One Piece - Tales of the Pirate King

Disclaimer: One Piece is property of Eiichiro Oda. I am not Eiichiro Oda

Chapter 6 - Fishbones

The climate of the Going Merry was, in spite of the name of the ship, sombre and silent. Usopp didn't do his experiments, Luffy watched stoically forward, and Nami… hated every second of it

"You!" - Point to Usopp: - "Go back to being noisy!"

"You!" - To her captain this time: - "Go back to being funny!"

"And all of you" - This time, the lass pointed to no one, referring to the entire crew: - "Stop treating me like I'm made of glass, dammit!"

Usopp accidently broke one of his vials, the contents making a strangely beautiful brown fire when in contact with the Merry's deck, much to his despair, Luffy laughing his head off as the dark-skinned teen desperately danced over the flames to snuff them

"Ah~, Nami looks so lovely when she is annoyed!" - Meanwhile, a certain love-struck cook approached: - "I prepared for you a special parfait of mango and tangerine, your favourite, my~ dear~!"

"Thank you, Sanji~" - "It was nothing~. Hey, you shitty bastards! There's grub on the table for you lot!"

"Yosh, wake up Zoro!" - "Hm?" - "Thanks, Sanji!" - "J-just let me deal with this fire!"

And so life went on the Going Merry, the jolly little caravel sailing towards Conomi Island, Johnny and Yosaku departing towards their own way back at the Baratie. The crew knew what waited for them, and knew too how important their mission was, as it would free their navigator and allow her to sail with them; but that didn't make them any less happy and free

Thus, as they reached the island, seeing a marine ship sailing away from Nami's homeland, the crew prepared to meet Nezumi, the pet rat of Arlong. All but Nami, who already knew him and didn't even want to see the traitorous bastard, hiding in her room as they crossed each other

"Shi shi shi shi, now, what does the tide brings?" - Spoke poetically Nezumi, as Luffy stared completely baffled, for the man did look like a rat, with whiskers on his tanned face, and a grey trench coat with a hood with rat ears: - "I don't recognize the flag, so I assume you're pretty new pirates, right?"

"Yup. It should be… roughly three weeks we've been sailing" - Confirmed Luffy, not bothering to introduce themselves until Nezumi did so

He'd also expected a fight, but didn't receive it: - "Well~, if I were you, I'd turn back. There are monsters on the island, and I doubt you'd get out of it alive"

Blinking at the sheer contempt, Luffy realized that, perhaps, there was more to this Nezumi than just a corrupt officer. Or maybe he was racist; hard to tell

Still, the teen with the straw hat just smiled: - "Good; then we're on course"

And so, the 'Straw Hat' pirates sailed away, as the marines passed them by and… turned around? Yes, they did, making a U-turn and, as the crew reached the shores of Conomi, the marines were heading towards Arlong's fortress. Weird

At the same time Nezumi returned to Arlong Park, Usopp spying with a telescope the marine and two bodyguards being carried in a… pot? - "That's Hachi, he's easily the only one that is actually friendly to me. He might be the only one not racist" - Explained Nami, sullenly looking at what appeared to be the ruins of a village, all houses upside down and a massive trench in the middle

"Doesn't change the fact I want them all out of my island" - Turning to Luffy, she spoke: - "Captain! Stop here! It is a little further away but I don't want anything tracing us to home 'till we've dealt with Arlong"

Processing the wish, Luffy nodded, but asked: - "Sure, but did we pass your village already?"

"Gosa Village, this village, is at the tip the Conomi peninsula. Cocoyashi and Gosa form a triangle with Arlong Park" - Further explained the lass: - "We'll pass at the boarder of Cocoyashi but won't enter, just have the village on sight; then we go face Arlong, and free my home"

"Oh, alright. And then you'll join us?" - Asked further the captain, Nami watching him with a deadpan expression for thinking about her recruitment in such an important and serious time for her. Then again, she thought, as her gaze softened, that while rather smart, Luffy was also quite simple; trust him to not be able to read the mood

Nodding, the ginger agreed: - "Yes, Luffy, I'll join you in your journey" - Solemnly, she continued: - "Just deal with Arlong"

She squeaked then, as she felt Luffy slowly cover her with a hug, giving her all the time in the world to remove herself, but the girl was too surprised by it to do so, getting the hug and having a hand ruffle her hair, a pair of hands on her shoulders giving her only a smiling face to focus on: - "Don't worry, Nami; we will"

The girl was still softly blushing at the surprise of how gentle Luffy could be, as the village of Cocoyashi approached; she would only stop well after that, Cocoyashi just a barely seen place for the majority of the crew, Arlong Park in front of the gang as they discussed their… plan

It wasn't much, rather like the one they had against Buggy, yet even simpler, as this time it was even easier to find their target, having Nami who lived here for eight years

The entrance of the Arlong's base of operations was a gate with two thick metal doors. They did absolutely nothing to stop the crew, Luffy denting it with two punches, the third breaking the hinges and sending the slabs flying a short distance; and that was how Luffy introduced himself, Nami at his left, Zoro at his right, Usopp behind the swordsman and with Gin on the right flank, Sanji covering the left

"Oh my, what do we have here, Nami?" - Arlong 'the Saw' seemed unfazed by that, and was massive, easily two heads taller than Zoro and Gin, the tallest of the Straw Hats, with light blue scales in place of skin, with a tribal tattoo of a sun over his heart and one of his Jolly Roger, a tribal shark inside three semi-circles, on his left arm, with a long and angular jaw coupled with a saw-shaped nose as long as Usopp's

Dressed in a yellow open shirt with black explosion-like marks, green shorts held by a purple sash, with a brown hat with furry edges and sandals, he was also fairly decorated, with three golden chains, one over his tattoo and one on each ankle, finishing with what appeared to be rings or piercings on his webbed fingers, with gems decorating those last pieces

And about the question, Nami didn't answer, instead just looking at her ex-captain with clear contempt, making the sawshark fishman laugh: - "Oh~! How cute! The little kitten is showing her claws! Do you think they are worth anything!?"

This time, Nami did answer, smirking slyly and staring with lidded eyes, a change that interrupted Arlong's monologue. Clearly appreciating what she was saying, she answered: - "Why don't you find out? Captain~, I'll be at the back, watching; make a good showing, 'kay?"

"Nami! What is the meaning of this!?" - "Oi, fish! Shut up!" - Luffy didn't bother with any banter, punching Arlong in the face, sending the fishman flying much further away than the gates did, much to the surprise of his crew, the remaining 'Straw Hats' roaring behind their captain as they joined him in the war

Zoro was dancing amidst the wicked slashes and crushing blows from the enemy crew, having charged alongside his captain, and the fact he was reduced to one sword didn't make him any less deadly, cleaving his way through the crowd, taking with him as many as he could, leaving a glaring hole on the defences of the fishman fortress, exploited by the rest of the crew as they as they themselves took their opponents. Then a sound much like a trumpet sounded, and a massive sea beast turned up roaring, what looked like a half-cow, half-seal with white skin with green spots turning up to join the battle

Sanji walked slowly, simply turning aside to let a random pirate pass beside him, a knee on the head ensuring he'd take a long time to re-join the fight, then the same leg was extended, hooking behind the head of another charging fishman: - "Reception!" - The shout that followed indicated said fishman kissed the ground forcefully, cracking the pavement and staying there; then a third fishman tried to punch him, a devastating blow that had him bending backwards to avoid, Sanji standing up again to look at a massive white fishman with large fins on his arms and a blue gi, black belt, and long hair in a ponytail, with the sun tattoo of Arlong on his right pecs and sandals on his feet

Gin had his own fun, crushing enemies with his tonfas, the weights on them striking like the cannonballs they looked like, until he was interrupted by an octopus-like fishman, with six arms covered with suckers and tipped with human hands, two normal-looking legs, pink skin with five grey spikes of hair on his head , a sun tattoo on his forehead, and a stripped outfit coloured gold and brown, with a pale green sash and flip-flops. The fishman was heavily muscular, and blocked a strike from Gin with one of six swords, the other five attacking 'the Ogre', who hastily backed out

And Usopp wasn't quite defenceless, hiding on a smokescreen and running away to a different spot whenever he was caught, and peppering the crowds with explosives and lead balls, his first targets being the still waiting trio of marines, who ran around like headless chickens before being knocked out. Then a bullet of pure water almost struck him from his perch atop one of Arlong Park's walls, and Usopp ran away from the place, a fishman with light blue skin and Arlong's Jolly Roger on his right shoulder, dressed in a blue vest with thin black horizontal stripes, brown pants, and sandals right on his tracks

Zoro cursed, not expecting his opponent at all. The crew of fishmen were celebrating the intervention of Mohmoo, which he suspected was the creature's name, and were more than willing to risk getting caught in the body blows of the beast as it tried to crush him, Zoro too busy hacking away at the many fishmen, more complicated than it appeared as he only had access to one sword

It didn't help him that the lack of support of Usopp, which exploded in front of the weaklings, meant that the numbers started to swell a little, becoming almost unmanageable. Almost: - "Horse Chopper!"

The swordsman slashed forward, his sword at an angle, cutting his way through a few pirates and putting them down bleeding, before blocking the slashes from the pirates behind him, the attempts to cleave him to shreds blocked as they all struck from above, Zoro holding the attack for a moment before jumping forward, leaving the pirates scrambling to stand up

And they did, right on the path of a falling sea beast, Mohmoo unable to stop his attack. The sea beast rolled to its left, attempting to run over Zoro, but the green-haired man had already dashed forward, giving himself enough space to block the roll, halting the attack with his sword meeting the beast's horn

Lifting his head to watch why he stopped, Mohmoo had a very unpleasant surprise, Zoro calmly walking towards the beast, and leaving the Arlong pirates baffled, as Zoro sheathed his blade and put it on his back, before unsheathing it and guarding it again: - "Draw and Re-sheath, Lion's Song!"

The gory cut that opened up on the sea cow had it bellowing in pain, slamming himself over and over in a desperate attempt to crush Zoro, who had long backed away; then he located a sabre on his feet and, after checking it quickly, decided it was close enough, taking it on his off-hand

A hasty block followed, the crossed blades meeting a horn, the impact throwing Zoro back, striking the wall of Arlong Park, then the swordsman flipped and used the wall to jump, Mohmoo colliding with the wall and breaking through it, much to the surprise of those bothering to watch the fight rather than actually fight

Mohmoo soon charged from the hole he broke, roaring in rage and with its horns poised to attempt to gore Zoro. The swordsman, unimpressed, already decided the fight was simply not worthy, already reading the patterns of attacks and their area-of-effect, well aware of how to deal with the beast: - "Crab Grab!" - He cried out, his blades parallel to each other, closing and cleaving what was on their path: One of Mohmoo's horns

And that was it. The beast bellowed once, then twice, and dived into the water, and didn't return, a thin trail of blood indicating it was swimming away as fast as it could with its wounds, away from the battlefield. And Zoro, cheap sabre pointing down and his white katana on his shoulder, called out: - "Next!"

He had to run to reach them, as those who heard the challenge ran away

Meanwhile, as the fight started

"So, what did she promise you?" - Duck, bob, weave, and kick, the last one blocked by one of the fin-like things of Kuroobi, as the fishman was called by the crew watching, the group commemorating having even their pet joining the fight, as the weaker members backed out, allowing the officers of the crew to actually have open space to fight

Kuroobi struck in turn, blows being evaded as Sanji flipped backwards: - "She's a cute little thing, isn't she?" - He continued, attempting to trade blows, the blond refusing and retreating rather than trying to measure his strength against a fishman, able to analyse and see how superior in pure strength this opponent was

"She's quite talented; she's quite beautiful, I suppose" - Sanji kept quiet, focusing on the fight, no matter how much he wanted to order his opponent to shut up with his insinuations; he would do so by caving his head in: - "Did she promise a smooch? Did she promise more?"

With a growl, Sanji cried out: - "Collier!" - With a leg lashing out, the blow was blocked by a raised fin, but it wasn't the end; hooking himself on the raised arm and dragging himself upwards, he continued: - "Épaule!"

This time the blow struck, Sanji using his position of basically standing on Kuroobi's arm to stomp on his shoulder, making his opponent flinch a little, though he swiftly recovered and grabbed one of Sanji's legs, throwing him towards the water, Sanji almost falling on the ocean, barely hanging on the pavement

Ducking under the charge of the manta fishman, Sanji however could only stare, as Kuroobi dived and… refused to come back: - "Are you kidding me?"

Kuroobi answered by finally popping out, one of his arm extended and passing right besides Sanji, the other cocked back for a devastating punch that failed to deliver, Sanji once again bending backwards, this time even further, his hands on the ground and his legs coiled above him as he did a handstand: - "Bouquetiére Shot!"

The double kick launched Kuroobi even further than he wanted, his arms comically flailing as he desperately tried to stop his flight, the fishman colliding with the wall just as the octopus fishman collided with a column below, the entire front of the building falling on them

"W-what!? W-what are the-these, monsters!?" - Shouted one of the fishman in surprise: - "W-we are fishman, t-they sho-should fear us and our strength!"

That was a question Sanji was willing to answer: - "What type of chef would fear seafood?" - As he charged forward, looking for more fishmen to beat

Kuroobi wasn't defeated, however, standing from the debris with a look of shock: - "H-Hachi! You bastards! I'll kill you both! Then I'll kill that traitorous little whore! Thousand, Tile, True, Pu-!" - The punch, for that was what Sanji interrupted, wasn't delivered, the blond, seeing red, interrupting it with a cry of: - "Collier! Now it is my turn to talk!"

The first kick was a frontal one, fast and taking Kuroobi by surprise, aimed at the neck and sending Kuroobi's head into the concrete, the second kick was followed by the cry of: - "Épaule! Do you think you have the right to demand-" - And the blow came, Sanji spinning in place to deliver a low kick at the shoulder of the fallen fishman

With the fishman kicked back upright, Sanji continued: - "Côtelette! Anything of Nami after killing her mother!?" - Dropping into a one-handed handstand behind Kuroobi, Sanji lashed out, kicking him in the ribs from behind, then spinning with the recoil of the impact to deliver another kick, aimed a little lower: - "Selle! How moronically shitty you are!"

"Poitrine! Don't you dare-" - With the manta fishman staggering away from him, Sanji walked forward and spun, delivering another devastating kick on the chest of his opponent, making him bend painfully, the target not as agile or accustomed with the movement as Sanji, and exposing his legs for the next kick, which sent Kuroobi spinning in the air: - "Gigot! Say anything about Nami!"

Hearing Kuroobi muttering something while in mid-air, probably something about how impossible it was for a human to defeat a fishman, Sanji thundered: - "Shut up! Mouton Shot!" - And, after a spinning jump, lashed out to kick Kuroobi while his target was still flying, sending the manta flying through Arlong Park, ending on the other side of the building

Gin groaned and roared and raged. He was on his… let's call it his 'zone'. He wasn't named 'the Ogre' for a reason

"Did you just bite me!?" - Hatchan, or Hachi, Gin heard both, asked, as indeed Gin bit down on the hair of the fishman, taking out a chunk that he spat away. He hadn't been able to enter in this merciless state against Sanji, even as Krieg ordered him to do so, his life debt stopping him, but against someone who hurt his navigator? He didn't have any qualms

He knew his way around tattoos; he had a dragon coiled around his upper arm, hidden under his jacket, a little faded from time. Nami's tattoo wasn't faded, it wasn't old; it had been applied when the lass was ten, and reapplied repeatedly as she grew, each time branding her as Arlong's slave or pet

Not that Gin cared much about that, only desiring to take a bath with the blood of his enemies; the man, grinning savagely, spun his tonfas and clapped them together, a crushing blow that forced his opponent back least he loses one of his swords. 'The Ogre', still grinning, followed up with bruising blows that kept Hatcham on the defensive

"You don't speak much, do you?" - Hachi said, trying to get some banter going, but disappointed when his opponent just roared back, an inhuman sound that echoed alongside the devastating impact on the ground and large cracks: - "Fine! Be like that! Octopus Tentacle Swords!"

Hachi attacked, making Gin grin widen, his enemy finally doing something, the octopus fishman slashing wildly as he charged, only for Gin to completely ignore it, letting the swords bite on his left arm, as he spun his right tonfa. Then Gin countered, his spinning tonfa coming strong in a straight punch, the downward moving weight crushing one raised sword and slamming Hatcham straight onto the path of Gin's fist, sending the fishman flying, colliding with a column as a large white fishman collided with the roof above him

Hatcham was fairly certain someone spoke to him, but when he opened his eyes, it was to see a blond man punting Kuroobi through, by the sound of it, many walls: - "K-Kuroobi! Why you-"

A growl reminded him of why he collided with the column, and Sanji hastily jumped away, as Gin fell with the might of a cannonball, Hatcham watching in surprise as his 'Octopus Pot Stance' was easily broken, raised namelessly and hastily and uselessly as Gin's twin tonfas smashed all five intact swords into the ground, crushing and shattering them

"… What are you" - He muttered, and this time the still grinning man answered, again with twin blows on the chin, launching him high in the sky, followed by a jump, Hachi staring in shock as Gin now was above him, crying out: - "Ochiru!"

Seeing his opponent slamming the ground, and not standing up, Gin fell down with a frown on his face, finally back in control, his weapons resting on his shoulders as he snorted: - "That, was easy" - Really, Krieg could face them down and win, at least this one

Then a wall was demolished, and from the ruins came a massive beast with a straight cut down its front, and both Gin and Sanji felt robbed of a great fight, watching as Zoro cleaved one of its horns off. Then Zoro challenged the next fighter, and both the standing males realized that the job wasn't done yet, especially as a lead ball made one of the fishman slip

Usopp was bruised. Usopp was battered. It was hard fought battle and, oh, who was he kidding

'Must be an archerfish fishman' - First, the teen deduced his target, noticing his ability to spit water at high speed, pressure and power. It was a troublesome ability

Second, the teen laid an ambush. Being faster by a far margin, Usopp hid on the woods and climbed a tree. Then he threw, with his slingshot, a bottle of wine; a tricky shot, but nothing that the sniper of the future Pirate King couldn't accomplish

Third and last, fire a 'Sure Kill, Explosive Star' on the wine splattered fishman

Wine was, thanks to the alcohol, flammable. It was almost anti-climactic, really, even though the risk of being caught and pummelled to death was very real and only his sheer speed stopped him from being killed, some hammer blows to the head ensuring the fishman wouldn't recover so soon, the fishman too distracted trying to dive on some rice paddies further away to defend himself

Thus, Usopp called out: - "Alright! Nami, how's it going?"

The girl smirked like she caught a particularly fat canary, and answered lazily from her perch atop one of the walls: - "Oh, this and that. The monster that destroyed Gosa was put to run by Zoro-" - "Yeah, he's a monster too" - "Sanji kicked Kuroobi's arse through Arlong Park; he's always been a distrustful asshole-" - "That must've been annoying" - "And Gin obliterated Hachi, even taking a bite out of him" - "… I have nothing to say about that"

Nami snickered at his gobsmacked face: - "He bit just hair, but it was still quite shocking"

"Nami, you traitor!" - Called out a trio of fishman, one black-haired, with a pink fin on the back of his head and white-skinned with the Kanji for 'koi' on his forehead and of an arrow on his chest, white-skinned and purple open shirt with golden wavy lines and golden trousers, one muscular and large, with large lips and light blue skin and dressed in a wine shirt with purple stars, much like the red star tattooed on his chest, and his white trousers were held by an equally white sash, completed with two maracas on his hands, and the last one with black hair, a fin poking from the top of his head, a black wave design inked on his forehead, a dark green long doublet with red roses with a blue wrap over it

"Take, Pisaro, Shioyaki" - Introduced Nami, pointing at each one, respectively - "Why!? Why did you do this" - Came from Take, pointing a finger at the pair, and making Nami frown derisively

"One, it's rude to point" - Then, walking in their direction, she pulled one of the pieces of her staff and wacked Take's still extended hand: - "Second, you killed my mom; do you really think you'd be able to buy me with money after that?"

"I-it did!" - Pisaro declared, shaking his maracas: - "F-for eight years, y-you've b-been on the same level as Hachi and Kuroobi and-"

"And Chew, who our sniper and easily weaker than even me, defeated" - "Oi" - Pointed out Nami, back at smirking lazily: - "And at the same level? I'm human, idiot, I've never been an equal. And I've been trying to gain enough money to run away and free my home"

"Really, if Arlong was a little more trustworthy and kept his word and left me alone after killing my mother in front of me, he might've even had survived this" - "W-what!?" - "As it stands" - Here, Nami's smirk turned as deadly as Gin's grin: - "To ensure that Arlong won't hurt my people, he'll have to die"

"We-we-we won't let you!" - Declared Shioyaki, but was quickly shut down, Nami taking the staff piece with two hands and slamming it on the side of his head as she ordered him to shut up. Pisaro and Take stared, baffled at the act, at seeing the weakling human beating a powerful and mighty fishman, and were thus caught unaware by the second and third bottle of wine, and the shout: - "Sure Kill, Twin Explosive Stars!"

They went up in flames, and a hammer and improvised club ensured neither would stand up for quite some time

"… Hey, that makes three fishman I've defeated" - "Those three here are the ones responsible for parties; they're weaklings even by my standards" - "Oh"

Arlong couldn't believe what he was seeing. First, Mohmoo was practically cleaved in half by the green-haired swordsman, then his friends and officers were sent flying by mere humans, and to make matters worse, his men proceeded to be defeated. Even Chew didn't return, instead the stick-thin sniper did

And Luffy, behind him and keeping an eye on the fishman, muttered: - "So that's what is to be on the ignored side of banter. Woah!" - And just as he finished, Arlong bellowed, charging into the battlefield

Zoro, sweating as he hadn't recovered fully from his fight with Mihawk, could only desperately block as the saw-shaped nose of Arlong collided with his crossed swords, his sabre cracking with the impact and his katana almost following, the unexpected weapon sliding instead of shattering his prized possession, the swordsman receiving an elbow on his sternum and sent flying

"That's my swordsman, you bastard!" - Luffy had enough as soon as the fishman moved, and he attacked enraged too, the two captains meeting in fury in an array of punches and kicks, disorganized and closer to a brawl than a proper fight

Then again, Arlong was with his eyes red and with slits for pupils, looking more like a sea king rather than his blue, normal ones. Luffy… didn't had an excuse; even without anger, his fighting style always was non-existent

Luffy, however had the presence of mind to acknowledge that he had an objective: - "Candy Candy~" - "A Devil Fruit!?"

"Pistol!" - Shocked out of his anger, the fishman took the blow straight into his jaw, his teeth popping out of his mouth in a way that would be comical if it wasn't literal

Arlong was soon back to roaring in rage, his eyes slits once again, all his teeth already regrown and the set on his hands used as a weapon, a crushing bite of sorts that had Luffy scrambling out of the way of the attack, Arlong going then for a swim as Luffy moved aside

The captain of the 'Straw Hats' then discovered his opposite captain had a fin, the object poking from the water as he swum in circles. Then came from underwater, somehow still audible: - "Shark on Darts!" - And from the ocean, he came, charging nose first onto Luffy, who crouched under the attack, letting Arlong spear straight through Arlong Park's walls

When he came out, he came swinging a massive weapon, a large blade made of large triangular teeth, resembling Arlong's own teeth, the shout of Nami identifying it as the creatively named 'Shark Saw' with a scream of shock, the massive blade cleaving straight through the pavement under Luffy, the shark man flipping the stone and almost sending him into the water

The next slash was at Luffy himself, who ducked under it, and, with a wordless roar, charged, slamming onto Arlong and pushing him towards Arlong Park. Then the fishman revealed he hadn't dropped his off-hand weapon, his detached mandible biting on Luffy… much to no effect, the candy man in turn just turning into Syrup and taking the attack without taking any of the damage

One, two, Luffy answered with a set of punches, pushing Arlong back, even as he prepared to slam down his weapon. When he did, Luffy shouted: - "Candy Candy Jawbreaker!" - And hardened his body, the syrup turning rock solid and a little further, the blades of the 'Shark Saw' cracking the pavement as they slammed on Luffy's shoulder and pushed him down, only giving the boy with the straw hat more leverage to push forward, outright lifting Arlong with another roar, until they met the doors of Arlong Park proper, going through the ruins of Arlong's throne and the wooden doors

"Who- The hell- Are you!?" - Each shout was followed by a blow, either from 'Shark Saw' or from Arlong's fist, the mandible on his hands having fallen with the charge. Luffy blocked the attacks with his still hardened body, but he felt himself slowly losing consistency, returning to… mostly normal

"I-" - Making to answer, Luffy kicked Arlong aside, both fighters separated in the middle of Arlong Park's entrance hall, both fighters taking deep breaths: - "I'm going to be the Pirate King!"

"Are you- Are you nuts!?" - Bellowed the fishman, baring his teeth as he rested his great sword on his shoulders: - "The Pirate King is the one who has everything! Power, money, armies at his command; you honestly expect a little fly to stand like you to stand any chance?"

Perfect opening for Luffy, who grinned like the loon he was: - "A little fly that is kicking your ass~; shishishishi"

Growling, Arlong shouted: - "Shark on Darts!" - And in turn, making Luffy shout: - "You can do that out of water!?" - As he hastily dodged aside, letting the fishman pass by, going through the walls of the building

"What does that have to do with me!? My men!?" - "Oh, nothing really" - The flippant answer actually made Arlong pause

"But you see, only the best for the Pirate King's crew, right? The best swordsman, the best cook, the best sniper" - Luffy turned from counting his fingers to stare straight at Arlong: - "The best navigator~"

"… All of this for a little girl?" - Hastily armouring his arms, Luffy blocked the next attack from 'the Saw', a downward slam that pushed Luffy back on the wooden floor, cracking it and sending splinters everywhere: - "That's it!? A little whore!?"

"She's mine! I found her! I found her talent, I trained her, I made her mine! And after I kill you, I'll kill all of the little traitor's family and force her to make me maps 'till she dies!"

"Nami is mine to use as I deem fit!" - Arlong bellowed with finality, eyes bloodshot and crazed. Luffy, however, didn't like what he heard

Admittedly, Arlong was so racist the 'made her mine' comment and the 'use as I deem fit' could refer, respectively, to her branding and her cartographic and navigating skills, but they could also… misinterpreted

Luffy might be dense, even he admitted such, but he wasn't stupid

"Don't worry, Arlong" - He said, grinning an all too unpleasant grin: - "You won't feel a thing. This will all be a bad dream~"

"One you won't wake up from"

One of the problems of the fight going inside was that the crew couldn't quite see what was happening

It didn't help the loud crashes and crushes of wood being pulped didn't point out for a clear winner. A hint almost revealed itself, as Arlong and Luffy, grappling, broke through a window of, somehow, the second floor, Luffy latching at Arlong with his hands and using his legs with a shout of: - "Candy Candy Cannonball~!" - To, with his feet, launch himself even higher, to a window Nami instantly recognized

And then wood and papers started coming down alongside a fishman, and tears welled down her eyes

"No! What are you doing!" - Luffy was dense, not stupid; it didn't take much of a mind to see the many maps and deduce they were the result of blood, sweat, and tears, shed because of the fish he was fighting

So he exploded. And expanded, pushing the maps and the furniture, and Arlong, out, the majority of it through the window. Arlong slammed his weapon on the wall, then launched himself upwards, spinning like a buzz-saw and breaking back into the building, to watch Luffy punt aside a wall, caving it in

"Stop!" - This was his map room! He couldn't let the rubber brat destroy his navigator's hard work! Then the fishman discovered that doing so with a massive and ridiculously sharp great sword wasn't quite productive, the blade slashing at the papers with ease, even as he tried to wave said sword away from the maps

"What are yourgh" - "I don't have to answer anything to you!" - Luffy interrupted the question, a knee to Arlong's stomach, followed by a punch to his head, followed by another knee blow, this one at Arlong's face

Arlong found then an… unusual way of dealing with a candy man. The bite had Luffy crying out in surprise, but much to the fishman's shock, it didn't slow the boy down, who extended his leg upwards, his calf falling down and melting in syrup, and another grew, falling into a powerful axe kick, drawing a pained groan from his opponent

Then, Arlong started to become desperate, as nothing he did worked at all against Luffy; another bite attack was evaded, the boy with the straw hat using the forehead of the fishman as a stepping stone to bounce away, Luffy armouring himself with a hasty shout of 'Jawbreaker' as the blade of Arlong came, spinning the teen in place with the blow and just damaging further the room

Roaring and hacking away, the pair discovered a fatal problem with their plans, as a creak almost completely unrelated to the fight made them stop. Comically, they both looked at each other, then down, at the gouge marks on the ground, then at the sides of the room, scratched and scarred

"Hey, this is technically not my fault!" - Glibly stated Luffy, drawing a glare of hatred from Arlong

The room they were in promptly collapsed

Luffy stood up, and discovered that Arlong recovered first, the gigantic shadow rising from the cloud of dust and splinters giving him away, the massive blade separating the teen's head from his shoulders, the attack inefficient as it was expected, the grinning head falling down with a 'plop' back in place

"What- What are you" - Mumbling, Arlong made to swing 'Shark Saw' again, but found an unexpected snag, the blade dragging on the walls, slowing it down; so shocked he was, he didn't realise it, even as Luffy moved to punch him in the face: - "Candy Candy Pistol!" - And dropping Arlong down, in more ways than one, as the fishman fell straight down Arlong Park's stairs

Standing above the fishman, Luffy looked down and decided, that while the fighter in him wanted it to last as long as it could, the captain recognized that he needed his navigator to join the crew. So, standing above the opening of the staircase, he declared out loud: - "Candy~ Candy~!"

Growing, and growing and growing and growing further and further, expanding and occupying the space that was occupied by Arlong Park, the walls competing and loosing against the balloon of candy syrup that. A bite he felt on the underside of the bubble told him Arlong woke up, and either bit down or attempted to cut him up

Exactly as he wanted: - "- Conquest!" - And he didn't just grew. He also grew faster

The bottom of the bubble slammed on the ground, and would've have crushed Arlong if not for the fact it was relatively soft syrup. As it stood, the park didn't survive; Luffy exploded, a named form of his early destruction of Nami's prison, used to its full potential to destroy Arlong Park

In the end, the bubble of candy shrunk, and stood Luffy atop the debris, one foot above the concussed Arlong, the fishman defeated and unconscious, his blade at his side. Gin presented his pistol, and the captain took it, and did his duty, fulfilling his promise to his navigator

That day, which started like many others, saw the death of Arlong 'the Saw', and his navigator and her village and island free from the shackles of slavery, the girl on her knees, crying, not truly believing what just happened

"Nami" - She flinched, surprised, once again, by Luffy's gentleness, the teen hugging her, his voice surprisingly soft: - "You're free to do as you wish now"

Sobbing, and not trusting her voice, Nami just nodded on her friend's shoulder, the teen masterfully acknowledging the damp spots on his cardigan, even as he gave back Gin's gun: - "Do you want to be my navigator?"

Smiling, she looked at him, tear tracks on her face, even as she nodded, weakly speaking yes

AN: Wooo~, another chapter

Finally, Arlong versus Luffy, and the gang versus the Arlong pirates. It was rather fun to write, especially Mohmoo against Zoro; it was even needed, since the crew had one more on their side

Answering reviews now: sudhush, as long as you keep giving reviews, I'll keep aknowledging them; it is my way of thanking you for taking your time to drop a comment. So, thanks for the review!

And Elfyliane, merci! Unfortunately, that's the extent of my French that doesn't involve Google Translate... Anyway, thanks for the review, and yeah, either Gin is the first thing Oda forgot about, or he's about to appear and I just created a massive plothole by recruiting him and killing Krieg

And now, about the differences from Canon: The main one was that the battles were much more easier; Zoro had some proper, if still relatively subpar, treatment, Sanji never needed to dive into the water, Gin was mostly healthy, and while still somewhat of a coward, Usopp here is much more courageous

Him running away was less fear for his life and more recognition that a fishman in close quarters was a bad idea; in fact, he promptly turned it around with his sheer speed, as soon as he had the chance

Another one was that they arrived a little earlier. So no Chabo to witness the fight, no Genzo being threatened of death for possessing his sabre. The 'Straw Hats' get in, beat the crap of the Arlong pirates, and get out for the party

Second to last, and as consequence of the last one, Mohmoo wasn't hungry enough to be attracted by Sanji's heavenly culinary. It ended badly for him, as being called into battle just allowed Zoro to show off his badassery

And actual last, Arlong is dead. Killed. Off of this world. Gone. Nami might've tolerated him, but do remember she did attempt assassinations, poisonings, and other umpleasantries against him; she hated him, and with the chance of freeing her village with the help of 'the Straw Hats' was gleefully taken. It did help that she'd be able to keep her treasure :p

And now, a rather... tragic announcement. My muse, fickle being that it is, has filled my head with Harry Potter. I'll still try to post the next chapter next Sunday, but to ignore the muse is a risk I'm not willing to take; hopefully I'll have the next chapter ready by then

So, until next time, I love you all

Peace!