A/N: Hey everyone! It is Bri from the other account and I decided that I'm gonna continue Red-HairedSora on this account! Woo-hoo! Sora is back!
Under the crescent moon, Kuro was heading slowly for the mansion, his shoes making easy footsteps along the ground. Quietly, he turned his head to look at the village behind him.
At the shore, Usopp was walking up the slope easily with the others behind him. "Alright. They're going to attack from this shore at daybreak. But the only route into this village is this one slope. Everything else is cliff, making it tougher to come through." He said as they stopped straight at the top. "In other words, if we can defend this slope to the death, the village won't get attacked!"
"Oh! That's easy!" Luffy nodded his head.
"Talking about it is, but the rest depends on our strength! What can you guys do?" Asked The Liar.
"I cut." Said Zoro.
"I stretch." Said Luffy.
"I steal." Said Nami.
"I fight." Said Sora.
"I can hide." Usopp added with a whimper as Luffy got the poor guy in a head lock with the others angrily screaming in his ear. "YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT!!"
"I'm just kidding! Geez!" Usopp choked out, tears slipping from his face.
At Kaya's mansion, Kuro had entered the dining room where Merry was cleaning a chandelier. "Oh, Klahadore! Welcome back!" Merry greeted.
"How is she?" Asked Kuro.
"She's resting now. She seemed quite exhausted."
"But to think such a thing happened while I was at the next town over." Kuro sighed, loosening his tie. "That Usopp lad certainly knows how to cause trouble."
"Yes." Merry agreed with an amused laugh. "And of all things, he claimed you were a pirate! Such a transparent lie!"
Kuro looked out the window, chuckling darkly as he adjusted his glasses. "Indeed." He stoppedupon seeing a white box with a blue bow and asked. "What is this?"
"Oh, that seems to be a present from her to you. It's your third year at this mansion, so it's a sort of commemoration."
"Commemoration..."
"You current glasses seem to slip often, so she custom-ordered those!" Explained Merry before he started wiping the joyful tears off his face. "She's such a nice, thoughtful person!"
Kuro tore off the ribbon and clicked open the case. "A commemoration? Indeed, tomorrow is a day to commemorate." He sneered, fixing his glasses.
"Eh?" Merry hummed as he climbed down the ladder, staring at Kuro with confusion.
"It's a crescent moon tonight. Nights like this make my heart race and my heart race..." Kuro dropped the case and crushed it with his foot, shocking Merry. "K-Klahadore! What are you doing to her present?!" Asked the horrified butler.
"Oh, I'll be accepting a present, all right. But it won't be this..." Kuro began before he faced Merry with a smirk. "...it'll be this entire mansion!"
Merry gasped and took a step back. "Wh-What're you saying?!"
"There is no more need to continue the act. An accident is going to occur in a few hours, anyway..." Kuro reached behind his back, revealing a glove with very long and sharp claws as he lunged at Merry. "It's truly been three long years!"
"Miss! Run away!" Merry cried out, but Kuro was too fast, slicing away the chandelier, leaving Merry in darkness and pain when Kuro sliced his chest.
Kuro, once Merry had collapsed, then proceeded to walk upstairs and into Kaya's room, where she was sleeping peacefully. Something inside Kuro made him hold his claws over Kaya's neck as if he was gonna execute her himself, but he looked at the moon and left the room with a quiet chuckle.
On the ship out on the water near the island, The Black Cat pirates already had woken up. One of them had headed for Jango's room, knocking heavily on the door. "Captain Jango! It's almost daybreak! Please wake up, Captain Jango!"
The door slowly opened and Jango moon-walked out on the deck with his head lowered and the Pirates lined up, greeting him. Stopping, Jango spoke up with anger. "You idiots! My policy is to say "Good Morning" with the morning sun!"
"He seems to be in a bad mood." A pirate whispered.
"He did just wake up..." Another sighed.
"Just look!" Jango gestured to the crescent moon. "The moon's still up, and it's the middle of the night! How dare you shout loudly!"
"Our apologies, sir! We're sorry, sir!" All the Pirates spoke simultaneously.
"Alright, then." Jango sighed, spinning around before moon-walking all the way to the end of the line and finished with a grin. "Good Morning, fellows."
"Good Morning? That's the opposite of what he just said!" A pirate hissed in disbelief.
"You idiot! He's in a better mood now, that's all!" Another pirate hissed back with fear of Jango overhearing them.
"Oh!"
"Quit bein' confusing!"
Jango adjusted his hat before giving the order. "Men! Set sail!"
This made all the Pirates scream loudly and cheer happily for it was three long years since they had done anything.
Back near the shore, Usopp and the Straw Hats were currently preparing their little trap for the Pirates when they come to the shores. Apparently, the plan was for the oil to be sliming the slope so the Pirates wouldn't be getting up so easily.
"Alright! Perfect!" Usopp sighed happily at the work that they did. "Now they won't be able to climb up this slope thanks to all this oil we've laid out here! We'll let 'em slip and slide on this slope, then beat the crap out of 'em while they flail about."
"Oil, huh?" Nami said as she, Sora, and Zoro stepped a bit closer.
"No matter what, we will protect this slope!" Usopp grinned with pride.
"Conversely, let's just hope that none of us slip down there. It'd be like diving right into an ant-lion pit." Nami spoke as Luffy slapped his foot against the oil playfully.
"Do you have to say it like that?" Asked Sora as she looked up at the Navigator, who nodded with hands on her hips. "Yes, I have to. That's what it's gonna feel like when some of us fall down there."
"I'm amazed you can think up stuff this cheeky!" Luffy mused as he stared up at Usopp with surprise.
"But of course! When it comes to cheekiness and Slingshots, I'm utterly confident!" Usopp crossed his arms with his head held high as everyone smiled at him until Sora looked down at his legs and giggled. "Your legs are still shaking, by the way."
"Ah! Y-You're right!" Usopp stuttered as he slapped his legs, forcing them to stop shaking.
Zoro looked over at the now rising sun and informed the others. "It's almost daybreak. They'll be coming."
The huge pirate ship headed for the North Shore, breaking through boulders as it slid on the beach easily. "We're here!" One of the Pirates announced as the anchor was let down and Jango shouted. "Alright, go ashore! Raid the village and head for the mansion!"
"Captain! There are two strange boats here!" Another pirate informed Jango, pointing to the Straw Hats' sailboats.
"What?" Jango blinked as he looked to where the pirate was pointing.
"Shall I check them out?"
"Leave 'em. They're not treasure ships. Don't screw up our schedule!"
"Understood!"
Jango then turned to face the others and ordered. "Get going, you guys!"
They all threw up their weapons in response and cheered.
Back out on the South Shore, The five friends were still waiting, completely unaware of the Black Cat Pirates arriving on the other shore. Luffy finally got tired of waiting and asked impatiently. "Where are they? The sky's all bright now. What's the deal?"
"Maybe they overslept of somethin'?" Zoro suggested.
"You meanlike you?" Sora asked with a smirk, but yelped when the swordsman knocked her in the head. "Ow! You jerk!"
"No. They'll definitely show up. Lots of 'em." Usopp replied with his arms still crossed and eyes still fixed on the ocean.
Nami's eyes started to droop from the boredom when they widened at the faint sound of yelling or cheering from beside them. "Say..." Nami pushed her ears forward and walked to the side. "Maybe it's just my imagination, but I hear "yaah!" coming from somewhere..."
The others looked around in confusion before Nami added with a gasp. "Yeah, I definitely hear it!"
"N-Now that you mention it..." Usopp muttered as he looked at the ground, starting to get nervous.
"What? What is it?" Asked Zoro.
"There's a place just like this to the north, too!" Usopp screeched, gripping the sides of his head tightly and shaking like a leaf. "You don't suppose..."
"You mean this is the wrong shore?!" Luffy exclaimed in shock.
"This is where they hadtheir secret meeting, so I just assumed!"
"Oh man, This is bad! If we don't hurry, they're gonna get to the village and kill everyone!" Sora screeched as Usopp screeched at her. "Don't you think I know that?!"
Nami placed a finger on her head with a sigh of annoyance as Luffy clenched his fists and asked Usopp. "Hey! Let's hurry! Where is this place?!"
"If you run straight north from here, you'll get there in three minutes!" Usopp noted. "The terrain there is almost exactly the same, so we just need to stop them at the slope!"
"Don't worry! We'll do it somehow!"
Nami then gripped her head in a panic and screeched, making the others stare at her. "Oh, no! The north shore is where our boats are! They're gonna take the treasure!"
"I'll be there in 20 seconds!" Luffy started running really fast, making Sora drop her jaw.
"I didn't know he could run that fast!" She gasped.
"Dammit! My brilliant oil strategy was all for nothing!" Usopp screeched before running after Luffy.
"My treasure..." Nami whispered in panic.
"Hey!" Zoro snapped his fingers at Nami to get her attention and finished. "What're you doing?! Let's go!"
"Yeah, we'll get your treasure faster if you hurry up!" Sora added as they started to run.
"Y-Yeah! We have to hurry--!" Nami then felt herself slipping on the oil and roughly grabbed Sora's arm, who screeched and grabbed one of Zoro's swords. The three were now desperately trying to not fall. "Help! I'm falling!" Nami whimpered.
"Let go of my arm, Nami! That hurts!" Sora tried pulling back, but that caused the three to slip even more. "Let go, morons!" Zoro grunted.
"Hey! Who're you calling a moron, jerkward?!" Sora growled.
"Sorry!" Nami gritted her jaws before she smiled mischievously, let go of Sora and climbed over the pair. "Thanks, guys!"
"What the heck--?!" Sora got cut off when she and Zoro slid all the way down the slope, covered in oil. "Damn you, Usopp!" She grumbled.
"Sorry! The treasure's in danger! Try to get back up somehow!" Nami shouted before running ahead, leaving Zoro and Sora by themselves.
"That girl's gonna pay!" Zoro growled.
"Perfect! Just perfect!" Sora threw up her hands angrily, trying to wipe the oil off her face. "Ew..."
Usopp was now out in the open, heading for the North Shore at a quick pace. "I refuse to let them enter the village!" He panted, sighing in disbelief at Luffy's speed. "But Luffy sure runs fast! I can't even see him anymore!"
Luffy was really far ahead, repeating the same thing every second in panic. Straight North.
Nami was far behind Usopp as she hurried towards the North. "They're in big trouble if they touch my treasure!" She panted.
All the Black Cat Pirates were running up the slope with screams of excitement. Usopp then appeared, shooting down some of the men with his pellets. "There's someone at the top of the hill!" One of the Pirates shouted.
Jango looked up at the top and widened his eyes slightly. "You!" He whispered.
Usopp huffed, his shoulders hunched over before he stood up straight and tall, trying to be confident. "My name is Captain Usopp! I've been waiting for you all this time!" He lied before putting out his fist. "I-I'm completely ready to fight! Turn back now, if you don't wanna die!"
Staring right into the dangerous glares of the enemies made the poor guy shake like a tiny leaf in the wind."W-What the--? I'm the first one here?! But he was running way ahead of me!"
Back with Zoro and Sora, the swordsman grunted as he tried running up the oil trap, but ended up sliding down each time, which annoyed Sora, who was sitting on the ground, trying to come up with an idea.
Luffy was huffing and puffing as he was now standing before Syrup Village with confusion. "I'm in the Village now! That's weird! He said North, so I ran in a cold-ish direction!"
Back with Usopp, the Liar continued to face the Pirates with fear in his eyes, which was luckily hidden by his goggles. Jango took this opportunity to speak. "You're that boy who overheard our plan. What do you think you're doing?"
"I-I'm warning you! Turn back now while you still can! Or else my 100 million crewmen will beat the crap our of you guys!" Usopp shouted as he tensed up, gripping his weapon tightly.
"100 million?" A pirate spoke with confusion.
"Hey, now! That's even worse than a kid's lie!" Another pirate scoffed.
"What?! 100 million?! Wow!" Jango gasped, totally believing the whopper.
"He's obviously lying, Captain!" Another denied.
"He's no naive..."
"Yikes! They saw through it?" Usopp muttered in shock.
"He seriously thought he could fool us, too..." A pirate shook his head with a sigh.
"How dare you trick me!" Jango shouted out with anger.
"Captain Jango! Shocking news!" One of the Pirates informed.
"Really?! That's bad!" Jango sighed.
"No! It's not bad! We found treasure in those weird boats!" The pirate pointed to the Straw hats' sailboats, where another pirate was holding up one of the sacks. "An incredible amount! Maybe 4, no, 5 million berries!"
"What?!" The hypnotist gasped in shock.
Usopp, was too, in shock."F-Five million berries?! Why is there that much money in those guys' boats?"Usopp thought to himself before he suddenly has an idea and shouted. "That's my treasure! But you can have it!"
"What?! You'll give us all the treasure?!" Jango asked in surprise, turning to the Liar.
"That's right!" Usopp shot back, sticking out his hand with a smirk. "In exchange for that treasure, I ask that you turn back now!"
"Wha--?! You think you can buy us off with money?!" Asked a pirate, followed by many other cries of anger.
Jango pushed his hat over his eyes and spoke with no amusement. "You fool. We're pirates, you know. We're obviously going to take this treasure. It's not good enough of a reason for us to turn back."
Usopp gulped and spoke in barely a whisper. "Y-You have a point..."
Jango took out the Chakram and swung it side to side in front of Usopp. "Alright, then! On "one, two, Jango", you'll let us by!" He ordered.
"It's that weapon from before!" Usopp mumbled in fear.
"One! Two! Jan--!"
WHAM!!"Quit saying stupid crap!" The sound of Nami's voice screeched as Usopp got knocked forward in the head by Nami's staff.
"Oww!" Usopp whimpered, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head with bugged out eyes.
All of the Black Cat Pirates were talking amongst themselves in confusion of who Nami was and why she had popped out of nowhere while Jango had hypnotized himself into letting nothing pass by him while one of the Pirates scolded him. "Captain! This is no time to hypnotize yourself and let people by!"
Nami narrowed her eyes and pointed at the boats. "That boat's treasure is mine! I won't let you have a single Berry!" She shouted. "Hold onto it! I'll come take it back now!"
"That hurt!" Usopp whined at Nami, who glared at him accusingly and shot back. "Who said you could give them my treasure?!"
"What's wrong with saying they canhave it?!" Usopp asked angrily.
"What're you talking about?! After I just saved you!" Nami huffed, positioning the staff on her shoulder.
"Huh?" He blinked, rubbing his head.
"I forgot to mention it, but don't watch his ring all the way through!" Nami pointed at Jango's Chakram. "He's a hypnotist!"
"H-Hypnosis?!" Usopp whispered.
"So? Where's Luffy? He ran here first, right?" Asked Nami, looking side to side.
"Dunno! He either chickened out or got lost!" Usopp shrugged, getting up to his feet as Nami looked to the side in annoyance. "He got lost, then. Geez! Just when we need him, too!" She grumbled as Usopp stood next to her with his slingshot and spoke. "I'll take command here. Go kick their butts! I'll cover you!"
"Eh?! Hold on, why me?!" Nami asked in fear. "There's no way I can take on that huge army! I'm weak, you know!"
"Don't underestimate me just 'cause I'm a guy! I'm so scared my legs are shaking like crazy! See?!" Usopp gestured to his shaking knees.
"Big deal!" Nami argued. "See, look! I'm so scared I have tears in my eyes!"
"Your eyes are bone dry! If you're gonna lie, lie more realistically!"
"I don't need you to tell me that!"
With the pair arguing, Jango took this opportunity to speak to the Black Cat Pirates with annoyance. "We don't have time to mess with them. Crush 'em and head for the village, men!"
Nami and Usopp immediately stopped their bickering upon hearing the Pirates head for them. "H-Here they come!" Nami grunted.
"Oh, yeah! I have caltrops!" Usopp gasped as he dug in his satchel and held out a bunch of small little spike balls towards Nami, who looked at him in relief. "Oh! You do have some good stuff!" She sighed. "Gimmie, gimmie!"
The pair held a small handful in their palms with smirks. "Take this!" Nami chuckled.
"Caltrop Hell!" Usopp shouted as they threw the caltrops everywhere.
Back at the other slope, Zoro was panting heavily, lying on the ground. "Damn that Nami! She's gonna pay for this!" He wheezed.
"Well, how're we supposed to get up now? You're covered in oil and we can't walk up!" Sora growled as she kicked the ground, falling on her butt thanks to the slippery substance.
"Sora. I've got an idea. Got on my back." Zoro growled as Spra hesitated, making him shout impatiently. "Hurry it up!"
"Okay, Geez!" Sora rolled her eyes as she jumped on Zoro, who used two of his swords to climb back up and away from the oil trap. "We made it!" He shouted.
"Woo hoo!" Sora pumped up her fist, jumping off the swordsman's back and looking around. "Wait a second...Um, Zoro?"
"Yeah?"
"Uh...Which way is the North Shore?"
"...Oh crud!!" Zoro slapped his head multiple times. "Just, c'mon! We'll figure it out!"
Back with Luffy, the teen was still running through the woods at fast speed before he ran right into a rocky wall. Panting, he wondered to himself in frustration. "Which way is north?!"
Back at the North Shore, All the enemies stopped in pain, clutching their feet. "Yes! We got 'em!" Nami cheered.
"Now! Special attack: Lead Star!" Usopp shouted as he shot a lead ball at one of the Pirates, making the other ones glare at him. "Bastard!" One of them snarled.
"Way to go! Keep it up, now! I'm gonna quit fighting for a bit!" Nami patted Usopp on the back and started running.
"You haven't even fought yet!" Usopp shouted at her, but she stopped with a gasp. "What is it?!" He asked.
"There are caltrops behind us too..." Nami pointed at the million caltrops layed behind them sheepishly, making Usopp even more irritated. "You moron! You dropped 'em there!" He screeched.
"Outta the damn way!"SMASH!!
Usopp felt the large hammer hit from the side of his skull, which was now bleeding severely, and collapsed on the ground, dropping his slingshot. The pirate didn't even care about Usopp's injury, for he only chuckled and asked. "Do you seriously think you can stop us?"
Nami gasped in horror when she saw Usopp's body face-down in the dirt. The attacker put up his fist and sneered to his crewmates. "Let's go, guys! Captain Kuro is waiting!"
Just when they were about to take their leave, Usopp had grabbed his attacker by the ankle, his hand shaking desperately. "Wh-What the--?! Let go, you bastard! Let the hell go!" The pirate ordered, trying to shake Usopp's hand off, but when he saw the teen wasn't budging, he growled and began stomping on the head injury. "Damn you! Take this, and this!"
"I...can't..." Usopp whispered as he glared up at the pirate. "...let you get past this slope..." He started to sit up, his knees buckling. "Because I only lied, like I always do. So the village is just going to have another ordinary day. So I absolutely won't let you pass!"
"Damn kid! Shut up!" Another pirate had swung his sword over Usopp, but before he got a chance to do anything, Nami had come to the rescue by the knocking the enemy out cold.
"Damn girl!" Another one popped up and tried to slice at Nami, who tried to swiftly block the Saber, but fell away on her back. "Oww!" She whimpered.
"Are you--?!" Usopp got cut off by the large hammer hovering by his face from the attacker, who snarled impatiently. "That's enough now!"
Jango clenched his jaws impatiently and shouted out to his men. "Hey, you guys! Quit bothering with them and get going already! Have you forgotten that this is Captain Kuro's plan?! If anything happens to throw his plan off, he'll kill every one of us! Do you understand that, you dumbasses?!"
With the murmers of fear and nervousness from the pirates,Pirates, they all began running past Usopp and Nami. "S-Stop...Dammit..." Usopp whispered and fell over, grabbing another pirate by the ankle. "Stop! Stop...don't go to the village!"
"Shut up!" The pirate kicked Usopp away and continued forward with ease.
"Stop! Please! Please don't kill everyone! I love this village! I want to protect it!"Usopp thought as he began to get up again, but something, no, someone, stopped the Pirates from coming comforter and knocked 'em back down the slope like flies.
Nami and Usopp looked up in relief and shock to see Zoro, Luffy, and Sora walking towards them with exhausted but angered expressions. "About time..." Nami sighed.
"What were those unchallenging guys just now?!" Zoro asked.
"Don't look at us! I'm not satisfied, though!" Luffy huffed.
"Me neither! Those guys have some nerve!" Sora gasped as she was hunched over with her fist clenched.
Zoro then turned his full attention to Nami. "Nami! How dare you kick me and Sora down there!"
"Yeah, I don't find that cool!" Sora grumbled.
"Usopp, you jerk!" Luffy whined, glaring at Usopp. "You didn't say which way was north!"
Jango ignored the many pained groans of the Pirates and asked himself in shock. "Who're they?"
Back at the mansion, Kuro was getting more angrier by the minute for it was daytime completely and he was still sitting on the steps, waiting. "They're late...They all know full well what happens to those who upset my plans..." He sighed and stood up with hands in his pockets. "...They think they can take their sweet time. If they've already forgotten that fact, then I'll slaughter them all!"
Angrily, he snatched up the duffel bag that held his claws and headed silently and slowly towards the North Slope, not knowing that Oinon was watching him from behind a tree. "It's Klahadore from the mansion! Why is he walking toward the shore this early in the morning?"
~TO BE CONTINUED~