So…I'm not dead…

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. At all. Except this computer. Wait, that belongs to my parents… shit…

Speech – "I'm going to be the Pirate King!"

Thoughts – 'I'm going to be the Pirate King!'

Technique – "Gomu Gomu no…Mushi!" (Gum-Gum Whip)

Letters/Notes/Anything written – 'Welcome to Saobody Archipelago!'

"My name…is Sanji."

The sous-chef slammed his leg down, driving Fullbody deeper into the ground, as suddenly a bathroom door crashed open and an irate, muscular man rushed out. He was about Sanji's height, wore a cook's outfit, and had extremely muscular arms. The man also sported a shaven head, along with a long mustache and short black beard.

"Oi, Sanji!" he yelled at the hitherto unnamed chef. "You can't attack customers, you shitty cook!"

"Eh?" Sanji turned his head to look at the unannounced interloper. "You have something to say to me, Patty?" he asked dangerously.

"Yeah, you goddamn brat, I do!" Patty stomped forward, snarling at Sanji. "Every day you get into a fight with the customers! You're ruining business, you goddamn brat!"

At this Sanji clenched his teeth, squashing the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and got up in Patty's face. "This moron tried to attack me!" he said viciously. "Plus, he insulted my cooking!" he added.

Patty pushed Sanji away, his visage set in just an angry an expression as Sanji's own. "What's not to insult, you goddamn brat?!" he roared, "Your cooking sucks!"

"Oh yeah, why don't you say that to my face, you asshole!?" Sanji roared back.

"I am saying it to your face, you goddamn cook!" Patty responded angrily, this time getting in Sanji's face himself.

During this entire exchange Fullbody had remained silent, but now he stood up and glared viciously at both Patty and Sanji.

"Oi, idiots!" he snarled in rage. "Do you know who I am?! I am Lieutenant 'Iron Fist' Fullbody!"

Sanji and Patty tore themselves away from their fight for a moment to stare at the frothing mad Marine. "So?" Sanji asked in confusion. "Why should we care?" Patty continued.

Fullbody's face went even redder, if that was at all possible. "I'm going to contact my superiors and have this shithole closed down!" he screamed hysterically.

This was not a wise move.

The moment Sanji heard that particular combination of words, he immediately stepped away from Patty and turned to glare at the Marine.

"If that's the case…" he muttered quietly, lowering his hands and bowing his head. Fullbody arrogantly prepared to accept the now-beaten cook's apology. "If that's the case," Sanji repeated, "I can't let you leave this restaurant alive!" he finished raising his head, his visible eye flashing.

Just as Sanji was about to deliver an ass kicking of epic proportions unto Fullbody, the door to the restaurant slammed open, and the War God Pirates, along with Johnny and Yosaku strolled in. The octet walked through the silent restaurant as if nothing was wrong, while the other guests just gaped at the strange timing of the large group.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy nonchalantly pulled several chairs and tables into one area, creating one huge table for the group to sit at. As they all settled down, they finally noticed that everyone, including Fullbody, was staring at them.

"What do y'all want?" Ace asked in amusement, "Is there something on our faces?"

"Y-you should have been sunk!" Fullbody screeched once again. "My crew should have sent you to Davy Jones!"

Sabo turned to look at the Marine Lieutenant and smirked slightly. "Should've, would've, could've," he said cheerfully. "Unfortunately for them, they didn't quite manage. Oh, and before I forget, Luffy wrecked your ship a little bit, sorry about that."

With a wordless roar of primal rage, Fullbody tried to lunge at the smirking Sabo, but was stopped by Zoro drawing his sword in the blink of an eye and striking the lieutenant clear across the torso with the reverse side, sending the unfortunate aggressor soaring through the air and into the wall, crashing into several tables along the way.

This was the cue for Sanji to burst into action. Flying across the room, he reached out to grab Fullbody before the man could cause any more damage, but he was finally stopped when several other cooks grabbed him, holding him in place.

"Sanji, stop please!" they pleaded with him. "There's been enough trouble already, let's get back to the kitchen!"

Suddenly, the entire group heard a tapping noise, like the sound of a cane striking the floor. The owner had arrived.

He was a man of medium height whose most obviously strange feature was his wooden right leg, though his mustache came in at a close second: tied into a severe coil, it was very long and contrasted heavily with his short beard. His outfit was that of a typical chef, including an extremely tall cook's hat that made him seem short by comparison.

"Oi, what the hell is going on here?!" the blond, single-legged owner bellowed.

"Owner-sama!" one of the struggling chefs grunted, trying to keep a hold on Sanji.
"Please help us with Sanji!"

"Eh?" the man turned to look at Sanji, a dangerous gleam in his eye. "Are you fighting with the customers again?" he asked angrily.

Not giving Sanji a chance to respond, the boss suddenly jumped and twisted in the air, striking Sanji harshly on the head with his peg leg and landing on the ground.

"Ahahah…" Fullbody began to laugh in relief, thinking that he was going to get off.

It was not to be, as the owner rounded on him next.

"You too, you piece of shit!" he snarled, striking Fullbody in the same manner, sending the Lieutenant crashing onto the floor. "Get the hell out of my restaurant!"

'What the hell's wrong with these people?!' Fullbody thought from his place on the floor, trying to get up, 'Even the owner is completely insane. Looking at all these guys…they look like a pirate gang!'

Meanwhile, the War God crew stared at the whole event in amusement.

For the second time in ten minutes, the door slammed open as a Marine rushed in, an expression of abject terror written on his face.

"L-l-l-lieutenant!" he squeaked, searching desperately for his commanding officer. "Lieutenant Fullbody!"

"I'm…I'm here." Fullbody replied, coughing as he got up off of the ground. "What's wrong?"

"S-sir!" the Marine saluted. "W-we tried to fulfill your orders sir, and sink the pirates' ship! But they fought back, and smashed the mast, sir!" looking around frantically, the Marine suddenly spotted the crew sitting at the table, where he saw Luffy turn around and spot him, before waving cheerfully.

Squeaking in fear the Marine jumped back, before continuing his report. "During the confusion, the man…" he began to stammer in dread.

"Well?" Fullbody prompted in annoyance. "What is it? Out with it man!"

"D-don Krieg's man…he…he escaped and killed seven Marines!" the Marine finally burst out histrionically.

Fullbody was dumbstruck, and for a moment the room was silent before chaos erupted.

"Don Krieg?!" "He's the most dangerous pirate in East Blue!" "He's got a bounty of 17,000,000 beli!" various people cried out in the room.

Fullbody was silent throughout all of this, the same expression of horrified surprise on his face. "H-how is that possible?!" he demanded. "We haven't fed him in three days, he should be close to death!"

A sound of thunder was heard, and the Marine who had delivered the message toppled over. Behind him appeared an average-sized man with a scruffy beard, short black hair, and bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in several days. He wore a plain outfit: an open grey jacket with a red sea-serpent design on each side with a green shirt underneath, gray pants matching his jacket, a gray headband with a blue stripe design, and two spherical earrings in each ear. Blood was dripping down his temple, coming down from underneath the headband, and he was sweating slightly.

In his hand was a pistol.

Walking past the cowering Fullbody, he pulled up a chair to a table and sat down, putting his foot on the table.

"I want…food," he said slowly and laboriously, emphasizing the demand by placing the firearm on the table. "Anything will do, but I want it quickly."

"Ah, of course sir!" Patty said, as he near-teleported to the table, an ingratiating smile on his face. "But, dear customer, I do hope that you are willing and able to pay?" he added the last part slightly worriedly.

That statement found him facing the barrel of the gun.

"Will a bullet do?" the intruder asked menacingly. Patty's facial expression changed completely, becoming a stern frown.

"So you aren't planning on paying then," he said lowly. "In that case…"

Not giving the pirate any chance to react, he slammed his hands down onto him, smashing the chair that the intruder was sitting on and hurting him as well.

"Those who don't pay, don't eat!" Patty roared as he began to kick the crap out of the already hurt man. The other cooks and guests began to cheer him on, while Sanji disappeared into the kitchen and began cooking.

Having finished beating up the pirate, which took some time, Patty picked up the unfortunate man and carried him outside, throwing him onto the front steps to the restaurant.

"Now…please get lost," he said calmly before re-entering the restaurant and closing the door.

Crawling forward a bit, the pirate cursed at his misfortune. "God damn it…god fucking damn it!" he whispered as his stomach growled miserably.

"Hey, you," he suddenly heard above him. Raising his head, the man saw Luffy sitting on the balcony railing above him.

"What…what do you want, brat?" the man asked lowly.

"You're really hungry, aren't you?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Sh-shut up!" the man replied angrily. "I'm not the slightest bit hungry!"

The pair's burgeoning conversation was interrupted by Sanji, who suddenly arrived with a plate of steaming rice, along with a spoon and a glass of water.

"Eat," he said simply, putting the plate in front of the starving man.

"I'm not going to take your damn charity!" the man replied, turning his head away.

Sanji puffed on his cigarette a little as he sat down, leaning against the railing of the stoop.

"Y'know, it's a terrible experience," he murmured, "Being out on the sea with no food or water. That great, wide-open expanse…no shore in sight, no ships on the horizon, and you're sitting there, starving to death. It's gotta be one of the worst ways to die in the world; trust me, I'd know." Turning his head to look the still-not-eating man, he smiled slightly, puffing his cigarette again as he did so. "I don't care if you want to die with dignity," he said, pushing the plate of food to the guy. "But if you survive now, you can continue to live on, and you can be something. Whereas if you die…" here he trailed off.

Not responding for a moment, the starving man suddenly lunged for the plate of food and began to eat with intense gusto.

"Delicious…this is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life!" he cried as he dug in. "Thank you…thank you so much!" he said to Sanji, tears in his eyes and his voice.

Luffy laughed uproariously from his perch atop the balcony, before suddenly jumping down and taking a seat next to the pair.

"Wow, you're a really nice guy, aren't you?" he asked the chef cheerfully, before suddenly jumping onto the stoop's railing and beginning to hang from it upside down, like a monkey. "Say, you wanna join my pirate crew as our chef?" he asked suddenly.

Sanji was stymied a little at first by the blunt question, but regaining his momentum he exhaled some smoke before answering. "No. I can't leave this restaurant."

Luffy cocked his head in confusion. "Why?"

"I have my reasons," Sanji replied cryptically. "In any case, thank you for your generous offer, but I must refuse."

"No, I refuse," Luffy answered with a pout.

"…What?" Sanji asked dumbfounded.

"I refuse your refusal!" Luffy explained, cheerful again. "I want you to be my chef, so you're gonna be my chef!"

Sanji's dumbfounded expression did not cease as the door leading to the stoop opened and Ace walked out.

"He's always like that," Ace said with amusement, snapping Sanji out of his spell. "He doesn't take no for an answer. You should either just say yes now, or be prepared to change your mind."

Twisting his head rapidly, Sanji looked from Luffy to Ace to Luffy to Ace, before standing up and brushing his pants off. "Finish your food," he said to the eating man, "And then you should get out of here, fast."

By this time, the man had stopped eating at such a rapid rate and was looking at Luffy, curiosity in his eyes. "Who are you, kid?" he asked, his voice possessing more strength than it had ten minutes ago.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy said happily, pointing at himself with his thumb. "I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

"What's your name?" Ace asked the man, who was now wiping his face of crumbs.

"My name is Gin," replied the man. "I'm a member of the Krieg Pirates." He then turned to look at Luffy once more. "If you want to be the Pirate King," he said thoughtfully, "Then that means you want to go through the Grand Line, yes?"

Luffy nodded. "Mmm."

"Don't," Gin said firmly. "You're a young man, you have your entire life ahead of you. Don't throw it away by going into that nest of chaos and despair. You'll die there."

"Shishishishishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "That doesn't matter," he said finally, having finished snickering, and noticing Gin's dumbfounded expression he elaborated. "Even if I die," he explained, a smile on his face, "It will have been a great adventure, won't it?"

"Ad…venture?" Gin whispered to himself, trying to wrap his mind around the concept of going into danger just for the sake of fun, before shaking his head and standing up. "Well, in any case," he said slowly, "I wish you the best of luck, but now I must go." Having said his piece, he left the Baratie, and, stealing a boat, began to make his way to a destination that the others could not hope to guess.

Luffy and Ace had settled back down in their seats and ordered food, when Sanji appeared again, carrying a tray with the crew's orders: Sake for Zoro, steak for Luffy, Ace, and Sabo, a risotto for Usopp, a soup for Nami, and a rockfish to split for Johnny and Yosaku.

"Your food," he uttered as he placed down the plates in front of their recipients. Here, he caught a glimpse of Nami. "Ah…what is this that my eyes see…a nymph? A goddess? Ah, our love shall be eternal!" he cried out as his eyes underwent the shōnen eye-heart effect. "Please, milady, command me and I shall do all that you ask!" he exclaimed as he fell on one knee and began to kiss the back of her hand.

Raising her eye at the strange behavior of the cook, Nami nevertheless relished the opportunity for free food. "Neh, cook-kun, could you please bring me some champagne?" she asked the fawning chef, bending slightly and pressing her cleavage together, "I'd be very happy if you did."

Sanji's nose began to leak blood a little bit as he jumped in the air, doing a little pirouette. "For you, my goddess, I will do anything!" he declared in a lovestruck voice as he rushed off to the kitchen.

Nami leaned back into her seat, pleased to have scored free booze.

"How long do you plan on milking this?" Sabo asked her in amusement as he tore himself away from his steak.

"As long as I can," Nami replied with a mischievous grin.

Sabo shook his head a bit and chuckled as he went back to his steak. Right as he swallowed the last bite, Sanji reappeared with a glass of champagne in his hand, as well as some lemon sorbet in another glass and a tiny, delicate spoon.

"For you…lovely goddess," he said in a lovestruck tone as he placed the glasses and the spoon in front of her, before bowing gracefully. "If I may ask, what is a vision of beauty like yourself doing with these…ruffians?" he asked curiously, eyeing the motley group sitting next to her with distaste.

"Ah, I'm the navigator for their crew," Nami replied, taking a sip of the champagne and pointing at her crewmembers with her thumb as she did.

"Ah…you're with them?" Sanji asked after a short pause, pointing at Luffy and Ace. Nami nodded, a slight smile playing on her face.

Suddenly, Sanji was in front of Luffy, kneeling with hearts in his eyes. "I accept your offer, I will be your chef!" he cried ecstatically. "I will do it to be near the beautiful…umm, what was your name, incidentally?" he asked mid-sentence, turning awkwardly to look at Nami.

"Nami," she replied, still smiling.

"Ah…a gorgeous name for a gorgeous woman!" he waxed poetic. "I will join your crew!" he continued passionately, gazing at Luffy. "I will join your crew to be around her incomparable loveliness!"

"Oi, brat!" they suddenly heard behind them. Turning around, they saw that it was the owner, glaring at Sanji.

"If you want to join their crew, brat," he continued gruffly, "You're going to have to leave the restaurant!"

As if something had clicked inside Sanji, he suddenly got up and began to walk away from the table, but not before turning to look at Nami again, a sorrowful expression on his face.

"Alas, effervescent nymph!" he cried dramatically, putting his hand on his heart, "It is not to be! I cannot join you."

Nami shrugged.

"Brat!" the owner yelled again. "Get back in the kitchen, you nuisance, unless you want to join their pirate crew!"

"Shut up, old fart!" Sanji replied, glaring back at the owner as he nonetheless did as he was told and retreated to the kitchen.

"How long are we planning on staying here?" Zoro asked Luffy a few days later impatiently as they sat eating lunch.

"As long as it takes," Luffy replied cheerfully from his stool, clapping his feet together. "I want that chef, and we're not leaving till he comes with us," he explained.

Zoro turned to look at the other two captains. "How can this be alright with you two? Can't you rein him in or something?" he asked helplessly.

Sabo shrugged while Ace just chuckled. "Not really; Luffy always gets what he wants," Ace replied with a slight smile. "He's not going to leave until that chef comes with him." Sabo nodded along.

Zoro sighed as he pondered the mysteries of the universe, like why the hell he joined a crew of insane people.

"Eh, Zoro, it's not so bad!" Nami said, trying to cheer him up. "It's a nice place to stay, and we get free food!"

"You mean YOU get free food," Zoro corrected in a steely tone of voice. "The rest of us have to pay like normal people."

"Ah…that's true," Nami said thoughtfully, before shrugging and going back to her cocktail. Zoro tche'd. (You know, that thing he does? Where he goes all 'tche' with that expression of superiority and annoyance? That's what he did.)

The sky was completely clear, not a cloud was in sight. The sea was wide and beckoning, inviting all to come and sail on its boundless expanse and visitors of the Baratie were enjoying their lunches on the outer deck. Suddenly, a dark, massive shape appeared on the horizon.

"What is that?" "Is that a ship?" "Are they pirates?" was the general tone of the questions thrown around.

Suddenly, one eagle-eyed eater noticed something that the others hadn't.

"T-t-that's the Dreadnaught Saber!" he screamed out in terror, "Don Krieg's flagship!"

Just like that, all semblance of order was lost as the guests began to flood inside to be under the protection of the battle-trained chefs, who were also panicking.

"This is all your fault, Patty!" one of them screamed. "If you hadn't beaten up that man, now Don Krieg wouldn't be attacking us!"

"Shut up!" Patty screamed back, but fear was evident in his voice as he tried to organize the chaos.

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo stood next to Sanji, looking out onto the sea and at the rapidly approaching ship.

"Think that Gin's coming back to pay you?" Luffy asked Sanji, half-jokingly. Sanji said nothing, merely lighting a cigarette and taking a puff.

"That's a really battered ship, that is," Ace commented, as the vessel got close. "Wonder what happened to it," he continued thoughtfully.

Gin stepped off of the ship, another man leaning on him for support. The man was tall, with short violet hair and had gauze wrapped around his head. His pants were the same shade as his hair and he wore a thick fur coat over a yellow and black spotted shirt.

With Gin's help, the pair finally made it inside the restaurant, the tall man collapsing when they got inside. There was no sound as all of the chefs and guests, including the War God Pirates, looked to see what would happen next.

"Please…please, my captain needs food!" Gin finally cried out, raising his head and hands in a pose of supplication, tears flowing down his cheeks freely.

One by one, the chefs began to laugh, having regained their courage upon seeing the weakened state of the much-feared pirate. Patty stepped forward as a sort of spokesman for their thoughts, while Sanji disappeared into the crowd.

"Do you honestly expect anybody in this room to give food to a maniac like Don Krieg?" he asked Gin, a smirk on his face. "Are you insane? Oh, my mistake, you're a pirate, you have no moral compass or comprehension of decency," he spat. "Get the hell out of here you worthless roaches, you'll get no food from us!"

"We have money!" Gin implored, raising a bag that clinked appealingly. "We have money, and that makes us customers!"

"No, all that makes you is robbers and murderers!" Patty snarled, curling his lip. "Who'd you kill to get that money!? How many orphans are left in your wake? Grieving widows?! How do you expect to receive any mercy from us when you've never shown it your entire life!"

Gin gritted his teeth in hopelessness and rage. "Please!" he cried out again. "Out of any kindness you possess, please!"

He was greeted by a sea of angry faces, as one by one the chefs turned away from the hapless pirate.

Death by starvation is a terrible fate, and it is perhaps in this instant that Gin realized just how weak he was – at full force, he could make islands quake with fear and entire Marine squadrons flee or surrender. And yet here he was, rendered completely helpless through such a weak thing – food.

'This is the way the world ends, then,' Gin thought, strangely at peace, 'Not with a bang…but with a whimper.'

However, his Nirvana-esque musings were cut short, as suddenly Sanji reappeared, carrying a large plate, filled with steaming fried rice. Walking up to the shell-shocked pirates, he knelt down and put the plate down in front of Krieg, before standing back up again and lighting a cigarette.

"Sanji…what the hell are you doing?" Patty asked, at a loss for words at the actions of the blond chef. "Do you have any idea who you just gave food to!?" he roared pulling back his fist, prepared to punch Sanji in the face as Krieg dug into the proffered meal. Sanji's foot, however, was faster than Patty's arm, and in the blink of an eye he had spun around and planted his heel into Patty's side, smashing the large man down into the floor.

Putting his hands into his pockets, Sanji bowed his head. "Anyone who asks food of me is a customer, Patty," he said softly. "You cannot expect me to allow a man to starve to death. I am a cook, and I will feed all that ask it of me." He turned away from the staring man and shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

At this statement, Carne stepped forth, curling his lip up in rage. "We may not understand whatever the hell it is you're spewing," he spat, before pointing at the still-eating Krieg, "But we do understand what that monster has done!" he exclaimed, as he began to list Krieg's various atrocities. "He's run up a white flag to get Marine ships near him, he's used the Marine flag to get close to merchant ships, he uses every single dirty trick in the book! How could you give a demon like that food?!"

Sanji did not respond, merely taking a puff. Suddenly he was flung aside, as the pirate being discussed rose up and, without warning, punched the cook clear across the room.

"K-Krieg-sama!" Gin stammered in shock. "What are you doing? You said that if they fed us, we would let them go in peace!"

Krieg turned his vicious face to look at Gin, before suddenly grabbing him by the shoulder and squeezing. Hard.

"Are you questioning your captain, Gin?" he asked lowly, the barely-restrained rage simmering in his voice.

Gin hissed in pain as he dropped to his knees, before raising his head to look Krieg in the eyes. "N-no, captain," he replied, before bowing his head and looking at Sanji with shame and regret.

'Sanji-san…I'm sorry…'

Meanwhile, the customers had all evacuated the restaurant and ran off for part unknown, terrified of being in the presence of the notorious pirate. Krieg took the lull in action to take a hard look around the room.

"This ship…I like it," he murmured, before raising his voice. "I'm taking this ship, and I'll also need food enough to feed 100 men." His tone brooked no disagreement, and yet some of the chefs found the courage to speak up.

"You're crazy if you think that we're going to feed you!" a chef spoke up, stepping forward in what he must've thought was a defiant position, diminished only by the quivering of his legs.

Krieg turned to look at the source of the voice. "You seem to be under the impression that I'm placing an order," he said softly, before suddenly pulling out a gun and aiming at the speaker's head, "when I'm ordering you to do something."

"Nobody ever disobeys me!" he roared, looking around at the rest of the assembled chefs. "I am Don Krieg, and you will do as I say!" Here his expression turned malicious. "Unless you want to meet the bottom of the sea, that is…"

"Oi, Krieg," they suddenly heard behind them. Turning around, the group saw the owner carrying a large bag of food. "Take this," here he put the sack on the ground, "and get out of here."

"Z-zeff-sama! Why would you feed these monsters?!" the other chefs demanded of him.

Krieg was dumbstruck. "Zeff?" he whispered

to himself. "It can't be…Zeff?"

The hitherto-unnamed chef turned to look at the pirate captain. "Mmm? You have something to say, brat?" he asked moodily. "Take the food and get off my ship."

Krieg began to chuckle, the sound slowly turning into a roaring laugh. "What a fortuitous turn of events!" he boomed. "I had not intended to meet the great Red Leg Zeff here. Tell me, what is it like, not being a great pirate anymore, reduced to a mere cook?" he mocked.

"Hmph," Zeff grunted.

"Who's Red Leg Zeff?" Luffy asked Ace quietly, but the shirtless boy merely shrugged, while Sabo shook his head.

Sensing Luffy's question, Krieg continued. "It's said that your kicks were so strong, that they would coat your legs in the blood of your enemies, and that's what got you your epithet. Is that true?" he asked.

Zeff said nothing, but a trained eye could see a faint tightening of the muscles in his right thigh.

"I had heard that you had had some sort of accident that stopped your career," Krieg said thoughtfully, "but I hadn't thought that you would never be able to battle again. After all, what good is Red Leg Zeff when he has only one leg?" he jeered.

"I don't need two legs to cook," Zeff replied quietly. "All I need is a pair of hands. Now, what do you want?" he demanded.

Krieg was silent for a moment. "You're one of the few who ever came back from the Grand Line with your life, so you must've kept a journal of your travels," he said finally. "Give it to me."

The pirate captain was stunned to hear Zeff begin to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Zeff roared. "If you think I'm going to give a jumped up little shit like you the memories that my crew and I shared, you're even dumber than your fucked-up face suggests!" he replied, still chuckling.

Krieg growled, and his face twisted into an ugly grimace. "If you won't give me the journal," he said lowly, "I'll just have to take it by force!"

"I need that journal!" he thundered at the captive audience. "When I was in the Grand Line, my only fault…was a lack of information! I had the greatest armada, the best weapons, the largest crew…and yet I was taken down in a single week!" he bellowed.

"A week? The mighty Krieg was taken down in only a week?" the other chefs began to converse amongst themselves in disbelief.

"But…with that journal…" Krieg smirked maliciously, "With that journal I'm going to become the Pirate King!" he said.

"Oi, Crud," they all heard Luffy call from his table. Slowly, the group turned to look at the suicidal boy, who was grinning guilelessly. "You're not going to become the Pirate King," he said, still grinning.

"Oh? And why's that?" Krieg asked, advancing on the captain slowly, cracking his knuckles.

"Cuz I am!" Luffy replied happily.

Krieg stopped and shook his head in disbelief at the kid's stupidity. "Tell me, brat," he said slowly as if speaking to a total moron, "how are you gonna be the Pirate King when you're dead?!" he roared the last part, launching a punch at the black-haired boy.

However, the attack never connected, as Krieg found his fist blocked by the pommel of Zoro's slightly drawn blade.

"I don't really like when people attack my captain…" Zoro muttered, not getting up from his seat.

Luffy put down his meat and carefully wiped his mouth, before leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. "If you want to fight," he suggested cheerfully, "We should probably go outside."

Johnny and Yoskau looked curiously at Nami, who was staring at the sea blankly.

"Oi, nee-chan," Johnny asked her finally, "What're you thinking about?"

"Hmmm?" she replied distractedly, "Oh, nothing. Just…remembering some stuff."

"I wonder why she keeps looking at those wanted posters…" Yosaku said to Johnny as they walked back to their cabins.

"Oi, Gin." Ace called to Krieg's subordinate calmly, ignoring the stalemate between his brother and the lavender-haired captain.

"Hmmm?" Gin turned to face the tattooed Ace.

"How exactly did you manage to get your asses handed to you in a single week?" Ace asked curiously.

Gin was silent for a moment. "It was a monster," he responded finally. "A monster of a man, with yellow eyes, like a…like a bird of prey."

Zoro's eyes bulged, as he lowered his sword arm.

"Bird of prey…!" he muttered.

"Sounds like you had a run in with 'Hawk-Eyes' Mihawk…" Zeff said thoughtfully.

" 'Hawk-Eyes'…to think that he'd be so close…" Zoro whispered feverishly.

"Oi, Zoro, you know this 'Hawk-Eyes' guy?" Luffy asked him inquisitively.

"He…he's the one I'm looking for," Zoro replied, his calm exterior belying his inner agitation.

"What could they have done to piss off someone like Dracule Mihawk?" Sanji asked Zeff, who shook his head.

"No, they didn't have to have done anything," he responded, sitting down with an 'oomph.' "Mihawk…that's the sort of thing he'd do out of sheer boredom. Or you might have disturbed his nap." He added the last part as if it were an afterthought.

Gin snarled noiselessly. "We disturbed his nap so he cuts our ship in half?" he growled lowly. "That seems like a bit of a disproportionate response, if you ask me."

"Hah!" Zeff grunted. "In the Grand Line, things like that happen on a daily basis. You don't even BREATHE in the direction of a powerful pirate unless you're prepared to fight for your life."

"Luffy…" Zoro said.

"Hmmm?" Luffy asked, turning his head to look at Zoro.

"Now…now I'm definitely going to go to the Grand Line!" Zoro swore, a bloodthirsty grin on his face. Luffy was silent for a moment before grinning widely.

"Alright men!" a pirate on the Dreadnaught Saber yelled as he rallied his crewmembers. "That ship just has cooks on it, so we're gonna take it with no problems at all!

"Yeah!" they roared in agreement, as they prepared to attack what they thought to be a defenseless vessel.

"Wait…what the hell's that?" one of the more observant members of the crew asked as he pointed towards a little boat that was sailing right next to them.

As the boat got closer, the soon realized what, or rather who, was on the boat.

"What the hell's he doing outside the Grand Line?!" was the general tone of the screaming as the pirates all sought to get as far away from the boat as they could, but it didn't help a whit.

In a single motion, the man on the boat withdrew his massive sword from the sheath it was held in and sliced in the direction of the Dreadnaught Saber. For a moment, there was absolute silence, before a groaning noise split the sky as the ship began to slide apart.

"How the fuck does someone manage to cut a ship in half?!" the men screamed as the milled about like ants, desperately trying to run to the non-sliced sides of the ship.

"He's here," Zoro muttered, as he turned his head to look in the direction of the collapsing ship.

"What the fuck's going on out there?!" Krieg roared, as the entire group, including the War God Pirates ran outside to witness the destruction of the massive vessel. "You!" he screamed, pointing at the sword-wielding man who had just cut his ship in half. "You're here to finish me off, aren't you?!"

"Dracule 'Hawk-Eyes' Mihawk…" Zoro said loudly, as the now-named man turned his head to look in the direction of the speaker. The marimo then stepped forward, and suddenly leapt forward onto one of the parts of the Saber's floating wreckage. "I've been looking for you for a while…"

Chapter 8

Aaaaaaaaaaand, that's that!

So…I'm not dead, which is good news! I also haven't updated in almost…5 months now…less good news. The funny thing is, I wrote about 5K words in November alone, and wrote the last 1.5K over the course of the other months, with the vast majority being finished in the last two days. It's weird, I know, but I have Spring Break, which is why I can write more now. However, as you can tell…I'm a very very very slow writer, so once again, please don't get your hopes up.