Hey guys, here's the new chapter. two in less then two weeks. Yay! Also for those who are confused with Hordy's name, I'm taking the FUNimation version. I will say I'm going to take a break for a few days since this is hurting my fingers. Also I want to finish the Division 2 game ;)
Anyway, enjoy!
With Usopp, Zoro, and Brook
"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Usopp and Brook scream out panicking as they were moving around the cage that was dangling above the water that was rising by the minute.
Zoro, on the other hand, kept his cool and had his eyes closed "You've been doing this for almost half an hour already."
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what else to do when we're about to drown in a metal cage, bounded to chains!" Usopp yelled at the swordsman with a vein mark "There's have to be a way to get out of here."
BOOM!
Above the cage, a loud explosion erupted, creating a big hole at where the chain holding the cage was positioned.
Zoro looked up "What was that?"
From the gaping hole was coughing heard.
"Hey! Who is up there!" Zoro demanded as he gained no response. Then the cage started to lift up slowly like it was being pulled up.
"NOO! I knew they were coming back for us!" Usopp started to panic again "They're going to torture us before throwing us into the water!"
"That's too bad, I was going to use my newest technique that could've got me out of here," Brook responded.
"Oh? What is it? You got me curious now you said it- wait! What am I saying? WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
The cage descended into the darkness of the hole…..
The the cage with the chain fell out of it, falling into the water and it sank into the bottom of it.
At the Sunny
After Naruto and his crew left, the remaining people were left to think for themselves for what is to come.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Chopper asked nervously.
Sanji blew out some smoke out of his mouth "What do you think," he stares at how Luffy was staring at Jinbe "We see what our captain is going to do."
"Before we go, I need to know something. Jinbe, I need to ask you..." Luffy addressed him "... it's about Naruto."
Everyone became focused on what Luffy was talking about but he seemed to ignore them as he had a serious expression on his face.
Jinbe looks up and just stares at him.
"You were with him...in the Elemental War. Were you?"
Jinbe nodded, he already figured it out what he was going to ask.
"You know that look he has in his eyes...that from when we were saving Ace." Luffy gripped his fist tightly.
Nami turns from Luffy to Jinbe who stared back down kept listening.
"Was he like this before the war?" Luffy asked, "I need to know what happened to my brother."
"Luffy..." Chopper whimpered.
Jinbe sighs after hearing the question and made a groan growl before he grinds his teeth together trying to remember that moment Luffy was talking about "I can only be honest with you, Luffy..."
Luffy listens as did the others.
"You must understand that the Elemental War wasn't like any other war, not one other conflict could rival with the destructiveness nor brutality in any way, not even the Whitebeard War could be compared to any of the battles that occurred on that continent."
That stunned the listeners who heard that comparison.
"I've seen the worst come out of good men, men who till this day aren't the same like before the war. Many of them became shells of their former selves." Jinbe tells before he took a moment and stared into the sky;
His imagination turned the clear blue sky turns into a chilly dark red and orange colored sky with black clouds with as if Hell had shown its existence.
"With regret, Naruto was one of these people who has changed, you may not see it because he is hiding it, but deep down his heart is filled with hatred, but when he's on the battlefield...is it like he is a different person."
"Is that what I saw when Naruto ordered a plan called 'Hellfire'?" Luffy asks
"...Yes, that is Naruto on such occasions..." Jinbe turns to where the pirate Caribou was stuck "Just like him over there, Naruto showed little to no mercy to those who hurt people close to him or want to harm them. The only problem is that Naruto doesn't realize that he hurts them without even knowing it."
Keimi held her hand in front of her mouth after hearing it "No..."
"And he was like that in the war?" Luffy asked one last question to conclude everything he had to know.
Jinbe didn't answer but the silence already gave it away. Those who knew Naruto never thought they would hear such a dark side of his...
"Just that you know, when the war was over, Naruto had plans to retire from the Navy..." Jinbe said adding that surprising fact "He founded a small place in the Elemental continent and told me he wanted to set op shop there."
"Retire?" Franky raised his eyebrow "Why would a war hero want to retire on the height of his career?"
"Because he didn't want live with that title." Jinbe said directly towards the cyborg "Answer me: Would you want to live with fame over the bodies of your comrades, your friends, those who grew up with you and created bonds with them?" Franky couldn't answer the question and felt bad after understanding his point of view.
"But it never came to that, Naruto's plans for retirement for the Navy came to an end when his men were killed in a bombing, I know you remembered it, Luffy."
"Yeah, around three hundred, correct?"
Jinbe nodded "Correct."
"T-three hundred in one night? man, that's cold."
Jinbe was still focused on Luffy and said "If you want to know the whole truth about Naruto's campaign, then I advise you to talk this with him, I cannot say if the others of Naruto's crew will give you their honest story, many of them simply do not want to relive those memories or hold deep resentment towards those who want to know what happened for their own reasons. I will tell you; it was a war with no shred of decency or honor, just animalistic survival, and blood boiling hatred."
"Sounds like it wasn't a war, it sounds more like it was the living hell itself," Sanji said to the Fishman.
"Luffy, I know this may be hard to ask from you since you're his brother but this is up to the most important. If needed, you have to stop Naruto."
"Why? You think he's going to do something horrible?"
Jinbe didn't give a response as he turns around towards Fishmen island…..
Gyoncorde Plaza
A pair of boots stepped on the middle of the plaza where Queen Otohime died. It was still empty and nobody was in sight.
"Huh? Guess I'm here early." Naruto said as he took a look around, seeing that there were several gates and points of entrances.
Walking up from behind came Lee the radioman and Foster with Lee saying "Sir, I just got word that the three Royal Princes are going towards the plaza at this moment."
"And? What about the rest of the island?"
"All of Hordy's lieutenants are also set towards the plaza, with Hordy himself being escorted by his men and a trio of Sea kings and as hostage King Neptune himself."
"Okay, any word from Shikamaru and Chouji?"
"They're on their way, the mission was successful."
"Good," Naruto nodded while he looks the plaza "Say to the men that they spread out, find themselves an hiding spot and that they won't be spotted."
"Sir." Lee saluted before running off to give the order while Foster stayed behind "Naruto, I must say that I need to protest this-"
"I know you don't like this plan Foster but this is not up to discussion. When I give the signal you and the rest will fall in."
"And that signal will…"
"Be when the Straw Hats arrive." Naruto stated "What was the report of the torpedo attack on the Fishmen district?"
"It looked like it did some damage, sir." He said as Naruto just stood there "Go Foster, get the mortars ready."
Foster nodded and left Naruto. He then looked up for a moment and saw three figures flying up towards him. Seeing that a trial of smoke dust was left behind from all over the island he could easily assume that he was busy destroying everything in his path.
Naruto then soon followed Foster.
All over the island there was chaos, the New Fishmen pirates had not left anything unharmed and left destruction left to right.
But that would be the least of their problems as Hordy right now was going through some heavy and unbearable pain. He sank to his knees and clutched his hand to where Zoro cut him, his eyes were glowing red like if he was possessed and it didn't go unnoticed by his men.
"Captain, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Hordy replied "Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure-"
"I'M FINE!" Hey yelled back "Bring me more pills, all of them!"
"But that could kill you!" the fishman asking said but saw the bowl filled with steroid pills being brought forward so he stepped between the pills and the captain "We want you to get better but taking more pills is not the way. You're already way over the limit boss-" the fishman face was grabbed by hand of Hordy.
He raised the fishman with only one hand "Was that a question? I say you fall back in line and shut up!" Throwing the fishman aside and grabbed an handful of the pills worrying his men.
"Captain, there's no need for this, we already have King Neptune hostage so victory is right in front of us. So give your body a rest."
"Just listen to us, you're pressing your body to hard."
"Yeah, and you just need to destroy that pathetic human-
"SHUT UP!" Hordy yelled at his men before eating the pills in one go and swallowed it. After a moment he dropped his arms and his red eyes turned into a more darker shade of red…
Fishverly Hills
Just from a great distance, Madam Shyarly sat on her bubble and watched how the Royal army was trying their hardest to fight off the New Fishmen pirates who were in the odds of winning with the Sea bear sea king on their side, pushing them and kicking them back. Even with the help of both Minister of the Right and Left, they were on the losing side.
"This is bad, if even our ministers can't beat down a sea king, who else will be able to beat Hordy?" One of the frightened civilians said while standing on the sidelines with the others.
Aladdin slightly gripped his hands but didn't notice a familiar person carrying crafting material with him walked up to her "So it's that bad, huh."
He saw who it was "Kaneshiro. You're back."
An older Kaneshiro was seeing what was happening "I heard that Hordy was about to make his move, but I didn't expect him to exactly get this far. Is it true that the King is taken hostage?"
Aladdin nodded with contempt "Yes, and the Princess Shirahoshi has gone missing."
"She is? Oh no, hopefully Jinbe will able to track her down before that bastard Van Der Decker finds her."
"Also Naruto is here….." Aladdin added without even realizing it.
Kaneshiro simply shrugged "So he finally came back, guess he's going to beat Hordy and his bunch into a pulp." He turns to the doctor and saw he had a distress expression on his face.
He closed her eyes "Madam Shyarly said hee stood in the middle of a burning battlefield with bodies of Fishmen around him."
"Maybe this is what is about to come, maybe Naruto is going to confront Hordy and stop him." Kaneshiro tried to argue as he saw the sea kings fly above the others and saw them yell to each other about something.
"The captain couldn't bare the pain he received from the human swordsman and has taken a lot of steroid pills, he's not doing well now!"
Kaneshiro's eyes widened "Steroid pills?!"
Then a loud scream was heard from one of the sea kings and there stood Hordy, with his arms buffed up, his shirt ripped away and his dark hair turning into a gray bush with red eyes screaming at the air.
Kaneshiro saw that the sea kings' their expressions were of shock and fear and knew now what to do "Where are they heading at?"
"Gyoncorde Plaza."
"Then we shall go there. It's too unsafe." Kaneshiro said as he and the doctor started running "Everyone run!"
"But why!"
"JUST RUN!"
"WATERSHOT!"
A couple of explosions occurred at where the Royal army was positioned at and it obliterated not only the army but also the buildings that were there, leaving nothing but ruins on Hordy's trail.
Kaneshiro stopped and looked at what happened before turning to Hordy and saw he had changed.
Hordy now stood shirtless with his scars visible to everyone and his hair was fully grey. Possible the effect of the Steroid pills.
"We've wasted enough time." Hordy ordered his men "Up to the plaza!"
Kaneshiro gulped and looked down, the carnage had left all of the Royal army wounded and even unconscious with some of the citizens trying to help them while the pirates left them for dead.
The Minister of the Left managed to stand up and looked around and started tearing up at what he saw.
"We couldn't do anything….. We're supposed….After so long….we were finally supposed to see results…..this was going to be our year in the summit….Queen Otohime. But then they had to come and ruin everything." He said distasteful of the pirates before looking up and asking "Someone….help us…Save the King…..if we don't stop he will be soon executed….Surely someone can fight…."
Kaneshiro looked surprised, the minister who always was the calmest was now starting to beg "We need to move. Now!"
As the sea kings were flying over the population, they were met with shocking expressions and feelings of utterly hopelessness as their King was indeed captured and was about to be executed.
On one of the riffs, two camouflaged men were spotting with one of them holding binoculars "I see him, call it in."
The other one had a radio "They're reaching the Plaza, I repeat they're about to reach the Plaza with the King."
"We've got to move now before we're being seen."
"Got it."
From a window in the plaza, two men who were placing a Lewis machine gun were watching how a line up platoon of Royal army riflemen were on the top of Gyoncorde Plaza, aiming their weapons at the three sea kings that were flying towards them.
"Are those men asking for a death wish or something?"
"Just keep it down, man." The other guy said before putting an ammo drum on the Lewis "Just focus on the King, wait for the signal."
Then gunfire erupted, it came from the Royal army on the top of the plaza and they in vein tried to shoot down one of the sea kings before it's bubble busted and it landed on the soldiers who tried to flee.
They also saw how one severely wounded soldier tried one last heroic attempt to take at least one of the lieutenants life by setting of explosives, but was shown no mercy by Hordy who just threw a water ball at the guys chest, killing him instantly.
"Cold hearted sonsabitches." Commented one of them.
"Just keep your head down." They could nothing else then stand by and watch how these soldiers were getting slaughtered or else they also would die in vain.
Naruto who was wearing a cloak, standing on the same spot he was years ago, watched as the plaza started being filled with the New Fishmen pirates, the three princes arrived and soon challenged the New Fishmen pirates.
Sea Forest
"It's settled, that boy sure gave me a lot of trouble though" Jinbe said turning towards Megalo and the princess "we've wasted far too much time, we need to be on our way right now, princess."
"Uhm, okay." Shirahoshi complied.
The both of them got on Megalo and before they leave Jinbe spoke to the young green haired mermaid "Keimi, we're leaving Hachi to your care."
"Okay…." Keimi complied.
"Megalo, let's go."
"GAAA!" the shark said before taking off and swimming upwards.
Keimi looked worried while staring towards the island.
Hachi noticed "Keimi, what's wrong?"
"Its….I'm worried about Naruto," She confessed to her friend "I'm worried he's-"
"Hey, have some faith." Hachi puts one of his arms around on Keimi's shoulder "Believe me, nothing but absolutely nothing can beat Naruto. I would bet my life on that."
Keimi's mouth made a small smile and she said "You're right. I need to have faith."
Hachi looked up towards the shark and his initial thoughts were;
'Hopefully you will be on time Jinbe….Because if what you say is true, then lucky we have Straw Hat with us.'
Outside the plaza
Kaneshiro and Aladdin were almost done climbing up the wall "How come the gates were locked, normally they aren't."
"Never mind that," Aladdin said reaching the top and extended his hand to the shipwright "We need to see what's happening inside, it's like half the kingdom is here."
Kaneshiro grabbed his hand and got on the wall "Yeah."
"AAAAH!"
They both turned and saw Shirahoshi caught in a net, falling down to the ground after a trio of sharks dropped them off.
They both ran up to the front and saw something they couldn't believe; Princess Shirahoshi and their former captain Jinbe were chained up and were brought in front of Hordy who was sitting on a chair. The male members of the Royal family were chained to logs up high, like they were being crucified.
"Here boss! We didn't even had to fight!" One of the shark riders said "We caught them in a trap!"
"SHIRAHOSHI!" The three princes shouted.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to save you!" A tearful Shirahoshi said.
"There we go, that was fast." Hordy laughed briefly "In one fell swoop we captured two of the three I was most concerned of, I wanted to say Straw Hat was the third for defeating Arlong but I haven't forgotten the famous Uzumaki brat of ours. You all know he was here on this island, didn't you?" Hordy questioned with a slight amused tone knowing the full reason why he hasn't showed up.
From one of the windows, Reiser was putting a stripper clip into his rifle and was looking at the scene unfold with Robert who was using light weight Madsen machine gun "Jinbe is in chains."
"Yeah, shit." Reiser replies as he observes the scene while behind them other members of the Damned were moving into their positions.
"Come on, let's get this over with."
"All of this is my fault, isn't it Jinbe?" Shirahoshi began blaming herself for falling into that balloon trick "I'm so sorry, if I haven't been so foolish, you wouldn't be in this mess."
"What's done is done, child, don't cry." Jinbe said to her.
"Now, Jinbe, welcome." Hordy said to the former warlord "I must say this is a disappointing sight, you used to be strong."
"Then I guess we both changed," Jinbe replies and noticed that Hordy looked different "Look at you, you've changed into a monster."
"Wait, why is princess Shirahoshi with boss Jinbe? I thought I heard he was last seen with that human Uzumaki."
"Yeah, say, now you think about it, you think it was Uzumaki who had kidnapped the Princess?"
"Possible, that bastard did kill our Queen. Too bad we couldn't kill him."
Jinbe growled at the comments of the islanders, how their they insinuate Naruto would do such a thing? Shirahoshi on the other hand was expected to cry but she kept herself calm at that last sentence…
Hordy found it amusing after hearing that "Like the sound of that, Jinbe?"
"Shut your mouth, Hordy!" Jinbe spouted back at him "You're nothing but scum!"
"Keep the insults to yourself," Hordy replies "I was ready for a fight but I won't complain. Everyone I needed is here as exactly as I planned. Now with the Straw Hats trying to free their friends my biggest concern is now only Naruto, and oh boy do I love a crowd that hats him." He chuckled evilly.
Then door cages opened, with coming out of it, many fishmen with the tattoo of the New Fishmen Pirates proudly displaced on their bodies with some of them holding unto chains.
The chains were connected to the necks of slaves, human slaves.
"Fucking bastards…." Hunter said looking through the scope if his high powered sniper. Lying on his stomach with next to him his spotter.
Slowly the whole plaza was filled with close to over one hundred thousand armed men who came through the tunnels like a horde.
"That is my army, thirty thousand slaves we've captured this month, all of them humans."
They looked beaten up and unwillingly to be in this position right now.
"And then there are seventy thousand fishmen, trained in combat."
Then the more enthusiastic fishmen pirates had grins on their faces.
"As you can see, 100 000 united outlaws!" Hordy said proclaiming as he earned a loud cheering from his crew until he puts down his arms.
"Just outside, women and children, more slaves," he made an chuckle "Well I think we can find a use for them later. And they are one of the first humans we're gonna enslave later."
He then turns towards the civilians watching from the walls "But as for you islanders, my men will need a place to live, so all of you will leave your homes, either by running away in fear or dropping dead! Either way I don't care."
Naruto was ready to walk out of the one tunnel that wasn't being used by the pirates and was walking down to the light with leaving his sword to Katara and the masked guy named Bucky who was armed with an flamethrower.
"Is it wise to let him walk down alone? There's literally an army standing out there." Bucky tried to argue.
"No, but it is better if he's not focused on all of us." Katara replies "You sure all is set."
"I've personally checked them all, hopefully everything goes alright."
Naruto removes the cloak of his body and took the first steps walking into the plaza, earning the attraction of everyone present in and around the plaza.
He initially expected the reactions of the islanders to be rage and boos but due the situation now they mostly were too shocked to react properly.
On the other hand, a couple of New Fishmen pirates aimed their guns at him "Die human!"
Hordy raised his hand "Hold your fire."
They lowered their guns and said "What?"
Hordy smirks "Let him through, the assassin of Queen Otohime at least should stand in front of me."
Naruto narrows his eyes at Hordy while walking up to the front and standing right in front of him and just sat down in front of Jinbe, Shirahoshi and Hordy who sat on the throne.
"So, it's been a long time, Naruto." Hordy said.
"It has been Hordy, too bad we didn't had the chance to properly meet."
"We do now," Hordy replied with a smirk "I see you've been making a name for yourself these last ten years. Joining the marines, winning a war, planning a coup….killing World Nobles."
Naruto was unfazed and just stared down "Yeah, it's been a while, I heard you quite the army."
"Oh I just entered to train and learn battle tactics. You know? the usual stuff." Hordy started digging "I heard you were quite the warrior on the battlefield, killing many of your own kind….just like any other human."
Aladdin and Kaneshiro growled after hearing this. Jinbe glared daggers at the ex-guard for mentioning that.
"So Naruto, before I will order my men to end your pathetic life, may I know why you are here on Fishmen Island in the first place?" Hordy asked with interest. He truly was surprised that Naruto had arrived on the same ship with the Straw Hats when he heard it.
"I came here to take a break, I didn't plan on staying long since I know I'm not very welcome for the alleged crime I'm accused off." Naruto said his reason "Also, I'm quite eager to leave now since my latest accusation was that I was going to commit an heinous crime according to the fortuneteller."
"An heinous crime?" Hordy's eyes narrowed "What are you talking about?"
"You should listen more closely to what he says, Hordy Jones." Both former military men turned around to see who it was, it was Madam Shyarly who sat on a bubble over the wall while holding her bubble pipe. Naruto had an emotionless expression before turning back.
"Madam Shyarly, is there a reason you are here?" Hordy asked.
"Yes, I wanted to deliver a message while you are at the height of your blow." Shyarly said.
"What did she just say?" Fukaboshi asked in a weak tone.
"I recently had an vision of the destruction of our island, it was a faith brought on by a single man." She said while trying not to look up from her hoodie.
Hordy liked the sound of that, the fortuneteller was never wrong "Oh yeah, I guess you could recognize the person, was it me?"
"…..No," she regrettably spoke the next words "The one who will destroy Fishmen Island is Naruto."
"That can't be." Hordy turned towards Naruto who only sighed without making eye contact "It can't be!"
"Oh, but I'm afraid I can." Shyarly said "That said, I don't know how. The means, well they're still a mystery to me."
"What are you trying to say, woman?" Hordy demanded.
"My point is it's not you," she sighed after only gaining glares "fine I'll spell it out for you. No matter whatever you are accomplishing, the faith of this island doesn't lie into your hands… it's into Naruto's. A human."
"You hear that," one of the islanders said "Madam Shyarly's visions are always correct."
"Yeah, that mean Hordy will never be in control of Fishmen island. No matter what he does."
Hordy stood up and turns slightly around before throwing his arm back and then forwards, firing a water bullet towards Shyarly.
By the shock of it, Shyarly was thrown back by the impact and was hit in the shoulder.
"MADAM SHYARLY!"
Naruto remained unfazed while Hordy sat back on his thrown and began giving his opinion on the woman's prediction.
"What a load of crap….What do you think you'll accomplish by this…Huh! Answer me!"
He didn't gain an response as madam Shyarly was struggling to talk due the wound.
"You are nothing like your brother. Sure you share the same blood and grew up together…but instead of following his path, you decided to blindly follow the masses," he made a quick glare at Naruto "by yet even going further by except him into your house."
Naruto still was left unfazed while looking down.
"It's true, I admired Arlong as a kid like many others that grew up in the Fishmen district. But that changed when we acquired real power, we didn't take the name Arlong pirates out of reference for him, no, all we needed was a flag to rally behind, a symbol to unite people like us, and now that symbol has served its purpose, we've now suppressed Arlong and his crew and with an ambition to create a future that was meant for this country all along. And that is me alright, or else you wouldn't be here, RIGHT!?"
A round of cheers was heard from the pirates.
"You see, this is power!" Hordy said displaying his followers "because my followers have faith! In change! It took me ten years to get me this far and it's time we finish I began so long ago!"
He then smirks "And you know what started it? The death of Queen Otohime. YES that's right! I Want to tell a little secret. YOU ALL WANNA HEAR!?"
At that moment, everyone was left confused at what he meant, everyone except for those who knew the truth.
"When she was killed, the one who shot her…" Hordy smiles as he widened his eyes "WAS ME!"
When those words became clear to the ears of every citizen, royalty and those inside the walls, it came to them as a shock out of nowhere and froze them all.
The Citizens,
The King,
The Princes,
And lastly Jinbe were shocked "That can't be true!"
"Holy shit…" Reiser was to stunned for any other words "Did I just hear that?"
Robert nodded "Yeah, pretty much. Why is Naruto not reacting?"
"Oh trust me, this ain't gonna be pretty."
Nojiko held her hand in front of her mouth and had to hold it together to hold back the tears, after hearing Naruto's story she wished his innocence would be proven and now it is, just at the wrong time.
The Sentry known as Victor patter her shoulder "Hold it together, we'll teach these bastards soon enough."
She quickly nods "Right." She cocked her pistols as Victor readied his toy.
Many of the citizens on the wall couldn't bare the news revelation they just heard, a fellow fishman had assassinated their beloved Queen? A member of the Royal guard?
"No…but what about the human?!"
Hordy smiles "Ten years ago, the day before her death, I hired a human pirate to burn down the signed papers without being spotted by any of the guards. By that I used my chance to shoot her from the perfect spot and then killed the human myself."
"NO, damn you Hordy!"
Aladdin and Kaneshiro were glaring such intense hatred in their eyes towards the pirate after hearing what he had done.
Hordy wasn't finished "I will say," he looked down at the still unmoved Naruto "I didn't plan out you were there and spotted the guy, it made it easier for me to say you were there, with your experience in guns and using violence priory on the World Noble incident I figured out you would be the perfect scapegoat for the rest of the island to take their anger out once I 'revealed' humans killed her with 'your' help. Thank you Naruto. Without you being chased away I wouldn't get all of this."
The sudden realization came to the minds of all islanders to what they had done, not one hour had passed since Queen Otohime passed away and they focused all their anger on a child, a human child who was totally innocent and was chased out of their island by an mob.
One of the mermaids couldn't say it simpler "What….have we done…."
"We didn't even thought we were doing…" One more man sank to his knees "and…I openly was shooting at the child, oh no…"
"What would our Queen say….She would be totally horrified by what we did."
Jinbe was perhaps the most angered and broken by what happened, he remembered standing there while the real killer ordered his men to shoot the frightened Naruto in the back "Tiger….Queen Otohime….."
Jinbe dropped a single tear "…I failed you."
"HORDY YOU BASTARD!" King Neptune yelled at the grey haired pirate with absolute anger "HOW DARE YOU PUT THE BLAME ON A CHILD!?"
Hordy turned around with a hand full with water bullets and threw them into King Neptune's stomach, causing it to bleed.
"HORDY DON'T"
"STOP IT!"
The islanders started to cry with what was happening and Hordy wasn't finished.
"She was a nuisance. Right Shirahoshi?" He turned towards the silent princess "Always telling us to forget about revenge. And then begging for us trying to be friends with the humans? Even worse than that, she was so close by getting what she wanted. I knew just murdering her wasn't going to cut it anymore, so I had to kill her dream, by then your mother would truly die."
"Shut your mouth, Hordy!" Kaneshiro yelled not being able to sat silent "Shut your damn mouth!"
"By using her death I was able to harvest the anger, the fear and the hate into my advantage and crush these idiotic dreams of living in peace with these humans. And by that I made the islanders first turn on the first human they saw; a child that looked up to their hero; Tiger. And so I killed that dream by only killing one human, one traitor and scapegoating a child."
"And so every person on this island bought it! You can't start a revolution without a few sacrifices, even with her death we made it possible to hate humans once more and it wasn't one of them who killed her, it was one of her own species, me! I did it! I killed her! because it was necessary!"
Shirahoshi's hair stood in the way of her eyes but she then looks up, showing her tearing eyes she said "I know you did it."
An silence erupted in the plaza as even the sound of the wind was loud enough to make an appearance.
Hordy asked "You knew….How?"
King Neptune, his sons and Jinbe couldn't lay their eyes of Shirahoshi after she admitted knowing the truth all along.
"A few years after mother's death, Megalo told me everything what happened…"
Hordy remembered that name "Megalo?"
"He told you?" Jinbe turned to the giant shark.
"At the time, Megalo was property of Neptune's army. He witnessed the incident with his own eyes." She said remembering the day she was told in her room about the truth...
"Princess." Jinbe shouted at the princess with some anger "You knew all of this and never told a soul!?"
"How could I?!" Shirahoshi responded before trying to hold back her emotions and explaining her reason "if I did...I was afraid that our countrymen might hold a grudge against Hordy..."
"Huh?" The three sons were confused and Jinbe just stared.
"And…that's not what my dear mother would've wanted…." Shirahoshi sniffed while tear drops landed on her tail "that was….my final promise we made before she died...She said no matter who took her life, we should not be angry and let our hearts be filled with hatred."
The three princes started remembering that last promise of their late mother.
'it doesn't matter who did this to me….don't become angry. Not on my…behalf. Don't submit to resentment, don't let hatred get the better of you not in my name or any other.'
"Shirahoshi…So that was why." Manboshi said
Ryuboshi said "All these years…and not a word."
"Our mother's final wish, you've kept it deep in your heart till today." Fukaboshi summed it all up "Closed in the tower, you've carried this burden all alone, your foolish brothers blissfully ignored it."
Shirahoshi couldn't hold back the tears for much longer but was still resilient to not cry in front of her family.
Meanwhile Jinbe just had his mouth open out of shock of the princess determination to her mother's wish.
'She suffered in silence, even knowing that her mother's killer ran free. Despite my loyalty to the Queen, I could not feather such forgiveness, I would not have the strength to keep my word…and yet she was true to her oath, you truly honored your mother's legacy, Princess Shirahoshi.'
"Naruto….I'm sorry." Shirahoshi couldn't face the blonde boy who just sat there listening to all of this "You….suffered all of this because of me…."
Jinbe swiftly turned to where Naruto was as he just sat there.
"before you came into our lives….you never had a home….you never had a mother….friends….and all of that was taken away from you because I couldn't tell this to anyone…I'm truly sorry Naruto for ruining everything." Shirahoshi apologized.
The islanders couldn't feel anymore guilty as they now were, their princess had to apologize for the acts they all committed in running Naruto out of Fishmen Island.
Naruto then made his move and stood up and walked towards where jinbe was.
"Huh?" Hordy saw what he was doing.
He puts a hand on Jinbe's back and patted it twice, he then patted Shirahoshi twice on her tail and then just walked away. He started walking back to the tunnel where he came out from.
"Hey, where's he going?"
Jinbe turns his neck "Naruto, stop!" he just kept walking "Naruto, don't do it!"
Naruto entered the tunnel and did not face back.
Hordy laughs "Hahaha!
Jinbe turns back and demanded "Stop laughing, you fool!"
"I can't help it! This is hard right comical!" he turns to the shark "Megalo!"
The shark shrieked.
"There was nothing to stop you from shouting to the top of your lungs that day and let everyone know I was the one responsible for killing Otohime. So thank you for keeping your mouth shut!" he points at Shirahoshi "and for choosing this pathetic fool of a girl as the only keeper. If you told anyone else we wouldn't never get to this point. So in reality, you also helped get rid of the human brat you once played with and befriended."
Megalo gritted his teeth while looking down.
Hordy then turns to the princess "Convenient though it was, where I came from we call actions like yours idiotic. Your kingdom is about to fall and all because of a meaningless promise to a dead woman. Sure you honored your word but now you, your family and your subjects are all going to die. I hope it was worth it, Shirahoshi. Because of your secret, the only person who is able to fight just left after hearing you did NOTHING to prove his innocence."
"Don't listen to that murderer, your majesty." Jinbe said to the princess "Believe me, you've done nothing wrong!"
"hahahaha Not just wrong but incredible stupid!" Hordy laughed exclaiming before creating water arrows and turning to the male members of the Royal family "SHARK ARROWS!"
Naruto walked slowly towards the others who approach him with Katara confronting him "What are you doing!? They're going to kill him!"
Naruto didn't respond as he walks over to the two members of his crew who were missing "Shikamaru…Chouji."
They both descended from the shadow and both replied "Naruto."
"You'll wait for my command from the other side. Get everyone to the rooftops. When that's done, let the detonators explode."
"Naruto! Are you even listening," Katara pointed out "They're shouting your name out! Go help them!"
"I'm not the one who will save the kings life."
This surprised those who were close enough to hear him.
Naruto's eyes then turned out to have that 'look' "Because I'm the one who will focus on Hordy."
Hordy stood over body of the badly injured King Neptune as he was about to behead him.
Neptune's last words were "I've….failed….Naruto….I forgive you."
"Farewell." Hordy said as he started to swing his sword towards the neck of the bearded king in front of a hysterical Shirahoshi.
"Luffy…..please…I NEED YOU! SAVE MY FATHER!"
"YAAAAH!"
BONG!
Hordy stopped the sword just an inch from Neptune's neck after hearing that sound and he turns to where it came from.
Megalo was holding his mouth closed as he was being punched from the inside, after a while he then opens his mouth, releasing a big stream of saliva in front of him with relief.
But then Hordy wasn't quick enough when he was kicked in the gut by a human pirate whose body was steaming and wore a straw hat.
The kick was so powerful it threw Hordy back into a wall, destroying it.
"ITS STRAW HAT LUFFY!" was the universal reaction of the pirates and islanders.
"Luffy, I thought I told you to wait, but I suppose there was no choice." Jinbe said in relief before shouting "Come out, all of you right now!"
One of the lieutenants questioned "What does he mean? I don't see anybody here."
"We were prepared for this in the beginning." The fishmen wondered where that came from and then saw Nami appearing out of nowhere.
She was holding her weapon and stood behind Luffy who was facing the other side "Mirage, release."
"Wha! Where did you come from you scared me-hi!" the multiple armed fishmen said.
Nami pulled out a paper "Is this it? The letter of the Celestial Dragons?"
"That's it! Excellent work!" Jinbe shouted. From the sidelines the pirates who were supposed to hold unto the letter realized they were pickpocketed "Also I gave the key to Robin."
"Ah, damn it!"
The locks of the three princes and king fell off "Hey, we're free!"
Soon Shirahoshi's chains were unlocked also and she saw who it was "It's Robin."
Robin stood beneath her and smiled.
"Hey, look up in the sky! What is that?" One of the Fishmen said pointing at two figures that were falling from the sky.
"A whale…and a lion?"
"No, that's not it!" the pirate realized what it was "It's a…pirate ship"
Franky smiled as he found his target "Fire!"
A beam fired directly from the mouth of the Sunny into the wall behind the royal family, destroying the wall, causing many of the pirates to flee or flown away due the impact. The Sunny then landed right next to the princess, taking out a few pirates who tried to flee.
"Go!" Franky ordered as the whale went on and grabbed the royal family and quickly took off before one of the lieutenants could lay a hit on them.
This all surprised the islanders "I never thought he'd actually show up."
"Hey, look!" the guy next said pointing at the ship "that's…."
"Woaw, that's a pretty big crowd they have up there." Chopper said in his four legged form.
Usopp grabbed the rail "This is nuts, are we fighting a whole army now?"
"I guess so," Sanji commented "Looks about eighty thousand guys, no, hundred thousand maybe…"
"Yohohoh, that's a bear bone operation there." Brook joked.
"You might as well take a nap curly brows," Zoro said taunting the cook "I can handle these chumps."
"Aren't naps your thing?" from behind stood Franky who just crossed his arms with a smile on his cyborg face.
"This is about to be fun, there's a lot of ass to kick, so let's party!"
One of the islanders pointed "Look, it's the rest of the Straw hats, they're getting of the ship."
Luffy walked back to his crew as they started to walk towards him while the islanders started to ask numerous questions.
"Hey, Straw Hat Luffy! Is it true you are the brother of Naruto?"
"Why did you take over the palace?! Did you want to kill the royal family yourselves?!"
"Were you the ones who brought the kidnapper here before he was caught?"
"Come on Straw Hat, at least you could do is say something. Are you guys supposed to be our friends or our enemy?"
"Explain yourself Straw Hat!"
The last chains were dropped that belonged to Jinbe who rubbed his hands as he stood in the middle of the Straw Hat pirates making one of their infamous intros.
"Friends or enemies huh?" Luffy questioned before turning around and putting his hat on.
Zoro.
Sanji.
Nami.
Usopp.
Robin.
Chopper.
Brook.
Franky.
And lastly Luffy all stood there in the middle "Cuz I would say, it's up to you."
Watching from a window in the walls, the guy patted the his partner on the back "Do it."
"Ka-boom."
A fishman pirate noticed a cord going straight around him and it lead towards a rock.
His eyes widened and he tried to warn his friends "Get down!"
*click*
BOOM!
Loads of fishmen pirates were caught in the explosion and or were blasted away.
Usopp was taken back "What the- Franky!"
"That wasn't me, I swear!"
(Music, Apocalypse #1 Battlefield 1)
The a series of explosions occurred along the side, taking out scores of fishmen pirates who were unfortunate to stand close to it.
Jinbe nervously looked around and saw that all the gates were destroyed and flames rose up from the impacted explosion, all but one exit where the flames were blocking the entrance.
"What…what happened?" the hammer holding fishman demanded
"The place is bobby trapped, and we walked right into it! How come nobody checked this area?! The purple fishman said after seeing this.
"Take out those flames!"
Shirahoshi was frightened by the explosions that occurred around her and saw nothing.
PING!
She then slowly turns to where the biggest flames were and saw that a person was walking through it with behind him, a person wielding a flamethrower and a woman wielding a revolver in both hands.
The flames separated and there stood Naruto, not holding his blade but only his hands, and next him stood Nojiko holding her revolvers and then there was Flamer, spraying around with his flamethrower while wearing his breathing mask.
"it's Naruto! He came back!"
Jinbe turned back and saw for himself but then shrieked.
"Naruto….did you?"
Shirahoshi eyes widened by what she saw, by the looks of it. Was it Naruto who?….
One of the lieutenants thought "Is he responsible for this?..."
Naruto just kept walking while gaining the stares and shocked expressions from the public, but if they looked closely enough, his eyes were filled with something that only a few have experience seeing from the boy.
Hatred.
Usopp looked scared "Guys, is it me or has this guy have a look in his eyes I don't like."
Chopper gulped "Nope."
"Whatever this is, it's chilling my spine."Brook was reeling.
Sanji narrowed his eyes "That guy's not messing around."
Zoro lazily raised his eyebrow "Let's see what he has..."
"That explosion surely took out a whole lot of them, this guy is for real." Franky commented.
Nami and Robin could only stare in sorrow for what they were witnessing.
And Luffy, he was seeing this all over again, he remembers Marineford and the promise he made to Jinbe "I won't let it happen."
From the sidelines. Madam Shyarly saw what was happening, the flames, the bodies and Naruto walking through it.
This was her vision, Naruto wasn't planning to destroy Fishmen Island, instead it was something worse from her viewpoint.
He was out to get revenge.
FUCK my fingers are in pain, you guys better put some reviews in here because I'm in need of some nice ones!
have a great day!