Ellis made a sharp right, running as if her life depended on it. Because her life depended on it. Behind her, the thundering footsteps of Richie the Lion skidded, before crashing into a building. Glancing behind her was a rookie mistake, because she immediately tripped on a loose brick and skidded across the pavement herself.

How did this become her life?

She scrambled to her feet and continued running. She could hear the lion climb out of the debris. The street she turned down was maybe a yard in width, which was too small for Richie to squeeze into, but that didn't deter him. The house next to her shook as he jumped onto the roof. Shingles flew off from the impact.

"Oh, come on!" She cursed to herself. This chase was getting nowhere. She led the lion far enough from the store, but no matter what she did, she just couldn't lose the stupid beast. She even dropped the box of pet food for him to find, but he just picked it up and kept chasing her.

A head-on fight with such a monster would be too risky. Her weapons have too short a range, and only one swipe of the paw would be all it takes for her to be out of commission. However, she might not have much of a choice.

The street she was on was coming to an end, opening into a much more open road. She can't circle back and she can't stay in this road while the lion had the high ground, too much rubble would fly down at her.

Until she recognized the street in front of her. Right as she ran in the open she made a sharp left. This is the street she took to walk back from the beach earlier in the day.

She took a peek back when she turned, only to see the lion wiggle in preparation to pounce. Then he leapt.

Ellis had no other choice.

She spun to face Richie, pulling out a knife with her right hand. She ran at him head-on. She rolled under, dodging his paws, landing to the left of him. Using both of their momentum, she sliced.

And her knife got lodged into his thigh, with how deep she got. Blood sprayed out onto her hand and part of her shirt. She hissed, not realizing her palms were scratched up from her earlier tumble, and released the hilt.

Valuing her life over saving a blade, she ran down another side street. She knew where she was and now where she was going. In the distance she could hear the lion shrieking, and the tamer yelling, "Richie! No!"

And the chase continued.

When Ellis finally reached the docks, she sped into a sprint. She proceeded to run to the end of a dock and launched herself into the water. The ocean stung at her injuries, making her aware of scrapes she wasn't even aware of.

Ellis swam a few feet down before reaching the sandy bottom, and looked up. Through the distorted water she could see the deformed image of the lion peeking his head over, looking for her. She held her hand over her nose and mouth to prevent any bubbles from escaping, and a few moments later, Richie and Mohji turned away.

Ellis counted to ten before kicking off the sea floor and surfacing, flipping her hair out of her face and gasping for air. She made her way to a ladder a few yards down. She listened over the sound of waves for any sign of her pursuers, and after hearing nothing she proceeded to climb out of the water.

And she was left sprawled in the middle of the weathered wood, bruised and bleeding. She took a few moments to steady her breathing, then she looked down at her body.

Her hands and arms were bleeding. The side of her head ached. Her back was sore, and if she breathed too deep or fast, there was a sharp pain.

She's probably fine.

Ellis wrung out her hair before standing, and she walked back into town. The sea breeze behind her left her shivering.

As gently as she could, she wiped small pebbles and debris from her palms, hissing when she put too much pressure. After that, she squeezed water out of her shirt as she walked. She knew the general direction back, but to be sure, she approached a tree. Observing it, she found it satisfactory. She quickly climbed it, ignoring her stinging palms, before swinging from a branch to a balcony. Then she stood on the balcony's railing, grabbed the overhanging roof, and pulled herself up.

She proceeded to hop from roof to roof until she could hear a dog wailing.

Shushu.

Hopefully, the shop didn't get any lasting damage.

When the shop came into view, Ellis hopped down to the street.

Nami screamed. "Where did you even come from?" She yelled at Ellis. Then she took a closer look at the soaked and bleeding woman in front of her. "Wait, what happened?"

"That lion sure can run," was all she replied. Nami took her by the wrist and started pulling her to the mayor's house.

"Let's get you dried off and fixed up."

Ellis was shoved into the bathroom, her backpack tossed in after her, and was told to dry off and get changed. She complied without comment, changing into a mint green tank top and some loose gray pants. She exited the room, rubbing her hair with a towel, to see the mayor waiting with some bandages, tweezers, and a bowl of warm water.

"Let's get these scrapes looked at."

As he was bandaging her palms, they heard shouting from outside. The mayor rushed out, and Ellis followed more sedately. She walked out the front door to find the mayor holding Nami back from Luffy, the man she swore got slammed through several houses, without a single scratch on him.

Ellis moved to sit next to Shushu.

"–And I wish he had, 'cause there'd be one less pirate in the world!" Nami shrieked. Ellis turned her head to see Nami yelling at Luffy. Once the information registered in her brain, her hackles raised.

Another pirate.

"Maybe I should kill you right now before you can gather a crew," Nami charged at him, "and destroy everything else!"

Then Nami, spotting her from the corner of her eye, turned to Ellis. "You should have left him locked up, he could have been out of our hair! He's scum– "

"I can't just leave someone to die," Ellis retorts. "Even if he turned out to be a pirate!" Contrary to her tone, Ellis was trembling.

The mayor tried to pacify Nami. "Come, now, there's no need for violence."

But throughout that, all Luffy did was stand and watch. Then, turning his back to Nami, he walked to Ellis and Shushu. Ellis tensed as he approached. He replied to Nami, "As if you could ever kill me."

He was carrying a very familiar box.

"Well, maybe I'll try it and see!" Nami continued.

"I said, stop!" The mayor interjected. "What's with you people?!"

Then Luffy stood above Ellis. Her neck strained as she looked up at him. No matter what he was about to do, he's dangerous. If he was able to beat the lion and get that box back . . . Even with the best intentions, that's a frightening achievement. Terrifying. And he was standing right next to her.

While she's weak, injured, and vulnerable.

Then he placed the box in front of Shushu. He walked around the two of them and sat on his other side.

"Hahh. Sorry, but that was all I could save for you. The bastard lion ate all the rest of it," Luffy said. "You fought well. Of course, I didn't actually see you defend the store, but I could tell you gave it your all." He gave a blinding grin.

Shushu looked at the box. He grabbed it in his jaws and stood up, walking in front of and around Luffy. Luffy kept looking straight ahead, but Ellis turned, keeping her gaze on the dog. Once Shushu got to the end of the street, he turned, dropped the box, and barked.

Luffy turned at that, replying, "Thanks! Good luck to you, too, doggy!"

Then Shushu once again picked up his box and continued on his way.

For the first time since Ellis got to this god-forsaken town, birds were chirping.

Without Shushu as a buffer, she was now sitting right next to the very dangerous, yet strangely kind, pirate. Once the dog was out of her line of sight, she turned her gaze to Luffy. He was already looking at her.

"What happened to you?"

"Ah, I tried leading the lion away from the store." She rubbed at her arm, sheepish.

"He was pretty beat up by the time I caught up to him," Luffy commented.

"That's giving me way too much credit."

Then Nami approached them.

"Sorry about earlier," she said. "I didn't mean to yell."

Luffy turned to Nami, replying, "It's okay! You've been under a lot of stress lately." He stood up, wiping his hands on his shorts. "I don't feel like hearing about it, though."

Ellis carefully placed her hands on the ground to help ease herself up. She turned to Nami. "I can't hold a grudge against my only ride out of here," she joked.

"I'm pathetic!" The old man blurted out of nowhere, startling her. Ellis spun to look at him as he continued, "Shushu and these young'uns fought so hard, and yet I, the mayor, have done nothing but sit back and watch our town be obliterated by Buggy and his despicable group!"

The three of them ran to the mayor behind them in dismay.

"Calm down, it's not that bad–" Nami started, but got cut off.

"Forty years ago, this whole area was nothing but a barren, rugged land. We all worked together to create fields for our crops, open stores, and build everything from the ground up!" The mayor passionately ranted. "This town is a treasure to me and all its citizens!"

Ellis tried to interject, but before she could get a word in, the mayor continued, "From here on out, I refuse to let Buggy and his crew terrorize us anymore!"

A huge, blinding light emitted behind her, before–

BANG!

CRASH!

A deafening explosion interrupted them. The mayor fell back, and Luffy yelled in dismay.

"He'll– destroy it all," The mayor weakly finished.

"Zoro was sleeping in there!"

"I'm sure he's dead, now," the mayor shakily replied. All Ellis could do was stare at the smoking pile of debris that used to be the mayor's house. Only Luffy took the initiative to call for his friend.

"Hey! Zoro! You in there? Are you still alive?"

Ellis just saw someone die. She's watching a dead man's friend search for him. No one could have possibly–

"That's a hell of a way to wake a guy up," a voice from the disaster zone replied.

What?

All Luffy did was laugh in response. Ellis could feel the pent up dread and anxiety melt away. She wasn't about to question dodging a traumatizing loss, even if it was a scary pirate going out of commission. Seeing people experience the worst day of their lives really sucks, to put it mildly.

Until she realized the strong, terrifying pirates, that could single-handedly beat up a lion the size of a house, just proved to be immune to bombs. If the crew becomes a problem, how could anyone ever stop them?

She and Nami could only stare at the scene in front of them in bewilderment.

"Ah, I could've used a few more Z's," the smoke cleared to reveal Zoro sitting on top of the rubble, holding his head in his hand. He only got a headache? From all that?

"How did you survive that blast?" Nami tentatively asked.

"All right!" Luffy exclaimed, ignoring her. "You're alive!"

"I refuse to let them get away with this," Ellis heard the mayor mutter behind her. She looked over her shoulder at him as he continued, "I won't stand for it. I can't let this scumbag destroy all that my townspeople worked for these last forty years!" He clenched his fists, aggressively breathing out.

"I am the mayor of this town," he continued, "I will protect it and its inhabitants! I swear! To my dying breath!"

Nami ran over, trying to hold him back, as he continued to get more riled up. "Stop! You can't defeat Buggy!" She tried to reason.

"There are some fights that a man can't run from! Isn't that right?!" The mayor argued.

Luffy responded, "That's right, old man!"

Ellis snapped her head to Luffy in dismay as Nami fought on, saying, "Shut up! Don't egg him on, Luffy! It's dangerous for him to fight Buggy!"

The mayor spun around at Nami before snapping back, hysterical, "I know it's dangerous!" Causing Nami to step back in shock, releasing him. The mayor spun back and ran off, shouting, "I'm coming for you, Buggy the Clown!"

Ellis, stunned, just stared after him reminiscent of a deer in headlights.

"The mayor was . . . crying," Nami absent-mindedly commented.

"He was? I didn't see it," Luffy replied.

"Looks like the party's getting more exciting," Zoro added.

"Sure does!" Luffy laughed.

The mayor was now out of sight.

"This is no time for laughter!" Nami cried.

"Don't worry, I started to grow fond of that old man," Luffy stated. "There's no way I'd let him die."

Zoro started walking in the direction the mayor disappeared, adding, "Well, in that case . . ."

Nami chased after him, "You're gonna go, too?! You're wounded!"

Zoro only tied a dark green bandanna over his head, before replying, "Yeah, so what? The injury to my reputation's a lot worse than the injury to my gut."

"You were stabbed. Repeatedly," Ellis responded, concerned. "In the same spot each time."

"Well, if we want to get to the Grand Line, we better go steal that chart back," Luffy said. Then he bent in close to Nami. "Hah, are you gonna join our crew, or what? Huh? Come onnn!" He goaded, holding out his hand.

Nami, exasperated, stated, "I'll never sink so low as to become a pirate!" Then she smirked, slapping his hand. "But I suppose we could team up, in order to achieve our common goal."

Luffy grinned, chuckling.

They all started walking, and Ellis trailed behind. No matter how much she wants to just leave, she can't let the mayor go off and kill himself, and she can't leave Nami to the whims of two pirates set on having her on their crew. Plus, she's kind of committed to the situation at this point. She needs to see this to the end. The mayor and Shushu deserve that much, at least.

When they heard yelling, the group followed the sound with urgency. Especially once they could start making out the words.

"I'll never let you destroy this town! Even if it costs me my life!" The mayor challenged, as he was being held in the air.

"So be it!" There was nothing visibly holding him up, at least until Luffy rushed in and pulled a detached hand from the back of the mayor's neck.

They all stood at the entrance to a sort of village square, the middle of which was the bar Ellis saw earlier. The bar with the huge line of debris pointing straight at it. From this perspective, she could see several other debris fields as well. Nami and Zoro stood behind Luffy, and Ellis stood behind them.

On the roof of the bar, Drinker Pub, was a clown wearing a pirate hat, presumably the Buggy the Clown she keeps hearing about. Seeing as his arm stops at the wrist, the hand Luffy separated from strangling the mayor must be his.

"That straw hat! Not again!" the clown exclaimed.

"I'm here to kick your ass, just like I promised I would, Buggy." Luffy tilted his head so that the brim of his hat shadowed his eyes, and his grin was more mocking than genuine. Almost sneering.

Buggy looked like he was struggling with something, before Luffy released the detached hand. Said hand then floated back over to the clown, reattaching itself as if it were never separated in the first place. The mayor crouched behind Luffy, coughing, trying to catch his breath. Buggy growled.

"How dare you. You can't just waltz up to me and treat me like this!" He shrieked, "I'm Captain Buggy and I won't stand for it!"

Nami, completely ignoring him, turned to Zoro, pointing at him and stating, "Listen to me, all I want is the chart and the treasure, then I'm out of here. You got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," he carelessly replied.

The mayor coughed, before stating, "Get out of here, why'd you follow me? You're outsiders, leave this to me!"

Luffy turned to look back at him as he groaned in pain. The mayor continued, "This is my fight, I need to be the one to protect my town!" He picked up his stick, using it to help him struggle to a standing position, "Buggy is my fight–!"

Luffy slammed him into a wall. Tthe mayor slid down, collapsing to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Why did you knock out the mayor?!" Nami shrieked.

Luffy turned to her, smiling, as if he didn't just do that. He replied, "Because!"

As if that was the only explanation needed.

"That's not a bad idea," Zoro chimed in, "if the old man had continued the fight, he would've died."

As if slamming an old man against a wall wasn't also going to kill him.

"It's for the best," Zoro added as an afterthought.

"You didn't have to hit him! I'm sure we could've thought of a more humane way to deal with the situation!" Nami yelled at Luffy.

"Hey, Nami?" Ellis tentatively interjected. "While I don't agree with how they did it, the mayor would have only gotten in the way of a fight. If he were conscious, he would be a distraction at best." Luffy walked closer to the bar. Then Ellis muttered, "I feel bad about the severe head trauma, though."

"Big Nose!" Luffy shouted, startling her.

"That's the worst thing you could've said to him!" Nami exclaimed.

"You damn flashy idiot," Buggy growled, "I won't stand for this! Take aim and fire the Buggy Ball!"

A cannon locked onto their position.

"Why'd you have to say that?!" Nami ran to the side, finding cover behind one of the abandoned homes. Ellis ran to the other side of the street, hiding behind one of those houses.

However, she noted Zoro and Luffy stayed. While Zoro looked ready to run, Luffy just stood nonchalantly with his hands on his hips.

"Time to die!" Buggy shrieked.

BANG!

The cannon fired, and Ellis covered her eyes, unwilling to see the carnage. However, she managed to remember Zoro surviving a similar blast, and Luffy surviving through slamming through several buildings.

"Gum-Gum Balloon!"

She heard the sound a balloon makes when inflating, and she peeked through two fingers to see what was happening.

Luffy was huge and round, as if converted by some deviantart inflation fetish account (don't ask). All she could do was stare. Did he . . . catch the Buggy Ball?

Then the ball rebounded from his stomach and demolished the bar and everyone in it.

"He could've warned me," Zoro muttered.

As the shockwave blew past them from the force of the collision, Luffy put his hand on his hat to keep it from blowing away. However, Ellis and Nami fell back from their own shock.

What the fuck. What the actual fuck.

"Alright! I got 'em!"

"What the hell kind of monster are you?!" Nami retorted.

"I think you freaked her out," Zoro observed.

Ellis couldn't take her eyes off of Luffy's back, unsure of what exactly she was feeling. Is he even human? What was that? What was he?

"I knew that something was weird after you survived the fight with that lion!" Nami exclaimed, approaching the pirate duo. "No human being could do what you do, now explain yourself!" She got into Luffy's face. "What the hell was that balloon-inflatey thing you just did?!"

"That was the Gum-Gum Balloon," he stated, arms crossed and pleased with himself.

"I don't care what you call it, just tell me how you did it! What are you, some kind of freak?!"

Ellis blinked out of her shock and moved closer to the other three. They all seem competent enough for her to hide behind, at least for now.

"How dare you try to flashily do me in!" They saw Buggy rise from the rubble, arms crossed, with his detached hands holding two of his crew members up after having used them as a shield. He tossed them to the side.

"Unreal. He's using his men as a shield," Nami said with disdain.

"What in the world just happened here?!" A man, Mohji, jumped out of the rubble. He looked around, jumped onto the ground, and stopped to stare at Ellis's group. "No! It's you!"

Luffy raised his hand in a wave. "Hi."

Mohji shrieked in horror, "It's that damn straw hat guy!" He screamed some more. "We have to be careful, he has Devil Fruit powers too, he's a rubber person! I saw it myself!"

Rubber . . . his arms were longer than she thought when he was in the cage, is that why? It also makes more sense how he wasn't obliterated from getting flung by the lion.

Ellis isn't paid enough for this crap.

"What?" Buggy growled.

"Rubber person?" Nami questioned.

"Yeah," Luffy smirked before manually stretching the skin on his face with his hands, "See?"

Okay, Ellis didn't need to see that. What in the uncanny valley?

"A Devil Fruit . . ." Buggy said to himself. "That explains how he bounced that Buggy Ball back at us."

The sound of more rubble shuffling revealed the monster lion, Richie, who was being held up after also being a shield.

"How do you plan to respond to this insult," a voice coming from behind him asked, "Captain?"

"Oh, Cabaji! I don't know, I'm too angry to even fart," Buggy responded.

"Put him down, Cabaji! What the hell did you do to my Richie?!" Mohji exclaimed. What kind of name is Cabbagey? Who names their kid Cabbage?

"This cat? I used it as a shield to keep my clothes from getting dirty," the voice replied. He dropped the lion, revealing a man with a long checkered scarf and dark green hair the same color as Zoro's bandanna. He also had weird stripes shaved into his hair.

"Richie!" Mohji cried, throwing himself at his downed lion. "No, Richie! Say something, please! Richie! The lion whined, opened his eyes, saw the man that used him as a shield, and promptly jumped behind a huge piece of wall.

"Richie!" Mohji turned from the lion to his crewmate. "Damn you! You bastard!" He threw a poor punch, and Cabbagey dodged before kicking Mohji.

Kicking Mohji so he went flying right at them. Ellis braced herself for impact.

"How about, out of MY way?!" Luffy exclaimed. With obscene flexibility, he counter-kicked Mohji with a very high roundhouse kick, deflecting him to collide with a wall. On impact, the wall cratered, and Mohji fell to the ground, down for the count.

"Captain Buggy," Cabbagey trailed off.

"Yes, Cabaji?"

"Allow me to repay their disrespect."

"Fine," Buggy allowed, "but make it a good show for everyone!"

Cabbagey grinned, before jumping obscenely high, into the glare of the sun."

"Ooo," Luffy exclaimed, interested. Cabbagey landed ahead of them on a unicycle (where did he get a unicycle?), holding a sword.

He charged at them, introducing himself. "You may call me Acrobat Cabaji, Captain Buggy's Chief of Staff." He readied his sword. "You will pay for your insolence!" He swung his sword, aiming at Luffy–

"I'll clash swords with you," Zoro blocked it with one of his own swords, holding another sword in his other hand.

"It's an honor, Roronoa Zoro. As a swordsman myself, I relish this chance to slay you."

Luffy walked from behind Zoro to peek at him, "Hey, Zoro? You really should get some rest, let me handle this guy–"

"Just stay back."

Ellis looked at Luffy, noting the nervous sweat, and at Zoro's wound, realizing the bandages were starting to stain with blood.

"Arsonist Technique!" Cabbagey yelled, lowering his scarf to breathe fire into Zoro's face. Zoro yelled in pain, holding his arms in front of his head in a desperate attempt to shield himself. Then Cabbagey kicked him in the stab wound, causing blood to splash out.

Zoro screamed, falling back.

"What's wrong? I didn't kick you that hard, now, did I?" Cabbagey mocked.

"He fights dirty," Nami exclaimed, "going after his injury like that!" Ellis bit her nails, but scrunched her face at the salt still sticking to her from earlier. It's expected for criminals to fight dirty, but it doesn't make it any easier to watch.

"Acrobat Technique: Murder at the Steam Bath!" Cabbagey said.

"What?" Ellis blurted. "What kind of name–"

He spun his sword like a propeller, causing the lingering dust and smoke from the collapsed building to obscure the area around them.

"Never mind."

"Acrobat technique, my ass!" Zoro commented as he sat up. "That's just an ordinary dust cloud!"

Abruptly he crossed his swords in front of him, blocking the acrobat's blade, only to get another kick to absolutely slam his injury. More blood splattered. Zoro got flung to the side before rolling to a stop.

"He did it again!" Nami observed.

Zoro was splayed on the ground, struggling to push himself up. The hand Ellis wasn't biting at was digging into her arm. This fight was getting brutal.

"What's this? It's such a disgraceful sight to see a grown man moaning," Cabbagey taunted while balancing stationary on his unicycle. "I suppose now you can see how foolish it was to make an enemy of the Buggy Pirates?"

Man, he really needed to oil that unicycle, because every time he moves even a little, it squeaks like hell.

"To keep fighting with such a bad injury . . . he's crazy!" Nami said. "He's hurt so bad, I don't know how he's managing to just stay in the fight!" Nami turns to Luffy. "Why are you just standing there watching him?! He's gonna get himself killed, you know!"

Ellis isn't sure if this is how Luffy wanted to show his prospective crewmate how he treats the people under him. She watched him keep a straight face, ignoring Nami, as Zoro struggled to push himself off the ground.

"Roronoa Zoro," Cabbagey stated, "is finished!" He pedaled at Zoro, sword ready to swing.

"You annoying little bastard," Zoro muttered, standing with surprising ease. "You having fun poking at my wound?!" The forcefulness in which he spoke, she hadn't heard until now. It put her on edge. "Then go ahead!"

And Zoro just stood there, letting Cabbagey stab him completely through his side.

"?!"

Cabbagey then swung his sword out of Zoro's side. Severed bandages flew off, and the bandages still wrapped around him were holding on for their life.

"Why – didn't you dodge his attack?" Nami asked in horror.

"Is that enough of a handicap for you?" Zoro asked, before turning around to face the acrobat. He grinned menacingly, but the sweat beading down his face told another story. His head was tilted to shade his eyes, intimidating Ellis even though he wasn't even looking at her.

"Now let me show you just how superior my skills are to yours."

"Yeah, Zoro!" Luffy cheered, throwing his hands in the air and shoving his way in front of Nami, becoming the peanut gallery. "Get him!"

"You fool. You've made a vast error in judgment," Cabbagey tried to keep cool, but he was perspiring more than Zoro was. "I won't be mocked!"

"My swords aim to be the world's greatest. I refuse to lose even once to anyone who calls himself a swordsman!"

"I see. A strong resolve keeps you going, but have no fear. Wounds as bad as yours will be more than enough of an excuse for losing to me!" Cabbagey boasted.

"To hell with that! If I lose to someone like you, even with these light injuries, then I don't have a very bright future ahead of me, do I?" Then Zoro put a sword in his mouth.

"Why, you –"

"Alright! Yeah!" Luffy interrupted, excitedly.

"I won't stay and watch this," Nami stated, causing Luffy to turn and look at her. "You pirates can stand around for the rest of time and kill each other for all I care." She started walking away. "I mean, it doesn't matter to me whether you guys win or lose!" Nami turns back to them. "I'm gonna take this opportunity to swipe their treasure and get out of here."

"Huh?" Luffy genuinely sounded upset.

"Maybe we can team up again if we ever get the chance!" Nami placated. "See ya! Good luck with the fight!"

"See ya!"

Nami grabbed Ellis's arm, pulling her with her. "You're coming with me. Your ride out of here isn't free, you know."

"Yeah, that checks out," Ellis commented, letting herself get dragged along. That fight was seriously stressing her out.

A/N: Originally 4.8k words, edited to 4.9k; I wasn't satisfied with the original chapter I posted, so after stewing on it overnight, I came up with some alterations I liked better. Sorry lol