The Nyaban Brothers

"Get down here, Nyaban Brothers!" Jango shouted up at the ship.

Two dark figures leaped from the deck and landed on the beach. The one on the right was a skinny man with green hair, while the one on the left was a burly, heavyset man with one black eye and one white eye.

"Are you the one calling us, Captain Jango..." The skinny green-haired man licked his wrist, then struck a ridiculous pose. "We are Sham..."

The burly man smoothly picked up where he left off. "...and Buchi! Together, we are the Nyaban Brothers, at your service!"

Jango looked at Cabaji. "Buchi, Sham, as you can see, we've got some troublemakers here. Take them out!"

Sham and Buchi exchanged glances, sweating profusely as if they'd been frightened out of their wits. "We're just ship guards... How could we possibly do something like that?"

"Quit whining and get moving, Sham!" Jango roared.

Sham nearly burst into tears as he answered, aggrieved, "I know! I'm going right now!"

He tilted his head back, raised both hands high, and ran toward Cabaji, leaving himself wide open. "Damn you... I'll take you out with these claws right now!"

A crafty glint appeared in the corner of his eye... Almost there, thirty meters to go. While his guard's down, I'll use my Cat Claws to gut him. This stupid pirate surely can't imagine my acting has reached such an incredible level... What's wrong with him? He must've been injured in the fight just now. Perfect. He's as good as dead!

Catching sight of Cabaji suddenly dropping to his knees, Sham lowered his head sharply and fixed his gaze on him like a predator stalking its prey. He let out a menacing laugh. "Then don't blame me!"

His nimble body instantly shifted into fighting stance. His hands, both clad in clawed gloves, curled into claws and shot toward Cabaji like lightning.

Cabaji clutched his chest, his face contorted with uncontrollable pain like a drowning man's. The next instant, Sham's hands plunged into Cabaji's body like two sharp spears.

Both men froze in place, and time seemed to stop.

Jango awkwardly touched his black cap. "That move again..."

Buchi watched the scene calmly. "The swordsman's dead."

With a wet splatter, hot blood sprayed from where the two men met like a fountain.

A sly smile curled Sham's lips. "I went to all that trouble pretending to be a well-behaved kitty, but I guess it was pointless. I'm Sham of the Nyaban Brothers, after all!"

"Yeah, it was pointless..."

Cabaji lifted his eyes. "You'd better understand that this is your blood..."

Sham looked down at the nearly twenty-centimeter wound in his chest and froze. A powerful wave of dizziness and pain surged through his head. He stumbled back, barely able to stay upright, and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Y-you sneaky bastard..."

"Weren't you the one who tried to pull a dirty trick first?" Cabaji rose to his feet as if nothing had happened and touched the claw marks at both of his cuffs. "When you're pretending to be scared, you can't let even the slightest hint of glee show. If someone tries to use a dirty trick, naturally you have to fight fire with fire. On that score, you and I are worlds apart."

"Sham!" Buchi cried out, rushing toward Cabaji to cover for him. But halfway there, he seemed to spot something terrifying. Instinctive fear seized him, and he stopped in his tracks, drenched in cold sweat.

Following his gaze, they saw a man in a suit and tie standing on the road above the slope. He wore round glasses, held a long, narrow case in one hand, and kept the other casually in his pocket.

The newcomer nudged his round glasses with his wrist and looked coldly down at the fight. "Looks like I overestimated you. I didn't expect you to sink this low in the two years since I last saw you..."

"Captain Kuro..." Jango wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to argue. "But their leader is a great pirate from the East Blue with a ten-million-berry bounty!"

"So what..." Kuro nudged his glasses with his wrist, veins bulging on his forehead. "Look at how pathetic you are. I never imagined you'd be so weak and useless!"

"Weak and useless..." Jango murmured.

Sham clutched his wound and struggled to stay upright. He coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, his body trembling with anger. "For more than two years, we've defeated countless pirates and trained our killing skills every moment of every day. And you say that so casually, Captain Kuro..."

Buchi raised his hands, still wearing his Cat Claws. The ten spikes, nearly thirty centimeters long, scraped against each other. "You've got some nerve, Captain Kuro. We admit you were strong three years ago..."

"Oh..." Kuro looked coldly at the Nyaban Brothers. "What are you trying to say?"

"You've been out of the game for three years..." Buchi's bulky body erupted with astonishing speed. His eyes bloodshot, he charged at Kuro. "I can take you out all by myself!"

"Don't!" Jango's shout still couldn't stop Buchi's charge. The latter only moved faster.

As Buchi drew closer, Kuro calmly raised the long, narrow case.

"You're not our captain anymore. It won't matter if we kill you here!" Buchi raised both Cat Claws and slashed wildly.

The long, narrow case was shredded into ten pieces, but Kuro vanished without a sound.

"What!" Cold sweat instantly covered Buchi's face. He whirled around. "Behind me!"

But Kuro was nowhere in sight!

"Buchi, look out!" Sham shouted in terror. Then he collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness completely.

Buchi's breath caught. A chill crackled up his spine to the top of his head.

"I hear you want to kill me." Kuro had appeared behind him at some point, his arms wrapped around Buchi. The nearly meter-long Cat Claws in his hands pressed tightly against Buchi's trembling chest. His expression was cold and grim. "I'm not as nimble as I was three years ago, and after all this time, my heart seems to have grown more merciful too... I don't want to get my hands on any pointless evidence of a crime. I'll give you five minutes..."

He drew his sharp Cat Claws away from Buchi and spoke without a trace of feeling. "If you can't settle this in five minutes, then I'll personally send all of you, and them, to hell!"

Buchi gasped for breath and quickly exchanged a frightened look with Sham, who was badly injured and nearly incapable of fighting. Then he looked up at Jango.

"Captain... give me unparalleled strength! Please, Captain. Let me take on Sham's share too!"