Fishnets.

We exited the portal onto a dirt path and Clockblocker looked around quizzically.

"I thought we were going to mermaid heaven?" He asked.

"We are." I replied, smiling, "Follow me."

A short walk up the path, I led them down, a castle that looked like a wedding cake came into view, flying a jolly roger on top.

The Arlong Park, homebase of one of the minor villains of the One Piece saga. He was a fishman, a race of merpeople who are oppressed and treated like subhumans in this world, often enslaved as pets or gladiators for men, given that they are ten times stronger than a human, or as sex slaves for women, for their widely known beauty.

They were basically the Rylothians, but fishy.

Arlong was once part of the revolutionary Fisher Tiger's crew and helped liberate slaves from the cruel yoke of the world's nobility, the Celestial Dragons.

Now though, after Fisher Tiger's betrayal and subsequent death at the hands of humans, his hatred for humanity had boiled over from just hating the human government to hating all humans, and he went on a murderous rampage.

Of course, he was arrested after that and imprisoned in the deepest hole the Marines, enforcers of the world government, could find.

But his crewmate, a powerful pirate named Jinbe had freed him by basically becoming the government's bitch in exchange for Arlong's release.

And instead of being grateful or learning his lesson and keeping a low profile, Arlong dove headfirst again into another rampage. Except this time, he played it smart. He bribed the local Marine chapter into working with him and ignoring his actions, letting him rule over this island chain like a king, extorting and torturing it's inhabitants for his pleasure.

Though that's not why I'm here. I'm here because he has a neat 20 million berry bounty. And I'm not exactly flush with cash right now.

Arlong is basically just a fishy wallet, ready to be milked.

That came out wrong!

"That looks like a pirate flag." Tattletale pointed.

"That's because it is. This way." I said, leading them to a side door to the castle and kicked the door in.

All eyes turned to us, and Clockblocker chuckled.

"My, grandma! What big burly muscles those mermaids have!"

I snorted with laughter.

"Yes. Right. I might have forgotten to tell you one teeny tiny detail-"

"Who the hell are you? This is Arlong-"

A beam burst from my groin blowing up the fishman's head.

"Is that a laser cannon on your belt buckle or are you just happy to see me?" Tattletale added.

I laughed as the fishmen recovered from their shock.

Thumping footsteps echoed out from the castle.

"Here's the thing. These guys, are criminals. And they are our ticket into the mermaid kingdom. So, chop chop. Let's make fast work of them." I stretched.

"And while we're at it, let's see if your powers still work in this world. A little experiment. Consider it your fare for the trip." I explained.

"That's the main reason isn't it?" Paige chuckled.

"They're really criminals?" Clockblocker asked.

"Don't you see the pirate flag up there? Of course they're criminals. One of them even has a twenty million bounty on them.

I have no local currency here, you see. We'll cash him in and buy ourselves tickets to the underwater kingdom of the mermaids. There's even a giant waterpark. And floating bubble rides. It'll be fun."

The thumping footsteps stopped and I looked up to see a giant fishman with a saw for a nose look down at me with a sadistic grin.

"There's going to be fun had alright, but it won't be you having it! SHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed.

"That's the guy?" Clockblocker asked.

"Yep." I replied.

Clockblocker touched him, as Arlong watched curious, before he made to laugh. Only, he didn't.

He was frozen in time.

So touch based and short range abilities work.

But what about long range.

Let's find out.

"Clockblocker, keep him stuck here. Paige, you're up. Try a scream, then a master." I ordered.

She nodded and walked past Arlong's hulking form and screamed.

The building shook and the floor cracked under her power, as the fishmen were thrown back into a wall, crashing through it.

"Can you gather them up. Some of them are off to the side." I pointed at two fishmen slinking slowly towards the water. As soon as I pointed at them them, they froze in shock, only to have a funnel of sound waves push them back into the bunch sprawled out over the rubble of the wall.

"Great!" So the ranged powers work too.

I tapped her shoulder, gesturing her to stop.

"I'll deal with them now."

I walked over to them and pulled out a handful of stasis beacons, throwing them around the fallen fishmen trapping them in a stasis field.

Then, I turned to the small opening into the bay that they used as a port and whistled at the bubbling water.

A giant sea monster, white and orange like a mix between a tabby cat and a cow rose out of the water, towering over me, just as the castle behind us collapsed.

It looked down at me and roared menacingly, causing my ears to hurt and my skin to shake.

"Jesus. Paige, greet him back would you? It's only polite." I smiled.

Paige smiled back, and opened her mouth, letting her power burst forth, sending the cow kraken flying into the air, skipping like a stone across the ocean till it splashed into the sea, plunging deep within and disappeared.

"There we go." I said, slapping my coat to remove the dust from it.

I looked back at the collapsed castle and sighed. There's probably some money in there too. But now it'll take ages to dig it out.

Silently, I sent my nano swarm at it and set it to task. They'd slowly turn the building to dust amd in the meanwhile, we'll enjoy a nice day at the beach.

Finally, I walked over to Arlong who was still frozen.

Using my leftover nanobots, I shaped them into artificial muscle and grabbed Arlong.

"This time leave him to me." I told Clockblocker.

He nodded, and removed his hand from Arlong's chest.

"All yours."

"Thank you." I said, smiling.

Seconds later Arlong unfroze and before he could get his bearings, I lifted him up and slammed him into the floor like a sack of potatoes. Again. And again. And again, till it left an Arlong shaped imprint in the floor, 8 inches deep.

Even Hulk didn't smash Loki this hard in Avengers.

Under the horrified eyes of his crew, I turned Arlong into a swollen sack of meat, until all he could do was mumble incoherently.

Then, I walked over to them in the stasis field as they all shrunk back in fear.

I grinned evilly, as I knelt down and pressed on one of the stasis beacons, undoing the part of the cage, and tossed him in. Thankfully for them, they were smart enough not to try and escape in that moment. Otherwise I would have killed them, no questions asked.

Reactivating the stasis beacon, I stepped away, and undid the nanobot muscles, cracking my knuckles with a stretch.

Uhn!

That felt good. Sometimes just using pure violence and pummeling your enemy into the floor is the best choice.

"Now, who's ready for a day at the beach?!" I turned to the the rest and asked.

"What about them? Clockblocker asked.

"You should kill them. Pirate bounties are dead or alive right?" Paige said.

"Yes. But Arlong here is a special case. He's worth more alive as a political tool than dead. So let's keep it that way for now. We'll get the bounty for him later. For now, it's beach time!" I cheered.

"Beach time!" Star cheered with me.

Such a cutie. I patted his head.

"Let's go!" I said, walking out of the broken gate when I spotted a certain orange headed brat peeking at us from the bushes.

Nami, resident thief and map enthusiast.

A girl who would go on to become the navigator for the future pirate king.

After Arlong killed her adoptive mother, he press ganged her into his crew and forced her to draw maps for him that he would use to navigate the local area to raid, rape and pillage.

He threatened her with violence against her only family, her sister Nojiko if she didn't do what he said.

But he also gave her an absurd task to free her village from his tyranny.

Gather 100 million berry, the local currency and buy her village's freedom. A carrot and a stick.

Smart bastard.

Of course, she got her revenge as is due. But that's for later.

"Hey there kid!" I said, kneeling down by the bushes.

I pulled out a candy from my coat and held it out to her.

"Want some candy?"

"Mom said not to take candy from strangers!" She said.

"Yes. Good advice from your mom. Let me introduce myself. I'm Jay Walker. And who are you?"

"Nami. Just Nami." She replied.

"Just Nami then." I smiled mischievously.

"No! Not Just Nami. Nami, that's all!" She said, annoyed.

"Nami That's All then." I continued.

"Uhuuuin! You're doing this on purpose!" She cried stomping her foot.

"Alright. Alright. Sorry. Nami." I laughed.

"See now we're not strangers. So here." I handed her the candy.

She took it gingerly and tucked it into her pocket.

"Say Nami, do you live close by?" I asked.

"Uhun! Right that way. Cocoyasi village." She answered.

"And this village, does it have a phone? Some way I can contact the local Marines? I want to get the bounty on Arlong." I asked.

"Old gramps has a den den mushi. I'm sure he won't mind letting you use it once he finds out you beat Arlong!" She perked up, making a pose.

"Is that so? What did Arlong do to your village?" I asked.

Suddenly she quieted down, retreating into herself, shaking lightly.

She balled up her fists and grit her teeth trying to hold back tears.

"It's okay. You don't have to talk about it if it hurts." I said, patting her head.

"No....Arlong....he killed my mom. He ..." She sniffled, "He threatened to kill my sister...hic...if I didn't draw maps for him.... He's ... he's a bad man. Evil man. I hate him! I hate PiRAtes!" Nami cried.

"There there." I stroked her head gently, as she sobbed into my arms.

Minutes later, once she calmed down enough to point us on our way, I picked her and Star up into my arms and led us into the little village by the sea.

Cocoyasi village, a small wooden sign read by the dirt road as we entered, and immediately a crowd gathered.

Well, they were probably already gathering due to the castle collapsing, so they weren't exactly here due to us.

"Nami?" An old man exclaimed as he speedwalked towards us.

"He beat Arlong!" Nami cried happily, pointing at me.

"He's going to take him to the Marines!"

The old man looked at me incredulous, and asked.

"Is that true, young sir?" He asked respectfully.

"Yes. Just now actually. You might have heard the castle collapse?" I said.

"Yes. We heard but we didn't think..." He trailed off lost in thought as a slow fear grew in his eyes.

I didn't care though.

"Do you have a den den mushi I can use to contact the local Marine chapter?" I asked.

"Don't bother." A man said from the crowd, "The local Marine captain, Nezumi works for Arlong. It will be as good as freeing him on another island. Arlong will just come back to us for revenge!"

"That's fine then. I'll just deposit Arlong at a far away Marine base. Will Loguetown work?" I asked.

"Yes. That just might. I hear lieutenant Smoker is a righteous man." He said.

"Okay. Loguetown it is. But first. Is there any place we can stay the night today? Maybe a couple of days at most."

The old man tried to refuse almost immediately but he was cut in before he could speak.

"You can stay with us!" Nami said.

"Yes! Please stay with us!" Another girl, with dark blue hair, a little older than Nami, walked out from the crowd.

"Alright then. That's settled. Lead the way!" I said.

"I'm Nojiko. Nami is my sister. Follow me!" Nojiko smiled, pointing to her house.

______________________

Arlong's down, Nami's free.

All's well that ends well right?

Let's see!

Also, I made a Pat-reon.

If you guys feel like supporting me or buying me a cup of coffee, do go there!

And I will be posting extra chapters ahead of time there so that's an incentive for you guys too.

I might also start posting the sequel chapters there too before posting them here once this series finishes.

www.patr-eon.com/goldenfingers