Boy With a Scar

Chapter 18: Choosing One's Path

"Hmph, gone already..." Don Krieg grunted before erupting into laughter. "Hahahahaha! What a coward!"

Luffy snorted. "Ne, cook-ossan," he called. "They've already eaten, can I beat that fool now?"

Zeff smiled. "Do as you wish."

"Yosha!" he cheered with a huge, excited grin.

"But before that, kid," the head chef said, observing the young pirate intently. "Do you know that power you've used?"

Luffy stroked his chin in thought, wondering if he should answer or not. "I sometimes lose control of my mystery power," he finally explained, shrugging nonchalantly. "This time it wasn't so bad, I managed to focus it mostly on that hawk-guy." He let out a short laugh. "In the past, people fainted around me. That freaked me out the first time." The boy paused. "Well, the second time. The first time, I hadn't even realized that I used it."

"Mystery power, huh?" Zeff mused, smiling under his moustaches knowingly.

Everyone else, including the bounty hunters, Usopp, and Nami were staring at the straw-hatted boy with squinty eyes as though they were looking directly into the sun. A sound of a gunshot from the shipwreck drew their attention back to Don Krieg, who was yelling at his own crew, at the same time threatening them with the double-barreled pistol.

"Wow, he really likes to talk," Luffy remarked. He disassembled his Bo staff into separate parts and slipped them back into the holster on his lower back.

"O-Oi, kid, don't you need your weapon if you're gonna fight Don Krieg?" one of the cooks asked.

"Against him? Nah. I took it out because I didn't know what the hawk-guy was planning," Luffy informed, gazing back at the opposing captain, who was still talking. Suddenly, a mischievous grin spread on his face. "Oh, I know!" he exclaimed and quickly ducked inside the restaurant.

"Damn pests," Sanji growled, glaring at the Krieg's pirates. "They're gonna attack any minute now." He turned to one of the other cooks and said, "Go to the control room and open up the 'fins'."

"Eh? Are you sure?" the man doubted. "That'll just give out enemies a foothold."

"The geezer won't shut up if we fight inside the restaurant."

"Oh, right. On it!" the man cried out before scrambling to fulfill the request.

A short distance away, Don Krieg was riling up his men for an attack. "Now you understand that they are nothing special?!" he yelled. "That's why we need to get the log from that old man!" He pointed at the head chef, turning to face him. "Red Leg Zeff–" The pirate's speech abruptly broke off when a sticky octopus smacked right into his face. Krieg froze.

"Ha! Bull's-eye!" Luffy cheered as he fist-pumped the air. "Did you see that, Usopp?"

The long-nosed teen flashed a thumbs-up. "Good shot, Luffy!"

Nami simply burst into laughter, soon followed by Johnny, Yosaku, and the Baratie cooks. Stifled snickers could be heard even in Krieg's crew. The more composed pirates elbowed the ones who couldn't manage to stay quiet, in a vain attempt to shut them up.

Krieg stiffly reached for octopus, slowly ripped it off his face and squished it in his palm, a furious sneer distorting his features. With a wild roar, he brought out one of his shoulder plates as a shield in front of him and pointed it at the restaurant's direction. He grinned evilly and muttered, "MH5."

Krieg's crew went into chaos, fumbling around their clothes and yelling in a complete panic.

"Wait, captain, we won't make it on time!"