Chapter 09
"All right, everybody! I'm in a flashy good mood right now, so drink to your heart's content in celebration!" The pirates roared in approval at Buggy's announcement, and Nami smirked as she started drinking as well. She would be the only one without a hangover after this, and it would be all too easy for them to get away with the treasure and the map, which she would gladly take for herself before fleeing the island. All according to plan.
Her confidence faltered, however, as she took note of a dozen pirates shoving a huge cannon into the middle of the plaza. "And now," Buggy shouted, "I think a demonstration of our power and the glory of the Buggy pirate crew is in order." He turned to Nami. "Call it an initiation," he said as she looked on apprehensively. The pirates lit the fuse of the cannon, which was facing the direction of the town, and fired. Nami's eyes widened as the cannon ball blew threw several houses, completely destroying them. She quickly realized why all the houses in the area were abandoned.
She turned back and realized that they were now pointing the cannon towards the cage Luffy was in. She rounded on Buggy. "Wait! What are you—"
Buggy was grinning widely. "Like I said, call it an initiation. To prove your loyalty, I thought it would only be fair if you got the honor of disposing of that pathetic former boss of yours." Nami's eyes widened further.
Oh, this cannot be happening.
Luffy watched as the pirates loaded the Buggy ball into the cannon and Nami stuttered nervously, trying to convince Buggy that this really wasn't necessary. Buggy handed her a match.
"Do it," he said simply. Nami broke out into a cold sweat and she turned back to Luffy, who could see she was torn.
"I wonder, do you have the resolve of a pirate? If not, you'll never get far in this crazy world of ours," he told her.
Nami's face darkened. "And what's that? The resolve to kill without a second thought?" she spat.
Luffy shook his head and grinned ferally. "The resolve to put your life on the line." Nami's hands trembled as her options were spelled out for her. She could fire the cannon and survive, proving that she was no better than the common scum that populated the world, or she could face death and stay true to her convictions.
She was broken out of her thoughts as a pirate grabbed the match from her hands. Her eyes hardened as she found her resolve. She would never be like one of these common murderers. "Come on, don't you know how to light a match? You just—"
He was abruptly interrupted mid-sentence as Nami's staff collided with his face and he was thrown back onto the ground, cursing in pain. The surrounding pirates looked outraged at the act of betrayal, but Buggy just sighed and got his knives out. He was disappointed, but he'd been expecting as much.
Luffy looked on with interest but decided that he'd seen enough. This was getting dangerous for Nami very quickly. He broke out of the ropes and shoved his foot up through the top of the cage, with disconnected from the bars and landed in a crumpled heap on the ground behind the cage. This caught pretty much everyone's attention, but they quickly lost sight of him as he jumped up into the air and let loose another blast of Conqueror's Haki, this time targeting all of the pirates in the area. Bodies fell to the ground left and right until the only ones left standing were Nami and Buggy. Nami looked around in shock at the phenomenon and at the new development. He could have escaped at any time? What is he playing at? And what did he do just now?
Meanwhile, Buggy was fuming. He recognized the King's Will when he saw it. How could this nobody thief possibly possess the same power that Captain Roger and uncle Rayleigh had? Even Cabaji had fainted! Regardless, it didn't matter. He was no pushover. He had sailed the New World and witnessed clashes between gods. He wouldn't have survived this long if he had never gained an immunity to the ability. It would take more than that to bring him down.
"Hey, Luffy! I finally found you, you bastard!" Everyone turned to the new presence that had made itself known, and Luffy laughed.
"I'm impressed, Zoro! Who knew that you were capable of finding anything?"
Zoro brushed off the insult and replied, "It was easy. I just went to the noisiest spot on the island, knowing that's where you'd be. Looks like you've caused quite the commotion." He smirked. "You know, I half-expected to find you tied up and in a cage." Luffy glared at him halfheartedly. Was this revenge?
Nami, although frantic by this point, easily made sense of the comment. Had Zoro been there this whole time? How long had he been shadowing them? She was about to voice the question when a very angry Buggy interrupted them.
"Don't ignore me, you flashy sons of bitches!" He addressed Zoro. "You! You're Pirate Hunter Zoro, aren't you? What the hell are you doing here? Have you come for my bounty?"
Zoro looked at him lazily. "Nope, not interested."
Buggy grinned. "Oh, but you see, I'm interested. After I take you out, I'll be that much more famous," he said, twirling his knives in his hands.
Zoro sighed. "Fine. Come on then." Luffy chuckled, remembering how this went last time, and Zoro shot him an annoyed look.
Buggy made his move. "Bara Bara Cannon!" Buggy's hand quite literally flew off of his arm and headed for Zoro. Nami's face was pure comedy. What the hell is going on? She felt incredibly out of her depth again. But that wasn't as surprising as what happened next. Zoro disappeared before her eyes and Buggy let out a pained yell. She looked over at Buggy and saw the blood seeping from the wound in his side, where Zoro had evidently just cut him.
How? The word echoed through Buggy's mind as he lost consciousness.
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