Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

The Swordsman Resolve

Everyone was shocked to see that the greatest swordsman in the world was the individual that destroyed Don Krieg's fleet into oblivion. The mentioned man was now fuming in the mouth as he looked at the swordsman. His men were all panicking as they looked at the man that gave them nightmares besides their captain. The straw-hat crew was looking at him with interest especially Zoro who felt that this was a chance from heaven to test himself against the world's greatest swordsman. Zeff was looking at him stoically wondering what those idiots did to earn themselves the world's greatest swordsman wrath.

He then chuckled to himself as he looked at Krieg's men, and said, "What did you exactly do to earn his wrath? Wake him from his sleep?" Zeff asked Krieg's men who were angry at the cook for making fun of them.

The pirates then began to yell in anger at Zeff saying, "Don't say something so ridiculous. This man killed so many of us, just for interrupting his sleep. Are you insane?"

Mihawk who was calmly sitting in his boat said in a calm voice, "He's not wrong, you know. The only reason I attacked you is that you woke me up from my sleep. If you didn't you might have survived." Truth be told, Mihawk was a simple man. He didn't do much given that no one was his equal when it came to swordsmanship, so he usually drank wine or trained. He fought on occasion any rookie swordsman who thought that they can measure up to him only for them to be cut down, and destroyed faster than they thought.

Krieg then looked at The swordsman with a scowl as he said, "What are doing here? Didn't you already destroy my fleet? What business do you even have here?"

Mihawk looked at him with an uninterested look as he sighed saying, "Nothing much, but I was bored, so I followed my prey to here."

Everyone was then shocked that Mihawk was so bored that he followed the people who had destroyed them just to finish them off as if he didn't have anything better to do with his time.

One Krieg's man then yelled in frustration at the swordsman, "What are you bastard. Leave us alone already." The man then lifted his gun and starts shooting at the swordsman hoping to kill him, but the result didn't please him.

As the bullets barreled toward the swordsman, he merely lifted his sword from his back and hit the bullets with them sending them flying away shocking the Krieg pirates.

"What the hell did he just do?" One of the pirates asked fearful of someone who can hit bullets with his sword.

The voice of Zoro then answered his question as he approached them, "He simply redirected the trajectory of his bullets by moving the edge of his blade. No matter how you shoot at him it won't change a thing."

The pirates then yelled at him, "Don't be ridiculous. No one can do that. It's impossible."

Zoro ignored the man as he looked at Mihawk, and said in admiration, "In my entire life, I never seen anyone that handled a sword with such grace. It's truly impressive."

The other swordsman looked at him with little interest as he said, "A sword that has no grace is no sword at all."

"I see, you're truly as good as they say," Zoro said as he now stood on a piece of Don Krieg's boat that was still intact and wasn't destroyed by the swordsman. He looked around at the ship, and said, "You're the person that destroyed this ship, didn't you?"

Mihawk nodded his head at Zoro, as he said, "Yes indeed. They interrupted my nap so they had to pay, but why are you asking all these questions."

Krieg's men then looked at Zoro and began to scan him greatly, and what they saw made them pale. The realization then hit them like a ton of bricks; they now knew that they were here with not one monster but two; Dracula Mihwak and Rorona Zoro.

"Look, he has 3 swords." one of the men spoke in fear as he looked at Zoro, "That's him. the demon walking on earth pirate hunter Zoro."

Zoro then with a smile etched on his face said to Mihawk, "I still can't believe it. I set all the way sailing just to meet you, and you've now come to me."

"Hmm, but still you didn't answer my earlier question; why do you seek me out?" Mihawk asked with his trademark bored expression.

Zoro simply replied as he tied his bandana to his head, "To become the greatest swordsman in the world; I must defeat you."

Back with Nami, she used the distraction Mihawk's entrance caused to slip with Usopp unnoticed, she then boarded the boat with the boy who began whining, "Why did Luffy send me with you to fight the Fishman. I don't want to die; I'm still too young to be eaten by them."

The girl promptly whacked him on the head as she said, "Calm down already. You aren't going to be eaten by them. You're going to stay at my sister's place, while I sort out some business with Arlong, got it?"

They then heard Yosaku say, "Hey, guys look it seems that big bro Zoro is talking to the new arrival."

They then looked at him, and Johnny seemed to recognize him on the spot as he said, "Dude, that's the man that big bro has been looking for. I mean he told himself. That's Dracula Mihawk."

Yosaku then smiled, "Really? Then that means, big bro can finally beat him, and become the greatest swordsman in the world."

Nami then facepalmed at how naïve those two idiots were. She knew this was a battle that Zoro was going to lose and severely at that. Why? Simple, she had heard tales about Mihawk's strength either through Arlong, or some other swordsman who fought him and lived to tell the tale and get tricked by her so she can steal their money.

She then looked at Zoro was talking with him, and seriously hoped he doesn't do anything too stupid such as fighting him, but given how he was talking with him; it suggested otherwise. Zoro wanted to fight him to test himself; she can't blame him for following his ambitions, but she thought that it was a little bit reckless for him to do that.

She then looked at Usopp who was shivering as he looked at Mihawk so she said, "Is there anything that doesn't frighten you?"

The boy then said, "Hey you can't blame me," he then pointed to his eyes and said, "I mean look at him. it's like he looking at my soul."

The girl rolled her eyes as she looked back at them, but then Johnny and Yosaku said, "Can we stay and watch, please?"

The girl looked at them. She didn't feel comfortable being late for her date, but as long as she arrived on the due day, it wasn't going to be a problem if she was a couple of hours late for that.

She then said, "Fine, but only a little since I have to go."

The boys thanked her profusely as they went to the railings of the ship, and watched the two swordsmen interact. Nami then said as she looked in Zoro's direction, "I have a seriously bad feeling about this."

Silence enveloped the place, as everyone looked at Zoro who just called Mihawk out to a duel.

The man in question then said, "And why should I do that?"

"You said you have free time, right?" Zoro asked as he looked at him, "So, why not have a duel with me?"

Everyone then wondered what will be the outcome of a duel between the world's greatest swordsman and Zoro the creator of the three swords style.

Mihawk, on the other hand, looked at Zoro and only one thought came to his mind, and it was weak. The boy in front of him was like all those who have challenged him before. Nonetheless, he said, "Very well then."

He then stepped from his boat and boarded the remains of the ship that the Krieg pirates were holding onto as he looked at Zoro saying, "But just for your knowledge, any component swordsman would back away right, as it can be felt through our skills and levels without even crossing our blades, but yet you stand strong against me." He then added, "Why? Is it from your conviction or ignorance?"

The three-style swordsman then pulled out two of his swords as he looked at Mihawk saying, "No, it comes from my ambition and a promise that I plan to fulfill to a friend."

The man finally drew his third sword and placed it into his mouth as he admitted, "In all honesty, I never thought I would meet you here of all places, or this early on, but I can't waste such an opportunity."

Mihawk merely shook his head as he said, "Such a waste of time if you ask me."

Zeff then stood and rubbed his chin, "I wonder now what will happen when those two clashes with each other." He knew that the victor was going to be Mihawk, but he was sure the boy also knew that, so he concluded that the boy wanted to test out himself against his ultimate goal and see how far he was.

Sanji, meanwhile stood in shock watching the idiot throw away his life against someone who he could tell just by looking at him that he was stronger, but why was following his dream that drastic that he was willing to throw away his life.

Nami on the boat sat as she watched. She knew this was going to end badly, not just badly. But what can she do? It's not like he'll listen to her.

Luffy then looked at Robin, and asked, "Who do you think will win"

The black-head then said, "It's clear that Mihawk will without a shadow of a doubt. Zoro is good, but Mihawk is even better. There is no way he can keep up with him." he then bit her lip as she said, "I think we should stop him."

"No"

"What, but why?"

"Because that's Zoro's dream. I can't tell him not to follow it. We all agreed to follow our dream even if it kills us, so we just have to wait and see what happens." Luffy answered. Robin understood what he meant. She didn't like it, but she understood. This was Zoro's dream; they had no right to interfere with it, even if it meant that he dies today.

They then heard Zoro yell, "What kind of trick are pulling here?"

They then saw Mihawk pull a small blade from his necklace and point it toward Zoro who seemed to be boiling in anger at the perceived insult.

Mihawk then explained, "Young man, I'm not a brute who goes all out on prey. It's unwise to try and kill a fly with a cannon." He then took a more serious look on his face, "Even though you are a well-known swordsman here; the east blue is the weakest of the seas. In the grand line, you're just another second-class swordsman who doesn't know any better."

The man then had a sad expression on his face as he apologized, "Though I am sorry that I don't have a smaller blade, since this may also be considered overkill for a small fry like you."

This made Zoro's mind go over the edge as he tried to run towards the swordsman to try and strike him down, but he felt something holding him to the ground. He then looked down and saw 4 disembodied hands. He then turned toward Robin saying, "Hey, what happened to not interfering with my dream?"

The girl then told him, "First calm down, so you can do better. Don't let your rage control you, Zoro. It will make you fight badly."

Mihawk then added, "What she is saying is true. A swordsman must never lose to his rage."

Zoro then took a deep breath letting out some air as he calmed his breath. He then nodded to Robin who let him go. He then said to himself, "If he thinks that a small knife can keep me down, then I'll just have to prove him wrong."

He then looked toward his goal and dream saying, "Now it begins." And with that, he dashed toward Mihawk who seemed still as uninterested as he first came here, but Zoro wanted to prove him wrong.

The young swordsman lifted his swords toward the older one, as he crossed his two blades with the third one being horizontal in his mouth, as he yelled at his opponent, "Oni Giri."

Mihawk saw the young man running toward trying to slash him; he had to admit that the move wasn't bad per se, but it needed some sharpening for it to become stronger. However, that hit was anything from strong or even able to make him budge a centimeter. He lifted his small dagger and put it in a place where all the blades meet together.

This shocked everyone, especially Zoro who just used one of his strongest attacks only for it to be stopped by something so small, that it couldn't even be classified as a kitchen knife.

The young swordsman tried to move, but it was impossible. He wondered how the man was able to stop him with just this small knife. He looked at him and pressed even further to move, but he couldn't, so he yelled, "How the hell are you able to stop me with this?"

"Young man, as I said earlier, this is the weakest sea, so compared to someone who lived his entire life on the grand line, you are weak," Mihawk answered Zoro's question making Zoro angry, but he calmed his breath down as he looked at him, before disengaging the older swordsman and retreating to prepare another attack to try, and defeat him. "In this world, you're like a little frog in its well, but now you'll taste how the world is like."

Meanwhile, the others were shocked by what was happening. The Krieg pirates looked at this fight with wide eyes as one of them said, "That's impossible. He's able to stop Zoro, but this guy is said to be like a devil."

"Tell me about it. This guy is a monster if he's able to stop Zoro the pirate hunter."

On the ship with Nami, Nami looked at the fight with interest as she saw the fight begin. This fight was either going to end with Zoro being hurt badly or said man becoming dead. She looked at Zoro's shocked expression when the world's greatest swordsman stopped him.

Usopp, on the side, was trembling in fear as he watched the fight. He was asking himself how was Zoro able to stand up to this man, and fight him? And he was seriously afraid for Zoro's health.

Johnny and Yosaku on the side were sharing on Zoro, as they fully believed that Zoro would be able to defeat Mihawk. They then said, "Don't give up, big bro Zoro. Get him. You can defeat him."

Zoro looked at Mihawk, before charging at him as he yelled preparing another attack, "Tora Gari." The attack was launched at the older swordsman, but just like the previous attack Mihawk stopped him saying, "Still weak."

Finally, Zoro's mind snapped as he began to the swordsman with reckless abandonment. The strikes were all blocked by Mihawk, but this caused Zoro to be stunned as he said, "No, this can't be happening. This is impossible."

Zoro couldn't get it. He knew Mihawk was stronger than him but was he really that stronger? It was impossible. He knew that there was a gap between them, but now it seemed more like an endless chasm that he somehow needed to jump through and reach to the other side. He then asked himself if the gap between them was this high. Could it be that this man was so much stronger than him?

Mihawk was now impressed with the younger swordsmen; perhaps this duel wasn't a waste of time anymore. The man then looked at the boy who was fighting with such strength and ferocity adding to that persistence to continue, even though he knew now that he was outclassed by the older one.

Mihawk then exclaimed with a straight face, "Such strength and ferocity. I need to know something, young man." He then asked as he looked at Zoro, "Why are you fighting? What burden your soul so much," he then trailed as he added, "weakling?"

Zoro then yelled as charged saying, "I won't give up." This was met by the man dodging him, and hitting the back of his neck causing the young man to fall to the ground as the sword in his mouth almost fell out.

Back with Luffy, the rubber man looked at Zoro with discomfort as he tried to control himself. He then looked and saw Robin fidgeting slightly in her place; he then grabbed her hand and massaged it saying, "I know, but we can't do anything at this point."

The girl sighed knowing that her boyfriend was correct and that they couldn't stop Zoro at this point, but she couldn't help but be worried. Zoro, even though he wouldn't show it, was their friend. She prayed that he could make it out of it in one piece.

Back on the boat, Johnny and Yosaku were grabbed by Nami who was keeping them back, so they wouldn't jump and join the fight. She truly began to regret staying here. It was seriously annoying with the idiotic duo trying go to commit suicide.

"Let us go, we need to go and help big bro Zoro," Johnny said as he struggled to escape from Nami's grip and join the fight.

"Yeah, let's us go. we need to go and beat that guy up for hurting big bro Zoro." Yosaku said as he wiggled in Nami's grip. This caused the girl to hit them over the head with her fists causing huge bumps to appear over their heads.

Nami then yelled at them with a demonic face with shark teeth, "And what are you going to do? Die?" Nami then added, "Zoro is ten times stronger than you, and he can't even leave a hit on the guy. What do you clowns hope to achieve? You're most likely to become dead weight on the guy as he fights with him."

"But we can't leave big bro like this." Johnny said in protest as he tried to reach the railings, but was stopped when Nami stumped on his leg saying, "Don't do anything stupid."

Yosaku then sat calmly knowing that fighting against Nami will most likely cause him more pain than it was worth in the first place.

Nami then sighed as she said, "Look, Zoro is my friend, and as much as I'm worried for him. this is his dream, and I can't just stop him. He wanted to fight this guy alone, and we can't do anything about it. The best we can do is we hope that he gets out of it with the least amount of damage possible."

The two men then nodded their heads repeatedly understanding Nami's words as they looked back to the fight occurring between the world's greatest swordsman, and their brother.

Back with Zoro, the green-haired swordsman then stood up as he looked at Mihawk, and said, "I won't stop right now." He then adjusted himself, and adjusted his blades saying, "I didn't come this far to give up," he then charged at Mihawk yelling, "so you better take me seriously you…"

The sound of Zoro was then silenced as the sound of flesh being pierced, replayed. Zoro then looked down at his chest as he saw that the small blade Mihawk wielded was now stuck in his chest, so he coughed out blood from his mouth.

Everyone around them was stunned, as Luffy looked with worry etched on his face as Robin turned her face away unable to watch the fight anymore since one of her friends was almost killed right at this moment.

Nami was now looking with fear at Zoro who was hanging on the Mihawk's small blade. Usopp closed his eyes in fear, as he didn't have the heart to look at the scene anymore. Johnny and Yosaku were shocked that someone managed to get a hit on their big bro, and they knew that they couldn't do anything at this point.

Mihawk looked at Zoro. He then began to wonder why the boy didn't back away; at this point, most of his opponents would've backed away by now to keep their lives, but this young man didn't even back away from what could be his death. Even when he only needed a small push to kill him, the boy didn't show fear or back away.

The older swordsman looked at the young man, "Young man, why didn't you back away from this?"

He waited for Zoro who finally answered, "I don't know, but if I backed away now, I would lose everything I have. I can't just back away, no matter what the circumstances are." The young swordsman said as he was thinking about the promise he made with his old friend Kuina. He remembered the day they fought and both of them made a pact to become the world's greatest swordsman. He then remembered the day she died, and how he swore to fight for her to become the world's greatest swordsman. "Backing away at this point is worse than defeat."

Mihawk then looked at Zoro, as he observed the young man, and said, "Even if defeat here, in this case, means death?" The older swordsman asked trying to test the young man's resolve.

The young swordsman then said, "I prefer death then backing away."

Mihawk smiled as he said, "That's well said young man. Now tell me, what is your name?" The swordsman then removed the small blade from Zoro's chest and put it back into his place. Mihawk then reached to his sword attached to his back and pulled it.

"Rorona Zoro"

"I shall remember it." He then looked at Zoro, and said, "As a gesture of respect from one swordsman to another, I will down you use my sword."

Zoro looked at him with eagerness, as Zoro then began to prepare another attack to hit Mihawk with it. He then begins to put the two blades in a vertical position with the mouth blade in a horizontal position. He then jumps at Mihawk as he says, "Three Sword Style, Secret Technique: 3000 Thousand Worlds."

Mihawk then dashed toward Zoro and brought down their sword toward the younger swordsman.

The two then cross paths, as their blades cross with each other. When the two managed to bypass each other. It looked for a moment as if Zoro was able to defeat the older swordsman, but moments later Zoro then coughed blood, as the two blades in his hands shattered into bits and pieces Zoro himself began to put his white sword away, as he said, "I've been defeated."

Everyone was floored by this as everyone looked at Mihawk who had defeated Zoro the pirate hunter; the strongest man in this sea by far.

Both Luffy and Robin at this point were worried about their friend, as they looked at him when he was struck by Mihawk's sword.

On the boat, Nami was shaking in fear feeling worried for Zoro with Usopp trying to keep calm after seeing Zoro being struck down by Mihawk.

Mihawk then ran toward Zoro, who simply stood up and turned around facing the older swordsman with his arms opened wide. This caused the swordsman to ask, "What are you doing?"

Zoro smirked as he said, "Scars on the back of a swordsman is a shame."

Mihawk smiled at this as he replied, "Well said."

He then slashed Zoro causing a huge wound to appear on the younger man's chest. Zoro then fell backward into the water as Yosaku and Johnny jumped from the boat into the water and raced toward their big bro to save him from drowning.

Sanji looked at Zoro, as he fell into the water, but he couldn't get what happened out of his mind. Why risk so much for his ambition if it meant death? Why take on someone much stronger than you? Sanji then yelled, "It's simple. Throw away your ambitions."

Mihawk then turned his head to the side as he lifted his blade and blocked a strike from Luffy who looked at him in anger.

The older man then said, "Don't worry young man, your friend over there isn't dead. He is still too young to die; he has much more things to do."

Luffy then turned his head and looked to the side as he saw Johnny and Yosaku lift Zoro from the water, as the latter began to cough water from his lungs. The swordsman then yelled, "Luffy, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you," Luffy replied to the swordsman.

"I'm sorry I worried you today." Zoro said as tears began to fall from his eyes, he then added, "You said that the pirate king doesn't need anything less from the best, right?" the young swordsman then lifted his blade to the air as he said, "That's why I promise you that I won't ever lose again."

Luffy smiled as Zoro added, "Do you have a problem with that, pirate king?"

Luffy then yelled, "Of course not." He was happy that this didn't hamper his friend's ambitions, and he was still as passionate as ever about being a swordsman.

Mihawk smirked as he thought that this trip he took to follow the prey that managed to allude him wasn't a bust at all; he managed to find something that truly intrigued him. it was nothing, but a small hatchling, however, this small hatchling had the potential to grow, and become a huge dragon that soured over the skies.

He then looked to the downed swordsman and lifted his sword into the air as he said, "Rorona Zoro, I will remember this name. I Dracula Mihawk, I will wait for you on the top, and see what will become of you. Now go find your true world Zoro, go find yourself. I will wait for you to forge your will and the fierce conviction of yours so that one day you succeed in surpassing my sword, and surpassing me."

Everyone was shocked that the world greatest swordsman just acknowledged Zoro, as one person said, "To think Dracula Mihawk of all people would say this."

The swordsman then looked at Luffy as he asked the rubber boy, "What is your ambition, boy?"

Luffy looked at him, and said with his usual confidence, "I'm going to become the pirate king."

Mihawk then smiled as he said, "I see; a goal that is even harder than surpassing me." the world's greatest swordsman then smiled as he casually walked to his boat as said, "I think you both make a good team."

He then said to Luffy, "I would like to meet you both one day again."

Luffy responded by flashing the swordsman a thumbs up.

But as Mihawk was about to leave a voice called out to him, he turned around only to see Krieg smirking at him as he said, "Hey Mihawk, last time I checked you came all this way to hunt me down. Isn't that right?"

The swordsman then said "Correct, but I found something that interested me more, so I can say that I got my fair share of excitement for one day, so count your blessings before I change my mind."

Krieg then smirked as he said, "Well, to be honest, it's true that you may have your fair share, but sure didn't." He then activated his armor as he pointed every gun he had on it toward the swordsman who merely scoffed.

Meanwhile, Kreig's men were trembling with fear as they asked themselves why their boss was picking a fight with this monster.

Krieg then said, "So how about before you live, you die." He finished as he launched several bullets and projectiles toward the man who said, "He never learns, does he?"

The swordsman then moved his blade against the waves blocking the attack, but at the same time disappearing from the area, but this move of his caused the sea itself to become disturbed as huge waves occurred causing everyone to hold onto something.

Luffy then looked around and saw that Nami was still there, so he shouted at her, "Nami, what are you doing here? Quickly go to your home island, so nothing happens to it." He said as he extended his arms to Johnny and Yosaku throwing them on board. He then added, "Don't worry about Zoro, I'm sure the chefs have someone who can help him." he said as he grabbed the downed Swordsman, and jumped back onto the baratie handing Zoro to a couple of chefs who took him to treat his wounds with Robin following them.

He gave Nami one final look, and said, "Go and don't worry. We'll be right behind. I promised I will help you, and I will keep my word."

The girl nodded her head as she yelled at Usopp to ready the sails causing they were going to move. She then told Johnny and Yosaku to help her handle the steering wheel while she navigated the ship.

It only took a few moments, but the ship was now on its course, and away from the site.

Krieg looked around as he scoffed, "Tch, the coward ran away." He then looked back at the chefs as he said, "Well, now that this punk ran away, let's get back to business. Shall we, gentlemen?"

He then looked at his men who managed to recollect themselves after the initial beat down they took, before the world's greatest swordsman showed up, so he said, "Well men, since that's over go grab that ship, and you better not fail this time."

"Good thing, nothing too bad happened to it, or else all our effort would amount to nothing today." He then began to stroke his chin and began to imagine who this ship will come in handy in his escapades in the grad line.

One of his men then came up, and said, "But boss, what will we do if we came up to another monster like Mihawk in the grand line."

This man was then effectively shot through the head, as Don Krieg yelled, "Are still afraid of him? don't make me laugh; you honestly believe that he can cut a galleon. He must've had a devil fruit on him." The pirate captain then began to explain that the grand line is infested with devil fruit users.

"But the man you see over there, 'Red-Leg Zeff' is one of the few men who went to the grand line, and lived to tell the tale. So go, and take this boat so we can take it, and Zeff's shipping log, so I can become the pirate king." This got the desired effect as his men became excited at the prospect of having another crack at the grand line.

Luffy who was standing with Zeff then said, "Don't forget our deal, old man."

Zeff then smirked saying, "Only if you get rid of those brats, you can take the eggplant not that I need him anyways."

Luffy then smiled as he stretched his arms to two ledges, as he said, "Gum-Gum Rocket." The rubber boy was then sent flying toward the Krieg pirates and managed to take down a couple of them, before wrapping his hand around a wooden beam to prevent himself from falling into the water.

He then saw Krieg, and he said, "Get ready because I'm about to kick your butts from here to the grand line."

The huge man then scoffed as he said, "You? Here? And on water? Tell me, are you devil fruit users weak in water?"

Luffy then nodded his head as he said, "Yeah, we kinda are." This caused a couple of yells from the chefs' side to echo as they said, "Don't tell him your weakness."

Everyone then heard a loud crashing sound in the waves, and they looked to the side as they heard Crane say, "Whoever doesn't want to die move to the side."

Patty then said, "This is Baratie's secret weapon."

Everyone looked at it, and began to wonder what was the thing that just appeared? The thing appeared to be a miniature version of the baratie with its head equipped with cannons, and water peddlers. Inside it, Patty and Crane were arguing how to move the thing, before finally managing to agree.

The two then went full speed ahead as they opened its mouth, and began firing cannonballs at the pirates who fled for dear life.

The two then went to kill Don Krieg, as Patty said, "Hey Krieg, get ready to taste today's special, cannonball fish with a side of fine powder."

Krieg didn't acknowledge them, as they fired the cannonballs at him. the air was then covered by smoke, but when it was cleared up. It showed Krieg, in tip-top condition, as he held the miniature ship with one hand while looking at it shocking everyone. Krieg then said, "I'm the Don Krieg, future pirate king." This caused Luffy to protest as Krieg then continued, "I have no time to play around with small children like yourselves." He finished as he lifted the ship into the air and threw it toward the baratie.

Sanji then began smoking as he said, "Time for work." He then disappeared from among the chefs as he then appeared beside the fish-like ship, before kicking it causing it to change its course, as everyone gaped at him for his strength. The small ship then landed in of the fins of the floating restaurant, as Patty and Crane came bursting out of it claiming Sanji was trying to kill them.

After that display of power, Krieg yelled at his men, "Everyone, go and take the boat." His men then began to run toward their quarry, but the chefs stood in their way as they fought tooth and nail to protect the place. But the less experienced chefs in fighting were defeated rather quickly, so Patty yelled, "Are you going to let a couple of small-time fries beat you?" he then lifted a pitchfork while Crane held a knife-like thing.

Both of them then ran toward the pirates who claimed that this was going to be an easy win for them but were met by the two cooks' strength which caught them off guard.

Meanwhile, in the water, a huge round metal plate was floating to the floating restaurant. When it reached it, the plate put a hand on the edge and lifted itself as it revealed a heavily plated man who proceeded to beat the stuffing out of both Patty and Crane. The man then said in a victorious tone, "I'm Pearl, the iron wall of the Krieg pirates, and no one has ever defeated me in combat."

One of the pirates then tried to kill Patty using his kitchen knife only for Sanji to interfere, and send him flying with a couple of his friends into Pearl, as he said that a knife is a soul of a chef, so it can't be handled by idiots like him.

5 pirates were then irritated by Sanji, as they began to attack, him, but the man in black then seemed to disappear from their sight only to reappear in front of them and kicked them hard in the abdomen causing them to wail in agony.

Pearl then said, "To take 5 of them at once, and only with your feet. Are just lazy, or is it some kind of weird policy, you have going around here."

Sanji smiled as he said, "A cook's hands are only meant for cooking, so no I don't use them for fighting." He then lit a cigarette as he said to Pearl, "But if you feel left out, then don't worry your turn is coming right up."

Pearl then laughed at Sanji and began to as he explained how it was impossible to defeat him, how no one ever had managed to lay a hand on him due to his skills, and how his iron defense gives him the perfect protection.

Sanji then said, "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything, don't you agree with me?"

Luffy on the other hand began to wonder what was going on, but a mouth bloomed on his shoulder, and said, "Luffy watch out. Krieg is about to attack you."

The rubber looked and saw the Krieg was holding a mace, and smirking at him. the rubber boy being as careful as possible jumped in the air before the mace hit the sail he was on, before landing on the remains of the ship again. Robin from a window in the upper levels sighed in relief

The rubber boy then stretched his arm back and tried to hit Krieg, but the arm kept stretching till it reached the restaurant. When he tried to hit Krieg with it he evaded it, but something else caught their attention.

Meanwhile, Pearl was still going on about he was invincible, as he blocked an attack from Sanji, but suddenly something hit him in the back of the head causing him to smack his head against one of the shields that he was using to fight Sanji.

Pearl then went eerily quiet, Sanji looked at him with confusion.

The man put his hand to his face and noticed that blood was flowing from his nose. This caused all the Krieg pirates to panic, and even Krieg himself said, "Ah damn it, this happened at the worst time possible."

The armored man then began to shake uncontrollably as he crotched on the ground.

Sanji looked at him, and said, "What's wrong with you? Are you some kind of baby throwing a tantrum?"

The guy then stood up, and looked directly at his hand as he saw the blood and said, "Blood… my invincible shield has failed me!"

The Krieg pirates then began to run away in fear as some of them began to beg for Pearl not to lose it. The armored man then began to hit his shields together, as he screamed loudly, "Danger! Danger!"

Don Krieg then said from the ship, "Pearl, calm down already. It's just some blood."

The man then kept clinging his shields together as he kept repeating the word 'Danger', but then the entirety of his shield burst into blue flames as he screamed even louder, "Danger"

Everyone was shocked by the sudden development, while the Krieg pirates were afraid, as this was Pearl's defensive mechanism that he used whenever he felt threatened by anyone.

Pearl then yelled, "Stay away from me, I'm the walking danger. This is 'Fire'."

The man then launched from his body flaming pearls toward Sanji, but the cook then skillfully evaded the hits aimed at him, as the pirates screamed for their life afraid that they might get caught in the crossfire. All this while, Luffy and Krieg stood watching the chaos unfold, as Krieg said, "Pearl, you damned fool, don't you dare ruin this ship."

Luffy replied, "He seems crazy."

Pearl meanwhile only screamed, "Burn." And was throwing his 'Flaming Pearls' at everyone and everything causing a huge fire to appear on the ship as people were now put between two choices either fire and the sea.

Seeing that his home was being threatened with being burned and get destroyed, Sanji going went into action as he raced toward Pearl against the other cooks' warning, and jumped into the air above him. the man briefly looked at him as he heard Sanji say, "This ship isn't yours to burn." Sanji then aimed a kick at Pearl's face, but the man blocked it with a shield.

A lot of people were astonished that Sanji just walked up to the line of fire without even blinking, but the blond man only chuckled as he said, "What kind of chef do you take me for? I deal with fire regularly, so I can't afford to be afraid of a small candle flame."

Pearl then attacked Sanji as he thrusted two shields forward, but Sanji evaded and replied by sending a kick to Pearl's face.

The Krieg pirates watched in shock as Pearl was knocked to his back, and one of them said in shock, "He did… he actually did and passed Pearl's shields."

One of them then whistled saying, "That's one tough cook, but this just got a whole lot worse."

Sanji had a smirk on his face, as he saw Pearl rise, and yell at him, "How dare you attack me? How dare you kick me in the face?" The man then started slamming his armors together as he said, "Big Danger! Flaming Pearls!"

He then sent out a huge number of 'Flaming Pearls' toward the entrance of the ship where Zeff was standing. The cooks panicked about Zeff's safety, but the man merely waved his leg in the air and blew out the flames on the pearls causing them to land harmlessly beside them.

Luffy and the other chefs were Impressed by Zeff's skills, but Krieg was annoyed with Pearl and the man's attempt to sink the ship, so he said, "Before you even think about burning the ship, I'll sink you all…" the man then threw his mace at Pearl, but this attempt was interrupted by Luffy who said, "Gum-Gum Whip." The leg intercepted the mace sending it to a nearby sail and causing it to crack, and fall onto Pearl's head causing the man to pass out for the time being.

They all stood in shock at the rubber man's strength as he was able to redirect the hit, but then they heard a groan. They then heard someone say, "Everyone stop right now."

They all looked, and saw Gin holding Zeff at gunpoint as the man said, I don't want to kill anybody as I said before."

Author's notes:

Welcome back everyone to a new chapter in my fanfic, in this chapter we watched the fight between Zoro, and Mihawk, and the continuation of the raid against the Baratie. We also saw Nami begin her march toward her island with Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku. In the next chapter we'll mostly see gin vs Saji, and the beginning of the fight between Luffy, and Don Krieg.

As always please take care of yourselves, put a review telling me your opinion on the current chapter, and tell us which arc you are most excited for.

And finally, I hope you all enjoy my work and see you next time with a brand new chapter.