Dawn rose on the Going Merry as Kuishi and Romaz weighed anchor while Johnny and Yosaku set the main sail. Sanji headed into the galley to start breakfast as Lithos and Ariala brought up the ingredients.

"Things are really starting to come together for this crew," Zoro noted.

"Yeah, I mean, sixteen members already?" Eddy laughed. "And something tells me this crew is only gonna get bigger!"

"You know, I always wondered what happened with Buggy," Nami noted as she checked the course. "Last we saw of him he was sent flying out of Orange Town with most of his body missing."

"What did you do with his remaining pieces?" Ferros asked.

"I left them behind, of course. No way am I carrying around a bunch of creepy human body parts, that would raise too many questions." Nami clarified. "The other Buggy Pirates probably snatched them up before fleeing Orange Town."

"Breakfast is ready!" Sanji called out. "Get it while it's hot!"

"Yum, yum, yum!" Ed cheered.

As it happened, Buggy had been flung to a distant deserted island. Despite being reduced to a short size from losing most of his parts, he had managed to work on the means of reuniting with his crew.

"Finally! Now my raft is finished! I can finally leave this island!" He declared. "I'll get back one way or another and go back to raiding the Grand Line! And no straw hat brat and his ash-riddled brother is going to stop me!"

He took a look at his current body and grumbled at the loss he suffered at Orange Town.

"Hopefully the boys picked up the rest of my body parts. I'll need to pull myself together if I hope to regain my former glory."

Buggy pushed the raft out to sea and pointed to the horizon.

"Time to set sail!"

Eventually, after a brief run-in with a hungry school of fish, Buggy reached a new island, with some of the fish biting on his raft.

"Sheesh! And I thought I was persistent. Those flying seafood specials chased me all the way here."

After disembarking, he looked around curiously. Unbeknownst to him, he had just docked at the Island of Rare Animals

"Now where did I wind up?"

"LEAVE THIS PLACE!"

Buggy yelped. "What the hell?!"

"I AM THIS ISLAND'S PROTECTIVE GOD! LEAVE NOW IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!"

"Yeah, well even if I wanted to I can't!" Buggy pointed out. "The raft I used to get here was eaten by fish!"

"Wait, really? Wow, never had that happen before."

Buggy blinked. "What kind of god doesn't have the omnipotence to realize that immediately?!"

"Suppose I might as well let the cat out of the bag."

Buggy looked around and saw all the strange hybrid creatures that lived on the island.

"What the heck even are these? I thought phenomenon like this only existed in the Grand Line."

"These guys happen to be my friends."

Hearing the voice nearby, Buggy looked to see it was Gaimon and needless to say, he was shocked.

"A man with a chest for a body?!"

"No weirder than your body, that's for sure. I'm guessing you're a Devil Fruit user." Gaimon pointed out.

Gaimon was kind enough to offer Buggy a place to stay for the night and some food. The pirate captain had also seen fit to tell him how he had wound up here.

"Normally I'd say that story is a tall tale, but considering I'm a man who's been stuck in a chest for so many years it literally fused to his body, I'm willing to believe you." Gaimon said.

"That Straw Hat brat's definitely got flash, I can tell you that. I respect him for that much." Buggy said as he drank some of Gaimon's unrefined sake. "So how long have you been living on this island?"

"It's been twenty years now, stuck in this chest the whole time. Originally I stayed here to guard the treasure that used to lie here. But when Luffy and his friends arrived, they actually helped me get it." Gaimon explained. "But when I saw it, I realized it wasn't the treasure I truly desired. Rather, it was the animals living here who became my friends all these years. So I let Straw Hats take it for themselves."

"So they're calling themselves the Straw Hat Pirates now, huh?" Buggy noted. "Bit of a direct name, but then again my crew is called the Buggy Pirates so I have no room to judge."

He looked at the dancing animals and thought back to his crew.

"You know, I wonder how the boys are doing right about now. They probably don't realize I'm still alive. I need to get back to them as soon as I can."

Gaimon smiled. "In that case, I think I can help."

The next day, the animals of the island had built Buggy a brand new raft.

"This should help you get to a civilized island. From there you can start looking for your crew." Gaimon said.

Buggy nodded. "Thanks for your help, Gaimon."

Gaimon smiled. "Hey, my pleasure. And if you run into that kid Monkey D. Luffy again, let him know I'm still kicking out here."

Hearing Luffy's full name gave Buggy pause as memories of his childhood came back to him, the most prominent of which being a certain smiling man who had taken him under his wing.

"D...Could it really be possible...?"

"Hmm, something wrong?" Gaimon asked.

Buggy shook his head. "No, it's nothing. I'll see if I can pass on the message."

He pushed the raft into the water and set off, waving goodbye to Gaimon one last time.

After a little while sailing, Buggy ran into a giant crab, which began to destroy his raft. Luckily, he was saved when a passing ship blasted the Sea Beast with its cannon. Buggy looked over to see who had saved him and was shocked when it turned out to be a gorgeous woman with familiar hair and clothes.

"Thanks for the save," Buggy said as he dried his clothes out after being fished out. "For a while there I thought I was a goner."

"I was just passing by and thought I'd lend a hand," the woman said. You're Buggy the Clown, right? A little shorter than I heard."

"Yeah well, I'm missing most of my body parts right now," Buggy explained. "But how do you know my name?"

"Right, you wouldn't recognize me. Maybe this will help."

She walked over to the cabin, then pulled out a large iron mace. Buggy felt his eyes bug out.

"Iron Mace Alvida?! Since when did you lose so much weight?!"

Alvida sighed and pulled out her old wanted poster.

Alvida giggled. "Call it the Devil Fruit diet. After I managed to escape from the Marines I took out this longboat and wound up on a nearby island. By chance, I found a bizarre fruit next to a lake. I was still pretty pissed at being defeated by those upstart punks and I ate it out of frustration."

"And realized it tasted disgusting," Buggy noted. "Yeah, been there, done that. Well, I wound up swallowing mine whole but I could feel the awful taste just from the skin."

"Yeah, basically. It was shortly after that I felt many pounds lighter and realized my clothes no longer fit. Imagine my shock when I took a look in the lake and found this gorgeous specimen starting right back." Alvida said. "Turns out what I ate is the Slip-Slip Fruit, which makes my body so slippery everything just slips right off it. Including excess fat, apparently."

She spun her mace around like it weighed nothing, tossed it into the air, and caught it with ease.

"Of course, despite my new physique, I still have my old strength. So there's a bonus."

Buggy nodded. He wouldn't question how Avlida's clothes stayed on. For some reason, a Devil Fruit user's clothes were always affected by the Devil Fruit itself, which all things considered was a godsend.

"Well, since we've met up, perhaps you can help me find my old crew. I'm sure they must be thinking I'm dead now, so they'll be relieved to see me once more."

After a while of sailing and being provided some food by Alvida, Buggy spotted the Big Top docked at a nearby island.

"Well talk about a stroke of luck! Looks like the boys found an island to lay low on!"

He and Alvida got to the island, where Buggy found what was supposed to be his grave.

"Yep, totally called it. Well, let's see if they had the decency to bury my remaining body parts."

"Did they use your wanted poster for the funeral picture?" Alvida asked.

"Yeah, an old one. From just after I went independent."

"Hey, that voice!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Buggy's eyes lit up and he smiled as Mohji and Cabaji ran over.

"Captain Buggy! You're alive!" Mohji cried excitedly.

"Gyahahaha! Naturally!" Buggy laughed. "I lucked out when I landed on a distant island. Now come here, you bastards!"

The duo hugged Buggy while crying their eyes out.

"So where's everyone else?" Buggy asked.

"They got captured by natives," Mohji explained. "Only the two of us plus Ritchie escaped."

Alivda felt a large presence behind her and looked up to see Ritchie looking over her. She nervously waved at the big cat, who seemed more interested in taking a nap. She then noticed the nearby spears.

"So this is the island of the Bear Claw Tribe. We'd better hurry if we hope to save the other crew members, that tribe is notorious for cannibalism."

Buggy freaked out. "Don't just sit there, you two! Dig up the rest of my body!"

"We never buried your body. We just made the grave marker." Cabaji said.

Buggy grinned. "All the better. Likely those natives haven't yet decided whether or not to throw my parts in the cooking pot. Now then... It's time for the flashy return of Buggy the Clown! CHOP-CHOP ASSEMBLE!"

He grinned as his remaining body parts flew up and over to him, letting him regain his full body once more as he landed in the middle of the confused natives. Within seconds he beat up all of them easily.

"Nobody makes a meal out of my crew!"

"CAPTAIN BUGGY!" the crew cried out from a nearby pot.

"Hang in there, boys!," Buggy called out. "CHOP-CHOP PUNCH!"

He fired off twin punches to know the pot over and free the pirates. Some of the natives started to recover, only to spot Mohji and Cabaji bringing in the crew's cannon.

"Buggy Ball prepped, Captain!" Cabaji declared.

"Good work, Cabaji! Let's show these would-be gourmets what happens when you mess with pirates!"

The cannon fired, and the Buggy Ball leveled several of the huts in the settlement. Mohji then charged in riding Ritchie, slamming some of the tribesmen against the ground.

A few noticed Alvida and fired their bows. She smirked as even direct shots easily slid away from her body. Spinning her mace, she slammed it into the ground as the shockwave sent the tribesmen flying.

Cabaji raced through on his unicycle, slashing apart the tribesmen's spears. The chief tried to strike with his own spear, but the bladed tip was useless against Buggy's powers.

"Sorry, pal, but you're dealing with the wrong people. And you really ticked me off trying to cook my crew!" Buggy declared. "CHOP-CHOP KICK!"

He separated his legs and let them strike the chief right in the gut, sending him flying. The pirates all cheered as Buggy went to town beating around the cannibal tribe like they were two-berri bandits. Once the tribesmen were all out, Buggy smiled at his crew.

"Sorry that I've been gone so long, boys. But I'm back now."

"By the way, who's the gorgeous woman with you?" Cabaji asked.

"Oh right, I never introduced her but you'd hardly recognize her if you'd seen her before. Believe it or not, this is Alvida." Buggy said.

The pirates all did a double-take at Alvida's stunning new looks as she gave a playful smile.

"SERIOUSLY?!"

"I know our loss to that Straw Hat brat Luffy is a heavy one, but we're back together now and we can still make our mark on the Grand Line!" Buggy told his crew. "However, there is one thing I need to do first. You see, I learned something about Luffy recently."

He showed Luffy's wanted poster and pointed to the D.

"You may not know this, but this isn't some random initial. Those with this initial are said to be capable of changing the world to suit them. But like any part of one's name, it's something that can be added or removed. Only certain people truly bear the mark this initial carries. So before we leave for the Grand Line, we need to find Straw Hat Luffy and see if he truly has the legacy that comes with this letter."

"That's a fine thing to say. But where would we start." Mohji asked.

"If I had to guess, we'll likely find him in Loguetown. It's the last major settlement before the only viable entrance to the Grand Line." Buggy said. "So we'll head there ourselves. We need to pick up a few things there anyway."

The Buggy Pirates set sail on the Big Top, with Alvida joining along on her own vessel, having decided to stick around to see just what Buggy had planned for Luffy.

Near Loguetown, a small ship had docked as two girls disembarked from it.

"This is it, Delphia. Judging by what we learned from Mr. Dragon, we should be able to run into the Straw Hats here."

The girl who spoke was quite petite, one could easily be forgiven for thinking she was a boy at first glance. She wore a black shirt with a purple/green overcoat and green hiking boots. She also had messy brown/blonde hair in a bob, fair skin, and brown eyes. Her name was Shine D. Bella.

"I'm not so sure about this, cousin."

The other girl, Delphia, had light-tanned skin, a green left eye, a red right eye, and long light green hair with leaves decorating it. She was dressed in a green-barky sundress and vines wrapped around her legs.

"Don't worry, Delphia!" Bella smiled. "I know exactly where Luffy will go from here. After all...this is where Gol D. Roger was both born and died."

Buggy's mini-chapter was pretty much the same as in mtnetsurfer's story but this time, Alvida sticks around with his crew.

Also, the two girls introduced at the end are OCs of luckyhyna, who has kindly allowed me to use them for this fic. You'll see them in action later.