Wow, you guys really liked last chapter... Thanks for all the support :)
Wealth, Fame, Power…
Chapter 32: A Brave Warrior Prevails
The three Straw Hat Pirates all watched curiously as all of the fishmen became aware of their presence. It was actually quite comical to see them all look so pale and frightened right off the bat. Of course, this was primarily due to the fact that Luffy had just come in and knocked their captain around without them having any context.
After a few seconds though, the fishmen who appeared to be the officers of the crew took charge and stepped forward.
"Everyone relax! Arlong is gonna be just fine!" Hachi yelled out to his crewmates in reassurance.
"Yeah, you all need to calm down and stop being sissies. Our opponents are right here," A grey colored fishman grumbled. He too looked like he was a top ranking crew member, standing taller above the rest and acting more composed. He had two large fins on his arms, one for each of them. So it wouldn't be a bad guess to assume he was a ray fishman.
"I'll say, you guys are making us look totally lame right now," another officer complained. This one was without a doubt the ugliest looking fishman in the bunch. His skin was a similar shade of blue to Arlong's color, but that was where the similarities ended. On his face he had a very disgusting looking pair of lips that stuck out like a giant snout.
And wouldn't you know it, little by little, the fishman underlings began to make their way out of discomfort. Finding confidence in the words of their superiors.
"Yeah! Hachi, Kuroobi and Chew are right guys! Let's just focus on taking out these guys!"
"Oh wow, good point! Then that kid will be all alone, and we can help out Arlong!"
Zoro took the words of the fishmen in front of him very seriously, if they weren't careful, then Luffy would be outnumbered just like these guys planned. "You two ready? Because under no circumstances are we letting Luffy down right now. This is serious."
Like he normally did when he was bored, Sanji lit up a cigarette and breathed in it's relaxing fumes. Not hesitating to respond to the green haired man. "I'm right behind you mosshead, I wouldn't want to fail my Captain in the first week of being on the crew, would I?"
Satisfied with the cook's response, Zoro turned his head to look at Usopp. If they were gonna pull this off, it was gonna require them all working together. However, the swordsman was not met by a reassuring sight when he noticed the condition of the long nosed boy. It was painfully obvious to everyone around him that he was one hundred percent terrified right now. "C'mon Ussop, stop shaking and get ready to fight. They're about to charge."
And charge they did, because before the Straw Hat's knew it, a horde of fishmen were right on them. Their officers taking the lead.
Gritting their teeth and preparing for battle, Zoro and Sanji took battle stances, the same however, could not be said about the marksman.
"Gah!" Usopp yelled in fear, finally breaking his meek silence. "I'm sorry guys, I can't do this!" He shrieked with a shaky voice. It was truly incredible how fast the boy could run when he was motivated, because after that, he was gone, sprinting away in the opposite direction.
"Damn it Usopp!" Zoro growled as he parried an oncoming attack.
Sanji too was pushed back against his comrade, quickly getting back up without much trouble. "Well damn, now what?"
Seeing as how they were now completely surrounded, Zoro turned so that he was back to back with the blonde haired cook. "We fight. I thought that would be obvious you crappy cook."
"Hmph, screw you mosshead, I'll take down all these guys without your help."
"Not if I do it first!"
As the fishmen watched their enemies argue in amusement, Chew couldn't help but feel annoyed that they were allowing one of them to escape. "Grr, a few of you come with me. We're going after that ugly freak."
A few underlings nodded at the orders and ran after the officer out of Arlong Park. In total it seemed to be four of them including Chew chasing after the terrified teenager.
The other forty or so fishmen didn't even bat an eye at the small amount of backup they just lost. They were more focused on the two pirates in front of them who had finally stopped arguing.
"Let's skin 'em alive boys!"
Right now, Usopp was running like he never had before. As much as he wished he could help out his crewmates, the boy knew that he was just too weak to fight off any of those crazy fishmen. Who was it that said live to fight another day? Because the long nosed sniper was taking those exact words to heart at this very moment.
As a matter of fact, he didn't stop running until he reached the outskirts of Nami's village, coming to a hesitant halt when he reached the entrance of it.
The way he saw it, Usopp had two options, either run into the village and look for a hiding spot there, or run to the left and hide in the forest. Needless to say, the sniper didn't take long to make the easy decision. He had already run away like a total coward, he wasn't about to put innocent lives at stake on top of that.
With his new location in mind, Usopp bolted to the left and into the woods. Finding himself a nice comfy tree to climb for some hidden reconnaissance. And by reconnaissance, he meant silently hoping and praying that his friends would be alright.
Aw who was he kidding, those guys were the toughest people he'd ever met. Surely Luffy had already kicked that shark guy's butt and was on his way to help Zoro and Sanji right now! Yeah, everything would be just fine. And if anyone asked where he went, he would just say that he was being the lookout for any new enemies. He was great at that, after all.
Yep, everything is gonna be just fine, Usopp thought happily. Leaning back and relaxing against the bark of the tree.
However, the boy's peaceful lounging was quickly cut short by the loud sound of footsteps stomping down the road. And being the fidgety scaredy cat that Usopp was, it didn't take long for him to jump from his relaxed state to a more worried one. "Oh crap, what was that?"
The sniper's whispered question was almost immediately answered as he laid eyes on the source of the loud stomping. Right before his very eyes, the sniper saw four fishmen sprint down the road.
Too baffled to speak, the long nosed teen settled for trembling miserably as he observed their next moves. Much to his dismay though, the four bloodthirsty pirates stopped right where he had not five minutes ago. It looked like they were trying to determine if their target had gone into the village or not.
With his nerves getting the better of him minute by minute, Usopp brought both of his hands up to cover his mouth. He wasn't about to accidentally reveal himself out of pure fear.
Although for once, something that wasn't his own safety occupied the mind of the long nosed teen. If those fishmen didn't end up choosing to go to the forest like he did, would they go and tear the village apart just to find him? These guys did seem pretty ruthless, and as much as the boy valued his life above everything else, he sure as hell didn't need the slaughter of an entire village on his conscience, that was for sure.
Anyways, there was no point in thinking about it any further, because the four fishmen were making their move. And when they did, Usopp was pleased to see them making their way towards the forest he was hiding in. Yes! No dead villager blood on my head tonight! Let them search this whole darn forest if they want, I picked a nice tall tree to climb, so you water freaks aren't gonna find anything.
And the sniper did have a point to some extent, it would make sense that the Arlong Pirates would be out of their element in a forest like this rather than a large open space with water nearby. And if something were to happen, Usopp was a natural with dealing with such a familiar forest environment. Things really were starting to look up for the boy with the worst luck in the world.
But with a title like that, you can never expect too much good fortune.
Because right before the four fishmen could enter the forest, they turned their heads to the right, hearing a large amount of footsteps coming from the village.
"Hey!"
The small group of Arlong Pirates glared at the loud and disrespectful tone in the voice that called out to them. And who did this voice belong to? Well none other than the sheriff of Cocoyashi village, Genzo. And he wasn't alone. Behind him was a giant mob of what was presumably the rest of the village's citizens. Hell, even Johnny and Yosaku were among the large crowd. It seemed that they had all gathered in some sort of angry mob, because most of them were armed and looking quite angry too.
Slowly, Chew began pacing back to the main road, his three underlings in tow as he faced the oncoming crowd. "What the hell!? How did you weaklings get your hands on guns!?
"Hah! Did you really think you bastards took my entire stash? Gimme a break," Genzo bit back.
Chew just narrowed his eyes in annoyance, moving on with his business and asking about something slightly more important. "Whatever, we can deal with that later, have you seen an ugly guy with a long nose?"
Usopp scoffed to himself from his position up in the tree. Of all the weird looking fishmen in the bunch, this guy was calling him ugly!?
But his attention was quickly back on the conversation currently going on between the fishmen and the villagers. It appeared as though Genzo was about to answer back to the question he was just asked, but Nojiko quickly appeared from behind him, not hesitating to give the pirates a piece of her mind. "How dare you!"
Chew's narrowed eyes relaxed into an expression of confusion. "Now what!?" He sighed in annoyance.
"Don't you dare play dumb," the blunette yelled. It was fairly obvious that she was pissed off about something.
"Look bitch, I don't know why you people are here, but if you aren't gonna help me, then just leave!"
"Don't you dare lie to me you scumbag! After those pirates left the village earlier today, I went back home, only to find my mother's tangerine grove torn apart!"
Genzo noticed how high and raspy Nojiko's voice was getting towards the end of her outbursts and raised a hand to stop her. He knew how much pain she was in right now, so he could do the talking from here on out. "You heard her you disgusting bastard, where is Nami's money!?"
Chew was steadily beginning to show a smile on his long, snout-like lips. "Well, it looks like you dumbasses finally noticed. I'll let you in on a little secret though, we did all of that damage last night, so you must be dumber than dirt if you just now noticed it. Haahaa!"
Nojiko gaped at the unorthodox looking fishman, was that really true? There's no way she walked out of her house today and didn't notice it! But then she remembered, today everyone was in a hurry because of the pirates that showed up. Once she heard someone shout Nami's name throughout the entire town, she rushed out of her house without a second glance.
As tears welled up in her eyes again, Nojiko clenched her fists in anger. What would Nami think? She worked so hard for that money, this was going to destroy her!
Genzo took his view away from the painful sight of the blunette's tearful face. He thought of her and Nami as nothing less than his real daughters, so he was gonna get to the bottom of this and fix it. "The pirates from today, where are they now?"
Again, Chew scoffed, his confidence at an all time high right now. "Oh, those dumbasses? Their Captain totally flew off the handle and attacked Arlong. I'm sure the fight is already over though, they're all as good as dead, especially that traitor Nami."
That was the last straw for the battle scarred sheriff. It was all or nothing now, so it was time to fight. "You ruthless pieces of shit! We won't allow any of that! We're gonna get there and stop all of this!"
The Arlong Pirate officer almost keeled over in laughter at the human's threat, was he joking? "Hahaa! I like your sense of humor.
But Genzo's facial expression never changed from an icy, focused glare as he loaded the rifle in his hands. "It wasn't a joke."
Chew stopped his laughter and looked up again in mild irritation. "Oh? And how do you plan on getting by me?"
The scarred sheriff stepped forward, the entire mob behind him doing the same thing in support. "We kill you!"
Now really testing his patience, Chew stepped forward to try and intimidate the humans once again, but three voices from behind halted him.
"Chew wait!"
"Yeah hold on, let us get these weaklings!"
"Yeah Chew, please! We never get any action, and these guys are only villagers!"
The pirate officer thought this over for a moment. It wasn't a bad idea, and he did love the idea of people beneath him respecting his authority. Still though, this damn sheriff was really grinding his gears right now, so he wanted to be the one to slaughter him.
"Alright boys, you can have em. But just make sure you leave that scarred bastard for me. I'm gonna rip him to shreds myself and feed him to Momoo."
"Yes!"
"Thank you so much Chew!"
"Finally some action!"
With that, the three fishman underlings stepped in front of their commanding officer, now face to face with the angry mob of villagers.
The odd thing was, that not a single person in the crowd looked even the least bit scared. All of them were locked in and ready for battle, including the cowardly bounty hunter duo. Both Johnny and Yosaku were at the front of the pack, eyeing the fishman on the very left. Their swords were drawn and they had very serious demeanors right now.
Genzo noticed this and decided to focus his efforts on the other two fishmen. What was that saying again? Ah yes, divide and conquer. Either way though, this was gonna be one hell of a battle, and they were bound to lose some villagers unless some kind of miracle occurred.
And wouldn't you know it, the very next second, Genzo's prayers were answered. But it wasn't exactly in the form of a miracle.
"Smoke star!" Usopp screamed from his spot up in the tree, shooting a small grey pellet in between the villagers and the fishmen. Things had been escalating quickly, and he wasn't about to let anyone die on his watch… Well, that is, unless it involved him moving out of his spot…
The very second that the cover of smoke came up, Johnny and Yosaku got confident smiles on their faces. Sure, in a one on one fight against a fishman, they were dead meat. But together? Against an underling? With a blinding gimmick like this smoke? Oh yeah, no problem.
And so without another moment's notice, the two bounty hunters ran straight into the smoke, charging the confused silhouette of one of the pirates.
"Get ready fishman!" Johnny proclaimed.
"To face the wrath of the two best bounty hunters ever!" Yosaku finished.
In a surprising amount of speed and harmony, both swordsmen slashed right through the unsuspecting enemy. With Johnny cutting through the left side of his torso while Yosaku took the right.
And just like that, one of the three underlings was down.
Now that the plume of smoke was reaching its peak height, mass confusion began to spread among the remaining three fishmen. While the two underlings were deeply embedded inside the smokescreen, Chew was standing back behind them, just outside of it's range.
But the pirate officer was paying no mind to the cry of pain he just heard from the smoke. Instead, the odd looking fishman was staring at the treeline on his left with narrowed eyes. He could have sworn he'd just heard an outcry in that direction and was now attempting to locate it.
Usopp must've noticed that he was being glared at too, because within a matter of seconds the rustling of bushes could be heard as the boy fell from the tree in fear.
Chew immediately heard this disturbance in the landscape and took action. Breathing in deeply and spitting out a sharp shot of water to where he heard the noise.
The cowardly Straw Hat Pirate slowly got up from the shrub he had just landed in. Thanking whatever being was listening that those fishmen hadn't heard him.
However, the boy quickly took back that show of thanks when a lightning fast projectile nicked his cheek. Drawing a small amount of blood and successfully frightening him even more. Crap! They found me! I've gotta move! Darn it, why am I so stupid!? What kind of idiot calls out his attack when he's being stealthy!? Usopp thought as he found another tree to climb, focusing his trained eyes back on the battle.
When Chew didn't hear an outcry from his water gun attack, he shook it off and faced forward again. Whoever was hiding would be dealt with in due time. For now though, the giant cloud of smoke was finally starting to dissipate, and he could now start to make out two silhouettes in the middle of it.
But as soon as the cover was completely gone, Chew was surprised to find one of his subordinates lying on the grass in a pool of blood. There were also two men that he didn't recognize standing over him.
Chew was about to angrily yell out an order to kill the two swordsmen, but in the end it wasn't needed. Because as soon as the other two fishmen laid eyes on their comrade's fallen body, they were running at Johnny and Yosaku with everything they had.
All the two bounty hunters could do was raise their blades in defense, each of them barely holding back a rabbid fishman.
"You just killed one of us!" The underling on Johnny growled.
"You'll pay for that!" The one on Yosaku yelled.
Meanwhile, the two swordsmen were trying all they could to hold back tears of fear. This was exactly the kind of matchup they wanted to avoid!
"Woah, hold on guys!" Yosaku pleaded.
"Yeah! You're judging too fast, he might not even be dead!" Johnny finished.
As the two bounty hunters struggled to block for their lives, many of the villagers were still waiting for an opportunity to strike. Now that the smoke was gone, they could very easily raise their weapons and fire on the enemy. But they knew that wouldn't get them very far with Chew watching them like a hawk. Hell, if any of them even thought about raising their guns, that ugly face of his would kill them with a water attack instantly.
Genzo's final prayers were now not only on Johnny and Yosaku, but also the mystery person hidden from view in the trees. C'mon, we need something else! Anything!
And wouldn't you know it, right when Johnny and Yosaku were about to give in, Usopp made his move. With a somewhat calm and collected attitude, he loaded up two gunpowder stars into his slingshot, holding them side by side in the pouch. The boy knew that as soon as he started this plan of his he wouldn't be able to stop, otherwise the villagers were all gonna be dead meat. After a few more moments of mental preparation he took one last deep breath, and let go of the pouch.
Amazingly, the two explosive projectiles flew side by side, finally splitting off slightly in two different directions at the last moment, each of them pelting an underling in the back. Clearly there was some very fine skill put into such a technique.
This minor explosion on the backs of the two underlings didn't necessarily give the bounty hunters the upper hand, but it at least allowed them to push the fishmen off of them while they were distracted.
Chew got an up close look at the actual projectiles this time, his anger and annoyance from earlier was finally stacking up, and without thinking, he turned to face the forest and took a step towards it.
Yes! Perfect! Usopp thought happily. Normally he would hate luring an enemy right to him. But in this case, the enemy wasn't even gonna know where he was. Using the skills he had accumulated from growing up around the woods, Usopp jumped from tree to tree like a master, shooting a new lead star at the pirate officer from many different positions around the forest… Without announcing them of course. But since they were only lead and not the exploding variety, the ugly fishman appeared to be shaking them all off.
Of course, that still kept his attention.
Everything was happening so fast that Genzo had almost missed the golden opportunity. Both Johnny and Yosaku were clear from the two underlings, and Chew had his back almost completely turned. It was now or never. "Everyone! Now's our chance, FIRE!"
With the very clear commands given, the twenty or so villagers with firearms raised them up and rained fire upon the two underlings.
Now normally, the skin of a fishman was able to resist bullets to some extent. However, this certainly did not apply when faced with an overwhelming amount of gunfire. And that is exactly what they were met with.
So by the time Chew turned around at the alarming sound of guns, all he saw were his two comrades falling to the floor. "No… NO! You damn humans! I'll kill you all-"
"Smoke star!" Usopp yelled extra loud, again trying to attract the pirate's attention. His second smoke star of the day landed right on top of the villagers, covering up all of them completely. "Hah! I thought you fishmen were better than humans! But so far you guys have just been one big joke!"
Chew couldn't comprehend this madness. He had just heard the boy shout his attack like he was right in his ear, but just now when he was taunting him he sounded really far away. "You wanna see the power of a fishman!? Watch this, I'll kill all of you with one attack, even with that damn smoke!"
Usopp suddenly stopped moving through the trees and watched worriedly as his opponent ran back to the road. It looked like he was headed for the water, what would he want from there?
The boy's question was instantly answered when Chew bent down in front of the pond and began sucking up as much water as he could, draining the reservoir fast. CRAP! Can he really shoot that much water at the same speed as before!? He's gonna tear the whole forest down!
The long nosed teen glanced over at the smokescreen that he had made for the villagers a minute ago. It was still going strong, but he hoped they were all reloaded over there. Because if they were waiting for a signal, he was about to give it.
Reaching into his bag rapidly, the sniper pulled out one of his more destructive pellets and placed it into the slingshot pouch. Sending out a prayer for what felt like the hundredth time that day. It was pretty safe to say that if this didn't work, they were all gonna die.
"SPECIAL ATTACK, FLAME STAR!" Usopp screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that the villagers heard him and were taking action.
The small orange ball hit exactly where Usopp hoped, right on Chew's ass. And the very moment that the pellet made contact, his shorts lit up like a christmas tree.
"AHH!" Chew shouted in pain, his mouth gurgling with water as he waddled around aimlessly. Had there actually been any water in the pond left, Chew would have no problem with the fire whatsoever. But since it was all in his mouth right now, he was forced to drop to the floor and begin rolling around to try to put the fire out. Which was quite an interesting sight considering how round his appearance was right now.
But yes, it seemed as though Usopp had timed things perfectly, because not only did he render his opponent immobile. He had also sent a very clear signal to the cavalry that was now arriving.
Now freshly reloaded, Genzo and the other armed villagers comfortably surrounded the helpless fishman right as the fire was dying down. And it only took one look at the sheriff to know how much hate was being thrown his way.
"Light him up guys!"
Chew was totally helpless as hellfire came down upon him. And just like his two comrades, his durable skin didn't hold up against all the bullets hitting his body. It came to a pointy when they started blowing holes in his stomach, making him leak everywhere. He was dead in the water… Literally.
As Genzo and the rest of the townspeople put their guns down, a sad but hopeful silence fell upon them all. How on earth were they even alive right now!? They had just gone up against four fishmen!
And right on que, Usopp walked out of the forest. Normally, he would be all for basking in the glory of a victory like this. But right now, he was just happy to still be among the living. Because as soon as he walked out of the forest his legs gave out on him. He was totally pooped.
What he didn't expect though, was the large round of cheers erupting from all of the villagers in front of him. He didn't hear much after that though, because the tempting comfort of sleep was calling his name. And with how mentally drained he felt, he wasn't about to resist. Heh, maybe being brave is worth it sometimes...