Truth

-x-

In her mansion Kaya was having a fitful sleep.

"How dare you try to make a fool of the Great Captain Usopp!" snapped Usopp as he stood over Kaya with a sword. "How dare you mock my pirate heritage!"

"Please, you don't have to do this Usopp," Kaya pleaded as she stared up at her old friend in fear. Usopp raised the sword and lunged at her...

"AAAAHHH!" Kaya screamed as she woke from from her nightmare and sat up. Her heart was pounding and she was sweating, she took a moment to catch her breath and tried to make sense of things. "I don't understand why Usopp would act like that," Kaya said to herself.

Kaya slowly got out of her bed and slipped her feet into her slippers then left her room. "Klahadore!" Kaya weakly called as she walked down the hall. "Klahadore are you there?" Kaya slowly pushed opened a door and stood in shock at what she saw. Merry was lying in a puddle of blood. The butler was barely conscious and had bloody slashes going across his face.

"Merry!" cried Kaya as she rushed over to him and knelt down beside him, "What happened? Open you eyes! Merry, please don't die!" Merry responded by starting to cough, then he slowly opened his eyes.

"Miss Kaya... thank heaven you're alive!" Merry said weakly.

"Of course I'm alive," Kaya reassured him. "Who did this to you?"

"Klahadore!" answered Merry, shocking Kaya. "Klahadore tried to kill me!"

"What?" questioned Kaya in disbelief, thoughts of Klahadore saying how much he cared for her ran though her head, "But... why would he?"

"He's a pirate," replied Merry as he let out a grunt of pain.

"Then that means... what Usopp said was true!" Kaya suddenly realized, Usopp had tried to warn them but they wouldn't listen! They thought it was all another one of his lies!

"It was true," explained Merry. "He discovered Klahadore's deception and was trying to save us... but... none of us would believe him! And to think... we defended that villain!"

Kaya thought back to the events that had happened yesterday, Usopp was trying to save her! He was trying to help but they shot him in the arm!

"And we drove away..." Merry continued weakly, "a brave young man... who was willing to die to save his village!"

"What have I done!?" Kaya asked out loud, as she remembered slapping Usopp and calling him the villain. "I said those awful things to him."

KOFF! KOFF! Merry was coughing up blood as he tried to get up off of the ground. "Somebody help!" shouted Kaya. "Merry needs help!"

"It's no use," said Merry. "Everyone on the estate has been on vacation since yesterday."

"No!" exclaimed Kaya, what were they going to do? "Then I'll..."

"We mustn't panic," interrupted Merry. "There's still time. Stay calm and think carefully... I saw Klahadore leaving not long ago. If what he told me yesterday was true... he went to fetch his pirates. We're not the only ones in danger, the entire village is too!"

"If Klahadore is after your estate and fortune just let him have it," suggested Merry. "They aren't worth dying over!"

"Alright," agreed Kaya as she wiped some tears out of her eyes.

"The harsh truth is that only you can stop Klahadore," explained Merry. "Only you, it's a terrible burden, you don't have to do it..."

"I know," replied Kaya. "But if I didn't try to stop this, what kind of person would I be? I'm going to have a talk with Klahadore."

-x-

In the village Onion had met up with Pepper and the two of them found Carrot sleeping under a tree. "Hey Carrot wake up!" shouted Pepper, causing Carrot to wake with a start.

"I'm usually still asleep at this hour," protested Carrot as he fought back a yawn.

"Well we can't sleep now!" exclaimed Onion. "We have a disaster to deal with. Pirates are really attacking. The Captain said that was a lie but I think that that was the lie!"

"I was thinking that too," replied Pepper.

"Me too!" added Carrot, "The Captain was acting weird yesterday and so was that one-eyed guy."

Suddenly the three Veggie-Pirates noticed an odd sight, KAYA was walking through town. Since she'd gotten sick Kaya NEVER left her mansion. The fact that she was alone only made it even more suspicious.

"Huh... its... its Miss. Kaya!" pointed out Pepper.

"Why is she walking around on her own?" wondered Carrot.

"Something bad must have happened," assumed Onion.

-x-

Back at the pass where the battle between the Black Cat Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates was still going on, Luffy was sleeping while pinned under the sternpost and Zoro was awaiting the worst. Usopp, Y/N, and Nami were all waiting at the top of the pass to see what would happen as well. Y/N was in between Usopp and Nami and was lying on his back staring up at the sky.

"So who's left on the ship?" wondered Zoro.

"Haha! You guys are dead now!" laughed RP2.

"NYABAN BROTHERS!" shouted Jango. "COME ON DOWN!"

"Hey, the Captain's calling us," commented one of the pirates left on the ship.

"What? They're not at the village yet?" questioned the other. "How come they're still on the beach?

"Look somebody's beaten them all up!" pointed out the first pirate as he and his partner looked over the edge of the ship.

"Looks like trouble, shall we go?" asked the second.

"Of course!" replied the other. "Let's go!"

Two figures suddenly leapt up into the air off of the ship then landed on the left and right of Jango. THUMP!

"Nyaban Brothers," said Jango. "I need your help!"

"You called Captain Jango?" asked the first pirate, he was skinny had green hair and was dressed up like a cat. He wore a blue t-shirt and brown gloves with claws on the fingers. His name was Sham, one of the ship's guards.

"What is it?" asked the other Nyaban, this one was fat, had a bell on his neck and a big black spot on his face over one eye. He was also dressed up like a cat and wore pink and purple striped pants, an orange sash around his waist, and a furry purple and white cape. He was Buchi and he was the other ship's guard. Together, the terrible twosome of Buchi and Sham were known as the Nyaban Brothers.

"What are they?" wondered Nami.

"Amazing, they jumped down from the ship, like cats!" marveled Usopp.

"I've jumped from higher," said an unimpressed Y/N.

"Buchi, Sham, we have to get up the path," Jango explained to the Nyaban Brothers. "But as you can see, there are some people in our way. Get rid of them!"

"W-we can't do that!" replied Sham with a look of fear on his face. "Can we Buchi?"

"Th-they look really mean," commented Buchi, who looked just as frightened.

"I thought they were some kind of secret weapon," commented Usopp.

"They look scared to death," agreed Nami.

"Don't underestimate them," advised Y/N without sitting up. "The hypnotist wouldn't have called them down if they couldn't fight."

"We're just the ship's guards!" Sham said to Jango.

"Yeah!" agreed Buchi.

"SHAM ATTACK THE SWORDSMAN AT ONCE!" commanded Jango.

"Huh, me!?" questioned Sham in shock.

"Get him!" ordered Jango.

"Fire, I'll go, I'll go," conceded Sham as he slowly turned away and headed, slowly, towards Zoro.

"He's starting to cry!" pointed out Nami. "Why's he making someone like that fight?"

"READY OR NOT HERE I COME!" shrieked Sham as he rushed at Zoro, bearing his long cat-like claws. "I'LL SCRATCH YOUR EYES OUT!"

"He thinks he can scratch me?" questioned Zoro. "I'll cut your head off if you don't stop you fool!" Zoro warned the approaching Nyaban.

"Go ahead if you can," answered Sham in an entirely different voice, this one sounded sinister and cocky.

"What the..." started Zoro as Sham shot his claws out at him, KA-CHING! Zoro only just managed to get his sword up to block them.

"You underestimated me didn't you?" questioned Sham as he and Zoro struggled for control. Sham pushed on Zoro's sword with his claws, while Zoro pushed back with his sharp sword. "You fell for it! I was only pretending to be a scaredy-cat!" explained Sham as he pushed back off of Zoro's sword creating space between them.

"Hmph," grunted Y/N, who didn't seem surprised.

"He's not really a coward," realized Usopp.

But suddenly Nami noticed that something was missing, "Zoro! Your swords!" exclaimed Nami.

"Huh? What the..." wondered Zoro as he stared down at his waist and noticed that his other two blades had been snatched from his belt.

"Lose something?" asked Sham, who had Zoro's swords sheathed on his back. "Now how did your swords end up with me? You might be a good fighter, but you shouldn't take Sham Nyaban, Guard of the Black Cat Pirate ship, too lightly!"

"He did it..." commented Jango, having just witnessed Sham stealing Zoro's swords.

"Cat-snatch," said Buchi.

"Darn, he got my swords," cursed Zoro in his head.

-x-

Cruel Fortune

-x-

"Nuts, he stole Zoro's swords," pointed out Nami as she and Usopp watched Zoro and Sham's battle which had yet to start. Y/N was just staring up at the clouds but without even looking he seemed to know exactly what was happening.

"Give me back those swords," requested Zoro as he glared at Sham.

"Give 'em back?" questioned Sham. "Isn't one enough?" Sham reached back and pulled Zoro's swords off his back, "Before we fight, I'd better chuck these," commented Sham, SWUP! Sham tossed Zoro's swords to the side, "They'd just slow me down!"

Wa-wump! Zoro watched in hidden rage as his swords went tumbling down the pass. "Perfect," said Sham, "Now I've lightened my load."

Zoro didn't give Sham time to say anything else, he quickly rushed at the Cat-Pirate with his sword drawn. "You should really treat other people's swords with more care!" SWASH! Zoro slashed at him with the one sword he did have. The sword cut through Sham's shirt and he tumbled to the ground.

"He's good!" commented Usopp.

"I guess it's my turn now," said Buchi.

"You shouldn't have thrown my swords," snapped Zoro as he darted off towards his discarded blades.

"Hey, my shirt," came a voice. Zoro spun around in surprise, POUNCE! Zoro didn't have enough time to react beforeSham suddenly leapt up and landed on Zoro's back, causing the swordsman to drop down to his knees with Sham on top of him pulling his arms up behind his back while at the same time, effectively pinning him to the ground.

"Sorry, you missed your shot," mocked Sham from on Zoro's back. "I have a cat's waistline you know."

"How's he still alive?" asked Usopp.

"There was no stomach under his shirt," explained Y/N. "He was just pretending to be hit so he could take advantage."

"How do you know!?" demanded Nami. "You aren't even watching!" Y/N just shrugged and slowly sat up.

"COME ON BUCHI!" Sham shouted to his brother, "HAVE A GO!"

"Sure Sham!" replied Buchi as he rushed forward.

Zoro was still down on his knees with his arms being held behind his back by Sham. He couldn't move as the fat Nyaban rushed up the pass towards him.

"CAT-A-PULT... CAT-ASTROPHE!" shouted Buchi and he jumped high up into the air, looking to come crashing down on Zoro and turn him into a pancake.

"Flying... ARROW KICK!" WOMP! THOOM! Buchi went crashing down to the ground and landed hard on his hands and feet. Sham looked on in surprise which enabling Zoro to shove him off and get back up.

TMP! Y/N landed on the ground in front of Zoro, "It looked like you could use some help," Y/N commented to Zoro.

"Damn you!" cursed Sham as he rushed over to Buchi and stood beside him. "You shouldn't have gotten involved!"

"I've never seen anyone jump as high as us before," commented Buchi as he let Sham help him up.

"How about we fight two-on-two?" offered Y/N as he drew Akaikyuuketsuki.

"That's fine with us!" Sham snapped in reply.

"Yeah, we'll slice both of you to pieces!" agreed Buchi.

"If he had gotten me, I would have been a pancake," Zoro commented to Y/N.

"Don't worry about it," replied Y/N who still seemed bored. "I'll take the ugly one."

"Which ugly one?" asked Zoro.

"HEY!" exclaimed the two Nyaban Brothers at the same time.

"I'll fight the fat one and you can finish your fight with the other one," clarified Y/N.

"Sounds good to me," answered Zoro. "I'm no good with the one-sword style but I'll try to manage."

"We won't let you fools escape!" shouted Sham.

"That's right!" agreed Buchi.

"Let's get 'em Buchi!" said Sham.

"GRAND MARCH OF THE PUSSYWILLOWS!" shouted the Nyaban Brothers as the rushed forward, striking out with their claws at a rapid speed. SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! Y/N and Zoro quickly got their sword up and blocked in incoming strikes, KLANG! KLANK! KLANG!

Right off the bat Zoro wasn't faring so well. He wasn't really used to using only one sword and was barely managing to block Sham's lightning fast strikes. KLANG! KLINK! Sham was relentless and started advancing on Zoro while keeping up his attack. Zoro backed up a little to create space between them, but not too much because he was still blocking Sham's attack.

Y/N on the other hand actually appeared to be faster than Buchi. While Buchi lashed out at Y/N with his claws Y/N would quickly move to the side and then try to follow up with a counterattack which Buchi would only just block.

"Darn it Zoro's giving ground," commented Nami, then she turned to Usopp. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"I'm not sure how long they can keep all that fast-paced fight up," agreed Usopp. "Maybe I'll provide artillery support and use my shooting stars." Usopp loaded a lead marble into his slingshot, WOING! Usopp pulled back and released shoot the marble at Sham. WHAP! But Zoro suddenly moved and the marble hit him in the back. That created the opening that Sham needed, SLISH! Sham raked his claws across Zoro's chest causing crimson blood to start dripping out of the claw-shaped holes that had been torn in it.

But before Sham could capitalize again, KLANK! Y/N rushed in and blocked the incoming attack. KLINK! KLANG! Sham and Y/N fought for a few seconds but while Y/N was occupied, Buchi lunged up into the air and then descended looking to squish him. But as Buchi was coming down Y/N jumped backwards, THOOM! Buchi slammed down into empty ground.

Sham rushed forward and used his brother as a springboard and leapt at Y/N, but the one-eyed pirate rolled to the side causing Sham to whiz passed him. It only took Sham and Buchi two seconds to recover then both Nyabans rushed at Y/N and attacked him. KLANG! KLINK! KLANG!

"Who's side are you on Usopp!?" demanded Nami as she glanced from the bleeding Zoro to Y/N who was frantically fighting both Nyabans.

"No, I didn't," denied Usopp as Zoro fought back up to his feet. "It was like he got hit on purpose!"

"On purpose?" repeated Nami.

"YOU IDIOT USOPP!" shouted Zoro. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET KILLED!?"

"Maybe... he saved us," realized Nami.

"What?" asked Usopp in confusion.

"If you do hit one of them," explained Nami, as she watched Y/N frantically dodge and block the four incoming cat claws. "Those two could attack us! Think about what would happen!?"

"Wow, I never thought of that," replied Usopp.

"A little help here," Y/N called over to Zoro as he lunged to the side, just in time to avoid a four-claw strike from both Nyabans. Buchi and Sham quickly rushed at Y/N again, giving the one-eyed pirate barely enough time to get up off of the ground.

Zoro got up and rushed at the Nyabans, but Sham quickly spun around and intercepted him, KLANG! Sham had blocked Zoro's one-sword strike with one of his claws then lashed out with his other claw looking for a counter attack that Zoro barely managed to dodge. SWISH! Zoro was already on the defensive again.

Meanwhile, now that he was only fighting one of the Nyabans, Y/N started to regain some sort of an advantage. SHOOOM! Buchi lunged up off of the ground over Y/N's head looking to squash him, "CAT-A-PULT... CAT-ASTROPHE!"

But while Buchi was coming down Y/N went up, "Red Blade... VOLCANO!" He launched up off of the ground and spun swinging his sword around with him, KLANK! Y/N's sword smashed into Buchi's claws and knocked them to the side but then he kept spinning and came back around and lashed out with his sword, SLIK! Buchi managed to pull his head back in time and only received a small cut on his cheek.

TMP! TMP! They both landed and Buchi held his hand to the cut on his cheek, "MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!" he wailed.

"Actually... I think it's an improvement," Y/N commented dryly.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" screamed Buchi as he surged at Y/N swinging his claws wildly.

KLINK! KLANG! "If only I had one more sword," Zoro muttered to himself as he once again blocked Sham's claws.

"This guy's pissed that I got him," Y/N commented to himself as he ducked under a swipe from one of Buchi's claws. A grin appeared on Y/N's face, "I wonder what would happen if I did it again."

Y/N jumped backwards then leapt up into the air and swung his sword downwards at Buchi, "Red Blade... AVALANCHE!" KLANG! Buchi got his claws up over his head and managed to block Y/N's attack but while Buchi was caught up with blocking the sword strike Y/N lashed out with his legs and drove them into the fat cat's stomach. THWHAM! Buchi went flying backwards and landed on his back disproving the theory that cats always land on their feet. THUD!

"I'm not done yet..." growled Buchi as he fought up off of the ground, "Cats have nine lives, kid!"

"They can't keep this up for long," Nami said to Usopp as she picked up her bow staff and got to her feet, "I'm going to get Zoro's swords. If I can get them to him, he'll skin that cat."

"Then let me get them," suggested the still extremely bloody Usopp.

"You're in no shape," replied Nami, "You can barely walk." The orange-haired thief quickly rushed off down the pass and passed the four fighters to get Zoro's swords.

"What is she doing?" Zoro asked himself.

"If I can just get them to him," Nami said to herself as she sprinted over to the swords.

Jango watched from the bottom of the slope as Nami ran down to the swords that were on the ground in front of him. Nami reached out to grab the katana in the white sheath but someone put their foot on it and pinned it to the ground.

"LOOK OUT!" Usopp suddenly shouted.

SHUNK! Nami didn't move fast enough and Jango, who was standing near Zoro's swords, drove the sharp edge of his metal hypno-disk into her left shoulder, knocking the thief to the ground while creating a huge gash on her shoulder.

"Nami!?" called out Y/N looking concerned when he saw Nami go down.

But this distraction left him open to a direct attack from Buchi, SLISH! Buchi ripped both of his claws down across Y/N's chest, creating a bloody 'x' shaped wound on his shirt. FWUMP! Y/N went flying backwards and crashed to the ground. He went rolling down the pass and lost his sword about halfway down. Eventually he stopped skidding in front of Jango and Nami. "Ow..." said Y/N as he sat up.

Buchi rushed in to finish the unarmed Y/N off but suddenly... he stopped. The same thing happed with Sham, who quickly leapt back from Zoro and stared at a figure on top of the pass. Jango looked up at the figure in a mix of shock and fear.

"Uh... sir... we hit a few snags!" the terrified Jango tried to explain while both Buchi and Siam shook with fear.

The figure on top of the pass readjusted his glasses with his palm then stared down at the scene in front of him.

"C-C-Cap-p-tain K-Kuro!" stuttered random pirate number three. "H-he'll k-kill us all!"

"This is terrible," Usopp said to himself. "Why did he have to show up now?"

"It's long passed dawn," commented Kuro. "And you seem to have trouble following my plan. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

This couldn't be good, Usopp was bleeding badly and was hardly able to walk. Luffy was still stuck under the sternpost and Nami was still on the ground after being hit by Jango. Zoro and Y/N, the latter of which was still sitting on the ground in front of Jango, both had bloody, claw-like cuts running across their chest. This fight was just getting started.

-x-

The Creeping Cat

-x-

"Are you telling me that these... children... held you up?" demanded Kuro as he glanced at Zoro, Nami, Y/N, and Usopp all of them were bleeding to some degree. But his former pirate crew seemed to be the worse for wear. Most of the Black Cat Pirates were down, the only ones standing were Jango, Sham, and Buchi. "Is this what the Black Cat Pirates have come to? Well... SAY SOMETHING JANGO!"

"You're in trouble now," commented Y/N as he slid away from Jango and over to Nami.

"But you said it wouldn't matter if we let the kid go," Jango reminded Kuro, causing the former Captain to cast a glance at Usopp. "That's what you said!"

"Yes I did," admitted Kuro. "And I was right. It shouldn't have been a problem. Anyone could have predicted that he'd try to stop us. I didn't expect your defenses to be so feeble. I'm in no mood for excuses."

"Did he just call us weak?" an insulted Sham asked Buchi.

"Care to say that again, Captain!?" challenged Buchi.

Zoro shot Y/N a glance then shrugged and stepped out of the way. This could be used as a chance to recover.

"Maybe you were strong once..." started Sham as he stretched his claws.

"What did you say?" asked Kuro.

"Buchi! Sham! Stop!" ordered Jango in panic.

"...but that was three years ago," continued Sham. "We haven't been living in a fancy mansion all this time!"

"Yeah," agreed Buchi. "We've killed many rivals, and have sunk many ships!"

"What are they doing?" wondered Usopp. Nami was thinking along the same lines as she glanced at Y/N in confusion.

"Hm..." Y/N simply stared after the two Nyabans.

Zoro just stood quietly in the middle of the pass while Y/N sat at the bottom and watched. If their opponents wanted to go fight with someone else, they'd finish them off when they were done.

"IT'S JUST YOUR PLAN THAT'S NOT WORKING!" shouted Sham. "WE WON'T LET YOU KILL US SO EASY!"

"YOU HAVEN'T FOUGHT FOR THREE YEARS!" yelled Buchi. "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT THE NYABAN BROTHERS!?"

"They've got a point," realized RP3. "Even Captain Jango can't beat the two of them at once."

"YOU'RE NOT OUR CAPTAIN ANY MORE!" snapped Sham as he and Buchi rushed at Kuro.

"WE'RE GONNA KILL YOU BEFORE YOU KILL US!" screamed Buchi.

The Nyabans charged at the former Captain and went to attack him with their claws, SLISH! Kuro disappeared, and they both slashed the empty bag that Kuro had been holding seconds ago.

"Who are you going to kill?" asked Kuro in a calm voice from behind them. In the time it had taken him to move he had slipped some gloves onto his hands. The fingers of the glove were each equipped with a long sword-like blade, giving him ten long sword-like claws.

"How did he get behind them?" Usopp wondered out loud.

"That was one of his Creeping Cat Maneuvers," said RP1.

"He's fast," commented Y/N in an offhand manner.

"What are those weapons?" wondered Zoro as he eyed the long blades on Kuro's fingers, each of them was as long as a sword.

"He got behind us!" shouted Sham as he and Buchi whirled around, FWOOSH! Kuro wasn't there any more

"You two were right," came Kuro's voice as he rested his arms on their backs, startling the Nyabans. "I have gotten soft."

"It's true that I'm not your Captain anymore," admitted Kuro as he directed the point of one of the blades to a spot on each of the Nyabans' throat. "But I hired you for a job, and if you can't do it, I'll finish you off."

"I can barely see him moving," said Y/N.

"You can actually see them?" questioned Nami as she sat up next to Y/N.

"'Barely' being the key word there," Y/N reminded her. "I barely have depth perception, but I'm used to moving at fast pace so it makes fast movements easier to follow."

"This is the first time I've seen someone catch the Nyaban Brothers like that," commented RP2.

"Those two were fighting evenly with you and Zoro," Nami commented quietly to Y/N. "But he's just toying with them!"

"Hypnofreak, how'd he do that?" asked Y/N as he turned and glanced at the hypnotist behind him.

"That was one of Captain Kuro's Creeping Cat Maneuvers," explained Jango, "it's a technique for undetectable movement. You have to be able to kick the ground at least ten times in a second to get that fast. Even if you had fifty assassins, they'd all be dead before they knew what hit them. When I met with him after these three years I was still scared to see that he kept up his old habits. He still uses his palm to push his glasses up his nose so he can avoid making a scar on his face. That's proof that he hasn't forgotten how to kill."

"And to cap this off... does it have any weaknesses?" inquired Y/N.

"Do I look stupid enough to tell you that!?" snapped Jango.

"Yes?" answered Y/N.

"Brat."

"Weirdo."

Back on top of the pass Kuro lightly pressed the point of the two blades into Buchi and Sham's neck, "These three years have softened my heart," Kuro said quietly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. "You've got five minutes, if everything isn't sorted out by then... I'll kill you with my own hands."

"I don't want to die!" shrieked one of the pirates.

"Five minutes," Buchi muttered to Sham.

Y/N just raised an eyebrow and slowly stood back up, "He's good," he commented to Nami and the hypnotist standing beside him. "His intimidation techniques have all his pirates scared of him, they wouldn't dream of opposing him. If they did, they wouldn't even be able to touch him."

"Now you're starting to get it," said Jango. "That's why he's so dangerous."

"Damn!" cursed Usopp, "And to think that that monster has been living in the village for the last three years!"

"Five minutes," said Jango to himself. "We still have a chance."

"Not likely," said Y/N as he and Nami got back up. "Finish what you came down here to do," instructed Y/N as he motioned to the two swords then started sprinting back up the pass. He bent down and picked up his sword as he went.

"No problem," Sham told Kuro once he released him and Buchi. "We'll kill them real quick!"

"Then we'll charge right up the pass!" exclaimed Buchi.

"We were beating them before," said Sham.

"We'll be able to beat them in five seconds," agreed Buchi.

"ZORO!" Nami suddenly shouted, KLANK! The orange-haired girl ran forward and kicked Zoro's swords, "YOUR SWORDS!"

"You kicked my swords!?" yelled Zoro in disbelief as the two blades came whizzing towards him.

"What no 'thank you'?" questioned Nami.

Zoro reached out to catch his swords, WHAP! Y/N suddenly landed on Zoro's shoulders and caught his Nakama's swords himself. He had taken a page out of Zoro's book and put his own sword in his mouth. "Fmmphh Mahmii!" mumbled Y/N who was clearly not as articulate as Zoro when he had the handle of a sword in his mouth. Y/N flicked his wrists and unsheathed the swords then flipped them and held them by the blade while offering the handles to the former pirate hunter who's shoulders he was standing on. Zoro took the sword with the white handle first and put it in his mouth, then took the other one so he now had one katana in each of his hands.

Y/N took his sword out of his mouth and held it out beside him, "Do you still wanna attack them two-on-two?" Y/N asked.

"Let's end this quickly," decided Zoro, "with one last attack from both of us."

"GRAND MARCH OF THE PUSSYWILLOWS!" shouted Buchi and Sham at the same time as they both rushed at Y/N and Zoro wielding their sharp claws.

"Follow my lead," instructed Y/N as he stood on Zoro's shoulders and prepared for an attack.

"You may have more swords now," observed Sham. "But your skill is still the same!"

"Heh heh, you don't understand," replied Zoro with a chuckle. "Wielding three swords and following a three sword technique are very different things."

Y/N launched himself off of Zoro's shoulders and flew at the approaching Nyabans, Zoro ran after Y/N to follow in his wake. "Red Blade... HURRICANE!" Y/N spun around in midair holding Akaikyuuketsuki in front of him with both hands, SLA-SLISH! Y/N slashed both of the Nyabans as he went passed, causing them to stop in their tracks.

"TIGER HUNT!" shouted Zoro, he followed after Y/N and charged passed the Nyabans, slashing them with all three of his swords. SLOSH! Zoro stopped next to Y/N while blood shot out of a bunch of gashed that had been made on the chest of the two Nyabans, they collapsed to the ground and rolled the rest of the way down the slope.

"They were right about the five seconds," Y/N said to Zoro. "But they got it backwards." Time seemed to slow down as everyone watched as Buchi rolled to a stop in front of Jango, then at once everyone turned back to the two Straw Hats swordsman, with one combined attack, they had taken out the Nyabans, what the Black Cat Pirates had been calling their secret weapon.

"THEY BEAT THE NYABANS!" exclaimed RP3 in disbelief.

"Don't worry," said Zoro, as he and Y/N turned to the other pirates.

"It won't even take us five minutes to thrash all of you," Y/N finished with a cold glare, causing the pirates to shudder and take a few steps back. One Eye had already beaten them all by himself, now he had that other guy to help him. The two of them had beaten their strongest fighters with one combined attack, none of them wanted to get involved with that.

"Try it," challenged Kuro.

Buchi suddenly reached out and grabbed Jango's ankle in desperation. "I... I'll kill 'em!" groaned Buchi, he could barely push himself up. "Please Captain... hypnotize me... please..."

"He's still alive!" commented Kuro. "I guess you two are a bit soft."

"We didn't actually want to kill them," said Y/N as he put his now blood-free sword back in its sheath. "Unlike you, we're not dirty cut-throats. We have morals and don't kill without a reason."

"Besides, all that fat must've saved him," added Zoro. Kuro glared at the two swordsmen standing in front of him.

"RAWWWWRRR!" Buchi let out a loud growl of rage as he stood up. The gashes on his stomach had already healed and his fat had turned into muscle. He looked pissed.

"Oh no! Hypnotism again!" groaned Zoro as Buchi marched towards them.

"This is my chance," Nami thought to herself, as she rushed towards the Straw Hat Pirate who was trapped under the sternpost, "If I can just wake Luffy up... it's just like him to sleep through the whole fight!"

"Now what are you up to you meddling wench!" snapped Jango as he turned around and drew his hypno-disk again. "DIE!" he shouted as he threw the disk as Nami.

"Everyone else is risking their lives!" Nami shouted at Luffy. SPLONK! With the speed she was running at Nami couldn't help 'accidentally' stepping on Luffy's head, "WAKE UP!"

"NAMI, HEADS UP!" yelled Y/N as he watched the hypno-disk whiz at the orange-haired girl. Nami was surprised to hear Y/N yell, she looked over her shoulder and gasped when she saw the metal disk of death whirling towards her.

-x-

Humble Servant

-x-

"Oh no!" exclaimed Nami. "I'll be split in two! That disk, it's not just for hypnotizing people!"

"Nami you jerk!" came Luffy's voice from under Nami's foot. WHAP! Luffy grabbed Nami's foot off of his face and flipped her onto his back, then shot back up, FWUMP! "WHY'D YOU HAVE TO STEP ON MY HEAD!?"

SHUNK! "Luffy!" exclaimed Nami as the hypno-disk whizzed over her and slammed into Luffy's face, causing him to bend backwards.

"What!?" exclaimed Jango in disbelief. "HE'S STILL ALIVE!"

"What lousy timing," commented Zoro.

"Maybe not," replied Y/N. "It would've killed Nami, but now Luffy's awake and a bit pissed off."

Luffy slammed his foot down to the ground to keep his balance, HE HAD CAUGHT THE DISK IN HIS MOUTH! "IMPOSSIBLE! HE'S STILL STANDING!" shouted Jango.

KRUNCH! Luffy drove his teeth together and broke the hypno-disk to pieces.

"Luffy!" exclaimed Nami.

"That hurts..." groaned Luffy. "THAT HURTS!"

"He's fine," Y/N calmly stated as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Great buckets of blood," exclaimed a random Black Cat Pirate. "Now we've got less than three minutes!"

"NAMI! THAT HURT YOU BASTARD!" yelled Luffy.

"IT WASN'T ME!" snapped Nami. "It wasn't..." Nami trailed off and laid on her back

"Your shoulder's bleeding," observed Luffy as he noticed Nami's hand covering her left shoulder.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Nami told him. "I've done all I can, now I'll leave the rest to you. After all, this is one fight we've gotta win!"

"Nami..." said Luffy with a smile.

"There's a lot of treasure on the line too," interrupted Nami.

"I shoulda figured," commented Luffy as his smile turned into a frown, that was more like her. He bent down and picked up his hat, then placed it on his head and started forward. The terrified Black Cat Pirates parted for Luffy and let him through.

"Buchi there's no time to think!" snapped Jango. "You kill the swordsman with a sash, and I'll take out the weird Straw Hat guy."

"Well, you heard him," Y/N said to Zoro. "If he meant me he would've said 'one-eyed brat' or something to that affect. The fat cat is yours."

"Hm... the evil butler's here too," observed Luffy as he noticed Kuro standing on top of the pass.

"That bastard," muttered Kuro. "Didn't he fall off the cliff and die?"

But then Usopp noticed someone coming out of the trees, and Kuro's cat-like hearing picked up someone coming up behind him. "Don't even think about sneaking up on me!" scolded Kuro as he started turning around.

"KAYA!" screamed Usopp. SLISH! Usopp tackled Kaya to the ground, causing Kuro's claws to miss her.

Kaya rolled Usopp off of her and stared down at him with concern, "Usopp... are you alright?"

"Kaya, what are you doing here?" questioned Usopp.

"I'm sorry Usopp," apologized Kaya. "I know you might never forgive me for what I've done. I just can't believe that K-Klahadore is a pirate."

"That doesn't matter!" said Usopp. "Why did you come here? I told you to run away! He wants to kill you!"

"But aren't you fighting!?" exclaimed Kaya. "I did such a horrible thing to you. Yet you're hurt all over and still fighting."

"Mistress Kaya... why are you here?" inquired Kuro as he stared at Kaya.

"Please stop," pleaded Kaya. "Please stop this Klahadore! Merry told me everything."

"Merry? He lived?" questioned Kuro. "I thought I killed him."

Everyone turned and stared at Kaya and Kuro. "Isn't that the girl that we're supposed to kill?" questioned Jango.

"She's our real target," realized random pirate number one. "We can just kill her here. We don't have to attack the village any more."

"Klahadore, please stop, I beg of you," pleaded Kaya. "If you want my fortune I'll give it to you. Just leave the village alone."

"Not good enough Miss. Kaya," replied Kuro. "Yes, I want your fortune but I also want Peace of Mind. I spent three years earning the trust of all of the villagers here. I've grown comfortable, I can even relax. But only when I have Peace of Mind and you fortune will my plan be accomplished. Therefore, the pirate attack on the village will happen and then you will write a will and die. Those two parts are absolutely necessary."

"No... he's not... Klahadore..." Kaya said to herself, still in denial.

"Kaya run!" instructed Usopp as he reached up and grabbed her ankle. "Don't waste your breath on him! He's not the man you knew!"

KLICK! Kaya slowly pulled a pistol out form her coat and pointed it at Kuro's head. Everyone stared in shock that Kaya was doing something so... stupid.

"LEAVE THIS VILLAGE ALONE!" ordered Kaya.

"Hmm... you've really grown up in these last three years," commented Kuro. "And I've been at your side through all of those changes. Haven't I? Even before you lost your parents and became ill, we still spent a lot of time together. We went sailing together... we took trips to town... and when you had a fever I stayed at your bedside day and night. I suffered with you... I laughed with you. I was always your humble servant. I humored you Miss. Kaya, in all your silly dreams. And I endured it..." Through his speech Kuro slowly slipped one of the claw gloves off of his hand then reached out and grabbed the nozzle of the gun Kaya had pointed at him. "It all was for today...THE DAY I COULD KILL YOU!"

Kaya struggled to fight back tears as Kuro pulled the gun away from her. "I, who was once the dreaded Captain Kuro... bowed and scrapped to a spoiled little girl... and catered to her every whim, day and night... can you fathom my humiliation? Me, the infamous Captain Kuro REDUCED TO A SERVANT!"

Kuro dropped the gun on the ground in front of him, but Usopp reached forward and grabbed it, then shot to his feet and aimed it at Kuro. "KURO!" screamed Usopp. FWISH! All in under a second Kuro moved out of the way, slipped the cat claws back on his hand, then appeared behind Usopp.

"Usopp, that reminds me..." said Kuro calmly as he enclosed the claws around Usopp's face. "I still owe you for hitting me. You used all of your strength, right?"

"U-Usopp..." said Kaya in fear.

BAM! A rubber fist impacted with the side of Kuro's face, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Since you don't like being hit so much, I'll hit you a hundred times more!" vowed Luffy as his rubber arm retracted.

-x-

The Steep Slope

-x-

"What was that!?" exclaimed RP4, who had just witnessed his former Captain get knocked to the ground, "That kid! He sent Kuro sailing! From all the way up down there!"

Kuro was lying flat on his back with Kaya and Usopp looking on in shock. Luffy cracked his knuckles and prepared to hit him again.

"That tears it," commented RP3, "Captain Kuro is really mad now!" Maybe he was right, the former butler's glasses had been cracked and he had a trickle of blood dripping down from the corner of his mouth.

"USOPP'S PIRATE CREW... REPORTING!" shouted three voices, Carrot, Pepper, and Onion came rushing out from the trees holding and hit Kuro while he was down with a frying pan, a bat, and a shovel respectively. BANG!

"Usopp's Pirate Crew, ready for action!" announced Carrot as he hit Kuro with a frying pan. WAP! WAP!

"Prepare yourself you smelly butt-ler!" snapped Pepper as he hit Kuro with a bat. KOCK!

"Yeah you smelly butt-ler!" added Onion as he went to work on Kuro with his shovel. WACK!

"You guys!?" exclaimed Usopp in shock as he watched the three village boys beat on the notorious pirate with their 'weapons'.

"Let's get him!" shouted Onion as he and the other two Veggie-Pirate continued hitting Kuro. WAP! KOCK! WACK!

"You pirates have disturbed the peace of our village!" yelled Pepper.

"We won't forgive you!" added Carrot.

"Those small fries are battering Captain Kuro!" screamed RP2, what would Kuro do to them?

"That's enough crew!" shrieked Usopp, "STOP!"

"What are those crazy kids thinking?" questioned Zoro.

"They're not thinking at all," replied Y/N as he watched they butler take his beating lying down.

"Alright, that oughta teach him," commented Carrot as he, Pepper, and Onion stopped their 'assault'.

"The Captain did come to fight him," Carrot said to the other two.

"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded Pepper. "That was dirty!"

"No!" disagreed Onion. "It's dishonest!"

"It doesn't matter!" snapped Usopp. "You'd better escape now! GO!"

"No, we're with you captain," refused Carrot.

"We won't run away," Pepper told Usopp. "We'll fight with you!"

"Usopp's Pirates shouldn't run away!" added Onion.

But suddenly, Kuro got back up, he reached up his palm and fixed his glasses, only for the shattered glass to go crumbling out of the frames.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" screamed the three Veggie-Pirates in fear.

"YOU MORONS, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" yelled Usopp.

But Kuro didn't attack them, instead he walked right passed the three boys as if they weren't even there.

THWACK! Kuro kept walking, then lashed out with his leg and kicked Usopp in the face, sending him tumbling down the pass until he eventually stopped rolling and lay flat on his back.

"That hurt a bit," Kuro commented to Luffy. "You displayed an unusual ability. You must have the power of the Devil Fruit."

"That's right!" answered Luffy. "I ate the Gum Gum Fruit! I'm a rubber man!"

"What? The Devil Fruit?" questioned RP1. "It's not a myth? No wonder that kid is so strange!"

"A rubber man?" repeated Jango. "So when he stretched his arm, it wasn't an illusion. But how can he stand after getting hit in the head with my attack?"

"JANGO!" Kuro shouted suddenly. "I'll kill the Rubber Man, you deal with Miss. Kaya! Force her to write the will, as planned, then... kill her!"

"By the way," added Kuro almost as an afterthought, while glancing at the Veggie Pirates out of the corner of his eye. "Kill those three kids too. They're annoying."

"Yes sir," replied Jango, as he started up the pass. But Zoro and Y/N blocked the hypnotist's path.

"Going somewhere?" questioned Y/N who still had his hands in his pockets.

"We won't let you passed," Zoro told the hypnotist.

"BUCHI!" shouted Jango, calling the fat cat to his aid.

The recently hypnotized Buchi growled then leapt up into the air, "CAT-A-PULT.... CAT-ASTROPHE!" screamed Buchi.

"Heads up," advised Y/N.

"Not that again," complained Zoro, as the two of them quickly jumped out of the way.

KATOOM! Buchi came crashing down and smashed the ground under him, causing chunks of it to fly up and pieces of the cliffs to drop down. Zoro and Y/N struggle to stay balanced. "HE BROKE THE GROUND!" shouted the three Veggie-Pirates.

"He's yours," said Y/N, as he turned and ran off.

"Oh gee, thanks!" Zoro yelled after Y/N, who had ran off after Jango, who had started up the pass while they were distracted by Buchi.

"Wow, what is that guy?" wondered Luffy, who had been asleep for all of Zoro and Y/N's battle with the Nyabans.

Buchi charged at Zoro, looking to tear him apart with his claws. KA-BAM! Zoro blocked Buchi's claws with one of his swords but was pushed back into the wall of one of the cliffs due to Buchi's increased strength. Zoro quickly brought up his foot and pressed it into Buchi's face to keep him away.

Jango walked up the path passed Usopp, but the marksman was still on the ground from when Kuro kicked him and could barely move. "I'm too dizzy to stand up," mumbled Usopp who was still reeling from the kick to the face, and the mallet to his head. "But I gotta stop that guy!" Quickly he came up with a temporary solution, "USOPP'S PIRATES!"

"Yes sir?" asked the three Veggie-Pirates at the same time as they rushed to stand in Jango's path.

"I'm warning you, we mean business," Carrot warned Django.

"We're not going to run away, when our Captain needs us," added Pepper as he held his bat and got ready to fight.

"We'll make you pay for what you did to the Captain!" exclaimed Onion.

"YOU HAVE TO PROTECT MISS KAYA!" Usopp shouted at the three Veggie-Pirates, "I'm entrusting you with the most important job of all! Get Kaya away from here safely! Don't say you can't! Because protecting what we cherish is why we formed this pirate crew!"

"Usopp..." said Kaya.

"That is... the Captain's order..." continued Usopp.

"That was a good speech," Zoro commented quietly. "He's getting them to run away."

"Fools," snapped Jango as he pulled out two hypno-disks, while the three Veggie-Pirate helped Kaya up, and started leading her off into the forest, "Do you think you can stop me?"

"They might not be able to, but I can," came Y/N's voice as he suddenly appeared in between Jango and the Veggie-Pirates. "Don't worry Usopp, I won't let anything happen to them... I promise."

Y/N looked over his shoulder at Carrot, Pepper, and Onion, "Get her into the trees," he ordered the three boys. "I'll catch up."

Y/N started running after them but a set of five claws stopped his progression. "Now where exactly do you think you're going?" questioned Kuro.

"Get out of my way," commanded Y/N as he drew Akakyuuketsuki.

"Are you threatening me?" asked Kuro.

"Yes!" replied Y/N as he swung his sword at Kuro, SLISH! Kuro disappeared and did another one of his Creeping Cat Maneuvers. In less than a second Kuro moved out of the way and dodged Y/N's attack, then slipped behind him and slashed with his claws. KLANG! Y/N BLOCKED THE ATTACK WITH HIS FOOT!

"He blocked it!" exclaimed Usopp as he stared at Y/N who was using the steel sole of his boot to keep Kuro's cat claws at bay.

"Y/N that was awesome!" cheered Luffy. The movement had taken less than half a second, no one had ever seen someone block one of Kuro's Black Cat Manuvers.

Jango stared in front of him in surprise. "Im-impossible... he blocked one of Captain Kuro's Creeping Cat Maneuvers!"

"How did you block that?" asked Kuro, he looked slightly surprised.

"You're a dirty cut-throat," explained Y/N. "As soon as you disappeared I knew you'd try to attack me from behind."

"JANGO! Don't just stand there! Go after those kids!" ordered Kuro.

"Oh crap! I blanked out," cursed Jango. "I won't let those brats escape!" Jango continued on his way.

THWACK! Jango was struck in the back by a lead projectile and fell forward on his face FWUMP! "That's what you get," snapped Usopp, who had hit Jango in the back with a lead ball.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" shouted Jango from the ground, "THAT HURT!"

Through the whole incident with Jango, Y/N had discreetly slid his hand into his top right pocket and pulled something out.

"Hey Kuro, think fast!" called out Y/N, suddenly he shot up and swung his other leg around at Kuro's head. SWISH! Kuro disappeared and did another one of his Creeping Cat Maneuvers. As if Y/N was moving in slow motion, Kuro ducked under his leg, then pulled back his claws and slashed them forward. KA-BOOOM! Kuro hadn't been paying attention to Y/N's arm and didn't noticed the red ball in it before it hit the ground and exploded. Even though Kuro was moving incredibly fast, he still couldn't see through the smoke screen created by the Explosion Ball.

When the smoke finally cleared Y/N was gone and Kuro was glaring angrily at the black ring left on the ground from Y/N's Explosion Ball. "That bastard got away," Kuro cursed to himself. "JANGO GET UP AND FOLLOW THEM!"

"Yes sir," answered Jango as he fought up off of the ground. Then rushed passed Kuro into the trees after Y/N.

-x-

In the trees Y/N had made his escape and managed to catch up with Kaya and the three Veggie-Pirates. "Here I'll take her," said Y/N, after cutting his arm and putting his sword away. "Get her on my back."

"But you're hurt," replied Kaya as she noticed the claw marks that were on Y/N's chest.

"That doesn't matter," Y/N told her. "I promised Usopp that I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Kaya nodded, then wrapped her arms around Y/N's shoulders when he turned around. Y/N hoisted the girl up higher, then turned to the Veggie-Pirates. "You three know this forest, right? Get us out of here."

"Right, this way!" replied Carrot, as he, Pepper and Onion led Y/N deeper into the forest.

-x-

"You'd better hope your friend can hold off Jango," commented Kuro to Usopp. "I, more than anyone, know how frail that girl's body is. They'll never escape Jango. If you want to help her, go ahead... but... you have to get up this pass first!"

Both Kuro and Buchi were preventing Usopp from going after Kaya, "Damn it!" cursed Usopp, "now that tables have turned!" Instead of them stopping the Black Cat Pirates from getting up the pass, the Black Cat Pirates were stopping them from getting up the pass.

"Usopp," came Luffy's voice from the bottom of the pass, causing Usopp to turn his attention to Luffy and Zoro, "Leave it to us."

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!