Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.
Chapter 9
It has been a couple days since the group had left the Baratie, in search of their absent crew members. Yosaku and Sanji were near the front of the ship and resting there as Luffy jumped around like a little kid hopped up on sugar.
Finally, Sanji yelled at Luffy to calm down. Still excited, he came over to sit at the very front of the boat and turned to Yosaku, "So… are we getting close to where Nami is? You know… the island?"
Suddenly, Yosaku slammed his hand down on his knee, and got their attention. Pointing an accusing finger at him he yelled out, "You're way to naïve and way too young! Don't you get it? Don't you realize every second that passes brings us closer to the infamous Arlong?!"
Yosaku spoke to Sanji and Luffy that, due to Nami's suspicious behavior being connected to their copy of Arlong's wanted poster, he and Johnny suspected that there had to be a connection between them.
Of course Luffy and Sanji didn't seem at all concerned as Luffy asked for food.
Yosaku looked ready to fall over at how clueless they were and went on to yell about everything he knew about Arlong. But Sanji was starting to swoon at the idea of mermaids and Luffy made gills appear on his neck along with a fish tail to mimic the idea, but was knocked out of it by a well-placed kick to the head curtesy of Sanji.
Yosaku was getting frustrated and told them all about the Seven Warlords and mentioned Mihawk and a member who was also a Fishman and just how dangerous they were.
"Arlong has taken control of twenty towns since coming to the East Blue," Yosaku said with fear in his voice. "His strength easily surpasses anyone you've encountered, including Don Krieg! He's devastating!"
But Sanji couldn't understand why Nami would go after him by herself—which Yosaku responded that she was trying to get his bounty—with Sanji now fantasying about her being a mermaid. Sanji then went to get food done as Luffy said they would worry about it when they got there.
But as the three were sitting down to really enjoy their food; there was a rumble beneath them. Suddenly, what sounded like a moo came from beneath the waves.
The sea rose up on the side of the boat, and through the giant wave were a pair of horns. Sanji looked overboard to see a giant sea cow rising up out of the sea. He had a big round nose with a gold nose ring, cow-esque face and horns, green spots throughout his body, with a great big seal-like body.
Yosaku screamed in panic as Luffy and Sanji looked at it in mild curiosity. Luffy, wanting to know what the creature wanted, dived into the water and suddenly another giant sea cow erupted from the water, startling everyone present. Yosaku screamed while foaming at the mouth before Sanji calmed down and pointed out the second sea monster. Unlike the first monstrous cow though, this one had black spots on its body, as well as a highly familiar scar under the eye and straw hat resting on the top of his head. The two creatures seemed to be talking to each other for a minute or two, the soft moos being the only thing the two humans could make out.
Suddenly though, the black spotted Sea Cow's eyes went white with rage and it gave a devastating head-butt to the first one, sending it flying back into the sea with tears of pain streaming from its eyes. The straw hatted one suddenly turned back into Luffy, who landed gracefully on the railing of the ship before turning back to where he sent the cow flying, screaming out, "Bad Sea Cow! Stay away from our food!" as the sea cow mooed in anger and pain.
Sanji told him off for that and went over to where the Sea Cow had swam to. He went to try to feed him, but as soon as it opened his mouth, Sanji kicked it so hard that he was thrown backwards into the sea.
"WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING? YOU JERK!" Yosaku bellowed at him furiously.
"He was gonna eat me with the plate, what could I do?" Sanji asked casually, one leg up on the side of the boat, clearly waiting for it to come back up.
The beast roared in fury, falling towards them, but Sanji ran up the mast and kicked him so hard in the neck that it hit the ocean—out cold. And to add insult to injury, Sanji and Luffy sat back down at the table to finish their food.
"You guys are insane," Yosaku whispered, staring at them with admiration and horror.
"Would've been a waste of good food," Sanji said causally. Soon enough, the boys finished their meal and tied a rope around the cow's horns once he woke up tearfully.
"ONWARDS COW!" Luffy cried out, and a terrified sea cow set off.
Soon they were almost flying across the water as the cow pulled them. Only fifteen minutes later they spotted land in the distance. Luffy jumped to the bow of the ship, and enjoyed the ride—yelling out that he could see Arlong Park from here to the other two.
The building, several stories high and Arlong's Jolly Roger at the top, was conspicuously placed at the coast to show that they had no fear of the law and where the pool on the outside was linked to the outer seas with a pair of steel gates that kept it closed.
Luffy yelled excitedly from the front and yelled at the large cow to pick up the pace.
"I feel sorry for it," Yosaku said with his hand on his chin. "Sanji's kick must've really taken its toll."
The monstrous cow suddenly began to turn away from Arlong Park and headed more to the right of it.
"Not that way!" Luffy yelled as he pointed back to the building, "Your other left! To the building, stupid!"
The cow ignored him and kept going in the wrong direction as Luffy continued to laugh in excitement as they headed straight for the shoreline.
The cow then crashed into the shore with such force that when the Sea Cow hit, it knocked itself out and launched the little boat right into the air so that it was sent soaring across the island.
"Ohhhh! It's almost like we're flying!" Luffy exclaimed happily.
"WE ARE FLYING YOU MORON!" Sanji yelled as he and Yosaku clung on.
"NO WE'RE FALLING!" Yosaku screamed. Luffy gave a scream of delight as they descended into the forest and started to slide across the ground like a skate would on ice. "Landing successful!" Luffy cried happily.
But Luffy suddenly stopped laughing and was shouting out, "HEY ZORO!"
The swordsman was standing there staring at them with a gapping mouth.
The boat crashed into him, but the pain didn't last long however as they finally burst through the trees, over some wetlands and they finally crashed right into a high cliff, destroying the boat. Eventually, they tried to get out of the wreckage.
As the smoke and dust of the crash disappeared, Luffy's voice was calling out, "Awesome! We're here guys!"
After dusting off his hat, he was standing up and looking around eagerly as a muffled voice beneath the boards. "WHAT THE HECK…" Zoro forced the boards off him, screaming out at them all, "WERE YOU DOING?!"
"What do you mean?" Luffy asked innocently as he stood up. Sanji was still sitting on a crate, also a mess, but didn't seem to have moved from his seat—Yosaku on the other hand was in the background, his legs up in the air as the rest of him was buried in the debris. "We're here to pick up Nami, duh," Luffy went on as if it was obvious. "How come you haven't found her yet?" He paused in thought as if he just remembered something, "Oh yeah, and what about Usopp and Johnny?"
But then Zoro's eyes suddenly widen as the mention of Usopp. "Usopp!" he exclaimed as he stood up. "Oh no! Come on! We gotta hurry!" He started to run off.
"Why? What's wrong?" Luffy asked after him.
"That idiot was caught by Arlong," he explained quickly. "We gotta hurry before they kill him!"
"He's already dead," a familiar voice stated for them. Jumping at the voice, they looked up in time to see Johnny slowly coming towards them. He was looking tired and out of breath as tears fell from his eyes.
"What!?" Zoro exclaimed as he came towards them.
"We're… too late," Johnny continued numbly as he fell to his knees in front of them, "Big Bro Usopp is dead."
Johnny punched the ground bitterly and cried out, "Nami… murdered him!"
"You can't be serious!" Yosaku cried out.
But it was Luffy who was looking furious, shouting out, "That's a lie!"
"Yeah, it's true!" Johnny exclaimed as he fell back to the ground and sat cross-legged. "She was a traitor all along! She's been winning Arlong's favor so she could have the treasure buried in Cocoyashi Village all for herself!" he slammed his hand on the ground, "That woman's just a cold-hearted killer! She won't stop till she gets what she wants! Nami had us fooled the entire…"
But Luffy wouldn't hear any more of it. He charge again and screamed out that Johnny was a liar as he grabbed him by his collar and shook him so violently that he even let his hat fall off. "Say another word and you'll regret it!"
"Easy Luffy, this has nothing to do with Johnny," Zoro said in a calm voice.
Johnny turned his head. "Go on believe whatever you want. But I know what I saw! NAMI KILLED BIG BRO USOPP!"
"Shut your mouth!" Luffy yelled as he shook Johnny again, refusing to believe anything he said. His pupils had taken on a slit, feral appearance. "Never in a million years would Nami kill Usopp! She wouldn't do that to her friends!"
"But… but I SAW it!" Johnny stammered out as Luffy looked like he was ready to throw a punch. But then another familiar voice spoke up in a contemptuous way. "What was that about friends, Luffy?"
They looked up to see Nami was standing on the road. She had changed into a green spotted shirt and was now sporting a tattoo on her shoulder of a saw-nosed shark turned to the left with the tail curving inward. Around the shark is a semi-oval with three curves emitting from it.
She stood there with her staff in her hands, arms folded, and staring at them all as if they were strangers who were bugging her.
"Nami!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise as he dropped Johnny, calming down almost at once and his appearance went back to normal.
She didn't answer for a moment as her eyes narrowed coldly—and they all had their eyes widen in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice bored, as if she couldn't care less for the answer.
"What are we doing here? You're our friend," Luffy said in surprise, "We came to get you." He picked up his hat, as she just jeered at him.
"What a pest," she said.
"Nami?" Luffy questioned, wondering as she spoke in the same cold voice.
"Friends, huh? Don't make me laugh. You're just pathetic enough to deserve each other," she said with a sneer that make her look quite unlike herself.
"Damn you! You killed him! I watched you do it!" Johnny yelled angrily, pointing a shaking finger at her, "And now… Big Bro Usopp is gone!"
"Yep that's right. So why don't you kill me get your revenge?" Nami said without batting an eye.
"What!?" gasped Johnny, who seemed stunned that she answered him so causally.
"Word to the wise, fellas," she said sarcastically, "Because of your friend's stupidity," she looked to Zoro and rolled her eyes and explained, "Arlong is preparing to kill Zoro along with his entire crew. And I don't care about how monstrously strong you guys think you are, you're no match for the real monsters," she played with the staff on her shoulder and that was when they all noticed the thick bandage around her hand, "I promise you, you stay on this island, you will die."
"So you have a choice to make between life and death," Nami finally finished as Zoro was now growling angrily at her.
Sanji on the other hand was looking love-struck once again and cried out, "Her heartless face is so hot." He waved his arms excitedly as he swooned, "Hi Nami, it's me Sanji! Let's run away together!"
"Can it, Romeo! This isn't the time or place for that!" Zoro yelled in annoyance at him.
"Excuse me!?" Sanji challenged. "Love is like a hurricane! So back off!" But Zoro was no longer listening as he turned his back to him and looked directly at Nami, something that ticked him off. "Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
He was ignored as Zoro demanded to know where Usopp was.
"With the fishes," she answered and some of the crew shivered at that.
"Dang it!" he yelled as he pulled out his one sword, "Cut the crap!"
He looked ready to attack her, but Sanji stood in the way and Zoro had to dodge the kick aimed at his face. "How sad, a swordsman attacking a lady?" he asked him coldly.
"Idiot!" Zoro growled at Sanji, "Can't you see what's happening here? You're starting to tick me off!"
Sanji just laughed. "If someone stopped me that easily, I'd be mad too."
"What?" Zoro demanded hotly, "You… should watch your mouth!"
"I'll say whatever I want, jerkwad," Sanji growled right back, and it looked like they were going to have a fight as Yosaku was now trying to get them to stop from fighting. "Big Bro's! We're all in this together ok?" he yelled, "This is no time to fight!"
"Your pal's right," Nami agreed darkly, "Now quit you're bickering and leave while you still can. You outsiders have no right to butt into this island's affairs. Don't you get it yet? The only reason I got close to you idiots was so that I could rob you of everything you had. But now that you're broke, it looks like your dream's dead. So go, take your ship! Go on, find a navigator dumb enough to join you and go to the Grand Line."
"Continue on your quest to find the One Piece or whatever," she went on before she pointed her staff at them all, "Just leave here! You're an eyesore!"
Johnny and Yosaku growled furiously at her, looking like they wanted to attack. Convinced that she had scared them away, Nami sighed and her eyes were now being hidden by her bangs as she told them all goodbye. But there, her voice had changed; it was no longer cold or scolding…
It was sad.
Luffy just looked at her with a blank stare. "Nami…" he said softly. For a few more seconds he stood there before he closed his eyes and fell back onto the ground.
"Big Bro Luffy!" Johnny exclaimed in surprise.
"Sleepy," Luffy stated.
"Sleep!?" Johnny exclaimed in disbelief.
"Right now, in the middle of the road?" Yosaku questioned him.
"Well, I'm pretty tired," Luffy answered coolly before he yawned. "I'm not gonna butt in their affairs, not interested. But I'm not leaving either. Night."
Yosaku's jaw fell open, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Big Bro…?" Johnny stuttered and even Zoro face-palmed himself at those words.
Nami seemed to snap at this. She lost all coldness in her expression and she was now shaking with rage and she finally screamed out, "WHATEVER! JUST GO AHEAD AND DIE!"
And without a backward glance she turned and went running away as fast as she could, as if afraid to stay near them any longer.
When Luffy awoke to the yelling of Sanji and Zoro, he gave a shout of surprise as he rushed to Usopp, who was both alive and a mess. His face was smashed in from both sides as if he got stuck between two boulders and blood was dripping down from his mouth and crooked nose. "Usopp!" he screamed out, shaking him a little.
"Did Nami do all this to you!?" Luffy shouted, his eyes wide as he continued to shake him.
Sanji answered by pointing to Zoro and explained, "Sorry, Zoro and I did that."
"No, you did," Zoro disagreed darkly.
Usopp was slowly coming too and had to focus hard on Luffy. "Luffy…? You're here now…"
"Yep, sure am," Luffy answered, sounding truly relieved that Usopp wasn't dead.
"I'm here too. Hi there," Sanji greeted and Usopp seemed to have instantly recovered as he stood up and began yelling, "One of these days I'll kill you!"
"Oh, you just made a full recovery," Sanji said, greatly impressed as he clapped him on the shoulder.
"Shut up!" he yelled, knocking his hand away and looking ready to go into a shouting match before Zoro reminded them of something.
"Oh, and by the way. We kinda heard you were dead. Killed by Nami," he stated causally, as if they had been told that he went out to the store instead of getting killed. Usopp blinked, as if remembering that as well.
"Stupid Johnny," Luffy growled, getting up, "He was sprouting nonsense that entire time!"
"Well," Usopp stated, his anger gone and looking thoughtful, "In a way… it is the truth." Blinking in surprise they looked at him. "But I'm alive…" he went on frowning, "cause you see, she actually saved my life." They looked completely lost as he explained everything. The Fishmen had captured him and were going to kill him—but he made things worse when he asked Nami for help, which made the Fishmen suspicious of her. He then used a Smoke Star to try to escape but Nami intercepted him and announced that she would kill him herself. However, instead, she stabbed her own hand to make it look like she killed him before she kicked him into the ocean so that he could swim away. When they told him that Johnny said that he saw the whole thing, Usopp supposed that Johnny must've been watching from a safe distance and was tricked like the Fishmen.
"So that's it," Usopp said, finishing up telling them, "That's how Nami pretended to kill me and make sure I could escape from Arlong Park." He looked up at them and finished, "Looks to me like she's got some sorta hidden motive for hanging out with a bunch of renegade Fishmen."
"Fine," Zoro said, his arms still folded, "What next? Are we gonna destroy Arlong Park?"
But Usopp was waving his hands around in front of them, trying to get their attention before they did something they'd regret. "Whoa! Hang on just a second!" he said loudly, "Don't you think we better find out what's going on with Nami first?!"
Suddenly, another voice spoke up, "It's no use either way!"
Looking up, the group saw a young woman was there with short, light purple hair and an even tan skin. Her right arm and chest were heavily tattooed very similar to Nami's—but she was giving them all a dark and stern look.
"No matter what you guys do; Arlong's rule won't come to an end," she informed them.
"Nojiko!" Usopp exclaimed in surprise.
"Who's she?" Luffy questioned him.
"Nami's big sister," Usopp stated.
Sanji was already smitten as he swooned, "What? Nami's sister? No wonder she's so hot!"
"What do you mean that it's no use?" Zoro questioned her.
"Just trust me. Don't get yourselves involved here," Nojiko said bluntly, and for those who haven't met her could tell that she was just as stubborn and strong-willed as her little sister. "And leave poor Nami alone. I'll explain the situation."
"Situation?" Sanji repeated in confusion.
Usopp was now giving her his complete attention. "Do you mean that you can tell us why she joined up with Arlong's group?" he asked.
"Yeah," Nojiko admitted, folding her arms. "And if that doesn't get you to leave, I don't know what will."
"I'll pass," Luffy said as he walked past Nojiko and Usopp called for him to wait, but Luffy barely paid attention "I don't care about her past."
Even as Sanji called out to know where he was going, he just kept going.
"For a walk," he answered coolly.
"A walk?!" Usopp yelled after him, "Do you mean you're not gonna listen to this?!"
"Nope," he answered back before leaving the area. The chimera boy walked for a while until he ended up on the edge of the village. But suddenly he saw a group of Marines closely following a man covered in scars and a spinning pinwheel on his hat. Luffy stopped walking and watched them walk past him.
Luffy watched after them for a while when he said to himself, "That pinwheel is so cool!"
Soon, Luffy was leaning his back up against a tree and staring up at the sky with a thoughtful expression. "A pinwheel, huh?" whispered Luffy's voice and brought them back to the matter at hand. When they looked, he blinked before he suddenly smiled to himself. "I just thought of a new move."
But all too soon there was a commotion not too far away and soon there was a gathering of people with the man called Genzo calling out for a doctor.
"Genzo, what is it?" a man with a white coat and sunglasses yelled as he came running over and she stared at him as well.
"Nojiko's been shot," Genzo explained as he and Nami gently lowered a body to the ground. When Genzo explained, the villagers were all horrified.
"The marines!?" the doctor repeated in disbelief. As Luffy spotted Nami and got up to head towards her. Her face was hidden by her hair and she was shaking hard with her teeth grounded together. As he got nearer, her sister's head was lying in her lap and she was holding her very gently.
"Nojiko?" the doctor asked as he checked her.
"I… I'm alright," Nojiko whispered back through gritted teeth.
"Arlong has been working with those damn marines," Genzo told them all and the doctor looked up at him in outrage. "He's been lying to Nami for the last eight years!" he explained, "He never intended to honor their agreement at all!"
"That Monster!" a villager yelled out furiously; and soon there were shouts that were filled with anger and shock.
"Oh, no," a woman whispered, horrified at the thought, "That means…"
"That scoundrel, he lied to our Nami!" someone else shouted. But Nami just carefully moved Nojiko's head from her lap as she got up, her fingers curling into tight fists.
"Nami…?" the doctor whispered as she stood there.
"Hey Nami," Luffy greeted happily, waving as he came up behind her, "What's up? Need help with anything?"
Instead of answering she turned and glared at him so fiercely that the smile was wiped off his face. Her eyes weren't the cold ones she had seen before—they were full of rage that seemed to burn a hole in whatever she stared at.
"Why are you still here?" she screamed at him as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled up to her face and continued to yell into his fearful face, "STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS! JUST GET AWAY FROM OUR ISLAND!"
Tears were beginning to burn and she then threw him down to the ground as she went running off before she lost all control.
Luffy picked himself up from the ground and went towards a nearby tree and leaned up against it much like before. He was looking deeply annoyed as he muttered darkly, "What's her problem?" and here he sounded like a little boy would when faced with a girl on the playground who didn't want to play with him.
Luffy continued to lean against the tree as the other three crewmates arrived together—all of them were close together so that they could see what was going on, but out of the way so that they couldn't be seen.
Here, what looked like the entire village was out holding weapons—mostly things like clubs and homemade spears that were knives tied to staffs. There wasn't even a gun among them as they all gathered around, with Genzo cheering them on to take up arms.
"Eight long years ago," Genzo told the townspeople, "We promised we wouldn't live our lives in vain! No matter the pain and humiliation we had to endure under Arlong, we swore we would fight the long fight so that Nami could meet their demands! BUT THEY LIED!" he shouted out, getting them all riled up, "They never intended to keep their end of the deal! Instead they stole our only chance at freedom! So now…" his eyes were bloodshot as he finally called out, "We should make those filthy Fishmen pay for the years they manipulated a kind young girl! Am I right?!"
"Yeah! Let's do this!" someone yelled out.
"We've always been ready to fight those monsters!" someone else yelled.
"Time to show those lousy, stinkin' Fishmen what we're made of!" more shouts came and they were all ready to go.
The four Straw Hats were all watching calmly. They looked like they wanted to join in, but something seemed to be holding them back. But what that was became clear when they heard someone shouting for them to stop.
Looking up the road, they spotted Nami coming towards them with a big forced smile, but all present could tell she was fighting back tears as she came towards them, "Calm down! It's not that much money! I can make it back in no time! I'll take care of it! Don't worry!
"It'll be easy this time, I'm used to it! I'll be fine," Nami said, still in that fake confident voice that fooled no one. "Just relax, it'll be okay. Hey, it's nothing compared to back then…" she came in front of them, "Come on everyone… I'm perfectly fine."
The Straw Hats each felt as if their insides were shriveling up at how hard she was trying. It was clear that she was still in denial—just trying to stop the people she loved so much from getting themselves killed.
But Genzo wasn't fooled as he walked to her and embraced her tightly. She stood there frozen as tears fell from his eyes. "You've done enough," he said softly but firmly. "You have to know that there's no point now. You've struggled so hard, carrying our lives on your back this whole time. I can only imagine that joining them must've been more painful than getting stabbed in the heart. You fought very well…"
"Genzo…" Nami whispered in a broken voice as she also started to cry.
Genzo pulled away, his hand firmly on her shoulder before he said, "Set yourself free from this village."
Nami looked horrified at those words and she cried out, unable to believe what he was saying, "Genzo!"
"Nami, do it!" Nojiko encouraged, now wearing a heavy bandage around her shoulder and arm.
"What? Nojiko!" Nami yelled as she looked around for some support, but it was clear from the rest of their faces that the entire town agreed.
Nojiko gave her a brave look, no fear in her face as she said, "You're an exceptional young woman, and you have a dream."
"Everyone—listen!" Nami yelled desperately, still trying to stop them. "I won't let you go!" and to some surprise, she pulled out a knife and pointed it at them with shaking hands. "Just stay right there! I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt by these monsters!" Her eyes were pleading as she told them, "You'll all die."
"We know that," Genzo told her as he grabbed hold of the knife and gripped it so hard that he was starting to bleed.
She looked startled at that as the doctor also spoke up in a grim way, "Nami, it's no use; we've made up our minds."
Still crying, she shook her head, not wanting to do it but Genzo wasn't taking no for an answer. "Get out of the way!" he finally yelled and she backed off, startled as he pulled out his sword and yelled to the people behind him, "MOVE OUT!"
"We may not win, but we will give 'em hell!" the doctor added, and without anyone showing any fear they charged off, past Nami, and heading towards Arlong Park. Nami just stood there, not moving as they ran past her before the knife fell from her limp hand and she fell to her knees.
The young thief was shaking as she glared at the mark on her arm and dug her nails into it so hard that it looked like she might've ripped her own skin off. Tears fell as she stared at it and her eyes widen as she finally snapped.
She hated that disgusting mark with so much loathing and detest and she couldn't stand to look at it anymore. And the tears of pure, uncovered feelings were smearing her face and falling fast as she grabbed the knife again and to some of the Straw Hat's horror, she began to stab her arm.
With each stab with the knife she screamed out the venomous name of the pirate who robbed her of her family and her dreams… the one who had given her so much hopelessness and hatred. She kept going and probably would've gone on until she either bled to death, or simply severed her entire arm. But then it stopped…
Luffy had come over and grabbed hold of Nami's wrist and stopped her from another stab. She didn't move for a second before she slowly turned to see who it was. Luffy's face was blank, his eyes hidden by the shadow of his hat… but also letting her know that he wasn't going to let her hurt herself like this anymore.
"Luffy…" she whispered softly as her hand went limp a second time and she seemed to lose all strength as she let the blood-soaked knife fall onto the road.
"What do you want?" Nami demanded in a choked up voice, "You don't know anything about this. You don't know what has been happening on this island for the past eight years."
"Nope, I don't," Luffy answered honestly.
She was shaking as her hands gripped handfuls of dirt as she cried softly. "This has nothing to do with you!" she said louder, "I told you to leave this place!"
"Yep, you sure did," Luffy said, without any doubt.
"SO LEAVE!" Nami yelled as she threw a handful of dirt behind her. And with every word she threw more dirt, now desperate to get him to leave. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF HERE NOW! GO! GO AWAY! GO! GO! GO!" But she finally ran out of steam and openly cried out, sobbing and no longer trying to hold herself back as she let out all the feelings she kept inside for those eight miserable years.
Luffy didn't react at all as he watched… just standing there as she finally said the words that he had been waiting to say. At the end of her rope, she whispered, "Luffy…?" she looked back, tears in her eyes, "…help me…" she finally begged.
For a moment, Luffy didn't do anything. But then he silently took off his straw hat and placed it on her head, and for a moment the tears stopped flowing as he turned and walked a few steps away. "Of course," he answered, "That's what friends do."
He suddenly stopped and took a deep breath before he screamed out at the top of his lungs. "HE'S GONNA PPPPPPAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!"
His words echoed around them and they could all feel the determination in that tone. He was going to clobber Arlong's even if it killed him.
"Luffy…" Nami said, her hand to her face as the tears continued to fall again—only this time they were tears of happiness when she noticed the other three waiting for orders—all of them ready to fight.
"Let's go," Luffy ordered.
They all looked up.
"Right!" they said, and they left Nami there… not speaking a word to what they were going to do, but she didn't need it as she sobbed openly, her hand still on the straw hat.
The four were all side by side as they walked along—no one speaking a word as they marched along the road. They were ready to fight for each other merely for the sake of defending a single friend as they got nearer to the gate. Thankfully, the villagers hadn't even made it past that point… Johnny and Yosaku were there—both looking severely beat up.
When they neared the villagers, Luffy told them all to step aside, and they parted almost at once without a word. Zoro smirked wider as they walked passed them all, as they stared in disbelief… it was worth it just to see the looks on their faces.
Johnny and Yosaku moved aside respectfully as they got to the door.
"Take them out Big Bro's!" Yosaku cheered on.
"Show them no mercy!" Johnny added, holding up a fist and grinning.
Luffy didn't even smile, as he cracked his knuckles and held up his own fist. "Oh, don't worry… I intend to."
Before they knew it, he pulled his fist back and punched the door enough times to make it seem as if a bomb went off as the front gate was smashed apart and exploded. Through the rubble, they could see Fishmen of all shapes and types staring at them. And there, sitting in a lawn chair, was Arlong.
Arlong was large and muscular… he was a light blue saw-shark Fishman and his nose proved that for its saw-like shape. His black hair sprouted from the back of his neck and reached down past his shoulders but they could also make out a shark's fin on his back, and the gills on both the sides of his neck. Sporting the tattoo of the Sun Pirates on the left side of his chest, and the identical mark that he had given Nami was on his arm.
His eyes were wide in shock as he looked at him. "What the…?"
"Now… which one of you is Arlong?" Luffy asked threateningly, holding up his fist and glaring at each one of them, daring them to speak.
The Fishmen all glared at him, all of them outraged that they had come here on their turf. Once the shock was over, Arlong leaned back in the chair, not believing that he was worth the trouble. "Arlong?" he repeated darkly, "Well, that just so happens that I'm Arlong."
Luffy walked to them, his head held up high and without a fear in the world as he marched in. However Arlong seemed to be different from the other Fishmen… he was calm and relaxed, but there was something dangerous in him that seemed to earn the respect of the rest of the crew. Not sure why he thought he deserved it…
"Good," Luffy said as he gave him an empty look, "I'm Luffy."
"Luffy?" Arlong repeated, obviously not recognizing the name, and clearly wondering just what he was doing here, "What are you supposed to be?"
"A pirate," Luffy answered bluntly.
"Hold it right there," one of the Fishmen said as he and another attempted to cut Luffy off. "Where do you think you're going?"
"You wanna talk to the boss?" the other asked, "Well, you gotta talk to us first. Get it?"
They smirked evilly as they put their hands on his shoulders, but Luffy banged their heads together and knocked them out as he told them to all move it. The other Fishmen looked startled at that as he walked right up to Arlong.
"So what does a pirate want with me?" Arlong asked causally, though there was a hint of irritation in his tone.
Luffy stopped in front of Arlong. He glared at him for just a moment longer before he seized his wrist and threw it back; and by the time he swung it back, he sucker punched Arlong so hard that he was launched from his chair and hit the ground, rolling over several times before was smashed through the wall.
As Arlong pushed himself from the rubble, everyone was staring—slack jaw—at Luffy.
"Who the heck are you?" Arlong demanded furiously.
Luffy's face was filled with nothing but fury, his face making look like some kind of monster as steam actually came out of his nose. "THAT'S FOR MAKING OUR NAVIGATOR CRY!" he yelled at him.
Sanji came running up behind Luffy. After this declaration of war, the Fishmen started to attack Luffy, but the cook easily took them all out with a few kicks.
"Back off! You're out of your league!" Sanji yelled, kicking their asses and walked on to stand next to Luffy so that he could scold him for going in by himself, which Luffy responded not to worry about him, and that he could take care of these guys on his own.
"You fool," Sanji said in annoyance, "I never said anything about being worried… I just don't want you hogging all the actions."
"Oh," Luffy said in understanding.
"Well," Usopp said nervously, also coming up, "I just want to let you guys know that I don't mind it if you hog it all."
Zoro came up and rolled his eyes, "I see that you're raring to go, as usual."
As soon as he saw him, an octopus Fishman named Hachi cried out in anger that Zoro tricked him before. But soon Hachi screamed in fear when he saw that Usopp was alive and a ray Fishman, who was named Kuroobi snarled that Nami was a traitor.
Arlong began to laugh and sent waves of cold down the villagers' spines.
"A pirate? Of course…" Arlong said, highly amused, "this is all starting to make sense now. You've been after Nami this whole time." He burst out laughing again, louder than ever, "The girl is mine and I'm not giving her up!"
Hachi also laughed as he walked up confidently, "A bunch of idiots like you aren't worth Arlong's time!" he declared, "We know how to deal with you!" And he blew through his long mouth like a trumpet.
Suddenly, the giant Sea Cow appeared from the waves—still sporting a giant, swollen lump on its head. Hachi then greeted him as Mohmoo. It leaned forward to see what he wanted, but it stopped dead as soon as it saw Luffy and Sanji there.
"Oh, look who's back," Luffy said, folding his arms.
"Seems he's a friend of the Fishmen," Sanji nodded in agreement.
Mohmoo was now crying as he saw them and mooing softly to himself. Mohmoo turned and was about to leave, still crying as Hachi yelled after him to come back. But the Sea Cow didn't stop until Arlong told it to. Just a few words from him had apparently scared him enough to want to attack… too bad for him that Luffy was ready for it.
Luffy stuck his legs firmly into the ground and transformed his arms until they resembled the tentacles of an octopus. He then used them to grab Mohmoo's horns, showing off his powers.
As everyone else freaked out, Zoro yelled at Sanji and Usopp to get back as Luffy yelled out, "TIME FOR SOMETHING NEW!"
And with his great strength, he was actually able to pick up Mohmoo and was spinning him around, just like a giant pinwheel. Everything in their path, Fishmen and the building behind them was either being taken out or destroyed. By the time that he was finished, there was only Arlong, Hachi, and two other Fishmen who were left standing while the front of Arlong Park was smashed to pieces.
But Luffy focused only on Mohmoo… in the end he was finally able to throw the Sea Cow as far away as he could from them while the rest of Arlong's crew lay out cold all around them. Everyone was staring at him in shock.
Once he caught his breath and transformed his arms back to normal, Luffy was yelling out, "Alright that's it Arlong, I'm done playing games with you—I didn't come here to beat down all your cronies. I came here to teach you a lesson!" he pointed at him in a challenging way and yelled, "So step up!"
They looked to Arlong. Though he was still smiling, his eyes were now angry. "Oh, I will, don't worry. Actually I was just thinking about how painfully I'll end your life."
He said this in what sounded like a purr, but they weren't sure Luffy heard this as the other three Straw Hats gathered around him and told him off for that stunt.
"That was the worst plan ever!" Sanji yelled, kicking his head.
"Yeah! Were you trying to kill all of us too?!" Usopp yelled in his ear. The citizens behind them however were amazed and were cheering them on.
They even heard the doctor scream out, "I just can't believe there's a human who can throw that giant monster!"
"What are you doing?!" Usopp screamed with bloodshot eyes as Luffy was now trying to get his feet out of the ground, "Are you ruining something else?!"
Luffy just looked down at his feet in polite confusion.
"How dare you hurt our brothers?!" Hachi demanded, waving his six arms around crazily.
"Very well," Kuroobi added, "It seems like we must join in on this fight."
"Now you'll get an education on the inferiority of your species, Choo," the remaining Fishman with the long lips, who was named Choo, spoke up.
"Oh, really?" Zoro smirked, "I'd like to see that."
Arlong chuckled to himself as Kuroobi and Choo both declared that they'd take them out for him.
"PLEASE LET US KILL THESE WEAKLINGS!" Hachi yelled.
"Alright," Arlong answered agreeably, "They're all yours."
Sanji and Zoro were both looking confident, however, Luffy was looking to the others and said a little nervously, "Ah, guys? There's something I should tell you…?"
But just as Sanji mentioned the best way to cook octopus, Hachi attacked them with an ink jet—squirting black ink at them. Though the other three were able to dodge it, Luffy stayed behind and was quickly doused with ink from head to toe. Because of that, he was now blinded, and Zoro was yelling at him to why he didn't dodge it.
Hachi then picked up a large chunk of the building that Luffy had destroyed when he threw around Mohmoo—and turned back to Luffy—his attention all too clear. Usopp was screaming for him to run, but then came the sad truth… Luffy couldn't run—his feet were stuck.
"But you're the one who stuck them into the ground in the first place!" Usopp yelled.
Zoro smacked himself in the face frustrated. Thankfully, when Hachi threw the broken stone on top of him, Sanji stepped in and destroyed it with a single kick.
"You're such a pain," he hissed in annoyance as Luffy cheered him on. But then he smirked again as he confessed, "Looks like I picked one hell of an idiot to be my captain."
"We all did," Zoro added in light amusement.
Sanji added, "Though in truth, our idiot captain is far better than a gang who prey on a lady."
"A lady huh?" Kuroobi asked skeptically, "Ha! You rush into certain death for one lousy girl? I think that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
Sanji glared at him. "Lousy girl?" he repeated, and they could hear the anger in his voice. "If you insult Nami one more time, I can promise you'll go from Fishman to fish sticks!" He took out his cigarette and said threateningly, "Got that?"
Kuroobi didn't look concerned nor the least bit impressed. "Your skills are quite exceptional," he admitted after a minute, "For a human. But I must admit chivalry from a pirate seems just a little fake."
Sanji sneered back at him as he admitted smugly, "I'm dead good at what I do," he said as he put the cigarette back into his mouth. "And I guarantee that there's nothing fake about my desire to help a beautiful lady in need."
Sanji and Kuroobi faced off as Usopp tried to pull Luffy's feet out—as the monkey-brained captain started picking his nose. Hachi picked up more stone and was determined to go after him—but Zoro was one step ahead of him. He pointed his sword threateningly at him, taunting Hachi to come after him instead.
It worked… furious Hachi yelled out, "You're Zoro! I forgot!" he threw his stone at him which Zoro dodged easily as he finished yelling, "You can't get away tricking me!"
"That stuff's old news octopus man," Zoro said, holding up the white blade, "I personally don't care what reasons you have for wanting to kill me, the situation as changed. You see, the tables have turned." Holding his blade and carefully unsheathing it so that no one could miss the gleaming blade, "You're not the hunters anymore, understand? Now it's you fish freaks who are being hunted!"
"LUFFY!" Usopp screamed out at his moron of a captain as he just realized something. "Use your powers to transform your legs! That way they'll become unstuck," he explained. Luffy bopped his fist into the palm of his other hand and you could literally see the light bulb go off over his head. With a minute of concentration, Luffy's legs seemed to increase in mass and become grayish like that of an elephant or a rhino's and the resulting pressure cracked the pavement around his legs, allowing him to easily pull his now human legs out.
Usopp cheered but then noticed the last Fishman, Choo, who had killing Usopp in his sights… however, Usopp went running off passed all the citizens so that Choo was distracted for a moment. Once Choo realized that they were all there, he was planning on killing them all as well, but Usopp sent an exploding star at him from a safe distance away.
"Did you think that it would be easy?!" Usopp challenged him. "You're dealing with ME now!"
"Enough!" Choo yelled, losing his cool completely, and went charging after him, "I'm going to get rid of you right now!" As they watched them go running off Genzo was asking who he was.
"Brave one minute and cowardly the next," the doctor said confused, "He's a baffling man."
Arlong finally got up from where he sat and walked towards them. "You morons are a pathetic sight to behold," he growled, now sounding ticked off, "I'm sick of watching this so get out of my way!"
"But sir," Kuroobi said quickly, "There's no need for you to go on a rampage, think of Arlong Park!"
"Don't worry," Arlong said, "I know. I'll make sure this will be over quick."
Luffy charged at the approaching Fishman and his arms became scaled as he balled his hand into a fist. Going for a clothesline, Luffy cried out, "Lizard Lariat!"
However, Arlong simply opened his mouth wide and bit into Luffy's arm, causing him to cry out in pain. Fortunately for Luffy, the hard scales on his arm prevented a majority of the damage. The worst of it was a few small lines of blood under some broken scales. Growling like an animal, Luffy used his other arm to punch the evil pirate across the face. Arlong cried out as the rough scales grazed his face, but like with Luffy his rough skin prevented a majority of the damage.
"You stupid human!" Arlong raged as he grabbed Luffy by the head with both hands and prepared to slam his face with a rising knee. Thinking fast, a hard shell started to coat the chimera pirate's forehead, blocking the blow.
"Phew, I'm glad Hercules beetles have such hard heads!" Luffy sighed in relief, confident that blow would have definitely hurt. His relief didn't last long, however, as he gave a yelp when Arlong tried to spear him with his saw-like nose. Gritting his teeth, Luffy shouted out, "Let's see how you like it!" as his nose suddenly gained the long horn of a rhino.
"Rhino Rapier!" he cried as he used the horn to stab Arlong right in the shoulder. The shark gave a cry of pain before he gritted his sharp teeth and pulled Luffy out of his shoulder.
"Curse you! Let's see how well you can fly!" Arlong screamed in rage. Grabbing Luffy by the head, Arlong got into a pitcher's stance and threw the animal man with all his monstrous strength. Luffy cried out as he was flung far into the air. He sailed out of Arlong Park and was far out over the open water before he was able to slow down enough to transform into a Seahawk and started to fly back towards the island. Unfortunately, due to how far he was flung and his own bad sense of direction, it still took Luffy a good fifteen minutes before the Park was back in his sights. When he flew to where he started off at, a bad sight greeted him.
It was a mess… the whole battlefield was mostly destroyed—and Arlong was on his feet, holding a wounded Zoro by the throat.
Suddenly something was sent flying high in the sky, and Luffy's voice was screaming out, "I'M BACK!"
Luffy 'saved' Zoro by switching places with him and actually throwing him off into the distance.
Luffy, he was now launching several attacks against Arlong—they seemed to be inefficient against him—though Luffy claimed it was just warm-up.
Arlong pulling himself from the side of the building that Luffy knocked him through.
"What a bunch of fools," he hissed menacingly. "You think you can actually beat me?! You were better off flying over the ocean."
"No, I don't think so," Luffy answered back, still stretching out. "I like it down here… yep."
Arlong glared up at him before he snarled, "Do you not understand my anger?" he then got up on his feet, "I saw my brothers crushed like worms! You'll realize soon enough. You should've quit fighting long ago."
"Luffy!" Usopp cried from a hole in the wall and they were surprised to see him there with blood dripping down from his face. "I got your back pal!"
"If he loses," Sanji's voice said out and they looked up to see him soaking wet, and leaning up against the wall with Genzo and Nojiko (1). He was trying to light a wet match before he just gave up. "Then we'll all…" he flicked the match away, "die…"
"Yeah," Genzo agreed softly as they watched the match go flying off, almost as if in slow motion, "We will…"
"If that happens," Nojiko also added softly, "It's the end of the East Blue too."
After a few minutes of silence, Arlong finally spoke.
"Do you know what the biggest difference between you and me is?" he asked conceitedly.
"The nose?" guessed Luffy, and as a joke he turned his into that of a saw shark's (2).
"The jaw…?" Luffy then suggested, baring his now sharp teeth before then held up his hand, "Webbing!" as webbing grew between them.
Arlong's eyes turned white in rage. "SPECIES!" he screamed and he lunged forward to try and bite him, but Luffy easily dodged it. Again and again Arlong tried to bite, like a wild animal, but Luffy moved back, they went at it until Arlong had finally grabbed hold of his head and slammed him against a pillar. He would've bitten him here, but Luffy shrunk into a mouse that got out of the way so that Arlong bit the pillar… and shattered it into pieces.
Luffy snuck away from the collapsing building. Arlong turned back to sneer at him as if he just proved a valid point.
"You see?" he asked him mockingly, "This is the inherit power of Fishmen. While you may be able to look like a Fishman, you are but a pale imitation! I feel sorry for you humans for having been created with such… limited powers." He slowly walked towards him still taunting him the whole time. "We've been on a different level since the beginning of time. You are inferior… it only makes sense for you to bow before us." He stopped and stood before him as he proclaimed, "You're so weak! Your presence on this planet is deplorable!
"Don't you think your time has come to an end?!" Arlong demanded again. He chuckled, as if he told a funny joke, "I'll show you! Show you the real difference between you and I!"
Luffy just smiled as he turned back to human. "Sure," he told him pleasantly, "Go ahead. There's no way I'm losing to a big fish! Because… I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"
Arlong picked up a piece of the stone pillar and tossed it up and down like a ball in his hands. "King of the Pirates…? Don't be foolish. A puny human like you couldn't possibly conquer the Grand Line. You can't even crush a pillar with your jaws." And like that he crushed the rock with little effort.
"Yeah, so what?" demanded Luffy, he then went and broke through the stone with his fist. "Stop your bragging! You aren't that awesome!
"Besides, smashing stone with your teeth's not that smart," Luffy added, holding up a fist.
"That's right! You're the best Big Bro! Tell him like it is!" Yosaku cheered on in the back.
"Yeah!" yelled Johnny, also agreeing, "What idiot bites a rock anyway?!"
Veins stood out on Arlong's neck. "Fools!" he yelled out furiously, knowing that he was being mocked, "That's not the point! Every member of the human race is ignorant and weak!"
Arlong pointed at Luffy and demanded, "What good are you if you can't even pull yourself out of the water?!" He then flew at him for another bite as Luffy dodged it and was able to grab hold of a couple swords that lay discarded.
"As a matter of fact," Luffy said pulling the swords back and then getting right into Arlong's face, "I'm worthless without my friends to help me out!"
Luffy chuckled as he held out the swords and took everyone by surprised, thinking that he knew how to use them as he swung and attacked. But he wasn't really using them, just swinging them around much like how Zoro did when completely losing it against Mihawk. Arlong effortlessly broke the swords—but it turns out that it was a ruse… with Arlong overconfident over destroying the swords; Luffy delivered a powerful blow shattering his teeth.
Luffy stood up and thought it all over for a moment. "You're right! I don't know how to use a sword you bastard!" he yelled after the brief pause. "I'm a terrible sailor! I definitely can't cook… and I can't even lie! Without my friends to help me I would've been dead a long time ago!"
Arlong chuckled from where he laid his hand over the place where Luffy struck. "So you fully admit how pathetic you are. You may be a fool," he said as he sat up, "But you're certainly honest. How much your crew feel? Tolerating this idiocy day in and day out? I bet they're sick of it.
"But that makes me wonder… why they tried so desperately to save their half-wit leader," Arlong finished. Luffy glared at him as Arlong held his hand to his mouth still to his broken teeth. "Someone like you doesn't deserve a ship or a crew.
"What good is a helpless whelp of a captain to them?" Arlong finished, "What can you possibly do?"
"I can clobber you," Luffy responded confidently.
Usopp and the rest of villagers cheered him on as Nami smiled, even Sanji said irritably, "Well get to it you numskull."
"Cheer all you want! But it won't change a thing!" Arlong shouted out, and within seconds he regrew his teeth.
Luffy gasped out. "He's got new teeth?" he said in shock.
"I'm a shark," Arlong reminded him, "New teeth will grow one after the other. And with each set, I will grow stronger and stronger." Within seconds, his teeth had regrown and, using this, he pulled his teeth out to create hand-held castanet weapons for each hand. And when he attacked, they thought the worse for a minute as he laughed hysterically at each attack—one after another. However, it took him some time for him to realize that Luffy used one of his crew as a human shield the whole time. Enraged, Arlong hollered at such a dirty tactic and screamed about how he dared to use his own crewmate as a shield.
"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked, as if he was being scolded by his parents for something that someone else did, "You're the one who attacked me don't you remember?"
"Don't move a muscle," Arlong warned, clinking the teeth together, "Animal boy."
Luffy thought it over before he said, "Say… now that's an idea."
Again Luffy was forced to dodge it before he was able to get in another kick. When he came back up though, his body was much bulkier as his skin took on a bluish sheen complete with gills, webbed digits, and a small dorsal fin. Luffy grinned, showing rows of razor teeth similar to Arlong's. "Let's see who's got the bigger bite!" the shark-boy declared as he rushed at the enemy Fishman. The two got into a grappling contest for a few minutes before Luffy saw his opening. Rearing his head back, the shark-like man was able to sink his teeth into Arlong's side, causing him to yell in pain. Snarling like a mad dog, Arlong was able to get Luffy's arm inside his mouth.
"BIG BRO'S GONNA GET HIS ARM BITTEN OFF!" Yosaku screamed and Nami looked horrified. But to everyone's surprise, Luffy reached up and grabbed Arlong's hair; in the end, he was able to pull him down so that he could slam his foot into his head to get him to let go. They both fell to the ground exhausted… lying on their backs, both now injured.
Arlong had gotten up, and quick as a flash, he jumped for the sea.
Luffy also got up as he shrank back down to normal and pulled the teeth out of his side. He was already looking around just as a dark fin appeared above the water. Nami was screaming for him to look at the water.
"Wow! A shark!" he said eagerly and the Straw Hats sighed. Really? He hadn't noticed who it was?
Usopp almost fell over and yelled, "NO! THAT'S ARLONG!"
The fin suddenly disappeared and they were waiting for him to come out almost anxiously. Luffy got ready to dive in after him, when suddenly Arlong launched himself like a torpedo, his attack Shark Darts increasing speed was able to break through all solid objects. Luffy was sent flying and crashed painfully on the ground as Arlong went smashing through an upper floor of the building.
Through the hole in the building, he stood there, still cocky. "Wow, I'm impressed you could dodge that!" Arlong proclaimed as Luffy looked up. "Good job. But the longer you evade death, the more painful it will be!"
The Fishman dashed down with another attack and landed like an arrow with his nose embedded in the concrete—posed there perfectly on his nose. Thankfully Luffy had been able to dodge it in time and Arlong's nose eventually broke through the solid stone. Pulling out to face Luffy, he went flying towards him again. Luffy had no time to transform into one of his quicker or sturdier forms. He narrowly missed a death shot, but there was still blood splattered. After a third failed attack, though Luffy was sent flying, Arlong dove back into the sea again.
The others were all screaming for him to hide before Arlong came back out as Luffy regained his footing, but he was shaking in anger as he declared that he wasn't going to hide this time.
"Stop being so stupid!" Sanji yelled at him angrily, "Go run for cover before you become a target!"
"NO WAY!" Luffy yelled back stubbornly, "I'm not running anywhere! I'm gonna catch him and break his nose!" He turned to the water and yelled, "COME ON! YOU SHARK!"
"Didn't you hear from us to go somewhere and hide?!" Usopp yelled at him furiously, "You barely escaped his last attacks! One direct hit will kill you! Luffy, listen to us! Go and hide!"
Ignoring him, Luffy dived into the water, much to the shock and horror of the spectators. The water was still for a moment before waves started to pick up, as if something was thrashing under the surface. Bubbles came to the surface and before anyone could blink, Arlong was shooting out of the water once more like a rocket. However, he wasn't alone this time. A black dolphin, one with a curious scar under the one eye, was quickly darting after the fleeing Fishman. The dolphin was suddenly right on top of Arlong and it cried out in Luffy's voice, "Dolphin Slam!"
With a mighty swing of his tail, Luffy was able to send Arlong flying right into the side of the main building. The wall easily shattered on impact as Luffy, now fully human, landed gracefully on the shore.
Here, it was the last straw; Arlong snapped, and his eyes change, to a wild, insane look… that similar to a monster.
"Oh no," Sanji stated uneasily, "It's the same expression that a Sea King makes just before they snap! He must've snapped with Luffy's last attack."
"I guess he finally went over the edge," Zoro said as the red veins were standing out in those cold eyes, his head swirling around wildly, trying to find him.
"His eyes…" Nami whispered, her hands to her face, "I've never seen them like that."
"YOU WRETCHED HUMAN!" screamed Arlong as he grabbed hold of Luffy by the head and swung him around like a lasso before slamming him into the building.
Luffy was sitting up. "Whoa! That was crazy," he said to himself, "It didn't really hurt but I can tell he's really like… madder."
Arlong jumped towards him and then punched through the wall when Luffy hopped on cricket legs to safety. But judging how indifferent he was to this, they couldn't help but wonder if this was what Arlong had planned from the start. Now the Fishman fumbled his hand around for a moment inside, he knew the building well enough to know exactly what he was reaching for. And when he pulled his hand out, they saw just what it was that they stared at it. It was a giant black pole with six saw-toothed patterned black blades, resembling a shark's saw-like teeth with a katana handle.
"THE SAW BLADE!" Nami screamed.
"THAT THING'S GIGANTIC!" Johnny screamed as Yosaku screamed in terror.
With a battle cry, Arlong was now determined to end it as he jumped to the first roof with Luffy having to jump higher and higher to avoid it all. Up and up they climbed, with Arlong destroyed everything in his way. On the top floor Luffy had finally ran out of room, but then noticed the window next to him and went diving towards it, smashing through the window.
Luffy came crashing through the window with Arlong screaming up that he no longer has a place to run. They were in a room that was filled with maps—thousands of them were scattered everywhere in stacks… some of them still hanging from the ceiling as they were left to dry while there were shelves full of books and tools.
Luffy was up and was now trying to catch his breath. "That was a little too close," he gasped.
Arlong came walking through, stepping on the shards of the broken window and glared at Luffy, the Saw-like blade still in his hand.
"There's nowhere else to run," Arlong said in a low voice. "You and me… here… the highest level of Arlong Park." He grinned evilly, and they knew that he was planning something terrible. "At last… the time of your death has come."
But Luffy was looking around at this place. "What is this room? Lots of paper."
"This isn't just any room," Arlong explained, "This is the room where I had Nami draw all of her sea charts for me."
"This is Nami's room?" Luffy questioned now looking around with a more focused look.
"These sea charts are all that she's worked on for eight years," Arlong paused for a moment as he looked almost fondly at the maps. "Just look around you. These maps are more valuable than any amount of treasure. You see, to us Fishmen, collecting data about the ocean is a simple affair. But assembling that information into a usable chart is a difficult task. That's why we needed a navigator. In fact that's the soul reason why I'm so keen on keeping that woman in my possession. She's absolutely brilliant. The accuracy of her charts is beyond comparison."
Luffy continued to blankly look around at everything. But Arlong didn't seem to be expecting an answer.
"She's too good for human trash like you," he went on, "Her talents should be used solely to build up the mighty Arlong Empire!"
Arlong pointed the weapon at him, still grinning, "Now listen. Nami belongs to me!"
"Is that so?" Luffy's voice suddenly said.
"And you're interfering in our business," Arlong said smugly, "You human scum!" Luffy narrowed his eyes dangerously as the Shark Saw was now being pointed at his head. He then sneered as he said slowly and carefully so that he couldn't hope to miss his words, "She's not your friend!"
Luffy sat there for a moment without saying anything. But then…
"I don't care," he answered, still staring defiantly at him. "I don't care what you say," he said firmly as Arlong looked annoyed that he wasn't agreeing with him. But with his eyes not showing any signs of fear, Luffy declared loudly, "Because Nami is our navigator!"
1. Kuroobi had dragged Sanji underwater in hopes of getting an advantage but the fight ended up like in canon.
2. I would imagine for a proud Fishman like Arlong, having someone like Luffy being able to mimic a Fishman's appearance is a grave insult. However, he isn't as surprised by Luffy's powers as the previous villains have been, because he had seen similar things on the Grand Line. The same could be said for Buggy, but he's a cowardly idiot so it's no wonder he was caught off guard.
AN: Again, I want to thank RoseDragonWitch for allowing me to base some of my writing off of! I would also like to inform everyone that any work I've gotten off of other authors on this site, I made sure to receive their consent first. The Arlong Arc will end next chapter, and the fight itself has drastically changed from canon. With Luffy not being affected by the water, it would have been a little redundant for the Fishman to throw him into the water, wouldn't it? I had to come up with a reasonable excuse for Luffy to momentarily be put out of commission, and being thrown is just as good of an idea as any. Again, I'm not super great with writing out the plot of stories, so you may notice the situations are really similar to canon, minus Luffy's powers. I hope I was able to make it enjoyable, regardless. Up next is a new challenge fic, so keep your eyes out! Remember to Read and Review! Later my peeps!