After recovering from the bat swing, Kuro stood up, looked straight at Harley, and adjusted his glasses.
"Dude, if those glasses keep slipping off, just get new ones." Harley said.
"Hey! Why'd you hit him, Harley?" Luffy asked. "I wanted to do that!"
"Early bird gets the worm, rubber boy." Harley said. "Tell you what though. If I get one scratch from this pussycat in a tuxedo, I'll tag you in."
"You're quite cocky, aren't you?" Kuro asked.
"Nah. I just know you ain't gonna touch me." Harley replied. "You see, I'm from the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, the most dangerous place in the world. And out of the four oceans that surround it, the East Blue is considered the most mild. Compared to what I've been through, you're barely worth the worry."
Kuro gritted his teeth. "The Grand Line, huh? In that case, I shouldn't hold back." He raised his claws ready to fight.
Harley smirked before closing her eyes. She and her enemy paused for a minute before she broke the silence. "Left, right, left, right, jump and kick."
"What are you babbling about?" Kuro asked before rushing forward. He thrusted his claws forward, but Harley sidestepped to her left to dodge them. He attempted to stab again, but she dodged again to the right. She dodged left and right again before Kuro attempted a sweep at her legs, but she jumped and countered with a drop kick sending him rolling backwards.
Luffy dropped his jaw in amazement. "Whoa! How did you do that?"
"I told you." Harley said. "Compared to what I did just to escape my ex's pirates, chumps like Captain Manicure are nothing. Speaking of whom…"
Kuro rose to his feet and snarled in anger. He raised his arms again with even more determination while Harley closed her eyes. She then gasped and turned back to everyone at the base of the hill.
"EVERYONE, GET DOWN NOW!"
Instantly moved by Harley's words, everyone dropped down to the ground just as Kuro disappeared in a flash. Harley got down too.
Just then, the sound of rapid wind blew into the air above everybody along with the sound of something hard bouncing on the trail walls.
"WHAT'S HE DOING?!" Nami asked.
"I THINK HE'S ACTIVATED SOME KIND OF LAST RESORT!" Harley yelled. "HE'S BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS SO FAST, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S TRYING TO SLICE!"
"BUT HIS CREW'S HERE!" Luffy shouted.
"I DON'T THINK HE CARES!" Harley yelled. Suddenly, she swung her bat up and Kuro appeared again with is face smacked and his body falling down. She got back up and stood over his barely conscious body. "Next time, don't go at Mach 5 when someone's got a Sea Prism Stone solid bat."
All the pirates on the beach returned to their feet, but the Black Cat pirates looked at their captain with disturbed expressions.
"Captain Kuro… You nearly killed us."
"Why? We've always had your back."
Harley sighed before turning to the pirates. "Don't you guys get it? Your captain never had any intention of letting you live."
"What?" a Black Cat crewmate asked.
"He said so himself. He cooked up this whole plan to leave his pirate life behind. Even if you did attack the village, you all would be the only loose ends left."
"What a sad man." Luffy said.
"Tell you what, everybody." Harley said as she picked Kuro up and threw him over to his crew. "Take your captain and get out of here. You can work things out with him as soon as he wakes up."
The Black Cat Pirates nodded, took their captain, and proceeded to return to their ship.
Owen groaned as he regained consciousness. He found himself in a fancy bedroom with his bandaged body underneath some nice sheets. She sat back up feeling a sting in his chest before finding Kaya and her servant, Merry, right beside him.
"Ms. Kaya?" Owen asked with a slight groan. "What happened?"
"After Usopp saved my life and his friends drove out Klahadore and his pirates, they brought you here so I could fix you up." Kaya explained.
"So we won? Everyone is safe?" Owen asked in relief. "And I'm alive?"
"Thankfully, the cuts weren't too deep." Kaya said. "I managed to stitch you up and bandage you. You should be as fine as ever by tomorrow."
"Thanks." Owen said in gratitude. "So what happens now?"
"Well, Usopp wants us to not tell anyone about the pirate attack." Kaya said. "He thought it would be better for the villagers to have peace of mind."
"Wow. For once, he's not acting like an idiot." Owen said. "Hey. Can I get up? There's somewhere I have to be."
"Oh. Sure." Kaya said.
"Great. And one more thing," Owen said, "Do you mind if I take a bottle of rum if you have any?"
As it turned out, there was a bottle in Kaya's inventory, and she lent it to him after he promised he wasn't going to drink it. Instead, he brought it all the way to the beach where he stopped at his father's makeshift grave.
"Hey, Dad." He said. "So, I had my first pirate battle. Of course, I had some help, but we won. And you know what? I'm better because of it. I haven't felt this good for six years." Owen chuckled and sighed. "Dad. I have made a decision. These pirates who I just befriended say they're going to the Grand Line. So what better place to keep my promise than there. I don't know what's going to happen to me, but I know that I'll proudly build my own legacy. Don't worry about you, though. Ms. Kaya promised to take care of your grave while I am gone. Well, here's to adventure."
Owen held up his bottle and flipped it upside down. All the rum inside spilled right out the open hole and splattered all over the grave. Once every last drop was gone, he was visited by Harley who approached from behind.
"Well, that's a waste of good rum." She said.
"My dad would beg to differ." Owen said before turning to her. "So Harley, does the offer to join your crew still stand?"
"Yep. Welcome aboard."
Harley and Owen joined up with the Straw Hats at the shore where Kaya and Merry waited for them and presented a sailing ship that they offered. It was a lovely caravel with a lamb's head at the front.
"That's our new ship?" Luffy asked excitedly.
"Indeed it is. It's not the newest model, but I built her myself." Merry said. "I present to you… the Going Merry!"
"Not bad." Zoro said.
"It's beautiful." Nami said.
"I'm glad you like it." Kaya said. "I've already stocked it with everything you need."
"You're really adding insult to injury, Ms. Kaya!" Luffy said.
"That's 'adding icing to the cake'." Zoro corrected.
"So where's our ship?" Harley asked.
Kaya and Merry looked at her and Owen with confusion. "Your ship?"
"Yeah. Luffy and his crew have their own ship. I want one of my own." Harley said.
Kaya looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Ms. Quinn. Since you and Mr. Luffy fought Klahadore's pirates together, I just assumed you were in the same crew."
"I'm afraid," Merry said hesitantly, "That we could only spare this one ship. My apologies."
"WHAT?!" Harley cried out. "This is an outrage! I demand a lawyer! I demand a shipwright! I demand a cheeseburger with extra onions!"
"Harley, wait!" Owen yelled. "I think this might be better. For now, at least."
"Ex-squeeze me?" Harley asked.
"Think about it." Owen said. "Besides me, how many people do you have in your crew?"
"Mmm… None."
"Right. Now, if we were given a caravel like the others, how many people do you think we'll need to man it?"
Harley displayed a grumpy frown. "More than you and me."
"Exactly. So let's just ride on the Going Merry along with the others. Once we find more crew members—at least two more I believe—then we can get our own ship."
"Fine." Harley said before turning to the others. "In that case, hold the onions!"
"What do onions have to do with this?" Zoro asked.
"SOMEBODY STOP MEEEEEEEEEE!"
Everyone turned to the sound of the screaming. Rolling down the hill, they saw an unbelievably large backpack shaped like a ball. Usopp was attached to the backpack with his arms through its straps. As the ball rolled, he was turning around and around continuously being squished by the ground until Luffy and Zoro raised their feet to stop him.
"You okay?" they both asked.
"Yep. I'm fine. Thanks." Usopp replied in a muffled tone. When he escaped their feet, Kaya approached him.
"So you're really going off to sea?" she asked sadly.
"I'm afraid so. I have to go now before my resolve weakens. Don't worry, Kaya. I'll be back with even greater stories, only they'll all be true."
That brought a smile on Kaya's face. "Thank you. I'm really looking forward to hearing them."
After their heartfelt farewell, everyone climbed onboard the Going Merry, waved goodbye to Kaya and Merry, and sailed off into the distance.
Onboard the ship, Owen raised a drink-filled mug into the air to get everyone's attention. "Hello, everyone. I got good news and bad news. The good news is, I'm joining this little alliance as part of Harley's crew. The bad news is, Usopp's joining too as part of Luffy's."
"Did you just propose a toast just so you can insult me?" Usopp sneered.
"Yes." Owen said. "Well, that, and I'd like to make a little announcement. You see, I wish to live up to my dad's example and be a pirate like he was. Which is why I have decided to take up his moniker."
"Who's Monica?" Luffy asked.
"He said 'moniker'." Nami said. "As in, his nickname."
"That's right." Owen said. "So until our adventure is finished, I would like to be called… Boomerang."
"All right, Boomerang." Harley said. "Congrats on being the first recruit of the Harley Quinn Pirates!"