From Mafioso to Pirate

Chapter 13: A Promise

XXX

"I've never met someone who pissed me off as much as that guy did," Buggy continued to rant as the two boys glanced at each other and then back at him. "I don't know how you're related to him, and I don't care! That bastard denied me a lot of treasure, so I have the right to say anything I want about him!"

"Treasure again, huh?" Lambo mumbled, his hand tightening on his shoulder to stem the bleeding. "And how exactly did Shanks get in the way of you and your precious treasure?"

Apparently completely ignorant to the boy's mocking town, Buggy answered. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you, but just be prepared to hate him as much as I do!"

"Not gonna lie, I really doubt that," Lambo stated flatly. He was ignored.

"It started when our crew decided to pillage another... I managed to acquire a map that showed me a treasure buried at the bottom of the sea! I kept it a secret from my other crewmates, of course, and planned to go find it on my own once I had my own ship to sail on!"

"Yeah, okay, where exactly are you going with this?" Lambo interrupted, slightly annoyed while Luffy just cocked his head to the side.

Buggy shot him a glare. "I'm getting to that! You see, along with the treasure, we managed to find a Devil Fruit as well! I didn't care about it much at first. After all, how was I supposed to find treasure at the bottom of the sea if the Devil Fruit took away my ability to swim? But after I heard that it could be sold for a million beri, I knew I had to have it! If I sold that, I could get my own ship and search for treasure all around the world! So, I made a fake fruit and ate it in front of everyone while I took the real fruit and hid it away!"

"Ate it?" Lambo asked in confusion. "And your captain just let you do that?"

"Would you stop interrupting?! And, yes, our captain said that if any of us had the guts to eat it, we could," Buggy muttered, glaring at the boy.

"Really? Your captain sounds really cool!" Luffy said in awe.

"ANYWAY," Buggy growled, causing them to look back at him. "Just as I was about to leave the ship, Shanks interrupted me and I had to hide the fruit in my mouth. And thanks to that bastard, I accidentally swallowed it and the map fell into the sea! I jumped after it, but thanks to the Devil Fruit, I couldn't swim anymore, so that flashy bastard had to get me back out!"

"Oh, so he saved your life," Luffy said, nodding in understanding.

"Still don't get why you hate him, though," Lambo muttered.

"HAVEN'T YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?! Because of him, my plans were delayed by ten years!"

'But if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't even have plans,' Lambo thought to himself as he continued to watch the clown with half-lidded eyes. 'Plus, it's your own fault for stealing that fruit in the first place...'

"And then I realized...if I can't have the treasure beneath the sea, then I'll just take all the treasure the land has to offer! With this ability, I'm invincible!" He boasted as the top half of his body split from the lower half and started rising into the air. "And if anyone dares try to take my treasure, I won't let them escape with their lives! Now..."

Lambo blinked in confusion as Buggy's gaze left them and he looked at something in the distance. Turning around, his eyes widened when he saw a familiar girl trying to sneak away, a large white bag slung over her shoulder.

"HAND OVER MY TREASURE, NAMI!"

Nami's eyes widened as she glanced back and she quickly broke into a run. "Crap! He saw me!"

"Dammit, we'll never make it all the way there in time," Lambo grimaced. "What should we..."

"Hey, look. He left this here," Luffy suddenly said. Lambo turned back in his direction and blinked when he saw him pointing at the severed bottom half of the clown pirate.

"...Maybe we could use this to our advantage," Lambo said as he looked at the severed body parts calculatingly.

Luffy grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I gotcha!"

Lambo nodded. "Good. I'll just electrocute them, and then we can-" He barely had time to finish his sentence before Luffy's leg shot forward and connected with the severed lower half of the clown's body, right where it would cause the most damage.

Back with Nami, she blinked in confusion as Buggy suddenly stopped chasing her, seeming to be frozen in midair before falling down onto the ground, face contorting in utter agony. "M-m-m-m-my b-b-b-b-ba..."

'Did I just hear a crack?' Lambo thought to himself as Luffy retracted his foot and gave him a thumbs up.

"We did it! Great plan, Lambo!"

"...You're ruthless."

"Huh?"

"...Never mind. At least we stopped him." He looked down at the convulsing bottom half of Buggy's body and winced. "Still, though..." He then turned his gaze back to Nami. "And when did she get here, anyway?"

"Hey, you!" Luffy called out to Nami, who stopped staring at the downed Buggy in confusion and looked at him. "Just leave the treasure and run! If you don't, he'll just come after you again!"

"If he can..." Lambo mumbled flatly.

Nami's expression changed into a glare as she tightened her hold on the bag. "No way! Why should I throw away my treasure?!"

"Your treasure...you say?" Buggy said weakly, lifting his head up slightly.

"Holy crap, he actually managed to bounce back from that," Lambo said with wide eyes. "He's made of stronger stuff than I thought..."

"I'm kind of surprised, too," Luffy agreed with a frown.

"...Once again, you're ruthless."

"Of course this treasure is mine!" Nami shouted, glaring down at the blue-haired man. "I'm a thief that steals from pirates! I stole these from you, so that makes them all mine!"

"Oh! I see!" Luffy said in understanding as he slammed his fist into his hand.

"She's really starting to remind me of someone..." Lambo sighed as his thoughts drifted to a certain cloaked illusionist.

"Bullshit! Those are MY treasures! It isn't yours just because you stole it! Just what kind of logic is that, anyway?!"

The orange-haired girl scoffed. "A crook lecturing another crook? Don't make me laugh!"

"What was that?!"

Nami smirked down at him. "I'm not going to lower myself to the likes of you pirates, understand?"

Buggy continued to glare bloody murder at her as he slowly lifted himself up. "You'd better prepare yourself, Nami... Bara Bara..." Lambo and Luffy's eyes widened in surprise when the other half of Buggy's body sprang up. "Festival!"

Everyone gasped in shock when each of his body parts split into more and more before all rising up into the air and floating their way towards Buggy and Nami.

"Hahahahaha! If you want to help your friend, you'd better do it now, rubber man! Cow boy!"

"Whoa, he's split into even more pieces!" Luffy exclaimed before something else caught his attention.

"Damn, what do..." Lambo trailed off when Luffy tossed something over to him. Looking down at it, he blinked in surprise. "...Is this that guy's foot?"

The other boy grinned, holding up the other foot. "Yep! Let's do this, Lambo!"

"Just don't go overboard this time," Lambo mumbled as emerald green electricity crackled around his hand.

"Alright!"

"Return my treasure!" Buggy shouted, oblivious to what was going on behind him as he raced after the fleeing girl.

"No means no!"

"I'll just do...this!" Luffy said to himself as he removed the shoe and started tickling the foot.

"I guess that works," Lambo consented as he let an electric shock run through the other foot.

"And this," Luffy continued, pinching the skin and stretching it out. "And..." He raised the foot over his head... "THIS!" And slammed it down onto the hard ground.

Buggy let out a yell and turned to glare at the two boys. "CUT THAT OUT ALREADY!"

"You're the one who should stop!" Nami exclaimed, turning around and slamming the bag full of hard gold and jewels into the clown's face.

"Ooooh! Way to go, Nami!" Luffy shouted as Lambo stared at the scene in surprise.

Buggy froze in midair for a moment before smirking in victory and grabbing onto the bag, making Nami's eyes widen in shock. "I have my treasure back!"

Nami's expression turned to an angered one and she shook the bag, trying to dislodge the man's severed hands. "Let go of my treasure!"

"What?! You're the one who should let go!"

"I SAID LET GO!"

Buggy glared at her before grinning. "Fine, if you say so!"

"What?"

The two hands let go of the bag and lifted into the air, now carrying daggers pointed straight towards her face. Buggy's grin widened at the terrified look in her eyes. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted me to let go! Now, DIE!"

"Elettrico Cornata!"

Buggy's eyes widened as something slammed into him and sent him slamming into the wall of a building, spasming from the electricity now circulating around him, the bag of treasure bursting open and raining from the sky.

"That was still as awesome as ever, Lambo!" Luffy exclaimed happily, but frowned when the other boy fell into a sitting position, breathing a bit hard as his flames slowly went out. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah... I just... I'm not used to using so much of my flames in such a short amount of time," he answered before wincing and grabbing his shoulder. "Great, it started bleeding again..."

"Hey, uh..." Both turned and looked at Nami, who slowly stood up. "Um, thanks for that."

"Don't worry about it," Lambo assured as he took off his horns and put them away. "I'm just glad that this is finally over with."

"You did really good, Lambo! Even if it was your first fight!"

Lambo blinked in surprise before allowing himself a small smile. "Right... Thanks, Luffy."

Luffy nodded before seeming to remember something. "Oh, yeah! The map!"

"Oh, I have it-" Nami started before letting out a shout of shock.

"It's not over yet, Cow-Boy!"

Lambo grimaced. "Great, he got up."

"Um, I'm just gonna leave the rest to you," Nami said quickly as she scurried away.

"I won't forget this! None of you will leave here alive! BARA BARA PARTS! REASSEMBLE!"

Lambo and Luffy both got themselves ready, only to blink in surprise at what happened next. His body parts did come back, but only his hands and feet. His arms, legs, and torso were nowhere to be seen, making him look like a miniature version of himself. Buggy himself seemed to realize this as he blinked in confusion. "...Eh?"

"Looking for these?"

The three turned towards Nami's voice only to see the girl standing over the rest of Buggy's body parts, all tied up firmly by a rope as the girl smiled triumphantly.

"M-My parts!"

"Hahaha! Great job!" Luffy laughed while Lambo just stared at the tied up body parts in surprise.

'...I think I'm going to have to rethink my view on women,' he thought, sweatdropping.

"It's no wonder you're a thief!" Luffy continued, throwing his arms back and making them stretch into the distance. "Hey, Buggy! Gomu Gomu no...!"

Buggy's eyes widened in horror. "I-I'm dead..."

"BAZOOKA!"

Lambo and Nami could only watch in awe as Luffy's hands slammed into Buggy and sent him flying and disappearing into the sky like a star.

"Dang..." Lambo mumbled as he stood back up. 'Luffy is...really strong, isn't he?'

Luffy turned in his direction and gave a blinding grin. "We won, Lambo! Good job!"

"What? Oh... I didn't do much..."

"What do ya mean? You saved our navigator, didn't you?"

"Hey," said navigator spoke up, causing them both to look at her. "Are you two...okay?"

"Hm? I'm fine. What about you?"

Lambo glanced at his shoulder. "Well, the bleeding's stopped again. And as long as I don't use anymore flames today, I should be just fine. By the way, Luffy..." The cow-clad boy looked up at his captain's hat and frowned. "You should find a way to get that cut on your hat fixed, otherwise it'll just get bigger..."

Luffy removed said hat from his head and examined it with a frown. Watching this, Nami glanced away and mumbled, "I can patch it up for you if you want."

The boy blinked and looked at her. "What was that?"

"Nothing at all!" The girl huffed before lifting up one of the two bags she was holding. "Anyway, since the bag got all torn up, I had to split it into two. Can you carry one? It's really heavy."

"When did you even have time to do that?" Lambo asked in confusion. "Come to think of it, how did you tie Buggy up so fast, too?"

The girl shrugged. "I'm a thief, so I'm used to having to do things like that. So, anyway..." Putting the bags on the ground, she pulled out a rolled up piece of paper and held it out to him. "Here."

"What's that?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"The map of the Grand Line. You wanted it, right?"

"Really?! You're just giving it to us?!"

"Well, you guys did save my life..."

"Awesome! Thanks, Nami!"

"Yare, yare... Looks like we finally got it..." Lambo sighed.

"Oh, hey, does this mean you're coming with us?" Luffy exclaimed hopefully.

"I told you that I won't become a pirate, but..." The girl smirked. "If I stay with you guys, I'll probably be able to steal tons of money. I'm only working with you, though, don't forget that."

"I got it!"

"Zoro, you still alive?" Lambo asked as he bent over the unconscious swordsman and shook him.

"Ugh... Is the fight over already?" The green-haired man grimaced, lifting himself up.

"Hey, Zoro! We have the map and a navigator now!" Luffy shouted cheerfully.

"You mean that girl?" Zoro asked, turning to look at Nami. Their eye contact lasted about a second before he sighed. "Man, I'm about to pass out... I can't really move either..."

"If you could move, then you guys wouldn't be human," Nami said with a frown.

"I'm starting to think they might not be," Lambo said flatly.

"Was I included in that?" Luffy asked.

"You're the strangest one of them all!" Nami shouted before giving up and sighing. "Anyway, we should go take a look at the mayor."

"Oh, right. Let's go wake that old man up."

"Hey, you four!"

The three pirates and navigator turned towards the source of this new voice to see a group of townspeople making their way towards them. "You're not from here, are you?"

"Yeah, and you?" Luffy asked.

"We're the residents of this town. What happened to the pirates? If you know anything, please tell us."

"Oh, you're the townspeople," Nami said in relief. "For a second there, I thought they were more enemies..."

It was then that the residents noticed the unconscious man, their eyes widening as they rushed over to him.

"Mayor? What happened?!"

"Hey, get ahold of yourself!"

"He's passed out!"

"Those pirates must have done this!"

"Oh, sorry," Luffy said apologetically. "I had to knock him out."

Each one of them turned towards him with murderous glares. "What?"

"For God's sake, Luffy," Lambo groaned.

"Why did you tell them that, you idiot?!" Nami whispered urgently at him, looking about ready to punch him.

Luffy frowned in confusion. "Well, because I did."

"But you didn't have to tell them!"

"You did this to our mayor?" One of the townspeople asked, cutting off Luffy and Nami. "Who are you? Are you with those pirates?"

'Looks like we're going to have to lie our way out of here...' Lambo thought with a frown.

"We're pirates."

'...Or not.' "Goddammit, Luffy..." He groaned while Zoro laughed beside him and Nami just gaped in disbelief.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"But we are!"

"How dare you pirates cause so much destruction to our town! We won't forgive you, even if you are just kids!"

"What now?" Zoro asked with a smirk. "They won't listen to us anymore."

Lambo sent him a mild glare. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

The swordsman's smirk just widened. "Maybe."

"Alright, everyone," Luffy said as he slung one of Zoro's arms around his shoulders and lifted him up. "RUN!"

Nami yelped and grabbed one of her bags and tossed the other towards Lambo with a cry of "You carry that one!"

"Wha- hey!" Lambo said, grimacing under the weight as he hurried after them.

"Why did you have to tell them that, you idiot?!" He heard Nami shout at Luffy as he caught up to them.

"This is a good town," was the other boy's response.

"What do you mean?" Lambo asked, now running beside him. "They're kind of trying to kill us, Luffy."

Luffy gave a wide grin. "They're going to try to fight us just because of that old man! No matter what excuse I give them, they're not gonna stop!" He laughed as he turned the corner, causing the other two to stumble before turning as well.

"Geez! Warn us next time!" Nami shouted at him.

"Crap, something's blocking the way!" Lambo pointed out.

"Jump over it!"

As they leaped over the white object blocking the path, their eyes widened when they realized what it was.

"Is that...?" Lambo started.

"It's Chouchou!" Nami said in surprise as they landed on the other side and continued running, glancing behind them as the residents came to a stop before the dog, who began to snarl and bark at them.

"Chouchou? Get out of the way!"

"Those guys are evil pirates! Let us through!"

"Chouchou, let us through!"

Luffy stared back at the dog for a long moment before giving a blinding smile.

"THANKS, DOGGY!"

"We finally escaped, thanks to Chouchou..." Nami said in relief, breathing hard as Lambo put his bag of treasure on the ground next to hers. "Seriously, why do I have to be in these kind of situations..."

"It wasn't that bad. We got what we came for," Luffy said as he looked over at the two boats floating in the dock.

"Yeah, mission accomplished," Lambo mumbled, earning a grin and nod from Luffy. Looking at the second ship, he arched an eyebrow. "Is this your ship? It has Buggy's flag on it..."

Nami glanced at the ship before waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, that? I stole it from some stupid pirates."

"Of course..."

"How dare you say that?!"

Lambo blinked and Nami jumped in surprise as three men sprang up from the ship, apparently having been hiding there. Upon closer inspection, the cow-clad boy immediately recognized them.

"We've been waiting for you, thief!"

"Ah, it's those three again," Lambo said with a frown while Luffy looked at him in confusion.

"You know them?"

"Yeah, we met them while you were still being kidnapped by that bird," Lambo muttered, turning to look at Nami. Seeing her expression, he stated "I take it these are the pirates you stole this from?"

"Uh, maybe..."

"So, you have friends," one of them said as he walked over to the three boys. Seeing the unconscious Zoro slung onto Luffy's shoulders, he reached out and slapped him on the head a few times. "Hey, you, don't pretend to be asleep! Hey!"

Zoro slowly lifted his head up and looked at him, with an expression Lambo could only described as demonic.

"Huh?"

Lambo blinked, slightly stunned. One moment they were there, the next they were gone. It was like they disappeared in an instant, the sound of terrified shrieking echoing behind them. 'I didn't think humans could run that fast...' He looked over at Zoro, who just stared after them with an arched eyebrow while Luffy laughed. 'I kinda wish I knew what he did to them... Stupid Ten-Year-Bazooka...'

"Alright, we're set to go," Nami said as she climbed onto her stolen ship while Luffy and Lambo carried the now-conscious Zoro into their own. They then unwrapped the ropes that were keeping their boats docked and allowed them to begin to drift away from the island, picking up speed as they went.

As they did, Luffy suddenly shot up and exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot!"

The three just watched in confusion and mild amusement as the young captain started digging into his pockets, apparently looking for something.

"Where is it...?"

"Lost something?" Zoro asked.

"Hmmm... Oh, here it is!" Luffy exclaimed as he pulled something out and held it out to Lambo, who just blinked and stared at it, not comprehending.

"...Is that a necklace?" He asked, taking a closer look at it. "It looks like something a little kid would wear... Uh, are you giving it to me?"

Luffy smiled and thrust it into his hand. "Yeah!"

Lambo blinked as he took the plastic necklace and looked at it with ever-growing confusion. "Okay... Why?"

"You said you didn't have any treasures before, remember?" Luffy answered brightly. "Well, this necklace is a promise between you and me."

Lambo stopped frowning down at the object and looked up at him, eyes widening slightly. "A promise?"

"Yeah, that you'll become the strongest Mafia-guy in the entire world!" Luffy's arms spread wide in a gesture to show how big the world was.

"O-Oh..." Lambo mumbled before looking down at the necklace as if it were something entirely different. "But I'm...not really sure I can do that..."

"Sure you can!" Luffy said in his usual all-knowing manner. "You did great with that Buggy guy!"

"He's right," Zoro spoke up, capturing his attention. "Even though I wasn't there to see it, I saw all the damage your lightning did to the surroundings. You're good, but you're not going to get anywhere in life if you don't have faith in your own abilities."

"...If...you say so," Lambo mumbled, looking down at the necklace once more before slowly putting it around his neck.

"It suits you," Luffy said happily.

Zoro smirked at him as well. "Geez, you look like you've never gotten a gift before."

Lambo huffed and sent him a mild glare. "Of course I have. Just...never anything really meaningful."

"Hey..." Nami spoke up, causing him to remember she was there. Looking at her, he saw that she was staring at him with a mistrusting frown. "Did he just say you were in the Mafia?"

"Oh, well I..."

"HEY! YOU BRATS!"

Lambo blinked as they all turned back towards the docks, which were getting smaller and smaller by the second. "...Isn't that the mayor?"

The old man was standing at the front of the docks, kneeled over slightly and gasping, most likely from the run. He then lifted his head to reveal his tear-streaked, smiling face. "THANK YOU! I'LL REPAY YOU SOMEDAY!"

Luffy grinned and raised his hand in the air, waving it vigorously. "Don't worry about it! Take it easy!"

Lambo sighed and sat down, a small smile on his face. "I feel like we did good today."

"Hey, don't change the subject," Nami said, turning back to him. "What did he mean by..." She trailed off, eyes widening in horror. "What the- MY TREASURE! You, what the hell happened to the other bag?!"

"Oh, I left it behind," Luffy answered flatly, unconcerned by her anger.

"What?! Just that one bag was probably worth five million beri!"

"Yeah, they're gonna need that to rebuild their town."

"But that was MY treasure! Do you have any idea how hard I worked to steal that?!" She shouted before reaching out towards Luffy, grabbing him by the neck, and attempting to shove him into the water. "I won't forgive you for this!"

"S-Stop! I can't swim!"

"That's the point!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Shut up and die!"

Lambo watched the scene in amusement while Zoro just burst out into laughter at it all. "She really reminds me of that guy..."

"Hm?" The swordsman glanced at him, still smiling. "If you know someone like that, then I feel really sorry for you."

"Luckily for me, we weren't that close..."

"Well, for better or for worse, we have our navigator."

"Yep... Somehow..." He sweatdropped as he watched Nami continue to try to drown their captain. 'So...does she like us or not? I really don't understand women...'