As Midnight struck, the Buggy Pirates all cheered and began another round of the song their captain had taught them: Bink's sake. Six crew members, Mohji included, went arm in arm and sang the first part, moving side to side with their arms up. They looked ridiculous, but the other members laughed and banged their mugs of ale together, joining in for the chorus.

In the outer ring of the fire, where the music was only half as annoying, Alvida and Coby drank in silence, with Cabaji sitting a few feet away, surrounded by sleeping members of his crew, and the Impel down escapees. After a few awkward moments of drinking, Coby looked up from his mug of ale (Having only drunk 2) and looked at Alvida. She was busy staring at the fire, so he drunk in her looks and presence.

Such silky skin, smooth features… shame about the freckles being gone, but he was captivated by the way her body swayed gently while drunk, and he caught himself. He was thinking like a young man, not a marine, which he was. Still, surrounded by happy pirates, drunk pirates and dancing pirates, he felt his guard drop. They were sort of like Luffy's crew, terrifying and strong at first, but they needed to have a laugh too, he reckoned.

"Who would have thought that my chubby navigator would have grown into a marine, with Haki to boot" announced Alvida, breaking Coby's happy mesmerised state. "I owe a lot to Luffy. He showed me that death is nothing to be afraid of, and that sometimes the most imposing people are not that strong. You were helpless against a rookie pirate" smirked Coby, his personality changing whenever he spoke to Alvida.

With Garp, he was always respectful and watching of his words, while with Helmeppo it was all informal and they shared jokes or stories. Usually an easy going young man, quite optimistic, his personality changed ever time he talked to Alvida. He didn't know this, or at least, not as much as he should have known. Alvida couldn't know, of course, how he was other than talking with her, though.

"Hmph. You got a smart mouth along with all that strength. I wonder if you still are Coby, or if you're a completely different person" mused Alvida, having seen Coby develop… well, OK, not develop, but change while being part of her crew. It was… charming now how he seemed to be more confident, but Alvida saw through it. He still had doubts.

She took another drink of ale, and then refilled her mug from a keg, her cloak laying on the ground beside her. All she wore was her swimsuit top and the usual sarong wrapped around her beach shorts. Alvida stretched, and Coby looked away, but too late. Her body had been burned into his mind, and he blinked furiously, drinking deep chugs from his mug. Had she planned that? Was she… no forget it, Coby.

The singing and dancing got louder as they got into the chorus suddenly, and now that Coby was feeling a bit lightheaded, he found himself humming along to the song tunelessly. They weren't so bad… pirates. Alvida noticed the dazed look, and grinned, looking at the marine while he was distracted. "Want to learn the lyrics?" asked Alvida, finally finding someone interesting on her travels.

"Yesh… yes, please" asked Coby, standing up with her, and they went closer to the fire.

An hour into the night, and Coby was arm in arm with the crew, another mug in him, and just singing tunelessly; byte this time so was everyone else. The camp fire burnt brightly into the night, and when everyone had tired themselves out, about four in the morning, they collapsed asleep, Coby included. Uncontrollable like the others, Alvida had collapsed in a drunken haze first, and he had dropped next to her, and they slept throughout the morning.

"A shichibukai! Finally the World Government acknowledges my awesomeness, ahahaha!" laughed Buggy as he held up the letter offering him a position. In front of him all of his crew were dancing and cheering, some even crying at what they saw as an aura coming from Buggy.

"Captain Buggy!"

"That's our Captain!"

"With him we can do anything!"

As the crew fawned over the laughing and grinning pirate, Coby was waking up alone beside a rock and extinguished fire. Hungover. That had never happened before, even with Gharb. The marine sat up and yawned, wondering where Alvida was. He had gotten drunk and partied with a bunch of cut throat pirates, one of which had been abusive to him, although it was thanks to her he became a marine…

Argh, it was so confusing. Still, he was here now, probably considered MIA, although he had explained to Helmeppo his reasoning, and would make the best of it. He dusted himself off and walked over to join the pirates.

Buggy had called an impromptu meeting on the deck of Big Top, the ship which he adored more than his own crew. It was just… him. Alvida, former pirate captain, sat beside him while Galdino, otherwise known as Mr. 3, sat on the other side. Cabaji and Mohji finished the assembly.

Alvida read the letter, and then passed it to Galdino. "I guess it makes sense. Your reputation is building faster than I thought it would Captain" commented Alvida while Buggy preened himself looking exceptionally happy.

"It's really incredible. You have some sort of undoubtable charisma, boss" spoke up Galdino, the former Mr. 3 of Baroque Works. He had a look on his face between doubt and admiration.

"What's that marine doing here?!"

"Captain Buggy, let's kill him!"

"Yeah! Let's celebrate in style!"

Buggy blinked as he looked around. Sure enough, Coby was in a combat stance, facing off a group of prisoners who had broken off and were eager to fight. "Come on then, pirates, I'll beat up every one of you. I'm a Marine from Headquarters, are you prepared?!" yelled Coby with gusto. Some of the pirates paused, hesitant to attack now.

'Crap' thought Buggy. 'If they kill a marine, then my chances of being a Warlord will be shot. But I can't show weakness or they may turn on me. Damn it, what do I do? Those flashy fools.'

Alvida stepped forwards, raised her club and swatted the pirates away with a colossal swing. They hit some of the crowd and she put it on the ground, standing next to the huge weapon. "Are you idiots for real? Buggy is a member of the Seven Warlords. We can't kill a marine, but we can use him. We'll get in close and get even more power!"

"Woah! Mistress Alvida we are slaves to you!"

"Such smarts and good looks."

"Marry me~"

Buggy cleared his throat, and the pirates grinned. "The Marine will stay with us. He cannot fight us, remember, for we are now commissioned by the World Government! We can pillage all we want in my name, and the rewards will be plentiful!"

They all cheered, and Coby relaxed, visibly relieved. He could probably take on the normal pirates, but it would be unlikely he could take on Buggy the Clown. He had been on Gold Roger's crew and was a big name in East Blue. As for Alvida… a close battle, but he didn't want to fight her anymore really. They worked for the Government, so he was safe.

Galdino, once known as Mr. 3, sipped a cup of tea as he sat with the other 'leaders' of the Buggy Pirates. Beside him sat a reclining Cabaji, the acrobatic assassin. On the other side was Alvida, hat resting on the table, legs crossed. Buggy put his hands on the table, looking at everyone, including Mohji who was beside Ritchie.

"My flashy associates, we need to discuss this." He placed the letter down. It bore the mark of the World Government at the top. They all leaned into read it while Buggy took a mug of ale and drunk it down. As the letter was finally read, Alvida tapped her knee thoughtfully.

"I guess the World Government knows what it's doing" she said, and Buggy choked on his drink.

"WHO HAS A BIG NOSE?!"