Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 26– Confrontation.
----------------------------------------
"SHAHAHAHA! MARINE SCUM! WHAT, PERCHANCE, BRINGS YOU TO THIS LOVELY LITTLE ISLAND OF MINE!?" Arlong bellows, laughing vindictively while spreading his arms out to his sides as if to encompass the entire island and proudly proclaim that it belonged to him. I might hate the man with a passion, but I have to admit, I watch in awe as he faces forward, head held high, facing three shipfuls of marines and laughing in their face.
I quickly squash the feeling of awe burgeoning inside me, knowing that this fucker doesn't deserve it. Even if Arlong does look fearless and undaunted in the face of insurmountable odds, I know it is built on cruelty and disdain for those he sees as beneath him. I might not have seen Garp in an actual fight, but I can feel it in my bones that he is far above Arlong. Arlong might be fearless and ruthless, but he is not unbeatable or infallible.
It takes a moment, but eventually, someone walks up to the front of the marine ship in the middle and pulls a sword out of a scabbard and points it towards the beach. Watching him, I can tell that he is the leader of the fleet that has come today, and by the splendour and intricacy of the clothes he wears, I can tell he is above Nezumis station as a captain but below Garp's status as a Vice Admiral. So he is of a rank somewhere between Captain and Vice Admiral.
"Wretched pirate scum that is terrorising the innocent people living on this island! I am Marine Commodore Pudding Pudding! Surrender, and I will leave you with your lives. Resist, and those lives are forfeit! You have ten seconds!" He says quite calmly from the prow of his ship. However, even at such a distance, his righteous tone reverberates across the water between us and into our ears. His voice tells us that there is no room for bargaining, and these are the only two options he is giving to the pirates.
At least he isn't a scumbag like Captain Nezumi. However, I have yet to see his strength. But even so, the fact that he is here and speaking so factually as if these two things are the only possible things that will happen makes me think that freedom is coming. He is so sure, so absolute, that he is convincing me that it is only a matter of minutes before we are free and showing much more emotion than me. The other villagers are all but cheering. Thankfully, still not being liberated yet, they are clever enough not to show their joy verbally.
Still, I guess all people with some strength end up looking a bit cooky because this guy does not look anything normal, especially with a name like Pudding Pudding. First of all, while he is dressed like a marine and generally looks like an average human, he isn't. Even from this distance, I can see that he is a pretty tall man, I think he might be nearing Arlong's levels of height, and Arlong is tall. Secondly, while he would look normal even being so lanky and tall, it is his hair that is strange.
Not his hair colour, which is a purply lilac, since I have met all sorts of people with all types of hair colours and even eye colours. No, what is different about this man is the hairstyle has chosen, and while I usually wouldn't care about such a thing, when it is paired with his lanky nature, it looks really weird. You know how when you have long hair, you can make a bun with it that's a bit floppy? That is how he has all of his hair.
With all the serious things happening right now, I really shouldn't be getting caught up on one man's hairstyle, but what the hell? He has, like, six buns on his head, two that go down the sides of his head, two that stick out diagonally, one that comes down directly onto his forehead, and one that sticks straight up into the air, and I can't even see the back of his head right now.
Not to mention that this man has facial hair just under his chin, and even that is in a bun. What's even weirder about it is that I can tell it was originally a soul patch which has grown too much, and he has put it into a bun, but the rest of his face is clean-shaven. I have to say, there are definitely more weirdos in this world than there were in that other one. Not just that, but strong weirdos in positions of power or just willing to do whatever they want, no matter who gets in their way. I am beginning to think past me was an idiot and should have chosen some other traits.
"Shahahaha! I have a counter offer! Kill yourselves right now, and spare me the bother of having to get my hands wet! Or, make me take your lives, which I can promise will be painful! You have five seconds!" There is none of his characteristic sadistic laughing after he has made his statement. Instead, he just stares hard back at them across the ocean, waiting for them to make a decision.
He took what they said to him and threw it right back in their faces. I can feel the air practically simmering and the sudden wariness of the villagers around me, Nami trembling next to me. Still, that is nothing next to the sheer rage of emotion I see bubbling across the sea, Commodore Pudding Pudding's face rapidly morphing into a rictus of fury and his face turning red.
"Front cannon, fire! Destroy this pirate scum!" The Commodore gets very angry and orders for a cannonball to be fired directly at Arlong. Not expecting this course of action, I get very worried as clearly, we are on this beach as well, just behind the tree line, and there is a very high likely hood of civilian casualties if they are blowing up the coast. On the upside, we are probably far away enough not to be affected, and a cannonball is definitely something that Arlong can't survive. No one can-
*BOOM*
A burst of fire from the front of the middle ship and a black ball of death comes shooting out, bursting across the ocean on a direct collision course with a certain ugly blue Fishman. I watch as it shoots towards Arlong before it vanishes from my sight, and all I can see now is Arlong's enormous back. I take pleasure in the fact that this will be the last time I will see it because it is about to be blown into about a million pieces. I can't wait to know what burnt shark smells like-
A sudden rush of wind and a black blur shooting off to the side is all the warning I get before an explosion hits the beach to the left of us, confusing and shocking us all. Then, looking forward, I see the horrifying sight before me that leads me to the dreadful conclusion of what had just happened. Arlong stands there in the exact same place as before, in the very same stance as before, except for one difference.
Arlong has his left arm to the side, and it is the exact same as it was before, except it is stretched out to the left, pointing to where that explosion went off. As a fast learner, I quickly work out what has happened and just how devastating that it is for the people of this island as well as the marines incoming. A ball of destruction was coming right at him, and he just backhanded it away to the left, the ball not phasing him in the least.
He just bitchslapped a fucking cannonball away like it was a fly- no, for him, it was less than a fly since you need precision and timing to swat those little creatures. He did it effortlessly so, so much so that it was scary because if a cannonball can't take him down, then what can? Definitely not me, not right now, as I am now.
"Fire again! He is- A single, you fool. There are civilians on the beach!" Skirting by the fact that someone was just about to litter this side of the island with cannonballs before the Commodore mentioned our presence, why is he doing the same thing again? Is he insane? If it didn't work the first time, then why would it work the second time? Apparently, my internal monologue doesn't actually have any effect on his actions, as another cannonball is fired from the front of the ship.
Before I know what is happening, I am already moving forward, gathering gasps from the workers behind me and a cry from Nami, but it doesn't impede me, not now. Instead, I set off on instinct, my blood pumping rapidly through my body and making me faster and stronger, as well as making me think more quickly. I am already sprinting at Arlong's back, having come to the only conclusion my rushed thoughts could bring me to.
Arlong backhanded the cannonball away, letting it explode away from him, meaning that while he can deflect it, he is still susceptible to the damage from it. The Marines are probably going to be useless, so the most I can do right now is make the most of the opportunity. I need to stop Arlong from deflecting or dodging the cannonball, making him take a direct hope and a lot of damage so myself and the Marines can wear him down together and defeat him.
The only possible way I can see of having the cannonball actually hit him is for something to get in his way, and that something is me. Moving faster than I ever have before, I reach Arlong just before the cannonball does, and I leap forward. I can already see Arlong moving to slap it away, the cannonball's trajectory aiming straight for his chest, which works perfectly for me.
My foot lashes out, and using my momentum and downward force, the back of my heel, the hardest part of my foot, smashes into the back of Arlongs head. I know right now I am too weak to actually do any damage to him, even with a direct hit on his head, but that is not what I am aiming for. My foot might not hurt him, but it does move his head downwards and changes his position meaning that he can't deflect the cannonball that continues on true, now moments from impacting his face.
I know that I am too close and will definitely be injured in the resulting explosion, but I don't care. I don't mind losing my leg if it means that this bastard loses his entire head. In fact, I think it is a worthy trade. A vicious grin of victory lightens up my face as the cannonball is finally here, and I am so joyous that I forget to brace myself for the impact or protect myself from the incoming explosion. Even as I realise it, I don't move to defend myself, caught up in this beautiful moment of victory that will soon be shown by a bang.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
But it doesn't come. There is no bang. Instead, there is silence just for an instance where confusion reigns in my mind. A cannonball should explode straight away unless maybe this one is just a blunt projectile, but even so, something should have happened. My confusion only lasts a second as suddenly Arlongs head comes back up and throws me back a little, and then he turns around and relieves me of my confusion. And there it is the cannonball that is.
Right there in his mouth. Arlong's mouth is wide open, unnaturally so. The black ball of supposed death is held there, being kept in place by his sharp teeth, which clench all around it. I am still in the air, and everything is happening so fast, but I manage a look at Arlongs eyes, which are staring right back at me. They are not angry, which I would much prefer to the perverse emotion showing within his pupils.
Even with his face being unnaturally elongated due to holding an entire cannonball in his mouth, he still manages to look at me. His dangerous pupils are locked on me. His eyes are narrowed, but instead of showing anger or fury, there is something else entirely in his eyes. I can't place it, but it is not a negative emotion aimed at me. Instead, it is positive, as if my actions which tried to end his life, have somehow pleased him. He is happy, which scares the shit out of me.
He smiles. Somehow, someway, he smiles at me, even with the cannonball in his mouth. And then he brings his jaw down, eliciting a grating screech of metal. He crunches it in his mouth, and then a blast of black smoke fires out and blasts me back. I fly backwards, only just managing to get my arms crossed against my face as I twist backwards through the air. My elbows and forearms burn as they skid and scrap against the sand as I fly across it before finally slamming my back into a tree.
A series of gasps and curses sound at near me as while as a cry, but I ignore it as I continue to stare back at Arlongs. When the cannonball burst and sent me back, I didn't close my eyes. I couldn't. I kept my eyes on Arlong as much as I could have as I flipped through the air. My eyes kept locking onto him as I flipped because if he decided to rush and attack me, then I wouldn't be able to do much.
But nothing. Arlong watched me go, his smile of something constant on his face. He wasn't joyous to see me hurt or in pain, but something else, something that I couldn't understand. He liked the fact I tried to kill him. He had something akin to respect in his eyes as he watched my beaten form resting against the tree before turning away from me and back to the Marines.
"Detoro-Kun!" I hear beside me, and I look to my left to see Nami rushing towards me, the other villagers behind her looking on worriedly, but ultimately they stay where they are, their self-preservation taking point. Nami quickly kneels by my side and starts to check my condition. All the while, tears are escaping her eyes.
"I told you not to! I screamed for you to stay and let the Marines handle it! Why didn't you listen... don't die, Detoro-Kun." She starts to sniffle, trying her best to keep her sobs in and not let her cries escape. With her hands patting me all over and checking me for damage, though I don't know what she can do about it, I notice her hands are still bloody. Bloody from working her fingers to the bone at all hours of the day, and now she is using them to check me for injuries.
"It is fine! Stop! I am fine, Nami! Don't worry!" I quickly grab ahold of her wrists, stopping her from using her hands to keep checking my condition and causing her more pain. She is still crying, but I know she is a strong girl. She isn't crying for herself. She is ignoring her own pain. She is crying for me because she thinks I nearly died. I don't question how she had apparently told me not to go and how I somehow managed to ignore that order. I don't care about that right now. It isn't important at this moment.
"Nami, let's go. It is too dangerous here now." What is important right now is getting the hell out of here because things are not looking good for anybody here. Arlong is too strong to be defeated by a single accurate shot and will require a full-blown barrage to deal with, and the rest of his crew isn't even here. If the Marines have any hope of winning, it will be because they used all of the firepower at their disposal as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will die.
"O-Okay... But, Arlong told us to," I don't even dignify that with a response, because fuck that dude. Why do I give a fuck if he told us to stay here? This area is about to become a warzone, and all of us are about to get caught up in it. So, if I could do something to feasibly help, I would stay and try, but I just landed a full power kick on the back of his head and tried to force him to take a cannonball to the face, and he just shrugged it off. Actually, no, he didn't shrug it off. He fucking ate it.
"It doesn't matter. We need to leave before we get caught in the crossfire." Saying so, I grab her by the shoulders and drag her to her feet, but when I notice she is still very haggard, I pick her up and put her on my back, moving my hands behind me to carry her. She stays quiet, no doubt dead tired, most likely having been working tirelessly on maps before being dragged here to witness this battle for some reason.
With Nami on my back, I start to make my way back towards the other villagers, who are more focused on keeping an eye on Arlong. I also look over to see what is happening, only to see Arlong calmly waiting on the beach and waiting. Looking over to the Marines, I can see their ships coming closer, clearly having realised that they won't be able to deal with the Fishman at range after Arlong's display. Still, while they are approaching, some of the marines are definitely considering if that is the appropriate course of action, given that Arlong is patiently waiting and staring at them on the land.
Especially when you consider the fact that he is a Fishman, and the water is basically his domain. He could go over there and start attacking the hull of the ships, biting chunks out of them underwater where they can't do anything but slowly go down with their boat. And then there would be no chance of survival left for them, being ripe for harvesting as Arlong and the other Fishmen can just attack them like a bunch of piranhas. So the fact that he isn't doing anything like that means he doesn't see the need, which is worrying.
Clearly, some of the marines on the ship have realised this and are trying to make their opinion known, but the Commodore is hearing none of it. So I don't know if Pudding Pudding is supremely confident in himself and his abilities or if he is so infuriated by the scum pirates' actions and arrogance that he is ordering all ships to head forward. Either way, I don't think this is going to end well for them, so we should get out of here before things turn south. I just about make it to the rest of the villagers and go to tell them to evacuate when I am interrupted by some ominous laughing.
"Shaha! Nami! Watch closely! This is the result of all your hard work! Be proud! Thanks to you, the Arlong Pirates will be brought to greatness! SHAHAHA!" Arlong laughs, drawing all of our attention and stifling the words I was about to speak. With that, he just kept me and the rest from leaving because all of us, Nami included, had been wondering just how her maps would be assisting the pirates. Finally, it seems that we are about to find out.
"Hachi! Kuroobi! Chew! Send them to hell! SHAHAHAH!" A gasp from behind me draws my attention, and when I look back, I see realisation slowly blooming in her eyes, which clues me into the fact that something big is about to happen. Looking forward, I find it hard to keep track of everything that is happening since it is all moving so fast, but I manage to keep track of what is happening.
First of all, when Arlong called out to his crewmates, the marines barely had any time to react before suddenly there was a large cracking sound, like a house collapsing and stuff. And that is when I saw the massive rudders on all three ships ripping free and flopping into the water, confusing all present. And then we see the three fishmen that Arlong just called out to appear from behind all three ships, floating on the water, and we understand that those three fishmen just ripped the rudders off of the marine vessels.
Before anyone can react, Hachi and Kuroobi dive beneath the water and disappear into its depths while Chew, the guy I was just fighting a while ago, quickly descends into the water and then come rocketing out of the water to land on the middle marine ship. I guess Chew didn't run away from me to go inform Arlong but rather to take his position in the sea, which lends credence to the fact that they knew this attack was coming and had already planned for it.
Kuroobi lands in the middle of all of the marines, who are so shocked that they cannot react, and instead of pulling out their swords and flintlocks like they should, they panic, probably never having been in such a situation before. Kuroobi just laughs at them, finding their pathetic actions funny, and they all panic even more for some reason, making me think that these Marines have never had a real fight or have been dealing with weak pirates that usually run away.
There seems to be at least one marine that has at least some experience, which he shows by trying to rally his men. Commodore Pudding Pudding works his way through the throng of marines, coming to the front to face Chew himself. Thankfully this is all taking place at the front of the ship, in clear view of all of us, so we can still see what is happening, though I wonder what Hachi and Kuroobi are up to underneath the water.
"You filthy pirate, how dare you lay your filthy feet upon this ship! Men, what the hell are you doing! This disgusting pirate has come to us for a change instead of us having to hunt him down. Reward him by showing him true justice! PIRATE! Surrender now, and we will let you live, or refuse and-" Commodore Pudding Pudding begins to rally up his men, motivating them, and it is working as his men look more confident and begin to glare at Chew. It seemed like they were about to gang up and beat the shit out of Chew, and then Chew opened up his mouth.
"Mizudeppo! (Water Gun)" A single glob of water is fired from Chew's mouth faster than anyone can react. And then, Commodore Pudding Pudding is missing an entire chunk of his midsection. Silence reigns as the formerly alive Commodore folds in on himself and collapses to the floor, the surrounding marines unable to comprehend what had just happened. Chew calmly jumps off of the ship and back into the water while I realise that a whole barrage of those things was fired at me, and a single one could have blown me apart. I am lucky to be alive.
And then, a moment later, The sea starts to collapse in on itself. Out of the blue, the waters begin to swirl and twist and turn, and the ships have no choice but to try and follow along. The ships are broken apart by the raging currents, and before long, they are dragged beneath the sea. We all watched it happen in silence, unable to look away from the horrific sight. Nami is the most affected, with a look of horror on her face, her tears now churning out and a lot of apologies leaving her mouth.
And then Hachi, Kuroobi and Chew appear out of the water, walking up out of the sea and onto the shore, smirking on their faces, though Hachi shows a simple, honest smile making me think he is not all there. They walk up to Arlong, who is still staring out at sea, and then he turns around.
"Now, let's have a talk. Who did something that they shouldn't have..?"