Cheers and the clanging of mugs echoed throughout the Buggy Pirates' temporary base. The pirates were drunkenly celebrating the retrieval of their Grand Line map and the acquisition of a beautiful new crewmate.
"A toast to the great Captain Buggy!"
"And to the lovely Miss Nami!"
Nami smiled, raising her glass, playing her part to perfection. She downed cup after cup, appearing to be one of them. But behind that smile, a plan was being carefully calculated.
'Drink up, you fools,' she thought to herself. 'My tolerance is higher than all of you combined. Once I get you all blackout drunk, I'll take the map back, swipe all your treasure, and be gone before sunrise.'
In a corner, inside a cramped iron cage, Luffy watched the scene with a look of longing.
"Hey! Give me some meat! And some booze! Is it a party without me?!" he yelled.
Nami rolled her eyes, then walked over to the cage. "Well, look who it is. The great 'boss' is looking pretty pathetic right now," she teased.
"Nami! Let me out!"
"Be quiet," she whispered, her voice low enough for only them to hear. She skillfully passed a piece of meat and a canteen of water through the bars. "Eat this. And stay put. Once my plan succeeds, you'll be free."
Luffy snatched the meat and began to tear into it like a wild animal.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over Nami.
"What plan is that, my dear?"
Buggy's voice came from right behind her. Nami jumped, spinning around. The red-nosed clown was standing there, his smile gone, replaced by a cold, cruel expression.
"That's enough," he said. "The party's over. It's time for a special performance."
He snapped his fingers. "Bring 'it' out!"
A few of his men hastily wheeled out a massive cannon, decorated with their red-nosed jolly roger. Its black muzzle was aimed directly at the town.
"To celebrate getting the map back," Buggy announced, "we're going to set off some spectacular fireworks!"
He ordered them to load a special cannonball painted with his own clown face—a "Buggy Ball."
"FIRE!"
BOOM!
The cannonball soared through the air and exploded on impact with a row of houses in the distance. A terrifying explosion tore through the night, blowing an entire street to smithereens. Fire and smoke billowed into the sky.
"HAHAHA! Beautiful, isn't it?" Buggy cackled. "With my Bara Bara no Mi powers and these special cannonballs, I'll conquer the Grand Line and become King of the Pirates!"
He turned, his crazed eyes landing on Luffy.
"And to start, we need a sacrifice. You, treacherous girl." He pointed at Nami. "Prove your loyalty. Come here and blow that straw-hatted brat to bits for me."
He threw a lit torch at her feet.
Nami froze. The torch trembled in her hand. Her plan was to steal, not to kill.
"What's wrong? Hurry up!" Buggy growled.
"W-wait, Captain," Nami tried to stall, forcing a smile. "The... the party is still going! Let's have a few more drinks!"
"FIRE IT!"
From his cage, Luffy looked at Nami's shaking hand. "You don't have the resolve," he said.
"Resolve?" Nami spun around, her voice shrill. "Is a pirate's resolve to kill people like they're insects?!"
"No," Luffy replied, his voice unnaturally calm. "It's the resolve to risk your own life."
Nami was stunned.
As she still hesitated, one of Buggy's men grabbed another torch. "If you won't do it, I will!"
"GET AWAY!"
Nami reacted instinctively, swinging her wooden staff and knocking the subordinate to the ground.
She turned to face Buggy, her eyes blazing.
"That's right! I can't do it! No matter what I do, I will never become a cruel pirate like you!"
Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Because... it was pirates who killed the most important person in my life!"
While Nami was confronting Buggy, the subordinate she had hit scrambled back up. He silently lit the cannon's fuse.
Fssssssss...
Luffy was the first to notice. "THE FUSE!"
The flame was rapidly burning towards the gunpowder.
In a panic, Luffy began biting the iron bars, trying to eat his way out of the cage.
"Dammit! It's too hard!"
Buggy's crew, realizing Nami's betrayal, began to charge her. "Kill the witch!"
Nami swung her staff to defend herself, but she was quickly surrounded.
She glanced at the fuse, burning shorter and shorter. She looked at Luffy, desperate in his cage.
There was no more time.
Nami ignored the swords swinging towards her. She lunged for the cannon and used her bare hands...
...to smother the burning fuse.
SIZZLE!
A hiss filled the air. Her skin was seared, the smell of burnt flesh rising. Nami gritted her teeth against the burning pain, but she had succeeded.
The fuse was out.
"You little brat!" A pirate swung his sword down at the now defenseless Nami.
But the blade never reached her.
CLANG!
A flash of white steel blocked the sword's path.
Zoro.
He had arrived. He stood there, Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, his other two swords in hand, shielding Nami.
"Finally found you," he said, glancing at Luffy in the cage.
Buggy looked at Zoro, his eyes glinting with interest. "Well, well. The Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro. Have you come for my head?"
"I'm not a pirate hunter anymore," Zoro growled.
"Even better!" Buggy laughed. "Defeating you will make my name even more famous!"
He charged, his hand detaching from his body and flying towards Zoro like a bullet.
"Bara Bara Pistol!"
Zoro didn't flinch. He accepted the challenge.
He rushed forward, three swords ready. A name echoed, like the roar of a demon from the underworld.
"Oni... Giri!"
A flash of light. Three impossibly sharp slashes cut across Buggy's body almost simultaneously.
The clown's body was sliced into multiple pieces: head, torso, arms, legs... all of them separated and fell to the ground.
Luffy and Nami stared, their jaws agape in shock.
Is... is he dead?
But then, something impossible happened.
Buggy's subordinates showed no signs of panic.
They just... laughed.