7 Chapter 7: Battle for the Baratie

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Alright, this is gonna be a long one, so brace yourselves! It's time for a fight!

Today couldn't possibly get anymore hectic. First Kreig threatens to take the Baratie, then Zeff actually does what Kreig says and makes all the crew members meals, and then Krieg's giant ship gets taken out by some weird guy they called Hawkeye Mihawk (I think?). Apparently this guy was from the Grand Line where Kreig's army got sunk. I don't know much about the Grand Line, but if it's full of strong guys like that Hawkeye guy, I don't want anything to do with it.

One of Luffy's friends, the green swordsman guy, actually went to fight him. And, big shock, he almost got killed. Sanji was pretty confused by his stupidity too; seriously, I get that fighting against enemies stronger than you make you stronger in turn, but this guy was way out of his league! He was asking to get beaten up! Well, Hawkeye actually let him live so I gave him a bit of respect for not being a mindless killing machine. But that swordsman's pride was probably in shatters.

But the actual shock came from Luffy. He wasn't happy about his friend getting the tar beaten, or sliced, out of him and he jumped over to Hawkeye. But he didn't jump, he freaking stretched! As in, stretched his entire arm over to the raft where the fight had been and flew over! Turns out Luffy's made of rubber; that explained why my electricity did nothing to him earlier. Rubber is my one weakness.

But this little fight didn't stop Kreig. Before I knew it, his crew was getting ready to strike and Sanji had placed me inside the restaurant. "You stay in here." he said. I protested of course, not wanting to leave Sanji with these guys, but he wouldn't have any of it. "You're still hurt and this could get rough; stay in here and rest where it's safe." And with that, he closed the doors, not waiting to hear me complain.

Safe in here? If Kreig wins then this place will be far from safe! But there's nothing I can do to get out and, though I hate to admit it, Sanji has a point. I'm in no condition to fight. My middle already has a nasty bruise where Kreig had kicked me. Yeah, I could breathe normally, but touching that spot or moving around too much really made it sting. On top of that, I've never fought people like this before (that I can remember anyway). The most I did was shock or tackle people out of the restaurant; not really the best moves when fighting guys like this.

With nothing to do, I walk over to the base of the stairs to sit down, trying to ignore the screams and battle noises coming from outside. From the sound of it, Luffy was really going nuts out there. It sounded like he was quite the fighter; good to know that he's good for something. I manage to keep myself from watching for a while (I'm pretty sure I even heard something catch on fire), until I hear some weird banging noise.

My curiosity finally at its limit, I scurry up the stairs, perch myself in a window and oh hey, they raised the Fins for more fighting ground (haven't needed those things in a while) and...wait, what the hell was I even looking at?

Kreig was standing on the remains of his ship, but that wasn't the weird part. There was another guy, a huge guy standing on one of the Fins wearing a giant pearl on his head and wearing a bunch of...pearl armor…? Basically, it looked really silly. The guy is approaching Sanji but he doesn't move. Why isn't he moving?

I feel my heart skip a beat as the pearly guy lands a hard punch on Sanji throwing him against the wall. I cry out but no one's paying attention to me. What the hell? Why didn't Sanji move?! I look around and see why; the guy we helped is holding a gun to Zeff's head! (I think Luffy said his name was...Ghin?) I grit my teeth; how could he do this after everything Sanji did for him?!

"Sanji!" Luffy exclaims. "Why didn't you dodge that?!"

"Because that bastard would've pulled the trigger." Sanji answers gruffly.

Ghin looks at Sanji, "Why are you doing this?" he asks. "Just leave the restaurant peacefully and no one will get hurt!" My paws clench and I can feel sparks flying from my cheeks. I couldn't just sit up here, I had to do something!

"I've already taken everything from that old man," Sanji says softly. "His power...his dreams…" I can almost see the images flashing through his head. He's thinking of when he was marooned with him on that rock. He slowly gets to his feet. "So while I'm around...I'm not gonna let anything else get taken from him!"

My eyes widen as the pearly guy lunges at Sanji from behind, raising his arms to smash his brains in and I see red. I take a flying leap, sparks flying from my cheeks. I dive towards the pearly guy and begin somersaulting in the air. On instinct I concentrate my energy into my tail and it begins to glow. I spin faster and faster with gravity until I finally make contact. My tail, now fully made of iron, smashes the ball on Pearly Guys' head, most likely giving him a concussion as well.

Well, that's another thing I didn't know I could do; guess that's another piece of memory I recovered.

Pearly Guy freezes in place as the pearl on his head shatters. I push off him with my tail and flip back towards Sanji as Pearly Guy sways on his feet. I land in front of him, a murderous look in my eyes and sparks flying from my cheeks. I wasn't done with this clown yet! I charge up my tail again, give it a hard swing, and strike him right in the center of his stupid armor, shattering it easily.

Okay, this move is amazing; I'm definitely using it more often!

Pearly guy falls to the ground and I stand in an offensive stance; who cares if I'm injured, I'll take on all these punks if I have to! "Pika-chan…" Sanji says in shock.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Luffy exclaims. "You're the coolest rat ever!"

I ignore his words and turn towards Ghin who's staring at me in awe and fear; good, he should be scared from what I'm gonna do to him! Sparks fly from my cheeks and I bare my fangs taking a step towards him.

"Pika-chan, don't!" Sanji orders, putting his foot in front of me. "If you try anything, he'll pull the trigger!"

I frown at Sanji, "Pika pika!" 'We can't just do nothing!' I was fast enough, I could knock that gun out of the guy's hands in a second and Zeff would be fine!

Sanji glares down at me, "That old coot gave up his leg for me!" he said, catching me by surprise. "I can't repay the old man if he's dead!" My frown softens; I knew Sanji cared about Zeff, but we couldn't just let Kreig do what he wanted! If he really cared he would stop Kreig from getting his hands on this restaurant no matter what it took!

"GUM GUM…"

Sanji and I turn to Luffy who's stretching his leg high into the sky. "No don't!" Sanji yells.

"...BATTLE AXE!" Luffy brought his foot down and smashed the whole Fin. Arceus, this kid was stronger than I gave him credit for!

"He's trying to sink the ship!" Someone shouts. Okay, this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said stopping Kreig no matter what it took. Sanji and I both fall over from the shaking the attack caused and Kreig looks ready to blow a gasket. "Ghin! Shoot the old man's head off now!"

Sanji and I tense. I look at Ghin who looks conflicted. C'mon Ghin...you're better than this! "But...he saved our lives...he gave us food!" he protests.

We look at Luffy as he dusts himself off. "Don't get so upset," he says. "I didn't sink it...yet."

"What?!" Sanji got to his feet and stomped towards Luffy, grabbing the front of his vest. "You bastard! You can't sink this ship!"

"But if the restaurants gone, then they have no reason to attack us." Luffy says, unfazed by Sanji's anger. That was a good point, but knowing this guy and his anger issues he would probably kill us anyway. I think it's safe to say we're in a bit of a stalemate.

"This ship saved my life! I owe everything to her!" Sanji yells.

"You're gonna die for some stupid restaurant?" Luffy asks sharply. "Are you stupid?" My ears perked up and Sanji froze. Luffy slaps Sanji's hand away and grabs the front of his suit. "Getting killed? That's how you want to repay your debt?" he demands. Wow, I didn't know Luffy could get this mad. "The old man didn't save you so you could kill yourself!" Luffy says dangerously. "He did it so you could do something with your life!"

"So your big idea is to help them attack us?" Sanji demands. I watch as both Luffy and Sanji stare at each other neither one of them backing down. This fight was really getting personal! My ears suddenly twitch as I hear something being thrown to the ground and footsteps rushing towards me.

I turn just in time for a shoe knock me onto my back and stomp right on my middle. I squeal in pain as my injury flares up quickly from the full weight of the person stepping on me. I open my eyes to see Ghin hovering over me. "I'm sorry, little one." he said softly, two iron tonfa with heavy orbs on the ends of them in his hands. "But you're in my way."

I let out a scream as Ghin increases his weight on me for a split second before I feel him release me followed by something hard, heavy, and smooth knocking me into the air. I only flew a short distance because after a second, I smack a piece of wood and tumble to the ground.

"Pika-chan!" I feel familiar hands pick me up and cradle me gently.

I crack one eye open and look towards Ghin, who's staring at Kreig. "What the hell are you doing Ghin?" Krieg demands.

"I'm sorry Don Kreig." Ghin says. "He saved our lives; I can't kill him like this...he deserves to die standing up." He turns towards Sanji and me. "But I promise, he'll still die by my hand." I try to glare at him as hard as I can, but I'm too pained to move. Thank Arceus that tonfa didn't also hit my old injury, or I would probably be coughing up blood.

"Great." Kreig grumbles. "My Chief Commander has lost his marbles!" Wait...would you mind repeating that? Ghin is their chief commander?!

Luffy grinned, "My plan worked!" he cheered. "Now we got him out in the open!"

"You liar!" Sanji yelled. I tried to insult him myself but it came out as a choke. Sanji looked down at me with worried eyes. "You okay?" I respond with another cough and slow breathing; it sounds like I'm wheezing. Sheesh, I probably look pretty pathetic.

"Sanji!" Ghin's voice rang through the air. "I'm just following orders; I don't want to wreck this ship but it seems that it's too late for that now."

Sanji smirks. "If you think you can get to this place without killing me, you've got another thing coming." he retorts.

"Sounds fair," Ghin says. "It will be a pleasure to kill you my friend."

"Gee, that's comforting," Sanji says. "...Asshole…" I can't help but silently laugh as he mutters that last part. All this fighting must have damaged my brain if I'm laughing while injured.

Luffy shrugs, "I'm not afraid of any Kreig pirate." he comments. "You're only strong 'cause you outnumber all the other pirates in the East Blue." Ouch. Shots have been fired. If my chest wasn't hurting so much I'd probably be laughing out loud. I can only manage a smile as the other pirates yell at Luffy with rage.

"Oh boy...now you've really pissed them off." Sanji says.

"Guess I was right." Luffy says. I finally let out a laugh before wincing in pain; I think I'm starting to like this Luffy kid. The Kreig pirates start to charge at us but Kreig tells them to stay put.

"Ghin!" Kreig barks. "You take care of that cook; the little boy is all mine!"

"I understand, Don Kreig." Ghin responds.

Sanji stares at him when Luffy suddenly appears in my vision. "Here, I'll hold your pet for you." he says. "You take care of Ghin."

I scowl at him. 'Dammit...'m not...a pet!' He gently takes me from Sanji and steps away out of harm's way.

"Straw Hat." Kreig says, making Luffy face him. "You can try your Devil Fruit magic all you want but it won't work on me." he says. "Once you experience the full force of the strongest in the East Blue, you'll truly understand power!" Big words; and I have a feeling that he'll be able to back them up.

"You're voice is starting to piss me off." Luffy growls. "I'm gonna kick your ass; simple as that."

Kreig scowls and I turn back to Sanji and Ghin. Ghin starts to spin one of his tonfa, faster and faster. "I'm sorry Sanji, but I can't be defeated." he says. Little late for apologies, don't ya think?

"Keep telling yourself that." Sanji mutters, lighting his cigarette. "And trust me, you and your Captain are gonna pay for hurting my friend."

My eyes widen slightly as he sends me a small glance, 'Sanji...'

Ghin runs at Sanji to strike and Sanji kicks out at him. Ghin jumps back and slams his right tonfa into the ground, Sanji barely able to dodge. He pulls the tonfa out of the wood and swings at him again, barely missing Sanji. "You son of a-" Sanji spins and sweeps his leg through the air, but Ghin spins in the air and finally makes contact.

I squeak as he pins Sanji to the ground with his tonfa over his neck. Luffy and I watch as Sanji chokes on the ground from the hit and Ghin simply sits on the ground next to him. "I warned you." Ghin says, beginning to spin his second tonfa for the final strike. "Now, die!" Just as Ghin leans over to strike, Sanji spits his cigarette out, the burning end tapping Ghin's forehead.

I grin as Sanji uses his hands to flip out from under the tonfa and land a sharp kick onto Ghin's head. But my breath hitches when Ghin tightens his grip on one of his tonfa and slams it right into Sanji's side at the last second.

'No!'

Both of them fall to the ground. I squirm half-heartedly in Luffy's grip. "Hey, calm down, you're still hurt." Luffy says, looking down at me.

"He kicked Ghin in the head!"

"Is he still alive?"

"Shut up!" Kreig barks. "You should know why I trust Ghin out of all me crew." he says. "Ghin is a cool-headed cold-hearted demon and he never quits!" As he says those words, Ghin stands up. Sanji on the other hand, can only get to his knees. I can't imagine how much damage those tonfa did to him!

Sanji feebly gets to his feet, a hand on his middle, "That wasn't...too bad." he rasps out with a smirk. "Let me know when you're ready to really fight." Sanji, now is not the time to be taunting him! Ghin licks his lips and smiles.

"Hey, he's just sitting there." I look up at Luffy, who's looking at Kreig, sitting calmly on a piece of his ship. Luffy grins and gently puts me down. "Now it's ass-kicking time!" And with that, Luffy charges towards Kreig. I don't think that's such a good idea…

Kreig smirks and flicks something into the water. A split second later, the water explodes in front of Luffy and a gunshot is heard. The bullet bounces straight off Luffy and throws him right back to our platform. Told you…

Kreig laughs and Luffy growls, slamming his hat on the ground. "You bastard! Fight me!"

Kreig grins, "Fight you? I really don't have the patience for your stupid games."

My ears twitch as I catch movement in the corner of my eye. I turn towards Sanji just in time to see Ghin slam his tonfa into him, right in the same spot as before. "Pika…!" I limp towards him on all fours as he lies on the ground, coughing and hacking up blood. "Pika pi…" I say worriedly.

Sanji manages to sit up and pushes me behind him, glaring up at Ghin. "Go ahead…" he says softly. "You hit like a girl anyway." Sanji, seriously! This is just like the swordsman guy against Mihawk; just stay down!

Ghin spins his tonfa again. "Good-bye, Sanji." he says and swings the weapon. Sanji suddenly shoves me away and uses his hands to flip out of the way easily. A bit too easily if you ask me.

"What was that?" Sanji demands. "Your pity?" Ghin grits his teeth and Sanji kicks him right between the shoulder blades. "I'm not dead yet!" That's weird...did Ghin miss on purpose? But why?

I snap out of my my thoughts as Sanji chokes in pain. "Oh no!" Luffy exclaims. My eyes widen as Sanji falls to the ground, wrapping his arms around himself. I could hear bones cracking; his ribs were probably close to puncturing his lungs by now! I crawl towards him just as Ghin approaches him. He smacks me away with his foot and wraps his hand around Sanji's neck, hovering over him. "You...damn...bastard…" Sanji croaks.

We all wait with baited breath for him to strike...when tears start falling from Ghin's eyes. "I can't…" he says softly.

No way…

Ghin looks up at Kreig, "This man saved my life." he sobs. "I can't Don Kreig!" he shouts. "I won't do it!" Well what do you know...he really does have a heart after all.

"What did you say?!" Kreig roars.

"I'm sorry captain!" Ghin yells tearfully. "I won't kill him!" I slowly but surely get on all fours as Ghin drops his weapons and puts his hands on his teary face. "He treated me with such respect and kindness…" he continues. "I've always been loyal to you...trusting me as your Chief Commander was the honor of my life...I've obeyed every order up to this day, and I could never live with myself if I killed this man."

I can't believe it...was this really the same guy who held a gun to Zeff's head a few minutes ago? The same guy who kicked me and beat Sanji to a pulp? I feel a smile tug at my lips; humans certainly were strange.

"Please, I beg of you!" Ghin pleaded. "Let me disobey, just this once!" He looks directly at his captain. "Please Captain...can't we just leave?"

Kreig roars and gets to his feet, making me flinch. "You little son of a bitch!" he yells. "You defy my orders and then tell me what to do?! Pathetic!" Yeah, I had a feeling that Kreig wouldn't be swayed that easily. This was the guy who brought this whole fiasco on the restaurant that saved his life after all. "You're no longer my Chief Commander!" Kreig yells, holding up a plate of his armor towards us. "Men, step aside!" he orders.

Ghin stares at Kreig in horror, "No! Not the gas!" he yells. Wait, gas? That didn't sound good!

"Poison Gas?" Luffy asks in horror. All the Kreig pirates scurry and swim around yelling about getting masks on.

"The only thing that matters in a battle is victory." Kreig says. "Even if your own men have to die."

"He's insane." Sanji says softly. I watch as Ghin reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a gas mask.

"Might as well throw that away Ghin!" Kreig yells. "You're no longer worthy to be a Kreig pirate!"

Luffy runs towards Kreig to get a hit in, but Kreig simply breaks the mast he was running on and fires at him, forcing him back to the platform where we are. "Ghin!" Luffy calls. "You don't have to listen to that blowhard...cause I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Ghin grits his teeth, "No! My captain cannot be defeated! He is the strongest man alive and I respect his punishment!" Oh, don't start that crap again! Your life is on the line here!

"Snap out of it!" Sanji yells. "He's going to kill you!"

"And I deserve it!" Ghin responds instantly. "Obeying my emotions meant betraying my captain; if I were in his place I would do the same thing." Ghin swiftly throws his mask into the ocean. "Death is the only honor I have left." You idiot! Honor isn't worth your life! This jerk isn't worth your loyalty, no matter how strong he is!

Kreig simply grins and takes aim. "MH-5 Poison Gas Bomb, fire!" he yells and a giant warhead flies towards us. Everyone scrambles for cover while Luffy grabs two masks from two random pirates and tosses them to Sanji and Ghin. But when he does, his gaze lands on me.

I can still barely move and I'm pretty sure those masks won't fit me; what do I do?! Maybe I could jump in the ocean or hold my breath or-

Luffy runs over to me and picks me up along with a broken plank of wood. "What are you doing?!" Sanji demands.

"Saving your pet!" Luffy responds. Arceus dammit, I'm not a pet! He balances me on the plank and looks at me seriously, "Hang on; this is gonna be a bumpy ride." he says.

"Pika…?"

He stretches his arm back, the plank of wood and me balancing on his palm and my eyes widen. "Gum Gum…" he yells. I exchange a fearful glance with Sanji and grip the wood tightly. "...Mini Slingshot!" he yells and he throws me as hard as he can. I can only scream as I soar through the air.

A purple cloud of poison surrounds the Baratie before the restaurant and Sanji shrink out of sight.

Congratulations! Your Pika-chan learned Iron Tail! ...And is now lost at sea...uh...yay?

*awkward silence* Um, review please!