"She can tell me to leave all she likes." Zoro said as he sat in Arlong's seat. "I'm not leaving until Luffy says otherwise." He stared around at the unconcious fishmen who tried to take him out a moment ago until the sound of a trumpet got his attention. He walked over and hung off the wall to see an octopus Fishman holding up a roasted pig. "You blowing a trumpet or something?" he asked.
"Whoa! Who are you? My name's Hachi. Are you a guest?" Hachi said quickly.
"A guest? Something like that." Zoro said.
"Oh, well Arlong's not here right now. If you want, I can give you a lift to Cocoyashi Village, where he is now." Hachi said as he pointed at a pot.
"Sure, why not?" Zoro said as he jumped into the pot. Hachi then jumped into the sea and took the pot to Cocoyashi Village.
()()()()
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Arlong screamed as he saw his fellow fishmen scattered about in Arlong Park. "My Brethren!" Arlong yelled. "Was it Zoro who did this?!"
"No." gasped the fishman that was lying in front of Arlong. "That green haired man...that was Zoro."
"What?!" Arlong said before another fishman named Chu came in dragging Usopp by his nose.
"I caught him Arlong, Chu, but I let him live so you could kill him." Chew said as he dropped Usopp to the ground
"GAH!" Usopp screamed before he tried to say that what he did was how his people say hello. Arlong then dediced to use him as bait to get Zoro to come back. While Usopp tried to get out of it by talking, Hachi came back to see the damage.
"What happened?!" he screamed
"Hachi." Arlong said. "Where were you?"
"I was giving a guest of yours a lift to Cocoyashi Village. That's where you said you were. But what's with all this?" he said as his six arms pointed at all the damage.
"The Pirate Hunter Zoro, that's what." Arlong said.
"Curse that Zoro!" Hachi said. "If I had seen him, none of this would've happened."
"What guest were you talking about?" a fishman named Kuroobi asked.
"A lone swordsman with green hair." Hachi said before his eyes shot open wide. "Was that him?!"
"WHO ELSE DUMBASS?!" the other fishmen shouted.
"This could be Nami's doing." Kuroobi said. "She could've brought him here to come after you. She is a decietful woman after all." Other fishmen were starting to agree until Nami spoke up.
"Enough!" Nami shouted. "I swore on this tattoo to serve under you until I got enough money. I almost have enough, so why would I do something stupid now?"
"Heh. You're right." Arlong said. "Sorry for doubting you. But now, all we need to do is wait for Zoro to arrive to pick up his little friend." he said as he had a dagger placed into the ground almost cutting Usopp's nose.
()()()()
"He got caught?" Zoro said.
"Yeah, and they took him to Arlong Park." one of the citizens in Cocoyashi Village said.
'Usopp you dumbass!' Zoro thought before he took off towards Arlong Park.
()()()()
Back with the four in the boat, they were enjoying their food before Mohmoo, a giant sea cow that listens to Arlong, rose up next to their boat. Yosaku freaked out at seeing it, Sanji and Luffy stared at it, and Gin froze with a fork halfway between his plate and his mouth.
"SEA MONSTER!" Yosaku yelled as Mohmoo sniffed the air around them, clearly smelling their food. "What does it want?!"
"It's probably just hungry." Sanji said.
"Then give it the food already!" Yosaku yelled. Before they could do anything, Luffy stepped up to the side of the ship as Mohmoo lowered himself towards their boat. Luffy placed a hand up before looking Mohmoo in the eye and activated his Conqueror's Haki. Mohmoo looked frightened as he lowered himself under Luffy. As this happened, the others in the boat only stared in shock.
"Hey...Luffy." Sanji said.
"What did you do?" Gin asked in a queit voice as Yosaku just stared with wide eyes. Luffy then gave a small explanation before picking up some food.
"I'm in a good mood cow, so I'll give you some food." Luffy said before he glared at Mohmoo. "But you try to take my arm off, and I'll rip that nose ring off your face. Got it?" Mohmoo slowly nodded, causing Luffy to smile and throw some food at him. Mohmoo ate the food and mooed happily as Luffy took some rope and tied it around Mohmoo's horns. "Okay cow, take us to Arlong Park." As Mohmoo took off, the other three stared at him.
'He just tamed that sea king like it was a puppy!' Yosaku thought.
'Who is this guy?!' all three of them thought as Luffy laughed.
()()()()
Back at Arlong Park, with all the fishmen distracted, Usopp tried to take his slingshot out, but was stopped when Nami smacked him with her staff. He flew away a bit before skidding to a stop.
"It's not a good idea to attack the fishmen." she said as she picked up a knife. Usopp looked up at her before spitting some blood away.
"So this is the real you, huh Nami?" he asked as he got up. "Just a witch that gets close to pirates and then robs them blind?"
"That's right. And since you're interferring with my business, I realize it was a mistake to let you guys follow me." Nami said as she held up the knife with a dead look in her eyes. "Time to die Usopp."
'Oh man. She's not kidding around!' Usopp thought. 'Only got one chance to run.' He then pulled out his slingshot and shot a smoke star at the ground, covering the whole area. 'Good. I'm out of here.'
"Sorry Usopp." came Nami's voice from the smoke before a stabbing sound was heard.
"Na...mi...Why?" Usopp squeeked as blood fell on the ground. As the smoke cleared everyone saw what looked like Nami stabbing Usopp. She pulled the knife out as Usopp slowly fell into the water. All the fishman cheered as Johnny cried a safe distance away, thinking the worst had happened.
"This can't be!" he whispered before he ran off.
"Heh. Guess I was wrong about you. You are one of us." Kuroobi said.
"Whatever." Nami said as she walked out of Arlong Park.
()()()()
"Faster cow!" Luffy yelled from the bow of the ship as they the sea cow pulled them toward an island in the distance.
"Is that where we're going?" Sanji asked.
"That's the place." Yosaku shouted as he saw a giant building beyond a steel gate in the water. "That's Arlong Park!
"So what now?" Gin asked. "We charge in like reckless idiots?"
"First we find the others." Luffy said. "Then we charge in." He then pulled the ropes to the right as they neared the island. "That way cow!"
"What are you doing?!" Sanji shouted.
"Hold on guys!" Luffy shouted as he stretched his arms out and grab Mohmoo's horns. He then shoved his feet into the wood of the bow before rocketing them all through the air. "YAHOO! IT'S LIKE WE'RE FLYING!"
"WE ARE FLYING MORON!" Sanji yelled as he and the other two hung on for dear life. "WHY'D YOU DO THAT ANYWAY?!"
"Because one of our crew is this way." he answered calmly as the ship hit the ground but kept plowing through the trees.
()()()()
"What's that sound?" Zoro asked himself as he looked to his left. He got his answer when a boat came flying out of the trees right at him. His mouth fell open before the boat ran him over. It kept going until it crashed into some wetlands.
"That was fun." Luffy laughed as he walked out of the wreckage.
"No it wasn't." Sanji groaned as he and the others were under the wreckage.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Zoro yelled as they all finally got out of the remains of the ship.
"Sorry about that. Hey Zoro." Luffy said with a smile. "Where's Nami, Johnny, and Usopp?"
"Usopp?!" Zoro said before he ran off. "Usopp got caught. We gotta go help him!"
"Too late." Johnny said as he slowly walked towards them all with tears in his eyes. "He's already gone."
"Gone?" Yosaku asked.
"I saw the whole thing." Johnny said through his tears. "Big Bro Usopp...was murdered...BY BIG SIS NAMI!" he screamed. All but Luffy looked at him in shock.
"He's alive." Luffy said in a calm voice.
"But...but I saw it!" Johnny said as the tears fell again. "I know what I saw. Nami's nothing but a cold hearted woman!" he said before he started ranting on and on. Luffy finally sighed before he took a deep breath.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!" he shouted, causing all of them to freeze. Everyone looked at him as Luffy just stared at the sky. "Usopp's alive. I can sense him."
"You mean with that haki of yours Luffy?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah. I don't know what you saw Johnny, but Usopp's alive. As for Nami, she's not one to take someone's life, especially her friends." Luffy said.
"Friend huh?" came a voice behind them all. Everyone looked to see Nami walking towards them all with a bandage around her left hand. She looked at them all like they were nothing but utter pests. Her face softened when she saw Luffy, who looked right back at her. She closed her eyes as she gave a soft sigh. "Why did you all come here?"
"To get you back of course." Luffy said with a small smile.
"I saw what you did!" Johnny shouted as he pointed wildly at Nami. "What happened to Big Bro Usopp?!" Nami just looked at them all with her eyes now hidden by her bangs.
"Don't worry. He's alive." she said.
"He is? Really?!" Johnny said.
"Hi Nami!" Sanji said in love mode. "Remember me? Let's fly away together!"
"Wait a minute!" Johnny shouted. "What about all the blood I saw?"
"That was mine." she said as she held up her bandaged hand.
"See guys." Luffy said with his arms crossed and a big smile on his face. "She's not a bad person." Nami just stared at Luffy as she felt her eyes well up a bit. She turned away from them all before she spoke again.
"I'm sorry I stole from you all. If you want your ship back, it's docked near my house. I'll bring it to you guys later. But for now, don't cause any trouble on this island and stay out of our affairs."
"Alright." Luffy said as he fell down to the ground.
"Captain?" Gin asked.
"I'm gonna take a nap." he said. Nami couldn't help but smile to herself at Luffy's carefree attitude.
'Idiot.' she thought before she walked off.
"So what now?" Zoro asked.
"We sit back and relax. We're not leaving unless she comes with us, and that's final." Luffy said before he put his hat on his face and dozed off.
"Is that really all we're doing?" Gin asked in disbelief.
"Captain's orders." Zoro said as he sat in the middle of the road. Gin only sighed as he walked off and sat down in the grass. Sanji sat down in the shade of a tree smoking a cigarette.
'These guys are too laid back.' Johnny and Yosaku thought.
()()()()
Somewhere else on the island, Usopp was running down the road with a cloak around him. He was thinking back to when Nami pretended to stab him, but stabbed her hand instead. As he did, he saw his crew up ahead and ran towards them with his cloak falling off. He didn't hear Sanji shouting at Zoro in defense of Nami and unknowingly ran between a kick and a hard fist.
"Usopp?" Sanji said.
"He's alive!" Zoro said. "Well...maybe."
()()()()
"AHH! USOPP!" Luffy shouted. He wanted to wake up and prevent this from happening like last time, but was too sleepy to wake up. "How'd this happen?!"
"Sorry. It was mine and Zoro's fault." Sanji said as he pointed his finger at Zoro.
"No, just your fault." Zoro said as Usopp looked up at Luffy.
"Luffy...you're here."
"Yep. I sure am." he said with a smile.
"I'm here too." Sanji said. Usopp got up and in his face as he started threatening to kill him. "Hey, a full recovery."
"SHUT UP!" Usopp shouted.
"By the way, we heard Nami faked your death." Zoro said in a bored tone.
"Huh?" Usopp said as he blinked at that. "Oh yeah. Something strange is happening on this isl- what's he doing here?!" Usopp said he now noticed and pointed at Gin.
"Finally realized I was here huh?" Gin said.
"Now that you mention it, why are you here?" Zoro asked.
"I asked him to join us." Luffy said, earning confused looks from both of them. After a quick explanation, they both still stared.
"So you asked him to join?" Usopp said.
"Yeah. He's heading to the Grand Line as well, so why not?" Luffy said.
"Getting back to the matter at hand," Zoro said. "What are we going to do about Nami? She doesn't seem to wanna leave for some reason."
"Why is she working for some fishmen anyway?" Yosaku asked.
"Not that it's any of your business," someone said. Everyone looked up the hill to see Nojiko looking at them all. "But Nami's got a good reason as to why she's working for them."
"Who's that?" Johnny asked.
"Nojiko!" Usopp said.
"Who?"
"Nami's big sister."
"No wonder she's hot!" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes. Nojiko looked at them all with slight annoyance and curiosity.
"Which one of you is Luffy?" she asked.
"I'm Luffy. Hi." he said.
'So that's Luffy huh?' Nojiko thought. 'He doesn't look like he can fight, but he is cute.'
"What do you want with us?" Gin asked.
"Hey. Have a little grace when addressing a lady." Sanji said as he took a puff of his smoke.
"But he does have a point." Zoro said. "Is there something you need?"
"I need you all to leave Nami alone." Nojiko said. "If you're curious about why she's working for them, I'll tell you. But if that doesn't get you to leave, I don't know what will." While some were curious, Luffy already knew.
"I know why, so I'll pass." he said as he walked up the hill.
"Where you going?" Usopp shouted.
"Just a walk." he answered back as he kept walking. As he did, Nojiko explained to the others about Nami's past, why she acts the way she does, and her deal with Arlong. To buy the village from him with one payment of 100,000,000 berris. As they talked, Luffy kept on walking until he spotted three fishmen walking his way. He was ready to say hi to Hachi, but saw that he was with Kuroobi and Chu, each with smug smiles on their faces. "Oh yeah, he's still a bad guy here." he said before he kept walking right past them.
"Hey you!" Hachi shouted.
"Me?" Luffy asked after he took a few more steps.
"Yeah you! Who are you and why are you here?"
"Why do you care?" he asked.
"It's...uh...well...we don't get many visitors." Hachi said after thinking a bit.
"I'm Luffy. I'm just going for a walk."
"A walk?!" Hachi said before he pulled out six hankys and waved them at Luffy. "Well, have a nice walk then."
"Hey asshole! Where you going?" Kuroobi barked.
"Don't know. Just a walk." Luffy said before he went walking again. While the fishmen were talking about how he wasn't afraid of them, Nojiko finished her story.
"Do you understand now?" she asked.
"So that's why she did all that." Usopp said. Sanji was all for kicking the fishmens asses, but was knocked to the ground by Nojiko.
"NO! If you attack them, they'll kill us. If Arlong thinks you're friends with Nami, then they'll get suspicious of her and everything she's done will have been for nothing. Please, just leave the island. Nothing is more difficult for Nami...then for others to call her friend."
()()()()
Back in Cocoyashi Village, a group of marines were walking through being led by a marine captain.
"Excuse me, I'm Captain Nezumi, head of the Marines 16th Branch." said the rat looking captain.
"My name is Genzo. Are you in need of our assistance?" Genzo asked.
"Yes. I need you to take me to see a woman named Nami." the Captain said with a smile.
()()()()
"Just 7 million more berris." Nami said. "Then I can buy the village from Arlong. Then...everyone can finally smile from the heart again." She sighed with a smile as she looked outside before chuckling. "Maybe Luffy might help." She couldn't help but have her mind wander to that rubber idiot.
()()()()
Luffy was walking through Cocoyashi Village until he spotted Genzo leading a group of marines through the village.
"You mind telling me what your business is with Nami?" Genzo asked.
"That need not concern you. Just take me there." Nezumi said as they walked right past Luffy and into a space between some houses. Luffy watched as they all left.
"That pinwheel is still cool." he said. He was about to continue on, but stopped in mid-step. "Wait...didn't something happen afterwards?" He thought for a moment before it dawned on him. "Oh yeah. Those marines..." was all he said before he disappeared.
()()()()
"Well, time to go on one last voyage." Nami said as she walked outside her home. She stopped when she saw Genzo and a group of marines approach her. "What?"
"I'm Nezumi. Captain of the Marines 16th Branch. I'm here about your thievery."
"Thievery?" Nami said before she crossed her arms. "Well I am a pirate, but I'm with Arlong's crew. Try anything here and Arlong won't let it slide."
"Well, this is news to me." Nezumi said. "I've recieved no information of you with pirates. I'm here on other business."
"Hi Nami." Luffy said from behind the group. Everyone looked to see him grinning and waving. "Nice tangerine grove."
"Who are you?" Nezumi asked.
"Luffy?" Nami said. "What are you doing here?"
"I was taking a walk and followed these guys. That's all." Luffy said.
"Anyway, back to business." Nezumi said. "I heard that you've been stealing from pirates. Since the victims are pirates, I won't hold any charges against you. However, stealing is stealing. As such, it is our job as marines to return all stolen articles to their rightful owner."
"Wait...what?" Nami said in shock.
"In short, all the money you've stolen is to be handed over to me immediately." Nezumi said with a creepy grin. "Search the house."
"Yes sir." replied the marines as they went into Nami's house, despite her protests.
"Arlong has killed many people and taken over many towns, yet you ignore him and come after one petty thief?!" Nami screamed
"Is that any way a petty thief should talk to a Marine Officer?" Nezumi said.
"Sir, nothing in the house, but these orchards look suspiscious." one of the marines said.
"Dig up the fields." Nezumi ordered.
"STAY AWAY FROM BELLEMERE'S TANGERINE TREES!" Nami shouted as she attacked some marines with her staff. "That money isn't for you! It's for-"
"It's to save all our lives here at the village!" Genzo finished for Nami, startling her.
"You...you knew Genzo?" she asked.
"Everyone knew Nami. After you joined Arlong, none of us could believe it. So we asked Nojiko and she told us about your deal."
"Then why didn't you say anything?!" Nami said.
"If you knew that we knew, we feared it would be too much to take. We thought you've feel to obligated to help us in case you wanted to run, so we kept our mouths shut about everything."
"Genzo." Nami said in a quiet voice.
"If that's true, then should I arrest the whole village for harboring a thief?" Nezumi asked with a grin.
"We decided to fight for ourselves since it was useless to put our hopes on you clowns." Nojiko said as she appeared. "If you're not here to arrest Arlong, then get lost!"
"Pretty bold to be talking to me like that." Nezumi said as he turned to his men. "What's taking so long to find it? It's 100,000,000 berris for crying out loud!" This shocked Nami, Genzo, and Nojiko.
"How did you know it was that much?!" Genzo shouted.
"The amount? Lucky guess." Nezumi said. Nami froze as Arlong's horrible laugh came to her mind.
'Arlong?!' she thought. "Arlong sent you here, didn't he?!" she screamed.
"Arlong? What makes you say that?" Nezumi said with a sinister grin that said all that was needed. Before anyone could say anything else, all the marines except Nezumi fell to the ground out cold. "Wha-What happened?!" Nezumi said as he looked at all his fallen men. "What are you all doi-" was what he said before a fist was shoved into his gut. Nezumi was stunned before he fell to his knees and passed out.
"That guy was getting on my nerves." Luffy said as he turned to the stunned three.
"Who...who are you?" Genzo said.
"Monkey D. Luffy. Pirate." Luffy said with a grin. While Genzo and Nojiko just stared at the scene before them, Nami was trembling where she stood before she took off.
'Arlong! Arlong! ARLONG!'
()()()()
"ARLONG!"
"Ah, my trusted navigator. Something wrong?" Arlong asked.
"The marines just came to my house to steal my money! What's going on?!" she said as she walked up to him.
"The marines huh? That's a shame."
"Cut the crap!" she said as she grabbed him by his shirt. "What about our deal? You said you'd rather die than break a deal involving money, didn't you?!"
"That's right. And have I broken my promise?" he asked.
"Don't lie to me! You sent-" Nami said before Arlong grabbed her face, covering her mouth with his hand as he glared at her with a grin.
"Have I broken my promise?" he said. "If the marines took your money, that's too bad. Until you pay me the full sum in one go, I won't let you or your village go."
'You monster!' Nami thought as tears ran down her face.
"What's wrong Nami? Thinking of running away? Of course, if you try that, I'll kill everyone in the village." he said with a laugh as he let her go. Nami just glared at him before she ran off with tears in her eyes.
"Nice plan Arlong." Chew said.
"Of course. I'm not letting her go until she makes a map of everywhere." Arlong said.
"Too bad it'll take decades." Chew said before they all started laughing.
()()()()
While this was happening, Johhny and Yosaku were walking towards Arlong Park. They heard Nami's story and were ready to fight Arlong for her.
"There it is." Johnny said as he spotted the Arlong Park in the distance. "Time to kick that fishman's ass."
"Right behind you partner!" Yosaku said. They both glared at the building before he stopped. "By the way..." he said.
"What?" Johnny asked when he noticed Yosaku stopped walking. Yosaku kept his eyes on the ground before he looked back at Johnny.
"On the way here to this Island, Big Bro Luffy asked something crazy." he said.
-Flashback-
Mohmoo was still pulling the boat in the direction of the island as Luffy, Gin, Sanji, and Yosaku were holding on.
"Hey Yosaku." Luffy said.
"Yeah Big Bro?"
"You and Johnny wanna join my crew?" he asked.
"Huh?!" Yosaku said as he stared at Luffy like he grew an extra head.
"I'm looking for crewmates, and you and Johnny are cool. So what do you say?"
-Flashback ends-
"He asked if we wanted to join his crew?" Johnny asked in disbelief. "Doesn't he know we're pirate hunters?"
"He does, but he still wants us to join. Crazy huh?" Yosaku said.
"I'll say." Johnny said before they both laughed until they were just outside the gate. "We're here."
"Right." Yosaku said. He and Johnny both had their swords out before they both took a deep breath.
"WE'VE COME FOR THE HEAD OF ARLONG!"
I'm cutting the chapter here. Sorry if it sounds off.