"FIRE THE SPECIAL BUGGY BOMB! FIRE IT NOW!" A man's voice screamed, and a moment later the sound of a cannon firing echoed through the town. Then, utter silence reigned.

Zoro frowned. "That came from... here, didn't it? And where's the explosion?"

His ear twitched as it picked up the unmistakable sound of his captain laughing hysterically. His pace quickened and he soon found himself in front of his captain (holding a cannonball) and the lion from before standing in front of a building, on the top of which a bunch of clowns were crowded.

Zoro blinked and sweatdropped. Why were they all clowns? He shook his head. That didn't matter. "Oi, Luffy! There you are! What the hell are you doing? You walk off and get lost, I finally find you and you're in a fight with a bunch of clowns?"

Luffy turned to his swordsman, grinning widely. "Oh, Zoro. Nice to see you! Whaddya mean I got lost? That was you. You were supposed to be following me, not the other way around."

Zoro's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?! You said to go that way, I did, and you disappeared! YOU got lost!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Luffy asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I gestured to go right, and I went right. Were you lost ever since then?"

A vein pulsed on the swordsman's forehead. "I WAS NOT LOST!"

While they were 'arguing,' the Buggy pirates whispered amongst themselves.

"Oi, did he say Zoro?"

"He did!"

"As in Roronoa Zoro?"

"Never mind that, did that one kid eat a devil fruit?!"

"Yeah, what was all that white stuff?!"

Buggy grit his teeth, veins pulsing on his forehead. "You flashy bastard... you ate a devil's fruit, didn't you?" He asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

Luffy's attention immediately focused back on Buggy. "I did," he confirmed.

"Which one?"

"I heard you ate one, too. Which one did you eat?" He countered.

"Why would I tell you that and give up my advantage?" Buggy smirked.

"And that's my answer to your question, as well," Luffy grinned. "You've seen it in action a little. Do you have any guesses? It's always fun to hear people guessing what it is. I enjoy games."

A vein pulsed on Buggy's forehead. "You think this is a game?!"

The straw-hatted pirate merely continued with his menacing grin... "Hey, clowns. Want your cannonball back?" He asked, repeatedly bouncing the cannonball into the air.

The enemy pirates blinked, glancing at each other in confusion. "Do we want it back...?"

Lavi chuffed his laughter, a sadistic look in his eyes as Luffy stopped bouncing the ball and held it out as if he were offering it to the pirates on the roof. Zoro glanced between the two with suspicion in his eyes as the clown pirates stared in confusion at their adversaries.

"Nubes Exactis."

The clown pirates could hardly believe their eyes when a rush of white was suddenly rushing at them, the cannonball a mere spec in the onslaught. The thick clouds turned to fog mere feet away from the roof, but the cannonball did not stop. With speed far surpassing the speed it had been shot from the cannon with, it flew at the pirates and blew up when it skimmed the rail along the edges of the earth. The fog rushed forward still and combined itself with the smoke from the cannonball, forming a thick smog.

The reaction was instant when the pirates breathed in: they began coughing and looking around.

"Shit... I can't see anything!" One gasped. "What is this?!"

The girl stiffened as the explosion shook the building she was sneaking around in. The explosion hadn't occurred outside as she thought it would; no, the explosion had hit the building itself. What were those stupid clowns doing? It couldn't have been that one idiot who had been taunting Buggy. That was impossible; he hadn't had a cannon, had he? She hadn't actually seen him. Maybe the cannon blew up?

She froze when she heard the sound of feet harshly hitting the ground above her, moving towards the staircase she had just left. The pirates were coming down, fast. She cursed under her breath and dashed into a room, closing the door just as the first pirates came running down the stairs. She held her breath as the men ran past the room she had locked herself into, and carefully listened to anything they were saying to figure out the situation.

"That flashy bastard! How dare he!" That captain shouted in anger.

Had it really been that man from before?! She couldn't believe it. He had seemed like a complete idiot when he so blatantly challenged Buggy. Was there an actual reason for his idiocy?

"Shiiit! The fire is spreading fast! Get out of here! HURRY!" Another cried out.

The thief paled. The building was on fire?!

"What kind of devil fruit did that freak eat?!"

"I don't know, man!"

Devil fruit? Those were just myths, weren't they? She frowned, her eyebrows pushing together. What were those pirates talking about? She thought hard, trying to figure out what was going on as the sound of the pirates running down the hallway quieted. She didn't believe devil fruits were real. If the pirates were crazy enough to truly believe in such a thing, she could likely dismiss the fire as also false, but she would be careful of it, anyway, just in case they weren't completely crazy.

The thief listened hard to make sure they were all gone, only daring to exit when she was certain they had left. She had already searched the room she was in.

After searching several more rooms (all of which, sadly, held no treasure), she realized it was getting warmer. So they weren't imagining the fire like they must've been about the devil fruit! She grit her teeth when the ceiling began cracking and rushed to and down the stairs. She had to get out, now. The ceiling was cracking, so the building was coming down. Should many more supports fall, it might come down on her; the ceiling cracking was also the roof.

With a loud crash, she heard the building's top level collapse and cursed. She was still on the second story, now, not even on the ground floor yet. She chanced a glance behind her as the temperature continued rising and nearly screamed when she saw the fiery inferno spreading on the floor she was on through the stairwell; in her haste, she had forgotten to close the door to keep the fire somewhat contained. She pushed herself faster, faster, faster to get out.

The pirates were right; this fire was spreading fast! The thief grit her teeth, her eyes set on the window at the end of the hallway. She would have to jump. She could handle the jump; she's jumped further than the second story of a building and survived easily. It was the pirates she was worried about. It was possible they had lingered; should they still be there, she'd need to make a run for it, or fight, should she be surrounded. She was not going to die today! She had too much left to do!

The girl came to a halt when a portion of the roof in front of her came crashing down, bringing fire with it. Her eyes widened and she looked behind her. The fire was close. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest. She was trapped. What could she do?

Several minutes earlier...

Luffy and Zoro looked on as the majority of the clown pirates lay groaning in pain on the ground, courtesy of the small, black cat lazily licking his paw. Buggy and a man with strange hair and a lion (who had just gotten there), save one who had run off (likely to warn any other members of the crew) had been the only ones quick enough to dodge the single attack Lavi had launched at each of them.

"That cat..." Buggy growled, eyeing Lavi, who ignored him. "It also ate a Devil's Fruit."

The man with strange hair humphed, striding forward and laughing. "But it's still a mere cat! I am the great Beast Tamer Mohji! I can tame any animal!" He boasted, striding forward and getting on a knee before Lavi. He held out his hand. "Shake."

Luffy bit his bottom lip, holding in his laughter as Lavi... completely ignored him.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Luffy, Zoro and Buggy stared at Mohji, Mohji stared at Lavi, and Lavi ignored everyone in favor of licking his paw.

Lavi placed his paw back on the ground, yawned, and slowly turned to Mohji.

Mohji stared at the cat, annoyed, and once again demanded, "Shake."

Lavi stared at Mohji, his eyes slowly narrowed, his head lifted so that he was looking at Mohji down his nose.

Mohji leaned slightly closer. "Now, kitty cat, lift your paw and shake my hand," he instructed, offering his hand closer to Lavi.

Lavi continued merely glaring at the offending appendage, his fur beginning to puff out a bit as he growled lowly.

"Y'know..." Luffy slowly drawled. "Lavi doesn't like people telling him what to do. The only person he really listens to is me, and that's only because we've been through so much together. Cats are, by nature, independent creatures; they're not dogs."

Thwak-thwak-POW!

Mohji let out a surprised yell and fell backwards. His cheeks puffed up and bled from several scratches given to him by the small fuzzball seated in front of him, who hissed in anger, a paw still half-risen.

"Why, you...!" He growled, glaring at the cat. He reached out as if to grab him, earning himself several more, harder thwacks upon the head, his claws out.

Lavi hissed, his size nearly doubling as his fur puffed out as Mohji groaned in pain, taking several steps back.

"Richie! Get him!" Mohji shouted, jumping on his lion's back.

"RAWRR!" Richie the Lion roared, lunging at the small, fluffed black cat.

Lavi deftly dodged out of the way, and Richie immediately turned and pounced once again, only to be dodged once more.

"MrrrrRRRAAWWWWRRRGHHHHHHH!!" Lavi's scream turned into a roar as his deep black fur turned dark gold, and he swiftly grew much, much larger, a deep, rustic gold mane also growing around his neck. "Grrrrr..."

Overall, Lavi looked much more refined than Richie did, and he knew it, growling off a little taunt sharing this view with Richie.

Richie did not appreciate this taunt. He growled his retort angrily and roared as he lunged at Lavi. Using Richie's momentum against him, he moved to the side and slapped Richie hard, making him slam against the ground, out cold. Due to the speed at which Richie was sent flying, Mohji also slammed against the ground hard enough to send him unconscious.

Satisfied, Lavi turned back into his smaller form and began daintily licking the paw he had used to strike.

"Mohji!" Buggy, angry and surprised at the swift defeat, glared at his enemies.

Luffy hummed, his eyes now on the flaming building behind the large pile of defeated pirates. "That building's probably going to be coming down, soon. The fire damage is pretty severe."

Zoro shrugged, taking his eyes off the now bathing cat. "That's expected when a building is hit by a cannonball; I'm surprised it's even still standing."

No sooner had he said that did a loud cracking sound filled the air; the roof of the building caved in and a large billow of flames grew.

"God... damn it, Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes widened. "You jinxed it!"

Zoro jerked in surprise, his eyes widened. "Huh?! How was that MY fault?!"

"It just is," Luffy huffed, folding his arms across his chest, as Buggy laughed hysterically, shrugging off Mohji and Richie's overwhelming defeat.

"Gyahahahahahaha!" Buggy threw back his head and laughed some more. "Either way, that blasted thief is long dead by now! She was still trapped in that cage when you hit us with our cannonball!"

Luffy's attention snapped to Buggy. "Thief?" He couldn't mean...

"Yes! That blasted thief!" Buggy growled. "That woman dared to try and steal from the great Buggy!"

Luffy was pretty sure that he was talking about Nami, but, either way, he hadn't meant to get someone else caught up in this. If someone innocent (from pissing him off) died because of that fire, it'd be his fault, and he didn't like that.

Luffy didn't bother to wait for Buggy to say anything else; he rushed steam past the enemy pirates and into the building. Steam filled the building completely so that he could find her as fast as possible and save her. He noted that the burning cage in the ruins of the caved in roof was open and empty.

It took mere seconds to find her, trapped by fire in the middle of the second floor's main hallway, looking around for a way out, to no avail.

The loud sound of the ceiling cracking above them turned both of their attention upwards, and Luffy rushed to surround her in his clouds.

"Fristad!"

The thief shrieked as the ceiling continued cracking, the portion in front of her quickly becoming the least of her worries as the building above her began falling.

As the floor above her began crumbling, she was swiftly surrounded by white and she fell, landing on something surprisingly soft.

The young thief froze, her eyes wide as she took in her new surroundings. Slowly, she looked around, but saw nothing but white and grey, even underneath her. The orange-haired girl gulped, sweat trickling down her forehead as her hands felt the soft substance surrounding her.

"A... am I... dead?" She whispered, trembling.

"STOP IGNORING ME, YOU FLASHY BASTARD!" A voice screeched.

"LOOK OUT!" Another shouted.

Fwoosh!

A knife suddenly flew straight at Luffy, and he deftly caught it by the hilt, his hand squeezing the clown's detached one.

"What do you want?" The man huffed, turning his attention to an enraged Buggy. "I'm kinda busy here."

Buggy's eye twitched with anger. "You flashy bastard... I'm talking to you! How dare you ignore me?!"

"So, your devil fruit ability has to do with you being able to separate parts of your body," Luffy rose an eyebrow at the disembodied hand as it flew back to its owner. "A paramecia, huh?"

Buggy smirked, holding up the newly reattached hand, spinning a knife. "The Bara Bara no Mi! That's the fruit I ate. No matter how you try to cut me up, you can't, because I'm a sectioned man!"

"I see," Luffy nodded calmly.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Lavi yawned.

A vein pulsed on Buggy's forehead. "You should be trembling with fear! I, the great Buggy the Clown, am going to kill you, Straw Hat!" The bluenette's face was rather red in anger, his voice having raised several pitches in his short tirade.

Luffy calmly deadpanned. "Okay. You're gonna have to wait a minute, though. I have to check if the little missy is injured."

Buggy paused for a moment, his teeth bared and an eyebrow risen, "What little missy? You can't mean..."

Buggy's eyes widened as a large, white sphere suddenly came into his field of vision from his left. His jaw dropped rather comically as his eyes bulged in shock and disbelief, though he quickly composed himself. He watched as it moved at a slow yet steady pace before coming to a stop next to the straw-hatted pirate. All but the bottom of the sphere dissipated into steam, and after a moment of downward drifting, the bottom, too, dissipated, gently setting its alarmed passenger on the ground.

The clown pirate bared his clenched teeth, veins protruding in anger on his forehead and neck. "How is that thief still alive?!"

The aforementioned thief whirled to face him with wide open eyes. Frantically, she glanced around trying to piece together her situation. Her eyes immediately snapped to the man beside her when he knelt down.

"Are you hurt at all?" He asked smoothly, smiling warmly.

Nami blinked and paused for a moment before answering. "I- I'm okay," she stuttered.

"That's good," he nodded, "then please wait here while I take care of this. It'll only take a few minutes."

"You... Are you that idiot who was challenging the pirate crew all by yourself?!" She asked suddenly.

It was Luffy's turn to blink as Zoro busted out laughing at his captain's expense. "... I'll overlook that comment for now. Stay there or you'll be in the way of the fight."

"And why should I?!" Nami demanded. "How am I even alive, and out here, right now?! I was trapped in that burning building just a minute ago!"

"You're alive because I saved you," Luffy grumbled, standing up with a hand on his hat and turning to face Buggy. "And, for your information, I wasn't alone. I had Lavi with me, and now I have Zoro."

"Zoro?" Nami's jaw dropped. "As in Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter? Are you a bounty hunter, too?"

"Hmph," Zoro grunted, a hand resting on his swords. "I don't remember ever calling myself a pirate hunter. Either way, I've given up that profession, now."

"Though I don't think we can quite call ourselves a crew, yet. First, we at least need a ship, and preferably to fill in crucial members, like a doctor, navigator, shipwright and a cook. We at least need a navigator and a cook before we go, and a doctor would be really helpful. A musician would be nice, as well. Maybe a sniper." Luffy hummed.

"Sounds good to me," Zoro grinned. "Remember, we need to stock up on booze."

Luffy snickered at his swordsman. "You and booze..."

"STRAW HAT!" Buggy shrieked, anger practically emanating from him. "Before you start making plans for your future, hurry up and DIE!"

"LOOK OUT!" Nami cried out, once more beginning to panic as a knife flew towards the man who claimed to have saved her. She froze in horror when he merely grinned as the knife plunged into his body... and went straight through him. Her eyes shadowed over as she grit her teeth and clenched her fists, anger building inside her as the clown pirate laughed hysterically. Pirates. They're all evil, they're all monsters. Always killing people without a second thought, without hesitation-

"Sorry, but that won't work on me."

Buggy immediately stopped laughing with a confused "huh?" and Nami's head snapped up, her eyes wide, and she focused on where he had been pierced. There was a hole... outlined by something white... with something that looked a lot like steam emitting from it. She paled with fear. "... What? What is that?! Hey, how are you still alive?!"

Zoro smirked. "My Captain isn't the type of person who can be killed so easily."

"People in the East Blue right now don't have a chance at beating me. I'll start taking people seriously when I get to the Grand Line," Luffy shrugged, pouting.

Nami's jaw partially dropped in shock. "That kind of thinking is going to get you KILLED! And what do you mean the Grand Line?!"

"STRAW HAT! I KNOW that hit you! How are you still standing?!" Buggy screeched.

"CAPTAIN BUGGY!" A voice shouted, and everyone's attention turned to the newcomers.

"... Why are you riding a unicycle?"

Luffy's tentative question was ignored. "Cabaji!" Buggy scowled. "You're finally here."

"Captain," the black-haired man on a unicycle greeted, looking around, "this is the biggest humiliation we've ever received under our pirate flag!"

Buggy's arms were crossed and his eyes were shadowed. "I'm so angry, words fail me," he agreed.

"Captain, allow me to take care of these pests," the man on the unicycle said, and once Buggy nodded and gave him the go-ahead, he bent his head back and reached inside his mouth, pulling out a sword.

As he pulled it out of his throat, Luffy's expression immediately turned to one of utter disgust. "... That is so gross..."

Nami was pale. Who was this weirdo? He seemed dangerous.

Zoro eyed him with slight interest.

"Buggy's Pirate Fleet Commander 'Cabaji the Acrobat'!" He shouted, wheeling toward Luffy at a high speed. "I'll avenge the pain you've caused to my crew!"

Before he could reach Luffy, Zoro unsheathed his two black katana and was in front of Luffy, blocking Cabaji's sword with one of his own.

"If it's swords, I'm all for it," Zoro stated, his eyes boring into his newfound opponent's.

"It's an honour, Roronoa Zoro. As a swordsman, I get to slay you," he smirked.

"Hoh?" Zoro smirked slightly. "We'll see about that."

Cabaji smirked. "Kyokugi! Kaji Oyaji!" Fire breathed out from Cabaji's mouth, briefly engulfing Zoro's upper body.

"Gack!" He cried out, cringing away from it and parrying Cabaji's next blow. His eyes narrowed, and with a mildly annoyed tsk, he pushed his opponent away, moving in for a short series of strikes, testing the other man's strength.

Cabaji was narrowly blocking and dodging Zoro's strikes when one of Zoro's slashes came so close to hitting his opponent that it cut off a few inches of his hair. The attacks rested for a few moments and the clown pirate glowered at his lock of hair floating to the ground.

"Why, you..." Cabaji growled, his feet working on the unicycle.

Zoro sighed, resting a blade on his shoulder. He leaned backwards, his head looking up at the sky as the clown prepared to use another trick. "Enough. I'm tired."

Cabaji's eyes widened briefly and he laughed. "What, you're already tired?! The fight's just started! That's fine, though. Don't think I'll give you any mercy, but if you don't resist anymore I'll grant you a swift death!" He gloated, his eyes gleaming.

Zoro snorted, darting forward and knocking Cabaji off of his unicycle. "I meant I'm tired of this fight. It's annoying to have to fight someone so far below my level."

Cabaji's teeth grit, and for a moment his head lowered before he rose it again, glaring at the other pirate. He stood up, his sword clenched in his hand. "How dare you! I'll show you my true skills as a swordsman!" Cabaji roared, charging at Zoro, his sword poised to strike.

Zoro took his stance as well. "Oni... Giri!" He stated, his voice low and serious as he rushed forward, his swords striking swiftly and precisely.

Cabaji's sword clattered to the ground as he stood still, his eyes widened in shock. 'How did he...' He thought, falling to his knees as blood spilt from his chest. "How could the great Buggy Pirates fall... to such no-names...?"

"No-names you may call us, but not for long - we've just started. After all, I'm the man who will become the greatest swordsman, and my captain is the man who will be the pirate king!" Zoro declared, removing Wado Ichimonji from his mouth and sheathing it, turning his back to Cabaji as he finally collapsed into unconsciousness.

Buggy's jaw clenched, his anger clear as day as his face reddened and veins pulsated.

"Well, then," Luffy smirked, a hand on his hip. "I suppose it's our turn, yeah? Stupid clown."