Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, only the original characters…etc.
A Cat's Instinct
Chapter 9: The Truth is Revealed
((A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I lost my notebook, that had all my writings in it, and I just found it, and that's why I can update! Once again, I am sooo sorry!))
James found himself sleeping in a tree.
"How's I get up here…?" he wondered, jumping down.
He stood up, and looked at the dark sky.
"It must be early." He thought, "I better find the others."
He walked to the shore, where Usopp, Luffy, and the others were setting something up.
"What are you guys doing?" he asked.
"We told you yesterday." Keiko said.
"Yeah, and you almost killed me!" Usopp exclaimed.
"That doesn't answer my question." James answered, "What are you guys doing?"
"We're setting up this oil, so Captain Kuro and his crew won't be able to get into the village." Keiko said.
James looked at their set up.
"It's not going to work." He stated blandly.
Usopp scowled at him,
"What do you mean, it's not going to work!" he demanded angrily.
"It's exactly what I said, it isn't going to work; your plan is flawed." James said, still looking around.
"How?" Keiko asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"There's a shore on the North side of this island." James said, trying to hide his amusement, "Did you forget that?"
The others exchanged worried glances,
"Are you kidding me!" Keiko asked, totally annoyed.
Usopp sighed,
"But the pirates had their secret meeting here! I just assumed…" he tried to explain.
Luffy interrupted,
"We've gotta get to them, before they attack the village!" he said, running off.
Nami then froze, and slapped her hands against the sides of her face.
"Oh no! Our ships are on the North Beach! They'll take out treasure!" she exclaimed.
She then started to run, but she wasn't going anywhere.
"Nami, what are you doing?" Zolo asked.
"Help, I'm slipping!" she said, grabbing onto Zolo's shirt.
James went over to help her, but Nami adjusted herself, and climbed over Zolo, to the sturdy ground.
"Thanks Zolo!" she said, running off.
Zolo then slowly slipped down the hill.
"Zolo, are you okay?" Keiko asked, looking down at him.
"Just catch up with the others!" he said, "Someday, I'm gonna kill Nami…"
Keiko nodded, and ran off.
James took his time. He didn't believe them, nor did he want to.
When he got to the shore, Usopp and Nami were already fighting along with Keiko.
"You see James, there they are. The whole crew is back!" she said, looking on.
James looked at them, and almost fainted again, but Keiko punched him in the arm.
"Oh no you don't you're fighting with us, whether you like it or not." She said, angrily.
James reluctantly unsheathed his claws.
Usopp was then punched by one of the crewmembers, but before James could strike, most of the pirates went flying.
"What the…?" James asked, looking backwards.
Luffy, and Zolo stood there, neither of them happy.
"Nami, how could you strand me on that hill!" Zolo demanded.
"Don't take your temper on Nami!" James said, becoming defensive.
"Well, don't yell at Zolo!" Keiko said, getting ready to pummel James.
"Come on guys, focus! We have a village to save!" Usopp screamed.
They looked at him, and nodded.
"Hold on for a second." James said; his cat claws still in his hands.
"Where's your Captain?" James demanded at the crewmen.
"Is that James?" they asked amongst themselves, "Yeah, I think so…He got big."
"Where's the Captain?" he asked again, this time, pushing up his glasses, and displaying the shining blades of his claws.
Some of them gulped in a slight fear.
"He's not here, but he will be." They said.
"Good, I want to meet him." James said, gaining his father's snake-like tone.
Soon, Django emerged, spotted James, and panicked.
"The Captain will punish us all, if we don't get the job done!" Django called to them.
The crew then rushed up the hill.
"James, what are you doing here?" he asked, finally talking to him.
"I came to see my father, who was supposedly dead." James said, pushing up his glasses.
Django shuddered,
"You have to get out of here. Your life is in danger, if his plan fails!" he said.
Django then turned to the crew, and hypnotized him, and they became instantly stronger.
"Whoa, it really worked! They were exhausted a moment ago!" Nami said, startled.
"That's Django for you." James said.
They watched, as one of the stronger crewmen punched, and broke off a piece of the cliff.
"If one of them can demolish a cliff, we're up against an entire horde of them!" Usopp screamed.
"Now March! And if anyone tries to stop you, destroy them, except for James. Leave James alone, or the Captain will have our heads anyway!" Django ordered.
"Why are you safe?" Usopp asked, jealous.
"I'm the Captain's son." James said, proudly.
"You three, get outta here. Luffy, James and I will deal with…" Zolo started, but he then noticed that Luffy was missing, "Luffy? Luffy!"
Luffy then went on a rampage.
"He hypnotized you too!" Keiko exclaimed.
"The hypnosis wasn't even aimed at him!" Nami said.
They watched, as their Captain pummeled the crewmen in front of him.
The Black Cat pirates then started to retreat.
"Luffy's good…" James thought, impressed.
Luffy then latched onto the stem post of the ship, and ripped it off.
"What the hell is he doing to the ship!" James growled angrily.
Django then hypnotized Luffy, and he fell asleep.
"Well, he wiped out most of them." Nami observed.
"Yeah, but now he's smashed under the stem post!" Usopp said.
"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine." Zolo said.
"Defiantly." Keiko said, "Just mind your own wounds."
Django then looked up,
"Butchie, get over here, the bow's broken!" Django called up to the crow's nest.
"The bow? How'd that happen?" a voice called, from above the ship.
James and Keiko looked up instantly, recognizing the voice.
"The Meowban brothers…" Keiko muttered softly.
Then, two pirates jumped from the Crow's nest.
Everyone except for James and Keiko were in awe.
"Amazing, they jumped from that high deck, like cats!" Usopp said.
"No dug…" James mumbled.
"Siam, Butchie, we need to get up that hill, but as you can see, there's something in our way. Get rid of it!" Django commanded.
The two looked uneasy, and started to turn pale.
"We can't do that, can we Butchie?" Siam (the skinny one, with green hair) asked.
"Yeah, they look really mean!" Butchie added.
"They're scared to death!" Nami said, "I thought they were some kind of secret weapon!"
James put his head in his hand, out of embarrassment,
"Is this what became of my father's crew?" he asked himself, "They're total wimps!"
"Get that swordsman!" Django ordered fiercely.
Siam, on the brink of tears, ran in Zolo's direction.
"He's starting to cry. Why's he making someone fight like that?" Nami asked, watching Siam.
Zolo looked at his opponent.
"I'll cut your head off, if you don't stop!" he called out.
Siam then got a sly glint in his eye, and struck his claws after Zolo.
"You fell for it! I was just pretending to be a scaredy cat." Siam said, as Zolo swiftly countered his attack.
"Hold on, he's not really a coward?" Usopp asked.
James couldn't help, but smile.
"That's the crew I always knew." He said to himself.
Keiko then shot up,
"Zolo, your swords are missing!" she exclaimed.
"What the…?" Zolo asked, looking for them.
Siam smirked,
"Seems you have a bit of talent, but you shouldn't take the Meowban Brothers of the Black Cat Pirates too lightly." Siam said.
Django and Butchie just looked on, seemingly in a good mood.
"Give him back his swords!" Keiko demanded.
"Why? Isn't one enough?" Siam asked, throwing Zolo's swords behind him.
Zolo twitched, as his swords hit the ground, with a metal clanging sound.
"Swords that don't belong to you should be treated with more respect!" Zolo said, rushing at Siam, and slicing him, across the shirt front.
James shook his head,
"I should've warned him first…" he thought regretfully.
Butchie then got ready,
"I guess it's my turn…" he said.
Zolo then went after his swords, only to be caught from behind, by Siam.
"I have a cat's waist line, you know." He mocked, as he pinned Zolo to the ground.
Butchie then leapt into the air, and James became restless.
"They've gone too far!" he growled, standing up.
"Zolo, watch out!" Keiko screamed.
Zolo then dodged the attack, much to everyone's relief.
Keiko sighed, and wiped her brow.
Zolo then stood up.
They started fighting, and James stood up also.
"James, you sit your ass down!" Keiko demanded, "You're gonna get killed!
James looked at her,
"I have more tricks up my sleeve, then you know." He said an evil shine in his eyes.
Keiko shuddered slightly.
"I never saw him like that before…" she thought, "its scary…"
James stood for a while, totally still, as if her were examining the battlefield, taking in every detail.
He then reached for his cat claws again.
"I will not be cursed for my father's lies." He muttered.
"James, what are you doing?" Nami asked.
James just stood silently, as if he were in a trance, watching Butchie and Siam fight Zolo fiercely.
"If only I could get his other swords…" Nami said.
Usopp got his slingshot prepared, and fired a single shot.
It hit Zolo, and Keiko turned to him, totally enraged.
"Who's side are you on?" she demanded.
Usopp cringed,
"N-no, I didn't…!" Usopp stuttered, totally dumbfounded, as Zolo fell over, at the claws of the Meowban Brothers.
"It was like he….tried to get hit, on purpose" Usopp said.
Nami and Keiko looked at him, confused.
"On purpose?" they said, together.
Zolo then looked at them,
"Usopp, you idiot! Are you trying to get killed!" Zolo shouted up at them.
"Maybe he did save us!" Nami said.
"Huh?" Usopp asked.
"You moron!" Keiko said, whacking him in the back of the head, "If you do hit one of them, those two might shift their attack to us!"
"Yeah, think about what would happen to us!" Nami added, "But he can't fight them off like this, I'm going to get Zolo's swords."
Nami jumped down the cliff, and ran towards Zolo's discarded swords.
"What is she doing?" James wondered, as he spotted Nami.
Django also spotted her, and prepared his circular blades.
He slashed Nami in the shoulder, and James let a dog-like growl escape his lips.
"Django, what are you doing!" he snarled, running over to her, as she laid on the ground bleeding.
Django, Siam, Butchie, and the rest of the crew, froze.
"What happened?" Keiko wondered, looking back.
They all spotted Kuro, a bag in his hand, as he fixed his glasses with his free hand.
"Oh, what a time for him to show up…" Usopp mumbled.