BUKK!
Zoro landed in the middle of the chaos, swords drawn, his eyes sharp and cold.
"How many of you need to gang up on one girl at once?" he asked, voice laced with sarcasm.
But the weight of his presence was enough to make everyone freeze.
Even though Nexús knew this moment was coming, the wave of relief that hit him was overwhelming—like finally finding a bathroom after holding it in for hours. If they had arrived even a few seconds later, Nami might have been finished. The stress nearly made him choke.
From inside a large iron cage, a familiar, cheerful voice rang out.
"Zoro! Nexús!"
Hearing Luffy sound so carefree in this situation made Nexús's head throb. But at least he was alive. That was enough for now.
Nami, who had collapsed earlier, turned toward them in disbelief, her eyes wide as if she couldn't trust what she was seeing. She didn't even register Nexús moving toward her until he was right in front of her, reaching out to help her to her feet.
Zoro, calm despite the chaos, asked,
"Are you hurt?"
Nami didn't respond.
He repeated, a little more firmly,
"Do you hurt?"
"N-No... I'm fine…" she stuttered, her voice unsteady.
Then she realized someone was supporting her—Nexús. She looked up at him, hesitated for a moment, and then mumbled,
"…Thank you."
Nexús noticed how much her hands were trembling and let out a small sigh. She was clearly trying to act strong, but her body betrayed her.
"My pleasure," he replied casually, without thinking much of it.
Then he turned his attention to the idiot still trapped in the cage.
"You alright, Luffy?"
He already knew the answer, but he had to ask.
"I'm fine! Shishishi~!"
Luffy grinned like being locked up was nothing.
Nexús exhaled heavily and shook his head.
"Ok."
Luffy, on the other hand, was focused on more important things.
"How'd you find us? Hurry up and get me outta here!"
Zoro crossed his arms, already irritated.
"Why do you keep getting into these messes? First, a bird flies off with you, and now you're locked in a cage with handcuffs?"
Luffy just grinned.
"It's pretty interesting, actually!"
"Then just stay in there," Nexús replied dryly.
"Suddenly it's not interesting anymore!"
Despite everything, Nexús cracked a small, helpless smile.
Then—
Everyone froze.
"Zoro?!"
The name echoed across the pirate crew like a shockwave. Almost every pirate muttered it in unison. Nami's face went pale, a bead of sweat dripping down her temple. Every pirate worth their salt knew the name Roronoa Zoro. If you didn't—you weren't a real pirate. Just hearing his name made their hair stand on end.
Then, from the cage:
"ACHOO!"
Luffy sneezed.
"Close your damn mouth," Nexús said flatly.
...
One of Buggy's crewmates stammered,
"T-That's what he called him, right?"
Nami, still trying to process everything, felt her stomach twist. Pirate Hunter Zoro… one of them? She could finally stand on her own, no longer needing Nexús's support, but her mind was a storm of confusion.
A deep voice suddenly cut through the silence.
"So, you're Zoro?"
Buggy stepped forward, his expression unreadable. Unlike his panicking crew, he showed no fear. His calmness was oddly unnerving.
Nexús couldn't help but feel a little impressed. He really waited this long without attacking? Is this anime logic? He had no idea. All he knew was… he knew nothing.
But soon, reality would force him to understand.
Buggy's smirk widened.
"So what do you want? Are you here to take my head?"
Zoro looked at him with disinterest.
"Nope. Not interested. I gave up pirate hunting."
Buggy's grin sharpened like a blade.
"Oh? Well, I'm interested. Killing you would make my name even bigger."
Zoro barely reacted.
"I wouldn't try if I was you."
The tension thickened, like the air itself was watching. Nexús, meanwhile, just wanted a bucket of popcorn. This kind of scene was perfect for it.
So that's what's buggy looks like in real life? it's look scary than anime or manga one.
Amazing.
But he had more important things to do.
Quietly, while Zoro and Buggy stared each other down, Nexús turned to Luffy.
"First of all, you're stuck because those cuffs are made of Sea-Prism Stone. It seals Your ability .I need to move you somewhere safe."
Luffy only blinked and said "alright!"
Nexús believed his current body is special and had enough strength to lift a cage—even with a person inside based how the strength work before.
With a deep breath, he gripped both sides of the bars and—surprisingly—lifted the cage with ease. A satisfied grin spread across his face.
Luffy gasped, eyes wide with admiration.
"Nexús, you're strong!"
Nexús didn't respond. He focused on sneaking Luffy away, moving the cage as far as he could from the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere around Buggy's crew changed drastically.
"BUGGY! BUGGY! BUGGY!"
They roared, as if at a concert, voices echoing with frenzied excitement.
Zoro, unfazed, simply bit down on one of his swords.
Buggy lunged without warning.
SHING!
In one clean, practiced motion, Zoro sliced through Buggy—cutting him clean in half and severing his right foot.
Silence.
The entire crew froze. Mouths agape. Eyes bulging. Their beloved captain—cut down just like that?
Some of them looked like they were questioning their life choices. One pirate in the back just fainted.
Nexús, now placing the cage in the safest place he could find, stared at the scene and sighed.
"It's just a trap."
"Trap?"
Luffy tilted his head, completely didn't understand what Nexús mean.
Nexús narrowed his eyes at the clown's severed body. How do he explain to these guys that Buggy ate the Bara Bara no Mi—a Devil Fruit that lets him separate his body parts?
Before he could figure out how to say it, Buggy—still in pieces—played dead.
The crew whispered nervously, some already backing away.
Then, Nexús had an idea.
He ran over toward Zoro, pretending not to notice the scattered pieces.
Then, he gathered the past unresolved rage—his old boss, the humiliation, the powerlessness he once felt—he spotted Buggy's severed foot.
And stomped on it.
Hard.
Over and over and over again.
Like he was crushing something vile. He didn't hold back. In his mind, it wasn't Buggy's foot—it was his old boss's smug, smirking face. And he was done being powerless.
"AAAAA—!!"
Buggy's agonized scream shattered the silence.
"BUGGY-SAMA IS ALIVE!?"
"OUR CAPTAIN CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD!?"
"YOU BUNCH OF NEWBIES—!"
Chaos erupted. Grown men screamed. Some clung to each other. One guy looked like he aged ten years in two seconds.
With a snap, Buggy's body parts flew back into place, reassembling into a perfectly intact—very pissed-off—clown.
"You… YOU SON OF A—!"
Buggy lunged straight at Nexús, fists flying.
Nexús barely had time to dodge, adrenaline screaming in his veins.
But Zoro was a quicker responder.
With a sharp motion, he blocked the attack with his swords.
Buggy's fists detached from his arms, flying at unpredictable angles. Zoro parried most of them, but Buggy's trickery made it hard to anticipate. Nexús tried to assist, throwing whatever debris he could to distract Buggy—but that only made the clown madder.
Zoro aimed a three-sword strike at Buggy's torso, but the clown's body split again, his upper half floating away, grinning.
"Missed~!"
"Seriously!?" Nexús shouted.
Then suddenly—SLIP.
Blood rushed to his head too fast. A dizzy spell hit him like a truck. His foot twisted awkwardly on uneven ground—and the world spun.
THUD.
Nexús hit the ground, vision going black.
...
Nexús's consciousness snapped back.
The first thing he saw was an upside-down view—Zoro tied to a spinning circus wheel, and Nami locked in a cage.
"What the hell…?"
Wait—he was the one hanging upside down?! Like a bat?!
There was no justice in this. He felt like he was going to throw up.
Just as he expected, his wounds seemed to be completely healed. No fresh bleeding—just dried blood left behind.
"So, you're finally awake? I've never seen someone lose a fight because they slipped on their own damn foot," Zoro said sarcastically.
"What…?"
Nexús couldn't hear a thing.His brain was still loading.
"Okay, can you two give it a rest already?" Nami interrupted, clearly annoyed.
"Hah?—I'm seriously gonna vomit—"
"You suck," Zoro said, laughing uncontrollably.
"For the love of god, can you both shut up for once?" Nami snapped, exasperated.
"You guys sure are awfully cheerful for people who lost," said a man approaching them. He wore a sleeveless black coat and a zebra-patterned scarf.
Who asked? Nexús thought.
"Zoro, Zoro, Zoro… Finally, I get to see you humiliated!" the man sneered.
"Do you even know who I am? Before this, I was bla bla bla—"
A few long-winded minutes later, after delivering his 'great' monologue to Zoro, the man suddenly flew into a rage.
Without warning, he hurled several knives across the room. One of them ricocheted—and landed terrifyingly close to Nexús's most sacred area.
"ARGHH—!??!"
WHAT THE HELL?!
The nausea vanished instantly—but so nearly did his soul.
...
Later, once they were freed, Nexús—visibly traumatized—kept one hand cautiously covering his private area at all times, even as they walked.
Zoro tried to hold in his laughter, but it would occasionally slip out, despite his best efforts.
Eventually, they reached the place where Luffy was. The circus was already mid-performance—but the stage was anything but fun.
The first thing they saw was Luffy fighting Buggy, and the whole place already looked like a battlefield.
They having fight for a while,of course the winner is Luffy.