A/N: Had to take quite a few liberties in naming Usopp's attacks. I hope in the Dressrosa arc we'll see more of what he can do (besides he is a very awesome best of the best liar).
ALSO…as I recall, we haven't seen Chopper use Scope after the time skip. Maybe we will soon. According to the wiki, he uses a Rumble Ball to activate Scope, but now he only seems to use the Rumble Ball to go into Monster Point. So, I'm going to assume that's the only time he needs it, and no longer uses the Rumble Ball to activate said attack.
Now, please enjoy Part Three!
Defying Gravity Part Three: Sneaky Sneak Attack!
**Countdown: Two Months, 19 days left**
"Gyaaaahhhh!" Usopp screamed as he dodged another rain of bullets from Jack's gun. How many bullets could he possibly have in that thing? Thankfully, Usopp's flower shield was thick and sturdy, and ducking behind it offered enough cover that Usopp was safe as long as he didn't get anywhere close to where he had the chance of getting hit. Usopp couldn't fight like this; the others were counting on them, and they didn't exactly have the luxury of time on their side. Deciding to pull out another tactic, Usopp turned to face the wall, and listened carefully as he could through Jack's constant firing. He angled his Black Kabuto just right, and fired a few quick shots in succession. Less than a minute later, the firing ceased and Usopp dared to peek and saw that Jack was dealing with his Green Star: Devil, and for a moment Usopp was hoping that it was over, only for that hope to be crushed when Jack pulled a sword that was nearly as long as he was tall out of his hat, and he sliced the Venus flytraps rather quickly. He hopped around on one foot as one of the plants had managed to grab his leg and refused to let go, even after being cut up.
Usopp fired a few more shots of various plants at Jack, who had only just released himself from the first plant. Now Jack was dealing with a Green Star: Rafflesia, along with various vines that started growing and wrapping around him, and the vines only grew worse the more Jack cut them. Plus, although his mask saved him from breathing in any of the fumes that the Rafflesia released, that didn't stop the foul stench from penetrating his nostrils. Finally growing annoyed from the continuous cutting, Jack finally resorted to pulling another trigger in his hat to release huge flames.
"So, this is how it is then." Jack said, "You hide away while attacking. You're certainly a spoilsport, that's for sure."
Jack's voice was mocking as he spoke. "Why don't you run away? I know you want to. Besides, I like it when they run. And, if you die, it's not like anyone is going to know. You're a nobody."
Jack swiftly climbed atop the flower shield, and stood above Usopp, who looked on in surprise, having not expected Jack to come as close as he was at the moment.
"Perhaps you'll like the life of a slave?" Jack asked, and he cocked his gun. "It's not all that bad, you get lucky sometimes."
Jack fired his Gatling gun, and a few bullets hit Usopp in the ankle. Usopp of course screamed, and looked to inspect what he was sure was a bloody stump. Instead to his surprise, he saw that his ankle was intact. The only sign that he had been shot were a few bloody cuts, along with a strange yellowish gooey liquid that mixed into the blood of his wounds. At first, Usopp wasn't too concerned, and actually felt some relief, but he only started feeling a sense of panic when his leg started to feel itchy and numb. The tingling feeling started in his lower calf, and slowly began working its way up towards his knee. It felt like thousands of tiny insects were burrowing their way through under his skin.
Usopp had learned enough about plants and their numerous other capabilities from Hercules to know that he was slowly becoming paralyzed. He remembered that Dorin had reprimanded Jack about shooting at them, and they had gotten the sense that it was all an act. Damn. They really didn't have time on their side, now did they?
Usopp knew he would have to be quick in dealing with Jack. From what he had seen, Jack's mask had protected him from the fumes of his Rafflesia, plus it seemed that all of Jack's primary weapons were stored in his hat. If he could take both of those things away from him, then perhaps he could win.
"So, go ahead and move around, I'll wait." Jack said, "I don't mind. Of course, we can have a little fun while we're waiting."
Jack started firing again, and this time, when a bullet grazed Usopp's arm as he was running, limping and dodging, he realized that Jack was using real bullets this time. The paralysis was in Usopp's upper thigh now. Because of the combination of his adrenaline and moving around so much, the poison was working much faster. Usopp was now dragging what felt like a brick on his leg.
Usopp fired another shield to protect himself, and quickly began trying think of a plan. He loaded his Black Kabuto, and fired at Jack, "Black Sludge!"
He figured he would blind him first, disarm him, and then incapacitate him. The Black Sludge was both slimy and sticky, and as soon as it came into contact with Jack's face, it began to bubble and increase in size. Jack started pulling at the stuff, but to no avail; it only seemed to get thicker and stickier the more he pulled at it. While he was busy with that, Usopp shot a few small bombs at Jack's hand which held onto his weaponized hat, forcing him to drop it. Usopp then fired another Black Sludge at Jack's empty hand, and quickly followed with a Green Star: Skull Exploding Grass at the hat, which created an even larger boom then the Green Star by itself could have produced (which the Green Star: Skull Exploding Grass already had a huge explosion on its own). The impact sent Jack flying backwards quite a ways, and he toppled and rolled upon a painful looking landing on the ground. Whether he was screaming either in pain or in anger, Usopp couldn't tell, but the Black Sludge was quite flammable if you weren't careful. The sludge had caught on fire, and now Jack was batting at his face and hand. He finally managed to quell the flames, and he lay motionless for several minutes.
Usopp though that for a moment that it was over, but a smoking Jack slowly sat up, and pried off his mask, causing Usopp to freeze in place. How much more could this guy take?
Upon seeing his face, Usopp ultimately wished that he would have kept the mask on. His face was heavily scarred and burned on his left side (and the scars obviously weren't from his Black Sludge), his nose apparently had been cut off at some point in his past, his lips were missing, the corners of his mouth had thick scars that lead up to his ears, much like his Glasgow smile mask, and he has piercing yellow eyes.
Even though they had a wide distance between them, Usopp could hear Jack wheezing loudly. Not wanting to give him any time to recover, Usopp fired a Green Star: Rafflesia, followed closely by another Green Star: Devil. This time, Jack had nothing to prevent him from breathing in the fumes or anything to protect his eyes. His wheezing became increasingly worse, plus he was unable to defend himself from the ravenous Venus fly traps that were surrounding him.
Unable to escape, Jack had no choice but to give in. Before he disappeared within the confines of the hungry plant, he glared and pointed at Usopp, almost as if he was saying, "I will find you."
Usopp shivered, but tried to brush off the creepy feeling that Jack had left him with. He collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and because of the paralyzing chemical that he now felt in both legs, and he could feel the tingling sensation in his lower back. He would have to have Chopper look at him. He then wondered just how Chopper was faring at the moment.
Chopper was dodging one of Dorin's attacks while in his Kung-Fu Point, and he quickly counter attacked as soon as Dorin was within range. Dorin was able to counter himself when he simply took Chopper's punch by spinning on one of his legs, which were made of some kind of metal. He used Chopper's punch as momentum to spin even faster, and the leg that was not in contact with the ground acted as a very effective slicing tool. Chopper quickly went into Guard Point in order to protect himself from the multiple fierce strikes that Dorin was delivering. This left both of his arms with more than a few bloody cuts that Chopper didn't even notice right away.
Dorin stopped spinning, and pulled two double-barrel guns from somewhere in his body suit, and thankfully Chopper's Guard Point successfully protected him from the rain of bullets, much to Dorin's more than obvious chagrin.
Chopper rushed at Dorin, and transformed into his Heavy Point, then delivered a Heavy Gong. Since Chopper wasn't aiming specifically for his legs, and Dorin was unable to block using his legs, Chopper dealt a heavy blow to his stomach. Dorin doubled over, but quickly recovered, and pulled out numerous throwing knives and Chopper quickly went into Brain Point in order to dodge them.
"Scope!" Chopper quickly scanned Dorin before he had a chance to attack. With a slight smirk, Chopper said, "I see your weakness!"
He then transformed into Arm Point, and struck the fleshy base of one of Dorin's legs, just above where his peg legs began. "Kokutei Cross!"
Dorin let out a pained scream, and fell to the ground. He balled his fist and struck the ground a few times while with his other hand he held onto the struck area. "You little tanuki bastard…"
Chopper then transformed into Kung-Fu Point, and struck Dorin. "Roseo Finish! Hyah! Whoo!"
Dorin was sent flying into one of Usopp's flower shields, causing the peg of the leg Chopper had struck to be knocked off, and he slid down to the ground in a heap.
Afterwards, Chopper sighed with relief, and returned to Brain Point, and ran to find Usopp.
Upon seeing his friend, Chopper cried, "Usopp!"
"Hello, Chopper…" Usopp said, his eyes barely open and a weak smile evident on his face. He couldn't feel his arms, and was unable to move. "I see you won…I knew you would…"
"Usopp!" Chopper wailed. "Someone call a Doctor! Wait, I am a Doctor…"
Chopper quickly went to work to create an antidote, and administered it to Usopp. Afterwards the tingling feeling was gone, but Usopp still had trouble moving. So Chopper transformed into his Walk Point so that Usopp could ride him. The pair left behind their assailants, and ran to join the rest of their group.
Perhaps they were expecting a little too much of their rescue team, but the three prisoners each would have done a face palm if they had been free to do so.
Sokka jumped out of the bushes right by where Anmut and Leyla were sitting.
"SNEAK ATTACK!" Sokka shouted and threw his boomerang, which simply zipped by Anmut's head. Anmut must have had an incredulous look under his eye mask, as he simply sat and stared at Sokka, while Leyla was the first to recover.
"Habababa! Are you kidding me? You missed! That is the most useless weapon—"
She was cut short as the boomerang knocked against the back of her head. Loose strands came out of her bun, and she stood in anger, towering over Sokka.
"You little son of a bitch!" She reached for him, but before she made contact, she froze as a calm voice said, "Room."
"Run!" She ordered. "If you're in Surgeon of Death's circle consider yourself patients! And get the prisoners out of here!" She grabbed her umbrella and did a "Gravity Field: Negative Thirteen", and floated up and away with Anmut clinging to her with his ropes. Her men went to do what they were told when they were suddenly cut into multiple pieces along with the trees and rocks surrounding them. The bonds Zuko, Katara, and Toph wore also cut. "Shambles."
Before they could even move, they found themselves teleported behind Law, with large flat rocks replacing the former prisoners' spots.
"Law!" Zuko and Katara said in unison, while Toph chose to go with, "Stingy-pants! I never thought I'd be so happy to see you!"
They watched in fascination and slight disgust as Law began dismembering and connecting various body parts to one another and the hunters were screaming about how certain things didn't belong to them.
"Get out of here," Law said, and they nodded, running rather clumsily out of the sphere as their limbs slowly regained mobility. The girl that had taken Katara's waterskin and Toph's headband stood before them. "You aren't going anywhere."
She bent down to the ground, and the earth began to ripple as if it were water. Zuko found himself starting to sink into the earth, and he immediately reached for the vines above him to pull himself out. He was just barely an inch away, when he found himself pushed up into the trees, by none other than Toph. Toph took an earthbending stance and smirked at the girl.
"Now I have you all to myself."
Katara saw that Toph was busy with the young girl, and as they were going back and forth, Zuko joined Katara as he was getting ready to help confront the other hunters if need be. Sokka ran over to the pair and pulled them both into a tight bear hug. Katara returned the hug and Zuko awkwardly patted Sokka on his shoulder.
"I was so worried!" Sokka said, choking back sobs.
"I knew you'd come," Katara said. "You always do."
Once Sokka had released Katara, she turned to look at Law, wondering how long he intended to torment the hunters. Katara gasped as she saw a tall thin girl slowly make her way towards Law, knife in hand. She seamlessly twisted and dodged the cyclone of supplies and body parts, her movements almost fluid-like. She raised the knife, and Katara immediately pulled water from the plants around her, and shot a trail of ice at the girl, freezing her in place. The girl turned her head to look at Katara, which involved turning her head all the way backwards, causing Zuko and the Water Tribe siblings to each respond in disgust.
"That is so freaky!" Sokka yelled, and pointed at the girl.
Katara shouted, "Law, behind you!"
Law eyed the girl from over his shoulder, and he was about to do another one of his attacks, when the girl twisted out of her icy prison and out of his sphere, over to where the trio stood.
"It is rational to deal with you first." She said in a monotone voice. "One should not concern oneself with someone One has no chance of defeating."
Katara took a stance. "Well, we'll see about that."
Sokka and Zuko also prepared themselves, but found themselves being attacked by Manny and the other man that had accompanied Krux. They were forced to deal with the pair, leaving Katara to deal with the freaky girl on her own.
Katara started with a series of attacks that the girl simply sidestepped to avoid. "One ate the Flex-Flex Fruit, One is quite flexible… One can get out of any binds you may throw at one. It does not matter what you do; One can get through and out of anything."
"Why are you speaking like that?" Katara asked, trying to buy some time so she could think of some sort of strategy. "Who are you?"
"One's name is Ona Gnut. One was royalty before pirates came and took it all away. One's heart was broken that day. Seeing as to how easily you and your friends were captured, One is assured that you will lose. You are no match for One."
Annoyed, Katara calmed her breathing and began to think of the time she fought a rage-filled, crazed Azula. About the times she had to confront other Benders whose skills nearly outmatched her own. This girl was no different. This girl looked down on Katara, and that was going to be her downfall. Katara was going to show this girl just what being a Southern Water Tribe Bender meant. Katara pulled more water from the plants around her, and she formed icicles to fire at Ona. Forcing her attention on dodging deadly projectiles caused her to lose focus in other areas, and Katara turned the ice back into liquid form, and used it to try and shove her opponent to the side, but Ona twisted around and dodged the liquid.
Katara then made two ice pillars and began to fire icy discs at Ona, who simply weaved and dodged her way towards Katara. The way Ona twisted her way around in order to dodge Katara's attacks almost made Ty Lee look like an amateur when it came to flexibility.
Katara was obviously becoming frustrated. Ona cocked her head to the side, her blank expression and nearly unblinking eyes made Katara feel unnerved as well.
"One knows what you are thinking before you can even complete the action. This is one of the reasons as to why you will lose. The other is the fact that One sees that you are not a killer. In order to defeat this One, you must kill One. You have too much hesitation and fear."
Ona suddenly rushed at Katara, and appeared at her side. She grabbed Katara and intertwined her arm around Katara's and swiftly twisted and bent Katara's elbow the opposite direction of which it should go, along with breaking her forearm.
"Ahh!" Katara let out a scream. She looked at her arm, thankful that at least the bone wasn't sticking out.
"Wounds will heal." Ona said, as she towered over Katara. "Missing limbs tend to drop a girl's price."
Acting quickly, Katara pulled water from where Ona was standing, and she wondered, She can predict my movements, huh? What do I do?
Katara quickly put an ice cast around her arm, as Ona surely would not give her time to heal. She then did what she could to form a water wheel around herself and began to spin it as fast as she could. The wheel acted more like a beginner's water wheel, as it was messy and wobbly. Katara hoped for the best and flung the wheel in Ona's general direction, hoping that it would hit her.
The water made contact, and Ona looked just as surprised as Katara did.
"I hit her?" Katara questioned, and felt somewhat elated. This didn't last long as Ona was relentlessly coming after her. But Katara continued using the method of randomly firing and attacking and hoping that it would hit again and again. Distract her, then randomly fire. Although her features did not show it, Ona was clearly getting frustrated and angry. Katara was in pain and her arm was throbbing. Pulling out an idea that Katara was sure was something Sokka would think of, she had a crazy plan that she hoped would work. Remembering Robin saying something about Devil Fruit users losing their abilities if they were submerged in sea water gave Katara the perfect opportunity to not kill Ona, but simply restrain her.
She ran away from Ona, who started giving chase. Katara could sense the ocean that was separated from her by a mere four feet of earth. Katara began pulling the water up towards her as she ran.
To Ona, it looked more like her opponent was doing silly and unproductive things. Ona's foot stepped in some mud and she tripped, landing face first in the mud. Annoyed, she pulled herself up again and ran after the girl. Ona's foot sank in mud once again, this time up to her ankles. This was getting annoying. A simple, no-name girl shouldn't be this much trouble. Ona worked her way free again, and chased after the girl, her anger and frustration slowly growing. She slipped in some more mud, and fell again. She landed rather awkwardly when she tried to save herself, and ended up sinking nearly up to her knee. As she was trying to pull herself out, an icy wall rose around her. Sea water rapidly began making its way into her prison.
"What is this?!" Ona demanded, working rapidly to free herself. But it felt like she had icy hands holding onto her leg. Ona could feel her energy leaving her as the water rose. Through the ice, she could see Katara's form.
"Defeating you without killing you," Katara said, and she stopped when the water chest-deep.
Ona stared at Katara and she spoke, "That can only take you so far in this world, girl. There are monsters here, and they are not the sea kings or the creatures which walk the earth, but rather the people. Sooner or later, you will have to kill a person in order to save yourself and your friends."
To Katara, it sounded as if Ona had mocking laughter in her voice. "You live in a dream world, and soon you will be forced out into the harsh reality that is this world; where there is no hope, and death surrounds you."
Ignoring her, Katara ran back to the clearing in time to see an enraged Leyla standing over a somewhat dazed Law.
"What the hell is this?!" she was demanding.
Leyla pulled Anmut with her and rose above the clearing to get out of Law's reach. Anmut let out a gasp and pointed in the direction of their ship. Leyla looked and then stared in wide-eyed shock at the sight:
The ship was falling apart and thick black smoke was coming out of areas it shouldn't be. This was wrong. This is not how things should be going. This was not part of the plan. Leyla had purposely ordered the ship to stay about ten miles out high in the sky to keep it out of harm's way. She had never figured that anyone would be able to attack their ship, as it had never happened before. Leyla glared at the wreckage that was their ship, anger brewing inside her.
"We should take care of Trafalgar and the others, and then deal with the ship." Anmut rationalized. Leyla only nodded, and Anmut swung on his rope to build up a momentum in order to land outside of Law's Room, and Leyla carefully positioned herself above the Heart Captain. She pulled out her hairpin, and angled it just right.
"Gravity Pull: 6.5."
The hairpin shot out of her hand, and into the back of Law's shoulder. His Room dissipated, and he collapsed to one knee. Everything and everyone around him fell, and the people groaned and complained about being in their current predicament. Law reached for the offending hairpin, as it was sticking into his shoulder and protruding out of his chest. Thankfully, it hadn't hit anything vital. Law slightly winced at the pain, and came to the quick realization that it was made out of sea stone.
Leyla landed next to Law, and took her umbrella and swung it, hitting Law on the side of his head. "What the hell is this?!" she demanded. She raised her umbrella to strike Law again, when Momo suddenly shot out from underneath Law's hat making an odd sound that was a mix between a screech and a squeal, and latched himself onto Leyla's face. A struggle mixed with muffled shouting ensued.
Seizing the opportunity that Momo had provided him, and being very thankful for a particular flying lemur at that moment, Law managed to pull out the hairpin and activated his "Room". Leyla finally pulled Momo off of her face and was about to crush him when she was suddenly cut in half. Both of her arms were chopped off, and her torso fell, hitting the ground before she could even process what had happened.
Her legs simply stood in place for a moment before collapsing to the ground, and Leyla stared at them, the surrealistic sight not fully processing itself in her mind. Law used his sword to place a length of sea stone chains from a nearby pile across Leyla. Momo settled back onto Law's shoulder, giving little cooing sounds as if he was wondering if Law was alright, and everything was over.
"Thanks, Momo-ya," Law scratched the lemur on the cheek, and it was at this moment that Leyla processed everything that had happened. Law sighed, and wiped away the blood that was running down his face with his sleeve. Although Leyla had hit him considerably hard, her strike wasn't half as strong as Vergo's. Leyla glared up at Law from her position, and smirked.
"So, are you going to kill me, "Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar Law?" she asked coyly.
More A/N: Well I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, and are looking forward to the next one. And I decided to throw in a tiny bit of bromance in between Chopper and Usopp. This arc only has a few more chapters...it keeps getting longer completely by accident. Oh! And brownie points (complete with a cherry on top) if you can figure out some of the fun little references a few of the bounty hunters have here and there, although some are blatantly obvious...
Next time: Toph shows just what the "Blind Bandit" is made of, Sanji releases his rage upon Krux, Sokka and Zuko face up against Anmut, and an Avatar State Aang shows up.
