Luffy's furious denial echoed across the shore, a desperate cry of faith against a mountain of damning evidence. "NAMI WOULDN'T HURT ONE OF HER CREWMATES!"
"Who," a cold voice cut in from behind them, "are you calling a crewmate?"
They all spun around. Nami stood there, her expression an impenetrable wall of ice. She looked at them not as friends, but as a nuisance, a loose end that needed to be tied up.
"I was only with you fools for your treasure," she stated, her voice devoid of all warmth. "Now that I have it, I have no further use for you."
Zoro and Sanji immediately began to argue. "See?! I told you she was a damn witch!" Zoro growled.
"You don't know anything, you stupid marimo!" Sanji shot back, his eye a heart. "There must be a reason for Nami-swan's actions! Love is like a hurricane, you can't predict its path!"
Their bickering was cut short by a roar of pure, grief-stricken rage from Johnny.
"WITCH!" he screamed at Nami, tears streaming down his face. "You're a cold-blooded witch! All you care about is the money hidden in this village! You'd join the Arlong Pirates, you'd even kill people to get what you want!" He pointed a trembling finger at her. "I saw you! I saw you kill Usopp-aniki with my own two eyes!"
Nami's expression didn't even flicker. She just looked at him with a cold, bored indifference. "And what are you going to do about it?"
Johnny was taken aback, his rage deflating into stunned silence.
"If you want to live," Nami continued, her gaze sweeping over all of them, "you'd better stay out of Arlong's business. He's already infuriated by that swordsman's little stunt at the park. You may think you're monsters, but you're no match for the real monster who rules this island."
"I couldn't care less about that," Zoro growled. "Where is Usopp?"
"At the bottom of the ocean, where he belongs," Nami replied without a hint of emotion.
That was it. Zoro lunged, his hand flying to his sword, but Sanji instantly moved to block him.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on Nami-swan!"
"Get out of my way, love-cook! You have no idea what's going on!"
"I know that you're just irritated after getting your ass handed to you by Hawk-Eye!" Sanji taunted.
The insult hit its mark. Zoro's rage boiled over, and he drew Wado Ichimonji, pointing its pristine white tip at Sanji's throat. "You want to try me?"
"Just try it," Sanji sneered back.
"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" Yosaku screamed, getting between them. "This is a serious situation!"
Nami just sighed, as if their life-or-death struggles were a tedious inconvenience. "Leave. Go fight somewhere else. I couldn't care less." She turned her back on them. "Farewell."
As she walked away, a strange thing happened. Luffy, who had been watching the entire exchange with a confused and hurt expression, simply… fell over.
Thud.
He was on the ground, fast asleep, a small snot bubble inflating and deflating from his nose. "I'm sleepy…" he mumbled. "I don't care about this island anymore…"
His brain, unable to process the betrayal and the conflict, had simply shut down.
Nami spun around, her own cold facade cracking for a moment in a burst of pure, frustrated fury. "THEN JUST DIE FOR ALL I CARE!" she screamed at his sleeping form.
Seeing the utter chaos and the hopelessness of the situation, Johnny and Yosaku made their decision. "Aniki… we're leaving," Johnny said, bowing to Luffy's unconscious body. "We're just small-time bounty hunters. We can't survive a war with Arlong. We'll meet again someday, if fate allows it." And with that, the two brothers departed, leaving the fractured crew behind.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the island, a figure crawled out of the water, coughing and sputtering. It was Usopp. He was alive.
He looked down at his side, where Nami had "stabbed" him. There was only a dark, painful bruise from the hilt of the dagger. He then looked at his own hand. A small, clean, bloody cut ran across his palm.
The pieces clicked together in his mind with a staggering realization. She didn't stab me… she stabbed her own hand to make it look real. She… she saved me.
But why?
"That witch…" he muttered, but the word now held no venom, only a profound confusion. He had to find Zoro. The octopus-man had said Zoro was looking for Arlong. Terrified, Usopp realized Zoro might have gone back to Arlong Park alone. He had to save his crewmate. He began to run.
At the same time, Sanji and Zoro were still arguing.
"Do you really think Nami-san would kill Usopp?" Sanji asked.
"It's a possibility," Zoro grunted. "She got pretty pissed last time Usopp called her 'small'."
Sanji's head snapped towards him. "WHAT?! YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT NAMI-SWAN'S BREASTS, YOU SHITTY MARIMO?!"
"I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT HER BREASTS!"
They clashed, a flurry of kicks and sword hilts. Just as they did, Usopp came running around the corner, straight into their crossfire, getting his face injured in the process.
In the quiet house on the orange grove, the door slammed shut. Nojiko came inside to find Nami sitting at a table, her head in her hands. The room was a wreck, a chair overturned, a glass shattered on the floor.
"Rough day?" Nojiko asked gently.
"I was just taking a little rest," Nami mumbled, but her shoulders were shaking. She finally opened up to her sister.
Nojiko listened, full of a sad understanding. "Your friends came to take you back, didn't they?" she said softly. "I understand why you're so upset. Nothing hurts you more than having to say the word 'friend'."
Back with the Straw Hats, the three boys had finally regrouped. Luffy, now awake, was shocked by Usopp's bruised face.
"Was it Nami?!" he asked.
"No, it was us," Sanji and Zoro admitted sheepishly.
"Luffy," Usopp said, his voice serious. "Nami saved me. I think… I think she joined the Arlong Pirates for another reason."
Just then, Nojiko appeared at the edge of the clearing. "It's useless," she said, her voice heavy. "There is no way you can change Arlong's rule. You can't save her."
She looked at their determined, foolish faces.
"But… if you're really that determined to die for her… you deserve to know the truth. I'll tell you everything about Nami's past. But you must promise to leave this island after you've heard it."
As they agreed, a new group appeared in the village. Captain Nezumi and his team of Marines.
"Genzo," the rat-like captain said to the sheriff. "Lead us to Nami's house.