~ Underwater ~

Nojiko had replaced Genzo and kept pressing her hands on the rubber girl's chest. "Please! Please! Live! Live! Live!" She squinted her eyes and didn't notice how the younger woman's hand suddenly began to twitch. The lavender-haired woman only noticed this when said hand grabbed her arm.

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

~ Above water ~

Protected from the fishman's gaze, Genzo sat onthe rock behind the wall of Arlong Park. He had put his hands around theunconscious woman's head to prevent it from snapping back into the water. Amovement caught his attention before the black-haired woman spat out afountain-like stream of water that reached over the wall. However, this did notgo unnoticed. Arlong turned his head in the direction from which the watersuddenly came before he said, "What is that?" Sanji carefully raisedhis head and grinned. "There she is. Now I just have to take care of thestone block at her feet." "What?" came Zoro's voice, just alittle distance away. He rolled to the side a little and held his head as hestraightened up a little. Now he understood finally what the cook had beentrying to tell him all along without the shark noticing. "I get it now."

On the other side of the wall, Luffy slowlyregained consciousness, still coughing up water. "Hey girl, hang in there! Comeback to us!" After she had gotten the last bit of seawater out of her lungs,she opened her eyes and gasped. Her eyes immediately saw the man with manyscars holding her head. That had been close, even more than close.   

Meanwhile, Sanji and Zoro stood up again. Zoro knelt in front of the cook with his back turned to him. One of the swords served as a support as he said, "30 seconds. I can't give you any more time." He put Wado between his teeth again and stood up. "That's more than enough!" Sanji shouted, running to the water and taking off his shoes again before disappearing into the blue water once more. Arlong's eyes narrowed as he still looked at the spot where the fountain had suddenly appeared and murmured, "I don't remember there being a fountain. Could it be that rubber toad?" He turned completely in that direction when something cut his cheek slightly and the swordsman appeared in front of him. This human really believed he could stand in the way of a fishman? Ridiculous! "You shouldn't worry about that right now, Fishface!" he said, breathing heavily. Arlong monotonously looked down at the swordsman. "Didn't I tell you not to use that word? Looks like you're close to the end, Zoro!" He licked himself the blood, that ran from his small wound, with his tongue.

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

~ Underwater ~

Only a few meters separated Sanji from the seabed and his stuck captain. "If I manage to break the block, she will be free again. Luffy, you're the only one who can finish him off now!" He could already see how Nami's sister tried to pull the black-haired woman's legs out of the block, without success.

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

~ Above water ~

"Those who have the power of a devil fruit loseall strength as soon as they land in the sea. She should already be dead.However, if she's still alive..." Arlong said, his expression darkening,"...then someone must have botched my little game."

 "Hey, are you okay? Thank God!" said Genzo whilelooking down on the black-haired woman's head. However, she didn't answer andwas taken aback. Genzo panicked a little and asked excitedly, "What? Whatis it?" Luffy was silent for a while before she answered him: "Hey,old man. Where is your windmill? It was so cool." "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? NOWIS NOT THE TIME FOR SUCH THING!" he shouted at her. Somehow his sudden changein mood reminded the black-haired woman of the orange-haired thief. Strange,why did so many people behave like this?

"Botched your game? I thought it was botchedfrom the start, bastard." "Anyway, I'll find out WHO is responsiblefor this. Get out of my way!" The grip on the swords in Zoro's hands becamestronger. Out of the corner of his eye, the fishman could see something comingtowards him. He raised his hand and the projectile burst against it. "TamagoBoshi!" It had been an ordinaryegg. Some of it had splattered on his face. He suddenly turned his head in thedirection it had come from. Zoro also turned his head. There in the hole in thewall that Sanji had created, he could see the black-haired shooter. "I'llback you up, Zoro!" said Usopp, "I'll fight without fear!" Thegreen-haired man just looked at him blankly. If he wanted to help him, heshouldn't hide behind the wall and come here! The black-haired man let his gazewander over what had happend and realized that he couldn't see Luffy anywhere.Where was she? "Hey, Usopp," Nami greeted him. Grinning, he looked ather and dropped his thought. "Imagine Nami! I just flattened one of those bigpuke mackerel chieftains myself!" He pulled his lips a little and pressed themtogether a little to imitate the archerfish's face. "Someone with a snout likethat." He released his lips again and laughed. "These scale heads are notopponents!" Arlong's eyes had narrowed. He couldn't believe what he had justheard. "What Choo? This can't be right!" How could Choo be defeated by such awimp from this species? The Long-nosed man looked at Arlong challengingly."That serves you right! Now Captain Usopp comes and makes delicious fresh fishsalad out of you! Now let's show you!" 

"Hey, can't you free yourself now?"Genzo asked after he had calmed down. "No, no chance! I have no strength at allat the moment." 

"Ah, it's Brother cook!" said Johnny, finally having the penny dropped, "I'm not sure what's going on underwater at the moment, but whatever Brother Koch is doing there is significant." "Brother Zorro stands at attention to stop Arlong!", Yosaku ripens. The puzzle slowly came together for the black-haired man. "I understand. Under no circumstances is Arlong allowed to go into the water, Zoro tries with all his might to prevent that. Then I'll distract Arlong a little." He opened his bag and took something out, no one noticed how Hachi began to stir again. He stood up and said as his eyes flickered to his captain and the swordsman, "No chance, you bastard!" The black-haired man called out to the fishman and began waving with his other hand. "Hey, Arlong! Look at me!" He did this, but so did the octopus lying on the ground. "Usopp Wagomu!" The object he had taken out of his pocket was a rubber band, he had put it over his thumb and was aiming it in the direction of the fishman. "You dare to stand in my way?" asked Arlong and had his eyes back on the swordsman. "Do you want to be the first to die, Roronoa Zoro?" "Watch out, I'll cover you, Zoro!" The Black-haired man let go of the rubber band and...it fell to the floor next to him. "Hey, you dud, what was that about?!" Nami shouted angrily. He made the big speech and now this! "I will not die! I'll break your ugly nose!" said Zoro before striking with one of the swords. But he devalues it with his nose without any problems. Arlong even had his eyes closed as he said condescendingly, "You wimp." He opened his eyes again. "What did you just say, you want to break my nose?" Sweat ran down the swordsman's face again. "If you weren't so badly injured, you might have managed to give it a bruise or a scratch." He turned his head to the side and pushed the sword away before he brought it down on Zoro. He managed to defend himself with the other two swords, but was pushed back while the fishman stepped forward. His chest rose and fell again and again under the strain as he found his footing again. Fishman and swordsman looked into each other's eyes for a while. Yosaku would have tear his hair out if he had any. Johnny's gaze shifted from what was happening to something behind the two opponents. He pointed at it and shouted: "Look over there!" His partner followed his gaze and was frightened. "Ah, the octopus has woken up again!" But there was something strange about him. On closer look, someone could see that he had closed his eyes, turned his head slightly away, raised his six arms in defense and was shaking slightly. "Huh, what is he doing?" He slowly opened one of his eyes and looked a little shocked before he started waving his arms around. "Damned! I thought the rubber band would get me!" "What?!?!" the villagers shouted. Was this supposed to be a joke? No, the fishman seemed serious. Usopp was no less shocked, but quickly caught himself as he broke into a sweat. "WHAT?! Hahahah. Of course I aimed at you!" "Didn't you shout 'Arlong' out loud?" Zoro looked at Hatchan out of the corner of his eye before growling: "Octopus." Hatchan looked at him angrily before shouting: "Roronoa Zoro! I won't let you get away with this! Just watch as I kill your buddy in the water!" With these words he ran to the water and jumped in. Zoro's eyes widened, that wasn't good. If the octopus got to Sanji before he managed to free Luffy, they would all be lost! "You don't need to be too frustrated. You will be dead yourself soon enough." His gray eyes immediately landed on the fishman, but it was already too late. In the moment of inattention, he had let his guard down, which Arlong shamelessly took advantage of. Before Zoro could even react, the fishman thrust his head forward and rammed his jagged nose into his body. A scream escaped his throat as it entered his already wounded body.

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

~ Underwater ~

Sanji had reached Luffy and Nojiko, who was still pulling on the black-haired woman's legs. She seemed to notice that someone was approaching her because she turned around and looked at the blonde. He nodded at her before pointing a thumb at himself. "Leave the rest to me!" Nojiko winked at him to show him that she understood. But then she saw it. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened. Behind the blonde, an angry Hatchan approached. "A fishman!" Sanji hadn't noticed him yet and motioned for her to get out of the way. "Move aside! I'll smash the block with one kick!" Nojiko did the same and swam towards it. Sanji paused and followed her with his gaze. She wanted to draw his attention to something. He froze when he saw Hatchan. "The octopus!" "Takoyaki Punch!" As he approached, he repeatedly struck with his six arms. Nojiko found herself between the cook and the fishman and spread her arms. She knew she had no chance, but if it bought the blonde some time she would sacrifice herself without regret. Sanji's eyes widened, as did his mouth, as he realized what Nami's sister was planning to do. "Whatch out!" Hatchan was barely a meter away when a fist shot straight at her. She closed her eyes, expecting the blow.

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

~ Above water ~

Arlong held Zoro in the air, grabbing him by the neck. Blood ran from his nose and mouth. The bandages on his chest were now more red than white. "Zoro!" Usopp shouted, trying to climb the wall. "Are finished already? How boring." Arlong said condescendingly as he looked up at him. As he did, his eyes landed on the bandage that was wrapped over the swordsman's entire chest. "By the way, what's under all those bandages?" He reached for them. Zoro's eyes widened in pain and he gritted his teeth. He would certainly not give the fishman any satisfaction and would show weakness! "Let's take a closer look at this." With these words he tear it from him. Zoro screamed and Arlong had to close his eyes as blood unexpectedly sprayed out of him. As soon as he saw the injury, his eyes widened. "Holy shit, what kind of wound is that?" Nami put her hand over her mouth in shock. Did Zoro get this injury during the fight? No, when she met him he was already wearing the bandage. Where did he get it from and more importantly, WHO or WHAT caused it? A small puddle began to form beneath the swordsman as more and more blood flowed from his wound and dripped down his shoes. "How can this guy still be alive with an injury like that? How can he even stand?" The fishman couldn't help but stare at the wound. Even someone like him would find it difficult to stand with such a wound. It was also difficult for him to overlook the amateurish work of sewing up the wound. Zoro managed to lower his head a little and stared at the fishman. "Why is he looking at me like that? Is that the face of a dying man?" He carelessly let the remains of the bandage fall next to him. "No doubt. He MUST die. I have to do it right away." A smile formed on the green-haired man's face as he gave a dry laugh and said, "Ha, should have just stayed still, then the wound wouldn't have opened and nothing would have happened." Arlong's eyes narrowed slightly. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you making fun of yourself?" Zoro had a grin on his face that sent a cold shiver down the spines of some of the observers. One could have mistaken it for the grin of a demon. "I wasn't talking about myself..." Arlong's own grin faded as he began to guess who the swordsman meant. "...but about Hatchan." "What?" "I told you. WE already won this game!"

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

~ Underwater ~

Hatchan suddenly froze in his tracks. He doubled over in pain. His wound suddenly hurt so terribly again. His back arched before blood spurted from his wound and he lost consciousness. Nojiko and Sanji didn't know what to think. But it seemed like luck was on there side. Sanji was the first to catch himself and swam back towards the problem. "Damned. That really scared me." He stood with one leg on the ground and the other raised before he kicked the stone block. The noise also snapped Nojiko out of her paralysis and turned back to them. The stone broke and she began to race towards the surface, first slowly and then faster and faster. "That was pretty careless of you, Luffy. You've complicated things by doing this!" "Yes!" "About time you got out of here and took down that shark!"

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

~ Above water ~

Suddenly the black-haired woman felt a pull andwas pulled down slightly. Genzo strained to keep her head from being pulledback under the water. He didn't know why, but suddenly the girl had becomeincredibly heavy. "Is it coming girl?" Genzo pressed out. "Yeah!!!!" She felther throat losing more and more tension. When her body shot out of the water,the momentum was so great that she was thrown into the air. Due to this suddenchange of direction, the police chief was no longer able to hold theblack-haired woman as she shot into the sky. She did a few somersaults beforeshouting at her highest point: "I'm back!!!" The villagers, the pirate huntersand their friends began to cheer. Usopp, who had finally made it onto the wall,fell back down. New hope began to shine in Nami's eyes. "Luffy!"Exhausted, Genzo watched the black-haired woman go before he fell onto hisback. "That rubber brat," growled the fishman. Zoro tilted his head back tolook at her before saying, "You're late, you idiot!" She had turnedin the air so that she was upside down and spotted her first mate. "Zoro!"Grinning broadly, she stretched her arms and grabbed the back of his shirt. Thegreen-haired man felt the grip and the slowly emerging pull that arose. Hiseyes narrowed slightly as he realized what the younger one was planning to do."Hey, stop it! You're not going to..." That wouldn't end well... for him!But the black-haired woman seemed to either not have heard him or not to beinterested in his protest. Laughing, she let her arms pull together again andripped the screaming green-haired man from the fishman's grasp. "Trade youplace!" she shouted before turning her upper body slightly and throwingthe swordsman in the direction she came from...roughly. The people at the wallcould be heard saying in unison: "YOU IDIOT!!!" She turned the right way aroundagain. "Gomu Gomu no Kane!"She hit her head right against the fishman's before her feet hit the ground.Arlong staggered back a little as Luffy was already swinging for the next blow."And further. Muchi!" He flewto the side while she spun around. As soon as her foot touched the ground againshe swung her fist. Her arm stretched almost to the gate, just as Arlong hadfound his footing again. "Gomu Gomuno Pistol!" Before he could react, her fist hit him in the stomach andhe was pushed back further. She took a few steps forward, punching again andagain until her fists were barely visible. "Gatling!" Her blows rained down on the fishman and knocked himthrough the wall of the building. He landed on his back and something from thewall fell onto him. "Well then!" she said happily. For starters, that wasn'tbad at all. The others looked speechless at her and the spot where Arlong haddisappeared. The pile of rubble moved and the fishman rose from it again. "Doyou really think something like that would work on me?" "Not even a singlescratch?!" the two bounty hunters shouted, tearing at each other's faces. Shelooked at him relaxed while cracking her knuckles. "Nope, that was justthe worm up." A small smile appeared on Nami's lips. Maybe she really underestimatedthe black-haired woman.

A little further from the wall, Zoro had pulledhimself onto the rocks, breathing heavily. "Luffy...will get that...backone day!" As he judged her, she hadn't thought that he could have hit therock. But somehow he would get back at her for it, that was for sure!

Meanwhile, Luffy began to stretch. "What's wrongwith you, you pathetic scum? I think you would be happier if you had sleptpeacefully at the bottom of the sea." He had his head bowed as he spoke."No, actually I'm pretty grateful that I was saved." Arlong lookedup. "Then you wouldn't have had to see how angry I am now. Seeing my men takendown by your lame friends. Soon you'll be wishing you'd died sooner." Sheignored the fishman as she continued to stretch. 

"Sister Luffy will be fine, right? I mean, herattacks haven't had any effect so far," Yosaku said a little nervously.Johnny turned to his friend and grabbed his arm before shouting: "What's moreimportant is where Brother Zorro ended up! Did any of you notice that?""Don't worry Luffy, I've got your back!" shouted Usopp, who had hisslingshot in his hand again. Nami looked at him sideways and said: "Idon't think that would help." In front of the wall, facing the sea, satSanji, Nojiko and Genzo. The blonde had put another cigarette between his lipsand was trying to light a match. He soon gave up and said without looking atthe older one: "If she loses, you'll all die, won't you?""That's what it looks like." "And the East Blue will be losttoo," Nojiko added . Zoro had now turned onto his back and closed hiseyes. His chest rose and fell evenly.

Arlong looked down at the black-haired woman infront of him as he asked, "Do you know what the difference is between youand me?" Luffy looked him up and down as she stretched her hands. "Thenose." After all, that was the most striking thing about him! No Answer. Shethought again as she got into a fighting stance. "The webbed feet?" "Is Anetrying to make jokes?" Yosaku asked no one in particular. "The size?""No, I think she's serious!" said Johnny. "I know! You havesomething between your legs and I don't!" she shouted, pointing with a fingerat the place mentioned. The other people looked at the black-haired woman insilence. Arlong, however, seemed to have lost his temper. A vein began to throbin his temple, he gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles in anger before heshouted, "It's our race!" Was this greenhorn trying to make fun ofhim? He leaned on her and bit down. But Luffy jumped to the side in time. Thiswasn't her first opponent with a deadly set of teeth and certainly wouldn't bethe last. She had just turned back to him when she had to back away to avoidthe next bite. He pushed her further and further back, only inches away fromcatching her, when he suddenly grabbed her by the throat and pushed her againstthe nearest pillar. Reflexively, she gripped her hands around his wrist whenshe felt the stone pillar at her back. Arlong got closer and closer with histeeth. She grabbed her head and pulled it to the side to avoid the bite. Theshark's teeth sank deep into the stone pillar. "That idiot bit the stone! Hiswalkers certainly didn't agree with that!" Usopp shouted happily. But thejoy caught in his throat when cracks began to appear in the pillar. The shockdeepened in his limbs as the pillar, as well as the canopy that had supportedit, collapsed with a crash. "He bit the pillar!" Luffy was able to quicklywriggle out of the fishman's grip when the pillar was no longer behind her anddived away from the fishman. "Ah, that's scary!" Her bite force was a jokecompared to his. Sanji's eyes widened in shock. "I don't think I'm seeing properly! What kind of guy is this? If hebites Luffy, there will be nothing left!" The fishman turned around laughing."Have you seen it now? That's the power that we fishman have by nature!"he said and slowly walked towards the young captain, "That's why youhumans can never hold a candle to us! We are already born as demigods. That'swhy WE are better than YOU." One of her brown eyes twitched suspiciously atthis comment. He almost sounded like one of THEM. One of those self-proclaimedgods of the world. She suppressed the anger and hatred that was slowly buildingup inside her. She couldn't afford to lose her head now! "You have the bad luckthat you have to live your life as miserable, useless characters from thestart. Shahahaha. Now you're about to see what's the real difference betweenthe two of us is!" Grinning, she stood up before saying provocatively: "Allright, you old show-off. Then show me why you open your ugly fish mouth sowide! I won't lose because I'm the one who becomes Pirate King!" "PirateKing?" Arlong picked up a small piece of stone and threw it into the air afew times as he spoke. "Don't make me laugh. Do you really believe that a humanlike you is capable of this? Can YOU bite through a pillar with your strength?"Luffy looked at him and smiled. "To bite through a massive stone pillar aseasily as he did... no one can do that," said Sanji and tensed himself,"Such a bite wouldn't just leave scars." A terrible image rose in hismind. Luffy, who was almost completely bitten through and gave a terriblescream before falling motionless to the ground. The blonde shook his head toclear the image before speaking again, "It would just go right through herand shatter her bones too!" The fishman looked down at her, laughing untilshe raised her voice. "So what? Don't try to show off like that..." Sheslammed her fist into the still standing remains of the pillar that stood nextto her and turned it into small stone. "...with things that don't matter!"Arlong's widened eyes barely noticeably. How could a human, a female at that,break a stone pillar like he could bite through it? And he wouldn't blame it onher devil fruit powers. He wasn't blind to see that it was her own strength."I can even break the pillar WITHOUT biting it." "Great said,Sister Luffy!" Yosaku shouted. Johnny joined in. "You showed him! In theend, the result is the same!" The fishman's eye began to twitch noticeablywhile the veins on his neck slowly stood out. He looked at her growling."You're so stupid! You can do whatever you want, you humans are still stupidand weak! What do you do if someone throws you into the water? YOU simpletoncan't even swim!" Without warning, he jumped at her again and bit. Theblack-haired woman crouched and reached with her stretched arms for two swordsthat were lying near two fishman. "But we have another advantage, fish face!"she said with a grin when the swords reached her. She stood up and approachedhis face. "We help each other!" Arlong took a few steps back as sheheld the swords in front of her and giggled. Nami, Usopp and Sanji looked ather in surprise. "Can she also fight with swords?" the blonde asked no one inparticular. The answer followed immediately. Arlong kept backing away while theblack-haired woman simply hit wildly. He didn't have a hard time dodging herblows. "Tell me, what's that supposed to mean? What silly nonsense. Are you planningon stabbing yourself?" Suddenly he blocked one of the swords with his nose. Itflew out of her hand and slammed into the ground behind the fishman. Nothingremained of the top. "I'm getting tired of your child games!"Growling, Luffy grabbed the hilt of the sword with her other hand beforestriking with full force. Arlong caught the blow with his teeth. This bladealso broke after the fishman bit. "How boring," he said with a grin, fragmentsof the sword still visible in his mouth. "Then eat this!" Luffy shouted,swinging her fist, "Now we have fish tooth crumbs!" Her punch hit him directlyin the chin and sent him crashing to the ground. Arlong suppressed a groan. Histeeth hurt like hell. Suddenly they shattered, leaving nothing but uselessstumps behind. A murmur went through the villagers. They never thought thatsomeone would be able to destroy the fish man's teeth. He covered his mouth,growling. It had been a long time since he had broken a tooth, but his entireset?! "Of course I don't know how to use a sword, you fish skin!"Luffy shouted, a little upset. "Huh, what is she talking about?" Usopp wonderedout loud. "I don't even know how to navigate, I can't cook. I can't even lie.""Hey, hey!" Usopp shouted. Somehow he had the feeling that it hadmeant him. "I just want to say that I'M LOST WITHOUT MY FRIENDS!""Shahaha, I'm starting to get the impression too." He sat up again."When I hear you talk like that it just shows there's nothing but incompetencebehind your big mouth. Your poor crew. Having such a idiot as a captain almosthas to hurt. I really wonder why your friends tried so hard to save you." Hiseyes met hers. "Actually, they should be happy to get rid of you rubber head.You're not worthy of being a pirate captain! I ask myself: What can YOUactually do?!" He stood up and looked down at the black-haired woman. "I canbeat you!" "Yes, you have to," said Sanji. Zoro had opened his eyes again, hisheadscarf was tied around his upper arm again, when he heard this and said:"Take it easy! If you die, I'll finish you off!" "I'll give you fullcover," said Usopp, grinning. Nami, on the other hand, just smiled.

Behind her, people started cheering her on, butshe didn't pay attention to their words. Her attention is entirely on Arlong."Now shut up you wretched primates!" shouted the fishman as his set of teethfell out and new ones spurted out of his gums. "Huh? His teeth have grownback!" Even if she didn't want to admit it. THE. WAS. SO COOL!!! "You'd beamazed. My shark tusks keep growing back! And they get sharper and sharperevery time." He reached into his mouth with one hand and pulled the new set ofteeth out without any damage. Seconds later a new set of teeth had grown afterhe said: "They keep growing!" He reached into his mouth with his other hand."And as often as I want!" He also ripped out these teeth before they grew back."That's one of the special abilities that heaven gave us fishman." Henow held a set of teeth in each hand and stretched his arms out in front of himas he said smugly: "Have you finally understood that we are totallysuperior to you? In every aspect!" He began to bang his teeth together likecastanets. "Tooth Gum!"Confused, Luffy looked at him when Arlong suddenly shot forward with one arm andbit down with the teeth in his hand. At the last moment she managed to dodge asthe fishman was about to strike again. She kept backing away. Arlong's lastattack had missed her vest just below the armpit. "Hey, stop that!"she said as she hit something with her foot. She almost lost her balance andinstinctively grabbed the fishman's arm. He didn't miss this opportunity andshot at her with his other hand. Her eyes widen as the teeth come crashing downon her. Without thinking, she grabbed the thing that had almost made her loseher balance and held it protectively in front of her. Laughing, the fishman bitagain and again and didn't notice that it wasn't the rubber woman. The force ofthese attacks was so great that the black-haired woman began to scream. Thosewho couldn't see this properly, like Sanji, believed that the fishman was aboutto end her. He only stopped when a weak voice said: "A-Arlong...ithurts..." The shark man's eyes widened in shock when he saw WHO he hadattacked. "M-my comrade!" Luffy carefully let the fishman slide backto the ground while Arlong was still in shock. She straightened up and didn'ttake her eyes off him for a second. Her heart was still pounding in her chest.If the guy hadn't been lying there, it would have been the end of her. "Damnyou, you rubber bastard!" Anger was clearly audible in his voice. "How dare youuse my comrade as a shield?!" "What are you talking about? You're the one whoattacked him." Relief spread among her friends. Usopp even wiped hisforehead with his arm as he said, "You gave me a real scare."

"Hold still, rubber doll!" said Arlong as hebegan to bang the bits together in his hands. He held one over his head and theother at his side. The woman's brown eyes rested on a pair of teeth as a mischievoussmile spread across her face and she held a hand under her chin. "I just have apretty brilliant idea." "An idea?" Johnny wondered, before Yosaku continued thethought, "What could it be?" "Does she have some kind of special attack?" thechef asked himself. "Tooth Gum!"Again Luffy dodged Arlong's attack and became more and more acrobatic. Suddenlyshe stomped one foot on the ground beneath her, before turning with a screamand kicking the fishman in the side of the face with her other leg. Groaning,he landed on his back again and his newest set of teeth flew out of his mouth,but this time intact. She looked up and grinned as she said, "Great, theycame out!" Toothless sat up again, blood running down the corner of hismouth as he spoke. "You rubber brain. When will you understand that my tusksare indestructible?" He wiped the blood away and said with his new teeth:"It's not that hard to understand!" However, neither he nor the restof the people knew what to say at the sight that greeted them. Luffy had taken theshark's teeth and put it in her mouth. She stood there with her mouth wide openand pointed at her new fangs. "Nah, look! Now I have such fancy biters too!"Silence fell over the battlefield. The two bounty hunters' mouths widened."I-it wasn't a special attack?!" "I thought she would dosomething stupid like that," the swordsman grumbled. Slowly nothing abouthis captain surprised him anymore. Arlong's anger rose again. Was this dwarftrying to make fun of him?! "Tell me, are you making fun of me?!" he thundered.Never in his entire life had anyone dared to show him off like that!"That's enough!" This time, however, Luffy wasn't quick enough. Shewas hit in the side and fell to the ground. She held her wound and rolled aroundon the ground, screaming, "Ah! I was bitten by a shark!" "That's just becauseyou were fooling around!" she heard the voices of the two bounty huntersshouting. She stopped rolling around and looked in their direction. "What doesfooling around mean here? I'm dead serious!" "Tooth Gum!" At the last moment, she rolled backwards beforeusing her arms to support herself and springing back to her feet as Arlong'sattack slammed into the ground. It left a crater where it hit. She dodged hisattacks again and again until she grabbed a piece of rubble and held it infront of her face before Arlong struck there and she fell to the ground. Shequickly pushed herself off with one hand and flew towards the wall, with thefishman close behind her. He laughed as he dug the bit into her side and shescreamed. She had almost forgotten how painful a predator's bite hurt. But thatonly suited her plan. She shot forward and bit the fishman with full force inthe shoulder and the gills there. He tore her away from where he had caught herand held his shoulder, which now contained his own teeth. He wouldn't admit it,but her bite was a lot stronger than that of a "normal" human, butstill nothing compared to his own! Still, he pinched quite a bit. Luffy heldher own side where the bit was stuck as she stood up. She turned slightly tohim with a wide grin as she said, "Nah, how do you like your own teeth?Shahahaha!" Maybe it was a little exaggerated of her to imitate his laughter,but it helped a little with the pain. "It may be my teeth, but your jaws arefar too weak!" he growled and tore them out of his shoulder. He ignored theblood that was slowly pouring out of his wound. "Now listen to me carefully!Sharks tear off both flesh and entire limbs from their prey. This is the truepower of a shark!" He lunged forward, his mouth wide open. Instinctively, shejerked her bent arm up before Arlong bit. Her scream drowned out the worriedcries of her friends. The fishman increased the pressure of his bite, causingthe black-haired woman to groan. The veins in her arm stood out with tension.She could feel her bones beginning to crunch. Not much longer and they would bethrough. It wasn't the first time an animal had bitten her and she knew exactlyhow to get him to open his mouth! Luffy gritted her teeth and widened her eyesbefore grabbing the fishman's neck with her other hand. He looked at the arm insurprise. What was the brat planning to do now? She began leaning towards hergood arm, pulling Arlong towards her before stomping her foot and slamming thefishman into the ground. His head hit the ground, causing his mouth to openwide. Luffy let herself fall forward, over the man lying on the ground, andlanded on her back on the ground, breathing heavily. "Is the arm stillattached?" the black-haired man asked anxiously as he carefully looked throughthe hole again into the courtyard of Arlong Park. "She was one step awayfrom losing her arm," Genzo said, a mix of shock and relief in his voice."I can't even imagine what it feels like to be bitten by thatmonster," Sanji said. But from the sound of it, it must have been verypainful.

The fishman sat back up and rubbed the back of his head. Nobody dared to make a sound. He put his hand in front of his face and his eyes darkened. Luffy knelt on the ground as she reached for the bit with her hands and pulled it out of her side. As she did so, she gasped sharply in pain. Sweat ran down her entire body. The black-haired woman raised her head and looked around in confusion. Where had the shark disappeared to? She hadn't heard anything or was it because the blood was pounding in her ears? "Huh, where did he go?" She stood back up and held her wound. "Luffy, in the water!" Nami called to her. She turned to the basin and looked inside. "In the water?" Her gaze wandered over the surface and stopped on an approaching dorsal fin. "Oh, a shark!" she cried. If she could catch it, maybe Sanji would make something tasty out of it? "It's Arlong, stupid!" Usopp shouted. Wasn't that obvious? Suddenly the fin disappeared into the water. "Huh? He disappeared." Why did he do that? She looked at the blonde when she heard his voice, "That's bad. They get even stronger in the water!" Ah, so that's it. So he wanted to get a little power up! She squinted her eyes, trying to see something.

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

~ Underwater ~ 

Arlong let himself sink further and further into the depths, not taking his eyes off the rubber girl. "No one can beat my speed underwater. That's the special quality that only we fishman have." He had reached the bottom. "Shark on Darts!" He shot back towards the surface.

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

~ Above water ~

Her eyes widened as she saw the fishman dartingtowards her. She tried to dodge, but she was still hit. The black-haired womanscreamed as she flew through the air and hit the ground face first. Dustswirled in the suddenly formed hole on the first floor. Usopp's mouth hung wideopen as he said, "Whas that...?!" "...a torpedo?" Sanji asked."Something came out of the water!" Luffy breathed in a hiss as sheheld her new wound on her stomach and curled up. The dust settled and noneother than Arlong stood in the hole as he said with false recognition, "Oh? Youdodged pretty well." She looked up at him over her shoulder and gritted herteeth. "But you won't be able to avoid the next one. It will send you straightto hell!" Her eyes landed on his nose and a new idea began to form in her mind."Shark on Darts!" She rolledbackwards and dodged the shark. He followed her with his eyes while his nosewas stuck in the ground, his whole body was tense. The ground cracked and thepieces of stone disappeared into the water. The frightened expression on herface did not go unnoticed by the fishman before he disappeared once againbehind a cloud of dust. "What is this shark freak made of?" Sanji said, "Heeven split the ground!" "Shark on Darts!"At the last moment, Luffy managed to throw herself forward. She had her headtucked between her arms. Part of her vest had a harder time. She didn't evenhave time to stand up before Arlong flew towards her again. This time near theground. The black-haired woman screamed again as she flew through the air. Shelanded roughly on the ground as Arlong disappeared back into the water.

She scrambled to her feet when Usopp's voice rang out: "Luffy, you have to hide! Arlong has dived into the water again!" Hide? "Ane, hurry up and hide!" Yosaku shouted. "He'll attack again!" Johnny also shouted. "Run away!!!" the long-nosed man shouted again. Hide? Run away? She couldn't do that! If she did that, not only would it hurt her pride, no, she would be admitting that this shark was stronger than her! Then she would have already lost the fight. What had Ace said back in the flames of the Gray Terminal? "'I won't run away!'" Right! And she wouldn't do this either! Be it because she was stubborn by nature or because she had learned it from Garp and Ace. She gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palm. "No." It was just one word, but her determination could be clearly be heared in it. "What are you saying Luffy, do you want to be impaled?!" Sanji also intervened. "No!" Her gaze was focused on the water in front of her. "I'm going to break his nose!" She took a deep breath and shouted, "Come on, Sharky!" She was ready.

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

~ Underwater ~

When Arlong heard this he laughed. "Shahaha! Man, you have nerves! You laughing stock! When will you finally realize that you have no chance?!"

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

~ Above water ~

"What part of 'Hide!' didn't you understand, Luffy?!" Usopp shouted angrily. Why couldn't she listen for once? "So far it was just pure luck and you barely managed to avoid it! But if he catches you this time, then you're dead!" She ignored his protest and grabbed her fingers. At that time it was just a childish idea of hers that her brothers didn't take seriously. Now she could see whether it was a stupid idea or if it was useful. "Gomu Gomu no..." She pulled on her fingers and held them to her chest. "...Tate!" She ignored the comments from the two bounty hunters and stared stubbornly at the water. If she didn't fully concentrate on the matter now, it would definitely be the end of her!

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

~ Underwater ~

"This time I'm coming at double speed. I'll pierce right through your heart! Shark on Darts!"

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

~ Above water ~

She could see his shadow in the water before he shot towards her. She was pushed back slightly as she groaned from the impact. To the others, it looked like she had been hit by the fishman. But appearances were deceptive. She lifted her head and grinned cheekily at Arlong. Her fingers were stretched all over his face. She pushed herself away from him, altering his trajectory, before grabbing onto the wall of the second floor where "Arlong Park" was written in capital letters. "What? Is she dead?" the gunner shouted in panic. "No, she got away!" the cook reassured him. Grinning, Luffy looked over her shoulder at the shark man. "I blocked your little trick. I assume you can't use it anymore!" "Shark on Darts!" She lost her footing when the fish man suddenly shot through the ground beneath her. She saw him holding on to the roof of the floor above with one hand and looking at her. "You donkey, haven't you finally had enough?!" she shouted at him as she slowly approached the ground. "This is the end of you!" He swung so that his feet touched the roof before he shot towards her. "You can forget that!" She put her hands behind her head and laced her fingers together. "Gomu Gomu no Ami!" She jerked her arms forward and her fingers stretched, slowly revealing stitches. She leaned back a little more. Arlong flew over Luffy and landed in her net. "I got a fish in my net!" Her net had the effect that the fish man lost his speed. She looked down at him from above as he spun in the air to face her. The black-haired woman's fingers tightened again. As soon as this was done, she pressed the soles of her sandals together, bent her arms and began to spin. "And now." Arlong looked at her. What was the brat planning to do now? "Yari!" Her feet hit him square in the chest and slammed him into the ground. Her legs tightened again as she got closer and closer to the ground. Cheers erupted, but Luff looked skeptically at her opponent. His eyes were closed and he didn't move. "Is he dead?" Suddenly his eyes opened, his pupils had contracted to slits. This look reminded her of the giant sea serpent that lived off the coast of Dawn. "Arlong's eyes have changed!" Genzo shouted. Nojiko, who was sitting behind him, gasped in shock. "People who have been attacked by a sea king have reported that this also happened to their eyes. They have changed and gone crazy!" said Sanji tensely. It certainly wasn't good that the fish face was now looking at Luffy like that. "I've never seen Arlong look like that before!" said Nami. Her heart was pounding in her chest with fear. Was this perhaps the thing that the other fishmen had mentioned from time to time, that she never would want to see Arlong going mad? He got back on his feet as he grabbed Luffy by the hair and threw her around while shouting: "You lowly primate! You hurt me!" Her body stretched longer and longer as she was turned in circles again and again. "ME a fishman! How dare you?!" He let go of her and smashed her into a pile of rubble. She sat up, pieces of debris falling from her body, as she said: "That really scared me. I don't think he's hurt, but he's really angry." Arlong lunged at her. The black-haired woman jumped up and grabbed the edge of the destroyed canopy before Arlong's hand dug into the building. He pulled his hand in and seemed to be reaching for something. Luffy had made her way to the next floor. He pulled his hand out and out came a large, spiked sword, actually it looked more like an oversized saw than a sword. "What is that again?" "The saw sword, Kiribachi!" Nami shouted in horror. Arlong swung his sword and jumped into the air. Before he could strike, Luffy jumped up, grabbed the edge of the next roof and swung herself onto it. As soon as she stood, Arlong came again. This game of cat and mouse continued until they reached the top floor of the pagoda-like building. She had her back against the wall when Arlong threw the next slash. She saw a window in the corner of her eye. She put her head between her arms and jumped through the window pane first. At the same moment the fishman struck. "She fled inside," Sanji said. Shocked and worried, everyone looked at the window where the two opponents had disappeared, except Nami. She froze and couldn't hear any more sounds. "The left window on the top floor." "This room is..."

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

~ Inside ~

"Damn, that was pretty close!" saidLuffy and looked at the window through which she came in. Her breathing wasrapid. The broken glass on the floor crunched as Arlong stepped through thewindow and said, "Now you have no way of escaping. This is the top floorof Arlong Park. It looks like your last hour has come." It was only then thatthe black-haired woman noticed that there were lots of papers stacked in theroom, hanging on a string, rolled up in barrels or simply spread out on thefloor. Behind her and on the wall to her right there were also some shelveswith books or something like that. "What kind of room is this? It's full ofpaper." "These aren't just any papers! This is the map room. The roomwhere the girl draws her maps." "Nami's room?" "All ofthese are nautical maps that Nami has drawn for me over the past eight years.It's impressive isn't it? Her eight years of work is my treasure. We know thesea like the back of our hands, but we have a hard time drawing maps. Thereforewe need a skilled cartographer. Then I found this girl, with her talented eye!The girl is a genius. Nowhere could you find someone who could draw moreaccurately. She's too good to work for you humans!" As he spoke, Luffy'seyes wandered to the drawing table that was under the other window. She couldsee a map, various pens, a circle, a compass, a quill, ink bottles and manyother things that she couldn't recognize or knew. "Her talent will be availableto us fishman forever!" He held the end of Kiribachi in her face. "Nami is ourFRIEND." "Friend?" "Yeah, get it finally and leave us alone! You rubber kasper."Her eyebrows furrowed. "Well, are you finally giving up now?!" "Definitely not.Because Nami is..." Arlong raised an eyebrow as he looked into her staring eyes."...she is OUR NAVIGATOR!" Arlong had lowered his sword a littlebefore he started to giggle and said: "So Nami is supposed to be thenavigator on your rubble yawl? Well, that would really be a poor waste of herunique talent. Look around! How many people in the world do you think can drawa nautical map as perfectly as Nami can? Yes, OUR little friend is really agenius." After he said this, the quill fell off the table and rolled towardsher before finally coming to rest in front of her. She looked down at it. Shecould see that it had probably once been silver and the feather itself was snowwhite. But the keel was covered with something that had robbed it of its formerglory. Arlong didn't seem to have noticed this, or that she was no longerlooking at him but at the quill. "It would be a shame for such a fantasticability to go to waste. Check out these maps! They are true masterpieces! Namiis lucky that I gave her this chance." Luffy had taken the writing utensilin her hand and was looking at it closely. Her head was bowed and one of herhands was resting on her knee. She had already guessed what the red stuff on itwas. "This quill is covered in blood." Her voice had become serious and calm.But he didn't seem to notice this change in his torrent of speech either. "Namihas to draw maps of all the oceans in the world. I'm waiting for the day whenthe work is finished." He lifted Kiribachi again, the black-haired woman'shead was in the gap between two spikes. Her eyes were still fixed on the quillin her hand. "Then no one can challenge us for world domination anymore becausewe know everything about it! With these nautical maps, we fishman are betterequipped than anyone else! And the whole world becomes MY empire! And thestarting point for my plan is this island here and the whole East Blue!" Luffywas silent. The more the jagged nose rambled, the greater her dislike for himbecame. But the next words the fishman said were the last straw for theblack-haired woman. "What better usecould you have for her than me?" When she heard that word, her grip tightenedaround her quill before she loosened it again and placed the utensil gently onthe floor in front of her. "You'll regretsaying those words, you stupid land shark!"

She still hadn't raised her head when she raisedthe hand in which she had previously held the quill and grabbed the edge of theserration that was in front of her face. Arlong grinned as he moved Kiribachito end the rubber girl's life. But this disappeared when he noticed that hissword didn't move a millimeter. "What?Why can't I move Kiribachi?" Luffy's grip became stronger, she grittedher teeth until...the point of the sword broke into many small pieces. "What?!"Arlong said in surprise. Had the brat stopped his sword from moving using sheerforce? On top of that, she managed to break one of the spikes using just hergrip! Finally the black haired woman raised her head. Arlong almost took a stepback when he saw her face. It was twisted into an angry mask and her brown eyeswere glaring at him. He almost believed that her gaze was trying to bore intohis soul and set it on fire. A feeling slowly rose within him. Something hehadn't feel since his childhood...fear. But that was ridiculous! HE was afishman, SHE was a lower primate who ate a devil fruit. If anyone should feelfear, it was HER! As quickly as the feeling arose in him, he began to suppressit again. Her voice trembled with anger as she said, "Use her?!"Before the fishman knew it, there were only three prongs left of his Kiribachi,the tip lying broken along with the rest on the ground. She was still sittingcross-legged on the floor; she hadn't moved an inch. "What do you thinkshe is?!" Her blood boiled and it didn't help that Arlong startedlaughing. "Inferior race, but a clever woman. If the rest of the humans wererats, then she would be a smart cat. Here she gets food, a roof over her headand we buy her all the clothes she wants. As long as she's alive, there'snothing she has to worry about, as long as she continues to diligently drawnautical maps for me." His grin grew wider before he said the next words."She will remain my tool forever!No, my comrade. Shahahaha!"

Luffy got up from the floor and walked straight towards the drawing table before kicking it. Arlong immediately stopped his burst of laughter and paused. The table crashed through the wall and disappeared from view. But she didn't stop. Next she kicked one of the bookshelves, which instantly broke before flying through the wall along with the books and falling towards the floor. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the shark man shouted as he broke out of his stupor. She didn't answer but kicked the nearest piece of furniture, which flew through the wall, before stepping back and ripping the door off its hinges. "Stop right now!" Arlong grabbed the remains of Kiribachi with both hands and slashed with it. She jumped into the air and dodged the blades. Instead, he hit one of the smaller stacks of papers that had been behind her, splitting them neatly in half. Arlong paused as he saw the destroyed maps spread across the floor. "The maps!" Luffy landed back on the floor, immediately kicking one of the larger stacks and sending them through the wall before the maps were blown away by the wind. "My nautical maps!" In rage, the fishman grabbed her by the neck, slammed her against the nearest wall and held her there. "Bastard! It took her EIGHT years to draw these! And you just destroy them! Together with my dream!" He began to squeeze slowly. Ignoring the slowly dwindling oxygen supply, she hit the already damaged wall with a scream. Before the black-haired woman could react, Arlong had released his grip on her neck only to grab her by the head and pull her to the side, his other hand clawing at the wound inflicted on her side before sinking his teeth into her neck, and a Part of her shoulder. He stared at her from the side in anger. Luffy gasped in pain but suppressed any scream. She had been bitten frequently when she was younger, but never in this area. The pain was incomparable to anything. She wanted to move her arms but they wouldn't obey her. "Now you've finally gone too far!" Blood flowed from her new wound. She had to do something, do anything, so that he would let go. Gathering all her strength, she raised her hands and grabbed the fishman's nose. It was strange holding her arms behind her head and grasping without really being able to see anything. "Grrr. I don't give a damn about your fishman nonsense!" She tried to push his mouth away from her neck, but he resisted. "And I don't give a damn what these maps mean to you! I don't give a damn about all this chatter! The only thing I know is how I can help Nami!" She pushed or pulled away. A crack could be heard in the room as she tilted Arlong's nose to the side. In pain, he released his bite, staggered back a little, clutched his broken nose, and fell to the ground. She turned to him, her gaze fixed and merciless. "This room makes Nami completely unhappy. Only if I destroy it can she be happy again. And THAT's exactly what I'm going to do now!" He straightened up again and looked at her angrily. "Gomu Gomu no..." She kicked her foot through the ceiling, destroying the top of the building as her leg continued to stretch. "Now don't get too carried away!" Arlong said as he stood back on his feet and scowled at her, "You know full well that a lowly existence like YOU can't destroy Arlong Park!" As he said this, he adjusted his straightened a bent nose. Luffy looked at him in shock. If he attacked her now, she wouldn't be able to dodge! "Shark on..." He opened his mouth and began to spin incredibly quickly before shooting towards her. "...Tooth!" Her eyes widened as he got closer and closer. "...Ono!" As soon as these words left her mouth he hit her. Blood spurted as the shark man bit. At the same time, her leg contracted again and she kicked Arlong directly in the back. He crashed into the ground and spat out blood. Cracks began to form before the ground gave way and he crashed into the ground of the lower floor. But Luffy's kick was stronger. He crashed through one floor after another until he reached the ground floor. Her leg tightened again as she heard something heavy break outside. Before she could take a step, however, the building began to shake. That couldn't be good.

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

~ Outside ~

The mouths of those outside had widened in shockas they heard a loud rumble from inside the building, just before a huge cloudof dust shot out of the ground floor. "Look! The whole Arlon Park collapses dueto the shock!" shouted the doctor. Cracks began to appear throughout thebuilding before the first walls began to collapse. The bystander hurriedly ranto safety, but Nami remained standing where she stood. Johnny grabbed theorange-haired woman's arm and said before pulling her along: "Come on, wehave to get out of here quickly!" "But Luffy is still in there!""Nami!" "But Luffy...Luffy is still...!" The building beganto collapse. "LUFFY!", her scream was overshadowed by the noise of thebuilding.           

Dust swirled meters high into the air as the villagers, the bounty hunters, Nami and Usopp watched from a safe distance. Sanji, Nojiko and Genzo had taken refuge in the water to escape the rubble and Zoro was dozing peacefully on the stones beyond the wall. "Luffy." Nami looked worriedly at the cloud of dust. Was she okay? Was she seriously injured or trapped somewhere? Or maybe was she even...? She shook her head. No, she couldn't even think about something like that! Gasping for air, the three broke the surface of the water. Sanji opened his eyes, the cloud of dust had enveloped the entire Arlong Park, obscuring his vision. "Luffy." The shock dislodged a stone from the outer wall that hit Zoro right on his head, breaking and waking him up. He sat up and held his forehead. "Ouch, what's going on now? What's all this noise?" He took his hand from his forehead and looked at the sky. The dark clouds that had been darkening the sky for some time were slowly beginning to clear. There were many worried eyes on the remains of the building as the dust settled. "Arlong Park is completely destroyed," said the village doctor, who was the first to stir again. "Ane..." "What happened inside?" Yosaku asked loudly. "Who won?" Sanji asked. He really hoped it was Luffy. "It all happened so quickly," Genzo murmured, "Could she...?" "Luffy..." breathed Usopp. He hoped she wasn't hurt too much. Nobody dared to make a peep. Suddenly something or someone burst out from the rubble of the largest pile. It was Luffy. A wave of relief and joy ran through her friends. She had her head bowed slightly and was breathing heavily. Except for the rise and fall of her chest and shoulders, she stood as if petrified. "Is she okay?" the long nosed man wondered worriedly. The black-haired woman took a deep breath before shouting: "NAMI!!" She trembled slightly before raising her voice again. "YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MY FRIEND!" Nami didn't know what to say. Tears began to gather in her eyes before she smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes." It was just a whiff, but the black-haired woman could hear it clearly.