One Piece: My Version
Nami's Reason for Betrayal, Enter Saw-Tooth Arlong!
Luffy was laid back in a relaxing position in a small kitchen-boat that Zeff let them take to follow their comrades. The dual-devil fruit user had sent Usopp to go with Zoro and Johnny so they could trail Nami ahead of them. In the meantime, Luffy glanced at his new crewmembers, Sanji and the former second-in-command of the Don Krieg Pirates, Gin.
Luffy glanced at the cook while his blank expression was masked over with his hat. While getting him recruited was easy, Zeff explained to him exactly who Sanji was.
(Flashback)
"Straw hat, I'm grateful for what you did for taking care of Krieg." spoke the old ex-pirate, looking bemused.
Luffy grinned. "Hehe, no problem."
"I was surprised when I sensed how strong your Haki was, and how you handled Mihawk all on your own and forced him to use that black sword of his." Zeff noted. Luffy shrugged. "I'm full of surprises." he replied coolly.
Zeff's amusement left his wrinkled face and a grim expression was in place.
"Well jokes aside, there's something you need to know about lil' eggplant over there before taking him with you."
The straw hat wearing pirate looked at the retired pirate curiously.
"He hates Marines and the World Government…"
Now that struck something odd to Luffy. Of course, pirates hated marines and vice-versa. But wait, he had only recruited Sanji a few minutes ago. The way Zeff was telling Luffy this information, it sounded like his apprentice chef loathed marines with a passion. But no… Luffy noted how deathly serious Zeff was, which meant Sanji's depths of hatred for Marines ran far deeper than he knew. He could see something in those old eyes… Was it… Fear or Pity?
(Flashback End)
Now as to why Gin came to join up with the Straw Hat Pirates can be answered by Luffy himself as he stated: "I think he's a better pirate than that dumbass Krieg! So he's gonna join us!" he grinned while saying it. While others complained, Hawkins backed him up saying, "He will fulfill the premonition."
Gin had given true loyalty to the man he looked up to as a captain and was proud to serve under him. Of course how Krieg performed today, made him realize that he was a weak and pathetic excuse for a pirate. Gin practically charged at his foes at his master's command, no questions asked. Moreover he discovered at how Luffy reacted to his fallen comrade when he fought on par with Mihawk; he was ready to kill Mihawk just for harming someone from his crew. It was then Gin decided he would serve under this man; a man he believed that he would become the next Pirate King.
Yosaku interrupted Luffy's train of thought. "This is bad guys! We're heading straight into Commi Island, the place where Arlong resides!" he shuddered at the mention of the name.
Luffy of course being his usual ignorant self asked, "Who's Arlong?"
"…" Yosaku looked at him as if the boy grew a second head.
"Are you kidding me? Arlong is a fierce fishman that used to be a part of Jinbei's crew, the Sun Pirates! He despises humans and thinks highly of his own race. Any human that crosses him ends up dead." he would have continued on with his explanation if Luffy had not taken up a sketch pad and attempting to draw a fishman, which turned out to be a poor drawing of a fish with stick arms and legs.
Gin chuckled and shook his head. His captain was definitely uncommon from the average pirate.
Then suddenly, the sound of crashing waves was heard and up rose a Sea-King. For a moment, Luffy thought it could have been Ryoku, but instead it was the most peculiar-looking Sea-King that the group had ever seen; A Sea-King with the appearance of a cow.
"Owooogggghhhh! It's a cow-fish!" Luffy exclaimed. Stars evident in his eye-saucers. The others just stared on blankly at it.
Yosaku was the only one freaking out until Sanji came out with a large plate of cooked food. The chef deduced that the creature was attracted by the smell of food. Being taught the credo of chefs, he offered the food to large cow-beast. Said beast lowered its head and sniffed to examine the food only to be kicked upside the head, courtesy of pirate chef.
Yosaku's jaw dropped to the ground. "What the hell did you do that for?" he shouted.
Sanji stared blankly at the bounty hunter. "It was going to eat me as well." he replied. The cow-beast suddenly came back, anger evident on its face and let out a fierce, roaring moo. Of course the beast's rampage came to a screeching halt when Luffy tilted his head sideways to glare at it with an uncovered eye. Using a tiny bit of Haki, the beast shivered in cold sweat and backed down, acknowledging Luffy as its superior. The captain grinned victoriously before getting an idea; a mischievous glint was seen by the others.
'What is he planning?' they thought.
(With Usopp, Johnny, and Zoro)
Usopp stood at the helm of the boat, much like a pirate captain would. The sniper felt pride in doing this act of being a captain. Once they came in view of their destination, Johnny and him had to restrain Zoro by tying him to the mast because the swordsman wanted to find Nami so he could kill her himself. Of course, Usopp wouldn't have that, since Luffy still trusts her and Johnny didn't want 'Aniki' to open up his wounds and make them worse than they already are.
After a few minutes, they were closing in on the docks. Once they docked they still left Zoro behind, much to the swordsman's chagrin. "Goddamnit! Get me outta here! I'll kill you guys!"
Usopp waved off his death-threat and paid it no mind as they docked the boat. Before and Usopp and Johnny left, they duct-taped Zoro's mouth so he wouldn't bring any unnecessary and unwanted attention from Arlong and his crew.
However once the two walked into the village nearby Cocoyashi, they were shocked and appalled at the village… or at least what was a village. All the houses had either been turned upside-down or smashed to pieces.
"This must be Gosa Village." said Johnny. "I read in the newspaper that it had been raided by Arlong a few weeks ago.
"But…why are all the buildings flipped over?" asked the sniper. Johnny's answer came with sweat-beads of fear. "I heard that a fishman has 10x's the strength of a normal human being."
When Usopp heard this, normally he'd nearly soil himself. But now, he felt this sudden, overwhelming urge to fight. As the two walked down the ruined village, they noticed that there was no one around.
"I'm guessing that this village was at the top of Arlong's hit list." said Usopp, only to turn and see said bounty hunter run away. "Oi, Johnny! Where are you going?"
Suddenly, Usopp noticed a larger shadow over him. He turned around to see an actual fishman looking down on him.
"Who are you? Are you an intruder? Arlong-sama doesn't take too kindly to newcomers." spoke the fishman.
Now this is where one of Usopp's skills came in; lying.
"Oh, I'm no intruder. I'm the… uhh… pizza guy! You're boss ordered a pizza!"
The fishman flunky looked surprised before apologising. "Oh, souka...? My bad! We don't get a lot of humans coming in, you understand."
Usopp nodded, pretending to agree while glad to see that this fishman wasn't to smart. "Well, I guess I'll be… going now…" and he walked away calmly. The fishman waved him goodbye until he realized something important.
"Hey, wait a minute!" yelled the outraged fishman.
'Shit!' Usopp cursed inwardly as he stopped in his tracks. He turned to face the fishman who eyed him suspiciously.
"If you're the pizza guy, where's our pizzas?" the fishman inquired.
Usopp's lies didn't seem to be effective enough, so then he resorted to using Haki to knock him out in one focused glare. Fortunately, it proved to be effective when he noticed the fishman's eyes roll back and collapsed after that. The sniper felt pride that he had gotten stronger since he joined up with Luffy and the others.
'Wow! I just knocked out a fishman! And their supposed to be stronger than ordinary humans! Though granted I'm not ordinary and this guy was just a lackey. Still, not many can say they defeated a fishman in a single glance.'
However, his pride was suddenly cut down when he was kicked in the face by a little kid. The kid wielded a sword a bit bigger than his height, and he appeared to be angry.
"Finally, I got you fishman! I'll make you pay for what you did to my home and my father!" the boy raised his sword and brought it down upon him.
As soon as Usopp recovered, he rolled away to dodge the blade. He got up and waved his hands in front of him, signaling the boy to stop.
"C-Chotto-matte! I'm not a fishman!" Usopp tried to explain.
The little boy halted his attack to see that he wasn't a fishman at all. The boy apologized before another person came up from behind and bonked the boy over the head. Standing over the boy was woman in her late-teen years going into her 20's. She had light-tanned skin, purplish-blue hair and a tattoo on her right arm.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Chabo? Don't pick a fight with the fishmen!" the woman scolded. Her stern gaze shifted to Usopp. She blinked twice then turned back to the boy.
"That's not a fishman." she said to him.
"I just told him that!" Usopp yelled angrily at her. She paid it no mind once she noticed the actual fishman who appeared to be foaming at the mouth.
"What happened to him?" the woman inquired.
Usopp's pride returned. He pumped his chest out like a man, and pointed to himself with his thumb.
"It was none other than, I, Captain Usopp! I taught this fish a thing or two about messing with best!" he exclaimed.
The woman looked horrified before socking the sniper square in the face. The woman hoisted Usopp by his suspenders and shook him violently. "You idiot! You never hit a fishman!"
Wasting no time, she grabbed the boy and kept a firm grip on the confused sniper who had only been on the island for only 10 minutes and he was already getting hassled from both fishman and the locals.
Later, the woman led Usopp to a small house located on the edge of Cocoyashi Village. She told the kid to find his mother, leaving them both. She introduced herself as Nojiko, but then he was in for a big surprise when she revealed information related to Nami.
"Ehhh? You're Nami's sister? And this is where you and her grew up?" his eyes popping and his jaw dropping.
"Hai. Nami and I were orphans, so we weren't blood-related. But the woman who owned this house adopted us and raised us like if we were her own children." A brief moment of nostalgia crossed her features before reverting back to her nonchalant attitude. "Of course, she died a long time ago…"
Usopp looked at her in disbelief. "Then why did Nami betray her village to join up with Arlong?" curious at how things ended badly.
Nojiko looked at him bemusedly. "What business do you have with that girl?" she asked.
"She scammed us out of all of our treasure and stole my ship!" he yelled. Nojiko then pointed her thumb to the direction of the window.
"That ship yours?" she inquired. Usopp turned to the window and to his surprise, there indeed was the Going Merry. It could be seen all the way across the mikan plantations.
'Great, now all I need to do is take the ship and bring it around to meet the others. But first, I need to find Johnny and… Zo…ro…'
It was then Usopp had just remembered something. "Oh crap!" he cursed out loud.
"What?" asked Nojiko.
"I just remembered that a friend of mine is still at the docks!" Usopp bolted out of the house and ran back to the ruined Gosa Village at top speed.
However, when he got there, both the boat and the swordsman were nowhere to be seen. If he had to guess, Arlong's crew got to him first.
(Arlong Park)
Zoro was not happy at the moment. First he was hit over the head with a hammer, tied to the mast, and while Usopp and Johnny were gone, he was taken captive by a bunch of sorry-stinking fishmen. Now he was sitting face-to-face with their leader, Arlong.
"I told you, I came looking for a woman, you damned fish freak!" the swordsman glowered at the fishman looking down at him. He was a large, muscular, bluish, saw-shark fishman in a tropical shirt and green bermudas, whose most distinctive trait was his saw-nose complimenting the set of razor-sharp teeth which formed a sinister grin. Wild, long, black hair sprouted from the back of his neck, reaching down to his shoulders. He wore what appeared to be a brown Ushanka, covering his head. The fin on his nape was surrounded by his hair, and the gills were located on both the sides of his neck. Lastly, he bore two red tattoos; one in the shape of the sun on the left side of his chest and one of a sawfish, which matched his Jolly Roger, on his left forearm.
"Hoh…? Such an inferior human dares to speak to me in such a tone? You're lucky I'm in a good mood right now so I'll let that slide. But I'd better not hear you say it again or else you'll wind up as fish food. Got it?" retorted the fishman-pirate, Saw-Tooth Arlong. He went on lecturing the swordsman about how fishmen were the ultimate species and how going against them would be going against God.
Zoro stopped listening when he heard the footsteps of a female, his eyes widened in shock at who the female was.
"N-Nami…" he croaked.
Said navigator peered uninterestingly at the swordsman. "Oh, it's you…"
Arlong shifted his head to Nami. "Oi Nami, you know this guy?"
Nami just shrugged. "He's just a part of that pirate crew I just robbed recently. He's probably back for revenge." she walked up to him and knelt down to face Zoro.
"So…This is the real you?" implied Zoro.
Nami smiled cruelly. "Of course. I was a pirate from the start; I'm part of Arlong's crew. You were just another scam."
Arlong burst out laughing. "Shahahahahaha! I tell ya, this girl maybe human, but she's proven to be the exception in my crew! She's so cold-hearted she didn't even care about the death of her own mother!"
Zoro noticed a flicker of fear and hate cross Nami's features at Arlong's description. 'I see… she's really in more trouble than she lets on.' Knowing this, he thought of an idea that would test to see if she really was who she said she was.
"Ah, is that so? Truth be told, I never trusted her from the start." Zoro let out a dark chuckle. "You're really a conniving back-stabber aren't you?"
Nami sneered. "Good. You understand your position then. Tell you what though; Get out of my sight and maybe you'll stay alive, you're beginning to be an eyesore."
Zoro smirked. "If you insist…" he said before pushing himself off the floor and dived headfirst into the large pool behind him. Of course because his arms and legs were still tied up, he would just end up sinking. But that was what Zoro was counting on.
Nami stood there in stunned silence as Arlong and his crew looked at the spot in the pool he jumped into, commenting on how stupid or crazy he was for doing so.
'Damnit, Zoro!' she cursed inwardly before jumping in after him, surprising the fishmen even more.
Eventually they both came up. Nami eyed Zoro sourly.
"What the hell were trying to do?" the only response she got was a chuckle from him.
"I knew it… you can't stand to see another human die in front of you… can you?"
Nami's face contorted in anger before stomping on Zoro's back. He groaned in pain from his still fresh wounds. "Don't mock me, you bastard!" she yelled. She hoisted him up and glared at him.
"Get involved, and you die, understand?" she hissed.
Zoro grinned. "Looks like Luffy was right about you after all." That comment resulted in him getting socked in the stomach by the navigator. He hissed uncomfortably before doubling over. The cut Mihawk gave him was still fresh.
"What should we do with him, Nami?" asked one of the fishmen.
"Just lock him up. I'll deal with him later." she replied.
Just then, a trio of fishmen came running through the entrance to the park. Two of them seemed to be carrying their unconscious comrade.
"Arlong-sama! Arlong-sama!" they both cried.
Arlong shifted his head in their direction. "What is it?" he then noticed that one of his own was out cold. He bolted upright in anger.
"What happened?" he roared.
One of the lackeys carrying him responded. "I saw what happened, boss. He was stopping this long-nosed human, when in next moment he was just out like a light. We found him like this after Nojiko took him off the streets. They're probably in Cocoyashi village now."
'Usopp! Damnit, they found him!' Zoro thought to himself before being taken away to the brig.
Arlong's eyes narrowed before showing a sinister smirk. "Cocoyashi huh..? I was just about to head over there anyway for some business to take care of." he departed, with half of his crew coming along with him, while the others stayed behind.
(Cocoyashi Village)
"Oi, everyone! It's Arlong, he's back!" cried one of the villagers.
"What? But we've already paid him our tribute for this month! What could he possibly want now?" shouted another.
Sure enough, Arlong had arrived.
Usopp saw the fishman from a safe view-point behind a random house. The sniper gaped at his stature. "Is that Arlong? He looks vicious!" he whispered to Nojiko. She nodded. They both noticed the fishman talking to a mustached, middle-aged man riddled with scars and pinwheel on his hat.
"You know Genzo, I heard that you're withholding weapons. Is this true?" inquired Arlong.
Though the man's eyes were shadowed because of his hat, he peered out the corner of his hat to face the tyrannical Arlong.
"I have a sword, which is used for décor. I happen to like collecting weapons." he told him.
Arlong snorted. "That's too bad. Because having such weapons, regardless of use, is a sign of upraise against us, the fishman, which as you know futile attempt, right? Gosa Village is a prime example of those who dare go against me and my crew if even one among them refuses to pay the monthly tribute!"
Usopp was perplexed. "Tribute? What does he mean by that?" he asked Nojiko.
"He means the money everybody in the village must pay every month.100,000 Beli for every adult and 50,000 Beli for every child." she replied.
Usopp gritted his teeth angrily and unknowingly cracked the corner part of the house, startling Nojiko. But Usopp had to calm down. He needed more control over his Haki or he could unknowingly knock out people with weak wills.
*CRASH!*
Both of them turned their heads to see Arlong grasping the village chief by his neck, choking the life out of him.
"Gen-san!" cried Nojiko.
Genzo struggled to breathe as Arlong tightened the grip on his windpipe. Arlong leaned in dangerously close enough that his razor-sharp saw-nose looked ready to puncture the old chief and turn his face into a pincushion.
"Listen up, all of you. The only thing you inferior humans of this island are good for is delivering me more money. And I want more money to help create my empire that will govern the entire East Blue. Not even the Marines will bother trying to save you pathetic humans!" he roared in laughter.
Zoro had been sitting in his cell for almost half-an-hour. He admitted to himself that his suspicions were wrong about Nami, and that his captain was right. Luffy may have been lacking a bit upstairs, but he was an excellent judge of character… in his bizarre way.
The swordsman heard the door to his cell unlock, and standing before him was none other than Nami. She was carrying a knife and Zoro's sword, Wado. It could be assumed that she might kill him. However, she did the opposite. Instead, she cut his ropes and freed him. She tossed him his sword and left immediately, but not before telling him to get out. And with that, she left.
While Zoro was curious about the situation, he would leave that to Luffy. Besides, he needed to take care of business, regarding the fishman providing the 'wonderful' accommodations. He grinned madly with bloodlust in his eyes as he unsheathed Wado and prepared to feed it a good meal of fish.
(Back to the situation at Cocoyashi)
Nojiko stared in horror as saw the man that she and Nami considered a father being threatened by the same fishman that killed their foster mother eight years ago.
Arlong chuckled darkly. "Now then. Since you decided to make an example of breaking the peace in my territory, I'll have to kill you in order to make an example of those who try to defy me."
"Hell no!" Nojiko voiced her protest, causing everyone to look at her. "Arlong, we've always paid you every month for the past eight years! We have no reason to attack you, so let Gen-san go!" she demanded.
"True, but I also explained the rules to you humans eight years ago as well. Now I have to kill your leader, because he was foolish enough to break them." suddenly, his features darkened. "Or would you prefer that I destroy this village?"
The thought of their home and everyone in it being killed and destroyed frightened them to the bone, but what choice did they have? Arlong could wipe out the village himself and not even care.
"Everyone, get to your houses!" croaked Genzo turning his head to the villagers that look up to him. "We've already made our choice to live and wait patiently."
The villagers protested, until they saw Arlong ram Genzo's head against the support beam of one house. "There, you see? You people should listen to your pack leader! Humans should live as the subspecies of the superior fishmen!"
"Gen-san!" the villagers cried simultaneously. Few of them even tried to attack Arlong, but Genzo raised a bleeding hand to stop them.
"If you all die here, our efforts will be for nothing. If I die, don't stop looking out for each other!" he said, before being picked up by the large fishman and prepping to drive him headfirst to the ground.
"Touching words. But they won't do any good when you're dead!" Arlong exclaimed before throwing his arm down, about to crush the old villager.
"Kayaku Boshi! (Gunpowder Star)"
*BOOM!*
The force of a Haki-reinforced exploding marble hit Arlong square in the head like a cannonball with twice the power. Arlong was forced to release his hostage as he flew back several feet.
"Arlong-sama!" the subordinates cried.
His lackeys were shell-shocked as well as the villagers. Who could possibly be brave enough or stupid enough to take on the fishmen?
"There's someone on the roof!" shouted one of the villagers.
"Who is it?" asked another.
Nojiko gasped at who she recognized. "That long-nosed guy!"
Usopp stood atop on one of the houses, slingshot in hand and an angry expression crossing his face (Now when Usopp gets into a serious fight, he'll have that fierce look from when he dueled Luffy). "Oi, you fish-bastards! Leave them alone and pick on someone worth the salt to fight you, you worthless, rotten fish-heads!"
Everyone surrounding the area gaped at him like he had just signed his death warrant.
Arlong got up after, only he seemed to be bleeding from his head wound. But that didn't seem to faze him. Instead, it served to infuriate him.
"So you want to fight me, eh, long-nose?" His predator-like glare faced Usopp, who was unfazed. "YOU PATHETIC HUMAN! YOU DARE OPPOSE A SUPERIOR LIFE-FORM?"
Without warning, Arlong charged towards Usopp's location and lifted the whole house with his bare hands. Usopp stumbled before quickly jumping on to the next roof. The sniper wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Damn, that was close." he said to himself before running off, leaving behind an enraged Arlong.
"After him! Don't let him escape! I want him caught and brought to me so I can kill him myself!" he roared. While most of his underlings held him back and returned to Arlong Park, the few fishmen who stayed left to chase after Usopp.
Once they caught up to him, they found him crossing his arms, like he was waiting for them.
"Get'im!"
Usopp thought that now would be a good time to test his close-combat skills he had been learning and practicing from the training sessions with Zoro and Luffy. The fishmen all charged him at once, and once he used a bit of Haki, he could see their attacks coming and retaliated with a series of swift punches and kicks. Within moments the fishmen were all battered, bruised and on the ground.
"Hold it right there long-nose!" the sniper snapped his head around and to his horror, two fishmen were holding the boy he had encountered earlier and his mother hostage. Immediately, he drew out his slingshot and prepared to fire. But the fishmen held knives against their hostages' throats.
'Kuso! Why didn't I see it coming?'
"Drop your weapon or these two die!"
The sniper had no choice. He put away his weapon and raised his hands in the air in terms of surrender. They took him prisoner and led him back to their leader's park.
Meanwhile, the villagers of Cocoyashi were tending to Genzo's wounds when they had yet another unannounced visitor.
"Long time no see, everyone!"
All heads turned and saw Nami carrying a bouquet of flowers. Without saying a word, the villagers returned to their homes, leaving only Genzo and Nojiko.
"Well look who it is. What brings you here Nami? You normally don't walk through here." said Nojiko.
"I heard some commotion going on here so naturally arrived." the red-head noticed the destroyed house. "I take it Arlong's pissed?" she inquired as she continued to walk on.
When she finally stopped, she arrived at the edge of Cocoyashi, where a grave was placed facing the sea. Nami placed her flowers next to the cross.
"Well, only 7 million Beli to go…" she said out loud.
Nojiko was leaning against a tree close-by. "You know you still have a bad reputation being with Arlong and all." she told her younger step-sibling.
Nami smiled. "I may be a pirate for Arlong, but soon that won't last long. I'll collect the remaining money and buy back the village from him."
Part 1 end.