Luffy was still laughing.
He doubled over, wheezing between fits of laughter as Zoro crouched on the ground, one hand clutching his swords and the other guarding his newly assaulted pride.
"Ahahahaha! You hit him in the- you hit him right in the-!" Luffy couldn't even finish his sentence. He was reminded of how the kids back home used to fight dirty and target those areas.
He just found it amusing that someone like Buggy would use the same strategies. But Zoro was certainly not finding it funny.
All around them, Buggy's crew collectively winced in sympathy. Half the men had their legs crossed, some even crouching like they'd taken the hit themselves. Even Richie, the massive lion, whimpered faintly.
Buggy, meanwhile, just wiped a bead of sweat from his painted forehead."Y'know," he said, adjusting his hat, "I might've gone a little too far with that one."
He glanced down at Zoro, who was slowly rising to his feet, jaw tight and eyes blazing with a mix of humiliation and fury.
'Yep,' Buggy thought. 'Definitely too far.'
Before the swordsman could recover, Buggy grabbed him by the neck, slamming him back against the nearest wall. But before he could capitalize on it, Luffy's arm stretched across the square and smacked Buggy's wrist aside.
The detached hand snapped back to Buggy's torso like a rubber band, magnetized to his center mass.
Luffy blinked, watching it reattach. "So that's how it works…"
He was learning. Slowly.
Buggy could see it in the brat's eye, the flicker of observation beneath that carefree grin. 'Well, aren't you a quick study, Straw-for-Brains.'
Still, Luffy's advantage meant nothing if he couldn't apply it. Buggy kept the fight close, forcing Luffy into a brawl where his long wind-ups and ranged techniques lost rhythm. It was messy, personal, and chaotic, exactly how Buggy liked it.
Each time Luffy swung, Buggy's body came apart just enough to dodge or redirect the blow. His separated limbs flicked blades and debris like juggling pins, forcing Luffy to think twice before every strike.
And Zoro, though still recovering, was now standing upright again, swords drawn, eyes narrow and deadly calm.
Luffy grinned. "Zoro! Let's get him together!"
Zoro cracked his neck. "Don't order me around, Captain Idiot."
Buggy let out a sigh. "Ah, fantastic. Now I've got a two-for-one special. And here I thought today couldn't get any better."
He snapped his fingers sharply, his voice cutting across the chaos.
"Oi! You morons just gonna stand there gawking, or are you gonna EARN your paychecks?!"
The startled pirates jumped, almost tripping over themselves.
"Move it! Get the wounded back to the ship! Grab the loot, the crates, the barrels, anything that's not nailed down! If it IS nailed down, UNNAIL IT and grab that too!"
"But Captain-" one of them started.
"Don't 'but Captain' me! MOVE, you ingrates!" Buggy barked, spinning a knife in one detached hand while deflecting Luffy's incoming punch with another.
He was far below Luffy in pure strength, but he still had enough finesse to redirect strikes, thankfully.
The men didn't need telling twice. They didn't want to distract their captain either. They scrambled, hauling their injured crewmates and whatever loot they could carry back toward the docked ship. Even Richie stumbled to his paws, half-dazed but following the command.
As the crew rushed to obey, Buggy danced.
There was no other word for it. He moved through the square like a deranged acrobat, weaving between Zoro's slashes and Luffy's punches in a chaotic, fluid rhythm.
He even used the two of them against each other at times; Luffy wouldn't punch through Zoro's sword path, while Buggy could pass harmlessly through the blades.
Buggy's limbs snapped apart and back together in time with his movements, every motion sharp and deliberate, his grin widening with each dodge.
Steel rang through the air.
Zoro's swords cut in clean arcs, slicing through the chaos like an artist with a brush. Buggy's severed hands blocked and parried, their grip on the blades barely functional but still effective enough to avoid being disarmed. Sparks flew every time metal met metal.
"Tsk. My swords aren't working!" Zoro muttered.
"Your offense is predictable," Buggy shot back, ducking under another swing. "You're too married to those swords. Ever think about punching someone?"
"I don't need to."
"Maybe you should!"
Buggy kicked off the wall, twisting midair as his torso split apart again.
His separated hands flung the knives outward in a deadly spinning arc. Zoro caught two blades on his swords, deflecting them into the dirt where they quivered, half-buried.
Another struck the ground near Luffy's foot, which the boy avoided by hopping with a laugh.
"Hey, careful!" Luffy grinned. "You almost got me!"
"Almost?" Buggy smirked. "You're welcome."
Zoro gritted his teeth, slamming his foot down to steady himself. Then, in one precise motion, he swung all three blades outward, knocking every nearby weapon from the air at once.The metallic clatter that followed was almost deafening.
For a moment, the chaos slowed. The weapons Zoro had knocked down sunk into the plaza, they became too difficult for Buggy's fingers to pull out alone.
Buggy blinked, looking at the embedded circle of blades and pointed weapons surrounding him. "Huh… well, that's inconvenient."
Zoro cracked his neck again. "Good. Stay there."
Buggy chuckled. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm no pillow princess, you won't see me laying here and taking it~"
He jumped, and his legs detached.
Luffy's eyes widened as Buggy flipped midair, his torso hovering above them while his legs scissor-kicked in separate directions, knocking Luffy and Zoro both off balance.
Luffy recovered first, darting forward, no wind-up this time. Just raw movement.
"Gomu Gomu no-" He closed the distance instantly, his fist slamming toward Buggy's gut with blinding speed. "Pistol!"
Buggy twisted apart, barely, but Luffy's punch still grazed him, forcing him to feel the impact ripple through his body as his parts rattled midair.
"Now we're talkin'!" Buggy barked, laughing as he countered, his detached arms launching in tandem, twin knives slashing down. Luffy blocked with crossed arms, one knife scraping his wrist, drawing a thin line of red.
Zoro moved in beside him, his swords intercepting the follow-up attacks. Together, they pressed forward, Zoro deflecting every floating blade Buggy controlled while Luffy attacked from blind spots.
For the first time, Buggy was being pushed.
He could feel it, his breathing getting rougher, his arms tingling from overextension. Every detached motion demanded focus. Every split-second dodge drained stamina.
But damn if it wasn't thrilling.
He grinned wildly as Luffy's punch came in low, Zoro's slash came high, and he contorted midair, splitting himself into over a dozen separate parts at once, an explosion of limbs and laughter.
The two Straw Hats barely ducked in time as a detached knee shot past their heads and a spinning forearm ricocheted off a wall.
Buggy reassembled several meters away, panting lightly. "God, you kids are exhausting."
Zoro spat to the side. "You're one to talk, freak."
Buggy flicked a detached finger at him. "Insults from someone with moss for hair? Please."
While they squared off again, the remaining crew was loading the last of the crates. Mohji's panicked voice echoed from the docks. "CAPTAIN! We're ready to set sail!"
"Then DO IT!" Buggy shouted, blocking a punch with his detached foot. "And for the love of all things shiny, CUT the girl loose before she gets a sunburn!"
Several pirates fumbled to obey, slicing through Nami's ropes. She fell forward, catching herself on the railing, wide-eyed but unhurt.
She looked down toward the battlefield, the bizarre, painted man fighting two of the strongest newcomers she'd ever seen, and felt her stomach twist.
He wasn't like other pirates. Not really.
He was selfish, flamboyant, greedy beyond reason… but he wasn't cruel. Not in the same way the monsters she'd known were.
As the ship's anchor began to rise, she watched Buggy shout over his shoulder, "Don't wait for me, you idiots! Get moving! That's an order!"
Mohji hesitated. "But Captain-"
"MOVE!" Buggy barked, his voice cutting through the din like a whipcrack. "You think I can't catch up?! I INVENTED dramatic exits!"
The ship began to drift away from the dock, sails unfurling. Nami exhaled, clutching her arm as the ropes fell from her wrists. For the first time in days, she was free.
She used that opportunity to immediately jump off the ship, landing on the docks below.
Down below, the fight reached its crescendo.
Luffy and Zoro charged in tandem, one laughing, the other silent and focused. Buggy twirled midair, limbs separating like a burst of confetti, dodging both attacks with inches to spare.
The three clashed in a blur of steel, fists, and flying limbs.
Then, Buggy feinted left, his legs detaching again. In a single, fluid motion, he spun through the air and drop-kicked both Straw Hats square in the chest, one leg for each, same momentum, same strength behind it.
The impact sent them flying backward into a crumbling wall with a thunderous crash.
The dust settled.
Buggy hovered midair, arms spread wide, cape fluttering dramatically. "And that, gentlemen, is how you exit with style."
Both Luffy and Zoro groaned from the rubble, glaring upward. Luffy blinked. "Wait… he can fly?!"
Zoro's expression darkened. "I hate this clown."
Buggy winked down at them. "Hate's just jealousy in disguise, Mossy."
Then, with a sudden whoosh, his torso, legs, and head lifted higher, propelling him toward the docks in a spinning blur of color.
"Catch ya next time, boys!" he called out, his voice echoing across the port. "Maybe bring popcorn!"
The Buggy Pirates cheered as their captain's floating form appeared over the waves. Mohji, halfway through ordering the men to hoist the last sail, froze. "Captain! You made it!"
"Course I did!" Buggy barked, landing on deck with an exaggerated flourish.
He landed hard enough to make the planks rattle, knees wobbling a little before straightening up. His coat was torn, one boot half–unlaced, and his face streaked with dirt where the makeup had run.Still, he threw his arms wide and shouted, "Did you idiots doubt me?!"
The crew erupted in relief. Mohji saluted awkwardly, Cabaji gave a weary nod, and even Richie let out a confused roar that might have been a cheer. The ship drifted farther from the ruined town, sails swelling in the wind.
Buggy grinned and tried to spin his knife for flair, only for it to slip from his fingers and clatter onto the deck. He stared at it for a long moment.
The adrenaline drained out of him all at once.
His body throbbed where Luffy's blows had landed, each bruise stinging as the sea air hit it. His joints ached from forcing his powers too far, and his head still rang from spinning so many times.
He slumped against the railing, watching the shrinking shoreline and the two silhouettes in the dust. A breath of laughter escaped him, half relief, half madness.
"Those damn brats…" he muttered, voice hoarse but amused. "They've got no idea what they're pokin' at."
The sea breeze tugged at his coat. The ship creaked, steady and alive beneath him, carrying them back toward the horizon. He adjusted his hat, squinting at the endless blue stretching ahead.
"…I'm fucking tired," he said finally, letting his head fall back against the rail.
The crew gave him a wide berth as he closed his eyes, the sound of the waves swallowing his muttered curses and the faint, fading chuckle that followed.