Third Shift Musings - One Piece Episode #16
The Usopp Pirate Gang to the rescue!!
Just because the world is burning doesn’t mean we can’t find joy where we can. And ONE PIECE brings me so much joy. These posts will always be free (I decided not to monetize them) but please feel free to become a paid subscriber if you so choose. LET’S DO THIS!
My little cuties are on the RUN! The Usopp Pirate Gang are in the forest, doing their best to protect Kaya from Jango the Hypnotist, who’s been using his chakrams to clear the trees. The kids and Kaya haven’t been found so far, but their cover is almost blown when one of the kids has an allergic reaction and gets ready to let loose the biggest sneeze! The other pirates hold homie down and prevent him from letting that sneeze out. The gang and Kaya begin running in the opposite direction, but Kaya (who I have to remember is ill) falls to her knees. The poor thing can’t run anymore.
Meanwhile, Usopp and Zoro are running in circles trying to find the kids and Kaya. Bloody, Usopp is desperate to find his friends.
Kaya tells the Usopp Pirates to run for their lives, but these kids are BRAVE. They’re not moving and tell Kaya their gonna stay and fight.
Back on the beach, our man Luffy is putting the finishing touches on beating Kuro’s ass. Kuro’s crew are trying to figure out what their next move is, which honestly, they should have left his ass there. But since they’re all followers and not leaders, they just stand around worrying themselves silly. But that man Kuro just won’t stay down! As he struggles to stand up, he tells his crew that they don’t need to worry their dumb little heads off, he’s gonna kill them all anyway and blame them for the raid on the village. Not only that, he’s gonna kill Jango too, just cuz. See, Kuro wasn’t gonna let them leave the village. It was all part of the plan!
Luffy can’t believe how lame Kuro and his crew are. Kuro tries to be deep, calling pirates a “collection of social outcasts” and then saying, “whether my men live or die is all up to my orders as their leader!” Baby, his crew was not having it!!
After his dramatic speech, Luffy just looked at him like, “fam, wtf are you even talking about?” He stared at Kuro for a smooth five seconds without blinking. It’s the same look I give people who interrupt me when I’m reading.
Kuro gets pissed and yells, “This is how pirates are!” But Luffy is the king of bars. He tells Kuro, “No matter how many hundreds or thousand of men follow you as their captain . . . you’ll never be better than Usopp!” OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH
Luffy knew where to stick the knife cuz Kuro was HEATED. He was like, I’m not better than a pretend pirate???? Luffy was like, basically. Kuro was like, don’t talk shit cuz you broke one of my claws. I’ll still fuck you up. Luffy was like, BET!
Luffy uses his Devil Fruit power to knock the striped socks off Kuro, right into the side of a rock wall. The crew’s flabbers are gasted at seeing their captain continue to get his shit rocked. Better Kuro than them, amiright??
Somehow, Kuro is still standing! He tells Luffy that he’s gonna show him how terrifying he really is. He starts lurching back and forth and Kuro’s crew starts freaking out. It’s cuz they realize that he’s about to use another technique, one that he reserves for fights with multiple enemies. It’s called the Out of the Back Attack. Kuro’s crew is practically begging him not to use that technique because they’ll be hit along with Luffy. Things get super quiet, then a slight breeze blows at Luffy’s hair. Next thing you knows, this purple mist blows toward the crew. Then, they start dropping like flies. See, when Kuro uses the Out of the Back Attack, he combines it with the Pussy Foot Maneuver. He’s moving so fast that he doesn’t know what he’s hitting. It’s basically like Russian Roulette but with fighting.
While all of this is going on, Nami is on Kuro’s ship, stealing what little treasure there is. When she comes on the deck right before the carnage begins. She watches as Luffy gets cut over and over again, along with Kuro’s crew. Luckily, our boy is patient. He bides his time, grabbing Kuro and slamming him to the ground to stop him. But Kuro ain’t done. He tells Luffy that he’s gonna carve him up good, then starts that lurching walk again. Luffy runs towards him, but Kuro is just too fast.
Back in the forest, Jango the Hypnotist is still searching for Kaya and the Usopp Pirate Gang. But what’s this? The pirates are waving the white flag??? They tell Jango that they’ll give up Kaya. Jango, cocky as ever, walks over to where they’re hiding, but the pirates trip him up, then shake pepper in his face. While he’s sneezing his face off, one of the other pirates hits him in the crotch with what looks like a frying pan. Let’s just say, Jango is not doing well.
Jango has had enough! He thrashes my babies and threatens to do more, but Kaya steps in and agrees to sign the will. Jango gets to cocky about it, he doesn’t notice Kaya snatch one of the chakrams and threatens to end herself before signing. But of course, she can’t do it. So she ends up signing as long as Jango doesn’t touch the Usopp Pirates. He prepares to kill Kaya but Zoro and Usopp arrive.
Back at the ship, Kuro is still going crazy with the Out the Back Attack. He slices Luffy and it looks serious! Will our boy have the strength to stop Kuro? Will Zoro and Usopp stop Jango before he ends Kaya? Stay tuned.