Chapter 11 – Nami's Rescue
Luffy swam to shore, sputtering. He pulled himself up on the dock, in front of his friends Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji. Usopp flinched backwards when Luffy shook himself dry, avoiding the rubber-power-draining touch of sea water.
"Guys, I'm going back on the ship and kick Lucky Roux's butt!" Luffy told them in a fury. "I got tricked into luring a girl onto the ship. Now they're holding her hostage so they can steal oranges from her mother."
"A pretty girl?" asked Sanji with a lovestruck look in his one visible eye.
"I dunno," said Luffy. "I never pay attention to stuff like that. But it was a cheap and cowardly scheme, and they tricked me into it. Someone's gonna pay!"
"Isn't that what pirates do?" Usopp asked. "I mean, a certain amount of lying and cheating is expected, right? They are crooks, you know."
"It lacks honor," Zoro declared. "As a kendo warrior, I will help you defeat Lucky Roux, Luffy."
"So will I," Sanji affirmed. "A girl is in danger and that's good enough for me."
"It's my own dad's crew," Usopp waffled. "But... I'd hate to go back after my adventures as a bold warrior of the sea knowing I did nothing to help a maiden in distress. Count me in. What's the plan?"
"Plan?" asked Luffy. "We go back out there and whip Roux's butt."
"He's fast for a fat guy," objected Zoro. "In fact, he's the fastest opponent I've ever seen, next to Mihawk."
"Fast or not, it's four to one," said Sanji, "Let's do it."
They commandeered a dinghy and rowed out to the ship. All of them climbed up a rope ladder onto the deck, where Lucky Roux stood guard over the bound and gagged Nami, chewing as always on a haunch of meat.
"Let her go!" Luffy shouted at Roux.
"Oh, so you've brought reinforcements," Roux said. "It doesn't matter; you can't beat me. Usopp, you stay out of this. I don't want to have to kill you. The others are just passengers who have overstayed their welcome. You're the son of a shipmate."
"Y-you have a point there," Usopp admitted. "But you're underestimating Usopp the Unbreakable, bold warrior of the sea. I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back."
"That so?" asked Roux. "Then try it." In a blur of motion he wrapped one of Usopp's arms around the young man's body and tied it there.
With a roar, the other three young attackers charged.
"Hardly a challenge," sneered Roux. In an instant he seemed to split into three: one dueling Zoro with a cutlass, one kick-boxing with Sanji, and one trading punches with Luffy.
"He's so fast he can flip between three fights at once," Usopp realized. He stretched out a foot to try to trip Roux as he sped between fights, chewing off more meat from the haunch between each encounter.
Roux responded by grabbing Usopp by the leg.
"I'll tell your father you died bravely," Roux told Usopp. With a lightning-quick tug he sent Usopp whirling into the air, with the intent of throwing him into the sea to drown. Usopp desperately stretched out his one free arm and caught the top of the mainmast. He swung himself into the crow's nest.
While Usopp cowered in the crow's nest, he got an eagle-eye view of the battle. Usopp noticed the meat was getting more and more eaten off the bone Roux held; he had a sudden inspiration.
When Roux ran out of meat he dashed into the larder to get more. Suddenly he gave a wild howl: "Waoooh! Hot! I can't stand this! What have you done to my meat?'
"Simple, " Usopp told him. "I'm a strategic genius. I stretched down through the porthole and put my Flaming Star hot sauce on all your meat. You told me once you didn't like hot sauce, so I hoped it would stop you eating and re-fueling your super-speed."
"I... I can eat it," said Lucky Roux with gritted teeth.
"Yes, but not fast enough to keep yourself refueled when all of us are pressing you," Zoro stated. "Get him, guys!'
Sword, fists, and feet flying, the three strongest fighters triple teamed Roux while Usopp peppered him and his meat with more hot-sauce bombs. Roux slowed down, staggered, and finally went down.
When Nami was freed from her gag, she said to them: "You've got to do something to help Bellemere. She's all alone and the pirates are coming to rob her. She's an ex-Marine. Once she knows I'm not a hostage she's liable to do something stupid like trying to fight the pirates and getting herself shot in the head."
"Let's go," Luffy demanded, and the whole group set out in the dinghy a few minutes later, leaving Roux tied to the mast in the place of Nami.