Ninazu: I can't guarantee something like that won't happen, what I can guarantee however, is that it will not be written out and the scene will fade to black before anything too serious happens. While I doubt something like a rape will actually occur in the current timeline, I can't promise it won't, as if it fits the plot, then it might be implemented. It won't be shown though, the aftermath however is a different story. As for your personal feelings about it, I can understand them, and respect the way you feel. And I hope that this bit of information appeases you.
F-ckthesystem125: Yes, he certainly did. As for what will happen, you'll be seeing in this chapter.
Sage-of-forbidden-arts: Well thank you very much, I appreciate all your kind words. :) As for breaking up the paragraphs more, I'm not sure, I'll try, but no promises. This is because I like the way it reads on the normal version of the site and don't wish to change it.
Tonlor: And here it is, the much requested ass whooping, served up on a silver platter. XD
deant33: Why thank you. As for the first chapters being slow, well, they sort of needed to be, as they were setting the foundation of Luffy's, Zoro's and Nami's relationship, not to mention setting up plot points for future use. But once more, thank you, as I appreciate any constructive criticism.
Joey: Thanks a lot for your encouragement. As for watching where it goes from here, just you wait, some of the things I have planned are going to be so fricking awesome!
Alright it's time for the next bout of fights, hope you guys enjoy them. Once again, I ask for as much feedback on them as possible, so as to help me attune my battle writing skills to the One Piece Universe as best I can. Also, on another note, this is my longest chapter to date, at least for this story anyway.
Now, here's the next chapter, and before anyone asks, no, I have not seen Black Hawk Down, I just really wanted a good title for the chapter, and this came about. Now, please read, enjoy and review.
It was well past midnight, when three voices caught the attention of Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp.
"Captain Usopp, captain Usopp, is it true!?" Onion, Pepper and Carrot came running and screaming. Seeing them coming their way, Usopp moved his armband up to cover part of the bandages on his shoulder, so as to make the injury look less serious.
They came to a stop before the four, as they continued to shout, "Is that butler guy really a famous pirate who plans on attacking the village and killing Kaya!?" The three didn't wait for an answer, immediately assuming it was true. "What are we gonna do, what are we gonna do, what are we gonna do!?"
Usopp immediately hushed the boys, telling them not to be so loud. "Now what are you guys doing out here so late? Do your parents even know you're gone?"
The kids brushed over that, for obvious reasons, asking their captain once more whether what he had been trying to tell the whole village was true or not.
He then began to laugh, doing so for a few moments, before speaking, "Don't you guys worry about that, it was all just a lie." He falsely explained, a smirk on his face.
"It was just a lie?" The three questioned.
Chuckling a little more, Usopp continued his explanation. "Yeah, it was. That guy, you know, he really made me angry. So, I just said he was a pirate, I made it up, to pay him back for all the things he said to me. I know it was wrong, but I was just so mad, ya know? Sorry for the false alarm guys."
Their faces brightened and they began to laugh with their long nosed captain, though that came to an abrupt halt only a few moments later, when they suddenly stopped. Looks of disappointment were clear on the three children's faces, their eyes showing their judgement of Usopp. "You disappoint me captain. I thought you were better than that." Pepper said.
"You never lied to hurt other people, only to cheer up Kaya and make things exciting. I admired you for that." Onion stated.
"But it looks like we were wrong about you. I mean, I know that guy was a real jerk, but to make up something like this? You could have got him killed if anyone had believed you." Carrot added.
No response came from the long nosed teen, as he wasn't sure what to say. He needn't bother though, as only a few moments later, "I don't know if we can play pirate with you anymore Usopp, you just aren't trustworthy." Pepper was the one to make this remark.
"You should know that everyone's on the lookout for you in the village." Onion said
"So you should probably stay away for a few days at least." Carrot finished for his friend.
"As for us, we're going home." All three kids suddenly said.
With that they turned and walked away. Usopp's shoulders slumped as they began heading home, his sorrow from earlier returning full force, as he realized no one even so much as liked him anymore, not even Kaya or the Usopp pirates.
Once the the kids were out of earshot, Zoro placed a hand on Usopp's shoulder, getting the marksman's attention as he spoke to him. "You did something very honorable there. You should be proud."
"I know, it's just...I've spent my whole life on this island, I know everyone on it, and to think that everyone either hates me, or just doesn't want me around anymore, it hurts more than a dagger in the heart, ya know?" He sounded like he might choke up at any moment, he was clearly fighting back tears.
"I understand. But don't let it distract you, as it could cost you your life in the upcoming battle."
"I know that too. No one listened to me, they all thought I was lying when I said pirates were going to attack, and I'm determined to make sure it's just that, a lie. Tomorrow will be just another boring day for the people of this island, as we'll beat back those bastards before they ever step one foot in the village. I won't let anything distract me from making that happen."
"Good." The other two nodded their heads in agreement with Usopp's and Zoro's words.
"He lied to us." Pepper stated, no doubt in his voice.
"Yep, straight to our faces." Carrot agreed.
"Why?" Onion questioned
"Isn't it obvious? He's trying to protect us." Pepper answered
"How can we be sure he's not telling the truth? Maybe he really did lie about that butler guy..." Onion said, his doubt showing.
"Did you see how bad he looked? Bandages around his shoulder, bruises everywhere. He must have been thinking we'd end up the same, or worse." Carrot concluded.
"Yeah, but didn't the town do that to him?" Onion inquired.
"Well yeah, but if that's what the town does, there's no telling what horrible things pirates'll do." Carrot explained.
"Okay, but still, how does that prove he lied about lying?" Onion questioned further.
"Think about it, Usopp tells us that he's going to set sail with some friends of his and become a pirate, but he's not going to be the captain. Does that sound like one of his usual lies to you?" Pepper asked.
"No, he's always the captain in his lies." Onion affirmed.
"Exactly. Now if he was honest with us about that, why would he lies to us about the butler? He wouldn't, unless it was to protect us. Not only that, but the look on the other three's faces when we were talking to Usopp, they seemed grim, like they were anticipating something bad happening." Pepper presented.
"And most importantly, Usopp never lies about Kaya, ever. So he's gotta be telling the truth." Carrot pointed out.
"Alright, I see your point." Onion conceded.
"So what do we do?" Carrot wondered.
"I'll tell you what we do, we go protect Kaya!" Pepper exclaimed.
"Yeah!" The other two agreed in unison.
Kuro stood a mere inch or so away from the window looking out towards the moon, his eyes locked onto the glowing orb, which was in it's crescent state tonight. Behind him was Merry, on top of a ladder, dusting a chandelier. Said man had been continuously trying to make small talk for the past five minutes, but his fellow butler would not reincorporate. Nevertheless a cheery smile remained on his face, as he finished up and climbed down the ladder. Once his feet touched the floor though, he was surprised when his coworker finally decided to speak. "It's a crescent moon tonight."
"Huh?"
"It's on nights like these when I truly feel alive, my heart races and my blood boils in my veins." As he said this, he fixed his glasses, pushing them up a bit.
"Klahadore, what are you talking about?" Merry asked, very confused. "When you say those things, you sound like a-like a-"
"Like a bloodthirsty killer?" Kuro offered, turning around to face the other butler as he did.
"Y-yes."
"Heh, I suppose there's no reason to carry on the act any longer then." Kuro opened his jacket and loosened his tie, as he proceeded to slowly make his way towards Merry. "In just a few short hours, the village will be mourning the unforeseen tragedy of Kaya's death."
"Klahadore, what are you saying!?" Merry shouted disbelievingly.
"You won't be alive long, so I suppose I can tell you." As he said this, he brandished his right hand, which was sheathed inside a black furred glove with full length katana blades at the ends of each finger. "My name's not Klahadore, Klahadore never existed, as I'm sure you've guessed by now. As for who I really am...well, you already know, now don't you?"
Merry took a shaky step back, as Usopp's warning echoed in his mind. "You-you're Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates."
"Indeed." Kuro extended his claws as he reared back for a strike while confirming who he was.
Merry, knowing he had a few moments left to live at most, did his best to cry out a warning to his Mistress. "Mrs. Kaya, you have to get out of here, run!" That was all he managed to get out, before the claws came down upon him, the cut so fierce that it cut the chandelier above him to pieces as well. He coughed up some blood, before collapsing face first onto the ground, the now in pieces chandelier hitting the ground around him.
Kuro didn't so much as spare a second thought to the man, as he fixed his glasses and turned around to walk back to the window. He took one last look out the glass construct, looking up at the crescent moon with bloodlust in his eyes.
Suddenly, without warning, he looked back at the doorway leading to a hallway, but without anything to see there, the empty air only held his attention for a few moments. Returning his attention to the matter at hand, he left the window's side, exited the room and began to make his way up stairs. As he did, he missed the three pairs of wide, fear filled eyes that watched him as he ascended to the second floor, the owners of these eyes hid in a crevice only inches away from where the the false butler had turned his attention to moments ago.
Kuro didn't pause once on the second floor, moving to Kaya's room immediately. Entering the bedroom, his now bloody claws twitched, as he approached her sleeping form. He came to a stop at her side, watching as she rolled over in her sleep to face upwards. Reaching down, he ever so gently caressed her face with the very tips of his blades, only the tiniest amount of pressure keeping the sharp things from piercing her flesh.
If he was honest with himself, Kuro wanted nothing more than to end the girl's life that moment. However, he restrained himself, pulling his blades back away from her face, leaving not even a drop of blood on her face as he did so. "Soon enough...everything you own...all your money, all your possessions, even this mansion, will belong to me." With that said, the faux butler turned away from the blonde girl, fixed his glasses and left the room.
"Yep, I'm a genius." Usopp said aloud, verbally patting himself on the back. "This oil slick we've set up will keep them from getting up here, and more importantly, while their all slipping and sliding, we can kick their asses with minimal effort."
"I bet we could do that anyway, trap or no trap." Zoro commented.
"Yeah well, maybe you guys can, but I can't. And I don't intend to sit this fight out, cowering like an idiot. I will defend my home with my own two hands!" He stated proudly.
"As good at fighting dirty as ever I see." Luffy remarked.
"Hey, this is a great plan and all, but look, it's almost day break and their ship is nowhere in sight. Are you sure this is where they're coming from?"
That seemed to catch Usopp's attention, blinking in surprise, no response ready for that, he just stared at her for a moment. "There's only two places on the island where you can get up to the village from, this shore and the other one. This is where they met, so I figured this is where'd they'd be coming from." He stated, not sure what else to say.
"And it never occurred to you they could be coming from the other shore, you know, the one we arrived at!? The one that Kuro brought us to!?"
The long nosed teen's eyes widened considerably at those words, "Oh crap! We're at the wrong shore!" He cried panicked.
"Yeah, no shit!" Nami responded in anger.
"Quick, to the other shore!" Usopp shouted, already running as he did.
"Right behind you!" Luffy and Zoro called in unison.
Nami took up the rear, so she wouldn't be the first faced with the pirates, but also to keep Zoro from wandering off like a moron.
The moment the four arrived at the other shore, the Black Cat Pirates ship dropped anchor. As the crew began to step off the boat and onto the shore, Usopp did his best to catch his breath while he could, knowing he wouldn't have the opportunity later.
He was done by the time the whole crew was on the shore, Jango heading the pack, as he took a few steps forward to confront the four, almost the entire slope separating the two groups. "We meet again. I thought you'd four'd be out for another few hours, seems you woke up early. Or perhaps...you just tricked me. Either way, it doesn't matter."
"Yeah, try the latter." Zoro said.
"This is your one and only warning, turn back now and leave this island in peace, otherwise...you'll answer to my one hundred million men!"
"No way! One hundred million!? Incredible!" Jango said in awe.
"Captain, he's obviously lying." Several of the pirates said matter of factly.
"No need for lies Usopp, let's just do this the old fashioned way, by kicking their asses!" Luffy exclaimed.
"What!? You lied to us!?" Jango questioned, sounding almost incredulous as he did.
"Uh, duh." Nami stated. "Fricking idiot." That she whispered beneath her breath.
"And what's this about kicking our asses?" One of the pirates asked, sounding a little mirthful as he did.
"There's thirty of us and only four of you, it's literally ten to one!" Another pirate yelled out. He looked rather stupid doing so, as not only was his math horrendous, but counting Jango there were thirty one of them.
"You don't stand a chance!" Yet another spoke.
"We don't have the time to waste with these four, rush on through to the village!" Jango ordered.
"RIGHT! TO THE VILLAGE!" They all cried, as they all, save Jango, charged up the slope towards the four.
"Bad idea." Zoro stated, not even drawing one of his swords as he and Luffy both prepared to attack them.
As they all tried to bum rush the four, Luffy and Zoro stepped forward and hit them hard, knocking them all off their feet and back down to the shore, most of them landing just a foot or so in front of Jango, each one unconscious. This left the hypnotist pirate by himself, with no one in sight to back him up.
"Wow, I knew you'd be strong Luffy, what with Garp and his abuse and all, but I didn't know you'd be strong enough to take all those guys out in one hit, same goes for you Zoro." Usopp said, quite impressed by what he had just seen.
Zoro's response was a simple grin, Luffy actually verbally replied. "Yeah, Gramps just about beat strength into me. Though the training I did on my own would've let me do that. These guys are just really weak is all. They couldn't even beat that Buggy guy, even if they tried all at once."
The green haired swordsman snickered a little at that.
The hypnotist below didn't seem to be paying much attention to them, as his eyes were focused on the rising sun. "We're already late, we don't have any more time, we have to go, and quickly. Otherwise...he'll kill us all." He thought to himself.
Turning his attention the thirty downed men, he pulled out his metal ring with a string attached. "Get up men! Get up now! If you don't, we'll all suffer his wrath!"
All of them began to regain consciousness at those words, their fear causing adrenaline to kick in, as they began to climb to their feet. "If our enemy is strong, then we must become stronger than them." As he began to swing the ring back and forth, he continued to speak, "Here, stare deeply into this ring. Now, I will count one, two, Jango, and after that, you will all begin to grow stronger, your injuries will heal and you will grow stronger still. Stronger, you will all become stronger! One, two, Jango!" He pulled the rim of his hat down over his eyes to keep from hypnotizing himself as he did this.
All thirty men let out roars then, as their eyes glazed over and the hypnosis took affect.
Zoro's hand had been over Luffy's eyes, so he was unaffected.
One of the pirates then slammed his fist into the cliff side that kept them from going up anywhere but the slope, breaking a decent size piece of it off as he did.
"Are you serious, that stupid trick actually worked!?" Nami asked disbelievingly, as Zoro removed his hand from his best friend's face.
Unlike the other three, Usopp was neither unaffected, nor unimpressed, as he reiterated what that guy had just done in words. "He broke part of the cliff with a single punch, and if just one of them can do that, imagine what the whole crew can do!"
"Now go, and strike down all who stand in your way!" Jango commanded the men.
Roaring once more, the thirty men charged up the slope once again, much stronger this time, Jango was sure they'd get past the four.
His hopes were dashed however, as once they got too close, they were knocked right back down, with a cry of, "Gum Gum Bazooka!"
All thirty men hit the ground around Jango, unconscious and bleeding, just from one attack they were finished.
Jango was understandably shocked by this, though his fear and annoyance overpowered his surprise. "Damn it, because of that punk, our whole plan is shot to hell. If Captain Kuro sees this, he'll kill us for sure!"
Now knowing these four, more specifically the two who had actually done something, were much stronger than he anticipated, and with no time left, he brought out their trump card. "Sham, Buchi, come forth, come forth and show them the might of the Mewoban brothers!"
Two figures then leapt off the boat, landing on the shore, only a few feet away from Jango as they did.
"Yes captain, you called for us?"
"Well, did you?"
Everyone's attention was now on these two.
The first one was an overweight man with pale skin, very short black hair, two particularly sharp teeth and small pupils. He wore an outfit that appeared to be loosely based on a black and white cat, the black part of his face contrasting with the other side of his pale skin, showing this basis. He was shirtless, yet still wore a blanket like cape, which was striped light purple and dark purple, with a white fluffy trim. He also wore red and black striped pants with a yellow sash. Finally, he wore one black elbow pad on his left arm, dark brown shoes and pale, baby blue gloves with a slight purple tint and realistic claws coming out of the fingertips. Not to mention he wore a human sized cat bell around his neck.
The second one was a very slim man, with green hair that's parted to the side and curls at the end, with two other parts of hair on the sides of his head, growing downwards in a curly-looking way. He wore a peculiar navy blue shirt, with light grey buttons and a magenta bow tie. He also wore light blue shorts, brown shoes and white socks, long enough to show. Finally, he had dark brown gloves, with realistic claws coming out at the ends of the fingers.
The one thing these two had in common with all of their crewmates, were the cat ears on their head. Though theirs looked a good deal more realistic than all the others.
These two didn't wait for an answer, as they posed a bit, and introduced themselves.
"Sham!" The thin one exclaimed.
"Buchi!" The fat one exclaimed.
"Together, we are the Meowban Brothers! We are at your service Captain!" They finally exclaimed together.
That's when they realized all their fellow crewmen were unconscious around them.
"What the hell?" Buchi wondered.
"What happened?" Sham inquired.
"They happened. And now, I need you to deal with them."
After just a glance Luffy's and Zoro's way, the two took a step back in fear.
"No way, we can't fight them!"
"They look strong, way stronger than us!"
Jango wasn't having any of this. "We don't have time for this nonsense, so just drop the act."
Preparing his ring once more, he called the other pirates to consciousness once more. "All of you, get to your feet, unless you want to suffer Captain Kuro's wrath!"
Those words did the trick, as they all began shakily climbing to their feet, while Sham and Bucci dropped the scaredy cat act, becoming calm as they prepared for the hypnosis they were about to undergo.
As the ring began to swing back and forth once more, Jango did his thing. "On the count of one, two, Jango, you will all grow to your peak strength! You will unlock the strength that one can only achieve through years worth of training and experience! Now, you will all become as strong as you ever possibly could! One, two, Jango!" Once again, he covered his eyes with the brim of his hat to keep from putting himself under the same hypnosis.
Once more the thirty men shot to their feet and roared out together, as their eyes glazed over. This time however, the two Meowban Brothers were with them, their eyes rolling into the back of their heads as well, both of their frames increasing in size a bit, as well as becoming a good deal more muscular.
"Now, show these fools the might of the Black Cat Pirates!"
With that they all charged up towards the four.
Zoro finally drew his swords then, bringing all three out as he did. "Allow me Captain."
With no objections from the rubber teen, the green haired man rushed down to meet them head on.
Zoro charged into the thick of them, cutting down each and every one that got in his way, carving through to the center of the thirty men, thirtyy two counting the Meowban Brothers. Once he reached that point, all of the glazed over eyes turned to him, as they locked onto him as their target. Rushing him, they did everything they could to harm him in some way, however, he would simply cut them down one by one, for every attack they made he made a counterattack, whittling their numbers down with each one he performed.
As he continued to battle them, Sham managed to slip past his defenses, landing on his back and locking him into a submission hold, bringing both his arms back to keep him from using them or the blades he held with them. Zoro struggled against the thinner half of the Meowban Brothers, managing to avoid the slashes of the other pirates as he did, though with being outnumbered, and being in the center of them, it was only a matter of time before something landed.
"Now Buchi, crush him!" The green haired brother called.
"Cat-apult!" With that the husky, husky and muscular thanks to the hypnosis, brother launched off the ground high into the air, quickly plummeting downward towards Zoro.
Eyes widening, the swordsman knew he had to move, now. So, in spite of the risk it posed, he jumped back headfirst into a bunch of the Black Cat Pirates, the momentum from doing so causing him to escape the thick of them, but, in doing so he also sustained several slashes from the cutlasses that they all wielded. The cuts weren't deep thankfully, though they did draw blood from the eighteen year old.
He got out of the way just in time, as a moment later, Buchi landed with a hard stomp, "Cat-astrophe!", the ground crushing beneath him, the shock wave from the force of the attack knocking down all of the other Black Cat Pirates, and cracking the rock slope several inches in every direction. It even caused Zoro to stumble, in spite of the fact he was far away enough not to be hit.
The rest of the pirates didn't stay down long, and as they got back to their feet, Zoro made sure he kept on his feet despite stumbling, and continued to struggle against Sham's hold. It was clear he was winning, as every movement he made, the thin brother's grip grew weaker. So, using all his strength, he made to break free, doing so quite successfully, breaking free from the other green haired man's grasp and throwing him off with one good jerk of his body.
As he came off, he grabbed ahold of the three swords, and yanked them out of Zoro's grasp, before he could get away though, the swordsman reached out and reclaimed the Wado, only the Wado unfortunately.
His eyes darkened just a bit and his gaze hardened, as he spoke, "No one is allowed to touch this sword, no one. Especially not idiots like you."
"Like I care about that! All that matters is now you only have one sword! I mean three swords, how greedy!" Sham tossed the two blades down the slope to the sand of the shore, as he grinned evilly. "Let's see how well you handle us now!"
With that all the Black Cat Pirates charged up the slope towards Zoro once more, minus the ten he had already taken out. This time though, Sham and Buchi were close to the front, so he had to be quick to avoid them. As the twenty men drew close, Zoro placed the Wado in his mouth, as he untied his bandanna and removed it from his arm, before wrapping it around his head and tying it once more. Now serious, he took the Wado from his mouth, and prepared to dash through the enemy to his other two swords.
He met them head on once more, running into them sword first, slashing down two of them, and blocking three others just a second after. Taking the defensive, he did his best to block all of their blades, as he made his way through them. In doing so, he ended up taking several more cuts to his arms and legs, though none of them slowed him down. Too many began to attack however, and he was only halfway through, plus Sham and Buchi were upon him, so with another two slashes, he took down four more pirates, hastily running through the opening the four provided as they collapsed onto the slope.
He managed to break free from the small crowd, his swords now in his line of sight as he did, although he wasn't in a much better position than before, as the Black Cat Pirates had all turned around and were chasing after him, Sham and Buchi heading the group now. The Meowban Brothers, being a good deal faster than their fellow crewmen, caught up to the swordsman quickly, before he could reach his swords in fact, and as they did, they attacked him. "Pussywillow March!"
Hearing their cry, Zoro spun round to face them, and met their barrage of claw strikes head on, blocking them with the Wado. Their claw strikes were so fast and so strong, that one would assume that they were the reason Zoro was continuously backing away as he defended himself against them, that wasn't the case though, rather he was backing down the slope so as to continue his way down to his swords.
Once he reached the bottom, and his blades were less than a foot away from him, he side stepped and grabbed ahold of one, before turning to face the Meowban Brothers once more, who were in his face again, just about to cut him up with their claws. Zoro pulled back a bit as their claws came down, causing them to leave several scratches down his abdomen, having cut through his shirt and drawn blood from his chest. As they did that, he took the two blades he currently held, and slammed the butt of each one into the sides of the brothers heads, knocking them aside and away from each other. The swordsman took advantage of the opportunity that created, as he placed one of the blades in his mouth and picked up his third one, before facing the rest of the Black Cat Pirate, swords at the ready.
The twelve men, blades drawn, roared as they got ready to engage the three sword style swordsman once more. Before they even got the chance to try and attack him though, he took a specific stance and lunged forward with a cry of, "Oni Giri!"
With that three particular slash marks were etched into the men's upper bodies, each one bringing a good deal of blood, as they all fell face first onto the ground, some of them even rolling down to the shore as they did.
Even with having cut all of those men down, the fight wasn't over, as the Meowban Brothers had recovered from the blows they had taken to the head, and were charging the green haired swordsman once more. Turning to face them, Zoro took a different stance, this one putting the two blades behind the one he held in his mouth, though once in the stance, he made no move to attack.
"This time, we'll end you! Pussywillow March!"
Zoro stayed perfectly still as the two brothers came dashing forward with claws swinging furiously, not budging an inch until they were a mere hairs length from him, but once they reached that specific point, he pivoted forward, bringing his blades down as he did. "Tiger Trap!"
Four slashes cut down each of the brothers abdomens, a bit of blood spurting from each cut as they fell forward, collapsing face first onto the bottom of the slope, without a sound of pain coming from either of them. They didn't so much as twitch after hitting the ground, showing that they were down for the count.
With his enemies defeated, Zoro sheathed his blades.
Zoro vs The Black Cat Pirates
Winner: Zoro
With all the commotion of Zoro's battle, Jango managed to slip past the swordsman, just barely doing so, almost getting his head cut off as he did. The worrisome thing about that was that he wasn't very close to the man when it happened. Nevertheless he did it, and to get past the other three, he prepared to perform another hypnotism, and as they reacted, covering Luffy's eyes, he made a run for it, passing by them before they could grab ahold of him.
"You guys stay here, I'll take care of this guy!" Even as Usopp said it, he could feel the fear and panic rising within him, however this guy was the one who was to get Kaya to write her will and then kill her, so he wanted to be the one to face him.
"You got it!" Nami replied.
"Kick that hypno-guy's ass!" Luffy shouted.
With that, the long nosed man nodded and took off after the weirdo hypnotist.
"Oh no, it's that weird hypnotist guy!" Pepper warned, as he and his two friends took a step back, putting themselves, as well as Kaya, who they stood in front of protectively, against a tree.
"Well if it isn't the little rich girl. You have perfect timing. Now Mrs., if you'd just-"
Before he could do his hypnosis act, the three kids tightened their grips on their makeshift weapons, Pepper wielding a baseball bat, Onion a frying pan and Carrot a mallet, and declared in unison, "We won't let you hurt Kaya! We'll protect her no matter what!"
Jango sighed heavily then. "Is that so? You three brats are going to stop me, really?" A bit of sun was peeking through the trees of the small forest they were in, shining on the face of the current captain of the Black Cat Pirates, and reminding him of just how much he was behind schedule. "I might have humored you, if'd had more time. However, I'm already behind schedule as is, and Captain Kuro won't take kindly to that, so I'm afraid that you three are going to have to get out of my way...or die." As he said this, he pulled two simple chakrams out from his coat, and showed his deadly efficiency with them by proceeding to cut down the very tree the four stood in front of.
Their eyes went wide in fear, and yet they did not run. In fact, the defiant look in their eyes grew, as all three of them charged him at once.
Jango scoffed then. "Fine, have it your way."
By the time Usopp caught up to Jango, the hypnotist had Kaya by her throat, tears streaming down her face as she struggled against his grasp. These tears of hers came into existence because behind her lie the bloody forms of the Usopp Pirates, Onion, Pepper and Carrot, completely motionless. They didn't so much as twitch, even with all the noise of Jango restraining Kaya.
The long nosed man's eyes widened considerably at the sight, quite shell shocked by it. Only a moment later though, as Jango spoke to the young blonde girl about her will, the grave situation sank in, and he was filled to the brim with anger. "You sunuva bitch!"
As Jango turned to face who had just called him that, he was met with a fist to the face, the sniper hitting him with the hardest haymaker he could summon, socking the bastard in the face, knocking him to the ground, cracking the lenses of his glasses and causing him to drop Kaya, said sickly girl hitting the ground with a small squeak of surprise.
Jango got to his elbows, as he looked up at the one who punched him. "It's you again! Haven't you learned yet!? Meddling in Black Cat Pirate business'll get you killed!"
"Shut up you bastard!" Usopp gritted his teeth to keep himself from lashing out violently again, as he might not hit him so easily again. "Look at what you've done! They were just kids, they had no idea what they were up against! All they wanted to do was to protect a friend, and you killed them for it!"
"I don't need a lecture from you kid." Jango began to get to his feet as he said this.
"Do you not feel even the slightest bit of guilt!? What kind of-"
Not intent on listening to the curly haired teen any longer, the shades wearing pirate slashed at him with one of his chakrams, cutting him deep as he did, blood seeping from the mark it left across his stomach. This attack caught Usopp by surprise, so much so that he didn't have time to scream from the pain, or even the time to experience fear, nevertheless, his mouth was open in a silent cry of pain, as he fell to his knees, before collapsing face first onto the ground.
"USOPP!" Kaya cried.
"Hmph, pathetic." Jango remarked, as he finished getting to his feet. He prepared to trike a lethal blow against the long nose, before he could bring his chakrams down upon him however, "WAIT, STOP!"
This shout from Kaya caught the hypnotists attention, as she continued on, "Please, I'm begging you, leave him alone. I'll do anything, I swear, but please, just don't kill him!"
"Stupid girl, don't you know I'm a pirate, I'll kill this punk and get you to sign that will."
At those words, Kaya brandished the flintlock pistol she had been hiding in the tan coat that she now wore over her white dress, aiming it at the shades wearing pirate as she did. He smirked in response, "That's cute and all, but even if you did manage to kill me with that gun of yours, I'll have already ended this idiot's life. And odds are, you'll either miss, or fail to get a fatal shot, which means our plan goes through anyway."
"That's just it though, for your plan to succeed at all, you need me alive to sign my will. But, if I were to die before that..." As she said this, she pulled the flintlock back, before proceeding to place the barrel of the weapon under her chin. "...then your plan would be ruined." Her finger was only an inch away from the trigger as she finished, and while her hands were shaking a bit, they weren't doing so because of fear. "If you swear to let Usopp live, then I'll sign everything away. If you refuse, then I end your plans with this pistol."
Jango gritted his teeth at that, the situation changing as the girl threatened to commit suicide. "Fine, have it your way." He took his chakrams away from Usopp then, turning his attention to the sickly blonde girl once more as he did. From there he took a piece of paper out from his coat, as well as a pen, before walking over to the girl, and handing them to her, snatching away the pistol as he did. "Now sign the damn papers already."
She began to do as he said, though with his eyes on her, he failed to notice the movement behind him.
"You shouldn't ever turn your back on your opponent!" Those words caught the pirate hypnotists attention, as he whirled to face the one who said them, as he knew the voice. He was too late to do anything however, "Flame Star!" for as soon as he had Usopp in his line of sight, he was hit with a small pellet like ball, which upon impact, ignited his upper body in flames.
Crying out in shock and pain, Jango stopped, dropped and rolled so as to put out the fire, the pistol falling to the wayside as he did. By the time he put it out and got back to his feet though, he was hit with another small spherical object, "Lead Star!", this one packing more of a physical punch to it, as it hit him square in the throat, causing a good deal of pain as he coughed up a bit of blood.
Just like the previous attack, he recovered pretty quickly, as he set his sights on the one who had just attacked him twice, though his throat still hurt, he ignored it and prepared to send one of his chakrams flying at his sharpshooting enemy. Just as he hurled it at him though, he threw a small pellet onto the ground, yelling as he did, "Smoke Star!", the pellet bursting into a small smoke cloud as it collided with the ground, obscuring the teen from view.
Jango's patience had worn through when he had been set on fire, as of now, he was down right belligerent with anger and irritation. "Don't hide like a coward you brat! Come on out, now damn you!"
Almost as if his enemy had been waiting for him to finish speaking, his own chakram came soaring back at him once the last word passed his lips, though spinning forward rather than sideways. Rather than trying to catch it and risk injuring himself, he merely sidestepped the flying metal circle, leaving himself open as he did so.
He looked back towards the now dissipating smoke, his eyes searching about for signs of his younger opponent. However, even by the time the smoke cleared, the meddling long nose was still nowhere in sight.
"Behind you." Jango's eyes widened a great deal as those two words were said right in his ear.
He turned around to face the owner of the voice who had spoken to him, to see Usopp, in his face, his slingshot pulled back and at the ready, a fierce, as fierce as Usopp could manage anyway, look in his eyes. Said sniper was breathing a little raggedly, as he had ran as fast as he could to circle around and get behind his enemy, and looked just a bit different from when Jango had seen him a couple dozen moments ago. First there was the fact that he was bleeding from the right side of his head, showing the chakram had managed to graze him, cutting just deep enough to draw blood. Second was that he was wearing his clear goggles, having slid them down and put them on before he fired the flame star.
Just after Jango registered these three points of information, but just before he could attack, Usopp released his hold on the firing band of the slingshot, firing his next attack at the hypnotist, it hitting him point blank in the face, "Eat this you bastard! Special Attack: Certain Kill Exploding Star!", and exploding upon impact. The force from this miniature explosion broke the shades wearing pirate's glasses and sent them flying, as he screamed in pain and was knocked off his feet from the force of the point blank explosion, landing on his back with a thud, unconscious by the time he did.
Usopp lowered his slingshot now that his enemy was defeated and turned to face Kaya. However, she wasn't where she had been a moment ago, rather she was by the bloody forms of Onion, Pepper and Carrot, all of whom were coming around to consciousness, and as they did, she looked over at Usopp, a smile crossing her tear stained face as she shouted, "They're alive Usopp, they're okay!"
"They're...okay...?" Usopp questioned disbelievingly.
His face lit up a second later however, as he heard the three groan, confirming that they were indeed alive. "They're okay!" He cried.
Usopp vs Jango
Winner: Usopp
With Zoro busy dealing with the Black Cat Pirates, and Usopp having run off after Jango, that only left Luffy and Nami at the top of the slope. The latter of whom was eyeing the ship of said cat themed crew, her intentions as evident as the nose on her face.
"You want some help?" Luffy offered.
Nami's thoughts were interrupted by the man who she had once pledged to navigate for, but with her attention now on him, she said what she had been meaning to say since they found Usopp. "It's best you didn't. I talked with Usopp, he said he could navigate for a little while, until you guys found someone better suited to the position. So I'll be leaving tomorrow, now that you your getting a ship and all, and I don't need you hanging around me, trying to pry into my personal life. So now that you don't need me anymore, just leave me alone, alright?" It was phrased as if she expected some kind of answer, but as she turned and ran down the slope, away from Luffy, it was clear she wasn't going to wait for one, and that she didn't care for one.
As she ran down the slope, her back to him, Luffy couldn't help as anger and irritation shot through him, now these emotions weren't necessarily directed at her, rather the act she was putting up, the mask she had on, those were what was grating on his nerves. So, deciding he didn't want to put up with it anymore, he followed after her, intent on confronting her within the confines of the ship she planned to steal from.
Once on the Black Cat Pirates ship, Nami found her way down to the hold, at the bottom of the boat, where just as she thought, she found a good deal of treasure simply waiting for the taking. And she was the one who'd be doing the taking, she thought to herself as she came upon the first bag, and leaned down to examine the contents. Happy with them, she grabbed ahold of the sack and prepared to hoist it up and over her shoulder.
Before she could though, the sound of footsteps caught her attention, as someone entered the same hold she was in. She stood from her crouching position, letting go of the sack of gold she had in her grasp a moment ago, and yet didn't turn to face this person. This was because she already knew who it was, the sound of his sandals clacking against the the wood, plus his scent being what let her know. "Look Luffy, what do you-"
As she turned to face him, he cut her off, grabbing ahold of her by the arms and forcing her to look him in eyes as he did. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but this act of yours, it's not working, and all it is doing is getting on my nerves. Whatever you're doing, what ever you're trying to hide, whatever you're afraid of, you don't have to throw away our friendship, our bond over it!"
Nami closed her eyes tight to keep any tears from escaping, as she turned her head away, even as she did, her voice betrayed her, portraying her mix of emotions. "You don't understand Luffy, you don't know what I've gone through these last eight years. You can't ever know..." Those last words were said under her breath.
He shook her a bit at that, getting her eyes back on him in doing so, his expression one of frustration, with a bit of helplessness mixed in, plus all the feelings he held for her showing through as well. "Then tell me, make me understand! What ever pain you have inside, let it out! Scream if you wanna, cry if you need to, hit me if it helps you, just take it all out on me! You don't have to deal with whatever it is alone, let me help you!" His eyes bored into hers as he did his very best to get her to confide in him.
The young woman couldn't help but gasp at his words, at the same time, the tears she had been fighting so hard to keep in began to come out, the look in the raven haired teen's eyes helping to cause this. And as she began to cry, the straw hat teen pulled her into an embrace, as he tried to comfort her and calm her. He simply held her there, blocking out the sounds of fighting from outside, only focusing on the young girl in his arms.
There in his arms, as she cried into his chest, she almost forgot about what she had to do, she almost forgot that he couldn't help, she almost forgot she had to do this on her own otherwise all the people she loved would die, keyword, almost. So, with her resolve hardened, she took a few shaky breaths, then a sharp one, before shoving the rubber boy away from her as hard as she possibly could. "You are so stupid! Why don't you get it!? I don't need you or your help, nor do I want them!"
That certainly took the youthful pirate captain back, "Nami, I-" As he tried to speak once more he took a step forward, however he was cut off and stopped in his tracks as Nami continued to shout at him. "No! Shut up! Just shut up! You don't know anything you blithering idiot!" She shook her head vigorously as she yelled this. "Why do you even want to help me anyway!? I thought I made it clear, I don't want anything to do with you or your stupid dream! I was only helping you out because you agreed to let me go without a fuss afterwards!"
Luffy's eyes were once more wide with pain and shock, however that didn't deter Nami, even despite the fact that her tears continued to stream faster, she continued on unlike last time. "Tell me why!"
"Because I love you." He still appeared shocked and hurt, but he didn't hesitate with his answer, not even the slightest bit.
Nami laughed at that, she laughed an ugly, mean, nasty, bitter laugh. "You love me huh? A lot of people have 'loved' me, what makes you any different or any better than them?"
The young teen's eyes widened even further, managing to catch her double meaning, the sharp increase of hurt in his eyes all too visible, just as the anger he was feeling was visible, said anger beginning to morph into rage, as he began to clench his fists quite tightly.
As she was making eye contact with him now, she saw his feelings clearly. "What, thought when you found me that I'd be your little virgin princess?" She spat at him then, it landing only a hair's away from his person. "Fuck you Luffy."
He began to draw blood, more blood than most could with their own fingernails, as his fists somehow managed to clench even tighter, and tears began to finally fall from his face, despite how hard he had been fighting them back. He wanted, needed to say something in response, but the tears were speeding up with every second, and all the emotional agony he was in, not to mention the shock he was feeling, had him speechless.
Unfortunately for him, her verbal barrage wasn't over just yet. "You really wanna help me Luffy? Then get the hell out of my life! Because if you haven't figured it out yet, I don't want anything to do with you! Understand!? I HATE YOU!" She cried this almost at the top of her lungs.
Finally not able to take anymore, he took action, crossing the hold to her, stopping less than half a foot from her, his face dangerously close to hers, as he spoke with a low, somber, almost dangerous tone. "Even still, I won't let you leave. Only once I've freed you from whatever binds you, whatever's causing you so much pain and suffering, will I let you leave. If you really hate me so much, and don't want to be a part of my crew, then you're free to leave. But only once you yourself are actually free."
With that Luffy turned away and walked out onto the deck of the ship.
Once he was gone, Nami collapsed to her knees, barely able to hold herself up in even that position, everything she had said weighing so very heavily on her. Her throat almost felt like it was burning, having had to spit such acidic words at the one she loved the most, it physically hurt her just as much as it did emotionally. And now, with him no longer in sight, she couldn't keep it together anymore, and began to cry her eyes out, whimpering to herself all the while. "Luffy, I'm so sorry. It was all lies...everything I said to you, every single word was a lie. Please...forgive me. Don't hate me. Don't leave me. I love you." As much as she wanted to say all of this to Luffy, she couldn't, not if she wanted him to continue to live on and follow his dream.
As Luffy jumped down off the deck of the ship onto the sand of the shore, Zoro's eyes locked onto him, watching as he made his way to the slope. He could immediately tell something was wrong, as not only were the rubber teen's hands bleeding, but his hat was down, covering half of his eyes. And even though that was the case, he could still see that the raven haired boy was crying.
"Are you okay?" Though he didn't say it verbally, Zoro managed to ask the straw hat wearing pirate this question with only his eyes, as the teen came to a stop two or so feet from him.
Luffy failed to answer, though his sobs did an excellent job of doing so for him, as he pulled his hat down to cover almost his entire face, beginning to cry even harder while doing so.
Zoro's eyes narrowed greatly, as he knew just who had caused his younger friend, his brother, so much pain without so much as lifting a finger against him. "Damn her."
Luffy didn't get much time to pull himself together, before his and Zoro's attention was called to the top of the slope, "What the hell is this!?" where they saw Kuro, looking somewhat less dignified than he had last time, as well as more dangerous, as he now sported a black furred glove with full length katana blades at the end of each finger on his right hand, his indignation evident in his eyes and voice.
"What do you all think you're doing lying down on the job!? Or did you actually lose to these brats!? And where the hell is Jango!? How did that idiot let this happen!?" He dropped the satchel he held with his non-gloved hand onto the ground as he shouted all this.
"Kuro!"
That got the false butler to turn away from the scene of his entire crew, minus Jango, unconscious down below, and look towards the one who had angrily called his name, Usopp himself. The long nosed teen's teeth were grit, his eyes showing his anger, as he took aim at the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates with his slingshot, getting ready to fire one of his stars at the glasses wearing bastard. "Your plan has gone belly up, your men and that weird hypnotist guy, my friends and I showed them exactly why you don't mess with this island! There's no one left but you, there's no way you can succeed now! We're stopping you here!"
"You, stop me? Do you understand how absurd that notion is? You're nothing but a pathetic weakling, a cowardly liar, a sniveling child, and a long nosed buffoon. You don't have the slightest chance in stopping me. The only reason you've gotten so far is because of one simple miscalculation that I made, and that was in bringing those three wannabe pirates here. If I had know they were friends of yours, I'd have disposed of them before setting the final stage of my plan into motion." The fake butler adjusted his glasses, before stating one more thing. "Even now, my plan will not fail."
"Oh yeah? And just how did you come to that? Your hypnotist is down for the count, there's no one left that can get Kaya to sign that stupid will you drew up."
"I can always get her to sign it by force. By beating these fools, you've forced me into a position where I'll have to carry out my plan with my own hands, something I had been meaning to avoid. All you've really managed to do, is irritate me." Kuro crouched and opened up the satchel, as he continued to speak. "In fact, rather than help Kaya, you've made things worse for her. If my plan had been carried out in it's original form, then she'd have died a painless death, completely unaware of anything around her, that way she'd go peacefully. However, because of your interference, not only will she have to be made aware of the fact that her caring butler had been deceiving her this whole time, but she'll have to die by my hands, and I don't do gentle. She'll die in agony and fear, as a slice her to ribbons...and it'll be all your fault." As he finished, he left the bag where it was and stood once more, now wearing a second furred glove, it being completely identical to the other one, blades and all.
Usopp's eyes narrowed, as his anger morphed into rage and he shouted, "Shut up! That won't happen, because as long as I stand, I won't let you hurt Kaya! Now take this you goddamned bastard! Exploding Star!", firing the small projectile at his enemy after finishing doing so.
Kuro barely put any effort into dodging the attack, merely sidestepping it, before lunging forward, slashing at the curly haired teen with both of his Cat Claws as he did. The simple attack did a great deal of damage, as ten diagonal slash marks were carved into the marksman's chest, five from the left down, five from the right down, blood spurting from each one of them as they appeared on his body. The attack caused Usopp's body to be pushed back a step, the pain that shot through his body so severe, that a half strangled cry was all that managed to escape his mouth, the teen hurting far too much to form a full scream. His eyes rolled back inside his head then, as he stumbled forward, before falling face first to the ground, blood beginning to pool under him.
Kuro straightened his posture and turned to face Usopp once more, after said teen had fallen to the ground. "Someone as pathetic as you, can't protect anyone." The darkly dressed man fixed his glasses once more, as he spoke again. "From the start of your little stand against me and my plan, you were bound to fail. You will die, your friends will die, and then Kaya will die. As far as the villagers are concerned, all of us will have been caught up in trying to stop a pirate attack, and I'll be the only survivor. Don't worry though, I'll tell one last lie on your behalf. I'll tell them you bravely defended Kaya, using your own body to shield her from the vicious pirates, and that you died a hero. Unfortunately, your efforts were in vain, as she died anyway, falling victim to the blade of the captain, in spite of my own efforts to save her. I'll be the butler who lost his one purpose in life, to serve his mistress, and it'll come as no surprise when I inherit the girl's estate and become a recluse. A bit different from my original plan, but it'll have to do."
"You're a heartless fucking asshole, but you were already aware of that, weren't you?" Usopp spat bitterly and sarcastically, wheezing in pain and coughing up a bit of blood as he did so, turning over so that he was lying on his back just before he did.
Kuro's eyes met Usopp's own, back to normal, rage filled ones, as his annoyance at those words became apparent in his eyes.
"You lived with that girl for almost three years, and yet you have no problems with killing her!? You feel no shame or guilt over what you've been planning to do since the beginning!? Even after all she's done for you!? Only a true monster could feel like that."
"Hmph. All she's done for me? Please enlighten me, when has that rich little brat ever done anything for me?"
That's when Kuro heard the click of a flintlock being cocked from behind him, he responded in a split second, whirling to face whoever dared come up behind him, bringing his right set of claws with him, looking to slice up whoever it was. "Don't ever sneak up on me, unless you want to die!"
"KAYA!" Usopp cried in fear, as he forced himself to his feet and rushed to her aid, tackling her out of the way at the last second, taking the slashes in her place, the blades carving five marks into his back, blood beginning to seep from them only a moment later.
Kuro was caught off guard by this, but that only lasted for a moment, as he straightened his posture once more, and regained the little bit of his cool that he had lost.
Kaya lie under Usopp, as they had hit the ground after he had tackled her, her eyes wide as she realized what the long nosed boy had just done for her. "Usopp?" She spoke, almost hesitantly as she did.
The curly haired teen made no move to get off her, hell he didn't even respond to her when she spoke to him, only his ragged breathing letting her know he was still alive, this being because he could barely feel anything other than the pain he was in, which made it incredibly hard to move once so ever. This was brought on by the blood loss he was currently suffering from. And as Kaya managed to gently dislodge Usopp, putting him on his back as she did, she would realize this as well, seeing as she had been studying to become a doctor for quite a few years. Just the sight of the ten slashes across his upper body nearly caused the pale girl to scream in horror, and the fact that he was covered in blood didn't help in the slightest. She stifled the scream that wanted to come out though, and tried once more to get her protector's attention. "U-Usopp...?"
"Ka-Kaya, what are you d-doing he-here? You were supposed to go to the vi-village and get the U-Usopp Pirates to a doc-doctor." He managed to wheeze out.
Not being able to hold back the tears that had been wanting to come out since she arrived at the shore any longer, they began to roll down her face. "I did. They're safe, the village doctor is treating them as we speak."
"Yo-you were supp-supposed to stay with th-them, safe, in th-the village. Wh-why are you here? Your life is in dan-danger! You've got-gotta run, now, qui-quickly!"
"I won't! You're still here fighting, even after I treated you so badly, and everything the village did to you, you're still fighting to protect all of us...you're still fighting to protect me. I won't run, I won't abandon you when you refused to abandon me! Look at you, you're barely alive, yet still so brave, how could I run away and leave you!?"
"This is no place for a lady Mrs. Kaya, please leave." Kuro stated with faux concern.
Kaya's eyes widened considerably at those words, "Stop.", she got off her knees and rose to her feet then, as she raised her head and made eye contact with the one who had been her butler for so long. "Just stop! You don't need to keep that stupid act up any longer! Merry told me everything, if you want my fortune that badly, then you can have it! Take it, I don't care, just take it and leave this island in peace!"
If Kuro was surprised that Merry was still alive, he didn't show it. "Peace? It's funny you would say such a thing Mrs. Kaya, as that's exactly what I want. It's true that I want your fortune, however I don't just simply desire to be wealthy, no, rather I want to live my new life in the peace of this village. No pirates, no marines, only the sense of peace and tranquility that comforts me so. When my plan finally comes to fruition, I will live with the sublime peace of mind I so desire. Yes, the glorious comfort of a peaceful life, will be mine for forever and ever. In short, no matter what happens today, you will leave your fortune to me, and die. Mrs. Kaya, these things will happen...I promise you."
Kaya shook her head vigorously, closing her eyes tightly, as she cried, "NO! No they won't!", opening her eyes, she quickly picked up the pistol she had dropped after being tackled, and took aim at the one who had once been her closest confidant. "You will leave this island, NOW! Otherwise...I...I...I'll kill you!" Her hands were shaking almost uncontrollably as she shouted all of this, her tears managing to travel even faster down her face.
"You'd honestly take my life?" Kuro asked, using the tone that contained his false gentleness as he did.
"Stop it! I can't take any more of your lies! Please, just go, and never come back!" Her desperation was obvious.
"Yes, I see. You're all grown up now, no longer the child I once knew. So much has happened since you became my mistress, and all of it has made you stronger, so much so that here you are, willing to defend your loved ones even if it might cost you your life." Kuro removed his right Cat Claw, holding it with his left hand, as he continued on. "Mrs. Kaya, don't you remember all that we've been through together? We spent so much time together, even before your dear sweet parents passed away. You were more than my master, you were my best friend." The suave, sweet talking man pushed his glasses up with his non-gloved hand, before continuing further on. "So much time...so many memories, together we suffered and together we rejoiced, like family."
"Klahadore..." Kaya's voice showed her uncertainty, her hesitation, as her tears continued to come even faster. It was plain as day, on her face and in her eyes, she wanted so badly to believe that this wasn't real, that one of the three people closest to her hadn't betrayed her, and wanted nothing more than to kill her and take her fortune. She just wanted her best friend back.
The now sweetly smiling man was slowly moving towards her, as he began speaking once again. "I took you on shopping trips to the city, I looked after you so diligently when you were ill, and we used to talk for hours and hours. Kaya, listen to me, I was devoted to you for so long." He stopped little more than a foot from her, before reaching out and grabbing ahold of the pistol she clutched between her hands so desperately. Now that he had a hold on the weapon however, his gentle, caring, sweet tone vanished, as the tone of Kuro the killer took it's place once more. "For so very long, I endured." A small gasp escaped Kaya, as she realized she might have just made a mistake. "I quietly suffered, so that today I could end your life and take everything that I deserve." Kuro removed the flintlock from her grasp, before tossing it aside, confirming the young blonde girl's fears with his words, as she bit her lip to keep from sobbing aloud.
His tone took on an even more malicious nature then. "I, who was once the dreaded Captain Kuro, had to bow, scrape and humble myself before some spoiled little girl, and cater to her every whim...can you even fathom my humiliation!? It went against every fiber of my being. Do you understand the depth of these daily insults? Can you understand the rage created by those transgressions against my pride!?"
Luffy had heard enough, and was now slowly making his way up the slope towards the three.
Kaya couldn't keep her sobs from coming out any longer, as they became vocalized, filling Usopp with rage. "KURO!" He cried as he shot to his feet, his fist cocked and ready to be thrown, unfortunately, Kuro caught the fist with his non-gloved hand when it came flying, before slashing the long nosed teen's right side with the Cat Claw he still wore, proceeding to kick him in the same side, knocking him to the ground, a cry of pain escaping him as he hit the dirt, a rib or two broken from the strong kick.
"USOPP!" Kaya shouted with worry.
"I'm honestly surprised you're still alive after receiving three direct attacks from my Cat Claws, though I suppose I can just chalk it up to your stubborn, idiotic nature. In the end however, it's all futile, as my plan will not fail."
Usopp began struggling to his feet once more, "I...won't let you...hurt Kaya. I'll protect her...even if it costs me my life!", managing to stand up, albeit with a noticeable slouch, much faster than one would expect him to. Although, that didn't change anything, as he had lost a lot of blood, was still wheezing pretty badly, and to add to it all, had lost his slingshot along the line of getting knocked to the ground three times, which left him completely defenseless.
"You truly are pathetic." Kuro stated.
"Hey Kuro!" The name he so wanted to erase being called from behind him got the false butler's attention, as he turned around to face whoever had spoken it. The only problem...said person was a certain straw hat wearing individual, and was currently in his face, right fist cocked back, ready to be thrown. "Just shut up already! I'm tired of listening to your bullshit!" Said fist was then rammed into Kuro's face, breaking the right lense of his glasses upon impact, the force behind the fist causing the dark haired man to yelp in pain and be knocked down to the ground hard, so hard in fact that he tumbled backwards several times, coming to a stop in a hunched over sitting position.
Luffy didn't let him off with just that, closing the distance between them and kicking him in the chest, knocking him flat to the ground this time, his glasses being knocked off in the process as well. With him looking to be done, the raven haired pirate turned and began walking away.
Usopp could only watch in shock as this happened, barely being able to believe it even as he saw it. He was able to shake off this shock however, when he saw the same man who had seemingly been knocked out, sit up, the moment he did, the long nosed sniper opened his mouth to warn his rubber friend, before he could though...
"Gum Gum Stamp!" Luffy shouted, as he turned and shot his left foot out, stretching it to reach the cat themed former pirate, his sandaled foot slamming into his face and continuing to stretch, taking him along with it, until he and the rubber foot slammed into a tree, the nicely dressed man's head crashing through it, going about halfway through all the wood, to about the center of the tree. Retracting his foot from Kuro's face, Luffy had his leg return to it's normal length, before placing his foot back on the ground, leaving the former captain of the black cat pirates lying limply against a tree, his head literally ran through half the damn thing.
When Luffy turned around this time, Nami caught his eye, the orange haired teen standing on the deck of the Black Cat Pirate's ship, looking to have been watching what had been going on. The two made eye contact for several moments, before Nami broke it, looking away, before turning and walking away entirely. The straw hat pirate simply lowered his head, and began making his way back down the slope, towards Zoro.
Usopp was quick to try and follow, "Holy crap Luffy! You're-", he stumbled then, almost falling to the ground, before Kaya moved to him and caught him, helping him to stand and make his way after their mutual friend. After thanking the pale girl, Usopp continued with what he had been saying before, "You're fricking amazing! You took that guy down in three hits flat! Thanks for that by the way."
"Yes, thank you so much Luffy." Kaya said pleasantly, though she could only form the tiniest smile at that point, her tears not even dried yet.
"No problem." Luffy replied, his tone just a bit off from the usual happy go lucky one they were used to.
Only Zoro, who was waiting at the bottom for them, knew why, and could see that the expression on his face was anything but happy.
As Kuro pulled his head out of the tree, several small pieces of bark broke off of it. Despite having just freed himself from the tree, the former pirate captain made no move to stand up, as he was in no shape to fight after all the damage he had just taken. Almost the entire right side of his face was covered in blood, the dark haired man holding his right eye closed to keep any from getting in it. "How could that damn brat injure me so much in only three blows? Every attack felt like being hit with a fucking galleon! How could some punk like him have such monstrous strength!?" The scheming man wondered to himself. "And that stretching ability...he must have eaten a devil fruit." He thought to himself. "If I could just get to my feet, I could at least outpace him, since I can't outfight him. I'd slice him to ribbons before he knew what was happening, if I could only stand." He tried to climb to his feet then, however the pain racking his body was too much, and he fell back to the ground, ending up in the same sitting position against the tree he had been in before.
Coming to terms with the fact that he had just been wrecked, Kuro wiped most of the blood off his face with his gloved hand, staining the material of the palm with the red sticky substance, but allowing him to open his right eye once more. "I've no choice, if I want my plan to succeed, I have to resort to drastic measures." With his non-gloved hand, he then reached into his jacket and pulled out a small white pill, holding said pill between his index finger and thumb. He brought it overhead and looked up at, examining it for a few moments, as his thoughts wandered. "I called in every favor owed to me, used up all of my connections, and paid a small fortune, all for this little tablet...it better be worth it."
Popping the pill into his mouth, he outright swallowed it, not bothering to chew. The effect was almost immediate, as he felt strength return to him, not only that, but he felt his muscles expand a bit as well, making him the slightest bit more muscular. He didn't feel as good as new, he felt better than ever. So he got to his feet, before walking over and retrieving not only his glasses, placing them back on his face once more despite them missing a frame, but also his other Cat Claw, slipping it on as he prepared to kill everyone here.
Luffy was silent as he got to the bottom of the slope, even though Usopp was talking his ear off as he followed behind, with the help of Kaya. The long nosed teen didn't seem to get the hint, as he continued to ramble on, as he and Kaya followed the rubberman, as he drew closer to the ship of the Black Cat Pirates.
This continued, until Zoro cut him off, "That's enough Usopp."
"But I was just-"
"Just leave him alone, okay?"
Usopp was understandably confused. "I don't understand. Did something happen?"
The green haired teen looked back at his younger brother then, to see him just standing there, his hat pulled down a bit, seemingly as he stared at the Black Cat Pirates ship. "Yeah, something happened alright." Once the swordsman turned his head back to face Usopp and Kaya, they understood how serious it was by the look on his face. While they didn't understand what had happened, they both knew better than to push someone when they were too upset to even talk, so they backed off, wondering to themselves as they did, "What's wrong with Luffy?"
Unbeknownst to his three friends behind him, Luffy's eyes narrowed, as a somewhat familiar sound made itself known to his ears. "What was that?" Turning around to have a quick look around, his eyes widened as he spotted Kuro, standing behind Usopp and Kaya, poised to strike. "Look out!"
It was too late though, as before they had any time to react, the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates struck, slicing Kaya up from behind, ripping up the back of her coat and dress, and carving ten slash marks into her back, blood spurting from said marks the moment they came into being. She was knocked to the ground from the force behind the attack, a cry of pain escaping her as she did, causing Usopp to yell out in panic and fear, "KAYA!"
The conniving man wasn't done yet, as he prepared to attack Usopp as well, before his blades could make contact with his flesh once again however, "Usopp, move!" Zoro tackled him out of the way, doing so just fast enough to prevent either of them from taking the slashes from his right Cat Claw.
The former butler wasn't deterred in the slightest, turning to face the swordsman and marksman and striking out once more. But just before the Cat Claw could hit it's mark, Luffy managed to get in between it and his friends, stopping the blades in their tracks by grabbing ahold of their user's wrist, keeping him from moving them any closer to their intended targets. "No you don't!"
"You managed to stop one of my claw strikes, impressive." Kuro remarked. Even as he said it, his other Cat Claw was ready for use.
"Zoro, get Usopp and Kaya to that ship! Make sure to keep them and Nami safe!" As Luffy gave this order, Kuro brought down his other Cat Claw, which the straw hat pirate also managed to stop, catching him by the wrist for the second time.
"On it Captain!" Zoro replied, as he stood, throwing Usopp over his shoulder as he did, before running over to and scooping up Kaya, then getting ready to rush to the Black Cat Pirates ship. Just before he did though, Luffy spoke to hime once more. "Zoro, take my hat too."
"Right!" The swordsman came to Luffy and quickly took the straw hat from his head and placed it on his own, before rushing to the boat like he had originally intended.
Nami had wandered to the back of the ship after breaking eye contact with Luffy, not wanting to face him in the slightest. "His eyes...they were so cold." She thought to herself. "I...I did that." Tears once more threatened to escape from her eyes, so she preemptively wiped at them, so as to make sure not a drop escaped. "I can't cry anymore, I just can't."
She was snapped out of her thoughts as the sound of a scream pierced her ears. "What the...?" Shouting soon followed, so the orange haired girl raced to the front of the ship, only to be nearly knocked over as Zoro climbed aboard. "Hey, watch what you're doing!" He ignored her, as he placed Kaya and Usopp down, as he did so that's when Nami noticed he had been holding them in the first place.
"What happened? Kaya's all cut up!"
""Yeah, turns out that Kuro guy wasn't down for the count like we thought he was. Luffy'll take care of him though, we just gotta make sure to be ready if the underhanded bastard makes his way up here."
"Wait a sec, why are you wearing Luffy's hat?" Nami asked, suddenly realizing that the green haired man was wearing it.
"Why do you care?"
As Zoro and Nami spoke with one and other, Usopp had gotten to his knees to make sure Kaya was alright. She was unconscious and her breathing was shallow, but she was still alive, thankfully.
Zoro noticed all the rage in Usopp's eyes then, as he did, he stopped talking with the cartographer, and spoke to the sniper, "Don't worry, Luffy'll make that guy pay for hurting one of his friends, trust me."
Usopp nodded his head then, "I know he will." After saying this, he stood to watch the battle that was happening below.
Luffy was locked in a test of strength between himself and Kuro, as the former held the Cat Claws at bay, keeping them from cutting him to pieces, while the latter pushed further downward with the pair of weapons, intent on killing the rubber young man. Only a few moments in, it was clear who had the advantage, as Kuro couldn't gain any ground. So, with the upcoming result already being obvious, the man of thousand plans opted out of the strength contest, doing so by kicking his opponent in the chest, breaking away from him by doing so, and causing the straw hat wearing teen to skid back several feet. Capitalizing on that, he took two quick steps forward, before delivering a powerful right spin kick to his enemy's chest, the force behind the kick knocking him to the ground hard, so hard that it caused him to tumble backwards about a dozen feet.
As the false butler placed his foot back on the ground, he thought to himself, "My strength, it's increased drastically. With this new boost, and my speed, there's no way this punk can beat me. It's finally time...time to kill everyone here." A wicked smirk crossed his face then, before he began to wobble back and forth, going from one leg to the other, over and over again, repeatedly.
When Luffy had stopped rolling, he came to a stop face down against the ground. Despite the power behind the kick he had just received, he felt no pain, though his opponent's newfound strength did have him wondering where it came from. Nevertheless, he didn't let his mind wander on the subject, as he had to focus on the situation at hand, so he got to his knees and prepared to stand. As he did get to his feet however, Kuro disappeared just before the moment the raven haired teen would have laid eyes on him. "Outta The Bag Attack!" A decently strong gust of wind was blown up then.
Kuro was nowhere to be seen, even as Luffy scanned the whole shore with his eyes, he couldn't find the guy. "Where'd he go?"
Luffy's attention was then caught, when suddenly, out of nowhere, five slashes appeared on one of the Black Cat Pirates grunts abdomen, blood spurting from them.
"What the...?"
The same thing happened again to another of the grunts, this one lying nearly twenty feet from the other one. Three more followed suit, before Luffy was finally hit by some of these slashes, two carving into his right arm, one going across his left leg, and then one more ripping across his abdomen. If these hurt him, he certainly didn't show it, as he watched intently while the slashes started hitting the Black Cat Pirates once more. The raven haired young man's eyes widened quite considerably, as he realized just exactly what was going on.
He continued to watch, almost as if he was bewitched by the sight, as the shore was painted in the blood of the Black Cat Pirates, the men being torn apart by the man who had once been their very own captain.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, one after the other they were slaughtered, as if they were nothing more than cattle.
Finally, Luffy could take no more, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?", he screamed in rage.
Kuro came to a stop then, appearing once more, impaling the husky Buchi on his right Cat Claw as he did, killing the man almost instantly. The former pirate looked a little different now, his jacket was still open and his tie was still loosened, but his hair, it wasn't slicked back anymore, also he had several strands of it loose, said strands falling onto his face. Then, most noticeably, his eyes were filled with bloodlust. "It's none of your business boy, but if you must know, I never intended to let any of these mongrels leave this island alive. No one who knows my true identity can live to tell about it, not if I want the peace I desire so much. Once I'm done here, I'll kill that fool Jango too. To erase Captain Kuro and everyone who ever knew him, that is what my plan entailed from the very beginning."
"You sunuva bitch, they're your crew, you're supposed to protect them! How could you dare to even think about harming them!?" The straw hat pirate shouted.
Kuro fixed his glasses before responding. "If that's what you truly believe, then you're nothing but a misguided fool. Pirates are nothing more than savages, incapable of rising above their animal nature. Without my plans, what could these imbeciles possibly accomplish? A crew is nothing to me, they are simply a means to an end. Crewmembers are just pawns in the captain's game. Whether my men live or die is up to me and me alone." If as to prove his point, he pierced the head of Sham, another one of his crew, with his left Cat Claw, killing the man without so much as batting an eye.
"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY HONOR, THOSE MEN ARE YOUR FRIENDS!" Luffy cried near the top of his lungs, completely outraged by the other man's actions.
"Friends? You truly know nothing. This, this right here, is what pirates are! So don't you dare talk down to me boy!" Kuro shot back, his rage now as visible as his enemy's.
"You...you aren't a real pirate. You're nothing more than scum!" Luffy spat, as he began rushing towards the older man.
"It would appear that you need a lesson in what pirates are truly like, allow me to be the one to give it to you!" Kuro rebutted, as he charged forward as well.
When the two met, Luffy stopped Kuro's downward cut with his right Cat Claw by catching him by the wrist, just as Kuro stopped Luffy's right straight, by catching his fist, preventing it from connecting. The two had deadlocked, though it didn't last long, as Luffy took his feet off the ground and decked the darkly dressed man in the chest with both legs, causing him to skid back several feet, letting go of Luffy's fist in the process. The rubberman didn't intend to give his enemy any time to recuperate, as when he landed on his feet, he shot his right fist forward, his arm stretching so as to allow it to reach the glasses wearing man. "Gum Gum Pistol!"
His fist hit it's mark, slamming into Kuro's abdomen just as he came to a stop, causing him to hunch over in pain from the blow. Snapping his arm back, he shot the other one forward, so as to hit him with a second pistol. "And again!" Only this time, right before the punch could make contact, the intended target disappeared for a moment, reappearing on top of the outstretched arm. Not wasting any time, he began sprinting down the stretched out rubber arm, preparing to behead it's owner with his left Cat Claw. Once close enough, he tried to do just that, only Luffy crouched, causing the blades to miss him by half an inch, taking a few strands of hair with them as they passed over his head.
The rubberman then tried for a punch from below, aiming to hit his opponent in the side of his knee, so as to damage his left leg. Kuro was too quick to be hit by it however, leaping off of his enemy's arm, putting himself a dozen feet in the air by doing so. Aiming to take advantage of the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates position, Luffy retracted his arm back to it's normal length, before kicking upwards with his right leg, it rapidly stretching so as to catch it's target before it could move out of the way. "Gum Gum Volcano!"
Kuro blocked the incoming kick with the blades of his weapons, stopping it from hitting his actual person, though not stopping it in continuing to stretch further upward. Not wanting to be taken along with it, he flipped over the foot and kicked off of the leg it was attached to, causing him to come racing down toward it's owner, pulling back to strike as he did. Luffy didn't have time to block what was coming, as Kuro got down to him too fast, tearing him up with all ten blades of his Cat Claws as he did, ripping ten slash marks into the flesh of the straw hat pirate's torso, all of which spewed blood upon coming into existence.
The former cat themed pirate captain landed gracefully on his feet right behind his victim, doing so in a crouched position, while said victim fell to his knees, just after his leg had returned to it's normal length. Returning to a standing position, Kuro pushed his glasses up, before doing the steps necessary for the technique he was about to use. "Pussyfoot Maneuver!" He disappeared at just the right moment, as Luffy got to one foot and swung his arm back, stretching it as he did so as to make sure he hit his opponent, though he ended up hitting nothing but air.
Growling in annoyance, Luffy finished getting to his feet, as his eyes searched about for the man that had just cut him up. For several moments he couldn't catch sight of him, however, that's when he focused on his other senses, which allowed him to hear that familiar noise once more. Still not sure what the noise was, he simply assumed that wherever he heard the noise, must be where his enemy was. This assumption did him some good, as the sound was now coming from right behind him, so following his instincts, he leaned back until his hands touched the ground, just as the glasses wearing man appeared again, aiming for his head once more, but his claws missing entirely because of the rubberman leaning all the way back.
Luffy was quick to react to his reappearance, by shifting his weight onto his hands, so as to lift his feet off the ground, where he proceeded to put them together, bending his knees as he did, before shooting them out, ramming them into Kuro's gut with great force, stretching them several feet after impact so as to put some distance between him and the double digit blade wielding man. "Gum Gum Spear!"
Kuro couldn't help but cough up some blood after taking the blow, doing so before the momentum from the attack stopped and he fell to the ground, landing on his back as he did. The raven haired teen wasn't finished with him yet, after his legs snapped back he flipped over back onto his feet, before whirling to face the other man, already launching another attack as he did. "Gum Gum Whip!" His leg was stretching further and further as it careened toward the still getting to his feet older man, sideswiping him, it rammed into his side hard, taking him along for the ride until they both slammed into the hull of the Black Cat Pirates ship, breaking through a good deal of the wood it was made up of with a crash, knocking up a bunch of dust in the process as well.
The sixteen year old watched the dust for any sign of movement, even as his leg returned to it's original length, he made no move to follow his opponent into the dust that had been knocked up. He realized how big of a mistake this was only a moment later, when he heard these words, "Outta The Bag Attack!" As a gust of wind was stirred up, all the smoke was blown away.
Luffy's eyes widened, as he realized what the bastard was doing once more. As he did though, another of the Black Cat Pirates lost their life, as they were carved up like a turkey. "No, no, NO!" He yelled, before running over to the only Black Cat Pirates that were still alive. Though, by the time he reached them, another four had died. "How many times do I have to tell you!? Stop it, you're not supposed to kill your own crew!"
No response was given, though the two new slashes carved into Luffy's back seemed like a pretty indicator that Kuro simply didn't give a fuck. Right after those were given to the devil fruit power having teen, the attacks on the Black Cat Pirates continued. He stood in the middle of them, and yet couldn't do anything. "Stop, I said, STOP DAMMIT!"
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero...and finally, all of them were dead. And all Luffy had been able to do was watch, eyes wide, as the last of the Black Cat Pirates were snuffed out. He stood there, staring at all their bodies, their blood all over the place, not even so much as flinching as he began to get sliced up once more. Several slash marks were added to his body, and he didn't even seem to know it was happening, his eyes only focused on the bodies and all the blood.
The slashes continued to plague the shore, as the ground itself began to get carved into, as well as the ship of the Black Cat Pirates, the wood being cut into in several different places, leaving dozens of grooves in it.
When Kuro finally came to a stop, he did it just a few feet from Luffy, becoming visible next to a particularly mangled body. Once in sight, Luffy's eyes were locked onto him, his rage all too clear, not only on his face, but in his eyes as well. "You...no matter what happens to me, no matter what I go through in my life, no matter what this world throws at me...I will never, EVER, become a man like you!"
The false butler pushed up his glasses while replying. "It's not a matter of will, someone like you, can't ever be like me. You're too naive, too delusional about how this world works, from the very beginning it was only a matter of time before you died. It was simply bad luck that you met me, and came upon your fate so early in your journey on the sea."
"Ugh! I am so sick of the shit that comes out of your mouth!" Luffy shouted, as he rushed the now wild looking man.
"What was that you brat!?" Kuro yelled back.
Not bothering to answer, Luffy just threw a right straight once he was close enough, which Kuro sidestepped of course, counterattacking with a right claw sweep, which the rubberman reached toward and stopped, doing so by catching him by the wrist with his left hand. With the position he was in, Kuro could capitalize, so he tried to do just that, bringing his left Cat Claw down. Before the blades could make contact with the intended target's skin though, said target kicked his wrist to try and butt away the attack, while it didn't work the way he intended, his arm did come to a stop with his foot pressed against it, both trying to push the other's appendage away. Deciding to use that to his advantage, Luffy jumped off the ground with his remaining foot, using his hold on Kuro's wrist and pushing against his arm with his foot, so as to keep him from falling on his ass. In that position, he wasted no time in decking the darkly dressed man in the chest with a hard left kick, causing him to skid back several feet from the force of it, while the rubber pirate landed firmly back on his feet.
Luffy was quick with the follow up attack, throwing his right fist towards his opponent, it stretching to reach him, though as it made it to him, he had come to a stop, and had just enough time to catch the arm by the wrist. That didn't turn out to be the best idea, as Luffy let his body snap back towards his hand, rather than the other way around, causing him to come flying towards Kuro. Not seeing this coming, and the teen coming at him too fast for him to really react, the former pirate captain was forced to take a fist directly to the face, with added force from the speed of Luffy snapping towards him. The blow would have knocked him to the ground, if it wasn't for the fact that Luffy kept him up by wrapping his legs around the man's own legs, and forcing them to keep him up, just as he had wrapped his arms around his torso at this point, so as to keep him from clawing at him.
Nevertheless, the impact had been great, so he was still sent skidding back roughly a dozen feet, Luffy's body going right along with him...except for his head, his neck stretching to keep his noggin where it was. Once his enemy had come to a stop, the rubberman threw his head back, before letting it snap back towards his body, it coming back with great speed. Kuro, still recovering from the punch in the face, barely had time to notice what was coming, before he was hit head on by it, "Gum Gum Bell!", as Luffy rammed his head into Kuro's own, a loud, resounding thonk being heard from the impact, said thonk being as loud as a bell, it was similar in the way it sounded as well. The other lens of Kuro's glasses was broken upon impact, just as the frames were knocked off his face, and his head was busted open. He was also sent to the ground, as Luffy unwrapped his limbs and let go of him right after impact, so the momentum from the attack put the man flat on his back.
The hatless straw hat teen stood where his feet had hit the ground, only about two feet from the floored Kuro, and watched, as he struggled to his feet, a good deal of blood running down his face as he did. "I will not be beaten by some brat! I was once the feared and respected Captain Kuro, I cannot lose to a stupid kid! My plan cannot be foiled...by the likes of you!" He finished as he was finally standing again. "Right here and now, I will kill you, and put my plan back on track!" He then performed the steps necessary for his signature technique. "Pussyfoot Maneuver!" He vanished the moment the last syllable of the technique's name left his mouth.
Luffy didn't bother moving, as he knew just where his opponent would appear. And just as he thought, Kuro appeared behind him, bringing his right Cat Claw down, so as to cut his enemy into ribbons. The sixteen year old avoided this by lifting his right leg into the air, causing the blades to just barely nick his leg as they passed by, before colliding with the ground. The rubber pirate then brought his right leg down, stomping down on the five blades as hard as he could, before Kuro could pull his arm back, breaking them all off upon impact. "My Cat Claw?!"
Taking advantage of the position he was in, Luffy cocked his left arm back, before shooting it forward and slamming his fist into Kuro's face, knocking him flat out onto his back, and causing him to slide back several feet as well from the force of the blow.
Neither of the men spoke, as Kuro climbed to his feet once more, struggling a bit this time as well, though managing to do it without exerting too much effort. He was panting at this point, nearing his limit. Add that in with the fact that one of his Cat Claws was missing ninety eight percent of each of the five blades it had, only decently sized slivers of them remaining, and it equaled out to the fact that this battle was drawing to a close, and fast.
Kuro began to move forward then, slowly walking until he reached his glasses, coming to a stop once upon them, picking them up and placing them on his face after doing so. Only a moment after that, he pushed them up on his face, so that they wouldn't fall off. Then, his head shot up, as he made eye contact with Luffy, all his rage, bloodlust, and the slipping grip he held on sanity, they were all quite visible within his eyes. "I...will...EVISCERATE YOU!" His head fell then, the man hanging it as he began to wobble back and forth, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, over and over again, repeatedly. He did this for several moments, before he once again, vanished. "Outta The Bag Attack!"
Luffy's eyes widened a bit, as he realized something. "That move of his...it's just like Gramps Shave technique. No, wait...it's different. There's a lot more steps to it. That's it, the noise I've been hearing, it's him kicking the ground!"
Slashes began to be carved into everything around once more, though this time they came quicker, seemed more violent, and hit a wider variety of areas, the cliff, the slope, the shore and the boat to be more specific. And yet, Luffy didn't move or falter, as he stood there, patiently waiting. This was because now that he knew what his opponent was doing, he could follow him, and thus was able to tell where he was. He didn't have to wait long, as soon enough, Kuro was withing grabbing distance, so that was just what he did, he reached out and grabbed ahold of the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates mid attack, getting him by his left wrist, which controlled his only remaining intact Cat Claw. Luffy stopping him in his tracks like that, when no one was supposed to be able to see him, let alone keep up with his movements, needless to say, Kuro was shocked as all hell. "What the!?"
"That technique of yours, it has too many useless movements." Luffy stated bluntly.
"What!?" Kuro questioned incredulously.
"All those extra, unneeded steps, they make it easy to track you." He elaborated.
"Why you arrogant little brat!" Kuro shouted in rage.
"Now that I know how your little trick works, it's time to end this."
"End this!? I'm the only one who'll be ending anything! A brat like you could never stop my plan!"
"We'll see about that!" Luffy delivered a strong right to Kuro's gut then, causing him to nearly double over in pain, as well as hock up a bit of blood as he did.
Letting go of the false butler's wrist, Luffy took a step back, before kicking his right leg up, stretching it high into the air as he did.
"My...plan..."
Stopping at the twenty five foot mark, Luffy then began to bring his leg downward, it coming in fast as it did, it retracting back to it's original length causing it to gain this great speed.
"...cannot...fail."
"Your plan, is over!" Just as his leg returned to it's normal length, he rammed the heel of his foot down into the back of Kuro's skull, forcing him face first into the ground. "Gum Gum Battle Axe!" Upon impact, the man was rendered unconscious, his lenseless frames broke in half, his nose was broken, his skull was cracked severely, nearly being broken open from all the force of the attack, and it was lights out for him. Kuro was finally down for the count.
Luffy placed his foot back on the ground, as he watched his downed opponent, looking for any clue that he might get back up. When he saw none, he turned and walked away, heading towards the bodies of the Black Cat Pirates as he did. He came to a stop before them, and proceeded to mourn them, seeing as no one else would.
Luffy vs Kuro
Winner: Luffy
To Be Continued...