Okay, no SBS this time since I got no questions. My friend read this and guessed who the villain was. And it is Buggy the Clown!! Now onto the story!
Chapter 5: Kuro Neko vs Luffy
After docking their ship, the two zoan pirates walked into the nearly destroyed town. Some buildings were destroyed in a straight line and one building looked like it had been burned down. Jarred was already suspecting it was pirates and had his swords ready in case of an attack.
They stopped in the middle of the town and stared at the scene there. What was once a tavern was entirely demolished and a bunch of people, and a very large lion, were unconscious and bloody under the wood. Two men, one oddly enough having two round ears on top of his head and the other had a unicycle nearby him, were both laying on opposite ends of the area, clearly unconscious.
But the oddest of all were three people in the area. One had green hair and three swords attached to his waist, another had orange hair and was carrying a large sack of treasure in her hands, and the last one was wearing a straw hat that was ripped at the top.
"Hey, Kuro Neko!" hissed Jarred. "That guy with the green hair is Roronoa Zoro, the bounty hunter! Boy, am I glad we don't have bounties yet!"
The boy in the straw hat turned and spotted them. "Hey, are you part of Buggy's crew too?" he yelled.
"Buggy?" asked Kuro Neko. "Who's he, and who are you three?"
"Buggy's a pirate!" the orange-haired girl said. "I guess you've never heard of him. And why should we tell you our names? Who are you?"
"We asked first!" yelled Jarred.
"Calm down!" Kuro Neko growled. "I'm Kuro Neko and this is my swordsman, Jarred. We're pirates from the Neko Neko crew. Now, who are you?"
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" said the boy in the straw hat. "I'm a pirate too! This is Zoro, my swordsman, and this girl's my navigator!"
"The name's Nami." the girl said. "Why are you here? We've already had to deal with some pirates, so we don't need more!"
Kuro Neko looked at Luffy. "So you are a D. too. I am as well. Kuro Neko D. Roger."
"Roger?" said Zoro. "Do you happen to be related to the Pirate King, Gold Roger?"
"Maybe," Kuro Neko said. He had no intention of telling them about his origins. "I'll tell you if you can beat me."
"So you want to fight?" asked Luffy. "Okay! It'll be fun beating the son of the former Pirate King!"
"I'm not his son!" growled Kuro Neko. He didn't want this guy finding him out so he just went on denying it. "Prepare yourself, Luffy!"
"You better be prepared! Gum Gum Pistol!"
Kuro Neko leapt out of the way. "So you ate a Devil Fruit too, eh? Well, so have I!" Kuro Neko transformed into his hybrid form and readied for another attack. "I'm guessing you ate the Gum Gum Fruit, paramecia type. This battle will be interesting."
Luffy swung at him again, nailing Kuro Neko in the side. The panther zoan crashed into the street and then hopped to his paws. "Panther Claw!" he growled, slashing at Luffy.
Luffy stretched out of the way and avoided the attack. Kuro Neko's claws dented a wall of a building, causing it to crumble slightly. "Ha ha! You missed me, kitty!"
"Oh, really?" asked Kuro Neko, pulling his claws out of the wall. He jumped up and slashed at Luffy, cutting his arm slightly.
"YOW!!" yelped Luffy. "That hurt, you dumb cat! Gum Gum Gatling Gun!"
Kuro Neko crashed into a wall and dragged himself to his feet. As he had predicted, this battle was very interesting. He quietly walked towards Luffy and said, "Okay, battle over!"
"Huh?" said Nami. "Why would he just quit in the middle of a battle?"
"Luffy?" asked Kuro Neko. "What is your goal?"
"To be King of the Pirates!" said Luffy.
"That is also my goal," Kuro Neko purred, transforming back into a full human. "We will continue our fight the next time we meet. Good luck on your journey, Luffy."
Kuro Neko turned and left. Jarred ran after him. "Come on, captain! You could've creamed that rubber guy! Why didn't you beat him?"
"Because something told me to wait," Kuro Neko replied, boarding their ship. "I had a feeling we were evenly matched. It would've been a shame to have a draw right now when we could both get stronger and meet again, possibly more than once."
"Captain, you have an odd mind." Said Jarred.
"I know, Jarred. I know." Kuro Neko said. "How about some lunch? That battle made me hungry."
"I'm cooking, right?" asked Jarred. "I just know that you will burn it or do something else to ruin the meal if you cook."
"Of course, Jarred, and until we get a cook, you are my temporary cook."
Kuro Neko walked to his room to take a nap, leaving Jarred in the kitchen doorway. "Good for me," he mumbled. "Better find a chef soon or I'll end up fighting with cooking knives instead of swords."
After a good hour of cooking, lunch was served. It was chicken, rice, bread and apple slices. Kuro Neko stole most of the food, like always, while Jarred just sat there and looked downright disgusted at his captain's eating habits. After dinner, Jarred washed the dishes and went to his room to train.
Kuro Neko sat on his bed and looked at the silver compass known as a log pose. How did it get on their ship, and where has he seen it before? None of this made sense, but then again, nothing seemed to make sense to him. Why his foster mother died, why his parents died, and why Luffy had the same middle initial as him. All of this kept whirling around in his head.
He lay down on his bed and stared at the wooden ceiling. His thoughts drifted to new crewmates. Orange Town hadn't had anyone, so they would have to search the next island for crewmates.
He thought about what Jarred had said after they set sail from Orange Town.
FLASHBACK
"So, what's the next island?" asked Kuro Neko.
"Let's see…" mumbled Jarred. "I think it's Inferno Island. They say it was named after a nearby island that was destroyed by the Marines ten years ago because two extremely dangerous pirates had taken control of the island. They say no one survived it."
"Well then," said Kuro Neko. "To Inferno Island!"
END FLASHBACK
Kuro Neko sighed. Finding crewmates was hard work and they weren't even a third of the way to the Grand Line yet. "I hope we find someone on Inferno Island," he mumbled. "Mom promised that people would want to join us. I just hope they come soon."
The pirate captain yawned and curled up in a ball on the bed, falling asleep.
On Inferno Island, an hour from the Neko Neko's position
Inferno Island was a very large, forested island in contrast to its name. There was a large village on the edge of the forest from which you could see the remains of the original Inferno Island, which was destroyed ten years ago by Marines. Unaware to the Marines, not everyone on that island had died.
Two teenagers raced through the streets of Blaze Village, the village on the edge of the forest. Both were carrying bags of things they had stolen from people foolish enough to fall for their tricks. Suddenly, the two teens were replaced by two cougars. One was brown and the other was white with a reddish-pink tail tip.
After they escaped the streets and entered an abandoned shack in the forest, they transformed back into humans. One teenager leaned against a dusty and cracked window while the other sat quietly on a crate. "That was fantastic, Ai!" said the teenager by the window. "They never knew we were stealing from them since you acted all childish and spoke another language. That was brilliant, sis!"
The teen who spoke turned out to be an 18-year-old boy. He had short black hair with white tips, light skin, and had blue eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt, black pants, black boots, silver rings on his wrists, crescent moon earrings on his ears, and a crescent moon pendant.
"Arigatou, oniisan," said the other teenager sitting on the crate.
The other teenager turned out to be a 17-year-old girl. She had long brown hair with reddish bangs, light skin, and green eyes. She was wearing a red tank top, frilly red skirt reaching below her knees, red boots, silver rings around her wrists, star earrings on her ears, and a star-shaped pendant.
"Don't worry, Ai-chan. I won't let those World Government dogs find us. They may have taken our home but they haven't taken us yet." The boy said to the girl.
The girl, Ai, looked at him worriedly. "Koji oniisan?" she said. "Douka shimashita ka?"
"Nothing's wrong, Ai," the boy, Koji, said. "I just wish they would stop chasing us. We're in enough trouble as it is, so we don't need them getting involved. But at least we have food now."
Ai looked down at the dusty floor. "Li nyuusu da ne."
"Don't worry. We'll be fine, maybe even better, once we get off this freaking island." Koji growled, running a hand over the handles of his two double-bladed axes. "It's getting late. We should go to bed."
"Naruhodo." Ai said, getting off of the crate. She walked over to two beds that the siblings slept in. "Oyasuminasai. Gussuri oyasumi, oniisan."
"Oyasuminasai. Yoi yume o, Ai-chan." Koji mumbled as he climbed into bed. In moments, the duo was fast asleep.
At the Inferno Island docks
"I'm going to bed, Jarred. Thanks for dinner again." Kuro Neko yawned as he walked to his room.
It had been nearly two hours since lunch and they had docked here about twenty minutes ago. After exploring Blaze village, they had returned to the ship with more supplies and had decided to stay here for a while. Jarred could've sworn he'd seen two cougars running down the streets. Or it could've just been his imagination.
The swordsman retired to his own room and collapsed in bed. He would explore the village more when morning came.
The next day…
"I'm gonna go check out the village, captain!" Jarred called, hopping off the ship. Walking down the docks, he spotted the village and all the buildings it had. It looked similar to those coastal villages with all the driftwood buildings.
After exploring some more, he spotted a teenager with short black hair tipped with white. He was standing on the edge of the street, begging for money to help his sister. The girl was seated off to the side of the street, mumbling things in another language. A crowd had gathered and some were tossing money at them and saying to help her get well.
Jarred came closer and his eyes widened in surprise. When the teenage boy hugged one of the people and thanked them for the support, he secretly slipped the person's wallet out of their pocket. Jarred realized what was going on now.
"Hey, you might want to check your pockets, sir!" he yelled.
The person quickly checked his pockets and discovered his wallet was gone. "Where's my wallet?!"
"Those pickpockets took it." Jarred said, pointing to the teenagers. "I just saw them. This is a con so they can get your money and valuables."
"But the girl's sick!" said a young woman. "She can't talk right!"
"No, she's just fine." Jarred said, walking towards the two pick-pocketing teens. "She's just speaking another language, Japanese from the sounds of it. I bet she can speak English, so she just speaks Japanese to get you guys to fall for their con. After they get your goods, they leave you guys without your money and use it for themselves."
The crowd turned against the two teens. "I don't believe you'd do this!" they yelled in outrage.
The teens quickly gathered the money and ran for it. "Sorry, no refunds, suckers!" laughed the boy as they ran down the street.
Jarred chuckled and ran after them. "No one can outrun a jaguar!" he said as he turned into a full jaguar.
Suddenly the two teens turned into cougars. One was normal but the other was white with a reddish-pink tail tip. "Idiot! We're Devil Fruit users! You can't catch us!" the normal cougar, the boy, growled.
"Well, so am I!" growled Jarred.
The trio vanished into the forest, running at top speed, Jarred leaping on tree branches to catch up while the cougars ran along the ground. Then the cougars raced inside an old, beaten up shack. Jarred easily smashed the door down.
"Okay, you two, come out and give back that money!" growled Jarred, turning into a full human.
"Okay, okay! We give!" said the boy. He and the girl exited the shack, looking innocent. "The money's in the shack. We're really sorry."
"Whatever!" mumbled Jarred, walking past them and retrieving the money from on top of a crate. "Now you two had better scram before that crowd comes back for you."
"Sorry but that won't be happening!" said the boy, pulling out two double-bladed axes. "My Tsukikazan and Hoshikazan will destroy you first!"
Jarred blocked the axes with his two swords, just in time to avoid a bad hit. Then something hit him in the side, drawing blood. Jarred glared at the girl, who had three knives in her hand while the fourth was imbedded in the wall behind him. He glanced down and spotted a small cut on his side where the knife hit.
"My sister is an expert at throwing knives while I use my two axes." The boy said, using his axes to shove Jarred into the wall.
The ceiling was shattered as a very large panther jumped through it, throwing the boy backward. Kuro Neko transformed back into a full human and glared at the two teens. "Who do you two think you are?" he growled. "No one hurts Jarred and gets away with it!"
"Hang on!" said Jarred. "Captain, you said you were looking for crewmates who ate a Cat Cat Fruit, right? Well, these two ate the Cougar model. Maybe they could join us."
"No way!" yelled the boy. "Why would we want to be pirates? Pirates were the reason our island was destroyed!"
"Doukan desu!" said the girl. "Acchi ni ike!"
"What did she say?" asked Kuro Neko, looking at Jarred for answers.
"She said 'That's right, go away' in Japanese, captain." The swordsman replied.
"Hey, why was your island destroyed?" Kuro Neko asked.
"Because two pirates had taken over it. The Marines just destroyed everything and killed everyone, even the innocent people like us. We're the only survivors." The boy said.
"Wait, then you two are from the original Inferno Island?" asked Jarred. "Shouldn't you hate the World Government and not pirates? They destroyed your island, after all."
"No, pirates caused all of this! It's all their fault!" yelled the boy. "They're the reason Ai-chan and I are all alone!"
"Ochitsuite, Koji oniisan." The girl, Ai, said softly.
"Not all pirates are bad people." Kuro Neko said. "Some are really nice and won't hurt people unless they have to. I'm one of those kind pirates. I want to find One Piece and become King of the Pirates, and I'll make a crew of cat Devil Fruit users. So, want to join?"
"As I said before, no." said the boy, Koji. "But I'll think about it. Stay in the village for a few days and I'll tell you my answer later."
"Thanks for at least considering it." Jarred said, picking up the money and tossing it to the siblings. "And you guys can keep that. I'll just tell them that I lost you two in the forest."
"Hontou? Arigatou!" Ai said.
"We'll be here for about another week." Kuro Neko informed them. "If you want to join, meet us at the docks. Our ship is the biggest one there!"
"We'll think about it." Koji said.
The two Neko Neko pirates left the abandoned shack and headed for town. After telling the crowd about the misfortune, the duo headed for the ship to eat. The cougar siblings just stood there in the shack, thinking over what had just happened.
Koji sat down on the crate the money had been on and sighed. "Well, Ai, what should we do?"
Ai looked surprised at his question. "Mou ichido itte kudasai?"
"Should we join them or what?" Koji asked. "The villagers here hate us because of what we do, and tourists hate us because of what we are. But these two pirates actually want us."
"Daijoubu, oniisan?" Ai asked, resting a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Douka shita no?"
"I'm fine, and you can speak English now." Koji said. "Those two just remind me of our parents. They believed pirates were good people too, but look what happened. They died!" Tears were coming.
"Oniisan, nakanaide." Ai said. "I think we… should join them."
"Maybe," he mumbled. "Maybe we should."
Ocean, not far from Inferno Island…
"Colonel! We found the island and our search is successful!" called a Marines soldier. "The two survivors from Inferno Island are on that island! We're ready to attack!"
'Not yet!" growled the colonel. "Get the villagers off of the island but avoid all pirates and our designated targets."
"Yes, sir, Colonel Aero!"
The colonel, Aero, looked at the remains of the original Inferno Island and then looked at the new Inferno Island. It would meet the same fate but only the targets and pirates were to be eliminated. The villagers were to be evacuated but in a way that would not alert pirates or the targets.
"Well now, those two cougar children will be eliminated at long last." Colonel Aero mumbled. "Those two are the children of filthy pirates, the same pirates that caused us to destroy Inferno Island ten years ago."
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Well, I hope everyone like chapter 5! Kuro Neko might get some new crewmates at last! I hope I got all the Japanese correct but give me a heads up if I did something wrong, I appreciate the help. It makes my story-writing better! This is a list of what Ai had said in Japanese and their English meanings:
Arigatou – Thanks
Oniisan – older brother
Douka shimashita ka – Is something wrong?
Li nyuusu da ne – that's good news
Naruhodo – I see
Oyasuminasai – good night
Gussuri oyasumi – sleep tight
Yoi yume o – sweet dreams
-chan – end suffix for children, girls, and women
Tsukikazan – Moon volcano
Hoshikazan – Star volcano
Doukan desu – that's right
Acchi ni ike – go away!
Ochitsuite – relax, calm down
Hontou – really?
Mou ichido itte kudasai – pardon?
Daijoubu? – okay? Are you okay?
Douka shita no – what's wrong?
Nakanaide – don't cry
That's all that appeared in this chapter! Next time, the Marines set off an attack on Inferno Island, and Koji and Ai's past is revealed! What will their decision be: join the crew or not? Find out next time on 'Journey of a Black Cat'!!
