The wind screamed through Arlong Park.
Broken stone, shattered pillars, and blood stained the ground. The smell of salt and iron filled the air. Luffy stood still, sandals planted firmly, eyes locked forward.
Arlong's massive shadow loomed over him.
"You… disgusting ant," Arlong growled, veins bulging along his neck. "You dare look down on me?"
Luffy didn't answer. He just stared.
Arlong bent his body low, spine curling like a beast preparing to strike. His long, jagged nose tilted forward, muscles tightening around it like a loaded spear.
"I shall fucking kill you," Arlong snarled. "End your pathetic life."
His nose hardened, veins pulsing violently.
Swoooooosh—
BANGGGGGGG!!
Arlong launched forward, his nose thrusting like a living harpoon.
Luffy's eyes widened.
He jumped.
The nose missed him by inches.
BOOOOOOM!!
The attack didn't stop there.
The nose pierced straight through the building behind Luffy.
Stone exploded.
Walls shattered.
Pillars disintegrated like sand.
The entire structure of Arlong Park cracked and crumbled, collapsing into rubble with a deafening roar.
Dust filled the sky.
Silence followed.
For a heartbeat… no one breathed.
Then—
.
Zoro's jaw tightened. His grip on his swords hardened. "That nose… that wasn't just strength."
Sanji clicked his tongue, cigarette shaking between his fingers. "That bastard… he turned his face into a weapon."
The fishmen erupted.
"Hahahahahaha!!" "That's Arlong-sama!!" "You see that, human?!" "That's the difference between us!!" "We are the superior race!!" "Kill them, Arlong-sama!!" "Kill them all!!"
Their laughter echoed through the ruins.
Arlong slowly straightened, dust sliding off his scales. He smirked, sharp teeth glinting.
He looked down at Luffy.
"You see that, ant?" Arlong said, voice dripping with contempt. "That's how strong we fishmen are."
He cracked his neck.
"In front of me… you're nothing but a piece of shit."
Luffy dusted himself off.
He looked at the ruined building.
Then at the cheering fishmen.
Then back at Arlong.
He wasn't panicking.
Not even a little.
His eyes were calm.
Steady.
Almost cold.
"…You talk too much," Luffy said quietly.
The fishmen faltered.
Arlong's smirk twitched.
Luffy clenched his fist.
"I don't give a shit if you're a fishman," he said. "I don't care if you're strong."
His voice rose.
"You hurt my friend."
The air shifted.
"You made Nami cry."
Luffy's fist pulled back, arm stretching.
"That's enough for me."
Arlong's eyes widened.
"What—"
"Gomu Gomu no—"
The ground cracked beneath Luffy's feet.
The final battle had truly begun
Luffy didn't hesitate.
He planted his feet into the broken stone, knees bending, shoulders rolling loose. His arm snapped back—
"Gomu Gomu no… GATLING GUN!"
His fists exploded forward.
Not one punch.
Not two.
Dozens.
His arms blurred into afterimages, rubber stretching and snapping back again and again, fists hammering the air like cannon fire. Each strike cracked the ground beneath him, the pressure of it shaking the ruins of Arlong Park.
BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA—!!
Stone shattered. Wind screamed. The air itself seemed to tear under the sheer volume of blows.
Arlong clicked his tongue.
"Tsk… that's it?"
His massive body dropped backward—
SPLAAAAASH!!
He dove straight into the pool behind him, Luffy's barrage tearing through water instead, geysers erupting where fists struck the surface.
The punches kept coming.
Water detonated upward like explosions, waves crashing violently against the park walls.
But Arlong was already gone.
Below the surface, his eyes opened.
Cold.
Focused.
His body crouched low in the water, muscles coiling like a loaded spring. The pool rippled faintly as he angled his head forward—his long, sharp nose lining up with Luffy above.
Veins bulged.
"Let me show you, human," Arlong growled, voice vibrating through the water, "what a real barrage is…"
His legs kicked.
The water screamed.
From beneath the pool, Arlong launched himself upward, spinning slightly as he shot forward like a living missile—
SHARK ON DARTS.
The water parted behind him in a violent spiral, a white wake ripping through the pool as his nose became a spear aimed straight at Luffy's chest.
"RAHHHHHHHH!!"
The pool exploded behind him.
Fishmen shouted in triumph.
"That's Arlong-sama's technique!!" "He's finished!!" "Pierce him!!"
Above the pool, Luffy's Gatling finally stopped.
He felt it.
The pressure.
The killing intent.
His eyes snapped down just as Arlong burst out of the water, nose gleaming, teeth bared, body flying straight at him with murderous speed.
The distance vanished in an instant.
Too fast.
Too close.
The impact was coming.
And this time—
The spear of death was already there.
Too close.
Too fast.
At the very last heartbeat—when Arlong's nose was about to tear straight through him—Luffy moved.
His body bent in a way no human body ever should.
His spine folded like soft rubber, torso sinking downward as if his bones had turned to liquid. His chest caved inward, shoulders dipping, waist twisting sideways at the same time. His head leaned back unnaturally, neck stretching just enough—
SHIIIIIIK—!!
Arlong's nose sliced through the space where Luffy's heart had been a fraction of a second ago.
Wind ripped past Luffy's face.
The shockwave alone blasted stone apart behind him, the park wall cracking and collapsing as Arlong shot past like a missile that missed its target by a hair.
Luffy's sandals scraped the ground as his body snapped back into place, rubber rebounding with a low thwump.
Arlong landed hard, skidding across broken stone before plunging back into the pool—
SPLAAAAASH!!
Water erupted sky-high.
"Tsk… missed," Arlong snarled, irritation flashing across his face as he disappeared beneath the surface.
The fishmen froze.
That should've killed him.
Below the water, Arlong's body twisted again, muscles swelling, gills flaring. His eyes burned with rage now—real rage.
He crouched low, deeper this time.
Deeper.
The pool went still.
Then—
the pressure returned.
The water began to churn, spiraling inward as Arlong angled his body once more. His nose lined up again, sharper, faster, deadlier. Veins pulsed along his neck.
"RAHHHHHH—!!"
The water detonated.
Arlong launched upward again, faster than before, the pool ripping apart behind him like it had been stabbed from below. His body spun slightly, speed multiplying, his nose drilling forward with murderous intent.
SHARK ON DARTS—AGAIN.
"LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN DODGE THIS TIME, ANT!!"
The air screamed as he closed the distance in an instant, rubble flying, fishmen roaring in savage excitement.
"Kill him!!" "That human's finished!!" "No one dodges Arlong-sama twice!!"
Above the pool, Luffy stood still.
Too still.
His eyes were locked on Arlong, teeth clenched—not in fear, but focus. His sandals dug into the shattered stone.
The spear was coming.
Again.
Faster.
Deadlier.
And this time—
Luffy didn't bend.
He didn't retreat.
He pulled his arm back.
Luffy saw it.
This time—he knew.
There was no space to bend.
No time to slip away.
So he planted his feet.
Both arms shot upward, stretching fast, fast—rubber screaming as they expanded and crossed over his head. His forearms thickened, ballooning outward, veins standing out as his body forced every ounce of elasticity into defense.
"GOMU GOMU NO—SHIELD!!"
His arms twisted together like coiled ropes, overlapping, forming a dense rubber barricade above him—flexing, vibrating, alive.
The next instant—
BAAAAAAANGGGGGG!!
Arlong's nose slammed straight into the shield.
The impact shattered the air.
Stone exploded outward.
The ground cratered beneath Luffy's feet.
Blood sprayed.
Red arcs splashed across the ruins, droplets spinning through the air in slow, horrible clarity.
The shield held—
—but not cleanly.
Arlong's nose pierced through.
It drove straight into Luffy's crossed arms, rubber tearing, flesh punctured, blood pouring down his forearms and dripping onto the broken stone below.
For a heartbeat—
Everything froze.
Zoro's eyes went wide.
"Luffy—!!"
His hand tightened so hard around his swords that his knuckles turned white, teeth grinding together in rage and disbelief.
Sanji's cigarette slipped from his lips.
"…shit."
His leg tensed, body leaning forward on instinct, every nerve screaming to move—but he forced himself still, jaw clenched, eyes burning as he watched blood run down Luffy's arms.
Around them, the fishmen erupted.
"Hahahahaha!!" "Did you see that?!" "He got him!!" "That's Arlong-sama!!"
Arlong threw his head back, laughter booming across the park.
"HAHAHAHA! Look at you now!"
"You're nothing but an ant!"
"Pierced clean through—pathetic human trash!!"
Blood ran freely now, dripping from Luffy's arms in steady lines.
But—
Luffy didn't scream.
He didn't gasp.
He didn't even flinch.
Arlong's laughter slowed.
Because Luffy was smiling.
Not wide.
Not wild.
Focused.
His eyes locked onto Arlong's face—dark, steady, unshaken.
"Finally…" Luffy said quietly.
"…caught you."
Arlong's grin faltered.
"What—"
Luffy's neck stretched.
No—retracted.
His head pulled backward, spine bending in an impossible arc, skull drawing away as if yanked by an invisible cord. His body bowed, rubber muscles winding tight, tighter—like a slingshot pulled to its absolute limit.
The air around his head compressed.
"Eat this…"
Luffy snapped forward.
"GOMU GOMU NO—HEAD SHOOOOOT!!"
His head rocketed forward at point-blank range.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact detonated against Arlong's face like a cannonball.
Shockwaves ripped outward, smashing walls, blowing fishmen off their feet, dust and debris swallowing the battlefield as Arlong's body was launched backward—
—and for the first time—
Arlong stopped laughing.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued