DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, EXCEPT RAGNAR AND ALL VIKINGS IN THIS STORY! ONE PIECE BELONGS TO EICHIRO ODA, VIZ MANGA, TOEI ANIMATION AND FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT/CRUNCHYROLL LLC
Chapter 8: Who is the Victor? Devil Fruit Power Showdown!
It was a calm day back then. Buggy and Shanks were still only cabin boys, but somehow they got into one of their famously heated arguments. Everyone on their crew came to watch, and placed bets on who would win.
"The North Pole!" Buggy shouted.
"The South Pole!" Shanks yelled back.
"That's what you say!?"
"Right, and I'm gonna keep on sayin' it, because I'm right, clown boy!"
"Oh, you got guts! I'm gonna settle this once and for all!"
"Go ahead and try!"
"Alright, you bastard, I'm gonna bust you open flashily!"
"Counterattack!"
All at once the two boys were knocked upside their heads, and Silver Rayleighs, the ship's quartermaster got between the two boys.
"Knock it off!" He told them both, "Nobody but you two cares which is colder, the north or the south poles. If you wanna know so badly, why don't you go to both and find out? Now, cool it!" As both boys clutched their heads in agony, the entire crowd laughed, all in good humor, and who could blame them? They were just boys, and still had yet to see the world after all.
"A ship!" Came the cry, and everyone looked up to the crow's nest where the lookout was stationed, "Enemy ship to the north, northeast!"
"Right! Get ready!" Rayleighs shouted, "Time to fight!"
"Yes! I can't wait to plunder!" Buggy exclaimed.
"You sound happy, Buggy," said Shanks, having forgotten about his rivalry with his crewmate.
"Obviously!" The clown boy explained, "You see, Shanks my friend, enemy ships are basically big floating treasure chests. Therefore, it's only natural that pirates raid them, am I right?"
"Well, there's some truth to that."
"You're too weak! You and everyone else aboard just don't have the pirates' natural hunger and desire for plunder and treasure. You don't know what it means to be a pirate." Before long, the gundeck was a-roar with the thunderous fire of cannons. Once the enemy vessel was taking on a decent amount of water, the grappling hooks were away and the crew boarded the enemy's vessel. Men hacked at each other with cutlasses, or shot with flintlock pistols. Buggy managed to kill one of his opponents before noticing a scroll in the shirt. "What's this?" the boy asked, finding cover to unravel it. Instantly, he was amazed at what he saw. "It's…It's a treasure map! I've never seen one before! Incredible!" Buggy couldn't believe his luck! And the map told him exactly where the destination was. "So, the treasure's at the bottom of the ocean, eh?" Sneering, the cabin boy finally found his big break. He was set for life now!
That evening, the crew dropped anchor, waiting to sail in the morning. For now, though, they had a successful haul, and it was time to celebrate. Buggy, however, had other plans.
"Hey, Buggy!" A drunken voice cried out, and Buggy turned from his position on the forecastle to see Shanks with a bottle of rum in his right hand, trying to climb up, happy as a clam. "Aren't ya gonna come celebrate with us? We found a whole lotta really neat stuff."
"It's no map!" Buggy shouted, as he scrambled to hide the map, "I don't have anything hidden! Go away!"
"What're you talking about, Buggy?" Shanks asked, confused.
"Oh, I…never mind." The clown boy then helped his friend up so they could watch the full moon together. Then, a question struck him as he looked to his companion, "You said you were gonna leave this ship sometime, right? So, what do you plan to do?"
"I'm gonna get my own ship, then gather a reliable crew, and see the world," said Shanks, "I'm even gonna take my time, all as a pirate, of course."
Buggy couldn't help but laugh at the thought, "What a bunch of sentimental nonsense!"
"Say what?"
"I do admire your swordsmanship skills, though. If you weren't such a softie, I'd make you one of my henchmen."
"Your henchman?" Shanks asked with a laugh, "I don't think so! We have completely different outlooks on life, so I think we should just follow our own paths. After all, that's what pirates do."
"You think you're such an expert on pirates, but if we ever meet on the ocean, then we'd have to have a fight to the death."
"Yeah. Pirates do that too."
"You never make any sense," said Buggy, and then he remembered Shanks' earlier words, "Anyway, you said something about finding some interesting loot, right?"
"Oh yeah! We found a Devil Fruit!" Shanks exclaimed, "I heard that the different fruits are incarnations of the Sea Devil. Supposedly, if you eat one, you'll get Devil powers, but in return the sea will hate you, and take your ability to swim."
"You'd have to be stupid to eat one of those."
"Not the Vikings. Apparently, they want those fruits."
"What could a bunch of seafaring barbarians want with those?"
"Who knows. All I hear is that they go after certain ones, and somehow, they found a way to counteract losing the ability to swim. I bet you could sell one of those fruits to one of them for at least 100 million berries."
"WHAT!?" Buggy asked, shocked by the value those crops go at. Suddenly an idea formed in his head.
The very next day, Buggy stood tall before the entire crew with what looked like a pineapple in his left hand and a huge smile on his face. "I, pirate apprentice Buggy, am about to devour this Devil Fruit!"
"Ya gotta love the kids!" One of the crew remarked, "Never thinking of consequences." They all watched as Buggy opened his mouth as wide as he could, and ate the whole fruit in a single bite. As soon as he swallowed it, the questions started coming.
"Well, Buggy? You feel any differently yet?"
"What powers are you gonna manifest?"
"I…I don't know," Buggy replied, "I don't feel anything at all!" At this, the crew began to lose hope, with some even muttering that they'd never seen a real Devil Fruit in action before, but unbeknownst to them, Buggy had duped them all.
Later that evening, he made his way to a lifeboat he gathered together, with the real Devil Fruit and the map he held.
"Yes! That worked flashily well!" He muttered, "These guys are so gullible. I can't believe I was able to trick them so easily! Now, time to jump ship before they learn the truth. With the money I make from selling this Devil Fruit to the nearest Vikings I come across, and finding this sunken treasure, I'll easily be able to form my own crew."
"Hey there, Buggy! Were you just saying something?" Shanks asked. His sudden appearance caused Buggy to freak, hiding the map in his shirt and the Devil Fruit in his mouth.
"Oh, it's you, Shanks. Don't scare me like that," he replied, trying to hide the fruit he stole as best he could.
"Jeez, no need to be so jumpy," Shanks muttered as he walked away, "Just don't steal any food from the kitchen, you don't wanna make the chef mad."
"Phew! That was close," Buggy muttered, thinking that Shanks was gone.
"Oh yeah!" Shanks added, returning to his friend, "By the way, Buggy. The captain wanted me to tell you something." However, the second shock was so frightening, Buggy tilted his head upwards, and accidentally swallowed the Devil Fruit whole. Buggy was livid! He'd just lost one part of the fortune he was planning to amass!
"DAMN YOU!" He roared, grabbing Shanks by his collar.
"Hey, what's wrong?!"
"BASTARD! WHY!? WHY!? WHHHYYYYYY!?" Buggy was so pissed he wanted to rip Shanks in two right then and there, but then the red-haired pirate noticed something behind him: a stray parchment floating down to the water.
"What's that piece of paper?"
"NO! Not my map!" Buggy cried, and dove as fast as he could to save it from getting wet. Yet as soon as he hit the water, he froze up instantly! 'What the!? What's going on!?' He thought, 'I can't move! Is it true that you lose your ability to swim!? Dammit!'
Meanwhile, aboard the ship, Shanks looked on, but Buggy didn't surface or float at all.
"Hey, Buggy? What are you doing?" He asked, "What's goin' on?! Why aren't you swimming!?" Suddenly, he feared the worst. With no time to lose, he left his sword aboard the ship and jumped overboard, "I'll save you, Buggy!"
Even now, as a man, Buggy still remembered that fateful night, the night he lost everything. That night still haunted him, and he would never let Shanks live it down, the same Shanks who gave Luffy his hat; the same Shanks who had also taken everything from him…
"As long as I live, I will hate that man with every last ounce of breath," Buggy told Luffy, "Because of what he did, I was unable to swim, and therefore unable to obtain my sunken treasure! Then, I had a revelation. If I couldn't go underwater, I'd just have to obtain all the treasure on dry land, thanks to my new Chop-Chop powers." Luffy only watched on, not even having anything to say to the man who tore his hat, not even as he watched Buggy's waist separate from his hips. "And now, I won't let anyone who touches my treasure live! DEATH TO THOSE WHO TRY TO PILFER MY HARD-EARNED TREASURE!" Just then, he noticed Nami and Ragnar in their ox-cart and flew straight after them, "COME BACK HERE, YOU THIEVES!"
"Dammit! Ragnar, he spotted us!" Nami screamed, taking the reigns of the oxen.
"I'll hold him off, you drive us out of here, to the harbor!" Ragnar told her, readying his sword and shield for a fight, as Buggy flew at them with knives ready.
"YOU TWO DON'T STAND A CHANCE OF ESCAPING FROM ME!" Buggy yelled, "NOW, I'M GOING TO FLASHILY CHOP BOTH OF YOU UP!"
"You're welcome to try, bacraut!" Ragnar replied, ready for another battle ahead. However, before the two could clash steel against steel, Ragnar noticed Buggy's face twinging in pain as he froze. Looking behind his attacker, he saw what happened: Luffy managed to kick Buggy right in the nuts…again! The clown pirate then dropped to the ground, spasming in pain.
"Ow…my balls! My balls!" He uttered out in a squeaky voice, "That was a cheap shot!"
"Don't you dare run away yet," Luffy growled, "I'm not done with you!" Then he looked to his quartermaster and navigator, "Nami! Ragnar! Drive that cart as fast as you can to the harbor! Zoro and I will be right behind you once I'm done with the clown!"
"Understood!" Ragnar told his captain, "We'll leave the big nose to you!"
"What…did…you…just…say!?" Buggy growled, "I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO MEET YOUR GODS, YOU DAMNED BARBARIAN! HERE COMES…CHOP-CHOP FESTIVAL!" Buggy then separated his entire body, as if he was cut up into circular slices by a sword or a knife. He cackled and then looked back at Luffy, "I'd like to see you try and save your friends from me now, Straw Hat!" Then he turned back to Nami and Ragnar, "Give me back my treasure!"
"Nami, full speed, now!" Ragnar told her, and the buxom navigator drove the oxen on as fast as they could.
"Hold tight! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" She told her companion. Yet all of a sudden, they heard Buggy laughing uncontrollably, grit his teeth in irritation, and scream in pain! Ragnar could see exactly what was going on: Luffy managed to grab one of Buggy's feet and was tickling, pinching, and smashing it with his fists.
"Now's my chance!" Ragnar muttered, and he sheathe his sword, took one of the bags of treasure and tried to smash Buggy's face.
"Thanks for giving me my treasure back, Norseman," said the clown, grinning as his severed hands readied two knives, "Now, both of you do me a favor…AND DIE!"
"I already told you!" Luffy roared, as he now ran towards the clown's head, kicking it so hard it hit a wall, "YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED DEALING WITH ME, YET!" The force of the kick was so hard, Buggy felt his face skidding across the brick roads of the town. As he lay unconscious, his body parts fell to the ground like lumps of carved up meat. "That was for hurting my friends," he growled, making his way towards the clown. Nami drove the cart to a halt as she then realized something.
"Ragnar, help Luffy, I got an idea!" She told him, jumping off the cart and running off. Ragnar only watched as Buggy's head levitated after the clown regained consciousness.
"Now…you're dead, Straw Hat!" He growled at Luffy, "Now, Assemble! Chop-Chop Parts!" Ragnar only expected to face Buggy again for round two, but what he and Luffy saw was utterly hilarious. Buggy only was able to reassemble his head, hands, and feet. The two friends looked to see that Nami had tied the rest of Buggy's body up with the rope she used to fool him earlier.
"Looking for these, Buggy?" She asked with a sly grin.
"GAH! MY BODY!" Screamed the clown pirate, terrified as to what was going to happen next. Luffy stretched his arms back all the way, and even more terrifying was that they turned black, shining in the light like a cast iron pot.
"And this…this is for destroying the old mayor's town, and ripping up my treasure!" He roared, "Now, Gum-Gum…BAZOOKA!" In just one hit from both of Luffy's hands, Buggy the Clown was sent flying into midair, never to be seen in this town again. Nami only looked on in surprise, but Ragnar only smiled at his old friend. Luffy also smiled as well, glad to have finally fought and beaten his first enemy his crew faced together. Then he turned back to his hat, still tattered with the holes Buggy's knives made.
He'd failed Shanks, failed his promise to keep that hat in good condition. What would he ever say to his role model now? As he felt the tears begin to well up, Nami pulled her savior into her arms for a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry about your hat, Luffy," she told him, "I promise, once we're out at sea, I'll fix it for you…just try to be more careful with it next time, okay?"
Hearing that, Luffy only smiled and returned the hug. He was so glad she agreed to come with them as their navigator. He'd only do what he could to help her deal with Arlong, and free her village.
"Thanks, Nami, that really means a lot to me," he told her, trying to hold back tears as he calmed down before they both let go.
"The treasure isn't all we came across, Captain," said Ragnar, holding a scroll in his hand, "We also recovered the chart we were looking for."
"Thanks guys!" Luffy exclaimed, getting the map in his hands, "Now we finally have it! A map of the Grand Line!" He then looked back to Nami, knowing that half the treasure they stole from Buggy would be going to used to free her village from Arlong. Ragnar went to wake Zoro up from his well-earned nap, as Luffy and Nami accompanied him. "Hey, Zoro wake up! We're leaving!" He exclaimed, placing his straw hat back on his head.
"Did we take care of everything?" Zoro asked, groggily as he was rising to his feet.
"Yep! And we got a navigator as well as a chart of the Grand Line!" Zoro only looked to Nami as if uncertain about her, but he only placed his head in his hands as he sat cross-legged.
"I'm not so sure about this," he said, "I feel light headed."
"You there!" A voice cried out, and the four rose to see a mob of citizens before them, armed with spears, staves and pitchforks, "You're not residents of this town, are you?"
"No. Who are you?" Luffy asked.
"What was all that cannon fire we heard?" Asked another, "It sounded like there may have been a battle here earlier. If you know anything, please tell us." Before Luffy could say anything, Ragnar rose to meet with them, looking at Luffy for permission to speak in his captain's stead. Luffy only nodded, and let the Viking have his moment.
"Allow me to explain for my captain," he began, "We came here in search of provisions for our journey across the whale-road. As we docked, the kind mayor told us of your plight, that you were being terrorized by a vicious madman named Buggy the Clown. Your mayor bravely tried to fight the villain off, but when we found him, he was nearly killed." He continued, showing the unconscious mayor, "Thankfully, we managed to intervene before that happened. Your mayor is still alive, only knocked out. We fought Buggy and his personal retinue in his stead, and now you are all free! His reign of terror has come to an end!"
At the news of this, the citizens of Orange Town rejoiced in celebration. Buggy was gone, and they were now finally free!
"Thank you so much!" Said a man armed with a spear, "We owe you our lives. How can we ever repay you for your kindness?"
"No need. All we ask is that you provide us with plenty of provisions: food, water, alcohol, and the like, so that we may be on our way. We do not wish to burden you when you have a town to rebuild." He then took his own share of the treasure and handed it to the villagers, "Here. Take this. These were some of the spoils we found in Buggy the Clown's treasury. Consider it as funds needed to repair your town."
"Ragnar! What are you doing!?" Nami whispered in shock. Why would a Viking be giving up his fair share of loot at a time like this!? Yet Ragnar knew what he was doing from the smile on his face. There was no arguing with him by this point.
Quickly the townspeople gathered what surplus food they didn't need to survive off of, as well as barrels full of water, some booze they were more than willing to give as thanks, and enough supplies that would carry the four of them across the sea. All were loaded onto the same ox cart and Ragnar led the way towards port with Zoro beside him. Luffy and Nami then waved goodbye as the entire town gave them a heroic sendoff. The cheers and farewells of the crowd soon were no longer heard, and before long, they reached the port, where their boats awaited.
"That was quick thinking, Ragnar," said Nami, relieved that they didn't have to flee for their lives, "Luffy was right to nominate you as quartermaster."
"But why'd you have to tell them Buggy knocked out the mayor instead of me?" Luffy asked.
"What would have happened if you told them that?" Ragnar slyly asked his captain, "Would you wanted to have us run for our lives and not get what we needed to survive? Or would you have rather told the truth that we freed their village from Buggy's reign of terror?"
"Good point," Luffy remarked with a smile, "Besides, it doesn't matter. We're done here anyway." He then looked at the boat with the black sail and looked to Nami, "Hey Nami, is this your boat? It's great!"
"Oh, thanks. It's nothing special, but I guess it'll do," she replied, "I stole it from some dumb pirates a few days back."
"Now that ya mention it, three of Buggy's lackeys did say a girl stole their boat," said Zoro, as he recovered, finally putting two and two together, but only smiling at Nami in approval.
All three boats cast off, Luffy and Ragnar pushing them into the water and the four of them sailed off into the East Blue, towards their next adventure. The Saga of the Straw Hat Pirates was only just getting started. Luffy had a new crew member, and this time, she would end up being quite special in his life…
A/N: Another relatively short chapter, but apparently there's some major foreshadowing. We got a look at Rayleighs for the first time. I figured it was only right to mention him as he will definitely be a major figure down the line. Also, apparently Vikings have some means of counteracting the weakness of all Devil Fruit users - they can still swim. How? Well, you'll just have to keep on reading and find out.
Now, one last thing I want to bring up: what does whale-road mean in the story? Well, in poetry from the Early Middle Ages, specifically from England and Scandinavia, whale-road is a kenning for the sea. In Old Norse, the term is hreinnreið, whereas in Old English - the language of the Anglo-Saxons, it is known as hranrad. In the epic poem, Beowulf, we see this appear in the first line:
"Over the whale-road, him should obey,
Should tribute pay: that was a good king!"
And so, we wave goodbye to Orange Town, and onto the next destination of the East Blue!
