On the deck of the Bezan Black, the Nyaban Brothers were chilling. They were not helping Jango. They did not care about the mission. In their eyes, "Captain" Kuro was just a retired pirate. They were the real strength of the Black Cat Pirates now. They were sure they were just as strong as Kuro ever was in his prime.
Buchi, the fat one, was curled up on a pile of ropes, fast asleep, enjoying the early morning sun like any other cat. Myaaaah... zzzzzz... Sham, the skinny one, was on the railing, polishing his long, steel claws.
Suddenly, Sham noticed something. A small, black speck in the sky. It was getting bigger. "Hey, Buchi," Sham said, not really worried. "Looks like we're under attack."
"Myaah... under what...?" Buchi mumbled, still half-asleep.
Sham's eyes widened. The speck was much bigger now. It was spinning. It had a skull on it. "Wake up, you fat..."
KABOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion threw both of them, along with half the ship's mast, into the cold ocean. SPLASH!
A minute later, two very angry, soaking wet "cats" crawled onto the beach. Their ship was a giant ball of fire. But they weren't angry about the ship. They weren't angry about the treasure. They were cats. And they were wet.
"I'M... I'M SOAKING!" Sham shrieked, his fur spiked and matted. "MYAAAAH! COLD! COLD! COLD!" Buchi roared.
They saw Jango, who was frozen on the path, staring at the fire. They stomped over to him, leaving wet footprints. "JANGO!" Sham roared, his claws out. "Who did this?! Who made us wet?!"
Jango was still in shock. He looked at his two furious, wet crewmates, then at the burning ship, then at the other ship... the gaudy clown ship... that was now sailing toward them. "It... it was them!" Jango yelled, pointing at the Big Top. "That stupid clown Buggy!"
__________
On other side, The hypnotized pirates, their eyes blank, ran right past Usopp's broken body. As they were about to reach the top of the hill, one of them heard a new sound. A high-pitched, whistling... scream? He looked up. He saw three dark shapes, falling from the sky, right on top of them. "BOMB!" he shrieked. "ANOTHER BOMB! THEY'RE FIRING AT—"
BOOOOOOM!
It wasn't a cannonball. It was Luffy. He landed right on top of the front two pirates, smashing them into the dirt. Dust and rocks flew everywhere. He stood up from his crouch and cracked his knuckles.
A few feet away, Alvida and Buggy crash-landed in a heap. "OOOF!" Alvida grunted, hitting the ground hard. "GYAAAAA!" Buggy shrieked, rolling head over heels. "A warning! A little warning next time, you flashy bastard!"
The hypnotized pirates all skidded to a halt. Their path was blocked. Luffy just looked at them, a thin, cold smile on his face. "Going somewhere?"
The pirates, their eyes blank, just roared and charged. Luffy didn't move. He just gestured with his chin. "Alvida. Buggy. Take care of these grunts." "With pleasure," Alvida sneered, cracking her knuckles. "Gya?! Me?!" Buggy shrieked, scrambling to his feet. "You want me to fight?! I'm the ...." "Just do it, clown," Alvida barked, and she charged in.
The hypnotized pirates' swords and fists just... slipped right off her new, smooth skin. SKREEE! "My sword! It slipped!" "It... it won't hit her!" Alvida just grinned (but unlike before it formed into a charming smile which captivated quite a few pirates) and swung her heavy iron mace. THWACK! She sent three of them flying.
Buggy, seeing he had no choice, decided to be "flashy." He launched his fist "Bara Bara... PUNCH!" It knocked a pirate out cold. "GYAGYAGYA! See that? I'm the real fighter here!"
Luffy just ignored them. He walked past the brawl to a grunt Alvida had already knocked out. The man was just groaning. Luffy reached down, grabbed the front of the pirate's shirt, and lifted him up to his face. SMACK! Luffy slapped him awake. "Wha... huh...?" The pirate's eyes were still hazy. Luffy's cold, calm face was the first thing he saw. "Where is Kuro?" Luffy asked. His voice was flat. "Kuro...?" the pirate stammered. "Captain Kuro is... he's dead... he was executed..."
Luffy sighed. He hit him again, harder. SMACK!
"Don't lie to me," Luffy said, his voice a low growl. "Where. Is. He."
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As this was happening, the Big Top was getting close to the beach. Zoro saw the fight on the path. He saw Jango, and the two strange-looking, soaking-wet men with cat-claws. He didn't wait for the ship to dock. He just jumped. THUD! He landed on the sand, right in their path.
The Nyaban Brothers, Buchi and Sham, who were running with Jango, all skidded to a halt. "Hey, you two," Zoro said, his hand on his swords. "You look strong. Fight me."
The "cats" were already furious about being wet. Now, this new guy was challenging them? "MYAAAAH!" Sham shrieked. "He's with the clowns that blew up our ship! He's the one who made us wet!" "He'll be the first to die!" Buchi roared.
Jango just looked at the scene. He saw Zoro. He saw his two strongest fighters. He looked up the path at Buggy and Alvida, who were already beating up his men. "Tch," Jango spat on the ground. "Fine. You two handle the green hair. I'll go meet the clown." He ran off, leaving them.
"I'll take him!" Sham moved first. He was a blur, charging at Zoro. But Zoro just stood there. He didn't even draw his sword. Seeing this, Sham felt mocked. "You're not even... DIE!" He slashed at Zoro's chest with his long, sharp claws. "NEKO-DE!" (Cat's Claw!)
SKRRCH!
The claws hit. They tore right through Zoro's white shirt. They tasted Zoro's blood. Sham grinned. "Heh... heh... huh?" Something was wrong. Sham could feel it. And Zoro could, too. The claws hit, but they didn't go deep. They only went "half in."
Zoro looked down at the four shallow, bleeding cuts on his chest. Then he looked up at Sham. He gave a dangerous, cold smile. He finally drew his white sword, Wado Ichimonji. SHING!
"Don't get cocky!" Sham shrieked. This time, he didn't charge in a straight line. He used his real speed. FSH! FSH! FSH! He was a black-and-white blur, running on all fours, then leaping onto the side of a broken cliff. "You can't catch me!" he mocked,then launched himself off the claws aimed at Zoro's neck.
Zoro just raised his sword. CLANG! Zoro blocked the attack. Sham, using his cat-like agility, bounced off Zoro's sword, landed on his feet, and came in again from the other side. "He's fast," Zoro admitted. "I'm too fast!" Sham yelled, lunging one last time.
This time, Zoro met him. It wasn't a fight. It was one, clean cut. SLASH! Sham froze, then fell to the ground, unconscious.
Buchi, who was watching, was shocked. Sham... taken down... so easily? "MYAAAAH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Buchi roared. He ran, jumped high in the air, and came down in his iconic drop kick. "NEKO-ZESS-HI!" (Cat-Out-Of-The-Bag Attack!)
Zoro didn't dodge. He just held his one sword sideways, bracing for the hit. BOOOOOOM!
Buchi's feet slammed into the flat of the blade. Zoro's own feet sunk into the ground from the sheer weight and force. The ground under him cracked. A drop of sweat ran down his head. But he held. He held Buchi's entire weight on his single sword. Zoro gritted his teeth, a proud, pained smile on his face. (It worked...) he thought. (The training from the last three days... it's paying off!)
With a roar, Zoro threw Buchi off his blade. The fat cat-man rolled in the dirt. Zoro didn't wait. He put his white sword in his teeth. CLICK. He drew his other two swords. He took his stance.
Buchi, full of rage, got up and charged again. "MYAAAAH!"
[note: Ai is a bitch]
Zoro met him. "TORA... GARI!" (Tiger Hunt!) SHIIIIIIING! Buchi froze, a new pattern of cuts on his chest. He fell, unconscious, right next to his brother.
__________
Meanwhile, on the path, the fight was a joke. Buggy was having the time of his life. The hypnotized pirates were strong. but, They were just running at him. "GYAGYAGYA!" Buggy's laugh echoed. He stood with his arms crossed, letting a hypnotized pirate stab him right in the stomach. SHINK!
The pirate's sword went right through him. The pirate's blank, raging eyes went wide with shock. "A... a... a ghost!" "Wrong!" Buggy's head floated off his neck. "Bara Bara..." He then re-attached, but this time his fist flew off and hit the pirate in the face. "...PUNCH!" WHAM!
The hypnotized pirates were terrified. Even in their mindless rage, this was too weird. "He's a demon! Run! Run!" "That's right, run!" Buggy cackled. He was loving this. He was a god to these weaklings.
But... some of the pirates weren't running. They had stopped. They were just... staring. They were staring past Buggy. Alvida, bored, was leaning on her mace, watching the show. She ran a hand through her new, long, black hair.
One of the hypnotized pirates stopped. His blank "RAARGH" face changed. His eyes turned into... hearts. "So... beautiful..." Another one dropped his sword.
Buggy, who was about to "flashily" execute another grunt, stopped. He looked at the lovestruck pirates. He looked at Alvida. "HEY!" Buggy's head shrieked. "Stop that! You're ruining my show!" Alvida just smiled, enjoying the attention. She gave the pirates a little wink. A ripple of "Oooohs" went through the pirates. Some of them just fainted from "love." "What can I say?" Alvida said, posing. "A beautiful woman can't help it."
Just then, Jango walked up the path. He had left Zoro to the Nyaban brothers. He was ready to fight the "clowns." He saw Buggy yelling. And then... he saw Alvida. Jango stopped. His jaw dropped. "A... a... goddess..." His eyes also turned into hearts. She's... she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen... He quickly shook his head, SMACK, hitting himself. No! The plan! The mission! He snapped out of it. He looked at Buggy, who was still yelling at Alvida. "HEY! CLOWN!" Jango shouted, pointing at Buggy.
Buggy stopped yelling at Alvida and turned to Jango. "Huh?" Buggy's head floated up. "And who are you to call me?" Jango just sneered. He pulled out his spinning ring. "You'll fall fast when I say 'One... two... Jango'..." Buggy just stared at the ring. "Gya? What's that? A shiny... shiny... ring..."
"One..." "So... shiny..." "Two..." "...Jango!"
Buggy's eyes went blank. He just... stopped. His floating head went limp and fell to the ground. THUD. He was fast asleep. Jango grinned. "Heh. Too easy. Now, for the rest of—"
But Jango had made a rookie mistake. He had forgotten to not look at his own ring. Jango's own eyes went blank. He froze, his arm still out. THUD. He also fell over, fast asleep.
Alvida just stared at the two sleeping men on the ground. "Huh," she grunted. "That clown fell asleep." She looked at Jango. "And... so did this one." She just shrugged. "What a bunch of morons." She picked up her iron mace and looked at the few remaining, lovestruck pirates. "Oh well. Back to work." THWACK!
Luffy, who was overseeing everything saw both of them fall asleep. "Hmm," he said to himself, a cold, curious look on his face. "Interesting. A real hypnotist."