Long Term Hearts

by Trafalgar's Pet

Law's childhood friend has gone through thick and thin with him, now after many years of separation, they've found each other in the one place where Straw Hat Luffy slugs a Dragon. Now that the Straw Hats have been split up by the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, Yukimi ends up in the care of the one and only Surgeon of Death.

9. The Battle of Arlong Park

~Good Lord have mercy on my chapters! I just saw the freaking word count for this chapter! A whopping 18.5k! (not including this A/N mind you) To give y'all a perspective, the last chapter is 8,000+! Yeah! I somehow managed to more than double the length of the freaking chapter! No wonder my hand was killing me and stained in pencil graphite from copying everything down on paper... And to let y'all know, the chapters beyond this one are no different, seriously. Ok! So at this point when I first wrote the chapter 'round...two years ago? Three? I was bingeing a lot of things and it kinda leaked into the following few chapters, and honestly, I may keep doing it 'cuz it's fun. So let me know if you find the Durarara reference! What can I say though? I admit to having a sliiight sadistic streak when I cosplay as the one and only Izaya Orihara~~~ Enjoy and review please!

On an important side note, I hope y'all stay healthy at home and keeping each other safe during this oh so lovely pandemic of the good ol' COVID19/Corona Virus.

Long Term Hearts

Chapter 9: The Battle of Arlong Park

**********^.^**********

As the villagers ran toward their certain deaths at the hands of Arlong, Nami fell to her knees, dropping the dagger she had. Tears began to pour from her eyes as she heard Arlong's cruel laughter echoing loudly within her head. The orangette was alone in Cocoyashi Village in the middle of the street in despair. After so many years of painstakingly stealing money from pirates, and collecting 100,000,000 beris, only to have it ripped away by no good marines working for that fish bastard. And now she would have to start all over... Again, that cruel laughter rang through Nami's head, taunting her to no end. The orangette grabbed her left shoulder in fury where the Arlong Pirates tattoo was. She couldn't take it any longer. Nami snatched up the dagger she'd dropped moments before, and began repeatedly stabbing that horrid tattoo as she shouted Arlong's name in deep hatred.

Finally, someone caught her wrist, stopping her from stabbing her bloody shoulder once more. It was none other than Luffy. Nami dropped the small blood soaked blade before he let her go. "...What do you want? You don't know anything about this. You don't know what's been happening to this island for the past eight years," Nami's voice shook as she stared down at the ground.

"Nope. I don't," came Luffy's simple reply.

"This has nothing to do with you. I told you to leave this place!" Nami hunched over the ground as she gripped the dirt.

"Yup, you sure did."

"Then leave!" The navigator whipped her hand back making dirt, and dust fly up toward Luffy, trying in vain to make him go away. "I told you to leave! Get out of here! Get out of here now! GO! GO AWAY NOW! LEAVE! Go...!" Nami stopped when her voice cracked, now opening the way for more tears to fall to the dusty ground below her. After a minute of quiet weeping, the navigator slowly looked over her shoulder up to him. "Luffy...help me..."

Luffy's eyes were covered by the shadow of his hat. He then took off his beloved straw hat and placed it on top of her head. "...Of course, that's what friends do." The boy then walked away from her only to stop some yards away. Luffy took a deep breath before letting out his anger to the heavens above, "HE'S GONNA PAAAAAYYYYY!"

It was then Nami recalled how much Luffy loved his straw hat, and that he didn't like letting others touch it. But yet he placed it on her head. She looked back at him in disbelief as the boy walked away. "...Luffy..."

"Let's go," Luffy stated as he approached the others.

Usopp was sitting on the road arms crossed, ready to go. Sanji standing a few feet away quietly smoking. Zoro sitting hunched over under the shade of an umbrella seat. And Yukimi perched on top of the umbrella, twirling a kunai. They looked up simultaneously with determination oozing from their glares. "Right!"

Nami couldn't believe it. The people she had tried so hard to push away and forget, were still there. And ready to do battle with Arlong! Why?! They wouldn't stand a chance against a fishman, let alone Arlong! They had to be insane! But there they go, off to put their lives on the line for someone like her. It just made no sense. They've only known her for such a short period of time and even less for the new crewmembers. And yet they're willing to fight and die for her. It was too crazy...too much for her…

*^.^*

"Hey, are you guys alright?"

"Did Arlong do this to you?"

Sitting before the angry mob of Cocoyashi Village, were a pair of beaten bounty hunters leaning against the gates of Arlong Park. Between the two were their swords crossed over where the gates meet as if making another barrier between the mob, and Arlong.

"Step aside. We have business to take care of with the fishmen," Genzo said.

"When we finally learned about the truth about big sis Nami, we realized the only thing we could do was beat Arlong in battle. So we decided to come back here, and challenge him," Johnny said not moving an inch from the gates.

"Yeah, but then we lost. But only by a hair," Yosaku added.

"I'm sorry. But I can't let you through this door. You have no chance of victory!" Johnny warned.

"What's that?!" Genzo said getting angry.

"Be patient. It won't be long now. You see, we're waiting for the arrival of certain people," Yosaku said.

"What certain people?"

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon," Yosaku replied. "I bet my life on it."

It was then, Johnny sat up straighter, noticing something in the distance. The bounty hunter grinned as he stood up, followed by his friend. "There!"

Everyone turned around now watching the approaching group of five. Nojiko stood there stunned at seeing Nami's friends walking, no, marching toward them. "But why would they come to defend our village?" Genzo questioned.

"If they can't beat Arlong and his gang, then there's really no hope. Not only for this island but for the whole East Blue," Yosaku forewarned.

"Those are the faces of the five people who are here to change your destiny. Burn their images into your memory," Johnny added as the five soon-to-be-called Straw Hats came ever closer.

Zoro with his katana over his shoulder, walking next to Luffy without his straw hat, and Sanji, hands casually in his pockets. Further over was Usopp with his eyes hidden under goggles, and Yukimi, hood up, ears through the holes, and hands in her pockets, tails swishing about.

"Step aside," Luffy commanded.

Yukimi's ears twitched from hearing laughter coming from inside Arlong Park, making her frown deeper. The kitsune glanced around at the villagers as they parted as she, and the others walked to the gates.

Johnny and Yosaku nodded at Luffy before grabbing their respective swords and stepped away from the decorated gates.

Luffy pulled back his fist before launching it into the gate, making a huge dent with plenty of cracks forming around it to spread. Then he did it again, and again before the whole thing was blasted away from the force of his fists.

Inside Arlong glared in surprise from his throne like patio chair, "What the?!"

Luffy raised his fist ready for the fight as he looked between the fishmen, "Now which one of you is Arlong?"

"Arlong? Well, that happens to be my name," answered Arlong.

"Good," the rubber boy said as he walked towards the head fishman. "Then you can call me Luffy."

"Luffy... And what are you supposed to be?"

"A pirate."

"Huh?! Hey, it's that guy!" Hatchan pointed at Luffy in surprise. "Wait a sec-I remember him! He's the guy who likes taking walks!"

"Hold it right there," said a large fishman as he and another fishman stood in Luffy's path, laughing. "Where do you think you're going?"

"You wanna talk to the boss, you gotta talk to us first," the other fishman chuckled. "Get it? So let's talk."

"That's far enough," the large fishman said grabbing Luffy's shoulders.

But Luffy had other plans. He quickly grabbed their shoulders, then rammed their heads into each other hard, "Move it!"

Arlong's eyes widened as his temper started to flare. "So what does a pirate want with me?"

Luffy grabbed his wrist, pulled it back, before letting it fly into Arlong's face. The force of Luffy's angry fist shot the fishman clear across Arlong Park until he collided with the back wall, crashing into it. Both fishmen and villagers were shocked, to say the least. "That's for making our navigator cry!"

After witnessing their leader get decked like that, the surrounding fishmen jumped into action. Only to get kicked down by none other than Sanji. "Back off! You're out of your league." Sanji sighed as he stood next to Luffy. "Jeez, you just had to run on ahead by yourself."

"Don't worry, I can handle these bozos by myself."

"Nah you fool. I never said anything about being worried." The cook turned back toward the remaining fishmen. "I just don't want you hogging all the action."

"Oh."

"Well, I just want to let you guys know that I don't mind if you hog it all," Usopp said as he walked up to them, already beads of sweat forming on his brow.

"I see you're rearing to go as usual," Zoro commented behind the nervous sniper.

Yukimi sighed as she shook her head next to Usopp with her hands raised in an 'oh well' gesture. "Must this end in conflict? Can't we all be mature adults, regardless of race, negotiate in peace?"

"Aaahhh! It's him! That's the unknown swordsman I was telling you about!" Hatchan shouted as he jabbed his finger at Zoro.

"Roronoa Zoro," Kuroobi named.

Yukimi grinned, "I guess that's, a no." The kitsune eagerly whipped out a kunai before tapping it against her fang in anticipation.

"I thought so! I can't believe I let that bastard trick me. I can't believe it! Hook, line, and sinker! Wait..." Hatchan paused putting his hand under his chin in thought. "Hook, line, and sin...ker..."

Yukimi snickered at the octopus fishman. "Hi Hatchan, remember me?" The kitsune waved her kunai at him as she showed off her tails, making him gawk in more confusion which turned to realization.

"Whaaaat?! You-you were that fox!"

"Huh? Hey look, long nose is here," a fishman noticed.

"Huuuuuh?! But-but he's dead! We saw Nami kill him!" Hatchan shouted in shock.

"Oh, he's alive, which means..." Chew started.

"Huh, that Nami was a traitor all along," Kuroobi finished. "Just as I suspected."

Arlong chuckled, "A pirate huh? Of course. This is all starting to make sense now. You've been after Nami this whole time. But..." Arlong barked out a laugh, mocking them. "the girl is mine, and I'm not giving her up!"

Hatchan began laughing as he walked over to the pool. "A bunch of idiots like you aren't worth Arlong's time! We know how to deal with you!" He faced the body of water next to them and trumpeted in the ocean's direction. After a moment he stopped trumpeting, a sudden tremor began shaking the whole area, causing the water to become choppy, and splash everywhere.

"What the heck is going on guys?!" Usopp began panicking.

"Every single one of ya are about to become fish food! Momoo! Rise!" Hatchan commanded. A whirlpool quickly appeared in the middle of the pool before something huge began to rise to the surface, water cascading down from its head like a waterfall.

"It's a monster! That's the beast from the Grand Line that destroyed the town of Gosa!" Usopp cried out in fear.

Finally as the last of the water fell to the pool below, a sea king appeared. But it didn't look fierce, if anything, it looked sad, and in pain from the large swelling red bump between its curved horns.

"Huh cool, a sea king...it kinda looks like a cow though," Yukimi commented as Usopp still in shock, shook from fright. The villagers just outside the gates were also beginning to panic from the sight of the massive green, and white sea king leaning over the small pirate group.

"Well look who's back," Luffy said glancing up at the sea king.

"Seems he's a friend of the fishmen," Sanji observed.

The sea king cow looked like it was crying at the sight of Luffy, and Sanji. It then turned around, intent on swimming away from them.

"Hey! Stop! Where are you going?! Come back here Momoo! You can't just leave! Momoo!" Hatchan tried to get the sea king to come back but was obviously failing.

"Leaving? Now now, isn't that a shame."

Momoo stopped dead in its wake as a shiver ran down its spine from Arlong's voice.

"But, I suppose if you really want to run away, then who am I to stop you? Well then?"

Momoo began to growl before suddenly it roared as it turned back around to charge at the enemy pirates.

"It's coming right for us!" Usopp screamed waving his arms trying pathetically to deter the sea cow away. "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

"This is gonna be fun!" Yukimi grinned as she noticed more of Arlong's followers charging toward them.

"You're all mine, you dumb cow!" Luffy declared beating his fists together. Then like a sumo wrestler, Luffy slammed his feet into the hard cement ground up to his ankles, anchoring him in place.

"Looks like he's got a plan for once," Sanji noted.

"We'll see. I've got a bad feeling about this," Zoro said in anticipation.

As the fishmen charged closer to Luffy, showing no signs of stopping, the rubber boy twisted his body waist up until he looked like a human twisted taffy. He leaned back and stretched his arms out to grab the sea king's horns.

"His arms stretch!" Hatchan's jaw dropped at the sight.

"So he must have Devil Fruit powers," Arlong confirmed as his followers disregarded the new information, and continued to charge headlong into danger.

"Hey let's get out of here!" Zoro warned Sanji.

"Wait, what?! Woah! What's he gonna do?!" The cook took a step back with the swordsman at the sight of his new captain getting ready to do something crazy.

"I'm not sure, but I don't wanna find out!" Zoro panicked before nearly shoving the blonde out of the way as Luffy lifted Momoo out of the water, and spun him around along with his upper body, knocking away the fishman riffraff.

Yukimi ducked away from falling debris, laughing. "Those fishmen! Ahahha! Didn't stand a chance!"

Luffy let out a yell as he let go of the poor sea cow, letting it fly out of Arlong Park, and back to the ocean. Villagers, and fishmen, who haven't been knocked away, alike were slack jawed at the spectacle. "Alright, that's it!" Luffy panted lightly, hands on knees. "I'm done playing games here! I didn't come to beat down all your cronies! I came here to teach you a lesson! So step up!" Luffy finished with a jab of his finger at the leader of the Arlong Pirates.

"Oh, I will, don't worry. Actually, I was just thinking about how painfully I'll end your life," Arlong said with a very sharp grin.

"That was the worst plan ever!" Sanji yelled at Luffy while kicking his head where the boy stood.

"Yeah! Were you trying to kill all of us too?!" Usopp shouted in anger.

Yukimi grinned a little. "That 'worst plan ever', was actually quite inventive," she said air quoting.

Luffy then frowned. He began to rock side to side, making a squeaking sound from his movements.

"Now what are you doing?! Are you ruining something else?!" Usopp yelled at Luffy's odd behavior.

Luffy hummed in thought as he looked down at his buried feet, not paying attention to the agitated sniper.

"How dare you hurt our brothers!" Hatchan yelled making Usopp back away.

"Very well. It seems we must now join in on the fight," Kuroobi said glaring down at the humans, and kitsune opposing them.

"Now you'll get an education in the inferiority of your species," Chew declared.

"Huh, really? I like to see that," Zoro challenged.

Kuroobi looked over to Arlong, "Please sir, let us handle this."

"If you go on one of your rampages to squash these insects, you'll destroy all of Arlong Park," Chew added.

"Please! Let us just kill these weaklings!" Hatchan roared all six arms flexing.

Arlong sat back in the pile of rubble like it was his throne with his fist supporting his chin. "Alright, they're yours."

Meanwhile, Usopp had disappeared a number of yards away from the others, hiding behind a pillar.

"Uh guys, there's something I gotta tell ya," Luffy tried getting his friends' attention.

"What the hell is that octopus doing?" Zoro noticed as Hatchan seemed to balloon in front of them.

"Uh, I think I remember what an octopus does when it feels threatened. Don't they spit ink?" Yukimi muttered. The thought of her snow white fur getting soiled in black ink made her grimace in disgust.

Sanji grinned in thought, "Octopus is best when it's cut thin, and salted. Add some olive oil and paprika, and it makes the best snack while drinking."

"So listen to me guys, I'm kinda in trouble," Luffy tried again to get their attention but failed.

"Take this! Zero vision, Hatchi Ink Jet!" Hatchan then spewed out a load of black ink at the group.

Everyone scrambled out of the way but Luffy. Zoro looked back up from the ground at Luffy in confusion. "Idiot! How come you didn't dodge like the rest of us?!"

"Aaaaaggghhhh! I can't see squaaaat!" Luffy yelled, hands at his eyes trying to clear them.

Hatchan grabbed a large slab of stone rubble, "Now to finish you off!"

"C'mon! You gotta get out of there Luffy! Run!" Usopp shouted from his hiding spot as the octo-fishman lifted the heavy slab off the ground.

"Yeah, that's the problem. I'm kinda stuck," Luffy admitted as danger walked closer to flatten him. "I can't run, I can't even walk!"

"Huh?" Sanji nearly deadpanned.

"My feet are kinda stuck..."

"But you're the one that stuck them in the ground in the first place!" Usopp started panicking all over again.

Zoro flat out facepalmed, "Always thinking ahead."

"Seriously dude...?" Yukimi sweatdropped.

"One Hatchi Ink Jet served on the rock!" Hatchan then slammed the huge slab of stone down on the immobile boy without mercy. The impact of the stone shook the immediate area, causing dust to rise. But only a second later, the stone slab cracked in the center before breaking in half.

The octo-fishman gaped at the sight of Sanji standing in front of Luffy, leg straight in the air as the now two smaller slabs settled on either side of him, and Luffy. "You're such a pain," the cook stated.

"Sanji, that was totally awesomely awesome!"

"Looks like I picked one helluva idiot for a captain," Sanji grinned.

"We all did," Zoro grumbled.

Yukimi rubbed the back of her neck in exasperation. "Oh boy. What would he think of Luffy?" The kitsune ended up smirking all the same at the thought of someone like Luffy as her captain. Wild adventures and shenanigans surely await them if they make it past this.

"Hey! Luffy's great!" Usopp announced waving his arms.

"But the truth is, that our idiot captain is far better than a gang of crooks who prey on a lady."

"A lady huh? Hmph, you rush into certain death for some lousy girl? I think that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Kuroobi crossed his arms as he mocked Sanji.

"Lousy girl? If you insult Nami one more time, I promise you'll go from fishman to fish sticks. You got that?" Sanji smirked as he jabbed his smoking cigarette at the fishman in front of him.

"Your skills are quite exceptional, for a human. But I must admit, chivalry from a pirate seems just a little fake," replied Kuroobi.

"I'm damn good at what I do. I guarantee there's nothing fake about my desire to help a beautiful lady in need," Sanji ended with a smooth blow of smoke.

The fishman started cracking his knuckles, getting ready. "Looks like I'll be acquainting you with the true superiority in the fishman species."

"Yeah?" Sanji challenged.

"Nice work, but I'm still stuck," Luffy said as Usopp pulled him several feet away from where his feet were still buried.

"Still? They're still stuck?!"

"Yup. You could pull all day, bet my legs will still be stuck in there," Luffy nonchalantly commented as he stuck his pinky in his nose.

Yukimi dug her kunai into the cracked concrete, trying to dislodge her captain. "Are you even trying Luffy? It would go a lot smoother if you would!" Yukimi grumbled as a shadow was cast over her body, making her look up.

"Maybe no one told you that the penalty for playing in Arlong Park," Hatchan started as he picked up one of the smaller but still large, stone slabs from earlier, ready to slam it on Yukimi, and Luffy's legs, "is death!"

"C'mon, please get unstuck! Please get unstuck! Get unstuck! Please, Luffy!" Usopp cried out as he quickly ran off with Luffy's upper body, rubber feet still firmly lodged in the concrete.

"Oh lay off!" The kitsune rebuffed the fishman above her as she turned back to digging and loosening up the stubborn concrete.

"Why you little-!" Hatchan stopped when the end of a white scabbard was held up in his face.

"Hey octopus, they're a little bit busy at the moment. Why don't you take me on?" Zoro challenged the octo-fishman.

"Ohhh, you're Zoro, I forgot. You can't get away with tricking me!" Hatchan smashed the stone slab where Zoro was standing only to miss. "And how dare you mercilessly slaughter so many of my brothers!"

Zoro turned to the angry octopus annoyed, "That stuff is old news octopus man. I personally don't care what reason you have for wanting to kill me. The situation has changed. The tables have turned. You're not the hunters anymore, understand? Now it's you fish freaks that are being hunted!" Zoro unsheathed his sword grinning.

"Yeah, you tell him, Zoro. That octopus guy is yours. Nice," Usopp wiped the sweat from his brow while holding onto Luffy's stretched upper body, then gave a thumbs up. The sniper then realized too late that he accidentally sent Luffy flinging back to where his feet were planted. "Aaahhh! No Luffy! Yukimi look out!"

Yukimi looked up as she dislodged a small chunk from Luffy's ankles to see her ink stained captain flying back at her. "Ah, shit!" The kitsune just barely ducked in time as the rubber boy overshot her, and ended up knocking Chew back.

Swinging back side to side, Luffy obliviously commented he was back to the same spot from earlier.

Chew sat up, and glared at a sobbing Usopp, "Oh you're dead."

"Oh...crap," Usopp whimpered.

"Ah, I get it now. You must actually want me to kill you."

Usopp slowly turned away from the now charging fishman before he sprinted away, through the crowd of villagers. Usopp then turned back and sniped Chew when he stopped to question the local people why they were there. Not even three seconds later, we can find our cowardly sniper high tailing it from the enraged Chew close at his heels.

Done with watching the fiasco in front of him, Arlong got up and walked toward the mixed group of fishman, human, and kitsune pirates. "You morons are a pathetic sight to behold. I'm sick of watching, now get out of my way!"

"But sir, there's no reason to go on a rampage," Kuroobi said as his captain walked closer. "Think of Arlong Park."

"Don't worry I'm not. I just thought up a fun game, that's all," Arlong reassured him.

"A game huh?" Hatchan asked.

"Now you're going down!" Luffy threw a punch but Arlong easily maneuvered out of the way, then grabbed his wrist on the return run.

"Do you honestly think your little group could defeat us?"

"So what if we do?" Sanji replied.

"Yeah! So what if we do, huh? Now let go!"

Yukimi sighed as she stood up, giving up on trying to get Luffy out of the ground. Her method was definitely not working too well anyway.

"Got something to say to us?" Zoro asked as he flicked out his sword.

Along didn't reply. He instead bent down and jammed his hand into the concrete ground. He then pulled up a large chunk of the ground, with Luffy in it, and held him above his head triumphantly. His display of strength shocked everyone.

"Waaahhhh! No way! No way! No way!" Luffy yelled from the fishman's grasp.

"Did you know that those with Devil Fruit powers can't swim? But honestly, anybody in this situation would sink right to the bottom!" Arlong laughed.

"The sea-no!" Zoro quickly realized what Arlong was about to do, and it wasn't good.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy punched Arlong only to have the fishman bite him laughing. "Ouchie!"

"You fool!"

In retaliation Luffy turned and bit Arlong back on the arm gripping his wrist, causing the fishman to release his fist.

"How pointless," Kuroobi commented not at all impressed by the human's behavior.

Having had enough of everything, Arlong threw Luffy far into the pool.

"No Luffy!" Zoro panicked.

"Damn you!" Sanji cursed.

"Shit shit shit!" Yukimi quickly put away her kunai as Arlong began to laugh. She and Sanji then sprinted toward the water to save Luffy, but Zoro quickly got in their way.

"Wait! Don't be stupid! Those fishmen can't wait for us to jump into the water after Luffy! They would have the obvious advantage over us in an underwater fight." Zoro glanced back at the lead fishman as he sat back down at his throne. "There's only one way to save Luffy. We gotta take these guys out at the same time. Then go in the water." Zoro took out his sword ready to fight fast, "There's no time. C'mon, let's do it!"

"Yeah," Sanji agreed as Yukimi shifted on her feet also ready to move.

"So, how long can he hold out without air, huh? Time is ticking," Arlong mocked.

"Oh, so that's the game," Hatchan said.

"I get it."

"You can take the fish," Zoro told the cook next to him.

"You slice, and trim the octopus," Sanji replied to the swordsman.

Yukimi didn't utter a word as she only paid close attention to the group of bubbles in the water, indicating where Luffy was. Arlong's laughter intensified as the bubbles soon stopped coming up.

"They can't even breathe underwater. Humans are such pitiful creatures, aren't they?" Arlong barked out more laughter, seemingly not getting tired of mocking the humans at all.

"Hey! Calamari, let's go!" Zoro challenged Hatchan as he too laughed at the supposed game. Having wasted too much time, Zoro charged. "I'll kick your ass in five seconds flat!"

Sanji quickly ran after him, "We don't have more than three!"

"Hey, what's the rush? You're both running headlong into death. Neither of you will make it out alive!" Kuroobi said as he blocked Sanji's kick.

"Hachi Ink Jet!"

Zoro dodged the stream of black ink as he swung his sword, "Hang on Luffy!"

Meanwhile, as the guys started their battles, Yukimi stayed put. Even though she wanted to kick some ass, someone had to go in after Luffy. But Zoro was right. If she went in the water now, they would notice her, and go in after her. Yeah, she wouldn't fare well in an underwater fight. Even though her kunai would essentially move like a torpedo in the water, it would still be too slow, and the fishmen would easily dodge it while she was open for an attack. No, not a good idea. But...

Yukimi glanced over her shoulder towards where the locals and Zoro's bounty hunter friends were. 'Well, there's an idea. It's worth a shot.' The kitsune jogged back to the crowd, stopping in front of Johnny, and Yosaku. "Hey guys, do me a solid, will ya?"

The two looked at each other confused as to why Yukimi was standing in front of them, and not fighting. "Uh sure," Johnny answered. "What do you need us to do?"

Yukimi took off her bag and handed it to him. "Careful, besides my shuriken, and kunai in there, my paper bombs are there along with my scroll. Wouldn't want them going off?" The kitsune grinned at them as they grimaced, holding the bag further away from themselves.

"But what are you going to do big sis Yukimi? Why are you handing us your stuff? Don't you need them to fight?" Yosaku asked.

"That's just it. I'm not fighting. Not yet at least," Yukimi nodded back toward the water. "Can't have my paper get wet after all. Otherwise, they won't work."

"You can't be serious!" the village doctor exclaimed. "Didn't you hear your swordsman friend earlier?!"

Yukimi faced the doctor with a cocky smirk. "Yup, I sure did. And you know what? I'm gonna go in anyway, behind their backs that is. Luffy needs help right now, and I'm the only one not caught up in a fight yet."

With that said, Yukimi vanished from their view and reappeared behind some bushes next to the wall, close to where the bubbles had stopped coming up. The kitsune glanced over all the fishmen around her, double checking for signs of movement. Spotting none, she got ready to dive. But then something black, and blonde came flying toward her. Yukimi gasped before ducking just in time as Sanji was sent crashing through the wall directly behind her. "Damn those guys," Yukimi gritted her teeth as she looked through the opening seeing the cook many yards away from the wall, flat on his back. She shook her head as she turned back towards Zoro's fight, noticing him breathing heavily. "Zoro you idiot, you're still hurt from Mihawk." The kitsune looked over to Kuroobi, making sure he wasn't looking her way. After triple checking on the enemy, Yukimi quietly crept to the pool's edge before slipping in. The kitsune held onto the side as she looked underwater, quickly spotting Luffy at the bottom. "Alright," Yukimi muttered as she pulled her body back against the wall. She took a deep breath, then launched herself toward Luffy as hard as she could. As the kitsune swam down to rescue Luffy, she heard a splash nearby. Frowning Yukimi glanced around as she paused in her stroke, trying to pinpoint what made the sound. Looking back behind her, red eyes widened at the sight of a fishman fast approaching her. It was that hammerhead fishman from before! And he had what looked like a harpoon gun aimed right at her! Yukimi swam to the side just in time as the harpoon shot past her, nicking her side. The kitsune grimaced but otherwise ignored it as she quickly swam up to get to the surface as fast as possible. Breaking the surface, Yukimi gulped in air just before being yanked back under, causing her to let out a yelp. Yukimi immediately snatched her only remaining kunai from her thigh holster, and jammed it into the fishman's webbed hand, making him let go of her tail. Using that distraction, the kitsune kicked back to the surface. Yukimi coughed as she took in more air, distantly hearing Zoro shout her name, having noticed all the splashing.

"What are you doing in there?!" Zoro shouted as he parried Hatchan. "Get out of the water!"

"Where are you looking, Zoro? I'm right here!" Hatchan made a swipe at the human who barely blocked it.

Yukimi grunted as she hastily climbed onto the water's surface, only to leap to the side as an unwelcomed hand grazed her tails again. Rolling to her feet Yukimi skipped back as the hammerhead fishman came to the surface, looking confused at her standing on top of the water. Yukimi grazed her hand on her side before glancing at it, there was blood. "Tch."

"How are you even doing that, kitsune?"

Yukimi glared at the fishman annoyed but answered him anyway, "Chakra control." Yukimi bent her knees slightly. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to save my blundering idiot captain."

"Too bad you're going to die before you get close to him," the fishman said before he dove back under.

Yukimi frowned deeper as she couldn't see where the fishman went. She raised her kunai up a little in anticipation. Not a moment later a harpoon came flying from right behind her. Yukimi turned on her heel and barely managed to knock it away from her face by an inch. "Shit, I can't stay here!" Yukimi muttered under her breath as the weapon was reeled back into the water. The ninja took a step back then leaped into the air, deflecting the harpoon again when it shot up at her, then grabbed the cord attached to it. Just as it was about to be reeled back in, Yukimi used her kunai to slice through it. After landing back on the water surface, the kitsune dashed back onto land.

"You shouldn't have done that, kitsune," the hammerhead fishman said as he poked his head out of the water, glaring at her on land.

"Oh?" Yukimi spun the harpoon lazily around by the end of its cut cord smirking. "Well, that's too bad for you then." Yukimi then spun the harpoon faster before letting it fly back toward the fishman's face.

"Hmph." The hammerhead fishman caught the harpoon inches from his face without a flinch. He then broke it in half with the same hand.

Yukimi's smirk faltered as the two pieces of metal dropped into the water, sinking. "Hm, what strength you have there. But still, you no longer have a weapon." The kitsune placed her kunai in her hoodie pocket so she could gently squeeze out extra water from her tails, having forgotten how heavy they can be while soaked in water. After making sure her tails were lighter, Yukimi glanced over to Johnny who was still holding her bag. 'I need my stuff now. One kunai alone isn't gonna help me. But maybe...'

The fishman swam over to the wall, and climbed out, making her take a few steps away from him. "What's wrong? Got cold feet now?" the hammerhead fishman asked as he loaded a new harpoon into his gun, then hooked it to his belt loop to let it hang at his hip.

Yukimi narrowed her eyes as she shifted her feet, thinking. She took her kunai back out and twirled it as she quickly took in the surrounding area for a good place to fight, anywhere but in the water. 'That wooded area looks good. But what I wanna know is,' Yukimi glanced back at the hammerhead guy. 'What's he planning?'

"Not very talkative now, huh? Maybe now you understand the superiority in us fishmen than you kitsunes and your human friends? After all, you kitsunes are worse than humans when it comes to swimming! At least humans don't have to worry about having many tails causing a heavy drag underwater," he chuckled as Yukimi flicked her tails to get more water off them.

"Shut up! You're starting to irritate me!" Yukimi shifted her feet again, ready to grab her things from Johnny.

"Oh no! Big sis Yukimi needs her bag now!" Yosaku said as the kitsune inched towards them slowly.

Yukimi bent her knees about to sprint toward the bounty hunter duo when she got distracted by Hatchan's scream. She looked over her shoulder where Zoro had just beaten the octo-fishman.

Zoro panted as his wounds screamed at him to rest. But now was not the time or place for it, though he did sit down at least. "Alright...that's one down... Now it's time to-"

"Aahh!"

Zoro looked up in time to see that hammerhead fishman from earlier, grab Yukimi by her hood, and yank her into the water behind him. "No-!"

"Big bro, look out!" Johnny shouted in warning.

Standing behind Zoro, Kuroobi prepared to throw a punch at the swordsman, "How dare you do that to Hatchi!"

"Back off fishman!" Sanji yelled kicking back Kuroobi from Zoro. "Hey Zoro, where's Yukimi?"

Zoro grimaced at his injuries as he inched toward the edge of the pool, "The fishman she was with grabbed her, and now she's down there!"

"What did you say?!"

Yukimi gagged. The way the fishman grabbed her hood caused the collar to catch at her throat, making it choke her, and lose what air she had. 'This piece of shit!' the kitsune thought angrily. The surface was getting further away, and if she didn't do something quick, she would drown! Yukimi gritted her teeth, 'That's it! I've had fucking enough of this bullshit!'

The fishman stopped swimming down when he realized he no longer felt fabric in his webbed grasp. He looked up to where the kitsune should have been, only to find a white fox surrounded by many bubbles.

The fox glared down at the hammerhead fishman who was many meters below her. Yukimi quickly switched back, and swam for the surface, stroking her arms through the water as hard as she could as she kicked just as much. But Yukimi's lungs burned, as her limbs became heavy. Yukimi stared up to where the sun's rays shown down on her as a slow thought crossed her mind. 'Did I join a pirate crew...only to drown on my first adventure...?'

The hammerhead fishman paused when he swam closer to the floating kitsune, noticing her features were beginning to look bleak. "Did you drown already, kitsune? What a pathetic thing."

Up above them, Sanji jumped in. He briefly spotted Luffy with a man from the village using CPR on the boy, albeit with Luffy's head stretched to the surface elsewhere. Then he saw Yukimi down to his left. Sanji frowned as she twisted about with her hands covering her nose, and mouth as the fishman responsible for dragging her down there, swam circles around the kitsune, taunting her. The cook quickly headed straight for Yukimi, knowing she needed help now. 'Damn that fish bastard. He's just watching her drown!'

The fishman looked up as Sanji descended upon them. "When did you get here? Well, it doesn't matter, she's about dead anyway." He shrugged, "What can I say? If it weren't for their long life span, kitsunes would be below even you humans on the evolutionary ladder."

Sanji glared at the fishman, 'How dare you talk about Yukimi like that!?' Now the cook really wanted to fry up that shark. But now wasn't the time. Sanji instead turned his attention to the slowly sinking ninja. 'Her tails... They're dragging her down!' Sanji moved next to Yukimi, placing his hand on her shoulder, and his other on her cheek, bringing her attention to him.

Yukimi opened her squinted eyes when she felt hands on her. Much to her relief, it was Sanji. He pointed to his lips then to hers a couple of times, relaying he was going to give her air. Yukimi nervously let go of her mouth, afraid more air would escape without the added barrier. But she didn't have to wait long, because Sanji immediately placed his lips onto hers. Red eyes widened as air rushed into her near empty lungs. The effect would've made her gasp for more but would've sucked in water instead right there if it weren't for Sanji keeping his lips locked with hers.

Sanji slowly pulled back, making sure Yukimi kept the air he gave her. The blonde mentally sighed at her more alert and relieved expression. 'Now that you have more air, you've got to get out of here!' Sanji jabbed his finger toward the surface.

The ninja nodded at the cook. Yukimi's eyes narrowed at the shark behind Sanji in anger. 'Oh, he's gonna get it!' she thought before making her way back to the surface.

"So you've revived her huh? Doesn't matter either way. I can easily kill her in water or on land," the fishman gave a toothy grin at the cook.

'This bastard! I won't let him get near her again!' Sanji swam between the retreating kitsune and the approaching hammerhead. He was ready for a fight with the shark when something hard suddenly slammed into the back of his neck, stunning him.

"What are you doing, Hanma? Are you playing with your prey again?" Kuroobi asked crossing his arms as Sanji floated limply in front of him.

"I was about to kill that kitsune when this human came down and revived her. Thought I could taunt her some more before I kill her," Hamna smirked as he took his harpoon gun off his belt loop.

"Fine. Just finish her off before Arlong gets fed up, and destroys Arlong Park in a rampage," Kuroobi said as he looked down at a glaring cook. "Now go, I have to deal with this one."

*^.^*

Zoro stared at the water, worried for everybody. A few minutes ago there was a large number of bubbles that made their way to the surface, but no one came up after it. The sign made the swordsman uneasy as he recalled when Yukimi changed forms, there was always a puff of smoke. A few seconds after the first batch of bubbles, another bunch made its way to the surface. "Did she change forms twice?" Zoro wondered aloud. Of course, that was when Sanji had jumped in, soon followed by that fishman he was fighting. Now he could only wait for someone to come up to find out what happened down there. More bubbles began coming up before Yukimi came bursting through the surface with a loud gasp.

"Yukimi! What happened? Where's the annoying cook?" Zoro asked as the kitsune dragged herself onto the surface unsteadily, and managed to walk over to the concrete patio.

Yukimi coughed many times after falling to her hands, and knees, tails waterlogged and sagging on the ground. When she finally stopped coughing, the kitsune looked over to Zoro panting. "Sanji...he's still down there... I think he's fighting-"

"Think you could get away, kitsune?"

Yukimi stood up as she spotted the fishman who almost drowned her still in the water. "I am so gonna fucking kill you, ya bastard!" Yukimi stomped her foot three times in sheer anger at the shark. "What the fuck is your deal?! Is yanking on people's tails a fetish of yours?! 'Cuz it's fucking PISSING ME OFF!" Yukimi shouted at Hanma, ears flattened against her head.

Zoro glared at the fishman as he laughed.

"Not really, it's just an easy way to drown you," Hanma grinned as he pointed his gun at her.

Yukimi took a step back when she realized she lost her kunai, now weaponless.

"Big sis Yukimi!"

Yukimi looked over to Johnny who was waving her bag above his head, causing her to grin as a plan formed in her head. Yukimi had to duck as the harpoon was shot her way. "Not this time!" Yukimi, albeit slower due to her now heavy tails, vanished before reappearing in front of the bounty hunters, startling them. "Thanks, Johnny, really appreciate you hanging onto these!"

"Sure but, are you okay?"

"Never better," Yukimi half groaned out as she reattached her bag to her hip. Yukimi then hopped onto the wall before quickly making her way up Arlong Park's building, stopping on the second floor balcony. "Oh I am so ready to kick some ass," the ninja grinned sharply as she gently squeezed out most of the water trapped within her fur. After doing so, Yukimi stood up with her hands in her pocket, looking down on Hanma. "So you say it's easy to kill me, yeah? I like to see you make it TRUE!" Yukimi whipped out her hands, now with many shuriken, and threw them at Hanma. The throwing stars arched away on either side of the fishman, distracting him with her seemingly bad aim. But that was dashed as another set of shuriken rammed into the first ones, changing their trajectories where they spun their way right into Hanma's outstretched arm when he aimed at her. Yukimi barked out a laugh at his surprised cry of pain. "At this rate, I'll be the one killing you first!"

Hanma glared at the cheeky ninja as he finally decided to climb out of the water. He yanked off the metal stars embedded in his skin and threw them at the ground in anger. "Why you..."

"Now now, no reason to get upset," Yukimi started from the second floor balcony. She vanished then reappeared on top of the same wall Arlong crashed into earlier, but closer to Hanma. "After all, you're about to understand how wrong you are~," the kitsune chuckled. She now had her hood back up where it almost covered her seemingly glowing red eyes. Yukimi sat back on her heels as she crouched on the edge of the concrete, tapping a kunai against her fang.

"You no longer in the water, doesn't change a thing. You are still inferior to us!" Hanma rounded on her and shot the harpoon at her. The sharp metal drove home as it impaled into Yukimi's chest, a shocked expression fully painted across her face. But that was short lived. As Yukimi's body fell to the ground at Hanma's feet, she poofed into a chunk of wood. "What the?!"

Laughter came from behind him, "You're open~." Before the hammerhead fishman could turn around, Yukimi slashed him across the back with two kunai. She then leaped back onto the wall as Hanma staggered from the double attack.

"Grrr stupid fox! Now you're dead!" Hanma yanked his weapon out of the wood he ended up shooting, reloaded, and aimed at the grinning kitsune.

"But for now, I'm still alive, and kicking your sorry ass!" Yukimi mocked the fishman before backflipping off the wall, and into the wooded area next to Arlong Park, effectively dodging the harpoon again. The kitsune couldn't stop grinning as she disappeared into the greenery as Hanma climbed over the wall, chasing after her.

"You may say that, kitsune, but to me, it looks like you're still running away. Scared yet?" Hanma mocked back.

"Am I really hiding?"

Hanma whirled around when he heard the whisper behind him, harpoon gun at the ready, but the kitsune wasn't there. He looked left, and right, above, and below as the foliage rustled here, and there all around him.

Yukimi crouched on a branch behind a wall of leaves a few feet from Hanma, twirling a tagged kunai. She then flicked it at the fishman's feet, making him jump back a little.

"Hey! Quit screwing around, and fight!" he shouted irritated. Hanma then glanced at the weapon sticking up from the grass but noticed the piece of paper attached to it was burning. "Huh?" he muttered confused. Then Hanma received an explosion powerful enough to throw him against a tree with a smack!

Now on another tree, Yukimi held up a taut steel wire to her teeth and bit it, cutting it off from her coil of wire in her other hand. Dropping the coil back into her bag, Yukimi held up the end of the steel wire, ready to pull it. Hanma staggered from the impact as he picked up his gun he dropped, shaking his head to get his bearings back. The fishman scanned the area for the kitsune but couldn't find her. That is until he noticed a small patch of grass under a branch with freshwater covering its green blades. There hasn't been any rain on the island recently, so it could only mean one thing. Yukimi was about to pull on the wire when Hanma started looking her way. The ninja frowned, now having to quickly tie the end of the wire on the branch so she wouldn't lose it. She turned her back to the fishman and leaped away onto another branch in a different tree. "If you think you've found me, come, and get me~!" Yukimi called out.

"Damn kitsune!" Hanma ran after the retreating kitsune. As the fishman ran past the trees, making many twists, and turns, he got fed up with all the running around, and mocking laughter. Taking aim, Hanma shot his harpoon at a branch, snapping it in half. That particular branch was the one Yukimi had just landed on, making her tumble to the ground with a surprised grunt.

Yukimi rubbed her head slightly as she glared at the hammerhead fishman. The kitsune took out a kunai in each hand, raising them up, sharp points sticking downward. "If you so desired a fight, then I'll give it to you gladly." Yukimi lunged at the fishman, going in for a slash, but had to jump to the side from an oncoming harpoon.

Hanma grabbed the wire still streaming out of his gun, pulled it sideways then yanked it back. This allowed the harpoon to make a side arch, swinging back towards the fast approaching ninja.

Yukimi heard a faint whistling sound coming from her right, making her glance over to see the harpoon, swing into her shoulder. Yukimi gave out a pained grunt as she was flung into a trunk from the force of the harpoon. Yukimi coughed from having her breath knocked out from the unexpected wooden collision. Yukimi grimaced as she yanked out the spiked metal, glaring at the approaching fishman. "Well, would you look at that, you actually drew blood." Yukimi chucked the harpoon back at the fishman.

Hanma easily caught the weapon, and reloaded it back into his gun, smirking, "It's not the first time I made you bleed, kitsune."

"A knick is all that is, sharky," Yukimi smirked back. She stood up using the tree trunk as leverage while putting her kunai away. "But really now, did you really think I was playing a simple game of Tag with you?" Yukimi chuckled before continuing, "I'm a kitsune whose skill set is being a shinobi. There's nothing simple here, unfortunately for you."

Hanma pointed his harpoon gun at Yukimi, "Enough. You will die here, pathetic kitsune." Then the fishman shot the kitsune, only to have a repeat of earlier. Hanma stared at the chunk of wood, confused yet again. "What? Again?!"

"Or, could it be the other way around, perhaps?" Yukimi, sitting on a branch above Hanma, asked with a mocking tone. She held up a taut thin steel wire, with a victorious grin. "Oh! What's this I have here? Could it be your defeat?" Yukimi enjoyed Hanma's glare as she settled back against another branch behind her as she congratulated herself on turning the fishman around, and led him back to their starting point.

"I don't think so, vixen," Hanma growled as he yanked his weapon free of the chunk of wood. All of the glee on Yukimi's face was wiped off by his last remark. Her ears pulled back in displeasure. Miffed, Yukimi yanked on the wire. Hanma yelled as multiple kunai barreled down on him, all of which were tagged. One after another they all burned, and erupted into a large explosion, causing the hammerhead fishman to scream as he was burned alive.

Yukimi rolled her eyes as she hopped down, and walked away as the shark became smoky as the initial fire diminished. "Well that was a killjoy," Yukimi grumbled as she made it back to the wall. She hopped on top of it in time to witness Sanji beat the ever living shit out of Kuroobi. This brought a wide grin back on her face at the display. Yukimi outright laughed. "Wha-what happened here? Oh, what did I miss?! How did that guy piss you off, Sanji?"

Zoro and Sanji looked over to see Yukimi hop down from the concrete wall, pulling down her hood revealing her white hair, all the while laughing. Sanji straightened up as he spotted her bloody shoulder. "Yukimi are you okay? Where's that sick son of a bitch?! I'll fry him up!"

The ninja jogged over to the swordsman, and cook, grinning. "Oh, I wouldn't worry 'bout him. I did just that myself. Though he did get one in on me," Yukimi grumbled as she winced from shrugging. The blue fabric over her right shoulder was ripped, and purple from the fresh blood, not to mention the same at her side where the harpoon nicked her in the water.

"Then all that's left is Arlong," Zoro said glancing over to the lead fishman.

"In the end, they're all just seafood," Sanji started as he slid his shoes back on. "Fish can't fight a cook. I don't know what's he thinking. This game is ours."

Arlong stood up, clenching his fists, "You bastards, you've killed my brothers one after another. I'm afraid I've let you get too carried away!" If looks could kill, then the three before him would be dead.

Zoro stood up slowly as he eyed Arlong warily, "Alright explain, Luffy's half okay? What does that mean?"

"It means, he's alive for the time being. But if we want him fully back on dry land, I've got to go back in the water," Sanji answered. "But something tells me ugly here won't let me."

"How is he still alive?" Yukimi asked.

"There's a guy from the village down there using CPR. Well, pumping his chest while someone else is keeping his head stretched above the water," Sanji replied.

The kitsune nodded in understanding that this must've happened while she was drowning. "That's good to hear. Now all we gotta do, is get rid of fishy, huh?" Yukimi grinned, facing Arlong as he walked over to the pool. Arlong knelt next to the water, scooped up a handful of it, and stood back up with a toothy grin. He held up his hand towards the three, and without a word, the fishman whipped it sideways in an arc towards them. Nothing happened for a moment, but then Yukimi was sent flying about a foot in the air as she fell back. The kitsune landed behind the other two with a pained grunt. She didn't know what happened, but her chest hurt like it was punched squarely by a couple of bullets. Yukimi coughed up some blood as she rolled onto her side, gritting her teeth.

"Yukimi!" Zoro looked back at the ninja confused as she groaned. He turned back to Arlong in time for the same thing to happen to him. He cried out as whatever it was hit his agitated wound. Zoro collapsed as blood spilled from his mouth.

"What the?! What's happening? Arlong you bastard, what did you do!?" Sanji stood in front of his fallen crewmates and swung his leg.

Arlong smirked as he whipped his handful of water again, knocking the cook down. "This is too easy!" Arlong laughed.

"I must've been dreaming. For a moment there, I thought we actually had a chance," the village doctor muttered as the fishman towered over the three wounded pirates.

"Uh, so what did that shark guy just do?" Yosaku asked.

"I don't know. He just looked like he was throwing water around. But...then they all started to bleed!" Johnny replied just as confused and worried.

"I don't even have to touch you. You humans and kitsunes are so fragile, that I can kill you by playing around with a little water," Arlong mocked. "That's the difference between you, and me."

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled kicking at the fishman, only to get knocked back down by Arlong. 'He's not kidding!' Sanji sat there trying to catch his breath from having it knocked out of his lungs. 'That's why the shark is the king of the fishmen! He's on a whole different level!'

"You should just die. Your lives aren't worth it. No one would miss you when you're gone."

"ARLONG!"

Yukimi looked up as the locals started murmuring around a certain navigator. 'Nami...'

"Hey, Nami. I was just teaching a lesson to these puny pirates. What are you doing here?" Arlong asked smugly.

"I'm here to kill you," Nami hissed.

"Me? You want to kill me?" Arlong laughed at the mere notion of being killed by a pathetic human. "How many times have you tried killing me these last eight years? You've tried assassination, poison, sneak attacks. You must be aware you puny humans can't kill me. Now listen Nami, I won't put you in the ground, but you can be. You are to remain here, with us as our surveyor, forever. But as you know, I'm quite good natured. If possible, I'd like you to be our surveyor of your own free will." Arlong chuckled before making his offer to Nami. "I'm giving you a choice. I will have every living being on this island killed, except for you. But that's only if you refuse to come back to the Arlong Pirates, and draw sea charts as one of our own. And if you decide to come back, I'll be kind, and spare Cocoyashi Village. But, I can't let these ingrates live," Arlong paused, knocking Sanji, who was kneeling in pain on his hands, and knees, over. "They must be made an example of. So there's only one question. Will you come back, and save Cocoyashi Village? Or be foolish, and fight alongside them? With them, it's hopeless. With them, you will die. So Nami," Arlong grinned at the orangette. "Will you stand by my side, or not? The decision is yours."

The mob of tense villagers erupted into outrage at the fishman's ultimatum. But Nami didn't hear a word as she mentally struggled over her horrible choices. If she were to stay with Arlong, her people would be spared. But if she decided to fight with them, the whole island would be massacred, and only she would be spared. But either way, her new friends would not be spared, and she would remain with Arlong forever. Nami gripped the straw hat on her head as she recalled how Luffy placed his precious treasure on her as he declared war on the fishman responsible for her suffering. 'No! I have to believe in him!' Nami faced the angry mob of her village with a determined grin, "Alright everyone! We'll fight to the death! Got it?"

"Well then, it looks like they made up their minds," Arlong glared at the villagers' uproar.

Yukimi grinned before laughing, still on the ground. "Nami, I like your style!"

Arlong glanced toward the entrance of Arlong Park when water suddenly flew into the air as if it all came from a fountain, even though there wasn't supposed to be one there.

Sanji looked up with a tired grin, "Alright, now just gotta remove his leg weight."

"I see," Zoro hissed as he rolled over to get up. "That's what you meant."

"No way!" Yosaku cried out.

"Luffy's alive!" Johnny grinned.

Yukimi got on one knee, gripping her shoulder with a grimace. "Just gotta delay this fishy, eh?"

"Thirty seconds... That's all I got," Zoro panted, placing his sword between his teeth.

"That'll be enough!" Sanji replied taking a dive back into the water.

Yukimi stood up with a kunai in each hand. "Look at me, I'm quaking in my boots at the idea of fighting this guy," she said with an undertone of sarcasm.

Arlong stepped closer to the edge of the water, "Could it be that rubber boy?" Arlong stopped in his tracks when Zoro suddenly slashed his cheek.

"Just stay back, you're not getting anywhere near him!"

"Ah Zoro, I thought I told you to never say that again. Now prepare to die!" Arlong licked his bleeding cheek.

"Now don't go forgetting 'bout little ol' me, Arlong," Yukimi held up her kunai facing downward. "Zoro's not the only one you'll be fighting." The kitsune stood beside the swordsman, ready for the next fight.

"Hmph, in the sea, one with Devil Fruit powers is supposed to lose even the energy to struggle. Not to mention their powers. He will die. And if he's still alive well, that wouldn't be fair," Arlong proclaimed.

"Fair? Oh please Arlong, since when was tossing Luffy in the water fair?" Yukimi questioned the fishman.

"This game hasn't been fair from the moment it started!" Zoro added.

"Well anyway, if there's a hindrance, I should be aware of it, correct?" Arlong suggested.

Zoro adjusted his grip on his borrowed swords about to retort when an egg came flying out of nowhere.

"Egg Star!"

Arlong held up his hand where the egg collided with him, splattering egg yolk everywhere.

"I've got your back guys!"

"Big bro Usopp! He's alive!" Yosaku said looking around for the long nosed sniper.

"How brave, and he got here just in time," Johnny said relieved.

Over by the hole where Sanji crashed through earlier, stood Usopp holding up his slingshot grinning. "Go on! Give it to him!"

"That's where you are?!" the locals questioned.

"He's alright!" Nami grinned happily to see her friend alive and kicking.

"Hey, Nami! Guess what?! I defeated a fishman!" Usopp announced jabbing his thumb towards his bloody appearance happily. "Can you believe it? I wiped the smug look right off his stupid face!" The sniper pulled his lips out making a choo choo sound before letting his lips go with a laugh. "Fishmen are so easy!"

Arlong lowered his hand as his eyes widened at the human's words. "No, you...beat Chew?!"

"Thaaat's right! And now that I'm back it's time we finish this once and for all! This is the end, Arlong!" Usopp declared.

Yukimi grinned at the sniper, "Nicely done, Usopp." The kitsune turned her attention back on Arlong as the bounty hunter duo cheered for Zoro, and her to take down Arlong. "Ready to beat the living shit out of this walking fish stick, Zoro?"

"Yeah," he answered shifting his stance.

"You seem to keep standing in my way, I take it you want to die first then?" Arlong asked as he completely ignored Usopp aiming a rubber band in his direction. "I can take care of that."

"How 'bout I take care of you first, sharky!" Yukimi took a fast step toward Arlong, and vanished, making his eyes narrow from her disappearance. The ninja then reappeared above the fishman, spinning forward as her two kunai came flying at him, and sunk into his left shoulder. Arlong let out a shout from the unexpected attack in anger. He looked up in time for the kitsune to land on the two embedded kunai, aiming to make them sink deeper with her weight. But it didn't work. "What?!" Yukimi didn't have the chance to figure out why the kunai weren't sinking deeper into his flesh by her weight, for her leg was grabbed. Then the whole world turned upside down in front of her eyes as the ninja was thrown almost face first into the concrete ground. Yukimi grunted from the impact before letting out a cry of agony as Arlong stomped, and ground his foot down on her back. An audible snap was heard through the park.

"Dammit, you bastard! Get off her!" Zoro swung his sword making contact with the fishman's nose, but shockingly it didn't cut.

"Foolish human, my nose is unbreakable. And that goes for all the bones in my body! Now if you were at full strength, then you may have given it a little scratch," Arlong mocked as he pushed Zoro back as the human had to use both swords in his hands to slow him down.

Yukimi gasped, then immediately entered into a painful coughing fit after Arlong stepped off her back. The kitsune gritted her teeth as she managed to roll onto her back to relieve pressure off her now broken ribs. Yukimi gently rested her hand over her chest as a soft green glow emitted from it. She let a slight sigh slip through bloody lips from the fact that neither of her lungs was pierced by her ribs.

There was a commotion nearby about a fishman getting back up, but Yukimi couldn't really hear through the pounding blood running in her ears. Resting her hand beside her, Yukimi looked over to see Hatchan up. But he was waving his six arms about as he yelled about something to do with a rubber band. Red eyes widened as the octo-fishman then jumped into the water, going after Sanji. 'Shit not good!'

"AAAGGGGGHHHH!"

Yukimi looked back toward Zoro, only to find Arlong had stabbed his very agitated wound with his sharp nose. "Arlong you low life sick son of a bitch!" Yukimi shouted through her teeth as Zoro collapsed at Arlong's feet.

Arlong turned to Yukimi, "Still defiant, huh?" The fishman walked over to the kitsune.

Yukimi tried to sit up to get away, not wanting more ribs broken, but Arlong quickly grabbed her throat and hoisted her up. The kitsune grunted as she was pulled closer. "Damn you," she hissed, ears pulled back.

"Hmph, to be honest, I'm rather disappointed in the kitsune race. Pathetic. To be as weak as human trash," Arlong said looking her over. Yukimi weakly struggled in his grasp, not able to do a thing as the fishman pulled out the kunai from his shoulder, and tossed them away with a clatter. "You're not even worth my time anymore," Arlong dismissed tossing her aside.

Yukimi couldn't help the pained cry escaping from her as she landed roughly on the concrete ground. She groaned from having been handled carelessly by Arlong with broken ribs. Yukimi looked over to Zoro who was shaking on the ground. 'That wound of his...'

Zoro looked up to see Arlong had returned to him. He gritted his teeth harshly as Arlong grabbed his throat and lifted him.

"So, that's it huh? Way too easy. Hm? What's with all these bandages? Did you have a good fall?" Arlong wondered aloud before ripping the bloody things away, causing Zoro to cry out from having his stitches practically screwed up. Blood splattered everywhere. Zoro's blood quickly pooled at his feet from the mass amount that was set loose. Arlong's eyes widened at the sight before him. He couldn't believe the human had such a horrific scar, a fresh one at that, to be stitched up, and bleed so easily. He couldn't understand how Zoro was even alive after receiving this attack, whatever it was.

"Shit... That damn attack...Mihawk," Yukimi muttered under her breath as Arlong tossed away the bloody torn up bandages. "Zoro should have never gotten into this fight wounded like that. But..." The kitsune understood why he fought. Why everyone fought the Arlong Pirates. It was for Nami.

Zoro smiled through his pain with a slight breathless chuckle, "If a person stays still, their wounds won't open up!"

"Is that right? You find your current situation amusing?"

"I'm not talking about myself," Zoro answered the fishman, making him frown. "I'm talking about the octo-man."

"What?"

"I thought I told you, we'll win this game!" And not a moment after Zoro's words, a patch of bloody red water rose to the surface behind him, signaling Hatchan's wounds had reopened under the water.

Suddenly Luffy shot through the air with a scream that soon turned to laughter. "I'm back!" The whole crowd of villagers behind Nami cheered at the sight of the rubber boy spinning through the air laughing, and no longer trapped under the water.

"He's out, finally," Yukimi smirked up at the boy. "Now he better finish this up quick!"

"That rubber bastard," Arlong grounded out under his breath.

Zoro looked up at his captain tiredly, "You're...a bit...late..."

Luffy looked down at his first mate in Arlong's grasp. He then stretched his arms out to the swordsman with a grin, grabbing hold of the back of his shirt, "Zoro!"

Zoro...oh poor Zoro. He had that 'oh crap' look written all over his face. "No...wait...! Hold on...! What are you-!" The swordsman couldn't even finish his protest as Luffy flung him from Arlong's grasp into the air.

"Let's switch!"

Yukimi dropped a hand over her face as the villagers outright called Luffy an idiot. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" But under her hand, an amused smirk played across the kitsune's lips. Yukimi didn't look up as Luffy came down on Arlong hard with multiple attacks at rapid speed, not letting up a second until the fishman crashed into his own building.

Luffy pumped his fists with a triumphant grin, "Yes!"

Boulders of rubble fell away as Arlong sat up glaring at the human pirate, "Is that all you got?"

"Nope," Luffy replied, his grin gone as he cracked his knuckles. "That was just a warm up."

"Well, while Luffy beats the crap out of that damn shark, I best get up, and out of the way," Yukimi grunted as she slowly rolled onto her hands, and knees. Her breath hitched from the painful movements accompanied by her broken ribs. She wrapped an arm around her torso to make a barrier should anything happen while moving. Furry ears pulled back at a sudden commotion behind her. She looked back to see Arlong trying to chomp on Luffy, missing by a hair again, and again. Then he cornered the rubber boy against a stone pillar, only to miss again by Luffy yanking his own head to the side. "Oh crap!" Yukimi hissed as she finally stood up on her feet. Then to everyone's shock, Arlong bit through the stone easily. "That's my cue to get the fuck away!" Yukimi yelped at the sight as Luffy scrambled away from the enraged shark. No longer wanting to stick around anymore to get caught up in Luffy's fight, Yukimi held her breath and walked as fast as she could through the pain. The kitsune headed toward the end of Arlong Park, where Sanji, Genzo, and Nojiko were sitting, dripping wet.

Sanji quickly got up and hurried to her side. "Yukimi are you okay?!" He steadied the kitsune as she winced. The blonde guided her back to the others.

"Just...some broken ribs... 'm fine Sanji," Yukimi grumbled. She looked up to see Nojiko and Genzo looking at her in concern. She also noticed they were soaked. "So you guys were the ones keeping Luffy alive?"

"Yes but, how can you be okay? You look dreadful," Genzo replied as Sanji helped her down.

Sanji sat next to Yukimi, "What happened Yukimi? You didn't look like you had broken ribs when I jumped in. Did Arlong do this to you?"

"Yeah," the kitsune sighed as her hand began glowing green over her chest.

"What are you doing?" Nojiko asked looking at the green glow curiously.

"I'm no doctor, so I'll be needing to see one after this whole shebang is over, and done with. But, I have medical ninjutsu on my side. I can only do first aid, and well, I've improved over the years to the point that I can at least heal injuries faster. Just not...all the way," Yukimi grimaced as she felt her ribs stabilize enough to start healing on their own. "I'm gonna have to take it easy for the next few days to a week for this."

"That's amazing," Genzo said as her hand stopped glowing green.

"Huh? No way! Luffy's a swordsman?" Sanji's comment caused everyone to look back at the fight to see Luffy swinging two swords at Arlong. But all too soon Arlong knocked one spinning into the air while he caught the other blade between his teeth before shattering it. Luffy then spun around, and delivered a punch to Arlong, breaking his teeth.

"That's right! I don't know how to use a sword! I'm a terrible sailor. I definitely can't cook. I can't walk on water. And I can't even lie. But without my friends to help me, I would be dead a long time ago!" Luffy announced in total honesty.

Arlong chuckled, hand covering his mouth. "So you fully admit how pathetic you are." The fishman sat up. "You may be a fool, but you certainly are honest. How does your crew feel? Tolerating this idiocy day in, day out. I bet they're sick of it! But that makes me wonder, why they try so desperately to save a half-wit leader. Someone like you doesn't deserve a ship or a crew. What good is a helpless rubber brain captain to them? What can you possibly do?" Arlong inquired as he stood up.

"I can kick your ass!" Luffy stated grinning away.

"Well get to it, you numbskull," Sanji said tiredly.

"The sooner the better, I always say," Yukimi muttered, wanting everything to end so she could rest.

"I got your back, Luffy!" Usopp declared.

The villagers all began to cheer Luffy on as Arlong got angrier. "Cheer all you want, but it won't change a thing!" the fishman shouted as his broken teeth fell out, new teeth replacing the damaged ones.

"Woah! He's got new teeth!" Luffy shouted in surprise.

"I'm a shark, what did you expect? New teeth grow in all the time, one after another. And with a new set, they get stronger and stronger. Endlessly." Arlong then proceeded to repeatedly tear out his teeth, strengthening each set anew.

"That's just gross," Yukimi mumbled as Arlong began attacking Luffy with basically three sets of teeth. Shaking her head, the kitsune stood up.

"Yukimi, what are you doing? You should be resting!"

The kitsune waved Sanji's concern away. "Don't worry, Sanji. I'm not gonna fight. I believe Zoro landed over at the wall next to the ocean gate entrance, right?"

"Hm, yeah I think so," the cook answered, though he still wanted to keep an eye on her.

Yukimi glanced back at Luffy's fight, seeing him constantly dodge Arlong's advances. "Then I'll be with him, he needs some help on that injury of his," Yukimi said looking back at Sanji before slowly walking away. As the kitsune passed the wall the others were leaning against, Yukimi spotted the injured swordsman lying against a brick wall, watching the fight ensue. Furry ears twitched back, and forth at the sounds of battle, making Yukimi want to turn back and watch, but she kept walking. Not having to worry about another fishman attack from the pool, Yukimi walked on the liquid surface without pause until she stood in front of Zoro. "Well, don't you look defeated," the kitsune grinned at the swordsman in humor.

"What do you want? Why are you here, Yukimi?" Zoro asked shifting in his half lying down position, dragging out a hiss in the process.

"Here to heal your ass, what else?" Yukimi slowly sat down next to him with a pained grimace. Having jump started her ribs' healing process made moving a bit easier, but it still hurt like a bitch.

"What about you? I'm pretty sure I heard something snap earlier," Zoro said as he observed the kitsune's grimace as she leaned over him.

"...Arlong snapped three ribs, but I already started the healing process, so I should be fine. Though I'll need to rest after this is all over, as should you, Zoro." Yukimi rummaged through her bag before pulling her scroll out.

"I'm fine. I just need to sleep it off," Zoro protested as the kitsune summoned her first aid.

"So you're saying you're drunk?" Yukimi asked as she opened up her first aid kit. "As if I'm gonna let you 'sleep it off'. You've lost a lot of blood, Zoro." He hissed as she started cleaning his injury. "I doubt it's a good idea to go to sleep right now anyhow. You never know when you gotta move quick. Like, oh I dunno, Luffy sends Arlong in this very direction? And lands on your lap? Or worse, your chest?" Yukimi deadpanned, giving Zoro an annoyed look before she started bandaging his chest again.

Zoro grimaced from the painful mental images she gave him. "...Fine."

Ears twitched again at Luffy's scream, making Yukimi glance back in time to witness Luffy bite Arlong's neck with borrowed shark teeth. "Nasty," she muttered.

Arlong had enough with Luffy's shenanigans and bit his elbow, ready to bite the boy's arm clean off. Luffy screamed as blood dripped from the new shark bite. Luffy bent forward and slammed Arlong down, making the fishman release him, so he could tumble away from the immediate danger. Luffy panted as he tugged the set of teeth out of his side. Once free from them, the rubber boy tossed them aside. He looked around, not seeing his opponent anywhere. "Huh? Hey, did he leave?"

"Luffy! The sea!" Nami yelled making him look back to the pool behind him.

"Huh? Oh cool! A shark!" Luffy grinned excitedly.

"No Luffy! That's Arlong!" Usopp warned as said fishman disappeared below the surface.

"Well shit, that ain't good," Yukimi frowned.

The surface of the water rippled here, and there but remained still overall. Then a shadow appeared in front of Luffy before the water exploded, Arlong shooting out at Luffy like a torpedo. Arlong crashed into the third floor of his building as Luffy managed to dodge him at the last second. "Wow. I'm impressed you could dodge that," Arlong complimented with a sneer. "Good job. But the longer you evade your death, the more painful it will be." The fishman stepped forward, then launched himself again at the rubber boy, only for Luffy to roll away in time. At the end of his attack, Arlong was practically standing on the tip of his sharp nose, arms, and legs flat, and pointed for less air resistance. He really looked like a shark themed torpedo! The concrete around the end of his nose cracked before giving way to the pressure, and weight of the fishman, crumbling back to the water below, taking Arlong along for the ride.

"Oh man, I hope that shark stays away from us!" Yukimi eyed the water warily as she shifted closer to Zoro. Fang nibbling on her lower lip, the kitsune tried focusing back on healing the swordsman in front of her.

"...I think it's safe to say we're the least of Arlong's problems right now," Zoro admitted as his wound slowly began to hurt less, at least for the moment. Though the stubborn swordsman still believed he didn't need Yukimi's help, and only needed sleep. But on the other hand, he didn't feel like he was dying anymore, which was nice.

"Hey Luffy, hide! Arlong's in the sea again!" Usopp cried out in warning.

"Hurry up big bro! You gotta hide from him!" Yosaku yelled.

"He's setting his sights on you!" Johnny added in.

"I won't hide!" Luffy announced getting irritated by Arlong's constant hiding.

"Don't be stupid! Go run for cover before you become a target!" Sanji shouted at Luffy for being an idiot.

"No way! I'm gonna catch him, and break his nose!" Luffy stated glaring down at where he last saw Arlong disappear in the water. "C'mon! You stupid shark!"

Yukimi glanced back at the water as Usopp tried warning their captain to run away, and hide again. "He's not gonna listen, is he?"

"Nope," Zoro grumbled.

"Hm?" Yukimi tilted her head slightly as Luffy stretched out his fingers. 'Some new attack?'

Arlong launched himself out of the water again but this time, Luffy was ready for him. The stretched out fingers snagged the fishman's face, stopping him from ramming Luffy, and instead got thrown into the side of the building behind them. Luffy grinned as he landed on the face of the building, "It's over! That attack won't work on me again!" Apparently not listening to the human boy, Arlong launched himself once more through the building itself, and still only managed to knock Luffy off it. "You bastard! That was pure luck!" Luffy accused the fishman as he fell through the air. Again Arlong threw himself at the boy like a living torpedo. Tired of constantly dodging, Luffy knotted his fingers together behind his head, then threw them forward, turning them into a large net. "Fiiiishing fishiiiing~!" Luffy sang like a little kid as he caught the shark fishman, spun him around, and delivered a kick to his gut! "Now Gum Gum Spear!"

Arlong yelled out as he was kicked into the concrete ground, creating a shallow crater in the shape of himself under him. Wide angry bloodshot eyes suddenly opened and glared hatefully at Luffy.

"Do you see that intensity in those eyes?!" Genzo stated fearfully.

"Oh no! It's the same expression sea kings make when they snap! That last attack must've made Arlong finally snap!" Sanji observed worried.

"Oh shit! That guy's so pissed!" Yukimi nervously chuckled.

"Gggggrrraaagghhhh! You wretched human!" Arlong shouted, snatching Luffy out of the air, and whipped him around in circles above his head. "What have you done to me?! A mighty fishman!" Finally, Arlong threw Luffy into the rubble at the base of the towering building.

Luffy sat up as pieces of pillars rolled off him, "Woah. That really didn't hurt but, I can tell he's really...mad." Luffy quickly jumped up when Arlong lunged at him again, just able to grab ahold of a rail on the next floor up. Arlong thrust his arm inside the wall and then yanked out a large jagged yet sharp looking sword that was longer than his own height!

"What kind of sword is that?!" Yukimi exclaimed. "It looks like some kind of saw, but enormous!"

Arlong bent back and leaped into the air high enough to slightly overshoot the second floor where Luffy was. He swung his large sword over his head, and down on Luffy, just missing him. This process repeated until Luffy jumped into a window on the top floor to avoid the deadly sword, Arlong chasing after him.

"He jumped in the building!" Sanji said as the dust settled around Arlong Park.

Things started to get quiet. Nobody could see or hear anything going on in the towering building the two very different pirates entered in. It was as if the fight suddenly stopped for some reason. Then out of nowhere, a wooden table came flying through the side of the building, confusing everyone, but Nami. Now a whole bunch of shelves, books, and more desks came flying out of the same room Luffy, and Arlong were in, raining down on the rubble below.

"What the hell?" Yukimi muttered as stacks of paper quickly followed suit. "What's going on? Huh?"

At the top of the building where the shark head statue and Arlong Pirate flag was, a long foot smashed its way up. It staggered as if the body connected to it was hit by something, then quickly came back down into the room below. Multiple crashes resounded as each floor broke, and cracked on the outer walls as dust, and debris came barreling through the windows on the bottom floor, shocking everyone. Above the shark head statue, and flag broke from the roof, and came tumbling down, smashing its way to the ground.

"Oh no! It looks like Arlong Park is coming down!" exclaimed the village doctor as the whole area vibrated as the building collapsed on itself.

Everyone scrambled to get away from the crumbling building as quickly as possible. Nami had to be dragged away while Sanji, Genzo, and Nojiko dove back into the water, and swam to a safer distance. Zoro, and Yukimi on the other hand, stayed where they were since they were far enough to not be in direct contact with any debris. Well, that was until the vibrations dislodged a chunk of brick above Zoro, and dropped itself on him. The swordsman cried out in pain as the chunk rolled off him when he sat up.

Yukimi sweatdropped at his scratched up face from the unexpected hit. "You okay?"

"Oh shut up! I was just starting to sleep!" Zoro complained, ignoring the kitsune's disapproving frown.

The two looked up as everyone made a commotion, seeing Luffy standing on top of the rubble, bloody, and panting. He took a deep breath before calling out to Nami. "Nami! You'll always be my friend!"

The surrounding crewmates of Luffy's gave different variations of smirks, and grins, however bloody as Nami teared up in happiness.

Yukimi chuckled at everyone's joyous reactions to the Fishman Empire's downfall. "Alright Zoro, let's get back to the others." The kitsune stashed her remaining first aid supplies back in her scroll, then dropped it back in her bag. She stood up as Zoro rubbed his forehead as he too got to his feet. By the time the two walked back to the cheering crowd, they spotted a group of marines blocking their path, though they were facing toward the villagers.

"Okay, hold it right there!" a sleazy looking marine announced his presence. "What a lucky day this is. Very nice, I saw the entire fight, and I must say good work! I can only assume your victory here was only a fluke. I never thought the fishman would lose to riffraff like you, and your crew. However, now that Arlong is out of the picture, I'll be taking all the money I was supposed to give to him, and in addition all of the treasure in Arlong Park! Now drop your weapons! I, Captain Nezumi, of the Marine's 16th Battalion, will be taking over from here, and gets all the credit!" Nezumi declared arrogantly before letting out a panicked shrill when Zoro grabbed his collar from behind.

"I see you trying to rain on these good people's parade. Now that's just plain rude."

While Zoro started beating the crap out of the marine captain, Yukimi stood between the other lower ranked marines, and villagers, kunai in each hand. The kitsune looked livid. Images of civilians getting shot down by bullets or roasted alive by streams of fire dragged themselves to the forefront of her mind, practically making her mental state go blank. "So, you marines think you can point those loaded guns at innocent civilians, huh?" Yukimi hissed at the men. The kitsune's fur bristled further as the men pointed their guns at her when she took a step forward. "Aren't marines supposed to protect civilians? Where were you while these shitty good for nothing fishmen terrorized them?!" Yukimi shouted as she lunged into the group, deflecting any bullets that actually went off. Luckily for the marines, the kitsune had angled her kunai down so that when they made contact with a body part, the marines were painfully jabbed by the rounded end of the sharp weapon.

After wrecking the lower ranked marines, Yukimi straightened up, glancing over to Zoro as he dropped the sleazy captain on the pile of black, and blue marines she had made. The kitsune relaxed a little as she put away her kunai before running her hand over her now paler face. "Dammit, I think I had a fucking flashback..." Yukimi groaned under her breath as Nami stepped beside her.

"If you want, we can have another girl's night," Nami smiled softly, making Yukimi smile, albeit tense, back in turn. After making sure Yukimi was alright, Nami walked over to the still conscious marine captain. She knelt down beside him with her staff in one hand, the other resting on his cheek. "This is for shooting Nojiko, and for mercilessly destroying Bellemare's tangerine orchid."

"H-huh...?"

Nami then whacked Nezumi with her staff, sending him clear across Arlong Park, and landing him in the water.

"Captain!"

"Thanks, Nami," Nojiko winked smiling. "That felt good!"

"A thousand more, and we'll call it even!" Genzo shouted.

Nezumi swam back to the edge of the pool, gasping as he clung to the concrete, in time for Nami to grab his mouse like whiskers. "What you're gonna do is clean up after those fishmen, then rebuild the town Gosa, and you won't lay a finger on any of the money or valuables in Arlong Park. That's the island's money now, got it?" Nami demanded as she pulled on the man's whiskers.

"Right...yeah...I'll do anything you say...!"

"And there's one more thing. Gimme my money back, jerk!" Nami yelled into Nezumi's face.

"I promise! I promise! I'll give every beri back!"

Yukimi crossed her arms as all the marines gathered around their pathetic captain after Nami walked away. All she wanted to do at that moment was beat the living shit out of them again, including the captain this time, for being corrupted marines. 'No good scum, the lot of them!' Yukimi turned away from her friends, gripping her chest from a sudden spike of pain. 'Right...broken ribs. Better not go after those bastards.' The kitsune turned back to the others before they could notice the pain flickering across her face.

As the marines quickly swam out of Arlong Park, Nezumi shouted back furious, "I'll get you, pirates! Luffy is your captain, right? Well, mark my freaking words rubber man! Major things are gonna happen! You'll regret making me angry! I swear you'll regret this! I'll get my revenge, just wait, and see!"

"'Major things are gonna happen?'" Sanji speculated as the marines swam off.

"Yeah, how does he know I'm gonna be the Pirate King?" Luffy asked.

"That's not what he means at all!" Zoro turned to his clueless captain annoyed by his obliviousness. "Are you really that dumb?"

"Hold on! What next? Are we in super big trouble or what? Hey! Hey! What'll we do?!"

"Well whatever the case, it might be interesting," the kitsune shrugged beside Usopp. Meanwhile, the villagers cheered as they ran off to the other towns on the island to announce the defeat of the Arlong Pirates. Fox ears rotated back toward the fading cheers as lips spread themselves wide into a grin. Yukimi was pleased to hear the locales in happy spirits.

"Hey Zoro, what's that on your chest?" Luffy asked pointing to his first mate's bandaged chest.

"Huh?" Zoro looked down, but from doing so he felt his wound stretch, causing him to gasp from the pain. "Quit it, you jerk!" Zoro grunted at Luffy's playful laughter.

Yukimi chuckled as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "You, and me, are going to get checked over properly at the first chance. And no if's, and's or but's 'bout it!"

"Hell no! All I need is sleep!"

"And all I need is to grab your ear like a kit, and drag you to a doctor!" Yukimi grinned back at him as the others erupted into more laughter at the image of Zoro being dragged by his ear back to Cocoyashi Village.

*^.^*

Three days of nonstop partying consumed the entire island, its residents as happy as can be. Throughout the towns, the streets were littered with people drinking, feasting, singing, dancing, and overall having a blast! No one had to worry about the fishmen ever again, as they now had their whole lives ahead of them to toast to.

Yukimi walked through the crowded but very lively street enjoying her dessert. She hummed happily as she licked her blue and pink cotton candy ice cream cone. The kitsune glanced over to a nearby little area between two houses, spotting Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy. A brow raised at the sight of so much meat in the rubber boy's hands, and mouth. Yukimi shook her head grinning as Luffy spouted off something about raw ham melons before sprinting off, not letting Sanji finish his sentence. Her laughter turned the remaining two boys' attention in her direction.

"Hey," Zoro greeted nonchalantly.

"Hello, my beautiful Snowflake~!"

Yukimi was taken aback by the new nickname. 'Snowflake? Well, it's better than foxy,' Yukimi mused as she leaned against the house Zoro was sitting on. "So how's it going? Drinking good?" Yukimi directed the second question toward Zoro.

"Sure is," the swordsman grinned. "But what kind of ice cream is that?" Zoro raised a brow at the blue and pink ice cream treat.

"This?" Yukimi raised her ice cream cone a little, "Oh I got this over on the other side of town. They had all sorts of different flavors of ice cream there! They even had my fave, cotton candy ice cream!" the kitsune happily said as she licked more of her ice cream. "Wanna try, Zoro?"

"Uh no thanks, that doesn't really sound good."

"You won't know 'till you've tried!" Yukimi took a bite of her blue and pink ice cream, bent down, and kissed Zoro, taking him by surprise.

The swordsman jumped in his seat from the sudden kiss, then grimaced as the kitsune pushed a bit of the overly sweet tasting ice cream into his mouth. Zoro shoved Yukimi away so he could spit out the ice cream, all the while the kitsune laughed as Sanji quickly became pissed at him.

"How come you get to have a kiss?!" Sanji yelled.

"That was way too sweet! How can you eat that stuff?" Zoro glared at the grinning kitsune as he wiped his mouth to get rid of the frozen treat's flavor.

"Easy, I practically have two sweet teeth," Yukimi replied licking her cold treat. She turned toward the cook, "Sanji, did you want a taste?"

"Well I've never tasted cotton candy ice cream before, why not?" Sanji grinned as Yukimi walked over to him.

Yukimi knelt down next to him, took a bite of her ice cream, then kissed the cook. Hearing the blonde hum from the sweet flavor, Yukimi started to pull back when she met a hand on the back of her neck. Smirking a little, she leaned further into the kiss, almost dropping her frosty dessert on him, but letting her tongue roll with the cook's. Soon running out of breath, Yukimi broke the kiss, panting a little.

"Wow," Sanji breathed grinning at the slightly blushing albino.

Yukimi chuckled a little as she glanced at her pink and blue dessert then back to him. "Yeah... Thanks again for saving me back there," she said as her ears folded back slightly.

"It was nothing, I would never let anything happen to you," Sanji promised as any gentleman should.

Yukimi glanced back at Zoro noticing how he looked annoyed at them. "What, want another, Zoro?" She gave him a sly look, making him 'hmph', taking another sip of his booze. Yukimi chuckled, "Well you're easy to mess with. But anyway," she stood up looking around the town partying around them. "I need to go on. I still gotta gather some info before we leave tomorrow."

"Information?" Sanji asked as Zoro looked back at the kitsune.

"If I get it, then you'll see it tomorrow morning." Yukimi winked while putting her index finger over her smirking lips, whispering, "It's a secret." The kitsune then left the two wondering what she was looking for. Yukimi walked through the crowd as she finished her ice cream, soon spotting Nojiko sitting next to a boy, pulling his cheek. "Hey Nojiko, what're you up to?"

Nami's sister looked up letting the boy go with a grin, "Hey Yukimi. Oh nothing much, just messing with this brat."

"Hey, I'm not a brat, you punk!"

Yukimi chuckled at the kid's retort. "So I've been meaning to ask, where did you get your tattoo?"

"My tattoo?" Nojiko glanced at her blue markings, then back at the kitsune.

"Yeah, I've been thinking of getting one for a long while now," Yukimi shrugged.

"Well, I got mine from Doc."

"Huh, didn't realize he does tattoos. Where can I find him?" Yukimi asked as her eyes softened at the sight of the boy glaring at Nojiko. He reminded Yukimi of Law when he was younger. Their glares were similar. And the fact this kid was glaring at Nojiko for calling him a brat, was almost like a mirror image reflecting her, and Law when she first called him a twerp. The memory almost made Yukimi both laugh, and cry from how much she missed her twerp. Over the past years, she realized how much she really cared for him. Yukimi hoped he was doing alright and was safe.

"I believe he's in his clinic. Nami wanted to get her Arlong tattoo removed," Nojiko explained catching the kitsune's attention back to the present.

"Well, that sounds great!" Yukimi nodded at the idea of removing that horrible symbol. "Well, thanks for letting me know."

Nojiko reached out before the kitsune could turn to leave, "So what are you gonna get, and where?"

Yukimi pulled out a folded piece of paper from her hoodie pocket and handed it to her. The kitsune turned around, looked over her right shoulder, and jabbed her thumb to the spot just to the right at the base of her neck. "Right here," she gave a toothy grin.

Nojiko opened the folded paper to see the design drawn on there. "This looks really cool, Yukimi!"

The boy sitting next to her stopped eating his corn on the cob and leaned over. "What's that?"

"None of your bee's wax!" Nojiko taunted pushing the boy away, making him squawk, and in turn, making Yukimi snicker from his resemblance to young Law. "Here you go. It'll look great, I just know it!"

"Thanks again, Nojiko," Yukimi said taking back the paper and folding it back up. Placing it back in her hoodie pocket, the kitsune walked to the small clinic where she, and the others were treated just a few days prior. Soon finding herself in the same hallway she walked out days ago, Yukimi spotted a door cracked open with the light on. It was the same room where she, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku had recovered in. She knocked on the door, hearing a conversation being carried out.

"Come in."

Yukimi opened the door and closed it behind her. "'Sup doc, sorry to interrupt, but I heard you do tattoos."

"Hey Yukimi!" Nami piped up from the bed she was laying on in front of the doctor.

"Hey, Nami."

The doctor looked over his shoulder to see the kitsune waving back to the navigator. "Yes, I do. Did you want one?"

"Yeah, been wanting one for a while now, just couldn't find someone to ink me," Yukimi answered.

"Perfect timing, he just finished mine," Nami said pulling on her shirt.

"Nojiko said you were having your old tattoo removed. Didn't say you were getting a new one, I like it." Yukimi nodded at the orangette's new tat on her left shoulder. The blue spinning tangerine was really pretty.

"Thanks!"

"If you want a tattoo, come sit down already. It's getting late," the doctor grumbled slightly as the kitsune took Nami's spot. "So what kind of tattoo would you like?"

Yukimi pulled out the folded paper and handed it over. "I'd like to have this tattooed please," she said turning around on the bed and taking it off her hoodie. "And I'd like it to be inked here," the kitsune pointed to the right at the base of her neck.

Nami looked over the doctor's shoulder to see the picture. It was a white heart outlined in black with brown spots covering the lower half, and above the spots were multiple curling lines in black. Near the dip of the heart, another line curled on the outside, nearly encircling a little brown heart, while at the lower tip another curl could be found, but without a heart. To the left of the empty curl, five black dots, ranging from tiny to slightly bigger sat next to the heart's outline. Back at the top again, to the right of the almost encircled brown heart, lay seven black dots, ranging from slightly big to tiny. "Haven't I seen something like this before?" Nami asked noticing the familiar brown spots.

Yukimi didn't look back at them as she moved her black tank's sleeve down for better access to the area she wanted the ink. The kitsune smirked, "You saw the design on the hat he wears back on the wanted poster."

"Oh yeah, now I remember," Nami recalled as the doctor started working on Yukimi, the needle's buzzing mechanism quickly filled the room they were in. Nami walked around the bed the kitsune was sitting on and took a seat on the adjacent bed. "So, about this guy, Trafalgar Law?"

Yukimi tilted her head with a brow raised, "Yeah?"

"Back at the restaurant, I never mentioned why I hated pirates-"

"Because of Arlong," Yukimi stated with a flat look. There were too many pirates and criminals around the planet like him. Not to mention a very tall pink chicken with a maniacal grin permanently plastered on his face.

"Yeah... But the reason why I didn't say anything at all, was because of the look you had for this man," Nami started. "You seem to know him pretty well, even though you said you haven't been in contact with him for years. How can you be so sure he's the same boy after all these years apart?"

Yukimi's lips pressed into a firm line as her eyebrows knitted together. "Actually...I don't, Nami. The day we got separated, was the day he was scarred. He was traumatized because of events I rather not discuss. And because of it, and me not being there with him in the aftermath, Law could have very well changed into the cruel man the marines say he is. And...I could very well not be able to recognize Law the next time I see him."

"But you still believe him to be the same?" Nami asked elbows resting on her knees as she leaned forward.

Yukimi would have leaned forward as well if it weren't for the fact she was currently getting a tattoo. Nevertheless, she smirked, "Or at the least. But like I said back at the Baratie, with his not-so happy-go-lucky attitude, and medical knowledge combined with the power of the Ope Ope Fruit, it makes helluva sense for him to be called the 'Surgeon of Death.'"

"Well if we do come across him in the future, what'll you do?"

"I'll call him by the nickname I've dubbed him, and give him a hug," the kitsune simply answered.

"Oh? A nickname? What is it?" Nami asked placing her chin in the palm of her hand.

Yukimi gave the orangette a cheeky grin, "Doc."

*^.^*

Furry tails swished about as everyone finished loading up the ship. Yukimi, in her fox form, sat on the wooden rail as Zoro, and Sanji started bickering about whether or not Nami was coming. The fox flexed her claws as she stretched, already knowing that the navigator was coming, thanks to hanging out with her while she was getting inked. Speaking of the tattoo, the fox got a surprise when one of the boys pointed out her tribal style heart had carried over from her human body to her fox form. But instead of disappearing under her white fur, it was like someone had taken permanent paint to her fur. Well, it didn't upset her, quite the opposite really. Yukimi was happy it carried over, it was nice.

"Hey, why aren't you helping out, Yukimi?"

Yukimi looked down to the main deck where Zoro was ignoring Sanji ranting at him for interrupting her 'nap', though it was obvious she was wide awake. "What? Carry those big crates? No thanks, it looks like you, and the others got it covered anyway. I'll just help organize later," the fox waved the swordsman off with a flick of her tails in his direction, irritating him.

Suddenly Sanji ran over to the railing with a wide grin, "Look! There's my sweet Nami!"

This outburst caused everyone there to look behind the gathered crowd of Cocoyashi. Nami stood there still as a statue before shouting in a commanding voice, "Set the sails!"

"Uh...I don't get it. Why is she running?" Usopp asked when the navigator made a mad dash toward the Merry.

"She said to set the sail," Luffy simply answered.

Genzo quickly realized what Nami was up to, "No! She's gonna try, and leave without letting us thank her or say goodbye!" This caught the villagers' attention fast as Nami ran toward them.

"Set the sail!" Luffy called out as Zoro brought up the anchor while everyone else unraveled the sails.

"No stop!"

"Wait! You can't leave yet!"

"No don't go! They're leaving!"

"Please stop! At least let us say goodbye!" Genzo pleaded as the ship began turning away from the dock. "Nami stop! You can't leave this way!" the man yelled as the orangette came ever closer to the crowd.

"So you wanna let her leave like this?" Sanji asked his rubber captain.

"Not my decision. She does what she wants," Luffy reasoned.

Yukimi grinned as she watched Nami squeeze her way through the crowd easily before taking a big leap off the dock, catapulting herself onto the ship. "Wow, what an entrance! I applaud your agility Nami," Yukimi said while hopping onto Zoro's shoulder, making him glance her way from the added weight.

Nami winked before slowly pulling up the bottom of her t-shirt. Yukimi cracked up laughing as a small mountain of wallets, and coin purses piled at the navigator's feet. Nami kissed a beri bill then looked back to her fellow Cocoyashi residents with a cheshire grin, "Thanks a bunch!"

"Damn! You little brat!" Genzo shouted at her trickery as the rest of Cocoyashi, including Johnny and Yosaku, yelled after Nami as the ship sailed away.

"Great. She hasn't changed a bit," Usopp grumbled arms crossed.

"I'd watch my back!" Zoro growled under his breath as Yukimi jumped off him before hopping onto Nami's shoulder.

"Can't believe you did that, Nami! That was the perfect way to say goodbye," Yukimi laughed.

"That's the idea," Nami grinned back.

"You lousy pickpocket! We'll miss you!" Genzo shouted.

"Goodbye, everyone! I'll miss you! Take care!" Nami waved back with an unrelenting smile on her face.

Back on the island Nojiko laughed sitting on the ground, "I can't believe her! My little sister got us good on that one!" She sighed as Genzo sat down next to her. "I miss her already."

*^.^*

A yellow submarine swam its way through the deep depths of the Grand Line. On the side of the underwater ship, a grinning virus could be seen as the lights on the outside of the sub turned off, making its ascent to the surface. As soon as it surfaced, a mink polar bear in an orange boilersuit opened the door on the top deck, taking a deep breath of the cool morning air. "Ahh, fresh air~! No more stale, hot, stuffy air!" Bepo exclaimed with his arms outstretched, basking in the early morning light. Above him, a News Coo circled over the yellow sub. The polar bear waved the bird down as he fished for change in his pocket. The bird landed on the metal rail in front of the mink as he brought out the correct change for the morning's newspaper. Thanking the bird for the paper, Bepo started walking back inside. He glanced at the first page to see what the top article was about, but at the sight of the words printed in bold black above a picture of a destroyed island shocked the mink into stopping in his tracks.

Down in the galley room where everyone was currently eating their breakfast, Bepo slammed the door open, causing the bustling room to come to a sudden halt. "Guys you better take a look at this! Someone destroyed Enies Lobby!"

The galley quickly erupted into shocked yet excited voices, all wanting to know who wrecked the Judicial Island. The stack of newspapers was almost immediately scattered as the crewmembers tried getting a hand on the article.

"What is the meaning of this racket?"

The once noisy room instantly became silent at the sight of their captain standing in the open doorway. Trafalgar Law took in the sight of his fierce crew fighting over sheets of paper as if it were porn magazines. Just the thought almost made the man roll his eyes at his men as he mentally groaned from the image. Law turned to his navigator who was a few feet from him. "Bepo?"

The polar bear stood at attention when his name was called. "Ah! I'm sorry it was my fault! I was just shocked at what the newspaper said, and brought it here. I'm sorry!" Bepo bowed his head frantically.

Law waved off Bepo's constant apologies. "Where's the paper? If something big happened, I'd like to know what it says."

Penguin and Shachi, who were amidst in a pile of other crewmembers, quickly detangled themselves. They grabbed the papers together and handed them over to their captain. "Sorry Captain, they're kinda mixed up," Penguin apologized rubbing his neck.

Law frowned at the stack in his hand, now going to need to be sorted by the page numbers before he could even read the important article. He shifted his nodachi into the crook of his elbow so he could glance through the pages. Finding them all in disarray, Law shook his head before looking back up at his men. "We're about to arrive at our next island, so I suggest you make yourselves useful and get to work," Law addressed the galley. "I'll be in my room until then."

As the galley resumed its activities, Law walked back to his room sorting through the newspaper. By the time he stood before his door, the newspaper stack was back in order, with the heading boldly staring back at the Supernova's face. A grin found its way to his lips as he entered his room. "This should be interesting," Law said as he closed his door, and walked over to his desk. Moving behind it, Law rested his sword against the wall next to his chair and sat down, opening the newspaper. Minutes tick by as the amusement grew in the pirate's gray eyes. A knocking sound grabbed Law's attention, bringing it to his door. "Yes?"

Bepo popped his head inside, "Uh, we found some wanted posters back in the galley."

"Well bring them here. They should be the culprits to the island's disaster," Law smirked, not having found the posters in his acquired stash.

Bepo came in with a smaller stack of papers in one paw, and a mug of coffee in the other. Thanking the navigator for the misplaced papers and his morning coffee, Law finished reading the article as the mink left. Now knowing who was responsible for the Judicial Island's catastrophe, Law picked up the posters, finding it was also obviously put back together in haste, and so proceeded in shifting through the new bounties of the Straw Hat Pirates. "Straw Hat-ya, worth 300,000,000 beri huh? Growing ever more infamous, aren't we? Hm, even Pirate Hunter-ya went up to 120,000,000 beri," the surgeon mused aloud. Law took a sip from his coffee as he looked at the remaining bounties. Sniper King worth 30,000,000, Demon Child Nico Robin worth 80,000,000, Cat Burglar Nami worth 16,000,000, Black Leg Sanji worth 77,000,000, Cotton Candy Lover Chopper worth 50, Cyborg Franky worth 44,000,000. Law raised a brow at the epithet, a cyborg? Shrugging his shoulders at the man's marine nickname, he lifted his mug back to his lips for another sip before replacing the ceramic back on his desk.

The Supernova was about to swallow his coffee when he saw the last bounty photo. Just like the other pictures taken before, the background was filled with building debris and gunpowder smoke. The main focus of the picture, however, was an albino kitsune. Light blue hood up with black tipped white ears were faced forward as she held up her right hand with fingers hooked through the loops of four kunai next to her cheek. It looked like she was about to throw the sharp weapons when the photographer snapped the picture. The kitsune was giving her unseen opponent a toothy grin, showing off her canine fangs as a thin trail of blood slid down from the corner of her bottom lip. Her eyes seemed to glow through the picture, a bright crimson red, all the while looking like she was having a ball fighting. The epithet under the picture was White Fox Ninja Yukimi. Her bounty was 28,000,000 beri.

Law stared at the wanted poster, stunned. There grinning in front of him, was none other than Dew Yukimi. It was at that precise moment when he realized this was his long lost friend, whom he had been searching for years, did he remember he still had hot coffee inside his mouth. Law flinched at the burning sensation at the roof of his mouth, and tongue as he quickly swallowed the hot beverage. Letting out a breath after the hot coffee reached his stomach, Law let a wiry grin replace his brief grimace. A chuckle escaped as he leaned back in his chair. After all these years, Dew Yukimi still caused him mischief.

*^.^*

~Thaaaat's right guys! Law's back on the scene! Now, how's that kind of reaction for ya?