The three kids were running with Kaya deeper into the forest trying to get away from the hypnotist.
"Is that weird hypnotist guy still behind us?" Pepper panted as he ran.
"I don't know. I can't see him anymore! Let's loose him for good!" Onion replied. "Don't you worry, Miss Kaya! The Usopp Pirates are going to keep you safe and sound!" He reassured Kaya.
She smiled at the three brave boys who were risking their lives to protect her.
"Yes, thank you." Kaya said , gratefully.
Suddenly, they heard a loud crash behind them. The four quickly hid as they heard footsteps coming closer, Jango. The hypnotist was throwing two rings as he passed trees, slicing through them, making a path. As the rings came back to Jango, he looked around and didn't see Kaya and three boys. He gritted his teeth in frustration and cursed silently to himself.
"Damn, they're not there." He muttered. "Boys, I'm coming to get you! Do you really think that you can run from me?!" Jango shouted. The three boys and Kaya were hiding behind a fallen tree, staying quiet as the hypnotist came closer to where they were.
"We can do this the easy way, or can I destroy this entire forest!" Jango exclaimed, angrily.
"Woah, that guys is really mad!" Carrot said.
"And he can do a lot worse than just hypnotize people!" Onion added.
"Where have you gone?" Jango shouted. The two boys noticed Carrot was going to sneeze. Their eyes widen and quickly covered Carrot's face stopping him. The hypnotist walked passed them as everyone held their breaths hoping that he wouldn't Come them.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Jango shouted as he slashed through some more trees, walking away. Everyone let out a sigh of relief glad that the hypnotist hadn't found them.
Meanwhile, in the forest as well, Zoro was running carrying Usopp over his shoulder. The swordsman was completely lost.
"Go East! Hey, I said go East, so to East already! This is the wrong direction!" Usopp exclaimed, frustrated, pointing in the right direction.
"Where's East?!" Zoro shouted.
"Turn right!" Usopp shouted.
"But that's where we came from!" Zoro argued.
Back with the kids and Kaya, they still trying to escape from Jango as they ran deeper into the woods. They ran past a fallen tree when Kaya suddenly tripped on a rock collapsed onto the ground. Her vision went blurry and she felt her lungs starting to burn in her chest as she panted, trying to catch her breath.
"Miss Kaya!" Onion yelled as he and the other two boys turned back, running to her.
"I'm sorry, you should go on without me." Kaya panted, still trying to catch her breath.
"What are you talking about?" Carrot exclaimed.
"We're under strict orders to protect you!" Onion told her. He placed his hand on Kaya's forehead only to recoil it back in shock.
"Oh no! She's got a really bad fever!" Onion shouted.
"What?! Hang in there, Kaya!" Carrot cried, panicking. "A doctor! We need a doctor!"
"You idiot! We don't have time for that! Someone's trying to kill her!" Pepper shouted, angrily, as he looked at Carrot.
Suddenly, they heard a loud thud as a tree from nearby had fallen, startling the four. "Show yourself, you brats!" Jango shouted as he took out one of his chakram and threw it, slicing some trees, clearing a path. He was getting closer towards them. Kaya turned to the three boys.
"You three have done more than enough and I thank you. But, I want you to go." She said, smiling softly at the three kids.
"Where did you brats go?! It's no use running. Come on out!" They heard the hypnotist call out. One by one, the boys lowered their weapons to the ground.
"If we left Kaya and run away right now, we'd probably survive, right?" Pepper sighed.
"Yeah, probably." Onion replied as he looked down, clutching the shovel in his hands tightly.
"And our captain always said to run with your tail between your legs of you think you're going to lose." Carrot finished, spinning the frying pan in his hands.
They heard footsteps getting closer to their location.
"Those brats think that they can mock me?!" Jango muttered under his breath.
"Then again, our captain is a liar." Onion said as he narrowed his eyes looking down at Kaya.
"But even he ignored own advice. He tried so hard to protect us. He risked his life for us!" Pepper agreed.
"We swore to protect Kaya. That's what we're going to do." Carrot finished, raising his frying pan. The three boys looked at each other and nodded. They placed their weapons over top of each other as they vowed.
"Alright then! Usopp Pirates-"
"Let's fight!"
"Let's do this! "
"Stop this! You're no match for him, you're only kids! You musn't put your life on the line for my sake!" Kaya protested, looking at the boys with wide eyes with fear.
"If we don't want to die, then we'll fight for our lives!" Carrot interrupted her. Kaya stared at the boy in shock and the other two boys. "Just as our captain always says." Carrot finished. Onion and Pepper nodded their heads in agreement.
Back at shore, the twins were standing over Kuro who was lying on the ground with one of his cat claw shattered. Luffy and Aya smirked. The Black Cat Pirates watched in shock at two's strength.
"Wait, did they just?!" One exclaimed.
"They just captain Kuro's cat claw!" Another shouted.
"That leaves only five more to go." Luffy stated as Kuro slowly began get stand up.
"Don't worry guys he can still fight plenty!" One shouted.
"Yeah, he still has that other claw!" The Black Cat Pirates cheered. "You can do it! Rip those brats to shreds, Captain Kuro!"
"Shut your mouths! All of you!" Kuro shouted angrily, silencing the entire crew. "Soon enough I'll deal with you in only the appropriate manner, extermination. I'll also kill that fool, Jango." He said now standing up, with a dark look on his face. Luffy, Aya and the pirates gaped at the butler in shock.
"He would kill his own crew mates? What a jerk!" Aya growled.
"But, why kill us captain?!" One pirate asked.
"Don't joke around like that, Captain Kuro!" Another shouted.
"Your plan can still work perfectly!" One pirate said.
Kuro stayed silent for a moment, before adjusting his glasses. "This plan is no longer your concern. When all of you are dead, this village won't know who to blame for this atrocity!" He shouted. "I never intended to let any of you hopeless mongrels in this village alive. No one, on one who knows my true identity can be allowed to live to tell about it."
"N-No way!"
"He planned to get rid of us from the very beginning!"
"That's right. There years ago, I planned to erase Captain Kuro and every last person who ever knew him. It's all apart of my plan." Kuro said with a twisted smirk and a mad look in his eyes.
"You guys are the most uncool pirates that I know." Luffy said. Kuro turned to the straw hat captain.
"We're uncool, huh? Pirates are nothing but savages, incapable of resisting their animalistic nature. Without my plans, what could they have possibly accomplished. A crew is nothing to me, they are a simply a means to an end. Crew members are just pawns in the captain's game. Whether my men die is up to me and me alone. If I tell them to fight they will fight and if I order them to die they had better do it. They know the punishment for disobedience." He smirked but it dropped when he saw the two twins glaring at him.
"You sicken me." Aya said, disgusted.
"This is how pirates are! Don't you don't talk down to me, girl!" Kuro roared angrily.
"You know, it doesn't matter how many hundreds of thousands of men follow you as their captain. You will never be as good as Usopp!" Luffy said with a smirk. Kuro twitched.
"You fool. Are you saying that I'm inferior to an kid pretending to be a pirate?!" He asked.
"That's right." Luffy said. Kuro laughed.
"Well, aren't you funny. Don't get all cocky just because you snapped off one of my cat claws. How exactly is he better than me?!" He shouted as he quickly moved, vanishing into thin air then reappearing behind Aya. Just as he was about to strike, he heard her say
"Because he's got heart." Aya smirked. Kuro froze as his claws were just inches from the girl's face.
"What?!"
Aya jumped and spin kicked Kuro, sending the butler flying into the cliff wall.
"A guy like you doesn't know what a true pirate is!" Luffy shouted.
"How insulting. It would appear that you need a lesson in what real pirates are like. It's not pleasant." Kuro made a sickening smirk. "Your first lesson will be about terror. A lesson I've learned well, as I stared down death." He stood up and began weaving side to side. Luffy looked at the butler confused while Aya got into a fight stance. The Black Cat Pirates stared in horror.
"What's the big deal? He's just wobbling back and forth." Luffy asked.
"Get ready, Luffy." Aya warned the straw hat captain. Luffy turned to his sister still confused.
"Get ready for what? He's not even doing anything!" He shouted. Suddenly, Kuro vanished into thin air before anyone could blink, and a purple cloud began traveling down the slope. It passed Luffy and Aya heading directly towards the crew.
On the Black Cat Pirates ship, Nami had snuck on while everyone was distracted and was now carrying a bag full of treasure.
"What a small haul. You know, I'd thought that they would have more treasure than this." She walked over to the front of the ship and looked to see that everyone wasn't moving. "Let's see if they've finished the fight yet." Her face fell seeing the look of horror on the crew's face. "Everyone's just stopped. Is it over?"
As Nami finished, the purple cloud glided towards the crew. Then one of them suddenly got slashed and he fell to the ground, dead. Everyone gaped in horror startled by what just happened as Kuro reappeared in front of them.
"What's he doing over there!?" Luffy exclaimed.
"He's everywhere!" Aya shouted.
One by one, each crew member was getting slashed and fallen to the ground, dead. Luffy and Aya stared in horror seeing each one fall.
"What's happening out there?! People are getting cut to ribbons!" Nami shouted in alarm.
Kuro continued his slaughter on the pirate crew as Luffy and Aya watched.
"Stop it!" Aya shouted. Anger began to build in Luffy seeing more crew members fall as they were slashed.
"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY HEART! THEY WERE YOUR FRIENDS!" He roared. Nami gasped.
She turned to the straw hat captain with a puzzled look on her face. He didn't even care that these pirates were his enemy but he was still willing to defend them? Just who this guy? Nami thought to herself. She stared at him with a soft look in her eyes.
"Luffy..." She murmured, sadly.
Suddenly, Aya was slashed on her arm, then her leg and back.
"Come out and fight, instead of hiding, you coward!" Aya shouted.
"Aya!" Luffy shouted as he turned to his twin. Then Luffy was slashed as well as Kuro slashed the boy's cheek, and the rest of his body. Luffy growled angrily and reached out and managed to grab a hold on Kuro. He flung the butler over, crashing him into the ground. Luffy's hat fell off as he did.
"I've found you." Luffy smirked with a wicked grin on his face.
"You bastard, you should've accepted your fate like a good boy. Now look at what you've done, thanks to you my little pawns are still alive, it would've been better to let them die." Kuro said, coldly. Luffy and Aya frowned.
"So now what? Do you have something to say?"
"Yeah. No matter what happens today, I will never lose to you."
"Someone like you, can't be like me." "You see, you are going to die here today. But first you are going to writhe in agony as I hack you up like a fish. I'm going to carve you up and I'm going to enjoy it." Kuro smirked. Luffy gasped as he saw that the butler was going to use his technique again. He and Aya glared at Kuro.
"No, you won't!" The two shouted as they charged at the butler. But, Kuro vanished again just as they got close to him.
"Damn it!" Aya cursed under her breath. She and Luffy looked around trying to find the pirate. Luffy clenched his teeth.
Back in the forest, Jango was getting frustrated as he still hadn't found Kaya or the three kids. "Come out, you brats! I know you're hiding! Give yourselves up!" He shouted as he searched through the thick woods, waiting. Suddenly, a white flag came up from behind a giant rock as it waved in the air.
"We surrender! We'll hand her over to you! Come over here and we'll take you to her! Just don't kill us!" Pepper shouted, waving the flag back and forth. Jango snorted as he smirked.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I won't fall for that, you silly rugrats." He muttered as he took a step forward. In the bushes, Onion grinned wildly and pulled a rope in his hands. The rope was tied to a tree as Onion yanked on it lifting up from the ground. Jango's leg got caught in it was he tripped over it.
"Oh damn it..." Jango cursed to himself.
"We got him!" Pepper shouted as he jumped on top of a log. "NOW!" All three kids charged at the fallen hypnotist. Jango rolled on his back to see Onion as he held a shaker and began to shake pepper onto the hypnotist's face.
"Pepper attack!" Jango began to sneeze violently. Carrot charged at Jango and raised his frying pan with a yell and slammed it down right onto the hypnotist's balls. The man let out a loud howl as he screamed in pain. The two kids took off as Jango began to stand up. He looked up to see the three kids behind a giant log as they tried to push it. Jango had no time to dodge it as it came down, slamming right on top of his foot. He shrieked in pain and started hopping on it. But, the three kids were not finished and they picked up their weapons and charged at Jango.
The hypnotist heard them and Carrot and Pepper missed as they fell to the ground. Jango managed to grab a hold of Onion by his neck, lifting the boy in the air.
"Looks like you bit off a little more than you can chew." Jango hissed, completely furious.
"No! We failed!" Pepper groaned as he tried to sit up.
"Real pirates don't kindly to being beaten, by the likes of you!" Jango turned and threw Onion, causing the boy to slam hard right into a tree.
"ONION!" Carrot and Pepper cried out, worried.
"You pretend pirates are in over your heads." Jango said, making Carrot and Pepper flinch. He picked the two boys up and tossed them one by one into the tree. "Rich girl, I know you're here, listen! Unless you show yourself, I'll execute these three brats! And I'll make sure to do it in the most painful fashion." Jango growled as he picked up his hat off the ground, placing it back on it's head. Suddenly, he heard a rustle in the bushes and saw Kaya stepped out.
"There you are." The hypnotist smirked, darkly.
"No! Miss Kaya, run!" Pepper yelled, worried. Onion screamed as he tried to beg Kaya to run.
The sound of Onion's scream caught Zoro's and Usopp's attention as they heard it not too far off.
"Hear that?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah, that's them alright." Usopp replied.
"They're the other way." Zoro said as he began to run towards the sound where the voices were coming from, trying to hurry.
Kaya stood in front of Jango with a frown on her face. "There's no need for that. Leave the children be. I'll write the will." She said, softly and sighed.
"No! Kaya! He's going to kill you as soon as you write that will!" Pepper yelled. Kaya flinched before her eyes turned sad, looking away from the three boys.
"I'm sorry."
"Silly girl, don't you know you can't bargain with me?" Jango scoffed, grinning at Kaya. "Captain Kuro specifically instructed me to get rid of everyone." He shifted his gaze towards the kids and Kaya gasped. She looked down at the chakram in the hypnotist's and hand. Kaya sneaked closer while he was distracted and quickly grabbed it, retreating. Jango let out a startled shout in surprise.
"If you don't do exactly as I say, then you won't get to kill me and won't write that will!" Kaya demanded. She held her head back holding the chakram, dangerously close to her neck.
"Hold on, hold on! Calm down! Don't be so hasty!" Jango stuttered, nervously.
"Stop, Kaya!" Pepper exclaimed as the other two boys gritted their teeth.
Jango stood in silence for a few seconds watching Kaya, before sighing and clutched his hat. "Alright, fine. I'll let the little brats go. But, in their condition they won't be making to much of quick get away."
He walked over to Kaya and took the ring out of her hands and handed Kaya a quill. "Here."
Kaya sat on her knees next to a stump and began writing out her will on the paper. The three boys gritted their teeth angrily as they watched, frustrated as they couldn't do anything.
"And don't forget to sign your name." Jango said as he watched from over Kaya's shoulder.
"I know."
When Kaya finished, Jango picked it up and began reading it over. "And I leave all of my fortune to my faithful butler, Klahadore." He finished with a pleased look on his face. Jango folded the paper and put in the pocket of his coat as Kaya stood on her feet. "This is good. It'll definitely work."
"Now, remember, we had a deal. You promised that you wouldn't kill them." Kaya was cut off as Jango suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her neck with his hand and slammed her against the tree, pinning Kaya to it.
"KAYA!" The three boys cried.
"There! Over there!"
Carrot's eyes widen as he turned his head, with his eyes widen in shock, to see Zoro carrying Usopp from a distance.
"Captain!"
The other two boys saw them as well and grinned as they saw Usopp.
"There! Over there! Get going!" Usopp ordered Zoro, pointing at the hypnotist.
"Okay, I'm going to go!" Zoro shouted as he dropped Usopp from his shoulder and ran, gripping onto the sheath from one of his katana. "That's enough of that, hypno freak! Let the girl go!"
Jango's eyes widen as he turned, shocked to see the swordsman.
"Damn it, looks like I was followed! I guess I better finish off the rich girl quickly then." Jango shouted as he raised his weapon into the air above Kaya's head.
