"Isn't that something," Nami smirked as she looked at the Marine colonel. "I can see that you're very passionate about your duties. You won't bring a brutal gang of pirates to justice, but you will shake down a lonely sneak theif. That's so very noble." "I'm only going to warn you once, I'm one of the leaders of the Arlong Pirates. If you mess with me, Arlong won't sit by quietly." The Marine colonel snickered.
"Silly girl, who do you think I am? Do you honestly think that you can intimidate me?" He smirked and turned to his soldiers. "FIND THE STOLEN GOODS!" The soldiers did as they were told and started to search around.
"Don't look!" Nami shouted at them. "I SAID STOP!" She smacked one down as he was heading over towards the orchard. Nami glared back at the colonel. "Do you really think this is what the Marines should be doing now?! The Arlong Pirates are murdering, they've destroyed an entire city, and you're doing nothing! He's ruling over this island and trampling over people's lives! You ignore Arlong's atrocities to go steal from a thief?! Is that what you stand for?!"
"Big talk from a filthy criminal," he ignored her and nodded to his soldiers. "Continue the search men!"
"Every person on this island has been waiting for the Marines to come and help them for years! How dare you cost them 10 years by searching for money!" Nami shouted at him.
"Sir, this tangerine orchard seems a little suspicious." one of the soldiers called out. Nami's eyes widen in horror.
"Dig it up!" The colonel shouted. "The whole thing if need be."
Nami charged at the soldiers as they started to dig around in the orchard, striking several men down with her staff.
"You keep your filthy hands off of Bellemere's tangerine orchard!" she shouted as she knocked one soldier down on the ground. "I won't let you take my money! That money is for...is for!-"
"That poor girl's money is meant to save Cocoyashi Village!" Genso said. "What gives you the right to take our salvation away from her?! Damn you!"
"My, my, a mere village representative talking out to an Marine colonel, how bold." the colonel smirked and turned to him. Nami stood up, looking at Genso, shocked by what he had said.
"Genso, how did you know about that?" she asked.
"I've always known, Nami." Genso said to her. Nami's eyes widen a little more surprised. "Couldn't believe what you have done. So I confronted Nojiko about it later. Since then, everyone has known that you stayed with the Arlong Pirates so that you can save the village. But, we all agreed that we never tell you that we knew. If you ever thought the village is placing their hopes on you, you might never leave his gang for fear of letting us down."
"That can't be..." Nami whispered, softly.
"Now hold on a minute, just what are you trying to say then? Are you telling me that the village is thieves? And that we should arrest every one of them? Is that what you're saying?" The colonel asked.
"What he's saying is that every last one of us is fighting to survive!" Nojiko shouted. Everyone saw her walking up to them. "We have to fend for ourselves because we can't rely on support of you government people! So if you're not going to protect our village, then get the hell out of here and be quick about it or Arlong will sink your ship too!"
"Arlong will? I wouldn't be so sure," the colonel snickered, wickedly. He looked back over to his men that were still searching around in the orchard. "You still haven't found it?! We're looking for a hundred million belis here, not a grain of rice!" Geno's eyes widened in shock as did Nami's.
"Hey you! How do you know how much there is?" Genso demanded, narrowing his eyes at the colonel.
"Oh, I don't know. I just have a hunch that that's the amount that we're looking for." the colonel replied as he shrugged his hands.
"It was him." Nami's eyes widen in realization and her mouth dropped slightly, completely stunned. "Tell me! It was Arlong that sent you, wasn't it?!"
"Of course not. I wouldn't do a pirate's dirty work that'd be wrong. I'm just a public servant dealing with theft the way any government work." the colonel said.
"You polygamist scum bag!" Genso growled, angrily.
"The Marines are nothing but pirate cronies!" Nojiko shouted as well.
Nami clenched her fists, gritting her teeth in disbelief. Arlong! He had betrayed her after he had given her his word that he would free her and her village. He had broken his promise!
"Hey, I've found it!" one of the soldiers called out. Nami's eyes widen. The colonel smirked and headed over to his men who were standing in front of a casket that they had dug up from the ground. Inside of it, was a mountain of treasure as well as money, of Nami's hard work of stealing it over the years.
"Incredible, I just say that I'm impressed. You gathered this much treasure." the colonel murmured as he stared in surprise at how much there was. He bent down picking up some of the money.
"The money's all ragged and bloodied." one of the soldiers commented.
"No matter, money is money." the colonel replied to him. Nami slowly began to walk over to them.
"Don't touch that...don't touch that."
"Nami!" Nojiko shouted out to her, running after her as well as Genso.
"Stop it! Don't touch that!" Nami shouted as she charged at the colonel and his men, her staff ready to strike. "BACK OFF!" The colonel stood up and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Nami. Nojiko quickly jumped in front of Nami, while Genso grabbed the woman from behind, holding her back.
"Nami...!-" Nojiko tried to calm her down when a shot was fired. Nami's eyes widen in horror as she saw her sister fall back and collapsed onto the ground. Nami tried to keep her awake as she shook her. Her eyes widen as she saw blood coming from Nojiko's shoulder from the gun shot. Genso was completely in shock and in "Nojiko! Nojiko!"
Back in the village, Luffy was sitting underneath of a tree. "A pin wheel, huh?" he murmured as the thought to himself and grinned. "I just thought up a new move!"
"Doctor! Doctor!" He looked up and saw a crowd of the villagers as they were standing around, as well as Genso as he held Nojiko.
"Genso, what is it?!" the doctor ran over to them.
"Nojiko's been shot!" Genso told him.
"By who?!" the doctor questioned.
"The Marines." Genso frowned as he gritted his teeth.
"The Marines?!" the doctor's eyes widen as did the villagers, shocked by the news.
"Arlong has been working with those damn Marines." Genso explained to them.
"What?!" one of the villagers shouted.
"He's been lying to Nami for the last eight years. He never intended to honor their agreement at all." Genso told them.
"That bastard!" one of the villagers growled, angrily.
"Oh no, that means..." a woman murmured in shock as well.
"That scoundrel! He lied to our Nami!" Another villager shouted enraged as well.
"Nami..." Luffy whispered as he saw her walking up to the villagers. He grinned and ran over to her. "Hey Nami! What's up, need help with anything?!"
Nami growled and snapped her head, glaring at him. "Why are you still here?!" she shouted at Luffy and shoved him aside. "STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS! JUST GET AWAY FROM FROM OUR ISLAND!" She ran off leaving the village heading towards Arlong Park.
Arlong! Arlong! ARLONG! "ARLONG!"
"What's her problem? She's worse than Aya when she's angry." Luffy grumbled as he sat back down under the tree, crossing his arms, pouting.
Nami stopped at the gates of the compound and slammed open the door, walking inside.
"ARLONG!"
"What seems to be the problem, oh skilled surveyor of ours? Why the sour face?" the fishman captain smirked as he watched her walk up, as did his crew.
"Those Marine maggots,you keep on the payroll, stole every last beli I've had!" Nami shouted. "What happened to all of that crap about dying before you ever break a promise that comes to money, BASTARD!" she grabbed Arlong by the collar of his shirt, shaking it, enraged. "You traitor!"
"Refresh my memory, did I break a promise?" Arlong asked.
"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! I KNOW THAT YOU SENT THE MARINES!-" Arlong grabbed Nami by her neck, lifting her up.
"Just when did I break that promise?" he smirked, evilly. "Speak up, girl."
"Damn you...damn you...damn you!" Nami cried.
"To bad all of your stolen money got stolen, that certainly is unfortunate." Arlong said as he place her back down. He kept his fist underneath Nami's chin, making her look at him. "But, a deal is a deal, Nami. If you can't come up with one hundred million belis then both you and your village stay in my possession indefinitely. Well, you know the terms."
"You pig!"
"It's only one hundred million belis! Start saving up again and you'll have it in no time!" Arlong laughed. "Or are you going to run out on me? Listen, if you do that then I'll kill every one in that village, do you understand me?" Nami's eyes widen and she slapped Arlong's hand away, running off, leaving the Park. "Aw, running away so soon?"
"Shouldn't we chase after her?" Hatchi asked.
"No need for that. Trust me, Hatchi, she's not going anywhere. There's no way Nami would just abandon the lives of all those villagers." Arlong told him.
"Now, that's what I call playing dirty." one of the fishmen replied.
"There's no way that I'd let go of an asset like Nami that easily. I may be cruel but I'm not totally heartless. Once she's done charting all the world's oceans, she'll have her freedom."
"Alright, let's go meet up with Luffy as soon as possible!" Usopp said as he stretched his arms. He looked over and saw Sanji sitting down on the ground, smoking his cigarette. "Hey Sanji, what are you doing?"
"I'm appreciating happiness." Sanji said.
"What are you talking about?" Usopp asked, confused.
"Nami has had to live with way more suffering than any normal person. Right now, I'm making a lot of good vibes so I can send them her way. Isn't that great?" Sanji told him.
"I bet that's not all your thinking about, love cook." Usopp murmured as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sanji.
"I'm trying to fight for a beautiful person, is something wrong with that?" the cook replied.
"That's not right at all!" Usopp shouted at him. "This is supposed to be for Nami and all of the villagers!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Sanji brushed him off, standing up. Zoro stood up, starting to walk away.
"Quit bickering, let's go."he told the two.
"Hey where's Aya?" Usopp asked, noticing that she wasn't anywhere around.
"She already left right after love cook over here started talking about mushy nonsense." Zoro explained. Without hesitation, Sanji immediately sprinted off as he ran down the dirt path, that was heading towards the village. He saw Aya about half way down and smiled happily.
"Wait for me, my dear Aya! Your Sanji-kun is right behind you!" he called out to her, with hearts in his eyes.
"Go away!" Aya shouted at him. Usopp and Zoro watched, not too far back.
"What an idiot..." Usopp replied. Zoro slapped him on his back and started to follow after them.
"An idiot in love. Come on, let's go."
Back in the village, the villagers were getting ready to storm the park.
"We've had enough. Take up arms. It's time to fight!" Genso told them, as they held weapons in their hands. Nami ran quickly as she tried to head back to the village to stop them.
Genso! Please don't do anything stupid! We have to live or our struggles will be for nothing! You can't throw your lives away!
"Eight long years ago, we promised that we wouldn't live our lives in vain! No matter the pain and humiliation we've endured under Arlong. We swore to fight the long fight so Nami could meet their demands. But, they lied! They never intended to keep their end of the deal. Instead, they stole our only chance of freedom. So now, we should make those filthy fishmen pay for the years they manipulated that kind young girl, am I right?!" Genso asked them.
"Yeah! Let's do this!" A villager shouted.
"We're always ready to fight those monsters!" Another one shouted.
"Everybody wait!" Nami shouted out. They turned around as saw her walking over to them.
"Nami!" Nojiko called out to her.
"Calm down, it's not that much money. I can make it back in no time." Nami smiled as she stopped in front of them. "I'll take care of it, don't worry. It'll be easy this time! I'm used to it. I'll be fine! Just relax, everything's okay! Hey, it's nothing compared to backs then. Come on everyone, I'm perfectly fine."
Genso stepped up, standing in front of her then pulled Nami to him, hugging her. Nami's eyes widened in surprise.
"You've done enough. You have to know that there's no point now. You struggled so hard carrying our lives on your back this whole time. I can only imagine that joining them must have been more painful like being stabbed to the heart. You've fought bravely."
"Genso..." Nami whispered as tears were starting to form in her eyes. She stepped away from him, looking at her sister and the villagers, who had determined looks on their faces.
"Set yourself free from this village." one of the villagers told her.
"Genso!" Nami shook her head.
"Nami, do it." Her sister said to her.
"What, Nojiko?!" Nami asked, shocked. She shouldn't be moving at all! She was still injured! If she fought Arlong and his crew, she was going to die! She was in no shape to fight, neither of them were!
"You are an exceptionally young woman and you have a dream." Nojiko told her.
"Everyone, listen! I won't let you go!" Nami stood in front of them, her arms stretched out, stopping them from leaving the village. She pulled out her knife holding it in front of them. "Just stay right there! I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt by these monsters! You'll all die..."
"Nami..." Genso whispered.
"Nami, it's no use. We've made up our minds!" one of the villagers said to her.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Genso stepped over to her and grabbed the knife, ripping it out of Nami's hands. He turned back towards the group. "Move out! We may not win but we will give 'em hell!" Nami watched, completely hopeless as she saw them ran past her, heading towards the park. She feel to her knees, hearing Arlong's laugh taunting at her in her mind. She gripped Arlong's tattoo on her left arm, tightly. Nami bit her lips angrily and she looked over at the knife on the ground, picking it up. She began to repeatedly stab it in a frenzy. Blood flowed down from her wound, falling onto the ground.
"Arlong! Arlong! Arlong!" A hand shot out gripping her by her wrist, stopping her. Nami's eyes widen and she turned her head to see that it was Luffy. He silently stared back down at her, not saying a word. The knife slipped from Nami's hands falling on the ground. Luffy let her wrist go and Nami stared back at the ground, refusing to look at him.
"Luffy..." she said, quietly. "What do you want? You don't know anything about this. You don't know what's been happening on this island for the past eight years."
"Nope, I don't." Luffy replied.
"This has nothing to do with you. I told you to leave this place," Nami said to him.
"Yep, you sure did." Luffy answered him. Nami started to grow more annoyed. Why? Why wouldn't he just leave!? Why would he just leave her alone!
"So leave! I told you to leave! Get out of here! Get out of here now! Go! Go away! Go! Go..." she grabbed some dirt and started to throw it at him, still not looking at him. Tears were slowly starting to fall from her eyes, running down her cheeks. Then Nami slowly began to realize as she felt her heart getting tighter. He came for her and he wasn't going to leave without her. He was dead determined to do so. Nami slowly turned to Luffy, seeing him still standing behind her, waiting.
"Luffy, help me."
Luffy slowly reached up and took off his hat, placing it on top of Nami. Nami's eyes widen in shock. He trusted her with his most prized possession. He trusted her. "Of course, that's what friends do." Luffy said as he took in a deep breath. "HE'S GONNA PAAAAAY!"
"Luffy..." Nami cried as she covered her mouth. Luffy turned turned and started to walk away. Nami's eyes widen as she saw Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Aya who were nearby, waiting.
"Let's go." Luffy told them. All three stood up, walking with him, heading to the park.
"Right!"
At the gates, the villagers were being held back by Johnny and Yosaku, who were completely beaten up and bloodied as if they were in a fight.
"Hey are you guys alright?!" Genso asked them.
"Did Arlong do this to you? Move aside!" one of the villagers told the two bounty hunters. "We have business to take care of with the fishmen!"
"When we finally found out the truth about big sis Nami, we realized that the only thing that we could do was defeat Arlong in battle. So we decided to come back here and challenge him." Johnny explained to them.
"Yeah, we lost. But, only by a hair." Yosaku said.
"I'm sorry, but I can't Let you through this door." Johnny replied. "You have no chance of victory."
"What's that?" Genso asked, surprised.
"Be patient! It won't be long now, you see, we're waiting for the arrival of certain group." Yosaku urged them.
"What certain group?" Genso asked, confused.
"Don't worry, they'll be here soon. I bet my life on it!" Johnny said.
"There they are!" Yosaku shouted. The villagers turned around and saw Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Aya walking down the path to the park.
"It's them." Genso replied.
"Why would they come to defend our village?" one of the villagers asked.
"If those guys can't handle Arlong and his gang then there really is no hope. Not only for this island, but for the whole East Blue." Johnny said.
"Those are the faces of the five people who are going to change your destiny!" Yosaku said as well. "Burn their images into your memory."
The crew stopped in front of the gates and Luffy stepped up.
"Step aside!" He told the villagers then walked right up to the doors.
Arlong and his crew were still inside, talking to each other.
"Hey, do you think those two idiots that showed up earlier were in Zoro's little crew?" one of his commanders asked him.
"Zoro? They seem too weak for that. They weren't even worth killing." Arlong said.
"That's for sure!" one of the fishmen agreed. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, making the pirates turn towards the doors. The doors were completely demolished as they watched in shock to see Luffy and Aya, standing in front of the entrance with Zoro, Usopp and Sanji behind them as well as the villagers.
"Huh? What the!-" Arlong's eyes widen in shock. Luffy and Aya stepped inside, looking at each of the fishmen with a dark look in their eyes, determined.
"Now, which one of you is Arlong?!" Luffy demanded.
