Luffy stared ahead as the massive explosion rocked the tower. The sound made him feel a bit nervous for his friends, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment. Like a certain butler trying to skewer him.

  Luffy twisted his feet to avoid five razor sharp blades that flew past him. He then sent a punch out at the slippery bastard in question, who leapt out of the way. Luffy growled and stomped his foot on the ground.

  "Will you stay still and let me punch you already!?"

  "What's wrong, Straw Hat? Can't keep up?" Kuro said with a mocking sneer, adjusting his glasses. Luffy then charged at the man, leaping up and punching down at him, but Kuro merely sprinted beneath the attack, with Luffy's fist crashing into the ground and making a hole.

  As the rubber man landed, he immediately was forced to lean back to avoid the upward slash sent his way.

  "Woah!" he shouted as he stumbled away, but Kuro was quick to press the attack. With his opponent off balance, he figured it would be a simple matter to finish the little nuisance off.

  However, much to his chagrin, Luffy proved to be a more slippery foe than he believed. By the skin of his teeth, he managed to avoid every one of his attacks. Growling, Kuro launched a kick at the other man's legs, hoping to trip him up, but Luffy jumped backwards. He landed and pulled down the skin beneath his eye.

  "Neh, missed me!" he mocked with a big grin. This did not help Kuro with his anger issues as he clenched his teeth in frustration.

  "Not for long you miserable pest. I'll render you a corpse soon enough," Kuro vowed before sprinting towards him again. He had yet to use his most dangerous technique, the one he stole from a Marine years ago, as it was highly exhaustive. Besides, it wasn't like this little upstart was worth the effort.

  Seeing this, Luffy… ran away.

  "Catch me if you can, slowpoke!" Luffy challenged, frustrating Kuro to no end. He managed to catch up quick enough much to Luffy's shock. Kuro took a swipe at him, but Luffy ducked under it, the wind generated by the attack nearly knocking his hat to the ground.

  "My hat!" Luffy yelled, grabbing hold of his treasure. Sighing in relief, he didn't notice until it was almost too late the looming shadow of Kuro behind him.

  "I have you now!" Kuro shouted, moving to decapitate the young man. But Luffy rolled backwards with a panicked shout, Kuro's blades flying harmlessly above him. But Luffy wasn't quite done, as he used his hands to spring himself off of the ground and kick Kuro right in the face.

  The glasses wearing pirate went flying backwards, doing a backflip to land on his feet. He held his chin as it throbbed in pain, a dull bruise already beginning to form.

  "Do you ever stay still?" Kuro asked through clenched teeth.

  "I'm not going to just stand there while you cut off my head. Are you stupid or something?" Luffy asked, giving the other man a disbelieving look.

  "We'll see who's stupid in a moment!" Kuro shouted, running at Luffy again. But this time, he didn't run in a straight line. He began zigzagging and hopping all over the place, hoping to confuse Luffy.

  And to be fair, it worked. Luffy watched his opponent run around without rhyme or reason. For a second, he thought his kick might have broken him. He spun around and around trying to keep up with the speedy man but he only ended up making himself dizzy.

  As he wobbled on his feet, moaning pitifully, Kuro took this time to charge directly at him, claws extended and ready to rip him to shreds. But of course, fortune favors the stupid, and just as Luffy was about to be torn apart, he fell down, Kuro's attack missing him completely.

  "Damn him. Does he have the luck of the Devil? No matter, it's time to end this," Kuro muttered as he glanced back at the boy laying on the ground with swirls in his eyes. Looking ahead, he gained some speed, sprinting even faster as he ran up the wall.

  When Luffy finally recovered from his dizzy spell he searched the room for his opponent, only to find the room completely empty.

  "Hm, where did he go?" he questioned with a tilt of his head. That's when he heard the sound of something slicing through the air. Looking up, his eyes widened in panic as he watched Kuro descending on him, claws poised to run him through.

  "Black Car Skyfall!"

  Luffy rolled out of the way just in the nick of time, as Kuro crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Luffy quickly jumped to his feet, staring at the dust with relief.

  "Ma, that was close," he said, wiping the sweat from his bow. But Luffy's troubles were far from done. Kuro shot out of the cloud, heading straight for the rubber man.

  "Cat Clawing!"

  Kuro began to launch a series of rapid cuts that all seemed to blur into one. Lufffy did his best to avoid them all, but as the attack continued, more and more wounds began to appear on his body. They weren't very deep, thankfully, but they were numerous. If it kept up, he would eventually die by a thousand cuts.

  So as he avoided one of Kuro's attacks, he took a great leap into the air. Kuro growled as he looked up, seeing Luffy with his arms pulled back, ready to launch a counter attack.

  "Gum-Gum Gatling!"

  As Luffy's two fists seemingly transformed into several dozen, all aiming for the fake butler, Kuro began to bob and weave in between them. No matter how hard Luffy tried, he couldn't land a single hit.

  "Speedy bastard!" Luffy growled as he finally relented. Kuro looked at him with a smirk as he landed, enjoying the sight of all the scratches littering his body that seeped small drops of blood.

  "Something wrong, Straw Hat? Am I too fast for you?" Kuro mocked, making Luffy stomp on the ground in frustration.

  "Shut up! You can't run forever!"

  "I don't need to run forever as long as I can outrun you," Kuro replied.

  Having heard enough of Kuro's lip, Luffy charged towards the cocky man. As he neared, he threw out a punch, hoping to break the man's nose. Kuro dodged to the left, thrusting his claws towards Luffy's own face, who ducked underneath it. Seeing this, Kuro used his other hand to drive his weapon down and into Luffy's back.

  But the future King of the Pirates rolled out of the way, stretching his leg out to try and trip the other man. But Kuro merely gave a little hop, like he was playing a game of jump rope, and avoided the attack.

  The two continued this dance for some time before Luffy got an idea. He was having an extremely hard time hitting the man because he kept dodging, right? So what if he made it so he couldn't dodge at all?

  Brilliant.

  So with a grin making its way onto his face, he avoided another of Kuro's attacks before winding up one of his own.

  "Gum-Gum…"

  Seeing this, Kuro attempted to maneuver out of the way, but this is exactly what Luffy had wanted. Just as the clever pirate was about to lift his leg, Luffy stepped on his foot, preventing him from moving.

  Kuro stumbled as his eyes widened, while Luffy grinned all the wider.

  "Pistol!"

  Not able to dodge this time, Kuro had no choice but to eat the attack. Luffy's fist slammed into his nose, sending him flying. Kuro soared through the air before hitting the ground and skidding to a stop.

  "Take that you faker," Luffy said as his arm snapped back to its regular length. But Kuro didn't respond, at least not immediately. His hand went to his face before he pulled it back to inspect it. His eyes narrowed in fury at the sight of his own blood.

  "You miserable wretch. How dare you make me bleed my own blood," he muttered to himself.

  "Hey, are you ok? Are we done fighting? Did I win?" Luffy called out to him after seeing him not get up. Kuro snarled as he rose to his feet. His hair was no longer neat and tidy, with several strands out of place and hanging in front of his eyes.

  "Don't get cocky just because you landed a lucky punch," Kuro told him, sending the befuddled Luffy a heated glare.

  "That wasn't luck. I stepped on your foot. I guess you really are stupid, huh?" Luffy asked, head tilted in genuine confusion.

  "You really are an insufferable brat," Kuro said, adopting a new stance. His knees were bent and his arms were open wide almost like he wanted to give someone a hug.

  "It's time I got serious. You no longer have even the smallest percentage of victory."

  Luffy got into his own stance, fists raised and a confident grin on his face. "Oh yeah? Well bring it on! I told you, I won't lose to a fake pirate!"

  "Then be prepared, because here I come! Out of the Back Attack!"

  Luffy blinked and Kuro was gone. In his place was a small amount of dust kicked up by his movement. The rubber man barely had enough time to wonder what was going on before a cut appeared on his cheek.

  "Ow! What the hell?" Luffy complained, holding his cheek. His eyes widened when he saw the blood coating his hand.

  "It seems I am a bit out of practice after all. That attack was meant to take your head," Kuro stated from behind him. Luffy quickly turned around, throwing a punch at the man who merely disappeared once again.

  "Damn it. Where did he go?" Luffy questioned. But he didn't have the luxury to ponder this for long before a searing pain exploded from his back.

  "Ah!" Luffy yelled as he fell to the ground. He didn't need to feel the spot with his hand to know he was bleeding. It wasn't super deep, but it was painful. With a growl, Luffy stood up, looking all over for his opponent.

  "Coward! Show yourself!" Luffy yelled, before a rush of air moved past him, followed by another four cuts opening up along his ribs. He staggered back, holding his now bloody side, glaring out at an empty room.

  "How pitiful, Straw Hat," echoed a voice from all over the room, distorted by the speed Kuro was running at. "I warned you what would happen should you continue to interfere with my plans. Now I'll show you the terror of a real pirate."

  Luffy couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, and he was getting extremely frustrated by the fact that he couldn't seem to find his opponent. He could hear him, although only barely, as he zipped around the room. He could see the briefest disturbance of the dust on the ground as he propelled himself from it.

  He felt another slice, this one on his leg. He tried to take a swing at the man, but he was just too slow. He needed to find some way to slow him down. If only he could step on his foot again.

  However, thinking of feet did give him an idea. With a cocky smirk, Luffy leapt into the air, unknowingly avoiding another of Kuro's attacks, pulling back his fists and unleashing his attack.

  "Gum-Gum Gatling!"

  With his shout, Luffy began to pummel the area below him, the ground being destroyed on contact. Kuro, who saw this, laughed in smug delight.

  "Where are you aiming, boy? You'll never hit me like that!"

  But Luffy didn't respond. After a few seconds, he stopped punching and ran to a different area and repeated the process. Watching this while running at the speed Kuro was wasn't exactly easy, but it's not like his opponent was trying to be subtle either.

  Watching him repeat this process over and over was starting to get on Kuro's nerves. The rookie pirate had no chance of hitting him like that, so why did he insist on continuing this foolish action?

  "There, that ought to do it," Luffy said happily as he landed. Looking all around him, he was surrounded by destruction. The floor looked like it had just faced an artillery strike.

  "And what exactly was that supposed to accomplish? It seems you've lost your mind due to fear. I suppose it's time to put you out of your-what the?" Kuro said as he stepped on an upturned piece of the floor, barely able to keep himself from crashing into the ground. Hearing this, Luffy turned and threw a punch.

  "Gum-Gum Pistol!"

  Surprised, Kuro attempted to use his stolen technique to get out of the way, but the ground shifted beneath him from the loose rubble. It was then that he figured out the other man's plan.

  He made it so that running at that speed would be impossible. Hell, running in general would be extremely difficult given the terrain. It was a double edged sword, to be sure, as Luffy would himself struggle to run, but considering Kuro's technique, the edge pointing towards him was certainly sharper.

  "Damn you!" Kuro cursed as he was punched in the face again. He grunted as the arm continued to stretch until it rammed him into the wall. His glasses shattered from the impact and his nose was definitely broken now.

  As Luffy retracted his fist, Kuro fell to the ground, landing on his ass. The excited young man gave a hearty laugh at seeing the smug faker on the floor once more.

  "How did you like that? Speed doesn't mean much if you can't run," he said. Kuro watched as his glasses fell from his face, landing in his lap. He stared at them, enraged at the sight of his favorite pair damaged beyond repair.

  "I'll admit, that wasn't a bad plan. But if you think this is enough to stop me, you are sorely mistaken," Kuro claimed, getting a tilt of the head from Luffy. The Black Cat Pirate stood up, wiping his bloody nose off with his sleeve. He then turned around and placed his foot on the wall before disappearing once again.

  "What! Are you kidding me! You can run on the walls too!?" Luffy shouted. He didn't want to admit it, but that was pretty cool. Maybe he could try it? Something to think about later.

  Raising his fists defensively, he prepared for the attack he knew was coming. And he didn't have long to wait. Kuro watched his enemy standing in the middle of the ruined floor as he rounded the room for the third time.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "Time to die you runt! Cat Lancer!"

  Rocketing off the wall with his arms straight out, he intended to skewer Luffy clean through. Luffy, hearing the man shout his attack name, turned his body and barely managed to avoid a fatal blow, his shirt tearing as Kuro flew past him like a torpedo.

  "Woah!" Luffy yelped as he tripped over his own trap, falling onto his butt. Kuro reached the cylinder in the center of the room, using it to immediately propel him towards the scrambling Luffy.

  As he flew over the man, he swung his claws attempting to cut him into several pieces. Luffy, however, refused to sit still. Knowing that the cat bastard wouldn't give him time to rest, he hopped out of the way, his previous spot exploding behind him.

  Luffy couldn't see the man, but he did have excellent instincts, honed by years of his grandpa throwing him into the woods with big, hungry predators and telling him to survive. Compared to that, Kuro wasn't anything special.

  Especially since Luffy rose to the top of that food chain.

  Kuro flew towards the flailing Luffy and tried to impale him once again, only for Luffy to suck in his gut and literally pull it backwards to avoid the attack. He was starting to get used to the other man's pattern, so dodging became easier and easier as time went on.

  Kuro, for all his speed, was a highly logical person and his attacks tended to be pretty straightforward due to this. It made his attacks easy to predict but most people simply didn't have the speed necessary to take advantage of that fact.

  And Luffy was no exception. However, his wild, instinctive style of fighting was antithetical to Kuro's own. Instead of being easy to predict, Luffy was almost impossible. There was just no telling what he would do next, and it made the organized Kuro break out in hives.

  Growing angrier and angrier by his lack of success, and Luffy's mocking laughter, Kuro tried to put more speed into his attacks. But he was already starting to feel the effects of the prolonged usage of his technique. So rather than going faster, he was starting to slow down.

  Now, he was still going too fast for Luffy to see, but he could instinctively feel that his opponent was weakening. So as he avoided another attack, he prepared one of his own. As Kuro leapt off the wall once more, Luffy moved his leg back, like he was preparing for a kick.

  "Gum-Gum…"

  Then, right as Kuro was flying over him, he bent backwards and kicked his foot into the air, hitting the former butler right in the stomach.

  "Stamp!"

  Kuro's eyes bulged out of his head when the attack connected, flying upwards. Like when he punched him, Luffy kept extending his foot until Kuro slammed into the ceiling this time. As the flip flop covered appendage retracted, Kuro, barely conscious, started falling towards the ground.

  Seeing this, Luffy grinned before jumping into the air. The two met halfway with Luffy kicking the man in the side and sending him hurling towards the ground.

  "Gum-Gum Spike!"

  The sudden explosion of agony in his side actually returned Kuro to consciousness. Though the pain he felt as he crashed into the ground almost made him wish he hadn't.

  As he lay there, coughing up blood, Kuro watched hatefully as Luffy landed on the destroyed portion of the room, before casually making his way towards him only to stop when someone new showed up.

  "Stop right there kiddo!" shouted none other than Jango not a Fett. He now had a large bandage where his ear used to be and was wearing new clothes in lieu of his former destroyed garments.

  Luffy's eyes narrowed as he saw the newcomer. His fists clenched when he saw the man responsible for making him attack his friends pull out his hypnotist ring, a big, wide smile on his face.

  "That's right, take one more step, and I'll hypnotize you again. So if you know what's good for you, you'll stay put!" Jango shouted. By this time, Kuro managed to get to his feet, panting heavily from the strain he was feeling.

  "Jango… seems like you're not as useless as I thought," Kuro said, as Jango laughed merrily. This made his Captain raise an eyebrow at his near manic mannerisms. His entire body seemed to be shaking but unlike before, it didn't seem to be from the strain of standing.

  If he had to guess, Jango was on all the painkillers.

  "Thank you Captain! I aim to please. Now, what should we do about this-hey! I told you to stay still!" Jango shouted, noticing Luffy continue to walk towards them. He was staring right at Jango, anger radiating from his entire body.

  Seeing the boy in front of him refuse to obey his commands, Jango growled from deep within his chest. He was sick and tired of these upstarts ignoring their seniors and doing as they pleased. If they would just listen to reason and surrender, then everything would have turned out just fine.

  And he would still have both ears!

  But no, they had to fight back. Had to get in the way. Well, he would show them what happens when they don't do as they are told!

  "Fine, have it your way! Look into the ring. Watch as it travels back and forth back and forth. You find yourself getting sleepy… so *yawn* sleepy…"

  Kuro watched with aggravation as Jango began to hypnotize himself again. This was his biggest flaw, and one of the reasons Kuro saw him as unreliable. If it wasn't for his tendency for accidental self hypnosis, Jango would have been an extremely valuable asset. As it was, he was only mildly useful.

  And unfortunately for Jango, it seems he wasn't even that anymore.

  "That's not going to work on me this time," Luffy said, snapping Jango out of his trance. He watched as Luffy, the same person who was so easy to hypnotize before, walked towards him completely immune.

  "W-w-w-w-what!? That's impossible! How could you have become immune to my hypnosis so quickly!?" he shouted, taking a step back.

  "Because, if I'm going to be King of the Pirates, I can't let myself be controlled by anyone else. Especially someone like you," Luffy said.

  His words only served to infuriate the older man. Jango was done with being looked down on. Well, there was no better time than now to unveil his secret technique, one he's been working on since his Captain devised this plan of his.

  "Fine, if I can't hypnotize you, then I'll merely hypnotize myself," Jango laughed. Both Kuro and Luffy stared at him with blank looks on their faces, though for different reasons. Luffy because he didn't care, and Kuro because the fool always hypnotized himself.

  Holding out his ring in front of his face, he stared deeply into it, his eyes watching it go back and forth, letting himself be hypnotized on purpose this time.

  "Hypnotist Art Secret Sleep: Fury."

  After he said this, his body started to go through a change. His muscles began bulging and his skin started turning a red hue. His new clothes ripped as he continued to grow in size.

  Luffy stared at this with his mouth wide open. He didn't want to admit it, but he thought it was cool. Not that he'd ever tell him that, the jerk.

  Kuro was also surprised. Jango had never shown this ability to him before, nor had he mentioned it, meaning he was keeping it a secret from him on purpose. He would have applauded him for such an act, had the man not likely been planning to use it against him.

  Several seconds ticked by before the transformation was complete. Jango was now a few feet taller and built like a brick shit house. Drool fell from his mouth as he stared at Luffy with eyes completely white but filled with an unending wrath.

  He roared, forcing Luffy to clutch his ears in pain. Once that was done, he charged at Luffy, Jumping into the air before bringing both fists down in a double handed smash. Luffy jumped backwards out of the way as Jango created a large crater in the floor.

  Seeing that he missed, Jango bellowed again, rushing at Luffy and aiming a heavy punch right for his head. But Luffy merely danced away from it. This only served to make the hulking Jango even angrier as he tried to smash Luffy into the ground.

  But for all his size, he wasn't nearly fast enough to land a hit. The room around them shuddered with each hit and the ground was soon cracked and destroyed, much like the side of the room Luffy demolished earlier.

  The two continued their battle, with Luffy fairly easily staying ahead of the brute. That is, until his back hit the wall. Looking back at it, Luffy let out an "Uh-oh" before Jango's thick, meaty fist crashed into him, and the wall behind him, forming a large crater. The impact also caused a crack to run up its entire length

  Smirking at finally hitting his slippery opponent, Jango pulled his fist out of the wall, only to become confused when there was no Luffy smushed against it. However, as he was looking at his fist in confusion, he noticed a pair of flip flops disappear from underneath him.

  "That was a close one. Good thing this guy is so dumb," Luffy whispered to himself. Of course, Luffy didn't understand the concept of whispering, so the enraged Jango heard every last word.

  Letting out a howl of fury, Jango reached down and grabbed Luffy by the leg. The rubber pirate had just enough time to look back at his foot confused before Jango bashed him into the wall.

  "Gah!" Luffy grunted in pain. But Jango wasn't done, as his fist barreled into Luffy, this time actually managing to hit him, causing even more damage to the structure. The Bear King would likely be furious, Kuro knew, but with the intruders dead, it shouldn't be too difficult to mollify the oaf.

  As Jango once more removed his hand from the wall, he noticed a certain person missing from the hole. Only this time, he wasn't crawling underneath him, but rather, clutching into his enlarged fist.

  However, as soon as he laid eyes on the rubbery little bastard, his eyes erupted into pain, courtesy of said rubbery bastard. For Luffy decided to play dirty, and poke the lumbering man in his eyes.

  Jango's hands immediately went to his face, stumbling backwards while Luffy fell to the floor. However, he wasn't there for long as the pissed off hypnotist took a blind swing and managed to hit him, sending Luffy flying. But there was a certain something of his that didn't go with him.

  "No, my hat!" Luffy yelled as he soared towards the central cylinder. His concern soon turned to rage however as Jango accidentally stepped on it.

  "Bastard!" Luffy yelled as his feet met the glass. "Get off of my hat!"

  Springing back towards the man who was barely able to see again, Luffy delivered a devastating punch to the man, sending his whole body into the ground. Luffy then reared his leg back and kicked him with all his might, causing Jango to yell in pain as he was sent into the wall this time.

  "Now take this! Gum-Gum Gatling!"

  The angry Luffy began to pummel the man. Just absolutely beating the ever loving shit out of him. Poor Jango didn't even have time to scream in pain as he was mercilessly thrashed.

  After several seconds of this, Luffy finally relented, turning away from him with a huff of irritation. He walked over to his hat which was a small distance and picked it up, dusting it off and fixing the smashed crown. Happy that it wasn't seriously damaged, he placed it back on his head.

  "DIE STRAW HAT!" bellowed the recovered Jango, throwing one final punch at Luffy. But rather than dodge, Luffy just raised his own arm and caught the other man's fist with his hand.

  "What?" Jango asked, confused. Luffy slowly turned to look Jango in the eye, and through all the rage and fury coursing through the hypnotist's veins, he felt a sliver of fear.

  "Nobody touches my hat," Luffy said, before extending his arm to his right. Jango watched, rooted on the spot, as the arm got longer and longer, until it was almost on the other side of the room.

  "Gum-Gum…"

  Luffy's arm began its rapid return towards the two of them, and for the first time since his hypnosis, the pupils returned to Jango's eyes, allowing him to clearly see the fist as it barreled into his stomach.

  "Pistol!"

  Jango's body almost collapsed on itself before he was sent rocketing through the air. He hit the ground hard and rolled across it before finally coming to a stop right in front of Kuro. His body began to shift, becoming smaller and smaller as the seconds passed, the hit having fully knocked him out of his hypnosis.

  Once it was over, the beaten man coughed up a glob of blood, his breathing ragged. But what else would you expect from a man with broken ribs? It made breathing very difficult.

  Just ask Nick, who also had a few ribs broken by Luffy.

  Kuro stared down at the man with disdain. When he saw Jango get the upper hand for a moment, he was actually impressed. Perhaps the man was worth keeping around after all. But then, that rubber nuisance defeated him in a matter of moments.

  "Ca-Captain…" Jango gasped, reaching out a trembling hand towards the man. "Help… Help me…"

  Hearing this, Kuro carefully removed one of his gloves before extending his own hand towards Jango. The hypnotist gave a relieved smile, feeling extremely grateful as his hand grasped the other man's and he began to pull him up.

  "Thank… Thank you… Cap-turk!"

  Luffy's eyes widened in shock and anger.

  "What the hell did you do!?"

  Jango was just as, if not even more surprised than Luffy. Looking down, he saw the clawed hand of his Captain piercing through his stomach. It took a moment for his brain to catch up with the treachery, staring at his Captain with a look of betrayal.

  "Cap-Captain… Why?" he asked, coughing up even more blood. Kuro sneered down at the dying man, wrenching his blades from his insides.

  "Because, Jango, I'm afraid I have no use for you any longer. But I thank you for your years of service."

  Jango could do nothing but curse at him as he collapsed onto the floor, blood pooling all around him. Kuro gave him a satisfied smile, as he stood straight, some of his anger having evaporated from the kill. It was his favorite stress reliever.

  "What did you do that for? Wasn't he part of your crew?" Luffy asked, his voice lacking any and all of his usual enthusiasm, replaced by a steel as cold as ice.

  "Hm? Don't tell me you care for this miserable cretin. And here I believed you hated him," Kuro stated, reaching up to adjust his glasses only to frown as he remembered they had been shattered.

  "That doesn't matter. Wasn't he your friend? How could you do that to him?" Luffy continued to ask, much to Kuro's amusement.

  "My friend? Don't be so naive. He was my subordinate, someone for me to use to achieve my desire, nothing more. When his usefulness ended, I saw no reason to keep him around," Kuro informed him. His every word made Luffy clench his fists in anger.

  No, he didn't particularly care that the man was dead, only the way he died. No one should be betrayed by their Captain. It was his job to keep the crew safe.

  "You're wrong," Luffy said, eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat.

  "Oh? And just what am I wrong about?" Kuro asked, enjoying the anger he could feel radiating off of the boy.

  "When you're part of a crew, everyone is supposed to help each other achieve their dreams. That's why you form a crew in the first place. To achieve something you couldn't do on your own. If you don't understand that, then you were never a real Captain, only a selfish fake."

  "But they did help me achieve my dreams, that's what the chattel are for. So I'd say it was a successful crew. Honestly, it baffles me how concerned you are with how many of my men you killed. But I should thank you for it. Saves me the trouble of having to do it myself," Kueo responded, bending his knees as he prepared to charge at Luffy once again, having grown tired of the conversation. .

  Hearing that he intended to kill his crew from the very start made the veins in Luffy's body pulsate with anger. He continued to stare at the floor, even as Kuro disappeared from sight.

  "You know, I really…" Luffy started to say, moving his head to the side to avoid Kuro's stab, another small cut opening up on his cheek. At the same time, his own hand grabbed Kuro by the face.

  "Hate people like you!" Luffy shouted, slamming the man down into the ground. The floor cracked and cratered even more, sending bits and pieces of rubble flying everywhere, the tower shaking from the force of the blow.

  But that wasn't all. The floor, already weakened from repeated abuse, finally couldn't take anymore and collapsed. A hole opened up beneath the two of them, sending them to the floor below.

  "Ah!" Luffy screamed as he fell. He tried to stretch his arm and grab the edge of the hole, but it simply broke apart as he did so, forcing Luffy to continue his descent.

  Thinking fast, Luffy started to inhale air, inflating himself like a balloon. Not only did this slow him down as he fell, but it also allowed him to safely bounce off the floor when he landed.

  "Man, that was close," Luffy said, sitting up and looking around the room. There was a large pile of rubble and no sign of Kuro. The room also seemed to be a bit torn up, with some deep gouges sliced into the floor and walls.

  "Wonder where Zoro is? Did he finish his fight already?" Luffy questioned, looking for his First Mate. He shrugged, figuring that Zoro was probably just fine. Out of everyone, he was the person he had to worry about the least.

  Standing up, he dusted himself off. He then started making his way towards the exit, intent to look for his crew. But before he could take more than a few steps, the sound of a rock falling made him turn around. He stared at the mound of rubble for a moment, but when nothing seemed to happen, he shrugged, thinking it must have just been his imagination.

  He took a few more steps when he heard the sound again. Spinning around once again only to see nothing cheesed him off.

  "Argh, stop messing with me and come out!" he shouted. Seemingly in response, the pile of debris began shaking before a large chunk was tilted on to its side before crashing down the pile and onto the floor.

  "Straw Hat… You bastard… Where do you think… you're going…" Kuro wheezed out, taking a wobbly step towards him. Seeing who it was, Luffy's expression morphed from one of anger to one of annoyance.

  "Oh, it's just you. What do you want now? I already beat you," Luffy asked. His comment made a tick mark form on Kuro's head.

  "You haven't beaten me yet you half wit! Not as long as I draw breath," Kuro claimed as he reached solid ground. His statement would have hit harder had his breathing not been so labored. As it stands, it wouldn't be hard to stop him from drawing breath.

  "Ugh, you're so annoying. But if you want me to hit you some more, that's fine by me," Luffy said, walking towards him while rolling his shoulder. Kuro growled in response as he bent his knees and took a new stance, one that made Luffy stop short. His left hand was parallel to his stomach, claws facing towards the right while his right was in the air, claws facing to the left.

  "Why are you standing like that? Are you going to do a dance?" Luffy asked, irritating Kuro even further.

  "Of course not you utter buffoon! You've forced me to use my ultimate technique. Now, I'm going to tear you to shreds! Monster Cat Cyclone!"

  Kuro kicked off the ground, spinning wildly, creating a twister in the air. Luffy could hear a high pitched whirring sound as Kuro sped towards him. His hair swayed violently from the draft the move created.

  As the Black Cat Pirate was about to hit him, Luffy raised his hands and grabbed Kuro by his arms, halting his spinning entirely. The speed he was moving at caused Luffy to skid across the ground, but he managed to keep his balance.

  "You… how! That's not possible!" Kuro shouted in disbelief, his entire world crashing down around him. He was so close to achieving his goal of a peaceful, luxurious life, and this little upstart bastard had to go and ruin everything.

  "How many times do I have to say it? A fake pirate like you can't beat me," Luffy informed him before throwing his head back and stretching it across the room. Seeing this, Kuro began struggling for all he was worth, but no matter what he did, Luffy wouldn't budge. He was simply too strong.

  "Now, Gum-Gum Bell!"

  Luffy's head raced towards Kuro, who could only watch in fear as he was given the headbutt of all headbutt's. As Luffy's skull connected with his own, the sound of a bell ringing out could be heard.

  The rubber man released Kuro who staggered backwards, the world going in and out of focus as he desperately clung to consciousness. Unfortunately for him, his opponent wasn't done just yet.

  "Gum-Gum Stamp!"

  Sending his leg behind him, he snapped it back towards Kuro, kicking him square in the stomach, making him puke up blood and bile and sending him careening into the far wall.

  Luffy immediately sprinted after him, throwing his arms behind him as he did so. When he reached the pirate stuck in the wall, he brought his arms back, nailing Kuro in the ribs with open palms.

  "Gum-Gum Bazooka!"

  The force behind the blow sent Kuro through the wall and every wall behind him, until he was finally sent out of the building for good. Luffy walked over to pick up his hat and dust it off before placing it on his head.

  "And don't come back."