Theories

"Well? You gonna answer me or not?" Belle-mère asked, clearly getting irritated.

The appearance of the fuschia haired woman had stunned Mako into silence. The last thing he had expected was to be staring at a woman he naturally assumed was dead. The thought that she might be alive had never even crossed his mind for so much as a nanosecond. It just went to show how limited his thinking was at the moment and just how much this AU was different from the original. Just the fact that Belle-mère was alive caused a whole wave of questions to spew forth, only adding to the questions he still had yet to have answered.

The young man blinked, slowly struggling to regain his composure. His questions would have to wait for the time being until he could secure enough facts to answer them himself. "Ah, yes sorry. My name is Mako D. Carson, from Matchstick Island. I'm here to see Nami and Nojiko. Are they here?" This lie was something he had just made up on the spot, having known that Matchstick island was indeed a place.

Nothing could have prepared Mako for what happened next. The loud shattering of glass, his legs getting kicked out from under him, and the young man getting slammed onto the muddy ground, the wind knocked out of him. All of it transpired in the blink of an eye, so fast that Mako wasn't even sure what was happening. Even as the shattered remains of Belle-mère's alcohol bottle was pressed up against his throat, he remained confused.

"Don't move a muscle," Belle-mère said, her voice having changed into one of anger and hostility. "If you even twitch, I'll gut you like a fish. Blink if you understand."

Mako blinked quickly, not daring to try anything. The sudden switch was too jarring for him to even try to resist, the weight of Belle-mère's body pressing him into the ground and preventing him from moving his arms.

"Good. Now, how do you know the names of my two daughters? Are they still alive?" Belle-mère pushed the jagged edges of the bottle harder underneath Mako's chin, her other hand clutching his throat. "I already know damn well you aren't a native of this island. You have a fuckin tail for fucks sake. How'd you get onto the island?"

With the way the bottle was positioned under his chin and her fingers pressing against his windpipe, Mako couldn't answer her questions even if he wanted to. He was having trouble even breathing with how much pressure she was exerting. Of course, even if he could speak, he didn't have an answer, at least none that she would believe. He was almost positive that if he couldn't deliver a satisfactory answer then she wouldn't even hesitate to finish him, he could feel it in his gut. When it came to her daughters, Belle-mère wasn't one to play around no matter what the world.

"I think he went over here. I'm almost sure of it."

A scraggly voice, one Mako found rather familiar, caused both him and the womanly body pinning him to the ground to stiffen. Neither of them moved as numerous voices began to get closer and closer, obviously approaching Belle-mère's house.

Letting out an irritated noise, Belle-mère made a face as she stood up and tossed the bottle to the side. "I'll deal with you later. For now get inside and hide." Grabbing Mako by his wet shirt with one hand, she effortlessly swung him around and threw him through the door. "Don't come outside brat. When its done, I'll come to you."

The door slammed shut, leaving Mako lying on the floor, slightly dazed. It was hard to believe that just moments ago he had been walking up to the house and wondering if anyone lived here. Now here he was being thrown around like a ragdoll without even an explanation. Belle-mère's reaction when he had mentioned Nami and Nojiko had left a bad taste in his mouth and made him worried about the implications. It seemed that the pile of unanswered questions in his head just seemed to mount higher and higher with each passing minute.

Pushing himself off the ground, Mako zeroed in on the voices outside, using his wolf ears to listen in on the conversation. By now, the fish-men had already reached the front of the house and were having a back and forth chat with Belle-mère.

"What the hell do you guys want?" the woman asked without a shred of hospitality. "Already gave you this months cash. You looking for a beating?"

"Shut your mouth you insignificant lit....OOF"

"You would do well to remember that I can freely kick your asses and only get off with a beating." Belle-mère sounded angry as the sound of her footsteps got louder. "Now state your business or get lost!"

"Someone from another island managed to sneak onto this one without us noticing," The familiar voice from earlier spoke up. Even with Mako's great memory, he couldn't recall who it was precisely. "If you see him or have seen him then it would be in your best interest to let us know. Even your daughters couldn't save you if you refuse to follow Arlongs orders."

It got deathly quiet for a few seconds before Belle-mère answered. "Fine, I'll let you know if I see him. However I want the status report on my daughters. How are they?"

"According to Arlong, they're still undercover at the marine base on Matchstick island," the voice replied. "As long as they feed us intel, you remain alive. Be thankful I dont kill you right now. I've wanted to for the past six years."

((Marine base on Matchstick island? Intel? What the fuck is going on?)) Mako took a step backwards, struggling to process what he had just heard.

Though he was reeling from the conversation he overheard just now, he needed to calm down and think rationally. Taking a deep breath, Mako sat back onto the floor and began to look at everything from a different perspective. He had to look at everything collectively and piece it all together, everything he had learned and had just figured out was connected, all part of one big puzzle. Sam had said that if something didnt make sense then all you had to do was take it one step at a time. Closing his eyes, the young hybrid scattered the information he gathered and began to slide all relevant data together. Using this, he eventually figured it all out.

He now had a decent idea of what happened to Nami and Nojiko, a possible scenario that could've taken place. During the beginning of Arlongs invasion, they must have been captured and taken hostage. Belle-mère would've fought back and should've been killed, but she was obviously left alive. This was probably so Arlong could utilize Nami and Nojiko, sending them to Matchstick island so they could work at the marine base and get familiar with its inhabitants. Using Belle-mère's death as a threat, the two would be forced to listen to every word that the fish-men said, feeding them secret intel gathered from their stay at the base. Assuming that the marine base let the two girls stay there, this scenario had a high chance of being correct.

Belle-mère, being the hostage, would be allowed to continue living her life as long as her children followed orders. She probably grew impatient and depressed from being apart from her girls and would've tried to escape or fight. Though they would reprimand her by beating or tossing her into a cell, they couldn't kill her as they would lose their inside information and the two girls would stop being so compliant. This would mean that the young woman would have free range to beat the snot shit out of the fish-men occasionally with a punishment she considered a mere slap on the wrist. The grudge Arlong had against Cocoyasi could be explained with this so there was a high chance of this being the correct scenario as well. Belle-mère's alcohol and why her house reeked of it could be written off as a way of her escaping the loneliness and depression she got when her daughters were gone.

Everything made sense. It all fit together perfectly without even a single missing piece. The majority of his unanswered questions would be cleared as long as he could confirm his theories. The only real question that remained, one that kept tugging at his head, was why Arlong would even bother to send Nami and Nojiko to the marine base on Matchstick in the first place.

((Surely he's strong enough to handle anything the Marines in the East Blue throw his way.)) Mako thought as he opened his bright blue eyes. ((It just didn't make sense as to why he would even bother leaving Belle-mère alive even after all the trouble she caused or would potentially cause. Is there someone on Matchstick he feared? If so, how strong was this person that he would even send two little girls to spy for him? Was he just being cautious? Or was he planning to attack and subjugate Matchstick as well?)) It was difficult to be sure but Mako felt that it was most likely all of these at once. He just needed to be certain before making a move of his own.

Having regained the ability to think clearly again, Mako rose back onto his feet. The voices from outside had stopped and the sounds of heavy footsteps was slowly fading into the distance. Even so, Belle-mère didnt enter the house, staying in the front until they left, giving the young man some time to look around.

The inside of Belle-mère's house absolutely reeked of alcohol, but other than that it was rather nice. Everything was arranged neatly and it was surprisingly tidy, certainly better then Mako had thought it would be, never having guessed it from how the outside looked. The dining table was clean and dirt free, the floor was smooth without a speck of dust and the furniture looked as if it had just been purchased. The only thing that looked out of place was the table full of empty bottles of what smelled like straight up liquor located in the living room.

"So she really has become an acoholic," Mako muttered as he walked over, picking up a bottle. "I cant imagine how depressed and painful it must've been to not be able to see kids you think of as your own. In the end, everyone has their own coping methods I guess."

Setting the bottle back onto the table, Mako glanced to his and noticed a picture positioned on a dresser near the entrance. He hadn't seen before when he had been tossed inside and it piqued his curiosity. Strolling over to it, he knelt down to get a closer look, bringing the framed image closer to his face.

"And just what do you think you're doing brat?"

Even with his superhuman hearing, Mako hadn't heard Belle-mère approach or even enter through the door. His instincts kicked in, informing him that he was in danger, that he was in the presence of someone whose abilities far surpassed his own. His tail stopped wagging back and forth as he rose up straight, turning to face the woman who now stood behind him.

Belle-mère glared at him, anger and frustration mixed into her gaze as she grabbed the young man by his shirt. "Lets go and have a seat. Me and you are gonna have ourselves a talk. And if you choose not cooperate then I'll just have to force you to."