Sorry this is so late! Those of you who are up to date with the manga can probably guess why I hit writer's block for a bit there, considering all of my plans for Sabo's introduction had to be re-planned. What a plot twist though, eh? It's so cliche, and yet no one was expecting it, hahah~
Anyways, I'm over a week late, but it's here! Please enjoy!
Chapter 8: Reincarnation
"So… you and your 'partner' are traveling around… doing the Marines' jobs for them?"
Luffy would have laughed uproariously if he hadn't just stuffed a quarter sandwich in his mouth. Honestly, if he thought about it, that was pretty much it. He'd just told her he'd taken down a corrupt Marine captain, and that he was planning on fighting down Buggy, and she'd come to her own conclusion.
It was pretty damn accurate, considering everything they were likely to do in the near future. "Yeah, I guess. I just don't want to be tied down by rank, or rules, y'know?" He grinned ear to ear, tapping his feet on the floor. "Marines aren't that great anyways!"
Nami nodded, and Luffy smiled. He didn't know if he wanted to tell her he was a Pirate, knowing how much she hated them right then. She hated them more than she hated Marines, which was saying something. Pirates doing foul deeds was expected these days, but Marines? Their inactivity in Cocoyashi was just as bad from someone who preached justice.
… For a moment, he was tempted to send Smoker a letter about it. The man had been stationed in Logue town for so long, it wouldn't be hard to find a way to contact him, and other than Luffy (and perhaps Sanji's old man) there was no one else who could stand a chance against the Shark Fishman. Luffy knew he'd only won against Arlong because he had let himself go while in East Blue, and because he hadn't taken Luffy seriously.
However, Luffy both didn't trust the man to leave his post, thus allowing multiple Pirate crews into the Grandline, and didn't want to lose his navigator to the Marines. It was selfish, but he wanted to be the one to save his Nakama… Even if they didn't know they were his Nakama yet. He didn't feel guilty at all at the thought; he was known for being selfish, among his loved ones.
"So, you never did tell me why those guys were chasing you." He pointed out with a smile, inwardly snickering at her nervous expression. However, it seemed he'd earned some sort of trust from her, for from her cleavage, she pulled a coveted map.
"I stole this from Buggy." Nami proudly stated, and Luffy put his chin in his palm. "It's a map of the Grandline!" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously when he didn't so much as blink, continuing to stuff sandwiches into his mouth. "After I steal Buggy the Clown's treasure, I'm going to head for the Grandline and steal treasures from even bigger Pirates!"
If she was put out by his lack of response, she didn't show it, but she seemed hesitant to make her proposal. Maybe because she'd actually seen him fighting? Well, sort of. Nami's eyes weren't trained for movement so fast, even in the first life, he'd been hard for her to track.
Instead, he decided to make the same deal himself. "I'm not too interested in Buggy's treasure, but I'm sure my fight will be enough distraction for you." He grinned, picking his head off his palm. "But what kind of Pirate would I be if I didn't ask for something for it?"
Her face immediately soured and it hurt to see it directed at him. "I should have seen that coming." She scoffed, crossing her arm. "I refuse to work with a Pirate; there's nothing I hate more!"
Luffy stood before she could continue. "Lumping Pirates together is dumb. There's more than one kind, even if it's hard to see in the newer generation." The Old Age and the New Age. Putting every pirate in the same category was like saying the only difference between Whitebeard and Blackbeard was their hair color. "All I want from you, is to leave a portion, say, 30% of the treasure for the town."
Nami seemed surprised, and Luffy smiled, amused. "That's it? You don't want… anything? No 50/50 split, nothing?"
"I'm not interested in gold." He told her honestly, turning away from her and the table. He could hear her eventually follow him through the door, and he happily noted that she didn't have any rope on her. As fun as it would be to scare everyone by breaking the cage - he could, even without his physical strength - he'd really rather just get this over with. The sooner it was done, the more likely Shushu's treasure would be intact when they left.
Still, it would have been fun to see their faces if he inflated himself in the cage and make the top come off from sheer pressure. Or maybe he could just squeeze between the bars; it's not like he had solid bones to stand in his way… He didn't know why he hadn't done that the first time, rather than have Zoro carry that cage and wound himself further.
Luffy quietly wondered where Zoro might be now. Hopefully the man wasn't already having fun while he'd been busy; he wanted to play too, and Buggy might hurt Zoro worse than before.
"What do you mean you're 'not interested in gold'?! What kind of Pirate are you?" Nami's voice cut through his thoughts like a hot knife, and he turned to blink at her. Ah, she'd caught up.
Smiling at her in a 'I know something you don't know' way, Luffy gave the best answer he could. "I'm an Old Era style Pirate." Like Shanks, he silently acknowledged. It'd be good to see the man again, under better circumstances. "New Era Pirates are all about money and fame. Old Era Pirates are more about dreams."
She seemed skeptical, so he asked. "Do you have a dream, Nami?"
Eyeing him suspiciously, Nami answered surprisingly truthfully. "I want to buy a certain village, and after that, I… I will make a world map!" She seemed surprised at her own conviction.
Luffy couldn't keep himself from grinning, wide and bright, and so damn happy to hear it from his Navigator again. She had been the first… "People like you are the people Shanks would recruit, and that's why I gotta ask you; Nami, will you be my Nakama?"
She would have been surprised by his earnest expression if she'd let herself look at him, but rather than be swayed by a 17 year old's innocent face, she stood resolute in her beliefs. "I will never be a pirate! But…" She frowned, and Luffy frowned right back. She didn't have any trouble working with him despite him being a Pirate in the past. So long as he promised she could leave at any time, Nami had always been willing to do what she had to do.
"'But'?" He prompted, and she looked up at him with keen, searching eyes. Luffy smiled, tilting his head in question as she sighed.
Squaring her shoulders, Nami started walking towards Buggy's base, the opposite direction he had been headed when he arrived, not that he noticed. "You seem alright, for a Pirate." He heard her mutter, and he beamed at the back of her head. "I'll work with you for now, but only while it's convenient for me!" She declared much louder, and he laughed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
With Nami headed off for the Treasury once more, relying on the Pirate to distract Buggy well enough that he wouldn't receive word of her exploits, Luffy made a running start for the building they had made base at. Across the rooftops. Honestly, the more attention he grabbed, the better. Less looking Nami's way, and maybe Zoro might actually find his way to the action on time.
Even from a distance he could see Buggy was pacing, looking stressed as he'd ever seen him. However, when Luffy landed, scaring the wits out of several lower ranked flunkies nearby, he could practically see the anger and paranoia rolling off of him.
The startled yelps of his crew garnered Buggy's attention, and he was quick to take in the newcomer's appearance, scowl deepening at the sight of the Straw hat sitting under a protective hand on his head. "And just who the hell are you!?"
Luffy smiled at Buggy's boisterous yells. He couldn't really hate the man, after all, he'd been a big help to him in achieving his goal in his first life. But the way Buggy was treating this town went against everything he knew about the teachings of his old captain.
"I'm the Pirate King." Was the simple answer he gave, his confidence in say so leaving a long pause before the laughter started. "You know, Buggy." Luffy started in a conversational tone, barely audible through the guffaws around him. "Roger would be really disappointed in how you're treating this nice little town."
The only one to stop laughing was Buggy himself, who suddenly looked at Luffy like he was a serious threat. "How would you know what Roger thought?" The Clown Pirate demanded, stepping closer as the laughter died down. No one knew what to think at the moment, other than that this shrimp was pissing off their captain.
Luffy laughed, bouncing on his toes as he slid the old Straw hat off of his head. "I've been told by a lot of people that I'm probably Roger's reincarnation. From his own First Mate, even." Though he hadn't heard it until after they'd reached Raftel, meeting Raleigh afterwards had been an enlightening evening of storytelling.
Buggy seemed torn between relaxing and being put even more on edge upon hearing that the boy in front of him had met Silvers Raleigh. "... What are you here for?"
The question was one with quite a few answers. If Nami wasn't here, he likely would have come by anyways, if only for Shushu. A dog they might be, but treasure is treasure, and he wouldn't let that pet store be harmed.
As usual, he gave the most honest answer he could. "I'm here for my Nakama."
At this point, Buggy's crew was feeling uncomfortable. Normally their captain would have taken care of the threat by now, or sent someone in to fight, but he looked… nervous. And he was nervous for good reason. Anyone else so weak looking saying they were there for their friends or crew, that they were going to fight him with his devil fruit powers to help someone else, would make Buggy laugh.
But Roger was different. If this boy was telling the truth about Raleigh relating him to Gol D. Roger, then this was serious. For him to have even met the Pirate King's first mate, he'd have to have been strong enough to traverse the Grandline, but to not only remind him of the Captain, but to claim him as his successor?
These were dangerous waters to tread. The Clown Pirate would have to proceed very carefully if he wanted to get away from this unharmed-
"Hey, Big Nose, you gonna fight me or what? I want you off of this island!"
There was a collective step back taken by the crew as the shadow's framing Buggy's face threatened to swallow it when he lowered his head. Luffy suddenly remembered the most important of Buggy's quirks and grimaced. Well, he was going to kick his ass anyway, if getting him angry works, then who was he to complain.
The Captain charged him, keeping his Bara Bara powers on lockdown for an element of surprise, bellowing about the nose comment. His run was clumsy and slow, making Luffy grimace at how Buggy was a perfect example of something he was told while training with Hack. A Devil Fruit user's number one weakness was usually their dependance on their powers. Take a Fruit users power away, and they'd be helpless.
Luffy wanted to end this before Buggy could show why, exactly, Roger had kept him around. He had to end it fast. At the very least, this would be a good test of where his body currently was in strength.
He knew he'd told himself he wouldn't do this outside of the Grandline, but technically Buggy was a Grandline pirate, so he would let himself get away with it this time. Actually, Buggy was a Warlord-to-be, so he couldn't let himself feel too bad for testing out some of his abilities on him.
Taking a breath, Luffy leap back from Buggy's first strike, far enough away to buy him a few seconds of time. While the man's blades clumsily struck the ground, the Rubberman made a peculiar stance, knees bent with a fist bracing him on the ground. He already knew he couldn't do this with the ease he could before, but he should be able to do the basic form. He repeatedly wound up his muscles and released, trying to force his body's blood flow to quicken, but Buggy was on him again before he could achieve Gear Second.
Rolling to the side, ignoring the sound of laughter around him and the odd look Buggy pointedly made towards his legs, Luffy tried again. He removed the rubber quality in his blood - something he'd never had to do in his old body - and soon his skin was burning red. He could feel it already. His body was not ready for his gears.
Honestly, he should have tried this outside of a fight first, but he had a few seconds to use this speed that no one in the four Blues could match, and he would certainly use it. Swords may not work on Buggy, but blunt force certainly did. Odd that they were opposites in that way.
"What are you doing bo-!" in an instant, Luffy's burning red fist was buried into Buggy's red nose, quickly followed up with a foot in his gut that hurled him off the side of the building he'd been using as a base. Instant knockout. Luffy laughed at the faces of the crew, his skin going back to it's tanned smooth self.
Raising a hand under his nose, he wiped away a trickle of blood. It didn't stop the rest from dripping down his upper lip, and he huffed, annoyed. He'd burst a blood vessel with Gear Second it seemed.
Wondering why he hadn't been attacked yet, Luffy glanced around the men, seeing that most of them were yelling down at their captain over the edge of the roof in concern. It made his heart warm. For such a rude, greedy man, he always seemed to attract loyal men to his side. But where were the rest of them?
They were, in fact, directly behind him. The Pirate King sighed, watching them load a Buggy Ball into the canon. Anyone else would have moved away by now, so he really didn't understand the point behind using a Buggy Ball on someone unrestrained.
Though… Luffy checked the trajectory of the cannonball and grimaced. If he just let it go, it'd hit the town. He couldn't strong fist this explosive weapon -heck, his body probably wasn't ready for it-, and he couldn't dodge… Quickly, Luffy laced his fingers together, getting ready to catch it.
Or he would have, if a certain someone hadn't decided to show up fashionably late.
"Zoro!" Luffy laughed as the man cut the burning fuse, Buggy's flunkies at his feet. "You're late! I already took down the captain." He told the man, gesturing the Crew that still had a few members trying to rouse their captain with yelling. "You want the rest of them?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Uninjured as he was, Zoro had been able to take down Cabaji, Mohji, and Richie with relative ease. It… was honestly one of the funniest things Luffy had seen in a while. They really were more of a circus troupe than a Pirate crew. The Swordsman had sent them packing with their captain in tow. Luffy knew he'd be seeing them again fairly soon.
Nami had come out towards the end, her sack of gold large enough that it looked like it might cause her back problems if she carried it any longer. As they agreed, Nami parted with 30% of the treasure, and Luffy left his First Mate and Navigator to go give it to the townsfolk. He could already hear the bickering as he walked away, and an easy grin stretched his face. That was two.
However, knowing that the mayor would be headed to feed Shushu at some point, instead of gathering the town's attention with sacks of gold, he headed for that special pet store.
Luffy greeted the dog with a pat on his head, and placed the heavy bag on the ground near the porch. "Hey, I'm gonna go inside, just for a sec, okay?" He called out to the old dog, and went inside the dusty building. He only grabbed two things from the counter, a pen and some paper.
Writing a note to the Mayor of Orange town, Luffy tucked the corner under the bag, and stuffed the rest of the paper, rolled up, into his back pocket. Taking a moment to count what he had left of Alvida's bounty, he hummed, trying to remember how much the items he wanted from Loguetown cost. It should be enough, if he hid it from Nami and didn't spend too much of it on food.
"Hey, Doggy, you keep up the good work!" He gave Shushu a thumbs up and a grin, and though the dog would never know what kind of person Luffy was in this life, his tail still thumped on the ground as he barked back, watching the stranger leave.
Nami raised a brow seeing him back so soon, having expected any thanks to go on for a while longer, but Zoro seemed knowing. He sat with his back to the side of their smaller boat, smirking at his captain and looking somewhat proud.
The Swordsman was regretting his decision less and less each moment he learned something new about his captain. "You left it somewhere they could find it?"
Nami furrowed her brow when Luffy nodded, disbelief growing on her face. "Yeah, the Mayor should be along sometime today."
"Wait, wait, you didn't give it to them personally?" The Thief asked, bewildered. At the shake of his head, she sat back with the oddest look. She couldn't believe that these pirates had just done a good deed for this town, saved them from a tyrant of all things, and actively avoided the thanks and possible rewards. "What kind of Pirates are you?"
Luffy laughed, stepping into the boat with Zoro, despite its smaller size. "I already told you; Old Era Pirates aren't the kind of Pirate you're used to, Nami."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
'hey old man! the Pirates are gone so if you want to bring the towns people back you can! this is a cut of Big Noses treasure you can use it to rebuild what they broke' At the bottom of the short, messy scrawl, was a badly drawn, grinning skull and crossbones, wearing a straw hat.
Boodle the Mayor's legs gave out under him and he inched forward to glance inside the bag. Gold glimmered inside the canvas, and tears built up behind his glasses. "Thank you…" He murmured, wiping them away with a wobbly grin, gripping the messy note tightly. It was time to start again, and even if he didn't yet know who he was thanking, everyone in his town would be forever grateful.
Well, Orange Town Arc went by nice and fast! Don't know if I want to write the section with Gaimon, honestly. I might just follow the crowd and skim over it .'
So, as it has been pointed out by someone in the comments, I've decided to point out why I have "Possible" slash in the summary. It's because if there's one thing I love more than my Gay Ships, it's my Platonic Ships. The story will predominantly be SaboLu, but I honestly don't know if it's going to be Romantic or Platonic yet. Honestly, I'm pretty sure Luffy's Asexual and just copying Ussop when he reacts to Nami or anyone else.
Fireycloud: I can see why you would guess Croc to be the culprit, considering how I've been writing, but no, Croc didn't kill Zoro ;)