She didn't know how long she had been walking when she saw three beings in front of her. These beings look at the wreck of Sanji's boat from afar. One of them reminded the black-haired woman of a stingray. He had grayish skin and triangles? on his arms. Like the other two creatures, he was taller than her and muscular. He had black hair that he had braided into a very long braid and two smaller ones on his head. He wore a blue uwagi that half-covered something red on his chest. The Uwagi was held together with a black Obi. The being on the other side had dark blonde hair that reached his cheeks. He also had blue skin and big lips like an archerfish. He wore a blue tank top combined with brown shorts. He wore a yellowish pearl necklace around his neck and the same symbol as Nami's was on his right arm. Except he had two other tattoos in the form of stripes and dots wrapped around his arm. The last of these creatures, standing between the two, bore great resemblance to an octopus. He had pink skin, six arms with suction cups, his mouth protruded wide, and human legs. His hair was gray and shaped into five spikes. A red sun was depicted on his forehead. He also wore a horizontally striped orange and red suit with an orange kitten and a pale green haramaki wrapped around his waist. She saw the octopus man point his arms at her and say, "Look! That person over there! She's not from the island!" The three stood in the middle of the street to cut her off. "Are that fishman?" she murmured quietly. She was getting closer and closer to them. The three looked at her as she walked past them, ignoring them. Luffy hadn't gotten far when the octopus man turned around and called after her: "Hey, wait!" She stopped and turned around. "Huh, did you just call me?" she asked innocently. "Y...you! Who are you? What are you doing here on the island?" "Why do you care?" He didn't know the answer to that. "Well...well you're probably right. Like you said." "I'm Luffy and I'm just taking a walk." "A walk?" With that, the black-haired woman turned around and continued on her way. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him taking a cloth out of his suit with each of his hands and waving after her. "Well then have fun!" Where did he keep them? "Hey, smartass, where are you going?" one of the others asked. "How should I know?" she replied, but didn't turn around again. Although she had already moved a little away, she could still hear the three of them clearly. "What a friendly girl." "But who is she?" "She didn't seem intimidated by us. A very suspicious person." Luffy rolled her eyes when she heard that. As if she could be intimidated so easily!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Cocoyasi Village ~

She had already been walking for a while whenshe arrived at a village. The villagers all looked down the street. She stoppedin surprise and followed there gaze. A group of men approached her. A slim mancovered in scars walked in front. He had black hair, a mustache and wore atypical brown police uniform. There was a small windmill on his cap. Directlybehind him was a man wearing a hood-like hat with rat ears that said"Marine" on it. He also had a gray coat on and strange whiskers onhis face. Along with a brown goatee. Behind him was a whole troop of marines.Everyone had their heads bowed so that their eyes were in shadows. Luffy didn'tknow why but she couldn't stand the coat guy's grin. She stood quietly as thegroup approached. "What kind of business does the Navy have with Nami?" askedthe man with the windmill. The guy with the cord hats laughed, which sounded alittle like a mouse squealing, before saying, "You don't have to worry aboutthat. Just take us to her." The group walked past Luffy and didn't give her aglance. The black-haired woman watched them go. There was something about theguy's voice that she didn't liked and it didn't help that her seventh sensekicked in. Something was up.

She had sat down under a palm tree at the sideof the road, put her arms behind her head and was watching the road for awhile. She just couldn't get the policeman's windmill out of her head. The wayit turned gave her an idea. "Oh, I just thought of a new move!" she said toherself, grinning. "Doctor. Doctor!" the windmill man's voice suddenly sounded.The black-haired woman looked around in surprise, the Marineheinis were nowhereto be seen. A small crowd began to form when an older man came running."What happened Genzo?" "Nojiko was shot!" "Bywho?" "Captain Nezumi."* "Captain Nezumi?" She couldsee a shock of orange hair among all the people. The straw hat wearing womanstood up and squeezed past the other people. She had just made it to the middlewhen Nami stood up with her head bowed. "Hey, hello Nami! What's up? Can I helpin any way?" she asked the orange-haired woman, who had her back to her. Sheturned around, looked at her angrily and snapped at her: "You're stillhere?!" Luffy shrank back a little before Nami roughly grabbed her by thevest and pulled her closer. "None of this is any of your business and now getaway!" She pulled hard on her vest again so that she lost her balance and ranaway. The black-haired woman landed roughly on the floor. The people hadalready disappeared into the doctors practice with Nojiko, Genzo and the doctorwhen she stood up again and sat sulkily under the palm tree she had previously satunder. "What's her problem?"

Suddenly the villagers came out of the house.Everyone had either a pitchfork or something they made together as a weapon intheir hand. The police officer, Genzo, stood in their midst. "That's enough! Wewill fight for our freedom now." "Yeah!!!" "Eight years agowe swore that we would endure Arlong's reign of terror. Back then we decided tokeep quiet. No matter how much he and his crew would humiliate us! The mainthing was that nothing happened to Nami. But if that is his answer, then thereis only one option: we have to defend ourselves otherwise there will be no hopethat our village will ever be free again! Plus, we can't let that fishman getaway with making a fool out of Nami for years! Does anyone have anyobjections?" "No, he can be prepared for something! Come on people!" "Right!We're ready to strike at any time!" "Yes, now he's getting the fullblast! We won't let ourselves be treated like this anymore!" "YEAH!!!!""Stop! Wait!" Nami's voice suddenly sounded. Everyone turned to her insurprise. "Nami!" says Nojiko. Luffy could tell that the smile the thief hadput on was fake. The black-haired woman turned her head when she heard a noisebehind her. It was Zoro, Usopp and Sanji. She immediately motioned for them tobe quiet and turned back to Nami and the villagers. "You just have to wait alittle longer! I'll have the money back together in no time. After all, I haveeight years of experience!", she could clearly hear the desperate tone in hervoice, "It's okay. You don't need to worry! Compared to time, everyone is doingwell! I'm fine so..." She was standing directly in front of Genzo and theothers. He stepped forward, put his arm around her and hugged her gently beforesaying: "That's enough." Luffy could see a single tear running fromthe man's eye and Nami slowly starting to build up in her eyes as well. "Weknow how pointless it is. You have done so much just for our well-being. Itmust have been terrible for you to join their crew, much worse than cuttingyourself. You've done enough." "Genzo..." She couldn't hold backthe tears any longer. Genzo pushed her away slightly so he could look at herface. "Leave this village." Her eyes widened. No, he couldn't seriouslymean THAT. That would be certain death for everyone! "Genzo!" "Do it, Nami!"said Nojiko. "I can't do that!" "You have brains and you have adream." "Nojiko! All of you!" Panic began to grow in Nami. Itcouldn't end like that! The last eight years couldn't have been in vain!"I won't let you through!" She stretched out her arms and looked atthe others more and more desperately before she suddenly pulled a dagger out ofher pants. "I won't let you go! I don't want any more people to get hurt!" Herbreathing was heavy and her hands were shaking a little. "You will all die!""We know that." Genzo reached for the blade of the dagger. Nami looked at himin shock. "It's pointless," said the doctor, "We've alreadydecided it with our hearts." Tears streamed down her face as she bit herlip. "Get out of our way, Nami!" Genzo said in a commanding tone.Startled, she dropped the dagger. "Forward people! We hardly have a chance, butwe will give Arlong a lot of heat!" "YEAH!!!" The villagers ran past the stillfrozen Nami.

The orange-haired woman fell to her knees, her gaze staring blankly. She could hear Arlong's laugh. His terrible laugh, mocking her, making fun of her pain. Tears of anger streamed down her face. Gritting her teeth, she turned her head and looked at her tattoo with hatred. She grabbed the dagger lying on the ground and stabbed the mark, screaming. "ARLONG!" She stabbed the tattoo again and again and screamed his name in hatred. Luffy had gotten up and went to Nami. She was so angry that she didn't notice this or feel the pain of her bleeding wound. She was about to stab herself in the shoulder again when she was grabbed by her wrist. As if the spell had been lifted from her, she paused and raised her head. She looked over her shoulder, the hand that was hold, and recognized Luffy. Her brown eyes looked down at her calmly, her face showed no emotion. "Luffy," breathed the orange-haired woman in surprise. The dagger clinked to the ground before she looked down. The black-haired woman hadn't said a word. "What do you want? You know nothing. You don't know what's happened here in the last eight years." "No. You're right." She began to tremble. "It's none of your business!" Her fingers dug into the earth. "Didn't I tell you to leave?!" "Yes, that's what you said." She started throwing dirt at her while continuing to scream without turning around. "Then go away now! Go away finally! YOU have no business here! Do it, get out! Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away!" The dust swirled a little in the air, but Luffy continued to look down at Nami calmly. Her voice slowly began to break and was interrupted by shutters. "Leave me alone! Leave me... alone." She stopped throwing the dirt and raised her hand to her mouth. Should she do it? Should she ask for the help of the black-haired woman and the other man? They were probably their only hope. She raised her head. "Luffy..." And looked at the black-haired woman, tears running down her face. "...please help me." Luffy's eyes were in the shadow of her straw hat as she reached for it, took it off and placed it on Nami's head. Confused, she looked after the black-haired woman as she took a few steps away. This was supposed to show Nami how much she trusted her. She stopped, took a deep breath and shouted: "OF COURSE I'LL HELP YOU!!" Suddenly she remembered what Luffy had said back in Orange Town when Buggy's men had attacked her: "Don't touch my treasure!" or something she had said about her mother's photo: "The photo is also my treasure. It's the only thing I have of her. Without it, I wouldn't have even known what she looked like." Did she really trust her enough to trust her with her treasure? "Luffy..." She had already gone further. Standing or sitting on the street in front of her were Zoro, Usopp and Sanji. "Come on guys!" Instantly all three looked up and said at the same time: "All right!" Nami held her hand over her mouth. She couldn't believe it. They were all there to help her! They moved further and further away from Cocoyasi, Luffy in the lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Arlong Park ~

Meanwhile, the four of them were walking side byside as Arlong Park slowly came into view. Usopp walked on the far left, Sanjinext to him, then Luffy and on the right came Zoro. They could also see thevillagers standing in front of closed gates. The black-haired woman already hada guess as to why this was happening as the group got closer and closer. Infront of the gate, Johnny and Yosaku rose from the ground and looked at themwith smiles. They looked pretty worn out. They were the ones who prevented thevillagers from carrying out their attack. "There they are!" they both shouted.The villagers immediately turned to them. Nojiko recognized them when the fourcame closer and murmured: "I know them." "What's so specialabout them?" Genzo asked, "They don't look particularly strong."" If the four of them don't manage to take out Arlong and his crew, we'redone for. Then not only your island will be lost, but the entire East Blue,"Yosaku said seriously, holding his arm. "Your future depends on these three manand the woman!" Johnny added. The villagers looked at the four with a littledoubt. Were they really be able to defeat the fishmen? But they were still halfchildren! "You should memorize their faces well!" Without protest, theresidents made room for the newcomers. What did they have to lose?

As they stood in front of the gates, laughtercould already be heard from within. Zoro had already placed his hand on his swordwhen he asked his captain: "Should I knock or do you want to?" Shecracked her knuckles. "No, I'll take care of that. We want after all make agood first impression." She pulled out her fist and struck. The first gate hadalready cracked when she struck with her other fist and did the same to thesecond gate. She struck for the third time and the gates were reduced torubble. Dust swirled. When it subsided, she looked up and saw that all thefishman's eyes were on her. "What's this?" asked a fishman who wassitting on some kind of throne and resembled a saw shark. He had long, blackhair and what appeared to be a shark fin sticking out of his back. He wore abrown ushanka on his head. He also had a yellow Hawaiian shirt with blackspots, which he wore open, and short, dark green pants. On his left forearm wasthe same symbole as Nami had, probably the Jolly Roger of the crew. He wore agold chain around his wrist and two of his fingers had shells attached to them,which were probably supposed to represent rings. "Which of you fish facesis Arlong?" she asked.

"Arlong?" said the saw shark."That would probably be me." Luffy began to walk towards him. She hadlooked at the fishman for a moment and recognized the Octopus Man, the StingrayMan and the Archerfish Man. "I'm Luffy," she said as she approached. "Luffy?And who are you?" "I'm a pirate." Suddenly the octopus spoke up:"Oh, that's her! She is here! The nice girl who went for a walk!" "Not sofast, little girl," said one of the fishman who stood in her way with a secondone. "What do you think you're doing? You owe us an explanation first, grily."One of the two had grabbed her shoulders to stop her. "If you want to talktot he boss, you gotta talk to us first." "If you don't stop..."He stopped himself when the black-haired woman grabbed him and his friend bythe collars without looking at them and banged their heads against each other."Get out of my way!" The two fell knocked out to the ground. The fishman lookedat her in shock as she stepped over the two lying on the ground and continuedon her way. "And what does a pirate want from me?" Arlong asked, looking at hersideways. Luffy could now see him better. He was quite muscular and had verysharp, almost dagger-like teeth. She could now see another tattoo on his chest,it resembled a sun. She stopped just a few feet away from him when, withoutwarning, she hit him in the face. His head snapped to the side before flyingout of his throne and crashing into the wall behind him. The fishman wereshocked again, but so were the villagers at the gate. No one had ever seenArlong get beaten like that, and by a female human! Arlong looked up angrily asthe dust around him settled. "Who the hell are you?" She looked angry at thefishman sitting on the ground. The images of Nami crying and how desperate sheseemed when she asked for help came to her mind. She wouldn't forgive anyonewho made her friends cry! Every tear that the orange-haired woman had to shedbecause of him would be repaid twice or three times over! The hatred was clearto see and hear in her eyes and voice as she looked at him. "You made...mynavigator cry!" A shiver ran down Nojiko's spine. She didn't recognize thefriendly woman from the street. It was as if there was a completely differentperson standing there who just resembled her. Suddenly some fishman came out ofthe water and wanted to attack her. "You bastard! How dare you attack Arlong!"The black-haired woman ignored them. Before they could even strike, somethingblack and yellow appeared out of nowhere. "You weaklings stay out of this!"Sanji shouted after he kicked them and they flew through the air. Arlongclenched his teeth, a vein beginning to throb in his forehead. How dare theseinferior creatures rise up against fishmen?! The blonde stepped next to hiscaptain. "So honestly. You can't just rush forward on your own.""It's not like I would lose if I were alone." "That's not thepoint. I'm worried about you, but I know what you're capable of." He turnedhis gaze to the fishman. "I'm just saying that you can't have all the funalone." "Oh, I see." More footsteps sounded behind them."Eh...er, I don't think it would be so bad if you took care of themyourself," Usopp said a little nervously as he came closer. "I see thatyou're raring to go, as usual," commented Zoro as he stood next to thechatty-haired man. The octopus man's eyes widened. "Ahhh! I know him too! Thisis this mysterious swordsman!" "This is Roronoa Zoro," said the stingray man."I thought that straight away! This is the guy who ripped me off! He even gaveme a ride, I mean I gave him a ride to Cocoyasi." One of the people lying onthe ground stood up and recognized Usopp. "Look, Pinoccio is here too!" "Huh? Ithink I'm seeing ghosts! I thought Nami killed him," the octopus said insurprise. "Well, as you can see, he's alive. Something's not right," said thearcherfish. "I suspected it," said the stingray, "I suspected it all along,guys! That girl is a traitor!" Sanji was already loosening his tie while Luffycracked her knuckles.

Arlong's eyes were in the shadow of his ushankawhen one of the villagers asked: "Hey, who are these guys?" At thegate, the two bounty hunters blocked the entrance again with their swords. "Noone can get pass!" "She just slapped Arlong away? Unbelievable!" said thevillage doctor. "A normal person can't do something like that!" said Genzo."These guys..." Nojiko muttered. "Do you still want to fight?" Yosakuasked. Johnny continued. "If you interfered, you would complicate things forthem. You would just get in their way." "But why are they fighting?What reason do they have to fight?" Genzo wanted to know. He couldn't explain himselfwhy complete strangers suddenly appeared and then challenged Arlong and his crew.The wind picked up and made the windmill on his hat turn. "The reason?Sister Nami cried." "She risked her life. Do we need any morereasons?"

"Hehehe. Pirates, he? I see. So that's therelationship between you," Arlong said calmly, "and I thought youwere just more victims of Nami. But..." He started to laugh before continuing."But what can four inferior creatures do?" "Hahaha. You really areidiots!" said the octopus as he stood with his back to the edge of thepool, "Do you seriously think that the great Arlong would waste his timeon YOU?! HE will be enough for you!" With that he turned to the water andsuddenly began to blow a trumpet melody with his mouth. Luffy cocked her head alittle. Since when could body parts be used as instruments? Or did that onlywork with fishman? The four of them heard the villagers slowly starting to getrestless. Suddenly it began to tremble as something slowly approached from theopen sea. Usopp immediately panicked. "W-wha-what's going on?!""Hahaha! You can be his next meal! Come here, Moo-Moo! The something beganto rise out of the water. "That...that's a monster! The monster from the GrandLine that destroyed Gosa Village!" And out came...a certain sea-cow with a bigbump on his head, torn ropes on his horns and tears in his eyes. The octopuslooked at the animal helplessly. Why did it look so worn out? "It'shuge!" Moo-Moo lowered his head a little and froze when he spotted theblack-haired woman and the blonde. The memory of the two of them was still veryfresh in his mind...and their punches or kicks! "Oh, it's just him,"Luffy said as she turned her head slightly. Sanji also turned his head slightlybefore he said: "So he belongs to the fishman." Moo-Moo didn't wantto be hit again! So it turned around, dived back into the water up to its headand tried to swim away. "Wait, Moo-Moo! What are you doing?!", the octupusfollowed behind and began to wave his arms wildly, "Hey, wait! Wait, I said! Moo-Moo!"The animal had almost reached the gate when Arlong raised his voice. "Moo-Moo!What are you doing?" The animal froze. "If you want to run away, I won't stopyou. Go ahead, Moo-Moo." The threat in his voice could clearly been heard.Suddenly it turned around and charged aggressively towards the four. "It'scoming!" the black-haired man shouted in panic and took a few steps back. "YES,get them, Moo-Moo!" shouted some fishmen getting ready to attack. "AHHHH! I'msorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Usopp's panic grew while Luffy, Zoro and Sanjiwere completely calm. Zoro prepared to pull a piece of Wado-Ichi-Monji out ofhis sheath and Sanji just smiled. "I'll take care of him!" said theblack-haired woman, "Otherwise we'll just be wasting time!" She energeticallybanged her fists together and slammed her feet into the ground, similar to howa sumo fighter performs before a fight. "What the hell is she doing?"Sanji asked no one in particular. Zoro had a hand on his chin as he replied,"I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Whatever the younger one wasplanning, it could only end in chaos! Some of the fishman started runningtowards her, but she ignored them. She began to rotate her body, buildingtension. Moo-Moo attacked. When she couldn't twist herself any further, sheheld the tension, let her arms stretch and grabbed the sea-cow by its horns.Their aggressiveness vanished in an instant and big tears began to fall fromtheir eyes again. The rubber girl slowly began to lean back. "Your arms havestretched?!" the octopus exclaimed in surprise. Arlong was a bit more rational."She has the powers of a devil fruit!?" But how did a devil fruit get into theEast Blue? Most people in this sea hadn't even heard of their existence."What?!" "Who cares?" "Let's go!" She had leaned herselfback almost to the ground when Zoro guessed what she was planning to do. "Hey,run!" "What? What's she planning to do?" "I don't know, but itcertainly won't be good!" The cook and the swordsman took there legs intheir hands. Sanji couldn't imagine what would happen, but he had seen herfight with Krieg. And if what was to come looked anything like this... He wouldhappily take the green-haired man's advice! "Gomu Gomu no..." She lifted the animal out of the water and releasedthe tension. The sea-cow became an oversized club for her and not only knockedthe fishman unconscious but also caused some damage to the building. "...Kazaguruma!" She began to spinfaster and faster before letting go of the horns and throwing the sea-cow farinto the sea. Breathing heavily, she braced herself on her legs as she said, "Ididn't come here to fight him! The one I want to fight..." She turned her upperbody towards the fishman and pointed at him. "...is YOU!" "That actually suitsme," said Arlong. His voice sounded very strained as he spoke. "I was justthinking about the fact that I would like to finish you off now too." How couldthis insect dare to do such a thing to his men?!

The others had come back to her and wereinsulting her a bit. "What were you thinking, that was damn dangerous!" Sanjibegan. He certainly would have slapped her if she had been a man. Did shereally not think things through?! Usopp was next. "You almost sent us to thefish!" She was about to turn to them to say something back when she noticedsomething. "Huh?" She tried to pull her feet out off the ground. Butthey didn't move a bit. "Oh, crap!"However, none of the others seemed to have noticed this. "How dare you do thisto our crew!" shouted the octopus, kneeling next to one of the unconsciousones. Usopp's sense of self-preservation kicked in and he discreetly backedaway before hiding behind a pillar. "Looks like we have to get our hands dirtynow," says the stingray. "I think we need to teach them the difference betweenour spreads," said the archerfish. Zoro grinned as he said, "It looks likethe main force has finally appeared." Arlong rested his head on his hand,grinning. This should be quite entertaining. "You don't have to worry aboutthem, Arlong," said the stingray. The archerfish added: "If you were toget angry, there would be nothing left of Arlong Park." The octopus stoodup and leaned back. "Grr. We'll take care of them!" "Have fun, boys." Usoppcautiously peeked out from behind his hiding place. "Uh, guys, I have alittle..." Luffy began as the octopus seemed to take a deep breath. Sanjiand Zoro were immediately on alert. "Looks like the octopus is up tosomething," said the green-haired man. The blonde took a drag from his cigaretteand then said with a grin: "Octopus tastes best in small bites. You fry it inolive oil, season the whole thing with salt and pepper and you have a wonderfulappetizer." Great. Now the black-haired woman had a problem AND was hungry."Um...could you please listen to me?" "Take that! Shikai Zero: Takohachi Black!" He stood up again and spit somethingblack out of his mouth. Zoro and Sanji immediately jumped to the side, butLuffy was hit with no chance of escape. "You idiot! Why didn't you take cover?!"Zoro asked immediately as he turned back to her. She was completely covered inthe black stuff and was screaming holding her eyes. "AHHH! I am blind! Thisstuff burns in the eyes like crazy! Besides, I've been trying to tell you thiswhole time!" The octopus had walked towards some rubble and grabbed the largestof them. "Now it's time that you pay for you're audacity!" Without anydifficulty, the fishman lifted the piece of rubble over his head and turned tothe blinded black-haired woman. "Luffy, quickly, get out of the way!"She tried to pull her legs out again when she replied: "What do you thinkI'm trying to tell you all this time?! I. AM. STUCK!!!" The shadow of therubble spread over her. Sanji's eye twitched suspiciously as she said that.Hadn't she considered that? "But it's your own fault! Why are you doing suchnonsense?" First of all, her attack was effective, wasn't it?! Secondly, shedidn't expect to get stuck in the ground! It was definitely because it wasstone. And thirdly, she had other problems to deal with than to listening toUsopp's accusations! Zoro had hit his forehead. "What was she thinking?" "Nowit's the fun over. You're about to be as flat as a flounder!" The fishmanstruck. Luffy could only hear the wind rushing around the object approachingher when she heard quick footsteps stop in front of her. To the surprise of thefishmen and the villagers, the piece of rubble suddenly broke in half. In thecenter, Sanji stood in front of the black-haired woman with one leg stretchedin the air. "Well, that was pretty close," he said with his headbowed, "Didn't anyone teach you not to attack a lady?" "Thankyou, Sanji! Even though I don't know what I have to thank you for. This stuffis annoying!" He put his leg back on the ground. "It looks like I got a veryimpulsive woman as captain." He took a handkerchief from inside his jacket andhanded it to her. "Here, then at least you can see again." Her hands reachedinto space a few times before she grabbed the handkerchief and wiped her eyeswith it. "Thank you Sanji." She could finally see again! Like thesplit piece of rubble to her right and left. "He's incredible!" Usoppexclaimed enthusiastically. "Well, at least it's a hundred times betterthan being low-life scum who hurts a lady." And he didn't just mean theblack-haired woman behind him. "Lady? You came all this way for someonelike HER? That almost makes me laugh," said the stingray. "'Someone like her'?"Sanji's voice had become very quiet, "Dare to say something like thatabout Nami again and I'll turn you into a meuniere, fishman!" "You looklike you could fight...for a human. But a pirate who fights for chivalry can onlybe mediocre." Sanji tapped his cigarette and let the ash fall to theground before it went back to his mouth. "Then why don't you check for yourselfhow "mediocre" my chivalry is? I was raised by an undefeated pirate." Helet out a puff of smoke. The fishman cracked his knuckles. "Looks likeyou're really inexperienced with the superiority of the Fishman race." Hegot into a fighting stance. Meanwhile, Usopp tried to somehow pull Luffy out ofthe ground. He had grabbed her under the arms and was moving back little bylittle, but only her legs were stretching further. "That's no use! I'm stillstuck!" noted the black-haired woman. "That can't be. Wait, I'll pull a littlelonger!" It slowly started to get harder and harder to pull her. Bored, shestarted picking her nose. „Forget it, it just makes my legs longer! You canpull as much as you want. I can't get out of it that easily." "Haveyou tried it yet?! Do you even want your legs to be free again?!" "What arethose two messing around? This is really getting on my nerves! "I'll pull outthey fins," said the octopus, before he grabbed one of the smaller pieces ofdebris and walked towards the two black-haired teens. Finding new strength outof fear, Usopp managed to hold Luffy with only one arm and began to run."Damned. Now come out already! I'm really getting fed up!""Wait!" the octopus called after them as Zoro pointed his katana ,which was still in its sheath, at him and said: "Hey, octopus." Theoctopus looked down at him. "These two are busy. I will be your opponent!""Nju, Roronoa Zoro! I almost forgot you! How dare you trick me?!" He struck,but Zoro was able to dodge. "On top of that, you also killed some of mycomrades!" "I'm not interested in old stories like that. I don't care about thereason why you want to kill me." The octopus began to tremble in anger."The situation has changed. It's not you who want to finish us off. It is wewho will finish YOU off!" With these words he pulled his sword out of itsscabbard. Usopp had stopped and ran his arm against his forehead as he said: "Allright, Zoro, I'll leave the octopus to you. You should have fun too. I mean..."As he spoke, however, he let go of Luffy. He looked after her in shock as sheshot back again. "Ahhh, Luffy!!!" Unfortunately for him, theblack-haired woman didn't just stop at her starting point but flew a littlefurther and into the archerfish, which had turned in his direction when hescreamed. The fishman flew through the air a short distance before hitting theground. "Oh, back tot he beginning," she sighed as she came to a stop. Thefishman straightened up and scowled at the longnose. "Bastard," he growled ashe stood back up. This worm seriously dared to attack him with his littlefriend. He whould let him pay for this! "Oh crap," Usopp said,sweating profusely and with his face flooded with tears. Why did something likethis always have to happen to him? "Looks like you really want to see theradishes from below." Slowly the unlucky raven turned around as the fishmanstarted to come towards him and started screaming and taking his legs in hishands. The archerfish noticed this and started running. Luffy watched Usopp runthrough the destroyed gate, right past the villagers. Although she couldn't seewhat was happening in front of the gate, she saw the fishman suddenly stop. "That's not good." "Aren't you from Cocoyasi?Looks like you're all carrying guns. Then I assume you want to rebel. You'reall..." "Kaen Boshi!"The fishman was interrupted when a blast of fire hit him in the face andknocked him back. "Brother Usopp!" The fire was quickly extinguished when sheheard Usopp's voice: "I am your opponent!" In one quick movement, the fishmangot back on his feet. The anger that had built up inside him was clearlyaudible in his voice: "If you really want to die, then I will kill YOU here andnow!" With these words he disappeared through the remains of the gate and beganto pursue the gunner. "Good luck, Usopp.I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you." Now she just had to find away to get out of the ground on her own.

Suddenly Arlong stood up and sighed a little: "Ah, oh dear." He slowly began to walk towards Luffy. "It's a tragedy. You're embarrassing everyone to the bone. I guess I'll have to take this into my own hands now, you morrons!" "Great Arlong, don't make a mistake now! You know what happens when you go mad," said the stingray. "Don't worry, I'm not going tob e mad. I just have an idea. A very interesting game." "A game?" asked the octopus, confused. There was something about Sawnose's voice that Luffy didn't liked. But Zoro and Sanji also looked at him suspiciously. "Wait a minute, you sneaky rat! I'm your opponent!" shouted the black-haired woman and struck. But the fishman was able to easily dodge her blow before he grabbed her arm as it retreated again. "I'm sorry, what? Do you idiots really think that you can hold a candle to US?" "That shouldn't be that big of a problem," said Sanji confidently. These fishman were nothing more than oversized seafood. He could easily deal with something like that. He didn't like how the guy was holding Luffy's arm though. Fishmen really seemed to have no idea how to treat a woman. "Of course we think so, you idiot! Now let go of my arm!" Grinning, Zoro agreed with the cook and his captain. "Looks like he has something to say." To the surprise of the three, Arlong got on his knees and slammed his hand into the ground. The three's eyes widened as the fishman began to lift the ground Luffy was still stuck in out and over his head. "Wah! Hey, what's going on?!" She was almost horizontal in the air when Arlong still didn't let go of her. "With your devil fruit power, you can't swim a single stroke!" said Arlong, looking straight into her shocked face. Oh God! He wasn't planning to...?! "Besides, with the block on your legs, no one would be able to do that anyway! Everyone would drown, Shahahaha!" "He wants to throw Luffy into the water?!" Zoro shouted in horror. She wouldn't be able to get into the water that easily! She punched out her free fist energetically. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" She struck. But the fishman caught her blow with his teeth and laughed when she screamed in pain. But that was pain she could deal with. "Idiot!" "Damn, you!" She twisted herself a little and in turn bit the fish-man's arm, with which he was holding hers. She knew her bite was stronger than that of other people. After all, she could bite through metal, like the Hypnoheini's disc or the not so funny clown's knife, to say it out loud! However, she had no idea how or even if her bite had harmed the fishman. He opened his mouth himself, either because of the pain or because of surprise, and her hand was free again. "That's a waste of time," said the stingray. No matter what the girl did, her fate was sealed. A tug loosened her bite before Arlong threw her. Screaming, she flew a few meters through the air, to the gate in the water, before disappearing into the depths. In time she managed to take another deep breath. "Luffy!" "That bastard!" The fishman's laugh echoed across the water. "I'll get her..." Sanji said and ran towards the pool when Zoro stood in his way. "Idiot! You're playing right into their hands! If you jump in now, they'll have you right where they want you!" He didn't like it either, but they couldn't just walk headlong into their trap! "The fishman have a clear advantage underwater!" Sani gritted his teeth. He didn't want to admit it, but the green-haired man was right. Arlong had now made himself comfortable on one of the pieces of rubble. "There's only one way to save Luffy." "Let's take care of the guys quickly and then jump into the water?" "Then let's do it! We don't have much time!" "Understood." The two got into fighting position. "How long do you think the rubber girl can last?" "Ah, so that's the game you were talking about." "I see." Arlong started laughing again. "The fish is yours." "And you take care of the octopus." Air bubbles could be seen on the surface for a while until they suddenly died away. "Shahahaha! You can't even breathe underwater. Humans really are a lower form of life. Shahahaha!" "Come on! I'm your opponent, you damn octopus!" But he just started laughing. "Game. A game!" "I'll finish it in five seconds!" said the swordsman as he stormed towards him. Sweat ran down his face. If they didn't hurry up, Luffy would be a goner! "No, three seconds!" "Don't be so hasty!" said the stingray calmly, "No matter what happens, you won't have any hope of getting out of this alive!" Sanji lashed out, but he took the blow into account one of its triangular fins. "Shikai Zero: Takohachi Black!" Zoro dodged the ink shot. "Hold on, Luffy!"

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           ~ Underwater ~

Luffy had pressed her hands over her mouth and nose, but some oxygen was escaping her here and there. "I'm really in trouble. I have no strength to move in any way." An idea came to her as to how she could stop the air from escaping as she sank further and further to the ground. She continued to cover her mouth with one hand while sticking two fingers of the other up her nose. Finally she landed at the bottom of the pool. Her lungs were already starting to burn. "Unless a miracle happens, that's the end for me." Images of her childhood flashed before her mind. Pictures of her friends, of Nami when she... "No, it can't end like this. It can't end like this! I promised Nami! I'll finish off Arlong!" However, first she had to get out of this block of stone and out of the water somehow.

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* I just wanted to let you know why I made so many "rat names/puns" around Nazumi. You know, in my first language he's really called "Rat" and I just couldn't help myself. Especially because I can't stand the guy. If you want to say so: My inner Luffy probably got the better of me ;)