Before we start, I'd like to take this small time to say that this chapter took a while to write. And if you're interested, I'm going to explain it in the author's notes at the end of this chapter. Anyways, here's the chapter nine!
Chapter 9: Faith
The entire courtyard was rendered silent after seeing Arlong landing on his back. The Fishmen immediately turns to their downed captain to see if he is okay while some, mainly Arlong's officers, glared at the woman.
'Dammit, that wasn't it...' She thought while looking at her hands. Nami tried to test if she can use her color of armaments at will but to no avail.
"Nyuu! How dare you do that to brother Arlong?!" The octopus Fishman, Hatchan, demanded.
Nami immediately looks up. Gone was the facade of the warm and friendly look from Nami, replaced with a neutral expression as she holds her staff hard enough that her fingers turn white. Still, she kept her calm as hard as she could, not showing any signs of visible anger on her face. "You threaten to retake my village hostage, and you expect me to not do anything about it?"
In their confused rage and desire to retaliate, Arlong's high-ranking members try to attack Nami. They were intercepted by a green-haired swordsman and a curly-browed man in a suit, blocking them from reaching her.
"Tch. Damn fishes. Don't gang up against a woman." Sanji murmured with a hint of irritation as the two started beating up their enemies. They manage to defeat them a few minutes later. And with the weaker members fighting against Johnny and Yosaku, assisted by Usopp's shots, only Arlong's officers were left to face the straw hats.
Sanji turns to Zoro, focusing on his bandages. "Oi moss head, why don't you take a rest? You haven't recovered."
Zoro impassively turns to him before shrugging. "Well, suit yourself. Don't disappoint, crap cook."
Meanwhile, the villagers were watching with awe as the scene unfolded. Seeing their tormentors pushed back with relative ease made no sense. After everything they've experienced, the thought of any human standing up to these Fishmen was impossible. Genzo and Nojiko were more surprised to see Nami initiating the attack.
"Those people are beating the Fishmen!" One villager exclaimed.
"I can't believe it... Those things seemed untouchable..." For the first time in a long while, Genzo's heart fills with hope.
Nojiko nods in agreement. "I don't know why, but they don't seem frightening now..."
Inside the Park, Arlong's officers decided to join the fray. Chew shot a few water bullets directed at Nami with her back turned to him. A spark of red light flashes in her eyes as she dodges Chew's water bullets. He was about to fire another volley when he was interrupted by a solid metal pellet hitting him on the side of his head. Looking around, he spots a long-nosed brat with a slingshot. Once the boy sees him looking his way, he starts running. Chew shared looks with his fellow officers before earning a nod from Kuroobi. Assured that they can deal with these humans, he follows the boy, fully intent on payback.
A minute later, Arlong sits up, using his elbows to support him. As he was gathering his wits, he feels something warm from the corner of his lip. He moved his hand towards it and was surprised to see blood. He then looks around, only to see that most of his crewmates were defeated. He stands up and begins massaging the part of his face that Nami hit.
A scowl appears on his face as he glared at the Woman. "I didn't expect anyone to hit me like that. Least of all you. Nami. Are you defying me?"
"Arlong-san, let us deal with-"
"Did you honestly think I'll let you go?" Arlong ignores his officers' protests, choosing to focus his attention on the cartographer instead. "You were supposed to be my instrument in ruling east blue. In exchange, I even treated you as a valued crewmate despite being a pathetic human. We gave you money when you were a child and even gave you materials and information to draw your maps."
Nami slowly walks towards Arlong with that neutral expression still on her face. She looks up and stares eye to eye with the Fishman towering over her. "You talk as if I owe you my life when in reality, I never had a choice. Treated me as your own? I was your slave." She then sighs and looks away to try and calm herself. "I came here to fulfill our agreement and to sever ties with you."
"And I fulfilled my end of the bargain. I did let your village go after you've given me your money." Arlong's scowl turns into a smirk. "We just decided to invade this island again. I never said anything about not attacking after you paid me." The Fishman then reaches out to pat her head. "Now. Since I was in a celebratory mood, why don't you apologize, and I might forgive you."
The villagers were enraged after hearing this. So Arlong never really planned on freeing their island. All of them wanted to run towards him, string him up, and kick the crap out of him for everything he did. But the logical part of their brain told them that they couldn't do anything. The past few years were proof of that.
Nami, however, remained relatively calm despite Arlong's attempts to taunt her. The brutality of this sadistic bastard has no bounds, she thought, as she slaps Arlong's arm away before pointing her staff at him, the tip almost touching his nose. "If I can't bargain this island's freedom, then I'll fight you for it."
Kuroobi, offended by the notion that Nami's about to attack his comrade, runs towards her, trying to attack her from behind when suddenly, the curly-browed man from earlier kicks his hand away. The man then tries to follow up with a kick on the chin, but the Fishman manages to hop out of danger.
"That's no way to treat a lady." The man says as he lands on the ground with his feet.
Kuroobi sizes up his opponent, seeing that the man was able to prevent his attack. "You people traveled here and ruined our peace. I was right about that treacherous woman. Brother Arlong kept trusting her, hoping that she'll submit eventually."
Sanji never bothered answering him. He was instantly on Kuroobi, throwing consecutive kicks aimed at the Fishman's torso. He was able to block all of them for a while when a kick manages to get past his defenses, hitting him on the chest. The hit stumbles the large Fishman backward as he puts his hand over the area that Sanji struck.
"You fish bastards talk like it wasn't your fault in the first place. And making her submit? You're really pissing me the fuck off."
Kuroobi narrows his eyes. "Don't you know who we are? Humans who defied us ended up at the bottom of the ocean! And who even are you people?"
"Buddy, I don't give a damn who you are. You tried to hurt a woman, and you're going to pay for that." Sanji aims a kick at Kuroobi's face, who blocked his attack with a bit of difficulty. "And as for who we are, let me give you a taste of what happens when you hurt one of our crewmates." He says before continuing his barrage of kicks.
Meanwhile, Arlong was taken aback by Nami's confidence before laughing, treating what she said as a joke. "You? Fighting me? Shahahaha. You seem to forget the disparity between Fishmen and Humans." He then turns his attention to Nami's companions, flashing them a smirk. They may have caught them off guard, but they're no match for his officers in one-on-one combat. "You even brought your friends here. Did you ask for help because you can't do anything on your own?"
He leans forward so he can whisper to her ear, his voice taking on a deeper tone. "You may have surprised me with that attack, but that's as far as you can go. Maybe I should remind you what happens when Humans go against Fishmen. Do you remember your Mother? She never stood a chance now, did she?" He then looks at the group of villagers standing outside the park, focusing on the blue-haired lady in front. "Maybe I should make another example. Your sister wanted to see her, after all." He says to try and taunt the woman further.
Nami barely restrained herself from shouting profanities at him. "You'll regret that."
Usopp continues to run away. He was comfortable with sniping Johnny and Yosaku's enemies from a distance. But once the weird-looking Fishman with big lips spotted him, he immediately bolted out of instinct.
"Crap. That thing saw me! I need to get away."
He kept his speed up when suddenly, pain erupts from his right leg, dropping him to the ground. He lets out a scream as he rolled over to his back. It felt like a gun just shot him. And when he looked closer, he sees a small wound that was oozing blood. He begins putting pressure on it to try and stop the bleeding.
"You thought you could run away from me? I must admit that you're pretty fast for a human."
He looks up to see the same weird-looking Fishman walking towards him. He starts sweating out of fear for his safety. He tries to stand up and run away, but he collapses to his knees from the pain.
"You can't even stand up, chuu~. Humans really are weak, but you look even more pathetic." He says to try and mock Usopp. He manages to reach him before staring the boy down. The pathetic human was desperately trying to get away from him. With a smirk on his face, he kicks him on his midsection, which sends Usopp rolling to the ground. He then walks to him again to kick him a few more times just for good measure.
"That's for hitting me earlier, brat! You think I'm playing games with you?!" Chew shouts at him, insulting and taunting Usopp to do something. The long-nosed boy curls up to protect himself.
Chew pulls him up with his collar using one hand. "Hah. So you're one of Nami's friends?"
"Y-Yeah, she's my friend and my crewmate! W-We're here to take on Arlong!" Usopp said with a defiant look on his face. Although, his quivering made it less believable.
Chew lets out a mocking laugh. "Crewmate, huh? You plan on fighting Brother Arlong when you can't even fight me. I can't believe that she's friends with someone so pathetic."
Usopp deflates after hearing that. That insult hit quite close to home. He's not strong, nor is he courageous. He can't even cook or predict the weather. Aside from minor repairs or tinkering, he honestly thought Luffy brought him on board on a whim. So really, what use does he have in their crew?
'Here I am, running away while everyone else is fighting...' He thought bitterly. 'Maybe I am useless. I wish I could do more to help. Maybe I should pretend that I'm unconscious so he'll go away.'
Countless thoughts start swirling inside Usopp's head. Some more treacherous than others. Still, this couldn't be it. These Fishmen took Nami's village hostage. He looks back to the events in Syrup Village. Would this happen to them if the Black Cat pirates weren't stopped? To the townsfolk and Kaya as well? If it weren't for Luffy, Zoro, and Nami, would he have suffered the same fate?
Usopp might be a useless coward, but he wouldn't abandon his friends. He promised Kaya that he is going to be a strong warrior of the sea. Strong warriors don't plan on playing dead to escape. And he needs to pay Nami back for what she did for him. She helped him defend Syrup Village, so he'll take back Cocoyashi with her.
'I can't give up now. Nami's been in pain for almost a decade now. I shouldn't be scared because of a few wounds!' He thought. This pain he's feeling couldn't compare to how she felt during the past few years. This... this is almost nothing to him! And Nami promised them that she's going to beat Arlong. What kind of crewmate is he if he can't trust their navigator? They'll defeat these Fishmen and set Cocoyashi free.
'I may be useless right now, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything!'
"Heh? You've gone quiet for a while now. Too scared to-"
Chew narrowed his eyes when the long-nosed brat started chuckling. He grabs his collar with both hands before pulling him close to his face. "Is there something funny, punk?"
"I just found it funny... that I'm scared of you. Nami promised me that she's gonna kick Arlong's ass. If she's not scared of him, then I don't have anything to be scared of you." He said despite his visible shaking. His confidence in his friends overriding his fear.
"Her? Beat Arlong? What kind of human drug are you using? Arlong is the strongest pirate in these waters. He's unbeatable!"
"No. It's because Nami said so. And if I trust her to beat him, then I'm going to show her that she can trust me too." Chew became irritated at the boy's confidence. He was about to punch the brat in the face when suddenly, a dark reddish powder was thrown to his face. The powder erupts into a plume of reddish smoke, making him gasp in surprise. Unfortunately, he inhaled a generous amount of the powder, which made his breathing more difficult. The powder also irritated his eyes, causing his vision to blur. He drops Usopp as he immediately jumps away to regain his breathing and clear his vision.
Meanwhile, Usopp rolls away from the Chew, still finding it difficult to stand. He didn't see what he grabbed from his back pouch. Though, based on the color of the dust cloud, it must've been the cinnamon pepper mixture wrapped in a cloth. During their journey to Cocoyashi, he asked Sanji if he can experiment with some of the ingredients he brought to the ship. It was to see if they can be used as materials for the pellets for his slingshot. Luckily, he decided to bring some of it with him, which came in handy today.
After a few coughing fits, Chew looks up to glare at the boy. "You bastard. I'm going to riddle your body with holes!" He says before firing a water bullet from his mouth. Or he was about to. Unfortunately, his mouth and throat felt dry. He tried his hardest to produce anything, but all it did was make his coughing much worse.
"Dammit, what did you do to me?! I can't shoot water out of my mouth!"
'Water bullets...' Suddenly, it all made sense. This Fishman uses his mouth to shoot water at high speeds to attack his opponents. He saw the Fishman fire a few of them towards Nami earlier. The cinnamon must've made his throat as dry as a desert. He immediately sits up and points at him, his expression filled with pride. "Ha! The amazing Captain Usopp planned this! I analyzed your abilities and found your ultimate weakness!"
Chew growled in frustration, which made Usopp shiver. Still, that wasn't enough to faze him. If he's going to become a brave warrior of the sea, he shouldn't be scared by anyone. "You can't attack me with your bullets now."
Chew looks around him to see if there are any bodies of water nearby and was disappointed when he couldn't find any. He then looks at Usopp and narrows his eyes. "I may not be able to shoot you, but I'm a Fishman. I'm still stronger than you. I'll cave your face in with my fists if I have to." He said, his voice is raspy from Usopp's attack.
Seeing that his opponent still couldn't move properly, Chew walks back to Usopp and raises his leg in an attempt to stomp Usopp's face to the ground. "I'm not gonna fall for your tricks this time." Chew says with a smirk, assured of his victory against the boy.
Unfortunately for him, Usopp had other plans. He sneakily reaches back to his back pouch before pulling out a small hammer. He swings it at the Fishman's shin, causing Chew to kneel to the ground while clutching his leg in pain. Taking advantage of this, he reaches back to his pouch again and pulls out a bottle of tabasco sauce this time. He opens it and throws its contents right on Chew's face.
"AHHH! Fuck! My Eyes!" Chew cried in agony as the sauce made contact with his eyes. He tried to rub it away, but it only made the suffering much worse. With his vision clouded and hurting, he tried to look for anything to stop the painful experience.
With all the strength he could muster, Usopp bites back a scream of pain as he lunges for Chew. He swings his hammer at the Fishman's face.
"Usopp Hammer!"
The Fishman was too distracted to dodge as he was hit in the face, sending him down to the ground. Usopp did not want to take any chances as he quickly crawls towards the Fishman, repeatedly hitting his face with the hammer. "Usopp Hammer! Usopp Hammer! Usopp Hammer! Usopp Hammer!"
After a few seconds, he notices that his enemy was not responding. As his adrenaline ran out, Usopp drops down to the ground, the pain coming back in full. He resisted the urge to cry out as he quickly scrambled to look through his pouch to help him with his injuries. He finds a small handkerchief inside before quickly tying it around his leg to cover the wound. After a minute or so, he finishes. With a few seconds to think, it dawned on him that he just beat an opponent.
"I won my first fight... and it's against a Fishman. I'm not useless at all!" He begins screaming with a mixture of pride and happiness before lying on his back with his fists raised. "My dream of becoming a brave warrior of the sea is possible!"
Usopp laid there for a while before remembering something. "Crap, I need to go back to the park. My crewmates need me." After making sure that the Fishman wouldn't chase him, he stands up and slowly limps his way back to Arlong Park.
Arlong was panting, blood dripping down on the side and the front of his face. In all the years he's known Nami, he never expected her to be this capable. Although each strike wasn't much, her relentless attempts to hurt him accumulated to a lot of damage. It did not help that she dodged everything he threw at her, and her hits were getting slightly more painful.
Meanwhile, Nami remained unscathed throughout their fight. However, her fatigue is starting to set in. Her legs felt like they were burning. Using Soru in quick succession was too taxing for her. Her current body, despite training with Luffy and Zoro, is still unused to extensive fighting. If she wants to take Arlong down, she will need the help of her Color of Armaments to finish him.
'C'mon...' she thought frustratingly.
"It seems that I have underestimated you..." He says, wiping the blood off of his mouth. "I was too soft, and it made you unruly and disobedient." His pupils suddenly narrow into something more animalistic. "You shouldn't have defied me, Nami!"
Without warning, Arlong lunges at her faster than the villagers can see. Using her advanced Color of Observation, she barely dodges his attack and counters with one of her own. "Calm Tempo!", She shouts, swinging her staff at Arlong's sides. The Fishman coughs out blood as he rolls to the floor and over to the pond.
She clicks her tongue in annoyance, glancing at the pond where he fell. "I shouldn't have done that."
Arlong flies out of the water moments later. "Shark on Darts!"
He launches himself at her like a torpedo, using his fabled unbreakable nose to try and pierce her chest. She dodges by jumping out of the way. The Fishman continued sailing through the air before hitting the wall behind her. In his rage, Arlong gets up quickly, ignoring the damage to his body. He then prepares to launch himself. "Shark on Darts!" he shouts once again as he flies towards Nami. This time, however, she wasn't able to properly dodge and was scraped on the shoulder by one of Arlong's fins; Right where his jolly roger is tattooed. Biting back a scream, she continued sidestepping away as Arlong sailed through the air, embedding his nose and his body to the ground.
Nami took this chance to collect herself as Arlong slowly removed himself from the ground. She quickly inspects the wound. Despite the shallowness of the injury, it seemed like his attack grazed off a portion of her skin from her shoulder. Meanwhile, Arlong turns back to her with a confident smirk. "You've spent all your energy quite early. You're starting to slow down, Nami."
Focusing on her wound, he lets out a deep chuckle. "It's a shame that my mark is somewhat gone. Maybe I should give you a more... permanent one."
The villagers were confused when Arlong opened his mouth wide. Suddenly, he grabs his lower jaw. Their confusion turned into a mixture of amazement and disgust as he begins to pull it off of his mouth. A second later, his teeth came out along with the gums. He holds them in one hand like a castanet before the teeth grow back in his mouth, flashing the woman with a wide grin. "This is the difference between you and me. A Fishman can recover quickly. While you grow weaker over time. Shark Tooth Attack!"
He lunges at Nami, using the set of teeth in his hand as a weapon. She rotates to her right to dodge his attack. Using the momentum from her spin, she strikes with her staff with a backswing directed at his face. He manages to block it with his mouth, biting it down hard to try and crush her weapon. Before his mouth can damage it further, Nami jumps up and knees him on the chin. The attack cracked his jaw, and she was able to retrieve it from his mouth. Sadly, Arlong's bite dealt significant damage to her weapon.
Arlong did not let up, however. In his frenzy, he continued his barrage of attacks using a combination of the weaponized jaw in his hand and his clenched fist. Nami was able to dodge all of his attacks, and she decided to counter again by slamming her weapon at Arlong's abdomen. Unfortunately, her swing lacked the power it had earlier, and he was able to resist being flung away. With how close she was to him, her speed wouldn't be enough to dodge. Arlong takes advantage of this by finally clamping down on her sides with his detached jaw, puncturing her skin. He then grabs Nami by the neck with his free hand and throws her towards the tower of Arlong park, sending her crashing to the top floor.
"Nami-san!" That was enough distraction for Sanji as Kuroobi sends a punch directed at his torso. The attack immediately flings the chef away from him.
Arlong begins walking towards the tower with a sadistic look on his face, passing by Kuroobi on his way.
"Arlong-san, are you alright? What are we going to do to these people?"
"I'll deal with them after I set my cartographer straight." Arlong replied without even looking at Kuroobi, spitting out a wad of blood on the floor before continuing on his way.
Kuroobi was about to help Hatchan deal with the straw-hatted boy when he was surprised that Sanji stood up to his feet. "You bastards are making me really sick. You're hurting innocent people. Your captain even laid his hands on a woman." He grumbles, glaring at the Fishman as he did so.
Kuroobi tried to mask his surprise by crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "Do I look like I care about her, or any Human for that matter? And If I were you, I'll stop worrying about her and start caring about yourself. I'm a 40th Degree Master of Fishman Karate. No human has ever beaten me."
Sanji brushes off the dirt from his slacks as he snickers in response. "Is that your 40th degree? I've been kicked much worse by an old man with half a leg."
After seeing what Arlong did to Nami, the villagers mustered enough courage to try running towards the Fishmen. Seeing her suffer emotionally and mentally all those years was one thing. But seeing Nami suffering physically right now, they couldn't stand it any longer. They entered through the broken gates of the park but were stopped by the familiar green-haired swordsman.
"Oi oi oi. What are you guys planning on doing?"
"What does it look like we're doing? We're going to help Nacchan!" One of the villagers replied. Zoro sighs after seeing the resolved looks on the villagers' faces. He draws out Wado Ichimonji and holds it out to his side, blocking the villagers' path. This act confuses them.
"Sorry. Can't let you do that. If you're going to interfere now, you'll just hurt yourselves. Nami wanted someone to look out for you guys. So I'll protect you from danger, even if it's from your misaligned confidence."
Genzo marched his way towards him to grab Zoro by the collar before pulling him towards him. The swordsman didn't budge, however.
"What's the meaning of this? You're her friend. Right? Then why aren't you letting us help her?!" Genzo demanded. "That Fishman bastard is knocking her around, and you're just... watching!"
Zoro's expression didn't change, unfazed by the glare Genzo is showing him. "Nami told me that she's gonna beat him."
"That doesn't mean that you'll just sit on your ass here, do something!" One of the villagers shouted. The rest of the villagers echoing the same sentiment.
Ignoring their protests, Zoro turned his attention to the blue-haired woman close to Genzo. "You're Nami's sister, aren't you? What did you do when Nami told you of her plans back then?"
Upon hearing this, the villagers become infuriated. And Genzo, who was barely holding out against his anger, is now livid. "You're going to blame Nojiko now, you damn pirate hunter?!" He shouts before raising his fist. The indifference of one of Nami's so-called friends made his blood boil. He was about to punch Zoro in the face when Nojiko grabs his arm and holds him back.
"N-Nojiko, what are you-!"
"Stop it, Gen-san!"
Genzo's expression softens once she saw Nojiko's face. For a while, the two stared eye to eye with each other before he releases Zoro's collar from his grasp. The swordsman straightened his collar before facing the tower where Nami ended up. Genzo, however, kept his glare directed at him, clenching his teeth to try and reign his emotions.
"What does it have to do with-"
"It has everything to do with this."
Zoro interrupted the angry Genzo, which halted the Sheriff from speaking further. He then sighs before his neutral expression takes in a bit of emotion. "It's not that you never did anything. No, it wasn't that. It's about putting your faith in her. Despite your desire to help Nami, you guys followed her wishes and believed in her instead."
While the villagers looked down in either silent contemplation or guilt, Genzo and Nojiko's gasped, understanding what the swordsman is saying to them.
"When Nami told you that she's going to steal from pirates, you trusted her with it. And she accomplished it. When she told you that she would get a hundred million Beri to buy the town, you trusted her with it. And she did it." Zoro flashes them an uncharacteristically gentle smile, something that the two of them did not expect. "So what's different now that she's asking you to trust her this time?"
The villagers did not respond. The swordsman was correct, they thought. They didn't do anything, not because they don't want to help but because Nami wanted to do it by herself. And they trusted her to do it. Even before they went to Arlong Park, she asked them to burden her by letting her fight.
"If you guys don't want to put your faith in her, then who is she going to rely on for support?" With that same gentle smile of his, he looks back at the tower. "Sometimes, being there is more than enough. The knowledge that someone trusts you gave her comfort. Don't call yourselves weak when you had the strength to believe in her, no matter how hard it was for you."
Nojiko slowly sat down on the ground, facing the same way as the swordsman. "All this time, we just felt guilty that we were letting her do it alone. We felt like we were useless." She says as tears started forming in the corner of her eyes. "Did we have that much impact on her?"
Zoro sat beside her. He knows that his words are mostly hollow, but if he can help Nami's family in any way, he'll do it. Everyone in the Straw Hats would do the same. "Nami wants to protect you all. More than the pain she's feeling right now, the thought of her loved ones getting hurt because of her scares her the most."
Nojiko chuckled sadly. "You seem to understand her more than we do."
"Well, I did learn from the best." He says with a shrug.
Luffy is currently fighting with the octopus Fishman. He honestly forgot how hateful Hatchan was of humans when they first met. In the future, they were pretty good friends. He was the one who catered to them during their stay in Sabaody and Fishman Island. Despite understanding Hacchi's hatred, Luffy couldn't help but be amazed at how stark the difference is.
"Nyuuu. You Humans came in here and destroyed everything! Our base, our plans, everything!"
The rubber man looked at Hacchi's eyes. He wanted to understand the Fishman in front of him on a personal level. And, in turn, make him understand the error of his ways. The fact that Hatchan became friendly with them seems to imply that he never truly believed in Arlong's ideologies. "Ehhhh? Ruin everything? We just came here because we're helping Nami free her village."
Luffy tilted his head in mock confusion. "Why do you guys hate humans? Humans this, humans that. It's weird."
For Hatchan, how the boy asked him, that innocent and childish tone of his infuriated the Fishman. Did he not know what Humans did to his people? "You Humans treated us terribly! This is revenge for everything your kind did to us nyuuu!" He says before swinging his six swords at Luffy. The rubber man effortlessly dodged his attacks before sending a punch of his own. Hatchan rolls on the floor upon being hit by Luffy's fist. He slowly got up to his feet before retrieving his blades from the ground.
"That's dumb. Nami didn't do anything to you guys."
"But it's your fault! All of you are-"
Luffy punches him again. This time, right on Hatchan's chin. Luffy was taking it easy against the Fishman, but hearing him like this irritated the rubber man. "That's not how it works!"
The Fishman was sent flying once again, hitting the wall this time. It took much longer for Hatchan to get up to his feet. Once he's up, he rubs the back of his head to check whether he's bleeding or not.
"She doesn't hate you for what you are."
This grabbed Hatchan's attention. Looking to his right, he sees Luffy staring at the tower. The Fishman was taken aback by the sudden shift in tone. His voice went from goofy and childish to a darker, more serious one. Hatchan was confused as to what the rubber man meant.
"Nami never hated you guys because you're Fishmen. Despite everything you did to her, she doesn't associate Fishmen with evil people. She's angry because you hurt her and her loved ones. I hope you understand that."
Hatchan gasped slightly. In his mind, he thought that Arlong was a bit too hard on the Humans. Sure he never liked them, but he never went out of his way to harass them. Still, he always thought that they were justified in doing this. All his life, Humans have treated Fishmen differently. The things he saw and the things he's been told. Humans deserved this. Their kind was at fault for everything.
Right?
"Why should I listen to you?"
"Because you're just going to continue hurting people. And those people you hurt will hurt others for revenge. The same way you're doing right now."
Hatchan's eyes widen as he was stunned into silence by what the rubber man was saying.
"Are you gonna tell me that Nami can hurt innocent Fishmen because you guys were bad to her?"
The Octopus Fishman silenced this train of thought for the longest time. He was never in sync with Arlong's plans on taking revenge against Humans, but he understood it. He silenced this train of thought because he kept on telling himself that it was justified. They were right in doing this. If they can't get their justice, then they will take it with their own hands. And besides, Arlong was the embodiment of the Fishmen's anger, so he must be right!
But what about the innocent Humans?
Innocent Humans. Such a thought was laughable, especially from a Fishman. But still...
"So don't get mad if I kick your ass for hurting my friend. After all, it's justified."
Hatchan was broken out of his contemplative stupor as he sees Luffy preparing for another punch. In his panic, he chose to block the rubber man's attack instead of dodging.
"Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!"
Hatchan blocks Luffy's attack using all of his arms. Despite his attempt, he was still sent flying towards the walls. The back of his head hits the concrete, knocking him unconscious.
Luffy retracts his rubber arm seconds later. While he was holding back against the Fishman, the strength he used was enough to defeat Hatchan. He looks to his side, and he saw that Sanji was about to finish up his enemy.
"Collier Shoot!"
Kuroobi's head was smashed down onto the ground by a kick directed at his neck. The force of the attack was strong enough that his head bounces off of the floor. Kuroobi coughs up blood before getting up to his knee, glaring at the chef as he did so.
"Y-You bastard. I'm going to use my ulti-"
"Mouton Shot!"
He was unable to finish what he was saying as he was sent flying by a flurry of kicks from Sanji's leg. With Arlong's officers down and with Johnny and Yosaku nearly done, that leaves Arlong as the only one they needed to finish.
"Tch. Wasted too much time cooking that bastard instead of helping Nami-san." The chef lights up a cigarette, exhaling a few puffs of smoke for a bit before he starts walking towards the tower when suddenly, he felt a hand grabbing his arm. Turning back, he saw Luffy's outstretched arm holding him.
"Oi, shitty captain. What are you-"
"Nami told us to wait."
The Captain and the Chef looked at each other before Sanji relents through clenched teeth. "If something happens to Nami-san, I'm going to kick your ass."
Nami crashes through the walls of the tower before rolling to the floor. Upon landing, she hurriedly wedges Arlong's jaw open before pulling it off of her and throwing it away. Lying down on her back with her arms sprawled, she took several deep breaths to try and compose herself.
"Oww... that hurts..." She mumbled as she slowly sits up, massaging her neck as she did so. That Fishman bastard did not hold himself back. Since coming back to east blue, this is the first time she's been injured like this.
Rubbing her head to try and dull the throbbing discomfort, she looks around to gather her surroundings. Nami was surprised that she ended up in her former room. The familiar sight of the wooden desk, the pile of maps, and the plain color of the concrete surfaces bitter memories in her mind.
She stands up and dusts the dirt from her pants before walking around the room. She moves towards her desk, gently laying her hand on the desktop and feeling some of the etchings and scratches on it. She recalls that during her childhood, she used to have a secret drawer inside. She placed some of her valuables there when she used to make charts for Arlong in the regular. He always gets mad whenever she did something that he didn't tell her to.
Opening her secret drawer, she sees various things inside, untouched since the last time she was here. Rummaging through, she spots a few noteworthy items; a small bloodied photograph and a folded piece of paper. Looking at the photo, she couldn't help but smile fondly. It was a picture of her, Nojiko, and Bellemere from eight years ago. She kept her eyes on it for a while before moving to the piece of paper, unfolding it gently.
The paper contains a map of some sort with the label "Tangerine island" on the side. Tears started forming from the corner of her eyes as she recalls that this was the map of the imaginary location she made during one of her depressive episodes. An island ideal for growing fruits, she said. She imagined moving here with her family, an image conjured in her mind at a time when she was desperate to hold on to the tiniest bit of hope back then. She's moved on from this, she told herself. Now that she's back here, the emotions came crashing down like waves on a stormy day.
She decided to bottle her emotions when she felt a familiar aura approach her, keeping the items inside her pocket.
Suddenly, the door to her room crashes open, revealing Arlong making his way towards her. In his hand is the famous saw-tooth blade.
Nami didn't bother facing him, focusing on the desk in front of her. Meanwhile, the Fishman looks around the room with a sadistic grin on his face. "Ah, this place. It was my gift to you for your services. Beautiful, isn't it?"
He then walks to one of the stacks of maps before picking one up from the pile. He then moves it in front of his face to take a good look. "If I had known that you were this powerful, I would've promoted you into becoming one of my top officers. With your skills as a cartographer as well as a fighter, we could've ruled east blue together."
Nami did not even dignify Arlong with an answer as she stood there. The Fishman, however, was slowly getting more irritated at the lack of response from her.
"Instead, you're wasting your time around humans who do not appreciate your skills. They treat you like a glorified compass instead of the potential I see in you."
The two remained quiet for a while, which infuriated the Fishman. He saw this as further disobedience from Nami. He was about to reach out to grab her shoulder when suddenly, she lets out a gentle chuckle, causing Arlong to narrow his eyes at the woman. Without looking at him, she replied. "You know, I just realized something."
Arlong tilts his head in confusion. Without waiting for an answer, Nami continued. "You never actually wanted to build an empire to rule. You just wanted to inflict as much pain to Humans as possible."
Nami wondered why he kept on taunting her. Even back then, he showed a strange amount of interest in her. At first, she thought that it was his way to demoralize her or make her lose her focus. In reality, he was doing this out of revenge. He was taunting her, not to distract her but to gain some sick sense of sadistic joy from insulting her. Arlong saw her as the symbol of east blue's defiance. If he makes her submit, then, in a sense, he would have conquered east blue in his mind.
This earned a dark, malicious chuckle from the Fishman. "Of course. Pain is something that every human deserves. But you're not one to talk, are you? You're doing this out of revenge. Right? Come on. Show me how vicious humans can be."
Instead of taking the bait, Nami simply smiled back. "No. Why would I? We're not the same, you know. I'm here to free my island. Beating you is only a means to an end." Throughout their fight, it seems that Nami has forgotten why she was here in the first place. Arlong wasn't her goal. Freedom was. Maybe the reason she hasn't moved on was that she merely watched her village being freed by Luffy in the previous timeline. Now, though, she can take matters into her own hands. And right now, that's probably more than enough.
Arlong's eyes narrow at Nami's confidence. "Such arrogance! Let me put you back in your rightful place below us!"
In his enraged state, he swings his sword at her. She used her Color of Observation to dodge his attacks. Surprisingly, she found it easier to evade him despite her fatigue. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was her newfound calmness. Whatever it was, Nami felt like she was given an energy boost.
Swinging his weapon like a madman, Arlong accidentally slices a pile of sea charts in half. He was shocked out of his trance upon noticing what he did. "The charts!"
Sensing the opportunity, Nami takes advantage of the distraction by tackling him to the floor. Arlong falls to his back as he drops his weapon. She then straddles him, putting pressure on his chest by kneeling on it with one knee. She then started raining a flurry of punches directed at the Fishman. Arlong tried retaliating, but Nami was able to dodge all of them.
The two struggled on the ground for a while before Arlong got the chance to deflect Nami's attacks. With the small opening, he was able to push her. The woman rolls off of him, and her back hits the desk. He was able to recover first as he got back to his feet before Nami did.
"You're going to pay for that!"
He limps his way towards Nami. Once he was close, he roughly pulls her up with her hair. The woman winces as she felt like her scalp was being pulled off of her head. In a desperate act to free herself, Nami swings her fist at Arlong's abdomen to try to loosen his grip. Suddenly, she felt a familiar sensation wrapping around her fist before it connects with her target. Arlong's grip weakens as he suddenly contorts in pain, falling to his hands and knees. This bought enough time for Nami as she moves away from him. She slowly got back to her feet while keeping her eyes trained at the Fishman.
'That... That was it!' she thought. She decided to test it again by aiming a downward kick at Arlong's back. She felt the same feeling of power coating her leg before bringing it down. Luckily for the Fishman, Arlong managed to roll out of the way. Her heel crashes down, cracking the floor below. With his weapon close by, he reaches out to it before pulling it towards him.
Arlong sees that he caught the woman in an indefensible position. He raises his sword above his head. At this point, he's not entirely aware of his actions. In his enraged and desperate state, he doesn't care if he kills Nami. "I'll end this!"
Time seemed to slow down for Nami, as her mind and body are working in overdrive. She observes that she doesn't have the space to dodge, and the only way to stop his sword is if she could block it. With nothing around her close enough to reach, Nami sighs in resignation while training her eyes at Arlong's sword.
'Sink or swim. Isn't that right, Luffy? If I fail, I'll have my arm cut off...' Such a thought shouldn't be as reassuring as it should. But for some reason, Nami doesn't feel any more intimidated. She tries to channel the sensation from earlier to coat her wrist. Now that her mind is clear and she was familiar with that feeling of power, it was easier to summon it this time.
Arlong's blade meets with Nami's arm as the woman blocks his attack. The Fishman was shocked. He did not expect that the same sword that brought down powerful pirates fail to cut Nami's skin. The two did not budge for a while before Nami was able to deflect Arlong's weapon by flicking her arm. She then followed it up by slamming her closed fist down on his sword as she brought it down to the floor. The weapon cracks before splitting in two, which surprises the Fishman enough for him to take a step back and release his sword.
Instead of fear, Arlong felt angrier. The thought that any Human, especially her, can beat him like this was just too much. "This can't be! I'm the strongest pirate in east blue!" Expecting another snappy retort, he was instead greeted by her confident smile as she slowly walks towards her staff to retrieve it. He snaps. "That does it! I don't need a weapon to kill you. I am a Fishman. My body is a weapon! Shark Tooth Drill!"
In his last-ditch effort to beat her in his half-conscious state, Arlong opens his mouth before he starts rotating his body like a drill, launching himself at Nami. As he got close enough to her, Nami times her swing just right and brings her staff up. The attack sends the battered body of Arlong flying upwards through the roof. Summoning her last bit of strength, Nami jumps up high into the air. As the two reach the apex of their arc, Nami finds herself ending up over Arlong.
'Arlong Park falls today!'
With that thought in mind, Nami rotates her body thrice to gather enough momentum before slamming her staff down at Arlong's torso. "Calm Tempo: Pinwheel!"
The force of the strike sends Arlong crashing down at the tower. This, coupled with the damage sustained by the building, causes it to collapse. The villagers were watching with awe and tears in their eyes. The symbol of their oppression and the man responsible for it brought down by one of their own. Usopp arrives at the park just in time to see Nami deliver the final blow.
Zoro, who was watching the entire scene unfold, smirks. "You really did it this time, Nami."
Johnny and Yosaku started cheering before quickly running away to dodge the falling debris.
Sanji was watching the entire affair with heart-filled eyes. "Nami-swan, you're amazing!~"
Luffy simply smiles.
Nami felt content that she was able to free her entire island. And the best part was that she felt like she did something. It felt like she unlocked something inside of her, sort of like a coming of age. Although, the feeling quickly evaporated once a thought crosses her mind.
'Crap! How do I get back down?!'
Her back was facing the ground. She was close to panicking when she heard Luffy shout from below.
"Gomu Gomu no: Balloon!"
Laughing inwardly, Nami started calming down as gravity pulled her to the ground. Well. If she fails, she can use her color of armaments to mitigate the fall damage. She turns around to get a good look at her landing spot, seeing Luffy's inflated belly below her. Satisfied, she sprawls her arms out to slow her descent. Moments later, she lands on Luffy before bouncing up again. Luckily, Sanji was there to catch her this time. Nami asks him to put her down. And despite Sanji's protests, he relents.
"Thanks a bunch, Sanji-kun." She winks at the chef, who starts spinning like a mini-tornado.
"Ah~ Nami-san was happy with my catch!"
Luffy walks behind Nami with a goofy yet concerned look. "Are you alright, Nami?"
In response, she flicks Luffy on the forehead. He puts his hand over the spot, putting pressure on it to numb the stinging pain. "Ouch! That hurts!" Suddenly, a flash of recognition hits him. "Wait, that hurts. Like hurt hurt."
"Yeah, I can use it now. Though, I'm still somewhat unreliable with it." She says.
"That's great!" Luffy exclaimed, which earned a tired but gentle smile from the navigator. Suddenly, Nami starts falling forwards. With her adrenaline gone, the fatigue, pain, and the effects of blood loss all came crashing down. Luckily, he was there to catch her.
"Thank you for letting me do this, captain." She mutters weakly, slowly feeling her consciousness fading.
"I know you can do it." Was Luffy's only reply. For Nami, this was enough as she starts drifting into a deep and content slumber.
AN: Hello there again, ladies and gents. Thank you for your patience with this one. And also, i would like to thank everyone who reviewed, fave'd and followed this fic. This chapter took quite some time to write, but the reasons are different to what some of you might think.
So a bit of background. I finished writing this chapter about a week ago when I read some of the comments about the previous chapters. I noticed a common theme about them. Which are that the fic is decent, above average but something's missing, and that there were a lot of issues with the Syrup Village arc. Since some of my friends are studying literature and creative writing, I asked them for advice. I'm grateful that they read it, and even more so that they gave me a lot of tips.
Which brings me to the first issue. Not enough time spent in writing the previous chapters. So on average, each chapter has 5000 words. And if you also noticed, I managed to write 8 chapters in roughly 22 days. That's less than 3 days spent to write each chapter on average. Or at least, less than 3 days to write 5000 words. At first glance, that's good since quick updates promote viewership. But in the long run, the story suffers due to a lack of refinement. And they echoed the same sentiments as some of the reviewers. It lacked something, and that something is polish.
The reason why the chapters were so quick was because when I started, I really was immature with the whole thing. Seeing the statistics for this fic go up really made me happy. And I notice that these numbers go up with every chapter release. Unfortunately, once I thought about it, I felt like I was disrespecting the readers with half-baked chapters with my only appeal being "quirky time travel fanfic". And this was extremely obvious during the Syrup Village arc. During that time, I was more interested in releasing a new chapter rather than writing an excellent one. And while it was functional for the most part, there were a lot of plot points that I would like to improve.
And because of that, I sought advice on how to improve my work and the first thing they told me is to spend at least a week or two writing it. And I gotta say, I think it worked. During the course of writing this chapter, I remade, rewritten, and deleted a lot of scenes that sounded good at first. But after a lot of reading, it just didn't make much sense. I'm sure that there'll be stuff here that still needs some work, but when I compared it to the previous ones, how I connect scenes and play those scenes out really was different.
Which brings me to the second issue. The previous chapters definitely need polishing. So, in the coming days, I'm going to write the next chapter. And during the times when I'm having some sort of writers' block, I'll distract myself with rewriting the previous chapters. Some of the people I talked to do that when they're at a slump, and sometimes they think of something fantastic all of a sudden that made them say "why didn't I think of that?". I'm going to see if it works.
Don't worry, I'm still here. I'm just going to take my time serving you something good. It's what I owe you guys, and it's what you deserve.
Anyways, thank you again for sticking with this story and giving me a chance. Hope to see you guys again soon.