Chapter 23: True Strength

"D-Don Krieg's been knocked down!?"

"I've never seen the Don go on his knees before, let alone getting knocked down!"

"What is that kid!? He punched through the porcupine cape just like that!"

The pirates are all in a frenzy over their captain's supposed invulnerability getting overturned by some rubber kid. It's kind of funny to witness.

"That kid's crazy…" Sanji noted in shock.

"Watch him closely, Sanji." Zeff tells him as he wombles up to us with a crutch, "Once in a while, a fool would come along who, having set his sights on something, won't quit fighting until he dies."

"Won't quite fighting, huh…?"

"It's a nuisance to have a feller like that for an enemy. Whether he wins or loses this fight, I admire a man like that."

"This isn't your grave, you say?" Krieg states as he slowly gets back up, "If this isn't your grave, then whose is it!?" He charges at Luffy and slams his shield/pauldron into Luffy, which detonates something on impact, "Yours, is it not!?"

"No, it's yours!"

Luffy somehow manages to leap over the attack and hooks his foot on Krieg's collar, before pulling him back down onto the ground hard. That got the pirate all into a frenzy yet again, all unable to believe that Krieg's bag of tricks are useless against someone like Luffy.

"T-The Don's down again!"

"What's going on!? Enemies are supposed to die without even touching Don Krieg! He supposed to be invincible!"

"Has Don Krieg finally meet his match…?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Krieg raged on as he got back up and slams his two shields/pauldrons together. From within it, extended a spear tip and long shaft, creating a very top-heavy spear which he then slams into the wreckage hard, creating an explosion on impact.

"Ah! It's Don Krieg's ultimate weapon, the Great Battle Spear!" The pirates cheered.

"Let's see how long you can survive now, hammer boy." The armored pirate scoffs as he removed his cape, "This spear is way more destructive then those small stakes. Just one hit from this will blow you to pieces!"

As a demonstration, he slams the spear into the wreckage, creating an explosion that sends Luffy flying into the air. He stretches his arm to the nearby wreckage and pulling himself on board to avoid drowning into the ocean. His knees, however, wobble under him before he drops onto them.

"This is bad…! He has lost too much blood…!" Sanji noted in worry.

Krieg, definitely taking notice of Luffy's weaken state, charges at him with a thrust from his spear, which the rubber pirate manages to avoid. He then proceeds to swing very wildly at him to try and get a hit in. He manages to corner the rubber pirate at the edge of the wreckage, which he immediately swings at him. Luffy leap into the air to dodge to blow, but found himself unable to avoid another swing from the armored pirate, who no doubt lure him to the air and swings at the rubber pirate with the very intent to kill him right there and then.

Fortunately, he didn't actually hit him.

"Whew, that was close." Luffy noted in relief, hanging from the spear's shaft.

"Why you… little insect!" Krieg slams his spear onto the planks to take him out, which Luffy immediately jumps off and into the air, once again faced with the same dilemma moments ago which the armored pirate take note and thrust his spear towards the rubber pirate.

Luffy, just before the spear hits him, slams his fists into the spear blade, which did nothing more than detonate the weapon in his face.

"Chore boy!" Sanji cries out.

The charred rubber pirate flops onto the wreckage, still very much alive and not blown to pieces, and immediately struggles back onto his feet.

"Hmph, still alive? Well, I can fix that! I'll blast you into chum!"

Krieg swings his spear at Luffy, who immediately move to meet the spear's blade with his fist, detonating the weapon once more, sending him flying off once more and flopping on another wreckage.

"Heheh, now do you see?" The armored pirate scoffed, "My power is unparalleled!"

Luffy got back up, a grin on his face, "Oh, really?"

As he says so, the spear tip of Krieg's weapon cracked and broke off, much to the armored pirate's shock, "M-My Great Battle Spear! What did you do!?"

"I've punched the blade off. Without it, it's nothing more than a bomb on a stick." Luffy stated with a grin, "And now, there are plenty of room for me to beat your ass."

No doubt, the wreckage they are on has way more space than the small wreckage they were fighting on moments ago. Did Luffy lure him there to get more space to maneuver about without the worry of dropping into ocean?

"A bomb on a stick? Hmph!" Krieg scoffed at him, "Perhaps! But I still have more military might to blow you away. You are badly injured from the blasts you took from my Great Battle Spear. I think all that tough talk are a bluff."

"No, it's not." Luffy stated with a grin.

"Krieg's right." Sanji noted with a grimace, "The kid's got busted up pretty good from all the attacks he has taken. Just one more blast from that spear would no doubt kill him. It's no good, Krieg just has too much firepower!"

"Even a man with a thousand powerful weapons can be skewered by a spear of sheer guts." Zeff noted with a grin. That got Sanji's attention as the old cook continued on, "In a life or death battle between pirates, he who hesitates is dead."

"What are you saying?"

"I'll say this: For that kid, there's no give in him. In the end, it's not about the weapons. Sometimes, guts can pierce even the strongest of steels."

Krieg charges right at Luffy and swings at him with his broken spear. Luffy easily dodges the wild swing that detonates the ground it grazed, the rubber pirate stretches his arms and grabs a fallen mast's yard and pull himself up and away from Krieg, "Try and hit me~!"

"You damn monkey!"

"Ookey-ookey!"

Luffy mockingly acted like a monkey, greatly enraging the armored pirate which leads to him smashing his broken spear into the mast, exploding and breaking it off its roots. The rubber pirate breaks the yard and kicks the broken mast towards Krieg, who simply smashes it away. As he did so, the falling Luffy throws the yard at him like a large javelin from behind the generated smoke. The armored pirate is unfazed by the attack and unleashes a blast of flame from his bracer, burning the broken yard into cinders.

"Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy didn't stop his assault and unleashes a barrage of stretched fists at Krieg. The punches all slams into his armored torso, doing absolutely nothing to him.

"Hahahaha! Idiot! This is wootz steel! Your puny punches wouldn't put a dent in it-"

"Bullet!"

Luffy ignores his boasting and slams another recoiled punch into Krieg's gold plated cuirass, which didn't accomplish anything aside from widening the puncture wounds on his arm, and enraging the armored pirate even more.

"You insolent fool!" He shouted as he swings his spear at Luffy, who quickly got out of the way of the resulting explosion, "That was pathetic! You actually thought your puny monkey fist could shatter the strongest armor in the world!?"

"A few more should…"

"I am the world strongest man, armed with the best equipment!" Krieg rushes at him with another heavy swing towards Luffy, who quickly dodges under it. He then rushes towards Krieg with every intention of slamming another fist into him.

The pirate admiral smirks as he jumps onto the wreck's broken mast while tossing behind some black explosive beads behind him and states, "All who oppose me die, anchor boy."

Within moments, the deck around the fallen mast exploded into splinters. Krieg laughed as he stood on top of the splintered mast, clouds of smoke covering the now destroyed deck, "Hahaha! As always, the strong has prevailed!"

"And that would be me!"

Krieg's eyes widen in shock as Luffy dashes up the falling mast through the cloud of smoke, arm stretched back for a familiar attack.

"You persistent maggot!"

Krieg slams his explosive former spear into Luffy, the resulting explosion hitting the rubber boy head on. But that is not enough to deter him as Luffy, covered in soot and burns, power through the attack and slams his recoiling palms into Krieg.

"W-What-!?"

"Gum Gum Bazooka!"

The rubber attack hits straight into Krieg's armor, sending him flying into the air. The metal cuirass cracked under the attack, but remains unbroken.

"Hahaha! You've failed! Your strength is now gone! But I applaud you! You managed to put a tiny crack in my armor!" Krieg laughed as he is now starting to fall over the ocean, "And with the deck under us gone, you have no where to run! Drown with the pride of cracking my armor, boy!"

"Gum Gum…!"

"W-Wait, what!?"

To the absolute shock to everyone except me, Luffy did the insane thing of leaping off the mast after Krieg, arm stretched upwards as a fearless grin decorated his face. Naturally, he went om and charges right in, despite the watery weakness under his feet. After all, one cannot become strong with the will to risk your own life to become so.

And Krieg would pay for not doing so.

"Bazooka!"

Luffy's palms slams down into Krieg's cuirass one more time, this time the metal armor buckled and shattered under his attack, plowing into him as the loud cracking of ribs can be heard. Blood is coughed out as the now armorless pirate admiral plummets down into the sea.

"D-Don Krieg!"

"Silence, you fools!"

Krieg did not admit defeat there and pull another trick out of his metaphoric sleeve, although in this case is quite literal, as he tosses an iron net towards Luffy, trapping him within. "Hahaha! You won't be escaping this iron net! The sea is just below us, boy! You may sink like an anchor, but I don't! I'm the one who would get the last laugh!"

"Chore boy!"

I knew that Luffy would no doubt win this. That he would prevail over this lowly pirate scum. But even so, I couldn't just stand here and watch!

"Not so fast!"

I went half-dragon and leaps towards Luffy, grabbing onto him and halting their descent completely. The two of them are heavier than Gin and Sanji, but it's not unbearable for my wings. Though it is a killer on my broken ribs.

"You're…!"

"You, the dragon girl!?"

"Luffy! You still got some fight in you, right!?" I asked with a smirk, "Take him out."

"…heh, was already planning to!"

Luffy pushes his arms and feet out of the net's small openings, before spinning his legs towards Krieg, sandwiching his face between his rubbery feet. As the pirate admiral struggles to get those feet off of him, he commanded his men, "Shoot down these pests!"

"Aye-aye, Don Krieg-Gwah!"

I glanced to my right to see Sanji stomping onto the pirates' faces with no remorse. Gord is among them as he held some at blade point with his two cutlasses.

"End it, chore boy." The blonde chef smirked.

"Finish him!" My ship's cook shouted with glee.

"Let's do this, dragon lady!"

"You got it!"

I let go and grab onto his rubbery arms, just as Krieg begins to spin as the twisted rubber legs begin to unravel like a top. With a roar, I pull him over my shoulder and down towards the deck, letting the momentum and gravity do the rest.

"Gum Gum Dragon Hammer!"

The spinning Don Krieg smashes into the wrecked fin with a loud crash. Splinters flew, planks broke and shatter, and Don Krieg is finally defeated for good.

"…Dragon Hammer?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shishishi! It fits, doesn't it?" Luffy snickers.

"…Dahaha. Yeah, I guess it does." I noted with a chuckle, before flinching at my broken ribs starting to hurt a lot more.

I slowly descend down onto the broken Fin, putting Luffy down gently on the wooden deck. With great difficulty, I pull the net off of him, just as he falls unconscious.

"Zzz…"

Or fall asleep, apparently.

"How is the hero of the day doing?" Gord asked as he walked up to us with a first aid kit at hand. Sanji is nearby smoking a cigarette, as standard of a chain smoker like him.

"Sleeping, apparently." I tells him with a shrug, "But most likely losing more blood than it is healthy."

"I'll say." He noted as he opens up the first aid kit and pulls out a-

"Is that a giant plaster bandage?"

"Eh, who am I to judge ones first aid kit contents?"

"I don't believe it…" Gin walks towards us as he looks at Luffy, "Don Krieg lost… against him…?"

"It goes to show that there are always bigger fish in the sea." Zeff tells him, "And to be honest, Krieg really isn't the strongest man in the world. That role belongs to Whitebeard. And he doesn't hide behind all that shiny armor like a turtle."

"…I see…"

"I AM THE STRONGEST!"

A shout got our attention as we all turn to see Krieg back on his feet once more, only it is obvious he is not lucid right now. His eyes are rolled back, and he is swinging around wildly like a mad man while his crew tries to hold him down to apply treatment.

"Stop it, Don Krieg!"

"You're hurt! You have to stand still!"

"NO ONE STANDS BEFORE ME! UNTIL TODAY, NO ONE HAS EVER DEFEATED ME IN BATTLE! NO ONE CAN STAND BEFORE MY MILITARY MIGHT! I WILL CONTINUE… C-Continue to *cough*!"

"Hold him down!"

"He's out of his mind!"

"I… I am… the STRONGEST MAN IN THE-"

"Shut up."

Everyone froze at the proclamation, even the crazed Krieg. From within the Baratie, Sen walks out onto the broken Fin with a simmering glare. With every step he takes towards Krieg, the air seemingly grew thicker.

"Why do you have yell like a madman? I'm trying to take a nap."

"I…I am… strongest man in…"

"I don't care what you think you are, little turtle."

Sen steps in front of Krieg, hands in his pocket as he glares into the empty white pupils of the crazed pirate admiral.

"Strong…strongest man in the…"

"…Just, sleep."

With a focused glare, a familiar heavy pressure erupted from him and blankets over everyone. All of the pirates fall unconscious within moments, collapsing onto the deck.

The only people that remain upright are the cooks, me, Sanji, Gord, Gin, and Zeff.

"Can't a guy get some proper shuteye these days…?" Sen groaned.

"Only you would try to sleep during a crisis like this…" Zeff sighed, "At least you didn't rummage and eat clean my pantry."

"Heh, you are lucky I wasn't feeling hungry at the moment."

"And I sure wish that luck would keep up."

Sen chuckles before turning to Gin. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Huh?"

"You were kicked out, weren't you? And your 'invincible' captain has been defeated by some no name upstart. I'm sure that's a world changer for you. So, are you going to keep your loyalty to him, or are you going to plan out your own route now?"

"…Heh, you know… now that you brought it up, I'm not sure what I should do now." Gin noted with a tired sigh, "I was originally a nobody, just some homeless kid you can find on the streets. Don Krieg gave me a chance to be someone different, better, stronger. I owe my life to him."

"Which he repays by booting you off the crew and then trying to poison you to death." Gord pointed out, "Give it up, Gin. Krieg would only see you as a weapon, a tool in his massive arsenal. No matter how loyal you are to him, it would never pay off in the end."

"Even so, it was thanks to him that I'm what I am today."

"…But that's not what you have to be." I pointed out to him, "Strength doesn't have to mean being cold ruthless killer. Sometimes it can be as simple as just protecting a single ship."

Sanji twitched at that comment. Although I'm going to stand by that comment. Not everyone has the conviction to risk their life to protect one's home to the end.

"…Rein, what are you implying?" Gord asked with a worried tone in his voice.

"What if he joins the Silver Fang?" I asked, "We could always use more combatants."

Not to mention it could be fresh start for Gin. He is obvious someone with a decent moral compass, just heavily misguided. I'm sure serving on a descent vessel like the Silver Fang could change his overall outlook on life.

"WHAT!? Are you serious with that suggestion!?" He shouted at me, "He's a wanted criminal! One with a hefty bounty on his head! If he joins, the East Trader's legality would be put into question!"

"We can change his identity, modify his appearance a little." I stated. I wonder if he'll look good with dark orange hair…?

"Are you even listening, Rein!?" Gord groaned, "Even so, letting him join isn't up to any of us. Only Silvia has the authority to do so."

"Yeah, well…"

"…If you'll have me, could I?" Gin asked, "Could I join your ship?"

"See, Gord?" I pointed out, "Please? You saw how strong he is, and if he has lots of experience on a huge vessel! Don't tell me you don't see him as a valuable battle asset. Not mention he is a pretty decent guy, despite the whole pirate shtick."

"…Hah… fine. But that would have to wait until we reunite with the Silver Fang." He noted, "Which we are unable due to a lack of a ship. And we need to wait for your ribs to recover."

"Ah, right. Also, I think it's digging into my lungs…"

I groaned as I sat back down, flinching at my broken ribs.

"Oh, that's reminds me." Sen noted as he kneels in front of me with a devilish smile, "You used your DF powers, didn't you? Even when I told you not to."

"Ah! W-Well, it was an emergency and well, it was the only way for all three of us to survive-"

"You'll get your punishment after your ribs has healed."

"Y-Yes sir…"

…
To be continued…

And there we go! The Baratie arc is finally done! It's a bit shorter than my previous fic, mostly due to lack of material for me to use.

So, yeah. This is basically the same Luffy vs Krieg fight, with a few liberal changes here and there. Gin might also join the Silver Fang because the guy really can't catch a break in the manga, so might as well, right?

But yeah, in the end, Sen's OP-ness is the one that end it. For I feel like the best way to end him in this fic is for him to feel the overwhelming difference in strength between him and literally any Grand Line veteran, especially when there's the New World to consider.

Seriously, even if Krieg gets his way and build up his armada for another go at the Grand Line, I'm sure if they choose the Whiskey Peaks route, they wouldn't made it past even in the most minor Baroque Works bounty hunters.

With that, I thank you all for reading this!