Luffy knelt on one of the larger pieces ofdebris from the destroyed fin. The water came down like rain. Everyone presentwas shocked by their destructive outcome. "The fin...the fin has beendestroyed!" The corners of her mouth turned up into a grin before shestraightened up again. Sanji couldn't believe it. This black-haired angel wasstrong, incredibly strong, but...she dared to damage the restaurant and worstof all, she did it on PURPOSE! He would never forgive anyone, NO MATTER man orwoman, ANYONE who dares to damage the treasure of the old! "That brat...is sheplanning on destroying the ship?" growled Krieg before he started screaming,"Gin! Put a bullet through his head!" Gin's eyes widened imperceptibly. Itwasn't planned that way! "Hurry up already!" His gaze turned to the man lyingat his feet. "But...but. He was the one who gave us enough to eat so wecould take care of our men!" Krieg glared at Gin angrily. "Gin, you bastard.""Hey, calm down! I didn't do anything bad." Luffy said and turned her headto Krieg, "I just bust the fin." He just growled at her statement.Sanji also spoke up angrily: "Are you completly nuts?! What were youthinking?!" "I'm sinking the ship," she said calmly. The blonde straightenedup. He must have misheard! "Huh, what are you saying?!" The black-haired womanlooked at him again. "I'll sink this ship." The cooks who had landed in thewater when she destroyed the fin looked at her in disbelief. Wasn't this fightabout SAVEING the ship?! The pirates didn't believe what they heard either. "She'scompletely crazy!" "Is this a joke?!" Luffy gave them a look.Why would she joke about something like that? She heard Sanji stomping towardsher. "You're completely crazy, you weirdo!" He grabbed her vest and pulled hertowards him. "What are you thinking?" "Once this thing lies at the bottom ofthe sea, the pirates will disappear too," she said as if it were the mostobvious thing in the world. "Ahh!" Sanji would like to tear his hair out. Hadshe perhaps fallen on her head as a child? Zeff smiled. He liked this girl, shereally had guts. "That's not how it works, you can forget it!" said the blonde,who had managed to calm down a bit, "I won't let you destroy my home! I'mprotecting the ship, just for Zeff's sake!" Luffy had to suppress afrustrated snort. Did he really not get it? And they said SHE was slow. "So youreally want to die for the ship? How can you be so stupid?" Sanji looked at theyounger woman in shock. What had she just said? Stupid? His temper slowly beganto surface again. "What?!" "That doesn't make any sense!" She slapped his handaway and in turn grabbed his collar and pulled him down slightly to be at eyelevel. "If you're die, that won't help Zeff either! He didn't save your life soyou could throw away like that!" Sanji didn't know what it was, but whenhe saw her eyes there was something there. Something that showed she knew whatshe was talking about. He couldn't say anything back. "Only a coward wouldrather scrape than come up with something!" "Do you have an idea howI can show him my gratitude better?" They both looked at each otherangrily. Gin lowered his head, it looked like he had no choice. Suddenly Pearlspoke up: "Stop arguing, you two. Arguing at a time like this is downrightlaughable. But regardless of that, you can't do anything anyway since we have ahostage." They both looked at him sourly. "How inconvenient for youto be dealing with the Krieg Pirates." He started to laugh and banged hisplates together again so that they started to burn. "I'll finish you offwith my fire pearls." He stormed towards them. Something pushed the twoapart and pounced on Pearl. His eyes widened when he realized WHO it was. Gin!In his hands he held tonfas, at the end of which was a large metal ball. Beforethey could realize it, the front part of the armor had shattered and Pearl fellto the ground. The last thing he said was, "Why Gin...?" "Sorry,Pearl. But I'll take over." "Gin. You dare betray me?""Forgive me, Don Krieg. This person saved our lives. I don't want him todie like this. So let me be the one to end his life." As he spoke, he hadturned to Sanji and Luffy and rested his tonfa on his shoulder. There was notthe slightest trace of mercy in his expression. Sanji narrowed his eyes at him."Have you lost your mind?" asked Krieg, "You are my first officer after all."Patty and Carne had pulled themselves out of the water and were now sitting atZeff's side, who had stood up again. "Are you okay, Chef?" asked the tallerone. "Hang in there Chef!" Sanji looked over his shoulder briefly beforelooking back at Gin. "First officer..." Only now did the information seep intoPatty. "So he's not a normal member." "He smashed the armorwithout a problem," Carne muttered nervously. How was something like thatpossible? Luffy didn't know what to think of it at first. First he was sorry,then he took Zeff hostage, and now he wanted to fight. Did he do it because...?

Grinning, she put her hands on her hips beforesaying, "See, Sanji! My 'I'll sink the ship' plan worked brilliantly!""Now don't be so puffed up! You just wanted to sink the ship, that's all!"As if he believed her that she had planned it THAT way or even had a plan atall. She had already a plan, just not in this direction. "So..." shewas interrupted by Gin. "Sanji!" He looked at him again. "I washoping you would give up and leave the ship unharmed, but that won'thappen." "No. You got it. Nothing really comes of this. I would neverlet you run the restaurant, even if it cost me my life." "Such badluck. Then I guess I have no choice but to kill you! I have no choice." Sanjiput another cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "Well, what has to be done,has to be done." "And that counts for you too, Straw Hat!""If you think that I'm afraid of a slacker like you, then you're notalright up there!" Gin bit his teeth together. He hadn't expected such ananswer. His comrades, however, did not take the comment as lightly as theirofficer. "Impudent worm!" "What did she say? Slacker?!" "Who do you think whoyou are to talke to our first officer like that?!" "We are the strongest piratecrew in the East Blue, Don Krieg's pirate crew!" She stood there with a raisedeyebrow and crossed arms. "It's clear. You were probably alwaysnumerically superior!" Silence. Except for the pirates growling. She must havehit a nerve there. Sanji took a drag before saying, "You've probably hitthe bull's-eye. That's how it must have always been." "I thoughtso." Some of the pirates pulled themselves onto the rubble and wanted topounce on the black-haired woman. "You bastard!" "We'll finish herourselves!" "Quiet, you idiots!" thundered Krieg. His men frozeand looked at their captain. "Don Krieg! But...but we just wanted to..." Krieg saton a box on the wreckage. "You whiners. Anyone who gets upset about beingcalled a slacker. It's nothing more than a slacker! But soon we'll see who'sthe stronger one here." "Yes, Captain!" "Gin." Helooked over his shoulder. "You are responsible for the cook. I'll take care ofthis cheeky non-swimmer." He looked back at his opponent. "Understood,Dan Krieg." "Hey, kid!" Luffy looked at the sitting pirates."You opened your mouth a little too wide for my taste. That's why I'm going toshow you what powers I used to conquer the East Blue. And then you'll see thatit doesn't matter that you once ate a devil fruit." She lowered her headslightly and peeked out from under her straw hat. "I always hear you rambling,old man. Save yourself the drama! I'll finish you anyway," she said challengingly.He gritted his teeth angrily. A vein began to throb in his forehead. Grinning,the straw hat wearer continued: "If you dare, get your cheese feet wet and comehere! I'm waiting for you!" "Grrr, watch your tongue!" 

Gin and Sanji stood facing each other insilence. "Hehe. These guys can't tell apart the strong from the weak. This timethe chef won't get up again. When Gin gets his weapons out, he means business!"Gin slowly rotated one of his tonfas until it was spinning so fast that itcould hardly been seen it anymore. "He's not called 'The Devilish' for nothing.No matter how much his opponents pleaded for mercy, he killed them withouthesitation. A real devil. A person with no feelings." "I'm sorry,Sanji. You can't beat me." "We'll see about that." Gin got intoposition and started running. "Take this!" Sanji leaned back a little andkicked. Gin jumped back at the last moment and avoided the kick. He swung histonfa and struck. Sanji let himself fall onto one of his hands before pushingaway. Less than a second later, the metal ball hit the wood and left a deephole. The two faces were close for a moment. Gin had a crazy grin on and theblonde gritted his teeth. He hadn't expected such speed. Gin ripped his weaponout of the wood, pieces flying wildly. Sanji turned around and kicked again.Gin fell on his back and took a swing. The blonde wasn't quick enough and wasrammed into the ground with the pole pressed against his throat. Gin landedcross-legged next to him. He let the other tonfa rest on his shoulder. "Sanji!"He was gasping for breath. That damn pole cut off his breath and he couldn'tmove. Gin's grip tightened. "Didn't I tell you? You can't beat me." Ginlifted his head, the crazy grin still on his lips. "Farewell."Sanji's eyes narrowed. "Get off the face of the earth." He rotatedhis other weapon while still pinning Sanji firmly. If he thought of somethingquickly, that would be the end of him! "The officer is the greatest!" "Take himout, Gin!" "Sanji!" He blew a puff of smoke out of his nose. "Die!"Gin struck. Sanji spat out his cigarette. The smoldering end hit the pirate inthe forehead, loosening his grip on the cook. He took advantage of it andslipped through the gap, straight into a handstand. Less than a second later,the weapon hit the spot where his head had been, leaving a deep crater. Sanjikicked his leg down and slammed Gin's head into the ground. His head swung backagain and threatened to tip over. But he managed to tighten his grip on hisweapon before he lashed out, hitting the chef in the side. A scream escapedSanji's mouth before he fell to the ground along with Gin. Nobody dared tomove. It felt so surreal to them. "The chef defeated Gin with just onekick!?" "Even Gin can't defeat him?!" "Idiots." Thepirates looked at Krieg. "What have you seen with your eyes so far? Gin is adevil that I really appreciate! That's why I gave him the position of firstofficer. Soon he will show his skills." As he spoke, the two fightersstraightened up again. Sanji was holding his side and blood was pouring fromhis mouth. He definitely had a few bruised ribs. "Is Sanji okay?"Patty asked nervously. He had never seen the blonde so beaten up. "Howcould he be?" Carne replied, but didn't dare take his eyes off the fight."If you include the fight with that Pearl guy, he's taken 5 or 6blackening blows by now." "It's no big deal, you octopus." Sanjisaid, trying not to show any weakness, "First officer...is that all you'vegot?" Gin didn't say anything in response. He licked some of the bloodfrom the corner of his mouth with his tongue. The crazy grin still hadn't lefthis face.

Luffy turned her gaze from the fight between thetwo to Krieg and we were taken aback: "Huh, why is he looking away?"She grinned and hit her fist against her bare palm. "Ah. Then I'll takethe chance and attack him!" She jumped onto the fallen mast and ran along it,directly towards Krieg. However, he just grinned while the straw hat wearercame closer and closer. "Come here, little girl." He took out a smallball, it was no bigger than a marble, and flicked it into the water just a fewmeters in front of Luffy. "Huh?" Suddenly there was an explosion. The rushingwater obscured her vision as she staggered to a stop, clutching her straw hat.A noise made her look up. A few seconds later something hit her in the chestand stretched the area far back. The force pushed her backwards and landed witha scream on the wood of the destroyed fin. Krieg laughed. His attacks alwayshad an effect, and no amount of devil fruit power would helped! Luffy hatedsuch cowards. She pulled her hat off her head and smashed it onto the wood infront of her. She didn't want him to be damaged during the fight. She angrilyshouted at the coward: "What's wrong with you, you lousy bastard?! Don't you wantto fight me?!" "Why should I fight? That's something for fools. Withthe right tactics, you don't need to get your hands dirty. And you don't havethe slightest chance against my technical refinements! You'll notice thatlater." "We'll see that!" She grabbed the corners of her mouthwith her fingers and pulled them to the side. "YOU will lose that grin!" Agroan caught her attention. That couldn't be! But as the pirates began to cheerand even Krieg grinned, her blood began to run cold. She turned around, herheart pounding. Sanji lay on the ground holding his side while Gin stood therecalmly. Blood dripped from the metal balls. "Sanji!" The blonde had his eyeswide open and was coughing up blood. Gin didn't take his eyes off the man lyingon the ground as he turned his head to the side and spit out some blood. "Yay!The guy is badly injured now!" "Take him out!" shouted the pirates. The chefssat worriedly with the injured blonde. "Damned! If only he hadn't been hitby that pearl guy!" "He's already been hit 10 times by those metalballs!" Gin slowly rotated one of his weapons again. Panting, Sanji said,"That didn't even hurt the slightest." Luffy watched the event withconcern. Sanji grinned confidently up at Gin, whose eyes were shadowed. "I am defeated. The guy is really strong."The tonfa started spinning faster. "Prepare to die. I've played enough,"his voice was cold as he said this. He struck. Sanji managed to dodge with acartwheel at the last moment and stood on his hands again. "What is that? Mercy?Are you kidding?" He kicked and hit Gin above the back. So he hadn'timagined it after all. Gin partially held back. "Gin!" Grinning, the blondestood with his back to Gin. Suddenly a wave of pain shot through his entirebody and he fell to the ground, panting and holding his stomach. "Sanji!" "Hecan't take it anymore. His body can't even handle the intensity of his ownattacks!" Gin pushed himself up again and reached for his fallen weapon. Sanjiturned to him in pain. Unless another miracle happened, his last hour would come.The pirate came up to him, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him to theground. His face was completely shrouded in shadow. "Great!" "Finish him, Gin!""Shit," the blonde cursed. Luffy could only watch idly. Although she wanted tohelp Sanji, it was his fight. From far away she could see Gin's lips moving,but she didn't understand him.

Something dripped onto the wood next to Sanji'shead. Were those...? The cook looked at the pirate's face and couldn't believewhat he saw. Tears. The pirate, who had been fighting bloodthirsty just a fewmoments ago, had tears running down his face like streams down the mountain."To hell. I...Don Krieg," Gin began. He looked at his first officerconfused. What was wrong with Gin? Why was he crying? "I really...I CAN'TKILL THIS MAN, DON KRIEG!" Sanji's eyes widened and he wasn't the onlyone. "Gin," breathed the young pirate in surprise. She had never seen a crewmember disobey his captain's orders. Did Gin perhaps have what Krieg lacked.......asense of honor? "I just can't kill him." "What did yousay?!" Krieg thundered. "Because for...for...the first time in mylife someone was so kind to me." He had let go of his tonfa and waspressing his hands to his face. "That's why I can't kill this man." Kriegsat motionless, his face reduced to an emotionless mask. "I know. I wouldnever think of betraying you. I don't think everything we've done so far hasbeen wrong. I respect your strength and I am grateful to you." He had removedone hand from his face as he spoke and held it in front of him. "And I am veryhappy that you recognize my strength and made me an officer. That's why Ialways do what you tell me. And I will continue to do so in the future. But...Ijust can't kill this man!" Nobody dared to speak a word. "Don Krieg...I'mbegging you...can't we just leave this restaurant alone?!" Gin smiled ashe looked up at his captain. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks. Luffysmiled softly. Gin was not only loyal but also had a good heart. He was sodifferent from the rest of his crew. She liked him. Krieg glared at him as hestood up and shouted, "You bastard!! Not only did you disobey my orders, butyou also want to tell me what to do?!" The smile disappeared from Gin's face.In a calm and cold voice he continued: "Do you really want to die so much? I amvery disappointed in you. Haven't I always said that I detest these kinds offeelings on principle?!" He grabbed one of his shoulder plates and placedit on his arm before pointing it at the Baratie. "The rest of you get out of myway!" A gap opened in the middle of the plate. "Don! This is..." Panic beganto break out among the pirates. "MH5!" "The poison gas?!" Sanji and Luffythought they had misheard. "What?" "Poison gas?" "Masks! Put your masks onquickly!" "Or else we will be killed ourselves!" The cooks also shouted, butmore out of anger than fear: "What kind of weapon is that?!" "You bastard!Using a weapon like that!" "Don't you know what the consequencesare?" "Stop gabing around!" said Krieg, "This is a fight.The purpose is just to win." He started to grin. "Treacherous? Contemptuous?Don't you think that's acceptable? Winning is the goal. The method doesn'tmatter. The goal alone is important." All of the pirates, except for Krieg andGin, had already put on their masks. Luffy gritted her teeth. This guy reallywas talking just garbage. "I don't care at all what consequences the gas hasfor me. As long as I win. That's strength." The black-haired woman slowly felta vein in her forehead begin to pulsate. The guy was really driving her moreand more mad. "Damn bastard," Sanji growled, still sitting on theground. Gin slowly reached inside his jacket and pulled out a mask. Sweatslowly ran down his face and the tears were no longer visible. "Throw away yourgas mask, Gin!" screamed Krieg, his facial expressions had completely darkened,"I'm disowning you. YOU are no longer part of my crew. Go to hell!" Gin hadstopped moving. He felt defeated. Luffy had jumped back onto the mast and wasracing towards the older man. How dare he treat his own people like that. THATwas unforgivable! Krieg's eyes flicked to her briefly. "I won't let youfire your poison gas!" "Stop interfering, you non-swimmer!" Krieghit the mast with the fist of his free hand. The part in front of Luffy tippedforward, almost throwing her off balance. She stumbled, somersaulted and landedunceremoniously on her bottom. The shield-like plate on Krieg's hand pulledapart at the sides, revealing several holes arranged in a circle. A magazinefell to the ground next to the pirate. Her eyes widened. That was not good!This ammunition appeared to be anything but lead bullets. Krieg opened fire. Ina panic, she got halfway up and retreated. As she fled, she noticed that therereally weren't bullets. They were yellow and green striped spines.Miraculously, she wasn't hit. She lost her footing and, fortunately, fell ontothe wood of the destroyed fin. "Damn!" she cursed. She hadn't imagined it likethat. "Gin!" The person addressed looked from his mask to her. "You don't haveto listen to that old stinking boot! I'm gonna clobber him." The formerfirst officer growled. "You little skunk! How dare you insult Don Krieg?! He,he'll take down the miserable rat without a problem. She doesn't have theslightest chance against him." Sanji didn't believe what he had heard. Heignored his pain and turned to the pirates. "Tell me, you still haven't figuredout that your amazing Don Krieg is targeting YOU too?!" "And he's right. I wasa big disappointment to him. I'm way too soft! I promised to end the cook and Ididn't. I let my feelings distract me from my duty!" With these words he threwhis mask into the water. Luffy's eyes widened in shock. "Gin!" Was hecompletely crazy? Loyalty or not, you couldn't risk your life for someone like him!Gin grinned, his eyes in shadow. "Why are you doing this?" Sanji asked thepirate but he received no answer. "Ha. Last but not least, you have shownpride. But unfortunately it's too late for you. You can go to hell with thecook. Poison gas MH5!" He shot alarge, red ball. The pirates pressed their masks tighter against their faces,the chefs began to gain a long distance from the Baratie as quickly as theycould. "Dive into the sea!" "Chef, get to the restaurant quickly!" said Pattyand, together with Carne, grabbed Zeff's arms and fled inside. Krieg hadalready put on his own mask. Luffy saw two pirates close to the remains of thefin. She stretched her arms and grabbed them. "I'll borrow them!" Her armspulled together, she turned her upper body and threw the masks at the two men."Sanji, Gin! Use this!" "Luffy!" "Now one more for me." She turned backand saw...no one. The pirates had disappeared from the face of the earth. "Damn,they all went under!" The missile was getting closer and closer. Theblack-haired woman's eyes widened. "Damned!Damned! Damned! I can't die here!" Shortly before the explosion occurred,she saw something in the corner of her eye. A mask flew through the air. Instinctivelyshe grabbed it and pressed it against her face. She didn't care where it camefrom, but she was very grateful for this coincidence. The entire surface of theformer fin was enveloped in purple smoke.

"I'm saved," Luffy sighed in relief. Shehad lost her balance while catching the mask and was now lying on her stomach."Thank God that mask suddenly appeared." The gas slowly began to beblown away by the wind when she suddenly heard Sanji's voice. "Gin.Take...take your hand away!" She pulled her own mask from her face and turned herhead. Her pupils contracted. Sanji was on the ground. Gin knelt over him andpressed the mask onto the blonde's face. Sanji tryed to push Gin's hands away."Gin!" But what shocked her so much was that Gin was pale. Far too pale forsomeone with his tanned skin. "Your...your mask," she stammered. But she hadthrown masks at the two of them. She hadn't had one herself until herssuddenly... "Do you have..." She looked at her hand. "...thrown yoursat me?" The pirate fell backwards, spitting blood. "Gin!" Luffy threwthe mask away and ran towards him. Before he could hit the ground, however, hewas caught by Sanji. She stopped moving as Krieg's nasty laugh sounded."What an idiot. That serves you right for making such a big deal out offood. I guess an idiot never learns until he dies." He started laughing again.Luffy balled her hands into fists. Her blood began to boil again. She heard Ginwheezing. The black-haired woman didn't have to look at him to know that therewas blood running from his nose and mouth and tears from his eyes. Her heartalmost broke when she heard his voice getting weaker and weaker."D...Don...Don Krieg." He sucked in a heavy breath. He didn't deservethat. Nobody deserves something like that! Gin was a loyal and reliable member.Any captain would have been happy and appreciated to have such a person on his crew.Krieg didn't deserve someone like Gin! He didn't even deserve to be called'Captain'! Her brown eyes sparkled with anger. "Gin," Sanji said. Hewouldn't forgive Krieg for that. "Gin you..." He turned his head tothe pirate captain. His eyes sparkled with anger. "...you followed thewrong man." The hatred was clear in his voice to hear. Creek laughed againbefore saying, "Do you feel sorry for this trash?" "Trash?!""Exactly. An idiot who doesn't follow my orders and doesn't think aboutthe consequences is good for nothing. Isn't it a sign of my respect to end hislife before he makes the same mistake again?" "That can't be true,"said one of his men, stunned, "To think that the Don taking out his ownfirst officer..." " Absolutely not...No matter how much, it can't be!Gin is Don's right-hand man!" "Yes, no one has ever worked as hard for the Donas Gin. Even at the time when we had just escaped the Grand Line and Fullbodyand his men were after us. At the time he became a decoy for the Don. He gaveup everything and fought for Don Kireg! To think that he really wants to killhim." Patty's voice came from behind Sanji: "That's cruel."Sanji jerked his head towards the cook. "Patty! We have an antidote on board,don't we?" "Yes, but...he's the enemy..." "Who cares? Justget it!" "Idiot! First, put the mask on him, quickly. There shouldalready be an antidote in there," Zeff grumbled next to Patty and Carne,"Take him upstairs, it should make it easier for him to breathe. It's thebest thing we can do for him if we want to save him." As Zeff spoke, theblonde reached for the mask and carefully pulled it on Gin. "Hurry up!Patty! Carne!" "I already heared you, so shut up!" "Metoo?" "Ha, it's pointless," said Krieg, who had been watchingthe goings-on calmly, "He only has another hour at most." Luffy'shair fell over her face and covered her eyes as she said: "Don't die,Gin." The person addressed raised his head slightly in surprise, while theothers looked at the black-haired woman. Krieg grinned contently until shecontinued, "You can't die for THAT guy. You have to survive, understand? I'llfinish him off!" "No, don't...You can't win against him..." Ginmanaged to say, breathing heavily. Sanji's eyes widened slightly. She didn'tmean to... He reached for her arm. "Hey, wait a minute! If you attack himdirectly, you will fall into his trap! You could die!" He hadn't forgiven herfor what she had planned to do with the Baratie, but he wasn't going to let ayoung woman run to her ruin! She raised her head. Her eyes were hard anddetermined, and so was her voice when she said, "I will not die."

The blonde looked at her speechless. Suddenlyshe ran and wriggled out of his grasp. Startled, Sanji watched her go andstretched his hand towards her, but she was already running along the mast,shouting, "If you want to shoot me, give me your best shot!""Fool. You still try even though you know you're going to die. The seawill become your hell, you non-swimmer. Right in front of you is..." He threwsome of the small balls back into the water. "That's them!" "Thebombs." "...YOUR GRAVE!" "My grave?" She had almostcompletely left the mast behind her when the water exploded in front of her andobscured her view. She heard something mechanical start to move just beforeshots were heard. Luffy kept running even as some of the thorns penetrated herbody. Her side, her upper arm and her thigh. She could hear the chefs and Sanjishouting. "Damned! Run away, girly!" "She's been hit!" The shellingstopped when one of the pirates said with a grin: "That's it for her." The wallof water lowered again and so did Krieg's grin. "She's..." Luffyjumped into the air and swung her fist. "GomuGomu no..." "Idiot. Come here if you dare!" He pulled his cloak in front ofhis body. The inside had long, sharp spines. The chefs opened their mouths inhorror as the pirates cheered. "It's out!" "Come here!" Kiregshouted as Luffy got closer and closer. "That's cowardly!" Sanjishouted. Kireg grinned at her as Luffy slammed her foot on the wood and struck."...Pistol!" Her fistslammed straight into the thorny mantle and her punch hit Krieg in the side ofthe face. Not a sound escaped her throat as blood spurted from her knuckles.She had already been seriously injured when she was younger, but THAT was justa joke! Shocked shouts from the pirates pierced the existing silence."WHAAAAT?!" The older pirate flew through the air a bit before hitting thewood. Luffy stood back up to her full height. Blood flowed from the wound onher hand and those of the arrows. "AHHH, Don Krieg fell to theground!" "What is that girl?" "She's not human!She's...she's..." "She's a monster!" In disbelief, the cooksshouted from far away: "She hit straight into the spikes!" Some heldtheir hands just because of the idea, their faces contorted in pain. No, theyreally didn't want to experience something like that themselves. And theblack-haired woman didn't even make a slightest expression. "It can't be...""I've never seen Don Krieg ever get beaten before. She even managed to hit himdespite his thorny armor. Can you believe that?" said one of the pirates. Blooddripped onto the ground next to the black-haired woman as she looked at the manlying on the ground without any emotion. She raised her arm and grasped thearrow in her shoulder. "Are you sure..." She pulled the arrow out with a hiss andthrew it aside. "...that this is my grave..." She reached for the arrow in herside, pulled it out and carelessly threw it away too. "...or yours?" The arrow inher thigh also rolled across the floor after she pulled it out. "Don't decidewith your arrows..." Next to the blood, a purple liquid flowed onto the wood."...and your thorny armor..." Those present silently observed the young Portgas."...where my grave is!" She raised her head, a grin was on her lips and a fireburned in her eyes again. "This is not the place where I will die!" Sweat randown her face. Something wasn't right, but she pushed that thought aside.

Sanji was now sitting in the entrance of therestaurant, holding his side. Zeff was standing right next to him. "She's toocareless. A woman should not fight against such an opponent if a man does notback her up," he said. Zeff looked at him sideways without comment. The bratreally needed to learn that women don't always need someone to save them.Especially when it was a young woman like Luffy. "Sometimes you meetidiots like her." Sanji looked up at him. "People who fight til thedeath when they have decided on something." The younger one looked back atthe young pirate as he murmured quietly, "...who fight til thedeath?" "Having a person like that as an opponent is real bad. Thisfight will end whether she wins or loses. I like...weirdos like her," he said andgrinned.

"What...what will happen in thisfight?" one of the pirates asked nervously. "Idiot! That was justluck! There's no way the Don would lose to a wretch like her! So don't worry!" Kriegslowly began to stir again. The black-haired woman looked at him a littledisappointed. She had hoped that he would stay there for a while and that shecould figure out why her body was slowly starting to feel so strange. "Yousaid this wasn't the place where you would die?" he said before slowlystarting to push himself back up. "If this isn't YOUR grave, then whose isit?" He turned directly to her after he got back to his feet and struckout with his shield. She hung a little in the air when the metal slammedagainst her body and an explosion followed. "Yours, isn't it?" cried Krieg.Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself away from the plate and swung herselfover him as she swung her leg and shouted, "No, it's YOURS!" Her footcaught him on his right shoulder, knocking him backwards as she landed easilyon her other leg and pulled her stretched one back. "He fell to the groundagain! What the hell is happening here?!" Wasn't it obvious? She showed Krieghow weak he really was. That her will was stronger than his. That she was theone who would become Pirate King! "Usually his opponents die before they'veeven been able to touch Don Krieg. The Don is supposed to be the one who isincredible. This woman..." the pirate had to swallow when he saw her face fromthe side. Her hair covered her eyes, but her grin alone was enough to make hisblood run cold. "WHAT KIND OF MONSTER IS SHE?" The wind ruffled her tangledmane a little more as she turned her back to Krieg. "She's prettygood," said Patty, who was standing at the railing on the same floor asthe kitchen, supporting Gin. "Yeah, you'r right," Carne agreed. The chefs inthe water were already starting to cheer. "That girl is incredible!" "Finish Krieg!""It's really possible if it's that woman!" The pirates, on the other hand, wereslowly becoming more nervous. "This kid is the Don's equal.""It's not a dream, is it? Against this brat...Don will..." "TheDon is invincible! If things continue like this, Don Krieg's legacy willbe..." "Don't be silly!" Krieg's voice boomed over the waves. Henow removed his other shoulder plate and connected it to the first beforegrabbing a retracted handle and pulling it out. A broad blade jutted out fromthe tip. He got back to his feet and raised his new weapon above his head. Atthe last moment, Luffy jumped back as the spear hit the ground and an explosionfollowed. "What the..." Sanji said in horror as the black-haired woman and Krieg disappearedin the swirling cloud of dust. This was quickly gone when one of the piratesshouted: "It's finally out! Don Krieg's ultimate weapon, the 'Daisenso'!" Luffyhad clung to the lower end of the destroyed mast and looked surprised at thespot where the spear had hit. "What is that? It exploded..." "Well then. Howlong can you keep running away?" Krieg grabbed his coat and threw it tothe side, not taking his eyes off the younger one. "Let's find out,non-swimmer." He had grasped the spear with both hands. "This spear iscompletely different than the little ones from before. Two or three hits withthis thing and your life is over. Then you're finished!" He swung again and hitthe ground just in front of the mast. The explosion destroyed what was left ofthe mast and threw the black-haired woman away. In flight she managed to grabthe railing of a smaller piece of wreckage that was standing at an angle in thewater. She took a breath of relief before looking back at Krieg. "What is thatthing? It always goes up when it hits something!" She wanted to stand up againwhen her legs suddenly buckled again. "Huh? What the? What's wrong with mylegs?" She hadn't lost that much blood yet, so why...? Now she slowly realizedwhat was going on with her body. She bit her lip, a little frustrated. "There was poison on the arrows. That lousycoward! I won't let this get me down!"

"The fight has already gone on too long. Shelost too much blood. She won't last much longer," Sanji said worriedly.Oh, how he wanted to help her, but he was no longer in the condition to do so.

"Nothing you do will work," said Krieg,grinning, "It's about time your strength reached its limits." Thepiece of wreckage she was sitting on swayed slightly to the rhythm of thewaves. "Damned. Because the ground is made up of so many pieces, I can'tfight the way I would like. How annoying." She could hear the pirates talkingbehind her. "No matter how many times I've seen it, the Daisenso is simplyincredible." "Yes, the harder you get hit by it, the bigger theexplosion. It's something that would only be used by someone like theDon!" Luffy would have liked to thank the idiots for this freeinformation, but Krieg had jumped at her and tryed to hid her. She barelymanaged to lean back before standing up and dodging the further slashes and stabes.This turned out to be not really easy due to the limited space. She onlynoticed in passing that the pirates were still talking, but she really couldn'tconcentrate on that. He had driven her to the edge of the wreckage when herfoot slipped. Krieg lashed out, but she managed to jump high into the air atthe last moment. Krieg grinned. Now the rubber brat could no longer escape him."Now die!" She swung her arm. It was risky, but it was her only option. Thechefs looked at her in shock. "Missy!"

Relieved, Luffy wiped the sweat from herforehead. "Pu, that was pretty close." That was even closer than she would haveliked. She hung upside down from the hilt of Krieg's spear. He hadn't noticedthe extra weight yet, even though he was only holding it with one hand. Hisface had completely darkened as he gritted his teeth and stared at her. "Youweak insect!" He raised the spear above his head and struck the ground in frontof him. The black-haired woman flew high into the air. Her eyes widenedslightly as Krieg aimed his spear at her, stabbing as she fell again. Shegrinned as she held the blade between her fists. Creek also grinned, justbefore the explosion took the view of the two of them. "Luffy!" Sanjishouted. It hurt, it fucking hurt! Her skin and clothing were slightly burned.Her mouth was open wide as she fell to the ground. Her body was still smokingas she gasped for air. That was a little stronger than she had expected. Sheslowly stood up again and pushed herself to her feet. "Not enough? You'rereally getting on my nerves. I won't let you die so easily." He startedlaughing again.

"Oh no. This Don Krieg uses one weapon after another. Luffy can't handle this much longer!" said Sanji. "Even if he were to use a thousand weapons. He has no chance against the girl's own spear." Sanji looked at Zeff confused. Creek struck again with the spear. But instead of dodging, Luffy jumped straight at him. Once again she disappeared behind the cloud of explosions and fell to the ground, groaning. Krieg turned away from her as he said, "Nothing special." Behind him, the black-haired woman stood up again, swaying slightly. The older man stopped when he heard her behind him and his eyes widened. That...was...impossible. He turned back to her. He raised his spear as he said, "You should have realized by now who is the stronger of the two of us." They both stared at each other. It was easy to see that neither of them would back down. "Life or death," Zeff began, "In a fight between pirates, whoever thinks about death for even a second can be crushed." "What are you talking about?" "At least..." Krieg struck again and Luffy met the spear with her fist. Once again everything was enveloped in smoke for a moment. Luffy got out from under some boards that had fallen on her as she fell back to the ground. She grinned cheekily at the taller one. "At least that girl doesn't hesitate." Sanji soon couldn't bear to see the black-haired woman flying through the air and hitting the ground. "Be it that she has what it takes to survive this or her conviction not to just die." "Her conviction?" The veins slowly began to stand out on Kriegs's forehead. "You...you damn..." The cheeky smile was still on her lips when the chefs started cheering her on. "Incredible!" "Keep it up!" Krieg went for the next blow as he shouted, "Like I said, this is going to be YOUR grave!" He ran towards her and tryed to hit her. "I'm the strongest here!" Silence that was broken by Zeff. "If Krieg's enormous force is the strength, and all his weapons and poisons are strength, then the Missy's 'spear' is her equivalent." The smoke cleared. One of Luffy's feet sticking up into the air before she rose from the rubble like a phoenix from the ashes. "I know someone who has the same spear as her. Someone who has their own stupid reasons for being attracted to this spear." Sanji's eyes widened. Was Zeff just talking about him? Luffy stomped one of her feet on the wood beneath her. At the same moment the tip of the spear broke. Krieg's eyes widened in shock as he turned his head to the now useless blade. "The Daisenso! What have you done?!" Luffy grinned widely at him, her entire body covered in soot as she said, "I just hit the same spot five times." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she gave him a withering look. "Your "method" doesn't work anymore!" Her eyes narrowed as she said, "Get ready! The fight is coming to an end! And YOU will lose!"