From authors notes: hello and welcome to my story! Thank you for taking time out of your very important day to read my work! This is my first fan fic, I posted it in with all its chapters done. I have been working on it for a long time, and constructive comments are always appreciated. In face, they make my world go round!

Note on rating: this is rated T for teen for mild swearing and some hormonal scenes, as well as some violence, but nothing too explicit. If that's not your cup of tea, take note: you are warned.

On my previous posting of this chapter I forgot to put out my disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, never have, never will, and will leave it in the capable hands of Oda. If I did own it, one VERY important, much loved(by me and others) character would not be gone.

Sorry this is long… I just want to thank my three best friends, for their support, threats, bribes and brains to bounce ideas off of. Without you guys, I don't know if I would have gotten very far on this. Thanks for keeping me going! And thanks to poisonliz, for giving me my first review! It made me squeal and jump for joy, making my family think I am farther gone than initially thought. Thanks for reading my really long authors note and please enjoy my story!

Burakkuson "Blackthorn" and Eustass "Captain" Kidd

Title: The Captain and the Blackthorn

Chapter 1

Eustass Kidd, Captain of the Kidd pirates, stood at the front of his ship, arms crossed over his bare chest, fingering the dagger that was strapped there next to his gun. He cut an imposing figure, his captain's cloak swaying in the steady breeze that filled his ship's sails. His averagely tall, well muscled body, still pale even after sailing from South Blue, was in sharp contrast to his flame shaped crimson hair and golden eyes. He had no eyebrows, dark lips and nails that were long and black. Said nails were ominously tapping his dagger, his eyes glaring out at the ocean. The crew was avoiding him, knowing from previous experience that when he was in this mood, it was best to avoid him at all costs. The only member immune to the killing aura coming off of Kidd was his first mate, Killer. Killer was always at Kidd's side, through thick and thin, and was his right hand and first nakama. Being such a loyal nakama meant that Killer was standing quietly behind Kidd as the captain fumed. The crew had to agree that they made a lethal combination. Killers name wasn't for nothing. He killed people by the hundreds with his spinning blades and impossibly quick speed. However, the fear he generated wasn't just because of his well won reputation and superhuman skills. Everyone fears what they can't see, what is unknown and strange. Besides his tremendous skill, whenever someone died by his hand, they couldn't even see his face. He wore a mask that covered his entire head, leaving only his long, choppy blond hair free to feel the wind and the sun. The mask had holes going up in two lines vertically, but whether he could see out of them or not was a mystery as well.

Killer was waiting patiently for Kidd to decide whether or not to act on the information they had heard on the last island. Apparently the Marines had found a "living weapon" hibernating in the area of the island of Ohara after it had been destroyed. Rumor had it that it looked like a person in almost every way. It had its own free will and was extremely powerful. They had existed since before the Void Era, and since everything from before and during that era was forbidden, this creature had to be exterminated. There were even rumors that the living weapons were one of the only things that the world government feared that could throw out the balance of power, and destroy the government itself. This one had apparently hidden itself so well that it took the Marines years to actually get to it. The Kidd pirates had learned that there was a highly likely chance that the living weapons and the Marines did not get along at ALL. The Marines were now transporting it to the Marine Headquarters. It had been decided that instead of killing it right off, it was to be studied, tortured, used and replicated for their own twisted justice. Then the original was to be destroyed. Their transportation route was about 50 miles south of their current position, heading in a north easterly direction. In short, if Kidd changed their route just a small bit, they could intercept and destroy a Marine fleet, always good for raising bounties in Kidd's book, and steal a top secret extremely dangerous weapon for their own use against the government. However, the couple of drawbacks that kept even the reckless, violent Kidd from acting were the facts that one, there might be an Admiral on board, though that was deemed unlikely due to the hastiness of the mission. Two was that the living weapon might not be pleased when it woke up to find itself on a Marine ship. It might be so displeased that it would destroy everything in a 50 mile radius, including the pirates. Kidd was reckless, but he was also intelligent. He had a dream, and wasn't ready to die quite yet, or risk the lives of his crew.

He turned to Killer, "Do you think our source for this information was accurate?" Killer faced Kidd and calmly said, "There is a small chance he was lying to save himself, but given the amount of pain that we put that Marine through, I doubt his mind could have formed such an extravagant, detailed lie on the spot." Kidd nodded in response and continued looking out at the sea. One of the reasons he valued Killer so much was because he always said it like it was, no beating around the bush or lying. He weighed pros and cons, the facts and the lies, and gave his honest answer to a question or problem.

Suddenly Kidd turned around with his trademark maniac grin, his cloak flapping in the wind, and announced, "Men, we're gonna go kick some Marine butt and their pride all the way to hell!" His crew roared in satisfaction, and Killer nodded, already planning for the upcoming battle and subsequent capture of the living weapon. Kidd strode over the wheel and spun it around with a flourish, blood lust rising at the thought of a good fight.

The Marine on watch scanned the horizon, aware that they carried important cargo that would be a flashing beacon to any wandering pirates. However, he was unaware of how big their enemy would be until it was almost on top of them. Alarms were sounded as men ran to their battle positions, using their ships to create a barrier between the pirates and the precious cargo.

Kidd just grinned his homicidal grin that scared the crap out of anyone unlucky enough to see it. He stood at the front of his crew, who were pacing like hungry hyenas behind him. He counted the ships and turned to Killer. "Ten ships. Five for both of us. Once your done come meet me at the ship in the center behind the barricade." Killer nodded as the crew roared, ready to back their captain and first mate to the death.

Kidd turned, and with his grin still on his face, slowly lifted his left arm towards the left five ships. "… Repel!" all the Marines screamed in shock as their weapons were lifted up into the air, flying toward the small pirate ship. Every ship shot off mortars and cannons, trying to overwhelm the pirate ship and send it to the ocean floor. Then Kidd brought up his right arm, "Repel!" and sent the lethal rain of metal bombs flying back into their ships. His eyes lit up as the flames from the ships caught in his eyes and the screams of the Marines floated to his ears. By then his metal hand extension had formed, created from all the marine metal that hadn't been tied down. The second it was done, Killer jumped on top of it and practically flew to the other ships still mostly intact from the return of their bombs. Kidd laughed and laughed as he swung his hand like a hammer, smashing the ships one by one, feeling the power coursing through his whole body, making him seem invincible. Once the ship was close enough the crew took care of the remaining Marines as Kidd and Killer continued on to the last ship left intact. Kidd and Killer went back to back, Kidd taking the weapons and using them against their owners, and Killer with his beautiful deadly rain of spinning blades. Within minutes there was not a soul alive but for Kidd and his crew. His crew stood guard on deck of the last ship, while Kidd, Killer, and Zombie man went below decks to see what exactly it was they had acquired.