Chapter XI: Pain

When they arrived back in the ruined town, the sight of Nojiko talking with the other two Straw Hats and the bounty hunter duo greeted them. She noticed them and spoke up, "Hello. I was just about to talk to your friends here. There are a few things you should know about my sister Nami. Would you like to sit down and listen?"

Luffy nodded. He hadn't listened to Nami's past the first time on the grounds that he didn't need to know her past in order to help her, as he could see her suffering either way. But now, he wanted to know the full story. "How did you find us?" he asked.

"Due to its destroyed state, Gosa Village is the only place on the island that Arlong doesn't keep tabs on. So, if I were to give you any credit, this is where you'd be." Luffy nodded; it made sense. So they listened to the story of Nami's childhood, of a person named Bell-mère, and of the arrival of the Arlong Pirates 8 years ago. Through it all, the only person who kept a straight face was Zoro. By the end, Johnny and Yosaku were looking down in shame, Usopp was trembling in anger, and Sanji was screaming bloody murder. He was intent on challenging the Arlong Pirates right then and there, only to be hit over the head by Nojiko.

"You're all missing the point. I came here to tell you that what you've been doing could mean the death of our village. Nami is so close. She's worked so hard these past 8 years, and she's suffered alone. Can you imagine the pain that a 10-year-old girl must have endured to come to that decision?" Everyone was silent at this. "If you do anything to anger Arlong on the grounds that you are helping Nami, everything will be ruined. I'd imagine he's already suspicious of her. So I came to tell you not to do anything stupid," she said firmly.

Suddenly, Luffy stood up. His head was turned to the ground, and his hat shadowed his eyes. He started walking away without saying a word. "Where are you going?" Nojiko asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'm just going for a walk." Zoro watched him leave. Luffy had been absolutely livid in the previous timeline, and he hadn't even heard the full story. Hearing it now when he was already restraining himself from splaying Arlong's blood over the walls of Arlong Park couldn't be easy. He sighed. Zoro hadn't been planning on killing Arlong. Maybe just crippling him for life. It was always morality, not naïveté, that caused Luffy to refrain from killing his enemies, but sometimes he wondered what it would take to push his captain over the edge.

When Luffy said he was going for a walk, he meant it. He walked from the ruins of Gosa Village all the way to Cocoyasi Village without even realizing it, until finally a familiar scarred face broke him out of his thoughts. Genzo.

"What exactly do you want from Nami?" he asked hesitantly as he led a group of Marine soldiers into the village.

"It's just Marine business. I'm not at liberty to discuss it," the Marine captain answered with a smirk. They arrived at a tangerine grove where they found Nami, who had a wary look on her face as they walked up to her.

"Are you the outlaw named Nami?" the Marine captain asked, knowing full well that she was.

"Outlaw?" she asked. "I guess you can say that. I am an Arlong Pirate, after all." Her jaw seemed to clench as she said that.

"Pirate?" he asked in feigned confusion. "Well, I didn't know anything about that. I'm here to address the issue of your thievery."

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. "Thievery? I don't see how that's an issue at all. I only steal from pirates."

"True," he conceded. "But that doesn't change the fact that the money has original owners. My job is to confiscate it and return it all to them." At these words, Nami's expression turned menacing. There was no way they could possibly figure out who the individual owners of everything she stole were. They just wanted to keep it for themselves. This was why she hated the Marines. Corruption was so common among them.

"Do you really think you can walk away with my money just like that? Arlong won't forgive you if you make a move against one of his officers." She almost choked on the words. She hated using Arlong's name as leverage, but if they confiscated her money now, it would ruin everything.

"The Marines do not acknowledge pirates as authoritative figures, so I'm afraid your point is irrelevant," he replied readily. It was only a minute later that Nami realized the hypocrisy of that statement. The Marines had started searching the premises, and that was the last straw for Nami.

"What kind of Marines are you!?" she screamed. "8 years! Arlong has had this village enslaved for 8 years, and you haven't done jack shit about it! Now when you finally show up, it's to confiscate the money of one petty little thief!?"

"The Marines also do not take advice on how to do their jobs from petty little thieves," the Marine captain replied with practiced ease.

"Sir! These tangerine groves look suspicious," one Marine reported.

"Well, don't just stand there. Dig it up," he ordered. The Marine began to comply before he was knocked over by Nami's staff, which struck him in the face smoothly. "Don't touch Bell-mère's grove with your filthy hands!" she seethed. "I won't let you take any of it! That money is—"

"That money is the salvation of this village! What right do you have to lay a finger on it, fucking Marine!?" Genzo shouted at the top of his lungs.

Nami froze. "Gen-san...how did you know?" she whispered.

"We've always known, Nami," he said quietly. "We only feigned ignorance so that our hopes wouldn't pull you back into this if you ever wanted to leave." He looked her dead in the eyes. "But you never did. You've struggled and suffered for our sakes all this time. You endured. For that reason alone, we've endured as well." Nami choked on a sob.

"Oh, so you're saying you're all accomplices, then?" Captain Nezumi asked. He was taunting them now.

"We're saying that we've had to fight by ourselves all this time because you Marines can't do your jobs!" a new voice shouted.

"Nojiko…" Nami was having trouble keeping her composure.

"If you didn't come here to arrest Arlong, then you all better get off this island!" she continued. "Arlong will sink your ship if you don't!"

"I wonder about that," Nezumi responded lazily. Nami's blood froze. "Hey! Haven't you found it yet? I'm not asking you to find a needle in a haystack! This is 100 million Belly we're talking about!"

Genzo and Nojiko both wore the same horrified expression. "You…how did you know it was that much?" Genzo asked quietly.

Nezumi scratched his head, noticing his slip-up. "Oh, that? I just had a hunch that it was in that ballpark," he said with a devious smirk.

Nami trembled with rage. This…this transcended corruption. She couldn't even think of words to describe this. She slowly made her way towards the Marine, oblivious of everything else that was happening, as Nezumi ordered his men to make sure they didn't interfere with the search again. She didn't notice the resigned yet resolved look that manifested in Genzo's eyes. She didn't notice as Nojiko scrambled up behind her to hold her back. She didn't notice the pistol that one Marine pulled from his holster and aimed at Nojiko.

The gunshot never went off, though. Genzo and Nojiko, as well as the villagers that were starting to gather around, watched in shock as every single Marine fell over onto the ground, unconscious. "What?" was all Nojiko could say. She had just realized the danger they were in when one Marine aimed a gun at them when they collapsed. "What on earth just happened?" Muttering broke out between the villagers.

A small part of Nami's mind was reminding her that she knew exactly what had just happened, but she ignored it in favor of running in the direction of Arlong Park. Arlong. She knew what his game was. He knew how close she had been. Even though these Marines had failed, something would happen to her money before she returned from her next trip, and there was nothing she could do about it. Arlong!

She reached the gates and stomped towards him in a frigid rage. "Arlong!"

"Oh, it's our navigator! What can I help you with, Nami?" he asked, despite knowing full well why she was there.

"What did you do!? You said you wouldn't break our promise, no matter how long I took! And yet you send Marines to confiscate my money!?"

"Break my promise?" he asked in a bored tone. "When did I break my promise?"

"Don't bullshit me! Those Marines you sent are unconscious in the ground of our village right now! You can't deny it!"

Arlong looked a little surprised at this information. Useless Marines…no matter. It's not as if I don't know where she keeps it. It won't be here when she comes back next time.

"Oh, those Marines. Yeah, I sent them," he stated casually. "So, tell me. When exactly did I break our promise?" he asked with a dark look. Tears started to form in Nami's eyes and he laughed maniacally. "It certainly would be unfortunate if anything happened to all that money," he continued. "But you know what our agreement is. Unless you hand me a total sum of 100 million Belly, I have no obligation to set your village free." He continued laughing as Nami ran out Arlong Park, tears trailing down her face.

I have to stop them. As angry as she was, there was only one thing she could do. By now, Genzo would have informed the entire village of what happened. She couldn't let them throw their lives away now, after everything they'd endured.

She arrived back in Cocoyasi Village and sighed in relief. Genzo was still rallying the villagers. She hadn't missed them. At the sight of the cheap swords and pitchforks in their hands, Nami wanted to puke. What were they trying to accomplish?

She forced a smile onto her face as she tried to convince them to wait a little longer, that it would be easier to collect the money this time around, but they would have none of it. They were getting ready to leave when she pulled out a knife in desperation. "I won't let you go! You'll just be throwing your lives away!" she screamed as she faced Genzo.

"We know," he said simply. Nami choked as he reached out and grabbed the edge of her knife with his hand, and the tears escaped her again as blood poured down his fingers. "Leave this island, Nami," he said, before walking past her. She fell to her knees as they all did the same. She was defeated. Completely and utterly defeated. Everything she had worked for was about to be thrown away. She took one look at the tattoo on her arm before gripping it with her other hand, wanting nothing more than to rip the abomination off of her skin. She grabbed the knife as her desperation made way for anger and prepared to stab the horrid mark, willing it to disappear.

"Arlong!" she shouted through tears as she started to thrust the knife towards her shoulder. A firm hand stopped her and pulled the knife away, and she looked over her shoulder. Luffy.

"What do you want?" she whispered. He was silent. She hadn't seen him since Baratie, and seeing him again now just increased the pain tenfold. There was no way he wouldn't act, she knew instinctively. Did she have to lose him too? Would he just be another one of her failures, lured here by his irrational loyalty to her, only to die? Was that her fate? To watch those around her throw their lives away for her sake?

"What do you want?" she repeated, louder this time. "You know nothing. You have no idea what this village has been through all this time!"

Luffy didn't correct her as he banished the thoughts of the people of a certain town being burnt alive like trash that were flickering through his mind. "Whether I know or not is irrelevant," he said. "Because I can see you suffering right in front of me either way."

"Go away!" she screeched as she broke down into sobs again. Luffy felt the weight of the world on him. He knew that preventing this would have had its own consequences, but that didn't make it any easier. It truly was a heavy burden. Did he have the right to make decisions like this simply because he knew what would happen afterwards? He had prolonged Nami's suffering in order to gain her approval to crush Arlong. Was it worth it? Should he have let Zoro cut him down from the beginning, even if it meant Nami would scorn them?

He tried to imagine his crew without Nami in it. He couldn't. Was he being selfish? It wasn't just for the benefit of the entire crew that Nami would come with them. Her dream was to draw a world map. Eventually, that dream would draw her to places that had never been catalogued before. The chances of Nami making it through the Grand Line alone were extremely slim, even if she got stronger than she ever had in the previous timeline. In addition to that, the thought of Nami traveling the seas alone any longer made his chest ache.

"Luffy…" she whispered as she finally looked up at him. "Help me…"

Luffy had come back to change things. And yet, there were some things he wouldn't do any differently even if he came back a thousand times. He took off his hat and placed it firmly over her head. His arms tensed as he walked in front of her, itching to get a crack at something. He stopped, raised his head, and shouted to the heavens.

"Damn straight!"

Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku were waiting for him nearby. "Let's go," he said as they walked by, and they all looked up.

"Right."

Genzo led the villagers to the front of the gates, which were shut tightly. "Arlong!" he shouted. "We know you're in there! Open the gates and face us!" The shouts of the villagers mimicked his demands, and after a few seconds, the gates started to open, inviting them in. They could see Arlong's amused grin as they walked in, and this only served to infuriate them more.

"Well, if it isn't my loyal citizens. What can I help you with?" he asked mockingly.

"You know why we're here, you fish bastard. We've come to kill you," Genzo said scathingly. Arlong was not pleased by this comment. If it was one thing that grated on his nerves, it was humans insulting the superiority of the fishman race. He got up from his throne like chair and walked closer to Genzo, who raised the sword that he was carrying. Before he could use it, though, Arlong was in front of him faster than he could react, holding him up by his throat.

"You know, this is actually perfect. I was never able to carry out your execution, rebel," he said with a dark smirk. He lifted Genzo higher and started choking the life out of him, and Genzo dropped his sword helplessly. The rest of the villagers were cut off in their approach by dozens of fishmen. "I guess this is it, then, human scum."

Before he could rip the man's throat out as he planned on doing, a large projectile shot through the gates of Arlong Park. Arlong could just perceive the shape of a man as it flew right towards him before a hand was gripping his arm and slowly crushing it. Arlong screamed in pain as he dropped Genzo, who fell to the ground in a fit of coughs as he clutched his throat. Arlong's assailant spun around, pulling his large body into a circular path in the process, before launching him through the first floor of Arlong Park. He crashed through several walls before he finally came to a stop.

The villagers looked at their village leader's savior in a mix between shock and wonder. When Genzo had somewhat recovered, he looked up and his eyes widened. "You're that kid. The one with the straw hat." He would never forget his appearance, with or without the hat. He had been the first in so long to stand up to Arlong. Him and his group of friends. This was the second time they had saved his life. He should have been extremely grateful, but he hardly even valued his own life at this point.

The hostile fishmen all rounded on Luffy, dozens of them running at him. Two more men stopped them. One had blond hair and wore a black button-down suit and tie. The other was the swordsman who had challenged Arlong in Cocoyasi Village. The two men started ruthlessly beating down the fishmen until finally two of Arlong's officers, Hachi and Kuroobi, confronted them. A few of the weaker fishmen were still standing, but Johnny and Yosaku were keeping them busy.

Sanji took a look at his opponent and hummed before looking to Zoro. "Which one do you want then?" he asked casually. Zoro turned to him.

"Actually, you can take both if you want," he said.

Sanji stared at him, thinking that it really didn't seem like his style to sit back and watch. "Your injury…" he finally said.

"Hurts like a bitch," Zoro finished. "But that doesn't matter. I just want to see what our newest recruit can do."

Sanji grinned. "Well, don't get too comfortable. This'll be over quick."

Suddenly, there was a crash in the building Luffy sent Arlong into. The shark fishman walked out slowly. He clutched his arm awkwardly, the scowl on his face even angrier than the bruise on his arm. He walked up to Luffy.

"That's quite the grip you have there, human. I hope you're prepared for the consequences of what you've just done."

"I'm always prepared for the consequences," Luffy answered evenly. "Except when there are none." Arlong's scowl deepened and he lunged at Luffy faster than the villagers could see. Luffy started dodging attacks one by one as they came at him in quick successions. Punches, kicks, and chomps all threatened him in a furious combo, but nothing hit him. Arlong was quickly growing frustrated. He tried to grab Luffy, but was sent flying back into Arlong Park with a kick. Their spectators watched in amazement. They could barely keep up with this fight. The only ones who could were Zoro and Sanji, but Sanji was being kept busy to say the least.

Another of Arlong's officers, Chew, spat a series of water bullets at Luffy, which he effortlessly dodged. He was about to run at the rubber man before he was hit with an Exploding Star and turned to face Usopp in annoyance. Usopp ran, and Chew followed behind him, stopping to look at the villagers, who stiffened in fear, before getting hit by another Exploding Star. He growled in pain and continued the chase. There's too much water here, Usopp thought frantically. I have to lead him somewhere else. He'll run out eventually if there's no water source.

Sanji dodged two swipes from Hachi's swords and blocked a punch from Kuroobi with his knee, flipping backwards and landing before jumping forward and roundhouse kicking Kuroobi. Kuroobi blocked the kick but was pushed back and landed on his back. Sanji tried to press the advantage and land a drop kick, but Hachi intercepted him, forcing him to dodge the swipes of his six spinning swords. Kuroobi got up and charged at him again.

Sanji narrowly avoided the blow and dropped under Kuroobi's arm, kicking up at his face. The force of the kick sent him sailing upwards, and Sanji pushed off the ground to land another kick to his head from above. He hit the ground face-first, but before Sanji could land, Hachi's six swords were bearing down on him. He did a flip in mid air to position himself so that he could avoid most of them, but one connected, opening a small wound on his torso.

He landed as Hachi swiped again, but Sanji weaved between his swords and planted his foot into the octopus fishman's gut. Hachi was thrown back, gasping for air, but before Sanji could take another shot at him, Kuroobi was back in the fight. Sanji jumped above the punch he threw and twisted in midair in order to land a kick to the side of his head. His wound from before opened a bit in the process, and he winced. Hachi was still recovering and Sanji took the time to catch himself in a handstand and unleash a barrage of kicks on Kuroobi, who guarded with his arms but still took blows to his legs and stomach. He started leading Sanji away from Hachi, going on the defensive and dodging his kicks until they both got close to the water.

Sanji realized the danger he was in as Kuroobi grabbed him by the arm and tried to hurl them both in, but Sanji crushed his hand with his knee, and Kuroobi was forced to let go, cursing in pain. Sanji landed on the edge where the land ceased and quickly jumped back over, making a mental note not to get anywhere close to the water. Kuroobi stayed in the water and waited him out, not wanting to give up his advantage, which was fine with him.

Suddenly he cursed as he had forgotten about Hachi, who tried to impale him from behind, only for Sanji to drop to all fours on instinct and then pushed himself into the air before Hachi brought his swords down. He did a backflip in midair and kicked Hachi's head to the concrete with both legs. Hachi dropped his swords once his head made contact and Sanji landed, turning around and kicking him again with one leg to send him crashing into a wall. He took a minute to catch his breath before Kuroobi shot out of the water, realizing that his plan had backfired once he had left Hachi alone.

Sanji got ready to dodge Kuroobi's next punch, but he stumbled as his gradually opening wound protested the movement, and the attack hit him dead on where the sword swipe had injured him earlier. Sanji held in a groan of pain as he flew through the wall of the park from the force of the blow and landed on his back.

Usopp shot a series of Exploding Stars at Chew, who dodged most of them. Even the ones that hit him only seemed to annoy him further. As Chew got closer, he continued running, desperate to create more distance between them. It was kind of surprising that he actually ran faster than this guy, but he didn't dwell on that particular blessing. Suddenly, Chew stopped running. He took a deep breath, aimed, and fired a water gun at Usopp. Usopp turned around and it seemed to hit him in the chest. He fell over onto the ground motionlessly.

Chew walked up to him, looked him over, and decided he was dead. He started to walk away, grumbling something about fast running weaklings. Usopp looked up from where he lay. The shot had missed him narrowly, but he had used a Ketchup Star to fake a hit. He wondered if he could really win this fight. There was no water around, but he didn't know how much the fishman had left to begin with. He briefly contemplated just letting the fishman walk away. It was unlikely that he could win this fight. But what if that guy went after the villagers or swayed the outcome of one of the other fights? It would be his fault.

He thought about it for a moment before Luffy's words came to his mind. Not doubting. That is true power. If he was going to question his chances of victory every time he needed to get a job like this done, did he even have the right to call himself their crewmate? The obvious answer was no. With that thought, he slowly rose to his feet, his heart pounding and his legs shaking, and shouted.

"Where do you think you're going, you fish bastard!? I'm not done with you yet!" Chew turned around, annoyed. If this guy was alive, he really should have played dead for a little longer. He ran back towards Usopp and blocked an Exploding Star with his hand, ignoring the sting. He tried to shoot another water cannon at the sniper, only for his eyes to widen. He was out of water.

Instinctively he caught something that was thrown at him. He looked at it in confusion. A sake bottle? Suddenly, an Explosive Star hit the bottle, and the sake drenched him. He growled in annoyance.

This is it! There's no turning back! The saga of the cowardly, good for nothing Usopp…

"It's over!" he shouted out loud.

"What's over, you stupid shit?" Chew asked, not being able to read his thoughts.

"This fight! Alcohol is flammable," Usopp replied confidently. "Certain Death! Flame Star!"

Chew tried to block this one only for his entire body to catch fire once it made contact with his hand. He screamed in agony and started rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put the fire out. Usopp took the opportunity and leapt over him, bringing down a hammer full force onto his skull. "Usopp Hammer!" Chew stopped flailing, and Usopp sat beside him, panting. Suddenly, Chew twitched and let out a groan, and Usopp freaked out, hitting him on the head with the hammer repeatedly and yelling Usopp hammer all the while.

Where did he even get that hammer? was Chew's last thought before he blacked out.

Hachi and Kuroobi both rushed him to finish Sanji as he slowly rose to his feet.

This is nothing, he thought, shaking off the pain and getting ready for another round. What Nami-san has endured these past eight years…

The fishman duo came at him from two sides, and Sanji placed his palm down on the ground and started spinning rapidly.

It puts this pain to shame!

"Concasse!" The spinning kick caught both fishmen in its circular path and they were both blown back off their feet. Before either could get up, Sanji jumped into the air and performed a series of front flips for momentum before bringing his heel down on Hachi's skull, putting him out of commission. He was unable to recover in time, though, and Kuroobi took the chance to land his strongest attack.

"Thousand Brick Fist!" The heavy punch hit Sanji dead center and he felt at least two ribs break. He was thrown back again, crashing through the same wall again. Even that didn't stop his momentum, though, and he crashed again through the wall in Arlong Park before coming to a stop. Kuroobi followed him in, seething. "You bastard. Look what you've done to Hachi. Don't think I'll forgive you for this," he called out, assuming the fight was over. Sanji rose shakily to his feet, however, and Kuroobi was infuriated further when he came into the building only to find Sanji standing.

"That's just fine with me," Sanji replied, coughing up blood. "Because I don't intend to forgive what you bastards did to Nami-san.

"Nami?" Kuroobi scoffed and then laughed. "Don't tell me you're all here to avenge that manipulative backstabbing woman! She was just using you from the beginning. Your pathetic chivalry is wasted on her!"

Sanji's gaze darkened. He could handle the pathetic chivalry part, but the rest he couldn't ignore. "Get this through your thick skull, fish stick. Nami is the navigator for our crew, and that's not about to change anytime soon. So if you're going to stand there and insult her, I hope you're ready for some pain." Before Kuroobi could retort, Sanji shot forward, delivering a series of swift and precise kicks to the fishman's head, neck, torso, arms, and legs. Kuroobi stumbled and fell back. He struggled to stand, and Sanji let him recover as he lit a cigarette.

Kuroobi roared and jumped into the air, intending to drop kick Sanji, but Sanji ducked under him. "Anti Manner Kick Course!" He shoved his foot upwards at a 180-degree angle into Kuroobi's chest, and the ray fishman barreled through several floors of the building. He got lodged into one of the upper floors before blacking out.

Sanji blew out a puff of smoke. Chef: 2, Fish: 0. He tapped his foot against the ground a couple of times before he walked out of the slowly collapsing building to face a grinning Zoro.

"Not bad, Cook," Zoro commented.

"Shut it," Sanji replied, before promptly collapsing onto his back with his arms spread out.

"You missed quite the show. I think you can still catch the end of it, though," Zoro said, pointing. Sanji followed his finger to the crowd of villagers. Among them was Nami. When had she gotten here? They were all staring at something with awed expressions. He leaned onto his arm to get a better view. Luffy was standing in front of a pool of blood. He was covered in it. It coated the length of his arm and oozed down his fist, dripping onto the concrete below. And yet, Sanji couldn't see any wounds on him. Was it…?

His eyes widened as he realized it all belonged to Arlong, who was lying before Luffy in a crumpled heap, gasping and struggling to push himself to all fours. "Get up." Luffy commanded. Arlong was torn between trying to continue the fight and refusing the human's command, but settled on trying to do what Luffy had said, only to slump to the ground again. "Get up," Luffy said again. "This is nothing. Absolutely nothing compared to what she went through. You're not getting off this easily."

Arlong roared in contempt and raised his head off the ground in a burst of adrenaline, only to be kicked across the face by Luffy. There was a deafening crack. His nose bent at an awkward angle and blood flew from his face. He dropped back to the ground, out cold with his eyes rolled back.

His audience was silent for a long while, taking in the sight. Finally, one villager—the doctor who had treated him last time, Zoro thought idly—remembered how to speak. "Arlong Park has fallen," he whispered. Nojiko nodded weakly. As if to verify his statement, the building that Sanji had let loose on finally collapsed, crumbling from top to bottom until all that was left was a pile of rubble. This was the signal for the villagers to break out in a fit of cheers. They cheered for the end of Arlong's reign, for the end of their enslavement, for the end of Nami's suffering, and for the beginning of their new life.

In the midst of it all, Nami walked up to Luffy and pressed his hat back on his head. The tension vanished from Luffy's face at the sight of her and he flashed her the widest grin he'd worn since arriving on the island before speaking.

"So, you wanted to draw a world map, right? You're going to have to go to the Grand Line eventually," he said matter-of-factly. Nami smiled.

"What do you mean, 'eventually'? How long are you planning to wait, Captain?" At this, Luffy's grin grew, and he was about to answer when Nami pulled him into a hug, returning the gesture he had offered at Baratie. Some of the villagers saw this, their protective instincts kicking in, and although they didn't stop cheering, several decided they would need to have a talk with Luffy at some point. Genzo was among them. But for now, they just continued celebrating.