Italics indicate thinking
Bold is for attacks.
Steve's POV
After leaving that resort, we headed back towards our goal of getting to Fishman Island. Before long we had arrived at the Red Line.
"I can't see the top it's huge!"
"It's the Red Line."
"We'll have to be careful." Rose said "Marine HQ and Mariejois is right at the top."
We had no idea where the actual island was so we sent Franky's submarine down to look for it, Luffy, Robin and Brook took the sub down to scout things out. I don't know why we sent three Devil Fruit users underwater.
I let Nami manage the three of them as I was busy training in Zoro's little gym kicking a practice dummy. I had to make my legs stronger. Too many times they've cramped up or become too sore to walk. I had realized since Enies Lobby my fighting style had changed. I relied less on my whips and more on my hands and feet. I had to prove I could fight and stay alive.
I heard someone say that the sub had surfaced so I headed out to see what they had found. They had surfaced but they brought a Sea Rabbit up with them, but by the time I got down there Luffy had already taken care of the fish.
"It spit something out." Sanji said.
"A fish!"
"No a person!"
"It can't be!" Sanji fell over.
The girl flopped around on the deck screaming about how she had killed Sanji.
"A Mermaid!"
The mermaid thanked us for saving her and offered us free Takoyaki, then we found out the starfish with her could talk as well. I thought we were being rude to the poor girl given how everyone was badgering her. Sanji was trying to horde her, Lil wanted to study her, and Brook…well he was being Brook. The mermaid told us her name was Camie and was just happy to be rescued.
"What is this thing?" Lil asked holding up a starfish "Never seen one of you before."
"Oh that's my pet Pappug. He's also my master, he's a starfish."
"But starfish don't talk."
The starfish played a song and then got really depressed, his excuse for talking was kinda pathetic but we just let him have his way. Camie tried to call her boss to come pick her up put she got some other guys on the phone, sounded like the guy needed help.
"We'll help you out." Nami told her "Well more specifically the guys will, but in return you have to show us the way to Fishman Island."
Once we agreed to help Camie headed over the side of the ship and got some fish to give us directions to the Archipelago.
"You were all quick to help." Pappug said "Are you sure you can handle this."
"We'll be plenty." I told him.
"I feel I should warn you, it's not just one gang around here. The Sabaody Archipelago has many gangs. Trading in human beings is big business around here, since mermaids fetch such a high price, people have been after Camie for a while. Since we got eaten Hachi probably thought we were captured and ran in to save us."
"You said he was an octopus?" Zoro said "Reminds me of the idiot from Arlong's crew."
"If it is him I really don't want to help him." Sanji said.
Pappug warned us that the Flying Fish Riders that were in the grove we were heading to were dangerous. Their leader Duval had a face no one had ever seen. We sailed a little farther before the fish leading us broke off and said the Flying Fish guys were here.
"I don't see anything." Wyper said.
"Above us!"
We looked up and saw men riding on the backs of fish that could fly.
"They're like bigger versions of my fish!" Lil yelled "Cool~"
"Those things look more like fish and less like birds." I told her.
The riders did a drive by and bombed the side of the ship to try and get us to leave.
"They're coming around again!"
Right before they attacked again the fish went back under and swam away. We pondered their untimely retreat before heading towards our destination. Before long we had arrived at the base of the Flying Fish Riders.
"It's too quiet." I mumbled as we sailed forward.
It was the most obvious trap ever, but sometimes you just have to trigger the trap. We looked at the octopus in the cage and got a strange sense of foreboding.
"His voice is too familiar." Zoro said "The silhouette too, what'd think Nami?"
"It's very suspicious…"
"Let's try this." Sanji said "Hey how's Arlong!"
"Him, Chu and Kurobi got sent to prison I got away and started a Takoyaki business." The octopus said.
"Yeah that's him."
Usopp explained the situation to those who hadn't been there to see the pain Nami went through because of this guy and his friend. Luffy was caught between his appetite and his hate for the fishmen who had hurt Nami.
"Turn the ship around." I said "We're going back. Sorry kid."
The stupid mermaid jumped off the ship and immediately got caught.
"I'm gonna go save her." Sanji said.
"Wait." Nami commanded "I've decided, let's save Hachi as well. He's harmless, besides we already said we'd do it."
Luffy flew off the boat and recued Caime and Pappug.
"Zoro cut the Octo-cage!"
We got off the ship and got ready to fight the Flying Fish Riders. The fish burst out of the water and started flying around. Luffy grabbed on to one of the fishes and got dragged off. They tried dropping bombs on the Sunny but Sanji kicked them away. Luffy refused to let go of the fish and got dragged under water. For some stupid reason Brook and Chopper jumped in after him. Franky and I managed to fish the three out.
"You are all idiots!" I yelled.
Nami berated the three for being stupid while Zoro freed the octopus and we got to work dealing with the fish riders. Usopp manned a cannon and blasted the fish out of the sky.
"Let me show you some real Flying Fish!" Lil cheered.
Lil's fish birds showed up and started scratching at the faces of some of the riders. One of them went wild and was coming towards the ship.
"Whip Crush!"
I slammed the man into the water and protected the ship. We kept battling the fish when Luffy hijacked one and crashed into a building. The rest of us had to deal with breaking the formation of the Fish Riders so we could get to land and help.
Luffy came out from the building he had crashed into being chased by a guy riding some sort of bison. The guy on the cow said he had a bone to pick with us. He wanted revenge on someone in the crew. He looked at the ship and called out Sanji.
"What'd you do?" Wyper asked.
"I don't know." Sanji shrugged.
The leader, Duval, shot harpoons at the ship and when they hit burned though the deck.
"Poison." I said stunned "Be careful."
The guy laid into the ship and riddled it with harpoons. We needed to do something quickly so Luffy ran up and pulled Duval's mask off.
"No way…"
"Impossible"
"Pfffttt…"
Under Duval's mask was the face in Sanji's bounty poster. They guy wanted Sanji to give him his life back, the marines had been chasing him for a few months now because of the resemblance. The gang leader and Sanji got into an argument and Sanji ended up getting dragged under water by a steel net so Camie jumped in after him. The fish riders then planned to drop an anchor on us, but Franky activated a maneuver that would blow us back and away from the anchor.
"We're good to go!" Wyper yelled "Do it!"
"Do what?"
Franky pulled a lever and the front of the ship opened to reveal a cannon.
"So cool~!"
"Gaon Cannon!"
The blast tore through the gang's base, blowing most of it away. Camie pulled Sanji out of the water and Luffy had to deal with the bull.
Luffy grabbed the thing by the horns and glared at it "Back off."
The bull looked terrified and it gave up the fight then out of nowhere the thing had some kind of seizer and passed out.
"What the heck just happened?"
"All he did was talk to it." Robin mumbled.
"It was like he won with force of will alone."
That sounds like something Dad once said…
Sanji got back on his feet and laid into Duval. Sanji broke the guys face so bad it made him handsome.
"He looks so smooth." Lil said.
"You're too young to be interested in boys." I said.
We got the fish-people back to their ship and they made us lunch. Duval and his weird friends wouldn't stop following us as thanks for Sanji beating their boss to beauty, eventually Sanji got them to buzz off. Pappug explained that if we wanted to keep the Sunny with when we went to Fishman Island we needed to have some sort of coating applied to it at the nearby archipelago.
Camie and Hatchan gave us directions and accompanied us to the islands, they said they knew a person who could help us out. The island was covered in big trees and large bubbles it was a wild sight. We parked the ship at Grove 41 and disembarked.
"Luffy don't play on the bubbles you're gonna get hurt."
When I got Luffy down Hachi gave us one rule to follow while we were here.
"No matter what even if you see someone get killed right in front of you promise me you won't defy the nobles." He said.
We agreed and took a tour around the town, it was pretty wild to see how they made things work with the trees and bubbles, they had these bike things that attached to bubbles and you could drive the around.
"You're awfully quiet." Robin said "Is something bothering you?"
"No." I said "I just have a feeling in my gut that something bad is gonna happen."
The girls wanted to go shopping so I said that I'd go with them and help carry their bags.
"Hey you, boy." Some lady waved me over.
"Yeah?"
"3 for 3,000." She said.
"What for what?"
She held up three necklaces with lockets on the end.
"I'll sell you these three for 3,000. They used to belong to my husband and my daughter but…we don't need them anymore."
"Are you sure you want to part with something that important?" I asked.
"I see how you act with that woman and the girl." She said pointing to Robin and Lil "I'm sure they'd love these."
They would like them…I could put little pictures of the three of us inside…
"Alright I'll take them." I said giving her the money Nami had given me to spend.
"It's a pleasure doing business with one of the Supernovas." The woman said.
"Supernova?"
"You're the 'Torturer' ain't ya? One of the twelve pirates with a bounty over 100,000,000." She said.
"Didn't realize I was so important." I shrugged walking away.
I reached into my pocket and took out a photo I had. It was of me, Robin and Lil from the waterpark the other day, I went to a store and had copies made. I cut out the sides and set them in the lockets before I met back up with the girls and Nami.
"I got a gift for you two." I said handing them the necklaces "Here."
"Papa."
"It's gorgeous." Robin said.
When they opened them they were even happier, that made me smile. While we went around shopping Robin explained the history of Fishmen and Mermaids. Then we got interrupted.
"Get on a fish!" Franky said
"What?"
"Camie got kidnapped."
"Shit…" I mumbled.
I sent Nami on ahead with Franky and told her to do whatever she had to in order to get Camie back. I got Robin and Lil on a fish and told them I'd meet them there.
"I'll walk. Call me when you find her" I told them.
There weren't enough fish so I just ran. Having the ability to use Shave makes that much easier. It didn't take long for Robin to call me and tell me where to meet them, but by the time I got there Camie was already sold off.
Shit I'm too late.
Being the idiot, he is Luffy crashed into the building. Luffy bolted down the stairs, a man on a mission to rescue someone. Hachi tried to stop him but ended up being exposed as a fishman when he used all his arms to grab Luffy.
"Luffy don't be stupid!" I yelled chasing after him.
I jumped over Hachi and tried to rein in Luffy before he got Camie killed. By the time I caught up to Luffy…
*BANG!*
Shit!
They shot him…some Celestial Dragon shot Hachi…just for being there.
How could someone so casually try and take a life?
Luffy was not happy…neither was I. I watched Luffy turn around and start to walk back, and I followed him.
"Wait…" Hachi said grabbing our arms "This…was my fault…you promised…even if someone was killed…I'm a pirate…this is…my punishment."
His voice was so weak, he needed help fast.
"I just…wanted to make it up to Nami…I wanted to help you all…I just ended up in the way like always." He said.
"I shot you but you're still talking." The Celestial Dragon said.
Luffy and I walked forward and in one fluid movement clocked that son of a bitch and knocked him on his ass.
"Screw you…" I growled.
AN
Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.
Till Next Time!