion! Wincing slightly, Hook continued to dodge the mute madman's swings, returning fire with a few kicks to fend him off. "So, I heard the Krieg Pirates are the strongest fleet in East Blue," Hook brought up after countering another spear jab. "Shame the Grane Line chewed you up! I would've loved to beat all of you when I was still using only half my skills!"

Normally, Krieg would have said something back…but it was very hard to banter through broken teeth. He voted to instead swing harder, ignoring how Hook seemed to be leading him to a certain part of the deck. "Must burn you up inside, some small fry doing to your crew what it took the Grand Line seven days to do!" Hook stepped back from a stab at his torso. 'Another swing, another step into the kill box!'

"All your tricks – ignored! Your crew – routed! Your commanders – not fit to help you, or never would now!" Krieg's last attack went too wide to hit Hook's head, but he still dodged if only to humor the easily riled idiot. 'Swing and miss, strike two!' Hook thought before continuing the goading. "But you know what's really funny!?"

Krieg howled furiously at his inability to shut Hook up as he slammed the spear in Hook, arms crossed as a guard. The explosion that engulfed Hook brought a sick smile to the Pirate Admiral's face...which fell the minute a singed Hook was still there, arms still blocking the spear strike. "All that talk about how powerful and great you are, and if I wasn't here, you'd still lose." Krieg looked at the young man in bafflement.

Hook explained while nodding over to Sanji, "Been here for three days – if I've learned only one thing, it's Sanji kicks ass! And he would easily trounce your mangy canned behind!" Pushing the weapon away, Hook delivered the biggest shit-eating grin as he stepped a bit closer, right until he was under the piece of rubble from the manmade wreckage of the galleon he was aiming to steer a certain moron toward. "Picture it. Kicked to death. 'By some two-bit chef.'"

Krieg didn't yell this time. He just swung. Swung as hard as he could to erase the stain on his record of perfect power that would not die. Swung so mindlessly, he had no clue that Hook would stomp on the rubble in front of him, a shield the explosion crashed against instead. In the dust cloud, Hook Quicksilvered behind the rampaging enemy, rammed a Silver Heel into his exposed back, and shot him flying through the air and through his own figurehead with a crunch of wood and a mangled scream!

He landed on the other side in a pile of wood, the shockwave of his mass on the platform dropping more debris onto him. Silence descended onto the battlefield. The world seemed to pause, waiting for some counterattack or last trick, but no more attacks came. Snorting, Hook turned around, limping back to the Baratie. "Hey, Zeff! Get that grill heated up! I'm absolutely starving! Gin, you better eat with us too!" Hook looked over at Gin's disbelieving expression before noticing his eyes shifted to something just behind…him…

"Son of a bitch," Hook sighed. "Quicksilver." A quick hop sideways and Krieg, his eyes white with barely held-together consciousness, only came down on air. "Silver Heel!" With Krieg still crouching, it was easy for Hook to strike him right in the head. There was a pause as Hook stayed in that position, with his sole crashed against the stubborn moron's temple. Finally, Don Krieg, Captain of a grand fleet of all of one man and no ships, toppled to his side, blissfully unaware of the world. Hook snickered in relief. "Phew! Guess I'm not in debt anymore! Clakakakakakakaka!"


After taking some time to get his wounds treated, Hook walked over to Gin, who was sitting next to a comatose Pearl…and an awakened Krieg. He was trying to say something that sounded like 'grape shit,' but his jaws were still broken so that could really be anything. Gin, not looking any better than when he was slapped with truth, was looking down at his shoes vacantly. With no preamble, Hook copped a squat next to the contemplative man, wrapping him in a one-armed hug. "So, how you doing?"

Gin, though tensing at the touch, relaxed into a mirthless laugh. "My captain tried to shoot me, and after I gave up trying to defend his actions, I watch as some no-name rookie beat him down with one hand tied behind his back." He sighed, as he raised his eyes, grimacing at the sky like it said something offensive. "I don't know what's worse…the brief moment I tried to defend Krieg shooting our comrades or the brief moment I was…rooting for you to win. What am I going to do now?"

"Join my crew!" Hook said like it wasn't a question but a statement of fact. Gin, surprised by the question, can't even react before he goes on. "You must have become a pirate for a reason. What was your Dream when you first set out?"

"Dream…?" The lost pirate looked at Hook with dull eyes, as if searching for what the answer was. After contemplating the inquiry, he shook his head and glanced away again. "The only dream I ever wanted to see come true was Krieg's…now, I'm not so sure he was ever going to reach it…" Hook frowned at his uncertainty but stayed quiet as the haggard man's face lightened up a bit. "Maybe…"

"Oi, Hook!" Ussop ran over, almost tripping when he saw Krieg still moaning about before trying to ignore him. "Me and Yosaku got every weapon gathered! Wasn't easy, but we did it! Shouldn't you…do your Consume thing, so we can catch up to Nami, Silk, and the others?"

"Ussop, hold on a minute! I'm having a conversation." Hook griped at the long nose, clearly annoyed by his interruption. The annoyance was short-lived as both of their attentions were pulled back to Gin when he got up and knocked the battered Krieg out with one punch.

"Captain…give it a rest. You lost." Gin kneaded his bruised hand before looking at Hook. "I don't want to admit you were right…but I can't say you weren't wrong. I…I need to think about your question. But until I answer, I need to do something." He looked out to the wounded surrendering horde floating near the Baratie. "I'm still their commander. Right now, we need to fall back and reassess ourselves…even if it means disbandment…"

"Alright!" Hook said, before noticing Gin and Ussop pulling strange faces at him. "What?"

"That's it!?" Ussop waved his hands like he was gonna fly off. "You wouldn't stop pestering Sanji, you practically begged Nami to let you have Zoro! Now you're letting Gin go!? Just like that!?"

Hook shrugged. "Yeah."

Ussop sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Fine, whatever."

Gin chuckled with bemusement. "You gave up pretty easily too."

The sniper mirrored his captain and shrugged. "Well, he can be very persuasive."

"One thing, Gin" Hook interjected. "Give a few of them a chance to leave on their own terms. This is a ship with pirate cooks, large lunch crowds…and no wait staff. None of them had the nerves for it... getting what I'm putting down?"

Gin scratched his chin in thought. "Well, I could open the option to them, but I can't imagine many of them would leave Krieg's crew so quickly…"


"FREE AT LAST!"

"NO MORE GETTING CHASED BY MARINES!"

"HALLELUJAH!"

As it turned out, a good many of Krieg's men took his mass layoff to heart and had already started making plans. At least fifteen had begged Zeff to work at the Baratie; all in all, only 50 of Krieg's original crew wanted to still be pirates! And, as for the nine rescued earlier, they were standing off to the side of the defeated crew, talking to each other.

Before Gin and the others tried to ship off, Hook offered to turn in Krieg and Pearl, however...

"No," Gin said flatly. "At least…not Krieg."

Hook looked over at the semi-conscious man. "Why not him?"

Gin also glanced at Krieg with something like pity. "I…" He cut himself off and addressed Hook with less haggardness. "I'll explain it to you…next time we meet. If everything goes well…please meet me at Loguetown."

Grinning fiercely, the young pirate grabbed Gin's hand in a firm shake – one that marked a promise between men! "This ain't goodbye but 'til we meet again, so I expect an answer then, Gin." Hook's face softened into a determined smile. "And when you do, Sanji will have a hot plate of food waiting for ya!" Gin laughed lightly at that, and he was still smiling as he and the Krieg Pirates, minus Pearl, sailed for the horizon.


Near Chef Zeff's hole-y wall, Sanji stood on the second-floor deck, smoking up a storm as he watched Gin and the others' makeshift boat float away. Despite never turning his gaze from the departing ship, he quickly noticed Hook coming up to him, clearly ready to say something to him. "Oh, you're still here? Shouldn't you be sailing off, now that you're square with the crap-geezer?"

Hook jumped up to sit on the railing next to the chain-smoking blond. "Not without you!" When Sanji seemed to outright ignore Hook, the teen took away his cig, catching his attention. "You still need to tell me your Dream."

Sanji's one visible eye blinked before he chuckled. "Oh right. You claim to know I had one…never even said it…" He looked out to the sea, snatching back his cigarette from Hook. "I won't go to the sea with you guys…I won't leave until that shitty old fart acknowledges my skills…"

Hook cocked his head as he clamped onto the cancer stick and played a light version of tug-of-war with Sanji. "Is that your dream? Look for Zeff's approval?"

Sanji finally aimed a kick at Hook's seat, knocking him to the deck as he victoriously took a drag. "No, it's not that…" he said wistfully. "Hey… Have you ever heard of the All Blue?"

"Not a bit…" Still laying on the ground, Hook turned over onto his back, looking up at Sanji as he got more excited.

"Really!? You never heard about that wonderous ocean!? In those waters, where all four Blue Seas meet, every fish you've ever heard of and many more you probably haven't seen live there! A seafaring chef's paradise!"

"Every fish…" Hook imagined all that seafood and drooled a bit as his stomach growled at the thought. "Sounds like the kind of place a chef would learn a lot about fish."

Sanji laughed at that, his entire demeanor opening up. "The fish are only the beginning! There's a lot I'll be able to do when I find All Blue!"

And with that, Sanji told every rumor he'd ever heard about the legendary sea, no detail overlooked, and shared with wild abandon! Hook smiled the entire time, feeling a little giddy at seeing this side of Sanji.


After sitting through Sanji's Dream, Hook headed to the Employee's Dining Room. After all, kicking an entire pirate crew's collective ass built up an appetite. His trek was interrupted as the nine rescued pirates approached, nudging and pushing each other until one with a pompadour stepped forward. "Hm? What's up, you guys?" Hook threw out.

The lead man snorted at the question, but not rudely. "Ya mean about our captain, er, ex-captain going looney, him trying to gas us, or deciding to leave that asshole Admiral?"

"About losing your friend," Hook supplied

The pompadour guy looked taken aback by that, before scoffing. "It's a pirate's life. We all joined knowing we wouldn't always win. Well, everyone except for…" he trailed off, glancing away, before sighing. "Look…me and the boys talked it over…we just want to warn ya we still want to be pirates. We…well…" He looked away for a minute, seemingly second-guessing his next words, but he finally spoke up again. "Even if we have to…form our own crew…so, we just thought…"

Instead of his usual method of bashing conversations into tinder with his words and lack of tact, Hook stood there and waited patiently for the guy with the loaf-shaped hair-do to finish, but it seemed he really had lost his nerve in the middle of his speech. Eventually, one of the group butts in with an irritated tone. "Come on, Mondo! You keep hemming and hawing, he'll definitely turn us down!" Said man jumped forward, his messy, matted hair hanging down to the nape of his neck. "Hey! Big Guy! I joined Krieg because he said when gets his dream, so do we all! Well, I wanna see the stars, and you're the guy to get me there!"

Several of them facepalmed, with a muttered 'Damn it, Kaito,' and somebody snickering in the bunch. The excited young man talked on like he never heard them. "If you're wondering why we're together, it's because we all know each other! Krieg snatched us up just before he sailed for the Grand Line! He promised us adventure, but we all got wrecked!" The dirty-looking guy, Kaito, fell to the deck, bowing low enough to touch it with his hair. "But I just know with you, we'll soar high enough to see the heavens!"

The others just stayed quiet, not admonishing the man any further, a few of them even watching Hook expectantly. After a beat of silence, Hook grinned. "So, you all have Dreams!? Then welcome aboard!" A lot of jaws dropped at the casual mass recruitment, even the giggling gremlin in the front just went expressionless from shock. "…sorta." At that, they all face-vault accordingly. "I wish I could take all of you, but I don't have a big enough ship! Once I get my ship and take care of something, I'll be back for you all later!"

That all quickly caught their interest, and they all stood up and saluted as one. "Aye aye, Captain!"

"Hey! Fresh meat!" Patty bellowed from the second-floor balcony. "Lunch is served! Move your asses or starve!" Once the (possibly) new recruits heard the call to lunch, they practically vanished trying to get more of the chefs' cooking.

"Yeesh…" Yosaku wandered over, laughing as the retreating group practically climbed over each other. "Guess we'd better eat while it's hot, huh?" Meanwhile, Ussop stood next to the bounty hunter, vibrating in one spot, for some reason…

Catching Ussop's expression of mixed impatience and excitement brought a chuckle from Hook. "You can go up to lunch, Yosaku. I think Ussop wants to talk about the new loot, and I'm pretty excited myself! Just got really busy, I suppose. Clakakaka!" Yosaku looked between one teen and the other before nodding and rushing off for lunch. "So Ussop what have you got-!"

"Kriegsarmorisincredible!" Ussop let out in one burst, his face reddening at his haste. "I-I mean, he was an asshole, but he was a brilliant asshole!" Ussop led Hook over to the Fin on the opposite side of the Baratie…and what a site the haul was! Granted, a good chunk of it was sunk to Davy Jones, but there was still plenty of weaponry:

50 Silver Sabers

20 Steel Daggers

10 Pistols

100 bullets

5 Iron Staffs

4 Brass Knuckles

3 Shotguns

50 Shells

Gunpowder keg (1/2 full)

Pearl's Armor (Damaged)

Krieg's Armor

Metal Bat

And….

15,000,000 Beris!

Seeing the treasure, Hook looked over at Ussop. "U-uh, well…it's…what Nami would have done…" he explained. He looked a little sad at bringing up Nami, but he shook it off quickly. "A-anyway! This crap is amazing! I don't even know where to begin!"

Hook scratched his chin as he considered the stash, totally not making Ussop twitch with anticipation. "Well…how about Krieg's-"

"OK!" As if Ussop had mastered the Swift Foot Technique, he was already at Krieg's barely scratched armor. "This thing is incredible! I mean, you would have completely shattered it with your Devil Fruit, I have no doubt, but ordinary fists would have done Jack all! I wish I had the schematics to know what type of metal this is! As for the parts I can talk about, this thing is covered in hidden compartments!" To prove his point, he showed off a hidden trigger between the thumb and pointer fingers of the gloves…and ten different gun barrels shot out of the armor, like hedgehog quills! "The best part!? These can all fire at once! A row of enemies – down in three seconds flat! The trigger on the other glove fires them! And speaking of the gloves…"

He lifted up what Hook had initially thought was something from the treasure horde, but looking closer, they were actually for combat! "These diamonds fitted onto the gauntlets make punches at least twice as hard! And that's not the only trick these gloves can do! A flamethrower in the right hand, and a net launcher in the other! Honestly, the mental gymnastics to keep all these tricks in mind is…astonishing!" Next, Ussop handed Hook a marble-sized ball. "This…you have to see for yourself. Throw it at the ocean. Just…make sure you throw it far."

Puzzled, Hook looked at the metal bearing in his hand. Not seeing the big deal about the marble, he gave it a hefty toss into the drink…a second passed-

FOOSH!

And a familiar wall of water shot up in front of them, rocking the very deck the pair stood on! "What the-!"

Ussop laughed like a madman! "Ridiculous, right!? If I can reverse engineer these 'Blitz Bombs,' our other project might not be too far off! Shame, there's only five of them…you'd better hold on to them."

Hook looked at the handful of super-explosives for a moment and smiled. "I've got plenty. You have some too." Handing over two to Ussop, he added, "I'm the only one who can whip out a cannon, so I've got plenty of firepower to spare."

"O-oh! Thanks a bunch!" Ussop pocketed the Blitz Bombs. "From studying them, they seem to activate when exposed to water, so we should be good otherwise." Ussop motioned over to Krieg's armor. "But there is still more of this!" He kneeled down to the shoulder armor, separate from the main body. "This armor is as filled with gadgets as the rest of the arsenal! A machine designed to shoot spikes, a missile launcher for medium ammunition, or even splinter bombs, like those throwing stars you…ah, got stuck with. Not to mention there's also the spiked cape you slammed into!" He pulled a corner of the material out from under the pauldrons. "They're stored in the plate…somehow…It's gonna take me months to understand how complex this armor is…" Ussop seemed more excited than downtrodden at the challenge.

"Ooh! Ooh! And that last trick, the 'Battle Spear' is what some of the Krieg Pirates called it! At first, I thought he had rigged mini explosives inside it, but that would be crazy! So, I….um, could you help me with this?" Together, Hook and Ussop flipped over a plate; here, Ussop pointed to thin tubes connected to different parts of the plate, all connected to a central tank in the center.

"…But it looks like he actually had some seriously exact chemicals! Stable until you make the spear configuration, and non-responsive until the spear makes contact with something! The compound's way too dangerous to inspect in these conditions, but when we get the Merry back, I'll get started on it, ASAP!"

Despite the information overload, Hook gave the ecstatic teen an ear-splitting grin. "Clakakakaka! Great to hear! Good thing we have Krieg's haul – this sounds like an expensive investment!"

Ussop frowned in thought. "Well, now that you mentioned it…it is gonna be costly. Gunpowder, Nitroglycerin…some cinnamon too, always worked to stabilize my more bombastic explosives. Although, that also took out a lot of the power…" and he mumbled like that for a good while. Hook could practically see the words flying out of his mouth and filling the air.

Waving through the air thick with Ussop's out-loud thinking, a thought came to Hook. "Ussop, can you upgrade the Merry with this? Maybe everyone's arsenals as well? Unless you still can't feel your hands…"

That shook the long nose out of his mutter storm. "Hm? Ah, don't worry! Iron Thumb Ussop was my nickname back home! My thumb can take a hundred misaimed hammers! I'll have Merry and everyone outfitted with the best in no time!"

Hook shot him a thumbs up of his own. "Then, I'll leave it to you, Master Gadgeteer Ussop!" As Ussop was blushing and downplaying all the positive attention (and somehow encouraging more), Hook picked up a warhead-shaped object next to the pile of armor. "Hey, what's this?"

Ussop recovered and looked at the object. "Oh! That's just the MH5."

Without even pausing, Hook tossed it up casually and caught it like a ball. "Ah, is that all?"

Ussop blinked at Hook's calm demeanor. "Uh, how did you know it wasn't armed?"

Hook looked up from his juggling act of one bomb. "Was it armed before?"

Ussop just shook his head and sighed in an amused way. "Only you, Hook…"

As he began to play hacky sack with the diffused bomb, a thought crossed Hook's mind. "Hey, what does the MH stand for anyway?"

Ussop laughed in a braggadocious manner. "You don't know? Ha! It's so obvious, I won't even waste the air to tell you."

Hook shot him a cheesy grin as he balanced the bomb on one foot. "Don't know, huh?" As Ussop tried to recover his cool, you kept on talking as he juggled the ball like a shuttlecock. "Is there any way to repurpose this into poison that paralyzes instead of kills?"

Ussop huffed indignantly but relented to the question. "W-well, maybe…but I wouldn't know! I'm not a chemist! Do you really want to keep that thing around until we do find one?"

"Better with us than with some idiot who doesn't know what it does." With that, Hook stopped balancing the poisonous explosive on his nose, and absorbed it without a second thought. "What?" Hook blinked at Ussop's aghast look. "It wasn't leaking, and it's not like I can fire it by accident. My powers are like muscles, and nobody accidentally kicked someone trying to scratch their nose!"

SLAM! "CRAP!"

The duo looked toward the Baratie at the scream of frustration. "Huh?" Ussop puzzled. "Something's happening over there! Did Krieg's guys cause a ruckus?"

"Ussop, I think I'd better take my new armory to go. Got a bag?" Surprisingly, Ussop did have a big enough bag, which Hook stuffed with all of the weapons from raiding Krieg's ship and rushed off. (Ussop stayed behind to keep an eye on the treasure.) As Hook arrived at the employee dining area, Sanji was sitting outside, wiping blood from his lip with an angry scowl. "So, how's the other guy?" Hook asked, mostly as a joke.

Sanji spat on the ground, before glaring at the door. "The ancient asshole! All of them! Throwing a chef's hard work on the ground!? There's no worse insult!" Hook stood by silently, letting him grouse on…

"Nishishishishi~ Wow, you all are the worst!" Until a familiar chortle reached his ears. Leaning near the window to hear what was going on, Hook shushed Sanji, motioning for him to be quiet and listen as well. "I mean, you'd have to be a dumbass to not see through such an act! The soup's not great, but it's hardly worth throwing it away like that!" Hook could practically hear the voice smirking on the other side of the wall. "Now why would you be so willing to waste a good meal, I wonder?"

There was a brief silence before…

Slurp!

It was faint, but Hook and especially Sanji both heard it. Then Zeff spoke. "'Course the soup's good, kid. But you haven't been here…Sanji's too stubborn for his own good!"

Another slurp. "This might be Sanji's only chance to sail off and reach his dream!" Patty said, clearly sounding like he was enjoying the soup.

Yet another slurp. "If we let him miss this chance, I don't think I could look him in the eye again!" Carne spoke between scraping the bowl for more.

Soon, other chefs were clamoring for more soup, a few sounding irritated when a couple of them went for seconds when they'd hardly finished the bowl. However, Hook was focused on Sanji, and the waterfall of tears he was clearly holding back. After a long silence, he lit a cigarette and looked the teen square in the eye. "What the hell are you smiling at?"

Giving Sanji no more than a knowing smile, Hook let him finish his cig uninterrupted for a change before he finally spoke. "Damn…I think I liked you better loud than smug…Fine then. I'll go. If you're still looking for a cook, right? Since we've both got foolish dreams, might as well sail to see them come true." Getting off the wall, Sanji extended his hand as the chef of Hook's little ensemble. "That alright?"

Hook smirked as he shook Sanji's hand. "Heh. Knew you'd come around!"

"Yeah yeah." Sanji huffed. "Just don't make a big deal about-!"

"WELCOME TO THE CREW, SANJI!" Hook declared loud enough for EVERYONE on the other side of the wall to hear, laughing boisterously all the while. The sounds of chaos as people fell out of their chairs in shock was music to his ears.

Sanji shot his new captain a dangerous look. "I could fry you right now…"

He returned fire with an unimpressed smirk. "You realize you can now see Nami and Silk on a daily basis?"

Sanji mulled it over. "All right, light brazing…"


Sitting in Sanji's boat, a ship made for long distances for any last-minute grocery runs, Hook leaned back to soak in the sun as Ussop and Yosaku finished dragging the gold onto the ship. "Alright! The mission to recruit a badass chef has been successful! Oh! How's the sword treating you, Yosaku?" Said man was now swinging the sword around like an eager child.

"It's…pretty sweet, actually! It's even smoother than my other one! Where'd you even get it?"

"Oh, it's Kuro's old claw." Hook answered casually ignoring Yosaku's sudden eye-bugging of shock. "Hey, Zeff! Doesn't Sanji get one last payday!?"

"STOP ALL YOUR YELLING, KID! YOU'RE TOO DAMN LOUD!" the head chef calmly said back.

As Hook laughed at the last time he would experience the Baratie's antics for a while, Ussop looked toward the horizon as he messed with his overalls worriedly. This did not go unnoticed by the Comboman. "What's with the long face? We got us a chef! This is great news!"

"Yeah..." Ussop trailed off, his mind clearly not focused on the present.

Understanding his thoughts, Hook tapped the man's arm and nodded with a serious face. "Don't even fret on it. We will save Nami and Carina."

Ussop shook his head. "That's just it…are you…really sure about Carina? I-I mean, not to double-guess you and all, but-! It's just…are you sure she's worth the effort? After releasing Kuro? After kidnapping Nami!?"

In response, Hook looked up at the sky; to others, it would have seemed he was playing off the question, but after sailing for a bit, Ussop could tell he had taken his question seriously. Finally, Hook looked back at him and responded, "She deserves a chance, Ussop. She has a reason for doing this! After I hear it…I'll decide then."

Yosaku brightened as he looked at the doorway of the sea restaurant. "Oh, there he is." Sure enough, Sanji was there; walking past all his old comrades without looking at them once. The only disturbance was Patty and Carne…jumping out of the crowd with comically large cooking utensils aimed to knock off Sanji's head!

As Ussop and Yosaku jumped up to do or say something, Hook had already pushed them down. "Forget it. It's over." And in the blink of an eye, it was; Patty and Carne were knocked out easily, and Sanji hardly broke stride. "Hey, Sanji. Think you missed some cooking supplies?" Hook gestured to the weapons almost used on Sanji in a half-joking manner.

Sanji didn't raise to the jest. There wasn't a sound made, save for the lapping of the waves and the cook's footsteps. Finally, he arrived at the boat, his face a cool and calm exterior. "Alright. Let's go."

Hook hummed in confusion. "Not gonna say goodbye?"

Sanji shrugged, looking as aloof as ever. "It's okay."

"Hey, Sanji," Zeff, on the top balcony, called down. "Don't go catchin' a cold."

And almost with an audible creak, his whole manner broke to reveal a boy like any other, leaving home for the first time. As he began to tear up, he turned around…to bid his family a proper farewell. "CHEF ZEFF! ALL THESE YEARS I LIVED UNDER YOUR CRAP-ROOF!" He fell to his knees and bowed in appreciation. "I OWE YOU MY LIFE! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!"

With that declaration, all the chefs broke down! Even Patty and Carne were bawling! As the group sailed off, tearful and watery tears sending them on their way, Hook knew getting Sanji was the right call. 'After all,' he thought, 'a man with this much Compassion in his soul could only be the greatest of allies!'


A/N: And done! Baratie Arc over! Which leads us right into... the heart of darkness. Don't forget to review! Until next time!