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 6

The Straw Hat Pirates and Usopp stood at the top of the hill, staring at the vicious Black Cat Pirates being led by Jango the Hypnotist. The enemy pirates all seemed to where fake cat ears and had black eyeliner on, which you would think would make them seem comical but in reality gave them a slightly fierce look. Luffy and Zoro seemed calm if slightly out of breath from running the entire island while Usopp and Nami looked ready to pee their pants.

Nami took this moment to yell at the two newly arrived teammates, "WHAT TOOK YOU TWO IDIOTS SO LONG?!"

Zoro seethed, "ME?! You're the one who pushed me down an oiled covered hill! What are you blaming me for huh!?"

Luffy meanwhile laughed sheepishly before saying, "We'll you guys didn't tell me which direction north was so…"

Usopp looked at the straw-hatted captain incredulously, "You're the one who ran off before I could tell you." He said in an exasperated tone.

"Well, we're here now so no problem right?" Luffy said with a carefree grin.

Meanwhile, the Black Cat Pirates Luffy and Zoro knocked down in their entrance where picking themselves up while wondering how a couple idiots were able to send them flying. Jango looked at his crew with disdain and said, "Hey, you idiots couldn't have been so easily bested by one blow from those fools are you? Get up! The longer we make Kuro wait the more likely it is he'll kill us, and I don't know about you guys but I happen to like living!" Jango made it a point to do various Michael Jackson-like moves while driving his point home.

The hypnotist then pulled out a ring on a string (heh, rhymed) and stated firmly, "If the opponent is strong then we must be stronger!" pulling his hat over his eyes while swinging the ring back and forth he continued, "Look at my pendulum, at 'One, Two, Jango' you will be strong, you will not feel any pain, and you will be unstoppable!"

What the man didn't realize was that a certain idiot captain was also staring at the ring as it rocked back and forth, wondering what was going on. "One, Two, Jango!" Jango yelled. Suddenly, the wounded pirates shot up as if they were on Red Bull and Vicodin while yelling like the Incredible Hulk. One of the pirates decided to go all Mr. Universe and was able to crush a solid rock with only his hand! Things were looking bad for the Straw Hats as Zoro told Nami and Usopp to retreat while he turned to his captain. But, before Zoro could form any plans with Luffy, the captain let out a loud roar while changing into his chimera form, startling Zoro and Nami while scaring the crap out of everyone else. It was at this moment the Straw Hats noticed the blank look in Luffy's eyes and realized that the moron got himself hypnotized as well! The beastly boy gave another roar as he plowed his way through the enemy pirates and sending them all flying with at the very least a mild concussion one associates with running headfirst into a building.

Usopp stared in naked shock as the boy he had befriended the other day transformed into some sort of hybrid monster and began manhandling the Black Cat Pirates like a redheaded stepson. Jango was also staring in shock and quite a bit of terror as his super-powered crew was laid out faster than a five year old vs. Mike Tyson. The pirates who remained conscious after the initial assault ran screaming like little girls in the opposite direction while the chimera boy ran past and grabbed onto the cat-shaped figurehead of the Black Cat Pirate's ship. All of the cat-like pirates watched in horror as the monster with the straw hat tore off the bow of their ship like it was a Band-Aid. Luffy then started to chase the scared-senseless pirates while wildly swinging the bow of their ship. Thinking quickly, Jango placed the rabid monster under another hypnotism that made him fall asleep. Unfortunately, the bow Luffy had been wielding fell on top of him and the majority of the Black Cat pirates, knocking them out while Luffy slept like a baby (a mythical beast baby that is).

Jango seethed at the sheer stupidity of the situation he found himself in while the Straw Hats sat back to relax. Seemed like it'd be an easy victory right? WRONG! Everyone present (and conscious) heard two voices coming from the now headless ship, talking in concerned voices about the impromptu remodeling that just occurred. Jango gained a smirk, at last someone who could set the plans back into action and hopefully spare him Kuro's rage! "Come on out, Meowban Brothers!" he shouted out. There was a burst of movement from the ship and two figures jumped to the ground below.

The new figures were…odd to say the least. One of them was named Sham and he had a hunched back while wearing a shirt with a bowtie and shorts, as well as having curly green hair and slit pupils. The other was a large (fat) man named Buchi and he simply wore a cape with a hood on it and a cat bell with stripped shorts. Both wore cat-like gloves with claws and had cat-ear like accessories similar to the rest of the crew, except Buchi's was worn on his hood. "You called for us, captain?" Sham asked while Buchi simply asked, "What's up?"

Jango jerked his thumb over his shoulder to point at the remaining Straw Hats, more specifically Zoro who was looking quite intimidating with his bandana on and sword drawn, and stated, "Buchi, Sham, we couldn't get up the slope thanks to those meddling kids! (kidding, what he actually said was…) because those guys are blocking our way! Now go and destroy them!"

The two ship guardians looked over at the Straw Hats (again, Zoro looking quite intimidating) and suddenly shook with fear spouting crap like, "How can we beat them?!" and "Those guys look really strong!" The Straw Hats looked at the two scaredy-cats (bada-bing!) incredulously and wondered why in the heck Jango thought they'd be a threat to the crew. Said hypnotist soon got fed up by the brother's antics and ordered Sham to attack, which he did so reluctantly. As he charged at Zoro, the swordsman simply told him that he wasn't a match for him and that he should leave before he got himself hurt. Suddenly, Sham gave a burst of speed and was able to get into a deadlock with Zoro using his clawed gloves.

"Let me guess, you thought I was a coward right?" Sham said with a smirk, "Idiot! I was only pretending to be scared to get you to lower your guard!" With that, Sham disengaged their stalemate but it soon became apparent something was wrong. Nami called out, "Zoro! Your swords!" With a jolt, Zoro checked his waist and noticed his other two katana were missing! Looking over, Zoro noticed in anger that Sham had swiped the two swords and placed them on his back while looking pleased at his little 'cat burglar' performance. To his increasing ire, Zoro watched as Sham carelessly threw the two swords down the slope stating, "I should get this junk out of the way before the fight, huh?"

Zoro charged forth with blinding speeds, seemingly cutting Sham in half but this was just a ploy. Sham's actual body was really thin so the cut only went through his clothes. Sham used the distraction to jump onto Zoro's shoulders and grabbing his arms while calling out to Buchi. The fat cat jumped high into the air over the immobile Zoro and called out, "Cat Stomp!" while extending his leg into a dropkick. Fortunately Zoro was able to just barely avoid the attack, which caused cracks to appear where Buchi's foot landed. The duo started attacking Zoro with wild scratch-like attacks, which he had trouble blocking due to only having one blade.

Usopp tried to help the struggling former pirate hunter by firing a lead shot from his sling-shot, but Zoro blocked the shot with his body, giving an opening for Buchi and Sham to claw his chest. Nami reasoned that he did that so the pirates wouldn't make them their target if the attack had landed. The thief then decided to make a run for the discarded swords but was unfortunately spotted by Jango. Using one of his rings, the hypnotist slashed Nami across her back with the ring's bladed edge. Suddenly Jango, the Meowban Brothers, and all of the Black Cat Pirates became still while shaking in uncontrollable fear.

The reason for their fear came in the form of Captain Kuro, who had just arrived and was looking extremely ticked! Kuro said in an icy voice, "It's been awhile since dawn. Why haven't you attacked yet, HUH JANGO?!"

The pirates cowed under their captain's harsh glare, remembering how cruel and remorseless he could be. Kuro then said condescendingly, "I wouldn't have expected the Black Cat Pirates to be held up by some kids. This crew has been reduced to a truly sad state, right Jango?" Said hypnotist started sweating waterfalls under his captains 'I'll kill you' look. Jango sputtered, "B-but y-you told me t-to let that kid go! You said he wouldn't affect our plans!"

Kuro gave a nod and stated, "That's true, however it doesn't excuse your uselessness! I expected that brat to come after us but he cannot affect our plans!" Suddenly, Buchi and Sham were finally able to overcome some of the fear they were feeling and cried out, "Don't look down on us, Captain Kuro! You said we're useless, but you've been living here in comfort for the past three years while we've been active this entire time! It's true you were powerful in the past, but we've never stopped attacking villages and ships!" The duo continued, despite Jango's attempts to warn the two. Meanwhile, the Straw Hats stared at the internal conflict, hoping it could work in their favor.

The duo then leapt at Kuro screaming that they wouldn't be killed over something as stupid as a failed plan, also stating that Kuro was no longer a threat to them, allowing them to kill him. They then did a combo slash at their former captain, only to find that they only got the bag he was carrying. Kuro had moved behind the two now wearing clawed gloves, except they held katana blades at each finger, with his signature 'Silent Step'. The Meowban Brothers quickly turned around only to find him missing. Kuro then was behind the duo, placing his arms around their shoulders saying, "Who were you going to kill? It's true that I may not be feeling too active, and I also may not be your captain, but as of now I'm your client. A client who can kill you if the plan fails."

The Straw Hats and the Black Cats looked on in awe at Kuro's speed while Jango stepped up stating, "What are you so surprised about? His Silent Step technique is a silent movement technique that could allow him to kill 50 assassins silently. We can't escape from his plans. You may think Kuro's gotten soft over the years but, you can tell by how he still only pushes his glasses up by the palms of his hands like he does while wearing his Cat Claws that he hasn't forgotten how to fight!"

Kuro ran the blades of his gloves over Sham and Buchi's throats while musing, "I must have gotten soft over the years because I'm feeling generous. I'll give you five minutes to kill these brats and if you can't get it done in that time frame…I'll kill you all." Kuro finished in a dark tone.

Just as the Meowban Brothers prepared to attack, Nami kicked Zoro's swords over to him, much to his ire, allowing him to properly defend himself. With his swords at hand, Zoro was easily able to K.O. Sham and left Buchi heavily injured. Buchi then had Jango hypnotize him to increase his power, causing him to go into a berserker rage. Nami was able to get over to Luffy's sleeping form (which had reverted back to human after he fell asleep) while dodging Jango's razor-rings and kicked her captain awake right in the face. Luffy awoke with a start and turned to yell at Nami, only to receive a razor-ring right to the back of the head. After pulling it out, Luffy cried out, "That HURT!" with tears in his eyes. Meanwhile, Nami and Usopp relaxed a bit, seeing as the battle just became much easier.

After getting over the fact that he just had a sharp object literally jammed into his head, Luffy checked to see if Nami was okay after noticing her shoulder injury (to which she said she'd be fine after getting the Black Cat's treasure). He then noticed with a smirk that Kuro was there, and said, "Heh, even the evil butler's here!" Meanwhile, said evil butler was wondering how the heck Luffy survived falling off a cliff. It was at this time someone made a highly untimely intervention, Kaya!

After trying to convince Kuro to just take her money and leave the village alone, Kuro seemed undisturbed by this event. He calmly and coldly told Kaya that it wasn't just her money that he was after, but 'peace of mind', and in order to obtain both 'peace' and 'money', he explained that his crew needed to attack the village and she needed to die for his plans to be complete. To everyone's shock, Kaya then pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight a Kuro! After she demanded him to leave the village, Kuro decided to play dirty and shifted to his 'Clahador' personality, reminding Kaya of all the good times they had together, in order for Kaya to lower her guard. It was then he stated cruelly, "I've suffered taking care of you long enough! Can you imagine how I, a former pirate captain, felt by taking care of a brat like you every day for the past three years?! It was insulting! That is why you have to die today."

Suddenly, Usopp charged at Kuro with his fist cocked back for a punch. Kuro easily dodged the swing and said while smirking, "Ah yes, now that I think about it Usopp I still owe you for the punch you gave me earlier. You really hit me hard!" The vicious pirate said with a predatory look in his eyes as he slashed his clawed gloves to bifurcate the wannabe pirate. Before he could touch the liar though, Kuro was struck down by a speeding blur, much to Jango's shock. The blur turned out to be Luffy, who had shifted into humanoid black and white long-legged bird that had a bushy crest and long, thick, dark bill with a long, dark tail, a dark head and back, and was blue on the front of the neck and on the belly, all while still wearing his human clothes and having feathered arms instead of wings. The humanoid roadrunner smirked as much as his beak allowed and said, "If you hate being hit, I'll make sure to hit you 100 more times!"

The Black Cats, Kaya, and Usopp openly gaped at the transformed boy wondering just what in the heck he was while Kuro simply glared up at the boy through his now cracked glasses. The enemy pirates were able to snap out of their shock to shudder in fear at the near visible rage Kuro was emitting. Luffy meanwhile jumped back in preparation for a counter-attack. Suddenly, a battle cry echoed through the clearing and out of the woods popped the Usopp Pirates carrying random implements like a shovel and a frying pan, and started whacking Kuro over the face like he was a Whack-a-Mole. Apparently they hadn't bought their leader's lie on lying about the pirate invasion and had followed Kuro to the beach when they saw him leaving the mansion. Everyone in the clearing stared in shock at the sheer gall and stupidity of the three kids while Usopp tried to tell them to run away.

The trio turned to their captain, ignoring the seemingly knocked out pirate behind them and exclaimed, "Captain, you were fighting all this time without us! That's disloyal while it should have been dishonest! Besides, we'll fight for you till the bitter end!" Suddenly, Kuro sat up like a zombie out of a horror flick while adjusting his now ruined glasses. The Usopp Pirate's all screamed like little girls and scooted as far as humanly possible form the man. Kuro simply stood up and calmly walked over to Usopp before savagely kicking the boy in the ribs before turning to the now transformed back Luffy.

"I'm curious, just what was that attack earlier? Your entire body changed into some sort of creature. Do you perhaps possess the power of a Devil's Fruit?" Kuro asked.

"Yep, I ate the Chimera-Chimera Fruit, now I'm an Animal Man!" Luffy happily explained.

The Black Cats gawked at this piece of information while Kuro simply nodded before calling out, "Jango! I'll handle this kid while you go after Kaya. Make sure she writes her will and then kill her! As for the brats, they irritate me." "Got it," responded Jango who proceeded up the slope but was stopped by Zoro, who stood in his path.

Annoyed, Jango called out to Buchi who did another Cat Stomp at Zoro, who was able to dodge but the attack was able to shatter a good portion of the ground, thanks to Buchi's enhanced strength. Jango continued up the slope while Zoro was distracted and Usopp was too injured from the beginning of the battle to move. Usopp called to his band of followers and gave them a direct order to protect Kaya, to which they promised that they would. The boys grabbed the girl and carried her off to the forest with Jango in hot pursuit. Fortunately, Usopp was able to slow the hypnotist down with a well-placed shot fired from his sling-shot. Kuro order Jango to hurry up, which resulted in the man to chase after the fleeing group. Afterwards, Zoro and Luffy got ready for the fight of their lives!

After about five seconds, Buchi was knocked out cold thanks to Zoro (okay, maybe not the fight of their lives) and the swordsman picked up the wounded sniper to help him save Kaya. Kuro crouched into a fighting position and asked the fleeing duo, "Who said I'd let you pass?"

"I DID!" Luffy cheered as he rushed forward, morphing into his cheetah form as he ran in increasingly higher speeds. Kuro was just barely able to dodge the swipe Luffy made at him with his claws that snapped the tree behind the conspirator cleanly in half. "Go Zoro! Go Usopp!" Luffy cried out as he sent a series of rapid fire swipes and punches at the former pirate captain. As the duo ran after Jango and the Usopp Pirates, Kuro found himself having a hard time dodging the steady stream of attacks coming from the Cheetah boy. Luffy sent a swiping kick with his clawed foot that would have taken Kuro's head off if it connected, only for the villain to seemingly disappear with his Silent Step. If Luffy was a normal person he wouldn't be able to keep up with Kuro's movements at all, but thanks to his enhanced vision granted by his cat-like eyes, as well as his experience moving at high speeds, he was able to see the direction Kuro sped off to.

Using his enhanced speed, the chimera captain sped over to Kuro's new position in speeds equal to, if not slightly faster than the false butler. Kuro's eyes widened as he was just able to make out Luffy's speeding form and made a wide slash at the black and yellow blur with his clawed gloves. Luffy was fortunate to see the attack coming and was able to leap over the attack, landing behind the traitorous captain with cat-like grace and sent a vicious backhand into Kuro's face, causing him to rocket backwards at the strength behind the punch. Kuro pulled himself up as his crew stared in awe at the kid who landed not just one, but two hits on their captain and seemed to match him in terms of speed! Kuro noticed the wide Cheshire cat grin on the transformed boy's face and asked, "What are you so happy about?"

"Well, it's not often I get to do these high-speed fights. Normally I only use my faster forms if I either try to end a fight fast or just need a quick speed boost. Fighting you though will really help me test my limits with speed! It really makes me excited!" Luffy explained with a laugh.

Kuro seemed to ponder this for a moment before asking, "Before we continue, I want to ask you one question: you're a stranger here so why are you getting involved with this village?"

Luffy paused for a second before breaking out into a toothy grin (given his cheetah anatomy this was actually a fairly intimidating sight) and said plainly, "I have a friend in this village, and I don't want to see him dead!"

The schemer gave a mocking smile and said, "What a simple reason. Are you sure you're alright with it? After all, it'll be your reason for dying." With that Kuro spread out his bladed fingers so it looked like wings.

Luffy gave another grin as he shifted back into human form before getting into a ready stance and proclaiming, "That's okay! I'm not gonna die anyway!"

The two fighters shot at each other like they were fired out of a canon. Luffy started to seemingly get bigger and suddenly there was a charging rhino in his place. Kuro was able to nimbly jump over the rampaging Luffy by using the tip of his horn as a spring-board. The butler gave a powerful backwards kick into the back of Luffy's head which, when added to his momentum and mass, caused him to go crashing into the ground with a mighty bang. The Straw Hat captain quickly shifted back to human as he dodged Kuro's follow up slash and transformed his body into a black mamba like being with a human torso and arms and hissed out "Snake Sweep!" flicking his powerful tail at Kuro's legs. Once again the glasses-wearing pirate jumped over the incoming attack but Luffy anticipated this move and shot his arm forward, allowing it to stretch out longer than normal due to a snake's natural flexibility. Before the surprise attack reached Kuro, the man simply vanished in another burst of Silent Step. Luffy and the Black Cats were shocked to see Kuro casually standing on Luffy's outstretched arm.

"Is that all? I feel like I might fall asleep at this rate. Where was your speed from before, hm?" Kuro said mockingly before bringing his leg back for a vicious kick to Luffy's snake-like face, throwing him backwards in a heap. Luffy shifted once again back to his human form while shooting out some blood from his damaged nose. The Black Cats started cheering for their former captain and started chanting his name. Kuro only seemed to be annoyed by this and yelled out, "Don't call me using that name! You don't get it yet do you? The real purpose of this plan is to eliminate the name 'Captain Kuro' forever! I'm sick and tired of planning for you reckless morons. As I became more and more notorious, more of the marine's dogs and bounty hunters started to come after me and it quickly grew annoying. That is why, three years ago, I 'killed' myself to escape that life! What happened that day was essential for today's plan to be successful. My plan can only be completed when I have achieved wealth and peace. Do you understand now brat? I cannot allow you to disrupt my plans!" With that said Kuro charged at Luffy with his claws bared.

Luffy's body quickly grew in size as thick brown hair covered his body and knifelike claws sprouted from his hands, making him a human grizzly bear. With a grunt of effort, Luffy picked up a huge boulder and used it as a shield against Kuro's attack, causing the claws of his one glove to be stuck in the rock. "So I see you're not just an animalistic brute," Kuro said with a scowl as he tried to remove his blades to no avail.

"That's right! I've been training to become a pirate!" Luffy said with a toothy grin and with a roar the Bear-boy gave the boulder a sharp twist, snapping the blades like toothpicks. The Black Cats watched in shock as their captains infamous "Cat Claws" were broken. Luffy then lifted the rock over his head and said, "You said you were sick and tired of your name being known? Then how can you call yourself a pirate?!" with that Luffy gave another bear-like roar and smashed the rock over Kuro's head, knocking him to the ground. Luffy said triumphantly, "My dreams are far greater than your plans!"

Kuro slowly got up, his slick backed hair hung loosely from his face as blood dripped down from a gash in his forehead, giving a truly haunting image. His crew tried cheering him on, but realizing he didn't want to be called Kuro, they tried calling the man by his fake name 'Clahador'. "Shut up," Kuro said with venom in his voice, "After this is done, all of you must die, and Jango is no exception!" This shocked Luffy and the Black Cat's at the man's cruelty.

Suddenly some members of the crew started laughing nervously and making calming gestures. One member said, "Please stop joking, Captain Kuro!" while another cried out, "It's still not too late to attack the village!" and yet another pointed out, "As long as Jango can make that girl write the will, the plan will still succeed!"

Kuro shook his head bemusedly and explained, "You don't have to worry about the plan. As long as your corpses are here, I can place all the blame on you. I never intended on any of you leaving this village alive because it would be a disadvantage leaving anyone who knows my plans alive!" with his current disheveled state, the statement made him look that much more depraved.

"Y-you mean from the very beginning, you planned to kill us all?!" cried out his crew in shock and dismay.

"Yes, ever since that day three years ago, this has all been a part of my plan!" Kuro stated with a devilish smirk.

Luffy, shrinking back into his human form, commented loudly, "You guys are dumb (gotta love the blunt honesty that is Luffy). What a bunch of loser pirates!"

Kuro scoffed, "Losers? A pirate crew is just a gathering of outcaste outlaws. What could these fools do without my plans? You should continue to quietly follow my plans! In a pirate fleet, the crew is just pawns for the captain to use as he wishes, which means their life and death are in my hands! Even if there's a cliff in front of them, you'd have to follow my orders and charge at it! And sacrifice themselves for my plans!" now Kuro looked furious, "That is the way of the pirate! A wandering little brat like you would never understand!"

Luffy just gave a confident smile and said, "Even though you're a captain who controls hundreds of men, you still can't beat Usopp!"

Kuro then paused and had confused expression as he asked, "What? You say I'm inferior to that 'captain' in a kid's pirate game?" After Luffy gave the affirmative, Kuro let out a bark of laughter, "HA! You're so stupid! Don't get cocky just because you've broken my Cat Claws! In what way am I inferior to him!?" he exclaimed as he disappeared behind Luffy in a burst of Silent Step.

"The way you think," came Luffy's simple response, which made Kuro pause long enough for the Straw Hat Captain to deliver a vicious backhand to his face while saying, "You don't know what a true pirate is supposed to be!"

The Black Cats were shocked to see someone see through their captain's Silent Step, but in reality it was thanks to Luffy's higher than normal instincts and reflexes that he could easily keep up with Kuro's speeds. Kuro meanwhile pulled himself up with a bloodthirsty look on his face and said, "You've insulted me! Don't get cocky just because of your powers! I've noticed one weakness to your fighting style is that you have to shift back to human before you can transform into another creature! With this in mind, I'll show you what a real pirate is supposed to be like, as well as the terror of a real pirate! A real pirate, who's been at the brink of death and survived!" he exclaimed while getting into a slouched position, much to his crews horror.

"It's his Out of the Bag Attack! He's using it against only one person?!" One member screamed in fright while another yelled out, "He really is trying to kill us all! None of us are safe here either!" The crew started backing away while some begged for their lives and begged Kuro not to use that technique, saying that they'd leave and forget they ever knew him. Kuro meanwhile continued to sway in his hunched over position before calling out "Out of the Bag Attack!" and disappeared in a dust cloud, much to Luffy's confusion. Suddenly, there was a blood curdling scream from one of the enemy pirates as his torso gained deep claw marks across it in a spray of blood. Another soon followed and then the claw marks appeared on nearby rocks and trees.

Some of the pirates called out for Kuro to stop while one yelled out, "It's no use! Whenever he uses this attack he moves so fast that he can't tell what he's attacking! He won't stop till he gets tired!" As more and more pirates were cut, Luffy's anger grew and grew as he watched the pointless massacre in front of him. Luffy threw back his head and yelled out, "COME OUT YOU EVIL BUTLER! JUST WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK CREW MEMBERS ARE?!" even as he got a few cuts along his arms and chest. Little did he know that Nami saw the whole thing and was shocked at Luffy's outburst.

Luffy then took on a still pose and waited for the right moment. Suddenly, his instincts screamed out at him and he reached out, seemingly grabbing air until a surprised Kuro suddenly appeared in his grasp. Luffy quickly tossed the shocked man on his back while giving a happy call of, "Gotcha!" Kuro got up with a snarl and spat out, "You punk! You should have let me kill you quickly! Now look, my beloved (yeah right!) crew is half-dead and in pain because of you (cough-bull-cough!)! Do you have something to say?!" he asked as he noticed Luffy had gone silent during his tirade.

"Yep, I swear I'll never ever be a pirate like you!" Luffy declared with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles.

"Oh you won't be," stated Kuro as he once again got into a slouched position, "Because you're going to die right here, right now!"

Before Kuro could once again use his deadliest attack, Luffy was right in front of him in a burst of speed similar to Kuro's with noticeably longer legs that had hooves and faint spotted markings on them. Luffy grabbed onto the butler's arms and wrapped a thin, whip like tail growing from his spine that had a small bush of hair at the tip around the villain's waist and cheerfully said, "Just try it! Try and use your Silent Step now!"

"Curse you! Let me go!" Kuro howled as he tried with no avail to break out of the transformed boy's grasp. "Now your three year plan will fail!" Luffy stated confidently to which Kuro gave an indignant, "What did you say!?"

The Black Cat Pirates had started to cheer again, but they were cheering for Luffy now in hopes that the chimera man would finish their traitorous captain off. Luffy gave an irritated huff before snapping his head back to face the pirates, his neck elongating with yellow fur with brown spots growing on it till his head was a foot from the pirates, freaking them out. "I don't need your cheers! I'm gonna beat you all up too so be ready!" Luffy said through clenched teeth. With that he called out "Giraffe…"

Captain Kuro meanwhile was still struggling in the newly dubbed giraffe man's grasp and he yelled out in outrage, "How can this be?! My plan CANNOT FAIL!"

"…Headshot!" Luffy called out as he retracted his neck at a shocking rate before his head collided with Kuro's in a savage head-butt, snapping the evil pirates head back and nocking his glasses off. As Kuro fell back unconscious, the Black Cat Pirates stared in awe at the man who took down the pirate who was able to defeat a ship of marines, Kuro of 1000 Plans. They asked in fright, "Who are you?!"

"Monkey D. Luffy. There's no way I'd lose to a pirate who gave up his name and runs from the sea!" with that Luffy turned around and gave the staring pirates a wide grin, "You better try and remember my name, because I'm the one who's going to become the Pirate King!"

Luffy then hefted Kuro up before tossing him back to the shocked pirates and yelled out, "Take him and DON'T COME BACK!" he finished with an animalistic roar. The pirates didn't need to be told twice as they took the phrase 'Scaredy-Cat' to a whole new meaning as they bolted to their ship. Luffy then started to sway from taking so many cuts during the battle and was caught by Nami, who had finished robbing the other pirates' blind.

After lying her captain down, Nami sat beside him and said, "I guess even you can't stand up after being cut so many times. Why did you get so mad earlier?" to which Luffy replied, "I don't like them, they're wrong!"

Nami stared at the boy curiously for a moment before commenting, "What are you talking about? It's obviously because they're pirates." Luffy just stated that he wanted meat to which Nami sweat-dropped.

Meanwhile, Usopp and Zoro were able to stop Jango with the help of the Usopp Pirate's and surprisingly enough Kaya. The hypnotist was laid out cold after an exploding shot fired from Usopp caught him square in the face. Usopp had his followers promise to keep the day's events a secret so the town's people didn't get scared. Afterwards, the kids had gone home and the town was none the wiser of the day's events. Back at the slope, Usopp gave a heartfelt thank you to the Straw Hats. The pirates brushed it off saying that it was no trouble at all. Usopp then said in a determined voice, "In light of this, there's a decision I've made," much to the crew's curiosity.

Scene Break

Usopp stood in front of his 'crew' and addressed them once he was sure they were all there (couldn't be hard with only 3 members). Usopp said in a proud tone, "You guys fought bravely against those Black Cat Pirates, a fight worthy of the Usopp Pirates, I am proud to call myself your captain! It was five years ago when you were all four years old that we formed this group, and this was the greatest, most magnificent battle we've experienced in all that time. And now, it's sudden but I've decided to go to sea myself and become a real pirate!" Seeing the groups stunned silence the long nosed boy continued, "After seeing them, I decided that I'm going to leave this village. There is only one reason, that the pirate flag is calling me!"

The group gave loud protests to this, checking to see if their captain was lying again and asking what was to become of the Usopp Pirates. Usopp smiled and said calmly, "Thanks for everything guys! I don't plan on telling the folks in the village, so say bye to them for me please?" he then gained a reminiscent look on his face despite the groups protests as he said, "Don't you guys remember that this was the spot that we first met? A lot has happened sense then," he stated with tears forming in his eyes that didn't match his smile. "What are your life ambitions?" the marksman asked and as the kids told him what they hoped to become when they grew up (a bar owner, a carpenter, and a writer) he said with a trembling voice, "W-while not losing sight of our ambitions, swear that y-you'll go on the road you've chosen! Starting today, the Usopp Pirates are disbanded!" with that all four former members started crying tears of both joy and sorrow.

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Luffy pulled a fishbone out of his mouth that had gotten caught in his throat while Nami and Zoro berated him on chewing before swallowing. After they had finished their meal, the door to the inn opened and in walked Kaya. Nami asked the girl if she was feeling alright enough to be up and about and the heiress explained that she couldn't be weak with Usopp encouraging her all this time. She then gave a bright smile and said, "So, I heard that you guys need a ship?" much to Luffy's excitement.

Scene Break

The Straw Hats found themselves at a nearby beach where one of Kaya's other butlers; a goat-faced man named Merry greeted them. Both Kaya and Merry showed a boat that was a floating caravel, with a goat shaped figurehead with cartoonish eyes and curly horns, a brightly colored deck and stripped sails, and canons pocking out at different sides including under the goat's head. Merry said merrily (bada-bing!), "This ship is of a slightly old style but I designed it myself. It's a caravel that uses a staysail; the controls are in the back. It's called the 'Going Merry'!" He then started to explain the controls to the ship to Luffy, who just gave a blank stare before Nami called the man over and told him to explain it to her, since her captains a dunderhead.

Luffy happily exclaimed, "This is a cool ship!" to which Kaya told him that she had the ship stocked for their voyage, and Luffy thanked the girl sincerely. Suddenly, the group heard a shrill scream and turned to the hill only to see Usopp, in a bag packed with what looked like the entire inside of a house, came rolling down the hill at worrying speeds. Before the rolling boy could crash into the Going Merry, both Zoro and Luffy stopped the human boulder by placing their feet up and accidently kicking Usopp square in the face. After shaking off the mild concussion he had, Usopp turned to Kaya.

"Are you leaving to the sea Usopp?" Kaya said in a sad but understanding voice.

"Yeah, I'm leaving before I change my mind, so please don't try and stop me," Usopp said in determined voice.

"I won't, I was actually expecting it. It still makes me really sad though to see you go," explained Kaya.

"The next time I come to the village, I'll tell you adventure stories that are even more unbelievable than lies!" stated Usopp to which Kaya giggled and said, "I look forward to it!"

Usopp then turned to say goodbye to the Straw Hats but before he could Zoro shot out, "Hurry up and get on board!" and Usopp gave the intelligent reply of, "Huh?"

Luffy stated plainly, "You're already our companion, aren't you?"

Usopp stood gawking for a moment before he happily asked, "Can I be the captain," and Luffy shouted out, "No way! I'm the captain!"

After tearful goodbyes were said, the Going Merry hoisted anchor and set sail, with the crew toasting there latest crewmate and friend!

AN: So here we are again. Sorry it took so long to update but this was my longest chapter to date, plus I had work and I wanted to go over some of my other stories and ideas before updating this. Now I plan on writing just one more full time story with possibly some challenge fics here and there. I hope I made the fight scenes exciting enough for you! Now you may have noticed that the animals I've picked for Luffy were all some of the fastest land animals alive today, with the exception of the bear which was needed for speed. I've also pointed out one weakness to the Chimera-Chimera Fruit that Luffy hasn't been able to overcome (yet), and there will still be much more animals and abilities that he'll use/discover in upcoming chapters. It'll really start getting interesting during the CP9 arc, so stay tuned! The scenes not involving Luffy were all the same as canon so if you haven't seen them yet please try to as soon as possible or you might wind up feeling a bit lost. My new story will be posted next and then I'll try updating 'Naruto and Tora', then 'Kid Kyubi', and then 'Jealous Fox', so it may be awhile before this updates again, especially since schools starting again soon, but I won't use that as an excuse! I'll try updating my stories as fast as possible so in the meantime, please Read and Review! Keep on being awesome guys!