Whoo. Got a couple weeks to the end of the semester - hopefully I'll be able to survive mostly unscathed...

Chapter 154 (or 14) – Heroes?

Maria's POV

After that, I couldn't hold in the anger I held anymore. With a loud roar, I slammed my fists into the ground, creating a short shockwave of flames that made a small circle around me before dissipating. "That no-good Sharpedo! I'll fillet him!"

"No!" Jimbei said immediately. "He is far too strong – you will not be able to stand against him."

"Hey."

We looked over at Luffy as he turned around to look at the rest of us.

"He said I'm worth 400 million! When did they raise it!"

I was not in the mood for Luffy's amazement at his bounty right now. "Right after Marineford! It was all over the newspapers! That's how I know they changed my title to Fire Storm and bumped my bounty up to 235 million!"

"Obviously they want to fight us," Sanji commented.

"The War of the Best at Marineford made both of you infamous instantly," Jimbei said. "Although, when it goes over 300 million, it's not easily increased again."

I nodded sternly in agreement as Nami looked over in surprise.

Luffy slammed his fist into his other hand. "But if somebody wants to fight me, I'll fight!"

"Yeah," I said in grim agreement.

"Wait, Luffy-kun! Maria-chan!" Jimbei moved forward.

Shirahoshi started crying again, saying "Father" over and over, getting the rest of us to look up in alarm.

"Megalo!" Shirahoshi cried.

"Shaa!" The shark quickly moved over, and Shirahoshi climbed on.

"I have to go save him!"

Megalo started to climb for the top of the bubble at top speed.

"Shirahoshi-sama, wait! Megalo, stop!" Jimbei cried.

The shark stopped short.

"Boss Jimbei-sama! But—"

"Luffy-kun, Maria-chan, Princess-sama, you have to wait!" Jimbei said sternly. He shot me a stern look as I stood in the scorched circle from my fire.

"Nyuu. Princess, I don't think you should go either."

"Hachi-sama." Shirahoshi looked back at the wounded fishman.

"What Hody is most afraid of in the Ryugu Kingdom now is Princess Shirahoshi's ability!"

"The fact that she can summon Sea Kings?" I asked, frowning.

"Even if he reshapes Fishman Island exactly the way he wants, once she controls the Sea Kings to attack the island, it'll be gone," Hachi said grimly. "He took the king hostage to use him as a shield."

"So what they're really going for is Shirahoshi-chan," Sanji concluded.

"First that terror stalker and now this." I hissed through my teeth in displeasure at all this. "Seriously, attacking a young lady just because you want things to go your way? Not cool, man. Not. Cool."

"Nyuu. Hody is not planning to capture her to get control of her power." Hachi moved his gaze from the princess to the rest of us. "He prefers her power didn't exist at all. That's why he teamed up with Decken, who is capable of killing her. Hody wants to get rid of everything that could stand in his way."

"He hasn't met me yet, then."

"Nyuu?" Hachi looked over at me in confusion, as did the others.

"You remember how I summoned Lugia before to help us with that rockslide from the eruption?" I asked, looking over at Nami, Sanji, Chopper, and Luffy. When they nodded, I said, "I can summon more creatures like him – creatures that are considered Legendary like Lugia where he comes from."

"Lugia?" Jimbei repeated in confusion.

"No fishman has ever had to face a Pokémon before in battle," I added. "I can summon Lugia again and – if I need to – I bet I could get Kyogre's attention for this, too. She likes peace in her seas, and if she hears there's trouble in another one, well. She's not going to take to it too kindly."

"Maria-chan, you are speaking of creatures that only exist in fairy tales!" Jimbei said, frowning. "And yet you claim that you are able to summon them? The Harmony of the Sea and the Origin Point are creatures that do not exist!"

"Not on this world."

That gave him pause.

"If you need to, then do it," Luffy said.

I nodded as Jimbei stared at me, but then he quickly shook his head and refocused. "Regardless, we cannot rush the plaza. That is exactly what Hody wants Princess-sama to do, and he will be expecting the rest of us as well."

Megalo lowered back down to the ground.

"I have been told about my power, but I have never communicated with the Sea Kings," Shirahoshi said nervously. "I don't even know if I really have that kind of power."

"But even so, I'm sure that Hody will try to kill you – and you, if you reveal to him this ability of yours and he believes it to actually be true." Jimbei shot me a look.

"Other people have tried before." I shrugged. "I'd like to see him make an attempt."

Jimbei stared at me as though I'd just said I could eat sunlight and dance in the sea without the pressure crushing me flat.

"…and we shouldn't let Hody know that you can't control the power." Jimbei looked back at Shirahoshi. "It's good that he's afraid of it."

I couldn't help but wonder what was going through Jimbei's head right at that moment, especially concerning me.

"Is that all?" Luffy asked. "Then I'll get going." He walked over to Megalo. "Shark! Take me to Ryugu Palace! Sanji, take care of Coward!"

Sanji whooped and quickly came over for a high-five with Luffy. "Count on it!"

"I said 'wait', Luffy-kun!" Jimbei said sternly. "You people shouldn't fight Hody!"

"Why are you trying to stop me?" Luffy demanded.

"Is it because we're humans?" Chopper and Franky asked.

"You two shouldn't say that!" Sanji snapped. "It makes things more complicated!"

"That's right!" Jimbei confirmed. "You humans shouldn't do that! The surviving fishmen will hate humans again!"

"Mn." My eyes narrowed, but I didn't argue with Jimbei on that point. We'd heard his telling of the history of his kingdom; it would make sense that humans would be seen as a danger when it came to fishmen's own problems.

"You have to leave it to me," Jimbei said.

"Jimbei, they have my crew!" Luffy argued. "And I got to do something about Hody before my friends get into real trouble!"

Also a good point.

Jimbei sighed irritably and turned to look at us. "Why can't you see it?!"

"I'm going."

"You're impossible!"

"Just shut up!" Luffy glared at Jimbei. "Stop me if you can!"

The two of them stared each other down. I considered stepping in, but – no. No, Luffy was captain. He didn't need backup of any sort.

And his voice was more than enough to speak for all of us.

"I shouldn't let my guard down just because we fought together," Jimbei said. "I almost forgot that you're that man's brother. If you're not going to listen to me, I have no choice!"

I watched as Jimbei moved back a couple steps and into a fighting position. He cracked his knuckles.

"You ready to do this, kid?" Jimbei asked.

"Luffy-chin! Boss Jimbei!" Camie exclaimed from where she stood near the others.

"Luffy! Jimbei!" Nami yelled. "Hold on a second! What are you guys doing?!"

"I'm gonna go to the Ryugu Palace to save my crew and kick that Hody guy's ass!" Luffy snapped in reply.

"I said don't do it!" Jimbei responded.

"Hey hey, why do you have to fight now?" Sanji asked.

As the others called for Luffy and Jimbei to stop, I said nothing. Instead, I folded my arms across my chest and watched.

Luffy bolted for Megalo again. "Shark! Take me to the Ryugu Palace!"

"I said wait!" Jimbei moved in his path.

"Outta my way!"

"Fishman Karate – Shark Brick Fist!"

Jimbei punched the air in front of him, creating a shockwave of air that sent Luffy flying back.

The others called out in alarm at the blow; I merely narrowed my eyes.

Jimbei had promised that he wasn't going to let his guard drop. Looks like he meant it.

Luffy bounced to the ground and held his side as she started to get shakily back to his feet.

"It worked?!" Nami demanded. "He's supposed to be immune to blows like that as a rubber man!"

"Fishman Karate is all about manipulating the water around you!" Jimbei replied. "The shockwave can travel through water vapor in the air and through to the water within your target's body! Every living thing is made up of water, so even a rubber man can't escape the impact!"

"Hm." I inclined my head slightly. Well, that explained things. But it also made me curious – as a being made of metal, I didn't have much water in my system compared to a human's. The only thing that had water in it was the fuel-like blue liquid that ran throughout my body in something similar to a circulation system.

Energon more than likely had water in it. But the question of how much to make it a liquid state…I didn't want to find out in front of Jimbei's fist.

Luffy rose unsteadily to his feet. "Damn you!"

Jimbei got into another stance. "I won't let you go, Luffy!"

Luffy pressed a fist into the ground, creating the spring system that caused his skin to turn pink. "Second Gear! Gum Gum Jet Stamp!"

A foot lashed out quickly, but Jimbei got his arms up in front of himself in time to block the blow. He still remained standing despite it.

"Is that all you learned from your training?" Jimbei asked coldly.

"Don't bet on it!" Luffy disappeared into a blur again, and he and Jimbei lunged for each other –

-just as Robin walked out of the coral forest and stood between them. "Enough."

My eyes widened sharply when I saw her standing there. "Robin, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Robin, get out of the way!" Luffy barked.

"Who are you?! Move!" Jimbei barked.

"Robin-chan's in danger!" Sanji leapt in between them to pull Robin out of the way, but she…dissolved into flower petals and disappeared from sight.

And then Sanji was hit by fists from Jimbei and Luffy as their fists continued and slammed into each other. The impact sent all three of them flying.

"Don't fight," Robin said, coming out of the coral forest.

I did a double-take, shaken enough that my burning anger was pulling back a little. "What the – how did you get your power to do that?"

Robin laughed at my comment. "I don't know the reason but you two are friends, right?"

"Try telling them that when we're arguing over something important," I replied.

"Are you guys okay?" Chopper asked.

Jimbei got up to a sitting position, Luffy doing the same. "Think about it, Luffy. What will happen if you guys resort to violence now on Fishman Island? Every time Fishmen tried to open their hearts to humans, humans disappointed them. 'Humans are very violent.' 'Humans hate and look down on fishmen.' What happened in the past planted those twisted ideas in fishmen's minds. In the case of Arlong, many fishmen believe that humans hunted him because he was a fishman. If you, the people who beat Arlong, fight Hody now, what do you think will happen?"

My eyes narrowed slightly.

"Even if it helps the island overcome this crisis, witnessing you people knocking down Hody who is standing against humans would make the islanders think that things will never change," Jimbei said grimly.

"But, Jimbei, we have to rescue our crew," Sanji pointed out. "And if nothing is done, Hody will rule Fishman Island." He pushed himself up into a sitting position. "We have so many friends on the island. Hey, Hachi. You've been trying so hard to hide who did that to you, but you said a while ago that Hody attacks those fishmen who are sympathetic to humans."

I turned and looked at the injured fishman sharply as he winced at Sanji's words.

"Did you get beaten by them because you spoke up for us?" Sanji asked.

The pained noise that Hachi made all but confirmed it.

"Hachi!" Nami said in alarm.

"Hatchin, is that true?" Camie looked at her friend with concern. "Hody and his crew did that to you?"

"Nyuu! I can't—"

"Jimbei!" Sanji rose to his feet. "I think part of the reason Luffy wants to fight is because this is your home. I heard that you helped our captain when he had his back against the wall. We can't thank you enough for that."

My mind went back to that time two years ago, when Jimbei had been with Luffy and I at Marineford and afterwards, when Luffy had been crying over Ace's death and had been unsure about completing his dream. I closed my eyes and sighed through my nose, but my anger against Hody still burned, dulling the emotions I'd felt back then.

"And if Luffy wants to fight, we will go along with him!" Sanji added.

My eyes opened sharply. "Yeah. No one has the right to do what Hody is doing to others, whether they are of the same blood or appearance or not. I do not intend to stand by while he hurts the people we and you care about. I don't want to see the island left in chaos like this."

Sanji nodded in agreement. "We have a reason to fight."

Jimbei and Luffy rose to their feet, looking at each other.

Sanji looked like he was going to continue to be serious, but then he went totally lovey-dovey over Camie and Shirahoshi, completely throwing off the mood and causing my anger to rise up again.

"Be serious!" I snapped at Sanji.

"There's no point in telling him that," Nami sighed in annoyance.

Luffy moved a couple steps forward. "Get out of my way, Jimbei! You gotta let me go!"

"No, I won't!" Jimbei replied. "Leave it up to me!"

I stared at Jimbei with an incredulous frown. Didn't he hear anything of what Sanji had said?!

"You bastard!" Luffy roared. "Then I'll just beat my way past you!"

"I'll fight you as many times as I have to till you understand!" Jimbei roared back.

"What did you say?!"

"Cut it out, guys!" Nami snapped.

Jimbei and Luffy didn't seem to hear her.

"I'm running out of time! I said 'Get out of my way'!"

"I won't! I said 'leave it up to me!' Why can't you understand even after I've explained it?!"

"Shut up! I don't give a damn about the history between fishmen and humans when my friends are in danger!"

Did that imply Luffy'd been listening the whole time but only pretended to be asleep or…?

"That is why!" Jimbei barked in reply. "That is why I want you to wait!"

"They both wanna help the country and their friends," Chopper said worriedly. "Why do they have to fight?!"

"Maria, can you do anything to break it up?" Nami asked.

I shook my head. "I'm not getting between those two. And besides, I agree with both of them."

"Eh? How?"

"I want to go and fight and rescue our crew and the fishmen from Hody, but I also know that these people won't accept help from us so easily after accusing us of kidnapping mermaids and seeing us as part of a dangerous prophecy." My eyes narrowed. "We need to come to a form of a compromise, and these two most likely will in their own way. Until then, we have to wait this out."

Nami didn't look all that happy at my comment; I'd say she was about ready to punch me in the head, but she held back.

"They'll calm down eventually," I added. "Until we get to that point and come up with a plan, we'll simply have to wait it out."

"Outta my way!" Luffy barked.

"No! I won't let you go!" Jimbei replied.

"Hey, that's enough already," Sanji commented.

"E-excuse me, but they are going to kill Father-sama," Shirahoshi spoke up.

I'm not sure if Luffy or Jimbei heard.

"I said 'outta my way!' I'm gonna go kick those guys' asses!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I said 'wait!' Let me finish!"

That was a new response. I raised an eyebrow at Jimbei.

"How would you describe our relationship?" Jimbei pressed.

"We're friends!" Luffy replied instantly.

"That's right. It's such a simple relationship but the fishmen and humans couldn't establish it and have been struggling to do so for years. When I left you the message 'don't fight Hody,' I meant 'don't fight him recklessly.' Don't rush!"

I snorted. If Jimbei thought Luffy could read into a message that much, either he was overestimating Luffy's intelligence or could have worded it a little differently.

"If you just go and beat Hody up, people on the island will think you are just another violent human bully. Instead, I want you to become the hero that will save Fishman Island!"

A bold declaration on Jimbei's part. I grinned widely.

"Hero?" Luffy repeated. "NO!"

I blinked. "Eh?"

"What?!" Jimbei demanded.

"We're pirates!" Luffy replied. "I love heroes but I don't wanna be one!"

"Why not?" I asked.

"Do you know what heroes are?" Luffy asked. "Say there is a chunk of meat. Pirates will have a banquet and eat it, but heroes will share it with other people. I want all the meat!"

I stared at him with a deadpan look, then sighed and shook my head.

"Is that how he defines a hero?" Nami asked.

"Honestly, I should think he would know that heroes are often given gifts by the people they help," I commented. "The only reason a hero might be inclined to share meat is if they get more than they can eat – which, in Luffy's case, is impossible. The people who would be giving it away wouldn't be asking for it back anyway."

Robin chuckled. "You sound like you speak from experience."

"That's one way of putting it," I replied with a knowing smirk.

"I will let you have all your meat just as long as you do as I tell you!" Jimbei replied.

"Okay," Luffy replied quickly.

"What? That easy?!" Chopper shrieked.

I rolled my eyes. "He's our captain and that's how he thinks; I would think you'd know that by now." I smirked. "At least now we can get moving."

"In the simplest terms, I will call for your help so I want you to respond," Jimbei explained.

"Help you?" Luffy repeated.

"Yes. First, Megalo and I will get caught voluntarily and enter the plaza. While they are paying attention to us, one of you will sneak out of Megalo's stomach and—"

"Out of his stomach?" Luffy repeated.

"The New Fishman Pirates will have the letter from the Celestial Dragons."

"Letter?"

"It is something Queen Otohime acquired ten years ago, at the risk of her life, and it will define the future of this island! And they will also have the key to free the King. We need to get our hands on those two things."

"Nami?" I looked over at her, raising an eyebrow knowingly.

Nami nodded. "I'm good at stealing – I can do it with Robin."

Robin nodded in agreement.

"All right." Jimbei nodded. "Once you free the King, I will call on Luffy-kun's help. And once Luffy-kun emerges gallantly out of Megalo's body, people will notice that Luffy-kun and I are working together."

Certainly an interesting way to work around the problem of how fishmen viewed humans, and a good one, too. I nodded in agreement with Jimbei's plan.

"Princess-sama, you wait somewhere completely safe outside the plaza," Jimbei added, looking up at Shirahoshi. And after we pass you the letter, flee with the freed King and the princes. Meanwhile, the rest of you, get to the Ryugu Palace now and save your friends. And then hurry to the plaza with them. Now – about how to rescue your friends in the Ryugu Palace…"

Did he have a plan for that, too?

"Figure it out yourself!"

"You don't care about us, do you?!" Sanji roared.

"We'll figure it out!" Franky called from the ship.

Jimbei nodded, then looked back at the rest of us. "Once this is set into motion, how do you think the citizens will respond?"

"Nyuu," Hachi spoke up. "Both the citizens of Fishman Island and the outlaws of the Fishman District will respect Jimbei-san."

"Uh-huh!" Camie agreed. "So if they find out that Boss trusts Luffy-chin with his life, to save the King, they'll root for you, Luffy-chin!"

Luffy frowned, considering, as we all stared at him. Our looks must've gotten to him, because after a moment he declared, "I'm only doing this because you asked me to, Jimbei! It's uncomfortable having everybody cheer me on."

"Yeah, we're not used to that treatment," Nami admitted sheepishly.

"I'd fight the king of the devils himself if the mermaids-chan cheered for me!" Sanji cried, dancing about.

I huffed and rolled my eyes, then looked over at Jimbei. "Say, Jimbei, mind if I add something to that plan?"

Jimbei eyed me, frowning. "What do you intend to do, Maria-chan?"

I grinned and pulled out the same rectangular device that I'd removed from my jacket twice before, on our way down to this part of the sea. "I think that the people of Fishman Island would be amazed if you 'summoned' a creature or two from your mythologies. I don't know how they'd react to Kyogre, but I think the Harmony of the Sea would want to make sure that there is harmony in the sea, right?"

"If you can, go ahead and do so." I could hear the doubt in Jimbei's voice. "Otherwise, do not make yourself known until the proper time."

I gave Jimbei a thumbs-up. "You guys go on ahead then – I'm gonna save this as a surprise."

"You're not gonna come and help us?" Nami frowned.

"I will – at the plaza. I just want to make sure I make an entrance without getting caught. You'll know it when you see it."

I snickered. Oh, this was gonna be fun.