BROTHER ON BOARD
LittlemissTrafalgar - As you'll see in this chapter, the Straw Hats have things well in hand. Buggy can't get the drop on them with Luffy, Sabo and Zoro all working together.
Johnny Spectre - The Revolutionaries never bothered to get involved with Baroque Works. I don't see why they'd change things here. However, I came up with a way to have Koala come into the story early. Her first appearance will be at Loguetown.
Zaralann - Thanks again!
dhampire712 - Sabo has experience handling Luffy so he knows how to curb some of his more impulsive urges. That's why he's the first mate/quartermaster. But Luffy's still Luffy. I have an 'officer-like' position in mind for Zoro. It's just going to be a while until Sabo comes up with it. There's going to be a running gag of Sabo trying to come up with Zoro's official position.
Son of Whitebeard - Yup. The clown's going down.
Buggy's Crew-
Buggy glared at Luffy, Sabo and Zoro as they stood in between Nami's cage and the cannon he had planned to use to execute her.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" The clown pirate demanded.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy introduced himself, "And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"
"King of the…" Buggy sputtered while his crew gaped in surprise. "ARE YOU JOKING?"
"No, he isn't, "Sabo said, "But I did hear a good one the other day. How'd it go? Two pirates meet at a tavern and one of them says to the other, 'I know a sailor with a wooden leg named Smith' and the other pirate says, 'Really, what's the name of his other leg!?'"
"SHISHISHISHISHI!" Luffy burst out laughing while Buggy and his crew face-faulted.
"I don't get it," Zoro said.
"Shishishishi! Neither do I!" Luffy admitted through his laughter.
"Then why are you laughing?" Zoro asked.
"Shishishi! It's a joke! You're supposed to laugh at them!" Luffy explained.
"I'm screwed," Nami thought to herself as a rain cloud loomed over her head, "These three idiots are my only hope of getting out here alive. Hold on… maybe I can shift the blame…"
"BOSS!" Nami blurted out, "YOU CAME TO SAVE ME!"
"Boss?" Buggy repeated as he recovered from Sabo's failed attempt at comedy.
"I'm sorry I didn't get away with the map!" Nami continued, "But I swear I did everything you told me to!"
"So this thief works for those three," Buggy realized. "THAT MAKES THEM ALL THIEVES! We may need a bigger cage…"
"Who's this?" Zoro asked he turned to look back at the girl in the cage.
"Beats me," Luffy replied.
"She's a thief I met in the Marine Base," Sabo said.
"Wait a minute, YOU!" Nami called out as she recognized Sabo, "The rifle-freak!"
"Always nice to leave an impression," Sabo muttered before he turned to Luffy and Zoro, "She was there trying to steal a map to the Grand Line but Buggy beat her to it." Sabo looked back at Nami. "Does this mean you managed to find it?"
"Yeah but then three of his goons caught me," Nami answered.
"We're heading for the Grand Line too," Sabo told her, "We heard from three water-logged friends of yours that you're a decent Navigator. Would you be willing to help us out?"
"OH, YOU'RE A NAVIGATOR!?" Luffy exclaimed. "JOIN OUR CREW!"
Nami sweat-dropped. "Buggy has the map and the key to my cage," she told them, "if you guys can somehow manage to get me out of here, I'll take you anywhere you want to go."
"Alright, you've got a deal," Sabo agreed. He spun around to face Buggy and his crew. "Okay, Buggy, let's try to be civil about this. What do you want for the girl and the map?"
"You think I'm going to let you walk away from this alive?" Buggy asked, "You thieves tried to steal from me! And now you have the nerve to try and negotiate? That's unforgivable!"
"I guess this means we're taking the map by force," Zoro said as he pulled his green bandana off his arm and tied it onto his head.
"That bandana… those swords…" one of the Superhuman Domingos gasped, "Captain! That's the Pirate Hunter!"
"What's the Pirate Hunter doing with those other two idiots?" Buggy wondered. "Rornoa Zoro! So you've come for my head and my bounty? Is that it?"
"I gave up pirate hunting," Zoro said, "Right now we're here for the map. You can either give it up willingly… or we'll take it."
"ARE YOU BASTARDS ACTUALLY THREATENING ME?" Buggy yelled. "I'm not gonna back down from three kids pretending to be pirates! MEN, show these two-bit idiot thieves what a real pirate crew can do!"
"AYE, CAPTAIN BUGGY!" Buggy's crew chorused. They charged passed their Captain towards the three Straw Hats.
"So much for negotiating," Sabo muttered as he readied his rifle.
"That's boring anyway!" Luffy replied as he cracked his knuckles.
"I never liked clowns to begin with," Zoro said as he drew his swords.
"RAAAAH!" Buggy's crew roared as they charged passed the cannon. There were twenty of them. The large mob of clown-themed pirates was led by the four Acrobatic Fuwas while the three Superhuman Domingos brought up the rear.
"GUM GUM GATLING!"
POW-POW-POW!
"SCATTER BLAST!"
KER-CHOW!
"TORA GARI!"
SLA-SLISH!
The twenty pirates went flying backwards and crashed down around Buggy who was left staring at the sight of his crew being taken out in an instant by just three men.
"Whoa!" Nami gasped, "They're strong!"
"I see… so you're not complete amateurs," Buggy noted as he surveyed his fallen crew then a sinister smile spread across his painted face. "You three deserve a hand!"
Buggy pulled out a large knife and slashed it down at his other wrist.
SLISH!
"HE CUT HIS OWN HAND OFF!" Nami shrieked in horror as Buggy threw has severed hand towards the Straw Hats.
"HEY! THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Luffy exclaimed.
"What the heck is that clown up to?" Sabo wondered as he stared down at Buggy's hand.
But then in a moment straight out of the Addams Family, Buggy's hand jumped up off of the ground and ran on its fingers over to the cannon.
"HIS HAND!" Nami yelped, "IT'S MOVING ON ITS OWN!"
"Is that his… Devil Fruit Power?" Sabo asked.
"That's right!" Buggy boasted, "I ate the Chop Chop Fruit and now I'm a Chop Chop Man. I can separate and reattach parts of my body at will. Swords and knives are useless against me. This is why the call me Buggy the Immortal! And it's why you ARE ALL GONNA DIE!"
FSSSS!
Buggy's severed hand hadn't wasted any time and had stuck a match before lighting the fuse to the cannon.
"DIE FLASHILY!"
KA-BOOOOOOM!
"AAH! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Nami shrieked as she dove into the back of her tiny cage.
"Don't worry, I've got this!" Luffy said as he took a step forward in front of the other. He opened his mouth wide and took in a deep breath, "GUM… GUM… BALLOON!"
FWOOSH!
Luffy's body stretched and started to grow. Sabo and Zoro jumped out of the way as the rubber pirate's body continued to inflate and expand until he was a large, round twelve-foot blob.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HE?" Buggy gasped as the Buggy Ball hit Luffy's round belly.
BOING!
The Buggy Ball bounced off of the rubber pirate and went flying back the way it came.
Buggy's jaw dropped and he gaped up at the Buggy Ball in shock as it flew over his head, off of the tavern towards the harbor.
KA-BOOOOOM-BOOOOOOOM!
The Buggy Ball smashed into the side of Buggy's pirate ship and blasted straight through one side and came out the other.
"Geez," Zoro complained, "You could've warned me you were gonna try something like that…"
"MY SHIP!" Buggy shouted as the Big Top started to take in water and sink into the harbor.
"See Buggy, you're not the only one on this roof that's eaten a Devil Fruit!" Luffy announced.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Nami yelled, "YOU'RE A MONSTER TOO!"
"I'm not a monster," Luffy said, "I ate the Gum Gum Fruit. Now I'm a Rubber Man!"
"Bullets, cannonballs and most blunt physical attacks are useless against him," Sabo chimed in, "This is why they'll soon be calling him King of the Pirates!"
"YOU BASTARD!" Buggy yelled at Luffy, "HOW DARE YOU DESTROY MY SHIP!"
"Hey, you're the one that fired the cannon!" Luffy argued, "I just deflected it!"
"You're gonna pay for this you little rubber brat!" Buggy spat, "I'm going to…"
ROOOOWWWRRRRR!
Buggy's painted lips stretched into a cruel grin. "Now you're in for it! Pesky punks, IT'S TIME FOR THE WILD ANIMAL SHOW!"
A large four-legged figure emerged from Buggy's pirate ship and in a single bound it leapt from the top of the sinking Big Top to the roof of the Drinker's Pub.
Thoom! Thooom! Thoooom!
The ground shook with each step as the three pirates and Nami suddenly found themselves faced with a massive lion. It stood over fifteen feet tall from the bottom of its paws to the top of its shoulders. Its fur had greenish tint and it's mane was long a purple.
"Captain Buggy, what's going on here?"
Riding on the huge lion's back was a man. He wore a blue pants and the top half of his body was covered in white fur with a pair of bear ears on top of his head.
"Idiots thieves, meet my First Mate… MOHJI THE BEAST TAMER!" Buggy exclaimed, "Mohji, it's time to stop clowning around! Show these punks how scary we can be!"
"I'm on it Captain," Mohji replied, "I'll bring you their heads."
Buggy grinned evilly, "Bring me any parts you like."
"Right… I'll handle this," Sabo offered as he hoisted Bonnie Anne onto his shoulder.
"Are you serious!?" Nami exclaimed, "You can't fight a lion!"
"I don't care about the lion," Sabo said, "My target is the weird guy on top of it." Sabo stepped in front of his two companions and faced off with the lion tamer. "What's with the costume?"
"Costume?" Mohji repeated, "This is my hair!"
"That just makes it weirder," Sabo said.
"That's it!" Mohji growled, "GET HIM RICHIE!"
ROOOWWWRRR!
The giant lion reared back then charged.
Nami grabbed the front of her cage and glared at Luffy and Zoro, "Are you seriously gonna leave your friend to fight that maniac and his lion alone?"
"Sabo said he could handle it," Luffy said. "I trust him."
"If he can't I can always pick up the pieces," Zoro added.
"SO YOU'D JUST STAND HERE WHILE YOUR FRIEND GETS MAULED BY A LION!?" Nami berated them, "YOU PIRATES ARE DESPICABLE!"
Sabo calmly faced down the incoming lion as he cracked opened his rifle and loaded a single bullet into it then raised his rifle and aimed it at Mohji.
"Ha! You think you can hit me with that?" Mohji scoffed. "My reflexes are lightning fast! You'll never hit me!"
"I don't need to hit you," Sabo said as he tilted his rifle downward. "OVERWATCH!"
KER-CHOW!
RAAHHHRR!
The lion howled as the bullet struck its front leg. The limb gave out and the lion face-planted.
THUD!
"WAAAHH!" Mohji screamed as his lion plowed into the ground and was stopped hard. He continued his forward momentum and went flying off the lion towards Sabo.
Sabo ran to meet the incoming lion tamer and swung his rifle like a bat. "KNOCK BACK!"
WHAM!
Mohji went flying off the roof, over the mostly sunken Big Top and crashed down in the harbor.
"AND HE'S OUTTA THERE!" Sabo exclaimed. He walked up to the fallen lion and aimed his empty rifle at it. Richie the lion looked up and stared down the barrel of Bonnie Anne. "If you don't get out of here right now, I'll shoot another leg."
ZZZIIIP! The dim-witted lion didn't know or care that Sabo's rifle was empty. He just ran and dove off the roof then fled from the bar.
"I… Mohji… WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Buggy shouted at seeing his first mate defeated so quickly.
"He… he beat the lion tamer!" Nami gasped in surprise.
"Is that all you've got?" Sabo called out to Buggy, "How 'bout you just give up the map now. Or else I'll show you what Bonnie can really do..."
"Captain, this is the worst disgrace our crew has ever suffered."
FWIP!
Buggy and the Straw Hats watched as a man flipped up onto the roof… and landed on a unicycle. The man wore white pants, a long sleeveless coat and a blue and white checkered scarf. He hair was long and dark on one side and shaved short with blond stripes on the other.
"CABAJI!" Buggy yelled at the acrobat, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"
"I'm sorry Captain," Cabaji apologized, "I was down below when I saw the ship get struck by a cannonball. I quickly went aboard and tried to save as much as I could."
Cabaji dropped a large sack of the various salvaged supplies that he'd managed to get off of the Big Top before it sank.
"I didn't realize the situation was so bad over here," Cabaji confessed.
"These thieves are here to steal my map to the Grand Line," Buggy informed his only remaining crew member. "That punk with the rifle just took out Mohji. Go cut his head off!"
Cabaji grinned then tilted his head back and opened his mouth wide. He reached down into his opened mouth and slowly drew a sword. Cabaji gave his newly acquired sword a swing then pivoted on his unicycle to face Sabo. "With pleasure, Captain!"
"So first a beast tamer… now a weird acrobat," Sabo noted, "What a weird pirate crew."
"PREPARE TO DIE!" Cabaji shouted as he sped towards Sabo on his unicycle and drew back his sword.
KLANG!
The strike was interrupted when Cabaji suddenly found Zoro standing in front of Sabo.
"The gun-nut already got his turn," Zoro said as he held back Cabaji's sword with one of his. "But if it's a swordfight you want, then I'm your man."
"You're Roronoa Zoro," Cabaji realized as he took in Zoro's bandana, sash and three swords. "As one great swordsman to another, it will be an honor to cut you down."
"I guess I'll just get out of the way then," Sabo reasoned as he walked away from Zoro and Cabaji and rejoined Luffy by Nami's cage.
Cabaji took a deep breath and called out, "Acrobatics! Old Man's Flame!"
Fwoosh!
A stream of fire flew out of Cabaji's mouth and Zoro frantically reeled back to avoid contact with the flames. Cabaji grinned and swung his sword at Zoro's side while he was off balance.
KLANG!
Zoro drew his other two swords and managed to get them up in time to block Cabaji's attack. Zoro grunted and shoved Cabaji away from him. The acrobat rolled backwards on his unicycle.
"Is that all you've got?" Zoro asked, "A cheap shot?"
"Oh, you didn't like that, huh?" Cabaji retorted, "Then you'll hate this! Acrobatics! Murder Case in the Hot Spring's Steam!" Cabaji dipped his sword down onto the ground then started to spin around in circles on his unicycle.
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
Cabaji's sword scraped the roof and dust flew up around him.
"That's it?" Zoro called out. "You're just kicking up dust."
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
Cabaji kept spinning and scraping the roof with his sword which caused more and more dust to fly up with each rotation. But then he stopped and the dust flew at Zoro in a thick cloud.
"Oh great, Zoro won't be able to see him in that," Sabo noted.
"He'll be fine," Luffy said.
"You'll never even see this coming!" Cabaji called out as he reached into his pockets, "Acrobatics! Theater of One Hundred Kamikaze Tops!"
Cabaji threw no less than one hundred spinning bladed tops at Zoro.
Zoro squinted through the cloud of dust and barely saw the tops coming. "That's it… TATSU… MAKI!"
SWISH-SWISH!
Zoro spun around and swung all three of his swords through the air. He moved with such speed and power that he made all the dust swirl around him into a tornado.
KLAK-KLAK-KLAK!
The spinning, bladed tops were deflected and knocked away from Zoro as he spun around and dispersed the fog by sending it up overhead.
"Heads up!" Sabo called out as a few wayward top whizzed at them.
WHA-WHAK!
Sabo quickly swung his rifle and battled the bladed tops away from them.
Zoro finally stopped spinning after clearing away all the tops and the dust.
But Cabaji didn't give him a second to recover, "Acrobatics! All Natural Color Carnival!"
SWISH!
Cabaji swung his sword back and forth in front of him and a multi-colored ribbon-like blast flew off of the blade at Zoro. Zoro quickly crossed two of his swords over his chest to defend but was still knocked on his back by the blast.
THUD!
"I'm tired…" Zoro said from down on the ground.
"Tired?" Cabaji repeated as he wheeled over and smirked down at him. "Have you finally realized how outmatched you are? You may have a big reputation but you're no match for a member of the Buggy Pirates."
"No…" Zoro said, "What I'm tired of… ARE YOUR STUPID ACROBATICS!"
Zoro suddenly surged up off of the ground and smacked Cabaji with the side of his blade. The acrobat was knocked backwards, lost his balance and tumbled off of his unicycle.
"Let's get one thing straight," Zoro addressed his opponent, "My goal is to become the best. If I was to lose to a weakling like you then I might as well give up on my dream right now."
"Weakling? Why you!" Cabaji growled as he rose to his feet and picked up his sword, "I don't need any tricks to beat you! I'll finish you with real swordsmanship!"
Cabaji charged at Zoro but Zoro lunged towards him and swung all three of his swords.
"ONI GIRI!"
SLIKA-SLISH!
Zoro stepped passed Cabaji, still completely unscathed. But Cabaji dropped to his knees as blood started to drip down out of the deep wounds that Zoro had made on his chest.
"How… how could we lose to these common thieves?" Cabaji gasped before he dropped to the ground.
"We're not thieves," Zoro said as he sheathed his swords. "We're pirates."
"Cabaji…" Buggy gasped in shock at seeing his last remaining lackey dispatched with ease.
"Hold on..." Zoro said as he headed back to Nami's cage, "His other leg... Heh! I finally got that stupid joke."
"Then can you explain it to me?" Luffy requested.
"I still beat mine faster," Sabo taunted Zoro.
"Maybe I wanted to see if he could actually do anything worthwhile," Zoro replied.
"So you deliberately wasted time," Sabo noted, "Then that means you know why you lost."
"I'LL CUT YOU DOWN IN HALF THAT TIME!" Zoro shouted at them.
"Hey, wait!" Luffy cut in as he jumped in between his crew, "One of you needs to explain the joke!"
Nami stared through the bars of her cage at the three pirates in shock. Sabo had beaten Mohji in less than a minute. Zoro had taken longer against Cabaji but had defeated the acrobat without getting a scratch on him. And then there was Luffy. The rubber monster had deflected a cannonball and sunk Buggy's ship like it was an accident.
Buggy and his crew were supposed to be some of the strongest pirates in the East Blue but these three freaks acted like total morons but they were beating them like they were just clowns at a circus.
"Just how strong are these guys?" Nami wondered.
I shook things up and fast-forwarded through the arc. Now all that's left is the fight between Luffy and Buggy which comes next chapter.
Silver signing off…