Disclaimer; No I don't own anything.
This is a One Piece fanfic that is a yaoi fic.
Chapter 7 (Cabaji v. Zolo)
Manny watched with slight interest as Luffy let go of the hand and it flew back to it's owner. Devil Fruit users truly defied the laws of physics.
"So you come without a single trace of fear by your own will! You morons! YOU'RE ALL SO DEAD!" Buggy yelled from the roof of the tavern.
"Listen, I don't care whether you fight or not, you guys do as you wish. I'm just here for the map and the treasure." Nami told Zolo and Manny.
"Yeah, I know." Zolo said indifferently while Manny nodded.
"All of you... " The Mayor began. Kneeling on the ground, panting he made a pathetic sight. "What did you come back for? You four stay out of this. This is my war! I'm the one who must protect this village! Don't interfere!" He said picking up his spear. He tried to rush the tavern again but Luffy calmly smashed his face into the wall next to them.
"What...?" Nami watched in shock. Weren't they supposed to be helping the Mayor?
"Huh?" Buggy too was confused.
"You-You IDIOT! What the hell was that hot? Why did you do that to the Chief?" Nami yelled as the Mayor slumped to the ground unconscious. Luffy dusted his hands off nonchalantly before answering.
"'Cause he would just get in the way!" Luffy stated matter-of-factly. Manny turned his head away to hide that he was stifling laughter. He didn't want to bring Nami's wrath down on him. Luffy meant well, he just had a piratical way of going about it.
"That was smart thinking. If you had left him alone, without a doubt, he would've charged recklessly. It's safer for him to be unconscious." Zolo said.
"Don't do anything unnecessary!" She yelled at Luffy again while he just looked at her blankly. Manny supposed to him it wasn't unnecessary at all. It wouldn't be the first time Manny wondered how the boy had grown up to have that kind of view.
"Hey you, huge, red, ugly, BIG NOSE!" Luffy yelled up to Buggy making sure to be heard clearly.
"Ehhhh?" The Clown and his crew gaped at the blatant taunting. Manny chuckled at their expressions. Buggy looked livid, the whites of his eyes taking over his eyes while stress marks spread across his face. His crew on the other hand had tears streaming down their faces, their brains short circuiting.
"FIRE THE BUGGY SPECIAL CANNONBALL! FIRE! BE GONE!" Buggy yelled firing his deadly cannon ball at them. Luffy didn't budge.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? You idiot!" Nami said diving out of the way in panic.
"Oi, Luffy! Dodge it!" Zolo tried to get their Captain to take cover to no avail.
"Uwah! It's coming!" Manny said cheerfully, his words not suited to his manner. Still grinning he danced out of the Buggy Ball's range. The thing with Cannon balls was that they caused lots of destruction but were so slow moving, it wasn't hard to get out of its path with just a few steps.
"Do you think just because of a cannon-ball, I'll move a single inch?" Luffy said grinning. He stared down the fuming Buggy with no fear. Zolo gave up on his Captain and got out of the way.
Luffy sucked in air and his rubber body expanded. - "Gomu-Gomu Balloon!" -
The Buggy Ball hit Luffy right in his inflated gut and sunk into it.
"What the hell is that kid!" Buggy screamed incredulous when his cannon-ball did nothing. The Buggy Ball then rocketed back to the roof it came from.
"He bounced it back!" They screamed, scrambling around in terror trying to get out of it's way but they were too late. The tavern exploded in a shower of debris and fire.
"Could've said something sooner." Zolo mumbled as his heart settled. Manny just laughed in delight at the amazing things his Captain's rubber body could do.
"Uwah, that was so cool Luffy-san."
"Yay! Their number's decreased! Let's start!" Luffy said.
"What the hell are you!" Nami yelled at him. She knelt on the ground, her legs having given out from under her.
"So much for blowing us up..." Zolo said.
The dust slowly settled revealing the wreckage that had once been a tavern. Dotted amongst the rubble were Buggy's pirate crew, unconscious or dead.
"Explain yourself! I don't understand this at all! From the moment you fought with the lion and came back alive! This isn't humanly possible!" Nami said. "How the hell did you just swell up like a balloon?"
"Gomu Gomu Balloon!" Luffy said with a sparkle.
"I'm not asking for the name!" She yelled her face comically angry.
"HAHAHA!" The laughter turned their attention to the wreckage.
"You're chatting around making a lotta noise, like you're not scared..." Buggy said holding two of his crew in front of him. He had used them as a shield against the blast. Next to him another of his officers held the lion as a shield.
"Using their crew as shields!" Nami said disgusted. Luffy grinned dangerously and Zolo stared the two down ever serious. Manny stood off to the side grinning lazily his hands hanging from his pockets.
"This is the biggest humiliation we've ever received under our pirate flag, Captain!" The unknown officer commented unconcerned. Almost as strange as his Captain, the man wore a checkered scarf over a sleeveless coat. He wore pants and shoes under it but nothing else. His hair, black and long on one side and checkered and slicked back on the other, added to the checkered motif. Manny wondered what it was supposed to represent.
"I'm so mad words fail me..." Buggy said. The rubble behind Buggy shifted revealing the beast tamer.
"Dammit I was unconscious. What is this, this mess!" he said.
"Mohji... So you're still alive..." The officer said. The tamer noticed what he held and scrambled up angry.
"Cabaji! You, what the heck did you do to Richie?"
"...Ah this kitten?" he asked tossing the large cat to his tamer. "I was afraid my clothes might get dirty, so I just used him as a shield."
"Hey, RIchie! You okay! You Bastard!" The tamer yelled at Cabaji. Then he noticed Luffy and his crew.
"EHCK! The kid in the straw-hat! Captain Buggy, be careful of the kid! The kid's also got powers from the 'Devil's Fruit'! He's a 'Rubberman'!" The tamer warned his Captain a little too late.
"Rubberman!" Nami asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, wanna see..." Luffy said pulling his cheeks inhumanly far apart.
"Devil's Fruit! That's why he can bounce back Buggy special cannonball, but Mohji, if you knew that already..." Buggy said. One of his hands detached grabbing the tamer by his throat. "Why the heck didn't you tell me so earlier!" He chucked the tamer at Luffy.
"But, I did!" He cried sailing toward them.
"Mah, let me handle this Captain." Manny said stepping in front of Luffy as the flying tamer came at them.
"Get out of the way!" He screamed but Manny just grinned and stuck his arm out clothes-lining the guy. He let the tamer's body slid to the ground before kicking him out of Luffy's way.
"Mah, mah. That was too easy. How boring." Manny said his expression still cheerful.
"Stop smiling idiot." Zolo told him. Then the other officer came toward them on a unicycle, his cutlass drawn.
"Buggy's Pirate Fleet's Commander 'Cabaji the Acrobat'!" he said in way of introduction. "I'll avenge the pain you've caused my crew!" Manny didn't believe the man cared any about his crew. Zolo intercepted the man's cutlass with the side of his katana before it hit Luffy.
"If it's swords, I'm all for it." He said darkly, glaring at the checkered man.
"It's an honor, Roronoa Zolo that as a swordsman I get to slay you." Cabaji said. Though Zolo held off the man they could see the tremors that ran through his body. A wound like his, must be causing him immense pain.
"Look, Zolo. I think it's better if I do it. You go take a rest." Luffy tried to get the green-haired swordsman to back down but he'd have none of it.
Cabaji noticed the dark splotch on the swordsman's harmaki. 'It's the wound he got from fighting the captain... so he's been taking the pain to stay standing up, such a fool!' Cabaji thought smugly.
"Acrobat Technique, 'Fire Trick'!" Cabaji pulled down his scarf and a stream of fire shot out of his mouth hitting Zolo in his face.
"GAAHH!" With Zolo blinded Cabaji nailed him in his wounded stomach with a sharp kick. Manny grit his teeth at the cheap shot.
"DAMN IT!" Zolo shouted falling back in pain.
"Eh What's this? I didn't even kick you that hard, did I?"
"You dirty bastard! Aiming for the wounded area!" Nami said glaring at the acrobat.
The acrobat shoved his sword into the ground and spun it kicking up a dust cloud.
"Acrobat Technique 'Murder Mist Trick'!"
"Some trick! It's just a cloud of dust!" Zolo said panting.
"Be careful Zolo-san." Manny warned his crewmate. Out of the cloud Cabaji came swinging his sword. Zolo quickly brought his two swords up to meet the other's before he lost his head. Another distraction for a kick to his gut that sent Zolo rolling.
"AAAAAHCK!"
"That bastard did it again!" Nami shouted. Manny grit his teeth and looked over at Luffy. Their Captain watched the fight with an expressionless face.
"What's wrong? A grown man rolling around crying out loud is absolutely pathetic to watch." Cabaji taunted. "Because of your partner's odd power we've suddenly gone to pieces. Even though you're a 'pirate hunter', making the Buggy Pirate Fleet your enemy was a big mistake."
Zolo gasped in air as he tried to get up. His wound throbbed sending shivers through his body .
"Fighting with that injury was already too much from the start! Why are you watching all silent and stone-faced! That guy's gonna die!" Nami yelled at Luffy. Luffy ignored her though and continued to watch. Manny followed his Captain's example. Zolo didn't need help. He didn't want it. Both him and Luffy knew if they interfered Zolo would most likely turn his blade against them.
"Roronoa Zolo! Go to the next world!" Cabaji shouted lunging at Zolo again. Zolo punched him right off his silly unicycle.
"AAHCK!"
"OOOHH!" Luffy said delighted.
"Uwah..." Manny said grinning.
"What an annoying guy! Do you find tearing up my wound that much fun!" Zolo asked calmly as he stood. Then he pulled his sword back and did something Manny had never seen anyone do in his life. He cut his own wound open again.
"What! He cut himself?" Cabaji said in shock.
Nami gasped and Luffy cringed. Manny was dumbfounded and he found himself wondering again whether he should laugh or cry.
"My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman..." Zolo said drawing his third sword.
"What the hell..!"
"Is my condition now satisfying enough for you? Lemme teach you the difference in level between us." He said putting the sword between his teeth.
"Wahhh.. so cool..!" Luffy shouted.
"Mah, so cool!" Manny parroted.
"Roronoa Zolo, you impudent fool...!" Cabaji said.
"Ahh..! Just looking at him makes me feel like he's going to collapse any second..." Nami said. She worried for the swordsman's heath. If he kept going like this he'd most likely die before the acrobat got to him.
"GO ZOLO!" Luffy shouted unconcerned. Manny watched silently.
"To anyone that calls himself a swordsman. I won't allow myself to lose even once to him!" Zolo said.
"Oho.. You got a strong determination there... but don't worry, fighting me with such a serious injury, you can use that as an excuse when I defeat you." Cabaji said still smug after Zolo's little drama.
"Non-sense! With this sort of injury, if I lose against the likes of you, my future carries an obvious fate..." Zolo took a stance spreading his teo swords off to either side pointing down.
"You asshole!" Cabaji grit his teeth at the insult. Buggy watched silently from across the road.
"Hey!" Nami said catching Luffy's and Manny's attention. She's gotten caught up in the fight but now she had more important things to do.
"Mm?"
"Behind the destroyed pub there's a warehouse. Their treasure is there and the 'Grand Line' map is probably still with Buggy. Since the pirates are unconscious, I'll use the moment to slip over there, and after I acquire the warehouse's treasure, I'll make my escape. Since whether you win the fight or not, has nothing to do with me! But if you actually manage to fulfill your part and get the map. Let's 'cooperate' again when that happens!" she said heading down an alley. "Then off I go! I wish you a good fight!"
"Okay thanks." Luffy said but Manny just watched her go silently before turning back to the fight.
"Take a taste of the best trick that I have!" Cabaji said throwing out a bunch of spinning tops. "Acrobat Technique 'One Hundred Tops Typhoon'!" Then he steered his unicycle to the building next to him and rode it up the wall! "Acrobat Technique 'Wall Riding'!"
Zolo knocked the spinning tops away easily with his swords. Distracted by the tops he didn't see where Cabaji went until the man was falling toward him from the sky.
"Acrobat Technique 'Midsummer Firecrackers Ignition'!" he yelled.
"Waaaah, that's high!" Luffy said shielding his eyes with his hand as he looked up with Manny.
"Direct Stab!" Cabaji said angling his sword down as he came at Zolo.
"Ground Runner 'Chop Chop Cannon'!" Buggy yelled, his detached hand coming toward Zolo. "Cabaji! I'll grab him in place, so finish Zolo off!"
"Yes Captain!"
"That bastard!" Zolo ground his teeth as the clown interfered with his fight.
"GAAAAHHHH!" He needn't worry though. Luffy held the hand under the heel of his foot grinding it into the ground.
"Don't interfere with Zolo's fight!" he said as Buggy wiggled around holding his arm.
"You asshole!"
"Even without the Captain's help finishing you off will be a piece of cake!" Cabaji said. Zolo dove out of the way and Cabaji's sword pierced the ground instead.
"Stop now... I'm tired..." Zolo said as he heaved his tired body up again.
"You're tired? Hahahahaha. Are you getting anemia? You've finally given up. Well I suppose it was obvious!" The acrobat laughed at Zolo. Zolo calmly kicked the man off his unicycle.
"Argh!"
"I meant I'm tired of being the opponent of someone who had such pitiful skills!" Zolo said glaring demonically at his opponent. A true vision from hell.
"Then let me finish you off now, with my read sword skills!" Cabaji lunged at Zolo again.
"Oni" Zolo said crossing his swords in front of his chest. "Giri!" Cabaji didn't stand a chance as he was roughly cut down.
"Cabaji!"
"Damn it! The world's best pirate at the likes of a common thief! So shameful!" Cabaji said falling unconscious.
"Not a common thief, but a pirate! " Zolo said taking his bandana off and collapsing. "Luffy... I'm gonna sleep."
"Yeah, you sleep. Now I'll finish this off." Luffy said. "Manny take care of Zolo for me."
"Aye, Captain." Manny said dragging Zolo over to the shade of a building.
"You mean you guys are pirates!" Buggy yelled.
"Yeah! Hand over the 'Grand Line' map!" Luffy said.
"So that was your goal... that place isn't exactly somewhere nameless pirates like yourself can go as they please. So what are you planning to do there! You wanna go have a sightseeing tour!"
"I'm gonna become the Pirate King." Luffy said it like a factual statement. Manny chuckled at Luffy's fortitude. Buggy looked like someone had given him a knee in his gut.
"Don't kid around! You idiotic fool! You become pirate king! Then I'm a god! The person who'll get his hands on all the treasure in the world will be me! Don't even dream about it!" He yelled. Manny listened with half an ear as he took out an extra roll of bandages and tried to stop the bleeding of Zolo's wound.
"Shut up!" Luffy said. "Skip the lecture, and let's start! You're being too loud, you idiot."
"Yayayayayaht! Watch your mouth, Gomu Gomu! Seeing your straw hat reminds me of a guy I knew a long time ago. The impudent red-haired guy...!" Buggy said.
"Red-haired!" Manny glanced over as Luffy said it acknowledging the familiarity.
'He doesn't mean that red-haired guy did he?' Manny thought.
"Red-haired? Do you know shanks?" Luffy asked. He sounded desperate to get his hands on any information about this man. Manny blanked as he heard the name confirming that it was indeed that red-haired man. Manny's chest swelled with the need to laugh. It figured an exuberant kid like Luffy knew a man like that.
"...Mmm? What's this...? Looks like you're considerably interested. I know him, but why do you want to know?" Buggy asked.
"Where is he now?" Luffy asked.
"Where...? Well.. If I know then I know, and If I don't know then I could also not know anything at all...!" he said trying to play mind games with Luffy. He clearly didn't know the boy very well.
"What are you saying? Are you an idiot?" Luffy asked.
"Whaddya mean 'Idiot', you uncivilized buffoon!" Buggy shouted his face comically angry. "I'm not saying that I'm not a nice enough guy to tell you information that you want to know, even if it's your last wish before you die..." He wiped out eight knives holding them between his knuckles.
"Then let me make you say it by force!" Luffy said pulling his fist back.
'Kuhahaaha! Before you hear it, you're going to be dead. Even though you're rubber, there are still some things that won't bounce off you." Manny whistled when knives came out of the front's of the man's curled toed shoes. Manny could appreciate the classics of hidden weapons. Maybe he'd liberate them from Buggy when Luffy beat him.
"Mm, that's right." Luffy said as calmly as though Buggy had commented on his fashion sense.
"Chop Chop Windmill!" Buggy's bottom half came careening toward Luffy spinning around like a makeshift shuriken. Luffy calmly hopped over the projectile.
"Moving here and there in the air is most likely impossible!" Buggy said sending his knives sailing at Luffy while he was still in the air.
"Why not?" Luffy said stretching his arm out to grasp a light pole puling himself out of harms way. Manny chuckled. Luffy may be rather oblivious and simpleminded but he was quickly turning out to be a genius when it concerned fighting.
"Oho! So, you can do things like that! How interesting!"
"You're an interesting person too. Gomu Gomu Pistol!" Luffy replied his fist shooting at Buggy. He missed as Buggy merely moved his head out of the path.
"It's an interesting ability, but! An arm that's stretched to it's limit is ull of weakness! I'll tear it to shreds!" He said preparing to cut up Luffy's arms. Behind him he didn't notice as Luffy grabbed onto a building and retracted his arm sending him flying to Buggy.
"Huh?"
"Gomu Gomu-"
Buggy panicked as Luffy swung his other arm back. "Chop Chop Emergency Escape!"
"-Scythe!" Luffy's hand went for Buggy's throat – but missed! Buggy had detached his head from his shoulders! Luffy crashed into the building behind Buggy.
"Kuhahahaha! You're not much a threat, Gomu Gomu." Buggy laughed.
"Hey!" Luffy said hopping out of the rubble without a scratch. "Damn! Separating into pieces.."
"H-How is it possible for such a fight! I feel as though I'm dreaming..." Nami said from behind the crumbled tavern, out of site.
"Chop Chop Cannon!" Buggy's arm detached again, four knives in his hands. Luffy caught the arm, the blades centimeters from his face.
"Separate!" The hand separated form the arm and nearly took off Luffy's head. It left deep cuts along his cheek as it sped past knocking his hat from his head.
"Yikes!" Luffy fell back. He picked himself up and stared at his hat.
"You bastard!" He glared at Buggy as blood dripped from his head.
"What? So, you're pissed that your face is scarred?" Buggy said.
"How dare you mess up this hat!" Luffy said. There on the edge of the hat was a tear. Manny leaned forward the fight quickly becoming more interesting. Manny knew how precious that hat was to his Captain but this would be a show of just how much he cared for it.
"What?" Buggy asked confused.
"This is my treasure! I will never forgive anyone who messes up this hat!' Luffy yelled his face a picture of rage.
'I thought this guy was someone who'd never get agitated at anything, but he's so pissed off now!' Nami thought from her hiding place.
"Is that hat precious to you?" Buggy asked.
"Yeah, you bastard!" Luffy said. Manny gasped when he saw behind Luffy, the hand throw one of it's blades at him .
"Luffy-san watch out!" he called. Luffy dodged the blade but unbalanced he couldn't move as the hand came at his hat.
"If it's that precious to you then why don't you protect it properly!" The three blades tore through the top of Luffy's straw hat and yanked it out of his hands.
'This hat is my gift to you.' Shanks said placing the hat onto younger Luffy's head as the boy he cried.
"Kuhahahaha what sort of treasure is this rag like hat!" Buggy laughed as the hand attached itself to his arm the hat now with him. Luffy grit his teeth and Manny could feel his rage from across the street. Manny's body tensed thrumming with excitement. His grin unconsciously widening in the delightfully dangerous pressure his Captain exuded. Everyone looked on to see what the boy would do.
'This is my favorite hat, you know. When you become a great pirate in the future, you'll return that hat to me.'
"That's the hat I swore myself to with Shanks!" Luffy yelled running at Buggy.
'What? This is Shanks' hat? I thought it looked familiar! Me and that guy used to be in the same pirate ship." Buggy said dropping the hat on the ground and spitting on it. "To rephrase that, he was my comrade when we were still pirate trainees."
"Shanks is a great man, you say that he was your comrade!" Luffy said pulling his fist back.
"Chop Chop Emergency Escape!" Buggy yelled predicting the black-haired boy's next move.
"Don't compare yourself with him!" He didn't expect for Luffy to faint and nail him between his legs with a kick instead.
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