Queen of the Pirates

Gin the Betrayer

I sputter out nonsense, trying to comprehend Luffy's idea.

The cooks are in an uproar at the idea of what Luffy could do, and the same goes for the pirates who are delusional in their thinking that the ship is theirs. It would be stupid to expect anything else from Luffy at this point, but a girl can dream.

"Gin!" Krieg is hysterical. "Kill Zeff! Enough with the stalling! Kill him!"

Sanji jumps up, rushing over to Luffy and grabbing him by the back of his vest. "Are you crazy, shithead? Do you not understand why I have slaved away on this ship for so many years?"

"If I sink it, they have no prize," Luffy calmly says, his fist out as his other hand holds his bicep.

I shake my head as a smile breaks out on my face.

"My debt and my feelings for this ship, you could never comprehend," Sanji growls.

"So what? Are you going to die for this ship?" Luffy slaps Sanji's hand away. "That's stupid!"

"What?"

Luffy grabs the front of Sanji's shirt, shouting into his face, "Dying is no way to repay your debt! That old man didn't save your life, so that you could throw it all away later! That is the cowards way!"

Sanji grabs the front of Luffy's vest, "How else am I supposed to stop them then!?"

"Will the two of you quit that quarreling?" The Invincible Pearl speaks up. "There's nothing that you can do now. We have our hostage, so now you will burn and die with the Fire Pearl!" He rushes at us.

"Fantastic," I jump behind the boys. Not that that will be much protection, but I still hope for a miracle.

It all happens in the blink of an eye as the sound of a gun clamors to the ground, and then Gin rushes at the shield man with a tonfa specialized with an iron ball on one end in each hand. Gin is able to shatter the shield with ease.

"Gin!" Luffy and Sanji cry out.

"Why did you hit your own crewmate?" My mouth hangs open in bafflement.

"Gin, you dare betray me!" Krieg shouts.

"I am sorry, Don Krieg," Gin says. "We both owe our lives to Sanji, though. That is why, I will send him to the grave myself."

"Now it all makes sense," I mumble, raising my hands into the air in exasperation for a few seconds.

Luffy lets out a breath, "Man, well, see, I knew it would all work out in the end."

"Do not lie right now!" Sanji screams. "You were going to sink the ship if that didn't happen!"

I giggle, leaning into Luffy. "You have to admit, even though it was a crazy plan, it did save us in the end."

Sanji's demeanor softens the instant he looks at me, "Of course, my darling. It would have been different if you thought of the plan."

"Akari always goes along with the plans that I make," Luffy firmly nods.

"Are you out of your mind, Gin," Krieg's voice snaps us back to the situation at hand, "Battle Commander of the Pirate Armada?"

"Sanji," Gin looks at the boy. "Deep down I hoped that you would get off the ship without issue to avoid getting hurt. I should have realized a lot time ago that that wasn't going to happen."