Chapter 1 - Cocoyashi Village
3rd POV:
Megumi sails towards Conomi Island, her home island, where she grew up with her loving mother and her cheeky younger sisters. She comes to the shore and quickly hops off her small wooden boat, tying it to the port, and she straightens up her black dress before putting on her black cute high heels over her white ruffle socks. She looks around as the wind blows her straight loose bubblegum pink hair and sees that the village is quiet; she walks through, seeing nobody, till she hears a cry. "Arlong! Arlong! Arlong! Arlong!" She hears a voice all too familiar and steps around the corner to see her baby sister sitting on the ground with a dagger in her shoulder. She races over to her sister as she's about to stab herself again, just as Luffy stands to his feet, and she grabs her wrist, squeezing it tight in her grip, enough to hurt Nami. Nami looks up to see her older sister standing over her, and she cries even more, glad to see her sister; though she sees the anger in her eyes, Luffy walks over as Megumi pulls her sister to her feet.
"Onee-chan..." Nami whimpers, Luffy stops in his tracks as he looks at the beautiful pinkette and looks her over from head to toe, her innocent and sweet appearance, but he stares in shock at what happens next. Megumi slaps Nami around the face, hard enough to leave a handprint on her cheek; Nami stumbles from the hit, covering her cheek with her hands, showing her bloodied-bandaged left hand.
"How dare you harm yourself, after everything Mama did to protect us! All the things we've gone through!" Megumi snaps at her, and Luffy walks over to the two sisters.
"I'm sorry…." Nami says, and Megumi's eyes soften, and she sees Luffy standing next to them. "Luffy…what do you want?! You don't even know anything! You don't even know what's happened on this island the last 8 years!"
"Yeah, I don't know." He answers honestly, and Megumi looks between Nami and Luffy, completely lost.
"This has nothing to do with you! I told you, leave the damn island already!" She warns him, but Megumi sees the pleading in her baby sister's eyes.
"Yeah. You told me." He answers, but he doesn't move an inch.
"Leave! I don't need you! Leave!" Nami shouts at him; Megumi pulls her sister into a hug as she struggles against her hold. "Leave! Leave! Leave!" She returns the hug as she clings to her big sister. "Luffy...help me…" She begs him and looks at him with her tear-stained face, and he takes off his straw hat, placing it on Nami's head.
"Of course, I will." He tells her and starts walking off. "That's what friends are for." He comes to a stop, raising his hands into the air. "HE'S GONNA PAY!" He shouts, and Nami pulls away from her sister as she looks at him, remembering his words back in Orange Town. "Luffy…" Megumi pulls away to see three other males as Luffy walks over to them, a blond, a ravenette, and a greenette.
"Let's go." He orders his crew members.
"Right." They both answer, and they head out of the village for Arlong Park; Megumi watches them go as she comforts her little sister.
"Who are these guys?" She questions, and Nami smiles, taking her sister's hand.
"They're gonna save our home," Nami replies, and she looks at her sister, the smile as real as when they were kids.
"I hope you're right." She replies and pulls her to their home to treat Nami's shoulder.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Megumi tightens the bandage around Nami's injured shoulder, making her flinch. "Sorry." Megumi apologises, and Nami wipes away her tears. "I still can't believe the Marines trashed our mother's orchard," Megumi growls as she looks at the destruction.
"I cried as much as I wanted...I've whined enough, too...and I'm resolved as well," Nami says randomly, and Megumi looks at her.
"You've got too much on your shoulders, Nami." She says and strokes her arm as she stands to her feet.
"I have to; everyone is fighting for me!" Nami snaps and grabs her staff.
"Everyone has always been fighting for us." She tells her, and she walks into the house to grab her mother's shotgun she restored. "Let's go help them."
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Megumi and Nami make it to Arlong Park, where the villager's all standing outside the broken gate, and they look around to see Sanji and Zoro on the ground in front of Arlong. Doctor Nako hears the two girls approach and turns to see them standing behind the group and making their way to the front. "Die already. Your lives are not worth that much." Arlong spits at the two humans.
"Arlong!" Nami shouts as the two girls walk to the front.
"Big Sis Nami!" Johnny and Yosaku exclaim in surprise, but they don't miss the taller woman standing next to her.
"Nami?! Megumi?!" "Nacchan...Megchan…" The villagers all murmur among themselves in shock at the girls' arrival.
"Hey, Nami! Welcome home, Megumi! I was about to crush some pirates just now. What did you come here for?" He asks the girls.
"To kill you…." They answer.
"To kill...me?" Arlong questions and chuckles. "You two never learn, do you? How many times did you two try to kill me during the eight years you two were with me?" He reveals, and the villagers all look at the girls in surprise. "You tried assassination, poison, sneak attacks...were you two able to actually kill me?" He asks, and the villager's all look at the girls in shock and him in fear. "You two must be completely aware that you mere humans can't kill me. Now, listen. I won't kill you two...and you two can't escape from me...Megumi...Nami...you'll be our treasure hunter and surveyor forever. But, as you two know, I'm a good-natured man. If possible, I want you to be our treasure hunter and surveyor of your own free will. So, how about this? I'll be killing everyone here except you two." He tells them, and the two girls look at him in shock and fear. "But if you two happily come back to the Arlong Pirates and find treasure, draw sea charts as two of the leaders, I don't mind letting loose those people from Cocoyashi Village live." Even the villagers look at him in surprise with his proposition. "But I can't let those guys live." He kicks Sanji to the side. "They went too far. The question is who you'll be with. You two either take my side now and get saved along with the villagers or be on these weaklings' side and try fighting against me with everyone. But with these guys you depend on in this shape, it's obvious that it'll be a tragedy for you. Megumi, Nami...are you my friends? Or...their friends?"
"Not fair…" Those words echo through Nami's head. "If I say I'm friends with Luffy and the others, everyone will get killed. And if I say I'm Arlong's friend, then everyone from the village will be saved. With my words, everyone will be…."
"That's despicable!"
"No matter what they choose, he's not going to give Megumi and Nami their freedom!" The villagers shout.
"But…" Nami panics, but she feels Megumi take her hand, squeezing it with reassurance, and remembers Luffy's words. "I must not doubt his words!" Megumi sees the look in her sister's eyes, and she turns to face the villagers. "Everybody, I'm sorry! Please die with me!" She looks at them, and for a second, she worries they're not on her side.
"All right!" They all shout. "We'll go for it! We'll fight!"
"I see…"Arlong mutters under his breath, growing angry at them. "Everyone wants to be killed…" Nami turns back to face him, and there's a tense moment when a spurt of water comes up from behind the wall. "What the..?" Sanji, hearing this, looks up to see what's happening with a smile.
"Finally...all we have to do now is remove his leg weight…." Sanji says.
"Oh…" Zoro questions and turns onto his side. "So that's what you meant…."
"Could it be?" Yosaku questions in shock and looks at his partner.
"Big Bro Luffy?!" Johnny exclaims, and Megumi looks at them.
"We missed a bit, huh?" She looks at her baby sister, who nods and the boys start getting to their feet, and Zoro places his sword down.
"30 seconds. I won't last longer than that." Zoro warns him.
"That'll be enough!" Sanji assures him, taking his shoes off and heads for the water, diving in.
"There isn't a fountain over there. Could it be that rubber man?" Arlong questions, taking a step forward, but Zoro gets to his feet and slices in front of Arlong, stopping him in his tracks.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing, you damn half fish!" Zoro warns him with his sword in his mouth and sees the small cut along his cheekbone.
"I thought I told you not to say those words ever again...dying Zoro!" He snaps and licks the blood from his cut. "In the sea, one with Devil Fruit powers is supposed to lose even the energy to struggle as well as his powers and die. If he's still alive, that means someone is getting a damper on this game."
"Putting a damper?" Zoro repeats, still breathing heavily from his injuries. "It didn't seem like a fair game from the start."
"At any rate. If there's a hindrance, I need to check on it. Out of my way." Arlong orders him, and Usopp sneaks to the hole Sanji made.
"Egg Star!" Usopp shouts and fires an egg, Arlong holds his hand up to stop it, but some of it still hits him. "I've got your back, Zoro!"
"Big Bro Usopp! He's alright!" Yosaku exclaims.
"How brave! What a gallant arrival!" Johnny comments, and Megumi nudges her sister's side.
"They do know he's hiding behind the wall, right?" She asks Nami, who shrugs.
"Fight to the fullest extent!" Usopp shouts over to Zoro.
"That's where you are?!" The Bounty Hunter questions in surprise.
"That's Usopp!" Nami smiles, and Megumi looks at her, glad to see a real one on her face after 8 long years.
"Listen, Nami! One of the leaders! One of the leaders! The guy with a face like this!" He says and pulls his lips down, trying to demonstrate Chew's facial structure and laughs. "Fishmen are a piece of cake!"
"Uh oh…" Megumi mutters, biting her lip.
"You defeated...Chew?" Arlong questions in shock at a mere human taking down another of his strongest.
"Serves you right! With my arrival, the fight comes to a climax at once! It heads into the final chapter!" Usopp grins.
"He's gonna die…." Megumi mutters, and Nami nudges her sister.
"Big Bro Cook! I don't know what's going on in the water, but his actions must be the key!" Johnny cheers.
"Big Bro Zoro! Stand strong and stop Arlong!" Yosaku cheers on his hero.
"Okay? We have to somehow prevent Arlong from going into the sea, huh?" Usopp thinks to himself and rummages around in his man-purse. "I'll stop him from moving." Hachi gains consciousness and tries carefully to get to his feet.
"I won't let you have your way!" Hachi snaps.
"Hey, Arlong! Look this way!" Usopp shouts, trying to gain his attention.
"What?! Big Bro Usopp!" Johnny questions in worry.
"How brave!" Yosaku cheers.
"More like stupid," Megumi mutters, earning dark looks from the Bounty Hunters.
"Usopp! Rubber Band of Doom!" Usopp yells as he holds a rubber band around his thumb, pulling back.
"Standing in my way…." Arlong says, ignoring Usopp. "Looks like you want to die first, Roronoa Zoro."
"Now! Go, Zoro!" Usopp shouts, letting the rubber band go, it falls to the side.
"What do you actually wanna do?!" Nami snaps at him.
"Moron." Megumi snaps along with her baby sister.
"No way I'll die. I'll break your proud nose!" Zoro sneers and swings, hitting Arlong's nose, but his blades won't even budge.
"You fool...it's a proud nose because it's unbreakable. If you were at your full strength, you might've been able to give it a scratch." Arlong taunts him and pushes back against the blades, sliding Zoro back as he tries stopping him.
"Big Bro!" Yosaku whimpers in worry.
"Look over there!" Johnny shouts, pointing over to Hachi.
"Ahh! That damn octopus is up!" Yosaku exclaims and looks closer to see Hachi holding up his arms as if waiting for impact. "And...what's he doing?"
"Dammit! I thought the rubber band was going to fly at me!" Hachi panics, moving his arms around.
"What?!" The crowd exclaims in shock at the broken gate.
"What?!" Usopp exclaims but tries covering up his shock. "See?! He was my target!" He fibs, pointing over at Hachi.
"You were saying 'Arlong,' weren't you?" Nami asks the known liar.
"Man, what a loser," Megumi says, and Usopp looks at the girl in shock.
"Octopus…" Zoro mutters.
"Roronoa Zoro! I won't let you have your way!" Hachi tells him. "I'll crush your friend who went in the sea!" He races over to the water and jumps in, to Zoro's shock as he still has a hold on Arlong, stopping him.
"You don't have to be concerned since you'll all be dead, after all," Arlong tells him, and Zoro looks back at him; Arlong lunges forward, pushing Zoro' blades and strikes Zoro with the tip of his sharp nose. Zoro cries out from the pain as he pierces his body.
"Big Bro!" Johnny and Yosaku cry out, and Arlong grabs Zoro by the throat, holding him up in the air; Usopp climbs over the wall to get a better look.
"Zoro!" Usopp calls out to him.
"So that was it? That was too quick. What's with all these bandages?" Arlong questions and tightens his grip on Zoro. "Did you fall somewhere?" He pulls the bandages away, blood spurting everywhere, showing the slash mark made by Hawk Eye's legendary blade. Nami gasps in horror, cowering into her big sister. "What's this scar?" Arlong wonders as he looks at it, Johnny and Yosaku crying for their role model. "How can he still be alive with a body like this? How can he still be standing?!" He looks at the ghastly slash from his right shoulder to his left hip that's stitched up poorly; Zoro looks down at Arlong, looking him in the eye. "What kind of eyes are they? Are they the eyes of someone who's dying?" He wonders and drops the bloodied bandages. "He's a man I need to kill for sure, right here, right now!" Zoro grimaces for a second, but it turns into a tight throaty chuckle, and Arlong looks at him, a little stunned at his attitude.
"If a person stays put, their wounds won't open up." Zoro states.
"That's right. You find your situation amusing?" Arlong asks him.
"I'm not talking about me...I'm talking about the Octopus." He reveals with a grin.
"What?!" Arlong growls.
"I thought I told you...we will win this game." He tells him, and seconds later, Luffy comes flying out from behind the wall, high above.
"Wahhhhh! I'm back!" Luffy shouts from the sky, and the crowd all cheer for his arrival back to the fight.
"Rubber boy!" Doctor Nako exclaims, and Megumi looks over at him then back at Luffy.
"Big Bro Luffy!" Johnny cheers with the others.
"Luffy!" Nami shouts, and Megumi looks over at her sister, seeing the big smile on her face. Usopp cheers and falls back onto the ground from the high wall, though the only one not celebrating is Arlong as he glares up at the rubber boy.
"That damn rubber man…." He growls inside his head, and Zoro looks up to see his Captain.
"You're late, idiot!" Zoro snaps, and Luffy looks over to see Zoro in Arlong's grip.
"Zoro!" Luffy yells with a grin and stretches out his arms, them grabbing the back of Zoro's shirt.
"Huh?! Hey! Stop it! You aren't gonna…" Zoro stutters in fear, and Luffy chuckles as he pulls Zoro out of Arlong's hold into the air, past him.
"Let's switch places!" He yells as he sends Zoro flying.
"You idiot!" The crowd all shout at Luffy.
"Gum-Gum no...Bell!" Luffy shouts as he falls towards Arlong, stretching out his neck before headbutting him, making the Fishman stumble back, allowing Luffy to land on the concrete and rush at Arlong. "And, Whip!" He kicks Arlong in the stomach with his leg that stretches out, sending the Fishman back. Luffy stretches his arm back, ready to punch Arlong, who catches his footing. "Gum-Gum no...Pistol!" He sends the punch into Arlong's stomach, making him stammer back, and Luffy punches forward, faster, creating momentum. "Gatling!" He sends multiple punches into Arlong's stomach, sending him into the building's wall behind him, falling back, breaking the wall into pieces. "All right!" The crowd all look in shock.
"Whoa…" Megumi mutters in shock, and Nami looks at her sister with a smile.
"Did you do something?" Arlong prods at him as he gets out of the rubble.
"It's not working!" Johnny and Yosaku shout to Luffy.
"Yep. That was my warm-up." Luffy says as he cracks his knuckles and starts stretching.
"What a bunch of scum, nobly hanging on...you'd have been happier if you died at the bottom of the sea…." Arlong says as he watches Luffy.
"Hmm? Not really. I'm happy that they saved me." Luffy replies.
"He's something else," Megumi remarks, and Nami looks at her older sister.
"He sure is." She replies.
"Can you understand my anger? It's the anger of seeing my dear brothers crushed by worms." Arlong growls as he gets to his feet, watching carelessly stretch, warming up. "You'll realise soon enough that you should've died without fighting."
"Is Big Bro Luffy gonna be okay?" Yosaku questions as his partner stand with a slack jaw. "All his fierce attacks weren't effective at all."
"More importantly, how far did Big Bro Zoro fly?!" Johnny shouts in his ear.
"Go, Luffy! I've got your back!" " Usopp shouts out from his hiding spot.
"You don't have to worry about his back," Nami remarks,
"Good one," Megumi smirks at her sister.
"What's the terrifying difference between you and me?" Arlong asks Luffy.
"Nose." Luffy answers, and Megumi snickers at his bluntness. "Jaw?" The others all look at him in shock while Megumi tries to hold in her laughter.
"I wonder if Big Bro's joking…." Yosaku says aloud.
"No, he's definitely serious." Johnny denies though he's not too sure himself.
"Webs?" Luffy asks as he holds his hand up, pointing at his other hand.
"Species!" Arlong roars, growing angry at Luffy's jabs, and tries taking a bite out of Luffy, who dodges out of the way; Arlong keeps trying to take bites out of Luffy, who keeps dodging out of the way. Arlong grows tired of chasing after him and grabs Luffy by the throat, slamming him into the stone column, and tries to bite him again, but Luffy pulls his head out of the way, and Arlong bites around the column.
"Such a fool! He's hurt himself by biting on a rock! Now his teeth're brok…" Usopp stops when the stone column shatters before falling apart.
"He crushed the stone pillar with his teeth!" Johnny yells, and Luffy scurries away.
"Ahh! That's scary!" Luffy exclaims.
"You see?" Arlong says as he turns around to look at Luffy's crouching form. "This is the inherent power of a Fishman. Heaven discriminated against you humans and made you powerless creatures that bow before Fishman." Arlong says as he walks towards him. "You humans are inferior creatures. We were on a different level from the prominent we were born." He chuckles. "I'll show you...the real difference between you and me…" He chuckles, and Luffy gets to his feet.
"Yeah, why don't you…." Luffy challenges him with a grin. "No way I'll lose against a fish. I am...the man who'll be King of the Pirates!"
"Big talk…" Megumi grimaces at his words.
"King of the Pirates?" Arlong repeats and picks up a large piece of rubble, throwing it into the air. "Don't make me laugh. Can you inferior humans do something like crush a pillar with your teeth?"
"So what? Stop…" Luffy snaps and punches a bigger piece of rubble, crushing it. "...bragging over stuff like that!" He looks at Arlong with his raised fist. "It's not like biting is the only way to break stone."
"All right, Big Bro Luffy! You sure told him!" Yosaku yells in encouragement.
"That's right! The outcome is the same!" Johnny shouts.
"Th-that's beside the point! A stupid and weak species...that's what humans are. What can you do when you can't even pull yourself out of the water?!" Arlong grows and lunges at Luffy, snapping his jaws, though Luffy dodges out of the way and stretches his arms out for the swords lying on the ground.
"Nothing! That's why I need help!" He yells and starts slashing at Arlong with the swords, who dodges easily. "Take that...and that...and that!"
"What are you doing? It looks like you're just swinging swords around." Arlong comments, and the blade clashes with Arlong's sharp nose and the tip breaks off as it sails away. "If you're just playing around, I'm not going to join your little game." Luffy swipes at Arlong, but he catches the blade between his razor-sharp teeth, and the tip flies off, and Arlong snaps the blade with his teeth into pieces. "Enough of this nonsense…."
"Clench your teeth!" Luffy warns Arlong as he spins on the spot as he goes for a punch, knocking the Fishman away and even shatters Arlong's teeth.
"Wha?! He shattered Arlong's teeth!" The crowd stare in shock as Arlong lies on the concrete with Luffy standing over him.
"I don't know how to use swords, you bastard!" Luffy shouts, and Megumi can't help the giggles escaping at his statement. "I don't know how to sail the oceans, I can't cook...I can't lie, either…."
"Hey!" Usopp exclaims from his hiding place.
"I'm confident that I can't live without help!" He shouts, and Arlong, hearing this, chuckles.
"Fully admitting how pathetic you are…." Arlong says and sits up. "You sure are honest. I bet your crew is bothered by having such an incompetent Captain like you. I wonder why your crew tried so desperately to save you…someone like you without any pride has the calibre to be a Captain? What on earth can you do?" He asks as he rubs his jaw.
"I can defeat you!" Luffy states with certainty.
"I've got your back!" Usopp yells, and Nami laughs with a light tone as she squeezes her sister's hand.
"All right, Gum-Gum no! Go get him, Big Bro Luffy! Go for it by a hair!" Johnny and Yosaku shout their encouragement.
"Go ahead and babble, you inferior species!" Arlong snaps and sheds his broken teeth, then a new set pops up to replace them.
"Ugh! He's got new teeth!" Luffy gasps in shock.
I'm a shark. New teeth grow one after another. And they're stronger than the previous ones." He says and pulls out the new set. "As many times as needed…" A new set grows in quickly.
"Whoa!" Luffy exclaims in awe as Arlong starts pulling out the new set.
"As many times…." He pulls out the new set with another growing in as everyone stares in awe. "This is a distinctive quality that heaven gave us."
"Amazing!" Luffy exclaims in awe.
"Are you starting to realise what a superior species the Fishmen are?" Arlong says and snaps the teeth in his hands. "Tooth Attack!"
"Huh?" Luffy questions and Arlong lunges at Luffy, who dodges the attack, Arlong keeps trying to snap at him with his teeth, but Luffy dodges. "Stop!" He grabs Arlong's arm, trying to stop him, but it doesn't stop him as he takes bites out of him.
"Big Bro Luffy!" The Bounty Hunter's cry out along with the others, who watch in shock.
"A-Arlong…" A voice croaks out, and Arlong pulls away to see one of his crew members in Luffy's place. "That hurts…" He cries out as Arlong looks in shock.
"Wha! B-brother!" Arlong stutters in shock, and Luffy drops the injured Fishman to the floor with a sigh of relief.
"You damn rubber man!" Arlong says through gritted teeth as he tries to control his rage. "How dare you use my brother as a shield!"
"What're you saying? You're the one who attacked me." Luffy retorts.
"Don't move…." Arlong commands as he snaps his teeth like castanets. "You damn rubber man!"
"Oh yeah!" Luffy gets an idea, not necessarily a good one. "I've got an interesting idea."
"An interesting idea?" Johnny repeats, looking a little worried.
"What on earth will he..?" Yosaku wonders aloud, and Arlong lunges towards Luffy with his teeth castanets, trying to take a bite out of the rubber teen, but he dodges out of the way each time. He takes a stand back, cracking the concrete as he steps back, before swinging his foot, hitting Arlong as he tries to take a lunge, smacking him in the jaw, sending him onto the hard ground. His teeth falling out again as he skids along the concrete to a stop with his fallen teeth on the ground.
"There we go!" Luffy exclaims as part of his strange idea comes to light, and Arlong snaps out of it, growing furious at the human as he sits up slowly.
"You…" He growls. "There's no point in crushing my teeth repeatedly…" He wipes away the blood, dripping down the corner of his mouth. "You still don't get it?!"
"B-Big Bro Luffy…" Yosaku stutters out as he watches Luffy, the same as everyone else. "You surely don't mean your interesting idea is…" Luffy places the fallen teeth into his mouth.
"Look! I've got fangs, too!" Luffy exclaims through the large teeth in his mouth as he points at them, and the others all look at him in shock.
"So, his interesting idea was to take Arlong's gross teeth and what exactly?" Megumi questions as she watches. "Bit of an idiotic idea."
"Like your idea back when you were 15," Nami mutters, though her sister still hears her, and she grumbles under her breath about her plan being different, though it was very similar to Luffy's current idea.
"How long are you going to…." Arlong growls and lunges towards Luffy. "Leep fooling around?!" He snaps his teeth at Luffy, getting him near his arm; Luffy flies back onto the ground, wailing around as he clutches to the bitten area.
"I got bitten by a shark!" Luffy cries out, though he doesn't get much sympathy.
"That's because you're playing around!" Johnny and Yosaku shouts at him,
"It's not like I'm playing around." Luffy pouts back at them.
"Tooth Attack!" Arlong roars as he plunges his arm down, though Luffy jumps away in time as he breaks the concrete where Luffy was once lying. He doesn't give the raven-haired teen much time to stop as he goes for another attack, though Luffy barely escapes. Luffy picks up a piece of rubble, stopping Arlong's next attack, and tumbles back onto the floor; Arlong lunges at him and slams down onto Luffy's side with the set of teeth, he cries out in pain.
"He got bit!" Johnny and Yosaku shout as they watch Luffy jump up, biting down on his shoulder; he throws him off, the teeth still in both their attacked points.
"How do you like your own teeth?!" Luffy snaps at him as he holds his side.
"Even if it's my teeth that you used, it's your weak jaw after all." Arlong snaps and takes his old set of teeth out of his shoulder, where his gills are, though he seems even angrier. "Listen up. Shark teeth become useful when they come with a strong jaw that can bite off the meat!" He lunges again, biting into Luffy's elbow.
"Ahh! Big Bro's arms gonna be bitten off!" Yosaku cries out along with Johnny.
"Luffy!" Nami cries out, clinging onto her sister as they watch Arlong's teeth sink into Luffy's flesh as he cries out. Luffy continues to cry out as Arlong digs in deeper into Luffy's elbow. He raises his leg in the air, slamming it down into the concrete, breaking the surface as he wraps his arm around the back of the Shark Fishman's neck, and slams the Fishman back from the surprise, knocks him a little out, he released Luffy's elbow. Luffy tumbles away as he's released from Arlong's hold, and the two of them get up from the ground.
"Is Big Bro's arm okay?" Yosaku questions; as everyone stares in silence, Luffy pulls the teeth from his stomach free, and Arlong looks at the blood on his hand from his shoulder.
"Oh…? Where'd he go?" Luffy wonders aloud as he gets to his feet to look around and see that Arlong has disappeared.
"Luffy! The sea!" Nami shouts to him in warning, and he looks at her then back to the water.
"The sea?" He repeats and sees a shark dorsal fin gliding in the water. "There's a shark!"
"That's Arlong, dummy!" Megumi shouts at him, and Arlong disappears deeper into the water.
"Huh? Did he dive in?" Luffy questions as he looks down into the water. "Did he run away?" There's a still moment, then out of nowhere, Arlong darts out of the water.
"Shark...Dart!" Arlong shouts as he breaks out of the water; Luffy flies in the air as whatever flies at him smashes a hole into the front of the building, and Luffy falls on the concrete face first.
"Something flew out from the sea!" Someone from the crowd yells in shock as the rest share as well, and Luffy holds his stomach as he cringes in pain.
"Ow….ow, ow, ow, ow…." Luffy mutters, and above him in the hole, Arlong steps out, looking down at the rubber teen, who dodged his attack with seconds to spare.
"Wow, I'm impressed you dodged it," Arlong says with a grin, and Luffy looks back at him with anger. "But the more you dodge it, the longer your hell continues." He warns him, and Luffy looks at him in shock. "Shark...Dart!" He shouts as he dives down towards Luffy below, who jumps out of the way as the Fishman lands, his nose sticking into the concrete, cracking and breaking the concrete around him. A cloud of dust covers him from prying eyes. "Shark...Dart!" He flies out of the dust cloud towards Luffy, who dodges out of the way, just barely, a piece of his red vest ripping off. Arlong doesn't give Luffy much time to recover as he torpedoes towards Luffy's crouching form, knocking him into the air. The Fishman slides into the water as Luffy falls onto the ground.
"Hey Luffy, hide! Arlong went into the sea again!" Usopp shouts at him in warning as Luffy sits up, grimacing in pain.
"Big Bro! Please hurry up and hide!" Yosaku shouts.
"He'll target you again!" Johnny warns him.
"Get out of there!" Usopp shouts, and Nami squeezes her sister's hand as they watch him.
"N...no.." He refuses, wanting to help his friend and the village she grew up in; taking down Arlong is the only way to do that.
"Don't be stupid! Are you knowingly going to become a target?! Hide!" Sanji shouts from his place at the far wall with Genzo and Nojiko.
"I don't want to! I'll catch him and break his nose!" He shouts back. "Come on! Shark!" He steams up.
"Didn't you hear us saying you should hide, Luffy?! You barely dodged his attacks, and they all grazed you! If you take a direct hit, you'll die, instantly!" Usopp shouts in warning to his Captain, worried for him. Luffy ignores him; he won't run and hide; it's not in his nature, he'll fight Arlong head-on.
"Gum-Gum no...Shield!" He shouts as he interlocks his fingers, pulling them apart, stretching them in front of him.
"What's that position?" Yosaku wonders to his partner.
"Surely he isn't going to stop the attack, like that?" Johnny questions in worry for the teenager, and within the water, Arlong grows closer to the surface and bursts out.
"He got hit!" The Bounty Hunters cry out, and Arlong gets caught by Luffy's makeshift shield, propelling himself up.
"What!? Did he get hit?!" Usopp screams in worry.
"No! He flung himself off!" Sanji corrects him, and Luffy clings to the side of the building with a grin and a cheeky laugh.
"You lose. That attack won't work any more." Luffy states, but Arlong has other ideas.
"Shark Dart!" He shouts before bursting through the roof side below Luffy, startling the rubber teen and falling towards the water below, and Arlong hangs onto the side, watching.
"You bastard! That was by instinct, wasn't it?!" Luffy snaps at him as he sails downwards.
"This is the final blow!" Arlong shouts as he plunges towards Luffy.
"You won't hit me!" Luffy shouts back and moves his hands behind his head, locking his fingers together. "Gum, Gum no...Finger Net!" He stretches out his fingers as Arlong gets closer, catching him in the finger net. "Fishing! Fishing!" He beams as his fingers stretch, then stops, letting go, as they face each other in midair. Luffy spins himself in the air, with his feet together, creating momentum. "Spear!" He shouts and thrusts his feet into Arlong's stomach, sending him down into the concrete below with a loud crash, dust flying everywhere, covering them.
"Whoa!" Usopp exclaims as the crowd cheer, but it's premature as Luffy falls down, closing in on Arlong.
"Uh…? Did he die?" Luffy wonders as he grows closer, when suddenly the Fishman's eyes pop open with a murderous look in his eyes, Megumi gasps, knowing that look, moving her free hand to the side of her leg, where scar marks still reside from one of her escape attempts with Nami.
"Megumi...that look…." Nami gasps and looks at her sister to see her holding the edge of her skirt with fear in her eyes; Arlong jumps to his feet with rage.
"You inferior human!" Arlong shouts, grabbing Luffy and circles him about his head; the rubber teen stretches out a little from the action. "What did you do…" He throws Luffy into the building, breaking the wall hard, though Luffy seems okay as he pops up from the rubble.
"Boy, was I stunned! It doesn't hurt, but I can see he's really mad." Luffy says to himself, and Arlong lunges at him; he jumps out of the way as the Fishman punches through the wall, reaching for something inside and pulls out a weapon. "What the heck is that?!"
"Shark Saw!" Megumi and Nami shout in horror at the deadly weapon, a long saw-like sword.
"It's a giant saw!" Johnny shouts as Arlong takes a pitcher stance, winding up for the next throw, jumping up to meet Luffy on the upper roof, towering over him; the young pirate looks in shock before striking down, though Luffy jumps away onto the other roof above. The crowd all watch as the two fighters keep fighting, jumping in a zig-zag manner to the top of Arlong Park.
"Big Bro Luffy!" "Hang in there, Luffy!" "Run! Watch out!" "The attack won't stop…" "He's getting cornered…!" The crowd all shout in worry for the rubber teen. Luffy is nearer the top, and Arlong soon joins him; he crashes into the window behind him; Nami looks in shock, knowing the room inside, from the hours she spent inside.
"The left window on the top floor...that room is…." Nami mutters, but Megumi hears her.
"Not for long, not if your friend can help it," Megumi assures her sister, bringing her into a hug, placing her forehead on top of Nami's straw hat covered head. Remembering the room vividly, the place Arlong would lock them up inside for punishment, to draw maps, to heal each other's wounds, to cry together.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Luffy sits on the floor with Arlong standing over him inside the room, the Shark Saw still in hand. "This is the top floor of Arlong Park," Arlong says with a crazed look in his eyes. "Looks like your final moment is finally here."
"What's this room?" Luffy asks as he looks around the room, seeing the stacks of maps, the simple world map with tons of pins, a large wooden bookcase with books of all kinds on the ocean, land, navigation, a desk with papers scattered around, and a treasure chest in the corner with scratches, and bloodied handprints. He looks closer at the desk to see two photo frames above the desk, hanging on the wall, one in a purple and pink-flowered frame; he recognised the girls, Nami around 5 years old on the left, Nojiko around 7 years old on the right, and in the middle, Megumi around 8 years old, all of them smiling in the photo. The other is in a plain light blue photo frame, it's of a woman with fuchsia hair smiling brightly with a Marine cap covering most of her hair, but he seems the resemblance to Megumi, even if they had a brief encounter. "Full of papers…."
"These're not just ordinary papers. This is a room where I make those women continue to draw sea charts, treasure maps, sacred artefacts." Arlong tells him.
"Nami and Megumi's room…." Luffy repeats more clearly.
"These're all sea charts and treasure maps that Megumi and Nami drew. Aren't they great? They're my treasure, one that I made them draw f do eight years. To me, getting data about the oceans is very simple, but it's a different story when we have to create sea charts based on it. We need a talented surveyor; that's why I had my eye on that woman and her sister. She's good. They both are. They draw quite accurate sea charts and treasure maps. They're too good for you inferior humans, in the past as well as in the future, their talent should be used for us Fishmen!" Arlong says, and Luffy looks over at the desk. "Nami and Megumi are our friends."
"Friends?" Luffy repeats with disgust, but Arlong ignores him.
"So don't interfere anymore...you damn rubber man!" Arlong snarls, and Luffy glares back at him. "What's that look in your eyes?!"
"She is...Nami is...our navigator!" Luffy snarls back with a dangerous look in his eyes.
"You plan to make her the navigator of some shabby boat? You'd only end up wasting their talents. Just look. How many people in this world can draw such accurate charts? Those girls have gifts." A quill drops down from the desk, all taped and bloody, like the treasure chest in the corner. "There's nothing as unfortunate and foolish as letting a natural-born talent go to waste; staying here and drawing sea charts is the greatest happiness for her! Finding untold riches is the same for Megumi!" Luffy picks up the bloodied quill, looking at it with anger.
"This pen is stained with blood…." He glares down at the pen in his hand.
"Nami's charts and Megumi's finder gift are absolutely vital if I'm to attain world superiority." Arlong continues to monologue and moves the Shark Saw, so Luffy is between two of the blades. "They're going to continue drawing sea charts and finding valuable objects! For my ambition! And once her charts give me full knowledge of all the world's seas...and I have the riches needed to venture out...we Fishmen will be invincible, and the world will become our empire! Our first stepping stone is this island...and the East Blue! Could you use those girls as efficiently as that?!" Arlong shouts, his voice rising in volume, and Luffy places the pen gently onto the floor and slowly places his hand on the blade in front of him. "Huh?! The Shark Saw won't move one bit!" Luffy angrily grips onto the blade, Arlong unable to budge his weapon an inch, and Luffy cracks the blade with the sheer power of his angry hold. "What?!" Arlong shrieks in shock, and Luffy looks up at Arlong with pure rage in his eyes.
"'Use'?!" Luffy repeats with gritted teeth, even if he doesn't know Megumi, he knows Nami, cares for Nami, his friend.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Outside, everyone watches with bated breath; it's quiet, too quiet inside, no noise coming from inside. "What's goin' on inside?!" A villager questions in worry at the silence.
"Dammit...what happened, Big Bro Luffy?!" Yosaku calls out, not that Luffy would likely hear him.
"I can't tell what's going on up there at all…." Johnny mutters to his partner.
"Luffy…" Nami whispers, but Megumi hears her, and she squeezes her hand in reassurance.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Back inside Arlong Park, in Nami and Megumi's old room, Arlong moves the Shark Saw with its broken blades away from Luffy as he continues to sit on the floor, still angry at Arlong's words. "What do you take them for?!" Luffy growls, but it gets a chuckle from the Fishman.
"Inferior creatures, but smart girls. If all other humans are sewer rats, I'd say they're as cheeky as hellcats. After all, they are adorable. And I'm going to keep on feeding them and buying clothes they like, they'll have everything they need to live. All they need to do is keep drawing charts and finding whatever I wish for me. They will forever be my tools...no, my friends." He starts laughing, and Luffy stands to his feet, growing angrier and kicks the desk next to him through the wall outside.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Outside, the desk smashes out the wall hard, falling down towards the ground. "What's that?!" Yosaku exclaims in fear, but it soon fades as they see what's falling.
"W-whew, just a desk." Johnny sighs in relief with his partner, wiping away the imaginary sweat.
"Man, that scared me; I thought it was Big Bro Luffy for sure…." Yosaku confesses.
"Hold on, partner! Are you saying you don't have faith in Big Bro Luffy's strength?!" Johnny snaps at his partner.
"Huh?! You were scared too, Johnny!" Yosaku accuses him.
"D-don't be stupid! I was, uh, you know...o-of course I thought it was that damn Arlong!" Johnny argues with a few stutters.
"Huh?! That sounds kinda fake if you ask me!" Yosaku argues back.
"Say what, you jerk! Of course, there's no way Big Bro Luffy'd lose!" Johnny snaps.
"Luffy?" Nami whispers as she watches her old desk fall.
"He's something else," Megumi whispers as more pieces of the wall crash out along with more furniture from inside their old room.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Inside, Luffy smashes more things out of the wall along with it. "What do you think you're doing?!" Arlong shouts at him as he continues to smash everything out of the room.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Usopp watches along with the others as more things crash out of the room above. "What in the…?! There's an awful lot of stuff falling!" Usopp shouts, but Nami can't help but look at the falling desk, remembering all the long hours sitting there drawing maps. It crashes to the floor, breaking into pieces.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
"Stop that!" Arlong orders with rage, swinging his weapon at Luffy, but he jumps out of the way, making the Fishman slice the large stacks of papers, causing him to grow angrier, and Luffy lands to the side of another stack, kicking it out of the room. "My charts!"
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
An eight-year-old Nami sits at her desk when Arlong comes in, throwing an 11-year-old Megumi to the floor; he walks over to Nami, seeing her drawing Belle-mere, the woman he murdered months ago. He slams Nami's head to the desk in anger, and Megumi jumps up to protect her baby sister; she slaps at Arlong's back, trying to pull him away. "You damn brat! Don't think you can trick me, drawin' fake charts, like that!" He growls and slaps her down off her chair onto the floor.
"Nami!" Megumi shouts and runs to her sister, pulling her into a hug, trying to protect her from Arlong.
"Do you have the time to be drawing crap like this in secret?" He snaps and looks over to the two young girls and flips the paper to the drawing of Belle-mere. "Try to fool me again, and I'll drag people from the village one by one and make you two watch as I crush them! Just like I did with her!" He rips the drawing in half with a dark laugh, making the girls cling to each other.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Arlong grabs Luffy angrily by the neck and slams him against the stone wall, creating a dent. "Damn you! I spent eight years making her draw those! I invested eight years in those charts in my ambition!" He roars in his face.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Nami and Megumi watch the bookcase fall to the ground, splintering into pieces, and they remember all the horrible times in that room. "This...is a pretty intense fight!" Yosaku comments.
"Yeah! Looks like a fight to the death!" Johnny agrees with his partner.
"Definitely!" Yosaku says, and Nami tears up, holding a hand to her mouth as she clings onto her big sister.
"Thank you…" Nami thinks, praying Luffy's okay as everyone watches with bated breath, having no clue what is happening inside.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Because inside Arlong has his teeth sunk into the crook of Luffy's neck, he tries holding in his screams of pain, partly because of Arlong's position. "You've gone too far, you damn rubber man!" Arlong growls, and Luffy grabs hold with both hands onto Arlong's nose.
"'Fishmen are great' and 'sea charts' this, 'circumstances' that…." Luffy sneers and tries prying Arlong's jaw away from his neck. "I don't know much about any of that stuff...but I finally figured out how to save them!" He gets a tighter grip on Arlong's nose, his grip causing his hands to blood, and he snaps Arlong's long sharp nose, snapping it hard to the right; Arlong lets out a roar of pain as he backs away, letting go of Luffy, falling onto the floor. "They can't go because this room is here! If they don't want to be here, then I'll just destroy it all!" He states Arlog looks at him as he rears, ready to strike. "Gum Gum no…" He raises his leg up, bursting through the top way above.
"Don't get cocky! Arlong Park can't ever be brought down by you inferior beings!" He snarls and pulls his nose back into place. "Shark Tooth Drill!" Arlong opens his mouth wide and jumps into the air, spinning towards Luffy, who looks a little worried.
"...Battle Axe!" He shouts as Arlong bites into Luffy's side and he slams his foot down onto Arlong's back; he sputters at the impact, letting go of his side, falling to the floor, causing cracks the floor, Luffy pushes harder, sending Arlong all the way to the bottom floor.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Everyone outside looks on in shock at the large clouds of debris coming from inside, exiting out of the open doors and windows, and the top with the Arlong Pirate flag tumbles down to the ground.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Inside, Arlong lays on the bottom floor unconscious with Luffy on the top floor, trying to catch his breath as he sits down, but the infrastructure can't take the abuse and begins to crumble.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
"L-look! That shock's caused Arlong Park to…!" Doctor Nako exclaims as the building begins rumbling and crumbling in front of them.
"Impossible! It's gonna collapse!" "This is dangerous! Everyone, get away!" The villagers all cry out, trying to run away from the crumbling building.
"Big Sis Nami! Hurry!" Johnny shouts as he and Megumi try to pull her away.
"But Luffy's still inside!" Nami argues.
"Nami!" Megumi snaps at her as she pulls.
"Luffy! Luffy's still…!" She tries to argue, but the whole building crumbles under itself with Arlong and Luffy still inside. "Luffy!" She cries out; a huge cloud of dust covers the area, along with a strong wind, a tense moment for everyone, before it all settles and the dust clouds disappear to see the broken rubble of what was once Arlong Park.
"Arlong Park...has collapsed!" Doctor Nako gasps.
"Big Bro…" Johnny mutters in shock.
"What on earth happened inside?" Yosaku questions as they all watch tensely as the clouds begin to clear and the sun shines down, and out of the rubble comes Luffy.
"Luffy!" Nami shouts with glee.
"Big Bro!" Johnny and Yosaku start crying in relief as they all look at Luffy as he breathes heavily in the rubble, blood dripping down his arms from his fight with Arlong. Luffy takes a deeper breath as he prepares himself.
"NAMI!" Luffy shouts and steadies his breathing again. "You're my friend!" Nami, hearing this rears up, wiping her tears away with her bandaged hand with a smile.
"Yeah!" She says meekly, though Luffy hears her, and the others all look in shock and happiness.
"H-he won?!" It mutters around everyone before they all shout with glee. "Arlong Park has fallen!" They cheer, Megumi and Nami hug each other as some of the villagers pick Luffy up, throwing him into the air in celebration, chanting his name. The sisters walk over, still holding onto each other; Sanji and Usopp spot them, seeing the smiles on their faces; the crowd accidentally drop Luffy to the floor, but he just laughs it off, sitting up, rubbing his head with a smile.
"This is awesome!" He beams, and Nami takes off the straw hat and places it back on his head; he looks startled till he looks behind to see Nami with Megumi. He raises his hand, and she raises hers, high fiving and all the crew grin at each other, but their happiness is short-lived.
"Hold it right there, you!" Captain Nezumi shouts, breaking up the festivities with a brigade of Marine soldiers.
"He's…!" One of the villagers curses at his arrival.
"What a lucky day today is! Well done. I watched the entire fight! Fluke as it was, I never imagined the Fishmen would lose to a bunch of nameless pirates like you. However, thanks to you, all the money I was to give Arlong and all the money and valuables stored in Arlong Park is now mine!" Captain Nezumi informs the villagers, and Megumi looks back at the rubble in shock then back to him. "Everyone, drop your weapons! I, Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16, hereby take credit for what you've done here!" Zoro, having enough, grabs the back of the Captain's shirt, choking the Marine.
"Zoro!" Usopp cries out in surprise and horror.
"Don't ruin people's fun when they're finally happy!" Zoro growls, and he, along with Sanji, Luffy, and Usopp, help him beat the large group of Marines to the ground.
"J-just you try laying a finger on me! You'll be sorry!" Nezumi stutters as he lies on the ground, semiconscious.
"He's still sayin' it!" Sanji complains, and Nami leans over to her sister.
"Sissy, he took all our money," Nami whispers into Megumi's ear; she stiffens in her spot. "He ripped up Belle-mere's orchard trying to find it." Megumi glares at the beaten Marine with anger, hearing of the destruction of her beloved Mama's tangerine orchard. "He also had Nojiko shot." Those words were deadly as a dark look comes over Megumi's face, the villager's all feel a chill run up their spine, even Zoro feels the unsteady feeling in the air, backing away. Luffy looks up, feeling the dark nature as Megumi walks through the parting crowd; she clicks the safety off of her mother's shotgun, pointing it into Nezumi's face. He looks at the muzzle of the gun in his face with fear.
"So, you took the treasure my sister, and I spent the last eight years collecting to get our home back from a bastard who was paying you! My sister came home with cuts and bruises after stealing all of it, all the broken bones, cuts and bruises from trying to find money to give him, only taking 5% in hopes of freeing my family!" Megumi shouts and fires off a shot, barely missing the side of his head, making him shriek in fear. "You destroyed the one thing our mother, the woman Arlong murdered in front of us, gave us to earn money to survive as we had to give it all to the murderer." She fires another shot, on the other side of his head, barely missing him again, he shouts in fear.
"No! Stop!" He begs.
"My mother was a proud Marine; you don't deserve to be one. You're a disgrace. You shot my little sister, you money-grabbing bastard." She goes to fire but stops herself, swinging the shotgun, wrapping her hand around the muzzle, and swings it like a bat into the side of his face, sending him far; he flies over to the water, skipping atop the water coming to a stop before falling into the water.
"Captain!" One of the conscious Marine soldiers cries out.
"Thanks, Big Sis! That felt good!" Nojiko jokes as she walks over, hugging her big sister.
"Give 'im 1000 more of those!" Genzo snaps, feeling the same anger from Megumi's words. She steps towards the water as Nezumi pulls himself out of the water; she pulls her shotgun to his face and looks down at him.
"Now, I have some orders that you will obey, or I'll shoot you south of your head and north of your feet. Am I clear?" She asks him, and he nods with fear; even some of the men look scared. "You pathetic excuse for Marines will clean up after the Fishmen now! And you're going to help rebuild the town of Gosa, as when I walked through it, it was destroyed thanks to them! And if you touch the money or any valuables in Arlong Park! That's this island's money! Got it?!" She tells him, and he nods.
"I-I'll do what you say!" He agrees, nodding his head furiously in fear.
"And one other thing! Give me back my sister's and I's money back!" She demands, clicking the safety off.
"I'll give it back! I'll give it back!" He cries with tears falling down his face. "I don't care anymore; please don't shoot me! Please, Treasure Hunter Megumi!" He begs, and she smiles, lowering her gun.
"Good. See ya around, Captain Nezumi." She grins, and he scurries away with his soldiers.
"I'll get you, you rotten pirates! Straw hat, right! Your name's Luffy, right?!" Nezumi shouts as he runs away. "You're the Captain, right?! Don't forget this! Some major stuff's gonna happen to you now! You've made me mad! It's too late to regret what you've done! I'm gonna get revenge on you! Just you wait and see!"
"Says some major stuff's gonna happen now," Sanji mutters as the four teenage boys watch them leave.
"How does he know I'm gonna be King of the Pirates?" Luffy questions.
"That's not what he means! Man, you're stupid!" Zoro snaps at him.
"H-hey, what do we do?! What if we really do wind up in big trouble?!" Usopp begins to panic, but the other three ignore him. "Hey! Hey! Hey, I said!"
"Alright, everyone! This is no time for us to be the only ecstatic ones! We need to tell everyone on the island about this big incident!" Doctor Nako shouts, and everyone agrees, cheering before running off.
"Arlong Park…! Arlong Park has fallen!" The villagers cheer as they race away to tell the good news. Megumi walks away from the group as they chat and walks to Nojiko, Doctor Nao and Genzo, seeing how happy Nami is around them.
"Good for you, Nami!" Nojiko smiles at her baby sister.
"To think we'd end up being saved by pirates...you never know what's gonna happen next." Genzo shakes his head and thinks of eight years ago when the Arlong Pirates first arrived, of all the misery they inflicted upon the island.
"And then it went boom!" Usopp laughs.
"We didn't know each other long!" Luffy joins him and laughs.
"Now, Belle-mere's spirit can finally go to heaven... " Doctor Nako says and looks up to the sky.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
At Marine Branch 16 headquarters, Captain Nezumi is on the phone in a panic, still badly beaten from his one-sided beat down. "Hello?! Hello?!" He shouts into the Transponder Snail.
"Yes. This is Marine Headquarters." A Marine soldier says calmly back.
"Headquarters?! Marine Headquarters?! Hello! This is Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16! Marine code 00733! I have a request for HQ!" He continues to shout down the speaker.
"You don't need to shout. I can hear you." He tells him softly.
"Listen! There's a pirate named Luffy, who wears a straw hat! I deem him and his five crew members as enemies of the Government!" He demands in a rush.
"'Luffy…'" The officer repeats and writes down the name,
"They managed to take down Arlong, the Fishman of Arlong Park, who was purported to be invincible! Based on their threat and dangerousness, a large bounty has been placed on their Captain, Straw Hat Luffy! Another, Treasure Hunter Megumi, we've added more to her original bounty, destruction of property, assault on a Marine officer, Blackmail, and she seems to have joined Straw Hat Luffy!" He tells them. "Now sending photographs!"
"Roger that." He says, and they send the new photo of Luffy and Megumi separately. "Huh?!"
"Couldn't you have taken better ones than that?!" Nezumi shouts at his subordinate as he points at the two pictures of the smiling pirates.
"No, that's all I could get…." The officer replies meekly, his head down in shame.
"After a quick verification, I will submit it for approval." The officer on the other line.
"Don't forget, now! He's a vile pirate! 'Dead or Alive'! Put him on wanted posters throughout the world, along with Treasure Hunter Megumi!"
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Genzo looks over at Megumi as she stands looking down at the rubble of Arlong Park with a sad smile; he walks over to her, placing his hand on her head in comfort. "So, what treasures did you find this time?" He asks her, knowing she's not overly touchy-feely like her late mother.
"Oh, the usual, a few noble houses, a few Marine bases in the West Blue this time around, and one deserted tomb." She replies, and it gains the boys' attention, who looks over at them. "I got over 150 million Berries this time." She smiles, and Genzo looks at her with pride.
"That's my girl." He smiles, and she looks over at the others.
"Man, it still feels weird being back here." She comments, and Nami brings her into a hug, knowing she spent so long away from their home because she couldn't stand staying in the same house she grew up in before her mother was murdered.
"So, you're the older sister, Megumi, right?" Sanji asks her with a flirtatious smile.
"Yep, that's me, Megumi. Thank you for looking after my baby sister for as long as you have." She says to them and hugs Nami closer to her.
"Yeah, our awesome, older sister, who can find anything in the world. Finder Power!" Nami exclaims with a goofy grin.
"Anything?!" The boys exclaim together in shock.
"So, you have a Devil Fruit, too?" Luffy asks her with curiosity.
"No, no Devil Fruit." She answers, and they look in shock. "Just a gift."
"Some gift," Zoro smirks, and they start walking off, heading back to the village.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
In the village, everyone celebrates the defeat of Arlong, villagers crowding around lines of tables, full of food, everyone cheering, finally happy. "We're free!" "Free!" "Everyone! Celebrate! Dance! Arlong Park has fallen!" The villagers all cheer together.
"We've lived these past eight years for this!" One of the men says as he stands high up on one of the house's rooftops. "We've lived so we can smile today!" Everyone does just that, dancing in the street, celebrating their freedom. "We're gonna party 'til we drop, even into tomorrow and the day after!" Megumi comes back from the house with Nojiko, leaving Nami to pay respect to their Mother's grave. In her new dress, Megumi walks on baby pink in colour, stopping just above her knees, though the plunging neckline, turns a few stares as she brushes her hair off her shoulder as she looks around all the smiling faces, leaving Nojiko. She walks off, seeing Usopp and Sanji sitting down one of the side streets, away from the crowd and opposite the Doctor's office. She steps away, walking slowly, though they hear her as the click of her high heels in the dirt, gaining their attention. Sanji jumps to his feet with hearts in his eyes as he stares at her somewhat revealing dress; Usopp shakes his head at the cook as he watches him and turns to face Megumi, gaining a slight blush. She opens her mouth to ask them what they're doing, but Zoro's grunt of pain coming from the open window of the Doctor's office is enough of an answer. She smirks at them as she walks to the open window, looking inside to see Zoro lying on the bed with Doctor Nako sitting on the side with a needle and thread, stitching up the gnarly cut across his chest.
"You fool!" Doctor Nako snaps at the Swordsman as he continues to stitch up his patient, unaware of Megumi watching them and Usopp and Sanji watching her as she leans against the windowsill. "Trying to take care of such a big injury on your own…!" Zoro lets out a grunt of pain, and Megumi giggles; Doctor Nako looks up to see the pinkette, along with Zoro.
"Remind you of someone?" She jokes, and he looks at her.
"You." He replies shortly. "Honestly! Are you folks really pirates?! Don't you have...a ship, Doctor?!" He asks, and Megumi looks over to see Luffy's joined her at some point, but she wasn't paying much attention.
"A Doctor? That sounds good, too!" Luffy says, announcing himself, making Megumi jump a little.
"Luffy?" Zoro looks up to see Megumi and Luffy leaning in the window above his bed.
"But a musician comes first. Right, Zoro?" He asks his First Mate.
"Why's that?" He asks his Captain.
"Pirates sing, you know?" He points out as he waves around the piece of meat in his hand.
"So why does that come first?!" Zoro grunts as he tries to hold in a cry of pain.
"Hey, Doctor, Megumi. Where's Nami?" He asks them. "She doesn't seem to be here…."
"Nami, huh?" Doctor Nako questions, looking away, then locks eyes with Megumi. "If you can't find her around, then she's probably there."
"Our Mother's grave out back of our family home," She clears up their confusion. "So, Luffy, still want Nami to be your Navigator?"
"Of course!" He exclaims with a smile. "What about you? What'll you do now?" He asks her, and she smiles, unsure.
"I'm not sure, but I'll think of something." She smiles and walks away; Luffy watches her walk, her hips swaying; he's never looked at another woman like this; he can't place what it is.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Megumi smiles as she watches everyone continue to celebrate; it's been three days of non-stop partying. She walks away from Doctor Nako's office after getting her replacement tattoo for her deceased parents, wanting to erase Arlong from her life. She moves her hand over the sensitive skin of her new tattoo, of an anchor connected to a compass in the middle, then further down of two bird feathers, it's mainly blue, fuchsia and black with some green, purple and pink in watercolours. She smiles at the symbols; she chose to represent her parents, she never knew her father, but she wished she got the chance.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
Upon one of the cliffs, overlooking the ocean, Genzo stands in front of Belle-mere's grave, pouring sake over her grave as he talks to her. "Raw ham melon!" Luffy yells, somehow making his way so far away from the village. Genzo stiffens in a panic before he recognises the voice and glares over his shoulder. "Huh? There's no food around here. That's no good. Time to go back."
"Hold it, boy!" Genzo shouts at him as Luffy turns to head back; he looks over to see Genzo standing in front of the grave.
"A grave? Did someone die?" He asks him.
"Yeah. A long time ago." He answers.
"Oh, my deepest condolences." He bows his head, though his mouth is still full.
"Hey, boy. Nami is going to ride your ship. She's going to be a pirate. It'll be a dangerous journey. That's fine. There's no way around that. But, if you guys ever do anything to take away Nami's smile… I will kill you." He warns them and thinks of Megumi, the danger she'll be in now.
"Yeah, I'm not gonna take it away, though." He assures him.
"Got it?!" He snaps as he turns to face him.
"Got it!" He repeats, and Genzo sighs, looking down at the ground.
"One more thing, Megumi, she'll be caught by the Marines, now that she threatened and wounded that Captain. She'll need to leave the island…."
"I was going to ask her to join us." He cuts him off, and Genzo looks up at him in shock.
"You were?!" Genzo and Megumi ask simultaneously, and both men look back to see her walking over to them.
"Why would you want me, because I can find anything in the world, and you want to use me?" She asks the rubber teen; getting in his face, Genzo steps towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "Get off; you just want me to leave anyway; what does it matter if I go on my own or if I go with them?!"
"Because, because I want to know you're safe, I want to know you're with people I can trust; your mother would want you safe," Genzo tells her, and he sees the tears swelling up in her eyes.
"We just got our home back." She whispers, and Luffy looks at the beautiful pinkette and swallows his food quickly and wipes away the unshed tears.
"I want you to join because you can find anything in the world, because you're Nami's big sister, and you have a dream of your own, don' you?" He asks her, and she nods quickly, hugging herself.
"To find your father," Genzo mutters.
"Not anymore; I found his grave." She answers, Genzo stiffens on the spot, and he thinks of Belle-mere and wondering when this happened. "I found it on my sixteenth birthday; I wanted to know, I needed to know, but I only found a makeshift grave."
"I see. Did you find out…?" Luffy asks her but hesitates.
"He died around three years before my mother. But Nami and Nojiko helped me realize my dream, one I had from the start and a new one. To find the greatest treasures in the world and to watch Nami accomplish her dream." She replies, and he looks at her with a smile, already knowing she'll come. "I'll join you. But, anything happens to Nami, I will end you. I want to travel the world, finding amazing treasures. Am I clear?" She asks him, and he nods.
"Got it!" He nods with a beaming smile. "This is great; we get a new crew member!" He cheers, and Megumi looks back at Genzo.
"Why so glum?" She asks as she sees the sad smile across his face. "I'll make sure to write and call; I'll even get Nami to write as well." She tries to assure him. "So, Captain, what next?"
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
The morning comes, and Megumi walks out of the house in a pink rose pattern short-sleeved top tucked into a high waist black jeans and black chunky platform shoes. She slowly walks over to the grave, placing some orange roses on the ground. "I have to go now, Mama. I'm sorry I can't stay; I hope you're up there with dad. You're both probably looking down; I hope I'm not a disappointment or the girls. I know it sounds stupid. I miss you so much." She starts tearing up, they overflow down her cheeks, she tries wiping them away, but they keep coming. "I love you both so much. This island was my home, but Arlong took it from us. I don't feel happy here anymore; I think joining up with Luffy, I'll be able to be happy again. I hope I can make you both proud of me, even if I'm not a Marine. I love you." She steps away, turning away as she begins to walk, she feels someone standing behind her and swirls around, but there's nothing there that she can see. "I'll help Nami accomplish her dream, and I'll find the greatest treasures the world has ever seen!" She runs off, knowing it's time to leave, heading towards the small dock where her new residence is sitting.
ONE PIECE - ARLONG PARK ARC
The large crowd of villagers at the small dock where the Going Merry sits waiting for her residence as the others start loading up the villagers' supplies spared for their departure. The crowd all waits for Nami and unknowingly Megumi. Zoro climbs the ladder up the ship's side carrying a box on his shoulder; he reaches the top with Usopp waiting, taking the box from him. "This is the last one, right?" He asks the swordsman.
"Yeah." He answers, climbing aboard.
"Alright!" He cheers as he moves away to unpack the supplies.
"Are you finished loading it all?" Luffy asks his First Mate.
"Yeah." He answers as he hops down onto the wooden floor.
"Now, then. We got lots of provisions now. We're good to go." Sanjo points out with a smile, thinking of Nami.
"We were only here a few days, but this island's full of memories, huh?" Usopp questions as he places the final box with the other supplies.
"Yeah!" Luffy chuckles with a smile over to his sniper as his cook looks around, trying to find the two missing girls.
"We owe you a lot for everything you've done. We're gonna get back to our profession of bounty hunting again!" Yosaku tells the pirate crew.
"This is goodbye for now, but we look forward to the day we meet again somewhere!" Johnny adds, and they walk over to the side to say their farewells to the two bounty hunters.
"Take care!" Zoro tells his old friends.
"You guys, too!" He shouts back, not straying from their poses.
"Well, we should get going, too!" Usopp announces, and Sanji looks at him in alarm.
"Hey! Hold on! What about Nami-san?!" Sanji demands, wanting to see the strawberry blond.
"Maybe she's not coming?" Zoro questions, looking over to the blond cook.
"W-why not?!" Sanji exclaims and walks over to the swordsman. "You! You made another pass at Nami-san again, didn't you?!" Sanji rages at the greenette, who looks indifferent to the anger coming from the cook.
"Why would I do that?" He asks him calmly.
"Oh, yeah. She achieved her goal." Usopp mutters to himself.
"No, you definitely did!" Sanji snaps at Zoro.
"And she has no reason to be a pirate." He continues to talk to himself.
"You can't stand that me and Nami-san are all lovey-dovey!" The cook continues to shout at the swordsman.
"So she might be happier, here." The sniper theorizes to himself.
"Are you an idiot?" Zoro scoffs at the cook.
"What'd you call me?!" Sanji shouts in his face and hears what Usopp was saying while he was shouting at Zoro. "What about my happiness?!" He shouts at him and turns to his new Captain. "If Nami-san isn't on the boat, then 98.72& of my reason for being on the boat is gone!"
"I hope I can help with that percentage," Megumi says, announcing her arrival as she steps down from the side of the ship with a large tan backpack; she drops with a thud onto the floor. "Ahoy, Captain." She greets Luffy with a smile; the others all look in shock at this new development. Even the villagers look in shock as they see the pinkette aboard the ship, not noticing her till now.
"Megumi!" They call out, but Genzo smiles, glad to see she's following through from last night.
"What's she doing here?" Zoro asks his Captain with confusion.
"I asked her to join us last night." He answers with a grin.
"Of course, I said yes. So, where is my dear baby sister?" She asks, looking around, not seeing her anywhere. Even the crowd waiting to see off the famous sisters, still wondering where the youngest is, begin to mutter among themselves, and she makes her way towards the edge of the crowd. "Seems she's here." Megumi chuckles as she turns around, leaning against the side to see Nami standing.
"Nami-san!" Sanji cries out with joy as he speeds to stand next to Megumi, and the others join.
"Nami!" The villagers all cry out with joy at seeing her again.
"Get the ship moving!" She orders her friends, and Megumi shakes her head with a smile as she watches her sister sprinting towards the crowd, her head down.
"Huh? She's started sprinting!" Usopp questions in surprise at her actions.
"She says to get the ship moving," Luffy tells them, and they look back at him in shock.
"But…!" Usopp tries to argue.
"Best to do as our Captain says." Megumi jokes and pulls Usopp away, Sanji joining her as they unfurl the sail, and Zoro pulls up the anchor as she grows closer, and the villagers notice as the ship slowly pulls away from the wooden dock.
"Hey. is it okay to let her leave like this?" Sanji asks Luffy.
"Why not? It's her decision." Luffy questions and Nami makes it to the crowd, who try to stop her; she zig-zags through the crowd, pocketing their wallets under her shirt; Megumi notices the hand movements and smiles.
"Cheeky little thing." She mutters to herself as she makes it to the dock, sidestepping her sister, who tries to get in her way; she leaps high off into the air, there's a tense moment as they watch her fly towards the ship, landing on the railing at the rear where the others all walk over to greet her. She jumps from the railing onto the floor and stands, lifting up her shirt, allowing all the wallets she pickpocketed on her spree, falling to the floor. The crowd all look in shock as they watch and check their pockets. "Naughty girl." Megumi smiles as she takes the notes from her baby sister.
"Hey, Sissy!" Nami cries out, and the villagers all look on with a smile at the sisters as Megumi pulls her sister into a hug, ruffling her hair as Nami tries to escape though they're both smiling, laughing.
"Hey. She hasn't changed a bit," Usopp mutters as he watches as Megumi picks up the wallets from the floor with Nami's help.
"Who knows when she'll betray us again…" Zoro growls.
"Nami-san! Megumi-chan! Good!" Sanji cheers with delight at having the sisters aboard, with Luffy chuckling at his navigator's antics.
"Sissy! That's mine!" Nami protests as Megumi starts taking the money out and pushing her away. Luffy looks out from the side of the ship as they leave the island behind.
"Boy!" Genzo shouts, gaining his attention. "Don't forget our promise!" Luffy gives him a thumbs up.
"Bye, everyone! We'll be back!" Nami shouts as she waves at them, and she looks over to the cliffside where Belle-mere rests. Megumi catches her and slings her arm around her shoulder.
"Like you said, we'll be back." She assures her and turns around. "So, where to next, Captain?"
NEXT ON MY TREASURE HUNTER….
Megumi looks at the wanted poster of her new Captain in shock. "No fair!"
The Marines in HQ sit around discussing the new bounties in the East Blue, the four major contenders pinned to the board. Buggy, Don Krieg, Arlong, Megumi.
All of the people Luffy met around the East Blue people all see the new addition to the most wanted, happy to see he's doing well for himself.
"Scraps belong on the ocean floor." She mutters and pulls out a small cherry bomb from her pocket and throws it behind her towards the wrecked Marine ship.
Author Note: Please don't forget to express how you feel about the chapter; thanks. Also, I will be doing the next chapter in Megumi's POV; please let me know which you prefer. And, should I do Warship Island?