BUGGY PIRATES
Captain: Buggy the Clown
Age: 37
Bounty: 15,000,000
Weapons: Knives. Lots of knives.
Powers: Chop-Chop Fruit
Separate body parts into chops and control them.
Complete immunity to swords, including black swords.
Can split vertically, but normally splits horizontally.
Besides feet, any part of his body can fly. Any.
Ate fruit when he hid it in his mouth to hide it from Shanks, hates Shanks for accidentally making him eat it and lose a treasure on the seafloor.
Very long blue hair. Usually in pigtails and his hat covers it.
Laugh is Gyahahahahaha
Simple to a Nekekubi, a flesh-eating monster with a floating head.
Birthday is August 8th (Devil Fruit's name is 8-8)
Mouth closed? Ever?
Buffy captured looking for Captain John treasure but actually Marine Garrison (moronic). Sent to Impel Down.
First Mate: Mohji the Beast Tamer
Hair is a perm and his ears are just his hair.
Claims to be able to tame any animal; no known success other than his lion.
Alone, no threat.
Pet lion: Richie, big enough for a full-grown man to ride, corresponding physical abilities. Not very smart, easily distracted by food.
Chief of Staff: Cabaji
Striped buzz cut on one side of his head, long hair covering face on the other.
Swordsman, but focuses on circus tricks.
Second strongest next to Buggy.
Ship: Big Top
Large in size, cannons on the bow, circus-themed; overall artillery capabilities unknown.
Name: Nami
Occupation: Pirate; Navigator; Thief; Chief of staff; Former Arlong pirate
Residence: Cocoyasi Village (former)
Epithet: 'Cat Burglar' Nami
Age: 18
Birth: July 3
Height: 169 cm; 170 cm (time skip)
Bounty: 16,000,000; 66,000,000
Family: Mother is Bell-mére (dead), Sister is Nojiko, (birth parents unknown) (birthplace unknown) (hopefully nothing to worry about)
Relations: Genzo (father figure), Arlong and his fishmen (not good terms) (will be destroyed)
Trivia: Very in-charge figure, loves money, tangerines, and her friends; will charge friend into debt so that they can never leave her; meteorologist with no equal, master cartographer
Dream: get 100,000,000 (will get later but not really important), make a map of the world.
OOO
"We got ourselves a great haul today!"
"Look at all that gold! Man, those saps didn't know what hit them!"
"Captain Buggy can't scold us this time."
Three unnamed bros surround a single chest filled with gold, seemingly proud of their work done for today.
"Hey," the overweight Lackey is able to draw his attention away from their wealth to take notice over the horizon. "I think I see something..."
And something Lackey #1 did see. All three of the bros turn their heads to see a lone boat drifting in the far distance. The movements of the craft were without purpose, meaning that nobody was steering it.
"Looks deserted. Probably not worth looking at," Lackey #2 with the hat said.
"Ya sure?" Lackey #3 with the hair puts a hand to his head to shade his eyes, "Because there's a girl handing over the boat."
"What?!" Lackey #2 does a double take. "Well, start rowing!" She was sure to have something on her, alive or not.
And sure enough, there is a young redhead draped over the boat's edge, just so. She seems passed out as she gave no reaction when they row right in front of her. Alone and defenseless, only a couple of standard sailing supplies cluttering the deck. And a chest in the corner!
"Hey," Lackey #2 calls to the girl. "What's wrong? Sun got to you?" The girl was probably some amateur trying to sail alone only to fail miserably.
The girl lifts her head with great difficulty, "Oh, am I dreaming?" Her eyes flutter open weakly, "I never thought I could meet another boat. I got lost at sea, can you please give me some water," she points to the chest in the corner, "If you want money, you can take it all, just please help me…"
That is exactly what they wanted to hear! The Lackeys look at each other, smile, then back to her. "Sure, we'll help you!" says… doesn't matter, as they start stepping onto the smaller vessel one-by-one, "But first, we have to make sure you got some good loot."
The three surround the chest hungrily as one of the tires to open the damn lock, "I can't open it!" "Here let me…" "Hurry up!" "Got it!"
Finally opening the chest to find...!
BOING!
…A kid?
"Surprise!"
Who promptly smashes their heads together like a bunch of coconuts. With the looks of shock still etched into their faces, the useless Lackeys slam to the floor backwards.
"Oh, come on…" the teen whines, "I barely even touched them…"
"Subtle, Captain, very subtle," Oyal drawls as they crawl out of their hiding place under the floorboards. It was small but without the supplies, they were just able to fit.
"I was super subtle!" Luffy argues stepping out of the chest and over the bodies, "They didn't know I was there," he rolls his shoulders.
Nami shakes her head, "I can't believe you actually fit in there," she mutters. It wasn't a big chest by any means. This guy must have no bones.
Oyal stands up dusting themselves, "That is not the point. At least Zoro understands what stealth is."
Said swordsman pops his head from behind the sails, body completely aligned with the mast, "Nothing to it," he claims, jumping down to the boat himself.
"Even if you look like an exotic dancer," Oyal finishes.
Zoro glares. "Why, you little-" but cuts himself off, he isn't going to argue with the little brat. "I don't see why we couldn't just attack them?"
"Because," Nami gracefully jumps on their boat, "Their boat is faster than ours and we needed them to come to us."
That is a good reason, Oyal agrees silently.
"Also, they have a chest full of gold!" She squeals looking over the contents.
That… is another reason.
"Now, hurry up," she barks. "There's a cold front coming in and I don't want to be here when we get caught up in a storm."
Zoro blatantly looks at the crystal clear sky around them with a skeptical look, but Luffy and Oyal follow the girl's orders without question so he steps onto the other boat as well.
"Ugh!" Oh, it seems that the Lackeys were not as out as they originally thought.
"Yes, I knew I didn't hit that hard!" Luffy cheers, already a good ways away from the smaller boat.
"Wha—Hey! That's our boat!" Lackey Whatever says, trying to get to his feet. "Thieves!"
"Isn't it a little hypocritical for pirates to get mad at thieves?" Zoro gets into his napping position, looking at them lazily now that they're no longer a threat.
"That's what I have been saying this whole time," Nami agrees with a nod. "But nobody likes getting robbed."
"True," Zoro shrugs; he knows he is a pirate now, but it was the principle of the matter.
Nami looks to the horizon and sees exactly what she expects, glad to be right yet again. "Hey!" she calls out getting the attention of the Lackeys, "There is a cold front coming in from the southern sky!" She pulls down the sail, increasing their speed from their current position. "I predict a storm is coming!"
And as predicted, with the kind of sudden climate change more typical of the Grand Line, a storm appears in a matter of seconds and starts hailing on the Lackeys' parade. Of getting robbed.
The end result is that while the Straw Hats catch the wind and sail away unscathed, their erstwhile boat and would-be hijackers end up wrecked in the ocean.
"Bingo!" Nami gives a thumbs up over a job well done.
Zoro gives a low whistle. "Impressive."
Oyal was right, the girl really could predict the weather. Hopefully, she will be willing to join them at the end of this job. He glances at Oyal; they had mentioned Luffy being the one to ask. He was willing to listen to his new captain's orders, but it would be a damn shame to let a girl like this get away.
Nami starts to address the sail again, heading to it Orange Town, when a question enters her head. "Hey, Luffy, why were you so worried about hitting them too hard? They're just pirates."
Luffy shakes his head. "Nah, that boat was going to tip over, right? They wouldn't be able to swim passed out, there's no reason to kill them."
Nami… finds herself agreeing. As much as she hates pirates and wouldn't mind the death to one in particular, she doesn't want to commit murder. She will not stoop to their level. She hums and goes back to checking the sail, a little more respectful of the straw-hatted boy.
Oyal takes note of their Captain's line of thinking. Luffy does not kill. Or at least he does not like it. From what they can tell in his contract he had never… intentionally killed another person. Never in one-on-one combat at least. Though they doubt all of the fodder enemies survived his more sizable attacks, there is no emphasize on their deaths, if any did occur.
They will have to add this line of reasoning to their calculations when dealing with upcoming battles… for reference, of course. They still plan on leaving on their own as soon as they can. They take out their journal to add to their notes as they sail off, leaving the three unnamed Lackeys to their fates.
It seems that the next person of interest in Luffy's story is this "Buggy the Clown" character.
He seems… useful at the very least, even for a very weak and pathetic character. Truly, this is a man of some dumb joke of fate if Oyal believed in that sort of deal. But the amount of improbabilities is staggering, filing in the decimal point percentages of chances. Part of the Pirate King's crew, ship buddy of the Emporer "Red-Haired" Shanks, received credit for freeing every prisoner in Impel Down, and becoming one of the Seven Warlords of the sea. They have to admit it was impressive for someone who did absolutely nothing but be in the right place at the right time. It is fascinating. But his role will play a useful part in the grand scheme of things.
Musing on how to fit these pieces together, Oyal feels a frown come over their face as they ponder the book's most annoying flaw: the nearly complete lack of any timekeeping measures.
Every once in a while, it mentioned that a precise amount of time had passed, but for the vast majority, the only show of any passage of time was an occasional glimpse at the moon's phase, which was next to useless. It took a day and a night to get to Shells Town with Coby while the book made it look like Alvida and Morgan happened within a day. And here, all that conveys the passage of time is Zoro claiming to be hungry and Luffy grabbing a bird. Was that a day? A week? A couple of hours?
They had been with Nami for a day, but that gives Oyal nothing to work with. How their Captain didn't die out here was beyond their calculations. How could he count on a bird to be his savior? Even Luffy has admitted that his past self was pretty stupid, but he didn't die and that is what is important. The chances of meeting the bird again are miniscule as they should be on a completely different route. By all accounts, they should be ahead of schedule, but…
"Zoro!" Nami shout, "You got us turned around again!"
"You said to go left!"
"Yeah, left, not a circle!"
Oyal sighs. Never mind, plotting time with all these variables is hopeless.
The one mercy in this situation was the fact that Nami was with them; even with Zoro onboard, there was no chance of them getting lost.
The events in Orange Town will be much simpler this time. The Straw Hats get in, they take the map, Luffy kicks Buggy's ass. Luffy leaves. Oyal stays. Simple.
Nami drops next to Oyal oh-so-casually, breaking them out of their thoughts. "So, you like reading?"
How does she do that? Just asking questions so easily. But Oyal can answer a question. They know the answer to this one. "…actually, I… hate reading."
Nami raises an eyebrow but doesn't look disbelieving… just confused. Oyal continues. "Do not misinterpret me, I love receiving new information of any kind, but when it comes to reading… processing that information comes with difficulties. I… much prefer math."
Nami gave a cute smile. "Really? Go on."
Oyal does, selecting their words carefully. "Math makes sense. The answer is either right or wrong. But reading… the words seem to jumble together, causing me to unconsciously skim. This makes my intake of information… harder to inturpert. I don't get the full picture." They count their blessings that Luffy's contract was made of mostly pictures. It seems to be within his character at least.
His contract also does and at the same time does not take into account the strangest details. Some may bring up vital clues to future events while others… lack any context at all. Whether Luffy forgot these details or not seemed to be of no importance either, as some events depict him forgetting other events. It was all a huge mess of what did seem important to what did not.
Like Nami's freckles.
Oyal would assume that they would be depicted in Luffy's contract but… they are nowhere to be seen. At all. And yet, she has them. They are quite obvious, like constellations on her skin, so they doubt Luffy forgot them, so… perhaps it is because they are unimportant that they were not depicted? It was all very confusing.
"Strange…" Nami pushes on. "I thought you were reading something interesting."
…Oh. That is what this is. Of course. Oyal should have calculated this in. Nami is not making conversation. She is trying to gather information. She is a thief, and a thief's best tool is their intel. The more you know, the better. Oyal respects that, but to think that they did not notice immediately…it was a legitimate tactic and they had no business feeling… bad about it. Illogical to feel bad about something they admire in a person. Illogical, they tell you!
They can use this tactic as well!
"Actually, I have a query for you, uh… Miss," they trail off.
"You can call me Nami," she said plainly.
Oyal does not show gratitude. "Nami. Yes. I have a question for you. Nami."
"Hm?" she hummed, her cute smile staying in place without reaction to Oyal changing the subject. "What is it, Oyal?"
Shit, they are the one asking… which is fine! They know what they want to convey... they just have to say it. "I… wish for your assistance…"
Nami turns a bit more guarded, remembering the last time the kid asked such a thing. "Oh? What that would be…?"
Oyal takes a deep breath. "Can you teach me how cards function?"
There is a silence that covers the entire boat. Oyal had not realized they had asked in a breath of silence.
Only to be broken by Zoro's laugh. "You don't even know how cards work?"
"It was not a common interest at my home, so no," Oyal answers tersely, feeling their uncooperative blood rush to their face; they do not need to defend themselves. "It is not fair to expect people to know everyone, Zoro."
Zoro doesn't let up. "Yeah but cards? Come on? What kind of p—Ouch!"
Zoro is quickly interrupted by getting hit in the head. "What the hell, witch?!"
Nami unclenches her fist. "Don't be such a baby," she sighs before putting back on her cute smile. But this time… it seemed sincere. "Sure, I'll help you."
Oyal feels their face cool at the promise and gets out the cards Rika had gifted to her.
Nami doesn't like being swindled… but despite their first meeting, the kid looks like they were pulling teeth just to ask. Whatever village doesn't have cards she doesn't ask, it isn't her business. Whatever village allows kids to be bounty hunters, she guesses. And it was just cards, nothing too bothersome.
Nami puts up a finger. "Okay, but it is going to cost you."
Oyal nods holding her cards out, "Understood."
Well… that was easy, "Okay…" Nami takes the cards, "let's start with some common games."
After backtracking briefly to explain the way that the cards' numbering system and suits functioned, she tutored her on a few games like Old Maid, Go Fish, and Crazy Eights, reviewing the rules, giving a few pointers on when and where the best cards can be, and any other basics that came to mind.
"And… how do you… cheat at these cards?"
"Cheat?"
Oyal feels their face heat up again. "Yes. I calculated that there is a 95% chance you have had some experience in this field of cheating cards…" Oyal fidgets, "and perhaps a 49% chance of willing to share those secrets…"
Nami actually laughs at that. It caught her completely off guard and they asked it so… weirdly! It has been a while since she laughed. It isn't a hard laugh but is enough for her to lose her breath.
Oyal is mortified, struggling to remain composed, "Please do not laugh. I am quite serious in my request. A simple 'no' would suffice."
"N-No… hahaha... It's- it's not that…." she catches her breath, "it's just the way you asked it was so weird…"
Oyal feels their chest… hurt. Their head feels lighter and their hands are slick with sweat. They… do not like this feeling.
"And I never said no," Nami takes up a card, "Here, watch this," she makes the card in her hand disappear.
Oyal gapes at the missing card, "How…"
Nami makes the card reappear in her other hand, "Sleight of hand. The foundation of card cheating. You got to make other people look at what you want them to look at while you run from behind the scenes."
Oyal nods, the bad feeling already going away. Nami… still wants to help them. "Is that all it takes to cheat?"
Nami shakes her head, "There are many ways to cheat, counting cards, but you need a good memory to do that."
Oyal straightens their shoulders. "That will be sufficient. Consider the deed done."
Nami blinks. "If you say so," she shrugs, beginning to put the cards back in their box; this kid was new to the trade for sure, but if they said they got it, who was Nami to disagree?
Mid-motion, she abruptly stops putting the cards away, her form going still. After a few seconds, Oyal tilts their head.
"Nami? Are you… alright?"
"Oyal," Nami asks in a clearly fake sweet voice, "Who is sailing the ship right now?"
Oyal… feels cold... like shivers are going down their back. It is strange that such a happy voice would make them feel… fear? But they slowly turn to see who is sailing... the... boat…
Oh, Jupiter.
"ZORO, YOU GOT US LOST AGAIN!"
"I DID NOT! YOU SAID NORTH!"
"THAT'S WEST!"
"No! The sun is over there."
Nami lifts her fist, demon pirate hunter or not be damned. "I am going to beat it into you. NORTH IS NOT WHERE THE SUN IS!"
Luffy is leisurely lying on his back throughout this all, enjoying the nice sunny day. He can't wait to get to Orange Town! He is going to prove himself to Nami again! And then she will see them as Nakama and then he is going to kick Arlong's ass!
And... there's his cue.
Luffy sits up quickly from his lying position, "Oyal, Zoro," he grabs their attention. Eyes on him he wraps one rubbery arm around a now confused and equally terrified Nami, "I'll leave this to you."
Before anyone can even ask, "Gum-Gum…" he, along with an unwilling Nami, shoots upward…
"Rocket!" "AHHHHHH!"
...to a fucking pink bird that happened to be in the sky…
Zoro's jaw drops at the sight.
Oyal just sighs, ripping a now useless calculation from their page, "Pick up an oar, Mister Roronoa. We have a 40% chance of keeping them in sight."
"I told you, it's just Zoro," he grumbles as he gets the oars.
Luffy is having the time of his life. It is so much better to ride a bird than to be eaten.
Nami… not so much.
"LET GO OF ME, YOU FREAK OF NATURE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU? WHY DID YOU GRAB ME? WHERE ARE WE GOING?" As much as Luffy missed her, he forgot how loud Nami can be when she gets mad.
"We got a free ride to Orange Town," he explains like it was the most obvious thing, "Now we are here faster, that's good, right?"
"No!" Nami disagrees.
Luffy shrugs and actually takes his time to look at the city. It is pretty nice for such a new village. The buildings are impressively big, the streets are stone, there is even a fountain!
…and a cannonball is coming right towards them.
Good! That means they are in the right place.
A second before the cannon hits the bird, the poor pink thing, Luffy does a major air jump, falling straight to the ground, leaving said bird to explode mid-air.
Nami is not a fan of falling, she practically has tears in her eyes from the height, "YOU BAAAAAAA—stard?" Only to find them safely on the ground. "We're… not dead?"
Luffy grins like the madman he is, "Nah, I'm made of rubber so I just absorbed the impact."
Nami stares at him with wide horrified eyes, "H-how?"
"I ate a Devil Fruit, duh." 'Come on Nami, this may be the East Blue but still…' Luffy muses.
Nami's mind clicks. She thought Devil Fruits were just a myth! But here is living proof that they are more than a myth. She is not dead and is in fact still in the arms of a rubber man. She takes a second to remember herself and proceeds as justified…
"You ass!" She punches him in the face, "I thought we were going to die!" and wiggles her way out of his hold.
He lets her go happily, he also forgot how much her punches hurt!
"I just thought we could get the map faster!"
"You could have given a girl a heads-u—wait… How did you know we were going to steal a map?" Nami questions accusingly.
Shit. "Oyal told me." Good save.
Nami narrows her eyes. "Oh, she did, did she?"
"Yup. No doubt. My fortuneteller told me we were getting a map," Luffy answers as he crosses his arms.
"I thought she was an astronomer."
"... it's a hobby."
Nami wants so desperately to disagree… but how could he have known before? Did he recognize those guys from being from Buggy's crew? But then how would he know about Buggy stealing the map from the Marines? Maybe the Marines would tell a pirate hunter that Buggy stole a map to the Grand Line. Seems unnecessary unless he was especially asking about Buggy, but he said they had no plans and no way of knowing she was after Buggy. Ugh, this guy is more of a headache that he is worth!
"Fine! Forget it. First things first: we need a plan." She points down the street. "We got shot by a cannon in that direction so unless this deserted village is really into heavy weaponry, that is our best bet."
Luffy nods, grinning already, Nami is so smart! "Yeah, but before we do that, let's get some food!" he decides, already making his way to one of the empty houses.
"What? No. Wait! We are not going to… oh, forget it," Nami rolls her eyes, "I cannot believe we are doing this."
Luffy gets into the first cabinet he sees and starts eating some preservatives. He isn't one to pass up free food, after all.
Nami sits on a table. "So the plan is to get to Buggy and steal his map and all the gold when he and his crew are unguarded."
Luffy knows he could beat everyone there no sweat but… he kinda wanted to mess with Buggy some more, so he nods along. This was about doing it his way, not doing it the fast way.
Hell, Luffy knows that he skip a lot of this just by saying, 'Hey I can flip Needle-Nose butt to the West Blue like a pancake' but… he doesn't want Nami to follow him out of debt. He wants her to trust him, and trust takes time! Making her join his crew after solving all her problems just sounds like manipulation or something. No, taking advantage of Nami's problems is not going to happen. Nami needs to follow him out of her own free will and he needs to provide her a place where she belongs.
Oyal does have a point about how important the impressions they are going to make are. Even if Nami doesn't end up joining his crew this time, he is still going to help her. He isn't sure when he gained Nami's trust the first time to the point where she would ask him for help to save her village. It just happened, whether a gradual change or just something she asked on the spot. Nami probably didn't even know herself. Or maybe she did, she is smart like that. In the end, he is determined to win her absolute loyalty again.
Luffy swallows his last bite, "Sure thing, I can totally kick Buggy's ass."
"Confident, huh?" Maybe he can, maybe he can't, but if he can… maybe she will hang around this guy… just for a little longer. "Hey, Luffy? Do you and your crew wanna be official partners?"
Luffy looks at her for a moment before answering, it is the look like before that made Nami feel… exposed. Like this guy is reading her like a book. As a thief who prides herself on trickery that is not a feeling she is used to. But just as she thought about it the look is gone in replace of that too wide smile, "Sure! "I'll help you… if you join my pirate crew!"
Nami eyes hardened at him immediately. Ah, right, he's got to get past this again. The only sound in the room is him eating his next plate of food, one right after another as Nami tries to kill him with her eyes.
Nami could not believe this! This whole time he was a damn pirate, "I thought you were pirate hunters! What about Roronoa Zoro?!"
Luffy swallows another plate before speaking, "He joined my crew obviously."
"He's a pirate hunter!"
"It's ex-pirate hunter now."
Nami has to process this. A pirate hunter becoming a pirate! That would mean Oyal is a pirate. That kid doesn't even know how to play cards! Luffy is strong but she absolutely hates the idea of working with another pirate. She tries to think of a good way to just use this guy long enough—
"You can join temporarily for now. You can even keep all the money at the end of this since you probably need it more than I do," Luffy voice grows serious, "But I need you on my crew. Please." He is sincere about the money, all he needs is the chance to prove himself again.
Nami is caught off guard for a second. That look. She did not imagine that look this time. Once is an accident but twice is a pattern. He doesn't look smart, but the smart ones usually don't. She resolves to keep on her toes around this one as she jumps down from her table. She isn't dealing with her average musclehead.
A pirate giving her all the money? And letting her go afterward? She is suspicious, she would be an idiot not to be… but she is also good at telling when someone is lying and this guy is either the best liar in the world, which she highly doubts, or an even bigger idiot than she thought.
"Fine," she huffs, "But know this…" she slams her hand on the table, "The one thing I hate most the world is pirates! I only love money and tangerines. Once I get my money, I am gone. No ties, got it?"
That is not true, though. This woman endured a life more painful than death so the ones she loved could see a better future. She loves so much Luffy was sure that it would break her one day. But it never did. She loves and cares and never stops… until he failed her.
She gave up everything for her village, for her crew, damn it, even for the world. Sometimes, he wishes she would be a little more selfish and think for herself. She may love money and tangerines but that was nothing compared to the generosity that she has for her friends.
It was all Needle Nose's fault that she had to hide that side of her. That he couldn't show the world vulnerability because she was taught it was a weakness. That caring would get her killed. That she had to lie and steal to get her freedom only to be swiped from under her. No. He will not fail her again. Never again.
"Agreed," Luffy says uncharacteristically serious. "Once you have everything you want, then you can choose what you want to do."
The phrasing is weird, but Nami puts it as he understands. She moves on to the more important stuff, "Alright, now back to the plan. I'm going to tie you up and deliver you to Buggy as my boss. But don't worry," she gives an innocent smile, "It is just for appearances."
He almost laughs at that. Like he would fall for that... fool him once shame on you! "I have a better idea. How about I just go up to Buggy, piss him off, and kick his ass while you go get the treasure and map."
Nami raises an eyebrow, "You… sure seem confident about that," She feels like this guy was bluffing but at the same point... he does have a Devil Fruit. He either means he can do it or is the biggest idiot out there…
Either way, she will definitely get her the distraction she needed, "If you die, it isn't my fault. I can't bail you out if things get too messy." Sure, she wanted the treasure but she didn't want this guy to die; even if he is a pirate, she didn't want blood on her hands. Well, unless it was one specific pirate's…
Luffy smiles, glad that Nami agrees. "Don't worry. I am great at distracting." It was so boring to do the same things over again, but maybe this time he can have more fun with that clown.
Nami hesitates, it isn't much of a plan but... "Fine. Let's get going then."
Luffy gets up, feeling quite pleased with himself. He doubts Nami actually thinks he could beat up Buggy's entire crew, but she probably thinks he can handle himself. It is almost like trust and that fills him with pride.
They walk on, one's confidence real and the other's feigned, until they reach the edge of what is easily the biggest house in the entire village. With one Buggy the Clown crew on the top.
Nami turns to Luffy. "Okay, I'm going to go in there and get the map, and you… what are you going to do exactly?"
Luffy gives a mischievous grin. "Just going to give the Old Clown a good send off..."
"Right…" Nami thought it best not to ask, "And here I thought you were going to be subtle. Silly me."
"Hey!" Luffy hunches his shoulders, "I can be subtle!"
"Luffy, you don't have an ounce of subtlety in your body," Nami put her hands on her hips, "If there is ever a day you would have to actually be sneaky, I am pretty sure it would turn into a massive manhunt instead."
Nami… is not wrong… but that was only with Big Mom! And Impel Down. And maybe Amazon Lily. What matters was that he was fine… sorta…ish…
Luffy sees her point, she would be best to do her thiefy stuff alone. "Fiiiiiine."
Looking quite smug for winning the argument, she starts making her way to the building.
"Be careful."
Nami looks back to see Luffy with another serious expression on his face. She doesn't answer, but it still feels… sincere. It is weird how he seems to actually care for her… but at the same time… it is nice to have someone say that. She nods and just like the wind, she is gone.
Luffy turns to his own mission at the front of the building, entering and making his way up the stairs to the roof, hat pulled down, not a single doubt in his steps.
Some poor sap is guarding the door to the roof, as he sees the teen approach, "Hey, you lost?" he takes a step to the teen, leering down at him, "Because today is your unlucky day, I was just getting bored," he put a meaty hand on the teen's shoulder.
Luffy chops him on the head and he falls down with a thud. He maneuvers around him to the door.
He isn't noticed when he opens the door. But he is noticed as he starts making headway to their captain. They were performing tricks and drinking, just like a real circus, Luffy is impressed by the performance. Very flashy. And they aren't right out attacking him, so even better!
But all the merrymaking starts to die down with each step Luffy makes. By the time he makes it to the front of Buggy's throne, seriously a throne, he has about everyone's attention on him. Not really sure who he is or what he is doing but not taking him as a threat either.
Their mistake.
Buggy finishes his booze with a pop before bothering with the brat in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"
Luffy grins. Showtime!
"Hey Big Nose, how you doing?"
OOO
I would like to thank The Patient One, Miep42, and MadGirl for editing!
OOO