POWAAAAA
OH GREAT AGENDA LORD, MAKE MY AGENDA SPREAD WIDE AND FAR.
THE RAT KING... THE RAT KING IS REALLLLL....
You're seeing this, Imu.
Yes, I'm seeing this, Joyboy.
I'm also seeing this, Joyboy.
:/
:/
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, ZORO!??
"This is Absolute Cinema"--- Davy Jones
I don't know what the hell I'm even writing!?? But we must push the agenda forward.
I don't know which one, but my Agenda Knot must pass down to the future generations.
FUCKKKKK....
Attendance Please:
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The air was thick with dust and the sharp scent of splintered wood as Buggy the Clown clawed his way out of the rubble. A broken beam slid off his shoulders with a clatter, revealing his signature red nose. He should have been crushed, but at the last second, his hand found an ankle—a loyal, unsuspecting crewmate's ankle—and he yanked the man on top of him like a human shield.
The crewmate hadn't made a sound; he was probably still under there. Buggy didn't check.
"Argh… damn you bastards!" He brushed plaster off his captain's coat, his eyes darting furiously from Luffy to Zoro to Yuji, then landing on Nami. He jabbed a finger at Luffy. "Who the hell do you think you are, punks? And you… another Devil Fruit user! In the East Blue?!"
Nami, who had been peeking from behind Luffy and Zoro, felt her blood run cold. "D-Devil Fruits!? They're real!? They're not just fairy tales!?"
Buggy's sneer widened as he found a new target. "Hehehe… You don't know how things work out there in the world, little girl. You think this is some grand adventure? This is a sandbox."
He swept his gaze across the wreckage; his crew lay scattered like broken toys. Some were unconscious; others groaned faintly beneath the debris. His jaw clenched so tightly his teeth creaked. "Look what you did to my crew!"
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you're the one who used your own crew as a human shield."
"Yeah." Luffy's voice was flat, lacking its usual bounce. His eyes had hardened. "How can you do that to your own crew? You don't deserve to be a pirate captain."
The words hit Buggy like a slap. His face turned purple with rage. "What did you say, you punk!? What do you know about being a pirate!?"
Luffy's hand drifted up to the worn brim of his straw hat. A small, defiant grin tugged at his lips. "Well, I'm a pirate captain myself." He gestured at the others. "And they're my crew."
"I AM NOT YOUR CREWMATE!" Nami shrieked from behind.
Luffy simply laughed.
Buggy's eyes narrowed. "Pirate, you say!?"
"That's right!" Luffy's grin widened.
"So that's why that girl stole my map of the Grand Line." Buggy's voice dripping with contempt. "A couple of no-name pirates like you won't last a day on the Grand Line! What do you plan to do there? Go sightseeing?"
Luffy tilted his head, as if the answer were obvious. "Well, of course. I'm going to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates."
Silence.
The wind itself seemed to hold its breath.
"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?"
Nami's shriek blended perfectly with Buggy's enraged roar. She stumbled backward, her hand flying to her mouth. Buggy's expression shifted from disbelief to confusion, finally settling on pure fury.
"DON'T BE A FOOL! IF YOU'RE THE KING OF PIRATES, THEN WHAT AM I!? GOD OF THE PIRATES!?" His voice cracked. "THE WORLD'S GREATEST TREASURE WILL BE MINE! SO FORGET IT!"
"Shishishishishi… we'll see about that." Luffy rolled his shoulders. "Now hurry up and attack me."
Buggy pulled eight knives from his coat, sliding them between his fingers. "You'll soon regret your words, rubber boy!" His eyes caught sight of the straw hat, and something flickered in them—something old and buried. "Tch… you and that hat remind me of him when we were younger… that stubborn dog with red hair!"
Luffy froze mid-stretch. "Wait, red hair!?" His eyes widened. "Ahhh… I remember you now! You're Red Nose Buggy!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING RED NOSE!? YOU RUBBER-BRAINED IDIOT!"
But Luffy kept going, oblivious. "You used to be on the same crew as Shanks! He told me you two were like brothers and did everything together."
The fury on Buggy's face flickered. "D-Did he really say that!?"
"Yeah. He also said he really wanted you to join his crew, but you refused and went your own way."
Buggy stood perfectly still. For a moment, the painted clown was just a man. Then a laugh bubbled up from his chest—low, bitter, and growing until it echoed off the broken walls.
Luffy tilted his head. He glanced at Yuji, then at Zoro. "Is something wrong with his head?"
The laughter stopped. Buggy's eyes, when they met Luffy's, burned like glowing coals. "He told you I refused him?" A muscle twitched in his jaw. "That lying bastard… he didn't tell you the real story." His hand detached from his wrist, his Chop Chop Fruit power on full display, floating in the air. "Let me tell you something, boy. Years ago, I wasn't like this. I was just a normal human, sailing with my captain and the others. But then, that bastard Shanks caused me to eat the Chop Chop Fruit! Now I can never swim! I can never find the treasures lost to the sea!" His voice trembled with years of pent-up rage. "But I forgave him. He was my one and only friend. And yet, he betrayed me. He told you I refused him? LIES! I asked him to join me! To start a crew together! To find the One Piece—together! And he refused me. He spat on my dream, on our bond… on our captain's legacy." His voice dropped to a whisper, and a single tear carved a path through his makeup. He wiped it away violently, jabbing a finger at Luffy. "Now do you understand what kind of man your precious Shanks really is?"
Luffy's pinky was in his nose. He pulled it out, examined it, and shrugged. "Are you done bad-mouthing Shanks? Then let's fight."
Buggy's eye twitched. Then the other. "Why you…" His voice dropped to a dangerous purr. "It looks like that bastard has brainwashed you. Hehehehe… HAHAHAHAHA! Then let me tell you a little secret about him. Your precious Shanks was never a true pirate. He's nothing but a filthy noble! A liar! A fraud! A rat who hid his true nat—"
CRACK.
Buggy's head detached from his body and spun through the air, propelled by a fist that had appeared out of nowhere. His body staggered, hands clutching at empty space.
"STOP TALKING." Luffy stood where Buggy's head had been, his fist still extended. His eyes were shadowed beneath the brim of his hat. "I've heard enough."
He lunged at the floating head without uttering another word.
"What just happened?" Zoro blinked.
"Luffy is angry," Yuji said simply. But behind his calm expression, his mind was racing. 'Buggy knew about Shanks's true background. How?'
"ARGH! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD, RUBBER BOY!" Buggy's body separated completely, his limbs flying everywhere. "CHOP-CHOP BUZZ SAW!" His legs spun like a fan, small blades protruding from his shoes, whistling toward Luffy.
Luffy ducked under the whirling blades and delivered a solid punch to Buggy's exposed torso.
"OOOFFF—"
Before Buggy could recover, Luffy's hand shot out and grabbed his floating head by the hair. With the practiced ease of someone who had kicked many things, he punted it like a soccer ball.
"AHHHHHH—" Buggy's head flew through the air and crashed through the wall of a nearby building.
Luffy grabbed the remaining floating body parts of Buggy, legs, arms, and torso, and tied them all together in a knot.
Buggy's head popped out of the rubble, his eyes wild. "Damn you, boy!" His head snapped back toward his body, only to find it hopelessly tangled. "W-What!? What did you do to my body!?"
Luffy didn't answer. He threw both arms back, stretching them to their limits.
Buggy's eyes went wide. "H-Hey, boy, we can talk about this! L-Look, I take it back! I take it all back!"
"GUM-GUM…"
"WAIT—"
"…BAZOOKA!"
Buggy became a shooting star of color and curses, arcing across the sky until he was just a tiny dot—and then nothing at all.
Luffy dusted his hands off and turned back to his companions, the storm in his eyes already beginning to clear.
Zoro stared, his mouth slightly open. He looked at Yuji and asked, "What the hell was that?"
Yuji shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. "Buggy hit the wrong nerve. He got what he deserved."
Nami just stood there, her mind struggling to comprehend that a boy who picked his nose had just launched a man into the sky with his bare hands.
Luffy trudged back to them. "That guy was really irritating. I thought if Shanks mentioned him, he would be cool. But he wasn't cool at all!"
'Yeah… sure,' three of them thought at simultaneously.
Yuji turned to Nami, his expression becoming businesslike. "Hey, now that we've dealt with Buggy and his crew…"
Nami straightened immediately. "I already told you, I don't work with pirates. You saved my life twice—fine. I'll give you two percent of what I stole from the Buggy Pirates. That's all."
"Two percent!?" Zoro's eye twitched. "Oi, witch, are you trying to scam us? The bounty on Buggy alone is worth more than your so-called two percent!"
"Look, I'm being generous with you pirates. Take it or leave it. I'd be happy to keep my money."
"Your money!?" Zoro looked at her as if she had grown a second head.
Yuji's hand landed on Zoro's shoulder, a silent signal to stand down. "We'll take it."
"Good."
Luffy's eyes widened and became moist, like a puppy denied a treat. "Hey, Nami… weren't you going to be my navigator? You said we could team up and go to the Grand Line!"
"No. I won't be your navigator. For the love of god, why won't you understand? I hate pirates. I'm not teaming up with you."
Luffy's entire body seemed to deflate. "Awww…"
Yuji patted Luffy's shoulder. "It's okay, Luffy. Don't be sad. We'll definitely find a better navigator than Nami."
Nami snorted. "As if."
"And when we do, I'll personally make sure we pay them fifty percent of every loot we get from our pirate fights—with interest." Yuji's voice carried a theatrical weight. "After all, the navigator of the future King of the Pirates deserves nothing but the best."
Nami's snort died in her throat. Her brain, finely tuned to profit, short-circuited. 'Fifty percent. Of every loot, with interest.'
"Shishishishi!" Luffy's laughter boomed. "Yeah, you're right! The navigator of the future Pirate King deserves the best!"
Zoro looked between Yuji and Luffy, then at Nami's frozen expression. 'What the hell is Yuji cooking?'
Yuji turned back to Nami, all business again. "Ah, Nami, can you please give us our two percent? We need to leave—we still have to find the best navigator. So, if you could hurry it up?"
Nami nodded robotically, her body moving on autopilot. She retrieved a small bag containing berries and gold taken from Buggy's vault and handed it over.
Yuji shook it, listening to the jingle. He hummed softly.
"Luffy, Zoro, let's go."
The three of them turned and walked away.
Nami stood rooted to the spot, watching them leave. Her internal monologue raged: 'What the hell, Nami!? Are you really going to let this happen!? Remember, you HATE pirates! ARGH!' She tugged at her own hair; torn between pride and the most profitable opportunity she had ever seen.
"HEY! WAIT!"
They stopped and turned.
'Come on, Nami. You can do this. Just be their navigator for a while—long enough to collect the money you need. Then you can leave. Yeah, that's it. That's the plan.'
She cleared her throat, summoning her usual confidence. "You know, I think being your navigator wouldn't be so bad."
Luffy's face lit up, but Yuji's hand clamped over his mouth before he could speak.
"I thought you hated pirates," Yuji said, raising an eyebrow. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
Nami flipped her hair back. "Well, everyone has a first time. I do hate pirates, but you three don't really look like pirates to me—more like thugs wandering around, calling yourselves pirates. You don't even have bounties! By official standards, you're not real pirates yet." She warmed to her story. "So, as your navigator, I can help you find other pirates. You can gain more popularity by defeating them and build your reputation. What do you say?"
Yuji's smile widened until it seemed to split his face. "You know what? You're absolutely right." He removed his hand from Luffy's mouth. "Oi, Luffy, what do you think?"
"Yeah! We should definitely do that!" Luffy said, bouncing on his heels.
Yuji extended a hand toward Nami. "Well then, Nami, looks like it's your lucky day. Welcome to the crew—our best of the best navigator."
Zoro watched the exchange, his jaw slack. His mind replayed the last two minutes, trying to pinpoint the exact moment Yuji had herded Nami into a trap of her own making.
'This guy's brain is really dangerous.'
Nami took Yuji's hand, a triumphant smile on her face. She had no idea she had just walked into a trap baited by her own greed.
Somewhere in the distance, a red-nosed clown was still falling, cursing the name of a red-haired man he once called brother.
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READERS....
GIVE ME YOUR POWERSTONES,
AND I SHALL GIVE A BONUS CHAPTER IN RETURN.
See you in next chapter...