A story one would love to hear
By KuroKame

Story requested by Morlin.

(Edit: I've gone back to edit a few run-ons, but I have my doubts that it will have any effect. I have no idea why QuickEdit insists on adding them everywhere, because I check my stories before I upload them and there are no run-ons there. Let's see if it works now that I've gone through it again.)

A/N: I wasn't sure at first how I was going to write this story. When Usopp has defeated Chuu in the manga, and he realizes that he actually defeated a merman, he falls backwards and lands on the road next to the rice-field (at least I think it's a rice-field…). However, in the anime, he lands in the water of the field instead. As much as I'd love to stay true to the manga, I thought that it would be more interesting to keep him in the water instead.

As I had finished the first draft for the story, I wanted to add something to make the story more interesting, so I added a few paragraphs in a first-person POV, to show how I think Usopp would tell the story of how he defeated a merman all on his own. I hope you're fine with this and that it's not too confusing. Tell me if it is, and I'll try to fix it.

So, on with the story. Usopp… Wagoomu!

Hah, made you blink, didn't I? I knew I would. ;3

And so, with some help from the Ketchup Star I had invented earlier, I made him think he had killed me. He turned his back on me, ready to return to the base, without even checking if I was still alive or not.

Cold, muddy water was trickling into his ears, and it made him shiver uncontrollably. His clothes were already soaked in the same water, and as he made another attempt to move, his fingers slipped in the sticky mud he was lying in and he sank down on his back once again. This time, he remained still as he looked up at the clouds moving across the sky above him.

You're calling me a coward? No, no, you're mistaken. It was all a trick, to catch him off guard. And it worked like a charm, don't doubt me on that. I had him exactly where I wanted him, and that was when I attacked.

Usopp wasn't quite sure what had just happened. One second, he had been hiding behind a tree to avoid being hit with by the merman's water-bullets, and the next, he had felt himself pulling out one of his Fire Stars from his bag and sent it flying directly into the face of his enemy without even aiming.

After a fierce battle face to face, he had me cornered. However, I never feared, and I chose to go with my secret weapon that gave me the opportunity to seek temporary shelter behind some trees to plan my next move. That was when I thought of the idea to use the bottle of rum I swiped from the restaurant we visited to get a cook for our crew. I told you that story before, didn't I? Anyway, I threw the bottle to the merman and broke it with my Lead Star, so that he was completely drenched in the alcohol.

It wasn't until after he had landed on the ground after hitting the merman over the head with his hammer the first time that he seemed to be aware of what was happening. Then, when he noticed that the merman was getting up again, panic took over and the result was lying there next to him in the field.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what kind of power his water cannon attack had. I didn't get the time to fish out my Fire Star before the trees to my left suddenly were broken like toothpicks and scattered all over the place did I realize what kind of enemy I was up against.

He was still holding the hammer in a tight grip. His fingers had locked themselves around its handle and wouldn't let go, no matter what. Maybe it was because he feared that his enemy would wake up at any moment.

I have to admit that in my astonishment over the destruction of the forest, I was incautious and happened to let him know where I was hiding. Thus, I was nearly shot to death by a storm of water-bullets piercing the trees around me. But thanks to my swift moves, I was able to escape without being hit a single time.

Lifting his head out of the water with his neck still trembling from exhaustion and shock, he glanced at the unconscious merman at the other side of the rice-field. He still hadn't moved. Good. No movement was good.

When he realized that he wasn't going to hit me with his water, the merman came towards me, and he even tore the tree I was standing behind in two to get to me. He thought it would scare me to death, but I kept my cool and said "This battle is over! Did you know rum is flammable?" just before I let my Fire Star fly and saw the flames engulfing him.

He gathered all his strength and managed to sit up. Cold, slippery mud and even a riceplant or two slithered down his back and arms as he pulled up his knees towards him. His eyes never left the merman, fearing that he would see the twitch of a finger or hear a moan that would mean that the enemy was waking up. But the merman didn't move. He lay face-down in the waterlogged rice-field, multiple blackening bulges forming in the back of his head.

With a scream of pain, the merman turned around and ran back towards the water in the rice-field to put out the fire. I ran after him, searching my bag for a weapon while I ran. The first thing I got hold of was my hammer, which was the perfect tool for that situation.

Usopp still couldn't believe it. He had actually beaten one of the strongest mermen in Arlong's clan. There were no words that could describe the happiness and pride he was feeling. Now he wouldn't have to be ashamed of being a coward anymore, and the others would appreciate what he had managed to do. He wasn't useless, and now he had proven it.

Just as he jumped into the water, I leaped forward with a roar, twisting my body in the air and so letting my hammer gain force before it slammed into his head, throwing him down into the water again. I, on the other hand, continued through the air and landed on the other side of the rice-patch, where I swiftly turned around to see if my enemy was really down. Of course, I was quickly assured that so was not the case, as the merman moaned and was already getting up from the water.

The others! Usopp gasped and scrambled to his feet, mud and water flying in all directions as he tried to run back through the field to the dirt road that led back to Arlong Park. He had to get back and make sure the others heard about his incredible victory.

I had no choice but to attack him again and again until he was no longer moving. Once I was certain that he wasn't dead, but still wasn't going to get up and attack me again, I could go back to Arlong Park to team up with my nakama in the final battle.

He tucked the dripping wet hammer into his bag as he stepped up on the road and began running on legs that still claimed to be too exhausted to move. His nakama were waiting back at Arlong Park, and if he was lucky, the fight was already over. After all, three mermen could hardly be too much for Sanji, Zoro and Luffy, could they? Usopp wasn't doubting his nakama, but he still started running faster, leaving only a faint trail ofdust behind him.

You say you don't believe me? Well, that's entirely up to you, isn't it? But I can assure you, that if you ever go to a small village called Cocoyashi in East Blue, and ask any of the villagers who defeated Arlong and his mermen, I'm sure they'll tell you the truth… Now, what story do you want to hear next? --

Usopp had the feeling that this was going to be a battle that would become a great story one day. The day Arlong's empire fell. And maybe, just maybe, someone would remember how he alone defeated one of the mermen… Now that would be a story everyone would love to hear.

Well, Morlin, I hope you liked this story. It's fun to get requests, since it gives me an opportunity to explore parts of the original story I never had thought of exploring before. Thank you for the suggestion.

Sulia Shincho - Actually, I take the dialogue from both themanga and the anime, depending of the situation. Except for Null's scanlations, I only have the Swedish translation of the manga, and the translations can differ quite a lot at some points. But I compare the dialogue in the manga and the anime and choose which one sounds best or fits the situation. A few times, I've simply merged the lines from the manga and the anime if it would make it fit better. It doesn't make it accurate, but it's the best I can do since I don't speak Japanese myself.

To tell the truth, the last chapter was written a little bit from my own point of view. I know that if I had made a promise on my life that I wouldn't interfere with someone else's choices, but that the person would risk dying if I didn't interfere, I would feel very torn and hardly feel like I didn't know what to do. However, I don't know if I could stand watching my friend (or more importantly, my nakama) die just because of a choice they made.