The Tale of the Liar and the Oni

by way2dumb2live

The Raid on Onigashima is now finally over. The alliance won, and Kaido died. But Usopp knows he didn't do anything. He knows the rest of his crew has outshined him. He's also learned his lesson from Water 7. He knows he's not holding the crew down, but he has to get stronger. When he was training though, he saw someone that he was not expecting to see.

4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

As the sun fell, Ulti and Usopp got to work. Usopp stretched his observation as far as he could, "Most of the animals are asleep. Are you sure it's better for us to fight at night?" he asked. They had agreed that the SHZ would work better as armament training than what they were doing before. What Usopp was wondering was why fight the animals at night, since the day beasts seemed pretty strong.

"Yup. I'm gonna let you in on a secret Tengu-kun," Ulti said before going into his ear, "The night beasts can use haki." She whispered.

THAT shocked Usopp. "WHAAAT?!" he accidentally yelled before immediately covering his mouth and looking around to see if any of the animals woke up from him. Thankfully, none did. Still though, "Ulti, why didn't you tell me this earlier?" he asks.

"Well, telling you on the trip over might've made you want to back out, and telling you on the tree earlier would've been… awkward." Ulti says while pouting that Usopp just KNEW she was doing it to make him feel bad for her. And dammit, it was working.

He had to admit, Usopp began to like Ulti. Not just as a friend, but he developed a small crush on her (Although he'd never admit it). After what happened in the tree, Usopp understood Ulti. He sees her as someone that will always stick to her family and would burn the whole world for them. 'Kinda like Luffy,' he thought to himself.

So, it should come as no surprise that Usopp forgave Ulti for not telling him about the night beasts, and then began to strategize with his crush best friend frenemy partner, "So, what kind of haki can they use?" Usopp asked Ulti who immediately answered.

"Most can only use observation haki. It's actually what they use to see in the dark since their eyesight is so shitty." She continued, "Some do have armament haki, but that's because they learned it from the other Beast Pirates that fought them. The only way the beasts could've won was through learning armament haki so their arms could survive the attacks."

Usopp took all of that in and then asked the big question, "Do any of them know conqueror's?"

Usopp hoped it was none. What he got was close; "Only one, but that beast has it for a reason." Ulti continued, "It's the apex predator, the king of the jungle. If anything should have conqueror's, it should be him."

Usopp took all of that in, "So, the monsters we're about to fight can all use at least some kind of haki, their skin is as tough as a dinosaur's, and there's this apex predator that is easily stronger than both of us?" he asked in a waning voice, "Why should we hunt here again?"

"Because they taste AMAZING!" Ulti exclaimed excitedly as her eyes were replaced by stars, "Me and Pay-Pay always came here as kids to train, and when we ate a beast, we were full for days!" Ulti excitedly and dreamingly said, "C'mon Tengu-kun, you said you wanted to get stronger, and we both are getting hungry. Besides, they aren't that strong. So, let's hunt!" She said as she ran off while transforming into her hybrid form.

"Ulti! Wait for me!" Usopp yelled in an exaggerated tone as he followed her.

Ulti jumped into the trees to get a better look at the area. She stretched out her observation haki and noticed Usopp catching up to her, 'Guess I shouldn't expect a sniper to be fast,' she thought with a sigh before noticing a girl baboon about the same size as the one she fought back on Onigashima. She immediately jumps off the tree, using Soru/Shave to get the drop on the overgrown monkey. When she landed, she headbutted the baboon in the back, knocking it over. As she landed, Ulti noticed another baboon coming for her, 'So you have a brother,' she thought before turning into her full zoan form, 'so do I, and I know he's okay.' She thought before head butting the baboon.

Before she could land the hit, the sister baboon wrapped her arms around Ulti, "What the-" she said as the sister bearhugged her, preventing her from hitting her brother. Ulti thought fast and immediately changed into her hybrid form, shrinking herself to escape the hug. Ulti drop rolled to the ground, immediately jumping headfirst while using armament haki at the brother baboon in front of her, "Ulti Headbutt!"

As Usopp caught up to her, he noticed Ulti was fighting some giant baboon. Loading a shuriken, Usopp aimed straight for it's eye, killing it instantly. Ulti looked back at him, giving Usopp a 'I told you so' look. Usopp slumped before sighing, and then got to work bringing the baboon to their new camp. Before he could start though, Ulti stopped him. "What are you doing?" She asked with a face like she's seeing an alien for the first time.

"Isn't this our dinner?" Usopp asked

Ulti laughed, "You seriously think we should just stop after one kill?" She continued laughing, "You're funny Tengu-kun, but no. Remember, we're still training. Besides, the good ones are hard to kill!"

And like that, she ran off again. This time though, Usopp followed her. 'She's right,' he thought to himself, 'If I wanna be a brave warrior of the sea then I have to challenge stronger opponents!' he thought before realizing, 'But how can I become stronger if I'm fighting things that are way out of my league? I'm weak enough as it is, while Ulti is much stronger without me. I mean, she just took out two giant monkeys! I'm just slowing her down like I slow my crew down. Wait, did I just compare Ulti to my nakama? Do I consider her nakama? Hold on, I'm not even captain! I'm not allowed to consider anyone nakama. It's official, I'm a fai-'

"USOPP!" Ulti yelled as she hugged him. Usopp realized that he was about to run straight into a giant snake. "You spaced out again," she said as she continued hugging him, "It's okay, he's proud of you." She said before putting a hand over his lips and a finger over her's, motioning him to be quiet.

Usopp calmed down as he doubled back and breathed. He noticed the sheer size of the snake. Its scales were white with black accents crossing between them, making the snake look like a zebra. He also noticed with his observation haki that it is massive. So massive that it out-stretches Usopp's observation haki. What Usopp noticed the most was how its fangs leaked something… blue. It felt weird to Usopp. It felt like something unnatural, something that didn't belong in Wano, or even this world in general. Suddenly, the snake immediately shot out right towards a wanizame about 3 km from where they are now, killing it instantly with its fangs. The speed it went was so fast that made Usopp and Ulti fall to the ground, combine that with the trees around them now looking like a hurricane passed through, and Usopp was left with one simple question: "What the hell is that thing?"

"That," Ulti began to say as she got up, fear and relief in her voice, "is the apex predator. We call him Nidhogg. He can use all three types of haki, has the power to camouflage, his poison is enough to make even Kaido-sama sick, he can move as fast as Kaido-sama AND be as quiet as a normal snake, he can swallow people like they're ants and to top it all off," Ulti looked Usopp in his eyes before continuing, "he's killed everyone that has ever fought it. Even other Tobi Roppo."

If the animals-have-haki part shocked Usopp, this was the electric chair. He thought back to Onigashima, and how he couldn't even beat Page One, and then took in what Ulti said again. 'It's official,' he thought, 'I'm gonna die.'

Usopp wasn't exaggerating this time. His face showed a look full of despair. He thought back to all that he's been through ever since coming to Wano. How he traveled up those waterfalls with Torao and his crew, how he became a toad oil salesman, how he was so happy he saw Luffy again, how he raided Onigashima, but at the end of the day did nothing useful. Nothing that could've helped.

But then he met Ulti. This girl that once tried to kill him offered him a chance to get stronger, to do something useful. To actually help his crew, his nakama. He remembered the all-nighter they did, and the journey afterwards.

Then it dawned on him. Ulti specifically wanted to go here, and he remembers the look on Ulti's face when she suggested this place. A look of dedication, of knowing that if she does something, there'll be no coming back from it. A look that signaled to Usopp, 'I know what I have to do, and I'll do whatever it takes to do it.' And then, all of the dots that had nothing to do with each other connected together, and Usopp looked angrily at Ulti, staring daggers into her soul.

"YOU SET ME UP!" He angrily shouted as he pointed to Ulti.

"What? No I-" Ulti immediately began to say, but Usopp was having none of it.

"Don't even TRY that shit on me Ulti! You knew that thing was here. You knew how strong that thing was. So when you couldn't kill me yourself, you just sent us both here so you could run while I die by being chewed by that goddamn thing!" Usopp yelled with all the anger bottled up inside of him throughout his whole time coming to Wano, slowly standing up with each word before finally, with tears in his eyes and anger and betrayal written all over his face, "WHY DID I EVER TRUST YOU?"

.

.

.

Ulti bent her head down and took all that in. Usopp began to slowly calm down, but he was still mad nonetheless. Still, he wondered what Ulti would say next, 'Maybe she'll apologize? Probably beg me to keep her free.' Usopp humphed in his head, 'Like hell I'll do that! She tried to kill me, so I'll do the same! I'm already dead anyways.' He then turned his back towards her, walking in the opposite direction of the snake.

As Usopp stood there and looked down on Ulti, a spider had caught a butterfly in its web. Just as the spider started to eat, both bugs turned to mush, with the pressure in the air becoming even heavier.

Likewise, Ulti's tone became just as heavy, "Big talk coming from a liar."

"What?" Usopp turned back with a dangerous tone

Ulti got up while speaking with the same poison Usopp previously had, "You heard me. You lied your way through everything. Your captain picked you up out of the middle of nowhere in the East Blue all because he thought you were some badass warlord. The Navy always gets your bounties wrong. Not because you are sneaky, but because you're always lucky in the right place at the right time, and you always eat them up like they actually show you're strong. Well, NEWS FLASH! You're not strong, and get this," Ulti came to his ear, whispering, "You'll never be as strong as your dad. Not even close."

That immediately shattered Usopp's confidence. But before he could talk back, Ulti walked back and began to speak again, "I mean SERIOUSLY! What does everyone see in you? Oh sure, you're a good shot, but you use a slingshot that uses plants as ammo. And it's not like you're using poison rounds, because that would make your doctor mad." Ulti said with a sarcastic tone as she made a mocking expression, "Ohhh nooo! I can't shoot a woman or use poison that can actually kill, that would be hurting my crew's feelings!" Ulti then looked him dead in the eyes, "Well boo-fucking-hoo! Maybe if your crew wasn't full of people with their heads up their own asses, they'd realize that you're weak because of one and only one reason: them!"

As the situation seemed reversed now, a snake found the crushed guts of the spider and the butterfly. Already hungry, the snake began to eat the remains off the ground.

Just as Ulti began to start again, Usopp darts toward her with speeds that she didn't think he could reach and grabs her throat with his left hand, all the while pushing her to a nearby tree. He then stares into her eyes with anger radiating off them.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the snake began to contort rapidly. His guts began to shift and enlarge, and you would be forgiven if you assumed the snake had a tumor on his head.

"Never," he says with more venom than Ulti could ever muster, "and I mean NEVER insult my crew. By all means, insult me. If you told me I'm not a god, I'll laugh it off. If you punch me, I'll just run away. Hell, if you fucking spit on me I'll just ignore it. But," Usopp tightened his grip around Ulti's throat. As he did, the snake's guts also shifted rapidly. No longer did it keep its slender form, but now it just looks like a green pile of exploding shit.

"If you EVER insult my crew, I won't hesitate to kill you."

SPLAT!

Like that, Usopp let go of Ulti, letting her fall to the ground and catch her breath. When she got up, Usopp was already gone. Ulti looked around with her observation haki, and saw him going in the same direction as before. Likewise, Ulti went to the nearest exit she could think of.

/./

'Good riddance,' she thought as she continued to walk to the nearest exit, 'Why did I even trust an enemy? I'll just get Pay-Pay out of jail, find Kaido-sama and kill Straw Hat!' Ulti thought with a look of determination on her face as she saw the exit.

'Is he really an enemy?' said a small voice in her head.

'Of course he is! He attacked my nakama, made me his prisoner, lied about Kaido-sama dying, manipulated me into telling him about mom, and when I take him out here to train he gets scared by the apex predator and blames everything on me! He's a liar. He always has been, always will be!'

'Fair enough, but what about all the times we fought Shanks or Whitebeard? Are you really going to tell me just because Jozu is an enemy means all the times we practiced our haki with him means nothing? What about the time Yasopp and King taught us and Pay-Pay how to track things without Observation haki? Did you forget about all that?'

Ulti was silent. She knew the voice was right, or at least had a point. Still, 'So we're just going to forgive and forget what he said earlier? Fuck off.'

'What he said was definitely out of line, but he said it in the heat of the moment. We've done it too, and so has everyone else. But, we also regretted it later, right?'

At this point, Ulti saw the exit. Just a few more steps, and she's home free. She doesn't have to worry about fake friends anymore, just her family.

'If you go out that door, Usopp will die. Maybe from thirst, maybe from a beast, but he will definitely die. He needs you.'

'And what makes you think I need him?'

Finally, it seemed like the voice was gone. However, as Ulti reached for the handle, the voice said one last thing.

'If you leave now, you will never see him again. You will never be able to apologize and have peace. Don't lie to me, you had fun with Usopp.'

Ulti stopped again. The voice continued.

'He's probably thinking he screwed up too. That's okay though, we all make mistakes.'

Ulti was again silent. The voice decided to push forward with the finishing blow.

'Besides, whatever happened to your crush on Tengu-kun? Don't you miss your thief? Oh surely he must be sorry that his princess is leaving him, all because of himself. But meanwhile, the princess-'

"OKAY YOU MADE YOUR POINT!" Ulti yelled out loud with a blush on her face.

'Atta girl. Now go get your man!'

Ulti turned around and began backtracking. Normally, this would be difficult for anyone, but Ulti had good teachers.

/./

Meanwhile, Usopp is wandering around the jungle. He makes sure to stay in the trees and out of the places where Nidhogg has been. 'Better that way,' He thought to himself, 'If I avoid him completely and make my way back to the exit, I should be out of here by tomorrow morning.' Usopp thought to himself as he looked for the tree that he and Ulti bonded o- SAT ON. They just sat together. All that talk they did with each other was just that, talk. Nothing else!

Usopp kept looking, scanning the area around him with his Observation haki, killing animals when they were in the way and making sure Nidhogg couldn't sense him. 'About that,' he remembered the darkness coming out of Nidhogg's fangs, 'what was that? It felt…' Usopp tried to think of a word for what was coming out of Nidhogg's mouth.

Just as he started to finish his thoughts, Usopp noticed a large body moving toward him at speeds as fast as Sanji. He realized who it was. Immediately, Usopp ran into the forest, uncaring of where he was going or what's in front of him, only caring about getting out of Nidhogg's way.

As he got a safe distance away from Nidhogg's path, with his face covered in scratches and bruises from running recklessly through branches, Usopp looked back at the fast traveling Nidhogg. As he took another look at his head, this time with his observation haki on, Usopp looked over the mouth again. The blue darkness coming from it was like smoke. It spread all over the place and seemed to follow Nidhogg's breath. The thing is, it didn't look like his breath.

Y'see, normally when someone uses observation haki they can see the outline of people, and if they're observation was strong enough, they could see all the small details on a person, such as Fujitora and Zoro seeing the sides on the dice when they were gambling. Thing is, the person's breath is also white, like the rest of the outline. If you've been keeping up with the plot, you see the problem.

Usopp started to increase his vision, staring more and more into the darkness. It wasn't like a breath. It wasn't a part of Nidhogg, but still, it just looked so… enticing. Usopp looked more and more into it. Then, he noticed how the smoke killed all the plants, all the animals, all the life around it. If it didn't kill them, all the animals nearby ran away, 'Just like me.' He thought as he realized something.

'I'm them.' He thought, referring to the animals, 'I'm not brave, I'm a coward. I have no strength, no power.'

Then, Nidhogg went through, blasting through everything in his path. Or more accurately, the smoke killed everything, he just slithered through the rotting corpses of the weaklings.

Usopp then noticed the same smoke coming off of the path. 'He didn't even do any of the work.' He realized. He remembered Onigashima again. In a way, Usopp is Nidhogg. Neither of them do the hard work, they only leech off of people with power. And when the powerful people do the hard work, what do they do? Thank them? No, they just take all the credit, make people think they're important, when in reality they're just a parasite.

'I guess Ulti is right,' Usopp solemnly thought, 'My crew is better off without me.'

While Usopp was moping, he failed to notice the large plant growing behind him. It looked like three bamboo-like sticks growing out of the ground, with each stick having mouths of their own. The teeth were sharp in each of them, and you would be forgiven for thinking it was three of the species instead of one, since the plant itself was underground. This plant is called the Paepalanthus Bromelioides, also known as the Lamel. It's a carnivorous plant, and it hasn't had its food in a while.

Normally, it would wrap one stick around its victim, to keep him from running. But considering his next victim is standing still, he decided to make an exception.

Right when he began to dig in, the Lamel felt a presence similar to Nidhogg's. It was definitely smaller, but it had a different air to it. It wasn't full of sheer dominance, but instead anger. Even so, anything coming close to that presence was immediately crushed under the sheer pressure of the presence which… was… coming right toward him?

The Lamel began to panic. Unfortunately, since he started panicking and interrupted his slow movements, his prey caught notice of him.

"What the hell?!" Usopp yells, just now noticing the Lamel. He quickly went for his slingshot, but the Lamel slung one of its sticks at his hand, stopping Usopp from grabbing his slingshot from the ground.

Just as Usopp thought he was once again about to die, he apologized to everyone, his crew, his parents, 'Ulti,' he thought to himself, 'I'm sorry I couldn't see you again. I overreacted. I'm sorry I can't tell you that.'

Just as he started to close his eyes, a single hand wrapped around all three sticks, choking the Lamel out. Then, the person pulled their hand back, pulling the Lamel's body out of the ground. When Usopp opened his eyes and looked to see who it was, he couldn't believe his eyes, so he used his Observation haki to double check.

The girl threw the Lamel back to the ground, stomping her haki covered foot on it and killing it. She then lent her hand to Usopp, who grabbed it and pulled himself up, still in a daze. Finally, he asks her the big question on his mind that he can't comprehend.

"W-why?" Usopp asks her, stunned.

Ulti looks at Usopp, her eyes full of sorrow. "Usopp," She begins to say as Usopp also begins to talk.

"I'm sorry," they say to each other at the same time, "Wait, what? What do you mean you're sorry? I did everything wrong! Stop copying me! You're copying me!" They said at the same time as their faces got close together.

Ulti pulled away first, breathing deeply and calming down, "Look, I didn't mean what I said back there. You're strong, and it's okay if you're a liar, because at the end of the day, you're here, and you're trying to get stronger. What I said about you never being as strong as your dad, I-" Ulti stopped herself for a minute and calmed down, "I didn't mean that. It just came out. Honestly, if you want to either cuff me and go back to your crew, I don't blame you. You're right, I tricked you. I didn't think you would think differently o-or m-maybe," Ulti couldn't think of anything to say to Usopp. Her mind felt like a hurricane, words just spinning around her head not making any sense. She tried to say more, but then Usopp stopped her.

"Ulti, it's okay." He said as he looked into her eyes, "I'm the one who should be apologizing."

Like that, Ulti's head snapped back together, her face showing her thoughts clearly, 'Huh?'

"I made connections that weren't there. I thought you were trying to kill me and all the bonding we did was for nothing. I thought you sent me into a deathtrap, when really you sent me to a gym." Usopp continued, not noticing the more than shocked Ulti, "So, I freaked out at you. I hated you for a misunderstanding, so if you want to leave me behind, by all means, do it." Usopp finished.

Like that, Hurricane Ulti returns, and she has no idea what to say. Eventually, she wraps her hands around his arms and manages to get words out of her mouth, "Goddammit Usopp! I'm the one that screwed up! You're not supposed to apologize, I am!"

Hey don't look at me, I never said what words.

Anyways, Usopp butts his head against Ulti, saying, "Like hell! It's cause of me that we even had a fight in the first place! It's my fault, I should apologize!"

"Your fault? It's mine!"

"No, it's mine!"

"It's mine!"

"It's mine!"

This continued for a couple of minutes. Usopp and Ulti just couldn't agree on who screwed up. Finally, after 10 minutes, "Well *huff* I guess we both screwed up. *huff* Ain't that right, Ulti?" Usopp said in an exasperated tone as he and Ulti layed next to a large stump.

"Yeah, I *huff* I guess." She said with the same tone as she looked down to the ground. She looked back at everything that happened from Onigashima to now and she remembered all the things she did with Page One. A smile rose to her face and unknowingly, her hand moved closer and closer to Usopp's, "Hey Tengu-kun?"

"Yeah?" He absent mindedly says

Ulti hesitates for a minute, "Was what you said about being completely depressed… true?"

Usopp looks at Ulti with complete shock for a moment. Finally, he brought up his proud voice, "HAH! As if I, the mighty God Usopp would beat someone by being sad! If anything, I beat them by making them sad. Not that I'd blame them, who wouldn't be sad when they face the irresistible might of God Usopp!" He finished his speech by flexing his muscles.

Ulti gave him a not-impressed look, before deciding to tell him about her, 'About mom.' She thought to herself.

Usopp sat back down, and his hand is now right next to Ulti's. Before they could do the thing we're all expecting them to do, Ulti starts, "Tengu-kun. About my mom,"

"Oh, that?" Usopp asks before waving his hand in a motion, "Forget about it. You don't have to tell me anything. I won't pry."

"No, I'm going to tell you." That shut Usopp up. Ulti starts in a nostalgic tone, "Her name was Mei-sama, and she was one of the best pirates in the world. The World Government knew her as the woman who could smash an island into pieces. The Rocks pirates knew her as the greediest woman alive, able to steal the hearts of anyone and everyone. It just so happens that she stole Kaido-sama's heart."

"Wait, you're Kaido's kid?" Usopp asks with his eyes popping out of his head and a finger pointing at Ulti.

Ulti giggles, "No silly, Kaido-sama and Mei-sama adopted me and Pay-Pay." Ulti continued in the same tone, "Our real parents died when I was a kid."

"That's not something you say so casually!" Usopp said in his earlier tone.

"Well, I guess you're right, but at the end of the day, Kaido-sama and Mei-sama are my real parents. Kaido-sama taught me how to fight and hunt while Mei-sama taught me how to be myself." Ulti replied.

"How to be yourself? What does that mean?" Usopp asked in complete confusion, 'Is she trans?'

Ulti looked back down at the ground, "I was… obsessed about being like Kaido-sama. I used the same clothes as him, I used the same weapon, hell I even tried to fly one time." Ulti says as she looks up at Usopp, "But then, Mei-sama taught me how to be myself. She told me that I can't keep copying Kaido-sama, and I told her that I don't know what to do if I don't, that it feels like everyone has taken everything else and I have nothing left to do. Do you know what she told me?" Ulti asks Usopp, who of course shakes his head, "The world's a big place. You can't expect to do something completely unique that no one has done before. But, you can improve the things that you want to do. That's not copying, that's innovating. Innovate your life, Ulti." She finished while looking up at the starry night sky, imagining Mei looking down on her, smiling.

Usopp was stunned. 'She's right.' He thought, 'I can't expect to do something completely unique that's never been done before. I'm a sniper for god's sake! I can't expect to come up with a style of sniping that's completely unique to me and me alone by not even sniping. All I have to do is be better than the competition.'

After his inner monologue, Usopp asks Ulti the age old question with a careful voice, "Ulti, if Mei is so strong, why wasn't she on Onigashima?" Usopp backed up a bit, already expecting the answer.

Ulti tensed for a moment, and Usopp knew that his guess was right, "She died, didn't she?" He asks in the same careful tone.

Ulti looked down on the ground, choosing not to answer, but her sad eyes said it all. Then, both their hands interlocked, "Ulti, I-"

A massive explosion snapped Ulti out of her haze and cut Usopp off. He pointed his observation haki in the direction of the explosion, and he could see the very thing he hoped not to see. The blue substance leaked down the creature, and it kept moving at the blinding pace that Usopp and Ulti both knew too well. Nidhogg came closer and closer, and Ulti had to dive down with Usopp to get both of them out of the way before it was too late. When they both got up, their skin turned pale.

Nidhogg looked down over both of them, completely unfazed at the two weaklings. Neither of their haki was even close to his, and he knew that both of them stood no chance against his power.

Usopp couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew he was going to die someday, but he didn't want to die yet! He still had to achieve his dream, to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea and to finally meet his dad again, to finally make his dad proud. But now that's all down the drain.

Ulti knew she was dead. She couldn't out run Nidhogg, and neither could Usopp. She knew that she had no chance of beating Nidhogg, but that also meant that Usopp couldn't either. Ulti thought of everything they've been through, and she remembers Page One. She thinks back to what Mei taught her about being the big sister, 'Ulti, remember to always protect Page One. You're his big sister, it's your job to look after him.' She remembers Mei telling her as they were overlooking the sunset of Onigashima, a young Page One on top of Mei's back.

Ulti breathes in deep, knowing what she has to do, "Tengu-kun?" She asks him without taking her eyes off Nidhogg.

"What? Do you have a plan?" He frantically asks her, completely hoping for the best.

Shame he's wrong.

"Look after Pay-Pay for me. I can't do my job, so I need you to. Now go, RUN!"

And like that, Ulti dashed onto Nidhogg's head, putting all her armament into her headbutt. Likewise, Usopp stayed still for a moment, looking at the fight going on. As Ulti dodged one of Nidhogg's bites, Usopp began to run like hell.

After a bit, Ulti noticed that Usopp started running. 'Good,' she thought, 'At least I won't die with nothing.' After that thought, Ulti got stabbed in the back by Nidhogg's scorpion-like tail, with it beginning to inject the same blue substance coming off it into Ulti.

To say it hurt would be an understatement, and Ulti's screams further exemplified it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

It felt like molten lava and liquid nitrogen was pouring into her spine at the same, and it hurt.

Ulti is thankful that she sees that Usopp has run away though.

/./

20 minutes later, Usopp was on the ground, completely giving up on everything. Oh sure, 13 minutes ago Usopp was still running for his life, until he heard the scream. He realized who it belonged to, and what it meant. A part of him said to keep running, to find Page One and honor Ulti's name, but then another part of him said otherwise, that it's pointless to fight an unstoppable force like Nidhogg. 'Yeah, I'm right. What's the point of running if I'm just gonna die anyways? Page One won't believe me, he'll probably die cause he didn't come with me, and I'll be failing Ulti. And if I fight? I'm dead meat! I'm better off just lying on the ground, waiting for Nidhogg to eat me like the worthless slug I am.'

As Usopp lay on the ground, he thought back to everything that had happened, and remembers how he felt the day he met Ulti on the beach, 'What happened to me?' He thought as he remembered trying to reach all of Kuri with his observation haki, 'What happened to the guy who learned his lessons from Enies Lobby?' He thinks as he remembers Sanji's words of encouragement back at Enies Lobby,

"What matters now is that you're alive. Everyone has something he can and can't do."

'But,' Usopp thought as he remembered Onigashima, 'what if you're outclassed in everything? I mean, it's not like anyone else on the crew is as bad at shooting at Luffy! Franky can probably make Sunny some cannons with aimbot, and it's not like none of the crew can lie! Hell, I'm pretty sure they'd believe Robin's lies more than mine!' Usopp thinks as he starts to cry, 'Ulti's right, I'm just slowing them down!' With that final thought, Usopp starts crying, realizing he's completely useless.

Just then, Usopp remembers something. The words that Ulti's mom told her.

"You can't expect to be completely original. The world's a big place after all, so if you've thought of something, someone else has probably come up with it. But, you can improve on your things. That's not copying, that's innovating. Innovate your life Ulti."

With that, Usopp begins to rise, wiping the tears off his face. He stumbles as he rises, his legs felt like they ran a 2 minute mile after all, but eventually he gets back up.

Usopp remembers what Ulti told him about awakening haki, "Haki blooms from resolve. Obviously, this happens mostly in battle, when you think only one thing," Likewise, Usopp begins to clench his fist and closes his eyes, thinking the same thing.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Usopp yells out loud.

This, however, gets a baboon to notice Usopp. With his arms turning black with haki, the baboon swings both of them down on Usopp, seemingly trying to kill him. But, Usopp loads a single ball bearing into his slingshot, aiming for one single thing.

"I'm going to kill you!" Usopp says to the baboon, firing the pellet at it. And then…

The baboon stops, and falls to the ground. As Usopp looks at himself, he notices his arm is covered in a metallic sheet.

'Finally.' He thinks to himself, embracing the moment. Then, focuses his haki in each direction, trying to find Ulti. Finally, he sees her in the distance, still alive and fighting Nidhogg.

"Don't worry Ulti," Usopp said out loud, "We're getting out of here together!"

/./

The scene cuts back to Ulti vs Nidhogg, with Ulti out of Nidhogg's grasp, yet suddenly she starts to feel dizzy. She suddenly sees ten of her hands instead of just two, and her whole world starts to swirl. 'Dammit!' She thought as she grinded her teeth, 'What the hell did it put in me?' Ulti then notices the tail coming at her again, this time aiming for her head. She tries to dodge, but instead falls down, ducking just in time for the tail to miss her. 'Talk about plot armor,' she thinks as she attempts to get back up, 'Dammit! Why did I have to tell Tengu-kun to run?'

'Because you didn't want him to die a painful death like you're about to?' answered her inner voice. After she said that, Ulti thought back to her entire life, remembering all the bits and moments important to her.

As she thinks back, Nidhogg's blue liquid starts to go into her system. Her face gets paler, her veins start to become so blue they begin to glow, and her eyes become pitch black. Her irises start to glow more and more gold, until soon enough her eyes look like gold coins on a pitch black plate. As Ulti looks up, she sees what Nidhogg truly looks like.

Black and white isn't his whole color scheme. As Ulti stared at him more and more, she began to notice thick blue lines surrounding his body. Unlike Ulti, his face was completely white while his eyes were glowing solid gold and pitch black at the same time, giving off the impression of the sun in space.

Ulti tried to move, to keep fighting, not willing to die here, and finally, she got u-

"Ah, I see this worm still has some fight left in her." Nidhogg said as Ulti heard him.

Ulti stopped rising midway, 'Did I just hear him?' She asked herself.

Ulti already knew that some zoans had the power to speak to animals. In fact, each zoan user can speak with their respective animal and even similar animals. The thing is, Ulti is a dinosaur zoan. Well, dragon zoan, but dinosaurs are lesser evolved dragons, so there isn't a big difference. But, that doesn't excuse the fact that dinosaurs went extinct billions of years ago. So, that raises the question;

"What the hell are you?" Ulti asks the snake dinosaur directly.

Nidhogg suddenly gained a puzzled look, "You can hear me? But you don't look like one of us. Your blood isn't even blue!" He exclaimed as he looked over Ulti.

Ulti leaped over Nidhogg's head, smashing hers against his. While it didn't phase Nidhogg, it gave Ulti a launch that got her behind Nidhogg. Then, she turned into her full zoan and focused all of her haki into her head.

Ulti didn't just charge her head with normal haki though. She had been practicing her advanced armament, and as such, decided it was now or never to use it.

Just as Nidhogg turned around, he felt a force of 10,000 tons charging straight into his chest, crashing directly into his spine. But that was only the beginning, since now he felt Ulti's haki seeping through his skin and directly attacking his spine.

What happened next made Ulti's jaw drop, more so than her being able to understand him. Nidhogg screamed.

"FARRRAAAHHH!" His voice sent a sonic boom around the whole jungle, and, for just a moment, his eyes rolled over.

As Ulti landed, she was stunned. 'I… hurt him?' She thought while looking over Nidhogg getting back up and blindly attacking her while she dodged his attacks. 'I haven't felt this strong before though,' Ulti thought as she looked over herself. While her skin was the same color, her veins were very blue and had a bright glow to them, the same color as the thing Nidhogg injected her with. 'Did this thing power me up? Nidhogg seemed surprised that I survived that hell, and he talked about me looking like one of him.'

Soon enough, Ulti began to put the pieces together, 'This thing, it's given me Nidhogg's power! With this, I can actually beat him!' She then went back into her full zoan, aiming to hit Nidhogg's spine again.

Just as she launched herself, Nidhogg trapped Ulti with his tail, "Do you seriously think I'd fall for that again?" He asks her, "Your power may have grown, but that doesn't mean you're a match for me!" He said as he began to squish Ulti, "I don't know who you are or how you're apart of our race, but that doesn't matter now! I'm not going to let you tell them about me! I will not be a slave!" Nidhogg yelled, his voice getting a little desperate by the end of his speech.

Ulti tried to break free, but that was pointless. Nidhogg continued to crush her, until her bones started to crack. Ulti could feel her life slipping away, but she couldn't do anything about it. As she began to close her eyes, she felt someone come up on her observation haki.

Nidhogg could feel him too, and he loosened his grip on Ulti. Suddenly!

"Certain Kill Green Star: Javelin!"

A large black stick came shooting out from the forest and hit Nidhogg squarely in the eye, giving Ulti the chance to get free and get a safe distance from the monster. Ulti then noticed that it wasn't a stick, but a bamboo. A giant one, 'Just like what Usopp-kun used. But it wasn't black before.' She thought before her eyes widened, 'Wait!' She turned in the direction of her savior, already knowing who it is.

Usopp came out of the forest, slingshot out, this time with both it and both of his arms completely black.

"Usopp-kun, you," Ulti said in wonder as her eyes started to tear up.

Usopp grinned, "Ulti, don't think I'm going to run from the fight again!"

Wooo boy, 7k words! This has taken me a long time, and would you believe me if i told you I decided to cut this chapter in half *again*? Yeah, this fic has become really long, but honestly I love it. It's because of you guys that I've been able to get through it, and I'm even planning on doing a sequel because of you! Your support has been great and it's proved to me that I can actually do this. You guys have motivated me throughout the year and I just want to say thanks.

Just to be clear, I am not going to give another release date for any more chapters or fics. I've realized that I can't do anything on time, so I'm not even gonna bother doing any of that. But trust me, even if I don't make a sequel, I will complete this fic.