TROUBLE AT THE BARATIE
East Blue Saga - Baratie Arc - Episodes 21 - 23
DAKOTA'S POV:
Zoro opens the restaurant door to stunned customers, looking over to the Marine Lieutenant Fullbody, his beauty of a date and a blond in a suit holding the Marine by his jaw in the air with his hand. "Is this a fight or something?" Zoro questions, looking at the scene before us with a bleeding Fullbody.
"Don't go ruining our food." The smoking blond threatens the Marine - when I mean smoking, I mean he's smoking a cigarette; he's not my type -. "Messing with a cook of the sea is a good way to get yourself killed... remember that well." Suddenly a big guy with pink hair wearing an apron walks over to the Marine, and the suit guy looks unhappy.
"You're at it again, Sanji?" The guys ask as he walks towards them. "What're you doing to our customer? Isn't that a Marine Lieutenant?"
"Gotta problem, you crappy cook?" Sanji turns his head, asking, not seeming to care. "Don't talk to me that way!"
"A crappy cook like you has no right to call me crappy!" The Cook snaps back at the younger man. "To a restaurant, customers are everything! Beating up our valuable customers, what're you thinking?"
"Customer or not, it's no different. This guy not only ruined our dishes, he insulted the Chef!" The man named Sanji replies and releases the injured Marine Lieutenant to the floor, where he sits looking wounded. "That's why I thought I should teach him a lesson." I couldn't blame him. He's not wrong; the Cooks on my Dad's ship were much worse than this if you left a crumb on your plate. Ah, Aunt Alice. We continue to watch the exchange from the door with interest.
"What kind of restaurant is this? Do you treat all your customers like this? How does it even stay in business? I'll destroy it! I'll destroy your precious little restaurant! I'll destroy it! I'll contact my superior right now!" The humiliated Marine Lieutenant threatens them as he sits on the restaurant floor; this seems to enrage Sanji as he looks down at Fullbody.
"I guess that means I can't let you leave this place alive." Sanji threatens him directly, scaring the Marine as he looks up at the smoking Cook and walks towards Fullbody with intent.
"Stop it, Sanji!" The other cooks shout, trying to hold back the younger male as he tries to reach the Marine.
"Let go of me!" Sanji demands as he tries to pull free of them. "He started it!"
"Stop it! Stop fighting, Sanji!" The cooks yell at him as they struggle for control.
"Just who do you think you are?! Huh?!" Sanji struggles as he reaches his arm out towards Fullbody, who shakes with terror at the Cook. Suddenly the ceiling cracks open, and Luffy and an old man fall through a hole they'd made and crash onto the floor with a thud, startling the customers and cooks.
"What's he done now?" I groan as we stand in the restaurant doorway, and Usopp tries to get a better look from his spot.
"What is it this time?" Someone asks.
"Man, that surprised me!" Luffy whines as he gets up next to the old man, who seems shaken by the sudden fall and injured, most likely from the Marine's cannonball attack earlier.
"O-Owner Zeff? What's going on?" A cook asks the old man who'd fallen from the ceiling.
"Damn it, see what you did?! You broke my ceiling! It's all your fault, boy!" The Owner snaps at my baby Brother.
"You broke it yourself, old man!" Luffy snaps back at him, annoyed.
"What are you doing, Boss?!" A Cook calls out as he and the others struggle to constrain the sous chef. "Leave him and help us stop Sanji here!"
"Hey, Sanji!" The old man shouts, turning away from his glaring contest with Luffy, and the old man walks over to the struggling cooks. "Were you fighting in my restaurant again, you ingrate?"
"Shut up, old fart!" Sanji retorts, stopping in his struggle by the number of Cooks, and they let him go.
"What?! Who do you think you're talking to?! You wanna destroy my restaurant?! You insolent boy!" The old man snaps and uses his wooden peg leg to kick Sanji around the face hard, making the younger man falter. "You're another one! Get the hell outta here!" He turns to the Marine and kicks him in the face with his peg leg knocking him back onto the floor, lying on his front.
"You got that?! The customers are God?!" Patty snaps at Sanji, but he doesn't seem to care.
"Only the ones who can stand your cooking." Sanji sneers, not looking at the more prominent Cook.
"Patty, Sanji! If you wanna fight, don't go doing it in front of our customers!" The Owner warns them then I hear footsteps behind us and move out of the way, hiding my face from the incoming Marine.
"L-Lieutenant! Lieutenant Fullbody!" He calls out and runs over to the doorway. "We've got a problem!"
"Seems lively here," I comment, looking at my fellow crewmates who agree; I look at the Marine who seems scared of something.
"The underling of Pirate Krieg has escaped!" The Marine exclaims with blood dripping down his face, surprising the Marine Lieutenant.
"What?!"
"We thought he could've given us a lead on Krieg... we've already lost seven of our men." The Marine explains.
"That's ridiculous! When we got him three days ago, he was about to starve to death! And we haven't fed him yet, have we?" Fullbody objects, seeming scared of this underlying of the loser Don Krieg.
"The d-dreaded Don Krieg Pirates?!" Customers quake in terror at the mere mention of the Pirate.
"Isn't he supposedly the most powerful pirate of the East Blue?" A customer questions, and I can't help but snicker; it was pathetic.
"What's so funny?" Usopp asks me, and I turn to look at him, seeing him too scared, but there is no reason.
"Well, they're scared of Don Krieg. I mean he's weak if you ask me." I tell him and see him looking at me now in fear too. "I could kill him easily; it wouldn't be worth my time."
"You really are a Killer, huh?" He asks, looking at me, and I just shrug. It's true, but I've grown up around it my whole life nearly.
"I'm really sor -." The Marine can't finish his apology as he's shot from behind in the chest by the so-called underling of Don Krieg. The customers shriek and run in fear at the sight as the man falls to the floor of the restaurant entrance; the shooter walks past the body and sits down at the nearest empty table. He's scrawny for a pirate, but he's not been fed for who knows how long, and he's bleeding too. He sits on the chair and puts his foot on the table, trying to be intimidating.
"I don't care what it is. Bring me some food. This is a restaurant, isn't it?" The shooter questions leaning his blood-soaked face to Patty, who doesn't seem scared whatsoever at the Pirate.
"Welcome, mere bastard." Patty greets him with his hands clenched in front of him and a broad grin almost comical.
"I'll only say this once more, so listen up. Bring me some food." The shooter demands, and Patty doesn't seem fazed.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but we'll be expecting you to pay for a meal here. Do you have enough money?" Patty asks him, seeming almost shy, but the shooter doesn't seem impressed by that question and points the barrel of his gun in Patty's face.
"Is a bullet, okay?" The shooter asks rhetorically, and Patty doesn't like that one bit.
"So I take it that you don't have any money." Patty clarifies, then intertwines his fingers and brings his hands down onto the shooter's head, shocking the customers. Seems both brave and stupid to me.
"Why that Patty bastard broke one of my chairs!" The Owner complains and does not seem anything but annoyed, while the two weakest crew members seem surprised.
"If you can't pay up, you can't eat," Patty tells him, his arms crossed in front of him.
"Way to go, Mr Cook!" A customer cheers from the sideline.
"That pirate's nothing." Another customer cheers.
"Take him out. Patty!" A Cook joins in the cheering, and the shooter's stomach growls with intense hunger, and he holds it trying to silence the rumble and seems to be struggling to stay upright.
"Oh, your stomach's growling there, you filthy pirate." Patty taunts him looking down at the Pirate.
"That was a fart. You jerk, hurry and get me something to eat." The Pirate demands weakly.
"You're no customer, so get the hell outta here!" Patty shouts at him and kicks the weak Pirate on the floor with no mercy as the customers and cooks cheer him on. "Alright, everybody! Please, continue with your meal." He curtsies as the customers all applaud him soon; he takes the Pirate and removes him from the room.
"Let's find somewhere to sit," I tell the others and walk over to an empty table with the others following behind. We sit down and look at the menu; it all looks fantastic!
"I can't decide!" Nami complains as she looks at the menu and pouts.
"Well, get whatever I've got the money from my last job," I tell her looking over at her from behind my menu.
"So, how does one get into the business of killing people for a living?" Zoro asks me; it was the most he's said since we left the ship.
"I plan to kill the person who murdered my Mother. Seems reasonable enough to get some practice in the meantime while I'm looking." I shrug, shocking Nami and Usopp.
"Killer!" "Demon!" Usopp and Nami cry out, pointing at me with wide eyes.
"Calm down, people are looking," I tell them, and soon someone comes over to take our order.
Our food soon arrives looking so good! We dig in sharing some, but Usopp is acting stingy, and I caught sight of the straw hat-wearing rubber boy walking down the stairs leading to the kitchen wearing an apron around his waist. "Hey, there, waiter!" Nami calls out to Luffy after I point him out to her and gain his attention, and he doesn't look happy.
"Hey! It's you guys!" He looks at us in disbelief as we sit, enjoying our food.
"Hey, I heard that you've got to work here for a year!" Usopp questions; we'd heard one of the cooks complaining about a straw hat chore boy causing more trouble than help and that he'd be there for a year. Isn't that hard to tell they are talking about our Captain.
"Can I redraw the pirate flag?" Zoro jokingly asks, but Luffy doesn't seem to care as he drools at the food on our table.
"What's all this?" He asks us, still drooling over the food. "You all stuffing yourselves with such great food while I'm not around?! That hurts!" He cries, getting upset because he can't eat all this good food.
"Not really, it's our free will," Zoro comments seeming smug.
"And my money." I chime in and smirk at my Baby Brother as he looks more upset and does something gross. As the Swordsman laughs, he picks his nose and drops it into Zoro's water glass. The rest of us join in the laughter but for a different reason.
"But I've gotta admit, the food here's good." Zoro compliments and grabs his glass, and brings it to his mouth. "I feel kinda sorry for you." He looks like he's about to drink it but shoves it into Luffy's mouth as he tries to fight the Swordsman away. "You drink it!" I can't fight the laughter as we all break into uncontrollable laughter at our Captain and First Mate's antics; Zoro lets Luffy go and falls to the floor, struggling as he tries not to choke.
"Why'd you do that!" Luffy cries out as he flips around on the floor, holding his throat.
"You too! What were you trying to pull?" Zoro demands as he looks down at our struggling Captain.
"My stomach's aching!" Nami laughs uncontrollably, banging her hand down on the table with Usopp, and I laugh with her.
"O' Mother Ocean! Thank you for arranging this encounter today!" A recited pickup line breaks Nami from her laughter as I look to see Sanji between us with two roses in his hands in both mine and Nami's direction. "Oh, my loves! Go on, laugh at me. I, who can't bear torture. As long as I'm with you, it matters not if I'm a pirate or a devil... my heart's ready as can be!" He proclaims with hearts in his eyes as he swings his head back and forth, looking at Nami and me. "But this is horrible! There's such a great obstacle between us!"
"The obstacle is me, right?" The Owner asks as he makes his presence known and saves Sanji from more cringy lines. "Sanji." He snaps the young Cook out of his daydream.
"The old fart," Sanji mutters to himself in annoyance.
"This is just great. Why don't you just run off and be a pirate just like them? We don't need you here anymore!" He tells the young Cook, who seems more betrayed than anything. Well, this just got awkward. First confessions from a complete player, now a family argument. Why us!
"Hey, old fart. Ain't I the Assistant Head Chef here? What's your crap of not needing me no more?" Sanji demands, looking at the old man.
"You always fight with our customers. You flirt with any beautiful woman in sight. And you make lousy food. You're nothing more than a burden to this restaurant! That's what I mean." The Owner explains, which I hate to say was really heartless.
"What the...?!" Sanji begins to say, but snickering from upstairs cuts him off for a second.
"The other cooks don't like you anyway. Why don't you just become a pirate or whatever you please? Why don't you just get the hell outta here?!" He urges him, but it seems so harsh and almost unbelievable; it seems there's a hidden reason for him being so cruel to the blond.
"What's this crap? I didn't do shit, and now you're blowing your head off, old fart? I don't care about the rest of your excuses..." Sanji tells him and walks over to him. "But I'll never allow my cooking to be insulted! I don't care what the hell you're gonna say... I'm gonna stay right here as a Chef!" He grabs the Owner by his Chef's jacket aggressively. "If you don't like it, it's your problem!"
"How dare you hit your own boss!" He says and grabs Sanji by his blazer and throws him. "You stupid eggplant!" He shouts as he throws the young Cook, and the blond man lands on our table, almost ruining our food with force, but we quickly grab it, keeping it all safe.
"Dammit." He mutters as he slides to the floor and gets back up. "Are you kiddin'? No matter how hard you may try... I'm gonna stay right here as a chef! Till the day you go to hell!" The Owner seems to have enough and walks away.
"I won't die! I'll live another 100 years!" The old man retorts as he walks away.
"What a stubborn old man..." Sanji mutters, and Luffy crouches down next to him.
"Isn't that great that he gave you his blessing! Now you can come with us!" Luffy beams, looking at the fallen Cook.
"Hell no!" Sanji snaps at the rubber idiot and puts our table back upright. "Alright, then. Please pardon me for what has happened. As an apology, I've ordered you a Fruit Macedonia, my princesses." He smoothes over as he puts down the desert and fills our glasses.
"Why, thank you. You're so kind." Nami plays along, getting ready to sink her claws in.
"It's nothing." Sanji falls into her trap, and Usopp jumps over to them, annoyed.
"What's this? You're not apologising to us? I'll sue you, you Love Cook!" Usopp rants at him, but Sanji doesn't seem fazed at all.
"I've brought you some tea, isn't that enough? You should thank me, long nose." Sanji remarks as he looks Usopp dead in the eye.
"Huh? Picking a fight? I won't go easy on you! Get him, Killer!" Usopp demands, turning around to me and pointing at Sanji.
"Do it yourself." I snap and continue eating my delicious food.
"Please, don't fight over me." Nami gushes, pulling the attention back to her.
"Very well, Ma'am. I'll stop." Sanji complies with devotion to the strange woman.
"Who's fighting over you?!" Usopp snaps, looking down at her.
"By the way... " Nami purrs, gaining Sanji's attention. "The food here's great, but... it's a bit expensive for Dakota and me." She plays around with Sanji making him fall into her trap.
"Of course. I won't make you or Dakota pay." Sanji coos under Nami's spell, and she attacks him in a hug.
"Thank you!" She squeals, but Sanji looks at the boys.
"You guys have to," Sanji tells them, but they still seem shocked.
"I already saw that coming," Zoro mutters, annoyed and Luffy starts laughing but stops when Sanji kicks him around the head, making his neck stretch with the hit, and it wobbles around disoriented.
"Hey, why are you slacking off here for?" Sanji demands, picking our Captain up and positioning him under his arm before dragging him away. "Go give the guests towels when they come in!"
"Yes, sir." Luffy agrees, seeming disorientated from the previous hit as we watch after them.
"What are we going to do now, I don't have any money?" Usopp asks, seeming to have forgotten I was paying just for the boys now, which was fine with me.
"Usopp, don't be stupid," Zoro tells him as he drinks from a new glass; Usopp looks at him, annoyed and is about to say something. "Dakota already said she would pay, remember?" That seems to stop the long nose sniper, who stops and enjoys his meal.
"How long do you think before they've had enough of Luffy?" I question, looking at the others.
"Not long maybe less than a week," Nami answers as she picks a piece of fruit and pops it into her mouth.
"He's more trouble than anything." Zoro comments, I can't disagree with that; he is.
"He's always been like that." I agree and think back to when I first met the black-haired boy in his village bar with Makino; he seemed so excited to meet real pirates and asked many questions. He got into trouble as we grew up, but that was just him. That's who my Baby Brother is.
ONE PIECE - BARATIE ARC
It's the fourth day since we arrived at The Baratie, and Luffy has to help the Owner as he doesn't have any money to repair the damage done by the Marine's cannonball. We're lounging around apart from Luffy on the Going Merry as there isn't much to do around here, and it's fogging which I hate. Because I'm wearing black shorts with tights, a white top under a red checkered flannel shirt and a thick black jacket and combat boots, leaving my trilby hat in my room. "Man, it's already been four days. I'm getting fed up with this place. How soon can we leave, ya think?" Usopp complains loudly for the rest of us to hear.
"Beats me," Zoro answers. It's not like we know anything, Luffy is rubbish at negotiations, and that has already been proven when the Owner and Luffy came through the restaurant ceiling.
"You don't think he'll really be stuck here for a year, do you?" Usopp asks; it wasn't a dumb question, but I still have a little faith.
"Why not? We've got free food, a cosy atmosphere..." Nami replies as she leans over the edge.
"You and Dakota are the only ones!" Zoro snaps and looks at me, and I shrug as if it wasn't my fault or idea. It was all Nami's. Usopp points out Luffy as he carries a large trash bag in hand.
"Hey, Luffy!" I call out, gaining his attention as he peers behind the bag.
"What's up with you? Hurry up and get out of this mess!" Usopp starts complaining again.
"Ah, can't you guys wait just a bit longer? I'll try talking to the boss again." Luffy replies it wasn't going to work.
"Please do!" Usopp cries out, and something feels off, and I look over into the thick fog to see in the distance a shadow of a giant ship approaching us.
As it gets closer, more markings come into focus; the Pirate Flag was of the usual skull but with two hourglasses in between the bones on either side. Something was off with the ship. As I look closer, it is tattered and creaking, almost like the stories Dad would tell me of ghost ships, but it was definitely Don Krieg's galleon. It stops right by The Baratie, casting a shadow over the smaller vessel and us; Luffy moves towards the ship, seeming curious, while Usopp freaks out next to me as we hear the commotion inside the restaurant. "Hey, we oughta get outta here ourselves!" Usopp cries out in fear.
"That ship's huge!" Nami panics behind us as we look at the large ship when a gale wind flows in, dissipating the thick fog and revealing the damage to the larger ship; their chunks are taken out of the vessel. The vessel is terrible to look at, but something catches my eye; it's a shadow of a large man walking on the deck and getting off; he comes into focus; it's Don Krieg, weak and seeming injured, being carried by his little helper from four days ago. They make their way to the restaurant doors and open them; it's quiet inside as they must be terrified of one of the most powerful pirates in the East Blue.
There seems to be more commotion inside as Don Krieg and his minion come inside, and it gets louder as time passes. After a few minutes, I hear a crash and more crashing than a woman screaming and customers fleeing the restaurant onto their ship. "What's going on in the restaurant?" Usopp wonders as we watch the fleeing crowd.
"Trouble. Lots of it." I reply with a smile and share a look with Zoro.
"Let's go check it out," Zoro suggests looking into my eyes.
"What?! You serious?!" Usopp yelps, looking over at us in shock and fear.
"What's wrong? You scared?" I provoke him with a Cheshire grin plastered on my lips.
"Huh? Don't be silly!" He denies it, but you can hear the fear in his shrill cries. Zoro smiles, and then he looks at the damaged ship seriously; I feel I know the marks but can't seem to place them. I hear more shouting from inside the restaurant appears they're having more trouble inside. Then a bright light seeps through the windows, and a bang from inside, almost like a cannon, followed by an explosion in the restaurant doorway. Smoke flows through the restaurant entrance to the outside; it seems like a large explosion. The sound of gunshots ringing from inside, then the words "Do as I say! I'm the strongest man there is!" It is Don Krieg's voice as he shouts, he is so wrong. I've met Whitebeard a few times as a kid, and as an assassin, I know the strongest man alive. Beat that!
I've had enough of waiting around and getting into a pair of black leather jeans with a black shirt, jacket, and high-heeled boots. I was ready to fight and in style. I leave my and Nami's room to see Usopp and Zoro telling Johnny and Yosaku to look after the ship with Nami. "Let's go then, boys," I order them as I jump on the side of the restaurant and onto the deck of The Baratie. Zoro throws Usopp, who is shaking, onto the deck next to me; he falls onto his face, and then Zoro jumps down onto my other side. I walk over a set of stairs leading up to the restaurant's second floor, and the boys follow me as we go up the steps.
ONE PIECE - BARATIE ARC
I open the door to see we're in the back entrance of the kitchen and walk through; seeing all the food still around the messy kitchen, Usopp tries running away, but Zoro keeps a firm grip on the back of his shirt.
ONE PIECE - BARATIE ARC
I finally find the stairs leading down to the restaurant floor and stand watching the scene in front of me of the supposed King of the East Blue with his henchmen cowering beside him and the cooks along with Luffy in front of us facing him. "-shall I kill you off right now?" Krieg threatens my Baby Brother with narrow eyes, but Luffy just shrugs it off with his own.
"If you think you're up to it." Luffy swings his arm back as if readying himself for a fight.
"What? Very well, then. You want to be sent to the next world?" He growls then the shoulder plates on his tacky golden armour release air before popping up, showing two barrels. The Cooks take a step back in fright of the empty threat; we make ourselves known as Zoro begins to unleash his swords, and I tap my sharp nails against the railing of the stairs.
"Starting a brawl, Luffy?" Zoro questions next to me, and Usopp shakes still on the other side of me as I lean against the railing, looking down. "Need a hand?"
"W-We don't have to, y-you know." Usopp stutters terribly.
"But we don't mind joining in," I smirk, looking Krieg dead in the eye and making my eyes glow a bright red, he seems startled and takes a step back for a second, and everyone looks at us.
"Zoro! Dakota! Usopp! You dropped by! It's okay. Just sit and watch." Luffy tells us, and Usopp seems relieved; while I sigh in annoyance and slump over the railing, Zoro returns his sword.
"Oh, okay... that's too bad then... if you don't need us, there's nothing we can do about that. I-I'll help ya if you still need it! G-Good luck!" Usopp keeps stuttering, and both Zoro and I hit him, sending him back into the wall behind us. "What the hell was that for, Zoro! Dakota!" He complains, looking up at us.
"Shut up," Zoro warns him.
"And stay still," I add, then Krieg starts laughing at something; I turn back to the sizeable pathetic man as he chuckles.
"Are those your men? Are they all you've got with you?" Krieg asks, still smiling as if it was funny.
"What're you talking about? There are two more!" Luffy answers and shows him two more fingers.
"Hello! I'm a woman!" I argue, pointing to my breasts.
"Hey, why do you keep counting me in!" Sanji demands, and I see Krieg looking at the Owner with narrow eyes as if sizing him up, then pops the shoulder patches down, covering the guns again.
"I'll take care of you guys later. Right now, I need to feed my men." He comments and takes a large sack full of food and tosses it over his shoulder, and looks at the room full of people with a grim look. "For those who don't wish to die, you'd better not be here when I return. The only things I want are the journal and this ship." And with that, he walks back to his damaged ship but stops in the doorway. "However, if you really want to throw your lives away, i'll have to go out of my way, but I'll be happy to send you to the bottom of the ocean! Keep that in mind." And finally, he leaves for his ship, leaving an eerie silence over the restaurant for a second.
"I'm sorry, Sanji." The henchmen apologise for his Captain seeming in pain. "I never would've imagined things to turn out this way..."
"I don't need an apology from the likes of you, fool!" The Owner tells him, and they look at him in shock. "We are but Cooks in this establishment. We'll feed anybody who comes along."
"Owner!" Patty yells out, clutching a large utensil like the other cooks. "Why are you siding with Sanji? What's going on here?" He demands, and the other cooks agree with him.
"Yeah! This is his fault!"
"He's going to destroy your precious restaurant!"
"Shut the hell up, you stupid eggplants!" The old man shouts, silencing the angry cooks. "Have you ever had the experience of starving to death? Can you imagine how horrible it is? Having no food and water in this vast ocean?"
"W-What do you mean, Owner?" Patty asks the man about his speech.
"The difference between all of you and Sanji is that he knows that feeling." He tells them the Cooks seem shocked by this revelation.
"What does he mean? What does Sanji know about?" A Cook asks, seeming to have missed the point of the speech.
"Rather than just standing idle with petty talk, you'd all better leave this place now!" The old man warns them, not looking at any of them.
"I'm staying right here to fight! I can't simply let them trample over me!" Patty declares with fire, and all the Cooks seem to agree.
"Me too!"
"This is where I work!"
"I have no place to go to anyway." With that said the cooks all share looks before clutching their weapons. The pirate minion looks around him frantically at the courageous cooks and slams his hands down on the floor, gaining their attention.
"What are you doing?! Didn't you see how strong our Captain is?" He urges trying to stop the suicidal cooks, but it isn't going to work, not when you have something to fight for.
"Hey, Gin." Sanji addresses the enemy casually. "Feeding the hungry is what being a Cook is all about. However..." Sanji walks forward as he says this and plants his foot on the leg of a table, uses force to push the table into the air, and uses the same foot to stop the table and push it down onto the floor. "Now that your Captain's all filled up, he's nothing more than a plunderer. Whatever I do to your pals, don't come bitchin' at me. I'll kill anybody who tries to take this restaurant. Even you! Got that?" With that threat, Gin, the pirate minion, gives an audible gulp sweating a little.
"Heh! You saved his life just to kill him off? You're so thoughtful, Sanji." Patty backhands, looking at the younger Cook.
"Shut up, you fat-ass Cook!" He insults the Cook, not even looking at him.
"Didn't I tell you he was something?" Luffy asks, looking up at us.
"Sure did Brother." I giggle, but Usopp is still panicking.
"Who cares about him now? Let's just get the hell out of here!" Usopp cries out in distress though it is most likely that he isn't going to fight.
"Calm down," Zoro warns him as we look at the terrified long nose boy. "Even if he's Krieg, he's all battered up."
"Hm, Gin! You said once before that you know nothing about the Grand Line, right? But you have been there, haven't you?" Luffy asks him, turning to face him; this piques some interest in the room.
"The truth is I don't know nothing. What happened at the Grand Line on the seventh day... was it a dream? Or reality? It's still fresh in my mind... it was unbelievable. Just one man... destroying a whole fleet of 50 ships!" Gin recalls the news shocks the cooks as they all gap dramatically. Even Usopp starts screaming, and Luffy seems surprised even with the stories Dad and I used to tell him of the adventures we've had.
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouts out in shock.
"It all happened so suddenly. He showed up out of nowhere and... started sinking our ships one after the other. If a storm hadn't come along, our maiden ship would've been destroyed too. I have no idea how many of my mate's ships survived. But it was too scary for me to accept it all. I don't want to even think about what happened! That man... Its stare pierces through you like the eyes of a hawk!" Gin continues his experience, but the last bit catches Zoro's attention. He jolts forward, clenching his hand around the railing leaning his upper body over in anticipation and excitement.
"What? What did you say?" Zoro mutters as Usopp and I look at him, worrying about his actions.
"That guy... he must be the man known as Hawk-Eyes. The fact that you noticed his eyes leads me to believe that it was him. It all sounds like something he would do." The old man says, and it definitely did sound like Uncle, but I wonder if he was just bored. That was always his problem; he gets bored too quickly sometimes. He needs a woman. I look over to see Zoro with a crazed look in his eyes, still gripping the railing, almost denting the metal with force.
"The Hawk-Eyed Man!" Zoro drools as he shakes in excitement.
"Eh, you know that guy, Zoro?" Luf asks him, looking up at us, which seems to snap the Swordsman out of his daze.
"That's the man I've been looking for. I sailed across the oceans in search of him." Zoro replies, seeming to calm down some.
"Maybe he had some kind of grudge to settle with you guys," Sanji suggests taking a drag from his cigarette.
"Not that I know of." Gin snaps, looking at Sanji.
"Perhaps you disturbed his nap." The old man adds - his pretty close suggestion.
"Or he just got bored." I chime in and smirk, looking at Gin, who seems angry.
"Stop the bullshit! Why in the world would he destroy our fleet just for that?" He shouts at us, but the old man finds it funny as he lets out a low laugh.
"Don't get so worked up." He tells him.
"I'm just making a guess, silly," I add, smirking, knowing I was right, really. "Stuff like that happens in the Grand Line all the time." Everyone looks at me in shock, but Luffy, as I said, I've told him stories of my time, and he knows I grew up on those seas.
"Just what kind of place is that?" Usopp asks, looking up at me as I smile down at him, looking at his wide eyes showing fear.
"A place where anything can happen," Zoro answers, sending Usopp over the edge as tears flow down his cheeks in immense fear.
"Dead on," I agree and smile, thinking of home.
"Hey, Luffy!" He calls down to our Captain, gaining his attention. "Stop this right now! We can't go there! Luffy?" Luffy seems to be shaking slightly. "Hey, Luffy?" He soon burst out in laughter and excitement.
"Gah! I'm so pumped up! I was hoping the Grand Line would have all this!" Luffy cheers; I laugh as this was the same thing he'd said when I told him my stories. "Dakota, you were right!"
"Can't you be more concerned about your safety?" Usopp snaps at him as he looks down, but we all know he was thinking more about himself as a little coward.
"But with all this talk, now my destination will really be the Grand Line." Zoro leans back against the wall behind us. "That man... I can definitely meet him there!"
"Are you morons? You must be those who are eager to die." Sanji says, looking up at us.
"That's right. But it's none of your business. When I decided to become the greatest Swordsman in the world, I threw away the rest of my life. I'm the only one who can say I'm an idiot." Zoro retorts, looking down at the blond Cook. Well, that's something.
"Me too! Me too!" Luffy chimes in.
"As a man of the sea, same here!" Usopp adds, but you can hear the lie, and I knock him on the head several times.
"Cut the lying. Idiot." I tell him and look back at Zoro, such a waste of a life, but I know his ambition and the things I, too, have given up to achieve mine. "I see no reason not to agree."
"Fools," Sanji mutters to himself, but I can still hear him nonetheless.
"Hey! Hey! Do you bastards realise what's going on here? Don Krieg's ship is right in front of this restaurant! Do all the talking only after we get out of this mess!" Patty warns us.
"It doesn't matter to me; I've killed more than enough people before," I mumble and jump over the railings onto the floor below as I hear the war cries from the damaged ship as the crew regain their senses.
"Here they come!" A Cook shouts out as they are ready with their makeshift weapons; I get out my custom knuckle duster with blades on either side from my jacket's inside pocket. "I can hear them!" He states the obvious again. "We won't let them through! Coz this ship is our restaurant!" I hear the sound of their heavy footsteps as they run towards us from their ship.
"Run in fear, you Cooks!" Random Pirate screams, but it goes silent as a slicing sound comes from outside, then a rumble before waves crash from their ship being hit by something. I narrow my eyes, knowing who it is; I can feel the atmosphere change as everyone else seems shocked.
"What?!" Luffy gapes as the rest of them do the same.
"What the hell was that?!" I hear Krieg cry out in bedwetting terror. Most likely flashbacks from the Grand Line. The cries of the pirates from outside are audible as they struggle with their sinking ship; the waves from the vessels rock the restaurant with us inside.
"Go hoist the anchor! Or our ship'll get pulled under with them!" The old man orders one of his cooks, who races out in compliance.
"This is bad. Nami, Yosaku and Johnny are still on our ship!" Zoro mentions and jumps down beside me, and we race outside the restaurant.
ONE PIECE - BARATIE ARC
Outside the restaurant, Don Krieg's large ship is almost entirely submerged. "Big Bro! Big Bro!" I hear Johnny and Yosaku cry out for Zoro as they swim towards us; I walk over with the other to the side by a railing to see them.
"Yosaku! Johnny! Are you guys okay!" Luffy asks them frantically.
"Where's the ship? What happened to Nami?" Zoro quickly asks them; I almost feel a slight jealousy seep through my being at the thought of Zoro liking the ginger treasure lover.
"She's... I'm sorry, Big Bro! She's left!" Yosaku tries telling us.
"Big Sis Nami, she..." Johnny cries out, not actually telling us.
"She took off with all the treasure!" Yosaku finally tells us, but then again, I don't get most of it as they keep crying.
"W-What did you just say?!" We shout down at them in shock at the actions of our navigator.
"It's him." The old man states; I look over at him to see a look of shock on his face; I turn my head to the waters to see a small wooden raft with a sail and a candle emitting a green flame. It was him.
"It can't be... he is... the man with the Hawk Eyes?!" I hear Zoro say and look over to see him sweating and a frantic look in his eyes. Well, this should be fun.
Hey, you fabulous readers, thank you for all the support you've given me, and here's another chapter to say thank you. If you have not noticed, it's super long, and please let me know what you think. DEADGIRLETERNAL OUT!