I do not own One Piece.
"A dragon's heart burns fiercely, even in the face of evil."- S.G Rogers
Luffy stretched out his massive black wings as he allowed himself to assume his complete draconic form. It had been a long time since he allowed himself to grow this large. Still, it had become necessary as Gasparde seemed to grow infinitely large using his generation style devil fruit, creating a near-infinite amount of candy syrup that his opponent used to create what could only be described as a colossal titan of green syrup.
Luffy wasn't sure how large he was, but he allowed himself to tower over the building of Orange Town and reached the Syrup Titans' height. The massive syrupy constructed lifted a long tentacle-like arm covered in hardened green spikes and brought it down towards Luffy's Draconic body.
"Burn in Hellfire!" Luffy roared as he unleashed a blast of fire from his mouth which shot out and melted the attacking appendage causing the syrup that made up the arm to evaporate and lose form. This was hardly a victory as Gasparde just kept conjuring up syrupy appendages, and Luffy kept burning them. After over a minute of this game, Luffy directed a fireblast at the colossal syrup titans body, which caused a huge chunk of its torso to fall apart, only for more syrup to replace the parts that had been evaporated.
Luffy was growing angry; he needed to attack Gasparde directly, but the man was inside his syrupy creation; whenever Luffy launched an attack where Gasparde was, the man would immediately get pushed away to another limb of his creation. He did this so precisely. Luffy knew that the man's boasted about observation haki hadn't been exaggerated.
Luffy could use a massive blast of fire to destroy the entire candy construct, but such an attack would set the whole town on fire, so he had to limit himself to precision flame attacks. He needed to get this fight out of town, and he knew just how to do it.
Gasparde's giant colossus sent a massive strike his way, and Luffy took the hit head-on instead of trying to dodge it. The strike was strong and sent him flying through the town square; Luffy winced a little at the strength of the blow, his scales were hard enough to prevent any severe damage, but it still hurt.
As expected, Gasparde took the offensive and began to rain blow after blow on Luffy, who took each hit head-on, reinforcing the parts of his body that were struck to minimize damage but constantly feigning retreat until he was leading Gasparde out of range of the buildings that made up the town and into a wooded area filled with trees and large open fields.
Once they were clear of the town, Luffy turned to Gasparde, who had grown cocky after seemingly gaining the upper hand in their brief brawl. His apparent tunnel vision made him unable to realize he had been lured away from the town for a reason.
"What's wrong, you dumb Lizard?!" The man sneered from within his syrupy creation. "Getting tired? You should have just surrendered when I offered you mercy! Once I've killed you Ill scour the island for your devil fruit and make a fortune and-"
"Abyssal Flame!" Luffy called out, weary of the man ranting as he unleashed a massive cone of black flame from his mouth. The fire was pitch black, and could set fire to just about anything. His grandfather claimed it was similar to Abyssal Fire, a type of chemical weapon used in ancient times as a weapon although the knowledge of how to make it was lost.
As before, Gasparde shifted his body out of the center of his syrupy creation, but the size of the fire blast made it impossible to entirely dodge the attack, and even the parts of the syrupy colossus that weren't hit were still superheated from the temperature of the black flames making them boil and evaporate.
Luffy heard the sounds of a man crying out in pain as his body was boiled and burned within his creation. He saw Gasparde eject himself from his evaporating creation as he fell to the ground, leaving a massive indent in the dirt.
To his credit, despite being injured, Gasparde showed he was far from finished fighting; numerous candy syrup projectiles erupted from his body and were sent at Luffy with as much force as the man could manage.
It was a shame syrup didnt stand up against fire.
Luffy unleashed a barrage of fire from his mouth; with the town far away, he could unleash massive cones of flame, and his only victims would be his opponent and the trees that surrounded him.
The privateer apparently sensed his peril and tried to dodge, but the flames were everywhere as the wooded area caught fire around him. Tress burned and creaked as they were devoured greedily by dragon fire, and one final blast engulfed the privateer in an inferno of heat.
Luffy walked towards his opponent, half of Gasparde's body was covered in harsh burns leaving behind pink flesh that looked like freshly cooked meat. It made Luffy's stomach growl, and Luffy found himself hating the side effects that his devil fruit gave him.
"You bastard!" Gasparde managed to roar as he summoned forth candy syrup around his remaining good arm and lunged at Luffy with what strength he had left.
Luffy simply took the hit; his dragon form was massive and well-armored, so it took the full force of the man's blow easily; he could barely feel it through his scales. Without his enormous syrup construct and without the strength to use haki, the man was done for.
As if sensing this, Gasparde quickly changed his tone as he stopped his futile attacks. "Look, we can make a deal! I have money, lots of money! Heck, if you help me slit that clown's throat, I can sell his devil fruit for millions! On a small island like this, it will reincarnate and be easy to find! If that's not enough, we can enslave the villagers; the East Blue trading company pays top beli for slaves! I can give you everything you've ever wanted!"
Rather then move Luffys greedy heart, all it did was make him angry. "All I want is to watch you die a painful death, and I'm getting what I want right now." Rage filled his heart, a type of rage he usually fought against but today he was giving into it and embracing it.
"Killing me gains you nothing!" Gasparde yelled, fear overcoming him as he struggled to get up, but Luffy didnt give him a chance as he unleashed a gout of flame onto the man's unburnt body parts, which caused him to scream out in agony. "You're throwing away money! Use your brain for a second, you fool, I can make you rich!" The privateers yelled out in between pained screams as his body burned.
"You're right on one account, my flame-broiled friend; you're going to make me rich. Once you die, I'll take that devil fruit of yours." Luffy reared his head back as he unleashed on the last blast of flame that struck Gasparde, who could only scream as he was reduced to nothing but a pile of black ashes that were promptly blown away by a passing breeze.
Luffy felt a wave of calmness overcome his body as his rage subsided; he looked back towards the village where he left his crew and couldn't help but let out a tired sigh after today's events. However, he was quickly brought out of his dark thoughts as he smelt something in the air; it was the smell of treasure. Ever since eating his devil fruit, he could smell wealth on the air, usually in the form of gold or jewels.
Following his nose, he was led to a nearby orchard on the outskirts of town; he followed the smell to one of the apple trees and saw that one of them was growing a bright green fruit that was most certainly not an apple. Its swirling patterns showed it was a devil fruit.
"Well...at least today wasn't a total waste."
Nami loved money; she loved it in all its forms, whether it be gold, jewels, or paper money. She loved the look of it, the feel of it, and even the smell of it. She also happened to need money desperately to pay off Arlong, who was the main reason she found herself desperate to get enough money to free her village, but in truth, she had always had a desire for the finer things even before Arlong had ruined her life.
However, that love of money was being challenged as she wondered whether any amount of money was worth dealing with the utter chaos that Monkey D. Luffy wrought upon the world. In her brief time with him, he had assaulted a marine base and fought a bunch of privateers. Soon he would be at war with the world, and she would be at the center of it.
She would have left if it wasn't for the fact he was making her so much money.
She was currently relaxing in the center of Orange Town, counting the money, the spoils of their victory here. It had been two days since Luffy's defeat of Gasparde, and since then, the village had become a bustle of activity as the villagers sought to rebuild their lives. Men and women carried wood, nails, and other building materials while children helped clear rubble from the numerous battles. Between Buggy's initial looting, the struggle between the pirates and privateers, and finally the battle between Luffy and Gasparde, she was amazed the town was still standing.
Luckily there was more then enough resources for repairs. Both Buggy's sunken pirate ship and the Privateers ship were salvaged by the villagers and provided a good deal of quality lumber and other resources to help rebuild the town; the village mayor even had plans to build a fort in the bay with the salvaged cannons from the ships acting as deterrents to future pirate attacks.
The ships even had some treasure which the villagers had insisted that Luffy and the crew keep as a reward. It wasn't much, but it was a decent enough amount, but the real treasure sat near her, a bright green devil fruit in the nearby treasure chest.
Nami had heard about how much devil fruits were worth but chalked it up to rumors. But with one so close the wealth it presented made her heart soar. Even the cheapest Devil fruits were worth at least a hundred million beli, enough to wipe out her debt to Arlong in one swoop. The problem was turning the fruit into money, she had no idea who would buy it, and even if she sold it, she would have to split the profits with her temporary companions.
The problem was selling it. Who would buy it? Criminals weren't trustworthy enough, and the government might try to confiscate the fruit. It was a bunch of money that she couldn't claim easily, but it gave her ideas.
She was broken from her thoughts by mayor Boodle who wiped some sweat from his brow as he took a break from helping the villagers repair their home. "Counting the spoils of war?" The older man asked in good humor as he walked up alongside her and looked at the treasure. "Just take some advice from an old man; dont spend it all in one place."
"Cant help it; there's one big thing I need to buy," Nami replied, thinking of her village. "How are the repairs going? As much as I hate to give away money, some of this could go towards helping-"
"-No!" Boodle cut her off. "You folks have saved us; we dont need any of the treasure. Although I must ask that you leave soon. I dont want to seem ungrateful, but the longer you're here, the quicker the villager's good feelings will fade, and they will begin to notice you rubbing elbows with the very person who brought these horrible events upon us."
"Buggy…" Nami almost growled the name as she thought about the clown pirate.
"Indeed." Boodle nodded. "We've been robbed by pirates many times before; as far as pirates go, he was far from the worst; he didnt kill anyone so long as we stood out of his way. However, Buggy is the reason that the privateers arrived and brought such destruction to our homes. I suggest you get him out of here as soon as possible before the people's good feelings turn to anger."
Nami nodded but couldn't help but grimace. "That depends entirely on how fast Luffy can convince him to make the right decision." Although Nami knew that no matter what decision was made, it wouldn't be one she liked.
Buggy stood in front of a massive stone, its flare surface smooth, and the only indents were the names of each of his fallen crew members who had died to Gaspardes Privateers. It had taken the better part of the day to gather up his men's bodies and haul them to a remote part of the island and the better part of a night to dig a mass grave and chisel their names into a massive stone slab, but it was done, and now it was time to put them to rest.
Buggy made it a point not to get too close to his followers, but it was hard to fight alongside men, share meals with them, and drink with them without getting a little attached. They at least deserved a burial, a mass grave was far from the worst thing they could get, and it was the least he could do.
While he wouldn't shed tears over their passing, he did feel a slight emptiness in his stomach, knowing they had died under his command. Captain Roger wouldn't have lost so many, but his old captain was in his own league. 'He cast such a large shadow that we could all hide in; Shanks and I didnt gain a reputation under him...he was a giant, and all were dwarves.' Buggy thought as he turned around to face the remaining members of his crew, all three of them if you counted Richie, and at this point, Buggy did count the Lion.
"Should one of us say a few words?" Cabaji asked, his usually cheerful tone now somber.
Mohji nodded. "Someone should…"
Neither seemed eager so that just left Buggy or Richie, and Buggy doubted the Lion had much to say, so he cleared his throat and turned towards the massive grave that contained the bodies of all his deceased crew members and began what he hoped was a proper funeral eulogy.
"Well...here lies some of the…." Buggy struggled to find the right words, something beautiful and heartfelt, but in the end, he failed and let out a sigh. "Truth is...here lies our crew. They were pirates, maybe not the best or the brightest but brave men who refused to bow to the whims of the world government, men who wanted to make their way through life by sailing the seas of the world and risking all for the sake of adventure and treasure. They weren't saints, far from it, liars, cheaters, and scoundrels, all of them...but in the end, they were our brothers, and our crew is lesser without them. Rest in peace, you wonderful scoundrels." Buggy pulled out a flask of spirits from his vest and pouted the alcohol on top of the grave. An old tradition his old crew used to do, one last drink for the dead.
"Good words, captain." Cabaji put forward, breaking the silence that had filled the clearing.
Buggy didnt respond; he only thought about where it had all gone wrong. He had gone from sailing the Grand line, fighting Whitebeard, Shiki, and numerous other big-name pirates to a man who lost his entire crew to some punk in the East Blue. He had come to the east blue to acquire wealth in the weakest of the four blue seas, a task that should have been easy for someone born and raised in the Grand Line. But here he was, defeated, most of his crew dead, barely any treasure, and back to square one.
It reminded him of an old sea shanty that his crew would sing whenever they dealt with death, and he couldn't help but break out into a somber song.
Oh, I bid farewell to the port and the land
And I paddle away from Paradise's white sands
To search for my long-ago forgotten friends
To search for the place, I hear all sailors end
As the souls of the dead fill the space of my mind
I'll search without sleeping 'til peace I can find
I fear not the weather, I fear not the sea
I remember the fallen; do they think of me?
When their bones in the ocean forever will be
Plot a course to a place I once knew
To a place where my hope died along with my crew
So I swallow my grief and face life's final test
To find promise of peace and the solace of rest
When at last before my ghostly shipmates, I stand
I shed a small tear for my home upon land
Though their eyes speak of depths filled with struggle and strife
Their smiles below say I don't owe them my life
As the souls of the dead live forever in my mind
As I lived all the years that they left me behind
I'll stay on the shore but still gaze at the sea
I remember the fallen, and they think of me
For our souls in the ocean together will be
Buggy finished the old song with a sigh as he turned to his three remaining crew members. All three of them were beaten and bandaged after their battle against Gaspardes Privateers, but they considered themselves lucky to be alive.
"What now?" Mohji asked, breaking the painful silence. "Practically all our men are gone, and now we're all that's left…."
"No ship, no crew, no money, and trapped on an island filled with people we tried to rob," Cabaji added. "What are we going to do, captain?"
"I dont know…." Buggy admitted sadly, he had been in numerous situations like this before, and he had always managed to escape and come out on top. However, this time was different; he could feel it. He wasn't sure if it was his age or some other thing that had changed, but he felt like he couldn't get out of this situation.
Was this the end? He had braved the Grand Line, The New World, fought in numerous wars only for his journey to end in the East blue? He would end up a no-name pirate with no treasure.
"We could join up with that Luffy kid," Cabaji muttered weakly. "He said he wanted to recruit you, right? Something about showing up a guy named Shanks."
"Shanks…" The name brought up many feelings within Buggy. There was the obvious anger at Shanks for the woes that he had caused Buggy; old grudges are hard to let go of. Yet there was also sadness, nostalgia, and finally, a great deal of shame. 'We were rivals, equals when we departed. Yet now you're an emperor in the New World and I….I am nothing…'. Buggy thought sadly; he wasn't even sure if he could face his old crewmate now. Or any of his old crew, for that matter, they would laugh to see how far he had fallen. Or worse, they would pity him. Pity was worse then mockery.
Buggy shook those unhelpful thoughts from his head; Captain Roger was dead, the pirate king's crew disbanded and scattered out across the oceans of the world. All that mattered was the present, even if the present currently sucked.
"We could join up with that kid," Mohji added. "Or at least have them give us a ride off this island, then we could lay low and-"
"-How do you expect us to lay low?" Buggy interrupted his subordinate's speech. "I'm one of the most wanted men in all the East Blue, and you lot aren't exactly the most subtle of individuals with your animal hair and Richie being a giant lion! The only person here who has any chance of staying low profile is Cabaji!"
"Then we join up with Luffy," Cabaji replied. "Kid offered us four a spot on his crew; I say we take it."
"Serving a child…." Buggy growled out angrily, more so out of embarrassment then actual anger. "Me, who was a captain becoming a damned swabbie!"
"Rich swabbies," Cabaji added in. "I talked to Zoro about what things are like serving under Luffy. The crew just formed, so he didnt have much to say, but he did say that all hands have an equal share in the treasure they find."
"Being rich would be a nice change," Mohji added, to which Richie let out a happy growl of agreement. "With a guy as strong as Luffy fighting, we can rake in a fortune and have someone super strong to protect us when the heat gets turned up. The East Blue isn't as safe as it once was. No offense, Captain, but your strength isn't enough if that Gasparde guy was anything to go by. If we have to face another guy like him, we might as well slit our throats."
Buggy saw sense in his crew's words; at this point, all the clown pirate had was his pride. He gives it up and becomes a crewmember to a teenage pirate with powerful devil fruit. While humiliating, he could rake in a bunch of money while hiding in the notoriety of a mighty captain the same way he hid in Rogers Shadow. "Give up my pride at a chance of being rich…." Buggy wondered out loud. "I think I can do that; I've done far worse things for a lot less. This situation also reminds me of an old pirate saying."
"What saying is that, captain?" Cabaji asked curiously.
"Pride and an empty sack is worth the sack." Buggy put forward. "I'm not going to live as a beggar, but I think I need to have a word with our would-be captain. Cant appear too desperate; we need to negotiate ourselves the best possible offer we can."
Suddenly the familiar sound of flapping wings echoed overhead, and a medium-sized black dragon could be seen flying overhead in circles in the sky above the four pirates. "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." Buggy muttered. "Let's see where this takes us."
Suddenly Luffy descended from the sky like a black lightning bolt, landing in the clearing near the grave. The teenaged boy dusted himself off as he turned to face Buggy and what remained of his crew.
"So I'm guessing you've come to ask me to join your crew once more?" Buggy asked, already knowing the reason for Monkey D. Luffy's visit. In the short time he knew the young man, he found he was relentless.
"Yup." The boy answered simply. "I know this might not be the best time, but I want to get out of here soon; I have a crew to assemble and the One Piece to claim."
"The One Piece." Buggy muttered, the name of Captain Rogers treasure bringing back memories. "Tell me, kid, did Shanks ever mention to you who it was we served when we were cabin boys together?" He was honestly curious how much that old red-headed fool told of their shared past together.
Luffy shook his head. "No, he just said that he served under a great man, a great pirate but never mentioned the name."
Buggy nodded, thankful that Shanks managed to keep his mouth shut on that account. The red-haired idiot could be such a blabbermouth, especially when he drank. "And you want me on your crew, eh?" He asked, anxious to get away from the subject of Captain Roger.
"Yup." The boy replied. "Shanks said he couldn't get you to join his crew, I aim to surpass Shanks, and I figure if I can do what he couldn't, which is recruiting you. That's one thing I can rub in his face."
Buggy couldn't help but chuckle at the young man's words. "I like you kid, you're funny. Heck, I'm almost tempted to accept your offer if it meant getting one over on Shanks; that man has an overly high opinion of himself. However, you have to understand that a man of my experience cant be expected to serve under a…." He paused, trying to find the right word, whatever his opinion on the boy who had saved his life and deserved a decent amount of respect, and while he was trying to play hard to get, he didnt want to appear too unwilling. "Greenhorn such as yourself."
"This Greenhorn could wipe the deck with you." Luffy put forward in a surprisingly neutral tone that showed no anger. "I took out a man that you and your entire crew couldn't even harm."
"Fair enough." Buggy was forced to concede. "I do not doubt your strength, but I'm just putting forward your age. I'm thirty-seven years old; I'm close to entering my fourth decade in this world. While you, I'm guessing you haven't even entered your second, how old are you?"
"Seventeen," Luffy replied. "My age isn't what should concern you but rather your position; what other choices do you have?"
Buggy shrugged helplessly. "Probably steal a fishing boat and try to rebuild my crew from near scratch." It was his only other option if you could even call it one.
Luffy nodded. "Recruiting, getting a new ship, resources, could take years. How many years did it take to get to where you were a few days ago?"
"Almost two decades." Buggy admitted, he had so many setbacks in his pirating career that he had only really had a smooth run in the last five years. It was going so well he was preparing for an expedition into the Grand Line once he finished his preparations. Then Gasparde came and ruined all his plans.
"So you would be fifty-seven by the time you got up to your former strength." Luffy pulled out a black pipe from his coat, ignited it with his breath, and began smoking. "Even if you hit a lucky streak, it could take years for you to get a proper crew together, especially with you being a wanted man; I won't be around to save you from a privateer attack."
"I've faced harder challenges." It wasn't a complete lie, but the boy was somewhat correct. This was the most significant setback he had since Captain Roger died. "I don't know if Shanks told you, but I fought in some of the greatest battles to ever occur on the Grand Line. I fought in the Edd war, The battle of the Red Tide, and numerous other battles while you were shitting your swaddling clothes. This is a bad setback, but I'll bounce back; I always do."
"Why wait, though?' Luffy took a deep draw from his pipe and exhaled a smoke ring. "Join my crew; I can make you a rich man. From the looks of things, you've been robbing small towns."
Buggy nodded. "Easy pickings and no marines patrols to speak of; it's easy money." If there was one kind of money, he liked it as the easy kind.
"Small money, you mean." Luffy retorted. "Robbing from people who can barely scrape by. I dont do that; I rob the rich. Nobles, kings, traders, and spice merchants. I robbed most of the Goa Nobility before the Kingdom's destruction. Join me, and I'll make you a rich man."
"Rich man, eh?" Buggy almost agreed then and there, but he didnt want to seem desperate; he had to salvage some pride from this situation. "Tempting, but I have my pride. You saved my life, and for that, I'm thankful, and I'll even find a way to repay you for it, but being the underling to a kind half my age just rubs me the wrong way."
"I'm not asking you on my ship to swab the decks." Luffy put forward in an offended tone. "I'm asking you to join my crew, my family if you wish to put it that way. All hands have an equal share in the treasure." Luffy turned to Cabaji, Mohji, and Richie. "That goes for them as well; I'm inviting you all to join my crew."
"We go where Buggy goes." Cabaji put forward. "He's been our leader for years, so if he joins you, we will follow; if not, we follow him wherever he leads."
"Thanks, guys." Buggy felt a bit of pride at the loyalty he had from his men. It made his decision a little easier; he would be doing this for his remaining loyal crewmates just as much for himself. Luffy's words did make give Buggy the reassurance he wanted. An equal share in the treasure, and with a mythical Zoan user in charge. He was already counting all the money he could make with someone like Luffy at the doing all the heavy lifting while he had an equal share in the boy's spoils of war.
"Tell you what, kid." he began, trying to put on his best poker face to hide his eagerness and greed. "I'll make you a deal. As thanks for saving my life and the lives of what's left of my crew." He gestured towards Cabaji, Mohji, and Richie. "I'll join you for the time being. I'll take your orders, do as you say and be a model crewman."
Luffy's face lit up with a large white smile. "Great! Then we can-"
"-I'm not finished!" Buggy interrupted. "In exchange, we consider my life debt to you settled; we're even." Luffy nodded, so Buggy continued, glad he wouldn't have that debt hanging over his head. "Also, I reserve the right to leave at any time. I'm no man's slave; if I dont like the ways things go then I'm leaving your crew, and you cant stop me."
"Of course." Luffy nodded happily. "I plan on my adventure being fun, filled with excitement, meat, and gold. Trust me; once we get going, you'll have so much fun you'll never want to leave my crew."
"Then we shake on it like men." Buggy held out his hand, which Luffy grasped firmly and shook. Despite his pride taking a hit, he felt he made the right choice, pride was nice, but it couldn't buy you anything since it wasn't worth a bit of gold.
"Alright Captain." Buggy strained using the word but forced it out; it had been a long time since he called anyone else captain. "Make me a rich man."
Luffy watched Orange town disappear into the distance as his ship sailed away. The villagers were happy to see them leave, especially with Buggy and his three remaining crew members leaving with them.
However, the villager's opinions were far from Luffy's worries, as his crewmembers were already at each other's throats for one reason or another.
"You cheating bastards!" Zoro roared angrily as he tossed his hand of cards at Cabaji and Mohji. "How have you won every hand?!"
"You dont have a good poker face," Cabaji muttered as he raked in the entire pile of money. "Stick to swords, Pirate hunter, and leave the cards to the real pirates."
"Well, I think you're doing some of that magician bullshit," Zoro growled as he leaned over the small table where the men were playing cards. "Open up those sleeves; I bet there are hidden cards in them."
Luffy ignored their argument over cards; they were the least of his worries. Instead, he focused on Nami and Buggy, who were glaring at each other so hard and with such intensity, he was surprised that one of them hadn't burst into flames yet.
"I'm watching you clown…" Nami growled as she continued her glaring match with Buggy.
"What's your issue, you tangerine-haired harpy?" Buggy replied. "Ever since I came on board, you've had it out for me."
"I hate pirates in general, but I especially hate pirates like you. The ones who steal from people who can barely get by." Nami replied. "You have no morals, no conscience; I'm just waiting for the moment when you backstab us and try to take this ship for your own. Pirates like you are the worst."
Instead of getting angry, Buggy burst into laughter so loud and sudden it took Luffy and Nami aback. "You naive little girl." Buggy started as his laughter abated. "You truly are a child of the blue seas if you think I'm the worst kind of pirate. I'm an angel compared to most, compared to the true devils that sail the seas of this world. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; someone like you who has never left the East blue knows nothing of true horror, true evil, what it's like to experience hell."
"You know nothing of hell," Nami growled. "You dont know me…I've seen things-"
"-You've seen nothing, little girl." Buggy interrupted. "I was born in the Grand Line; I traveled through paradise and into the new world. In my years traveling those hellish oceans, I've seen slavers kill parents in front of their children before selling the children into slavery. I've seen missionaries nailed to crosses by shamans and burned to cinders due to misguided devotion to false gods, I've seen diseases wipe out entire communities, the bodies piled so high they block out the sun, I've seen men stab each other to death over mouthfuls of water, and crumbs of food. I've seen world nobles throw naked slaves into forests on deserted islands and then hunt the slaves down for twisted sport. I've seen the worst that humanity has to offer, so I can say with utmost honesty that I know what hell is because I've lived it. What would a child like you know of such things? You dont know the true monsters that roam this world. The true evils of this world are things you cant even begin to imagine."
Nami was silent; it was the first time Luffy saw the girl silenced with words. It was also the first time he had seen Buggy speak so seriously; despite the clown pirate's apparent weakness, it was now obvious to Luffy that while Buggy might lack strength, he had experience. For the first time, he found himself understanding how the Clown Pirate was one of Shank's former crew members.
Silence reigned over the ship until Zoro finally broke it. "Way to kill the mood, guys." The Pirate Hunter grumbled as he took a swig of beer. "We're trying to play an honest game of cards here, and you're all yelling about slavery, killing, and degeneracy."
"Yeah…" Cabaji added. "I was having a pretty good time until now."
"Now I'm depressed," Mohji complained.
"Roorrr" Richie added in apparent agreement.
"Well, she started it." Buggy grumbled. "Acting like I'm the worst thing in all the world. Heck, even in this weak ocean, I'm far from the worst pirate you could meet. I dealt with the people I robbed, honestly. Taking gold and jewels, sure enough, but I never stole food; I have no desire for people to starve or not be able to feed their kids. I'm even merciful, so long as no one resisted, no one got hurt; I prefer robbery, to be honest, and bloodless. I'm no saint; I'll be the first to admit it, but compared to even East blue pirates like Don Krieg and Sawtooth Arlong, I'm downright pleasant company."
Nami didnt say anything and walked away, leaving Buggy and the rest of the crew out on the deck while she went into the interior of the small ship. Luffy could sense something was off about her all of a sudden. It was strange; he hadn't known her for very long but to see someone always willing to argue back down so suddenly. However, Luffy was broken from his thoughts by the rest of his now much larger crew, who began asking questions.
"So, Luffy." Zoro began. "What's our next destination? Are we heading straight to the Grand Line yet?"
"No way!" Buggy interjected. "We cant go into the most dangerous sea in the world without a good ship and a log pose. We also have crew positions that need to be filled."
Zoro turned a stern glare at the clown pirate. "I asked my captain, not you. You're not a captain anymore; you dont give the orders around here."
"True," Buggy allowed. "But I have got the most experience, and I was born in the Grand Line and traveled most of it. So I hope that our captain will heed wise counsel when it is offered." Buggy turned to Luffy. "What say you, captain? Will you heed your subordinate's counsel on this matter?"
Luffy walked over to the table where Zoro and the others were playing cards and took a seat before beckoning Buggy to continue. "Go on, I want to hear what someone with experience has to say, but keep in mind I'm not going to wait years to enter the Grand Line like you. At most, I only want to be in this ocean for another month, two months at most."
"Then we need to work fast." Buggy muttered as he nodded to himself. "First, we need a bigger ship, one suited for rough seas. The weather in the grand line is chaotic at the best of times; next, we need a proper crew. I dont know if you've assigned roles yet, but we need several important positions filled before even thinking of entering the Grand Line."
Luffy nodded thoughtfully as he considered his new crewmembers' words. "True, we dont have a cook; I want good food. Also, we need a musician; cant be a proper pirate crew without music."
"You think a musician is essential?" Zoro asked. "That's the least important thing on a sea voyage; the main thing we need is good food and booze."
"Our captains not entirely wrong." Buggy put forward, surprising Zoro and Luffy. "A musician is important."
"Ha!" Luffy laughed as he turned to Zoro with a barely restrained smile of superiority. "See Zoro? I know what's most important; music is key to a successful voyage."
"It's not the music itself that's important." Buggy replied, cutting off Zoro's inevitable comeback. "But long voyages can be awfully dull. A crew needs entertainment to maintain strong mental health and cohesion. A cook is also important to make sure we all eat a balanced diet. Cant have men dying of scurvy. However, we do have some roles already filled out. Cabaji can play the accordion, Mohji is decent with a flute, and I play a Hurdy-Gurdy, so together we are a decent band. But we need someone to play a violin or cello if we want to sound good."
"What the fuck is a hurdy-gurdy?" Zoro asked, genuinely perplexed. "Sounds like a made-up word."
"It's not; we can buy one at a music store along with other instruments." Buggy replied. "We also have a bit of a doctor in Mohji, so we have that position temporarily filled in. In truth, all the best doctors are in the Grand Line, so Mohji can hold that position until we find a licensed medical professional."
Luffy looked at the lion-tamer curiously. "Are you a doctor?" He asked, not believing what he was hearing, it was hard to imagine the silly-looking many with animal hair as being a doctor.
"I'm a licensed veterinarian and went to nursing school briefly," Mohji admitted sheepishly. "I might not have a fancy medical degree, but I know how to stitch up wounds, remove bullets, set broken bones, and all that other fancy stuff. Just dont expect me to perform a complicated surgery on humans; I specialize in animals. Also, I dont know much about diseases that infect humans, so my medical expertise doesn't go much beyond giving out cold medicine and chicken soup."
"Neat, we have a kind-of doctor and the beginnings of a band," Luffy couldn't believe how lucky he got with his latest crewmembers. "Well, I'll be sure to buy you guys some instruments at the next island we go to."
"Speaking of, what island are we going to next?" Cabaji asked. "If this is a voting type of crew with a quartermaster, I vote to find a bigger ship. This tub might be nice for fishing, but this many people squeezed onboard will make things uncomfortable."
"We can handle that after we run a small errand, I have a message to deliver to someone." Luffy patted one of his pockets where a letter rested. It had been years since a certain sharpshooter on Shanks crew had left the letter with him. Now that Luffy had a somewhat decent ship and crew, he could deliver it at last.
He pulled out his compass and recalled everything he could of what Yassop said about the island where his wife and son lived. "Show me where the Gecko islands are, home to Yassops family," Luffy said as he looked at the compass; the needle shifted into an eastward direction. "We go that way!" Luffy pointed to the east.
"Kid…" Buggy began as he seemed to focus on the compass. 'Where did you get that compass?"
"From Shanks," Luffy answered. "Why? Have you seen it before?"
"I have." Buggy seemed to grumble. "It was one of the many things our old captain gave to Shanks; he was always the favorite…still I won't bad mouth, my old captain when he ain't here to defend himself. The man did more for me then anyone ever did. He saved me from an early grave, saved me from poverty, taught me to read, and left a good amount of gold for me after his death. I used it to buy my first ship...still, I feel more comfortable following you now that I know you have a tool like that."
"It's guided me well so far." Luffy did enjoy his favorite tool, even if it was temperamental. "Let's head east to the Gecko islands; I have a personal errand to attend to there. We might even find a music shop or a place to buy a quality ship."
"We have the money for that?" Zoro asked as he poured himself a drink as he turned away from his card game with Cabaji. "Boats are expensive."
"We're pirates." Buggy pointed out. "We could easily steal one."
"We'll see." Luffy waved them off as he leaned against the railing of the ship, enjoying the smell of the sea air. "The best part about being a pirate is freedom and adventure, lets get to the Gecko islands and see what happens."
Authors note
Sorry for not updating in ages, life is hectic and this chapter was very hard due to a major aspect of it being a controversial decision of mine which is having Buggy join the crew. I needed to write it convincingly, and it took a long time until I wrote something I was somewhat satisfied with.
Buggy is a complicated and paradoxical character in One Piece. Ruthless, greedy, and selfish. While also fun-loving, and prone to making strange friendships. He is an enigma, and I look forward to using him in my story and expanding him and his character. One of Luffy's main traits in the series is bringing out the best in people, maybe he can do the same for Buggy.
Sorry, the fight scene was so short, I'm terrible at writing fights.
Not much else to say, again I apologize for taking so long. I've been busy, and my grandfather died four months ago, and I did not deal with it in a healthy way for a long time. But things are looking up and I hope to get back to flexing my creativity again.