Wood

Nami stared at the three doors ahead of her. If nothing else, the last three challenges had taught her that nothing about this game was as it seemed. This wasn’t a simple contest about solving puzzles or fighting some faceless half-wit thugs. Her challenges were WAY HARDER than that. She had legitimately feared for her life! And other things!

Nami regarded the gold door suspiciously. “What kind of game show can afford to give away 2.7 BILLION beri anyway? I bet they don’t even have that much money! After facing that last challenge I’d wager there’s a super strong opponent that I’ve never even met behind that door. They can’t afford to let me win that much money so it’s probably designed to ensure that I lose. Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. I’m no sucker. I’m not gonna fight one of the Four Emperors no matter how much they claim they'll pay me.”

The thief eyed the silver door with similar scorn. “Three challenges they said… overcome obstacles they said… No one ever said I'd be fighting creeps and lowlifes from my past. Not to mention that last challenge that was filled with weirdos I’ve never even met! Now they’re saying all I have to do is walk through that door and claim my prize. Like they’ll just hand over nine hundred million beri on a silver platter! Well, I know better than to accept anything on a silver platter! There’s always a catch! That one guy just had to push blocks and solve puzzles! But I bet if I walked through that door to ‘claim my prize’ that I’d have to get it from a Marine Admiral! Or Eneru! That’s probably a trap too!”

The Catburglar finally turned to survey the wood door. “A one of a kind treasure, huh? They’ve got a glittering gold door and a shiny silver door that are probably filled with traps specifically designed to make me lose. But I bet the only thing they have of real value is behind that boring wooden door. They’d never expect someone - especially me - to give up that much money so they hid the real prize behind the door they never expected me to go through.”

“Here goes nothing,” Nami resolved as she walked up to the wood door and grabbed the knob. She took a deep breath, turned the knob and walked inside.

The Straw Hat Navigator found herself in a pitch black void.

“I guess they really didn’t expect me to pick this door,” Nami as she stared through the darkness. She could barely see her hand in front of her face. “They never thought I’d pick it so they didn’t actually put anything in here. Looks like that one of a kind treasure thing was a bust.”

“Not quite Catburglar. This final obstacle comes from an immensely personal memory buried deep within your heart. The valuable treasure you get for overcoming this obstacle… is closure.”

A spotlight fell on her. Nami looked down and saw that her outfit had changed. She was now wearing a green tank top with darker green spots along with snug black shorts.

“I haven’t worn this since…” Nami trailed off as she stared down at her feet and saw she was standing on a floor composed of large stone tiles. She suddenly knew exactly where she was.

The light started to come up and Nami turned to see a big steel double door behind her which replaced the simple wooden door she had originally come through. The steels doors were connected to a stone wall that surrounded her and the large pools in the middle of the floor. Two pools were closed off but the final one was a waterway that let to a massive gate which a sea monster could easily pass through.

Nami took a deep breath and felt her heartbeat increase as she slowly turned around then tilted her head back as she found herself standing below a familiar five-story building. She knew now that it had been modeled after Sabaody Park. She bit her lip as her eyes drifted up to the top. The chart room. Her room. A familiar black flag waved above it. The two crossbones bore the design that had once been branded into her shoulder.

The Catburglar gripped the pinwheel and tangerine tattoo that she’d designed to replace it and once again found herself standing in Arlong Park.

The last time she had seen this horrid place… it had been reduced to pile of rubble after Luffy’s battle with Arlong. But here it was looming over her again like her worst nightmare.

Nami’s Clima-Tact reappeared in her hand and she squeezed it tightly. She didn’t need to be the beautiful, charming and fashionable genius that she was to know what monster from her memories she’d be facing here in this final - immensely personal - battle.

Oddly enough, Arlong Park appeared to be empty. There was no sign of anybody. Nami whirled around and stared suspiciously into the pools. But there were no fishmen lurking in the depths.

FWOOOOOSSHH!

A large wave rose outside of the far wall on the other side of the waterway. The water fell away to reveal the massive form of Mohmoo the Sea Cow. Nami tensed herself and prepared to battle the monster. “Mooo…” But Nami was surprised when the massive Sea Cow calmly bobbed outside of the waterway and made no move to attack. He just watched her. It appeared that Mohmoo was merely a spectator.

But that’s when Nami realized that even though she was back in the familiar place… she hadn’t been brought back to her home on the Conomi Islands. Instead Arlong Park seemed to be in the middle of a large stadium. Kuroobi and Chew sat front and center on one side. The familiar faces of the Arlong pirates were occupying the seats behind them. Many of them were holding banners and waving flags with their webbed hands like this was a special sporting event. And based on their little ‘A’ flags and their banners that bore Arlong’s Jolly Roger - it was clear that the Fishman Pirates were cheering for the home team. Across the pools on the other side, the ‘visitor section’ was mostly deserted and contained a lone occupant. A familiar octopus fishman was using his extra arms to wave six flags that each bore an ‘N’.

“Go Nami!” Hachi cheered before he blew a few notes from his horn-like mouth. “NYU! NYU!”

The other fishmen took offense of Hatchan’s cheer and quickly drowned him out with a chant.

“AR-LONG! AR-LONG! AR-LONG! AR-LONG! AR-LONG!”

Nami’s knuckles had turned white due to her tight grip on her Clima-Tact. She slowly turned around and saw a large figure emerging from the bottom of Arlong Park. She felt tremors going through the thick stone tiles at her feet as he drew closer… and then suddenly... there he was.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Nami muttered as she stared up at the tall, blue-skinned fishman who still haunted her dreams. She slowly took in the dark hair, sharp teeth and long jagged nose of her old tormenter. She’d grown but he still towered over her at nearly ten feet tall.

“Shahahahaha!” the familiar laugh sent a shiver down her spine. “Now, now, Nami. Is that really the way to greet an old friend?”

“FRIEND?” Nami spat. “You don’t know the meaning of the word! I was never your friend! I was your pet human! I learned what real friends are after one of them crushed this wretched fortress of yours and took you down along with it!”

Arlong smiled a wide shark like grin. “That may be so… but where are your precious human friends now? You’re all alone Nami. There’s no rubber man to swoop in and save you this time.”

“I don’t need saving!” Nami growled. “I’m not the same little girl you spent eight years bullying! I’ve grown! I’m stronger! I’m smarter now! I don’t have to hide behind anyone anymore! I can beat you on my own!”

Wow. Maybe the spooky voice was right about that closure thing. She was already feeling better after getting a chance to shout at the murdering monster who had stolen her childhood.

Arlong gnashed his sharp teeth and his grin turned sinister. “We’ll see about that…”

Nami swung her Clima-Tact and prepared for the fight of her life.