"Now let's play a little game~"
Buggy twirled another knife between his fingers before quickly setting it down.
Despite her snarky, feisty attitude, Nami was still a teenager at the end of the day.
So when she found herself tied to a jester-pirate's mast with no feasible way out, panic crept up her spine, no matter how well she hid it.
Even worse, Buggy wasn't nearly as stupid as his eccentric antics suggested. He'd searched her thoroughly, even taking her hidden emergency knives.
She'd been captured by pirates before. She'd always had a way out, or at least a way to talk herself out.
But not with people like Buggy. From what little she'd seen, he was too unpredictable for that.
Really, she'd just picked the wrong target.
"Aight, girl, not gonna lie, you got lucky. I can't throw knives to save my life; that one just slipped outta my hand."
Nami blinked. "Then why the hell are you even playing with those things?!"
Buggy looked genuinely offended. "It's called training! Maybe one day I wanna become a master knife thrower! Who are you to crush my dreams like that? My father, well, I don't remember him having tits, so that can't be it."
One of the goons on the side piped up, "Boss, weren't you an orphan?"
He got a quick, detached punch to the nose for his trouble.
"Shut it, dipshit! Don't ruin my routine!"
The crewmate whimpered, clutching his bleeding nose. Nami blinked, half in shock, half in disbelief. Buggy spun the last knife lazily, the blade flashing as he smirked.
"You know," Nami said slowly, "you're… not what I expected."
Buggy raised a brow. "What'd you expect, huh? Some drooling sea dog who stinks of grog and hits on anything that moves?"
"Well, you do kinda stink like grog."
"Fair. But I've got pizzazz, sweetheart." He flared his cape dramatically. "A clown of taste and sophistication. A connoisseur of fine art! A man who-"
"-ties girls to masts and throws knives at them?"
He froze mid-pose. "Hey, that's called artistic tension! It's theater! You should be thanking me for the front-row seat."
"To my own potential murder?"
"Every great act needs stakes!" he declared, clutching his heart like a tragic actor. "Besides, you're still alive, aren't you? Haven't even nicked your pretty face. That's precision!"
"That's luck."
"Same thing if the results work out," he said, grinning.
That earned her a reluctant snort. Barely audible, but he caught it. His grin widened.
"Aha! She laughs! That's the first step to greatness. Once they start laughing, they start taking a liking to ya as well. Take notes, lads!"
"I'm not laughing with you."
"Doesn't matter! Laughter's laughter. I'll take it."
For a moment, there was silence. Sunlight shimmered on the deck; the ship creaked softly.
Buggy leaned on a crate, arms crossed, while Nami tested the ropes at her wrists. They didn't budge.
"So…" she said casually. "What do you even want? You've already robbed the town blind."
Buggy tilted his head. "Want? I want everything, babe. Treasure, fame, the spotlight—the kind of glory that gets you immortalized in a ballad."
She sighed. "You really are full of yourself, huh?"
"Confidence, not arrogance. There's a fine line, and I dance on it like Cabaji on that stupid unicycle."
She smiled despite herself. "You're insane."
"Occupational hazard. Few too many masts to the head." He grinned. "What about you, huh? Cat burglar sneaking onto my ship. What's your story? Looking for clown sugar?"
"God, no. Ewww-" She made a face. "I don't like pirates. I'd rather not have anything to do with them."
"Oh, so you rob pirates but don't want anything to do with them? That's like hating clowns but still coming to the circus!"
"I don't enjoy the circus."
"Well, you're in one now, sweetheart."
-
-
-
The banter continued, strange, but comfortable. Nami was sharp-tongued and quick; Buggy was erratic but oddly perceptive. His nonsense had rhythm, a twisted kind of logic.
And slowly, she stopped panicking. The ropes were still tight, but her breathing leveled out. He wasn't the kind of pirate who'd cut her down for fun. Unhinged? Absolutely. Cruel? Not quite.
So she decided to test her luck.
"Alright, Captain Nose," she said lightly, "what if I told you I knew where you could find real treasure?"
Buggy's goons froze. Everyone knew the nose thing was a death wish.
Buggy blinked. "Captain Nose? Seriously? That's the best you've got, little Tangerine?"
This Buggy wasn't self-conscious, just disappointed in the lack of creativity.
"Captain Buggy," she corrected quickly, hiding the twitch in her forehead. "Slip of the tongue."
He squinted. "Mmh. Go on, spill the tea, sis."
"Umm... sure?" she said, thrown off. "Anyway, I know a place. Real gold. The kind of haul that could make even a flashy pirate like you drool."
His eyes glinted. "Gods, get to the point. You suck at building suspense..."
"Cocoyasi Village," she said. "On the Conomi Islands. I grew up there, and I know the area. There's treasure there, more than you'd find raiding every town in East Blue combined."
Buggy whistled. "Now that's interesting. A hometown heist, huh?"
She nodded eagerly. "I can guide you. You get the treasure; I get a small cut. Everyone wins."
He rubbed his chin. "Hmm. Conomi Islands… that's Arlong's turf, isn't it?"
The grin froze on her face. "You know about Arlong?"
"Of course I do," he said flatly. "Who doesn't? Big blue bastard shaking down villages like a fishy mob boss. 'The Arlong Pirates'- real creative name, by the way."
Her pulse spiked. "So you-"
"-so I'm not walking into a trap," Buggy cut in, pointing a finger. "You think I'm dumb, sweetheart? I act like a fool; I'm not one. If you're from there, maybe you work for him too. Trying to lead me there for my sweet ol' bounty, huh?"
Her mouth went dry. "I wasn't-"
"Oh, please." He grinned, leaning close enough for her to smell rum and citrus.
"I can smell desperation, Tangerine. You want that fish gone, don't you? If you grew up there, no way you're fine with a guy like him running the place. You want your village back."
She swallowed hard. "...You're not wrong."
"Course I'm not wrong." He flicked her forehead, making her flinch. "But you picked the wrong clown for that act. I don't fight people for free, and I sure as hell don't do charity."
"But you could-"
He waved her off, bored. "Could, yeah. Want to? Nah. Fighting overgrown sardines ain't on today's schedule. Just looted a town, I'm in my me-time arc."
Nami's shoulders slumped. He wasn't biting. Annoying, unpredictable, ridiculous… and frustratingly smart.
But under that levity, she could tell, he wasn't afraid of Arlong. Just uninterested.
She might've pressed further, but a loud crash cut through the air. Then another.
BOOM.
Both of them turned toward the town. The sea breeze trembled with splintering wood and panicked shouting.
"...The hell?" Buggy muttered.
Mohji's voice carried over the din, high-pitched and terrified. "CAPTAIN! HELP! SOME STRETCHY FREAK IS—ARGHHH!"
Buggy blinked. "Stretchy freak?"
Another explosion followed. Cabaji's voice rang out: "HE CUT MY UNICYCLE IN HALF! WHO EVEN DOES THAT?!"
Nami winced. "That sounds… bad."
Buggy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Seriously? They get here this early? I thought I could just rob the place and chill…"
He stalked to the railing, peering into the chaos. Through the smoke, he spotted a blur of green and a flash of straw.
A tall man with short green hair and three swords moved like lightning, each swing clean, precise, and merciless. Cabaji barely held on.
And further down the street...
A boy in a red vest and straw hat was laughing like a lunatic, his arm stretching across the square to punch Mohji square in the jaw.
"Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!"
The punch sent the Beast Tamer flying through a fruit stand. Richie rolled after him like a furry cannonball.
Buggy just stared.
Nami glanced at him. "You know them?"
He didn't answer immediately. Then, quietly:
"Monkey D. Luffy. Marine Hero Garp's little freak of nature. And that green-haired bastard's Roronoa Zoro—the bounty hunter. Great. The damn main characters are here."
"What?"
"Nothing to worry your cute little head about..." He flexed his gloved hand, letting it detach and float lazily beside him like a balloon. His grin sharpened.
"Guess the show's starting early."
"You're going to fight them?" Nami asked.
"Fight?" Buggy chuckled. "No, sweetheart. I'm going to perform."