Conchcorde Plaza was a bowl of noise and terror. The white stone tiles, usually pristine, were scuffed by the boots of thousands of New Fishman Pirates. They surrounded the center stage like a swarm of angry wasps, their weapons drawn and their eyes manic with the drug-induced high of Energy Steroids.
In the center of the plaza, suspended over the crowd by heavy chains, hung King Neptune. The great coelacanth merman, once the symbol of strength for the island, looked old and defeated. His scales were dull, and blood dripped slowly from a wound on his forehead.
Beneath him, in a cage made of reinforced steel, sat Zoro, Usopp, and Brook.
Zoro was sitting cross-legged, his eye closed, appearing to be asleep. Usopp was trembling, clutching his slingshot, while Brook was sipping tea he had somehow produced from his afro.
"Yohoho," Brook chuckled, the sound barely audible over the jeering crowd. "This is quite a predicament. The atmosphere is so heavy I can feel it in my bones. Although, I am all bones."
"Stop joking!" Usopp hissed, looking at the army surrounding them. "Look at them! There are thousands! And those sea monsters! How did we let ourselves get caught?"
"We didn't let ourselves get caught," Zoro muttered without opening his eye. "We got drunk. And then we woke up here. It is embarrassing."
"The wine was drugged," Sanji would have said if he were there, but he wasn't.
High above them, standing on a podium made of coral, Hody Jones raised his hands. The crowd fell silent.
"Look at your King!" Hody shouted, his voice amplified by a Transponder Snail. "Look at the old fool who wanted to hold hands with humans! He is weak! He let humans walk all over us! He let them kidnap our women and sell our children!"
The citizens of Fishman Island, herded into the plaza's viewing stands, watched in horror. They wanted to scream, to protest, but the New Fishman Pirates pointed guns at them.
"Today," Hody declared, grabbing a handful of Energy Steroids and crunching them like candy. "We end the era of peace. We start the era of vengeance! I will be your new King! And my first act will be to execute Neptune!"
"Father!"
A scream pierced the air from the sky.
Three figures descended rapidly from the coral highways above. Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi charged into the plaza, their weapons ready.
"Hody!" Fukaboshi roared, thrusting his trident. "Release our father!"
"The Princes!" The citizens cheered. "They are here to save us!"
Hody didn't even flinch. He just smiled, revealing his rows of jagged teeth.
"You are late," Hody said.
He snapped his fingers.
From the shadows of the plaza, his top officers emerged. Dosun, the hammerhead shark; Zeo, the wobbegong; Daruma, the cookie-cutter shark; and Ikaros Much, the giant squid. They were all jacked up on steroids, their muscles bulging unnaturally.
"Kill them," Hody ordered.
The battle was brutal and short. The Princes fought bravely, but they were outnumbered and overpowered by the steroid-enhanced officers. Within minutes, all three princes lay defeated on the stone floor, bleeding and broken at the feet of Hody Jones.
The hope in the plaza died. The citizens wept openly.
"Is there no one?" a fishman woman cried out. "Is there no one who can save us?"
"No one!" Hody laughed. "Your heroes are dead! Your King is about to die! And the humans?"
He pointed at the cage.
"These pirates are nothing but trash! I will execute them right after the King!"
Suddenly, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the plaza.
"It is Jinbe!" someone shouted.
The crowd parted. Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea, walked into the plaza. But he was not fighting. He was in chains.
Behind him, holding the chains, was a massive, goofy-looking decoy of Hody Jones. But no, it was just a disguise. It was Nami and Robin holding the chains, disguised poorly as New Fishman Pirates? No, that was not right.
Wait. The plan had changed.
Jinbe walked in alone, his hands bound.
"Hody," Jinbe said, his voice calm. "Stop this madness."
"Jinbe," Hody sneered. "The traitor. The Warlord who served humans. You came to surrender?"
"I came to ask you to spare the island," Jinbe said, dropping to his knees.
Hody laughed maniacally. "Spare it? I am saving it! Capture him!"
The pirates swarmed Jinbe, tying him to a pillar next to the King.
"Now I have everyone," Hody gloated. "The King. The Princes. The Traitor. And the Human Pirates. This is perfect!"
He raised his sword, preparing to decapitate King Neptune.
"Any last words, Neptune?" Hody asked.
Neptune looked at his sons. He looked at his people. Tears welled in his eyes. "I am sorry. I could not protect you."
The blade began to fall.
"PLEASE!"
A voice, loud and desperate, echoed across the entire island.
Everyone froze. They looked up.
Floating above the plaza was a massive pink mermaid. Shirahoshi. She had left the safety of the hard shell tower. She had come to the dangerous surface.
"Shirahoshi!" Neptune cried. "Run away! He will kill you!"
"I don't care!" Shirahoshi screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Please! Someone! Save my father!"
She closed her eyes and shouted the name she trusted most.
"LUFFY-SAMA!"
CRACK.
The sound of something breaking echoed from the stomach of Megalo, the shark pet of the Princess, who had been floating silently behind her.
Megalo's mouth opened wide.
"You called?"
A blur of red and black shot out of the shark's mouth. It moved so fast that Hody didn't even register it.
BANG.
Luffy's foot, coated in Armament Haki, slammed into Hody's chest.
The impact was cataclysmic. Hody Jones, the steroid-pumped monster, folded in half. He was launched backward like a ragdoll, smashing through three stone pillars and crashing into the wall of the plaza, burying himself in the rubble.
Luffy landed on the execution platform. He stood in front of King Neptune, his cape fluttering in the wind.
"Yo, King," Luffy said, grinning. "Sorry we are late. Traffic was bad."
"Luffy-kun!" Neptune gasped.
"Shishishi!"
Suddenly, the Thousand Sunny burst from the sky above, coated in a fresh bubble. It sailed through the air, driven by the Gaon Cannon's recoil.
"Super Landing!" Franky shouted from the helm.
The ship crashed into the center of the plaza, crushing a hundred pirates beneath its keel.
Sanji and Chopper leaped from the deck.
"Nami-swan! Robin-chwan! I am here to protect you!" Sanji kicked a pirate in the face, spinning like a top.
"I am not scared!" Chopper transformed into Kung Fu Point. "Hoooo-cha!"
Zoro, inside the cage, opened his eye. He smiled.
"Finally."
He drew his swords.
Slash.
The steel bars of the cage, reinforced to hold sea kings, were sliced like butter. Zoro stepped out, stretching his neck.
"That nap was too long," Zoro grunted.
Usopp and Brook stepped out behind him. Usopp pulled out his Black Kabuto.
"I... I have a new technique!" Usopp stuttered, then stood tall. "Behold! The brave warrior of the sea is free!"
Hody pulled himself out of the rubble, coughing up blood. He looked at the scene in disbelief. His army was confused. His prisoners were free. And standing in the center of it all was a small human with a straw hat.
"Straw Hat..." Hody growled. "You think you can stop us? We are 100,000 strong! You are just ten humans!"
Luffy looked around. He saw the sheer number of enemies. They covered every inch of the plaza and the surrounding cliffs. 100,000 fishmen, all armed, all angry.
"100,000, huh?" Luffy asked.
He took a step forward.
"Luffy," Sanji lit a cigarette. "Do you want us to handle the fodder?"
"No," Luffy said. "I'm in a hurry."
He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.
He let his will expand. He felt every single presence in the plaza. He felt their anger. He felt their malice. And he pushed back.
Haoshoku Haki.
It wasn't a wave. It was a dome of dominance.
The air turned purple. The ground cracked.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It sounded like rain. The sound of bodies hitting the floor.
Ten thousand. Twenty thousand. Fifty thousand.
The pirates' eyes rolled back. Foam spilled from their mouths. They collapsed in heaps, their weapons clattering to the stone.
Hody watched in horror as his army vanished before his eyes.
Seventy thousand. Ninety thousand.
The wave stopped.
Out of the 100,000 pirates, only the officers and a few elites remained standing. Maybe five hundred in total.
The citizens watched in stunned silence. They had never seen power like this.
Luffy opened his eyes. He looked at Hody.
"Now it's a fair fight," Luffy said.
He turned to his crew.
"Zoro. Sanji. Franky. Jinbe. Take the commanders."
"Roger!" The crew shouted in unison.
"What about you, Captain?" Zoro asked, tying his bandana around his head.
Luffy looked at Hody, who was shaking with rage and fear.
"I'm going to teach that shark a lesson about being a King."
Luffy raised his fist. It turned pitch black with Ryou.
"Come on, Hody!" Luffy shouted. "Show me what you got!"
Hody roared, popping a handful of steroids. His muscles tore and expanded, his eyes turning completely white. "I will kill you! I will kill everyone!"
He charged.
Luffy didn't move. He stood his ground, a small figure against a charging monster.
"You really don't learn," Luffy whispered.
The Battle for Fishman Island had begun.