Chapter 1 has been edited, hopefully it is easier to read ,I'm still new to this writing business. It had 700+ views but hardly any reviews. l will keep posting but if nobody wants it or is willing to read something different ,what is the point .
I know people have reservations about devil fruits ,they dont like certain people to have them or dont like stories where people eat more than one.
I haven't just thrown devil fruits at everyone I thought long and hard about what would fit the characters . Nico Robin eating the wind wind fruit goes perfectly with her Hana Hana wings .
Chapter 2, The past, The present and a wasted life.
As night closed in on the small crew ,Nami and Betty were sound asleep in the small cabin ,they at least had a small futon to sleep on as they huddled together for warmth.
Luffy was sat gazing at the stars as he usually did at this time of night when he heard a yawn behind him ."Ah you woke up Zoro ,how was your nap?".
"not bad captain ,not bad at all ",he replied. Luffy smiled,"we have a lot we need to work on Zoro ,I promise you as soon as we have a bigger ship we can actually train on , I will be putting you and any new Nakama through hell to get you to the level I want you all to be at,it wont be easy ,even for you".
Zoro let his words sink in before smirking ,"would have it no other way captain, for the last near fifteen year I've trained my ass off day in day out ,sometimes twenty hours in a day ,only resting when my body gave out . I gave up the attachment to normality to subject myself to torturous training all with the single goal of defeating her and now him". Zoro didn't want to lower the mood but he had many things he wanted to say as he now had somebody on his wavelength to talk to .
Luffy asked him a simple question ," how did you feel when you saw my power Zoro?".
Zoro had a little think before he answered,"honestly captain i was fucking terrified. I had no idea that kind of power existed. But i also felt a sense of happiness, I could taste your power on my tongue, it tasted fucking divine. Wish I could bottle that shit, fuck sake. Then i realised the man i was hunting was probably about as unhuntable as you are. Is he really that strong Luffy ?".
"He is Zoro ,if I fought him ,maybe he could slice me clean in half before i even realised, who knows. He considers Shanks his only living rival,in regards to his title. Shanks is now one of the four strongest known pirates alive ,Mihawk is right at that level of at least marine Admiral, there is a reason he's left the Fuck Alone".
Before Zoro could speak Luffy continued " This is the weakest of all the blues Zoro ,that is why you had no idea of this power. Shanks is my hero ,he was the first real pirate I ever met and his influence never diminished even to this day ,he taught me and Nami how to use the devil fruits we accidentally stole from him,well Benn taught Nami mostly, Shanks is dumb as a bag of rocks, shishi, but you could never meet anyone Sharper and more capable ".
"If Shanks had wanted to become Pirate king Zoro, he already would be".
Zoro waited for the downside ,but it never came ."all he was bothered about Zoro was the fact that neither of us would ever be able to swim. He took it on his shoulders that it was him that robbed us of something far more important ,our happiness. He genuinely did not care that we had just cost him arond five billion beri, which was the sale value of the warp warp fruit and my gum gum Hellcat hybrid which could fetch three billion or more depending on who wanted it the most, you've already seen part of the reason why".
"On the day Shanks left he gave me this hat ,his treasure as he called it ,it belonged to his former captain. I have to return it when I become a great pirate ,that is our promise to each other and that was ten years ago Zoro, I haven't heard of or seen him since".
"The point I'm trying to make is, you can have all the skill and determination in the world ,but if there is nobody to nurture it or support it you will never achieve your goals. I got lucky with Shanks it is that simple ,you never had that same luck until today".he turned to Zoro ,smile wide and eyes sharp .
" when I start teaching you the things I know Zoro ,the things he taught me, well mostly gramps really, you will realise that without them you would never have caught Mihawk. With them you will be able to cleave mountains and part seas ,defeat armies and entire fleets single handedly. Only when you are capable of all these things would you even have a chance against the world's greatest".
"You will be able to do these seemingly impossible feats, you will become the force you always desired to be and you will stand at my side at the top of this world as we turn it upside down ,We Will Not Fail!".
Zoro could only grin as he thought about the possibilities of the future ," Thank you captain, that is exactly what I wanted to hear,I cant wait to get started".
"Started Zoro ?,we never stopped".
As morning rolled around the crew were already up. Betty was making bacon and eggs for them ," breakfast" she called. Luffy and Nami came out of the cabin ,where they had just been cuddling quietly planning the day ahead, with Nami reminding him Usopp was on the next island, not this one .
After breakfast Zoro asked if Luffy could show him a few of the things he would be teaching the crew ,he was itching to learn it and could not resist asking .
Luffy stood up,"the first thing you will be learning is called rokushiki ,secret government techniques that allow you to operate at much higher levels than you do now , the first is Shave, which is the easiest and one of the foundation skills you need in order to learn the more advanced parts, all you have to do is kick the ground a dozen times in the blink of an eye , that stores momentum and allows you to release it all at once as a burst of speed ".
I'll show him captain " Nami said. She kicked the ground twenty times in an instant and then vanished from sight. Zoro felt a tap on his shoulder,he turned to find Nami waving at him .
"I never even saw you move ,is it really that simple ?".
"yup" she chirped ,I have been doing it a decade though Zoro ,it does take time to master but you are already a physical monster so two to three years and you will have a high level of control,I'll show you the next one too ". She jumped into the air and each following step propelled her dozens of metres higher . "this is geppo once you can shave ,your legs will be strong enough to step on thin air and make a solid platform to push off",she added. Zoro nodded in acknowledgement, already excited.
"the third one is rankyaku, again using the leg strength you build up from using shave and geppo you will able to kick fast enough to generate a blade using the displaced air, the more powerful the kick the bigger the blade ". Betty used geppo to rise a couple hundred foot in the air before she unleashed a devastating roundhouse kick ,Zoros eyes lit up as a huge windblade sped out across the water before impacting and creating a trench a hundred metre long and ten metres wide ,a few seconds passed before the water raced in to fill the void.
"you can also use it on your weapons Zoro", Luffy stated . Betty who was still sky bound whipped out her staff ,which no longer had the RA mark on it,she began to spin in a circle ,faster and faster until a three hundred and sixty degree wind blade shot out in all directions travelling half a kilometre in every direction before dissipating to nothing ." I thought you might like that one ", luffy said as he saw the look on his first mate's face.
"Next is iron Body, which allows you to turn your body to an iron like state, to render most physical attacks useless ,now punch me in the stomach as hard as you can" Betty said as she landed.
Zoro knowing that these women were not weaklings threw his fist into her gut ,hoping it would not hurt too much, Zoro was the only one to feel pain as his hand bounced off her tight as a drum body. Zoro tried to hide the pain ,but it was noticed as the ladies giggled at him.
"Iron body would give you the assurance that you can tank damage as you land your own attacks ,perfect for a linear fighter like you Zoro who uses straight line attacks being a swordsman " ,Zoro nodded at the truth in Luffy's statement.
"Next is Kame-e ,Nami can show you it ,she excelled at this one ,now attack her with everything you've got Zoro",Luffy ordered.
Zoro stuck wado in his mouth ,his shitty katana in either hand and began slashing at her ,but she was like a leaf in the wind and he got no nearer as his attack quickened. About ten seconds later he stopped ,breathing only slightly heavier he resheathed his blades.
Luffy continued, "unfortunately I cant show you the sixth as there is no way to ,so i will show it some other time ".
"For now Zoro you should meditate and try find and isolate the feeling you felt when you awakened your Haki at Shellstown". That is exactly what Zoro did for the next two days ,he had no luck so far but he would get it and lock it down ,Luffy had no doubt about that .
The following morning ,"Land ho", Nami shouted. Luffy jumped up excited about the new adventure. Twenty minutes later their boat slowly sailed to port , the crew disembarked and secured their small boat
They moved towards the centre of town but were shocked at the deafening silence, not one person could be seen ,anywhere . They continued walking until they came across a little white dog sat outside a pet store , as they got closer they noticed the poor thing was covered in blood matted fur . "what could have done that to him ?",Betty asked solemnly.
"I dont know but we will definitely find out ,if Buggy had anything to do with this ,hes dead !". The dog turned towards them ,a weak tired bark was all it could manage .
Luffy approached and knelt down in front of the little pooch making himself small as possible "it's ok little guy ,we mean you no harm"
"hey! what are you doing to chouchou?". An old man stepped out from between two houses ,"I hope you dont plan to hurt him, hes been through enough at the hands of Buggy's band of bastards ,constantly trying to take away the only thing he has left in this world".
A brief conversation with Boodle later Luffy's thoughts were confirmed ,this entire mess was Buggy's doing since he arrived 3 weeks ago ,destroying the village and the lives and livelihoods of its residents.
Luffy stood and looked at the warn out mayor and little chou chou before stating firmly ,"Buggy will not be an issue after today ,I promise you that!",his crew were more than ready to follow him in to battle. Boodle could not contain his tears as finally they had somebody to help them rid the island of Buggy's tyranny.
The strawhats began walking in the direction of where they knew Buggy would be ,that was until they saw a giant regal looking lion with a not so regal passenger sat on top."who the hell are you brats and what are you doing on Buggy's turf?", he spoke with what he thought was genuine authority.
Betty was the one to ask , "are you the one that hurt chouchou?" she spat with venom in her voice.
The man leered at the purple haired beauty disgustingly," so what if I did,wha...,was all he managed to say before he was hit across his face hard and fast ,he never even saw Betty move and was dead before he hit the building he was now sprawled out on ,his face caved in completely.
Luffy looked at the lion ,"lay down " he said with an even tone " dont move until I come back ,understood ?". The lion seemed to nod at the command ,it had no intention of moving. Luffy would deal with him later.
The crew arrived at the bar the Buggy pirates had been using as their base of operations, "how we gonna do this captain?", Zoro asked.
"I'm going to put the fear of God into him Zoro, if hes lucky he might escape with his life. Nami, Betty you go take out the mooks ,me and Zoro are gonna get some practice in". The two women vanished. Leaving Luffy and Zoro stood looking at the roof where all the noise was coming from. "oi you red nosed bastard,get down here so I can beat the shit out of you for what you have done to this town!",Luffy bellowed out.
On the roof Buggy was having a great time lording it over defenceless people and the town he already destroyed, "ahhhh, what a time to be alive !",the clown pirate spoke without a care in the world. Then he heard, 'oi you red nosed bastard ' and nothing else. He looked at his crew shocked that one of his own would dare to talk about his defining feature, every single member of his crew immediately snapped their heads in his direction, " it was not any of us Buggy sama" they all said panicking.
"well get off your asses and find out who did say it ,nobody insults my nose and gets away with it!".
The entirity of Buggy's crew rushed to the edge of the rooftop,as they looked down to the front entrance, which was a fake gate they built infront of the one they destroyed. They saw two men, one wearing a strawhat and the other with three swords.
The men turned to Buggy ,"Buggy sama you should come see this". Buggy dragged his lazy ass to the front of the building, "what the hell do you two want ?", he yelled in his extremely annoying voice. "we just wanted to let you know we are here to destroy you and your entire crew Buggy and I hope you dont disappoint me ,you red nosed weakling". Luffy said, with the intention of riling Buggy up.
Buggy laughed at the strange looking young boy ,"do you have any idea who you are insulting you little punk ,I am the great Buggy the clown ,with my Buggy balls and my devil fruit I will conquer this world and become the king of the pirates ,Haha hahaha ,men ready the Buggy ball and show these flashy nobodies the power I hold in my hands!".
Three men pushed a powerful looking cannon to the front edge of the roof and aimed it at Luffy and Zoro ,neither flinching at the supposed threat ,they loaded a huge red ball into it . The author had no idea how it stayed inside the cannon ,by cancelling out gravity?, was that even possible, the author would need to do some research.
Buggy's already wafer thin patience was shot ,"Fire the Buggy ball and end these flashy fuckers!",he yelled as spittle shot from his mouth.
Luffy did not move so neither did Zoro ,he trusted his captain to a high degree already ,if he wasn't worried ,there was nothing to worry about . The fuse on the cannon was lit and Luffy stuck his arm out palm facing the cannon ,'Boom!'. The cannon fired out its payload . Luffy simply altered the angle of his palm and let the ball impact it . Luffy now stood with a shiny red ball in his hands as if nothing happened.
Zoro smirked at the show of power, he definitely chose the right captain to follow ,you simply could not fake that shit,you could either do it or had no concept of it.
Luffy smiled at Buggy and sent the cannon ball speeding past the clowns head ,it missed by a hairs width. There was no danger because Luffy threw it upwards and it would not be stopping anytime soon. Nami and Betty were inside the building after all, how would he explain if they both came out covered in dust and soot, he doubted his considerable skillset could save him from such wrath.
Buggy was shocked at the boy's casual nature ,it almost reminded him of that flashy red haired bastard he once sailed with . Buggy got his shit in order ,tempering his rage long enough to ask a question.
He put his cocky smile on his face to act like hed seen such shows of power before , which he had but he was usually hiding behind the ones doing this type of shit ,now he was infront of it with no back up .
"who the hell are you boy and why does that hat look familiar and why does it piss me off just looking at it!?".
"My name is Monkey D Luffy, future pirate king and this hat belongs to my Hero Shanks ,so be very careful with your words ,he told me all about you Bignose".
Buggy was raging even more because of the boy's connection to Shanks ,"Haha Haha I will kill you and post that hat to him ,but as a tiny bail of straw, hahaha hahaha".
Buggy would very quickly regret those I'll advised words as he felt a feeling he had not for over twenty years, then everything went black as he was left with nothing but the feeling of dread and remorse as he slipped into unconsciousness. Only now did he know he had made a huge mistake refusing Shanks refuge and sanctuary.
Buggy had refused Shanks out of over confidence , why would he join somebody that in his mind was no better than he was. He was on the same crew ,he had access to the same training, people ,influence and skill sets . He had the ambition to do great things but never put himself in those perilous situations Shanks relished and faced head on.
He hid from the dire situations the mind needed to remove internal limiters, which in time would naturally strengthen his body, mind and even unlock his Haki. He knew Shanks had done everything possible and then some to become something their former captain would be proud of. Shanks being a yonko was all the proof he would ever need.
Shanks had a bounty that was on it's way to four billion beri, Buggy was stuck in east blue with a paltry bounty of sixteen million.
Shanks was the captain of one of the strongest most revered crews in the New world, not one of his crew had a devil fruit and nor did they need them ,they were all known monsters with the highest collective bounty of any crew out there.
He was the captain of a ragtag group of misfits , he had to lie just to get them to join him in the first place on his momentumless journey .
His own pitiful bounty was higher than the rest of his crew combined, stuck in the weakest ocean destroying the lives of everyday people just to make himself feel powerful or to drown out the reality that he had wasted an opportunity to really be something , an opportunity not many people ever got ,he wasted every bit of it on more than one occasion.
If only He could swallow his damn pride ,he still had Shanks vivre card . could he still not bring himself to do it or had the option just been removed by the boy who stood like a king.
He knew if he could be defeated in east fucking blue he had no chance in the grandline.
Buggy finally awoke from his Haki induced nap, with the aid of multiple slaps to the face. "captain ,captain wake up , captain Sama ". The second Buggy opened his eyes ,he sighed, thinking clearly for the first time since his captain passed ,he looked over at the now four man crew and climbed to his feet shakily.
He made eye contact with Luffy ,he spoke slowly and deliberately, "you win boy ,I'm not dumb enough to think I can beat somebody with Haki as strong as I can tell yours is".
"captain what are you saying,dont lower yourself to the level of these snot nosed brats!", cabaji yelled in anger.
"Silence !, cabaji !, do you remember me telling you about my captain from when I was a cabin boy ,do you remember what I told you about his overwhelming presence ?". cabaji did not know where this was going but decided to shut up and listen."yes captain, of course I can ,you were shaking as you spoke of him,but what does that have to do with right now?".
"This boy cabaji ,this boy has the very same presence as my captain, there is no victory for us in this fight my real first mate, if you insist on fighting go ahead ,it will be your last". he looked to Luffy one last time ,"we will leave this island ,if you allow it?.
"NO", Luffy said instantly, leaving Buggy shocked for the too manyeth time in the last few minutes ." I will allow you to leave ,you must however leave this sea and never come back, if you do I will kill you Buggy ,now do we have an agreement ?".
Buggy thought for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and released it,"we do ".
"good now you have one hour to sail over the horizon or plum and mikan will sink you to the ocean floor " ,Buggy looked at the two women and noticed their arms turning black ,he gulped before barking out his orders .
"men load up the Big Top and let's get out of here while we still can,dont forget the treasure in the tent!".
"sorry Buggy but that is staying to pay for all the damage you caused here ". Luffy informed.
Buggy was about to protest when he felt Luffy's power begin to skyrocket ," ye fuck that ,everybody onboard and set sail ,faster fuckers ,do you want to die flashily?!".
Ten minutes later the Big Top ,Buggys flagship sailed away from orange town for good ,never to return. "Well that went rather well I must say,dont you think?",Zoro asked.
"honestly i never expected one blast of Haki would completely kill his will to fight". Luffy sounded genuinely disappointed. "that's because you have never been on the receiving end Baka". Nami informed the young captain.
" I might be a Baka but I'm your Baka ", He scooped up both women, one on each arm ,he then kissed Nami deeply followed instantly by kissing Betty to the same degree.
"Ahem ,third wheel much ?", Zoro scoffed out .
"oh sorry Zoro do you want a kiss too?"Luffy asked knowing it would get a reaction . "I've got this captain" Betty said as she walked upto Zoro. She grabbed both sides of his face as his body went rigid ,she crashed her lips into his ,but never opened her mouth like she did with Luffy ,obviously ,she added the smooch sound affect before she released him .
"there now you wont feel left out number four ". she said as she spun on her heels laughing".
"do that again ,I'll kill ya".
"call me number four again and I'll kill you for that too", he was smirking as he said it, she threw her arm over his shoulder ,come on let's go meet back up with mayor Boodle", she said before they walked back to where they left chou chou.
The four man crew arrived back to the pet shop, where mayor Boodle and chouchou waited in hope. Luffy smiled at them both ,"all done old man, they are gone and they will Never return".
"really?, it's all over, but how, there were dozens of them", the old mayor stuttered out.
Luffy nodded , " that's right ,cowards always flee when they are confronted by real strength,they needed just a taste. The other option was the complete annihilation of his crew and ship, we confiscated all their treasure too ,so you can start to rebuild your town mayor".
"So what happens now?", boodle asked .
"now you meet your new friend ,Richie come here", Luffy ordered . The Royal menean Lion came round the corner and slinked upto Luffy with his head low.
"Richie is the new Guardian of this island mayor , as long as you feed him well and provide him with everything he needs to be happy and respected , he will protect you to the best of his abilities. The richie you saw ridden around by that weird eared goon is not the real him, he is Royalty he should be revered not steered, ain't that right ?", Richie let out a low growl ,which apparently is lion for yes.
A few minutes later they were on their way to the docks to continue their journey ."what will you all do now?",asked the once again smiling mayor Boodle with Chouchou and Richie at his side. Luffy smiled at him,"now we go to the grandline, that is where our dreams are ,so that is where we need to be ,we are not going to achieve anything if we act like Buggy and hideout in the weakest sea".
"well once again ,thank you for saving our town, if only we had the courage. We will never forget what you young'ens did for us and we would love you to come back and visit us one day, maybe we could have the town fixed up by the time you return". Another tear was shed by the Mayor, the happy variety this time though.
" that wont be too difficult mayor Nami can take us anywhere we want to go, but for now we will leave you to enjoy your peace and quiet, it is long overdue, dont worry about Richie he will be fine as long as you treat him well".
Luffy finished what he was saying as the others climbed back onboard ,"now can we go see what usopp is really like?,
Nami responded,"yes captain that is our next stop, will he be all yassop said he would be or will he be a disappointment like Buggy?".
"we will soon find out, maybe we can get a ship too, onwards to the Gecko islands ". The Captain ordered, crew cheered as they continued on their adventure.
Three days of sailing later, the Strawhat pirates sailed toward the Gecko islands, Syrup village to be precise. That was where yassop came from so hopefully Usopp was still here. As they got closer they noticed the island was surrounded by steep cliffs with only one visible entry point, a sandy path leading further into the island so that was where they went.
Zoro commented they being watched ,Luffy told him the person was no threat as they moved closer. Luffy ,Nami and Betty all knew he was there . Seemed Zoro did too ,was that observation?, knowing him it probably was. "can you tell me anything about our voyeur Zoro?.
"Only that hes terrified captain, he is right over there behind that tree". It always pissed Zoro off when he could not do what he thought Luffy wanted. Though he had only just begun to learn Haki. He knew he was just giving himself a hard time but he hated feeling like dead weight already. At least he could sense somebody was there ,thats progress, right?.
Not five seconds later the voyeur was no more as he walked out of the tree line. he had a mullet of thick curly black hair, brown overalls and brown boots. He had a green bandana tied round his head, he had a satchel over his shoulder to his right hip and goggles round his neck. His defining feature ,just like Buggy was his nose . Unlike Buggy his nose was long and thin.
"What do you weaklings want?, if you are pirates out do do wrong I suggest you leave while you are still able. I have eight thousand hardened warriors ready to defend my honour and this island!", there is also hundreds of frogmen ready to sink you pathetic little raft, you cant see them but they can definitely see you". As he said this he pointed his index and middle finger from his own eyes and pointed them towards Luffy.
He nearly lost it did the poor hellspawn ,he was loving this already and waited patiently for his move .
"Scared yet ?. You will be. "right now there are highly trained monkeys in every tree overlooking this entry ,can you see them?",he asked .
Luffy shook his head in the most excited way any human ever had .
"Ha ,of course you cant ", he said in a quiet tone ," they are ninja monkeys and they are only allowed to eat the corpses of the people that try to trespass on my island ,they haven't eaten for nearly two decades , one word 'Discipline ".
Seventy five percent of the Strawhat pirates could barely listen to such balderdash and hadn't even got to the sniper gulls yet.
Twenty five percent were utterly and completely enthralled ,this was his jam and he never wanted it to end.
Speaking of sniper gulls ."Then there is the elite air defence/attack unit of special super sonic sniper seagulls , they move so fast nobody can see them apart from yours truly 'The Great Captain Usopp'. He puffed his chest out ,pointed his thumb at himself and rubbed his index finger on his none thumb pointing hand under his long nose while grinning confidently.
Now all that was said he hoped and prayed they would just leave peacefully ,the piece of foam he used to stop his knees knocking was starting to slip.
Unbeknownst to Ussop ,he was stood infront of a seven foot infant and essentially three babysitters. The nannies had seen and heard enough though "Luffy we are going into town ,come join us when you are finished playing with your new friend ,ok". Nami called from the top of the slope.
Neither heard as they had fallen into a trance of manliness as they were now engaged in an intensely , well intense man -off in the guise of a seemingly calm stare down .
Five minutes later after a lovely walk through the beautiful scenery of the villages rolling hills and fruit filled orchards, with flowers in bloom as far as the eye could see. The three Nakama reached a diner called 'Meshi'. They entered and found a table to dine at, they grabbed the menus and had a look at the options on offer. Once they decided they placed their order ,they also ordered a bottle of gin, a bottle of whisky and a quarter dozen bottles of sake, it could be a long day.
Five minutes prior, Ussop's back up had arrived in great force ,all three children were armed to the teeth too and just in time as 'Usopp the Respected' was feeling the pressure. He had no idea if he could exit this battle any other way than through those pearly gates. Luffys armada of armoured tank seabass sounded real ferocious and had the sea's on lockdown.
His airborne division of heat seeker hawkmoths sounded formidable, so taking flight was not an option. Then there was the squadron of super shock stealth spiders, Usopp was terrified.
He finally caved in as his knees gave out . The great posture war of just now, was over .
Back at Meshi , the crew were peacefully eating ,no worry of food going missing or anything for that matter ,Zoro was peacefully chugging his third sake . The ladies were sat back nipping on their shots.
Luffy and Usopp walked in shortly after,laughing and joking like old friends, with all things forgiven . "so is my dad really the sniper of a yonko?".
"yup , I can remember him never missing a single shot , it was like he knew where the targets were, even without looking he hit bullseye every single shot". Usopp's future captain replied with enthusiasm. Usopp was open mouthed at the skill of his old man , wondering if he could achieve the same level of skill his father was at, if Luffy had his way that level would be Ussop's minimum.
"So I see you two decided to call a truce, you two brave idiots", Usopp turned to Zoro ready to accost him for his insolence, he quickly remembered it was the crazy bounty hunter 'Roronoa Zoro', he checked himself before Zoro wrecked himself. "lighten up Zoro, let them have fun if they want ,we cant all be morbid and boring like you ", Betty said downing her whisky ,which was promptly refilled.
Nami ever the voice of reason decided to reign it in and put their focus back where it should be. "so Usopp ,is there anywhere on this island we can get a ship, we need something a bit bigger than what we have now, it doesn't have to be special. We have plenty of funds ,so price isn't a factor".
Usopp finished his mouthful before answering, "yes there is somebody who has a ship, whether they would part with it I have no idea, i will go ask if it would be possible, you guys wait here ,captain Usopp will return!". The long nose jumped out of his seat and bolted for the door.
Twenty minutes of waiting later Luffy decided they would go look for him. Luffy locked onto his aura, "come on you guys let's go see this person for ourselves".
They walked through the village and up a road leading to a huge mansion sat at the top of a hill overlooking the entire village , that was where The longnose aura was so that is where they headed.
They arrived at the huge steel gates outside , nobody could be seen so they let themselves in pirate style, all four of them jumped the fence effortlessly and Luffy led them to where Usopp was currently.
They could hear heated conversation , as they walked round the corner they saw Usopp sat on the branch of a huge tree that stretched all the way to a window on the second story of the mansion.
A frail looking girl with blond hair was trying to stop Usopp and what looked like a butler from arguing. The disrespectful butler was ranting about the boy trespassing on young Kaya's property.
He accused the longnose teen of only being friends with her to con her out of her wealth ,an accusation Usopp vehemently denied. The butler kept using his palm to adjust his glasses, which seemed very odd.
Betty with access to the info on every pirate in the east blue, her jurisdictiony, Recognised him instantly. It was her job as east blue commander to catalogue all pirate groups active ,marine routes and potential allies to expand the revolutionaries database.
She was very good at what she did ,that is why her bounty was currently over three hundred million ,but only Luffy and Nami knew that.
It was Kuro of the thousand plans ,he fit the description perfectly. She told Luffy and the rest of the crew who he was and what she knew about him and the fact he was supposed to be dead after being captured three years ago by captain Morgan of all people .
Usopp jumped down from the tree suddenly and punched him right in his dirty mouth, the shitty butler had insulted his father and Usopp knowing what Luffy told him snapped. He then ran off leaving a bewildered and crying Girl at the window ,poor thing looked like she didn't know who to believe, the only person that made her smile or the one who cares for her.
"we will be talking about this later Klahadore, you dont ever speak to me like that again and you will apologise to Usopp for such baseless accusations, Usopp would never do what you just accused him of". She slammed the window and closed her curtains .
Kuro stood himself up and turned to walk away smirking. He walked straight into Luffy and was sat back on his ass, a look of shock on his face. "who are you and what are you doing on private property" asked the cocky servant. Luffy with a face of thunder told him exactly who they were and they knew who he was. And if anything happened to Usopp his life was forfeit.
The butler demanded they leave before he called the marines, an emptier threat had never been spoken. The strawhats left to find and speak to Usopp, not because the butler told them to.
They found Usopp sat on a rock overlooking the path they used to access the island. They told him about the butler being a famous pirate that was supposedly executed three years ago. Usopp told them Klahadore arrived around three years ago. Which tied everything together perfectly .
They were in the middle of making a plan when they heard shouting coming from the small beach at the foot of the slope. Usopp and the Strawhats were disgusted at what they were hearing, Kuro planned to kill Kaya after making her sign everything she had over to him, they also knew now that he faked his own death to put this sick plan into action.
It was decided that Betty would grab his bounty poster from her collection and go to Kaya and explain the situation.
She told Kaya everything she knew ,she also told Kaya she was also a revolutionary and she had no intention of allowing his plan to succeed.
Kaya was a very intelligent girl, so she had no choice but to accept the facts of what she was told, even though it hurt her to think Klahadore was guilty of everything he just accused Usopp of. She was now having doubts about the death of her parents who died after the butler arrived.
Usopp and Kaya would go along with the plan of sailing out on her ship with merry , the butler who served her family for a decade, he was the one who built her ship 'the going merry'. Not returning until the Strawhats had dealt with Kuro, Betty gave her a den den mushi so they could contact her when it was all over. Betty used shave to take them to the private dock where her ship was anchored.
Luffy told Nami and Betty to raid the Black cats pirate ship as soon as it appeared, meanwhile him and Zoro would be waiting for Kuro.
At around midnight the belzan black appeared on the horizon, it sailed straight towards the beach ,getting as close as they could get it without beaching it. Before they even knew about it they were being raided.
The biggest problem was they could not see who was doing it they moved so fast ,all the crew saw was another pirate beat down ,then another and another ,finally there was only Jango remaining ,he though had absolutely no idea what was going on, he had a dreadful feeling he was next. He was not wrong in his fears as a purple haired woman appeared infront of him and front kicked him bang in the middle of his chest .
Jango was launched into and through the wall behind him , he felt his consciousness slipping away, the same woman chased him as he flew, she was above him in a heartbeat. She crashed down on him with her right knee which sent him slamming through the floor he was flying parallel to before impacting all the crates and barrels in the cargo hold below.
He was still breathing, though he would probably never walk unaided again.
Betty happy with her work returned to Nami who was sat on a pile of bodies. "well that was easy enough"Nami said as she stood up. "they were weak as hell ,if we struggled with the likes of this lot , we would have no right to be on Luffy crew "she said to her orangette Nakama, come on let's go back " Betty responded ,gaining a chuckle from her orangette nakama.
They returned to Luffy ,they did not want to miss Kuro receiving his medicine.
"you two done already?",Luffy asked with a grin as the women of his crew returned to his side ."of course we are, they were super weak, insultingly weak to be honest ". Nami said as they stood either side of their captain. "now we just wait for Kuro to show his face" Luffy added as he hugged his ladies for a job well done.
They didn't have long to wait before the Scumbag pirate arrived, he would no doubt be very angry with what he discovered.
Luffy told Zoro he would be the one to fight Kuro as part of his training, Zoro as you would expect was only too happy to meet the challenges of his captain. Luffy told him kuro was known to be fast but weak at the same time.
Luffy had no reservations about if Zoro could beat him,he knew he could and so did Zoro.
He appeared at the top of the slope with a black holdall in his left hand. "I see my crew failed me, now tell me ,why are you getting involved, is it because I threatened you little friend or are you after Kaya's wealth too ?",he snickers as he adjusted his glasses with his palm.
Luffy laughed at the butler's cockiness, he really did think he was something special.
"nope ,we were just hoping to buy a ship and see if Usopp was all his father made him out to be, unfortunately for you we knew who you were as soon as you showed your face and once we learned of your intentions we were kinda obligated to stop you, so you could say right place right time.
I'm glad you showed up, now I dont need to hunt you".
"you hunt me? ,you better be careful boy ,the man stood infront of you is a real pirate ,one that faced death many times before ,not some brat playing pirate. If you continue with this nonsense you will all be killed , my plan will not fail" he said as his composure slipped .
"enough of the blah,blah, come down here so my swordsman can use you as a training dummy, shishishi". Kuro smirked again before dropping his bag ,he opened it and pulled out a pair of gloves with twenty inch long katana like blades attached to the tip of every finger, "if you want your crewman dead so badly, I'm only too happy to oblige. just know this, you are next".
Kuro fastened his gloves securely, he lifted his arms out to the side and stood up before raising his head. His confusion was instant , Zoro was stood facing him at the bottom of the slope ,with his eyes covered by his bandana, one katana in his mouth and one in either hand.
That pushed Kuro past the point of no return. "dont fuck with me boy" he raged.
Luffy warned Zoro ,"get ready Zoro ,here he comes" .
Kuro however decided to try cheapshot Luffy only to find a fist buried in his solar plexus. He casually pulled his arm out of Kuro's body and lowered it back to his side.
"I'm not your opponent, Zoro is. Do that again and I will kill you coward!".
Kuro wiped the spit and blood off his chin ,he now had a noticeable wheeze to his breathing. "you really do want your friend to die dont you, very well I will grant your request since you are so hellbent on his destruction".
Luffy spoke calmly ,"I just want his Haki to get better ,that's all", his head tilted as he spoke the truth.
Kuro growled as he vanished and reappeared behind Zoro's left shoulder, approximately 2 metres away. Zoro felt the sudden change in the air around him. His instincts kicked in immediately. It was safe to say what happened next was shocking.
Zoro spun to his right avoiding the stabbing blow that was sailing past his head due to momentum while Zoro continued his spin. As he did, wado in his mouth made perfect contact with the nape of Kuro's neck severing his spinal column and killing him instantly. Zoro heard a thud at his feet and then complete silence.
Zoro kept on his guard having no idea what hed actually done. Twenty seconds passed before he realised nothing was attacking anymore Confused he lifted his blindfold. what he saw was Kuro's dead body with his head partially removed ,such was the strength and cleanliness of the cut.
"Oh" was his reaction as he looked at his captain.
Said captain was like a fish trying to breathe on land as he gaped at what just happened. "how did you do that Zoro on his first attack?".
Zoro simply replied "I felt the pressure change all around me,oh and the fact I could here him wheezing as he came towards me, add that to the fact I could smell the blood leaking from his mouth".
Luffy stood silent and still as he realised what he did,he facepalmed, "I really fucked that up didn't I?".
"you certainly did captain dumbass ,if you had hit him anywhere else he would have been the toughest I have faced", Zoro said while sighing.
Luffy took in a huge gulp of air before he let out the loudest sigh this side of the void century."This is gonna cost me isn't it Zoro?".
The swordsman laughed at his captain," A dozen barrels should last me until you next fuck up my training!". Luffy and Zoro both burst out laughing as the ladies watched the two with fond smiles ,safe in the knowledge both of them were idiots.
Now Kuro's plan was foiled , the crew decided to get rid of his ship and crew. His crew was locked up in their ships hold along with Jango and the dead body of kuro, Nami locked the ship on course for directly away from the Gecko islands, where they would end up nobody knew. Nami contacted Usopp and told him it was safe to return.
Zoro was snoozing on the beach as the others returned. Kaya was obviously overwhelmed by the whole debacle, but she offered her mansion for the crew to use for the night as she had a gift for them ,but that would wait til morning. She was exhausted and sleep quickly claimed her as soon as her head hit the pillow . Usopp stood guard unwilling to leave her on her own.
Luffy ,Nami and Betty chose a room at the other end of the mansion, their night was not yet over.
Morning rolled around as the sun rose high in the sky bathing the Gecko islands in its life giving rays. The strawhat pirates ate breakfast as they spoke about the events from just a few hours ago with Kaya. The conversation ended when Kaya told them to follow her ,so she could give them her gift.
Ten minutes later they were stood infront of their new ship ,"shes is an older model but she sails like a dream and you need a ship". She explained how it worked and about the set up and facilities, while Merry showed Nami the controls and mechanisms the navigator needed to know to get the best out of the pretty caraval.
Luffy had already asked Usopp if he wanted to be a real pirate ,after consulting with Kaya Usopp accepted Luffy's offer to become his sniper. Kaya wanted to go with him ,she knew she couldn't in her state , but it didn't kill the want to go. Luffy told her that once she was better and had her strength back he had no problem with her joining , however that would be months or even years from now.
It was time for the crew to leave as they stood on merry's deck , Kaya spoke her final words to the crew before they left. " Thank you all again ,I dread to think what would have happened to the village and its residents if you hadn't shown up when you did". As Usopp requested ,none of them will ever know. " Be safe on your journey ,I will keep contact with you and hopefully in the not too distant future I can become one of you, for now I bid you farewell".
Merry's anchor was raised by Zoro and the sails set by Betty as they began to leave port. Usopp stayed at the stern of the ship until he could no longer see his love, he regretted not telling her how he felt ,the timing just wasn't right. How could he tell her he loved her just as he exited her life. He knew he would regret it but he would live by the choice he made.
No matter how much it would eat at him. He needed something to focus on ,to occupy his wandering thoughts. Fortunately or unfortunately they now had a ship big enough to really start training. Which would start later that day as they headed for their next destination, they needed a Chef and a doctor .
Luckily Betty knew of a floating restaurant , using her knowledge of these seas she knew just about where it would be.
The strawhats had their new ship , a new crewmate and a destination, now all they had to do was get there.
That is the chapter , would really like some feed back .
