Chapter 27- Old Enemy
One Piece © Eiichiro Oda
Beau-Père, William Henley, Silvios, Neko Beckett, Noppera Spark, and the G-13 Base © HatOnFire/Me
Shock. Denial. Fury. These emotions rang in and out of Nami's body. Her heart ached at the sight of Arlong, the man who ruined her life.
Nami had broken through to Luffy, convincing him to return to the crew, all the while outwitting Beau-Père in the duel with him. But just as they were prepared to leave the floor, Arlong and two of his liberators arrive for the purpose of killing Luffy. Seeing him free was the last thing she expected.
'Of all the things that could've happened,' She thought, 'Out of everything that could go wrong, be it my mistakes, this commander beating me, or Luffy refusing, why... Why did HE have to be here?! WHY?!'
"Well, I'll give you credit, Commander Beau-Père," Arlong sneered, taking many steps forward with Noppera Spark and Silvios. "You are a far cry from the marines I've fought against in my past."
"What about Admiral Kizaru?" Beau-Père retorted, "From what I've read on your dossier, he easily arrested you when he was a vice admiral."
"Reflecting on the past?" The sawshark queried, twitching an eye. "I happen to have a few memories I recall..."
"Nami, you've gotta leave," Luffy whispered, carefully checking out Arlong's men. "You can't take these guys."
"I'm not leaving you behind again!" The navigator hissed, "Besides, I'm ready to do whatever it takes to get you out!"
"You two," Beau-Père murmured, morphing into his puma hybrid form. "I find it best if you step away as far as possible. This is no place for you to be."
"Think a Devil Fruit will help you out?" Silvios scowled, "I don't think so, human."
"We have a little more than that!" Nami pulled out a grenade from a belt around her body, taking out the pin. When it began ticking, Nami threw the explosive device at the fish-men.
"Poor Nami," Arlong sighed, almost taking pity on her. He simply picked up the grenade and threw it far behind him. "Has any of you attempts to kill me ever worked?"
Soon after, it exploded behind the aquatic killers.
"I never thought you'd be a prisoner here," Nami pulled Luffy back, moving behind Beau-Père. "This gives me a chance to see you burn for what you've done...! But..."
"But...?" Arlong condescendingly pondered, waiting to hear the sentence finished.
"Not today. Luffy and I are leaving!"
"Arlong, coming here was a mistake," Noppera finally chimed in, "I have suggested we leave several times!"
"Relax, will you?" The sawshark rubbed his thumb on the flintlock, debating whether or not to fire it at the marine commander. "I'll leave this damn place, but only after I give that human runt a painful death and take back what's mine!"
"Nami is not yours, you saw-nosed son of a bitch!" Luffy shouted before he had to be pulled back by Nami.
"Luffy, don't try anything to piss him off!" The orange-haired woman quietly scolded, "He'll shoot you as long as these cuffs are on!"
"Then what are you waiting for?!" Luffy replied, lowering his voice.
"Me," Beau-Père murmured, "Ready, miss?"
"Ready," Nami nodded her head, concealing the key in her hand. "Luffy, get ready to kick some ass again...!"
"Bright Blinder!" Silvios' blue bulb shone as bright as possible, blinding Luffy, Nami, and Beau-Père. Because of that, Nami couldn't see, making her unable to unlock Luffy's cuffs.
'Son of a bitch!' The navigator mentally screamed, shielding her eyes with her arm.
"Boys," Arlong ordered, "Don't touch Nami! She'll be in my crew, after all! Be rough with the boy, as long as you don't kill him. As for the commander, kill him if you can."
"Tempest Kick Puma Tail!" Even without being able to see, Beau-Père still attacked, turning his body as his tail sent out a shockwave to the fish-men.
"Sturdy Vertebrae!" Noppera unsheathed his swordstick and held it backhand at an angle, redirecting the attack into the ceiling.
"Luffy, we have to stay back!" Nami kept tugging Luffy's arm, forcing him to comply.
"I know!" The captain walked away, still keeping his eyes shut.
"Get outta the way, human!" Silvios' struck the commander in his face with a powerful kick, yet he didn't flinch or move from the force of it. All Beau-Père did was grab his leg and the back of his jacket, lift him up for a few seconds, and then threw him to the jellyfish merman, who simply sidestepped with his many legs. Silvios hit the bars with his face.
"I can see you have strength and speed to match," Beau-Père observed the anglerfish fish-man, regaining his eyesight. "But you lack discipline, and the techniques mean little if the practitioner is unable to learn from their faults."
"Nami?" Luffy blinked profusely, color coming back to him. "Not to rush you, but now might be a good time to-"
*CLICK!*
"Done!" The turn of the key unlocked Luffy's cuffs, pulled to the ground by gravity.
*CLUNK!*
Luffy could feel his strength return with the cuffs no longer binding him. He clenched his fists, and looked at the fight unfolding in front of him.
"Alright!" He almost cheered, "Nami, stay behind me! You did enough for now!"
"Yeah..." The girl raised her weapon, prepared to defend herself.
"Thousand Brick Fist!" Silvios tried to launch a fist at Beau-Père, almost believing he can knock him down, but he was intercepted by the young pirate captain.
"Gum-Gum Stamp!" He stretched his leg to strike Silvios' face, pushing him back.
"Gum-Gum Hammer!" Next up, Luffy twisted his arms around and grabbed the musclehead's jacket, lifting him up into the air and attempted to slam him on top of Arlong. He missed, however, with Arlong moving out of the way.
"Shark On Darts!" The sawshark fish-man propelled himself at Luffy, intent on gutting him with his sharp nose.
"Gum-Gum Shield!" But Luffy was prepared, stretching his fingers across his face, stopping Arlong's nose from stabbing him in his head.
"That won't work again!" Luffy stated, shoving him by his jaw and kicking him in his gut. He followed with a quick uppercut before jumping away from a sword slash.
"This is nothing but a waste of time..." Noppera mumbled, raising his sword upright. "Yet, if I must..."
"The odds may be even, boy," Arlong holstered his pistol in his pants, knowing it wouldn't do much against Luffy with his rubber body. "But I've gotten stronger since our last encounter."
"I was gonna say the same thing," Luffy replied, "Mainly, I'm stronger than you."
"Really?" Arlong laughed, dashing to swat the human with his claw attachment on his left hand. "Don't get cheeky!"
"Gum-Gum Spear!" Luffy jumped backward and fired his two feet at Arlong's belly, almost getting him to cough.
'I know now Arlong won't be satisfied unless the boy is given a painful death at his hands,' Noppera mused, 'And that the girl is taken along with us. For now, the threat of the commander is the threatening factor.'
"Iron Single Action Gun!" Beau-Père hung one clenched fist above the other, releasing a burst of air around his arms, sending Silvios all the way to the end of the hallway. Colliding with the wall, even cracking it, it would appear it will be a while before he gets up again.
'Perhaps it's a good thing I held back after all...' He thought, 'I'll need most of my strength to battle them.'
"Median Incision!" Noppera swung his sword down, sending a vertical slash towards Luffy, who rolled out of the way.
"Gum-Gum Pistol Shotgun!" Extending his arm and plucking it for an added effect, Luffy's fist bounced all over Noppera's body, yet the man stood his ground.
"Cyclone Tempo!" Nami connected two pieces of her Clima-Tact and chucked them at the jellyfish mercenary's head, making him stumble.
"Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Luffy reeled his arms far behind him before he attacked forward with them, managing to push Noppera back.
"RAH!" Arlong set his sights on Beau-Père, slicing part of his shirt with his claws, failing to gash him.
"You can't defeat me like this!" The commander kicked the convict away from him, letting him fly. Being caught up, he came close to not noticing Noppera stumbling backward behind him. With this, he decided to attack.
"Finger Pistol Single Action!" Putting his index and middle finger together, Beau-Père attempted to blow the merman away, only for him to avoid it.
"Circulation Sting!" One of his leg tentacles wrapped around Beau-Père's left knee and stung it. "Attacking me from behind? I thought you had more honor than that."
"RRAAAAGGGGHHHH!" Beau-Père grunted, feeling the pain as he crumpled from the pain. Unfortunately, he couldn't move his leg after that!
"Your measure of pain may seem indescribable, but it's actually simple," Noppera explained, "In stinging you, I cut off your limb's circulation. Your movement is limited."
"Not entirely!" Beau-Père didn't give up, using a palm to strike back. But Noppera was prepared for him.
"Defibrillation!" He placed his swordstick away for a moment to use his arms on the puma-hybrid, grabbing his front torso and electrocuting him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Beau-Père roared, incapable of resisting the surge in his body. When he fell to the ground, Noppera decided to sting his other knee and elbow joints.
"This will prevent you from moving," Noppera almost hissed, "Such cowardly attacks will reward you with an excruciating loss."
"Good, Noppera!" Arlong praised, "Now get that brat!"
"Arlong, I'm only doing this for my payment," Noppera quietly told, limited in patience. "You're going to make this my efforts pointless if you lose to them!"
"We'll leave, but once we get him in chains!"
"You'll have to kill me to win!" Luffy almost boasted, "I'm a rubber man!"
"My stings allow me to utilize electricity," Noppera pointed out, "Yet by themselves, they can be painful. Even with your fruit, you won't resist."
"You want to find out?" Luffy taunted with his hand, attempting to goad him into rushing him.
"Now that I have taken the cuffs and the key?" One of the mercenary's tendrils held a key as another had its grasp on the Sea-Prism Stone cuffs, "A fool's errand when victory is within reach."
"Thunder Ball!" Nami twirled a rod, unleashing a few electric sparks at the enemy, who dodged or slapped them away with the ends of his hands. "Luffy, we have to go!"
"But Arlong's right here!" Luffy yelled, "I can't let him leave this place! If this is his prison, then beating him here will keep him from escaping!"
"Forget about him!" Nami argued, "Let's just go back to the ship!"
"Shark On Darts!" Arlong suddenly lunged at Luffy like a torpedo, though the young captain leaped over him, right in front of Noppera. In a quick moment, Luffy's strength diminished when the cuffs were reconnected to one of his wrists.
"What the...?!" He emitted, failing to resist his predicament. It didn't take much effort for Noppera to bind his hands behind his back again.
"Killing him would be so easy now!" Arlong smiled, quickly grabbing and lifting Luffy by his neck.
"Let go of him!" Nami ran at Arlong, hoping to do some damage on him, but Noppera flew past her, sheathing his swordstick.
"Silent Nettle Cut!" The two grenade belts that looped around the navigator's body fell from her, seeing as they were perfectly sliced in half. The cut itself was never present on her body, for the mercenary's intention was to deprive her of the 'insurance.'
"You won't be needing these, young lady," Noppera muttered, though everything was a blur to Nami, especially when Silvios knocked her weapon out of her hands, and with what came next.
"1500 Brick Axe Kick!" The anglerfish fish-man raised his left leg up vertically before sending it down on Nami's head, causing her to crash into the stone floor. An x-ray showed the kick's impact did cause a crack in her skull, but not as bad as it could've been, though there was some blood that went down her face's right side. The self-inflicted wound on Nami's forehead reopened, gushing out a small amount of red.
"NAMI!" Luffy cried before he angrily set his sights on Silvios. "YOU BASTARD!"
"Silvios, you moron!" Arlong reprimanded, "She's my navigator! I don't want her dead!"
"I-I'm sorry, sir!" Silvios apologized, slightly raising his hands. "I didn't know what else I could do!"
"No, you're not...!" Luffy seethed.
"She's still alive, even with that blow," Noppera noticed, "There appears to be more to her durability than anticipated."
"Good," The sawshark pirate sternly nodded, "I don't want her dead when she can still be of use." He averted his gaze to the captain, seeing his look of contempt. "Really, killing you would be satisfying. But this isn't the time or place. It won't do if someone interrupts us."
"So, we're finally leaving?" The question stood out, to which Arlong replied...
"Yes. We've spent too much time here."
"Sir," Silvios began to question, "What should we do with the others?"
"We take the girl with us," Arlong answered, hoisting Luffy over his shoulders and grabbing Nami by her waist. "I'll reintroduce her into this crew, but only after I let her see her former captain, one last time before I put him down."
"And the commander?"
"There's nothing he can do to stop me now, but to be safe... Throw him in that cell."
The jellyfish surgeon-turned-mercenary dragged Beau-Père by his shirt and tossed him in, making sure to lock the cell.
"I'll kill you if you hurt them, you bastards!" The commander seethed, still unable to feel his joints and move.
"Arlong, I swear I'll give you what you deserve!" Luffy spat, wiggling in Arlong's grasp.
"Accept it, boy," Arlong hissed as Noppera pressed a button, opening the elevator. "You're going to die here. And you'll never see Nami again. How does that make you feel?"
"I'm not gonna die yet...! I still have a dream to live!"
"An idiot human's false words to encourage idiot humans to die at sea!" Arlong silenced the black-haired boy, "I've heard the stories of Gold Roger. He may have been a famous pirate, but that doesn't make him truthful. The One Piece is just a fairytale, a pipe dream!"
"Shut the hell up, saw-nose!" If Luffy weren't lifted over the fish-man's shoulder or wearing the cuffs, he would've struck back furiously.
"So long, Commander Beau-Père," Arlong sarcastically paid his respects to the marine as he boarded the elevator with Silvios and Noppera, "If we meet again, I'll at least give you a proper death, unlike the one I gave your sister all those years ago.
"You son of a bitch!" Beau-Père thrashed, trying to lift himself up even with immovable limbs. "Don't ever talk about my sister!"
"SHA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" While the doors closed, one final shout left the commander's lips, seeing the fish-men escape with their human prizes out the corner of his eye.
"ARLONG~!"
XXX
Meanwhile, outside...
Sanji and William Henley combined their leg strength to knock the entrance doors came off of their hinges, knocking out a small crowd of guards.
"Knock, knock!" Henley chirped, much to the cook's ire.
"Can't you take this seriously?!" He questioned as he kicked four guards to a wall.
"I'll have you know I am," The redhead replied, striking eight men with his four spider legs several times. "I find that making jokes eases the tension a little bit."
"Well, with Nami and Luffy both on the line, I happen to think it's the wrong time to do so!"
"Sanji, right?" Henley started to request, knocking out a few more guards in the process. "I need you to do me a favor and keep these guys busy as much as possible."
"I told you that I won't trust you to handle this!" Sanji went on his hands and kicked the enemies in front of him, "Besides, how do I know you sabotaged the marines?!"
"Aside from the Seven Warlords, have you ever heard of a pirate working together with marines?" Henley raised an eyebrow, "Besides that, I can't be with the marines because of my bounty, which has been higher than yours before you even had one!"
"Okay, look here!" Sanji sent one of his feet into a guard's stomach, sending him to the floor. "You put Luffy through depression with your chemicals! There's also you saying terrible things to Nami days earlier! And with you knowing the commander of this place, you can bet I won't trust you!"
"Well, I'll officially apologize to them both when this is over, alright?! In front of everyone!"
"Not good enough! I've decided I'm going to help Luffy and Nami! There's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"Listen, you've already been through a rough fight, Sanji!" Henley pointed out while shooting cobwebs over a cluster of guards, "You won't have the strength to defend those guys if Beau-Père gets in the way! Besides, you can hold off these punks until you don't need to!"
"Why should I let you go to them anyway?!" The cook queried, kicking some guards in their faces. "And don't use the 'atonement' excuse, we're all trying to help my captain!"
"Strategically, I'm faster than you think! Plus, I still haven't reached my limits yet! If I did, the stitches I got from fighting you guys would be tearing up!"
"Let's say that's true for a second," Sanji toned down his voice, blocking a glaive with a leg. "Are you going to beat the commander or stall him so Luffy and Nami can escape?"
"Stall him, of course!" Henley answered, "I'm risking my life, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go gung ho with the strongest man in the base!"
"And supposedly, that means I have to stay here."
"Hey, I'm trusting you to keep these guys occupied and watch my back."
"I don't agree to this!" Sanji pushed the guard back, taking out a few more with a flurry of kicks.
"But you're doing well, even with your injuries," Henley reeled his spider legs back and took out a large guard with a single hit to his chest, which sent him colliding into twenty other guards behind him. "Comb-foot Battering Ram!"
The blonde-haired pirate took a few seconds to think about his ally's statements, all the while taking down man after man. He was already in a rough battle, but he's been making short work of the guards so far. If they are this weak, then he shouldn't have to worry about the commander, but he wasn't concerned about fighting him, just hold him off. Also, is it really a good idea to leave the lives of his friends in the hands of some stranger he doesn't even know?
His plan to rescue Luffy is complicated, but this wasn't the first time the crew had to adapt. There was also the fact the crew got help from people they didn't know, and those people would become members of the crew, while others would be good friends. But will this trust pay off?
'I wanted to be the one to help Luffy when this plan was made,' Sanji thought, leaping over a guard's sword before slamming his heel into the man's shoulder. 'But Nami was chosen for the sake of the plan's success. And so far, things are working out... Doesn't mean things can't go wrong, though.'
After taking down a man, Sanji reached his decision, hopping again and standing back-to-back with Henley.
"If you're going to ensure Nami saved Luffy," He told, "Then go now!"
"You mean it?" Henley looked behind him, seeing the cook's serious expression.
"You have a lot of stones for trying to make up what you've done. Let me worry about these guys. Go!"
"T-Thanks!" Henley slightly stuttered, grinning. In succession, he jumped high with his extra legs, skipping along in the air. "I'll be back!"
"Don't come back without those two!" Sanji shouted, planting his feet into two guards with a backflip.
Evading shots and stabs via zigzagging above the guards in the air, Henley headed down the halls, finding an elevator shaft to use. He proceeded to open the doors, seeing an elevator lowering below him.
"Moonwalk!" The redhead jumped higher and higher with his legs giving him more momentum, counting the floors with the doors in the shaft. When he arrived on the ninth floor, he decided to break the doors with his spider legs.
"Comb-foot Battering Ram!" He recoiled and thrust them forward, tearing open the doors.
"What the...?!" Beau-Père heard the commotion while Henley landed on the floor.
"Okay, commander!" Henley stood up defiantly, though he immediately deflated when he saw the halls were empty. "What? Where's the captain and Nami?"
"Henley!" Beau-Père called out, still in pain from the stings.
"Commander Beau-Père!" Henley ran to the cell, stopping short of the bars. "What happened to you?!"
"T-They took them both...!"
"They?!" The young man observed his mentor's state, finding it to be familiar. "Were you stung?!"
"Y-Yes... By a jellyfish merman...!"
"Noppera Spark..." Henley averted his eyes as an image of Noppera flashed in his mind, with blue lightning striking in the background. The merman held his sword as small sparks danced around the shining blade.
'Also known as the Contract Dissector,' He remembered, 'With a bounty of 147 million and 800 thousand berries, Noppera is notable for being a former member of the Sun Pirates, now serving as a mercenary for hire. Whatever the job, he'll always do it, even if it means blood must shed.'
"You know him?" The commander's speculation drove Henley back to reality.
"We've had a few encounters in the past..." He answered, "Mainly he tried to kill me. I couldn't beat him at all, except for the lackeys that follow him around."
"So there's more than one?"
"Two other fish-men, yes," What came to Henley's mind were other images, one of Silvios and the other being Neko Beckett. "Silvios and Neko Beckett, pirates with no known bounty or history of violence. They can be pushovers for me if I fight hard enough."
"How do you know any of this?"
"It's a long story, but that's not important now! They took Luffy and Nami, right?!"
"Yes," Beau-Père confirmed, "And they broke out a criminal called Arlong."
"Wait, what?!" Henley yelled, blinking in disbelief. "Arlong's here?! And he took those two?!"
"That's right, and it's likely he'll kill the boy and do worse to Nami."
"You didn't think to tell me that one of Luffy's first enemies could be here?!" The redhead exclaimed, rapidly tapping his foot.
"It wouldn't have mattered to you either way! You don't know him!"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"He killed my sister," The commander snarled, "And he made her daughters' lives hell."
"Wait, then that means..." The hybrid soon pieced it all together, Luffy's voiced dislike for Arlong when he interacted with him the second time, Beau-Père's relation to his sister, Belle-Mère, and when Zoro shouted Nami should've been left with Arlong...
'Wait, when did that green-haired guy say that?!' Henley facepalmed, 'Oh dammit, it was obvious! I knew Arlong said he intended to go to the East Blue all those years ago... How did I not make that connection before?!'
"Henley?"
"Commander..." Henley shook his head, forgetting about how he could live this down. "I actually did meet that guy before."
"Really?" The commander questioned incredulously, "I find that hard to believe."
"Tall fish-man, saw-like nose, sharp teeth, black hair, light blue skin, angled jaw..."
"Y-You really have met him before...?" Beau-Père was a little surprised to hear Henley casually list his traits from memory, but even more shocked to hear what came next.
"He wanted me in his crew once. Even though I was part human and eight at the time."
"Oh my... You didn't actually want to, did you?"
"The only time I begged to join him..." Henley shivered, wanting to block out the images of the past. "Was when I was being hunted down after my father was killed... But it wasn't because I was prejudiced against humans! I... I was scared, then Arlong shouted he would let me join if I renounced my humanity."
"But you couldn't do it...?"
"I didn't do it," Henley corrected, "I was taught by my father to never be prejudiced against others for their race or skin. So, I refused. ...Arlong shot me in the shoulder and left me for dead..."
"God..." Beau-Père could almost feel the weighted anxiety from his former student when he looked away from the cell.
"Well, enough of that," The hybrid snapped out of it, "Break out of there, and let's go get them!"
"I-I can't do that," Beau-Père mused, getting over the sudden information. "The stone walls here have a layer of Sea-Prism Stone embedded in the middle, just in case a Devil Fruit user manages to break free of his cuffs. After all, they can't escape with the cell bars made of the same substance."
"Oh, duh! I can get you the keys to the cell!"
"There's no time! You have to go and save them instead! The girl's weapon is right there with a key to the boy's cuffs!"
Beau-Père's arm twitched, barely pointing in the direction of the Clima-Tact, which the redheaded young man grabbed it along with the key.
"Arlong didn't take that weapon or the key?" He questioned aloud, "Wow, being cooped in this place must've made his mind numb."
"Not quite," The commander shook his head, "It's Nami's weapon and the villains want her to be far apart from it as possible. Besides that, Arlong wanted me to put him in the Box, just so he could be in the perfect position to escape."
"You can't be serious! Arlong may have been a dangerous pirate, but he isn't that smart!"
"Then someone else made the plan work out in his favor."
"Well, not important! I gotta go!" Henley shoved the key in his pocket and put the Clima-Tact in his jacket, beginning to run for the open elevator doors. "Your stings will wear off soon! I'll make sure someone comes to get you out!"
"Be careful, Henley!" Beau-Père yelled as Henley prepared to jump, "Arlong has been attempting to break out ever since his capture! He's stronger than he let on when I halted his efforts!"
With a thumbs-up and a smile, Henley made his exit.
'I don't know how I'm can explain this to the pirates,' Henley realized, crawling halfway down the elevator shaft with his spider legs. 'They won't budge if I tell them the captain's out... Unless I say he and Nami aren't in the base anymore.'
He arrived at the doors of the first floor and opened them up with his bare hands, touching the solid ground again.
'It's vague, but they'll have no choice but to work off of that. It's all for nothing if the captain dies, and these guys can't do anything else here.'
A few guards saw Henley in the halls, but they were easily swatted aside by the hybrid's legs. When he got to the prison cafeteria, he saw Sanji kicking ass and taking names.
"Attention, all low-paid mooks!" Henley called out, getting some eyes trained on him. "Your commander of this base had an unfortunate incident upstairs, and he's locked in a cell! I advise you to go check and bring some keys! Don't bother fretting over the prisoner up there, 'cause he's gone!"
"Henley!" Sanji began to query, kicking a few guards aside. "Where's Luffy and Nami?"
"They're not in the prison anymore! You need to get back to the ship!"
"What?!" The cook shouted, "What do you mean, 'they're not in the prison anymore?!' What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hold on," Henley raised a hand, motioning him to wait. He lifted a guard by his shirt with an arm, and creepily opened his extra eyes in front of him.
"W-What the hell-?!" The guard looked like he was going to soil himself, and likely did when Henley interrupted him and whispered in his ear...
"Your commander is in a cell on the ninth floor, and he could use a little help. Pass the word, if you don't want to be robbed of certain... physical family heirlooms."
"W-What..." He stupidly questioned, sweating nervously.
"I'll castrate you if you don't help your commander!" Henley bellowed in his face, "With a rusty cutlass, if I can find one! Now go!"
He threw the guard down, and he proceeded to run far away from the action.
"At this point," The hybrid thought aloud, countering attempts to stab him with knocking guards away with his extra legs. "He might want to go home, eat some ice cream, and forget about this whole mess. If I weren't fearless or in the middle of something, I'd do that. Wouldn't you, cook?"
"Cut the crap, runt!" Sanji yelled, "Are Luffy and Nami coming out of here, or what?!"
"They're not here anymore! You and the other pirates can't do anything else here! We have to leave!"
"But why are they out?! We never saw them exit!"
"No time to explain! Just get your crew out and get ready to leave! I'll find them!"
"You can't expect me to just-!" Sanji couldn't finish his sentence on account of Henley already running out the doors.
'That little...' He growled, leaving the detention center as well. When he got outside, he could see Henley leaping through the air with his extra spider legs over the barrier.
*KABOOM!*
"What the hell?!" Sanji looked to the dome of the base, seeing thick black smoke rising from the ground next to the building. He almost considered investigating, but there were more important things. Such as telling the other members to leave.
"Two Sword Style: Hawk Wave!" Zoro brought down several marines with a gust of wind while standing. He and the other two pirates were defending the bridge from clusters of soldiers.
"Clutch!" Robin broke the backs of a few more foes as she stood behind Franky for defense.
"Weapons Left!" The carpenter fired a set of cannonballs from his left arm, keeping a large battalion from getting closer to them.
"Guys!" Sanji called out, running to them. "We have to go!"
"Does that mean Luffy's out?!" Zoro questioned, giving the cook a quick glimpse.
"No, he and Nami aren't in the base anymore!"
"What?!" Franky looked back, shocked. "But we would've known!"
"Henley says he'll find them, but I'm still not sure we can trust him!"
"We didn't have much of a choice but to do so when Luffy was taken," Robin pointed out, "We'll have to continue trusting him."
"Whatever's going on, that runt better do something!" Zoro snarled, sending out his 72 Caliber Phoenix attack to some marines. "It's not just Luffy's life that's at stake, it's his! If he blows this...!"
"Forget about that, bro!" Franky took some bullets to his torso, "Let's get outta here!"
The remaining Straw Hats did just that, taking off like bats out of hell. They ran to the general left of the base, evading bullets and bazooka blasts as they went on the move.
XXX
On the other side of the base, six figures shot out from the moat surrounding the base's stronghold. Four of them were fish-men, while the two humans were held by Arlong.
"Sha-Ha-Ha-Ha!" He laughed, "Perfect! All that's left is for me to slowly kill this boy and get my revenge!"
"L-Like hell..." Nami coughed, "I-I'll let you get away with this...!"
"You can't do anything but watch, my little cheeky kitten," Arlong sneered, "Even though you left me for him, I forgive you. Of course, now that you're back in my crew, you'll have to redo all the maps I lost because of him..."
"Never...!" The navigator hissed, showing her teeth. "I'll never help you again!"
"Yeah, tell him, Nami!" Luffy shouted before he was dropped to the grass. There, Arlong moved his foot above Luffy's neck, applying pressure to choke him! "GUUHH!"
"Shut up, human!" The saw-nosed pirate commanded.
"Luffy!" Nami tried to struggle to get loose, to no avail. Her arms were held by Arlong's own right arm, and he enjoyed witnessing her attempts.
"You know," He had a thought, "You'll have to do as I say from now on."
"If you don't mind my curiosity, sir," Beckett spoke up, "How are you going to force her to work with you?"
"Simple," The sawshark grinned deviously as he moved off of the captain, letting Silvios lift and restrain him. "Boys, we're going to be claiming the 'Straw Hat' Pirates' ship as our own. Soon after, we'll force the crew to watch as I kill the captain...!"
He eyed Nami as she growled, frustrated with herself for being helpless.
"And if you don't want the rest of them to die with your sister and home, you'll do exactly as I say...!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
CHAPTERS REMAINING: 8