Chapter 6: Buggy The Clown
After an hour the left the town, Nami turned at Luffy with an angry look.
"Why didn't you tell us that your grandfather is Garp, The Hero of The Marine," Nami demanded, Zoro just raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't asked," Luffy simply said as if it was the most normal answer.
"What DO YOU MEAN 'WE DIDN'T ASKED' DID YOU EXPECT US TO JUST SIMPLY ASK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" Nami screamed with shark teeth.
Luffy just laughed at her reaction before Zoro decided to ask something he wanted to know.
"Oi, Luffy, what was that thing you did back st the Marine base?" Zoro asked, his right eye open, while his left eye closed.
"What I did at the Marine base and in that house was something called haki. It's basically weaponizing your soul into fighting spirit, intimidation, or presence. The presence part is called Kenbunshoku Haki, I used that to stop all of the bullets in the execution yard. It let's you sense anything that is too far away to see or is unable to be seen, like it's behind something. When it's mastered, though you can use it to sense movements when they're about to be made or before they're made." Luffy explained. "Before you ask, yes it can be trained with one more."
Zoro grinned in excitement before getting a curious look in his eyes. "What about the other one that can be trained?" he asked his straw-hatted captain.
"The other trainable one is called Busoshoku Haki, this one is like putting on invisible armor, or putting visible armaments for offense. You can imbue this into weapons like your swords there," he nodded at Zoro's swords on his waist, "by doing this, you can bypass devil fruit defences and increase the strength of your attacks." Luffy explained.
"What about the other? Those two don't sound like what you've used before." Zoro said curiously.
"The third one is the rarest and the strongest if you can master it. It's called Haoshoku Haki, and only one in a million are born with it. When it's used, you're using your willpower as a weapon, when I used it at the Marine base, I overpowered the wills of the Marines there, though it was a weak pulse. I had to use a weaker wave, which is really hard to concentrate on." he explained again.
"One in a million, huh?" Zoro mused to himself. "Do you think I might have that?" he asked Luffy in genuine curiosity. Luffy just shrugged in response.
"Now since we will eventually go to grand line, we need to work on your Haki," Luffy gaining the attention of his crew, Nami shuddered at the thought while Zoro smirked, prepared to train, no matter how hard might be.
"How will we do that?" Nami asked, slightly nervous of what Luffy had in store for them. Instead of answering Luffy just grinned before he pointed a finger at her, before she could ask what he was trying to do, she felt an attack coming but before she could think where it was coming she felt a sudden shock across her body, it was harmless.
"WhAt WAS THAT?" She screeched at him with shark teeth.
"In order to train your observation Haki you need to start by trying to dodge attacks, my grandpa used a bat when it came to me but since that would be overkill, I will use a harmless amount of voltage," he explained, before he pointed at Zoro and did the same. The same as Nami, he too was struck by the voltage.
Nami protested that they should try other ways. "This is the only way, first is Observation and then we will start with Armament Haki," Luffy explained.
That day Luffy enjoyed the whole day shocking his Nakama, Nami was sure he was doing this on purpose, and secretly enjoying this more than he should.
But soon, their practice showed advance, by Nami finally dodging her first attack, and third attack in case of Zoro.
"That's my Nakama, tomorrow we will start Armament Haki, and then spend each day training both Observation and Armament," Luffy stated grinning proudly at his Nakama.
Zoro smirked, he was looking forward to training his Armament, while Nami was breathing heavily but still felt a tingle of pride that she was finally able to dodge one attack.
After One Week
They soon reached the Orange town, it had been a week now since they started their training, Zoro had shown the most promise when it came to Armament Haki, training with Luffy, and meditating, Nami had shown talent for Observation Haki, she had reached being able to dodge 5 times.
Once they reached the town, the trio noticed immediately the lack of people around them; it looked almost like a ghost town, Nami knew what could have caused this...
"I heard Buggy The Clown is here, do you think he?" Zoro asked, knowing what people could do to other people.
"If he did, then I will tear his body apart," Luffy growled with a dark tone which take both Zoro and Nami aback, they knew Luffy as a cheerful guy, but this tone send shivers in both of their bodies, reminding them that Luffy was much stronger than them.
They started walking through the town, silence fell over them like a violent river. Not being able to handle the silence.
"Luffy, this is how most Pirates are, not everyone is like you," Nami stated, knowing by now that Luffy was not a monster.
"I know, these people paint everyone else with bad colour, this pirates know they're nothing compare to an actual pirate from grand line, instead they come here to make themselves feel stronger," Luffy said, his eyes covered in shadows by his hat.
Zoro nodded in understanding, he had hunted down many pirates, and had seen all kinds of things.
Suddenly a huge explosion happened just in front of them, completely destroying several houses right in front of them.
Nami's eyes widened at what just happened in front of them, not noticing that Luffy had pushed both her and Zoro a few feet away from him.
"I will Crush him," Luffy growled, marching forward, soon they reached a shop, with a dog standing in front of the store, Luffy noticed the small wounds around his little body.
"Hey doggy why are you guarding this cool store?" Luffy asked expecting a bark back. 'I'm guarding my treasure.' the dog told Luffy.
Luffy was shocked he could understand him but rolled with it determining it a mystery power, 'why is it your treasure?' Luffy asked in thought but Boddle answered the question without knowing. "That's Chouchou he was told to guard this store by his master. But he died and But he won't abandon it, is his treasure and the most important thing for him." The chief said sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Nami asked the man where the others were, he told them that they were in a safe place.
'The memories are the only thing I have left.' Chouchou told Luffy through the mystery power. "I've tried to tell him, I've even offered for him to stay at my house but he won't listen," he said and then sighed.
"You are right, he doesn't want to abandon his treasure, when we lose someone important, memories are the only thing we have left, to keep them alive in our hearts," Luffy said.
Nami smiled at Luffy, almost feeling tears in her eyes, her own mother in her mind, she had seen that Luffy was someone to somehow respect, unlike that monster, Luffy was a different man.
Zoro nodded at Luffy's words, having his own memories of a certain dear friend, the chief nodded as well and opened his mouth to ask something, but suddenly a house exploded, and a big purple lion stepped through the rubble.
"Richie! Eat fast, and today we will burn this old store!" Mohji said and the lion that was named Richie made a happy sound.
'No! I won't let him!' Chouchou said and Luffy watched while he got into a defensive stance in front of the store and started barking loudly. Richie ignored the barking and continued towards the food store. Chouchou tried to attack but was hit aside by Richie who was about to pounce on the store.
'I'll protect the store for you.' Luffy said through the mystery power and then let out a wave of Conqueror's Haki focusing it all on Richie who was instantly unconscious. "You bastard! What'd you do to Richie!?" Mohji yelled, moving away from the unconscious Richie and pulling a whip out.
Luffy grabbed his whip, his face serious, and all cheerful face was gone. "This is his treasure, you knew that and you kept stealing and now wanting to destroy it," Luffy growled, before the man could utter a word, his eyes went white and spit out saliva.
A fist had connected to his chest, but then a wind wave went through his body before coming out through his back, Mohji, felt all his inside screaming in pain, almost as if someone just punched his organs, this time he spit out blood before falling on his knees and his face on the dirt.
Zoro spoke nothing of it and neither did Nami who actually supported what Luffy did.
"We are going to Buggy, is time for a fight," Luffy stated, Zoro smirked, ready to fight.
Later
The Buggy Pirates could only be to blame for the noise and music emanating from the big pub. The pirates seemed to be still rejoicing over their seizure of Orange Town. Luffy was perplexed as to why they felt the need to rip the village apart piece by piece. While bounty hunting, Zoro had met his fair share of nasty pirates, thus the Buggy Pirates' actions didn't surprise him. Nami could only clench her teeth after seeing such indiscriminate damage every time Arlong lost his cool and razed a town on one of the Conomi Islands.
"Look at them, they're celebrating wrecking people's lives by partying." Nami grumbled as she turned to face Luffy. "All of their wealth is now mine. When I'm done, they won't have a single Beri left."
"You should leave a portion of it for the community to reconstruct thereafter." Luffy answered, his gaze fixed on the tavern's roof, where the celebration was taking place. Nami paused for a bit, thinking before nodding. Luffy was correct; these individuals would at the very least want some financial assistance in order to reconstruct their houses. In the 'Not a Scumbag Pirate' category, give Luffy another point.
"Sure, I'm not going to take it all. When you're done with them, I'll see you two." Nami turned to walk away with a nod.
"Huh? No, no, you must also fight." With his trademark smile, Luffy said. Nami's eyes widened before she shook her head gently. "If you want to improve your Haki, you'll need to practice. It'll be best to begin with weak opponents like this rather than trying to earn experience versus Grand Line pirates."
"Bu-but!" Nami stumbled over her words, trying to think of reasons why this was a poor idea. She wasn't quite ready for front-line combat yet! Luffy had just recently begun teaching her Haki! She had to concentrate quite hard simply to achieve the tiniest of results from her Observation! "But I'm not a strong fighter! Just a few days ago, I was a thief!" She spoke a jumble of words.
"Relax. I'm not going to let you be injured." Luffy put his hand on her shoulder and grinned. "I'll keep my word. If it seems that you are in over your head, I will intervene. Besides, you're a natural with the crew; I doubt most of these men have even a fraction of your expertise."
"I'm alright," she says. Nami grumbled, but she couldn't help but feel a surge of pride when Luffy praised her abilities. As she gathered her team and prepared herself, a faint grin appeared on her face.
"Shishishi, let's attract their attention," says Luffy laughed before lifting his palm and unleashing a bolt of lightning, which was immediately followed by a deafening boom.
The roof's edge burst, scattering debris over the rooftop. For a brief while, the Buggy Pirates were in a state of perplexed fear until their Captain walked out of a tent and shouted at them to calm down. Blue hair, an orange captain's hat and coat, a red and white striped shirt, light green slacks, and sharp clown shoes characterized the guy. The huge bright red nose on his face was his most distinguishing characteristic.
"Who the heck are these flamboyant scumbags?" Staring down at the group on the street, the Captain screamed fiercely.
"Who told you those colors were meant to go together?" Nami frowned at the man's garb, which clashed so badly.
"These flashy nobodies show up and wreck my get-together. Then they make fun of my attire in front of my face. I'm so enraged that I can't even talk." As he tightened his fists, the clown's expression was filled with rage.
"How about I go down there and give these idiots a lesson, Captain?" A tall, dark-haired guy inquired. He didn't have a shirt on and was dressed in white jeans and sneakers. However, he wore a huge, long white and blue checkered scarf over his neck.
"Hey! You knucklehead! Bring your obnoxious red nose down here so I may squish it!" Before Buggy could speak to his subordinate, Luffy screamed out. Everyone in Buggy's team was immediately wide-eyed, and perspiration started to trickle down their cheeks. For a little minute, Buggy shook, his jaw clenched so tightly that you could practically hear his teeth grinding.
"It's time to fire the Buggy Ball! Fire!" Buggy screamed a rictus of wrath from his face. On the edge of the rooftop, a cannon was wheeled over and directed towards Luffy. It went off with a tremendous bang a split second later.
"Luffy! Please get out of the way!" Nami screamed for help as she dived for safety, she knew he could throw a cannonball, but this looked like a much larger and dangerous cannon, while Zoro gazed in bewilderment at his leader. Was it because Luffy was a storm person that he planned to take the shot?
"Cannonball?" Luffy chuckled as he plucked the red metal ball from the air with his palm. "Do you believe this insignificant object will do anything? For training, my grandfather hurled boulders bigger than this at me! He also tossed them much quicker!"
"Here's your chance to get it back!" Luffy grinned and launched the scarlet cannonball back at the Buggy Pirates with a hard pitch. The explosion was considerably louder than the one they had heard earlier when they met Chouchou and Boodle. The explosion caused the whole bar to collapse, leaving a mass of splintered wood and stone in its wake.
"You stupid, Luffy!" Nami screamed as she encircled his neck with her hands and began shaking him back and forth in an effort to choke him. "What if the treasure map was up there?"
"Shishishi, Nami, please accept my apologies." The feminine hands wrapping around Luffy's neck made no difference to him. Nami shook him even harder in response to his laughing.
"You know, I guess I'm going to trust you until you prove me wrong everytime you claim you can achieve anything that seems impossible." As he watched the smoke begin to disperse from the ruins, Zoro grinned.
"Nami, you'll take the stage first. I don't believe I annihilated them all with my own cannonball." Luffy said as he deftly wriggled out from her clutches.
"Are you certain I have to fight?" Nami gasped and smirked wickedly as an idea occurred to her. She walked up to the Storm Man with a perceptible swing to her hips. She bowed at the waist once she was squarely in front of him.
Even though it showed off her form wonderfully, she knew her white and blue top was conservative. But she was also aware that the neckline was low enough to provide a tempting glimpse of her attractive, full breasts, in her opinion. More than one fool had been stolen of his money because of a nice glimpse of her wonderful cleavage. "You know, if you just let me go steal them, I may be able to convince you to purchase some nice meat." Knowing Luffy's weakness for his favorite sort of cuisine, she exhaled teasingly.
"Without practice, you won't grow any stronger. Without practice, your Observation will not improve." Nami pouted as Luffy said with a raised eyebrow, before she caught the short glimpse he'd taken at her cleavage.
She'd feel like she'd won at least a tiny triumph if she could find out what was causing the small bit of drool on the side of his lips, her or the promise of meat.
"Look at these flamboyant punks, behaving as if they don't fear us." Buggy was using his disembodied hands to prop up two of his charred crew members. His hands were free-floating and his arms were folded in front of him.
"He's got a Devil Fruit!" Nami exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"What in the world are you doing, you scumbags?" Luffy screamed violently at the top of his lungs. "How did you manage to employ your nakama as shields in that manner?" Both elder pirates turned their backs on the adolescent with the straw hat.
"Captain Buggy, this is the most humiliating experience our crew has ever had." The black-haired guy was using another crewmate, a fairly big one, as a shield in front of him. The remainder of the crew, who weren't knocked down, yelled in unison as they all drew different weapons, including clubs, swords, knives, and even a few firearms. The pirates dressed as clowns hoisted their guns in the air and roared war yells.
The Buggy Pirates enraged Luffy. He was tempted to just kill them all with a single bolt of lightning, or perhaps use Pressure Point on them but he knew Nami would benefit from the experience. His Navigator needed to understand that she could be as powerful as she desired. Luffy was certain that she could defeat these scumbags, and he promised to keep an eye on her battle even if she faltered.
"Don't worry, Nami; if you can't handle it, I'll step in. I'm not going to let them damage you." Luffy chuckled. "Consider what you'll get after we're done! The majority of their wealth will be yours! Shishishi!" Nami's eyes glowed, and Luffy swears they resembled Beri symbols for a brief period.
"What do you mean, you dazzling thief, you stole our treasure?" With his eyes popping out of his skull, Buggy shouted.
The pirates surged forward with a yell, and Nami strengthened her senses as much as she could. She sprang forward and swung her staff at the nearest pirate, feeling the unmistakable expansion of her awareness that comes with her Observation activation. Nami's staff crashed into the man's ankle, knocking him out. The subsequent loud crunch suggested that it was most likely shattered. She lashed the guy across the face with a turn to avoid another pirate trying to knife her from behind, sending blood flying and causing him to lose teeth.
'This isn't as difficult as I had anticipated.' Nami thought to herself as she plunged her stick directly into the crotch of another pirate. Before losing consciousness, the guy collapsed with a loud squeal. Nami took two steps back as a club slammed into the ground where she'd been standing when she became aware of someone coming from her blind zone. Her staff slammed into the back of the man's skull, knocking him unconscious and laying him down next to his crewmate. 'These men are nothing in comparison to Luffy's abilities.' As she smashed a pirate's blade out of his hand with her staff before flipping the end upwards and smacking him in the jaw, she reflected.
A short flaw in her newly gained Observation allowed a pirate to approach her, and she staggered backwards to escape being gutted by the knife. Her staff caught the guy in the ribs with a twist of her body. The pirate wheezed loudly as the wind was knocked out of his lungs after the harsh thwack. The pirate was blinded by darkness as Nami smacked him in the head as hard as she could. Nami instantly turned after hearing multiple guns cock behind her. With their guns pointed on her figure, four pirates scowled at her. Nami realized she'd become smug and had let her Observation wane with a scowl.
"Die!" As they all rushed to shoot the orangette, one of the pirates roared. For a brief instant, four bursts of dazzling light cast dots over Nami's eyesight. All four pirates were on the ground with red eyes, almost like blood. She grinned as she turned to face Luffy, who was wearing a straw hat and his hand spread towards the downed pirates.
"Thank you, Luffy!" Nami grinned as she returned her attention to the remaining pirates and rushed them. The first swung his club horizontally, only for Nami to turn around and smack him across the temple in the opposite direction of his swing. The last two attempted to assault her with their own clubs, yelling war cries. Nami took a couple steps back before springing to the side and slamming her staff into the first pirate's knee. The guy collapsed on the ground, wailing in agony as his leg was severed at an awkward angle. The last pirate became enraged and swung his club at Nami's head. Nami avoided the makeshift missile with a huff and closed in on the pirate. A powerful strike to the man's stomach knocked him unconscious and caused him to puke all over the floor. "Yuck!" Nami frowned as she sprang away from the vomit.
"You're a scumbag! I'll make you pay for causing damage to my team!" A roar erupted behind Nami. She turned to look, her eyes widening in dread as she saw the dark-haired guy charging towards her with his sword drawn and ready to murder. She attempted to move, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do it quickly enough. In her head, she closed her eyes and apologized to her sister for failing to rescue Cocoyashi from Arlong. Nami opened her eyes and smiled in relief as she heard the sound of metal colliding with metal. Zoro stood in front of her, nonchalantly gripping the pirate's sword with one of his own.
"Oi! What sort of swordsman strikes from the rear? Do you think you're above the law?" Zoro interrogated the long-haired pirate before slashing him in the back with his sword. Nami moved away from the oncoming brawl as the two pirates stared each other down.
"Nami, it was fantastic! I told you you'd be able to accomplish it." Luffy guffawed as he put his arms around her waist from behind and celebrated by spinning her around. Nami threw out a startled gasp before comprehending what had happened and quietly chuckling.
"Thank you, Luffy," says Nami. She sighed and grinned as she leaned back onto his chest. The battle with the pirates hadn't lasted long, but she wasn't accustomed to facing big numbers of people on her alone. Luffy didn't seem to mind being used as a resting post, merely holding Nami and watching Zoro battle.
Nami didn't want to admit it out loud, feeling Luffy's defiant abs on her hands, his strength, she quite liked the feeling.
"You're Roronoa Zoro!" exclaims the pirate. As he examined the green-haired guy, the black-haired man shouted. They all eventually observed that this stranger was, indeed, riding a unicycle. "My name is Cabaji, and I'm the Buggy Pirates' Chief of Staff. As another swordsman, I eagerly anticipate severing your skull." Cabaji leapt forward on his unicycle, sprinting towards Zoro. "Old Man's Flame!" says the acrobat. The startling blast of fire shocked Zoro back in surprise. Cabaji's foot lashed out as a result of the diversion, the sharp toe of his shoe slamming into Zoro's ribcage.
"What was it, anyway? Kicking and tricks? Do you think you have any honor as a swordsman?" Zoro had swiftly regained his footing, gazing at the guy the whole time.
"Honor? That is not something I need. All I need is to win! Acrobat Technique: A Murder Case in the Steam of a Hot Spring!" Cabaji chuckled as he spun and hopped about on his unicycle, stirring up a cloud of dust in the process.
"This person irritates me to no end." Zoro hissed, attempting to perceive his opponent with his newly acquired Observation. Zoro deflected a blade that emerged from the fog with his left sword. Another kick followed, but Zoro had nearly seen it coming. With a short step back, the kick was completely missed. As he spotted Cabaji through the tiny veil of dust, Zoro's eyes darkened. "You weak coward, you bring dishonor to swordsmen worldwide. Facing all three of my swords is more honorable than dealing with garbage like you, so I'm going to stop this now." Cabaji heard Zoro's strike before he could respond. "Oni Giri!".
Cabaji's left shoulder, left side, and right arm all exploded in blood. Before he ever struck the ground, Zoro was behind the fallen guy, who was already down.
"Cabaji!" As he witnessed his Chief of Staff fall in combat, Buggy screamed in terror.
"Shishishi, Zoro, good battle." Luffy expressed his gratitude to his swordsman.
"That was a waste of my time. What a kook." With a snort, Zoro added his two cents.
Buggy's hat cast a shadow on his face. "You have no right to do this to my team. I'm going to murder you all."
"You hideous red nose, we're pirates." As he moved away from Nami and began going towards Buggy, Luffy responded.
"You scumbag, don't bring up my nose!" Buggy was enraged. "What exactly is your objective? What brought you here?"
"We've come to recover your wealth as well as the chart you took." Nami smirked and demanded.
"Big nose, hand them over." Luffy issued an order to the elder pirate, threatening him with violence if he didn't obey.
"Gyahahahaha! You no-name novices aren't welcome on the Grand Line. What do you intend to do while you're there? Sightseeing? Make no attempt to make me laugh." Buggy screamed loudly, causing Luffy to come to a halt.
"I'm going to be the Pirate King," Luffy declared.
"You flamboyant knucklehead! You? Who is going to be the Pirate King? Then I'm going to be God! I am the one who will amass all of the world's wealth!" Buggy shrieked, his eyes bulging and his teeth mimicking those of a shark.
"Shishishi, as if I'd pay attention to a lecture from someone with an ugly red nose like you. Let's get this over with as soon as possible." As he took his battle position, Luffy laughed.
"You scumbag!" Buggy yelled, a knife clutched between each of his fingers and pointed at Luffy with both hands. "Bara Bara Cannon!" exclaims Buggy. The clown screamed and thrust his hands forward, attempting to impale the obnoxious punk. The punk, though, wasn't where he'd been a split second before. Buggy was sent to the ground after a hard strike to the side of his face.
"You're not that bright, are you? By declaring their strike, who gives their opponent time to react?" As Buggy tried to get back on his feet, Luffy questioned. "I mean, if you weren't in a fierce war, I could understand. Or if you just outclassed your opponent to the point where it didn't matter. But it's not the perfect moment to do it right now."
"I'm going to murder you." Buggy hissed as he turned around to attack Luffy from behind with his still flying hands. Luffy grinned as he effortlessly escaped Buggy's floating hands' sneak assaults with barely little movement.
Buggy came out in a flop sweat as he saw Luffy dodge in a technique he was accustomed to from his time onboard the Oro Jackson. "How? How can a pirate with no name like you know what Haki is?"
"I got that from my grandfather."
"Straw Hat, I'm still going to murder you!" Buggy screamed with considerably more assurance than he felt. Luffy's sandal-clad foot smashed into Buggy's chest, sending the clown down the street in another burst of light.
"I have my doubts." Luffy spoke casually, as if he were talking about the weather rather than a life-or-death battle. "This is really rather disappointing, so I'm going to call it a day."
Luffy's hand was engulfed with barely visible white air, Nami looked confused at what she was seeing, it looked like air around his arm suddenly became visible, concentrated around his arm, making it visible.
"Air Fist," he smashed his hand on Buggy's chest, a sudden air came out from behind his back, like a strike of air going through him.
Buggy faded away like a speck on the horizon, as Luffy triumphantly raised his fist.
"That was a bit of a letdown." As he and Nami moved up to Luffy, Zoro made a remark.
"Shishishi!" Nami smirked and jokingly bumped Luffy with her shoulder as she walked by.
"So, I'm going to start snatching up practically all of the wealth they have. I'm sure they'll have the Grand Line map, as well as the riches!" Nami grinned as she began walking closer to the tent that had been put up behind the bar. It looked strange, and Nami assumed it was Buggy's hideaway for the stuff he'd scavenged.
"Well, it seems that the former Mayor got the remainder of the townpeople as you requested." Zoro gave a friendly gesture to the oncoming crowd. When Luffy peered over, he saw Boodle and Chouchou's figures guiding the gathering towards them.
"Do you think they'll offer us food in exchange for Buggy?" Luffy inquired, his stomach grumbling in accord with the statement.
"Nami was correct; you can't stop eating." With a shake of his head, Zoro groaned. While he wouldn't really deny a good drink right now.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone