Buggy carefully stepped down the wooden walkboard leading from the deck of the Merry to the rocky shore below. He looked up, shielded his eyes with his cuffed hands, and let his eyes wander over the cityscape laid out before them. "...This isn't Enies Lobby, is it?"

Usopp glanced between his prisoner and the fountain-like city, filled with water and canals and things. "Uh, no, this is Water 7. Thought it'd be obvious, what with the…" Usopp gestured towards the entirety of it, "-y'know?"

"Guess so," Buggy said. "But I meant it more in a 'why aren't we in Enies Lobby' way."

"Oh," Usopp said, glancing away. Behind them, the crew aboard the Merry seemed to be fixing up some things, tying it down and furling the sails and whatnot. The other warships, which had not docked at all, were now far away on the horizon, long gone. Where they went, Buggy didn't know. Maybe to Hell? "Well," Usopp continued, "a bit of a change in plans. Have you ever been on a sea-train?"

Buggy stopped in his tracks. "A sea-what."

"It's, well, it's sort of like a big long sea-king! And it flies on the sea, and you sit inside of it! I've only been in it once myself, but it was so cool! It went really fast, too! Faster than any ship, I bet!"

Crossing his arms, Buggy fearlessly strode closer into the city. "Sure. We're going to get eaten by a snake. Makes sense to me." Usopp nodded excitedly, making sure to follow Buggy. This in itself wasn't too odd for them, Buggy had always been the more confident of the two (though that didn't say much), but what made it odd was the fact that Usopp had Buggy in chains.

To his crew, it must have looked like Usopp was walking his dog. A dog that happened to be a pirate captain worth 189 000 000 beri. If the rumours were to be trusted, they had even been meaning to increase his bounty further, but since Usopp captured him, that was put on hold.

After a minute or so of walking, Buggy turned around, and looked back at the Merry. "...They're not gonna come along?"

"Who?" Usopp asked.

"Well, you know. Your crew?"

Usopp scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. Suspiciously enough, a sunny blush found its way onto his cheeks. "Oh, well, I, erm, they won't bother us. No, I mean! They won't follow us! We're going to leave the Merry here, and my crew too, and once I'm done with all this, I'll return. Maybe. Or something." Usopp omitted telling Buggy that he actually had to pull quite a few strings to ensure this situation, one of which included convincing one of his superiors that he was strong enough to escort a high-profile prisoner like Buggy on his own.

However, the question here wasn't of Usopp's strength, but of Buggy himself. How strong was he? What could he do? Would his crew attack Water 7?

Usopp was able to deflect these questions utilizing all three of his braincells, and here they were.

They entered the city together. To say it was lively was a bit of an understatement. The waterways were filled with bulls and people and food stands and everything was perfectly alright. The sun was shining, the temperature wasn't hot or cold (just perfect), and the salty smell of the sea seemed somehow a bit less intense than usual, even though there was more water around than any other island.

Buggy looked around, somehow radiating both an intense curiosity as well as a strange tiredness. "Everything alright, Buggy?"

"Huh?" buggy glanced back at Usopp. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Usopp followed Buggy's gaze and noticed how it fell on one of the many bulls in the waterway. People happily rode on their backs with little fear about it being a feral creature. All things considered, it even seemed domesticated! Usopp had already been here once so he knew the basics of how things operated, but to Buggy it might have seemed crazy. "-Wanna ride one?"

Buggy's head swivelled around to face Usopp. "-Huh?"

Usopp smirked. "You wanna ride one of the bulls? We've got plenty of time to get to the station. It won't hurt?"

"Uh," Buggy said, squinting as he glanced between the aquatic stallions and his captor. "No way. If you haven't noticed, I've eaten a certain kind of fruit. If I fall off, I'm gone!" To punctuate his exasperation, Buggy threw his hands in the air, the sea-stone chains clacking together to create a sound both Buggy and Usopp had learnt to ignore by this point.

"If you fall off," Usopp made a swishing motion with his hands, "I'll save you." A beat passed. "I-, if I don't, I'll be in for it! That's why!"

Buggy scoffed. "Hah, yeah, sure. I'm not stepping onto one of those murder creatures, and you can't-," 'make me', is what Buggy meant to say, but he realized halfway through that just mentioning this might lead Usopp to realize that he could, in fact, make him. These seastone cuffs weren't of the strongest kind or anything, but they still sapped his strength enough so that any regular person could drag him around. Then again, considering that this was Usopp, he wouldn't even need the cuffs to drag Buggy around.

"If you don't want to go on one we don't have to," Usopp said, turning away.

Buggy stared at him. Was it his imagination, or did Usopp seem somewhat… melancholic? Why would he possibly-,

Realization hit Buggy like a flashbang. Oh. "I, um, we can go on the bulls."

"Really?" Usopp asked enthusiastically, turning to Buggy with such a hopeful gaze that Buggy couldn't say no in a million years. His eyes were glittering like a million tiny fireflies, alight with some emotion Buggy couldn't quite place. Or maybe he just didn't want to place it somewhere it might hurt him. "I-, I mean, you know, we don't-,"

"No, no, let's do it," Buggy affirmed, smiling wryly. "We'll go on the bulls."

Usopp squealed oddly before proceeding to grab Buggy's chain and drag him through the streets. The situation from before was flipped on its head. Before, when they walked through the streets, the people would part like waves, shooting vaguely terrified glances at Buggy, easily making the marine-chains-pirate connection.

Now, however, they parted since if they didn't they'd simply be mowed down by an overexcited Commodore. A fair few people gave a panicked shriek as he approached, only to fall and tumble into the waterways. All Buggy could do was pray that they weren't undercover power-wielding pirates.

Soon, they reached a little shop Buggy didn't know existed, titled "Bull Rental."

Shopkeep Sanzo quietly surveyed the people who entered mere seconds ago. Had his eye been any less sharp, he might have assumed some youngster stole a coat and a prisoner from a high-ranking marine who happened to be visiting. That might almost have been less surprising than what he witnessed instead.

"Why the heck would you want a yellow one? Yellow is the colour of piss!" the prisoner cried, bonking the marine on the head with one gloved and cuffed hand. Although such a transgression would usually warrant violent punishment from the assaulted officer, no such thing happened. Instead...

The marine whined. "Is not! I mean, yes, but yellow is also the colour of the sun! And a lot of pretty flowers!"

"Bah, flowers! I'm telling you, we're getting the blue one! If someone starts following us, we can easily escape since it's the same colour as the water! It's the perfect escape vehicle!"

"Geez, Buggy, we don't need to escape anyone! Unless your crew tries to invade Water 7, that is. That'd be real stupid, though," the marine said, reaching out his arms to caress a happily neighing yellow bull. The prisoner, Buggy, observed the behaviour with disgust and apprehension.

Sanzo approached the bickering pair, nervously wringing his hands. "Is everything to your pleasure, sir?"

Even though he had addressed the marine officer, the only one worthy of respect, the one who answered was Buggy. "No, it isn't! You tell him yellow is a horrid colour!"

Sanzo decided to ignore him. "Sir, if you'd like, we offer discounts to officers of the law."

"No, that's fine," the marine said, shaking his head. "We'll only hire her for a day. Isn't that right Daisy Doopers?" Apparently, although having only known the bull for five minutes tops, the marine had already named it.

"That's perfectly alright, si-,"

"No it isn't!" Buggy rudely interrupted. "A horrid name for a horrid creature with a horrid colour! Come on, shopkeep, take my side here!"

Sanzo blinked slowly, letting his gaze wander up and down the imprisoned pirate. "No," he said. "I don't think I will." In his modest opinion, it was always better not to agree with pirates, unless they held a flintlock against your head. Usually.

"Don't pick on the shopkeep, Buggy!" the marine said, a sly smile flashing across his face. "He just happens to know which side to take."

"What's that, you low-ranked grunt?!"

Things were getting a bit too heated for Sanzo's liking. "Sirs, if you'd listen for a moment, I may know of a way to please the both of you." -Although he had no idea why a marine would even try to listen to what a pirate had to say, much less an imprisoned one. Maybe they were brothers? Two odd noses might be too big of a coincidence after all…

""Really?"" the two said in a chorus, both turning to Sanzo at once. He nodded and walked over to the bull enclosure, where he pointed at a certain jolly little bull. Green with dark-blue spots.

The marine gasped while Buggy grunted in resignation. A compromise.

Once they had a bull chosen, the marine put down the coins necessary for a day's hire. Before they could leave, however, Sanzo had something to ask, something that had been on his mind since he saw the caped marine enter. "-Say, sir, what rank are you?"

The youngster smiled an odd little smile. "Oh, I'm a Commande-,"

"Commodore!" the prisoner interrupted with an oddly proud grin. "He's a Commodore!"

The marine mumbled something about it not being official yet, but otherwise made no attempt to refuse the claim. Commodore… Sanzo had to think for a moment. He wasn't any whiz on all the marine ranks, after all, they were pretty odd, but… He could somewhat recall Commodore being a pretty large deal.

He took a glance at the flushed youngster before him.

...Nah, it probably wasn't that high-ranking. No way they'd let a kid like this run around with a prisoner if he was anybody important.

The marine jumped into the little seat on top of the green bull, dragging his reluctant prisoner with him. "Thanks for the bull, shopkeep!"

Sanzo waved to them as they left. He could swear he'd seen that clown's face before, though.

Let's see here… Sanzo wasn't one for pirates, but he did keep a copy of the news, as well as the accompanying stack of wanted posters. Buggy, Buggy, Buggy… ah, here! Buggy the Clown, wanted: dead or alive…

Sanzo read the amount beri listed and instantly paled.

Oh shit.