Disclaimer: I don't own anything. See Chapter 1 for details.
Author's note: Hey everyone! How are you all doing? Hope you are enjoying your vacation, whether it be winter or summer. Here in Japan, I am about to start summer vacation which means more time to write! Yay! Well, not really actually. I'm going on a trip and be out for a while. I know that many are asking if I am quitting my flagship story, "Saiyan in Mahora". I am going to be honest. I am not quitting. It's just that I have been busy and I am trying my best to come up with the best chapter possible because the story is in an interesting arc. If you want further details, please read my message on my profile page.
But back to this story. I am really glad that a lot more people are reading and enjoying this story. And I noticed that one person might have copied off from mine. Just to let you know, if you wish to use my materials, please ask before writing anything. I would gladly help you out in any way possible. But everyone, I am not a fan of plagiarism. I don't like it and especially don't like it when people don't give me credit. Just putting it out there.
Anyways, I present to you Chapter 4 of Cross Epoch: A Dragon Ball One Piece Adventure! Enjoy!
Log 4: Arrival at Orange Town! The Clown Pirates, Captain Buggy and Pilaf!
A while away, on Orange Island was a deserted town called Orange Town. Docked at sea was a carnival themed pirate ship, which probably explained why the village was empty. Well… empty except for a certain eighteen year old orange-haired girl was running away as fast as she could. She was holding a rolled up piece of paper in her hand that appeared to be some sort of chart or map. This girl was wearing a white and blue striped short-sleeved shirt and a short yellow skirt. On her feet was a pair of high-heeled sandals.
"Stop! You can't run from us!" came a loud shout of a group of three large but strange looking pirates that were chasing after the girl. "Thief! Give us back that chart!"
I finally have it, this girl said to herself as she ran off as fast as she could. The chart of the Grand Line.
"Damn!" cursed one of the pirates chasing her. "If we don't get that chart back, we're dead! If Sir Pilaf finds out what happened, he's gonna kill us!"
"Sir Pilar?! He isn't the one we should worry about," retorted one of the other pirates. "It's Captain Buggy we should worry about."
Meanwhile…
On top of a pub near the harbor, was a tent that housed two mysterious figures that were hidden in the darkness. "Captain Buggy, Sir Pilaf, there's an unknown object flying in the air!" A pirate reported. "What should we do?"
"Use the cannon and shoot it down," came Captain Buggy's order as the other figure was silent and looked on with interest.
Back with the Mysterious Girl…
The orange haired girl was still running from the three pirates when a cannon was fired and struck an object flying and the three pirates stared in shock as something or someone fell from the sky and crashed harshly into the ground, creating a cloud of smoke and dust.
"Ow," came a calm voice in the cloud of smoke and dust. "Why the hell did they shoot me?" The smoke cleared and revealed Goku, slowly getting back up to his feet almost completely unscathed.
"What! He's still alive!" a pirate exclaimed.
"Where am I?" Goku wondered as he glanced around him. "Oh man, now I lost the big turkey. Luffy is gonna get mad."
Suddenly the orange haired girl had an idea as she let out a small grin. She smiled ran up to the strange boy who had fallen out of the sky and hugged him, "BOSS!" she exclaimed. "You're finally here! I knew you'd come and save me! I'll just leave everything to you, and I'll let you handle these guys."
"Huh?" questioned Goku as the orange girl released him and ran off, leaving him with the three pirates.
"Hey! She ran off again!" one of the pirates realized.
"We don't have to chase her anymore," said another pirate. "We've still got her boss right here. He's a bigger prize than she is."
The three pirates surrounded Goku and were all at least two inches taller than him and all of them appeared to be going with the buff tough-guy look. But despite that, Goku didn't seem the least bit intimidated.
"What now boss?" a pirate taunted. "That chart was property of the Buggy Pirates!"
"Chart?" Goku repeated in confusion.
"You stole that chart from Captain Buggy and Sir Pilaf, prepare to die!" The three pirates drew their swords and charged at Goku in a triangle formation in order to keep him properly surrounded. But
"Captain Puggie?" Goku questioned once more as he dodged each attack with ease. But then suddenly, one of the pirate's slashes hit the brown sack that was tied to Goku's sash. Within a second, Goku punched the unfortunate pirate in the face. "Don't you dare touch that again," he said with a serious look on his face.
The pirates all gulped internally as they had now realized they had pissed off the wrong person. After a few seconds, the three pirates were beaten and piled up with Goku looking above them. He let out a sigh, a bit disappointed that these guys weren't strong enough for him.
"Wow," came a voice from a balcony overlooking the street. It turned out to be the orange haired girl, who had gone around the corner and climbed up onto the room of the house while Goku was fighting. "You're really strong. You beat those guys with in less than five seconds!"
"Yeah but they were really weak. I had hoped to get someone strong," Goku commented before realizing that he had another question in mind. "Hey! Why did you that to me? I'm not your boss."
"Yeah I know, but I had to get them off me so I gave them to you," the orange haired girl said. "I knew you would beat them up. I could tell you were strong."
"Yeah right," Goku muttered.
"Anyways, I'm Nami," the orange haired girl said. "I am thief that steals only from pirates. Wanna join with me?"
"A thief?"
"That's right, I rob pirates," Nami repeated. "You know if we team up and work together we could get a lot of treasure and make a fortune!"
"Why would I team up with you?" asked Goku, who wasn't all that fond of teaming up with someone who robbed pirates especially when he was a pirate after all. "Not interested." With that, he turned around and started walking off.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Nami called out as she followed him. "I was curious about that bag around your waist. When one of those guys slashed at it, you got really mad."
"Of course, it holds my treasure," the spikey haired pirate replied.
"Treasure?!" Nami exclaimed, her eyes sparkling a bit at the sound of treasure. "You must carry many jewels or something if it that precious to you."
"Nope," Goku replied in monotone voice. "Nothing like that. Anyways, I got things to do." Grumble… Goku stomach betrayed him signifying that he was hungry.
"Look, you're obviously hungry," Nami observed. "I can help you find something to eat, and maybe you'll reconsider teaming up."
"Well… I guess I can't say no to a free meal," Goku agreed.
"Alright, come on then!" Nami grabbed his hand and pulled him off through the deserted town in search of food.
Meanwhile…
On the roof of the Drinker's Pub, the flag of Buggy the Clown was flying. The skull and crossbones had a big red nose and crosses of eye make up on the eye holes, making it look like a clown. Down on the roof, Buggy the Clown was angry. "You still haven't caught that thief yet?" he asked some of his pirates. Buggy the Clown had blue hair, a big red nose and a skull and crossbones painted on his forehead which was visible under the Captain's hat he was wearing.
"We're trying to catch her, sir," a pirate reported in an attempt to calm down the easily-angered captain.
"This is inexcusable!" said Buggy, "How could you let the chart of the Grand Line get stolen? Just when we were about to head there and raise some hell!"
"Well you see Captain Buggy, sir," the pirate explained. "Someone left the chart out on a table in the pub downstairs. Now only the robber knows…"
"What did you say?" Captain Buggy interrupted.
"I said robber knows," the pirate answered, realizing too late that he had pissed Buggy off.
"WHAT RUBBER NOSE?!" Buggy screeched as he turned over a chair and got ready to kill the foolish pirate. "Does my nose look funny to you?" Buggy demanded. Buggy's red clown nose was a very sensitive subject. Anyone who made fun of it, or said something that Buggy mistook for making fun of it, was punished severely.
"I didn't say that sir," the terrified pirate protested. "It was a mistake! I meant the thief!"
"SO NOW IT LOOKS FAKE! IT LOOKS LIKE BEEF!" Buggy shrieked in outrage. That was three times that the fool had 'insulted' his nose, now he'd pay! "FOR THIS YOU DIE!"
"Please Captain," came the pirate's strangled reply. "I didn't."
"Who am I?" Buggy growled as the pirate started floating up into the air, while holding his throat and gasping for breath.
"Captain… I can't breathe!" the pirate wheezed as his feet left the ground.
"Ready the cannon," Pirate Captain Buggy the Clown ordered as he sat back down on his chair and surveyed the scene before him.
"But I didn't do anything wrong!" the pirate protested.
"DIE FLASHILY!" Buggy screamed. Within moments, the cannon was fired and blasted the pirate with a huge explosion. When it cleared, there was nothing left. "Now get my chart back. And take all of the treasure left in this town."
"Yes sir!" came the pirates' reply as they scurried off. Buggy was in a bad mood and none of them wanted to linger and risk getting blown up with a cannon balls.
"You know, you should control that temper a bit Captain," spoke a mysterious room inside the tent. "If you are not careful, you could die flashily."
Buggy growled a bit as he looked at the source of the voice. "Don't tempt me, Pilaf," he said. "I'm in a really bad mood."
"I know but we had heard that there is another Dragon Ball in this town," spoke the mysterious person as he came into the light. He was short, very short compared to size of Buggy. He wore a Chinese vest and around his neck were a white frill. He also wore a Chinese cap with a star mark at the center. But what was most interesting about him was that his skin was blue. "I want more Dragon Balls so I can rule the world!"
Suddenly, Pilaf was hit by Buggy's fist as he laid a punch on the blue dwarf's head. "You idiot! You are supposed to say that more flashly! And also, quit being such a child! There are a lot things to dream about rather than world domination!"
"Oh yeah? Well, if it weren't for my wealth and resources, you wouldn't have a pirate crew, would you red nosed freak?!"
"What did you say?!"
With that, the two of them started to fight inside the tent, creating a dust cloud that covered the fight from outside. Some of the observers let out a sigh. "They are at it again," said one.
"Yeah, but they always seem to make up later on."
"Hey you idiots! Do you want to get caught in their argument? Captain Buggy is nothing compared to Sir Pilaf when he gets angry! We have to be careful not to piss them off."
"Relax, who in their right minds would want to piss off the Clown Pirates?"
Meanwhile…
Sometime later, Nami and Goku had found an abandoned house and Goku had gotten his promised meal. Except it wasn't what Nami was expecting. Goku had cleaned the entire house of food and some more as she had to go over to the other houses to get even more food. Over that time, he told Nami how he and his crew had gotten hungry and he had tried to catch a bird, only to miscalculate how big the bird really was and got caught in its beak and taken away. As a result he lost his Nakama.
"Weird," said Nami, once Goku had told her how he had gotten separated from his crew. "So you lost your friends at sea? How big is your crew?"
"Just three other guys," Goku answered as he finished his 30th plate. "This isn't your house, is it?"
"No. All of the people in the town have left because they're scared of Captain Buggy and his pirates," Nami explained. "The town is practically deserted. I've been staying at this house while I've been in town."
"Hmmm, is he that scary? That pirate called Mami?" Goku asked.
"It's NAMI, not MAMI! Besides, I am Nami! The pirate is Buggy! Don't switch the names!" Nami screamed angrily at the spikey haired pirate. "Anyways, about Buggy. He was a low life pirate who was found of canons but ever since he had teamed up with Pilaf, he and his crew have become even more famous. I heard he has got himself a considerable bounty."
"But then why isn't there anyone in this village?" Goku questioned with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"I just said they're avoiding conflict! What have you been listening to all this time?!"
"Nothing really. I just heard about these guys named Puggie and Pirar and that's about it."
Nami couldn't help but facepalm herself. "For some reason, talking to you about things like this seems to be too much for you." Goku then started to laugh a bit, causing Nami to turn angrily with sharp teeth. "Don't laugh!"
"Why do you want to steal?" Goku asked with a smile on his face.
"Easy. I've got to collect one hundred million berries, and then I'm going to buy a certain village," the orange haired girl replied.
"Buy a village? A hundred million berries is a lot."
"I've got a plan for that!" Nami said as she pulled out something. It was a roll of paper which turned out to be a map. "This is the map to the Grand Line that I just stole from those pirates. But I am not finished with just that. First I'm gonna steal Buggy's treasure, then I plan to head to the Grand Line and steal treasure from the famous pirates there. What do you think? Do you want to join me? I could use a tough guy like you."
"Maybe," Goku commented.
"Come on, surely a guy like you can appreciate some good treasure," Nami continued to press him. "Together we'll make a fortune, and we can split it fifty-fifty. Plus, I hear that Buggy has himself a Dragon Ball. Of course, it is just a rumor, but…" Nami cut herself short when she noticed that Goku was paying close attention. Thinking that he was being tempted by the sound of treasure, she leaned over the table and batted her eyes at him. "I'm told I can be great company," she said with a flirty wink.
"Hm…" Goku thought it over for a moment and was seemingly oblivious to the orange haired girl that was attempting to flirt with him. One of her words had gotten his attention but right now, there were other matters more important to him. "Do you know anything about navigation?"
"Of course I do," Nami quickly answered. "I'm the best navigator around. There aren't a lot of people who know more about it than I do, especially since I love the sea."
"That's great. My Nakama and I are in need of a decent navigator, and we were planning on heading to the Grand Line too."
"Really?" This guy and his friends can beat everyone up, and I'll walk away with all the treasure, Nami said to herself.
"Yeah! I can't wait to tell Luffy and the others that we found ourselves a navigator for our pirate crew!"
"NO WAY!" Nami immediately said, completely surprising the spikey haired pirate.
"Why?"
"If there's one thing in this world I can't stand, its pirates! But I love money and tangerines," Nami replied. "I knew something was fishy about you. You were probably going to use the jewels in your brown bag to buy this chart from me, weren't you?"
"As I said before, there ain't any jewels in here. There is something more precious in here but I guess you wouldn't understand," Goku replied as he slowly stood up and headed for the door.
"What are you talking about? What's in that bag?" asked Nami curiously. Goku gave no reply. "C'mon. If you don't say anything, I might as well steal it from you since you are a pirate."
"You really want to know?" Goku inquired as he stopped walking and stood there staring at the door in front of him. "You know about the One Piece and the Dragon Balls, right?"
"Everyone's heard of those things. All of you stupid pirates are after it."
"Well, it's my dream to find them."
"What, so you're gonna be King of the Pirates?"
"No. Luffy is gonna be King of the Pirates. I'm gonna find the Dragon Balls and become Dragon Master."
"You sound confident, but what makes you think you can find it?" asked Nami. "Pirates with the same dream as you have been looking for the One Piece and the Dragon Balls for years. Besides, the Dragon Balls are only just rumors and I haven't seen one myself but…" Nami stopped talking when she noticed that Goku pulled out a Dragon Ball from the brown bag, showing its elegance to the orange haired girl.
Nami was at a loss of words. Right in front of her was a Dragon Ball. A real Dragon Ball? "H-How did you get this?"
Goku smiled as he looked at the four star ball. "A very special friend gave this and another gift to me and my best friend Luffy. At that moment, we swore to ourselves to gather up a crew and become the best pirates to the person who gave us these things," Goku told her, sounding as serious as he ever did. "Luffy is going to be King of the Pirates and I will become the Dragon Master, even if it means fighting against strong opponents. Besides, it should be a lot of fun."
Goku turned around and watched Nami as she sat at the table and stared at him, she was obviously thinking it over. "I'll reconsider on one condition," Nami eventually decided.
"Keep talking."
"It's just one tiny, little thing… Go with me to see Buggy." Goku blinked a few times in confusion as Nami continued to say, "I wanna steal Buggy's treasure and I'm sure you want to get your hands on the rumored Dragon Ball, right? Think of this as a test. It'll determine how things will go in the future. If we can manage it, I'll think about joining your pirate crew."
Goku smiled. "Alright! Let's go see him then. What did you have in mind?" Goku asked, looking vaguely interested.
A few minutes later…
Nami and Goku were walking down the road. Nami had a rope wrapped around her arm. "At the end of this road is the Drinker's Pub," Nami pointed out. "That's where Captain Buggy is staying."
"Okay but why do you have a rope?" Goku asked.
"That… you will find out soon… when we get there!" Nami assured him as she took her rope and tied his hands behind his back, then wrapped the rope around his body keeping his arms pinned to his back as well as his legs. "Stupid pirate!"
"Hey! What are you doing?" Goku protested as Nami pulled him down the road after her and towards Buggy's place.
Meanwhile on top of the Drinker's Pub…
"WHAAAAT?!" Captain Buggy roared in outrage. "YOU LET THE THIEF GET AWAY AGAIN! HOW COULD YOU LET HER ESCAPE!"
"We're sorry Captain," the three pirates that Goku had beaten up earlier apologized. "But this spikey haired guy was really strong and really fast. He beat us before we could blink!"
"FOR THIS YOU DIE!" Buggy shouted as he prepared to execute his three henchmen for a crime even more severe than insulting his nose: Losing or stealing one of his important possessions.
"But wait, Captain, that guy had something valuable in a brown bag! It gave off an orange color from the sunlight!" protested one of the pirates which caught Pilaf's attention. But of course, that wasn't going to stop Buggy and Pilaf from hurting them.
But luckily for the trio, another pirate ran in and drew Buggy's attention with a loud announcement "Captain Buggy!" the small dark-skinned pirate with a pointed hat called out as he ran over. "It's the thief! She just walked through the door!"
"Good, bring her in here," Buggy instructed. "… wait hold on! What's she planning?"
"I don't know," the pirate admitted as Nami walked in pulling Goku behind her.
"That's him!" one of the pirates that Goku had beaten exclaimed. "The spikey haired brat who fell from the sky! He's the thief's boss!"
"Captain Buggy," said Nami as she threw the tied Goku in front of her. "I've already caught the thief and brought back your chart. Plus, a little bonus too."
"Nami… what's going on?!" asked Goku, his eye narrowed when he realized his brown bag was no longer with him. "You tricked me!"
"Hmm… you're returning the chart?" questioned Buggy.
Suddenly, a blue dwarf appeared next to the Clown Pirate. "What's this all about? Please do tell," he said.
"I had a fight with my boss," Nami answered. "He's an idiot, so I decided to try and join up with you. And know how you much you wanted to get your hands on a Dragon Ball." She pulled out a brown bag and with it, a Dragon Ball. It got everyone surprised, especially Pilaf
"Bwahahahaha! An idiot with a Dragon Ball, huh?" Buggy laughed. "I like you. I can see why you left since he didn't have a clue what to do that Dragon Ball. As a reward, I think I'll accept you and let you join as part of my crew." Pilaf grinned evilly as he got himself another Dragon Ball added to his collection.
Mission accomplished, Nami thought to herself. Now I just need to steal back the chart, steal Buggy's treasure, and get out of here.
Out by the docks a little boat pulled up. "We've finally arrived," one of the three pirates announced.
Luffy glanced around the empty town. "Where is everybody?"
"What an empty town," Piccolo observed, "I don't see anyone around here."
"Well the truth is, the town was invaded by Captain Buggy," the pirate explained. "That's why no one is here."
Cracking his knuckles, Luffy looked at the three pirates with stern look on his face. "Where's this Buggy?" he asked.
On the roof of the Drinker's Pub, Buggy and his pirates were all celebrating. The booze was flowing and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. "The chart of the Grand Line is mine again!" Buggy cheered. "We have one more crewmate and have ourselves another Dragon Ball! Everybody give it up, let's have fun and prepare ourselves for our next conquest!"
Buggy's strange circus themed pirates took drinks and continued celebrating. "NAMI! YOU'RE REALLY KNOCKING 'EM BACK!" Buggy shouted to the as she downed another mug of grog.
"Time for a drinking contest new girl!" a pirate announced as he started drinking a mug of grog. Nami accepted and downed mug after mug of grog until the pirate passed out.
"I WIN!" Nami exclaimed as she held an empty mug up over her head. No one can out-drink me, she said to herself. If I can get all of them drunk, this will make my job much easier pirates are really easy to trick."
Meanwhile, Goku tried his best to break free from his cage and the ropes even though he could break free. However, he would have to use a considerable amount of energy since Nami had tied him pretty tightly, especially when the rope was pressing tightly against his tail, causing him to lose energy slowly. Despite that, he couldn't let those pirates take away his treasure, the Dragon Ball. He continue to untied himself, vaguely aware of Nami approaching.
"How ya doin' boss?" Nami teased him as she knelt down in front of the cage.
Goku didn't say anything at first because he was a little angry at the orange haired thief for giving away his Dragon Ball to the pirates. Despite that though, he couldn't stay angry at her for long. "Would you mind getting me something to eat?" Goku requested as he was feeling weak from the rope's binding.
To Goku's mild surprise, Nami left and actually came back with some food. "You, you are a nice person," the spikey haired pirate said while eating. "I guess I'll convince Luffy to have you join our crew."
"I don't want to, you idiot!" Nami said angrily. "Don't you realize what's going on here?" she asked while Goku ate his meal. "I betrayed you, and now I've joined Buggy the Clown's pirate crew."
"No you haven't," said Goku. "You hate pirates. You'll probably steal his treasure the second his back is turned."
"Why are you so nonchalant about this?" Nami demanded. "He's going to kill you."
"No he won't," Goku replied with a confident look on his face. "Because… I'm strong."
Nami was definitely surprised at how confident the young spikey haired pirate was. She was about to reprimand him but she then heard some footsteps and turned around to see Buggy walking over to the cage. "BWAHAHAHA!" Buggy laughed. "Enjoy your last moments alive you spikey haired brat. Do you finally realize who you're dealing with? I'm Buggy the Clown, feared pirate with the powers of the Devil Fruit! You had the audacity to steal my sea chart, so now you're going to pay with your life. I'm going to…"
"You're going to let me go?" Goku supplied.
"Yes, I'm going to—" Buggy started to agree, but then he realized what he was agreeing to. "OF COURSE I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GO! LOAD THE SPECIAL BUGGY BALLS! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN! PILAF!"
Pilaf gave a motion with his hand, and two crewmates brought out a large cannon. "Buggy Ball Cannon ready Captain," a pirate reported as he held up a special cannon ball with Buggy the Clown's insignia on it and then rolled it into the nozzle of the large cannon.
"Very well," said Buggy as he lit a fuse. "Now for a flashy demonstration! FIRE!"
The pirates turned the cannon towards a house and shot it off. The red cannon ball was launched forward and pelted into the house, BLASTED THROUGH IT, and then continued to go crashing through an entire line of houses down in the village. When the ball finally stopped and exploded, the six houses that the cannon ball had blown through collapsed to the ground and were reduced to mere piles of rubble.
"What the heck was that?" Luffy wondered when he suddenly saw a cannonball launched and take down an entire row of houses.
"Wow, that packed a punch," Zoro remarked as he stared at the remains of the houses the cannon ball had blown up.
"It came from that tavern over there," Piccolo mentioned as he pointed at the direction of the cannon fire.
"Then let's go," Luffy resolved. "Maybe Goku's there."
"A truly flashy performance, wouldn't you agree Pilaf?" Buggy commented.
Pilaf shared a snicker with the Clown Pirate. "Of course," he said. "The power of the Buggy ball is so great that this thing can wipe out the whole little village in one shot. Add your Devil Fruit powers and my wealth, we will be unstoppable on the Grand Line! And with that, my dream of collecting all seven Dragon Ball will be nothing more than a reality!"
Nami stared in shock at the damage the Buggy Ball had done. Nothing would be able to stand up against something like that. "BWHAHAHAHA! Load another Buggy Ball!" Another one of Buggy's signature cannon balls was loaded into the cannon. "Position the cannon!" The cannon was moved and aimed at Goku's cage.
"Now it's your turn girlie," Buggy said to Nami. "Prove your loyalty by blowing your former boss into smithereens with this Buggy Ball. Show me you're ruthless enough to take over the world. KILL YOUR FORMER BOSS!"
"You want me to, k-kill him?" Nami repeated in surprise, just because Buggy was an evil nasty pirate that killed people for seemingly trivial matters, it didn't mean she killed people. She wasn't going to kill someone just to keep up an act, even if he was just some lousy pirate. "That's okay Captain Buggy, I don't need to do that… let's go drink some more and forget about that loser."
"DO IT!" Buggy ordered, causing his pirates to start chanting and cheering. They wanted to see something blown up.
Oh no, what should I do," Nami thought to herself while the pirates continued cheering. If I don't kill him, then they'll kill me. He's just a no good pirate… but if I murdered him in cold blood that would make me just as bad as a pirate.
"NAMI!" Buggy shouted. "Stop stalling and light the cannon!"
"Your hands are shaking," Goku observed from the cage, startling Nami. "That's what you get for going up against pirates unprepared."
"Unprepared?" questioned Nami as she glared at the spikey haired pirate in the cage. "You mean being ready to kill someone like it's nothing? Is that what 'prepared' means to a pirate?"
"No," Goku answered. "That kind of pirate gives pirates like me a bad name. It means being ready to put your life on the line. Are you willing to do that for your dreams?" Goku simply crossed his legs. He wasn't even the least bit intimidated at the prospect of being killed. It looked like he was actually welcoming it.
Who the heck is this guy? Nami thought to herself as she stared at the pirate in the cage. She didn't even notice the pirate coming up behind her.
"What are you waiting for? Don't you know how to do it?" asked one of Buggy's pirates as he lit a match. "It's easy, you just put the flame to the fuse…" The pirate demonstrated and quickly lit the fuse, but he didn't notice Nami reaching under her skirt for the three segments of her bow-staff before it was too late. Nami swung her bow staff around and smashed the pirate in the head, knocking him out cold.
"TRAITOR!" Captain Buggy screamed. "AND AFTER I WELCOMED YOU INTO MY CREW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!"
Darn I couldn't help myself, Nami said to herself, but then she noticed the sly grin on Goku's face. "Don't get any bright ideas!" she exclaimed. "I did it because of my own feelings. No matter what, I won't become a cruel pirate. YOU PIRATES TOOK SOMEONE DEAR TO ME! AND I'LL NEVER BECOME WHAT I HATE!"
"So that's why you hate pirates," Goku realized. Suddenly, he smelled something burning. He looked around and saw the fuse was still burning. "Ah! Nami, the fuse is still burning!"
"The fuse," said Nami as she reached out and grabbed the burning fuse on the cannon and smothered it with her hand. "Aaaaahhhhh!" Nami yelled out in pain as the fuse burned her hands while she put it out.
"KILL HER!" Buggy commanded, his men charged at the thief by the cannon.
Nami whirled around in time to see the angry punch of pirates charging at her. Within moments, the pirates went crashing to the ground before they even reached Nami. She turned around and saw three new faces enter the fray as Luffy, Piccolo and Zoro were left standing over them.
"Luffy, Piccolo, Zoro, it's about time you guys got here," Goku commented. "What took you? Did you get lost?"
"What're you doing in that cage?" asked Luffy as he stared at the cage Goku was trapped in curiously. "And did you catch our lunch?"
"Will you forget about the turkey for two minutes?!" Zoro and Piccolo scolded him.
"Did he just call those two guys Z-Zoro a-and P-P-Piccolo?" a pirate stammered. "What's the Demon Pirate Hunter Duo doing talking to that thief? And who's that other guy with the hat?"
The crewmates he was talking about, Nami said to herself. That was Zoro and Piccolo, the Demon Pirate Hunter Duo, and the other one's the Captain. He knew they were coming… he was just stalling for time…"
"So you're Roronoa Zoro, huh?" asked Captain Buggy. "I'm guessing that green guy must be Piccolo Daimao. You two must have come here to capture me."
"Actually we gave up Pirate Hunting," Piccolo admitted.
"Plus, we have no interest in you. We just came here to get our First Mate back."
"Well I have an interest in you," Buggy announced. "Killing you two would be a great honor, especially you Zoro."
"Try it, and you'll end up dead," Zoro threatened him.
"WOW A CLOWN!" Luffy exclaimed, having just noticed Buggy the Clown. "Can you do a trick?!" Buggy stared at Luffy in shock, too surprised to think of anything to say.
"YOU'RE AN ENTIRE CREW OF MORONS!" Buggy yelled, finally getting over his shock.
"Then what does that make your crew?" Piccolo retorted.
"I'LL KILL YOU FIRST PICCOLO DAIMAO!" Buggy screamed.
"No, you won't," said Zoro as he faced Buggy and glared at him. "You picked a fight with me first. Piccolo, this is my fight. Don't interfere."
"Do you really have to say that, you green haired bastard?" Piccolo said. "Fine. I'll let you have this one. But if you lose, I will kill you and that clown so don't go easy on him." Piccolo then walked over to Goku's cage and stood next to it while Luffy sat on top of it so he could have a good seat.
"Get 'im Captain Buggy!" the Buggy Pirates cheered their captain on, "Cut him to pieces!"
"Get ready Pirate Hunter," said Buggy, "Because I'm about to get a look at your blood."
"You asked for it," Zoro replied as he drew his swords and got in a fighting stance.
"DIE FLASHILY!" Buggy charged at Zoro. However, Zoro's attack connected and Buggy fell to the ground in pieces.
"No way," said Nami to herself as she heard Buggy's pirates laughing. "What's with these pirates?" Nami thought to herself as watched Buggy's crew. "Their Captain gets killed and they just laugh about it."
"That was disappointing," Zoro commented as he stared down at the severed pieces of Buggy the Clown's body.
"Zoro, don't let your guard down," Piccolo advised as he surveyed the scene. Buggy's pirates were laughing and the many pieces that remained of Buggy were still on the ground.
"Luffy, get me out of here. My tail is being held up tightly and quickly losing strength," Goku said as he glanced up as his Captain who was still sitting on top of the cage.
"Oh, I was wondering why you were in there," said Luffy, causing Zoro, Nami, Piccolo, and some of Buggy's crew to sweat-drop.
Zoro had turned away from Buggy and stood next to Luffy and Piccolo in front of Goku's cage. "We can't open this cage without a key," Zoro observed. "And these bars are too thick for me to cut through. What do you think, Piccolo?" Piccolo nodded and was to examine the bars more closely.
However, the circus-themed pirates laughed louder than ever. "HA HAH HEH HEH HEE!"
"I don't get it, what's so funny?" Luffy wondered as he scratched the back of his head, making himself look even more like a monkey.
"Very funny, now hand over the key to the cage before I get cranky," Zoro ordered as he glared at the laughing pirates.
"Those guys are kind of creepy," Luffy remarked.
But suddenly a look of intense pain appeared on Zoro's face. He looked down and saw that he had been stabbed from behind with a dagger. The dagger was going in through the lower left side of his back and the tip was coming out his front causing Zoro's blood to flow freely.
"ZORO!" Luffy shouted in surprise as he stared down at the bleeding swordsman. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Everyone looked around to see who had stabbed the Pirate Hunter. Then anger turned into shock as it was Captain Buggy's hand that had stabbed him. But his hand wasn't attached to his body… it was still cut off… but was floating, like it had a life of its own.
"What's that?" questioned Nami. "A hand?"
"That must be Buggy's power," Piccolo reasoned.
"The battle has only started, bounty hunter!" Pilaf smirked.
"Damn it," Zoro cursed to himself. "What the hell was that? A flying hand?"
"It's the Bara Bara no Mi (Chop Chop Fruit)," came the voice of Buggy as his head floated up off of the ground and attached itself back onto his body. "That's the name of the Devil Fruit that I ate. You can cut me to pieces, but my body will still go back together. I can detach any part of my body. I'm a Chop Chop Man!"
"A Chop Chop Man? That's silly," remarked Luffy.
"But, I thought Devil Fruits were just a myth," said Nami.
"Roronoa Zoro, I just missed you vitals," Buggy called out, "but I still gave you a critical wound, Demon Pirate Hunter. I believe that makes me the winner of this fight. You're next, Piccolo Daimao and the result should be the same."
Zoro held onto his wound as he looked angrily at the clown pirate. Ung… I came to save Goku, and now it looks like I'm the one who needs saving, Zoro thought to himself. When I heard that this clown had eaten Devil Fruit, I should have been more prepared. Piccolo, meanwhile, didn't say anything at Buggy while his right hand went up to the handle of his giant katana, ready to draw it out.
"You've got him trapped! Finish him Captain Buggy!" the Buggy Pirates cheered.
"You definitely can beat the infamous Demon Pirate Hunter Duo!"
Now the tables have turned," Nami said to herself. If I don't do something we'll all be killed.
Meanwhile, Luffy was pissed. Buggy was a horrible person and he fought dirty. "STABBING SOMEONE IN THE BACK!" Luffy yelled. "THAT'S FIGHTING DIRTY, YOU GOT THAT BIG NOSE!"
Everyone, except for Goku, Zoro and Piccolo, froze after hearing that comment. "You idiot!" Nami snapped. "That's the one thing you never…"
"YOU DARE TO CALL ME BIG NOSE?" Buggy's hand detached while holding a knife and flew at Luffy, but he reached out and caught the hand easily.
"I swear…" said Luffy as he threw the dagger to the side, and glared at the clown pirate. "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS! I ALREADY WARNED YOU, NO ONE HURTS MY NAKAMA!"
"Bwahahaha! You? Kick my ass?" Buggy laughed. "And just how to you expect to do that? You're all about to die!"
But before they got into a fight, Piccolo lowered his hand and put in on the Straw Hat's shoulder. "Luffy," he said. "Flip the cannon."
"Got it," agreed Luffy agreed as he ran to the cannon and grabbed the barrel. He then hoisted it up onto his back then shot up, causing the barrel to go straight up into the air, before falling down, now pointing in the opposite direction.
"The cannon's pointed at US!" shouted one of Buggy's pirates.
"And it's loaded with one of my Buggy Balls!" Pilaf shrieked.
"Oi, orange girl, now," Piccolo ordered. Nami was a bit hesitant at first but quickly lit the fuse, this time she had no problem doing it.
"NO! LOOK OUT!" Buggy screamed, as the fuse burnt down and fired the cannon. The Buggy Ball exploded forward and impacted with the ground, creating a big cloud of smoke and dust.
"Time to go," Goku suggested.
"Hey, who are you?" asked Luffy, seemingly just noticing Nami.
"I'm a thief," Nami answered.
"Actually Luffy," Goku chimed in. "I've found us a Navigator."
"I never agreed to that!" Nami snapped. "And shouldn't you be trying to get out of the cage?"
"Luffy, let's get out of here," Piccolo suggested. "We'll worry about unlocking the monkey king later."
"Hey!"
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE YOU FLASHY BASTARDS!" came a loud shriek from Buggy, who had apparently survived the blast.
"Don't worry, I've got it," Luffy assured him as he grabbed two of the bars of the cage, then turned around and in an amazing feat of strength hoisted the entire thing up onto his back. His Nakama was in danger, the thought of getting everyone safely out of the situation gave him the strength of over ten men.
"Zoro, are you gonna be alright?" asked Goku from on Luffy's back.
"I'll live," the swordsman assured him as he stood next to Luffy and held his hand over his knife wound. He started to fall down due to the blood loss but luckily Piccolo was there to catch him.
"Idiot," Piccolo muttered as he placed the injured swordsman on his shoulder.
"How can you do this?" asked Nami in amazement as she stared at the big iron cage on Luffy's back.
"Luffy, get us out of here before they recover," Goku instructed.
"I don't get it," said Nami to herself, "No pirate would risk his life for another one."
"When you're Nakama, you do this kind of crazy thing for each other," Luffy explained with a casual shrug. "See ya!" With that Luffy and Zoro ran off carrying the caged Goku with them.
Nami noticed that the dust and smoke was clearing and figured she'd better leave, but she had one more thing to do before she left…
Meanwhile…
"Where'd they go?" Buggy demanded once the smoke cleared.
"They're gone Captain," a timid pirate answered, "Zoro, Piccolo Daimao, Nami, the Monkey King, that Straw Hat guy, even the cage!"
"That's impossible!" Buggy snapped, "That cage is made out of iron! It took five men to carry it."
"AHH! IT'S GONE!" a pirate suddenly shrieked.
"What's gone?" Buggy demanded, this was just getting worse and worse!
"The key to the cage," the pirate answered. "Someone stole it!"
Meanwhile…
On a roof top in the middle of town Luffy slammed down the cage while Piccolo who was holding Zoro on his shoulder sat next to him on a roof.
"How're we gonna get you out of that cage?" Luffy wondered.
"We're in a… fine mess…" Zoro panted as he held his hand over his wound. "But now we've gotta finish what we started."
"You are in no condition to fight, green haired bastard," Piccolo mentioned as he dropped Zoro onto the floor. "I'll take over your fight."
"Shut up, you green asshole," Zoro muttered. "Don't you dare inter –"
"Are they in the Pub?" called the far off voice of a pirate, interrupting the green haired swordsman.
"No!"
"What about the main road?"
"Not there either."
Meanwhile, back with the Buggy Pirates…
"NO MORE CLOWNING AROUND!" Buggy yelled, "THOSE FIVE ARE TRYING TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME! WHO AM I?!"
"Pirate Captain Buggy the Clown!"
"Damn straight," Buggy growled.
"Clearly we're not dealing with common thieves! This means war!" Pilaf mentioned.
"LISTEN UP CREW!" Buggy shouted to his men. Luffy, Goku, Zoro, Piccolo and Nami had escaped and he was still pissed off. "WE'VE FLASHILY STOLEN TONS OF TREASURE AND OUR NAME BRINGS FLASHY TERROR TO ALL WHO HEAR IT! SO ARE WE GOING TO LET FOUR LOSERS MAKE FOOLS OUT OF US?"
"No sir!" Buggy's men chanted.
"WE CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Pilaf roared.
"NO SIR!" Buggys men shouted.
"ALRIGHT, PIPE DOWN!" Buggy snapped. This wasn't funny to Buggy and he decided that he wanted to end this quickly. He was going to start off with the big guns, "It's time to show our enemies how terrifying we can be! Bring out the Wild Animal Show!"
"Captain Buggy… you called?" came a voice.
"IT'S BEAST TAMER MOHJI!" the Buggy Pirates exclaimed.
A man wearing blue pants and a fuzzy white costume with ears on his head that made him look like a bear came forward. But what was intimidating about him was the giant lion that he was riding on. The lion was about half the size of a building and had a big purple mane. This was 'Beast Tamer' Mohji, Buggy the Clown's third in command, and Richie his enormous pet lion.
"I will bring you Roronoa Zoro's head," Mohji vowed. "And may even add Piccolo Daimao's head as well."
"Bring me any parts you want," Buggy replied with a sadistic smile on his painted face.
Meanwhile…
"We should be far enough away by now," Piccolo announced as he, Zoro and Luffy walked down the street through the deserted town. Zoro was attempting to recover from the knife wound he'd gotten from Buggy and Luffy was walking along beside him dragging the cage that Goku was trapped in. "I don't think Buggy and his pirates will be able to catch up to us any time soon."
"We got away for now," Piccolo reasoned. "But we need to get Goku out of this thing."
Zoro suddenly collapsed to the ground. "It's no use…" Zoro panted as he lay bleeding in the middle of the street. "I've lost too much blood… I've got to rest…"
"Not the best place to take a break, but whatever," Piccolo mentioned. He was about to say something else to Zoro but quickly saw that the green haired swordsman was out like a light bulb as he fell asleep against a street light.
Luffy pulled himself up and sat on top of the cage, but due to his short attention span, his eyes wandered and he noticed something. "Hey, a dog!" Luffy exclaimed. He hopped off of the cage and crouched down in front of a small white dog that was sitting on the curb in front of a pet food store. "Is it real?" wondered Luffy as he poked it. "It's not moving."
"It's his business if he moves or not," Piccolo answered. "Our business is to get you out of there. Besides, I don't think it wants to be poked."
"Maybe its acting as a guard for something or maybe waiting for someone," Goku commented.
"I don't think so," Luffy replied as he continued poking the dog. "Maybe it's dead."
"GRRAAAHH!"It turned out that the dog was very much alive, and it didn't like to be poked. The dog lunged at Luffy and bit his face in retaliation.
"DUMB DOG! LEMME GO!" Luffy hollered as he tried to shake the dog off of him, but the tiny mutt had a firm hold.
"LUFFY, STOP PLAYING AROUND!" Piccolo shouted.
"Dumb dog," Luffy muttered as he fell on his back once the dog let go of him.
"Look at you four," Nami commented as she came across the interesting sight. Here were four pirates that were on the run from Buggy the Clown, but instead of running and hiding like anyone normal person would have; all four of them were in the middle of the street. "Not to criticize... but is the middle of the street really the best hiding place you could come up with?"
"Oh, hey it's our new Navigator," said Goku.
"I never agreed to that!" Nami snapped. Nami took a breath and calmed down, "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for saving me."
Nami tossed a key on the ground. "THE KEY!" Goku exclaimed, "YOU STOLE THE KEY TO THE CAGE!"
"Yeah I stole the key," Nami replied with a sigh, "But since you guys saved me earlier, this makes us even. I don't owe you pirates anything now."
"THIS IS GREAT!" Luffy cheered. "I THOUGHT WE'D NEVER GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"
"I guess the rescue was a success after all," Piccolo commented. But then, to the surprise of everyone watching, the dog took the key and ate it.
"STUPID CRAZY DOG!" Luffy shouted, he grabbed the tiny dog and started shaking it, hoping it would cough up the key, "COUGH IT UP! THAT'S NOT FOOD! GIMME THAT KEY!"
"Hey you kids!" came the shout from an old man. "Leave Chou-Chou alone!"
"Chou-Chou?" Luffy repeated, as the dog once again mauled his face.
"Who are you ossan?" asked Goku as he looked up at the old man. The man was had funny grey hair that made him look like a Poodle and was wearing old-looking armor with a spear strapped to the back.
"Who am I?" asked the old man, who was called Boodle. "I'm the Mayor of this town! That's who!"
A few minutes later, Mayor Boodle, Piccolo and Nami had gone off and taken Zoro somewhere for him to continue sleeping, but seeing how Goku was stuck in the cage they left him where he was. When they came back, Luffy was still sitting on his spot on top of the cage and stared down at the dog that had eaten the key to the cage. The two 'monkeys' noticed that Piccolo wasn't among them.
"Where'd you take Zoro?" asked Goku.
"He's resting at my house," answered the Mayor. "That boy had lost a lot of blood. I told your green friend here there was a doctor at the refugee shelter, but he said that the swordsman just needed some sleep. He left behind with Zoro just to make sure he was okay."
"So the dog's name is Chou-Chou?" questioned Nami. "Why is he the only one left in town?"
"He's guarding the shop. I just came to feed him."
"Oh, so he's a guard dog," Nami reasoned. "For a pet food store…"
"A good friend of mine owned this store. He and Chou-Chou opened it years ago. They've got a lot of memories here, and so do I. See those wounds?" asked the Mayor as he pointed to some scars on Chou-Chou. "He's been fighting the pirates, protecting his store."
"This store might be important," said Nami. "But Chou-Chou shouldn't be risking his life for it. Isn't the owner at the refugee shelter with everyone else?"
"No he's not," the Mayor answered solemnly. "He got sick and passed on. He went to the hospital three months ago."
"Poor thing," Nami commented, "You mean he's been sitting here waiting for his master the whole time?"
"That's what everybody says," said the Mayor. "But that's not what I think. Chou-Chou is a smart dog, I think he knows his master is dead."
"Then why does he still guard the store?" asked Nami.
"It's his treasure," Goku said simply.
"Exactly," the mayor agreed. "This is his master's store. I think that Chou-Chou still guards the store because it's all he has left of his beloved master. I've been trying to get him to the shelter, but he won't budge from this spot. He'd rather starve to death than leave his post."
RAWWWWRRR! A loud roar rang out causing all of them to jump.
"What the hell was that?" asked Nami in a panic.
"It must be 'Beast Tamer' Mohji!" the Mayor answered. He and Nami quickly ran off down the road.
"Beast Tamer?" Goku repeated, as Luffy, who had been silently staring at the dog all this time got off of the cage and stood next to it. Goku and Luffy found themselves face-to-face with a giant lion.
"Well what have we here?" questioned Mohji. "I'm Mohji, Buggy's third in command. They call me the Beast Tamer. Ha ha, looks like your friends have abandoned you… after all that effort to get you this far. Captain Buggy and Sir Pilaf are really upset; you two are in big trouble now."
"GRRRRRR!" the giant loin growled.
Luffy and Goku stared at each other while struggling not to laugh at Mohji's strange appearance. "What's with the weird costume?" Luffy finally asked.
"COSTUME?! THIS IS MY HAIR!" Mohji yelled at him.
"That just makes it weirder," Goku said to Luffy in a 'stage whisper' which was loud enough for Mohji to hear.
"Are they purposely provoking him?" Nami wondered as she and Mayor Boodle his around the corner.
"Those idiots," the Mayor muttered.
"I'LL TEACH YOU A LESSON YOU LITTLE WISE-ASS!" Mohji roared. "I bet you think you're safe in that cage. Well clearly he doesn't know who I am. There's not an animal alive that I can't control. I can even control that mutt." Mohji jumped down off of his lion and walked up to Chou-Chou, "Shake," Mohji instructed as he reached out his -Chou didn't want to shake and instead lunged forward and bit Mohji's arm.
"AAAAHH!" Mohji hollered in pain and indignation as he tried to shake the dog off of him.
"HAHAHAHA!" Luffy laughed loudly as Mohji struggled to get the angry dog off of him. Goku smiled and laughed as well, easily amused. Mohji eventually go the dog off of him and then climbed back up onto the top of his huge lion where it was safe.
"STOP LAUGHING!" Mohji scolded the rubber pirate. He was used to being TERRIFYING! Not FUNNY!
"Hahaha! That dog got you," Goku laughed.
"You're just an accomplice of that spikey haired jerk!" Mohji said to Luffy.
"Oi, Luffy is not my accomplice," Goku insisted.
"That's right, I'm the captain!"
Mohji stared at Luffy who was having a staring contest with the lion and sweat-dropped. "You're joking… right?"
"You two mean nothing to me, so I'll give you one chance, tell me, where are Roronoa Zoro and Piccolo?
"NO!" Luffy refused. Zoro was still resting from his wounds and Piccolo was protecting the green haired swordsman; he wasn't about to sell out his Nakama. Especially not to some weird guy on a lion.
"THEN DIE!" Mohji hollered, "GET HIM RICHIE!"
"RAAWWWR!" The lion roared and lunged forward but Luffy moved out of the way. Goku was stuck in the cage and became the focus of the lion's lion reached down and ripped apart the cage with its massive jaws and claws.
"Hmph," Goku grunted as he leapt out of the cage and onto the giant lion's snout.
"IT BIT THROUGH A STEEL CAGE!" Nami exclaimed from around the corner.
"Those boys are goners," said the Mayor.
"RAAAAWWWWRRRR!" Richie the lion roared as he struggled to get the spikey haired pirate off of his snout.
"WOW! GOKU! THAT'S SOOO COOL!" Luffy cheered as he watched his best friend on the lion with stars in his eyes.
"Yeeeehaaa!" Goku cheered loudly. But it wouldn't last very long. By then, the giant lion blindly swatted the cage, sending it crashing into Luffy, causing him to go flying. The cage was hit so hard it smashed Luffy THROUGH a house, which crumbled down to the ground after Luffy and the cage went through it.
"Nobody could have survived that," said Mohji, "Now there's just one left." Mohji glared at the pirate on his lion's snout. "RICHIE KILL HIM!" Mohji ordered.
The lion snapped its head up, launching Goku off of it and up into the air, then it raised his mighty paw and swatted Goku in was sent flying and smashed through the wall on the third floor of a nearby house.
"There," Mohji resolved as he climbed back onto the lion. "Now let's go find Zoro and Piccolo." But the lion suddenly stopped when it noticed the pet food store nearby. "What is it?" asked Mohji, who looked up and saw the store. "Alright have a snack. But be quick about it."
"GRRRRRR!" Chou-Chou didn't like this one bit.
Meanwhile…
"Wow! What an impact!" Luffy exclaimed as he slowly got up to his feet and stared at the wrecked house he had been smashed through. "He knocked me through that house and into the street behind it! But at least Goku's out of that cage. Now we can show these clowns and make that thief our Navigator."
Author's note: Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm trying to get through these beginning chapters to get to the good stuff as quickly as possible but because of these two mangas are so great, it's hard to not mess it. I want it to be perfect. But let's just say there are going to be some interesting stuff going later, especially more Dragon Ball and One Piece pairs but not too many. This one was done because of the Cross Epoch manga and also the Seiyuu's (Japanese voice actors) for Buggy and Pilaf are the same person!
READ AND REVIEW! I have enjoyed everyone's reviews so please keep going. Take care everyone! Peace!