Don't Get in His Way

Usopp

"Viola!" Usopp shouted as he carried the ammo, Bagworm, and approached his Kabuto. The addressed girl averted her gaze from the castle to the sniper. "Use your Clairvoyance and guide me! I need to know every move Sugar makes."

Viola nodded. "Yes, Usopp-kun." Then, she turned back to the direction of the castle and closed her eyes in concentration, using her ability to observe Sugar with a bird's eye view.

Kin'emon and Kanjuro walked over to the duo with skeptical expressions on their faces. "The castle's pretty far away. Are you sure you can do it with only her Clairvoyance?" Kin'emon asked with uncertainty.

"I don't have a choice." Usopp replied. He put the ammo down and tested the sling of his Kabuto by stretching it a few centimeters. "Sugar's already making her move."

Then, the sniper looked up with a determined glint in his eyes. "Just so you know, I'm a sniper!" Usopp grabbed his goggles from his forehead and put it over his eyes with a grin on his face. "Shoot an enemy without being seen to protect my friend. That's my strong suit."

Kin'emon and Kanjuro didn't say anything back but the raven-haired samurai gulped nervously. Viola inwardly smiled at Usopp's words and murmured, "Yes." But, the ex-princess still kept her eyes closed and continued to focus back to Sugar.

Viola silently observed Sugar, who was slowly walking towards the open yard with a vicious look on her face. The little girl was carrying a small basket of blueberries and her smile didn't look good at all. Viola momentarily opened her eyes and turned to the sniper beside her. "Sugar's advancing on those two!"

"Alright!" Usopp cried out. The sniper picked up his ammo and started to adjust it onto his slingshot.

Meanwhile, Viola centered back on the castle and witnessed Sugar enter the yard and cry fake tears, earning both Luffy and Law's attention. "Sugar came out into the yard!"

"Okay, it's time!" Usopp exclaimed as he stretched the sling and slightly crouched down. The sniper's hands held the slingshot in position and he glanced up at the castle in front of him.

The distance between the King's Plateau and the castle on Flower Hill was great, at least two kilometers away. And the windows on the castle were small and hard to see from where Usopp was standing.

Usopp gritted his teeth, even with his amazing marksmanship (if he did say so himsel-wait a minute, this isn't the time!), it would still be tough for him to pinpoint Luffy and Law's exact location.

Luffy! The sniper thought as sweat started to form on his head from the worry and growing stress. Despite the serious situation he was in, Usopp couldn't help but reflect his own conversation with Luffy a few days ago.

-

It was another short fight with the local marines. The Straw-Hats had docked onto an island to stretch their legs (for Luffy, literally.) and stock up on some essentials. Everyone had split up and went alone except for Luffy, who was accompanied by Usopp (the sniper was given a long speech by Nami to make sure their idiot captain doesn't cause any trouble.)

Of course, with Luffy being the trouble magnet he was, he still managed to catch the attention of a few marines when they were strolling around. At first, only a small number were chasing them and Luffy took care of it quickly so Usopp didn't need to step in (and he was definitely not running away faster than Luffy.)

But then, the marines seemed to come out from everywhere and before both of them knew it, a whole mob was chasing them down the street and into the island forest. Usopp thought that they could use the forest to their advantage and make a beeline back to the Sunny. But, the marines here were faster than they thought.