A/N : I know it's been ages since my last update, but I've been busy with school. Again, please review if you are enjoying the story!

Usopp stood in front of the three pirates, a large pirate flag resting beside him as the young boy tried not to display his fear.

"Pirates!" he yelled out. "I am Captain of the Usopp Pirates! Get off this island now - or else my 3000 followers and I will have to kill you!"

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami all glanced up at the boy who stood atop some rocks. He was quivering in his boots.

"3000 followers?" Luffy asked, trying to seem impressed.

Nami resisted the urge to hit him across the head, "he's obviously lying to us- look at him."

Zoro tried not to laugh at the scared boy. He was obviously frightened, and somehow it wasn't this entertaining last time around. Nami bent down and picked up a pebble that had been flung at them previously.

"I've never heard of a pirate using a slingshot…" she murmured in a mocking tone.

At this, Luffy let out a laugh. "You're neat," he said - glad to see Usopp after all this time. And glad to see he hadn't changed.

Usopp stomped his foot on the ground, clearly not enjoying being made fun of. "Hey, you! Don't make fun of me - they call me the proud Usopp," he yelled out while taking aim with another slingshot.

Luffy stared. He had always found Usopp's bravery at this time to be impressive. After all, he was standing up to three pirates with no real crew of his own. The captain tugged on his hat so that it covered his eyes.

"Now that you've drawn your weapon," Luffy began - happy to say the words the man he looked up to had taught him. "Are you ready to put your life on the line?"

"Huh?"

Luffy paused for a moment to silently enjoy Usopp's scared face before continuing. "I'm saying those aren't for threatening people."

Zoro smirked from beside his captain, using his fingers to lift his swords out of their sheaths ever so slightly. "What you're looking at now are real pirates."

Usopp began to falter under the intense gaze of the two real-life pirates in front of him. A few moments later, he released the pebble from his slingshot and fell to his knees.

"Real pirates have so much more punch behind their words…" he whimpered to himself, although the rest heard him.

Luffy and Zoro grinned before Nami joined them in laughter. Usopp was so easy to frighten, and Luffy kind of missed the days when he was still scared of them. It was always fun to freak him out.

With Usopp out of their way, Luffy led them into Syrup village, knowing good and well what they had to do here, and intending to get it done as soon as possible - so they could reach Sanji and the others. More importantly - he wished to save Nami from the clutches of Arlong quicker rather than later.

They headed into a bar and relaxed, Luffy knew Usopp would be following them - and so they may as well have a bite to eat while they wait for him to catch up.

As they waited for their food, the three small boys that Luffy and Zoro remembered as a part of Usopp's 'crew' walked up to them, looking as fierce as a bunch of small children could.

"Hey, you guys!" The tallest one in the middle yelled, pointing his wooden sword in the air. "What'd you do with our Captain Usopp?" He continued yelling, with the other two beside him also glaring angrily. Luffy let out a sigh and began patting his enlarged belly after finishing his last bite.

"That meant was yummy!" he said drowsily.

The three boys clung to each other as the shocking realizations hit them.

"M-meat?" they repeated, almost afraid of what was to happen next.

"Don't tell me…the captain.." The smallest of the three stuttered out, much to the crew's amusement. Nami was trying her best not to giggle. Zoro smirked, resting his head on his propped hand.

"If you're looking for your captain," he began in the darkest voice the children had ever heard. His large, scary grin grew. "We ate him."

The three children hugged each other in shock before they turned to Nami. "You old hag!"

"What are you looking at me for?" Nami yelled back at them. Zoro and Luffy burst into laughter as Nami continued shouting at the three children.

About an hour later, Usopp entered the bar and joined them at their booth. He was still feeling scared, but he didn't think these were dangerous pirates. After all, if their plan was to attack the village they would have done so already.

"We will attack at dawn… make sure everyone is ready," Kuro's dark, sinister voice spoke from the table behind Luffy and his crew, including Usopp. "I have waited years for my revenge, and it will not fail."

Zoro and Luffy watched as Usopp's face dropped, and even though they had known this would be coming - they still managed to act confused.

"Who is he?" Luffy asked.

Usopp was barely able to form words as the realization hit him. "He's Kaya's butler… he's been with her family for decades. I don't understand why he is doing this but we have to warn everyone!" He stated before rushing out of the bar.

"PIRATES!" Usopp yelled, racing through the town. "Pirates are going to attack tomorrow! We all must get out of here!"

All the members of the town just shook their heads. He was at it again.

"Like we'd ever believe you," one villager said. The rest of them were just ignoring him and paid no attention to the yelling teen. Usopp stopped, out of breath as he fell to the ground. There was no other way - he was going to have to stop Kuro's crew by himself- no matter what. He couldn't let them destroy his home or get to Kaya.

Usopp raced down the hill, making his way towards the beach. The sun was just starting to rise and for Usopp, it sure felt like the dawn before his last day. Unknown to him, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were all close behind him, making sure to keep themselves hidden for now. Loud noises were growing, it sounded like shouting and yelling.

The Sharpshooter stopped running, placing his feet down on the sandy ground firmly. The noises in front of him became silent, and Usopp stared at the large group of rowdy men that were a few meters in front of him. There was a large ship behind them, anchored at the beach.

"Who the hell are you?" the man in front spoke. He was tall, wearing an all-blue suit and top hat. However, the most noticeable feature was the large red heart-shaped glasses and his overly large and strange chin.

"I-I am Captain Usopp," he began, trying very hard not to stutter. "If you don't leave this town right now, my 300,000 followers will attack you and not one of you will leave this beach alive."

The strange man's mouth dropped. "300,000 really?" he questioned, looking very impressed.

"That's right," Usopp said, milking this lie as long as he could.

The odd man in the hat was about to comment again when a dark voice interrupted them.

"He's obviously lying."

Usopp and all of the men glanced to their right - where Kuro stood, hands in his pockets.

"Look at how much he is sweating," Kuro continued, as he began stepping closer to the now-shivering liar. "And he's basically trembling in his boots."

Usopp cursed, just seeing Kuro face to face was sending his fear away and replacing it with a red-hot anger. This man was intending on betraying the woman he served for over five years. Kaya, who meant so much to the teen, was in grave danger.

"I'm not going to let you pass," Usopp spoke, this time his voice held confidence.

Kuro was now standing only a few feet in front of Usopp. A malicious grin on his face. "And what are you going to do against an entire pirate crew?"

"I will defeat you all. I will not let you leave this beach," Usopp replied, never wavering. This comment angered Kuro. How dare such a puny, arrogant and unimportant simpleton dare try to defy him. He would enjoy taking out this fool, however, with an entire pirate crew at his disposal, why should he have to get his hands dirty? Kuro nodded towards two members closest to him. They quickly sprang into action and soon they were right in front of Usopp, raising their axes high. Usopp could do nothing but close his eyes as the silhouette of the axe came flying towards his head. The impact never happened, he felt no pain.

"I'd appreciate it if you backed off," a surprisingly scary voice said.

Usopp opened his eyes. There was someone in front of him, holding the axe between two of his fingers. It was only when he saw the straw hat atop the man's head that he recognized him.

"Luffy?" he questioned. He never expected this man to risk his own life to protect him, even if they did bond over sushi and sake. Luffy pulled his arm back, and to Usopp's horror, it stretched for a few meters before swinging back at an impressive speed to knock out both men who were in front of him. Both Usopp and all of the other men on the island backed away considerably.

"W-what are you?" Usopp whispered.

"So, you've eaten a devil fruit?" Kuro answered the question for him, as the dark pirate stared at Luffy. There was no sense of fear in his voice, nothing.

"Jango," Kuro began again. "Take care of him," Kuro gestured towards Usopp, who was sprawled on the floor still. As soon as Jango moved towards him, the sharpshooter shot up and began running as fast as his legs could take him, into the forest, believing in Luffy for the time being. Luffy watched as Jango followed him, he was sure that Usopp had beaten him last time, so he would be fine. The men on the beach watched as two people appeared behind the Straw-Hat pirate. One was unusually scary. He was tall, had three swords and a dark aura. The second was a tall, orange-haired woman.

"Men, leave these three to me. Go attack the village and find Kaya," Kuro said with authority. His men began making their way up the beach, and Luffy didn't move. A few moments later, there were yells and screams from behind him. He turned around with a smirk and saw Zoro, his swords locked with four other pirates as he belted his way through the entire crew. It looked as if his strength was coming back just fine. Luffy's gaze turned to Nami. She was trying her best to fight off two members of the crew. Luffy didn't like to see her fighting, not after what happened. He needed to get rid of this guy as soon as possible so he could make sure she was fine. Sensing Kuro's approaching presence, Luffy spun to the front and pulled his arm up to block the incoming hit.

"Worry about yourself," the clawed pirate spoke as he bounced off from his blocked attack and re-grouped himself for another.

"I am always going to worry about my crew," Luffy spoke with a certain darkness. He outreached his arm, letting his blood flow faster and faster until his whole body was functioning at around double it's normal speed. "Gear Second," he whispered. He was finally able to use it again. But still, his Haki was extremely weak. They began exchanging attacks, and in the middle of blocking a claw, Luffy turned his head slightly to check of Nami. She was being assisted by Zoro; who had defeated the majority of the crew members; meaning she would be perfectly fine. But also meaning she would be watching Luffy's fight. And he couldn't risk her freaking out or asking too many questions since he knew she was just using them at the moment. So, the smart fighter allowed himself to attack slower and weaker as to not scare her away with his strength.

He dodged a claw incoming from Kuro, and used his right fist to slam into the opposing captain's chest. Kuro backed up and wiped a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. He used his right hand to lift up his black glasses, which had almost slipped off in that contest.

"You're pretty strong," Kuro commented, suddenly feeling a little out of his league. He hadn't hit a single blow, and this man's attacks were almost impossible to block. They were too strong.

Luffy enjoyed seeing his opponent cower, especially when it was someone with as big of an ego as Kuro. It might be time to finish things, so he could go back and make sure Usopp was doing okay. He zipped out of the line of fire for another attack, and pulled his arm back, using all of his concentration in that arm. His arm turned a dark black and took the appearance of hard metal. He swung it back, the movement so quickly that Kuro had no chance to dodge it. The blow got him directly in the chest. Kuro spat out blood, before collapsing slowly onto the sand.

"Luffy!" Luffy recognized the voice immediately. Nami ran over to him, glancing all over his body to make sure that he wasn't wounded.

"I'm okay," Luffy spoke, a small grin forming on his face. Nami was already worrying about him at this stage of known him, that was kind of sweet.

"Whose is that?" Luffy asked as the three of them started boarding their rowboat. There was a large ship docked right next to it, with a sheep as the head of it. Merry was beautiful, and to see her again meant more to Luffy and the crew than they could ever express.

"Kaya had it made for you guys," Usopp spoke with a smile, even though he was slightly jealous. These guys had saved his village, so he owed them big time. And, it would be nice if he saw them again, they were pretty awesome.

"Well, maybe I'll see you guys out at sea sometime," Usopp spoke, feeling sad as the words left his mouth.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy questioned, tilting his head to the side.

Zoro chuckled from the side of his captain, "Yeah just get on board already."

Usopp's mouth swarmed into a huge grin. He was hoping they'd ask him to join! He threw his fist into the air happily, "I get to be captain!"

Luffy tried not to laugh, "No way, that's me."