Another Piece

Written By: Smerph Greenfox

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

Chapter 10: Being Brave

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"Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!" Luffy yelled. Kuro had appeared right in front of Luffy, almost as if to taunt him. Luffy tried to take advantage of it, but of course, the boy's attack missed and he snapped his arm back. They were no longer on the ramp leading up the north pier. That was behind them. Now they were fighting on the path leading up to the village.

"Who are you?" Kaya asked, terrified.

"I am Butchie." The fat pirate said. "And he is Siam. And together, we're the Nyaban Brothers! But it's not very important right now, is it?"

Kaya attempted to move backwards, but Siam seemingly vanished, and appeared behind her.

"Going somewhere?" He taunted.

"Wh..What do you want?" She gasped.

Luffy and Kuro continued their brawl, neither one of them gaining an advantage. Luffy's attacks kept missing their mark, and Kuro found that the rubber boy was more resilient to his claws than he had planned. Not to mention the fact that Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Gattling Gun, the only attack so far to connect, had slowed him down a little bit.

Regardless, everything is going as planned. He thought. As long as he keeps pushing forward. Soon, we'll be at the village. I'll let him pound me for a second, until the villagers notice what's going on. I simply tell them he attacked me while I was taking a walk along the beach. Once Butchie and Siam finish their part, I'll convince the town that his brother is responsible for her murder. What luck that my only opponents are habitual liars.

Luffy was, of course, oblivious to this plan. All he knew was that Klahadore had to be stopped.

"No. No, I'd never agree to any pirate's demands!" Kaya yelled. She tried to sound as strong as possible, but her illness, combined with her own fear, betrayed her words.

"I don't think you have a choice, here." Siam snickered. "Right now, Captain Kuro is finishing off the only two people who even know about his plan."

What little courage Kaya had was shattered. "You're... lying. Usopp... Luffy..."

"And what makes you think he'll stop with those two? What's preventing him from killing everyone in the village? This little pile of dirt you call an island has no way to stop one of the most feared pirates in all of East Blue." Butchie said, smirking evilly.

Usopp, meanwhile, continued his dash to Kaya's house. Upon arriving to the gate, he gasped when he found it had been smashed open. He readied his slingshot and cautiously approached the house. To his surprise, the front door had also been smashed in. He shook with fear, and stepped inside.

"K-K-K-Kaya?" He stuttered.

"Usopp!" Kaya gasped. A small smile came to her face.

Usopp heard her cry and slowly entered the room. Everything about him, from his knees shaking to his teeth rattling, seemed to scream out just how terrified he was.

The Nyaban Brothers seemed to match his terror.

"Y-You! Bu-bu-but you should be dead!" Siam gasped.

"He must be stronger than we thought! Oh, please don't hurt us!" Butchie pleaded.

Usopp's knees stopped shaking. "Huh?" I thought these guys would be super strong or something. "That's right! You should be afraid of me!" He boasted. "I am the Great Captain "Bull's-eye" Usopp-SAMA! I have over 80,000 followers!"

"Ohhhh no. We're done for! We can't hope to stand up to this great warrior!" The brothers sobbed.

"Ha! That's right!" Usopp laughed proudly. They fell for it! He thought.

"Just kidding." Siam smirked. Before Usopp could react, they dashed for him, and slashed his chest with their claws. He coughed and fell on his back.

"Usopp!" Kaya cried out.

"Now, back to business." Siam said. He and Butchie turned back to Kaya and grinned wickedly. They walked towards her slowly, but suddenly Butchie made a hacking noise, and fell face first to the ground.

"Butchie!" Siam cried out. With a loud thud, a lead ball fell to the ground, and rolled away. Siam whirled around to see Usopp standing up, panting. His slingshot was raised and his chest was bleeding.

"Namari... Boshi..." (Lead Star) He wheezed.

"Why you annoying-" Siam started. He dashed at Usopp again.

"Nose." Usopp said. Before Siam could attack again, Usopp had loaded his slingshot and fired, hitting Siam square in the nose. It started bleeding, and he fell to his knees.

"Kaya, can you walk?" Usopp said suddenly.

She struggled to her feet, more nervous than anything. She'd never seen Usopp like that. "Y... Yes."

"Good. Can you go warn the villagers about Klahadore? Me and Luffy tried telling them, but they wouldn't listen. I'll keep these two under control."

Kaya nodded and cautiously walked to the door. She picked up her pace slightly when she walked outside.

"Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!" Luffy launched another attack, Kuro saw it pass by very close to his face.

He's... He's getting faster! Kuro thought.

"STAMP!" Luffy yelled. Kuro had just enough time to see the sole of Luffy's sandal flying towards him. The attack made contact with his chest, and sent him flying backwards. He quickly got to his feet and saw Luffy charging. He dashed to his left and had an opportunity to catch his breath. He looked behind him. The town was very close. One more dash would place him in range. I don't understand, though. How did he get so fast? No... He's not getting faster. I was getting careless. I've underestimated him.

The people in the town were just now waking up and heading outside to start their day. Makino stepped outside and looked around.

"That's odd. The boys should be running through the town by now." She said to herself.

Her remark was answered when she heard someone scream out "PIRATES!" Something was wrong, though.

"That's not Usopp or Luffy." Someone noted. The townsfolk looked around, and someone saw Kaya running from her mansion. She was the one screaming, and when she arrived in the town, she nearly fainted. Makino ran towards her and grabbed her shoulder to support her.

"Kaya? What are you doing out of bed? You're sick!" Makino asked.

Kaya shook her head. "No, you have to listen! There are pirates here!"

Makino frowned. "Pirates? Kaya, is this a joke? Luffy and Usopp try this trick every day."

"I'm serious! My butler, Klahadore, he's actually a pirate after my fortune. Luffy and Usopp are fighting him and his crew right now!" She insisted. "Didn't they come by yesterday to warn you?"

"Come to think of it, it was kinda strange how they'd run through the village like that twice in one day. I just thought they were causing trouble like always." A villager noted.

"Kaya, who told you this?" Makino asked.

Kaya looked away. "No one. I saw it with my own eyes. Merry was cut up, and these two pirates invaded the mansion. Usopp appeared and saved me, though. He's still in there."

At that moment, Kuro had dashed closer towards the town. He was at a good enough distance that an attack from Luffy would send him flying down the middle of the town. Luffy took the bait, sure enough.

"Gomu Gomu no... BAZOOKA!" Luffy stretched out both of his arms far behind him, and whipped them forward, striking Kuro's chest with his palms. Kuro flew backwards, stopping after he crashed into the side of a house.

The sudden commotion caused the townspeople to look towards its source. They saw Luffy walk in, looking very confused.

"Huh? The town? How'd I get in here?" He asked himself. As he looked around, he saw Kaya, and dashed up to her. "Kaya! Are you okay? I took care of that stupid Klahadore." As usual, he was oblivious to the villagers and their confusion.

"Luffy, what exactly is going on?" Makino asked.

Luffy suddenly became aware of the others. "Makino! Oh, well, you see that butler there is actually a pirate, and..."

As Luffy explained the situation as best as he could, the owner of the house Kuro had crashed into approached Kuro. He thought the pirate was unconscious, but suddenly his eyes flashed open. Before anyone could react, Kuro was on his feet. He swung his claws upwards, slashing the man, and adjusted his glasses with his other hand.

"Damn you, boy. It seems you and your brother are causing every aspect of my plan to fall apart." Kuro said flatly. "I see that Butchie and Siam failed to eliminate Kaya."

The villagers cleared out of the way, many of them running back into their houses. Kuro approached slowly. "Fortunately, I always have backup plans." He stretched his fingers out, and the blades flashed in the sunlight.

Makino got a good look at his eyes. They lacked the dignity and politeness she had known Klahadore for. Instead, they had the look of an insane lunatic. It was like looking fear itself in the face.

Kuro crossed his arms over his chest, his blades fanned out. He disappeared. Kaya and Makino braced themselves, but his attack never hit them. When they opened their eyes, the saw Luffy standing in front of them, his arms out, protecting them. Kuro's arms had uncrossed, and there was fresh blood on the blades.

"Lu..ff..y..?" Makino said slowly. His cheerful, ridiculous personality was gone, just like how Klahadore's uprightness had vanished. However, Luffy hadn't become a cold-hearted killer, but a selfless hero.

"You're even stupider than I thought!" Kuro laughed as Luffy grimaced in pain. "Why would you offer your own body as a shield for these people?"

"Left yourself unguarded." Was all Luffy's response. He suddenly grabbed Kuro's arms with both hand, and his own arms stretched out and wrapped themselves around Kuro's. He jumped towards Kuro, and wrapped his legs around his waist.

"Makino, Kaya, you'd better get out of the way." He said. The women obliged and Makino helped Kaya to safety.

"What do you plan on doing, boy?" Kuro asked. He hadn't expected this.

"I just thought of a new attack. Watch this." He swung his head backwards, and his neck began stretching far out.

Kuro's eyes widened as he figured out what Luffy's plan was.

"GOMU GOMU NO... KANE! (Bell)" At that instant, Luffy's neck began retracting, and his forehead slammed into Kuro's face, making what sounded like a mallet striking a large bell.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Author's Notes: I fail at updating on time. I blame writer's block. And Bush. Yeah, it's Bush's fault.

By the way, I'd really like to get onto the Grand Line by the end of this year. Can I do it? Maybe.