-1Chapter 2

Future Pirateking

Juba then stood up and brushed off the dust on his clothes. Then, he looked up to the man calling himself Usopp and asked,

"So, you are this village's infamous liar?"

"HAHAHAHA! That's right I am the village's. . eh?" stated Usopp. Sweat dropped down his face and he looked worried.

"So, I can take that as a yes right?" asked Juba. Usopp then fell on his knees and started pounding the ground.

"DAMN IT! HOW COULD I FALL FOR SUCH A TRICK!?" screamed Usopp.

"HAHAHAHA! Don't feel too bad Usopp. After all, I am a skilled tactician," Juba stated proudly. The girl in orange hair gave a weird look to Juba.

"Are you really a tactician?" she asked.

"Yep, 100%. Although, I can see why you wouldn't believe me. We only just met and it isn't easy to trust complete strangers," Juba stated.

"Ah, you are right," stated the man with green hair.

"So, anyway, allow me to introduce myself," started Juba.

"STOP IGNORING ME!" Usopp shouted. Then he took out a green slingshot and was ready to launch another steel ball. "Listen pirates, this is your last chance to leave this island peacefully." Juba turned to the three strangers and thought to himself;

So, these guy's are pirates. They don't seem the type. Then Juba turned his attention to the three strangers again and saw the one with the strawhat looking very serious.

"Since you have drawn your pistol, are you willing to use it?" he asked in a cold tone. Usopp seem to freeze up at those words. "Gun's aren't for threats, they're meant for action." The man with green hair smiled and turned towards Usopp.

"I can unsure you that we are real pirates. Consider your next move very carefully." Usopp didn't make a move at all for awhile. All the strawhat and green haired men did was stand there staring at Usopp. After a minute, Usopp put down his weapon and the two other men started to laugh.

"I stole that," stated the man with the strawhat. Usopp had a confused look on his face. "I stole those words from Red-Haired Shanks, I pirate I know." Juba was then lost in the conversation that they were having, and stared at the strawhat man.

He knows that legendary pirate? That is pretty impressive for someone so young. He doesn't look anything special though. I still don't think it is wise to judge a book by it's cover. Juba snapped back into reality when he heard a scream. He turned in the direction of Usopp to see him falling off the cliff like he did. Usopp was lucky enough to land on his butt.

"You're right. My old man's name is Yasopp," started Usopp, "but how do you know him?" The man in the strawhat simply laughed.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, we need to find a restaurant and get some meat!" screamed the strawhat man. Juba couldn't help but laugh.

"Man, you guy's are a interesting bunch," stated Juba, "my name is Juba Croheart. Just call me Juba."

"My name is Nami," stated the orange haired woman.

"Zoro," stated the man with green hair.

"Oi, I'm Luffy," stated the strawhat man. Juba, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy all walked up into the town and found the restaurant that Juba had already eaten at. Juba then told the story about being shipwrecked and how bad that storm was. As he was telling the story, the kind old man came to deliver their order. It consisted mostly of meat, with some beer for drinks. It still smelled delicious.

"Sounded pretty bad," stated Usopp.

"Yeah, but that is the risk you take when you set out to sea," Juba stated, "after all, you are dealing with a force of nature."

"That is true," replied Nami. Zoro and Luffy were too busy eating to pay attention to the conversation.

"Do those two always like to eat like that?" asked Juba.

"*sigh* I think so. We haven't together for long," replied Nami. Luffy and Usopp were having a conversation about Usopp's father. Father, that word has had no meaning for Juba for a long time. His father was dead to him. Juba started having flashbacks in his head about what happened on that day. He ran from that place in order not to see the horrible event. He ran and ran and stopped when he heard gun fire. He turned around to see the distance place that he called home, and simply started to cry.

"Juba," a voice called Juba back into reality. It was Zoro's voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Juba stated, "I was just remembering what happened to my father."

"Oh," Usopp said, "what happened to him?"

"Other than the fact that is dead, there isn't much else to talk about," Juba said casually. All the others had sad looks on their face.

"I am sorry Juba," Nami said kindly. Juba lifted his shoulders and sighed.

"Thanks Nami, but it happened a long time ago. I am pretty much over it." Luffy went back to eating his meat.

"So, Usopp," Nami said as to change the subject, "do you know of anyone who could sell us a decent ship or someone who knows how to sail?"

"Well," stared Usopp, "it's a pretty small village. So, I am sorry to tell you this, but I don't think that we will be able to help you." Juba thought for a moment and remembered that mansion that he saw.

"Well, there is a mansion here," stated Juba, "I was going to go there to see if they had a boat I could use."

"You stay away from there!" demanded Usopp. Nami, Luffy, Zoro, and Juba gave him a weird look. Usopp gave them a shocking look. "I just remembered something that I really got to do. Everyone here knows me here, so stay and eat as much as you want." Then Usopp bolted out of the door.

"Well, that was weird," stated Juba. Nami nodded her head in agreement. "So, for what purpose did you guy's set out to sea?"

"I set out to sea to become the world's strongest swordsman," Zoro stated proudly.

"I am simply out to get 100 million berries," stated Nami. This caused Juba's mouth to drop.

"That's quite a goal Nami," stated Juba.

"Not as great as my goal," Luffy said with food in his mouth. Juba turned to Luffy and laughed.

"Sounds like your goal is very important to you Luffy," stated Juba.

"Yep, I am going king of pirates," Luffy stated proudly. Juba was at a loss for words. This was a young man who wanted to be king of the pirates. He had a crew of three, and that's including Luffy. Juba just couldn't understand how he could just come right out and say that in the middle of public. Juba looked into Luffy's eyes and saw the pure determination to do what he wanted to do. Luffy was dead set on becoming the king of the pirates.

"Wow, now that is quite a goal Luffy," stated Juba. Luffy nodded his head in agreement and took another bite of his meat. "Out of all the pirates that I have seen, only you have had pure determination in your eyes. Even though you only have two other crewmates, you are still dead set on sailing to the Grand Line?"

"Yep," Luffy said without hesitation. Juba simply laughed. He had laughed like he had not laughed in years. After he was done, Juba looked at Luffy and smiled.

"You know what, I have been looking someone like you," started Juba. Nami and Zoro had turned their heads to Juba with curious looks on their faces. "I have been looking for a pirate captain that I believe that can help me make my dreams come true. I believe that you are the one, Luffy."

"Oh," stated Luffy, "what is your dream?"

"My dream," started Juba, "my dream is to take the title of 'Grand Tactician' from none other than Edgar Howler." Nami and Zoro froze while Luffy had a confused look on his face.

"Oi, who is this Edgar Howler?" asked Luffy. Nami grew angry and hit Luffy on top of the head.

"You idiot, you haven't heard of the Grand Tactician Edgar Howler?" Nami asked Luffy angrily.

"No, should I have heard of him?" asked Luffy.

"He is the world's current greatest tactician," started Juba, "he hasn't lost a fight to this day. Using his tactics, he has manage to catch many pirates over the years. People said that he could have caught Kuro, the man with a thousand plans, if he wasn't executed three years ago. He is the man that I will surpass for what he did."

"Did he do something horrible?" asked Zoro.

"Yes," started Juba, "he is the man that killed my mother."

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Da da dooonnnnnnnnn, the story continues in chapter three: Evil plan revealed.

Stay tuned.