"Kuhahaha! Didn't expect that? I also—"
His triumphant laughter stopped abruptly.
Ann's heavy sword was pointed directly at him. Armament Haki slowly coated the black blade. The girl's eyes were cold, not like a child's. She held the sword with both hands in a unique starting stance.
Familiar. Too familiar. Buggy's combat effectiveness dropped to rear admiral.
"An-Shin Style: Annihilation."
This stance! This technique name! Oh no!
"Wait! Isn't this Big Brother Rhett's — didn't she already use it? Oh no, oh no, oh no."
Buggy's combat effectiveness dropped to captain.
The heavy sword struck.
"BOOM!!!"
Buggy barely managed to split his body to dodge, but he was still hit squarely. He crashed into a bakery in the distance. Flour bags exploded, sending white powder into the air.
"Captain!" Mohji and Kabaji shouted and tried to help. They couldn't believe their captain had been sent flying by a little girl.
That shouldn't be possible. No matter what, it shouldn't have happened.
From inside the cloud of flour came Buggy's violent coughing. "Cough, cough —"
"Dual Swords: Double Swallow Return!" Hizumi and Hiyori didn't give him a chance to explain. Their crossed swords cut into the white mist.
"Wahhh!" Buggy's fleeing figure flew out of another window. His pants had two slits in them, revealing underwear printed with a clown pattern.
Ace whistled. "Oh, nice taste!"
"Sh-Shut up!" Buggy frantically covered his rear. He suddenly noticed Ann had silently appeared directly above him.
The heavy sword swung down with the force of a falling mountain.
"I'll split!" Buggy's body instantly split into hundreds of pieces. But this time, he was clearly panicking.
Of course he was panicking! Couldn't you see that giant figure behind them?
"So that's it!" Ace suddenly understood. He shouted at Buggy, "Hey, Red Nose! There's a hole in your underwear!"
Sabo looked at Ace with confusion. Didn't you just give me a look? Do you really not recognize him, or are you just slow? Well, he was Ace.
"What?!" All of Buggy's split body parts looked down at the same time. His head collided with his own foot.
Ann seized the opportunity. Her heavy sword swept. "An-Shin Style: Tide."
Coated in Armament Haki, the attack sent all of Buggy's limbs flying into a pile of garbage at the street corner.
"Damn... damn..." Buggy climbed out of the garbage. His mind was screaming: "Why are Big Brother Rhett's students here?! That heavy sword girl was clearly trained by him! And that gunslinger, when he smiles, it's exactly like when Big Brother Rhett is setting someone up! Every single one of his attacks targets... actually, never mind."
He snuck a glance at the five little terrors approaching. Cold sweat soaked his back. "Oh no, oh no. If Big Brother Rhett finds out I was bullying his students..."
The image of Rhett smiling as he nailed him to the Red Line flashed through his mind. Buggy's red nose began twitching uncontrollably.
"Hey!" Ace pointed his flintlock at Buggy. "You were so arrogant just now. Keep it up!"
"Ahem..." Buggy suddenly straightened his back and pretended to be calm. "I just remembered I have something urgent to do! I'll spare you today!"
"Ehh~" Hizumi dragged out the word. "You're running away?"
"Nonsense!" Buggy jumped up. His red nose glowed with anger. "Lord Buggy does not run away! This is... this is just enough fighting! Mohji! Kabaji! Prepare to set sail!"
His two subordinates stared in shock. "Captain?"
"Let's go, idiots!" Buggy gritted his teeth, whispering so only they could hear. "That heavy sword girl used 'Mist God Style'!"
"Mist God Style?" Kabaji was confused at first. Then his expression changed dramatically. "Wait, that's —"
"Shut up! Run!" Buggy kicked his men toward the harbor. He backed away while shouting threats. "You brats! You got lucky today! Next time we meet, it won't be — WAH!"
The five little ones looked at each other.
"Did we... win?" Hiyori asked uncertainly.
Ann nodded silently. Her heavy sword clicked back into place on her back.
Sabo picked up the hat Buggy had dropped in his panic. Inside, he found a faded photo. A young Buggy stood on a pirate ship. Next to him was Red Hair Shanks. And with their arms around their shoulders...
"Is that... Uncle Rhett?" Sabo's eyes went wide.
Buggy appeared in front of them in an instant. "Sorry, I left something behind."
"When did you—"
"Uncle Buggy, stop pretending. Uncle Rhett told us about you."
Buggy panicked even more. "Buggy? Buggy is my brother. I'm Giggy..."
Suddenly, Buggy lost all color. He slammed his hands on the ground. "My name can't be said backwards! Damn it!!!"
"Long time no see, Buggy."
Roger dispelled the disguise on his face. Rhett had given him a large supply of this disguising mist. It was specifically for moments like this.
Buggy's body reacted before his mind.
"Kids, get back!!!"
Buggy suddenly exploded. His split hands pulled all five little ones behind him. An unprecedented wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted like a tsunami. The ground on the entire street began to crack. Rocks floated up against gravity.
"Super · Disassembly!!!"
With Buggy's hysterical roar, all buildings, streets, and stalls within a hundred meters disintegrated into countless fragments. These fragments, as if controlled by an invisible hand, turned into a roaring torrent that shot toward Roger. The air was torn with spider web-like cracks. Buggy became the second pirate in One Piece capable of tearing apart space.
Building fragments fell into the dark chasms of the void.
Mohji and Kabaji hugged the mast and screamed. "The captain has gone crazy! He's really lost it this time! Why would he use his ultimate move?!"
"Oh?" Roger raised his eyebrows high. "You've improved a lot, Buggy!"
"Shut up!" Buggy's face was twisted. Only coldness remained in his eyes. "Fake! Desecrating the dead will send you to hell, you bastard!"
Hiyori looked at the once-ridiculous Uncle Buggy in shock. He was now like a demon. "Mr. Buggy, he..."
"He's protecting us." Sabo stared at the back in front of them. Buggy's split body parts turned into smaller Buggy's, firmly blocking the children. Even though the ground in front was already shattered, the children felt no impact where they stood.
Ace suddenly noticed that the red nose they had been mocking just moments ago was now emitting a presence very similar to Uncle Rhett's.
"Hey, Buggy..." Roger scratched his face helplessly. "Let me explain—"
"Explain what?!" Buggy roared. "My captain died a long time ago! The whole world saw his execution!"
"Disappear, you fake!"
All of Buggy's split limbs pointed at Roger at the same time.
No loud crash. No explosion. Only the bone-chilling sound of "crack, crack, crack." The ground, the buildings, even the air fractured into countless cubes. Then they turned to dust in a purple light.