Disclaimer: I don't own them, and yadda, yadda, yadda, you know this already!
A Cat's Instinct
Chapter 6. Chou-Chou
James and the others then heard faint bark, it was a dog.
"Chou-Chou!" Nami exclaimed.
James cocked his head,
"Is this your dog?" he asked uneasily.
James had a slight dislike of dogs.
"No, he's a local dog. He guards that pet store over there." She said, pointing to a small building.
Chou- Chou started barking.
James knelt down.
"It's alright boy! What's the matter?" he asked, trying timidly to pet the dog.
Chou-Chou bit his hand.
"Damn!" James swore, pulling his hand back, "That's why I don't like dogs! There's something wrong with them!"
All their questions were answered, when they saw a huge, white lion, with a purple mane, and its rider come around the corner.
"There you are, Luffy!" the man said.
James recognized the man as one of Buggy's crewman,
"You're that lion tamer!" He exclaimed.
"Yeah, and you're Kuro's son. You should've joined our crew, instead of that pathetic one. Unfortunately me and Richie here, have to kill you now." The lion tamer answered.
Chou-Chou started barking at the lion.
"Get this stupid mutt out of the way!" he growled.
The lion took its massive paw, and struck the tiny dog into a nearby wall.
"Chou-Chou!" James yelled, running over to the dog.
"Now Richie, let's crush that cage!" the lion-tamer commanded.
The lion roared, and pounced onto Luffy's cage.
Everyone gasped, as the huge cat crushed the cage, like a ball of aluminum foil.
"Hey, I'm free!" Luffy exclaimed.
"How did he escape that?" James asked.
"I'll tell you later." Nami said.
They then saw the pet shop go up in flames.
Chou-Chou ran over, tears pouring down his whiskers.
He barked, as everyone feeling only pity for the mourning dog.
The lion and the tamer walked away.
"Nothing is going to bring back that dog's treasure." Zolo said.
As the flames died down, Luffy jumped into the smoldering ruins.
"Luffy, what are you doing?" Keiko asked.
It was silent for a moment, when Luffy emerged, a bag of dog food in his hand.
"Here, this is all I could find. The rest has either been burned or eaten." He said.
Chou-Chou barked, and grabbed the dog food bag in his mouth. He then walked away, very tired, and very sad.
"Now, to go after that lion…" Luffy said, standing up.
"Luffy, what are you thinking?" Keiko asked.
"Never mind, he'll be back." Zolo said calmly.
James, Keiko, Nami, and Zolo all waited for Luffy to return, and within minutes, there he was, coming around the corner.
"Did you get him?" Keiko asked.
Luffy nodded,
"Yep!" he answered, "We'll never be seeing him again."
James fixed his glasses.
"Nice going, now where did Buggy go?" he asked.
They then heard an explosion.
"Well, that answers your question." Zolo said, running towards it.
The five ran to the sound, and found that a Buggy Ball had made its way through one of the houses.
"Mayor Boodle!" Nami exclaimed.
A dog-like man ran over.
"You know him?" James asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Well, we met him before." Nami said.
"Oh…" James said,
"What's the matter?" Zolo asked.
"Can't you see! My house was destroyed!" the mayor yelled hysterically.
"Wow that sucks..." Keiko muttered.
"I must protect my people from those fiends!" The Mayor continued frantically.
"Calm down. We'll take care of Buggy and his goons." James said.
"What did I tell you before?" Zolo asked, "Don't screw anything up! That includes our lives!"
"He needs our help!" James argued, "We can't let those monsters ruin his town!"
"It's not our problem James." Keiko said, "Don't get us into more trouble than we need! It's not our fault that the Mayor wants himself to be killed…"
"No, we'll help him." Luffy interrupted.
"Luffy…" Keiko pleaded, "It's not our problem. It's their fault that they can't protect themselves! We're pirates, not superheroes!"
Luffy, however, ran off, James and Nami following.
"Damn kid! Doesn't know what the hell he's getting himself into …" Zolo growled.
"I couldn't agree more…" Keiko said, running along, by his side.
James, Nami, and Luffy meanwhile spotted Buggy the Clown and his crew, watching them approach.
"You're not going to go down easy, are you, Straw hat?" Buggy asked.
"Yeah, and I have Shanks to thank for that." Luffy replied, in his usual, cheerful manner.
Buggy scowled at the mention of Shanks' name.
"Hold on, Luffy. You know Red-Haired Shanks!" James asked excitedly.
Keiko then shut his mouth from behind.
"Now is not the time to go into fan girl mode, James!" she snarled, holding his mouth shut with her hands.
"Mmph!" James mumbled, as he struggled against her grip.
"Keiko, you can let him go." Zolo said.
Keiko immediately released her death grip on James, and once again, clung to Zolo.
"What is wrong with this girl…?" Zolo thought to himself, as he looked at her, holding onto his arm, like a barnacle.
The Mayor's screaming, broke his thoughts.
"Buggy the Clown, prepare to face the Mayor!" he yelled, running off.
"Did you see the Mayor's face?" Nami asked, "He was crying."
"Ooh, things are gonna get fun." He said to Keiko.
"Yeah." Luffy agreed.
"This…this…" Nami started, she was amazed by their reactions.
"This is no laughing matter, you guys! The mayor could, and probably will get himself killed!" James finished.
"When did you become such a humanitarian?" Keiko asked, "Considering your father and all…"
"What do you mean!" James asked, "Bringing my father into this!"
"I mean, why do you care? It's not our fight!" Keiko growled.
"Well, if you don't want to help, I will." James argued.
Nami stepped forward,
"I'll help you, James." She said bravely.
"Don't worry, you two. I like that Old Man. I wouldn't let him get hurt." Luffy said.
They then followed Mayor Boodle to find Buggy the Clown.
Meanwhile, Kaya was feeling much better, and was walking around the room.
"Miss Kaya, where are you?" he asked, looking at the empty bed.
"I'm here, Klahadore!" she said, "And I'm feeling much better, thanks to you!"
He chuckled slightly, but went back to his melancholy state,
"I'm glad…" he said, giving her a forced smile.
"Klahadore, is something wrong? You seem sad." Kaya asked, walking over to him.
"I am fine, Miss Kaya. Why don't' you have Merry take you outside. I'll meet you in a little while." Kuro suggested.
"Oh Klahadore, that's a lovely idea!" Kaya exclaimed, exiting the room to find Merry.
Kuro scowled as she left. Her very presence made his grief for James return.
He grabbed a book, fixed his glasses, and headed outside to follow Kaya, and get his mind off his losses.
"Only a few more months, Kaya. Then your fortune will be mine…" he said, a dark smile on his face, as he walked out.
James, Nami, Keiko, and Zolo watched Luffy as he went to find Buggy.
Buggy stood on the roof, cannon, fully loaded, ready to fire at them.
"Watch this!" Luffy said, looking up, "Hey, big nose!"
Buggy looked down, startled at first, and then totally pissed.
"No one makes fun of Captain Buggy's nose!" he said angrily.
"Luffy, are you trying to get us killed!" Nami asked.
"No, but how else am I supposed to get his attention?" Luffy asked.
"I don't think he'll ever understand the idea of personal safety…" James said.
They Mayor stood determined.
"I challenge you, for the honor of my town, and the people in it!" he said.
Buggy's hand then came off the roof, and strangled him.
James ran over, and tried to pry the hand from the Mayor's throat, but Buggy's other hand came down, and punched James in the stomach.
James fell back, clutching his stomach.
"James!" Nami exclaimed running over to him.
Buggy then dropped the Mayor, who collapsed to the ground.
He tried to stand up, but Luffy knocked him out cold.
"What did you do that for!" Nami asked.
"He was in the way." Luffy said.
James sighed, and sat up, the wind slightly knocked out of him.
"James, seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" Keiko said, "You're such an idiot, unlike Zolo here…"
She looked at Zolo, with sparkling eyes.
Zolo looked at Luffy, trying to ignore her.
Buggy turned his body to face Luffy.
"Give him the Buggy Ball!" he commanded.
Luffy just stood there, unmoving, and unafraid.
"Luffy, get outta there!" Zolo said.
"No wait, I got an idea!" he answered, taking a deep breath.
The four looked at Luffy,
"What is he doing?" James asked.
The Buggy ball hit Luffy in the stomach, as Nami hid her face in James' shirt, unable to see what happened.
The Buggy ball, however, bounced off him.
"How did he do that?" Keiko asked.
"You could've told us what you were planning…" Zolo said, "I worried for nothing…"
"What are you!" Nami exclaimed.
"Wait, you have the power of the Devil Fruit!" James called out.
"No duh, Sherlock…" Keiko said, "Now isn't the time to do your studying, we have Clarabelle and his angry crew on our backs!"
"I'd agree, we should get ready for a fight…" Zolo stated.
One by one, Buggy's crew emerged from the rubble; most of them were too injured to fight.
"Well, that's a relief…" James said.
"Don't say that too soon. They're a little mad at us." Nami said nervously.
"Luffy, what have you done…" Keiko said under her breath.
The lion tamer then noticed Luffy, and became frightened.
"There he is, Captain! He's the one who beat up Richie and me!" he said.
Buggy then detached one of his hands, and threw him, and Luffy punched him.
"There we go." Luffy said.
Buggy scowled.
"Well, at this rate, these pirates are nothing compared to my father's crew." James thought proudly.
A dark haired man, on a unicycle then approached blades in hand.
"Let me slice him up!" he said.
James bared his teeth, and unsheathed his cat claws.
He went to attack him, but Zolo held him back.
"He's a swords man, let me take him." Zolo said.
James nodded, and put his claws away.
"Scardy cat..." Keiko said.
Nami, seeing her chance to steal Buggy's treasure, ran off.
"Nami, where are you going?" James asked.
"I've gotta get something." She said, bolting in the opposite direction of the battle.
James then turned his attention to Zolo's fight.
Buggy then detached his arm.
"Cabaji, I'll hold Zolo down, you finish him off!" Buggy called to Zolo's opponent.
Luffy acted quickly and stepped on Buggy's fast moving hand.
"Keep your mitts out of Zolo's duel!" he demanded.
Buggy screamed in pain at first, but then gave Luffy a death glare,
"You little…" he said, agitated.
Zolo grinned, as Cabaji went in to stab Zolo, but he moved away.
"I'm tired." Zolo said.
Keiko gawked at him,
"So, you've finally given up? It's amazing that you can still be alive." Cabaji mocked, as Zolo stood up shakily, and took his sword.
He then used his sword to knock Cabaji off his unicycle,
Luffy, James, and Keiko all smiled.
"Nice goin', Zolo." James said.
"Go Zolo!" Keiko yelled out.
"The only thing I'm tired of, is your circus tricks." Zolo growled.
Cabaji frowned at Zolo, then came rushing at him, with his sword.
"Fine, no more tricks, behold my real swordsmanship!" Cabaji screamed.
With one quick swipe, with his swords, he knocked out Cabaji.
Keiko's eyes sparkled,
"Isn't he wonderful?" she asked James.
"Yeah, I guess." He answered stoically.
Zolo then collapsed, and Keiko ran over to him.
"Don't worry, I'm just going to take a nap." He said.
"Alright, you sleep. I'll take it from here." Luffy said.
"Now, hand over the map of the grand line." Luffy said to Buggy.
Buggy growled,
"So, that's what you're after. Pirates like you won't last a day on the Grand Line!" Buggy snarled, "What do you plan to do there, go sightseeing!"
"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy said boldly.
"Don't be a fool! The world's treasure will be mine, so don't forget it!" Buggy yelled.
Luffy stood his ground.
"Attack me already, I'm getting bored." Luffy said.
James continued to look on, while Keiko sat next to the sleeping Zolo.
"You'll soon regret it, Rubber boy." Buggy warned, as he got ready to strike.
"Watch yourself Luffy…" James urged.
"Don't worry so much!" Luffy said, "I can take care of this guy."
They fought hard for what seemed to be hours to James.
"He's not gonna get anywhere, if Buggy keeps breaking apart like that." James thought.
James then spotted Nami, a large sack in her arms.
"Hands off my treasure!" Buggy yelled, going after her.
James growled, and went after Buggy's top half, his cat claws unsheathed.
"Come back here, Ugly!" He said, performing his Pussyfoot maneuver, and leaping into the air, over Buggy's top half.
Buggy then fell to the ground, before James could do anything.
James also fell on top of Buggy's upper half.
"Hey, you broke my fall." He said, chuckling slightly, "Those bruises sure make you look funny."
Buggy groaned, at the pun,
"That's no way to tell a joke." He said, "And you've got some nerve attacking my lower half!"
"Whatever dude." James said, standing up.
"You are so stupid…" Keiko said, shaking her head.
Buggy's limbs then flew into the air, and James fell to the ground once again.
"What the hell is he doing now?" Keiko wondered.
Buggy was then distracted by Luffy, while Nami and James gathered his "spare" parts, and tied them up.
"This is gonna be great." James said a smirk on his face.
When Buggy finally realized what happened, James and Nami laughed.
He was probably 3 feet shorter than he usually was.
"Look, how the mighty have fallen." James joked.
"Well, Good bye, Buggy!" Luffy said, punching Buggy straight into the air.
They watched as Buggy disappeared from view.
"I win!" Luffy exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air, "So now, you'll join my crew, right?"
Nami looked at him,
"For the time being. You had to give Buggy credit; he had an eye for treasure. This is easily 10 million berries!" she said, clutching the sack of treasure.
"I hope we never see him again…" Keiko snorted, "Look what his crew did to my darling Zolo!"
"Well, wake him up, we should get going." Luffy said, "And we'd better take care of the mayor."
"Did you take care of things?" Zolo asked, weakly.
"Luffy took care of it." Keiko said, "Are you alright?"
"I don't think I can walk…" he said.
They then saw a group of very angry looking villagers.
"Well, we better get going. They don't want to congratulate us." James said.
"Who did this to the Mayor?" one of them demanded, "Was it those pirates?"
"No, I knocked the old man out." Luffy said casually.
"You didn't have to tell him!" Nami exclaimed.
"Well, you saw me, didn't you?" Luffy said.
"Yeah, but we didn't have to tell him!" Nami argued.
"Are you pirates?" another person asked.
"Yeah, we're pirates." Luffy answered.
"Luffy!" Nami and James said at the same time.
Zolo just laughed, and Keiko tried to help him.
"Come on, Zolo." She said.
Luffy then grabbed him as the crowd started to chase after them.
"Luffy, remind me to hurt you, if we get out of this alive." James said as he ran.
They then heard a growling from behind them.
"Chou-Chou?" they asked, glancing back.
The dog stood there, his fur bristled and his teeth bared.
"Chou-Chou, why are you helping these pirates?" the crowd members asked.
The dog, however, stood his ground, and allowed Luffy and the others to escape quickly.
"Wow, I never thought I'd grow to like a dog." James thought to himself.
"Well, he's a good dog, but the people aren't going to like us here…" Keiko said, tying the ship off the dock.
Their conversation was severed, as the mayor came running, tears of joy pouring down his face.
"Thank-You!" he cried out, as he watched them," We'll never forget you."
"What a loser…" Keiko muttered.
"Keiko, that's not nice. He's thanking us for our good deeds." James said.
"Your father would be so embarrassed by you, right now…" Keiko thought.
A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long. It took me a while to write, and get posted. I hope you enjoyed it.