Chapter 27: End of Tyranny

"Captain Arlong!"

"How dare you!"

At the sight of their captain getting sent flying via a rubbery punch from some unknown kid riled up the fishman pirates who dashed right at Luffy with weapons drawn.

"Stay out of this, crap fishes!"

Several kicks met their faces, sending them flying away and crashing onto the ground as Sanji walked up to his captain along with the rest of the Straw Hat pirates.

"You always just dive right in, don't you?" The cook noted.

"Yeah. But I won't lose!"

"I'm not worried about that, dumbass. Just save some for the rest of us. Well, not like there was much left for us to pummel."

"We seem to have stumbled into a situation." Zoro noted.

"I-I don't mind if you take care of them, Luffy…!" Usopp stuttered nervously.

"Hey, isn't that the long nose Nami had killed?" One of the still conscious fishmen pointed out, "How was he still alive?"

"And with Roronoa Zoro too…!" Another stated in shock.

"Ah, it's the guy that tricked me!" Hachi cried out.

"You guys are…!?" Kris turned to them, "I don't know what's your beef with Arlong, but hands off him. I had to be the one to take him down! If you guys—"

"No! I'm going to be the one to beat that guy up!" Luffy shouted, "You're the one that has to back off!"

"Listen to me! Arlong has to be beaten by a fishman, not a human!"

"Don't care! He made Nami cry! So I'm beating him up!"

My palm hit my face as I groaned at Luffy's sheer stubbornness over the issue. If there is one thing I know about the captain of Straw Hat Pirates, it would be that when he decided on doing something, he would go through with it no matter what other people's thoughts or circumstances were.

At times, that would be a good thing. Not here, unfortunately.

"A human… dare to hurt me…!?"

Arlong slowly rose up from the rubble visibly growling, veins twitching on his forehead, "First that filthy half-breed, now a human!?"

"Captain, please calm yourself!"

"If you rampage now, our base would be nothing but rubble—"

"Calm!? After getting hit by not one, but two lowly trash, you want me to remain calm!?" Arlong growled, pushing his subordinates away as they tried to stop him, all the while he stomped towards his pagoda-esque HQ. "Screw that!"

"What is he doing…?"

Kris got his answer when Arlong smashed his fist into the wall, and pulled out a massive sword that has blades styled like shark teeth attached to a long black iron rod.

Isn't that the sword he used against Luffy near the end of their bout!? What was it called again…? Ah, I forgot… but for him to take that out this early? We must have rightfully pissed him off.

"Damn it, Arlong…!" Chew groaned, "We had finally finished furnishing that room too…"

"The Kiribachi!?" Kris cried out, "He is finally taking this seriously…!"

"Arlong, wait—!"

Hachi's cries fell on deaf ears as the shark fishman leaped at Luffy.

"You want to fight!? Let's fight!"

The Straw Hats all got out of the way as Arlong swung his massive sword down at Luffy, the rubber man dodging to the side as the blades smashed right into the ground like breaking a biscuit, forming a crater at least a meter wide.

Okay, it is one thing to know how strong Arlong is. It is another to see how strong he actually is. I knew fishmen were strong, Kris had demonstrated that part very clearly, but Arlong was a whole another level.

It was clear to see why he has the highest bounty in the East Blue.

"Hey, wait!" Kris dashed toward Arlong, "His fight is with me—woah!"

Kuroobi stopped his advance with a chop to his head, which he blocked with his arm, "Your opponent is me, Kris. Don't you forget that."

"Tch…! You never change, Kuroobi…"

Kris responded back with a low kick and those two immediately restarted their fight , parrying and countering blows masterfully. It looked like those kinds of fights you would see in those martial arts anime—

"Grgk!?"

I was brought out of my thoughts when I felt something akin to a bullet impacted my sides hard, nearly knocking me off my feet. The wetness was a telltale sign of who was responsible.

"Keep your eyes on me, chu." Chew snickered as puffed up his cheeks and fire another water bullet, which I was able to block with my arm as I made a dash towards him with Nanashi's ready on my side.

The manga showed him as primarily a sniper/gunslinger, so I don't know how good he is at close combat. But since he is a smaller build compared to Hachi and Kuroobi, it was a fair guess that he isn't all that threatening at close range.

I slashed down at him which he dodged out of the way. "100-Shots Water Pistol!" He took several steps back and then unloaded what was essentially a machine gun spray at me, which I could only block by raising my transformed arms around my head.

The water bullets did little against my scales, but a few grazed my unprotected cheeks as well as other areas not protected by them. Even so, it would barely stop me. It wasn't enough to effectively hurt me.

I slowly got closer to him with slow steady steps, making sure to not let any of his bullets get my eyes. My vision was limited as my arms were blocking, but Sen had cramped into me to not over rely on my sight, especially when my other senses like my hearing were greatly improved whenever I got into my half dragon form.

That was why I was able to hear the sound of a musket cocking, turning my head to the noise and barely managing to block the bullet being fired at me with my horn. The lead round's momentum was enough to knock my head back slightly.

The smoking gun wielded by one of Arlong's lackeys was then kicked out of his hands by an enraged Sanji, shouting something along the lines of aiming at a lady as he proceeded to beat him to a pulp.

But the damage was already done.

"Single-Point Water Rifle!"

"Grgk!"

My sudden shift in attention was what Chew managed to take advantage of, suddenly stopping his rain of water bullets before I felt a sharp pain piercing into my side.

"Hehe, gotcha, chu."

I stumbled back as I felt my side, the wetness coming from the hole on my side was enough to inform me that I'm bleeding. Damn, he must have hit the non-scaly part. Not only that, that wasn't the small rounds he used before. It felt less like a machine gun bullet and more like a sniper round. The difference in power was very apparent.

"Rein—!"

"Take this!"

"Gah!"

"Kris!"

Kris's momentary lack of attention towards Kuroobi cost him as he was sent flying past Chew and crashing through the pagoda's wall with a karate punch.

"You know better than to look away from me."

"Can you not wreck the place even more?" Chew looked at his crewmate annoyingly, "Arlong was already turning the place upside down. We don't need you to do the same."

"Damn it…" Kris groaned as he stumbled back up, hacking out more blood from his throat. He then got back to trading blows with Kuroobi, though his movements were getting slightly sluggish.

That might be bad. Kris was already heavily injured from his bout with Arlong. The fact that he was still able to fight at all is a testament of how tough he was. Even then, he was bound to hit his limit sooner or later.

"Give it up, girl." Chew snickered, "Devil Fruit or not, you are still just a human, chu. You can't beat us."

"Heh… You guys need better material." I replied back with a smirk of my own as I pulled my sword back, "It's starting to sound stupid."

"Tch. You won't sound so arrogant once I kill you. 100-Shot Water Pistol!"

Chew then proceeded to fire another machine gun spray at me; I raised my arms up to block as much of the water bullets as I could as I once again slowly made my way up to him. I need to close the distance between us if I were to have any chance of defeating him.

But between his machine gun spray and sniper shots, he had plenty of ways to keep me from getting close. Thankfully, he wasn't anywhere close to any bodies of water, so he can use that water cannon move of his. But it looked like there's a time delay from when he switched to sniper fire.

In other words, I need a quick decisive hit to take him out. There's one technique I know that fits, the Tail Spike, but I couldn't let him know that I was planning on doing that. I had to aim for the short moment when he switched shooting modes.

Just as I thought that, the rain of bullets stopped—

"Single-Point Water Rifle—"

"Now!"

I felt the concrete cracking under my talons as I lunged at him as fast as I could, moving my body into an atypical fencing stance as I stabbed at him.

"C-Chu!?"

In a panic, Chew fired a hasty shot at me which grazed my cheek. Not one to miss any opportunity given, I took another strong step and lunged forward at him.

"Dragon Sword Style, Third Form: Tail Spike!"

"Grgk!"

My blade pierced into the fishman's collarbone, drawing blood as he stumbled backwards. Chew immediately countered back with an overhead hook which I easily blocked, but the impact pushed me back, dislodging my blade from his body as he quickly tried to get some distance from me.

"I'm not letting you!" Not willing to let him take an advantageous position again, I closed up the distance immediately; his eyes widened in shock as I prepared to unleash another technique down on him.

He then suddenly smirked as his cheeks puffed up. Crap! He must have intended to lure me with that last move. And judging by how it was puffed up, he must be planning on using that sniper move again. And with me already in the middle of performing my sword technique, I wouldn't be able to block it.

"Single-Point—"

"Lead Star!"

"Pft!?"

Something hard and round impacted the fishman's cheek hard, forcing him to harmlessly spew out the water he had built up. It looked to be a lead bullet, but I didn't hear any musket cocking or firing, and an actual fired bullet would have gone through his cheek instead of hitting him like that.

Not to mention that voice. Wasn't that Usopp's…?

Not one to look a gift horse by its mouth, I went through with my attack; a purely offensive form and the first technique of the Dragon Sword Style I'd properly mastered.

"First Form: Plunging Claw!"

Rotating my entire body to add momentum into an already massive swing, I slashed down at him with all the momentum I could muster, slicing from his collarbone down to his liver as deeply as I possibly could.

"C-Chu…" Chew let out a grunt as blood spurted out from his wound, before he collapsed in a bloody puddle.

"Chew!" Kuroobi cried out, "Why, you…!"

"Fishman Karate, Modified:…" Kris no doubt saw a chance in the Manta Ray Fishman's diverted attention and took it to drive his knee deep into his gut, "Coral Breaker!"

Kuroobi let out a cry of pain from the attack, and was quick to find out that it wasn't the only attack Kris was planning on hitting him with.

"Smashing Wave!" A palm strike to the ribs.

"Low Tide Kick!" A side kick to the hips.

"Rising Tsunami!" A rising uppercut to the chin.

The series of attacks left Kuroobi stumbling, before he regained his bearings and immediately attacked back, "Thousand Tile Fist—!"

"Flowing Rapids!"

"Grgk!"

Kris ducked under his punch and swiped his feet while landing a counter blow to his head, knocking Kuroobi off-balanced; which my friend quickly took advantage of as he grabbed the manta ray fishman's outstretched hand and lunged forward at him.

"Maelstrom Knuckle!"

Kris's fist slammed right into Kuroobi's face hard, the momentum of his punch pushing and crashing him down onto the ground so hard that the concrete broke under them. When he removed his fist, his opponent's nose was broken and flatten from his attack while his eyes had rolled back to reveal his white pupils; all signs of a proper knock out.

"That's Kuroobi… taken care of…" Kris panted out before he dropped to his knees.

"Kris!" I sheathed Nanashi and ran up to him, ignoring the pain from the hole in my side.

"I'm fine…" He told me as he stumbled back on his feet, "W-Where's Arlong?"

"Still fighting Luffy, I think."

"Then I better get in between them…" He shakily took a few steps, before his legs buckled under him and would have tumbled headfirst onto the ground if I hadn't caught him in my arms.

"You okay?" I asked

"Just a little tried…"

I knew it was more than that. He had probably reached his limit and more after those attacks. Not to mention all the new bruises he had gotten from Kuroobi. But I doubt he would let that hold him down.

I turned to the fight; the Straw Hat pirate captain dodging Arlong's massive weapon which he swung at him with a finesse that I didn't think was possible for a sword that big.

Meanwhile, Sanji was taking care of the remaining henchmen with extreme ease, and nearly knocked out most of the fishman.

Usopp seemed to be happy hiding behind the broken gate while firing lead ball after lead ball at anyone that ran towards him, with every shot always landing its mark.

Zoro, on the other hand, seemed to be dueling Hachi like in Canon. Only the former bounty hunter seemed to be on the defensive despite using his former partners' broadswords and was wearing his bandanna to indicate how serious he deemed it. Considering how red his bandages had become, the wound from his loss with Mihawk had reopened during all the fighting.

At least until…

"Demon Cutter!"

With one swift strike, he broke all six of Hachi's swords, stunning the octopus fishman. Zoro immediately followed that up with one of his cooler techniques.

"Dragon Twister!"

He swung his sword and generated what I could only describe as a mini slicing twister that both launched Hachi and slashed into him. A moment later, he crashed back onto the ground completely unconscious.

"Hachi! You damn filthy humans…!"

Arlong doubled down on his attack against Luffy, who dodged another massive swing against him before leaping at him while reeling his elastic arm far back.

"Gum Gum Bullet!"

"Grgk!"

The shark fishman tanked the blow to his gut hard, despite how painful it must have felt with how much the rubber fist had dug into him, before grabbing Luffy by his head and tossing him into the tower's walls.

"Luffy! Collier—Gah!"

Sanji attempted to help his captain, only to get backhanded by Arlong, who didn't even bother facing him when he did so, as he charged at Luffy once more with a half-sword swing.

The Straw Hat pirate avoided the attack by leaping up and pulling himself up onto the roof with his rubbery limbs. That did not stop the shark fishman, however, as he used his massive weapon to boost himself up after him and used the momentum swung his sword down with the intent to saw him in half.

Luffy dodged that as well in the same way and Arlong pursued him once more. This went on several more times and they climbed higher and higher up the pagoda, until they reached the top floor and Arlong sent both himself and Luffy crashing inside.

"Damn, now we can't see anything…" I knew what would be happening in Canon, but considering that I had screwed with the plot, the outcome could be quite different.

"Rein, please bring me up there." Kris told me.

"Eh?"

"I have to see this through to the end."

"…Alright."

I unfolded my wings, getting a surprised shriek from Usopp and an audible gasp from Nami in the process, and flew up to the room with the collapsed wall with Kris hanging from my arms; I kept my distance from it so as not to alert Arlong and Luffy, but I was close enough to hear them talk.

Judging by the sheets of paper hanging off the line and as well as the many piles of them facing the wall, it was the cartography room Nami was imprisoned for all these years.

"These are all the maps Nami had spent 8 years drawing." Arlong stated as he raised his sword forward at Luffy, "For us fishmen, obtaining data about the sea is simple, but using that information to chart maps is another matter. Even if you search the entire world, you won't find maps drawn as accurately as hers. That girl is a genius. There's nothing more tragic than to waste those god-given talents that she possesses!"

"For Nami, there's no better happiness than to stay here and continue drawing maps; for the sake of my ambition, that is!"

Listening to Arlong speak of such things made me cringe in disgust. Making use of someone, enslaving them so that they would work for you? That's the kind of thinking the Celestial Dragons are notorious for. Kris's grip tightening around my wrists was a clear indication that he felt the same way;

"…I see…"

Luffy could hardly be seen behind the shark fishman's large body, but I could tell that he was barely paying much attention to Arlong's words. If I had to guess, he was looking at the bloodied pen of Nami's.

"Once we fishmen learn everything there is to know about these seas from her maps, we shall be invincible! The world will become my new empire! This island, the whole of East Blue, shall be a stepping stone for that! Do you think you can use her more effectively than I!?"

"…Use…!?"

Luffy, his tone underlining a furious rage, broke something that shocked Arlong as he had stumbled back moments later. If I had to guess, part of the Kiribachi's many blades.

"Just what exactly do you think she is…!?"

"…She's an excellent cartographer, of course; even if she is a member of your filthy race. I would liken her to a little kitty cat among you filthy rats." Arlong said so naturally that it sickens me, "And she has a good head on her shoulders. As long as she keeps drawing me maps, I'll feed her. I'll even buy her whatever clothes she wants. After all, we're crewmates—"

Luffy didn't need to hear anymore as he immediately kicked a table out of the room through the hole, sending it flying and crashing down below. It even knocked out one of the fishmen Sanji was fighting.

"W-What are you—!?"

He didn't stop there as he swung his feet again and sent a bookshelf out. Despite Arlong's shouting at him to stop, Luffy kept on punching and kicking all over the room, knocking furniture after furniture out and crashing down to the ground below. Some even hit a few of the remaining fishmen still standing.

"What is he trying to do…?" Kris wondered.

"It looks like he's wrecking the room." I pointed out.

"But, why…?"

His gaze went down to my confusion. As I looked down, I saw Nami standing among the crowd by the gate, tears running down her cheeks. She must have just arrived, right when Luffy was smashing apart her prison cell.

"Knock it off!"

Arlong tried to stop him by swinging his massive sword at Luffy. Unfortunately for him, its size became its biggest flaw as he only wrecked the room even more with it. He must have been made aware of this as he immediately dropped the weapon before lunging at the rubber pirate, grabbing him by the neck.

"You went too far this time, you rubber-shit!"

"GAAHHH!"

The shark fishman immediately bites down on his collar with his sharp teeth, drawing blood and getting a painful cry from the rubber pirate. Despite looking to be in terrible pain, Luffy stood firm and grabbed Arlong's nose tightly.

With a loud crack, he twisted and snapped Arlong's long saw nose in two; the shark fishman immediately let go of him and cried out in pain while holding on his broken nose.

"I ain't got a damn clue about how great fishmen are, nor do I know about maps or Nami's talents…" Luffy grunted out as he pressed against his bleeding wound, "But I do know one thing. This room that she never wants to be in; I can't let it exist any longer. I'll erase every last trace of it!"

"That kid…!" Kris muttered in shock, "All of this for one possible crewmate…!?"

"He did try to destroy Baratie when Sanji wanted to die for it." I noted, "But that's how Monkey D Luffy rolls."

"Monkey D Luffy… you're…"

"Gum Gum…!"

Luffy stretched his feet up and through the ceiling and the roof, preparation for one final destructive attack against this place.

"Don't get conceited now…!" Arlong growled as he straightened his nose and crouched down, "As if the mighty Arlong Park could ever be destroyed by the inferior scum like you!"

"…Rein, remember that one move you wanted to try with me?" Kris suddenly noted.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, before realising immediately, "Are you sure? You have to be at your limit—"

"It is my only chance, Rein."

"…Alright. Get ready."

Holding his wrist tight, I flew back some distance before arcing around and speeds towards the collapsed wall, just as Arlong was preparing his last ditch effort to stop Luffy.

"Shark on Tooth—!"

"Dragon Eel Rocket!"

"Grgk!?"

I swung Kris right at Arlong as hard as I could, launching him right at the spinning shark fishman. My partner landed a dropkick right at his side, knocking him out of his attack just as Luffy initiated his.

"…Battle Axe!"

His rubbery foot slammed down on the floor hard, cracking it and breaking through it. The cracks kept on growing along the floor and up to the walls, until the entire room started to collapse in on itself. That itself became the straw to break the camel's back as the entire building started to collapse with it. The damage it had suffered was too much.

"Kris, get out of there!"

But it was too late. The pagoda began to crumble with Luffy, Arlong and Kris in it. Everyone below quickly ran from the collapsing building as everything came toppling down. Seconds later, only rubble remained.

"Kris!"

I dived down into the pile of debris and started digging through it. Kris had to be still alive. He has to be!

Moments later, Luffy bursted out of the rubble, relatively unharmed aside from the bleeding wound on his collar.

"Luffy…!"

"Nami!" He shouted, "You're my crewmate, got it!?"

I could hear Nami muttering out a sobbing yes as everyone else cheered over the destruction of Arlong Park. But for me, it's not time to celebrate just yet.

"Luffy!" I cried out, "Where's Kris—"

"Damn you!"

Out of nowhere, Arlong bursted through the rubble behind us, silencing the cheers immediately. The shark fishman looked worse for wear, with bruises all over and teeth cracked. Without a second hesitation, he pulled his own broken teeth free from his gums; new ones growing in their place moments later.

"He's still conscious!?" I cried as I unsheathed Nanashi. He had a building fall on him!

"Eight years… eight years of work, all gone because of you…!" He growled as he slowly made his way towards us. His eyes were even more bloodshot than before, "You're going to pay for all this…! And once I'm done with you, the rest of your little motley crew are next—"

A hand suddenly came out from the pile of debris and grabbed Arlong's ankle; a webbed hand of a fishman. That caused Arlong to trip and fall on his face. The only other fishman with them when the pagoda collapsed was…

"Kris…?"

"Damn you…!" Arlong growled as my partner pulled himself out of the rubble, "Why can't you just die!?"

"Not until… you are down… for good…!" Kris panted out as he stumbled onto his feet. In his hand was the Kiribachi which he was using to prop himself up.

"You… You… RAAAAA!"

The shark fishman was so pissed that he could barely make out words and just went straight to beastial roar as he charged at Kris with a fist cocked back. And with Kris definitely at his limit, he wouldn't be able to put up a block.

"No, you don't!"

"Grgk!?"

Luffy suddenly jumped onto Arlong's back, wrapping his elastic arms around the shark fishman several times to hold onto him tight.

"L-Let go of me, you rubbery bastard…!"

"Shishishi…! Not happening!"

No matter how Arlong struggled, he could not get out of the rubber pirate's hold. Luffy then pulled his neck back far, stunning and freaking out everyone, "Gum Gum…!"

Definitely not one to look away from an opportunity, Kris lifted Kiribachi with both hands and lunged at Arlong.

"It's over!"

"Bell!"

In sync, Luffy's hard head impacted Arlong's just as Kris slammed the massive sword's spine into the shark fishman's face; an ever familiar sickening crunch of a nose breaking can be heard. Arlong, with his sharp nose bending upwards, could barely make a sound before dropping on the ground out cold.

"…Arlong Park has fallen!"

With that, everyone rekindled their cheers. Some were even crying tears of joy and possible relief. I sheathed back my sword and let out a sigh of relief.

"Urgh…"

"Kris!"

The Kiribachi fell out of Kris's hands as he collapsed into my arms. "You okay!?" I asked worriedly.

"Sorry, but I think I'm beyond my limit right now…" He stated, "And I might have a few broken ribs… and possibly internal bleeding…"

"Considered what you had been through, you are lucky to only have those injuries."

"Haha… Yeah…"

"Then again, I'm one to talk with the hole in my side." I grimaced as I felt the sting from the bullet hole, although not as bad as it once was. Thank you, Zoan vitality.

As I supported Kris over my shoulder, I looked at the cheers of the Cocoyashi townsfolk, with a few of them running off with the Arlong Pirates's broken flag to spread the word of their defeat to the rest of the island, that Arlong's tyranny over them for the past eight years had ended.

And all due to a fellow fishman, his human partner, and a bunch of no name pirates. The absurdity of the situation was pretty funny that let loose a small chuckle.

"Something funny, Rein?" He asked me.

"Oh it's nothing…" I assured him, "You did good, Kris."

"I couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks for always having my back."

"Eh, it was no biggie. Come on, let's get us patched up."

We slowly descended down the rubble as the villagers were planning some big party to celebrate Arlong's defeat.

…
To be continued…

Sorry it took this long. Had a writer's block over this and inspiration on writing a Danmachi fic and rewriting a few of my other fics. Too much that I'm completely focused on that and didn't write anything for this fic.

So yeah, the Arlong Park arc is now done and all that's left is the epilogue before we jump into the next arc. The consequences with Nezumi would come around to bite my OC pretty hard, so keep an eye out for that.

With that, I thank you all for reading this!