"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The fish person had busted out laughing. Glancing around, Six noticed that even the people he was fighting for looked unsure of what he had just said. He narrowed his eyes. If he had just said he was the Courier and no one recognized him, then he wasn't anywhere in the US anymore. Even on the eastern coast, they had learned his name. Working with the Brotherhood of Steel ensured that.
"You're a mailman?"
Six just glowered. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"
"Nope," the shark said, shaking off the dust. "It's just going to make it easier to kill you. And since you were so kind as to provide me your name, Courier, I'll do the same with mine. It's Arlong, terror of the East Blue."
With a snort, Six flipped a switch on his Pip-Boy. The device flashed blue before he felt the Elite Riot Gear manifest around him. This was by far his favorite set of armor, the kevlar plating and intimidating helmet an asset in every single fight he had been in. He only took it off because it had become synonymous with himself and liked it when people underestimated him. The newly named Arlong, however, clearly had no clue who he was.
"Good, I needed something to identify you with when I mark your grave. Or, you know, whatever's left when I'm done." Six retorted, his voice distorted by his helmet's filter. Underneath it, he kept a careful eye on the fishman. He had learned over the years that talking big could be a huge advantage in certain situations, enraging the enemy into making poor decisions. That was no excuse for underestimating an opponent, though. Anything, no matter how big or small, could kill you if it was given the chance.
It also helped that he had learned something new from their exchange. Arlong had called himself the "Terror of the East Blue," East Blue being a place he had never heard of before. Granted, it could have been somewhere from before the war, but Six had studied enough old maps to have never seen it. That was starting to worry him.
Arlong's eyes narrowed and he bared his pointed teeth. "Switching clothes won't save you. I'll tear through it all."
Six tightened his grip on Blood-Nap and clicked a button on the Saturnite fist. With a hiss, the blue metal heated into a deep red. There was no reason to take any chances with this guy.
"Shark on Darts!"
In a speedy blur, Arlong flew towards him, nose point up. Six's eyes widened at how fast the shark had accelerated. No normal human could keep up with speeds like that. Lucky for him, Six was anything but ordinary.
Dropping to one knee, the Courier narrowly dodged Arlong's razor-sharp nose. The fishman's eyes widened as it missed him by inches. With a roar, Six drilled his fist into the shark's gut. The flesh crackled and burned at the touch of the burning metal. He didn't feel any ribs give way, which tipped him off to this mutant's stronger anatomy. The force of his punch still sent him upward into the air, however. (A.N. Super Slam!)
Quickly pulling a grenade from his belt, Six pulled the pin and tossed it into the air. Then, he ran like hell. A couple years worth of throwing them had made him well aware of the destructive force of frag grenades. He was just thankful he didn't grab one of the other ones on accident. One time, he hadn't been paying attention and threw one of his more dangerous ones. Let's just say Six kept an eye out for white crosses from then on.
Arlong was engulfed in a small fireball that got the crowd behind him cheering. But the Courier knew better than that. His instincts told him to keep his guard up.
"Shark on Darts!"
A sudden blaring in the back of his skull had Six suddenly rolling left. (A.N. Perception 10) Arlong had sped out of the fire, fully intent on skewering him with his nose again. What he didn't expect though, was for the fishman to grab the ground and switch directions. There wasn't enough time for him to move out of the way, so he braced himself.
The shark's nose pierced his left shoulder and would have sent him flying into the wall, had Arlong not grabbed onto his right arm. Unable to use his fist, he stabbed Blood-Nap into his opponent's chest in an attempt to break free. The bowie knife was driven deep into his flesh and caused him to yank out his nose out of Six. However, her returned the favor by throwing the Courier across the compound and toward the crowd of people.
Six sighed and sat up, ignoring the offers from the people beside him. Arlong was no slouch when it came to power, the wound and speed of his throw told him that much. It was nothing he had never felt before, though. (A.N. Tough Guy) Glancing at his Pip-Boy, he checked his supply of stimpacks.
They were all gone.
The Courier blinked and smacked the device, sure there was a glitch somewhere. The text on screen didn't change. With a sigh, he summoned Benny's lighter. He could deal with that problem later. Right now, he had sushi to make.
"Damn," Six said, cauterizing the wound with the lighter. "And this was my favorite coat too."
Zoro groaned and rubbed his head. The wound Mihawk had given him was causing intense pain, and getting thrown into a wall didn't help. Speaking of the wall, why wasn't he still buried underneath a pile of rubble?
"BROTHER!"
Johnny and Yosaku were suddenly on either side of him. 'Oh, I get it.'
"Are you okay, Brother?" Johnny asked, helping him sit up.
"I will be," he replied, slapping his hand away. "What happened."
Yosaku spoke up this time. "Arlong smacked you into a wall to fight the man that appeared. They have been going at it the entire time you've been unconscious, which is less than five minutes. He calls himself 'The Courier' and has been landing solid hits on Arlong!"
With that information in mind, Zoro turned back to the fight. Arlong stood on one side, and, to his own disbelief, was injured. A purplish bruise was forming on the right side of his face and he had burn marks all over, the most prominent on his stomach. There was also a knife sticking out of his chest, just narrowly missing his heart. That was nothing compared to the look in his eyes though. They stared at the other man with a hatred Zoro had never seen before.
Speaking of the other man, he was outfitted differently than when the swordsman had last seen him. There was a black helmet on his head with eerie red lenses that even made Zoro uncomfortable. He was wearing a new duster, dark brown instead of a light tan, that had full sleeves. Underneath it was a black chestplate criss-crossed with bandoliers of bullets of different sizes. His blue jeans had cobalt knee plates, protecting his lower half. The rest of his clothes were relatively the same, including the now red gauntlet on his right arm. A round hole in his shoulder was bleeding profusely.
"ARE YOU EVEN TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY?!" Arlong roared, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes. He tore the knife out and tossed it to the ground carelessly. Although he couldn't see the stranger's eyes, he could feel the tension in the air increase when the blade touched the ground. Zoro could relate, he hated it when other people disrespected his weapons.
"Somewhat," the Courier said, faking a yawn. That only seemed to anger Arlong more. Zoro raised an eyebrow at the changed voice through the helmet. "I mean, I was expecting a challenge, but you're just so boring."
The fishman charged forward at him, gnashing his teeth and swinging his fists. Even though the other man was about four or five feet shorter than the shark (he was still quite tall), he dodged each one of the swipes with ease. When Zoro realized where Arlong was pushing him, though, he shook his head sadly. 'This man has never faced a fishman before, has he?'
Arlong was forcing the stranger towards the pool. Each missed punch or bite cut off any other routes for him to take. After seeing how much of an advantage they have in the water, Zoro didn't feel too sorry for the guy.
What he and, judging by the look on the fishman's face, Arlong didn't expect, was for the Courier to suddenly take the offensive. When one of the shark's arms flew past, the man grabbed it and yanked it towards himself. The sudden increase in forward momentum threw Arlong off balance and allowed him to plant a solid fist into his adversary's gut. He didn't just stop there, though. Once he had Arlong crumpled around his arm, he dragged him up into the air and slammed him into the ground. The fishman took advantage of the close proximity to the pool and rolled underneath the water.
"Get out of there!" Nami yelled from beside Zoro. "Fishman are stronger in the water!"
The Courier cast her a salute and started to move backward. Before he could get very far, Arlong shot out of the pool. Since he had already started moving back, he had time to dodge his foe's razor sharp nose. That didn't stop his speeding body from colliding with him, though.
With a grunt, the man held his ground. (A.N. Stonewall) He swung his fist upward, fully intent on plowing it into Arlong's chin. The fishman stepped out of the path and threw a handful of water at him. The small droplets peppered the Courier's chest and blood sprayed out.
Zoro winced from where he was sitting. After taking the same attack from Arlong earlier, he knew that they hurt.
The man swore explosively as Arlong charged him again. He crossed both arms to try and block any attacks. Instead of swinging at him like Zoro thought he would, Arlong snapped his jaw shut on one of the Courier's arms. The fangs punctured the duster's sleeve and pierced his flesh.
"AGHHHHH!" The sharkman screamed as his teeth shattered. Zoro's eyes widened in shock as the Courier, apparently oblivious to the pain, took full advantage of the opportunity. He jabbed his uncovered palm forward into Arlong's neck, causing him to freeze up. (A.N. Paralyzing Palm) The Courier then backed up and sprinted into a wicked dropkick that launched the sharkman into Arlong Park's building. He went crashing through the front doors and was covered in a cloud of dust.
"THAT GUY JUST BROKE ARLONG'S TEETH WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING!" Usopp cried.
Arlong strode out of the building with a grin on his face. "Well, you've got stronger bones than I expected. (A.N. Adamantium Skeleton) That doesn't matter though, my tee-"
A massive boom interrupted him and he went flying back into the building. Zoro glanced at the Courier and saw him shoving what looked like a pistol with a red trigger back into his belt. He shook his head and chuckled to himself.
"Some people just don't know when to shut up."
Zoro heard Nami gasp. "Watch out!"
Out of the smoke, a massive serrated long sword swung. Arlong had sped out of the bottom floor of the building with fury written across his face. Apparently, blowing him up kind of pissed him off, who would of thought? The Courier dropped down underneath the wide horizontal blow to avoid losing the upper half of his torso. On the ground, he rolled out of the way of the follow-up swing that cut through the concrete. He backed up, putting space between himself and the berserk fishman.
Arlong's eyes had become bloodshot and his face was twisted in rage. The burns on his body had only increased as a result of the explosion he had just endured. His movements no longer held any of his usual cocky swagger. They were fueled by pure hatred. Growling, he tugged the sword free and glared at the Courier.
"Kiribachi…" Nami said, covering her mouth with her hand.
"What?" Sanji had sat down next to Zoro.
"The sword," she said, looking at the Courier with worry. "Arlong only uses it when he's really angry. I've never seen him like this before."
A sudden snort brought everyone's attention back to the fight. The Courier was doubled over, full out laughing at the sight of the blade. Everyone's sweat dropped as even Arlong looked on in confusion. The sawtooth sword was easily eight or nine feet long, but the stranger was just laughing it off.
"You call that a sword?" he asked, flipping dials on his strange wrist device. "Motherfucker, this is a sword."
A flash of blue light signified another change in arsenal. The gauntlet he previously wore on his fist was gone, replaced with a long sword. Zoro, being a swordsman, took a moment to examine the blade. It was a couple of feet shorter than Kiribachi, but still about as tall as he was. The handle was about a third as long as the blade and was made out of pipe. The actual cutting edge was poorly made, uneven in most places. All-in-all, Zoro wasn't very impressed with it. That didn't matter to him, though, he was waiting to see how the newcomer would use it.
"This, is the Blade of the East. I took it from Legate Lanius, the Monster of the East, after I killed him at the Second Battle for Hoover Dam. It is stained with the blood of countless civilians, a result of that madman's rampage. I think it will be a fitting weapon to use against you."
Arlong just snarled in reply, gripping the handle of Kiribachi tighter. He leapt forward, swinging the blade in a deadly arc. The Courier deftly redirected the sword back down into the ground. He stepped on it, snapping the thick metal in half. Then, he swung his own sword across the fishman's chest. Blood sprayed out of the horizontal slash, coating the Courier's armor in a fresh paint.
Zoro's eyes widened as he gazed at the snapped blade on the ground.
The Courier didn't stop there. Grunting, he slammed one of his booted feet into Arlong's crotch, causing him to double over in pain. Everyone winced. Even though he was hated, they couldn't help but feel sympathy for the blow. The Courier, however, had no qualms about continuing his assault. With Arlong currently questioning his sexuality, the man stabbed his sword into the ground and gripped the back of his skull. Then, he smashed his face against his blue knee plate.
Zoro's jaw dropped as Arlong's nose crumpled inward on itself.
His previous fight with the fishman proved that his nose was nigh unbreakable. Not even his swords could slice through it. But here was an unknown man snapping it like a toothpick.
A loud scream pierced the air as Arlong fingered what was left of his nose. He stumbled backward, the pain in his groin forgotten as a stream of blood flowed from his nostrils. The Courier took his sword back up into his hands. Without hesitation, he rammed it home into Arlong's chest. The blade went so deep, Zoro could see it burst out the back. The sharkman stopped moving, opening and closing his mouth silently. He coughed, and blood flew out of his mouth.
Planting one of his boots on Arlong, he shoved him off the sword. Although it didn't look like it, he put enough force behind it to launch him back into Arlong Park. The fishman flew back through the front doors and crashed into the lobby.
With a heavy sigh, the Courier sheathed the Blade of the East onto his back. Then, he fiddled with the device on his wrist. In a flash of light, he was holding a giant metal tube over his shoulder. If Zoro had to take a guess, he would say it looked like a gun.
His observation was proven right when the Courier pulled the trigger. After a brief discharge, a projectile flew from the front of it. It entered the front of Arlong Park and promptly exploded. The fireball was massive, engulfing the entire bottom floor. Windows were shattered, columns were destroyed, and stonework was cracked beyond repair. Without anything to stand on, the rest of the floors collapsed on top of themselves. After a couple seconds, nothing was left of Arlong Park, or Arlong, but rubble.
Hoo boy. This one was difficult to write due to my inexperience with long fight scenes. I like to make mine short and sweet, but I wouldn't be doing One Piece justice if I kept it brief. I hope I did a good job. The Arlong Park Arc will be wrapped up in the next chapter.
I've got a question for you guys dictating how the story will play out. I haven't decided on a set writing format yet. I wanted to see if this story would take off before doing that. I could either write this exactly like the anime, writing exactly what each character says and dictating how scenes are played out, or write it like how it's going now. I really have no preference for which one to use, so you guys decide.
I have something great planned for the Alabasta Arc (If this continues). This is going to be an arc the Courier is extremely prominent in, seeing as he is from the desert. I'm super pumped to start writing for it, but, in the meantime, I have some fun stuff planned for Loguetown. It may or may not include a western duel. Thanks for reading.