One Piece: My Version
Part 3: The Pirates Invade Syrup Village!
(The Next Day- at 9:50 in the morning.)
Usopp wiped the sweat off his brows as he just finished setting up the last of his traps on the beach. The terrain itself was a very steep slope from the shores to the upper terrain, so Usopp took the liberty of covering the entire floor with oil grease. And a good number of spring loaded traps.
"You sure did a good job with the traps Usopp." commented Luffy.
Usopp grinned under the praise. "Of course! When it comes to traps and sniping, I'm a natural!"
"It's almost time…" said Zoro.
A few moments passed, and so far no ship had come into view. Usopp looked confused.
"Where are they? They should be here by now."
Luffy couldn't help but sense a nagging feeling at the back of his brain (Yes Luffy has a brain!) until a light bulb flashed in his head.
"Hey! Wasn't there a beach on the other side from here?" the captain inquired.
…
…
…
…
Usopp clutched his head as his jaw dropped in panic. "Shit! I forgot there's an identical bluff on the North Beach!" he stopped what he was doing and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the beach with Luffy quickly following behind.
Then it was Nami's turn to scream. "All my treasure's back on the boat!" she made a quick turn, Hawkins narrowly dodging her blitz while Zoro wasn't so lucky as he was knocked over and fell forward onto the oil slick and down the slope.
"Sorry Zoro, but my treasure's in danger… no hard feelings, okay?"
Hawkins turned his head down to see the swordsman desperately struggling to get back to the top.
"A little help here would be nice!" Zoro yelled. Instantly, he was lifted off the ground and brought back up on the ledge not covered in oil.
"We should get going…" stated Hawkins and was about to run after his crew, but Zoro's voice halted him. "Matte… Hawkins, is it really true what you said about that prediction, about Usopp dying…?"
"While my premonitions are a bit difficult to see, the results are the same, Usopp will die today."
Zoro snorted. "Well… I'm not one to believe in fate so with all due respect… screw your predictions!" he ran off following Nami's direction, leaving Hawkins to his thoughts.
Hawkins actually showed a look of surprise by raising an eyebrow a half-inch. That was the closest he had ever shown emotion besides natural shock when in battle.
"I hope for Usopp's sake, that my premonition is wrong…" he thought out-loud before heading off to the real battlefield.
A couple minutes later the crew, plus Usopp, managed to get to the north side just in time, as they saw a large ship with a black cat figurehead anchored on the beach. The opposing crew came down, along with Jango, who was shocked to see the same straw-hat boy looking alive and well. 'How can that be? He fell off a cliff!'
Luffy noticed the ship and decided to even some odds. "Ryoku, attack!" he shouted using a bit of Haki to call upon his pet. Instantly, the Lord of the Coast shot up from the water and let out an almighty roar. The Black-Cat pirates, plus Usopp, had their eyes bulge out of their skulls and their jaws drop down to the floor at the sight of the Sea-King.
The sniper shakily glanced towards Luffy. "O-Oi, L-Luffy… By any chance is that Sea-King, your pet…?" he nervously asked.
Luffy scowled childishly before answering. "Of course not… He's my nakama!" he grinned.
Whether Usopp knew it or not, he just made friends with a very powerful person. Ryoku then coiled himself around the ship and began to pull it back with ease. The hypnotist thought quickly and pulled out his pendulum and faced the sea monster, getting its red eyes glaring at him.
"When I say One, Two, Jango, you'll fall asleep! One, Two, JANGO!"
Ryoku suddenly felt sleepy and felt his hold on the ship go lax and submerged himself into the depths. Luffy clenched his fists angrily; no one, NO ONE, took advantage of his nakama, and he was going to prove that to that stupid hypnotist. He stomped his way forward, cracking the floor with every menacing step he took.
Zoro pinched his eyebrows and Nami groaned while Hawkins remained neutral and Usopp was dumbstruck.
"He's not big on brains is he…?" Nami pointed out.
The opposing crew was now scared shitless, until Jango turned to his crew and used his pendulum on them.
"When I say One, Two, Jango, you'll have immense strength and be unstoppable! One, Two, JANGO!"
Almost immediately, the crew looked more intimidating and had rippling muscles contrary to their previously meek exteriors. One even demonstrated this by smashing the side of the cliff and it came crumbling down.
Nami looked nervous. "They all got stronger because of that guy!"
"That man is a hypnotist, although he's not very strong in terms of spiritual discipline." Hawkins pointed out.
Zoro looked at Nami and Usopp as he got out his three swords. "You two stay back! Hawkins get ready!" the mystic nodded and unfolded his arms, preparing to attack.
But Luffy was already on the attack as he began to punch his fists out in a rapid motion.
"GOMU-GOMU NO GATTLING GUN!"
The supposedly strength-enhanced pirates were quickly taken out by Luffy's strong punches; the teen didn't even bother using his Haki. However once Luffy retracted his punches, he noticed Jango directing his technique at him.
"When I say One, Two, Jango, you'll fall asleep! One, Two, JANGO!"
And just like his nakama-pet, Luffy instantly fell asleep.
"I can't believe this…" Nami groaned.
"Actually, our captain's actions inadvertently helped us." Hawkins raised a finger pointed at Jango. "It's just him."
Jango smirked at his comment. "You think so, huh…? Sham! Buchi!" two figures popped out of the ship and were at kneeling at Jango's sides in a flash.
"You called…" said the hunchbacked, green-haired, cat-looking pirate.
"Captain Jango…?" the fatter-looking, feline-pirate.
Jango grinned. "Meet the Nyaban Brothers!" he then pointed to the swordsman. "You two kill that pirate!" he ordered.
The brothers decided to play their little game with their opponent by becoming scared and lacking confidence. "B-But Captain… that guy looks really strong!" Sham whined pathetically.
"Y-Yeah!" I don't think we stand a chance at this guy!" added Buchi who was looking a bit shaken.
Jango knew their little façade and decided to play along. "You cowards, do as I command! Sham attack!"
Zoro smirked. "They don't look that tough." he spoke confidently.
"Zoro…" Hawkins called him back. "Do not underestimate them; I sense their appearance is not what it seems. I would advise you to be on your guard."
Zoro turned serious, seeing as how Hawkins didn't seem like the type of person to be mistaken. "Got it…" he replied as he unsheathed his three swords and undid his bandanna on his shoulder and wrapped it around his head, all while flashing his demonic grin in anticipation.
As Sham flailed his arms like an idiot, he was secretly preparing his Neko Baba (Cat Snatch) technique so he could steal his swords. However he did not expect his opponent to go all out; which was what Zoro counted on as he performed his signature move.
"Oni-Giri!" he tri-slashed the cat-pirate, blood flying from his severe wounds and hunched over in pain.
"Sham!" cried Buchi. The bigger cat-pirate then snarled in anger. "You bastard! How dare you hurt my brother Sham?"
"Jango…! What is going on here?" a sinister voice rang out causing everyone to look in the direction behind the Straw-hats. The source of the voice revealed to be none other than Captain Kuro carrying a duffel bag and he did not look happy at all; in fact, he looked vivid.
"I expected you to have a hold on things, but instead you're fifteen minutes late and you've already lost all of your men to these rat-tags!" He shouted.
"B-B-But Captain Kuro-"
"I'll give you 10 minutes, and if you can't get rid of this problem, I'll kill everyone right here!" he yelled.
Jango knew Kuro was good on his threats, especially his death threats. "Sham! Buchi! Enough fooling around! Kill that sword-bastard and the rest of them!" he ordered.
"Right!" the both replied and with speed that Zoro had a little trouble following, they went on the attack and made quick, strong slashes that rivaled Zoro's.
'I can't keep fighting in this state of my strength. I'm nowhere near as powerful as Luffy. I must get STRONGER!'
He countered their onslaught and both sides jumped back a few feet. Zoro quickly pulled two of his katana over his head and drew a stance. Closing his eyes, he tuned out the noise around him and only felt the vibrations of his opponents coming at a slower rate. 'Come on… focus… but keep a steady flow of mind and body…' Sham and Buchi were about to claw him to pieces. 'And channel it to the blades…' and with an exhale of breath, Zoro made his move.
"Tora Gari! (Tiger Hunt)" he made a quick, blinding, dash towards the Nyaban Brothers and did downward, descending double-slash, which caught them off-guard as they were slashed clean through the torso cavities and collapsed onto the ground, where they died from the severe injury accosted to them. Zoro noticed how sharp and clean were blows that he dealt them, but more importantly, at how he managed to 'see' their movements.
'Could this be… the power Luffy has…?'
"You now have six minutes Jango, just so you know." warned Kuro as he noticed the hypnotist was sweating bullets.
"Oh and by the way, the treasure's being stolen by that girl behind you." Kuro gestured with his index finger.
Jango shook out of his stupor and turned around to see Nami carrying at least 3 bags of treasure. She had paused for the moment when Kuro gave away her position and stared sheepishly at the hypnotist.
She laughed nervously. "Uh… hi?"
Jango glowered at the girl. "You little bitch… Take this!" he launched a pendulum ring at her aimed at her uncovered neck. Nami closed her eyes as she prepared for pain… but it didn't come. Instead, Hawkins took the blow at the neck in her place.
Her eyes widened in shock. 'He saved me, but why? Now he's…' her grim thoughts were dispelled as she heard a slashing noise coming from one of the unconscious pirates. The wound was made at the neck and caused his blood to spurt and die. One of the few conscious pirates looked on in horror.
"Captain Jango, this guy had wound on neck out of nowhere!"
"NANI?" the hypnotist shouted in disbelief. But what's more to his horror, Hawkins was still standing with no wound on him whatsoever.
"H-How are you still alive? I slashed your neck!" he yelled indistinctly while raising a shaky finger at him. From out of nowhere, a small, straw-like doll fell out of Hawkin's arm.
"I have the power of the Voodoo-Voodoo No Mi (Voodoo-Voodoo Fruit); any damage done to me and you only harm yourselves or others around you."
"A Devil Fruit User?" Jango practically jumped.
"But that's not all…" he raised his arm at the hypnotist, causing the man to be lifted into the air.
"W-What the hell?"
"I have the power of levitation…" he told the floating man.
"Don't tell me you're a mystic as well?" said mystic unsheathed his long-sword and with his free hand, levitated it and aimed it directly at Jango, who was already sweating bullets.
"W-Wait a minute… don't-" Jango began to panic.
Hawkins cut him off. "You are not worthy of being a true mystic…" but then he sheathed his sword. "But you are not worth the stain on my sword… Goodbye." Using his power, he threw his arm up to the sky causing Jango to be thrown into the direction away from the island at high-speeds until he was out of sight.
The Black Cat pirates were now terrified at the people they were dealing with; there was no way that they could defeat them.
Kuro stared at the space in the sky Jango flew off in then turned his attention to the crew. "You all now have three minutes…"
"Kuro!" cried a shaky voice. The ex-pirate tilted his head to the side to see Usopp aiming his slingshot right at him. The man looked at the village liar uninterestedly.
"Usopp, I didn't see you standing there." said Kuro. He practically could hear Usopp's teeth and legs chattering.
Usopp was scared as hell now. He knew he just gave away his position and he was nowhere near as strong as Luffy, Zoro, and Hawkins. But he stayed true to his word; he would not allow Kuro to harm anyone, not even Kaya.
"Tell me Usopp, that punch, you put everything into that punch to hit me, right?" he inquired. Usopp was still too afraid to answer.
"Well then, I might as well be honest…" Kuro suddenly vanished and reappeared beside the coward.
"That punch was more like a mosquito bite." before Usopp could register on what just happened, Kuro kicked him in the stomach, breaking a few ribs in the process. The impact sent the long-nosed sniper into a fairly large tree, causing it to splinter and fall over. Usopp was now bleeding pretty badly both internally and externally.
"Usopp!" Nami cried.
Zoro went on the attack and made an attempt at cutting Kuro on the spot, but all he managed to hit was the air. Then in just a few short seconds, a series of slashes cut his torso. He let out a painful yell as he was knocked back.
"Zoro!"
Kuro was now standing over the swordsman this time wearing both his Cat Claws. He adjusted his glasses with one hand, being careful not to cut his face in the process.
"My plan will go accordingly; crew or no crew… I will have Kaya's fortune and finally end this miserable excuse for a living!"
Nami turned to the mystic who was just standing there. "Why aren't you doing anything?"
Hawkins looked at the navigator/thief. "He moves too fast for me to use my powers, but that's not the reason why I can't attack." he gestured by pointing to a smaller, female coming from behind Kuro. Nami instantly recognized her.
"Oh no…" Nami dreaded.
"Kurahadol…" gasped a small voice. He turned his head to see Kaya standing before him, looking at him with unshed tears of disbelief.
"Please tell me it's not true… Please…" her voice cracked with emotion.
With a sigh Kuro let down his claws and approached the timid heiress. "Kaya, these last few years have truly been enjoyable; a healthy lifestyle, a beautiful house, and kind people who took me in." His face was calm and happy until his dark features returned. "However, I only enjoyed it because I endured it! I cared not for you or your parents, just your lifestyle, which is why I killed your parents, and bided my time for three years to get you to sign your will to leave everything to me and would live in the lap of luxury for rest of my days!" he snarled.
Kaya looked at her caretaker in horror. 'H-He never cared…? All he wanted was my family's fortune… Usopp-kun was telling the truth…'
That's when she realized that Usopp wasn't around. She looked in various directions to find him but she couldn't.
"If you're wondering where Usopp is…" a dark smirk crossed his face. "He's around…" He began to raise his claws at Kaya, preparing to strike. "Too bad you won't live long enough to see him…" Kaya looked frozen in fear. "Goodbye, Kaya-ojousama…"
Time seemed to slow down. Kaya shut her eyes, preparing for the worst, but instead someone stood in front of her to receive it. She heard blades piercing flesh, and once she opened her eyes to see both of Kuro's claws run through Usopp's body.
The sniper puked up blood on Kuro's suit as he felt the blades retract. Kuro sneered in disgust. "Great, I've got this filth all over me!"
Usopp stood for a moment, and then collapsed onto the ground. Kaya stood speechless until she found her voice.
"NOOOOOOOO! USOPP-KUN!" she screamed. She knelt down to his level and sobbed pathetically into his form. Suddenly she heard a cough coming from him.
"K-K-Kaya…" he rasped.
"Usopp-kun! Don't worry, I'll go get help!" she made attempt to get up but Usopp stopped her. She looked at him oddly. Usopp shook his head sadly.
"No… let them think it's a lie… I want them to…"
"But-" she spoke but was interrupted by a violent cough. Her tears came back strong while she cradled his head in her lap. "I'm sorry… that I didn't believe you, Usopp-kun…"
Usopp struggled to lift his hand up touch Kaya's face. "I don't blame Kaya… I could never blame you… I love you…" it was getting harder to see now.
She hitched a breath at his confession. 'He's loved me…? Oh…Usopp-kun…' she smiled lightly despite her tears. "I love you too, Usopp-kun…" she hugged his form closer to her.
"Kaya….." his chest stopped heaving, signifying his last breath and dropped his hand from his beloved's face. Kaya sobbed harder and still held his lifeless body tightly.
Zoro was still unarmed and critically wounded, but glared at the pirate holding him down. 'Once I get out of this, you're mine you son of a bitch…'
Nami watched on in fury. 'This is why I hate pirates!'
Hawkins showed no emotion at all. 'The Shadow of Death has claimed him…'
(In a white void)
Usopp opened his eyes and immediately he felt his eyes go sore with the pure white glare. Once he readjusted his vision he began to see that he was in the middle of nowhere.
"What is this place?" his voice echoed a bit.
"Usopp… my son…" spoke a soft motherly voice. Usopp's eyes widened as he instantly recognized the voice.
"Kaa-san…" he spoke in a hushed whisper. There standing a few feet before him was his mother, Banchina. Tears poured out of his eyes and Usopp ran to embrace his mother; he didn't care how long it was or how he was able to, but he got to see his mother for so many years.
"Kaa-san… I-… how…?" Usopp couldn't fathom how this was happening, until Banchina shushed him.
"Usopp, listen, you're dead…" Usopp looked at his mother in disbelief. "But God sent me here for two things; first to tell you that it is not your time as you have too much to live for, like Usopp pirates and Kaya-chan. I'm glad you were able to confess to her by the way…"
Usopp smiled widely. "Second, is that He wanted to give you three gifts when you get back; to help follow your dream." she placed a hand over his chest and a light filled him; he felt a warm but confident aura surrounding his heart.
"The first gift is unlocking the courage within your heart. The second gift is tapping into your Haki. The third, which goes in hand with the second, is great endurance, both physically and mentally to balance out your spirit."
Usopp felt faint. As he closed his eyes, he heard his mother's voice growing fainter.
"You will be a great adventurer… just like your father. You can do it, my dearest son…"
(Back to reality)
Kaya was still crying for her fallen love, she didn't even notice Kuro raising his claws again to strike.
"How touching, but don't worry… you'll be joining him soon enough…"
His murderous attempt was short lived as he felt an enormous force on him.
'W-What is this…? This heavy feeling on my soul… like something wants to kill me….' Suddenly he felt two arms hold his hands in place. His eyes widened at what he saw; it was Usopp, and he had risen back from the dead.
"Impossible! I killed you!" Kuro shouted at the silent Usopp. He saw the sniper tilt his head up slowly only to be met by a furious glare. (Picture the glare like the one Usopp had when he dueled Luffy.)
No doubt; it was definitely Haki, although nowhere near as strong as Luffy's but still, the fact that Usopp unleashed his Haki says a lot. What's more, that small wave of Haki woke up the sleeping Luffy.
'That Haki… it's Usopp's! Has he finally unleashed it?' thought the fully-awoken captain.
Zoro was sweating a bit as he felt Usopp's Haki. 'What is that force…? And why is it making it harder for me to breathe…?'
Nami nearly blacked out at the pulse of ambition. 'W-What is this…? I can't-'
Besides Luffy, Hawkins was the only one unaffected. 'Interesting… he defied death, and came back stronger. I can feel his mind, body and spirit coming into harmony… like Luffy. So this is the fabled Haki.' he thought.
Kuro tried to move, but discovered that because of Usopp he couldn't move at all let alone use his techniques. His attempts merely made Usopp tighten his grip on hands, as if trying to break them.
Kaya stared on amazingly, before she passed out. "Usopp-kun"
Usopp held his lethal gaze at Kuro until he began to speak with Haki amplifying his voice. "I… WON'T…. LET… YOU…. HURT…KAYA…ANYMORE!"
In a blinding speed faster than Kuro could see, Usopp let out a war-cry and with a single punch he socked Kuro square in the face. He could hear a painful yell coming from the ex-pirate as well as a sickening cracking sound from his face, the source of the sound being both his face fracturing and his glasses breaking. The impact of Usopp's punch sent Kuro flying towards his crew and crash-landing into the stone floor, leaving behind a large crater-trail.
As the dust cleared a bit, some of the pirates inched closer to their fallen ex-captain.
"Captain…? Captain Kuro…?"
But there was only silence. They checked to see if he was still alive, and he was… but barely.
"Oi… Come on captain, get up. We're still on to invade the village and kill the girl right?" one pirate nervously asked. His question was unanswered for two reasons: Kuro was still knocked out, and they noticed a pair of angry eyes glaring at them. Usopp's killer intent did not go unnoticed as he used slightly less Haki in his voice to intimidate the pirates.
"Get out now! And never come back!"
At first, the pirates were frozen stiff until Luffy called their attention.
"If I were you, I'd do what he says… losing's not really an option for this guy."
And they did so. They carried off with their fallen, including Kuro, and departed in their ship where they immediately set sail.
Luffy walked up the slope and met up with Usopp, whose glare lessened but continued to stare off in the direction of the leaving ship.
"Is Kaya safe…?" Usopp asked, looking ready to collapse. Luffy nodded and planted a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "She's safe… you did great Usopp."
'And you discovered you ambition to bring out your Haki.' he mentally added.
"Good…" and with that he finally fell on the ground. Luffy noticed the bleeding had diminished, but Usopp still needed to be treated as quickly as possible.
"Oi… Luffy." Zoro groaned in pain. The captain looked on at his nakama; Zoro was injured, but not too much. Nami was looking a bit paler after Usopp's Haki wave. Hawkins still looked unharmed.
"Way come back to us captain…" the swordsman said sarcastically.
Luffy grinned sheepishly. "Ah, sorry…"
(3 days later)
Usopp groaned when he woke up and drowsily opened his eyes to see himself not in the white void, but in a fancy, comfortable room. 'What happened…?'
He sat up from the comfy bed he was lying in to get a good look at his surroundings.
"Okay… I'm definitely not at my house… wait a minute… this is Kaya's room!"
When he decided to get up and find her, he felt a strong, sharp pain through his midsection. He hissed a bit before adjusting himself out of bed. "What the hell…? Why does my stomach feel it's been skewered?" he thought aloud. Despite the pain, he managed to get out of bed. After exiting the room and headed down, he saw Merry, who had a bandage on his left temple.
"Merry…?"
The butler stopped fixing up the place and turned to Usopp. "Ah, Usopp-san. How are you feeling?"
Usopp rubbed the side of his head. "Uh…Fine I guess. How long was I out for?"
"For quite some time young man; Kaya-ojousama was extremely worried about your condition, she wouldn't stop fretting or coming over to you with medicine."
Usopp was stunned a bit. "Kaya… she took care of me…?" he snapped out of it. "Where is she now?"
"She's with those friends of yours at the South Beach… I honestly can't believe they're pirates and yet they protected this village with you alongside them."
'Luffy and the others.' thought Usopp. Before he made his way out of the mansion, Merry halted him.
"Usopp-san… I heard how you protected Kaya-ojousama from Kuro."
Events from 3 days ago flooded Usopp's memory; the battle to save his village, putting himself in front of Kuro's attack, dying, and waking up the next punching Kuro's lights out.
'Souka… I remember now… Kaya must be worried sick… I've gotta find her.'
With Merry's gratitude, Usopp quickly ran out of the mansion, though he only ran at half-speed due to his inuries.
In no time he found his usual spot. The Straw-hat crew, Kaya, and the Usopp Pirates were there chatting amongst themselves, until Usopp made himself known, while putting on his best grin.
"*Ahem*, hey guys what's up?"
Kaya was the first one to greet him with an embrace. "Usopp-kun! You're awake!" she sounded happy. That was good; making Kaya happy was what Usopp was good at.
The sniper laughed a bit. "Hey Kaya! You're looking better."
"Yes." she nodded. "Apparently I worried so much, I fell ill. But I'm feeling better now."
Usopp turned to the Straw-hats; Luffy was the first one to congratulate him, Zoro and Hawkins gave their nod of approval and Nami smiled. The Usopp pirates ran up to him, apologizing for doubting him. Afterwards the rest of the gang left, leaving Usopp and Kaya alone.
Usopp stood at his usual thinking spot. "Well, the village is safe once again, thanks to Captain…!" he turned around to face the heiress only to see her tears fall down her saddened face.
"Usopp…" he finished his boast with less enthusiasm. "Kaya, what's wrong?" he asked concernedly. She took him by surprise when full-on glomped him and sobbed into his shirt.
"Kaya, please tell me what's wrong… It pains me to see you this way…" he spoke sadly. Kaya sniffed and tilted her head up to meet his face.
"U-Usopp-kun…" the tears started to pour out more. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I didn't believe you, and that I slapped you…" she spoke between hiccupping sobs.
"Kaya…"
"If I had only believed you… you… wouldn't have…." she broke down completely, remembering the attack meant for him, and how he died in her arms.
"Kaya…" Usopp tried to get a word in.
"And now you hate me!"
"Hey, hey…" he wrapped his arms in a comforting hug and let her cry. "Shh, shh, Kaya, shh…"
After a few minutes, she managed to calm down a bit, so he could finally talk. "Kaya, I'll admit, when you slapped me and told me to never come see you again, it hurt me deeply…"
That just made Kaya whimper and cry a little harder, only for Usopp to pull her closer to him and he continued. "But I realized it was my own damn fault for saying all those lies. So I took it upon myself to make sure you, Merry, the Usopp Pirates and all of the villagers were safe and sound. I chose to give my life protecting my home and the people I care about. I was scared out of my mind, but I thought of not just the safety of this village but I thought about protecting you…" he finished sincerely.
Once Kaya stopped crying, she peered at a smiling Usopp, and then she kissed him, taking him by complete surprise. Usopp relaxed into it and kissed her back.
They pulled apart a moment after, and Usopp had a lazy grin, and Kaya smiled warmly. They stood next to each other enjoying the view of the sea before them.
"Kaya… I've decided to follow my dream to become an adventurer!"
Kaya blinked a few times before smiling in return. "Hai… And I'll be waiting for you here… when you come back, Usopp-kun."
"You made sure you weren't seen..?" asked Merry.
"Yeah…" replied Luffy. "Dad wanted me to get in contact with you as soon as possible."
"I never would have known Dragon-sama had a son."
"Yeah… but don't go mentioning that around… it's a secret that I'm covert agent for Revolutionary Army."
"Of course. Now you said that you needed a ship… well I'd be honored to give you my masterpiece."
(Later at the shores of the South Beach)
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Hawkins were looking at their new ship presented by Kaya and Merry. It was caravel-class, passenger ship armed with a few standard-issue cannons, had a few double-sails, and a sheep figurehead.
Luffy had stars in his eyes. "SUGEI! This is gonna be our new ship!"
Zoro smirked. "It'll do..."
Nami smiled a bit. "It's kind of cute."
As usual, Hawkins had no opinion.
Merry presented his creation. "I christened it the Going Merry… May you take this ship as far as your journey takes you."
Suddenly a huge green-like backpack was rolling down the steep slope at an alarming rate, only to be stopped by Zoro and Hawkins by kicking the carrier, Usopp, in the face.
"Usopp-kun!" Kaya cried worriedly, but the sniper waved it off.
Once he saw the ship, he immediately set up his own life-boat.
"Well I guess this is where we part ways, though I hope to meet you guys out at sea."
Luffy stared blankly at the sniper. Then Zoro interjected. "Shut up and get on the ship."
Nami laughed a bit. "So are you coming or what?"
Then it was Luffy's turn. "You're already one of us now, so let's go."
Usopp just looked at them stunned before he grinned widely and joined them. Luffy called out Ryoku, nearly scaring Merry shitless.
Before they departed, Kaya called out to her beloved. "Usopp-kun! I know you'll be back, I believe in you!"
Usopp ran to the railing of the ship grinning like an idiot. "I will Kaya-chan! And when I do, I'll come back a strong adventurer with stories of my travels!"
As they came out of view, Nami decided to tease the sniper. "Kaya-chan…?" Usopp flushed in embarrassment and was about to say something in his defense, when Luffy patted his back roughly, all the while laughing uproariously. The captain jumped on the figurehead and perched down on it.
"Okay guys… Onward to the Grand Line!"
Chapter 9 complete.