"And so that's the plan," Run finishes, staring at the men gathered in front of him. "Any-"
"Gaon Cannon!" screams Franky seconds before a deafening boom echos out. Run closes his eyes and takes slow deep breath.
"-Questions?" The whale that has been accompanying their flight, goes sailing through the air rapidly. It swoops down through the air, disappearing from sight before reappearing quickly with the Princes and King Neptune all in tow. There's a lurch and everyone grabs tight to the railing of the Sunny as their ship crashes down to the ground and slowly slides to a stop. For any normal ship it might have meant the end of it's sailing days, but for a ship built by Franky...it wouldn't even scratch the paint.
Chopper stares over the railing of the Sunny at the group of Fishmen gathered. "Whoa," breaths Chopper. "Look at how many people are here!"
"Oh, boy," adds Usopp. "Those are all our enemies, right?"
"Must be around...seventy...maybe eighty-thousand," mutters Sanji. "No. Gotta be at least a hundred-thousand."
"Yohoho~!" laughs Brook. "My, this might be a little tough!"
"Huh," grunts Zoro. "You guys can go take a nap or something, if you want. I'll take care of things."
"Really?" retorts Run. "Sobered up enough for that now, Zoro?"
"Care to find out, Red?"
"Now, now, boys!" laughs Franky. "Let's save it for them! I can't wait to go wild!" They all quickly leap the railing of the Sunny and calmly start walking towards Shirahoshi, Jinbi and Luffy. Voices begin to call from the once silent crowd, demanding answers for their actions. Everyone gathered wants to know if their Captain plans to destroy the Island, if he planned to assault the palace and if he was involved in the kidnapping of some mermaids. All in all, everyone wants to know if they're friend or foe.
"Friend or foe?" echos Luffy. "Won't all of you just have to decide that for yourselves?" Luffy turns to look at Jinbei. "Did I do a good enough job?"
"Things didn't go exactly according to plan," retorts Jinbe. "But it really couldn't be helped, considering the circumstances." The plan was a surprisingly simple one. One of the crew, Luffy as it turned out, would hide in Megalo's stomach in wait. While doing that, Jinbe and Megalo would go and get themselves caught by the New Fishman Pirates. While they were distracted by Jinbe another one of the crew would sneak in and steal the letter that Queen Otohime had acquired at the risk of her life from the Would Nobles. Jinbe would then call for help and Luffy would spring out to assist him. Once the people saw a Human and Fishman working together they should rally to their side.
"You know," begins Run. "For seeing their Captain beaten down...those guys don't seem to be too worried."
"It's certainly odd," agrees Robin.
"Here," says Nami, holding a letter out to Shirahoshi. "The letter from the World Nobles." Shirahoshi takes it quickly, holding the small paper carefully in her large hands.
"Thank you all so much," replies Shirahoshi. "This letter is the last hope for Fishman Island that my mother left behind."
"We should think about how to get Shirahoshi out of here," Luffy tells Jinbei. "It's not safe around here." Shirahoshi looks over at their Captain quickly. It seems she's surprised that he's decided to use her name now. "It's not like I know everything about what's going on but you're not as timid as I thought, after all."
"It's understandable why someone would hate those they believe wronged them," begins Robin. "That man...that's exactly what he's doing."
"A real coward could never have been so strong," adds Nami. "A coward could never have borne such hardship on her own for so long."
"I'm sorry," whispers Shirahoshi. "I caused you trouble by keeping it secret."
"That's fine," Jinbei assures her. "I like you just the way you are. There's no passing on hatred to the younger generation this way. That's what those brave hero's were trying to teach us. There is a small sprout that blossomed in your heart. If all the people on this island share it and think the same as you do one day there will be no more fighting and the conflict between Humans and Fishmen will be over. I don't think the years you suffered through were useless. You must have been trying so hard to protect that small blossom so hard day after day. But let us protect it for you now!" Shirahoshi breaks down into tears several seconds after Jinbei has finished his speech.
"She may not be a coward but she certainly is a cry-baby," sighs Luffy. A loud crash follows Luffy's words and from a cloud of dust and smoke, Hordy Jones walks forward. A round of cheers erupt from the pirates gathered around as their Captain makes his appearance. He's changed significantly since most of the crew last laid saw him.
"Vander Decken is absolutely useless!" growls Hordy. "I needed him to get rid of Shirahoshi! She's the legendary Mermaid Princess with that troublesome power. Naturally, I needed her gone as soon as possible but...it seems like you people really tricked me, huh? I should have put it all together when Jinbei gave in with no resistance. Seems you're real good friends with these Humans, huh?! I despise people like you the most! Fisher Tiger who you grew up with in the Fishman District and Arlong who was like a brother to you, were both beaten or killed by Humans! But rather that seek revenge you chose to join hands with the Humans! You're as bad as Neptune! When I become King, I'll change everything! I'm going to attack this years World Summet! I'll kill the Human Kings from all over the world and our legend will begin! We'll enslave all the Humans in the world! No one will think of standing against Fishmen! Even the world of Pirates won't be safe! All Pirates will submit to us, the New Fishman Pirates! I'll be the one who becomes King of the Pirates, Straw Hat!"
"It won't work, Hordy," Run asserts. "The World Nobles...they'll send Admirals, and Pacifistas, and as many Navy ships as necessary to deal with you when you disrupt their way of life. You'll have to deal with the Yonko when you make things difficult for them. You can't fight the whole world, Hordy."
"What do you know, red hair?! You're just a band of eleven half-assed pirates! We have one-hundred thousand on our side! Kill them all, New Fishman Pirates!" Hearing his command, the Pirates surrounding them all roar loudly in response and begin charging forward towards them. This induces a panic in Chopper, Usopp and Brook all of whom are unsure whether they can actually do anything to combat one-hundred thousand enemies all at once. Naturally, Robin's joke about being squashed under foot before they can do anything upsets the three.
"One-hundred thousand is nothing!" proclaims Nami. Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Run all blink in surprise as they find her in their midst, using them as shields. "Bring it on!"
"Don't hide behind us!" demands Usopp. Everyone gets ready as the New Fishman Pirates swarm in. There's eleven of them...so each one of them will have to take down around nine-thousand on their own if they want to beat them all. With those thoughts in their mind, their Captain surprises them by calmly walking forward. The New Fishman Pirates all continue their charge forward, ignoring all reason and logic as they do. Luffy takes a deep breath and furrows his brow moments before unleashing a wave of Haoshoku Haki. Run's eyebrows raise in surprise, watching as nearly half of the pirates surrounding them all fall unconscious.
"That was Haoshoku," Robin whispers. "My, he's become quite strong over these last two years."
"He's a natural," agrees Run.
"Huh," Zoro grunts. "Just what I'd expect from my Captain. If he couldn't even do something like this then he needs to step down."
"You're Hordy, right?" Luffy questions. "I guess I really need to kick your ass, after all. You can call yourself King of whatever you want in any country...but there can be only ONE King of the Pirates, and it's absolutely gonna be me!" Even with Luffy's display of strength it takes only a few moments for the stunned Fishmen to come to their senses and begin their charge once more. They don't seem to care that they've lost half of their force in a single second.
"Luffy...I wish you left more than just fifty-thousand for me."
"Don't get so excited," retorts Sanji. "I'm going to take thirty-thousand of them, Moss Head." Rather than wait for them, Luffy starts the fight off by leaping into the air and unleashing a Giant Pistol into the charging crowd much to their complete shock.
"Guess we're going, then," mutters Run. He takes a single step forward, and to the eyes of the Fishmen seems to simply teleport through the air, appearing in their midst. "Churning Tide." There's a soft 'click!' and the Fishmen behind and in front of the red head freeze before all screaming out loudly as they're scattered. Large gashes crawl along the ground before racing past the red head into the crowd ahead of him as well. He raises his right hand as he watches them fall, pointing to each one calmly. "That's...one-hundred and six, Zoro, Sanji!" He glances back at the others, seeing them in the middle of displaying the results of their training over the last two years. "Huh. Not bad."
"Die, red hair!" shouts a voice from his side. "Your 230,000,000 Beil bounty is mine!" He turns his head in that direction just as a pair of arms sprout from the man's shoulder, and grasp his head. "H-Huh?" There's a loud 'crack!' and the man drops to the ground in front of him, his head twisted around to face his back.
"Don't get distracted, Run," Robin calls from the distance. The red head smiles sheepishly in response, and nods quickly. Now among them, he draws his saber quickly and moves forward. Light dances off the edge of the weapon as he carves a path of destruction through the rampaging Pirates leaving long strings of motionless bodies in his wake. Most have been struck in non-vital areas but they won't be getting back up for quite a while regardless. The New Fishmen Pirates are using all kinds of tricks to try to beat them. From iron shields to Sea Urchin like spikes to Mermen over-inflating their bubble rings to go air-born, and even attempted attacks on Shirahoshi, none of it seems to be of any use.
Robin unveils one of her new techniques as well, creating a gigantic copy of her legs to smash several charging pirates. It isn't until the New Fishmen Pirates start targeting Shirahoshi in earnest that Franky finally makes an entrance into the fray. With a loud roar and squealing of rubber on stone, Franky smashes through several Fishmen on some kind of strange motorbike.
"Black Rhino...FR-U-4!" screams Franky, wheeling around to stop in front of Robin. Luffy and Brook are instantly enthralled with Franky's newest creation. "It's super cool, isn't it?!" Even Run is impressed with his creation, a smirk appearing on his face. He can't help but want to take it for a spin.
"Damn it!" screams a large Fishman. "I'll stop that thing if it's the last thing I do! Steel vs. Steel!" He rapidly whips around a flail, aiming at the nose of the motorbike. Of course, before he can swing the flail at Franky and his bike, he's struck from behind by yet another one of Franky's creations. It rolls on metal tracks, and seems to be a vehical built around a large cannon. Chopper pops out of the top through a hatch which is emblazoned with their jolly-roger.
"Yeow~! New Number 5! Brachio-Tank 5 is here!" The tank rolls around the battle-field, firing off shot after shot at the pirates at Chopper's orders. Luffy seems to completely forget his purpose as he starts running along side it, ready to take it for a spin himself, it seems. Hordy seems to have finally had enough of them, and growls loudly as he watches his men beaten, and listens to the calling of the civilians.
"Don't push your damn luck!" shouts Hordy. "Get out here now, Kraken!" Everything scomes to a stop as a large Kraken suddenly crawls to the edge of the large bowl they've been fighting in, it's massive tenticals spilling over the edge as it stares down at them. "There's only eleven of them! Just crush them all and we'll be done with it!"
"Wait a second," mutters Run, tapping his saber against his shoulder. "Isn't that...?"
"Kill them already! I brought you all the way from the North Pole! You're my slave! You work for me!" Hordy turns to face the Kraken slowly. "You can do it, can't you?" Without warning it leaps from the edge of the bowl down to the rock below. Run's eyes widen as it's massive shadow falls over him and he disappears just as it smashes down. He seems to reappear out of thin air next to Robin, pacing backwards with his saber still resting on his shoulder.
"I didn't expect to see him here," Robin mutters, staring at the Kraken.
"Yeah, aren't we lucky?" It raises several of it's massive tentacle, intending to smash all of them quickly. "Here we go!"
"Oi, Surume!" screams Luffy, waving his arms with a grin. "It's me!" The Kraken stares down at their Captain calmly. "Huh? What's wrong? Don't remember me? How could you forget? You became my pet for a while! I'm your friend, remember? C'mon! Let me ride on you again!" After several tense moments the Kraken slams it's tentacle down, seemingly on their Captain. The Fishmen all erupt in cheers, happy to see the Kraken take care of one of the Straw-Hat Crew. But their happiness is short lived as Luffy's laughter begins echoing across the whole area. "That tickles! S-Stop, Surume!" The Kraken is holding Luffy gently between two wiggling tentacle for a few seconds before depositing him gently on it's head.
It rampages around the area for a few moments before Luffy points it back to Shirahoshi's side and orders Surume to protect her. With the Kraken protecting Shirahoshi, they won't have to worry about anyone trying to get near her now. Now, they can focus on bringing down Hordy, and the Fishmen in charge of this rabble. Run dashes off into the surrounding Fishmen, intending to make his way towards Hordy and his commanders. Unfortunately, the Straw-Hat's aren't the only one's intending to make a move to end this. Despite Franky's new inventions offering them an edge, one of Hordy's commanders manages to collasp the tank into a hastily dug ditch, and in the resulting confusion, Franky quickly follows with his motorbike.
While many of the New Fishman Pirates celebrate the bringing down of his new weapons, it's short lived as Franky quickly combines the two into a...well, a robot he takes over piloting. In doing so, however, he kicks out Chopper, Nami and Usopp from the tank and exposes them to the New Fishman Pirates. It proves to be a moot point, regardless, as he dispatches a large number of them with ease in his robot.
"Kraken!" calls Hordy, staring at the massive beast. "Good job, considering it was you. He actually managed to gain their favor and capture Shirahoshi! Now, squeeze her to death!" The Kraken seems caught off guard by his command, turning it's attention down to Shirahoshi slowly. "Your brother at the North Pole, I know exactly where he is. We can just go there and kill him whenever we want. The two of you are mythical creatures...even dead you would fetch me quite a bit of money. Don't tell me that's what you want, Kraken!" The Kraken's tentacle slowly constrict around Shirahoshi, squeezing down hard enough to make even the large Mermaid Princess cry out in pain.
"Oi, Surume!" shouts Luffy, earning the Kraken's attention. "So you were doing everything he says in order to save your brothers life? Is it your older brother or younger? Tell ya what, let me try to save his life, too!" After several long moments the Kraken's tentacle go slack. Luffy calmly walks towards Hordy now, intending to take the fight to him finally. Two of Hordy's commanders quickly place themselves between the two of them, intending to stop Luffy from progressing. One of them heft's a large hammer, while the other wields six barbed spear-like weapons. They ready their weapons as he approaches, and as they begin to attack, they're both blind-sided by Zoro and Sanji. "Second Gear." With a swing of his arm, Luffy enters Second Gear and disappears only to reappear in front of Hordy. He kicks the Fishman away like tossing aside a piece of trash. "I'm really feeling full of fight right now!"
The crowd surrounding them all cheer loudly, happy to see Luffy finally taking the fight to Hordy and over-powering him with ease. But their cheering quickly dies down as a massive shadow falls over the whole area. The heads of the civilians all turn skyward to stare at a massive ship bearing down on the Island. The cries of the people gathered around attract the attention of everyone, even those fighting below.
"What in the hell?" exclaims Run, staring up at the massive ship. He quickly dodges an attack from an apparently oblivious Fishman and reappears back by the Sunny, beside Robin. "That's not good."
"I wonder if the sea will turn red if we all get smashed at once," muses Robin. The red head chuckles softly in response as he stares up at the massive ship. "Wait...what is...?" Screaming sounds in the ears of everyone present as something, or rather, SOMEONE falls from the ship. As it draws closer and closer, they finally recognize it as the Sea Bonze they've seen many times before. He strikes the ground head first right in front of the Kraken, raising a massive knot and stunning him for a moment before he finally seems to recover his senses and stand quickly.
"Captain Decken!" screams the Sea Bonze. "I slipped and fell! Captain, stop the ship! I don't want to die!"
"Decken? Is he the one piloting that ship?"
"Shirahoshi!" screams a now all too familiar and annoying voice. "Accept my love! Do you hear me, Shirahoshi?"
"Wait...don't tell me!" Jinbe shouts. "Did Decken throw the Noah like he did those letters and axes?!"
"Shirahoshi! I've been in love with you for ten years! I've loved you ever since you were a child! There is no one who could love you like I do in all the wide world! Why can't you just accept my love?! Things that I throw with my Mark-Mark Fruit won't stop until they strike their target or something else! This giant ship embodies my love for you! Accept it, and die along with all of Fishman Island!"
"Captain Decken!" cries the Sea Bonze. "What about me?!"
"Wadatsumi! It's too late! I can't save you now! I need you to become a sacrifice along with Shirahoshi and the rest of the Island!" The cries of the Fishmen surrounding them sound, lamenting their fate as the ship draws closer and the bubble surrounding the Island stretches tighter and tigher.
"O-Oi! Where did Shirahoshi go?!" exclaims Jinbe. Everyone looks around quickly, even the Kraken who now notices that Shirahoshi is gone. The massive beast quickly looks around with the rest of them, searching for Shirahoshi's whereabouts.
"I am over here!" calls Shirahoshi. All heads turn skyward once again finding Shirahoshi floating there with her arms spread wide. "I thought you wanted to just take my life!
"Why would she go up there?!" questions Nami.
"The ship is targeting her!" Jinbe retorts.
"If I am the only one who you want to kill," begins Shirahoshi. "Then, please do not harm the other people of the Ryugu Kingdom! Come and get me!" Shirahoshi begins rising rapidly, and true to Jinbe's words, the Noah begins to change it's course to go after her. Vander Decken breaks out into laughter as he watches Shirahoshi rise, and takes the opportunity to throw another weapon at her, grazing her arm. The citizen cry out for her to stop, to not risk her life on their behalf but it falls on deaf ears as she begins swimming away through the air, intending to lead the Noah away from the Island.
"Damn it!" complains Luffy, running after the ship. "I told her to stay close to me!" Sanji, seeing this, gives chase as well gliding through the air using a technique similar to CP9's. "Sanji! Stay here! I'll take care of it!"
"Luffy, what about the water?" retorts Sanji.
"Oi, Jinbe, do you think that ship is filled with water?"
"It's hard to say," Jinbe tells him. "I know that Decken is a Devil Fruit user so there has to be air for him, at least. Just take this with you!" Jinbe tosses him a piece of Bubbly Coral, and Luffy stretches his arms out and grasps onto one of Sanji's legs. "Watch out for Hordy, Luffy! Fishmen are far stronger in water!"
"Let's go, Sanji!"
"Armee de L'Air Assault...Gum Shoot...!"
