"How dare you point such feeble weaponry at a couple of women!" Raven spat in annoyance. She then swiftly pulled out 'Good Ol' Lucy', from behind her back. The metal of the hammer glinted in the bright sunlight. "Now this, this is a weapon," She smirked with a dark grin
Lea was beside Raven. She leaned over to Zoro and whispered,"Let's leave this to her." Zoro nodded in agreement before giving a smirk.
The three pirates who stared at Raven began to flinch. "Now you either row, our boat or you'll have a lil talk with good Ol' Lucy here," Raven said as she showed them the long hammer that was gilded with gold. They began to sweat.
All three gave a squeak as they said, "Yes Ma'am." They each grabbed an oar and started to row. One of the men looked at the three and whimpered," Who are you guys exactly?"
"Lea," Lea said simply with a sharp glare. She spotted one of them already trying to act up.
"Raven," she said sternly as she kept Lucy beside her, giving hints that if they mess up they would get a face full of steel.
"Roronoa Zoro," He said with a small wave of his hand, his steely gaze concentrated on the three as he changed positions to where he was laying down with his head on one hand.
""The pirate hunter!?" The man with the hat asked in shock and fear.
"Yeah…." Zoro said nonchalantly. He gave a yawn of boredom. The other two pirates that were being kept hostage started to shutter.
"Enough chit chat! Row faster!" Raven barked as she shifted her weight onto the handle of Lucy.
"Yeah, you three made us lose sight of our captain, so get rowing," Zoro added to Raven's order.
"Y..yes sir" The orange-haired captive squeaked before the three started to row faster, the sweat going down their faces as their small boat leapt over the small waves.
It was a little while later when the group pulled up to the deck of a small seaport town. They had only just tied their boat to the dock when a giant explosion was heard coming from the town before them. Black smoke rose above the rooftops and the smell of gunpowder lingered.
"That was one heck of an explosion," Zoro said as he went and stood on the dock. He turned to look back at the two girls. "Tie them to the mast," He said simply.
Raven nodded and started to tie the three to the mast, meanwhile giving them a glare and one more look of Lucy before she puts it away. "That explosion looks like it was one of the captain's Buggy Balls," The tanner captive said in thought.
"Buggy Balls?" Zoro asked in amusement, his eyebrow quirked.
"Is he trying to compensate for something?" Lea asked slyly. Raven laughed at her joke as the two started to step out of the boat and stood by Zoro's side. Zoro gave Lea a smirk.
Raven looked over and spotted the large pirate ship, on the sail was the same jolly roger as the one on the hat of one of the captives. "Buggy is definitely here, his ship is docked," she said as she pointed it out "We better head towards the explosion so it doesn't get worse," She offered. Her two comrad's nodded before the three darted into town and leaving the three captives in the dust.
It took the trio a few minutes before they spotted a building that had some figures on the roof. Raven pointed out that they must be on the roof. They soon barged their way into the bar and made their way up to the roof. When they got to the top, they spotted their captain in a giant metal cage. He was surrounded by pirates that were attacking a girl that looked familiar to the sisters.
Zoro decided to take action, he walked up to the girl and blocked the pirates from her. He had in his hands, two of his sheathed swords. 'Hey now, it's not fair to gang up on the poor girl."
"Zoro!" Luffy yelled happily before saying, "Raven! Lea!"
Nami looked up at the green haired man. "You hurt?" Zoro asked her as he looked over at her from over his shoulder. After getting silence, he repeated himself. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine….I think,"Nami replied unsure.
"You're going to need to get your hands checked, a fuse can do some damage to flesh, I should know," Raven said as she placed a hand on her hip. She was leaning on the cage that held Luffy. She had already explained to him what had happened since they were apart.
Nami looked over at the woman who spoke to her and gave her a slight nod.
"Luffy!" Lea said bluntly as she walked over to the cage. "What the heck are we going to do with you?" She scolded, but in her eyes he could see the caring gaze she gave.
"Sorry sis," Luffy said with a slight falter in his smile.
In the distance, Buggy was getting annoyed. He growled when he spotted the party crashers. He was going to say something but stopped when he spotted Lea. The red hair, the black jacket, it sparked some recognition, but he denied it.
"I'm glad you three found us," Luffy said. "Now hurry up and get me out of here!" Luffy said.
"How do you get yourself into these kinds of situations?" Zoro asked without looking back. "First it was the bird, now we find you in a cage?"
Lea sighed, "He does have a knack for it, ever since he was little."
"That's why we are here," Raven said as she walked to the cage and inspected the lock.
"It's an interesting story actually," Luffy said sheepishly.
"Oh really? You can tell us after we get you out of here," Raven said as she started to test out many ways to pick the lock.
"If you can't pick it, I can melt it," Lea said casually as she looked back at the girl.
"I can," Raven said simply before she pulled out another hair pin from her head and started to pick at it more. As she worked on getting her captain out, the rest of Buggy's crew were staring in disbelief at their intruders.
Out from the vast crowd surrounding the five, came a few voices. "Did you hear that brat!? He said that guy was Zoro!"
Buggy had been standing there with his arms crossed for a bit before he finally spoke up. "So you're Zoro?" He asked. Zoro didn't look up to answer him. "If you're here for my head, you've got quite a struggle before you."
"No. Not interested," Zoro said plainly. "I gave up pirate hunting. I'm here for my friend," He said simply, his eyes closed in slight annoyance.
Buggy smirked at this. "Oh? But, I am though," He said. As Zoro looked up, he saw a sick grin on the pirate's face. "Killing you would boost my reputation!" He said with a crazed laugh.
"You try, you die," Zoro said flatly as he kept his eyes on Nami's hands which were blistered.
"Ooooo~ Is that so?" Buggy said as his laughter continued. He started to twirl a saber-looking knife in one hand while holding four others in between the fingers of his other hand.
Zoro let out a sigh before stretching his neck, "I tried to warn him."
Lea looked over to the green haired swordsman and said, "Zoro, don't underestimate him. He may be an idiot, but he has tricks up his sleeve." She had been watching Buggy with a glare. The Clown Pirate scowled at her before returning his gaze to Zoro.
Buggy's crew began to cheer for their captain in the background. The blue haired criminal took his blade and licked it with a smirk. Eagerness was in his eyes. As the chanting continued, Zoro placed one of his swords in his mouth and gets ready to counter. Soon Buggy's orange coat rose up as he darted forward and made a bee-line towards his enemy. Zoro stood his ground and at the last second, he slashed his swords. It took only a few moments before the large crew gasped as they saw Buggy's body separated. Zoro turned to look at the body on the ground. "That wasn't much of a fight," Zoro scoffed. Lea sighed as she saw that he didn't heed her warning. She then pulled out one of her own knives from a hidden sheath.
"Oh wow, he's weak! Way to go Zoro!" Luffy called.
"Be quiet! Didn't you hear Lea's warning?" Raven asked him with a mutter before continuing on trying to crack the difficult lock.
"No way!" Nami said in disbelief.
As Nami's exclamation began to settle, a slow roar of ominous laughing starts to break out among the crew of the fallen pirate. It sent chills up Raven's back.
"Hey...why are they laughing?" Luffy asked his sisters in confusion.
"I think I know," Lea muttered as she shook her head.
"Their captain is lying dead on the ground and yet they are still laughing?" Nami said to herself before asking, "What's going on?"
Zoro cleared his throat before asking, "Fella's, what do you find so funny?" Zoro asked. He didn't know that Buggy was starting to stand up. It wasn't a moment later when he felt pain on his left side. He looked over to see that a knife had made a good sized flesh wound. He placed a hand on the wound as he winces.
"Zoro!" Luffy yelled.
Nami went wide eyed as she muttered, "Buggy's still alive…" She saw that his arm was detached and the hand was holding the bloody knife. She narrows her eyes as she spotted that the arm had an extra knife in it. Buggy's seperated arm flew back to him.
"The Chop Chop Fruit. That's the name of the Devil Fruit that has given me my powers," Buggy declared. "I'm a Chop Chop Person. I can never be defeated by sword!" He said before bursting into a loud laugh. He put the knives that were in his left hand away before pulling out the extra knife from his studies it before saying, "This must have been what made me miss."
"Yeah, and I would like it back now!" Lea demanded as she walked forward.
Buggy's eyes narrowed as the girl demanded her weapon back. "Who are you?" Buggy growled in annoyance as he suddenly felt some irritance by the girl.
"Alandai D. Lea, and you just happened to not only harm on one of my crewmates, but also have my little brother and captain locked in a cage," She growled menacingly.
"I let my guard down, stupid mistake. Really should have listened to Lea," Zoro scolded himself. He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Lea standing next to him.
"Let me take him now while you protect the others. Besides, I want to get my knife back," she said to him. Zoro gave her a look of disbelief. The look warranted a response from Lea. "What? It's a good knife. Raven made me the set before we left home."
From behind the two, Luffy spoke up. "Trying to stab him in the back was a cowardly move you big nose!" It suddenly became eerily quiet until Raven and Lea burst out laughing.
"What...did..you...just..say!" Buggy yelled as he threw Lea's knife at Luffy's head. The blade zoomed by Raven's head, cutting a few strands of her hair off. She didn't even acknowledge it until she looked up to see that Luffy was holding the blade in his mouth. He spits it out and it skidded to the edge of the cage.
"When I get out of here, I"m going to kick your ass," Luffy said simply.
Raven took a second to grab the blade and handed it over to Lea after she wiped the blade from dust and saliva. "Here," She said before going back to finish her work.
Lea rolled her eyes at Buggy and muttered,"Not cool."
"Hey you girl! Stop trying to pick the lock, it's useless. Who the hell do you think you are?!" Buggy said with a snarl.
"Raven," She said bluntly, not even bothering to look up from her lock picking.
"Are you sure you just don't want me to melt it? It seems to be taking you a while," Lea called to her.
Raven glared at her before saying, "It's a shoddy lock and it was horribly made. That's why it's harder to pick," she said before concentrating more. Even though she couldn't see her, Lea raised her hands up in peace.
Buggy coughed to interrupt the two girl's chat. "Well, if you're gonna kick my ass then you better get to it," He said before bursting out laughing
Not a moment later, Luffy started to laugh with him. That reaction made Buggy halt for a second. Luffy then muttered, "I refuse to die! Zoro, fight!" He screamed.
Zoro wasn't sure at first, as he blinked in surprise. It took him a few minutes but he finally understood his captain. As Zoro watched Luffy, Buggy jumped up and prepared another attack. "Prepare to die!" Screeched the pirate clown. Zoro turned on a dime and with a wince, he began to fight back. As soon as there was an opening in the fighting, Lea came to help Zoro. She unsheathed the knife that she used earlier and began to fight alongside him. As swords clashed around the trio, Zoro glanced at Lea with a knowing smirk. The girl gave the slightest of nods and she took over the swordfighting as Zoro slipped away and under the cannon. Zoro was biting his lip as he heaved and eventually flipped the cannon over and it was now pointing at Buggy and Lea.
As the fighting was going on behind her, Raven had finally unlocked the cage and freed Luffy, pulling him away from the danger.
"Lea! Now!" Zoro said quickly before turning to look at Nami. "Light it!"
"Huh?" Nami asked in confusion, for she didn't know the plan.
"Do it now!" He ordered as Lea managed to get free and join Zoro by his side.
"Wait! Wait!" Buggy pleaded in fear. "The cannon is still loaded with my special Buggy Ball!"
"That's the point," Raven said as she was standing by Luffy behind the cannon. Nami had the chance to light the fuse and the cannon fired. In a bright flash, the cannonball zoomed out from the opening and towards Buggy. The explosion reached far enough to set fire to Buggy's Jolly Roger.
As everyone was distracted, Zoro picked up Luffy whose feet and hands were still tied. He winced once more as he felt the pain ripple through his side. Nami had looked over at the two and murmured to herself, "Who is this guy..?"
"Hey Luffy, who is this girl?" Zoro panted as they started to run away from the enemy pirate crew.
"Oh, this is Nami, our new navigator," Luffy said confidently.
Lea looked at him, "When was this decided? Now, I'm not judging your decision but shouldn't we talk before letting someone new onto the crew?"
"Yeah," Raven said as she folded her arms.
"I never agreed to that!" Nami said quickly as she looked over at Zoro's wound.
Zoro just shook his head before grunting, "Move." He then started to walk past Nami again. The rest of Luffy's small crew continued to walk behind him. Nami didn't follow them, she turned and walked the other way. It wasn't long before Luffy and his crew stopped in front of a pet store. Zoro collapsed with Luffy now laying on his back. They had been walking for a while. Raven went over to help Luffy up, while Lea went and sat down by Zoro.
"You really can be an idiot sometimes, can't you?" Lea asked in exasperation as she started to address and look at his wound. Zoro grunts before looking up to see a small white dog staring at the four of them. The dog's tongue was hanging out, his fur was all dirty, yet his expression was somewhat protective.
"What's up with this dog?" Zoro asked as he laid on the ground. Luffy turned to look at the dog as Zoro mentioned him and he burst out laughing.
"Doggy!" Luffy said excitedly as Raven cut him free from his ropes. Once freed, he made his way over to the pooch and kneeled down to his level. The dog narrowed his eyes. Seeing how serious the dog looked, he tried to make faces at it, but to no avail, there was no movement. "Hey guys! This dog looks frozen!" Luffy said as he watched Lea help Zoro to lean on the porch and against the pole that held up it's roof. Raven just shook her head.
"I don't give a damn, it could just sit there forever, for all that I care," Zoro said as he gave a yawn.
"I wonder if it's dead," Luffy said in thought as he started to poke the dog on its forehead. It took a second or two before the dog bit Luffy on his hand. Lea and Raven facepalmed as Zoro just gave a look of tired shock. Luffy began to scream before repeatedly saying 'get off' as he tried to shake his hand free from the dog's mouth.
"Luffy! Please stop fooling around and get serious!" Zoro grunts before wincing and grabbing at his wound.
The dog suddenly stops as his arm was released. "Damn dog," Luffy said as he rubbed his hand. Lea and Raven both shake their heads and started to laugh at him. Raven looked around as she heard footsteps, her laughter coming to an end. In the distance, she spotted Nami with a very strange old man. The man had grey hair that was fashioned like a poodle. He was also wearing glasses that was on the edge of his nose and some home-made armor was covering his body. They were mostly made from old barrels.
Zoro looks over at the old man and raised a brow slightly. "Who are you old man?" Zoro asked as he watched him. The comment earned him a light slap in the back of the head by Lea.
"Old man!? Why I am the mayor of this town. My name is Boodle now who are you and why are you bothering Chouchou?" He asked before he spotted Zoro's small wound. "Oh my. I'm assuming you ran into Captain Buggy?" He asked surprised that it wasn't as bad as the wounds usually were. "It could've been worse, if you weren't careful enough."
"It would've been if I hadn't intervened and it wouldn't have happened if someone had listened to me and didn't let his guard down," Lea said as she looked at Zoro somewhat accusingly. Zoro just huffed and rolled his eyes. He muttered something under his breath that Lea didn't hear.
The old man cleared his throat. "Let me dress this man's wound," The man said as helped Zoro to his feet. He then lead him to the adjacent building. He looked back to see Lea watching them. He gave a reassuring nod before closing the door and proceeding to dress the wound. He didn't come back out until a little while later. He came out to address the group on the status of their crewmate. Nami had been leaning on the post where Zoro had been leaning on. Lea was sitting down next to her. She was looking at her blade.
Luffy hadn't moved from where he plopped down in front of the dog when Zoro had been led away. He was staring at Chouchou. The pooch didn't move from his spot in front of the porch. Neither were blinking as they stared at each other. Raven happened to be standing beside Luffy, her eyes were looking around the area they were in. She looked at the details that were on each building that surrounded them. A soft smile was on her lips as she admired the work that had been done. That smile turned into a frown though as she thought of how Buggy was just wrecking it with his Buggy balls.
Luffy finally turned his attention to the mayor when he heard his footsteps. "What happened to Zoro?" Luffy asked him with a raised brow.
"Nothing bad, he's just sleeping. He told me that he didn't want a doctor. He just wanted to sleep it off," The mayor explained with a shrug. Luffy just smirked at this.
Nami interjected the conversation by saying, "So this is Chouchou." She was looking at the dog from her resting spot.
"Why is he just sitting there?" Luffy asked in puzzlement. "He sure is a lazy dog."
"He's guarding the store," The mayor stated.
"Guarding it?" Nami asked rather confused, yet intrigued.
"Yes," He said simply.
Nami blinked before she moved slightly to look up at the store. There she noticed why. "Oh, I get it now. It's a pet food shop."
"Yes. The man who used to run this store was a very close friend of mine," The old man said as he went in and got Chouchou some food. He came out with a nice bowl of pet food before placing it down in front of the dog. He smiled slightly and in thought. "There you go," He said before looking up at the group. "When he passed I assumed the role of taking care of Chouchou."
"He died?" Nami asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, only three months ago," The man explained. "After battling his illness for so long." He remembered his friend dearly
"Don't tell me that he's been waiting for his owner this whole time," Raven said with a shake of her head and a small frown on her lips.
"It seems that way," He replied. The man then sits down on the porch and took out a brown pipe."But I find that hard to believe. Chouchou is a smart dog, he's probably known for awhile now that his owner isn't coming back." He began to smoke as he began to think.
"Then why does he stay at this store?" Nami asked in thought.
Boodle shrugged and said, "I don't know, maybe because he has a connection to it. It's his treasure. He's guarding it with his life. His master left him this shop so that's why he's protecting it. I tried to bring him back to my place once, so he could be out of the elements but he wouldn't take as much as one step away from that spot."
When Chouchou was done his meal, he dropped the bowl at Boodle's feet before going back to his post. It wasn't too long after when they felt the ground tremor and a loud roar was heard. The sound sending shivers down their backs for a bit.
"W..what's that sound?" Nami asked curiously.
The mayor stood up abruptly and started to freak out. "It's him!? It's Beast Tamer Moji, let's get out of here!"
Raven narrowed her eyes before taking out good Ol' Lucy off from her back and held it tightly with both hands. Her stance ready to fight if needed. The old man didn't stay long and he bolted in a direction that was away from the sound. Nami wanted to make sure that he was ok and followed after him without a word. From another direction came a giant lion of unnatural greys came to a stop right before the three.
"I see that Zoro deserted you," Moji laughed from on top of his beast.
"Who the heck are you?" Luffy asked.
"I'm known as the Beast Tamer, Moji, a member of the Buggy Pirates," He said as he yawned boredly.
"You've got some weird hair," Luffy said bluntly as he stared at the two ear-like buns on the top of his head.
"How rude! This is manly hair," Moji snapped as he showed off his looks.
A laugh soon erupted into the silence as Lea started to laugh hysterically at Moji's comment. "Manly? Hair?!" She gasped while ignoring the man on the giant lion.
"That's even weirder," Luffy pointed out bluntly.
"You shouldn't laugh at my unseen skills. There is no beast that I can't bend to my will," Moji said confidently as he slipped off his lion's head to go towards the growling Chouchou. He bent down and held out his hand. "Shake," He ordered.
Chouchou narrowed his eyes and bit Moji's hand. He kept his grip hard for he wasn't going to let go. The beast tamer screamed as he tried to shake the dogg off. When he finally was able to get Chouchou to let go, he muttered, "I'm not interested in killing you but tell me where Roronoa Zoro is before I change my mind."
"No way," Luffy said simply.
Moji snarled, "Richie ATTACK!"
The lion lunged from behind Moji and towards Luffy. Before a paw landed on the skinny boy, Raven had ran up and swung Lucy. The steel hammer hit Ritchie on the side of the head and made him miss. The hit made the giant cat roll over and almost hit another building. "Oh no you don't," Raven muttered as she spun Lucy around before sticking the end into the ground. The lion grunts before standing up and shaking its fur. Getting rid of the sudden dust that collected onto it's fur. Richie growls as he stalked his way over and tries to aim a hit at Raven.
She dodged, but the attack didn't miss completely. Richie hit Luffy instead and he was sent flying and into a house along the way. The building that welcomed his body began to crumble on top of him. Seeing what happened, Raven growled.
"Nice work. What a good boy you are Richie," Moji said in a cooing voice. He then smirked smugly at Raven and Lea. He motioned Richie to come closer. "Now let's go find Zoro so I could strengthen my reputation." The lion didn't move as he still had his gaze upon Raven. A snarl appearing at the large cat's mouth.
"What's wrong?" Moji asked before he understood what was going on as he traced his gaze to the girl's. "Oh, I see. Kill her and when you can, get some food," he ordered.
Raven rolled her eyes as Richie growled. The lion started to make his way over to her. Raven took Lucy up at arms again and waited to use her. Moji laughed at the poor defensive stance she took. "No way, this little brat thinks she can hurt my beast!?" Moji laughed.
The blacksmith had a few tricks up her sleeve. She pushed a button on the handle of her hammer and long golden spikes grew out from the flat faces of the hammer. The hammer now had a look of meat tenderizer. The second the lion got to close, she launched herself up and swung hard. Richie gave off a loud yelp as he was hit and had stumbled backwards and almost into Moji himself. He didn't move for he was stunned for the time being. The stun didn't last long as Raven had to dodge a swipe from Richie. The anger continued to grow in the giant lion's face and she could tell from the look in his eyes. She mis-stepped and got hit with a paw. Before she hit a building, she swung Lucy down and into the ground to stop her. Raven winced as the sudden stop made her arm pop out of its socket. Lea ran forward to distract the lion with Chouchou coming forward as well. As Raven was in the process of popping it back in, she looked up in time to see that Richie was now swiping at Chouchou. The dog was barely nicked but the force of the swipe had sent him barreling and out of the way. .
Richie's giant claws had caught on the store's sign that was hanging down and as he tried to get it free, he pulled it off. With the force of the pull, the building began to fall. Lea had been in the path of Richie's paw at that time and was thrown to the side. At that moment, she saw Raven being hit and gasped. In that moment of weakness a stray piece of wood that originated from the now damaged building, hit Lea and knocked her out. As the building started to collapse, Chouchou went into action and started to attack the lion. No matter how hard the dog tried to land a hit, he was thrown every which way. His determination kept him coming back.
"This pest isn't giving up easily, Richie. Knock the little runt out," Moji ordered. The lion finally landed a hit that knocked the poor dog out. Seeing his chance, Moji took out a match and struck it until the flicker of a flame appeared. Through the flame, Moji's eyes held that of pure joy. He flicked it to the now pile of wood and watched as the flames consumed the once proud treasure of Chouchou.
As Moji was busy with the fire, Raven made her way to Lea's side. She held her in her arms as she tried to shake her awake. After a few times, she stopped due to no success. When she looked up, she was spooked. Right beside her was Luffy, she hadn't heard him. As she looked closer at his face, she saw how angry he was for his eyes were shrunken to that of pure rage. His fists were clenched.
Raven looked over to where she last spotted Moji and Richie, she found that they had left the scene. Luffy and Raven looked over when they heard some movement. Chouchou had woken up from his knock out and was now limping his way over to the fire. Luffy walked over as Raven picked up Lea and followed him. The boy with the straw hat bent down and asked the hurt dog, "Chouchou, can you watch over Lea as we take care of that beast?" Chouhou barked in response as Raven placed Lea near Chouchou but away from the fire.
Luffy nodded before looking at Raven, he then motioned for them to go. As they ran off, Raven looked back to the small dog and mouthed a thank you before they were out of sight. It wasn't long before the duo found the two. It wasn't hard when the lion was holding a giant bag of dog food. Moji motioned Richie to stop when he spotted the two. He growled, "I thought I killed you," He said to Luffy before muttering to Raven. "Still alive brat? Not for long, it's the price to pay for hurting my beloved Richie!"
"I'm afraid you can't get rid of us that easily," Luffy said with a smirk.
The beast tamer snarled as he slapped a hand to his knee. "This time stomp them to the ground Richie, grind them into dust!" The giant, silver lion roared as he dropped the bag of food. The lion then arched its back before pouncing. As his creature pounced, Moji had jumped off and was now rolling on the ground. A few scratches were on his face.
"We're not gonna get beaten by a lion,' Raven growled as she grabbed her trusty hammer once more before running up to the beast and hit on the side of its face. As the lion was falling to the side, Luffy had stretched his arms and began to wrap them around each other like a coil. His hands grasped the lion's jaw.
The boy then jumped into the air and snarled," Gum...Gum… HAMMER!" As he touched the ground on the other side of the lion, he had lifted the lion over his head and smacked him down onto the gravel. The pure look of terror and shock had graced the face of the beast's master. Raven couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you!" Moji asked in a stutter.
"Well I ate the Gum Gum fruit…"Luffy said as he looked at the now unconscious lion.
"So that means you have powers like Captain Buggy, but it made you rubber?" Moji asked as he began to quake.
"Yes," Raven said as she leaned on her hammer handle. She raised a brow as Moji gave his answer.
"Sorry! I apologize for attacking. I mean no trouble!" Moji said quickly as he started to wave his hands in defense.
"There's no point in apologizing to me for attacking. Because of you Chouchou, that dog, will never get his treasure back. And because you did that, I'm going to kick your ass," Luffy said with his eyes dark.
Moji bit his lip and started to back up. He began to twitch as Luffy got up and stretched his arm. Luffy soon grabbed and pulled Moji to him. His hand holding him in a choke hold. The beast tamer was then punched to the ground. As Luffy was beating Moji, Nami had stumbled upon the burning building and the unconscious Lea.
The orange haired girl watched Chouchou as he gazed to the now burnt and damaged treasure. "All pirates are the same. Cold, heartless bastards. They destroy everything you hold dear without a second thought," She muttered to herself before turning. She watched the two for a few more minutes before hearing footsteps. She turned and saw Raven and Luffy coming back from whaling on the enemy. "Oh, you're back pirates? For sure I thought the lion would take your heads off. I wish he had because then there will be less pirates in the world. Maybe I should kill you both right now before you can make a bigger crew!" Nami then darted towards them.
Suddenly Boodle came out from beside a building and stood in between Nami and Raven. Raven had rolled her eyes, she could have easily taken her down without any help. "Calm down!" Boodle said. "There is no need for any more violence."
"As if you can ever kill us," Luffy said simply before walking over to Chouchou and placed the retrieved bag of pet food in front of him.
"Well, lety's try it and see!" Nami shouts at him as she ignored Boodle who continued to try and calm her down.
Luffy ignored her as he then sat down next to Chouchou. Nami and Boodle both went silent as they watched Luffy closely. Luffy let out a sigh before saying, "Sorry, that's all I could save. The bastard lion ate the rest of it. You fought well, even though I didn't see you defend it, I know you put all your heart into that battle."
Raven piped up, "Lea and I did though," She said quickly before Luffy nodded. The dog looked at the now empty bag and started to walk off with it. After a few steps, he dropped the bag. He turned around to look at Luffy before barking at him.
"Oh, thanks! Good luck to you too!" Luffy said with a laugh. "Thanks for watching my sister!" After hearing Luffy's response, Chouchou barks once more before picking up the bag and walking off.
After a few minutes of silence, Nami walked over to Luffy and Raven. She bit her lip and sighed, "Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to yell...or threaten…"
"It's ok you've been under a lot of stress," Luffy said with a smile," and you won't be the last one to threaten a pirate," He said with a cheeky grin.
`"And you obviously had a bad experience with pirates," Raven commented as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Luffy finally got up and dusted off the dirt from his clothes. "So no need to apologize,"
"I'm pathetic," Boodle stated mostly to himself but it was loud enough for the others to hear. "While Chouchou and you young ones fought so hard. I, the mayor, have done nothing but watch our town be obliterated by Buggy and his despicable crew." Nami, Luffy and Raven came to stand in front of Boodle
"Calm down, it's not that bad," Nami said as she tried to reason with the mayor.
"I'm sure you got most of your townsfolk out in time," Raven tried to reassure him.
"Forty years ago, this town was nothing but barren, rugged land. We all worked together to create fields for our crops. We opened stores, and built everything from the ground up. This town is a treasure to me and to all its citizens. From here on out, I refuse to let Buggy and his crew terrorize us anymore!" Mayor Boodle had proclaimed to them his plans, he tried to ignore them for the time being. Right after Boodle's little rant, a Buggy Ball had blown up a row of homes that were next to them. One of the homes that were included in the blast was the one that held the sleeping Zoro.
"That one had Zoro!" Raven said with wide eyes as the pieces of splintered wood started to rain to the ground.
"I"m sure he's dead now," Boodle said sadly as he looked at the damage.
"Zoro! Are you still in there? Are you alive?" Luffy asked as he cupped his mouth with his hands to project his voice.
After a few minutes of silence, there was the sound of moving wood. "That sure is one hell of a way to wake a guy up," Zoro muttered as he started to stand up from within the rubble. His body showing bits of steam due to the explosion. Nami, Raven, Boodle and Luffy gave a sigh of relief. Luffy couldn't hold back his laughter as Raven went up to help him out from the destroyed home.
"Ugh, I could've had a few more z's," Zoro muttered before he was dragged out and brought to the small group by Raven.
"Stop complaining! You are lucky to be alive," Raven muttered as she let him go.
"How did you survive a blast like that?" Nami asked in confusion. Zoro just waved the question off.
Boodle then stepped up and growled," I won't stand for this anymore! I won't let him destroy my townsfolk's homes and work these last forty years! I am the mayor of this town and I will protect it and its citizens till my dying breath!" The old man then tried to run off to fight but Nami stopped him.
"You can't beat Buggy!" She said.
"It's better to fight the problem, then run from them," Boodle said. It resulted in a grin from Luffy.
"That's right old man!" Luffy answered with a nod.
"Shut up! Don't egg him on Luffy! It's too dangerous for him," Nami said with a growl.
"I know its dangerous!" Boodle argued. Nami had to let him go for he started to move. When she released him, he started to run down the street yelling, "I'm coming to get you Buggy the Clown!"
"The party seems to get more interesting with every person," Zoro said before looking over to Lea who was starting to move. She was waking up from her unconsciousness. He looked over to Raven before Luffy motioned him to follow as he darted after the old man.
"What's with all the noise," Lea groaned as she sat up. She then pressed a hand to her head as she tried to fully wake up.
"Boodle ran off to fight Buggy and Zoro and Luffy followed," Raven explained.
Lea sighed as she stood up. "Guess we better go and make sure they don't kill themselves." Raven nodded before they darted in the direction that the others ran off to.
It didn't take the girls long to find them at Buggy's base. Boodle was nearby confronting him. Buggy was on top of the building and looking down at the man with mere amusement. "Come out Buggy the Clown!" He yelled. "I am Mayor Boodle and this town is my treasure. I will not let you terrorize my people any longer. Come out and face me!" Boodle demanded.
"You idiot, this is not treasure. Treasure is gold, silver and jewelry. So cut the crap and get out of here oldman," Buggy replied with a smirk.
"You can never understand the way I feel!" Boodle yelled as he wasn't moving an inch.
"The world will belong to me and if this town means so much to you, then I will kill you first so you will not have to see its destruction," Buggy said simply as he held up his arm. He used his powers to launch his hand at the mayor and it snagged him by the throat. He started to clamp down.
"S...shut up and f..fight me a..already!" Boodle choked out and winced as he tried to get some breath back into him.
"Don't get cocky," Buggy replied.
"I'll never let you destroy this town! Even if it costs me my very life!" The mayor was able to choke out as he was starting to go pale.
"So be it," The pirate captain intoned. Suddenly a hand gripped Buggy's appendage and pulled it away with some strength. He made the hand release its grip on the mayor one finger at a time. "Curse you strawhat," Buggy muttered.
"I"m here to kick your ass Buggy, just like I promised," Luffy smirked.
Buggy growled and grunted as he tried to get his hand back. After a bit of the limb struggling to be freed, Luffy lets him have it. The hand then made its way back towards its owner. "Damn you strawhat," He growled from the top of the blue roofed building he was standing on.
Beside Luffy, Boodle was on the ground coughing as he tried to regain his breath. The color slowly started to return in his face. Zoro walked up to the two as well as Nami. Lea and Raven soon came to the side of Luffy. Their arms crossed over their chests.
"How dare you! You can't walk up to me and treat me like that! I'M CAPTAIN BUGGY! I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!" Buggy snarled.
"Wow, he is even more annoying that I thought he would be," Lea muttered in a deadpanned tone. Raven couldn't help but chuckle at her comment.
From behind Luffy, Nami pointed a finger at Zoro. "All I want is the treasure and the chart and then I'm outta here, you got it?" She said.
"Yeah...I got it," Zoro said unamused. A roll of his eyes had been made afterward.
From the ground, Boodle started to cough once more. "Get...out, why did you f..follow me? Y..you're outsiders. Leave this t..to me. This is my fight. I..need t..to be the one to protect my t..town," Boodle said as he grabbed his staff. He uses it to slowly hoist himself up onto his legs. "B..buggy is mine-"
In one swift motion, Luffy had knocked out Boodle with one punch. "Damn it Luffy, not again!" Lea said as she shook her head. Nami gasped while Raven bit her lip and sighed.
Nami ran to Luffy and began to scold him, "What the hell Luffy?! Why did you knock him out!"
"Because!" Luffy said as he dusted his hands before turning to her with a big grin. Lea then slapped him in the back of the head. He winced a bit before muttering something under his breath.
Zoro then stepped up to Luffy's side. "It wasn't a bad idea, if Luffy didn't stop him, he would've gotten killed," he defended. "It's for the best."
Nami bit her lip unsure at first before she nodded. That didn't stop her from ranting to Luffy about a more humane way of dealing with Boodle. The whole time, Buggy was just watching the small group with amusement. He had raised an eyebrow as Luffy walked towards him in a bow-legged fashion. He watched as the boy took a big breath of air.
HEY BIG NOSE!" Luffy screamed. Those words hit Buggy like a brick shattering glass. The crew of the clown pirate were shocked. The captain's face gapped before a bout of anger made him red around the collar.
Nami screamed at Luffy, "THAT WAS THE WORST THING YOU COULD'VE SAID TO HIM!" The comment with situation made the two sisters laugh in the background.
Buggy's usual high pitched voice suddenly turned dark and low as he muttered, "You dumb, flashy idiots. I won't stand for this! Take aim and fire the Buggy Ball!" Soon a few members of Buggy's crew brought the cannon towards the edge of the building and aimed it at the small group.
"Why did you have to say that!" Nami cried before getting out of the line of fire.
"Come on guys, we need to go," Zoro said.
"You go on ahead Zoro," Luffy said as Raven and Lea stood by his side.
"Time to die!" Buggy interrupted as he shouted the command to fire.
"I'm fine, just watch," Luffy said as the cannon was fired out from the plume of smoke that it produced. A red ball with Buggy's Jolly Roger came barreling out and towards the trio. Luffy had stepped in front of the girls and inflated himself as he shouted, "Gum Gum Balloon!" When the ball hit his stomach, it went into it for a bit before launching right back at the enemy. They all gasped as it came barreling towards Buggy.
"He just repelled my Buggy Ball!" Buggy snarled as he went wide-eyed.
Zoro had turned towards the girls before muttering, "You two could've warned me." His eyes then went back to Buggy.
Raven just smirked and placed her hands on her hips. "What's the fun in that?" She asked him. Lea just giggled with a smirk. The trio's attention was then drawn to the explosion of the Buggy Ball. It had landed on target.
Luffy was holding onto his hat as the wind died down. "I got them,' He grinned.
Nami was on the ground nearby. She turned to look at Luffy and growled, "What kind of monster are you!"
Zoro had stepped even closer to his captain before chuckling as he pointed his thumb at Nami. "I think you freaked her out a bit,"
Luffy was going to respond when he narrowed his eyes at the rubble. Buggy had gotten up and in his hands were two knocked out men that he used as a shield. Their bodies smoking from the impact. "How dare you try to flashly due me in!" He snarled as his severed hands released the two men. Buggy was unharmed as he folded his arms.
"Unreal! He used his own men as a shield," Nami mutters.
Nearby Buggy, in the rubble, Beast Tamer Moji woke up and began to stand up. As he did, he spotted Luffy and Raven. "Oh no, not you two!" He shouted. His eyebrows twitched when Luffy just waved to him with a smile. His eyes then turned towards Lea and he muttered, "How are you still alive!" His response ignited some laughter from Lea.
Buggy wasn't amused at all this and he began to snarl at the group as Moji headed towards him. "Be careful with him, he's a rubber man," Moji said to Buggy.
"What?!" Buggy muttered as he turned his gaze at the lanky boy. He watched as Nami asked him about being a rubber man. Luffy simply nodded as he pulled his cheek to show his powers to her. She freaked out as Lea's laughter continued to ring in the background. Out from the rubble behind Moji and Buggy came a green haired man. In his hand was Moji's lion. He simply tossed it to the side, the creature had blocked the explosion from hurting him. Moji was over Ritchie's body and trying to calm it down.
"How are you going to deal with this problem?" Cabaji asked his captain.
"Oh Cabaji," Buggy said with a smirk, in his eyes were pure anger. "I"m too angry to even think,"
"What the hell did you do to my Ritchie!" Moji snarled to the green-haired man.
"This cat? I used him as a shield to keep my clothes from getting dirty," Cabaji said simply as he dusted off his clothes. The lion had looked over at him before getting up and hiding behind a piece of broken wall. Lea's laughter had calmed down as she watched the Lion. Moji got angry and tried to hit Cabaji. It a second,the beast tamer was kicked and was flung towards the group. "Out of my way!" Moji screamed at him.
Seeing the incoming man, Raven quickly pulled out her giant hammer from behind her back and struck Moji towards a building. "Excuse me? How about you get out of OUR way?" She said with a hiss as she twirled her hammer before pointing it at Cabaji and Buggy in a threatening way.
"Captain Buggy?" Cabaji asked from behind the clown. His eyes cold and a smirk on his lips.
"Yes Cabaji?" Buggy answered, his own smile twisting to a cruel grin.
"Allow me to repay their disrespect."
Buggy grinned more at his offer. "Fine, but make it a good show for everyone," He said to Cabaji before sitting up a little more to see how the fight would go.
The green-haired man nodded as he launched himself into the air with his unicycle from behind Buggy. His grin wide like the cheshire cat's. Nami gasped at the sight before asking the Luffy and his crew who he was, but before anyone can answer, Cabaji, with precision and speed, cycled towards the group. He unsheathed his sword in a quick motion as he said, "You may call me Acrobat Cabaji, Captain Buggy's chief of staff! You will all pay for your insolence!"
The tip of Cabaji's blades was getting close to Luffy before Zoro jumped in front of Luffy and parried his attack with a block with his own sword. "I'll clash swords with you," Zoro said simply as he was holding onto his second sword. The third was sheathed at his side, for now.
"It's an honor to battle you Roronoa Zoro. To a swordsman like myself, I relish the chance to kill you," Cabaji cackle with aa lick of his lips. His eyes glanced down to Zoro's bandaged side.
"Hey Zoro, you should really get some rest. Let me handle this guy," Luffy said as he eyed his crew mate and then Cabaji.
"Just stay back,' Zoro replied simply.
Cabaji just smirked at the small talk before saying, "Arsonist's Technique!" He pulled down the checkered scarf that covered his mouth to breath fire into his face. As Zoro tried to deal with the flames, Cabaji kicked him in the wound.
Zoro winced and knelt down as held onto his side in pain.
"That didn't hurt, did it?" The acrobat said with a smirk.
"Zoro!" Nami said in worry.
Cabaji stabbed his sword into the ground beside him as he shouted another attack. "Acrobatic Technique: Murder at the Steam House!" He then used his sword and spun it around to kick up a small dust storm that shrouded his whole body.
"Acrobat my ass, it's just an ordinary dust cloud," Zoro muttered to himself before getting up and quickly pulling up his sword to counter Cabaji's that came from within the dust storm. He couldn't dodge the kick that was aimed at his wounded side. Zoro groaned in pain as he held onto his side.
"What a disgraceful sight to see a grown man groaning," Cabaji mocked. "I suppose now you understand how foolish it was to make enemies with the Buggy Pirates."
Nami turned to look at Luffy and the girls. "Why are you just standing there? He's going to get himself killed!" Luffy just shook his head at Nami in a knowing way. He had a feeling Zoro would be fine.
"Roronoa Zoro is finished!" Cabaji declared as he rushed towards the hurt man with a grin.
"You annoying little bastard," Zoro said as he stood up. "You had fun poking at my wound?" He asked as he looked up, his eyes dark. "Then go ahead," Zoro said simply as Cabaji's sword penetrates the wound, making it worse. As it's in the wound, Zoro breaks the tip and moved out of the way as Cabaji raced by with eyes wide in shock.
"Why did you let him hurt you more!" Nami cried out to Zoro but got no answer.
Zoro just smirked, "Is that enough handicap for you? Now let me show you what I can do!" He said before putting his sword in his mouth and unsheathed the third one by his hip.
"Yes Zoro!" Luffy screamed energetically.
"Don't encourage him!" Lea scolded Luffy. She was pissed that he had worsen his wound more, when she had gone through the effort of trying to prevent it from getting worse in the first place.
"Fool! You made a vast error in judgement and I won't be mocked!" Cabaji growled.
"I won't let myself lose to anyone who calls themselves a swordsman," Zoro said simply, though it was a little muffled due to the handle in his mouth.
"I see, a strong resolve keeps you going, but have no fear. You will lose to me," Cabaji said as he pointed his sword at him, the tip gone.
"To hell with that, to lose to someone like you, even with these small injuries would be stupid," Zoro countered.
"Why you,' The acrobat growled. Nami decided to run off to get the treasure, since everyone's eyes were on the fight at hand.
"Let me show you my ultimate acrobatic technique," Cabaji stated as he took out three spinning tops. "Acrobatic Technique: The Dance of a Hundred Kamikaze Tops!" He then threw them. The three tops became a hundred and all were flying towards Zoro. Luffy's crewmate began to slash at the tops and the broken halves of the toys were dropping like flies, all the while a smirk was on Cabaji's face. Instead of heading to Zoro straight on, he shouted. "Acrobatic Technique: HIke Over the Mountain!"
Cabaji then sped up the wall of a nearby house on his unicycle before he loomed over Zoro. "Fireworks in the Summer Breeze! Sting of the Unicycle!" He shouted as he held his sword straight down.
Lea had taken this chance to look around and spotted Buggy getting ready to play dirty. She slowly moves her way to Buggy without being seen. Buggy releases his hand but before it could go anywhere, one of Lea's throwing knives pinned it to the ground. Buggy grunts and tried to get it back but it wouldn't budge. The clown pirate captain was a bit taken back by this action because usually knives can't keep him pinned. As Zoro quickly dodged the attack from Cabaji to see Lea looming over Buggy's hand. "Lea,' he said softly.
"You bitch!" Buggy snarled.
"Don't even think about it," Lea said sternly as she kept her foot on top of the knife's handle. Keeping it pinned down for now.
Luffy had walked up behind Lea and eyed Buggy darkly. "If you want to fight someone, fight me."
Cabaji spoke to Zoro as he got ready for another attack. "I assure you, I don't need my captain's help to finish you off." He was rolling back and forth on his unicycle in anticipation.
"Then why did you agree to his help in the first place, you idiot," Lea said dryly to the acrobat. She got an eye roll in response.
"Enough, I'm tired of this!" Zoro said as he shifted his weight a little.
Cabaji laughed, "So you finally chose to give up. I have to commend you for keeping up with my tactics with that wound."
"I think you misunderstood, I'm tired of watching your boring little sideshow," Zoro said simply.
Cabaji's eyes twitched and he smirked as he stated, " Sorry to disappoint you, how about my real swordsman skills!" He charged at him once again while yelling, "Die Zoro!"
"Onigiri," Zoro muttered before using his three-sword style to strike Cabaji in the chest.
As Cabaji stood there shocked, he uttered, "I can't believe the Buggy Pirates were defeated by petty thieves." He coughed before falling off his unicycle and onto the ground.
"We aren't petty thieves!" Lea said before realizing that Raven had sneaked off somewhere. She had a suspicion that it was to follow Nami.
After a moment or two, Zoro collapsed. Lea spotted him and ran off to help him. "We're pirates!" Zoro said before passing out. Lea shook her head.
"Idiot," Lea sighed in a loving tone. She then gently pulled him to the side before going and standing next to Luffy.
"You guys are pirates?" Buggy asked with a raised brow.
"Yeah," Luffy replied simply. "We're searching for the Grand Line."
"Ha! That's not an easy voyage you know. I don't think the likes of you can handle it,' Buggy snickered.
"Paradise isn't that bad," Lea muttered. Buggy narrowed his eyes at her as he overhears her.
"And what will you do if by a miracle you get there? Go sightseeing or something?" Buggy asked before bursting out laughing.
"Be King of the Pirates," Luffy said. That made Buggy stop his laughing fit.
"You can't be serious, you idiot!" Buggy said as he got up from his throne and started to walk down to him.
"Oh, he's serious alright," Lea said with an eyeroll.
"If you were King of the Pirates, then that would mean I"m a god," Buggy snorted. "There can only be one king,"
"You're annoying," Luffy said before getting into a fighting stance. "Let's settle this." At this point, Luffy had pulled out the dagger that was in his hand and thereby releasing it back to Buggy. He then handed Lea back her throwing knife.
Once the clown pirate got his hand back, he took out his knives. "Seeing you in that hat really makes my blood boil. So bring it on you wanna-be pirate. You remind me of him. That damn red-haired pirate!"
Luffy blinked, "What did you say?" He asked. Lea just narrowed her eyes at Buggy. "The red hair..are you saying you knew my old friend Shanks?" He asked.
"That's right, I knew Shanks once."
"Do you know where he is now?" Luffy asked.
"I don't know, that depends straw hat, maybe I do or maybe I don't," Buggy said in a sickening way.
Luffy blinked, "What are you saying? Did you forget?"
"No I didn't forget, you moron!" Buggy said exasperatingly. He then showed off his knives. "I'm not just gonna tell you where he is from the kindness of my heart. You have to work for that info," He said simply.
"Fine. I'll make you tell me," Luffy said and the reaction brought Buggy into a fit of laughter.
"You can try your best shot, but I don't like your tone." Buggy said before attacking. "Chop Chop: Rice Platter!" He said as he spun his limbs around and they came detached from his center body before racing towards Luffy and Lea. Luffy barely dodged as he jumped into the air. "Can't dodge in mid-air?" Too bad!" He laughed as he then released his knives to target him. Lea had barely dodged the attack.
"No, you're wrong!" Lufly said as he stretched his arm to grab a pole. He laced his other arm around Lea and pulled her out of the way. One blade just barely scratched above Lea's eyes. That simple cut made her resemble her Uncle Shanks.
Buggy spotted Lea and laughed, "Oh, how interesting."
"Dang it. At least it missed my eye and it isn't deep,' Lea grunted in mild pain.
"You okay?" Luffy asked in concern.
"I'm fine,' she said.
Buggy pointed at Lea and yelled, "You..girl! You remind me of Shanks also."
"Well that would be because I am his niece," Lea replied.
"You're Scarlet's daughter!" The pirate clown exclaimed in panicked anger.
"You got it. I heard many stories about Shanks' and her's early years. You were mentioned many times,' Lea said in a bored tone. She then turned to Luffy and said, "I'm going to leave the rest to you Luffy, until my wounds heal." She then made her way to the unconscious Zoro.
Raven soon appeared from behind a nearby building and she walked over to Lea. She quietly explained to her that she had followed Nami to make sure she didn't rat them out. Her tone then went to a nurturing tone and fussed over the wounds of the two.
"You always were such a mother hen," Lea said fondly as she rolled her eyes. Raven just shook her head. As the trio were to the side, Luffy continued to spar with Buggy. Luffy was barely dodging his attacks and one attack caused him and the hat to be nicked.
As he held the hat in his hands, his whole demeanor darkened as memories flashed through his eyes. Lea and Raven turned to look at him and knew something wasn't right. Luffy the screamed, "NO ONE TOUCHES MY HAT YOU BASTARD! IT'S MY ONLY TREASURE!"
Buggy then smirked, "Oh, it is? Then you should protect it," He laughed wickedly as he launched another attack. As Luffy dodged, the hat got enough air to fly off his grasp. The straw hat then was speared by the knives in Buggy's severed hand. Luffy's eyes had gone wide and his irises grew slim in anger. Buggy then brought the hat closer to him. "How could you treasure a straw hat? Treasure is gold, siler, and jewels!"
"PUT. THE. HAT. DOWN," Lea growled darkly from the sidelines.
"Or what?" Buggy asked before realizing that Raven had slipped out of sight. At the last second he dodged a hammer to the head.
In the split second of opportunity, Luffy pinned Buggy to the ground and growled, "Tell me where Shanks is and what happened between you two!"
"Shanks is the one person I loathe the most," Buggy began to explain. "All these years I have not forgiven Shanks, he has stolen many riches from me. I don't know how you two are connected but I can say whatever the hell I want about him. I earned that!" he spat. He then proceeded to explain his reasoning. How him, Shanks and his twin, Scarlet, were on the same ship together. He said how he and Shanks fought over stupid things, like which was colder the north or south pole. He also told them about the one time that he had found a treasure map and during that same night that their crew had found a devil fruit.
It was the same devil fruit that he had eaten. Right before he left to explore on his own, he stole the devil fruit and had eaten it when he had freaked out by Shanks when he surprised him. When he realized it was only Shanks, he had accidentally lost his grip on the treasure map and it floated above the water. He told them that he wanted the map so bad that he fell overboard and realized that he couldn't swim. He then recalled that Shanks called Scarlet before hearing a splash and feeling Shanks's arms around him as he was brought back onto the ship.
Before Buggy could say anything more, Luffy interrupted him. "So Shanks saved your life?" He asked.
"No, that's not the point I'm trying to get across! Because of what he did to me, I was unable to swim! Therefore unable to get my sunken treasure. Then I had a revelation. If I couldn't get the sunken treasure, I will collect all the treasure on land," he said with a creepy smile. "All by using my new Chop Chop powers."
"Mom was right, he does have a one track mind," Lea said to herself which resulted in a glare from Buggy.
"Now those who touch my treasure, shall not live," Buggy said as his upper body started to float up and his knives were unsheathed. As he floated higher, he spotted Nami with his giant bag of treasure. "Just like this THIEF!" He cackled before darting towards her.
Nami screamed, "Dammit! He spotted me!" She started to run, Buggy on her heels.
"You don't have a chance of escaping me!" Buggy growled. "Now I'm going to chop you up!"He said before stopping and his eyes grew wide.
Nami winces as she thought she was going to die but when she cracked open an eye, she started to burst out laughing. Her eyes went to Luffy who had kicked him in the balls. Lea and Raven joined in with their own laughter.
Buggy's upper body dropped to the ground as he coughed, "That was a cheap shot!"
Through her laughter, Lea commented, "You're the last person to be talking about cheap shots!"
"Don't run off yet! We're not done!" Luffy grinned. He then turned to Nami. "You better drop that treasure and run, before he goes after you again, " He said.
"No!" Nami replied. "Drop the money and go? Why should I leave my treasure?!" The comment made Buggy twitch.
Lea leaned over and muttered to Raven who had calmed down from the laughing fit, "That girl." She then went and sat down next to Zoro and let his head lay in her lap.
Raven shrugged as she placed her weight on the handle of her hammer.
"She's going to get herself killed, isn't she?" Lea said as she watched the scene.
"We will all die one day," Raven said simply with a shrug. "That's if we choose to or not for the day at hand."
Lea raised a brow and looked up at her sister with a deadpan look, "You know what I meant!" Raven just smirked in response.
From the ground, Buggy started to growl, "Did...you just call it….YOUR treasure?"
"You heard me! MY treasure," Nami replied. "I am a thief that steals from pirates and i just stole some from a REALLY. ANNOYING. ONE. So this makes it mine now, you understand?"
"Ahh..that makes sense," Luffy said in agreement.
"I guess that makes sense?" Lea said in confusion as her hand gently pet's Zoro's head in a calming manner. Her hand gently glided through his green hair.
"It's MY treasure! Even if you stole it doesn't mean it's yours!" Buggy said.
"Said every pirate ever," Raven said with a role of her eyes. "Finders keepers." Lea couldn't help but release a small chuckle from her comment.
"What have your parents taught you?!" Buggy growled.
Raven quirked an eyebrow, "you're a full grown pirate. Manners don't apply to someone like you. After all you did just say that you'll steal the treasures from the land. Where are YOUR manners now?" She asked as she folded her arms.
Lea coughed while muttering, "Hypocrite,"
Buggy snarled and looked at the two chatty girl's nearby. "Stay out of this, or you'll be next."
"Touchy. Like we are afraid of you? I had learned enough about you from my mother," Lea said with a raised brow.
Buggy just rolled his eyes before looking back at Nami who was smirking. "Please, the day I take moral lessons from you is the day that I stop being a thief!" nami said confidently which made Buggy even more mad.
"Are you ready for the consequences? Cuz here comes Chop Chop: Festival!" Buggy snarled and his whole body separated into many pieces. The pieces rush by Luffy as Buggy said, "Try and stop me now Gum Gum!"
"Dammit! He broke up into smaller pieces!" Luffy growled. He had a moment to look down to see Buggy's two feet walking around. He raised a brow and muttered, "What the…" He then started to smirk as he got an idea.
"Nami! Give me back my treasure!" Buggy growled as he focused all his attention on chasing her down.
Luffy grabbed one foot and took off the shoe. He held it in his hand as he started to tickle it. An outburst of laughter was soon heard from Buggy and Lea. Luffy pulled at the top of his foot which made Buggy wince in pain. Raven shivered at the feeling. Luffy looked over his shoulder and smirked at the reaction. He then got another idea. He firmly grasped the foot with the toes facing the ground. He then lifted it above his head a little before slamming it on the ground. Buggy let out a yowl of pain. Both Lea and Raven winced at the scene.
"Dammit! Knock it off!" Buggy snarled.
"No, you knock it off!" Nami replied as she hurled the bag of treasure into Buggy's face. Luffy smirked but it faltered when it was revealed that Buggy caught the bag with his severed hands a grin was on the clown's face.
Buggy lowered the bag and in a creepy voice he said, "Thanks for giving me my treasure back Nami." Nami didn't let go and tried to shake him off but it wasn't working.
As Buggy was about to stab Nami, Luffy had came over and slammed his leg into Buggy's face. "I told you that we weren't finished yet!" Buggy's face flew and scraped against the ground as his beloved treasure fell around him as the bag tore. Coins scattered everywhere and a crown rolled out of sight. "Consider that a gift from the mayor!"
Buggy slowly got up and snarled "This isn't over yet!" His eyes were now ablaze. "You'll pay for this!" He then smirked. "Chop Chop Parts ASSEMBLE!" He yelled and outstretched his hands to reclaim his body. When his parts came back, all that appeared were his feet, hands, and his head. Seeing Buggy, Lea and Raven burst out laughing.
"You look like a kiddie toy!" Lea said through the laughter. Raven nodded in agreement, she then looked over at Nami and smirked. Nami was standing with the rest of Buggy's body parts. They were all tied together with rope that she found. She kept the wad of body parts down with her foot.
"Looking for these Buggy?" Nami asked with a bigger grin. Buggy looked around frantically before looking at Nami and he looked shocked. Luffy just smirked.
"What!?" Buggy snarled which made Luffy laugh out loud.
"Alright! Way to go Nami!" Luffy said excitedly as he stretched his arms behind him to the max length they can go.
"Stop it now!" Buggy snarled.
"Not a chance! Gum Gum: Lift Off!" Luffy yelled as he brought his hands forward in rushing speed. . His palms hit Buggy's face and he went flying over the house top. Luffy's arms then snapped back to normal and he pumped his fist in the air. "I win!" He yelled with a grin.
"Nicely done Luffy," Lea said as she looked down at Zoro to check on him. He didn't stir from his little nap. Raven gave him a thumbs up. Nami just stared as her eyes twitched.
Luffy smirked before walking over to the girls and Zoro. As Luffy got close, Lea handed him the hat with a frown. Both Luffy and her were deeply upset that the hat was damaged. It held a special place in their hearts and had a lot of memories for both of them. "Sorry your hat's all torn up," Nami said in the distance as she started to gather up the fallen treasure.
"Don't worry, I can still put it on, so I'm satisfied for now," Luffy explained as he placed it on top of his head.
"When I have time, I can fix it for you," Nami said gently.
"What's that?" Luffy asked slightly confused, his head tilted to the side.
"Nevermind," Nami said quickly. "I had to split the money into two bags, so help me carry it," Nami replied as she held up one bag for him.
Luffy nodded and took the bag before asking, "So does that mean you'll be joining our crew then?"
"No, I told you that I"ll never join a pirate crew…" She said in thought, "...Actually, fine, I'll come with you, but only because it's beneficial to me."
Luffy grinned, while Raven and Lea raised their brows. Luffy then came towards Lea as he bent down to Zoro. "Zoro, wake up. We're leaving." He started to poke his face to try and stir the sleeping swordsman.
Lea hits Luffy in the head which made him wince a little, "Luffy stop."
Zoro grunts from below and started to blink open his eyes. There was a slight blush as he spotted Lea before he muttered, "You finished?" The pink on his cheeks were now gone.
"Yeah," Luffy said as he helped him up and off of Lea's lap. As her captain stood up with the green haired man, Lea stood up as well. "We also got a navigator too!" Luffy said with a grin as he pointed his thumb at Nami.
"As I said, I"m only with you for the benefit of me," Nami said as she crossed her arms, the bag of treasure by her feet.
"Tch, figures," Zoro muttered
"Let's go help the mayor," Raven said to them as she went to help pick up the unconscious mayor from the nearby house.
"Hey, you there!" Came an angry voice from behind them. The rest of the village had gone out to try and find their mayor. "What are you doing with our precious mayor!"
"We saved him from the pirates…" Raven tried to explain.
"But why is he unconscious?," Someone from the group asked as he pointed at his rather limp body in her arms.
"We had to do it, to protect him. He was about to face Buggy all by himself. He wouldn't stand down," Lea explained.
"He could've gotten killed," Raven added.
During the midst of the talking between the two groups, Boodle woke up. The crowd quieted down as they looked at their mayor as Raven handed him to them. As the village started to discuss things with Boodle, Raven backed up and towards her crew.
"Luffy; get Zoro. We have to leave," Lea whispered to Luffy. He nodded and grabbed him before the group slinked out of sight and started to run towards the docks.
As they had the docks in view, Luffy pointed out the small fishing boat. "Hey, is this your boat?" Luffy asked Nami as they came to it.
"Nothing special, but it will do. I got it from three stupid pirates," Nami said with a smirk. When Nami said that, the three captives that Raven had tied up to the mast were now free. They were standing in the boat and smirked as they came close.
"Remember us girly?" The one asked.
Another one said, "You didn't expect to see us again, did you?"
Raven laughed as she started to slowly reach behind her back to grab Good Ol' Lucy. She let the metal shine in the light of the sun and into the eyes of one of the tree pirates before them. "Well, I did," She said before she swung her hammer and sent the one in the hat flying and into the water. "Lucy is hungry for some chumps.," She snickered as she watched the reactions of the other two. Lea shook her head as one by one, the other two were hit off the boat.
"Well, that's taken care of," Zoro said with a raised brow and a slight chuckle.
Raven answered him with a cheeky grin. It wasn't long after that, that the small crew started to take off from the port. As they were a good distance away from the dock, Boodle had came into view and waving his arms to try and get their attention.
"Hey you! Wait! Young ones!" He called out to them.
Luffy looked behind him to see the mayor. He raised a brow and pointed at him, "It's the mayor."
"Thanks! Thank you! You all come back any time!" Boodle called out to them as more village people started to come to his side. "You are all honorable citizens of this town!" Bootle said with a grin, a few tears in his eyes.
"Wow, "Lea said as she blinked. Raven, Luffy, and Zoro just smiled and gave a nod. Nami blinked as she looked at them all and raised a brow.
"Don't worry about it! Take it easy!" Luffy called out as they continued to sail further and further away from the dock and the village.
As soon as they got far enough away, Nami had counted her stash in the boat next to Luffy's. She found that she was a bag short and desperately looked around before staring at Luffy. "What did you do to my treasure!" She asked.
"I left one there, they are going to need it," Luffy said with a nod. "They're going to need it to help rebuild their town."
"What would you do if it were your town?" Lea said to her.
Nami was going to say something, but the comment made her stop and she became distant. She stepped away from the edge and the crew on the other boat. She then went inside the cabin and wasn't heard for the rest of the night.
Lea blinked and looked at the others with a worried look, "Did I say something wrong?" She asked. The others just shrugged.