Chapter 11
Once again, Jango raised his voice above the Strawhat pirates' clamor. "That's it! Men, the fact of the matter is we don't have the time to waste here any longer. If our enemy is strong, then we must become stronger than our enemy!"
Pulling out one of his hypnotist's rings, the pirate began to swing it back and forth. "Here, stare calmly into this ring. Now, I will count '1, 2, Jango' and after that, you will all begin to grow stronger. Your wounds will heal, and you will grow stronger still."
Luffy watched the group stare at the hypnotist and asked, "So what is he doing? It looks weird."
"It looks like hypnosis," Nami scoffed. "He's trying to convince them they're stronger than they are - like that'll work."
"Stronger," Jango urged. "Stronger!"
Frowning, Luffy hummed.
"Quick! Nobody look! Remember how he hypnotized the kids yesterday?" Zoro warned everyone. The group defending the slope looked away from the ring just as the hypnotist cried "1...2...Jango!"
For a moment nothing happened, but then - as if on cue - the entire Black Cat crew roared and threw their fists into the air. As the mass of pirates grabbed their weapons and prepared to charge up the slope again, one of the men ran over to the nearest cliff and grabbed the face, yelling incessantly.
Everyone watched as the cliff face broke completely off and the pirate chucked the large boulder halfway up the slope. Zoro looked on, impressed. "Huh, that one guy completely destroyed the cliff." Smirking, he continued, "Now that's what I call power!"
"I always thought hypnotizing someone was a bunch of crap," Nami stammered.
Taeyong shrugged. "From what I've heard, hypnosis can be powerful if you can harness it correctly."
"Oh, now you tell us!" Nami hissed.
"Guys," whispered Usopp. "That was just one of them. Imagine what the whole crew can do."
Seeing his crew was ready to charge, Jango pointed to the group of pirates blocking the path. "Now go!" he cried. "And strike down all that stand in your way!"
In response, the Black Cat Pirates gave a battle cry and started running up the slope. Noticing this, Zoro turned back to Nami and Usopp.
"Hey, you two. You might want to move. Luffy, Taeyong and I will take them from here."
Taeyong looked over to see Luffy's face devoid of all emotion. Realizing what had happened, she watched her captain's face morph into one of determination and said, "Actually, I think the captain can take them right now."
Glancing at Taeyong, the swordsman asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you see-"
Before the firebender could finish her answer, Luffy let out a deafening roar and began to charge the army of pirates by himself. Zoro's jaw dropped as he caught on.
"Don't tell me you let the freak hypnotize you, too?!" he shouted after the straw-hatted captain.
"Well," Taeyong sighed. "There he goes."
When Luffy got close enough to the Black Cat crew, he shouted 'Gum-Gum Gatling' and began to punch opponents left, right and center, forcing the Black Cat Pirates back to the base of the slope.
Nami watched the captain let loose before ducking behind the cliff's edge with Usopp. "He really is a simple-minded idiot," she commented.
With one final growl, Luffy charged the pirates at the bottom of the slope, causing them to scramble away from him. But he took everyone by surprise when he ran right through the cat-eared crowd and continued past them.
"Where is he going?" Zoro wondered aloud.
Taeyong watched in equal astonishment. "The only thing left is their ship - that or open water."
It turned out the captain was aiming for the Black Cat's ship - specifically its figurehead - because when he arrived at the bow, he gripped the hull hard and pulled. For a moment nothing happened, but then the front of the ship to started to crack along the sides.
"What's he doing?!" cried one of the Black Cat Pirates.
Grunting, Luffy finished ripping the hull and figurehead away from the ship and turned to face the now sweating crew. As he took his first step, the Black Cat Pirates fell into chaos, shouting, crying, and running in all directions. But right as Luffy approached the nearest pirate, Jango, the hypnotist thought of an idea. Quickly, he pulled his ring out and shouted, "'1-2-Jango,' you will fall asleep! 1, 2, JANGO!"
And the Strawhats watched in disbelief as Luffy slowly relaxed and fell over, the figurehead landing on top of him and part of the crew.
When the dust settled, Nami looked out from where she and Usopp were hiding. "It looks like those guys are really down for the count now, don't you think?" she asked.
"Maybe," answered Usopp, "but Luffy's trapped underneath that cat figurehead, just look!"
Zoro chuckled at that. "Relax, he's fine. But you should really worry about your own injuries. By the look of it, you took a lot of hits before we got here."
"I wouldn't get too comfortable. It's not over yet," Taeyong reminded them. "Remember that there's still Clahador to take care of, and on top of that, the hypnotist is still standing. The real fight should be starting about now."
Zoro smiled, "2 on 2?"
Before the firebender could reply, a scuffling sound came from the ship and two clawed pirates jumped down to join Jango.
"Buchi, check this out. There's some bad stuff going down," called the skinnier one.
The much larger pirate, Buchi, took in the sight of his beaten, half-conscious crewmates and shouted, "What the hell happened?"
Jango smiled at the two, talking to himself. "I forgot we still have our trump card - Sham and Buchi, the Nyaban Brothers!"
The two straightened in a dramatic salute. "At your service!"
"Good," the hypnotist said. "Now listen, we need to get up this path but as you can clearly see it's been blocked. If you would be so kind as to remove these obstacles, it would be greatly appreciated."
The brothers looked up the slope to see Zoro and Taeyong standing side by side and immediately began sweating. Sham pointed a trembling finger at the pair and yelped, "No way! We couldn't do that! He looks way too strong, right Buchi?!"
"Oh, yeah," the larger brother cried, equally as terrified. "And that girl looks too scary. I don't wanna fight her! She might slice my arms off!"
"She's not even the one holding swords, you idiot!" Jango snapped. "Just get on with it already!"
"We don't wanna!" The two pirates cried, but they ran up the hill anyway, screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Wait, they're actually crybabies?" Usopp questioned. "If they're the crew's powerhouses, shouldn't they be acting more like, well, powerhouses?"
Zoro huffed in annoyance. Tilting his head to the side, he called, "You come any closer and I'll cut you in half." When the two kept coming, Zoro placed a hand on his sword. "I'm not joking, I'll do it!"
Surprisingly, the larger of the brothers made it to Zoro first. Without breaking his stride, Buchi leaped towards Zoro's head, clawed mitts extended, only to be blocked by one of the swordsman's katanas. When Zoro managed to push the other pirate off him, Taeyong noticed the second brother had stopped running and was putting some distance between himself and the swordsman. Zoro noticed the same when Buchi leaped back to join his brother and said as much. "What? Don't want to come any closer?"
The brothers smiled, the smaller pulling out a pair of swords.
"Not likely!" Sham shouted, "It's too bad you fell for the brilliant performance we gave. Don't let that tiny bit of skill you have cause you to underestimate the Nyaban Brothers!"
"Wait a minute," Zoro muttered, his eyes narrowing.
Taeyong frowned. "Aren't those…"
Together Taeyong and Zoro looked down to the swordsman's belt to find his two remaining swords missing.
"Shit!" the swordsman swore, "Hey you! Give those back!"
Sham held the two swords higher in the air. "Oh, these? I didn't realize they were yours."
"I said give them back!" The swordsman growled.
"Why? You already have one sword. How greedy can you be?" The brother shared a glance with Buchi before waving the swords in his direction. "Say goodbye to the swords, Buchi."
The larger brother chuckled. "Goodbye."
Laughing, Sham tossed the swords behind him and sighed as they tumbled down the slope with a distinct clatter. "There. Now I feel lighter."
"Bastards!" Zoro yelled as he sprung forward, his sword aimed at Sham. The cat-eared pirate happily took him on, parrying his blade with clawed gloves.
While the two battled to gain ground, Taeyong snuck around the edge of the slope, skirting the fight. With just one sword in hand, Zoro could only fight so well, which the cat-eared pirate was quick to take advantage of. But she knew if he could get back the two swords Sham had tossed, it would be a different story. Taeyong aimed to retrieve the lost swords but was stopped short when Buchi stepped in front of her.
"Nice try," he taunted, "but you'll have to do better than that."
Frowning, Taeyong shrugged, "Alright."
The firebender ignored the pirate's confused look. Instead, she jumped up into the air and kicked up and over, thrusting an arc of fire from her foot directly at the Cat Pirate's torso. Immediately the pirate began to panic, flailing his arms and stumbling away from the firebender.
"I'm on fire! I don't like fire, get it off!" Buchi screamed before he stopped and looked down. His clothes didn't seem burnt or even warm. "It's gone?"
"Buchi! Get over here!"
"Huh?" Looking around, the cat pirate noticed his brother pinning Zoro to the ground. "Oh, right."
Quickly he lumbered over to go help Sham, and Taeyong stepped out from behind him, turning back towards the swords. She covered about half the remaining distance when a new adversary cut her off.
"My apologies, but you won't be getting those swords," Jango stated, a hand resting on his hat. "I won't be so easy to distract."
Without replying, Taeyong threw a column of fire straight towards the hypnotist's face, but the pirate twisted back and let the flames brush past him. He didn't stop moving, though, and immediately sent one of his disks flying at Taeyong's outstretched arm. The firebender managed to avoid the blade and countered with a flaming roundhouse kick, which Jango backed up to dodge before attacking with renewed gusto. The two traded blows, neither one gaining the decisive advantage, and so they continued to dance. Taeyong would jab, and Jango would sidestep. Jango would slice, and Taeyong would block. They each swung their weapons at the other's head, Taeyong with a dagger made from fire and Jango with his chakram, and both leaned their head back to avoid the blow when an angry shout cut through the air.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Everyone stopped fighting at the sudden question and stood straight, looking up at the man on top of the slope. Clahador stood proudly by the cliffs, glaring down at the mayhem and grasping a bag in his hand. When no one moved for several seconds, he spoke, anger littering his every word. "To think that these brats have held you back. How the Black Cat Pirates have fallen. Right, Jango?!"
Beside Taeyong, Jango became a quivering mess. "Y-You said letting that kid go wouldn't cause any problems, but h-he has strong friends!"
"How we've fallen?!"
The Nyaban Brothers growled at the butler from where they had shouted. They both began stalking forward as Buchi hissed. "You're calling us feeble? Watch what you say, Captain Kuro!"
"Yeah, you were strong before, but that was three years ago!" Sham said accusingly. "It's not like we partied while you lived the easy life in this village! We've attacked lotsa towns and sunk lotsa pirates!"
"So, don't you underestimate us! There's no way you can beat the Nyaban Brothers of today!" Buchi finished, and without giving another thought to Zoro, the two suddenly sprinted up the slope and leaped towards their former captain.
Taeyong decided to ignore the goings-on and instead opted to use the Brothers' attack to her advantage. When Buchi and Sham turned on Clahador, Jango had forgotten Taeyong's presence entirely - too busy trying to stop the brothers - and the firebender used the opportunity to sneak behind him. Quickly, she made her way to Zoro's two swords and picked them up, turning to find Sham and Buchi standing alone at the top of the slope. For a moment there was no sign of the butler, but then he appeared behind the two black cat pirates, as if from thin air. Like the Nyaban Brothers, Clahador's hands were gloved. But instead of having elongated claws, the captain's gloves had long, thin katanas extending from each finger.
"I suppose I can be generous. I'll give you lot five minutes." Clahador stepped back away from the two black cat pirates. He then clinked the katana-ed fingers together threateningly. "If you can't take care of things here in five minutes, then I'll kill every last one of you with my own two hands."
That pushed Jango and the others into action. "Ah, right...five minutes should be enough! I-if we just beat these last two pirates, we can get past this hill!"
Sham and Buchi then zeroed in on Zoro and began racing down the slope towards him.
"We had the upper hand against him just now! We'll beat him for sure this time. Right, Buchi?!" Sham called.
"Right!"
Walking past the paralyzed hypnotist, Taeyong tossed Zoro his missing swords, shouting for the swordsman to catch. She then turned her attention back to Jango. Taeyong figured Zoro would be fine now that he could reach all 3 blades - she just hoped he would have the opportunity to catch them before they hit the ground. But as she met Jango's widening eyes, the firebender heard Zoro draw the remaining swords and smiled. The swordsman could take things from here.
She watched as Jango's jaw dropped and repeated his earlier words back to him, "I thought you wouldn't be so easily distracted."
Jango gritted his teeth, glaring at the firebender, but Taeyong was already looking beyond him. Letting out a steady breath, Taeyong stepped back and down, lowering herself into a wide stance. She reached out in front of herself and curled her hands into fists. Then, with a forceful exhale Taeyong suddenly pulled her fists back in, tucking her elbows in the process. It wasn't until the earth rumbled behind him that Jango glanced back to see, and when he realized the fallen piece of cliff was heading straight for him, the pirate leapt to the side, rolling out of the boulder's way.
Taeyong, who was next in line to be steamrolled, refused to move, however. In fact, she simply grounded herself further and remained completely still. She only moved when the boulder came within arm's reach. As fast as she had pulled her fists in before, the firebender now pushed her palms out, letting them land flat on the rock's surface and stopping it in its tracks.
"That was easier than expected," she mumbled.
Clahador frowned at the antics down below. "Four minutes."
Reaching up, Taeyong formed a long blade of fire and proceeded to cut the boulder into smaller, more manageable blocks. Then, with some trial and error, she heaved the top block off the stack and held it at eye level, her hands shaking with the effort needed to keep it aloft.
The firebender set her sights on Jango, who had landed between an unconscious Sham and barely conscious Buchi. The two Black Cat pirates were talking about something but Taeyong was concentrating too much on keeping her block airborne to listen. They didn't seem to notice her either - that was, until a small boulder flew past them and hit the unconscious Sham with a thud.
The two looked over to where the young firebender was already lifting the next rock off the pile. The rock wobbled a bit but then flew, missing the duo completely again. It hit the cliff's top edge instead and shattered on impact. They quickly went back to finish what there were doing, in case another rock came flying their way and actually landed.
Taeyong, on the other hand, was getting frustrated. Moving a large boulder had been easier than expected, but it seemed that the smaller the rock, the more difficult it was to control. Still she refused to give up.
She bent up another rock and fired, missing the two cat pirates again. She lifted and shot and missed. Lifted, shot and missed. Lifted, shot and missed. The rocks flew either too high, crash-landing into the cliffs, or too short, smacking into the ground after only a few feet. The next two missed her targets completely but hit some pirates at the base of the slope instead.
Hiding behind the cliff's edge, Nami and Usopp watched as the firebender tried and failed to lob the pile of small boulders at Jango and Buchi.
"Her aim is terrible," Usopp observed. "What happened? She seemed so strong before."
"She is strong," Nami snapped. "The question is what the hell is she doing fooling around like that?"
"Three minutes," Clahador announced.
"Why doesn't she just throw fire at them like before?" Usopp asked.
Nami watched on as Taeyong failed again – this time nearly hitting Zoro in the process. The swordsman had to duck to avoid the boulder flying at his face.
"That's it." Nami stood from her hiding place, ignoring Usopp's protests, and shouted, "Taeyong! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Idiot! Get down and stop drawing attention to yourself," Zoro growled.
The firebender looked up after firing her last boulder, and slightly out of breath, answered, "Practicing."
Usopp leapt up at that, "P-practicing? Now?!"
"I told you two to stay out of this!" Zoro shouted.
"Practice is vital to success," Taeyong sagely replied, "and there is no time like the present."
"But because you were fooling around, Buchi's getting back up again!" Nami shouted, pointing down at the large pirate.
Zoro saw him moving as well and ground his teeth, "Damn. So he's not down after all – this may take the whole five minutes, then."
"Two minutes."
"Two minutes already?" Taeyong mused. With Clahador now at the slope, it was the butler, Jango and Buchi against herself and Zoro. The odds were doable, but the firebender had a feeling Luffy wouldn't be happy if he woke up and the fight was over. Furthermore, he was the captain of their crew, and his job was to fight the captain of the opposing crew, Clahador in this case. She looked to where Luffy still slept under the Black Cats' figurehead. Now was as good a time as any to wake him up.
Dodging the chakram Jango threw at her, Taeyong drew her foot up before slamming it back into the ground. The earth beneath Luffy rumbled a bit before it shot up, throwing the Strawhat captain and the figurehead into the air. The force was enough to wake Luffy, and he yelled in response. "Ow, what the hell?!"
Once he had landed, the firebender spoke, "My apologies, Captain. Clahador has arrived, and I thought you would want to be awake for this."
Luffy nodded, his eyes focused on the butler. "Right, thanks."
"One minute."
Jango's voice called out from Taeyong's left. "Go, Buchi! You take care of the haramaki kid. I'll take the other two. When you're done, come back and help finish them off!"
"Right, Captain Jango!" Buchi cried as he lunged once more for Zoro.
While the two engaged the firebender turned to face Jango. Reaching back, she bent his thrown chakram into a rounded baton that she then cut in half. Holding a thinner half-baton in each hand, she raised them into a defensive stance.
"You won't be able to take on both of us, I think." She narrowed her eyes at the now sweating hypnotist. "You and I were almost fighting equally before, but now unless you have a hidden ability, you are outmatched."
Jango growled in response. "Damn you."
With a decisive shout, he struck, bringing a chakram down to Taeyong's face. She easily brushed it aside using one half-baton and, in the same move, brought the other crashing into his unguarded shoulder. The hypnotist was knocked back a couple feet, and Taeyong advanced, not giving him the time to recover. Again, she swept the two half-batons, one after the other, at Jango, and this time they both made contact. The first hit his wrist, forcing him to drop the chakram he was holding, and as the first finished circling down the other swept in and knocked Jango's other wrist. With both arms out of the way, the hypnotist's chest was left wide open and the firebender took full advantage. Quickly, she leapt up and kicked him hard in the sternum, crushing him between her foot and the cliff. When Taeyong jumped back, the other pirate sunk to the ground in an unconscious heap.
"You're not a swordsman," a voice cut in. "Your technique is horrible."
Taeyong looked back to find Zoro watching her, Buchi lying cut at the swordsman's feet. She held the half-batons in a relaxed grip at her sides. "I said I wasn't before."
The swordsman frowned. "Then why were you using those like dual swords?"
"It's how I was taught, though I don't practice with them as often as I should."
"You bastard!" Luffy's fist suddenly shot between the two pirates, stopping their conversation short, and struck Clahador full in the face. The captain was thrown onto his back, revealing a bloodied Usopp and shaking Kaya.
"Kaya?" Zoro voiced, puzzled.
"U-usopp, are you alright?" the girl asked.
"Kaya," the sniper coughed. "You need to leave now, before he kills you. You're the one they're here to hurt!"
Her response was drowned out as a group of shouting kids surrounded the downed Black Cat Captain, attacking him with gusto. Carrot, Onion and Apple brought their sticks down onto the pirate randomly, each getting a succession of blows in.
"Take that!" Carrot shouted.
"And that!" agreed Apple.
Onion brought his stick down with a decided thwack. "And this!"
After the onslaught had finished, the three stood panting from the effort. Onion looked at the other two. "Do you think we got him?"
From the ground, Clahador growled. "Annoying brats."
"AHHH!" The trio jumped back in unison and raised their sticks, ready to start another round, when Usopp's voice stopped them.
"Stop, Usopp Pirates!"
"But we can't stop here – he's gonna hurt Kaya!" Carrot objected.
"And he hurt you!" Apple added.
"So we can't stop here and let him get away with it!" Onion concluded.
Thinking quickly, Usopp implored, "That's why I said to wait! Listen to me very carefully, because I need to give the most important mission to you guys. Get Kaya away from here! Don't say you can't! Because protecting what we cherish most as men is the reason why we formed this crew!"
Carrot's stick dropped a bit. "Captain?"
Usopp continued, not stopping to breath. "She's the one they're after, so we need to protect her however we can! Do you understand, Usopp Pirates? This is an order from your captain!"
The three kids looked to each other for a moment before shouting, "Aye aye, Captain!"
Apple took Kaya's hand, "Come on, Miss Kaya, hurry! Come this way!"
"We can protect you in the forest," Carrot stated. "We know that place like the back of our hands!"
While the group retreated to the trees, Zoro huffed. "What an elegant speech. It's the same as telling them to run away."
Taeyong nodded. "Yes, but sometimes that is what's needed."
The swordsman hummed.
Clahador slowly stood back up, his eyes on Luffy. "You. You possess the power of the Devil's Fruit, don't you?"
"Yeah," Luffy confirmed, "the rubber fruit. I'm a rubber man!"
"So your arm stretching so far wasn't just my imagination then," the butler mused. Suddenly, he turned to the remaining pirates at the base of the slope. "You lot! I will take care of these kids. You take care of the smaller children and Miss Kaya. She will write the will as planned and leave everything to me. Then kill her, and the three ants with her! They're an eyesore."
The Black Cat Pirates that were still conscious scrambled to run up the slope. "Understood!"
As they passed by her and Zoro, Taeyong lunged forward to stop them. But before she could get close, Clahador appeared in front her, blocking the path. The firebender barely had time to skid to a halt and raise her half-batons before the butler was striking. In one blow, her batons were cut to pieces and she was thrown back into Zoro, sending them both into the cliffside.
"Taeyong!"
