Okay, so I know I said I would update in April and it's currently the 1st of May. We can now all agree that I don't do deadlines, even when I try.
Headsup! The update schedule is every monday, but I'm really terribly busy for the next three months and I might forget to update. If I am tardy with the update, tell me so!
Part 11; One of Us
Chapter 1/5; Initiate battle! Straw hat pirates VS. Arlong's pirates
Josack and Johnny sat side by side outside the closed gates to Arlong's Park. Josack was thinking that maybe their heads got a little big sometimes and getting beaten was a good reminder to stay grounded. Blood was dripping into the collar of his shirt and it was starting to itch where it dried in places, but he was still too riled to wipe it away.
Johnny's jaws were moving, clenching and unclenching as he chewed on nothing; a nervous habit that gave away his guilt. Today he had learnt an important lesson; don't jump to conclusions. At least not until you have some more facts. Johnny had managed to keep track on Usopp, had followed him on a distance and stayed hidden from fishmen as well as people. There was no telling if the people were obligated to report strangers arriving to the island, so the bounty hunter had thought it best to stay out of sight. He had seen Usopp with a beautiful young woman who had tried to stand up against Arlong before Usopp attacked the fishman. Following Usopp from there had been impossible, but Johnny had enough brains to figure out that if the boy would be captured he would be taken to Arlong's Park, so Johnny had gone straight there.
It made sense now. Now that he and Josack had doubled back after leaving Zoro and heard the entire story from the mouth of Nami's older foster sister.
Nami hadn't murdered Usopp; she had saved his life.
The bounty hunters had gone straight to Arlong's Park, intent on attacking the fishmen and avenge Nami's years as Arlong's pet. Only on their way there they had seen Nami heading for the park as well. The men had hidden and followed her to the same window Johnny had used to see Usopp's "murder" before. What they had learnt made things even worse.
Arlong had bought the marines and used them to strip Nami of every beli she had collected. But Arlong hadn't broken his promise. Nami couldn't fight that and had run off, wiping angry tears.
The sight of Nami's despair had been last drop. Josack and Johnny had jumped over the wall and attacked.
The element of surprise hadn't helped at all.
"Hey Johnny?"
"What?"
"We're waiting for Ruffy no aneki, right?"
The other looked up. He could feel in the earth he sat on the fall of many feet. He had more or less expected this. The people of Cocoyashi village hadn't been happy under Arlong's rule and Nami had been one of them as a child. He figured they knew about Nami's sacrifices and was enduring the humiliation and fear because of her. After all, you can't hide anything in a tiny village.
"It would surprise me if the villagers of Cocoyashi didn't keep their eyes open, aibou. They know Arlong has betrayed Nami no aneki."
"So that's why they sound so angry," the other man smiled weakly.
"That's why we are here now; to stop those who Nami no aneki suffered for from doing something stupid."
Josack nodded solemnly. It was okay for them; hardened bounty hunters and strangers to take on Arlong's pirates. It was okay for Ruffy no aneki and her crew pick a fight. It wasn't okay for villagers, ordinary civilians, to hurt Nami further by dying.
So when the mob arrived with their grim faces and white-knuckled grip on their swords and other weapons of choice, Josack and Johnny glared at them and crossed their own swords.
The man in the lead was dressed as a local policeman, the exposed skin covered with scars and had eyes darkened with age and rage over a sharp hawk nose.
"What happened to you? Did Arlong do this?"
The men by the gate didn't budge. Josack placed his hand on his katana, just in case these people got it into their heads to manhandle them out of the way.
"We challenged the fishmen to apologize to Nami no aneki. We were a hair from victory," Johnny offered as an explanation for the blood and bruises.
"We heard everything about what's happened on this island," Josack filled in. "We don't have the right to look Nami no aneki in the eyes ever again."
The policeman looked grim. "Please step aside, we have business to settle with the fishmen."
"No, you don't," Johnny stated where he sat cross-legged on the ground with his back rod straight. "I'm sorry, but we can't let you through. Not when you don't stand a chance at surviving."
"We are waiting for them. The pirates who will undoubtedly come soon," Josack clarified, hand tightening on the handle of his sword.
"Them? Pirates?" The policeman looked lost.
"Yes. Them," the bounty hunters said and looked past the mob.
The villagers started to turn, following the gazes of the two men guarding the gates.
Nojiko, who had been patched up by the village doctor and joined the mob, couldn't believe her eyes. Up the road walked a group of four. She recognized Usopp and the two men who had been with him earlier when she went to explain things to them. Before marines had turned up at her house looking for the money Nami had raised. Before those same marines had shot Nojiko down for resisting.
They were led by a short girl with black hair and golden eyes. If it wasn't for the sense of power in the girl's gaze Nojiko would have believed it was a sick joke.
The group walked past the villagers, never taking their eyes off the gate. The men who had stopped the mob took their swords and stepped aside. That's when the golden-eyed girl surprised everyone; she pulled her fist back and…
Nojiko had expected a bang. Expected a furious knocking. Nobody had expected the gates to fly off their hinges.
"Which one of you is named Arlong?" the girl asked with a powerful voice that had Nojiko's heart shiver the same way it did when the fishmen threatened her. This small girl; she was dangerous.
"Arlong?" the familiar voice of the giant fishman sounded calm, but not very happy. "That would be my name."
"My name is Rayla," the girl introduced herself as she stepped forward, the three men with her waiting at the gate for now.
"I see, Rayla. What are you?"
"Pirate."
Nojiko saw Arlong's expression just before her view was covered by a couple of other fishmen getting in the girl's… in Rayla's way.
"Has she eaten lately?" asked the man beside her, the one with the green hair and haramaki.
"Twice since I last saw you," the blond answered as he butted his cigarette.
The fishmen trying to stop Rayla's straight trek towards Arlong yowled in pain and jumped away, holding their throats and gagging. Nojiko once again had a free sight of the angry captain of the fishmen. It made her blood run cold seeing how relaxed the big fishman seemed despite his obvious snarling.
"So? What business does Rayla the pirate have with me?"
Instead of answering, the girl once again drew back her fist and just like the gate; Arlong was sent flying. The wall he was sent into was made of brick. The townspeople who watched all gaped like fishes as Arlong's heavy body not only made a dent in the wall; it cracked and large chunks fell outwards, leaving an irregular window to the greenery on the other side.
"Is this a dream?" Nojiko whispered. She had seen the fishmen crush rock before, but had never experienced that kind of strength belonging to a human. A female human no less. Arlong was almost three times the girl's size. How could she possibly send Arlong flying with enough force to crack rock?
Ruffy was almost too pissed to conjure up enough brains to talk. "My navigator was crying. You're going down."
All around her the rest of Arlong's crew started forward, angered at the attack on their captain.
"Small fry can stay out of this!"
Ruffy turned to the black-dressed body of Sanji landing lightly beside her, smiling faintly as he fought his impulse to step in front of Ruffy. She couldn't help but feel proud of him. Sanji understood she didn't need his protection. The one they were here to save was Nami and nobody else.
"Don't hog all the prey, captain," Sanji said and tried to sound offended.
"I-I-I don't pa-pa-particularly mind if you ho-hog them all!" Usopp stammered behind them.
"You knees are shaking," Zoro commented over his shoulder as he stepped up to Ruffy's other side.
The fishmen were growling amongst themselves, pointing at Zoro and Usopp. Arlong was smirking. His heartbeat sounded angry, but his was several degrees cooler than Ruffy's.
"You measly humans," Arlong called out. "From the very beginning you came for Nami."
It was not a question.
"You fools! As if Arlong should lift a finger for the likes of you!" An octopus fishman yelled and grabbed the base of his long, trumpet-like mouth and made a series of toots.
Ruffy tilted her head slightly. The fishmen were stepping away from them, clearing the area between the pool and the building. Their faces were grinning and swords and tridents glimmered in the afternoon light. Funny, both Sun and Almen had said fishmen rarely turned to blades, preferring their inherited strength unless their opponent was armed. Among them Zoro was the only one. Shodai was still on Merry.
Behind her she could hear the frightened heartbeats of Usopp and the villagers she'd passed before entering the park, but couldn't tell what scared them.
"COME OUT, MOHMOO!" the octopus yelled demandingly.
The sea cow Ruffy, Sanji and Josack had encountered earlier that day lifted its head out of the water, silencing everyone with a sad whine.
The octopus stood still, taking in the bruises, the ropes tied around Mohmoo's horns, the big bump on its head and the pathetic face.
"So that cow really was yours, huh?" Ruffy said conversationally.
"I keep telling you it is a hippo," Sanji protested.
"IT'S A MONSTER FROM GRAND LINE!" Usopp cried.
Lifting his gaze from Hachi, Mohmoo flinched at the sight of the ones who had been so mean to him before. He cried and turned around, not wanting to bump heads with those two again. Their hits hurt!
Flabbergasted at their pet's sudden retreat Hachi started dancing on the spot. "Hey, wait a minute! Mohmoo, where are you going? Come back! What happened?!"
Another voice cut through the air. "Mohmoo. The hell do you think you're doing?"
The young sea king immediately froze at the icy tone.
Arlong grinned hungrily. "Well, if you're going to run away, I'm not going to stop you. So what will you do, Mohmoo?"
The sea cow made up his mind. Those two might be scary and their little fists might hurt, but that was nothing compared to Arlong-sama's teeth. So he turned and attacked the tiny humans.
The fishmen erupted in battle cries and followed the young sea king's example. Zoro and Sanji both crouched, prepared to take them on.
But Ruffy huffed in annoyance. "Leave them to me. Damn waste of time."
The captain of the straw hats stopped the sea cow's assault with a punch on the muzzle, earning a pained yelp, and grabbed a hold of its nose ring. She was pulling up a lot of strength from within, but it was fuelled with anger, the image of Nami's crying face, her broken heart causing Ruffy to near lose her mind.
"Come on, we better get out of here!" Zoro yelled and pulled at a surprised Sanji's arm.
"What? Why?"
"Ruffy and her stupid strength!" Usopp yelled back, already way ahead of his friends.
Sanji stumbled to follow. He knew Ruffy was strong, but what could she possibly do about… He started running with more urgency, ducking his head when he saw his newly assigned captain lift the hippo out of the water and spin around with it, taking down everything and everyone standing too close. "Stupid strength" apparently wasn't an exaggeration on Usopp's part.
Ruffy released her hold of the sea king's nose ring, unconcerned about which way it flew.
"I don't care who you are, but stay out of my way. The only one I want to send flying," she turned blazing gold eyes at the captain of the fishmen "is you, Arlong!"
The fishman himself was shaking. "How fitting," he growled, lips pulled back in a snarl. "I was just thinking how badly I want to kill you."
Ruffy struggled to breathe, trying not to let it show. The necklace felt so tight oxygen couldn't fit through her throat. Then Usopp's fist came down on her head.
"Are you out of your mind?! You almost took down us too!"
"Ah." Ruffy tried to move as she rubbed the stinging spot on her head. Usopp had put quite some strength behind that punch.
Sanji walked up to them on slightly weak knees. "I hate to agree with the long-nose, Ruffy. My heart would appreciate it if you could warn me of your power-performances in the future."
Zoro just sighed and stepped past his captain, prepared to take the first hit since his crew-mates were so busy.
Three fishmen, one of them familiar as it was the octopus Zoro had met before. He didn't look quite as friendly anymore and the swordsman could sympathise, but he had no mercy to spare. In fact, he could probably compete with Ruffy in anger at the moment; he was pissed. These guys kept spewing nonsense about strength and races and whatever, Zoro couldn't care less; they were big men who had taken a little girl and forced her to do their bidding with a whole island as hostage.
As a man of honour, Zoro took that a little too personally.
"The bosses are on the way," the swordsman warned his mates.
"Hey, guys. I have a problem," Ruffy started.
Zoro kept his eyes on the enemy, leaving Ruffy's problem, whatever it was, to Usopp as the cook stepped up beside Zoro.
In front of them the octopus… (what was his name? Hachi?) Zoro ignored the thought and narrowed his eyes in suspicion as the octopus folded into himself. The way the other two gave him room it was probably a safe guess he was about to throw the first punch.
"Zero field of vision. Takohachi black!"
Zoro and Sanji's eyes widened and they gracelessly jumped out of the way, not at all prepared for the octopus to spit ink at them. In hindsight, Sanji thought he should have realized something like that was possible.
But Ruffy didn't dodge and the ink hit her head on.
"My eyes! I can't see!" she shrieked and furiously rubbed her face.
"Ruffy you dumbass, why didn't you dodge?" Zoro sputtered, thoroughly flabbergasted. He'd seen his captain catch cannon balls, he knew for a fact she had good reflexes. So why?
"I can't," the girl said and wiggled. "My foot is stuck."
Zoro, Usopp and Sanji's gazes fell. It was true; Ruffy's left foot was firmly planted in the rock floor.
"When she threw the hippo," Sanji realized.
"It was so heavy she got stuck," Zoro finished with a groan.
"Why didn't you say anything right away?" Usopp cried.
Sanji turned and was surprised to see the long-nose standing so far away. Hadn't he been right behind them?
Usopp was waving his arms and dancing around. "Ruffy! Watch out! The octopus! Get away!"
The octopus had picked up a rather large piece of rock that had probably been part of the shading roof Ruffy had knocked down with the hippo earlier, and the way he posed before Sanji's captain it was obvious what he intended to do with it. Ruffy was still blinded.
Sanji jumped forward and met the attack with a heel-kick, effectively breaking the rock apart and saving Ruffy from getting crushed. "Why did I decide to join your crew," he sighed.
"Oh, Sanji. You saved me."
Ruffy sounded surprised, but the cook was happy to also hear a hint of gratefulness and relief in there. "Sure," he said and took a drag of his cigarette, then he smirked. "Well, I guess following you is a hundred times better than shitheads that harms ladies."
"You're not half-bad," the grey fishman to the right told Sanji with a surprised look but disgusted tilt on his mouth. "Sprouting such chivalrous lines however, that's pathetic for a pirate."
Sanji just shrugged. He had heard a lot worse as a child. "Try me then," he challenged calmly. "Try and see if my chivalrousness is pathetic, little fishman. I was raised by pirates after all."
His opponent huffed in annoyance. "Seems you don't understand the might of us fishmen."
Usopp had sneaked forward, handed Ruffy a handkerchief to wipe her face while he started pulling at her leg.
"Usopp, that hurts," Ruffy said with a hiss.
"Oh, for the love of…" Usopp abandoned pulling and fished out a hammer from his satchel. It was the only thing he could think of that would hopefully break the rock enough for Ruffy to pull free.
A shadow fell over him.
"You think you can just play around in Arlong's Park!" the octopus yelled, holding another piece of rock ready to crush both Usopp and Ruffy.
Usopp threw his hands in the air and ran, until he heard Zoro's calm voice provoking the fishman's attention onto him instead. The sniper drew a breath of relief and gave his crewmate a sign of approval.
"Okay Zoro, you take the octopus and I…" he looked at his hands. Hadn't he been holding a hammer a moment ago?
A heavy chunk sounded and Usopp looked up. The fishman with the pouty mouth was holding his head, and by his feet lay Usopp's hammer.
With widening eyes the teen realized he'd thrown the hammer in the air before and his unbelievable luck had brought it right down on the third fishman.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as the tallest of the fishmen glared at him.
"You seem eager to die, chu!"
Usopp turned his tail and bolted at top speed, screaming his head off while he was at it. Running straight out of Arlong's Park, past the villagers and… The villagers! Usopp dug his heels into the ground and turned. Just like he suspected the fishman had stopped and was now threatening the people outside the broken gate.
"Shit," he cursed and dug around in his satchel. "FLAME STAR!"
It hit the other pirate square in the face. It had worked well to rile Arlong before. Usopp figured it would work just as well on this guy.
"Don't get distracted, fish-face! I'm your opponent!"
Yup, it worked. The fishman came after him with a promise of death and Usopp ran, hoping to come up with any kind of plan because if that guy got his hands on him he'd tear Usopp into shreds!
At the gates stood a mob of stunned Cocoyashi villagers. It was difficult to decide what to make of the current situation. The better part of the fishmen were downed, their pet monster was down and now these people were… fighting Arlong's officers? Well, the boy who'd just passed them was a little uncertain. He had sounded bold when he spoke, but he ran faster than a hare.
Inside Arlong's Park, Arlong had raised.
"Arlong, please," Kuroobi said with a sigh. "We asked you not to go berserk."
"I won't," the big fishman promised. "I just want to make it more interesting."
"Come over here, Arlong! I'll beat you to a pulp!" the little girl stuck in the floor growled and jerked to get out of her prison, stomping with her free foot. It was laughable and Arlong didn't even pause at her threat.
"Pathetic humans. Do you really think you can defeat us?"
"Yes we do," the blond man said with a near pleasant smile.
"Of course we can!" the girl howled furiously.
"You got something to say?" Zoro asked.
Arlong's smirk widened as he got within hitting range of the girl and easily caught her wrist as she tried to punch… he almost froze as he realized where the girl had aimed. That would have actually hurt.
"Not at all," he answered Zoro's question and jabbed his fingers into the rock without releasing the girl's fist. He had enough strength in his fingers to dig up a chunk of the floor that was probably big enough to be called overkill, but Arlong wanted to see these people sweat and this girl seemed to be the ringleader. "Let's play a game," he told the men. "I don't care how well you swim normally, Rayla the pirate, but with this extra weight you'll sink like a stone." He couldn't help but laugh at his own joke.
"Bastard! Shattering fist!"
Arlong caught the girl's punch between his teeth… and choked, jaws opening enough for Rayla to pull her arm out of his mouth. What was that punch? It felt like she knocked a hole through his head!
She was pulling her fist back again and Arlong quickly threw her away from him, rock and all, into the water.
The two humans panicked. Good, anxious opponents were easier prey and Arlong chuckled as he made his way over to a fallen pillar, discreetly rubbing his throat when his back was turned. That girl; she'd fought fishmen before. She knew where to hit in order to hurt. It was a smart move to get rid or her first. She might have caused some real damage if she hadn't been so stupid.
Zoro's heart was racing. He had to save Ruffy and fast. He had no idea how deep the water was here or how well he would be able to swim the way his body was betraying him. But they couldn't dive in, not when the water was their opponents' home ground. The hot-headed cook however didn't think that far.
"I'll save her!"
"You can't!" Zoro yelled and grabbed his arm. It pulled at the wound, but Zoro bit down on the pain. "They're just waiting for us to jump into the water. We'll have to play by their rules for now."
"Kick the shit out of them here on land before Ruffy drowns you mean? Got it."
'Good,' Zoro thought and charged at the octopus. "I'll clean up in five seconds."
"A game, a game," Hachi sang and spit another shower of ink. Zoro just barely managed to avoid it, change swords arm and took a swing at the octopus's head.
He missed. The only thing he managed to get was a few tufts of that spiky hair.
"My hair!" Hachi yelled and bent backwards. He really didn't have bones then? "Why you! Now I'm… not at all mad," he finished with a childish huff. "It was only the hair. It'll grow back out."
"Gee, good for you," Zoro shot back sarcastically as he tried to stand. He had to hurry. Ruffy wouldn't be able to hold it for long and they needed her in this fight.
On the other side of the pool Sanji caught sight of the swordsman. He didn't know the full severity of Zoro's wounds but it was clear he was far from the top of his game.
"That shithead, he's too hurt to fight," the cook hissed and just barely dodged a hit that would probably have separated his head from his shoulders.
"Eyes forward or you die," warned the fishman, Sanji could only guess what kind he was with those wings on his arms. Some kind of ray?
"A shitty fish shouldn't challenge a sea-cook," Sanji snarled and kicked out, only to be blocked. Those wings were hard. Could be both bone and muscle. Either way they were annoying as they worked perfectly to block Sanji's kicks and the fishman's guard was too good. Damn, they had to finish fast! Ruffy was drowning, dammit!
Outside the gates Josack and Johnny were trying to decide what to do. Ruffy no aneki had already been underwater for a half a minute and the fishmen were milking time like mad.
"This can't go on. They will never get to Ruffy no aneki in time before she drowns. We have to get her!" Josack hissed, hoping the fishmen would be too busy to hear.
"We can dive into the ocean down the wall and swim to Ruffy no aneki from there," Johnny suggested.
"Right."
Behind them, Genzo stepped forward. "You boys stay here," he ordered harshly, hitting them low on the spines. It was enough to bring the youngsters to their knees. "You two are too wounded. Those guys can smell your blood in the water. Leave that girl to me."
"Me too," Nojiko insisted.
Gen frowned bitterly as more people volunteered. "No," he told them firmly. "If we're too many the fishmen will definitely notice. If we get in the way of these kids' fight everything's over. I have to go alone. Hige-san, please give me your sledge hammer. I need it to break the stone."
"Of course, Gen-san," the old blacksmith readily agreed and swapped his old sledge for Genzo's sword.
"It's alright with you, boys?" the old police asked the bounty hunters.
Johnny hung his head. "Yeah, thank you."
"Please hurry, old man," Josack urged.
Genzo nodded and was about to turn away when Nojiko positively stomped up to him. "I'm going too, Gen-san."
"But your wounds…"
"Those people are fighting for my little sister!"
The look in her eyes painfully reminded Genzo of someone else. A stubborn, headstrong woman who had always fought for what she believed in.
'Bellemere, your daughters are turning out to be exactly like you,' he thought with a sigh. "Come quick then," he said out loud.
Inside Arlong's Park Zoro was ready to snap. Not only was the octopus annoyingly stupid, he'd also jumped onto a pillar way out of Zoro's reach and was now stuck there, hanging upside down.
"Come down and fight like a man, fucking ink-face," Zoro spat.
"I heard you use three swords," Hachi said happily, sounding curious. "Why are you only using one now?"
"Because one is good enough to kill you!" the swordsman howled.
"Not true!" the octopus yelled indignantly. "I haven't even started to fight seriously!"
Zoro couldn't hear him properly. His fever was going up at a worrying rate, his vision was blurry and blood was rushing in his ears.
He closed his eyes, only for a second to rest his eyes and regain his focus, so he was surprised to feel the world tilt and he met the floor with a painful thud that rattled his brain. All around him there were noises, voices. He heard the annoying cook some ways away. But he was still fighting and Ruffy was still drowning. He had to save her. Right away Zoro had to pull her out of the water or she would drown.
The image of Ruffy when she'd fallen overboard on Merry a few weeks ago filled Zoro's vision to the point he could feel her cold skin.
"Get crushed, Lolonoa Zoro!" the octopus yelled from beside him.
Zoro couldn't really focus, but he heard rock breaking above him. On his other side was the back of the damned ink-face.
The swordsman grabbed the collar of his opponent, used him to get up and throw him back at the same time. "Get crushed yourself, idiot," he growled.
Behind him the sound of rocks on rocks and flesh filled the air, but the world was closing in on him. The fever, the wounds.
"Damn! Why now?" he demanded when his legs refused to carry him.
"What is your burden?"
Zoro's eyes snapped open. Burden?
"What are you seeking beyond the limits of your strength, you weak man?"
Something in those words. There was something in those words that pointed out something very important.
Zoro let his mind relax for a moment, let a calm wash over him. Beyond the limit of his strength. Anger dulled the blade. The strength of the fishmen. Technique.
Nami.
"Nami can't fight with brute strength."
Ruffy's words echoed with the strangest flash of insight. At the moment Zoro was weak, so obviously he couldn't fight with all his strength. Brute force wasn't the answer.
In his hand Kuina's sword urged him to stand up and fight.
"One day you or I will be the number one swordsman in the world!"
Zoro wanted to laugh. Kuina didn't have to remind him. He'd already promised Ruffy; he would never lose again.
Behind him the annoying fishman jumped out of the rubble. "I am Hachi of six swords, the second best swordsman of the Fishman Islands! A human would never defeat me if so Heaven flipped and became Earth! Nyuuu…" The octopus's voice ended on a surprised note. Not that Zoro cared about him. He was just a bump in the road.
"Six swords, huh? Don't make me laugh," the human swordsman growled and pushed himself up. It took a lot of effort against his fever and the pain from his wounds. Who cared? He had a captain to save and promises to keep. "I'm warning you, fish-face. There is a man out there I have to meet again. Until then not even Grim Reaper can claim my life."
He was smirking as if he was having fun as he looked up, straightening his spine and finding his centre.
"Josack, Johnny," he called without taking his eyes off his miffed opponent. "Lend me your souls, your swords. I'll show you all my three-sword style!"