Chapter 18: Black Cat Pirates!
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"Hey, Usopp," Nami said after Luffy started eating again. "We were hoping to get a better ship. Know anyone who can help us?"
"Sorry, but we don't have anyone here who can help," Usopp said with a hint of a nervous tone.
"What about whoever's in that mansion on the hill?" Nami asked. "I saw it from earlier."
"Do not go there!" Usopp yelled as he stood up, shocking Nami and Zoro. Luffy remained calm, knowing who was there and what was going on. Usopp looked at them nervously before he grabbed his bag.
"I uh...got somewhere to be. Everyone here knows me, so eat all you want. It's on me." he said as he walked out the door.
"Wonder what's wrong with him?" Zoro asked. Luffy just shrugged before they went back to eating. After a few minutes of Luffy gorging himself, they were about to leave before the door burst open.
"The Usopp Pirates are here!" screamed the children who were with Usopp earlier. The trio looked back at them as they approached their table.
"Where's our Captain, you savages?!" screamed the one called Pepper, with Carrot and Onion right behind him.
"Ah, that was some good meat," Luffy said as he patted his swollen belly, which caused the kids to look at him in horror.
"M-meat?"
"N-no way."
"These guys are cannibals."
Nami tried to explain it was just a joke.
"B-but you s-s-said-" one of them said, which Zoro and Luffy laughed again. After a short chat about the food and Usopp with the restaurant owner, they all left toward the mansion, where the children said Usopp would be. Zoro tagged along rather than go somewhere to sleep. As they walked, the children started laughing with Luffy.
"You really got us good," they said as they continued to laugh. As they walked, Nami asked why Usopp would be at the mansion, to which they said was to lie. The children went on about how the owner, Kaya, has been sick for about a year when her parents died. How even though she had a lot of money, it didn't make her happy. They then went on about how Usopp went there to tell her stories to raise her spirits, along with what they liked about Usopp. Luffy smiled at that as they arrived at the gate of the mansion.
"We're here." Onion said. "The gate's locked tho-" was all he said before he and his friends screamed at seeing Luffy stretch his arms. Zoro and Nami knew what he was doing as they and the kids grabbed onto Luffy, only to be shot in the air with him. They all flew in the air while everyone screamed in fear or excitement in Luffy's case before they all came crashing down next to a tree on the side of the house. Luffy laughed at the 'successful' landing as he and Zoro walked away from the crater, while Nami grumbled something but walked away from the crater unscathed.
"My word. Are you alright?" came a voice from the window next to the tree. They all looked up to see Usopp in the tree and Kaya in the window.
"Don't worry. We're okay." Luffy said with a smile.
"Who are you all?" Kaya asked.
"Oh them?" Usopp said with a slightly nervous tone. "They're just fans of mine who wanted to join the Usopp pirates."
"No. We're here to see you miss." Luffy said.
"Me? For what reason?"
"Well, we're hoping that-"
"What is the meaning of all this?!" came another voice. Everyone turned to see Klahadore, or Kuro, walking towards them with a sour expression.
"Klahadore," Kaya said.
"Out with you all. You're trespassing," he said as he adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand.
"Klahadore, these people are-"
"Not now, Miss Kaya. We'll talk after this rabble has left," he answered back before she finished.
"Now, all of you. Leave the grounds unless you have business with me."
"We don't have business with you," Luffy said calmly with his hat over his eyes. "We're here to talk to the lady of the house about lending us a ship."
"She is ill and cannot deal with the likes of you miscreants, so a ship is out of the question," he said as he looked up in the tree and spotted Usopp trying to hide. "USOPP!"
"Crap. He saw me." Usopp said as he looked down at the butler.
"What are you doing here? Trying to worm your way into Miss Kaya's good books to get at her fortune?" Kuro said with a bored expression.
"Khlahadore!" Kaya screamed at him while Usopp tried to get her to calm down.
"Of course, you would. Only the son of a filthy pirate would make up a scheme like that," he said. Usopp glared down at Khlahadore.
"What did you just say about my father?!" he screamed as he used a hook to jump down the tree and glared at him some more while trembling in rage.
"Calm down, Usopp," Khlahadore said with a smug grin as he adjusted his glasses again before going on.
"Why not just do what you do best and lie? Tell us, how your father is a traveling salesman. Or that you're really adopted?"
"BASTARD!" Usopp screamed as he slugged Khlahadore right in the face, knocking him to the ground. Kaya and the kids stared in shock while Luffy just watched. Khlahadore sat up before spewing out Usopp's savage nature and insulting his father again.
"SHUT UP!" Usopp screamed before saying how he was proud of his old man and that he wasn't ashamed to be the son of a pirate. Luffy smiled at that while Klahadore only grinned before insulting his father once again.
Usopp was ready to punch him again but stopped when Kaya begged him not to hit him anymore. Usopp listened as Klahadore ordered them all out and never to come back.
"Are the owner of this estate, Kladora?" Luffy suddenly interjected and asked the butler directly.
"It's Klahadore. No, I'm not the owner; Lady Kaya is." Klahadore pushed his spectacle up with his palm. A heavy frown appeared on his face when he heard the tone of the stranger.
"Then you don't have any right to make go away, now is that right?" Luffy pushed. Ussop and the others waited at the side. Kaya wanted to say something, but Klahadore smiled at her and spoke confidently.
"Yes, as a Butler, I don't have that right, but Lady Kaya's parents had entrusted me to take care of her until she comes of age. Therefore, I have the right to kick you all out as her caretaker." Klahadore had an apparent sneer on his face when he said that.
"Hahaha," Luffy suddenly started laughing out loud.
"What are you laughing at, boy?" Klahadore asked, a little uncomfortable in the presence of this boy.
"At you, I'm laughing at you, Knucklehead." Luffy laughed again and then turned to Zoro before ordering him, "We need to capture this guy; he has a bounty of 16 million berries."
Kaya gasped.
Zoro and others were dumbfounded when they heard him. Though Zoro wanted to ask more, he unsheathed his sword since the captain had ordered him.
'He knows,' Klahadore face sank. He didn't think someone could know about his real identity.
"What are you talking about, Luffy? How can he have a bounty on him? Only pirates have those... wait a moment, are you saying Klahadore is a pirate?" Ussop looked terrified, but more than that, he looked worried for Kaya as she was right behind Klahadore, sitting by the window.
Klahadore was about to move and stop Luffy from spilling anymore, but before he even took a step, a fist impacted his face and smashed him through the wall behind him. Klahadore didn't stop there; he was taken all the way to the other side of the room with the fist still planted o his face before his back hit the wall again.
"Kyaa!!" Kaya screamed, terrified, and so did Ussop.
"You... Your freaking hand stretched?!!!" Ussop looked horrified. His legs were shivering in fear.
Luffy smirked as he pulled his arm back and said, "Yes, my hand stretched. I'm a rubber man. You have heard of Devil Fruit, right? It gave me the ability to stretch my body like rubber."
Ussop 'oh-ed' in response. His fear quickly abated. But then he heard a groan and looked in the direction of Klahadore with his body stuck in the wall.
"Why did you do that? You must have some misunderstanding!?" Kaya asked. She looked worried for her butler. She still thought her butler was a good guy, and there must have been some misunderstanding, for Luffy thought he was a pirate.
"I don't have any misunderstanding, Miss. He is an ex-pirate, your butler. I remember his face from one of the wanted posters that were still effective three years ago. He is name is Kuro. His moniker is Kuro of a Hundred plans. Three years ago, Kuro, the captain of Black Cat Pirates, attacked a slew of Marine ships, killing everyone except one guy, Morgan. I only heard rumors, but it was known that Kuro was captured by Morgan, the reason why he was promoted. The marines took back his bounty as the Kuro they captured was already dead when Morgan handed him to the authority."
Kaya gasped, her hands unknowingly covering her mouth. Tears streamed down her face as she turned to look at her butler, Ex-pirate captain.
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