บท 12: Bounty Hunters

Letting out a huge yawn Hiko check their course and nodded when he saw they were only a few hours away from where they needed to be. Making a few small adjustments to the sails made sure they would arrive as soon as possible, " Where are we going. " Brushing off his hands Hiko smiled, " I heard there's a clown pirate with a pretty big bounty on his head, while I take him on you'll be tasked with the underlings.

" Nami's eye's widened as she figured out who they were going after, " You can't mean Buggy the Clow with a fifteen million bounty. " Snapping his fingers Hiko nodded, " That's his name, it was on the tip of my tongue. And fifteen million's not that big I heard the only reason he had a bounty that high is because of his improved cannon balls he uses them during parties can you believe that. Anyway, this is the perfect opportunity for you to get some combat experience. "

Nami rubbed her temples, " Only you would think that a fifteen million bounty is small. " Smirking Hiko opened up his inventory and took out an item he had bought from the store " Here you'll need this. " Nami accepted the well-made staff, it was six feet long constructed out of pure steel making it extremely durable, as her hands moved over the staff she felt a slight indentation.

Curiosity peaking Nami gently pressed the button and was surprised when the staff split into two separate halves. Smiling at the gift Nami holstered the now small staff at her hip, " I hope it wasn't too expensive, if not I could pay you. " Waving off her concerns Hiko crossed his arms, " Don't worry about it, I won't have you going into battle underprepared. " Cheeks reddening slightly Nami nodded as she walked away, the rest of the ride was spent in short silence as Orange Town appeared on the horizon.

Nami prepared herself mentally, going into battle was could turn people into a nervous wreck. Hiko dropped anchor away from the shore as he and Nami swam to shore, from there they walked unimpeded through the abandoned village it was pretty easy to find Buggy's hideout it was a large circus tent on top of a large cliff that sounded as if they were in the midst of a party, " Damn pirates celebrating living off of others, they deserve what's about to happen. "

Reaching over Hiko placed his hand on Nami's shoulder and activated healing hands, " It's fine to fight with emotion but don't let it take control or judge your actions. " Stalling a bit at the energy entering her body Nami nodded before pulling out her staff and retracting both ends, " So what's the plan. " A cat-like grin came over Hiko's face, " Let's crash their party bold and proud, and please don't let them monolog. "

The two started to run at the cliff before they jumped making it halfway up before they started to climb. Stopping just before they crested the cliff the two looked at each other and Hiko singled, three, two, one as they both launched themselves into the air. Buggy's pirate's world was flipped upside down as the ground exploded sending men through the air when the dust finally cleared two humans were revealed.

" Buggy come on out you damn red nose freak, I'm here for your bounty. " Every pirate's mouth dropped when they heard the man suddenly insult their captains most obvious flaw, " I hope whoever said that is ready to die a flashy death. " From the mostly untouched circus tent Buggy, the clown appeared with his blue hair clown-like costume and a long red cope trailing behind him. Buggy eyes roamed over his surroundings until a tall bronze skin man came into view.

Grinning Buggy pointed at Hiko, " It's you isn't well die flashily chop-chop cannon. " Buggy's hand suddenly disconnected from his body and flew towards Hiko as knives appeared between the hand's fingers, " Nami deal with the rest of them like we discussed. " Nami nodded as Hiko grabbed the clown's hand and threw it back at Buggy before running towards the pirate.

" Look what we have here don't put up much of a fight, I hate to ruin your appearance before we're done with you. " Nami's eyes turned dark as she gripped her staff tighter, " Damn you pirates you all deserve to go to hell. "

Nami swung her staff towards one of the pirates while pressing the button making the staff butt slam into the man's groin. Every pirate collectively clutched their privates as tears streamed down from the man's eyes, while they were stunned Nami moved onto her next victim. Taking what she experienced from Hiko Nami targeted the weak points of her enemies like the hands, knees, and groin.

Every time someone would try and attack her Nami would move away using her superior range to bat away attacks, soon the only three left standing were Cabaji the acrobatic swordsman, and Mohji the beast tamer, and his lion Richie. Nami had heard about both of them Cabaji would be the harder of the two to deal with, ' I need to find a way to separate them. '

Frowning Nami looked around before her eyes landed on a cannon peeking out from the rubble, smiling a plan formed in Nami's mind. Shifting her grasp on her staff Nami held it like a golf club as she sent pieces of rock towards the two pirates and lion, soon the fight turned into a game of deadly dodge ball. Cabaji and Mohji were forced to jump behind cover, when the timing was right Nami rushed towards the cannon hoping what Hiko said earlier held true.

Nami felt a flood relief flood her body when she saw a dark red cannonball inside the cannon. When no more rocks came there way Mohji peaked out only for all the color to drain out of his face, looking over at his friend Cabaji frowned when he saw his face, " What's wrong Mohji. " When he didn't answer Cabaji sighed before he looked around the rubble to see the red-haired bounty hunter standing next to the cannon with an already lit fuse. The last thing Cabaji saw was the wide grin on Nami's face before a large pillar of light enveloped him