Summary: In which a Shark pays for making a Navigator cry.

Warning! Chapters 13-18 were posted back-to-back! Make sure you catch them all!

Chapter 18: Climactic Showdown

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Luffy had to admit that executing a Dynamic Entry by powering up with Power Strike, Shatter, and Spirit Manipulation, then utterly wrecking the gates of Arlong Park with one blow…was very satisfying. The fact that the shattered pieces of the massive gate had taken out a good half of the remaining fishmen inside the base was just a nice bonus, really. He stepped through the gate with a dark expression on his face, not quite channeling Conqueror's Haki, but using the same state of mind to infuse menace into his causal stroll. Being backed up by the serious looking Zoro, murderously tranquil seeming Kuina, and the scared-but-angry sisters, only added to the gravitas of the moment.

To Luffy's mild surprise, Arlong had been both fast enough and apparently cared enough, to shield two of his subordinates from the debris. It was a decently impressive sign of loyalty, to his own people at least, that he'd tanked a hit to his own body in order to do so. Though the fact that it had barely left a mark on him took a little away from that. Clearly, he'd known he could take it. Still, it did say something about him. He might be scum, but he wasn't disloyal to those he considered his own. He also, however, didn't seem to be surprised at Nami's presence.

"Betrayal, Nami? You should know better than to think these people can help you. Even without my officers present, I'm too much for them."

Luffy snorted, but said nothing, letting Nami say her piece. She was clearly scared…but seemed far more confident now that they'd taken out all of Arlong's officers without even being scratched.

"You're the one that betrayed me, Arlong. You might have tried to twist our deal on a technicality, but you broke the spirit of it. You were a dead fish the moment you did so."

Arlong seemed surprised she didn't crumble…and displeased. He didn't speak, he just attacked her. Of course, he didn't come anywhere close, as Luffy used Soru to intercept him in the air. They met, and it was Arlong that was flung back. Flung back into his 'throne' which shattered from the hit. Luffy took the moment he was stunned to issue orders.

"Kuina, Zoro. Take care of the trash."

Both of them shrugged…and vanished in their own Soru moves. By the time Arlong stood again, his remaining subordinates were unconscious or dead. Luffy stalked forward with a dark smile on his face.

"Your officers are already dead. Foolish of you to separate them out like that for us." Hatchan wasn't, of course, but Arlong didn't need to know that. "It's only you left, Arlong. What an utter disappointment you must be to Fisher Tiger. To spit on his last wish as you have done."

It was a gamble on knowledge that he couldn't be sure of…but it paid off as Arlong paled, then roared as his expression shifted to utter rage. There was no finesse as he attacked, but his speed forced Luffy to fully embrace Soru just to keep up. Every missed blow created craters in the ground or buildings, but Luffy refused to respond with panic or his own anger, even as Arlong matched his full speed. Instead, he let that anger become a cold, cold thing…and shifted to lighting as he let Arlong pass right through him. The move wasn't instinctive for him like for a Logia, and it was hard even after years of practice to hold a human form, but passing through him was also much worse than doing the same to most Logias. His form didn't 'disperse' like theirs usually did if they didn't will otherwise. Instead, it was condensed, high-amperage, high-voltage lightning, and Arlong howled in agony as his skin was flash-fried as he passed through it.

The pain froze him in place for one moment too long as Nojiko, chosen because of Nami's apparently terrible aim, used Luffy's revolver to put a single seastone bullet through his skull. An ordinary pistol, with the regular musket balls of this period, wouldn't have done much to someone as tough as Arlong. But Luffy's oversized revolver was in no way the same as such antiquated weapons. It used his personal equivalent of a .45 caliber long cartridge, with stopping power that would have put a modern .44 magnum from Alex's world to shame. Properly shaped bullets, from a rifled bore…and in this case with the actual bullet replaced by one made of seastone he'd purchased from the System Store. That ultra-hard stone, combined with the sheer brute power of the revolver, was enough to punch right through Arlong's forehead and carve through his brain.

It didn't managed to exit…and it didn't quite kill him. It always tended to surprise people, but guns often aren't actually all that great a weapon for quickly killing people. Assuming medical treatment is available, gunshot wounds actually have a pretty low fatality rate, with most deaths being from shock or bleed out rather than the actual trauma. Even headshots aren't always inherently fatal, though they are far more likely to be so. In this case, the nature of the bullet worked against an instant death as well. Seastone was simply too tough to shatter, which actually minimized the internal brain damage, despite it also being the reason penetration had been virtually guaranteed.

The fact that it wasn't instantly fatal didn't help Arlong. He had, after all, been disabled enough by the shot that he was struggling to move. Luffy grabbed him by his nose and jerked him upright…before he shifted his grip to the fishaman's hair as Kuina used Wado Ichimonji to slice that nose off. Nami actually cracked a dark smile as Luffy followed through on his previous graphic threat a moment later, shoving Arlong's own nose up his ass, getting a gurgle of frantic pain from the monster.

He didn't have to live with that pain for long as Nojiko, nursing her wrist from the kick of the pistol, handed it off to Nami. She stepped up to her tormenter, leveled the gun in both hands at his heart from mere inches away, and pulled the trigger. Despite her visible pain from the kickback, she pulled the gun back down and did it again, then again, and again…continuing until all five of the more ordinary bullets had turned Arlong's heart into so much pulp. At that range, it didn't matter that they weren't seastone. They did the job. Arlong's life signature faded from the Haki of those that could feel it mere moments after the last round. Nami knees weakened as she slumped to the ground, her tormentor executed by her own hands. The tears that flowed down her cheeks as her sister embraced her were such a mix of emotions Luffy doubted even Nami could have named them all.

But the strongest one, radiating to all of them in a way that they didn't need Haki to feel…was relief. Her nightmare was over at last.

... ...

It had taken hours to make sure they got every last one of the fishman left on the island. There had been quite a few out on patrols or at watch posts. Others had been out to sea or around the island on various tasks. But with the range of Luffy's Haki, which he privately suspected was boosted a lot by the nature of his Fruit, it hadn't been hard to account for all of them. Then had come providing proof to the villages, all of them…and setting out to the nearest Marine base they actually trusted with those fishman still living. Luffy had offered to handle that with Kuina and Zoro, giving an out of sorts to Nami and Nojiko…but both of them had insisted on seeing things all the way through to the end.

Hatchan had been dumped overboard halfway along the route, with an actually somewhat amused Nami commenting that he'd be fine. And the rest, along with the heads of those that had possessed bounties…were handed off to a familiar Marine commander that Luffy recognized from the Black Cat affair. He sighed at that, knowing it would get back to his Grandfather…but couldn't really hate it, given that it also meant the man would likely try to minimize any blowback towards them. Indeed, the man had seemed grimily pleased with paying out the bounties, even if he regretfully informed them he couldn't manage any sort of bonus this time. That didn't matter to them, anyway, so they simply thanked the man and headed back to Cocoyasi village. As a bonus, they loaded up with supplies, knowing the island was low on such for obvious reasons and it would help with the party that the islanders wanted to throw for them.

The trip to the Marine base and back had taken a full day, since it hadn't been the closest base for reasons of distrust. In that time, the various villages had come together to tear down Arlong Park and strip it off its wealth, with Zoro having stayed behind to ensure it got distributed fairly. Mostly, admittedly, by virtue of being a looming threat behind Genzo, so the man could actually manage that task without anyone fighting him on it. The already celebratory mood was lifted farther with the return of the rest of those responsible for Arlong's downfall, with Nami and Nojiko being particularly big hits. Though Luffy was left confused and blushing as Nojiko had waited for Nami to leave, thoroughly kissed him, and told him to come by to see her after the party wound down…

... ...

That party was energetic to say the least. The islanders had already pooled a great deal of hoarded resources, along with those taken from Arlong Park, and what they'd brought back had only added an extra boost. Liquor and ale flowed freely, food of seemingly every kind you could find in the East Blue was everywhere, and dozens of instruments played hundreds of songs throughout the day and night. A flushed-with-wine Kuina had somehow been convinced to perform a rather erotic sword dance that Luffy had no idea she'd known. The dance was much to Zoro's mix of pleasure and horror as he got to see it…and had to fight off a dozen locals that took an interest in her. Usopp freely mixed tales of his own part with wild lies, only occasionally falling quiet as he hadn't quite dealt with everything just yet. Nami had been everywhere, showing freely a new tattoo that covered her old Arlong symbol and drinking deeply enough that even she was tipsy.

Nojiko somehow managed to fade into the background for most of it, though she appeared more than once near Luffy with a suggestive comment or to point him toward something particularly interesting. He was getting an…idea, of what she might have in mind for later and had mixed feelings about it. Excitement and hormonal desire, but also a wariness of getting involved. He tried not to assume, as he was congratulated by all and sundry. But, when the party finally started to fade with the rising of the moon, he noticed she had vanished…and sought her out at her and Nami's home.

What he saw when he got there confirmed what he'd been half certain of. The house was lit with candles…and Nojiko was wearing nothing but a pair of panties and a see-through camisole. Before he could get past the view to try and sort out what he wanted to say, she raised a finger to his lips with a smile.

"This is a one-time thing only, Captain. No strings. I've got a handle on your personality, I think…and I'm pretty sure we'd never work together. But I promised myself I'd do something special for anyone who ever beat Arlong…and I got lucky that it was a cute guy that did it. I want this…" she reached down and gently squeezed his blatant erection, "and so do you. Just for this one night, let me teach you a few things you should know about women. Particularly given the way I've seen Nami looking at you…"

Nojiko winked as he blushed, then pulled him inside. He wasn't sure if it was two lifetimes of not getting any, the alcohol in his system, or the fact his empathy had told him she meant every word, but Luffy found he couldn't resist as she kissed him again and deft fingers began to work on his clothes…

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A/N 1: This Luffy isn't a brawler. He went into that fight with a plan. Which is why it didn't turn into a slugfest. He knew from the start that Arlong was dangerous and didn't fuck around. He went in fully intending the fight to be a brutal execution, too quick to let Arlong properly realize he should have taken Luffy seriously.

A/N 2: So! The results of a poll regarding this fic decided me on the relationship! I was caught between wanting to make it a single or multi-ship pairing and put that up for public polling last month. Multi-ship won by a landslide! I will mention, though, that multi-ship is NOT massive Harem. For example, Nojiko is not going to get into a long term relationship with Luffy. This was a one-time event for them, which happened off screen since Luffy's age is a little young for me to be willing to show a lemon. That will change going forward, and the story will contain lemons, just not yet. For reference, I'm only intending the multi-ship to have three women. Nami, Robin, and one other. The 'one other' has yet to be fully determined, as there are multiple possibilities. Hina, Perona, and Boa Handcock are all three in consideration. Though I'm willing to hear arguments for or against any of them (or others). Yes, I have a means to make the Hina one make sense. Despite what some people might think. I have a fairly major divergence planned involving her, down the line.

A/N 3: Once per release, I remind people that...I have a Patreon! Nothing I write, fanfiction wise, is ever permanently paywalled. That said, I do have Early Access chapters. There is, in fact, roughly another 17,000 words of One Piece - Halfway Broken currently in Early Access. Of course, you also get access to my other Early Access chapters for additional stories. There is typically around 40-60k words of various works in early access at any one time. I always appreciate any support, since it helps me free up more writing time...but most of all I hope you just enjoy the stories!