Chaos on Fishman Island

"What's going on? Did Neptune's army fend off all the human scum we sent in there?" Hody wondered aloud, as he waited outside the palace gate with his men.

"Hody!" One of his men came rushing over to his invasion force. "Neptune left the palace with the three princes and went outside Fishman Island! They also had the Straw Hats and a giant mermaid with them!"

Hody widened his eyes and grit his teeth. "No matter. We don't need to take the palace, we just need to capture the royal family. They're a threat to our cause for as long as they're alive."

Not to mention that the princess was a vital part of his plan. Catching the princess in the open water would be difficult, though. Perhaps he could manage with enough energy steroids, but there was no need to waste them.

"Tell the men to start that attack on the island. We can draw out the royal family when they see their precious citizens in danger." Hody commanded.

Even if they left the princess behind to keep her safe, she wouldn't stay put if they captured her family.

"Purururur- Gacha." Hody answered his den den mushi.

"Give me an update, Hody." Came the condescending voice of Garcelo.

Hody scowled in annoyance, but he answered with a light tone. "Things are going better than expected. We don't even need to storm the palace, as the entire royal family has gone on an outing apparently. Even the princess. I suppose they feel she's safer with a big name pirate like Straw Hat with them."

"Straw Hat?" Garcelo sounded surprised. "That complicates things. That man is a meddler, always poking his nose into things. If you get the opportunity, kill him."

"That goes without saying, Garcelo. He defeated our predecessor, Arlong, and for that sin he must pay with his life." Hody said, rolling his eyes.

"Good. My people are in position for plan B if you fail." Garcelo said, before unceremoniously hanging up on him.

"Bastard. What a disappointment to his race, serving under those wretched humans." Hody said scornfully.

He looked down below where his men had already started the fun. Several buildings have even been set aflame.

"This day will be remembered by our kind for all time, as the day we refused to bow to humanity any longer." Hody gave a toothy smile, though the smile did not reach his eyes..

…

Meanwhile, at the Sea Forest by the grave of the late Queen Otohime.

Luffy had his long awaited reunion with Jinbe whilst Princess Shirahoshi was able to visit her mother's grave for the first time in a touching scene.

"If I may ask, your majesty? What about Vander Decken? Are you not worried about the princess?" Jinbe asked, somewhat confused.

Certainly he knew that Neptune and the princes, or even just Luffy alone would likely be enough to block the attacks. However, Neptune has many talented warriors at his disposal and has still never once considered bringing Princess Shirahoshi out of the palace. He was far too paranoid, thinking that one lucky attack might slip through and hurt her or worse.

"Hm, well, keep this to yourself for now Jinbe. Young Miss Cherry actually solved that little problem for us. She took Vander Decken's mark into herself in place of my daughter somehow and I personally verified the truth of it with my own eyes." King Neptune explained in a hushed voice so that Shirahoshi wouldn't hear.

Jinbe was astonished by this. Devil Fruit had always been a mysterious existence, so the idea that someone could tamper with the effects was surprising. Thinking about it, he figured it had something to do with her Fusion Fruit, probably.

"That may be the case, but there's still Hody and the New Fishman Pirates to worry about." Jinbe countered.

"Surely he wouldn't try to harm us. He was a member of the royal guard in the past, even if his beliefs do not align with ours." King Neptunre said.

"I don't know, your majesty. There's been a dangerous atmosphere in the Fishman District as of late. I believe they're going to try something, and sooner rather than later." Jinbe conjectured.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Jinbe-" King Neptune tried to assure.

"Purururu!" The den den mushi for direct communication from his guards rang.

"Gacha." "Report." King Neptune answered it.

"Your majesty! The New Fishman Pirates have laid siege to Fishman Island!" Shouted the Minister of the Right in alarm.

King Neptune's eyes bulged from his eye sockets to the point they were dangerously at risk of popping right out of his head. The three princes nearby were in much the same state.

"The island is being attacked?" Princess Shirahoshi asked in worry, tears brimming in her eyes.

Seeing this, Sanji immediately jumped at the opportunity to comfort her. "Worry not, fair Princess Shirahoshi! I shall protect the island from these miscreants!"

"No! You mustn't get involved with the New Fishman Pirates!" Jinbe was insistent.

"Why not?" Luffy asked curiously, scratching his belly.

"It'll just be seen as humans enacting violence upon fishmen. This kingdom and its people have a long history of being victimized by humans…" Jinbe said.

King Neptune and the three princes left to deal with the chaos, asking Jinbe to protect Princess Shirahoshi for them.

Jinbe agreed to the request and went on to explain the story of Fisher Tiger and of Queen Otohime, how they had both fought and died for the sake of ending the generational hatred that their people bore towards humanity for the sake of a better future. He also noted that it was his own fault that Arlong had been unleashed upon East Blue, and that he needed to apologize and atone to Nami before he could truly consider joining Luffy's crew.

"And that's why you should stay here. I'll go now to assist his majesty and the princes in repelling Hody. I'd ask that you protect the princess in my stead." Jinbe said, giving a short bow before starting to leave.

"Don't wanna." Luffy refused, causing Jinbe to spin around to look at him. "Some of my crew is still on the island, Camie is too. I won't leave my friends!"

"The princess still needs to be protected!" Jinbe said.

"I'm not a hero!" Luffy insisted.

Sanji looked conflicted. He wanted to say he'd stay to protect the princess, but he also imagined the ladies on his own crew in perilous situations in need of saving by a dashing knight in shining armor.

Luffy was about to argue more when a metaphorical light bulb lit above his head. He turned to look at Shirahoshi and her pet shark Megalo. "Shishishi! I have an idea!"

After explaining, Jinbe was dumbfounded by the audacity and foolishness of the plan.

"I want to do it! Jinbe-sama, please let me go with you! I don't want to be a burden any longer!" Shirahoshi agreed to the plan.

Jinbe couldn't argue with the princess. He had no reasonable way to stop her when she was so set on the idea anyhow.

Megalo looked aghast, he was certain that there was no way Shirahoshi could hide inside his mouth. He was wrong.

Usopp had seen the Thousand Sunny and Franky with his keen eyesight on the way here, so he decided to head over there and get things ready in case they needed a quick escape.

He found that Robin had found the ship as well when he reached it and explained to both her and Franky about what was happening.

"I see! So Cherry was right about the SUPER coup d'etat!" Franky said.

"Well, there's no point in hoping that Cherry won't fight anyone. They'll be lucky if she hasn't already found the ringleader and kicked his teeth in." Robin commented.

"Hody's a shark fishman, though. He'll just grow the teeth back stronger." Den said, unhelpfully.

"In any case, we need to get the Sunny ready to go!" Usopp said.

"No problem! Everything's already prepared! I even tweaked the Coup De Burst system to more easily push through the two layers of the bubble, we just have to aim it well!" Franky exclaimed.

"Aiming is my specialty!" Usopp smiled.