Chapter 3 – Pirates vs Pirates
The first thing the Buggy Pirates knew about being under attack was when a few of them heard someone shout the words, "SECOND GEAR! IRON WALL LUFFY!" The next thing they knew about it was a huge man in a straw hat launching himself over the edge of the roof they were camped on from the ground ready to demolish them.
Luffy was very excited at the prospect of a fight, and even more at the chance to try out his new move. He felt a lot stronger as his body inflated to double its usual size and sturdiness, and with it came a racing in his heart that only served to fuel his adrenaline even higher as he dove among the enemy pirates. He felled two as he landed in a crouch and sent two more flying with a double uppercut as he surged back to his feet. Without waiting for them to even respond he pulled a foot back, "GUM-GUUUM WHIIIIP!"
His leg shot out and swung, although he noticed as he swung it that it wasn't nearly as flexible as his usual whip. Atlas teleported up over the heads of the enemy pirates as Luffy swept them away and off the building, "Might wanna rename that one Cap! It's more like a beam or a club now!" Luffy retracted his leg and stopped to think, "You've got a point there. Hmm…Gum gum beam? No, I wanna save that for if I ever learn to shoot a beam…Gum gum club? Mmm…"
"Poleaxe?" Atlas suggested as he used his powers to punch a pirate's head off before blowing a hole through the next one and then teleporting. Luffy tilted his head, "No…that would be better for my Second Gear Battle Axe…"
Atlas dropped the remaining pirates through the roof they were standing on by forcing holes to open under them and paused as he went to jump through one of the holes after them, "Your hits are as solid as iron, maybe call it a chain flail?" Luffy pondered that, "Gum gum chain flail…doesn't really roll off the tongue…"
Atlas flicked him a salute, "I'll leave you to it then captain. I'm gonna go join Zoro and finish these food stealing punks off." He jumped through the hole and spun, "WIDOWMAKER WHIRLWIND!" Arcs of deadly portals which would transport any flesh they touched away rocketed down into the room like a hailstorm of sword strokes.
In an instant half the remaining pirates had been rent open, and while the other half were gawking and considering cowering, Zoro looked up at Atlas, "A whirlwind attack huh? Sounds like a good idea. I've seen yours, now hit the deck and check out mine! Three sword style…" Atlas opened a portal to cushion his landing and immediately hit the deck as he slid out of it sideways, "TATSUMAKI!" Zoro roared as he swung his swords with enough force to send everything in the tavern at the height of his swords or above flying up in a hurricane of slicing winds.
Atlas held on to his hat with one hand and paused to marvel at the sheer force behind his new crewmate's swings. As pirates began to rain like confetti, Atlas snapped his fingers and opened portals to drop them into a nice neat painful dog pile. When he was sure the slicing winds had stopped, Atlas picked himself up and looked at Zoro with no small amount of respect, "That was impressive."
Zoro glanced at Atlas and noted that he was drenched in blood up to his elbows and liberally splattered with it everywhere else. Then he looked over at the pile of dead and wounded pirates, "Looks like your fighting style's nothing to sneeze at either." He turned back to Atlas, "What were you doing to them? Punching straight through them?"
Atlas grinned with slight embarrassment, "Yeah, I used my powers to open a field around my hands where human flesh other than my own would instantly liquefy. I had no idea if it would work or not, but it looks like it does." He looked at his blood soaked hand and raised it to show Zoro his palm, "Red Hand Atlas! That has a nice ring to it don'tcha think?"
Zoro grinned, "Yeah it does. Maybe that'll be your epithet when we get bounties." Then he turned to look up at the hole filled ceiling, "Hey Luffy, you gonna come down or what?"
A shriek from outside drew the two racing out the door just in time to see Luffy unleash "GUM GUM METEOR SHOWER!" on the pirates he had swept off the roof. The shriek had been Nami as she arrived on the scene and found approximately half of the pirates that Luffy had knocked from the roof getting back up just in time to turn lecherous eyes on her.
Luffy twisted mid-air and landed skidding. He slid to a halt next to Nami, "You alright?" Nami stared and then nodded in awe, "Yeah…I'm…just fine…" Luffy grinned, "Good! GUM GUM METEOR PUNCH!" The enhanced Gum Gum Pistol rocketed across the square and launched the one pirate foolish enough to try getting back up into a double clothesline attack from Zoro's sword and Atlas's deadly hand. The headless remains of the pirate dropped to the ground behind the two Strawhats in front of the tavern door.
Luffy raised an eyebrow at the merciless execution, but before anyone could say anything a voice howled, "MY CREEEEEEEW!" The three Strawhat pirates plus Nami turned and saw a man in stripes and an orange cape with clown make up and a big red nose standing between two other men and an elephant sized lion. All three looked thoroughly poleaxed.
Nami stepped behind Luffy and whispered in his ear, "That one with the nose is Buggy, if you beat him, the meat's all yours!"
Luffy grinned and slammed his knuckles into his palm, "Right! Zoro! Atlas! Let's take these guys down so we can eat!" The white haired man on Buggy's right leapt up on top of the lion as the man to Buggy's left pulled a unicycle and a cutlass from somewhere and Zoro immediately pointed a katana at him, "Swordsman. Mine." Atlas grinned, "Alright, then I'll take the lion tamer. Cap, Buggy's all yours!" Zoro charged and Atlas teleported.
Zoro and the man on the unicycle charged straight at each other and the man on the unicycle pulled a very impressive jump over Zoro and flipped upside down midair to slash down at him. Zoro effortlessly blocked and as the unicyclist landed on one hand, Zoro was forced back by a sudden flash of flames that covered the unicyclist's return to an upright position. Zoro grinned in anticipation of a challenge, "You're a springy one eh unicycle?"
"I am Cabaji, Chief of Staff of the Buggy Pirates!" Cabaji declared as he and Zoro circled each other, "You unless I miss my guess are Roronoa Zoro, the strongest swordsman in the East Blue. Defeating you will further my fearsome reputation!" "Don't count your chickens before they hatch," Zoro replied calmly as he launched across the opening, "You have to beat me first!"
The lion tamer got no such chance to introduce himself, and Atlas would likely not have cared even if he had. Atlas appeared behind the massive lion and immediately opened a reduced gravity field around himself. The lion was yanked by its tail and flung into the nearest building. "You know it's a shame," Atlas declared calmly as the lion and its tamer started trying to extricate themselves from the rubble, "I actually quite like lions." Then he drew his pistol and aimed at the still disoriented lion tamer, "You lose."
A crack of gunfire later and the lion tamer dropper with a hole in his head. Before the lion could react to its master's death, a large chunk of rubble fell out of a portal on its head and sent it crashing back to the ground. Atlas turned just in time to see Zoro chop the unicycle out from under Cabaji and spin to meet the unicyclist's cutlass with one of his katana before gutting him with another. Then the two Strawhats turned as they heard a massive explosion.
They saw Buggy pull another grenade and sling it at the spot where the first one had detonated like a fast ball. A second later another massive explosion rocked the square. As Atlas and Zoro looked at the now truly sinister looking clown pirate silhouetted in front of the massive cloud of flames and smoke turning to look at them, they had the same horrid thought, Can Luffy handle explosions like that?
"Now it's your turn…" Buggy declared ominously as he drew another handful of his grenades. Then Atlas and Zoro's eyes went wide as the smoke started to clear behind Buggy. A very scorched Luffy was standing up from over a kneeling trembling figure with vibrant orange hair, and the look on his face was far more frightening than either of them would've believed their rubber brained friend capable of looking. Buggy didn't realize the danger he was in until he hauled back for his pitch and Luffy wrapped his hand around Buggy's.
Buggy threw his pitch, but his hand pulled off his arm and stayed locked in Luffy's grip. Buggy noticed his detached hand and spun, "What the AHHH!" He suddenly howled and curled around the spot where his hand should have been. The grenade in Luffy's hand exploded and was easily contained. Zoro and Atlas were both mildly concerned over how their normally cheerful captain's murderous glare didn't seem to even register that a bomb had just gone off in his hand.
Luffy dropped the hand and Zoro and Atlas both cringed slightly at the sight of the thoroughly mangled mess that had been Buggy's hand. Buggy's eyes bugged clear out of his head before tilting to look up into the face of his opponent. As Buggy looked into the furious eyes beneath the brim of the straw hat, his blood ran cold. Then Luffy's hand snapped out and caught him by the lapel. Only Buggy's lightning quick disassembly and scattering saved him from having his face caved in.
His parts floated overhead and he took the opportunity to catch his breath and take stock of the situation. He noticed the girl on the ground, the same one that had stolen his map he noted, and the furious gaze quickly zeroing in on him. Before he could open his mouth Luffy's hand yanked his head back down to eye level by the hair. Luffy's glare was unyielding and unblinking in his fury, "You. Hurt. My. Friend."
He slammed Buggy's head into the ground and then threw a punch into it with enough force to half bury it before yanking it back up, "NOBODY hurts my friends!" WHAM! Luffy slammed Buggy's head back onto his body and crumpled said body like a tin can. If it hadn't fallen apart under the pressure like a stack of lubed playing cards, Buggy's spine would've most likely shattered under the impact.
"ATLAS!" Luffy barked, his voice unusually harsh and sharp. Atlas perked up his ears, "Aye Captain?" Luffy pointed at Buggy, "Get this jerk out of here!"
Atlas raised his fingers poised to snap, "As you wish Captain." He snapped his fingers and a quick, fearsome vacuum later Buggy was gone. "Unhappy trails Buggy," Atlas said coldly with the grim satisfaction of knowing that Buggy would never hurt anyone again.
Luffy shook the rage out of his head, "Where did you send him?" Atlas pointed up and replied bluntly, "Space."
Luffy stared, "Whooooa, seriously?" Then he frowned, "Why did you send him somewhere so awesome?!" Atlas stared at his captain, "Cause there's no air up there so he probably just exploded into space dust from the vacuum? You did want him gone right?"
Luffy's eyes widened, "What?! I didn't want him dead! I don't like killing." Zoro and Atlas swapped a glance and then turned back to him. "Eh, Luffy," Zoro replied, "You do realize that if we hadn't killed him he probably would've come back for revenge, right?"
"He might have hurt Nami even worse next time just to get back at us," Atlas pointed out, "Speaking of, shouldn't we be a little more concerned with helping Nami?" He gestured towards Nami and blinked, "Where'd she go?"
Nami did her best to control her breathing and rapid heartbeat as she hid in the nearby alley clutching her still stinging shoulder and trying really hard to not think about how much pain she was in, Oh my GOD what kind of monsters are those three?! They just took down like sixty guys like it was nothing! I've gotta get aw-"AAAH!" she shrieked as she became aware of the three monsters looking at her curiously.
Then Atlas was right next to her sucking in a very concerned breath as he took in the sight of her burns through the ruins of her clothes, "Oh shit…We need to get you a doctor right now." Then he frowned, "Wait a second…" He held his hands apart and frowned. A moment later a rippling appeared in between them, "Hold still."
Before Nami could move, Atlas had moved the rippling over onto her shoulder and she felt a hot tingling sensation erupt everywhere it touched. Nami instinctively jerked away, "What are you doing?!"
Atlas frowned at her and raised the rippling air between his hands to show her, "This is a healing field. It's a space where no matter what kind of wound you've got it'll heal back to perfect in seconds. If you'll hold still and let me finish I can heal you. Look, your shoulder's already looking a lot better." Nami looked and missed Atlas pulling his hands wide apart and moving as if to smash the field over her head. The field went over Nami's head like a net and she felt her whole body begin to tickle and tingle as Atlas's powers did their work.
In seconds though, just as Atlas had promised, Nami's burns, which had covered most of her back and almost the entirety of her arms and legs, were all healed perfectly. Just as she was staggering back fully healed, Atlas gasped in agony and fell to one knee. Nami, Luffy and Zoro all watched in horror as blood started leaking from his sleeves and seeping through his clothes. They didn't realize what was happening until his skin ripped itself off his face and took a significant portion of his hair with it. Then Nami realized what was happening, "You idiot!" she shrieked, "What's the point of healing me if you were just going to take my wounds onto yourself?!"
Atlas cracked one eye open through the pain and grinned weakly, "Oh good, you're alright…Captain, can we find me a doctor? I don't think this is life threatening unless I bleed to death, so let's hurry yeah?" He raised one hand to look at his palm and smiled weakly, "At least…my hands are okay…" then he started to tip over sideways and muttered, "oh fuck here we g-OW! Hi Zoro…"
"Can you stand?" Zoro grunted as he adjusted his grip on his new battle buddy.
"Maybe…" Atlas panted, "Legs feel like they're on fire…hang on…" He weakly snapped his fingers and another ripple spread out from his body. "Sterile zone…" he grunted, "Should help keep infections out. Feels like the wounds are mostly to my back and the sides of my arms. May be able to count…er…zzz…" he passed out. Zoro looked at him and then over his shoulder, "Why are you two still standing there? We need some bandages! Atlas can do some crazy shit with his powers, but if he bleeds to death before he wakes up he can't do anything!"
Luffy immediately took off in a cloud of dust, "DOCTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" his howl echoed through the empty town.
==That Night==
Nami sat in a chair by Atlas's bed. Luffy and Zoro were there as well, both too worried to even enjoy their reward although they had managed to fall asleep. Atlas was still out cold and totally covered in bandages. The lights were out but the moon was full outside and its pale rays filtered down and in through the window to illuminate the bed and the mummy like figure lying on it.
Now that Nami could see the wounds Buggy's bomb had left on her, she couldn't believe that she had managed to move, let alone run from the three young men she had been so scared of. A completely irrational fear she decided as she looked at Atlas. They were terrifyingly strong to be sure and had been merciless to the pirates, but surely they weren't all bad if they were willing to take such horrible wounds to save her, and Luffy had tried his best to shield her from the brunt of the blast.
Atlas's back was one giant burn except for an X of untouched flesh that Nami recognized as where Luffy had grabbed her in an attempt to shield her from the explosion. From his shoulders to his elbows looked like they had been flayed and she couldn't help but raise a hand to the side of her face as she looked at the bandages covering his. She had managed to bury enough of her face in Luffy's chest that the blast hadn't gotten her eyes, but there were still two massive patches of flesh that had been stripped off Atlas's face when his powers had hurt him everywhere they'd healed her, and most of the skin on his neck and the back of his head was gone along with probably three quarters of his hair. His legs were wrapped tight in bandages and Nami silently vowed to never wear a skirt again as she recalled the burns that had covered her and then him from the waist down.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, Atlas's eyes snapped open. Nami jumped, "You're awake!" Atlas's eyes roved over to her and he blinked, then he raised a hand to his mouth and pulled the bandages down to reveal the face beneath. Nami tried her hardest not to flinch away at the corpse like visage beneath the bandages and Atlas gave her a flat look, "Whatever you just thought, cancel it. I don't know what it was, I really don't care. It was disturbing enough that I felt the bad vibes through whatever pain medicine that doctor gave me."
Nami blinked and then a twitchy grin spread across her face, "I had just decided to never wear skirts again because of the horrible burns you got from healing me which were initially my burns on my legs. Is that a problem?"
"Yes!" Atlas declared without a moment's hesitation, "It is definitely a problem! You are much too beautiful to not get to wear nice clothes that show off your good looks!" The absolute conviction in his eyes left zero doubt that he meant every word.
Nami felt a blush rise to her face and then the blush turned indignant, "I am not wearing clothes that put me in danger no matter how cute I look in them! We just met and it's really not your decision, so I don't see why you're in any way concerned about it."
"You will not be in danger!" Atlas declared firmly, "We're friends now aren't we? I protect my friends! So do Luffy and Zoro! As long as you're with us, we'll never let anything like that happen to you again! And even if it does, I'll heal you! You shouldn't have to go around being afraid," he finished quietly with a small smile, "Not of anything, and especially not on my behalf."
Nami's eyes widened as she took in the earnest light in his eyes. Was he seriously just openly pledging his protection to her like that? They were complete strangers! The bright glint in his eyes faded into tiredness and his brows lowered slightly as his gaze turned away, "Now that that's settled, I'm…" he yawned, "I'm going back to sleep." He winced as he nestled back down into the mattress, "Hey Nami…" his eyes were fluttering closed, "Can I…*yawn* can I get a smile? I only got a glimpse earlier, I bet it's beautiful…" Nami smiled as she leaned over to pull his blanket back up and Atlas's eyes finally slid shut with a small smile and a mutter of, "you're gonna embarrass the moon'n'stars…"
Nami's eyes went wide, What? The blush raced over her face again, Did he really just say that?! Then the cynical part of her brain kicked in, Wait a minute… His words over the course of the day echoed in her ears, almost everything he'd said to her had involved some sort of comment about her good looks. A tiny little gasp escaped her, HE JUST WANTS IN MY PANTS! Then a chill ran down her spine as she remembered that she was all alone in a room with not one but three men who had all proven themselves at least dangerous enough to take on twenty to one odds without batting an eye. Oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit…
She immediately got up and snuck out of the room as quietly as her years of thieving could allow, her footsteps quieter than feather falls. She started down the stairs and across to the door. The whole town had turned out to celebrate Buggy's defeat, she could easily disappear into the crowd. They'd never find her again. She paused at the door to the tavern and looked back up at the room where the three pirates were sleeping. I can't believe I almost fell for their big heroes routine…
She turned and opened the door only to find a seemingly very tall cloaked man on the other side. Nami opened her mouth to say something and then horror filled her features as she recognized Cabaji. The acrobat's hand snapped out and covered her mouth to cut off her scream as he forced his way in and quickly pushed her around so that her back was to the wall next to the door he quietly closed with the tip of his cutlass, click.
"So little miss thief," he said in a guttural whisper as Nami took in the crazed look in his eyes and the blood leaking from the corners of his mouth, "I guess your friends are here too. I'm sorry, but you won't be seeing them again, not even as corpses. You see I can't risk you calling out to wake them, so while normally I'd be tempted to have some fun with you, my only motivation tonight is reven…" A shocked and angry look crossed his face as something flashed across Nami's sight. Then Cabaji's head fell off.
"Didn't I kill you already?" Zoro asked Cabaji calmly as the acrobat's cleanly decapitated body keeled over sideways. Zoro calmly wiped his blade off and then sheathed it before turning his gaze to Nami, "You shouldn't take a man's promise of protection so lightly. Atlas knew there could be horrible consequences to experimenting with his powers to save you, he's already nearly killed himself with them by accident once. He did it anyway, and he'd do it again without a moment's hesitation." He smirked, "I should've guessed he had a soft spot for women. He wouldn't join the crew outright until he found out that Luffy doesn't know what sex is and was outraged at the thought of pirates pillage and plundering."
Nami's eyes widened and her heart skipped a few beats, What? Zoro turned to go and she had to ask, "What about you? Do you know what sex is?!" Even if the captain's innocent and good natured I still don't know about these other two, but I do know they're a lot more willing to kill than Luffy is. Who knows what else they're willing to do that he isn't?
Zoro paused to look over his shoulder at her, "Of course I know what sex is!" He turned and kept walking towards the stairs as he declared it, "A distraction." Nami's heart skipped a beat again, and when her brain started working again she felt like a complete heel.
She stayed there for a moment wallowing in her guilt and then went after him and said quietly… "Zoro…" Zoro turned just in time to see Cabaji get up with a pistol in hand, "MOVE!" He yelled as he shoved her aside and was lucky to only be grazed for his trouble. Zoro clutched the burning stinging trench in his flesh as his other hand went to his swords, "How are you still alive?"
Cabaji giggled, "Captain Buggy may have died, but his Devil Fruit lives on! I ate it so that I could avenge him and the rest of our crew! Thanks to Captain Buggy's Chop-chop fruit, I'm completely impervious to swords! You don't stand a chance against me Roronoa Zoro!"
He launched himself forward, cutlass poised to stab and was slammed in the face hard enough to send him flying back across the room and crashing into a table. Nami twirled her staff, "I was going to say I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions Zoro, but in this case, maybe I can let my actions speak a little louder than my words?"
Zoro looked at her in surprise, then grinned, "Sure thing," he stuck a sword in his mouth, "I'll handle defense," he pulled his second and third swords, "You beat the crap out of him with that staff of yours."
Cabaji lifted himself from the wreckage of his landing and staggered back to his feet coughing blood, "So…you can fight too huh girlie? Well…I'm no clown. Even though I killed Captain Buggy, I'm not taking up his moniker…" Zoro and Nami tensed, sensing that something was coming. Cabaji's grin turned victorious, "NOW RICHIE! HELP ME AVENGE MOHJI AND CAPTAIN BUGGY!" The massive lion burst through the wall on Zoro and Nami's left and Zoro jerked back as a dagger suddenly slammed into his shoulder and exploded, "AAAAGH!"
"I didn't have enough of the Buggy Balls left to just wipe this town off the map," Cabaji declared, "But I've got enough to finish all of you off!" Nami stared in horror at the smoking crater in the wall where Zoro had been and then she went pale and felt her heart stop as Richie the lion reminded her of his presence with a growl right behind her. Cabaji started towards the stairs grinning confidently and then pulled up short.
Zoro climbed out of the wall looking a little singed and a lot furious as he yanked the dagger out, "Is that so? Hate to break it to ya, but you're gonna need a lot more than that to stop me." Then one of his swords whirled and redirected the exploding dagger that Cabaji threw at him into Richie the lion. Richie the lion had chosen that unfortunate moment to have his mouth open in an attempt to bite Nami. Richie the lion did not get up after that one.
Cabaji stared with a twitchy eye, "Alright then, plan B…OPEN FIRE!" he roared and suddenly every window in the building was smashed in to reveal at least two battered Buggy Pirates behind each one with guns. Zoro realized with horror that they were all the ones Luffy had simply knocked out, and as ordered, they all opened fire. Zoro's life flashed before his eyes for a brief instant and then Luffy filled his vision.
"DON'T…" Luffy snarled and then roared, "MESS WITH MY FRIENDS!" He threw his hands up and every bullet caught in his stretchy rubber hide was slung back at the pirate that had shot it. Cabaji's head whipped around to see his remaining comrades felled by their own bullets and his blood froze as he realized he was all alone against two of the three monsters that had slaughtered the rest of his crew. Luffy smacked a fist into his hand and growled, "So you haven't had enough yet huh?"
"If you don't mind Captain," Atlas called from where he was standing on the balcony, "I think I'd like to try something. If it works it'll finish him for sure. Not even his Devil Fruit can save him from this one." Luffy nodded as he kept his gaze locked on Cabaji, "Do it."
The air around Atlas and Cabaji began to ripple and Atlas seemed to almost purr, "Damage Translocation." Suddenly Cabaji erupted in blood and collapsed. Atlas stood a little taller and grinned as he pulled his bandages off his face to reveal he was perfectly healed, "So I was right, that is how it works! That's handy!"
Luffy Zoro and Nami stared in shock and then Nami looked up at Atlas, "What did you do?" Atlas smiled, "Ah there you are Nami. Didn't I tell you that you didn't need to worry about me? I just took all the wounds I pulled off you and slapped them on him." Nami stared, "So…you healed yourself and set all those injuries on him at the same time?" Atlas grinned down at her, "Yep! Cool huh?"
Then they all froze as they heard Cabaji whisper, "Plan C…curtain call…" BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
