La Chancla
Arlong wasn't an idiot, for all his general appearance painted him as a simple thug. His plan required careful thought and consideration for where his new crew would set up shop. Paradise was out as while he could be a big name there, the fish-man wasn't sure he could be top dog. Not to mention it would be too close to Jinbe, who would obviously disapprove of his actions. No, better to pick somewhere further away in one of the Blues. The West Blue had the constant warfare between the mafia families controlling it. While it might let him slip in unnoticed, it was equally likely they'd band together to stomp out the outsider. Best not to risk it. While in Impel Down, he'd heard rumors those monsters on Level 2 were from the South Blue so that was absolutely a no-go. He'd sooner marry a human than go near those fucking things ever again. As for the North Blue? If he was perfectly honest, it was really damn cold and he didn't wanna go.
That left the East Blue. While some of the biggest names ever had come out of that sea, it was ludicrously weak on average. Besides, all he'd have to do was avoid Dawn Island, as apparently Monkey D. Garp still visited it on occasion. Looking over a general map, good for finding islands with towns but containing almost nothing on important details like ocean currents, Arlong found what seemed a likely location. A small archipelago called the Conomi Islands. It was far from anything important (read: anyone who might cause problems) but still had enough of a population for him to work with. Yes, it was definitely the perfect target according to his research.
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Arlong didn't do nearly enough research. He didn't know who this woman was but her voice was grating his last nerve. Not to mention, she made his teeth itch in a way he couldn't describe. The sawshark fish-man couldn't say why; she wasn't particularly noteworthy besides having a backside he could see from the front and a ridiculous red mohawk-looking haircut. Regardless, he didn't care if she had the money; he'd find some excuse to kill her anyway. There was no way he was going to put up with- a cigarette smacked into his nose hard enough for him to feel it. "I'm sorry, am I boring you, Mr. Fish-man?!" The lady shouted down at him. It didn't matter that she was over a foot shorter than even the smallest member of his crew; she was definitely shouting down at them. "You come into my house and start acting like a bunch of hooligans without even having the courtesy to wipe your damn feet!"
"We're not in your house- Gah!" One fish-man tried to protest, only to be hit in the eye with another cigarette (where was she keeping them all?), thankfully unlit. He was right; the lot of them were currently outside in the town square. But this woman didn't seem to care about little details like that.
"Don't you sass me, boy! Didn't your momma ever teach you some manners?!" After a moment of glaring to see if the fool would speak up again, she turned back to Arlong. "Now as I was saying! You're acting like a bunch of hooligans and start demanding money then don't even have the respect to pay attention while I'm talking to you?! You want money, you can learn some goddamn manners, get a job, and earn your keep like everyone else!"
Yeah, he'd had just about enough of her, Arlong decided. Pulling out a pistol, not that he needed it but people tended to respond better to obvious threats, he pointed it at the woman and told her, "Listen up, human. Either hand over your monthly tribute or die." Well, she'd die either way but there was no need to say that. Given her attitude, she'd refuse and he'd get to kill her without breaking his word, an important thing if he was going to keep this archipelago under his thumb for the foreseeable future.
Just as he predicted, she refused. Instead, she angrily pointed off towards the forest and demanded, "Go and get me a switch." The entire crew stared at her blankly, even as the townspeople all took a step back. "You heard me! Go and get me a switch! Don't go getting a little one either or I'll go and get one myself!"
Almost every fish-man present started laughing at her sheer arrogance, full belly laughter, several of them clinging to each other to stay upright at such a pathetic attempt to threaten them. As such, they failed to notice one of their number quietly hurrying towards the forest. Arlong had it the worst; every time he'd start to get himself under control, he'd see the expectant look on this tiny woman's face and start laughing all over again. Finally, he'd managed to contain himself and offered, "Just for that laugh, I'll let you die quickly human." With ease born of both practice and confidence, he aimed his pistol straight between her eyes and thumbed back the hammer. "Goodbye, you stupid human."
He pulled the trigger… and the gun barrel exploded. Not metaphorically as the bullet was fired, but literally as a shiny black sandal blocked the end of the barrel. A shiny black sandal that was held by the annoying redhead. In a much quieter, but even more furious, tone than she'd used up to this point, the woman hissed, "I thought I told you to go get me a switch."
What followed next reminded everyone present that even though she'd retired a decade ago, "Black Sandal" Bell-mère had been a Rear Admiral who'd trained under Garp the Fist for four years ever since she enlisted at sixteen. The Arlong Pirates' cockiness became terror as she beat them within an inch of their lives with a single haki-infused sandal. Within minutes, they were heaped up in a pile of bruised, broken, and bleeding flesh. Slipping her sandal back on, Bell-mère muttered, "Maybe that will teach you brats some respect." Louder, she called, "Hey Genzo, call up the marines and tell them we got some bounties to turn in. These hooligans will do some good for this village one way or another." As the sheriff ran to call the local Marine branch, Bell-mère's eye was caught by a final fish-man approaching, the one who'd fled earlier. "And what do we have here?"
Hatchan held up a long stick in front of him in two of his open palms. "I-I brought you a s-sw-switch, ma'am," he stuttered fearfully. He was dreading what came next but the octopus fish-man knew that when your mama told you to get a switch, you got a switch. And while the woman before him wasn't technically his mother, she radiated the same "angry mom" energy his own mother sometimes did when he stepped too far out of line.
Taking the stick from him, Bell-mère gave it a test swing before nodding in satisfaction. "Well, glad one of you boys knows how to listen." Luckily for Hatchan, the opportunity to vent along with him actually obeying her meant he only earned a sound thrashing rather than the beating of a lifetime. He at least wouldn't end up a cautionary tale for other pirates and ne'er-do-wells. Arlong really hadn't done nearly enough research.
From where they'd been hiding, Nami and Nojiko ran out and hugged their mother's legs. Both little girls gushed about how cool and strong she was, eagerly asking if she could teach them how to do what she did. All her anger forgotten, Bell-mère laughed at her daughters' questions. "Of course I can teach you, girls. Now, the best thing about using a sandal is that you always have a pair on you and no one suspects they're actually weapons until you've knocked their teeth out." Eight years later, the future pirate king and his first crew member would stumble across a pair of young women beating the Buggy Pirates senseless with their shoes.
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AN: This was spawned by a completely unrelated conversation that made me ask "We don't know Bell-mère's real world nationality in canon. What if she was Columbian?" and it spiraled from there.
