So here is next chapter. A bit earlier than intended, but well... the reason is in the next paragraph. Please read it, I know skipping is interesting sometimes, but please read it and if you want also please give me your opinion.
Can I say I really start to dislike writing fighting scenes? They really trouble me... Because well, I'm afraid of making them too strong (especially during the East Blue Arc) or making them appear too weak... Also, sometimes I just sit/lay there and think about how the fight should go to make it interesting for you for an hour without a typing a sentence. So would it bother you if I cut them short sometimes(more like most of the fights)? Just curious. There are some small fights in this chapter and in chapter 5(little one) and in chapter 6(a little longer but not too much, I think). The two scenes in the next chapters weren't in the baselines as I wasn't sure, yet, how to write them. But since they are now written in my document they are staying. Because I already worked on them long enough and don't want to delete it. So yeah, let me know if you guys would be fine when I sometimes cut fights down to a few sentences. I'll definitely make it up to you somehow (maybe longer chapters or maybe some little with ideas I wanted to use but decided not to).
Also, before the chapter, I have another question. I need someone who would be able to do their jolly roger for me. I have two similar ideas on my mind but I suck at drawing. I even have trouble drawing a clean circle without using tools. So yeah, anyone up for helping? I would really like to use the jolly roger as cover for this fanfic. So if you are interested and can draw/sketch, just write me a private message on ff dot net. Because with the pm-system it would be easier to communicate and also, it won't spoiler the other too much. So, I'm sorry for the AO3-only reader who can draw.
So now enough talking. Enjoy the chapter ;)
yukino76: Thank you. You're welcome =)
Guest(07.08): To be true... I don't really understand what you tried to say. Sorry:x
~Chapter 4 – Buggy the red nose baka~
Ace glared at his precious baby brother. Why was Luffy so fixed on a musician to be their next crew member? A cook or a ship-wright would be better as the next addition to the crew.
They couldn't convince Law to cook all the time (okay, maybe Luffy could but he wasn't going to discuss this) and well the rest of them didn't know how to cook or it tasted bad if they tried. So a cook would be great.
Also, the ship was bound to get damaged when they went to the Grandline because of the weather and the stronger pirates. Small damages they would be able to repair, but it wouldn't stay that way. So they would need someone who was able to repair their still nameless ship.
No, he wasn't going to follow his baby brother's suggestion to call the ship Shippy. That was a stupid name. Their ship needed a cool name. But that wasn't important at the moment.
"But pirates like to party. So we need a musician when we finally hoist the colour", Luffy said and crossed his arms with a pout on his lips.
Ace suppressed a groan and looked away. He would only say yes if he looked longer at his baby brother. The older one of the two brothers started to hate the fact that Luffy, despite showing off a simpleness and innocent most of the time, had developed a little manipulative devilish side during the time they travelled with their shitty grandpa. Because of this side, it was harder for him sometimes to tell his baby brother no. Especially, if Luffy used his brain.
"Listen, Luffy, we will get a musician, I swear. But you know that we can't convince Law to cook all the time and neither you nor Zoro nor Bepo nor I are able to cook something eatable and healthy. Therefore we should look for a cook who can fight and maybe also is able to swim, so Zoro isn't the only one who has to jump into the water everytime you decided it would be great idea to fall into the ocean", Ace said slowly and carefully thinking about his words (something he didn't very often).
He glanced at his baby brother out of the corner of his eyes. There was a tilting of the head. Good. That meant Luffy was thinking about it.
But before his baby brother could say something, Law appeared next to them. A vein was slightly popping on the surgeon's forehead. This was bad.
"You two seriously need to control your eating habits. We need to dock again because you have eaten everything except the stupid bread!", Law said angrily.
Luffy and Ace looked both with shocked faces at the surgeon. This had to be a joke.
"No meat?!", they said in unison and that got them a hit from Law.
Their stepbrother could say what he wanted. He definitely learned their grandpa's fist of love. Otherwise, it wouldn't hurt like it did.
"Do we still have booze?", Ace heard Zoro asking. For some reason, he felt that this was a bad timing to ask that question.
He found himself right when he could see how Law's face seemed to have become darker. Oh shit… that wasn't good. He needed a good distraction quickly. An angry Law was something they didn't need.
Ace picked up his baby brother. If Luffy pulled the right face, they could save their lives.
"Come on, Law, Luffy needs food. He still is shorter and thinner than us and you know how tall shitty gramps is. Luffy is so small compared to him. We need to feed Luffy so he is able to grow big and strong", Ace said hoping that this would convince Law to take pity on them and stopped looking like he wanted to cut them apart any longer.
Luffy blinked innocently like he didn't understand what exactly was going on. Good. This expression of his baby brother would poke Law's weird omega-mother-complex. Well, that was the ideal plan.
"Land sighted."
Bepo's shout made them all look up to the Crow's nest. Then the realisation seemed to dawn on the crew members. They quickly went towards the railing. Ace still carried Luffy. Just in case that Law was still angry.
"I also see a big ship on the shore", the polar bear mink said.
"Do you see the flag?" "A jolly roger with a big red point on the skull in the area where a nose should be." "That's the same jolly roger the three men had on their ship", Zoro said and had his hand already on one of his swords.
"We will dock elsewhere and then look around the town for supplies. But we stay together in case of a fight breaking out. Bepo, you will stay on the ship to protect it", Law ordered. The voice lacked any anger. Looked like the island saved from the surgeon's anger.
"Ay, ay", Bepo shouted and climbed down from the Crow's nest to take control of the ship's helmet.
"Ne, Law, when a fight breaks out. Are we allowed to use it?", Ace asked with a grin.
Law sighed and looked at them. "Only if it is needed."
Now that sounded like they would get some fun.
Law swore to himself that he would look for a necklace with sea stone and a rope to make sure that Luffy wouldn't be able to run off any more.
Seriously, the boy had too much-unused energy. Maybe… he should allow the little one to use his devil fruit powers in their room on their ship. But it was possible that it was too cramped. Even if Luffy was very small in his smallest form.
He sighed. They had to hurry and get on the Grandline. Sure their opponents were stronger than in the East Blue, but devil fruit users wouldn't attract that much attention as here where people thought devil fruits were a myth.
But now was not the time to think about it.
Ace, Zoro and Law had to search for Luffy who had run off shortly after they had docked.
Law cursed the speed the straw-hatted boy possessed. How was it even possible for Luffy to be that fast without using Soru? Yes, he knew that Luffy didn't use it. Otherwise, the boy would be a lot faster than he already was.
So the surgeon walked the short way on the shore to the town with Ace and Zoro. When the town came slowly into view, he was surprised that there was no typical sound was heard. It was too quiet for a town.
There wasn't a single person on the street when they entered the town. The houses seemed fine except some of them which were completely destroyed by something he couldn't conclude, yet. But Law had a strong suspicion that the pirate ship in the harbour had something to do with the destroyed parts and the dead town.
"Is that normal for a town that dead?", Ace suddenly asked and pointed to, what seemed to be the middle of the city where a big circus tent stood on top of a building. If Law concentrated on his hearing sense, he could hear music coming from there. So the town wasn't as dead as it seemed.
"For a ghost town like this. It isn't normal. But let's just find Luffy and grab some supplies so we can leave", Law said and closed his eyes to focus. It would be easier and faster to find Luffy that way. It didn't take him long to notice the presence of the boy.
But there was another one. Weaker, a lot weaker than Luffy's, and an animal-like presence close by the boy. But they didn't feel dangerous. Law opened his eyes and turned the way he felt the presences. They better hurried and find Luffy before trouble would find them.
"That way", Law said and took the lead. "How can you be so sure?", Zoro asked. "Haki. Don't worry, we will explain later. Just not now", Law explained. He was sure that Ace had a grin on his face. So the slightly smaller black-haired one seemed to be happy already about the possibility to teach their crew members about Haki.
Poor Zoro… the only way Ace knew to teach Haki was Garp's way of teaching them Haki.
Law took a side glance at the green-haired swordsman. Just from the look, he would guess that the other was interested in Haki. Well, it would fit, as Zoro seemed to do and try a lot of different ways to become stronger without using dirty tricks.
With the help of his Kenbunshoku Haki, they found Luffy quite quickly. The boy was in front of a destroyed pet-shop if the shield close by was anything to go with.
Next to Luffy was a white dog who was fed by an older man with glasses and armour chest-plates. Both the man and the dog looked wounded.
"Luffy, you idiot. Don't just run off on your own", Ace scolded his baby brother and bonked him lightly on the head. Law narrowed his eyes and studied Luffy carefully. The boy didn't react like he usually would. He didn't call Ace a meanie or said that Ace was stingy.
"Ne, Ace, Zoro, Law?"
Okay, now the surgeon was worried. It was rare for Luffy to call him by his name. He only did it when he had one of his serious moments.
"Can we kick these pirates out of town so that the people can return and to avenge the destruction of Chouchou's treasure?"
The straw hat shadowed Luffy's eyes. But now Law know just from the voice the younger one used that it was one these rare serious moments of Luffy again.
"Boy, you don't have to do that. This group is dangerous. You already did enough by saving Chouchou and me", the man said clearly worried.
Why wasn't he surprised that Luffy would fight to avenge the treasure of a dog… The kid really loved animals too much.
The dog had stood up and barked. Looked like it wanted to fight, too.
"No, you should rest, Chouchou. Don't worry, Torao, Ace and Zoro are with me. So we will beat them. I'm just sorry that there was nothing we could rescue from your treasure except the pack of dog food", Luffy said and caressed the dog's head, before his little step-brother/cousin stood up.
Law felt himself nodding. He knew that Luffy wouldn't leave the town now without fighting the group. That wasn't Luffy's way to just go away if someone's treasure wasn't treated the way it should be.
"They are in this circus tent in the middle, aren't they?", Ace asked with a devilish grin. Looked like the older version of their future captain needed to blow off some steam, too.
"You can't fight against Buggy. He has a devil fruit. They are real. I saw him stabbing a person in the back with his hand when he stood metres away."
"Huh, so we are allowed to use it, too. That would only be fair to return the favour if he decided to use it against us", Ace said and Law heard Luffy cracking his knuckles.
"Don't worry about us. Just make sure that you are somewhere safe outside the town. Just in case something happens we couldn't predict. Also, if it is fine with you, after the fight, we would like to stock up our supplies. Help is appreciated later", Law said and waved his hand as he followed Luffy who had already decided which way.
The group of four came to stop in front of the building with the circus tent on top. Luffy could hear loud circus music.
"Great, I should have known. Only a circus-themed crew would use a red-nose on their jolly roger", Law grumbled. "Come on, Law. It won't be a kids-show if we entered. So you don't have to worry about getting a cake in your face", Ace teased.
Luffy blended their biggering out and looked up. To go the direct way to attack them sounded good. But his plan was stopped when a pirate came out of the building.
The man grumbled something. He stopped when he saw them.
"Tell your captain that he should leave the town otherwise we will kick his ass out", Luffy said cracking his knuckles. To prepare himself but also to look intimidating. He saw Ace and Sabo doing that when they were younger.
The man just stared at them for a minute or two before he burst out into laughter. "You guys beating Captain Buggy?" The pirate nearly choked on his laughter, but he became quieter when he saw Zoro. So Zoro's bounty hunter reputation seemed to be scary enough to make this person take them a bit more seriously. But still not enough.
"Ace, light it up", Luffy commanded. "See it as done", his big brother said. He felt how Ace stepped next to him and made a gun with his fingers. His big brother shot a little fire bullet that flew right beside the pirate's ear, who shrieked in shock of the sudden heat, into the building.
A loud sound was heard and the building started to tremble.
"Looks like I hit a bulls-eye without even trying", Ace said with a grin on his face.
"Who and where is the punk who did that?"
A clown appeared on the rooftop. He wore a captain hat and a captain coat. But he didn't feel like a captain in Luffy's opinion.
"Oi, tell your captain to get out of town, big red-nose idiot", Luffy said with crossed arms. "Who are you calling a big red-nose idiot, brat?! I'm the great Captain Buggy", the clown shouted.
Luffy tilted his head. The facial expression and the anger reminded him a bit of Dadan when Ace, Sabo and Luffy had made chaos again.
"If you are the captain, then come down and fight us, red-nose idiot", Ace said. Looked like his big brother was annoyed with the clown. Law didn't look much happier. More like he was seconds away from taking the clown's heart to make him suffer just for being a clown.
"I'll handle them, Captain Buggy", a new voice said and a man on a unicycle jumped down from the rooftop. A sword pointed towards him. But the slash was intercepted by Zoro.
"Don't just waste our time", the swordsman said and turned his right hand a bit to make the acrobat back away. "Pirate Hunter Roronar Zoro. Are you here to take our captain's bounty?"
"I'm here because my captain decided to kick you out of town. I don't care about the red-nose idiot's bounty", Zoro growled with his third sword in his mouth.
"Can you handle him alone, Zoro?", Luffy asked. A nod was the only answer he got. But it was the only one he needed.
"Yosh, Ace, Torao, that red-nose idiot is mine. Don't get involved", the straw-hatted boy said while he tapped his foot lightly on the ground. His eyes were fixed on the other captain.
Too fast for the others, Luffy made up his way and landed a kick directly in the clown's face. He supported his body with his hands on the edge of the rooftop before he pushed himself slightly so that he landed on his feet on the rooftop.
"Captain Buggy!"
"Why are we always dealing with people who scream their captain's name when their captain is hit by someone?", Ace asked when he appeared next to him. Probably making sure that no one of the crew members on the rooftop would interfere with the fight between Luffy and the red-nose idiot. Law was mostly doing the same in front of the building for Zoro.
"I don't care about their behaviour. I just want to kick them out of town", Luffy said and watched how the clown got up again.
"I'll show you brat that you shouldn't mess with great Captain Buggy", the clown shouted and then his body split into two halves.
The upper half was flying towards Luffy and Ace.
The boy just dodged it while his big brother toyed with the clown.
"You know. You are not the only with devil fruit abilities", Ace said clearly amused when flames were dancing on his body where wounds should be.
This seemed to shock the clown. So the other had never thought that there would be other devil fruit users? Well, good for them. Luffy used the shocking moment to kick the clown where it hurts.
A loud screech reached his ears. So even if their opponent split his body, he was still able to feel what happened to the other body parts.
Sweet, Luffy grabbed one foot, threw the shoe away and started to tickle the clown. The red-nose idiot started to laugh.
"You know that's not the normal way to fight, Luffy", Ace said and dodged a slash from a crew member. "But he isn't a normal opponent. So it's fine when he leaves the town with his crew", Luffy shrugged and continued to tickle the foot of the clown.
The straw-hatted boy was surprised to suddenly see how Ace stopped moving and a sword went through his big brother.
"We could play baseball with him if he splits enough", the older black-haired one suggested. "Baseball? Yeah, that sounds good", Luffy cheered before pulled on the foot in his hand. "Oi, big red-nose idiot. Spilt more so we can play baseball with you."
Law was annoyed. Most of the crew members weren't worthy of a fight. But there were many of them. It got really annoying.
Especially, since the acrobat, who introduced himself as Buggy's first mate Cabaji, lacked any pride. The man wasn't fighting an honourable fight, which would be normal between two swordsmen who were proud to call themselves that.
The idiot had ordered his men to attack them to leave openings in their defence for him. This was some coward tactic.
This strategy may work with weaker people. But it wouldn't work on Zoro and him.
Law felt a grin ghosting over his face. They wouldn't be fast enough to hit them. Not if he used Haki and played a bit with his devil fruit. When he had noticed this strategy, the surgeon had asked Zoro to trust him.
A room around them was all he needed. Every opponent became a toy as soon as he entered. Law could cut them apart or open and switched them around as much as he like and as long as he could.
But the surgeon was careful to leave the acrobat out. Zoro had said that he would be fine to fight against Buggy's first mate one on one.
It bothered Law a bit that he used his devil fruit ability. They had wanted to use them as less as possible and now he was using it nearly to his limits. But he really wanted to make sure that no one interfered with Zoro's fight.
"Get him, Richie!"
A new voice could be heard and he saw a big lion jumping towards Zoro and him.
"Shambles", the surgeon mumbled and switched him and Zoro with two little stones to avoid a direct confrontation with the beast.
"Nice trick. But I, beast tamer Mohji, will defeat you because Cabaji clearly isn't able to do that", a man with white hair said. Law frowned. Mohji was on the lion's head.
This would be an opponent more suited for Ace or Luffy who both liked to fight big animals and would try to eat them after they won (their/his idiotic grandpa/granduncle would do the same).
But before another attack could be launched someone screamed and a short man flew over their heads far far away.
"Oi, catch", Luffy shouted from above and threw a bag at the man called Mohji. "You're captain split apart enough that we could play baseball with him. In the bag are the missing body parts. But I would say that you better start searching for him before your captain falls into the water", Ace said with an evil grin on his lips.
"Captain Buggy!" The whole enemy crew shouted and started to run towards their ship. Probably trying to get their captain as fast as possible.
Luffy and Ace jumped down from the building. Both had a slight grin on their face. But Luffy's didn't look very happy. "Luffy?" "Nothing… I had just hoped that I could hit the lion with the bag hard enough to knock him out. Because he was the one who destroyed Chouchou's treasure", Luffy mumbled.
Law sighed. The little one could be a strange one when someone's treasure or dream was involved.
Ace flipped the straw hat from Luffy's head and ruffled the black hair. "You did what you said. You made the bad pirates go away. So everything is going to be fine, Luffy", the logia user said.
"Ace is right. The people can return and can try to repair their houses and also Chouchou's treasure", Law added. Zoro also nodded in agreement even if the green-haired swordsman looked a bit unhappy how his fight went.
"You brats really made them leave", the mayor suddenly appeared with more people behind him and Chouchou.
The white dog jumped Luffy and licked the boy's face.
"You don't need to thank me… I couldn't do much for your treasure", the straw-hatted boy mumbled and patted the dog's head.
"Oi, kid, you four did enough and Chouchou and I would most likely be dead if you haven't come along", the mayor said and the people behind him thanked them loudly.
Law felt himself grin. He was sure that he heard the youngest one whine: "I don't want to be a hero…"
Something he could only chuckle about.
"Teach me the basics about Haki", Zoro said and looked at Law.
Ace had fallen asleep again in the crow's nest. Luffy and Bepo were playing with Chouchou.
The dog seemed to have taken a liking in their future-captain and had followed them. He had also jumped the boy.
After a conversation with the mayor, Chouchou had become some kind of a member of their crew. Well more a mascot. Also, the dog slept in Luffy's hammock because the boy liked to cuddle.
Law looked up from Luffy's, Bepo's and Chouchou's jumping around to him with a lifted eyebrow.
"You used this Haki-thing in the fight against the crew members and I don't mean this blue sphere and the things that happen inside it", Zoro said and sat down next to the surgeon who sighed.
"Normally, I would wait with explaining it, but… well, it will be helpful if you at least know the Haki types at first. There are three different kinds of Haki. Two are able to achieve with training. The training is different for each type to perfect it. The third version of Haki is something you are born with. Otherwise, you can't unlock it. The one, I used, is the Kenbunshoku Haki or simple Observation Haki. It is helpful to predict your opponent's attack and also to find people. That's the reason I was able to find Luffy rather quickly", Law explained.
Zoro nodded to show understood this form of Haki. It sounded useful. Especially the way this blue sphere seemed to work.
"The other one, which everyone is able to learn, is Busoshoku Haki or Armament Haki. It can be used as an armour around chosen parts for example arms and hands. Some people are also able to coat their whole body with Haki. It can also be used on swords and other weapons. The most notable thing about this Haki is also the possibility to hurt Logia users. It can be used in a defence way but also in an offence way. I guess on the next island when there aren't many people close by you could spare with Luffy to see the defence options of this Haki in action", Law said.
"Why are you trying to keep low? Just from the Powerlevel, I would say that at least you and Ace would have taken out Buggy's crew alone. Well, you did as Luffy was only dealing with Buggy and I was mostly fighting against this idiot on the unicycle" Zoro said. "Because we promised to stay off the radar of some people. Also, it helps the crew member, we pick up, to grew stronger a bit before they are confronted with the real trouble which we will find on the Grandline", the surgeon simply stated and stood up.
Zoro nodded. He said he was going to be the strongest swordsman in the world. So learning Haki would help him on his way.
His eyes were on Law who went over to Luffy and Bepo. Law, Ace and Luffy were strong fighters as far as he could judge it. Bepo was quite quick, too. But Zoro hadn't seen him in a spare, yet. So he wasn't able to say something about Bepo's strength. Also, he had a feeling that he hadn't seen everything the three others could do with their devil fruits or Haki.
But the swordsman had noticed how all four got each other's back if it was needed. They might be a little annoying sometimes. But they were his crew members now. So he should also work hard to be strong enough to have their backs like they had his.
So this was chapter 4. Chapter 5 will be out sometime the middle of September or the end of September. A bit unsure, but you will see.
See you until next time