6 Now That's Orange (6)
The villagers who could walk, Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku would have appreciated it if their march to Arlong Park to rescue Nami and Nojiko could have been quieter but with egos as inflatable as an actual rubber, Luffy and Brody could simply not excuse the other competing Captain.
"I screwed up?" Brody scoffed, "How the hell would I know the actual number of Fishmen? I just beat up whoever was in front of me. Besides, where were YOU when I wrung Arlong, huh? Oh, that's right, getting here on a bitch-ass boat cause your ship got stolen!"
"Blah, blah, blah!" Luffy tugged the ends of his lips and pulled his cheeks apart by a meter from each side while sticking his tongue out and flapping it, "You screwed up! Nami will never go with you!"
Seeing the same argument for the umpteenth time, Sanji's lips twitched as he inhaled deeply and let the narcotics calm his nerves before exhaling a plume of smoke, "If you two would stop fighting like a child, you would have been able to make out a marine's ship closing in on the coast of that Arlong Park."
As he said, everyone gazed into the distance and realized that a navy ship slowly swam in the direction of Arlong Park.
"Are they here to destroy Arlong Park?" Usopp released a breath of relief but as they walked, they failed to observe any form of conflict as the ship had docked for minutes now. Zoro narrowed his gaze before revealing a rather amused smirk, "Well, there you go. Honor lies in neither a pirate nor a marine."
"Told ya, a man can be honorable but not the titles," Brody chuckled.
"We'll just beat everyone up!" Luffy smacked his fist against his other palm while declaring so.
"So? What about them?" Sanji looked back slightly at the villagers who followed with anything they could categorize as a weapon.
"Let them have some fun," Brody laughed, "Either they beat their enslavers or get beaten up and wake up to their realities."
Sanji grew silent while looking at Luffy.
"What?" Luffy blinked.
"He ain't my cook, Straw Hat," Brody smiled and gently tapped Luffy's shoulder with his knuckles, "Give 'em orders."
"Oh... well..." drawling, Luffy suddenly grinned, "Beat them to your heart's content! Who cares if villagers got into the mix? Everyone here wants to save Nami, right?"
"And Nojiko, Bubble Squirt."
"Who's Nojiko?" Luffy looked at Brody.
"Nami-san's beautiful older sister, you bastard!" Sanji shouted before whimpering, "Ah... I'll kill all those damn Fishmen and cook them if they did something to Nami and Nojiko-san."
"Really? Woah, you guys actually kill?" Brody looked at them with a surprised expression.
"Wait, you've never...?" Sanji questioned in return.
"He doesn't kill," Zoro replied instead, his gaze lingering on Brody's smiley face somberly, "He's known for something else..."
"Oi, Moss Head, you actually know about Brody?"
"Who the hell are you calling Moss Head, you Pathetic, Perverted Cook!"
Now everyone including Brody and Luffy wished they could march quietly to Arlong Park as Zoro and Sanji were at each other's throats.
The large group reached the western entrance of Arlong Park soon enough with a multitude of Fishmen... and marines in white sailor uniforms and caps waiting for them. The situation instantly sent the villagers into a daze but the figureheads marching ahead continued with ease.
"Halt, you criminal scum!" A skeevy-looking man in a large white overcoat that extended over to his head in the form of a hat in the likeness of a mouse's head stood while twirling his whisker-like mustache.
"I, Captain Nezumi of the 16th Unit am putting Villagers of Cocoyashi Village under arrest to conspire with Pirates!"
The villagers were instantly outraged as every soldier pointed their guns at the villagers with diabolical smirks while the Fishmen grinned and pointed their weapons at the group, too.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
While Johnny and Yosaku stopped with frightened expressions, Usopp mocked them by showing a similar expression and staying back to protect the villagers, Brody considered. Yet, Brody failed to see any issue worth stopping and maybe, so did the ACTUAL heavy hitters of the Straw Hat Pirates who walked beside him.
"I said stop! Don't make me shoot you!" Nezumi took out his pistol and pointed it at the group as they still continued to walk.
Gritting his teeth and somehow feeling backed against a corner when the opposite should have been true, Nezumi failed to hold his gaze with any of the four youths and hissed, "Aim!"
Luffy's arm instantly stretched out but he, Sanji, and Zoro were forced to stop when Brody suddenly kicked into the ground. The youth was still barefoot. Yet, his toes sunk into the padded ground before he casually swept his legs up. A rather simple and swift action that was caught under the gazes of many including the marines and the Fishmen.
But what came after made their eyes almost bulge out of their sockets as a curtain of dust, pebbles, and eventually, large rocks tore out from the ground and shuttled towards the group in front of him.
"I'll teach ya guys something else," Brody looked back with an almost twisted grin, "If we happen to meet in Grandline later on... you should remember. I can kick 5 times as hard as this. And enter the grounds where I'm preying... you'll be hunted, too."
With that, Brody continued to walk past the groaning, coughing, and wheezing marines and Fishmen. With their exposed gills becoming a rather obvious weak point, Fishmen suffered more under the strange attack while Luffy stood there with a stubborn expression and his fists clenched.
"Oi, Luffy... that guy has a bounty on him and is known to be the highest as the first time... bounties of this kind don't easily circulate in East Blue and only a few bounty hunters are made aware of them..." Zoro walked up to Luffy with his hand clenched over the hilt of his sword.
"Zoro, that guy... how strong is he?"
"And if you think I can't kick as hard as that guy then you're wrong!" Sanji growled as he stood on Luffy's left while looking at Brody... Bro D. Hanma with a serious expression.
"It's the first time I got to hear his real name— Bro D. Hanma... but the bounties named him Brody—"
Sanji blinked in surprise for a second before he glanced at Brody quickly.
---
Less than impressed but still willing to give credit where it was deserved, Brody looked at every Fishmen already better and ready to go once again. Only this time, they knew better than to enter into a direct confrontation with the 'freak' who used Arlong as a weapon to attack them. Instead, they silently encircled Brody while he looked around.
"Ha— Hahahaha! You bastard, you've got one of two choices!" A boisterous laugh snapped Brody's attention towards the highest floor of Arlong Park as Arlong broke open a large hole through the wall and stepped on the wooden extension to give the building a tower-like aesthetic. He had Nami's neck held in one of his palms and Nojiko's in the other as they struggled to breathe while Brody could see their toes curling and their legs shuddering as they tried to shift and move unsuccessfully.
"Bastard!" Luffy's shout made Arlong chuckle, "Interfere and they die. I'll deal with you scums later!"
His gaze then fell on Brody, "Two choices. Either see me choke the life out of them... or let my men beat you in any manner they see fit. I'm a man of my words. Once they are satisfied... Nami and her sister will be free!"
A look of hesitation appeared on Brody's face as he shouted in return, "Hey, two things. First... how did you recover so quickly? And Second, just to make sure, you took Nami and Nojiko hostage because of me or because of some other matter?"
"Obviously because of you, runt!" Arlong roared.
"Oh... I see. Just wanted to make sure if I should even feel responsible. You know how easy it can be to NOT define lines of responsibility and accountability, right?" Brody scratched the back of his head as a guttural growl escaped Arlong's throat, "Get him!"
The nearest of fishmen, a rather impressive-looking Octopus man wielding six swords suddenly slashed all six of his swords at Brody as the redhead pushed his hand into the pockets of his trousers and silently waited in return.
"Brody! Move!" Usopp shouted from a distance but his words fell on deaf ears.
Excitement grew amongst the Fishmen as even the recovering marines outside Arlong Park watched in amazement but before the six blades could skewer Brody, the Octopus man stopped and looked at him with surprise, "What's wrong?" The fisherman's voice was somewhat awkward and heavy given how far his lips extended as his round eyes were furrowed in distinct seriousness, "Are you not here to fight? Hachi cannot attack someone who's not fighting!"
"Hachi, huh..." Brody smiled, "Wanna join my crew?"
Hachi blinked and turned to look at Arlong and promptly shouted, "Arlong! This human is asking me to join his crew!"
"Sigh... Hachi, just go feed Mohmoo," Arlong groaned as Hachi sheathed his swords and looked back at Broady, "I'm going to feed our Sea Beast. Can't join your crew."
"Don't worry," Brody chuckled, "Maybe sometime later."
Under the stunned gazes of marines and villagers but rather exasperated stares of the fellow Fishmen, Hachi strutted away on two of his eight limbs and Arlong shouted, "Go all out but don't you kill him! He's all mine! Ha— Ahahahahaha!"
