Another Piece

Written By: Smerph Greenfox

Disclaimer: All characters, unless otherwise noted, are copyright of Eichiiro Oda.

Chapter 8: We Fight

Author's Notes: forever-flying: We'll be having no yaoi in MY Fanfics, thankyouverymuch.

Yachtzee: Please forgive me! I so very very sorry. The Kuro arc is not exactly one of my favorite arcs in OP, so I'm not all that enthused about writing it. Once I get into my more... preferred arcs (Buggy, Arlong, Arabasta) THEN we'll be cooking with gas! (Sanji: Ahem. Cooking is MY forte, shitty author.)

------------------------------------------------------------

So, there they were. Standing at the entrance to the town they lied to day after day.

They tore through the streets every day, screaming about pirates, but it was always all in fun. They were never serious about their warnings. They only did it because they got a kick out of riling up the neighbors.

But today was different. Today, they meant it.

"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! PIRATES ARE COMING, PIRATES ARE COMING!" They yelled louder than ever before, making sure to run down every road and yell to every house. It wasn't long before the two found themselves surrounded by a group of angry villagers.

"Again? You've already done this today! Don't you have anything better to do?"

Luffy and Usopp frantically shook their heads. "Nonononono, this time we really mean it! Pirates are really coming! We just heard it!" They said simultaneously.

"Enough! I'm sick of hearing you two scream like that every morning! Get out! Go on, find some other village to torment!" A woman said.

"No, you've got to believe us! You're all in danger!" Usopp pleaded. "Please, listen!"

Luffy growled. "Forget it, Usopp. They won't believe us." He said under his breath. "We've gotta go to Kaya right away."

Usopp hesitated. He glanced at the angry villagers, hurling more curses and insults towards him and his brother. "O-okay. Yeah, that makes more sense. Kaya's bound to believe us." Backing up, Usopp and Luffy turned towards the mansion and dashed at full speed towards it.

Usopp took one final look towards the shrinking villagers and gulped. "Oi, Luffy. What if Kaya doesn't believe us?"

Luffy shook his head, still looking forward. "She's gotta. We're telling the truth this time. If she believed our lies, she'll believe the truth. It's the truth after all, and you're supposed to believe that."

No arguing with that logic... Usopp thought sarcastically. He loved his brother, but sometimes he wondered if the boy was right in the head.

They arrived to the mansion, and snuck in quicker than usual. They made more noise, but if they alerted someone, so be it. They had a mission. They scaled the familiar tree and pounded on Kaya's window.

She opened it and smiled warmly as she always did. "Luffy! Usopp! Oh, I thought Klahadore chased you off for good! You're in luck. He's not here, he had to go run some errands." She noticed the serious looks on their faces. "Is... is something wrong?"

"Kaya..." Usopp started. "Klahadore, he..."

Kaya grew worried. "Did something happen to Klahadore? Is he alright?"

Usopp growled. "He's fine, I guess. Kaya, Klahadore is a pirate!" He blurted out.

Kaya felt her heart race. "Wh... What? What do you-"

"We overheard him talking today!" Luffy yelped. "He was talking with these other pirates, and he said he was gonna kill you! He's only pretending to be your butler!"

"Usopp... What-"

Usopp held out his hand. "Come on, we've gotta get you out of here. I'm not gonna let that bastard take you away."

"How... How could you say such an awful thing?" Kaya stammered. "I know he offended you two today, but that's no reason to say such an evil thing!"

Usopp and Luffy's eyes widened. "Evil thing? It's the truth! He's going to kill you!" Usopp grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her out the window, but she refused.

"No! Your lies used to be so sweet and nice, but now you're spreading vicious rumors! Klahadore takes care of me, and he's an honest man!" She exclaimed.

"YOUR STUPID BUTLER IS NOTHING BUT A HEARTLESS BASTARD!" Luffy yelled. In return, he received a painful slap in the face.

Everyone was silent for a while.

The silence was broken when Kaya's servant, Merry burst into the room.

"Kaya, what's all the commotion?" He yelled. When he saw Usopp trying to pull the girl from her bed, he screamed. "GUARDS! GUARDS!"

Immediately, two men armed with pistols ran to the tree the boys were standing in. They raised their guns and one said "Get down from there, leave her alone!"

Usopp took one final, pleading look at Kaya, before jumping down from the tree. Luffy followed suit.

"We- We don't want any trouble. Just come with us and-" The guard said.

"We won't give you trouble." Usopp growled. He instantly opened the bag at his side. Fishing around for not even a second, he pulled out a small silver ball. "Sure-Kill Kemuri Boshi! (Smoke Star)" He threw the ball to the ground, and it exploded into a cloud of smoke. When it dissipated, the guards found their targets were nowhere to be found.

Kaya, unable to keep herself steady, nearly toppled out the window, until Merry grabbed her and held her in his arms.

Later, that night...

Luffy and Usopp, sitting near the north dock beside a campfire, silently thought and worried about what had happened that day.

Luffy broke the silence. "I'm not letting that pirate bastard kill her."

Usopp didn't look up. "I don't want her to die either, but what can we do?"

"What do you think we do? We kick his ass!" Luffy yelled.

Usopp suddenly stood up. "You're kidding, right? We can't fight him!"

"Why not? He's just a stupid butler. And a pirate. A pirate butler." Luffy asked.

Usopp raised a finger. "That's exactly it. He's a pirate. Not all pirates are like Shanks, you know."

Luffy shrugged. "So? We're pirates too, right? The Straw Hat Pirates, remember?"

Usopp hesitated and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, yeah, but we've never actually fought anyone before... It's dangerous. Besides, we don't even know what Klahadore's capable of!"

Luffy grinned his monkeylike grin. "Big deal. I'm going to be the Pirate King. There's nothing that can stop me!"

Meanwhile, at Kaya's mansion, Klahadore finally returned home. Merry was still awake to greet him.

"Oh, Klahadore! There you are! Oh, my, you missed quite a show while you were out. Those boys, what are their names? Usopp and Luffy? Well, they returned to the mansion, trying to kidnap Miss Kaya! They even said that you were a pirate! Ridiculous, isn't it?"

Klahadore's eyes widened. "They didn't succeed, did they?"

Merry shook his head, chuckling. "Oh, my, no. They were chased off by our guards. I guess you were right about those boys after all. Nothing but trouble. And here I thought Kaya had made some true friends..."

Klahadore pushed up his glasses with the palm of his hand. "Yes, indeed. Well, I should go and check on her, then. A day like this, she must need my company."

Merry protested. "No, no, she's already asleep. She suddenly became very ill and went to bed early today. But not before asking me to give you this." He held out a small box, wrapped with a red ribbon. "You know, it's been three years since you came here tomorrow. She wanted to give you a present to celebrate."

Klahadore walked towards the window, curiously opening the box. It was a new glasses case. Black, and shiny. He looked up and saw a full moon. "How curious. A full moon tonight. It always seems to bring out the worst in me." With that, he let the case fall from his hands. Raising his foot, he stomped on it, shattering the gift into pieces.

"Klahadore, what on earth has gotten into you?" Merry gasped. "Kaya gave you that as a gift!"

"Foolish man." Klahadore said calmly. "Three years and you never figured it out? Never realized I am actually Captain Kuro of the KuroNeko Pirates?" He suddenly turned around and faced the poor old man. He grinned evilly. Slowly walking towards Merry, he put a strange furry glove on his right hand. Each fingertip held a long double sided blade, glistening in the moonlight. "Perhaps next time two idiots come to you with a warning, you should listen?"

Merry, unable to move, did the only thing he could. Yell. "KAYA! RUN FOR YOUR LI-"

Blood splashed onto the carpet of the room.

"Always brings out the worst in me." Klahadore, or rather Kuro, reiterated. He pushed his glasses up with the palm of his bladed glove and vanished.

"So, it's agreed, then?" Luffy asked.

"I-I guess so. You're the captain, after all." Usopp stammered. He stood up. "I'll be brave... for Kaya's sake."

Luffy grinned another monkeylike grin. He picked up his hat off the ground and placed it on his head. "Then let's do it. Tomorrow... We fight."

------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes: THERE! How's THAT for a chapter? (Does a little dance) Next up is the Kuro fight, next up is the Kuro fight, ladeedadeeda!