I do not own One Piece


"If the sky could dream, it would dream of Dragons"-Llona Andrews.


Luffy and his crew sailed into the harbor of Orange town and were shocked at what they saw. Two ships sat in the port, both were large warships, and both of them were partially sunken into the shallow harbor with large holes blown into each of them. One was clearly a pirate ship since it was flying the Jolly Roger of Buggy the Clown; the other was flying a flag that Luffy didn't recognize.

"What kind of flag is that?" Luffy asked as they sailed past the sunken warship that was half sunk into the harbor. Despite it partially below water, its flags were still flying proudly. It had two flags, neither of which Luffy recognized. One had a strange symbol with the letters E, B, and CO alongside it. The other flag showed a circle surrounded by odd triangles.

"Privateers," Nami muttered as she gazed at the flags. "That flag represents the East Blue Trading Company, the biggest shipping company of all the Blue seas. The other represents the world nobles; it's the Hoof of the Flying Dragon. It shows that the East Blue Trading Company sponsors this ship, and the hoof shows they are allowed to take slaves in the name of the world nobles."

Just hearing about the world nobles made Luffy tense up as he felt anger rise up from within him. He glared at the hoofprint flag and had to fight down the rage that was building within him. When he went on a rampage through High Town, his memories of when he went on a rampage were fragmented, but he remembered the world noble who he later learned was named Saint Jalmack, the man who had killed Sabo and set all those events in motion.

Luffy turned to Zoro, his first mate and first official crew member since Nami claimed she was merely a temporary crew member. The man seemed utterly bored as he looked at the flags that adorned the Privateer vessel.

Right now, Luffy needed some of that calm, calculating energy that his first mate had since right now; all he wanted to do was burn or destroy something. He cursed his bad luck, he had finally assembled a crew, a real pirate crew that gave him a chance to have grand adventure and fun, but their first voyage was instead filling him with rage as he had to confront people who worked for the type of people who had killed Sabo.

Luffy decided that it was time to start delegating like a true leader. "Zoro," Luffy spoke up, drawing the swordsman's attention. "When we get to shore, you will do the talking."

"Me?" Zoro asked as he let out a yawn as he stretched his limbs. "I'm not one for talking."

"He's right." Nami chimed in. "Why do you want him to take point on this?"

"I have… a history with the world nobles," Luffy muttered, trying to find the best way to summarize his feelings. "They killed my brother; I dont want to have anything to do with world nobles or the people who work for them."

"Sorry to hear that," Nami said, her voice soft. "I've heard stories about the world nobles; they enslave and kill anyone they please. Although I hear they never come to the East Blue anymore, not after the Goa Kingdoms destruction."

"Sounds like people I would like to cut up," Zoro muttered as he held his swords. "Looks like this island will be fun."

"I knew this was a bad idea; let me do the talking." Nami put forward. "Zoro will most likely talk with his swords; let me handle this. It's time you boys got to see my natural charisma in action."

"Fine," Luffy stated as he allowed his gaze to fall upon the world nobles flag; he felt a wave of deep anger rising up but quickly stifled it. "As long as I'm not the one doing the talking, I'll leave it to you two. Zoro, make sure nothing bad happens to her."

"I can take care of myself!" Nami protested.

"I'll cut up anyone who tries to mess with us," Zoro replied, ignoring Nami's protests. "I'll make sure the woman is safe, but if she messes this up, then I'm taking over."

Luffy nodded as he felt his stress die down. "Good, I'm relying on you two; I don't know how long I'll be able to keep my cool; if I get angry and transform, then the entire town could get wiped out in the crossfire."


Nami gazed around the docks and frowned at what she saw. Orange town looked like a warzone. It was a scene she was accustomed to seeing; whenever a village didn't pay Arlong his due, he would wreck the entire town to send a message to everyone else so that none would defy them.

While this town wasn't quite as bad off as the ones that suffered Arlongs wrath, the damage was still severe. All around, her houses were wrecked as if cannons had struck them, broken glass littered the streets, and she could see people peeking out at her, and her two crew members from partially opened windows.

She was tempted to ask those people hiding what was going on, but others were located at the docks. The dock was full of people waiting to greet them, but they were a mixed group. Some of them were heavily armed men who looked like slightly better-kept pirates. However, some of them had equipment emblazoned with the markings of the East blue Trading Company, meaning they were most likely privateers, while the other people at the docks seemed to be sitting around for some reason.

She might have felt intimidated, except for the fact she was flanked by the East Blues deadliest swordsman and a Pirate who could turn into a massive Dragon, so she strolled up confidently towards the armed men in front of her.

Nami felt her confidence die down a bit as she got closer to the men, not because she was intimidated, but instead she found herself equal parts confused and horrified when she saw that the armed men were guarding groups of people who were chained up in manacles.

Men, women, and even children were chained together; the people in the windows were looking on, eyes full of fear, with some even crying. It didn't take long for Nami to figure out what was going on. She had traveled the East Blue quite a bit since being forced to join Arlongs crew; she had seen the devastation left behind by slave traders who were legally allowed to enslave people on behalf of the Celestial Dragons. Some of Arlongs crew even told her stories about how Fishmen were almost always enslaved when they came to the surface since the World Government didn't consider them people.

Nami did her best to control her rage as a dozen privateers walked up to her, Zoro, and Luffy.

"What are you lot doing here?" One of the men asked as he glared at her and her companions. "This port is under control of a General of the East Blue Trading Company. You best get lost unless you want to join these lot." He pointed at the chained people before looking Nami up and down. "Although...you certainly have a nice look."

"We're here on business." Nami offered diplomatically, although she had a feeling that this situation was going to go downhill fast. "We are here hunting down a pirate; once we find him, we will leave this place."

The men chuckled as if what she had just said was a joke. "You three bounty hunters?" Before Nami could answer, he continued. "You're too late; the General is hunting down the last of the pirates. We came here to collect the bounty on Buggy the Clown. The man is small game for us, but the bastard had some powerful cannons on that ship of his, took down our ship in one shot." He gestured to the bay where the two ships were half submerged. "Now we're just taking on cargo; once we sell these lots, we will have a new ship in no time." He gestured towards the chained-up people.

Nami's fists clenched, and although Luffy and Zoro were behind her, she could practically feel their killing intent. It took all her self-control not to join them in their blatant hatred for the men in front of them. "People arent cargo." She found herself saying. "You're going to release them and leave this place."

The privateers all laughed at her as if what she had said was the funniest thing they had ever heard. The man she had been talking to leered at her.

"I dont think you understand the situation here, little girl." The man stated in a condescending tone.

"I understand it well enough," Nami replied as she grabbed her special sectioned Bo staff from her back and unfolded it. "Now you need to understand that the man to my right is Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter, and the man to my left is Monkey D. Luffy, who is a devil fruit user. So I suggest you scumbags get out of here before I let my friends handle you, and fair warning, they aren't as forgiving as I am. So I suggest you take my offer and run while you still can."

The laughing died down, and the air grew tense; if he was scared, the man in front of her wasn't showing it. "You lot think you're tough? Our leader is a Devil fruit user as well; his power makes him unbeatable. He was a Marine Rear Admiral before going pirate, earning a bounty of nearly a hundred million beli, then the East Blue Trading Company got him a pardon, and he's been killing people like you legally. You think we're afraid of some alleged devil fruit user and an overhyped swordsman?"

"Overhyped?" Zoro growled as he walked up alongside her, breaking his silence at the insult. "If you think my reputation is overhyped, maybe I should give you a demonstration. The girl here offered you an easy out; since you dont want to do it the easy way, we can do it my way."

If the man was intimidated by Zoros threat, he didnt show it. "So that's how it is then?" The privateer asked, ,his tone one of bewilderment. "You three are going to die for some slaves?"

"Someone is," Zoro promised in a tone that Nami recognized as bloodthirsty. Normally she would protest violence, but she found herself agreeing with Zoro as she looked at the townspeople who were chained up around the docks.

The privateer reached for his sword, but before his fingers could even graze the handle of his blade, his hand was separated from his body by a katana slice delivered by Zoro, who had stepped forward to deliver the first blow.

Nami didnt even have a chance to lash out at her enemies since Zoro had taken out the privateers closest to her, and when she turned towards the others, she found they were all being picked off by a black blur that was zipping around the docks.

She recognized the blur as her temporary captain. Luffy moved like a black shadow; it took all of Nami's focus and sharp eyes even to make out his form. She couldn't precisely see what he was doing; the results were more noticeable. Men were being decapitated, sent flying across the docks where they landed in broken heaps, and just generally being eviscerated. She could see his clawed hands cut through people and his spiked tail impaling others before moving onto the next just as quickly.

It was all over as it had begun, and the docks were full of dead privateers and frightened chained-up people who were terrified of what had just happened.

In front of her, the privateer she had been talking to, the man whose hand Zoro had cut off, was clutching his bleeding stump. "You bastards!" He cried out as his lifeblood spilled across the docks of Orange Town. "The General will destroy you-"

Nami silenced him with a strike from her bo staff which made contact with his face and silenced him permanently.

"Free the people from their chains; I'm going to figure out what's going on around here, and where the hell Buggy is," Luffy ordered in a tone that lacked its usual warmth; the draconic boy was all business and didnt seem to care a bit about the dozen dead men that littered the docks.

"You heard our captain, let's get these poor bastards out of their chains," Zoro muttered in a bored tone as if he had been asked to take out the garbage before turning to Nami. "Some talker you turned out to be, I should have led the negotiations."

Nami rolled her eyes. "You would have just killed them the second we landed."

"Probably." Zoro shrugged. "But are you really shedding tears over people like this?" he gestured to the bodies surrounding them.

Nami let out a tired sigh as she looked around at the dead privateers, men who had come to this town to collect a bounty on a two-bit pirate and enslave a bunch of innocent people.

"No, I dont have tears to spare over people like them." Her tears were saved for her own village, people who would suffer far worse then the people of Orange town if she didnt hurry and deliver Arlong his money. She shook those thoughts from her head; she had to focus on the task at hand. "Enough of this; let's get to work."


With all the people freed from their bondage and the situation at the dock's under control, Luffy found his anger subsiding as he and his crew learned from the townspeople precisely what had happened.

According to the leader of the town, an older man by the name of Boodle, who they had freed from his chains, he claimed that Buggy had come to the town to raid it for its valuables. Boodle and the villagers were forced to stand by while Buggy went door to door, stealing everything of value. Not long after that, the privateers had arrived, which caused a short but deadly battle in the bay, which left both the pirates and privateers' ships sunk. It was the only victory Buggy had a chance to celebrate since, after that, the privateers began to wipe out the pirates, who made Buggy and his remaining crew flee deeper inland towards the island center.

"We thought we were saved, but we were wrong." Boodle finished sadly as he looked around at the new free townsfolk. "The privateers began to round us up and chain us up. They said it was payment for their services, that selling us would buy them a new ship, and we owed them for their service in getting rid of Buggy. Thankfully you three showed up before the worst could happen."

Luffy nodded, glad that these people weren't taken as slaves but also annoyed at the situation he found himself in. "So, where is Buggy exactly?"

Boodle pointed inland. "Ran off with what was left of his men; if you plan on saving him, I recommend hurrying. The Privateers leader is a terrifying man; while I despise Buggy, I hate the Privateers captain even more. If you can get rid of both of them, this town will be in your debt."

"Okay, leave it to us," Luffy answered as he looked towards the town's main road and turned to his crew members. "Alright, we're heading towards the center of the island; we have to find Buggy before he's killed by the rest of the privates."

"Its privateers not privates. " Nami pointed out as she rubbed her head as if to stave off an oncoming headache. "Do you even realize what's going on?"

"Kind of." Luffy shrugged. "All I know for certain is that we have guys to take out and a friend of Shanks to save. I wouldn't be able to face Shanks in the Grand Line if I let one of his friends die." Luffy slowly allowed himself to transform into a Dragon; his limbs grew longer, wings sprouted from his back, and his flesh turned to scales as strong as steel. The transformation was second nature to him, but the most challenging part was controlling how large he grew. He had worked tirelessly with his grandfather in order to control his devil fruit and awaken its power, training that allowed him to decide how large he grew. The bigger he grew, the stronger he was, but having a large body made it hard to control himself and limit collateral damage. It meant he had to decide how big his Zoan form was, depending on the situation.

For now, speed was necessary, and he wanted to avoid damaging the island residents' homes with his form, so he grew to medium size, about the size of his crew's ship. He turned to his two crew members, who had finished unshackling the last of the former slaves. The townspeople reacted in the typical fashion to his transformation, awe, fear, and surprise. Luffy ignored them and instead focused on his two crew members. "Hop on, guys, we need to hurry!" Luffy ordered as he craned his long serpentine neck towards his back. "I'll fly us to the center of the island; we need to find Buggy."

"Heck yeah!" Zoro declared as he scrambled to get a seat on Luffy's back with unusual excitement for such a stoic individual. "I get to ride a dragon; that's one thing off my bucket list. Now all I need to do is become the world's greatest swordsman and find an island of booze."

"Fine…" Nami hopped on his back with obvious caution.

"Let's go!" Luffy flapped his wings and launched himself into the air with great force to the cheers of Zoro and a screaming Nami. The island was thankfully small, and it didnt take long before he saw what appeared to be a group of people assembled in what seemed to be the center of Orange town.

With a great flap of his wings, he descended upon the town center like a falling star and hoped that he wasn't too late.


Buggy coughed up blood as he was flung across the paving stones of Orange town as his opponent threw him around like a rag doll.

So this is how my journey ends? He found himself wondering as he felt his strength slowly fade away. He had sailed across the world with the greatest pirate to have ever lived; he had served on the Roger pirates in his youth, going to sky island at the top of the world and Fishman island at the bottom. Now it was all going top end here in the East Blue, the weakest of the blue seas.

Buggy couldn't help but chuckle a little, even has his laughing made him wince in pain. It was his own fault that this was happening; the East blue had made him soft; a few decades ago, he had faced off against the likes of the Rocks Pirates, Golden lion pirates, and the Whitebeard Pirates. Here he was getting his ass kicked by a Privateer that his old crew would have eaten for breakfast.

"Find this funny, you big-nosed clown?" The voice of his adversary called out; he was a massive man who towered over Buggy; he had prominent cheekbones, squinted eyes, blonde hair, and wore an oversized white coat emblazoned with the mark of the East Blue Trading company. "You've cost me a great deal with your antics in the harbor; my ship The Salamander was a memento from my past as a marine; it will cost a great deal to replace it."

As much as Buggy hated this scumbag, his desire to live outweighed his hatred. "Look, I'm a rich man; I can pay you back for your ship. Maybe we can reach some sort of arrangement that-" He was cut off by a kick to the ribs that sent him flying across the cobblestones and knocked the breath out of him.

"Dont worry, you're going to pay me back more then you can imagine." He stated. "It's your own fault, you know; if you had just surrendered in the harbor, we could have done this easy; now we get to do it the hard way."

"You after my bounty?" Buggy asked once he regained his breath.

"Your puny bounty isn't enough to buy me lunch!" The man claimed with a joyful chuckle. "But you have a devil fruit, not an impressive one like mine, but even the saddest devil fruits can fetch over a hundred million beli on the black market. The East Blue Trading company can get me even more for it; the world nobles pay top dollar for devil fruits. They like to feed them to slaves or something; I guess we all get our kicks in different ways."

"So you're selling me into slavery?" Buggy had always been a coward; he preferred to live life cautiously. He wasn't ashamed of it; in truth, his cowardice had kept him alive for most of his life. But if there was one thing, he would rather die then be was a slave. He had seen with his own eyes the fate that awaited such poor souls; he would die before suffering such a fate.

"Heck no, who would want you as a slave?" The man laughed. "I'm just going to slit your throat, or I guess in your case crush your throat and let you die. The Devil fruit will reincarnate somewhere around here. Then I'll sell the fruit to the world nobles, easier then taking you prisoner. The few surviving members of your crew Ill sell into slavery; the acrobat, lion tamer, and lion will fetch a reasonable price. World Nobles love slaves with entertaining skill sets."

Buggy's gaze drifted to the far side of the town's center where what was left of his crew remained. Cabaji, Mohji, and Richie, the lion, were chained up and surrounded by several privateers who had beaten them half to death.

Buggy had made it a point not to get attached to his crew when he assembled them here in East Blue. The people here were weak, and his crew had a significant turnover, but Mohji, Cabaji, and even that fleabag Richie had been different, sticking by him for years.

It was amazing how fast things could go soft; it wasn't that long ago he was getting ready to reenter the Grand Line; he had his ship, powerful cannons, and a decent-sized crew, now it was all gone. He had lost everything to this bastard.

Before anything else could be said, a black shadow descended upon the town's center. Buggy and his opponent looked up and watched a large dark figure crash into the center of the town square, shaking the ground wi its impact and kicking up a fair amount of dust and debris.

Am I saved or doomed? Buggy asked himself as he watched dark figures emerge from dust and debris.


Luffy dusted himself off as he gazed around the town center and took stock of the situation; he saw several people and a lion in chains surrounded by armed men. On the other side of the town square, he saw a large towering figure in a white captain's coat standing over a beaten figure that Luffy immediately identified as Buggy the Clown.

"Maybe next time, land a little softer?" Nami asked as she dusted off her clothes. "It's going to take forever to get all this dust out of my hair."

"I wish he had gone higher," Zoro grumbled as he checked over himself. "I wanted to grab some clouds and try cutting them with an air slash."

"Next time," Luffy muttered as he turned his gaze towards Buggy. "You guys deal with those privateer guys; I'll take care of the big one."

"Fine," Zoro muttered, clearly annoyed. "I'll deal with the small fry."

Luffy trusted his crew to deal with the situation and focused all his attention on the large man before him. He made several strides towards the figure who was glaring at him with squinted eyes. , He was clearly wearing a marine jacket, but the symbol for the marines had been crossed out, and instead, the logo for the East blue Trading Company was emblazoned proudly upon it.

"Who the hell are you?" The large man asked as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Are you a member of this weaklings crew?"

"No," Luffy answered as he came to a stop several yards away from the large man. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the future Pirate King."

"Ah, so you're some delusional kid." The man replied in a bored tone. "I'm in a good mood, so I suggest you get the hell out of my way. I'm in the middle of some important business, specifically killing this dumb clown."

"Cant let you do that; he's a friend of a friend," Luffy replied as he looked Buggy over, the man was clearly beaten up but was very much alive. "You see, the man I look up to Shanks would be distraught if his old friend were killed."

"Shanks sent you?" Buggy asked as he laid on the ground. "He always did like to interfere with my life...thank god for that…."

"Get to safety and leave this to me," Luffy ordered Buggy who slowly p[icked himself up and began to get out of the way. "I'll deal with this guy."

"Look, kid, I dont think you realize who I am." The Privateer leader said as he gestured towards his jacket. "I was once a marine Rear Admiral, then I was a pirate with a bounty of 95 million beli, then I got a pardon by the East Blue Trading Company and now represent the interest of worlds nobles, my name is Gasparde, General of the East Blue Trading Company and soon to be the most feared man in all the seas of this world."

"Nice to meet you," Luffy replied as he stretched his arms and legs in an attempt to limber up before the fight he felt was incoming. While training with his grandfather, he had seen the types of training marines had to go through to reach the rank of Rear Admiral and Vice-admiral; it was well known you had to at least learn one kind of Haki before advancing to such a rank. It meant that this fight wouldn't be boring at the very least. "So, shall we begin?" Luffy asked as he transformed into his hybrid form, growing horns, a massive black tail, and his main body parts becoming plated in armored scales.

Gasparde seemed shocked by his transformation but appeared to get over it fairly quickly and laughed. "A devil fruit user, eh? That's good, more money for me today. With your devil fruit and Buggys, Ill be swimming in beli; from the looks of it, you have some sort of horned lizard Zoan. That's good; world nobles pay top dollar for Zoan fruits, now let me show you what a true devil fruit user can do."

It was only thanks to Luffy's honed instincts and his grandfather's training in observation haki that he managed to avoid Gasparde as the privateer quickly shifted his left arm into a giant green liquid that lashed out at him with rapid speed. As Luffy jumped out of the way, Gasparde'ss other arm shifted into a large whip-like tentacle with a massive ball of green liquid at the end that became spiked before hardening and was promptly swung at Luffy.

"Iron Scales." Luffy decided to take the hit. He hardened his body and scales and took the blow. He winced as he felt the force of the blow travel through his body, but he managed to avoid any severe damage thanks to its natural endurance.

Luffy used his strength and struck at the offending appendage, shattering it like it was glass as its shards scattered across the ground.

"Impressive," Gasparde admitted as his body seemed to be expelling a thick green liquid that covered his body from head to toe. "Not many can take the full force of one of my blows; looks like this will be the first true challenge I've had since arriving in this ocean."

Luffy watched as Gaspardes body shifted as if it was a mass of jello. "You a Logia user?" Luffy found himself asking, he had heard about Logia devil fruits, the most powerful and rare of all devil fruits. He might actually be in for a real challenge.

Gasparde shook his head. "Nope, although you can hardly be blamed for thinking so, I thought it was a Logia fruit when I first ate it. I ate the Candy Candy fruit; it allows my body to produce numerous types of candy syrups from my body. It's a special paramecia fruit, a rare fruit that allows its user to gain abilities similar to a Logia user so long as they can awaken them."

"Special paramecia?" Luffy knew he wasn't the sharpest sword in the armory, but he was genuinely confused.

"That's right." Gasparde nodded. "Logia fruits can only embody natural elements. But Paramecias that are generation types, break that rule, fruits like the Wax Wax fruit and Mochi Mochi fruit allow the user to produce infinite amounts of their manmade elements from their body, but if you awaken such a fruit, you can shift your body into those elements in a limited capacity. Of course, it can't be done instinctively like a Logia fruit, but with observation haki, I can consciously shift my body around to avoid an attack like a logia user. Do you understand how hopeless facing off against me is? With observation haki, I have all the strengths of a Logia and paramecia user! A pathetic Zoan fruit user like you has no chance!"

Gasparde's body began producing syrup at a copious rate and launched several large projectiles made of syrup that hardened into spears that were set to impale Luffy with their points.

Luffy opened his mouth and let loose a stream of fire from his mouth; the hardened syrup melted, and some even evaporated before they could reach Luffy as they fell to the ground in molten puddles.

Gasparde's eyes widened as he gaped at his melted syrupy spears. "Firebreathing? What kind of Zoan fruit did you eat?"

"Life Return, Martial body." Luffy sprouted a set of midnight black wings from his back. His body shrunk down as his muscles condensed themselves down to a more manageable form, and he flexed his clawed hands with excitement as he gazed at Gasparde. "I ate the Serpent Serpent fruit; Model Chromatic Dragon; I have all the powers of a dragon."

"That's not possible...that would make you a mythical Zoan fruit user…." Gasparde muttered as the true gravity of his situation settled in.

"Let's start the real fight General Gasparde." Luffy declared as he felt his blood boil in excitement, his more dragon-like qualities coming to the front of his mind. "Let's see how a special paramecia does against a pathetic Zoan like me."


Zoro ducked under the clawed hands of his opponent as he blocked a flurry of attacks from the first mate of the privateers, a heavily tattooed man by the name of Needless who wielded clawed weapons on each of his hands.

"Demon Slash!" Zoro delivered a slash with his three swords at the man's chest. His attack hit with deadly precision but seemed to do little except to slow his opponent down even as his blades cut deep into the man's torso, sending torrents of blood into the air.

Needless powered through the attack and delivered a kick to Zoro's chest, which sent him hurtling towards a nearby storefront. The swordsman grimaced as he picked himself up and glared at his opponent.

The man was tall and strong, and his freakish body seemed able to take enormous amounts of damage, he was a graceless fighter, but grace didn't really matter if attacks didnt bother you.

As if to prove Zoro's thoughts, his opponent charged at him with reckless abandon. Choosing to use grace rather then power, Zoro sidestepped his opponent and delivered a kick to the man's back which sent him flying into a nearby shop window, shattering glass and debris as the massive man crashed through gracelessly.

Not wanting to lose the initiative, Zoro jumped in after him; it appeared that the shop was a liquor shop. Numerous bottles of alcohol littered the room and lined numerous shelves along the walls. He saw his opponent picking himself up at the far end of the store, his body was riddled with broken glass, and he was bleeding from numerous cuts, but if anything, he only seemed more excited.

"Tough guy, huh?" Zoro muttered as he prepared his blades once more; he would aim for chopping off a limb, even the most formidable opponents wouldn't be able to endure that.

His opponent surprised him by whipping out a lighter and igniting it before promptly throwing it on the ground. It took several seconds for Zoro to realize the ground was covered in broken bottles of alcohol, and it promptly ignited, and soon the entire store was in flames.

"You insane bastard!" Zoro cried out as the flames engulfed the store and surrounded him. "You're wasting all this precious booze! I was going to drink it all after killing you!"

"You cant kill me," Needless replied as he flexed his claw gauntlets. "The reason I'm Gasparde's right-hand man is that I'm strong. I've been beaten, cut up, burned, and a lot worse and survived. Now you're going to burn, and I'm going to walk out of here."

Zoro shook his head. "This changes nothing; all you've done is create a great environment for a dramatic battle. So you say you can survive being burned and cut? But have you ever been burnt and cut up at the same time?" Zoro swung his blades in a circular motion, and each one cut open a bottle of alcohol that coated his swords, and the surrounding heat set them ablaze.

He now wielded three flaming swords that glowed with fire as he lunged at his opponent.

"Burning Demon Slash!"


Nami fiddled with her lockpicks, and she unlocked the shackles on the chained-up men. While she hated pirates, she didnt want them to be sold into slavery. There were only two of them, one man dressed as a strange acrobat, his face might have been considered attractive at some point, but it was bruised up and swollen from the privateers beating him up, the other man was a strange fellow wearing a vest who had weird hair that looked like animal ears.

"Thank you, young lady." The animal eared man muttered as she freed him from his bondage. "Now, please, release my poor Richie; he doesn't deserve to be caged."

Nami looked over and saw a giant cage with steel bars; in it was a massive lion. While Nami liked animals and even had a soft spot for wounded animals, a caged lion was something else entirely. "It's not going to attack me, is it?" She found herself asking as she approached the massive caged beast.

"Never, my Richie is an angel, much like you, our savior and liberator!" The man cried out in joy.

"Okay…" Nami used her skills to open the cage, and the Lion climbed out, and she found her face being licked by a very affectionate and happy lion. "Okay! I get it you're happy now cut it out with the licking!" Nami pushed the lion away and wiped the saliva off her face.

"Thank you, young lady." The acrobat muttered as he picked himself up. "You saved us."

While Nami enjoyed gratitude, she only wanted it when there was a reward involved, and this didnt seem like one of those situations. "Stop thanking me; if anything, give my crew members your gratitude. They took care of the privateers." She gestured to the dead bodies of the men Zoro had cut down before running off to face off against the psychopath with clawed gauntlets.

"We still offer you our thanks." Both men muttered as they bowed before her.

"I guess I should thank you as well." Then, a new voice called out.

Everyone turned, and Nami saw the new arrival was none other then Buggy the Clown. His clothes were torn, and he was covered in bruises which were beginning to swell but otherwise seemed better off then his crewmates.

"I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I am curious why you kids came here to save my crew and me." Buggy took a seat on a nearby bench and let out a pained groan. "That one kid mentioned Shanks. Did Shanks really ask you guys to look out for me? I haven't seen the man in almost two decades; hard to believe he would send people to look out for me."

"Dont look at me; I would have let you die," Nami grumbled, although she was somewhat happy to be getting rid of these privateers and helping the people of Orange Town avoid slavery. "My captain was apparently friends with Shanks, and he has it in his head to recruit you onto his crew as a way to show Shanks that he is the better pirate captain."

Buggy laughed despite the apparent pain such an action gave him. "Oh, that's a good one," He said once his laugh was done. "No offense, I appreciate the help, but me being a subordinate to a kid? I dont really see that happening."

"Neither did Roronoa Zoro, but he's now the first mate of this crew." Nami pointed out. "But if you dont want to join, then you'll have to reward us some other way, my captain might work for free, but I won't."

"Zoro the Pirate Hunter?" Buggy masked, fear and awe evident in his voice. "I never thought a guy like that would go pirate...and he follows that kid around?"

"I'm just as surprised as you are!" The voice of Zoro called out from across the town square. All eyes turned to see Zoro approaching them, although it was hard to tell that it was Zoro.

His entire body was covered in cuts; some were bleeding while others had been hastily treated, his clothes were also torn and in some places blackened as if they had been on fire, and his skin was covered in blackened ash. He walked up to the group casually, his arms and what was left of his pockets filled with bottles of alcohol.

"Had a great fight in a liquor store; you should have been there, real edge of your seat stuff. Sadly the liquor store burned down, but I managed to save the good stuff, have a drink on me; you guys look like you need it." Zoro stated happily as he walked up to them and began passing bottles of alcohol around. "So, how's our captain doing with his fight?" ,

Before anyone could say anything, a massive explosion rung out from the northern part of town, and everyone gazed up and saw a massive titan made out of green syrupy liquid. It had numerous flailing limbs covered in spikes as if it were a giant Kraken made out of the green liquid.

"Ultimate Move- Candy Titan!" The creature called out as it grew larger and larger until the entire town square was in its shadow.

Suddenly another massive titan rose out in front of it, a massive black Dragon whose size matched the Candy titan in size, its enormous black wings, and tail crushing numerous houses as it rose up.

"What the hell is going on?!" Buggy cried out in fear as he gazed up at the two massive monsters.

Nami could only shake her head as she opened a bottle that Zoro had handed her and took a deep swig. "If the town expects us to pay for damages, it's not coming out of my share." She grumbled as she turned away from the massive creatures. "Let's get out of here before we get caught in the crossfire."

Nami began walking away, but she stopped as she came up alongside Buggy and his companions. "By the way, our captain can turn into a massive dragon, so if you want to tell him that you're too good and tough to join his crew….well, good luck with that. I tried it, and let's just say he made me an offer I couldn't refuse."


Authors note

Sorry for the long wait; this chapter went through many versions before I wrote one that I somewhat liked. I'm also diverging a bit from canon, which takes a little more imagination and planning since I need to account for stuff down the road.

Another important thing, I generally try to avoid OCs unless I have to make them for a critical plot point that canon characters cant fill. That's why I'm pulling from one Piece Filler and the movies for characters. Filler and Movies aren't canon, so it gives me some Leeway in how I use them.

The East Blue Trading Company is obviuously made up, its based on the real world East india Trading Comapny which operated with near total impunity, similiar to the One Piece World nobles. I think such a organization fits well into one Piece, the destruction of the Goa Kingdom created ripples that have unforseen consequences for the world.

Also, I have to mention this because I know many people are going to point this out. I know that the Candy Candy Fruit is a Logia in the one-piece movie. However, in Canon, Logias can only embody natural elements. That's why the Mochi Mochi fruit got retconned/corrected into a 'special' paramecia. Therefore in this story, the Candy Candy fruit is a special paramecia like the Moch Mochi fruit.

Not much else to say except thank you for the great response to the story; I'm glad so many are enjoying it. I know that the whole Buggy plotline here made many people unhappy, and that's fair. However, I do have a story that I want to tell, and I want to tell it my way. Those people messaging me saying Buggy is an irredeemable villain….it make's me wonder if you've even read One Piece; characters who were significant villains in their first appearance get way more fleshed out as the series went on. Buggy, in particular, has many layers.

That's all I really have to say; please leave a review to let me know what you think, and check out my profile if you want to donate to help me afford my Grammarly premium subscription, those who donate get early previews of my chapters as their being written. I hate to ask, but Grammarly is damn expensive, and I have yet to find a free program that can compare to it.