A/N- I would like to give a huge thank you to DancesWithVulcans, who single handedly doubled this storys review count. You made my entire month.

War of the Species

I did my best to move carefully as I followed the Marines up the path to Nami's house. We were taking a different route out of town than the one I previously used, this one went uphill and to the left. Soon trees lined the path, more and more appearing closer together and I went off the road and in a few trees deep, moving more quickly with the cover. I found a nice long and thin branch along the way. It was dry and sturdy, pretty much exactly like my preferred weapon thus far, broom handles. I snatched it up and continued on my way. It wasn't long before the distance between me and the Marines closed in and just in time too.

Up ahead I could see a break in the trees. The marines kept going while I waited at the edge between the forest and the tangerine field, giving them ten feet before I dashed forward. I moved carefully through the planted trees, dashing forward row by row, not once alerting the marines of my presence, which was some good fucking dumb luck, even when I tripped on a tangerine and a Marine had glanced back, I still managed to go undectected.

The men came to a stop in front of me, but I couldn't see what was happening or hear what was being said. I moved around and up from the side, getting as close as I dared. The low bearing fruit gave me a lot of cover, but still it was risky. I could see rat marine clearly, leaning back with his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry, perhaps you didn't hear me the first time. The government hereby conficasts everything you've stolen. It is required that you comply immediately. Do you understand?" His smarmy voice made my skin crawl. What a douch.

Nami stood in front of the rat, her confident attitude in place as she smirked and cocked her hip. "Isn't that something. I can see you're very passionate about your duties. You won't bring a brutal gang of pirates to justice but you will shake down a lowly sneak thief. That's so very noble."

The man snickered at the accusation, but Nami continued, crossing her arms. "I'm only gonna warn you once, I'm one of the leaders of the Arlong Pirates. If you mess with me Arlong won't sit by quietly."

The rat snickered again. It was simply annoying in the anime, but in real life it was so much more, grating on my nerves. "Silly girl. Who do you think I am, do you honestly think you can intimidate me."

To his crew he shouted an order. "FIND THE STOLEN GOODS."

Oh shit.

I quickly moved back into the leaves and away from the marines who had started splitting off every which way. My heart leapt into my throat as I tried to think of where I could go, I didn't want to be found yet.

Nami was yelling at the marines to stop, but none of them listened, spreading out farther and coming closer to where I was. I got ready to fight the closest marine that was about to find me when he was flung back with a swing to the gut by Nami with her staff. She attacked the next closest marine too.

"I SAID STOP!"

Nami rounded on the marine captain, and went off. "Do you really think that this is what the marines should be doing now?" The girl started stalking forward. I wished I could cheer her on without giving away my position because damn did she deserve some support. "The Arlong pirates are murderers, they've destroyed entire cities and you've done nothing! He's ruling over this island and trampling over people's lives! You'd ignore Arlong's atrocities to steal from a thief? Is that what you stand for?"

"Big talk from a filthy criminal." Rat man sneered, as if he had the high ground in this situation. It took a lot for me not to leap out there, but I knew I'd have a better opportunity soon. And Nami needed to realize just why the rat was here.

"Continue the search, men."

The marines did just that, continuing to walk around Nami even as she kept shouting at them. Although I held quite a bit of hatred for rat marine, these underlings of his were also pretty damn deserving of a beat down. It was astounding to me these men just went along with it. Were they afraid of their captain? They didn't seem to be. It was more likely they got a cut of the bribe money, though I was surprised rat man would give up any of it.

"Every person on this island has been waiting for the marines to come and help them for years. How dare you pass them by and come here to search for money!" Nami screamed at them. I hoped her words cut deep into the hearts of the men but I was afraid they only affected me.

I was crying now, I couldn't help it, because I could hear just how distraught Nami was. I couldn't blame her. My hand was over my mouth to muffle any sound as tears poured down my face.

I don't know where they all got them from, but suddenly every Marine had a shovel and was using it to poke around. They didn't spread out very far, and no one came close to me again. They didn't seem like they were close to finding anything either, until one Marine had to go and actually be competent.

"Colonel! This tangerine grove looks a little suspicious!"

What the fuck does that even mean? How does fruit look sus?

"Dig it up. The whole thing if need be." Rat man commanded. The marine turned and began walking towards me again, but Nami once again beat the shit out of the marine before he got very far. He absolutely deserved it too. She tackled him to the ground and screamed in his ear.

"Keep your filthy hands off Belemerys tangerine orchard!"

She looked up and spotted some marines digging a fair bit away, and ran to attack them. The marine she had downed move to stand, and I dashed forward. The second my staff hit his head he went limp and was down for the count, and I dipped back into the tree coverage. No one saw a thing.

It quelled the urge to attack rat man. Instead I watched as Nami beat the shit out of every marine she could get to.

"I won't let you take my money! That money is for- is for-"

"That poor womens money is meant to save Cocoyashi village!" Genzo shouted, drawing all the attention to him. I had sort of forgotten he was here too, he hadn't said a word as of yet, just stood off to the side shaking in rage the whole time. I guess he finally snapped. "What gives you the right to take our salvation away from her? DAMN YOU!"

The only sound that came after his shout was a grunt from a marine as Nami hit another one to the ground, not looking up at anyone.

"My my, a meer village representative talking down to a Marine Colonel. How bold." Rat man told Genzo. He didn't even look over at him though, just kept his eyes on Nami.

She finally looked up at the man who was probably the closest thing she had to a father.

"Genzo...How'd you know?"

"I've always know, Nami." He told her, his voice gently and soft when he talked to her. "I couldn't believe what you had done. So I confronted Nojiko about it later. Since then everyone has known that you've stayed with the Arlong Pirates so that you could save the village, but we all agreed that we'd never tell you that we knew. If you ever thought the villagers were placing their hopes on you, you might never leave his gang for fear of letting us down."

"That can't be…"

"Now hold on a minute." Rat man cut in. If I thought his voice was irritating before, it was nothing compared to now. I was itching to punch him in the face, my fingers twitching in the balled up fists they formed at my sides. I reminded myself that I needed a good drop on him, and Nami still needed to figure out why he was here. So he continued to talk and my rage continued to grow.

"Just what are you trying to say here? Are you telling me that the villagers are thieves? And we should arrest every one of them? Is that what you're saying?"

"What he's saying is that every last one of us is fighting to survive." Nojiko came screaming from up the path. Her arrival couldn't have been timed better. This also meant that she had finished telling the boys about just what was going on here with Arlong and Nami. The girl continued to scream at the marine as she approached her house.

"We have to fend for ourselves because we can't rely on support from you government people. So if your not gonna to protect our village then get the hell out of here! And be quick about it, or Arlong will sink your ship too."

"Arlong will?" Rat marine paused, tilting his head with a smile on his lips, as if he found the notion funny. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Nami gasped, finally understanding the kind of protection these marines had, but the Colonel ignored her and went on to scream at his men. Now that she realized what Arlong had done, I was almost willing to just charge forward. There were a few marines between me and him yet though, so I gripped my staff tight and waited.

"You still haven't found it? We're looking for A Hundred Million Beris here not a grain of rice!" Rat marine screamed at his men. I could see Genzo's eyes narrow into slits.

"Hey you. How do you know how much there is?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't know." The rat snickered, waving his hand in the air. I decided then and there that for every stupid laugh I'd add another punch. Figured he owed about fifteen then. "I just have a hunch that's the amount we're looking for."

Maybe twenty?

"TELL ME!" Nami screamed. Her entire body shook with her barely contained rage as she started hard at the marine. "It was Arlong that sent you, wasn't it?"

"Course not." The rat let out another snicker. Twenty-one punches. "I wouldn't do a pirates dirty work, that'd be wrong. I'm just a public servant dealing with theft the way any government worker would.

"You corrupt marine scumbag!" Genzo shouted my exact thoughts.

"The marines have stooped to being nothing but pirate cronies!" Nojiko added, the tone of her voice reminding me a bit of a helpless Victorian lass, though she looked anything but.

From a row over and behind me a marine started shouting.

"Sir! I found it!"

All the marines converged around that spot and started digging. They were so preoccupied with the buried money they didn't notice me moving up right behind them in the trees, now barely three feet away.

Rat man dropped down to his knees in front of the hole and moved the lid away, revealing nearly one hundred million beris. Ninety three of we were getting specific, but whose counting? Well besides Nami and the rat marine and Arlong and the entire town…

Nami had yet to move from her spot, staring at nothing while she shook. I could shed her face, ducked down with a shadow covering it. Her fingers twisted around her own staff, gripping it tighter in her hands.

"Incredible. I must say I'm impressed you've gathered this much treasure."

"The money's all ragged and bloody." A marine who squatted next to the rat said, gathering a fist full and taking a closer look.

"No matter. Money's money." The rat snickered.

That was my breaking point. I didn't care to wait a second longer. So I leapt out of the bushes and hit rat man in the back of the head with my staff, sending him into the trees in front of him to eat a mouth full of branches. I kicked the marine who was still squatting in the chin, sending him reeling back away from the treasure.

I heard Nami screaming, coming closer to the fight. I was struggling against the many marines now, some who were hesitant to fight and others who were much more eager.

"You are all weak, pathetic marines. Your captain is breaking the law, taking bribe money from a pirate and actively helping him enslave an entire island! Each one of you is a scumbag, a low life, and the worst type of trash! If any of you had a spine you'd mutiny and fight for whats right instead of taking away the only hope this village has had for eight fucking years!" I screamed as I swung at marines coming towards me. I looked over to rat man who had started to get up, and was reaching into his coat. A marine tried to stop me on my way, but I easily knocked the wind out of him and sent him down. I kept running for rat man, tossing away my stick at the last second and just full on tackling the guy back into the tangerines, bringing the gun up to point at the sky as it fired off.

I scratched, bit, clawed, punched, and kneed the man rolling on the ground with me, fighting to get the gun away from him. Sometimes a stick would jab at my side, once I managed to smash his face into the ground, telling him to eat dirt. Finally the gun slipped from his hands and I snatched it, bringing the barrel right to his heart.

He froze.

There was a roaring in my ears, and now that I had the gun I realized just how harsh my breaths were coming out, how hard my chest was beating.

I moved to a better angle, crouching over him, and did my best to steady myself. I also tried not to think about how this was the first time I was holding a gun, how heavy it felt in my hands as I pointed it at a man.

"Stand up. Slowly." I told him.

"I don't take orders from-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the loud gunshot, followed by his scream. I had moved the gun over, cocking back the pin and shooting the ground right next to his arm. I put the barrel back over his heart, looking into his eyes as they darted around, trying to find an escape, his fear rolling off of him now that I had the upper hand.

"I said get up."

When he was standing, I spun him by the shoulders and put the gun to the back of his head. Briefly I wondered if maybe I should still be aiming for the heart, but I figured it really didn't matter which one I chose.

"Walk."

We left the trees. Any standing marine gasped to see their captain defeated. Well I should say any conscious marine, as most were on the ground in a heap of bruises and broken bones.

"You and your men will leave here, right now. You have failed Arlong, and he doesn't accept failures. He will kill you if he finds you. Now go, and take the unconscious men too." I shoved the rat towards the road. He stumbled but straightened quickly. He walked a few feet before he spun around, pointing at me and getting ready to shout.

I shot the ground where he stood and he screamed, jumping back. His face was twisted in anger as he shouted at me.

"I will be reporting you to HQ! You, you, good for nothing hooligan! You haven't seen the last of me!" Rat man cried as he jabbed a finger at me. His swollen face made the move a bit ridiculous.

"Not too worried. I'll be reporting you straight to a vice admiral." I said back. Every one of them paled.

"You...you don't know any vice admirals-" Rat man stuttered out. I smirked at him.

"Vice Admiral Garp the fist, hero of the marines, ever heard of him? Yeah, I'll be seeing him for a chat real soon. Now, unless everyone of you wants to be reported, instead of just the colonel here, I suggest you get off this property."

The marines dragged their boss away as he continued to scream at us all. When the men were out of sight and hearing range, which didn't take longer than a minute after the threat of a vice admiral, I focused on the others and any damage done.

"Nojiko!" Nami was crying over her sister, who was on the ground. Rat man's bullet must not have gone skyward like I had thought. Damn it.

Genzo scooped up the girl into his arms and stood, forcing Nami to do the same. I could see the blood, but I couldn't tell if it had gotten her in the arm like before or somewhere else. I went over and put my arm around Nami, trying to offer some comfort, but she threw it off.

"Nami-"

"SHUT UP! This is your fault!" Nami screamed at me, and followed after Genzo, who had started running towards town.

I stared after their retreating forms, ready to throw up. I tried to stop Nojiko from being shot. I tried to stop the rat from taking Nami's money.

Had I killed Nojiko to do it?

I was numb, but somehow my foot put one in front of the other, and started walking.

Did I mess this up? Is Nojiko okay? If I got Nojiko killed Nami will never become our navigator, and we'll never make it to the end of the Grand Line-

I came to the village just in time to see the town getting ready to riot and my thoughts had fully spiraled out of control. I whipped away my tears as I approached the group of villagers from behind.

"We've had enough. Take up arms! It's time to fight!" I could hear Genzo cry from in front of the group, and the answering cry of the townspeople rang out.

"Eight long years ago we promised we wouldn't live our lives in vain. No matter the pain or humiliation we endured under Arlong, we swore to fight the long fight so Nami could meet the demand. But they lied! They never intended to keep their end of the deal! Instead they stole our only chance at freedom. So now, we should make those filthy fishmen pay for the years they manipulated a kind young girl. Am I right?"

As Genzo spoke I moved through the edge of the crowd, trying to reach the front and see if Nojiko was standing there with him. When he paused, The townspeople let out a large cheer and started riling themselves up.

"Yeah! Let's do this!"

"We were always ready to fight those monsters!" a townsmen cried, and I winced at the term monster. Arlong was a monster for enslaving the people here, not because he was a Fishman. But I doubted these people really cared to understand the difference there. Not now, maybe not ever.

"Time to show those stinkin fishmen what were made of!"

The crowds cheer was cut off by Nami, who was smiling as she ran up the road from the opposite direction of where I had come from. She must have ran to Arlong park then, and confronted the man.

"Everybody wait!" She told them as she slowed to a walk.

"Calm down, they didn't take the money! I only have a little bit more left to make. I'll take care of it, don't worry. It will be easy, just one more run and were free. I'll be fine, just relax, everything is okay. It's nothing compared to back then."

She stopped in front of Genzo, in front of the townspeople. In front of everyone she had been trying to protect.

"Come one everyone, I'm perfectly fine." She said, her shoulders relaxed and smile big. But her eyes- her eyes gave her away.

Genzo stepped forward and hugged Nami. I couldn't hear what he said, but the hug looked tight and warm, and after a few seconds her own arms wrapped around him. Eventually he pulled back and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Set yourself free from this village." He told her.

"Genzo…"

"Nami. Do it." Her sister insisted from besides them.

"What! Nojiko!" Nami looked at her sister with wide, disbelieve eyes. Seeing this her sister pushed.

"You're an exceptional young women, and you have a dream!"

"Everyone, listen! I won't let you go! We still have a chance at paying them off. I can save the village."

"And whats stopping them from taking the money while youre away?" Genzo asked her softly, his eyes filled with compassion as he looked at the young women trying so hard to save them all.

Nami shook her head. Even I could see she had no hope of quieting this riot. She pulled out a dagger from her back, brandishing it at the crowd, ready to fight them off. "Just stay right there. I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt by these monsters... You'll all die."

"We know that." Genzo said, and grabbed the knife by the blade, letting it cut his palm. Nami held tight, refusing to give it up. Blood fell from the blade as tears fell from Nani's eyes.

"Nami. It's no use, we've made up our minds." The doctor of the town cut in.

Genzo tensed up, and I was surprised when he shouted at the girl in front of him. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

The shock of being yelled at by Genzo like that made her lower her guard. Genzo turned around and drew his sword, holding it up and forward, looking like a general leading his troops to battle.

"Move out!" Genzo ordered.

"We may not win, but we will give em hell!" Was the final thing heard as cheers and footsteps took over, the town charging ahead around and past Nami.

When they had passed around her, she was left on kneeling in the dirt road ten feet in front of me. Her head was bowed, the knife on the ground in front of her, and she was hugging herself, clutching her arms tight around her as if physically holding herself together was the answer. As her fingernails dug into the tattoo I moved forward. Nami grabbed the discarded dagger, bringing it up and screamed, plunging the knife down into her arm.

"ARLONG!"

I ran, and just as she moved to stab again I grabbed her wrist. Her crazed eyes flew up to meet my own. Panting along with her, we stood like that until she finally dropped the knife and her gaze. I reached forward and pressed my hand onto the wound in her shoulder, the blood dripping through the cracks in my fingers.

"Holy shit, Nami" I exhaled.

She looked up again, going between myself and Luffy who had come up from behind her while we were having our stare down. She finally focused on him.

"What do you want. Only Tani knows anything about what's going on here. You don't know what's been happening on this island for the past eight years."

"Nope. I don't" He told her. Her eyes looked surprised and they farted over to me for a second. Maybe she thought I would have told him her story?

"This has nothing to do with you. I told you to leave this place." Nami told him, starting to get mad.

"Yep. Sure did."

"So leave! I told you to leave! Get out of here! Get out of here now! Go! Go go go go go!" Her screams turned into sobs. My own tears were flowing freely too. Luffy and I waited for Nami to ask.

Just ask.

Ask.

"Luffy. Help me." Nami whispered.

My heart felt like it was shattering at Namis plea. Goosebumps raced up my arms as Luffy took off his hat with one hand, and placed it down atop Nami's head. Her watery eyes widened as she looked up at him, understanding what a huge deal it was to be wearing that hat.

"Of course." He told her, then turned and walked the way the townspeople had gone, the way Nami had come from. "That's what friend do."

He stopped, for no real reason. I was confused when he squatted down, sucking in as much as he could get. He flung himself up and back, his arms in the air, and he screamed.

"HE'S GONNA PAY!"

"Luffy." Nami whispered.

Ahead of him, I didn't even know when they had gotten here, were Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp, all waiting with their heads bowed. Nami looked at them all, then looked back up at me. My own eyes were just as wet from crying as I met hers.

"Let's go." Luffy told his crew.

"Right." They all agreed, standing and falling in line behind Luffy as he walked on.

Shit. One more thing.

"Nami, hold your hand over the wound. I'll be right back, okay?" She nodded but didn't say anything, doing as I asked. I ran to catch up to Luffy, who paused hearing the pounding of my footsteps.

"The windmill move, don't do it. You'll get stuck in the concert floor and taken out of the fight. Everyone will be badly injured by the time you come back. But if you do get stuck some other way, don't forget about haki. Don't get tossed out of the fight Luffy." I wasn't panting as hard as I thought I'd be, but still I had to take a break for some air at some point. He had worn his serious express as I spoke, but the second I paused he broke out into that wide signature grin and cut in.

"Thanks for the warning, but I'll be fine. Don't worry so much, Tani!" He laughed, spinning around and walking off in the direction of Arlong Park once again.

"Take care of Nami-swan and yourself, Tani-san. We'll take it from here." Sanji said around his cigarette.

"We don't need your help curly brow, why don't you stay back with the ladies." Zoro said as he pushed on. Sanji followed after him immediately.

"What was that, moss head?"

Usopp looked at me with wide eyes.

"Are they always going to be at eachothers throats?" Usopp asked me. I shrugged.

"Yeah, but they come together when it counts." I said. "Go on, better catch up with them. Oh and Usopp."

He had been about to get moving again but he stopped. I smiled at him.

"You may not beat your opponent in strength, but you can out think them, and in some cases outrun them. Good luck."

Four men walked along the winding dirt road in front of them, on their way to a fight. Each one looked confident, but not all their thoughts followed the same path.

For one, this was sure to be his hardest fight yet. Fishmen were bound to be a lot stronger than Kuro and his men after all, and he didn't really fight any of the Krieg pirates, too busy helping Tani patch up Zoro. That guy was crazy, facing down a warlord like that. He was absolutely terrified, but instead of focusing on that, he tried his best to just think of Nami and how much she had suffered, using it to steel himself against the upcoming enemy; Chin up, shoulders back, somehow walking with confidence towards what he was sure would be his death. No don't think of that!

For another, this was going to be his first fight as a pirate. He forced himself to be calm, to walk without bouncing with the excitement he felt. After all, this was for the beautiful Nami-swan! He had to make sure he kicked all of their asses for what they had done to her these past eight years! How dare they hurt her! And made her and the lovely Tani-san cry! His teeth ground down on the cigarette in his mouth as he thought of all the different ways he was going to filet the fishmen. Though speaking of Tani-san, how did she know Luffy was going to get stuck in the fight?

For the third, well, he had already faced his rival and lost, this would be nothing compared to that. He tried to keep his mind focused though, to prepare for the fight, but his mind kept straying back to Tani. She knows why he fights, she's probably the only person who knows just how important his promise is, the only other person left alive besides himself who saw it, who saw his childhood, who saw Kuina-

No. He had more discipline than this. He forced his mind to think only of moves that would work on the tougher scaly fishmen skin and down them as quickly as possible.

Luffy thought nothing of the upcoming battle specifically, his mind only on the pinwheel and how to fix his new move. If Tani said it would take him out of the fight he believed her, but he still wanted to do it damn it! If the last time he got stuck in the floor, he would just have to anchor himself somewhere else!

He needed to kick these guys asses. They hurt his namaka. They needed to pay.

The villagers meanwhile had just reached the gates, only to find there paths blocked. If they were fishmen then the villagers would have just fought there was through, but these were humans sitting there, their swords buried in the ground and crossed in front of the doors, and as they got closer it seemed to Genzo that the men were injured, perhaps from fighting?

"Hey are you guys alright?"

"Didi Arlong do this to you?"

"Move aside." Genzo commanded over everyone else. "We have business to take care of with the fishmen."

The guys felt a bit bad, but didn't move from where they sat. Johnny at least spoke up to explain.

"When we finally found out the truth about Big sis Nami we realized the only thing we could do was defeat Arlong in battle, so we decided to come back here and challenge him."

"Yeah. But then we lost, but only by a hair." Yosaku said firmly. Their injuries contradicted that statement, and a few people in the crowd had sweat drops on the side of their foreheads, but the other man pressed on.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you through this door, you have no chance of victory." Johnny told them.

Genzo snarled at the brats attitude. "What's that?"

Neither boy flinched.

"Be patient. It won't be long now." Johnny insisted.

"You see we're waiting on the arrival of certain men." Yosaku said.

"What certain men?" Genzo asked. He was getting real sick of these boys, but he had to admit they had some guts, sticking up to the fishmen, and then him.

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon. I bet my life on it." Yosaku said, and no one spoke another word.

It was a stand off then. Genzo stared down the men, while they sat there with their arms crossed. He didn't want to hurt anyone here but the fishmen, but if these guys were going to stand in his way, he may have no choice.

Just as he decided to make a move to fight them, they stood up and pointed at something off behind the group.

"THERE!"

Everyone turned to look at just who was so important. At first they didn't see much more than a few blobs in the distance, then they could make out four boys, each walking with a purpose and face set.

"It's them." Nojiko whispered.

"But why would they come to defend our village?" Genzo shook his head in disbelief. Why would someone risk their lives like this? What did they have against the fishmen?

"If those guys can't handle Arlong and his gang then there really is no hope, not only for this island, but for the whole East blue." Yosaku told the group in front of him.

"Those are the faces of the four men who are here to change your destiny. Burn their images into your memory." Johnny told them.

A green haired man with a sword swung over his shoulder, a short kid with ripped jean shorts and a red vest, a smoking man wearing a suit, and some long nosed guy wearing overalls and carrying a slingshot. Though some were skeptical of the group and their appearance, they did carry themselves with a confidence no one could deny. When they got close the smallest one in their group spoke up, shocking them further.

"Step aside." He told them, and didn't break stride, forcing the townsfolk to listen and quickly to let the newcomers pass. Arlong's harsh laughter floated over the walls, some people actually flinching at the sound. Johnny and Yosaku ripped their swords out of the ground and stepped aside, nodding to the strawhats as they came forward and stopped in front of the heavy stone gate with fish carved into it.

Luffy figured it must have taken someone a long time to do that.

He wound back his arm.

Focusing on the feeling from before, when he was fighting Krieg and his skin turned black, he willed his hand to do that now as he clenched it into a fist and let it fly forward.

The gate didn't just fly off its hinges, the entire portion of the wall was blasted inwards, crumbling and sending stone and rocks every which way. Some hit support pillars of the porch which Arlong sat under, while other bits took out a few of Alrong's men.

"What the-" Alrong growled out as he took in the surprise attack. Who dared to attack him and his men? Surely no human thought a simple cannon ball was enough to take him out? Did they even know how long it was going to take to replace such a fine gate? He was going to enjoy killing the man who dared, and would just increase the tax next month on the humans to make up for his loss.

Luffy had waited for some of the dust to settle before he stood from his crouched position, looking into the park for the first time and checking out the damage he caused. He briefly noted all the surprised faces of dozens of fishmen as his gaze moved around to take in the destruction. He was getting stronger! That Haki stuff was so cool! But now wasn't the time for that.

No, now it was time to use this strength to kick some ass.

"Now which one of you is Arlong?"

"Arlong?" The man in question spoke up from his seat.

Luffy wasted no more time, moving forward, walking inside and stepping over any rubble, going for the one who had spoken up, the only one sitting.
"Well, that just happens to be my name." The fishmen said from his throne, not even bothering to look at the human who dared to destroy a part of Arlong Park with what must have been a cannonball, he was sure of it, but where it went he had no idea. Where was the cannon itself anyway? But he also had to ask himself- Why bother with someone who would be dead soon anyway?

"Good. You can call me Luffy."

That was already more than the Fishman captain cared to know, but might as well humor the poor creature before putting it out of its misery.

"Luffy? What are you supposed to be?"

"A pirate."

Well that made this just a fraction more interesting.

"Huh? Hey! That guy!" Hachi cut into the standoff, breaking some of the tension. "Wait a sec, I remember him. He's the guy that likes going on walks!" The octopus was now pointing at Luffy with all of his hands.

"Hold it right there." An oversized fishmen spoke up, blocking Luffy's path to Arlong in his chair.

"Where do you think you're going?" Another fishmen asked, backing up the first. Their voices had a funny accent to it that Luffy had only ever heard once before, Tani was telling a really funny story and had used a bunch of funny accents, and this one she called a… Boat-san accent. Yep that was it.

"You want to talk to the boss? Well you gotta talk to us first, get it? So let's talk."

"That's far enough."

"Move it." Luffy commanded the two, and didn't wait for them to do so. He spread his hands out and grabbed each by the ear, smashing their heads together with such force it knocked them both out instantly. They suck to the ground, forcing Luffy to step over them to continue on his way to Arlong.

"So what does a pirate want with me?" Arlong asked, still not looking at the approaching enemy, though by now he was intrigued at the man's strength. Those two were weak compared to him, but to a human? They should have overpower a human no problem.

Luffy prepared his answer, drawing back his fist and concentrating once more. Again he pushed all his focus to his hand, forcing his fist to turn black before he brought it forward as hard as he could and sucker punched Arlong right out of his chair.

The fishmen went far, hitting the wall of the park and going right through it, and if the falling trees on the other side were any indication he hit a few of those too.

"That's for making our navigator cry." Luffy snarled at the man who caused his friend so much pain.

Several fishmen jumped from the sidelines, both from dry land and the nearby water, intent on attack the man that so easily decked their captain. Each one was stopped with a swift kick courtesy of the newest strawhat pirate.

"Back off, you're out of your league." Sanji told the fishmen as he sent them flying. He stepped up to join his captain, his hands in his pockets. "Geeze. You just had to run ahead by yourself."

"Don't worry I can handle these bozos all on my own." Luffy told him.

"Awe you fool." Sanji bemoaned. "I never said anything about being worried. I just don't want you hogging all the action."

"Well, I just want to let you guys know that I don't mind if you hog it all." Usopp said as he approached the forming group, nose held high in the air as if this would make him seem more confident.

"I see your raring to go as usual." Zoro said as he too walked up from behind the group. Hachi started yelling as soon as he caught sight of the green-haired man.

"It's him! Thats the unknown swordsmen I was telling you about!"

"Roronoa Zoro." Kuroobi sneared as he spoke the man's name. "Where's that girl?"

Zoro tried not to tense up with the mention of Tani. She was strong, but he didn't think she was strong enough to take down a fishman. He was glad she hadn't come, but even with her meters away a familiar protective feeling washed over him.

"Not around." He told them. Kuroobi opened his mouth but Hachi started talking before the other fishman could get in a reply.

"I thought so! That bastard and the nice girl tricked me! I can't believe it! I fell for it! Looks, sign, and hinker. Wait...Hook, line, and sink...er?"

"Hey look." Another fishmen spoke up from the crowd. "Long nose is here."

Hachi, as if just noticing the other man with Zoro, started screaming again. "But he's dead! We saw Nami kill him!"

"Oh he's alive." Chew said. His face showed little expression at the news. "Which means-"

"Nami was a traitor all along. Just as I suspected." Kuroobi finished for the man. His mouth was twisted into some sick smile at being right.

Outside the walls the villagers were going nuts. All of them were muttering between themselves, some even went to move forward, but were stopped by two swords.

"Hold it." Johnny and Yosaku said. The crowd continued to chatter, not believe what their own eyes had seen.

"That guy decked Arlong." Nako said. It was quite possibly the greatest thing he had ever seen. He figured even if they didn't win today this old doctor could die easy after seeing that.

"No human should be able to do that." Genzo said in wonder.

"Are they…" Nojiko whispered, but didn't finish her own sentence. Are they even real? Is this a dream? How did he do that? Thoughts buzzed in her head that broke when the two men blocking their entrance spoke up again.

"Didn't we tell you? Just stay back here." Yosaku said.

"Now do you understand why were keeping you away from that fight? You guys will just get in their way." Johnny told them all.

"But why? That's what I don't understand! What reason could they possibly have to fight?" Genzo asked them.

"Reason?" Yosaku scoffed.

"Big sis Nami was crying." Johnny said with a firmness no one dared question.

"Do they need any more reason than that to put their lives on the line?" Yosaku asked them.

Along had finally gotten back into the park, coming through the opening his body had made. The crowd quieted as they watch what was going to happen next. Arlong leaned against the unbroken wall as he took in the men in front of him, reevaluating their threat level. Still, he smirked when he started talking to the small one.

"A pirate? Of course. This is all starting to make sense now. You've been after Nami this whole time. But-" Arlong laughed harshly in the faces of the strawhats. "THE GIRL IS MINE AND I"M NOT GIVING HER UP!"

"A bunch of idiots like you aren't worth Arlong's time! We know how to deal with you!" Hachi said as he marched forward. He spun on his heel and lifted his mouth to the sky, cupping it and blowing like a horn. A little melody played out, much more joyful than necessary.

None of the straw hats understood what he was doing, all looking on with confused faces. The townspeople though had heard stories about what was to follow that call and dread started to wash over the group.

It was a second after Hachi finished that the entire park started shaking, causing some stray rocks to come down where holes in the walls had been made. Hachi was laughing hysterically while the crowd gathered outside the gates began to panic.

"Every single one of you is about to become fish food! Momoo! Rise!" Hachi cheered.

"It's a monster!" Usopp cried as Momoo rose from the water, towering just as high as the building of Arlong Park.

"Thats the beast from the grand line that destroyed the town of Goza!" Nako cried.

As the beast leaned forward, the townspeople started screaming louder, no one believing that their saviors would survive this. But as Moomoo looked down at the men he was told to eat, he saw two familiar faces.

"Well, look whos back." Luffy said, sending the sea creature a sideways glance as he crossed his arms.

"Seems he's a friend of the fishmen." Sanji said.

Tears poured down Momoos face, and instead of fighting he bowed his head, turned around, and swam away.

"Hey! Stop!" Hachi called out to the retreating sea creature, getting more frustrated as he continued to go. "Where are you going? Get back her Momoo! You can't just leave! Momoo!"

None of Hachi's plees got the creature to pause. Arlong decided it was time he stepped in.

"Leaving? Now now, isn't that a shame." He called out the creature, his voice low and threatening. It worked too, the sea cow stopped swimming away but he still didn't turn around. "But, I suppose, if you really want to run away, then who am I to stop you?" he paused, waiting for the creature to come back. When he didn't, Arlong nearly lost it, but tried one last time.

"Well then?"

Momoo let out a huge wail before he spun back around to face down his opponents. His eyes were white, his jaw opened wide to show off his many teeth, his entire body tense and ready to strike.

"It's coming right for us!" Usopp cried, holding out his hands as if that alone would stop the oncoming beast. At the same time a group of fishmen leaped into action, taking the opportunity to attack with the beast.

While Usopp let out a string of "I'm sorry"'s, Zoro unsheathed his sword, Sanji stepped back, and Luffy brought back his arm.

"You're all mine, ya dumb cow!" Luffy said. This was a perfect chance, he couldn't waste it! Tani would see, he was strong enough!

Luffy lifted up one leg and brought his foot down, hard, burying it in the concrete. He did the same thing with his other leg, his movement similar to that of a sumo wrestler.

"Oi! Didn't Tani tell you not to get stuck in the concrete?!" Zoro yelled at the rubber man, who laughed off his concern.

"Yeah, but I'm stronger than when saw me do it before, so maybe this time I'll be able to break out of it!"

"Looks like he's got a plan...for once." Sanji spoke up.

"We'll see. I've got a bad feeling about this." Zoro told him. If Tani said this was a bad idea, he believed her.

Luffy twisted his upper body, over and over, before reaching out and grabbing the sea cows horns, showing his devil fruit to everyone watching. Some immediate understood what was happening, while others were completely baffled.

"His arms stretched!" Hachi cried. He was someone who should have understood, being a new word sun pirate, but he still didn't know what he was looking at.

Arlong leaned forward, off the wall. "So he must have devil fruit powers!" That explains his stronger than average punch. Still, now that he knew what he was up against, this would be easy.

None of his underlings seemed to care about this new development in his strength, charging forward to attack the man who dared to punch him, their captain. He would have to yell at them later for moving without being given an order.

Luffy leaned back as far as he could, groaning against the effort as tension grew across his rubbery arms.

"Hey, let's get out of here!" Zoro said, having a hard time tearing his eyes away from what was going to happen, but also know enough that whatever Luffy was planning it wasn't going to be safe for them to be standing so close.

"Whoa, wait. What's he gonna do?" Sanji asked.

"I'm not sure If I want to find out!" Zoro told him honestly. Both men spun, Zoro grabbing the frozen sniper of their crew and dragging him along back to the wall and relative safety.

"Time for something new! Gum Gum PINWHEEL!" Luffy cried out.

The sea cow rose from the ocean, and every single jaw in the area dropped to the ground. His coiled body started unwinding, picking up speed the longer it went on for. Luffy screamed as he spun, knocking out every fishmen that dared to try and get close, while also damaging more of the park in the process.

Then he let go.

The sea cow went flying, and he went far. No one could believe that this kid was so strong! All around him fishmen lay, knocked out cold. A splash could be heard from a distance, letting everyone know that the cow had landed back in the water. Everyone held their breath, but the sea cow didn't return. The townspeople moved their gaze as one from the ocean back inside the park, to look at the scrawny kid they thought nothing of a short while ago. This kid in nothing but a vest, jean shorts, and some questionable sandals, with way too much confidence, with way too much strength. With way too much kindness and compassion.

The townspeople looked at their savior, hope taking root in every single one of them.