Same thing as before. Just decided to copy and paste because I'm lazy. -Lorenzo
A/N: Hello everyone! How are you all doing? My name is Harry, and Levi asked me to put together this introduction for all of you! Levi is preparing to take the MCAT this Summer, so he is swamped with work (Not really. In fact, he was camping outside of the Supreme NY store last night). Yet, he still found the time to write this out, only to toss it to me saying "Yo, hoe. Write up some random shit for my introduction."
He is calling this update a "bridging chapter," but really it is just code for "too lazy to write a full chapter." Nonetheless, as according to Levi, at this point you should be questioning whether Zoro truly is the protagonist. Or is he the villain? :thinking
While I am at it, here is a random fact about Levi: he used to be a part of a gang.
Big emphasis on the words "USED TO BE." I don't need people knocking down my door at 4 in the morning.- Lorenzo
Chapter 7: Walking Into Hell's Kitchen
"And… we're here!" Usopp shouted from the crow's nest. The Baratie Seafaring Restaurant bobbed gently across the ocean's surface as the Going Merry approached. "And I can't believe it was actually Zoro who got us here!"
"You're welcome," the resident swordsman said with his feet kicked up on a barrel. "We can set anchor over there. After that, we can finally go in and get some food."
"Wahoo!" Luffy shouted as he hopped onto the deck of the fish-shaped restaurant. "Get whatever you want, guys! Nami's got our backs on this one! Captain's orders!"
Nami rolled her eyes, but agreed. They had plenty of money after looting the Black Cat Pirates dry. Plus, from what Zoro had been telling everyone on the way there, the Baratie served the best food on this side of the sea.
She was slightly skeptic at how Zoro always knew what was in the area, however. When it came to restaurants, nearby islands sure. But Kuro's and Django's abilities? Their formations? Strategy? Defences?
"They have approximately 200 pirates stationed on the island," Zoro said with closed eyes. "Three quarters are defending the beachfront, the rest are inland. Kuro and his commanders are towards the Northwest… but the terrain is blocking our entrance from that side. Our best strategy is to raid the beach and move inwards from there. They have the largest numbers, but they're too spread out to defend cohesively."
It was as if Zoro knew exactly where each individual pirate stood. But that was simply an outrageous idea.
Perhaps Zoro already scouted the island before any of them met? But if he did, then when? Maybe Zoro fought the Black Cat Pirates before, but was defeated before returning with their current crewmembers?
Realistically speaking, that would make the most sense, but Zoro was clearly on another level from the pirates she met so far, even compared to Luffy. She shuddered at the memory of the soulless remains of the Black Cat Pirates. If Zoro really had decided to raid the island in the past, there was a good chance that it would be beneath the ocean's surface by now.
Someone as powerful as Zoro existing in the East Blue of all places was simply absurd! Nami could only think of one other person who could possibly match the Straw Hat First Mate. Someone she was very close to.
As Nami entered the restaurant, Zoro couldn't help but to sigh. He never liked looking inside the minds of his crewmates, but the worry that Nami gave off was almost tangible. If her memories didn't return in time, she would always remain paranoid of her own friends.
Before Zoro disembarked himself, he stole a glance at the nearby marine ship. "I guess some things don't change after all…" he thought. He steered the Merry to the other side of the Baratie before he made his way inside the Baratie.
"Make me a new one! I'm not eating this shit!"
"Sir, pleaseㄧ"
There were screams and the sound of plates shattering as Zoro calmly pushed past the restaurant doors.
"I am Lieutenant Fullbody of the Marines! Not only could I have this restaurant shut down within the next hour, but with the snap of my fingers, I can also send this eyesore of a ship to the bottom of the sea!"
Marine Lieutenant Fullbody stood up from his table, his nose inches away from a familiar blond-haired chef. "When I want a new plate of food, I expect a new plate to appear! Nobody disrespects me!"
The rest of the Straw Hats were seated at a table not far from the commotion. They were all amused at the scene Fullbody was causing, with Luffy even chuckling a little bit. Immediately, Fullbody's head turned to his direction.
"Something funny, punk?"
"I don't know," Nami began. "I don't think that the rice was burned at all. Someone's just got thinly-veiled anger issues."
"We think it's hilarious you're getting so worked up over something like this," Usopp added.
The black suited chef had yet to say anything. Instead, he knelt down and began collecting the soiled rice onto a new plate. "That was a good plate of food you just wasted..." he said quietly.
Before Fullbody could divert his attention back to him, his head was slammed onto the table and was held down firmly. His date screamed as she leapt up from the impact.
What came next shocked the entire crew, most of all Zoro. Sanji pulled out a gun. An actual gun. Holding it to Fullbody's head, he set the collected plate of rice a few inches from his face.
"Calling me a bastard, I can forgive. Disrespecting my restaurant's name, I'll let it slide..." Sanji growled lowly. "But you don't waste good food."
Immediately, the rest of the kitchen staff arrived, all with pistols drawn. "We don't treat our customers this way, Sanji! Let him go!"
Sanji refused to budge. Instead, he lifted Fullbody's head and slammed it on top of the plate. "I will when he sucks down every last grain of rice from this plate."
Patty and the other simply nodded their heads. Their guns were now trained on Fullbody. "Eat it," he nudged.
For the next 5 minutes, Fullbody munched down every last grain on the plate in humiliation, all while his head was still flat against the table. Upon finishing, the pistols were dropped. This didn't stop him from flipping the table over in anger.
"You'll all pay for this," Fullbody said as he limped out the doorway. "Sink them," he said into his transponder snail.
"Right, Usopp," Luffy said into his own transponder snail as he rose from his seat. "Sink them." As Zoro glanced back towards him, he grinned. It seemed Usopp snuck out sometime ago and suddenly, the sound of cannonfire was heard outside.
"I have to thank Zoro for moving Merry into a flanking position," Usopp said as he walked by the bewildered Fullbody and sat back into his chair. "They never saw it coming."
Fullbody gritted his teeth before sprinting out onto the open deck. The sound of a splash could be heard as the Straw Hats followed him outside.
"He stole one of our lifeboats…" Patty said as he saw the raft drift further and further away from the party. Immediately, Usopp cocked his rifle and had Fullbody in his crosshairs.
"Don't worry. I've got him." Before he could fire, Sanji lowered the barrel of his gun.
"Enough. He's not worth the bullet."
"Thank you for your help today, pirates. I am Sanji, the head chef here on the Baratie Restaurant. The man you saw before was Patty, my sous chef. He's usually the one to keep me in check when things get fiery."
"Head chef?" Zoro asked confused.
"Yes. The previous head chef passed away not too long ago..." he trailed off. "Lung cancer."
"Condolences," Zoro said. That explained Sanji's… unusual aura. Zeff had died in this timeline. Draping over his usual black suit was a white coat with the characters "head chef" adorned on the back. Though Sanji looked the same, he was more serious. Darker. There was also the outburst earlier. This was a different Sanji.
"Don't worry about it," Sanji said as he puffed his cigarette. "The old man's in a better place now. I promised him on his deathbed that I would make him proud and if he saw the Baratie now, he'd cry tears of happiness. Enough about me, though. I'd like to know more about you guys."
"Monkey D. Luffy. Future Pirate King."
"Roranoa Zoro. Greatest Swordsman in the World."
"Nami. The Sea's Finest Thief."
"Usopp. A Brave Warrior of the Sea." Luffy elbowed him. "Say something cooler!" he nudged.
"Uh… Usopp. Best Shot in the… uh… Grand Line…?"
Luffy and Zoro burst out laughing with Sanji quickly joining in. Nami rolled her eyes at their antics, but even she couldn't stop the grin from growing on her face.
"Those are some crazy epithets," Sanji chuckled. "It's good to have wild dreams…" he paused hesitantly, but returned with the widest smile that the crew had seen from him.
"Have any of you heard of the All Blue?"
The crew spent hours talking and laughing with one another, going well into the night. For a brief moment, all looked well in the world.
Sanji was deep in thought over the events of last night. The Straw Hats returned to their ship just before dawn broke, and he assumed they would have sailed off by the time morning came around. Before leaving the restaurant, their swordsman cryptically said, "Don't miss us for too long. We'll be back tomorrow when things get dicey."
"Head chef! Head chef!" one of the waiters repeatedly shouted as he slammed open the doors into the kitchen. "There's a pirate ship approaching us and it's not slowing down!"
Sanji removed the cigarette from his lips as he listened the pleas of his staff. Sometimes they were just too dependant on him. "And what of it? Pirates are some of our regular customers, Gerald. The service staff should be enough to deal with them if they cause any trouble."
"But they're no regular pirates, Head Chef! It's Kreig's flag!"
Sanji grit his teeth.
"And so I had an epiphany!" shouted the Don. Kreig was fully adorned with his steel armour. His weapons and guns were on full display for all to see. A long spear with a round shield-like shape below the blade was grasped in his hands as the customers and kitchen staff shook with horror.
"Before I enter the Grand Line, I thought to myself "Why not make it easier for myself to blindside fools like you?" And that's where your ship comes in. No one would suspect an army being hid inside a ship like this!"
Sanji was face-to-face with the Pirate Don himself and a fully healthy crew of 500 men. If that didn't make make things difficult, he was flanked by his two commanders Pearl, and Gin.
"Resistance is futile," he said at last. "Bear witness to the next Pirate King."
While he could take Gin or Pearl, maybe even Krieg himself, Sanji wasn't stupid enough to think that him and a few chefs could fight off the largest pirate fleet in the East Blue.
"Now would be a REALLY good time for you guys to show up!" Sanji thought.
His ears perked up upon hearing a slight hiss emerge from the ground. Several smoke bombs went off, blanketing the area in a thick fog… followed by loud, rapid fits of coughing.
"What the *cough* fuck is in these *cough* things?!"
"*Cough* And these fucking gas masks aren't even working *cough* *cough*"
"This is *cough* why we can't fucking *cough* trust you with anything, Usopp!"
"None of this *cough* *cough* *cough* was supposed to happen!"
The Straw Hats looked ghastly, disoriented, and just about ready to collapse to the ground, but nevertheless, they had arrived.
"And you!" Luffy clumsily pointed his sword to Krieg in between coughs. "That *cough* title belongs to me!"
A/N: Medicine is so hard wtf. That's 2 stories updated in 2 days. Will publish more after MCAT if I don't die of exhaustion before then.