The sides reconsolidate and prepare for all-out war. Are you ready for a bloodbath?

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Chapter 17:

Forces Beyond Control

"Daddy!" For the second time that day, Ace ran into his father's arms in the Gyoncord Plaza, though this time with the orange hat that had been gifted to him bouncing over his black hair. Luffy immediately abandoned the mermaid he was trying to wake, leaving her to fall back onto the packed earth as he knelt, bracing for the coming child. Luffy scooped up the boy in a single motion, spinning them in a circle before hugging him close.

"Did you have fun, Ace?" he asked. "You weren't scared at all, I bet."

"Nope!" the child nodded. "I knowed that you or Mommy'd get me, so I wasn't scared! Ne, Daddy, guess what! That big guy with the hammer thinks you and Mommy are the bad guys. He's stupid! Giihihihi!"

"Shishishi! Tell me about the fight."

"So the hammer guy was breaking all these things-" Ace began, recounting the battle as best he could with onomatopoeia and arm gestures. As he did so, Nami stepped up beside them, linking her arm through Luffy's as they listened to their son babble.

"Why do they get out of work?" Usopp grumbled, trying to shake a whaleshark fishwoman awake. She snorted and rolled over.

"Because we're almost done," Merry answered from beside the sniper, lifting the whaleshark's husband, a bulky merman, over her head in one fluid motion. "And I think they deserve some family time after being apart for two years."

"Still-"

"Now now, Long-Nose," Robin intervened, a trail of arms rolling an eel mermaid toward the evacuation point. "Do recall how you felt when Merry was taken from us and your subsequent emotions when we retrieved her once more years ago? I do believe you yelled at me because I prioritized our continued survival."

"Good times," Merry sighed. "Vice Admiral Jonathan was the first guy I ever actually talked to."

"What?" Usopp demanded, rounding on the fairy he called his niece. "I- but- I talked to you all the time and you never said anything!"

"I wasn't worried that knowledge of my sentience would stop Jonathan's adventure," the Klabautermann explained. "And I thought it would help keep him from burning me or looking too hard for Gin. Our little bet was fun and it kept Jonathan from coming for us himself."

"A fortuitous circumstance," Robin agreed. "He was clever enough to doubt my disguise from the onset. What did you mention to him to dissuade his overt involvement?"

"I'm not sure what did the trick," Merry admitted. "He already knew the legends, so I didn't have to explain what I was. He asked what sorts of people you all were and what sorts of adventures we'd had. I… may have mentioned saving Alabasta and toppling Drum, but I didn't use the names. He probably knew anyway. Oh, and he asked why we'd invaded G-8."

"But we didn't," Chopper blinked.

"That's exactly what I said," the Klabautermann nodded. "That might have been the thing. Really, though, we're lucky Gin didn't kill anyone when he ate his Fruit. That would have been a crossed line and Jonathan would have come down on us like a ton of bricks."

"Can't they just get here already?" Amy demanded, throwing her hands into the air. "Honestly! We're standing out in the open for them!"

"The waiting is the worst part," Coby agreed with a shiver. "On edge. The possibility of your opponents appearing at any moment, knowing that they could pop out without any warning. The knot in your gut that grows and grows until the tension causes it to snap…"

"You need to relax, Coby," Grace said, stepping up behind the roset. Her hands settled on his shoulders, his body visibly loosening. His eyes rolled as he sunk to his knees with the thief following him. Grace's fingers tensed and relaxed with each movement, Coby's body moving along like putty.

"New powers, published author, a thievery legacy, and you're also a masseuse now?" Usopp gaped. "Way to make the rest of us feel inadequate."

"Speak for yourself," Coby sighed, his breath hitching as Grace hit a knot in his back. "Oh, right there."

"Really, Grace," Amy agreed. "What happened to the lazy little girl that used to hold onto the hem of my dress?"

"I had to grow up. I realized that, unlike Mr. 3, the people of this crew were relying on me and I had to rise to the challenge." Grace paused, pushing Coby onto his stomach so she could apply more force. His arms flopped, but the young man made no qualms about his new position. "Besides, I finally found something I want."

"Could you two tone down the PDA?" Zoro questioned. "It's making me nauseous."

"You would not be suggesting that if Sanji were awake," Robin pointed out, gesturing to where Chopper was sitting beside the unconscious chef. "In that situation, you would encourage the affection because Sanji would have a paroxysm. Therefore, I recommend we allow it to avoid any double standard. It seems to be doing Coby quite a bit of good."

The boy in question made a long rumble of approval, something between a cat's purr and a happy growl that came from the back of his throat.

"Why, exactly, is Sanji unconscious anyway?" Usopp asked. "He was helping us until a few minutes ago."

"He passed out when Coby, Nami, and Ace arrived," Merry answered.

"Oh."

And really, 'Oh' was all there was to be said on the matter. Between his avoidance and denial up to this point, it was a wonder of psychology that he hadn't passed out during their group call. Now that he had a face to put to the name, Sanji could avoid the facts no longer.

"By the way," Coby breathed through relieved sighs, "remind me to show Luffy and Nami the pictures I took during our fight. Ace looks adorable."

"I bet," his masseuse grinned, her eyes lowering to a half-lidded state. "You know-"

"Don't be getting any ideas," Zoro grunted, side-eyeing the younger couple. Grace stiffened but Coby remained a solid pile of relaxed goo. "One brat is enough trouble for our trip. We don't need any more in the works."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Grace told him, her face carefully blank. "I have complete control of my body's systems thanks to my Fruit. That can't happen unless I want it to."

"Do you want it?" Robin queried, a mischievous grin on her lips. The artist shoved the heat in her cheeks down as best she could without the others knowing, but the archeologist and the Wood Fairy still smirked at her.

"Can we change the subject?" Amy demanded. "I'd rather not talk about this when it applies to my little sister."

"I'm not little anymore," Grace pointed out, but that didn't stop the blonde from stomping over and pulling her away. Droplets of chemicals hung suspended in the air as her hands were pulled away, only for them to fall a moment later. Coby gave a disappointed sigh, stretching his arms with a newfound looseness.

"Thanks, Grace. That felt amazing."

"So, uhh," Usopp muttered. "Where are Franky and Gin? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

"They're up there," Merry supplied, pointing to a little speck in the distance. "They and Sunny are waiting for Hody and his band to attack so they can have their 'suuuuuper epic entrance.'"

"Damn, that's a good idea," Zoro and Usopp whispered, though the sniper did not use the expletive.

"Oh, hey," Coby blinked. "Hody's on the island again, and he's pissed."

"I thought Namur went to take care of him," Usopp gasped.

"He did," Grace nodded.

"Which means he failed," Amy said. "That means our fight is going to be harder than it needed to be, but I doubt we can change that now. He should have at least worn Hody Down."

"I wouldn't count on that," Coby denied, his head tilting. "He doesn't feel weak. Actually, I'd hazard to guess he feels even stronger than before, like Luffy after downing an all-you-can-eat meat buffet."

"Crap," Usopp whined.

Nearby, Sanji groaned, finally coming back to the land of the living.

"Chopper?" the chef blinked, the furry doctor filling his vision. "What happened? I just had the worst dream…"

"That was no dream, Sanji," Robin said, stepping over and kneeling beside to the downed blond. "You did, in fact, witness the adorable toddler that is the child of Luffy and Nami."

"Ah," Sanji nodded, resting his head on the ground and closing his eyes. His hands moved of their own accord to light a cigarette. He laid there a moment, releasing a massive cloud of smoke from his lungs. "I see."

"You're taking this surprisingly well," Chopper commented, his skepticism plain to hear. "You cycled through the stages of grief far too quickly."

"If Nami-swan is h-happy, then I'm h-happy for her." Even as he spoke, tears began rolling down Sanji's cheeks. The waterworks and the smoking contrasted each other, opposing representations of his mental state. Still worried about said state, Chopper helped Sanji sit up using all the bedside manners Doctor Kureha lacked. "I really a-am…"

"Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Sanji's awake!" The crew watched as Ace slid to a stop before the chef, his red hat flopping over his eyes from the momentum. His little hands came up, pushing the brim of the hat away so Sanji could see his chocolate eyes, button nose, and Monkey D. smile. "Hi, Uncle Sanji! I'm Ace!"

Sanji's eyes twitched, though this was a nonverbal that Ace totally missed. Mentally, Sanji's mind had gone from zero to one hundred instantly, dividing Ace's face into what was clearly Nami and what was clearly Luffy, the boy's words not registering. Duty to the navigator, anger at his captain, and the knowledge that the child had no idea about his devotion warred within the chef like a trio of ravenous wolves.

Ace's babble stopped, leaving Sanji with the dampened noises of the background. He blinked, realizing the boy's eyes bored into him as if expecting something.

"What?"

"I said I'm hungry, Uncle Sanji! When we get to Sunny, make me some food, please!"

And so, Sanji witnessed the pinnacle example of a mixture of Luffy and Nami's genes: a somewhat-polite demand for food that he could never deny.

"…Ok," the chef breathed, getting to his feet before lifting the child into his arms. He had to feed anyone who was hungry and the Sunny wasn't that far away. "Let me get you some food."

"Oh, Uncle Sanji!" Ace exclaimed before the chef could start moving. "Can you teach me how to cook? I wanna learn to help everyone!"

"I… Of course I'll teach you," Sanji responded, "but it won't be easy and you aren't going to handle anything in the kitchen until I say so, ok?"

"Yes, Uncle Sanji!" The chef kicked, carrying the child into the air with Sky Walk as the pair made their way toward the Sunny.

"That," Nami began, "went surprisingly well."

"You think so?" Luffy blinked. "I thought it would turn out like that all along. I mean, who wouldn't love Ace?"

The crew on the ground stood in silence, watching the unlikely pair shrink into the distance. This only lasted for a moment before Amy sighed once more.

"Dear Goda, I'm bored!"

Hody's glare was enough to send citizens of Fishman Island scurrying in fear, and that was just fine with him. Their panic left him a clear path ahead unimpeded by traffic of any kind, even the regular Ryugu soldiers nowhere to be seen. Though a deep part of him enjoyed their reactions, another part of his mind pestered him to rip, tear, and kill, as evidenced by the trail of destruction left in his wake. Houses, businesses, corals, and apartment buildings crumbled under their own weight due to the damage his fists and Water Bullets did.

Whatever destruction he caused wouldn't matter when Fishmen owned the surface anyway.

That plan, however, was still far from succeeding at the moment. Only he and Zeo had had possession of any Energy Steroids when last he'd checked and, considering how many of them he'd needed to use just to defeat Namur, there was little chance his officers had managed to take down any more than three of the humans. An inferior species the humans may be, but they'd fought more battles and had more experience. It would take a lot of brute force to destroy them. That and playing with their emotions, showing the people what the Straw Hats truly thought of fishmen.

A shadow passed over Hody's head, the shark glancing upward to see what had caused the phenomena. The hull of a barnacle-laden ship squeezed against the side of the bubble encapsulating the island and Hody felt an eye twitch.

"That Godadammed moron," the New Fishman captain hissed as the shadow moved on. "What the Hell does he think he's doing?"

"He's chasing after his love like a murderous puppy," a voice said, Hody whipping around to fire a Water Bullet at the origin. Caribou opened a hole in himself, the attack passing right thought him before blowing through several buildings and landscapes, each producing a plume of dust and debris. Screams echoed through the air as the results of the attack finalized, but neither Hody nor Caribou cared about the civilians. "You have to admire his blind dedication, even if we both know it will get him nowhere."

"Human," the fishman spat by way of greeting. "What do you want?"

"My desires haven't changed, partner," the swamp-man responded, emphasizing the title in such a way that he knew would both get on Hody's nerves and remind him of their common enemy. "Your officers, Vander Decken, and I split up to attempt a divide-and-conquer strategy after we escaped the palace. Unfortunately, I was rebuffed by a trio of Straw Hats myself. Three-on-one aren't very good odds in many scenarios. I don't know how the others fared, but I assumed that you'd know where they would be waiting to strike the Straw Hats who escaped."

"You're useless," Hody growled. "You lost, yet you have the gall to come straight to me and admit it? You've got balls if nothing else."

"And you don't have the power needed to take me down easily," Caribou said, a trail of swampy sweat rolling down the side of his face. "I am a Logia, so I'm of more use to you allied against the Straw Hats. It wouldn't make sense for you to try to get rid of me now."

Hody scowled, his expression all the confirmation Caribou needed to relax. With his crew currently MIA after that explosion the Ghost Ship caused, he needed this tentative peace with Hody and the New Fishmen to last until he could secure a way off the island.

"Now that we've got that sorted out, lead onwards to your army, Hody."

"You better keep up and stay useful. As soon as you aren't helpful anymore, I'll tear your throat out myself."

"You could try, but I really don't want to find out who would win between the two of us. I'm more interested in why you're carting around one of your own like a slave." Caribou gestured to the chain Hody held in one hand, said chain leading to the beaten and bruised form of an octopus fishman. "Aren't you all about how Fishmen stand over humans? Who is this poor, unfortunate soul?"

Hody tugged on the chain, drawing a pained "nyu" from the octopus.

"A traitor is what he is. This poor excuse of a fishman befriended the very humans that put his friends and our idols in prison, destroying their aspirations."

"Arlong was wrong," the prisoner muttered weakly, He turned to the pair, one of his eyes swollen shut. "We were wrong, and we did so many horrible things. All you're doing is repeating our mistakes, Hody."

The fishman captain raised a fist, the former pirate flinching in fear in response.

"So he disagrees with you," Caribou shrugged. "So does nearly every regular person on the island. That doesn't explain why he's different. Who is he?"

"This," Hody grunted, rattling the chain, "is Hachi, formerly a member of the Sun Pirates and an officer of the Arlong Pirates. After Straw Hat and his crew defeated the Arlong Pirates in the East Blue, Hachi here turned over a new leaf. He turned his back on all the ideals Fisher Tiger and Arlong staked their lives on!"

"Tiger didn't want this!" Hachi argued. "Nyu~! His death tipped Arlong over the edge! Captain Tiger and Queen Otohime didn't agree on much, but they both hoped for a better future than this! Something better than Arlong and certainly better than you, Hody!"

"Otohime hoped for a future that would have destroyed us. That's why I got rid of her."

Hachi stiffened, his one open eye widening in shock. But... But the news Arlong gave them had said a human killed the queen...

"I understand now," Caribou nodded. "You feel like you're a slave to your ideals, so you've made someone who threw them off into a slave for you."

"Shut up, human," Hody growled. "You understand nothing! I am a slave to no one and nothing, and I never will be."

"I guess that's true." Caribou laughed, almost mocking his tentative ally. "If you were truly so bound by your beliefs, you would have attacked me no matter how I could have helped, and you would have won if you'd popped my bubble. Yet here we stand. You simply wish for power."

"I said shut up." Hody stomped ahead, cursing their need for every advantage over the Straw Hats. The humans had avoided Hammond's crew at the start and routed their attempted takeover of the palace, but hopefully his officers had managed to take down at least a couple of their number. Either way, though, their next altercation would be their last, one way or another.

Caribou silently followed the two fishmen into a more rundown part of the island, though the buildings here were still nicer than the parts of the Fishman District he'd seen before. Unlike before when they had moved through Fishman Island proper, this area's residents did not immediately flee. Some shied away, but others seemed to take their presence as a que, walking alongside them in a building cacophony of footsteps.

Like some divine teacher leading a flock of disciples. Hody brought the group to the mouth of a cave and stepped inside. The footsteps grew louder with the echo of the damp walls. Caribou felt the floor slope downward just inside the entrance and allowed himself to lose some of his solid form, following the flow of gravity without concern for the shoes or feet the action dirtied.

"Captain!" a quartet of voices chorused as Hody stepped into a hollowed-out atrium lined with the restless bodies of hundred of New Fishmen pirates. Zeo, Ikaros, Daruma, and Dosun stood in the middle as if one had been giving a speech. Caribou almost wished he could have heard some of it, but with how loud the herd behind Hody had been, there was no chance they could have snuck up and listened. The swamp-man separated from the hoard, slathering himself over the walls and out of the way. He didn't need some stupid, diligent, hardcore lacky to notice he was a human and get any ideas.

"My friends," Hody smiled, dragging Hachi forward while the other fishmen dispersed themselves among those already present. The four officers knelt as of bowing to a king, and Caribou imagined they had no qualms with the idea of swearing fealty to their captain if he were to ask them to. "I'm glad to see you all alive and well, though I'd like to know why you aren't still rampaging in the light. How many Straw Hats did you kill?"

The officers shuffled, sweat beading their brows as they looked to each other for possible answers. After half a minute, Ikaros, the tallest among them, stepped forward and knelt once more.

"Captain Hody," he said, his voice as flat as he could make it. "I'm sorry, ch. None of us were able to kill a Straw Hat, ch. They had us outnumbered and-"

Ikaros did not see Hody's stormy look nor the backhanded fist the captain swung cracking against the giant squid fishman's jaw and blasting him into the wall to his right. The rest of the officers bowed lower while the rest of the room fell silent.

"None of them?!" Hody demanded, his voice rising an octave in intensity. "None?! Not even that brat you took?"

"The Straw Hats-" Dosun began.

"I don't want your Godadammed excuses! We are fishmen! We shouldn't have to struggle against mere humans! Not here in our home 10,000 meters below the surface!" He turned to the room at large, the crowd flinching away. "Does anyone have good news to report?"

"I've finished, Captain," Zeo whispered into the silence, the wobbegong waving his hand. A pair of fishmen from the crowd moved forward with a small chest between them. They dropped it between Zeo and Hody before retreating, leaving the scientist to open the lid. The inside contained a multitude of pills striped green and white. "We only have enough for us to get our fill and maybe a select few others of your choosing, but these steroids should allow for twice as much boost with only half of the regular risk."

Caribou leaned forward to get a better look. So these were the drugs Hody had mentioned before? The ones that could double one's power? Those could be useful in the future if he could get ahold of some of them.

"Finally." Hody stepped forward and plucked one pill from the top of the pile. He studied it a moment before shoving two handfuls into his pockets. "Get your shares and distribute the rest. Where's Hyouzou?"

"We have reports of him attacking a local bazaar on the west side," Daruma muttered. "Much of his force did not return, but some who did mentioned that his swords were destroyed by the Pirate Hunter and that he was probably there to acquire new ones he thought could hold up."

"I see." The captain's scowl slackened an iota, the officers letting out a small breath. "What are our current losses?"

"Between those who cannot fight and those we fear to be… dead," Dosun began, "we've lost almost 700 in total, dosun."

Hody's scowl returned. 700 was but a sliver of the 10,000 that followed him, but Hody knew for a crew of only 14 (15 if one counted the child and 16 if one counted the bird as well), that was no small victory. The average fishman was 10 times stronger than a normal human, but these humans had proven themselves to be above the norm. Little else could be said for a force that could take down an average of 50 fishmen per individual.

"Unacceptable. How can mere humans be so powerful?"

"They are not all human," Zeo reminded him. "Between their extra sentients, body modifications, and Devil Fruits, I fear we may have underestimated them."

"You're right," Hody admitted, a grim smile widening over his face. He yanked on the chain in his hand, dragging Hachi forward as the captain turned to look to him. "Luckily for us, we have a witness who can explain what every member of their group can do. Isn't that right, Hachi?"

The octopus gulped.

"Sister, we must move quickly," Fukaboshi insisted, his muscles tense and his eyes studying the surrounding waters. A contingent of soldiers flanked him, three on each side. "I know this is stressful, but we have no choice."

"I'm trying, Big Brother," Shirahoshi muttered, the sweat on her brow disappearing into the water around them before it could form. Yes, Shirahoshi was healthy and, yes, she was a mermaid, but she had still spent all of the years since her mother's death locked away in the Hard Shell Tower. As a result, she was not in the same physical shape as any of her brothers who were all trained warriors and mermen. Even so, she refused to ask if they could rest or take a break; now was her time to act in a manner befitting of royalty and nothing would make her fail the expectations of her family. She redoubled her efforts, catching up to the squadron ahead.

Shirahoshi shivered, trying to keep her eyes on her brother's back. The glowing eyes of Deep-Sea Kings shone in whites and reds contrasting against the inky darkness they hid in all around, the creatures sizing up the group as if weighing the risk of battle if they wanted the giant Mermaid Princess for a tasty snack. The bubble that contained Fishman Island and the Ryugu Palace shrunk as the group swam, putting as much space between them as they could. But the one thing that instilled the most fear in the young princess was the shape in the distance, the tattered sails barely defined from the rest of the background. The Flying Dutchman moved past the island like a silent monster, barely scraping the bubble, and Shirahoshi knew that the island could have been flooded if they had not enacted this plan.

"Big Brother, I see him!" the Mermaid Princess cried, one giant finger pointing back at the vessel and the tiny, bubble-enclosed figure standing on its prow. A flash of emotion crossed Fukaboshi's face before it settled into determination, a white-knuckled grip causing his trident to shake.

"Shine, Dave, continue to escort the princess," he ordered, no room for argument in his tone. "Samuel, Pone, Ryusaki, and Angle, you four come with me. It's time we rid Fishman Island of a pest that has kept my sister locked away from the people."

"Sire!" the four soldiers chorused, the men following their eldest prince as he turned, charging the coming ship. Shirahoshi watched them go, her eyes widening with unshed tears.

"Big Brother-!"

"Princess, we much keep going," Dave insisted, his hand gently tugging on one of Shirahoshi's larger fingers. She blinked, cutting off her one vision of Fukaboshi swimming directly toward danger for her own sake.

"Yes," she whispered, internalizing Fukaboshi's words. 'Decken is after you,' he'd said. 'There is no one else that can lead him away from the people.' She would be brave, like her father, mother, and brothers. She had no other choice. Setting her jaw, the princess turned and began to flee once more.

As she moved for relative safety, Fukaboshi and his troupe did not, the coming battlefield growing larger each second until all five could make out the form of Vander Decken on the fanged-skull figurehead. His eyes widened as the five combatants drew closer, a mad smile showing his sharp teeth.

"Baahohoho!" he laughed. "I greet you, brother-in-law! Welcome to my home! I know it's not big enough for Shirahoshi yet, but I know your father would help pay for some of the renovations as long as I cover the wedding! Baahohoho!"

"Silence, you madman!" the prince hissed. "You'll never get your grubby little hands on my sister!"

"Don't be like that, brother-in-"

"Do not call me that!" Fukaboshi yelled, cutting the pirate off. "Men, terminate him!"

As one, the four soldiers readied their spears and charged with a warcry, the noise seeming to surprise the pirate. He stumbled backward, trying to put distance between himself and the weapons even if only for a moment while his hands fumbled for the axes at his waist. In that moment, however, his powers worked against him, the ship closing the distance between him and the soldiers in a scant second.

"We've got you now, Decken!" they called as one.

"I will not allow this!"

The raspy voice that proclaimed such a statement was almost as surprising as the octopus tentacles that rose from the deck, grabbing each of the spears in a grip too tight to allow any motion. The soldiers felt an instinctive fear slide down their spines as a new player rose from the barnacle-encrusted floor. Its skin was a slimy green, the tentacles attached around the mouth like some horrible beard. A tricorn hat resting in its head matched the long, frayed coat over its shoulders, the whole set drifting in the current. The creature stepped forward, one pegleg thunking against the waterlogged wood while its left hand, the claw of a giant crab, came up to snap one of the spears in two while the other pulled a cutlass from its sheath.

"Who are you?" Fukaboshi demanded, having to swim backwards to keep ahead of the supernaturally-moving ship.

"You may call me… Dutchman… Flying Dutchman." The Klabautermann's speech, for a Klabautermann it was, was halting and slow, his words lengthened and extended in such a way as to draw fear from his foes. The tugging on the spears redoubled, but Dutchman refused to release his face tentacles. "Decken the Ninth may not be the best cap'in I've had, but he's still the cap'in of me ship. I'll not let you lot finish him off and end me legacy, for a cap'in's orders are absolute. If a cap'in is to fall in battle, tis the duty of a ship to go down alongside 'em."

"Wha- Dutchman?" Decken gasped. His eyes widened as the captain beheld the fearsome visage of his ship's spirit for the first time. He blinked quickly, shaking the surprise from his mind. "No, I shouldn't be surprised. You're the oldest ship still in use. Of course you'd be alive if fairies like the Ghost Ship and Moby Dick are out there!"

"So it be," the simic hybrid nodded. "Your orders, Cap'in?"

The intangible math of risk, reward, war, and power flinted through Vander Decken's mind as this new player shifted many long shots into something much more in his favor. The Devil Fruit User grinned, his eyes alight with the madness of nine generations of obsession.

"Defend me, Dutchman! Defend me until either Shirahoshi is my bride or dead at my feet! Baaahohoho!"

"Finally, la-ti-do~!" Ryuboshi sang as he watched Brook escort the last civilian, an avid fan of Soul King, from the plaza. Color lined the ring that looked down into the plaza proper, hundreds of those who had fallen to Brook's music hours ago now disregarding their already-upended schedules to watch the fight they'd been told would happen here. Every now and then, the sound of one of the princes' or one of the Straw Hats' monikers would filter down as the crowd cheered for them like celebrities.

"All that up and down's got me a little sore," Manboshi agreed, trying to rub his back with his shorter arms. "My mambo's not going to be as fluid as usual."

"Thank you for your assistance, Your Highnesses," Coby said, bowing low, while the rest of the Straw Hats present watched. The two princes glanced at each other, not having expected such manners from a pirate.

"And to you as well," the older brother of the pair responded with a small flourish. "We would not have finished in such a timely manner if not for your help, do-ray-me-fa~!"

"Just in time, too. My Observation tells me that there is a massive army coming this way from underground."

"Underground?" the royals gasped.

"It's about time," Amy hissed, smashing her parasol into the ground next to her, chunks of stone cracking and giving way under its increased mass. "I've been itching for a fight since those bastards tried to down us."

"I couldn't agree more, Amy," Merry said, punching one palm. "To be fair to them, the second time was Captain Luffy's fault, but I still blame them."

As if in response, a loud BOOM echoed through the plaza, its origins a rising cloud of dust. The pirates, princes, and crowd all turned as shadows formed in the airborne debris, a host of fishmen filtering out. They ringed the plaza, quickly surrounding the allied forces, yet their numbers continued to flow from the tunnel until the officers and Hody himself brought up the rear.

Luffy vanished, a mere afterimage and wisp of steam all that remained in his original spot fading into the air.

"Captain Luffy-!"

"Hog!"

His feet pounded against the earth, each step carrying the human captain closer to his adversary. His arms trailed behind, the speed stretching them back as they rotated into pseudo springs ready to unleash a double Jet Rifle on the fishman.

Hody smirked as Luffy materialized before him, arms ready, and the fishman snapped. A body appeared, Luffy's eyes widening as his attack went wide. One fist plowed into the wall beside the tunnel while the other carved a trench into the ground. Between them, a hair's breathe from both, knelt the trembling form of Hachi. The human paused, causing two of the officers to bring own a hammer and a spear on his person.

Luffy did not so much see this as feel it with his Haki. Aborting his failed first strike before the weapons could hit him, the rubber-man returned to his Nakama and glared at the offending sentient, hostage and crushed ground before him.

"Exactly as planned," Hody smirked, one hand resting on Hachi's head as if to still the octopus' shaking. In response, the shaking doubled. "Human, the snail."

"Right here," Caribou said. The snail connected to the island's announcement system, stolen from the palace during their attack, rose from the swamp-man's covered palm so he could hand it over. The snail awoke, a moment of feedback sounding across the island.

"Residents of Fishman Island," Hody began, never taking his eyes off his foes lest they try anything funny to ruin his moment. "You may recognize my voice, but I'll introduce myself again anyway. I am Hody Jones, captain of the New Fishman Pirates. Currently, I have almost 10,000 men in the Gyoncord Plaza ready to face the total combined forces of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Ryugu Kingdom. Such a shame, though, that they could only scrounge up less than 20 fighters in your defense."

The watching crowd broke into whispers, fear and anger palpable to all as they weighed these new odds. Hody let his smirk widen as he forged ahead, striking while the iron was hot.

"The Ryugu Kingdom no longer has the power to protect Fishman Island or our race. You know this. The king has become a husk of his former self since Otohime's death, and that is why I will take the responsibility from them by force. I will become your new king and under me, we will claim the surface for our own! Too long have we Fishmen and Merfolk wallowed down in the depths of this ocean! Too long have we played nice with the humans who have attacked and belittled us! So come! Come pay witness to this moment in history when Hody Jones and the New Fishman Pirates kill your paltry protectors."

His smirk widened into a maniacal grin, his gaze never breaking eye contact with Luffy's glare.

"And Straw Hats, do put up a fight. Let's give these people a good show."

"And Straw Hats, do put up a fight. Let's give these people a good show."

Madam Sharley screamed, her strangled sobs bouncing through suddenly-still Mermaid Café. Her slender arms clutched at her head as Camie dropped a tea set in shock. The smaller mermaid hopped to her employer, but Sharley's writhing did not allow her the ability to get closer.

"Madam!" Camie cried, her voice even mixed with a dozen other mermaids barely registering through the wails of anguish. The waitresses abandoned their duties, crowding around their boss, though not so close as to get hit by her flailing tail. "Madam Sharley! What is it?"

The screaming stopped, the shark mermaid curling into a fetal position as she tired to put her mind back together and decipher the pieces of what she had just seen. Sea Kings warring against each other on two separate fronts, but they were not what they appeared. When the future was uncertain, those in play would not be themselves in her visions. When things were represented, then the future hung on a fork, able to fall one of two ways.

"Madam Sharley, what did you see?"

"I…" She swallowed, the headache thumping against the inside of her skull made focusing difficult. Her voice came out with a rasp, hoarse through her raw throat. "I saw two battlefields, one above the other. I saw Sea Kings tearing at each other for the fate of the island. The battlefield below we know to be the Gyoncord Plaza, but it is the one above that will decide the fate of the island. There, a shark defends a goddess from a demon and his monster. Should the goddess fall..."

Sharley swallowed again, her throat suddenly dry for more reasons than her screaming.

"If the goddess falls, the world will plunge into another Void Century."

End of Chapter 17

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-SwordOfTheGods