Chapter 14

In the crossfire

Sanji took in the large, sunny market square he had just entered. Located only a few hundred meters from the port, many traders and customers crowded around the place in the middle of the morning. The blond noticed that he would surely have the possibility of finding some original ingredients given the number of stands. Good humor and tranquility seemed to reign and some people happily called out others while more people debated the quality or the prices displayed.

The cook first approached a refrigerated display offering many tempting-looking cuts of meat. It didn't take long for the Straw Hat Pirates to reach the next island and the food supplies were still quite high but some stock up on fresh meat could still come in handy, if only to keep Luffy happy. Yet Sanji moved away from the stand to go around the traders before deciding. Since he wasn't planning any big purchases, he was shopping alone and Nami had suggested they meet for lunch in town. In the meantime, he had plenty of time to stroll around without hurrying to discover the specialties offered by this welcoming land.

The navigator hadn't had much information to tell them about the island. It was quite small and not very important compared to the other monsters that the New World counted. Given its apparent calm upon arrival, the girls had opted for a bit of shopping while Franky had dragged Usopp, Chopper, Jinbei, Luffy and Brook to stock up on cola before taking them in search of electronic parts for his next invention. Zoro had naturally stayed on the Sunny to keep watch, which seemed to suit him since he had slumped on the deck to close his eyes and for his part, the cook had headed for the market to complete their stocks.

The blond passed in front of a wine shop and stopped in spite of himself. He always kept a few bottles of wine in anticipation of their more festive meals and for some preparations. He was pretty sure he had enough left though and in the same way, he kept a close eye on the supply of sake and hard liquor that Zoro managed to gulp down on a regular basis so he wasn't too worried about the remaining quantities either. Still, as he scanned the names of the bottles, he almost considered stocking his shelves with that original beer appellation or that particularly strong rum.

Sanji sighed. The swordsman wasn't aggressive anymore towards him since their last confrontation in the galley and the two men crossed paths and shared space without really speaking to each other but without animosity either. The blond had been more relieved than he would have thought. He was seeing it as the long-awaited sign that Zoro was trusting him again, and Sanji was trying to show his good faith by offering the first mate meals and drinks designed precisely to satisfy him. The cook hesitated to take the plunge though. Going so far as to buy a particular bottle for the fencer would maybe be frowned upon. Not only because this kind of gesture had never existed between them, but also because Zoro could see it as an excuse to bribe him and allay his suspicions.

In the end, Sanji preferred to postpone his decision and he went to a greengrocer a few steps away. He was examining the firmness of eggplants and zucchini among other customers when an explosion sounded from the port side. The blond looked up and saw that the inhabitants had frozen. Frowning, he shifted to observe the entrance of the square overlooking the sea and was surprised when a second explosion was heard amid an increasingly loud clamor. Like the first, the explosion wasn't very intense but it was still powerful enough to shake the stands of the market.

Around him, people suddenly started moving hastily and they grabbed their groceries to run away while shopkeepers packed up their wares at full speed. The cook raised an eyebrow. Nobody was trying to understand what was going on and the locals seemed to follow a precise protocol which consisted of disappearing as quickly as possible while securing their possessions as much as possible. Puzzled, Sanji questioned the greengrocer who, like the others, piled up his crates at lightning speed.

"What's happening here?"

The man glanced at him briefly, totally focused on grabbing his items as quickly as possible. He took the time to answer him though. "Surely these are new clashes between local gangs, you should take cover."

The blond turned in the direction of the port and noticed that a light smoke was indeed starting to rise in the air. "Gangs are fighting on the port? Where are the Marine officers?"

"The Marines got tired of taking explosive cocktails in the face, they only intervene when it really escalates towards the heart of the city now."

"Do you go through this often?" The cook wondered when he saw the man expertly arranging the refrigerated displays to secure them in their boxes.

"Enough to know that it's better not to stay here. These guys are crazy, they don't care to kill anyone who gets in between them. They take the opportunity to test lots of weapons on each other." A cannon noise was heard just at this moment and the trader redoubled his efforts. In record time, his location was gone and he tossed it all into his little contraption parked behind him.

"There were people on the port," The blond recalled, turning to the port entrance again while frowning. The merchant shook his head before jumping into the driver's seat. "They know what to do, everyone knows the rules around here. If they don't, they're screwed."

On that note, he engaged his little car and it jumped up to the city. Sanji then noticed that the square was completely empty and around him, even the windows and shutters were closed. Only a few forgotten things were lying around here and there, but neither a trader nor a customer had remained on the spot.

Another explosion sounded followed by a flurry of gunfire and the cook couldn't help but take a step in that direction. It was impossible that everyone had time to flee. The locals may have known about these rival gangs and they were prepared for them, but the port was hosting ships whose occupants had no idea what was going on.

Yet Sanji froze when thinking about Nami and Robin who had decided to go shopping downtown. Then he remembered that the man had told him that the Marines intervened precisely when the clashes went this far. His princesses had every chance of being in the safest place then, not to mention that they knew how to defend themselves, whatever the cook's heart might think.

The other crew members were probably also in town looking for Franky's parts and there was no reason for them to be in trouble either. Zoro was the one who was the most likely to get caught up in the conflict as there was no doubt that he had heard the explosions from his location. Yet knowing the swordsman's attitude, Sanji was pretty sure that he wouldn't step in until the Sunny was in danger. Indeed, the fencer loved fighting as much as his captain but usually, he replied mainly to defend himself when attacked.

Even in the face of people accustomed to beatings and hungry for violence, the Straw Hat crew didn't have much to fear from this kind of threat anyway. They were so strong now that most groups were just no match for them. However, Sanji didn't forget that the New World was full of incredibly strong well-known figures and one of them could very well appear randomly around the corner. In this case, even an inhabitant who was ready or an ordinary person would have no chance…

His decision made, the blond soon rushed towards the port, the Raid Suit already engaged around him.

Sanji quickly shifted to escape the club blow that the hooded man had launched with all his might towards his enemy in front of him. With his invisible outfit, Sanji needed to be extra careful because no one was paying attention to him and attacks aimed at certain opponents became direct threats when he ended up between them. The concerned man parried the blow somehow with his own club and staggered back before regaining his balance. The blond immediately took the opportunity to move behind the first man to knock him out in a precise gesture, taking advantage of some smoke to conceal him. The idea was to maintain his anonymity but also not to arouse suspicion. An invisible force getting rid of the various parties wouldn't be welcome publicity for him because beyond the rumors among the islanders, his crew could hear about it and they would be able to understand what had happened.

What does it matter anyway? The cook wondered as he twirled above two other men, kicking their submachine guns out of them. If Luffy knew about the event, Sanji was pretty sure that he would jump into battle so why did the blond continue to hide?

Indeed, as he had feared, Sanji had noticed while tumbling on the port that some inhabitants but also a group of travelers had ended up between the fire of the two rival gangs. The blond had then started by disarming the wild men around them, allowing the group to flee. And if the cook had had the idea of withdrawing afterwards, he hadn't taken long to forget his first intention when cannonballs supposed to destroy the opposing ranks had landed in the shops and fishing boats around. These shops and ships were surely the main sources of income for their owners and Sanji found it perfectly unfair that the islanders were penalized because the Marines refused to do their job properly by securing the place. A few minutes later and two unusable cannons now shattered on the ground, the cook had decided to put an end to the whole brawl and he had mingled with the fighters to put them out of action.

The clashes were violent and the port was gradually transformed into a scene of real urban guerilla warfare. Sanji thought of the greengrocer who had warned him: there was no doubt that these scuffles were far from new and the hatred from both sides was palpable. The iron bars very often replaced bare fists and the bursts of bullets flew everywhere in the port. Flaming Molotov also regularly exploded among each rank, seriously injuring some of them as pieces of cobblestones flew straight into the air in addition to the blast of the conflagration.

The blond had no idea what was going on between them and he wasn't going to ask them. Not only was the reason for their rivalry irrelevant, but the cook simply failed to understand how disputes could give rise to such outbursts without a third-party intervening. At this rate, the port would be destroyed and then the whole economy would take a hit, plunging the inhabitants into poverty and an escalation of violence. Wasn't it the role of the World Government to guarantee a semblance of peace among the peoples? Admittedly, Sanji wasn't naive and he had witnessed the hypocrisy of their leaders from a very young age, but he couldn't understand their interest in letting the population of a small island in the middle of the New World kill each other.

Sanji suddenly spotted a shooter a little higher and he immediately flew into the air before brutally pushing back the man's rocket launcher, the missile deflecting from its target to land in the sea. It created huge waves and jostled all boats moored. The Sunny also rocked on the other side of the port and the blond looked for the swordsman's figure but he was nowhere to be seen. Sanji then hit the culprit, furious, and the man collapsed without understanding why his shooting hadn't worked. These weapons were surely part of a military arsenal and the damage was accumulating, more and more blood soaking the cobblestones.

The blond noticed a small group of men below setting up a device in a corner of the square then. He rushed in their direction, certain that it was another invention intended to decimate as many lives as possible. Along the way, he had to parry several blows here and there and he took the opportunity to get rid of a few more fighters but in doing so, by the time he reached the small group, the machine was already engaged and the men were running away. The cook noticed at that moment that other men were escaping from the place and he understood that it was a coordinated attack.

Sanji redoubled his speed. It was probably a destructive weapon and he rushed towards it, intending to destroy it with a huge kick. Before he reached his goal though, the weapon had gone off and thick white smoke immediately invaded a large part of the port.

The cook instantly fell to the ground, his throat burning and his eyes watering. Around him, all the men had collapsed in the same way and they were coughing hard, trying to catch their breaths. Sanji raised his head to see the machine which continued to spit smoke about ten meters from him. He didn't know if that was the primary purpose of the machine, if there was a problem or if something else was going to go off, but he didn't want to wait to know.

Sanji forced himself to sit up and fixed his eyes on his goal. Then he rose to his feet. He advanced slowly among the dying bodies, groping as much because of his blurred vision as of the sudden weakness of his limbs and far too short breathing. Finally, he arrived at his destination and took as deep a breath as possible in order to gather his forces. Around him, the smoke was omnipresent and the air burned his throat to his lungs but the cook strengthened his will. He raised his right leg, slammed it hard on the machine which smashed to the ground and the smoke gradually ceased to spread.

Exhausted, Sanji dropped to his knees and ripped off his mask in hopes of recovering the oxygen that wasn't reaching his body fast enough. His muscles were shaking and his heart was beating wildly while around him, he could still hear low moans.

The cook was barely stabilizing his eyesight when his captain's booming voice rose a little further and he jumped. If Luffy approached the origin of the smoke, he was going to crash into him since Sanji was still invisible and in no condition to avoid him.

Getting up with difficulty, the blond crawled to the wall of a cracked shop in the shadow of a nook before letting himself slide down. He removed his Raid Suit and closed his eyes to take a deep breath, now clear of all traces of smoke. All the men who were still standing had visibly deserted the port, but if the Marine officers wanted to come and see the damage after this huge release of smoke, the Straw Hat Pirates mustn't be seen.

Sanji gritted his teeth and propped himself up before slowly heading towards the voices of his friends surveying the damage.

"Sanji, there you are! Did you see what happened?!"

As soon as he saw him, Luffy rushed towards him and beside the captain, Usopp frowned. "We heard a big explosion and then white smoke spread everywhere. Were you there?"

"I was at the market not far from here," The cook answered, taking care not to speak too quickly to spare his breath.

"Were you hit?" Chopper worried when noticing his tangled hair and slightly pale face.

"N-No, I was just surprised. People panicked and some were hurt."

Brook glanced at the mostly unconscious bodies on the ground. "Good thing you weren't, these clashes must have been particularly terrible…"

"Some of these men were injured by explosions and shots but others have no visible injuries." Jinbei was surprised when he leaned towards one of them.

"What's going on here? Who are these guys?" Franky muttered, noting the broken submachine guns left on the ground.

"They're rival bands which fight regularly," Sanji answered. "The greengrocer I was talking to told me the Marines usually don't get involved but we better not stay here."

Chopper stood up, nodding his head and leaving the man he had knelt beside to check on his condition. "It's safer. Nami and Robin went straight back to the Sunny and they must have found Zoro. We'll take stock over there."

The Straw Hat Pirates' ship had set sail shortly after the entire crew had gotten back on board and Nami had the sails hoisted when Marine officers had begun to appear. Sanji hadn't failed to insult them mentally on this occasion because as expected, they had ended up showing up in view of the violence of the clashes. The blond remained convinced that if they hadn't gotten into the habit of not intervening, the fight wouldn't have degenerated so much.

Since the lunch outdoors had fallen through, the cook had made a quick meal and when he put his dishes on the table, the tornado that was his captain threw himself on it. Faster than lightning, Sanji grabbed two portions of gratin dauphinois which he decorated with beautiful slices of raw ham before giving them to his princesses. He then let the others literally fight to eat.

"Fortunately, we didn't really need to stock up on this island," Robin noted while starting her plate after thanking her friend.

"It really is a shame to have been forced to leave so soon," Nami sighed beside her, "It's been so long since we've been able to shop…"

"I would have enjoyed having lunch out there," Brook admitted, "The restaurant menus looked particularly appetizing."

"Better safe than sorry," Usopp grumbled, helping himself somehow in the middle of Luffy's elastic hands. "If that artillery was any indication, these guys looked totally out of control."

"They weren't playing nice," Zoro confirmed while swallowing a bite of bread," I had to repel several cannonballs to protect the Sunny and it moved a lot at one point."

"Did you see what happened?" Chopper asked him.

"The port was visible enough from the crow's nest and there were several explosives and bursts of machine gun fire before the smoke invaded everything. I preferred not to move in case some took advantage of it to plunder the boats," The swordsman replied.

"The Marines deliberately let these gangs ransack the port," Jinbei noted, "I don't understand why they didn't intervene earlier."

"That's what I'm wondering," Sanji grumbled, pouring some water to the girls. "I mean, aside from their weapons, these guys weren't that strong, they could have stopped them no problem."

"Did you see them fight, Sanji?" Usopp said.

"N-Not really. It's just that I wasn't too far away and it didn't take much knowledge to understand that their only intention was to smash the heads of those who faced them without thinking."

"In the meantime, I still had time to find the parts I needed!" The cyborg suddenly informed them enthusiastically.

"It's gonna be awesome!" Luffy got enthused, his mouth full.

"What are you planning?" Nami inquired.

"A super upgrade to my Battle Franky 38!" The shipwright explained proudly, "I'd like to modify my giant sword into a super sharp trident able to pierce the strongest of metals!"

"Don't forget the detection laser system!" Chopper reminded him, his eyes bright.

"I can't wait to see this marvel!" Brook rejoiced.

"The Battle Franky is already impressive enough," Sanji confirmed.

"I'm quite curious to see that," Jinbei admitted.

"Could be useful," Zoro approved.

"It's pointless," The redhead cut them short while returning to her meal as Robin nodded gravely.

"What are you talking about? It's gonna be exceptional!" Usopp pointed out, outraged.

"Trust me my friends, I'll blow your mind!" Franky assured them, striking a pose while his captain applauded.

Sanji finished putting away his dishes and peeked out his galley window. Night had fallen by now and most of his companions were getting ready to go to bed. The cook hung up his dish towel before clearing his throat. A little discomfort had persisted since this morning and he had coughed several times but he had completely recovered his breath and strength, which was definitely a good sign.

As he checked his pocket for his cigarettes before heading for the door, the blond shook his head. He knew he had been lucky this time. He could have lost consciousness because of this smoke, just like these other men, and then his friends would have looked for him in vain. They would never have found him in his invisible outfit in the middle of the other bodies. They would have bumped into the Marines and the whole crew would have been endangered.

Sanji wondered if the game was still worth it. Of course, keeping a low profile was a golden rule that everyone tried to follow, but in such circumstances, wouldn't it have been better if he had intervened in the open? Nobody would have found it strange that he wanted to help the townspeople caught up in the turmoil, and he wouldn't have had to lie to his friends. It was as if putting on the Raid Suit made him carry a guilt that associated him directly with his anxieties now and he had taken the habit of hiding this part of himself at all times. Sanji wanted to protect his secret at all costs but he made the wrong choices and took risks. It was time for him to find another solution.

Sanji's starting to stumble…

I won't be able to post the next chapter in 10 days but I'll do my best to do it within 20 days.

See you soon!