Royal Hostages

Nami went through the pockets of a pile of unconscious fishmen, stealing every Beri she could find along with anything else of any value.

The clinic was encircled by a few dozen New Fishman Pirates, but none had the courage to step forward. After all, every one of them who had done so was ruthlessly beaten down by Cherry and she wasn't shy about breaking several of your bones in the process.

"What the hell are you guys hanging around here for?! Those human bitches are rifling through your brothers' pockets right in front of you!" A naive newcomer shouted.

He charged in before the others could stop him and explain.

Cherry kicked one of his knees, causing it to snap backwards with a sickening crunch. His scream of pain was met with both of Cherry's fists colliding on either side of his jaw, completely shattering it. Only then did Cherry casually bonk him on the head to knock him out.

Ruffians like these were accustomed to fighting and weren't at all afraid of taking some blows. That's why Cherry used this brutal method, since even the biggest muscle brains could see the dire consequences and hesitate to act.

A number of regular citizens had retreated to the clinic after seeing the attackers dealt with so handily by her.

"Lady, you're so strong. Why aren't you going out to fight?" A child asked, speaking the words others didn't have the courage to.

Cherry smiled sweetly and crouched down to eye level with the boy. "My brothers helped to rescue mermaids from kidnappers and they were rewarded with the death penalty. That's why I won't fight anyone who doesn't attack me."

The adults nearly choked hearing that. There wasn't anyone on Fishman Island who hadn't heard about that case. They knew it wasn't right, but who had spoken up about it? No one.

"You hear that, boys? She said she won't attack us if we just leave her alone!" A New Fishman Pirate said, clear relief in his voice.

As expected, the surrounding attackers scattered to the winds to plunder and pillage elsewhere. Cherry didn't move to stop them.

After all, she had paid the price for Slenk and Borke's release. She didn't owe anything more to these people who sat back and watched the injustice.

As far as she could tell, these brigands weren't even killing people except for the occasional casualty in fights between themselves and the guards. Most of the damage was arson and theft.

So she wouldn't help them yet, let them feel a little pain for choosing the wrong side.

Nami finished looting the unconscious fools and gave the money over to the Doctor of the clinic. It wasn't enough for her to consider pocketing it really, so she let it help compensate the good doctor for his efforts.

"Those human pirates aren't flying at you anymore, Cherry. So we should get out of here." Nami said. She also didn't want to stick around because the sight of these New Fishman Pirates trashing buildings brought back bad memories for her.

"It's terrible! King Neptune returned with the three princes to fight back, but they got captured instead!" A fishman citizen shouted in alarm as he ran through the streets to spread the news.

"How could they have lost?! Did they get tricked?" A mermaid asked.

"No, Hody's men fought them head on and still won!" The fishman explained before rushing off shouting "It's terrible!"

Cherry knew that King Neptune was no slouch in strength or skill, so she decided to use Life Sense to scan around.

'Hm? It looks like they used the Hero Water from Alabasta? No, this is much more refined. Whatever this is also burns up vital energy for strength, but it probably won't kill them after five minutes are up. I should get my hands on whatever they're using…' Cherry thought.

Nami grimaced at the smile on Cherry's face, knowing that the devil woman was planning to throw herself right into the thick of it rather than going as far away as possible like she wanted.

"I wish Robin was here. I'm sure she's figured out how to restrain this troublemaker by now…" Nami lamented.

"Yohohoho! Robin isn't here, though! So it's headlong into danger!" Brook exclaimed.

"Don't complain ,Nami. I'm sure Luffy has already worked his way into the center of it already." Cherry said, waving away her concerns.

"FIGHT!" Cabernet shouted in anticipation. It had been a while since she's had a good match against an enemy. Cherry and Robin never fought 'fair' against her in their occasional sparring matches.

Nami could only resign herself. It would only be more dangerous for her to split up.

…

"What?!" Shirahoshi started to tear up whilst hidden in Megalo's mouth.

They had just been told that King Neptune and the three princes were easily captured by the New Fishman Pirates.

Jinbe frowned at the news. He knew quite well that Hody and his men shouldn't have stood a chance against the four royal warriors. All the more reason he must act quickly, but now he knew that he couldn't handle this by himself.

Megalo suddenly started to fly away in the direction of the plaza where the royals were apparently being held.

"Princess?!" Jinbe called out, but his voice fell on deaf ears.

Princess Shirahoshi couldn't simply wait around whilst her family was in danger. She didn't have a plan or even know what her presence might accomplish, but perhaps she could negotiate with them.

Jinbe gave chase, not being able to leave Shirahoshi alone and defenseless. He saw something strange in the distance as he did so. It looked like a balloon figure of King Neptune.

"Oto-sama?! Are you alright?!" Princess Shirahoshi called out.

"Wait!" Jinbe leapt forward before she could reach it and it exploded into nets that enveloped the three of them.

It would be easy to get out of this pathetic trap, but a light bulb lit in Jinbe's mind. "Just play along Princess. We can use this to our advantage."

Princess Shirahoshi nodded her head, trusting Jinbe's judgment in this case. She felt a bit foolish for having fallen for such an obvious trap in hindsight.

Jinbe cast a look back and nodded at the Straw Hats behind them. Luffy nodded his head in understanding.

New Fishman Pirates converged on them shouting mockery at them as they cuffed them and put them in cages for transport.

"Why aren't we rescuing the princess, Luffy?!" Sanji asked.

"Jinbe can handle it. We need to meet up with the others and back him up when the time comes." Luffy said, leaving no room for discussion.

Sanji couldn't argue with that rare serious tone of his, so he lit up a cigarette to ease his nerves.

Cherry landed nearby a moment later, holding Nami in her arms like a princess. Cabernet landed right after her, holding Brook in her arms like a princess.

"Yohohoho! I feel like a maiden!" Brook joked.

"You son of a bitch! I'm so jealous!" Sanji ground his teeth in envy, biting his cigarette in half.

"You look ready to kick some ass, Luffy. When are we going?" Cherry said.

"Right now!" Luffy was fired up.