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Luffy and I stood together, ready to fight Arlong. Usopp was behind us, saying he had our backs. Thanks... no, stay out of the way.
"Even if there are two of you, what difference would it make? Can you comprehend the difference between us?" Arlong asked us.
"Your nose?" "Jaw?" Luffy and I answered, respectively. We both snapped our fingers. "It's the webbed hands!"
"SPECIES!" Arlong thrust forward in an attempt to bite us in two. Arlong kept charging forward, trying to chomp Luffy and me. After missing multiple times, he grabbed Luffy by the throat. With one move, he bit at Luffy's head, so I grabbed Luffy and stretched his neck to avoid the bite.
"That was close." I looked at the barely phased Luffy.
Arlong had missed Luffy and sunk his teeth into a stone pillar, but instead of breaking, his jaw shattered the stone. Luffy and I took the moment of distraction caused by the collapse to run back and regroup. If we get bit, we will die.
"This is the power of a fish-man," Arlong began going on another soapbox. "This is the power that we were bestowed with. That is why your species is inferior."
"How pathetic," I used my whip to crush what was left of the pillar, and Luffy crumbled a stone in his hand. "You think we need to chew stone to break it."
"You're so weak! Humans can't even save themselves from drowning!" Arlong charged at us again.
"That's why I need help!" Luffy picked up a pair of swords and began swinging around wildly. That just looks sad.
Arlong easily broke both of Luffy's swords. "Enough playing around."
"Shut up!" Luffy punched Arlong in the face, knocking him off balance.
"Chew on this! Whip Crush!" I slammed my whips into Arlong's face, shattering his teeth before wrapping them around his head and yanking to slam his face into the ground.
"I can't use swords, I can't navigate, I can't cook, and I can't lie."
"Most people in this world can't survive without others by their side. Without each other, Luffy and I would have died a long time ago."
"It's strange how honest you two are," Arlong sat up. "Your crew must be distraught being led by such fools. No wonder you made the other two fight while you just sat there. You call yourselves captains, but what can either of you two do?"
"We can beat you!"
"Enough talk," Arlong's teeth re-emerged from his gums. What the hell? They came back.
"Surprised? I am a shark. We have hundreds of extra teeth, each set stronger than the last." Arlong pulled out his own teeth two more times, placing one set in each hand. "Now do you get it? How truly superior fish-men are? Tooth Gum!"
Arlong snapped his jaws at Luffy and me, forcing us to back off until we had to separate, with Arlong choosing to chase me. I was running out of room when I grabbed the closest thing and used it to block Arlong's strike. Arlong kept laying into me, not realizing he was biting his own lackey. "Arlong… please…"
"Ahh, my brother! How dare you!"
"I just got an idea!" Luffy yelled from the other side of the park. Luffy ran up to Arlong and began to fight against him, allowing me to take a breather. Let's see this amazing plan.
Logically, I was skeptical. I never trust the words 'Luffy' and 'Plan' together. They don't even belong in the same sentence… and I was right. That moron took out Arlong's teeth and put them in his own mouth.
"This isn't time for jokes, Luffy. Stop screwing around," I yelled.
"Who says I'm screwing around?"
Arlong pushed Luffy back until he was able to clamp his teeth around Luffy's waist. Luffy responded by using his own set to bite into Arlong's shoulder. I flipped over Arlong, whipping his back and forcing him to free Luffy, but when I landed, Arlong bit into my forearm.
"Gaaaahhhh!" I used all my strength to force Arlong onto the ground, slamming the back of his head into the cement. If I let him pull back or run, my arm will get torn off. I forced Arlong's mouth open and pulled my bloodied arm out of his jaws. God, it hurts. But I can't give in now. My friends need me.
"Where did he go?" Luffy asked me. I looked up and saw that Arlong was gone.
"He's in the water!" Usopp warned us from his position behind the wall near the villagers.
A fin appeared in the pool nearby.
"Ahh, it's a shark!" Luffy screamed.
"No, I think that's Arlong," I corrected as the fin disappeared. "He dove under. Careful, Luffy."
Suddenly Arlong jumped out of the water. "Shark Darts!" Arlong soared through the air like a rocket. Luffy grabbed me and pulled us out of harm's way. We had a rough landing, causing me to fall on my already injured arm.
I hissed in pain, trying not to scream when Arlong burst out of the building back towards us. We moved again, forcing Arlong into the ground, but he just laid there, supported by his nose.
Arlong kept jumping around, crashing into me and Luffy, tearing us apart.
"Don't just stand there, you two have to get away from the water!" Usopp warned us.
"NO!" We both yelled.
"Luffy, we have to destroy that damn nose," I said. "Can you catch him?"
"Sure." He smiled.
I backed up when Luffy grabbed his fingers and stretched them to a small wall. "Gum-Gum Shield."
"Shark Darts!" Arlong burst out and got caught between Luffy's fingers. Luffy bounced off and slammed into the wall, and Arlong disappeared into the dust kicked up by the attack.
Arlong exploded out of the tower soon after and shot at Luffy, who this time defended himself with Gum-Gum Finger net. Arlong got caught up in Luffy's fingers, and Luffy attacked him, slamming him into the ground.
"Gum-Gum Spear!" Luffy shoved both his feet into Arlong's stomach, making him cough up blood.
Arlong's eyes suddenly turned into slits as he got back up. He's pissed. He grabbed Luffy by the hair as the rubber boy fell from the sky. "HOW DARE YOU, FILTHY HUMAN!" He threw Luffy back into the building like he was light as a feather.
"DON'T THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU!" he turned and charged at me.
"Oh crap!" I ran to try and avoid the enraged Arlong but still got punched into a wall. "GAH!"
Arlong tried to smash my skull, but Luffy grabbed my ankle and pulled me out, bringing us both onto the roof. Arlong's fist went into the wall, and when he pulled it out, he had a huge jagged sword in his possession.
"It's Kiribachi!" I heard Nami yell.
Arlong flipped multiple times, slamming his blade into the ground, causing huge eruptions of rubble.
"Just keep climbing!" I screamed to Luffy. "If he hits us with that, we're dead for sure!"
We went as high as we could until we ended up with nowhere to go. Arlong swung at us, destroying a wall and giving us a place to hide.
"What is this place? It's full of paper," Luffy pointed out all the fluttering parchment.
"These are all the maps Nami has drawn over the years. All for my people," Arlong ducked in the hole in the wall he created.
I looked around the room and saw that every single scrap of paper had a map drawn on it. The room wasn't very big. There was a desk, a chair, and a shelf. I walked up to the desk. It had boxes and stacks of paper… and a pen. A pen covered in blood.
"This pen… is encrusted with blood." I threw it to Luffy.
I felt Arlong's blade go around my neck. "Nami will help me reach my dream of a fish-man empire whether she wants to or not. Her skills are wasted on fools like you! You could never use her as effectively as I will!"
USE!
"HOW DARE YOU!" In one grip, I crushed his sword and grabbed my whip.
"NAMI'S NOT SOME TOOL!" Luffy said, running up and punching Arlong.
"You're right, she's not my tool. Since I give her a home and food, you could say she's My Crewmate!"
THIS BASTARD!
Luffy kicked the desk, sending it flying out the window. With a flick of my wrist, I smashed the shelf along the wall.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Arlong screamed as Luffy and I continued to tear Nami's room apart. Arlong swung at us but missed and destroyed his precious maps by accident. Arlong grabbed Luffy and sunk his teeth into Luffy's neck as retribution.
"I don't give a crap about fish-men or maps or any of that garbage!" I said, jumping onto Arlong's back. "But I do give a damn about saving Nami!"
I used all my strength and pulled Arlong's jaws open, freeing Luffy before flipping and kicking Arlong back as I landed.
"She never once wanted to come here," Luffy said, wiping off some of the blood on his neck. "This room shouldn't even exist!"
Luffy threw his leg up, and I did the same with my whip.
"Don't get so cocky," Arlong fixed his nose, which Luffy had broken, and began spinning in the air. "Shark Tooth Drill!" Arlong collided with both Luffy and me, snaring both of us in his large jaws.
"Gum-Gum Battle-Axe!" "Whip Storm Force!"
Both mine and Luffy's attacks slammed into Arlong's back, sending him crashing to the bottom floor of the tower.
"We may have overdone it; the whole thing's coming down!" I told Luffy.
Nami's POV
After things stopped flying out the windows, I began to get worried. Then the whole place started to collapse. Everyone started to run for cover except me… I needed to go help them.
"Nami, you gotta move!" Johnny said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the collapsing building.
I fought with him, trying to go towards the falling tower. "NO! They're still inside! Those two are gonna—!"
"They'll be fine, we have to move or we'll end up buried alive in rubble!" Usopp ran up and pulled me away.
"LET ME GOOO!"
When the dust finally settled, all that remained of Arlong Park was rubble. Luffy… Steve…
The rubble at the top started shifting slightly and then fully moved, the dust around it clearing. Standing there were two men. Two humans, Steve and Luffy. Yosaku and Johnny were crying tears of joy, and I could feel a few of my own as well.
"They're alright?" Usopp asked no one in particular.
"NAMI!"
I looked up to see the two men at the top of the pile, the ones still standing.
"YOU'RE OUR CREWMATE, GOT IT?!"
I couldn't stop the tears anymore. "Got it."
Steve's POV
Luffy started to laugh. We had won. But our celebration was short-lived because the Marines showed up to spoil our fun.
"I'm amazed the fish-men were defeated by no-names." A rat-like Marine said, clapping. "I, Captain Nezumi, claim all the treasure of Arlong Park for myself."
I saw a figure approach the rat-man from behind and grab his shoulder, terrifying the man. The figure was Zoro. "No need to be such a party pooper."
"Come on, Luffy, there's still work to do," I said, starting to descend the pile of destruction Luffy and I had created. "This guy's killing my buzz."
With a little help from Zoro and Sanji, Luffy and I "handled the Marines." Even Nami got to get a blow in. I cracked my whip against the ground for emphasis. "Listen and listen well, you pile of filth. You're going to clean up the mess these fish-men left. Also, you're going to rebuild the nearby towns, and you won't lay a hand on the money that belongs to the island. Have I made myself clear, you pathetic excuse for a human being!"
"Wow, he's creepy," I heard the crowd mumble.
"It's not like that," I said with a sad look.
"I swear I'll get you back for this. You said your names where Luffy and Steve, right? You better be prepared; things are going to get real bad," the rat-man yelled as he swam off.
We went back to the village to get ourselves looked at by a proper doctor. Luffy, Zoro, and I were inside, getting stitches and bandages over large portions of our bodies.
"What the hell were you thinking, hardly sewing up a wound like this?" The doctor scolded while treating Zoro's torso. "Your ship doesn't have a doctor?"
"That's a good point. We need a medical professional," I told Luffy.
"Okay, but first a musician. Pirates gotta sing, you know," he smiled.
"Idiot," I laughed. "Ow…"
We partied for a couple of days. To be honest, I don't remember most of it; it was just a good time. I do remember sitting with Sanji and Zoro in an alley. Luffy ran up to us, asking, "Sanji, where's that meat melon thing I saw you eating?"
"The whole street is a buffet. Beats me," Sanji said, breaking the unfortunate truth to Luffy.
"Let's go look for it, buddy," I stood up and began walking around with Luffy.
We walked for a while. We passed Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku dancing and telling stories to the villager, some true, some not. I don't know how, but we made it outside of town to a cliff nearby. There was a man sitting at what looked to be a makeshift grave.
"He looks like he's paying his respects. Let's leave him be, Luffy," I said, turning Luffy back towards town.
"Wait right there!" the man yelled, standing up.
"Someone died, you have our condiments," Luffy told the man.
"He means condolences," I said, whacking Luffy on the head.
"Listen, you two." The man said, still not turning to face us. "Nami said she was going to be a pirate with you, and it's going to be dangerous. If either of you does anything to take her smile away, I'll come and kill you."
"Well, we'll never…" Luffy started but was interrupted.
"UNDERSTAND!"
"Yes, sir," I responded without any emotion. This guy really cares.
A New Chapter
We restocked the ship and loaded it with everything we would need before getting ready to leave. "We wish you luck but we have to go back to our jobs as bounty hunters now," Johnny and Yosaku wished us luck and said their goodbyes.
"Where's Nami? We really need to get going. Is she not coming?" Usopp said.
"What do you mean Nami might not come?!" Sanji began sobbing. "She's like 99.9 percent of the reason I even joined."
"Wow, such commitment," I joked to Zoro.
"SET SAIL!" Nami's voice yelled.
"She's running this way, what do we do?" Usopp asked.
"She said set sail, so we set sail," Luffy explained.
We all ran around the ship, moving ropes and tying things down until we started to drift out to sea.
"Is it really okay to let her leave like this?" Sanji asked me.
"It's her goodbye. Let her do it her way," I shrugged.
Nami ran zigzag across the pier until she reached the end when she jumped onboard. Her friends were sad to see her leave that way. At least until she lifted up her shirt and all their wallets fell out.
"She hasn't changed any," Usopp smiled.
"Can we trust her?" Zoro groaned.
"Great job, Nami!" Sanji cheered.
Luffy and I just laughed. Everyone was finally together, our next stop, The Grand Line.
???'s POV
"Another rainy day. Better just turn this bounty in to Smoker so he'll get off my back," I mumbled to myself as I walked through the Marine base.
"If it isn't my best pal, Tashigi," I said as I entered the office. I hugged the girl from behind. "Where's Smoker? I got another one."
"In there," she said, pointing towards the door behind her. "Listen, I have to take my sword to get looked at later. Would you like to tag along?"
"I'd love to. Just let me get this thing settled; it'll only take a minute."
I knocked on the door and walked in. The room was filled to the brim with smoke and steam. "cough cough Damn, open a window, Smoker."
"I didn't say you could come in. What do you want?"
"Another bounty for you, Captain Cougher," I remarked.
"Real funny. Fine." He looked at the poster and threw me my bag of money. "Thank you. If you'll excuse me, Tashigi and I have some shopping to do."
"Wait, I got two new ones in today if you're interested. They're interesting, take a look." He said, handing me two flyers. When I saw the two flyers, I verbally gasped.
"Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy - 30,000,000
"Torturer" Steve - 20,000,000
There were two boys pictured. The first had a boy with black hair pictured; he was wearing a straw hat. The other had a red-headed boy holding a pair of whips and licking blood off his cheek.
I see where they got the nickname.
"They'll be stopping here soon. They were recently seen in the area," Smoker explained.
"Don't let anyone else take these. I'll deal with it when they show up." I tucked the posters into my jacket.
I walked out of the room, mumbling, "Assuming you don't get to them first."
So you really are coming here… Little Brother.