BROTHER ON BOARD
That's right I'm back. I went through a few major life changes over the last few months so I had to put the writing on the backburner while I got everything settled. Now that everything's stable again I think I can give this story some more attention. I've already got a couple chapters done which I'll start posting on a weekly basis.
A lot of people commented on Sabo's joke from the last chapter. It really wasn't meant to be anything special. It's just the pirate-version of the wooden-leg joke from Mary Poppins.
Thanks to MADMatt6, Johnny Spectre, dhampire712, Littlemisstraffy/lazy, Mikila94, sarahgri99 and Bluejay Blaze for your reviews on the last chapter.
Buggy-
"Alright, Boogie, you're outnumbered so I'll make you a deal," Sabo offered, "You give us that key now and I promise Zoro and I will stay out of the way while you fight Luffy for the map."
"That's Buggy!" Buggy growled.
"Huh? What did I say?" Sabo asked.
"You called me Boogie! My name's Buggy!" Buggy insisted.
"Oh, right, sorry Baggy," Sabo insincerely apologized.
"BUGGY!" Buggy yelled.
"Oh, how 'bout Bossy!" Luffy suggested.
"NOO!" Buggy shouted.
"Boggle?" Sabo offered.
"Badguy?" Luffy added.
"MY NAME'S BUGGY!"
"Bozo?" Luffy asked.
"Bunchi?" Sabo said.
"Bitchy?" Zoro couldn't help chiming in.
"Oh, I know!" Luffy exclaimed, "BUFFOON!"
"RAAAAAHHHHH!" Buggy let out a scream of pure rage. "HERE! YOU WANT THIS KEY?" Buggy pulled the key to Nami's cage out from his coat. "WELL COME AND GET IT!" Buggy opened his mouth wide then dropped the key into his mouth.
GULP!
"GAH!" Zoro yelped.
"He swallowed it!" Sabo exclaimed.
"WHY'D YOU IDIOTS HAVE TO PROVOKE HIM!?" Nami shouted.
"HEY! I NEEDED THAT!" Luffy yelled as he charged at Buggy, "COUGH IT UP NOW!" Luffy reached the clown Captain and lashed out at him.
SWISH!
Buggy's body split in half at the waist and his upper body floated up over Luffy's attack. Luffy kept going and stumbled passed Buggy then crashed into a crate.
KRASH!
"You've pissed off the wrong pirate, rubber boy!" Buggy exclaimed. "Bullets and cannonballs may bounce right off of you… but I bet knives will work just fine!"
Tomp!
Buggy's lower half stomped his feet and two knives came out from the front of his shoes.
"CHOP CHOP… RICECRACKER!" Buggy's legs launched themselves at Luffy and spun around in the air which caused the two knives to whip around like buzzsaws.
"WAH!" Luffy yelped as he jumped out of the way.
Up overhead, Buggy pulled a knife out of his coat then shot his hand down at Luffy.
"CHOP CHOP CANNON!"
WHISH!
"HEY!" Luffy exclaimed as he lunged to the side to avoid the attack. But Buggy's knife veered to the side and still managed to tear through the side of his vest. Luffy quickly jumped backwards to put distance between himself and Buggy's knife-wielding limbs.
"CHOP CHOP… REASSEMBLE!" Buggy's legs and hand were drawn back to him and rejoined his body as he landed on the ground. "Not so smug now, are you rubber boy? You and that straw hat… you remind me of him! That pesky red hair…"
"Red Hair?" Luffy repeated. "You know Shanks?"
Sabo looked back at Nami's cage, "You know… the thought occurs to me… we might not actually need the key to get her out of the cage."
"I hate to break it to you," Zoro said, "But those bars are way too thick to cut through."
"Silly swordsman," Sabo scoffed as loaded some bullets into his revolver-rifle, "I never said anything about cutting."
"Wait, what're you doing?" Nami asked.
"Getting you out of the cage," Sabo answered as he aimed his rifle at the padlock on the top right corner of the cage. "I'd move back if I were you…" Nami slid back into far corner of the cage.
KER-CHOW!
Sabo fired his rifle and shot the lock dead on.
KER-CHOW!
Sabo fired again and the lock bent from the impact of the two shots.
"Great," Zoro muttered, "You broke the lock. Now even if we do manage to get that key from the clown, it won't even work."
Sabo ignored him and fired again.
KER-CHOW!
After three direct shots from the rifle, the cage's lock was now severely dented and damaged. Sabo grinned as he gripped the handle of his rifle with two hands, wound up and drove the barrel into the dented lock.
WHAM!
The lock broke off of the cage and clattered to the ground.
Sabo smirked at Zoro, "That's another victory for Team SaBonnie."
"Yeah, well if your head gets too much bigger that top hat will never fit," Zoro retorted.
Sabo grunted as he lifted the heavy stone top off of Nami's cage. "There, you're free."
"About time," Nami said as she started to climb out. "Felt like I was in there for months."
"I'm sure you're just imagining things," Sabo replied. "Now say 'thank you, Bonnie'."
Nami rolled her eyes, "Thank you, Bonnie." Nami stepped out of the cage and immediately took charge. "Now let's get moving. This is the perfect chance to steal Buggy's treasure."
"Wait, that wasn't the plan," Sabo said.
"I'm changing it," Nami told him, "I need that money and I'll never get a better chance than this. Buggy's entire crew is unconscious and your Captain has Buggy distracted."
"But we had a deal," Sabo reminded her.
"And I'll still uphold my end," Nami agreed. "But I'm not leaving without that treasure. So you guys can either help me get it... or you can find someone else to get you to the Grand Line."
Nami rushed off and left Sabo and Zoro staring after her in surprise.
"Did we just get demoted to henchmen?" Zoro asked.
"I think so," Sabo replied.
"Maybe you shouldn't have let her out of that cage," Zoro said.
"Let's just go before Buggy starts throwing knives again," Sabo suggested, "We could always swipe some of their supplies and leftover booze."
Zoro grinned, "Now you're speaking my language."
Sabo and Zoro rushed after Nami who had slipped down into the pub through the roof entrance, "LUFFY! Have fun fighting your new friend! We're gonna get out of the way."
"Go ahead, I've got this!" Luffy assured them before he looked back at Buggy who had just finished recounting his history with Shanks. "So Shanks saved your life?"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY AT ALL!" Buggy yelled at him. "Because of him my plan in life was delayed ten years! All because of that bastard Shanks!" He took a deep breath then stared hard at Luffy. "So… is that really Shank's hat?"
"Sure is," Luffy replied as he took his hat off and held it fondly, "I promised I'd give it back to him when I became a great pirate. This hat's my treasure."
"Treasure, you say?" Buggy repeated with an evil grin. "You mean you care a lot about it? You'd do anything for it?"
"Yup," Luffy happily answered.
"Well if it means that much to you…" Buggy said as he threw a knife at Luffy with his left hand, "YOU SHOULD TAKE BETTER CARE OF IT!"
SWISH!
Luffy dodged the knife but Buggy's right hand flew in out of nowhere and stabbed straight through the straw hat while Luffy was still off balance using three knives between its fingers.
SLISH!
Everything slowed down and Luffy stared in abject horror as Buggy's hand flew away with Shanks' skewered and torn straw hat. Luffy's memories of Shanks flashed before his eyes.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luffy screamed.
"This piece of junk isn't treasure!" Buggy snapped as his hand reattached to his wrist and he sneered at Shanks' hat. "Treasure sparkles and makes its owner a King! The fact that it's Shanks' had makes it even worse than junk!" Buggy threw the hat down on the ground. "It's garbage!"
PTOI!
Buggy spat on Shanks' hat then raised his foot and stomped on it.
TOMP!
There was only so much that Luffy could take. This was his limit. "YOU BAAASTAAARD!" The angry rubber pirate charged across the roof at Buggy.
"CHOP CHOP… QUICK ESCAPE!" Buggy's head and body flew off of his legs to avoid the easily telegraphed attack. Buggy's lower body stayed planted on the ground and stuck one of it's legs out.
WHIP!
Luffy tripped over Buggy's foot and tumbled passed his legs.
WHUMP!
Luffy rolled across the roof and kept going until he hit the abandoned cannon. He finally staggered back up but was once again holding his hat.
Buggy sneered and threw three knives down at Luffy, "DIE FLASHILY!"
Luffy turned sideways and hugged his treasure to his chest.
SLASH!
Buggy's knives raked clear across Luffy's arm and side before they dropped to the ground. But Luffy paid no mind to the blood that was now dripping from his arm and side as he smiled fondly at his hat.
"Oh good, it's safe," he sighed in relief.
"NOT FOR LONG!" Buggy shouted down at him from where his top half was still floating in the air overhead. "After what you and your idiot friends did to me and my crew… I'll tear that hat to shreds if it's the last thing I do! You punks thought you could get away with… stealing… my… treasure…"
Buggy trailed off as he stared down below him and watched as Sabo, Zoro and Nami climbed back out through the trapdoor in the roof. All three of them had a sack with them. Nami was hugging a bag of treasure to her chest. Zoro was drinking a bottle of grog that he'd gotten out of the large sack that dangled from his other arm. Sabo had Cabaji's sack of supplies slung over his shoulder along with his rifle.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Buggy shrieked. Knives speared in his hands as he rocketed down at the trio of thieves. "YOU DIRTY THIEVES! I'LL SKEWER EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"
Sabo's eyes widened as the irate clown rushed down at them. He dropped his bag of supplies and held Bonnie Anne in front of him like a bat. "Luffy, you'd better do something! Otherwise Bonnie's gonna down a clown."
"Right," Luffy agreed as he noticed Buggy's abandoned legs. "Do something…"
PUNT!
Buggy's body dropped to the ground five feet in front of Sabo, Zoro and Nami. The clown's mouth dropped open and he let out a shriek that none of them could hear.
In the middle of town, in front of a certain pet store, a certain dog started howling.
"Arooooo! Arrroooooo!"
"What's the matter Chouchou?" an old man with hair that looked like a poodle asked. "Do you hear something?"
"Arf! Arf! Bark-bark!"
The old man turned and stared in the direction the little dog was looking. "Oh, it looks like there's some kind of commotion going on over at the pub. What's that pirate bastard up to now?"
"My balls…" Buggy wheezed, "My Buggy balls…"
"Serves you right," Luffy growled he pulled his leg out from between Buggy's buckled legs. "Don't forget. You're still fighting me."
"YOU BASTARD! THAT WAS DIRTY!" Buggy shouted as he floated back up off the ground. "YOU ATTACKED MY LOWER HALF!"
"Dirty?" Luffy repeated. "I'm a pirate. I don't play by the rules."
"Why don't you just give up Buggy?" Sabo suggested. "Your crew's gone, we've got you outnumbered and we took all your stuff. Just give us the map and we'll leave."
"NEVER!" Buggy refused. "I'LL TAKE YOU ALL DOWN! CHOP CHOP… FESTIVAL!" Buggy's torso, arms and legs all suddenly split into slivers. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Buggy's body parts flew around the four pirates like a swarm of bugs.
"LET'S SEE YOU SAVE YOUR FRIENDS NOW, GUM-GUM!"
"Luffy…" Sabo warned Luffy again, "The clown seems insistent on getting us involved."
"I can't fight him when he's flying all over the place!" Luffy complained. But then he looked down and spotted two parts of Buggy that hadn't left the ground. His feet. "Oh! This'll work!" Luffy dashed forward and grabbed the two big clown shoes.
WHAM!
"UUGGHH!" Buggy groaned as Luffy jammed his feet toes first down on the ground.
"Luffy needs a target," Sabo realized. He quickly yanked the treasure sack away from Nami. "Gimme that!"
"You bastard, that's mine!" Nami berated him.
Sabo ignored her and called up to the clown. "Hey Buggy! Is this what you wanted? I've got your treasure right here."
"DIE TOP HAT!" Buggy howled as his head and hands flew down at Sabo. His hands grabbed onto the sack and tried to pull it away from him. "Gimme back my treasure!"
"Your treasure?" Nami repeated, "I'm a thief that robs pirates and I just stole from one. That means that treasure's mine now!"
"It's still MY treasure!" Buggy snapped as he continued his tug-a-war over the treasure sack with Sabo. "Just because you steal something doesn't make it yours!"
"Oh so now the criminal's try to lecture the criminal," Nami scoffed. "That's ridiculous. I haven't stooped so low that I need to be corrected by pirates." The pirate thief then stuck her tongue out to add to her insult which caused Buggy to growl angrily. He was completely focused on her and on getting his treasure away from Sabo that he never saw Luffy's foot coming.
"GUM GUM… STAMP!
THWHOMP!
Luffy's foot stretched over and slammed into Buggy's head and sent it plowing into the ground. The hard impact was felt through all of Buggy's pieces and they dropped to the ground as well.
"Nice kick Luffy," Sabo praised him.
"What's the big idea luring him in using my treasure?" Nami complained.
"Why do you need all that money anyway?" Sabo wondered. "The people here have had to deal with Buggy driving them out of their homes and then using the town for target practice. They need that money."
"Well I need too!" Nami argued.
"How come?" Luffy asked.
"None of your business!" the thief snapped.
"Then I guess we could just leave the treasure here," Zoro suggested.
"Don't even think about it!" Nami snarled. "If you must know I need to gather a hundred million berries so I can buy a certain village."
"Oh, alright then," Luffy agreed. Sabo nodded and tossed the sack back to Nami.
"NO! It's not alright! It's MY treasure!"
They all turned to see Buggy's head float back up off of the ground. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! ASSEMBLE CHOP CHOP PARTS!" Buggy's body parts started to float back towards his head.
Nami looked down and spotted a length of rope poking out of Sabo's bag of supplies.
"HAHAHAHA… hahaha… ha… ha…" Buggy's laughing tapered off when he looked down at his body. All that had returned were his hands and feet.
"Hey Buggy, lose something?" Nami taunted as she held a rope. Everyone looked down to see Buggy's torso, arms and legs all tied together in a bundle of rope at the thief's feet.
"MY PARTS!" Buggy shrieked.
"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed as he stretched his arms out behind him. "Way to go, thief!"
"NO! WAIT!" Buggy yelped in alarm.
"So long Buggy! GUM GUM… BAZOOKA!" KA-BAM! Luffy's fists smashed into Buggy's face with the power of a bazooka and sent the body-less pirate flying off into the sky.
"Yeah! I win!" Luffy cheered as he raised his arm over the head.
Sabo squinted off after Buggy's body, "Yup. He's outta here. You got some good distance on that one Luffy. If he's lucky he'll land on the next island. If he isn't… he'll land in the water."
"What did I just see?" The quartet turned to see an old man come up through the trap door onto the pub roof. "Was that Buggy?"
"Yup," Luffy answered, "I just beat him up. Who're you old man?"
"I'm Boodle," the old man replied, "I'm the Mayor of this town."
"You're the Mayor of an empty town?" Zoro questioned.
"It wasn't empty when those pirates got here," the Mayor told him. "Since then everyone fled to a refugee shelter. I sneak back in here occasionally to feed a dog for a friend. Did you kids really beat Buggy and his crew?"
"Yup," Sabo stated as he fished the map out of Buggy's torso's coat pocket. "And this is the map that started it all."
"Who are you heroes?" Boodle asked. "How can I ever repay your for what you've done?"
"We're pirates!" Luffy proudly informed him.
"Don't tell him that!" Nami scolded him.
"We're the Straw Hat Pirates," Sabo clarified. "We came here because we heard that Buggy had this map to the Grand Line. But when we got here things got out of hand and we ended up sinking his ship, beating his crew, stealing all his stuff before Luffy sent him flying to the next island. By the way, do you mind if we take the treasure and other stuff that we got from Buggy?"
"You kids have already given me back my treasure," Mayor Boodle gushed. "This town means the world to me. You've done more for me than I could ever repay."
"Well, there you have it," Nami resolved as she happily hugged the sack of treasure to her chest. "My conscience is clear."
Grumble…
Luffy looked down at his stomach. "Sabo… I'm hungry! Can we eat now?"
"You're hungry?" Boodle repeated. "Please, give me a moment to fetch the rest of the villagers and we'll prepare a feast for you brave heroes."
"Heroes?" Nami repeated. "Didn't your hear them say they're pirates?"
"This town was nearly destroyed by pirates but now it's been saved by them," Boodle admitted, "You've given me back my treasure. Now my people can finally return to their homes. I can never thank you enough for what you've done… so please… allow me and the others to celebrate your victory as a small measure of my gratitude."
"Well… I guess we could stick around," Sabo agreed. "I did promise Luffy that we could eat after we dealt with Buggy."
Later on, the Straw Hats and the people of Orange Town were celebrating downstairs in the Drinker's Pub. Buggy, Mohji and Cabaji were nowhere to be found but the rest of Buggy's crew had been apprehended for the villagers to turn over to the marines once the Straw Hats left.
The Straw Hats had brought everything they'd stolen from Buggy back to their ships. This included the booze that Zoro had taken but the villagers had surprised them by bringing a whole new supply of food and drinks with them from the refugee shelter.
"YEAAAH!" Luffy cheered as he stuffed a slab of meat in his mouth.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!" a crowd of villagers chanted as Zoro drank three men under the table.
"And then Buggy called out his lion tamer…" Sabo recounted as he sat at table with Bonnie on a chair on one side of him and a small dog on a chair on the other. An even bigger crowd than Zoro's surrounded him as he shared the tale of the Straw Hats' victory over the Buggy Pirates.
"What an amazing group of pirates!" a villager gushed to Nami as she drank her own mug of grog in the corner.
Nami smiled faintly as she stared across the room at Luffy, Sabo and Zoro. "I can honestly say that I've never met any pirates like them before."
So once again with Sabo on board the Straw Hats leave another town in good favor.
Silver signing off