Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime/manga/movies/etc. that I write about; otherwise I would be a millionaire NOT writing on fanfiction publishing my own ideas.
Chapter 5
Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were sailing on their two small dinghies a few days after the Buggy incident. Nami had graciously fixed Luffy's hat from the knife slashes that Buggy gave it and the animal boy couldn't be happier. Soon though both of the boys' growling stomachs told them it was time to eat, however there was barely a loaf of bread to share between the two small ships. Luffy then noticed an island in the distance and decided it would be the perfect opportunity for a new adventure! Luffy quickly steered the boat towards the seemingly deserted island, despite Nami's protests.
Once they landed, Luffy quickly jumped out and observed the heavily forested island. Nami reluctantly followed while Zoro went back to sleep. Once the duo reached the forest they noticed some really strange animals like: a fox with roster-like characteristics, a snake with white fur and rabbit ears, and a pig with a lion's mane. Unknown to Nami, Luffy was studying the animals intently. You see, while Luffy might have the mental maturity of an eleven year old on a sugar rush, he was quite clever in two aspects: fighting and animals. After obtaining his powers from the Chimera-Chimera fruit, he started looking through all sorts of animal books to see different kinds of animals, both real and mythical, to figure out different forms he could take as well as different attacks. He also studied the animals he's seen on the island he grew up in and in the forest his grandfather threw him in as a child to get more ideas. So, whenever Luffy finds new types of animals, he is always sure to study them intently so he can become a more effective fighter.
Suddenly, a voice boomed out from seemingly everywhere demanded, "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! GET OUT! I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOREST AND I DEMAND YOU LEAVE OR FACE THE JUDGEMENT OF THE FOREST!"
Luffy let his curiosity get the better of him and, ignoring the voice, walked deeper into the forest. Suddenly, the straw-hat captain felt his instincts go crazy and, quickly morphing into a kangaroo, jumped out of the way of a bullet fired at his back. The voice sounded again but it was more shocked than anything else, "HUH?! W-WHAT KIND OF BEING ARE YOU!?"
Nami noticed where the shot came from and tracked it to what appeared to be a large green bush sticking out of a chest with a smoking pistol still in front of it. The two stared at it for a minute while the 'bush' seemed to sweat nervously before a pair of feet came from the bottom of the chest and started to run off before tripping a few feet away. Suddenly, a man's head popped out of the chest and it was revealed that the 'bush' was actually the man's hair. The man yelled for help while the two teens watched with sweat drops on the back of their heads. After helping the shrub-like man, whose name is Gaimon, onto his feet the trio started talking. As it turns out, Gaimon had arrived on the island 20 years ago as a member of a pirate crew and had gotten stuck in the chest after finding a multitude of treasure chests on the top of an extremely tall plateau and was left behind by his crewmates. The man then asked Luffy if he himself had any treasure maps and Luffy explained his map and his dream of going to the Grand Line. Gaimon warned the duo about pirates he'd seen who came back from the Grand Line and how they were shadows of their former selves.
Gaimon then explained that he stayed on the island and used the 'Guardian of the Forest' routine to scare away visitors who might try to steal the treasure on the top of the plateau. The Straw-Hat Pirates were taken to the plateau and Luffy offered to retrieve the treasure for the castaway. Quickly changing himself into a hummingbird, Luffy darted to the top of the plateau and eventually called down that he found the chests, but he wasn't going to bring them down. While Nami started berating her new captain, Gaimon started crying tears of relief/joy/and grief all at once. He understood now that the chests that he'd wanted so long for were empty. Luffy decided to ask the wild-man if he would join their crew, in order to make up for the severe disappointment. Gaimon, however, declined stating that he'd grown fond of the island and its exotic animals over the years, and people had come to try and collect the animals as pets. He said he felt it was his duty to guard the animals that had been his friends for 20 years.
So, after being given supplies by Gaimon, the Straw Hats set sail onto their next adventure, with Gaimon and the animals waving goodbye on the mysterious island. (Zoro having slept through the whole thing).
Scene Break
Nami and Luffy where on the decks of their small dinghies debating on what they should do next before heading to the Grand Line. Luffy was busy thinking about food and Zoro gave his input about how they should have more booze on board, but Nami quickly shot down both ideas. She explained that the most important thing at the moment was finding a decent ship that could carry them to the Grand Line, as well as more crew members. They eventually landed on an island that, according to Nami, had a small village located on it. As the crew landed on the island and went to stretch, Zoro noticed 4 figures on the nearest hillside and asked out loud what they were doing, catching everyone's attention. There was some rustling from the bushes that Zoro was looking at, followed by hysterical screaming, and finally a young man around Luffy's age revealed himself to the group.
The boy wore long brown overalls with a sash as a belt and had a bag slung over his shoulder. He had long dark hair with a green bandana tied on top of it but his most distinguishing feature was the incredibly long, Pinocchio-like nose on his face. The boy laughed boisterously and proclaimed, "I am the great Captain Usopp, commander of over a thousand ships and 80 million men! This island is under my protection so if you plan to attack, you better leave now or face my wrath!"
"Liar," Nami said not amused by the clearly bluffing boy's antics.
"Crap! She saw through my lie!" Usopp cried out in a panic while clutching his head and sweating bullets.
Nami sweat-dropped and said, "See? I knew it!"
"Double crap! I admitted that I lied! She's a master of deduction!" exclaimed Usopp dramatically while twisting his body into odd angles while still clutching his head and sweating bullets.
At this Luffy cracked up at the other boys antics and started laughing out loud, much to Usopp's ire. A little while later the group was taken to one of the local taverns and were engaged in conversation over a meal with Usopp who was eager to hear about the crew's exploits. Once he found out that they were looking for crewmates and a big ship, the liar thought it sounded like the start of a great adventure. Deciding to help the pirates out, Usopp told them that their best chance for a ship on the island was to ask the local owner of a large mansion who was the wealthiest person on the island. It turns out the owner was a sickly girl who inherited her fortune from her parents after they died from disease. After hearing that, Nami said that they should look for a ship somewhere else.
Usopp gained a smug look and said that, since they were looking for crewmates, he'd happily join if they let him be the captain. The crew unanimously said no to that in a deadpanned voice to which Usopp face vaulted at. Soon after, the long nosed boy left the group to attend to personal business and around 5 minutes later three kids came in calling themselves the 'Usopp Pirates' and demanded to know where their captain was. Luffy then decided to comment on how good the meat he was eating was and the kids, having a very morbid sense of imagination, thought that the crew had eaten their captain. Zoro didn't help matters by jokingly saying that their captain was gobbled up, causing the three youngsters to faint while Zoro laughed and Nami scolded the swordsman.
After the Usopp Pirates regained consciousness and Nami explained that they were joking and told them that their captain had left a little while ago to attend to business. One of the kids said that the business was to go visit Kaya, the owner of the mansion, and he would tell her tall tales in order to help her feel better. After hearing that, Luffy decided that Usopp was a good person and would be someone he'd be willing to let join the crew. Luffy then thought it would be a good idea to go ask Kaya for a ship, seeing as she would feel better after visiting with Usopp. Dragging his two crewmates along, Luffy headed towards the mansion with the Usopp Pirates in tow.
Arriving at the mansion, Luffy loudly asked for a ship before he started to climb the gate surrounding the building. Soon the group found Usopp talking to a young girl at her window who could only be Kaya. Usopp did a double take when he noticed the group while Luffy went to Kaya and asked her if she could spare them a ship. Suddenly, a voice called out, "What are you doing here?! You can't just barge onto private property like this!"
A man wearing glasses, stripped shoes, and a fancy suit with what looked like two golden turds attached was walking towards the gathering and Kaya introduced the man as her butler Clahador. The man proved to be an exact representation of the decorations on his suit, minus the gold. Clahador told the gathered people to leave the area immediately and denied Luffy's request for a ship. He then spotted Usopp and called him a lying low-life son of pirate trash, and he should no longer bother Kaya if he was after her money. Kaya berated her butler and told him to stop insulting Usopp but the man kept running his big yapper and Usopp, in a fit of anger, slugged the douche square in the face. The long-nosed liar then said that he was proud to be the son of a pirate and that his father was a good man, and he would tolerate no insults towards him.
Usopp then left in a huff of anger, with Luffy following close behind, not that anyone else noticed. The animal boy found Usopp on a hill overlooking the sea and went to greet him. By which I mean he climbed a nearby tree and scared the crap out of the liar by jumping down from a branch right in front of him. After the long nosed boy recovered from his mini heart attack, the two settled down and stared out at the sea. Suddenly Luffy said, "Yasopp was your dad right? You look just like him."
This got Usopp's attention and asked Luffy, "How do you know my dad?" to which he replied that he met the man when he was young because the pirate was with Shanks' crew. "HE'S WITH SHANKS?!" came Usopp's incredulous reply. He couldn't believe his dad was with such a famous pirate captain! Luffy told Usopp on how his dad was a great marksman, able to shoot the wings off a fly at 80 paces. He also told the boy how his father would use to constantly brag about him to Luffy and how his dad missed him even though he had to heed the call of a pirate's life. This filled Usopp with pride as he told Luffy how much he admired his father and Clahador's biting comments really hurt his pride. The young captain asked if he'd ever go to visit Kaya again to which Usopp said he would but only if the jerk of a butler apologized first. They both then noticed that said jerk was on the beach below the cliff they were on talking to a man with a disturbing resemblance to Michael Jackson, only with blond hair and a goatee with heart-shaped sunglasses. He even dressed and did the moon walk like the King of Pop, what a rip-off!
What the two heard shocked them. As it turns out, 'Clahador' was actually the thought dead pirate captain 'Kuro of a Thousand Plans,' and he, along with his first mate 'Jango the Hypnotist,' where planning to murder Kaya to get her money! They planned to have their crew, The Black Cat Pirates, attack the town and during the confusion Jango would hypnotize Kaya into wright out her will and leave everything to her butler Clahador before suffering a fatal 'accident.' This was apparently a plan 3 years in the making when Kuro decided to quit the pirate life and went on to play the part of the loyal butler to Kaya's family.
Usopp was planning to run into town to warn everyone when Luffy suddenly stood up and yelled down, "HEY, DON'T KILL KAYA! WE HEARD EVERYTHING!" while Usopp looked at him like he was the dumbest person on the planet. Unfortunately, both of them were noticed by the two conspirators, and Jango pulled out a ring attached to a string. The Michael Jackson impersonator then said, "When I say 'One, two, Jango' you will fall into a deep sleep. Ready? One…two…JANGO!" Luffy, who was staring directly at the ring, fell into a deep sleep and took a nose-dive off the cliff while Usopp, who was too busy panicking to look at the ring, watched in horror as the chimera captain fell to a likely death. Jango himself also fell into a deep sleep for staring too intently at the ring.
After Kuro woke him up, Jango asked if he should kill the other one but the Black Cat captain said it was alright because even if Usopp told everyone, no one would believe him due to his reputation as the town's liar. Usopp ran off into town while the two pirates left the area at a leisurely pace. If any of them actually stayed to investigate, they'd notice Luffy was still alive and still sound asleep. Because of his animal-like endurance, as well as having experienced worse from his grandpa's training, the fall was just a minor inconvenience to Luffy.
The straw hat wearing boy was awoken several hours later by his crew and the Usopp Pirates and told them everything that happened. Luffy then wondered how he got down the cliff and why he was sleeping while everyone else was thinking of their next course of action. The group went into town and ran into Usopp who was bleeding from his left arm. Apparently he had tried to worn the town but like Kuro predicted, no one believed him. What was worse was that Kaya didn't believe him either and one of her guards shot him as he tried to convince her. After getting over the shock at seeing Luffy alive and well, Usopp then told his followers that he made the whole thing up so they wouldn't get hurt trying to back him up. He planned on stopping the pirates before they attacked so no one would know what happened and it would just be another lie to them. That was how much the boy loved his village.
Admiring his courage, Luffy and his crew agreed to help the long nosed boy defend his town. Usopp led the group to a hill that lead from the beach to the town and had a narrow path that was flanked by two large cliffs. He told the Straw Hats that it was the main way to get to the town from the slope, so they had to defend it with their lives. The long nosed boy asked the group what they were best at to evaluate their chances. Zoro was 'cutting,' Luffy was 'shifting,' and Nami was 'stealing.' Usopp his best skill was running and hiding, causing the group to face-vault before yelling, "YOU HAVE TO FIGHT TOO!"
Usopp then got a large amount of oil and poured it down the slope and said that the best way to fight the pirates would be to prevent them from climbing the slope and attacking them from a distance. Soon the sun rose, but there was no sign of the pirates. Suddenly they heard a loud noise coming from the opposite side of the island and Usopp realized, to his horror, that there was another identical slope to the north of the island! He figured since the pirates had their meeting at their current position that they would attack from there. The sniper then said it was a 3 minute run to the other side of the island and Luffy took off at super-human speeds while Nami accidently pushed Zoro down the oil slicked slope in her hurry to get to the other side of the island where she realized both their ships and her treasure where at!
Luffy realized that he was running the wrong way before he decided to do this the faster way and changed into a horse before galloping towards the northern slope. He met up with Zoro, Nami, and Usopp at the slope and was able to repel a wave of pirates with Zoro's help. It looked like Nami and Usopp arrived first and had already fought for a while if Usopp's wounds were anything to go by. The real fight had just begun!
AN: Sorry about the cliff hanger and if it was a little lackluster. It's just that there was going to be such a huge fight that I felt adding it on with all the filler would take the fun out of the story. So don't worry boys and girls, the next chapter will be Legen, wait for it, dary! Legendary! As always please read and review. Next chapter should come up sometime next month but first Jealous Fox and maybe Kid Kyubi if my muse strikes me over the head with a wrecking ball.