I don't own Naruto or One Piece. If I did I would sleep on a bed of money...actually never mind I don't want to wake up in paper cuts everyday.
"Talk" Talking
'Think' Thinking
Author's Note: To Artjr, Uber Ghidorah, A random Guest, Hades the Scribe, domokid1993, Foxcomm, DCMatriXHunter you all got it right for the Eight Legged Freaks reference. I practically threw it in all your faces, even with the line from the movie. Good on you all who got it.
Second Author's Note: To the reviewer coldblue, while I appreciate your reviews, seriously dude I do appreciate them, but I cannot answer your questions unless you got an account.
Third Author's Note: To those who told me about the Den Den Mushi's I thank you for telling me how they are made, I honestly didn't know this. But I still have no idea how they gain the characteristics for their owners, I mean it's not like they got tiny clothing for them that would be too weird.
Fourth Author's Note: Now for those who have complained about Robin using skills she showed only in Enes Lobby...come on now. She had had that damn devil fruit power of hers for twenty years, she must have known or created such techniques during that time span. For example Cien Fleur: Wing has been only used once, hell these characters have only used techniques once or sometimes twice in the series and then never again. That is bullshit in my opinion, why work your ass off to create one technique only to never use it again? So Robin used Cien Fleur: Wing last chapter because she should have known it by then and ought to have used it at her own convenience. As for not having a mount; come on people, the one she used in Alabasta was obviously nearby, I don't want have to write out every single fucking detail for you all do I?
All right that's all I got, enjoy folks!
The fight Ace and I had could only be described in one word: Epic.
I first tried cutting him in half with Saibannin Kayiouumi; my anchor axe...it kinda worked. I separated his torso from his waist, only for both halves to turn into fire, and reattach themselves. It turns out he ate a devil fruit called the Flare-Flare Fruit, a Logia-type devil fruit; something I should have learned by then, but unfortunately learned much later from one of my crew mates, but I'll get to that later.
It was a classic water vs fire battle. Steam engulfed this small, deserted island we used to have our fight. I couldn't hit him, not really, but he couldn't hit me either. I was too nimble. But he eventually got me. He kicked me in the back, setting my vest on fire, giving me some minor burns that healed up at the time. But he made the mistake of sending me into the water.
I don't rightfully recall what happened next, but Jinbe said that I rose out of the sea like Poseidon himself, and commanded it like a God. I flooded the island, putting out the forest of trees that Ace set on fire earlier. Cockily, and full of swagger I walked back onto the island thinking I won. But Ace was not unconscious, he was depowered due to the water, but still willing to fight.
I am not going to lie, Ace hit hard. Very hard for a human, hell he knocked several of my teeth out. And the fight turned into a slugfest, we were just trying to beat the crap out of each other, it was like watching two massive whales fighting each other, both of equal size and strength, a literal deadlock. But as much as I wanted to win, Ace wanted it more. He and I exchanged our best techniques, me with my Whirlpool Breakthrough Fist, and Ace's Fire Fist.
The entire island was obliterated. The remaining trees were caught on fire and uprooted, the sand turned into glass, the water in the very ocean itself evaporated. Hell, Jinbe and the members of the Whitebeard Pirates said they were blinded by a white light.
I lost. Jinbe was the one who took both me, and Ace who fainted a few minutes later onto the ship where I was treated for four cracked ribs, some mild second degree burns on my back and shoulders, numerous bruises and cuts one my face and torso, and the loss of all but two of my teeth. The latter was fixed after I woke up, being a shark fishman kicks so much ass at times, at least I never have to see a dentist in my life, eh?
Ace busted his foot for kicking my back, got a few bruises and a few cracked bones. I wasn't mad though, if anything I felt relieved. I was doing too good and getting a swelled head, thinking I was invincible with my Fishman Karate Training, Hody Jones helping me out with Fishman Jujutsu, and extra training with Jinbe. At least this reality check did not cost me anything other than my pride and a week or two of recovery.
Jinbe however was ticked off, some of this stuff I never showed him before, and he feared that his training wasn't working out for me...I can totally understand that though, but he did not need to add a bump on my head to add to all my other injuries.
But I digress, after resting for a day, Ace and I departed. His added addition of one of my remaining teeth worn around his neck, and I having the same. I made a promise to myself to not lose again until we had a rematch, a promise I have kept to date so far.
When I arrived home things sort of spiraled out of control, Shirahoshi's birthday was coming up soon, I had yet to reach level forty in the dojo (A bullshit agreement I had no choice in making by the way, fucking guards!). Manboshi and Ryuboshi actually pulled some strings for a test to be held for me since I showed I was above the level I was at. It was a chance of a lifetime.
So I took it, and I do not regret it even now.
Naruto honestly couldn't believe his rotten luck. So far the entire day had been nothing but a gigantic fuck you to him. First he was attacked by Mr. 6 and Miss Mother's Day, granted it turned out well for him, but it was a mighty inconvenience. Then the desert, the fucking desert nearly killed him with its heat, and then the giant spiders, and the giant scorpions, then they were ambushed by the Baroque Works again. The only silver lining was Miss All-Sunday handing them precious canteens of water, a detailed map of Alabasta, and the promise of a treasure map after their business in the country was finished.
But then his crew, or at least the ones that were with him threw a bitchfit that he didn't mention he met the Second-in-Command for the organization they were fighting against. And now they were giving him either the silent treatment, or the cold shoulder. All because he did not mention something that was so minuscule that it wasn't even remotely important.
Well fuck them. He did not need to explain himself.
And to top it all off he ran into his least favorite pirate crew of all time...well at least to date at least, especially their orange-haired Navigator and clueless Captain. However Vivi was the last person he wanted to see. After the way he brushed her off on Whiskey Peak, even though it was just, a part of him did feel bad for doing so, the worst part was he would have went through with it if it wasn't for Igaram.
But there she was, dressed in a dark blue cloak that covered her body from the scorching desert sun. Looking at him warmly to the point he felt ashamed of himself, she moved from her spot, easily swerving and side stepping the people in the room before stopping in front of him.
"I knew you would come." Vivi said to him as a smile appeared on her face. "I just knew it."
"I kinda had a change of heart after leaving Whiskey Peak. Plus...well I guess that doesn't matter now, does it?" Naruto said, unable to look her fully in the eyes.
"No, but I'm still glad you're here. We're going to need everyone to take down Crocodile." The Princess said before turning towards Toto. "I'm sorry Toto, where are my manners? This is Uzumaki Naruto, he is the boy who stopped Wapol all those years ago."
"Truly?" The older man asked in surprise. His knees buckled a bit before falling onto both hands and knees, tears of gratitude falling from his eyes. "Thank you! If the Princess was...I don't know what I would do. She's like a daughter to me!"
"Please stop...seriously, it's not that big of a deal." Naruto said, showing clear discomfort in the fact that his dirty laundry was being aired out in front of everyone. Instead he gestured towards Shizune for some sort of distraction. "Ahem, anyways, everyone please meet Shizune. She is the doctor of the ship and saved Gin's life."
"A doctor!?" The toddler-sized reindeer piped up and trotted on over to the kimono-wearing woman. He looked up at her with a star struck gaze. Naruto found him odd to say the least, he had never seen something so small with brown fur, antlers sticking out of a large pink fuzzy top hat with a sideways medical cross; though it looked like his left antler was braced for some odd reason. His cute blue nose twitched as he adjusted a blue backpack that has the same cross in the back of it as his hat. Attire-wise he wore a white shirt with a green-lined collar, then a bigger one with giant sleeves that was light blue with dark blue liners.
Shizune gave the small reindeer a pleasant smile and leaned over to greet him. "Hello there little one, are you injured in some way?"
"What? No! If I was injured I would treat myself, because I am a doctor too!" He proclaimed, causing many in Naruto's crew to look at him oddly.
"I find that hard to believe, you're a tanuki." Gin dully stated.
Bashura raised his tattooed eyebrow and looked at the First Mate. "Gin, how many tanuki's do you know with Antlers?"
"That's right! I am a reindeer!" He then turned towards Bashura to thank him, only for his eyes to comically widen, and his nose to twitch, smelling a predator stench on him. "Ahh! A predator!" He then looked at Gin, and seeing the scary look in his eyes he screamed out in terror again and hid behind Sanji. Or what they thought was his version of hiding since his body was seventy-five percent exposed towards them all. "Ahh! A ghoul!"
"Calm down Chopper, that's just Gin and Bashura." The blonde chef said before taking his meal off the fire. "It's not their fault they're scary-looking."
While being visibly offended at being insulted, Luffy snapped out of his vacant look and turned towards Naruto, almost hitting him with his shovel by mistake. "Oh right, shark man! I remember you now!"
"Hooray for me." Naruto dryly said while he held in a cough.
"Am I the only one who caught what Vivi said. Naruto saved her from Wapol some years back. What's that about?" Zoro finally said.
"Yea, how do you know each other?" Nami asked with Usopp nodding in agreement.
"I am curious about that myself." Gin said, leveling a suspicious look at Naruto.
"That is not my story to tell, and frankly none of your damn business." Naruto replied with a scowl on his face. He walked past Vivi and past the rest of the members of the Straw Hat Pirates. "If you want to know, ask Vivi, I'm going to bed."
There were some protests, but Naruto didn't hear any of it. He was too irritated, and exhausted to put up with anymore nonsense. Picking out a room that was the furthest away from them, he slammed the door shut and immediately collapsed onto his knees, harshly coughing until he couldn't anymore.
Resting his forehead on the cool stone surface, Naruto harshly panted until he could get his breathing under control. With a pair of shaking hands he took up his canteen and drowned three large gulps of it, and splashed his gills with a handful. That spared him for agony after a few minutes, causing him to sigh out in relief.
"I fucking hate the desert."
(Rainbase – Meanwhile)
Out of all the cities in Alabasta, Rainbase did not seem to be affected by the drought in any shape or form. It was a thriving city where the buildings were clean, water was abundant, and the citizens were content with their lives.
In the middle of the town was a large building shaped like a very large pyramid. There was a giant golden crocodile head at the top, and golden paws at the very bottom. The entire pyramid was patterned in blue and gold stripes, only giving space for windows at the very top and bottom of the building while the grand entrance was made of marble with a stairway leading into the giant building with a big bold sign simply labeled as Rainbase.
The interior was just as grand as the exterior. The building was a luxury restaurant, hotel, and casino all combined into one. The place was very well lit and ornately decorated, and filled to the brim with all you can eat buffets, slot machines, craps, and blackjack tables this made Rain Dinners a very popular tourist attraction.
However unknown to the gamblers and all of Alabasta there was a basement below the restaurant where Crocodile conducted his operations. It was a large room several stories below the main building. Made out of a blue stone and was connected to the river, where several bananawani crocodiles he kept as pets resided to eliminate people he no longer needed.
Crocodile himself was a tall man with a wide chest, broad shoulders, muscular arms and legs, and a thick neck. He had pale skin and nape-length black hair which he kept neatly slicked back. His most noticeable feature was a long stitched scar at the bridge of his nose that stretched across his face and a large hook made from tough gold alloy in place of his left hand, and in his mouth was an always lit cigar. Attire-wise he wore a single gold hoop earring in his right ear, and several golden rings with different colored gemstones on every finger except the ring finger, a bright orange, black-striped button up vest over a long-sleeve peach shirt, along with a blue scarf, dark brown suit pants, and polished black shoes with gold buckles. He also wore a long, thick, dark green, gray pelted fur coat over his shoulders.
The door of the basement opened, and Crocodile already knew exactly who it was, because only two people held the keys to this room. That would be him, and his partner Miss All-Sunday. "So is the deed done?" He asked her in a sophisticated voice.
"I'm sorry Mr. 0, but I arrived only to see the aftermath. Mr. 10 and Miss Tuesday got cocky and attacked before I arrived." Miss All-Sunday said with a sad smile. "I found only the remains of the Explosion Corps, and them half buried in the sand. I don't know who did the deed though." She smoothly lied.
"Pity, that's another group that I can't easily replace. Remind me again how many have we lost so far?" Crocodile casually asked.
"Mr. 5 is still in critical condition and Miss Valentine is inactive until he has fully recovered. We lost all contact with Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek on Little Garden; I suspect they are no longer among the living. Mr. 6, Miss Mother's Day, Mr. 10, Miss Tuesday, and Mr. 11 are deceased. Miss Thursday appears to have deserted the organization as have Mr. 9 and Miss Monday. I don't think I need to mention the status of Mr. 8 and Miss Wednesday now do I?" Miss All-Sunday replied, coldly stating the loss of so many of their Frontier and Officer Agents.
Exhaling a large amount of smoke from his mouth, Crocodile sighed in annoyance. "So that leaves us with five teams, six if you include us, or seven if you include the Unluckies. What about our Millions and Billions members?"
"Despite some losses on the shores of Alabasta, and the Explosion Corps in the desert we still have enough to rival the Royal Guards, not to mention the moles you have in both the rebels and the capital."
"Hmph, it will have to do. Miss All-Sunday, gather the remaining teams and bring them to me."
"Personally?" Miss All-Sunday barely hid the surprise from her face. Crocodile kept his identity a secret from everyone in the organization for years, it even took two years of her life to get him to trust her enough to see his actual face. So why reveal himself now?
"Personally. I think it's time for my employees to see their boss's face. And to see exactly what I am paying them for." Crocodile said with a light smirk on his face. He then turned away from her signaling that the meeting was over. He then picked up a single piece of paper, and if anything his smirk widened. "Yuba huh?"
Miss All-Sunday retreated to make preparations to call in the remaining Baroque Works Agents. No one saw a small bead of sweat rolling down her face. 'Uzumaki Naruto, Straw Hat, I hope you can handle this.'
(Fishman Island - Ryugu Kingdom)
Shirahoshi was confused. Now this wasn't exactly abnormal considering her age and being blissfully ignorant about some things. But watching her brother interact with a group of humans with such hostility honestly caused her some worry. This was not the big brother who always took time out of his busy schedule to see her, eat with her and laugh with her, and even tell her such enticing stories. No, this was a very mean person impersonating him, it had to be.
"Madame Shyarly, what is going on?" She tearfully demanded. "Why is Naruto-onii-chan being such a meanie?"
Madame Shyarly unfortunately had her suspicions as to why her part-time helper was acting this way. The mental scars of what mankind did to his parents and Queen Otohime had still not healed, at least all the way she suspected. Apparently he tolerated them, but she must have missed something earlier to cause a rift between the three he was traveling with.
So not to cause the Princess any undue stress, the mako shark mermaid gave her a smile. "I think your brother just had a bad day is all."
"That can't be it, he had bad days before but...but..." Oh dear Neptune the water works were beginning to start, even Megalo was about to start floating for cover.
"Princess please calm down, it's probably due to...to...his lungs!" Madame Shyarly said, causing Shirahoshi to pause in mid-cry, and look at her in confusion. "He's a fishman who has never been in the desert before, didn't you see that he was having trouble breathing? It doesn't help that he is as red as a lobster. That can explain his attitude."
"Do you think he's hurting?" Shirahoshi asked with a cute tilt of her head.
"I think he's just not adjusting well to his environment. Allow me to keep an eye on him for you okay, and I will report anything I manage to see." Madame Shyarly said, keeping up her smile to hide the lie.
But it worked, and Shirahoshi immediately perked up and giggled happily, causing Megalo to sigh in relief. However before Shyarly could leave, Shirahoshi asked a question that stopped her in her tracks, if floating on a bubble was any indication. "Who was the blue-haired girl, and why did she look at my onii-chan that way?"
"I, uh...don't know who she is, but I think it was gratefulness. I'll find out soon, see you in a few days Princess." Madame Shyarly replied before pulling on a rope inside the Hard-Shell Tower to signal that she was ready to leave.
The massive doors opened and she left without a giant axe flying towards her. "Thank you boys, you're a credit to the guards."
"Ah don't mention it. It's our pleasure to protect and serve." Kotetsu said in a boastful manner.
"That's because you said this would be the easiest job with only a slight amount of danger." Izumo off-handily said, causing his partner to fall flat on his face.
"Dammit Izumo! Don't say that, I take my job seriously. Didn't you see how much of a badass I was taking out that axe?" The sawshark fishman barked at his partner.
"Oh yea, real badass throwing a weapon that can fly." The opposing goblin shark fishman said.
Madame Shyarly only chuckled in response to their bickering, normally she would have been angry at them using such vulgar language, but they weren't in her cafe, so she let it slide. Plus there wasn't even any heat in their voices while they argued like an old married couple, or a couple of friends who had been hanging out far too much. "Have fun boys, I need to return to my cafe."
"Ah, right. A moment please." Izumo said, stopping her from going a great distance. "While you were with the Princess, a guard came up to inform us that King Neptune required your presence."
"Really? What does he want with me?"
"I dunno, but it was important enough to concern you." Kotetsu shrugged his shoulders in reply.
"I won't keep him waiting then, thank you." Madame Shyarly then departed from the two fishmen, using her bubble chair to get to the throne room as fast as she could, though she had to admit she was getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. That was never a good sign, it happened when Fisher Tiger died, her half-brother Arlong departed from Fishman Island, and Queen Otohime's assassination. The problem was, even with her scrying abilities she couldn't predict what would happen. It could have been minutes afterwards, or hours, after she got that feeling, but she couldn't see it to prevent it.
Could it have been destiny that prevented her from seeing it? Then what did that mean for Naruto? She still remembered seeing his and the outlines of several other people with flames rising from behind them. She didn't know where the location was, she only recognized a few of them being from the people he was traveling with, at least their outlines matched up, but she couldn't tell who they were.
Some research was needed, this much she knew. But that would have to come later after her meeting with Neptune.
Upon arriving in the throne room, Madame Shyarly was greeted by Neptune sitting on his throne, but to her surprise Jinbe and Fukaboshi were there with him. All three had solemn expressions on their faces, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise up.
"King Neptune, Master Jinbe, Prince Fukaboshi." Madame Shyarly greeted them each with a respectful bow. "I was told you asked for me."
"This is true, Madame Shyarly I understand that you have been showing Shirahoshi images of Naruto, correct?" Neptune asked.
"For the past two weeks I managed to locate him, your highness." She replied with a respectful bow of her head. "He was traveling on ship with several humans, but he apparently hit land today on some desert area in the Grand Line."
"Desert area? He must be in Alabasta." Jinbe said after rubbing his chin for a few seconds. "I see now, the boy is taking the long way back home, something must have happened to the log poses I gave him."
"That answers one question, but not the many others." Fukaboshi slowly said. After his adoptive brother kicked his ass, he spent two months recovering from his injuries. His ribs healed up perfectly, there was no lasting damage on his skin, and they were finally able to unwire his jaw. He just had to take it easy in the talking or eating departments.
"Jinbe has given me some...depressing news." Neptune said and lowered his gaze on the piece of paper held in his hands.
When Madame Shyarly floated over to gaze at the piece of paper, her eyes widened in shock and her skin becoming white as a sheet. The picture showed the face of a tanned-skinned, spiky blond haired tiger shark fishman with blue eyes. He had whisker-like markings upon his cheeks, three barely visible gills on his neck, and had a vicious shark-like grin that showed his sharp teeth.
Wanted Dead or Alive
"Sword of the Sea" Uzumaki Naruto
$45,000,000 Beli
"This can't be real...Naruto...our Naruto is wanted by the World Government?" She asked in disbelief.
"This is real, and it's all my fault." Jinbe said before, further shocking her, getting on both hands and knees and bowing until his forehead touched the ground. "I sent him to take care of your half-brother Arlong. He took over an island and caused so much suffering because I was too weak to stop him from doing so ten years ago. I expected there to be a fight...I didn't expect it to be a slaughter. His entire crew is gone with only Hatchan's body being unaccounted for...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."
Madame Shyarly looked down at him with an unreadable expression. Arlong was dead? Killed by by Naruto of all people along with Chew, Kuroobi and many others. A part of her wanted to be furious, but truthfully she didn't feel anger towards Naruto, only sadness. Not because Arlong was dead, but because he dirtied his hands. She knew it would happen eventually, but deluded herself into thinking it could be put off forever.
"Master Jinbe." She placed her well manicured hand on the back of his head. "I forgive you for doing what needed to be done. Arlong...there was nothing more that could be done for him." She then looked at Neptune, her eyes shimmering sadly. "Is he even going to come home?"
"He's making his way, but he's making it difficult. Madame Shyarly, I would never ask this of you but...please keep an eye on my son for me. I want to know what he's getting himself into." Neptune said, gazing at her crystal ball. "Can you do this for me?"
"I can your Majesty."
(Alabasta – The Next Day)
Hearing a loud knocking sound, Naruto irritably groaned like he was fighting a massive hangover. The only reason he knew this was because Hody brought him to gatherings, and there was a lot of reveling where he woke up in strange places every so often. Hell one time he woke up on the tallest tower of the Ryugu Palace after apparently dying all the karate uniforms a neon pink in the Fishman Karate Dojo. He couldn't confirm or deny this to this very day.
But instead of it being from alcohol, it was from the day before. Sure the night was cooler, that helped a lot actually, but the day just plain sucked! His face hurt a lot, his gills were dry, and he still found it hard to breathe and getting even harder by the hour.
Taking the rest of the water from his canteen, he drowned it and splashed the remainder on his gills. He was hoping that when nightfall came both they and the Straw Hat Pirates could sneak out, and make their way towards Alabarna. That was the plan anyways.
Unfortunately that plan was ruined when Gin entered without knocking and tossed him a small jar that he caught without thinking. "That should help your burns, that little reindeer and Shizune concocted it up last night after the Princess told us how a little fish boy saved her life when she was eight." He said with a light smirk before leaning against the doorway. "I must say that was pretty ballsy."
"Wapol struck her and nearly shot her because she made him look bad." Naruto replied before uncapping the medicine and smeared it on his face. Oh dear Poseidon that cooling feeling was just what the doctor ordered.
"Yea, and old tin can nearly lost his head for it. But she showed him mercy, but her father..." The First Mate let out a low whistle. "The man nearly lost his entire fortune because of it, and I think he lost a few doctors as well. Wapol got royally fucked."
"Hmph, serves him right. Now that he lost his kingdom he'll be truly fucked without a friend in the world to help him." Naruto said before slowly getting up and moved to retrieve his anchor axe, only to remember he left it outside. "So I was thinking we leave in the evening, let the cold night air save us from this damn sun, we keep warm by moving."
"We're leaving in a few hours." Gin said, causing his Captain's blue eyes to widen in alarm and surprise. "I know, I know, I'm not a fan of it either, especially with you having your breathing problems. But it wasn't my idea, it was the Princess and Straw Hat's decision to do so. With Crocodile so near, we gotta get to Alabarna yesterday."
"Wait you know about my-"
"Yes I do, after coughing up blood for more than a month I should know." The Combat Commander said. "Don't worry I'll cover for you, if you need water, I'll spare some of mine."
"Um, thanks...so are we going to stop with judgmental stares then?" Naruto demanded. When he saw Gin frown, he decided to nip this in the bud, otherwise this would get too troublesome to deal with. "Shut up, and let me explain myself. Yes, I did meet Miss All-Sunday at Whiskey Peak, but all she told me was she was the one who gave Vivi the information that Crocodile was Mr. 0, and she was planning on sparing Igaram. She was also the one who informed me I was a wanted man and gave me this." Reaching into his side pouch, he pulled out the golden zippo lighter with the Baroque Works symbol etched into it. "That was all, I fucking swear it. I told you all this yesterday, but you weren't in the mood to hear it."
Gin only crossed his arms in response, and dully looked at him. "Why didn't you attack her before?"
"Other than the fact she saved my life?" The blonde fishman replied. "If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't of had to take Igaram back to Alabasta, meaning we wouldn't have found Shizune, which means you would have died."
"So you were manipulated." Gin stated.
"I was not manipulated." Naruto said in denial.
"You were manipulated." The First Mate continued on with a smirk on his face.
"Dammit I was not!" The Captain of the crew replied.
"Hook, line and sinker." Gin continued before beginning to depart from his room. "But regardless, you made a judgment call like all Captains have to. So I will respect you for it because more good did come out of it. Just don't always get suckered in by a pretty face and pair of shapely legs, if I have to follow you by your dick then it better be to a fancy brothel, and not a giant sandbox."
Naruto sputtered after his First Mate, choking on his own spit and launching into a coughing fit that was out of a mixture of embarrassment and the dryness in his throat. "Dammit Gin."
A few hours passed by and like Gin said they left Yuba when the sun was at its highest. The two crews merged together to combine their respective strengths. Before they left Toto provided them with as much water as he could dig up, and Vivi was the one to lead them to Rainbase. That was to be their next stop before arriving in Alabarna.
"Princess, I mean no offense but how the hell are you able to stand this place?" Gin bluntly asked. "It's hot, it's sandy, there are fucking giant spiders and scorpions wanting to kill you, and I've seen more water in a sink than this place."
"You have to be born here, or adapt quickly if you're a stranger in these lands." Vivi replied, showing that no offense was taken from his question. "We don't have to worry about the predators, us Alabastians know where they reside and stay far away from their territories. And once Crocodile is defeated we'll get the rain back, but the sand, there is unfortunately nothing we can do about that."
"Hmph, well this certainly isn't a place to retire." Gin lightly remarked.
"Retire? I honestly don't see you doing that." Sanji scoffed at the idea of that happening, Gin was obviously a lifetime pirate, to think of him retiring was comical at best.
"Hey don't judge the man, I'm not planning on being a pirate forever either." Naruto replied, much to the surprise of others for being so forthcoming. "I'm not telling you what it is." That was more like it.
"Speak for yourself, the pirate's life is for me! Because I'm going to be King of the Pirates like Gold Roger after I find One Piece!" Luffy bellowed with the usual stupid smile on his face.
"That's a pretty bold claim." Shizune said with a light smile on her face. "From what I hear, Whitebeard is the man closest of One Piece."
"Ha! I will beat him just like any other!" Luffy proclaimed.
"Careful there Luffy, Whitebeard is supposed to be one of the Yonko. That mean's he is one of the four most powerful pirates in the entire world." Zoro said to his idiot Captain.
"The Yonko? Who are the Yonko?" Chopper asked in confusion.
"You don't know!? Chopper everyone knows about them!" Usopp exclaimed.
"So do you know who they are?" Bashura asked the sniper.
"Of course I do! The great Captain Usopp knows everything!"
"So tell us then." Gin demanded. When the long-nosed liar began sweating the former Krieg pirate sighed and explained it for to Chopper, otherwise he would grow stupid from listening to the second biggest idiot in the Straw Hat crew. "All right listen here, there are Three Great Powers in this world. The Marines, The Shichibukai, and The Yonko. These are the three greatest military forces on the oceans, and their relations are very vital to the World Government itself. The three powers exist in a delicate balance of ultimate power, where the Yonko controls the New World, and the World Government controls everything else."
"So what happens if say one of them were defeated, you know a member of the Shichibukai or Yonko. What happens then?" Nami asked.
"Chaos and anarchy." Gin replied. "I am not going to lie, defeating a Yonko is damn near impossible, but a Shichibukai...well that is different. The Marines will panic, but eventually they can, and will get another pirate to take their place. And the balance will be returned to the world once again." (1)
"You would be correct there Gin "The Demon Man"." A deep, relaxed voice alerted the small group. All ten turned to see a man appear out of thin air, his arms crossed, and cigar loosely clamped in his mouth. "So this is the group that has been causing all the trouble for my organization."
"Crocodile!" Vivi snarled, causing most of the group to face her in surprise. Vivi was a nice girl, she barely yelled, and hearing her snarl was just uncharacteristic.
"Wait a damn second, that's Crocodile?" Gin said in surprise. "Huh, the wanted posters don't do you justice."
"You're too kind." Wow that was the biggest irony anyone had ever heard in their lifetimes. "It's too bad that I am going to have to kill you."
"Over my dead body!" Luffy bellowed. The Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates broke rank and began attacking Crocodile with wild abandon. However to his, and many others surprises, his punches literally went right through his face, and sand exploded out of the back side of his head.
"Fuck! A Logia-user!" Naruto shouted in surprise.
"How very astute mister Uzumaki, I'm surprised a fishman like yourself knows about the types of devil fruits." Crocodile replied, standing still as Luffy continued to try and pummel him with no results. "But then again your kind is always full of surprises, to defeat Arlong who was one of the most fiercest pirates of his generation is along with his entire crew...well lets just say that I am impressed." Kicking Luffy away, he formed his right hand into a loose blade of sand and then stabbed it into the ground, "Desert Spada!"
The attack surged towards the group, and thankfully the remaining nine dodged out of the way. The attack extended along the ground like a torpedo, splitting anything in its path, including the very ground itself. When the attack ended it showed a deep scar in the desert.
"Hmm, impressive reflexes. That attack could have cleaved you in half from the power of my devil fruits erosion." Crocodile said in a bored voice.
"Gum Gum Gattling Gun!" Luffy launched himself at Crocodile once again, his arms stretching out like rubber, and his fists once again striking Crocodile, only to punch through him once again.
"You idiot! Regular attacks wont work on him!" Naruto yelled at him.
"He's right, you can't touch me, but I can." Crocodile grabbed Luffy by the front of his vest. "And you are "Straw Hat" Luffy. For twenty-five million beli, you certainly don't look like much. But then again, you aren't much in my eyes. Desert Encierro." To the horror of the group, Luffy's body began shriveling up like that of a mummy's, and was tossed away like trash.
"Luffy no! Gunpowder Star!" Taking out his slingshot, Usopp fired a highly explosive pellet filled with gunpowder. It hit Crocodile right in the face, and detonated. When the smoke cleared it revealed him to be headless, but his head only reformed to show a look of annoyance.
"When are you going to realize that nothing you can do will defeat me?" He demanded.
"How about this!" Reaching into her kimono, Shizune flung one of her ceramic balls at him. It broke on impact, releasing a cloud of poisonous smoke.
"Poison?" Bashura asked.
"You don't know until you try." Crocodile bordly said when the smoke blew away. "Nice try girl, you would have got me if I didn't plug my nose with my sand. However I tire of this meeting. Especially when my main reason was to destroy Yuba."
"Y-yuba?! You can't!" Vivi said with wide eyes.
"I can. The rebellion was started there, and it would just drive their leader mad knowing that his father was killed by the Royal Family." The Logia-user smirked at the looks on their faces. "At least that will be the story anyways."
"But you can't! Toto has done nothing to you!"
"Casualties of war dear Princess. He just got in the way of the grand scheme of things." Raising his right hand he began creating a literal sandstorm that began swirling around him. "Sables!"
"Everyone...I think we should run!" Naruto yelled.
The entire area then erupted into a massive sandstorm, blanketing the area in thick, heavy sand. The group of nine then screamed as they were swept up into the gigantic attack. Zoro and Sanji grabbed onto Luffy, but regardless everyone was swept away. And after the attack ended, there was nothing left but sand. Satisfied with his work Crocodile turned himself into the very substance he used to destroy his enemies and Yuba itself, and returned to Rainbase to meet up with the last members of his organization.
(A few hours later – Rainbase)
The remaining prominent members of the Baroque Works had gathered in front of Mr. 0's office, but they had not been given an order to come in until all members had gathered.
The first to arrive was a tall, very muscular tanned man with long, thin limbs and fingers and a shaven head. His most striking feature was what looked like a black unibrow, right over his round eyes in addition to his big lips and the black kanji symbol tattooed on his torso. Clothing-wise, he sported an oriental-looking attire consisting of a sleeveless dark coat with golden edges and white motifs on the front, over very loose beige pants held up by a white sash around the waist, with some light brown fur sprouting from it. His pants were tucked inside some bandages wrapped around his calves and in part around his shoes.
His partner was a young, slim woman of average height with curly dark-blue hair, thick lips, dark green eyes, pale skin and a curvaceous figure. She wore an unusual outfit that was revealing and dark brown in color, this outfit mainly consisted of a short long-sleeved jacket with beige colored fur brims, a bikini top describing an unusual spider web-like pattern across her abdominal area, low-riding pants, and platform sandals.
They were respectfully known as Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger.
The second group revealed a dumb-looking fat man that easily towered over Mr. 1 with big lips, short wavy blonde hair, and dimwitted black eyes. He wore a green shirt with an obscured number four on it that covered most of his body with black pants, an orange scarf and gray running shoes. He wore a bandoleer that held an unusual-looking rocket launcher and a metal baseball bat.
His partner was a stout, middle-aged woman with frizzy red hair that was held up by a headband. She wore a necktie that resembled a Christmas tree, which went with her codename. The other notable attire include a large pair of purple-lensed sunglasses, purple lipstick a basket strapped to her back, a large white sweater, purple floral pants and sandals.
They were respectfully known as Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas.
The third group consisted of a man who's entire body was covered with sevens, including his eyebrows, shoes, and golden gun he was cleaning. He had puffy blueish-white hair, that was styled similar to a helmet. He sported a purple coat that went down to his ankles, with yellow frills on the shoulders, in of the sleeves, and in the middle part. The coat also had parallel sevens on each side of the chest. Under the coat he wore a dark blue shirt with pink lines on it, and a light blue neckerchief. He also wore black trousers with long white socks, and yellow shoes in the shape of sevens. He also had square yellow sunglasses with red lenses.
His partner was a woman with a strange sense of fashion involving frogs. She had purple hair, with a long, thin widow's peak. Over her hair she had a frog styled hat, with appendages jutting out with white balls on the end. She wore a purple shirt with pink dots that shows off her belly with a yellow button up shirt underneath, and a blue tie. She had frog styled sleeves at the end of her shoulders, and white gloves. She also wore a purple skirt with pink dots on it, and a frog styled decoration with white balls on the end. She also had freaking frog themed boots, that went up to the middle of her shins.
They were respectfully known as Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day.
The fourth group consisted of a man with a pallid complexion. He had long black hair which framed his face. He wore a purple kimono, held closed by a purple sash over which he wore a matching grey haori and beige collar. His weapon of choice a flute he tucked into the side of his sash.
His partner was a woman with white skin, long blonde hair and reddish-colored eyes. She wore a turquoise knights uniform with a spike jutting out the top of each shoulder guard. She looked at Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day with obvious disdain. (2)
They were respectfully known as Mr. 12 and Miss Saturday.
Curiously, and as a surprise to everyone. Both Miss Valentine in her usual outfit, along with her partner Mr. 5 with his face wrapped in bandages with his glasses comically sticking out, and his right leg in a cast showed up, along with the nervous-looking Unluckies.
"So this is everyone...can't say I am impressed." Mr. 1 casually said after looking at the small group.
"What did you say?" Miss Saturday demanded.
"I think you already heard what he said, unless you're deaf to go with that stupid outfit." Miss Father's Day remarked.
"Hmph, says you frog lady." Mr. 12 remarked as he looked her up and down with equal disdain. "My partner's outfit can protect her from bullets and sword strikes...if you were an actual frog you would have shriveled up to nothing in this desert a long time ago."
A dark look appeared around Miss Father's Day's face. If it wasn't for her partner raising his arm to stop her, she would have tried to shoot the bastard who dared mock her fashion sense!
"Well at least someone has the decency to keep their partner in line, kind of reminds me of...well us ain't the right Mr. 4?" Miss Merry Christmas asked her gigantic partner.
"...Yes." Mr. 4 said in a slow voice.
"What I don't get is why you two are here." Miss Doublefinger indicated both Miss Valentine's Day, and Mr. 5. "You failed spectacularly. I am surprised the boss didn't make one of us go after you."
"We still have worth Miss Doublefinger. No one here has faced a fishman before, or the likes of the people he was traveling with. It will not happen again." Mr. 5 said, his voice muffled through the thick bandages, causing Miss Valentine to laugh.
Any retort was cut short when Miss All-Sunday arrived with the strangest man they had ever seen. He was a relatively tall male cross dresser who was excitedly dancing while he walked, wearing flamboyant ballet clothes with a swan theme that consisted of a pink over coat and blue medieval clothes. He wore some heavy makeup; that consisted of green eye shadow, red lipstick, blush on his cheeks, black eyeliner, and what looked like jell in his short black hair. He had a wide smile on his face, and his exposed legs were hairy.
"Thank you Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, I see you are a wonderful dancer." Miss All-Sunday said to the very strange man. "But I want you..." She turned towards the gathered members. "All of you to behave in Mr. 0's presence. Is that understood?"
"Uh..." Was Mr. 4's smart response before the Second-in-Command opened the door, and the group was greeted by the condescending-looking face of one "Sir Crocodile", a member of the Shichibukai and President of the Baroque Works organization.
Naturally the entire group was shocked, not even the ones who were considered the most stoic could hide their surprise.
"Sir Crocodile!?" Mr. 2 Bon Kurei screamed out.
"Hmm, I see you recognize him." Miss All-Sunday said in amusement.
"Recognize him? He's a pirate! One of the Shichibukai." Miss Doublefinger said.
"Don't tell me we're henchmen for a pirate!" Mr. 2 Bon Kurei exclaimed.
"Huh, that's something I didn't expect." Mr. 7 said before placing his hand over Miss Father's Day's mouth to stop her from yelling.
"So you're our boss?" Mr. 1 calmly remarked.
"I don't believe this!" Mr. 5's eyes nearly popped his glasses off his face.
"Disappointed?" Crocodile said with a smirk on his face. That one single word caused the entire area to clam up, the Frontier Agents visibly sweating from his mere presence alone.
"I am not disappointed, I believe we're more confused than anything else." Miss Saturday said. "But why would would one of the pirate allies of the World Government create an organization like this?"
"I'm not interested in money or status. I want military might." Crocodile said.
"What do you mean by military might?" Miss Merry Christmas asked.
"Hmph, the reason I have called you here is to reveal the ultimate goal of the Baroque Works." Crocodile said before lighting another cigar in his mouth. "Operation Utopia is the reason I brought you all together." He watched as Miss All-Sunday handed single pieces of paper to the numbered members of the organization, who then shared their orders with their partners. "I am going to dispose of Nefeltari Cobra and acquiring the ancient weapon Pluton that the royal family has hidden somewhere in the capital."
"Pluton? Excuse me but what exactly is Pluton?" Miss Valentine's Day asked.
"A weapon of mass destruction." Crocodile said after exhaling the smoke from his mouth. "This will make the Buster Call look like a child's temper tantrum in comparison."
That made the entire room freeze. Everyone knew of the Buster Call, or at least the horror stories regarding it. It had been used only once that they knew of. And it destroyed the island of Ohara and every soul that resided on it, and those that tried to escape. Not a single being was spared, everyone was killed down to the last man, woman and child. Not even a mouse escaped the island.
To think that such a thing would make such a horrifying thing used by the World Government look tame astounded, frightened them, and excited them.
"Such a thing exists!?" Mr. 2 Bon Kurei exclaimed with a wide smile. He was so happy he began twirling in excitement. "What are we waiting for, lets do it!"
"So this is that the entire organization has been working towards." Mr. 1 lightly remarked.
"That is correct. Since the beginning of Baroque Works every single thing we've done was in preparation for this. Those are my final instructions to all of you. It's time for Alabasta to disappear." Crocodile said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
The orders for them were as followed:
Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger were to supply a cache of weapons to the Rebel Army.
Mr. Bon Kurei was to pretend to be King Cobra and tell the people of Nanohana he had used dance powder to steal all of Alabasta's rain. And to attack Nanohana, the orders were to utterly destroy it, cause some casualties but leave just enough to bolster the ranks of the Rebel Army. That was where Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger came in.
Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas were to kidnap the King when the Rebel Army attacked Alabarna. Where he would lead Crocodile and Miss All-Sunday themselves to Pluton.
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine's Day were to assist both Mr. 7 and Miss Father's Day in guarding the central clock tower within the capital. That was where his cannon with a great explosive to wipe out the winning faction.
Mr. 12 and Miss Saturday were to infiltrate the Rebel Army to assassinate their leader during the frenzy of the battle to ignite more hatred to the point that his men would die just to kill the soldiers of Alabasta.
Mr. 13 and Miss Friday were to act as scouts and directly report to him if there were any changes.
When all was said and done, the top members burned their orders and left to do their leaders bidding. Only Miss All-Sunday remained to look at her boss. "What of the Straw Hats with the Princess and whoever else might interfere?" She asked.
"They won't be a problem." Crocodile said before waving hr away. "And if they somehow survived they won't be in any condition to do anything against us."
Crocodile didn't see her frown in worry, nor did she see her clench her fist before turning away and calmly walked out of his office. 'You all better pull though, I'm counting on you.'
The deserts of Alabasta were as old as the island itself, and it held its share of secrets. Treasures and bodies of the long dead were buried beneath the sands, many were long forgotten since the first King of Alabasta ruled.
However the desert never met Uzumaki Naruto, the most bullheaded fishman of his generation.
A bandaged right fist burst through the sand, quickly followed by a blonde head of hair filled to the brim with sand and the gasping whisker-like face of Uzumaki Naruto emerging from it. However he was not unscathed, his body looked like it was completely dried out just like Luffy's was. He opened his mouth to cough, but barely managed to wheeze.
Naruto panted, wheezing as he pulled his weakened body from the dune he was buried in. With a harsh tug with his left arm, he pulled out three figures that were clinging together for dear life. Like him they were in bad shape, partially mummified, and unconscious.
"That was not a fight...I didn't fight, meaning I didn't lose...fucking Logia-users." He rasped out angrily. He took his promise to Ace seriously, he had not lost a fight since then, and in a fight he had to engage his opponent. He didn't engage Crocodile, meaning the didn't fight him, meaning he didn't lose.
It made him feel better about having sand in his lungs.
Collapsing onto his knees, Naruto began hacking, sand flew from his gills, his mouth, and even his nose in the most painful fashion. "I...fucking...hate...sand." He gasped out before turning towards the three he pulled out with him. "Chopper...Nami...Vivi...fuck."
He watched as their own breathing came out in ragged gasps. Naruto brought his hands of his canteen and remembered it was empty, drained last night, and Gin didn't get a chance to sneak him anything before they got separated. "At least I still got my axe." He lowly remarked, feeling the familiar weight of Saibannin Kayiouumi on his back.
"Ruto..." He heard a familiar voice croak out. Snapping his head he saw Vivi crack one dark eye open to look at him. Watching her body shaking she brought her hand to her side and produced her canteen. "Take...it."
"What? Vivi..." She collapsed unconscious before he could say anything else. Collapsing onto his knees he struggled towards her, and pulled the canteen free of her hands. "Holy shit, it's almost full." He remarked in surprise, what was this girl part camel?
Shaking it a few times, his own mouth began to water at the thought of drinking it all, it would restore him to...at least seventy-five percent, more than enough to get the hell out of here, return to the sea and just dive into the ocean. He wouldn't have to worry about the hitch hikers that he picked up, those idiot Straw Hats, or fucking Alabasta.
It would have been so easy, he even saw an image of Hody Jones grinning and nodding in response to those dark thoughts. But to the side he saw an image of Queen Otohime frowning at him in disapproval, and that hurt much more than him coughing out sand.
"I must be imagining things." Naruto shook his head at the mirages. "Dehydrated, I think I might be dying...heh, God I must be going crazy." He then frowned at himself, and palmed his forehead, causing him to wince from the sunburn and stupidity. "You don't even have a way to get back home, no eternal log pose, and you're shit as a navigator. You're an idiot for even contemplating that...you idiot."
He really needed to stop talking to himself, this wasn't something he could mentally comprehend right now.
Pulling Vivi towards him he gently cupped her chin between his thumb and fingers. Opening her mouth as wide as he could, he screwed off the cap and began pouring the life saving water into her mouth. Upon closing it he gently massaged her throat to allow her to swallow it, and after the third repeat she started looking like her normal self, smooth skin and all.
"There we go Vivi, you're gonna be just fine. Just like the Revere..." He then looked at Chopper and Nami and frowned. "Damn my bleeding heart."
Without a word he went to Chopper first, remembering that the little reindeer was a doctor, and the most useful he got two swallows of life saving water before returning to normal. Lightly running his left hand over his forehead, Naruto barely held in a cough. "Ere we go little guy, you're going to be okay."
Then turning to Nami, he actually hesitated. Her attitude towards him was frosty, if not cold like a glacier because of his species. "You know what fuck you. I don't owe you a damn thing." He growled at her.
The image of Queen Otohime appeared before him, a very disapproving frown on her face. Naruto had to blink to make sure he wasn't imagining things. She was gone after the tenth blink, but that didn't make him feel any better, in fact it felt like he just let her down. And that was the worst feeling he could ever have.
"God dammit!" His eyes briefly flashing red, Naruto kicked the ground in front of him, digging a small trench in the sand. "I get it, Arlong fucked up your life for ten years. Ruined your childhood, forced you into slavery, well you aren't the only one. I lost my chance of having a childhood after your species caused the deaths of my parents. I have the right to hate too!"
Running his hands through his spiky blonde hair, he felt the grains of sand falling off him, his breath becoming hitched and he threw up whatever was left in his stomach. "Ugh, dammit. If I'm feeling this bad, you must be ten times worse with your weak body. And no that's not me being an ass, you're not strong like me, or have my endurance...just take it all right. And don't say I never did nothing for you. I'm not Arlong." He harshly whispered to her. Taking her canteen he shook it and found that there was only a little left in it. "Only a little bit, that's all I need." He said before uncapping it and downing a quick swallow before returning it to her person, he also did the same to Chopper; not taking a lot, just a little.
Refreshed, or at least enough to think clearly, Naruto adjusted his axe so that the handle was facing upwards towards the sky, he shouldered Nami and Chopper, and carried Vivi in his arms in the bridal carry. "Don't worry you three...I got you...I got you." He said before heading north towards Rainbase.
Unfortunately for him a few hours later he realized that he had no idea where he was. He should have reached Rainbase by now. Instead all he felt was the sun glaring down on him, his strength waning, but ever the stubborn son of a bitch he was, he refused to allow his body to collapse.
Feeling a stiffing in his arms, he looked down to see Vivi slowly coming back to the world of the living. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, the blue-haired princess then looked at him in alarm, and covered her mouth in shock. "N-Naruto, you...what have you done?"
"Something very stupid." He lightly replied before finally collapsing to his knees. "Very...very...stupid." He continued before letting Vivi out of his arms.
"Oh Naruto..." Vivi looked him over and felt her stomach twist into knots. He looked absolutely dreadful, his skin looking like beaten leather, wrinkled and stretched over his bones. His eyes were sunken in, the beautiful blue they normally were were near dull and lifeless. She had never seen someone so strong look so weak.
Hearing two thumping noises, the blue-haired princess saw both Chopper and Nami fall off his shoulders, the shock of hitting the ground woke them up.
"Ugh, my head...Vivi? What's going on? Where's Luffy?" Nami asked in alarm.
"I don't know, Naruto brought us...oh no you didn't." Feeling a lightness at her side where her canteen was, Vivi immediately came to the conclusion that Naruto used the water she wanted to split between the four of them. It could have been divided four ways, granted all of them would have been weakened, but all of them would walk under their own power, their own weakened power.
But instead Naruto gave them everything and took the major hit himself. It defied logic that he still alive, let alone able to move around the way he was doing.
Chopper groggily groaned out as he pushed himself up, and then his eyes immediately; comically bulged out seeing Naruto's state. "Waa! What have you done?" He screamed in panic before he laid his hooves on his body and began to frantically examine him. "Swollen tongue, dry mouth, weaknesses..." He even put his stethoscope on his chest. "Palpitations of the heart, purple fingernails. Oh no this is the worst case of dehydration I have ever seen!" Granted this was the first time he had ever seen such a case since he came from a winter island, but that was not the point. The doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates even pulled away the long desert robe he wore, and saw that his gills were completely clogged with sand. "You need water now!" (3)
"No I don't. I'm fine." Naruto protested before slowly getting to his feet. Putting on a tough facade failed spectacularly, but that didn't stop him from trying from getting to his feet.
"Stay down! That's a direct order from a doctor!" Chopper barked at him.
"Not...my...doctor..." Naruto wheezed out, getting to his feet for less than ten seconds, and then completely collapsed onto his face.
"Naruto!" Vivi screamed out in shock before kneeling next to him. Chopper screamed out in panic and dug into his medical bag to find something, anything to help him.
All the while Nami stood to the side, her eyes narrowed at the fishman dying before her. Unlike many others back in Yuba, she did not miss the subtle motions when Naruto entered that night. The slight slouching, the irritability, the small hitch when he talked. After spending her childhood working for a crew filled to the brim with nothing but fishmen, she did not idly sit on her hands while making maps for them and stealing. In her travels she also looked around for various weaknesses regarding Arlong's species. They were near unbeatable underwater without some sort of special aid, and very strong on land. Between being ten times stronger than a human and able to survive on land and sea, she found out a small, but debilitating weakness. In an old medical journal she acquired she learned that fishmen, while able to breathe on dry land, they had difficulty breathing in the desert environments. The reason being that while they do have a nose and mouth, they still breathed through their gills at the same time which could sustain them with the minuscule amount of water found in normal air, but in dry areas; like Alabasta they had to rely more on their normal lungs, which are enough for them to breathe but in a strained manner.
That was the main reason fishmen did not try to visit desert islands if they had a choice in the matter. Because prolonged exposure to the dry air and hellish heat would literally kill them, it didn't help that sand got into their gills as well, literally making them suffocate.
Normally she would have done something to tell her crew this, but she didn't. The horrible memories she suffered under Arlong still haven't even begun to heal, and the wound was still very raw. So she kept quiet. (4)
However, while she was fading in and out of consciousness, she heard Naruto's rant. All of it. She heard the amount of hate in his voice, it was even worse than Arlong's. But despite all that, her being untrusting towards him; to put it lightly, he still gave her water, risking his own life because of it.
"Vivi, Chopper, move. I got this." Reaching into her robe, Nami pulled out three blue colored metal rods. Taking the one with the blue marker on it, she lightly gulped with a twinge of nervousness. "Usopp...I hope you're okay, and I know what you were doing when you made this." Bringing one end to her mouth, she blew on it.
This "attack" was called the Cool Ball, a very basic thing she could do with her new Clima-Tact; a heavily modified bo-staff that allowed her to so far create three weather balls called the Heat Ball, Cool Ball, and Thunder Ball. That was all she knew how to do for now, it wasn't much but hopefully the bubble of cold air she was blowing out and hitting Naruto would be enough to help.
Minutes passed by, and thankfully Naruto began showing some signs of improvement. His body was cooling down, and Chopper gave him everything in his canteen, knowing that with his fur coat he would be in the same condition within the next few hours if he was unlucky enough.
"Vivi, do you even know where we are?" Chopper asked the Princess with a worried glance.
"If my sense of direction is right, we should be somewhere close to Ido." Vivi replied, looking worryingly down at the tiger shark fishman. "I think they will take us in, regroup towards Rainbase with the others."
"How are you sure any of them survived?" Chopper asked with a sniffle. "T-that tornado took them, took them all...h-h-how do you think..."
"We survived Chopper, that means the rest did as well." Vivi said in a tight voice. They had to of survived, she wouldn't accept any other alternative. "We will meet up at Rainbase, then we will go to Alabarna, and we will stop Crocodile."
"You got conviction in your voice. Then again I wouldn't expect anything else from the Princess of these lands."
The voice caused Vivi and Chopper's eyes to widen in alarm, and Nami stopped blowing through her weapon, snapping three pieces together to create a bo-staff.
"Do not be alarmed, we are not here to harm you. You were willing to help a member of my species, so I will help you in return." The voice continued, sounding more sincere than they wanted to imagine.
"Then please show yourself, it would do us no good to listen to what might be a mirage." Nami said.
That caused a laugh to escape from the voice's mouth. "Fair enough my dear."
Two figures then emerged from the very desert itself. One was a very tall fishman standing around nine foot two with yellow skin that had brown spots on the upper part of his head, along with scales under his eyelids, sharp teeth, and gills on the sides of his neck that was obstructed by an odd device. He wore an open white gi to reveal his muscular stature, a black belt, and had long light blue flowing hair and a thick blue mustache.
The second individual was much smaller than the fishman. He wore a long-sleeved crimson coat and full-length dark trousers with a pair of black sandals on his feet. Over the coat he wears two buckled belts, a grey vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder, and two buckled belts which he also uses to carry around a giant calabash-shaped gourd covered in designs. He had fair skin, green eyes with no distinctive pupils or eyebrows, and short spiky red hair. The most distinctive features he had were tanuki-like black rings around his eyes and the red kanji symbol for love tattooed on the left side of his forehead.
"W-who are you guys? Ho-w did you do that?" Chopper asked with a star struck gaze. What they did was just too cool for words.
The fishman grinned at them. "My name is Hack, and my associate here is Gaara. He is the one who can do all the nifty things with some...unique abilities he gained a long time ago." Gaara didn't answer, he just remained stoic. (5)
"Why are you helping us?" Vivi asked. "This is too good to be true."
"Lets just say...we are in the business of making sure people like Crocodile does not get what he wants. And the same goes with the masters he serves." Hack said with a small grin on his face.
(Meanwhile – Fishman Island)
Hody Jones was ecstatic, truly ecstatic for the first time in many years. His own little weapon was wanted by the World Government for a whopping forty-five million Beli. Granted it was smaller than Jinbe's two-hundred and fifty million, and Fisher Tiger's two-hundred and thirty million bounty, but he surpassed Arlong's twenty million bounty by a milestone, making him one of those dangerous fishmen in recent history.
And because of his infamy that had by now spread throughout the kingdom, people came in droves to him once the right information was leaked out in certain areas so not to alert the Royal Family. Fishmen and mermen came to him, many pledging themselves to him and his crew numbering up to fifty-thousand by now, and already he was making great use of them by forming four elite subdivisions called the Bombardment Squad; The members were trained to wield cannons. The Iron Shell Squad; The members were being trained to used iron turtle shells as shields while attacking with bladed weapons. The Sea Urchin Armor Spine Squad; Composed only by fishmen dressed in spiked armor like that of a sea urchin, led by a new member named Harisenbon, he planned on them using the spikes on their bodies to skewer their opponents. And finally the deadly Poison Squad; Composed of every fishman he could find with poisonous quills that could create death with one prick.
"How are the men fairing Zeo?" Hody asked his "Noble of the Fishman District".
"They are progressing smoothly Captain." The wobbegong shark fishman replied, holding up a clipboard. "We got five-thousand more rounds of ammunition for the Bombardment Squad, and recruited fifty more members for the Poison Squad."
"Anything else?" Hody asked, expecting a "but" to come in.
"But I am afraid we are running low on funds. The people we have are still working the jobs they have, but it is unfortunately not enough to keep us afloat. If I may suggest, we should get their gills wet by raiding ships."
"Absolutely out of the question. If we do that we will draw attention to ourselves. Besides don't you think it would look suspicious to Neptune if a hundred fishmen left at once and came back with stuff hours later?"
"That may be true, but what I was proposing is we send small strike teams. Send five or so with Dosun or Hammond and attack small vessels, killing the crews, sinking the ships and getting their cargo a little later and selling it for the highest amount." Zeo replied without hesitation.
"That's...not a bad idea." Hody replied before rubbing his chin in thought. "I will leave this up to you Zeo, if you fail I am not coming to your defense."
"As if I would expect you to. Also your one o' clock appointment is here."
"Bring him in, lets be done with it."
After leaving the presence of his Captain Zeo opened the doors to reveal a one Suikazan Fuguki, the head master of the Fishman Karate Dojo. He was clad in a black cloak to hide his identity, something Hody couldn't blame him for since a well respected man meeting him of all people would ruin not only his reputation, but what they had planned.
"Fuguki-sensei, it's wonderful to see you again." Hody greeted his old master. He never made it past level fifty in the dojo, but he still respected the man who taught him everything he knew about fighting, especially when they shared the same views. "How goes the training?"
"It goes remarkable well, three more got to the rank of seventy just yesterday, and they are hungry to meet you." Fuguki replied.
"Wonderful, keep making powerful soldiers for me, and I will honor our agreement as promised."
At this Fuguki's demeanor soured, and he frowned towards the great white shark fishman. "So you have not found him yet."
"We are close. Narrowed it down to five locations, we should be down to three by next month." Hody replied, smirking like a Cheshire cat, or in this case shark. "I have not forgotten our agreement. I am a man of my word. We will find him, and his legacy will be a great asset to our cause."
"Fine, I will trust you only because I have no other choice. But make one wrong move..." Fuguki let his threat hang before abruptly leaving.
Hody however did not stop smirking. Fuguki was powerful that was for sure, an ally to his cause to rid the island of the Royal Family, and eventually engulf the world in fishman superiority. However that did not mean he trusted him either, the man was a loose end that could become a problem later on if not dealt with.
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a blue and red ovular pill with a checker design on it. If Fuguki became a problem he would deal with him personally.
Armageddon: Hello everyone and happy post-Thanksgiving, I hope you are all out of your food comas by now. Well I got nothing much to say except drive safely if you are visiting family. Now onto the numbers/ranting.
For the rant, yes I am taking things out of order in this chapter with what Crocodile has done so far, but with Naruto in the mix I'm trying to spice some things up. Try not think too bad of what I'm doing all right, it's just fanfiction.
(1) Gin is a veteran Pirate, it would be obvious that he knows of the Three Great Powers so his explanation is justified.
(2) Know who these two are? Here's a hint, they are Naruto characters. That's it start guessing.
(3) Those are actual symptoms of dehydration, if you feel or see anyone with the symptoms described there along with, headaches, general discomfort, loss of appetite, confusion, unexplained tiredness, or purple fingernails. Get some damn water into you or them.
(4) Before you all get growling and snarling at me regarding Nami, don't worry this is a turning point for her, forgiveness and all that crap. And for those facts...well have you seen a fishman, fishwoman, or any of the merfolk in the desert? Agurra and I created Naruto having these problems because it is unique, and makes him more human than the powerful fishman that he is, which is why he had a problem last chapter against normal humans.
(5) Yes I got Hack and Gaara here. There is an explanation for why they are there, and what the hell is going on, tune in for the next chapter for the answers. Trust me, this is some creative genius crap there.