Chapter 1
“Mom! Mom!” He ran into their small house, the home he'd grown up in with the most important person in his world.
Is mother, laying in her bed with a cool compress on her forehead, turned her head slightly to the side to look at him. She smiled the best she could though the pain and discomfort to ask in a gentle voice, “What is it this time Usopp? More pirates?”
The little boy, younger than ten, shook his head, “No! This time I found and ate this really strange fruit! It tasted super gross! But after I did it spoke to me!”
Banchina smiled softly at her son. For days he'd been telling her that pirates were coming, that his father was coming for her. She knew he never would, it was far too dangerous for him to visit them. Even so, she never denied his claims, knowing that he only said them to give her hope. This time though, he'd apparently come up with something new and she was looking forward to seeing where it went, “Is that so? What did it say?”
Usopp looked at the message still sitting in front of his face, “It says, 'Congratulations on eating the Gacha Gacha no Mi! You have been granted one Random Platinum Gacha Ticket! Would you like to roll it now?', mom.”
Banchina stiffened slightly, her eyes widening as she realized something, her darling Usopp wasn't lying to her. She wasn't the most traveled person, but Usopp's father Yasopp had been all over the world and told her of many things. One of those things was Devil Fruits, little things capable of granting people immense power just from being eaten. She'd never told Usopp about them and everyone on their little island considered them to be nothing but legends.
She swallowed thickly before speaking in her soft voice, “I think you should roll it.”
He looked at her with bright wide eyes and she smiled more. Devil Fruits were mysterious, but they could do anything, according to Yassop. Most importantly though, they could make her baby boy strong. Strong enough to survive, even thrive, once she was gone. What more could a mother ask for?
She watched as he bounced in excitement. He could clearly see something she couldn't judging by the way his eyes were focused on something invisible to her. Finally her gasped, “OH!!! It says, 'Superpower, Epic Ability, You are superpowered, even as a regular human you run faster than a train, punch harder than a missile, and don't flinch from tank shells or missiles, this all scales with your physical stats. and the results you get from training are considerably enhanced.'” He frowned and looked at her curiously, “Mom, what does that mean?”
She was a little confused as well, she hadn't heard of any of the things mentioned. She could figure out a bit from the context though. She opened her mouth to tell him what she believed, but stopped and coughed a few times. Usopp gasped and quickly came to her side and helped her out by rubbing her back. Once the coughing faded, he collected her compress and dunked it into a bucket of cooler water before wringing it out and putting it back on her forehead.
After she gathered her breath she looked at her baby once more, “It means you're super strong, fast, and durable. It also means that, if you work hard, you can get even stronger.”
His eyes widened in shock, “I can?! I became super strong?!”
She giggled at his shocked face, “Yes. Try picking up the bucket of water.”
He looked at the bucket that was half his size. He could normally pick it up even when it was full, but it was a struggle and he had to duck walk the entire time to keep from spilling it all over the place. He reached down and grabbed the handle in both of his hands, then, slowly, he lifted it. His eyes grew wide as saucers at how light it felt, “It's so light!”
He let go with one hand and didn't feel a difference. With wide, shocked, thrilled, eyes, he lifted the usually heavy bucket with just a single hand. He even lifted it up as high as he could and felt no strain at all. It was like the bucket wasn't even really there!
“This is amazing!”
Banchina smiled as she looked at her little Usopp. He would be safe now. He gently put the bucket down and she watched him stare off into the air again with a small frown. His lips moving a bit as he read something she, once again, couldn't see. Finally, he finished reading and grinned brightly, “Mom! It's going to give me three more rolls!”
Banchina blinked in surprise, “Three more?”
Usopp nodded enthusiastically, “Yes!” He threw both of his hands into the air, “Roll!”
It was a few moments before he started to speak again, clearly reading what the invisible thing was showing him, “Reapers Presence, Elite Trait, Upgrade to Terrifying Presence - The reaper is here and they know it. Your presence is that of nightmares, you can make a grown man shit himself without saying a word. If you want to, every gesture of yours seems like a death threat. Acting like the scariest thing they have seen comes naturally to you.”
Banchina shivered as her cute little boy suddenly looked like the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen in her life. She felt like if she breathed too loudly, or heaven forbid coughed, that she would attract the attention of the monster pretending to be her Usopp and it would end her.
Then, it was gone and Usopp looked mildly confused, “It sounded bad so I turned it off.”
Banchina was glad for the compress on her forehead, it hid the cold sweat that had broken out very nicely, “That's okay, it could come in handy if you meet any bad people.”
She felt even better, if rightfully concerned, about her son getting such a strange power. Still, it could do nothing but help protect him from those who might mean him harm and she was unequivocally happy for that.
“Roll!”
She focused on Usopp and wondered what would happen this time. Eventually he spoke again, “High Priestess, Rare Familiar, JoJo - High Priestess takes the form of an amorphous, tribal like creature that can merge with and control minerals, transforming the ground into cars, guns, giant faces, etc. The range of control and the power it can assert depend on your power level, and the damage of what it is merged into reflects back to you.”
He frowned and then a moment later he screamed, clearly terrified of something. He pointed at the empty air, “WHAT IS THAT?!”
Banchina looked where he was pointing and then back at him, “I don't see anything.”
“Y-you don't see that scary floating mask thingy?!”
“I don't.”
It took a while, where Usopp just stared at the invisible thing, before he calmed down and seemed to slowly understand something, “Oh! Okay. I can control it, or at least tell it what to do.” He looked at her with a big grin, “Be right back!”
He ran out of the house as fast as his little legs could carry him. Which, it turned out, was super fast! He made it a total of four steps before he lost his balance and went tumbling head over heels while screaming in fear of pain. He tumbled and rolled for far long than he'd run before finally coming to a stop.
Slowly, he sat up and looked himself over. Aside from being covered in dirt, he was completely fine. Nothing hurt. He slowly stood up, dusted himself off, and looked around in shock. He was half way to the village! He didn't mean to go that far! So fast too! He really was super!
This time, he moved a bit more slowly, but still faster than he would have ever thought possible, and ran all the way to one of the two entrances to the shoreline. Their little island was completely surrounded by cliffs except for two natural ramp-like entrances that led down to the water. He ran to the closer one and grabbed one of the big loose rocks there.
He giggled as he hefted a boulder that had to weigh hundreds of pounds with little effort. He was so strong now! He just hoped that one of the rolls would give him something to save his mother with.
He ran back home, getting used to his super speed, with the giant boulder. Banchina looked shocked at the sight of the massive rock being carried by her son. She knew he'd been made stronger but seeing that was still a surprise! After he set the rock down he looked at the empty air, “Okay! Get in the rock and make it look like you!”
Moments later she was, once again, shocked by what she was seeing. The rock shifted and changed shape until it looked like something she couldn't properly identify. At best, she would say if was a really small, feral, person wearing a huge mask with strange designs. Usopp put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, “Mom, meet the High Priestess!”
Banchina just stared at the strange looking creature for a while, trying to understand what was happening and failing completely. All she could understand was Usopp now had a normally invisible thing that could change the shape of minerals. When had her life become this weird?
“Roll!”
She jerked at the sudden call from her son and turned to stare at him. She was deeply worried about what might come up next and how strange it might be. Even through that worry, though, she was also happy. So far everything he'd gotten had been all about making him stronger, safer. With all of these things he would definitely be safe when she was gone.
“Ohhhhhh, I can understand this one! 'Regenerator, Epic Trait, Hellsing - You are a Regenerator, a race of Advanced Human that is a Bioengineering marvel, granting you superhuman physical performance and incredible natural regenerative abilities enough to heal from bullet wounds in seconds without changing anything fundamentally from humanity.' That means I heal super fast right?”
Banchina slowly nodded her head. She didn't know what 'Hellsing' was, but she didn't like the sound of it. Nor did she know what 'Bioengineering' was, but she could guess and she didn't like the sound of it either. However, being able to heal from a bullet wound in seconds?! That was a miracle she could happily get behind. Now it seemed like it would take a whole lot to even hurt her baby boy in any meaningful way. Between how tough Superhuman made him and now super healing? She didn't think bullets could ever hurt him again. Maybe not even canon balls.
Usopp sighed and there was something so profoundly sad in the sound that it immediately drew her attention, “What's the matter, Usopp?”
He looked up at her, all signs of excitement and happiness completely gone. Instead, tears flowed down his cheeks like small waterfalls. When he spoke his voice was so thick he almost choked on it, I w-wanted something to help you. T-to make you all b-better.”
Banchina smiled softly and used what little strength she had to get her arms free of her blanket and pull her son into a tight hug, “It's alright, Usopp. I'm just so happy to know that you'll be safe. It's all I've ever wanted.”
-----Line Break-----
Usopp jerked awake and looked around to get his bearings. His sudden movement threw him off balance causing him to windmill his arms until he regained it. He looked down and let out a sigh of relief, “Close!”
He was a good thirty feet off of the ground and wouldn't have enjoyed the fall. Oh, the landing wouldn't have bothered him in the least. At seventeen he was now so strong and durable that he could casually walk through a stone wall without even noticing it. The problem was that his clothing was nowhere near as durable as his body.
With his balance restored, he leaned back against the truck of the tree he was sitting in and sighed, “It's been a long time since I've had that dream.”
Despite his greatest desires, he'd never rolled anything that could have helped his mom and she soon passed away from her disease. Still, those last few memories of his time with her were something he wouldn't give up for anything in the universe. Or multiverse, as he'd come to know it. He looked over to the side where High Priestess was floating while holding a large clay bottle.
He casually took the bottle from her and popped the cork to take a long swig of the sweet mead contained within. After a few gulps, he lowered it with a sigh of satisfaction, “Not quite as good as Black-Briar, but then again, what is?”
He handed the bottle of Honningbrew back to High Priestess and turned to look over the tops of other trees to see the horizon and the clear blue sky, “Soon.”
In the corner of his vision a small timer was counting down, just a few hours left to go.
He'd had the countdown clock since the say his mother had passed. After she had died he'd received a ticket for achieving a feat related to her passing away knowing he was safe. It'd had been months before he could bring himself to roll the ticket. When he did, he got a special item, another ticket funny enough.
'Ticket to Belethor's General Goods, Elite Item. Skyrim - Once you use this item, you are teleported to Belethors General Goods in Tamriel, Skyrim for 1 hour. You cannot leave a 10-meter circle from where you first appeared, allowing you to buy goods native to the world of Skyrim and Tamriel such as Soul Gems, Magic Books, etc. Cooldown: 720 hours'
The day she died he received one other message tell him him the system Gacha Gacha no Mi was going dormant and would reactivate 'when the beginning came', whatever that meant. Ironically, or maybe deliberately, the countdown happened to be ending after he turned seventeen, the age he promised his mother he would wait to reach before leaving the village. She'd made him swear it. So, he was waiting. He could have left weeks ago on his seventeenth birthday, but he was curious about the timer and wanted to see what it was waiting for. So, here he was, waiting it out.
He looked into his inventory and sat up when he saw that he had a new copy of the ticket to Belethor's place, “Hell yeah! I can do one more trade before leaving!”
He'd planned for that, but forgotten exactly when the ticket would renew over the last month. It was hard to keep track of since his days all seemed to blur together lately.
He casually hopped off of the tree branch he'd been relaxing on and landed on the ground with hardly any notice. Frankly, he wasn't entirely sure what it would take to actually hurt him at this point. Even if something did manage to hurt him... well, he healed impossibly fast. He'd only tried to hurt himself deliberately once, just after his mother passed away. The kitchen knife hadn't survived the encounter and the tiny little prick it had managed to give him had healed instantly.
He'd only gotten many times more durable since then. At this point he was certain he could ignore point blank gunshots to the face without even a bruise. Probably even canon fire.
Then there was the next bit. He leaned forward, because if he didn't he would fall, and blitzed toward his home. It took him seconds to run across the majority of the island and he wasn't even sweating or panting when he arrived at his home. The place was small and felt even smaller with all the collected junk inside of it. Well, it wasn't really junk. A lot of it was things he'd been working on in preparation for leaving.
Thanks to a lot of help from High Priestess and his access to exotic materials at Belethor's his natural engineering talent had been allowed to go absolutely crazy. When he was a kid he had a slingshot and thought it was the coolest weapon ever. Now he had guns powered by magic and they were by far the coolest thing EVER.
He ignored his stuff and grabbed a thick leather sack filled to the brim with Berry bills. With the sack in hand, he retrieved the ticket to Belethor's General Goods and ripped it in half. The next second he was inside of a large store and staring at a towering Nord who had a genial grin on his face while calling out, “Usopp, me Redguard friend! I was expecting you two days ago.”
Usopp chuckled and walked to the shops counter where he thumped down the leather bag. Oddly, if you weren't expecting it, the bag made a metallic clinking sound like a bunch of coins colliding rather than paper money. He left the bag there while addressing the big blonde guy, “Sorry about that Belethor.” He stuck his right arm out, which Belethor happily clasped in a warriors arm shake, “I simply lost track of the time.”
After the shake, Belethor crossed his thick arms over his even thicker chest, “Aye, well there's nothing for it. I'm got everything you've requested.” His blue eyes focused on the leather bag, “And it appears you have the coin, as always.”
Usopp laughed and tipped the leather bag over so that golden Septims could cascade out onto the counter, “Always!”
The first time Usopp had come he'd had no money and no idea where he'd been sent to. Thankfully, he'd just been a lost and scared child so Belethor had filled him in. At first, Usopp thought he'd been transported to an island, possibly in the Grand Line, but he'd been quickly disabused of that notion. Between what Belethor and told him and what one of his curses said, he'd realized he was in a whole different world.
It was a crime that he couldn't leave the store and stay in the new world for more than an hour. He'd only been able to see the outside world through the front windows and it looked like a place filled with possible adventure!
“Wait here friend, I'll get your order.”
Belethor left the front of the shop and went into the back. He returned quickly enough with a large crate, then went back into the back, only to return with another, then another. Five large crates in total. Three of the crates were nothing but mead, his biggest seller, while the last two were personal requests.
After setting down the last crate, Belethor began counting out coins, “Anything new stories from your home?”
Usopp shook his head, “Sadly, no. I've done little but prepare to leave on my journey.”
Belethor laughed, “Yes, your desire to head out to sea. I can't say as I understand it, but I can respect the call for adventure. Why I once ventured into an ancient tomb or two myself, in my youth.”
Usopp chuckled at the familiar refrain from Belethor. While the Nord continued to count the coins, the door to the shop opened and the most beautiful woman Usopp had ever seen casually walked into the shop while looking around. She was a Nord, as the vast majority of people he'd ever met in Belethor's place were. However, she was only the second one he'd ever seen with such red hair. Not orange, like a lot of 'redheads' were, but full on crimson red.
When her eyes turned to look at him in curiosity he saw her eyes and stared right into them. They were emerald green, like actual gems had been carved to replace her irises. Then there were her lips, a natural shade just a bit lighter than red. Like all Nords he'd ever met she had pale, almost white, skin. Due to the location of Skyrim the place was perpetually cool, if not freezing, so most Nords didn't get a lot of sun. The woman's skin looked so milky white he wondered if it had ever seen the light of day. Which, it had given it was currently daytime, but still!
Only after he'd taken in her full womanly figure, one that he would probably end up dreaming about, did he realize she was staring at him even harder than he was staring at her. He knew why. With a good-natured chuckle he ran the tip of his index finger along the length of his nose, the only feature he shared with his mother, which made it the one he was the most proud of, “Yes, it's real.”
The woman blinked in confusion, processed his words, then blushed furiously. It just made her look even lovelier. She quickly waved her hands defensively, “No no, it's not that. I've just never met a Redguard before!”
Usopp chuckled and crossed his arms over his muscular chest, “It's alright, I'm used to people being surprised and curious the first time they see my nose. She pouted, which was also adorable, then shook it off and held her hand out, “Remira.”
Usopp stepped closer and took her hand in his, though instead of shaking it he turned it over and kissed the air just above her knuckles, just as Kaya taught him, “Usopp.”
Her blush deepened at what Belethor had told him was a courtly greeting in their neck of the woods. She took her hand back and clutched it to her substantial chest, “It's a pleasure to meet you, Usopp.”
“I promise you, the pleasure is all mine.”
Belethor coughed, getting both of them to jump in shock. He gave the pair a knowing grin while holding out Usopp's money sack, “I got my due.”
Usopp, mildly annoyed to have the moment ruined, stormed over and snatched the leather bag out of the man's hand more violently than necessary. Which only prompted Belethor's grin to grow wider. After all, the man had known Usopp since he was a tyke barely off his mother's milk, it was his prerogative to tease the young man if he felt like it.
Remira moved closer to the counter and looked at the pile of crates and Usopp's money pouch, “Are you a trader?”
Usopp nodded, “I am. I come by about once a month to pick up some supplies, mostly mead, to take back to my village and sell. It's not the most lucrative, but it pays enough.”
Belethor chuckled, “You got another list for me, Usopp?”
Usopp nodded and pulled out a folded piece of paper and passed it over to the Nord, “Yeah, I need more Stalhrim, Ebony,” he paused and looked directly into Belethor's eyes, “And as much Dwemer metal as you can get me. Along with the usual cases of Black-Briar and Honningbrew.”
Remira looked shocked while Belethor let out a whistle, “That's a big order, even for you.” Belethor scratched the back of his head, “I can get the Stalhrim and Ebony, though you'll have to pay up front for them. The Dwemer metal though... While their ruins are filled with the stuff, it'll be hard to find someone willin' to go into the place and rip the metal out.” He looked at Usopp curiously, “I know you bought the small scraps I got for curiosity, but is it worth what this will cost you?”
Usopp nodded very seriously. The Dwemer metal was the best metal he'd found, thus far, for making his guns with. By having High Priestess possess the material she could instantly transform the metal into a weapon of his choosing, or parts of one, and make them perfect with no flaws. Thanks to her his production abilities were unmatched. As long as he could visualize it, he could have High Priestess produce it, provided the material was a mineral.
There was very little he couldn't do with any kind of minerals he got his hands on.
Remira spoke up, “I'd be willing to raid an old sight, provided the pay is good enough.”
Both men looked at her. Usopp had noted how beautiful and well proportioned she was, but now that he looked closer, he also noted she was well muscled. Despite the perpetual chill of Skyrim, she was wearing a rather revealing outfit with scraps of metal on it to act as armor. Looking over her shoulder he could see the handle to a large axe and the bent wood of a bow. She was clearly armed and armored so she was possibly a decent warrior. The vast majority of Nords were. Hell, the only other true redhead he'd met, who also happened to be gorgeous, Aela, was a certified badass.
Usopp opened his money sack and pulled out ten septims, then tossed the rest back to Belethor, “My down payment and money to award to Remira when she brings in the metal.”
Belethor knew how much remained, roughly, from earlier and nodded, “You got it.”
Remira grinned wolfishly, “Excellent.”
Usopp looked at Remira, “It'll be a month, give or take a few days, before I return so take your time with gathering the metal. If you get more than what Belethor has to cover it, I'll give you the remainder then.”
She arched a well sculpted eyebrow, “How much of the stuff to you want?”
Usopp smirked, “How much can you get?”
She laughed then poked him in the chest, “You better have enough money to cover it because I am going to drain your coffers dry!”
Belethor chuckled and shook his head in amusement, “Right. Anything else you want, Usopp?”
Usopp shook his head while walking over to this crates, “No, that'll cover it, for now. I'll see you next month, Belethor.”
He easily stacked all the crates together and then turned to Remira, “It was good to meet you too, Remira.”
She smiled brightly, “You as well, Usopp. I'll try and meet you again next month.”
With a nod, he easily hefted all five crates, much to the clear shock of Remira, and willed himself back home. He'd once asked Belethor what it looked like when he left and the Nord had looked at him funny and said he used the door like everyone else. The magic of the Gacha covering for him it seemed. Nothing he ever said or did seemed strange to Belethor, he just took everything in stride. It honestly helped a lot, especially when he was a child and just starting out his trade.
The next moment he was back home where he casually set the crates down. He separated them and began to open them. Despite being nailed shut to protect the fragile contents, he casually peeled the lids off. A quick check showed that three of the crates did contain the expected order of mead. Not that Usopp expected otherwise. Nords were notoriously honorable and Belethor would rather lose money on a deal then cheat his trade partner. Not that Belethor ever made a loss on any trades with Usopp.
He closed one of the crates of booze and set it to the side, that would be his personal stock for the month. The other two though? He picked them up and left his small home to make his way to the village. He had a deal with the only restaurant slash bar in the village. They would buy any and all mead he had from him at a fair price.
Speaking of price, he checked his cash and smiled seeing the ten one hundred Belly notes in his pocket. The exchange rate between Septims and Belly was one hundred Belly to one Septim. Any money he carried on himself when crossing over automatically changed into the proper currency. It made pricing his mead high enough to make a profit pretty easy. Honningbrew cost him two thousand Belly, twenty Septims, so he sold it for three thousand. Black-Briar was twenty-five Septims so he sold it for four thousand Belly. Black-Briar Reserve cost a hundred Septims and sold for fifteen thousand Belly.
His current order was two hundred bottles of Honningbrew, one hundred and fifty Black-Briar, and fifty Black-Briar Reserve. Total profit, six hundred and seventy-five thousand Belly. Not a small amount nor a fortune, but considering the size of his village? It was damn good money. It also didn't take into account the custom work he did, like old man Skratch's custom rake made from Ebony. He made all kinds of things for people to make their lives easier, despite them calling him a liar.
He was still upset over that. He'd never lied to any of them in his life! Well, not since he was a child and lied about pirates coming once or twice to cheer his mother up. It would be better to say he hadn't lied since he'd eaten the Gacha Gacha no Mi. When they asked him where he got his supplies, he'd told them the truth.
It had not gone over well.
Even now, years later, they asked and he told them the truth, then they called him a liar. He loved his village, and the people in it, but sometimes he just wanted to throttle them when they called him a liar.
By the time he finished his trade at the restaurant, the timer in the corner of his vision was sitting at less than an hour. He hummed at that and changed course toward his favorite resting sight near the southern entrance to the island. If something was going to happen, it would likely come from the sea so he had a fifty-fifty chance of being at the right spot. Even if he was at the wrong spot, he could get to the other side of the island in moments.
He looked at High Priestess floating next to him and smirked. Of course, that precluded him sending her over to keep an eye on that side since he could share his senses with her. High Priestess looked at him through her strange tribal mask, let out a feral scream, and flew toward the other side of the island. Even after all these years her behavior hadn't changed in the least.
He finally arrived at his favorite tree and gently hopped into the air. He easily cleared over thirty feet and casually landed on the branch he'd been napping on earlier. He got comfortable and looked out over the horizon once more. Aside from working on his projects and entertaining Kaya, there wasn't really a whole lot for him to do on the little island he called home, so he might've gotten just a tad used to lazing his days away.
He used to spend a lot of time working out in an attempt to get stronger, and he had for a while, but then he completely ran out of things heavy enough to use. Or, rather, heavy enough and possible for him to lift in some manner. There might be boulders large and heavy enough to give him a good workout, but there was no practical way to do so. So, without that taking up time he didn't have a whole lot to do but experiment with the materials he got from Belethor.
Time streamed by as he mentally made plans for experiments and possible new creations to play around with. He also made a mental note to check with Belethor on his progress in getting magical tomes. Nords didn't like magic. Convincing the man to look for magical tomes had been relatively easy since he was, at heart, a merchant and profit was profit. It's not like the books were illegal or anything, they were just rare.
So far he'd only managed to get one for Usopp, but it had been on Alteration magic, specifically Telekinesis. It was unfortunate that the spell took so much 'magika' that he could only use it for a second or two before he was exhausted from it. So, he just stuck with the strange metals with amazing properties and alchemy reagents for his gizmo's, gadgets, and experimentation.
He looked down at his right hip and the pistol sitting in the holster there. He reached down and pulled it out to look it over. It was his latest creation. The barrel looked like it might be made of brass but was, in fact, Dwemer metal he'd had High Priestess reshape into a proper barrel. The first time he'd had her do so she'd put strange grooves inside of the barrel without him specifically asking. He'd been shocked the first time he'd fired the weapon at how much more accurate it had been. When he'd had her make bullets her way, she'd produced bullets with rounded tips that made his gun even more accurate.
Between what High Priestess had done and his experiments with alchemy, he'd needed to create a much stronger barrel. Firesalts were temperamental when mixed with the proper ingredients. He'd lost count of how many gun barrels he'd accidentally exploded. If not for his vastly enhanced durability, he'd likely have died from some of the explosions and the shrapnel produced.
He didn't even want to think about how much money he'd spent repairing the roof and walls of his home. It was a good thing he made so much, even if half of everything he made was saved up. He was proud though because he was sitting on a little over seven million Belly. It was a small fortune and would be enough for him to purchase a small ship.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when his sharp gaze caught something on the horizon. He watched a little longer, then frowned at what he could see coming. A pair of small boats were sailing directly for Syrup Village, not something unusual but not common either. What was unusual was that one of them was sporting a jolly roger on the sail.
As the pair of small boats, bigger than dinghies but not by much, got closer he could see the people riding on them. Two males and one female. The girl was sailing the ship without the jolly roger on it and looked to be conversing with the other ship. Friends then? Otherwise a pirate ship, even a tiny ass one, likely would have attacked and robbed her by now. The whole situation was... weird. He silently recalled High Priestess and sent her out over the ocean to look at them more closely. Sharing her senses came in really handy for this sort of thing.
First, the girl. She was around his age he guessed and pretty cute, but after Aela and Remira, she wasn't quite as fetching as she otherwise would have been. Still very pretty though, and also another red-head, though in the orange spectrum instead of crimson. She was pretty fit and seemed to be the one in charge of their direction, so a navigator then? Useful skill to have and one he didn't really possess.
The boys... they looked strong. Not in a threatening way, but definitely stronger than anyone he'd ever met before. He immediately recognized one of them from some recent rumors. The slightly older boy with the green hair and three swords on his hip was probably Roronoa Zoro. The demonic pirate hunter that terrified everyone, for some reason. The guy did look strong and Usopp was definitely curious about his three sword style, but other than that he just seemed normal.
However, seeing him meant that they were unlikely to be pirates. They probably stole the ship then and he had no issue with stealing from pirates. Hell, he'd probably end up being labeled as a pirate himself, eventually. He didn't plan to take shit from anyone, including Marines. Eh, whatever, that was a future Usopp problem.
The last of the trio was the other boy who looked like he was around his own age as well. He looked... stupid. Strong, but definitely stupid. Given the way he was complaining about being hungry and getting shouted at by the girl for eating all the food, he was also a glutton. Best to keep the guy away from his house.
Well, they didn't seem like much of a threat, at all.
He looked at the countdown timer in his vision and then to the boats coming closer. He sighed, “So, they're what I've been waiting years for? I wonder why.”
By his estimation they would arrive exactly when the counter would hit zero. He didn't even bother questioning how his power knew when they would arrive down to the second for the better part of a decade in the future. It could literally send him to entirely different worlds. Predicting the future seemed mundane in comparison.
He quietly watched and, true to his expectation, their boats touched the shore at the exact same time as the timer hit zero and vanished. Which... was weird. The little countdown had been in the corner of his vision almost half of his life. It suddenly being gone was... jarring.
He quickly shook that off and looked down at the trip stepping on the shore below him. He loved this tree because it was right near the edge of the cliff and let him look down at it, or out into the ocean, very easily. As they looked around and talked among themselves, he called out, “Hey! Are you pirates?!”
All three turned in surprise at his shout and looked up at him. The girl shouted out, “No!”
At the same time, the boy in the straw hat, red vest, and blue shorts that he noted looked kind of stupid, shouted, “Yes!”
The girl immediately punched the boy in the back of the head and began shouting at him about not saying that they were pirates all the time. When she was done the boy looked none-the-worse for wear and pouted at her, “But we are pirates, Nami!”
Zoro, or at least the guy he assumed was Zoro, hadn't said a word and just looked mildly amused while the other boy was being beaten.
Usopp sighed and turned to sit sideways on the branch. With a swing of his legs and a shove, he pushed himself off of the branch and into the air. The girl, Nami, gasped in horror while the boys looked surprised, but curious. Usopp crossed his arms over his chest while he fell straight down to the ground. He landed with a solid thud that he barely bent his knees to absorb the force of. Nami looked shocked and a little faint. Zoro looked mildly impressed.
The last one though? His eyes were practically stars, “THAT WAS AWESOME! How did you do that?!I need a cool entrance like that!”
Usopp rolled his eyes, “Anyway.” His gaze narrowed and an aura of absolute danger roared out from his body. He instantly saw the effect when he activated Reapers Presence. Nami froze solid, turned incredibly pale, and began to hyperventilate while staring at him in absolute terror.
Strawhat boy and Zoro had different reactions. Zoro tightly gripped the handle of his white sword and stared hard at Usopp while sweat dripped down his brow. He was terrified, but still willing to fight, even to the death. The guy in the straw hat though? His reaction was... different. Usopp could see some signs that he definitely felt fear, his pupils dilating to the size of dinner plates for a start, but instead of going stiff but prepared like Zoro, he jumped backward and got into a fighting stance.
Usopp arched an eyebrow while ending his usage of Reaper's Presence. He didn't like using it very often. It honestly felt bad to make people feel so afraid. He looked over at Nami when she collapsed to the ground in a shuddering wreck. Yeah, that definitely did not feel good. Zoro was the one to break the silence, “What was that? I thought I was going to die.”
Usopp looked at Zoro, “Just one of the things I can do. It was a warning. If you're here to pillage and plunder then I suggest getting back on your boats and leaving before I make that feeling a reality.”
Luffy spoke up in a firm voice, “We don't do that. The people who do aren't true pirates! Being a pirate is all about being free! Not taking things from people.” He lowered his arms and unclenched his fists, “You should know that, your dad is Yassop right?”
Usopp snorted, “You know that deadbeat loser?”
Luffy frowned, “Yassop is a good man and a great pirate. He talked about you all the time when he was on my island.”
Usopp snorted derisively, “Then you've spent more time with him than I ever did. Besides, being a great pirate and a shit parent aren't mutually exclusive.”
He turned away from Luffy and focused on Nami, who was still collapsed on the ground. He sighed and walked over to her slowly. Even so, she jerked in fear when he got close. Slowly, gently, he knelt down and offered her his hand, “I'm sorry about that. I can't control who it does or doesn't effect. Is there anything I can do to pay you back?”
At the mention of the word pay her head snaps up and her voice gets high pitched with greed, “One hundred thousand Belly and I'll forgive you!”
Usopp's gaze went flat, “Seriously?”
Nami nodded enthusiastically, “Seriously.”
He sighed and hung his head, “Fine. I don't have the cash on me but we can get it from my place, later.”
Nami finally slapped her hand into his but, instead of using it to get to her feet, she used it to shake his hand, “Deal!”
He rolled his eyes while gently gripping her hand and lifting her to her feet with ease, “So, what are you people here for anyway?”
Luffy chimed in with a peppy tone, “We're hoping to get a boat here!”
Usopp snorted, “Good luck with that. There's only one decent sized boat but it belongs to someone and I doubt she'd be willing to sell it.”
“Well that's good! Because we don't have any money!”
Usopp stared blandly at Luffy for his words, then commented, “Well then you might as well move on, she's not going to just give it to you.”
Luffy frowned, then shrugged, “Fine. But I'm hungry!”
Nami and Zoro rolled their eyes at the demand for food from Luffy. If he wasn't bored, he was hungry. Usopp eyed them all then shrugged, “I'll show you to the only good place in town. Follow me.”
-----Line Break-----
Usopp hummed to himself as he walked toward the mansion resting on the highest part of the island. He'd dropped the trio of pirates off at the local eatery then left. He had an appointment... kind of. He grinned while sneaking into the back yard of the mansion where he climbed a tree before knocking on the window to Kaya's room.
Kaya came to the window and opened it, her pale blonde hair blowing in the wind while she smiled brightly at him, “Usopp! You came.”
His grin grew wide as he looked at his only friend on the island, “Of course I came! Why wouldn't I?”
Kaya smiled, though it did dim slightly, “It's just... I know one of these days you're going to leave and it will be the last time I see you, possibly forever.”
Usopp didn't let his smile drop at the thought of leaving Kaya, even though it broke his heart. Kaya was sick, weakened after the loss of her parents. She was pale, her skin an unhealthy white, and thin as a stick. She was still beautiful, in a sad way but he worried for her. She reminded him so much of his mother... So, he did for her what he'd done for his mother before eating that weird fruit, he told Kaya stories that he made up. He made certain she knew they were fictions, he didn't want her to think of him as a liar. But there was a difference between lying and imagination.
Belethor's place had come in handy as well since he'd been able to buy story books from there and share them with her. Though why the man had given him a series called 'The Lusty Argonian Maid' he would never know. He'd seen an Argonian once and he didn't understand how anyone outside their race could find them attractive.
Instead, he started telling her the story he'd recently read titled 'The Last Dragonborn'. It was a nice heroic tale of daring do so it was fun to recite.
He was about half way through the tale when there was a loud commotion and a tangle of bodies landed hard on the ground near the tree he was sitting in. There were the three pirates he'd left at the restaurant along with the three kids that liked to follow him around sometimes. He wouldn't call them friends, more like acquaintances. They were too young to be friends with him. He was more like local entertainment for them when he was practicing his aim or testing out a new weapon model.
“See! I told you he'd be here!” one of the kids exclaimed while crawling out of the pile of bodies.
As they all managed to climb to their feet, another of the kids points up toward where Kaya is leaning out of her window to see everything, “And that's Kaya, the one with the boat!”
Luffy, Usopp had finally learned his name at the restaurant when Nami yelled at him, placed his straw hat on his head and grinned up at her, “You're the one with the boat?!”
Kaya looked a little confused but slowly nodded her head, “My family has a ship...”
“Can we have it?!”
Immediately after Luffy asks, Nami punched him in the back of the head with enough force to send him back to the ground, “You can't just ask like that idiot!”
Kaya giggled a little at the interaction, then answered Luffy, “I'm sorry, but I can't.”
“What is going on here?!”
Everyone paused then slowly turned to look at the stringent voice that had just shouted at everyone. Standing off to the side at perfect attention was a tall thin man with slicked back black hair, large round glasses, pale skin, and a stern expression. He raised one hand and used the palm of his hand to push his glasses up, a strange gesture.
“Klahadore...” Kaya muttered from above.
The now named Klahadore glared at everyone, “This is not a gathering place for ruffians, unsupervised children, ... “ his gaze shifted up to Usopp sitting in the tree, “or liars.”
Usopp took no offense at all to the man calling him a liar. In fact, he snorted and smiled in reply. That seemed to clearly annoy the man as he narrowed his eyes and continued, “That's who you are, right? Usopp, the liar.”
Usopp sighed and realized this was going to be a whole thing. He pushed himself off of the branch and dropped to the ground to walk closer to the man clearly looking to get his ass beaten. The man looked down at Usopp both metaphorically a physically, “I've heard all about you and your pirate father, the loser pirate who abandoned his family.”
Usopp nodded in full agreement, “He totally is a complete loser, you're definitely right about that. He's also a scumbag and a coward.”
Klahadore scowled at his efforts not getting the desired results. If the father wouldn't work... His lips curled into a vicious smirk, “Then there's your mother...”
Klahadore's vision went white as pain ripped through his body. Gasps rang out as everyone stared in shock at Usopp. The boy in question stood calmly in front of Klahadore with his fist buried in the mans stomach and his body bent in half over his immovable arm. Blood and saliva dripped from the mans mouth, but Usopp ignored it to look up at Kaya, “I'm sorry Kaya, but I couldn't allow him to say anything about my mother. She was the greatest person in the world.”
Kaya had covered her mouth with her hands in shock, tears hung in the corner of her eyes, but she nodded in understanding. Slowly she lowered her hands and spoke in a soft voice, “I understand, he went too far.”
[Feat Achieved! Defeated Pirate Captain Kuro of the Thousand Plans! +1 Random Silver Gacha Ticket]
Usopp blinked at the unexpected message. He hadn't seen anything like it since he was a child. He turned to look at the unconcious man hung over his arm with a frown. He trusted his ability, after all it had given him true and real powers. It had even given him curses, though they hadn't done much to him yet. He expected that would change now that the timer had finished counting down and they are at the beginning.
Whatever that meant.
He turned back to look up at Kaya, “Kaya, you trust me right? You know I would never lie to you about anything.”
Kaya looked confused, but she slowly nodded, “Yes.”
“I told you all about my power right?”
Kaya nodded again. It was one of the first things he'd told her about when they were younger. He'd shown her his special abilities and even introduced her to High Priestess, “It's telling me I just defeated Pirate Captain Kuro of the thousand plans.”
Kaya's expression turned to one of shock, then denial, “He can't be! He's served my family properly for years!”
Usopp didn't blame her for being in denial or attempt to push her into accepting it. Instead, he would make Kuro confess his plan, whatever it may be. He was no expert at interrogation, but fear? Fear he knew intimately and fear made men weak.
First he had to wake Kuro up, if he took a little extra joy in slapping the man to wake him up, well who could blame him? Kuro coughed then groaned with pain as he woke up from his pain induced nap. He looked around with bleary eyes and crooked glasses, then asked in a rasping voice, “W-what happened?”
Usopp activated his Reapers Presence and focused it entirely on Kuro. The man's pupils sharank to pinpricks while his labored breathing became even more strained, cold sweat poured from his brow, and he began to emit a little whine from absolute terror.
No one there knew it, but Kuro was a coward who feared death more than pretty much anything else. It was why he had quit being a pirate and come up with his retirement scheme. He might've said he was tired of being chased by the Marines, but it was the same thing! After all, the end result of being caught by the Marines would be his death. The man he used as his replacement had been immediately executed, after all.
Now he was staring up as the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen, Usopp. He felt like there was a dagger aimed at his every vital point. He felt like every breath Usopp breathed was whispering to him about the many gruesome ways in which he was going to die. There was nothing in the world but Usopp and the sheer terror the long-nosed teen was invoking in his very soul.
Usopp opened his mouth to speak, to question Kuro, but paused when he noticed a growing dark stain spreading from the crotch of his pants. He sneered at the man and moved on, “Tell me, Kuro, what were you planning? Tell me and I will only give you to the Marines, don't and I will keep you for myself.”
Kuro's whole body shuddered in sheer terror at the thought of spending any more time near Usopp. Even being given to the Marines and dying to a firing squad seemed less horrific than being near the THING pretending to be a teenager in front of him. So, he did the most logical thing he could think of, he spilled his guts.
Everyone listened in growing horror while Kuro explained who he was, then his plans. Kaya cried as he explained how he was only getting close to her so that when he had his First Mate, Jango, hypnotize her into writing a will that left everything to him, no one would question it. Then she was to die in a pirate raid on the island, led by Jango and the Black Cat Pirates.
[Feat Achieved! Put an end to Kuro's plans to kill Kaya for her fortune! +1 Random Gold Gacha Ticket]
Kaya was crying heavily, the last few years of her life now tainted with the horrible knowledge of what Kuro had planned to do to her.
Usopp dropped his skill and let Kuro collapse to the ground in a near comatose heap. He looked up at Kaya and gave her a soft comforting smile, “Don't worry, Kaya. I won't allow anyone to get even close to you.”
An angry Luffy spoke up, “I want to help.” He looked at Kuro with a deep frown, “He's no pirate. He's just a jerk giving real pirates a bad name.”
Usopp looked at Luffy and wondered if the guy knew what the definition of 'pirate' was because he was clearly confused. Still, even though he didn't need the help to take down a group of pirates, it wouldn't hurt to have some back up, “Fine by me. First I need to find this Jango and tell him to raid the island on Kuro's orders tomorrow.”
That got gasps of shock from the girls and young boys with Nami being the one to shout, “Why?! Shouldn't you just capture him?!”
Usopp nodded, “I could, but then there would be no telling when the other pirates on their ship might attack. If I arrange the time and place, I can ambush them and take them all down at once instead of having to wait and hoping I'm around to stop the attack.” He turned his gaze to Kaya, “I won't let anything happen to you.”
She was his first love, after all. Though nothing was likely to come of it given their vastly different lives and his dream of leaving the island. So, he never told her, but he expected she knew how he felt. She did her best to smile, though the recent revelations were clearly still weighing her down. He turned and grabbed Kuro by the back of his neck, “I'll come let you know what happened when everything is over, Kaya.”
She nodded and moved back into her room while closing the window. Meanwhile, Usopp led the large group out of the mansions grounds and back toward the village, all while dragging an comatose Kuro. About halfway back he stopped and pointed, “Keep following the road to get back to town. I'll find you and let you know what the plan is in a little bit.”
As he turned to walk toward his place a hand grabbed his shoulder, “Oh no you don't! You still owe me one hundred thousand Berry! Don't think I forgot!”
He looked at Nami over his shoulder and sighed, “Fine, I'm heading to my place, just follow me.”
The group split into two with the younger kids showing the older boys the sights along the way. It was mostly trees.
-----Line Break-----
Usopp looked over his work and nodded proudly. Kuro was so tightly wrapped up that there was no way he'd ever be able to break out of the ropes. The fact he looked like a caterpillar might've aided in that belief. He'd also taken the time to gag him, not wanting to listen to anything the man had to say. Nami had watched the whole thing with amusement.
With that taken care of, he went over to his massive safe, a special order that took him six months to receive, and carefully put in the combinations in all three combination locks in a specific order. Nami watched, impressed with the security level of the safe. She expected even she wouldn't be able to crack it without a lot of time to attempt to do so.
When the door opened and she saw the thick stacks of Belly notes and even a few bars, her eyes transformed into Belly signs and she instantly jumped to drape herself all over Usopp, “Have I mentioned just how amazing and attractive you are?” she purred.
Usopp stared in absolute confusion at the pretty girl all of a sudden pressing herself against his body. He could feel her breasts pressing against his body while she purred her compliments into his ears. A shiver ran down his spine and he wondered if this was it, was he finally going to lose his virginity?!
Nami trailed her finger over his chest and was pleasantly surprised by just how muscular it felt under his tee-shirt. She knew he had to be somewhat strong to take down a large guy like Kuro in one blow, but she hadn't realized just how sculpted his muscles were in his loose clothing. She'd seen how strong Luffy and Zoro were and while they had some muscle definition, she could feel that Usopp was a whole different level of cut. It made it a little easier to flirt with him, “I just realized how rich, I mean handsome you are.”
Usopp's eyes narrowed at her slip. For just a brief moment there, he'd thought she was seriously flirting with him, but it was just his money she was interested in. He ignored her while he grabbed a stack of one thousand Belly notes, a total of one hundred notes in the stack. He slammed the safe door shut and spun all the locks to secure it. He pried Nami off of himself and held the stack of notes out toward her, “Your money.”
It instantly vanished from his hands and disappeared between her breasts. Before she could say or do anything else, he gestured to the door, “You should go catch up with your friends.”
Nami frowned, “They're not my friends. I'm not a pirate, I hate pirates!”
At his flat stare, she frowned, “It's just useful to sail with them, for now.”
He snorted, “Whatever.”
He turned away from her and looked over his rewards from earlier, a single silver and gold ticket. Well, no time like the present, “Roll the silver ticket.”
“What are you talking about?”
[ROLLING!]
While the gacha rolled, he glanced at Nami, “It's my Devil Fruit power, the Gacha Gacha no Mi. When I complete certain 'feats', like beating a pirate captain,” he gestured to the captured Kuro on the floor, “I get tickets. Using the ticket lets me roll for a random prize.”
[Tactical Trenchcoat, Common Item, A rather cool-looking, exceptionally durable and tough yet comfortable trench coat. In addition, all pockets on the trenchcoat are 10x bigger on the inside than they should otherwise be, allowing you to store more things.]
He raises his hand and pulls the just rolled jacket out of thin air, “For example, a trenchcoat, which is a common, low rank, item.”
He pulls on the coat and isn't shocked to find that it fits perfectly on his frame. He grins after sticking a hand into one of the pockets and finding it is indeed massive inside. That could come in highly handy for all the different things he'd like to carry on himself at all times.
Nami stared, shocked, at the sight of him pulling a piece of clothing out of thin air. However, after seeing both Luffy and Buggy using their Devil Fruit powers she was slightly more inured to their weirdness, “So... your power gives you random clothing?”
He shook his head, “No, it gives me random anything. Abilities, items, traits, skills, and familiars.” He looks away from her, “Roll the gold ticket.”
[ROLLING!]
[Dread Knight, Elite Trait, Race Change - You are a Dread Knight, a Higher Caste of Undead specialising in Direct Martial Combat. As a Dread Knight, you have very potent physical abilities as well as virtually unlimited stamina, the only thing you need to sustain yourself with is Energy. You are naturally capable of using the ability [Dread Blade] and possess great Necromancy, Darkness and Martial Affinity, augmenting the potency of related abilities, skills and magic. But you are rendered vulnerable to Holy and Light-based abilities and magic.]
[Re-roll or Keep?]
Usopp grimaced after reading the description of the trait prompting Nami to curiously ask, “What did you get?”
He shook his head, “It's a race change.”
Nami gasped, “You can change your race?! Like to a fishman?!”
He shrugged, “I dunno if Fishman is one or not, but it probably is. This time though it's a race of undead, like a zombie.”
Nami paled dramatically, “Ewwwww!”
He nodded, “I agree fully, luckily I don't have to take it. Reroll!”
[ROLLING!]
Nami nodded, “Good choice!”
She still wasn't one hundred convinced on the way he claimed his power worked, but at least he didn't want to become a gross undead.
[Dust Supply Crate, Epic Item, RWBY - A supply crate containing refined high-quality dust from the world of Remnant to be used for your own needs. The crate will contain 5kg of the dust of your choice. Restock Timer: 120 Hours]
Usopp immediately summoned the crate, much to Nami's surprise, and popped it open to reveal an array of divverent small glass vials with glittering powder of a variety of colors within. He'd requested labeled samples of every type of Dust and had clearly gotten it. He didn't know what Dust was, but he expected it would be powerful given the rarity of the roll.
Nami looked curiously at the crate, “What's that?”
He gently pulled out a vial filled with glimmering red Dust, “Something called Dust.”
“What's it do?”
He shrugged, “No idea! I can't wait to find out.”
[Curse Multiversal Enmity activated!]
Usopp blinked at the new message and frowned. He remembered getting the curse, but what did it do again? He searched until he found it. Reading the description caused his eyes to widen in shock and not a little bit of fear.
[Multiversal Emnity, Ultimate Curse, You have earned the enmity of reality itself, it seems, you poor soul. At random intervals, a random adversary will summon 10 minutes of travel away from you and hunt you down. The creature you fight is pulled from a familiar gacha that corresponds to your current level.]
“Oh, shit.”
AN
So, been a bit. My only excuse is... Windrose. If you know, you know.
I'm half way through a new chapter of Chaos x Dragon, but I've been wanting to do an Usopp centric story for a while, I've got at least 3 other half completed first chapters to a story about him. This is the only one I've managed to finish. Will it continue? Maybe through a chapter to to have him suffer from one of his curses, but after that? Dunno. What do you guys think of it?
Anyway, I'm going to get back to the Chaos x Dragon chapter, Kokabiel isn't going to beat himself up!