17~ How Long Does it Take for a Fishman to Cook?

Mira

Seeing all these men who closely resembled fish made me realize one thing: I was hungry. I took a small step closer to Sanji and nudged him and whispered, "How long does it take to cook a fishman to perfection?" He blinked at me then studied the walking food.

"Given their size and all the meat the have, maybe close to a day or so..." He whispered back.

I held back a groan. "And if they're chopped into smaller pieces?"

He thought for a moment. "Depending on how small they are and how much you put in, possibly four hours."

I popped my neck. "Four hours; I can wait that long." My hand immediately rested on my katana. "It'll take only half an hour to cut them up."

"Arlong?" The pruple fishman asked. His eyes were shadowed over with his fuzzy snow cap. He wore a trpoical shirt and shorts and his teeth were wickedly sharp. He was sitting in an elaborate chair while the others were standing around him. "My name happens to be Arlong."

"I'm Luffy," Luffy strode towards him, radiating confidence.

"Luffy?" Arlong questioned. "So, what are you?"

"A pirate!" He responded simply. He stopped half way between the wall and Arlong.

"AH!" An octopus... thing, cried out and pointed at Luffy. "That's him! He's here! That's the guy who likes to take walks!" Luffy started walking again, each step getting him closer to Arlong.

Arlong... does he know anything about my father? Have they fought before?

"Hold it, you." One of the fishmen ordered, But Luffy didn't answer.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Another teased. "You need to run things by us first, kiddo!"

"Yeah!"

"If you don't stop," Two fat fishmen stepped in Luffy's way, one grabbing him by the shoulders. Luffy simply reached up, grabbed their heads, and smacked them together.

"Move!" Their heads cracked slightly at the force of being brought together and they slid down to the ground. Lufy simply walked over them. All of the fishmen'd mouths were hanging open and I saw Arlong's eyes widen a bit.

"Guys," I whispered to Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp. "I'm heading in. Usopp, cover for me." I stepped in and headed after Luffy, just to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"What does a pirate want with me?" Arlong asked in a relatively calm voice.

I stepped over the two Luffy took out and was almost right beside him. Luffy stopped a little ways from him, took his arm, flung it back, then slammed it home right in Arlong's face, sending him flying. Arlong slammed into a wall, it smashing on impact. I could feel the shocked gazes of the remaining fish peoples and the townsfolk.

I leaned on one foot next to Luffy and crossed my arms. "Coulda hit a little harder..." I said to him.

"Yeah, maybe." Was his ressponse.

"After all, he did hurt out friend." I reasoned.

I glanced at Luffy and saw his eyes cloud over a little. "I know," Luffy's scary when he's serious...

I looked back at Arlong and the broken wall. He lifted his head and looked right at Luffy. "Who the hell are you?" Luffy simply blew steam out his nose, ready for anything. Veins appeared on his forehead as he glared at Arlong.

"Don't make our navigator cry!" He shouted at Arlong, pure hate dripping from his words.

Suddenly, fishmen leaped from the water. "How dare you insult Arlong-san!!" They charged at us.

I drew my katana and cut down a few as Sanji leaped forward and kicked them away. "Butt out!" He stood beside us once he was finished. "Yeesh... you two just had to run inahead of us, huh?"

I shrugged. "Meh. I knew you guys would take a while."

"It's not like we'd lose on our own." Luffy stated.

"Baka," Sanji got right in Luffy's face. "Whoever said I was worried about you?" He suddenly clung to me. "It's Mira-cha~n I'd be worried about, as well as Nami-chan!" I brought my fist up and socked him right in the face.

"Off." He crumbled to the ground before quickly standing back up.

"At any rate," He dusted himself off. "I didn't want you to hog all the prey."

"We'll share." I told him.

"Oh!" Luffy exclaimed.

"I-I don't mind if you hog them all!" I turned and saw Usopp walk forward a little, sweat rolling off him. His knees were shaking slightly.

"You sure got some guts." Zoro complimented him. They were both now behind the three of us. I was actually quite proud of Usopp for making it this far in.

"AH!" I whipped my head back to see the octopus... thing, now pointing at Zoro. "That's him! That's the unknown swordsman!"

"It's Roronoa Zoro," A light blue fish man with huge fins on his arms stated. He looked like he could easily own his own dojo or something, the way he's dressed.

"Yeah? Yeah, I thought so!" Octopus... thing, stated. "He tricked me!" He grabbed at where his chin would have been. "Look, sine, and hinker? No! Hook, line, and sinker, right?" Oh, god he's an idiot. Then he spotted me. "Hey! It's a Neko!"

I blew a strand of hair out of my face. "And look behind her! It's long nose!" One fishman said as he was sitting up.

"Wait!" Octopus... thing, shouted. "Didn't Nami kill him?!"

"The bastard's alive..." One with a long nose like an angel fish mused. "Which means..."

"I knew it!" Dojo fishman announced. "The girl was a traitor, just as I suspected!"

Beside me, Luffy popped his knuckles, ready to hit something, or, someone, again. I glanced around, analizing my enemies. Each one had Arlong's tattoo on them somewhere, be it their chest, a shoulder, or an arm. Each one looked to be equally strong, but at the same time, weak and delicious. Only a few had ripped muscles. I noted that they were ones not to eat, since they'd be too chewy.

Behind us, I heard Johnny and Yosaku talking with the people of Cocoyashi village, keeping them out of this fight.

Arlong suddenly chuckled, bringing my attention back to him. "A pirate, huh? I see... So that's what your guys' big deal is." He sat up a bit. "You were after Nami from the very start. But," He threw his head back and let out a cackle. "What can you five inferior creatures do?!"

I crossed my arms. "Inferior, huh?" My tail twitched in aggitation. "I thought Neko's ate fish?"

Octopus... thing, walked up, laughing at us. "Fool! You're not worth Arlong's time!" He stopped and faced us, one of his arms raised as the others clenched their fists. "He'll be more than enough!" He turned his back to us and used his long mouth as a trumpet, most likely calling someone. The villagers instantly started to panic.

Almost instantly, the ground started to shake as the unseen foe advanced toward us. The villagers were even more spooked now than before.

"What the.... What the...!" Usopp was freaking out enough to cover for three villages full of people. "What's going on?!" We all faced the water entry gate as the foe grew closer, the ground shaking even more. Loose rubble started falling from the loose rocks in the broken walls. Octpous... thing, bellowed with laughter as the thing the thing called Momoo started to rise from under the water.

"The whole lot of you will be food for him!" He exclained. "Come out, Momoo!!" He threw his arms out beside him with as the new enemy finally showed himself.

"A-a monster!" Usopp gasped in fear. "It's the Grande Line monster that destroyed the town of Gosa!"

I blinked. "Ha! I know that guy!" Wow... he didn't look too good. Those huge bumps that Sanji and Luffy gave him were still there. He was still crying.

"It's here!" Usopp screamed like a little girl.

"Eh?" Octopus... thing, said as he stared up at Momoo, I'm guessing his name is. The sea cow leaned forward, the villagers crying out in fear as it moved, not seeing the whole picture that the thing was injured.

It spotted Luffy and Sanji and jerked in fear. "Oh, it's him?" Luffy asked as he watched the sea cow.

"He's a friend of the fishmen?" Sanji asked.

I shrugged. "Who cares. Sanji, if I were to cut him up instead, how long would it take for him to cook?"

Sanji studied the cow as it began to cower in fear. "Ah, I'd say, maybe, close to twelve hours, given the right size of pots." The other fishmen gasped at our words.

"Aw... that's too long..." I pouted.

The sea cow turned its back to us and started to swim away, most likely remembering what happened to it.

"Wait!" Octopus... ok, you know what?! Thing! I'm now calling him thing since I have no clue what he's supposed to be! "Momoo! Where are you going?!" He shouted at the sea cow. "Hey! Stop! Get back here! Momoo!"

"Momoo." I barely heard Arlong say. "What are you doing?" he asked in a deathly cold tone. The cow stopped, frozen in fear. "Though, if you wanna run away, I won't stop you." He took his new sitting spot to heart as he leaned back, pretending he was on a throne. "Understand, Momoo?"

As quickly as he started to leave, he jerked and spun around, rising from the water to attack.

"It's coming! It's coming!" Usopp screamed again, waving his arms around.

"Alright!"

"Follow after Momoo!" All the fishmen charged at us, swords raised to draw blood, and possibly kill.

While Usopp was appoligizing for who knows what reason, Zoro smoothly drew his single katana, I raised mine, Luffy readied his fists, and Sanji slid a foot back, ready to kick something.

"I'll do it!" Luffy suddenly snapped. "This is a waste of time!" He smacked his knuckles together, then, one at a time, slammed his feet into the concrete, anchoring himself there.

"What's he planning now?!" Sanji demanded.

Zoro scowled and gripped his chin. "I don't get a very good feeling about this..."

I lifted a thumb and measured Luffy to scale with it. "Given his stance and the distance in which he can stretch... I say we should back up about..." I took three steps back. "Maybe..." Luffy started to swing his upper body in circles, each pass giving him momentum. I took a few steps to my left and another back, all while still measuring Luffy to scale with my thumb.

The fishmen advanced on Luffy and Momoo was drawing in closer for the kill. Luffy flung his hands up and grasped Momoo's horns, halting his advance. I moved more to my left, back toward the entrance. Luffy was making stange grunting sounds as he fought to keep his hold and shape.

"His arms stretched!" Thing gasped.

"He has a Devil Fruit power?!" Arlong questioned. A few more steps...

"What?!" "Who cares! Get him!" Two more...

Luffy was leaning as far back as he could and seemed about ready to release.

Zoro finally got it. "Whoa, run!" One more.... and ...perfect! I stood perfetly still and placed my hands on my hips.

"What?" Sanji asked. "What's he doing?!"

"I dunno, but it doesn't look good!" Zoro replied as he started to move out of the way. Sanji follwoed after him. Both men tried to pull me out of the way, but I twisted out of their reach then repositioned myself. "Mira!"

"Gomu-Gomu no...PINWHEEL!!" He pulled Momoo out of the water and spun him around, breaking the awning off the building and throwing all the advancing fishmen off their feet and into anything that stopped their flying pattern. I was just out of reach of the spinning sea cow, the wind caused by his spinning blew my clothes and hair around me in a dramatic style. I smirked, liking this pose.

Once Luffy had run out of momentum, he released the cow and it went flying back out to the water. Bodies laid everywhere on debris and in the water around us.

As the wind died down, I looked right at Arlong as my clothes and hair settled back down. His eyes were filled with fury and hate. He slowly turned his eyes to me, them filling with more hate just as my hair and clothes were settling back down. Now, what's with that look?

I looked back at Luffy. He was panting hard, his hands on his knees. "I didn't come here to take on these guys! The one I want to beat up," He stood and jabbed a finger at Arlong. "Is you!"

Arlong smirked, anger veins popping out of his head. "That's perfect, then." He opened his eyes, bright blue, cold eyes staring into our souls. "I was just thinking of killing you two now." Two? I glanced at Luffy, then Sanji. Him, I can understand, as well as Zoro. I can't think of a reason he'd want to harm Usopp....

I walked so I was standing behind Luffy and beside Zoro as Sanji kicked Luffy's head, ridiculing him for what he did. Usopp was also screaming at him.

"That was dangerous!" Sanji yelled.

"Are you trying to kill us, too?!" Usopp added.

Luffy sudenly stood up straighter. "Huh?" My eyes slowly lowered to his feet and I face palmed.

"Baka..." I whispered. Now he's done it...

Everyone was eerily silent as they took in the destruction Luffy had caused. If he was just a little bit smarter, I would be amazed as well. But, given the circumstance, I was about ready to kill him myself. The hand holding my katana twitched, but I held it in place, keeping it down. No, he's not worth it... I thought to myself.

We watched Luffy as he tried to pull his legs free. All I have to say is that it was very comical.

"Huh?" Luffy repeated. "Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"What're you doing?!" Usopp snapped.

"How dare you hurt our brothers!" The dojo fishman cried. I heard Usopp starting to back up. "It would seem that we have to fight as well..."

"It looks like we need to teach them the difference between our species." The fishman with the angel-fish like nose added in. I rolled my eyes. Nekos eat fish, guys...

"The main forces finally show up, huh?" Zoro smirked.

Sanji blew out smoke. Arlong sat up and leaned his head on his fist and watched with saticfaction. But, everytime he caught my gaze, it would darken incredibly, his smirk turing into a scowl. What's his problem?

"Arlong-san," My attention was turned to the dojo fish. "Please stay there quietly." He said politely.

"If you go on a mad rampage," Angel nose started, "You'll tear all of Arlong park to pieces." Send him on a frenzy? Is that what I heard? Yeah, I can do that.

I was about to open my mouth to say something when Thing stood, his hands clenched together and growled at us. "We'll take care of these guys!" He promised.

"Yeah. Do as you wish." Arlong said boredly. His eyes caught mine again. "But leave the Neko to me..." Eh? Almost sounds like what Kuro said... I touched my left eat, the one that Kuro cut and now has a missing tip.

"Hey," Luffy tried to get our attention. "Hey, there. There's something I-" He was suddenly interrupted by Thing swelling up twice his size. Zoro, Sanji, and I faced him.

"That octopus is up to something..." Zoro stated.

"How can you tell he's an octopus?" I asked. "Certainly doesn't look like calamari to me..."

"Octopus is best with a little salt and sliced up." Sanji stated. "Add olive oil and paprika, and it's a perfect snack while drinking."

"EW!" I cried. "You wanna eat that?!"

"I'm kind of in trouble. Hear me out." Luffy said again. I was about to ask him what was wrong this time when suddenly, Thing shouted "Hachi Ink Jet!" and spewed black liquid at us. I gasped and ducked out of the way, rolling onto my shoulders then onto my knees. I looked up as Sanji and Zoro also leaped out of the way, while Luffy got a full faceful of the ink.

I think it's safe to assume that... thing... is named Hachi...

"Baka!" Zoro insulted Luffy. "Why didn't you dodge?!"

Luffy screamed in pain. "I can't see!!"

"Now to finish you off!" Hachi grabbed a slab of debris and lifted it with ease.

"Hey, Luffy! Run!" Usopp warned.

"Yeah, that's the problem!" Luffy said as he tried to free himself from the concrete. "I can't seem to move!"

"Huh?" Sanji questioned as the shadow of the debris covered us all.

"He can't!" I shouted a little too late. Hachi walked right up to Luffy.

"My feet seem to be stuck!"

"You're the one who stuck them in the ground!" Usopp pointed out.

"Why does he have to be so-" Zoro started.

"Zoro!" I shouted. "This is no time to be complaining about our captain!"

"Hachi Ink Jet on the Rocks!" Hachi shouted as he brought the slab of debris right onto Luffy. Luffy managed to clear his eyes, only to be squished by the heavy piece of the park. I stood there, not sure what to do.

I didn't have wait long, though. Something hit the rock from underneath and it cracked in half. "Sanji!" I cried as he stood there, foot raised, protecting Luffy.

"What a pain..." Sanji complained.

Luffy threw his hands in the air. "Ooh! Great, Sanji! Great!"

Sanji lowered his leg and smirked. "Seems I've ended up following one hell of an idiot captain."

"Agreed." Zoro chimed in.

I slowly raised my hand. "Can I join that boat?"

"Yes, Mira!" Sanji cooed at me. "You can always join my boat!" My eye twitched. Can I kill him?

"He's awesome!!" Usopp shouted, contradicting what we all just said.

"But he's one hundred times better than a gang that'd beat up a lady." Sanji aimed at Arlong. He doesn't deserve ice for that burn.

"Lady?" Dojo fish asked. "To think you'd bust in here just for that one lousy girl." Sanji's eyes narrowed slightly, but his smirk remained. "You really know how to make us laugh!"

"Lousy girl?" Sanji asked in a threatening tone. Oh boy, here we go... "Just try and insult Nami-san again. I'll use a buttered frying pan to turn you into meunier, Fish Man!"

"You seem somewhat skilled for a human." Dojo fish said. "Any sort of chivalry from a pirate is obviously hafl-hearted." Sanji simply tapped the ash off his cigarette.

He brought it back to his lips. "Go ahead and see if my chivalry is half-hearted or not."

I scanned the battle field and locked gazes with two, blood thirsty blue orbs: Arlong's. He lifted a hand and beckoned me forward. I glanced at the dojo fish and Sanji one last time before I slowly made my way toward him.

"What?" I crossed my arms and demanded when I was a couple yards from him.

"Come closer," His cold voice ordered. "Let me get a better look at you..." I hesitantly took another step closer. "Yes..." He hissed. "Just like him..."

"Him?" I asked cautiously.

"The way you walk..." He continued. "The way you talk... The way you hold yourself... The way the wind moves around you... Your eyes... are just like his!"

"Who?!" I demanded, holding my katana out in front of me.

He chuckled darkly. "Josten... Hojosen..."

I took a sharp intake of air through my nose, my eyes widening slightly. "Don't you ever mutter that name in my presence!" I growled low in my throat.

"Why?" He questioned. "Is it that you wish to know as to how I know him? Your father?"

I hissed at him and held my katana out, anticipating an attack.

"You're all pathetic." He said as he stood. "Move. I'm sick of watching this." He walked past me. I simply glared at him, thinking this was a bluff to get me to lower my guard.

"Arlong-san!" Dojo protested. "We asked you not to go on a rampage!"

"I won't!" He assured. "I just thought up a fun game." He gripped me by the back of my shirt and wrenched my katana from my hands in one fluid movement. The next thing I knew, I was slammed to the ground, his foot trapping my tail under it. I let out an animalistic yowl as he appiled pressure.

"Game?" Hachi asked.

"Mira!" Luffy shouted and drew his arm back. "Arlong! I'm gonna beat you up!" His arm flew forward and Arlong simply dodged it and gripped his hand back.

"Luffy!"

"You really think you can beat us?" Arlong asked, a sneer etched on his lips.

"So what if we do?" Sanji asked. I screamed again as more pressure was applied to my tail. "All I want right now is for you to stop hurting Nami and to release Mira."

"We do think we'll win, stupid-head!" Luffy snapped. "Let go!"

"Sounds like he has something to say." Zoro snickered. He inched out his katana while Arlong, still keeping a foot on my tail, bent down and dug his hand into the solid concrete. Just like that, he had lifted Luffy and and a huge chunk of rock into the air while still managing to keep Luffy trapped. I was stunned at his raw power.

"What the?! What the?!" Luffy was beginning to freak out.

"People with Devil Fruit powers can't swim!" Arlong shouted. "Though, even with powers, one would still sink in this situation!" He cackled.

"He's gonna throw him into the sea!" Zoro cried.

Luffy tried one last attempt to get free by giving Arlong his Gomu Pistol. I didn't see what happened, but I heard what sounded like teeth sinking into skin, along with Arlong's low, crazed laugh. Luffy cried out in pain.

"Fool." Arlong stated.

"Darn you!" My eyes widened as Luffy twisted his head around and took a huge chomp on Arlong's arm, causing him to let go of Luffy's arm.

Arlong roared with laughter and threw Luffy into the air, just outside the water gates to the park.

"No!" I shrieked. "LUFFY!!!" He made a tremendous splash as he entered the water. He only had enough time to plug his nose with his fingers and cover his mouth before he went under. "Luffy..." I whispered.

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted.

"Damn you!" Sanji cursed at Arlong. Arlong simply lifted his head and let out a bellow of laughter. He swooped down and gripped the back of my shirt and hoisted me in the air.

"And I know you Nekos can't swim either!" He said right in my face. "I will not let a Neko and her father think they can beat me. I don't care what his last words when I killed him; he died a painful death!"

"NO!" I lashed out with my nails and got him from one cheek to the other, my nails creating long, jagged gashes on his face. He roared in pain and let me go. I fell to my knees and swept him off his feet. Once he'd fallen and hit the ground, I jumped onto his stomach and used it as a spring board to leap into the water and go after Luffy.

It's true that I can't swim, but adrenalin has caused me to look past that factor and do anything I can to help Luffy. Where is he? Where is he?!

My eyes widened as I saw him hit the bottom of the ocean right outside the gates. He was trying desperately to keep any air he could from leaving his lungs. No, Luffy! Don't let go of your mouth! Just a little longer!

I finally reached him, my own breath running low. My vision was starting to blur and a major headache was starting to form. No! I can't give up! Not on Luffy! He's my only hope of getting to taste freedom! He saved me from my personal Hell!

Just as I reached him, my air supply was just about out. I started tugging as hard as I could on his legs to try and free him. Come on Luffy. Work with me! I thought as I pulled with all my might. I heard Luffy's final blub as he lost all strength to hold his air in.

No! Luffy, no!

My ears twitched at the sound of someone else entering the water. I glanced up to see Gen-san and Nojiko swimming toward us with a huge hammer. I gulped down my bit of air I had to keep it from bursting out. Hurry! I begged. There isn't much time!

They finally reached me. Nojiko got to work as Gen-san pulled me back toward the surface. My adrenalin rush was wearing off and I felt I was going to pass out. We broke the surface a ways away from the water entrance to the park. I gasped in much needed air, my headache slowly fading away.

"Th-thank you, Gen-san..." He pulled me out of the water onto dry land. I shook myself to try and dry off, but I was still dripping wet. "It'll take hours for me to dry completely..." I shook myself again.

"How... how do you know who I am?" He asked.

I gulped in some air and replied. "Nami was talking to you, and I put two and two together." I waved him away. "Go. Luffy and Nojiko need your help." he nodded and dove back into the water. I shook myself one last time then headed around the wall to meet back up with the villagers.

I stepped in front of the entrance Luffy made and gasped. "Zoro..." He looked like he was in terrible pain. He was shaking on his feet and he had sweat just pouring off of him.

My ear twitched at the sound of someone getting up. I turned and saw Sanji laying on the ground, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and a lighter.

"Oi, Sanji...." I called to him. "This is no time to be taking a nap..." He took a breath of smoke and puffed it out a few seconds later.

"Sorry, Mira." He apologized. "I'll be more efficent with my fights."

"Huh? AH!" Now the villagers know he's getting up? Didn't they see him laying there? "That man's still alive!" Sanji sat up then stood.

"Big Bro! Big Bro Cook!" Yosaku and Johnny cheered.

"PST!" I hissed to Johnny. He looked up at me. "What happened?"

"Big Sis Mira! You're okay, too!" I face palmed. "Oh, and Big Bro Cook was thrown through a wall."

"Good to know..."

"That fishman's punch was a fortieth dans punch?" Sanji mused. I obviously missed something... "I see... Then those kicks I used to take from that damn geezer are four-hundreth dan kicks."

I turned my attention back to Zoro.

"What is it, Roronoa Zoro?" Hachi asked, one sword in each of his six hands. Zoro took off his bandanna and tied it on his head. "I'm not sure what's going on, but you look like you're in pain. You think you can defeat my Six Sword style in that condition?" Wait, is Hachi missing a few points of his hair?

........ Yes. Yes he is. I sighed and walked into Arlong Park once more, drawing my katana out smoothly.

"Octopus Thing." he turned his attention to me. "Fighting a guy with only one sword against your six is not very kind and sportsman like."

He blinked. "It's not?"

I shook my head. "Nope. For every one sword your opponent has, you need to cut your amount of swords in half."

"I do?" Then his eyes widened. "Ooh! I should! That's makes so much sence!"

"Hachi!"

"Yes, Arlong?" Hachi looked over his shoulder at Arlong.

"That girl is just trying to drop your defenses." He stated.

"Oh!" Then he faced us again. "Girl, you tried to trick me! How could you?!"

I popped my neck. "Survival of the fittest."

"Mira..." Zoro panted. "Get out of here... I can take him." He then adressed Hachi again. "What I think is none of your business. I'll show you the three sword style." He looked to be in terrible shape as he stuck his white katana in his mouth. Before he said anything else, I reached up and felt his sticky forehead. Yup; high fever. He's not gonna last long is he keeps this up...

I took a step back and motioned for him to proceed. He raised an eyebrow at me, but said what he was going to say. "Yosaku! Johnny! Let me use your swords!"

"Of course!"

"Big Bro! Catch these!" The blades flew through the air as they threw them at Zoro. "Big Bro! We threw our swords!"

"You said you wanted to use them! Catch them!" I ducked just in time to avoid being sliced to ribbons.

Zoro caught them just as Hachi laughed at him. "Ha! I'll show you the wall that you humans can't pass with two arms! Tentacle-Sword Overload!" At the exact same time, Zoro and I raised our katanas and blocked his flailing arms expertly. We ducked and dogded and swayed around his flailing swords as if we were simply leaves in the wind.

My one sword and his three... That makes four, still not enough for his six. If I had a second, I'd have to retrain myself to accomidate, so I'll stick to my one.

Soon, we ended up on the other side of Hachi. "Neko Slight of Hand." "Three Sword Style Streaming Wolf-Swords!" Zoro and I called out at the same time. Hachi cried out in pain as the wounds we inflicted uppon him rose and burst through his skin, a shower of blood spewing out of him.

Zoro was panting as hard as someone who just ran a fifty mile marathon without stopping once.

"They did it!" Yosaku shouted. "They handled the Six Sword style random swings! They're really amazing!"

"It's as if that was choreographed!" Shocked and amazed gasps and cheers rang out for Zoro and I.

"Ohhh..." Someone groaned. "How dare you have the impudence to do such a thing!"

What?! I turned my upper half to face Hachi, surprised he was still standing. He turned, waving his swords in the air. Three perfect cuts lined his upper body. "I'm really mad, you son of a bitch! I'm also mad at you, Neko Lady! I'm gonna kill you! If you just think about it, you should know!"

"I can hold six swords," He rambled on. "So there is no way you two can defeat me when you can hold four swords total! Isn't that right?!"

"It's Mira." I pivoted so I was full on facing him. "For you, you son of a bitch, it's Elmira Hojosen. I'm gonna kick your ass so hard, any children you might have will be scarred for their entire life." It was deathly silent after my statement, save for the startled grunts from Hachi and the villagers, and the ragged breaths from Zoro.

"This about it?" Zoro managed to get out through his labored breathing. "Whether it's three swords... or six swords... It doesn't matter!" He spun around to face Hachi with a new found determination. "Your sword and our swords carry a different weight!" Zoro was shaking, but he was still standing; just barely.

After a while, Hachi repositioned his grasp. "Weight, you say? I see. So, your swords are heavy." I mentally face palmed. That's not what he meant, you idiot...

"He was meaning it in the figurative way, Octopus Thing." I raised my katana a bit. "The burden a sword carries for its owner is nothing compared to its physical weight. But, surely, you wouldn't know that." I smirked at him.

"But my swords weigh at least 3oo kilos a sword, though they might not look like it." Hachi said, completely blowing off what I just told him. "They weigh a lot more than your human swords, you bastards!"

"Not physically!" I repeated louder.

"There's no point in discussing this with an idiot." Zoro told me.

"Six Sword Style!" Hachi shouted. "Octopus Pot Stance!" He brought the points of his swords together to form a rounded point in front of him. "New Year's..." He charged. Zoro brought his borrowed swords up to block it. "Open!" He threw his swrod apart, leaving Zoro wide open.

"Zoro!" I stood right in front of his to cover him and took the next attack. He brought his head down and rammed into me, causing me to lose my balance and run into Zoro, sending us both flying.

"Body slam!" A waterfall of Zoro's blood flew from his mouth and onto me. "That'll show you!"

"Zoro!" I turned us so I would be under him to break our fall.

"I won't let you guys land if you're still alive!" I looked under us to see him preparing for his next attack. "Six Sword Ultimate Technique!" He brought his swords up and started to spin them like a high powered saw. "Waltz of Six Swords! You'll be mincemeat if you touch it for a second! Become mincemeat!"

"No!" I faced the swords head on and readied my katana. Two more swords appeared beside mine as we went right into the deadly blades. There was a shriek of pain and scared shitless gasps as we met the blades head on.

Zoro and I landed back to back, more blood pouring out of Hachi, his swords falling around us.

"How you doing, Zoro?" I asked only loud enough for him to hear.

"I feel like I'm gonna pass out and the world looks like it's spinning..." He got out through gasps of ragged air.

I nodded slowly. "Can you make it another round?"

"Can I?" He asked with a slight chuckle. "Of course I can."

"Those bastards!" I heard Hachi swear. "They rolled on my swords and adjsted to the spin!" His hands had multiple laceration on them from us disarming him. "On top of that, they gave me a free hand cutting service!" Deal with it...

I suddenly gasped at a sharp pain at the very tip of my tail. I brought it around so I could get a better look at it. The tip of my tail was cut half way off, the bone showing through. Oh, gross... blood dripped around me.

"Ah! One of them is bleeding!" A villager cried out in horror. "But which one?!"

"How dare they make fun of me?!" I looked back at Hachi. "I'm not a circus acrobat!" He flailed his arms in anger at us. "I'm completely angry now! I won't let you two go! I'm gonna kill you good!"

I heard Zoro sway on his feet. He bumped into me while almost falling back, but I managed to get him back up to a half way standing position. Zoro..... He must be in so much pain... What does his wound look like right now?

"Octopus Pot Stance!" Again?! "It's over now! New Year's..." He charged again, this time at me. I readied myself for anything.

I heard Zoro's swords clang together and the very faint "Duck." as he spun around. I ducked down as far as I could go and swiped at Hachi's legs as Zoro clashed swords with Hachi.

"Dragon Twister!" He spun a few times and metal snapped metal. Chunks of Hachi's swords and blood flew around us. A toe landed in front of me. Oh, ew...

Above us, blood sprayed out of the new wounds Zoro had caused as Hachi flew into the air from the force of Zoro's swings. All was quiet on the battle field as all eyes were trained on Hachi.

"How could I... be defeated... by the Three Sword Style plus One?" Hachi gasped out as he fell back to the earth. Sun light shined down on us as Hachi laid there unmoving.

"Octo-Man..." Zoro gasped out. "You now know the difference in the weight of our swords, right? Are you happy now?"

"It is not about how much they way physically," I continued for him. "It is about the burden they carry for the weilder that makes them heavy."

Zoro suddenly collapsed. I grabbed him quickly and helped him sit down. "Sorry, but I don't care about that Octo-Man." He said to Arlong, who was glaring daggers into the backs of our heads. "I have to hurry up and rescue Luffy." He put his white sword back into its sheath.

"Zoro, no. You're too injured to go down there." I tried to reason. "I'll go."

"No, Mira." He said firmly. "You're a Neko; you can't swim very well."

"I can try."

"How dare you beat Hachi!" I didn't have time to react; it was too late before I could do anything. The dojo fishman came up while our guard was down and slammed a hard punch right into Zoro's back.

But luck was on our side. "Sanji!" I cried with relief. He'd kicked the fishman away and kept Zoro going just a little longer.

"Hang on, Zoro." I stood up and faced the water. "I'm getting Luffy. You stay here."

"Mira, no!" I dove in after quicly sheathing my katana. Another person entered the water after me. I spun around to make Zoro go back to the surface, but saw Sanji instead. My eyes widened as a dark figure approached us.

"Sanji!" I blubbed, using half my air supply already. He spun to face his attacker, only to be quickly grabbed by the dojo fishman. His eyes told me to go and help Luffy. I nodded and swam further down.

Luffy's neck was stretched out to break the surface for air. Nojiko wasn't there, but Gen-san was. He was pounding on Luffy's chest, trying to get the water to come back out. He motioning for me to resurface at a different location. I followed the direction he was pointing to.

I swam as hard and as fast as I could, which was pretty slow since I can't hardly swim at all. My head broke the surface again to see Nojiko holding Luffy's head out of the water.

"How's he doing?" I asked as I climed onto the ledge beside her.

"He's not breathing yet." She informed. "But I think we're getting somewhere."

"I hope so..." I sighed. "Zoro's in bad shape and Sanji just dove into the water with a fishman hot on his tail." I let my gaze wander to the clear waters of the unforgiving ocean. "I just don't think this battle will be our victory if we don't get Luffy back into action."

So I waited there with Nojiko, hoping, praying, that Luffy wakes up soon so we can finish this once and for all.

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A/N: Heyo! I updated! I'm going to make this a habit and update every weekend! It'll be on either Friday, Saterday, or Sunday! Expect it next week!

-M12