Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Trimming Kuro's Claws

Everyone was confused as they looked at Kaya, who was standing there with her pistol aimed at Kuro as she screamed one more time, "Kladohore, stop it."

The pirate captain looked at her, and said, "I see, the lady of the hour has arrived at her final destination."

Usopp stood there shocked as one question raced through his mind, "What the heck is she doing here?" He asked himself. All his effort of keeping her safe was being practically thrown outside the window with her being present here. So he looked at her and yelled, "Kaya, what do you think you're doing? Run away."

Jango down in front of the entrance stood as he finally overcame his pain, and said, "I see the girl is here. Well, now we don't have to go to the village." He then began to eye her as he said, "We could just kill her here, and be done with all."

Even Kuro looked shocked; he honestly didn't expect the girl to come out of her bed. Years of sealing her in her room should have made her body immobile even in the kitchen if she wanted to have a cup of water. So, he said in a cold voice, "Kaya, I'm surprised that you were actually able to get out of bed let alone make till here."

The girl only stood there with defiance as she pointed her gun toward the man she once thought was her family, "Kladohore, Merry told me everything. Stop this and leave."

The man looked at her with a stone-cold expression, and said in genuine confusion, "He's still alive?" he asked before adjusting his eyeglasses, "But I was sure I showed him no mercy. Guess I'll have to end him once I'm finished here." Kaya gaped at how casually he talked about killing someone he had worked with for years and came to the conclusion that trying to reason with him leaving peacefully won't work.

Usopp then shouted again, "Kaya, I said live. Your life here is in danger; I did all this to protect you and the village." When he didn't get an answer tried to yell again only to be cut off by Kaya herself saying, "And I'm doing this to save the village." This left the young man in a stunned state.

The girl then refocused her sight on Kuro as she said, "Kladohore, listen to me. I'll give you all my wealth, but just leave this village alone, and don't hurt anyone else."

The man began to chuckle and laugh as he said, "Do you honestly think I want your wealth. Money means little to me. I want more than that. What I want is something you have. I want the peace of mind you have, and that won't work until you and everyone else is six feet under." The girl began to tremble as she heard what the man she once cared about said.

She then lifted her cocked her gun, and said, "I won't let you. This ends here Kla… I mean Kuro." She began to squeeze the trigger slightly, but she was shocked when he began to approach her.

"Kaya, do you think you can really do this? Are really going to shoot me?" he continued to walk as he spoke to her, but Usopp saw there his tricks, and yelled, "Kaya, run away." The girl didn't move as she was too shocked by the way he was talking to her.

"Do you remember all the times that we went to the shop together? Do you remember all the happy moments we had when we baked cakes together? Do you remember all the times we had tea parties with each other?" He started to come closer as the girl's resolve began to weaken thinking that deep down that the man she once knew is still there somewhere, so she dropped the gun. It was only when he stood in front of her that he said, "All these moments were horrible moments of torture that I endured for this moment." He then raised his gloved hand and tried to strike her, but something stopped him.

Kaya looked at Usopp who came with anger visible on his face and tried to punch him, but he failed in doing so, but also managed to save Kaya by distracting him. The man then looked at Usopp, and said, "Usopp, now that I think of it; I still haven't properly thanked you for that punch you gave me." He then smiled sadistically as he said, "How about we make it even?" He lifted his hand to end the Usopp, but a fist came and punched him in the face sending him to the ground.

Jango was then shocked about his captain being actually hit, as Luffy said, "If you hit being hit then you won't like what I'll do to you at all."

It was then all of Kuro's men processed what happened and said "He punched him from down there."

Kuro looked down at Luffy who was cracking his knuckles, but suddenly he heard three voices. It was that of the trio of Pepper, Onion, and Carrot who came down on him hitting with a bat, a shovel, and a frying pan respectively leaving everyone shocked at their actions.

It was then that Usopp screamed, "For the love of all that's… how did you guys know about this?"

They then stopped at Kuro laid there staring blankly at the sky. And Carrot said, "That's enough; we don't want to kill him."

Onion then looked at Usopp and said, "Captain, we came here to help you."

Pepper then added, "Yeah, what kind of crew we're going to be if we just sit around?"

Carrot then finished, "We're the proud Usopp pirates, and we'll going to help you till the end."

Usopp then slapped his forehead as he said, "Are you guys officially insane? Run away from here; we're dealing with this freak."

As the boys began to argue with Usopp, they felt a gentle breeze beside them. They then looked and saw Kuro standing there adjusting his eyeglasses which were cracked beyond repair, and looked as if he wasn't pummeled a moment ago. The boys then began to scream their lungs out in fear.

A moment didn't pass as Kuro was now between them and Usopp. Kuro then kicked Usopp and sent him flying down the track. The boys then yelled in concern, "Captain"

Kuro then ignored everything as he looked at Luffy, and said, "I'm quite interested in that attack you just made. That was the work of a devil fruit, wasn't it?"

The boy smiled as he said, "You caught me. I ate the gum-gum fruit which makes me a rubber-man."

Kuro's men then began to talk among themselves

"So they're real."

"No wonder he's strong. We're practically facing a monster."

"How can we beat him now?"

Kuro unimpressed with either the boy's answer or with his men's cowardliness said as he looked at Jango, "Jango" The man spoken too jumped immediately in action, as he said, "Yes captain"

The man said as he put his blades gloves into position, "I'll deal with the boy." He then looked at Kaya, and said, "You deal with the girl. But first make her write her will to me, and then kill her." this made Kaya's blood run cold from fear. "And also terminate those three annoying pests." He said pointing to the three children.

Jango then replied, "Got it."

The hypnotist then tried to run only to be blocked by Zoro, who said, "Where do you think you're going?"

The man then backed away, but saw the fat member of the Nyaban brothers, and said, "Bachi, wake up." The now named Bachi then opened his eyes, and heard Jango say, "when I say "One, Two, Jango." You'll become stronger, and fight Zoro, got it?" the man then nodded weakly.

The hypnotist then worked quickly as he said,

"One"

"Two"

"Jango"

Bachi then jumped up and attacked Zoro. The swordsman then jumped, but Bachi hit the ground, and it cracked. He was shocked at the amount of strength but wondered why Robin didn't stop Jango like last time. He looked only to see occupied by some small-time crooks that just won't get the memo as they closed the range and forced the girl into hand-to-hand combat.

Jango then ran up the hill and tried to throw his pendulums at Kaya who was being taken away from there, after Usopp ordered his crew to protect her at all costs.

Then man then tripped as he felt something hit him in the back. He looked back only to see Usopp smiling as he said, "Special Technique: Namarii-Boshi"

Jango began to growl as Kuro said, "Forget him, and go after the girl."

Zoro then said from down there as he pushed away Bachi, "As I let him hurt her."

Kuro then smirked as he said, "It's no use. The girl is already weak as it gets. It only takes one hit to kill her. And also if you want to help her so much, then you have to walk away from her alive." he said as a deranged looking Bachi stood in front of him.

Luffy then looked at Robin and Usopp and said, "Guys, go after Kaya, and leave this to us."

Usopp then stood up and began to run beside Robin. Bachi tried to intercept them, but he was stopped by Zoro who said, "Your opponent is me, big guy." Kuro then tried to stop them only for a rubber fist to collide with him, and Luffy said, "Yeah, what he said." And with that, the two pirates ran into the forest after the others.

Back in the forest, the kids told Kaya that everything was going to be okay, and the girl thanked them. But suddenly something wheezed beside them. They looked only to see entire trees fall down. And then they heard Jango scream, "Come on, guys let's make this easier for me, and you. I'll promise I'll kill you quickly."

Back with Usopp and Robin, the boy looked at her and saw that she was kinda sad, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it was just that if I wasn't occupied with all those small level crooks; I would've stopped Jango from hypnotizing that guy, and saved us a lot of time."

Usopp then shook his head as he said, "We all make mistakes. Now we have to focus on what we have to do." He then looked at her, and said, "What's the plan?"

"The same as the previous one; I need to get him in my eyesight, and then I twist him like a pretzel."

The boy shivered but nodded his head.

Back with Zoro, he was currently fighting with Bachi, who was trying to hit him with his claws. But Zoro intercepted him with every hit. He then looked at the man who suddenly jumped high in the sky.

The man then said, "Special Attack: Catastrophic" He then increase the size of his claws as he managed to pass Zoro's blades, and strike him in the chest area.

The swordsman frowned, as he said, "You weren't stronger like this before, but also…" He then tackled him to the ground putting his blades to his throat, "…you're dumber now, aren't you?"

The cat-man then hissed as he pushed Zoro away with a kick, and began to attack him again trying to hit him with his claws.

Zoro managed to block every hit. Bachi then stumped the ground and caused it to crack causing Zoro to fall on the ground. The cat-man then jumped on him only for Zoro to say, "Leave me alone already." The swordsman quickly dispatched Bachi as he kicked him away first, before using "Oni Giri" on him causing the latter to fly away with blood dripping from his wounds. He then looked at Luffy and said, "Do I follow them?"

The straw-hatted boy then said, "No, Robin can take care of herself, and so can Usopp."

It was then that Kuro began to laugh, and said, "That little lair" he said as he ran toward Luffy, "He's a weakling who can't even save a cat from death even if his life depended on it." Kuro's men then began to laugh, but they were all shocked when laugh punched Kuro once again in the face, and then turned toward them and said, "Don't laugh at Usopp." This caused them to go shut.

Seeing that he wasn't needed anymore; Zoro then causally jumped to the side of the cliff, and said, "I'm going to take a nap then."

Luffy then looked at Kuro who stood up and ran at him. Luffy then sent a fist, but Kuro dodged the attack. Then Luffy smiled as he said, "Then about another punch." He said as he sent another fist only for the man to disappear entirely.

The boy then felt something air beside him, and then crouched on the ground as Kuro swiped his claws at him, and said as he put his feet together, "Gum-Gum Spear." The feet then went at Kuro who once again disappeared.

The man then appeared behind him, and asked, "Tell me, what drives you to protect this village so much?"

Luffy then smiled, "I have a friend who lives in this village, and I'm sure he'll be sad if anything happens to it."

Kuro then laughed as he said, "All that for a friend, you must be insane, but who am I to stop when you're going to die today?"

"Yeah, don't worry about that. I'm not going to die." Luffy said as he smiled.

Back in the forest with Kaya, the girl now rested on a tree with the children beside her. The girl knew she was very sick, and she knew that her making it all the way to the beach was a miracle by itself. She looked at the boys who were arguing about how to save her, but she said, "I'm sorry, but I'll be dead weight. Please continue without me."

The boys stopped their arguing as they looked at Kaya, and said, "No way."

Onion said, "We were told by the captain to protect, and so well do as such."

Carrot then added, "But she's really sick. We must take to her to a doctor."
Pepper then interjected, "But it's far away. We must protect her here." The boys once again descended into an argument about the best course of action till a bush beside shook and out of it came, Jango who said, "Finally, I found you."

He then raised his pendulums only for Carrot to run quickly and kick him in the nuts before he went to the other two boys, carried Kaya with them, and ran deep into the forest.

Jango then grabbed his assaulted range and he breathed for air slowly, before he yelled angrily, "I'm going to kill those kids."

He then ran after them, and threw his pendulum at the trees once more causing them to fall down, and making the children trip. He then stood in front of the children, began to use his skills, and said, "Look here, kids. When I say 'One, Two, Jango', you'll all fall asleep."

He then swung his pendulum as he said,

"One"

"Two"

"Jango"

Kaya was then shocked to see the children actually fall into a deep slumber. But then Jango crouched in front of her, and said, "Come on, don't make this harder than it already is."

The girl then closed her eyes. And Jango said, "Hey there you need to open your eyes for my skills to work."

The girl kept her eyes closed as Jango tried to open them. But behind Jango, the children looked at each other and nodded their heads.

Onion and Carrot then jumped on him. While Carrot grabbed the pirate, Onion then began to put pepper in his eyes as he said, "Tell me, do you like pepper, because I do."

The man then began to roll on the ground from pain, as the children grabbed Kaya, and ran with her. Pepper then said, "Activate all protection plans." The other two nodded their heads.

Kaya looked at them and smiled. Onion then said, "Don't worry Miss Kaya; you're in safe hands with the Usopp pirates."

Jango after regaining his vision, stood up as he said, "That's it. Those miserable brats are going to bite the dust first." He then looked around and saw that he was alone, "Wonderful, now they took off with the girl with them."

He then began to walk, but he heard rustling coming from a tree above him. He stopped a little and waited. Onion then jumped from above and said, "Take this." The man grabbed quickly him, and smirked, "Don't get too confident of yourself."

The other boys began to panic as they saw their friend get caught.

Jango then said, "You brats have played your little pirate game for way too much time, but this time you're dealing with real pirates. So how about you all go to hell…" He then threw Onion to a tree, "…just die already."

The other boys then jumped and began to attack him. First Pepper tried to hit him with his bat only for Jango to sidestep him, and kick him in the head causing the boy to double over. Carrot then jumped from above the tree to hit the pirate in the head but was unlucky as he was punched in the head causing him to fall to the ground.

Pepper then stood up, and said, "I won't fail captain Usopp." He then ran lifting his frying pan as he tried to hit the pirate, but the man shrugged as he lifted his leg, and put it on the boy's head while the latter attempted to strike him.

Kaya who was hiding in the bushes, and who had had enough of this jumped out, and said, "Please stop."

Both the pirate and the boy looked at her, as she explained, "You want me to write the will right. You have it. Just please leave them alone."

The pirate then lowered his head as he contemplated something. He then looked up as he said, "But the captain said everyone dies." He finished as he kicked Carrot into a tree.

Kaya seeing that there is no reasoning with him, then lifted a pendulum of his, and pointed to her neck as she said, "If you won't leave them alone, then I won't have any choice but to kill myself."

The man then instantly began to panic as he knew what will happen if the girl killed herself, and didn't write he will. The captain will turn him into sliced chicken. So he yelled at her, "Wait, stop. Don't do anything rash now." He then looked at her as he said, "I just want the will, or else I'll be getting in trouble."

He then sighed as he said, "I'll leave the children alone as long as you write your will." He took out a piece of parchment with a feather and a glass of ink, and put it in front of her as he said, "Don't forget to add your signature, and fingerprint so everyone knows that it's real."

The girl slowly began to write her will, as the boys lay away from her on the ground. They began to talk among themselves if they should pretend to continue pretending to be unconscious, and leave Kaya. But they couldn't as they remembered how their captain fought bravely against the pirates and decided to keep fighting till the girl was safe.

As Kaya finished her will, Jango then lifted it and began to examine it. He smiled as he said, "That's definitely your will alright. It's even addressed to Khalodore as you call him."

He then took out his pendulums as he swung them, and said, "Now, this won't take a second, but remember that I'm a man of my word so the children won't be harmed in any way or form."

Kaya smiled as she surrendered to her faith. She closed her eyes as the man approached her. But as he was about to give her the finishing blow, Robin and Usopp arrived and the latter shot him with his slingshot directly in his stomach causing him to fall to the ground out of breath.

The man then stood up and quickly grabbed Kaya by her neck to finish her, but the children then ran to him and kicked him in the nuts again making him release the girl.

Robin then said, "Deus fleur: Slap" Two arms then grew from his neck, and began to slap him repeatedly.

She looked at Usopp who said, "Remove your power. I'm about to end this."

The girl then did as she was told to, as Usopp then picked out a pellet from his bag, and said, "Hey hypnotist." The man looked at him, "Take a load of this"

Usopp then said, "Special Technique: Gunpowder star."

The little pellet then went and hit Jango's head causing a big explosion to engulf him. The man then fell backward as smoke emitted from his forehead. The trio of children then walked and kicked him but he didn't twitch marking that he was finally unconscious.

Usopp and Robin then ran to make sure Kaya was alright.

During the time in which the battle in the forest was happening, Kuro ran to Luffy and said, "Die"

The rubber boy then stretched his arms backward as he said, "Not happening." He then launched them forward and grabbed Kuro's arms, and jumped in the air to give the man a kick to his stomach, but the man managed to avoid that by spinning quickly. This caused Luffy to lose momentum as he was being spun by Kuro, to loosen his grip, and fall to the ground.

The boy then jumped and said, "Gum-Gum Pistol"

The fist went at high speed, but Kuro managed to avoid it easily by titling his body to the side. Luffy then yelled, "Gum-Gum…" he said as he sent out his legs to under Kuro, "Leg Sweeper" the man this time jumped in the air.

Luffy then laughed, "Huh got you. Gum-Gum Pistol." He said as he sent out his arm to the pirate captain who smirked, as the Luffy's knuckle approached him till it was in front of his face when he disappeared. Everyone was shocked till he appeared again, but this time he was on the boy's arm.

Kuro then ran quickly till he reached Luffy, and kicked him in the face causing Luffy's straw hat to fall from his head, and the boy to fall backward.

Down at the end of the slope, his men began to for him, as they tried to hold on to the walls after Robin had finished dealing with them.

"Go, captain Kuro."

"The captain's really strong."

"That kid was really something, but when he faced captain; he lost his edge."

"He even made him bleed." One said as he looked at Luffy who was wiping blood from his face.

"Kill him, captain Kuro."

Kuro meanwhile hearing all of this calmly adjusted his eyeglasses, as he looked down at his men, and yelled, "Shut up you fools, and stop calling me that."

The men looked at him confused, but then he explained, "This plan was to make everything attributed to that man known as Kuro be gone."

He then adjusted his eyeglasses once more as he took a more sinister tone, "And I mean everything."

The men looked confused as he said, "You don't get it, do you?"

He then began to explain to them how he rose to infamy in the pirate world, how his name began to attract all types of pirate hunters and marines alike looking to earn a reputation, how this lifestyle annoyed him, and how he one day decided to kill himself, how he made the best plan to escape this life, how he asked Jango to help him, how he had a marine named Morgan hypnotized to think he caught him, how he had Jango hypnotize a cabin boy how looked exactly like him to take his place in the shooting fields, and how he finally reached this place.

He then looked at Luffy who stood there with a scowl on his face, and asked him, "Do you see now, boy? Do you see why I can't allow you to interfere with my plans? Do you see why you must die today?"

Kuro then jumped toward, and put his hand forward to stab the rubber boy, only for the said boy to put his hands on the ground and tear a piece of it, and put it in front of him as a shield.

The knives then went inside the rock, but as was Kuro trying to get them out, Luffy then slammed the rock into the side of the slope causing the blades to break. Kuro then looked at him as he said, "It would appear that I underestimated you. It appears you can do more than stretching."

Luffy then smirked as he said, "I been training to become a pirate my whole life, so I have more than one trick up my sleeve."

Kuro's men looked shocked as they saw what they dubbed as the 'cat claws' broken, and murmurs began to rise about how is that impossible.

Luffy then looked at the pirate captain, as he smiled and said, "You said you grew sick from infamy, you gained from your pirate name." He then added as he slammed the rock he had onto Kuro, "If you're afraid of your name, then how can you be a pirate in the first place."

Kuro then lifted his head as he growled saying, "My plans won't be ruined by a brat."

Luffy then chuckled as he said, "That's where you're wrong." He then lifted his hand and cracked his fists saying, "My dreams are stronger than your plans."

He then looked at Kuro and laughed, "Not so tough now, are you?" Luffy then added, "You now only have 5 of those weird knives things."

The men down the slope then began to cheer,

"Come on captain, you still have 5 'cat claws'. End this kid.

"Finish this captain Kuro."

"Didn't you hear him; he doesn't want to be called by that name anymore."

"I think the village calls him Kladohore."

"Go; get him Kladohore."

The man then stood up with an angry look as blood dripped down his face. He then looked at hi men at the bottom of the cliff and yelled, "Stop shouting you, idiots." Silence followed after that as Kuro said, "After I'm finished with this boy, I'll kill you all next."

Down at the bottom of the cliff, everyone began to panic in fear as they heard the man's declaration and began to shake in their boots, and one of them said, "You're joking captain, right?"

When they received no answer everyone began to yell begging and one of them said, "Captain, if this is about the plan, then all you need to wait for is Jango killing the brat and everything will be fine."

The pirate captain then disappeared, and reappeared behind Luffy as he said, "You don't have to worry your heads about the plan." He said as some of the men began to gain hope, but that hope quickly vanished as Kuro said, "I never intended to allow anyone to live through this. I was going to kill you either way and pin all the blame on you."

The men then yelled in fear, "So you were going to kill us from the beginning?"

The man then began to laugh as he said, "You finally got it. I was going to kill everyone here including Jango." He then looked at the claws and then looked back at them as he said, "This was my plan from three years ago to end the existence of the man known as Kuro."

Luffy unimpressed with this said, "You guys are sure pretty stupid."

Kuro then laughed as he said, "Losers? What is this a child's game." He then adjusted his glasses as he said, "Boy let me give you a lesson about pirates. Pirates are mostly a group of outlaws that band together to follow the orders of their captain. These fools down there should continue following my plans to the letter."

He then added, "Also in any pirate crew, it is known that the crew is only 'pawns' to their captain so he can reach the means-end; in other words, their life has no value unless the captain deems them so. And in my opinion, I see those down there have already lost their value towards me."

He then yelled, "That's how pirates are, and a small brat like could never grasp this."

Luffy then laughed as he said, "Well captain, look at all these men down there. They all work for you, but they all failed in defeating Usopp."

Kuro looked confused for a moment, and said, "Are you really comparing me to that kid playing pirate?"

"Yes" was Luffy's reply.

This caused Kuro to burst into laughter as he couldn't contain himself, as he then said, "Do you honestly think because you broke my cat claws that you're somehow above me. Please do tell, how is that boy better than me?" He finished as he disappeared preparing to attack Luffy. But he stopped as Luffy answered him, "The way you think."

"What?" Kuro asked a she appeared beside him.

Luffy then smiled as he sent his fist to the side of Kuro's head, and said "You don't know what a pirate truly is, unlike Usopp." The force of the fist sent him directly into the side of the slope causing it to crack and shatter.

Down the slope, Kuro's men were once more shocked that the rubber boy managed to land another hit on their captain, and they gulped.

Kuro then came out of the wreckage adjusting his glasses as he said, "You've insulted me. You want to see how a real pirate is supposed to be then so be it."

The man then stood up and looked down to the ground as he began to sway back and forth. His men down the slope all went into terror as they began to yell, "He's using that stance."

"Seriously, he is using 'SHAKUSHI' against one person."

"Wait, didn't he say that he was going to kill us?"

Luffy then looked at the men and wondered why they all were panicking in such a way, but they continued to beg and try to bargain with him,

"Captain; if you let me go back to the sea, I won't say a word about you."

"Please captain, just let me live."

"Me too"

"I won't say anything."

Luffy then asked himself, "What are they talking about?"

The men continued to beg and plead for their lives, but t all landed on deaf ears as Kuro said, "SHAKUSHI" He then disappeared in a blur.

Luffy then began to look around but noticed nothing.

Back on the pirates' boat, Nami who managed to escape during the chaos that ensued after Kuro's and Kaya's arrival came out of the ship cabin as she held a bag full of money. However, she was disappointed as she said, "What a waste of time. To think, I thought I could get a good score from here."
She then looked down to the battleground, and saw all the men panicking as they stood, so she said to no one in particular, "What is happening? Did the battle already end?"

She was then shocked as she saw one of the men get slashed through his torso, and fall to the ground as blood gushed through his wounds. This was also followed by another man who was attacked this time through his back. Another one was then attacked on his legs. Meanwhile, some of the men began to plead in fear, "Please captain end this, and let us live. We won't tell anyone." However, he was only met with a slash to his stomach.

Luffy then began to look around in panic as he couldn't understand what was happening.

He then looked around him and saw that the path he was standing on was now slashed he was shocked at how easily this guy could slash through objects.

"Please captain, stop."

One of the men then said, "It's no use. He won't stop this until he's tired. This is worse than 'silent step' since he can't see his targets."

"Everyone run for higher grounds."

Ami who was still standing on the top of the ship then asked herself, "What's going on? What is happening? Those people are getting massacred. Why?"

Luffy then looked at the men as they all tried to run away from Kuro, but failed to do so as the man continued to cut through them.

He then yelled, "Come and face me head-on, evil butler." Luffy then yelled even louder as he was enraged very much, "What the hell do you think you're crew is?"

Nami only stood there shocked at Luffy's compassion, and ideals, and could only say, "Luffy!"

Luffy then saw that the line of cuts continued to go up the path toward him, but he braced himself. It suddenly stopped as finally, a large cut appeared on Luffy's torso as he cried out in pain. But his was also Luffy actually needed to pinpoint Kuro's location, so the rubber boy bent backward as he grabbed Kuro's coat and then slammed him to the ground.

Luffy then smirked as he said, "Got you."

Kuro then laughed as he stood up saying, "You're truly an idiot; defending those pawns as some heroic act. Look at them now, they're all in pain and half dead. You should've allowed me to continue my work."

The runner boy then took a fighting stance as he said, "There's no way in hell that I'm ever going to be like you."

The man adjusted his glasses as he chuckled quietly at Luffy's declaration, "That means that you'll survive this which is wrong on all accounts."

The man then proceeded to take his stance again only to see Luffy jump on him, and coil his feet and arms around his torso. Kuro then yelled at the rubber boy, "Let go of me you brat."

Luffy then smiled as he said, "Yeah, not happening."

Luffy then added, "Now say goodbye to that plan of yours because it's going to dust."

Kuro was shocked beyond belief as he said, "What?"

Kuro's men then saw this and one of them said, "Look, he got captain."

"Wait, that means we won't be killed."

"Go get him, rubber man."

Luffy then arched his body backward as he then sent his head back toward the man cheering for him as he said "Save your cheers. You're next on the chopping block."

Kuro who couldn't accept reality then said, "MY plans can't fail."

Luffy then sent his head forward at high speeds till it slammed into Kuro's head as he yelled, "Gum-Gum Bell"

The pirate captain then fell backward as he sat blood out of his mouth. He then fell onto the ground as Luffy let go of him.

Kuro's men then began to murmur among themselves asking how that person that is so strong as to beat their captain in combat. All their questions were answered when Luffy said, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy; the future pirate king."

All of them then looked at the rubber boy, and yelled, "Are you crazy?"

Luffy then replied by throwing their captain at them, and saying, "Go away from this island, and never come back or else."

The men then began to collect their fallen comrade and ran to the ship to sail away from the monster that defeated the monster that they worked under for so long.

The boy then fell forward from exhaustion as Nami caught him, and she said, "Guess even you have your limits. Can't stand from how many times you got cut."

She then asked something, "How did you get angry when he cut his men? I mean he wasn't wrong though; most pirates see their men as only numbers and pawns."

Luffy simply shrugged as he answered, "I just don't like that. A crew is a family. We're 'Nakama'."

Nami then smiled at him, as she said, "You're truly a dork. Here," she then handed him his hat as he walked over to Zoro and punched him awake, "Wake up sleeping, ogre. "

The man looked at her annoyed as he said, "Was that necessary?"

"Yes, now carry Luffy, and let's go meet with the others." She then walked as Zoro picked Luffy silently following her.

Back with Usopp and the others, Robin was looking over Kaya, while Usopp looked at the three boys and said, "Hey guys, can I ask a favor from you?"

The 3 boys nodded their heads. Usopp then said, "Keep everything that happened today a secret, alright?"

The boys then began to argue about this, but then Kaya said, "Why Usopp? We must clear this misunderstanding to the villagers."

Usopp then shook his head as he said, "No, they won't believe me. I'm the village lair after all. Plus, this will only lead to unnecessary fright."

They all agreed that it would the island's best interest that no one knows what happened today.

They all then saw Nami, Zoro, and Luffy come to them. Usopp then stood up and said, "Thanks for all the help, guys."

They then all laughed at him saying that they only did it because he acted while Nami said she was only interested in the treasure.

As the sun rose on the rest of the island, people were confused as to why Usopp didn't wake them up like usual. Some shrugged, others were sad since Usopp was their alarm clock, and others readied themselves for a heavy prank from the boy.

Back with Kaya, she went back to her mansion and was tending to Merry's wounds and the other servants who turned out to be alive as well though barely if it weren't for Merry giving them first aid.

Kaya told Merry about how Usopp told everyone to keep what happened at the slope a secret which surprised him. She then told him, "Merry, I have an idea as to how to thank them properly."

Usopp was then seen with the Usopp pirates, as he encouraged his crew to follow their dreams and disbanded his crew since he was going out to sea to be like his dad.

The next morning near the slope where the battle happened, Luffy and his crew stood as they waited for Kaya's surprise which she promised them when they were having breakfast.

They stood there as Zoro asked Robin, "Do you know what she is going to give us? You did sleep at her house yesterday."

The girl shook her head as she said, "I don't have the slightest clue."

Nami then said, "I really hope it's a treasure."

Zoro then retorted, "Do you think about anything other than treasure."

"Yes, oranges." The girl said happily.

They then looked and saw something sailing in the sea. Their eyes widened as they saw who was sailing it.

It was Merry.

The ship then docked, and Merry came down from it as he began to describe it, "This ship is the 'Going Merry'. The controls are in the back. The kitchen is on the upper deck. Also, the girls' room is also on the upper deck while the boys' room is on the lower deck. However, since we have a couple on board we added a third room for them." This statement made both Luffy and Robin blush.

Luffy then shook his head and went to see the ship as Merry tried to explain the ship control to him before Robin pointed him to Nami was technically their navigator.

They then heard a scream as they saw Usopp falling down the slope with a comically huge bag on his back. Robin then crossed his arms and a huge net of arms and stopped the boy. She then walked with Luffy and boarded the ship.

Usopp then squeaked, "Thank you." He jumped on his feet and looked at Kaya. He then said, "Well, Kaya. I'm going to sea. When I come back, I'll tell you a whole bunch of stories."

Kaya then nodded her head as she approached Usopp, and did something that caused the poor boy to short-circuit quickly. She kissed him on the lips as she said with a blush, "This is a goodbye present." And then she added, "And I promise you by the tie you return I'll be a doctor."

The boy nodded his head as he said, "Okay"

He then looked at Luffy and said, "Well, I guess we'll see each other at sea."

Luffy then scratched his head as he said, "What are you talking about?"

This made the boy look confused as Robin added, "You're already a part of the crew, Usopp."

So then Zoro said, "So jump on already."

The boy then laughed as he jumped saying, "I'm the captain." This annoyed Luffy who said, "No, I am." The two then descended into a fight about whose captain with Zoro sleeping beside them.

Robin then walked, and Nami saw her, so she then asked, "Are you going to tell me how you two met?"

The raven-haired girl smiled as she said, "Come, let's go somewhere more private."

Author's notes:

Welcome guys to a new chapter of my fanfiction. In this one, we saw the crew fight off the invasion. We also saw Luffy vs Kuro, and the appearance of the legendary ship 'Going Merry'. In the next chapter, we're going to meet one perverted cook.

As always please take care of yourselves, leave a comment telling us your opinion on the current chapter, and put a review in which you mention the most arc you are excited for.

And finally, I hope you enjoy reading my work and see you next time with a brand new chapter.