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Chapter 4:
Cocoyashi Arc
Opening (if you so desire): either Departure (from HunterXHunter, cover by Studio Yuraki) or This Game (from No Game No Life, Cover by Amalee)
Luckily for Luffy, Coby, Gin, Yosaku, and Sanji had enough navigational knowledge between them to sail to their destination of the Conami Isles after leaving the Baratié. Yosaku projected the trip would take about three days and the rest of the crew should be about a day ahead of them. Nami only left a little bit before Usopp, Zoro, and Johnny, but navigating was her specialty, even with a bigger ship. She was likely ahead by a full day at that point.
The days passed in something of a blur, for Coby moreso than the other guys since he was still recovering from the MH5 poison. With Sanji as the dedicated chef, the food stores on the ship easily weathered Luffy's gluttony like Luffy's rubbery head weathered Sanji's steel-toed shoes. Outside of those hourly scuffles, nothing really happened during their trip until the third day.
"Do you think they've found Nami yet?" Luffy asked, leaning against the tiny cabin on the boat and staring up at the clouds. Sanji was inside, cooking a meal of rice, meat, and bean sprouts for them away from Luffy's thieving arms.
"It's possible," Coby replied, mostly cured of the poison thanks to the quick action of the chefs during the battle. "I don't know much about the Conami Isles, but I remember hearing that it didn't have much Marine presence. Even so, Alvida still avoided them because of rumors about 'Saw Tooth' Arlong."
"Is he another guy like Krieg?"
"Not even Krieg would want to fight Arlong," Gin commented. "You're strong, Don Luffy, but Arlong is supposed to be a literal monster."
"I've been called a monster before," Luffy shrugged.
"That's not what he means, Big Bro," Yosaku put in. "Arlong is a fishman from the Grand Line. He's not human. Johnny usually carries the bounty posters, but he's got a face you can't forget; blue skin, cold eyes, and a serrated nose sharp enough to pierce bone." Yosaku shivered. "He's just a little over mine and Johnny's class for now."
Gin shivered from the mere mentioned of the Grand Line, but his eyes hardened. Perhaps these fishmen would be the first step to obtaining his goal.
"I saw Nami take Arlong's bounty poster when we ran into Fullbody," Coby offered. "I'm afraid she's mixed up with him somehow if that's where she's headed. Do you think she's faked us out?"
"I'm worried about her," Luffy admitted, though there was no change in his disposition. "I know Nami and she wouldn't take the Merry without a really good reason."
"Is there something going on between you and Big Sis Nami?" Yosaku asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you this concerned about anything."
"Nami's Nakama," the teen shrugged. "She's part of my crew and I won't accept anything less than that. I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates, which means I need to have the best of the best on my crew, and something tells me Nami is gonna be the best navigator in the world one day."
"The best of the best?" Coby whispered. "If that's what you want, Captain, then why am I-?" Coby's self-doubt was cut off by a quick punch to the cranium. To his credit, Coby didn't cry out in pain like he had when they first met, even if the hit still hurt.
"You're gonna be strong, Coby," Luffy said before Coby could ask why. "I've got this feeling about you. Not just you, but everyone on our crew. I just know we'll all do what we set out to do. I'm gonna be the King, Zoro's gonna beat Mihawk, you're gonna be a hero, Usopp's gonna be brave like his dad, Sanji's gonna find the All Blue, and Gin's gonna be there with us when we conquer the Grand Line. If I didn't think you could do it, I would have left you back at that base."
"But… didn't you try to do that?"
"Yeah, but you'd said you wanted to be a marine. You changed your mind, so I did too. Anyway, you said Arlong is from the Grand Line, right? I bet he's strong, then."
"He's got the highest bounty of any pirate in the area," Yosaku nodded. "He's worth 20-million, but I'm honestly not sure how that compares to some in the Grand Line. He once sailed with a Warlord, though."
"A Warlord?" Coby asked. "One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the pirates sanctioned by the World Government to fight for them?"
"Why would anyone become a Warlord?" Luffy blinked. "Being a pirate means being free from all those rules."
"I'm sure they each have their own reasons," Gin commented. "Mihawk is one of them and you saw how strong he is. He took down Zoro without even trying."
"There are a few others that have been in the paper," Coby continued. "I've heard about Boa Hancock, the one who's called the most beautiful woman in the world. And there's Gecko Moria. He used to be a rival of one of the four Yonko, supposedly. The last one I know about is Jinbei, a fishman."
"Jinbei is the one who sailed with Arlong," Yosaku nodded. "The rumor is part of his agreement to become a Warlord was freedom for Arlong and some of his former crew from the Marine prison Impel Down. That was almost a decade ago and Arlong has been lying low here in East Blue since."
"Scary~" Gin whistled. "I'm guessing Arlong isn't a good person like Don Luffy."
"Who cares?" Luffy asked, turning all attention on him. "If he's a jerk, I'll kick his ass. If he's hurting Nami, I'll kick his ass. If I feel like it, I'll kick his ass. That's all there is to it."
"I don't know if that was incredibly profound or incredibly stupid, but I'm all for helping Nami-swan." Sanji stepped out of the small cabin, a pair of steaming dishes in his hands. "After all, it's a gentleman's job to save the damsel in distress."
"Food?" Luffy questioned, all previous thoughts already replaced with the deep-rooted, instinctual desire to stuff his face. "Food!"
"Chill out, you rubbery moron!" Sanji yelled with a kick to Luffy's face, the first time of many to come. "This food is for all of you, so don't go hogging it all for yourself!"
"Moo?"
"What was that?" Gin asked, jumping to his feet and pulling out his tonfa.
"A cow?" Yosaku wondered.
"Why would a cow be way out here in the ocean?" Coby asked.
Almost as if the universe was answering Coby's question, the ship rocked, a swell of water growing upward from the port side. The bulge was stripped away by gravity, leaving a large, white cow with green splotches and a golden nose ring to stare down at them.
"The Hell is that?!" Gin screamed, fumbling for his weapons.
"Sea monster!" Coby yelled, pressing himself into the wall.
"Sea king!" Yosaku cried. "They're monsters from the Grand Line!"
"Moo?"
"I think it might be hungry," Luffy frowned, knowing instructively that the creature was eyeing their food.
"Then who am I to deny a starving creature?" Sanji commented, taking slow, deliberate steps toward the sea king. Its head lowered, sniffing the food Sanji was offering, only to open a mouth full of sharp teeth in an attempt to snap up more than just the plate. Sanji reacted quickly, jumping back to avoid the monster while still balancing his dishes. His leg snapped out, kicking the beast in the side of the face.
"That's my cook, bastard!" Luffy shouted, his extended arm punching the reeling sea king. It flopped backwards into the water, sending a deluge of pseudo-rain over the ship. Luckily, Sanji kept the food dry with his own body.
"Wow," Yosaku, Coby, and Gin muttered together.
"Anyway, food's up," Sanji announced, as if he and Luffy had not just subjugated a giant sea monster in seconds. Said monster was now floating next to the boat with a lump on its head, watching them eat with tears in its eyes.
"Hey," Luffy commented, his mouth filled with half the meat Sanji had prepared. "Can we eat that cow?"
"Moo?!"
"I think it's too smart for that," Coby replied. "I mean, we could, but I'd feel bad about it since I think it's sentient."
"Sen- what? Can you eat that?"
"No, Captain. It knows it's alive and can…" Coby trailed off at Luffy's blank stare. "Gin, help?"
"Oi, Don," Gin said, catching the pirate captain's attention. "If it could talk, it could do math."
"Wow!" Luffy blinked. "That's a smart cow!"
"Would we get to Big Sis Nami faster if we made that cow drag us?" Yosaku thought aloud through his bean sprouts.
"Great idea!" Luffy turned to the sea king, already pulling out a rope. "Alright, Cow! If you don't want us to eat you, pull us that way!" He pointed in a random direction off to starboard.
"Wrong way!" the rest of the ship's inhabitants roared.
Using the sea king to propel their ship through the water was the best decision the partial crew had made, but that was countered by how many times Luffy punched the creature in an attempt to make it go faster. The compounding damage started taking its toll on the poor cow as the Conami Isles came into sight, the sea king veering off course. Everyone barely had time to scream before they crashed, their ship being sling-shotted into the air over land.
The ship seemed to sail through the foliage of several trees before meeting a road with a lone traveler, said traveler screaming as the ship ran him over and continued its path through a rice field and into a cliff. Suddenly meeting more than air resistance, the boat shattered, leaving everyone under and in the wreckage.
"We're here!" Luffy called, popping out of the ruined ship.
"What the Hell?" the traveler shouted, pushing rubble off of himself to reveal Zoro. "What the actual Hell, Luffy?"
"Zoro-sensei!" Coby greeted. "Are you ok? We didn't kill you, did we?"
"Back off, Shrimp. I'm fine. It's Usopp who's in trouble. Oh Goda! Luffy, Arlong has Usopp. We need to save him. Now, before he gets killed."
"Arlong's actually here?" Gin asked.
"What about Big Sis Nami?" Yosaku fretted.
"She's mixed up with him," Zoro answered. "I'm pretty sure she's a member of his crew."
"And she's a murderer," a new voice added, turning attention to Johnny by the road.
"Johnny!" Yosaku greeted, running to him. "Are you ok? What was that about Big Sisi Nami?"
"She… She murdered Big Bro Usopp!"
"WHAT?" everyone yelled.
"No way!" Luffy denied.
"Nami, why?!" Coby wailed
"It's true," Johnny cried. "She's a traitor! And she's a member of Arlong's crew-"
"Shut up!" Luffy ordered. "Nami would never to that."
"I would never do what?" Nami approached, a look of contempt on her face. She had changed her top, now wearing a light green shirt with dark green spots. Her left hand was covered in a glove and she had her bo out. She had no sleeves on revealing the tattoo on her left bicep: Arlong's mark. "I don't know what the Hell you morons are doing here, but get lost. You aren't welcome here."
"Naaaamiiiii-swaaaan!" Sanji called with hearts in his eyes, his broken ship forgotten. "Do you remember me?"
"You bitch!" Johnny yelled at her. "You killed him! You killed Big Bro Usopp!"
The bounty hunter duo pulled out their swords and tried to rush forward, but Luffy was faster, wrapping his arms around them and holding them in place.
"Where's Usopp?" Zoro demanded, prepping his single blade. Next to him, Coby lifted his bokken with tears in his eyes.
"Sleeping with the fishes," Nami answered without a shred of emotion.
"Why you!" Zoro and his student ran at her, but the former was blocked by Sanji, claiming that a man should never hit a woman under any circumstances. The latter was able to duck around and attack, but the female blocked with her bo. She flinched when the force of the blow hit her gloved hand and pulled away quickly, kicking Coby in the side. The boy stumbled.
"Arlong is looking for Zoro and 'his crew'," Nami told them, trying to hide the pain from her hand, "so I'd suggest you leave now while you have the chance." She turned to leave.
"Nami," Luffy said, stepping ahead of the rest of the group. The young woman turned slightly, just enough to look the behatted teen in the eye. "This isn't you. I know it's not. Whatever's wrong, let us help you."
"You think I want your help?" Nami hissed. "Are you more stupid that I thought you were? I tricked you and that's all there is to it. You were swindled and I stole all the money you had. Leave with your lives, since that's all you have left. Get the Hell out of here."
"Nami!" She didn't listen, walking away without looking back.
"Dammit," Zoro growled, sitting under a tree. "What do we do now?"
"I will accept no one but Nami as our navigator," Luffy stated, still staring at the point in the distance where she had disappeared. "I'm staying."
"Are you crazy, Big Bro Luffy?" Yosaku questioned.
"She killed Big Bro Usopp!" Johnny added.
"I don't believe it." Luffy shook his head. "Nami's our friend. She'd never do something like that."
"Well I, for one, am leaving," Yosaku stated. "Johnny, Big Bro Zoro, let's go."
"I'm staying," Zoro told him without moving. "I'm not the captain, I don't decide the crewmembers. If Luffy wants Nami as the navigator, then we'll convince her to join one way or another. Hell, maybe we'll kidnap her."
"We will not!" Sanji protested.
"Fine. Good luck, guys." The bounty hunters walked away, leaving the crew in the road. With some momentary peace and quiet, Zoro was able to collect his thoughts and look at the people around him.
"Wait. You're that guy from Krieg's crew, aren't you?"
"I am," Gin answered. "Krieg fired me for disobedience when I refused to kill 'Red Foot' Zeff. Don Luffy saved my life and offered me a place on his crew. I am known as 'Man-Demon' Gin and have a bounty of 12-million Beris. I fight with dual weighted tonfa and am good at making tattoos. It's nice to meet you, 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro."
"I know of you, Gin, and you obviously know me. Good. Hey, Shrimp, how was the fight?"
"He was poisoned by Krieg," Luffy said before Coby could answer, some of his dislike for the pirate brought up by the mention of his action, "so I kicked his ass."
"And I see you got the perverted cook to join us," Zoro observed.
"You wanna say that again, Moss-Head?"
"I'll say it as many times as I want to, Blondie!"
"Come at me, you third-rate swordsman!"
"Sure thing, swirly-eyed bastard!" The two would have started fighting if Gin had not grabbed Sanji from behind and Coby tried to hold his mentor back. All attention was diverted from the growing aggression, however, when a figure in a cloak ran through, stopped, slowly turned around, and yelled in surprise.
"What are you looking at?" Zoro growled.
"Guys, you're here!"
"Wha- Usopp?" Coby blinked, the figure pulling his hood off to reveal the long-nosed sniper. "You aren't dead!"
"Nami saved me," Usopp responded, gesturing to the slight red discoloration on the front of his overalls. "Arlong had be prisoner because I went to save Zoro and was going to kill me, but that's when Nami got back. She said she was gonna kill me and faked it, stabbing her own hand while telling me to run away. I fell in the water and managed to swim out of Arlong Park, but I was just about to go back to save Zoro."
"See?" Luffy smiled. "I told you Nami was good and that she wouldn't kill Usopp."
"Well, yeah," Zoro admitted. "You were right there, but she's still a member of Arlong's crew. If we're going to help her, we're going to need to know what's going on and why she's working for him."
"I think I can help with that," Usopp said. "Or, I know someone who can. Follow me." The long-nosed teen led them into Cocoyashi Village before directing them to an out-of-the-way house with a tangerine orchard. He explained that he'd met this person when they'd saved him from capture when he first got to the island (after he shot Arlong in the face, which the crew wasn't sure was true or not). Inside the orchard was a small, wooden house with a porch, which Usopp approached without pause and knocked on the door.
The one who answered was a woman with short, blue hair and several tattoos around her right arm and collarbone. She was dressed in a blue crop top that matched her hair and showed off her figure, and a pair of jeans. She also had dark blue eyes and a red bandana.
Sanji instantly swooned over her.
"Oh my darling! Your beauty knows no bounds! Not even a hoard of fishmen could keep me from helping a woman such as yourself!"
"Uh, thanks?" she answered, turning to Usopp with something of a worried look.
"Nojiko, this is my crew-"
"My crew, not yours."
"This is Luffy," Usopp continued, ignoring his captain, "Zoro, Coby, Sanji, and... Gin, right? Wait, what are you doing here?!"
"You just noticed?" Coby and Gin demanded.
"Ahem," the liar coughed. "Guys, this is Nojiko, Nami's sister."
"Nojiko, a beautiful name befitting such an attractive woman!"
"Oi! Pervy cook! Shut up!"
"You wanna make me, Marimo?"
"Not now," Gin sighed, hitting the swordsman and chef over the head with one of his tonfa each. Caught off-guard, both men dropped to their knees.
"Zoro-sensei!" Coby fretted as Luffy laughed at the two nursing their head wounds.
"Well you sure are a lively bunch," Nojiko giggled, causing Sanji to swoon again and turn noodle-y. "I can see why Nami enjoyed her time with you."
"Can you tell us why Nami left?" Coby asked.
"Well... It all started when we were younger. Eight years ago, to be exact-" Nojiko began, but Luffy stopped her.
"I don't what to hear this from someone who isn't Nami," he stated. "Pasts are a personal thing and if Nami wants me to know, then I'll hear it from her. I'm going to go for a walk." He left.
While confused by the younger man's action, Nojiko talked about their adoptive mother Belimere, Nami's dream to draw a map of the world, the arrival of Arlong, Belimere's death, and Nami's deal with the fishmen to buy back her village. By the end of the story Coby, Usopp, and Sanji were crying with the latter rambling about how Nami was just as brave as she was beautiful. Zoro and Gin were silent, the former because that's just who he was and the latter because he'd seen and heard worse. That didn't mean he didn't sympathize, but shit happened.
"We have to help her!" Coby reaffirmed now that he knew the whole story. "Those fishmen-!"
He was cut off by a crash from outside, Nojiko jumping to her feet and hurrying to the door.
"Stay here," she ordered, exiting and closing the door behind her, but the five in the building could still hear her voice. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Chichichi," another rat-like voice laughed. "I am Marine Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16." Coby tensed. More corrupt marines here to crush his old dream further into the dust? That'd make three (if one counted Fullbody) in the two weeks he'd been a pirate. "Am I correct in assuming this is the home of the pirate thief Nami?"
"She grew up here, but this is no longer her home. We were adopted by the woman who lived here. I'm her sister, Nojiko. Can I help you?"
"I think you can. You see, we've received word that she has a large stash of stolen treasure somewhere here on this property. Since she's only stolen from pirates, no charges will be pressed, but stolen is stolen, no matter who from. From this point forward, all that money will be the sole property of the Marines. Could you lead us to it?"
"So this is what the Marines have fallen to?" Coby whispered angrily. "Stealing from petty thieves instead of arresting pirates holding an entire island hostage?"
Nojiko was more composed outside. "I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't spoken to my sister in nearly eight years. If she's got a stash of Beris, she hasn't shared it with me. It's not here."
"Fine," Nezumi grunted. "If you can't lead us to it, we'll just have to find it ourselves. Men, search the orchard!"
"No!" Nojiko screamed.
"Those bastards," Sanji growled, Usopp and Gin grabbing him under the arms and dragging him away from the door. The chef's legs flailed as he tried to break their hold and defend the blunette outside. Coby was barely holding himself back from attacking the marine, though just barely.
"Don't touch Belimere's tangerines!"
"If you won't comply, girl, then I'll have to shoot you for disrupting an investigation."
"And I'd have to shoot you for disrupting my livelihood without due cause, you rat! Hey! Don't pull up the trees!" There was a scuffle. "Let me go!"
"Come on men!" Nezumi yelled. "How hard can it be to find 100-million Beris?"
Nojiko sucked in a hard breath. "How did you know that number?" she hissed.
"What? Oh, let's just say I had a hunch. Chichichi." That laugh was just too much for Coby to hold back anymore, the boy running out of the house and drawing his bokken. Nezumi was a seedy-looking man with a whisker-like mustache and a small goatee, the hairs swishing as the man's lower face twitched like a rodent. His marine uniform had an added hood pulled up to show the extra mouse ears on top.
With the group was another man who was dressed in an old maroon army uniform. He had scars crisscrossing over his face and arms and a black mustache on his shocked face. A pinwheel spun in the wind from its spot on his hat. He was pinned to the ground by three nameless marines so he couldn't help. Off to the side, Nojiko was held down by another two, one of which had a lewd grin on his face and he reached for the defenseless woman's rear. Luckily, Coby's entrance had distracted him and the rest of the marines.
"You corrupt bastard!" the pink-haired boy yelled angrily, pointing his right bokken at the rat. "You're working with Arlong, aren't you?"
"Where did you come from, little boy?" Nezumi drew a gun, taking aim for the boy.
"Corrupt Marines like you sicken me! You should all go to Hell!"
"No, Coby!" Nojiko's yell came too late to stop the teen.
Nezumi fired.
The man may have been a Marine Captain, but Coby refused to let himself be intimidated. He spun, the bullet just missing him to plow into the porch of the house. The rat's eyes widened as Coby charged with a battle cry, both of his wooden swords slamming into Nezumi's dominant arm. He gave a cry punctuated by a sharp crunch, and Coby was sure that meant something had given way.
He was sure it wasn't his swords.
"Get him, you morons!" Nezumi yelled as he dropped his pistol, backing away from the enraged roset while cradling his arm. A pair of grunts drew swords and advanced on the young pirate, Coby widening his stance, allowing them to approach him.
"You're under arrest for attacking a Marine Officer!" the grunt on the left said.
"Sorry, kid," the grunt on the right grunted. "Orders're orders, y'know."
"Yeah?" Coby growled, all of his anger turning to adrenaline and fearlessness. "You bastards can bite my ass!"
"You asked for it!" Both of the marines raised their swords, bringing them down on the pirate. Coby's reflexes, however, were far better than either of the Seaman Recruits could have thought possible. Coby pushed into a roll between them, spinning into an incomplete Dragon Twister to sweep their legs out from under them. With them down, Coby quickly knocked them out with two overhead strikes to their heads. Satisfied, Coby turned back to the commander, only to see Nezumi with six marines lined up behind him, each with a rifle aimed at him.
"Good show, boy," Nezumi chuckled, "but you've brought swords to a gun fight, and not even real ones. Any last words?"
"Yeah. Go to Hell, Rat!"
"Fire!"
The young student crossed his bokken as a meager form of protection, and it saved his life. Zoro had chosen training tools strong enough to not only survive swords, but also stop a bullet from any basic rifle. That being said, stopping a bullet is different than surviving. Both bokken shattered under the onslaught as they, by some divine miracle, blocked a total of three bullets that would have otherwise pierced Coby's vitals. Unfortunately, they did nothing for the two bullets that sunk into his shoulders and the one that ripped through his side.
Coby staggered backwards as the bullets sank into his body with a splash of blood, both the teen and his blood falling to the ground. The boy grit his teeth so his cry of pain wouldn't reach the marines' ears. His teacher wouldn't cry out, why should he? Coby tried to pull himself up, his wounded shoulders screaming in protest and the blood loss making him dizzy.
"Sir!" one of Nezumi's men shouted, redirecting the man's attention from the shot boy to the marine. "We found it!" The two holding Nojiko and the three holding the other man released them, running over to see their prize.
"Damn corrupt marines," Nojiko bit out, falling beside Coby with the older man on his other side. She could do nothing as the government dogs stole all of her sister's hard-earned treasure.
"We need to get this boy to a doctor," Pinwheel Guy said. He picked up Coby and shot the marines a dirty look.
"Take him into town, Genzo," Nojiko told the man. "Some of his friends are inside. I'll get them." Pinwheel Guy headed toward the village with Coby in his arms while the woman went into her home. "Coby's been shot. Follow me." The four men complied. They wanted to beat the fuck out of all of the government personnel in the tangerine grove, but they wanted to be there for Coby more. The marines didn't see them leave; they were too focused on the money.
"Doctor! Help!" Genzo ran into the village as fast as he could while carrying the wounded boy. His shouting attracted a large crowd that met him in the center of town. On the outskirts, just within hearing range was Nami behind a building and Luffy under a tree on the other side.
"Genzo?" the town doctor asked. "What's wrong? What happened to this kid?" Luffy shot up at the sight of pink hair.
"Those damn marines shot him after stealing Nami's money." Genzo answered.
"Coby!" Luffy yelled, pushing his way to the boy. "Coby, what happened?"
"Captain Luffy," Coby muttered, the blood loss turning him slightly delirious. "I need to stop… getting into these situations. It'll… turn into… a bad habit."
"Shut up," Luffy told him firmly. "What happened? Who shot you?"
"They... They took it all. They were working with Arlong. The... The Marines. Arlong... He never meant to keep his side of the bargain." The boy passed out, the blood loss from the bullet wounds being too much for his young body.
The young pirate captain didn't know what bargain his friend was talking about, but it wasn't long before the rest of his crew came running in following Nami's older sister. They, in broken and overlapping explanations, explained that Nami had agreed to buy back her village for 100-million Beris, but that Arlong had hired a corrupt marine to steal it all when she was close.
Nami couldn't take it. All that hard work, stolen? It just couldn't be true. She ran off to confront Arlong. Meanwhile, the crew gathered in the doctor's office. He was clearly skilled, already working on bandaging the worst wound in the boy's side where the bullet had left an exit wound.
"Will he be ok?" Luffy demanded.
"I'd say no if he was any weaker," the doctor answered. "As it stands, though, he'll pull through. Something has made his blood thinker than the average person, so that probably saved his life."
"What will we do, Don Luffy?" Gin asked in his normal, calm manner.
"Nothing," Luffy answered, his eyes shadowed by his hat.
"But Luffy-" Usopp tried to argue.
"We won't do anything," Luffy cut him off. "Not until Nami asks for help. Until then, we wait. It's not our business... yet."
"But the marines-" Usopp began.
"Will get what's coming to them," Luffy finished, "but they were hired by this Arlong and he's Nami's problem. When she wants help, we'll give it to her. One way or another, we'll deal with them."
And so they waited. Coby woke up an hour later for a short period, but he was in no condition to move. The townspeople weren't as calm. They were arming themselves with anything they could find to attack Arlong Park, ready to march to their deaths as storm clouds rolled in from the east. They were all in the center of town, about to leave, when Nami returned, hysterical. Luffy and the rest of the crew watched from the office.
"Stop!" Nami yelled, pulling out a knife. "Please, stop! Don't do this! I... I can get the money again! It's no problem. I have experience, now."
"No, Nami," Genzo told her gently, taking her knife by the blade and dropping it on the ground. He ignored the blood seeping from his fingers. "This is it. We've been cheering for you for these last eight years, but now we know that Arlong won't let you reach your goal."
"But if you fight, the fishmen will kill you!"
"We know," Genzo muttered quietly, much to Nami's horror. He reached forward, wrapping the girl in a tight hug that she was too shocked to return. "You've grown into a fine young woman, Nami. Live your life and keep growing. With us gone, you'll be free to follow your dream. Forget about us. We know we're going to lose, but you know what? We'll GIVE 'EM HELL!"
"YEAH!" the village cheered. Nami turned as the rest of the village's inhabitants passed her by, her hands uselessly snatching at arms and clothing but never holding anything for more than a second. Her voice would not work as she tried desperately to make them stop. It began to rain, the water coming down and washing over the girl. When they were gone, Nami stood there for a second longer before falling to her knees, the dirt turning to mud around her. She clutched the tattoo on her bicep, tears falling from her eyes and mixing with the rain. The glint of the knife caught her eye and rage filled her.
"Arlong," she whispered in a mixture of anger, desperation, despair, and hate. "Arlong." She lifted the small blade and plunged it into her arm, straight through the tattoo. Wincing, she pulled the knife out, hoping that the rain and the blood and the pain would wash away her torment before she plunged it back in over and over, crying all the while. "Arlong. Arlong. Arlong! Arlong! ARLONG!" She primed the knife to stab her arm once more, but someone grabbed her wrist. She tilted her head just enough to see who it was, tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes.
"Luffy? What... What are you doing here? Why the fuck are you here?! WHY?! I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! Leave. Leave..." Her voice had gone from confusion to rage to utter despair. "Luffy," she finally pleaded. "Please… Help me."
The teen smiled and removed his hat before placing it on her head, the girl letting out a small gasp at the gesture.
"With pleasure." He snapped his fingers and the other men walked out of the doctor's office. Coby was still inside since he was injured, but they'd all agreed that he'd done enough in the fights with Krieg and Nezumi. "Usopp, you know the way. Take us to Arlong Park."
"Aye, Captain."
Johnny and Yosaku, beaten and bloody, were sitting in front of Arlong Park when the villagers arrived. The sound of the laughter of the Arlong Pirates flowed from inside the gate. The bounty hunters' clothes were ragged and Johnny's sunglasses had lost their glass, and they did not move as the men and women of Cocoyashi approached.
"Move out of the way!" Genzo ordered as they drew closer. "We have business with Arlong!"
"If you go in there, you'll die," Johnny told them.
"We know that, but we would rather die fighting than live under Arlong and his crew any longer."
"Wouldn't you rather live free?" Yosaku questioned.
"Well, of course," Genzo faltered.
"Then just wait for a few more minutes," Johnny finished. "There's going to be a certain group of men that will come and they will free this island from Arlong's control."
"Who? The Marines?" Genzo scoffed. "They're being paid off to do nothing and worse."
"Far from it. Here they come." The armed villagers turned to see five men through the haze of the noonday heat, all of their eyes shaded.
Each of them walked with an air of malice, their faces shaded by the sun behind them. Several citizens shuttered at the presence these five produced as they approached, parting for them as they arrived at the gate. The man in red at the head of the group moved to the gate while his companions formed a semicircle around him.
He punched the gate, leaving a fist-sized dent in the metal, much to the crowd's shock. All sound from within the stronghold stopped, one voice calling out to ask the others what that noise had been. The man punched the wall again, leaving another dent. He punched it a third time, ripping the gate from its hinges and flooding the surrounding air with dust that dropped visibility to zero. The dust cleared after a minute to show the fishmen, all of whom were standing with the exception one, surprised expressions on their faces.
"Which of you is Arlong?" the kid who had punched the gate demanded, stepping through the now-ruined entrance.
"That would be me," replied the light-blue fishman sitting in the chair. He had a nose like a sawtooth shark and teeth to match. A dorsal fin stuck out of his long, curly, black hair and red sun tattoo was half hidden by his Hawaiian shirt, the mark of his crew was branded in his left forearm. Green shorts and sandals completed his ensemble. "May I ask who you are?"
"I'm Luffy. And I'm here to kick your fishy, blue ass."
"Shahahahaha!" Arlong laughed, his crew joining in. "This pathetic human thinks he can take me on? Shahahahaha!" Arlong and his crew where too busy laughing at Luffy's (through their eyes) stupidity that they didn't see him approach Arlong's chair. Luffy cocked his fist back and punched Arlong in the face as hard as he could.
The fishman went flying, shocking everyone of both species. He smashed into the wall at the other end of Arlong Park, the concrete caving in on either side over the unmoving captain.
"What?!" Hatchan the octopus fishman yelled. "Nyuu~ No human from the East Blue should be able to do that!" Hatchan had pink skin and six arms. Instead of hair, five spikes grew out on his head and his mouth stuck out from his face. On his forehead was a sun tattoo similar to Arlong's. He also wore a red shirt with three arm holes on each side and yellow shorts.
"You," Kuroobi growled. "What are you?" Kuroobi was a large, muscular fishman whose skin was a darker blue than his captain's and had long black hair in a stupid hairstyle with some hair sticking up in two small, forward-pointing, pointed buns. The majority of his hair was pulled back into a ponytail that fell down to his knees and his sun tattoo was nearly completely hidden from sight on one pictorial. He was clothed in a navy-blue gi held together by a black belt. Two fins grew from his elbows and looked like they would hurt.
"Me?" Luffy questioned, cracking his knuckles. "I'm a pirate."
"You bastard!" yelled Arlong's unnamed underlings. They ran at Luffy while waving their weapons, but were tossed back from whence they had come in a matter of scconds, scattering their unconscious forms around the area.
"Damn it, Luffy," the blond muttered through a cigarette. "Don't rush ahead. Save some for the rest of us."
"He's right, Don," the other man commented, his now-stopped weapons revealed to be tonfa with large iron balls on the ends. "It would be disappointing to have come all this way for nothing. We want to show off, too." The other two men came up to join them in the center of Arlong Park, silent.
"Huh," Chew grunted. "Looks like we'll have to fight after all... chew." Chew had light blue skin and light brown hair that framed his face. His mouth was elongated much like Hatchan's, but was thinner than his crewmate's, and he was dressed in a darker blue shirt and brown shorts. He had an Arlong tattoo on his right arm and what looked like blush on his cheeks.
"Don't worry," Hatchan said. He cupped his mouth and blew a noise like a trumpet for 15 seconds. "Mohmoo! Come here, Mohmoo!" There was silence for a second before a lump in the water started getting bigger until it reached land and broke the surface.
It was the sea-cow. Mohmoo's gaze swept over the battlefield until it fell on Luffy, Sanji, and Gin. Memories of their last meeting flashed through his head before coming to the conclusion that dealing with them was not worth it. With tears from the memories of the pain caused by those monsters, the sea beast turned and started swimming away.
"Wait, Mohmoo!" Hatchan called, but the sea-cow did not stop.
"It's fine, Mohmoo," Arlong said with an underlying threat, causing the large creature to freeze. "You can leave if you want, if you're gonna deal with the consequences." His fear of the humans being overridden by his fear of Arlong, Mohmoo turned back and attacked. Exspectedly, he was thrown from the island by the combined force of Luffy, Sanji, and Gin.
"Alright," Luffy stated, cracking his knuckles as the creature's moo of pain faded into the distance. "There's four of them and five of us. Who wants who?"
"I'll take the octopus," Zoro smirked. "I need to thank him for helping with my escape."
"The big one's mine," Sanji answered, dumping ashes from his cigarette. "I'll turn him into sushi. A lot of sushi."
"I guess that leaves me with the ugly one," Gin commented. "Unless you want to fight him, Usopp?"
"Nope!" the sniper responded a little too quickly. "He's all yours!"
"Stay back, Captain," Kuroobi grunted, falling into a fighting stance. "We'll take care of these pests."
Gin seemed to have a similar idea. "Don Luffy, please stand back. You'll need all your energy to fight Arlong. Let us handle his underlings. Usopp, could you please provide cover fire?"
"Uh, yeah," the long-nosed teen answered. "No problem."
The battle began.
"You!" Hatchan shouted, pointing at Zoro with three of his arms. "Nyuu~ You tricked me! You'll pay for that!" He cupped his mouth. "Hachi Ink Jet!" A stream of black ink shot from the octopus fishman's mouth, arching through the air to hit Zoro. The swordsman was too quick, however, and was able to sidestep the attack. The ink continued on its path, dousing the villagers of Cocoyashi Village in black.
"Is that the best you can do?" Zoro questioned, running forward as fast as his injured body would allow. His opponent fired several more ink shots, but Zoro was able to easily avoid them. The human reached his foe and slashed at his face. In response, Hatchan ducked under the strike. Unfortunately for him, he didn't duck fast enough to save all of him.
"My hair!" Hatchan yelled, feeling his spikes were Zoro's lone blade had cut through the top three of his five spikes at a diagonal angle. "Nyuu~ You'll pay for that! Wait here."
"I'm not just gonna wait here," Zoro replied. He swiped at the fishman, but Kuroobi unintentionally got in the way, having been kicked by Sanji. Zoro's sword bounced off of his arm fins as he went flying by with the cook following close behind. "You got in my way, Cook!" Zoro shouted at the blond.
"I don't have time to deal with you, Moss-Head!" Sanji shouted back as his own foe stood back up. "We'll settle it later!" Sanji ran off as Hatchan emerged from his room on the second floor of Arlong Park.
"Haha!" Hatchan laughed from the second-floor balcony, one sword in each of his six hands. "Now you face my Six Sword Style!" He jumped down with his swords pointed forward so all the tips touched, his body spinning with the intent of shredding the Pirate Hunter upon impact. Zoro stepped out of the way, leaving the fishman to crash. The concrete cracked below him, the octopus groaning.
"Ow," Hatchan whined, his face supporting the rest of his body. "Nyuu~ That was a dirty trick."
"I just moved out of the way."
"Damn you!" Hatchan jumped up and seemed to flail his arms at Zoro.
"Streaming Wolf Swords." The swordsman appeared to turn into paper, barely dodging each sword as it came by. At one point, Sanji flew by, but Zoro was too focused on dodging to notice. His focus was rewarded, however, by the smallest opening in Hachan's guard, allowing the human to meet his cheek with a pommel strike. As Hatchan stumbled back, Zoro called out to the ragged men on the sidelines. "Johnny! Yosaku! I need your swords!"
"Sure thing, Big Bro!" Johnny yelled back. The bounty hunters threw their swords toward the swordsman who managed to jump into the air and catch the weapons with a surprising amount of ease. His own sword now firmly in his mouth, Zoro came down on Hatchan like a hunter out for blood.
The fishman was on the defensive, all six of his swords being needed to fend off his opponent's three. He didn't know how it was possible. This man was only a human, a wounded human if the bloody bandages were anything to go by, so how was it that he was not only keeping up with him, but beating him with half as many swords? Hatchan leapt back to put space between them and prepared an attack to rip his human foe apart.
"Nyuu~ I'm done with you!" the pink fishman yelled as he touched all of his swords' tips together in front of him. "Octopus Pot Stance: New Year's Explosions!" Hatchan rushed forward, but his swords were all stopped when Zoro met their points with his own overlapping weapons. Hatchan did not seem daunted, however, as he just pulled his swords apart, the force throwing Zoro off balance. Taking his advantage, the octopus-man shot forward to headbutt Zoro in the chest, right over his wound.
Zoro let out a pained yell around Wado Ichimonji as the force partially reopened his injury from his fight with Mihawk. He stumbled back, one fist press against his chest to try to numb the pain. Through his cloudy eyes, he was just able to see his opponent coming in for an unannounced attack, but he had enough time to counter.
"Dragon Whirlwind!" Zoro spun, his swords kicking up a dust cloud from the displaced air. The force of the wind was strong enough the lift Hatchan and all of his swords. The fishman went up and came back down, as gravity did, hitting the ground for the second time that fight.
"Nyuu~ You got lucky!" the six-armed octopus man declared, jumping up from what must have been a painful landing. "I'll get you this time! Forward Six Sword Waltz!" He started spinning his blades like a fan and began walking toward the human with slow, steady steps. The green-haired man lunged forward.
"Demon Slash!" Zoro ended in a crouch behind his shocked adversary, said adversary's weapons falling apart in his hands. Hatchan was still, a look of disbelief on his face as his 300 lbs. swords fell to pieces, leaving only the handles in his hands. A second later, three slashes opened on his chest, blood falling from the relatively shallow but long wounds. Hatchan passed out, the shock combined with the sudden blood loss forcing his consciousness to shut down. Zoro sheathed Wado Ichimonji as the large fishman collapsed. Zoro followed soon after, not unconscious but weak from blood loss.
"You have no chance of winning," Kuroobi sneered at his cigarette-smoking opponent, falling into a fighting stance as he did so. His right arm was extended and his right leg was placed forward. "I am a 40th Dan in fishman karate. You are outmatched."
"Your voice is getting on my nerves," Sanji replied, breathing out smoke. "I've got a lot of food I need to make for our celebration tonight, so if we could move this along, that would be great."
"You overestimate yourself!" Kuroobi shouted, shooting forward. The chef's leg snapped up, slamming into his opponent's face with his steel-toed shoe before the fishman could react. Kuroobi grunted as he was sent flying.
"No," Sanji muttered. "You underestimate me."
While in the air, Kuroobi did not hear his opponent, nor did he feel something glance off of one of his fins since the small sensation was dwarfed by the pain the cook's kick had caused, cracking his nose. Kuroobi smashed into the wall as two of the invading crew yelled at each other.
"You got in my way, Cook!" Zoro shouted at the blond.
"I don't have time to deal with you, Moss-Head!" Sanji shouted back as his own foe stood back up. "We'll settle it later!" Sanji ran forward, roundhouse kicking Kuroobi in the side of the head before he could really get back on his feet.
Yeah, it was a dirty tactic, but it was a fight between pirates. Pirates played dirty.
Kuroobi managed to snap himself out of the shock of how strong his foe was while in the air from the second kick, flipping and landing on his feet before skidding a few feet to slow himself.
"You bastard," Kuroobi growled, brushing dust off his gi. "I'm going to break those legs of yours."
"I'd like to see you try."
Incised, Kuroobi charged, prompting Sanji to jump into a spinning hook kick. Kuroobi, however, now had a feel for the chef's fighting style and ducked under the kick. The fishman caught his leg and lifted the chef over his head before throwing the human into the concrete at his feet, the damage causing the human to cough up blood. Giving him no time to collect himself, the black-belt picked Sanji up and smacked him with one of his fins, throwing him across Arlong Park. The human reached the far wall and smashed through it, leaving a hole and flopping onto the road.
"Well that's done," Kuroobi growled. He glanced over to his crewmates' fights. Hatchan was attacking Roronoa with his swords and Chew was shooting water from the sea at the scruffy man with the tonfa and the long-nosed kid, both of whom were worse-for-wear. He moved to join Chew in his two-on-one battle, but an attack from the battle of the swordsmen knocked Hachi back. He saw Hachi fall and thought it would be best to help the octopus-man first. He never got to. On his way to their fight, a voice shouted something like nonsense before Kuroobi was attacked.
"Exploding Star!" A fiery explosion covered the top half of Kuroobi's body, lightly burning his gi in the process but otherwise doing no harm. Kuroobi's eyes scanned the area, looking for the fool that dared to attack him. Finally, his gaze landed on the teen with the slingshot.
"You're going to pay for that, Long-Nose." Kuroobi rushed the long-range fighter who paled and took off toward the crowd of villagers. The fishman followed. He stopped to glance at the armed mob at the gates, but when another, weaker explosion hit him, his focus was transferred back to the long-nosed pest. Kuroobi charged after the sniper, nearing the body of the blond he'd fought earlier, not noticing that he now had a new cigarette in his mouth.
Sanji's hand shot out as he passed, grabbing his ankle. Kuroobi tripped from the unexpected obstacle, faceplanting into the dirt road. The chef got in front of him and kicked him back into the compound with a cry of "Veau Shot!" It was over with the next barrage of attacks.
"Collar!" Sanji's right foot smashed into the spot between Kuroobi's neck and shoulder. "Flank!" A kick to the side rolled him onto his front. "Lower Back!" The cook's heel dug into the fishman's spine, forcing his head up. "Chin!" A rising kick picked the large pirate into the air. "Ribs!" The ray-fishman was launched into the building, smashing through several rooms on the ground floor. He came out the back wall, his limp form draped over the wreckage that had been part of the last wall.
Sanji lit another cigarette, his third of the battle, as blood flowed freely from a wound on his head. He blew smoke. "Now it's done. He won't be coming back." He puffed his cancer stick. "They're all just seafood anyway. A fish couldn't fight a cook. I don't know what he was thinking."
"It was you that called me 'the ugly one', wasn't it? ... Chew." Chew growled, dropping into his starting position. "I'll make you regret that... chew."
"Yeah? You think you can deal with me? My bounty is 12-million, while yours is, what, zero?"
"Bounties mean nothing! Fishmen are the superior race, and there is no amount of numbers will change that… chew!"
"That verbal tick of yours is really annoying," Gin shot back, cracking his neck with his eyes closed. Chew opened his mouth to retort, but his words died as Gin's eyes snapped open, a crazed smile stretching over his face. Gin laughed, shooting forward with tonfa spinning into an overhead swing with his right weapon. The first attack forced Chew to block with both forearms, allowing the human pirate to bring his weapon's twin in from the left, smashing the weight on the end into the fishman's ribs. Chew grunted in pain, but was otherwise unaffected. He smirked.
"You're tough," Gin admitted, the gleam in his eye brightening. "That means I can beat you more. That's more fun for me!" Chew's smirk fizzled at the look, having never seen the sort of evil grin this pirate was directing at him. A lead ball nailed Chew in the forehead, disorienting the fishman. Gin's tonfa spun into his face, throwing him away. Gin stepped back, shaking his head as if he had been in a daze.
"Chew…" Chew grumbled in annoyance. He rolled away when he heard a cry of "Flame Star!". A small pellet hit the concrete where he had been only a second ago, bursting into a flame that died the second afterward but left a scorch mark on the ground. "Wait a second. I know you." His eyes locked onto Usopp. "You're the one that was shooting at our captain… chew."
"Yeah, I was!" the sniper declared, brimming with courage brought about by being behind a fighter like Gin, who went toe-to-toe with Sanji. "What's it to you?"
"I-" Chew jumped away, a weighted tonfa crushing the ground he'd been on. "Dammit! Let me talk, chew!"
"Why?" Gin growled. "So you can keep saying 'chew'? No thanks." Gin spun, giving his weapons more force as he struck at his foe. Chew rolled away from the iron, dodging Usopp's attacks all the while. He ran to the water before diving in to avoid a Lead Star.
"Damn!" Usopp cursed. "What now."
"Get ready to move," Gin advised. "He's a fishman. We don't know what he can do in the water, but we are not going to follow-"
"Squirt Gun!" Gin didn't finish, a pressurized stream of water slamming into his chest and blowing him into and through the first wall of Arlong Park's building.
"Gin!" Usopp yelled.
"You're next, Long-Nose!" Chew shouted. "One Thousand Shot Squirt Gun!"
"Crap!" The long-nosed teen dove to the right, just avoiding the ball of water that punched through the wall behind him like a bullet. Chew didn't stop at one, Usopp having to dodge duck, dip, dive, and dodge until he managed to jump behind enough rubble to hold off the barrage.
"Fireball!" he yelled as he popped up over the wall for only a moment, trying to get in a counterattack. The coming ball of fire was too big for any small drop to stop it, forcing Chew to cut off his attack and duck below the surface. The attack hit the surface of the water, the heat causing the surface to steam. Usopp took his opportunity and ran to Gin's side where he lay in the rubble of the wall inside the building. The side of his face was covered in his own blood and there was a piece of shrapnel in his left arm. "Come on, Gin," he begged. "Get up! You're stronger than me."
"Urg," Gin moaned, rolling onto his side and coughing up a glob of blood. "What am I to you? A human shield?"
"Now's not the time for that!" Usopp panicked as Chew resurfaced, cheeks full of water.
"Stop him!" Gin called out.
"Exploding Star!" Despite the stress, Usopp's aim was true, plugging Chew's mouth with a pellet that exploded. Unfortunately, due to half of the projectile getting wet, it only blew up with half of the usual force.
"Chew!" the fishman yelled in pain, his arms coming up to his face. Soot streaked his face and arms, and his hair was stuck blown back. Getting his bearings quickly, he bent over and starting sucking up water once more.
"Gin, do something!"
"I can't! I'm a close-range fighter and the gunpowder in my flintlock is wet! You do something!" Chew started swelling, the water intake causing his body to expand.
"What do you want me to do?!"
"I don't know! Do you have any poisons? Something to interrupt his insides?"
"No! Why would I... Wait!" Usopp rummaged around in his bag. "Got it! Smoke and Pepper Star Combo!"
At first, it seemed like he had fallen short of the fishman, but the two capsules broke in the water, coloring the sea a dark gray. Too absorbed in his preparations to stop before it reached him, Chew sucked up the smoky water. His eyes bugged out comically as the spices and chemicals were pulled into his insides. He sneezed, all of the water throwing both Gin and Usopp back into the rubble in one big wave.
Chew couldn't see them from the water now through the pain, but he didn't want to take chances. He filled himself with uncontaminated seawater before climbing out of the ocean, his opponents likewise pulling themselves out of the rubble of the front of Arlong Park. Gin saw him first, shoving the remains of Arlong's chair off of himself.
"…Aww shit."
"One Thousand Shot Squirt Gun!" More watery bullets shot from Chew's mouth, forcing Usopp and Gin to dodge behind the same rubble Usopp had used earlier, the latter trying to block some shots with his tonfa. A yell attracted Gin's attention to Sanji's body ragdolling into and through the park's border wall.
"Usopp," Gin whispered as high-velocity water whizzed over their heads. "Sanji was just hit. I think can take this one now that he's on land. Distract the big guy."
"Got it. Exploding Star!"
"You're going to pay for that, Long-Nose!" Sanji's opponent shouted.
"Run!" Usopp took Gin's suggestion, sprinting away at top speed with Kuroobi in hot pursuit. Gin turned back to his fight, that dark smirk from earlier returning at full force. He swung at a large piece of wall, breaking it and throwing the pieces toward the thin fishman. Chew deflected the ballistic rubble with one shot of water each, but the distraction was enough to let Gin close the distance.
His right weight slammed into Chew's stomach, doubling him over and making him spit up the rest of the water inside him with a hard cough, before the other smashed into the side of his face, throwing Chew to the right. Gin followed raising both tonfa up before bringing them down on top of his foe's back. The former Krieg pirate did not let up, hitting him as hard as he could. Finally, Gin struck the back of the fishman's head, driving Chew's face into the concrete hard enough to leave an imprint. Chew didn't move.
Gin stood over his bloodied opponent, not a hint of pity in his eye.
"Hachi... Kuroobi... Chew..." Arlong muttered in a mixture of disappointment and disbelief from where he was sitting on a piece of debris where Luffy had first punched him into the far wall. His eyes moved over each of his most-trusted friends. "To think you three would be beaten by mere humans."
"Don," Gin told Luffy in his ever-respectful manner, stepping over to his captain and giving a small bow. "Arlong is alone. Would you like us to fight him?"
"No," Luffy responded, his eyes never leaving Arlong. "He's mine."
The human teen stepped forward as his male crewmates went to stand between the pirate captains and the people of Cocoyashi Village. Despite his protests, Zoro ended up getting help from Gin as to not reopen his wounds. Usopp had taken up residence in the hole Sanji's body had made in the wall around the park.
"NAMI-SWAAAAN!" Sanji yelled, his body seeming to turn into noodles at the sight of the orange-haired girl wearing Luffy's hat, said girl now standing between Genzo and Nojiko. She had her bo staff out, but Zoro and Gin doubted that she would be able to use it with her bandaged shoulder, the town's doctor still fussing over her injury. "Did you see what I did? Are you impressed with me? Do you love me yet?"
"Shut up, Ero-cook," Zoro growled, pushing himself off Gin's shoulder to stand with his own power. "The fight's not over yet."
"Luffy," Nami whispered, eyes locked on the pre-battle banter. She didn't respond to Sanji, or anyone else for that matter.
"Do you know the biggest difference between you and me?" Arlong asked, standing so that he towered over the rubber teen. He still did not know of this human's power since Luffy had not fought yet, but Arlong knew that he should not underestimate this boy if he had the respect of the infamous Roronoa Zoro or the other humans powerful enough to overcome his three lieutenants.
"The nose?" Luffy answered honestly, cracking his knuckles. "The jaw?" Luffy seemed to come to a revelation and pointed to his hand. "Webbing!"
"Species!" Arlong roared. He swiped at Luffy before throwing his head forward to bite at the other pirate. Luffy danced away as quickly as he could, jumping back from the fishman's attack. Arlong continued his assault, trying to take the teen's head off with his teeth.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy's arm stretched, surprising the fishman who was thrown into the far wall, again. He rose from the wreckage, pissed but undamaged.
"So you ate a Devil Fruit. This just got more interesting." Arlong shot forward, his webbed fist striking Luffy's face. The blow did no damage, but the force threw Luffy back, making him land on his neck in a way that would have killed him had he not eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit. Through the attack itself wasn't dangerous to his rubber body, the trench carved into the concrete as Luffy slowed was enough of a testament to the power behind it.
Even with Luffy knocked away, Arlong suspected that would not be enough to keep the tenacious human down, so he took the time to prepare for a new attack. He reached into his mouth and yanked out his teeth, leaving his gums exposed. Due to his shark heritage, they completely grew back a second later. He repeated the process with the other hand, so he had one set of teeth in each hand and one in his mouth.
"Tooth Attack!" Arlong shouted, shooting forward. Luffy scrambled out of the way. Where Arlong's teeth hit the concrete, it cracked and splintered to leave tooth-shaped potholes. The fishman gave that no mind and attacked again and again.
"Crap!" Luffy yelled, narrowly avoiding a swipe to his face. Unfortunately, Arlong was faster than he appeared, one pair of teeth grabbing Luffy as he tried to jump away. The teen screamed as the improvised weapons pierced his calf, dragging him down into the ground.
"Luffy!" Nami voice yelled from the crowd, the worry clear in her tone.
"Well well well," Arlong smirked, stomping on Luffy's stomach so he couldn't roll away. "If it isn't the prize of this fight. Shahahaha! Get a good look, Nami! This is the future! Fishmen forever above humans! Shahahaha!"
Luffy countered Arlong's boasts with an unannounced Gum-Gum Pistol. The fishman lost his hold on the teeth he was holding and the ones in his mouth broke. Luffy jumped to his feet, letting only a grimace show how much the holes in his leg hurt.
"Gum-Gum Whip!" Luffy's uninjured leg shot out, blindsiding Arlong and smashing him into the building, his broken teeth falling from his mouth. There was no movement. "Is it over?" Luffy questioned, disappointed.
"Have we won?" Genzo asked into the silence. "We wo-!"
Arlong burst from the building with a cry of rage, a crazed look in his eyes and a weapon in his hand. It was about four feet long with six triangular blades coming out of one side.
"It's the Saw Blade," Nami gasped. Neither Luffy nor Arlong heard her as they were too focused on each other. The fishman swung the blade horizontally. Luffy jumped over it and the fishman, but Arlong expected something like that. He let Luffy land before he spun, lunging toward the human and delivering an uppercut to his jaw that rocketed Luffy to the upper level of Arlong Park. He cashed through the far-left window of the highest level, the map room.
Luffy found himself surrounded by paper maps. Crashes outside indicated that Arlong was coming and he wasn't taking the stairs. That didn't give Luffy much time to take in his surroundings and devise any sort of strategy. There were two bookcases on his right side and a desk against the wall opposite the new hole. A small basket of rolled-up papers sat beside the desk, but what caught his attention and made his blood boil was the feather pen resting on the desk, said feather stained a dark red.
The fishman smashed the wall beneath the broken window and stepped through the new hole to see Luffy holding a feather pen stained with old blood. Arlong aimed the Saw Blade at the unmoving pirate, placing his head between two of the triangular blades.
"There's nowhere else to run, human," Arlong sneered. "It's just you and me, here, in the highest level of Arlong Park. We will finish this now."
"What is this place?" Luffy asked, undaunted by the large weapon by his throat. His hair shadowed his eyes, not meeting those of his foe.
"This is the room where I forced Nami to draw all of her sea charts for me," Arlong answered. He saw no reason to deny the other pirate an answer since said pirate would be dead soon. "Her talents are too good for human scum like you and yours. She belongs to me and I will use her to bring about the Mighty Arlong Empire!"
"I don't care what you say!" Luffy retorted. "Because Nami is my navigator!"
"You want her to navigate for your piece of shit pirate crew? What a monumental waste of her potential. She will continue to draw sea charts for me." Luffy reached up and grabbed the blade before him as his other hand set the pen down. Arlong tried to move his weapon, but for some reason it wouldn't budge. Luffy squeezed, shattering the sharpened triangle in his grip.
"No!" Arlong yelled in disbelief. That weapon he been with him even back in his days with Fisher Tiger and the Sun Pirates. How could a mere human child break it with only his bare hands?
"Use her?" Luffy growled. "Use her?! You bastard! What do you take her for?"
Arlong tried to play off his nervous laugh as confidence. "She's an inferior creature, but she has risen far above her peers. If you are all sewer rats, she's a feisty little kitten. After all, she is adorable." Luffy couldn't help but to agree, but no one needed to know that, so he kept quiet. "She has her place, and it's next to me! So Nami will forever be my tool! Shahaha! SHAHAHAHA!"
A desk flew by Arlong's head, smashing through what was left of the outer wall and scattering its contents to the wind. Both bookcases, one broken in half, followed.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the fishman shouted. Luffy didn't respond as he kicked the desk's bench where Nami had spent many hours drawing, forcing Arlong to duck and sending it out of the hole as well. The falling furniture outside brought memories back to the navigator in question, but that did not impact the fight.
"Stop it now!" Arlong yelled, swinging at the teen with the remainder of his weapon. Luffy hopped out of the way, leaving a stack of sea charts to be cleaved in half by the broken blade. "My charts!" Much to Arlong's shock, Luffy kicked the cut charts, making them float away in the wind. Arlong grabbed the neck of the younger pirate as he bounced past to wreck more of the room, slamming his head into the wall. Luffy tried to gasp through the hold, his hands clutching at Arlong's webbed fingers around his neck.
"Damn you, you human boy!" Arlong cursed, his pupils shrinking in rage. "That was eight years of work, eight years of planning and preparation, wasted!" Luffy flailed his legs, breaking more of the room as they randomly stretched. To stop him, Arlong went to bite down on his neck and sever his jugular, but Luffy knew that a bite to the neck would kill him. He reached forward and grabbed Arlong's nose. The serrated sides bit into his fingers, but Luffy didn't care for his own pain. With a sharp twist, the proud nose of Arlong broke.
"I get it now," Luffy muttered as the fishman cried out in pain, backing away to clutch at his twisted nose. "This isn't Nami's room. It's her jail cell and the only way for her to be free is to destroy it." Luffy threw his right leg through the ceiling and brought it down before Arlong could react. "Gum-Gum Battle Ax!"
Luffy's voice echoed over the island as his sandled foot came down on the tyrannical fishman, driving him into and through the floor. Every floor below the shark-man was crushed by the force. At the bottom lay Arlong, beaten and broken.
The structural damage was too much for the building. Cracks formed and widened. Walls came apart. A massive dust cloud grew from the falling rubble as the building fell in on itself.
Arlong Park had fallen.
The people celebrated. Men kissed their wives, children played, voices sang.
"...Luffy?" Nami asked, worry lacing her voice as the rubber pirate did not emerge from the wreckage. She shuffled forward a few steps. "Luffy?! LUFFY?!"
Nami was the first one to move, the rest of the crew following her as she ran to the destroyed building. Being the first to arrive, Nami grabbed the first stone she could lift and threw it behind her, hitting Usopp in the face. She didn't care, of course; all of her thoughts were focused on finding Luffy and making sure he was ok.
"Luffy!"
"Don!"
The guys of the crew fanned out, the rest of the village's populous joining the pirates in their excavation efforts. The minute they searched felt like hours, the terror of never finding their savior mounting, until Nami finally managed to shift a large chunk of roof to reveal the red cardigan Luffy wore.
"Luffy!" Nami grabbed the shirt and pulled, ignoring the pain from her bandaged arm. As Luffy's body usually did, his limbs stretched from where they were still trapped under the rubble. Usopp reached Nami's side in a moment, also grabbing a part of their captain. Gin came next, followed by Zoro, Sanji, Genzo, and Nojiko. Between the seven of them, Luffy came out easily.
"Oh hey," he smiled, looking up at his crew. "I'm alive. That's nice."
"You idiot!" Nami cried, wrapping Luffy in a hug. Tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked into the rubberman's shoulder, the navigator squeezing him for all he was worth as eight years of pain and suffering were released in moments. "I was so worried. I thought you were gone! I don't know-"
"I'm fine, Nami," Luffy interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You asked me to help you, and that's what I did. Arlong said you were his tool, but he was wrong. You're my friend, and I'll do anything for my friends."
"Thank you." Before Nami knew what she was doing, on her knees holding the blooded form of the pirate who had saved her village, she kissed him.
Behind her, Sanji grasped his heart, his skin rapidly paling. If one listened really closely, they could hear the sound of shattering glass.
Nami backed off after several seconds, a scarlet blush over her cheeks. She handed Luffy's hat back to him, unable to look him in the eye. Luffy didn't know why (Dadan had never really explained), but he'd felt really happy when their lips had touched. He leaned in and captured her lips once more. Nami's eyes widened.
Is this what she wanted? Her thoughts seemed to make the world slow down and shrink until it was just her and Luffy, his lips on hers. She'd never done anything like this before and was Luffy, one of the biggest morons she'd ever met, really the one she wanted in any way?
Well, he did save her village. And her. And Usopp's village. And the Baratié. And…
And Luffy was going to be the King of the Pirates.
With that thought, Nami melted into the kiss and wrapped her arms around him. Luffy was going to become the King, which would make him both royalty and very, very wealthy. Nami supposed she could get used to that, even if it took a while to get there. Knowing Luffy, she'll probably fall hard for him along the way. Harder than she might have already.
"YOU STRAW HAT BASTARD! GET YOUR RUBBERY HANDS OFF OF MY NA-!"
Gin sighed and whacked Sanji in the back of the head with a tonfa, knocking the chef unconscious and putting out the fire in his visible eye.
"Hold it right there!" a new voice yelled. The moment was shattered. From the road came Marine Captain Nezumi and his contingent of lackeys, his right arm in a sling. "What a lucky day for me. I saw everything and I must say, I've very surprised. I never thought Arlong would be beaten by a bunch of upstarts, but it doesn't matter. All of the credit will go to Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16. Chichichi!"
Rubble crunched under Zoro's boot, the swordsman, silently approaching the marine.
"You're the one that shot my apprentice," he growled, cracking his knuckles. "You're gonna pay for that."
A moment later, Nezumi and his men laid on the ground, bleeding and covered in bruises. "I... I'll getchu," he mumbled through his cracked teeth and busted lip. "L'ffy's yer cap'ain, righ'? Dis'll hab ser'us cons'quences!"
"We'll take our chances," Zoro told him. Nami unwrapped herself from Luffy's arms and walked up to the injured rat.
"This is for taking my money and destroying Belimere's tangerines!" She shouted, bringing her bo down on the beaten man. "And give me back my money!"
"I pwomise! I pwomise!" The girl kicked him into the water where he swam away.
"Usopp," she ordered, "Scruffy. Find their ship. I don't want them leaving without giving us that money. We'll need it for supplies after we've set out."
"Right!" The two took off, Gin complaining about being called "Scruffy".
The entire island partied for several hours, Usopp and Sanji making fools of themselves and Luffy stuffing his face the entire time. Gin had already won two drinking competitions and was in a third. Zoro, Johnny, Yosaku, and Coby were in the doctor's office, recovering. Zoro was getting his stitches fixed when Luffy popped in, sticking his head through the window.
"Hey, have you guys seen Nami anywhere?" he asked, a piece of meat on the bone in his hand.
"Why?" Zoro smirked through the pain. "You looking for your new girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend?!" Coby yelled in surprise.
"Yeah," Luffy answered without pause.
"Well," Genzo started. "If she's not in the village, there's only one place she could be. I wouldn't disturb her."
"Well, alright. Thanks."
"What girlfriend?!" Coby shouted. "What did I miss?!"
It was the third straight day of partying. All of the swordsmen had been released the previous day and were out enjoying themselves with everyone else. Luffy had wondered out of the village in search of a raw-ham melon: an entire watermelon covered in swaths of ham and entirely wrapped in bacon. He'd ended up on a hill overlooking the ocean. Before him sat Genzo, a cross placed in the ground before him.
Luffy was silent. Now that he was dating Nami, Sanji and, surprising, Coby had pounded at least some proper etiquette into him through the partying. He'd learned that Genzo was the closest thing Nami had had to a father figure. He turned to leave, not wanting to disturb the man at the grave.
"Wait there a second," Genzo ordered. He stood and turned, facing the pirate. "You know Nami has decided to join you on your adventure, correct?"
"Yeah."
"Then listen well. If I hear that anyone on your ship, you in particular, make Nami cry, I will track you down and kill you myself. Is that understood?"
"Absolutely." Luffy gave him one of his wide grins. "Nami's my navigator, my Nakama, my girlfriend. I'd rather die than make her cry."
"Well you better not. She'd cry if you went and died on her."
"Trust me. I can't die until I've become the Pirate King with Nami as my queen." Luffy didn't wait for a response. He turned and headed back to the village.
Genzo smiled slightly as the pirate wandered away. Luffy had this fire inside him. He just knew that the boy wouldn't go anywhere without his friends and that they would help him reach his dream.
The Merry had been stocked with everything the group would need until they reached the Grand Line. Arlong Park had been pillaged by the people and everything of value taken to help rebuild the towns of the island. Zoro had gone back and stolen four swords: two as temporary replacements for himself and two for Coby in case they were unable to get anything better.
To remember her adopted mother, Nami had asked Luffy if she could take some tangerine trees with them. He had readily given her what she wanted, him, Sanji, and a slightly-forced Gin doing most of the heavy lifting. Zoro had taken Coby into the forest to do some light training to make sure both of them were good as new, even if Zoro now had a scar from Hawk-Eye's last attack and Coby three scars from Nezumi's men shooting him.
Now, every resident of Cocoyashi Village but one was on the docks to wave goodbye to the Straw Hat Pirates. The villagers were getting annoyed, however. Where was Nami?
"Set sail!" they heard the woman of their thoughts yell. She was standing 200 feet away, proudly displaying her new tattoo that had replaced Arlong's mark; a tangerine on a pinwheel.
"You heard her!" Luffy called. "Let's go!"
"She's gonna leave without letting us thank her!" one villager realized. They tried to stop her, but it was too late. She rushed through the crowd, passing by each person once. When she reached the end of the dock, the thief leapt off as hard as she could. Luffy's arms stretched, wrapping around her waist and pulling her in. She pecked him on the lips before pulling back. The girl then lifted the hem of her shirt, allowing all of the wallets and purses that she's just stolen to tumble to the deck.
"What?"
"My wallet's gone!"
"She took my purse!"
"You damn thief! We'll miss you!"
Nami didn't turn around, or cry, or say goodbye. They sailed away, the voices of the townspeople echoing in the wind.
"Thank you."
End of Chapter 4
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-SwordOfTheGods