021
— bleed for me —

THE VILLAGE BURNED INTO THE MORNING, THE RAGING FIRE LEAVING DESTRUCTION AND ANGUISH IN ITS WAKE. Visenya could feel her chest growing tight as she stared at the damage around her. It seemed most people escaped without too much harm, but they had lost everything else, their homes. Visenya swallowed the lump in her throat and followed after Nami and the others.

Oaklyn and Usopp raced ahead with leaking wooden buckets of water hoping to douse the last fires and save whatever they could. But it was no use, the houses, everything in Coco village had been reduced to ash.

"Arlong did this?" Sanji questioned, his voice deep with confusion and terror. "Why?"

"To punish the villagers," Visenya said in a quiet voice.

"And to punish me," Nami whispered, her eyes red with crystal tears. Visenya looked up at Nami and took a small step closer. Visenya reached out for Nami and squeezed her hand tightly. Nami looked at Visenya who shared the same look, and she squeezed her hand back.

Their gaze snapped upwards as they heard the sound of people. Nami's eyes widened, and she took a cautious step back as she stared at Nojiko and the scar faced man. The rest of the villagers followed them, faces turned in sorrow and determination.

"What's going on?" Nami questioned, watching Nojiko stop in front of her.

"Nojiko told us about your sacrifice," the scared man said, his voice oddly sad. "We didn't know. Can you ever forgive us?"

"There's nothing to forgive," Nami insisted, her voice full of sorrow. "Coco Village is my home."

"Then it's our turn to sacrifice," he said, his voice stern and unwavering. "We're done living in fear. We're gonna march on Arlong Park. If those fishmen want a fight—"

"That's not a fight. That's a massacre. You will all be killed!" Nami argued in anger.

"If there's no hope for us to buy our freedom, then I say we die trying to fight for it!" His voice carried over the villagers and the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts of agreement. Nami's eyes darted around, her grip on Visenya's hand tightening with every second.

"No, everyone, please!" Nami shouted, her voice shaking as she pleaded with the villagers. "No, I— I won't let you do that." Their cheers trailed out and Nami shook her head softly, trying to keep her tears at bay. "This is my fight."

"No." Luffy's voice was sharp and strong. Nami's eyes snapped toward him and Luffy nodded softly. "This is our fight. Right, guys?"

"Finally, I get to cut something," Zoro said in amusement, but his face remained unchanged.

"But how are we gonna beat Arlong?" Usopp asked, looking around at the others nervously. "We saw what he did at Baratie."

"I saw what Visenya did," Oakyn said with confidence.

"Every creature has a weakness," Zoro added.

"Even bulletproof ones?" Usopp argued.

"I'll know it when I see it," Luffy hissed. "And when I do, I won't hesitate."

Visenya looked at Nami and nodded, "We are going to fight for you Nami."

◈

Visenya pulled herself onto one of the rocks and up high enough to see over the fence. Usopp was standing close by, a dozen smoke bombs loaded in the slingshot and pulled back tight as he waited for Visenya to give him the signal. She watched the fishman move around, Lips shouting instructions, warnings and insults through sips of alcohol. Visenya waited until the fishmen were grouped together enough to give Usopp the signal.

Usopp somehow pulled the string back even tighter before firing the smoke bombs high into the air. They rose high before curving down and going off with cracks and flashes as they hit the ground. The fishmen screamed and scattered, running into each other and knocking things over as the thick fog took over the park. Some bombs hit the ground oddly and sent sparks out just hot enough to burn the fishmen.

Visenya dropped back beside her crew and Luffy kicked the gates wide open, tearing the hinges off as he did. The Straw Hats stormed into Arlong Park, the fishman turning in shock to the crew storming in.

The Straw Hats stopped just before the large pool of water. It was so deep Visenya couldn't see the bottom and there were large stepping rocks, at least 9 were needed to cross the water each way. But what else would be expected of fishmen.

"Fishmen! Stand by to repel boarders!" Lips yelled over the chaos.

Luffy cracked his knuckles, and Zoro quickly flicked the sword from its sheath, Sanji cracked his neck to the side and Usopp readied another shot, even if his hands shook in fear. "Where's Arlong?" Luffy questioned, but he never moved his gaze from the fishmen.

"He's probably in the map room," Nami answered, glancing up at Luffy beside her.

He turned to her and nodded softly, "Then that's where we're going."

Visenya nodded ahead, "We will make a path," she assured, taking her sword from her hip and the red blade ignited quickly. Nami nodded and she stepped around Visenya and the others, leading the way for Luffy to follow.

The fishmen yelled out as they stormed forward. Usopp and Oaklyn raced to higher ground, Oaklyn firing her gun and Usopp letting off every type of bomb and ammo he had. Zoro unsheathed his sword and slashed through a fishman in the one moved, and when the fishman stumbled Sanji kicked him back into an approaching group. Visenya slipped into the thick smoke, her sword lighting up the grey fog a bright red. Visenya cut through the smaller fishmen like butter, but the taller ones had tougher skin that needed an extra hack or 3.

Nami and Luffy raced along the rock walls, racing toward the tallest building at the other side of the park, but a fishman jumped up and stopped Luffy. The fishmen swung wildly but Zoro jumped up, running along the rock wall and slashed at the fishman's leg. Zoro jumped out of the way, landing as the fishman fell back into the water with a splash.

The sound of Visenya's laser cut through the sound of the fishmen's yells, and Sanji was forced to dodge the bodies that dropped around him. Visenya swung her sword and as she dodged under the attack of another one, letting her sword hang in the air. She raised her hand, and the sword raced back to her hand, slicing through the fishmen to return to her hand.

Sanji paused for a moment and watched her; his head cocked to one side, eyes never leaving her as she fought without even letting a hit brush against her. "And to think I was impressed by you at Baratie," Sanji called out with a soft chuckle.

Visenya skidded to a stop, keeping her distance from the deep pool and turned to Sanji. "I appreciate that, but you must stay focussed," Visenya said sternly. And to her point a fishman had almost landed a hit on Sanji while he was distracted. But Visenya managed to race over and knock the fishman away before he struck Sanji.

She stood in front of him as he looked over his shoulder in shock, but he was quick to turn back and look down at Visenya. "Sanji, please," Visenya pleaded looking up at him. She stepped back into the fight before Sanji could say another word.

Oaklyn fired at the fishmen racing up the stone walls towards her and Usopp. Her gun fired awkwardly and slightly to the left, but even if it did hit them, it didn't do much. It was more to scare them off and cover for Usopp as he fired into the crowd.

He pulled back another shot and it exploded in Lip's face.

The fishman stumbled but quickly caught himself and turned to Usopp in anger. "Not the face," he growled.

"Shit," Usopp cursed. He grabbed Oaklyn by her arm and dragged her down the stone steps, dodging through the ones climbing the stairs. Lips chased after them, and two fishmen were quick to turn and follow.

She swore she had never run this much or this far in her life, but as long as they heard the fishmen chasing them Oaklyn and Usopp wouldn't stop running. They had run out of Arlong and back into the woods and did not seem to be stopping. They skidded slightly down a small hill and Usopp lost his grip on Oaklyn. She pushed Usopp in a different direction and they split up.

The fishmen paused for a moment before Lips ordered the two others to follow Oaklyn as he chased after Usopp.

Oaklyn slid down another small hill, kicking up leaves as she landed. Her gun slid from her pocket, but she didn't bother to grab it as she stood. She quickly ran deeper into the woods, dodging quickly and trying not to trip over the roots as she kept her speed up. She spotted a large oak tree and quickly ducked behind it, keeping herself out of their view.

Her breathing was hard and fast, and she tried to calm herself. Oaklyn couldn't hear the fishmen's footsteps but that only made her more terrified. The wind blew the leaves around slowly and some sort of bird flew through the trees, and that was the only sound. She took a deep breath, but she nearly hiccupped in surprise when she heard twig snap.

Visenya fought her way around the park, keeping her distance from the pool of water that the fishman jumped in and out of. One threw himself out of the water, leaping from deep beneath the water and high into the air. He lunged at Visenya, and she quickly spun, slicing the fishman in half.

The body fell around her, and her eyes flickered up to Zoro; he jumped across the rocks on the water, slicing and throwing the fishmen around with ease. But when he spun back to slash a fishman, it pulled at the wound on his chest. He fell to his knees, and while he did land the hit another fisherman jumped from the water behind him. Sanji was quick to leap from the group he was fighting to kick the fishman far away into a building.

Zoro took a breath and pushed himself to his feet. "I had that one," he said, turning to face Sanji.

"If you had him, I wouldn't have got him," Sanji pointed out with a smug smile and slid his hands into his pockets.

"Would you both focus?" Visenya called out to them, quickly finishing off the small group.

Sanji turned to her but before he could speak, another round of fishmen burst through the gates. They shouted out and some raised their weapons high as others dived into the far end of the water, racing toward them fast.

Crunching leaves and snapping twigs cut through the thick, quiet air like bullets. Oaklyn kept her back pressed to the tree, trying to keep her breath as quiet and calm as possible. Her fingers dg into the bark of the tree, splintering her fingers but she couldn't focus on that. She could feel her hands shaking as her nerves grew with every second.

She heard the fishmen slowly creeping by her and as quietly as she possibly could, Oaklyn slowly shuffled around the tree to keep herself hidden. The leaves made far too much under her feet, so she tried to keep her steps in time with the fishmen.

Crack!

Oaklyn's breathing stopped and she froze in place. She looked down at the stick under her boot that snapped and made a sound louder than a bomb. She heard the fishmen's footsteps stop and she immediately took the knife from her hip, squeezing it tightly in her hand.

She heard one of the fishmen start to creep closer to the tree and as soon as she saw him round the tree she leapt out. She drove the knife into his leg, and he shouted out in pain. The force sent them both to the ground, and as she tore the knife out and stood a gunshot went off.

Oaklyn flinched but the shot missed, the bullet going slightly too far to the left and embedding in a nearby tree. She looked up at the fishman holding her gun. She tried to shake off the shock and duck away, but the fishman had fired another shot.

The force struck Oaklyn in the chest, and the bullet pierced the scarab. The moment sent Oaklyn crashing and falling to the ground, hard. Oaklyn tried to gasp out but pain coursing from her chest made it hard to breath. It burned and would bruise, but it felt like her ribs had broken.

The scarab started to hum against her skin and the pain slowly lifted, but then it started to make a strange mechanical sound. Oaklyn sucked in a deep breath as the weight on her chest lifted, but she was so distracted she didn't notice the scarab growing and expanding.

The metal shifted and smoothed over in place, growing like molten gold. It made a golden moon her back like armour, it slithered across her shoulder and down her arms creating bracelets and cuffs. The scarab spread out almost like a web across her chest and just touched the bottom of her neck creating an armour that would protect her from any bullet.

She pushed herself to her feet and touched the metal running across the skin of her neck. The shock raced back to her in a completely new form and when she looked up and saw the fishmen aiming the gun again she panicked.

She threw her arm up in front of her face as he fired the gun, but there wasn't any pain. She looked up and her eyes widened. She had shielded herself with golden beetle-like wings, at least 2 dozen on each side that sprouted from the metal running along her arms.

The fishman stared at her in confusion and shock, and before he had the chance to run Oaklyn spun and whipped the wings into his side. It sent him flying into a tree and was knocked out cold by the time he hit the ground.

Oaklyn raised her arms to look at the wings better, watching the sun reflect off the gold and seep through the smallest of detailing's. For a moment she wondered how she would move with them but then like it listened to her, the wings started to retract. Like liquid gold again, it crawled back to make the moon crest armour on her back.

Sanji spun on one foot, landing a hard kick on the fishman's face that sent him flying and he kicked another in the same movement. His hair had fallen out of place, falling in front of his eyes and had started to curl from the heat of the battle. He had stopped to look at Visenya again and she quickly diverted her eyes, focussing on the fishman she was halfway through slashing through.

Sanji chuckled softly but they both turned their attention to Zoro. He slid across the bricks, slashing through the fishmen, and when he stopped, he pressed his hand to his chest and his face scrunched in pain.

"You look tired," Sanji teased, kicking a fishman that stood behind him. In swift move he dropped to his knees and knocked out a fishman's leg and he made a horrible sound as he hit the ground. Sanji whipped the hair from his face and shot a look at Zoro, "Maybe you should take a break."

Zoro's face soured and he stood, knocking the incoming fishman's blow before it ever hit him. Zoro stabbed his sword backwards and impaled the fishman. "You ought to get back in the kitchen," Zoro scoffed, taking his word back and slicing the fishman at once.

Visenya skidded along the ground, dragging the red blade along the ground starting a fire, and slashing through the fishmen running at Sanji. Zoro and Sanji stared at the fire Visenya created and stopped. "Please stop fighting while we fight," she ordered looking between them. She spun and dragged her foot over the fire, putting it out in one swift move and throwing her sword out. It embedded itself in the torso of a fishman trying to attack Zoro.

"Luffy needs us!" Sanji shouted in agreement. He backflipped into a kick, knocking out a fishman that had slowly started to raise to his feet.

"You just got here," Zoro argued, forcing his blade into the neck of a fishman, "You don't know what Luffy needs."

"I know he needs my cooking."

"Putting two slices of bread together?"

Visenya cut down the fishmen and turned back to Zoro and Sanji who adapted to bickering while fighting. "Is it possible Luffy may need all of us?" Visenya cut in.

"Ohh! Someone's feeling threatened," Buggy shouted, his voice muffled by the fabric of the bag.

"Shut up!" Sanji and Zoro shouted, glaring at the clown through the bag.

Visenya walked to Sanji and sipped her fingers under the strap of the bag, slipping it from his shoulder and into her hand. Sanji furrowed his eyebrows and Zoro stepped out watching in curiosity as Visenya wrapped the strap tighter around her hand.

Buggy was shouting out, trying to get someone to answer him— it came when Visenya swung the bag, and used the weight of Buggy's head to slam into the oncoming fishmen. Sanji flinched in surprise but never looked away. Instead, a small, impressed, but shocked smile spread on his face.

By the time Visenya beat the third fishman down Buggy was screaming out for Visenya to stop. "Alright! Alright! Just get me back to my body!" Visenya stopped and held the bag still, allowing Buggy to catch his breath. "God! Thank you! We're close. I can feel my toes."

Visenya looked up at Sanji and Zoro again. "Trust me," Buggy continued to plead. "I can help you guys win this thing."

"I swear, clown, if you screw us over—"

"Of course he is lying," Visenya interrupted as she walked back to them. "But it is what he does next that matters."

Visenya went to walk around Sanji, but he stopped her and took the bag from her. "Allow me Angel," Sanji said with a smile.

"Oh—Gag me!" Buggy shouted in disgust.

Sanji let the bag drop and Buggy hit the ground with a thud and a call of pain. "Whoops," Sanji said with a laugh. Visenya lagged softly in amusement and walked around Sanji and Zoro making her way up the stairs.

Sanji turned keeping his eyes on her as she walked away but his eyes quickly moved back to Zoro when he cleared his throat. Sanji and Zoro followed Visenya up the stairs to the next level where Buggy's body had been tied to a prize wall. Sanji and Zoro stopped on either side of Visenya watching Buggy's body struggle to control itself without his head.

Sanji tipped the bag out and Buggy's head hit the floor with a thud. "Ow! God! Yes!" Buggy's head bounced before it was flying back to his body and attaching with a pop. "Yes! Yes! Oh!" Buggy looked down at himself hanging on the wall.

Buggy popped his hands off one by one and reattached them when he was free of the binds, and he simply let his feet drop from his body and reattached them as he landed. Sanji's eyes flickered to Zoro and Visenya nervously, but they didn't flinch and stayed rather annoyed.

Buggy spun, grabbing and pulling at his arms and body as if it were the first time he touched his body. "Oh, it's so much better than I even remembered," he called out, his voice a mix between excitement and pleasure.

He froze as he stared at the others, and he quickly quieted his joy and raised his hands in defence. "Hey, so, um—" He quickly flipped his hands and gave them the bird. "I'm gonna get out of here."

Buggy tried to run but Zoro shouted after him, "Hey!"

"Sorry, kiddos," The clown apologised quickly. "I'd love to make things right, but it's time to exit stage left." He grinned at them once more before sprinting off again, nearly tumbling on his feet as he raced away.

Zoro shook his head as he disappeared, "Fucking clown."

— lethal lust —