A/N:

this might be a little more violent than usual...

hope you'll like it regardless :P


ooo


Nezumi smiled as money exchanged hands. He couldn't help but grin widely as his petty officer picked up the bundles of Berries and stowed them away in the water-proof pack. He looked back up to his patron.

A massive, muscular man with pale-blue skin, wearing a sharp smile revealing shark-like teeth under a long serrated nose. No matter how many times he saw the grotesque physique of the sharkman, it always unnerved him. Nezumi couldn't get over those beady eyes that looked so close to being human, but just weren't. His brain blared out in an alarm hardwired by evolution every time he glanced at the other 'man' wearing human clothes that were just a little off him, a hat that didn't sit right on his head due to the fin running up the nape of his neck, the loose shirt that didn't hide his inhumanly wide chest.

All of it made his eyes ache, and heart pump a little harder.

It had scared him a lot more when he had first met the subhuman, but now, they were past those petty things like appearances. And the alarm that went off in his brain didn't bother him as much.

They both spoke in the same language, that's all he needed from him.

"Money really makes the world go around, eh, captain? Hey, do you wanna stay over a little longer and drink?" Arlong offered with a slimy smile, leaning back on his throne, hands open and twitching excitedly. "C'mon. It's rare that I meet someone that knows how the world works. Stay a little longer, let's live a little. I'll gut anyone that even whispers about it."

Nezumi smirked back, he knew the fishman wasn't just talking with that last offer. "No, no. I think I should still take my leave. Higher ups might get on my case if our patrol ship is docked here overnight… We're supposed to look for dangerous pirates, you see. Would you happen to know where we could find any?"

Arlong's face split wider. "Oh, how would I know something as dangerous as that, captain! I'm just a simple man."

Nezumi grinned. It was good to have friends like the fish. "We'll be taking our leave then, citizen."

"Wait up a second, Hatchan will tow you," Arlong all but ordered, his smile dropping from his face for a moment before it grew wide once again. "Forgive him if he speaks out of turn, he's got quite the mouth on him, you see."

The pirate's first mate hopped out of the sea, water pouring down the man who had four more arms than he should've, the backs of them all covered in suckers, a large funnel-like mouth drooping off his face.

"I'm well aware," Nezumi mumbled, looking at Hatchan with an unimpressed glare.

"Your name. Nezu-mi," the octopus-fishman started. "It fits you very much, Navy-man." His poker face melted and the subhuman broke out into a laugh that made his massive chest shudder, all arms slapping parts of himself in his amusement. "It tickles me so!"

Nezumi's whiskers twitched, rage bubbling up. Garp had already made this dumbass mouse hood part of his uniform, he didn't need this sea creature to remind him of his unfortunate name.

"Hatchan," Arlong hissed, and the amusement fell off the octopus-born scum's face, suppressing a shudder as it jumped back to where it belonged, slipping under the waves.

Nezumi grinned slyly, shooting one last look at Arlong.

Another fishman leaned into the giant shark-man's ear, whispering something, making the beady eyes of his partner in crime widen ever so slightly.

Arlong nodded with thought. "Actually, Captain. I do know of a dangerous pirate." The shark looked deadly serious, making all the Marines pause their exit. "Off on the hilltops of Cocoyashi village, by the Tangerine groves. I've got good authority that she's been hoarding stolen goods. Close to 100,000,000 Berries worth."

Nezumi's smile widened.

He loved this fish bastard.


Crusted eyes stung as she slowly roused back to the waking world. Nami was greeted by the glorious sight of the sparkling stars that painted the calm night sky, letting her forget the stinging in her eyes.

Did I fall asleep on deck?

Her senses slowly woke back up along with her brain, her face feeling like it had crusted over, every blink causing her to grow more aware of dried tears over her cheeks. She'd fallen asleep after crying again. Her hand rose up, pushing the covers on her to the side as she scrubbed, trying to get the grime off her face.

That's when she realized that she wasn't in a bed, nor was she on her chair.

She was in Luffy's lap.

Shock bubbled up in her chest, then faded away, replaced with the frightening feeling that she was now okay with the surprising amount of physical contact. Hell, she was craving more of it, her legs refusing to move, arms resting against the man's surprisingly muscular chest rather than push it away.

Luffy hummed lowly, and Nami realized that he was awake too. "You alright?"

Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth, and she couldn't match his gaze, a warm feeling of shame bubbling in her stomach. She nodded, looking past him and into the mirror-like beauty of the ocean, stretching all the way to the horizon.

He laughed gently, a hand running up and down her spine, making her shiver and cling to him harder. "Sorry…" he whispered, his breath tingling against her skin.

They were just so close.

Nami let out an accidental whine, pressed against the solid frame of her captain.

"Shouldn't have let you relive all of that," he mumbled softly, regret in his voice.

That didn't sound like the man Nami had been stuck with for the past week and a half.

"No," she huffed, finding her voice again. She noticed how rough it sounded, feeling the soreness in her throat as an afterthought. "I… dumped that all onto all of you suddenly, I'm sorry."

Luffy snorted. "That's what friends are for, dummy."

Nami could breathe easy again as his tone returned to the familiar amused one that calmed her heart.

"Where are we?" She mumbled, fighting herself to get up and see for herself. Luffy was warm and the night was cold, she didn't want to leave the embrace. From her spot, she looked up to the stars and shot a look to their sails' positions, reading the wind from the ballooned canvas. Nami felt her pulse quicken. "We're on course to land at the Conomi Isles by dawn…"

Luffy chuckled. "Got it in one."

"My, my."

Nami flinched as another voice joined them, her eyes snapping away from the sails and onto the form of Robin walking towards the two with an unlit lantern in her hands, a book tucked under her arm. "Having a late-night chat?"

Luffy laughed gently, shifting under Nami again."Were you gonna keep me company yourself?"

"Perhaps," Robin offered with a cryptic smile, taking her seat once more. "Do we have a plan of attack?"

"Attack?" Nami mumbled, part of her groggy brain confused about what was going on. Then it clicked back into place "Wait, we're attacking Arlong?"

It felt like the world went silent around her at the thought, even the rocking of their ship fading away.

"...Yes?" Luffy mumbled, sounding lost on what the issue was. "What did you think we were gonna do?"

Nami shuddered. "P-Pay him and be done with it?"

"Absolutely not," Robin almost growled, shocking Nami with her tone. The navigator wouldn't have imagined the not-quite member of their crew could emote that much.

Nami's chest tightened, and she finally managed to push herself off of Luffy's chest, shooting a look at the older woman. "Y-You don't get it! We can't stand up to him! He's just too strong!"

Robin's eyes turned sad, and the older woman's shoulders dipped. Nami couldn't understand the reaction.

Luffy pulled her back to reality with a hand over her shoulder. Palm covering the tattoo she'd exposed at the end of her story. "I want to pummel him."

She took a shuddering breath and slowly turned to face her captain. His dark eyes were sparkling with the light of the stars. It looked like he was looking up to the universe as he gazed up at her.

It made her heart skip a beat.

"I already did, even before you told me what happened," he continued, gently squeezing her shoulder, making her skin tingle with warmth. "Since I saw your eyes when we first met."

Nami's breath stuck in her throat. "You… knew?"

Luffy's signature smile was missing from his face as he shook his head. "I could see a broken dream in 'em. Wanted to fix that."

Nami felt like cackling, or sobbing again. Of course, he could tell.

He was Luffy.

"You didn't even know me," she breathed out, still not believing what he'd confessed.

His somber expression twitched, and he gave her a roguish smirk. "Did I need to?"

"Dumbass," she huffed gently, punching his chest weakly. "You're gonna get yourself killed."

"Didn't I tell you?" Luffy whispered, his hands trailing down her body and stopping on her waist, gently holding her in place. "I won't die."

Nami shuddered and nodded. The fact resonated in her head once more.

"How romantic," Robin mused, pulling their attention back from the intimate moment, and Nami's cheeks flushed. Her face burnt with embarrassment when she realized that she was currently straddling Luffy, exchanging heartfelt promises.

She still couldn't bear to move off him, even then.

"But, I still think we should discuss the plan of attack, captain," Robin continued, her eyes locked onto her book. "Surely the plan isn't just to dock Merry, and then rush out to beat up the Fishman Pirates."

"Simple is best," Luffy grumbled, a pout in his voice. "Was going to hide Merry in front of the rising sun, and start our assault. Anything more is just gonna fall apart the moment we land."

"That's dumb," Nami groaned. "You're dumb!"

Luffy laughed her off. "Fine, you got a better plan?"

Nami paused. Is this really happening?

Was she finally going to strike back against the men that had taken her mom from her?

Her hands rested on Luffy's chest, feeling the frighteningly powerful muscles flex and move with every strong breath he took. They assured her that he'd be strong enough to do what she wished she could've done all that time ago.

"...They don't know I've turned coat," She hummed thoughtfully, the pieces starting to fall into place. "You all hide below deck… I'll act like I've stolen this ship and dock."

"They won't check the brig?" Robin questioned, still avoiding looking towards them.

"They never thought I'd be dumb enough to attack them, so they'll be complacent…" Nami mumbled, her face starting to split into a smirk. "Dammit Luffy, it looks like your stupid infected me."

The man under her laughed boisterously.


Nojiko woke up to someone knocking on her door.

She rolled over in her bed, ignoring whatever that was. The villagers could wait another hour or so, she was tired after tending the tangerine field the entire day yesterday.

At least she wouldn't have to trim the leaves again for quite a while.

The knocking on the door grew harsh, almost as if the person knocking was trying to punch the wood off its hinges. "What the hell!?" she screamed as she sat up in her bed, her vision spinning from the sudden motion.

"This is the Navy," came a gruff voice that echoed in the hallways of her home, what little hold sleep still had on her vanished like smoke, the woman blinking awake. "Open the door."

The navy? Nojiko mouthed, getting out of her bed, thanking the heavens that she'd fallen asleep in her work clothes. "I'm coming…" she muttered, hoping the marine wouldn't try to knock the door down.

When she finally answered the door, she was greeted with a rat-like man with a fitting stature surrounded by marines that looked closer to pirates in disguise. "What is it?" she asked, not hiding her displeasure.

"I'm Captain Nezumi," the apparent captain introduced himself. Nojiko couldn't believe how the Navy selected such a sleaze ball as a captain. "And we've been informed that this house has been… occupied by a thief." the rat-like marine continued, his nasally voice making her head hurt. "As marines, it's our duty to look into reports like this, you see."

Nojiko glared at him, squinting down at the man.

"If you'd just allow us to take a look, we'll be out of your beautiful hair before you know it," the captain finished, shooting her a smile that made her want to take a shower. "Who knows, maybe after this I can buy you some drinks too," his men around him laughed, shooting her dirty glances that never cleared above her collarbones.

Nojiko felt like gagging. It's fine. She repeated to herself. Just play along, they won't be able to find any of it.

She huffed and took a step to the side. "Look if you need to. You won't find anything."

Nezumi gave her a look that made her doubt that. "Thank you for your cooperation."


Nami tugged on the ropes of Merry's sails, making sure everything was going good as the caravel finally approached her village. She shot a fake smile to the three fishmen guarding the dock, glaring back at her with predatory smiles.

She hated them, and they knew it. But they thought she was too below them to ever stand up. To them, she was just a grumpy cat that came and went, both hating them, yet still living at their home.

The Going Merry slowed down as she reefed her main sail, only the lanteen pushing her closer to the dock before she cut that too, the boat crawling to a halt next to the docks of her hometown.

The fishmen leered at her. "Stole an entire ship this time, huh?"

She smiled at them. "Mhm! Gonna make a pretty penny on one of the bigger islands!"

One of them rolled his eyes with a cocky smirk. "If you say so, cat burglar."

Nami's face remained its fake smile. "Shouldn't you be taking more rounds?"

The fishmen smirked at her. "Got marine visitors, Arlong told us to wait here to tow them back to their ship."

Nami's facade started cracking. "What are marines doing here?"

"Oh, you know," one of them sniggered. "They say they found stolen goods."

Nami dropped the act and looked up to the cliffside. "...he wouldn't."

"Told you humie's were idiots!" One of them guffawed, and Nami… snapped.

Her hand slipped under her skirt, grabbing the Bo-staff and assembling it before the dumbasses could even react to her sudden motion.

She jumped off the deck of Merry, swinging the wooden beam with all of her might. With gravity behind her, she managed to smack the fishman with enough force to cause his head to let out a crack, fish-eyes rolling in the man's skull before he toppled over.

The red she was seeing faded as she realized what she'd done, the other two sea-dwellers towered over her, rage visible in their inhuman eyes. "Well well, now you've done it humie."

"I'm sure Arlong would be fine if we broke her legs right? She only needs to be able to draw those maps."

Nami glared at them, long-baked-in fear still trying to bubble up from her stomach.

Then, it blew away with the breeze from the ocean.

The fishmen noticed the difference, and took a pause. "You really think that cheapshot changed anything?" One of them growled. "You know we're ten times stronger than humans, even on land, you dumb bitch."

Nami smiled sweetly at the two. "Hey, Captain. Wanna tag in?"

The two fishmen paused as they heard something clack onto the dock behind them.

They couldn't bring themselves to look back and check what was going on. Their bodies refused to move. Something primal locked them into place. Their instincts were screaming that if they moved, a Sea King would snap out and swallow them whole.

"So these are fishmen," the predator drawled out. "The pictures in the books weren't nearly this ugly."

The younger fishman finally broke out of it and spun around to face their predator, glaring back at a man that wasn't anything special, now that he could see him. Dark hair, muscular body, human through and through.

Weak and pathetic.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you piece of human filth," he roared. "Don't you know where you are?! Who this island belongs to?"

The answer the fishman got was the man lifting up his arm, the limb pulsing and shredding, skin flaying off it like paper and getting replaced with iridescent green carapace.

The last thought the young fishman ever had was how close it looked to one of those fancy shrimps he'd once seen around the depths.

The oldest one of the group still couldn't move from his spot, even as he heard the vicious crack of bone shattering as something punched forward, the wind pressure and blood from the impact hitting the side of his face. "Wh-what… what did you bring, you…"

Nami smiled sweetly. "Nothing much, just some new friends…"

His brain finally snapped, and he went to attack their pet burglar, swinging his blade back to wind up.

Something grabbed it, and he couldn't budge his arms anymore.

Then a shoe caved his face in.


"Thanks Sanji!" Nami cheered as the cook landed on the body of the fishman, ruining the man's suave visage as he started noodling, swirling around and confessing his undying love to her.

Luffy dropped the blade he'd caught. "Weak," he grumbled, tone darker than usual.

"You're just freakishly strong," Buggy countered from his spot on his waist.

"We're deviating," Robin chastised, taking a few steps onto the deck of Merry. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"No," Nami admitted, ignoring Sanji's efforts to give her a rose he'd seemingly spawned out of thin air. "But damn did it feel good."

Robin gave a sinister giggle in response. "Fair point, were those the only patrols they had?"

"Yes," Luffy answered for Nami, and when she turned around she could see the man gazing out to the village. It looked like his gaze was locked onto the cross that was still standing in the middle of the town square.

That's when they heard the gunshot.

Nami's heart dropped, and the rest of the crew flinched. "N-no no no…"

She started rushing back to her home, passing Luffy for a second before the man grabbed her by her waist, picking her up.

Nami had never moved so fast, the closest she'd got was when Luffy had picked her up and jumped out the marine headquarters back in Shells Town. But that had been for a dash that had taken one second.

This time, her entire village passed around her and the wind licked at her skin, her hair tugging at her head as air pushed it back, only the straw hat Luffy was holding in place on her head protecting her eyes from the surely eye-watering speed. In a few moments, he had brought her back home.

Back to destruction.

The marines were in the process of digging up her mom's orchard, and Nojiko was on the ground, nursing a bullet wound on her thigh.

None of the marines registered their arrival, laughing darkly at the woman that was on the ground.

Then, the boom arrived.

Luffy had broken the sound barrier in his speed.

The marines panicked, raising their rifles and aiming at the two. Nami didn't care, looking between her disheveled home and her sister on the ground.

"W-who are you!?" The apparent leader of the squad barked out, looking at them with hate in his eyes. "What's wrong with your legs? Are you one of Arlong's men? What's the meaning of this!?"

Luffy let out a dark chuckle, so malicious it was almost a growl, making some of the rough-looking marines shudder, the men's rifles shaking in their hands. "...You shot a civilian. My friend's sister."

The captain spat. "She shot at a marine captain. She's a criminal and got what she deserved."

Nami's eyes hardened, glaring at the short man holding his wounded shoulder.

"Oh, that nasally voice… is that you Nezumi?" Buggy asked, unable to see from his spot. During Luffy's dash he'd ended up turning around and facing backwards. "Should've known you'd work with this filth, you flashy boot licker."

"Buggy!?" Nezumi barked in shock "what the hell is this you clown?"

Nami could see the Marine captain shudder in fear, and pieces fell into place. Luffy growled, rage radiating off him nigh-visibly as he understood too.

In a blink, she was standing next to Nojiko, Luffy standing in front of them both and cracking his knuckles. Buggy, hanging gleefully off his waist, smiled at the two of them with a manic glint in his eyes.

"So… you're working with Arlong?" Luffy asked coldly.

Marine's blinked and re-aimed their guns.

Nezumi looked close to shitting himself in fear. "I don't know what you're talking about! Who are you!?"

"A pirate," Luffy simply stated. And bones snapped.

The marines looked on in fear as he ballooned in size, his skin shredding off his body, revealing white carapace that expanded, black patterns etching themselves across the insect-like shell that grew along with the man's size. Only a brave few shot at him, bullets hitting their mark and simply ricocheting off the pirate going through rapid metamorphosis.

The marines shuddered as the transformation was completed. A bipedal bug looked back at them, cracking the knuckles on the ends of his log-sized forearms, he let out an angry chitter that had the ground tremor in under the force of his rage.

Letting go of his hands, he slid his palm between the rounded shelf-like shell that had jut out from his massive torso and neck and popped the joints with a resounding crack.

Nami felt dark pleasure from the fear that was shining in every single bastard that had invaded her mother's orchard.

"Let me show you what my gramps would do to scum like you," Luffy growled, the shell covering him flexing slightly as his muscles bunched powerfully.

Nami turned her back to what was sure to come, and tended to Nojiko's wound the best she could, ignoring the screams of the damned marines behind her.

Nojiko looked back at her with wide eyes. "...who—what is he?"

Nami smiled happily at her sister. "A close friend."


Genzo had seen alot in his life.

He'd seen a young thug like Belle-mere get into the marines, rise through its ranks, come back and become a mom he couldn't imagine her becoming. He'd seen fish walk on land, spread terror to his friends and family, to kill the same young mom who'd done everything she could for her little girls.

He'd lived a long and painful life.

But he wasn't prepared to see what greeted him in the orchard.

A massive thing was holding a buff marine by his head, looking down at him with calculating, dangerous compound eyes.

The man trapped in the massive hand of the creature struggled, punching and kicking at the white shell of the monster, not even managing to damage the clothes that were strained over the exoskeleton.

The beast chittered, and squeezed, and the marine flopped lifelessly down, tossed onto a pile with the rest of his platoon.

Genzo looked on with horror at the destruction that was their treasured orchard, marred with signs of digging and the bodies of fallen marines. His eyes landed on another marine looking scared out of his mind, crawling on his hands and knees trying to run away from the gigantic bug. Then everything was forgotten when the sheriff noticed the two sisters that were against the wall of Belle-Mere's ruined home. Both safe and breathing.

Nojiko was looking up wearily, and Nami was tending to her sister's thigh.

"Don't move."

Genzo felt his legs freeze as the deep voice rolled over the ruins of the orchard. His eyes snapped back at the beast, and his heart could beat again when he realized that the bug was looking down at the marine, and not him.

The old sheriff could see a stain bloom in the man's pants from where he was.

"N-no, no please, we can talk about this!" the marine begged, looking up into the compound eyes of the beast with fear. "Name your price! I'll give you anything you want! We can make a deal!"

Genzo's teeth ground together as everything started to make sense. Why his calls for help from the world government fell on deaf ears. His fists clenched tightly, watching the sniveling mess that dared to sully Belle-mere's time in the Navy tried to back away from the monster prowling towards him.

"No."

Genzo looked away as the gigantic bug loomed over the small marine, and stomped down with a wet squelch that shook the ground.

"Jesus, Monkey," someone else mumbled, and Genzo opened his eyes again to see that the beast had a head hanging off his waist. "Haven't seen you this angry, ever."

At this point, the sheriff wasn't surprised with anything.

The beast growled, and then his form started melting away, shrinking and turning into a muscular man with a scar under his eye.

Genzo rubbed his eyes, trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things. If his wounds from dealing with the fishmen weren't aching still, he would've been sure he was dreaming.

"Sorry, Nami," the man huffed, shooting a glance at the two sisters he'd sworn to protect in their late mother's place. "Lost my head for a second there."

"It's still hanging off your belt," Nami offered with a smile that reminded Genzo of his late love.

"Oh, har har," the head mocked, then blinked, turning to look directly at the sheriff. "Who's the flashy cop?"

"Genzo!" Nami cheered, all smiles before it fell and she looked down to Nojiko's leg. "Can you find Nako? He really needs to look at this…"

Nojiko gave him a tired smile. "Heard the shot, huh pops?"

Genzo nodded dumbly, brain still trying to catch up to the rest of what had happened. "...wanted to make sure you were safe," he mumbled, looking between Nami and the man she seemed to know. "Welcome home?"

"I brought some guests," Nami offered with an apologetic smile.

The man waved at him with a grin that belied the savagery he'd witnessed mere moments ago. Genzo couldn't imagine him hurting a fly, let alone doing what he had to the pile of damn marines.

"Oh my," another voice added to the chaos that was surrounding them.

Turning around, Genzo saw a man in a suit, a woman wearing a hood, a shirtless swordsman with something white stuck to his chest, and a dark-skinned young man with a slingshot hiding behind them all.

"Seems like we're really deviating from the plan, Captain."

Nami's first guest snorted. "Told you planning wasn't gonna help."

Genzo nodded sagely, and decided he needed a stiff drink.


ooo


A/N:

Is Luffy a little bit more violent than normal?

perhaps, perhaps...

but do you guys think his victims deserved it this time?