The Only Fish In The Sea For Me

Chapter One: New World New Love

AN: Before the destruction of Arlong Park and during Stardust Crusaders

Dio regains consciousness and staggers to his feet, visibly disheveled from his tedious battle with a stand user who proved to be more powerful than Dio could have ever imagined.

"You may have been able to lay one blow on me, but rest assured it won't happen again..."

Dio trails off as he discovers that he is completely alone. In fact, he can't see another person for miles despite just moments ago standing on a crowded street.

"This must be the work of that stand user. No matter. That fight was dragging on for too long anyways. Although, teleporting me to a mysterious island is not ideal."

Dio scans his surroundings and is met with a peculiar sight; every single house in this compact village has been flipped upside-down. He walks down the narrow pathways in between all the wreckage, until he can see in the distance a gigantic building that towers over every tree in sight.

"I might gain some answers there." Dio remarks aloud.

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"Here you go, Arlong. The people of Coco Village coughed up enough coin this time." One of the Arlong Pirates places a treasure chest of no more than 3000 Berry at the feet of the most fearsome fishman in all of the East Blue; Arlong.

"Very good. We'll bleed 'em dry until they can't bleed anymore." Then Arlong let out a ferocious laugh, and all the Arlong Pirates followed suit.

Amidst the uproar of the laughter, a 6'5 man clad in flashy golden attire came strolling up to the fishmen with a stern expression. The laughter halts almost immediately as the man is face to face with Arlong.

"You have some nerve walking up to me like that, human. Do you have a death wish?" Arlong remains seated in his chair, clutching his small stolen fortune. The man remains silent.

"I haven't seen you around here before. You certainly aren't a pirate either, otherwise I would have seen your wanted poster."

"Pirate?" The man utters out, "I'm no pirate, and I'm no human either. All these creatures you surround yourself with are utterly disgusting. I take it you're all stand users? No matter. No one has ever or will ever get the best of I, Dio."

Arlong rises from his chair. He considerably surpasses the height and weight of Dio but this causes no alarm; Dio maintains a cold glare into Arlong's eyes.

"I like your confidence, human. Join me in my private map room, I'd like to.. Learn more about you." Arlong remarks with a smirk across his face.

"I don't have time for you, stand user. I'd like to get off this island." Dio coldly responds.

"Oh come now. Accept my offer while I'm still being nice. Maybe I'll even help you get off this island if you come with me." The Arlong Pirates snicker to themselves, knowing full well Arlong has never helped anyone but himself his whole life.

"Trick me, ugly, and it'll be the last thing you ever do in your miserable, pathetic life." Dio says.

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Dio trails behind Arlong, unamused and slightly irritated at the theatrics of this quaint island he's gotten himself stuck on. "Tell me, long nose, where is this place?" Dio asks.

"The Conomi Islands, of course. You're our latest guest here at Arlong Park. Can you guess who named the place?" Arlong jokes.

Dio shoots him another ice cold glare, and Arlong quickly looks in the other direction. Dio scans the walls, filled with crude drawings of maps. Although, each island drawn was named something Dio has never heard of before. Certain names jump out at him and catch his attention, 'Shells Town', 'Loguetown', and many others that he knows don't exist on any map he's ever seen.  

"Your maps are all wrong. These islands don't exist. Were they drawn by a child or something?" Dio lightly chuckles to himself. 

Arlong runs his fingers along the markings on the paper, and stares at it knowingly, "In fact, they were. However, your confusion is misplaced. All these places are real, I've been to most of them myself." Dio crosses his arms, cocks his head to one side and begins to laugh slyly, like he knows something Arlong doesn't. 

"You can't be serious. Did gaining a stand power that affected you physically also disturb your mental capacity? You don't even have a single known continent on these maps. There's no Japan, no Great Britain, no America, no Russia. I suggest you kill your map maker for their insubordination." Dio rambles on. Arlong only responds with a puzzled look, he's never heard of these places before in his life. 

"I do find you fascinating, human. You're very tall, incredibly rude, and now it seems you have a wealth of knowledge that even I am unaware of. Tell me, is your strength equal to the might of your sharp tongue?" Arlong inquires. 

Dio takes a single step forward and within less than a blink of an eye, he reappears behind Arlong's giant physique. He grips Arlong by the shoulders, his thin yellow shirt scrunching beneath Dio's fingers. His lips gently press against the side of Arlong's ears as he softly whispers, "More powerful than you could ever imagine." 

Arlong can feel his heart pound in his chest, the rhythmic beating leaves him speechless. He grapples with two conflicting thoughts, was his heart reacting out of fear? Or was he stricken with admiration? Without looking back at Dio, Arlong asks with shaky breath, "Have you eaten a devil fruit?" 

Dio let go of Arlong's shirt, and began to slowly pace around the room, eyes darting back and forth at the writing on each map that lined the stone walls. Then finally, after what felt like an eternity, Dio looks down at his feet and whispers angrily, "Conomi Island...Devil Fruit...Pirates..." Then, he storms over to Arlong and grips the collar of his shirt tightly in his fist, "I'm not in my own world anymore, am I?" 

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