Outside the confines of Arlong park, in the woods nearby. Limbs flew wildly, trees crashed to the ground upon the impact of thunderous blows between the two captains.
"Gum gum pistol!"
"Shark on darts!" Arlong ducked under the right straight and rocketed towards his enemy, his sharp, saw-like nose glancing the torso of Luffy, a short jet of blood erupting from the wound.
"It's no use. You're out of your league, kid. Same for every other human."
Luffy chuckled, covering the slash with his hand for a moment. "We'll see about that."
"Humans always sticking their noses where they don't belong... If it weren't for you lot, I wouldn't have lost so many brothers today. The longer you keep me here, the longer I have to wait for that revenge. And that... that is unacceptable."
"The only people deserving revenge right now are Nami and this village."
"Revenge? Taken on me? By you? Impossible. Ignorant fool. Do you know what makes you humans so weak? It isn't family, it isn't morals, not even the death wish that you have now. It isn't anything like that. The very simple fact is that you were destined to be weaker, destined to be under us, by biology. By God. When I understood that fact, and noticed the state of the world didn't follow that logic... I'll correct that. This illogical structure of the world, I'll change it. Starting from right here, and I won't let a single human like you get in my way!" He clenched his fist in indignation, his arm trembling with the strength he squeezed out. His eyes hardened on his enemy immediately after, the time for playing around was shortly ending.
"After I beat you, none of that matters." Luffy confidently stated.
"I already told you, it's impossible. We were born better. Stronger, faster. The sea, land everything should belong to the strong, to us."
"There can only be one king of the sea, one pirate king. That won't be anyone but me!"
"Delusional." He snickered and shook his head.
"Gum gum rocket!" Arlong effortlessly dodged the attack, sidestepping and regarding the boy with a pitiful expression.
"See, you can't even land a hit."
"How about this? Gum gum whip!" The rubber man shot forward with his lead leg throwing a roundhouse kick that stretched towards the fishman, to which he ducked under once again.
"It's all the same. Give u-!" The sudden impact of a sledgehammer like force against his face caused the set of teeth in his mouth to crack and crumble away. Blood spurted from his nose as the fishman captain was sent sprawling across the forest floor.
He looked around to find the reason for this sucker punch...
The trees... He could see the answer, he wasn't giving the human enough credit. But that's all it was; another trick up a monkey's sleeve, the fishman still had no reason to doubt his strength and superiority over this lesser species.
He had used the tree to rebound. His leg had bent around the nearby trees delaying the attack slightly, planting a damaging blow on Arlong. The first of the fight. The fishman's eyes began to grow red and strained in response. A new set of teeth grew in place of the cracked, destroyed teeth of moments prior.
"SHARK TOOTH DRILL!" He leapt and spun whilst opening the newly formed razor-sharp teeth set in his maw, carving out a tree trunk as he darted about for the elusive rubber man.
Luffy jumped and swung between trees, using the tree trunks as obstacles to prevent the fishman from taking a chunk out of him. The foliage enshrouded his figure, making it difficult for the fishman to locate his prey.
"Think you can hide in this forest? Shahaha! All I need is a little bit of water!" Fluid oozed over his slick body, water droplets that perspired towards his extended digits. Arlong flailed his arms powerfully, bullets disguised as water droplets impacted against the tree trunks nearby with the power of several shotgun blasts. The trees tore apart like wet paper, falling uselessly to the ground. A cacophony of crashes resounded through the forest, like a stampede, followed by silence for but a moment...
"Arlong!" Luffy jumping from the destroyed foliage threw his arm back as his body eclipsed the sun, the shine burning Arlong's eyes. He harshly blinked in a moment of recognition, before understanding his advantage.
"SHAHA! Nice try, but you've got nowhere to run!" He ripped the teeth from his mouth filling both hands with a set of jagged incisors, aiming to close the bear-trap like instruments around the young captain. Leaping to meet him in the air.
The teeth closed around the rubber man's flesh with a snap, he took them head on. The fist that had been threw backwards moved towards the fishman with supersonic speeds, crashing into Arlong's body with a harsh crack. He coughed and sputtered as he was rocketed straight into the ground below. Before the rubber man could retract his arm Arlong had taken a fierce bite out of Luffy's left arm, roughly shaking his head to rip the flesh apart further.
"AAAGGGGH!" The straw hat captain drew back, raising Arlong into the air and propelled him back harshly into the dirt, forcing even a shark's incredible jaw strength to slacken for a moment. His arm dripping with a vivid crimson. Arlong's teeth shattered once more, only to grow back mere moments after. Fragments of broken tooth stuck to the boy's flesh, a full set digging into his right flank and left thigh, blood pooling on the floor from the vicious wounds a shark's teeth were capable of creating.
"Enough of this, human. I'll show you just how outclassed you are." Without warning his webbed hand gripped one of the fallen tree trunks and swung towards the wounded captain, catching his body directly and sending him hurtling through an acre of forest. Dust plumed and dirt exploded as trees were uprooted from the singular attack.
"Home run. Now to take care of that pest." With the current eyesore out of his vision, Arlong made an effort to return quickly to Arlong park, back to where his true adversary stood unchecked. A slight apprehension in his gait, worried whether he'll return to even more of his men slain.
[Piracy?]
"You're insane!"
"Wrong. I'm justice."
The inferno flared slightly, the warmth of the fire quickly becoming a suffocating adversary in itself. I adjusted the cloth mask slightly, ensuring it was affixed closely to my face. Giving a slight advantage against the unprotected fishman.
"Ha... Hahaha... I don't think you thought this through. You can't run anymore. You've just made it easier for me to beat you." I could smell his trepidation. I was familiar with overconfident bluffs, those that talked mightily but couldn't back it up.
I was aware of the threat that fishmen posed. Their overwhelming strength. And I was aware of my own weakness. I only hoped the incredible sniper king had a plan that could get him out of this mess. But I couldn't see it... What was a sniper without distance? Useless.
This wasn't a plan that preyed on strategic factors to their absolute.
It was as he said.
We couldn't run away. Neither could he.
I was tired of running. I didn't know any better than that... perhaps that was why Sogeking had trapped us here. I wouldn't have the courage to do such a thing. That was the only reasonable explanation. To be prepared to die here with my enemy. Even if we can't stop the enemy, if we stall him long enough, he can't threaten any of the villagers.
He rushed at the sniper king, his hands rocketing forward aiming to grab him. If he's caught, then it's over. Immediately rolling to his left, he dispense three iron pellets from the slingshot into the fishman's left knee. Consciously aiming for the weakest points to hinder his agility, unfortunately it seems they had little effect on the fishman.
"Is that it?!" He rushed forwards once more, his left hand getting dangerously close to grasping the sniper king's overalls, when his hand was beyond the point of no return he pulled another item from his satchel, deftly catching his hand in the process.
"Argh! Is this a joke to you?" He yelped in pain, anger quickly washing over his features as he ripped the mouse trap from his hand. Before he could attack again, I struck him over the head with a bottle of sake. The only flammable item I had left.
"You fight dirty! Will it all be worth it after I beat you anyway?!"
My munitions were limited, physical attacks had very little effect. The only way they would, is if I'm in a position to strike multiple times on the same spot. Possibly use leverage and gravity in my favour... Otherwise the only useful option would be...
He gave chase again, getting closer with each attempt. I could tell my stamina was failing over time. With each attempt the ring of flames was getting closer. Restricting our space and our breath. I rolled over once more, something long and thin poking my chest as I continued to roll out of his path. But I was trapped. My back harshly contacted with a single tree trunk untouched by the fire, though that wouldn't last long. The flames licked closer by the second, the bush beside it lit aflame, soon enough the tree would join it.
"End of the line." A wet webbed hand gripped my throat harshly, pinning me against the trunk and raising me until my feet no longer met the floor. "You seem to like fire a lot. I think I'll leave you to succumb to your own trap, human. So long."
Just as he attempted throw me to the raging inferno, I gripped the long thin stick I had concealed and prodded into the scorching bushel. Flames spreading along the tip. Immediately striking the fishman shortly after, the flames drank up the alcohol that had doused him earlier in our fight, his head, then his body ablaze with brilliant orange light.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" In confusion he ran around the flaming circle, his vision compromised, he spurted water in a circle around us, dousing some of the larger fires and opening a pathway to the river. He ran madly. Hardly thinking about his enemy or his surroundings for even a moment his eyes receded from the floor, he ran exactly where I had planned all along.
He tripped on the wire I had planted minutes ago, tripping and falling into the dirt, his hand creeping forward to raise himself and run once again.
"Water..." My hammer didn't have any sympathy. Reaping his consciousness with a single swing.
I watched the blazing body for a moment longer before emptying my canteen on his head. Gripping his hair and dragging him into the river as quickly as I could.
He could've taken my life at any moment... is this the right choice?
No... If Sogeking were still here, then maybe he would make a different choice. But I wasn't him. I couldn't be him. Not yet.
A light rain descending onto me as I thought over the lasting battle. The last embers of the forest fire I had razed put out by my enemy and the last drizzles of precipitation.
I couldn't gather the courage to defeat him without lying to myself... But in this moment, can I be proud?
"Beat him, goddamn It! Did ya see that! That's how Sogeking does it!" Kaya, I really did it...
"Urgh..." The fishman twitched subtly, his hand slowly raising towards his head. Instinctively, I gripped the wooden handle tighter and swung towards the near unconscious enemy.
"Usopp Hammer!"
"Usopp Hammer!"
"Usopp- rubber band."
"Usopp Hammer!" Using the trusty combo attack I had decided upon. A bruised and fully unconscious enemy lay before me...
...Now I did it. The relief washed over me. My legs losing the strength that once held them up, I collapsed onto my back in a satisfied heap...
Is that a win for Sogeking or a win for Captain Usopp...?
A tired laugh escaped from my mouth once more, a laugh that gently glided along with the breeze.
The sky looked a bit wider today.
[Piracy?]
"Even with three swords, it changes nothing. Taste my glorious six-sword style! Ink jet!" The octoman shot a black inky liquid from his mouth, ejecting right in the swordsman's direction. In response the swordsman used a single sword to misplace one of the tiles underneath him, kicking it in the octopus' direction, running towards his enemy with fervour, a spare sword in each hand and his beloved Wado Ichimonji nestled in his mouth.
"Three sword style: Tatsumaki!" Gale winds swept as the green-haired swordsman rotated at greater speeds, until a hurricane formed right on top of the octoman. His swords sent flying from his hands as the fishman was sent into the sky from the blast of condensed air.
"GYAAAAH!" The immensely heavy swords fell to the earth with dull cracks, breaking tiles and leaving harsh imprints on the ground as they each weighed several hundred kilograms. It was a wonder how he handled so many at once. Such was the inherited strength of the fishmen.
"Bu-but how? Those measly three swords they can't weigh that much?!"
"You're wrong. Not even three of yours can match a single one of my swords." He didn't say anything further. Despite that he thought about the unforgettable promise and the item which symbolised it as he sheathed the blade into its recognisable white scabbard.
His opponent made a dull thud as he impacted the floor, the stone cracking and blood slowly pooling around his body. It was slow.
'Probably just unconscious.' Zoro thought to himself.
"Time to help the shitty cook, I guess." Just as he had finished sheathing his swords the arrival of a particular figure sent the battlefield quiet.
"Arlong..."
"Where's Luffy?" Nami said, her voice less than a whisper. Afraid of the obvious connotations.
"Hachi... Damn humans. Shark-on darts!" The shark man darted towards the swordsman, pushed to his limit, Zoro didn't even have time to draw his sword again, simply using the scabbards to stop the fishman in his tracks.
"The famous pirate hunter, finally stooped so low you became one of us?"
The swordsman ignored his provocation, instead steeling himself and pushing with all his might against the shark's pursuit, the wound courtesy of the strongest swordsman dribbling with blood as he stood his ground. "Where's Luffy?"
"Who knows? Probably impaled on a tree branch somewhere. In fact, I think he looks a bit like that poor sod over there. Shahaha!" Arlong made a show of covering the sun from his gaze and raucously pointing at the young man crucified on the wall.
"Bastard." Zoro peered into the fishman's eyes, trying to distinguish whether it was truth or fiction. They were both injured, coming from a battle with the Don Krieg pirates... but he refused to believe that Luffy could be put down so easily.
"I do hope you'll put up a bit more of a fight than that rubber friend of yours. All this destruction, it's got me a bit antsy." The vision of a monster stood on the battlefield. A wide malevolent grin, red strained eyes as if he hadn't slept in weeks and a maddening laughter that seeped through his features.
"Maybe you're just worried Luffy will come back and beat your ass?"
"It's nice to have dreams. But I'd appreciate it if you kept them to yourself." His hand retracted and shot forward with power, water droplets glancing against the swordsman's body tearing and ripping flesh and tissue off the edges of his body.
"NGGGH!" His arms held the swords close covering the majority of his torso and any more damage to the fatal wound across his chest, though the extremities of the swordman's body were a different issue entirely.
"We need to help!" Nojiko stumbled towards the ensuing battle, pacing with a noticeable limp.
"..." Nami shuddered, slowed to a stop, torn between the onslaught of fighting between the bulk of the fishmen in a skirmish with the townspeople and the straw hat's battles respectively.
She shook her head momentarily. She needed to keep her priorities straight. She couldn't lose Nojiko, otherwise what was this all for? "No. Nojiko you need to get back to bed! You're severely injured!"
"This isn't the time for that! I'm not lying in bed whilst the rest of you guys fight, I'm going. You can't stop me." She couldn't argue with it. Nami weakly extended her arm towards her sister, but she was just out of reach...
Genzo grabbed Nojiko by the arm, directing his steely gaze towards the water. "We'll just get in the way. If we're looking for help, our best chance is down there."
"But... he's been down there for a few minutes already..."
"Despite all that, that other fishman has yet to come back up. I'm willing to take that risk, are you?"
Nojiko looked back at the fight between the swordsman and Arlong, it was superhuman to put it simply. Even if she wanted to help, it'd probably just create an opportunity for Arlong. She stood over the edge of the water, trying to glean anything she could under the water's surface. The murk from ash, blood and the dwindling flames of the marine ship in the distance made it impossible. "...Best chance we have, isn't it? Ready."
"I won't stop you from helping. But make sure to stay behind me. Go!" They pushed off into the water.
"Nojiko! Genzo!" Nami clutched her hands close to her chest.
"..." 'Why? Why is everybody always leaving me behind?' She thought to herself bitterly.
"...Ayanokouji. You said no one else. Didn't you?" She turned to the young man, her frustrations clear on her face. She didn't have any other avenue to get rid of these dark feelings, so she happened upon the one thing she could steadily blame them on and packed it on, hoping that those feelings would burden him and cause him to shift and crack in any measurable direction. That maybe he would suddenly step forward and shoulder everything or even break from the stress. Anything might make her feel slightly better about the risk she had of losing everything here.
He regarded her coolly. His eyes never breaking from the skirmish of fishmen and humans, now and then throwing a calculated blow, to prevent any casualties. Ever since his arrival the fishmen were scared to so much as approach where he stood. "I can only stay above or under water. There'll be more casualties up here if I leave. I agreed to follow your request, but I'm only human at the end of the day. Choose." He didn't say it clearly, but the meaning was conveyed. Should I save more lives or prioritise lives you weigh as more important?
Nami looked to the ground and then back at him. At the ensuing chaos, Zoro fighting Arlong on their behalf. The people she grew up with fighting against a group of fishmen and finally to the water where her closest people, those she could call family went on a suicide mission to possibly save someone who had been fighting a fishman for several minutes. Underwater.
It was all becoming a bit much. Her head was scrambled.
What does she prioritise? Nojiko and Genzo? The town itself? The people that had come to save her?
Why did she have to choose?
Why did she have to lose something?
She wanted to believe... Believe in something better, in what she had been shown by Luffy...
"Damnit, where are you Luffy? Promising me that... and then you're nowhere to be seen... too cruel..."
"Clock's ticking, Nami."
The navigator was left with that devastating choice in the middle of the battlefield.
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Word count: 3337
I see this as kind of the choice between true belief or hope and cynicism/realism. It's kind of the opposing views that Ayanokouji and the straw hats have from the start. This is just another application of it; would Nami choose to save those she cares for the most at the expense of others, or believe in the straw hat's strength and hope they save everyone?
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Hopefully you all enjoyed.
Sorry for the wait.
Let me know any thought below. Until next time.