I turned my head to look down at Kuro's body. He lay there, no movement, no sound, nothing. His crew at the bottom of the slope yelled out statements about Luffy and his rubberiness. As I looked back at Kuro, I noticed that his glasses were cracked and he held a strong scowl. When I looked up I was shocked to see the three kids from earlier. Carrot, Pepper, and Onion jumped towards Kuro. I quickly stepped away from Kuro and the boys as they announced their arrival.
"The Usopp pirates, have arrived!" They yelled. Once they finished they all banged their assorted weapons on Kuro's head. There was an echoed clang, and frankly it looked like it hurt.
"No, don't!" Usopp yelled, a bit late.
"Stay away!" Kaya screamed. The kids didn't listen as they continued to beat Kuro with their weapons. They all yelled an assortment of remarks.
"No! Stop it!" Usopp continued to yell. Those kids were gonna get killed. "You don't know what you're doing. Stop. Stop!" Soon the kids stopped and panted. They stood over Kuro, looking down at his battered face.
"Alright, this time we'll let you off without anymore brutality. This time." One of the kids growled. I looked past them at Kuro. His face was even more scratched up and blood trickled from the cut I had given him. His glasses were practically shattered.
"Those dummy brats!" Jango yelled.
"Captain. I knew it, you were fighting. Gosh! That is so totally awesome." The Carrot kid said as he ran over to Usopp along with the other boys. Kaya sat on the ground between them. Once they were out of the way I walked over to Kuro. He continued to lay still. His arms, and blades, stretched far out to his sides.
"I thought there were no secrets between us pirates. Why didn't you tell us?" The Pepper kid added.
"That's right, we're supposed to tell each other everything." The Onion kid finished. As I got closer I noticed that Kuro's eyes were narrowed. The whites of his eyes emphasizing the fierceness coming from his dark eyes. They were locked onto the kids by Usopp.
"Who cares about that?" Usopp questioned. "Look, this is important. You guys gotta get outta here. Run!" Usopp ordered.
"No way!" Carrot shouted.
"We have to stay and fight with you." Pepper said.
"The Usopp pirates will be shamed if we run in fear." Onion stated.
I quickly ran towards the kids and I stepped in front of them just as Kuro stood up. He readjusted his glasses to have the remaining glass shatter and crumble out of it's frame. The kids screamed behind me as Kuro glared at them, looking straight through me. It sent a chill up my spine.
"You idiots. Don't scream! Run!" Usopp announced, but the kids continued to scream as Kuro walked toward us. Then out of nowhere he turned and walked around our small group.
"What?" I mumbled to myself as Kuro stopped in front of Usopp. No! I got his target wrong. In the next second Usopp groaned in pain as Kuro kicked him back. Usopp flew several feet down the slope before sliding.
"Captain!" The kids screamed as Usopp laid on his side.
"That hurt." Kuro declared. "Hmm... my, my that's quite a strange technique you've developed there... Tell me something. Do you have powers from eating the devil fruit?" Kuro questioned as I stepped forward and stood beside Kuro.
"Yep, I'm a rubber man." Luffy answered.
"And I'm a bone woman." I added before smiling at Kuro with my teeth becoming sharp. All the pirates from Kuro's crew started yelling and screaming.
"He ate the devil fruit!" One pirate cried.
"That guy's dangerous." A second one declared.
"Those devil fruit people are real." A third said.
"He's got rubber arms of death!" A fourth announced.
"Jango!" Kuro yelled after a moment.
"Sir!" Jango replied. His attention turned away from Luffy and up towards the man next to me.
"I can handle the boy and this girl. You take care of Miss Kaya like we planned." Kuro reached his blades out in front of him. He placed his hands together causing his blades to clang. "Have her write her butler into her will." Another clang echoed out as he stretched his fingers out to make a perfect circle with his blades. "Then kill her. As for the kids. They're an eyesore. Eliminate them." That's when it snapped.
A set of bones that matched Kuro's blades shot out of my fingers, but each had a serrated edge. Once they had, I spun around and held my hand in front of Kuro. The bone extended from my index finger stopped at the tip of his nose. The others were spread out below that. The bone from my middle finger sat near his throat. Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed Zoro holding out one of his swords to stop Jango as he walked up the slope.
"You'll pay for saying that." I growled.
"Stop right there." I heard Zoro declare. "If you want to get to them you'll have to make it through me first."
"Buchi!" Jango called. I could hear growling before a loud crash as what must have been a fight began behind me. I stayed focused on Kuro as he turned to look down at me.
"Copying me? What a childish tactic. You wouldn't last a second against me." Kuro let out a slight laugh.
"Ha! I guess you're right. Yet, I don't believe you." I turned my head up to glare at him. "You see, I'm very protective of the people I care about and I don't really appreciate you threatening them." I heard footsteps, and sent out my other hand to stop Jango as he tried to pass us and get to Kaya. I felt him bump my blades before stopping. Despite the action I stayed focused on Kuro's hideous face.
"USOPP PIRATES!" Usopp yelled, catching everyone's attention.
"Yes, sir?" The three kids replied. They sat next to Kaya.
"I need you to listen carefully." Usopp began.
"Look we're not running." Carrot stated.
"Not after they did this to you." Pepper added.
"We will avenge you." Onion declared.
"Protect Kaya." Usopp continued. "Do as I say. Don't argue with me. I'm giving you the most important task there is right now. It's absolutely critical that you succeed. Take Kaya and get away from here. You must keep her safe. This is the reason we want to be pirates. To protect what's dear to us. So do as I say and run!" Usopp cried out in his weakened state. "Now go. That's a direct order."
"Yes, Captain." The three kids cried back.
"Kaya, hurry." Carrot ordered as he went to help Kaya up.
"This way!" Onion said as he took her hand and lead her away.
"Come on, let's go!" Pepper stated as he joined them.
"Jango." Kuro began sternly, catching my attention.
"Yeah. Sorry, I was gawking." Jango replied as I glanced over.
"Why don't we prove your earlier statement?" Kuro suggested as he raised a hand up and moved my bone blades away from the area around his face using his blades.
Once my blades had been lowered he sliced his other hand towards me. I jumped up and over them before slicing my own towards his face. We stopped for a moment. One of my blades gently hovered over his throat. One of his blades was pointed at my heart. We watched each other for a moment. I then jumped back, cutting off his tie as I jumped away. I quickly made my bones heavy as I landed. I then looked around to find Jango gone.
"Oh, look at that. It seems I cut your tie off." I stated innocently. I leaned over and picked up the fabric from the ground with my blades. He scowled at me before turning towards Usopp.
"Their attempt at escape is futile. We know all too well how weak Kaya is. There is no way they can possibly escape Jango. Now, if you want to help her go ahead, but first you'll have to get off this hill alive." Kuro then turned back to face me with a smirk on his face. That's when I looked down to see a cut along my collarbone. "You didn't even feel it." He laughed. "I could stab you and you'd die without feeling it."
"Possibly." I smirked. "Except that also means I can take a lot of hits which should give me more than enough time to defeat you." I narrowed my eyes at him. I then followed his gaze down to where Zoro was fighting Buchi.
Just as I suspected it didn't take long for Zoro to beat Buchi. He then cockily threw his swords up and let them drop into their sheathes that he held out. As they clicked Buchi's body dropped. Not even a moment later a gunshot echoed in the forest. Birds exploded from the trees, flying away.
"Wait, what was that sound?" Usopp asked as he pushed himself up.
"That is the sound of destruction. Jango's probably tearing the place apart." Kuro announced. "Go ahead, see for yourself. If you can get up."
"Shut it." I growled.
"Heartless bastard... Don't you even have a shred of pity... You lived with that girl for three years." I heard Usopp tell Kuro.
"No, I've told you. Kaya is nothing more than a pawn in the game I intend to win. When she's dead, then I'll be grateful to her." Kuro replied. I slowly raised my hand back up to his throat as I walked around to face him directly. This time I pointed all the blades on one hand at his throat.
"Shut. The. Hell. Up." I growled. "Other wise, your gonna lose your thr-"
"Takara." I turned my head to look down towards Luffy. I kept my arm up next to Kuro's throat. Luffy stood farther up the slope now. "It'll be fine. Kaya is all right." I clenched my jaw for a moment as I decided what to do. I then nodded as I lowered my arm and released the heaviness of my bones. "Re-"
Luffy's next sentence was cut off as four long blades sliced across my back. Their cold touch broke through my skin, cutting from my right shoulder down to my left hip. I felt warm blood take the place of the cold blades as I gasped at the sudden attack. My knees gave out and I found myself falling forward as I started choking on the pain that burned my back.
"Did you feel that?" Kuro asked and I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. Before I could reply, I hit the ground. My blades retracted as blood flowed across my back and onto the slope. The cold slope contradicted the burning of my back as the world dimmed around me. Noises merged and the world blurred until everything went black.
The black slowly began disappearing. Noises were still muffled as I tried to blink away the blur in my vision. Damn, I let my guard down. I felt a breeze blow past as my vision began to clear. After that it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the bright light reflecting against the stone on the slope. I slowly tried to push myself up. With each movement my back screamed at me until I settled back into a sitting position. I had stumbled a few times, my arms trying to give out. I felt lightheaded as I tried to look over the scene in front of me.
Luffy stood just down the slope with Kuro. They both looked down at the pirate crew at the bottom of the slope. Luffy had his hands on his hips and a few scratches on his cheeks. Kuro was completely missing all the blades from his right glove. I groaned as I tried to push myself to my feet. I stumbled slightly and wobbled on my feet as I tried to hold myself up. A large pool of blood covered the ground near my feet.
"You guys are dumb. The most uncool pirates I know." I heard Luffy's voice say as words formed from the muffled noises I heard.
"We're uncool, huh?" Kuro questioned.
"I'd have to agree. You practically stabbed me in the back, and that is severely uncool." I managed to say as I started to gain my energy back.
"Takara, you should really take it easy." Luffy ordered.
"Nah, I got a bone or two to pick with the old butler." I smiled as I tried to stand up straight.
"Pirates are nothing more than savages. Incapable of rising against their animal nature. Without my plans what could they possibly accomplish. A crew is nothing to me. They are simply a means to an end. Crew members are just pawns in the Captain's game. Whether my men live or die is up to me and me alone. If I tell them to fight they will fight, and if I order them to die they had better do it. They know the punishment for disobedience." Kuro announced.
"Captain Rubber Head usually never has a plan." I explained as I tried to walk down to where he and Koro stood.
"Hey!" Luffy shouted, a pout on his lips.
"It's true." I said before sticking my tongue out at him. "Not to mention that we aren't all that savage and…" I paused as I stopped next to Luffy. "I am nobody's pawn."
"We're a crew, there are no pawns." Luffy added. Moments later Kuro growled, glaring at us.
"This is how pirates are! Don't you dare talk down at me, girl!" Kuro yelled before continuing to growl.
"Y'know no matter how many hundreds or thousands of men follow you as their captain. You will never be as good as Usopp." Luffy declared and as he said this I noticed that Usopp and Zoro were nowhere to be seen.
"You fool. Are you saying that I am inferior to a kid pretending to be a pirate?" Kuro questioned.
"That's right." Luffy answered, causing Kuro to burst out laughing.
"Well aren't you funny." Kuro said as he paused his laughter.
"Quite hilarious." I added quietly.
"Don't get all cocky just because you snapped off one of my cat claws." Kuro declared. Soon he started to bounce his feet around like earlier. "How exactly is he better than me? Let's hear it." As Kuro finished he disappeared.
"Cause he's got heart." Luffy stated. It was still a little hazy but I could see Kuro move behind Luffy, holding his one set of claws back to swipe.
"Has got what?" Kuro asked. I turned towards his voice and smiled.
"Something you clearly lack." I replied as Luffy planted his feet. I stepped around him as he swung his arm forward so that it could stretch.
"A guy like you doesn't know what a true pirate is." Luffy announced. He then swung his arm around and hit Kuro, sending him into the slope wall. As his arm stretched back I stepped farther away. His arm sent his body flying back so he did a flip and landed on his feet. We then both turned to look at the cloud of dust around where Kuro was.
"How insulting." Kuro declared. The dust settled to reveal a crater and Kuro sitting on the ground. "It would appear that you need a lesson in what real pirates are like." Kuro then reached up and stroked back the few hairs that had gone into his face. I stepped closer to Luffy as he stood back up from a crouched position.
"It's not pleasant. Your first lesson will be about terror. A lesson I learned well as I stared down death." Kuro climbed to his feet. He then began swaying back and forth. He hunched forward and let his arms hang down in front of him. His blades would clack together with every sway.
"What's he doing?" Luffy asked as we stopped and watched.
"Hey! Should he be in that stance?" A man from below questioned
"No, this is bad!" Another man exclaimed.
"Why's he using that technique?" A third man continued as Luffy and I turned to look down at them.
"He's only fighting two kids." A fourth man answered.
"There's no reason to use the out of the bag attack!" A final man said, announcing Kuro's move.
"I'm gonna guess and say it's the out of the bag attack and that it's not good." I replied to Luffy as Kuro continued to sway.
"This isn't a good spot for us. I mean, he can get us too." The men below us continued to talk as I turned to face Kuro with Luffy.
"Yeah, he did say he was gonna kill us all earlier." Another added.
"Please, Captain Kuro. Anything but that technique." Soon the men began to beg and plead.
"We'll do anything, Captain." A man begged.
"Please, Captain Kuro!" A man cried out.
"What's the big deal? He's just wobbling back and forth." Luffy mumbled before he turned back towards me and Kuro.
"Mind if I help fight with you this time?" I asked as the crew below each yelled out their own cries for help.
"Let's give it our all." Luffy told me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a breeze blew past and Kuro stopped. He glared as he looked up at us. His pupils looked like they had completely disappeared.
"Out of the bag attack!" Kuro yelled. He disappeared instantly leaving behind clouds of purple dust that blew out in waves in every direction. One wave blew past us down the slope. This time I couldn't see him, let alone track him. There was a scream behind us and we both turned and gaped at one of the crewmen who had fallen.
"What's he doing over there?" Luffy asked as we watched more and more of Kuro's crew get sliced down.
"He's killing his men!" I announced in astonishment. A rock was sliced next to Luffy. Purple smoke blew out of the cuts that were left in the rock.
"That guy's everywhere." Luffy proclaimed. Soon more men were getting cut down below us.
"What should we do?" I asked, panicked. I felt dizzy as I tried to look around and spot Kuro. With every man sliced on the beach below, my back would ache. My left hand reached up to my right shoulder as the men below dropped like flies. The others that remained alive pleaded for their lives.
"Don't do this Captain. Please stop!" One of the men cried.
"We're dead. We can't reason with him now that he's started. His sidestep maneuver is so fast, not even he knows what he's cutting." Another man explained.
"But how could he have killed so many of us without even- OH!" One of the men was cut off as he was sliced like the other men.
The men continued to scream as more fell. There didn't look to be an end to the slaughter of the pirates below. Then I noticed a cut form on Luffy's chest near his collarbone. Another slice flew past him, cutting his bangs. I looked down to see a cut appear on the arm holding my right shoulder. This was bad. If we couldn't see him, how could we attack him? Strikes came out of nowhere. All the pirates below were getting chopped down in seconds. Even Luffy and I continued to receive cuts, though not as bad as the ones hitting the others. Cuts soon appeared in places like his right wrist, my left leg, the ground between us, his left calf, and my cheek. Most of ours seemed superficial. Soon Luffy began growling beside me.
"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY HONOR? THOSE MEN ARE YOUR FRIENDS!" Luffy yelled, shocking me out of my trance. More rocks started to get cut around us.
"What do we do?" I asked as I looked around in a panic. A split second later Luffy's stomach was sliced and he was sent flying back. I quickly dropped to my knees. The tips of the hair in my ponytail were cut as I dropped. The slice barely missed my head. As I looked back up I saw Luffy stretch out his arm. He grabbed onto something before pulling it up, over his head, and then slamming Kuro down on the ground behind him.
"I found you." Luffy panted as I climbed back onto my feet.
"You bastard. You should have accepted your fate like a good boy. Now look what you've done. Thanks to you my little pawns are still alive, and in misery. It would have been better just to let them die in the attack." Kuro stated as he kneeled on the ground. The men who weren't killed in the attack were strewn across the beach, groaning in pain. I walked past Kuro and stood in front of Luffy as a breeze passed. "So, now what? Do you have something to say?" Kuro asked.
"Yeah." Luffy put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back so I was standing next to him. "No matter what happens to me. I will never be like you." I then followed Luffy's gaze over to my father's straw hat that sat on the ground not too far away. Kuro raised his blades and aimed them at Luffy and I's heads.
"Not WILL. Someone like you CAN'T be like me." Kuro announced. A silence grew and tension filled the air. Together Luffy and I stared down Kuro. We waited and soon the smirk on Kuro's face disappeared. Kuro moved his blades away from our heads. "You see, you are going to die here today. But first you'll writhe in agony as I hack you up like a fish." Kuro declared. He stepped away from Luffy and began walking backwards up the slope. He stopped once he reached the top. "I'm going to carve you up." He raised a hand up and fixed his glasses. "And I'm going to enjoy it." Soon he began swaying again.
"No!" I yelled, pushing past Luffy. Luffy sat stunned for a moment before he ran with me.
"No, you won't!" Luffy yelled. I made my bones heavy and created a blade that came out of my right wrist and went up next to my hand. I gripped it for extra support. I was two feet away from Kuro when I swung the new blade forward.
"Out of the bag attack!" Kuro yelled. Another wave of purple smoke exploded out and my hand cut through air.
"Dammit!" I yelled, stopping where he had stood. I wobbled for a second before Luffy caught up. He reached out a hand and grabbed my upper arm, holding me up for a moment. We then turned and stared down at the pirates below who were near death.
"Takara, you should really take it easy." Luffy ordered me.
"No way, I'm helping you whether you like it or not." I told him. "Now let's get this over with." Soon rocks were being sliced in every direction. I heard Luffy grunt and looked over to see that his left shoulder had been cut. The next second my right hand was cut and the bone that had been sticking out of it retracted. My left hand flew to stop the blood coming from the cut on my right wrist. My eyes flickered around the slope as I tried to figure out where that bastard was.
Did you like it?
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Well, that all for now.
Thanks for reading.