Nami closed her eyes. Trying to bite back the conflicting emotions within her. She was struggling to to let go of something. Something hadn't considered would become valuable to her.

She felt the sway of the small ship as it bobbed in the tide. Nami caressed the coatsleeve of the Marine Officer's jacket. She gently rubbed the heavy fabric between her thumb and forefinger. For the first time in too long, she willfully thought of her mother. With an eagerness that surprised her, Nami sifted through memories she had deliberately buried. Nami's smile was gentle as, for a fleeting moment, she thought she could taste the scents of cheap cigarettes and tangerines on the sea breeze. A moment where the creak of the catboat became the creak of an old house that protecting two young girls from the winter wind. To moments before she left her childhood behind.

A tear fell.

Nami wondered what Bellemere's face would have looked like if she had sailed home wearing the Coat of Justice. Would Nami's mother… would she be relieved or disappointed when she found out it was just another con?

Sadness turned into shame. Shame became self-loathing. Then indignation. Then anger. Then back to sadness. All of this happened within one singular mercurial moment. She sniffed at the familiar ache those emotions left in their passing. The ache of loss and regret.

Still, there was no bitterness as she quietly folded away the coat. One day soon, her life would be hers again. Then there would be freedom, and one day beyond that, Nami now vowed, a reckoning.

Nami then heard Ensign Luffy shout a question from somewhere high above, most likely from the mast, "Do you think there's anyone left?"

Nami knew Luffy was undoubtedly shouting to Zoro. There was honestly more curiosity than anything else in Luffy's question, but the question still caused Nami's temper to rise. Nami couldn't hear the actual words of Zoro's response, but given his nature, it was probably less than encouraging. Not that she could disagree. Buggy the Clown wasn't known for being encouraging.

No pirate was.

Temper flaring, she glared at the three tied and battered pirates. A glare she filled with the most jagged and broken edges of her soul. She pulled out her staff. Two pirates flinched at the sharp crack of wood as Nami bounced her weapon once off the deck. The third was unconscious and could not. Nami felt absolutely zero shame over that fact.

She then informed the pirates, "You best hope we find these people, and that when we do, that they're okay." Without further word, she strode outside.

The town was, of course, still quiet. Eerily so. Their boat was the only one at this wharf. The muffled thud of its hull brushing up against the docks and the lonely call of a few birds were the only sounds not caused directly by Luffy or Zoro. Nami started scanning the horizon with her spyglass. Through the haze, She could just make out the huge three masted Barque flying Buggy's colors. It was over at the deep water harbor on the other side of the island. The ocean haze did nothing to help her make out the details, but the Big Top definitely had movement within the rigging. There was undoubtedly someone in the crow's nest watching them.

Buggy knew they were here. She sincerely hoped… well…

Right now, more than almost anything, Nami hoped Luffy punched Buggy in his huge nose.

She looked down to Zoro who was kneeling at the dock. He still hadn't gotten their boat tied off properly at the mooring posts. Nami sighed. Despite working on them for several minutes, his knots were absolutely atrocious.

"That's not how you do it."

Zoro, obviously frustrated with an unfamiliar task, turned his head just enough to level a look at Nami. A look she found more irritating than anything. When his glare failed to intimidate her, he said, "It's fine. The ship isn't going anywhere."

Nami was already kneeling beside him so she could redo his knot. "You have to tie it like this. If you don't, the boat's rise and fall with the tide will tighten the knot to the point that you'll never get it free."

Zoro stood so he could glare down on her. Like it was the angle of the glare as to why she wasn't intimidated or something. With stance was the literal definition of deliberately unimpressed, he dropped a hand on his swords.

"Wanna bet?"

Nami, for her part, sharpened her gaze until it became a full on glare of her own. Ultimately though, even though she really wanted to clock him one, she decided she needed to be the adult. She then turned back to the mooring posts and explained. "Just run the rope around the shipposts like this, and then you just pull the end through like that."

She smiled in satisfaction, "This is called a clove hitch, and so long as there is some tension on the line, it will hold everything nice and secure while still being easy to untie." Nami then demonstrated by pulling on the slack end and which allowed the loop to come undone. She smiled, "This way you don't have to chop up a half coil of rope every time you make landfall." She then rapidly retied her knot and started to move to the next post.

Zoro eyed her knot distrustfully, then turned and directly looked away from Nami. With a voice that could only be described as stubbornly uninterested, he told her, "Or I can just tie it my way and then remove the post itself when I decide to leave."

Nami stopped. She then stood. For a long time, the thief just blinked at the back of the bounty hunter's head. The absurdity of the statement, combined with childish obstinacy of the argument, rattled around her very being for an singular impossible moment. In that impossible moment, Nami realized something. She was offended, and, for whatever reason, Nami couldn't remember being quite this offended. Over anything. Ever. This caused something to well up within her and demand something from the deepest and most affronted depths of her soul.

Kinda at the top of her lungs.

"HOW IS THAT ANY BETTER?!"

Her shout echoed over the waves and the near silent town.

"How is what any better?" Ensign Luffy asked, dropping to the ground from the mast behind her. He was picking his nose again.

Nami grabbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Destroying wharfs instead of tying proper knots."

"How is one post an entire wharf?" Zoro asked. His even had the gall to sound insulted!

Nami turned to face Zoro, "You tie a ship in multiple places, you idiot!"

Zoro, now moving past being insulted to actual anger, "Why?!"

Nami, now offended that he was offended, "Because you do!"

Zoro, "That's not a reason!"

Nami was now poking him in the chest with her finger, "You have to tie a ship, bow to stern! Everyone knows that!"

Zoro crossing his arms and looking away from her, "I didn't know that!"

Nami smacked herself in the forehead, then shouted, "Because you're an idiot!"

"That's the second time you called me an idiot! I dare you to call me one again!"

"You're an idiot!"

The bounty hunter and thief glared at each other, neither willing to back down.

"Ahem," Nami looked away from the green haired moron who was very close to getting punched, to instead stare at one of the oddest looking men she had ever seen. He looked like someone crossed a copper pot with an old man, and then glued a poodle to his head for some reason. Seriously, that was the best way to describe him.

Ensign Luffy, "Ooooo. Cool hair!"

The man blinked at Luffy. There was unmistakable hope in his face. "Are you folk with the Marines?"

Luffy, "Yep!"

Nami swallowed, but smiled. "Kinda."

Zoro muttered, "Not a Marine."

Their answers obviously confused the poor guy. Luffy though, simply walked up to him and formally saluted. Nami thought that no matter how often she caught him picking his nose, Luffy always looked intimidating, and even pretty cool, when he saluted like that. He then smiled at the guy in a way that was so completely open it was endearing.

Luffy laughed what could only be called his laugh and told the strange little man, "I guess it's a long story. I'm Ensign Monkey D. Luffy with the 153rd." He then stuck out his hand.

The strange man looked at Luffy for a moment, then took the hand somewhat warily. "Mayor Boodle."

Luffy's smile was wide, "Pleasure to meet ya."

The poor Boodle fellow looked at Zoro and Nami, and then made a somewhat forlorn search of the horizon. "Are there any others?"

Luffy removed hi Marine cap to scratch his head in confusion. "No. Why?"

Boodle sighed, "So you aren't really here to help us then."

Those simple words hung heavy in the morning air. Luffy fully straightened. Something Nami couldn't quite place tightened in his expression. Eyes shadowed and dangerous, the young Ensign said, "You sent word to Morgan for help, didn't you?"

Nami then felt a wave of something. Something muted, but definitely there, and she shivered. Somewhere, some heavy thing lurked within this Marine. Something so camouflaged by his goofy demeanor and open expression, Nami often entirely forgot it existed. But it was there. Despite the nose picking, carefree laughter, and general lax goofiness that summed up ninety-nine percent of the being known as Ensign Monkey D. Luffy, there was that final one percent of his soul. The bared last inch of his will.

A will that completely broke Captain Morgan in front of his men.

A will that was absolutely terrifying in its power.

Boodle almost went white with fear, but the moment didn't last. Sure, Luffy didn't start smiling, but the immense pressure lifted, and soon enough, the Ensign was just a determined young Marine there to do his duty.

Luffy's face became sympathetic. "I will need a full account when we're done to present as evidence at Captain Morgan's court martial, but just know that, right now, I'm going to find this Buggy guy and personally kick his ass."

"Oh is that right?" A voice said from the top of the small seawall overlooking the docks. Nami turned. She swallowed. She then spent several seconds staring at the macabre looking pirate with the huge red nose and sinister makeup. To Buggy's immediate right stood a frightfully huge lion ridden by another pirate that fingered his whip menacingly. To Buggy's left, a man casually sat astride a unicycle juggling various knives, all the while grinning with an evil look. And flanking them was a crew of over two dozen pirates, none of which looked any kinder than Buggy or his lieutenants.

"Yeah! It's almost lunch time! I'm starving so I kinda want to get this done in a hurry!" Luffy looked over at Buggy and smiled, "So, if you could tell me where he is, I'd really appreciate it!"

And just like that, Nami again forgot about the things that made Luffy scary and just wanted to clock him one!

Buggy could actually feel himself blink.

Sometimes, just to be sure, even a great pirate captain has to repeat a question. "You want me to tell you where he is?"

The young Marine smiled big, "Yeah! It's okay if you don't know though. It just means I'll probably grab some lunch first." The Marine looked at Buggy's near empty town and then asked the old scavenger, "Is there a good place to eat still open around here?"

Buggy felt his jaw hit the floor. And not because of any devil fruit he may have eaten.

"That's Buggy right there!" The old man shouted as he pointed. Buggy forgot the guy's name, just some ancient has-been that scrounged the ruins of Buggy's town and sometimes fed the mutt over by the pet store. Buggy did feel a tiny bit grateful to him though as the pirate captain puffed up, ready for take two on his dramatic entrance…

"Where?! I don't see him!"

… Only for that entrance to again be trod upon by a young Marine who was even now looking out over the ocean, shading his eyes.

Things didn't really get any better from there.

The orange haired girl hit the Marine over the head with a stick, and started shouting almost incoherently. The ensign then told her 'That hurt!' She then told him, quite loudly, that 'It was supposed to!' The ensign then asked why she was yelling at him. The girl then pointed at Buggy's crew and said his name again. Just as Buggy started to get his hopes up, the Marine asked if the Buggy guy was hiding behind the crowd of friendly circus people. This caused most people in the general vicinity to smack themselves in the forehead, Buggy included. Orange hair rallied first though and reiterated the words, "Buggy. The. Clown."

It still took way longer than it really should have, but it did, indeed, finally sort itself out.

Needless to say at this point, Buggy was feeling upstaged. He didn't normally like to be upstaged. Problem was, now that his entrance had truly been wrecked and smote across the shore, he really had no idea what to do or how to even restart the conversation.

Buggy blinked hard one more time, and started massaging his temples. In a voice somewhere between utterly nonplussed and completely bewildered, the pirate asked, "What's this about?"

The young Marine looked at Buggy like he was about to pick his nose but thought better of it at the last possible moment. Instead he put his hands behind his back in that stupid stance Marines take for formal occasions. "You stole a map of the Grand Line. I want it back."

Buggy remained too confused to be properly angry. "Sure. No Problem."

The young Marine blinked in surprise, then smiled, "Wow, that was easy! You're pretty okay for a pirate…" He looked at Buggy's crew and back at the small catboat they had arrived in. "Huh, now how am I going to get you all back to Shells Town…?" He again looked from small boat to large pirate crew, "You guys aren't all pirates, right? Aren't at least some of you regular circus people?" His eyes settled on Richie, "I really don't need to take that lion, do I? He's pretty big and probably eats a lot of meat…"

The Marine went back to staring at his little catboat, and finally sighed. With a smile he turned back to Buggy, like they were now old friends or something. "I appreciate the cooperation, but being honest, I'm not really sure how to work this out." His smile then became huge, open, and really damned irritating as he finished with, "I'm open to any suggestions!"

Buggy looked at him, not even knowing what to say.

Then the Marine, like he just realized where the communication breakdown had occurred, smiled sheepishly. "Crap. I forgot to tell you all that you're under arrest." His sheepish smile widened until it was openly friendly again, "Sorry, but I'm still new to being a Marine."

Buggy looked at Morgan's stooge, feeling a full blown migraine starting to form. If there was one good thing about the pain, it at least dropped the sails inside his mind and got his brain sailing again. Starting to feel properly good and angry, Buggy dropped off the sea wall to land on the dock proper. He held up one hand to tell his men to stay back because, somehow, this had become deeply personal. He strode over to the Marine and demanded, "Okay. Start by paying me ten million berries!"

The Marine looked more confused than anything, and, much to Buggy's further irritation, not at all intimidated.

"Why?"

Buggy really shouldn't have been surprised at this point, but he still kinda was. Either way, Buggy was done talking to this idiot, explaining anything to him would be futile, so Buggy instead stormed past the idiot and marched over to the girl. She, at least, might have a functional brain.

Buggy leaned in, real close, until he knew for a fact she could feel his breath on her face. He tried for a sinister voice, but even he could hear the frustration bleeding through.

"Here's how it's going to go. First off, that guy," Buggy waved at the idiot in uniform, "is going to stop talking. Then you will pay me ten," No!, Buggy decided to add an annoyance tax, and let's face it, that Marine was damned annoying. "No! Now it's fifteen million berries! Then you three will climb, no I've now decided I now want you to crawl! Crawl on your hands and knees begging as you get back into that boat! Then you are going sail off and tell Morgan that if he EVER comes round here again I…" Buggy trailed off. Something was wrong. The girl wasn't reacting with anywhere near the proper amount of fear.

Orange haired girl continued to stare at him with her strange expression, utterly unafraid. Instead she was staring at Buggy pure disbelief. Finally she exploded on him so loudly, Buggy had to grab his captain's hat lest she literally shout it off his head.

"FIFTEEN MILLION BERRIES!? Are you NUTS!? At most, that map's worth FIVE! And that's on the HIGH END!" She breathed in deeply, an act Buggy definitely found distracting, as she continued, "Sure it will probably show a lot of detail right around the Red Line, but the One Piece is well beyond…" She then trailed off, noticing Buggy wasn't really looking her in the eyes anymore.

She then demanded, "What are you looking at?!"

Buggy flinched with the reflex of all men who've been caught with wandering eyes. Buggy wasn't normally like that. Honest! There was just something distinctly familiar about her that he was almost sure he'd seen somewhere recently! Like, totally honest!

"Pervert."

Buggy swallowed and looked away to hide his discomfort. He tried to regain control of the conversation, but the sharp edge of her glare was making that distinctly difficult. He still tried a laugh. It was weak, and his men were way too slow to back him up in it, but Buggy was more than willing to pretend otherwise to get the conversation moving again.

"Sorry girlie, but I'm the one setting the rate for this intel." Buggy thought of Morgan's inevitably impotent reaction. That bolstered his confidence and helped the pirate square his shoulders, "If Morgan has a problem with the price, he's free to come here anytime to discuss it."

Buggy then laughed in challenge. This laugh was much better, so he turned to his men to encourage them to join in. After all, Buggy had nothing to fear from someone as ludicrously pretentious as Axe Hand. He turned back to the annoying girl with the loud mouth and smiled malevolently.

Then something occurred to him. Pirates were bad guys! Bad guys were allowed to have wandering eyes! So Buggy leaned down and added something to throw her off, "Of course a little sweet talk might get me to knock down the price." He winked, "You know, by a berry or two." He then laughed again, as his men started jeering and cat calling her from the wall.

The orange haired girl smiled in a hard kind of way that made Buggy like her all the more… at least until she said, "Going to pass." Her smile gained a vicious edge, "for reasons as plain as the nose on your face."

Buggy blinked in surprise. Then he went stiff as his temper instantly approached its boiling point. Even his men were now utterly silent. Buggy felt the red haze descend.

The pirate cracked his own merciless smile. "What an interestingly dangerous thing to say."

Buggy pondered which knife he should use to make her less pretty…

However, before he could teach this tramp a lesson, a dull uninterested tone said, "Fifteen million, you say?"

Buggy reluctantly pulled his eyes from his new toy to stare at the final loser Morgan had sent his way. The green haired guy looked over at Buggy, but in a way the pirate had never really been looked at before. The look the swordsman spared Buggy was of utterly uninterested disdain. Like the guy thought the very effort of the look itself required more work than Buggy was, or would ever be, worth. He then yawned and looked away as he dropped his hand to rest on his swords…

His three swords...

The swordsman then snorted in amusement, "That's actually pretty convenient."

He casually pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. He looked at it briefly, like he needed to make sure of one final thing, then wadded it up with one hand only to tossed it hard enough at Buggy that it bounced off the pirate captain's chest. When Buggy looked down, he could just make out a copy of his very own wanted poster. The one and the five were clearly visible.

The green haired swordsman then smiled softly, but knowingly, "How about I just hand you your head and we call it even?"

Buggy blinked as he looked at the green haired guy. Really looked at him. Recognition went off in the back of his mind as parts of Morgan's plan finally started to reveal themselves.

Buggy smiled and walked towards the bounty hunter. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Pirate Hunter Zoro. The Demon of the East Blue himself." His men then recognized the swordsman, and started booing and hissing at the bounty hunter. Once Buggy was within reach of the blades on the swordsman's hip, showing no fear, Buggy turned and offered his back to the bounty hunter.

A familiar hush descended. The hush of an audience watching a daring performer act out a feat that could easily go wrong to catastrophic consequences. Of course, like with all circus performances, there was no actual danger. Buggy's devil fruit made for one hell of hidden safety net. However, if there was one thing Buggy could do, it was work a crowd. And at this point, Buggy the Clown was done being upstaged.

Plus, this show looked like it was finally getting good.

"It seems the Marines over at Shells Town picked up a new errand boy!"

Zoro's reaction was to yawn. Buggy was still facing away from him, so couldn't actually see it, or even even hear it, but he definitely felt it. That once familiar tingle in his spine of of complete dismissal. Buggy thought of Straw Hat Shanks. How he never took Buggy seriously. How he would laugh and turn, dismissing Buggy's opinion before a single word was even uttered.

Angry, Buggy turned to glare. Zoro didn't look like he even noticed. Buggy breathed deep to reset himself, then smiled, "I guess this particular dog was always destined to find himself leashed by Marines."

Zoro snorted, as if amused by a joke Buggy didn't yet understand. He smiled in a vaguely distant way, but still didn't turn his head to address Buggy directly. "It's starting to feel that way." His strange smile hardened ever so slightly, "It's a long story. Not one any of you have time for."

Buggy snarled at Zoro's threat, and turned fully to face the bounty hunter directly. Zoro didn't react. Despite the threat and the insulting nature of the bounty hunter's posture, Buggy decided to again hold up one hand to keep his crew back. There was one fact everyone needed jammed into their skulls!

That Buggy was the one who was in charge here!

The pirate captain began to slowly circle the pirate hunter. "You're a brave man, especially since you came here," Buggy smirked at the trollop and now frowning Marine, "More or less alone."

Zoro, again, didn't so much as twitch his eyes to follow the pirate circling him. All he did was continue to stare forward, as if the sea wall was the only thing worthy of being looked at.

He also yawned again.

Buggy bit back his temper, instead going for a more jovial tone of voice, "Morgan must have fallen on desperate times indeed if all the 153rd could spare the," Buggy did finger quotes, "'Demon of the East Blue' was some random idiot and a trollop with who likes to run her mouth." Buggy winked at the affronted expression of the foolish girl who made the mistake of insulting his nose, then turned back to smile at Zoro.

Buggy then continued. "I mean I guess I understand. Even a fool like Morgan probably understands that he can't turn away any recruits at this point. I get that. I do. The Marines, indeed the whole world, knows that sooner or later someone is going to find the One Piece and start uniting the pirates." Even though Buggy held no such ambitions, he stopped long enough to pose with his hands on hips and his chest puffed out.

His men went wild, and started hooting. "You tell 'im Captain Buggy!"

"Buggy's the greatest!"

"Who can stop us if we have Buggy as captain!"

"All hail the future Pirate King!"

Buggy took a moment to drink it in, staring at his men. Without turning, Buggy added a thoughtful and sinister note to his tone. "Or maybe it isn't that. Maybe Morgan just hates the entire lot of you…" Buggy looked back to Zoro who, the Pirate Captain could have almost sworn was dozing on his feet. Buggy's temper rose again. He jabbed a finger in Zoro's chest, which at least got the pirate hunter to open his eyes and look Buggy in the face. Zoro's blank expression hardened slightly with anger. Buggy smiled his most sinister smile..

Anger was good. Anger was just fear in the sheep's clothing of bravado. "Yeah. I bet that's it. Morgan hates you three losers more than he actually wants his... no lets face it, the map now belongs to me..." Buggy let his most gruesome smile spread across his face, "Morgan hates you, at least more than he wants my map."

Buggy glanced at the now frowning Marine ensign, who was blatantly picking his nose, and snorted. "Hell. He might have even gotten one over on me. Subjecting me to these two idiots before I go and do his dirty work for him."

Buggy stopped circling to look Zoro in the eye and laughed softly. After a moment, the Pirate said, "Oh well. Few victories are complete, but I do admit to being curious about one thing." Buggy waved one hand at the Ensign. "I get how speaking with this idiot for thirty seconds could only make you want him dead." Buggy then nonchalantly pointed at the other imbecile, "And that one's poisoned tongue outshines her limited appeal as eye candy. But you just got to tell me one thing.

"Buggy's smile widened. "Why does Morgan want you dead?"

Zoro crossed his arms, and leaned back to enough to stare at the sky and feel the sea breeze. After a long while, he admitted, "Could be a couple of things."

"You winning personality?" Buggy then laughed, and his crew new a cue when they heard on and were quick to back him up and joined in... But there was something wrong. That laughter didn't carry.

"No," and with that single word, in a tone again heavy with boredom, the bounty hunter killed that laughter entirely.

Buggy shook it off. He then leaned in and chuckled in the pirate hunter's face. "Okay then, we're waiting."

Zoro then smirked. With a vaguely disinterested shoulder shrug, he said, "It could be because I killed his dog. Or because I beat up his kid." Buggy again felt himself blink as Zoro continued, "I also overthrew his government and tossed him into a dungeon. So take your pick, but nothing unusual."

Something churned within Buggy's guts as the pirate captain felt the dynamics of the situation truly begin to unravel.

Then, as if Zoro had to reconsider something, the swordsman added, "Except for one thing, I guess."

Buggy fought to regain his smile even as he mentally growled to himself. He reminded himself he had every advantage and that he was the star of this show! Refusing to be intimidated, the pirate even went so far as to place a hand on Zoro's shoulder... though he also readied a knife behind his back.

"Yeah, and what is that one thing."

Zoro's expression was completely neutral now, "That I had some help."

It was then that something within Zoro's being started to truly wake, and though it was faint, Buggy felt that awakening crowd away his own soul. At that moment, willful refusal to be intimidated or not, invulnerability to blades or not, Buggy rapidly started rethinking his distance from his crew.

Zoro's deadpan expression then changed. Somehow slowly, but also somehow almost instantaneously, it changed. Changed into something dangerous.

Buggy made his move, driving a blade towards the pirate hunter's guts, only for one of Zoro's swords to slice through the pirate's hand, severing the fingers, and sending the knife flying into the ocean.

"Gumm-Gummmmmmmmmm," something caused Buggy to glance the idiot Marine's way as he pulled his hand back together and grabbed for another knife.

What was with that fool's arm doing...

"PISTOL!"

Then, for Buggy, the entire world was spinning.

Well until he crashed nose first into the seawall.

Zoro blinked as he stared at the now headless body that was still holding his shoulder. More than anything, he felt confusion. "No blood?"

Luffy, "Oh wow, I didn't think I hit him that hard!"

"What are you waiting for?!" Zoro looked to the towards the pirate crew. Was the clown's head yelling at them from the base of the seawall? "Get them!"

Almost as one, the pirates dropped to the deck and charged. Zoro shrugged as he strode forward to meet the pirate mob, already eyeing the overgrown house cat and wondering what lion steaks tasted like. He felt a sharp pain in his side. Zoro spun away, just keeping the headless clown from stabbing him through the liver. His blade severed the hand at the wrist but with surprisingly little resistance. Zoro then sensed a threat from behind and dropped to his knees, arching his back until his head nearly touched the deck, as a separate disembodied fist darted past holding 3 blades between the fingers. Zoro's sword answered in kind, slashing upwards from his arched position and again shredding the fingers and sending the knives themselves skittering across the planking.

Then the hand reformed right in front of Zoro's eyes and picked up the blades, before moving to hover just out of reach.

"What is he?" Zoro demanded as he sprang back to his feet, pulling his second sword.

"Devil fruit user," The thief said as she strode forward. There was something hard and uncompromising about her face, and Zoro could actually feel the anger radiating off of her in waves.

The clown's head laughed, "That's right! I ate the chop-chop fruit, do you know what that means?" The clown's body walked under the pirate's now hovering head, one hand reaching to seemingly pluck the floating object from the sky and set it snuggly back upon his neck.

Wait... where was the other hand?

Zoro twisted as the other disembodied fist, again clutching blades, tried to stab him through the spine. Both weapons in Zoro's hands flashed, again slicing the fist to pieces and sending the blades flying. This time the knives splashed into the water.

The clown snarled, "Damn it."

Zoro guessed something was up because even though the hand itself had already put itself back together, it was floating impotently over the water without grabbing its weapons.

The thief then said, lining up beside him. "Knock whatever weapon he pulls into the ocean."

Zoro glanced at her, and arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why?"

Ensign Luffy strode forward as well, eyeing Buggy with intent, "Devil fruit users can't swim. Sea water weakens us."

Zoro could accept that.

The thief then mentioned to him, "You're bleeding."

Zoro nodded, "Bastard tried to stab me in the liver."

Luffy then pointed out, "You're also bleeding from the back."

Zoro blinked, sheathed his right blade. He reached over his shoulder, feeling a fairly deep but nearly painless cut on his left shoulder blade. When he looked at his red finger tips.

He thought of a moment long ago as he lay helpless and prone before someone now gone. Someone who had never gotten to prove that she was strong.

Whether through cowardice, weakness, or simple unpreparedness…

"Gumm-Gummmmmmm–"

...scars on the back are a swordsman's shame.

"He's mine!" At Zoro's angry shout, the entire pirate crew, every single one of them, from the lion to Buggy the Clown himself, stopped to stare at the pirate hunter as he laid claim to his target.

Luffy whose arms were stretched back behind him and was eyeing Buggy with intent, paused. He glanced at Zoro and asked only one question, "You sure?"

"Yes." Zoro reached for the bandana on the arm, "He just stabbed me in the back."

Proving he understood, Luffy nodded. "Okay then, I guess I'll start with the lion."

Proving the thief didn't get it, she pointed out, "You're bleeding worse from your side."

Luffy eyed the lion with a smile, "Man I'm hungry, I wonder what lion tastes like."

Zoro continued to stare at the clown as he pulled his bandana from his arm and tied it around his head. He wanted Buggy to understand how much of a mistake he had just made. "No one shames me." He then flicked his thumb and drew Wado Ichimonji to firmly set his teeth upon the grip.

"Oh… I was wondering about that!" Even now, Luffy's laughter was infectious. So infectious it even made Zoro smile.

With that smile Zoro then spoke around the grip Wado Ichimonji, "Okay clown, let's see what you got."

Hello people. My long cancer sabbatical is over. I know I'm mixing things up, a lot, but after watching the show to the start of Punk Hazard, I thought it would be fun to have some different face offs. I mean, being fair, aren't you even a bit curious about how an early story Zoro does against Buggy?

I could have Zoro start bleeding out and nerf him again, or have Luffy do something reckless to try and nullify him, but I'm not going to. I'm going to play it a bit differently and a few canonically bad matches are going to be in the cards.

Nothing incredibly stupid of course. I wouldn't have something as one sided as Sanji face off against Boa Hancock, although I could picture her wondering, "How come this statue is bleeding from his nose?" Huh, I guess you could get blood from a stone, couldn't you?

Anyways, I have some evil ideas. If you have any similar fun matchups feel free to message me.

As an aside, I guess some very nice people thought I passed away. I'm okay. I apologize for the internet not being that lucky.

Special thanks to KaliYugaFan for fact checking stuff without spoilers.

Thank you all for reading.