I never ever EVER write stories without doing INCREDIBLY extensive research beforehand. I do it damn near to a fault. But this time around -mind you, I've never written a One Piece fic before- I just wanted to write an Arlong fic so damn bad that I forewent my normal obsessive habits. I know next to nothing about Impel Down, characters like Hannyabal, or how law and order works in the One Piece world. I know enough to write an incredibly audacious piece of work for the sake of my own selfish desires which are... to see Arlong's redeeming qualities.

So for those who don't mind a bit of inaccuracy on details that don't show up until, like, episodes in the 400s and chapters in the 500s, and for those who enjoy Arlong as much as I do, and for those who don't give a rats ass that one of the main characters is an OC, here ya go.

Day One.

When the marines took the Arlong Pirates into custody, it only served to concentrate the fishmen's perception of humans as cruel and treacherous vermin. They took their sweet time kicking around the injured, unconscious, and even dead fishmen, likely taking advantage of one of the few chances they'd get to feel power over a clearly superior species.

That being said, when they eventually did get around to shackling the prisoners and loading them on board, the apprehension of Arlong himself was no small feat. It took no less than ten men to even lift his body, and they had no metal restraints to match his size. In the end, they had nothing more than his physical state to assure his captivity, which was absolutely no kind of assurance at all. He was bound and gagged on the floor of the cargo hold, with five officers sweating bullets as they watched him down the barrel of their flintlocks. Their only chance was to hope that he remained unconscious until they reached their destination.

Fortunately for them, Straw Hat packed one hell of a punch.

The downpour assaulting the exterior of the prison would make moving the large fishmen a difficult task, but it couldn't be helped.

At least their arrival at Impel Down was anticipated; there was an entire crew dispatched to help with processing of the prisoners. In addition, Vice Warden Hannyabal had come to oversee the matter; from a distance the man stood out, being easily twice as tall as the average man. When Nezumi approached him, however, he saw he was not alone.

The newly appointed Security Adviser, Rhia J. Videlle, was standing at his side. She donned a combat vest over a black tank-top, with a pair of khaki's tucked into a set of militia-style boots. The was a knife sheathed at her shoulder with the grip pointing down; the handle of her shock prod rose over the opposite shoulder, and the grip of yet another blade poked out above the height of her left boot. And though he couldn't see it, Nezumi knew she had a six-shooter holstered at the small of her back. He doubted she so much as bathed without some kind of weapon on her.

She gave a familiar frown at the sight of the Marine Captain, and appeared to mutter something to the Vice Warden just before Nezumi entered earshot.

Trying not to look scandalized, he saluted the two with a toothy grin. "Vice Warden," he announced, his voice suggesting nothing short of the utmost grandeur, "I have apprehended the notorious Arlong Pirates."

"Yes, well done. You may issue your report to your Commander; you and your men are welcome to replenish supplies and rest for as long as you need. That will be all."

"Thank you, sir," the Captain bowed deeply. He seethed a little inside, feeling entitled to a bit more ceremony. He made no mention of it, however, and turned on his heel.

They watched him descend the stairs leading to the docks. "You were right, Rhia. He took credit for the entire thing."

"And so blatantly too. I don't like it."

"Well, what of these... Straw Hats he reported?"

"According to Mikas' report, the locals claim it was them who brought down Arlong and his men. I've already told you what they said of Captain Nezumi."

"Yes, you have."

"Is it grounds for arrest?"

Hannyabal shook his head. "Arresting him now would do little good. I can relay what you've told me to his superiors, and they'll probably begin an investigation. But beyond that, it's out of our hands."

"Even the bribery?"

"We can take it into consideration when distributing the prisoners, but that's a weighty charge. We can't throw around such accusations lightly, and especially not without proof. None of those villagers actually witnessed bribery; it's all circumstantial."

The Adviser narrowed her eyes, "I was afraid you'd say that."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing more than rumors following this... Straw Hat coalition. Tell me, who makes themselves an enemy to both pirates and marines?"

"Are these Straw Hats not pirates themselves? It's not unheard of for pirate crews to find themselves at odds with one another."

"On behalf of everyday civilians? I get the feeling that they, or at least this kid calling himself their leader is some kind of bleeding-heart type. He won't get far as a pirate like that."

The Vice Warden stroked his chin. "Hmm. I suppose their motives are something to think on. For now though, let's worry about the matter at hand. I want you to..."

He trailed off, spotting a large cluster of marines struggling to lift a large fishman from below deck. Hannyabal's eyes glinted in recognition.

"Arlong."

Rhia squinted to get a better look. "He looks completely out of it."

The fishman's eyes were rolled back into his head, with crusted blood running down his face and abdomen. His once-nice shirt was stained with dirt and blood, and sported some rather large tears. One of his legs was twisted unpleasantly- swollen and discolored, it was clearly broken. Someone did a number on him.

"There's no way Nezumi was responsible for that," the Vice Warden assessed with the utmost certainty, and Rhia was inclined to agree. "I want you to personally oversee Arlong's imprisonment, including sentencing and cell placement. See if you can't get him placed in level four."

"His bounty is going to be a problem."

Hannyabal rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "Recount some of the reports we received from your man Mikas in Cocoyashi. His utter decimation of an entire village, his merciless slaughter of innocent people; argue his misrepresented bounty and really tug at the heartstrings. I want this one buried so deep he can't crawl out."

"Yes, sir." She saluted him, moving to follow his orders.

"And Rhia!" She turned back to face him. "Meet me in my office later. If that Straw Hat is really responsible for the state Arlong is in, then he's someone we need to keep track of."

"Sir," she acquiesced dutifully before turning to intercept their newest prisoner.

Arlong's eyes cracked open slightly, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. He glimpsed a dark-haired woman barking orders and for a minute, that was all he could focus on. When he felt himself being lifted, an uneasy sense of familiarity came over him and he reached out instinctively to stop what was about to happen. His hand wrapped around the upper arm of the brunette, and at the sound of her gasp he briefly felt salvation.

"Shit," her voice came out in frantic acknowledgment. There was a pinch in his wrist and his hand gave out, releasing her.

Rubbing her arm, Rhia watched as the men dropped him into the water. Out-of-sorts as he was, his grip was going to leave bruises. While she was no slouch in combat, she quickly realized it would take a bit more than just her to keep him under control. She now both understood and dreaded her role as his handler; she was definitely earning her pay for this.

The moment he made contact with the water, he instantaneously awoke from his daze. An agonized roar erupted from his throat as he thrashed and struggled to escape.

"Not many have that much vigor going in," one of her men observed hesitantly. All backed away from the vat when boiling water sloshed over the sides. Rhia donned an unpleasant expression.

"All right, let's get down there. Be ready when they open the hatch; if he's still struggling then bring him down with the prods. Let's not have this become an incident, gentlemen."

"Yes, ma'am!"

She and her men descended from the first catwalk to the second, stopping by the hatch doors.

"Stand ready, men," she barked, pulling out her shock prod. He was still raving like a lunatic; this was about to get ugly.

"Opening hatch doors, boiler nine," an attendant bellowed from somewhere above them. There was a hiss and an eruption of steam as the water-tight seal was disengaged. Hot water spilled out from the opening, and everyone seemed to tense.

Steam billowed up from below as the water hit the drain-pan, and suddenly no one could see. To make matters worse, the ungodly screech of metal twisting met their ears.

"Filthy humans!"

Arlong bolted from the boiler and straight ahead, reaching blindly for anyone. His hand found Rhia's throat and he lifted her into the air, only to swing her around and shove her into the outer wall of another boiler.

The scalding metal made contact with the bare skin on her arm and she screamed, kicking at the fishman desperately. Arlong was holding her at arms length, however, and she couldn't manage a clean hit. It wasn't until one of her men drew his attention that he released her, but she had to catch herself on the railing of the catwalk to avoid falling into the drain-pan.

Someone came and hoisted her over; the steam was slowly dissipating, and she could vaguely make out the image of Arlong grappling with several of the guards. She looked him over for the best approach, and – remembering his wounded leg – ran at him with as much momentum as she could gather. Just as she got close, she ducked down low to fit between his legs and brought her shock prod up behind her, landing a firm hit behind the knee.

He bellowed loudly, staggering back. Someone got a little too close and went flying over the railing and into the drain-pan with a loud splosh! As Rhia collapsed backwards, the others closed in with their own prods and successfully brought the fishman down.

It was then that another guard rushed in, carrying a small case. He stopped to salute Rhia, who at the sight of him used the railing to pull herself up.

"Ma'am! Tranquilizer," he informed her rather efficiently, holding out the case.

She seized it like a lifeline, pulling out the needle and running toward the mob of thrashing bodies. Darting between her own men, she took a leap of faith and landed somewhere on the creature's massive chest. Gripping his hair to keep from being thrown back, she brought the needle down hard onto the nearest bit of exposed blue skin she could manage.

Arlong, who'd begun to convulse either from the pain or the excessive shocks - or both - let out a weary gasp when she pushed down on the plunger. His eyes widened and a white foam pooled around his teeth and escaped over the side of his mouth. Rhia couldn't bring herself to remove the needle just yet.

The steam had completely cleared now, and everyone watched as Arlong tensed, gave one final convulsion, and collapsed, unconscious again.

"Not even ten damn minutes and already trouble... damn steam didn't help matters..." Rhia was grumbling to herself, heading toward the Vice Warden's office. The men she passed in the halls stopped to salute her respectfully, but she paid them no mind.

"Steam... steam! Of all the..." She reached Hannyabal's door and waltzed in without thinking about it. "Why was there steam?!"

Hannyabal was leaning back in his chair, reading a report of some kind.

"It's quite common for the boiler room to have steam, Adviser." He remarked absentmindedly.

"Not when water empties into the drain-pan! We keep the damn thing heated so that doesn't happen!"

"Shouldn't you be complaining about this to maintenance?"

Rhia fell back on the small couch in the corner. "Trust me, they heard about it. All I got were a bunch of apologies. 'We'll check on it, ma'am.' 'Please be patient, ma'am.' You know how many people could have died because of this?"

"Calm down. Is this about Arlong?"

She blew a puff of air out in frustration. "Indirectly. Things would have gone a lot smoother if we could have seen shit."

"Did he give you much trouble?"

She nodded. "Plenty, and then some. It started with him trying to drag me into the boiler with him. He's the reason my arm looks purple. And he's the reason my other arm is missing a nice chunk of skin," she informed him, voice dripping with venom. She leaned up to let him get a glimpse of her burn, which was bleeding in places like patchwork. "The second he went into the boiler he went berserk. We were all on our guard. Like I said, if it weren't for the damned drain-pan-"

"You haven't gone to the infirmary?"

"No, not yet. He's in there, though. The injuries he sustained before he got here as well as the trauma he suffered in the boiler room put him in quite a state. They think he might not wake up. Damn it all..." she hissed, inspecting her wound.

"Who's in there with him?"

"Domino. She owed me a favor. I needed to cool off."

"Hmm. Well, since you're here I may as well tell you." Hannyabal straightened himself out in his chair.

"Tell me what?"

"I went to Magellan with your suspicions about Nezumi. I thought perhaps he could be of some insight. He told me that this is not the first time Captain Nezumi has been suspected of accepting bribes, neglecting his duties, and in some cases even selling secrets. However, every time someone voices a complaint, it gets mysteriously wiped from the record."

"How?"

"The Warden seemed unsure about that. It seems to be coming from higher up the food chain."

"Ugh; that's ridiculous. Who would be pulling for a guy like him?"

"You got me."

Rhia had to think about that. Did Nezumi have any relatives high up in the government? That was the only conceivable thing she could picture, and it would certainly explain that aura of entitlement that seemed to smother her whenever he passed by.

"Let's nail him to the damn wall this time, huh?"

"Don't get so confident. We don't have any proof to speak of."

Rhia furrowed her brow, gazing up to the ceiling. If Arlong was the one paying out bribes, then he'd be proof, of sorts. Maybe she could get him to help her take Nezumi out; after all, he paid all those bribes for protection from the law that he obviously didn't get.

Hannyabal watched her think.

"You're trying to work Arlong into this, aren't you?"

"I could see him being persuaded to pitch in, yes."

Her boss' expression hardened. "Forget it. He's not going to work with humans."

"Well, he'd be working with humans to take revenge on the man who landed him here. I'm not ready to count it out just yet."

"You've never said two words to the guy. You have my leave to try, but only if you quote verbatim of your first conversation. I want to hear how it goes."

"Deal." She chewed her lip, slightly inspired now. "And the Straw Hats?"

"Ah, yes. Them." He reached into a drawer and brought out a notepad. "I did some calling around. Apparently he's been all over the East Blue, stirring up trouble everywhere he goes. He's been seeking out potential crew-mates- I think he has a total of four, not including himself, now."

"Four? That's... dismal!" Rhia got tired of trying to keep her burn from touching the fabric of the couch and simply sat upright.

"From what I can tell, he's just starting out. I got some clues on who his men are if you'd like to read them."

She outstretched her bruised arm and he tossed her his notes. Looking them over, she instantly closed in on one significant detail.

"Roronoa Zoro? Isn't he supposed to be a bounty hunter? He's in this kid's crew?"

"Along with a chef from the Baratie, and a former member of Arlong's own gang."

"And the fourth?"

"I don't know, I couldn't make out the name. Slop-something. Some kid I've never heard of."

"And what about their leader?"

The Vice Warden looked down to the floor. "Nothing at all."

"I see." She gave her signature frown.

"You don't like this."

"To be fair, I don't like much of anything."

Hannyabal stood and walked to the door, "Very true. Well, you're welcome to stay, but I'm off for dinner."

Rhia sighed reluctantly, getting to her feet. "No, I'll go. Domino's been working the long shift today, she probably hasn't eaten."

"I could bring up something, if you like."

She gave him a weak smile. "It's fine. If that damn fish is still under sedation, then my job should be easy tonight."

"...appreciate you... me out like this..."

"...what I'm... for."

Arlong struggled to hang on to awareness. Bits and pieces of reality had been trickling in here and there, but this fragment of a conversation was the most lucid thing he'd been able to understand since that fight he'd started.

He could still feel the shock pulsing over his skin, even though it had been hours ago. The thought made him dizzy and he suppressed it.

"Is it just me or does the boss-man have it out for this guy?"

A man's voice questioned from his left. With each passing moment things were growing more clear.

"Hannyabal? I wouldn't say he's fond of him, but I can't see him doing anything unprofessional."

"I know that. I'm not talking about his conduct; everything he's done pertaining to this has been perfectly legal- just what if he's being fueled by something other than justice?"

"To be a public servant with intentions other than justice is unprofessional, legal or not. He takes his job very seriously."

"If you say so."

"I say so."

Arlong became aware of his legs dragging along concrete, and small hands holding his arms in place. He was partially hoisted onto the shoulders of two people.

"After that mess in the boiler room, we shouldn't be placing him any old holding cell. He should be down on one of the levels."

"He hasn't been sentenced. And he won't be until he wakes up and understands his situation. He's not an official prisoner yet. This is the one, here."

He felt one half of him dip as one of his captors reached for a set of keys and unlock the door to an empty cell.

"He proved himself a serious threat, today."

"Doesn't everyone we bring in?" The brunette woman countered, dragging Arlong inside. "It's the nature of the job. And the minute you start to think in terms of individual prisoners, it's over; you've gone paranoid. That mess in the boiler room was more an issue of our blunder than of his calculation. He's no better or worse than anyone else locked up here, just because circumstance played out different this one time."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" the other guard huffed.

"You're just looking for someone to hate and play the bad guy. Well, you've got a whole prison full of bad guys, so take your pick. But don't recount your logic to me- if it's flawed I'll say so."

"Fine. Whatever," the man muttered as she shut the cell door. They walked away in silence, and when they were gone Arlong propped himself up, shakily.

His head was spinning and his stomach was turned in knots. His vision blurred in and out of focus, and he thought he was going to collapse again. Reaching out to the bars of the cell door weakly, he tried to prop himself up, with little luck. He looked around the cell. There was a toilet, and a cot much too small for him. He reached out and tugged the blanket off, hoping to insulate himself from the cement floor. The comfort it provided was minimal, and he shivered.

He tried to roll over. It hurt too much and he gave up. The blanket didn't even wrap around his shoulders entirely, and the little comfort he did take from it only made the rest of his body ache for warmth. Feeling sickness overtake him, he gave a few empty retches before shutting his eyes.

It was hours before he really fell asleep.

Wow that was long-winded. I can't promise every chapter is going to be that big but I sure as hell hope they will be. Lemme know what you think.

-Louisia