The midday sun shimmered over the Baratie, glinting off the waves and casting dazzling reflections across the floating restaurant's polished deck. Everything seemed quiet, until the battered remnants of Don Krieg's once-mighty fleet dragged themselves to the front of the Baratie.
Amid the tattered ships and defeated men, a tall, menacing figure marched forward. His name was Don Krieg and he was clad in golden armor. His cape was torn and scorched.
Beside him, his starving, exhausted pirate crew stood ready to fight.
On the Baratie's deck, a lean figure with a red chef's scarf and a wooden peg leg appeared. Zeff, the legendary Redfoot.
Krieg's eyes narrowed, as he caught sight of him.
"You…," Krieg said slowly, studying Zeff's rugged face and the fierce glare in his eyes. "Redfoot Zeff. I recognize you... from the wanted posters."
Zeff said nothing at first, arms crossed, unimpressed. "Those days are long gone."
Krieg sneered. "You're supposed to be dead. Looks like fate's been kinder to you than it was to me."
"I survived," Zeff said coolly, his voice low and steady. "You, on the other hand, look like a walking corpse."
Krieg's fists clenched. His humiliation burned deeper than any wound.
He spat on the deck.
"I'll be taking your restaurant," Krieg declared. "With the Baratie as my flagship, I'll rebuild my fleet... and this time, I'll conquer the Grand Line."
"You'll get nothing but a grave," Zeff shot back.
A growl rose from Krieg's throat. He turned to his trusted warrior. "Gin. Attack them. Slaughter every last cook and customer.""You…,"
Gin was struggling internally.
Gin hesitated, his weapon trembling. His loyalty was clear, but so was his growing sense of doubt after Sanji's kindness.
Before Gin could make a move, a silver flash cut between them. Cassandra stepped forward, her blade glinting. She stood casually, almost lazily, but the air around her felt sharp as broken glass.
"You're not laying a finger on anyone," Cassandra said calmly. "Try it, and you will die."
Gin's hands shook. His instincts screamed at him to obey Krieg, but his heart, that stubborn thing wavered.
Krieg's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Traitor," he spat.
Krieg growled, but before the tension could explode, a rhythmic clanging echoed across the ship.
Pearl, a towering, armor-plated man, stomped forward. His iron shields clanged together with each step, sending minor shockwaves through the planks.
"I'll handle this," Pearl announced, his voice booming.
He clanged his shields again and charged straight at Sanji.
Sanji lit a cigarette with a smooth flick of his lighter, exhaling slowly as he strode towords the charging enemy.
"Looks like it's my turn," he muttered, calm but focused.
Pearl roared, stomping forward, his massive shields clanging like war drums.
Without hesitation, Pearl swung both of his iron shields downward in a crushing arc.
Sanji nimbly flipped backwards. The shields smashed into the wooden deck, where he had just stood.
"Tch. Heavy-handed brute," Sanji sneered.
He dashed forward and unleashed a sharp roundhouse "Mouton Shot," but the kick bounced harmlessly off Pearl's iron plating.
CLANG!
Pearl laughed, rattling his shields again. "Your fancy kicks are useless against me!"
Undeterred, Sanji moved again, delivering fast, low strikes.
"Collier!"
"Épaule Shoot!"
Pearl's heavy armor absorbed the every blow.
Sanji grit his teeth and darted in again, aiming for Pearl's back. He launched a rapid series of kicks, of precise, sharp strikes.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Every hit bounced harmlessly off the iron plates.
Pearl barely flinched.
Up on the upper deck, Zeff watched silently, arms crossed. But his eyes narrowed with focus.
He was worried about his foster son, even so he would never say this out loud.
Sanji dodged another brutal swing from Pearl and changed tactics, aiming for the non protected face.
Pearl stumbled slightly under a smart kick to the his face.
"Got you," Sanji grinned.
But Pearl, feeling blood running down his face, roared in anger and panic.
"You little punk!" he yelled.
Pearl banged his shields together with tremendous force sparks flew from the friction.
The air around him grew hot.
Pearl's armor burst into flames and he roared as fire engulfed his body.
The Iron Wall was now a Burning Fortress.
Pearl charged again, flames trailing from his fists.
Sanji struggled to dodge. The heat was burning his skin even without direct hits.
A flaming punch connected squarely with Sanji's chest, sending him sprawling. He hit the deck hard, gasping.
"Sanji!" some cooks shouted from the sidelines.
Pearl laughed maniacally. "You can't beat me! My flames will burn you to ashes!"
Sanji struggled to rise, wiping blood from his lip. His legs trembled.
Another punch came and Sanji barely managed to roll away, flames singing the tips of his hair.
Then, over the roaring flames, a clear voice cut through the noise.
"Sanji! Listen!"
It was Cassandra, standing atop the railing, her sword pointed toward Pearl.
"Don't waste your strength on his armor," she shouted. "A clam's shell is hard, but the meat inside is soft. Aim for the weak points!"
Sanji's eyes widened, a cook's wisdom applied to battle.
"You're right," he muttered.
Pearl charged again, but this time, Sanji was ready.
He rolled aside from another flaming charge and then moved fast, low, targeting the small gaps between Pearl's armor plates.
"Poitrine Shoot!"
His foot slammed into Pearl's exposed ribs, eliciting a loud gasp from the armored giant.
Pearl stumbled back, momentarily stunned.
Seizing the opening, Sanji planted his foot firmly on the deck, twisted his entire body into the motion and launched his strongest move yet:
"Concassé!"
A devastating spinning axe kick. His heel crashing down directly onto Pearl's unprotected forehead!
CRACK!
Pearl's headgear shattered and his body collapsed backward like a felled tree. Flames sputtered out, as he hit the deck with a heavy thud.
Pearl groaned once, then lay still.
The Iron Wall had fallen.
The Baratie's cooks erupted in cheers, pounding the deck and shouting Sanji's name.
Sanji breathing hard, gave a crooked smile, his shirt scorched and his body battered, but he had won.
He staggered toward Zeff, who gave him a curt nod of approval, pride flickering in his sharp eyes.
"Not bad, kid."
Sanji looked up, exhaling smoke, and gave a two-finger salute toward Zeff.
"That's how a cook fights."
Meanwhile.
The salty wind whipped across the deck of the Baratie, as Don Krieg stepped forward with his towering metal armor gleaming in the sun. Each step he took sent a low thud echoing through the restaurant's hull. Clad head to toe in reinforced golden plating, bristling with hidden weapons. He stood as the embodiment of brute force and overcompensation.
"So, you pathetic upstart really think you can stand against me?" Krieg growled, looking down at Luffy. "You're dead, stupid boy."
Luffy didn't flinch. He adjusted his straw hat and stretched his shoulders. "You talk a lot for someone about to get punched."
Krieg's eyes narrowed. "You think you're funny? I'm the strongest man in East Blue. This armor is made from Wootz steel. I'm invincible."
Krieg raised his hands drawing two doublebarreled pistols. A set of ten gun barrels sprouted from his armor two beneath each shoulder plate, and three beneath each of the carapace's waist flaps .
"Take this! Krieg's Bullets!"
But just as the mechanical launchers locked in place, Luffy leapt forward.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
Luffy's rubbery arm rocketed forward and slammed into Krieg's shoulder joint, before he could fire a single shot. The metal twisted and burst apart with a loud clang, sending scraps scattering over the deck. Luffy directly ripped of the left shoulder plate with the gun barrels and threw them into the sea.
Krieg roared in fury. "You brat! That was custom-made!"
Luffy landed, grinning. "Cassandra told me you're just a weakling in fancy armor. Not even worth a real fight."
Krieg hesitated. "What?!"
After Sanji finished his fight everyone was now watching Luffy. Zeff blinked and muttered, "That girl knows how to read her opponents."
Krieg's fury boiled over. "Then let me show you true power!" He fired all his shots from the remaining barrels. After his amunition was empty, he transormed his other shoulder plate into a grenade launcher and released his specially made poison gas grenades.
"MH5 Shells!" Krieg yelled triumphantly.
The bullets did nothing to Luffy and bounced right off him. He avoided the poison gas and jumped back, narrowing his eyes. "You really fight like a coward."
"Cowards live to tell the story," Krieg barked. He stomped on the deck and a flamethrower burst from his wrist, torching the ground.
Luffy darted in a zigzag motion, reading the wind and the way the smoke moved, his instincts guided him perfectly. He ducked, rolled and bounded toward Krieg again.
"Gomu Gomu no Whip!"
His leg stretched and cracked across Krieg's face, snapping the rebreather mask he put on before firing the poison grenades and sending Krieg sprawling onto the remains of his flagship.
"You little!" Krieg spat blood and stood, enraged.
Next, he triggered his bullet net. A wide volley of razor-sharp shrapnel fired in a spreading pattern.
"Net Launcher Fire!"
Luffy bent his knees, then launched into the air.
"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"
He launched using the mast like a sling and shot straight into Krieg, crashing into his chest plate.
The net fell uselessly to the ground.
Krieg stumbled. His armor was dented, just like his pride. "You! You're tearing it apart!"
"You rely on it too much," Luffy said, hopping back and wiping sweat from his brow. "Your armor... your tricks... that's all you've got."
Krieg gritted his teeth. His only card left were his diamond fists, which he wore under his gauntlets.
With a snarl, he charged wanting to pummel Luffy into the ground.
Luffy stood calm. His hands snapping back as far as they could.
"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"
Both arms stretched out and snapped forward, hitting Krieg square in the chest. The shockwave sent Krieg flying off the deck of the ship remains, crashing into the water below with a thunderous splash.
Silence followed.
Gin rushed to the edge of the ship. "Captain…" He immidietly sprang into the water.
Gin and Krieg surfaced. Krieg was dazed and completely unconsciousness. After getting onboard again, Gin looked down at him, then back at Sanji.
"Thank you for everything," Gin said solemnly. "It was wrong to attack you."
He and the few remaining Krieg Pirates helped their captain onto a little dinghi.
With solemn nods, they drifted away from the Baratie, battered and broken.
The chefs cheered. "We're safe!"
Zeff crossed his arms, watching the scene. "That Straw Hat brat... he's the real deal."
Everyone was cheering, but Nami and Cassandra were missing.
The Going Merry rocked gently against the dock ropes. Nami stood aboard, preparing the ship for sailing.
Her face was full of conflicted emotions.
Cassandra walked up the plank silently, her hands in her pockets.
"Where are you going?" she asked coolly.
Nami turned, startled. "I eh nowhere. Just... thinking."
Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "You were going to leave with the ship."
Nami didn't deny it.
"Why?" Cassandra asked, completly knowing why.
Nami looked away. "Because... there's something I have to do. Something I can't talk about."
Cassandra stepped up beside her and looked out at the sea. "If you run now, Luffy will chase you. He will never accept, if you leave like that. And neither will I."
Nami frowned. "You don't even know me."
"I know more than you think," Cassandra said softly. "I know what it's like to carry secrets and burdens alone."
Nami's hands clenched into fist. Her knuckles turned white.
"I can't stay," she whispered.
"You're not ready to leave," Cassandra replied. "Not yet. Besides, I won't let you take our ship."
"You know, we can help you."
A long pause stretched between them. Nami finally let go of the wheel, her hands shaking.
"No I can't trust you," she said tears in her eyes.
Cassandra smiled slightly. "Are you sure about that?"
The two women stood in silence as the sun dipped lower into the ocean.