Hello and welcome back to the next chapter. I also like to apologize for the lack of updates. My laptop has been broken since September and I finally was able to get another one. I forgot to say this last chapter, but to cover both that chapter and all chapters following this one, I do not own any rights to One Piece or any other references to other materials. I only own my created character, James. Please enjoy.

Chapter 8: Welcome to Orange Town

It was about a little before noon when the crew finally reached Orange Town. When the Sea Sprite II (the frigate christened, finally, by James; he did so in honor of a previous ship he knew) pulled into the dock and was tied down, the crew made their way inland. They wandered around for about ten minutes, finding the entire town deserted. Luffy was the first to speak, "Where is everyone?"

"Buggy and his crew most likely scared everyone away. I'm more surprised that most of the town is still in one piece." James answered him.

Suddenly an old man with frizzled gray hair appeared out of an alley in front of the group. He was wearing old, weathered leather armor and carrying a spear, it had a wooden shaft and old iron blade. "I won't let you Buggy pirates destroy any more of our precious town!" He said rushing at the group. He didn't get far, James clotheslined him after five steps.

James bent down to the old man, "You know you shouldn't go rushing into battle at your age you know. Besides you're mistaken, we're not a part of Buggy's crew. Actually, we're here to get rid of Buggy." Relief and tears flooded the old man's face, "Oh thank god. Someone has finally come to help." James helped the old man up off the ground. "Please forgive my hasty judgment. But you must understand, it's been a long time since this town has had any outside help."

Luffy shook his head, "Don't worry about, though we still are technically pirates." Nami quickly punched him in the head, "You idiot! You didn't have to tell him that." Luffy rubbed his head, "But why not? We are pirates aren't we, why lie about it." This made everyone face fault at his bluntness. The old man was dumb founded by their odd behavior, he gave a light hearted chuckled. He didn't know why, but these people made him want to put all his trust into them.

Luffy looked at the old man finally realizing something. "Oh so sorry, we have introduced ourselves. We're the Straw Hat Pirates, we're fairly new. I'm the captain, Luffy, and this is" he then pointed at Zoro, James, Nami, and Makino, "Zoro, James, my girlfriend Nami," whom he wrapped an arm around, which caused Nami to blush, "and my aunt Makino." The old man crossed his arms and nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Nice to meet you all, the name's Boodle. I'm the mayor of this town." James had force himself not to laugh.

He composed himself before he spoke, "So, um Boodle. Do you have somewhere we can talk? We still have to discuss our plan on taking down Buggy." The mayor nodded and led them to a local pet store. Sitting in front of the steps was a little dog. "Aw, how cute. Who's this little guy?" Nami asked as she pet Chou-Chou. The mayor smiled sadly, "That there is Chou-Chou. He belonged to Hocker, who was the owner of this store and my best friend." James caught his tone, "What do you mean 'was'." Boodle sighed and sat on the steps, "About year ago, Hocker fell ill with an unknown illness. He left Chou-Chou in my care and left to see a doctor. Unfortunately, he didn't return and after about a month, I received a letter from the doctor he saw. It said the Hocker had unfortunately died from the unknown illness."

Makino came out of the store with bowl of food and water and placed them in front of Chou-Chou. "I regretfully informed Chou-Chou about his death. And offered him sanctum at my house, but he choose to remain here and guard the store. Many people said that he was being stubborn and refused to believe his owner was dead, others say he just doesn't understand and wait's for his return. But I know differently, Chou-Chou is as smart as they come. He knows Hocker's dead, but guards this place because it a reminder to him of all the good memories they had."

Luffy, having listened to all this, sat down in front of Chou-Chou, "I understand where you're coming from, this store is your precious treasure. This hat," he said as he took his straw hat in his hand, "is my precious treasure. It's a reminder I made to someone. It reminds me every day that I'm this much closer to realizing my dream and keeping my promise of returning this hat. The same goes for you, you're taking care of this shop to keep the memory of your owner alive. That way when you two meet again, you'll have many tales to tell each other."

Everyone stared at Luffy in awe. Then Chou- Chou looked up at Luffy and barked about five times. James smiled, "He thanks you for your understanding and wishes you luck in achieving your dream and meeting your friend." Now everyone, sans Luffy, looked at James in shock. Nami was the first to speak, "You can understand him?!" He gave them a 'Duh' look before a thought occurred to him, "Luffy forgot to tell you about me and where I come from." They nodded, "Sigh, I'll explain later." The mayor broke the tension, "Well come in, there a loft upstairs where can talk."

They went upstairs and sat down at a table as James began, "Okay, Buggy is a very dangerous pirate, don't underestimate him. From what I was able to gather he has a strange cannonball called the Buggy Ball. Not much is known about it."

"Also, he has a devil fruit power that allows him to split his body apart." Luffy interjected. "Thank you Luffy. I was about to get to that. His powers are powered by the Chop-Chop fruit he ate. That fruit allows the user to split their body up into as many shape and sizes as they want, as long as some part of them is touching the ground." Zoro snorted, "Hmph, that just him more of a challenge. Nothing more." James shook his head, "No Zoro. Luffy will be taking Buggy on, you, on the other hand, will be facing their crew's first mate, Cabaji. He is rumored to be an excellent swordsman and a brilliant acrobatic." Zoro smiled at said prospect to further his experience. James continued, "So, for Phase one of the plan, we need to…"


Sometime later…


Nami is running down a street, clutching a map to her chest. She is being chased by three of Buggy's men, "Get back here bitch."

"Give us back the map and we won't hurt you, much."

Nami then passes by a dark alley where Luffy is hiding. After hearing that comment, he steps out in front of the men sends forth a powerful blast of Haki, knocking them out. James, Zoro and Makino jumped down from the roof of the building above Luffy, smiling. "Okay, onto Phase 2." James said holding out some rope out to Nami.

After the men woke up, they returned to Buggy empty handed. After some time, Nami headed out to where Buggy was holed up, the local tavern, with Luffy, hog tied, in tow. They talked as they walked to pass the time. "Hey Nami, are you sure you're really okay with this?" Nami nodded nervously, remembering James's words from earlier,

"Okay Nami. You'll take Luffy to Buggy's hideout and offer him up to Buggy, saying you're tired of working for a child and want to join his crew. Buggy will most likely want to initiate you into his crew immediately, knowing Buggy it'll be a party followed by a show of his greatness and then the main part. He'll want, no, he'll make you shoot your old 'boss'." James air quoted. Nami gasped.

"You must comply with him Nami. Don't worry about Luffy, he'll be perfectly safe. Okay" Nami nodded reluctantly.

Nami shook herself out of the memory as the two continued walking towards the tavern.

When they arrived at the tavern, Nami followed James's plan to the letter. Delivering her 'former boss' to Buggy, along with the map which she would steal back later, and asking to join his crew. She was surprised when he said yes without any hesitation. Like James said, they threw a party after throwing Luffy inside a metal cage and locking it. James snuck in by using a Henge to disguise himself, making him look like one of the crew.

During the party Nami, seeing Luffy trying and failing miserably, to stretch his arm to reach the food on the table, brought him some food, "Thanks." Suddenly the light behind her was blocked by a figure. "Enjoy it you brat, it'll be the last meal you'll ever have." Buggy said and laughed.

Buggy looked back at Luffy and the boy's hat caught his attention, "Say boy, where did you get that hat? It reminds of a stupid red haired pirate. The man still irks me to this day."

Luffy gave a wide grin, "Oh, you mean Shanks. Yeah, he told me all about how he saved your life."

Buggy was furious, "SAVED MY LIFE HE MAY HAVE BUT IT'S ALSO HIS FAULT I LOST A PRICELESS TREASURE MAP AND SWALLOWED A 100,000,000 BELI DEVIL FRUIT!"

Luffy just laughed, "Shanks was right, you do still act like a brat. By the way, the reason this hat looks familiar is because it is. Shanks gave it to me before he left my island. He entrusted it to me."

Suddenly, a sadistic grin appeared on Buggy's face. James, who had been secretly watching, grinned, 'Yes, he fell for the bait. I knew goading him into destroying an object of his nemesis's affection would work. Way to go Luffy.'

Buggy turned around shouting, "Men!" causing everyone to stop, "I think it's time that we initiate Nami into the crew. What do you think?" Their response was hoots and hollers of agreement. "I say that what way to better prove her loyalty then to wipe out her old boss, eh Nami?" Nami nervously nodded. "Bring out the Buggy Cannon!"

A group of men brought out a giant cannon and aimed it at Luffy. Buggy began laughing, "Ooh, I just had a flashy idea. Not only can we make this her initiation but also a flashy display of my power. Gyahahaha. Men bring out a Buggy Ball!" Crap, I have no idea what that'll do to Luffy. James thought. His eyes followed the men as they loaded the cannon. He noticed they had reinforced the cannon by connecting it to the roof. Now why would they do…? Oh shit! It can't be that powerful, can it? James kept his composure, as so to stay in character.

Buggy handed Nami a matchbox, "Here Nami, you do the honors."

As Nami stepped up to the cannon, her hands were shaking. How can I do this? It's Luffy, I can't kill Luffy! She looked up to see Luffy looking at her, smiling. "Don't worry Nami, everything will be alright. I'll be fine, just do it." Nami's whole world melted away as felt Luffy's warm voice wash over her. Then, she felt her body move on its own accord, as if moved by some outside force, and watched as she lit the fuse.

Time seemed to slow down as both Nami and James both had second thoughts. Too late. BOOM! Nami and James had screamed out Luffy's name, but it was drowned out by the cannon. The path the cannonball ball took not only destroyed that section of the roof but also the five buildings behind Luffy.

Makino and Zoro were on the roof of building beside the inn and saw everything. Zoro was speechless and Makino was trying very hard not to start sobbing. Zoro started visibly shaking, "No!" He jumped down towards Buggy. "No, Zoro wait! Sigh." Makino yelled. But it was too late.

It took James a couple of seconds before he mentally slapped himself, reminding himself who Luffy was. Okay, this is just a setback. As long as nothing else…, but James never got to finish that thought due to Murphy's Law (Damn Murphy). Zoro had jumped onto the roof, swords drawn, advancing towards Buggy. Buggy saw him and laughed, "So even the powerful bounty hunter Roronoa Zoro has come for my head, gyahahaha!" Then Zoro bisected him to pieces.

Damn it! James thought. "Zoro, you idiot! Don't you remember what I told you about Buggy?!" James shouted, not caring about his cover. But his warning came too late. A blade was sunk into Zoro's side as Buggy laughed. Then Buggy's body parts floated and put themselves back together. "Gyahaha. You can't kill me that way Roronoa, or didn't you know, I'm a devil fruit user. I'm a Chop-Chop man, I can split my body up in any way I want and any size I want. Basically, I can't be cut!" He ranted as he pulled the blade from Zoro's side. He grinned, "Looks like the boot is on the other foot, eh Roronoa?"

Suddenly James ran out, from the crowd, towards Zoro. Buggy stopped laughing, "Eh! Boy, what do you think you're doing?!" James began moving Zoro towards Nami, "I wouldn't worry about me. I'd be more worried about him." He said as he pointed towards the silhouette of a man in the smoke. Suddenly a strong wind came down and blew the smoke away and everyone was able to see who it was.

Nami gasped, standing there was Luffy, dusting himself off. "*Cough Cough* Is that all you got? Can't believe I was afraid of that thing first time around." Everyone saw that his skin was a metallic black, James realized that was the sign of the Armament Haki.

Note to self: Remember to later blac-convince Luffy into teaching the crew about Haki and those 'Six Powers' he was talking about.

James stood up, Zoro slung over his shoulder, "Hey Buggy, sorry to having to crash and dash, but we got to make like a banana and split!" As he finished, he threw down something at Buggy's feet. Buggy looked down to see a sphere that seemed to be made of strips of paper with writing on them. Before anyone could react, James formed half a hand sign and flared his chakra, setting the smoke bomb off. A huge cloud of smoke encompassed the Buggy pirates, allowing the Straw Hats to escape.

After the smoke cloud dissipated, Buggy saw that the two traitors, the bounty hunter and the straw hat boy were gone. Hmm, why did that straw hat seem familiar? Bah, I think about later. Right now, we need to find those four. He turned towards his men, "What are you all standing around for? Find them!" Before the pirates could panic two voices spoke up, "Captain, clam yourself. Don't waste your men on these maggots." Said the man, on the left, wearing a scarf and sitting on a unicycle.

"I agree, so send me captain. I should be enough to take care of them. Besides," The man, on the right, wearing what seemed to be a furred sweater with a hood, cracked his neck, "Richie and I need to stretch our legs from all this inactivity." The crew then started hooting and hollering, "Alright it's the captains top two lieutenants, First Mate Cabaji and The Animal Tamer Mohji."

Buggy sighed, Maybe I should send Mohji, but something tells me he won't be enough. "Fine Mohji, but I want you to take Cabaji. And before you say anything, it's not because I doubt your abilities. Something is just telling me not underestimate these people." Mohji just shrugged, "Whatever you say captain. C'mon Cabaji, Richie, let's not disappoint our captain." Cabaji nodded his "Agreed." Richie also roared in agreement.

Plazmaster: There that feels like a good chapter.

James John: It looked like it.

PM: Ah James, good to see ya.

JJ: You don't seem as freaked out as last time.

PM: Being a big Deadpool fan, I've learned to expect this fact.

JJ: Good policy.

PM: For those out there, I actually based James after my own brother. He was really ecstatic about it. Also, I would like apologize once again for the lack of updates. Due to school, tight schedules and with me being partly lazy I've just haven't gotten to type the rest of the story. I may also switch over to a new or different story just so I don't burn the candle down to the wick. So until next time

PM&JJ: Ciao!