Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Onward to Nami
It was the morning of the day after Sanji accepted Luffy's invitation to the crew, and everyone was packing their stuff to go to see Nami and help her on her island. Both Zoro and Robin could see the fight coming to a meal away not that it mattered for them. They were pirates, and they had to fight to survive. They were also planning to brief Sanji on what was happening with Nami, so he was in the clear.
In the pantry of the Baratie, Luffy was staying beside a chef who was packing supplies for the small ship that they gave them, but Luffy told him, "Put more meat. We really need more meat."
The man raised an eyebrow as he said, "Are you sure? We almost gave you the entire meat supply of the baratie." The boy nodded his head as the chef shrugged ad continued to pack more meat into the bag. Luffy then heard someone calling out for him.
He walked and saw Zeff standing in the doorway. The man looked at him with a curious look, before he slammed his wooden foot on his head saying, "Stop taking our meat. You'll make us go bankrupt at this rate." The boy rubbed his head as he said, "It can't be helped. We need meat to eat so we can stay strong. Isn't that what you chefs do?"
The old man slapped his forehead not knowing how to work with the boy's understanding of how the world works in the first place, so he simply shook his head before he began to laugh out loud, and said wiping a tear away, "Listen here kid, I have something that may help you on your journey."
The boy raised an eyebrow intrigued by what might the head chef of this restaurant have for him to use. The man then took out a small book from his chef's coat as he explained, "You see this is my pirates' journal. In this book, my men and I noted everything that happened with us on the grand line be it from weird weather phenomena, island inhabitants, or enormous creatures. I decided to give it to…"
The man was cut off when Luffy said quickly, "No need for it. I really appreciate the offer, but I don't need it." This shocked the old man as he was sure that the boy will jump on the offer the moment the journal was shown to him, but here he was refusing it. It intrigued the man, so he asked the boy, "I accept your decision, but why did you refuse it? It may have helped you and your crew in the long term."
The boy's answer was simple, but it expressed a lot about his character, "I refused it because I wanted to write my own adventures. If I took this book, it would have helped me, but it would be like living your journey. I want to live on my own. I want to have my own adventures before I become the pirate king."
The man looked at him and smiled as he said, "Alright you brat, but don't you come back to my doorstep begging me for the book. This was a one-time offer, and after that, the book is off limits no matter what you do to get it." The boy smiled at him, and began to walk outside, as he left Zeff who said, "His journey will be quite something; that I'm sure of."
Outside, Sanji was putting the last of the supplies inside the ship as he was complaining, "What the heck do we need all this meat for? I'm sure that glutton of a captain we had will try and eat it all, but I'll kick him to death before he can do that." He then looked at Zoro who was leaning against the door of the baratie, and yelled, "Hi, moss-head, come and give me a hand here."
The swordsman's vein popped as he said, "Do it yourself, you damned second-rate cook." This didn't go unnoticed who jumped to Zoro and tried to kick only for the swordsman to put his foot in the way, and say, "Do you want to cut your leg off?"
Sanji replied, "You would have better luck in staying awake for five minutes straight before you can land a hot on me." Two hands bloomed on their backs and flicked them in the head as Robin said, "You two are going to be crewmates from now on. Try to act like it." This caused Sanji to swoon over her before deflating remembering that she was taken by the rubber man and went to bring his stuff, and Zoro only returned to his sleeping position; this time on the ship so no one can bother him.
The doors were then flung open by Luffy who had a huge sack of meat on his back, as he said, "Come on guys, let's set sail to Nami." He then threw the bag, and it hit the unsuspecting Zoro who from under it murmured, "I'm going to kill you one day."
Robin promptly activated her power and dragged the man from under it. She then checked if his injuries were opened. She sighed when she made sure that he was fine. He then asked her, "Do you mind if I kill him someday?"
The man replied by saying, "Do you mind being castrated?" this made him go pale as he crawled away from her, and yelled, "You're an evil woman. Do you hear me? you're evil." Robin couldn't help but giggle slightly at his reactions. She then looked at her boyfriend who was talking with Gin. Perhaps, he was trying to convince him to join them on their journey.
She blossomed an ear near them as she heard Luffy whine in defeat saying, "Are you sure that you can't join us?" she giggled at his antics. She found them really lovable.
The tanned man replied, "I'm sorry, Luffy. I'm really not interested in being a pirate anymore. Plus, Zeff offered us a job with my old crew here, so we're all good." They then heard a voice yell, "Make way from Pearl, the mascot of the floating ship Baratie." The man was known dressed in a huge fish costume with a huge sign that said 'Baratie is the best'.
Both men then looked away as they snickered a little, but then Luffy said, "Fine, but it would've been cool having you as a crew member given how awesome you are." He added, "But if you ever feel like being a pirate anymore, make sure to join my crew."
The man laughed as he said, "Alright, you have it, Luffy. If I ever felt that I want to be a pirate, then I'll make sure to call you." They both then went their separate ways.
Luffy then boarded the ship as he had a sad expression that made Robin's heart feel like it was about to break as he said, "I wasn't able to get him. I really wanted him to be on my crew." Robin patted his back as she said, "Well, at least you have Sanji." The boy smiled at her and pecked her making her blush as he said, "SO are we ready to go to save Nami's village from that fish guy."
Zoro then said, "Well still waiting for that dumb cook." He looked around and said, "Look, we have everything we need for food to everything. Robin is a wonderful chef. Come on, let's start rowing and leave the shitty cook behind."
Robin retorted, "How about we vote on that notion." She then smirked as she said, "All those who want Sanji raise your hand." Both she and Luffy raised their hands as Zoro grumbled to himself.
"Looks that you've been outvoted, so we can't do anything about that," Robin replied as she laughed at the swordsman who turned his head away from her. was anger, or did his pride actually hurt? She didn't know.
The doors of the baratie were then flung open as Sanji walked from them. The man looked around him to see faces that he was used to, and faces that he punted from 2 days ago. He then looked at the ship that was about to take him, and he walked toward it. Before he can go, all the chefs began to cry, "We're going to miss you, Sanji."
The man looked at them, and said fighting back his own tears, as he said, "Man up, you wimps."
Zeff then appeared at the top of the baraite as he said, "Take care kid, and make sure not to catch a cold while you're at it out there."
Sanji looked at the man who raised him from scratch and kneeled to the ground as he yelled with tears streaming from his eyes, "Owner Zeff, I thank you for everything that you have ever done for me."
The man himself began to cry and wipe his tears away as he said, "Didn't I tell you that crying isn't something that men do, little eggplant?"
Sanji then boarded the ship, as everyone began to say goodbye to the retreating ship.
Not a couple of hours later, the sound of something being smashed into the ground echoed throughout the entire ship. The cause of this sound was Sanji kicking Luffy so hard that the rubber man now had bruises all over his face as Sanji's foot was steaming from the amount of kicking that he gave the rubber man.
Robin came from the dock looking at her boyfriend, and yelled, "Oh dear goodness, Luffy." She then looked at Sanji saying, "What drove you to hurt him so much?" Sanji flinched as he saw Robin's worried state over Luffy. But he answered her saying, "Robin-chwan, I didn't do it because I wanted to, but because I needed to. The idiot was about to eat all our food supplies, so I had to stop him from leaving us to starve."
The girl shook her head saying, "But there's no need to brutalize him that much. There's a reason for his actions. He doesn't do this out of hunger, but out of necessity to survive." The man tilted his head to the side as he wondered what the girl was talking about. Why would he need to eat like a one-man army?
Seeing the confused look on his face, Robin explained, "You see Luffy's devil fruit makes his body burn away nutrients faster than any regular human, so he needs to keep eating consistently, so his body doesn't slowly begin to fail him, and die. Everything thing from him is rigorous; for example, something as simple as breathing air, takes a lot out of him." the chef hearing explanation was shocked as he began to rub his forehead feeling a headache coming on full force.
The man then sighed, "Alright Robin-chwan, I shouldn't have done that. I mean I honestly thought that he was doing that out of gluttony, not that he really needed that amount of food."
He then looked at Luffy as a thought rang through his head, "And when were you planning to tell this little bit of information Luffy, because, for the looks of it, it seems that you weren't planning on doing that." The man looked at his captain whose face was healed instantly for some reason; maybe due to his fruit.
Luffy then puckered his lips together as he avoided the chef's gaze saying, "I think tomorrow. Yeah, I was about to tell you that tomorrow." This caused the blond-haired man's eyes to bug out because Luffy was a seriously bad liar.
He grabbed the rubber man by his nose and started to stretch it as he scolded, "You idiot, you were planning not to tell me about that, weren't you? What part about me being the chef of this boat that didn't make it to your head? Tell me, because something like that is one of my jobs." He dropped the boy to the ground as he said, "At least, I now have an idea about this, so I can think of something to counter it with." He looked at Robin, and said, "I'll be back in a moment with a health plan for this genius."
Robin looked at Luffy as she crossed her arms, and huffed saying, "Luffy, did you try to trick me when you told me that you were planning to tell the chef of our crew about your condition?" she looked away from him with a small pout on her face causing the boy to feel horrible.
He quickly waved his hands as he tried to explain to her what happened, "Come on Robin, you know I didn't mean that, but I just don't want to worry the crew about me. I'm the captain; I'm supposed to protect them, not the other way around." This caused the girl to sigh as she turned to her boyfriend.
She began to poke him in the chest saying, "Luffy, you're the captain, and no one argues with that, but tell me what will happen if the captain died in the middle of the journey? What will happen if we lost you? What will happen if I lost you?" he could see trickles of tears in her eyes and he felt horrible.
He quickly hugged her saying, "I'm really sorry that I worried you, Robin. I promise from now on I'll never disregard my health." He then wiped her tears away.
She smiled at him, and kissed him on the nose, and said, "I'd really appreciate that, Luffy."
They then began to rub their noses against each other in a show of affection that caused Zoro who entered the room to grab a drink to leave it immediately. Sanji then walked in as he held a small piece of paper in his hand, and said, "Guys, I have the perfect food schedule for our resident black hole over here." He finished as he pointed at Luffy.
Robin stood up, and asked, "What are planning, Sanji? It has to be good and I can't promise even with that that Luffy will stop his raids on the fridge."
The man sighed as he said, "I expected much, but I can't help it now. The plan was tailored to give him a sufficient amount of energy during the entire day, and regarding the fridge thing; I'm sorry Robin-chwan, but I have to beat him." the woman waved her hands saying, "I don't mind, but try not to hit him too hard. We still need him to live after all." This caused the rubber man to cross his arms and huff.
The chef then began to explain the plan, "Alright, the plan will start with a huge breakfast which includes a huge amount of carbs, followed by a huge lunch containing a huge amount of meat and protein, and finally a good dinner for him. of course given his condition, I'll put some snacks in between the main meals, and put some leftovers from him in case he needed to eat after dinner. And by the way, you might need to bring a doctor soon enough to help us with this." The woman nodded as she looked at Luffy who nodded his head.
She bowed to Sanji saying, "Thank you, Sanji for being so caring toward us."
Sanji then began to swirl around like a noodle in happiness as he said, "Of course, anything to make you happy, Robin-chwan." His state was stopped by a punch for Luffy.
After separating Luffy and Sanji from ripping each other to bits, Robin sat down to Sanji and began to explain to him what happened with Nami, and how he needs to prepare himself to possibly fight against an enemy even though he just joined not a couple of hours ago. The man said, "I understand, and I'm willing to die for Nami-swan. I'll be her knight in shining armor, and protect her." he then took a thinking position as he began to wonder out loud, "I wonder if she's a mermaid."
Luffy who heard him then began to draw a picture of a mermaid which looked like a fish with legs and pointed one at Sanji saying, "Like this." The man laughed a little as he said, "This more of a merman." Luffy then tried again producing the same result but this time with hair on its head causing the man to yell at him, "Stop ruining my fantasies."
Zoro from the side interrupted their discussion as he said, "I think we should focus more on the part regarding us fighting the fishmen and try to gather like the information we know about this Arlong guy." He looked at Robin who to him looked like a walking bank of information, "So what do you have on him?"
The girl quirked an eyebrow before saying, "I know some information from the newspapers I used to read, but other than that I don't know much. Arlong the saw; he originally used to be in underwater prison known as Impel Down, but he was released one day without explanation."
Sanji asked, "Just like this. I doubt the marines just release someone. I've heard that whoever enters Impel Down never lives to see the sunlight ever again."
Robin nodded her head as she said, "That's true, but in Arlong's case; he had someone from the outside supporting him. his name was Jinbe."
This caused Sanji to quirk an eyebrow and ask, "And what's so special about him that marines released a prisoner from that fancy prison of theirs? Don't tell me that he's royalty or something."
The girl shook her head as she asked, "Do you know about the dominating powers in the grand line, Sanji?" the man shook his head shocking the girl and Luffy said, "Really, I mean even I know about them too." This caused both Sanji and Zoro to stare at him like he grew another head. The boy then asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
Zoro said, "No, we're just shocked that you know stuff. You don't seem like that type of person." This made the boy slump down in defeat and self-loathing as he said, "It's just not my fault. I studied really hard. Why do people still think that I'm dumb?"
Robin patted his back as she sent a dirty glare toward both Zoro and Sanji, the first only looked away mildly ashamed while the second seemed that he was about to die since he made Robin angry with him.
The girl sighed as she told her boyfriend, "Their opinion doesn't matter, gummy bear. I love you just fine."
The dark-haired girl continued to explain, "In the grand line, there are three dominant powers. The first one being the marines, the second being the pirates, and the last being the Shichibuka commonly known as the 'warlords'. The last faction is kind of the marines' guard dogs among the pirates. They're like legal pirates."
Sanji asked, "And why in the hell do the marines need legal pirates? Running low on human bodies to use meat walls for the higher-ups, instead, they hired some wannabe pirates to do the dirty job for them. Seems kinda pathetic."
Luffy began to laugh at this point as he said, "Wannabe. Those guys are the best of the best. They're no joke, Sanji." Again, Sanji was shocked that Luffy knew that, but hid his shock.
Robin continued to explain by saying, "You see the warlords like the marines' protection squad in grand line. Their mission is to weed out any small-time pirate they come across, and the stronger ones or the ones who usually slip through their fingers are left to the marines to hunt down and rip apart. In fact, Hawkeye is actually one of them." This caused Zoro to scowl remembering his defeat.
Zoro then rubbed the back of his head as he said, "It's educational and all, but what the hell does this have to do with our fishy friend that you just talked about?"
"Well, the reason Arlong is out from prison is due to Jinbe. He pledged for him allowing his release as a bigger deal with the marines which all the fishmen prisoners from Impel Down."
Sanji scratched his head, "Let me guess, he's one of the warlords who allowed to make a huge deal."
The girl shook her head saying, "It was the reason why he joined the warlords. It is said that the marines wanted to make a good relationship with the fishman island, so they struck a deal with Jinbe that said he becomes one of their warlords, and they release all the fishmen from the prison."
Sanji at this point began to zone out as he said, "Fishman island. I heard that it's a beautiful place to go to if you wanted to have a vacation. I wonder if they're beautiful mermaids there. I think that would make it really wonderful."
The girl sighed noticing that man was lost, but she noticed that Zoro was at least paying attention, so she carried on, "Arlong went from inside the prison, and went off the radar a couple of years back when it was said that he entered the grand line."
Zoro then said, "I understand, so the gist of this thing is that fish boy got out of prison, came here to the east blue, and conquered Nami's home. but what I don't know is why that he didn't continue his conquest of the east blue."
The girl giggled as she said, "Because he's not dumb. Our grandpa is a very strong marine from here. If he heard that some pirate rookie came to attack their home island. He would fry him alive."
Zoro only nodded as he said, "Alright, now it's a matter of time before we reach the island of Nami. Let's just hope nothing wrong happens. I'm not worried for Nami though. I worried that the three stooges would do something stupid that might ruin everything." Robin, Luffy, and Sanji looked into the horizon hoping the same thing.
Back with Nami, the girl looked into the viewing in front of her. her island was only a couple of miles away, and she put on her best A-game face. She looked at the three stooges as she called them during the previous days, and they really proved her when they spent most of their time playing cards. She saw them doing exactly the same thing that they were doing from the beginning playing cards.
She went to each of them and punted each of them on the head causing huge lumps on their head, as they groaned in pain. She yelled at them, "What the heck are you doing didn't I tell you to be ready for the mission."
Usopp groaned as he said, "Listen up, you can't treat the great Usopp like that woman. Now bow down and beg for forgiveness." His demand was met by a huge punch which left Nami with a steaming fist as she said, "Any more complaints?"
The other two stood like soldiers and saluted her as she said, "Good, now enough goofing around. We approaching my home, and if you're seen with me. this will cause all of us unwanted trouble."
Yosaku asked, "So what do you recommend we do? Do we hide inside the interior of the ship, or do we pretend to be your lackeys?"
The girl shook her head as she said, "No, of course not. If Arlong sees any of you, he will kill you all on sight, and everything I've been working for will be destroyed. That's counting if he doesn't sabotage away from our deal."
Usopp who now was rubbing his head from pain said, "So we need to escape the ship before you reach his base."
The girl gave him an affirmative as he said, "Okay, so where are you planning to leave, or better yet where do we go and hide during the time that you are meeting Arlong cause I'm sure that if we just began to wander around aimlessly, this will draw Arlong's attention, and he will come for us to treat to turn us into a human pretzel."
The girl hummed for a little bit agreeing with him, before she snapped her fingers saying, "Go and hide inside my sister's house. Just tell her that Nami sent you, and she won't ask too many questions hopefully. Her name is Nojiko."
The boy then said as he looked away, "Are you really sure you want us to hide inside your sister's home? I mean this could cause trouble for both of you in the long run. That's if we choose to ignore the looming threat that the fishman represents, so I propose that I stay as far away as possible from the island altogether." This caused the girl to bite her lip, but shook her head saying, "No worries, I have everything covered, and stop being such a wimp."
Johnny asked, "Okay, so where are going to dump us before we reach the island." he said as he looked hoping to see some shore that can land on, before going to Nami's sister's house.
Nami called out for all three of them as she said, "Look, I'll drop you all over there." The three went to the side of the ship as Usopp scanned the surrounding area saying, "Oi Nami, are you sure that there's somewhere you can drop us here? I'm sure there's nothing but wat… AHHHHHHHHHH." The man screamed with the other two as they fell from the boat and splashed into the unforgiving cold water.
They all looked at up at Nami with annoyed expressions as she said, "Sorry guys, but can't take you any closer, or else I'll be discovered. Have a nice swim." The girl then set sail leaving the three men floundering in the water as Usopp yelled, "At least, you could have brought us closer to the island." he sighed as he looked at his two companions saying, "Come on, this is going to be along swim." They all began to toward the island hoping to avoid contact with the fishman.
On the island itself, a flag that had the image of a saw shark flapped on the top of a building that had a saw shark design. In the shades of the said building sat a man that looked like a blue humanoid with a sharp nose and a huge frame. The man slammed a huge stack of money on a table in front of him saying, "Here's the money from the month."
The man in front of him had a mousy-like face with whiskers as he said, "Thank you. It is a pleasure to do business with you as usual. It's been an honor." The most striking feature about the man was that he was wearing a marine uniform. The man then added, "This sure is a lot of money. Does this mean that your business has been going fine, Arlong?"
The fishman known as Arlong then said, "Why are even asking about that? My business is always booming. And you know what they say money makes the world go around." On the fishamn's right stood another fishman, he was a humanoid that looked like a manta-ray hybrid, he was known as Kuroobi. To the left of Arlong, a fishman who said his lips point outward stood, he was known as Chew. Arlong then laughed a little bit more as he said, "Money is good. There's nothing more reliable than money in this world."
The marine now stood up as he went up to leave as Arlong said, "Why are you always in such a hurry? Stay for a little bit longer. You're one of the few humans in this world that I can tolerate since you see the world for what it is."
The marine said, "Now, I really need to go now. See you next month during our next payment. Take care." The man with his men was then met with an octopus-looking fishman who waved friendly at the marines and told them, "Get on the octopus' pot, so that I can take you home." he was one of Arlong's closet men known as Hachi.
The marines boarded a pot in the opening that lead to the opening of the sea beside the structure known as Arlong park, and then Hachi dove into the water dragging the pot away and taking the marines to where they came from in the first place. The marine man said, "Fishmen really makes my skin crawl, but nothing that money can't solve."
Outside Arlong park, Nami stood as she saw a little boy approach the park with a death wish in his eyes. The boy held a small knife in his hand and was looking at the park like a man on a mission. She stood there waiting for him to approach her, but once he did, he yelled at her saying, "Get out of my way. I'm going to kill Arlong."
The girl still standing there didn't do anything, the boy then yelled once more saying, "I said get out of my way or I'll kill you. Arlong killed my father, so I came here to kill him for that, so move…" the boy didn't get to finish his sentence as Nami brought out her staff and hit him with it sending him to the ground.
The boy lay there crying his eyes out, but Nami dropped a stack of money in front of him as she said, "Arlong doesn't have time for brats. Have this money, and go away. Use it for your protection."
Nami knew the boy's pain all too much. She herself wanted to kill Arlong when he killed her mother, but she couldn't do it, and the only thing that saved her from death was the deal that she struck with him, so unless the boy had some drawing skills like her; he was going to die.
The girl calmly entered the park as she was greeted by Arlong who said, "Boys, look who's back. It sure took you some time this time."
The girl shrugged as she said, "I hit a huge load this time. I needed to make sure that I tried the people that I worked with. Though I have to say, it was really hard leaving them this time. It felt like my heart was about to break."
The fishman then began to laugh at her saying, "And since when you of all people had a heart. I wouldn't believe it even if I saw it happening in front of me." he then yelled to everyone, "My fishman brothers, our precious comrade has returned. Let's celebrate and have a huge party in her honor." Nami could only smile as she hoped that when she finishes counting the money she will be free of Arlong.
On a shore not too far away from Arlong park, the three who were with Nami finally reached land as Usopp said, "Let's not do this again."
Johnny then said as he lifted himself, "I think we made to a towwww…" the words died inside his mouth as he looked around with Usopp and Yosaku in horror at the scene in front of them. The entire town that they landed in was turned upside down, literally. Buildings' roofs were put on the ground, whereas the bases of the building we repointing to the sky.
Usopp took a couple of steps back as he swallowed his saliva in fear, and said, "Is that what we're going up against? These people are insane. I mean what kind of monster can turn buildings upside down? I think that we should leave. I seriously have 'I can't fight those fishman' disease." He was smacked by both Johnny and Yosaku.
Johnny then said, "So the rumors were true. I heard that a town inside the Comoni islands tried to rebel against Arlong. It was said that he demolished it, but at the time I thought it was just exaggerations. Turns out, the news about Gosa was true."
Yosaku then added, "So, the tales that say that fishmen are born ten times stronger than a human are true. This is the strength of the monsters from the grand line, and this is the fate of those who enrages Arlong." He and Johnny bolted quickly leaving a confused Usopp behind.
The boy then heard someone from behind him say, "Hmm, I never thought there would be survivors of Gosa. Arlong made sure to destroy you all. Never mind now, I'll just take him to you to determine your fate." Behind him stood a rather chubby fishman which to him resembled a puffer fish
Usopp didn't need to be told twice, but his legs worked faster than his head as he began to run saying, "You want me, you have to catch me."
All the while the fishman could only look in shock, he then shook himself out of his stupor, and yelled, "Hey, wait."
Away from sight, both Johnny and Yosaku stood by each other as they breathed sighs of relief, "Wow, that was a close one. I almost thought he got us back there." Johnny commented.
Yosaku replied to him, "We will tell brother Luffy, and Zoro about he sacrificed himself to save us in a brave show of heroism." Both men nodded their heads as they cried tears for their fallen comrade
Usopp continued to run quickly away from the fishman, but in his way stood a little boy who suddenly yelled at him, "You dirty fishman killed my father, I will take revenge for him." the boy then tripped him causing him to roll on the ground. When he stopped, lifted a sword, and yelled, "Die, Arlong."
Usopp could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes when the blade was lifted above his head. The boy then brought it down toward the long-nosed boy who was half-minute ago from fainting, but Usopp swore at that moment that his guardian angel came to save him from death. She was a blue-haired girl who eerily looked like Nami of all people. The girl smacked the boy upside the head, and took his weapon away from him saying, "Calm down, and look at him. he may look like Arlong, but he's human like you and me."
The boy who now took a deep breath looked at the long-nosed boy, and nodded his head saying, "He is human like us, isn't he? Although, he barely looks like one."
Usopp screamed, "First you try, and kill me. Now, you're insulting my looks. What's wrong with you kid?"
They were cut from their talk when someone shouted in the distance, "Hey you, wait right there. I gonna get you this time." It was the fishman that saw Usopp from earlier. This caused him to panic, but he had to hide it for the sake of the two that were with him.
The little boy then yelled, "It's a fishman" to which the blue-haired lady confirmed, "It is, isn't it? And a real one this time around." This caused a vein to throb on Usopp's head, but he swallowed it to protect the two. He looked at the two behind him, and said, "Run away from here and let me handle this. It's just one fishman. I'm sure I can manage him on my own. So go away and hide."
Usopp now stood facing the fishman, who laughed saying, "standing still I see? You must want to be killed quickly this day. Let me guess, you have nowhere to run anymore."
Usopp smirked as she said, "On the contrary, today is the day that I captain Usopp the great end your reign of terror." The boy then took out his slingshot as he aimed at the fishman, and said, "Special attack: Certain Death…" the boy didn't get to finish his attack as he fell unconscious when the blue-haired lady punted him with a hammer, she pulled out of thin air as she said, "Don't harm the fishman."
3 hours later in a small house surrounded by an orange orchid, Usopp woke up from his deep sleep as he looked around in panic. He then heard someone say, "Looks like you're up now. Did you have a nice sleep? Before you ask, you're in my house right now."
He began to scan the house as he said, "You're that lady from before, and where is that fishman?"
The girl looked at him, before saying, "You don't need to worry about him anymore. He's gone for now, but don't do any stupid stunts like that anymore. Those only cause trouble." She looked at the boy before adding, "And by the way, the name's Nojiko." She then pointed to the boy beside her on the table, and said, "And the brat over here is Chabo."
Usopp then yelled, "How can you talk to me so causally after you knocked me out when I wanted to help? What are you some kind of fishman mole or something?" he then remembered that Nami told him that her sister's name was Nojiko.
The girl closed her eyes as she looked away from him, "If anyone needs to be thanked, it's me. Today, I saved two idiots from losing their life over a worthless endeavor." She gave him a side glance before sighing, and saying, "Although I don't blame you honestly, you're an outsider. You don't know how things work around her, but you..." she looked at the boy from Gosa, and said, "you're from Gosa, and you know how the strong the fishmen are, but yet you decided to go and kill yourself why?"
The boy began to clutch his clothes as his breathing became rigorous as he said, "I know that, but that monster attacked my town. And to add to that, he sent some type of huge beast against it that destroyed everything. I know that I can't harm them, but I just can't forget that they killed my dad. I just want my revenge."
Usopp's eyes widened in panic as he said, "Huge beast you say?" he then remembered that he noticed that they were some weird dents in the ground in Gosa, "So those weird tracks in the ground back in Gosa?"
The boy nodded as he said, "Yeah, they're from the beast that destroyed the village. They said that the beast was brought over from the grand line." This caused Usopp's jaw to hit the ground as he began to imagine in fear the monsters that awaits him in the grand line.
The boy then continued his story as he said, "I tried to go to Arlong himself, but when I reached his park; a girl with orange hair beat me up, and told me to scram. she stopped me from my revenge, and now I want her dead too." The reaction that Usopp got from Nojiko caused him to spit the juice he was drinking as the weapon replied saying, "Go ahead, and die."
The woman then said, "You can head now to Arlong park, and try to kill him. but put in mind that you'll just go to die at the end of the day, so be sure to count your blessings since me and the girl saved your life twice today."
She then added, "When you finish your tea, get out of my house to go and die. I don't have time for idiots like you."
This caused Usopp to become angry, Nami's sister or not, this was no way to talk to a young child like that, "Hey, he's just a kid. You can't just talk to him like that. Have some sympathy."
Nojiko replied coolly as she said, "So what? If he's going to die like a dog, then what difference does it makes? This desire of his is making throw his life away from granted."
Usopp's veins popped as his face took a demonic look, and said, "What's wrong with you?"
Meanwhile, Chabo continued to cry silently from his father's death, to what happened back at Arlong park, to what was happening now. He then heard Nojiko say, "I know a person that chose a life that makes death look like heaven." She then screamed at him saying, "That's why I absolutely hate brats like you; those who only think about rushing to an early death to satisfy their needs."
The boy then said through choked breaths, "What am I supposed to do now? They killed my father, and I can't even fight back. What am I supposed to do with all this hate I harbor?"
Nokiji then asked, "What about your mom?"
The boy sniffed his tears away as he said, "She's still alive."
The blue-haired woman smiled at the young boy, and said "Then go back to her, she must be worried sick about you."
It was a little while later when Chabo left Nojiko's house, Usopp said, "I guess you're just like Nami then. You both use tough love as a way to help others." The woman's eyes widened as she asked, "And how do you know that name exactly?"
Usopp only chuckled as he said, "I'm her crewmate. She threw off the ship that I was riding with her, and told…" he was cut off by Nojiko who said, "Sorry buddy, but if you came all this way to get revenge on her, then you're in…"
"I know that she's with Arlong. She told us everything. We're pirates too. Nami told us to help her gather all the remaining money she needed to buy her village." The boy explained.
Nojiko was shocked that Nami trusted pirates of all people, and asked for their help, so she asked, "And what are your plan now that you helped her gather enough money to buy the entire town given that you know her story that is?"
"Well, I'm not sure, but my captain thinks that Arlong will try to cheat his way out of the deal, so I guess will just have to fight if that happened," Usopp said shivering at the notion of fighting against a fishman only to get punched by Nojiko.
The blue-haired lady then yelled, "IS ARE YOUR CAPTAIN INSANE? DOES HE WANT TO RUIN ALL OF NAMI'S HARD EFFORT OVER THE YEARS?"
Author's notes:
Welcome guys back to a new chapter of my fanfic, in this chapter we witnessed the departure of Sanji from the baratie, and we saw what happened on Nami's island during when she arrived. In the next chapter, it will mostly witness some events occurring in Nami's village, and Luffy's arrival with the rest of the crew.
As always please take care of yourselves, tell me your opinion about the current chapter, and tell me what arc you are most excited for
And finally, I hope you all enjoy reading my work and see you next time with a brand new chapter.