Some difficult things in my life came up, so I'm sorry for the long wait. It's shorter than the last one too, so... yeah.

Sorry.

Just a forewarning, November is typically one of the most hectic months for me, so updates are going to be a lot more lax than before. I am going to try and write whenever possible but don't be surprised if you guys only see two more chapters this month. Seriously. I'm absolutely swamped with work.


"MEOWBAN BROTHERS!" The weirdo captain bellowed. "COME ON DOWN!" Suddenly, two silhouettes jumped from the ship's deck and onto the ground. The two men, one large with a thick center, the other thin with an apparent hunched back, stood before Captain Hypnotist.

"What are they?" Nami questioned.

"They jumped from that high deck like cats!" Usopp added.

The group could just barely hear the captain give order for Zoro to be gotten rid of. They could quite easily however, see the brothers cower in fear at the idea of fighting the swordsman. Making excuses and shaking in their oddly shaped boots.

"I thought they were some kind of secret weapon!" Usopp said, honestly surprised.

A drop of sweat rolled down Nami's head. The one named Siam looked ready to piss his pants while his brother hid inside his own cape. Siam started to make his way up the slope, running in a strange fashion. It looked like he was starting to cry- but looks aren't everything.

"What the hell?" Gwenyth mumbled. This didn't settle right with her. She glanced back down at the fallen Cat-Ears who watched this Siam character with smug, victorious grins. Was this cat just pretending? The rest of his crew seemed pretty confident with his capabilities. "Oi, Zoro! Don't put your guard down! I think this guy's stronger than he lets on!"

"Huh?"

"R-Ready or not! Here I c-come! I'm gonna scratch your eyes out!" The brother wailed pathetically. The small group of teens shared a large sweat-drop. Or maybe he really was that weak and his shipmates were just delusional?

"A guy like that? Don't even joke! WHAT THE-!?" Zoro started, but was cut off. Suddenly blocking an attack that no one else had even seen coming. One moment the cat man was only halfway up the slope, and the next he was toe to toe with Zoro. Holding the same smug look as his crewmates.

"You underestimated me, didn't you?" He taunted before Zoro forced him away with his blade. "You fell for it! I was only pretending to be a scaredy-cat!"

"He's not really a coward!?" Usopp questioned.

"I knew it..." Gwen mumbled under her breath, knowing it was no time for 'I told ya so's.

Nami gasped in realization. "ZORO! Your swords!" The rest of her crew taking notice of his missing blades instantaneously. Of course, their own thief would notice the thievery before anyone else.

"Aw, shit." Gwenyth commented, sharing a look with the redhead.

"He swiped Zoro's swords."

"That's not good." She began to whisper. "How well can he fight with just one?"

"Well enough, I'm sure." Nami answered with an hesitant smile. This calmed neither of their worries.

Siam abruptly threw Zoro's other two swords down the hill, and Gwenyth couldn't stifle a gasp. Those were important- no- precious to Zoro, and that cat was just throwing them around like they were nothing?

"That unforgivable bastard!" Gwenyth growled leaning forward.

Nami held her back by the skirt of her dress. "Don't even think about it!"

The enraged swordsman charged the cat. Slicing him in two like it was absolutely nothing and continued towards his swords. Only, it was nothing. Nothing on the blade, nothing on the man. Not on the hillside, or anywhere else. Just... Nothing.

"No blood? Zoro, no blood!" Gwenyth shouted, warning him as quickly as she could. But by then, it was too late. Siam was already on top of Zoro, pinning him to the ground by his arms. He called for his brother, Butchie, who lumbered over at an incredible speed. The large cat man soared into the air, ready to bring his foot upon Zoro's head.

"LOOK OUT!" The girls screamed, Nami holding a ferocious Gwenyth back with everything she had.

Zoro thankfully rolled out of the way in time. But the impact from Butchie's unbelievable drop kick split the earth beneath him. The cats began to ploy their next attack, giving the swordsman only moments to prepare before they jumped. Their 'claws' attempting to scratch and slice through him.

"WILL YOU CALM DOWN!?" Nami shouted at her fuming crewmate, not relenting her grip on the skirt.

"WE CAN'T JUST SIT HERE!" She raged, pulling at her dress as hard as she could. Very tempted to just pull it off right then and there, and fight topless. If nothing else, it could be used as a distraction.

"Don't be rash! If any of us jump in, we're just gonna get hurt!"

"Zoro's gonna get hurt if we don't help him soon!"

"She's right!" Usopp agreed. "He can't last long against their combined assault. I'll provide some artillery support!"

"You have a slingshot, not a gun."

"EXCUSE YOU, DID YOU NOT SEE THE POWER I POSSES WITH THIS SLINGSHOT!? WITH MY INCREDIBLE AIM, IT'S AS STRONG AS ANY OLD 'GUN'!" He shouted firing at one of the brothers. Zoro made a sudden, almost forced movement. The pellet inadvertently hit him instead, causing a loss of balance. One of the cat men took the opening, Gwenyth couldn't tell who, and slashed Zoro across the chest.

"WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, USOPP!?" Nami shrilled.

"N-No, I didn't..."

"Hold on, Nami. I think... I think he did that on purpose... I think-"

"Usopp, you idiot!" The swordsman interrupted, clearly in pain. "Are you trying to get killed?!"

"I think he was trying to protect us." Gwenyth finished, in awe of his selflessness.

Nami's eyes widened in realization. "Now that you mention it... If that had hit them, they might direct their attacks at us instead."

"Zoro..." Usopp mumbled in admiration. "This is no time to worry about others..."

Gwenyth groaned in annoyance, agreeing with the sniper. "What he needs to worry about is keeping from getting hurt. We need to worry about getting his swords back to him."

"I couldn't agree more." Nami said, standing and making her way to the edge of the cliffside. "You two wait here. I'm going to go get them!"

"Hey, wait! Let me do that!" Usopp insisted.

"You can barely walk. Just keep Gwen from rushing into a fight she can't win!" She called, hoping over the edge.

"HEY!" The two shouted after her, both with a mixture of worry and busing pride. The thief dashed down the slope, feeling lucky the swords hadn't been thrown too far. There was only one, minor miscalculation: Captain Weirdo.

"NAMI!" Gwenyth screamed as the navigator was struck on the shoulder by one of his circular blades. Nami toppled down the hill, hitting the earth head first. Usopp grabbed at the seamstress's arms to keep her from running off.

"YOU PIG!" He shouted down at the man while Gwenyth tried to fight him off.

How dare that man! Nami was her comrade! Her friend! Her... what was the word Luffy had used? Her... Her nakama? Yes, her nakama! That's what she was! Gwenyth swore to god, heaven, and the devil himself, if Nami didn't get up that man wouldn't live to see another day. Even if it meant dying herself!

She raged against Usopp's hold, thrashing about madly. She didn't want to hurt him, but GOD DAMN IT this was no time for her to be sitting things out! Suddenly, the air changed again and the weirdo captain screeched in fear- grinding Gwenyth's tantrum to an absolute halt.

She watched his face contort with horror, then turned to the trembling, muttering Cat-Ears, and finally to the frozen-in-fear cat brothers. Finding it very odd that she couldn't feel any of their emotions. For once, it seemed Gwenyth was only aware of herself. Which, after being so seemingly connected to others, felt very strange and lonesome. They looked scared, but all she could feel was the sense of impending doom and rage she had held moments ago. It honestly felt too large to be her own, not to mention she had calmed down immensely, but she didn't know where else it could be coming from.

"It's long past dawn," Gwenyth jumped at the new voice. She turned to see a very sinister looking man. "You seem to be having trouble following my plan... WHAT IN NEPTUNE'S NAME IS GOING ON!?"

She flinched. At that moment, Gwenyth knew why she couldn't feel the Cat Crew's fear. The sheer size and intensity of this man's rage and thirst for revenge obstructed her from all surrounding emotions. Swelling and suffocating the air with his immense toxicity. The atmosphere was so heavy to her that Gwenyth wondered how she was even able to breathe.

Noting that Usopp had let her go, she quickly released her shield back into it's offensive setting. Instead of listening to him insult the Cat-Ears, she dug for information.

"Okay, so, this is that Klahadore person, right?" She whispered to Usopp who nodded.

"That's what we've been calling him here. We all thought he was just a marooned sailor, but he's really an infamous pirate named Kuro. Everyone thought he was executed a couple years ago, but..."

"Apparently not." She finished for him.

He nodded again. "He's the real captain of the Black Cats."

"The Cat-Ears down there?" He nodded and they watched an interesting sight develop.

The cat brothers seemed to be standing up to this 'Captain Kuro'. The hypnotist and the end of the hill demanded they stop, but his shouts were ignored. He was only their phony captain, anyway, right? Gwenyth wondered if any of that really mattered to the crew; who they followed, who they didn't. It would have greatly mattered to her. She wondered which one they were more loyal to: weirdo or scary-face? For Siam and Butchie, it was obviously not scary-face.

"They're gonna mutiny?" Usopp asked breathless. The two teens hardly blinking in anticipation.

"Can you blame them? I'd mutiny if someone insulted my skills like that after... How long did you say? Three years?"

"I guess," Usopp murmured, neither of them looking away from the fight about to unfold. "But still, Kuro was one of the most feared pirates on the sea. Some even said he was the most evil of all the world's geniuses. I wouldn't mutiny against that guy, no matter how long it's been."

"You wouldn't mutiny against a potato if it had toothpicks sticking out of it."

"WHAT KIND OF POTATOES EXIST IN YOUR WORLD!?"

"The kind I'm not afraid to mutiny against." She joked with a grin before returning her attention to the brawl-to-be. "Hey, wait... Where's-?"

"Who are you going to kill?" Kuro The Creepy said from behind the cat brothers.

"H-How did he get there?" Usopp questioned. Gwenyth shook her head, equally worriedly, before glancing down the hill. Thankfully, Nami was sitting up. The blonde let out a sigh of relief. One less thing to fret over. Though they would have to treat that wound once this whole mess was finished. Which reminded Gwenyth that she hadn't changed her wrappings today. She shook her head viciously, trying to bring herself back into the moment.

The brothers turned around to face him, but the psycho pirating butler simply appeared behind them and draped his arms over their shoulders. Almost like they were chums, only Kuro obviously didn't think himself as low as them. In his mind, he was quite clearly better than his former crewmates. And as much as Gwenyth didn't want to admit it... He clearly was.

"You've got five minutes." Kuro instructed calmly. As though he wasn't stabbing one of the brothers in the neck with his 'claws'. "If everything isn't sorted out by then... I'll kill every last one of you with my own hands."

Usopp gulped. "To think this devil's been living in our midst for three years!"

"So, does this mean we're gonna die?" Gwenyth asked politely.

"DON'T BE SO CALM ABOUT IT!"

"ZORO!" Nami shouted above all other commotion. "You're swords!" She kicked them up the hill with all her might.

"WHY, YOU-! FIRST YOU TRAMPLE ME, THEN YOU KICK MY SWORDS?!" Zoro shouted in a heat before catching them. He quickly readied himself as the Cat Brothers bolted madly towards him. They gave the extra blades no mind. To them, it seemed, the swordsman's skill set was the same regardless of the weapons he possessed. Silly little kittens were about to face the tiger's true potential.

One strike sent the cats flying. The blood that had been missing before was in plentiful supply this time around. Everyone was rendered speechless and without motion for a small moment. It was broken by a cheering seamstress, who was shouting out praise and jumping up & down like a small child. Others began to shout as well, out of disbelief. Zoro and Kuro were in the middle of a stare down when Butchie pulled himself up and crawled over to Django. Begging for strength.

"Zoro! Fatso's up and at 'em!" Gwenyth shouted moments before the larger brother roared with insanity. "What a scary beast..." She mumbled before eying the weirdo 'captain'. Who would have thought hypnosis would be such a powerful weapon? Only someone so strange would be able to think of it, she mused.

He cursed about something and threw one of his bladed rings towards the ship. Gwenyth's eyes landed on his target and gasped. The rings were headed straight for Nami!

Before anyone realized what was happening, and could try to stop her, Gwenyth jumped from the patch of grass and onto the slope. With her shield at the ready, she charged the occupied hypnotist. Someone called for Nami to duck. Gwenyth turned the shield vertical and made a quick, powerful spin. The center of her shield thrashed into the man, sending him crashing to the ground.

Gwenyth cursed. Django saw her coming and covered himself. She had been hoping to bash his brains in, but had hit his torso instead. The bastard. He was coughing and cursing in a swashbuckling way; working his way to standing back up. Which was not what she had wanted. At all.

"NAMI, YOU CREEP!" she heard Luffy shout. "WHY'D YOU HAVE TO STEP ON MY HEAD!?"

Gwenyth turned just in time to see the hypnotist's blade strike her captain in the back of the head. A number of people screamed numerous things. For some, it was over the that fact he was alive and standing. For others, it was his shoddy timing. For Nami, it was his name. For Gwenyth, it was silence. Time seemed to slow and she was barely able to register what had just happened. Unable to blink until after Luffy pulled, repeat pulled, the bloody ring from his head and started screaming himself.

"W-What the hell is he?" She asked herself as the Cat-Ears shouted out in fear. Less than three minutes, Kuro had informed them. And quite simply they didn't want to die. The Hypnotist Fo-Captain ordered Butchie to take care of Zoro while he would handle the Straw Hat, seeming to forget about Gwenyth's precence. An opening from fate?, she wondered, ready to bash his head in for real this time.

"GWENYTH JONES, YOU GET BACK UP THAT HILL RIGHT NOW, OR, SO HELP ME, I'LL TIE YOU TO THE SAIL!" A livid Nami screeched.

"I'LL BE GOOD, I SWEAR!" The seamstress bolted up the slope, forgetting her plans of head bashing. Not wanting to pay the consiquences of angering the navigator. She was ready to hop back onto the patch of grass (aka the unofficial 'safety zone') when a girl stumbled uneasily out of the forest. Her hair was a soft blonde, both lighter and shorter than Gwenyth's, with the palest skin she had ever seen.

The girl, who was already breathing heavily, took in a deep breath. "KLAHADORE! STOP!"


Annnnnnnnnnd I'm stopping here because my computer blacked out near the end of the chapter, and I currently don't trust it.

Ya'll better thank your higher powers Auto-save exists, cause I would NOT have rewritten ANY of this!