"Not running away little puppy?" The freak asked with a sadistic laugh.
In response I just flashed him one of my toothy grins. And with that said I then launched myself straight at him, the dome of my head smashing into his crotch. I presumed that fishman have a package just like normal men, but I couldn't tell because the Lionfish was wearing jean-like shorts.
He was not expecting that move so he let out a girlish scream of pain and fell to his knees, both his hands grasping his crotch. Without waiting for an invitation I jumped again and being careful not to get too close to his spines that ran down his backbone and his arms, I latched my teeth onto his shoulder. My teeth sunk into his skin and I tasted blood; blood and fish. It wasn't pleasant at all.
It caused him to let out and scream of pain and I lifted up my front paws, bracing them against his chest. I saw his fist coming at my front the corner of my eyes so I sunk my teeth in even further and using my front paws I pushed back. My teeth managed to slice through his flesh as I pulled back, leaving long bloody marks on his shoulder. I felt his fist go whizzing past my head as I jumped back, landing nimbly on my paws. I danced back a few more paces, my eyes not leaving my opponent. Bet the fucker didn't expect that.
He glared at me as he stood back up to his feet and I just ran my tongue along my bloody teeth tauntingly. He should never underestimate an opponent.
Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw Zoro collapse on the ground and my eyes widened as I watched him. Shit! He was still hurt from the fight with Hawk-Eyes wasn't he?
"Just as I thought!" Sanji cried out, also pausing his battle to look at Zoro. "The wounds he received from Hawk-Eyes still haven't…"
"BROTHER!" I heard Johnny and Yosaku call from the entrance of Arlong Park.
"This is my chance!" The octopus cried and proceeded to punch the ceiling that he had somehow been clinging onto. I wasn't sure how he got up there, but what the hell. He then jumped away from it, landing on the other side of Zoro.
"Meet you doom as you get crushed Roronoa Zoro!" He cried, holding his six arms out wide.
Zoro just stood back up to his feet, calmly grabbed the back of the octopus's shirt and flung him under the falling ceiling.
"Why don't you get crushed instead?" He grunted in pain, his head tipped back. Shit, it wasn't looking good for Zoro.
Zoro the collapsed on the ground yet again as he hissed, "Damn it. Of all the time… Why now?"
"His wounds are too deep! They haven't healed yet!" Yosaku yelped in worry for Zoro.
"Obviously! It's a wound that would disable a man for half a year, if not kill him! Was he enduring the pain all this time?" Johnny hissed.
"I knew something was up when he acted normal after receiving those wounds!" Sanji inputted as he gritted his teeth. "That moron!"
My own eyes widened as Sanji's opponent attacked him whilst he was distracted by punching him in the stomach. I watch as he went flying back and went straight through a wall, 'DAMN! ZORO! SANJI!'
"DOKU KASUI!*" Another voice called out and my head snapped around in time to see the Lionfish heading straight for me, his elbow held out in front of him.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as I began to throw myself forward but his speed was beyond human and I was too late to move. A spike that was attached to his elbow dove straight into the flesh of the top of my back right leg. I let out a screaming yelp as it felt like I had been stabbed with a butcher's knife; his spikes were not small in the least! The blow sent me tumbling to the ground and I rolled over a few times, away from the fishman.
When I finally came to a stop I was lying on my left side, my chest heaving in and out as a shocking pain shot straight up my leg and deep into my spine. I left out another yelping scream, the pain was so immense that it blocked out all my other sense as I withered in pain on the ground. God damn it! Did him being a fishman make is spine more potent or was I that much of a sook!
"Hehe! What do ya know! Doggies can scream!" I heard a taunting voice laugh and I also dully heard someone screaming my name. I think it was Johnny or Yosaku?
'SON OF A BITCH!' I screamed mentally as the pain continued to wrack my body, seeming to spread further by the second. 'MONKEY COCK SUCKER! MAY THE FLEAS OF A THOUSAND CAMELS INFEST HIS ARMPITS!'
Apparently when I was in pain I cursed. A lot.
After a few more seconds of withering in pain I finally laid still, my eyes squeezed closed as my head pounded. I had no idea the Lionfishes toxin hurt this much; no wonder we cut the fuckers off the line without touching them!
"They have all been taken care of Arlong," I heard a voice state calmly as I floated in my painful haze. "What should we do with Roronoa Zoro?"
"Just throw him in the sea. Couldn't even put up a fight… How boring," I heard a voice reply. "Hey, Hachi! Wake up! How long are you going to be sleeping!"
"Nnnnnnuuuuuuuuuuuu," A voice screamed out and I heard rocks tumbling or smashing together. Wasn't the stupid octopus dead yet! "You've really pissed me off! I'm going to butcher you! Did you know that aside from one man, I, Hachi of the 6 sword style, am the number one swordsman on fishman island! Even if the heavens were flipped over, you'd have no chance of beating me!"
"Who are you trying to fight Hachi?" Another voice said.
"Hehe, your toy's already broken," Said the voice that I could easily recognized as the Lionfish.
"6 Sword style? Don't make me laugh," Said a voice that I don't think I've never been so pleased to hear. Zoro was okay! Well… He was alive anyway; I'm not too sure about the "okay" part... "Just what's so great about that? Let me tell you something little octopus! I've got a man I have to meet… No matter what! And until I meet him, not even the grim reaper can take my life away!"
"Yosaku! Johnny! Lend me your swords!" Zoro asked. "Allow me to show you my 3 sword style."
"You got it!" The two partners replied.
"I'll kill you Roronoa Zoro!" The voice, I'm assuming is Hachi, screamed.
"Hey, Mamori!" Zoro called out to me and upon hearing my name I surfaced from my pain haze. "You're not dead already are you?"
'The fuck I am!' I snapped back as I slowly cracked open my eyes to glare at him. I then slowly lifted up my head and glanced back at my leg. I saw one of the Lionfish's spines sticking out of my leg. Ouch, it was thicker than a lead pencil! No wonder it hurt like a bitch when getting stabbed. And imagine how much toxin that thick bugger could hold.
"Oh~ Lookie! My toy is still alive!" The Lionfish cooed happily as I dragged myself back to my feet. I took special care not to lean too much weight on my back right leg, it still hurt like a fucker! And the pain is meant to last 24 hours, I'm so screwed.
I turned my head around, gripping the spine carefully between my teeth. I flinched as the spine moved in my flesh, the area was already swollen and holding the spine in tightly. I took a deep breath through my nose before yanking back roughly and dislodging the spike. I muffled a whimper as more pain wracked my body. Fuck I hate Lionfish.
I then turned my attention back to my opponent but, without really knowing why, I hesitated before grabbing the slim knife out of its holster and gripped it in between my teeth like Zoro. The blade was about 23 cm long and had a 5 cm stretch of sharp edge on the reverse side at the top. The leather strips that had been platted around the handle made the knife so much easier to grip my teeth.
It felt more comfortable in my grip then I thought possible and I couldn't help but pull my lips back in an impish smirk as I locked eyes with the Lionfish.
'Bring it on bitch,' I challenged cheekily. Normally I would think through plans in a fight and be careful with my moves but at the moment I was sorta pissed. The pain was still coursing through my body and making too much rational thought impossible.
"Hehe, I wonder if doggies can fly," He asked himself with a sadistic smile. What the hell is wrong with this one?
He launched himself towards me and I jumped out of the way, still not putting much weight on my right back leg. I watched him punch the area I had been standing seconds before. The ground shattered where his fist came in contact with it and like a ripple the cracks spread. The ground under my paws shattered too and I jumped up into the air to try and avoid flying bits of cement. I felt something latch onto the back of my scruff and I flicked my eyes to side only to see the damn Lionfish. We were both in mid-air and he held my scruff in his arm and he starting pulling me in towards him. I jerked my head around and sunk my new blade into his arm viciously just below his elbow joint. He let out a cry of pain as blood gathered in the wounded area but he kept pulling me towards him as we fell. He pulled me straight past him and he landed on the ground first. Without giving me a chance to touch down he spun around and with all of his strength he flung my body back into the air. In a last ditched attempt I tightened my teeth on my knife but it just slipped free of his flesh and I went flying with the knife still in my jaws.
I went flying over the side of a wall and all I could think was, 'Fuck, this guy can throw pretty damn well.'
I went soaring past the wall and over a dirt track, the colors blurring past under me. I felt my body flip over in the air and I felt weird; it was sort of peaceful flying through the air. If you ignore the fact I could easily die when I land, that is.
Lucky for me, though, where I crashed down happened to be right into the water of one of the rice fields. The water managed to slow my fall a bit, although it was much like a slap in face and the mud cushioned my fall even more. It knocked the wind out of me but the cold water was enough to shock me so that I tried to jump straight back out. I stumbled a bit on my paws as the thick mud caused my grip to slip. By some miracle I had also managed to keep my grip on the knife and I wasn't letting go of it any time soon.
Once I got myself stable again I paused to assess myself for any injuries. It was hard to tell because of the pain still coursing through my body from his toxins, but nothing felt broken. Jeez, I had been lucky lately.
I limped out of the water though, dragging myself back into firm ground as I shook out my coat. I've never flown before but there was a first time for everything right?
"Well what do ya know! Dogs can fly!" Cried out a voice gleefully that I wish I never had to hear again. Does this fucker not give up?
I lifted up my head to glare at him as water dripped of my coat and onto my muzzle. I have had just about enough of this guy; it was time I show this guy that a dog can beat down a fishman's ass!
I ran towards the guy, my tail flying behind me as I ran determinedly. I used my back right leg this time, even though it was a little stiff I had gotten used to the pain somewhat.
When I got close to the guy I feinted to the left and ran straight past him as he held his left arm across his chest, his spines sticking out. He began to turn around to follow my movement but I ran behind him and around to his right side, my knife flashing in the light. I dived straight at his right calf, my knife slicing the flesh there as blood spluttered out. I heard him cry out in pain and he fell to one knee and I dance out in front of him teasingly.
He glared and crossed over both of his arms, the spikes facing towards me as he cried out, "TONDEIRU KASUI!**"
As he shouted that the spikes on his arm shout out from his skin and headed straight for me as flying projectiles.
'Fuck a monkey up the ass with a knife! I didn't know he could do that!' I screamed mentally as I tried to dodge the spikes. A normal fucking Lionfish could not do that, so why the fuck this guy could was beyond me!
There would have had to been over 20 spikes coming towards me at different angels and speeds and I much as I had hoped to, it proved impossible to dodge them all. I slipped to the left to dodge two, then to the right to dodge three and then I dropped to the ground to dodge six that flew over my head. I jumped to my feet and temporally forgot about my back left leg as I put weight on it. It collapsed under me as pain shot through my body and my back half sagged to the ground. I yelped in pain from the earlier injury as then my yelp escalated to a screaming cry as three more spikes found their marks. Two slipped into my left shoulder and another buried itself straight into my chest. The loud screaming sound I made died out after about 10 seconds as the pain became too much and my whole body sagged to the ground. Once again I found myself withering on the ground, but this I couldn't even hear noises from the background. Everything was black and painful, it hurt to even think! I could feel my chest squeezing closed as the toxin seeped into my chest and began to cause the muscles around my lungs to swell.
I have no idea how long I laid on the ground as my body twitch and withered from pain as I struggled to breath and swallow down the pain, but I did finally manage to drag myself out of my fit. To hell if I was going to give up now! These fuckers hurt Nami and all the villagers. They have wreaked havoc for years and will continue to do so if we don't stop them! I need to get off my fucking lazy ass and do something about it! I can't keep giving up when the fights get hard, I need to suck it up and keep going to I will! I've already lost more times then I'd like to count, I need to pull my weight!
When my new found resolve I snapped my eyes open and locked my gaze onto the Fishman. I saw him walking lazily away, maybe he thought I was dead or dying? Well it's his mistake for turning his back on me! I quietly dragged myself to my feet, stuffing a whimper back down my throat as I straightened myself up. I needed to get moving before my left leg swelled up too much to move, that and my lungs. I scooped up my knife that I had dropped at some stage and bit down on it as a release for the pain I was feeling. I took a deep breath in through my nose, my chest shooting with pain as it expanded. I narrowed my eyes in determination and started to trot in a limping gait towards him. He didn't notice me by some miracle and when I was about five meters away from him I bolted into a sprint. He heard me then and turned around in time to see me launch myself into the air. Just as I reached his body he had turned around and brought up his arms to protect himself. Too bad for him that last attack left arms without any spikes and I just let my front feet land on his arm. My head shot forward like a striking snake and turned itself to the side at the last second. I squeezed my eyes closed as the motion began to carry us both backwards and then I felt a splash of warm blood spray across my face and chest. The smell swamped my nose and the blood stained my fur as the knife drove home and true into his throat, slicing its way across his neck. He let out a gurgling sound as he hit the ground and I quickly pushed myself away him, stumbling out of his way. I only got a few steps before my back legs fell out from under and I sat dumbly on the ground. The knife I had used on him clattered to the ground beside him and I just continued to stare blankly as I saw a line of blood come out of his mouth and down his cheek.
I… I think… I just k-killed someone… Fuck. I had just killed someone! As in, bam! Dead! Never to come back! Fuck. I never thought I'd kill someone… That was not on my agenda! It just happened in the moment! All the pain had confused me and my anger blinded me… I didn't mean to kill him…
I noticed at that point I had started to hyperventilate and I tried to calm myself down. It was bad enough the toxin was in my lungs and making it hard to breathe, I didn't need to freak out and make it worse. So what if I killed the guy? He's killed others? Right? Blah, that wasn't a good enough reason to kill. He hurt Nami though, was that a good enough reason? I hope so, for my sanity's sake at least.
After a few more moments that I used to mentally calm myself down even more I slowly stood up. This time I didn't hold in the yelp of pain as I moved my body, that fucking toxin in my blood was a killer! I then began the long process off removing the other three stingers, yelping and whimpering in pathetic noises as I did so. After that was done I thought it best to get my knife back so I walked over to the fishman. I hesitated in getting too close to him, but I did in the end. I gently picked up my knife in my grip and had to swallow a sick feeling as the taste of his blood filled my mouth again.
I, on instinct, bowed my head and closed my eyes as I stood next to the body. I said a quick prayer mentally and asked for forgiveness. Were there even Gods in the OP world? I don't know, but it was worth a try anyway.
I think my sanity was more at risk than my soul though at this time because I had to go back and help Luffy and the others now. Even if I did feel like shit. Lord help me.
*Poison Spike
**Flying Spike