Second Wind

12

It seemed all of the fighters were exhausted except for Luffy, even if they didn't show it: Johnny and Yosaku due to fighting fishmen when they were used to fighting normal humans for the most part; Sanji due to being tag teamed by Arlong's officers; and Zoro due to his injury from Mihawk, which had never properly been treated, Luffy remembered. Usopp soon arrived back at the scene, only to look around in confusion. Was the fight over...? He looked from the villagers to the bloodied, beaten form of Arlong, and then joined in on the celebrations himself. "Captain Usopp has returned from battle victorious!" he shouted, despite his own exhaustion. A few villagers clapped him on the back, going along with his antics in their sheer joy.

"Wait," one of the villagers said suddenly. "What about the Marines? The ones that tried to take Nami's money? What do we do about them?" Nami suddenly felt angered at the thought of those bastards waking up and trying to take her money again, but Luffy reassured her.

"Don't worry about it. They won't be waking up for a few days," he said. "I put them all into temporary comas."

Nami stared. "Comas?" she repeated.

"Yeah," Luffy said. "Maybe I went overboard on that one." He pouted. "But they were annoying."

Nami kept staring at him for a few seconds, and then let out a long, joy-filled laugh. The villagers all turned to her in surprise, taking in the melodic sound that they hadn't heard in so long. The collapse of that abhorred building didn't signify their new beginning. No, it was this. They decided to move their celebrations out of this damnable place and continue them in the village. Luffy grinned enthusiastically, remembering how long this celebration would last. He always loved a good banquet.

When they got back to the village, Luffy's head perked up. "There's a Marine ship on its way," he said, drawing everyone's attention.

"How do you know?" Genzo asked worriedly.

"I can tell," he responded cryptically.

"They probably noticed that those rats were unaccounted for," Zoro cut in, referring to the Marines who had been hired by Arlong, "and decided to investigate. The Marines didn't know what the idiot Marine captain was up to after all. He wasn't supposed to be gone this long." The villagers shot each other worried looks. The Marines weren't exactly their allies at this point. They decided to return to the village for now.

When they arrived back in Cocoyasi, the Marines were already there, standing over the unconscious forms of Captain Nezumi's squad and unsuccessfully trying to rouse them. The commander in charge addressed the approaching crowd. "Would any of you happen to know what occurred here?" he asked formally. The villagers hesitated, not really knowing themselves, before Nami stepped forward. "They were taken out by the fishmen," she lied. The commander looked at her and nodded. Nezumi had reported that he was coming here to investigate the situation, against the advice of his higher ups. It wasn't surprising that the Arlong Pirates had subdued them upon their arrival.

Commander Chodo gritted his teeth in frustration. Unlike Captain Nezumi, he was under direct orders not to confront the Arlong Pirates. The higher-ups were insistent on this after hearing that the Marine captain hadn't returned. Chodo was one of the few higher-ranking Marines that believed they should commit their resources to bring down the powerful fishman pirates, despite the adamant refusal of his superiors. Now he was under orders to retrieve Nezumi, if possible without engaging said pirates, which meant that he had to tell these villagers to their faces that he was leaving.

Luffy could sense the conflicted emotions radiating from this Marine. The man was clearly torn. He turned to observe Nami, whose gaze had softened, no doubt coming to the same conclusion. "It's OK," Nami finally spoke quietly. "Arlong Park has fallen." The Marine looked at her in shock.