Nami the Navigator

"Uuuuugggghhhh…! I'm so bored!" Luffy groaned as he slumped over the side of the small dingy. "Are we at the Grand Line yet?"

"We won't be anywhere near the Grand Line for a few days, Luffy," Robin advised, reading one of her many tomes to one side of her love.

"Good thing we have you to navigate, or else we'd be stranded out here," Zoro mentioned as he stretched after another one of his many, many naps.

"I read a few charting pieces and maps, but I never really dug into navigation as much as I probably should have," The young scholar confessed. "I was always one for history, myself. But, you're the famed pirate, oh, pardon me, ex-pirate hunter. Shouldn't you have any navigation skills? You must have, if you were able to hunt down so many outlaws."

"You'd think, but no," The swordsman managed to say through a yawn. "I only went after bounties that I wasn't too far from. Other than that, I just went with my gut."

"Sounds a little too chancy for my taste…" Robin inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey!" The green haired man suddenly grew defensive. "My sense of direction is just fine!" He folded his arms and sat back where he lay. "…It's decent, at least…"

Robin covered her mouth to hide a chuckle. It would appear she had struck a touchy subject.

Suddenly, a loud grumble made its way to the chatting two's ears. They turned to their lover and captain, who had a hand over his now rumbling stomach. "Great! Now I'm bored, and hungry!"

"Awww…" Robin began to rub the back of the straw hatted boy. "Don't worry, Luffy. We'll find somewhere to land soon, and then you can eat as much as you like."

The boy looked up to his beloved with strained, but grateful eyes. "Thanks, Robin…"

As Robin scratched Luffy's head, a gust of wind blew by, which picked up the boy's straw hat and carried it into the boat's sail.

"AH! MY HAT!" Luffy cried out in despair. He reached his hand out to it, only for the hat to carry on up the sail, threatening to come out of it and be lost to the wind.

"Hold on, Luffy!" Robin crossed her arms and attempted to grab the hat with her powers, but every time a hand popped out and made to grab it, the wind blew that every which way out of her hands reach.

"No, no, no, no ,no, no!" Luffy eased himself onto his feet afraid that jostling the boat would make the sail lose it for good. The hat was almost at the edge of the sail, and Luffy was beginning to panic. He was about to make a leap for it, only for Zoro to come out of nowhere, jump up from the boat, and grab it, right before it sailed off into the air.

Zoro landed back in the boat, rocking the small vessel with his landing. Steadying himself, he reached his new captain's headwear back to him. "Here you go."

"MY HAT!" The rubber boy took it from his first mate, placing it back on his head in great relief. "Thanks Zoro, you're the best!" Robin gave the swordsman a thankful smile.

"You seem pretty attached that thing," Zoro inquired out loud as retook his seat. "I'm guessing there's a story behind it?"

"Yeah," Luffy took his hat back off, making sure to keep a tight grip so as not lose it again. "Shanks gave to me when I was a kid. I promised him I'd become the pirate king, and when I did, I'd give it back to him."

Zoro was following along with the boy's story, until his eyes shot wide open when he was finished, as he realized who he had just mentioned. "Wait, Shanks? As in "Red-Haired" Shanks?!"

"Yeah!" Luffy responded excitedly. Zoro looked over to Robin, who nodded in affirmation of her beloved's words.

Zoro began to rub his head in disbelief. "This is just the tip of the iceberg, isn't it?"

Robin chuckled. "I'm afraid you have no idea…"

The familiar rumble of Luffy's stomach brought them back to their captain, holding his distressed belly with one hand. "Uuuuggghhh…!"

Zoro felt his own stomach complain. "You know, we could have gotten some rations as a reward for taking down that nut-job Morgan. The town seemed generous enough."

"I suppose we did leave rather abruptly, but we didn't have much choice, since the navy base gained its self reliance back and let us leave freely." Robin shrugged her shoulders. "We are pirates, after all. Common kindness is a rarity to our kind."

The swordsman shook his head. "I'm still wrapping my head around all this. I was a bounty hunter, starving to death just yesterday, and now I'm the one thing I've made money off of, and my captain is a kid!" Zoro quickly realized what he said in front of the defensive woman and put his hands up. "Uh, no offense!"

"None taken," Robin smiled kindly. "I can understand that my Luffy can be a little…unique, but that's one of the things that makes him likable." She then began tussling her lover's black locks in her fingers, making him smile and hum happily. She chuckled. "And lovable…"

Zoro shook his head. These two had to be the oddest couple he'd ever seen. But hey, he was a swordsman who wielded a third sword in his teeth! Who was he to judge?

Luffy looked up into the air, watching the clouds gently glide by, when he spotted what appeared to be a lone seagull fluttering high in the sky. He grinned.

"Looks like we don't have to wait for land, after all!" The straw hatted boy then hopped to his feet, lunging his rubber arms on to the boom of the small sailboat. "Breakfast's on me, guys!" Pulling back on his outstretched arms, he shot himself up into the air, flying straight for the prey in the sky.

A few more feet in the air, and Luffy caught the flapping prize.

…Or to be more exact, the prize got him.

It came as quite the sprite to the straw hatted boy when the seagull turned out to be a lot bigger then he anticipated, and an even bigger, and more unpleasant surprise, when the rubber boy's head was caught in the large bird's beak. "AHHH! HELP ME!"

"LUFFY!" Robin cried out in distraught, forgetting the book that fell from her grasp.

Zoro snapped into action, taking the oars of the boat and rowing after the retreating behemoth bird with great haste. "What are you waiting for, do something! Use your powers!"

"I can't!" The scholar retorted as she strained in her Hana Hana pose. "He's too far away!"

"You can't reach him?!" Zoro barked back. "Is that even a thing for you?!"

"I need to have a clear vision of where to use my powers!" Robin looked up to the giant seagull making off with her beloved Luffy. "If he's too far away, then…there's nothing I can do…!" She said the last part with helpless distaste.

As the giant bird sailed on across the sky, Luffy was trying to pry himself out of its massive beak. "Let me go! I'm gonna eat you alive you stupid, feathery-!"

A colossal explosion which struck the bird from out of nowhere interrupted the boy, as he finally came loose from the bird's clutches, and began to fall toward the island below him.

"The heck was that?!" Zoro called out from where he rowed.

Robin didn't answer. She was focusing on where that blast came from, and where Luffy was now falling.

"Hey! Hey, over here!" A cry came to the two pirate's ears. They searched for the source, spotting a trio of men, floating in the water ahead of them.

"Help us! Please!" One of them cried out, looking to be close to going under.

Zoro looked over to Robin, noticing she was too preoccupied with seeing where their captain was falling. He looked back to the drowning three. "We can't stop! You're gonna have to grab on!"

As Zoro rowed toward the three, they did as was advised, and grabbed onto the boat and hauled each other in. The swordsman smirked. "Good for you we were coming by!"

"Yeah…" One of the men drawled. Zoro noticed the deep, dark tone he took on. The trio of men then took out an assortment of swords from their person. "But it's bad news for you! Now give us what you got, or you're going in the drink next!"

Robin turned her head back for a moment to look at their new hitch-hikers. One was spindly, had a narrow face, and wild, orange hair coming out of his head. The second seemed more moody, wearing a purple wooly hat, and thick black eyebrows. The last was quite obese, with tanned skin, and a shiny bald head.

The scholar arched an eyebrow, while Zoro put the oars to one side and laid a hand on his blades.

These three were a bunch of stooges…


A few moments later, the three stooges were rowing the boat for the two straw-hats, nursing a multitude of bumps and bruises. 'Baldy' and 'Hat-Head' rowed, while 'Frizzy Hair' sat in between his friends. "Sorry to have inconvenienced you and your lady friend, Mr. Pirate hunter Zoro, sir!" Frizzy laughed half-heartedly, attempting to make nice with the two over-powered figures before him.

Zoro and Robin merely glared at the three, not at all glad about dealing with them. "Great, thanks to these three, we lost sight of our captain…" The swordsman mused angrily out loud. The three uninvited guests flinched at his accusation, making them row quicker, hoping they'd be able to reach land and escape the green haired monster.

"I didn't," The female scholar mentioned. Zoro looked to her with a raised eyebrow. Robin stepped past the three stooges, who quickly moved out of her way. They didn't know how she made all those hands appear, and they didn't want to. Robin looked out over the horizon, pointing a mound of land ahead of them "He landed on that island!"

Zoro leaned over the side to get a better view of where she was pointing. He then turned back to the rowing stooges. "Alright, you heard the lady! Take us to that island!"

The three stooges looked back to where they wanted to go, and each gained a massive, smug grin.

"Sure!" Baldy beamed.

"Whatever you say!" Hat-head smirked.

"It's your funeral!" Frizzy finished, making him and his cohorts break out in mocking laughter.

Robin and Zoro did not have a good feeling about their amusement.


"Get back here!" A large thug barked out, as he and two other's with him chased a young, red haired girl through the streets of an abandoned town.

The girl was gasping for breath, running for so long as she tried to escape her tailors. In her hand, she held a parchment of paper. No doubt what the trio of pirate thugs behind her wanted.

Of all the bad luck, the girl tripped over a stray pebble in the street, crashing to the ground and skidding across the cobblestones beneath her. Nursing her injuries, the three pirates slowly closed in on her. The girl looked to them in nervousness. How was she going to get out of this one?

"Looks like your out of luck, sweetheart!" One of the men sneered pridefully. "Now if you hand that map over to us, we just might think about letting you go…maybe…" He and his partners laughed cruelly.

The girl scowled, trying to think of a way out of this situation.

Then a strange noise came to her ears.

It grew louder and louder. The girl looked around for wherever it was coming from. The men had also caught on to the noise, wondering where it was coming from.

As the noise grew, the girl gained a better idea of what it was.

It sounded like someone screaming…Like they were falling… from up above her!

The girl looked up, and spotted the familiar sight of a straw hatted boy falling out of the sky, screaming on his way down.

The girl acted quickly, moving out of the way before the boy hit the ground between her and the three thugs. The boy struck the ground so head, rock and dirt exploded out of the ground from his accelerated decent, taking her and the men by surprise. As the dust cleared, the girl saw that the boy was perfectly fine, not a scratch on him.

"Woah…!" The boy brushed himself off of any stray dust and debris in his crash landing. "That was close! I thought that bird was gonna eat me!"

The girl looked at the boy in front of her, her mind calculating the moment as quick as it could.

Then she smirked as she got an idea.

"Partner!" The girl exclaimed happily as she jumped to her feet. "You came to save me!"

Luffy looked to the girl by his side, confused as to why she was looking at him with so much admiration. His eyebrows crossed as he began to think. "Wait, haven't I…"

"Thanks for coming to get me!" The girl interrupted him, quickly pointing to the three pirates who were picking themselves up after the boy's entrance. "I'll leave these guys to you!"

"Huh?!" Luffy looked to where she was pointing, genially confused as to what was going on. "Wait, what're you-!"

"Go get'em, partner!" The girl waved him goodbye as she made run for it, leaving the straw hatted boy with the three thugs behind him.

"Dang it!" One of the men raged. "She got away!"

"Forget it," Another walked up to the confused boy. "We got her partner! It may not be the map, but this should put a smile on the captain's face!"

Luffy looked back to the men in fort of him, still confused to his current predicament. "Hey, can you tell me what's going on?" A grumble from his stomach made Luffy keel over. "Also, do you know anywhere I can get some food? I'm starving!"

"Well, if you're hungry," The man in fort of him clinched his fist. "How's about a knuckle-sandwich?!" The thug threw a punch aimed at Luffy's face, but thanks to Luffy's superior senses, he easily dodged the blow.

But the thug did managed to knock Luffy's hat off his head…

The boy watched his hat fly through the air before landing on the ground softly.

He then turned back in a swift motion, and rammed his own fist into the thug's face. The force behind the punch launched him off the ground and sent him flying to the ground a good few meters away.

The other two thugs were stunned by this, but soon snapped out of it and growled at the boy. "Why you little…!"

They were then stopped in their tracks, as they caught sight of the look the young boy had as he cracked his knuckles.

Pure, unrestrained anger, aimed directly at them…


The red-headed girl kept running at an easier pace, until she stopped to lean again a wall, taking a moment to catch her breath. As she did, she heard the sound of screams coming from where she left that boy that came out of nowhere.

"Man…They're really letting him have it…" she mused to herself.

A small part of her felt sorry fo the boy she left behind to save her own skin. But then she shook it off. It wasn't the first time she'd left someone to take the fall for her.

Still, that nagging feeling kept bugging her…

The girl sighed to herself. She decided to go see if the kid was all right, just to make the little voice inside her head shut up.

She hopped up onto a rooftop overlooking where she left the straw hatted boy, peeking over the side in case the other three spotted her.

What she saw mad her eyes pop.

The three men chasing her before were down; battered, bruised and completely knocked out. The boy she left to fend for himself stepped past their uncurious bodies, and picked up his straw hat. Dusting it off, he placed it back on his head quite forcefully, as if to make sure it would never fall off again.

"Don't. Touch. My hat." He stated in a dark whisper.

"Woah…!" The girl was in awe at what she saw. She kept her eyes on the boy that survived her little trick, and made short work of the thugs. "Hey, you!" She cried out. The boy looked to where she was, and arched an eyebrow. "Did you take those guys out by yourself? That's amazing!"

"Yeah!" The straw hatted boy retorted hotly. "No thanks to you!"

"Sorry about that!" She tried to play off the trick as nothing. She hopped down to a balcony and sat on the railing. "The name's Nami!" She introduced herself. "Hey, I know it was just a trick, but how's about you and me become partners for real? We'd make one heck of a team!"

"Uh, no thanks! I'm good!" Luffy answered back with a deadpanned expression.

He began to walk away, with Nami watching him with bewildered eyes. "H-hey!" She snapped out of herself and leaped down to the ground. "Wait up!"

Luffy casual looked around the town he landed in, as Nami ran up behind him. "How can you just say that?! Think about it, will you?"

"I don't really wanna think about something I don't wanna do." He stated, right before he keeled over from a sudden pain in his stomach. "I forgot! I'm so hungry~! I can't take it anymore!"

Nami watched him fall to his knees, thinking that this boy was a real odd-ball. Then she gave a crafty, cheshire grin. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

"Well, if you want, I can make you something," She offered sweetly. "Think of it as my way of saying sorry."

The boy was back on his feet and beaming at the girl, taking her by surprise as she lurched back. "Really?!"

Nami strained a smile as she nodded. This guy was even weirder than she thought…


The redheaded thief and the straw hatted boy were sitting around a table inside one of the empty town's bare houses. Nami could only watch in disgust as this boy that fell out of the sky and beat three men by himself, indulged himself on just about every scrap of food the place had.

"You sure can put it away…" She grimaced to herself.

"Thanks!" The snide remark went over Luffy's head as he chowed down on a sandwich made by the girl next to him. "And thanks for the grub!" He spoke through his large, animated bites.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" She chided. "…And you're welcome."

"So, is this your house?" Luffy asked, completely ignoreng the girl's demand about talking through his food.

Nami sighed at his childish behavior. "No, this is somebody else's place," She answered. "The whole town's been deserted since Buggy arrived. So, I figured I'd make myself at home."

"Buggy?" Luffy grabbed another plate of food and tucked in once more. "Never heard of him."

"Be glad that you haven't," Nami raised an eyebrow. "He's a psychopath pirate clown. Very protective of his treasure, and he'd rather lose one of his own men than lose one berri that belongs to him."

The straw hatted boy swallowed another load of food. "So, were those guys chasing you with him or something?"

"As a matter of fact!" Nami stuck her nose in the air with pride. She laid back in her seat and propped her feet on the table. "I just so happened to pull off a pretty, successful heist on that clown."

"Couldn't of been that successful if you were being chased." Was Luffy's blunt remark.

Nami nearly fell out of her seat when the straw hatted boy said that. "Oh, shut up!"

"So, what'd you steal?" The boy continued to pester the girl with questions.

"Awfully curious aren't you?" She insinuated roughly. Her frustrated attitude went unnoticed as Luffy continued to stuff his face, looking at her as if waiting for her to say something. The redhead heaved a sigh. "Well, if you must know, I took this." She pulled out from behind her the parchment of paper she held onto and placed it on the table.

Luffy stared at it for a while, until he couldn't figure out what it was by himself. "…What is it?"

"That," Nami gave the paper a poke of emphasis. "Is a map that leads to the entrance of the Grand Line!"

Luffy dropped the roll he had in his hands when he heard what she just said. "No way…"

"Yes, way!" Nami retorted. She hadn't noticed it, but the boy's excitement to the map was starting to effect her. "And once I'm there, I'll make a fortune! Just think of all the treasure I can get my hands on!"

"Wait, so you're a navigator?!" The straw hatted boy leaped out of his seat, desperate to know her answer.

Nami looked at the boy with complete pride and confidence. "I'm not just a navigator, I'm the navigator; The best one you're ever gonna meet!"

"That's so cool!" Luffy shot his hands in the air in celebration. "I've been looking for a navigator to join my crew!"

"Really?!" Nami replied just as enthusiastically. How this boy could make her so joyful and bombastic was beyond her. Maybe she could team up with him, just for a little while.

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded happily. "You should join us! You'd have loads of fun being a pirate!"

The smile on Nami's face fell in the blink of an eye when he said that. "Wait…you're a pirate?"

Luffy stopped in his excitement, but kept the smile on his face. "…Y-yeah?"

"Well, in that case, forget it!" The redhead spat out at the boy. Her rebuttal was so strong, it nearly took Luffy off his feet.

Nami folded her arms with a huff. "What did I expect, of course your'e a pirate. Everyone and their grandmother wants to be a pirate for some reason. What's so great about being one anyway?"

"What isn't so great?" Luffy took off his hat as he explained. "You get to do whatever you want, go where ever you want, and be whoever you want! Being a pirate is the best!"

The redheaded girl slammed her hands on the table, startling the boy. "Pirates are the worst! I don't care what anyone says, they'll always be monsters to me!"

Luffy blinked owlishly as he put he his hat back atop his head. "So…you don't wanna be on my crew?"

"NO!" Nami shrieked. "I'd rather die than be the likes of you!" She stomped off over to the window sill and sat beside it. She kept her eyes on the view outside rather than the pirate boy next to her.

"Oh…" Luffy's face was blank for a moment, until he gave a nonchalant shrug. "Aw, well! Your loss!" He then went straight back to eating.

Nami scowled at the boy stuffing his face. She looked back out the window and began to think things through. Buggy's crew was no doubt scouring the entire town right now, looking for her and his map. She had no way of getting past any of them, not without losing her life in the process. Not to mention, there was all of Buggy's secret treasure stash she came across when snatching the map in the first place, it would be a shame to just leave it behind.

There had to be someway for her to get close it…

Nami looked back at the childish pirate boy at the table…and then grinned.

"Hey," the thief girl spoke in a much sweeter voice than before. "I'm sorry I went off at you like that. Maybe I could be the navigator of your crew."

Luffy looked at her with bulging cheeks full of food, swallowing them quick so he could speak. "Really?!"

"Totally!" she smiled coyly. "But before I do, I need to do something important. Do you think you could give me a hand?"

"Sure!" The gullible lad nodded.

"Great!" She beamed a smile, whilst lifting up a coil of rope. "Now put your hands behind your back…"

A tug and pull here, a few knots there, and Nami had Luffy tied up in a matter of moments.

"Uh, why'd you tie me up?" Luffy questioned to Nami behind her.

"To show you I'm good with knots." The thief girl replied, holding the end of rope in her hand.

"Oh…" The boy nodded to her simple reasoning. "Well, that makes sense!"

Nami rolled her eyes before snapping the rope like a reign. "Come on, its time to go!"

"Where'r we going?" Luffy asked, leading the way out the house like a dog on a leash.

"To make some new friends…" Was the thief girl's nonchalant answer as she closed the front door behind her.


"Captain Buggy! Captain Buggy!" A member of the clown's crew rushed up to him desperately.

"I-I-It's the thief that stole your map! She's back!" The crewmate stammered. "S-she says she wants to see you!" All men surrounding the captain's tent turned to him, as the clown contemplated the out of nowhere proposal.

Buggy seemed to mull the request over for some time. "…Bring her up. Let's see what she has to say for herself."

Soon enough, Nami was walking past every clown giving her the stink eye, with Luffy still trussed up in front of her. The two continued to walk toward the clown captain, his bight red nose seeming to glow ominously underneath the shadow of his small tent.

"You've got some guts coming back here, after stealing from me, girlie," Buggy spoke as he pulled out a knife from beneath his bright orange coat. "Now, give me one good reason I shouldn't see exactly how much guts you've got…"

"A pretty simple reason, Buggy…" Nami replied. "I want to join the winning side!" In a swift motion, Nami gave Luffy a harsh kick to the back. Luffy fell to the ground with a grunt. When he turned back to her, about to ask what that was for, the redheaded thief merely poke her tongue out at him.

"I'm done taking this guy's abuse! He does nothing but sprout gibberish and make things harder than they should be!" The girl played up her story, thinking on the spot for the right words to win the pirate clown over. "Heck, if it wasn't for him, I'd have been long gone with your map by now!"

"Is that right…?" Buggy leaned forward in his seat, a disgruntled sneer on his painted face.

"Yeah! But then I saw the map I took from you…" she inquired. "You and your crew seem to be going places. I mean, aiming for the Grand Line? That's a pretty big deal! So, I figured that I bring this map back ,along with offering my services to you! I'd even throw in my pain-in-the-neck former partner here, as a peace offering."

Buggy stared down the girl and boy before him, his mind mulling over the girl's offer.

"And let me say this as well," The girl continued. "If I was capable of sneaking past your men, think of what I could do if I was on your side! I guarantee, you'd be swimming in gold before you even got to the entrance to the Grand Line!"

When Nami finished her proposal, everything was dead silent. All of Buggy's men were facing their captain, curious and quite fearful of what ever his reaction would be. The redheaded girl kept a confident grin on her face, but swallowed the lump that appeared in her throat halfway through her speech. Luffy continued to lay on the ground, fear completely foreign to him in his position.

A giggle came from the clown captain, then a chuckle, then full-blown maniacal laughter. "I like your style, sweetheart! You've got a good head on your shoulders, and you know when to get rid of dead weight!"

Nami sighed in relief for a quick moment that thankfully went unnoticed, then clasped her hands together in a hopeful manner. "Does that mean…?"

Buggy stood from his seat as he continued to laugh. He made his way over to the girl, stepping over Luffy nonchalantly, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a friendly fashion. "What's your name, kiddo?"

The redheaded thief smiled shyly, making herself blush to help win over the gullible red nosed man all the more. "Nami…"

Buggy shot his fist into the air. "Welcome to the Buggy Pirates, Nami, my dear! Boys, break out the rum and serve up some grub; Its time to celebrate our new crewmate!" The crew of clown pirates cheered in delight.

"Hey…" A voice spoke up from the ground. Buggy looked around for the noise until he looked down to the straw hatted boy laying face down, looking up at him.

"Can I have some, too?" The boy asked innocently…


"Could have just said no…" Luffy grumbled. He was now sat inside a tiny steel cage, still trussed up in Nami's ropes. He turned to the girl who had put him in this situation in the first place. "And you can forget about joining my crew!"

"Whatever…" Nami waved him off callously.

The girl walked away from the caged pirate boy and back to the party now taking place in her honer. Buggy's men performed deadly circus tricks that promoted they're freakishly violent nature; breathing fire, juggling swords and other daring feats, merely because they could.

Nami made her way past the celebrating circus folk, and found her seat in front of the leading clown captain. As she picked up a small glass of wine, Buggy held out a large mug in his large white mitt. The girl gave him a smile, lifting her glass and striking his mug gently, the two sharing a toast.

Nami couldn't believe how easy this was. All she had to do now was wait until these nut-jobs collapse from partying too much, then she could make off with the map, and the treasure!

She had to laugh to herself…Pirates were so stupid!

Back with the straw hatted boy, he was currently in the middle of his hands on some of the cuisine the clown crew were helping themselves to…by stretching his arm across the ground, walking his fingers toward a lone table piled up with food.

"All…most…got it…!" He groaned in his strained effort. His fingers were just a few more inches away from a hunk of meat on a plate. Closer…closer…

From out of nowhere, a clown carrying a plate of food trips over the rubber boy's outstretched limb. The arm snapped out of its elasticity, and come shooting back to the boy, knocking him off of the bars and falling on his face.

The poor boy's stomach growls. "I'm so hungry…"

Buggy chugged down the last of his drink, slamming it down on the table and giving a shameless belch. "You know what? I'm in quite the cheery mood right now! I've got my map back, a pretty little crew-mate on my side, but something's not right…"

Nami raised an eyebrow at his out loud musing as she took a sip from her drink. The clown then shot to his feet, taking the girl by surprise.

"That's it!" The captain snapped his fingers. "Boys, I think its time…FOR A BUGGY BALL!"

The crew cheered loudly, going ecstatic for whatever the leading clown was going on about.

"A buggy ball…?" Nami wondered out loud, finding the words to be quite odd coming out of her mouth.

The next thing she knows, a large cannon is placed out over the side of the tavern the circus crew was perched on, aiming out toward the town before them. A lone clown comes walking up to the massive weapon, carrying in his arms a bright red ball with the Buggy pirate jolly roger emblazoned on it. He loads the ball into the back of the cannon, then lights a match.

Nami stands beside Buggy, a feeling of dread making itself known in her stomach. She was no stranger to seeing towns getting shot at by cannons, but something about this time seemed…off. Luffy also watched from where he sat, his rubber head easily able to poke out of the bars of his cell.

Once the clown lit the fuse, he made a mad dash away from the cannon, making sure to be a good distance from the destructive device.

A drummer clown gave an anticipating drum-roll as the fuse shrunk lower and lower from the light's spark, drawing closer to the end…

And when it finally reached the end, the clown finished with a symbol crash.

What came from out of the cannon couldn't be described as a simple blast. It was like a cyclone of fire, sweeping through building after building of the town, reducing them to smoldering heaps of bricks and burnt ashes. The explosion was so powerful, it went on entirely to the other side of the whole town.

When the dust cleared and the smoke subsided, there was a gigantic pathway of destruction paved across the land.

Buggy and his men laughed and cheered at the spectacle of carnage. Luffy held a blank expression as he took in the sight of the ruined scenery.

And Nami…Nami couldn't believe what she had gotten herself into…


Over at the harbor of the small abandoned town, Zoro, Robin and the three stooges were making land when the buggy ball made its grand display of power.

"What in the world was that?!" Robin inquired with wide eyes.

"That was one of the captain's buggy balls…" 'Frizzy Hair' explained, unease written across his face. Boy, were he and his partners glad they weren't in that blast…

Zoro however couldn't help but laugh "Buggy balls?"


Buggy cackled along with his crew, minus the redheaded thief by his side. "So, what did you think, Nami my dear?"

The girl snapped herself out of her state of shock in time for Buggy's question. "It was, um…really something…!"

Buggy threw his head back in laughter. "Spectacular is what it was! Blowing something to smithereens always puts a smile on my face!" The mad clown continued to laugh before calming down. "And this is just the beginning. With the firepower of my buggy balls, conquering the Grand Line will be child's play! I'll become the next pirate king in no time!"

Buggy's men cheered in agreement, while Nami grew more and more weary of her dire situation. Things couldn't get any worse…!

"Hold on a second!"

The redhead spoke too soon. With mouth agape, Nami turned to the child-like pirate boy in the cage. Buggy and his men followed suit, quite upset of being taken out of their good mood.

"You're not gonna be the Pirate King; I am!" Luffy declawed without a shred of shame or regret.

"Will you shut up, already?!" Nami hissed through gritted teeth. Was this kid trying to get them both killed?!

Buggy gaffawed smugly at the straw-hatted boy's proclamation. "And how does a puny little thing like you plan on becoming Pirate King?"

"Let me out of this cage and I'll show you, you big nosed jerk!" Luffy snarled back.

The party seemed to crash to a stop.

Every clown went dead silent, slowly turning their heads at the boy in the cage and much more slowly toward their captain. Nami looked about at the circus crew, noticing many of them chattering their teeth in fear and breaking out into cold sweats. Hearing what sound like a panting dog by her side, the thief turned back to the captain and had to take step back from what she saw.

Buggy was mad.

Really mad.

"What…did you just say…you little punk?!" The seething clown hissed.

"I said that if I was to punch you in the face, my fist would probably bounce off that big honker of yours!" Luffy either didn't read the mood of the crowd, or he didn't care as he took another jab at the clown captain's most sensitive feature.

A vein appeared on Buggy's brow, his breathing growing heavy and loud. He was like a steam engine building up heat, and soon enough, he blew his top.

"NO ONE MAKES FUN OD CAPTAIN BUGGY'S NOSE! NO ONE!"

Nami had to cover her ears as the mad clown screamed into the sky. Every member of Buggy's crew was shivering in their shoes, afraid of whatever their captain was about to do. He could be quite unpredictable when he was mad.

Buggy took long, deep breaths to calm himself down. He held a dark frown on his face at the straw-hatted boy, who seemed to be unaffected by the captain's tantrum. He just stared back, like he wasn't impressed. Buggy snarled at the boy, but then his lips turned up into a cruel grin.

"I see what you mean about your partner making up gibberish now, Nami." Buggy mused aloud with a sudden laugh.

"I-I know, right?" The redheaded girl laughed along with him to keep her cover up.

A cruel grin came to the mad clown's face. "Well then, Nami, my dear, how's about as your new captain… I help you get rid of him for good?"

Nami's fake smile fell instantly, as she watched Buggy's men move the massive cannon in fort of the still caged up boy, and another Buggy Ball was loaded into the mouth of the large weapon.

"T-That's okay, captain!" Nami stumbled over trying to find the right words to dispel the impending murder. "He may be stupid, but I think being locked up is punishment enough for him. How's about we go back to the party? Y'know, have some fun?"

The red nosed man gave a maniacal giggle as he turned to the girl, showing a just as maniacal grin. "But this is my idea of fun!" He stated as he placed a box of matches in the girl's hand.

As he stepped back to watch the show, his crew began to chant for the thief girl to light the fuse. "Fi~re! Fi~re! Fi~re!Fi~re!"

Nami looked at the match box in her hand, then at the cannon, then at the boy she was expected to blow away. Her mind was spiraling. She did not want to lower herself to these animals! But if she didn't, they were going to kill her! But she didn't want to sacrifice this dumb kid's life to save her own, did she? She'd be no better than Buggy!

She'd be a murderer…just like him…just like-!

"Your hands are shaking."

Nami was brought out of her swirling thoughts by the straw hatted boy about to be shot to bits. He was looking straight at her, as if he was looking right through her, like he could see who she really was on the inside. As he did, the chanting of the insane clown crew felt to be drowned out, as if it was now just the two of them on the top of the roof.

"You don't wanna do this, do you?" The straw hatted boy asked, which sounded more like a statement.

Nami clutched her fists, squeezing the bow of matches in her grip. "Of course I don't wanna do this! I'm not a pirate! I don't go around taking lives as if its nothing!"

Luffy chuckled at the girl's reasoning, which took Nami by surprise. Wasn't this kid supposed to be a goof-ball? Why was he acting so calm and confident?

"It's not taking lives that makes you a pirate…It's risking your own that does."

Those words the boy spoke to Nami rocked her to the core. Never had she heard such a thing from a pirate before.

…Was he really a pirate?

Before she could ponder this anymore, a hand came and snatched the box of matches from her. She turned to see one of the clown crewmen taking a small stick out of the box. "What's the hold-up? If you ain't gonna do it, then step aside and let someone else!"

Time seemed to slow down as Nami watch the clown light the match and guide it toward the fuse, a malicious grin on his face.

At that moment, Nami's body seemed to move on its own.

Nami whipped out a trio of poles from under her skirt, snapped them together into a makeshift staff, and whammed the clown across the head, sending his face slamming into the ground, all in a matter of seconds.

Needless to say, everyone present was stunned.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, NAMI?!" Buggy roared with a mighty rage.

"S-sorry, Captain Buggy!" The girl realized what she had just done in her confusion, and did her best to keep up appearances. "M-my hand slipped!"

"…Your hand slipped…" Buggy repeated deadpanned, not buying it one bit.

"Y-yes…?" Nami gave an innocent smile, but was met with a bunch of unhappy faces in white make-up. "…Oh, forget it! I'm not here to join your crew, Buggy!"

"Oh! So, you wanna join my crew after all?" Luffy asked, back his usual goofy self.

"No, I don't wanna join you either!" Nami shrieked back. Luffy actually leaned back where he sat, as if the redhead was right up in his face after she shouted.

Nami looked back at the scowling, glowering pirate clowns before her, clutching her staff tight. "I hate pirates…I hate everything about them…I don't know why anyone would wanna be one, and I don't care! As far as I'm concerned, pirates should be wiped off the face of the earth! The world would be better off without you! Any of you! I'D RATHER DIE THAN BECOME ONE OF YOU!"

"…Wow," Luffy's eyes were wide with surprise. "That's a lot of hate…"

Coming out of his stupor of the redhead's sudden rant, a strange hissing noise made its way to the boy's ears. He began to panic greatly once he found the source of the noise. "AHHH! THE FUSE IS LIT!"

"WHAT?!" Nami turned back to the cannon, finding that indeed, the canon was set alight and the short fuse was growing shorter.

"So, you'd rather be dead than one of us, eh?" The redhead's attention was then drawn to the now fuming clown captain "Well, if that's how you feel, then we'd be more than happy to oblidge! Get her boys!"

A gang of pirates acted on the mad clown's orders, leaping at her with weapons drawn. Nami swung her staff wide to try and take them all out, but the crew of clowns were more acrobatic then she predicted. They leapt over her attack and prepared to dive on top of her.

Nami wasn't one to be able to tackle multiple enemies, but she was good at getting out of tight spots. As the clowns focused on breaking through her staff, Nami dropped her weapon and made a mad dash for the cannon aimed at Luffy.

"WATERWATERWATERWATERWATER!" Luffy frantically cried as he searched for anything to help put the shrinking spark out.

Nami kept running for the cannon, unable to find anything to put the fuse out. In an act of desperation and lack of time, Nami boldly grasped the burning fuse with both hands. She cried out in pain as the spark burned her skin, but she succeeded in snuffing out the fuse before the cannon could go off.

Taking her hands back, the redhead saw her palms coated in burns and blisters from grabbing the fuse. She groaned in pain as she looked at her hands, then turned towards the boy whom she just saved. Luffy looked concerned at the girl, but when she gave a smile, he beamed back ,glad to see she was all right.

His smile turned to panic once again as he looked behind her. "Nami, watch out!"

The girl looked back to where the boy was staring at, only to find that the gang of pirate clowns were closing in on her.

Nami had no time to move.

She closed her eyes before the swords could come down on her.

…Nothing happened.

Willing herself to crack an eye open, she saw that a man with green hair and what appeared to be three swords had intercepted the clowns attacking her, and blew them all away.

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a recurring thing with you, captain?" The green haired man looked back to the boy in the cage, giving him a smug, yet relieved grin.

The straw hatted boy's eyes lit up. "ZORO!"

"Zoro?!" Nami blanched as she took in the sight of the three swords the man had on him. "The pirate hunter?!"

Zoro placed his blades back on his side as he turned back to the bewildered girl. "You alright?"

"Y-yeah…" Nami answered as she got back to her feet.

"LUFFY!" A feminine voice caught her attention. Turning to the source, she saw a slim, dark haired girl around her age coming over the side of the roof and running over to the boy stuck in the cage.

"Hey, Robin!" The boy greeted casually, as if he hadn't been staring death in the face a few moments ago.

The dark haired woman crouched down to the boy's eye level, grasping the bars as she did. "Are you alright?! Are you hurt?!"

"Nah, I'm fine," Luffy gave a chuckle, glad to see his girlfriend again.

Robin gave a sigh of relief, before taking in the cage that kept her love locked up. She the looked back at the crowd of clowns, malice in her eyes. "Did they put you in this cage…?"

The red nosed captain, along with his cohorts, suddenly felt on edge at the nasty glare the dark haired girl was giving them.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, they did," The straw hatted boy explained, before nodding his head over at Nami. "But she was the one who tied me up like this."

Robin looked to the said girl, giving her a cold, hard glare that made Nami tense up and take a step back.

"…Is that right?" The dark haired woman spoke darkly.

Nami didn't know why, but she couldn't help but gulp at the threatening stare from Robin.

Zoro felt the tension the dark haired girl was letting off fill the air, and decided to do start thing and step out of her way.

Seeing the look in her eyes, many of the clowns gathered felt their skin crawl and took a few steps back.

Buggy stood his ground as he took in the sight of this dark haired woman that appeared with the swordsman and was now staring them down.

At last, the young scholar spoke. "You are going to let my Luffy, out of this cage, right now."

Nami, as unnerved as she was, had to do a double take after she heard that. Did she just say; 'her' Luffy?

Buggy raised an eyebrow. Then he grinned. Then he giggled. And then he began to laugh. His men suddenly found their backbones again, and joined their captain in mocking laughter.

Luffy had caught on to the fowl mood Robin was in, and felt a little bit sorry for the guffawing clowns. "Uh-oh…"

The mad clown himself wiped a tear from his eye. "And what makes you think, we're gonna do that, girlie?!"

Robin humorless face never faltered, as she folded her arms with her open palms facing up.

"Treinta Fleur…"