Chapter 11

Hearing the mockery in Markus's voice caused Kuro's eyebrows to twitch. His glare turned to Markus, he had never been so annoyed. Ever since Markus had appeared at the mansion things had been going wrong. Somehow Markus had known who he was, even saying his old name to his face when no one should have known. He'd asked Jango to send someone to kill the kid, but clearly that was pointless and failed. Jango and the rest of the crew had shown him just how pathetic they were.

Kuro adjusted his glasses and turned to face Markus but before he could say anything a young woman's voice shouted out from behind him, "Klahadore! Stop it!"

Kaya stood there in an overcoat and her nightgown shivering in fear and fright. Usopp immediately began to panic, "Kaya! What are you doing here?!"

Even Kuro seemed surprised to see her. Kaya looked around, clearly terrified, "Meri told me everything."

Kuro adjusted his glasses as he looked at Kaya, "Oh, he survived? I didn't show any mercy."

Kaya shuddered and glanced at Usopp, "I'm sorry Usopp. Maybe you can't forgive me but I really can't believe Klahadore is a pirate!"

Markus yawned as a three-way conversation went on between Usopp, Kaya, and Kuro. Usopp wanted Kaya to leave. Naturally, she refused. She offered Kuro all of her money but he declined and talked about how he wanted his peace of mind. Kuro wanted no one to know he was alive and explained that everyone here needed to die, even his old crew. Kaya eventually drew a gun and held it on Kuro. Being the excellent actor he was, Kuro put on a kind face and talked about the past three years they spent together, using her emotions and memories against her. Markus seriously had to give Kuro props for his acting skills. The man was a damned genius in that field!

Kuro dredged up her feelings but ruthlessly capped it off, "I suffered and demeaned myself to get close to you. Can you even imagine my suffering? I did all of this so that when this day came... I could kill you!"

Tears poured down Kaya's cheeks as the gun dropped from her hand to the ground. Furious, Usopp charged at Kuro and attempted to punch him. Without needing to keep up any act, Kuro easily dodged the blow and turned to look at Usopp, "That's right, Usopp. I still haven't thanked you for your punch from before."

Kuro spread his fingers and started to move toward Usopp but before he could get close enough, Markus fired off a shot from his pistol. He had no expectations of hitting Kuro but it did force him to dodge and leave Usopp alone. Markus lowered the pistol with a smile, "You'll be fighting me Kuro."

Markus had really changed this battle from the original. Zoro and Nami were unharmed, Luffy played nearly no role at all. He was still sound asleep beneath the bow of the ship. Zoro walked over to guard Usopp, Nami, and Kaya while Kuro and Markus glared at each other. Kuro adjusted his glasses, "After I kill you, I'll kill your friends, and then I'll have Jango hypnotize Kaya into writing her will before killing her too."

Markus yawned while slowly drawing his sword, "Yeah yeah yeah." He rolled his shoulders before lifting his sword up and pointing it at Kuro, "That's assuming you can actually kill me."

Kuro didn't bother arguing. Instead, he vanished into thin air. Markus narrowed his eyes and focused on his Observation Haki. Kuro was a fast bastard, Markus could barely keep track of him with his Haki. He pushed his focus to the limit. As Kuro closed in, Markus spun around and slashed his sword to intercept Kuro's claws. Kuro's eyes widened while Markus smirked at him. Kuro disappeared again to come at Markus from behind once more. This time Markus didn't block. He was getting a better reading on Kuro as he grew used to his speed. He chose to dodge and counter-attack instead.

Markus dodged to the left and slashed out with the sword his right hand as Kuro appeared and slashed at him. The blades missed each other and instead sliced into their bodies. Kuro's claws sliced shallow grooves through Markus's chest while Markus blade sliced a shallow cut through Kuro's hip. The two of them stumbled back. Kuro placed a hand on his hip and glared at Markus with absolute hate in his eyes. Markus didn't even bother with his wound, the slashes only dealt a little over thirty damage, barely scraping him. It stung, but that's about it. The part that annoyed Markus was that Kuro's claws had damaged his clothing! He really liked the outfit!

Kuro stepped back and adjusted his glasses, "Before we continue I want to ask, why are you involving yourself and risking your life in this matter?"

Markus paused for a moment. He had to answer carefully. This battle and the reasons behind it helped make Nami a part of the crew. It also cemented Usopp as a member of the crew. He thought for a moment before speaking in a manner similar to Luffy, "Because we have friends on this island and we don't want to see them die. Our captain would never allow a villain like you to have his way!"

Kuro actually laughed, "Are you really okay dying for such a simple reason?"

Markus laughed, "I won't be dying today."

Kuro turned serious and vanished from sight. His speed proved nearly useless though. Every time he attacked, Markus either blocked the attack, dodged the attack, or counter attacked while taking minimal damage. The rabble couldn't tell the difference and thought that Kuro had Markus on the back foot. They started cheering him on, "Captain Kuro! Captain Kuro!"

Kuro came to a stop some distance from Markus. Both of them were covered in small cuts from each others attacks. Markus glanced at his hit points and frowned a little. A break couldn't hurt. He knew Kuro was long-winded so he made no effort to reengage him in combat. Markus was sitting at 98 hit points and 211 willpower. Kuro was doing slightly better and sitting at 132 hit points. Kuro was faster and had far more experience fighting which allowed him to dodge or mitigate damage from Markus's counter-attacks. His Haki essentially only put them on a somewhat even field.

While Markus analyzed the situation and let his natural regeneration help him recover some hit points, Kuro turned to glare at his crew, "You still don't understand? The real purpose of this plan is to eliminate the name 'Captain Kuro' forever! I'm sick and tired of making plans for you idiots. As I became more and more famous an endless stream of marines and bounty hunters came after my head. That's why I decided to 'kill' myself three years ago. All the effort to fake my death, all the effort to get close to that little bitch." His gaze returned to Markus, "Now do you understand? I've spent three years on this plan and it cannot fail!"

Kuro spread his fingers and the blades attached to them, "Now do you understand why I can't let you stop me, kid? Now... just DIE FOR ME!"

Kuro's arms and shoulders dropped as he hunched over. His body began to sway back and forth, his claws clinking in a rhythmic way. The rabble stuck down at the beach started to panic, screaming, begging for mercy from Kuro as he started his Creeping Cat attack. Markus didn't move a muscle. Kuro vanished from sight and silence filled the area. The silence did not last long though, soon screams started to fill the air as slash marks appeared on random pirates. Blood flew through the air and soon the ones not attacked began begging for mercy.

Zoro, Nami, and Usopp were shocked at what they were seeing. One moment a pirate would be fine, the next slashes would appear on their body and blood would flow. Miserable screams filled the air. Markus just watched and kept his Observation Haki at its maximum. It wasn't long before Kuro came his way. Even if Markus couldn't see him with his eyes, he could feel Kuro coming. The speed of the technique forced Kuro to move in a more linear and predictable fashion. As Kuro got closer, Markus stepped to the left and moved out of the path of his attack. Claw marks appeared on the ground near where he had been standing a moment before. A few moments later he moved back to the right and more claw marks appeared on the ground. With how simple Kuro's movements had become, dodging him now was far easier than dodging him before.

Markus was buying a little time to recover some more hit points while Kuro sliced his crew to shreds. Just a moment later his face changed to panic. He looked to the side and shouted, "Zoro duck!"

Zoro looked surprised and before he could process what Markus said, four slash marks appeared across his chest and sent him crashing to the ground. Markus grimaced, "Dammit!"

Seeing that Kuro was attacking people that were on his team, Markus decided he couldn't relax anymore. As Kuro came charging back down the hill, Markus moved to just the right position and stuck his leg out. Kuro was moving too fast to react, his foot was caught and he was sent tumbling to the ground. He hit the ground face first and slid to a stop after a few feet. The surviving rabble were shocked. One even muttered, "Did he... just trip Captain Kuro?"

Markus didn't waste any time letting Kuro recover. He couldn't risk him getting a shot in at Usopp or Nami, they couldn't take it like Zoro could. He was lucky that it was Zoro that was targeted. He couldn't fuck around anymore. His life might not be on the line but the others could die so easily. He was arrogant and made a mistake, he won't make the same mistake again. He charged at Kuro and stabbed down at him with his sword. Kuro wasn't about to let himself be impaled, he rolled to the side and dodged the attack.

Markus's sword hit the ground and broke in half. The cheap mass-produced weapon had taken a beating from Kuro's better-made claws, hitting the rock hard ground pushed it over the edge. As the sword broke, Kuro slashed with his claws and forced Markus back. The distance gave Kuro enough time to get to his feet, "You bastard. You should have just let me continue. Look, all because of you my precious crew is in great pain and suffering."

Markus glared at Kuro, "You're no pirate. You're just trash. What kind of pirate treats his friends and crewmen like this? You're weak, pathetic, and a coward. I will never be a pirate like you!"

Kuro smirked, "Of course you will never be a pirate. You're going to die here and now."

Kuro got into his stance with his shoulders dropped as he swayed back and forth. Markus clenched his fists tightly. Kuro was down to less than one hundred hit points. He was weakened, one good solid blow should be enough to knock him out cold! Kuro vanished while Markus got into a basic stance that provided stability and allowed him to put his entire weight behind his punch. Screams echoed through the air as Kuro sliced through more of his former crew. Markus was forced to wait for Kuro to come to him. There was no way in hell he could ever catch up to Kuro, not even if he dumped all of his available points into his Agility right now.

He didn't have to wait long before Kuro's murderous intentions were directed at him. Markus's whole body tensed as Kuro charged directly at him. Markus still couldn't see Kuro with his eyes, but he could feel him. Everyone watched as Markus lashed out with his fist at what seemed to be empty air. A resounding crack echoed out as his fist collided with Kuro's face causing his body to appear. Kuro's momentum kept carrying his body forward until he completed a backflip and landed face down on the ground. He slid for a foot or two before coming to a complete stop and lay motionless on the ground. Markus slowly retracted his fist and turned to look at the downed Kuro.

--------------------------------------------------

Captain Kuro (Klahadore)

Class: Assassin

Level: 23

Hit Points: 72/320

Unconscious

--------------------------------------------------

Markus walked over to the downed Kuro and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. He turned to face the pirates and threw Kuro at them, "Take this trash with you and leave. Don't ever come back!"

The rabble didn't know whether to cheer or cry, but the less injured ones started gathering the others and dragging them to the ship to make their escape. Markus collapsed onto his ass as the fighting caught up with him. He might not have any lasting wounds but he was low on hit points and felt exhausted from pushing himself to the limit. As he recovered, Nami walked over to him and looked down at him. Before she could speak, Markus asked, "How's Zoro?"

"Hurt, but he'll live. The cuts weren't too deep. He fell asleep, of all things." Nami just shook her head in exasperation.

Nami gave Markus a complicated look, "Why did you fight so hard against them?"

Markus shrugged his shoulders, "Because that's not how pirates should be. Being a pirate is about being free! About sailing the sea and answering to no one but your fellow crew!" He smiled brightly at Nami, "Luffy sails to fulfill his dream to become the pirate king. Zoro sails to fulfill his dream to become the greatest swordsman. I sail to become the strongest man in the world. Why do you sail Nami?"

Nami froze and got a distant look in her eyes. Markus knew all about her past but didn't say anything out loud. He let her reminisce for a bit. There was a hint of tears in the corners of her eyes but they vanished as she smiled softly, "I want to chart all the oceans and islands of the world."

Markus nodded while he continued to smile, "That's a wonderful dream. We all sail to achieve our dreams. We and the world at large may call us pirates, but I feel that we're more like adventurers. It's all just labels and propaganda."

Nami looked to be deep in thought for a bit before her expression turned stony, "I still hate pirates."

Markus shrugged and then chuckled, "Well, why don't you go and 'politely' wake up our captain then?"

Nami had a wicked smile on her face as she made her way over to the loudly snoring Luffy. Without any hesitation, she slammed her foot onto his face. Luffy screamed as he was rudely awoken. He hopped to his feet and shouted, "That hurts!"

Markus and Nami chuckled. Luffy looked around in confusion, "What happened?"

Markus called out from the distance, "Did you have a nice nap Captain?"

Luffy smiled and stretched. When Luffy stretched he really stretched, "Yeah, I did."

Markus chuckled, "Well, while you were napping we took out the enemy. Maybe you'll learn a little something about staring at strange things?"

Luffy looked defeated and even pouted like a child, "Damn! I wanted to fight!" He then rubbed his stomach and quickly changed topics, "I'm hungry."

Markus laughed, "Let's go get some food!"

After everyone was cleaned and patched up, Markus, Zoro, Luffy, and Nami went to the restaurant Usopp brought them to previously, Meshi. They partied and enjoyed their food, though Luffy was still pouting about missing out on the majority of the fight. He made everyone swear to wake him up if something like it happened again. Markus laughed and nodded along while eating. As they ate he finally got the notice he was waiting for, ever since the crew of Kuro's ship left.

--------------------------------------------------

Quest Complete!

Drowning a cat in misery.

You have royally pissed off Captain Kuro. He wants you and the rest of your crew dead, especially you. Show him that you're not so easy to get rid of and make him suffer for even trying.

Objective 1: Survive the assassination attempt! Either avoid or defeat the assassin Kuro sends after you. (Complete!)

Objective 2: Annoy Kuro! Disrupt his plans as much as you can. Defeat members of his crew and prevent them from entering the town. The more crew members you defeat the bigger your bonus. (Complete!)

Objective 3: Punish Kuro! Defeat Kuro in one-on-one combat. The more you embarrass and humiliate him the greater your rewards. (Complete!)

Objective 4: Kill Kuro! Once you feel Kuro has suffered enough put him out of his misery. (Incomplete!)

Requirements: Completed Objectives 1, 2, and 3. Objective 4 is optional.

Failure Conditions: Death, Failing to complete Objectives 1, 2, or 3.

Rewards:

Objective 1: 10,000 experience, 1x Skill book.

Objective 2: +10% cumulative experience for each pirate defeated (all experience distributed when the quest is completed).

Objective 3: Rewards TBD.

Objective 4: Rewards TBD.

You have gained 10,000 experience.

You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.

Your rewards have been deposited into your inventory!

You defeated 20 pirate cadre, +200% experience.

You have gained 19,500 experience.

You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.

You defeated and humiliated Kuro in front of his entire crew. You have gained 25,000 experience.

You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.

You have leveled up! Hit Points and Willpower fully restored. You have gained 5 attribute points.

Your Rewards have been deposited in your inventory.

--------------------------------------------------

Markus felt his lips curve into a wicked smile. He gained four levels in one go and earned two items as rewards. The first objective had been so easy that he hadn't even realized he completed it until the fight with Kuro had been going. Apparently they never thought to look for him right next to where they planned to dock. Rather stupid of them but they hadn't shown much intelligence, to begin with. The experience was great and made him a little stronger, but he was more interested in the items he earned. While everyone was still eating he surreptitiously opened his inventory to take a look. He was happy to see that he'd gained two skill books! Skill Book: Image Training and Skill Book: Pussyfoot Maneuver. He might hate the name of the footwork Kuro used, but it would definitely be helpful. Defeating Kuro hadn't given him any rewards directly so it seemed to him that there were no such things as loot drops from people.

He couldn't use the skill books in the open with the others around so he would have to see what the exact details of them were. The Image Training one intrigued him. In a lot of anime and manga, Image Training allowed people to train inside of their minds with such focus that they could gain real power from it. If the skill worked in a similar fashion, it should provide him a way to gain experience outside of live combat. He had been hoping to find a way to level up during the long journey between islands. Now he just might have it. With the good news, he celebrated even harder with the rest of the crew until night fell and they went to get some sleep.

Once he was alone, Markus pulled out the skill books and immediately learned both of them.

--------------------------------------------------

Image Training

[Active]

When you use this skill you enter a meditative state that allows you to fight against people you have met. Defeating the conjured enemies will allow you to gain experience points. Damage taken during combat will lower your hit points, death during training will lead to real death. The more often you defeat the same opponent the less experience you gain for defeating them.

Pussyfoot Maneuver

[Active, Level 1, 0.0% experience]

Using unique footwork you are able to vastly increase your speed while reducing the sound you make, temporarily. The higher the level of the skill, the faster you move and the less visible you become.

+10% Movement Speed for 1 second

Cost: 25 Willpower

--------------------------------------------------