Disclaimer: All the characters herein, with the exception of some random extras, are the intellectual property of Eiichiro Oda and all the companies involved with publishing and production of the One Piece manga and anime. I just twisted 'em a bit.
Spoilers/Warnings: This story will eventually encompass the entire first season of the anime, which is up to about halfway through volume 11 of the manga, just so you know. This is an AU, so many things have been changed/altered/warped to suit my needs. Also, there is some language and violence.
Pairing: None. However, I like subtext, so you can probably find hints of just about anything, if you look for it.
Dedication: To the OP at the fanforall at LJ, for requesting a cowboy AU and spawning this in my brain. Many thanks to Dandy Wonderous for beta-ing.
A/N: Name order for all characters has been westernized. Don't like it? Tough cookies! I do not claim to be an expert on anything involving gun fighting, the old west, or the cavalry. I did some very basic research for some of this, but I probably got lots of stuff wrong. Humor me!
Part 15- Krieg's Downfall
Luffy and Sanji peered warily in the restaurant's back door.
"You suppose it's cleared out in there?" Luffy wondered.
"Couldn't say," Sanji mumbled. "I'm fairly certain I remember where I left my rifle, but it may have been moved when everyone ran out the back. How long can you hold your breath?"
"I used to love swimming as a kid, so pretty long..."
"Alright then." Sanji took a moment to compose himself. "You take the left side of the room, and I'll take the right. Don't take any chances. If you need air, just leave. Understand?"
Luffy nodded, and, each taking a deep breath, they reentered the building. Luffy blinked fiercely as residual gas burned his eyes. He scanned the area ahead of him quickly, looking for any sign of Sanji's weapon. Then, he felt something strike the back of his head. It was a spoon. He glanced over to Sanji, who waved the rifle triumphantly before darting back outside. Luffy was quick to follow.
Sanji snatched up some ammunition, made sure the rifle was fully loaded, and then focused his gaze on the roof of the restaurant.
"That would be an excellent vantage point," he observed.
"Need a boost?" Luffy asked, offering his intertwined hands as a foothold.
"No offense," Sanji replied, blinking at the younger boy, "but do you really think you could support me?"
"I'm stronger than I look." Luffy shrugged, grinning. "Besides, you're skinny."
"Rather the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?" Sanji retorted. He took the offered boost, however.
The cook hauled himself over the edge of the roof and belly crawled over to the front. Like many other buildings in these parts, the Baratie had a faux front. It came up past the actual roof line just enough to conceal him. He peered over the edge to scout the situation.
Krieg was rooting around in those blasted saddle bags again, obviously up to something. Sanji noted the locations of the three men he had seen earlier, as well as two more. The additional two were huddled together by the horses, clearly in no shape to fight, and thus a minimal threat. The other three were milling about rather aimlessly, apparently unconcerned about any retaliation from the cooks. Idiots. Sanji crept back over to the back of the building.
"Luffy," he called down in a hoarse whisper.
"Yeah?" Luffy cocked his head at Sanji. "Whatcha whisperin' for?"
"Shh," Sanji scolded. "We don't want the enemy to hear us talking!"
"Oh, sorry," Luffy apologized in a much softer tone. "Did you see anything?"
"There are only three men in fighting shape, other than Krieg himself. Get ready to go after you hear the second shot. I'll take out the last man as a distraction while you rush Krieg. Be careful though, he looks like he's preparing to use something else from his bag of tricks."
"I'm gonna enjoy beating that guy..." Luffy growled.
Sanji crawled back over to the front edge of the roof and took careful aim. Moments later, one of Krieg's men crumpled to the ground almost in time with the report of the rifle. Sanji rolled to the side to avoid detection and popped up a few moments later to take out another man. The last fighter and Krieg were both eying the roof warily now. Krieg held a sawed-off shotgun in one hand.
"It's time we ended this, Krieg!" Luffy hollered, darting around the corner of the building. He had enough sense to bob and weave as he ran. Sanji took down the last additional man and settled in to watch what would happen.
Krieg snarled and took aim at the rapidly approaching Luffy. Just before he fired, Luffy's toe caught on a rock and he tumbled to the ground face first. It probably saved his life, as the buckshot ripped through the space recently occupied by Luffy's body. The wiry boy managed to throw himself to the side again, in order to dodge Krieg's second shot.
Luffy managed to draw his own gun while Krieg was reloading. He remembered that the outlaw was wearing some kind of metal plate on his torso, so he aimed for a shoulder, getting off one shot before scrambling to find cover. Fortunately for Krieg, Luffy's aim still wasn't very good. Unfortunately for him, the bullet hit his shotgun, knocking it from his hand.
Krieg drew a pistol from a holster at his right hip instead of trying to recover the shotgun. He scanned the area around him for any sign of the boy.
"Get out here and fight like a man, you scrawny runt!" Krieg seethed. "Quit bouncing around like a damned jackrabbit!" There was still no sign of Luffy. "I've got one more shot than you, boy! How long can you really hold out?"
Kreig caught a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye, but didn't have enough time to get off any shots before he was tackled to the ground.
"Long enough," Luffy panted, slamming Krieg's hand into the ground, forcing him to drop his other weapon, "if you can't shoot." He tossed the gun away. His own weapon had been left in his hiding place behind a rock nearby. He was happier using his fists anyway!
Krieg managed to toss the much lighter Luffy off of him, after he had overcome his initial surprise. Both men rolled to their feet and circled one another. Luffy hoped that his opponent was now unarmed, but Krieg drew a knife from a sheath in his right boot. Damn.
Luffy ducked and dodged, managing to get in a few light blows, but Krieg was slashing wildly, covering the largest area possible, knowing his opponent had no weapon of his own. Luffy held a hand over a particularly nasty gash on one arm. Double damn!
"If you give up," Krieg sneered, "I might just kill you quick!"
A shot struck the ground next to Krieg's left foot. Sanji had deliberately missed. He had simply felt the need to remind Krieg he had more than one opponent here.
"Require any assistance, Luffy?" he called down.
"Don't help me," Luffy replied, shaking his head. "This friend-attacking scum is mostly all talk anyway!"
"Friend?" Krieg laughed coldly. "Don't be ridiculous! My men are just tools to me! Weapons in my arsenal! Emotional attachments are useless!"
"Gin doesn't think that way," Luffy reminded him.
"Gin's a sentimental fool! That fight earlier was pathetic! He could have ended it at any time, but his emotions made him weak!"
"If you ask me," Luffy retorted solemnly, "you're the pathetic one."
"What?! I'll kill you!"
Krieg lunged forward, thrusting rapidly with the blade, seeking to sink it in his enemy's flesh. Luffy managed to dodge or knock away most of the blows. Krieg's anger had made the first few jabs sloppy, but he was pulling himself together again. Luffy grinned.
"Yep," the younger man continued, "definitely pathetic! Hiding behind all those fancy weapons like a coward! You thought Gin's fight was bad? How long now have you been trying to take down one, unarmed, 'scrawny runt?'"
Krieg bellowed in rage and concentrated all of his force into one solid lunge. Luffy grabbed the other man's wrist with both hands, but he was unable to completely slow down the attack. He winced, as a good two inches of the knife blade dug into his left side. With a short grunt, he pulled the offending weapon back out, shifted his stance, and pulled the still slightly off-balance Krieg over his shoulder. They both crashed to the ground, full body weight landing on the knife, snapping the blade off in the dirt.
Krieg sat up on his knees, only to be met with Luffy's elbow to his nose. He swayed groggily as Luffy continued to rain blows down on him. He managed to block a few and land one sucker punch to Luffy's already injured side, but the tide had turned. One last uppercut sent the outlaw sailing an impressive distance.
Luffy swayed on his feet as the adrenaline from the fight began to ebb. He put a hand to his stab wound, eyes widening when it came away dripping red.
"That's probably not good," he mumbled, dropping to his knees.
Krieg wrenched himself to his feet, snarling. He loomed over the now only semi-conscious Luffy, only half aware himself. He pulled one arm back to strike the boy, when a voice pulled his attention away.
"It's over, Don Krieg," the voice rasped. "It's time to leave." Krieg turned his head to see Gin holding his shotgun. Then the butt was rushing at his face, followed by blackness.
Gin collapsed as well, hacking and gasping for air. Sanji hopped down from the roof and rushed over to the man.
"Gin, stay still!"
"No," he shrugged off Sanji's comforting hand. "Can't... give in, yet." After another fit of coughing, Gin hauled himself to his feet and began collecting his companions. "Go help your friend."
Sanji checked on Luffy. With a sigh at the waste of a perfectly good shirt, he ripped off one of his sleeves to use as bandages. Once Luffy was no longer bleeding all over everything, Sanji silently assisted Gin in carrying the other outlaws to their horses and lashing them to the saddles. The horses were tethered to one another in a line, with Gin's mount in the lead.
"Thank you," Gin rasped wearily, once he had dragged himself onto his own horse.
"Think of it as helping a friend," Sanji told him with a smirk. "Now get out of here, you filthy bandit."
The bandits disappeared into the distance as quietly as they had arrived, if a good deal more slowly. Sanji watched until he could no longer see them and darkness was truly falling in earnest.
The other cooks had returned to the building; lights shone from inside, and the smell of cooking food wafted out the window frame.
"Smells... good..." Luffy muttered in his sleep.
"I guess I'd best get you back inside, hmm?" Sanji hefted the unconscious boy over one shoulder. He smiled at the restaurant before him. A little worse for wear, perhaps, but still standing proudly.
End Notes:
I know very, very little about guns. In this story, Sanji is using a lever action, repeating rifle. They vary in number of shots before reloading is required, but let's say Sanji's can fire eight. (He only used four shots here.) Krieg used a double-barreled shotgun capable of one shot from each barrel before reloading. (I think they can work that way...) On a semi-related note, even though many guns at the time were capable of chambering six rounds, one chamber was usually left empty, unless the gun was actively in use, as a safety precaution to avoid accidental firing.