Arlong Beaten!

Luffy and Run stand across from the large Arlong, who glares down at the pair. Regardless of just how he's trying to play it off it seems to Run that Luffy's attacks definitely did some damage. Which is good news for them and bad news for the Fishman.

"So, you two plan to fight me now?" Arlong asks. "Even if you do, what do you expect to happen? Don't either of you understand the difference between us?" Luffy and Run briefly exchange glances before turning their attention back to the Fishman.

"Nose," asserts Luffy. "No! Wait! It's jaws!"

"Webbed hands," Run says, holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers.

"It's species, bastards!" Arlong bellows, lunging in their direction. Both dodge quickly in opposite directions, pacing backwards as he snaps at them again and again. Arlong suddenly seizes Luffy and slams him against a piller. Run grabs his old friend by the hair of his head and stretches it out of the way of Arlong's jaws, making him bite into the pillar. Rather than shattering his teeth, he actually bites through the pillar, freeing Luffy and allowing the two of them to scramble away in the dust up.

"That's a hell of a set of chompers, Arlong," Run says, punctuating the sentence with a snap of his own teeth.

"Do you see now, the inherent power of a Fishman?" Arlong questions them. "You Humans were created as creatures inferior to Fishmen. We've been on different levels since the moment we were born." Luffy and Run exchange brief glances before looking back at him. "I'll show the two of you the real difference between us!"

"Yeah, why don't you?" agrees Luffy, grinning. "There's no way that we'll lose to you."

"Is that so? Can you Humans even do something like bite through a pillar?" Both of them laugh in response to his question.

"Why would we need to?" Luffy crushes a huge chunk of stone with his fist while Run stomps a stray piece of stone on the ground into dust. "When we can do that? After all, biting isn't the only way to break stone, ya know."

"That's not my point! You Humans are so weak you can't even help yourselves!" He launches himself at the two of them, who dodge his jaws. Luffy stretches his arms out, and snags a pair of discarded cutlesses before turning and swinging at him. Arlong quite easily avoids them until at last he shatters both of his borrowed blades. Luffy immediately punches him in the face, throwing him off his feet. Run covers the distance in the next second, cocking back as he does.

"Better clench those teeth, Arlong," Run tells him. "Sea King's Bite!" It's a strike hard enough to shatter his teeth and drive him straight down into the concrete, nearly making him lose consciousness.

"I have no idea how to use swords! I don't know how to navigate, I don't know how to cook, and I don't know how to lie! I can't do any of that but I know others that can!"

"To admit that so easily," replies Arlong, attempting to gather his thoughts after such a powerful punch. "Your crew must be quite distraught to be led by an idiot like you. I wonder why there tried so hard to save someone like you. What can you even do?"

"Beat you." Cheering erupts from the crowd of villagers gathered at the entrance of of the compound which earns a growl from Arlong.

"Go ahead and babble, insects!" His teeth drop out of his mouth, and from his gums a new set emerges much to the surprise of everyone. "What's with the look? I am a shark. New teeth grow in one after another, and every time they're stronger than the last!" Arlong reaches up and pulls a set of teeth out...and then another. "Do you understand now? This is a distinct quality given to us Fishmen by the Heavens!" He holds up the sets of teeth in front of them. "Tooth...Gum!"

He lunges at them, snapping the jaws and trying to take chunks out of them while they dodge, and weave his attacks. He singles out the red-head, much to his chagrin as he continues to bob and weave.

"Aah, c'mon, is this about the teeth thing?" Run shouts in question, avoiding the jaws again and again. "Can't we just talk it out?"

"I don't think he wants to talk, Run," offers Luffy.

"He doesn't- I get that feeling!" Run dodges another of Arlong's attacks...and unfortunately, loses his balance when he slips on the loose rubble and water. "Oh, shit!"

"Got you now!" bellows Arlong, striking at the off-balance red-head, who quickly grabs the nearest thing for a shield...that being one of the earlier defeated Fishmen. As angry as Arlong is he doesn't notice until he's already bitten the Fishman several times.

"A-Arlong...s-stop..."

"Wha- brother! How dare you? How dare you use my brother as a shield?!"

"You started it," replies Luffy rather childishly. "Ah! Hey, Run, I've got a plan!" The red-head arches a brow in question but it doesn't seem his Captain is going to be sharing it when he instead rushes forward to fight with Arlong again. Run watches the two fight, and when Luffy knocks Arlong to the ground and makes him loose another set of teeth, he's sure that he's just gonna ground and pound the Fishman...at least until he takes the teeth and shoves them into his own mouth. "Look, I've got fangs, too!"

"Dahahaha~!" laughs Run. "I can see that. I-" Arlong springs in their direction, chasing Luffy even more fiercely than before, and even succeeds in pinning the man to the ground with a set of his teeth. He's thrown off of Luffy moments later by Run slamming his knee into his cheek. He rolls to his feet and launches back at the red-head...who can only offer up his forearm as a shield between himself and Arlong's teeth. His fangs shatter on contact with the now inky black flesh of the red head's arm, and Run reaches up to grasp him by his nose before yanking him down and driving him face first into the ground hard enough to shatter the concrete.

The red head paces backwards from the Fishman watching him lie motionless for several seconds before he slowly pushes himself up, a hand pressed against his face. Run readies himself for Arlong's next move...and is completely caught off guard when he simply stands, turns his back on him and then quickly dives into the sea. What man...is he trying to flee? No, there's no way.

"No!" screams Usopp from the side lines. "Why would you let him go into the water?!" Luffy appears at the red head's side, looking at the surface of the sea now along with him. After several seconds, a fin breaks the surface of the water, racing in their direction.

"Aaah! A shark!" exclaims Luffy.

"Pretty sure that's Arlong," Run tells him, widening his stance slightly. "Be careful."

"Shark...Darts!" Arlong launches himself out of the water at the two of them. They barely react in time, dodging by the skin of their teeth even as he sails into and creates another hole in the wall of his own building. "Wow, I'm surprised you dodged it! But...the more you dodge the harder you're making it on yourself!" They barely have time to think before he launches himself at them again, this time from the building. He's supported entirely by his nose, ram-rod straight up and down. He attacks again and again, faster and faster, leaving them to do little more than dodge to avoid getting torn apart.

"Get away from the water!" screams Usopp. "You need to get away from the water!"

"Hell, no!" exclaim Luffy. "I'm gonna break that damn nose of his!" Luffy stretches his fingers out into a small wall in front of him.

"Gum-Gum...Shield!"

"Shark Darts!" He strikes Luffy's fingers, stretching them but stopping short of piercing him with his nose. Luffy grins like a fool before he bounces off Arlong, landing at the top of the tower while Run whistles in appreciation. Moments later, Arlong explodes out of the tower, streaking right towards Luffy who dodges him again. "This is it! Shark Darts!"

"Gum-Gum...Finger Net!" He stretches his fingers out like a net, and using them to capture Arlong briefly. "Now...Gum-Gum Spear!" He drills both feet into Arlong's stomach, driving him into the pavement hard enough to make him spit up blood. "Did that do it...?" The Fishman stirs, his eyes open and he fixes Luffy with a predatory glare not at all unlike a Sea King. He falls from the sky, right into Arlong's hands as he seizes him by the hair of his head, spins him around and throws him into the building.

"You filthy Human! Who do you think you are?!" He rounds on the red-head. "And YOU!"

"Uh-oh," grunts Run, raising his guard just in time to avoid taking the full strength of his punch in the jaw. "Aah, someone's upset." Luffy snags Run up by his collar and pulls him up to the roof to avoid Arlong's follow up punch that nearly pulverizes the wall. When he frees himself from the wall, he's wielding some huge jagged sword. "What the hell is that thing?" He swings the blade, and they dodge him, watching as he destroys part of the roof and they climb higher. Higher and higher he chases them, until they have nowhere left to go. "Shit!" He swings again, and they duck quickly before diving through the nearest window in an attempt to escape. In a storm of shattered glass, stone and splintered wood they go sprawling across the floor of the room.

"Looks like you two have run out of places to hide," calls Arlong, stepping through the hole in the wall that he's created.

"What the? This room is full of papers," observes Luffy.

"Papers? There aren't just papers. There are all maps!" The two look around the room. It's little more than a desk, a chair, and papers...thousands of papers. "Aren't they great? These are my treasures! For eight years I've had her making these sea-charts for me!" Arlong points the blade at the two of them. "Nami's skills should be used for the Fishmen only! Her talent is wasted on you!" From the desk beside them, a pen drops to the ground...a pen with a crush of dried blood covering it. Run picks it up and turns it over in his hand several times.

"This...This pen is covered in blood," murmurs Run, squeezing it a bit tighter.

"Nami's charts are absolutely vital if I am going to attain world supremacy for the Fishmen! She is going to continue drawing sea-charts for my ambitions! With her at my side, we Fishmen will be invincible! Our empire will spread across the world! Could you ever use her as efficiently as that?!" A loud 'snap!' punctuates the sentence as the pen snaps between Run's fingers. The red-head reaches out with his left hand, and gently places his hand on the jagged sword.

"Use her?" One of the jagged teeth of the blade is crushed seconds later, and Arlong staggers backwards quickly from Run. "Nami's not a tool to be used. By you or anyone else." Run kicks Nami's nearby desk hard enough that it smashes through the wall, scattering papers in all directions.

"You don't get to talk about our friend like that!" shouts Luffy, scattering a stack of papers. They set about destroying the room, shelves, book cases, anything and everything that could have been used by Nami they completely destroy.

"What do you think you're doing?!" demands Arlong, swinging his sword at them and succeeding only in destroying the sea-charts that Nami has created. "T-The charts! My sea-charts!" Run scatters year a stack of charts, trampling the papers without concern seconds before he's caught by Arlong, and lifted off his feet only to be slammed against a nearby wall. "I've invested eight years in these charts..." Without warning he bites onto Run neck, his fangs shattering on contact immediately. "...they are my ambition!" Luffy leaps on his back immediately, grasping his nose and attempting to wrench back the Fishman's head.

"Yeah?" asks Run, glaring at the Fishman as his head slowly begins to tilt backwards in Luffy's grip. "Well, some ambitions aren't mean be achieved!" A loud 'snap!' suddenly fills the air as Arlong's nose finally gives, twisting at a strange ankle. Arlong releases the red head immediately, staggering backwards while Luffy jumps from his back.

"I don't really give a crap about any of that," Luffy tells Arlong. "But...I've figured out exactly what to do. Nami can't leave because of this room...so because of that we're going to destroy it completely!" The red-head cracks his knuckles loudly.

"Gum-Gum..."

"Sea King's..."

"Don't get cocky! You think Arlong Park can be destroyed by a pair of weaklings like you?!" Arlong reaches up, straightens out his nose and lowers his stance. "Shark Tooth Drill!" He launches himself at the two, whirling around and around like a tornado.

"...Battle-Axe!"

"...Bite!" The attacks impact Arlong in the center of his back, driving him straight down through every floor of Arlong Park and right into the foundation. The whole building begins shaking moments later, wood splintering and stone cracking. "Luffy, the place is coming down! We need to go!"

"Oh, crap...!"

---

Rubble...Arlong Park has been reduced to rubble. What was once a grand structure is now little more than a heap of concrete, splintered wood and broken glass...and with neither Luffy or Run anywhere to be seen. Panic wells up in Nami as she watches the dust settle. There's no movement, no noise...nothing at all. The last of the dust settles, and everyone holds their breath, waiting for some kind of sign, anything to give them an idea of who won and who lost...and they aren't disappointed. Two men suddenly brust free of the rubble, tossing off wood and concrete with ease to stand on top of the pile.

"NAMI!" bellows Luffy. "YOU'RE OUR FRIEND, GOT IT?!" The villagers break out into celebration around a crying Nami. The two descend the pile of rubble into the cheering crowd of villagers, and while Luffy is happy to bask in their adulation, Run decides to simply stand by and watch. He doesn't feel is really his victory to celebrate. However, all good things seem to come to an end and the celebrating is no exception when a group of marines show up on the scene.

"Hold it right there, no one move!" demands a rat-looking man. "I watched the entire fight, and I must say I'm surprised. I never imagined that a crew of no-names pirates like you lot would be able to defeat that band of Fishmen pirates. I hereby claim all of the valuables in Arlong Park as my own! I will be taking credit for all that you've done!" Zoro approaches the man and his marines from behind, and grabs hold of the back of his collar rather tightly if his panic is anything to go by.

"I hate party crashers," Zoro tells him. A sound beating delivered at the hands of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Run is all it takes to completely subdue the whole lot of them.

"I'm tellin' you," Run begins, approaching the battered Marines calmly. "There's something about this sea that turns the Marines into total dicks." The red head stops in front of their leader and squats down. "Aah, alright, Mr. Mouse, I'm sure that we can come to an agreement here. You and your men are going to clean up this mess completely. Any money, or valuables that you find? Well, those belong to the people on the island. In exchange, we promise not to dime you out for colluding with a wanted pirate. Deal?"

"Hold on, Run!" Nami shouts quickly. "I also want my money back! The money that you stole from me!"

"And Nami want's her money back." The red head stands and actually smiles down at the Marine. "Make sure you count it, Nami. If I found out that even a single Beli is missing-" Run raises his foot and stamps the ground, shattering the concrete around them. "-it would not be good for you." The man nods quickly in response and when the red head takes a step back, he decides that it's a good time to make his escape by diving into the sea and rapidly swimming away.

"I swear I'll get you for this!" screams the colonel from realitive safety. "You straw-hat man, and you with the red-hair! Your names are Luffy, and Run, right?! You'd better be prepared because I'm going to have my revenge! You wait and see!"

"All bark and no bite," complains Sanji.

"O-Oi! What are we gonna do?!" shouts Usopp. "What if we really wind up in big trouble?!"

"Aah, well, that the way it goes," Run tells him. "Oh? Zoro, what happened to your face? Hell of a goose egg ya got there." Run reaches out and taps him in the middle of the forehead, causing the swordsman to jerk his head back in pain much to the amusement of Luffy, Sanji, Usopp and even Nami. "Oh-ho! Sensitive!"

"That hurts, you bastard!" complains Zoro. "I'll show you...!"

----

The first thing that they did after everything was said and done...was head to the doctor to have their wounds treated. Zoro's injuries were the most extensive, they needed to be disinfected, restitched and bandaged again before the doctor would even think about turning him loose. "Honestly, what the hell were you thinking?!" demands the doctor. "You can't treat a wound this size on your own, you need professional care! Don't you folks have a medical professional on your crew?"

"No," Run tells him simply. "Why? You looking for a change of scenery?"

"Gaaah, would it kill ya to numb the area?!" shouts Zoro, squirming on the bed in spite of Run holding him still.

"Aah, quit your belly-aching. It's just a little prick."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?!" The doctor finishing his stitching and turns away from the now panting Zoro. The swordsmans eyes briefly close before snapping open the moment something cool touches his cheek. The red head holds out bottle in offer, and Zoro takes it with a grin. "Well...I'll forgive you this time." The doctor swivels back around in his chair and sighs heavily when he see's Zoro happily drinking from the whiskey bottle.

"I'm too old to be gallivanting about the seas with you youngsters. But my professional opinion?"

"By all means, doc," Run says.

"Find a doctor for your ship, and find it quick. I don't know what you youngsters plan to do but you won't make it far without proper medical treatment."

"Sounds like a good idea," agrees Luffy. "But first we need a musician! Pirates sing, after all!" Run chuckles in response. After their wounds had been treated professionally, it was time to party! Three days and nights are spent in a blur of food and drink for the crew...mostly drink for Zoro and Run. More than once they'd lost all contact with the red head, who disappeared into the crowds a drink in each hand. When they did finally manage to find their friend he was always surrounded by a large group of people living it up. After partying hard for two days, however, Run decided to take a bit of a break himself. He'd tucked himself away in an alley beside Zoro, enjoying his drink with the swordsman in a comfortable silence.

"Whew, I'm stuffed," announces a familiar voice, seconds before Sanji steps in the alley. "Sometimes it's better just to eat." Their cook leans against the wall and quickly lights a cigarette. "How are your wounds, Zoro?"

"Food and drink has fixed me right up," Zoro tells him plainly. "But how long are these people gonna celebrate? It's been three days!" Luffy chooses to make an appearance at that moment, inquiring about some kind of strange melon that Sanji had eaten earlier before running off to find it.

"Well...now that that's settled...I've got some very important things to do!" The cook runs off into the crowd much to the amusement of Zoro and Run.

"Are you going to go chasing women, too?"

"Me? I'm spoken for," Run says.

"I guess I'll go get something to eat. See ya 'round, Red." The swordsman stands, and walks out into the crowd leaving Run alone in the dim alley. The red-head raises his glass, tilts his head back and empties it in a few seconds. He lowers the mug and blinks in surprise when he finds a familiar dark haired woman leaning against the wall in front of him. A smile suddenly appears on his face as he places his empty mug on the bench beside him and stands. She's changed her clothes, opting for dark pants with a lilac button up blouse.

"Aah, I was hoping you'd come 'round again, Robin."

"Oh, really?" Robin asks, watching him step closer. "And why is that, Run?"

"Well, obviously, I have something I wanted to give you." He red head steps closer, bracing himself against the wall with his forearm as he leans in closer. "It's a bit of a surprise, though. So...close your eyes." A smile forms on the red head's face the moment he feels a gentle hand gliding up his chest. Her blue eyes drift close as a smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

"Mm, I do love-" The words die in her throat as his lips slant to her own, burning with a need all too familiar to her. A needy groan rumbles in his chest as his tongue seeking entrance as her hand slides up to grip the nape of his neck, pulling him flush against her with surprising strength. Her perfume surrounds him, a distinctly feminine scent that sees his head swimming. He's wanted a lot of things in his life but never anything as much as he's wanted this kiss...this kiss and what comes after. It is with a great deal of effort he finally pulls back, gently pressing his forehead to her own even as deft fingers massage the nape of his neck in...irritation? Excitement? "Run."

"Aah, not here." His eyes flick to the mouth of the alley. "Not unless you'd care for an audience." His free hand grasps her own, calloused fingers sliding against her own as he raises her hand and presses a kiss to her knuckles. "C'mon. Let's get some privacy..."