All right, it took a while, and I'm cutting it close, but I wasn't about to break my word twice in one fic. At long last, here's the next chapter.
The sight of a wasteland with oversized cacti growing out of the ground greeted the Straw Hats in the next location. A town was barely visible nearby.
"This is Foolshout Island," Jinbe said. He looked to the rest of the crew.
"All right, this is going to be a delicate situation, guys, especially considering that Arlong is on board the ship right now—"
"Hold it, Jinbe," Nami interrupted, drawing everyone's attention. She was grimacing, as if what she was about to say left a bad taste in her mouth.
"I could never forgive Arlong for what he did to my island…but this Arlong hasn't done that yet. Is he too far gone to listen to reason like Hody was?"
Many of the crew looked at her with astonishment, and none more than Jinbe. The fishman took a minute to answer the question.
"He's hardened, but it wasn't impossible until after they killed Big Bro. But are you actually saying that you want to give him a chance?"
"No. I want to fry him again so that he never gets the chance to hurt anyone else…but that would leave just as bad of an impression of humans on your crew as the one that we're here to stop. So the only other way I can see it is to change his view," Nami said bitterly.
Jinbe's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he shook his head.
"…The fact that you're actually willing to give him a chance after what he would have done is probably going to make an impact on its own. But…Nami, for you to be willing to go this far…I don't know what to say."
Nami just shook her head, smiling slightly.
"Anything to make sure the future gets brighter faster."
"Ah, Nami my love! You're so beautiful when you're thinking of our happy ending," Sanji cried.
"It warms my heart…though I don't have one. Yohohohoho!" Brook chortled.
Jinbe smiled as well, but soon brought their attention back to the reason they were there.
"All right. If I remember right, Big Bro Ti was up against a lot of Marine grunts and a Rear Admiral. Luffy, can you take care of the grunts?"
"No problem, Jinbe," Luffy said, nodding.
"All right. The rest of you, there's a small fleet of battleships coming to the coast to ambush the Sun Pirates."
He said no more, and no more needed to be said; to the trained eye, Luffy and Jinbe went in one direction and the rest of the crew went in the other. To the untrained eye, the ten of them simply vanished.
Fisher Tiger gave a final wave to Koala as he walked away from the village. All of their eyes were upon him, either with hostility or fear, except for Koala's. The girl had grown on him, after all. He walked away, out of sight of the village to return to his ship, reflecting on the stares that he received.
Koala…I want to believe that by the time you grow up, humans and fishmen will—
His thoughts broke off at the next moment, as he found himself surrounded by Marine soldiers pointing rifles at him. He froze as a man with a very large hairdo began speaking to him tonelessly.
"I am Rear Admiral Strawberry from Marine Headquarters. We received a tip from a certain island that you would come here. The adults in the village you just visited were informed that there might be a small commotion out here. They accepted it…so that we would let that girl stay even though she belongs to the Celestial Dragons."
Tiger began trembling with fury.
"Captain of the Sun Pirates, Fisher Tiger. As you know, you are guilty of two crimes. Raiding, and desertion," Strawberry continued, showing no emotion.
Tiger's heart clenched, and his hatred towards humans began to congeal. But as the rear admiral raised his hand, a wave of power washed over the area. Tiger felt his breath catch and his hair stand on end, and the rear admiral staggered. The rest of the Marines fell unconscious at the same moment.
"Conqueror's…impossible!" Strawberry said, showing considerable shock in contrast to his previously unshakable demeanor. Tiger's anger faded as he slowly realized what had happened, and looked around to see who had saved him. Two figures clothed in black, one human-shaped and one unidentifiable due to bulk, appeared a short distance away. Both approached the rear admiral, who tensed up.
"Identify yourselves!"
"Now, that's a stupid thing to say. If we wanted to do that, why would we be wearing these?" said the smaller one. The voice was unfamiliar, and young, but powerful.
"And besides, it's not like it's going to make a difference to you. You won't survive long enough to tell anyone," snarled the bulkier one. Tiger stared at the figure; that voice was extremely familiar, but somehow, he couldn't quite place it. The rear admiral opened his mouth to utter a retort, but before he could say a word, the bulkier figure was in front of him.
"FISHMAN KARATE: 10,000 BRICK FIST!"
Tiger's jaw dropped as he heard the attack name; not only was it a fishman defending him, he had a higher proficiency with Fishman Karate than he had ever seen…and he knew for a fact that there had been nobody that powerful on Fishman Island when he last left.
His shock multiplied when he saw the rear admiral crumble beneath the attack, his bones shattering and blood spurting from his mouth as his organs crumpled. He flew back several paces, and struck one of the cacti hard; he was dead before he hit the ground. The two figures remained motionless for only a few moments before they turned back to Tiger, who looked at them cautiously.
"Let's get back to the ship, Big Bro," the fishman said, and Tiger's eyes widened as the title revealed who was beneath the hood.
The Sun Pirates waited, a bit of frustration growing among them.
"Big Bro shouldn't be taking this long," Arlong said, pushing off from the mast and walking towards the edge of the boat.
"What are those humans doing to hold him up?"
"Nothing they could do should be holding him up unless they're thanking him for bringing Koala back home, and I have my doubts that they'll be that open to him," Jinbe said.
"Maybe Koala's giving him a long goodbye," Hachi said.
"That's probably it; the boss probably wouldn't stay for anything else. And besides, I doubt it'd be quiet enough that we wouldn't hear if there was something bad going on," Aladdin added.
No sooner did he finish saying that than there was a loud crash from within the island, accompanied by a rising cloud of dust. Arlong gritted his teeth.
"THAT is not normal! Big Bro might need help!"
"He already has it," came a female voice.
Every fishman onboard looked to one of the balconies, where seven figures of various shapes and sizes were standing, black cloaks and hoods obscuring every feature.
"The Marines staged an ambush to destroy the Sun Pirates, with Rear Admiral Strawberry leading them. That cloud of dust is, in all likelihood, Fishman Karate vaporizing Strawberry's bones and organs and sending him flying into one of those massive cacti, resulting in countless puncture wounds and excessive blunt trauma for a very painful death," continued the same speaker coolly. Some of those onboard winced at the imagery.
"I wish I hadn't let you borrow my medical books, Robin," groaned the smallest of the figures in a childlike voice.
"Hmph, it serves him right for trying to attack Big Bro. So, then, you're fishmen who came to help the Sun Pirates?" Arlong asked.
"No. Only one of our crew is a fishman."
The implication sunk in fast, and then five of the figures vanished while the other two looked in the direction of the sea, where a small fleet of Marine warships was closing in and beginning to fire cannonballs.
"I'm sure you're skeptical about the truth of our intentions. This should be proof enough, I think. MIL FLEUR: GIGANTESCO MANO!"
The pirates saw that on one of the ships, a pair of massive arms had materialized, drawing enough attention that most of the other ships ceased firing.
"CLUTCH!"
The arms closed in on the ship, squeezing it until it broke in half. The fishmen and other ships had no time to marvel at the destruction before the other figures moved into action, and the resulting massacre left the fishmen too busy gaping to bother asking questions or attacking the Marines themselves.
One figure ran on the water and leapt the full distance to another ship, which soon resembled nothing so much as an icy ghost ship. Another remained on the shore, slicing a pair of the ships in half with two simple swings of his swords, and then sending a tornado flying towards them. Another used a staff to generate thunderclouds that enveloped a ship before exploding with lightning. Another fired a laser of pure light towards one of the ships, blowing it up with ease. Another took aim at the ships with a slingshot, firing pellets that burst into massive plants, devouring and crunching up the ship like a kraken. And the last flew over one of the ships, seemingly on fire, and leaving the ship behind him burning.
"…The very elements of nature are their weapons…are they gods?" asked one of the fishmen. Nobody on the crew, not even Arlong or Jinbe, refuted the claim with how the mysterious strangers obliterated the battleships.
"No, we're not gods," said the woman who, along with the small figure that was apparently a doctor, hadn't moved from where she first appeared.
"…Then who are you?" Jinbe asked.
"All in good time, Jinbe, once the rest of our crew escorts your captain back here."
"He's here," said the small figure, his size shifting as he jumped down and off of the ship, and the Sun Pirates saw the small group approaching them: two more figures in black robes, one human-shaped and one bulky, and the last their own captain, unscathed.
"None of us were hurt, Chopper," the bulky figure said, something like weariness in his voice.
"Sounds like he wore himself out with that 10,000 Brick Fist," remarked the swordsman. The Sun Pirates noted with a bit of surprise, but not much at this point, that all seven of the other figures were now standing right next to them.
"No, he's probably just nullifying the risk of Chopper mummifying him again as soon as possible," said the slingshot man. That made the rest of the crew laugh.
"Yeah, I still remember that; he was proud to win that fight, but ever since Chopper treated him for it—"
"SHUT UP!" roared the bulky figure, appearing right next to them, which only set the rest of the figures, minus the small doctor, into more gales of laughter. It was at that point that Fisher Tiger came onboard as well, and the laughter slowly died down.
"All right, now what the hell is going on?" Arlong demanded, looking towards the ten figures that had protected them. The woman with the hand power replied.
"We have no intention of divulging our secrets fully to anyone aside from Fisher Tiger himself. As a means of a brief explanation, however, we are from the future. An old man with a time-based Devil Fruit allowed us to regain something that we lost in our pasts. As for the exact details…"
She trailed off, and looked towards the figure that had killed Strawberry. He removed his hood, and as one, the fishmen's jaws dropped.
"Jinbe?!" chorused most of those on the ship. The older whale shark fishman faced them with a serious expression.
"Big Bro Ti wouldn't appreciate me going into the details, so I'll just say that in my time, despite the crew's efforts, he died from his injuries."
Tiger's eyes widened, and the rest of the crew swallowed their curiosity.
"After that, I took command of the Sun Pirates for a year, up until the point where the World Government sent me an invitation to become a Warlord. In order to allow the members of our crew who were enslaved to return to normal lives on Fishman Island, I accepted. It was nine years later that the World Government captured one of the division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, and announced that they would publicly execute him. In other words, they declared war on Whitebeard. Because of all the old man had done for our race, I refused to fight against him, and forfeited my title. I was sent to Impel Down, where I was imprisoned in the same cell as the commander that they planned to kill.
"To my surprise, and pretty much the rest of the world's, the commander's younger brother, another pirate captain, heard that the commander was going to be executed, and broke into Impel Down to save him. He reached the cell where I was minutes after they took the commander away to bring him to Marineford. I was impressed enough that I offered his brother my help, and with the help of some others in Impel Down, we escaped and sailed to Marineford."
Jinbe closed his eyes and grimaced.
"Even after all of that, it wasn't enough. By some miracle, we managed to free the commander, but Admiral Akainu, otherwise known as Sakazuki, killed him anyway, and the old man himself was killed a little while after that. The commander's brother had earned my respect by that time, and with the help of some others, we escaped Marineford. I had to slap some sense into him when he woke up out of the shock-induced coma that he fell into when his brother died in his arms, and I managed to rekindle his spirit. Two years of training later, he and his crew came to Fishman Island."
Jinbe opened his eyes, and glowered at the rest of the crew, who seemed unnerved as a result.
"And what they found there was the initiation of a coup by the New Fishman Pirates, a group of fishmen that grew up basking in the hatred of humans, to the point that they became nothing but vessels of hatred. They planned to execute the royal family and anyone who dared to agree with their idea that we could live with humans in peace. All they live for is being able to ensure that the hatred we have for humans survives, and they don't care how many fishmen they have to kill to make sure of it."
Nobody on the crew, not even Arlong, had a look of anything that wasn't shock, disgust, or horror.
"That's going too far," Fisher Tiger said, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"Yes, but by that time, they had amassed an army of 70,000 fishmen, 30,000 human slaves, and at least eight sea kings to serve them. And they overdosed on the energy steroids from the Sacred Chest, to the point where nobody could stand up to them…except for the crew whose captain I had come to respect. There were only ten including me, but before us, the army fell like wheat before a sickle…though it got to the point where the captain tried to annihilate the entire island by crashing Noah into it before my captain beat him. It wasn't long after that that I joined his crew. Fifteen years from now, with knowledge of the past and present, the hatred between humans and fishmen has faded, and we stand alongside each other in peace…and the man that I came to respect has become Gold Roger's successor."
The crew looked at Jinbe with varying expressions, and nobody moved or spoke for several moments. Finally, the past Jinbe stepped forward, looking at everyone aside from his future self.
"You all are humans?"
The nine figures nodded.
"…What was your opinion of fishmen before he…before I joined you?"
"A fishman and a mermaid adopted and raised me after my parents abandoned me; prejudice has never had any place in my heart," said the biggest figure.
"I never had enough thought to spare towards something so petty," the woman with the hands added.
"I never even heard of fishmen before I left my island," said the doctor, and it seemed that the rest of the crew responded in kind. Arlong scoffed as he came closer.
"Oh, come on. You really expect us to believe a bunch of humans? You're all the same! Tell the truth: you all look down on us, too, don't you? You'd never be here if it weren't for Jinbe!"
A palpable chill settled on the boat, which Tiger recognized as the Haki that had saved his life. Even through it, many of the fishmen were staring incredulously at Arlong, the way that they saved them from the Marines still fresh on their mind. After a few seconds of chilling silence, one of the other men, the swordsman, began to speak.
"The only thing you just said that was true is that we wouldn't be here if it weren't for Jinbe, and it's not because of any prejudice or racist crap. We're pirates, not heroes; we wouldn't go out of our way to go back in time and save someone if one of our crew didn't have an attachment to him. You should at least understand that much."
Arlong frowned, but said nothing; it was a fair point.
"As for looking down on fishmen," said a different female voice, "none of us have ever had any reason to hate the whole race. The only ones we've ever hated are the New Fishman Pirates…and the Arlong Pirates."
Arlong refocused on them, as did many others in the crew.
"In our time, as soon as Jinbe became a Warlord, you gathered your crew and left the Grand Line. You came to my home island and claimed it as your territory, and forced everyone to pay a tax for their lives. You killed my mother right in front of me because she could only pay for my sister and I, and then forced me into slavery because of my cartography skills. Because of you, my entire village grew up seeing the fishmen the same way that we see the Celestial Dragons."
Arlong gritted his teeth.
"That wasn't the end of it, either. To make me cooperate with you, you promised that if I could pay you 100 million berries, you'd set me free along with my village. I started stealing from pirates to gather the money that I needed. After eight years, I had 93 million berries…and that's when you bribed a corrupt Marine to steal all of it. My village rushed off in a suicide charge, and if it hadn't been for this crew stopping you, I would have been left completely alone. It's just like the New Fishman Pirates, Arlong: humans only hated you because you acted out of your hatred towards them. I can never forgive you; it's only because of Jinbe that I'm not making absolutely sure that you can't hurt my family this time."
Many of the crew was looking at Arlong with outright disgust, which only served to make him angrier. The future Jinbe spoke again.
"I remember it clearly, Arlong: you were the only one who could never accept Koala as part of the crew, the only one who was convinced that when she grew up, she'd be just like the other humans. Let me enlighten you: the mark we left on her never faded. She joined the Revolutionary Army."
That pulled Arlong up short. Even through all of his racism, when the rumors had reached the crew of a group of humans that were essentially declaring war against the World Government, and the World Nobles, something that nobody else in history had had the guts to do before his own captain, he couldn't help but feel some amount of respect towards them.
"…I'm guessing they became a powerful force in your time?" Arlong asked, his tone neutral.
"The leader, Dragon, achieved the title 'most wanted man in the world' by the time my captain set out; being an ordinary member of the Army was punishable by a death sentence or life in Impel Down, and she was one of the executives, as an instructor of Fishman Karate," Jinbe replied.
Many of the members of the crew couldn't help but beam with pride, and Arlong closed his eyes, thinking about what a difference the crew had actually made on that girl. He reflected on the devastation that fishmen, not humans, had nearly caused their whole race, only to be saved by humans…and the fact that it was humans who had helped save Tiger and the crew. Part of his mind immediately went to the argument that humans were responsible for betraying and killing Tiger, too, but even after the pain that it seemed fishmen had caused them, they were still willing to help Tiger…and him, he realized. They were giving him a chance after all he had done. A large part of him felt disgusted that he was actually conceding to their persuasion…but he still did. He opened his eyes, and stared at the older Jinbe.
"…Don't expect me to let go of my hatred so easily, Jinbe. I'll accept that there are some humans that aren't all bad, but I'm not about to start getting friendly with them."
"If this were all it took to make you friendly towards humans, Arlong, I'd be worried," Jinbe replied, and then turned to his former captain.
"Big Bro, we don't have a lot of time; we can only stay for an hour, and we won't be able to come back after we're gone. The rest of what we have to say is only for you. It's your choice whether or not to tell the crew after we leave."
Fisher Tiger nodded without hesitation, and followed Jinbe and the other cloaked figures into the ship.
As soon as the door closed, Jinbe allowed his strong appearance to fade, rushing towards his former captain and embracing him. Tiger was taken aback.
"Big Bro…I never thought I'd be able to see you again," Jinbe murmured. Tiger returned the embrace as the fact sunk in: he had died right before Jinbe's eyes, and by a miracle, he had come back in time to save him.
"Thank you for saving me, Jinbe," Tiger said. The other fishman sobbed for only a couple of minutes before he regained control. As Tiger stepped away, he looked at the other nine figures, which had removed their hoods. Fisher Tiger took in their appearances…and blinked.
"…I thought everyone else on your crew was a human, Jinbe," Fisher Tiger said, staring at a skeleton with an afro, a man that looked more like a robot, and a small furry creature with antlers.
"Hey, I am human! I'm a cyborg," the robot said.
"I am human as well; I died once before, but came back to life by the power of the Revive-Revive Fruit after my body had withered away," the skeleton said.
Tiger turned to the creature, who shrugged.
"I'm a reindeer, but I ate the Human-Human Fruit," he said.
Tiger blinked, and then shrugged as well.
"All right, which of you is the captain?"
One of the men spoke up, a young man with black hair, a small scar under one eye, and a wide grin.
"Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates! Nice to meet you!"
Tiger seemed distinctly skeptical, but the voice matched the one that unleashed the Haki. He looked at the rest of the crew, who followed their captain's example.
"Roronoa Zoro, first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates and the world's greatest swordsman," said the swordsman. Contrary to the captain, Tiger had no trouble believing him as he took in the ferocious smirk and missing eye.
"Nami, navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates," said the woman who had apparently served under Arlong.
"Usopp, sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates," said a young man with a long nose.
"Sanji, chef of the Straw Hat Pirates," said a man with blond hair covering one eye and very curly eyebrows.
"Tony Tony Chopper, doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates," said the reindeer.
"Nico Robin, archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates," said the other woman.
"Franky, shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates," said the cyborg, posing oddly.
"Brook, musician of the Straw Hat Pirates," said the skeleton.
Tiger took in their faces, memorizing them carefully, and then looked back at his former subordinate.
"So, what else do you have to tell me?"
"In our time, after I joined the Warlords, one of the World Nobles came to Fishman Island to collect the slaves that he had once owned. Without the threat of an admiral coming to avenge him, the former slaves nearly killed him, but Otohime took the bullet, trying to make sure that hatred wasn't passed on to the children. The Noble tried to hold her hostage, up until her daughter, Princess Shirahoshi, started screaming, and sea kings showed up in response to her voice."
Tiger's eyes widened.
"The next time you return to Fishman Island, inform Neptune and Otohime that their daughter has inherited the name of Poseidon, and make sure that you are alone. Tell the crew anything else I say if you want, but this must remain between you and the royal family."
Tiger nodded.
"After that, at the queen's insistence, Aladdin treated the Noble until he was well enough to leave the island, and Otohime went with him to offer her wishes to the World Nobles. A week later, she returned with a note from them, offering their full support to whatever signatures she could gather. Pretty much the whole island threw in their support, but then it all fell apart. Hody Jones, the future captain of the New Fishman Pirates who was serving as a royal guard to hone his combat skills, bribed a human to set fire to the box of signatures. In the confusion, he killed Otohime, and then he killed the human he used and announced to everyone that the human was the one who did it."
Tiger gritted his teeth, and even the demon in his heart cringed at the result of what hatred had done. Finally, he looked back up at Jinbe.
"Even if you tell me all of this, I don't see what you expect me to do now, Jinbe. With a dead rear admiral on my hands, I get the feeling that I'm going to be hunted even worse than before, and if I was killed by one small group of Marines, how do you expect me to handle an army?"
"You'll just need to find a way to live out the rest of your life safely. And the easiest way to do that is to use the same solution that I did."
"What? Even if I wanted to, I doubt that the World Government would let me become a Warlord."
"You don't need to. You just need to establish yourself under the protection of an existing Warlord."
Tiger looked at Jinbe with a scowl.
"You think that subservience is the way out of being hunted?"
"It won't be subservience if you ally with the correct Warlord. Boa Hancock will welcome you with open arms."
"…Why would the Pirate Empress welcome me?"
Jinbe stepped closer, and lowered his voice so that anyone else without Haki wouldn't be able to hear it.
"Why wouldn't she? You're the one who freed her and her sisters from hell."
Tiger's eyes widened, and then narrowed as he frowned.
"I see. I suppose I can trust her, then."
Jinbe nodded.
"But I don't recommend that you tell anyone the truth about their pasts; they've gone to great lengths to cover it up, even from their own people. You know better than anyone what that's like."
Tiger grimaced as his suspicions were confirmed.
"…Let me guess. I lost too much blood in that ambush, and I refused a transfusion with human blood to save my life because I gave in to my hatred, and I confessed that I was once a slave myself to justify my refusal."
Jinbe nodded again.
"You also said, though, that Otohime had the right idea."
Tiger looked back at Jinbe with an unreadable expression.
"…Has the hatred truly died in your future, Jinbe?"
"If it's not dead yet, then it won't be long before it is," Jinbe replied, nodding a third time. Tiger closed his eyes and sighed.
"…So be it. I'll strive to do what I can to help our race get closer to that. I'll ally with Boa Hancock, and I'll see to it that the king and queen are warned about Shirahoshi, Hody, and the World Noble."
He paused, and then opened his eyes.
"…You managed to talk Arlong into giving humans a chance. Is there any chance of doing the same thing for Hody?"
Jinbe shook his head.
"He and his crew are beyond help; they're just empty shells driven by hatred. All that can be done at this point is to seal off the fishman district and gather everyone into the island so that no more monsters are made."
"Then I'll tell that to the King as well. Do you have an idea in mind as to how I can meet Boa Hancock without traveling through the Calm Belt?"
"Of course."
Saying no more than that, Jinbe turned back to the door and walked out, and all of the fishmen turned to face the figures as they emerged from the cabin. Tiger formed his face into an unreadable expression, and the crew refrained from asking questions. The future Jinbe looked around before spotting a certain octopus.
"Hachi!"
Said fishman jumped, and then walked forward.
"Y-yes, Jinbe?"
Jinbe leaned forward and spoke softly so that none of the rest of the crew could hear. At the same time, he reached into the folds of his clothes and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he held out to Hachi.
"Go to Shakky and Rayleigh. Tell them everything that happened today, and tell them that the Sun Pirates need protection, and three sisters that they helped out not long ago can give them the help that they need, then tell them that this is my Vivre Card. They'll know what you mean."
Hachi blinked in confusion, but nodded, pocketing the paper. Jinbe stepped back, and spoke more audibly.
"Good. Leave now, and swim with all the strength you have; every second between now and you finishing your mission is a second closer to the Marines finding out that Strawberry is dead and sending someone stronger."
Hachi glanced at Fisher Tiger, who nodded, and then jumped overboard and swam out of sight. Then the remainder of the Straw Hat Pirates, their hoods still down, turned to face the fishmen.
"So, now that we've saved Fisher Tiger and set things in motion to make sure things turn out better for all of you, there's only one thing left to do," said the captain. The Sun Pirates looked at him curiously, while the future crew smiled knowingly.
"Yeah, you're right. It'll be a good way to help make it clear to these guys that not all humans are bad," said the shipwright.
"The question is, do we have enough?" asked the swordsman.
"Of course. We've got everything that those Navy ships had onboard," said the chef, gesturing to a place on the shore. Everyone turned to see that there was a cornucopia of food there.
"…All right, how the hell did you raid all of those kitchens? When did you have time for that between when the attacks started and when all the ships were destroyed?" the sniper asked exasperatedly.
"Actually, now that I think about it, Sanji wasn't with us up on the deck. So, that's where he went," the reindeer reflected.
"Even so, that speed is very impressive," the skeleton said.
"I learned it from you, Brook. Anyway, I think that that's enough food for what we need, don't you?" Sanji asked.
"Yeah, that'll work. So, then…" the captain said, looking back at the Sun Pirates. Then he grinned.
"LET'S PARTY!"
The Sun Pirates found it a bit odd to be coerced into a party alongside a group of humans from the future, but they soon found that they couldn't resist; if the fact that their captain was still alive and they were safe wasn't enough, the Straw Hat Pirates emanated a charisma that was too much for them to resist.
With some impossibly fast carpentry skills, the cyborg shipwright Franky had used the wreckage from the Marine ships to build a few tables and chairs, which were soon all filled with pirates chatting amicably amidst food that was positively divine. Sanji gave another handful of recipes to the chef of the crew, and though he was noticeably cool towards Arlong and some of the fishmen who were loyal to him, he held back his cuisine from nobody.
"It'd take a lot more than an eleven-year-old grudge to make me consider not feeding someone who was hungry," he had mentioned.
Chopper, the small hybrid doctor, spent half of his time dancing on the table with chopsticks up his nose and stretching out his lips, and the other half giving advice to the ship's doctor, Aladdin.
The musician Brook showed why he had the title 'Soul King' when he began playing his music, and whoever among the fishmen had already eaten was found dancing shamelessly alongside the humans.
Nami and Usopp found themselves explaining how they had managed to use the techniques that they had, which soon led into storytelling to another group of the fishmen. Robin joined them, while at the same time using her Devil Fruit powers to amplify the amusement from Chopper, Franky, and Luffy's antics. It came as a large surprise that the Pirate King was so happy-go-lucky, but none of the crew forgot the chill from when he was angry, which became obvious whenever he saw Arlong.
A handful of the fishmen had challenged Zoro, the greatest swordsman in the world, to a drinking contest upon seeing how much he could chug. It drew an audience from many of the fishmen, but none of the Straw Hats except for Sanji, who provided the booze, paid them much mind, knowing the outcome before it happened. Sure enough, it was only a couple of dozen rounds before the last of the fishmen passed out, and Zoro seemed no worse for wear.
The past and future Jinbe spent a lot of time conversing with each other, everyone else giving them their space. Fisher Tiger spent a short while with them, but more was spent amongst his crewmates; the food and entertainment that they provided made him laugh harder than he had in years, and Jinbe seemed to take pride in it.
The end result of the party was that thoughts that all humans were despicable were no longer considered; even with the cool treatment that some of the crew showed towards him, even Arlong found himself grudgingly warming up to them, not that he showed it. As the Straw Hats' hour reached its last few minutes, however, the Straw Hats gathered together at Jinbe's request.
"Big Bro Ti. I want to ask one more thing of you before we go."
Koala was still in the midst of a party celebrating her safe return in the almost hour since Fisher Tiger had left. All of the villagers strove to make noise to mask the commotion that they knew was befalling Fisher Tiger, but they were genuinely happy to have Koala back, though her enthusiasm at the fishmen was starting to bother them; she was still young and didn't understand, but still…
"Koala, you need to stop talking about the fishmen," her mother instructed her. "You're home now, you don't need to think about anything that happened to you out there anymore."
"But Mom, they were all so nice! It's all because of them that I got home, and I had so much fun with them!"
"Koala—"
"I suggest that you listen to your daughter."
All of the nearby villagers turned to face ten figures clothed in black, who had appeared without anyone noticing. A strange chill emanated from them, stunning everyone silent. The same figure who had spoken before, a female, continued.
"Koala, there's something that your village didn't tell you when Fisher Tiger brought you back here."
Koala's mother and many of the adults began to object, but the chill on them intensified.
"Shut up. She deserves the truth," growled a large figure.
"The Marines got a tip-off at another island that the Sun Pirates were coming here, and they told everyone in the village that there was going to be a commotion nearby, and that if they didn't say anything, they'd overlook the fact that someone who 'rightfully' belonged to the World Nobles was here," the first figure continued.
Koala's mouth slowly opened as the truth sunk in, and she looked back at her mother, who was still looking with horror at the figures. Another one spoke up, addressing the village with a cold, bestial voice.
"All of you. Do you realize what you've done? Fisher Tiger and the Sun Pirates never did anything to you. The crime that formed them is that they escaped from slavery, and Koala can tell you how horrible that is. They went out of their way to bring Koala back home, and how did you repay them?"
"With nothing but fear and loathing. You didn't care about the well being of a ship full of people who weren't human as long as Koala was safe. You set the value of all of those fishmen's lives at nothing compared to that of a human, and condemned the ones who saved your daughter to death," said another female, her voice equally cold.
The chill around them intensified, and many of the villagers were looking to be on the verge of passing out. Koala alone seemed unaffected, and was beginning to cry. In the silence of that impasse, footfalls came from nearby, and the village looked to see Fisher Tiger himself, alive and unharmed, walking towards them. Koala looked at him, and ran from her mother's arms to embrace the fishman, who slowly returned the embrace before looking back at the villagers, his eyes falling over each of them before resting on Koala's mother. She began trembling, and Fisher Tiger approached her, Koala alongside him. He stood tall over her, none of the villagers able to move, and she closed her eyes, fearing for her life.
"…I forgive you."
The chill among them all vanished, and Koala's mother opened her eyes to stare at the fishman, tears still coming down her cheeks, unable to believe what she had just heard. Tiger turned away from the villagers, but spoke loudly enough for all of them to hear.
"It will not be long before the Sun Pirates are disbanded. When that happens, I will stand with our island's queen in trying to improve relations between humans and fishmen. We're different, but we share the same blood, the same world, and the same intelligence. This crew convinced me that peace is the best option. I hope that what you've seen today does the same for you."
One of the figures grabbed hold of Tiger, and the next instant, all eleven were gone, leaving Tiger's last words echoing in the villagers' ears, and Koala crying in relief that everyone she cared about was still alive.
The Straw Hats rematerialized a short distance away from the rest of the crew, and Fisher Tiger sighed.
"…That was harder than I expected it to be, Jinbe; if it wasn't for your crew, I don't think I ever would have been able to do that."
The next moment, the ten of them began to glow.
"But you did it, Big Bro, and hopefully that will make more people who are willing to fight for peace. This is the first step towards the brighter future that I've seen, and it'll be brighter with you, Otohime, and the crew leading the rest of the crew down the right path."
Fisher Tiger gave a small smile.
"Thank you again, Jinbe. You've saved my life in more ways than one."
Jinbe embraced him once more, briefly, and then stood back with his crew. The rest of the Sun Pirates ran towards them, and the ten of them smiled as they called farewells with promises of the future. Tiger and Jinbe shared one last look before the light went out, taking the pirates with it.
Done and done, and a big thank you to lunanime.
Only one announcement at this point: as there have been no votes since the last chapter, Corazon is the winner, meaning that he is up next. It will be no sooner than mid-December before I publish the next chapter, however, as the end of the semester is nigh, and with it, finals week. Even so, I plan to update again before the year's end; I'm eager to get to Robin's turn after Corazon.
So, if you have time, PLEASE leave a review; I thrive on constructive criticism, as it helps make me a better writer. I'm looking forward to the next update myself, both because it will be interesting to see the crew fight the Donquixote Pirates, and because that will mean that I can finally write Robin's story. I'd like to get to it as soon as possible…but, as we all know, Patience is a virtue.