...Good riddance. Naruto looked off into the distance, his eyes steadily tracking a barrel as it weaved and bobbed through the ocean.
Just in case. He would repeat to himself, though he knew it was impossible. Just in case…
"Hey."
Naruto didn't turn, "What."
"Chopper's got something; said he knows what happened to her,"
"I see." He sighed, "What is it? Is she okay?"
Robin. Please tell me that she's okay. Please tell me she's—
"Robin's not going to wake up. Not yet, anyway,"
BANG!
"Fuck!" A dull, aching, throbbing pain consumed the entirety of his fist. It hurts to hit metal, but it's nothing compared to hearing what he just heard.
"Funny, I said the exact same thing when he broke the news,"
Naruto spun around. It was hard to see through the tears, but he recognized that mop of golden blond anywhere.
"How can you be so nonchalant?" He murmured, "How can you be so calm?!"
Sanji frowned, "I'm not." He lifts up a leg for Naruto to see: it was pitch-black like searing hot charcoal; burned like it too, "I'm barely holding back the urge to swim out and rip the dead bastard a new one,"
"Idiot, by now the barrel's too far up. You'd drown long before you can even spot the damn thing," Suddenly, a newcomer spoke up, drawing both their attention.
Nami sashayed down the deck towards the pair, a serious look on her face.
"Nami," Naruto greeted, though he didn't have the energy to pretend to be happy to see her.
She nodded for posterity's sake, "So…" But with how frequently her gaze drifted to the deep blue beyond him told Naruto she wasn't here for idle chitchat.
"I've checked," He confirmed, "And checked and checked and checked again. He won't be coming back. Ever."
It was only then did she seem to relax a little, eliciting a small smile out of him. She blushed, finally realizing how obvious it was.
"You didn't have to be so thorough, you know," She craned her head to the side, trying and failing to hide the light shade of pink on her cheeks, "It's not as if Robin's dead,"
"Well, he certainly made her look like it," Sanji grunted from where he was, a tad bit farther now because of the cigarette between his fingers.
"And so what if she isn't," Naruto added, "The state she's in isn't much better,"
"No it's not, but—" Nami sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Look, I'm not saying he didn't get what's coming to him, but what you did was overkill,"
"I'd rather that than having him get back up again for another try at taking over our ship," He stated matter-of-factly, "As far as I'm concerned, there was no other way,"
"..." Nami gave him a look that screamed do you really believe that?
He did.
"Whatever," Knowing she's lost the argument(or at the very least rendered Naruto mute from disinterest), Nami didn't bother arguing any further and decided the best course of action was to leave.
Naruto watched as she walked away, though before she could go entirely out of earshot, he heard:
"Chopper wants to talk to you, by the way; says he needs to ask for a favour,"
At that, Naruto turned to Sanji, one eyebrow raised. All he got in response was a shrug.
"Hello Naruto-san nya! Are ya here to check up on Robin-san?" The high, almost falsetto voice of the crew's doctor greeted Naruto as he stepped into the tanuki's clinic.
He chuckled, "No, no. Actually, Nami sent me here. Something about a favour?"
It took Chopper a little while, "Oh?" But after a few seconds, "Oh!" Eureka.
He hopped off of his little seat, before waddling over to the room over, "C'mon, nya! I've got somethin' to show ya!"
Following him in, Naruto was treated to what seemed like an office… of sorts.
It had the hallmark desk and chair sitting in the middle; the obvious things like bookshelves and paintings and such. But then there were the more questionable items. Things like the candy dispenser in one corner of the room, or a diagram of a bisected Chopper stapled to the wall. Most strangely, though, were the inordinate amounts of rainbow-themed objects littered around the room.
'What the…' Naruto felt like he was in a fever dream; as if he was in some pastiche rendition of a doctor's office. More a child's imagination of what the doctor's office looked like than the real deal.
But if he knew how disconcerting it was, Chopper refused to comment. Instead, he began flipping through a book about the size of his head. After minutes of fastidious searching, Chopper finally came to a stop on page 248.
"C'mere, nya!" On it was an illustration. It depicted a swamp, its contents murky and fetid, full of mud and earth and nature. Below that was the caption:
Decken Salt Lake.
"This is the Decken salt lake, nya. It's located in one of the many territories of Fishman pirate Vander Decken, and the main reason why I wanted to ask for a favour,"
He went to page 250, before pointing at a section of the book, "Normally, salt lakes are inhospitable areas due to their cripplingly high salt concentrations, but because of something Decken did a few years ago, this one doesn't have as much in one place, allowing for a thriving ecosystem to develop,"
Naruto nodded uncertainly, "And what does this have to do with… me?"
"Because of the lake's special nature, the flora and fauna there are equally as special. Case in point: these berries nya," He directs Naruto's gaze to the photo, "These are called Maladonia Berries,"
The berries, not unlike its distant relatives, were round and small in nature. However, in stark contrast to the darker shades of blacks, purples and blues of its cousins, they lend themselves more to the bold sort, taking after hot pinks, bright yellows and fluorescent turquoise.
"They're the vital ingredient I need to make an antidote," He paused, giving Naruto enough time to digest what he was hearing, "The antidote to help Robin wake up,"
That was it. Naruto didn't need to hear anymore.
"Where do I have to go,"
"Hmm…"
Deep, deep under the ocean, where the mighty sun's rays never reach, where only the deadliest creatures can thrive, where even legends must sunder and break, a man sits alone.
"Shirahoshi…"
Hidden in the bowels of his ship, the Flying Dutchman, he contemplates, ruminates, and speculates his next move.
"Oh, Shirahoshi… What gift do I send you today?"
After meeting her, his life had never been the same; he knew he had to marry her.
Had to had to had to!
But alas, her accursed family decides to lock her away. Away from him, away from the life they could've had!
"Bohehehehe… Yes. Yes, I think these will do," Behind an iron gate, under an impenetrable fortress, his princess sits…
But he, Vander Decken IX, shall never be stopped!
Whoosh! The sibilant sounds of a projectile being thrown at sub-sonic speeds populated the room, before the loud crackle of that same projectile breaking the sound barrier boomed throughout the ship's entirety.
Vander Decken smirked as he watched his gift fly to its intended destination. He knew it'd be useless, of course, but what was he if not stubborn? Plus, who knows, maybe they'd let their guard down today…
"B-Boss! I've got a message from Hody Jones!" He turned to his underling, almost as irked as he was curious. That Hody Jones fellow isn't someone who contacts often, so this had to be something important.
"What is it," He watched the fishman bumble with his words impatiently, "Well? Spit it out man, I don't have all day,"
"U-Uh… H-H-He said to get ready. Something about a 'Straw Hat Pirates' and how we have to destroy them!"
"Hrm? Straw Hat Pirates… Why does that name not ring a bell…" He rubbed his scraggly goatee in an effort to conjure up an image of the aforementioned pirate crew. But after minutes of hopeless pondering, he gave up.
"Tell me, Kagatsumi, why should we, the crew of the Flying Dutchman, do what he says?"
Kagatsumi — the fishman — stumbled on his words, "H-H-He says they're trying to go through our territory!"
Decken countered, "Mhm… countless others have too; what makes these different?"
"He also says they apparently befriended Princess Shirahoshi's pet shark! M-M-Maybe they can be the key to getting to the—"
"Well why didn't you say so?!" Kagatsumi shrieked as he was pushed out of the way, his captain already flying through the door, barking out orders and demanding for the crew to wake up.
"Bohahahaha~! This is great! If I can catch that shark, maybe I could hold him ransom! Then she'll have to marry me! Yes, it's all coming together now, no hazuda!" He watched his boss cackle devilishly to himself.
"Hm? What're you still doing here? Get going with the rest of 'em!" Kagatsumi nodded hurriedly, before scampering out the door.
"Tch. Doesn't he know how crucial this is for me? This could be the chance I've been waiting for, no hazuda!" He sighed, but let it go and went to sit back down.
Hmm… if only I can remember where I've heard that name before… straw hat pira—
"Oi." He jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice bearing down on him from behind. Turning around, he saw the figure of a man he knew very well…
"Hyouzou… What are you doing here?" The blue-ringed octopus fishman walked out of the shadows, his toothpick noticeably missing from his mouth.
"I've got a message from the boss; says it's a personal one he doesn't want anyone else ta hears," He says, giving Vander Decken a few moments to compose himself.
"I-I see… well, go ahead then," At his behest, Hyouzou pulled out a piece of paper from his kimono:
"Do ya know this guy?" Vander Decken leaned forward to take a closer look, and when he saw that man, everything clicked.
That's it! No wonder they sound so familiar! He's there with them!
Hyouzou continued after seeing the look on his face, "I guess ya do. This is Naruto Uzumaki, just recently he's been classed by the world government as a Yonko-commander level threat, though if our sources are correct, they may be uppin' him to Yonko-level,"
"Y-Y-Yonko level, no hazuda?!" He couldn't believe this! The false sage was going to be treated like a Yonko
"That's right, but we're not going to allow that," Vander Decken frowned.
"How are you going to do that, no hazuda?"
"Our captain, Hody Jones, has a plan." He watched the octopi-man smile, "He's going to assassinate that Naruto, and claim the title of Yonko for himself!"
…
…
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"
T-T-That's crazy! A-A-Are you insane?! Vander Decken couldn't believe it; who would be so insane as to try and assassinate someone even the World Government thought was a threat!
"Fer too long, the position of Yonko 'as been dominated only by humans; fer too long, us fishmen — no matter how infamous or strong — will never be put on the same pedestal as those humans. But if he kills Naruto Uzumaki, he can become someone even greater than Fisher Tiger! Someone superior to almost every other human! Then, with his strength, the age of fishmen will finally come!"
He gulped, not liking where this was going at all, "I-I-I see, and where do I fit into this?"
"Yer will be a distraction, ta put it simply,"
Bang! He slammed his fist on his chair, "Damn you! What makes you think I'll follow your little plan? Do you even know what you're asking me to do?!"
"Oh, but we ain't askin…"
"W-What the hell do you—"
Shing! Beads of sweat ran down his face as he was met with the deadly gleam of Hyouzou's sword, "Hrk?! W-W-What do you think you're doing!?"
All he received was a chuckle, "Look, we aren't asking ye ta do much. Hell, we'll even give ya the shark after we finish. That's what ye want right? It's a pretty fair trade: ye stick your neck out with the rest of us, then when it's over, ya get what ya want. Win-win amirite?"
Vander Decken gritted his teeth, still furious at how a mere lackey dared point a sword at him! Still, with the way things are now, that shark takes precedence over his pride!
"...Fine, but get your stupid sword outta my face," He made to grab the sword, but before he could, Hyouzou quickly withdrew it back into its sheathe.
"I wouldn't try that again; my sword's been coated with my poison and I don't get into the habit of carrying around antidotes," He chuckled to himself before leaving, "Anyways, I'll be up on the deck if you need me, and remember our agreement, yeah? Seeya."
Click!
The door shut, leaving Vander Decken alone with nothing but his thoughts:
What have I gotten myself into?