Ch 10 Kuro

Kuro glares down at the mass of people, a murderous gleam in his eyes. He especially directs his glare towards Alex, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp, Luffy is still asleep.

Kuro: " Are you telling me these children held you up!? Is this what the pirates of the Black Cat have come to? Is that it Django!?"

Django: " B-but you said it didn't matter if we let the kid go..... That's what you said!"

Kuro: " Yes, I said that..... And I was right! It shouldn't have been a problem! Anyone could have predicted that he would try to thwart us."

Kuro: " But I didn't expect your defenses to be so feeble!!! I'm in no mood to hear excuses."

Siam: " Feeble," Says he? Us!?"

Butchie: " Care to say that again, cap'n Kuro?"

Alex: " Oooh, a mutiny."

Siam: " Maybe you were strong... once."

Kuro: " You have something to say?"

Django: " Avast!! Butchie, Siam, belay that!!"

Siam: " A lot can change in three years! We ain't been living in a fancy mansion, getting slow and soft!"

Butchie: " We plundered countless villages.... We sent a rival crew down to see Davy Jones!!"

Usopp: " They're gonna mutiny!?"

Nami: " ...?"

Siam: " You'll find we ain't so easy to kill! Sometimes things don't go as planned!"

Butchie: " You've been out of action for three years!! You think you can beat the sharp claws of the Meowban Brothers?"

Pirates: " They got a point. Even cap'n Django can't beat the two of them at once."

Kuro: " ....."

Butchie: " You ain't our captain no more!"

Siam: " If you're just gonna kill us anyway, we'll kill you first!!"

The two charge at Kuro, there claws ready to slash into him. They slash at the exact same time, they only destroy his bag, as Kuro disappears and reappears behind the two, he was now wearing gloves with blades coming from each finger.

Kuro: " Who..... Are you going to kill?"

Usopp: " H-he did the same thing Alex did!"

Alex: " Not exactly.... He's not using Soru."

Usopp: " So, he's just that fast?"

Alex: " Not sure."

Pirates: " H-he pulled.....a.....a... Pussyfoot maneuver!"

Zoro: " What's his weapon?"

The Meowban Brothers quickly turn around to face Kuro, but he's already gone. Kuro appears behind them, putting an arm around both of their shoulders. The brothers shake in terror.

Kuro: " You two were right. I have gotten soft." He states, bringing the blades on his thumbs up to the brother's necks.

Kuro: " It's true I'm not your captain anymore.... But I hired you to do a job! And the penalty for failure is death!!"

Pirates: " Nobody ever outmaneuvered the Meowban Brothers before!!"

Alex: " Uhhh, I did."

Django: " What did you fools expect?"

Django: " Captain Kuro's pussyfoot maneuver is a technique for undetectable movement. You could gather 50 assassins, and they'd all be dead before they knew he was near. We've got to carry out his plan."

Django: " When I saw him for the first time after three years, and saw that habit of his, I shivered. To avoid scratching his face with his.... " Cat Claws"... He pushes his glasses up his nose like that. It's proof that he hasn't forgotten how to kill."

Pirates: " ...!!!"

Kuro stabs just the tip of his blades into the brother's necks, drawing blood.

Butchie: " Meeeowww!! Yoww!!"

Kuro: " Three years of inaction... Have softened my heart. You've got five minutes, if everything isn't sorted out by then..."

Kuro: " I'll kill every last one of you..... With my own hands."

Pirates: " I don't want to die!!!"

Butchie: " Five minutes..."

Zoro: " Hmph."

Alex: " It's going to take longer than that to take us both out."

Usopp: " Cripes!! And to think that this devil's been living in our midst for three years!!"

Django: " Five minutes? We can finish this in five minutes!"

Butchie: " No problem!! We'll just kill them real quick!!"

Siam: " Then we charge right up the slop!!"

Butchie: " Aye, we were beating them before!"

Alex: " No you weren't."

Siam: " They ain't so fearsome!! They'll be shark bait in five seconds!!!"

The two brothers charge forward at the two straw hats, Alex punches the ground, creating an explosion that kicks up a large amount of dust. Zoro rushes forward into the dust, all three swords drawn. When the smoke clears, Zoro is standing over the defeated Meowban Brothers.

Usopp: " I didn't even see what happened."

Pirates: " What even happened!?"

Alex: " They were pathetic."

Zoro: " Don't worry, it won't even take five minutes... To trash you all!"

Kuro: " Try it." He states, pushing up his glasses.

Butchie: " Huff, huff... Those..... th-those bilge rats! I'll...I'll smash your bones!"

Butchie: " C-captain!! Captain Django!! Hypnotized me!!"

Kuro: " He's still alive, you claws need sharpening."

Alex: " All that blubber saved him."

Django hypnotizes Butchie, and he is invigorated with energy.

Butchie: " Rooowwrr!!"

Zoro: " Oh, boy!! Hypnotism again!?"

Nami starts running towards the sleeping Luffy.

Django: " Now what are you up to, you meddling wench!? Die!!" He yells, throwing a bladed ring towards Nami.

Nami: " Everyone else is fighting with serious injuries.... And look at you!!" She yells, as she closes in on Luffy and kicks him in the head, the bladed ring closes in on her.

Alex: " Nami!!" He launches himself forward with his explosions.

Django: " I'll split you in two!!"

Luffy: " Nami, you creep!!!"

Luffy: " Why'd you have to step on my head!?" He yells, standing up. The bladed ring sticks into the back of his head. Blood spurts from his wound. Alex stops charging, looking on in shock.

Nami: " Luffy!!!"

Django: " What!? He's still alive!?"

Zoro: " What lousy timing. Hmm..... or maybe not so lousy!!"

Kuro: " That lad?"

Alex: " Luffy! Are you alright!?"

Luffy starts to fall over, but he stops himself and stands his ground.

Django: " Impossible! He's still standing?"

Luffy rips the bladed ring out of his head.

Zoro: " Looks like...."

Luffy: " Ow!!"

Zoro: " Luffy's back in action!!"

Luffy: " That hurt!!"

Pirates: " Bucket O' blood!! Now what!? We got less than five minutes left!"

Luffy: " That really hurt!!" He yells at Nami.

Nami: " It wasn't me, Luffy!!"

Luffy: " Hey.... The evil butler is here." He states, looking at Kuro.

Kuro: " Three minutes left before I massacre everyone."

Pirates: " No!! Even Captain Django and Butchie can't stop them in only three minutes!!"

Django: " Butchie! There's no time to think! You kill the guy with the truss!! I'll take care of the other two!!"

Alex looks over and notices Kaya approaching behind Kuro.

Kaya: " Klahadore!! Stop!!"

Usopp: " Kaya!! What're you doing here!?"

Django: " Hey! Isn't that the girl from the mansion!? She's our real target!"

Pirates: " Then we don't need to sack the village? We just gotta kill the girl, right?"

Kuro: " What a lovely surprise, miss Kaya. What brings you here?" He states, turning towards Kaya.

Kaya: " Merry told me everything."

Kuro: " Merry? He lived?"

Kuro: " I thought..... I had killed him."

Kaya: " I'm sorry..... Usopp!!"

Kaya: " How can you ever forgive me? I was so wrong about you. I just couldn't believe... That Klahadore was a pirate."

Usopp: " It's okay, Kaya!! Why'd you come here? You've got to escape!!" They're out to kill you!!"

Kaya: " But aren't you fighting them?! Even though we treated you so horribly? Even though you're bleeding all over?"

Usopp: " Of course! I'm.... I'm a..... brave warrior of the sea!!"

Kaya: " Klahadore!! If you want my fortune, I'll give it to you!!"

Kuro: " Not good enough, Miss Kaya. Yes, I want your fortune, but I also want.... Peace of mind."

Kuro: " I spent three years earning the trust of the villagers here. I've grown comfortable, I can even relax."

Kuro: " Only when I have that peace of mind and your wealth.... Will my plan have been accomplished."

Kuro: " Thus the pirate attack on the village and your accidental demise are both quite essential."

Alex: " You're a fucking bastard, Kuro!"

Kuro: " Say what you will, it doesn't matter to me."

Usopp: " Kaya, run!! Don't waste your breath on him!!! He's not the man you knew!!"

Kaya pulls a gun from her coat and points it at Kuro.

Kuro: " ...."

Usopp: " ...."

Pirates: " A pistol!!"

Kaya: " Leave this village alone!!"

Kuro: " Hmm, you've really grown up in the last three years..."

Kuro: " And I've been at you side for all the changes, haven't I? Even before you lost your parents and became ill..... You and I spent a lot of time together."

Kuro: " We went sailing together, took trips into town..... When you had a fever, I stayed at your bedside day and night..... I suffered with you..... I laughed with you. I was your humble servant!"

Kuro: " I humored you, miss Kaya, in all your silly dreams. And I endured it... All for today!!! The day I could kill you!!!" Tears start to fall from Kaya's eyes as the gun in her hand trembles.

Kuro: " I, who was once the dread Captain Kuro.... Bowed and scraped to a spoiled little girl..... And catered to her every whim, day and night. Can you fathom my humiliation?" Kaya drops the gun to the ground.

Usopp: " Kuro!!!" He yells, throwing himself at the pirate turned butler. Kuro simply dodges out of the way, and Usopp falls to his knees.

Kuro: " Usopp... That reminds me. I still owe you for hitting me. You hit me with all your might!" He prepares to slash Usopp to ribbons, but a stretchy arm flies out of know where and socks Kuro in the face, knocking him to the ground. The arm retracts back to Luffy.

Luffy: " If you don't like getting hit..... I'll punch you a hundred times more!!!"

Alex: " I'm going to blow you to smithereens!!!"