Wealth, Fame, Power…

Chapter 34: A Not So Well Oiled Machine

Sanji did his best to slowly get to his feet as he let out a grunt of pain. Things weren't looking so great at the moment, the only positive thing about the situation that the blonde could think of right now was his vision finally returning after some excessive rubbing. Sure, it was still really damn blurry, and he swore he could see two of everything right now, but at least he could see right? That was a positive. Well, that and the fact that his green haired crewmate was also getting to his feet with decent haste.

Who knows? Maybe this half baked plan would actually work?

"You alright, mosshead?"

Zoro took a few deep and ragged breaths before responding, all this damage was really starting to pile on. "I'll live for now, what's the plan?"

Sanji was just about to answer the swordsman's question when he heard a small chuckle from across the battlefield. "Hehe, how amusing. You both still wish to fight yet you don't even have a plan of attack," Kuroobi mocked. "It won't matter what you do or how many years you two have been fighting together, our teamwork will still win in the end."

The two Straw Hat Pirates clenched their jaws tightly at the fishman's taunts. This was really turning into a pickle and they needed to find a way out of it… Fast.

Since Zoro was clutching his stomach in a fruitless attempt to hold back his reopened wound, Sanji took it upon himself to talk back to the pair of Arlong Pirates. "You two call ganging up and fighting dirty, teamwork? Well damn, my partner and I might just be able to pull this off if that's the case."

Zoro turned his slightly shocked face to Sanji questioningly, did he really have a plan? Or was he bluffing?

"Don't say such foolish things. Our teamwork is much more than just minor outnumbering and underhandedness. We pick our opponents apart piece by piece in a very systematic fashion," Kuroobi explained. Although it was kinda hard to take him seriously since he was talking with such an arrogant tone.

"Um, Kuroobi?" Hachi poked his friend innocently.

The ray fishman quickly fell from his mental high in order to respond to his crewmate. "What is it Hachi? Something to add to our glorious cooperative skills?"

"Uhhh. I don't really know what you mean by that, but that guy is right, we kinda did just gang up in a dishonorable way."

"What the hell!? Hachi!?" Kuroobi screamed accusingly. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

The octopus fishman shrunk down in size from the scolding he got. "Sorry Kuroobi."

The ray fishman just sighed and looked back to the Straw Hat Pirates with one finger raised. "Will you give us a moment?"

Even if the fishman brought it up as a question, it sure as hell wasn't one, because as soon as he asked it, he turned around and dragged Hachi back a few more feet for some much needed privacy. Was this guy really about to pause a fight just to chew out his crewmate?

Sanji wasn't complaining in the slightest though, taking the opportunity to run over to Zoro and start explaining his little idea. "Alright, listen up."

"This better be good," Zoro grumbled.

"Just trust me damn it! We're pretty much just gonna do the exact same thing that they did to us, only better."

The pirate hunter could only give his teammate an incredulous look, that was his big plan!? "Are you kidding!? That's it!?"

"It'll be easy," Sanji started up again, ignoring the swordsman's sarcasm. "If we can just separate them and get in a good combo attack then I know we can take them down fast, maybe even in one shot. We can hit a lot harder than them after all."

Zoro stared at the blonde cook as he chased his own thoughts around in his head. The way that he explained it sounded good on paper, and that was just fine. But would they actually be able to pull it off? The shitty cook does have a point though, I can guarantee that we can do a lot more damage than they can in a short amount of time.

"All right then, which one do we go after first?"

"Isn't it obvious? That huge grey one is a way bigger threat. We need to get him down asap."

Zoro knitted his eyebrows together as he took those words in. Frankly, he had to disagree there. "I don't know about that, the one with six swords is a way bigger threat if you ask me. Plus he doesn't seem to be all that smart, so he'll be an easier target."

Sanji had been just about ready to charge straight into battle until Zoro spoke up and brought his own thoughts to the table. So with a heavy sigh, the blonde cook proceeded to turn around and start things up again. "Look, no offense, but how about you leave the thinking to someone who actually knows what they're doing. I know you think that just because the guy has swords he's more dangerous, but trust me on this, we need to go after that grey bastard first."

Had the blonde worded his counter argument a bit more softly and left out some attitude, the pirate hunter might have agreed to his strategy and they would be well on their way to attacking right about now.

Unfortunately though, no matter how hard you pushed two incompatible magnets together, they pushed back harder.

"What are you talking about, you curly browed freak!? It's not just because he's a swordsman, I also said he looks more clumsy and idiodic! Why would we not attack him first!?"

"Oh? Clumsy and idiodic huh? Well you would know about something like that wouldn't you?"

"Screw you, you crappy cook! Just follow my lead and try to keep up!" Zoro yelled, taking off with surprising speed towards the arguing fishmen.

"Gah! Get back here you dumbass, you better at least be going for the big guy!"

But much to the well dressed man's distaste, the green haired swordsman was already jumping at the octopus fishman with his sword up. And since his back was turned while his teammate scolded him, this was at least gonna be some guaranteed damage dealt to the red fishman.

Luckily for Hachi though, Kuroobi was facing in the direction of the action heading their way and was quick enough to warn his friend of the oncoming danger. "Hachi, behind you!"

Not needing to be told twice, the octopus fishman turned around and put his swords up instantly, ready to defend against anything that may come his way.

And just in time too, because his six layered block was easily able to stop Zoro's one layered attack. "Woah! Relax guys, didn't you just complain about fighting dirty?"

While Hachi held Zoro in a clash of swords, Kuroobi popped his knuckles with a dark smile gracing his lips. It looked like the tiny humans had come back for round two. "Hah, back again so soon are you? Well then, let me make it worth your while," He finished as he brought a fist up to attack the distracted swordsman.

When he let his punch fly however, he expected it to hit the green haired fellow, not a rock hard kneecap.

Sanji didn't even flinch when the fist came in contact with his lifted leg. Then again, there weren't many things that were able to overpower his prized lower limbs. "You bet your ass we're back for more. Except this time we actually have a plan. Now mosshead! I've got him locked up, do your thing!"

But Zoro only grunted as he tried to hold back all six of Hachi's swords for the second time today. "What!? No! I've got this guy locked up, so you come do your thing!"

The two opposing fishmen looked at each other strangely at the odd way their enemies worked with each other. Was this a part of their scheme? Either way, they were leaving themselves wide open, and they weren't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

And so with a curt nod, Kuroobi signaled for his partner to make his move, completely baffling Zoro with the next thing he saw.

While holding back the pirate hunter was rather easy for the red fishman with six of his swords, he didn't need all of them. In fact, out of the six only three would suffice for defending himself properly.

And once Zoro saw three of those swords rise away from his guard and up above Sanji's head, it didn't take a genius to know what was gonna happen next.

"No!" Zoro screamed. But it was well too late, because three vertical slashes had already been marked on the cook's backside as he fell limp down to the ground.

But there was no time to even process that, because soon after Sanji's body hit the floor, Kuroobi was charging up another fist with the pirate hunter in mind for his next target.

Damn it! If only I had another sword! I'd be able to block this red bastard and this grey bastard at the same time!

Zoro's panicked thoughts immediately came to a close as he braced for impact. At the very least, this one wouldn't hurt as bad as the last one since he was actually prepared for this one.

Straight to his left cheek is where the swordsman took the incoming blow from the ray fishman. And boy did it sting, sending him hurtling back in the direction of the small pool of water leading to the ocean. Since he was able to brace for the hit though, Zoro kept his bearings. Staying just conscious enough of his movements to avoid falling into the sea.

"Grr," Kuroobi growled in a low disgust. It seemed as though he was finally starting to become fed up at the lack of challenge the straw hats were providing. "What is this nonsense!? The two of you were in perfect sync before when you were fighting our comrades, but now you can barely even communicate! If you aren't going to provide us anymore entertainment, then we might as well kill you right here."

At the Arlong Pirate's declaration, Zoro and Sanji's eyes both widened in realization. With the cook actually taking action and suddenly sending out a sweeping kick at his opponent's feet, knocking both of them onto the ground.

Wincing as he jumped back to stand next to his crewmate, Sanji read the look on his face, knowing that they were thinking the exact same thing right now. "Did you hear that mosshead?"

Zoro's face began slowly changing into one of pure confidence as a smirk took over. "Oh yeah. We've been doing this all wrong from the start."

The blonde nodded as he too got a look of satisfaction on his face. Kuroobi had been exactly right on his odd observation, their teamwork was seriously lacking. No matter how hard they tried to work together, they just weren't compatible… So why were they able to fight off the small fry so well?

"Yep," Sanji agreed, hunching over at the newfound pain in his back. For better or worse he was at least on his feet right now, so either his adrenaline was working double time, or the wounds weren't so deep. Either way, he would find out later. "No matter how perfect my plan was, and no matter how badly you ruined it, I think I finally see the bigger picture here."

Rather than getting bent out of shape even more, Zoro kept up his semi-cocky smirk all the way until the very end. "Oh yeah? How about this then. Whoever delivers more finishing blows to these bastards is the one who made the better plan."

Surely such an immature and pointless challenge would be ignored right? Especially in the heat of battle.

Wrong.

"You're on mosshead!" Sanji proclaimed as he dashed back into battle, Zoro right on his tail.

But whether they knew it or not, said immature challenge was the key to victory.

The two annoyed fishmen got to their feet just as the duo was approaching them. "Come Hachi. Let us end this, it is becoming tiresome."

The four warriors all met in the middle of the battlefield. With Zoro's blade meeting Hachi's, and Sanji's knee meeting Kuroobi's fist.

With the same outcome showing as last time, the ray fishman managed another chuckle at the other team's strategic incompetence. "Hahaha! You fools! Is this not the very same situation you found yourselves beaten in before!? How stupid can you b-"

"Shut the hell up already!" Sanji cut off, withdrawing his knee and wasting no time in jerking up his other leg at the fishman's face.

The blow landed spot and by extreme surprise. Not only was the ray fishman in the middle of speaking, but the attack couldn't have possibly hit him more square on the face.

As Kuroobi fell straight back on his ass while holding his jaw, the blonde haired cook did not delay a second further in getting Hachi in his sights. With the octopus fishman distracted on his crewmate, this was a perfect opportunity to score a point in their little challenge.

With that in mind, Sanji lunged at his new target with a powerful jump, bringing out a singular leg in order to perform a jump kick. And like a powerful spear, he did just that, impaling the red fishman in the gut with the tip of his foot. The attack was definitely strong, but it wasn't finishing move status.

Sanji's foot got sucked into Hachi's gut all the way to his knee cap before shooting him out like a trampoline. But not before sending Hachi flying all the way back into Arlong Park's little ocean reservoir.

And just like that, Zoro was clear for takeoff, readying his weapon and sprinting for the downed Kuroobi with malicious intent.

The ray fishman had not yet gotten up from the little surprise kick he received earlier when he spotted the vicious swordsman coming at him. This left him with the only option of attempting to block him with his arms crossed in front of his chest. And boy did he regret that move…

"AHHH!" Kurobi yelled as he stared down in horror at his newly stripped arms. The ruthless pirate hunter had just completely severed both of the fins on his arms!

"Alright mosshead! Now we're cooking. That doesn't count as a fishing move though, he's still moving," Sanji said as they watched the fishman roll on the ground in utter pain.

"Aw what!? Don't give me that crap! Would you still wanna fight if you got your arms cut off!?"

"You didn't even cut his arms off! Just those weird fins!"

Zoro was about to respond and bite back at his teammate, but Hachi chose this moment to jump back out of the water that Sanji had just knocked him in. "Yeah, I probably deserved that for doing the same thing to you gu-Kuroobi! What the hell!?" Hachi yelled in surprise at the writhing pain his teammate seemed to be in.

It didn't take long for the situation to set in for the red fishman, and right when it did, he took off in the direction of his friend in hopes of helping.

But he never even got close before Zero was in his path again. "Where do you think you're going?"

Hachi glared angrily at the opposing swordsman. He didn't have time for this right now. "Get out of my way!" He shouted, raising all six of his swords before bringing them down onto Zoro.

This time though, the pirate hunter was ready for the weight. Or better yet, he couldn't wait to feel it, already picturing the weight of his previous opponent's sword and comparing it to the current one.

And there simply was no contest.

Zoro caught all six blades with his singular one with ease, actually surprising himself with how natural it felt whenever he was prepared for it. "You should just give up now, I've crossed swords with the greatest in the world, and your blades aren't even close to being heavy enough to match his."

Hachi looked on in absolute shock as the color drained from his face. "No way! You've fought Hawkeye Mihawk before!? And his blade is really heavier than mine are? Wow! Mine are all three hundred kilos each! Now that's impressive!"

Zoro deadpanned at the asinine words he was hearing. Whenever he said Mihawk's blade was heavy, it was a figure of speech to show how much weight was behind each one of his strikes, not the literal pound for pound weight of the actual sword…

Well no wonder his moves are so strong. Just dropping a sword of that weight on someone would create a halfway decent attack. Zoro was about to wrap up his thoughts and get onto explaining to this idiot that he wasn't talking about the true weight of the blades, but he never even got the chance to open his mouth.

"Collier shoot!"

All of the sudden, Sanji was in the air behind Hachi, pulling back his leg before delivering a devastating blow to the side of the fishman's neck, making him fall to the ground and black out instantly.

The pirate hunter watched in annoyance as his opponent crumpled to the floor right before him. "Damn it curly brows, I had that covered."

The cook in question only grinned cockily in the direction of his crewmate, taking this moment of victory to light up another cigarette. "Heh, sucks to suck mosshead. You knew the deal, and right now, I'm in the lead."

"Did you kill him?" Zoro asked curiously as he looked down at Hachi's limp form. He wouldn't be surprised if he did, that was some kick, and in the neck of all places.

Sanji met the eyeline of his crewmate and breathed in some smoke before answering. "Hmm, to be honest, I don't even know. I only went for that move on him because his neck is way smaller than that other guy's," he said, pointing over to Kuroobi's recovering form. "If I had done that on him, I don't think he would have even felt it."

With the point driven into his mind, Zoro turned his attention to where his crewmate was pointing. And with good timing too, because the grey fishman was finally starting to get up again.

Clenching his webbed fists at the incredible pain in his forearms, Kuroobi analyzed the situation with fury coursing through his veins. "So… You two managed to get to Hachi. And not to mention my precious fins… I"LL KILL YOU BOTH FOR THAT!"

No longer seeing reason, Kuroobi charged straight forward like a bull, seemingly headed right for Zoro. But with a small grunt and a hand gripping his bloody stomach, the swordsman managed to jump to the side and out of harm's way.

Unfortunately, this was when it was discovered that Zoro was never Kuroobi's original target, because he easily tackled down an unaware Sanji, who was completely fooled by the misdirection.

Once Kuroobi had him pinned to the floor, he mounted the cook with malice in his eyes before wrapping both of his hands around the man's neck.

As he bagan getting all the air strangled out of him, Sanji definitely had a few choice words in mind for the troublesome fishman. "W-what t-the he-ll! He's t-the one wh-o c-cut yo-ur fins o-off! N-not me!"

With all his might, Sanji kicked at the stomach of the heated fishman, but it was no use. Clearly they had really knocked one of his crews loose or something.

But from a tactical perspective, Sanji had nothing to worry about. After all, he had a teammate who was totally free and ready to make a move against their enemy.

And a move Zoro did make, because right when Sanji was preparing to breathe his last breath, A sword was sunk all the way to the hilt inside of Kuroobi's back. And it was very clear by the way that the light fell from his eyes that the strike was to the heart.

Taking in humungous gulps of breath, Sanji kicked the corpse of the fishman off of himself and sat up. "You couldn't have done that any faster?" He asked in between breaths.

Zoro just gave him an indifferent look before falling down onto his back and shutting down his body without question. "How's that for a finishing move?" The swordsman muttered as he drifted off into unconsciousness. Clearly the man was way past his limit on blood loss.

The cook just smiled slightly at the outcome of their little game. It looked like another draw, how exciting. In hindsight though, that little game was the only reason they were able to get their act together and win this damn thing. How about that? Sanji thought in amusement.

"Hey, human."

Sanji turned his head in alarm at the weak voice he heard coming his way, but quickly calmed down when he saw that it was only Kuroobi.

The fishman was laying down on the cement in a giant pool of his own blood. And if he really did just get stabbed in the heart like the cook suspected, he only had another minute or so to live at best.

"Hu-human. Tell me something."

Sanji rolled his eyes. Now what? Was he about to have to perform some kind of dying wish? Because there was no way in hell he was gonna do that for someone who had just tried to strangle him to death. "Yeah, yeah, what do you want?"

Kuroobi smiled almost proudly, as if he knew there was something that gave his death meaning. "Y-your partner. How long have you two been fighting together? I've known Hachi since we were children so you two must have known each other for just as long to fight the way you do."

Sanji gave the fishman a blank look. Was he serious? "Uh, I don't know what to tell you man, but I met that guy less than a week ago…"

Kuroobi gaped at the blonde cook as he coughed loudly in shock, his facial expression never changing as he took his last breath.

Taking another puff of his cigarette, Sanji spoke again. "Well damn, that was dark," he said to no one in particular. "Don't worry though, I'm never teaming up for a fight like that again, that was a huge pain in the ass. Well… Nevermind, I take that back. I'll do it again if my teammate is a beautiful lady."

And speaking of beautiful ladies, Nami took this moment to finally step through the destroyed opening that Luffy had created into Arlong Park. "Sanji?" She asked genuinely. Unable to tell it was him right away because of the black substance all over his body.

The cook's eyes lit up with hearts and his body became mush at the adorable sight in front of him. "Nami! Oh my sweet angel! Did you see me fight!? I was amazing, wasn't I!?"

The Navigator rolled her eyes and instead went back to trying to spot Luffy over the opposite wall leading to the forest, but she came up empty. Damn it Luffy, you better not get yourself killed. She thought as pain shot up into her shoulder once again. Her wound was now undeniably bigger and much more bloody than before, that was for sure, but at least she didn't have to wear that horrible mark anymore.

She was about to walk even further into the park until she heard her name being called behind her.

"Nami!"

The orange haired teen quickly turned around when she recognized the voice calling to her. "Nojiko!?"

Indeed it was Nojiko, along with all of the other villagers hot on her tail. Hell, a few of them were even grouping up to carry an unconscious Usopp on their backs.

"What are you guys doing here!? And… Why do you have Usopp?"

"It's a long story," Nojiko began as she reached her sister with a crushing hug. "Are you ok?"

Nami knew she was referring to the blood leaking down her arm, so she answered honestly. "I'm fine Nojiko, really."

The blunette looked into her sister's eyes sadly as she prepared to break some heavy news. "Well then, there's something you need to know about the tangerine grove Nami."

The navigator in question only shook her head violently as a few tears formed in her sad brown eyes. "No, don't remind me. I already know."

Before Nojiko could get another word out to comfort her sister, Genzo stepped in front of her and gave his own two cents. "Don't worry Nami, that's why we're here in the first place. We're taking back our freedom all for ourselves now, so stop trying to do it alone, we're gonna help you."

Nami allowed a sad smile to grace her lips at the sheriff's words. That sounded really familiar. "Heh, someone already beat you to it."

With perfect timing, a scream was heard over the wall from the forest outside Arlong Park. And everyone's eyes were immediately on the barely visible red blur flying right back into the park, crashing loudly into the middle of the tower.

A few seconds later, A bloody faced Along slowly stepped back into the park on the ground level, his look of satisfaction at his apparently successful attack on Luffy disappearing with each fallen comrade he saw. "What the hell happened here!?"

Shooting out of the rubble of the broken second floor, Luffy crashed his fist right into Arlong's cheek, sending the fishman to his knees with a grunt of pain.

He hastily recovered however, shoving the rubber man off and standing up to face him once again. This time though, he didn't seem to be in his normally playful mood. "For every one of my men that's fallen today, that's another damn chunk I'm gonna rip off of your body."

If anything Luffy stood taller at the threats entering his ears. At this point he had lost the bandages on his arms, showing off the painful looking red hue adjourning his skin. "Come and try it then you bastard. I'll make you end up just like all your friends here."

That seemed to strike a nerve with the shark fishman, because he charged without another moment's delay.

Luffy… Nami thought worriedly as the two captains met again for another brawl.