Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

I only own this story and my character.

Chapter 4: Syrup Village

Nami sighs, "Alright guys, if we're going to reach the Grand Line, then we'll need a better ship."

Luffy grins, "With lots of meat."

Zoro smirks, "Don't forget booze."

Nami facepalms, "Oh forget it."

She turns to Leon, "How do you put up with this?"

Leon smirks, "You should have seen Luffy when we were kids."

Eventually they come manage to find an island.

Nami turns to them, "Alright, this island should hopefully have a better ship or supplies at the very least."

Leon nods, "One can hope."

They disembark, only for a voice to come out from the cliffs above the beach.

"Hold it right there pirates!"

They all look up to see a young man with black hair and a long nose.

"I'm the great captain Usopp!" "This island is under my command."

Leon's eyes widen in recognition, "Luffy, isn't he…?"

Luffy nods, "Yep."

Nami turns to them, "You know this guy?"

Leon shakes his head, "Not personally, only by reputation."

Usopp smirks, "You will go no further."

"I command a an army of 80,000 men!"

Nami, Zoro and Leon all deadpan while Luffy's eyes sparkle, "Awesome!"

Nami rolls her eyes, "Oh please, he's clearly lying."

Usopp's jaw drops, "She knows."

Nami smirks, "Now I do."

"I'd say you only have three."

Sure enough, three kids pop out of the bushes and run away.

Usopp shakes his head and pulls out a slingshot, "Okay so maybe I was lying, but I'm not playing around."

Luffy smirks and lets his hat slide down to cover one of his eyes, "I see."

"In that case, are you prepared to use it?"

Usopp's eyes widen a little, "Weapons are meant to kill, they're not toys to be played with."

Zoro smirks and grips Wado, "Make no mistake, we're really pirates."

Leon cracks his neck, "It's your move little man."

Usopp starts to sweat, before letting go of his slingshot and falling to his knees, "Real pirates, so cool."

Luffy bursts out laughing, "You're Yasopp's son right?"

Usopp's eyes widen, "You know my dad?"

Leon chuckles, "Oh yeah, it's him alright, no doubt about that."

Usopp shakes his head, "How do you guys know my dad?"

Luffy grins, "How about we talk about it over some lunch?"

Usopp hums, "Hmm…alright, I know just the place."

They all head into town and stop in at the town's restaurant.

Luffy swallows, "So like I was saying, me and Leon met your dad when we were little kids."

Leon nods, "We became pretty good friends."

Usopp smiles, "What's my dad like?"

Luffy chuckles, "He's an amazing sharpshooter."

"I'd want him on my crew any day."

Usopp grins, "That sounds like my dad alright."

Leon takes a swig of his drink, "Last we checked, he's a commander of the Red-Haired Pirates."

Usopp's jaw drops, "You mean the crew of Red-Haired Shanks?"

Luffy nods, "Yeah, he's a good friend of ours."

Nami shakes her head, "Anyway Usopp, do you know where we can find a better ship around here?"

Usopp scratches his chin, "A ship?"

"Hmm, that might be a tough one."

Nami looks out the window, "What about the mansion on the hill?"

Usopp starts to sweat, "Err…well…"

He stands up, "I've got to go."

He rushes out of the restaurant, making them all blink.

Suddenly, the three kids that were with Usopp earlier burst into the restaurant, "We'll save you captain!"

They look around, "Huh, where did he go?"

Luffy pats his belly, "Ah, that meat was good."

The three kids all go pale, "Meat!?"

"These guys are cannibals."

Zoro decides to play along and gives them a psychotic look, "If you're looking for our captain, we ate him."

The kids all scream, "Ah, evil witch!"

Nami gains a tick mark, "Why are you brats looking at me!?"

Once everything calms down, the kids introduce themselves as Pepper, Carrot and Onion.

Nami raises an eyebrow, "Can I ask what is so special about that mansion?"

Onion hums, "Kaya, the girl who lives there, has been sick for a long time."

Carrot nods, "Her parents died some time ago, and she's been alone since then."

Pepper smiles, "So the captain goes there to tell her stories to cheer her up."

Nami smiles, "I see."

Leon turns to Luffy, "Maybe we should check it out."

"She might have a ship we can buy."

Luffy nods, "I guess so."

The group leaves the restaurant and heads towards the mansion. They arrive just in time to see Usopp get into a confrontation with Kaya's butler Klahadore.

The kids' eyes widen, "Captain!"

Klahadore clicks his tongue, "More riffraff."

Kaya sticks her head out the window, "Klahadore leave Usopp alone."

Klahadore scoffs, "What do you expect from the son of a worthless pirate."

This causes Luffy and Leon to scowl at him while Usopp growls in anger.

"Don't talk about my father that way!" "I'm proud that he set off to follow his dream."

Leon walks forward and grabs the metal gate. With a grunt of effort, he pulls the gate apart, shocking everyone.

He walks up to Klahadore, "I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself."

"You have no right to judge Yasopp unless you've met the man and lived a day in his shoes."

He turns around and puts a hand on Usopp's shoulder, "Come on, there's nothing left for us to say."

Usopp glares at Klahadore, before giving Kaya an apologetic look, "Sorry for the trouble Kaya."

Kaya has a sad look on her face, "Usopp…"

The group heads back into town, where Usopp walks off on his own to clear his head.

Luffy follows after Usopp, "I'll talk to him."

The rest of the group sits down or leans against a large wooden fence.

Nami sighs, "So now what do we do?"

Leon grunts, "Well we can't leave until Luffy says it's time to go."

Pepper frowns, "That darn Klahadore, he's always badmouthing the captain."

Onion turns to Leon, "You said Yasopp."

"Do you know the captain's dad?"

Leon nods, "Yeah, Luffy and I met Yasopp when we were kids."

Suddenly, Usopp comes running up the road and runs past them.

Carrot frowns, "What's going on?"

Zoro frowns, "Something must have happened?"

Nami looks back towards the path that Usopp just came from, "Where's Luffy?"

Leon stands up and takes off down the path.

Leon arrives at a small cliff side, where he notices a part of the cliff that has been broken off. He looks down to the ground below and sees Luffy lying on his front.

He hops down the cliff and walks up to his brother.

He reaches down and feels his pulse, "He's alive."

He slaps Luffy's face, "Wake up."

Luffy groans and sits up, "Leon?"

Leon hums, "Are you okay?"

Luffy scratches the back of his head, "Usopp and I were talking when we noticed that butler guy talking to some weirdo."

"Next thing I know, I'm starting to get tired."

Leon nods, "Well, we better head back."

The two brothers head back towards the town, and find Usopp talking with the rest of the group.

Usopp's eyes widen, "You're alive!?"

Luffy grins, "It'll take more than a fall to kill me."

Leon turns to Usopp, "So what happened?"

Usopp sighs, "Luffy and I were talking, when we noticed Klahadore meeting with someone named Jango."

"It turns out that Klahadore is really Captain Kuro."

Luffy turns to Leon, "Do you know who he's talking about?"

Leon reaches into his jacket and pulls out his little book, "Let's see."

"Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates." "It says here that he was executed three years ago."

He frowns, "Oh you've got to be shitting me."

Nami blinks, "What's wrong?"

Leon groans, "It says here that the marine who captured him was Axe-Hand Morgan."

Nami and Zoro both facepalm, "Of course."

Usopp frowns, "Anyway, Kuro said that his crew was going to attack the town and kill everyone."

"Then, Jango would hypnotize Kaya and make her give her fortune to Kuro."

He sighs, "I tried to warn everyone but no one believed me."

"I mean, I understand why they didn't believe me, but still…"

Luffy cracks his neck, "Alright, I guess it's up to us."

Usopp looks up at him with a surprised look, "Huh?"

Leon groans, "Finally some exercise, I was starting to go stiff."

Zoro smirks, "This might be fun."

Nami rolls her eyes, "I'll help, but the treasure's all mine."

Usopp wipes his eyes, "You're really going to help?"

Luffy raises an eyebrow, "Why wouldn't we?"

"Aren't we friends?"

Usopp's eyes widen, "Well…I guess…"

He shakes his head, "Alright, we'll need a plan."

He turns to the kids, "Alright you guys, I want you to protect Kaya no matter what, okay?"

They nod, "You can count on us captain."

The kids run off, while Usopp leads the others to the cliff, "Okay, this is where they'll be coming up."

"So, I figure that we could set some traps."

Nami nods, "What did you have in mind?"

Usopp pulls out a barrel, "Well, I was thinking."

"We could use this oil to make the path more slippery."

Nami hums, "That's not a bad idea."

Once they get everything set up, they sit down and wait for the pirates to arrive.

Usopp frowns, "Man, where are they?"

Nami's eyes widen, "Did you hear that?"

She cups her ear, "I can hear the faint sound of yelling on the wind."

Usopp's jaw drops, "Oh crap!"

"I just remembered, there is a cliff that looks just like this one north of here."

Leon turns to him, "Why didn't you mention this before?"

Usopp groans, "This is where their meeting was so I assumed it would happen here."

Nami gasps, "Oh no, that's where my treasure is."

Luffy turns to run, "Just run straight north right?"

Before he can run off, Leon grabs his collar, "Hold on there."

Luffy looks up at him, "Leon we've got to stop them."

Leon rolls his eyes, "Yes, but your sense of direction is almost as bad as Zoro's."

Said swordsman gains a tick mark, "Oi!"

Nami deadpans at him, "He's not wrong, you'd probably get lost while walking in a straight line."

Zoro grumbles 'Damn witch.'

Leon turns to Usopp, "Lead the way."

He nods, "Follow me."

Usopp leads them to the other cliff, just in time for the Black Cat Pirates to dock.

Usopp frowns, "Alright, we made it just in time."

One of the pirates turns to Jango, "Captain there are a bunch of kids blocking the way."

Jango scoffs, "Annoying."

"Forget about them, focus on the plan."

The pirates all cheer and start charging up the cliff.

Nami grips her staff, "Here they come."

Zoro ties his headband around his head, while Luffy cracks his knuckles. Before they can move, Leon walks ahead a short distance.

He glares at the pirates, "Suck on this."

He drives his fists into the ground, startling his companions.

"Golden Acupuncture!"

Suddenly, large spikes blast up from the ground underneath the pirates, sending them flying.

Usopp's jaw drops, "What the heck was that!?"

Nami frowns, "Don't you think that was a little overboard?"

Leon hums, "Relax Nami, I wasn't actually aiming to kill any of them."

Usopp pulls out his slingshot, "Alright, it's my turn."

"Hissatsu: Kayaku Boshi!" (Sure-Kill: Gunpowder Star)

He fires a small ball at the pirates, which explodes upon contact.

One of the pirates turns to Jago, "Captain we can't get close."

Jago clicks his tongue, "Damnit, we're getting nowhere."

"We'll never make it to the village in time."

He pulls out his ring, "Alright, if our enemies are strong, then we'll just have to be stronger."

He starts to spin his ring, "Pay close attention."

"On the count of three, you will become stronger." "Your wounds will heal and you'll be much stronger than you are now."

Nami deadpans, "He can't be serious."

"One, Two, Jango!"

One of the pirates punches the cliff face, causing cracks to appear, before a massive chunk of it breaks off.

Nami's jaw drops, "No way!"

Zoro starts to sweat a little, "Damn, he destroyed that cliff with his bare hands."

Leon frowns and pulls his aviators over his eyes, "Here we go."

Zoro pulls out two of his swords, "Alright Luffy, we're going in."

When he gets no response, he turns to Luffy, only to find him gritting his teeth.

"Uh, Luffy?"

Luffy roars in anger, making Zoro's jaw drop, "You got let yourself get hypnotized too!?"

Leon groans, "Damnit Luffy."

Luffy charges down the hill, "Gomu-Gomu no Gatling!"

He starts punching so fast that it looks like he has multiple arms.

His fists slam into the pirates and send them sprawling onto the beach. Instead of continuing his attack, he runs past the pirates and heads for their ship.

Zoro blinks, "Where is he going?"

Luffy grabs onto the figure head of the Benzen Black and with a roar of anger, rips it off.

Nami cheers him on, "That's right, tear it down!"

Everyone else has shocked looks on their face.

Luffy starts to stalk towards the pirates, causing them to freak out, "He's gonna crush us with it, everybody run!"

"Captain do something!"

Jango sweats, "Is guess this no time to be standing around."

He uses his hypnotic powers to put Luffy to sleep, the figurehead flattening him to the ground.

Leon groans, "Alright, let's go."

Zoro nods, "Right behind you."

They start to make their way down the hill when they hear voices coming from the ship.

"Hey Butchi, check this out."

"What the hell!?"

Jango's eyes widen, "Perfect timing."

"Get out here Nyaban Brothers!"

Two weird looking men jump out of the ship and land on the beach.

"You called captain?"

Jango points at Zoro and Leon, "I need you to take care of them."

Sham shivers, "No way, they look scary."

Butchi nods, "Way too scary."

Jango groans, "Just do it."

Sham starts to whine like a child, before becoming serious and striking at Zoro, who just barely manages to block.

Sham licks his lips, "You seem fun."

Zoro grits his teeth, 'Damn freak.'

Sham smirks, "What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"

Zoro growls, "Just shut up and fight!"

Zoro and Sham start to fight, which leads to Sham grabbing Zoro's legs, "I've got him Butchi."

Butchi jumps high into the air, "Cat-Tastrophe!"

He comes down like a meteor in an attempt to flatten Zoro. Before he can reach him, Leon appears and punches Butchi in the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

Zoro tries to stab Sham, who quickly jumps out of the way.

Leon walks up and stands next to Zoro, "I got your back."

Zoro nods, "Thanks."

Sham growls, "Let's shred them Butchi."

Butchi nods, "Alright."

Zoro and Leon continue to clash with Sham and Butchi, with Butchi getting continuously frustrated by his inability to cut Leon's body.

"Damnit, why can't I scratch you!?"

Leon scowls at him, "Just shut up and keep fighting, asshole."

Jango sweats, "Damnit, hurry up and kill them already!"

"Captain Kuro will kill us if we don't complete his plan!"

Suddenly, a sinister voice pops up, "You're right about that Jango."

Everyone turns and sees Captain Kuro standing at the top of the hill.

He glares down at them, "Imagine my distaste when I find that the assigned time has gone by with no results."

Jango tries to explain, but Kuro merely puts him and the rest of the crew down. This causes Sham and Butchi to become pissed off and try and kill Kuro. Kuro merely uses his immense speed to overpower the Nyaban Brothers and frighten them into submission.

Kuro tells them that if they manage to take out Zoro and Leon quickly then he will forgive them. The brothers immediately rush in and try to kill Zoro and Leon.

Zoro grits his teeth, "Alright, enough of this."

Zoro enters into an attack pose as the aura of a tiger appears behind him.

"Tora Gari!" (Tiger Trap)

Zoro brings his swords down and slices Sham's body, making him pass out from pain.

Butchi's eyes widen, "Sham!"

"Focus on me."

Butchi gasps and turns to see Leon morph his arm into the shape of a King Cobra.

"Snake Bite!"

Leon rams the snake into Butchi, with its fangs sinking into his shoulders. Butchi hits the stone wall and falls unconscious.

Kuro scowls, "I should have expected this outcome."

Leon rolls his shoulders, "Here we go."

Before anyone can move, the figurehead of the Benzen Black goes flying.

Leon raises an eyebrow, "Luffy?"

Luffy jumps to his feet, "What the hell's going on!?"

Kuro frowns, "That boy is still alive."

"Klahadore!"

Everyone's eyes widen at the sight of Kaya suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

Kaya ends up pulling out a pistol aims it at Kaya, but he is able to talk her down. Once he reveals his true colors, Ussop grabs the pistol and shoots at Kuro, who easily dodges and kicks Ussop to the ground. Kuro tries to slice Ussop with his claws, but is stopped by Luffy stretching his arm out and punching him in the face.

The Ussop Pirates show up and grab Kaya, pulling her away from the battlefield. Kuro climbs to his feet and sends Jango after Kaya.

Luffy frowns, "Zoro, Ussop, go after Kaya."

"We'll deal with him."

Zoro grabs Ussop and they chase after Jango, while Kuro adjusts his glasses.

Kuro glares at them, "Before we begin, I must ask you."

"Why do you, someone who has nothing to do with this, risk your lives to save this village?"

Luffy frowns, "Because there's someone in this village that I don't want to die."

Kuro smirks, "I see, such a simple reason."

Luffy goes to punch Kuro, who easily dodges and tries to slice Luffy's back. His claws bounce off of Leon's body, who manages to jump in the way. Leon goes to punch him, but he jumps back out of reach.

Kuro hums, "Your body is intriguing."

"You ate a Devil Fruit, didn't you?"

Leon nods, "We both did."

The Black Cat Pirates all start to cheer, "Nice going Captain!"

"Tear them up Captain Kuro!"

Kuro glares at them, "Be silent, dead men don't speak."

"I was already planning on killing you." "Can't let anyone know about my plans after all."

The pirates' jaws all drop, "What!?"

"You were already planning on killing us!?"

Kuro nods, "That's right."

"I never intended on any of you leaving the village alive." "I needed somebody to blame for all this."

The group of pirates start to plead for their lives, while Luffy and Leon both glare at him.

Luffy frown, "I'll never be a pirate like you."

Kuro smirks, "No, you could never be like me."

"I'm going to kill you, here and now."

He gets into a battle stance and continues his assault on the brothers. Luffy and Leon have trouble at first with keeping up with him, but eventually manage to get a gauge on his speed. Leon catches Kuro's claws in his fingers and grips his hand to keep him from moving.

"Alright you cocky bastard, let's see you jump around now."

He drives his fist into Kuro's gut, making him hack up some blood. He immediately follows up by squeezing his hand and snapping his cat claws. While Kuro is stunned, Luffy jumps up and slams his fist into Kuro's face, sending him flying into the stone wall.

Kuro staggers to his feet, "I must apologize, I've been underestimating you."

"But now I'm going to slaughter you."

He enters into a strange stance, which draws shouts of shock and concern from his crew.

Suddenly, Kuro completely disappears from sight, "Shakushi!" (Out of the Bag Attack)

Leon's eyes widen, "What the hell!?"

Luffy looks around, "Where did he go!?"

Suddenly, one of the pirates gets sliced out of nowhere, shocking his comrades.

Luffy's eyes widen, "What's going on!?"

More slashes and cuts continue to appear everywhere, slicing the pirates and the terrain around them.

Luffy grits his teeth in rage, "Don't you have any honor, those men are your friends!"

Luffy goes to do something, but his shocked silent by Leon getting slashed down his body, spraying blood everywhere. Leon staggers for a moment, before wiping some of the blood off and examining it on his hand.

He frowns before he starts chuckling, "Interesting."

He looks up and examines the continued slashing, "That's very interesting."

Luffy manages to follow Kuro's movements and latches onto him, wrapping him up with his arms and legs.

"You're three year plan ends here."

He throws his head back and stretches his neck a good distance.

Kuro grits his teeth, "My plan…cannot be stopped…"

Luffy retracts his neck, bringing it flying back at rapid speed, "Gomu-Gomu no Kane!" (Gum-Gum Bell)

Luffy's head slams into Kuro's, causing a bell ringing sound to ring out. Kuro hacks up blood as he collapses to the ground, dead to the world.

Luffy picks up Kuro's body and throws it to his crew, "Take him and get out of here!"

The crew screams in fear as they jump into their ship and hightail it out of there.

Luffy sighs as he sits down on the ground, "Glad that's over."

Leon hums, "Yeah, but it was fun while it lasted."

"Luffy, Leon!"

They turn to see Zoro, Ussop, Nami and Kaya run up to them.

Ussop looks around, "Is it over?"

Luffy grins, "Yep, they're gone."

Ussop sighs in relief, "That's good, I was worried for a moment."

Nami's eyes widen, "Leon!"

The rest of the groups' eyes widen at the sight of Leon's wound.

Leon chuckles, "It's just a scratch."

The group heads back into town, where Kaya thanks them for saving the village and offers them a ship that her attendant Merry had built.

Nami smiles, "It's a caravel."

Luffy grins, "It looks awesome."

Merry grins, "I call it the Going Merry."

Nami nods, "Leave the navigation tips to me, these three are idiots."

They get ready to depart, when Ussop comes rolling down the hill.

Zoro deadpans, "He's gonna smash into our ship."

Zoro and Luffy lift their legs and Ussop slams into them, stopping his movement all together.

"Thanks."

"Sure."

Kaya sniffs, "You're really leaving?"

Ussop nods, "Yeah, I've decided to go with them."

"There's just something that's drawing me to the see, you know?"

Kaya nods, "I understand."

Ussop smiles, "Don't worry, I won't be gone forever."

"We'll see each other again, and I'll have lots more stories to tell."

Kaya smiles, "I'll be waiting."

Ussop grabs his pack and climbs onto the Merry, 'Just you wait dad, I'll be a brave warrior of the sea, just like you.'

The group sails away from the island, ready to continue their journey with their new crewmate.

End of chapter 4.