"What do you think? This is an interesting game, isn't it? Let's see how long the rubber girl lasts or will you die before she does?" Arlong started laughing again. "I'll do it in 5 seconds! Luffy, I'll get you out of there, don't worry!" Zoro shouted as he rushed towards the octopus. "Shikai Zero: Takohachi Black!" With a roll to the side, he dodged the ink bullet, continued running and swung at the punch. At the last moment, the fishman was able to duck, but two spikes of his hair had to pay the price. "Nju, you cut my hair off!" growled the fish man before he calmed down again, "Oh what the hell? It's just hair, it'll grow back again." "Huh?" This octopus had mood changes like a woman! "But you won't cut me up, Zoro! I have six arms. I hardly believe YOU can fight it!" He began to wave his arms. "I'm extremely flexible with that." "You octopus bastard!" He stormed towards him again. "Tako San Ren Shin Ken Shira Ha Dori!" Zoro struck and the octopus slapped his hands together. No one moved until... "Ow, that hurts!" Blood ran from a small wound on his forehead and tears from his eyes. "I don't have time to play with you!" His breathing was heavy and his body was covered in sweat. "He's trying to buy time." Sanji glanced over his shoulder at him. "Is he...?" "If you get distracted, it will be your death!" the stingray shouted before striking. Sanji leaned back, avoiding the blow. "Be always nice to the cook, otherwise you'll end up in the pan!" Sanji kicked, but the fish man fended him off with his triangle on his arm. "I can't waste any more time. It's already enough!" growled the swordsman. If this takes any longer, Luffy could already... "Let's finish this!" He ran towards the fishman and strikes. But he simply jumped up into the air and clung upside down to one of the stone pillars. "Takohachi Number Nine!" Neither of them moved while Zoro looked up at him. Was he trying to make fun of him?! "Do you want to put down roots up there? Come down now!" "Nyu~." "He's getting on my last nerve!" growled the green-haired man. This fishman was getting on his nerves faster than Luffy ever could.

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

~ Underwater ~

Her breath became increasingly scarce. More and more black dots began to appear in front of Luffy's eyes. "Damned! My lungs burn like fire. I can not anymore. Damned! Damned! DAMN IT!" She had no strength left. The last bit of oxygen left her lungs and everything around her went black.

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

~ Above water ~

Sanji delivered kick after kick, ducking each ofthe fishman's punches himself. However, he couldn't land a hit himself. "Damnyou, you bastard!" His gaze wandered for a moment to Arlong, who was watchingeverything with a grin.

Things didn't look any better for Zoro. "RoronorZoro, can I ask you something? I'm a bit surprised," the fishman's voicesounded above him, "you normaly fight with three swords at the same time.Where are the other two?" "One sword has been enough for you sofar." "Until NOW, but I haven't gotten serious yet. The truth is thata human swordsman has no chance against ME! Do you want to know why? Do youwant to know? You want to know, don't you? It will surprise you, astonish you,shock you!" Zoro clenches his teeth. The pain from his wound was getting worse."Damn! Why does the wound have tohurt so much now of all times? And the fever is getting worse. I thought itwould go away if I moved." He started to sway a little, but was able tocatch himself. All eyes were on him. Arlong's grin disappeared briefly. Itwasn't fun when people collapsed before the fight. Sanji looked at theswordsman with some concern. "Shit, I knew it. You haven't recovered from thewound Hawkeye gave you yet!" "What's the point? Pretending to be sickis a good strategy. Very good! But I won't fall for it! Roronoa Zoro, now I'llshow you my true skills!" With these words, Hatchan climbed up the pillar,still head first, ran over the roof and briefly disappeared inside thebuilding. Only to emerge the next moment with a sword in each hand. "Beware ofmy true abilities! The six sword styles!" As soon as he had finished hisspeech, Zoro collapsed. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean? You can't just giveup now! That's not fair!" The green-haired man lay on the ground, covered insweat, breathing heavily. Once again the blonde looked at the stricken one ashe said to himself, "I knew it was strange that he was fighting with sucha direct expression on his face!" The guy is a complete idiot!"

He caught something out of the corner of hiseye, but he wasn't quick enough to react. "HyakumaigawaraSeiken!" The fishman's fist hit him in the stomach. His cigarette was stillout of his mouth and he broke through the wall near the destroyed gate. "Didn'tI tell you to keep your eyes open?! I have the 40th Dan in Fishman Karate!" Thevillagers looked at the cook lying on the ground in shock. The two bountyhunters crawled past the villagers and looked at him when Johnny shouted,"Brother Sanji!" "He's not moving!" Yosaku shouted inhorror, "Brother Sanji!"

"Is it over, great Arlong? What should we dowith Roronoa Zoro?" "Throw his body into the sea! How pathetic, howboring." He had hoped for a little show that would end with these lower lifeforms writhing in pain on the ground. A little perplexed, Hatchan now stoodback on the ground, his swords still raised in a fighting position. "What, it'salready over? But they really made a mess here." "It's no big deal.It's okay as long as Arlong Park is still standing," said the sawshark."You're right." "Roronoa Zoro, you bastard! He was scared to death before Icould show him my skills!" Hatchan grumbled. His hurt pride was nearly audible."I would have been so famous if he had fallen through my blades! Nah, itdoesn't matter. A human could never match ME and my wonderful, incredible sixsword style anyway! You can't even touch me!" As he said this, he slashed hisswords through the air as if he were fighting. A NORMAL human or swordsmancould not defeat this rain of blades. His quick movements suddenly created asmall whirlwind that threw smaller pieces of debris through the area. "That'senough now, Hachi!" said the stingray, "I understand how you feel, but if youget serious now it could be dangerous. Or do you want to destroy the ArlongPark?" Immediately he stopped swinging his swords and the storm died down."Huh? Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. I forgot myself for a second." "It's okay.Just forget it." "Right. Sorry, sorry." 

"Six sword style, huh? Don't talk such rubbish!"The fishman looked at the speaker in surprise. Zoro stood up again, somewhatcautiously. His back was turned to them. "Brother Zorro!" Johnny shoutedhappily. He stood slightly hunched over, with one fist resting on his thigh andthe other holding Wado tightly. "Roronoa Zoro!" "Let me just get one thingclear, Octopus! There is someone I must meet again and until that day..." Heraised his head, a fire burning in his gray eyes. "...not even death himself willbe able to take my life!"

On the other side of the wall, Sanji also beganto stir again. His body ached as he grabbed a new cigarette and his lighterfrom his jacket, put it in his mouth and lit it. A hand rested on his stomachas he took a drag. The village doctor was the first to notice this and shouted:"He's still alive!" Sanji slowly got up and walked towards the holethat had been created during his flight while he said: "Huh, that fishheini wants have the 40th dan? Poor performance! If I remember old Zeff'skicks, he was at least 400th dan!"

Zoro untied the headband from his arm with onehand; he had turned back to the fishman. "What's wrong with you, Roronoa Zoro?Why are you even trying so hard? I don't think you can defeat me and my sixswords in your condition! I think everyone in the world would say the same thing."While Hatchan spoke, Zoro had put Wado in his mouth and was tying his headscarfaround his head. "Shut up, it's none of your business!" His breathing was alittle more difficult than usual. "I'll show you. My three sword style." Thefishman looked at him in surprise. "Yosaku! Johnny! Lend me your swords!" "Ofcourse, Aniki!" Both got up from the ground and swung. "Catch!" The swords flewtowards him, spinning. "Damn...my visionis starting to turn black! How much longer can I keep this up?""Here they come, Aniki!" "Didn't you want to use them?""Hah! Now you see the disadvantage that people have with their two arms. Rokutōryū Ogi..." Hatchi prepared toattack. The swords were dangerously close to Zoro. "Brother Zorro, be careful!""...Takoashi Kiken!" Hatchan rantowards Zoro with wobbly arms. "Aniki!" At that moment, Zoro caught the swords,took a step forward, also turned to the side and began to fend off or dodgeevery blow from the fish man. It almost seemed like a difficult dance between thetwo. No one could follow their movements. "Santōryū Iai..." Suddenly the green-haired man wasstanding behind the fish-man. "...Toro Nagashi!" Neither ofthem moved until Hatchan suddenly leaned back and blood spurted from the woundson his chest with a scream. Zoro was breathing heavily and sweat began to coverhis body more and more. "How can that be?" growled the fishman and turnedaround, "Now I'm really angry! I'll finish you! Just think about it normally!You can't fight six swords when you only have three. Don't you get it?!""Normal? There seems to have been a little miscalculation there." Heremembered Hawkeye's words. "To challengeme. Are you brave or just careless?" The words he had said to hismaster, Kuina's father. "I'll...I'll getstronger with her! Until my name can be heard even by HER in heaven! I willbecome stronger! Until I became the strongest in the world, the best swordsman!"He also thought of Luffy, who was probably counting on him to fish her out ofthere. He suppressed the trembling that was slowly spreading through his hands."Three swords...six swords...the number doesn't matter!" He turnedback to his opponent with newfound determination. "I may only have threeswords, but you will NEVER be able to defeat ME!"

Silence followed his speech as he fought not tofall back to the ground. He couldn't allow himself to do that, after all, hehad promised his captain that he would never lose again until he had fulfilledhis dream! Hatchan broke the silence when he said, "It's strange, isn't it? NowI understand it. Your swords are heavier, huh? Don't think that will help you.Each of MY swords weighs 300kg, you know! They're much heavier and morepowerful than even one of yours, you idiot!" "I'm tired of listeningto this nonsense!" "RokutōryūOgi - Takotsubo no Kamae!" Hatchan took his swords so that they sixblades lay together and aimed the deadly center at Zoro. He jumped forward, butZoro blocked the attack with Johnny and Yosaku's crossed swords. The fishmangrinned at him as he managed to undo Zoro's defenses in one move."Damn!" He stood wide open when Hatchan bent his knees a little andrammed his head against the bandage on Zoro's chest. He flew into the air, hefelt that the wound had reopened and briefly lost consciousness. "That'snot fair! Right on his wound!" Yosaku protested loudly. Hatchan ran to whereZoro was falling to the ground. "You won't make it to the groundalive!" He put the hilts of his swords together so that they formed a kindof circle, raised them above his head, and let the blades rotate. "Rokutōryū Ogi - Rokuto no Waltz!"Zoro got closer and closer to the blades. "Touch that for just a few secondsand you're minced meat. You don't have a chance! Hahaha!" "Watch out Zoro!" Hefell straight into the blades. The human lost their breath at the sight. Arlongand the stingray, on the other hand, grinned triumphantly. A scream rangthrough the air. But it wasn't Zoro whose blood dripped to the ground. Thegreen-haired man himself landed back on his feet without any further scratches,his swords still in the position with which he ended his attack. He stood therebreathing heavily. The grins had disappeared from the fishmen's faces. Hatchanstill managed to stay on his feet. Each of his hands had cuts, some more,others less. His swords had clattered to the ground around him. That could notbe. How could a human manage to defeat his six swords? That was impossible! Theanger slowly began to grow as he looked at his injuries and said, "Thatbastard! He thundered one sword after the other away from me and cut mytentacles! But if he thinks it's over now then HE ist he one who cut himself! Iwon't let that happen! Now I'm fed up with this guy! Now he's going to get hisears worked up until he sees stars! Now it's time to get down to business!"

Zoro swayed a little, but was able to catchhimself at the last moment. The fever and his wound slowly pushed him to hislimits. "This stupid injury is reallykilling me. I can't give up now!" Hatchan had already picked up his swordsagain and gotten into position. "And again! Rokutōryū Ogi - Takotsubo no Kamae! This is the end for you!" "I have to hold out, no matter what the costis! I won't give him that pleasure." Hatchan attacked. "If I ever want to defeat Hawkeye, I have tobe better than everyone else!" He stood with his back to the fishmanas he raised his swords and he was almost at him. Like lightning, the swordsmanspun around, shattering the fishman's blades and sending him flying. "TatsuMaki!" No one, except for thetwo bounty hunters, could quite believe what they were seeing. "Hatchan,"Arlong said, eyes wide. How was it possible that a HUMAN managed to defeat oneof his officers? Fishmen were far superior to humans! Hatchan slowly fell tothe ground, the remains of his swords glistening in the light of the sun aroundhim. "That's impossible. How couldhe defeat me with only three swords?" A deep crater appeared where he hitthe ground. Dust swirled. "Octopus...I hope you finally get it now!"Zoro had already taken Wado out of his mouth. "My swords are a whole lot betterthan yours! Are you satisfied?"

He sat on the floor, breathing heavily. Theborrowed swords lay next to him and Wado rested in its scabbard again. "I'msorry Octopus, but I'm not impressed. I have to hurry and save Luffy.""Watch out, Aniki!" Yosaku shouted. Behind Zoro stood the stingraywith his fist outstretched. He said angrily, looking at the man who wasbreathing heavily: "You devil! How could you do that to Hatchi?!" He was aboutto strike when he was kicked back. "Bastard! Did you really think you could getrid of me so easily?" Sanji growled as he lowered his leg. "Hmm, I didn't thinkthere was anyone who could match my punches. At least not in the EastBlue." "Oh, I think you'd be surprised how many there are actually.Especially in a certain ship's restaurant." "You were deceived.""Brother Zoro, you are not allowed to move!" Yosaku shouted as Zoroslowly crawled to the pool. Sanji looked at him sideways. "Hey, stop it! If yougo underwater in your condition, it's certain death." "Shut up! Shedoesn't have much time left! She can't wait for you to finish your fight!""Yes, I know that too. I know we're running out of time. That's why I'mstopping YOU. You're the one who should shut up!" While the blonde hadspoken, he had taken off his jacket and shoes. "So you don't make thingsmore difficult while I'm doing it!" With those words, he jumped head firstinto the water. The stingray laughed; that was foolish of the cook."Interesting. He wants to challenge a fishman in water? I've never met abigger fool!" Zoro knelt at the edge of the pool and shouted angrily afterthe blonde: "You idiot! A fight under water is exactly what he wanted toprovoke!" As soon as he had spoken this sentence, the fishman disappeared intothe blue depths. The only thing Zoro could do was hope for a small miracle thatthe cook survived this too. "Shahahaha! This is going to be really interesting.What do you humans plan to do next? Shahahaha!"

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

~ Underwater ~

Sanji dived deeper and deeper, slowly becomingable to see the bottom better and better. Down by Luffy he saw something, orrather someone, from behind. "That's...I'mpretty sure he's the leader of Cocoyasi." It looked like he was doinga cardiopulmonary massage. Only then did he see that there was a long, narrowthing where the black-haired woman's head should be. "Her neck stretches to the surface." Genzo was too focused onwhat he was doing that he didn't notice the blonde slowly approaching. "Come on, breathe! It is not too late yet!Come on, soon I won't be able to hold my breath anymore!" "I get it now. They couldn't move the stone,so they moved her head." A smile crept onto his lips. "They have to break the stone to free her.Then the old man can take care of the rest." "Wanto Giri!" Suddenly the stingray appeared out of nowhere and hitSanji in the neck. The blonde was floating in the water, a little dazed, whenthe fishman's gaze fell on Genzo. He felt the stare and turned his head inshock. "So you really are one from Cocoyasi. What useless efforts." "Damn, they found out!" The stingray swamtowards him. "What's the point of trying to prolong her life if it costs yourown life? I'll end this immediately!" However, he didn't get far when somethingsuddenly pulled on his braid. Or rather, someone. Sanji looked grimly at thefishman. "What do you think you'redoing?" "You...useless human!" Without warning he turnedaround. Sanji's mouth opened in surprise, causing him to let out some air, andhe lost his grip on the braid. "So you really want to challenge me underwater?"He swam back a little and increased the distance between the two. "Justhold your breath with all your might, like the inferior creature you are!"Sanji just looked at him, one hand pressed over his mouth. "As you wish!Then let's get it started! ItomakiKumite!" He spun as fast as a top, paused and swung his braid. This wrappeditself around the cook's waist before the fishman pulled on it and broughtSanji to him. He tried to get into position a little and kicked as soon as hewas within reach. However, it was not possible for him to do this at his normalspeed. His opponent was able to avoid the kick without much effort. "What?Your kicks are only half as strong underwater. That's the weakness of humans,but my fishman karate doesn't lose the slightest power down here!" While he wasspeaking, Genzo had started the massage again. "On the contrary, it'stwice as strong!" Sanji gritted his teeth. If that was true, he really hada problem. On top of that, the fishman's hair was still around his waist, so hecouldn't even get out of the way. The fishman got into position with a nastygrin. "Jodan Bakusho!" Theblonde was able to avoid the blow to his head. "Kaisoku: Harakudashigeri!" He kicked and hit the blonde with fullforce in the stomach. Sanji opened his mouth, more air escaping his lungs. Heflew backwards slightly, but the braid prevented him from getting far. Thefishman pulled on it again and suddenly began to turn, his triangular armextensions stretched out to the left and right of his body. "Ka Ka Kakato Otoshi!" When Sanjiwas back in range, he swung his leg and delivered a heel kick to the back ofthe head. The cook slowly approached the bottom of the sea, but the fishmangave a strong pull with his arms and found himself right next to the dazed one.Got under them and gave the blonde a kick to the chin. "Kachiage Haisoku!" Once againimportant oxygen escaped Sanji's mouth. A vein began to throb in his forehead,scowling at the stingray when it was just a few feet from his face. "Jodan Bakusho!" He punched straight tothe chin. Sanji flew backwards and the fishman untied his braid. The cooklanded against the rocks and the fishman relaxed his stance.

Genzo's eyes widened as the fishman turned to him. That was not good. He had no chance against this one, especially not under water. He grinned until suddenly there was a growl. Something shot out of the rubble quickly towards the surface. Sanji's lungs burned. He needed air! If he didn't get this soon, everything would be lost. But the fishman thwarted his plans. A few meters separated the blonde from his goal when the stingray cut off his path. "Where do you want to go?" The blonde held a hand over his mouth and nose again. "Such a crap! Him again. I'm almost out of breath!" "I almost can't believe you're human. You have amazing stamina that I never thought a human would have." "I have to go up!" The fishman grinned as he saw the human slowly running out of breath and started laughing. "If I remember correctly, you wanted to give us a beating because we did something bad to that witch. Now look at you! This is what you get for playing the noble knight." Slowly, much too slowl, floated Sanji back to the surface, right next to the fishman. "That went completely wrong! You'll never get out of here again, I promise you! And neither does the stupid Scarface and the rubber girl. When I'm done with you, I'll take on Zoro and that long nose! Then I'll grab Nami, she's been cheating and betraying us the whole time. I can't let her get away with that!" He looked down at the human with a grin. "You know what that means? All the drama you put on here was completely for nothing! YOU HAVE FAILED! YOU can't save a single soul!" What did the fish stick just say?! He shouldn't be able to save a soul? He would show him! He opened his eyes with renewed vigor. A fire burned in him. The fishman had come closer and was pulling him back by his collar. "You may have some skills, but..." He looked him straight in the face and grinned. "...in the end you are nothing more than a puny, weak human being. Your body can't withstand abrupt changes in pressure, can it?" He wrapped his arms around the chef and pressed him against his chest. "In other words. If I make a sudden dive to the bottom, your body would explode from the pressure from the inside!" Sanji's eyes widened before the fishman turned his head towards the bottom. "Appakushi Chokka Koro!" After these words he raced towards the bottom of the sea. Sanji couldn't describe the pain that flooded his body. He had never felt anything like it in his entire life. He could have screamed, but that would have been the end of him. He looked angrily at the laughing fishman. "I will never forgive that bastard! I'm not even supposed to be able to protect one person?!" They had reached the bottom. Blood seeped between his hands. It felt like his organs were being crushed. The stingray laughed when he saw this. However, this died when Sanji provocatively held up a finger. "This guy isn't dead yet? Well, as you wish! We'll just do it again!" He swam towards the surface again. Sanji's head was pressed onto the fishman's shoulder. There he discovered them: gills. "This guy uses his lungs to breathe on land. In water he uses his gills." They were again a few meters from the surface. "That means he's nothing more than a talking fish!" "Shall we try it again then?" Surprisingly, the cook grabbed him, pulled himself up slightly against him and pressed his mouth on his gills. What was this human up to? "If something blocks a fish's gills, it dies. And since you are a fish, you will now suffer just like me!" Sanji blew most of his air into his gills with all his might. The stingray's eyes widened as air escaped from its gills through its mouth. He couldn't breathe! How did this person know this would work? He either had to get back to the surface or get rid of this wretch in order to breathe again!

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

~ Above water ~

Zoro was still kneeling in front of the poolwhen air bubbles appeared on the surface. Didn't the cook make it? Suddenly ashock of blonde hair broke through the water. Sanji gasped greedily beforepulling himself out of the pool, coughing. Arlong gave him a skeptical look.Where was Kuroobi? He couldn't possibly have been defeated by a human!"Hey..." "Don't worry, she's fine," Sanji said, panting,answering the unasked question. "Really?" "Half of her." "Half?" Was the blondesuffering from lack of air or why did he say something so illogical? "I'll tellyou later. But first..." With new energy he turned angrily back to the water,pointed a finger at it and shouted: "Come on! Come out, you sardine! I stillhave a bone to pick with you!" Coughing, Kuroobi grabbed the edge of the pooland pulled himself out of the water. Sheer hate was written in his eyes. "Itseems you haven't learned anything. It doesn't matter whether it's under wateror above, it's still the same principle. You really made me angry. I will nowintroduce you to the intricacies of Fishman Karate." He stood back up to hisfull height and looked at the two people. "The kick that I used to send youthrough the water earlier was the 100 brick breaker. But my specialty isbreaking 1000 bricks! The chance of surviving it is zero!" Sanji noticed howhis eye began to twitch while the fishman was speaking. He really didn't havethe nerve to listen to any cocky speeches anymore. As soon as he got into afighting position, Sanji kicked out and said: "You chatterbox. Collier!" Kuroobi crashed into the ground witha groan. "So I didn't learn anything, huh? Épaule!" The fishman hadturned onto his back and tried to stand up again before Sanji sent him back tothe ground with the next kick to the head. Sanji had already raised his leg forthe next kick. "So I can't protect anyone, huh? Côtelette! Selle!" Kuroobihad managed to get to his knees, which turned out to be a mistake. Sanji kickedhim in the back and braced himself on the ground with one hand before kickingwith the other leg. The fishman's back was heavily arched as the chef slammedhim back into the ground with his next kick. "Poitrine! Gigot!" Kuroobifell backwards and landed on his stomach. The villagers watched in amazement.They would never have thought that a human would be able to kick a fishmanaround like that. Trembling slightly, even if no one noticed, he pushed himselfup again. That just could not be true. No human was able to hold their ownagainst a fish man like that! That went against nature. He couldn't, heCOULDN'T lose! That would be a disgrace to their superior race. "Damn you,...youbastard! Now I'm going to give you my 1000 brick breaker!" But when he got intoposition, there was no sign of the blonde. Where had he gone? Above him, Sanjidid a somersault before hitting him in the face and said, "All good thingscome from above! Mouton Shot!" Unstopped, the fishman crashed into thebuilding with a scream, disappeared through the hole that was created and cameout the other side. He remained there unconscious. Zoro grinned as the cookstood up and looked over his shoulder at the hole. "I eat idiots like you forbreakfast!"

Arlong raised his head and looked at the spotwhere his comrade had disappeared. "Kuroobi." He looked at the unconscioussix-armed man. "Hatchan." How could these lesser creatures manage todefeat two of his officers? While he was busy, Sanji had started putting hisshoes back on. "They end up being nothing more than a seafood salad. A fishthat can take on a chef? Not even in 100 years. This game..." He tapped the toeof his shoe against the ground and checked if it fit correctly. "...it'sover!" The Sawshark stood up as he said, "You bastards. You havetaken out so many of my esteemed comrades, one by one." He clenched his handinto a fist. "Don't you think you're overestimating yourself a bit at the moment?!"His blue eyes sparkled with anger. Swaying slightly, Zoro stood back up as hesaid, "Hey, when you said 'Luffy is half fine ' what did you mean?""Well, she's not about to die. But if we want to free her, I have to gounderwater for a while. And it doesn't look like this guy is planning onletting me do this."

Nobody could explain what had happened. Zoro waslying unconscious on his back on the floor and Sanji was leaning on his arms.Arlong stood over the two with his hand raised. "I feel weak...was that adream?" Sanji murmured as he pushed himself back to his feet. "Huh, what'sgoing on? What did the shark do to them?" Yosaku wondered. "I have noidea," said Johnny, "He just splashed water on them, then suddenlythey spit blood and fell over." "You're amazed, huh? With a few dropsof water I can easily incapacitate creatures of your species without touchingyou. That's the difference between us fishman and you primates!""Don't talk trash like that!" Sanji hissed and kicked. But Arlongdodged easily before swinging his hand and throwing the water in his palm atSanji. As soon as the water touched the blonde, he was thrown back by theimpact. "He wasn't joking. For him it'slike he's just playing with the water. But it feels like a shotgun! Is this thepower of a shark? The strongest of all the fishman. He's on a completelydifferent level." "Now give finally up. Your life isn't worth asingle coin! The game is over and YOU are the losers!" "Arlong!" suddenly camethe voice of a certain orange-haired thief. "Sister Nami." "Hello Nami. I justtaught these wannabe pirates a lesson. What brings you here?" He began tochuckle. Nami looked at him with cold eyes. Luffy's straw hat rested on herhead, her shoulder was bandaged and in her hand she held her staff. "I'm hereto kill you."

"Here to kill me? Shahaha, you still haven'tgiven up? How many times have you tried to kill me in the past eight years?"The villagers looked at Nami in surprise. So she not only made a deal with himbut also tried to kill him? "Murder, poison, attacks. Did that ever work? Youshould know better than anyone that we don't die so easily at the hands ofhumans." Nami didn't say a word but continued to look at him quietly."Listen, YOU can never kill me and you can't run away from me either!Nami." His eyes turned dark. "You will continue to be my mapmaker."Nami's eyes slowly began to widen as she heard the hidden threat in his wordsand voice. "Besides, you know how good I've always been to you. I really hopeyou'll continue to draw maps for me. Hahahaha. How does that sound? Because ofwhat happened, I would normally kill everyone here except for you." Theorange-haired woman felt her heart start to beat faster in her chest. "Butif you decide to come back to the Arlong Pirates and continue drawing maps forme, I will spare your people from Cocoyasi." He pointed to the blonde andthe green-haired man. "But these guys won't be spared. They have caused me toomuch trouble." He nudged Sanji with his foot and he lost his footing. "Itis entirely your decision! Whether you stand by ME and save the lives of thevillagers or you stand by these fools who dared to fight against me. Looking atthey condition, I wouldn't advise you THAT. So Nami..." He looked directly ather. For a moment she felt like she couldn't breathe when she saw his eyes. Sheknew from experience that what he said wasn't an empty threat, this was clearlyvisible in his eyes. "...are you on MY side or are you on THEIRside?" "Oh no, what should I do?"She clenched her hand into a fist. "IfI say I stand with Luffy and her friends, everyone in the village will bekilled. If I say I'll stay with Arlong, he'll let them live." Sweat randown her body. She felt like a butterfly caught in a spider web. Depending onwhat she decided, she would either be able to escape or meet her end in thenet. "That's unfair!" "That disgusting bastard doesn't give hera real choice!" She began to tremble and reached for the brim of her strawhat. "But I......Luffy." Sheremembered how the black-haired woman had just been waiting for her to ask forher help. "'Luffy, please help me.'""'Of course I'll help you!'"She narrowed her eyes, the trembling got worse. She felt the eyes of thevillagers, but especially that of the fishman, on her. She had to make adecision and live with the consequences! "I can't doubt what she said!" The shaking stopped. She hadmade up her mind. Smiling, she turned to the people she had known sincechildhood. "I'm sorry guys! Even if that means the end for us, we will stand byLuffy!" She had escaped from the net. Full of energy, they raised their weaponsand loudly agreed with her. Arlong looked at her darkly. That wasn't the answerhe wanted to hear. His voice was calm and dark: "So you want to be slaughtered.Well then, so be it!"

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What a chapter! As you may have noticed, I left out Johnny and Yosaku's comments during Zoro's fight a bit, unless they were elemental. Was that good or would you have preferred to read there comments too?