midnightscar17: Indeed it is. I do too. Yes, yes she will. And of course.
Johnny Spectre: Nah, he's just stronger, so he caused more havoc. That's not a bad idea though, although that'd probably have gotten him killed. As for Luffy's bounty...maybe, I'm not telling. XP
F-ckthesystem125: You got that right.
Guest: While that is a valid point, would it really have gone up? I mean let's be honest, the Marines don't really give a damn about people. Certain individuals in the Marines care, yes, but a good deal of them couldn't give a single fuck. Arlong's bribing of the Marines didn't really keep his bounty from being increased, rather it kept his presence in Cocoyashi village a secret, keeping people like Smoker, who actually cares about people, from finding out about him and whipping his ass to the Grand Line and back. So, in my opinion, even without the bribery, his bounty would have remained the same. He has a higher bounty in my One Piece universe because he is somewhat stronger and caused more havoc before the current point the story is at.
Tonlor: Believe me, I know. I am the one who had to write it after all. I wanted him to hug her so badly. But it just wasn't the right time. A little longer, just a little longer. And thank you very much. :)
Ranger Station Charlie: Eh, you have a fair point. And I agree with you, which is why I gave him a thirty million bounty. I just made him a bit stronger too, that's all. :P
pipi96: I know, I know, it's hard to deal with. But at least, when it comes to Luffy and Nami anyways, the worst is over now. Yes, yes he does. Oh, you read my one-shot Anything For His Navigator? Thank you for reading it. As for killing Arlong...well, you'll see what happens, I have something special planned for that bastard. And as for Sanji, well, yeah, basically that was what was going to happen, they would have definitely gotten into a scuffle. Finally, you're more than welcome for the update. I write based on mood, so as long as I'm in a One Piece mood, I should be putting up chapters at a decent pace.
Guest that reviewed almost every chapter back to back: First of all, I'd like to thank you for dropping me so many reviews, I appreciate it when new readers review the older chapters. Now then, onto responding to your reviews.
Your second and third reviews: I wouldn't say Ace and Garp are horrible at being a brother and grandparent respectively, at least they loved him. They could have been better sure, but they could've been worse too. And at least Ace got better with time. Ace is brash, hot headed and has violent tendencies, but he's not a bad person, thanks to Luffy and Sabo that is. And yes, Luffy is different, but there isn't anything wrong with him. He's just very loving, trusting, accepting and forgiving. And as for child services, no, as far as I know, the One Piece world does not have any agency like that.
Your sixth review: Yeah, I was showing hints of Ace with Nojiko, I like the couple and I think they fit together. I still haven't decided whether I'll go through with it or not. As for Kuina and Sabo, no, I'm not setting them up to be together, nor did I try to put any hints towards them having that kind of relationship.
Your seventh review: Damn, that's a little cold don't ya think? I mean Nami wasn't the weakest member of the crew until near the end of pre-timeskip, Oda himself stating that Usopp was the physically weakest member of the crew until post-timeskip.
Your eighth review: It was shown in the anime that Bellemere had at least attained the rank of captain, so that's cannon. And what do you mean she should know haki if she's a captain? Both Morgan and Smoker are marine captains, neither of them know haki. Yes Smoker learned to use haki later, but that was after he was promoted. So no, just because she used to be a marine captain, does not mean that she should know haki. And as for her fight with Bluejam, well, I don't know his exact strength, though it isn't impossible that he might be stronger than Morgan when he was introduced in the anime/manga. And she isn't all that strong when you consider the strength of the people in the Grand Line, both paradise and the new world. So...yeah, that was why it was an almost even scuffle between her and Bluejam.
Your ninth, tenth and eleventh reviews: He knows of the six powers and understands how to use them in theory, but Garp didn't actually teach them to him, nor has the straw hat teen ever used any of them before. As for his haki, he doesn't even know what that is. Garp didn't know that he had awakened his conquerors haki, so combine that with the fact that he would only teach Luffy certain things if he agreed to join the marines, and the fact that he could be incompetent at times, you end up with him not teaching his grandson about haki. The story retains cannon elements because some I wanted to keep, and if you think about it, if things that happened in Cannon are happening earlier in my story, isn't that technically an alternate universe within itself? Yes, I do plan to give him a crew of at least ten people. And he isn't going to have the same experiences, just keep reading, you'll see.
Your twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth reviews: You do get a good reason for her hiding from him, just keep reading, you'll see. Yes, you're right, he doesn't know how to use haki, he is stronger though. He took on Buggy and twelve prisoners, that when put together, are as strong as four Buggys, so he technically took on, when it comes to power anyway, five Buggys rather than just one, minus his devil fruit of course. Why thank you, I'm glad you liked the fights! :)
Your fifteenth and sixteenth reviews: Yes they are a bit ungrateful, and yes she is pulling a Robin. And while I don't think she's being stupid, I do think she's making the wrong decision. As for Luffy being more heroic than the marines, well, yeah, that's kind of a fact.
Your seventeenth review: It says shawn instead of guest, but considering what the review says, I'm pretty sure its you. Now then, what makes you think Luffy's weaker from reading chapter sixteen? He didn't fight in chapter sixteen. If you're talking about Jango hypnotizing him, strength doesn't come into play, otherwise Nami and Usopp would be able to be hypnotized by him.
Your eighteenth and nineteenth reviews: How are Onion, Pepper, Carrot and Kaya dumbasses? And as for Luffy loving Nami being super annoying, I'm sorry. Well, actually, I'm not sorry. You see he is a bit smarter and knows a few more things than in Cannon, such as what the kind of love he feels for Nami is, thanks to Bellemere and Makino. She was the first person to ever tell him that they love him. He thought she was cute since he was seven. Ace explained things like sex and dating to him as they grew up. He feels like he can't live without her, and finally, along with Zoro, meat and becoming Pirate King, she is always on his mind. That equals out to love my friend.
Your twentieth and twenty first review: Why's Sabo hiding. well, he's not exactly hiding per se. As for them not being normal as children, well that's how it was in the anime and manga as well, they weren't normal for their ages. As for why Nami is with them in chapter nineteen, did you read chapter seventeen? Luffy said he wouldn't let her leave until he freed her from whatever was binding her, that's why.
You know what time it is don't you guys? Of course you do, it's battle time! Once more, I always appreciate feedback on the fights, as they are an integral part of the story. I also want feedback because I feel a bit iffy on these fights. I mean, I feel they're fine, good even, but I'd like to know if you guys think so. I'm trying to get as good as I can for some of the cooler fights coming up.
Also, longest chapter yet, just so you guys know.
Anyways, onto the chapter. Please read, enjoy and review.
"Dammit, not again Sanji! What do you think you're doing to our customer? Can't you see he's a marine lieutenant? You can't just kick him around like any old thug!" Patty scolded the blonde, as he made his way toward him.
"You're a terrible cook, maybe even the worst cook in this whole damn restaurant, so what makes you think you can talk to me like that?" The well dressed sous chef questioned, looking to Patty as he did, still not bothering to let go of the only semi-conscious Fullbody.
"A crappy cook like you is calling me bad? Sounds like a bad joke to me." Patty scoffed. "Listen here Sanji, restaurants can't exist without their customers, their our life blood, so we don't wanna hurt them the way you keep doing." The chef came to a stop less than two feet from the blonde as he finished.
"But he deserved it. He didn't treat the food or me with respect. And he insulted all the cooks. So, I simply taught him a lesson." Sanji explained, finally letting go of the pink haired marine as he did, the man hitting the floor at an angle that put him on his ass, before he proceeded to fall over onto his back.
"Why can't you get it through your head!? Customer service equals love and love equals a successful restaurant. Pleasant greetings to the customer is what it's all about. The customer is always right. And in case you still don't understand what I'm trying to say, I'll spell it out for you, the customer is king!"
"The only kingly customers are the ones who stomach the slop that you call food." Sanji spat.
Before Patty could rebuttal, Fullbody sat up, apparently coming to. "You're gonna regret this, all of you. No restaurant should treat it's customers like this. I'll shut you down, do you understand me? I will shut you down! This entire place is done! This whole restaurant is finished, do you hear me!?" The marine shouted. As he did, the woman that was his date, that up until this point had been in a corner watching, concerned for him, came to his side to try and help him up. He jerked away from her grasp as she did, getting her to back away from him once more.
"Then maybe I should just finish you off right now." Sanji threatened.
Fullbody's head shot up, to where he could see his attacker's face, obviously shocked by his words.
As the blonde moved forward to make good on his threat, three chefs rushed out from the back and began trying to restrain him. "Arrogant assholes like you who think they're such big shots that they can push anyone around really piss me off!" He yelled, as he tried to get though the three other chefs holding him back to the pink haired man. He was just about to manage to, when Patty began helping the three, now making it four of his fellow cooks that were holding him back from the lieutenant.
"You can't keep doing this to the restaurant every other day sous chef Sanji!" One of the cooks cried, the swirly browed man not paying him any attention as he did.
"Your not such a big shot now, are ya? Are ya!?" Sanji shouted at the somewhat frightened looking pink haired marine.
"Hey Sanji! I can't have you going on another rampage in here you idiot! Calm down!" Zeff ordered, as he came out from the back.
"Put a cork in it old man!" Was the blonde teen's response. Nevertheless though, his attempts to get at the man came to a halt, the other cooks letting him go, as he turned to face his boss.
"Oh, now you're ordering me around!? Just who do you think you're talking to!?" He demanded of his fellow blonde. "Do you want to sink my restaurant to the bottom of the sea, you punk!? Is that why you won't leave!?"
Sanji seemed to calm a bit at that, the words having some kind of affect on him. "That isn't what I want at all. I-"
"Just get out already!" Zeff cried, as he rammed his peg leg into the side of Sanji's face, causing him to stumble several feet, almost falling over as he did, but he managed to catch himself and keep on his feet.
Fullbody couldn't help but grin as the teen who had just kicked him around got kicked himself. "You too! Get your ass out of my restaurant!" The old blonde man hollered, giving the pink haired man a good kick to the face as well, knocking him back several feet, the marine landing on his front side this time and sliding a few more feet across the floor.
"What kind of restaurant is this!? That boss is like a gangster! It's almost as if...as if this was a pirate ship." Fullbody thought to himself, as he struggled to get up off the floor.
All the patrons of the Baratie had their attention caught by the spectacle that was taking place, but when just one of them bothered to look away, doing so to look out the window, they saw a sight that caused fear to fill them. "It's them, they're here! The hourglasses mean our time is up!"
This shouting from one of the customers caught everyone's attention, as they all followed suit and looked out the same window he had. Upon doing so, another man began squawking in fright, just like the first. "What are we gonna do now!? That flag means death! There's no doubt, it belongs to the ruler of the East Blue, Don Krieg!"
"The Krieg pirates are here!" A third person screeched, sending everyone into a panic, as he and all the other customers hurried out of the establishment to pile into the boats they had arrived in, so as to get out of there as fast as they could, going out the back as they did, not caring that they weren't allowed through there.
As the customers ran out of the establishment, all the cooks in the back came to the front, and all the ones upstairs came down, so as to see what was going on.
"The Krieg pirates!?" Fullbody whispered harshly to himself. "What are they doing here!?"
"I told you! I knew those goons would show up! Now are you going to get rid of those guys or what!?" Carne asked frantically, the man having come downstairs a few moment ago.
"This can't be real! He's got a whole fleet to command, why would Don Krieg come here for revenge for just one man!? I mean, doesn't he have anything better to do!?"
"Look outside Patty, he's here, whether you believe it or not!" Carne yelled.
Patty did just that, coming so close his nose nearly touched the glass, as he looked out at the galleon that was Don Krieg's ship. "It really is him!" The hairy cook yelled. That's when he noticed something else though, "Hey look!"
One of the other cooks came and had a closer look as well. "Whoa, their ship is all beat up."
Carne came the window then. "Yeah look, the figure head is broken off, the hull is cracked, the sails are torn up and the mast is wobbling. The thing looks like it was hit by a damn hurricane!"
Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku burst in then, "Old man Zeff, we need a boat, now!"
"Now's really not the time boy, we've got company." The former pirate stated seriously.
Patty had turned around to see who had burst in, and as he did, he began to shout at the straw hat teen, "Hey! You're bleeding all over our floor ya damn crook!"
Blood was indeed flowing out of the knife wound in his hand, since the blade hadn't gone all the way through though, it was the fact that the liquid was trickling down his hand to his palm that allowed drops of it to reach the ground.
The raven haired pirate didn't pay him any mind however, as his tone become harsher, "I said now Zeff!"
"You can't talk to our boss like that!" Two of the chefs yelled together.
Zeff on the other hand, merely took a look into the young man's eyes, and seeing the emotions swirling in them, knew he was deathly serious. "I see. You two, go got him the boat we use for shopping."
"Boss Zeff-" They attempted to protest.
"Now!"
Raising his voice did the trick, as the two scrambled off to go get the boat.
"Luffy, what's wrong? What happened?" Sanji inquired, as the sixteen year old and his friends moved towards the blonde.
Before the teen could explain what had happened to his chef friend, the doors were thrown open once more, two more individuals entering the restaurant.
The first man was tall and muscular, with short cut gray hair, long sideburns and slightly pale skin. He wore somewhat regal attire, said attire consisting of a yellow vest with black spots all over it and purple lining, a fur lined coat over that, black fur lined gloves, light purple pants, black normal style shoes and a big gold chain around his neck. Anyone who had seen his bounty poster would recognize this man as Don Krieg.
The second man, who was supporting the first so he could stand, was relatively thin and of average height, with short, scruffy black hair and scruffy facial hair, his skin tone being pale as well, though a different shade than the first man. There were dark circles under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days, though that wasn't the case. As for what he wore, an open gray jacket with red sea-serpent designs on each side of the front of it, along with a single red sea-serpent over two crossed bones on the back, a green shirt underneath, gray pants matching his jacket, a gray headband with blue stripes around it and some orange spherical earrings on each ear. Everyone here would recognize this man as Ghin, as they had seen him three days earlier.
"I beg you...I need food...and water. We have money...lots of it. Please...it's been so long, I don't even remember the last time I ate. Please kind Sirs, I need food and drink. I'm...begging you." The first man wheezed out, sounding weaker than a frail child as he did.
Sanji was already halfway up the stairs as he finished, which is why Zeff remained still and did not intervene.
Fullbody was against the wall, using it to support himself as he finally managed to get to his feet. "This place is getting even crazier than it already was, I need to get out of here, quick, while I have the chance." With that thought in his head, he moved toward his date, going to get her and return to his ship, so he could get the hell out of there.
"How can this be? What's going on here?" One of the chefs whispered to his colleagues.
"Where's the death and destruction? Is this really the Don Krieg, commodore of the grand pirate fleet?" Patty quietly questioned to himself and the other chefs.
The man tried to step forward then, but ended up wobbling, before falling face first onto the floor, in spite of the attempts Ghin made to keep him up on his feet. "C-Captain? Don Krieg?" Ghin tried to get a response from the man, but was unable, only his breathing letting him know he was still alive.
"Please help him! Our Captain is on the brink of starvation, he could die!" Ghin pleaded with the chefs. "He hasn't had a single bite to eat in days, he'll die if he doesn't get some food soon!"
His begging was for not, as all the cooks did was stare back at him, some in fear, some in concern, some with cold eyes and others with blank expressions, but none moved to help his captain.
"I know he's a fearsome pirate and all, but are they really just going to let him die like that?" Usopp asked his friends and himself, unsure of what the right thing to do was in this situation, but feeling that the man should be fed regardless.
"He is known as Foul Play Krieg, the dirtiest, most underhanded pirate on the seas. But...he is offering to pay them." Johnny put forth in the larger than average man's favor.
"And with only one of his ships here and with it in such bad condition, it's not like he'd want to risk conflict right? Besides, he'd probably be so grateful that he'd leave in peace, especially if they feed him for free like Sanji did with Ghin." Yosaku added.
"Who knows and who cares? This isn't our problem. We need to focus on getting our ship back." Zoro stated evenly.
"Big Bro..." Johnny and Yosaku both said, unsure of how to feel about what he had just said.
Usopp too looked like he found what the man had said a little harsh.
What surprised all three of them, was who agreed with him. "Zoro's right." Luffy said, getting Usopp's, Johnny's and Yosaku's eyes on him. "This isn't our problem, so there's no reason to get involved. What's important now is that we catch up with Nami. So no matter what they decide to do with him, do not get involved." He ordered.
The long nosed sniper's eyes widened as he said this, but after a few moments of it sinking in, he let it be. "Understood Captain."
Patty stood tall, his fists pushed against his hips, as he began to laugh. "Hahahahahahahahah! This is great! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! The great Don Krieg groveling before us, priceless!"
"We have money, we're here as customers this time, I swear!" Ghin informed, trying to persuade the cooks.
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Patty asked of the pirate. "Hey, you down there, you're lieutenant Ironfist Fullbody aren't you? Now's your chance, take Krieg into custody." The hairy cook called down to the pink haired marine.
Hearing his name called, the marine man turned to where he heard it from. And as the chef finished speaking, pointing to the starving Krieg as he did, the bloodied man realized just what kind of opportunity had been laid before him. "He's right, with Krieg starving like this, there's no way he could escape from me again. If I brought him in, Moodie and everyone else here would forget about the shame that damn waiter caused me. I can regain face and get promoted at the same time. I'll become Lieutenant Commander Ironfist Fullbody, and, since it is the great Don Krieg after all, perhaps they might even jump me up a few more ranks. Captain Ironfist Fullbody, yeah, I like the sound of that."
A grin crossed his face, as he prepared to reach out and grab the opportunity that had been presented to him. First though, he told his date, who's name was Moodie, to return to the ship, where she'd be safe.
"What?" Ghin asked, hoping he had heard the hairy man wrong.
"He's finally weak enough to be captured, this may never happen again, and I'm not gonna ruin it by helping him get his strength back." Patty explained bluntly, causing Ghin to grit his teeth in anger.
"He's right, who knows what he'll do if he gets on his feet again." One of the chefs said, agreeing with Patty
"He's done terrible things, and as soon as he's up, he'll keep on doin'em. I say we let him starve!" Another chef shouted.
"Once he's back in good condition, he'll kill every last person in this restaurant. So he won't get so much as a glass of water from me." A third cook stated.
Straightening himself up the best he could, Fullbody stepped forward then. "Alright then, Don Krieg, I am placing you under arrest, in the name of justice."
It was obvious none of them would help, Krieg was going to die at this rate. Ghin's desperation became even more clear, as he looked almost ready to cry, his eyes closed tight as his body shook a little. "I won't do anything." Krieg rasped out, as he got onto his hands and knees. "I won't do anything." He repeated. "Once I eat, I promise I'll leave quietly. So please, be merciful. Help me...please."
Ghin's eyes shot open, as he tried to get Krieg to stop his begging. "You're the king of the East Blue Don Krieg, stop it! Please don't reduce yourself to this! You're better than a common beggar! Please Sir, what about your pride!?" To no avail.
"I promise, I'll leave in peace when I'm done. Please, I'll take the scraps, I-I'll take anything...anything." Krieg implored.
No longer able to watch this, Ghin looked away, closing his eyes tight once more, so as to keep the tears building in his eyes from coming out.
Usopp couldn't sit back and watch anymore. "This is just wrong! He's on his hands and knees begging for just a bit of food, and they won't even spare some scraps!? He already promised he'd leave in peace once he ate!"
As he moved forward to intervene however, he was stopped, as someone grabbed him by the shoulder from behind, halting him. The long nosed teen turned his head to see Zoro was the one who had him by the shoulder. "Remember Luffy's orders? Do not get involved, no matter what they decide to do with that guy. Our top priority is catching up with our ship. Nothing else matters right now."
Usopp's teeth were grit in anger, but, reminded of Luffy's order, stood down. "Alright, I won't get involved." He said begrudgingly.
Johnny and Yosaku were under no obligation to follow Luffy's orders, but, following Zoro's example, did not get involved, in spite of their feelings about the situation.
"Where are those guys with that ship?" Luffy questioned, his irritation showing. They needed to be chasing after Nami, not standing around in this establishment. They should have been gone five minutes ago.
"You just had to tie your ship to the Going Merry didn't you guys?" Zoro questioned Yosaku and Johnny, also annoyed that they had no way to follow after the woman.
"We're sorry Big Bro." They said in unison, hanging their heads as they did, feeling like failures.
"Heh. Boohoo, everyone cry your eyes out for the cruel pirate." Patty mocked.
"Hey, step aside Patty." Sanji said, before ramming his heel into the man's face, ramming him into the wall and knocking him unconscious, the wall cracking from the force of the blow.
As the hairy man fell forward onto the floor, bleeding from his nose as he did, Sanji stepped past him to stand in front of the two kneeling pirates, as well as Fullbody. Who, just as he was going to try and grab ahold of Krieg, received a foot to the face as well, the kick from the blonde sous chef sending him flying into the wall opposite of the one Patty had been kicked into, the pink haired man groaning in pain before falling back onto the floor once more.
"S-Sanji..." Ghin said, almost disbelieving of his presence.
"Here's something for your captain." The well dressed blonde said softly, as he knelt and put a bowl full of food down before the two, as well as large glass bottle of water.
"Thank you Sanji." Ghin responded just as softly.
"Thank you!" Krieg offered his thanks, before beginning to scarf down the food, using his hands to eat, scooping up large handfuls of said food, showing just how hungry he was.
"You dimwit! Get that food away from him right now Sanji! Don't you realize he's a cold, heartless killing machine!?" Carne shouted. "This is the man known as the ruler of the East Blue, the most treacherous of all pirates!" He exclaimed fearfully. "Since day one as a pirate he's been as underhanded as they come! He stole a marine ship after wiping out it's crew and used it's flag to enter ports, then lay waste to the unexpected cities and settlements there. He even waved the white flag before attacking enemy ships, to lure them into a false sense of security, so that they were easy prey. He will do absolutely anything to secure victory. He's also unmatched in physical combat. With all that, do you really think he'll just leave us alone!? Well I've got news for you, that's not possible with a blood thirsty killer like him! He deserves nothing more than death!"
Everyone's attention was then pulled to Krieg, as he finished eating and slammed the bottle of the water onto the floor, almost cracking it as he did. He stood, before proceeding to clothesline the very man that had just shown him such kindness, ramming his large arm into the blonde's throat, the force behind it taking him off his feet and almost, almost causing his cigarette to fall from his mouth, as he flew back into the wall, falling down to his knees afterward, just barely managing to keep from collapsing onto the floor as he did.
"Sanji!" Luffy shouted, surprised by what had just happened, several of the cooks echoing his shout of the blonde's name.
"After what he just did for him!? How could he!?" Usopp asked incredulously.
"That dirty bastard!" Johnny and Yosaku said together.
Ghin, still on his knees, looked to Krieg then. "This is not what we agreed on! You gave me your word! I only brought you here because you promised that you wouldn't destroy this place, or hurt the man who saved me, who saved us!" He yelled heatedly.
Krieg ignored him, as his eyes roamed the floating establishment they were standing in. "Hmm, this is a pretty good ship. I do believe that I'll be taking it." He stated, a smug smile crossing his face, as his intimidation clearly was working on all these chefs.
Sanji managed to get to his feet then, just a bit of blood dribbling from the left corner of his mouth. "I see, so that's how it is huh?"
Patty came too, as he got into a sitting position on the floor, his head still spinning.
"As you can all see, my ship is a wreck. Naturally I'll be needing a nice new one." He stated, his smile widening a bit as he did. "Which is why I'll be taking yours. So, after a few small chores, every last one of you will leave the ship."
"What!? No!" Carne cried.
"Don Krieg, you promised, please don't." Ghin pleaded.
"There are about two hundred men left on board my ship. All are weak with hunger and some are seriously wounded. If you value your lives, you will prepare food and water for all of them. I've lost too many men to starvation already, and I will not lose anymore. So prepare those meals, now!" Krieg ordered.
"You want us to feed our executioners!? Do you realize how stupid that is!? Why would-"
"Out of my way!" Zeff commanded, shoving the cook who was speaking aside, cutting him off as he did, as he made it to the stairs and proceeded to climb them.
"Boss, what are you-"
Sanji was the one to cut him off this time. "What does it look like he's doing? He's going to prepare two hundred meals. Now if you'll excuse me, he'll need my help."
"WHAT!? ARE YOU TWO CRAZY!?" All the cooks cried together in unison.
The blonde moved past the other chefs, ignoring their cry as he did, and made his way upstairs as well. As he did, Ghin got to his feet and looked up at him. "Sanji...Sanji I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Ya see!? Look what you brought on this restaurant you stupid bastard!" Patty screamed after him.
Sanji just waved them both off, as he disappeared onto the next level of the establishment.
"I don't know what's wrong with our Boss or Sanji, but I'm not going to let this happen!" Patty declared. "Sanji and I think even our Boss bring free food to the bums I kick out of this place over and over again. And I'm not about debate over who's wrong or right in that particular situation, but this time, they're just flat out wrong. We can't let them do it again, not this time. We have to protect this place, and we're damn well going to." He began moving to the stairs then. "Fortunately we have numbers on our side. I mean it is Don Krieg, but what can he do against all of us? In a joint like this, pirate scumbags come and go all day. We are fully prepared to serve any kind of customer, and that includes dealing with the ones who want to skimp out on paying the bill or the ones who threaten us."
He came to a stop at the bottom step, before crouching down to get to a hidden cabinet below the staircase, which he opened and began rooting around in. "I really hope you saved room for dessert." Patty said, obviously talking to Krieg as he did. "Cause I have a secret recipe..." He pulled something covered in a cloth out of the cabinet then, standing and turning to face the two pirates as he did, removing the cloth from the object, revealing it to be a very large red cannon with eye ornaments, the thing supposed to look like some kind of shrimp. "...that is truly to die for! Open wide, here comes the meatball of doom!" He proceeded to fire the cannon then.
With a large flash, a small cannonball came flying out of the red contraption, aimed directly at Krieg's chest, said ball hitting it's mark dead on, making a whole bunch of noises on impact that one couldn't distinguish one sound from another. From it being fired, the room was filled with smoke, blocking most people's vision.
"Don!" Ghin called worriedly.
"I might have broken the door." Patty pointed out. "I sure hope Zeff doesn't yell at me again."
"He might go easy on you, considering you saved the restaurant and all." One of the other cooks offered.
As the smoke finally began to clear up, a voice was heard. "Are you a chef...or a comedian? For your sake, you'd better be a chef, because your jokes are lame. Then again, you'd be a awful cook as well, as that desert was terrible, the worst I've ever had!"
The smoke was finally cleared out, revealing Krieg as the one speaking, looking no worse for ware. His shirt and coat were gone, having been destroyed from the attack, leaving him in what had been underneath. Golden armor, consisting of a chest plate, shoulder guards with his jolly roger painted on them, and elbow guards. The sleeves of the brown shirt he wore underneath it were visible, thanks to the armor not being full body.
"He survived that!?" Questioned Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku incredulously.
Krieg's anger from being shot with that cannon was clear, but before he could strike back, Zeff came walking down, Sanji following behind. Once they were down on the level everyone else was, they both dropped large sacks almost the size of their bodies onto the ground in front of Krieg. "This is about two hundred meals. Now take it to your men right away."
"Boss Zeff, no!" Several of the cooks cried.
"You're...Red Foot Zeff." Krieg stated, clearly shocked to see the man.
The man with the peg leg turned around and began walking away from Krieg then, Sanji following along as well.
"W-wh-what are you doing!? You can't be serious!" One of the chefs cried.
"If all of those pirates get their strength back, the restaurant will get completely taken over!" Another chef shouted,
"That would be true...if they still had the will to fight that is." Zeff explained, before coming to a stop and turning to face Krieg once more. "Tell me, did your will survive defeat?" The old blonde man inquired.
"That...can't be. The great Don Krieg...was defeated?" One of the chefs muttered to himself, his disbelief evident.
"Whoa, not even he could do it. Even a pirate fleet with fifty ships couldn't make it on the Grand Line!" Another chef stated in amazement.
"It is you, isn't it?" Krieg seemed to come to the conclusion that it was. "So, you are alive. Red Foot Zeff, the unrivaled pirate captain, who was also the ship's cook."
"Yes, that's right, I'm still alive. But what's any of that got to do with you? I haven't been a pirate in many years now, I chose the life of a cook." Zeff told him.
Krieg had a small fit of laughter at that, speaking once it was over. "Chose the life of a cook huh? Yeah right. You didn't have a choice old man. You live as a cook because the only thing you can be now is a cook. You used to be known far and wide as a master of deadly kicks who never used his hands in battle. It was said that with your mighty legs you could crush bedrock into sand and leave footprints on solid steel. Red Foot referred to your boots, as they became soaked in the blood of your enemies as you kicked them down." Krieg explained, retelling the legend of Red Foot Zeff. "You know it really is a pity that you no longer have that precious leg of yours. How unlucky for you to have such an accident at sea. Now that your greatest weapon has be sacrificed to the sea, you're defenseless, completely unable to fight."
"I don't need to fight anymore, I'm a cook. As long as I have my two hands for that, I'll be just fine. Now enough chitchat, let's get to the point, what do you want from me?" Zeff questioned the larger man.
"Red Foot...you're the man who sailed the perilous waters of the Grand Line and came back unscathed, impressive. There should be a log book detailing your tactics, a full year of your journey there. Give it to me, now!" Krieg demanded of the blonde old man.
"Wow, so that old guy used to be a pirate on the Grand Line?" Usopp asked his captain.
"Yeah, Pops Zeff told me about it when I was staying here. He didn't tell me anything big really, just that he used to have a crew of his own and that he sailed the Grand Line for a year before returning from it." Luffy answered his long nosed friend, the usual happy go lucky tone of his missing, obviously close to shouting at this point, still waiting on that boat those two chefs had been sent to get.
"My log book huh? You're right, I do indeed have a record of my travels." Zeff confirmed. "But I will never hand it over to you."
"Huh?"
"You ignorant brute, that log book is sacred to me. It's the pride of the crew that I sailed with. It's far too important to give to you."
"Alright, I'll take it by force then!" Krieg proclaimed. "Yes it's true that the Grand Line beat me, still, I will never give up on it, for I am Don Krieg! In the end, it's just another ocean. I had enough weapons and men and ambition! Regrettably, the only thing I lacked was information. I just didn't know enough. But now I'll fix all that. Once I have your log book I'll form another pirate fleet and seize the legendary One Piece. Then I will stand as the ruler of this great pirate era!"
Luffy lowered his head at that, causing his hat to shadow his eyes a bit, before beginning to move towards Krieg, only saying this before he did. "Get me when those guys bring the boat around."
"Shit." Zoro cursed.
"Oh no." Usopp said worriedly.
"What, what is it?" Johnny asked.
"What's wrong?" Yosaku asked as well.
"He just had to say it didn't he?" Sanji questioned to himself and the others, as he came to stand next to the four.
"What are you guys talking about?" The bounty hunting duo inquired, confused as to what was going on.
"Luffy holds his dream of becoming Pirate King almost as sacred as he does his friends. So, whenever someone shoots off at the mouth, claiming they'll be the Pirate King, especially when it's someone like Krieg...well...he gets fighty, real fighty." Usopp explained.
"When he was staying here, he got into a scrap with an entire crew of fifty guys when one drunkenly said he'd be the Pirate King and refused to take it back." Sanji added.
"And with where his mind's at right now...it's not going to be pretty for that Krieg guy." Zoro finished.
Luffy came to a stop before Krieg, only three feet from the man, as he raised his head so their eyes could meet, and proclaimed, "No you won't. Because I am the one who'll be King of the Pirates!"
Several of the chefs gasped at that, while Zeff smirked at the boy.
"Did you just say something kid?" Krieg questioned, attempting to give the teen a chance to take it back.
"You heard me. I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King!" He exclaimed.
Krieg growled in aggravation at that. "Spout stupid nonsense like that again and see what happens boy!"
"Stupid or not, I'm the one who's going to conquer the Grand Line, that's a fact."
"No you won't!" Krieg shouted. "It's true that we didn't have the information we needed, but my fleet of five thousand men was wiped out in just seven days you brat! That sea is hell!"
"What? One week? Don Krieg's fleet was wiped out in just one week!?" Patty questioned disbelievingly.
"Unfortunately for you, I don't find your smart ass remarks very amusing. If you continue this idiotic behavior, I'll crush you right here and right now." Krieg stated, trying to intimidate the younger man.
"I'm not in the mood for games. So if you keep up your idiotic behavior and don't take back what you said, then I'll have to crush you!" The straw hat pirate said, throwing the older man's words back in his face, his anger beginning to show through.
Looking close to snarling, he ordered Ghin to take the bags of food to his men, before venting his anger, taking one of his gloves off, revealing one of his diamond embedded gold gauntlets, that enhanced his strikes as he did. "You dare speak to me that way you damned brat!? I am by far the world's strongest man! Arms so strong that they're like solid steel! Wootz steel body armor, that is completely impenetrable! And diamond fists that could pound this entire world into dust! In addition to the weapons on my body, I have a fleet of fifty ships with five thousand pirates! My record is perfect, I have won every single battle that I've ever been in! I am Don! And I am the only one fit to be called Don! When compared to me, you are noth-"
Krieg was interrupted mid rant, as Luffy rammed his fist into his face, shutting him up and sending him flying back out of the restaurant, breaking the doors off their hinges and taking them with him as he did. "Shut the fuck up already!" The rubber man cried.
Seeing Don Krieg sent flying outside with one punch caused all the chefs, minus Sanji and Zeff of course, to drop their jaws to the floor in shock. "He...he just sent Don Krieg, the greatest pirate in the East Blue, flying with a single punch!"
"H-how is that possible!?" Several chefs shouted in disbelief.
Johnny's and Yosaku's eyes were wide as could be, as they now understood what Usopp meant by fighty, and what they all meant by touchy about the subject of Pirate King. "Oh...that's what you guys meant." They said in unison, still in shock.
"Yep." Sanji told them.
"Yeah." Zoro confirmed.
"Uh huh." Usopp affirmed, nodding his head as he did.
While ninety five percent of the people gawked at Luffy, he popped a crick in his neck, before heading outside, following after Krieg.
Sanji pulled the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled all the smoke he had taken in then, before placing it back once more, as he moved to follow the straw hat pirate. "I better go and make sure he doesn't get in over his head."
"Sounds like a plan." Zoro said, going too.
"Well...I, uh, guess I'll come too." Usopp stated, going as well, trying to hide the fear bubbling up in him as he did.
"W-wait for us!" Johnny and Yosaku cried, as they quickly followed after them.
As they all exited the establishment, Zeff spoke up. "Every chef here did what they felt was right, do not begrudge each other for what you've done, and that includes Sanji."
"Boss Zeff, why are you acting like you're taking Sanji's side!? This mess is his fault!" Patty stated heatedly.
"He's right, Sanji is responsible for this whole damn thing!" Several chefs cried, agreeing with Patty.
"Yeah Boss, that man is going to put your precious restaurant out of business!" Another dozen cooks shouted in agreement with those words.
"YOU FOOLS DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Zeff shouted near the top of his lungs, getting them all to shut up in the process. "None of you have any idea what it's like to be on the brink of starvation, to have no food or water on the open ocean. There is no way you can possibly understand what a terrifying prospect that is. It is possibly the most difficult situation a man could ever face." The old man told them.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about Chef Zeff." Patty admitted, not understanding what his boss was going on about.
"Exactly. You don't know. That's the difference between all of you and Sanji, Sanji knows." Zeff explained.
"What is the boss trying to say?"
"I don't understand, what's he saying that Sanji knows?"
"If all you're going to do is stand around grumbling, then leave this place and never come back." Zeff told them evenly, his tone more than enough to let them know he was serious.
"I for one am going to stay and fight! I couldn't live with myself if I accepted defeat!" Patty exclaimed.
"I'm staying too! After all, this is our restaurant isn't it!?" One of the chefs asked with zeal.
"That's right!" Several of them cried in unison.
"This place is all I have, I won't abandon it!" Another of the chefs shouted.
"This restaurant is ours, and I'll fight to keep it that way!" Carne proclaimed.
"Then stand and fight! Let's go help that young man show the Krieg pirates what's for! Let's show them not to mess with the battle cooks of the fighting Baratie!" Zeff rallied them with these words.
"YEAH!" They all cried together.
"You, go to the control room and bring up the fins!" Zeff ordered, the chef he spoke to rushing to do what he said.
"And you, go see what's taking so long with that shopping boat!" The old man ordered another chef, who rushed off to comply.
Once the one who had been told to go to the control room came back and said the fins were up, Zeff spoke once more, "Now let's go!"
Ghin and the rest of Krieg pirates could only stare in shocked silence, their jaws dropped to the deck of their ship, as Krieg came flying out of the Baratie toward them. He flew over their heads until he rammed into the mast, causing it to crack and creak, before it was forced to tilt backward from the impact of it's captain's body. The golden armor wearing man fell to the deck only a moment later, the deck creaking and cracking as well when he hit it face first.
"D-Don K-Krieg...s-sir...?" Ghin questioned disbelievingly, sure his eyes were deceiving him, after all, how could the great Don Krieg lose to anyone?
The larger than average man, after lying face down for a few moments, got to his hands and knees, as he climbed to his feet, wobbling just a tad as he tried to stand erect. Once he was standing erect, the damage that had been done could be seen. His nose had been broken, blood trickling out of his nostrils in two full ribbons, and there was also some of the red life liquid in both corners of his mouth, dribbling down past his lips, slowly reaching toward his chin.
"A-are you alright Captain?" One of the men, who had just finished eating, asked fearfully, scared that the man might have been messed up from whatever damage that had been inflicted on him.
No more than a moment after he asked this, a gun shot was heard, the bullet coming from Krieg himself, who had pulled a flintlock pistol out of nowhere, holding it in his left hand, the only hand still covered by a glove as he had dropped the other when flying over here, the barrel still smoking as the man's body hit the deck. "Does it look like I am a child!? Do not question my strength! This is nothing to me, the world's strongest man!" His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and almost crazy looking as he declared this.
"World's strongest man my ass!" Luffy shouted, as he lept up onto their galleon, all eyes shooting to him now that he was on their deck.
Krieg snarled at the teen for those words. Keeping his temper in check for just a few more seconds, he began to bark orders at his crew. "Men! It's only a matter of time before what's left of our flagship falls apart, we need that ship! Take it! Take it and kill anyone who stands in your way! Ghin, make sure Pearl's at full strength, and then I want you both to join the fray! Leave this punk to me! I will show him the might of the world's strongest man!"
"YES SIR DON KRIEG!" The entire crew cried together.
They gathered up their swords, maces, bats, clubs and guns and raced to the end of the ship, before lowering ropes so they could climb down the ship into the water, where they could swim over to the Baratie. Fortunately for them, two large decks came up from submersion on both sides of the restaurant, allowing them a foot hold and an area to fight so they didn't have to ruin the inside of the establishment, it also allowed them to drop right onto the thing, rather than having to swim to it.
Shortly after Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, Yosaku and Johnny came out of the Baratie, two large decks came up, connecting with the restaurant on the front side and back side of the place, actually giving them space to move around.
"Whoa! That's cool!" Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku exclaimed.
"Now we have a place to fight, good." Zoro remarked.
"Good idea Geezer." Sanji said aloud, knowing the old man had to have been the one to put the fins of the Baratie into play.
That's when the Krieg pirates were seen climbing down ropes, some of them stopping halfway and just dropping down onto the fin below their feet, all of them coming down onto the now larger deck of the Baratie. They waited until they had a good couple dozen guys before charging the place, even more men still coming down off of the galleon as they did.
"Mind if I go first?" Sanji asked somewhat politely.
N-no p-problem." Usopp answered, his knees beginning to shake upon seeing all the men coming down, just dozens and dozens appearing one after the other.
"W-we don't mind at all." Yosaku and Johnny said together, also intimidated by the sheer numbers of the Krieg pirates.
"Be my guest. It is your restaurant after all." Zoro Responded.
"Thanks." Sanji replied to them, as he took a few steps forward, so as to meet the group charging the establishment on the fin.
As all the cooks came out of the restaurant, bearing weapons as they did, they stopped to watch Sanji, as he made the first move.
All the men charging brandished their weapons, ready to kill the blonde, intent on going through him to get to their target. Just as they reached him though, he swayed out of the way of a few strikes, before pivoting forward into them, putting himself in the middle of the large group of men. As they prepared to make him pay for that decision, they realized, that at the end of his pivot, he had turned upside down because he broke into a hand stand. Less than a split second later, he was spinning, deliver furious kicks to each and every one on the men, knocking out each pirate with a single kick. "Party Table Kick Course!"
As he spun around kicking, the Krieg pirates began to get sent flying, each one that met with the blonde's foot to their face was sent flying in whatever direction they got kicked in, usually ending up falling into the water, the force behind each kick strong enough to take the men off of the Baratie entirely.
This attack soon came to an end, as he ran out of guys to kick, the other Krieg pirates realizing it did no good to try and approach him like that, as they'd just get hurt too. Once it did end, he returned his feet to the ground, standing up straight once more.
Seeing as how he had taken out nearly fifty guys with that move, the entire staff of the Baratie, minus Zeff who simply smiled proudly at the sight, broke into cheers then. "YEAH, WAY TO GO SANJI! SHOW'EM WHAT FOR!"
The blonde smirked at hearing the cheers, as it was rare to get recognition here.
"Not bad cook. Now, it's my turn." Zoro stated, unsheathing his blades as he did.
"It'll take more than that to defeat the mighty Krieg pirates!" One of them cried, before charging forward with his comrades, leading a couple dozen of them in a charge for the restaurant.
Zoro met them head on, weaving through them with his blades, blocking any and all weapon strikes they tried for along the way, cutting them up like turkeys as he did, coming out behind them, leaving them all on the ground, bleeding from slashes located somewhere on the front of their torsos.
He sheathed his blades, as he had taken them all down, they wouldn't be getting back up until this fight was over.
The chefs cheered for him as well, seeing as he had taken out even more guys than Sanji, leaving the total of men at about a hundred. Between the two, they had taken out half of Krieg's fighting force without so much as breaking a sweat.
"Big Bro Zoro is such a badass!" Both Johnny and Yosaku exclaimed almost giddily.
"Geez man, if that guy really does join our crew, we'll have three monsters on board." Usopp remarked to himself, feeling pretty small right about now.
"Just what do you guys think you're doing?"
Everyone on the Baratie turned to see where that voice came from, to see a peculiar man climbing out of the water and onto the front fin of the restaurant. Once out of the water and on his feet, he could be seen quite clearly.
He was a towering man with light skin and short black hair with a single curl dangling in front of his face, almost reaching his eyes. What made him peculiar however was his ensemble, which included two large iron plates covering his front and backside, a pale yellow tank top underneath them, as well as small plates on his elbows and kneecaps, with two more held in his hands, all with large pearls embedded in the middle of them. These plates of his are a shiny metal gray with black linings. He also wore dark purple pants that ended before the ankle, a light blue sash, light black shoes with white lining and big pearls on the top of them. Finally, he also wore a large pearl on his head, preventing most of his hair from being seen.
"Is he wearing iron plates with pearls in them!?" Johnny and Yosaku asked incredulously.
"He is! Just what kind of guy is he!?" Usopp questioned.
Sanji and Zoro both quirked a brow at the guy, both thinking, 'Really?'
Zoro let his brow return to it's normal position though, as he stepped forward. "What does it look like we're doing? We're kicking your asses."
"Looks like we've got a cocky one here. That's fine, I like fighting those best. It's fun to see their faces when they lose to me."
The green haired swordsman smirked at that. "Is that so?" He didn't turn back to address the others, though they could tell he was talking to them, as he said, "Leave this guy to me, I'll take care of him."
"Suit yourself." Was Sanji's response.
As more Krieg pirates began to step foot on the front fin of the Baratie, the cooks charged them, Patty and Carne leading the charge, so as to not let them get in close.
Before Sanji could say anything to them or follow in their charge, his attention was pulled to the area behind him, where he had heard the sound of someone hitting the ground and a gun being cocked. What he saw was Ghin with his foot on Zeff's back, a sawn-off shotgun in his hand, pointed at the old blonde man's head.
Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku watched as Ghin and Sanji had their confrontation, as Zoro began to fight Pearl, as the cooks clashed with the Krieg pirates and as the galleon in front of them was beginning to be torn apart by Luffy's fight with Krieg. All three of them did nothing but watch for a dozen long moments, each passing second making them feel more and more useless. Until, eventually, one of them couldn't take it anymore, the look on his captain's face when Nami was sailing away flashing in his mind kicking him into gear. "Ugh! I can't take this anymore! Luffy's counting on me, I'm supposed to be his Marksman, I need to make myself useful! You guys can stay here if you want, but I'm going to help fight!"
As Usopp hopped over the railing that was supposed to help keep customers from falling overboard, said railing useless now that the fins were up, Johnny and Yosaku were quick to agree. "He's right, we need to help too! For Big Bro Zoro and Big Bro Luffy!" Johnny stated, beginning to get hyped up.
"Right! We'll fight to help our Big Bros!" Yosaku agreed.
The swordsman duo proceeded to hop over the railing as well, following after Usopp as they did.
The three rushed to the cooks aid, as they were being overwhelmed, seeing as it was a hundred pirates versus just a little over a dozen cooks.
Johnny and Yosaku charged into the fray, swords drawn. "You guys are going down!" They cried together.
The two began to assist the cooks, slashing at the men they were locked in battle with, blocking strikes to guard them from harm, and occasionally teaming up to take a few guys down.
As those two did that, Usopp dropped to one knee a few feet back from everyone else, bringing his clear goggles down to cover his eyes as he did and brandishing his slingshot as well. Taking aim, he began to fire into the crowd, his skill and accuracy keeping him from hitting any of his allies.
"Exploding Star!" His first shot, takes a small bunch of them by surprise, multiple targets hit with the attack. Targets are only mildly harmed by the attack, but have been distracted, which allowed for Carne and a couple of other cooks to get them, taking them out of the fight.
"Flame Star!" Leg shot, pants ignited, target freaks out, fails to pay attention to the chef charging him, is killed as he is skewered on a abnormally large fork.
"Lead Star!" Throat shot, target clutches throat in pain, dropping his weapon in doing so, leaving him defenseless to an attack from one of the chefs, said chef hitting him with a very abnormally big spoon, knocking him unconscious and to the ground.
The pirates have figured out that there enemies have a sniper on their side, if their wandering eyes meant anything that is. They were searching for him, and as Usopp readjusted his aim, they caught sight of him. "Oh crap, he saw me!" Usopp said aloud to himself, worried for his safety, beginning to sweat knowing that the guy knew where he was. It was one man in particular though, so the inexperienced fighter fired at him next.
"Lead Star!" Nut shot, target drops to his knees, is dispatched by an uppercut from Patty.
That bought him a few moments, since that was the man who had spotted him.
"Exploding Star!" Face shot, target stumbles back in pain, is dispatched by Yosaku and Johnny giving him two good slashes from their swords.
"Flame Star!" Body shot, target begins to panic after being set aflame, jumps into the ocean to put himself out.
After letting a few more shots fly, the one who had jumped into the water came back out and spotted Usopp. The long nosed teen wasn't able to shut him up in time, and the pirates began coming for him, managing to knock a few of the cooks unconscious as they did.
"Oh no, oh shit, they're coming for me!" He harshly whispered in fright to himself, getting to his feet as he did.
The man with iron plates with pearls in them chuckled at Zoro when he said he would take care of him. "You're even cockier than I thought. Very well, let's do this. But, before we begin, it's only fair I give you a warning. I am Pearl The Invincible Shield!"
"So?" Zoro asked, sounding bored as he did. "I'll just cut right through your invincible shield." The swordsman claimed, unsheathing one of his swords as he did.
"Is that so?" Pearl questioned, a smug smirk crossing his face, his mirth clear. "I think not, for I am invincible you see, don't you understand what that word means?"
"I don't acknowledge words like invincible." The green haired man stated simply.
"Oh, I see. Are they too complex for your tiny brain to understand?" Pearl questioned mockingly.
"No, I don't acknowledge words like invincible because as far as I'm concerned, there isn't anyone in this world who can't be defeated!" He exclaimed passionately.
Pearl didn't chuckle at that, he outright had a laughing fit. His opponent waited patiently until it ended, and once it did, the dark haired man would speak once more. "That's how you feel huh? Then allow me to show you the meaning of invincibility. I've won all sixty of the battles I've been in completely and totally unscathed. It's quite remarkable really, no one has ever shed a single drop of my blood in battle, no one." He boasted.
A grin that many men would find frightening made it's way across Zoro's face at those words. "Is that so? Then that changes now. Because believe me, I will make you bleed."
Laughing once more, Pearl replied with this, "You can certainly try. I may be a gentleman, but I'm not gentle, so I won't make it easy for you."
"If your attacks are as weak as your jokes, then this is going to be even easier than I thought." Zoro stated mockingly, though still in a serious tone.
"Mock me all you like, it won't change the fact that you're outclassed! Pearl Surprise!" The large man pivoted forward and threw a strong right then, which Zoro used the blade he had drawn, the Wado, to block, the blow not even forcing him to skid back, the iron plate punch's momentum canceled out by the strength of the green haired teen's guard.
Pulling his plated fist back, Pearl conceded that his opponent was strong. "Maybe you do have some strength to back up your bravado. Still, that won't help you against me! Absolutely Natural Pearl Surprise!" Pearl brought all his weight back, before throwing it behind a strong right, the punch coming much faster and harder than the last one.
Zoro brought up the Wado to defend him once more, intercepting the punch head on, this one actually forcing him back about half an inch, maybe a little less, which is more than the last attack did, but was not nearly what Pearl had been expecting to happen. "Looks like I was wrong, your attacks actually are better than your jokes. Not much better, but better nevertheless."
"Argh! Make fun of me will you!? I'll show you!" He pulled his fist back then, before extending both arms out to his sides, and then bringing them racing together, where the iron plates he held in his hands would meet. The point where they would collide with each other was supposed to be Zoro's head. "Pearl Cymbals!"
But just before each plate could ram into his head, he raised his sword to defend from the right plate, while he just straight up stopped the left one with his hand, more than strong enough to do so. The swordsman, despite having stopped the black haired man's attack, leaving him shocked and defenseless for the moment, just pushed the plates away from him, the man not trying to bring them back, simply letting his arms fall to his sides after his attack was rendered incapable of being complete. "H-how could you be so strong?" Pearl questioned disbelievingly.
Zoro's grin widened. "Simple, I trained." He then performed a horizontal slash against the large plate on Pearl's front side, before following up with a vertical one.
Despite the fact that this didn't damage the swordsman's blade, Pearl began to laugh again. "You may be strong fool, but you aren't getting through these plates like that! You can't just cut them with a sword, that's not how it works! Besides, even battleship cannons can't destroy my iron pearl plates! I come out of every attack unharmed!"
"You sure about that?" Zoro asked him.
Pearl gave him a look of confusion, unsure of what he meant, until he looked down, to see there was a huge gash in his front plate, courtesy of Zoro's sword slash, the blade having almost ripped through the whole thing with one swing. "T-that I-I, that just isn't possible..." He stated in disbelief. That's when he saw blood, he could barely see it, but there was a bit of blood trickling down the bridge of his nose. Seeing it caused his eyes to widen considerably, his eyes going upward to try and see where he was bleeding from, to see a small cut on his forehead, he had been nicked by the tip of the teen's blade at best.
"That's when I'm not even trying. You want to see what happens when I'm serious?" Zoro asked intimidatingly.
"You aren't just mean, you're dangerous." Pearl stated, his eyes widening even further.
He began to clang his fist plates together then, the pearls slamming into each other every time they met, he did this again and again, over and over. And as he did, his breathing became irregular, short and fast breaths is what he was taking in. "Heh! Aah! hah! mah!" He repeated this noise as well, as the pounding of his plates together sped up.
"It's just a bit of blood, there's no need to freak out about it." Zoro said half condescendingly, half confused, haven't having seen something like this before.
"Danger! Danger! Danger! DANGER!" Pearl cried at the top of his lungs, as all his plates ignited into flames, the color of them blue, which complimented the pearls.
"Ah, ah, ah! Now, take this dangerous man! Fire Pearls Special Treat!" He cried, as he threw out about a dozen flaming pearls.
"What the!?" Zoro questioned, his eyes following these flaming pearls, as they hit different parts of the Baratie, setting it aflame the moment they touched it. "If I don't quit toying with this guy and end this, he'll burn the whole ship down!" Zoro said aloud to himself.
"Fire Pearl Surprise!" As Zoro turned his head back to Pearl, he had to bring his Wado up to defend against the hard left straight his opponent threw, his flaming plate slamming into the green haired man's sword, almost managing to force him to skid back.
Not wasting any time, Pearl pulled his arm back, before stepping back and pivoting forward, putting all his mass behind a strong right, that was aimed straight for the three sword style swordsman's face. "Absolutely Natural Fire Pearl Surprise!" He blocked this attack as well, said attack managing to force him back a good two inches, perhaps a little less, but leaving him unharmed.
"Argh! I will beat you! I won't lose! My record won't be tarnished!" Pearl shouted in desperation, before pulling his arm back and kicking Zoro in the chest, actually hitting him this time, causing him to skid back a few more inches.
Pivoting backward twice, he lept upward and forward, putting him about ten feet in the air above Zoro. He soon came plummeting down, and as he did, he moved to where he was coming down head first, aiming to ram down into the swordsman with his pearl helmet, using his weight to really make an attack that would hurt. "Flaming Tarnished Silver Surprise!"
Zoro quickly dodged this, jumping to the right just as Pearl hit, the man ramming down into the fin, breaking halfway through it with his head, cracking the deck several inches in all directions from the force of the landing.
As Pearl struggled to free his head, Zoro placed the Wado in his mouth and unsheathed his other two swords, gripping all three blades tight as the man got his head unstuck and turned to face him. "With my iron plates and these flames I am invincible! You can't beat me! You just can't!" He screamed at the swordsman.
"I don't care what you say, invincible, not invincible, it doesn't mean anything to me! I will defeat you and press onward, that is all that I'm certain of! Now let's end this!"
Zoro took a specific stance with his blades then, before lunging forward and unleashing his signature technique. "Oni Giri!"
With that all the iron pearl plates split in half, falling off of the man and onto the deck, the blue flames extinguished before they touched the wood, and three particular slash marks were carved into the larger man's abdomen, blood seeping from them as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed face first onto the damaged front in of the Baratie.
With his opponent defeated, Zoro sheathed all his blades, knowing that everyone else would finish up soon as well.
Zoro vs Pearl
Winner: Zoro
Johnny and Yosaku both noticed when the pirates switched focus from them and the cooks to Usopp, as not only were less of them coming at them, a few of them also yelled out, "Hey! Get that sniper in the back!"
They quickly rushed to help, but were prevented from actually going anywhere, as more of the Krieg pirates blocked them. "Where do you two think you're going?"
Gritting their teeth, the duo prepared to take them on. Before they had to though, Patty and Carne tackled the small group of pirates. "Go and help your friend!" Carne shouted.
"We'll hold back anyone who tries to stop you!" Patty added.
"Thanks you guys!" They said in unison, as they raced over to help Usopp out.
Usopp was currently running in circles, just barely managing to avoid being caught by the couple of Krieg pirates on his tail. He was faster than them sure, but he didn't have much room to move, otherwise he'd get caught up in one of the other two battles taking place on the fin. But as he came dangerously close to getting impaled by one guy with a sword, he decided that even if it was dangerous to do so, running to Zoro would be the best option. "Zoro, help me!"
Before he could get close enough to get the swordsman's attention however, fire pearls hit the deck in a dozen different spots, starting a large fire, which blocked the long nosed teen's path to both Zoro and Sanji, as well as begun to incinerate the unconscious Krieg pirates on the deck. "Ahh!" He cried in shock and fear, as he came to a quick stop, skidding a bit, just barely managing to prevent himself from going head first into the flames.
The pirates still behind him, he quickly got out of the way, just in time too, as Johnny and Yosaku came up from behind and rammed the guys into the fire, sending them head long into the flames.
"Johnny, Yosaku!" The marksman exclaimed in surprise.
"We got your back Big Bro Usopp!"
He couldn't help but smirk at that. "Y-yeah. Thanks guys."
Looking over to the cooks, several more of them having been knocked out by this point, Patty, Carne and five others were all that were left standing. "Let's go, they still need our help!" He said quickly, before rushing over to them to help.
"Right!" They both agreed, following behind him.
"I don't care how much of a badass he used to be, now he's just a cook. I wouldn't even have to break a sweat to kill this old fart. I'll spare him, but in return you'll all have to leave. Don Krieg wants this ship, so he's gonna get it, one way or another. So please, don't make this harder than it has to be Sanji, just leave. Don't force me to kill both of you, it's the last thing I want to do." Ghin's eyes were locked with Sanji's as he said all this, the barrel of the sawn-off still pressed firmly against the back of Zeff's head.
"Run away huh? Not a chance!" Sanji's reply surprised Ghin, the widening of his eyes made that evident.
"You look even dumber at gun point old man. What kind of example do you think you'd be setting for the other cooks if they could see you right now?"
"Heh. I don't need a lecture from a brat like you." The former pirate stated, not even seeming the slightest bit worried for his life.
"Would you stop calling me names!? Quit treating me like a kid!" Sanji yelled at his mentor.
Zeff scoffed at that. "I'll quit treating you like a kid when you quit acting like one."
Ignoring that remark, Sanji addressed Ghin then. "Hey Ghin, point that gun at me."
"Why you Sanji?" The armed man inquired. "Why are you doing this? Just leave the restaurant peacefully and no one gets hurt. Please, just leave."
Sanji's eyes narrowed at that. "This restaurant is that old man's life. I've already taken everything else that man holds dear. His power...his dreams...his pride, I stole it all from him. So as long as I'm around, I'm not gonna let anything else get taken from him!" He cried fiercely.
Ghin's eyes widened even further then, his shock more than evident. "Sanji..."
"I will fight to my dying breath to keep this restaurant out of Krieg's hands! The cooks of the Baratie and my friends have got the rest of your crew covered, so I just have to take you down and this will all be over! Prepare yourself Ghin, because now that you threaten to take away all that geezer has left, I won't show you any mercy!" Sanji proclaimed, a fire igniting in his eyes as he did.
Ghin's eyes remained wide for several moments, before they returned to their normal state. "I see. Alright then Sanji. If that's how it's going to be, I'll fight you with all that I have as well."
"Good, I'd prefer it that way." The blonde stated. "So then, who gets the first move?" He asked, his tone making it unclear whether he was being serious or not.
"I do." Ghin answered nevertheless, raising the sawn-off and firing it at the sous chef.
His eyes widened as the bullets came at him, quickly dodging to the side to avoid being hit by the spray of the shot gun. Mid dodge Sanji was intercepted, as Ghin threw the gun down and lunged forward, pulling out two tonfas tipped with big iron balls, almost as big as cannon balls as he did. The blonde's eyes widened, as he realized he didn't have much a way to defend himself at that point. "Shit!"
Before Sanji could finish his evasive maneuver and put his feet back on the ground, Ghin rammed both of these iron balls into his abdomen, causing him to spit up blood and spit out his cigarette, the force behind the two blows cracking several of his ribs and sending him to the deck and tumbling back several feet, almost falling off and into the ocean in the process.
The seventeen year old lie face down on the fin, a bit of blood smeared on his chin, which he wiped away, as he began getting to his feet. Once on his feet, he met eyes with Ghin once more, who now stood where Sanji would have if he had finished his dodge, grinding his foot into the cigarette the well dressed chef had accidentally spit out, putting it out, one tonfa resting on his shoulder, and spinning the other one in his other hand, the right hand, round and round as he did. "Look Sanji, I don't want to fight you. I really don't. I don't want to take this restaurant or ruin it either. I'm just following orders. There isn't anything I can do about that." He stated, as if it was that simple.
"If you say so. But if you think you can take this place over without killing me, then you've got another thing coming. So, you'll have to hit harder than that." He replied calmly, sneaking in a small insult as he did.
Ghin didn't even bother to recognize the insult. "Sounds fair enough. Then it'll be an absolute pleasure to kill you, my good friend." He said a bit coldly.
"Gee, that's comforting." Sanji stated sarcastically, pulling out a pack of smokes as he did. Seeing him pull this out and pull out another cigarette wouldn't surprise anyone who knew him, as he was a chain smoker. Placing the pack back in his suit jacket, he put the tobacco stick in his mouth, pulling his lighter out a second later and lighting up with it. "Asshole." Sanji spat Ghin's way under his breath, after managing to light his cigarette and before he put his lighter away.
Ghin lunged forward once more, still spinning the right tonfa as he brought the left down from his shoulders. He swung his left tonfa first, which Sanji back stepped to avoid being hit by, it almost grazing him as it past by. At the same time, he brought his right tonfa toward the smoking cook, aiming for his head, the strike potentially fatal considering all the momentum that had been built up from twirling it round and round. Before it could ram into his head though, the curly browed fighter raised his left leg and met the iron ball tipped tonfa head on with a kick, the force from both attacks canceling each other out, the strikes locked in a stalemate.
The tonfa wielding pirate began spinning the left tonfa then, bringing this one in for an attack much sooner than the right one had been. Pulling his left leg back and kicking out with it once more forced the right tonfa back away from him, the blonde using his right leg to stop his opponents left tonfa the same way he had with the right one. Pulling back once more and kicking out, knocking it away, he finally went on the offensive himself, bringing his left foot up for a good kick to his enemy's head. Only Ghin proceeded to block it with his right tonfa, bringing his left one up for another try at hitting the sous chef.
Seeing as this encounter wasn't going to get him anywhere, Sanji broke away, ducking under the left tonfa as he pulled his leg back from hitting the right one, bringing his right leg through for a sweep kick, to try and take his Krieg pirate opponent off his feet, which would leave him vulnerable to a follow up attack. Unfortunately, Ghin saw this coming and jumped over the leg at the last second, bringing his tonfas together as he did, intent on bringing them down on the man who stood in the way of Krieg claiming this ship.
Seeing as the heavy iron ball tips of the tonfas were coming down fast on him, Sanji quickly leaned back, placing his hands firmly on the deck as he did, putting himself into a handstand, as he kicked out with his legs, meeting the tonfas head on with kicks once more, killing their momentum and rendering them no longer dangerous. However, this is what the pirate had in mind when he tried for this, as his opponent was now vulnerable, because unlike him, this man would use all four of his limbs in a fight. So, the well dressed cook's back to him, he shot his right leg out, ramming his foot into the man's back, kicking him as hard as he could, knocking him forward onto his front, the blonde face down on the front fin of the Baratie once more.
He half groaned in pain, as he began climbing to his feet once more.
"I'm sorry Sanji, but I can't be defeated." Ghin said as if it was fact. He pivoted forward then, moving while his opponent was on his knees, bringing both tonfas in for a double strike, aiming for his neck and chest. "Now, time to die!"
"Yeah go ahead, keep telling yourself that." Sanji responded to Ghin's words, as he looked up at the man pivoting forward toward him, proceeding to roll forward at a slight left angle, breaking into a handstand as he did, avoiding the double attack, and allowing him to ram his left foot down into Ghin's upper back, the kick slamming him down into the deck, putting him on the ground for the first time since the fight began. "But I won't die so easily damn you!"
Righting himself, placing his feet firmly back down on the front fin of the Baratie, the smoking chef prepared for another strike, as his opponent got to his feet. When the tonfa wielder was up, Sanji served him a good spin kick to the chest, which he only barely managed to block with said tonfa, the force behind the kick still strong enough to send him skidding back a few feet from it.
Neither of the two made a move to attack each other after that, only staring one and other down for a few moments, the sounds of battle filling their ears as they did. Suddenly, Ghin's eyes widened, as he called out, "Wait, don't!"
Before the blonde could figure out what he was talking about, a blade burst forth out the front of his stomach, blood beginning to stain his clothing, while at the same time, another blade ripped it's way through his left leg, coming out his shin, his red life liquid covering the tip of the sword. "AHHHH!" He couldn't help but scream in shock and pain, taken by surprise by the sneak attack.
At the same time he cried out in pain, the front fin of the Baratie was set aflame, the fire helping to keep his voice from being heard, and also helping to keep him from being seen by anyone else.
He fell to his knees, as the swords were forcefully removed from his flesh, revealing the two Krieg pirates behind him that had gotten to him. They wore smug smiles, their eyes full of glee, showing that they enjoyed causing pain. "How's that? Pretty good, huh Chief Commander Ghin?" The first one asked.
The second one taunted Sanji. "You should have known better cook. Ghin is a cool headed, cold hearted demon. He shows no mercy, just like the rest of us Krieg Pirates. Picking a fight with him will get you killed, one way or another."
"Did I say you could interfere?"
Both men looked toward their chief commander as he said that, only to both have the wind knocked out of them, as the iron ball tips of his tonfa rammed into their abdomens, breaking all of their ribs. Then, with one more blow each, he sent them flying into the ocean. "This is my fight, no one else's." Ghin stated coolly.
Sanji, who was struggling to get to his feet, the pain in his torso, and even worse, his leg still fresh, the blood from the wound he had sustained to it seeping through his dark pant leg, had no way to defend himself. And Ghin took advantage of that, turning towards him and beginning to spin his tonfa. He spun them round and round for about a dozen moments, before he lunged forward, bringing them both toward him from opposite directions, aiming for his torso as he did. Both tonfa hit their marks, slamming into his left side and his right side, break most, if not all of his ribs upon impact, and also causing him to scream in pain once more, coughing up a mouthful of blood as well, just barely managing not to lose his cigarette as he did.
Falling face forward onto the deck, the well dressed cook was left helpless. Ghin turned him over, so that he was lying on his back, blood trickling down the corners of his mouth, and kneeled down over him, almost putting his weight on him as he did. Resting his right tonfa on his shoulder, he placed the other tonfa down, using his now free hand to grab ahold of his opponent's throat, squeezing just tight enough to make it hard to breath, but not impossible to. "I have to kill you now." He informed the blonde.
"D-damn b-bastard." He said, before hacking up another mouthful of blood.
Despite what he had just said to Sanji, Ghin made no move to end it. Even as what felt like a strong gust of wind washed over the front fin of the Baratie, it putting out the fire raging on it as it did, he still made no move to end the sous chef's life, only staring down at him, a mix of emotions in his eyes. After another moment, he lowered his head, to where Sanji couldn't see his eyes. That didn't matter though, as the sounds of teardrops hitting the deck still told what the tonfa wielding was doing, he was crying. The fact that the teardrops landed right next to his enemy's head also helped him realized Ghin was crying.
"I...can't. I just...can't do it. I can't kill the man who saved my life." He threw his head back then, raising his voice into a cry, his tone affected by his tears. "I can't Don Krieg, I won't do it!" He stopped then, trying to keep his voice from quivering, before continuing. "I can't kill him! I'm sorry Captain!"
Sanji's eyes widened considerably, as he stared up at the man who had him at his mercy.
"What did you just say!?" Krieg shouted, getting Ghin's eyes on him. He stood on the galleon, at the edge of the railing, his face bloodied up bad, almost every detail covered in blood.
"I...won't do...what you want me to!" Ghin managed to get out, his voice only trembling slightly, the memory of what Sanji had done for him flashing in his mind as he did, his grip on his tonfa slackening, allowing it to fall out of his hand and hit the deck. "He treated me with such respect and decency, and even kindness! That's why...I just can't bring myself to kill him!" He could no longer hide the trembling of his voice at that point. "I've always been loyal to you. Up until now, I've believed in everything that we've done. I respect you and appreciate all you have given me. Trusting me as your chief commander was the honor of my life. Until this moment, I have obeyed every single order you have given me without ever questioning it. I can't live with myself if I kill this man, and I cannot break my oath. Please, I beg you, let me disobey just this one order, please Don Krieg!"
"Why you dirty little sunuva bitch! You think you can defy my orders!?" The golden armor wearing man questioned angrily and incredulously. "You are pathetic Ghin! Morality, sympathy, these are weaknesses I had never expected to see from you!" He stated. "Listen here, if you don't kill that stupid cook, then you will no longer be my chief commander! And you won't only lose your rank either, you'll lose your life as well when I kill you both!"
Ghin stared helplessly at the man he had followed for years loyally and without question, his hopes for a way out crushed into nothing but dust. Feeling shame and anger consume him, he lowered his head, as the tears streaming down his face began to dry. "Forgive me Sanji...but I must kill you. I have to. I'm sorry." He picked his right tonfa back up then, as he prepared to smash in the blonde's face with it.
"I'm sorry too." Sanji responded. "Sorry you have such a pathetic excuse for a captain that is!"
Ghin's eyes widened to the max at those words, before he could say anything though, Sanji spat his lit cigarette in the man's face, almost burning him as he did, causing him to rear back, closing his eyes to prevent them from getting hurt all the while. The bleeding chef then quickly pulled his leg up to where his knee met his chest, then shot it forward, ramming his foot into the man's chest, sending him to the deck hard, cracking it a bit, as he rolled back about a dozen feet.
Sanji forced himself to his feet then, in spite of his body's protests, his smashed ribs screaming in pain. As he came up into an erect position, he grabbed ahold of Ghin's other tonfa, his left one, and brought it along, holding it now that he stood.
Ghin was also on his feet once more. "Are you going to try and use my own weapon against me? That's just foolish Sanji. I know the strengths and weakness of my tonfas better than anyone else."
"You have a point. Besides that, I'm a chef, my hands are sacred, I could never use them in battle. I didn't pick it up for me though, so I never intended to use it." He explained.
"Then why grab it? Hoping to keep it away from me?"
"The opposite actually. Here, catch!" The curly browed man yelled, throwing the heavy tonfa at him as he did.
As Ghin's eyes went to the tonfa coming at him and he made the effort to catch it, Sanji was able to close the distance between them, bringing his right leg up and hooking his foot around his opponent's neck. "Reception!" He cried, as he used his leg to force Ghin face first into the front fin of the Baratie, smashing his face down into it hard, his head cracking the deck a dozen inches in all directions, almost breaking through it. The attack also busted him open, a good deal of blood running down his face from the injury.
Hearing his enemy groan in pain, Sanji raised his right leg into the air, fully extending it, before bringing it down in a strong axe kick, his heel ramming into the back of Ghin's head extremely hard, actually forcing his head to break all the way through the fin, dunking his head into the ocean, a decent deal of water splashing up from it as it happened, landing on the deck.
Pulling his leg back and placing it firmly back on the front fin, he leaned down and pulled Ghin's head out of the water, rolling him over, as he coughed up sea water, his tonfa's having been dropped beside him. After he finished coughing, despite the fact that he was breathing raggedly, the blonde could tell he was unconscious, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his face soaked in his own blood as well as salt water.
Seeing as his opponent was down for the count, Sanji, even in spite of his injuries, decided to have another cigarette. After he pulled it out, lit it up and took a good drag of it, he exhaled, as he said to himself. "I guess that's that."
Sanji vs Ghin
Winner: Sanji
Five more chefs had been knocked out, leaving only Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, Patty and Carne. While the Krieg Pirates still had twenty five men left, making the battle five to one at that point.
"You just had to take the Mackerel Head out for a joy ride didn't you Patty!? Because if it wasn't in need of repairs, we could have used it to win this battle by now!" Carne yelled at his hairy friend.
"Hey! It isn't my fault! How was I supposed to know we'd be attacked by the Krieg Pirates!?" Patty shouted back.
"Cut it out you two, now isn't the time! In case you guys hand't noticed, unlike the last group, these guys have guns, and that's going to make things a lot harder on us!" Usopp told them.
"We can't block bullets like Big Bro Zoro! We aren't that good yet!" Johnny and Yosaku cried together frantically, worried for their safety.
That's when something came to the long nosed sniper. "Patty, that shrimp cannon of yours, is it still in working condition? Where is it?"
"I left it in the restaurant, and yeah it'll still work. I don't have any ammo for it though." The hairy cook informed him.
"I'll handle the ammo, just go get the thing!" Usopp said hastily.
Patty rushed off to do just that, Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku and Carne all coming along with him until they came to the railing, where they hopped over and crouched down, to avoid the bullets as the Krieg Pirates began firing on them, Patty heading inside as they did. A minute later, and he was crouching down with them. "Here!"
Usopp took it from the larger man and went to work. He took the satchel like bag he carried with him off, opening it up, revealing where he kept his ammo at. He grabbed two handfuls then, one half filled with lead stars and flame stars, the other one filled with exploding stars. He shoved these handfuls into the mouth of the shrimp cannon, before proceeding to rig it a little, so it would fire.
"Hurry Big Bro Usopp! They're getting closer!"
"Done!" Usopp announced to the other four, before heaving it onto his shoulder, the thing a little heavy for him, and stood up, so as to get a clear shot. Once he had it, he fired, a flash of light emanating from the mouth just as before, the kickback of the thing knocking him to the ground, as well as keeping him from feeling the pain as a bullet managed to nick his right arm.
The jumbled blast of stars hit the remaining Krieg Pirates head on, consuming them in an explosion of flames and lead stars, as well as a literal large explosion, from all the exploding stars. The explosion had badly damaged a large part of the front fin, not to mention had lit the fin on fire, that being the second time it was on fire today. This didn't matter though, as while all of the twenty five men had survived, they were running around in a frenzy, screaming in pain. Even if they did put themselves out, they'd probably be too hurt to keep fighting.
Then, with a very loud creak and a snap, the damaged part of the fin gave way, breaking off from the rest of the Baratie and falling into the ocean, preventing the fire from spreading to the rest of the floating establishment, putting out the pirates, and ending the battle between Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku and the cooks of the Baratie and the Krieg Pirates.
"Yeah, we did it! We won!" Carne shouted.
"We beat those Krieg Pirates down into the ground!" Patty agreed.
"Way to go Big Bro Usopp!" Johnny and Yosaku cried together.
"I did it?" He questioned, standing as he did, rubbing his right shoulder which hurt from the kickback of the weapon all the while. "I did it!" He exclaimed excitedly, a smile crossing his face as he did. "We did it! We won!" He declared.
"We beat the Krieg Pirates! We beat the Krieg Pirates! We beat the Krieg Pirates!" Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku, Patty and Carne all began to chant together, as they did a little group dance in victory.
"How many times are you gonna keep saying that!? You aren't the world's strongest man, not even close!" Luffy yelled at the man, his anger clear. With everything that had happened with Nami...he had a very short fuse as of right now. It was only a matter of time before something set him off.
"Shut you mouth brat, you don't know anything!" Krieg shouted at him.
"I know that I'm stronger than you." Luffy bit, not even bothering to have to raise his voice to do so.
"You? Stronger than me? That's a laugh! You're nothing but a scrawny runt! A rookie upstart! A stupid kid! And for making the stupid mistake of insulting and attacking me, you will die!" The mantles on his armor flipped up then, revealing ten gun barrels, the man pulling out two pistols at the same time, and proceeding to pump his opponent with led, firing them all at once.
He didn't bother to stop firing until his ammo ran dry, the guns going off continuously for half a minute. As his ammo was now used up, the smoke that accumulated from firing all those guns that was blocking his view dissipated, allowing him to see the brat he was sure he had turned to swiss cheese. Only, he was completely intact and completely lacked any holes in him, rather, most of his body was stretching outward behind him, the bullets not having ripped through his flesh like they were supposed to.
"Here, have these back!" Luffy said, before allowing his skin to snap back into place, sending the more than three hundred bullets that he had unloaded on him soaring back.
"What the!?" He questioned, as he brought his arms up to guard his face, so as to make sure he didn't get killed by one of his own bullets. It was definitely loud, as most of the bullets hit his armor, making clang after clang, becoming an incessant clanging that rose in volume. Thanks to the fact that all the weapons had been fired above the waist though, only one or two bullets actually ended up hitting Krieg, and they were only grazes on his legs, not even worth mentioning.
"Bullets won't work on me, I'm a rubber man!" Luffy proclaimed.
Lowering his arms, he growled. "Damn devil fruit users and their trickery! Your powers are nothing more than the illusion of strength, so don't you dare get cocky punk!"
Luffy's scowl from before returned at that. "You're even stupider than you look!"
"What was that!?" He squawked at the teenager.
"You heard me! You really think I'd still be alive if all I had was my devil fruit ability!? How could I become the King of the Pirates if I didn't have any strength of my own!? I don't need my devil fruit to beat anyone, especially someone like you!"
"Why you goddamn brat!" Krieg shouted, as his mantles closed and he pulled a weapon out. "I'll show you what happens when you disrespect me!" The weapon he had pulled out was a morning star, a giant spiked ball with a chain attached to it, which he began to spin, before tossing it out toward the straw hat pirate.
As it came down to him, Luffy met it head on with both hands, using his strength to shove it back at the golden armor wearing man. He had pushed too hard though, as while it did go back towards Krieg, it went a bit too high and ended up smacking into the mast, cracking it, breaking through parts of it with it's spikes, and causing it to tilt even further, the thing looking ready to come down at any moment.
Krieg roughly yanked it out of the mast, causing the wood to groan, before spinning it and sending it towards his rubber opponent once more. The sixteen year old didn't bother trying to dodge, nor did he look like he was preparing for anything in particular this time, he just stood there, waiting for the thing to hit him. Just before it did though, he reached up and jumped up, pushing himself off the ball as he did, also pushing the spiked ball down into the deck of the galleon, breaking partway through the deck as it did.
The teenage pirate came down a moment later, landing on the ball without hurting himself, pushing it just a bit further down into the wood of the deck, cracking the deck a little more. And as Krieg attempted to try and pull the ball back with the chain, the younger pirate grabbed it from his end and yanked it right out of the older man's hands, taking it away from him.
Krieg growled in annoyance, but didn't try and reclaim the morning star. Instead he pulled out a tiny black ball...and flicked it at his enemy. When it hit, there was a decent sized explosion, engulfing the rubber pirate in smoke. When said smoke cleared, he was fine, though the deck had a hole in it now.
The gray haired man didn't even bother to get annoyed or aggravated by this, simply pulling out a handful of those tiny bombs, and hurling them at the raven haired man. Seeing as there were a lot more this time, he quickly scrambled out of the way, as whether all the explosions would hurt him or not didn't matter, as that many would deal a lot of damage to the galleon they were on, and he couldn't afford to fall into the ocean.
Luffy just barely managed to get out of the blast radius, as they all went off, tearing up the deck and what was immediately below the deck on the galleon. A lot more smoke was left over this time, it taking a decent bit longer for it all to fade away. This made it where Krieg couldn't see his opponent, however, he could still hear him, the younger man running around. So that he could take him by surprise and attack him the moment he could see him, he listened intently to his footsteps, the creaking of the damaged galleon making this possible for him, as he removed his left shoulder plate and wielded it like a gun, loading it with a large belt of ammunition, said ammunition consisting of green and yellow colored stakes.
Once the smoke cleared, a large gaping hole could be seen in the deck of the galleon, and Krieg began to fire on Luffy, the stakes shooting out from his shoulder plate gun as fast as a machine gun. As they came shooting at him, the straw hat pirate began moving faster, so as to avoid being hit. While he increased his speed to keep from being hit with one of the stakes though, the older pirate just readjusted his aim and started firing where he was going to be at instead of where he was at that moment, making it pointless to have done so.
To continue to keep from being impaled on one of the stakes bigger than his wrist, the teen began to dodge side to side, jump forward jump back, roll in whatever direction necessary and hide behind anything that he could, which there wasn't much to use as cover but he still found something to duck behind once or twice anyway, all the while he was closing the distance between himself and Krieg. "Keep running brat! Run from my might!"
By the time he had less than ten feet of distance to cover, he hadn't been hit once by the stakes, the captain of the Krieg pirates out of ammo at that point. And as that was the case, Luffy was unimpeded, as he rushed toward him, his right fist cocked back, ready to deliver a strong punch to his face. So as to keep himself from being hit again, seeing as it had happened only once so far and had hurt more than anything else he had ever felt in his life, Krieg placed his shoulder plate back, before reaching back and pulling his cape, wrapping it around himself, spikes bursting out of it suddenly. "Just try and hit me now punk!" He taunted, holding his spiked cape shield tight around him.
Undeterred, Luffy got in close and rammed his right fist into the side of Krieg's face, impaling his hand on one of the spikes of his cape as he did, the force behind the blow not softened by the cape shield at all, the attack forcing the Don's head down onto the deck, cracking it and nearly making the part of it he was on give way. "Would you shut your face already!?" He was knocked nearly unconscious from the blow, his eyes half rolled back into his head, which is why no cry of pain was heard from him. The blow had cracked his jaw and skull, as well as caused a nasty bruise to begin forming on the left side of his face, he was literally only a punch away from being down for the count.
Before Luffy could deliver this punch though, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Baratie catch fire. Pulling his fist back, relaxing his hand as he did, blood now flowing and dripping from his right hand as well as his left, he turned to look toward the floating restaurant. "What the...what happened!?" He questioned, no one able to give him an answer since he was up her alone, besides the nearly unconscious Krieg that is. "If that fire isn't put out soon, Pops Zeff's restaurant'll be burned down for sure!" He exclaimed worriedly.
He had to go help, but as he looked back to see Krieg struggling to get off the deck and to his feet, he knew he had to put him down for the count first. As he thought that, he looked toward the Baratie once more, to see Zeff at where the front fin met the actual deck of his ship, his arms crossed, looking calm, cool and composed. Someone had this under control, the look on the old blonde man's face made that clear. That's when he lifted his right leg, the one with the false leg, the peg leg, brought it back and kicked forward with it, the gust of wind following behind it snuffing out the raging fire. Seeing this caused Luffy's eyes to widen a good deal. "Did...did Pops Zeff just use Tempest Kick?" He wondered to himself, though knowing he had.
The sound of Krieg finally getting to his feet caught Luffy's attention, so he turned to face him, only to see him detach his cape and stumble forward and catch himself at the railing, almost falling over it as he did. That's when the rubber man realized he was looking at something, following his line of sight, his eyes found Ghin crouching over Sanji, crying.
He proceeded to apologize to Krieg and beg him to let him disobey just this once and not kill Sanji, reminding him that he had always been loyal to a fault to try and convince him. However...
"Why you dirty little sunuva bitch! You think you can defy my orders!?" The golden armor wearing man questioned angrily and incredulously. "You are pathetic Ghin! Morality, sympathy, these are weaknesses I had never expected to see from you!" He stated. "Listen here, if you don't kill that stupid cook, then you will no longer be my chief commander! And you won't only lose your rank either, you'll lose your life as well when I kill you both!"
Ghin lowered his head then, making it where he couldn't see as Krieg removed his shoulder plate once more, this time the other one though, preparing to use it as a gun as he did. "It doesn't matter, I'll just kill you both now anyways. Anyone who lowers themselves and betrays my crew will almost certainly do it again, and more importantly, I will not allow anyone disobey me to live!" He tried to shout, but was only able to harshly whisper, gargling on and coughing up a bit of blood as he did so. "Now, time for the MH5! Poison gas bomb...fire!"
"No you don't!" Luffy had reached him just as he fired the weapon, kicking his arm, throwing it off mark, causing the gas bomb to go flying out over the ocean, falling into the water and unleashing the gas shortly afterward.
Snarling in anger, he tried to bash Luffy with his shoulder plate, failing to do so as he ducked under him. He kicked out then, the straw hat teen backing away to not get hit.
Using that as his chance, he tried to use another weapon, taking off the other glove he still had on, revealing his other diamond embedded gauntlet, along with a wrist mounted flamethrower. "Taste fire brat!" This he was able to shout, the blood no longer blocking his airway.
Flames spat out of the small thing, Luffy narrowly avoiding them, lunging away to keep from getting burned up. The golden armor wearing man tried to follow after, but found that was a big mistake, as Luffy ducked and weaved, causing him to set his own mast on fire, before the rubber teen got in close and broke the flame spitter in half, keeping it from being used against him again.
Krieg let out a cry of rage then, before actually physically shoving the devil fruit user back, saying as he did so. "Fine, have it your way. You want to challenge me so bad? Then I'll use my greatest weapon!" He removed both of his shoulder plates then, before putting them together, a wooden shaft extending from the bottom of the two as they were put together, and a spear head extending from the top. "My mighty Battle Spear!"
Pivoting forward with surprising agility, he brought it down on Luffy, the explosion as it made contact with him quite large and quite sudden. Only, when the smoke from the explosion cleared, he wasn't there, the large man had just blown another hole in the deck of his ship. "Where are you!?"
"Right here." He said from behind him. "That thing exploded when it hit the floor, that's kind of cool. A bomb spear, yeah, kind of cool."
"Shut up and die damn you!" He screamed at him, bringing his battle spear up and down once more, causing another explosion.
Luffy had dodged once more, and Krieg realized this, so quickly rush after him, tearing across the deck of his galleon, repeatedly slamming his battle spear down again and again to try and kill that rubber pest. All he really managed to end up doing after twenty slams of the thing, was to mess his flag ship up even worse.
His rage and aggravation were clear, as he cried, "Scared of me you damn brat!? You should be! Because I am Don Krieg, the strongest man in the world! And when I get ahold of you, I'll tear you to pieces!"
"You're annoying. Don't you ever shut up?" The sixteen year old inquired, a scowl on his face.
Giving a cry of rage once more, he turned and brought his battle spear down on his enemy. Only this time, instead of dodging, Luffy met it head on, his right fist colliding with the spearhead as the explosion consumed him and Krieg, which covered the sound of the spearhead breaking in half.
The smoke soon cleared, and as it did, Krieg's eyes bulged as he saw his battle spear. "Wha-what did you do to my mighty Battle Spear!?"
"Isn't it obvious? I punched it in the head." Luffy stated, his tone the one you would use if you were talking to someone who had asked a stupid question. He looked the weapon up and down then, before remarking, "Looks like all you've got now is a bomb on a stick. Pretty lame."
Krieg physically began to shake then, his rage consuming every thought he had, his mind solely focused on one thing, killing the straw hat pirate.
That's when said straw hat teen suddenly spoke again, his voice accusing. "Look, are you going to just keep playing around with those toys of yours? Or are we actually going to fight?"
Krieg screamed at the top of his lungs then, in rage, aggravation, annoyance and slipping sanity. "No one does this to me! No one can do this to me! It's impossible! I am the great Don Krieg, the strongest man in the world! I have impenetrable armor! I have the greatest weapons in the world! I am the best! I am the best! I AM THE BEST!"
He was losing it, his eyes were bloodshot all to hell, he was physically shaking and looked ready to explode with all the rage running through him. "I WON'T LOSE TO A BRAT LIKE YOU, I WON'T! I AM THE GREAT DON KRIEG! NO ONE CAN BEAT ME!"
He pivoted forward then, cocking his right fist back as he did, before shooting it forward with everything that he had. "NOW I WILL SHOW YOU WHY I AM MIGHTY, AND YOU ARE NOT!"
"Try it!" Luffy cried in return, as he met Krieg's right fist with his own, the clash of strength not even lasting more than a few moments, as the larger man's gauntlet violently cracked, the bones in his arm following suit, causing him to stumble back, his arm going limp as he did.
Luffy didn't let up however, pivoting forward himself, bringing his arms back, stretching them a bit and shooting them forward, palms open, slamming them into the man's armor clad abdomen. "Gum Gum Bazooka!" The double open palmed blow broke the armor into pieces, shattering and falling away from his body, the man stumbling and almost falling from it happening.
"You talk about how great you are, claiming to have the greatest weapons in the world, the best armor, that it's impenetrable, that you're the strongest, but it's all just that, talk! When it comes to the world, it's not me that amounts to nothing, it's you!" Taking a quick step forward then, Luffy rammed his right fist into Krieg's face, sending him down to the deck from the force of the blow, knocking him unconscious and causing the entire galleon to groan, before the entire deck caved in on itself, taking Luffy and Krieg with it.
Seeing as he was unconscious, Krieg had no way to catch himself and fell down into his own ship, accumulating a few more injuries as he did. Luffy on the other hand, stretched his arms up and grabbed onto the railing of the boat at the last second, and shot himself back up. "Gum Gum Rocket!"
Launching himself into the air, he was a good thirty feet high, before throwing his arms down to the Baratie, grabbing onto the railing between the deck and the front fin and snapping himself towards it, coming down to where his friends were.
Luffy vs Don Krieg
Winner: Luffy
To Be Continued...
If you couldn't tell, though I'm sure you could, Sanji is also a decent bit stronger than he was in Cannon. Not exactly on par with Luffy's or Zoro's jump in strength, but enough to where he'll have less difficulty with enemies that don't have some kind of strength boost compared to their Cannon timeline counterparts.
Also, if you guys are wondering, no, Krieg and his men did not run into Mihawk this time. They just got really unlucky. Okay, first they had difficulty entering the Grand Line, reverse mountain giving them some trouble. Then they ended up running into Laboon, hence the broken figure head. Then of course they dealt with the crazy way weather works in the Grand Line. And finally, very unfortunately for them, they ran into Baroque Works, which was where almost half the damage they sustained came from.