At the gates of the grand mansion, Captain Kuro sat on the steps, a picture of cold, coiled impatience. The first light of dawn was breaking, and his meticulously crafted plan was already behind schedule.
"They're late," he muttered to the empty courtyard, adjusting his spectacles with a precise, almost mechanical movement.
His mind flashed back to a scene from just a few hours prior—the servant Merry, lying in a heap on the floor of the study, the room a chaotic mess of shattered furniture and deep, claw-like gashes on the walls from his own cat claws.
'And yet, they are still late,' he thought, a flicker of irritation crossing his face. His plan was perfect, but it relied on the punctuality of fools. 'If they have truly forgotten their purpose… then I shall have to help them remember. And if they fail… I will kill them all.'
He stood up, his tall, slender frame casting a long shadow in the morning light. The time for waiting was over. He began his brisk, silent walk towards the northern coast.
Down on the slope, the immediate threat of the pirates had been neutralized, but the atmosphere among the heroes was anything but calm. Jango stood in stunned silence over the bodies of his defeated crew, while at the top of the slope, the four victors were busy arguing.
"Are you two happy now?!" Nami yelled, gesturing at the rising sun. "We should have been long gone by now! You have to value your time!"
"And you!" Zoro shot back, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Why didn't you just tell me which way north was?! We wasted all that time because you couldn't give simple directions!"
"I don't know where north is either!" Luffy chimed in defensively.
"And you pushed me down that stupid slope!". Zoro added, comically misremembering the events.
"I DID NOT!" Nami shrieked.
Jango stared up at them, his initial shock turning into pure, seething rage. "Damn it, you brats…" he growled, clenching his fists. "How dare you… How dare you defeat my crew?!"
Luffy peered down at the groaning pirates. "Wow, they're still alive!" he said with genuine surprise. "They're pretty tough!"
"Listen up!" Jango shouted, his voice snapping with authority as he decided to take a drastic measure. "We don't have time to be playing around here! If they are strong, then we must be stronger!"
He pulled out his chakram, the polished steel ring glinting wickedly. "When I say 'One, Two, Jango!', your bodies will be filled with power! Your wounds will heal! You will be stronger than ever before!"
He began to swing the ring, its rhythmic motion catching the light. The defeated pirates began to stir, their eyes glazing over as they stared at the hypnotic pendulum.
"Look at the ring! You will all become stronger!"
Luffy, Usopp, and Nami watched, mesmerized by the strange spectacle. Zoro just grunted, unimpressed.
"ONE, TWO, JANGO!"
A surge of energy seemed to flow through the Black Cat Pirates. They leaped to their feet, their minor injuries forgotten, their eyes glowing with a mindless, hypnotic fury.
"YAAAAAARGH!" one of them roared. He turned and punched the solid rock face of the cliff beside him.
CRACK!
The cliff wall shattered, sending a shower of rocks and dust everywhere.
"Wha—?!" Nami and Usopp stared in horror. The hypnotized pirates were now monstrously strong.
"Now, go!" Jango commanded, pointing up the slope. "Annihilate them!"
The empowered crew let out a collective, savage roar and began their second charge.
Zoro drew his swords, bracing for the impact. But as he glanced over at his captain, he saw something that made his blood run cold.
Luffy's eyes had the same hypnotic swirl as the pirates. His usual goofy grin was gone, replaced by a slack-jawed, mindless rage.
"That idiot…" Zoro breathed in disbelief. "He was watching the ring… HE GOT HYPNOTIZED TOO!"
As the Black Cat Pirates charged up the slope, the hypnotized Luffy charged right along with them, a look of pure fury on his face.
"LUFFY, NO!" Nami screamed.
But Luffy wasn't aiming for them.
Just as he reached the front of the pirate pack, he spun around.
"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"
His fists became a blur, a storm of rubbery punches that rained down not on his friends, but on the hypnotized pirates right behind him. They had no idea what was happening as they were pummeled by their own unwitting secret weapon, sent flying back down the slope in a chaotic mess.
Luffy didn't stop. He was a berserker, a whirlwind of pure, instinctual destruction. He stormed past the few remaining pirates, leaped with incredible force onto the deck of the Bezan Black, and with a primal roar, he grabbed the ship's giant, menacing black cat figurehead.
CRACK! RIIIIP!
With a tremendous display of strength, he tore the entire, massive wooden sculpture clean off the bow of the ship. He held it above his head, a makeshift club the size of a small house, and turned to face the terrified remnants of the crew, ready to smash them all into oblivion.
Jango watched in absolute horror. This was not part of the plan. His own power-up had created an uncontrollable monster that was now about to obliterate his entire crew.
He had to act fast. He raised his ring again, this time aiming it solely at the rampaging rubber man.
"ONE, TWO, JANGO!" he yelled desperately. "You will fall… into a deep, deep sleep!"
Luffy's enraged expression immediately went slack. His eyes closed. And, still holding the massive figurehead above his head, he collapsed.
CRASH!
The heavy wooden figurehead came down with immense force, crushing Luffy and the last of the conscious Black Cat Pirates beneath it. It landed with a deafening boom that shook the entire cove, narrowly missing Jango himself.
Silence.
"We… we did it!" Usopp cheered weakly.
"He beat them all!" Nami added, a look of relieved disbelief on her face.
But Jango was sweating, his face pale. He looked at the groaning pile of his defeated men. "Get up, you fools!" he hissed. "Do you want Captain Kuro to have our heads?! We've failed! We've completely failed!"
Zoro calmly walked over to the massive pile of wood. "Don't worry about him. He's made of rubber, a little thing like this won't kill him."
Suddenly, two new voices called out from the deck of the pirate ship.
"Hey… what happened to our beautiful figurehead?"
Two figures, one tall and lanky with long claws, the other short and stout with a cat-like face, leaped from the railing, landing gracefully on the ground. They moved with a strange, feline agility.
"The Nyaban Brothers," Jango said, a hint of relief in his voice. "Sham and Buchi."
Meanwhile, at the edge of the village, Captain Kuro was walking briskly towards the northern coast. His patience had run out.
A small boy with a head shaped like an onion peeked out from behind a building, his eyes wide with fear. It was Tamanegi. He had seen the strange man with the glasses, the one everyone called Klahadore, walking around at this early hour. And he was heading straight for the battle.