We all came in just in time to see Sanji getting punched out by none other than Don Krieg himself, wearing a plum cape with a big fur collar. His head was bandaged, his hair was lavender, and his eyes were hard and confident. His shoulders were broad and his whole body was heavily muscled.
"S-Sanji!" a cook I'd learned a couple days ago was named Carne (Italian for "meat"—coincidences, eh?) gasped. A woman screamed in terror and the crowd of customers that had been watching backed away quickly.
Gin was kneeling on the floor next to Krieg, and pleaded, "Oi! Aren't you acting differently from what you promised, Don Krieg? You promised that you'd never hurt these people, so I took you here. Besides, that was the man who saved our lives!"
His captain suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and forced him to his feet. "Yeah, it was good," Krieg said. He squeezed on Gin's shoulder harder and I heard it snap. Gin howled in pain. "I feel re-energized." He dropped Gin on the ground and left him clutching his broken shoulder, while I gritted my teeth, wondering how any man with even a sliver of pride in him could torture one of his friends—no, his nakama like that.
Krieg sneered and examined the joint. "Oi, isn't this a nice restaurant?" he said. "I'll take it."
Sanji struggled to sit up.
"My ship's ruined. I'm taking this one in exchange. Leave after you've all gotten your things, last warning."
"W-What?!" Carne growled.
"He's scary," Usopp cried quietly, still hiding behind me.
"D-Don..." Gin grunted. "That's not what you promised."
Krieg pointed his thumb behind him. "There's about a 100 men still alive on that ship. All of 'em are starving and injured. First, prepare food and water for them all. Some of them... have already starved to death. Do it right away!"
"We know that those pirates are gonna turn right back around and attack us!" Carned said. "We won't aid them!"
What a bastard, I thought angrily. Even though that's exactly what Krieg's men will end up doing, they still don't deserve to starve!
"You refuse?" Krieg growled "Don't misunderstand. I'm not ordering food. I'm giving you an order. Nobody ever disobeys me!"
"There's a first time for everything," I muttered.
The so-called King of the East Blue blew steam out of his mouth and the chefs backed up a few steps in fear.
Gin rasped something, but it was so quiet I couldn't hear him. Sanji tilted his head to the side.
"BASTARD!" Patty yelled at the ero-cook. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
"You're the one who beat up Gin," I said to myself.
Sanji somehow managed to stand up, even though the blow he'd taken looked like it was super-powerful. He put his hands in his pockets and went to the spiral staircase, which was filled with other chefs. "Oi, Sanji, where do you think you're going?" One of them asked.
He paused, then wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "The kitchen," came his simple answer. "I've gotta prepare enough food for 100 men."
I smiled. Once again, Sanji's kindness was awesome. My respect for him went up a few notches, if only he's not such a simp. The cooks, on the other hand, looked like they couldn't believe their ears, and Gin was even more shocked.
"Sanji-san!" the injured pirate hissed in awe.
"Sanji!" grinned Lucy.
"WHAT?!" The chefs shouted collectively.
"Yes." The leader of the famed pirate fleet smirked. "That's how it should be."
Suddenly, Mr. Ero-Cook was surrounded by a multitude of sharp objects and pans on long handles. I blinked. Where had the cooks pulled those weapons from? I hadn't even seen them move. Huh. Weird.
The chefs called him Krieg's little puppet and said they'd never let him in the kitchen again, as well as a lot of other insulting things. I tried not to growl in anger.
Sanji held out his hands. "Go ahead. If you wanna stop me, do so."
The cooks looked at each other in confusion.
"I'm aware. I know that he's a helpless bully... but that's none of my business. I don't care. I don't care what happens after they had their meal." Sanji looked down contentedly. "Not a care in the world. I'm a chef. Nothing more. When people are hungry, I offer them food. That's all there is to it." He looked back up and eyed his fellow cooks. "For a chef, isn't that enough?"
The chefs stepped away, but then—WHAM! Sanji was once again punched out, only this time by Patty, who said, "Oi! Take him outta here!"
I stepped forward angirly, but Zoro held me back. "Let them duke it out," he sighed.
I glared, but did as he said.
"Sanji, you've often given food to those that I've thrown out, haven't you?" Patty grumbled. "I don't care who's right or wrong at the moment, but I can't let you do as you please anymore. I'll protect this restaurant." With those words, he strolled over to the large column that the staircase spiraled around, pulled on a piece of board I hadn't noticed before, and dug around in a cubby hole. "Luckily there's only one man today. What can a lone Don Krieg do against us? Pirates come to this restaurant all the time... I'm always prepared for anything."
"That's—" Sanji gasped.
Patty turned his head, smirked, and said the stupidest joke ever. "Did you enjoy your meal, Krieg? 'CAUSE HERE'S YOUR DESSERT!"
And he pulled out... a giant, red, crayfish-shaped bazooka.
I stared. Well... that was anticlimactic.
"SYRUP MEATBALL!" Patty shouted, cocking the bazooka. BOOM! It exploded, releasing a giant flash of light that nearly blinded me, but when my vision cleared, all I could see was an enormous dust cloud. I heard Lucy shout in surprise on the steps.
"Don!" Gin shouted in the dust cloud.
"Heh... Zeff'll be mad at me for blasting the door off," Patty admitted, "but it'll be worth it. We're protecting this place, after all."
"What about the men on Krieg's ship?" Sanji grunted.
"How about we butter it up and cook it?" Again with the lame chef jokes...
It took a good five minutes for it to clear, but when it did... Krieg was still standing. And he looked unhurt. "That sounds delicious," he sneered. "Stupid cook."
The cooks shook in fear and shock.
"Giving me such an awful dessert... this restaurant's despicable!" There was the sound of the cocking of many guns, and when the last of the dust cleared, Krieg was shown wearing shiny gold-plated armor, which—take a guess—held an almost impossible number of high-powered, long-ranged weapons. "DESPICABLE!"
For some reason, a quick snapshot of Gru surrounded by his Minions flashed through my mind. Maybe I have ADHD? I'd have to check that out with Chopper when we reach Drum Kingdom, if I was still with the Straw Hats at that point.
For now, though, my jaw dropped at the sheer number of loaded guns being pointed STRAIGHT. AT. US!
"Dammit, not good!" I shouted.
CRACK CRACK CRACK POW CRACK POW POW! The guns all unloaded at once and we pirates dived behind a table the fleeing customers had upturned, while the chefs hit the floor.
"That armor..." Lucy shouted in awe.
"It can shoot?!" Sanji gasped.
Krieg closed the plates of his armor, stopping the guns from firing. He shrugged off his forest-green gloves to reveal a diamond-fisted hand. "Do as I say!" he commanded us. "I'm the strongest person alive!"
"Heh, you just haven't met Lucy yet," I said to myself.