Second Piece

Hey everyone (or at least those who read this story). I have decided to give this story over to 'CrazyBusiness'. Before he does it, however, I want to write this one chapter of the story that I wanted to write most of all. So, here it is. Hope you at least like this one more than the others. I don't own One Piece.

Chapter 24: The Tale of Billy 'Six-Guns' Derkin

Meanwhile, Yussop was looking for some sniper goggles. "Aha," he said, coming upon to an old pawn shop, "this looks good." "Oh, you don't want anything from there," a voice said.

Yussop turned to see a man leaning against a nearby wall. The man was dressed like a cowboy, with a cowboy hat, boots, pants, and even a desert cloak. His face looked like it was that of a twenty or so year old; it had a clean-shaven look, with square coke-bottle glasses, and had a mess of black hair sticking out from his hat.

"The owner is a real con-man. Here," the man threw Yussop an old looking pare of goggles, "this belonged to 'Sogeking' Usopp." "Really," Yussop said, looking at the goggles. They were a fairly old kind, which you wore like a helmet, (A/N: They're the same goggles Usopp first got in Lougetown.) "How do you know that?" "I know," the man said, "because I got them from him personally. The name's Billy Derkin."

"Billy 'Six-Guns' Derkin," Yussop asked in amazement, "the bounty hunter that was known as the second greatest sharpshooter in the world." To answer his question, Billy took two guns out of their holsters, and four more limbs, each holding a gun, popped out from a metal waistband attacked to him.

"Do you have to ask," Billy said, in a joking voice. Yussop noticed that his chest was covered in badges, but decided to say anything about it. "I heard you retired years ago," Yussop said, "right after the death of 'Pirate King' Luffy." "You heard right," Billy told him, putting his guns away, "I stopped bounty hunting, got married, I even have a daughter around you age. She tells me that she's going to be a pirate soon. A sharp-shooter, just like me. She's probably as good a sharp-shooter as you right now, but she'll no doubt get better."

"How did you know I was a sharp-shooter," Yussop asked. "What other kind of person needs sniper goggles," Billy asked. Yussop smiled and put the goggles on. Billy turned around, and was about to walk away when Yussop said, "Wow, I bet I can get some really good kills with these."

Billy stopped. "Don't kill with a gun too much," he said, not turning around, "a gun that always kills is a murder tool, not a weapon." "Who told you that," Yussop asked. "Ussop did." "The King of Snipers." "Yep," Billy said, turning around, "right when I first met him."

"Tell me more," Yussop said, wanting to hear more about his father. "Sit down," Billy said; sitting down himself on some nearby steps, "it's kind of a long story." Yussop eagerly sat down next to him. "It all started when I went to try and seize my place as the number one sharp-shooter in the world. I was number one in the South Blue at the time, but who wouldn't try to be the best in the world at what they're good at."

Flashback…

Billy walked down an old dusty street. 'What an odd town,' he thought. And it was. Except for the castle in the distance, the place looked like a dusty, old western town; like the ones he had back on his home island. At any rate, he knew that he was here. The man he was looking for, Usopp, the so called 'King of Snipers', was here.

"I know you are here, King of Snipers," Billy shouted out to the town itself, "show yourself." After a minute or two of waiting, someone stepped out. He wore a white sunhat, brown overalls, red goggles, and had long, curly black hair, a muscular build, and a long nose. On his back was a single, long, rifle.

"What do you want," the man asked. "You're the King of Snipers," Billy said in amazement. "I am," the man said, almost sounding like he was boasting, "but you may call me… 'Sogeking' Usopp." Billy sweat-dropped as Usopp posed for the last two words. "I'd rather call you delusional," Billy told Usopp.

Usopp looked sad at that. "At any rate," Billy said, taking out his six guns, "you're the only one claiming to be the King of Snipers; so until the real King of Snipers comes out, it is you I will fight." "What," Usopp said, looking over. "My name is Billy 'Six-Guns' Derkin," Billy said, "and I am here to challenge the King of Snipers to a duel."

"Um, well, ok," Usopp said, pulling out a black slingshot. "You're kidding," Billy said, lowering his guns, "you're going to fight me with that. What about the gun on your back?" "I never use that gun," Usopp said, "for anything."

"Great, just great," Billy said, "I've got to fight a sharpshooter, who doesn't even use a gun." 'Of course,' Billy thought to himself, giving Usopp the once over again, 'if he really is the King of Snipers, I bet he'll be amazingly hard to beat, even with that dumb slingshot.'

"Get ready 'Six-Guns'," Usopp shouted, pulling back his slingshot. "I'm ready whenever you are, 'King'," Billy said, raising his guns again. "Let's fight," they both said together.

Billy shot first, using all six guns at once. He knew he had to go all out to win. But Usopp jumped out of the way and readied his slingshot. "Green Star; Bamboo Javelin-Grove," Usopp shouted, firing his slingshot.

Suddenly, a field of bamboo shot up from the ground, nearly scouring Billy. Luckily, Billy thought Usopp had been aiming for him, so he had jumped out of the way, causing the attack to only graze him. 'Holy shit,' Billy thought as he landed, 'did that bullet just do what I think it just did?'

But Billy didn't have time to think about what just happened when Usopp shouted, "Green Star; Devil!" suddenly, a humongous Venus Fly Trap shot out of the ground and grabbed Billy in its mouth. "Oh no," Billy said, "not this time. I know your tricks." Then Billy aimed and fired at the stem of the fly trap. After a few good shots at it, the stem finally snapped in half.

"Is that all you got," Billy said, landing back on the ground. "Green Star: Skull Exploding Grass," shouted Usopp, firing again. Suddenly, the ground at Billy's feet exploded. And then everything went black. When Billy woke up, he was looking up at a ceiling with a fan on it, a woman looking down at him.

She had short red hair, eyes as green as fresh grass, and normal pink lips. She looked about fifteen, but had the figure of a twenty year old. She wore a white shirt with a golden loin's face on it, green short shorts, and a silver necklace.

"Great," Billy said, "I can't believe that guy killed me." "What," the woman said, confused, "but you not dead yet." "Then you want to tell me why I'm looking at the most beautiful angel to ever exist in heaven," Billy said. The woman blushed so hard, the heat would have given a person third degree burns.

"While I think that she is cute," Usopp said, "I don't think that you need to exaggerate that much." Upon hearing Usopp's voice, Billy to shot up and look around. Sitting sideways on a chair nearby, was Usopp himself. "YOU," Billy said, trying to get up.

Suddenly, Billy felt a sharp pain on his chest. Looking down, he saw he was covered in bandages. "You were lucky," Usopp told him, getting up, "I aimed so that the explosion happened away from you, but you still took most of the exposition; I thought it best to get you to a doctor." "Well you thought wrong," Billy said, getting up more slowly, "why'd you try and save me anyways? I tried to kill you." "But I didn't want to kill you," Usopp said, "Besides, I know you're not a bad person."

"What are you talking about," Billy said, sitting down from the pain, "you're a sharpshooter. Sharpshooters shoot to kill." "Not if they don't want to," Usopp said, moving so that he was now sitting in the chair correctly, "and I didn't want to. A gun that only kills isn't a gun, it's a murder weapon." "Says who," Billy asked. "Says me," Usopp told him, "the King of Sniper."

Billy looked a Usopp skeptically. "Look," Usopp said, "It's pretty easy to kill someone. Pirates like me do it every day. But fighting with someone at full force, and not killing them, that's a bit harder." "…I still don't get it."

"Well, I hope you do some day," Usopp said, "At any rate, I'm not here to fight you; I'm here because I came to this island for one reason." "And what is that," Billy asked. "To destroy THAT," Usopp said, pointing to the castle of the window.

"That," the woman said, "you can't be serious. No one has ever gone to that castle, and ever come back alive." "Maybe, Iko," Usopp said to the woman, "but none of them were 'Sogeking, The King of All Snipers!" "I'm still not sure you are ether," Billy said, "Beating me could have been a fluke. With all that crazy ammo, anyone could beat me." "Maybe," Usopp said, looking over at him, "but it's all I have right now."

Suddenly, two large demons burst into the room, knocking Billy and Usopp over in the process. Then they grabbed Iko, and flew off towards the castle. "What the hell was that," Billy said, getting up from under the turned over chair. "Hell is exactly right," Usopp said, "it seems that a man on this island, in hopes of gaining great power, has made a pack with hell."

"Say what," Billy said, looking at Usopp like he was crazy, "that's impossible. That's no such possible thing." "If you've been on the grand line as long as I have, you wouldn't say that," Usopp told him, "besides, how else would you explain this."

Billy opened and closed his mouth a few times, struggling to find an answer. "Exactly," Usopp said, grabbing his bag, "now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going off to stop him." "I'm coming with," Billy said, grabbing his body clamp with the four extra arms. "No, you're not," Usopp told him, putting his goggles on, "you're too injured. Besides, you have no reason."

"I'll give you three reasons," Billy said, holding up three fingers, "first, that girl they took was beautiful, and I like to do all I can for a beautiful woman; second, you may be tough, but those things outnumber you too greatly." Looking at where Billy was pointing, Usopp saw he was right. The demons flew around the castle in the hundreds (and that was what was just outside the castle). "and third," Billy continued, putting his body clamp on, "I say that we still haven't finished our fight, so I want to make sure that you don't skip out on our rematch." "Fine," Usopp sighed, "but we do this together. No solo acts." "Fine," Billy agreed as they ran off to the castle.

Later, at the castle…

"Are you sure about this," Billy asked as they walked in, "it feels like a trap." As soon as they walked in, the door slammed behind them, and the eyes of a hundred demons shone down at them. "It's a trap," Billy said, aiming all six of his guns up at the eyes, "knew it."

"Hey, are you going to be okay with this," Usopp asked, aiming his slingshot up as well. "I'm more worried about you," Billy said, checking to see if he had ammo in his gun, "just because I don't believe in the supernatural doesn't mean I wasn't trained to fight it." Usopp looked over at Billy. "Don't ask," Billy said.

"ATTACK," one of the creatures shouted; its voice sounding like it was gargling with rocks and lava. The demons flew from the ceiling, weapons pointing at Usopp and Billy, ready to kill. "Ready to go 'King'," Billy asked. "Whenever you are, 'Six-Guns'," Usopp said.

Then all hell broke loose (pun not intended). Usopp ducked, allowing Billy to roll over him, firing in all directions. Each bullet that hit blew a hole in the demons. "These aren't normal, lead bullets," Billy explained to Usopp's amazement, still shooting down the demons, "they're made of a metal that affects the wavelength of anything magical. And that metal is iron." (A/N: I was going to call it Nth metal, but that's a DC comic item. I thought it would make it too much like a crossover.)

"Nice," Usopp said, before aiming to a demon heading straight for him, "but I have a few trick of my own." Usopp fired and a flower popped out of the ground. But this flower had no stem, and was the same color as uncooked hamburger meat. And it reeked.

"Oh Hades," one of the demons said, as he and a few of his friends fell out of the air, "that STINKS!" "Green Star: Rafflesia," Usopp exclaimed. "Nice," Billy said, pinching his nose. "Just wait until I bust out the big guns," Usopp said.

"Do not falter," one of the demons said, plugging his nostrils, "fight; fight for our master." "Master," Billy said, shooting down the incoming demons, "that always sounded perverted to me. Why not call him king ugly?"

"You dare insult his royalty," another demon said, charging to stab Billy with a spear. "I dare," Billy said, flipping over the demon, and shooting him in the head, "and I bet Usopp here dare's too." Billy looked over at Usopp, who was jumping around and firing at them, "Right?"

"Of course," Usopp said, as he continued to fire at them. But then, Billy noticed that he wasn't shooting at the demons, he was shooting at the floor. "What are you doing," Billy asked. "Just watch," Usopp said, landing so that they were back to back.

"NOW," the biggest of the demons shouted; and demons in numbers 5x greater than before came out of the shadows. Before Billy could do anything more than said, "Holy," giant roots with petals on them shot out of the ground and attacked the demons.

"Green Star: Humandrake," Usopp said. "Nice," Billy said, quickly reloading his guns, "my turn." Before the demons could reclaim their senses, Billy leapt over Usopp and opened fire on all of them with all six of his guns. To the untrained eye, it looked like he was firing randomly; but Usopp noticed that every single bullet hit right between the eyes of each demon.

Once Billy had landed, and stopped shooting, the demons all began to turn to ash. "Hold the applause," Billy said, dumping out the bullet shells. "Amazing," Usopp said as they began to walk, "you're very good; who trained you?" "Daddy the Father," Billy said calmly, reloading his guns. "What," Usopp said in amazement, "you're joking." "Nope," Billy said, finishing his reloading, "I went all the way from South Blue to find him, and study under him."

Then, Billy lowered his shirt, and showed Usopp three bullet scars on his right shoulder. "I challenged him three times in a row, saying if I hit him even once, he'd have to train me. He won every time. But because I was so persistent, and because I survived every fight, he decided to train me anyways."

"Nice," Usopp said, "you know, I met Daddy the Father once." "I guessed that," Billy said, "unless he meant someone else went he said 'That long nose kid I met yesterday'." (A/N: Billy became Daddy's, for want of a better word, apprentice the day after Luffy and his crew left Loguetown.)

Just then, they reached a pair of doors so large, the giants of Elbaf would think they were normal sized. "Wow," Billy and Usopp said, before Billy said, "well, there's no other way that I've seen, so we're going to have to try it."

Usopp went on one side of the door, and Billy went on the other. Then they both pushed. The doors moved as easily as if they were made for a human being. "Well that was easy," Billy said as they walked in.

The doors led to what looked like a small park, with swings, trees, a few flower beds, and some stone benches. But everything looked like it hadn't been used or cared for in ages. The swings were rusty and falling apart, the trees were leafless and dead, and the flower beds had more weeds than flowers, and even those were dying.

"Welcome," a voice said, "to the Garden of Death." Billy and Usopp looked up. Another demon was above them; but unlike the other demons, this one was thin, tall, had messy black hair (A/N: the other demons were bald), and looked very human.

"Apply named I see," Billy said, "Let me guess, you're the big, head honcho." "You may address me as Demon King, or King of Hell, if you prefer." "What I prefer," Billy said, "is that me, and the 'King of Snipers' here, kick your ass; and hard."

"Your insolence is impressive," the demon king said. "Yea," Billy said, "I've always been told I have a mouth on me." Then the demon king snapped his fingers. Holes in the walls appeared, reveling cages with people in them. Almost all of them were badly beaten, or females wearing nothing but a cloth around shoulders. "These are the people who have come into my position," the demon king said, "your deaths with serve as another example that thinking help with come is pointless."

"Bring it," Billy said, aiming his guns. "Yea," Usopp said, getting ready as well, "bring it." "Very well," the demon king said, "let's get this pointless struggle for freedom over with."

The demon king opened a portal next to him, and a horde of demons shot out of it. Usopp and Billy lunged themselves into the attack. The demons tried stabbing them, but Billy ducked and shot. Usopp just lunged more of his fly trap, which ate the demon whole. The demon king lit the fly trap on fire, but it kept attacking.

Soon, the battle had attracted the attention of the people who had long ago given up hope. The longer the battle raged, the more the people in the cages began to hope, and the more irritated the demon king got. In the stories of this battle to come, it would be said that those two were so amazing together, that their teamwork was second only to 'Pirate King' Luffy and his crew.

Soon, the demon king was left to deal with Usopp and Billy alone… and he was losing. "Take this," Usopp said, firing a bulb, which started to grow grass until it formed a giant wolf. Then the bulb hit the demon king, and the sound of an explosion reverberated around the garden. "Secret Attack; Green Star: Impact Wolf!"

"This cannot be," the demon king said, falling to the ground, "I am the King of Demons. I… cannot… lose!" "First time for everything," Billy said, jumping over him and taking aim. "Daddy," a pair of voices shouted.

Billy looked over in the direction of the voices. Two girls, both unharmed and untouched, looked out of a cage behind a floating throne. "Daddy," they shouted again. "Daddy," Billy said, looking back at demon king, "you locked up your own childre…" Billy never got to finish, because the demon king used the time to strike. "Silence," he shouted, knocking Usopp away as well, "you know nothing. All I have done, I have done so that they could live like they were meant to; like royalty."

"Royalty," Usopp said, firing am him, "you're treating them just like another pair of prisoners." "A necessary task," the demon king said, knocking away Usopp's black slingshot, "they tried to stop me. But now, no one can stop me."

Usopp jumped up and ran for his black slingshot, taking out the pieces for a large green one as he ran. The demon king suddenly disappeared and reappeared next Usopp. He knocked Usopp and his weapon in different directions.

"Do not even try to fight," the demon king said, picking up Usopp's bag and throwing it away, "it is pointless. There is no hope." For once, Billy thought he was right. He was still recovering from the demon king's last hit, and Usopp was defenseless.

"Now," the demon king said, reaching for Usopp, "you shall die, ending your pointless life; and this pointless battle." Usopp was panicking, tears in his eyes, looking up at the man who would kill him. Then, with a speed like no other, Usopp grabbed the gun on his back, pointed it at the demon king, and fired.

The gunshot was loud, but the silence afterwards was deafening. Then, the demon king fell next to Usopp, as dead as the ground he had once stood on. And then, the castle began to recede. It didn't crumble, or sink; it was more like a tree speed growing in reverse.

Soon, everyone was standing on a barren hill, and a dead young adult lay at Usopp's feet. "Daddy," the two girls (Billy could now see that they were twin, around ten years old) shouted as they ran over to the body. As the twin cried over the body, Usopp put his gun away, picked up his bag and slingshots, and then walked away. "Hey," Billy said, running after him, "wait."

Once they had finally reached town, Usopp stopped. "…Why," Billy asked, catching his breath, "why did you kill him? You could have just shot him in the leg or the arm. What about all that talk of 'guns that kill are murder weapons'? Why did you kill him?" Usopp took out the gun and pointed it at a can on a nearby fence. "Watch the bullet," Usopp said, and fired.

Being a great marksman, Billy was able to keep track of the bullet. It flew over and hit the can. But then it did something astounding. It flew right through the can, turned up, and hit a nearby seagull in the head. "You see that," Usopp said, turning around and putting his gun away, "this gun is cursed. No matter who or where I aim at, this thing always kills. That's why I never use it; even if I were use friendly fire, the gun will shoot to kill. It's been that way ever since Auger gave me it before he died."

'He got it from an ogre,' Billy thought, confused. "I don't carry this gun for emergencies," Usopp said, "I carry it so that it doesn't get used." Usopp turned to walk away, but stopped when Billy cleared his throat. "Usopp," Billy said, "it was an honor to fight with you, and by you. I hope we meet again; King of Snipers."

Usopp smiled. "Good luck," they both said; then they laughed, and went their separate ways.

End Flashback…

"And that," Billy said, "was the first time we met. I teamed up with him twice more after that. Three times if you count that time I met his crew; and no one does seem to count that. But, after 'Pirate King' Luffy died, I felt it was time to hang up my guns. So, I retired, married Iko, had a beautiful girl, and moved here to Loguecity, when it was still called Loguetown."

"Wait, Iko," Yussop said, "the same Iko from the story?" "The same," Billy said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I just remembered I was going to see my daughter off. She's leaving to be a pirate today. Who knows, you might see her some day. It is a big sea after all."

"Yea, maybe," Yussop said, getting up, "see yea Billy." "See yea Yssop," Billy said, "tell your father I said hi. I'm sure the King of Snipers would like that." Yussop smiled and walked off into the crowd that had formed as Billy told his story.

Then he stopped and turned around. Billy was gone from view. "How did he know my father was the King of Snipers," Yussop asked himself. Then he shrugged, and just walked on.

Meanwhile…

A lone girl walked up a hill, a bouquet of roses in her arms. She was about 16, and had red hair, round coke-bottle glasses, a cowboy outfit with a small desert cloak, and a metal waistband. Once she reached a tree at the top, she stopped. "Hi dad," she said, "I'm sorry I'm late, but mom was being overprotective, as usual. I mean, seriously, she can't protect me forever. Anyways, I've made up my mind for good now. I'm sorry dad, but I've got to get out of your shadow. I want to be known as Mina 'Four-Guns' Derkin, not 'the daughter of Six-Guns'. I've found good friends, so you have to don't worry about me. But I want you to know, I've always loved you; and I always will. Good-bye daddy."

Then, with tears in her eyes, she set the bouquet on a grave at the base of the tree. Then, she stood up and walked away, stopping only to take one last look at the grave, so as to read the words on the homemade gravestone one last time.

Here lies Billy 'Six-Guns' Derkin.

Beloved husband, father, and gunslinger.

"A gun that kills is not a gun, it is a murder weapon."

I hope you liked it. I tried to make it more dramatic and heartfelt. Please tell me if it worked. Also, I have an announcement to make. I have decided to take on the idea of having a Beta-reader. If anyone has any suggestions on who you think is best, please tell me. I now turn everything over to 'CrazyBusiness'. But still, please review for this one last story.

Imagaco