Chapter 55: Forgiveness and Argument

Jimbei concludes the stories of Fishertiger and Otohime that the two of them wanted their kind to have a brighter future.

What will happen next, find out?

Back on Coral Hill

Hiramera was floating around the town and was searching for her kidnapped friends. "Ishilly...I hope you and the others are okay." She began to ponder thoughts of the Straw Hat's actions. "Could they...be...no...Camie is a friend with them..."

Aquaius and Jester saw the mermaid, she was alone too. "Perfect..." The Demon Siren used Esdeath's trump card and freezing time then once she got close she knocked out the mermaid.

Jester put her in a bag while gagging her mouth shut. "Hiramera, she's grown since the last time I saw her," He licked his lips. "She might not be human, but, she'll do."

"Then, let's back to the hideout," Aquaius suggested.

Back at the Sea Forest.

"That's how the Fishman Pirates were formed, the story of Otohime and Fishertiger trying to make things better for everyone on Fishman Island. Also, I know of Arlong's crimes, he caused a lot of harm however he would bribe any navy soldier he would come across this I didn't do anything and turned a blinded eye..." He got on his knees surprising everyone. "I'm truly sorry and what happened was my mistake of setting Arlong free!"

Sanji stood up and pointed at the former warlord. "If you want to make for it, then take a knife and stab yourself!"

"What?" The Fairy Tail got up in shock.

"Sanji, that's too extreme!" Gray shouted.

"He's right, Jimbei never wanted this to happen!" Happy agreed.

"Honestly, Sanji, I thought you were better than that!" Wendy whined almost in tears.

Despite Wendy's words, Sanji couldn't bring himself to forgive Jimbei. "I'm sorry, but what he did was stupid...he let that bastard Arlong go free, who made Nami's life hell."

"Wait..." Nami interrupted. "Let him be."

Sanji couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Nami, how can you excuse for what he did?"

The navigator put her hand out. "I'll never excuse for what Arlong did, but, Jimbei...he never meant for anyone to get hurt."

Despite Nami's understanding, Jimbei felt like he still needed to take responsibility. "I will accept any punishment...if you want to take my life away, I'll-"

Slam

Miyaka got on her knees in front of Jimbei. "Jimbei, that's enough!"

Everyone was taken by surprise, as the former marine began to let out tears. "Listen to me...sob...sob...I never told anyone to expect for Fairy Tail about what happened during Fishertiger's attack...He saved me!"

Everyone except for some of Fairy Tail members was taken by surprise as she continued. "Like Fishertiger I was a slave, at least, I was almost one, I was almost imprinted by the Celestial Dragons, however, Fishertiger's break out caused confusion and chaos which gave me the chance to escape...I eventually ran off with other slaves and then I saw him...I wanted to thank him personally however I didn't have the time..."

She choked as more tears fell from her eyes. "When I returned to my father, I told him about what happened, that's when I became a marine and I hoped someday when I got older I would meet him in person again to thank him for saving me from that hellish place but he's dead now, so I'll never be able to thank him."

She gripped the dirt with her bare hands.

"I know you think you may feel guilty for Arlong's rampage, but, don't let your choices make you do something you'll end up regretting!"

"Miyaka..." Gray said quietly.

Juvia smiled.

"She's right..." Nami sat down with a smile on her face. "I know Arlong's cruelty was hell, he treated me like a slave, but, if that didn't happen, I wouldn't be who I am now and I wouldn't have met Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and the others...That said, you're a good friend of my captain, so, I can't hate you..."

Jimbei was touched as he remembered Otohime and Fishertiger's last words including Aladine.

"Don't be become angry on my behalf..."

"Please...don't tell anyone that tragedy we endured...hatred must die with us!"

"I wouldn't dwell on it...there's nothing you could've done...you knew Arlong since childhood after all, like him or not he's still like a brother to you and you're no killer..."

Jimbei began to sob with happiness and gratefulness. "I don't deserve...to be..treated so kindly...Miyaka...Nami...all of you have my gratitude." Tears fell from his eyes as he sobbed loudly.

Hatchan was happy and he began to sob. "Thank you...Fairy Tail...Miyaka...Nami..."

Chopper wiped away from tears with a smile.

Camie just smiled proudly.

Shirahoshi was touched by the scene. "Jimbei...you're such a good man."

Gray smiled gently.

Juvia wiped away tears. "Juvia happy..."

Sting and Rogue just smirked though they had tears in their eyes.

"I'm so happy," Frosch said with a smile.

"Stop that...otherwise I'll cry too," Lector choked with a playful smile.

Yukino wiped her eyes with a smile. "I wish the others were here to hear this."

Fujika smiled as tears formed in her eyes.

"Meow..."Millianna said wiping tears away from her eyes.

Happy smiled happily with tears in his eyes. "You guys."

Miyaka smiled as tears fell from her eyes. "Jimbei..."

Wendy smiled brightly with tears in her eyes. "Mr...Jimbei."

Carla smiled respectively.

"Oooh! Such a touching story, Otohime, Fishertiger, both of them are super!" Franky sobbed.

"Cut it out, Franky!" Sanji comically yelled.

Natsu and Luffy fell over turning out they were snoring.

"Huh?!" Gray, Carla, and Sanji exclaimed in surprise.

The two woke up wiping their sleepy eyes.

"Yawn...what happened did we miss something?" Natsu and Luffy asked with obviously unaware of what was happening.

"You idiots, you slept through the whole thing?" Sanji and Carla questioned with shark teeth.

"Well, we heard about the queen catching the thief," Luffy answered with an obvious smile.

Natsu wiped his eyes. "Yawn...quite the nap."

Happy wasn't too surprised. "They're alike."

"Shirahoshi, you okay?" Nami asked the mermaid princess.

"Wait, she's royalty, you can't speak to her so casually!" Camie reminded.

The princess shook her head. "It's fine Camie...anyway, I cry sometimes when I think of my mother."

Wendy walked over to the princess. "Yeah, sounds like she was quite the mother, I understand that..." She remembered her mother Gradeeny and how wonderful she was.

"Yeah, we both went through similar situations, so, we three know what it feels like to lose a mother," Nami added.

"Hey, you guys!" Another taxi bus arrived with Aquapad, Jula, Lisanna, Angel, Rena, Thorn, Pango, Mirajane, and Elfman arrived

They soon learned of what Jimbei told the others.

"Yes, the queen, she died at the hands of a human," Jula said.

"I couldn't understand why a human would want to kill the queen," Thorn sobbed quietly.

"Yes, the royal took hard more than any of us did, Hordy Jones revealed the human's corpse to everyone." Rena choked tightening her hands.

"The human died by Hordy, though, we couldn't learn anything else," Angel commented.

Elfman began to bawl his eyes out. "Such a manly woman queen Otohime is!"

Lisanna giggled at her brother's reaction.

"Aw Elfman." Mirajane patted her brother on his back in comfort.

Pango chuckled with a bright smile.

Jimbei recollected himself and decided to get the real business. "Enough..., now that's over...let's discuss Hordy Jones, what you guys told me, he's arrived at the palace and is now causing trouble, so, we presume that Neptune along with his men and your friends are caught too."

Natsu scoffed. "No way, our friends are tougher than they look!"

"Actually..." Hatchan spoke like he needed to say something important." I know more details about Hordy's plan, if he truly ceased the palace, then his followers are also probably causing trouble as we speak."

"Is that so, honestly, I suspected Hordy was up to something, but, he kept every detail of his plan hidden from me," Jimbei said cocking his head to the side.

"Not me...I know..." Hatchan replied. "First off, I must warn you that there's a difference between Arlong and Hordy Jones..."

"I don't like where this is going," Carla whispered.

"As you know Hordy Jones hates humans but even more than Arlong did, he talks about rebuilding the kingdom but what he wants to do is cause suffering to humans...the only thing driving him is resentment..."Hatchan looked down for a moment then he looked at the others again. "Arlong on the other hand had no problem killing humans but he would never attack other Fishmen..."

"That's new..." Gray thought.

"Aquapad, do you and your friends have any opinions on Hordy Jones and his friends?" Natsu asked.

"First off, Ikaros one of Hordy's friends was a total creep, he always tried to ask me out, there's one time he tried to force me to join the New Fishman Pirates..." Jula paused for a moment as she remembered a dark memory. "He tried to touch me back when I was kid too."

Jimbei gasped loudly. "Ikaros did what?"

Jula shivered with a mix of anger and disgust. "Yes, though, Fishertiger saved me on the day Ikaros cornered, therefore, I owed him a lot and to respect whatever he desires to do with his life."

"Indeed, we never told anyone of Jula's situtation with Ikaros, other than that, he never came close to Jula again," Angela added.

"Yes, on top of that, we decided to protect the island as much as we could from the New Fishman Pirates even since before Whitebeard passed away," Rena finished clinching her hand.

Jula wiped her eyes and recollected herself. "Anyway...Hatchan is right about what he's saying...also, there's no doubt he would attack other Fishman that is sympathetic to humans," Jula continued.

"That's right, he wouldn't stand for it if he saw a human and Fishman getting along," Hatchan added. "One more thing, the World Summit is to take place again soon...things have changed since Otohime's death...not only that, the kingdom gathered more signatures for Neptune to speak at the summit about Fishman Island being relocated to the surface."

Jimbei was taken aback by that last part. "I see, then...Hordy has ceased the palace just for that?"

"I wish...no...I'm afraid it's much worse than that..." Hatchan replied.

"Whoa!" Chopper and Wendy exclaimed.

Everyone looked to see what the two were screaming at.

Two huge snails approached the pirates.

Den recognized the snails. "Video Transponder Snails...two of them at that, but, why are they here?"

"Video Transponder snails?" Carla questioned.

The first snail pair of eyes shined a bright light and the screen showed in the air.

Hordy Jones was on the first screen.

"Hordy Jones, what is he doing?"

"Main question is, why is he making a broadcast?"

"I'll state my announcement first, as you know I'm Hordy Jones captain of the New Fishman Pirates!" Hordy announced. "This country will be destroyed and will be rebuilt from scratch as the ruler...I will be the new king!"

Gajeel's group was on their way to Sweet Factory Town after defeating Dosun and his team.

"What is this dumbass talking about?" Gajeel questioned with a sneer.

Lily narrowed his eyes. "If I have to wager a guess he's taken over the kingdom and renewed it as something more."

Levy had a bad feeling. "Yes...he doesn't seem too nice."

Chelsea sighed. "Talk about jumping into the fire."

Tigress was concerned though she had other thoughts. "I hope Usagi and Temukai are alright."

Laxus' group was getting close to the Shopping District, however, they stopped as they saw the broadcast.

"Sounds like this jerk has issues," Bickslow remarked.

"Yes, he seems so evil," Freed commented.

"We'll show him and his men the power of the Thunder Legion," Evergreen said fixing her glasses.

Laxus didn't say a word, instead, he just continued to watch the broadcast.

Other citizens that were nearby beginning to talk to each other.

"Is Hordy behind this crap?"

"He's the same guy that caught Queen Otohime's shooter..."

"Why would a former soldier do this?"

"Main question is, what happened to the king?"

"Didn't the Straw Hats along with Fairy Tail take over the palace?!"

"First off, I must inform any citizen that desires peace with a human should leave this country at once!" Hordy stated. "Soon new citizens from the Fishman District will arrive...they share our hatred towards humans and are willing to change this island!"

Laxus and Gajeel's group couldn't believe it.

"This jerk can't be serious?" Biskslow questioned with a shocked face.

"It seems he's dead serious," Freed said putting his hand on his chin.

"This guy is a lunatic," Evergreen commented.

Other citizens were greatly concerned about the statement.

"They want those criminals to live here!?"

"Also, do you remember what our beloved Queen Otohime tried to accomplish?" Hordy asked. "As you know she tried to open a bridge between our species...I respect her spirit however if you recall the human pirate that shot her...the main fact is that humans will only take advantage of you all despite that you'll open their hearts to them!"

Lily wasn't happy with that, despite that his kind was in the same situation back on Edolas. The Exceeds and the humans learned to become friends.

Fukaboshi, Manboshi, and Ryuboshi weren't happy with the statements they were hearing. "That monster!"

Back at the sea forest.

"The words of the Neptune Family have dulled your minds if you continue to follow their guidance all of us will face extinction!" Hordy continued. "Now, as you probably realized, this is being broadcasted from the palace...see for yourself!"

He moved away from the screen and there was Neptune back in chains.

The royal family was horrified at the state their father was in.

"His majesty!" The citizens cried in horror.

Laxus and Gajeel's group shared the same reaction.

Nami put her finger to her chin. "It's kind of our fault for going with the king back to his palace, more like Zoro's fault."

Hearing this Jimbei got greatly concerned. "What are you guys playing at?!"

Camie came to their defense. "Jimbei, Neptune's knights attacked Fairy Tail and Straw Hat pirates, they were just trying to defend themselves."

Before Jimbei could say any more, Aquapad approached him. "Jimbei, I forgot to tell you, apparently both pirate groups are being accused of kidnapping mermaids."

"What?" Jimbei asked even more shocked but also confused.

Hordy Jones then held a piece of paper. "You remember this signature, it was the same one that Otohime got from the Celestial Dragons...the one she risked her neck to obtain ten years ago." He then placed his hand on a nearby basket. "You see this behind me, it was other signatures that were sighed by the citizens...now I'll announce the names of the half population of this country!"

He looked at the town's name. "The citizens whose names are written in this box have made clear their opposition to my new kingdom...in other words...this is...A LIST OF TRAITORS!"

The citizens grew very fearful at their sudden fate.

"That is a test to anyone can clear if they dare to conceal their true beliefs...these signatures are unshakable proof of those who stand with me and who is against me!" A devilish smile formed on Hordy's face. "The people on this list will be disposed of...and finally I address the Straw Hat Pirates along with Fairy Tail!"

Three cages appeared on the screen.

First cage had Zoro, Brook, Makarov, Usopp.

Second cage had Mest, Usagi, Gildarts, and Erza

third cage had Kagura, Temukai, Akame, and Leone

"Take a good look Straw Hat Luffy, your crew members will be made an example of, and my revenge for what you did Arlong!"

Sanji sighed. "This is what we get for leaving those guys behind."

"Still all three?" Nami questioned a little surprised.

"Fairy Tail, those that are still around, I shall make examples of your friends including the Minks that you brought with you...other creatures that side with humans is my enemies!"

Gray was disgusted. "That bastard..."

"How horrible," Juvia added.

Millianna gritted her teeth. "Kagura...no."

"Erza, Usagi, Temukai, Mest...gramps..." Happy said sadly.

"Gildarts...?" Carla questioned.

"Also, Fairy Tail, if you're wondering how my men can capture your friends...then take a look at these," The image for the cages that Fairy Tail was trapped in zoomed-in showing their wrists were handcuffed. "These are Magic Seal handcuffs, I'm sure you know what that means."

"H-how did he get his hands on those?" Carla questioned.

"Tartaros no doubt," Wendy answered.

Just then the room began to flood with water.

"By the time the execution of the king is done, this room will be flooded and your friends will drown!" Hordy Jones cackled cruelly, then he held Luffy's wanted poster. "Also, Straw Hat Luffy...your head is worth four hundred million berries, the lives of your crew will serve as a perfect example to the humans on the surface!"

He put the wanted poster down and had one more thing to say. "In three hours this country will be rebuilt as the New Fishman Island of dignity and pride and lastly, Fairy Tail, I believe some new comrades of ours have their announcement to make!"

The first snail's screen went off while the second broadcasted the screen.

"Hello, Fairy Tail...do you remember me...Mard Geer King of the Underworld!" There on the screen was the King of the Underworld with a dark smile on his face.

The citizens were perplexed at what they were hearing.

"Does Fairy Tail know that man?"

The three princes were just as confused but concerned.

"Who is that guy?"

"Your guess is as good as mine,"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"To think we would meet again, we were waiting for Fairy Tail's strongest wizards to arrive on Fishman Island," Mard Geer said his dark smile not leaving his face.

"Fairy Tail's strongest wizards?" A mermaid questioned.

"Wizards as in people that use magic?" An old Fishman citizen added with curiosity.

"Aren't those people only in fairy tale books or something?" A female fish-woman wondered.

"Our reason is being on Fishman Island not important right now, however...thanks to some new technology from the world that Night Raid is from, I was able to be brought back, with the help of the 2nd-dimensional lacrima that you pathetic lowly Fairy Tail flies found."

Natsu's face became enraged.

"Also, I would like to announce a few things to the citizens of Fishman Island...first off, you'll probably wondering what I'm saying... as I said, I'm Mard Geer King of the Underworld and a Demon from the Book of Zeref!" The underworld king stated.

The three princes gasped in shock and confusion.

"Demon..."

"From the book..."

"Of Zeref!?"

The citizens weren't not understanding what was going on.

"Demon, what is this freak talking about?"

"This guy must be crazy in the head!"

"I can tell my announcement has everyone on the island asking questions...but that's besides reason the I'm making this broadcast..."

Click

The screen changed to a strange dark hallway, though there appeared to be snail-like lights sticking to the ceilings thus giving some light.

There appeared to be three Fishmen carrying something or someone on their shoulders and the citizens recognized them right away.

"Holy crap, Saizou!"

"There's Taron the Fighting Fish Fishman!"

"And Jester the Clownfish Merman!"

"Damn, I thought those rapist-perverted bastards were dead!"

The mermaids were frightened at the three perverted Fishmen islanders.

Nami narrowed her eyes. "I don't know why...but I'm getting a creepy vibe from them."

"Greetings, I'm Saizou the Spotted Eagle Ray Fishman, you're probably wondering how myself and my two companions are still alive...well, you all shall know that is if you any live long enough to find out..." He then had a devilish smirk on his face.

He moved his shoulder and to Fairy Tail's including the Straw Hat's horror, the Spotted Ray Fishman had a certain blonde on his shoulder. "Look familiar...I believe she's one of the Celestial wizards...quite a sexy one." He lift her off his arm and held her close to his face.

He licked his lips. "Quite the feminine creature she is...I can hardly wait to play with her."

Natsu glared with rage in his eyes. "Lucy!"

Fujika felt a little jealous that the pinkette boy was greatly upset about the blonde's condition.

Carla was disgusted at the scene. "That monster..."

Taron then appeared on the screen and had a wide grin on his face. "Hello, suckers...I'm Taron the Fighting Fish Fishman...everyone thought we were dead, guess, you morons should've done some more digging on our last location...Fairy Tail, I have a certain brown-haired woman, you might recognize!"

He lift a young brown-haired girl from his shoulder, who was unconscious like Lucy.

"I heard this chick likes to drink alcohol...I'll be happy to offer her some that'll get her all frisky..." He chuckled evilly as he slowly licked her face. "I also learned her old man is locked at the palace, I wonder how he'll react when he finds out his daughter is about to have to the time of her life...slurp...let's just hope she's stronger than the other human girls that I played with didn't last for 30 minutes."

Sanji gritted his teeth. "Such behavior...treating beautiful ladies like if they were toys."

Jester then appeared with a creepy chuckle. "Heh...heh...attention Fairy Tail, if you're wondering where we are...then come to the Fishman District...there's secret gave a few blocks from the Noah Ark, to be more clear look for the guild mark that belongs to Tartaros..."

"Damn bastard..." Gray cursed under his breath.

"Another thing..." Jester lifts a familiar mermaid.

Camie was horrified. "Oh no, Hiramera!"

Hatchan heard this. "This isn't...good."

"She's one of the mermaids that were at Mermaid Cove!" Happy pointed out.

"Damn, what is with those guys?" Sting asked glaring.

Aquapad shared the same reaction. "Those bastards."

"Do think they would broadcast something like this, such disgrace," Jula groaned in disgust.

The screen turned back to Mard Geer. "Fairy Tail if you want to rescue your friends, then come to the Fishman District as I said, but, better hurry, otherwise your friends will experience...a living hell."

The screen went off as Natsu growled. "Lucy...Cana...damn, let's get the Fishman District!"

"How can we get there, we can't breathe underwater!" Gray reminded.

Juvia then noticed the boat that was given by the Pucci mayor's daughter. "I think I know..." She looked up at Den. "Excuse me, Den, was your name, right?"

Tom's brother heard the water mage. "Yes ma'am,"

"Tell me, can you put a coating on a small boat and if you can, how long will it take?"

"First off I can, normally putting a coating on a vessel could take hours, however, on a small boat like that, it should take at least 30 minutes or an hour," Den replied.

Hearing this, Gray caught on to the idea. "Can you put the coating on in 30 minutes, we need to rescue our friends as quickly as we can,"

"Hold on, if our coating is destroyed, we'll drown," Carla reminded. "If that happens our friends are done for!"

Aquapad reached into his pants pockets. "Good thing, we have these..." He took out several bubble corals.

"Alright, bubble corals!" Natsu laughed.

"How can we get to the location where our friends are?" Carla asked.

"We can bring you there, we know Fishman District on the back of our hands," Thorn answered.

"Yeah, we want to repay Fairy Tail for helping Aquapad, so, we'll escort you guys to the Fishman District," Rena said with a smile.

"Also, there's sure to be some Fishman pirates there, we can keep them busy while you guys rescue your two friends and Hiramera," Angel added.

"Sounds like a plan, we'll storm the cave and rescue our friends!" Natsu smirked despite he didn't hear any of it.

Luffy was quiet for a moment. "Well, what do you know, my bounty increased!"

WHACK

Nami comically whacked her captain on the head for his idiot behavior. "No one cares about your bounty!"

Shirahoshi was shuddering in concern and then she got on Megalo's back. "Megalo, let's rescue father!"

Jimbei gasped at the rashness that the princess was going to do. "Princess...stop..." The mermaid princess didn't hear him. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Megalo came to a halt and Shirahoshi gazed down at the former warlord. "My father..." The princess whimpered.

"He's right, listen...your power...Hordy is most afraid of you..." Hatchan said. "Even if Hordy's plan succeeds you'll still be a threat and if you summon the Sea Kings everything will come crashing down."

"Hold on, this time they only wanted Shirahoshi?" Sanji questioned.

"Why is that?" Wendy asked.

"It's obvious isn't it," Carla spoke. "It seems that Hordy Jones doesn't want her around, like Hatchan said, she'll still be a threat if she summons the Sea Kings."

"That's right, which is the reason why Vander Decken is helping, with his devil fruit power, he can use it to kill the princess," Hatchan added.

Jimbe nodded in agreement. "Yes, she would be an easy target too."

"That wouldn't good," Lisanna followed.

Shirahoshi went down further and a look of certainty was on her face. "My family only mentioned my power and even if I were to ask to communicate to the Sea Kings, I'm not sure if I can use it."

"Whether you have the power or not, Hordy has no qualms in killing you," Jimbei said. "Therefore, the word of you not being able to use or control the power mustn't get to him, the more afraid he is of you the better for us."

"Alright, are we done talking?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, I want to fight those pervert Fishmen and Tartaros," Natsu added with a smirk.

Luffy turned to his crew. "Sanji, I'll leave the crybaby with you, Is that okay?"

The chef twirled towards the captain while doing a high five. "Oh hell yeah!"

"It's settled then," Natsu grinned as he turned to look at the others. "Gray, Happy, Miyaka, Fujika, and Juvia, you guys are with me."

The five nodded.

"And Aquapad, Jula, Thorn, Rena, and Angel, let's go and rescue our friends." The five nodded.

"What about us?" Rogue asked.

"Hey Luffy, do you mind if we tag along, we'll shall even the odds by assisting you and your friends," Sting requested.

Luffy saw no problem with that. "Sure thing."

"Alright, we'll show those New Fishman Pirates the power of Sabertooth!" Lector stated pumping up his arms.

"Yay!" Frosch cheered.

"What about our friends at the palace?" Yukino asked.

Sting had the answer to that. "Yukino, you will take Wendy, Millianna, Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna, Pango, and Carla with you, there use Pisces to get into the gate and rescue our friends."

"Right," Yukino nodded.

"Yes," Wendy said with a smile.

"We'll rescue our friends!" Pango stated.

"Let's show them manly power!" Elfman roared pumping his arms.

"Kagura, we'll rescue you and the others!" Millianna cheered.

"One question, how can we get to the gate, you remember Neptune escorted us there using his whale," Carla reminded.

Some fell in anime style until Natsu laughed. "You guys will think of something."

Aquapad tossed two bubble corals. "Then, you guys will need these just in case." Wendy caught them in her hands.

"You guys, I told you to wait!" Jimbei demanded.

Everyone looked at the former warlord in wonder. "You all don't get it, you have no business fighting Hordy or any of the New Fishman Pirates!"

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked. "Our friends are captured by those three perverted Fishmen!"

"Yeah, Hordy has the rest of our friends at the palace!" Luffy added.

"It is because we're humans?" Franky Happy, Pango, Lector, Frosch, and Chopper guessed in unison.

"Doesn't make sense what you guys say, quit complicating things!" Sanji yelled comically.

"Geez, such idiots..." Carla facepalmed herself.

Jimbe approached Megalo while putting his arm out. "Listen if you guys defeat Hordy, the islanders will continue to hate humans...please, let me handle this, Aquapad, I want you and your friends to join the fight!"

"Hold on, I want to help save my human friends, I agree, we need to save the king first, however, Saizou, Taron, and Jester won't waste anytime doing who knows to the three girls!" Aquapad argued.

"He's right, and by the time you're done with Hordy, it'll be too late for our friends!" Happy agreed.

Luffy had to speak his reason. "This fight is personal for me too!"

"You guys..." Camie whispered.

"They're both right," Hatchan added quietly.

Jimbei sighed and turned around to face Luffy. "Luffy, Fairy Tail, stay here, Aquapad, you and your friends come with me!"

"Not a chance," Luffy retorted.

"Yeah, I'm helping to save our friends, Jimbei, can't you at least listen to us?" Aquapad added.

"Stubborn brats..." Jimbei remarked.

Luffy lifts his hat a bit. "Shut up...if you want to stop me, then you can try."

"Jimbei, I always respected you as a friend and honorable man, however, I can't join the fight against Hordy and his crew at least not yet...I have to help save Lucy, Hiramera, and Cana." Aquapad said with a serious look on his face.

Rena looked at her childhood friend worriedly.

"C'mon you two, we're wasting time," Jula spoke calmly.

"Yeah, our friends are in danger, time is limit," Angel added.

"Luffy, when we were once allies I hope that you would honor my request...Aquapad, back when you were still a child you always protected Fishtiger and Otohime's beliefs...I'm honored that you and your friends did so for all those years..."

Jimbei's face became serious more than ever. "Then again, how easily could I forget that hard-headedness does run in your family Luffy," Seeing Ace in Luffy. "Aquapad, I never told you this, but, when your father was alive, he would always do what he wants to protect his friend's beliefs and honor, he was also brave, and honorable, and yet he was stubborn to listen..."

The former warlord took a few steps back which got the gang worried.

"Aquapad, Luffy, you truly want to do what you want, then both of you shall fight me,"

The two stared at him with seriousness for a few minutes.

Jimbei's fight against Luffy and Aquapad begins, but, will they be able to agree. Hordy Jones begins his next plan and takes to the king to the plaza.

Luffy: in the next chapter: Moving Forward

End of chapter.