Chapter 7 – Gum Gum Pinwheel
When Mo Moo came up, he took one look at Luffy and Sanji, and turned to swim away. All I could do was stand there with a shocked look on my face, gaping like a freaking fish out of water...
"What the hell..." I muttered, turning to stare at Luffy and Sanji. "What did you two do to him?" I asked.
"Well, he tried to steal our food, and he tried to eat Sanji. All we did was teach 'em a lesson..." Luffy explained innocently, as if it wasn't a big deal.
Hearing this, I could only look at Sanji who nodded. Signifying that it was all true. Turning back to the situation at hand, I felt a hope I hadn't felt in years. If they could take on Mo Moo unscathed, then we had an actual chance of ending Arlong's reign over this island!
However, things changed when Arlong glanced at Mo Moo.
"Running away are we?" He asked him, making Mo Moo pause. "That's just fine. I'm not going to stop you, old friend..." Arlong continued as Mo Moo straightened up in the water.
Immediately, I could feel the aura in Mo Moo's mood change. It went from frightfulness, to raging anger.
Reaching for the handle of the sword on my back, I stood ready for anything Mo Moo might do.
When Mo Moo turned around, you could see the intent to kill in his eyes as he slowly moved towards us. Though, in the end he wasn't anything we had to worry about.
No, the one we had to worry about.
WAS LUFFY...
Just as Mo Moo was starting to get close, Luffy stomped his feet into the concrete and proceeded to twist himself around several times, before stretching his arms up to grab Mo Moo by his cow like horns. For a few moments, I thought that Luffy had killed himself.
Glancing at Zoro and Sanji, I could see that they weren't panicking over what their captain was doing. Ussop, on the other hand, was panicking but not over Luffy.
"Tell me... Has Luffy eaten a devil fruit by any chance?" I asked Zoro, who was keeping his eyes glued to what was going on between Luffy and Mo Moo with his face twisting into one of worry.
"Yeah, he's a rubber person; and we better get outta here." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder, turning me to face the broken gate.
"Why? What's Luffy doing?" Sanji asked, glancing between Zoro and Luffy.
"I don't know, but I gotta bad feeling about it; and I don't wanna be here to find out either!" Zoro said, as an evil grin crossed Luffy's face.
"TIME FOR SOMETHING NEW!" he shouted, as the four of us sweat dropped, and took off for the gate as Luffy started drawing in a huge lung full of air.
"GUM GUM PENWHEEL!" He shouted, as he started spinning like crazy, taking Mo Moo with him; and using him to break anything and everything around him. Which thankfully consisted of Arlong Park, and Arlong's fish men subordinates.
Then, when all the fish men had been brought down, Luffy used the momentum from his last spin around to throw Mo Moo out of Arlong park all together, leaving everyone either shocked; or in Arlong's case, severely pissed.
"DID HE REALLY JUST THROW THAT FREAKING COW!" I freaked, completely shocked and caught off guard at what Luffy was capable of.
"AND HE NEARLY KILLED US IN THE PROCESS!" Ussop shouted, also freaked out.
"Remind me to kill him later..." I heard Zoro mutter, as he kicked a piece of rubble out of his path.
"That boy is amazing..." I heard Genzo say from behind me in shock.
"I just can't believe there's a human being able to throw that huge monster!" the village doctor said next, close to freaking out himself.
Smiling at this, I looked at Luffy in amazement. Just who exactly was Luffy, and where did he learn to come across like that? I really couldn't believe it...
Our little bout of amazement was short lived however, when Luffy started moving around like he was trying to pull his feet out. However, before any of us could as him what he was doing, Chu and Kurobi took a few steps towards us.
"How could you do this to our brothers?" I heard Hachi demand of us, but was cut off by Kurobi.
"Very well... It looks like we'll have to join in on the fight." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Now you'll get an education in the inferiority of your species... Chu" Chu said, glaring at us; and at me in particular.
"Oh really... I'd like to see that." Zoro retorted, that bad boy smirk back in place.
Ignoring him, Arlong looked over at me.
"Asuna, I've taught you that lesson once. The second time won't be so nice." Arlong warned.
"You're lessons were never so nice to begin with Arlong. In fact, you can take every single one, and shove them up your ass where the sun won't shine." I spat back at him, giving him my death glare. I could tell by the way he gritted his shark like teeth, that my words had pissed him off greatly; which caused me to smile.
"Please relax Sir, and let us take care of this." Kurobi said, uncrossing his arms.
"If you go on one of your rampages to destroy these insects, you could destroy all of Arlong park... Chu." Chu agreed, getting ready to fight.
"Please, just let us kill those weaklings!" Hachi practically begged, standing to his feet. "And I was starting to think that you weren't so bad Asuna! Then you had to go and bring them here! DAMN YOU!" he shouted at me.
Hiding my eyes, I bit my bottom lip.
"I'm sorry Hachi, but I have to stop Arlong." I said, after a few moments. Raising my eyes to meet his. "However, now you know how it felt when your kind took someone of my kind, who was dear to me away." I said, thinking back to Bellemere, and the master blacksmith who had been killed.
"Alright... They're yours. However, I want you to capture Asuna alive." Arlong agreed, watching our small banter as he sat back in a pile of rubble to watch.
Not needing to hear another word, Hachi sucked in a huge lung full of air before puffing himself up.
"What in the hell is that octopus doing?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow at what Hachi was doing.
"Octopus is cooked best when it's thinly sliced and salted. Add some olive oil and paprika, and it makes the perfect snack while drinking." Sanji interrupted with his cooking knowledge, which I didn't understand how it would help in a fight against fish men. Besides, there's no way anyone was going to eat any of them...
"So guy's, I'm kinda in trouble..." Luffy began, ignoring Sanji.
"What kind of trouble?" I asked him, but before I could get an answer, Hachi made a movement like he was about to throw up.
"ZERO VISON: HACHI INK JET!" He shouted, spraying thick, black ink at us. Me, Zoro, and Sanji managed to jump out of the way; but Luffy didn't even try to dodge it. Ussop, who was no where to be seen, didn't even have to worry about it.
When the attack was over, Luffy was still in the same place, covered in ink from head to toe.
"Why didn't you dodge that!?" Zoro shouted at him from the spot he had landed, before he noticed Luffy's problem.
"Well, it's kinda hard to dodge when your feet are stuck..." He trailed off. Yanking at his feet, trying to free them.
"What the hell! You stuck them in yourself, why can't you get them out?" Sanji yelled at him in disbelief.
"He doesn't think ahead much does he?" I asked the closest person to me, who happened to be Zoro.
"You have no idea." He replied, standing to his feet as he drew his swords. Ready for the fight that was about to follow.
Just as the three fish men started forward, Arlong ordered them to stop.
"Sir, are you sure about this? Remember that your rage could destroy everything we've worked for these passed few years." I heard Kurobi warn him, which Arlong waved off.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be careful." He said as he walked up in front of Luffy, knelt down, and dug a huge chunk of concrete out of the dock. The very same concrete Luffy had stuck his feet in.
Grabbing him by the arm, Arlong lifted Luffy up over his head.
"Did you know that Devil Fruit user's don't have the ability to swim. However, I'm pretty sure any human in your situation would sink right to the bottom!" He said, laughing his ass off as he then threw Luffy into the water.
Sanji and Zoro both started for the water to try and save him, forcing me to jump in their paths.
"Damn it Asuna! Get out of our way!" Zoro growled at me, a hand on his only sword.
"I can't." I said, glancing between them, the water, and Arlong, Kurobi, and Hachi. Chu was no where to be seen, nor was Ussop. One was probably chasing the other for all I knew...
"Listen Asuna, I know you don't want to do anything to make Arlong go after you and your village, but that is our captain down there. If we don't get to him soon, he's not gonna make it." Sanji pleaded, holding his hands up in front of him.
"I know that, but the moment one of you so much as touches the water, they'll jump in after you. And don't be fooled, Fish men are in their element when they fight in water. Just because they walk on land doesn't mean shit." I pointed out, holding my ground.
"She has a point. Take a look at their expressions. They can't wait for us to jump in." Zoro agreed after a moment, and a quick glance at the fish men.
Taking out a cigarette, Sanji lit it, and turned back to the fish men standing in our way.
"Well then, lets get to work shall we." He said after a moment. "Asuna, do you think you would be able to get down there?"
Looking to the water, I thought about it until I felt a pair of cold eyes on me. Turning my gaze to its source, I spotted Arlong sending me an evil smirk my way.
"If I go in, so will Arlong, and there's no way I can beat him under water. If one of you two defeats your opponent, then I can hold Arlong off long enough for one of you to get a head start. But who ever goes will have to act fast, because you'll only have seconds before he catches up." I replied, keeping my eyes glued to Arlong.
I knew that I had promised Luffy that I'd leave Arlong's ass kicking to him, but he was currently at the bottom of the dock. So I'm gonna have to take his place. Besides, I owed him seven blows before Luffy gets back anyway...
"How about we play a little game. Beat my brothers, and I'll let you try retrieve your friend. If you loose, well, you'll be dead; and I get to decide Asuna's fate." Arlong said, laughing his ass off again.
Gritting my teeth, I had to fight the urge to rip his head off right then and there. How dare he force us into a game like that where we have no option but to loose...
"Whatever, I'll beat all of your asses and save Luffy real quick!" Zoro ground out between clenched teeth as he charged at Hachi, slicing off a part of the top of his hair cut.
As I watched Zoro and Hachi fight, I did my best to keep an eye on Arlong. While he might have said that he'd let us try to save Luffy, it didn't mean that he wouldn't slip underwater to where he was, and kill him. Arlong was full of tricks like that.
Just like with the villagers and the marine ships. Always letting their hope get close as possible before destroying it completely. It's just how his mind and thoughts worked.
Arlong was one cruel bastard.
Turning my gaze back to where Zoro and Hachi were facing off, I caught a glimpse of Zoro's eyes. He was in pain...
That's right... It was the wound he received from my father. There was no way it was healed enough for a fight like this. In fact, Zoro's life was in danger because of it. If it opened up, then his chances of survival would be half slim to none...
…...
Zoro
As I started for the Octo Man, I dodge another jet of ink, and swung my sword at him. However, I missed my target on his body when a wave of pain hit, causing my judgment to be off. So instead of separating his head from his body, I cut two fist fulls of hair from the top of his head.
"You bastard! You cut my hair!" he started screaming as he felt around when his hair had been cut off, before calming down. "But its alright. It's only hair, it'll grow back." He said, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.
Seriously, I was beginning to think that this guy had split personality or something...
"Now Zoro, you can't beat me. Now with the wiggly beauty of my hands!" He said then, waving his hands all around.
Growling at him, I shouted at him to shut the hell up, and swung my sword at him again. He wasn't doing anything but wasting the short amount of time I had to save Luffy.
Jumping back, he was able to dodge each blow. At least until he said something about being able to catch my sword. Which ended with him missing my sword despite having three pairs of hands, and nasty cuts on his hands, and forehead.
"Damn it! I don't have fucking time for this shit!" I nearly shouted in frustration as another wave of pain hit. Only this time, I couldn't hide it. It was so bad, that I was actually panting for the breath the pain was stealing.
Forcing what I could of it back, I charged at the damn octopus again. Only as I went for it, my eyes met Asuna's. In them, I could see worry. Why was she worried?
Shaking the weird feeling that gave me from my mind. I had my attention returned to my fight in time to see the octopus jump up high, and stick himself way up on a column.
Under normal circumstances, I would be able to get up there to him, kill his ass, and there wouldn't be any problems. However, like I am now...
There's nothing I can do...
"Get you're ass back down here you bastard!" I shouted up at him.
"No can do. Hachi stickers are stuck..." He said back, in a taunting sing song voice.
Damn...
As long as he's up there, then I can't save Luffy. If I went in, he'd come after me...
Then again, in my condition, I'd be dead if I went in the water anyway. As I stood there, I felt the pain kick up a notch, and the fever I had developed along with it. Everything was so hot now. Too hot...
The last thing I knew before the pain overwhelmed me, was the sound of Asuna's voice, as she called me...
…...
Asuna
"Zoro!" I called as I watched him fall to the ground. It was as bad as I had thought. That wound Hawk Eye had given him was really bad. Maybe even worse than what I had first thought.
My dad had one hell of a way to bestow favor upon those he deems worthy of challenging him. The worse the wound, the bigger chance he thought the wounded person had of one day defeating him.
I had only heard of one other person being wounded like Zoro was. After their first encounter, every one that followed it, this man could hold his own against my father. Every fight ended in a draw.
The last I had heard of this guy, he had pushed off from an island here in the East Blue, and simply disappeared on the tail end of rumors of loosing his left arm...
However, I was pulled from my thoughts when a loud crash sounded from behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted a hole through the wall, and Kurobi in one of his karate stances.
Looking through the wall, I spotted Sanji lying on the ground.
"Sanji!" I called him, to see if he was still conscious, and hopefully still alive. Silence was all that met me.
"Zoro! Sanji!" I shouted in worry.
What have I done? I've just gotten the first friends I've had in years killed... I had swore to never become a monster again. It was why I threw my sword to the side.
Yet here I stand, still a monster. Even without the sword.
Reaching for the sword hilt of the weapon on my back, I drew it. If I was a monster either way-
Then my oath to abandon it be damned...
…...
Hey it's Bugg18!
I'd like to take this time to apologize for the long wait. I've spent the last month or so getting my things ready to move across SEVEN states with my fiancee and his family. So I haven't been able to work on this story until recently.
I hope you guys like it so far, and Asuna's about to get over her ridiculous oath about her sword, and learn to fight for herself. Come see how things work out in the next chapter.
Next Chapter: Chapter 8 – Asuna's Awakening, Luffy's Underwater Rescue
