Ok, so I thought I had posted this up two days ago and then I got a guest review asking when the next chapter would be up and I realized I had saved it to but hadn't posted it. Sorry guys, I was having a serious blonde moment.
Here's the next chapter! We're finally getting into the big fight on the Baratie and I'm happy to be writing combat scenes again. Not having Zoro in this chapter killed me and I ended up writing a whole page and a half of a flashback scene that I hadn't originally meant to write because I needed at least a little bit of ZoLu in this area. There's so much Sanji (obviously) and while I love him, I kept thinking "NOO! Where's Zoro?! Dammit."
Also, on a friend's idea, I started writing out a one shot for the first One Piece movie. We were watching some of them a few days ago and she mentioned how it would be fun to see how my Legends Fem!Luffy and Zoro acted in the movie. I hope to have the first movie up with the next chapter as I'm already almost half done with it. The first movie had a few cute ZoLu scenes. I'm looking forward to the drama of movies 5 and 6 though! .
Thank you for all your reviews! You guys make me want to write and make it so that I'll never abandon this. That and my friends standing behind my chair with rope threatening to tie me to it.
Big thanks and shout-out to: ZoLuFanGirl98, freeze47458, Zero Reader, angeltrod519644, KarouUchiha, OblivionGirl, VampChick2010, Wind, MysticStarGirl, Winter, Hina714, Anime Hotty Lover .18, Vincent Lover, PhoenixK14, Hikary Sanoko, Thouroughly Misguided, Kitsunegirl90, jadecraze, and all my guest reviewers. You guys rock!
To one guest: Mihawk totally ships ZoLu! .
To Winter: You didn't rush me at all. There was no need to apologize. You guys make me want to write so thank you for sticking with this story!
To angeltrod519644: They probably won't have kids. I just don't see that reasonably happening at any point in the journey. At least, not until after they find One Piece.
To another guest: I kinda wanted someone to react to Mihawk holding Luffy but I feel like Zoro was really out of it, Usopp didn't really care, and I didn't want Sanji to comment so... yeah.
To mysticstargirl: *covers ears* You rock! I'm so glad you like this so far! Your review made me laugh. Hope you like this chapter!
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Ok, without further delay! Here is chapter 25!
One Piece (C) Eiichiro Oda!
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Pearl's Iron Wall
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The aura around the Baratie was tense in the wake of Mihawk's disappearance. Don Krieg's galleon had been forced away from the restaurant after the swordsman had sliced it up and there was now enough distance that the invading pirates would have to swim if they wanted to get close enough to launch their attack. Krieg just huffed, his arms crossed over his chest and a steady air of confidence still emanating from him as he surveyed the Baratie and its assembled chefs. They posed no real danger to him, after all.
An excited whoop drew his attention to the left side of the restaurant, where the raven-haired waitress who had stood up to him earlier was resting precariously against the railing of the Baratie, an excited grin on her face.
"Ha! They wanna fight too!" She laughed, shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand as the other rested against her hat, making sure it stayed on her head. "This is so exciting!"
Luffy turned her head so she could get the Head Chef in her line of sight, kicking her feet out in front of her in a childish manner. "Hey, old man, let's make a deal! If I kick 'em out, I won't need to work here anymore, ok?" Her voice held no sign of hesitation. She wasn't asking a question of the old man, she was making a statement. Zeff grinned at the she-pirate's boldness. In truth, he was a little reluctant to let her go. She might have been a terrible waitress and broken more dishes than he thought was possible for a single person but he had made really good tips on all of the tables that she had waited. The girl really had a way of winning people over, no matter what she did.
At the same time, after seeing the way that she had launched herself at Hawk-Eye's Mihawk after he had struck down Roronoa Zoro, he knew that a spirit like hers couldn't be chained to a single place. Also, if Mihawk had been right about the relationship between her and the swordsman, Zeff knew he'd have a furious fight on his hands if he tried to keep her any longer than he already had. He chuckled slightly and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I guess that's all that I can hope for. If I really let you work here for a year, this restaurant would cease to exist."
Luffy laughed and pumped a fist into the air with a cheer, excited that she had finally got the old man to agree to let her go. She hadn't wanted to just run off on him, after all. Luffy paid her debts and she was happy that she got to solve this one by beating up someone that had already annoyed her. Before Luffy could move from her spot on the railing or even begin to plan how she was going to fight while surrounded by water Zeff took a few steps forward and placed a hand on the she-pirate's shoulder.
"Young lass, you said in the restaurant that your dream was to become the Queen of the Pirates, right? Are you serious about that?"
"Yeah, of course!" Luffy wrinkled her nose, and fixed Zeff with the same look she had given everyone else who questioned her dream. "I will become the Pirate Queen! And I'll be the one to find the One Piece!"
Her tone was exactly the same as when she had declared her dream to Mihawk, as if it was the most obvious thing ever and Zeff felt himself smile.
"I see a lot of people who talk beyond their strength," He chuckled, watching Luffy with an almost fond look on his face. "But I rarely see someone who says it so confidently, without the slightest hesitation."
Luffy giggled and rubbed a finger under her nose happily. "I heard that you were once a very strong pirate, old man. Did you also want to become the King of the Pirates?" Luffy turned more so that she was completely facing Zeff and waited for the Head Chef to reply with an excited and almost awed expression on her face.
Zeff huffed slightly and glanced up to stare at the circling seagulls that flew above the restaurant. "I have forgotten about the past. Right now, I'm the Head Chef of this restaurant. That is enough." His gaze returned to Luffy and he fixed her with a steely look, silently conveying that he would not speak on the matter any further.
The she-pirate just grinned and shifted her eyes so that she could catch a glimpse of Sanji. The blond assistant Head Chef stood a few feet from Zeff, staring at his feet almost sadly, his signature cigarette gritted between clenched teeth. Luffy knew that whatever Zeff wasn't saying had to do with her new friend and so she didn't push. The she-pirate actually liked Zeff, the way he treated the other chefs, and especially the way he was around Sanji reminded her of Shanks and his crew. She knew that no matter what he said, the blond chef regarded Zeff in much the same way that Luffy herself regarded Shanks.
So she just brightened her grin and nodded at Zeff before turning to look back at Don Krieg and his ramshackle group of men, already itching to fight so that she could follow after Zoro and the rest of her crew.
"Men!" Krieg shouted, getting the attention of his remaining crew even as he pointed towards the Baratie. "As long as we have that ship, we don't need to fear the Grand Line anymore!" Before, Krieg and his men had managed to take down enemies by either disguising themselves as the Marines or by flying a white flag of surrender and then launching their raid. But now...
"After looking at that ship..." One crew-member muttered, frowning slightly.
"Yeah. No one will ever imagine that it's full of pirates!"
After that thought was finally voiced Krieg's men began to feel more confident. Many responded with cries of affirmation while others just grinned and hefted their weapons, once again prepared to attack the floating restaurant.
"But... but Don..." Everyone turned to stare at the lone man who had carefully made his way closer to his captain, a sword clutched loosely in his hands. "Even though we can go back to the Grand Line... What will happen if we meet someone like Hawk-Eye's Mihawk again?"
Don Krieg growled angrily before pulling one of his pistols from its holster and shooting the man who had dared to question him. He didn't even spare a glance as the pirate fell back into the ocean, dead, and instead swept his gun around at the crowd of remaining crew-members.
"What are you still afraid of?! Do you think that a normal person can split a ship in one stroke? That is the power of the devil's fruit. According to legend, there are lots of people in the Grand Line who possess the power of the devil fruit. Like Mihawk, who must have used a special power to cut the ship apart. However!" Krieg turned and pointed his gun towards the Baratie, aiming straight for Luffy, the girl just watching him calmly.
"That wench is a devil fruit user as well. When we take this restaurant we will have both her and the logbook of Red Foot Zeff, who survived on the Grand Line for an entire year! As an ordinary man, he must have some strategy to deal with monsters such as those, a strategy that is most likely written down in the journal that he possesses. With that knowledge and the little bitch's ability we will be unstoppable!"
The men around Don Krieg began to cheer, excitement and a renewed sense of confidence filling them at their Captain's words. They all turned, almost as one, and fixed the floating restaurant with hungry looks, readying their weapons.
"Let's go and steal the ship!"
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and turned away from the cheering pirates so he could survey the crowded deck of the Baratie. There was not enough space for them all here. With the deck being as crowded as it was, the Krieg Pirates would quickly gain the upper hand. They needed more room to fight because he would not allow anyone to take away the old geezer's treasure.
"This restaurant will become a battlefield..."
Sanji felt himself zone out slightly as memories of the first time he had met Zeff flashed through his mind. He could still picture everything as clearly as if it had happened only the day before.
'I was thinking about a restaurant on the sea... If I can survive and leave here, I'll bet the rest of my life on a huge restaurant. A restaurant as my final purpose.'
Sanji opened his eyes, not remembering when he had closed them and exhaled a puff of smoke from the cigarette before smirking slightly. He would not let anyone come near the Baratie without going through him first. It was his silent promise to the old geezer, one that he would never say out loud. Instead, Sanji turned his head to the right and gestured to one of the chefs.
"Hey. Go to the control room and open the 'Fin'."
"Eh! That...? Open the 'Fin'... If we open that we'll just be giving the enemy a foothold!"
"Who cares?" Sanji chuckled, patting the wall of the restaurant reassuringly. "We can't let the inside of this restaurant become a battlefield. If we fight inside and make a mess, the old fart'll never shut up."
Zeff slid his eyes to the side and glared slightly at the blond teenager. "Did you say something, you little brat?" He grumbled.
"Yeah, I said you never shut up!" Sanji waved his hand at the chef dismissively. "Now get going!"
"Sure." The man took off towards the back of the restaurant but Sanji had once again turned his attention towards Don Krieg and his men, many of who had already started making their way towards the Baratie.
Luffy hopped off the railing and onto the main deck, grinning excitedly. "They're finally here! Here they come!" The raven-haired girl cheered slightly before grabbing the railing and starting to step back.
"Ok then! Here I go!" She continued to step back into the dining area of the restaurant, her arms stretching as she moved. "Gum-Gum... Rocket!"
Luffy allowed herself to be launched forward and off of the ship, aiming straight for the closest group of charging pirates. "And... Gum-Gum... Scythe!" The she-pirate stretched her arms far out to the sides as she approached the men, clothes-lining them as she passed and knocking the entire group back and into the water.
Krieg snarled angrily as his men continued to drop into the water around him and he glared at the small waitress girl as she stretched out one arm and latched onto one of the masts of the ship. It had been broken off and was now tilted at such an intense angle that it almost touched the water. The raven-haired girl allowed herself to be yanked toward the mast and windmilled around it a little bit before finally managing to get her footing. She giggled as she settled down into a sitting position on the mast, watching the men that she had knocked back flounder in the water, many still stunned from her attack.
'That little bitch!' Krieg thought, gritting his teeth together as some of the chefs on the Baratie began to cheer for the girl.
"Way to go! Waitress!"
"What... what the hell is she!?" One pirate muttered, pulling himself onto a floating section of deck as he struggled to catch his breath. He was in shock over the power that the tiny girl displayed, having not expected that much force behind the girl's attack and all around him pirates who had been knocked back by her let out noises of agreement.
Sanji just stared, unable to pull his eyes away from Luffy's happy smile as the girl surveyed the damage she had caused with her attack. His cigarette was held loosely between his lips, as if he didn't even realize it was still there as he quietly began to mutter. "In the Grand Line, there are more people like her?" Of course, Sanji had heard the stories of the dangers of the Grand Line and the people with inhuman abilities that made it their home; but to actually see someone like that here in the East Blue...
"Sanji!" The blond teen flinched, snapped out of his thoughts at Zeff's call, and turned to look at the old man with a curious look. The Head Chef didn't turn to see if his protege was looking at him as he continued talking, his attention focused solely on the battle that had just started between the Straw-Hat lass and the infamous Don Krieg Pirates. "Watch carefully how she fights. Watch her until the battle finishes."
Zeff grinned slightly, looking almost excited at the thought of seeing more of what the small she-pirate could do, and Sanji frowned at his mentor. This was a side of Zeff that Sanji hadn't seen in years and it left him slightly confused but he did what the old man said and turned his attention back to their temporary waitress, curious as to what she would do next.
"They gave you food to eat, but instead you attacked them!" Luffy chastised, pointing a finger at Don Krieg and frowning at the purple-haired man. "You don't even know how to be grateful! I'll send you to the sky! Maybe you'll learn some manners there, but probably not! Idiot." The raven-haired girl stuck her tongue out and Don Krieg just chuckled, amused.
"You've chosen to fight on the sea where there is nowhere to stand." Krieg gestured around him before fixing Luffy with an amused smirk. Obviously, he had the upper hand and he would use this advantage to its fullest. "I know people who possess the power of the devil fruit are afraid of the sea. Anchor girl."
Luffy just grinned, unfazed by Krieg's words. "But I can stretch instead!"
Before Krieg could respond, the water around the Baratie, and therefore the Galleon's wreckage, began to churn.
"Sanji! The 'Fin' is going to open!"
Sanji smirked, pulling his cigarette from his lips and letting out a puff of smoke. Now, the real fun would start. The chefs around him seemed to know what he had planned and all began to heft their weapons in expectation as the rumbling beneath the restaurant grew louder.
"What is this!" Luffy asked excitedly, her eyes darting around as she tried to spot the cause of the change in the water. Krieg just scoffed slightly, his stance uninterested but his eyes betraying his slight curiosity in the new events that were unfolding.
A large shadow began to appear in front of the Baratie growing even larger as it neared the surface of the water. As it began to rise above the ocean, the water pouring from it caused waves that pushed the Krieg pirates back and caused the various pieces of debris to rock, throwing those still on the wrecked galleon deck off balance.
"What the hell?!"
"A platform just appeared outta nowhere!"
The large piece of wooden deck that was slowly forcing itself out of the water stopped when it was flush with the deck, allowing Luffy and the invading pirates to get a good look at it. It formed a large half-circle in front of the entrance of the Baratie and Luffy could just barely make out an identical piece of wooden deck on the opposite side of the restaurant.
"Wow!" Luffy cheered, letting go of the mast with one hand and pumping her fist into the air. She looked like a kid in a candy store and was grinning almost giddily. "That's so cool!"
Sanji just shoved his hands into his pockets and moved around the chefs still crowded on the small outer deck so that he could step out onto the large new platform. He glanced over at Krieg, looking completely calm, an aura of confidence pouring from him.
"Now... Why don't we fight to our hearts content, pirates?"
"Oh, So I see. You set up a battlefield so that the restaurant itself wouldn't be harmed. You've made things more convenient for us." Krieg smirked slightly. "Now I want this ship even more."
"Don't you even think about having this restaurant!"
"Yeah! Don't underestimate us!"
"We're fighting cooks!"
One by one, the chefs of the Baratie made their way out onto the large wooden platform, all of them hefting their weapons and looking ready for the fight they knew was coming.
Another loud rumble came from the Baratie and everyone turned to look as the fish head that symbolized the bow of the ship slowly began to pull away from the restaurant. The head was connected to a small body with a large striped canopy over what looked to be the control/passenger section of the small ship and three cannons emerged from the fish's mouth.
"Let's go!"
Luffy blinked, slightly confused when she saw Patty and Carne sit up in the control section of the small warship. 'When did they get there? I didn't see them leave.'
"The Baratie's sea weapon 'Sabagashira #1'!"
Luffy giggled as she watched the two men start to paddle, her position on the mast allowing her to see the bicycle like pumps that allowed the warship to move. "So cool! I want one too!"
"Fire!"
Patty and Carne peddled faster as they turned to small ship to face the Krieg pirates and the wreckage of the galleon before firing the three cannons. The cannon blasts shook the wreckage, throwing some of the pirates back and into the water and even Luffy had to grip the mast she was on tightly as it began to rock. Patty and Carne just continued to fire, the former laughing as he watched their targets struggle to stay above water, looking like drowned rats.
"Don't look away now! We're aiming at him!" Carne chastised, smacking his partner even as they turned to aim at Don Krieg.
"Krieg! Take this! We'll show you the power of Baratie Restaurant's sea weapon!" Even as Patty yelled, Carne was already firing the three cannons and the shots slammed directly into the pirate general, throwing up chunks of wood and dirt around him and obscuring their view. The two chefs continued to paddle straight for the deck Krieg had been standing on, intending to ram it when their ship came to a lurching halt.
"What happened?" Carne muttered, sitting back up as he had been thrown forward by their sudden stop. "Did it hit something!?"
The smoke had since cleared, revealing Don Krieg looking completely untouched. He had one hand out and braced against the center cannon of the warship, seemingly preventing the ship from moving, even though it appeared to be more than 10x bigger than him.
"I am Don Krieg!" The purple-haired pirate snarled, his expression completely livid. "The man who will conquer the world's sea!"
"I've told you before that I'll be the one to do that!" Luffy protested, frowning at the man but Krieg just ignored her.
"I don't have time to play these games!" Don Krieg tightened his grip on the central cannon and then, to everyone's horror, the self-proclaimed Ruler of the East Blue lifted the war ship into the air using only one hand.
"WHAT STRENGTH IS THIS?!" Patty shouted, gripping onto the steering bar in an effort to keep from falling out as Krieg lifted them higher and higher before tossing the ship over his head and towards the Baratie.
"It's flying over here!"
"The restaurant is going to be destroyed!"
The chefs on the Baratie began to panic, scrambling about as if they weren't sure whether to flee or still attempting to look for some way to stop the large approaching ship.
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette with a sigh, still standing in the center of the wooden platform and looking completely unconcerned. Calmly, he bent his legs before launching himself up and into the air, causing the pirates in the water to gasp in shock. Luffy just followed Sanji's movement with her eyes, her mouth open in awe as she watched him flip easily through the air as if he was flying before extending one leg and kicking out at the small warship, batting it away as if it was nothing. The ship crashed down on the edge of the large wooden platform, away from the restaurant and other chefs as Sanji dropped back easily onto the platform in a crouch.
All around the platform, the Krieg pirates began to mutter amongst themselves, watching Sanji with wide and disbelieving eyes.
"What a kick!"
"He just kicked away that strange ship thing!"
Even Krieg was slightly surprised that the cocky blond cook he had dismissed as nothing had kicked a boat that probably weighed more than a ton as if it was just a tin can.
"Was that kick technique..." He muttered, frowning. He had heard the stories before and knew there was only one person that could kick like that.
"It appeared! Sanji's kick!" One of the chefs cheered and the others joined in but Sanji just ignored them, perking up when he heard a high pitched laugh.
"Whoa! Not bad, Sanji! That was so cool!" The blond chef immediately turned to look at where Luffy was once again sitting easily on the bent mast, clapping her hands together excitedly even as a bright smile formed on her face. Hearts began to float around Sanji and he quickly stood up before dancing over to the part of the platform that was closest to Luffy, spinning around almost like a mini tornado.
"Luffyko-chan~ Your praise makes my heart sing! That a beautiful angel loves my fighting skills makes all of my training worthwhile. That kick was for you, my sweet~!" Sanji continued to dance around the edge of the deck, even as the other chefs sighed in exasperation and the pirates watched the blond man, wondering if he had lost his mind.
Sanji was broken out of his love-struck rambling, however, when Patty and Carne forced themselves out of the wreckage of the small warship, both storming towards the blond chef angrily.
"Sanj! You bastard!" Patty snapped, shaking his fists at the assistant Head-chef.
"You tryin' to kill your own people!?" Carne asked, glaring.
"Yeah." Sanji muttered, sounding bored even as he rolled his eyes.
"Whaddya mean 'Yeah'?! I'll cook you like an octopus!" Carne was forced to hold Patty back even as he pointed an accusatory finger at their fellow chef.
"You nearly lost two powerful weapons! You italian spaghetti!"
Before Patty could push Carne off him and attack Sanji a low chuckle to his left drew everyone's attention. Some of the Krieg pirates had finally pulled themselves up onto the Baratie's wooden deck and were sneering disdainfully at the arguing chefs. The cooks gathered around Sanji, Patty, and Carne quickly charged the pirates, yelling out loud battle cries as they did. However, even though all of the chefs had experience fighting, none of them stood any chance against the Krieg pirates. They were not known as the most powerful in the East Blue for nothing and in less than a minute, they had managed to disarm and knock back every chef except for the three that had not immediately charged them.
Sanji expression darkened with rage at the sight of his fellow ship-mates, his family, being knocked around as if they were trash. Patty was furious as well, even more so when the pirates began to insult them, insisting that they weren't ready for the sea and that they spend their time cooking on the mainland instead.
"Announce it!" Krieg ordered, glaring at Sanji. "Tell everybody that this ship belongs to the Krieg Pirates!"
Sanji just scoffed, smirking slightly. "Forget it! You won't step one foot inside here."
"We've been cooks for more than ten years- and we've worked in 300 restaurants. During those days, we'd be fired every time we started a fight." Patty's glare softened and his eyes glazed over slightly as he became lost in a memory, remembering the first time that he and Carne ever set foot on the Baratie.
"Then finally, we arrived at this place!" Carne added, smiling as he thought back to that time as well. He and Patty had been the first two chefs to join Zeff's restaurant. When they first arrived it had been just the old man and a much younger Sanji, alone in the large ship. "And here, we can fight and cook as much as we want. There isn't another restaurant like this."
All around them, the other chefs began to perk up as they also thought back to the day when they had been hired and accepted into the family by Head-Chef Zeff and the little blond, foul-mouthed child that followed him around. This place wasn't just a job to them. It was their home, their family, and their most irreplaceable treasure.
Standing at the back of the deck, in front of the entrance to the dining area Zeff smirked, his eyes moving to his blond protege who looked even more determined to protect this place than he had before.
"That's right." Sanji agreed, shoving one hand in his pocket. "Understand, Krieg? We will never give this place up as long as we breathe!"
"Every day, preparing meals is like a battle. These guys are nothing compared to those days!" Patty shouted again, and their memories combined with their fellow chefs words lifted the cooks' spirits. They began to force themselves to their feet again, grabbing the weapons that they had dropped, ready to protect the Baratie once more.
"Right!"
"Let's fight!"
"Protect the Owner! PROTECT THE BARATIE!" Patty and Carne charged the group of pirates, easily cutting through the ones in front of them as the rest of the chefs reengaged the others. This time though, the chefs were pushing back the pirates, Patty and Carne's words having bolstered their determination.
They had slowly started to turn the tides, when suddenly Patty was sent flying back, the large thuggish cook crashing to the deck with a grunt of pain. Carne turned towards where the attack had come from, his eyes wide with shock, not really believing that something had managed to take down his partner.
"What is..."
A man slowly climbed onto the wooden platform and flicked his hand in Carne's direction, sending the smaller chef tumbling to the ground after his partner. The big smile that had been on Luffy's face as she watched the fight slowly faded and she tilted her head curiously as she examined the newcomer. He was big, probably even taller than Zoro and easily twice as wide. He had two large circular metal plates covering his chest and back. He had smaller metal plates on his elbows and hands and in the center of each circular plates was a large multicolored pearl. From the back, Luffy could see that his hair was dark and that he had a matching giant pearl on his head like a helmet.
"Who's this weirdo?" She asked, making a face.
The man sighed heavily, as if he was bored to tears, completely ignoring the furious glare that Sanji was shooting him. "What are you doing?" Without even waiting for a reply the odd man began to laugh and raised his hands before posing slightly.
"Iron wall! Also known as the Krieg Pirate's Invincible Iron Wall Shield Man! It is I, Pearl!"
"Patty, Carne- Are you boys ok?" Zeff asked, the clenched hands at his side being the only indication that he was even the least bit worried.
"How could they be OK?!" Pearl chuckled, spreading his arms wide and smirking. "They were defeated by my killing punch, 'Pearl's Present'."
The man continued to laugh, feeling cocky now that he had taken down two of the strongest fighters at the restaurant. In his boasting he failed to notice the dark expressions settling onto both Sanji and Zeff's faces, both men looking like they were seconds away from snapping.
One of the Krieg pirates sauntered up to where Patty lay and let out a whistle of appreciation before he bent down and grasped the handle of the knife sheathed in the thuggish man's apron.
"Sweet. This knife's not bad. I'll take it."
The pirate moved to stand back up but was held in place when Patty's hand shot out and grasped the handle of his knife, preventing the other man from taking it.
"Let it go, give it to me! Leave it!"
The man continued to try and pry the knife from Patty's fingers and failed to notice that Sanji had slowly stepped forward, his face twisted into a mask of pure fury. The man finally noticed that someone else was there when he saw Sanji's shadow fall across Patty's prone body. The pirate glanced up from his task in time to see the blond cook's foot slam into his face, Sanji's roundhouse kick sending him flying back into three other men. The knife he had been trying to steal flipped out of his hands and into the air and everyone watched as Sanji snatched the spinning blade out of mid-air.
"He really knows how to kick!" Luffy giggled, whistling slightly as she watched the events unfolding on the wooden deck. "We got another strong fighter for my crew. I'm so excited!"
Sanji hefted the knife before glaring over at the man who had tried to steal it as said pirate scrambled to untangle himself from his crew-mates. "A knife is the soul of a cook. An outsider like you doesn't deserve to touch a cook's knife."
With that, Sanji turned and knelt down next to Patty before returning the knife to the other chef's hands. The injured cook let out a soft, thankful noise which Sanji brushed off with a scoff.
"Hold onto it and lay there. I'll finish these guys off."
The pirates that Sanji had knocked back glared at the blond chef before charging him with a chorus of angry noises and snarls. "We won't be defeated by a bunch of useless cooks!"
From his place next to Patty, Sanji seemed to completely vanish into thin air, reappearing less than a second later in the center of the approaching pirates. He placed his hands flat against the wooden surface and, keeping his elbows at a 90 degree angle, flipped himself up into a handstand before slamming his feet into the pirates' faces. In the next second, Sanji was back on his feet and with one sweeping kick that generated a gust of wind in its wake, he had sent all of Krieg's men flying back.
"What do you mean by useless cooks?!" The assistant Head-chef snapped, his expression making him look less than mentally sound. "I'll gut you like a fish!"
Pearl just scoffed and spread his arms wide, gesturing to his fallen comrades dismissively. "Are you so arrogant that you only kick them? Is this your principle?"
"I'm a cook, remember? A cook's hands are his life. He cannot injure them in battle. So, I'll be taking you down with these feet instead." Sanji just shrugged as if it was no big deal before he raised one leg and pointed his foot threateningly at the odd, shield-covered man.
"Finish me? Impossible! In my last sixty-one battles, I have won them all COMPLETELY unharmed. I have never even spilled a single drop of blood in battle." The injured cooks behind Sanji gave each other surprised looks, impressed with the shield man's statement but Sanji just continued to stare, looking almost as bored as Pearl. But still, the large pirate continued to talk.
"Not a single drop. This justifies how strong I am." He smirked when he saw the surprised and almost frightened looks on the Baratie chefs' faces, glad that he was eliciting such a reaction from them. With a smirk, he clanked together the two shields on his hands, the pearls in the center making a slight bonging sound. "I'm the strongest of the strongest, got it! I may be a gentleman but I'm not gentle."
Luffy raised one eyebrow and tilted her head to the side, watching Krieg's man with an almost disbelieving look. "Was that supposed to be a joke? Is he an idiot?" She couldn't understand why so many of the chefs looked scared of him. Hadn't they seen what Sanji could do? Hell, she could kick that guys ass! "He's not very funny, either."
Krieg let out a slight hum when he noticed that the straw-hat girl's attention was focused on Pearl and the scene happening on the Baratie fin. The violet haired pirate smirked slightly before he hefted the ball-and-chain he was holding and began to spin the large weight, building up its momentum. "Hey, Straw-Hat wench! If you look somewhere else, you'll get hurt!" He launched the heavy, spiked mace forward, the ball easily cutting through the mast just inches from where Luffy was sitting and throwing the straw-hat girl into the air. Luffy let out a small shriek of surprise and wrapped her arms around the broken piece of mast that had been thrown into the air with her, knowing that there was nothing but water below her and hoping that the mast would keep her afloat long enough for her to call for help. Unbidden, her thoughts jumped to Zoro as she remembered a day on the Going Merry when she had fallen off the ship nearly 5 times.
Flashback
"Dammit, Luffyko!" Zoro grumbled, hefting the small, shivering girl over the railing and tossing her onto the deck of the ship as he allowed himself to catch his breath.
He had been sleeping on aft deck, in the middle of a mid-day nap, when he had heard the splash of water and cut off shriek that indicated that his captain had once again fallen into the ocean. It was a sound that sent a small surge of panic through his body and made his muscles tense in anticipation. For Zoro, it was the start of a stopwatch that signaled that his captain only had about three minutes left to live. It meant that she was helpless and in real danger of dying if he couldn't reach her in time. Zoro felt the sharp shock of pain go through his chest every time he heard that sound because the very thought of Luffy dying, of her leaving him, was unbearable in his mind.
With a sigh, Zoro pulled himself over the railing and dropped down next to Luffy before turning the girl onto her side and holding her up so she could get some much needed oxygen into her lungs.
"Hey?! Is everything ok? I head a spl-..." Nami emerged from the kitchen, where she had been making herself a pot of tea and slowed to a stop when she took in the two soaked individuals in front of her.
"Can you get a towel?" Zoro muttered, pulling Luffy further up and shifting her so that she was cradled against his chest. His hands stroked through the she-pirate's raven hair reassuringly as Nami immediately turned and headed down towards the storage room without another word. After about a minute, Luffy's energy returned and she wrapped her arms around Zoro's chest,shivering as she attempted to sap whatever body heat she could from her green-haired swordsman.
Nami returned a few seconds later and tossed two fluffy white towels towards the swordsman before flapping her hand dismissively and returning to the kitchen. Luffy was obviously ok and Nami wasn't going to get in the middle and attempt to pull the girl from the swordsman in any way right now. Zoro didn't look too happy at the moment and the orangette was not up for getting into a shouting match with the overprotective swordsman. So, she left the young she-pirate in her first mate's care, telling herself she'd talk with the girl later tonight about her tendency of falling into the ocean.
Zoro quickly wrapped one of the towels around Luffy's shoulders, letting out a sigh of relief as his body came down from its slight adrenaline when he realized that Luffy was going to be ok... again. Once his relief passed, however, the anger settled in and Zoro pulled the small girl away from him so he could grip her shoulders and stare at her face.
"What the hell were you doing? That was the fourth time today, Luffyko! The fourth time!"
Luffy shifted tiredly in Zoro's hold and pouted up at her first-mate apologetically. "Sorry, Zoro. I was looking at something cool and I-"
Zoro didn't want to hear any more excuses. His relief had faded but the adrenaline was not completely gone from his system so he snapped slightly, cutting his captain off mid sentence. ""What if something happened once -just once- and Nami, Usopp, or I couldn't get to you in time? Think about it, Luffy. Obviously, you don't fall in on purpose, but it's like you don't care if it keeps happening."
"I care!" Luffy's words became heated and she pulled herself out of Zoro's hold, trying to glare at her swordsman but still feeling utterly exhausted from the sea-water, causing her stern look to fall flat. Zoro saw this and it made his heart thud against his chest painfully. He was still angry, even more so when he saw how sick and pale Luffy looked after just two minutes in the water but he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't yell at her again without thinking his words through, not again, so he took a deep breath and exhaled noisily through his nose, trying to reign in his anger.
"No, Lu, you don't care." He finally said, his words forced. "You need to stop being so reckless!"
"But I don't need to worry!" Luffy replied, smiling softly and reaching forward to grab Zoro's hands, which had dropped to the deck after they fell from her shoulders. "Because I have Zoro! Nothing will stop you from reaching me, I know it!"
Zoro was taken aback for a second, having forgotten how much Luffy seemed to rely on him. The thought filled him with a warm feeling but he pushed it down because while Luffy was right, things weren't that simple. "That's true, Lu. I won't let anything stop me from saving you but... What if I'm not there?"
That single sentence caused a lump to form in Zoro's throat and he swallowed heavily, his mind imagining the scenario even as he said it. He had seen her helpless in the water many times and the idea that she could fall in when someone -him- wasn't there to grab her and she would just continue to sink into the depths caused him to shiver slightly.
On her end, Luffy wasn't doing much better. The she-pirate had bit her lip, Zoro's words forcing her to realize that her first-mate was right, but not really wanting to think of a reason why her swordsman wouldn't be by her side. Zoro had promised to stay with her and she knew he wouldn't break that promise so that meant...
She averted her eyes and, seeing his opening, Zoro drove his point home. "You need to stop assuming that I'll always be with you during that three or four minute gap that makes the difference in whether you live or drown."
The she-pirate just stared down at their intertwined hands before she sighed and looked back up at her first-mate, giving him a small nod. "Ok, I guess. I'll try to be more careful, Zoro."
Zoro smirked slightly and moved one hand to ruffle Luffy's still wet hair before he turned and grabbed the second towel to dry himself off. "I guess that's all I can hope to get from you. You're a troublesome captain, Lu." The smile returned to Luffy's face and Zoro returned it wholeheartedly even as the girl started to laugh.
"Shishishishi!"
Flashback Ends
Luffy was yanked from her thoughts when the spiked mace slammed into the piece of mast that she was holding onto, Don Krieg having pulled the weapon back and readied another attack while the she-pirate was zoned out. The force of the hit sent Luffy flying back, flipping end over end, and she was forced to let go of the wooden mast, silently hoping that Krieg's attack had sent her towards a stable foothold.
Back on the Baratie's fin, Pearl was still gloating about his many victories and the odd-looking man brought one of his hand shields up to cover the lower half of his face as he chuckled.
"Even the Marine's cannons can't resist me. No attacks can hurt me."
Sanji's attention was pulled from the shield man when he saw the small blue and white blur heading towards the deck. His eyes widened when Luffy slammed into the back of Pearl's head, the hit slowing her momentum and flipping her up and over the man's pearl-shaped helmet before causing he to drop to the ground in a heap. Sanji was immediately at the she-pirate's side, resting one hand against her lower back and the other on her elbow as he helped the dizzy girl to her feet.
"Ah, Luffyko-chan! You're not hurt, are you Angel?"
Luffy's whole world seemed to be spinning and she held onto Sanji for a few seconds until everything began to come back into focus. "Ah, he scared me!"
Finally shaking the last of the dizziness from her vision, Luffy straightened up and pulled herself out of Sanji's hold before patting down the front of her blue uniform skirt dismissively. "I nearly fell into the sea..." She muttered pouting. "And Zoro's not here..."
Sanji frowned slightly at the green-haired swordsman's name but before he could say anything else, his attention was drawn to Pearl. The large shield-man appeared to be frozen, one shaky hand raised in front of his face. When Luffy had slammed into the back of his head, Pearl was thrown forward and into one of the shields on his arm, the hit injuring his nose and causing it to start bleeding. The man just stared at the small bit of blood on his fingers from where he had pressed them to his throbbing face.
"Did I do that?" Luffy asked, tilting her head to the side, as she watched the odd man with a slightly curious expression. With a shrug, the she-pirate moved to rest her hands behind her head, and grinned semi-apologetically. "Sorry bout that."
"Shit..." Krieg muttered under his breath, his tone annoyed.
The rest of Krieg's pirates seemed to be more afraid than annoyed and many on the Baratie's fin were beginning to sweat. "Oh no, blood!"
"Pearl, everything is alright!"
"It's only a little nosebleed!"
"Pearl, don't worry about it!"
The man in question just began to shake, sweat breaking out all over his body and his eyes glassing over slightly. "This- this- this- this is dangerous!"
Sanji just raised one eyebrow, looking slightly bored and not the least bit interested in what was wrong with his opponent. "He looks strange, what happened to him?" He asked, not really wanting an answer as he placed his cigarette back in his mouth.
Luffy just shrugged, watching Pearl like he was slightly crazy.
Suddenly, the large man began to bash together the shields on his hands, creating a loud clanging noise.
"Stop it, Pearl!" Krieg ordered, raising one hand and pointing at his underling. "Don't get mad over a nose bleed!"
Krieg's words went unheard though as the tempo and volume of Pearl's clanging began to increase and the shield-man added to the noise by yelling danger over and over again. After a few more seconds of this, he spread his arms wide and both Sanji and Luffy jumped slightly when every part of the man's shielded body was suddenly covered in blue flames.
"Shit!" One pirate yelled. "When Pearl feels threatened, he sets himself on fire!"
Luffy turned to look at the man who had spoken with a disbelieving look. "He does what?!"
"FIRE PEARL! Special favor!"
From his hands, the shield-man shot out small flaming pearls in a wide arc, not caring who he hit. Bits of the deck went up in flames as the pearls struck the wood, while others slammed into some of the pirates, lighting his own teammates on fire. Sanji was forced to jump back to avoid one of the pearls and Luffy flipped back as well, using a one-handed back handspring to avoid the spreading fire.
"Ow! That's hot!" She shrieked, not appearing overly worried as she shook out the hand that had gotten too close to the fire.
"Hey, you guys..." Pearl smirked, his look that of a wolf that had cornered it's prey. "With these shields of fire, I'm indestructible!"
On the ruined galleon across from the Baratie, Krieg cursed slightly and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at the burning deck. "That idiot! Is he planning to burn the ship we're trying to steal?"
Luffy danced from foot to foot as she tried to avoid the moving flames, one hand braced against her straw-hat even as the edge of one of her sandals caught fire and she had to stamp it out. "Hot, hot, hot!"
"Shit!" Sanji muttered staring at the fire as the chefs around him began to mumble. "He really wants to burn this restaurant."
"Burn! Burn!" Pearl shouted, raising his hands high above his head.
Sanji's eyes narrowed angrily and he snarled. This was Zeff's restaurant, it was that old man's dream and Sanji wouldn't let anything happen to that. Not after all that he had taken from the old man in the first place.
"Bastard!" The blond chef snapped, leaping forward and into the fire.
"Near the entrance to the restaurant, Patty cried out a warning, Carne having to hold him back before the thuggish chef could move to help Sanji. "Stupid! You're gonna get fried!"
"Don't you dare burn this restaurant!" Sanji ignored him and flipped up into the air, aiming a kick straight for Pearl's head. Before it could connect, Sanji's kick was blocked by one of the shields on Pearl's hand.
The pirates that hadn't been lit on fire by Pearl's attack watched as the blond chef easily jumped back from Pearl and landed only a few feet away from the flaming man, surrounded on all sides by fire. None of them could really believe what they were seeing.
"How come that guy's so impudent!" One muttered, turning to his crew-mate.
"Isn't he afraid of becoming a fire ball?"
"He even attacked Fire Pearl, someone who is feared even by beasts!"
Sanji heard their words and chuckled before pulling his cigarette from his mouth and pointing it at them. "Idiots!" He smirked, shaking his head. "If I'm afraid of fire, then how can I call myself a cook?"
Pearl ground his teeth together and glared at the chef. "Argh! What an annoying guy."
Sanji returned his attention to Pearl as he took a drag of his cigarette. "Get this!" Moving quickly, he leapt forward into a handstand and slammed the heel of right foot directly into Pearl's face, knocking the large man back onto the ground. Everyone around the platform was in shock as they watched Pearl force himself to his feet again, blood steadily dripping from the lower half of his face as his eyes began to tear up.
"What kind of cook is he? This isn't good!" The man cried, pressing one hand against his face to staunch the flow of blood. "Damn! Damn! Damn it!"
'Fire Pearl keeps on burning!" He threw his hands out again, launching another barrage of flaming pearls into the air. This second attack was aimed straight at the Baratie, Pearl knowing that the blond chef in front of him wouldn't be able to stop his attack before it hit the restaurant.
"The restaurant is going to be set on fire!" One of the chefs yelled worriedly.
"If those fire balls get into the kitchen, then the restaurant is finished!"
The pearls headed towards the entrance of the Baratie where Zeff stood calmly, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Head-Chef Zeff! Run away!"
"Head-Chef!"
Zeff just glared at the approaching attack and, raising his peg leg, performed a powerful horizontal kick. The power of his attack forced him to spin slightly but the strong gust of wind that followed his kick put out the flames and caused the metal pearls to drop harmlessly to the ground. The middle-aged chef calmly dropped his leg back down even as the Krieg pirates stared at him in shock.
"My fire pearl..."
"This is nothing." Zeff finally said, smirking at Pearl in a manner eerily similar to the blond chef still standing in front of him.
The Krieg pirates glanced between each other shocked. "Is it that Red Leg Zeff still has his skills?"
Luffy let out a whoop, grinning brightly. "The old man is strong!"
Finally fed up, Krieg tightened his hold on the chain of his spiked mace and glared at the restaurant. "If that's how it is, then I'll sink you and your 'fin' into the sea before the fire burns the restaurant!" He began to spin the mace to build up momentum before launching it at the fin, the spiked ball aimed straight at Pearl and Sanji.
"Sanji, Get out of there!" Patty yelled, seeing the incoming attack.
"He can't! He's surrounded by fire!"
Sanji just stared at the large mace, his eyes wide as he scrambled to think about what he should do. Pearl wasn't much better off, staring up with his mouth open and his eyes wide. Suddenly, a flash of blue to Sanji's left caught his attention and he watched, wide eyed, as Luffy jumped through the fire separating Sanji from the rest of the Baratie. One hand was braced against the girl's iconic straw-hat in an attempt to protect it from the flame, even as the fire licked at her arms and legs.
"Hot! Hot!" She shrieked, sliding to a stop in front of the blond chef.
"Luffyko-chan-..."
The raven-haired girl just grinned happily before stretching her arms back as she prepared her attack, the spiked mace drawing dangerously close.
"Gum-Gum... Bazooka!" Luffy leapt up as her arms snapped forward and she slammed her open palms onto two of the smooth parts of the spiked ball, launching it away from the ship even as the weight of the mace and its momentum threw her back onto the deck.
"She shot back that spiked ball!?" Sanji muttered, turning to stare at the she-pirate with wide eyes as she sat up from her place on the ground and batted at a part of her skirt that had caught fire. The blond chef shook his head to clear it and held a hand out to the girl to help her to her feet.
"Amazing, Luffyko-chan! That was incredible!"
The mace that Luffy had launched back slammed into the base of one of the upright masts to Don Krieg's right, knocking it towards the fin. Sanji saw the post coming and quickly scooped Luffy up into his arms before leaping out of the way. But Pearl, who was facing away from the falling piece of wood, didn't know it was coming and was unable to move in time. The large mast slammed into the man's head, knocking him unconscious instantly and dropping him to the ground.
"Pearl is defeated!" One of the pirates yelled, his eyes wide and sweat dripping from his face.
Sanji carefully set Luffy back on her feet on a safe part of the deck and raised one eyebrow in Pearl's direction. "What was he doing?"
"Dunno, that guy was stupid!" Luffy just giggled and shrugged her shoulders.
"Every single time..." Krieg growled, cracking his neck as he glared at the raven-haired girl and the blond chef standing near her. "If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself."
Suddenly, a cry of pain echoed from behind Luffy and Sanji and both quickly turned, worried. Their eyes widened when they saw the Zeff had been knocked forward onto his stomach. A man stepped from the shadows and placed a foot between the middle-aged man's shoulder blades to keep him from standing up, causing Luffy to frown.
"Gin?"
Sanji's gaze narrowed slightly as he stared at the brunette man, his mouth turning down as he watched the pirate he had helped pull a gun out and point it at Zeff's head.
"This time you can end it, right? This battle is over." Gin said, his expression unreadable.
"Yeah! Shoot him! Kill Red Foot Zeff and this restaurant will be ours!" Krieg laughed, exhilaration flowing through him now that he had the upper hand.
Gin looked down, his eyes shaded by the sweat-band he wore on his forehead. He didn't want to look at Sanji. Not now.
Luffy's hands just curled into fists at her sides, her body tensing in anticipation. She had to find some way to get that gun pointed away from Zeff.
"Gin."
So, another chapter down, a million more to go!
Hope you guys enjoyed this! It's a little shorter than last chapter but the next one will be longer. I'm going to be handling Sanji's backstory like I did with Zoro's, no real flashbacks or anything so I might combine a the next chapter to be episodes 26 and 27. Anyway, nothing else to say. With the next chapter I'll post up a link to the one shot for the first movie so look forward to that!
Til Next Chapter Guys! You all rock!