Another Piece

Written By: Smerph Greenfox

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

Chapter 11: Conclusion

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"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.

Luffy pulled his head back, unwinding and pushing off of Kuro. Taking advantage of his dazed state, Luffy crouched, placed a hand on the ground to support himself, and swung and outstretched leg horizontally, with a cry of "MUCCHI! (Whip)" The low attack hit Kuro in the knees and he buckled under his own weight.

Luffy stood upright and adjusted his hat. "I told you already, I won't let you kill Kaya." He said flatly. "Get out of my village."

With that, he turned his back to Kuro and walked off. When he had gotten about halfway to the entrance, he heard Kuro wheezing.

"Pathetic excuse for a pirate. Did you think that was enough to stop me?"

Luffy turned around and saw Kuro struggling to stand. His legs shook for a moment, but he eventually regained a solid footing.

"I AM CAPTAIN KURO, OF THE KURO-NEKO PIRATES! A mere village boy can't hope to defeat me!"

Meanwhile, Usopp was having his own problems. He armed his slingshot and took aim at the scrawny one.

Siam charged at him, but couldn't make contact before Usopp cried out "NAMARI BOSHI! (Lead Star)" The pellet hit the pirate right between the eyes and he fell on his back.

Something caught Usopp's eye, and he turned his head to the left. Merry was still on the ground next to him. Crap! I can't fight with Merry here! Wait, I've got an idea... He smirked and pulled another shot out of his bag.

"Hey, pirates!" He taunted.

They paused for a second, and after a moment of silence, Usopp spoke again.

"Tryandcatchme! KEMURI BOSHI! (Smoke Star)" He fired the shot at the ground, and it created a cloud of smoke. Using that as cover, Usopp dashed for the door and out into the front yard.

Coughing, Siam and Butchie looked through the smoke. It started clearing enough to the point where they could see a figure run outside.

"Ha! What a coward!" Confidently, they also ran for the door. The second they stepped outside, they could see clearly.

In fact, they could clearly see Usopp grinning wildly, with another shot in his raised slingshot. He twitched his fingers, revealing a second pellet in the slingshot as well.

He chuckled a bit. "Sure Kill... KYAKU BOSHI! (Gunpowder Star)" He released the band, and the two stars took off. They collided with the two pirates' faces and exploded on contact. It wasn't a big explosion, but enough to cause them to fall to their knees and eventually collapse in the doorway. The force had knocked them out.

Usopp returned his slingshot to his bag, and raised his goggles to his forehead. "And stay out." He grunted. Recomposing himself, he turned around and started walking towards the village.

Kuro adjusted his glasses. "You really have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. This Great Age of Pirates has no use for the dreamers. They will be weeded out by the planners and the schemers. One Piece? Pirate King? These aren't the prizes for people like you who run forward blindly!"

Luffy stood without saying anything. Kuro continued talking, completely oblivious to the growing anger in the boy's eyes.

"You are a fool to even think that treasure is laid out for you. These so called 'dreams' are laughable at best! True pirates refuse to even acknowledge them!"

"I was going to let you leave my village peacefully." Luffy said. "You should have stayed down." He began stretching his arm behind him. "Gomu Gomu no..."

Kuro smirked and leaned to the left, preparing to dash off. He slowly stepped once, but suddenly winced in pain. No! That kick earlier... He... He damaged my legs! I can't run away anymore!

Suddenly, an idea entered his head. He fanned his fingers in front of himself, the blades crossing each other in a grid-like pattern. "You wouldn't dare hit me now!"

"PISTOL!" Luffy ran forward as his arm snapped back. It shot forward, and when it made contact, shattered the steel claws and hit Kuro in the chest at full force.

Kuro coughed loudly as his eyes turned white. As shards of his steel claws clattered on the ground, he flew backwards and skidded along the ground, unconscious.

Luffy's arm snapped back to normal and he walked up to the fallen foe.

"My dreams are laughable?" He asked flatly. "Where'd you get that idea?" The boy smirked a little. "Is this what people believe nowadays? That's no good." He adjusted his hat and flashed a wide, determined grin.

"I need a crew that knows what it REALLY means to be a pirate!"

With that, he leaned backwards and fell down, sighing contentedly.

"Haa... I wasn't sure that attack would even work!" He said, still grinning.

"LUUUUUUFFFFYYY!" The village suddenly heard screaming. They recognized the voice instantly. It was Usopp.

Luffy jumped to his feet as Usopp entered the village. "Oi, Usopp! You're okay!"

Usopp ran up to Luffy and put his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath. "Yeah, barely! But I beat 'em! They were tough, too! They had guns and swords and everything! They were fast, too! I even got hurt! But all it took was for me to speak of my triumphant quests as a great pirate and they surrendered almost instantly! But just to be safe, I fired a few of my new Power Shot Kyaku Boshi!"

Usopp continued on and on with his tale, making it more and more unbelievable. Luffy just laughed, in spite of the wounds he received.

"Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable..." Makino murmured. "Those boys... There's definitely something special about them..."

"Yeah..." Kaya smiled widely. "We're lucky to have them!"

"Boys! You two had better see the doctor about those wounds!" A villager shouted, interrupting Usopp in mid-sentence.

Makino led the two heroes to the doctor's office while a few more villagers lifted Kuro up.

"Oi, where's their pirate ship docked?" One of them called out.

"Uhh... I think it was that way." Luffy pointed in the wrong direction.

Usopp smacked him on the back of the head. "That's not what he's asking! Honestly... Well, they came from the north pier, so I'd assume that's where the ship is. Oh, don't forget to grab the others at Kaya's mansion."

Kaya suddenly gasped. "Merry! He's been injured as well!"

A villager nodded. "Don't worry, we'll go pick him up after we send these pirates off to sea."

The townspeople separated and carried out the various tasks that needed to be completed. Someone escorted Kaya back to her mansion while the boys waved goodbye to her, being led to the village doctor.

"Oi, Luffy. We need to talk about something..." Usopp whispered.

"What is it?" Luffy asked.

"I'll tell you later, once we're alone. Too many people right now."

Makino cleared her throat. "What are you two whispering about?" She asked with faux anger.

"No-nothing, Makino!" Usopp stuttered.

Kaya smiled and looked at the sky. We're very lucky to have them...

TO BE CONTINUED

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Kaya: So you're leaving the island?

Luffy: Yeah! Time to start our journey! Who knows what kind of adventures we'll go on?

Usopp: We need some crewmates first! Can't have a pirate crew with just two people!

Luffy: Wait, who's this old hag? You wanna fight or something?

Smerph: All this next time on Another Piece!

Zoro: Is it our turn to show up yet?

Smerph: Heyheyhey! What are you doing here? Wait your turn!