I do not own anything besides these words and the cover art.

"Arlong, I-" But Nami stopped herself as he was unusually quiet. He said his threatening question and left her to flounder, like a fish gasping for air.

She calmed herself and smiled. "Arlong, what is with this game? Put on a fancy suit, taking up acting? This ain't some street side play. You know I never called any cops-"

Arlong chuckled and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. "A detective. And a secret task force actually." His fingers gripped his chair and she saw the white of his knuckles around the gemstones.

Nami fixed her jacket and fumbled with the button. "You don't-"

"Are you going to keep telling me what I don't know? Or…are you gonna beg me to forgive you?" He said as he cracked his fingers. "You're the pretender here, Nami." The men around her loomed about like evil shadows.

"I didn't-" She began; her voice quivered but her back remained straight. However, Arlong put a hand up to stop her.

"Let me tell you what I know…so you don't need to embarrass yourself. A police line traced that phone. You were communicating with them. You figured yourself to have one last job, but Nami…did you honestly think you were going to ever leave? I mean…you are my play. You are my piece and pawn. I am your everything. And yet…you got this cash…" He stood up and pointed to the bags lying on the floor, swollen with paper bills. "Did you-"

"That is my debt to you. I have paid it in full. For every year since I came to you…this is 10x times what I am worth. You can keep me in the dark all you want. You can say whatever trash you want…but I'm not like the others. You know that. I prove that…and that money is my way out," the phone shook in her hand as she spoke with confidence. Regardless of what Arlong knew, Nami knew money. She would bribe her way out if she needed to.

Arlong cleared his throat and smiled at his men. "Boys…can you put a price on family?"

"Never," they chanted in obedience.

"Do you think Nami understands what she did?"

"No," they snickered. Nevertheless, Nami was not ready to admit defeat.

"Look, you asked for the biggest settlement, and here…I've got it for you. Millions of dollars you would have never made in as short of a time-"

"Do you know where we are? Nami. Right now. Do you know?" He waves his hands around the small office, and Nami took it in with confusion.

"Just another ring. Another fight."

"Wrong," growled Arlong. "This place belongs to the Donquixote Family." He waited for Nami to speak about something, but the name whirled around her mind. She has certainly heard the name before, but why it made her feel so concerned was not clear. Arlong frowned. "Pica is part of that family. He is actually one of their Lieutenants…and in this Colosseum, Donquixote always wins." He paused again then cracked his neck, "You didn't throw the fight."

"What does that have to-"

He banged his fist down on the table, his large hand made the wood splitter under his terrible touch. He calmed down and looked at her. "Nami…I could understand your fear getting the best of you. You were out too long. That was my fault. I didn't train you properly to know where you needed to draw the line. But…following my rules? That you should have always known. You know how I feel about my rules."

"But I-"

"But what?" he spat, growing angry. "I gave you a command and you were to follow it…and you didn't. Why?"

"Zoro wo-" That was all Nami managed to get out as Arlong came forward and slapped her across the face. She flew back, her back hitting the hard floor as the bruise grew on her cheek. Tears captured in her eyes, as she huddled on the floor.

"I don't give a shit what he did! You were supposed to throw the fight! He was supposed to lose! Did your stupid head think that I had no plan? I had a system set up. And you fucked it all up, Nami! Your greed and selfishness cost this family everything!" Nami shivered on the ground as Arlong crouched in front of her and gripped her face. The area that was reddened and sore from his backhand burned as he squeezed her flesh. "Donquioxte is larger than Crocodile. More connected. And I made a deal…a deal to win us favor. And now…we're all on the run. This entire family…" he said as he came closer and ground his teeth, "This family has a death sentence because of you."

"The m-money," she tried to mumble but Arlong threw her back onto the ground.

"You think Donquixote wants the money stolen from him? You think he is kind enough to take this as some joke?" He turned in disgust and went back to his chair.

Nami held her hand over her mouth to hold in the huffs of tearful air. "I just wanted to…go."

Arlong rubbed his face and plopped down as the leather squeaked around his frame. "Have I ever chained you? Have I ever stopped you from doing and going? Did I ever once sell you off?" He laughed, "I mean…I thought about it. But children are messy. You, Nami, were never a child in my eyes. Either way, I branded you with my mark. You were a part of my name, my crew."

She half listened as she tried to work quickly, her life depended on it. She was finished trying to make sense of her actions, done pleading ignorance. Her whole defense did not matter, as Arlong was thirsty for blood, especially when he was becoming a smaller fish in a very big pond. If it was just him, she could manage it, but she still needed to get out of the room. Nami counted the people around her. Arlong was only marked people who could not flip over a small car if they had to, murder widows, and steal from broken children. Even if she managed to get a perfect headshot, Arlong's inner circle would certainly skin her alive.

His own Lieutenants lined up behind him. Hatchan was at his right hand, of course. Chew was at his left, with all his thick muscles and a smug smile graces his thick lips. He rarely showed emotions, keeping himself coolheaded when things went south, but he looked at Nami with the natural arrogance and disgust he usually showed her. To him, she was less than dirt and he treated her as such.

She saw a handful of henchmen, but Arlong's trusted circle had Kuroobi, Pisaro, Kaneshiro, and Shioyaki. She wondered if they were walking around, and unless she could assure a clean getaway for herself, she would need to deal with them, too. It would mean she would need to reach Sanji and Zoro before the rest of Arlong's men could. Nami counted the bullets she had, and she hoped she could make it. However, it was an unfair fight and Nami would be cut to pieces if she did not make the first and final move swiftly.

Hachi was the only one who noticed her inner turmoil. He came closer, and Nami drew back. Hatchan, as most people called him, was not very intelligent and was easily duped. She tricked him countless times, as she grew under Arlong's watch, and Arlong would scold him for losing sight of her so quickly. Somewhere down in her heart, she hoped he knew what he was doing. When Arlong killed her mother, Hatchan was there, and she saw for a moment, in the chaos, a genuine sadness as he left two screaming children next to their dead mother.

Tonight, he looked at her the same way but before she could recognize his intent, he quickly bent down to wrangle the gun from her waist. She tried to fight him but he gave her a look that told her what she very well knew. She did not have a chance with her stupid plan to gun fight her way out.

"Wow, Nami. Do you hate me that much? To kill me? The man who…raised you. The man who…" he seemed to struggle with his words, "If I didn't love you…don't you think you'd be dead by now?"

This was it. Perhaps this was Nami's saving grace. Maybe Arlong truly loved her enough that she could get away by the skin of her teeth. She tried to correct him with logic, she tried to kill him with a bullet, but perhaps she could pay him with her body, anything to get out of this deadlocked moment that hung over her head like a noose. She would grab Zoro, tell Usopp to bring her sister and they would run…to the farthest corner of the world. It would be hard, but at least she would be alive.

Arlong apparently made a joke because the room erupted in laughter, and she brought her attention back to him.

"Done daydreaming?" He asked with a cruel grin. Then, his face grew dark as chew handed him an object and he flung it at her feet. "Here."

Nami looked at the knife and then at Arlong in fear. He smiled his wicked grin again, "If you want to forsake family…leave, go. Do it. But I don't want to see that tattoo. I don't want a traitor branded with my mark, my family line. You, Nami, are out of the Fishman Crew, but I want you to rip out the ink with your own two hands." He chuckled. "It will be a more painful tattoo removal, but it will be quicker. I promise."

Nami's lip trembled and Arlong shouted down at her. "Oh, you regretting your actions now? You want to remain my-"

She tore off her blazer and grabbed the knife. Her tank was already damp with sweat, and the thin straps slipped down her shoulders as she extended her frozen arm into position. The sound of ripping skin was sickening and wet. Nami felt lightheaded and saw clouded stars as the pain spread along her like fire.

"Again." Arlong looked at her with darkened eyes and licked his lips as the blood poured out. "I don't want to see even a dot of it on you."

The knife went out and in, and Nami yelped both times. The vomit rose to her throat and she felt weak everywhere. The arm that did the deed was numb as her bleeding bicep went cold but the blood ran warm.

"Again."

Nami could hear the other men whisper and some even gaged. She was not going to stop. Her teeth hurt from grinding together, but she feared that she would bite off her own tongue if she held it between them. Her cries were loud and brutal as they echoed in the tiny room.

Arlong got up and walked over to her. He crouched down and wiped the blood away. He picked at the skin and Nami covered her mouth in fear that if she cried out next to his ear, he would rip her entire arm off. He wiped his fingers down her shirt, leaving a mark in disgust. As he stood, blood dripped off the knife in his hand. He went back to his desk and sat. "Chew, where is the fighter?"

Chew looked at the various monitors and pointed to one. "In the alley. Looks like he is waiting for someone."

Arlong grinned. "Call Kuroobi." Nami was covered in sweat and panted. She gripped her bleeding arm and attempted to stand. "Oh, no. You ain't going anywhere, Nami."

She stuttered and tried with all her might to form a sentence. "B-But…you said-"

"I said you would never bare my mark again. But did you think I would let you go?" He slammed his fist down on the table; an audible crack filled the room. "If you think you are a slave under my command, then I will treat you like one. You could have had it all Nami. You could have had money and power and us..." He motioned to his crew. "But you gave it all up! And for what? This boy?"

He pointed to the screen that now spanned the length and width of all the screens combined. Zoro stood unaware in the darkness of the alleyway. He waited just as she told him to. She could even see a slight smile in the blurry collage of screens. Bandaged and waiting in some alleyway for a woman who was never going to show up.

"Arlong, please-" she hoped Sanji was close by. Zoro was tough, but he took a few too many hits. It would hard if Kuroobi brought the other missing members to gang up on him. However, her thoughts were cut short as Arlong threw a stack of money right past Nami's face and it made a horrible crash that boomed behind her head.

"No! I do not tolerate disrespect and you have disrespected me and my family. So...I'm going to take it all from you. Because remember...you're a slave now. You don't own shit. You can't do shit. And you are worth less than shit!"

Chew handed him the phone and Arlong put it on speaker. "Hey, Kuroobi, do you see that fighter from tonight?"

"Nami's boy?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, Kaneshiro and Shioyaki saw him by the west side."

"Good. Tell them to meet you…get Pisaro, too. I want you to kill him."

Nami screamed but the blood loss and weakened state only let her release a hollow echo as she watched the screens. Zoro looked up as the alleyway filled with shadows. They descended on him with chains and knives. Luckily, it seems none of them brought a gun to the fight. Nami witnessed as he fought his way out. She started to laugh. "You think you shit heads can take Zoro? You think he will get beat by the likes of you? Ha! I-"

Arlong cut her off with a dark stare. "You're right. He's a strong fighter...but he's always fought for one reason. You." He dialed on his phone and Kuroobi picked up in a huff. "He's tough, boss. I don-"

"Tell him…I will rip Nami in half if he doesn't stand down."

Kuroobi repeated the statement, as it hummed on the other end of the line. Nami saw Zoro drop his guard. He stopped fighting and she began to cry. "No, Zoro...don't..."

He said something and Kuroobi repeated his response, "He doesn't believe."

In one fell swoop, Arlong got out from his chair, swung around his desk, and descended on Nami as he broke her wrist with his foot. Nami screamed a blood-curdling cry and Zoro rushed at Kuroobi as the other men lay on the ground in pain. He gripped Kuroobi and shouted. His dark and heavy voice echoed throughout the room. "Where is she?"

Arlong responded, "She is where she belongs."

He twisted his foot on the hand he crushed, and with vomit and spit in her hair, she screamed once again. He lifted his foot, and Nami cradled her broken wrist. Zoro seemed to take a moment to think, and Arlong was inpatient. He crouched down and dug a sharp finger into the wound; Nami pitched another painful shout. He brought the phone closer so Zoro could hear.

Arlong spoke into the phone again. "Stand down or she dies. I have been cheated and someone needs to pay so-"

"Give it to me."

Arlong blinked. "What?"

"Give me the debt Nami owes," Zoro screamed into the phone. Nami, in a blurred haze, watched Zoro shake Kuroobi as he spoke.

Arlong looked at Nami and smiled. "You really know how to pick 'em." He laughed again. "Fine then, oh great fighter...let my man go and you'll get your wish."

"I'm not fucking afraid of you or your fish stick crew."

Arlong growled and dug his nails into Nami's face. She cried again, the pain was both centralized to their wounds but also flowed over her whole body like a wave. Zoro grunted and released Kuroobi. Then he stood in front of him and stretched out his hands. "Only cowards turn their backs," he said with his cool stoic nature, "But you're gonna need to make this count if you want me knocked down. Because the second you're done, I'm coming for you."

Arlong spoke coldly, "Okay, cut him down."

Kuroobi took out a huge knife from his back holster. He swung it swiftly and Nami saw the spray of blood explode from Zoro's chest. Her lungs were on fire from the lack of air, but her scream pierced everyone's ears. She watched Zoro sway then fall back. The bloody slash grew across his shirt, and even in the pixelated black and white video, she saw how bad the injury was.

Kuroobi moved forward to look down at him and gasped, "Shit, boss. This kid is still conscious. He looks freaking mad. No wonder he's called a demon..."

Arlong frowned and spoke into the phone, "If he's still looking at you, take his fucking eyes."

Kuroobi motioned off screen, and suddenly Pisaro came running slowly, as he was still injured. He handed Kuroobi something, and Nami's eyes grew wide in terror. He pointed the object down, and Nami heard the shot through the phone, as the flash went off on the screen. Zoro's shout was brutal, as he struggled to move, but the wound that grew darker and darker on his chest stopped any further motion. Kuroobi was about to pull the trigger again when suddenly, the screens seemed to glow and subdued sirens were heard in the distance and then through the phone.

"Shit, boss. Looks like the cops are here. We better go."

Arlong frowned but nodded to the other men in the room who moved quickly. "Fine, grab the others and go. Meet us back at the house."

Arlong hung up and looked down at Nami who tried not to pass out. He picked up the duffle bags and nodded to Hachi. "Make sure she doesn't bleed out. I need to her alive for at least a few more years…"

Nami thanked every deity she knew of for the rescue. Huddled on the floor, as the world banged on, she saw Sanji run to Zoro and grip him. She was thankful someone would be with him. Before she could see any more, Arlong kicked her in the head and the darkness that slowly encroached on her mind consumed her completely.

Music Inspiration/Theme: "The Pretender" (The Foo Fighters)

Through back to my tremulous high school years of fighting "the man" - this song was that theme song. Lol In this day and age, I feel like we gotta keep fighting…the man…or as I call it, the evil Cheeto spawn from hell and its ilk. But back to the story at hand…

OH WOW. How about them apples? I know Zoro technically went against Hatchan, but I needed him with Nami…to show that he really isn't as evil, I mean he was at that time, as the others. I think the reconciliation he had with Nami was one of the strongest I've seen in OP. Also, when they are eating at his stand, I feel like Zoro seemed specifically concerned, but then she "forgave" him at least let Hachi live this new life without the fear of his past. Which, again, wow…Nami…wow.

In hindsight, Arlong was literally a very small village. I didn't realize how tiny his core ground was, but then again, that was the beginning of OP. I think they have definitely gone up in power…and the so have the villains. On that note…

Is Zoro dead? Did Sanji call the cops? What about Tashigi and Smoker? Will Nami ever get out? To the next chapter…and…

Get ready for Grand Line ER featuring the one and only, Surgeon of Death. Boy, he's gonna have a full day…until then.

XoXo shipfiend