Note: This chapter has gone through heavy revision and remastering, a process I consider to be de-conflicting with canon and also de-cringifying the works of a 'me' a decade younger and a decade less experienced. The dialogue should be cleaner, and the flow should be better, but there should be no substantial change to the contents from what was here before, so there should not be a need to reread this unless you want to. If there IS a significant change, it will be noted at the end of the chapter.

Date of remastering: 2/16/2019. If you are reading this story and you do not see a remastering date on a chapter, it is likely that, unless otherwise noted, there will be discrepancies between various plot points; Please wait warmly for the Remastering process to correct that.

Please enjoy the story.

"...Nnnngh…"

With a low groan of pain, Zoro slowly slipped back into consciousness. His chest blazed with pain, and his body was unnaturally stiff. A moment later, Zoro's arms flexed hard, futilely; they were bound behind him, thick ropes tied around his wrists.

He frowned, deeper, as his eyes flicked about his cell, before thrashing once, hard off the stone floor, and wriggled his way into an upright sitting position. He twisted his neck and crack his neck loudly, twice, before wincing; his chest, which somebody had bound in white cloth, had been torn open by the harsh movement and was bleeding freely again.

Zoro's closed fist flexed, and his eyes narrowed slightly, before beginning to wriggle about once more until he was facing directly towards the only door leading into his room. His clenched fist opened slightly, and the fingers from his other hand began to reach towards his goal.

Before he completed his goal, though, the door opened. Zoro's eyes widened, as Arlong stepped through the door-frame that was slightly too small for his build. He glanced down at the human and grinned toothily. "So, the famous Pirate Hunter Zoro finally decided to come for my head. Didn't quite work out the way you expected, did it, bounty hunter?"

"... Were you just waiting right outside my door hoping that I'd wake up so that you could walk into the room dramatically?" Zoro deadpanned.

Arlong blinked. "What?"

"You walked into this room literally ten seconds after I opened my eyes. You had to be literally waiting on the other side of this door with your ear to the wood for that to happen." Zoro shook his head, smirking. "I don't know if you have way too much time on your hands, or if you're just trying to make me feel incompetent after breaking my swords so easily, but all you're doing is making me hungry for a big slab of fish meat in duck sauce."

"... that sounds kinda gay."

"NOT LIKE THAT YOU TOOTHPICK-NOSED BASTARD!"

"You're awfully mouthy for a guy who my comrade Kuroobi said he was 'embarrassed' to have fought, Bounty Hunter."

"I'm not a bounty hunter anymore, Arlong." Zoro replied, levelly. "You need to keep up."

"I heard. I just couldn't believe it." Arlong stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind him and plunging the two of them into greater darkness. "The famous pirate killer, the three-blade swordsman, came to my islands with a human pirate."

"Maybe I just wanted to go into the Grand Line and hunt bigger bounties." Zoro retorted.

"Shahahahaha. Not with how weak you are in a fight, you aren't." Arlong slowly crouched down; even in the low squat, he towered over the bound man. "So, you came here for my cartographer, huh? I guess that was your ship she came riding in on, too. You had a few to spare, it looks like. You kids should have learned how to cut your losses and kept out of my turf."

"Too bad for you you didn't get more than one use out of it."

Arlong's hand instantly shot out and grabbed Zoro by the throat, lifting him off the ground with a single arm. Zoro gasped, writhing in his grip as his neck creaked dangerously. Arlong snarled, his eyes filled with anger. "What have you DONE?"

"Wouldn't… you… like…" Zoro gasped, before his webbed fingers tightened even further.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY PEOPLE?!"

Zoro's leg swung out and slammed into Arlong's side. The shark-man grunted, before flinging him across the room. Zoro let out a loud cry of pain, and slumped to the ground.

"They were not YOURS to touch." Arlong snarled, as his inner eyelid fluttered rapidly. "They had a higher purpose than this disgusting corrupt world we subsist off of. They were BETTER. You FILTHY HU-"

Suddenly, Arlong stopped talking. Zoro looked up at the towering fishman and saw him frozen, staring at nothing. After a moment, he closed his eyes, and lifted a straight hand to the top of his chest horizontally. He inhaled loudly, raising the hand with his inflating chest; and then he exhaled, and with his breath, slowly lowered his shaking hand down to the level of his waist.

When he opened his eyes once more, they had lost their tremble, and his voice was level and soft. "I already know where that big ship of yours has gone, and have sent some of my men to deal with them." Said Arlong. "Knowing them, they'll be finishing up now. What I don't know is where the flying ship, the one that destroyed a room very important to me, has gone. You're going to tell me where that ship, and it's crew, have landed on my islands."

"Heh." Zoro scoffed. "You're gonna torture me for it? Give me back my sword and I'll show you what that will get you."

"We beat you once already."

"Like hell you did." Zoro snapped. "You ambushed me and broke my weapons; that doesn't count as a real fight. Untie me and I'll kick your ass."

"Nah." Arlong snorted. "That was a good sword you had, Roronoa. I'd hate to watch you shatter it to pieces like your other weapons because you decided to be a fool again, especially when I can sell it for money."

Zoro's eyes sharpened. "If you're trying to get a rise out of me, it won't work. Besides, you're the one who's got bigger issues. Who ever heard of a pirate that used anger management techniques?"

"You don't know anything about me, Roronoa."

"I know that Luffy is gonna kill you the moment he sees you." Said Zoro. "I've never seen anybody make him as furious as he gets just hearing your name. If you've got Wado out there, you might as well jump on her blade first, before he gets here, because that might be less painful for you."

"I doubt that." Arlong smirked.

"You think you're the only one who knows how to use Haki?"

Arlong froze.

"I've seen that trick before, you know. With the black." Zoro continued, glaring. "Luffy knows it. He knows all of them, and he fought a guy way stronger than you to a standstill. And he hates YOU."

"... Is that so." Arlong replied, his voice flat. "So you think I've got death nipping at my heels." he turned away, and began walking to the door. "Hmmph. Knew it was coming for me eventually. Guys like me don't get away with it forever."

He opened the door and stepped into the sunlight, before stopping at the threshold. "You should enjoy your bandages. It'll be the last time you're so free of blood for the rest of your life. You'll tell us where the ship - and the ones under my protection - have gone, one way or another."

The door slammed shut, and the cell plunged into darkness. After a moment of silence, Zoro smirked. "You clearly don't know how to read minds. If you think I'm gonna be here when you get back, you're an idiot." his closed fist opened up, and deftly plucked the shattered, blood-stained tip of his broken sword from his bloody palm with two fingers. With a few grunts, Zoro maneuvered his tool closer to his ropes, and gently began to saw away.

Hatchan spat dismissively, and kicked his foot, knocking the small concealed pistol out of the man's severed hand. "They're getting sloppier every time."

A woman screamed in terror, and the inspection line fluttered with barely-concealed horror. Kuro's eyes flickered across the scene with rapid movement, digesting all the aspects, before settling on Nami, and her expression.

Her face was not one of someone who was horrified by the death she just witnessed. But it wasn't one that was accepting of it, either. Her expression, instead, was one of slight shock. But it flickered, ever so slightly, with confusion.

Kuro's eyes narrowed. A thought, an idea, flitted across the inside of his eyelids. "Genzo."

"Shit…" Genzo cursed, peering out through the window on the opposite side of the door. "The inspections are going to be hell, now. They always are, after somebody is killed. I might get my exemption revoked! I'll need to dump that sword-"

"Genzo. Tell me." Kuro interrupted. "Do you recognize that man who was just killed?"

"Eh?" Genzo turned to face the pirate. "What do you mean, 'do I recognize him'? Of course I do! He was in the village!"

"What was his name?"

"It… It was…" Genzo trailed off. "I - I don't know. But I recognize him! From walking around in the village during my patrol!"

"You're the Sheriff and you don't know the name of somebody in your small village, who was just killed and had a gun on him." Kuro replied, eyes narrow. "Where'd he get the gun? You said weapons were banned."

Genzo flinched. "I - I don't know." Outside, Hatchan barked orders, marching the people down the street in single file line. A child wailed uncontrollably with fear. Nami began to walk, but looked down and away, her bangs hiding her eyes. The crowd began to move away.

Kuro's fingers flexed. "Genzo. I'm going to do something bold. Don't make a sound, or you might ruin it."

"What are you-"

Kuro threw open the door to Genzo's house, and with a dash of speed burst out into the street. Before she could even make a sound, Kuro had his free hand clamped firmly around her mouth, and his clawed arm wrapped tightly around her waist. His feet kicked off the ground, and he burst back into the house, with nothing to show for his abduction but a cloud of dust where Nami once stood.

"Shut the door!" Kuro hissed. Genzo screamed silently at the action, but moved quickly to close the door before Hatchan could notice. Nami thrashed against the suit-clad pirate's arms, but the claws on his hand moved off of her shapely waist and up to her throat. "Hello, Nami." Kuro said, pressing the flat of the blade against her throat. Nami's movements stopped instantly, her eyes wide with fear, as she flickered back and forth between Kuro and Genzo. "I think it's time you and I had a talk. You left the captain so quickly, after all."

The orange-haired woman thrashed hard, once, but Kuro merely pressed the blade closer against her, and she stilled. "None of that." Kuro said quickly, softly. "We're going to have a nice, quiet conversation. I have questions, and I think you have answers."

"Nami…" Genzo growled, a furious tone in his voice. "You think you can just walk back in here like nothing's wrong and just-"

"Oh, be quiet, Genzo." Kuro cut him off. "If you had just told her you knew about the hundred million deal we might be in a different situation right now." Nami went stiff as a board, and her eyes immediately flew to Genzo, wide as saucers as the older man sputtered wordlessly.

"Now." Kuro continued. "I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth. If you scream, you will regret it." Nami's brown eyes stared directly into Kuro's unblinking gaze. His hand lowered down slowly, and her lips remained sealed. "Good. Let's begin. Genzo has been telling me some stories from the outside perspective, but I want to hear from you: when did Arlong and his crew gain these powers - what I can only assume is 'Haki', given that the captain possesses something similar?"

"... At least five years ago." she said, quietly.

"So around the same time as he started transformatively interacting with the fishmen." Kuro nodded. "What has Arlong done to provoke the reaction from the marines that he has?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nami scowled. "He's a pirate. Marines hunt pirates. End of story."

"Wrong answer." Stated Kuro, flatly. "Marines don't shell civilians without prompting, and they've destroyed entire villages on this island in their sieges. The papers always claimed Arlong did it, but it's easy to tell when the news is doing reporting and when it's shilling the propaganda line it's been fed. Now that I know about this resettlement program he's been running, it's easy to infer that they considered them acceptable collateral damage to eliminate the fishmen wards, for some as-yet-unknown reason. So I'll ask again." Kuro leaned in close, inches from her face. "What. Has Arlong done. To provoke that reaction?"

"If you're trying to bring me back," Nami responded, bitingly, "this is a pretty awful way of trying to convince me." the pointer-finger blade pressed higher, and Nami hissed. "They come from the travellers." She said, quickly. "They've been coming for years. I don't know why, but sometimes Arlong takes some of them and puts them around the island. He keeps tabs on them all personally, no matter where he puts them. It might have something to do with that, but they never tell me."

"... Fair." Kuro nodded, lifting the blade further away. "Why did Hatchan kill that man? What is the purpose of the inspections?"

"I don't know."

"Nami…!" Genzo growled.

"I don't!" Nami exclaimed. "They don't tell me anything. I'm just their pet map-maker. I don't stay here long enough to know why they've turned this entire island into a living jail cell. I just-" her eyes bead up. "I just keep working for the money…!"

"... You don't know." Kuro responded, eyes narrowing. "But you have suspicions. Otherwise, you would have cashed in the hundred million you have stowed away and freed the village."

"WHAT!?" Genzo shouted, before slapping his hands over his mouth in a panic.

Nami's eyes shot wide open. "How did you-!?"

"If you were that that determined to be finished, you would have left the island already." Kuro responded. "But you have stayed here for over two weeks, now. You even gave away a ship that sailed for you like a dream because it's piloted by a klabautermann-" Nami's mouth dropped open in shock. "-in order to better shuttle fishmen travellers, instead of heading back out looking for more marks. Conclusion? You don't need to leave anymore - you already have the full hundred-million sum." He smirked, lightly. "Your shock proves I'm right, but you haven't paid off your debt, even so. You're holding back on cashing out, because something doesn't sit right in your spirit. You don't know everything, but you know something, and it's making you hesitate, just a little."

"I-" Nami gasped, eyes trembling wildly. "I- I-"

"Nami, that's wonderful!" Genzo exclaimed, happily dancing. "You did it! After so long, we'll be free! You saved us! Bellemere would be so proud of-"

Nami screamed.

"!" Kuro's hand immediately went to Nami's mouth, but her teeth flashed out and bit down hard on his fingers. "GAH!"

"Nami-chan!?" Hatchan shouted, from far away. "Where are- YOU!?"

"HACHI!" she screamed. "HELP!"

Kuro swore, loudly, and threw Nami against the wall hard, dashing away. His head swiveled around until they landed on Genzo's sabre, snatching it up in his free hand, before bursting through the kitchen door. He lunged, and the window to the outside shattered outwards into a rain of glass as he landed on his feet.

He glanced back, scowling deeply. "Dammit…!"

"YOU! GET BACK HERE, PIRATE!" Hatchan roared, leaping over the roof of Genzo's house, all six of his swords brandished, as he jumped at Kuro.

With a forceful kick of his heels, Kuro dashed forward at his signature high speed, racing across the fields as fast s he possibly could, until he met the edge of the forest and disappeared into the shadows.

"... Doesn't matter if he was stealing, you did way more damage than he did!"

"But he's the one who kicked me into those trees! You're just taking his side because you think he's cute!"

"Oh, please, like you don't find him far more attractive than I do."

"You gonna cuff me? Because guilty, darling~."

Sanji groaned lowly, before gently opening his eyes. A view of a warm-colored ceiling greeted him, and he slowly pushed himself up, brushing the blanket draped over him off in the process.

"Well, look who finally wakes up."

The head of the blonde cook whipped around to see both the blue-haired woman and the huge fishman sitting at a medium-sized kitchen table; in the woman's hand was a steaming cup of coffee. He immediately leapt off the floor and to his feet. "What in the-" his eyes narrowed. "Where am I?"

"My house." she responded. "On my farm. Which you just damaged."

"Eh!?" Sanji flinched back, shocked. "But - I thought that -" his eyes flickered to the fishman, who just leered at him with a 'got ya' expression. Sanji's face went blank, and he straightened himself up before bowing deep. "My deepest apologies, mademoiselle. I have no excuses for my actions. I pray you hold the compassion to forgive."

"Mmmm…" the blue-haired woman hummed, taking a slow sip of her drink. Her eyes wandered across sanji's form, who had not left his bow. "I don't know… those trees were pretty special to me. It'll take years to regrow them."

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" complained the fishman.

"Oh, hush, Hito, you big baby. It's just a bruise." the woman lightly slapped her companion's arm; he dramatically reeled back and let out a very un-masculine groan of pain in response. "Now, what should I do with you…"

"MAAMAAAAA!"

Sanji's head jerked up in surprise. "Eh!?"

"Ah. looks like she woke up from her nap, I suppose." the woman sighed.

"I'll get her." the fishman pulled himself from his seat and disappeared into the back of the house.

Sanji could only stare in shock at the woman, before turning to face the door he had disappeared through. "Well, I suppose introductions are in order." the woman responded lightly. "My name is Nojiko. The big lug you decked is Hitodenashi; I call him Hito, since that's too long. The one who decided to wake up for lunch is Ponyo. They'll be coming back around any second now."

A loud, thudding series of steps answered her, and around the corner walked Hito, with what appeared to be an enormous fishbowl strapped to his broad hunchbacked frame. Inside the fishbowl was a small child, only just losing the chubby-cheeked frame of helplessness, a bright blue nose, and a fluttery red-gold tail instead of legs.

As sanji's eyes went as wide as saucers, the baby mermaid fluttered off the bottom of the mobile tank and pushed her human half over the glass lip. "Mama, mama!" the mermaid chirped. "I wan food!"

"Yes, I bet you do." Nojiko said wryly, and gently plucked the girl from the fishbowl. Her wet tail immediately wrapped around her heavily-tattooed arm, and began to giggle as Nojiko bounced her up and down. "Hey, hey, aren't you getting to be a big girl. Yes, yes you are…"

"EEEEH!?" Sanji screamed, flinging himself back against the wall, eyes wide in shock. "You!? And him!? Really!?"

"... and what's that supposed to mean?" Nojiko replied, eyes narrow.

"I-" Sanji pursed his lips. "Well, I suppose there's no accounting for love, but… REALLY? HIM?"

"What are you talking a- wait." Hitodenashi's eyes widened, before turning. "Oh, you racist bastard!"

"What!?" Sanji replied. "How am I racist!? I'm saying you're ugly!"

Nojiko slumped into her chair while Ponyo looked between all the adults with wide eyes. "Wait a second, you think he and I - oh, no." she slowly facepalmed. "No, no. that's not how that works. That's not how any of this works."

"How?!" Sanji exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "You're her mom, and she's - you know -"

"Quit being racist, candy-ass."

"I'M NOT BEING RACIST!"

Nojiko lifted her hand away from her face and stared at Sanji with a flat expression. "... you do realize that fishfolk and merpeople are different species, right?"

Sanji blinked. "... They are?"

"Yes. they are."

"So…" Sanji frowned. "You're telling me that there are dude mermaids? That fishmen aren't just the men?"

"No! There are absolutely male merpeople!" Hitodenashi's expression softened into a slight smile. "Tasty ones, too."

Sanji's nose wrinkled. "... Ew. Male mermaids. Gross."

"Racist AND sexist." Said Hitodenashi, huffing. "Such a brute."

"I have no interest whatsoever in mermen." Sanji shook his head. "From the moment every boy looks at the sea, they dream of beautiful mermaids. They are the ultimate romance of a man. Mermen… they don't need to die, but they can all go somewhere else so I can pretend they don't exist."

"You…" Nojiko tilts her head, and stares at the cook with a puzzled expression. "You're not from around here, are you? If you don't know the difference between fishmen and mermen. I thought you were just from another village."

"You are right. I am not from these islands."

The atmosphere suddenly grew chilly. Nojiko pulled Ponyo closer to her breast and tucked her head away, her eyes hard. Hitodenashi slipped the fishbowl from his back, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud. His huge hands curled into fists.

"Where are you from?" Nojiko asked, her tone sharp.

Sanji blinked, looking between the two. "... I think I'm misunderstanding something, here." he said slowly. "But to answer your question, until very recently I had spent the majority of my life on the Baratie."

Nojiko blinked rapidly. "Baratie?" She asked, her tone much warmer. "The floating restaurant?"

"Yes, Nojiko-chan. I was the sous chef."

"Chan? Getting a little familiar there, aren't you?" she responded, smiling crookedly. "How about you prove your alibi, chef? Ponyo here needs some food. That's your penance for smashing up my tangerine trees."

"Yeeeeees~!" Sanji exclaimed, whirling out of his seat, hearts in his eyes. "I shall do my utmost to please you! Servant of Love Sanji is here~!" with that, he flung himself into the next room, where the kitchen was. Nojiko began giggling softly, as Hitodenashi slowly lowered his ridiculously chiseled chin onto his braced fist.

"Oooooh, that boy is trou~ble." said the fishman. "He's gonna break a lot of pure maiden's hearts."

"Do you mean actual maidens, or maidens like you, you big fruit?"

"Maamaa." Ponyo whined, interrupting them. Nojiko bounced her up and down, before reaching up and booping her blue nose; the toddler giggled and reeled back.

"Hold on, now. Just a little while longer…"

"HOLD ON!" Gin roared, the muscles in his arms flexing like steel cords as his tonfas crossed in front of his body. A fishman screamed his raging battlecry in his face, his axe crashing down at the point they crossed. The metal floor underneath his feet crumpled downward, but Gin stood tall, refusing to bend.

The ends of his tonfas snapped together, locking around the head of the axe, and Gin twisted it away in a single desperate motion. One of his weapons swung out and slammed into the skull of the fishman, sending him flying. "Haah…!" Gin gasped, once, before charging forward against another of the assailants standing victoriously over one of his crew.

With a wordless cry, his feet left the ground and slammed into the fishman's face; as he stumbled, the pirate landed and swung both of his weapons into the non-human's legs. A crack - a scream - and then another strike to the neck sending him rolling off the deck, before Gin pulled up his underling.

"Captain… thank god…!" he gasped. "This is all fucked…! We outnumber them five to one! How are they WINNING!?"

"Fucking fishmen…!" Gin cursed. His eyes swung to Pearl, fending off three assailants at once; he hadn't lit on fire yet, which meant he was unharmed, but he definitely wasn't getting a strike in against any of them. All across the battlefield, the bleeding bodies of the remnants of the Krieg Armada lay about as the fishmen tore a bloody swath through them.

"Just a little longer, and we'll all be dead!" the crewman gasped. "This is the Grand Line all over again…!"

"No…!" Gin growled. "I refuse to fail a second time! We need to get them to back off! But how do-" he cut himself off, and his head immediately swung about to the upper decks of their massive ship. "Fuck! I got it! Luffy's gonna hate me for this, but I ain't dying today! HOLD THEM OFF JUST A LITTLE LONGER!" Gin burst off into a leaping run, dropping his tonfas as he escaped into the main chamber. He jumped, vaulting over the rebuilt spiral railing leading upwards, before tearing up the stairs as fast as his feet could move.

It only took him seconds to reach the top - seconds he didn't have. Already, the sounds of battle were fainter; was it because of his distance, or because they had lost? He snarled to himself, pulled a double-barreled pistol from his belt and flung open the door. The pilgrims were there; they saw the gun in his hand and began screaming.

"Shut up and gimme the kid!" Gin lunged forward. The mother, holding her two children in each arm, screamed wordlessly and tried to pull away. "C'mon, I don't have all day!"

"Please! You PROMISED!"

"Yeah, well, that I did!" Gin lunged; his hand grabbed cloth, and with a victorious howl pulled away her youngest son. "Tough shit!" he rushed forward and upwards, out to a higher deck, where everybody could see.

"OI!" Gin roared, holding up the thrashing child by the scruff of his neck. "LOOKIN' FOR THIS YOU SCALY BASTARDS!?"

The battle paused; an Arlong Pirate paused in the middle of a finishing blow against a Krieger as they all looked up.

Gin held out his gun hand, pantomimed cocking it, and exaggerated pointing it to his hostage's head. "YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT!" the pirate screamed. "I GOT YOUR FUCKIN' PILGRIMS RIGHT HERE! YOU TAKE ONE MORE SWING AGAINST MY BOYS AND I'LL SEND HIM TO YOUR FUCKIN' BLESSED KINGS MYSELF!" the boy screamed, and thrashed even harder. "Stop thrashing you punk," Gin hissed under his breath. "If you keep wigglin' around I'll drop you off the side by accident and then we're all dead!"

The boy stilled, and Gin lifted his head back up to stare down at the field. None of the fishmen had moved. "NOW ALL OF YOU GILL-FACES JUST FUCKIN' BACK UP OFF THIS FUCKIN' DECK!" He shouted. "YOU DON'T TOUCH ANY OF MY MEN, AND WE GET ALL OF THEM INSIDE THIS HERE SHIP! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND BACK OFF!"

"How do we know you won't kill them anyways!?" One of the fishmen shouted; this one had a Sun Pirates tattoo on the inside of his neck.

"Well, look at that, then! We got a whole hostage negotiation here!" Gin smiled savagely, lowering his voice from it's panicked shouts. His voice carried far, now that the battle had ended. "You depend on my goodwill for these people's lives! So do as I say!"

The former Sun Pirate stared up at the former Krieg Pirate, his face-fins flaring angrily. He turned around and began to walk off the deck.

"Yeah, that's right!" Gin crowed. "Nice and easy, no fuss-"

The Sun pirate reached a fallen human and grabbed him by the neck. With a single arm, he hoisted him off the ground as the human flailed weakly.

"HEY!" Gin roared. "You want this brat to die!?"

"You don't get to dictate terms here, landwalker!" the pirate fishman shouted back. All around him, the other fishmen still standing quickly made their ways to other downed pirates and made captives of them. "The way I see it, you're not the only one with hostages! And we've got more than you!"

Gin silently ground his teeth together. The boy in his arm slowly began to cry again. "Please… please, god Poseidon, I don't wanna die…" he moaned quietly.

"Poseidon, huh?" Gin said. "That his name?" The boy stiffened; he knew he had made a mistake. "Never did get an answer to that from the captain…" he refocused on the Sun Pirate, glaring. "You might have my men, but I have something more important to you - your immortal souls. After all, your big ol' fish-god Poseidon -"

The entire cohort of Arlong Pirates reeled backwards as one, as if physically struck.

"- Is walkin' around right now." Gin continued, grinning wider. "That's the whole point of your protection racket, isn't it? Bringin' them to his wakeup place or whatever. You might kill my men, and that will really fuckin' suck. But is that worth damnation to whatever underwater hell you scalies have dreamed up, for letting these guys die? Your man might even be walkin' around on this island right now, watching us."

The leader of the fishman stared at Gin with lidded, haunted eyes. "... We have already damned ourselves." He responded, lowly. "Now all that we can do is strive to find our way out of perdition." he unclenched his hand, and the wounded Krieger fell back to the metal deck, gasping. Gin's sunken eyes widened.

"A trade!" the leader shouted. "Your hostages, for mine."

"Damn, I love it when a plan works out…" Gin murmured to himself, before raising his voice again. "Step right off the edge of this ship, and you'll get your hostages."

A moment of silence passed, before the fishmen walked silently back off the deck of the former World Pirates' ship. In a flurry of movement, the Kriegers began gathering up their fallen companions and hauling them within the central chamber. Gin quickly stashed his gun back underneath his waist-sash, and hauled the boy back inside.

Wave after wave of rescuers for the fallen human pirates happened, until the deck was clear. "Well?" shouted the fishman leader, after a moment of silence.

From out of the hull ran two figures, one adult, and one child clutched in his arms. The man tripped over himself once, but quickly dove over the metal edge of the ship and into the gaggle of pirates.

"Where are the others!"

"You're not getting 'em!" Gin shouted from inside the lip of the door. "The moment I give 'em up you attack us again! This is our ace in the hole!"

"Treacherous humans!"

"That's what you get for not specifying how many you wanted back!" Gin shouted; a second later, a sound like a bullet impacting against metal rang out as a blast of water slammed against the door.

Gin sighed, and his feet slid out from under him as he sank into a sitting position. "How many dead, Pearl?"

"None yet. Small miracle." the Iron Wall responded. "Our numbers kept them from finishing anybody off. At least half are injured, though. Twenty need a doctor quicksilver fast, or they'll either die or never fight again."

"Shit." Gin quickly peeked his head in and out of the door's opening. "Looks like we downed a dozen of them out there. Not enough, though." He scoffed. "Some liberating army we were. Couldn't even win the fight to get off the boat, and had to take hostages to get away. Luffy's gonna be pissed."

"The Captain was already angry just getting here."

"I know, somethin' about this Arlong dude got him going. Obvious to anybody. But… shit!" Gin slammed his fist against the metal wall, inches away from a giant rusted spike. "We couldn't even handle a small gang like that! Had to go back to Krieg's bag of dirty tricks. Was overwhelming numbers… really all we had, before?"

Pearl scowled. "You and I were fighting pretty handsomely out there, but… we're just two men. We can't carry an entire team on our backs."

Gin scowled down at the floor, before ripping his bandana off his forehead and dabbing at his open wounds with it. "Shit… I hate this. Never lost once with Krieg before that swordsman, and now that I'm tryna turn a new leaf... "

Pearl, meanwhile, was glancing through the door; a frown formed. "Gin… look at this."

The Demon Man wearily poked his head back around the door.

"Does that look like a village under brutal occupation to you?"

Across the distance, the leader of the village, with his son Chabo clutched in his arms, spoke with an expression of clear relief to the commander of the fishman force. The commander had his hand on the village leader's shoulder, a move obviously meant to convey calm and assurance. Around them, various people in civilian garb, of both human and fishman races, were exiting their homes and gathering around the wounded.

Gin scowled. "No it don't."

"That looks like a village that's glad to see the law show up to save the day. And there aren't just humans, either." Pearl continued. "But Arlong invaded these islands, didn't he?"

"He did. I read about that in the paper. They've been talking about it for years."

"So how did Arlong go from brutal invader… to that?"

"Lunch is served~!" Sanji called, whirling out of the kitchen on his toes, with several platters expertly balanced across his arms. "In honor of your farm produce, all dishes are themed around tangerines! For you, beautiful mademoiselle, a kale salad with citrus and creamy dressing~! For the child, spiced tangerine pieces quartered into easy finger food!"

With each dish, he placed them delicately in front of the women before spinning away, landing finally in front of Hito. his face suddenly went flat. "And for you, grilled tilapia with tangerine base." he flopped it down, nearly spilling the filet onto the floor.

Hito looked down at the food for a moment, before looking back up at him. "You trying to insult me with this, candy-ass?"

"You got a problem with my cooking?"

The two stared at each other. The air sparked. Ponyo giggled happily as she futzed about with the fruit pieces in her bowl.

"Not a single bit!" Hito suddenly exclaimed, grabbing his fork and shoveling a huge piece of fish into his mouth. "Delicious!"

"Eh?"

"I'm a barramundi. Tilapia's nowhere in my family tree, so it's not like you're serving me my long-removed cousin or something."

"He's also a fishman." Nojiko commented, twirling her fork in her salad. "They eat meat all the time. You probably don't know this, since you're not from around here, but if you tried serving the same thing to a merman you'd have a problem; they're all vegetarians, except for stuff like lobsters and clams."

"I see…" Sanji murmured, staring at the small mermaid. He slowly walked over to the fishbowl and squatted down, bringing him eye-level with the girl. "A real mermaid… Amazing..."

Ponyo attempted to shove an entire cube of tangerine up her nose; when she failed, she giggled and ate it anyways.

"Everything you expected them to be?" Nojiko asked, smirking lightly.

Sanji didn't answer, staring at the small girl with wide, shining eyes. The toddler looked away from the bowl placed on the butt of the spare chair and met sanji's gaze. A second passed between the two, before Ponyo giggled and reached out her hand, grabbing at his bangs. "H-hey!" he sputtered, as her tiny fingers latched on and jerked about spastically.

"Circle!" she exclaimed.

"Eh?" Nojiko looked down, as Sanji managed to wrestle her fingers away from his face; as she latched onto his finger instead, bouncing up and down in her fishbowl, the woman immediately laughed. "Nice eyebrows, man."

"Ah - shit!"

"Language! You're in front of a kid!" she barked, as he frantically batted at his hair, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "It's not something to be embarrassed about. It humanizes you."

"Eh?" Sanji pulled his head away from the grasping toddler. "What do you mean?"

Nojiko's chin fell into her propped palm, and she smiled lightly. "You're a handsome cultured man who's strong as a horse, adores women in most senses of the word and knows how to cook. Having goofy eyebrows is the only proof you didn't step right off the cover of a paperback novel for lonely women."

Sanji blinked once.

Twice.

Three times.

Sanji's eyes widened, and hearts began to form-

Hitodenashi snorted. "You big slut."

Instantly, before Sanji could shout his outrage, a hammer was in Nojiko's hand and slammed down onto the fishman's beefy fingers.

"OUGH!"

"Watch your language!" Nojiko barked. "You're in front of a two-year-old!"

"Ooooogh, son of a - barnacle!" Hito waved his hand about in the air, before sucking them into his mouth. Something about the action vaguely disturbed Sanji, but he couldn't name why. Ponyo, meanwhile, clapped sloppily and giggled.

"Go and clean the kitchen!"

"Crack the whip harder, why don't you…" Hito whined, but slumped out of his chair and lumbered around the corner. Nojiko sighed and flopped back into her chair.

"I don't know how my mom did it." she said, smiling wearily. "I've got a stand-in for a dad and I'm still getting run ragged by a little girl in a fishbowl. She raised me and my sister all by herself, and we actually had legs to get into trouble with."

Sanji leaned backwards, feeling the flirtatious mood slip, and reached for an unlit cigarette. He lifted his lighter, until a narrow glare from the woman halted his hand, and he simply let the cigarette hang from his lips unlit. "... Is she still here?"

Nojiko shook her head. "She died the day Arlong came."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's an old hurt."

"The group I'm travelling with came here to kick arlong's a- er. Defeat Arlong." He said, gnawing gently at the filter. "We were attacked while in the bay, and one of our ships went flying. I fell from that ship and landed in the forest, until I walked here."

Nojiko's smile faded. "Defeat Arlong? It's not possible. The marines have been trying for years. Lots of us have died when they attack, and still Arlong's crew grows every year."

"The marines are attacking civilians?" Sanji repeated, eyes narrowed.

"This farm hasn't been hurt, because we're further inland, but some of the villages on the coast have been reduced to ruins. Lots of refugees moved around." Nojiko sighed. "You start hating the one who conquered you less when your would-be rescuer is worse, and the conqueror starts actually protecting you and your people. Makes the life-price almost stop being extortion, and more payment for services rendered."

Sanji narrowed his eyes. "That's not right."

"Not much in life is. You simply make do." Nojiko shrugged. "I'd rather you didn't go and get yourself killed. Why don't you just-"

A sudden crash of glass from behind the wall, and a cry of surprise from hito. Sanji immediately leapt to his feet from his chair. "Stay here!" He shouted, running forward. He raced around the corner, leg raised to attack-

Kuro was wrapped around Hito's back, with his clawed hand clutching at the large fishman's head in an attempt to prevent him from bucking, and his off-hand holding a gleaming sabre to his throat. "Kuro!" Sanji called.

The Black Cat lifted his head; his eyes widened slightly. "Sanji!" he glanced between the blonde and the one he was attacking quickly, several times, before immediately leaping off of him and landing ramrod-straight. As soon as he touched down on the ground, the shattered glass of the window he had jumped through crunching underfoot, he fell into a deep bow. "My deepest apologies. I was being pursued by a member of the Arlong Pirates and assumed you to be a member by your race. I can see that is wrong, and so I ask your forgiveness and your sanctuary."

"Arlong Pirates?" Nojiko exclaimed, leaning around the corner. Kuro's eyes widened slightly. "And you two know each other?"

"He was on the ship I was thrown from."

"It was MY ship."

"Which pirate was it?"

"I believe he was referred to as 'Hachi'."

Nojiko cursed, before clapping a hand to her mouth as Ponyo gurgled in the other room. "He's one of the ones that can sense people. He's coming here?"

"I was running very fast from Cocoyashi village, so depending on how far he can sense I may or may not have lost him."

"He can run REALLY fast." Sanji interjected, helpfully.

Nojiko crossed her arms. "How fast?"

Kuro blurred, and as a gust of wind passed through the room, Kuro was suddenly standing right where he was before, holding out an unpeeled tangerine with a small portion of the branch still attached.

Hito whistled. "That might be fast enough."

"... alright, get in here. Away from the windows." Nojiko waved them in.

Kuro eyed her critically as he walked forward. "Tangerine farm, not blood-related… I see." he murmured as he passed by the blonde cook.

"Eh?"

Kuro side-eyed the man. "... are you romantically interested in this woman?"

"Eh!?" Sanji sputtered. "W-why!?"

"Oh, no reason." Kuro turned away, smirking. "I'll tell you when we are back at sea. It'll be funny." he rounded the corner, and came to a sudden stop as he stared at Ponyo. "... well." he said.

"What?" Nojiko asked. "You amazed at a mermaid too like - oh, no." Ponyo flapped her pudgy arms about in the fishbowl, clutching her shirt in her hand.

"He-llo!" Said Ponyo, carefully.

"Jeez, this girl!" Nojiko rushed forward, snatching the shirt from her hand. "Every once in a while she decides to not like clothes anymore, but I'm not letting a two-year-old wear a seashell bra. It's too weird - AND stereotypical." she explains, as she wrestles the fish-girl back into her clothing.

"... Well this explains a great deal many things." Kuro remarked. "That mark on her shoulder. The one that looked like an upside-down anchor."

The two house residents froze.

"The skin is inflamed, similar to scar tissue. Or the site of a brand." Kuro continued. "Did that mark cause it, or was it given to a small child to cover it up?"

"... you weren't supposed to see that." Said Hito, softly. The tone of his voice could have frosted a window in summer.

"Hito-" Nojiko began.

"No." He cut her off. "This is too far. I won't allow it."

Kuro's eyebrow arched. "... I see. The symbol holds meaning - deep, secretive meaning. But you wouldn't put a mark on a child from your belief system -" Hito lurched to his feet.

"HITO, NO!" Nojiko screamed, leaping from her seat and grabbing onto his wound-up arm, holding back his strike.

Kuro stood there, unfazed. "When they are meant to be secretive unless it was meant to cover up something equally meaningful, and horr-" his eyes widened, his head jerking to the child, who had begun to hiccup, the beginnings of a cry. "Oh…! Oh, no…"

"Kuro, what the hell are you doing?" Sanji exclaimed, leaping in between him and the fishman attempting to assault him.

"I think I understand, now…!" He murmured, eyes wide and shining. "The secret of this island, And What Arlong is doing, here! He's-"

Knock Knock. Knock Knock. Knock Knock Knock.

Every movement in the house froze. Nojiko's face drained of all blood; Hito's eyes went wide and bloodshot. He slowly mouthed two words.

'Arlong outside.'

Standing at the edge of the bay, the fortress of Arlong Park lay silent; barring it's singular prisoner, it was deserted, and only the sounds of crumbling infrastructure ruined by cannon-fire disturbed the rhythmic pulsing of waves on stone.

The ambient silence was broken by the creaking sound of hinges, and a startled scream as Usopp tumbled onto the stone pavilion, falling flat on his face. Behind him, his barrel-chested companion frowned.

"Captain Usopp, I find myself questioning whether or not you are suited for this task. You seem too easily startled."

"A-ah! No!" Usopp quickly stammered, jumping to his feet and snapping a quick, sloppy salute. "I just - I have a weak stomach, sir! The air pressure changes and such! I didn't want to try and throw up on you sir!"

The man's eyes traced to his salute, quirking an eyebrow, before nodding. "Very well. You have fifteen minutes. We will proceed with or without you. Failure will not be tolerated." the sound of hinges once more, and the figure was gone.

As soon as he disappeared, Usopp screamed. "AHHHHHHHH!" His hands went to his head. "This is bad! Oh, man, this is really really bad! And I'm the only one who knows! In fifteen minutes, everyone is going to-!"

He cut himself off, slapping himself hard. "Calm down! Usopp, you sure fooled them. The masterful trickster, that's me. And now I have a heads-up. What do I do?" he paced back and forth. "I bet Luffy could deal with this, easy. But I have no idea where he is. Matter of fact, I don't know where anybody is. This place is totally empty!"

He looked up at the smashed top half of the tower. "Wow… he must have done that, before. I didn't even notice because of…" he shivered. "That cow thing…"

"No!" He clapped his face twice. "Focus! I don't know where Luffy is, or anybody else, so I can't find them in time. If I can't warn them, then what-" His eyes widened. "No… I CAN warn somebody. I can warn the VIP they're after! I just need to know where they are!"

Usopp burst into a sprint, charging headlong into the abandoned fortress. "It's in a place…" He muttered, kicking open a hallway door. "Even that guy couldn't get into…" he lead with his shoulder, and crashed through a thin sliding screen into a room full of aquariums. "What kind of place could-" he slid to a stop. "Seastone! That could keep a guy like that out! But Seastone is a rock-type thing, right? It's heavy, so - DOWN!" he whirled around, and dashed through another door.

"Down, down, where are the down stairs - STAIRS!"

Down and down, Usopp descended flights of stairs, until he hit solid bedrock. Around him, the air was cold, and damp, suggesting they were under sea level. Usopp gritted his teeth and ran faster, panting.

"Gotta… find… Seastone… Gotta… Find… Seastone…" He chanted.

"OI!" a voice called out. Usopp skidded to a halt. "Is somebody there?"

"Zoro!?" Usopp exclaimed, whirling around to face the source of the voice he had raced past. It came from A solid metal door with a single window slow and a white handle, which Usopp cranked at futilely.

"Usopp!" Zoro called out. "I thought that was your voice. What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's - well, it's complicated! But I'm trying to save someone!" Usopp flipped his bag forward and began rummaging about. "I didn't even know you were here! Lockpick, lockpick… where is my lockpick…"

"I got ambushed by a karate bastard. I've been cutting my way loose, but it's really slow."

"Aha! Lockpick! Give me two seconds and I'll have the door open!" Usopp crouched and began fiddling with the keyhole, one of his goggles extended over his eye.

"Hey, have you seen my sword?"

"I haven't seen any of your swords."

"No, just one." Zoro grumbled. "The karate bastard broke my two regular katanas. I'm talking about Wado."

"The fancy one you keep in your mouth?" Usopp asked, as his tongue snaked across his upper lip and held while he futzed with a sticky tumbler.

"Yeah." said Zoro. "It's a named sword, and it belonged to someone very important to me."

"Like, a sword with a name, or a Named sword?"

"The second."

"Aren't those, like, really good? I think I read something in the newspaper about that-"

CLICK!

"AHA!" Usopp crowed, leaping to his feet and throwing open the door. Zoro was revealed to be sitting on the hard ground, back twisted in an awkward angle as a small sliver of metal etched at a thick, quarter-severed cluster of rope.

"Finally." Zoro grumbled. "Help me get out of here."

Usopp bit his lip, staring at the ropes. "... I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't!?"

"It's complicated! In fifteen minutes, they're going to - aaaaah, I don't have time to explain!" Usopp's hands immediately dove into his bag, rummaging around before an ivory implement came up in his grip. "Look! My straight-razor! Use this to get out - but don't lose it! I spent a lot of money on it, and I can't grow a good beard yet!"

"What the hell?" Zoro snapped. "Just cut me loose!"

Usopp dashed into the room, and slapped his shaving tool into zoro's bloody palm. "I can't! It would take too long, and we don't have time!" Usopp ran back out to the hallway. "Find your sword, and then tell go Luffy that we've got a problem! Arlong isn't the bad guy here -"

"HUH!?"

"Er, wait, no! I mean he's A bad guy, but he's not THE bad guy! We have bigger problems!" Usopp grimaced, before throwing up his hands. "Augh! We're running out of time! Meet me outside in five minutes! I'll explain while we get out of here!"

With that, Usopp dashed off down the corridor, with Zoro screaming obscenities from his open jail cell. From the corner of the hallway, a pair of glowing eyes hanging from slimy stalks blinked.

"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…"

As soon as Hito finished mouthing out his warning, Sanji whirled about, sinking into a fighting crouch. Nojiko let go of Hito's arm and rapidly slashed her hand across her throat; Kuro nodded and threw his elbow across Sanji's mouth, covering any noise. She swiftly tip-toed across the wooden floor to a small closet, gingerly opening it; Kuro dashed into the closet, dragging a struggling Sanji behind him and forcing them both inside.

"Quiet!" Kuro hissed, as nojiko shut the door behind them; only a small glimmer of light, through an open slat at eye-level, shone into the cramped space. Sanji thrashed about in his grip. "Arlong is too strong. He'll kill us both, and he might kill them for aiding us. Don't say a word, and don't. Move."

As Sanji stilled, the sound of the front door opening filtered through, and the sound of heavy footsteps. "Arlong." Nojiko said, her tone flat, and cold.

"Nojiko." the out-of-sight fishman responded.

"If you're looking for my sister, she's not here."

"I know where she is. That's not why I came." A pause. "Hitodenashi."

"Arlong." the Barramundi replied, carefully.

"May I come in?"

A long pause.

"I haven't come to cause you more pain." Said Arlong, his voice soft.

"... you can come in." Nojiko said finally, with obvious reluctance. The sound of light footsteps, followed by heavy ones.

"Thank you." a pause. "Ah! And there's the little fingerling!" a sound of obvious discomfort from ponyo rumbles. "How old is she now?"

"... she's two."

"Two!" Arlong exclaimed. "What a big girl you are! They grow up so fast! Ahhhhh… peekaboo!"

"Aaaaaaaaah!" Ponyo wails.

Kuro blinks, astonished, before squirming his way upwards to the slot, and pressing his face gently to the opening. Arlong was squatting on the kitchen floor in front of Ponyo's fishbowl, hands in front of his face so that even his nose was obscured. Ponyo was pushing against the opposite side of the bowl, crying.

"Ahhhhh…" Arlong's hands flapped out. "Peekaboo!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Stop it!" Nojiko shouted, before reaching down and pulling the little girl out and cuddling her in her arms. "You're scaring her!"

"Ehhhh… I used to be so good at stuff like this." Arlong scratched his cheek, sharp teeth flashing out in a sheepish smile. "Shyarly used to love that stuff when she was that age. Maybe…" he reached into his mouth and popped out a set of teeth, and filled both his hands with his detritus, before pulling himself into a wide-legged crouching stance. With that, he began scuttling left in right, clacking his teeth. "Crab-walk! Crab-walk!"

"Stop it! That's gross!" Nojiko exclaimed, as Ponyo cried even harder.

"Arlong, Sir…" Hito murmured, stepping forward. "Was there a reason you came here today? Or are you just trying your hand at trying to make a baby cry?"

At that, Arlong's hands fell limp, before sighing and standing back to his full height. "Yeah. I came to talk to you, Hito. Nojiko, you take the fingerling and go do something else. This is fishman talk only."

Nojiko's face grimaced, before her eyes flickered to the closet; the met Kuro's gaze for an instant, before her face went carefully blank. "Whatever you say. As long as he's still alive when I come back inside." a flash of emotion passed over Arlong's face, before she walked around the door and into the kitchen; a second later, there was the sound of a door opening and closing.

"Fishman talk?" Hito repeated, carefully. "Was that really the truth? Or did you come here to see Ponyo?"

"Am I that obvious?" he replied, tugging at his fully-buttoned collar. Kuro's eyes darted to a strip of black encircling Arlong's throat, visible for only a moment before his floral collar covered it once again.

"Every time you come here and use that knock, you're inspecting how Ponyo is growing up. You keep trying to make her like you, but it never works."

"It's the nose, I know." He grimaced. "She still remembers."

Sanji twitched underneath Kuro's grasp; Kuro quickly twisted around and angrily placed a finger to his pursed mouth, and the blonde stilled.

"What do you want, Arlong?" Hito asked, folding his arms.

"... I want to see my work." He answered, finally. "That girl is one of the most - no, she's the most important… eugh. You know what she is. And you're the closest thing she's ever had to a real dad."

"Excuse me, but I'm fairly certain I'm the mom here."

"Shahahaha." Arlong laughed, before trailing off into an uncomfortable silence. A set of teeth fell from his hand, and he began massaging his temples between his webbed fingers. "I don't think I have long. He is still looking, and he's getting bolder by the day. We keep finding more and more, like they think we'll get sloppy in success. But now…" he squatted down, plucking the fallen teeth from the floor. "There's somebody else here. Stronger than ever before, I think. They came here chasing Nami. Damn ironic, that she'd be the one to ruin me, in the end."

Hito stared down silently, his oversized jaw set firmly.

"I… I just…" Arlong looked back up. "Hitodenashi, do you think I've earned my place? Do you think I'll be allowed to walk, hand in hand, in the light of the sun?"

Kuro's eyes slowly widened.

The Barramundi stared at the man, silently, before shaking his head, once. "No. No, I don't think you will."

Arlong just stared upwards at him, and Kuro thought that it looked like Arlong's eyes grew watery, just a little. The large fishman sighed, and slowly stood.

"Thanks for the honesty, I guess." he gently bounced the two sets of teeth in his hands. "I've been trying so damn hard for years. Over and over. Maybe I'm too old. Done too much."

His fingers flexed, and his teeth shattered underneath his grip. Arlong grinned savagely. "So maybe it's time I stop trying."

"Arlong, that's not-" Hito began.

On the wrist of the larger fishman, a trilling noise cut him off. Arlong flinched hard, before swiftly lifting his arm; a baby Den Den Mushi, strapped to his wrist, was going wild, shouting and wriggling around.

"The alarm!" Arlong exclaimed. His inner eyelid narrowed, and his eyes grew bloodshot. "How DARE they."

He burst into a run, throwing himself through the door. The hinges exploded, and the door flew outwards. The leader of the Arlong Pirates leaped into the forest, and disappeared. Seconds later, the sound of cracking wood rang out, and the canopy rustled as one tree, and then another, toppled to the ground with loud groaning crashes.

Nojiko scampered across to the closet, and let the two men out of it; Sanji tumbled to the ground with a gasp, and Kuro staggered to his feet relatively unscathed. "What the hel- er, what the heck?" Sanji grumbled. "What just happened?"

Kuro stared, with narrowed eyes, at the door that the fishman conqueror had just dashed though. "... My guess? Someone is inside Arlong Park, and just went where they shouldn't have. And now they're going to die because of it."

"Haaah… haaah…" Usopp panted, bent over double, hands on his knees. "Seastone… Where… is Seastone…"

With a gasp, he pulled himself upright and sprinted farther inwards. His head swiveled left and right as he passed by each door. "Where… is this door…!?" he kept running -

His foot slammed down, and Usopp skidded several feet on the smooth floor, before immediately turning around. "This…!" Usopp grinned. The door in front of him looked to be carved whole from a single slab, and shone with a pale, faintly luminescent glow. Immediately, his hands went to his pocket, fishing out his lockpick set, and he set to work on the keyhole.

A minute later, a soft 'click' rewarded him for his efforts. "Yes!" he grabbed the handle and pulled - and didn't move. "AUGH!" he shouted. "It's heavy! Too heavy. I gotta - HHHHHHRRRRRRGH!"

His feet kicked up to the side of the door, until usopp was no longer connected to the ground, and pulled the door open inch by grinding inch as if pulling a boulder from beneath his feet. The door opened, just enough, and Usopp dropped back down and wiggled his way through the narrow opening.

Inside the room, it was pitch black; it took several seconds for the sniper to rummage through his satchel for a set of matches. The small flickering light revealed an oil lamp next to his elbow, which he took gratefully. Now inside, Usopp could see that the entire room was dominated by stacks of cabinets and drawers, with numerous loose papers sticking out of manilla folders on flat surfaces, as if somebody had forgotten to clean up after themselves.

"It's a record room…!" Usopp whispered. "Well, of course it is, idiot. Why else would I be looking for the record of their VIP? It's not going to be a second kitchen." immediately he went to the most impressive landmark, a large stone-like desk with what appeared to be streaks of red and gold coral racing through it. "This looks like it hides important stuff…" Usopp began yanking open the drawers, flicking through files. "Let's see, how did he say it… very young girl, mermaid, blue nose. There's dividers by species, so let's find the mermaids… no, no mermaids here. Next…"

Drawer after drawer was flung open, as the long-nosed liar walked his fingers across the manilla tabs. "Mermaid, mermaid, where are the mermaids… I sound like Sanji right now. 'Ahhh, beautiful mermaids! The heart of every man's dream! The personification of teenage lu-' yeah, I'm just gonna stop myself there."

Usopp reached up to the middle drawer, sitting directly across from where one's lap would be when seated at the desk, and yanked it open. The drawer was empty, save for a single folder. Usopp blinked, before picking up the folder and flicking it open. His eyes glanced only briefly at the titling, in the gas-lit light, before cheering. "YES! This is it! This is who I'm-"

He froze. Beside the technical documentation and clinical descriptors was a picture, taken by a Den Den Mushi, of a - to call her a young girl would be over-exaggeration - a small child. The picture held three stills of her; one of her full form, one of her crying face, and one of the dark brand on her shoulder.

Usopp's eyes widened, slowly. His gaze shifted to her name. Her full family name.

"Oh… oh, no… This is even worse than - what have I -"

BOOM!

Usopp's head snapped up.

"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!"

The blood drained out of the young man's face.

"YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME, SPOOK!"

Usopp's hand swung up to protect his face from a non-existent threat, shrieking in fear. The hand he swung up was the hand holding the oil lantern; the tool went flying over his head, and slammed into a wooden cabinet. The lamp exploded, and the cabinet caught fire.

"AAAAAH!" Usopp screamed, dashing out of the now-aflame seastone room, squeezing through the crack in the door and dashing down the hallway, running for his life.

"Stupid long-nose bastard…!" Zoro growled as he raced up a flight of stairs. In his fist, he brandished the shaving razor like a weapon, as pathetic as it was. "What was so important that he couldn't cut me free? And now I have to find Wado…!"

He skidded to a halt, at a four-way crossroads. "Shit!" He cursed, staring at a broken sliding door. "I went in a circle again! Where is my damn sword!?" he burst off heading straight. "Just go straight! Go straight and we'll get out of this place! Just go straight! Find Wado, and go straight! Go strai- AUGH!"

He had somehow gone in a circle again, despite taking no turns.

"Arlong has a damn magic fortress!" Zoro screamed. "Alright, screw this! Go right!"

The entire fortress rumbled, like a strut had been ripped out. Zoro heard Usopp scream, from his left.

"Usopp!" Zoro took off at a sprint, towards the scream. In seconds, he came to an open window out to the empty pavillion. Usopp was sprawled across the tiles, a plain looking folder flung from his hands; numerous papers scattered and fluttered weakly in the wind.

Arlong stepped out from a gaping hole he had punched in a wall of his own home. Every step he took shattered the ground underneath him; his skin had turned from the blue Zoro had seen before to a pitch black, one that Zoro recognized with a growing horror.

"N-no… stop…!" Usopp gasped, clutching at his chest; blood leaked from his mouth as he spoke. "I- I didn't mean it! I'm not lying - I'm trying to help!"

Arlong snarled wordlessly.

"I was going to warn them!" Usopp stumbled to his feet, his satchel flapping open uselessly. "They're coming! They know about her, and - AHA!" Usopp's hands flung up, and a large blue polearm appeared from his satchel as if magic; an instant later, the polearm was reformed into a T shape. "TORNADO TEMPO!"

Two doves shot out from the ends of the T and wrapped around the blackened arm and leg of Arlong, and began to spin -

With a single, roaring flex, Arlong ripped himself free of the entanglements, lunged forward, and struck Usopp with a devastating uppercut.

A loud 'SNAP!' Echoed through the courtyard. Zoro's eyes widened, in disbelief.

Usopp's head snapped backwards 180 degrees from its upright position, the back of his skull briefly touching the center of his back, before bouncing back to its original position. His arms went limp. His legs lost all their strength. The satchel on his shoulder slipped, and fell to the ground.

The sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates collapsed to his knees, and then fell backwards into the bay. His body sank like a stone, and no air bubbles trailed after him.

Zoro saw red.

"YOU BASTAAAAAARD!" Zoro jumped through the window, armed with nothing but a straight-razor. He crossed the distance in an instant, lunging at the murderer's face-

Arlong whipped around and backhanded zoro effortlessly. The swordsman flew until he slammed against the edges of the large stone gate. Blood spurted from his mouth.

"You." Arlong snarled. His eyes were slitted, like a shark, and bloodshot. "So he was one of YOURS."

"I'll kill you, you pike-nosed bastard!" Zoro charged once again, flipping the straight-razor around in his grip.

Arlong turned and side-kicked him hard enough to crack ribs for his effort. This time, Zoro's airborne momentum wasn't stopped by the wall, and he crashed through it in a spray of stone, tumbling to a stop on gravel and rock.

"I'm done playing nice, filthy human." Arlong slowly stepped through his own debris, as the sound of creaking door hinges echoed from behind him. "Let my road to damnation be paved with the bodies of those who defended the ways of this death world. I won't let you hurt her ever again."

Zoro coughed, twice; the ground was speckled with blood. He forced himself up, to his knees, and glanced with a scowl at the puny implement in his hand. He lifted his gaze to arlong, held his looming stare.

He gritted his teeth, pushed himself to his feet, turned towards the forest and ran without saying a word.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME, RORONOA ZORO!" Arlong roared, though he made no attempt to run and overtake him. "NOBODY CAN HIDE FROM ME! I KNOW EVERY INCH OF THIS ISLAND! I KNOW EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE! I WILL FIND YOU AND YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

Zoro ducked behind a large towering tree, and was gone.

Arlong snarled, shook his head once, and turned back. His gaze swept to where Usopp had gone in the water, and across the pavilion.

His eyes widened.

"Where is the file?" His legs burst into speed, pushing him to where the scattered papers had last been.

They were gone.

"This is it." The suited man said, flicking through the manilla folder. "We have the location of our target."

SNAP!

The folder slapped shut with a loud noise, echoing the strength of the man's grip. "That foolish pirate did everything we needed him to do, and died before he could reveal the deception. The perfect con." He turned to the man next to him. "Inform all the forces to move into positions. I will be with them all shortly to mobilize. The operation begins now."

"YES SIR!"

Down through the gently-rolling bay, the lifeless body of Usopp drifted, back and forth. His twisted neck bobbed with the current, and his arms dragged above him.

Beyond him, the squared stone of the pavillion gave way to shaped, artistic forms. A beautiful fresco of sea creatures and tridents parted around a large hole inwards, whose interior was lit by glowing rock, and pulsating fronds from plant-like things embedded in the surface.

Usopp's back impacted, and his body draped across a large stone statue with it's arms outstretched before it; it almost looked like the stone humanoid figure, whose face was shrouded by a large beard, was cradling him in its' hands. Behind him, the fronds and stones lit up as one, revealing a long cavern, filled with obelisks carved with faces, both human and fishmen. Some were old, and faded; others had been recarved, renewed, so as to look brand new. The first visible form, standing at the very entrance to the cavern, was a full body form of a young woman, with her chelsea hawk hairstyle tapering to a short ponytail, and her expression a fierce smile. It was obvious from the chisel marks around it that it had been carved, and recarved, many times.

The current shifted, and Usopp fell from the statue's grip. With a corona of silt exploding beneath his body, Usopp came to rest against the sea bed. Even now, as relatively shallow as it was, the light from above was muted, difficult to reach through the water.

Nothing moved, there, for a time, except for the currents.

Then, without warning, a slender, feminine hand burst from the sediment, inches from the young man's wrong-way-around ear. A second hand burst from the opposite side, and as one, the two hands - exploded from hundreds of years of compacted detritus - gripped onto Usopp's head and twisted, the opposite direction of Arlong's attack.

All at once, Usopp's lifeless gaze was facing the anatomically correct direction again. The left hand drifted down to his neck, the right to his mouth. A muted 'CRACK' rung out into the sea, as Usopp's neck suddenly straightened; blood began to leak from his gaping mouth, between the fingers.

Slowly, elegantly, the two hands drifted down to his overall-covered chest and laced themselves over his heart.

"So you command, master, and so I obey. THY WILL BE DONE."

The hands thrust downwards.

BA-THUMP.

Usopp's eyes sprang open, shining a brilliant silver.

Off in the impossible distance, beyond the sea, three hounds began to howl.

End of Chapter 14, Remastered.

Notable Remastering Changes:

Everything.

Author's notes:

This took me longer than I was expecting. It seems like whenever I have a lot of Sanji time plotted out, his characterization always trips me up. I don't know why; I love the goofy little bastard.

I recently had a thought about double-posting this over on Archive Of Our Own, a rival site of FF net, for added exposure. I know for a fact that there are people that only use over there nowadays; this site doesn't hold quite the monopoly it used to anymore. In order to get the idea of my company, I went over there to check it out and see what the most popular stories were in the One Piece category.

Suffice it to say, I'm not thinking about posting this story on AO3 anymore, exposure be damned. Y'all motherfuckers be nasty. I know that sort of thing crops up no matter where you post, but holy shit I expected at least SOME stories I'm able to read in a public location to be at the top. Nope. I ain't see respectable shit anywhere. Sorry, little sister. You tried to talk me into it, but I'm not letting myself be associated with that kind of bullshit. And I'm kind of side-eyeing you too now, now that I know what kind of writing culture that place has.

I think I might have given enough away now for some people to piece together what has changed. If not, don't worry. It will become mostly very obvious next chapter. I THINK this is going to be the climax, if I can stuff it all into one chapter. I haven't quite figured out if all the content I want to write will fit into one relatively consistent-sized chapter, or if I'll have to split it into a two-part story. After that will be, I think, a wind-down conclusion chapter, and then we're off sailing once again. Onwards to Loguetown (which will also be VERY fun, in the same way that this arc was fun - muahaha).

Thank you for reading my story.

The Animaniac Dude