Next Chapter is up. The fight continues.
Arlong was sure that Nami wouldn't pose much of a threat. In fact he was sure that she would simply submit to him the moment that he showed up. However, he wanted her to resist him at least a little bit, just to make it fun. Plus he didn't want it to be easy.
And resist she did. In fact she was resisting him so much that he believed for a second that she actually thought she stood a chance to escape from him. What she said at the beginning of their meeting was true; she was not the same girl that she had been when he captured her all those years ago in her village.
Nami, on the other hand, didn't think she was doing as good against him as he thought she was. She was just thinking about how lucky she was that Arlong wasn't taking her as serious as he could have. She knew from watching his fight with Luffy just how good Arlong was, just how dangerous he could be if he wanted to. She knew quite well that she, by all rights, should be dead right now.
For right now she had escaped Arlong's wrath for a moment, hiding in a small cave on the rocky shore of that beach. She had to calm herself down a little bit so that she could collect herself, steel her resolve to take out the man that had put her through hell for 8 years of her life, and plan out her next move.
She knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to stand up physically to this man, so she resigned herself to using her mind and her climatact. Usopp had been doing some modifications to her weather controlling weapon, but it hadn't been completed yet. She was still using her older version, but he had been able to complete one aspect of it. And in this battle, this particular little power up would be extremely helpful.
"OK, this is it. Now it's my turn to avenge you, Bellmere-san." She got to her feet and exited the cave. She looked around for her enemy, but was treated to an empty beach.
"Eh, where did he go?" She began to back up slowly, looking around her for Arlong.
"Shark On Darts!" Suddenly, from the sea, Arlong came flying out at Nami aiming his nose at her heart. Nami had just enough time to save her life, but not enough time to save her arm from getting grazed by his nose. Fortunately it wasn't the arm that was holding her climatact, otherwise she would have dropped her weapon and it would have been washed out with the tide. She got back to her feet and looked in his direction, where he stood atop a giant boulder laughing. "So Nami, you ready to give up this little façade and come back with me?"
"Not on your life. I am a pirate; I am my ship's navigator. I won't be going back with you, because am going to kick your ass here and now."
"Heh heh heh, you have got to be kidding me. You, a pirate? You spent your entire life stealing from pirates. In fact you hate pirates. And do you really think that you can beat me? You are still a funny girl. You couldn't kill me when you were close to me."
"I never said that I would kill you, but I will if I have to." Something about Luffy's way of fighting, specifically his tendency to let his opponents live after he beats them, had rubbed off on her, probably on everyone in the crew. She would not kill Arlong here. No, she would not kill him period. Instead she would simply take him out, prove that he didn't control her anymore, and then move on with her life. "And yes, I am a pirate. But I'm not going to explain it to you. Wouldn't want to waste my breath."
Nami got set deciding that a little deception would help her start out this battle the right way. "The weather is perfect here. I should at least be able to avoid him for now." She unhooked one of the links to her weapon and blew in it once.
Arlong, however, wasn't going to have any of that right now. "Sorry, Nami, bit I won't allow you to make any moves now. Shark On Darts!" He launched himself at Nami, once again aiming for her heart. And this time he hit her, or at least he thought he did. At the moment of impact, he saw her dissipate into the wind. "What??"
"Mirage Tenpo. Nice little trick wouldn't you agree?" Nami was standing on a rock not too far away from where her mirage was. She took the Cool Ball link and began spinning it around. "See if you can find me, Arlong." And with that she disappeared, only to reappear once again on the same rock. And then another appeared. And then another and another and another until an entire army of Namis was standing on the beach. "Only one of them is the real me. But it's not a question of whether you can find me. It's whether you can find me in time." And with that, all of the Namis pulled out their second link and began spinning both, creating red and blue balls that floated up into the air.
Arlong was getting noticeably frustrated and began to wildly attack any of the mirages that he could get his hands on. Meanwhile on the far side of the beach, all the way near the end of the army of Namis, the real Nami grinned. 'Perfect. I thought he would lose his focus if I toyed with him a little. Now I can take as much time as I need. And by the time he gets here, it's over.'
Arlong eventually made it to the last few Namis only to be introduced to an even stranger sight. A black cloud that was seemingly out of place on this island, it being a summer island. It also caught on that the cloud was very low and was covering only them. The other mirage Namis faded away as the real Nami stood looking at him, smiling. "Got ya. Thunder Bolt Tenpo." She swung the last link of her weapon at the cloud. Out came a yellow ball that entered the cloud. A few seconds later a massive thunder bolt struck Arlong. He screamed out in pain as the electricity surged through him. He fell face first as soon as it was over.
"Whew, now that was a close one. I should get back to Luffy and Vivi soon, or else the rest of his crew might show up." She began to walk back in the direction of the ship. 'That was easy. Maybe a little too easy. Eh maybe he's just gotten rusty after getting his ass handed to him by Luffy.' Unfortunately that little thought was cast out in an instant. She heard a quiet shuffling behind her and turned to see Arlong standing up.
"Nami, that actually hurt. Congratulations, you are the first non-devil fruit user to hurt me. And your reward IS DEATH!" He lunged at her, grabbed her by the neck, and tossed her into the sea. "Let's see how your cheap parlor tricks work in the sea, in my domain." He dived in after her.
Nami had been trying to swim her way back to the surface but was instantly caught up when Arlong came flying by, cutting her arm. He swam by her several more time with his Shark On Darts attack, causing her multiple wounds on her body. She was beginning to fade a little. She had been under water for a very long time and was running low on air. She had to do something fast, or else she was shark food, no pun intended. She knew none of her orbs would work underwater, and most of the really cheap tricks had already been taken out of the weapon. She had one chance and she prayed that it work. Arlong was closing in for the kill shot. And once she was sure that he wouldn't be able to dodge, she fired her cyclone tenpo at him, which not only was able to move normally through water, but hit right in one of his eyes.
Free of Arlong for the moment she hurried to the shore and got out of the water. She was panting hard and holding as many of the spots she had been cut on as she could. "Ok, I'm out of that hole but now what do I do? Usopp got rid of the tornado tenpo, and I doubt he will let me charge up the thunder bolt tenpo again. I have one more ace up my sleeve but I need to surprise him with it, and make sure that he stays in the sea." She stood up and got ready.
Arlong surfaced, his right eye swollen shut. He looked to the shore and saw Nami, spinning her heat and cool links. "No, not this time Nami." He started towards her when he suddenly felt a very painful shock on his right side. He looked over there and saw Nami standing there with her improved thunder link in hand. "What??? But you were-." Then he looked back at the first Nami, just in time to see it dissipate into the wind. 'Damnit. If she hadn't swollen my eye shut I would have seen her over there.'
"Thank you, Arlong. I doubt I would have had the strength to do any of this had you not done what you did eight years ago. So now I say thank you, and goodbye." He reared her fully charged link back. "Thunder Ball." She fired the immense ball at him. He tried to dodge, but found he couldn't move. 'The first shock paralyzed me.' "Damnit, our plan has been ruined!" He could only watch as the ball contacted him sending a gigantic shock throughout his body, amplified by the fact that he was currently soaked in sea water. He fell back into the water and this time he did not get back up.
Nami fell to her knees on the rock she was standing on. "Gen-san, Nojiko, Bellmere-san, this was for you." Once she finished her little ritual she stood and recalled Arlong's words. " 'Our plans?' That means that he wasn't the only one involved in this. Hmm, that means the others might have been attacked. But if it's everyone else then I'm sure their fine, but just to be safe I'd better head back to the ship. Luffy's probably gonna have to help Usopp out."
And leaving Arlong's smoking body lying in the shallow water and gathering her bag and maps, she made her way back to the ship.
Now why was that fight so long, yet for some reason I couldn't make Robin's fight go any longer than I did? I find that unfair to me and to all of the Nico Robin fans (mainly because I'm one myself). She is my fav female character and second fav character on One Piece. I might have to revise her chapter, unless you all think its fine the way it is. If so then good, if not give me some ideas. I need them. Oh and don't forget to R&R this chapter as well.
