I do not own One Piece.
It is owned by Eiichiro Oda.
I just own this story.
Enjoy!
One Piece: All Scope Adventure Pt.8
Normally, going up against a crew of blood-thirsty Pirates would be easy. Well, for one's as strong as Luffy, Zoro, and Jou. But Usopp had the idea to try to think ahead of the Kuro's Pirates. The town's liar was going over a plan of sorts with the 4 so they can be ready for whatever the Pirates throw at them.
"Okay..." Usopp started to give Luffy, Zoro, Jou, and Nami a run-down of his plan while walking through a pass in-between a pair of cliffs. "At daybreak, the Pirates will be landing at this shore to begin their attack. But the only way they'll be able to get to the village is to go up this slope. The rest of the shoreline is sheer cliff so they'll have to come through here. If we can fight them while they are funneled into that narrow path, their numbers won't mean anything. The village will be protected."
"Alright," Luffy said. "Sounds pretty easy."
"Talking about it is but victory depends on our strength," Usopp mentioned. "What is it you guys can do?"
"Slicing," Zoro said.
"Stretching," Luffy said.
"Lashing," Jou said.
"Stealing," Nami said.
"Hiding," Usopp gulped which led to Luffy pulling the town liar into a head-lock.
"WELL THIS TIME YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT!" the 4 shouted at him with shark teeth.
"J-Just making a funny!" Usopp choked out. "Come on! Calm down!"
"Okay, okay..." Jou sighed out. "Well, I guess that's all we got in the way of plans. Just beat down as many Pirates as we can so they can't reach the village."
"Not exactly," Usopp claimed as he was released from the head-lock from earlier. "I have another idea that involves this slope."
-X-
Kuro arrived back at the mansion and is greeted by Merry, Kaya's other caretaker. Merry explained to him about what had happened not so long ago with Usopp.
"I leave town for a few hours to tend to some errands and everything falls to pieces," Kuro remarked bitterly. "That Usopp certainly knows how to cause trouble, doesn't he?"
"Yes," Merry replied. "And on top of everything else he's done today, he claimed you were Pirate." Merry let out a chuckle. "I can't think of a more outrageous lie! Hahahaha!"
Kuro simply smirked. "Indeed," he said as he turned to a small rectangular decorated box covered in white rapping with a blue ribbon. "What's this here?" Kuro wondered as he picked it up.
"Well, that's a present of course from Miss Kaya to you," Merry stated while he was up on a ladder cleaning the chandelier. "It's been 3 years since you came to this mansion and this gift is to say thank you for your hard work. A commemoration of sorts."
"How nice," Kuro spoke as he leered at the 'gift'.
"The glasses you're wearing are always slipping and you have to push them back up, so the lady of the house custom ordered a new pair for you!" Merry exclaimed cheerfully as proud, happy tears fell from his eyes. "Isn't she just the most thoughtful young woman you've ever met?"
Kuro opened the wrapping to reveal a blue case that contained a pair of brand new glasses. He stared at them, letting out a dark chuckle.
"How appropriate," Kuro commented. "Tomorrow will be a day worth commemorating." he looked out the window and looked at the moon. "It's a crescent moon tonight."
Merry seemed surprised by the way his fellow caretaker was acting now.
"It's nights like this, I truly feel alive," Kuro said. "My heart races and blood boil's in my vein." with that, he dropped the case with the glasses inside and crushed them with his foot. Merry screamed in horror by what he had just seen.
"Klahadore, what are you doing!?" Merry asked in shock. "Why would you do such a thing to Miss Kaya's present?"
"Oh, I'll be receiving a gift alright," Kuro stated while pressing his foot onto the shattered glasses. "But it won't be glasses, it'll be her entire estate!"
"What are you saying!" Merry questioned in surprise.
"I suppose there's no reason to carry on the act any longer," Kuro smiled as he walked toward Merry, pushing his glasses up. "In a few hours, the village will be mourning the unforeseen tragedy."
Merry screamed fearfully as Kuro was wearing his glove with five blades attached to each finger. Each blade shining in the light and each one sharp as Kuro was getting ready to use them on the man he's been working with for 3 years now.
"MISS!" Merry yelled in alarm for Kaya. "YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! RUN-"
Kuro had sliced the chandelier which completely darkened the inside of the mansion and soon brought them down and slashed Merry right across the body. Blood spurted from the poor caretaker's chest as he hacked out blood from his mouth and finally falling on the floor on his face and lying in his own blood.
Kuro's blades were covered in Merry's blood. After, Kuro walked up the stairs to Kaya's bedroom. The young girl was fast asleep and unaware that Kuro had stepped in. He watched her and stood next to Kaya's bed. Kuro held his blood-soaked blades over Kaya's sleeping form wondering if he should just get it over with and do it himself. But decided against it whilst pulling his blades away, he had to have faith that Jango would hopefully pull through for the plan to work.
And since it was Kuro pulling the shots, the plan is most certainly going to work.
-X-
Usopp had left a little while ago and had even brought Luffy and Zoro along with him. With the three of them gone, it was now only Jou and Nami left alone at the slope. Jou was seated on the ground with his legs folded, he had his telescope over one of his eyes staring out to sea so he can possibly spot the Pirates. Nami stood off not too far away from him, with her back against the cliff behind her.
"Hey," Nami spoke getting Jou's attention. This was the first time in a few days since she and Jou had time to talk 1 on 1 since they met at Orange Town.
"What is it?" Jou wondered still looking through his telescope. "Something on your mind?"
"Do you really think this plan of Usopp's is going to work?" Nami asked.
"Who knows?" Jou shrugged as he took his scope off his eye and looked at her. "But let's do things his way. After all, this is his home so he's gonna do whatever he has to do to protect it. And with Luffy, Zoro, and I here, we'll have more a winning chance against them. Just leave all the fighting to us."
"That's fine," Nami replied. "While you guys all busy fighting, that'll give me enough time to get on board the Pirates' ship and take any treasure they have." Nami declared with a smile.
"It is a Pirate ship," Jou said as he placed a hand on his palm. "They've got to have some kind of treasure stored on there."
"Yep," Nami added until she stared down at Jou with her hands on her hips. "Don't you think you'll be touching any of that treasure. I still haven't forgotten what you did."
"Huh?" Jou crossed his arms with the most innocent look he can muster. "What did I do?"
"You've got to be kidding!" Nami said. "How could you even-" she stopped mid-sentence as Jou staring up at her with his chin in his palm smirking. "Just don't touch the treasure."
"Noted," Jou stated with a smile. "But I have to know, Nami? What is it with you and treasure? So far, pretty much all I know about you is that you like treasure. Is there a reason why all you're about is treasure?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Nami smirked at him. "Treasure is money and money can buy you stuff. There's not really much I can really say other than that, Jou."
"I guess I get where you're coming from," Jou shrugged. "Money is important..."
"That's exactly-" Nami spoke.
"But it's not all there is to life," Jou continued. "There are things that are more important than gold or jewels, that's something Buggy didn't understand. Take Usopp for example; he knows he's in a do-or-die situation facing off against these Pirates, but he's going to fight them anyway because this is his village. He's got people who are important to him living here, like Kaya, who he's willing to protect. I think everyone's got people like that. So Nami, do you have anyone who's important to you back in your hometown?"
"It's..." Nami sighed. "It's none of your business," she told him firmly. Jou's only stared at her until his only response back to her was a shrug of his shoulders.
"You're right," Jou replied and stood up and placed his telescope back inside his holster. "Sorry for prying. Your personal stuff is none of my concern anyway. You don't have to be so cold, I know we kinda get off the wrong foot sometimes but I just thought we should get to know one another since we'll be sailing together as a crew. You're gonna have to open up at some point."
Who was he to tell her to have to open up? Did Jou really think he can figure her out? Not that she'd give him the satisfaction of knowing he actually did. Jou wasn't a bad person, a bit of a smartass at times, but not a bad person even though he's a Pirate. Wow. She must be crazy that she was saying a Pirate wasn't a bad person. She wasn't apart of their crew, this was only a temporary alliance so she can collect a 100,000,000, for her own reasons. Besides, Nami figured it wasn't like someone like Jou could understand her situation anyway even if she wanted to explain it.
"We're back!"
-X-
Usopp returned along with Luffy and Zoro, the latter two carrying a few barrels. The barrels were filled with oil. They tipped the barrels over and spilled the contents inside right down the slope.
"Yep, I'm a genius!" Usopp remarked proudly. "There's no way they'll be able to make it up this slope now. All this oil we put here should keep them occupied here while we go to work on them. They're gonna be busy slipping and sliding like a bunch of idiots and we show up and beat the crap out of them."
"That's..." Jou said. "An interesting idea."
"Wow, so that's your plan, huh?" Nami asked.
"That's right," Usopp replied with a smile. "I'm going to defend the village no matter what it takes."
"Let's just hope none of us slip on that oil and end up down there with them," Nami brought up which caused Usopp's eyes to widen. "Because that would be like sliding into a meat grinder," Nami commented staring at the oil cascading down the slope.
"Then let's not slip on the oil," Jou mentioned. "Problem solved."
"Usopp, I gotta hand it to you..." Luffy addressed the town's liar. "You're pretty good at fighting dirty."
Usopp folded his arms as his face morphed into a serious one. "Of course I am," he claimed. "There isn't anyone alive who can best me with a slingshot or beat me at the art of fighting dirty!"
Luffy, Zoro, Jou, and Nami all smirked at the Syrup Village's town liar. Everyone stared out at the ocean as now came the waiting for the Pirates to show up.
"It's almost daybreak," Zoro stated. "They're coming."
"Yep," Jou agreed. "And now we wait."
-X-
The Pirate ship of the Black Cat Pirates ship. A huge ship with a figurehead shaped like a black cat was nearing its destination. The ship docked on a slope just outside the village. Onboard were several Pirates brandishing swords and with them was Jango standing just in the middle of them with a smile on his face.
"Alright, men!" Jango called. "You know what to do! Go ashore, crush the village, head for the mansion!"
"Aye, sir!" the Pirates all exclaimed.
"Captain!" one of the Pirates called out. "There are already 2 boats here!"
"What!?" Jango questioned as he looked out where the man was pointing and true enough there were a couple of boats beached on the shore.
"Shall I investigate?" the Pirate wondered.
"Leave 'em for later," Jango ordered. "They don't look like treasure ships to me and we have a schedule to keep." Jango turned to the rest of the Pirates. "What are you waiting for!? It's time to move out!"
The Pirates all answered with a resounding cheer as it was time for their raid on the village and mansion to begin.
-X-
"Where are they!?" Luffy wondered impatiently.
The 5 teens were nevertheless waiting for Pirates to show as the sun was simply rising to the sky. But to their own surprise, there were no Pirates to be seen appearing at the island at this time.
"I thought we were gonna fight," Luffy moaned. "The sun's up. What's the deal?"
"Maybe they overslept," Zoro commented.
"No," Usopp said. "They're gonna show up alright. Lots of them."
"I hope you're right," Jou replied. Nami let out a quiet gasp of surprise as she placed her hands by her ears while taking a few steps.
"Wait a minute?" Nami suspected.
"What's up?" Jou queried as he looked at Nami. "Is something the matter?"
"Maybe I'm hearing things..." Nami stated. "But it sounds like... battle cries from somewhere?" the boys all looked around trying to figure out where the supposed battle cries the orange-haired Navigator was hearing. "Yeah, I definitely hear them."
"Alright, I'll take your word for it," Jou said. "But where are the cries coming from?"
"No, it can't be!" gasped Usopp as realization just hit him while the other 4 just stared at him curiously.
"What can't be?" Zoro asked.
"There's a shore just like this to the north!" Usopp exclaimed.
"Are you for real, Usopp?" Jou questioned.
"We're at the wrong shore?" Luffy exclaimed. "That's not good!"
"Usopp, you didn't think telling us about this other shore would be important to know?" Jou asked with an arched eyebrow.
"This is where they had their secret meeting so I just assumed, okay!" Usopp stated.
"Okay..." Jou sighed as he placed a hand on his hip. "There's nothing we can do about it now. Usopp made a little bit of a mix-up but we can still fix this. All we gotta do is stop the Pirates from getting to the village."
"Yeah," Luffy nodded in agreement. "Where's that other place you talked about?"
"You have to head directly north from here; if you run you can make it in 3 minutes!" Usopp mentioned. "The terrain there is almost exactly the same and all we need to do is stop them at the slope."
"Don't you worry," Luffy assured. "We're gonna stop 'em." Realization seemed to hit Nami as her hands fell to the sides of her head.
"Oh no!" she screamed. "If those filthy are at the north shore then they've already seen our boats! They'll take our treasure!"
Jou's eyes were next to widen in shock. "Dammit, that reminds me!" he said. "My backpack is still there! I swear if any of jackasses even think of touching it, there's gonna be hell to pay!"
Granted, Jou didn't have much in there. Just a few extra grey t-shirts, the tools he uses for his telescope, and a picture he had of him and his mom when he was a kid. The Pirates may not think much of any of that stuff Jou brought along with him on his journey, but just the thought of them going through his things just honestly pissed him off.
"I'll be there in 20 seconds!" Luffy exclaimed as he quickly ran off.
"Oh, man!" Usopp groaned in frustration. "My brilliant oil strategy was all for nothing!" the liar ran off after the straw-hatted Captain.
"My precious treasure..." Nami said worriedly.
Jou only rolled his eyes just seeing Nami just be concerned about the treasure. I mean, he's probably no better as he was just worried about his own backpack but he knew they had more pressing matters as Usopp's friend and entire village could all be killed. But Jou knew it probably couldn't hurt to make sure they don't find that 5,000,000 that they have on the boats.
"C'mon, we gotta hurry!" Jou said to Zoro as he began running.
"Yeah," Zoro nodded as the swordsman turned to Nami. "Hey, what're you doing? Let's get outta here!"
"Yeah," Nami agreed but was unaware that she was standing on the oil and soon found herself slipping on it with a scream. The only thing she could grab hold of was one of Zoro's swords which also led to the swordsman slipping down the oil with her. Jou, who was currently heading to the north slope heard the commotion and turned around.
"Oh, good grief," Jou groaned as he ran over to them.
"Help! I'm gonna fall!" Nami pleaded to Zoro as she held onto his leg.
"Let go, you moron!" Zoro exclaimed as they slid down the oil just a little. "Jou, hurry up and give me your hand!"
"I'm on it!" Jou said as crouched down while leaning out far enough with a hand reaching for Zoro who was the closest out of the swordsman and Nami. "Zoro, hurry and grab hold! C'mon!" Zoro had reached out for Jou's hand as well, both men trying their best to reach out for each other. "Almost there..." Jou strained out while trying to grab Zoro's hand.
Jou's hand was close to grabbing Zoro's. He would have been able to if it wasn't for Nami. The orange-haired Navigator smirked victoriously and had stepped over Zoro's back, pretty much using him as a stepping stool to get off of the oil. This caused Zoro to slide down the rest of the oil as Nami had bumped into Jou, knocking the chain-wielder on his own back.
"Phew, I made it," Nami smiled proudly.
"Ahem," someone had cleared their throat under Nami. The girl looked down and noticed Jou under her. She was straddling his waist as he stared right up at her. Jou's only gave her a smirk while she was seated on top of him.
"So..." Jou drawled playfully. "You enjoying yourself, Nami?"
Jou may have opened a can of worms he probably should have opened as Nami had given him a glare, her hair shadowing her own eyes. Nami, just like when they left Orange Town had grabbed Jou by the neck and had begun to strangle him while violently shaking him.
"'Enjoying yourself, huh!?'" Nami screamed continuing her onslaught on the chain-wielder. "Then are you enjoying this!?"
"Hard to say!" Jou managed to get out through all the shaking and choking. "Nami, as much I want to continue we don't have time! Remember, the treasure..."
Hearing that made Nami stop altogether. She made eye contact with Jou as realization fully hit her. She had to hurry and get to her treasure before those dirty Pirates touch it.
"That's right," Nami realized as she let go of Jou, though she was still straddling him. "I'm just wasting my time here." she finally got off Jou and started her way toward the northern slope. Jou had leaned up and massaged his throat as Nami turned around to him. "Hurry it up, Jou! We gotta go now!"
"Alright, alright..." Jou said getting up and dusting himself off. He started to follow Nami until he realized one thing. "Hey, wait!"
"Now, what!?" Nami questioned as she impatiently tapped her foot.
"Aren't we forgetting somebody?" Jou asked as he jabbed a thumb behind himself at Zoro who had slid down the rest of the oil.
"He'll figure out!" Nami exclaimed while continuing to run off. "They're gonna get my treasure!"
"Hey, wait!" Zoro called from across the bottom of the oil. "Jou, are you just gonna leave me down here!"
"Sorry, Zoro," Jou said frustratedly as he clapped his hands with a bow. "Tell you what..." Jou smiled. "If we ever stop at an island with a pub, I'll buy you a drink to make up for this. Sorry about this, bud!" Jou called with a wave as he dashed after Nami.
"So you're lea-" Zoro never finished what he was going to say as Jou had left. "Dammit! Jou, you and that woman are gonna pay!"
-X-
Usopp was sprinting toward the northern shore. He was following Luffy but the straw hat proved a much faster runner than him that Usopp couldn't even see him anymore. The town liar made it to the shore and saw the Pirates had already arrived but there was no sign Luffy as Usopp was able to gather that much. Before the Pirates were half-way up the slope, a handful of them were knocked down by Usopp's projectiles from his slingshot.
"It's an ambush!" a pirate shouted. "Somebody's up there!" Jango and the other Pirates turned up to the top of the slope and saw Usopp standing up at the top.
"We meet again," Jango said.
Usopp was out of breath as he looked down the slope at the Pirates, his slingshot in his hand.
"I am the legendary Captain Usopp!" he announced bravely. "I've been waiting for you!" Usopp held up a fist toward Jango and his men. "All my men and I are ready to fight to the death! Turn back now if you value your lives!" Usopp boasted but that didn't stop the slight trembling in his legs.
'I wasn't supposed to be the first one here!' Usopp thought nervously. 'He was running way ahead of me! I can't handle these guys alone!'
"It's you, I remember!" Jango replied. "You are one of the troublesome brats that overheard our plan. What do you think you're doing!?"
"I'm warning you!" Usopp shouted. "Leave here while you still can! If you don't, my 100,000,000 crewmen will massacre all of you!"
"100,000,000?" a Pirate queried in confusion.
"Are we really supposed to believe that?"
The Black Cat Pirates weren't stupid enough to believe Usopp's deception as they didn't see any supposed men Usopp was yelling about. Well, all except for...
"No way!?" Jango screamed in disbelief. "Incredible!"
"Captain, he's obviously lying,"
"They saw through it," Usopp said seeing his obvious fib that didn't work on these Pirates.
"You've been lying to us this whole time!" Jango exclaimed.
"Captain Jango, take a look at this!" a Pirate got the hypnotists' attention. "We searched those other ships! We found a backpack filled all sorts of junk in it! Nothing in it worth really mentioning! But we found a huge load of treasure! It's hard to say how much but I bet it's around 5,000,000 Berri's!"
"5,000,000 Berri's?" Usopp repeated in surprise. "How in the world did those guys get ahold of so much treasure?" When Usopp first met Luffy and the others, they honestly didn't look like much but he didn't expect them to have much that much gold with them stored onto those boats.
"I see you found my loot!" Usopp called toward the Jango and the Pirates. "Well, you can have it!"
"You're just gonna let us take your treasure?" a Pirate questioned.
"That's right!" Usopp said smirking. "Just turn around forget all about this place and the treasure is yours!"
"Okay..." Jango maintained putting head down. "Do you know what a Pirate is? We're going to take this treasure and there's nothing you can do about it. And there is no way we're turning back until we get what we came for."
Usopp felt all hope he had just sink to the bottom when Jango told him that.
"Well, yeah..." Usopp gulped. "That makes sense."
"Alright then," Jango pulled out his chakram, holding by a string in front of him. "On the count of 1, 2, Jango, you'll let us by."
"I-It's that strange weapon from before!" Usopp breathed out. "But I thought Jou destroyed it when he tossed a knife at it!? He must've had a spare on him!"
-X-
Jou and Nami were rushing toward the Northern slope. Jou was a bit quicker but Nami was doing a good job keeping up with him.
"We're almost at the Northern slope!" Jou mentioned.
"Yep, good timing, too!" Nami answered. "The sun is already up in the sky and we haven't seen any Pirates going toward the village! I'm guessing Luffy must've dealt with them already!"
"That or something else is keeping them occupied!" Jou wondered. "Usopp was on his way there, so that might be him! I hope he's okay!"
"I'm more worried about my treasure!" Nami called back.
"Of course you are," Jou replied with a roll of his eyes. The two were nearly there and can see the slope with Usopp standing at the top of it. "No sign of Luffy, but I see Usopp! Looks like he's-"
"I see you found my loot!" Jou heard Usopp call out. "Well, you can have it!"
"Huh!?" Jou's eyes widened. "He's going to give away the treasure? He must be trying to-" Jou then looked toward Nami to see how she was holding up. "Uh, Nami?"
He wasn't sure he liked the fact her hair was shadowing her eyes. Suddenly Nami started to run faster than Jou at the mention of the 5,000,000 from the boat. Nami quickly pulled out her 3-piece staff and dashed at the town liar in a fit of rage. Jou was tempted to stop her from hitting Usopp but soon saw Jango pulling out the chakram he uses for hypnotizing, mirroring the same one he tried to use earlier on himself, Luffy, and Usopp the other day.
"1... 2... JAN-"
"DON'T YOU EVER TRY TO GIVE AWAY MY HARD-EARNED TREASURE!"
Usopp was not ready for Nami's sudden sneak attack on him. The orange-haired girl smacked him hard over the head causing the liar to fly through the air until he hit the ground with a skid.
"My heaaaaaaaad!" Usopp screamed in pain.
"Hey, who is this crazy girl!?" one of the Pirates wondered seeing Nami.
"Captain!" another Pirate yelled at Jango who had hypnotized himself. "This isn't the time to be hypnotizing yourself we got a mission to carry out! Remember?" Jango only gasped in the realization of the job they have to get done.
Jou had stopped right beside Nami and was honestly relieved Usopp managed to stall them until any of the other crew had shown up to aid him.
"Perfect," Jou commented. "They haven't advanced toward the village yet." Nami's attention was directed toward Jango and the Pirates as she jabbed a finger at them.
"That treasure boat is mine!" Nami claimed. "And I'm not gonna let you have a single Berri! Do you hear me!? In fact, you better clear out because I'm coming down there to get it back!"
"Oh, really?" Jou questioned her. "I guess that means you don't need my help then, huh?"
"Well, of course, I need your help," Nami whispered to him. "There's no way I can take on all those Pirates by myself. Why do you think you're here, to begin with?"
"I only came for my backpack," Jou said. "I don't have much in there but what I got is pretty valuable to me."
"Valuable, huh?" Nami repeated. "Then after this, I'm claiming whatever you got as compensation for giving away half of my treasure."
"Not on your life," Jou stated. "I'm not giving away anything to you so you can forget it."
"Hey!" Usopp called to the two which made them turn their attention on him. "That really hurt!" he said to Nami.
"Just who said you can give them my treasure?" Nami questioned angrily. "You got what you deserve!"
"I didn't give them the treasure!" Usopp argued back. "I just said I would give it to them!"
"That's the same thing," Nami stated while leaning her staff on her shoulder. "And I just saved your life."
"Huh?" Usopp mouthed in confusion.
"I admit, she's not wrong there," Jou noted. "I figured it out when we first met that guy." Jou pointed at Jango. "That guy is a hypnotist and does his trick with that ring of his. He didn't get to use it on you, Luffy, and I because I stopped it before he got the chance to even do anything."
"Yeah, so don't watch it," Nami agreed. Jango grit his teeth in irritation as he and his performance have been found out.
"Hypnotists?" Usopp repeated.
"That's surprising," Jou said looking around. "Luffy's not here."
"Luffy's a fast runner," Nami noted. "I thought he'd be here way ahead of you?" she asked Usopp.
"I don't know?" Usopp said. "He either got lost or he chickened out at the last minute."
"Doubtful," Jou shook his head. "Luffy's the kinda guy that never passes up a good fight. I'd say the getting lost part is a more reasonable explanation."
"Right when we need him to," Nami sighed.
"It's all good," Jou shrugged. "Luffy or Zoro..." Jou paused thinking about the swordsman and shuddered hoping he wasn't too upset with him for deserting him at the bottom of that slope. "Aren't here... so I guess that means it's all up to me and the two of you."
"What!?" exclaimed both the Navigator and Liar.
"M-Me!?" Usopp stammered scaredly. "Fight an entire crew of Pirates? No, way! How about this? I'll go ahead and take command here and you and her..." he pointed at Nami. "Go and kick their butts!"
"What!?" Nami screamed. "Me!? What about you!?" Usopp was only giving the girl a smug smirk. "I can't take on a butt-load of vicious Pirates by myself! Jou probably can but me, no! That's just suicide!"
"What, like I'm gonna do any fighting?" Usopp asked. "Under this calm exterior lies the abject terror of a coward!"
"Well, at least you admit it," Jou muttered as gazed down at Jango and the Pirates to see if any of them are making any sudden movements. All of them were just continuing to stare at the three, more specifically watch Nami and Usopp argue over who's more afraid.
"Oh, so you think you're scared!?" Nami retorted. "Well, I am so scared that I am literally about to cry!"
"Hey, Nami?" Jou tried getting their attention. "Usopp?"
"Please!" Usopp said. "Your eyes are completely dry! You'll have to do better than that!" he claimed proudly. "Liars can smell their own!"
"Hey, you guys," Jou tried to express. "I think we should really-" he was once again drowned out by Nami and Usopp's petty arguing over who's the most scared. They really didn't have time for something like this when they got an entire crew of Pirates to go through and two of their other best fighters are either lost or blocked by oil.
"We don't have time for this nonsense," Jango muttered to himself. "Alright, men! Let's get to work! Crush them and move to the village!"
The Pirates all let out a battle cry and started advancing up the hill. The approaching Pirates had finally gotten Nami and Usopp to stop arguing.
"Here they come!" Nami exclaimed with a worried look.
"Now that I've got your attention..." Jou said. "Quick plan!" Jou flicked both wrists and grabbed his chains.
"Plan!?" Usopp questioned. "What's the plan?"
"The best I got!" Jou told him. "I'm going to charge in and engage them! But you two are going to help! Usopp, this is to defend your village. Just hang back and snipe them from a distance with that slingshot of yours!"
"O-Okay!" Usopp nodded while readying his slingshot.
"Nami, if we don't do this here, that 5,000,000 Berri's you're so worried about is as good as gone!" Jou stated. "Put that staff of yours to good use and try to attack from behind especially when they're busy dealing with me! Got that?"
"Y-Yeah, I think so..." Nami said slowly.
Jou could tell that both of them are probably still a little nervous going against such a huge crew of Pirates.
"I can tell you guys are scared," Jou said as he turned around to look at them. "But you guys don't have to worry about anything." Jou's lips curled into a smile. "I won't let you guys get hurt. I got your back. And I expect you guys to do the same for me here."
Jou turned back around toward the Pirates all roaring while brandishing swords, ax's, hammers, etc. Jou dashed in first, his chains fluttering behind him as he went into the fray of Pirates. Jou lashed out at a few Pirates which knocked them down. A few Pirates ran to attack, one Pirate brought his ax down at Jou which allowed the chain-wielder to quickly step back to avoid it and then leap on top of the ax and then kicked that Pirate in the face, even using his face as a stepping stone. Jou had landed behind the Pirate and wrapped one of his chains around the Pirates ankles and tossed him into another few Pirates.
A Pirate swiped at Jou with his sword. Jou ducked the blade which left the Pirate attacking being hit in the face by a flying projectile. Jou watches the Pirate fall to the ground as Jou turned around behind him, seeing Usopp aiming his slingshot as Jou gave a thumbs up to him.
"Good shot!" Jou commented which Usopp grinned proudly.
Jou attacked another group of the Pirates. Jou twirled his chains and let out a flurry of chain lashes at a few of the Pirates. With them all down, a Pirate went to attack Jou from behind. Jou already knew that Pirate was behind him, to begin with, but he didn't need to do anything as Nami had whacked that Pirate over the head with her staff, knocking him to the ground. Nami was soon attacked by another sword-wielding Pirate and blocked the sword with her staff.
"Ha! I got you now, girly!" the Pirate guffawed in her face. That Pirate yelped as he soon found himself hoisted up by something wrapped around his ankles as he was lifted up from the ground. Nami saw it was Jou who was holding the Pirate up by his chain.
"Too bad for you, jackass..." Jou remarked. "Cause you're not gonna lay one hand on her." Jou looked at Nami with a grin. The Navigator returning a smile at the chain-wielder as Jou soon threw that Pirate into some other few Pirates.
A Pirate swiped his sword at Jou as the chain-wielder had leaped away from it with a somersault. Jou had jumped over a couple of other Pirates. The Pirates were confused as to what had even happened until Jou kicked the Pirate he was standing behind in the back making him crash right into the others in front of him. Pirates rushed at Jou as he easily eluded the attacks they sent at him while he exchanged a few chain lashes at them.
Nami had retreated to a safe distance beside Usopp. Both of them watched as Jou literally take on all the Pirates signal-handed. To them, it was honestly impressive actually.
"Wow, he's really letting 'em have it out there," Usopp commented. "Jou really is quite the capable fighter."
"He sure is," Nami admitted. "If Luffy and Zoro were here, all three of them could finish all of these Pirates in a one-fell swoop."
"We can't just stand here," Usopp realized as he started fishing through his bag. "Remember, Jou said we have to help out, too. I have some caltrops. I was sure they'd come in handy for a situation like this."
"Those are just what the doctor ordered!" Nami smirked. "Let me have some!"
"That the best you jackasses got!" Jou taunted the Pirates. "C'mon, I can take you all on in my sleep!" Jou cracked his chain like a whip into a Pirate's face, the man screaming in pain as he fell over.
"Hey, Jou!" Nami called to the chain-wielder.
"You might wanna move if you don't wanna get hit with these!" Usopp called after. Jou noticed the caltrops the two had in their hands. Jou smiled as he understood their idea and saw another Pirates take a slice at him only for Jou to leap away with a reverse cart-wheel while Jou skidded back next to Nami and Usopp.
"Alright, you two!" Jou said. "Go for it!"
"You're gonna love this!" Nami hollered as she and Usopp mimicked each other movements as they readied to toss the projectiles in their hands.
"Caltrop... HELL!" the two released the caltrops into the air, each of the caltrops hit their mark as the Pirates cried in pain.
"Yes, we got 'em!" Nami said with a cheery smile.
"Those caltrops had to have hurt," Jou commented smirking. "I should know," he declared as he remembered his fight with Ringo. "Anyway, well-done guys. You did great. We may pull this off."
"Check it out!" Usopp asserted aiming his slingshot. "Here comes the Led-Star!" Usopp lets go of the sling as his Led-Star hit one of the Pirate's in the forehead, tumbling onto the ground.
"Good shot," Jou smiled.
"Way to go!" Nami said. "You're quite the warrior after all! Since you got Jou already, it looks like you got this handled so I'll just take a break!"
"Hey, wait a minute, Nami," Jou declared as the Navigator started walking away but she soon stopped in her tracks with a startled yelp.
"What is it?" Usopp questioned.
"There are caltrops behind us," Nami pointed with a sad look. There were caltrops scattered about the ground behind the 3.
"Geez," Jou said. "How many of those were carrying in your bag anyway, Usopp?"
"Idiot!" Usopp yelled at Nami with shark teeth, not even answering Jou's question. "You dropped those things behind us, too!?"
"GET OUTTA THE WAY!" a Pirate holding large hammer screamed as he swung into the back of Usopp's head. The liar hacked out blood as he fell onto the ground.
"Don't tell me you really thought were gonna stop us down there!" the Pirate boasted. He wasn't so confident when Jou had lashed the Pirate down across the face. Jou was crouched as the Pirate fell down onto the ground.
"Jackass," Jou muttered as he slung his chain over his shoulder. "Are you alright, Usopp?" he asked in concern as Usopp started to slowly get up. "Careful. You don't have to push yourself." Jou stared back down at the Pirates trying to see if they were try anything.
"That guy with the chains is no slouch. He was able to take down enough of us."
"That doesn't matter! We'll just push through the chain guy and the other two! So, c'mon! Captain Kuro doesn't like to be kept waiting!" The Pirates roared as they began running up the slope again.
"Damn," Jou cursed as he stared at the Pirates and then saw Usopp trying to get back up, his face covered in scratches, blood dripping down the side of his head. "I appreciate the help but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, that guy did a number on you. Just stay down."
"I won't..." Usopp uttered out weakly which caused Jou and Nami's eyes to widen. "I will never... let them set foot in that village. All I did was lie like I always do. Today will be like every other day in that sleepy little town because they will never set foot in it!"
"Usopp..." Jou muttered. He was impressed with Usopp's determination with wanting to protect his village. Jou would do the same for his own if it meant he could protect the people he cares about there.
Jou turned to Nami. "Nami!" he said. "Stay by Usopp!"
"What're you going to do!?" Nami wondered. Her eyes widened when Jou ran toward the Pirates, his chains fluttering behind him. "Wait, Jou!" she called after him but had already began lashing away at the Pirates.
Jou lashed down two of the Pirates easily. Jou slid under a sword of another and a chain around the man's ankles and hurled him into a few other Pirates. It was going fine until one Pirate had grappled Jou, locking his arms at his sides. Then another Pirate, a third until what followed was a whole group of the Pirates had dog-piled onto Jou which caused them all to topple to the ground.
"We got the bastard!"
"Hold him down!"
"We'll hold him here! The rest of you hurry to the village! The chain guy can't protect his two friends anymore!"
"Bullrush through them!"
"You and all your cronies will never set foot in that village!" Usopp yelled at the rushing Pirates.
"Shut up!" a Pirate yelled as he raised a sword at Usopp. The Pirate never got to him as he was hit across the face by Nami and was knocked him to the ground.
"Stupid girl!" growled a different sword-wielding Pirate slashed at Nami who blocked the attack using her staff. But the Pirate was much bigger than her and easily knocked her away onto her back.
"Treasure..." she uttered out.
The Pirates all holding down Jou all held confident smiles until they felt a slight rumbling beneath them. The Pirates soon all found themselves blasted upward into the air. Each of them hit the ground and the cliff-side on either side of them. Jou stood in the middle, his breathing a bit ragged, he had a few scratches on his face. Jou glanced up and saw Nami and Usopp. Nami on the ground with her eyes shut, Usopp still on his knees.
"You stupid jackasses," Jou gave a breathless grin at all the downed Pirates. "Usopp is right. You'll never set foot in that village."
"We've wasted enough time playing Pirates!" Jango grunted. "Quit bothering with them and move to the village! Or have you forgotten that this is Captain Kuro's operation!? And he doesn't look favorably on his well-laid plans being ruined by idiots! He'll kill us all! Do you understand that, you cretins!?"
The Pirates took Jango's word for it and raced to the top of the slope to get to the village right passed Usopp and Nami.
"Don't go any further..." Usopp said but his voice went unheard by the Pirates. "I said stop!" Usopp reached for the ankle of a Pirate.
"Get off me!" the Pirate warned as he kicked Usopp in the face. The Sniper landed on his back onto his back.
'Please don't kill them!' Usopp pleaded inwardly as images of Kaya, Pepper, Onion, and Carrot flashed through his mind, all the four of them smiling. 'Just leave this village alone! They're good people! They don't deserve this! I love this place!'
Jou had taken off running after the many Pirates going into the village.
'I got to stop them!' Jou thought. 'No matter what it takes! I could use Fade-Step but then I'd waste the 4 uses I have with it!' he kept running as he inwardly spoke. 'Dammit, I hope it's not too much to ask but...! Luffy, where the hell are you!?'
Jango see's Jou running up the slope to catch up to the Pirates. He pulled out one of his chakram and readied to throw it.
"Where do you think you're going, hmm?" Jango questioned. But before he could throw his chakram at Jou, all of the Pirates running up the slope were all sent flying with a sudden flash of light. The Pirates screamed as they all hit the ground with resounding thuds.
Usopp, Nami, and even Jango were all wondering what could have sent them flying. But Jou, with a smile on his face, knew exactly what had sent them all reeling backward.
"What is this Captain, Jango!?"
"And we thought the chain guy was tough but no one told us that killer's like those were gonna be here!"
"It's about time," Nami muttered.
"Is that the best those Pirates can dish out?" Zoro wondered while wearing his bandana tied around his head.
"Yeah, I was hoping for a challenge," Luffy huffed out.
"And you!" Zoro turned to Nami. "After leaving me down there, you're lucky I'm not kicking your butt, too!" Zoro then brought his gaze toward Jou. "That goes double for you, Jou!"
"Well-" Jou began to say but only smirked. "I'm glad you guys finally decided to show up. And here I thought I was gonna have to handle this by myself."
"Usopp, you big bonehead!" Luffy shouted at the Liar. "You never told me which direction was north!"
Jango was standing in the middle of his Pirates who were all groaning in pain as Jango only had one question he asked himself.
"Who are these guys?"
Hey, I'm back!
Jou: Watch everyone? That's going to be a reoccurring thing.
Don't make me put you in that corner again. Sorry, this took so long, I've just been-
Jou: Too busy playing VIDEO GAMES!
That's not all, ya know. There have been other things going on. That and new stories I'd like to get out. Been thinking of getting my Star Wars The Clone Wars story out soon(It's going to be OCxAhsoka). So, if anyone's interested in that, you should check it out once it does, though I'm still working out how it's going to work.
By the way, I hope that Jou and Nami scene in this chapter turned out okay. I enjoyed working on it, but I want to know your thoughts. Think it should've gone for longer? I was only trying to experiment and get inside Nami's head a little. Well, there's definitely going to be more 1 on 1 conversations between them. I just felt she'd be a bit distant and not want to go into detail about her situation with Arlong, especially to Jou since he's a Pirate.
Jou: Oh, yeah, Arlong. I remember him from the last story...
That's right. You'll be seeing him again real soon.
Reviews...
William Hoenicke:
Jou: You see that author? take too long and everyone thinks you died?
Sorry for the wait. Glad you like the stories.
Guest:
Jou: We'll just leave this update right here for you and your enjoyment.
Hope you liked it.
searge:
Jou: Actually, I just want a baby Yoda in general.
Most of do, Jou. Most of us do. Speaking of Jou bonding with Usopp, I'd also like for Jou to bond more with the other Straw hats. You know solo conversations and whatnot.
Rosethorn: Sorry for the wait and thank you.
pokemonking0924:
Jou: Glad you're still around.
That's something I'd like to keep going. Because later on down the line when Jou and Nami develop feelings for each other I'd to keep their bickering going. It's mainly because one of the kids is named 'Carrot' as you know there is Carrot the rabbit Mink later. But I think I will go back and change back to their English names instead since a couple of people got confused while reading.
KP360:
I think the main goal here is to get out of East Blue. Or at the very least, reach Arlong Park. I got a couple of new ideas for that arc.
Jou: Hey, it's no fun if we get along all the time.
Drakedragon297: I'm sure most people like to think about what it would be like if their OC was in the original series. It's kinda fun to think about.
Jou: I await your last resort, Drake. But until then, I am the champion! MUWAHAHAHAHA!
William Hoenicke(2): Since this is a new story, I do think about adding new additions to the crew. My only concern is that I hope I don't end up forgetting them and they just fade away into the background. Though, the Straw hat crew having a puppy would be a cute addition, to be honest.
ShadowUzumaki55: I may only do longer chapters when we're reaching the finale of the arc.
Jou: If we did do longer chapters, my author's uploading speed will be as slow as Foxy's Slow-Slow beam.
That's ri-hey wait a minute! Jou, how do you know who that is?
Jou: Eh, I read ahead. Gotta read the source material.
Firebrand18: Long chapters will only be for arc finale chapters.
johannvanguard: Jou's next 1v1 fight will be in the next chapter.
Jou: Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em! I'll give 'em the old 1-2! *throwing mock punches*
But you don't fight with your hands...
Jou: So, what? I'm ready to throw down!
Darkmaster10000: I may have skimmed over a few chapters of "This Bites!". Though, I really should read the fic in its entirety. I do need some new fics to read if they interest me and I got so many stories in my downloads.
Jou: Or you're just lazy.
Hey, that's...! Fair...
Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. It's crazy that we're now at 124 favorites and 153 follows in a short amount of time.
Jou: Took us months to reach 100 for the last story and we see some familiar names coming back and some new ones.
It's great. Thanks for the support and for sticking around. I do really want this story to have a different feel than the last story as I'm taking a new route with Jou this time around, he's gonna have more a main character role when it comes to arcs.
That's gonna be all for this one. Review and Jou will now binge-watch The Witcher.
Jou: I didn't think much of Henry Cavill as Superman but he plays a badass Geralt.
Seeya later everyone!
Jou: Yep, later!