The three children, after getting over the fact that their captain had not been cannibalized, introduced themselves to the pirates. The one in the middle had green hair and was named Piiman. The one on the right was named Tamanegi and his hair looked like an onion. The one on the left had purple hair and was called Ninjin. After the children, Luffy took the initiative and introduced himself, Zoro and Nami.

"Where'd Usopp go, anyway?" Nami asked the children from her place on the wooden fence. The group of six had long since left the small diner and had decided to stop on a path out of the village.

"He probably went to see Kaya." Piiman shrugged.

"Kaya?" Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Ninjin said, "She lives in that big mansion over there!"

"But she's really sick all the time." Tamanegi looked sad, "So captain Usopp goes there everyday and tells her stories to make her feel better!"

Luffy jumped up from his seat on the grass. "Maybe she can help us get a ship!"

"You can't go there!" The three kids immediately stood in Luffy's way on the path.

"Why not?" the young captain asked. He already knew the answer, but he was still going to make Nami and Zoro learn the story as they go. Besides, nothing was gonna stop him from going to see Kaya. She's a nice girl and deserves so much more and so much better than what she got.

"Because the butler won't let you even near the property!" Piiman warned, though the other two seemed to have an idea.

"There is another way," Ninjin

Tamanegi was on the same train of thoughts, "We've seen Usopp go through a hole in the fence a few times."

"And the butler never caught him!" Piiman seemed to catch on.

"Can you take us there?" Luffy asked the kids. They nodded and the group made their way toward the mansion on the hill. He knew they'd deny him at first, but it was worth a shot anyway.

"Sure!" The three children smiled and started to lead the way to the mansion on the hill.

Luffy stared after the three for a long moment, barely aware that Zoro and Nami were walking away from him. He chuckled quietly as he brought up the rear of the group, "Or not."

The group of six trekked up the hill in a nice quiet, each caught up in their own thoughts. None of them really cared, though, as it was nice to be able to just think sometimes. Though as the mansion drew closer, Luffy became more and more restless. He was stuck in his thoughts about the fight to some extent and was reflexively clenching his hands into fists at his sides. Zoro noticed his captain's actions and nudged Nami before slowing to walk at Luffy's right. Nami did the same on his left. They didn't know why, but they were going to push those questions until later.

"Over here!" Piiman waved the three pirates over to a spot in the hedge. Ninjin and Tamanegi grabbed the hedge and pulled a perfectly cut square just big enough for an adult to squeeze through coming out in one tug. "This is how the captain gets in!"

Luffy said nothing as he led the group through the hedge and into the mansion's yard. It was very plain, to say the least. There were maybe three trees within line of sight, but the rest was finely cut grass. There weren't even flowers! Luffy, to say the least, was still unimpressed. He'd seen much better yards in both smaller and bigger properties. And on ships. His own ship, of course, but that's besides the point.

"Luffy?" he heard someone call. Pulling himself from his mind, he looked around and then up.

"Usopp!" he smiled and waved up at the teen. He then turned to look at the girl who was leaning out of her window, "You must be Kiyaya!"

"Her name is Kaya." Nami corrected him with a half hearted glare. Luffy only chuckled.

"What are you guys doing here?" Usopp asked, his gaze shifting between the six on the ground. He couldn't imagine why these guys would be here! Maybe they're after money? No, he quickly shook those thoughts away. He'd talked with these pirates. They're nice.

"We came to see her!" Luffy turned his limited attention to the blonde in the window, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the King of the Pirates! This is Zoro, my first mate and swordsman, and Nami, my navigator. Can you give us a ship?"

Kaya was slightly taken aback. This was a lot of information to take in all at once. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she smiled at the boy in the straw hat. "It's nice to meet you, Luffy-san, my name is Kaya. May I ask why you need a ship? You should have one already, yes?" She didn't like being overly formal like this, but this was the way her parents had taught her to speak around strangers for the best impression.

Nami didn't bat an eye at the other girls' formalities. She knew all too well about popper speech in different situations. She did react, however, when Luffy pushed her forward to explain. Sending a glare at her captain - 'A temporary arrangement' a little voice in her head said - before speaking to the girl in the window, "We've only just recently set out." She explained, "None of us come from islands with a lot of money, so we've been traveling in a small fishing boat with a cabin."

The island's native occupants looked surprised at this revelation. Had these three really been on the ocean in a fishing boat? How the hell had they survived this long! Actually, how long had they been sailing? From the way they look, it couldn't be too long. Then again, none of them could actually know without asking. Before they could, however, a new voice joined the group.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Luffy went stiff at the sound of this man's voice. So did everyone else, it seemed.

"Klahadore!" Kaya called in slight shock. He was supposed to be out for the day!

"Usopp," he ignored his mistress, "the village liar. I can only imagine the pain you've caused Lady Kaya. She's terribly sick, and you are only making it worse." his face grew a sick smirk as he spoke the next line, "Though, I suppose that's all I can expect from the son of a pirate."

Luffy didn't know it was possible, but his man was even better at pissing him off this time than he was before. Maybe it was because Luffy knew the full story now, but he didn't care. Whatever had made this man's dialogue change had probably made the upcoming fight more of a challenge, too. Luffy could only hope that was the case. He really wanted to punch this guy into the next century. It hadn't actually been a tough fight the first time, so he didn't expect much this time around. He hoped it was actually challenging, though.

Usopp glared at the butler. "Don't you dare say anything about my father. He is a great pirate, and a better man than you will ever be!"

Klahadore had the audacity to respond. "You are a liar. Why would I believe that your father is a no-good pirate? Even if he were," he spoke as if there was no other answer to the question, "that's hardly something to be proud of. Why don't you just tell us all the truth? Tell us that your disgrace of a father is a merchant or a fisher. Tell us that your mother was a whore that-"

Luffy cut the man off by punching him in with a right hook to his jaw. He turned a glare so cold to the butler that the man froze where he sat. "Yassop is a great pirate." he started, "He is the best sniper on the crew under Red Haired Shanks and he is the best father-" a lie that only Luffy knew was a lie, "- anyone could ask for. I knew more about Usopp than I knew about my own grandpa before I was seven." Luffy never looked away from the man on the ground, still floored after the punch, "Yassop can fight his own battles, as I'm more than sure Usopp can, too. But his mother has nothing to do with this conversation. So you have two options: Give up now and leave this island forever, or you can stay and suffer the consequences of your actions. Which is it?" Luffy silently hoped Klahadore was stupid enough to stay and try to fight. It would be funny. For Luffy, not the fake butler.

No one even dared to breathe too loud as they watched the exchange. The three kids were terrified and hiding behind Usopp, who now stood at the base of the tree. Kaya, also scared of the captain, pulled the curtain in front of her as a way of hiding but still being able to watch what was happening. Usopp was wide eyed at the entire exchange. No one had ever stood up for him like that before. Nami was ready to grab the children, scale the tree, and hide them in Kaya's room with her. She wasn't scared of Luffy, only of what would happen should the butler chose to fight back. Zoro had his white sword drawn and was ready to assist his captain the second a fight broke out. God, he hoped a fight would break out.

Klahadore didn't say anything for a long moment. Then, ever so slowly and under Luffy's watchful eye, he moved. First, he gently picked up his glasses, cleaned them, and put them on his face. Then, he pushed himself to stand. Once he was standing, he looked Luffy in the eye and said, "You are nothing but a flea. You have no more than five minutes to be off of this property before I remove you by force. I will give you until the end of today to be off of this island before I call the Marines." Finally, he turned and left the yard.

The silence was tense for another long minute before Luffy broke it. "That could've gone better." He muttered. "It also could've gone worse." Quickly, he made his way to the opening in the hedge and vaulted over the fence.

"Where are you going?" he heard Nami shout after him.

"I've gotta do something!" he answered, "I'll be back soon. Don't follow me." No one did.

Luffy allowed himself to relax only when he was back on the tiny boat he'd been on for the past little while. When he had set off, he'd found himself a pipe that could be easily dismantled and reassembled and had stored it in his bag with the den-den and the paper with Shanks and Mihawk's numbers on it that he'd been given and some clothes. He'd had the bag with him when he found Coby, but he'd hidden it under his seat the second they'd set out to find Zoro. From there, it stayed under his seat until he and Zoro had found Nami. When packing the treasure and food from the island into the cabin of the small boat, he'd moved his back to hide in there. Now that he had pulled it from its hiding spot, he was slightly surprised to realize that neither of his traveling companions had found it yet. He was also surprised neither had asked about the knife still strapped to his back. He hadn't used it or brought attention to it, but it was still fairly obvious.

Shaking his head, Luffy opened the bag and pulled out the disassembled pipe, the den-den, and the paper. Sometime between Sabo and himself leaving the island, he had gotten his grandfather's number from Mayor Whoop Slap and put it with the other two. Quickly putting the pipe together and resting it on his shoulder for comfort - he'd seen Law do this with his sword all the time. It was a very comforting feeling when talking to his grandpa for some reason - he dialed his grandfather's number and waited for the call to go through. It took no longer than two rings before the receiver on the other end was picked up, connecting the line.

"Who is this?" Garp's demand was clear from the tone in his voice.

Luffy giggled to himself before smirking, "Hi gramps!"

The face on the den-den changed from anger to surprise to elation all in a matter of seconds. "Luffy!" the old man cheered, "Where did you get my number?" Before he could reply, he was cut off, "It doesn't matter. Have you come to your senses? Are you ready to become a Marine?"

Luffy laughed at his grandfather's antics. "I don't know, I never lost them, and no. I've followed after my brothers and I'm on my way to be the Pirate King!" There was a smile on his face that told Garp, even over den-den, that this was the way he was happiest.

The old man didn't push it. He had learned a long time ago that his boys weren't going to follow after him. The realization hadn't set in until Ace left Dawn Island to become a pirate. Though, that wasn't going to stop him from offering a spot to his grandson for now, "Are you sure? You'd make a fine captain."

"I already am a fine captain." the pirate gloated and the marine laughed, "but that's not why I called."

Garp sighed at the serious note in the boy's tone. "I should've known this wasn't a social call. What's wrong, my boy?"

Luffy smiled again at the nickname. He hadn't been called that by anyone in a while. "Do you remember the Black Cat Pirates?"

"Yes. Their captain was arrested and executed a few years ago. Why?"

"No he wasn't."

"What?"

"He wasn't arrested. He tricked someone into pretending to be him and he went into hiding. He gave his crew over to his second in command and is now hiding in Syrup Village on the Gekko Islands in the East Blue under the name Klahadore."

"How do you know this?"

"He told me."

"He told you?"

"I may or may not have beaten it out of him."

"That's my boy!" Garp laughed loudly, "Now, what do you want me to do with this information? I can't very well open an investigation without proof. The man's on record as dead."

Luffy hummed. Yes, that was a problem. But not his problem. "I'm sure you'll figure it out! He threatened to call the Marines on me and my crew if we didn't leave by the end of today, so I figured I'd beat him to it."

The den-den gained a smirk as Garp did. "I'll answer his call. Be off that island by tomorrow's sunset or I'll have to arrest ya."

Luffy smiled brightly, "Sure thing, gramps!" Before he hung up, he quickly said, "Love ya!" and slammed the receiver down. He didn't need to know Garp's reaction to him saying that. Apologizing to and thanking the den-den mushi, Luffy put it and the paper back in his bag which he hid in a slightly better spot for the time being. He kept the pipe with him, though. He hadn't used it in a while, so he wanted to make sure he didn't lose his touch. Maybe he could get Zoro or Nami to spar with him? Shrugging, Luffy hid the small boat again and left it to go find his friends.

"Where is he?" Nami worried, "He's been gone for a few hours now."

"Relax." Zoro said from his spot under a tree, "I can guarantee that he's perfectly fine."

"How do you know that?" the red head snapped, "He could've fallen into the ocean for all we know!"

Zoro didn't say anything for a few minutes, tossing the idea around in his head. "He was perfectly fine on the boat." he finally said, "He wouldn't be stupid enough to fall into the water off of an island." 'I hope.' was added in his head.

Nami shook her head and stood up, startling the three kids that had decided pirates were wonderful playmates, "I'm going to look for him, just in case."

"He said not to follow him, idiot." the green haired swordsman sat up and glared, "You can't just disobey your captain whenever you want."

"He didn't order us not to follow him, though."

Zoro didn't respond. It was true, after all. Luffy hadn't ordered them not to follow him, he just asked them not to. Thinking back, Luffy hadn't actually given any orders yet. He'd only given suggestions or asked something. Leaning back, he closed his eyes, "Do whatever you want. It's your fault if he gets mad."

Nami stopped before she took another step. She'd only seen Luffy mad once before and that was earlier today. Deciding she didn't want that glare anywhere near aimed at her, she sat back down on the fence and waited. In the back of her mind, she knew he wouldn't get mad at her or Zoro.

"Hey, guys!" Luffy called from down the path a ways not even five minutes later. Usopp was following after him, shivering. "What'd I miss?"

The two pirates now stood on the path facing their captain. Both noticed the pipe he held in his left hand but neither commented on it. They'd ask later. "Nothing from our end!" Zoro answered his captain with a bored smile, "What were you doing?"

Luffy, now caught up with the whole group, said he had to make a call. He didn't tell them who he called, only that help was coming and they were going to be leaving the Gekko Islands by sunset the next day. Then, he turned his attention to Usopp, prompting everyone to do the same. "Now, tell them what you told me.

Usopp just glanced at the three kids that were standing on either side of Zoro and Nami. He didn't want to scare them. They'd spend every day playing pirates, but now there were real, wanted pirates on their way to their home! He didn't want to scare them. He wanted them to have fun! He didn't want them to have to hide for their lives.

Catching his former and future snipers' thoughts, Luffy asked Nami for a paper and something to write with. When she handed them over, the straw hatted boy dropped into a squat and wrote something on the paper. Folding the white square three times, he handed it to the three children. "I need you guys to take this to Kaya for me. Think you can do that?"

The three stared at the pirate with stars in their eyes, more than ecstatic that they were being trusted with a folded piece of paper. It was folded three times! It just had to be important! Nodding, the three ran up the path and to the mansion. They would make sure Kaya got the message and they weren't going to get caught.

"Now that they're gone," Luffy sat on the floor, the others followed, "Tell them what you told me, Usopp."

Gulping, Usopp shakily explained what he had just seen and heard over the past hour. In no less than thirty minutes of panicked explanation, the curly haired sniper concluded fearfully, "The Black Cat Pirates are going to attack this island tomorrow morning at dawn."