Supernova

by Primordial Vortex

Luffy's adventures took a much different start. It wasn't the Gomu Gomu fruit that Shanks and his crew brought to that sleepy town, and the consequences will reverberate throughout the Grand Line! With the power of the Sun in his hands, the Mugiwara Crew will take on the world! Different-DF-Luffy! Expanded crew. Harem. No Yaoi.

5. Where Arlong Eats His Nose

How is everyone doing today?

Most of you seem to have really enjoyed where I took Nami. There were one or two of you who thought she was growing too strong too quickly, but I had expected that. Simply put, just having Soru in East Blue already makes you a top dog. Kuro's bastardized blind version of it was enough to allow him to handle an entire ship of Marines without breaking a sweat. I could have done NOTHING more than that with her and she probably would have already been able to figure something out to beat Krieg. Kuro probably could have beat him. All he would have had to do was cut off his head, or a leg. No armor to get in the way. And if I'm saying Kuro could beat them, that's really fucking saying something. East Blue is East Blue.

Another concern was that they felt that Luffy taking Pearl's arm was unnecessarily violent. I'll say the same thing I told them; Luffy is plasma. That is, by default, an extremely dangerous power. To keep this story bloodless – for lack of a better word. You know. Cauterization and all. – would be doing a huge disservice. (I suppose I'll be hearing that again this chapter. Insert Evil Laughter.) That does not mean that I'm going to go all grimderp. I HATE grimderp. Remember, even the lovable Red-Haired Pirates – specifically Lucky Roo, who looks like he's the jolliest guy around – had no compunctions about shooting a man in the head. They're Pirates,not saints.

Also, I've said it before, but apparently it bears repeating; Luffy is NOT good with his Devil Fruit yet! He couldn't use it at home because he'll burn the forest down. He can't use it against his friends – few of them that he has – because he'll kill them at worst and disfigure them at best. The ONLY one he can practice against is his Grandpa, who is so far ahead of him that he may as well be blowing warm air in his general direction. (In case you can't tell, I have Garp – even old Garp – pretty high on the food chain in One Piece.)

One last thing: Any techniques that I create or have created for me (thanks guys!) will have translations at the bottom of the page. Any canon attacks however, will be left untranslated. If you want to know what it means, it's a quick google search away, and you'll land right in the One Piece wikia.

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Chapter V: Where Arlong Eats His Nose

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"Chichichi…I am Captain Nezumi of the Marine Branch Number Sixteen." The man in question stood there flanked by regular Marine sailors. They all had their arms crossed behind their backs. Nezumi was of average height, wearing a gray-blue, button-up long coat. Clearly the man had been aptly named, for he was truly a rat in every sense of the word. He even had whiskers, and his coat had a cloak with mouse ears on it. "I would like to speak to Genzo of Cocoyashi." His voice had a sort of arrogant quality to it, and the previously hopeful villagers of Cocoyashi all felt shivers run down their spines.

"That'd be me." Genzo stepped forward. He was a heavily scarred man wearing a maroon police uniform with short sleeves and a matching pair of shorts. His hat also matched, but it had a long pinwheel on a stick attached to it, for whatever reason. "What do you want, Captain?"

Nezumi had a sleazy grin on his face, "I would like to speak to a young woman named Nami. I believe she lives in this village, no?"

Immediately, the townsfolk stiffened up. Genzo weathered and scarred face closed up and clouded, "I'm afraid Nami isn't here. She's been gone for several months on a trip, with no due date to come home. Just as she's done for the past several years, actually."

"Chichichi…that is not a problem." Nezumi had seen the effect his words had on the town, and it gave him such a fuzzy feeling, "Her sister will do. Nojiko is her name, correct?"

"That's right." Genzo said, trying very hard not to visibly clench his jaw and remain cordial.

"Then lead the way, Mr. Genzo." Nezumi watched as Genzo whirled around and started walking from the docks to the inner island. He followed at a leisurely pace, taking in the sights as well as the distrustful looks from the people of Cocoyashi. They came upon a small, nondescript house. The only things special about it were the tangerine groves.

Genzo knocked on the door and a beautiful young lady opened it. She had icy blue hair and dark blue eyes, as well as a decently tattooed right arm. It was covered in swirling designs, which crossed over her chest making a stylized heart shape. She wore a simple white tank top and green pants, "Genzo, what's going on?" She eyed the Marines suspiciously.

"My name is Captain Nezumi." Nezumi stepped forward and introduced himself again, eyeing the woman appreciatively. His grin widened as she shivered under her gaze, "I came to speak to your sister Nami, but as she is absent you'll have to do."

"What about, Captain?" Nojiko said carefully.

"I'm afraid this will not be a pleasant conversation." Nezumi declared with an ever-widening smirk, "We recently have received dozens of complaints and reports about your sister's thieving."

Nojiko stiffened and became guarded, "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I think you do. Your stiffness says more than your words." Nezumi said happily, "You need not worry. No one here is to be harmed. After all, your sister's targets were all Pirates. Not anyone who didn't deserve to have everything they owned stripped from them." His grin widened in victory, "So we will not be laying any charges on her." He shrugged in a mocking display of sheepishness, "But a thief is still a thief and a crime is still a crime. Do you see what I'm getting at?" He almost licked his lips at the look of desperate horror taking root in Nojiko's eyes, "It's only natural for stolen goods to be taken by the government. That way, we can ensure that they return to their rightful owners."

"What did you say?" She gasped, eyes wide in panic.

"I'm sure you heard me the first time. Chichichi! You will turn over your sister's stolen goods immediately!" Nezumi swept his hand in front of him, "Search the house!" He commanded.

One Marine charged forward, only to be met by a hard punch from Genzo. He fell to the floor groaning, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He bellowed in rage, "Don't you bastards have something more important to do?! The Arlong Pirates are going around destroying villages and murdering people! Why aren't you doing anything about that! The people here are slaves under his rule! Yet you ignore all that and focus on one petty thief!"

"Chichichi!" Nezumi cackled, "A criminal should speak so high-handily. You just assaulted a Marine. Be careful I don't start putting charges on you as well." He sneered at the man, before jerking his head forward, "What are you waiting for? Ignore them and continue with the search!"

"The people of this island have been waiting for almost a decade for the Marines to help!" The scarred man took a step forward, intending on beating all these bastards on his own if necessary.

Genzo would have gone on, but a nameless Marine yelled, "These mikan trees look suspicious Captain!"

"Well, dig them up then!" Nezumi yelled back, though he kept a careful eye on Genzo.

"DON'T TOUCH THEM!" Genzo roared as he punched the man away from the trees.

Nezumi really should have been eyeing the woman in the situation instead. Nojiko had scrambled inside and grabbed a pistol, "DON'T YOU TOUCH MY MOTHER'S MIKAN TREES WITH YOUR FILTHY HANDS!" She screamed, her hands trembling, "IF YOU HAVE NO INTENTION OF SAVING THIS VILLAGE, THEN GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Nezumi stiffened, breaking into a small sweat. A rat is a rat, after all. How he made Captain boggled the mind. But the rest of the Marines weren't nearly so cowardly. They all yanked out their rifles and pointed them at the two. Nezumi regained his confidence quickly, "Chichichi. What's taking so long? We're not looking for a grain of rice here! How hard is it to find eighty million Beli?"

"What?" Nojiko gasped. Her pistol slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the floor. She slid to her knees, "How did you know…HOW MUCH MONEY THERE WAS?! DID ARLONG SEND YOU HERE?!"

Nezumi's face looked almost demented in his joy, "Oh, I wouldn't go that far…we're just doing our natural duty of persecuting criminals." Nojiko grabbed her pistol and fired, an expression of sheer rage on her face, "FUCK!" Nezumi screamed, falling to the ground and clutching his shoulder. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" He roared as a single Marine fired a bullet into Nojiko's thigh.

She went down, screaming her lungs out as she clutched her bleeding leg, the ammo-less pistol falling from her grip. "Nojiko!" Genzo roared, scrambling to her and pulling her into his arms.

"Ignore them and find the money so we can get out of here!" Nezumi roared angrily as they raced away. Damn, he really wished Arlong hadn't told him not to harm them. Why, even he didn't know. He clutched his bleeding arm as he got to his feet, glaring hatefully at their retreating forms, "Get me to the ship! I'll leave this to the rest of you." He spat at his underlings. "They'll get theirs in time." He forced a chuckle, "I think I'll use some of this money to buy her from Arlong. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Chichichi…"

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"DOCTOR NAKO!" Genzo roared as he practically kicked down the doctor's door. Nako wore a black bandana with a red cross on it as well as a white doctor's coat with red crosses on the shoulders.

Nako jumped roughly a foot into the air, "Genzo, what is the meaning of th…" He trailed off, looking at the bleeding woman in his arms, "Nojiko-chan! Lay her down! Quick!" Doctor Nako quickly set to work, giving the poor woman painkillers before digging out the round. He cleaned and dressed the wound as expertly as he could, "What happened?" Nako asked in disbelief, "How did little Nojiko-chan get shot?"

Genzo was gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, "That bastard Arlong…" He hissed, "He sent his fucking corrupt Marines here! They STOLE ALL OF NAMI'S MONEY!"

"That can't be!" Nako gasped on horror, his skin turning the color of milk, "It's all gone?!"

Genzo grit his teeth and didn't answer Nako. He turned and ran out of the doctor's home. "Genzo! Where are you going! GENZO! DON'T DO ANYTHING FOOLISH!"

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"Eight years ago, we swore not to throw our lives away!" Genzo was surrounded by villagers with all sorts of melee weaponry, "We swore that no matter how painful living under Arlong's rule was, that we would endure as long as Nami was okay! That we would play the long game! THIS IS HOW THEY'VE ANSWERED US!" The villagers looked burly and angry, "Our only chance at liberation has been STOLEN FROM US!" He bellowed in rage, "WE NO LONGER HAVE ANY HOPE, BUT WE WILL NEVER FORGIVE THOSE BASARD FISHMEN! THEY DARED TOY WITH OUR NAMI'S KINDNESS!" He looked at all of them, "ANY OBJECTION!"

"No way! As if we'd accept their rule after this!" The angry people roared.

Just as Genzo was about to lead the charge, a voice yelled, "STOP!" Nojiko was hobbling towards them, using Doctor Nako as a cane. She was visibly in agony, but she kept moving forward, limping closer to them, "Stop this right now everyone! We can't do this right now!"

"What are you talking about Nojiko?!" Genzo roared at her, "They've betrayed us! There's no hope for salvation anymore! We may all die, but we'll take some of those sons of bitches with us!"

"AND WHAT WILL NAMI DO WHEN SHE GETS HOME AND FINDS US ALL DEAD?! WHAT WILL SHE DO WHEN SHE FINDS OUT AND CONFRONTS ARLONG?! HE'LL CHAIN HER TO THAT FUCKING CARTOGRAPHY DESK FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE!" She screamed in his face. Genzo recoiled in shock. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and groaned, getting lowered to her knees by Nako. She turned tearful eyes to Genzo, "We can't." She whispered brokenly, "Not until Nami is home! We have to make sure she leaves as soon as she can! We may all die, but she doesn't have to! Maybe she could take some of the children with her!"

Genzo's sword clattered to the dirt as he crumbled to his knees, "God damn it…' He whispered brokenly, "GOD! DAMN IIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!" He roared as he pounded his fists into the dirt, utterly defeated.

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Sanji grunted at he was sent to the floor yet again. Like the rest of the crew – barring the Captain himself – he was battered and bruised. He clenched his cigarette hard between his teeth as Luffy gave him a hand up, "Shishishi, good job Sanji." Sanji was sweating profusely and breathing harder than ever before. The moment that the Baratie had been out of sight, the crew had started their training once again. And for Sanji, it had been a huge wake up call. He had been terrified for Nami when she had faced Don Krieg, and rightfully so. The man's one lucky shot using that damnable surprise exploding spear had almost taken her out. But she had proven herself to be stronger than he had ever expected, and he had assumed that without his Devil Fruit, Luffy would be about the same.

Even after seeing evidence to the contrary, he had never been more wrong. It was only when he was learning Soru on the deck of the Going Merry that he realized Luffy had practically been playing around when he kicked Krieg through his ship. He took a drag from his smoke as he was finally given a break, "Not sure I agree. You manhandled me." Sanji sighed.

"Everyone gets manhandled by Luffy." Usopp deadpanned. He was sweating profusely and visibly straining, "Luffy is the strongest person here, by far."

"Don't slack off, Usopp." Zoro said lazily from his place on Usopp's back. Nami had told him quite firmly that he wouldn't be doing any training himself for at least a couple more days, and his attempts to ignore his 'doctor's orders' were…painful to say the least. So for now, he sat on Usopp's back and polished his sword while the young man did push-ups.

"My turn, Luffy?" Nami was twirling a new staff. As her old one had cracked, Usopp had made a temporary one for her while she waited for his creation to be finished. This one was a light blue, like her last one, with silvery metal reinforcing both of the ends.

Luffy grinned and pulled his pipe from his back, "Yeah, let's go!" He vanished, Nami following suit. Only when they reappeared, it wasn't due to a clash between them. Instead, Sanji was between the both of them, Luffy's pipe warping his face from the impact and Nami's staff smacking square into his shoulders as she swung up to block.

Sanji crashed onto the deck as the two landed. "Oh Sanji-kuuuuuuun…" Nami sang sweetly, her voice positively angelic. She had a bright, happy smile on her face as she walked towards the downed blonde.

Sanji scrambled to look at her, hearts in his eyes, "Yes, Nami-swan?"

Just as he finished turning around, her staff cracked him across the nose and sent him hurtling away, "Damn it Sanji! It's been a week of this! Stop interrupting us!" She screamed at him, white-eyed and angry shark teeth in her mouth.

"I can't help it." Sanji sat up, not looking contrite in the least, "I can't bear to see a lady in danger, much less a goddess like you." He said solemnly.

Nami grit her teeth, "How am I supposed to get stronger if you keep interrupting our training!" She yelled at him, "Stop it! It's getting really annoying!" Sanji just had a stubborn look on his face, "IF YOU DON'T CUT IT OUT, I'LL REMOVE WHAT MAKES YOU A MAN AND MAKE YOU EAT IT!"

Sanji and the rest of the crew gasped, crossing their hands in front of their crotches, "Not his kintama!" Luffy yelped in fear.

"Nami-swan, you wouldn't!" Sanji looked rightfully terrified.

"TRY ME! I'll do to you what I did to Krieg, you idiot!" She screamed, before straightening up and blowing her bangs out of the way, "Now go rest you idiot! Luffy, let's go!" And finally, she and Luffy were able to train without having to do it in secret.

Hours later, everyone except for Luffy, Johnny, and Yosaku were exhausted, and Yosaku took the opportunity to finally ask the question that had been burning inside his mind, "Luffy-aniki! Why are we going to the Conomi Islands?! Isn't your dream to go to the Grand Line? This is in the opposite direction! The man who rules the Conomi Islands is terrifying!"

Luffy ignored him entirely, "So, shall we eat?" He asked Sanji cheerfully.

Yosaku and Johnny practically went into hysterics, "You're too naïve! Listen!" he yelled, "There's something about the Grand Line that you have to know! The reason the Grand Line is called the 'Pirate's Graveyard' is because of the three great powers! One of those powers is the Ōka Shichibukai!"

"Shichibukai?" Luffy asked quizzically, finally paying attention to the duo.

"That's right…simply put, they're seven extremely powerful Pirates who are sanctioned by the World Government!" Yosaku told them.

"Why the hell would the government permit Pirates?" Sanji asked him.

The rest of the crew were listening in interest, except for Nami. She was leaning on the mast, stone-faced with her arms crossed. Johnny picked up where Yosaku left off, "As long as the Shichibukai give up a portion of their plunder, the government will look the other way with their actions. Other Pirates hate them and call them the government's dogs, but they're all extremely strong! Dracule Mihawk who defeated Zoro-aniki is one of them!"

Yosaku took over, "But the problem is one of them specifically. His named is Jinbei, and he's the leader of the Fishmen Pirates!"

"Never met a Fishman." Luffy said idly.

Sanji had a goofy look on his face, "Fishmen huh? Fishman Island is a very popular place in the Grand Line, isn't it? I've heard the most beautiful mermaids live there!"

Yosaku continued, "In return for becoming one of the Shichibukai, Jinbei let loose a terrifying monster in East Blue!"

But the rest of the Strawhats were no longer paying attention. Luffy had drawn a hideous fish with some weirdly drawn legs and feet and was showing it off, "Like this?"

Even Nami couldn't help herself. Her stone-faced facade broke and she started giggling helplessly, "What an ugly fish!"

"IS IT PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO PAY ATTENTION?!" The two hunters roared. "We're headed to Arlong Park! Why are you so eager to fight him?!" Yosaku yelled, "Arlong once fought alongside the Shichibukai Jinbei! Don Krieg is a guppy compared to him!"

"How about this?" Luffy showed off another drawing, this time with less limbs.

"You just drew the last one standing up!" Sanji chuckled.

"BE SERIOUS YOU GUYS!" Johnny pleaded with them.

Luffy sighed, "We're going there so I can feed Arlong his nose." He repeated what he had said, while turning his head slightly to Nami. He crossed his arms and his head dipped enough that his hat hid his eyes.

"BUT WHY?!" Johnny yelled hysterically. No matter what he had seen, he just couldn't comprehend someone being stronger than that monster. But he was thinking of Arlong's strength as being more on the higher side, like Jinbei. It couldn't have been more from the mark, but for someone in East Blue, he may as well have been correct.

Nami finally had enough, "You all know of the Conomi Islands as Arlong Park." She said, her eyes closed and her head down. She stopped leaning on the mast and walked forward, "I know of it only as home." Some of them gasped, but Luffy just continued looking solemn, "When I was ten, Arlong came to my home and took it over. He shot my mother between the eyes right in front of me." She uncrossed her arms and lifted her sleeve, revealing her tattoo, which now had four claw marks over it from when she had scratched down the mark, "He forced me onto his crew as his cartographer and made me pretend to be his friend, while telling me that if I gave him a hundred million Beli in one payment, he would free me and my town." Her face may as well have been carved from marble, "But I always suspected that he would find some way out of our deal…so now I'm going to get him before he does." She smiled softly as she gripped Luffy's hand. They shared a small smile before looking out at the rest of the crew. Sanji was – predictably – steaming mad. Johnny, Yosaku, and Usopp had tears streaming down their faces. And Zoro?

Zoro got up and walked away. Usopp gasped, and Nami even looked a little distraught, "Where are you going, Zoro?!"

"I'm sure we can get more wind out of these sails." He replied without stopping, "The ship's too slow."

Nami smiled in gratitude and joy, "Thank you guys." A singe tear dropped from her eye.

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"Everyone! We're close now!" Nami yelled, pointing off into the horizon.

"So, that's it huh?" Luffy said, from his place beside her. The island was still quite small, but it was growing larger every minute that they sailed forward. He punched his fists together, "I'm going to beat that fish so badly that he'll never come back."

"Not so fast!" Nami told him, "I purposely made sure that we came around the island's backside. Arlong Park is on the other side. Until the Merry is safe, we can't do anything. Fishmen will sink us before we can even react! They're ten times as powerful in the water!"

"Will they have a sentry?" Usopp asked her, looking out with his binoculars.

"They will have one." Nami told him, "So we'll have to do this a bit stealthily."

"Like ninja?!" Luffy gasped, before forming a weird hand signal, "Nin! Nin!"

Nami facepalmed, but she giggled, "Okay, Usopp, your eyes are the best right?"

Usopp crossed his arms, "Of course." He said proudly.

"Alright, I need you to pretend that you're on the island right now. As soon as you feel that you would be able to start picking up on our ship without a binocular, you need to tell me." Nami told him seriously.

Usopp gulped, realizing he had a big job this time. "Got it." He dipped his goggles down and settled them over his eyes, and he began straining. Around fifteen minutes passed before the island was close enough, "Nami, we've got probably five minutes before people over there start noticing that a ship is approaching."

Nami didn't respond verbally. Instead, she jumped straight off of the ship and dove into the water. Her idea worked beautifully. She may not have had a Fishman's gills or webbing, but she had something that was almost as good. Luffy.

She stayed under the water and applied the leg kicking lessons she learned from Soru and Geppo to speed her way towards the island. Every ten-kick application sent her forward hundreds of meters. Thankfully, she had grabbed a spare set of goggles from Usopp otherwise she would have been very uncomfortable to say the least. Every once in a while, she allowed herself to slow enough to lift her head out of the water and take a massive breath, before diving back down.

Soon, she was close enough that she saw him. He was a smaller size for a Fishman and was clearly based off a seahorse. He was lazing about on the rocks she was headed to, occasionally taking a cursory scan of the ocean. He had a baby Den Den Mushi on his wrist.

She swam carefully and rested, until she was ready. She jumped up using Geppo and combined it with Soru to get on top of the Fishman. She didn't even know his name. He tried to jump up in a panic, but she didn't let him. With a quick jab of her reinforced staff she smashed his windpipe. He clutched his throat in agony as another three quick swings bloodied his face. A forth whack to his temple had the Fishman out cold.

She sighed and smiled before turning and waving at the ship. Usopp, who had expertly tracked her direction from her head showing as she surfaced to breathe, sighed in relief. "She did it!"

"Shishishi! Let's go!" Luffy called out. As they came close enough, he tossed Nami the rope he had been holding, and they watched as Nami proceeded to hogtie the nameless Fishman so thoroughly that he wouldn't be able to twitch so much as a finger. With a cheery little salute in his general direction, she backflipped back onto the Merry, and continued guiding the ship to safety.

She sighed in relief as they finally moored and disembarked, "Perfect." She said happily, "That was really the only thing I was worried about. Let's go to Cocoyashi!" She led them through the trees and rocks, but their good mood evaporated rapidly. She sighed as she took in the sight of the destroyed Gosa village. The village looked almost like a set, as if everything was fake. There were giant buildings and houses simply flipped over. They looked like giant models on a board game that had the table flipped and the pieces scattered.

Nami knew better. This was very real, and the loss of life had been great. Dozens of her people had died. All over a single missed payment. Arlong deserved everything that was coming to him. "What happened here?" Luffy asked her, clearly not in very good mood.

"Arlong happened." She sighed, "A single person did not have enough money to pay Arlong a couple months ago. He flipped out and…well…flipped out." No one found the dark humor funny.

"A Fishman did this?!" Usopp was trembling in horror, "This is insane!" Suddenly he keeled over and fell to the dirt, and began wheezing, "Oh no, my ican'tgoanyfurtheritis is acting up!" Zoro didn't skip a step as he grabbed Usopp by the scruff of his neck and started hauling him forward, "No! Zoro! What are you doing!" He cried crocodile tears as they dragged him onward.

"Stop shouting you idiot. I don't want the Fishmen to know we're here yet." Nami grouched. They continued through Gosa, before making it to Cocoyashi, where people were milling about. Nami frowned as she took them in. They all looked even more defeated than usual, though some of them had turned looks of confused interest on them as they saw her crew. But most of them met eyes with her and then looked away in a strange mixture of rage and shame. It confused her. She was used to hateful glares whenever she came into town. This was new. Nami stopped one of them, "Hey, what's going on?"

He looked at her for a moment, before looking away, tears in his eyes, "You should go to Doctor Nako's house, Nami."

She stiffened, "Did something happen? Is my sister alright!"

"She's…alive." Tears started leaking from behind his closed eyelids, "She's not even badly injured but… just…just go see them."

Nami trembled for a moment, before taking off at a good clip. The rest of the Strawhats followed, Luffy keeping an even pace right behind her. Nami got to Nako's house and slammed the doors open, "Nojiko!" She yelled, making all three of the people in the house jump. She took in the sight of them, all looking completely defeated. Genzo in particular looked like he had been put through the ringer. There were bags under his eyes and his uniform looked unkept. Unlike the last time she had been in Nako's clinic, there were emptied bottles of booze strewn around the place. But at that moment, Nami only had eyes for her sister, who was looking pretty okay, if it wasn't for the bandages wrapped around her left leg. There were a pair of crutches next to her on the sofa, "Nojiko!" She cried out in relief, falling to her knees in front of her and grabbing her hands, "You're okay! I'm so glad!" She looked up at her sister's distraught face, "What happened? Who did this to you?!"

Nojiko's eyes teared up at the utter relief she saw in her sister's gaze, and the flood works opened up. Luffy had followed her in while the rest of the crew and the two hunters had waited outside. He stood there with his arms crossed, and his face like stone, "I…I'm sorry Nami!" Nojiko sobbed as she wrapped her sister up in an embrace, "It…it's gone! It's all gone!"

Nami looked shocked, her arms flailing a little, before she wrapped them around her sister, "Gone? What do you mean? What's gone?"

"Your money." Genzo's hoarse voice came from the side. "The money that was supposed to save us all…" He was looking down at the floor and refused to meet her eyes as she pulled away from Nojiko. She stared at him, open mouthed, jaw working up and down soundlessly. He looked up, tears in his gaze, "Are you surprised, Nami? Did you really think any person in the entire village thought you would willingly work for that murderer? We got the full story from Nojiko the second you went out on your first trip. We all knew all along! We never said anything to make sure it wouldn't pressure you. To make sure you had an out if it ever became too much." He started to sob, "And that son of a bitch broke your heart. He broke everyone's hearts! He sent his corrupt Marine lackeys here three days ago. They tore up Bell-mère's mikan groves and took all the money you've spent the last eight years gathering."

Nami's head tilted down, her face shadowed. Her fists were clenched on her thighs. Nojiko sounded despondent, "When we tried to stop them, one of them shot me in the thigh." Her sobs hadn't let up in the slightest, "I'm so sorry Nami! All your hard work…and it was all for nothing…everything is gone…" The two of them sounded utterly defeated, and the looks of rage and shame they saw coming in now made sense.

Everyone had known all along. She started to laugh. It bubbled out of her, quite against her will. The three villagers stared in abject disbelief as she threw her head back and cackled like a mad witch. They looked away, obviously thinking the poor girl was having a mental breakdown at the thought of eight years of her life vanishing in a puff of smoke. Finally, Nami settled down and faced the ceiling, her eyes closed. She had a peaceful smile on her face before her eyes snapped open. She got to her feet and started walking away, "Let's go." She told Luffy, who opened the door and led her out.

"Nami!" Nojiko gasped.

"Where are you going, Nami!" Genzo called out to her as he scrambled to follow.

Nami stopped at the door, "Isn't it obvious?" She turned back, a confident smile on her face, "We're going to destroy Arlong Park!" Genzo jerked and his jaw dropped.

And without another word, she walked outside. She was a step behind Luffy, though she took the lead in order to show them where they were actually going. Zoro was sitting on some crates, with his katana standing up in front of him. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with all the buttons undone, showing off all of his bandages. Sanji was smoking one of his cigarettes and looking up at the beautiful sky. Usopp was sitting on the ground, his head down, and his arms crossed. On his back was Krieg's giant spear with a little handle sticking out of it near his head. All signs of it having belonged to the reality-challenged madman were gone, replaced with the Straw Hat Jolly Roger on one side and his own Jolly Roger on the other. Neither of them broke step as Luffy called out, "Let's go!"

The three Strawhats all followed, "Roger."

Genzo rushed out from behind them, looking equal parts exhilarated, furious, and terrified, "ARM YOURSELVES!" He roared, and the villagers cheered, rushing for their makeshift hidden weapons in eagerness for the fight ahead.

Nami was tempted to tell them not to bother, but instead she turned to Johnny and Yosaku, who met up with them a little further ahead, "You two, keep them out of it." She jerked her head towards the following villagers. Even Nojiko was among them, slowly following beside Nako on her crutches. If they were all going to die, then she was going to do it beside her sister.

"You got it sis." They told her, forcing her to stifle a growl.

The massive procession went through the entire town and further out, close to the coastlines of the island. That's when they saw it. It was a massive, sprawling, gated compound. An equally massive pair of steel gates decorated with images of sea life stood closed in front of them. Luffy overtook Nami and everyone who hadn't seen him in action before gasped as his right leg started glowing. Every step he took made a clear imprint of his sandal, burned into the very dirt itself. With a look of utter fury on his face, Luffy planted his left leg and swung his right in a roundhouse kick, "Enten no Kizu!" A massive arc of plasma – bigger than any Rankyaku he had showed any of them so far – screamed through the air. The crescent shaped arc of plasma raced forward and hit the wall. A massive plume of smoke and fire roared out, blasting burning wood and sizzling lumps of hot metal into the compound. Several Fishmen were taken out immediately, before they could even scream. When the smoke cleared, the gate itself had vanished while most of the wall was utterly demolished.

Nami passed him just after he launched the attack as she assembled her staff with one hand and jumped into the compound, "I'm home!" She called cheerily. The people behind the crew all stared with dropped jaws and their eyes popping out.

The biggest Fishman looked pissed. He had vicious-looking teeth, a saw-like nose, and light blue skin. He was wearing a floral print shirt, dark green shorts, and a brown Ushanka. He had a huge, dark red sun tattooed onto his left pec as well as a stylized saw-nosed shark on his left arm. Arlong, who had narrowly avoided getting smashed in the head with a piece of rubble, turned to her with veined, angry eyes, "Nami…what are you doing? Do you mean to tell me that you've betrayed me?"

Nami scoffed, "Betrayed? Don't be so full of yourself Arlong. You have to be loyal to something to betray it." She smirked at his dark, furious look, "Oh what's wrong? Did you actually think I was one of you? That I would be your friend if you showered me in clothes and food?" A vein was bulging dangerously on Arlong's forehead, "Well sorry, you bastard. My mother's in a grave because of you, and I know your Marine lackies came to steal my money. Don't you worry," She sneered at her tormentor of eight years, "Once we put your head on a pike, he'll be next."

Luffy pushed past her, brushing against her shoulder. She shot his back an affectionate grin, "So, you're Arlong, huh?"

Arlong turned his furious gaze to him, "That's right? Who the hell are you, filthy human?"

"I'm Luffy. A Pirate." Luffy stalked forward, his fists clenching by his side, "I'm Nami's Captain." He blurred forward, slipping right through every single member of the Arlong Pirates without them even noticing. He reappeared in front of Arlong, whose eyes widened in shock, "AND YOU MADE MY NAVIGATOR CRY!"

WHAM

Arlong's face molded itself around Luffy's fist. His entire face distended, and he swore he felt a dozen tiny hairline fractures appear on his cheekbones. The blow lifted him clean off his throne and sent him flying through one of the marble pillars holding up their shade. He hit the ground and rolled, digging a trench into his perfectly maintained grass before coming to a stop by impacting into the wall on the other side of the compound. He crashed into it – spread eagle – and cratered it in the shape of his body, with cracks beginning to radiate out from his impact zone. A small bit of blood flew from his gaping gob.

Luffy opened his fist before slowly closing it again as he stalked forward like a predator. Cracks rang through the air as his knuckles popped. He completely ignored the small fry, having eyes only for Arlong. Several of the Fishmen grunts roared out in anger and drew weapons, charging at him.

Nami appeared in front of Luffy's back, her staff already swinging into action. With a single swipe, teeth shattered and flew as one more Fishman was taken out of the fight immediately. She vanished again and appeared above another, her right leg pointing to the air. She crashed down and smashed her heel right into his skull, sending him hurtling into the dirt and digging a hole from her picture-perfect axe-kick. Without even landing she vanished again, reappearing next to a Fishman and clotheslining him in the throat with her staff. In the same motion she swung low and did a spin kick, taking out an enemy's legs and sending him into the air. "SHIT!" He roared in shock as Nami's staff practically folded him in half. Spittle flew from his unconscious form, the whites of his eyes the only things visible.

The residents of Cocoyashi village trembled in utter shock. "Is…is that really Nami?" Nojiko gasped. She…she had gotten so strong! She was utterly manhandling the grunts of the Arlong Pirates. Who were these people she had befriended? How had one of them sent Arlong's giant, hulking form flying with a single punch?

A Fishman who was bigger than most of the others was gritting his teeth in rage and could take it no more. He charged forward, howling his fury, "NAMI YOU TRAITOROUS BITCH! I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE DROWNED YOU WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE!" He was a grey-skinned, somewhat-short but very bulky Fishman named Kurobi. He had black hair and a red sun tattooed on his chest. His elbows had fins extending from them and he wore a dark blue karate gi. He was leaping at her, his fist extended and ready to take her goddamn head clean off.

Sanji appeared in front of a smiling Nami and his dress shoes imprinted themselves on Kurobi's face. "I'm sorry, who exactly were you calling a bitch?" He looked quite pissed off, "I won't stand idly if you plan to insult and hurt a lady." His hands were in his pockets as he lowered his foot, watching as Kurobi rolled back to his feet and dabbed at his bleeding nose.

"Guh." Kurobi flinched momentarily from the stinging, before focusing on Sanji, "So, you're stronger than the average human, huh? Doesn't matter." He hissed, "You inferior humans are all the same! You can't even breathe underwater!" He charged forward and threw a punch out, looking to lay out Sanji in one hit.

Sanji dodged and threw a kick which was blocked by Kurobi's fin, "A damn fish shouldn't be yammering to a chef!"

While they were fighting, an octopus Fishman with pink skin, six arms, and a massive, protruding mouthpiece named Hachi grabbed his lips, "You idiots! Come out, my powerful monster! Come out, Mohmoo!" He began trumpeting using his own mouth.

Nami winced, "Damn it Usopp. I really wish you had finished my new weapon instead of playing around with that stupid spear."

She – along with everyone else, including the panicking villagers – watched as the massive sea cow that had laid waste to Gosa Village rose from the deep pool connecting to the ocean. Gallons upon gallons of water dripped from its form, "Moo!" It looked just like a cow too, except it's lower half was a fish tail and a flexible ridge ran up its spine and onto its head. It had flippers instead of hooves and its large, round nose had a golden ring in it. Its spots were also green, rather than black.

"Oh Mohmoo!" Nami called sweetly, waving at the giant pet, "You may want to leave you know. I'm sure you're smart enough to realize when a ship is sinking."

Mohmoo eyed her, and then cast its gaze around Arlong Park. It noticed Arlong crushed into one of the back walls with someone approaching him, as well as the downed grunts. But to his eyes, Arlong looked pissed more than hurt, and it had seen the grunts go down before, "MOO!" It roared, opening up a gaping maw with giant, sharp teeth. It dove for Nami.

"Tch!" Expected, but disappointing. She jumped forward, meeting the giant cow head on with a blisteringly fast swing of her staff. The giant sea cow slammed into the grass, but it just looked even more angry than before now. Nami may have been getting a lot stronger, but her hits were nowhere near the level of even Sanji's, "Catch me if you can, Mohmoo!" She called as she flipped over it and used her Geppō water walk to run away from the land. She led the giant sea cow away, to the gobsmacked looks of the rest of her village.

Hachi grabbed a massive, hulking piece of rubble, "Octopus Black…on the rocks!" he roared, bringing the gigantic slab down, looking to crush Zoro. He simply slashed upwards. His sword never touched the concrete, but it split in two all the same. "Grrr…who the hell are you?"

Zoro held his katana in front of him with a confident grin, "Roronoa Zoro!"

The octopus gasped, "Zoro? The user of Santōryū?" He grinned, "My name is Hatchan, and I'm the worst opponent for any swordsman. It'll be an honor to kill you!"

"You guys aren't going to be doing any killing." Zoro grinned back, "That's our line."

The last of Arlong's officers was a light blue Fishman with thick, protruding red lips named Chew. He sucked in a lot of air, getting ready to unleash a water cannon at the traitorous woman who was rapidly vanishing from sight. He never got the chance. Something hit him and exploded, sending him crashing to his back. "Y-Your opponent is me!" Usopp said through chattering teeth. "How do you like my Kayaku Boshi?"

Chew sat up, basically uninjured, "You're looking to DIE AREN'T YOU! ALLOW ME TO MAKE IT QUICK!" He got to his feet and began chasing after a terrified Usopp, who had his arms waving in the air. The two quickly vanished from sight, leaving puzzled villagers staring at their retreating forms blankly.

Zoro and Hachi began fighting in earnest, with Zoro dodging out of the way of the sticky black ink fired from the octopus Fishman's mouth. "I'll end this quickly, takoyaki!" Zoro yelled, swinging Wado at Hachi's head.

Hachi gasped and ducked, but two of the five spikes that made up his hairstyle were cut off, "Nyuuu! My hair!" He grabbed at his head, "You bastard! I'll! I'll forgive you." He said cheerily, "It's only hair. It'll grow back. The important thing is that I'm still alive!" He charged forward.

"How kind of you." Zoro deadpanned, before he grimaced as his wound started to ache painfully. He bit back a groan as he could feel his stamina start to sap away. He would have to finish this quickly.

Sanji twitched as he caught it out of the corner of his eye, 'That idiot.' He dodged one of Kurobi's punches and retaliated with a kick.

"You know, Roronoa Zoro…I'm quite strong against swordsmen. Do you know why?" Hachi asked Zoro.

"Like hell I do!" Zoro charged and swung down.

Hachi got into a horse-stance with all six of his arms ready, "Octopus three continuous naked sword catching technique!" He clapped all six of his hands together and caught Zoro's katana. Or he would have, if Zoro was a weaker man. The sword slipped right through his palms and slashed his forehead, drawing first blood, "OWWW!"

"Stop playing around, idiot!" Zoro yelled at him with shark teeth.

Hachi used his six hands to display nine digits, "Tako Hachi number nine…suction cup!" He completely dodged Zoro's slash and stuck himself to one of the pillars, upside down.

Zoro growled angrily, "Get your ass down here this instant!" He roared. When Hachi showed no signs of moving, he growled and swung his sword, "Ittōryū: Sanjūroku Pound Hō!" An air blade flew towards the octopus man, who panicked and leapt back to the ground. The air blade sliced through the pillar and part of Arlong Park's main building. The cut section slid off and crashed to the floor. Hachi was about to say something, when he noticed Zoro had fallen to his knees and was clutching his chest. That move had really been too much for Zoro. His injury started to open up again. He ground his teeth together and forced himself up, "Damn it…why now of all times?"

"…What are you doing, Roronoa Zoro?" Hachi eyed his bandages, which had slowly started to stain red, "…Do you really intend to fight with an injury as bad as that one that must be?"

Sanji grit his teeth as the rest of the people there stared at him in surprise, "That damn idiot. I knew he was faking."

On the sidelines, Yosaku was gritting his teeth in panic, "His wounds are just too deep! They haven't healed over yet!"

Johnny growled at him, "Of course they haven't!" He snapped, "An injury like that would have taken six months for a normal man to heal! And that's if they didn't just die outright! He must have been enduring the pain this entire time!"

"I knew something was up when that idiot just kept acting norm-grrhhh" Sanji groaned out as Kurobi took advantage of his distracted state to punch him in the chest. He flew out past the gathering from Cocoyashi and landed on the dirt, much to their terror.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off of your opponent." Kurobi chided him, "I'm a level forty Fishman Karate practitioner."

"Damn cook!" Zoro panted, "Pay attention to your own fight!" He gripped his katana with steady hands, which defied Hachi's sense of belief.

"How can you hold that blade so steadily?" He eyed the deep red stain on Zoro's front. "If you really intend to fight like that, then I won't disrespect your decision. You wait right there, Roronoa Zoro." With that, he jumped through one of Arlong Park's windows. Zoro fell to his knees, panting heavily.

Elsewhere, Luffy stood in front of Arlong, who swung his arms out from their rubble prison and broke himself free. He growled angrily, showing off his sharp teeth. His muscles were bulging hideously, "Your little crewmates don't seem to be doing so well." He taunted, "Why don't you join them in hell!" He roared, raising a fist and bringing it screaming down towards Luffy's head. Luffy met his punch head on with one of his own. The impact sent out a shockwave that demolished the ground they were standing on and crumbled even more of the already-broken wall behind Arlong. A sickening crack rang through the air and Arlong pulled back, howling. His right hand was trembling, bent downward at the wrist. His fingers weren't looking too good either, as they hung limply except for his thumb.

"Shishishi, why would I do that? You think a crappy little punch like that could take down Sanji?" Luffy laughed, "My brother hit harder than that when he was twelve."

Back near the center of the courtyard, Zoro grit his teeth as Hachi landed in front of them, showing off his six swords. Zoro's face was shadowed as he took his bandana off his arm and tied it onto his head, "Let me tell you something, little octopus…There's a man I have to meet again, no matter what…and until I do, not even the grim reaper will take me." He yelled back at his two old partners, "Yosaku, Johnny! Lend me your swords!" He grinned confidently at Hachi, "Let me show you my Santōryū."

"Aniki's wounds are bad. He's in critical condition." Yosaku said, "With those wounds and the fever he probably has, he shouldn't even be standing. If they reopen, he'll die for sure."

"Now's not the time to be worrying about that." Johnny retorted, "He's the only one who can cut through this crisis!" He held up his sword, mirrored by his partner.

Behind them all, Sanji sat up. He was bleeding lightly, but didn't appear to be in any real pain, "Level forty huh? How weak. The geezer's kicks back at the Baratie must have been level four-hundred."

"You got it aniki!" The both of them tossed their dadao forward.

Zoro stood there, panting, 'Shit…I'm losing it. I thought moving around would help lower my temperature, but it's only gotten worse.'

Johnny and Yosaku panicked, "ANIKI! WE ALREADY THREW THE SWORDS. CATCH THEM! WATCH OUT!"

Hachi growled angrily, "You look tired Zoro! I'll show you the insurmountable gap in skill between us! Your two arms will only hinder you against this Rokuryu! Tako-ashi kiken!" His flexible arms looked like noodles as they danced in the air. He started a barrage of slices with his six swords.

Zoro caught the flying swords at the very last moment, "Santōryū… Tōrō Nagashi!" He blocked all of the blades and flashed behind Hachi. The two stood still, back to back, before Hachi's front erupted in a geyser of blood.

"He got by! To be able to block all six blades coming from all directions…! He's amazing!" The two hunters yelled.

"Nyuu!" Hachi yelled, "Now you've really made me mad!" He was gritting his teeth and veins were bulging on his forehead, around the large sun that was tattooed there, "I swear I'll kill you! Just think about it logically! There's no way three blades can beat six!"

Zoro chuckled, a flash of Mihawk's face appearing in his mind, "Logic? I think you've made a miscalculation." He stared Hachi down without a waver in his posture, despite the fact that he probably should have already gone down long ago, "You may have more blades, but my swords are heavier. Not even three of your swords matches the weight of one of mine."

Hachi began to laugh, "I'm being underestimated! You think your swords are heavier than mine? You're a fool! They may not look it, but these swords all weight over three hundred kilograms! They're far heavier than any human blade!"

Zoro almost cringed at the answer, "Hmph. There's no use explaining it to a fool. I have nothing to say to an idiot who can't even understand that."

Hachi held all swords directly in front of him, the tips touching and almost forming what looked like a barrel, "Octopus Pot Stance: New Year's…" He charged forward, looking like he wanted to drill straight through Zoro with his technique. Zoro blocked with two of his blades, but there was only triumph in Hachi's gaze, "Octopus Opener!" He swung all his swords outwards and consequently opened a massive hole in Zoro's defenses as his arms were flung back, "BODY SLAM!" He head-butted Zoro square in the chest.

Blood squirted from Zoro's mouth and nose as his friends and the townsfolk panicked. He got launched into the air and began falling, "I won't give you a safe landing Roronoa Zoro!" Hachi yelled, "Six Swords Style: Six Swords Waltz!" The six blades began spinning above Hachi, like a soon-to-be-macabre windmill, "You'll be mincemeat when you touch them!" Zoro was seconds away from death when his entire body started tumbling in midair. His own swords started slamming into the propeller of death and when he landed, he was on his feet, one knee on the floor, and Hachi's hands were all bleeding. His swords were all clattering to the floor, "Nyuuu!" He grabbed his swords again, "You bastard. You slashed my hands! NOW I REALLY, REALLY CAN'T FORGIVE YOU! I'M NOT A CIRCUS ACT! OCTOPUS POT STANCE!"

'I can't afford to die.' Zoro panted, 'Even if this would kill an ordinary person…I can NOT FALL!' Zoro lifted his swords, all of them pointing in the same direction to his side. A ghostly image of a dragon appeared behind him, 'In order to defeat the extraordinary…I CANNOT BE ORDINARY!' Hachi had charged forward with his swords, and the second before he reached him Zoro began to spin. Every single one of Hachi's swords shattered into dozens of shards, "TATSUMAKI!" Hachi's heavy body lifted straight into the air via a razor-sharp whirlwind. More and more tiny slices appeared on his body before the wind could no longer keep him afloat and he crashed into the water, completely unconscious. He was quite lucky that he was a Fishman, because if he hadn't been he surely would have just drowned to death.

Zoro panted and almost fell over, but he righted himself just in time, "Now do you get it, takoyaki? You see the difference between our blades now, don't you?"

Kurobi rushed towards Zoro, getting ready to break his skull with one hit, but he was forced to dodge a final Sanjūroku Pound Hō from Zoro as he finally fell. "HOW DARE YOU DEFEAT MY BRETHREN!" He eyed the deep gouge in the ground with enraged eyes. He couldn't tell if the man had even been serious or not, despite that wound. A human like this could not be allowed to exist! He charged forward again, only to be met with a teeth-shattering strong kick from Sanji.

Sanji's smoke was wafting from his mouth, "Now, I know you weren't about to hurt this idiot, right?"

Kurobi rubbed his aching jaw in rage, "You…I thought I killed you?"

Sanji scoffed, "Please, as if a punch that weak could hurt me. You probably couldn't even kill Patty and Carne."

Kurobi growled, "I'm being underestimated…" He got into a karate stance, "Whether on land or in the sea, Fishmen cannot be beat by you inferior humans!"

"Evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, I'm sure." Sanji sneered at the Fishman, who had veins bulge on his head at the comment.

"Once I kill you I'll kill Zoro, and that long-nosed idiot, that brat who hit Arlong, and every single one of the villagers who dared rebel!" He grinned, "And of course, I'll kill that bitch Nami too for betraying our trust, if Mohmoo hasn't already eaten her! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SAVE A SINGLE PERSON WITH YOUR FAKE CHIVALRY!"

Sanji vanished with Soru, "Collier!" He yelled from above a suddenly-wide-eyed Kurobi. His foot slammed straight into the Fishman's gills, sending him to the floor screaming in pain.

Kurobi quickly rolled out of the way of an axe kick, looking furious, "I'll kill you with the essence of Fishman Karate! Earlier, it was my Hyakumaigawara Seiken that sent you flying! You'll never be able to withstand my Senmaigawara Seiken! I'll kill you in a single blow!" He gathered power behind his fist, and then sent it screaming forwards. The air whistled from the speed and power as it hurtled towards Sanji, but it never hit home.

Sanji appeared behind Kurobi in a burst of speed and dropped to a one-handed handstand position. He began spin, "Cotelette! Selle!" A hit to the back of Kurobi's legs sent him into the air, howling in pain. A second hit to the back bent him backwards in quite the wrong direction. Kurobi's eyes were white and his mouth was gaping as he howled with what little air he had in his lungs. "Poitrine!" Sanji flipped above the floating Fishman and slammed his heel into his breast, sending him crashing into the floor hard enough to shatter it. As his body flopped back up in a kneeling position from the impact, Sanji gave him a running kick to the chest, "Gigot!"

Kurobi hurtled backwards and rolled, rising to his feet, "You bastard! Take this! Senmaigawara Sei-"

Sanji blurred into existence in front of him at a blistering pace, "Mutton shot!" A hard kick to the face finished the fight, sending Kurobi hurtling through the wall and into dreamland, "Who did you say you were going to kill again?" He muttered darkly as he lit up a cigarette, "Don't want any dessert?"

-]|[-

"Chuuu…that was more trouble than it was worth. You couldn't even stand a single shot of my water gun." Chew stood above the bloody, broken form of Usopp. He had chased the brat all the way to the farmlands. "You ran pretty fast, but it still wasn't enough to save you. Too bad, so sad. Well, at least you got a quick death." He turned, "Well, time to head back. I wonder if they're finished by now."

Usopp lay there with his eyes open, 'Phew! My Ketchup Boshi worked like a charm. He thinks his stupid water gun hit me!' He risked turning his head a little, and saw Chew leisurely strolling away, 'What a terrifying race. They flipped an entire town. Sorry Nami, I want to help. But I'd rather not die.' He sat up, "I already have this ketchup 'blood' on me, but it could probably look more convincing." He started rubbing dirt on himself and scuffing up his skin, "To make it seem like the battle was a fight to the death… I wonder what I should say when I get back?" He wondered, "Maybe something like, 'My bad, I ended up losing.'"

I told you I wanted you as my sniper, didn't I? Luffy's face swam in his vision.

"Or maybe 'Damn it, that guy just barely got away from me!' would be better!" His head dipped, "'Don't cry, Nami…We tried our hardest!'"

I'd rather die. This time it was Zoro's face, clutching his sword through clenched teeth.

"'We've all fought well.'" Tears started building up in Usopp's eyes behind his goggles.

I won't stand idly if you plan to insult and hurt a lady. Sanji's confident face popped up, ready to take on the world for their navigator.

"'No, no, my wounds are nothing to worry about.'" His entire body began to tremble.

He shot my mother between the eyes right in front of me.

Steam almost shot from his nose, 'I'm so pathetic!' He jumped up to his feet, "STOP RIGHT THERE YOU HALF-FISH FREAK!" he roared, 'The moment I stepped onto that boat, I left peace and security behind! They risk their lives and give it their all, every damn day! Kaya would be ashamed of me! I'm ashamed of me!'

Chew halted, and half-turned, "Oh, so you were still alive? Chu…"

"As if a little attack from a half-fish bastard could ever hit me!" Usopp yelled back, 'They can all laugh from the bottom of their hearts! Isn't that what I always wanted as well? Isn't that why I set out?! If I don't fight seriously, I can never sail with them again, NOR CAN I LAUGH WITH THEM!' "Hissatsu! Kaen Boshi!" He yelled as he drew the rubber and let loose the star.

Chew had been rushing towards him, aiming to take him out in one hit, but he had been surprised by how quickly and accurately Usopp was able to fire it. Instead of knocking the human head over heels in a single hit as planned, he ate a full flame star right in the face and was horribly burned by it. He howled in agony as he clutched his aching face, but Usopp was caught by such surprise at actually damaging his opponent that he didn't capitalize on it.

He would regret that dearly. An enraged Chew charged forward at a much faster speed than ever before and smashed his fist square into Usopp's nose, squishing it flat. Usopp literally flipped from the impact and landed on his stomach, blood spurting from his face. Chew turned with an enraged look in his eyes, "Idiot. You should have just pretended to be dead. Now I'm going to tear you limb from limb!" He roared as he stalked forward like an angry tiger.

"I'm done…" Usopp muttered.

"That's right!" Chew yelled and kicked him in the ribs, "You're done alright! Done living!"

"It's over! Usopp Hammer!" He yelled and smashed his decently heavy metal hammer into Chew's kneecap. Chew howled and clutched his leg as he hopped on one hand, "Usopp Rubber Band of Doom!" Chew flinched and closed his eyes, before his brain caught up.

He opened his eyes and saw that Usopp was gone, "GOD DAMN IT! HOW COULD I FALL FOR SUCH A STUPID TRICK! COME OUT, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He heard a whirling sound, and turned, catching a bottle, "Rum? Is this a peace offering, you little shit?"

"Hissatsu! Namari Boshi!" Usopp's voice rang out as the bottle shattered and dumped alcohol all over him.

The alcohol stung on his burns and it pissed him off even more, "You're dead, you inferior little brat!" He faced the trees, before he dipped his protruding mouth into the water meant for irrigation, "It doesn't matter where you're hiding! I'll flush you out!" He started sucking up massive amounts of water, inflating almost like a balloon.

In the trees, Usopp was glaring at the giant battle spear he had on his back, "This thing is too big and clunky! I almost got caught!" He shook his head, "It doesn't matter! The man 'Usopp' can't run away from this fight! I'm a real Pirate now! If I lose I'll die!"

"MIZU TAIHŌ!" Chew's voice rang out, and Usopp gasped as an entire section of the forest utterly vanished.

"WHERE'S THE FOREST?!" He yelped, staring agog at the destruction that had just missed him by about a meter or two.

Chew stared at his exposed head with a twitchy eye, "I feel as if I'm being mocked…" He muttered, "He showed himself on his own…Why do I have to fight an idiot like him?!" He spat out another ball of water, "Mizu Taihō!"

Usopp grabbed the battle spear by its extending pole and swung it. He definitely didn't have the strength for extended use, but he just managed to connect. A massive explosion rang out from the impact of the water cannon and the spear. Usopp got flung into a tree while Chew slid back a couple feet. "Ugh…" Usopp groaned, allowing a puff of black smoke to escape his mouth. He looked a little crispy, "Bad idea." The battle spear clattered to the dirt next to him. He raised a shaky hand and put it back onto his back, its pole retracting.

Chew ran over and held a giant tree trunk over his head, ready to smash Usopp, "Yeah, it really was. It's game over!"

Usopp grinned victoriously, "You're right! Alcohol is flammable! Hissatsu! Kaen Boshi!" Chew ignited into brilliant flames, and this time, they didn't extinguish. His clothes were bathed in alcohol and wouldn't go out. Chew began rolling around, screaming at the top of his lungs. He began running for water, "Usopp Hammer!" Usopp jumped next to him and smashed him in the face with his hammer. Both of them landed in the water.

"Ugh…" Chew groaned and tried to get up.

Usopp panicked and dropped his hammer, reaching for the spear again. "Usopp Exploding Pound!" He swung it down as hard as he could. A massive explosion rang through the clearing once more, sending up a plume of smoke and mist. Usopp crashed into a tree and the battle spear landed in another tree around a hundred feet away. He puffed out a lot of black smoke, before raising his goggles with trembling fingers. He looked like a reverse panda, as his regular skin color was surrounded by black soot that covered his entire face, "M…maybe I should not use that thing anymore…" He mumbled weakly. He staggered to his feet and went to go check on Chew. The mist cleared, revealing the Fishman. His face was mangled beyond recognition and horrible burns marred his body. He was clearly not going to be getting up again for a good, long while.

Usopp trembled, before he collapsed backwards, "I…I won?" He said in wonder. A blinding grin split his face, "I WON! EVEN I COULD WIN! YOU SEE THAT YOU BASTARD FISHMEN?! DON'T YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

-]|[-

"Damn it guys! Why do I have to fight the Sea Cow! You could knock it out in one hit!" Nami screamed as Mohmoo once again caught up to her and dove – maw opened wide – to swallow her whole. She used Soru to speed out of the way, and started hopping on the water, having long-since realized it was much easier to do than hopping on the air. She tracked the Sea Cow through the water and got ready to move again, jumping straight up into the air as Mohmoo breeched and sent whole pools worth of water exploding into the air. It reached its peak and fell back down long before Nami did. She rubbed her face in irritation, "I don't mind fighting anymore, but I'd at least like a chance. This thing is way too big for me to hurt." She started to whine.

"MOO!" Mohmoo roared at her from down below, and slapped the water with its tail, flinging water at her. It didn't even get close to her.

"Well, here goes nothing…" She deadpanned, before sending her rocketing down. Her staff caught it right between the eyes so hard that a shockwave spread through the ocean. It was so hard even her reinforced staff developed some cracks and her arms trembled. Her hands felt numb. And Mohmoo? Mohmoo just roared and started freaking out, "DAMN IT!" She cried as she dashed away from the wild beast, "I'm going to kill Usopp! I can't hit this thing hard enough to take it out!"

Mohmoo kept thrashing and churning up the ocean, before Nami got an idea. It would suck…she would hate every second of it…but it might work, "HEY MOHMOO! I'M RIGHT HERE!" She screamed, wagging her tongue at it.

"MOO!" The Sea Cow charged. Nami waited, right up until its head was descending to eat her, before jumping back and then using Geppō straight upwards. Her hands wrapped around Mohmoo's nose ring and it was in for a really bad day. "MOOOOOOOOO!" Mohmoo wailed in agony as Nami wrenched its nose ring this way and that way with Geppō. Its thrashing didn't help it in that regard because it just allowed Nami to stop doing any work. Finally, her hands slipped from the ring and she was flung backwards at the water. She smacked into it with a cry of pain and sank, before righting herself and leaping back out.

"Well, that certainly wor-WHY ARE YOU CRYING!" Her thoughts to herself changed into angry screaming as she looked at Mohmoo with white eyes and shark teeth.

Mohmoo just sat there and stared at her, tears in its eyes and a little bit of blood coming from its nose, "Moo…" It mumbled sadly.

She stared at it, completely deadpan…before she facepalmed and pointed out at the open ocean, "Just…just get out of here, you stupid, adorable lug."

"Moo…" It said mournfully.

"You're just as afraid of Arlong as I was." She realized with exasperation, "You're huge, but you're really a softy deep-down, aren't you?" She shook her head, "Just get out of here Mohmoo! Go be free! Arlong isn't going to be around anymore! Someone much scarier than him likes me much better!"

"Moo!" With one final cry, the massive Sea Cow turned and dove, disappearing into the depths with a gigantic splash.

She sighed, "Well, that ended well." She deadpanned, before turning and kicking her way back to Arlong Park.

-]|[-

She arrived back around the same time as Usopp did, "Nami! Did you win too?!" He called out in sheer excitement. He was covered in soot, but he seemed elated.

She wanted to go over and smack him good, but it did look like he actually used that stupid battle spear, so she could forgive him. Every Fishman sans Arlong was down, and he would follow soon after, "Of course!" She smirked confidently, exchanging a high-five.

"Nami…" A familiar voice grabbed her attention. She turned and smiled happily at her sister, who was looking at her as if she had seen a ghost, "Nami…what happened to you?"

Nami grinned and turned back, "He happened..." She eyed Luffy who was still facing off against Arlong, and the Fishman did not look like he was enjoying himself, "He gave me hope. Watch closely sis…he's the one who made this all possible."

Arlong and Luffy were engaged in a furious fist fight at the moment. Arlong's muscles were bulging dangerously, and he looked more furious than anyone there had ever seen him. His eyes were blood red and he was covered in bruises, "WHY?! WON'T?! YOU?! DIE?!" The Fishman roared, punching at Luffy so hard that it would have shattered concrete into thousands of tiny pieces.

Luffy casually inclined his head to the left to dodge the fist and smashed his own into Arlong's gut so fast that his arm was a mere blur. The hit lifted Arlong clean off his feet and forced bloody spittle from his lips, but Luffy didn't give him any respite. A second punch to his side clearly broke ribs judging from the sickening crack that rang through the air. A third punch to the face sent Arlong soaring across the courtyard into the pool. The people of the village stiffened, knowing that Arlong was now ten times as strong as he had been.

They saw Arlong's fin as the shark swam in the water, allowing it to reinvigorate him. He grinned, allowing some blood to escape into the ocean, "Filthy human. Do you have any idea how angry you've made me? You won't die easily." He rose up with cupped hands, "O Uchimizu!" Two massive 'bullets' of water shot forward at a blistering speed.

Luffy's eyes narrowed, and before the bullets had reached him, they vaporized. "Stop playing in your little pond, you stupid shark." Arlong snarled angrily, "You hurt Nami, and I'm going to kick your ass!"

"You inferior human!" Arlong roared, visibly getting even more hulking and angry than before, "Don't you know the difference between Fishmen and humans? Do you not realize how angry?-"

"Enjū!" A blast of plasma forced Arlong under the water with wide eyes. The water instantly began to vaporize where the beam touched and boil nearby. Arlong howled in agony as his flesh started to cook. Half of his body looked completely discolored now. He darted away from the hot water as fast as he could. "GET UP HERE, ARLONG!" Luffy roared angrily, "If you don't I'll boil you out of there!"

"Oii, Luffy!" Sanji called, "You can't just boil shark! I haven't even seasoned him yet!"

Arlong – furious beyond reason at having not only been interrupted in his Fishman Superiority Rant but having been injured by a filthy human – swam like a torpedo straight out of the water, "SHARK ON DARTS!" His entire body was horizontal, an arrow aimed straight for Luffy's heart. His nose gleamed in the sunlight as his body cut through the air, looking to spear this damn Paramecia straight through Arlong Park.

Luffy grinned and raised a hand. It closed in a vice-grip around Arlong's nose, the impact pushing the two of them back roughly three meters. But their momentum cut and all Arlong could see was Luffy's fist around his nose and that damnable, supremely confident grin of his.

WHAM!

Luffy first smashed Arlong's knees into the ground hard enough to crater it. Then, he slammed his own knee into the massive shark Fishman's sternum. Air and spittle were both forced from the Fishman's mouth in a wheeze before another knee almost had his eyes pop out. His arms flopped uselessly to his sides. Luffy grinned as he remembered the conversation he had with Nami that first morning after she told him what Arlong had done to her… "Arlong is very proud of that nose of his. I've personally seen him spear straight through a Marine ship and sink it. His crew says it's unbreakable."

"I told Nami and my crew I would be feeding you your own nose." Luffy said, almost conversationally. That woke Arlong from his daze, but he couldn't get a word in edge-wise. For the first time, a human's grin terrified him, "I'd hate to be CALLED A LIAR!"

Luffy's grip on his nose tightened and he started forcing it backwards. Arlong started to howl as his indestructible nose started to bend backwards towards his hair, "STOP!" His muscles bulged as he threw a hard right-hand into Luffy's ribs. "GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME!" Luffy didn't even wince, "STOP! STOOPP!" He roared, throwing devastating fists into his enemy's torso, but Luffy barely even felt them. When your childhood consisted of getting punched by Monkey D. Garp in order to build a stronger Tekkai, a wimpy Fishman like Arlong wouldn't be able to even budge him.

With a final jerk of his wrist, Luffy ripped Arlong's saw-like nose clean off his face. Even Nami turned a little pale as Arlong jerked back and started rolling about, clutching at his face as he howled dementedly. "I didn't think Luffy would actually rip his nose off." She mumbled, but the sight of her tormentor screaming in pain brought a grin to her face. She wasn't normally a vicious person like this – and she was actually pretty sure that Luffy wasn't either, usually – but Arlong had stolen her mother from her and hurt her. They could both make an exception in this case.

Luffy calmly walked to the flailing Arlong as he stumbled about – blood pouring from between his fingers as he held his face – and rammed his fist into the Fishman's gut. Arlong almost puked, his mouth opening wide. Luffy threw the nose into Arlong's gaping maw, and Arlong instinctively clamped down. A bone-shattering uppercut broke the shark's jaw and sent shards of his teeth flying around. Arlong collapsed backwards, barely able to move. His teeth were all either cracked or utterly shattered and they weren't even growing back anymore. Luffy moved above him and punched down so hard that a two-meter-wide crater broke into the dirt.

Nami started to sob as they all felt the quake. Sob in utter joy and relief. "THIS!" A second quake shook them as the crater widened again, "IS! FOR! HURTING!" Each word was punctuated with another plume of concrete and dirt spraying out of the hole, "NAMI!" The final word sounded out with one last quake. Seconds later, Luffy left Arlong's broken body lying in the hole. He hopped out of it and turned to stare at Arlong Park's main building. The night he learned about her past had not been the only night. They had slept together many more times since then, each time trading a few stories. Nami's stories about this damn place had not been any more pleasant than the stories about her past itself.

He turned to his navigator, who was rushing towards him with a tearful, ecstatic grin, "What do you want to do, Nami?" She slowed and quirked her head, "Ransack and strip the place?" He clenched a fist, "Or see it on the ground?"

Two sides warred within the former thief. Half of her was salivating at the thought of seeing this place utterly obliterated. The other half was salivating at taking everything that wasn't nailed down, just to start. She bit her lip for a moment as she stared, "Everything from the third floor and up." She finally whispered, and Luffy immediately turned and leapt into the air.

"Enten Enten no… Taihō!" Nami tried to keep her eyes on the tower as Luffy fired his attack, but it was just too bright. She was forced to look away. Finally, the light petered away and left her blinking away spots. Perhaps they would all need to get sunglasses? She looked and started to sob in joy. Just as she had demanded, the entirety of the top few floors had simply vanished. Including her own room. Her hated room, where Arlong and his men had tormented her for almost a decade. Where she had been forced to hate her own dreams.

It no longer existed.

Luffy noticed parts of it were starting to burn, so before he landed he shot off a dull Rankyaku which blew all the flames out. When he landed, the delighted Nami physically leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, "Thank you!" She cried hoarsely, "Thank you thank you thank you!" She was hugging him with all the strength she could muster, with him returning the favor. The both of them pulled back and smiled brightly at one another. Her smile turned into a more salacious smirk, her gaze smoldering, "Come here…" She said sweetly as she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Everyone there who knew her went wide eyed and their jaws dropped.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Sanji cried, now witnessing the two being affectionate for the first time. He slumped to the ground in depression, "Nami-swan…why…" He pounded the ground with a fist, "It's not fair." He sobbed hysterically.

Nami couldn't help herself, she started to giggle helplessly, "Shut up Sanji! You're ruining the moment!"

Zoro – who was just lying there in agony – mumbled, "Stupid, perverted Dartbrow…"

-]|[-

After that, the crew split up. Nami had immediately looked upon Zoro after she and Luffy had been able to relinquish one another and had almost gone into a panic at seeing his stained bandages. She had promptly ordered Sanji and Usopp to bring the swordsman to Nako's clinic, and practically begged the doctor to make sure he was alright. The rest of the town had immediately worked themselves into a frenzy, sending out victory messengers to every corner of the Conomi Islands in whatever dinghies they managed to scrounge together. Genzo led many of the stronger men in tying up and arresting the rest of the Fishmen. Arlong and the rest of his officers were tied up with hundreds of pounds of rope, trussed up so tightly even they wouldn't be able to escape. And just to be sure, several of the villagers started taking revenge into their own hands when Genzo wasn't looking. Arlong himself would go to jail far more grievously injured than even Luffy had left him. The rest of them started building up the town for the biggest party they would ever throw on that rock.

Luffy, Nami, and Zoro's former partners had gone and grabbed the Going Merry, sailing her around the island and into Arlong Park and weighing anchor in the inlet. Nami felt utterly surreal walking into the place, remembering every time she had been dragged in there by her hair or mocked or derided or even punished when Arlong got into a mood. She remembered every time one of the people she had known growing up had been brought here, never to be seen again. She knew the Fishmen never touched any of the women personally; they were far too xenophobic for that. But that didn't mean any of their fates would have been happy ones. Who knew what had become of them.

Finally, she closed her eyes and let out a breath. "Maybe coming in here was a bad idea. I should have let you just destroy the place, Luffy."

Luffy squeezed her hand in comfort, "They'll never hurt anyone again, Nami." He told her gently, "Now is just cleaning up, and I'm sure you'll be eager to see the rest of the place vanish after we're done."

She smiled softly at him, giving him another kiss for his words, "Let's do this."

The four of them proceeded to rip every single valuable thing out of that damned mansion. They'd gone room by room, taking anything that struck Nami's fancy as potentially being valuable and destroyed every single monument to the Fishmen's cruelty they could find. She was fairly certain they destroyed millions of Beli in small and large statues, and Nami was utterly gleeful as she watched Luffy melt Arlong's sword Kiribachi into a pile of molten slag. When they reached Arlong's gigantic bedroom, even Nami's love for money wasn't enough to take anything Arlong might have used himself. About the only thing they dismantled to take or straight carried out was the furniture, with none of the beds or bedding following.

She let out a snort once the idiot duo left the room with the bedframe, "Even as high quality as that thing was, I'm not sure I'd ever want to sleep in it…" She chuckled depreciatively.

"Then we won't." Luffy said simply, drawing a smile from the orangette.

Finally, they reached his safe, and Luffy had it open as quickly as he had opened that safe in Morgan's base, so long ago. Nami's eyes turned into ฿. Luffy chuckled as his Navigator practically went insensate at the warm light shining back onto them. "H-holy shit!" She exclaimed, not believing her eyes. There was a massive amount of gold sitting quietly in the vault. Just in one pile probably sat more than enough to make up for all the gold those Marine bastards had stolen from her grove. It took hours to empty the place out and dozens of trips, even after she sent Luffy racing into town to get Sanji and Usopp. They filled Merry's holds to capacity and the rest Nami had carted into town.

As they sat outside, Nami eyed the Going Merry nervously. She was definitely sitting lower in the water than Nami felt comfortable with. She doubted the ship would sink, but they'd be severely hampered if they ever got into a naval battle. Crocodile tears started leaking from her eyes, "All that gold and we can't take it! WAHHH!" Luffy chuckled and shook his head in bemusement while he patted his distraught navigator on the back as she sobbed into his neck.

After they cleared the place out – much to Nami's pleasure – she asked him to destroy the rest of the monument to her people's suffering. And destroy it Luffy did. He cupped his hands together and a massive ball of plasma formed in between them, "Enten Enten no…Kōen!" He roared, throwing his hands forward and sending the massive blast straight through Arlong Park's doors. It burned a perfectly circular hole straight through and blasted through the stairwell before detonating in the middle of the building. The ball began expanding massively, engulfing everything in its path. The other three were forced to look away and shield their eyes as it appeared as if a second sun had formed right in front of them. The heat was immense, forcing all of them to start sweating heavily. The sea behind Luffy started to steam. Finally, the light vanished, and they were able to see what remained of Arlong Park.

And the answer was nothing. The entire, massive structure and even some of the rock it stood on was just gone. All that was left was a melted bowl were it once stood. Nami took his hand and gave him another kiss, "Luffy… thank you…"

-]|[-

Hours earlier, Zoro lay in bed, finally getting treatment for his duel with Mihawk, much to the doctor's disgusted, horrified astonishment, "YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!" Doctor Nako roared at the bedridden Zoro as he took off the bloody bandages for the first time. Zoro's torso was a mess, looking like it was held together with duct tape and superglue. "How could you idiots possibly think patching this up on your own was a good idea?! How could you even stand with wounds this bad! Do you not have a doctor on your ship?!"

"Doctor huh?" Luffy had that look in his eye later on once he heard the details of how badly his swordsman was injured. The doctor would not stop talking about how important it would be to find medical help for their crew. They had finally secured the Merry and had rushed into town to make sure Zoro was getting better, "Yeah, that's a good idea. We'll find one after a musician." Nako promptly realized that Nami was utterly doomed.

-]|[-

'It's finally done, mom.' Nami was kneeling in front of Bell-mère's makeshift grave, 'After eight long years…it's finally over. Everyone is free again!' She smiled, "If mom were alive, do you think she'd stop me from becoming a Pirate?"

"Of course! She would-" Genzo was saying, but Nojiko grabbed his cheek and stretched it out.

"Of course not." Nojiko stated, "That was mum for you. She always told us to follow our dreams. And besides, even if she had, you wouldn't have listened."

Nami laughed and stuck her tongue out, "You know me too well, sis."

-]|[-

It was already the second night of raucous partying in Cocoyashi, and Luffy was staring at a sad looking Sanji with a leg of meat in his mouth and three in each hand, "Sanji, what was on that last melon you ate just now?"

"What's with all the meat you're holding on to?" Zoro asked in bemusement.

Sanji glowered at his Captain, "Damn you Luffy! Why do you have to be so lucky!" He started shaking the man in the straw hat, "You treat her right you bastard! You got that!"

Luffy allowed himself to be shaken, chuckling at Sanji's continued reaction to him and Nami, "Anyway, what was that melon?" He would have reassured the man, but he had already done that. Three times. Just that hour. And he'd been doing it for the past two days.

Sanji sighed, "It was something called Raw Ham Melon. Now…I'm going to go flirt!" he danced away. Usopp was off on some podium telling tall (and not so tall) tales and singing songs with the villagers. Zoro was now dead asleep, and Luffy raced off, trying to find the awesome new food that had caught his eye.

As he raced through the party, he ran into Nami, "Shishishi, nice tattoo, Nami." He grinned.

He embraced her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The new tattoo was of a tangerine and a pinwheel, "It's all thanks to you." She mumbled, placing a kiss on his neck. Luffy shivered, all thoughts of the Ham Melon momentarily chased out, for some reason. He kissed her neck back, and they distanced themselves momentarily, so they could find the other's lips. Kissing was new to both of them, and they were a little clumsy, but it was much better than it had been on the ship weeks ago.

She pulled back, and uncharacteristically shy blush on her cheeks. She grabbed his hand, "Come on." The both blurred and vanished in a Soru.

-]|[-

The next day dawned bright and early, and the Strawhats were gathered on their ship, "Why are we on the ship Luffy? Weren't we supposed to stay here for a few more days?" Usopp asked him.

Luffy smirked, thinking back to the previous night, 'Hey Luffy…I know you really want to go to the Grand Line now…but do you think you could do one more favor for me?' He laughed, "We'll be back." He said, "We have one last thing to do before we can start heading for the Grand Line."

Sanji looked curiously at him, "Oh, and what's that?"

"You'll see soon enough." Nami grinned as she walked over. Thankfully, no one but Luffy noticed that she was walking a little gingerly, and she shot him a reassuring smile at his concern, "Ready to go, Captain."

Luffy grinned, "Then set sail!"

-]|[-

"Has Arlong picked up that damn snail yet?" Nezumi practically sprayed the hapless Marine underling he was speaking to with his spit.

The Marine had his hands behind his back, trying to resist the urge to wipe his face, "No sir." He said, "Ever since the last call five days ago, all communications have ceased."

Nezumi ground his teeth together, "Where is that damn fish when you need him?" He rubbed his aching shoulder, which jostled the sling he had his arm in, causing him more pain. He grimaced, "That blue haired bitch has to pay for what she did to me." He seethed, "That damn shark better pick up the damn snail soon. I want to buy her. I'll show her what happens when you even think of touching me!"

Whatever response the Marine grunt was going to give was lost as the entire building began to shake. Massive explosions rang through the air, practically flinging Nezumi off his comfy chair and onto the ground. His wound almost ripped open, and instead his arm went numb. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

-]|[-

"We're going to attack WHAT?!" Usopp cried hysterically.

"That Marine base." Luffy repeated nonchalantly, pointing at the tall tower in the distance that was shaped like a mouse's head. That was essentially the only major building on the small island. It was connected to a couple smaller ones that were likely barracks or mess halls. There were six docks for medium-sized Marine ships, with four currently occupied. This was Marine Base Three, designed to equip and supply Marine Branches Twelve through Eighteen. As 'the most accomplished' of the Marine Captains of those six branches, the base was modelled after Nezumi's tastes.

"BUT WHY?!" Usopp roared, shaking Luffy back and forth, much to his Captain's amusement. "That'll just put us on the Marine's shit list!"

"That'll happen regardless." Zoro was looking much, much better than he had a couple days ago. He looked far more recovered than he should have and had even started tugging at the bandages, claiming that they were too restrictive, "Luffy will become the Pirate King. Might as well get the infamous part started." He was grinning confidently as he stared down the four ships, with one hand on Wado.

"Besides, they're corrupt. They got paid by Arlong to look the other way and even aid him when he wanted. They stole my money. They hurt my sister." Usopp cringed at the fire in Nami's tone and backed away hastily. She was smiling cheerfully, "Take your pick Usopp." She grinned at him, rubbing her newest staff happily. This one was wildly different than her previous two. It was a gleaming red metal, rather than blue wood, and it was hollowed out with a couple of buttons on it. "Or better yet, get on the guns, sniper!"

Usopp gulped, before dropping his goggles down his face, "R-right!"

Luffy grinned as they got closer to the base, "Usopp, say hello!"

"And try not to hit the buildings! We don't know where they keep their loot!" Nami added. Usopp mentally cringed at the order but followed it anyway without hesitation.

BANG!

The cannon fired, and he ran to the next one, firing it too. The cannonballs whistled through the air as the first one smashed straight through first the sail and then the cabin of one of the Marine ships. The mast crumbled and fell to the side, ripping the sails of another vessel as it fell. The second one smashed into a second ship, igniting its powder keg and blowing it sky high. Most of the Strawhats had to shield their eyes from the immensely bright light coming from the blaze that not only blew the ships to pieces, but also lit the closest vessel on fire. A second explosion from the shrapnel piercing through the other ship and igniting its powder cracked through the air.

Then, the shockwave hit the Strawhats and some of them winced as their ears popped. Usopp was almost tossed head-over-heels, but he somehow managed to right himself. In two shots, Usopp had annihilated two ships that were bigger than their ship, crippled another entirely, and damaged the last one.

Marines everywhere on the island were panicking and running around like headless chicken. None of them had been manning any of the ships, so only an unlucky few were even injured. No one had even spotted the Going Merry because Nezumi's rule was that complacent. But, some of them managed to rally together and rush for the last ship. It was damaged, but still seaworthy. The ship shot from port as soon as the anchors were pulled and fired right back at the Going Merry.

"AHHH! THEY FIRED!" Usopp cried helplessly, waving his arms in the air.

Zoro just barely managed to not roll his eyes, "Are you a sniper or not? If they shoot at us, knock it out of the sky with our own shot."

Usopp got right in Zoro's face, screaming at him, "We only have two cannons and they're both empty!"

"Fine, fine." Zoro said carelessly, "I suppose this will be a nice warm up." He drew his cherished blade – having given the other two back to Johnny and Yosaku – and held it with two hands, "Ittōryū…Sanjuroku Pound Ho!" He slashed the air in front of him and a couple dozen meters away, the cannonball was cut in twain, before exploding.

"Nice aim!" Nami cheered appreciatively, "You've gotten much better at that." Zoro smirked as he started blasting cannonballs out of the air left and right.

The two ships closed in on each other, with the enemy firing at an increasingly rapid, increasingly panicked pace in an attempt to sink them. Nothing worked. Zoro used his 'cannon' to blast the cannonballs out of the air, as did Luffy with blunt Rankyaku. Sanji was very much new to the technique, so his attacks were fairly ineffectual, barely able knock them off course. He had not yet managed to get a good cutting edge, and it was driving him mad. It also infuriated Nami, because she hadn't even managed to get a whisper of wind pressure from one of her kicks.

Finally, the ships were forced to stop their game of chicken and peel off. The Marine's turned their ship slightly so that they were a couple of meters apart, board to board. Zoro grinned viciously, "Ittōryū… Sanjuroku Pound Ho!" He yelled one final time. This time he utilized the technique at full cutting power, rather than purposely dulling it. The air churned as the attack fired off, before hitting the Marine Vessel. Immediately, the ship began to split. It did not go all the way through, but it got far enough that water started gushing into the holds. "Damn." Zoro cursed as the Marines began to panic as the ship tilted and began to list before the immense forces of the water started to rip it apart. "Still not good enough." He groused. He had been hoping to cut the sip in two and hadn't even come close. What Zoro's attack started, the sea finished. The rest of the deck broke apart in jagged splinters of wood. The bow crashed into the waves and the rest of the split ship followed, sinking rapidly. The ocean churned and threw up spray as the helpless Marines dove off the doomed vessel.

The Strawhats continued onto the island, where some hidden cannons started popping out of the concrete encampments. Before they could get a shot off, Luffy had rocketed into the air, "Enten no…Bakuha!" His entire body started glowing golden and began expanding. Several Marines cringed as they stared at the bright attack, and when it exploded and expanded with an even brighter light, a good number of them went momentarily blind.

And to the eyes of the Marines who weren't blinded because they weren't staring at the damn ball almost as bright as the sun, what they could only describe as liquid fire started raining from the skies. Every battlement they had on the island was annihilated. The falling spears of plasma cut straight through them in great showers of sparks. When they stopped raining, and the Marines were able to stop trembling under the onslaught, Luffy landed on the island in front of them. And then Nami appeared right next to him and whacked him in the head with her staff, "Ow! What was that for Nami!" He yelled crankily.

She grabbed his lips and stretched them out, "You almost hit Merry you idiot!" She yelled furiously.

"I'b sowwy Nabi!" Luffy said as best as he could, looking contrite.

She let go with a smile, "Just be more careful. One hit from your Sun powers and Merry is doomed." She looked mischievous, before pulling him in for a quick kiss. The disembarking Sanji turned into glass and shattered.

"S-stop!" Luffy and Nami pulled apart and blinked owlishly at the trembling Marines, "Y-y-y-you're u-under arrest!" They were all trembling like leaves in the wind, their rifles shaking so badly that they wouldn't have hit the broadside of a Galleon, much less any of them.

Nami smirked and split her staff into three pieces, "Alright Usopp, time to test this Clima-Tact of yours out." She assembled it into a cross pattern, with one section in her hand and the two others forming an 'x' at the other end, "Hope you boys enjoy! The weather is stormy and windy!" She swung the Clima-Tact like a bat and the cross detached, flying towards the rows of Marines. It appeared to be spewing some sort of red and blue bubbles. When it hit one of the panicking Marines, the bubbles popped, "Cyclone Tempo!" She yelled as a massive wind started picking up the regiment and flinging them all over the base. Even she blinked owlishly at the result, "Holy crap!" She had stars in her eyes as the cross came back to her like a boomerang and she caught it. She immediately raced towards Usopp – who was gaping at the sight with snot coming out of his nose – and pushed his head into her chest for a tight hug, "That was even better than I hoped for!" She squealed in excitement. She pulled away, looking at him sheepishly, "You know, I almost expected you to fill the thing with stupid useless party tricks. Good job!"

"Shishishi! That was awesome Nami!" Luffy's eyes were literally glowing like stars as he stared at the devastation.

Usopp coughed uncomfortably, making plans to somehow steal away the instruction manual he had given her. And how the hell had she managed to create that attack? Even he thought it was no more than a party trick, and he made the damn thing! But he couldn't let her know that, "O-of course!" He crossed his arms, "Did you really doubt the great Captain Usopp?"

She caught his stutter and stared at him blankly, "You did fill it with party tricks, didn't you?" Usopp gagged, "You idiot." She facepalmed, "Be glad that actually worked and I didn't find out in a real fight." She grabbed his nose with her fingertips and squeezed, "But we're going to go over it closely together, got that?"

"S-sure!" Usopp stammered. Nami could be surprisingly scary for such a petite girl.

"Nami-swan is so amazing!" Sanji was dancing around her with hearts in his eyes.

"Stupid love cook." Zoro muttered as he passed by them.

"What was that?" Sanji's hearts shattered and his normal eyes replaced them, "What did you call me, you damn national treasure?"

A vein bulged on Zoro's forehead, "You want to go, love cook?"

Nami rolled her eyes as the two began arguing and calling each other names. She walked over to Luffy and grabbed his hand, "Shall we?" They walked over to the big set of metal doors leading into the ugly building and lifted their legs. They both kicked out, and the doors groaned. Nami's side slammed into the wall, while Luffy's side flew off its hinges and crashed into the stairwell a couple meters down the hall, "Show off." She pouted, much to his amusement.

They walked up the stairs to an ostentatious-looking set of doors that clearly must have led to Nezumi's office. They kicked this one down too, and the two men inside squeaked in fear, "Wh-who are you! Are you all insane! This is a Marine Base! You can't do th-grk!" He couldn't finish his squawking as Nami's staff slammed into his mouth. Blood and teeth flew through the air as a sobbing Nezumi crashed through his desk.

"Oh hi, rat-san! I'm so sorry, did that hurt?" Nami looked especially gorgeous when she was vengeful. She was being all pleasant and happy, even as she brutalized the Marine Captain with her staff. "But I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! How can you ask me who I am when we've been through so much together?"

"I've never seen you in by life!" Nezumi sobbed through his busted teeth.

"Oh, but I do know you." Her sweet tone turned dark, "Does the name Nojiko ring any bells?" She smiled viciously as the man curdled to the color of spoiled milk, "Oh, it does!" She said happily, "You see, I'm Nojiko's sister." She said, watching as he somehow paled even more, "And you have something of mine." She grabbed his whiskers and hauled him up, forcing another scream of pain from him, "Now I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here destroying your base, instead of whimpering under Arlong's rule." She said conversationally, before dropping him, "You see, that's because of this big lug here." She hugged Luffy happily and gave his jawline a quick peck, "I'm a part of the Straw Hat Pirates now, and my Captain here beat Arlong so badly his ancestors probably screamed in terror and swore to never have children." She smirked at the terror in his eyes, "Now, this doesn't really have to end badly for you. Just tell me where your safe is." All traces of sweetness left her voice and she looked almost demonic.

Nezumi squealed like a pig, "There! It's there! Behind that portrait!"

Nami smirked as they went over and ripped the massive, hideous painting off the wall, revealing an equally giant safe behind it. Luffy made quick work of the locks, and they yanked it open. Nami's eyes turned into giant ฿. "Oh baby, come to momma!" She dove into the massive stacks of gold and practically began swimming in them, "He must have been extorting East Blue for years! Much longer than I thought!" She said, as Luffy opened a window and yelled at the rest of the crew to come up, "There's much more treasure here than just what he stole from me!" She was almost going into a cash coma of happiness as she thought of all the gold they now had total. They could set up the entire Conomi islands to be repaired and allow the citizens to live comfortably for years and still have more than enough to take with them on their journey!

They all started working on stripping every single coin from the vault, all while Nezumi watched helplessly. Finally, Nami and Luffy were the last to leave after a third trip, carrying huge sacks of treasure. She dropped her bag just outside the door, just when Nezumi had begun to sigh in relief, "Oh, Nezumi?" She called, a smirk on her face as she stood outside the room.

"Y-yes?"

"Remember how I said this didn't have to end badly for you?" Her smirk widened as she started grabbing her Clima-Tact.

He stiffened, "No, NO!"

She whirled around and pressed the buttons on two of the three staff pieces, "Cool Ball!" Dozens of little blue bubbles raced into the air above him, "Heat Ball!" Yet more red bubbles raced through the air, sucking up moisture before rising and combining with the cool balls. A dark cloud started forming inside the building above Nezumi's head, much to his flabbergasted horror. "Thunder Ball!" From the final section of her staff, a single, dazzling, electric yellow bubble popped out. It joined with the black cloud and popped, just as Nami slammed the three pieces of staff together and combined them, "You really shouldn't have hurt my sister, little rat! The weather is stormy! THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!"

Nezumi's screams echoed throughout the island. Any Marine that dared to stop pretending to be insensate who looked up at his window would have only seen flashes of light.

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So, on the rewrite, I decided to do an interesting little thought experiment on just how much money Arlong would have extorted from the Conomi Islands over the eight years they occupied the territory. Arlong would have collected once a month for 8 years, for a total of 96 times. Assuming a ABSURDLY conservative 120 people live in the ENTIRE Island chain (that number was acquired by counting the number of live adults that lived in Cocoyashi multiplied by the number of islands (20)) and with the 100,000 Beli price for their lives… Arlong would have extorted over a fucking BILLION Beli from them over the eight years.

Oh yeah… the straw hats are fucking RICH.

And done! I know I said I would try to finish East Blue in this one, but I think this puts this story over 100k! I never dreamed that this would get this popular this quickly. Thank you, guys. Really, thank you!

I'm not really as happy with this chapter as I wanted to be. Unfortunately, the three main fights were probably a little lackluster, seeing as how one was an utter stomp (I said Arlong would be eating his nose, didn't I? I won't be called a liar and neither will Luffy!) and the other two were…pretty one-sided. Sorry guys, but Zoro really was just horrendously injured. You don't just walk that off with no consequences. Sanji on the other hand, manhandled Kurobi in canon even after getting the shit beat out of him underwater and almost drowned. He didn't do that in this story because Luffy never got thrown in, and he wasn't about to let himself be thrown in. Without those injuries, Kurobi didn't stand even a ghost of a chance.

God damn it I can't wait until the later arcs so I can stop making fights so goddamn one sided. I try to at least make them at least a little entertaining but it gets difficult with canon matchups since everyone is stronger. I'm not going to purposefully gimp my characters against enemies who realistically stand no chance. That is just as boring to read and has the added downside of breaking suspension of disbelief.

I tried to have some fun with Usopp and Nami, so hopefully you guys were entertained a bit more with them! The real part of this chapter that I got excited for was the end scene. Did any of you think Nezumi would get to be a Karma Houdini? I hope not! Bwahaha! You'll have to wait till next chapter to see what kind of bounty attacking one of the five major East Blue Bases (in this story)will get them. And yes, that's a 'them.' Not all of them, but a 'them' nonetheless.

Also, I want some suggestions for a new epithet for Zoro. I don't want it to be "Pirate Hunter."

Now, Nami's Clima-Tact…why was it red? Is it any different to the canon Clima-Tact? No, it's not. I read that the Clima-Tact was originally colored red in the manga. For whatever reason, the anime changed it, and the manga then updated itself later. Seeing as I like red more than blue, I decided to just throw that in. :p

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TECHNIQUES

Enten Enten no Kizu (Scorching Heaven's Scar)

Enten Enten no…Kōen (Scorching Heaven's Brilliant Flame) I'll admit, the name for this one was taken from Fairy Tail's Natsu.

Enten Enten no Bakuha (Scorching Heaven's Explosion)