Steel Village and Purple Heart Pirates Take on Fishman Island

Takumi watched in horror as Doctor Nocht stabbed Iken and casually explained how close the blow had come to killing him. It was the way Iken had wanted it to go, but still... He could have killed Iken right there if he'd wanted to. It'd have took his own life but that wouldn't have saved Iken. He could nearly envision it, Nocht asking for a private conversation with Iken, giving the impression he finally succeeded in his experiments, Nocht drawing a knife or dagger and plunging it into Iken's chest, saying 'Too bad Cap', someone else has found a better use for my knowledge! Best of luck to you, cause you'll need it, no?' before disappearing with a smile on his face.

Nocht may not have realized it but he had just gotten someone watching him. Takumi resolved to watch the Doctor's every move from then onwards. And if it would turn out that Nocht betrayed them he would have to get to the unpleasant job of killing him.

Marissa's eyes widened and her entire body jolted with shock as the rather eccentric Steel Village doctor called Nocht stabbed Iken and went on to explain, with the dry factuality of an accountant discussing his ledgers, the precise lethality of the incision. The concept of Iken's plan had panicked her initially enough but now as she watched the mighty Captain fall to his knees as she was offered the end of the spear once more, an uncomfortable knot had started to form in her chest.

Ami listened to Iken's plan eagerly and nodded, finding it a bit scary but feeling the need to do anything she could to help her team-mates. The naive little mermaid was just about to express her agreeance with the situation when Nocht stabbed Iken.
She let out a shriek. "Oh, Captain Iken-sama! Captain Iken-sama! Are you alright?!"
She blinked, catching the apples that Nocht threw to her and inspecting them before slipping them into her satchel. Ami only nodded slowly to Dr Nocht. She wasn't quite sure what he meant when he said that she'd "know what to do when the time came" but Dr Meinkroft was a smart man and if the apples were truly that important, she intended to keep them safe until "the time" came.
Whenever that happened to be.

The smaller of the two mermaids crouched down beside Iken to inspect his wound but relaxed when he started to speak again. This time, he was explaining something to the swordsman of the Purple Heart's Crew- the one who seemed to be the lover of the Purple Heart's mermaid.
Suddenly a spark of joy ignited in side of her from witnessing another couple made up of one of her own kind and a human.

Marissa listened to Greim, feeling a soft warmth in her chest when Greim defended her and she leaned into his touch, enjoying the feeling of his fingers in her hair. She smiled faintly when as he kissed her neck, her grip shakily tightening around the spear in her hand.

She spoke aloud. "Ok, I'll do this. For both Purple and Steel...and to see Fishman Island freed at last." Her heart thudded in her chest with nerves but she managed to smile, looking to Craig, Nocht and Iken. "Thank you for your faith..."
Marissa turned to Greim, looking up into his eyes and then kissing his lips. She parted, saying to him gently, hugging her lover- human, handsome and six years older than her. "Thank you most of all for your faith. I won't get hurt. I'll try my hardest to be successful in getting the audience and I know that you and your amazing swords and all the other men will be right behind us. I love you, Greim. No matter what happens, that won't change, just as I am a part of you and you are a part of me..." She kissed the swordsman's lips again.

Ami felt a definite twinge of inspiration at the sight of Marissa and Greim and filled with added patriotism for her home-island she immediately piped up. "I can do this too! Don't worry! Me and my sister will stick together and we'll do our best to get inside and keep Anchor and his crew busy until you all arrive."
She crouched down to Sangjo, at Iken's side and kissed him too, nuzzling his nose and then looking up at him innocently. "Don't worry. I won't get hurt. If I did get hurt, how am I supposed to introduce the man I love to my family later?" Ami giggled, kissing his lips and cuddling into his chest.

Marissa blinked, looking to the other mermaid as she adjusted her bracelet of needles and carefully inserted an emergency needle into her cleavage line. "Sister?"
Ami nodded eagerly, checking that her harp was comfortably in her satchel. "Sisters. Fishmen call each other "brother"...I was thinking that we could feel the relations in our species too..."
Marissa had never had any siblings before- by blood or metaphor...nor any of her species who had remotely wanted anything to do with her. She nodded. "Alright then. Sister."
Ami clapped gleefully and then looked up at the other men. "Dr Nocht-sama-kun is right! We don't have a lot of time left. We should get going."
Marissa nodded firmly, grasping the spear. "Yes. Let's go." She was silently amazed at how the young mermaid was so chipper and perky in the face of such danger.
"Clearly she's never faced a group of malicious fishmen with even more malicious intentions. She seems to think everyone is her friend in some shape or form," Marissa couldn't help but think.

The blonde saluted Namor. "I'll do my absolute best, Captain. Give us a seven minute head-start and then follow, please. That should give us time to gain an audience with Anchor and get him to trust us...when the fishmen are distracted, it should be easy for you all to burst in and take them by surprise."
Ami grabbed Marissa by the wrist. "I'll do my best too! Now let's go! Seven minutes! Woo!"

A few moments later, the two mermaids were swimming side by side, gliding through the water both quickly and easily, the spear in Marissa's hand.
"By the way!" the dark haired mermaid chirped, her long indigo tail weaving a spiral in the water behind her. "I never told you my name, sister. I'm Amphirite! But you can call me Ami! Everyone does!"
The blonde haired mermaid gave her own lionfish's tail another beat for extra speed and nodded, smiling faintly despite her nerves. "My name is Marissa. Nice to meet you...sister."

They reached Noah, resurfacing at the ship's massive hull in just two minutes.
Marissa was about to call out to one of Anchor's crew for attention when Ami stopped her, holding up a hand and started tugging at Marissa's tank top.
Her eyes widened and she hissed: "Ami! What are you doing?!"
Ami gave a cute little smirk and pulled up Marissa's tank top to reveal her midriff, tugging the collar down further to expose more of her cleavage.
"This will probably grab their interest and at least get us on board even if we don't get an audience with Anchor straightaway."
Ami adjusted her own seashell bra, flicking her hair over her shoulders and winking.
"Maybe you're a lot smarter than you seem, Ami..."Marissa thought, swallowing and then shouting up- holding up the spear.
"Hello! We wish for an audience with the...great captain Anchor! There's been a mutiny among the Purple Hearts and Steel Village...we have a spear here that has the blood of Captain Iken on it, to prove it!"

Ami added, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. "We were wondering if we could talk to Captain Anchor. We're interested in...joining the crew..." She giggled cutely. "All you big men look so lonely and we were thinking that the crew could use a mermaid or two..."

Marissa took a deep breath. Desperate times called for desperate measures. They needed to convince them to be let aboard, not just for Fishman Island but for Iken's life.
Despite the urge to vomit, she stuck her chest out and called up. "We...we've both become bored with our human lovers and those other infidels..." She remembered what those horrible fishmen had said before and added, tossing her hair in the water. "...we thought about it and we've realised that we want real fishmen and we'd both like to learn to please Captain Anchor and his crew..."
Ami chirped, adding cuteness to Marissa's attempted seduction. "But first we want to have a little chat with him and show him the spear ...and maybe... cuddle while I sing for everyone?" She winked.
Marissa and Ami both felt a little sick to their stomachs and nervous at this stage but they both also equally hoped that this act was working.

Anchor was sitting on Noah hiding from the legendary Iken. His crew numbered at least 100 but Iken defeated an admiral something all his men combined couldn't do. Anchor knew that iken would never find noah without some kind of help. Even if he did find them anchor would easily spot him. Anchor walked up to the deck hearing his men cheerind whisling. "What goes on here? If iken finds us we are done for!" Triton, Anchor's first mate exclaimed "Mermaids sexy mer maids that want to join our crew!" Anchor looked over the deck recognizing them from steel and the purple hearts "Kill them all Triton. I don't allow trash on my ship." Triton held anchor shoulder "But mermaids! The men haven't felt woman's touch and this is great opportunity here. Besides the brought iken's spear with his blood on it." Anchor finally consented seeing that using Iken's blood could be used to become a yonkou. Trident said " sure babies come right in!' He let down a draw bridge for the mermaids to swim on to the ship.

As Iken's breathing became more labored he began the second part of his plan. Pulling himself up, Iken looked around for a fighter than looked like they could pack a powerful physical attack. There was always Namor, he was a fishman Shichibukai after all. He should be able to provide the power Iken needed. However Iken overlooked the shichibukai, he doubted Namor would be will to do what, Iken needed him to do. Iken's eyes lit up when he seen him. He was large and looked to be physically the strongest one in the group.

"Hey, I need you to use your strongest physical attack." Iken said pointing at Bruce...

[Bruce]

Bruce for the most had stayed quiet. After the last fight with his captain, the giant fishman didn't know what to think. He obviously overstepped his bounds, but he did come back. Although his return wasn't all that glorious. He fell on his face and did little in, what was thought to be the final battle. Bruce's quietness remained intact until he was spoken to.

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Bruce questioned the man.

[Iken and Bruce Conversation]

"Oh I need you to attack me!" Iken said with a large grin.

"That's ridiculous! You'd dye in your current condition, hell chances are I'd kill you in your top form." said Bruce with a feeling that he was being underestimated.

"Na it won't kill me. I wont let it hit me, I just need it's power. And no, I'm not underestimating you. I'm asking you because I believe that you are physically the strongest one among us." Iken said almost as if he had read Bruce's mind.

"Captain?" Bruce questioned asking permission.

Marissa swallowed, nervous and quivering at the idea that they had, firstly, almost been condemned to informal execution and, secondly, been invited aboard a ship filled with strong, devious fishmen.
Ami wasn't quite as nervous but all the same, she took a hold of Marissa's hand beneath the water, looking to her with a soft, reassuring smile.
The other mermaid returned her gaze and nodded to show her shared understanding of the gesture. Whatever they faced upon entering Noah, they would face together and overcome together.
At the moment, what mattered was that they kept the act up and bought time for Iken to climb aboard after them with the other men, to take Anchor by surprise. Until then, they would have to distract Anchor and keep his guard down.

"Hey, thanks!" Ami called up to Triton before the two young mermaids swam aboard, still hand in hand.
Whilst Ami looked around the inner part of the ship, Marissa pulled a slim needle from her cleavage line and used it to carve an arrow on the hull of the ship- showing Iken which way to get in. She then stuck the arrow into the inner chain- mechanisms of the drawbridge, hoping that this would prevent it from closing properly and give the Steel Captain an easier entrance.

With that accomplished, the two mermaids headed to the upper deck.
Marissa bowed her head to Anchor, though she privately felt sick doing so, her dark blonde hair falling forward as she presented him with the spear. "This was the spear used to stab Iken when the mutiny took place. We no longer pledge allegiance to Steel or the Purple Hearts." She coiled her long creamy tail beneath herself, sitting up once again, her amber eyes furtive and alert.
Ami was a contrast to her fellow mermaid in both appearance and demeanor, her indigo tail splayed casually on the deck, her long dark hair pushed back over her shoulder and her bright purple eyes full of curiosity as she looked around the ship's deck and up at Anchor.
"Wow...you're so big...and muscular in person...Captain Anchor..." she commented, remembering that most men liked to be complimented on their physique.
She giggled, almost a little involuntarily and looked up at Triton. "So what do you all do for fun around here?"

Marissa kept her face calm but her heart was throbbing beneath her tank top, the pale skin of her cheeks flushing a slight pink with nerves while her team-mates light brown complexion remained innocently untinged.

Namor looked at Bruce grinning at his questions. Normally Namor would have said no, but he claimed that Bruce was the strongest. Namor nodded in agreement for Bruce to hurt Iken due to his unintentional insult. He didn"t quite figure out his plan, yet but Namor trusted it. His reasonning must be good, since he was a yonkou after all "Queen Tsunami return to your throne. You have to assure the people that fishman island is now secure. The Ocean pirates will pay for their actions. Please also care for the children especially Nile. We don't want her "ability" to be revealed to the world do me?"
Tsunami nodded grabbing the children in her arms "Namor even though I can't forgive for killing father. You are welcomed back into island anytime you want okay? I want the children to grow up knowing their idoitic uncle, so...don't go off dying okay?" Namor smiled as his sister swam back to the island with the future rulers of the island.

Anchor swam up to Marissa rubbing up against her with his chest. He took the spear with Iken, and licked it. This blood was human, so they weren't lying. "Well it seems like they were telling the truth. Men play us some music its time for a celebration!" Achor grabbed Marissa with his hand dragging her to his throne coral throne "Come baby sit with me on my throne. I'm going to make you my queen when I rule fishman island." Triton grabbed Ami by her shoulders "Yeah we heard mermaids are great dancers. They say you have natural rthymn. Come on dance!!!" The ocean pirate musicians began to play some festive music for Ami to dance to. Anchor sat on his throne place Marissa on his lap.

Greim awaited impatiently in the sea forest with the rest of his crew and the Steel Village Pirates. When he saw Marissa depart, he felt a part of him go with her, but he knew that she wouldnt be hurt. He knew that even if she had to do kinky stuff for those Ocean Pirates she wouldn't forget him and that he was going to be able to forgive her psychologically, not having resents about that.

Greim sat on the floor, with his over his face. He didn't care about what was happening in the sea forest near him, he was hoping that Marissa was alright.

"Ah hell, here it goes I suppose." said Bruce still a little skeptical.

"U-L-T-R-A--M-A-R-I-N-E--S-E-I-K-E-N!"

Bruce pulled back his arms and formed a palm thrust position on his lower right side. Pausing for a moments the fishman giant pulled in water molecules adding to the strength of the attack. Then all at once he released it. Bruce forced his arms forward slamming them down at Iken. This caused tremendous amounts of water molecule enhanced shockwaves to shoot at the Yonkou. The power put into the attack was more than enough to wipe out an army, not something one man should be able to stop.

[Iken]

Iken's eyes widened as the fishman preformed his attack. It appeared that Iken had underestimated the giant fishman. However this was not that big of a problem. Unsheathing his Rejection Slayer, Iken blocked the powerful shockwave attack. All of the energy from the attack seemed to just disappear as it collided with the sword. Once the entire attack had been taken in, Iken lowered his sword. The blade glowed brightly, a dark orange color.

"Hehe, if I release all of this energy at once it would rip my flipping arm off." said Iken giving Bruce a concealed compliment. "Anyway...I had better get going." Iken said with a smile as he gave everyone a wave good-bye.

A bright flash of light seemingly coming from the captain himself, blinded all that were looking in the general direction. When the flash dissipated into nothingness, Iken was gone. Even to the sensory types, it would have been like Iken just disappeared.

A second and equally bright flash of light appeared in front of Anchor. Before the blindness from the light could even clear his eyes, Anchor would have felt the spear being ripped out of his hand. The fist thing the powerful fishman would have seen was a crouching Iken thrusting his spear at Anchor's very own chest from only inches away. Iken's thrust was aimed for Anchor's right lung; not an immediate kill shot, but something that would certainly even the playing field.

Seconds later Iken attempted to slam Anchor with the broad side of his sword. As Iken completed the task, he released a powerful burst from his sword. Nothing as powerful as Bruce's attack, only a small portion. However the shockwave of energy was more than enough to send Anchor flying out of Noah, and into the main section of Fishman Island. If the attack hit it would leave Anchor with more than just a few small scrapes.

Anchor was caught completely off guard by the sudden attack. He coughed up blood at the spear pierced his lung "What the hell?! Who are you?!" Before he got an answer however Iken knocked him down with his sword shooting him out of the ship. His skull was cracked as the sword hit him. He flew out of Noah landing into fishman island where Steel and the purple hearts were standing. Anchor laid on the ground passed out from the extreme pain. The ocean pirates stood in shock as their was soundly defeated. They ran away from Noah hoping to get away.

Ami was a little taken aback by Triton's sudden request and let out a little squeak when he abruptly grabbed her by the shoulders and demanded that she dance for them.
But all the same, she delightedly let the music take over and soon her whole body was twisting, shaking and coiling to the rhythm, her torso winding in time with the whole length of her tail.

Marissa's heart rate leapt up when Anchor brushed up close to her and she felt her body recoil with disgust. Before she could protest, he had taken her wrist and pulled her into his lap.
She swallowed, forcing herself to smile and nod brightly when Anchor declared her the future queen of Fishman Island. She forced herself to act like a stupid, innocent, stereotypical mermaid and laid her head against Anchor's shoulder, though he disgusted her, and whispered sweet things in his ear to keep his guard down- all the while, her thoughts remained with her lover- Greim- and how much she longed to return to him.
Suddenly, in a blinding flash of light, Iken appeared before Anchor, tearing the spear from his hand and plunging it into his chest.
The mermaid leapt from his lap and fell to the ground, covering her eyes to try to regain her normal vision after the effects of the bright flash.
Ami let out a shriek at Iken's sudden entrance and immediately dropped to the deck as the Ocean pirates fled around her. She wanted Sangjo to come and take her away from all of the violence and once Anchor had been thrown from the ship, Ami looked up again. Had they won? Was it all over?

Iken sighed in relief as the fishman ran from him after he took out Anchor. When Iken lifted his hand to wipe the sweet from his brow it was as if he had two hands. His vision blurred as the blood poured down his front from the stab wound. It had been well over 15 minuets by the time all of the fishman had fled. Dangerously low on blood, Iken fell backwards onto his bum. Iken looked at Ami and Marissa trying to examine their condition. However his vision failed him.

"Are you two alright?" asked Iken with concern for the girls.

Namor stepped back after seeing something fall into the ground creating a huge hole. After the dirt had settled, Namor walked over to see anchor on the ground passed out "Its finally over." He picked Anchor up while he was still unconcious. He was a bit heavy but Namor could manage "Come on men. We have spent enough time on this island. Lets turn Anchor into the government and collect the bounty on his head." Namor soon began to walk back towards the docks hoping his crew would follow "Give my reguards to my sister and Iken. I would tell them myself, but I don't like goodbyes. Griem get Marissa and meets us back at the docks!"

Sangjo seeing that the pirate captain was captured realized that Iken and Ami were still gone "Come on guys Iken probably needs our help!" He ran toward Noah hoping that Iken wasn't hurt or worse.

((Sorry about skipping a few posts, but I want to keep this going))
With another flash of light Iken was moved from one place to another at incredible speeds. This time Iken was transported from the recently emptied Noah to on top of the downed Anchor; who just happened to be being carried by Namor. Pulling his spear out of the giant fishman's chest Iken leaped down. As Iken's feet hit the ground, his seemed knees buckled from weakness. Flailing his arms, Iken grabbed what was closest. Iken grabbed Namor. With an incredible amount of force Iken pulled the mighty fishman captain down with him. To everyone around it would seem like Iken was merely clumsily pulling down the Shichibukai along with him. However once Namor was doubled over, Iken spoke in a hushed tone so only Namor could hear.

"Stay away from Marineford!" Iken said with a dead serious face that was quite out of character for the fun loving Yonkou.

For a brief moment that Namor could see Iken's face while they were falling, it would have told him the seriousness of the situation. With the moment soon ending, Iken hit the ground hard with his bum. The impact of the fall caused pain to shoot into Iken's shoulder. Grabbing his chest, Iken cursed from the pain.

Greim sat... waiting for everything to end. And so it happened, at last everything was over. Fishman island was saved by one of the four emperors of the sea and a Shichibukai... a warlord. Greim nodded to Namor's words. Running with a little copy of a weak and not developed soru speeds Greim ran towards Noah. He dived into the water and got into Noah, that now was almost empty.. inside there was some air, fortunatelly. Greim could now walk again.

Greim looked at Marissa... she was surprised and looked frightened. He ran and hugged her.

"Now everything is alright Marissa... let's go." -Greim got near to her, attempting to kiss her in the lips. He had missed her so much in this short time... it seemed as if it had been hours. Now that he had her near again... Greim was happy... the feeling was undescribable. he could feel her breath near... he could feel her heartbeat in his skin. She was cold... maybe because of the fear, but Greim was war,, the thinking of her had made him blush all the time... he didnt want know what had happened here. -"I love you Marissa..."

Ami looked to Iken, still a little shaken but she managed a smile. "Y-Yes, Captain. We're fine."
She looked over Marissa, hoping to confirm her statement and sure enough, the blonde mermaid was slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes- fine, despite her obvious fear and confusion.

Marissa looked up for the first time, to nod at Iken before he vanished, but her attention was immediately diverted by her lover's reappearance.
"Greim?"
He was soaking wet and looked exhausted but she had never been happier to see him.
Seconds later, she was in his arms. His skin was beautifully warm and she felt ever icy little dagger of fear in her flesh melt at the feeling of being against his chest once more. She wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling herself closer to him and reaching up to return his tender kiss. His lips felt so warm and gentle against hers and they soothed her.
Marissa had been so scared earlier.
All she had earlier was the knowledge that she had to distract and convince a crew of vicious fishmen that she wished nothing more than to join them. She had been so frightened that they would have forced her to do disgusting things and the worst part was is that she would have to go along with it all, in order not to arouse suspicion (above all else).

She clung to Greim, breathing in his sweet scent and bringing her hand up to caress his face. "I love you, Greim. I love you so much." Tears started to form in her eyes. "I was so scared. I'm so glad that you're here."
Normally, Marissa would never allow herself to break down like this- but the pressure of her fear from earlier had just become too much.
And she felt safe in the sanctuary of her lover's arms...like no one could hurt her.

Craig was confused. Maybe it was because he hadn't eaten anything for some time, afterall, he was only human. An excellent marksman with a pair of bow guns, but still human nonetheless. Everything was just happening much to quickly for Craig to fully understand the situation, only managing to tiredly wave farewell to Tsunami and her chidlren, and obidiently following his crew, and blushed embaressed at his own exhaustion when many other members of the crew had to put up with a lot more tiring work, following after his captain. "Man, you guys aint human. Uh, no offense to those of diffrent races their, basicly what im trying to say is you lot are monsters. I mean, you guys a way more powerful than I am, im all tired out from keeping up. Ummm look im not trying to make a crack about fishmen and mermaids okay? Im just confused and need a nap, maybe some food and something to drink. And any cute girls, cute girls are always welcome. Plus some time rave on the dance floor would be awesome.", The second in command of the purple heart pirates blathered on, until he collapsed asleep on the floor, murmering in his tiredness; "Bring on the babes."

Sangjo ran towards Ami leaping toward her with his powerful kicks off the ground "I'm coming my sweet." He found Ami carrying Iken right outside Noah. Sangjo prepared for one giant leap using a technique called Air walk. He kicked up in the air in one swift jump glinding in the air like a bird. Then once rising in mid air Sangjo kicked again sending him swiftly toward them . Sangjo flew toward them like a arrow. He glomped Ami hugging her tight. Her warm body back in his arms felt so good.

Namor picked up Criag lifting him toward the ship where Golitah, his faithful pet sat guarding it. There were a bunch of knocked out fishman presumbly ocean pirates who tried to steal their ship. Namor tickled his sea bull "Ah who is daddy little boy? You are. You are." Namor walked unto awaiting the rest of his crew. He was not going to leave them behind.

Iken held his hand to his chest trying to suppress the amount of blood leaving his body. This technique however wasn't all that successful. Slowly, Iken drug his feet as he moved toward Ami and Sangjo. Reaching out toward Ami, Iken held out his hand.



Slumping down on ground, Iken was rather dizzy. This was more than likely the effect of the large amounts of blood he had lost in the past half an hour. Shaking off the feeling all he could do was wait for his body to recover. He still had to speak with the queen, however that would have to wait. He didn't want to pass out or have anything of the such happen in front of the island's queen.

Ami smiled wide and allowed herself to be glomped. She let out a squeal of delight, wrapping her arms around his neck and her tail around his legs. "Kyaa~! Sangjo-kun! I missed you so much!"
Immediately she pressed her lips to Sangjo's and gave him a gentle, loving kiss, blushing crazily as she did so.
She parted when Iken addressed her and handed him the gold apples that Nocht had given her from her satchel. "I hope these help, Iken-sama!"

Greim enjoyed Marissa in his arms in endlessly amounts... he had her near him again and that was all he could ask for in this moments. As Marissa started to cry, Greim passed his hand through her hair.

"Dont cry Marissa... everything will be alright, now I am here" -Greim showed a dim smile to her. - "Come on, let's go."

Greim started walking towards the water's edge with Marissa. His arm was over her shoulder.

"Mind if you take me?" -Greim smiled to her. -"You're much faster in water"

Iken took the apple after Ami handed it to him. He wasn't exactly sure it would help all that much at this point. However what could it hurt? With the small orb like fruit in his hand Iken clutched it weakly. Lifting it up to his mouth with a shaking right hand, Iken bit into the apple. It tasted like medicine. With each bite of the small fruit, Iken could feel his strength return a little. The juices of the apple seemed to more than replace the large amount of blood he had lost before. How could something so small have such a grand effect?

After a half day of rest, Iken was ready. They were at the palace and it was a good of a time as any to speak with the queen. Leading a small group, Iken walked towards the room where the queen resided. With Sangjo, Ami, Maletrix, and Alphonse at his side Iken entered the large palace room. Iken had a reason for bringing who he did. Sangjo being the Vice Captain needed to know about the mechanics of the crew. Maletrix was an obvious choice, as he was the leader of the fishman division. With him at Iken's side it would prove that fishman can go up in the ranks, even with a human at the helm. Alphonse for his selflessness towards all of his crew-mates, human, fishman, and giant alike. And finally there was Ami. Not only was she bright and cheery at all times. Her love for Sangjo was also a shining example of human and fishman co-existence.

"Queen Tsunami, please excuse me for my rudeness. However there is something I would like to discuss. I believe this island is and contains a treasure that needs to be protected. I offer you my protection as an Emperor of Sea." Iken said with out a moment of hesitation.

The Queen looked upon the Steel Village Pirates upon her throne. She owed them her life for restoring her to her kingdom and bringing peace to fishman island, yet they still offered protection. The Queen looked at her children Nile and Oceanus. Then turning her attention toward Iken she said "What do you want in exchange for your protection. You may have anything you desire you will have it." Tsunami wondered where her brother had gone. He should be here, but she knew that Namor wan't the type to stick around. She just hoped whereever he was he was safe.

Sangjo knew this was a serious situation, but he couldn't help but to stare at Ami. Her beauty outmatched every mermaid in the room. He knew he would never love another girl like her. Sangjo dreaded the day whether he had to choose between her and Iken. Would he save the man who he owed his life? Or the woman of his dreams? Sangjo just shook the thought from his head, and concentrated to the situation at hand. Sangjo moved toward Iken and whispered "We should ask for gold Iken. She must be loaded."

Iken smiled at the queen's willingness to give them anything they could ask for. However Iken's demands would be much. Listening to Sangjo, he could help up laugh at his crew-mate. They were one of the most successful crews in the Grandline and he wanted more. Well that was to be expected of a pirate.

"Well I guess I hadn't really planned on asking for anything material. However my crew has other wishes. The biggest thing I would like is loyalty. So more or less a safe haven for my crew if anything were to happen to me. Just until they get back on their feet. Other than that I guess some gold for my friend Sangjo and some candy sent to us every once in a while would be nice. Feel free to refuse if it's to much." said Iken smiling at the queen.

Iken hoped the queen didn't know about their recent expeditions to the graveyard of ships around Fishman Island. The crew had scored pretty well, there usually wasn't much, but all of the ship combined contained a rather large amount of gold. With all of the gold brought back by the underwater team, The Steel Village would be set financially wise for quite sometime.

The queen seeing as they deserve a reward "Guards give our guests 90,000,000 beli from the treasury. I trust that amount would be to your liking? As for the candy we shall supply ur ship a year worth of candy. My guards will supply your ship momentarily." In a few moments dozens of guards began to carry large plates holding lots of gold out from the place toward the Steel pirate ship. The queen said "If its loyalty and a safe haven u ask you need not worry. The royal family always are just to those who aid them. Come back anytime. Your crew will always be accepted among the people as well as your protection.

Sangjo nearly passed out when he had heard what the queen was offering him. In all his years as a pirate he had never earned that much money in his life. He spotted a pearl necklace in one of trays and grabbed for it. Sangjo gave the necklace to Ami "This belongs to you. For all that I have is yours"

(( Sorry Cob-dawg, I passed out earlier than expected last night. This move really drained the life out of me. I'll try to be more reliable in the future, hehe.))

Yawning, Nocht stood around and waited for all the pomp and splendour of the award ceremony to end. While he understood that what his new crewmates had done was no small thing, such starchy events had never held the scientist's interests. The time seemed to drag as the people and royalty of fishman island laid their thanks and riches upon his new captain.

The last two days had been very productive. Though he had been spending a lot of time tending to Iken's wound (which wasn't too much trouble, since it was a wound he had made and was uniquely qualified to heal), there had been more than enough spare to do some investigating. Nocht had collected samples of practically every form of life that existed in or around Fishman Island. His entire body trembled and seethed with excitement at what new breakthroughs he'd make with the data he gathered from a proper analysis of his new materials.

Pushing matters of science from his mind for just a moment, the oddball scientist recalled that they were in the middle of a very stiff and awkward social event. Suddenly, he felt the need to celebrate in a much grander way. This sort of thing was alright if you were into it, but it took a much different sort of approach to make an ending fun. Throwing an arm out to each side, Nocht squirted a pair of creep puddles onto the floor.

Rather than forming two dangerous, full-sized creepers, though, each puddle turned into twenty or so much smaller, less dangerous mini-creepers. Hissing, they rocketed into the air. In the grand, caverning space above them all in the royal hall, the small army of little green creatures exploded in a dazzling display of light and colour. For almost a full minute they continued to burst above everyone's head, lighting the throne room with beatific shades of pink, purple, blue, red, green, and gold. When at last the fireworks stopped and Nocht had everyone's attention, he spoke.

"I'm not an expert at singing, so join me if you are and you know this one!"

Snapping to the Royal Orchestra, they immediately began to play an upbeat song, sounding distinctly like something from a Gilbert and Sullivan number. Leaping out into the middle of the room, holding a microphone he got from god knows where, the scientist turned towards the queen and fixed her with crazed, mismatched eyes full of cheer.

[[ OOC = Listen to this song while reading for the full effect! ]]


As he sung, Nocht had begun clapping and doing a strange step-dance. As if drawn by a flame, fishman and merman flocked to him, a large assembly joining him and singing in time. Soon, nearly every un-named character in the entire throne room was following his movements in a perfectly choreographed performance.


Though his singing voice was mediocre at best, the doctor made up for what he lacked in skill with raw enthusiasm. The sound of his unprofessional yet highly-spirited music seeped from the throne room and out into the streets. All around him, throughout the entire island, people were bursting into song as if they had caught randommusicalitis. Unfortunately, that was one disease that Nocht had no cure for; fortunately, none was needed. As one, the bizarre scientist and the denizens of fishman island sang out the chorus one more time.


The music continued for just a moment past the final words, then died abruptly. All the guards and citizens who'd been caught up in the moment gave out a final, loud, heartfelt cheer for happy endings and went back to doing their work. Soon, everything was exactly as it had been before Nocht had spontaneously spawned the largest and happiest flash mob Fishman island had or ever would see again.

"That all being done with," spoke Nocht, looking a bit more settled now that he'd gotten that out of his system, "I'll be back on the ship."

A spring in his step, the bizarre and enigmatic researcher departed back to the Steel Village ship. Once there, he would wait in the infirmary, continuing his experiments and waiting to see Iken, to make certain that his wound was in good shape for their next set of exploits. All the while, though, he continued humming. That tune would simply not leave his head.