Disclaimer: I don't own them, blah, blah, blah.
A Cat's Instinct
Chapter 12: An Important Battle
(A/N: I'm sorry I haven't posted. I just found my notebook, and I had major writers block, besides my school work… I'm so sorry, I kept you waiting!)
"Klahadore, stop!" a young voice called.
It was Miss Kaya, from the mansion.
"Kaya! What are you doing here?!" Usopp screamed.
"What a lovely surprise, Miss Kaya… What brings you here?" Kuro asked, turning around to look at her.
Kaya stood, stiff as a board, and sweat dripping down her pale face.
"Merry told me everything." She said simply.
"Merry? He lived? I though… I had killed him…" Kuro said, mostly to himself.
Both Kaya and James gasped at the same time.
"I'm sorry Usopp! How can you ever forgive me? I was so wrong about you. I just couldn't believe… that Klahadore was a pirate…" Kaya said, her hands balled into fists.
"It's okay Kaya. Why'd you come here? You've got to escape! They're out to kill you!" Usopp said in a frenzy.
Kaya then turned to Kuro.
"Klahadore, if you want my fortune, I'll give it to you! Just take t, and leave the village alone!" she yelled at him.
Kuro chuckled slightly, and looked at her.
"Not good enough, Miss Kaya. Yes, I want your fortune, but I also want…" Kuro paused to take a deep breath, "Peace of mind. I spent three years earning the trust of the villagers. I've grown comfortable, I can even relax. Only when I have that peace of mind, and your wealth, will my plan have been accomplished. Thus the pirate attack on the village, and your accidental demise, are both quite essential."
"Kaya run! Don't waste your breath on him! He's not the man you knew!" Usopp screamed frantically at her.
Kaya, then without saying a word, reached into her jacket, and wielded a revolver.
"Leave this village alone!" she demanded, her hands, however were shaking.
Kuro looked at her, his face portraying some impressed feelings, but they were suppressed well.
"Hmm, you've really grown up in the last three years, and I've been at your side for all the changes haven't I? Even before you lost your parents and became ill… You and I spent a lot of time together. We went sailing together, took trips into town… when you had a fever, I stayed at your bedside day and night…" he said, as Kaya's eyes filled with tears, " I suffered with you, I laughed with you… I was your ever humble servant."
As Kuro spoke, Kaya held back her sobs, as she bit her lip tightly. James, however, held back a rough anger that was building up inside him.
"How dare he lie to me like this!" he thought to himself, "And taunt such an innocent girl as Kaya… He's not my father, he's a monster!!!"
Kuro, however, just continued speaking.
"I humored you , Miss Kaya, in all your silly dreams. And I endured it… all for today! The day I could kill you! I, who was once the dreaded Captain Kuro, bowed and scraped to a spoiled little girl, and catered to her every whim day and night. Can you fathom my humiliation?"
Kaya dropped the gun in shock, as she was taken in by her own weeping, and Usopp rushed at him like an angry bull.
"Kuro!" he screamed, prepared to rip Kuro apart.
Kuro turned his head, and dodged Usopp's feeble attempt.
"Usopp that reminds me… I still owe you for hitting me. You hit me with all your might." Kuro said
Kuro, before Usopp could hit him, dodged, but Luffy stretched his arm, and punched Kuro, knocking him to the hard, rocky ground.
Keiko smiled,
"Way to go Luffy." She said, softly.
"Wh-what was that?!" Django asked, hysterically.
"That kid! He sent Cap'n Kuro sailing!" one crewman said.
"From all the way over there?" another asked.
Kuro just laid there silently, his glasses cracked, and his lip bleeding.
"Now Cap'n Kuro's really mad…" some crewmen whispered.
Everyone heard a small clanging sound, and the three Veggie pirates rushed out. Pots, shovels and baseball bats in hand.
"Hey you guys shouldn't be here!" Kaya exclaimed.
The three started attacking Kuro, with all their might, despite Kaya's words.
Usopp fearing the consequence of their actions, yelled out to them.
"That's enough crew! Stop!" he shouted.
They stopped, panting and out of breath.
"I knew it! The captain's been fighting!' Carrot said.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Pepper exclaimed with disappointment.
"Yeah, he's forgotten his faithful crewmen!" Onion added.
"I don't care! You guys have got to scram, now! Beat it!" Usopp yelled, " Run for it!"
The boys refused fiercely.
"What are those kids doing?" Keiko wondered.
Kuro then stood, and fixed his broken glasses, walked passed the veggies, and kicked Usopp.
He then looked at Luffy.
"You must have the power... of the Devil Fruit." Kuro observed.
Luffy smirked,
"That's right! I ate the gum-gum fruit! I'm a gum-gum man!" he said.
The Black Cat crew chattered timidly amongst themselves.
"Django…" Kuro started, "I'll kill the gum-gum man… you deal with Miss Kaya, force her to write the will as we planned, then kill her! Those three nipping pups too. They're a nuisance."
Kames growled as Django tipped his hat.
Zolo stopped Django with his sword.
"Beyond this point, you shall not pass." He said,
"Butchie, get him!" Django commanded.
Butchie let out a cougar-like growl, and went to attack Zolo.
Everyone watched as the Veggie pirates escaped with Miss Kaya into the forest.
James, however, stood, watching Butchie beat Zolo to death, and he felt a kind of guilty anger against his father's sins.
A growl in his throat, he grabbed his bag, and walked onto the battlefield.
"James, what are you doing?" Keiko asked.
James ignored her, and stared at his father, in a trance like state.
"Captain Kuro!" James snarled, "You leave my friends alone! I challenge you to a battle, one on one!"
Kuro looked at him, unknowing of his identity.
Some of the crewmen, however, could tell who James was immidiatly.
"Captain, it's James! Don't harm him!" some of them shouted.
"Nonsense, it's only a boy who needs to learn his place. My son, is dead…" Kuro said, with some madness lining his voice.
James eyes stung with tears as he heard his father's words.
"That gives you no right to kill! I have losses of my own, but I don't kill people!" James snarled," Both of us however, well, neither of us, know each other as well as we thought…"
"Those are mighty words, but let's see if your fighting skills match them." Kuro said.
"Ooh, Cat fight…" Keiko muttered under her breath.
James stood, holding his bag tightly, waiting for his father to make the first move, and as he expected, Kuro did.
James unsheathed his cat claws, and heard the cat crew's gasps.
James was no the splitting image of his father.
Even Keiko couldn't help but notice the total similarity.
James didn't make any moves to hurt his father, but only dodged the swift attacks in his direction, and only kept himself from getting hurt.
Unfortunately, Kuro was still too quick and skilled for the fifteen year old.
Then, James ran out of energy, and received many scratches and a large slash across the back.
He then lay on the ground bleeding heavily and panting.
"Have you had enough, you foolish child" Kuro asked.
James shook his head,
"No, I am going to prove my worth to my crew, and fulfill my dreams. I can't die here…" he replied weakly, as he stood up shakily.
"Very well then. You are very foolish, not to give in now." Kuro said, as he started to slouch.
James' eyes widened with terror as he realized the attack, but he gained his courage, and stood his ground.
"If my life will end at the hands of my father… so be it…" he thought to himself.
Keiko stood up from the sideline, feeling very worried for James. She stood there, as she clung to Zolo for support.
"James, watch out!" she screamed in spite of herself.
Kuro and James exchanged equally frightening stares, and then Kuro disappeared.
"Deceiving me… I hate those like you…" Kuro growled.
James then found a horrific pain in his left arm, and he bit his lip to keep from crying out.
James then looked around, spotted his father and tripped him.
The crew was totally shaken.
"He was able to predict the captain's movements!" they cried in horror, " James still has got it!"
Kuro lay on the ground for a moment, as he was coming to a realization.
"There was only one person on this earth, who would be able to counter that attack…" he thought to himself.
James fixed his glasses, and stood there, watching his father.
"Do you realize who I am?" James asked weakly.
When Kuro didn't answer, James just staggered back to Luffy and the others, bleeding and exhausted.
He feel at their feet.
"James!" they called, running over to help him.
James looked up, to see Luffy standing up, anger burning in his eyes, but Nami, utterly tearful, spoke up, as she cradled James' head in her lap.
"You treat your own son like this?" she asked, " He was willing to die for your honor, but you try to kill him like some sort of criminal! Are you that cold hearted?"
Kuro started to stand up once again.
He felt confused, but had a savage longing to defeat Luffy and his crew.
He staggered, but was able to find his balance.
"Luffy… wait…" James begged weakly, "Don't kill him…"
Luffy didn't hear him, and James tried to stand up, but only ended up falling back, giving a feeble yelp, and wincing in obvious pain.
Nami held him,
"James, you shouldn't try to move…" she said.
"Yeah, you're no use to us, if you're dead."
"Maybe we're better off…" Keiko said.
The others glared at her,
"Geez, I was only kidding…" she said nervously.
James could only watch as his father was bleeding and bruised from Luffy's attacks.
"Luffy….wait…" James tried again, but only started to cough heavily.
Namir held him tightly, and leaned him against her.
Well, with a final blow, Kuro was totally unconscious, and James feared that he was dead.
"Father…" James said, his voice broken, a tear falling down his face.
The remainder of the Black Cats retreated, and took Kuro onto the ship, but without James.
Luffy went back to the others. He was beaten up, but way more concerned about James than his own injuries.
The poor boy was crying silently at his lost childhood hero.
Nami sympathetically wiped the tears from his face.
"I'm sorry…" she said, putting a comforting arm around him.
"No wonder you're such a good fighter!" Luffy said, " He was tough!"
James looked up at him, and couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, my father taught me everything he knew, and he's one of the best fighters on the Seven seas…"
James said, trying to gain his strength back, as he wiped his eyes, " I have to see him, before they leave. They're some of the only family I have left…"
Zolo helped him stand up, as he staggered to the shore, to see his father.
Though most of the crew ignored him, one actually called out.
"You traitor! Leave, or we'll be forced to kill you!" he yelled
James continued to stagger folward.
"I have to see my father…" James demanded, unsheathing his claws once again.
The crew gulped,
"We'll get the Captain, James.. Hold on…" a crewman said shakily, "He's not here, James. He said that he was going to visit someone…"
Once he said that, James knew exactly where his father was at that moment.