Chapter 11: Divide and Conquer

Chapter 11: Divide and Conquer

Gustave stood atop a building at the center of town, observing his troops. An enhanced Howler Monkey walked up to him. "Sir, we've scoured the town, but no sign of Mr. Silver. All residents have been assembled for questioning. Balam dispatched 10 of us to the plains, and is personally leading 14 others through the forests."

"Very good," Gustave rumbled as he leaped down from the roof, the ground shaking when he landed. He then turned his attention to the hundred or so humans.

"Hear me, and rejoice!" he bellowed to the people. "All of you have the unique opportunity to give meaning to your worthless lives. Tell us where Mr. Silver is, and we shall bestow the blessings of Lord Cipactli upon thee!"

Not a single man, woman, or child even looked up at the offer. The man-crocodile hybrid glowered at the lack of reaction, roughly grabbing the closest man and bringing him to eye-level.

"GAH! I don't know who this Mr. Silver is!"

"You dare impede the grand design of my master?!" Gustave asked, his temper rising. Still, he knew that simply killing the humans wouldn't do any good to his goal.

"We're not impeding anything!" a young girl protested. "We're just trying to make a living."

A glare from Gustave quickly silenced her. Throwing the man aside, Gustave stalked towards her. He knelt down, looking her dead in the eye. "Tell me…have you seen a big man recently? His right arm, leg, and eye are all metal."

The girl tensed at that. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh…I think you do. Only people about to lie tense up like you did. And not very good liars at that," Gustave grinned, showing off sharp teeth.

"Well, men!" Gustave spoke up. "It seems this town has a dirty little secret." The joke got a round of mean-spirited cackling from the enhanced animals. "Mr. Silver was here…and these quaint little townsfolk know it." The humans all tensed.

"Make them pay for daring to stand in Lord Cipactli's way. Burn everything down," Gustave commanded.

Before his animals could follow his command, a bright yellow flash erupted from the plains. At the same time, Gustave heard the screams of his fellow animals coming out of the forest. "What is happening? Who DARES stand in our way?" Picking up a new scent, Gustave turned to the entrance of the town.

(Earlier)

Halibel and Apacci stood in the air, far enough away from the island to not be seen by Gustave's brutes. The younger Hollow tapped her foot impatiently, her fingers rapping on her trusty cannon. Halibel put her own hand on Apacci to calm her, also not wanting the sound to give away their position just yet.

"Puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru." Halibel brought the Baby Transponder Snail out of her pocket and pushed it. "Gacha…Hey, Halibel." The Snail adopted a ferocious sharp-toothed grin.

"Kisame," the Hollow replied. "Are you two in position?"

"Yep, Brook and I are ready to go." The Ninja chuckled over the line. "It's been a long time since I've needed to use stealth."

"For all our sakes, you'd better not be out of practice," Halibel said in that deadpan of hers.

Puru-puru-puru…Gacha. "This is Jinbe. I'm ready and waiting for your signals. Usopp just called to give the all-clear."

"All right…give me one minute," Kisame said as he hung up.

In the forest, Kisame made a single hand-sign as he remembered Jinbe's plan. "All right, Kisame and Brook…you two are the best of us at stealth. So I want you to handle the animals in the forest. Use the terrain to your advantage."

"Hidden Mist Jutsu," Kisame whispered. Mingling it with the already present dawn-dew, the Ninja steadily pushed his Chakra out. Sure enough, the animals started stumbling at the sudden loss of significant vision. A few were even knocking into trees. Still, they were starting to shift into using their enhanced hearing or smell.

Balam halted his advance. "SOUND OUT!" He received twelve distinct calls from his group. "Wait a minute," the enhanced Jaguar realized. "There were fifteen of us."

At the back of the group, Kisame stepped past his second victim, their slit throat leaking black blood as they regressed to a regular animal. While his Silent Killing technique wasn't quite at Zabuza's level, he was no novice at it. He then gave a hand-signal to Brook.

The skeleton followed his direction, unsheathing Soul Solid. Then, just as quick, he emerged from the other side of the mist, already sheathing his blade. "Song of Scratches: Blizzard Slice." In the mist, another two animals fell, with the exorcized black blood freezing around the now-normal creatures.

Balam stood, shaking in rage. He turned to the front, noticing a barely-discernible figure. The Jaguar pounced, and clawed the figure. To his disbelief, he didn't smell blood from the cut, but water. A second later, it fell into a puddle of water.

Behind him, he started to hear the screams of his fellows. "That was just a distraction to separate me from the others," Balam belatedly realized.

Kisame watched as another four animals formed up, trying to close any blind spots. Unfortunately for them, the former Mist Ninja appeared right in the middle of all them. With a single mighty swing, Kisame snapped all their necks.

Sensing only six animals left aside from the leader, Kisame began lifting the Mist, directing Brook towards the final group. They'd been lashing out, but the trees were constantly standing in their way. Brook couldn't help but note how easily Kisame dispatched the animals. How brutally efficient he was at the art of murder. Still, Brook decided to shelve that conversation in favor of finishing off the creatures.

Having an idea, Brook calmly walked up to them. Then, he pushed out his very essence. With the power of the Revive-Revive Fruit, a massive ghostly specter appeared above him. "YO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!" 'Huh…didn't even need a guitar this time,' Brook thought to himself, briefly wondering why that was.

The animals howled in horror as the 'ghost' zoomed at them. As it passed through, black blood came gurgling out of their mouths. They all shrank and reverted back to their regular selves.

Balam stared at the scene, giving a furious look at the shark-man casually walking up to him.

"That's it…why don't you show me if you're worth my time?" Kisame raised Samehada.

OoOoOoO

Over the plains, Halibel rolled her eyes when the screaming started. "He could've easily killed them all with no fuss…but he just has to toy with them." She recalled her own part in Jinbe's plan.

'Halibel, I just know that Kisame is going to 'indulge' himself in his assignment. So, when that happens, I want you and Apacci to take out the animals in the plains before they can even react to the screaming. You and her are the fastest of us, plus you've got that 'walking on air' ability.'

"Apacci, corral them together," Halibel decided.

"Right," the younger Hollow aimed her cannon.

Then, Apacci let loose her Bala Barrage. A shower of red Reishi began grazing all the animals. Panicked, they began backing away from the bullets. They failed to realize that the Balas were all being fired in a contracting circle. By the time they caught on, it was too late.

"Cero," came a coldly dispassionate voice.

In an instant, the massive blast of golden Reishi obliterated the 10 animals. Halibel turned to Apacci. "All right, you go help out at the town. I'll tell Kisame to hurry it up." As the Hollows sped off with Sonido, Halibel recalled the last bit of Jinbe's plan.

'Once the isolated animals are taken care of, I'll lead Franky, Juvia, Tsuyu, and Hanataro in. We'll make it look like just a simple assault. I'll make sure to draw the leader's attention. If Usopp's right, only one of the three of us can take him on.'

True enough, Jinbe burst into the town with a mighty cry of "Shark Brick Fist!" Half of the animals surrounding the hostages were blown away by the shockwave, crying out as they landed.

Gustave smirked as he stomped towards the Fishman, noticing that he was just as tall as he was. "What a quaint little show of strength. You must think yourself my equal." When Jinbe didn't respond, the crocodile-man bared his teeth. "It seems I'll have to teach you to respect your betters."

In an instant, Gustave was in front of Jinbe, his tail swinging in. It was only thanks to Observation Haki that the Fishman responded in time. "Sharkskin Palm Thrust!" The attacks clashed with a mighty 'BOOM', canceling each other out.

The leering Gustave didn't waste a second and slashed with his clawed right hand. Jinbe avoided the claws by jumping right, watching as they cleanly sliced through and destroyed a nearby house. 'Hmm…seems Usopp's estimate of his strength was accurate. Good thing I'm the one fighting him.' Jinbe thought to himself.

With Gustave sufficiently distracted, the rest of the crew moved towards the hostages. The enhanced Howler Monkey screamed as it led most of the remaining animals towards them, leaving four to guard the humans.

Franky and Tsuyu simply held up their fists. Hanataro shivered before gripping a plain katana. Juvia started doing Hand Signs. "Water Style: Water Trumpet!" The Wizard blasted the howler monkey back with such force that he lost consciousness. Franky and Tsuyu then leapt into the new opening, opting to simply stick to their fists. Hanataro gave a war cry as he started parrying a tapir's tusks.

Eventually, that creature managed to get a lucky hit, slashing through the Soul Reaper's midsection. To the animal's confusion, it didn't smell any blood. Rather, water was now dripping from the tusks and the apparent wound. Hanataro gave an unsettling grin that didn't look right on his face at all, before falling into a puddle of water.

'Kisame, I want you to create some Water Clones and transform them into Franky, Juvia, Tsuyu, and Hanataro. They'll come with me to give the illusion of a head-on assault. That will draw out the majority of the enemy. The real ones will take advantage of this, take out anyone guarding the hostages, and get all the people out safely'.

The pattern repeated itself with the others. 'Franky', 'Tsuyu', and 'Juvia' all liquefied and splattered whenever they were injured. They had even managed to take out another three animals before being dissipated. By the time the animals realized they'd been had, they heard the humans.

"Strong Right!"

"Hundred Brick Tongue Slap!"

"Water Slicer!"

"AAHHH!"

Turning, they saw that all four of the guards had already perished. Tsuyu and Hanataro were quickly leading the hostages out of the town. Both were clearly showing the experience gained from handling crowds in disaster scenarios, offering quick comfort and first-aid as they kept the people moving. Juvia and Franky were hanging out at the rear, keeping an eye on the last dozen enhanced animals.

Infuriated at being fooled, the beasts blindly charged forward.

"BALA!" A ridiculous amount of red balls of Reishi pummeled the line of animals, instantly killing half of them.

"You guys are taking too long!" the shorthaired Hollow shouted at her compatriots, her barrage not slowing down in the least. Juvia rolled her eyes while Franky gave a competitive grin.

"Oh yeah?! Weapons Left!"

"Water Cane!"

The three combined attacks were enough to finish off the pack. Apacci didn't seem too impressed. "Remind me again why we're evacuating everyone when we beat them that easily."

As if in answer, a massive object came hurtling forward, crashing right in front of the three. It was Gustave, and he didn't look any worse for wear, getting up as quickly as he fell. The crocodile-man snarled as he turned towards them, having realized what happened to his troops.

"That's why…" Franky gave a deadpan response.

"OH SHIT!" Apacci cried out as she unloaded her cannon at point-blank range. The Bala didn't even slow him down, his monstrously thick skin not showing a single scorch.

"Strong Right!" Gustave effortlessly caught Franky's extended hand, and began to slowly crush it. He raised his other fist up, and was just about to pummel them.

"5000 Brick Fist!"

"Grr," Gustave immediately raised his arm to block, only being pushed back a few inches. Still, he was forced to let go of Franky, which gave the opening to the others to fall back. While the Fishman Karate wasn't having as much an effect as it normally would, thanks to his thick hide and sheer strength, Gustave was still starting to feel some of the internal effects of the water within him constantly being pushed back.

On the other hand, the few blows that the crocodile had managed to land on the Fishman were already starting to bruise. 'He's definitely stronger than Torafuzar,' Jinbe noted. 'Plus, he's far more experienced in combat than Ursula. At this rate, I won't be able to beat him on land. Guess I'll have to draw him into the water. My Fishman Jujutsu should be able to finish this.'

Oddly enough, Gustave was thinking up a similar strategy. 'I'll be quicker and far more agile in the water. Then, I'll be able to rip this cretin apart for his blasphemy against me and Lord Cipactli's followers.'

As the two behemoths clashed again, the action was wrapping up elsewhere.

Balam was in a nightmare. Every time he started to outrun that blasted shark-man, he'd turn to see him easily closing whatever distance he gained without even trying. To be sure, the jaguar had tried to fight back. Unfortunately for him, he didn't even force the Ninja to break a sweat. Kisame had back stepped from every claw swipe with ease. He'd then graze Balam with Samehada at every opening, black blood dripping to the ground as the Jaguar's energy was absorbed by the weapon.

'Hehe…in another life, this second-in-command could've matched a decent Jonin…but that's simply not enough to entertain me.' Kisame bemoaned his weak opponent.

After being cut enough, Balam simply bolted back to the town, his only hope being Gustave handling this monster. He didn't get very far before he felt his head separate from the rest of his body.

Halibel flicked her hollow sword to rid it of blood before sheathing it. She turned to give an unimpressed look to her comrade. "Couldn't you have just finished him off sooner…we still need to deal with the leader."

"Aww…I was going to finish him off before you came barging in."

"Sure you were…come on…don't you want to see who's actually managing to match Jinbe?" Halibel tried appealing to his battle-lust, and it worked like a charm.

"Oh?" Kisame actually perked up at that. "One of these jumped-up animals can actually take him on?"

"To be fair, Jinbe isn't in the water yet," Halibel noted what she sensed.

"Ah well," Kisame shrugged as he sped forward with Body Flicker, Halibel staying by his side with Sonido.

Back at the fight, Gustave was incredibly unhappy, and was no voicing those thoughts.

"YOU WEAK FOOLS!" He roared at his unconscious troops as Jinbe dodged another of his punches. "You dare sully our Mighty God's name with your incompetence?!"

Wanting something to vent his anger on, the crocodile-man's eyes narrowed on the Fishman. "Otherworlder TRASH!"

'Wow,' Jinbe couldn't help but think to himself. 'The second things go wrong, this creature starts blaming others. How immature.' Seeing another quick punch, Jinbe quickly covered his right arm in Haki to block. 'Seems that this enemy relies on sheer physical might and brute force. All right.'

Jinbe threw his own quick punch, deliberately overstretching himself. Gustave sneered as he slammed a fist into the Fishman's stomach. His expression changed when he didn't feel the flesh giving way, eyes widening at the sight of Armament Haki stopping him. Before Gustave could pull away, Jinbe already had a drop of water leaking from his palm. "Water Shot!"

At the last second, Gustave moved his head, barely avoiding his eye being obliterated. Seeing his opponent open, the creature swung around, slamming his tail into the Fishman. Blackening both arms, Jinbe managed to catch the tail before it could send him flying. The sheer force moved him a few feet, his grip on the tail still strong.

Jinbe quickly let go, with Gustave's jaws snapping at where they used to be. The creature didn't let up an inch, managing to slam another fist, this time in the Fishman's face. Jinbe went flying back into another building, pulverizing it.

"You see," Gustave boasted. "Your might is nothing compared to my blessings from Lord Cipactli. Once, I was a mere animal like you. But when I met Him, I was ascended. The strength and intelligence he granted me is nothing that mortals can hope to gain. Submit, and I might consider granting you the honor of becoming a mindless thrall of My Lord."

The smoke cleared. To Gustave's shock, Jinbe was simply standing there, looking no worse for wear. "A mere animal…huh?" The Fishman raised an eyebrow. "That's rich, coming from such a thug like you."

"Aww…I think there's something to be said about a good thug,"

Gustave jumped at the voice from behind, and didn't have time to dodge a massive white blur.

"What the hell?!" Kisame shouted as Samehada failed to pierce through Gustave's scales, simply scraping off of them.

Gaining his smirk back, Gustave slammed his tail into the stunned Ninja. Before Kisame could crash, Halibel got behind and stopped him. "Hmm…that's some tough skin."

"No Shit!" Kisame retorted.

"You know, I could've just let you crash," Halibel coolly replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Kisame got back to his feet, a look of pure murder in his eyes. "I'll find a way to cut up that damn crocodile if it's the last thing I do."

"Too late…It and Jinbe already dived into the ocean," Halibel casually revealed.

Kisame quickly looked around…only seeing a distant splash of water. "HUH? When'd that happen?!"

"When you got sent flying. Jinbe isn't one to waste an opportunity after all," the Hollow duly replied.

Kisame started to stomp off, only for Halibel to grab his shoulder. "Let Jinbe handle it. He's far better at fighting underwater than either of us anyway. Besides, I get the feeling that his Fishman Karate is the surest way of beating that armored skin."

"Fine…but if I see one scale of that crocodile, I'll pay him back for that slap," Kisame growled as he kept his eyes peeled on the ocean surface.

Sure enough, in the open ocean, Jinbe and Gustave were still grappling with each other. Admittedly, it was rather odd that both had the same idea of moving the fight, yet here we are.

As their arms interlocked, Gustave lunged at Jinbe's throat, eager to rip it out with his teeth. Foreseeing that, Jinbe covered his forehead in Haki, and slammed the crocodile's jaws together with a head-butt. He hit with such force that Gustave lost a few teeth. On the whole though, it just made the creature angrier.

Gustave roared as he whacked Jinbe with his tail, managing to get the Fishman away from him. Jinbe stopped his careening, and took his Fishman Karate position. "Arabesque Brick Fist!"

A few seconds of nothing before…"AARGH!" Gustave howled as he felt his insides get pushed back. Powering through the pain, he stopped and shot himself forward, his tail and legs beating rapidly.

Jinbe barely dodged the charge, and only with Observation Haki at that. 'I'll need a diversion before I can nail him with a decisive blow,' The Fishman thought to himself. 'Let's hope I got this technique down watching Kisame.'

Before Gustave could turn for another run, Jinbe cupped his hands. "Water Heart," the Fishman proclaimed as water started to gather within his palms, driven by the accumulating currents. "Shark Pack!"

Jinbe threw his arms forward, and as the water he threw separated, the drops formed into sharks, complete with gaping jaws. He had managed to create around 50 sharks, and this was the Fishman's first time trying the technique in battle. 'I really must thank Kisame for helping me master this so soon.'

With no time to dodge, Gustave crossed his arms to tank the barrage of sharks crashing into him. As shark after shark came at him, the creature finally noticed bruises starting to form on him. "IMPOSSIBLE! Lord Cipactli granted me this defense! How can it be failing?!"

In the midst of his ranting, he failed to notice Jinbe swim up to his side until it was too late. The Fishman pulled his fist back, blackening it with Haki. "Black Shark Skin: 7000 Brick Fist!"

CRUNCH!

The bones in Gustave's left arm were completely shattered as he was sent flying back from the blow, on top of the last of the sharks pushing him.

"YOU DAMN ANIMAL!" Gustave roared at Jinbe. "I don't need arms to tear you apart!"

In an instant, Gustave reverted back to his true form. His arms and legs shrank, with his left arm still hanging limply. His tail and snout extended. He gave a feral roar as he finished becoming a 50-foot crocodile. Then, he swam forward.

Jinbe's eyes widened. 'He's even faster than before!'

The Fishman was barely quick enough to cover his arms in Haki and catch Gustave's jaws before they closed in on him. It took all his strength to simply keep the crocodile's mouth open. Gustave laughed madly as he slowly brought his jaws together.

'Damn it…no choice,' Jinbe realized. Then, his right hand let go. Gustave chomped down on the Fishman's left arm. Blood spilled out as Jinbe hissed in pain. It was only thanks to his Haki that Jinbe kept his limb at all.

"Hehehe…while I don't need my arms, can you say the same?" Gustave couldn't help but taunt as he bit down harder and started twisting his own body, intent on tearing the Fishman's arm off.

Jinbe didn't respond to the excruciating pain as he brought his fist back. Gustave's eyes widened as he saw it turn black, realizing his mistake.

"Black Shark Skin: VAGABOND DRILL!"

"AUGH!" Gustave screamed in pain, incidentally releasing Jinbe's arm, as the water was shot clean through him, having been pushed to ridiculous speed and force with Haki. On top of that, the Fishman Karate was doing its job of painfully pushing the water in Gustave's body back.

The crocodile almost seemed stunned in disbelief at the sight of its own black blood, even when he stopped falling back. "NO! How dare you draw Lord Cipactli's blood!"

Losing all semblance of reason, Gustave roared and charged forward.

Powering through the pain, Jinbe brought his mangled left arm to his right, preparing for his strongest move.

"Water Heart!" On Jinbe's command, the currents themselves seemed to bend to his will.

"You know not what you're interfering with!" Gustave shouted, ignoring the coming attack as he charged.

"Ocean Current Shoulder Throw!" Jinbe had spun and sped forward. He then released the attack right on Gustave's wound.

"RRRAAAHHH!" The crocodile screamed in pain as the water dug past his scales and sent him hurtling back. The attack had such force that Gustave was rendered unconscious as his body was flung out of the sea, repeatedly flipping in the air. A few seconds later, it crashed back down, miles from where he had fought the Fishman.

Jinbe clutched his left arm as he slowly made his way back to shore. Kisame and Halibel met him halfway. "Wow…must've had quite the bite to get through your Haki," Kisame couldn't help but comment.

Halibel rolled her eyes at the insensitive remark. "Come on," she grabbed Jinbe under his good arm, and moved back to the others with Sonido. Kisame gave another look to the horizon. After pushing his senses for a while, he sighed at the realization that Gustave wasn't coming back. With nothing else to do, he headed back for land with Body Flicker.

Halibel gently sat Jinbe down by Hanataro, who immediately started treatment. Tsuyu quickly hopped over, followed by Franky and Brook. "Are you all right?" the girl asked.

"It's fine," Jinbe claimed despite his flinching at the disinfectant.

Franky scoffed. "You take so many hits from a guy who did THIS," he pointed to his crumbled fist, "like it was nothing…and you say it's fine." He shook his head, chuckling. "When was the last time I told you how SUPER you are…ow." Franky had tried to slam his fists together in his pose, only to stop at his fist flaring up.

"All the same, I have to admit, I'm impressed," Halibel complimented her crewmate. "100 noncombatant's lives on the line, and not a single one lost. Quite an efficient plan," she added.

"Please, it wouldn't have worked without all of you," Jinbe started to stammer at the praise.

"Yeesh, just take the compliment," Kisame couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Still, wish I could've had my shot at the crocodile."

Hanataro's eyes widened. "Even after seeing the damage he did?" He held up Jinbe's arm for emphasis. "You'd still want to fight him?"

"Hehehe…there's nothing in the world I don't want to cut up," Kisame put on his scariest grin as he looked right at the Soul Reaper. Poor Hanataro was having flashbacks to a certain Captain. That is, until Halibel intervened.

"Knock it off," she told the Ninja. "Apacci has already traumatized the poor boy enough, we don't need you adding onto it. I'd rather he not faint mid-treatment."

Kisame sighed. "Sometimes, you're just no fun."

Jinbe cleared his throat, wanting to direct the conversation back to the present situation. "I'm curious. Have any of you fought enemies like that back in your worlds?"

"Whatever they were," Kisame responded. "They didn't use Chakra."

"Nor Reishi," Halibel added.

"It wasn't Magic either," Juvia pointed out.

Tsuyu put a finger to her chin. "Well, I have heard of Quirks that gave people more animal-like traits. But this was different. No humans could've moved like these guys did. Only those who'd been animals since birth."

"Which begs the question," Jinbe picked up. "What could possibly be boosting mere animals to such extremes?" He let the question hang in the air before resuming, the implication of something ascending a creature to Jinbe's level of monstrous strength leaving a tense silence. "During the fight, that Crocodile kept going on about this 'Lord Cipactli', does that name ring any bells?"

Everyone else present shook their heads. "Was there anything else unique about this crocodile?" Brook asked.

"Well, when I finally managed to injure him, he was bleeding black blood," Jinbe informed them, noticing the sparks of recognition in half those present.

"Wait a minute, those hippos," Apacci chimed in. "Their blood was black too."

"And they became regular animals too once it had been expunged," Halibel recalled the hippos that hadn't been too severely injured in the brawl for Brook's bones.

"You think that crocodile will do the same?" Kisame frowned.

"No," Jinbe immediately answered. "The bleeding was too slow to have any effect like that."

"If that's the case…you think he'll be back?" Halibel wondered, asking herself why Jinbe hadn't simply killed the beast if he could claim victory over it.

"Who knows?" Jinbe shrugged. "Still, best be on our guard." He raised his voice so the whole crew could hear. "If any of you hear or find out anything about this 'Cipactli', I want you to immediately tell the whole crew."

"Right," everyone responded in unison, even Kisame.

OoOoOoO

Gustave had woken up again, his bleeding having slowed to a trickle. His left arm would still spasm in pain. His insides felt jumbled up after so many blows from Fishman Karate. He was laying on the bottom of the sea floor.

Not wanting to put it off any longer, Gustave opened his mind. Then, he heard his master's voice.

"Gustave, I'm disappointed," Cipactli's booming voice echoed in the crocodile's head, a massive slit green eye staring down at him.

"Yes, my Lord." Even though he wasn't physically present, Gustave still felt the need to bow his head in shame.

"I've given you intelligence and strength because you were a lowly creature in my image, and this is how you use it?" Cipactli raised his voice.

"Master," Gustave's own voice was cut off.

"I don't need to hear your explanations or excuses…I saw the whole thing after all."

Gustave flinched at the reminder, something which Cipactli didn't seem to appreciate.

"Are you forgetting that a God such as myself must be all-knowing in concern to his subjects?"

"No," Gustave fearfully replied. "Of course not, Sire."

"No indeed," Cipactli sighed before continuing. "Still, I have to admit the strength of your adversaries was impressive."

Gustave's left arm twitched.

"But that is no matter, you failed to find Mr. Silver," Cipactli put it matter-of-factly.

"Sire," Gustave quietly replied. "His scent was still fresh, despite there being no sign of him. He can't have left more than a few days before we got there."

"Hmm…at least the trail is still fresh," Cipactli conceded. "Very well, I shall allow you to continue the hunt."

"Oh Sire," Gustave barely held back his relief. "I'm unworthy of your forgiveness."

Suddenly, the crocodile felt an immense pressure. "Do Not mistake my benevolence for forgiveness," Cipactli coldly told his soldier. "It's only because of your years of loyalty that I'm even allowing this second chance."

Gustave kept his head bowed, not trusting himself to speak as that looming green eye narrowed.

"I'll be sending the Leopard, the Jackal, and a Chimera Ant with 500 of my troops to aid you," Cipactli informed his servant.

"What? You'd have Otherworld Trash join in my holy crusade?!" Gustave couldn't help but bristle. "Those three have no loyalty to you!"

"You Forget Yourself!" Cipactli's sheer will cowed the crocodile. "You dare to question my grand design?"

"No, your majesty," Gustave submissively answered.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we need the Otherworlders. You knew that from the very beginning," Cipactli continued. "You will work with them, and you will all stay in line. Do I make myself clear?"

"Completely Sire," Gustave raised his head.

"Once you've met up with the others, I'll relay what my Caracara spies tell me. I already have one stationed around Poseidon's Island of Lotus Eaters. Don't disappoint me again," Cipactli's voice resonated as 19 more green eyes made themselves apparent to the Crocodile, before all vanishing.

Gustave woke back up in the real world, body trembling after that encounter. He was honestly shocked at still being there, having seen first-hand what happened to those deemed less than worthy in Cipactli's eyes. Before he could contemplate any further, something in the distance caught his attention.

Acting fast, Gustave buried himself under the sandy bottom until only his eyes and nostrils were visible. At that point, the crocodile nearly paled.

It was the Flying Dutchman. She was slowly cruising under the water.

'What the hell are they doing here? Now, of all times?!' Gustave panicked thoughts were racing.

Just as the ship passed over him, he could make out the figures on the deck. He was startled to find that he didn't recognize some of the crew. There was a woman with the fangs and bottom half of a sea snake. His eye was also drawn to two very big creatures stomping across. One had a very pointy nose, while the other had one leg of coral, and an arm of a starfish as replacements for lost limbs.

'So, Jones has been recruiting otherworld trash,' Gustave realized. 'What's he after?'

Speaking of the devil, Gustave saw the good captain at the helm. Then, Davy Jones turned and looked right at him.

The crocodile felt his blood run cold, not even daring to blink. He knew he was too injured to put up much of a fight if it came to that. Even at full strength, Gustave would've never attacked the Dutchman alone.

Jones brought his tentacle hand up, and tipped his hat to Gustave.

Quickly as it came, the Dutchman had vanished.

'Don't tell me,' Gustave panicked. 'Is he after the treasure too?! This is bad! At this point, I'd gladly work with a hundred otherworlders rather than let Jones get his hands on it. Such power absolutely cannot fall into the hands of Cipactli's rivals.'

Back at Old Nile Island, Jinbe's treatment had finished. With the all clear to move, Jinbe walked towards the civilians, who'd all been just outside the town until the fight moved into the sea. When they saw him, he was immediately swarmed with 'thank-you' and cheers.

Barely repressing a smile, Jinbe raised his hand for silence. "I'm sorry for bringing this up so soon, but we need information about the creatures who attacked you?"

There was murmuring amongst the crowd, before that little girl who tried lying to Gustave stepped up. "What do you want to know?"

"Who were they after?" Kisame asked.

Slightly taken aback at the bluntness, the girl hesitated before answering. "They wanted Mr. Silver."

"Who the hell's Mr. Silver?" Apacci impatiently wondered.

"Another sailor like you lot," an older gentleman answered. "Big man. His right arm, leg, eye, and ear were all cybernetic. Made some delicious stew for us all."

"Really?" Franky asked, clearly intrigued.

"He and the other two passed through this week," the little girl helpfully added.

"What others?" Juvia knelt down to the girl's eye level as she asked.

"Well, one was this blonde chef who exchanged recipes with me. Had the curliest eyebrow I'd ever seen," a young woman recalled. "Couldn't really forget it when he basically threw himself at me."

"Sanji?!" Brook and Franky exclaimed.

"Yeah, that was his name," the woman remembered. "At least he shut up about loving me whenever Mira talked about her grog. And let me tell you, it was the best damn grog I've ever had."

Juvia looked up at that. "What did this Mira look like?"

"Tall, long white hair, prettiest face I've ever seen," the little girl blushed as she went into detail.

The crew noticed Juvia gasp.

"I take it Mira's from Fairy Tail," Jinbe assumed.

"Yeah," Juvia couldn't stop her smile at the prospect of finally reuniting with a Guild Mate.

"When did they leave?" Halibel asked to get them back on track.

"Two days ago," came a voice from the crowd. "They were heading southwest."

Curious, Brook opened his skull and pulled out the map. "Hmm…if that's true, then Silver, Sanji, and Mira could all be at the Land of Lotus Eaters by now."

"If that's the case, we should get ready to set sail," Jinbe decided. "We don't want to miss them."

After a round of farewells, and Hanataro checking all the civilians for injuries one last time, the crew departed.

The crowd of people was waving at them on the shoreline. The older gentleman turned to the young woman. "You didn't tell them that Silver was leading the others to Tamatoa's Horde."

The woman flinched at the accusatory tone. "Come on, I'm not just going to send our saviors straight to their deaths. You've heard the stories." She sighed. "Hopefully, they'll catch the trio before they leave the Lotus Eaters. Maybe they can convince them to stop."

The older man still seemed skeptical. He sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do about it now. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why so many people like Silver and that Gustave would seek the treasure despite the rumors.

OoOoOoO

Far away to the west, a small schooner was making its way through the water.

"Come on!" a silver-haired man whined. "How much further until we get there?"

"For the 20th time, we're still a week away from Tamatoa's Horde," a darker-skinned man wearing a mask impatiently replied as he counted money. "Now shut up before I kill you."

"HA! How many times are you gonna repeat that stale threat, you damn fossil?" the younger man raised a red triple-bladed scythe.

The other man settled for growling. "You know, I'd have thought you actually dying would've given some perspective. After all, I could simply chop you up and leave you to starve to death. Guess I grossly overestimated your capacity for thought."

"The Hell?! You calling me an idiot?!"

"What do you think, you damn zealot?!"

"Well, right back at ya, blasphemous miser!"

Suddenly, a blue blast of energy shot out from the other end of the ship. "Hidan, Kakuzu, If I have to hear another argument between you two," another young man's voice growled as he walked into view. He had wild blue hair, matching eyes, and a fragment of a skull over his right jaw. A sword hung loosely in its holster on his side. "I'll sink this ship and leave all you to rot."

"Hey, come on Grimmjow," a softer voice came from the helm. It was a young woman with long orange hair, wearing nothing but a bikini top and jeans. "Can't you bear it for one week? We'll all be out of each others' hair after we get to Tamatoa's Horde."

"Would you cut it out with that fake smile, Nami?" Grimmjow scowled at her. "The only reason I've kept you around is because you know ships and where to go. Don't tempt me."

Nami's face fell into a carefully neutral expression as she focused back on navigating, nervously tapping her Clima-Tact. Already, she was trying to figure out a way to leave these three high and dry with the guardian while she had the treasure at the end of the day. Still, it'd be tough to keep up this charade.

Despite the threats, Kakuzu, Grimmjow, and Nami had agreed to set their differences aside for the sake of finding the greatest treasure around. Well, Kakuzu and Nami did. Grimmjow was just curious about the guardian and whether it'd be a decent opponent. Notably, none of them had made a deal about what came after.

"Fine," Nami replied. With that, she comforted herself with visions of golden baths and silver plates, not caring in the least about whatever rumors or curses kept people away from what was soon to be her treasure.

A.N. Alrighty…lot to unpack here.

Did you really think that I'd have such a stupendous treasure without those two greedy misers wanting to get their claws on it? Still, I'm very eager for when this ragtag bunch meets my crew. I originally was going to have Aaroniero be the one traveling with Nami, Hidan, and Kakuzu to go with that 'Greed' theme, but I have a very good reason for picking Grimmjow instead…which I'll simply show you much later. Still, I wanted to show now that it wasn't just our crew and Big Bads looking for this treasure.

Now, the main event of this chapter. Jinbe vs. Gustave. I hope that I was able to convey that the crocodile really was on the Fishman's level of strength thanks to his God's enhancements. If a mere subordinate is this strong…imagine what I have in store for Cipactli himself. MWAHAHAHA! My idea for Gustave's fighting style was mostly inspired by the Zoans in One Piece. I basically asked myself…what would a Crocodile Fruit be like if they could actually swim? And here we are.

On the other hand, I enjoyed putting more focus on everyone's favorite Fishman. Think this might've been my first purely one-on-one fight, and I'm glad that Jinbe was the first to have that. Plus, it was good to show off just how good of a planner he is before we got into it. Always nice when a favorite of yours runs circles around his enemies, especially in the mental sense.

Little bonus, for Cipactli's soldiers, I actually stuck with animals native to Central and South America. Plus, the Jaguar's name (Balam) is actually the Mayan word for Jaguar. Yeah, I know…so creative on my part.

I'm curious to hear what you all have to say about Gustave and Cipactli. Also, see if you can guess who Cipactli is going to send as reinforcements. Oh, and HunterXHunter is a part of this story too now. YAY!

Still, before Tamatoa's Horde, it's off to the Lotus Eaters…where we'll meet Sanji, Mirajane, and Mr. Silver (who's another favorite Disney creation of mine).

Til Next Time…Have Fun!