บท 8: Chapter 8 - Catch Luffy!
Zoro and Luffy fell sleep on the second floor, while Ame spent the entire night to practice his skills.
• Side-Step (Green) Lv.3: 235/300
• Sneak (Green) Lv.3: 56/300
• Pin-Point Thrust (Blue) Lv.2: 120/200
• Plant Bind (Blue) Lv.1: 0/200
• Wild Nature (Purple) Lv.1: 0/100
Passive Skills:
• Staff Mastery (Green) Lv.4: 14/400
• Repairing (Blue) Lv.1: 38/100
[ Side-Step has leveled up to 4! ]
- 1.8x Faster than a normal thief!
[ Staff Mastery has leveled up to 5! (+2) ]
- When attacking, a small concentrated impact is released upon each of your thrusts or strikes. Increasing your attack range, or will deal additional damage when a melee attack successfully connects.
- Training will be moderately slower than before when arriving at a Threshold level, ex; Lv.5, Lv. 10, Lv. 20, etc...
[ Pin-Point Thrust has leveled up to 3! ]
- Accuracy of skill increased.
- Chance of directly knocking out enemies when using the skill.
[Strength Enhancement has leveled up to 2!]
- Time limit has now been increased to 2 minutes.
- Strength Multiplier increased to 1.4x
[ Repairing has leveled up to 2! ]
- Efficiently repairs fractures and cracks.
[ Plant Bind has leveled up to 2! ]
- Increases range of plant usage.
- Increases your proficiency and control, enabling use of Flowers as substitutes within 2m (Size of a double bed) arround you.
"I'm too tired... I still have a long way to go it seems, especially on the stamina department." Ame didn't use stealth while training since he felt that it would be inefficient to train while using too many skills all at once, becauss he noticed that the more skills he used, the more burned out the he became.
That marks the end of the day for Ame's crew, and tomorrow shall mark a new day for possible adventures. With that, everyone rested peacefully, although Ame only slept after he fed their turtle.
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{Next morning}
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The current problem the crew faces right now is...
Luffy is currently being taken away by a giant bird that took his strawhat earlier.
They were just talking while on the helm when Luffy's strawhat flew by the wind, he tried to get it back by stretching his hand but a large bird took ahold of his strawhat. Luffy unwilling to hand over his strawhat, kept holding unto the strawhat desperately, looking like he was ready to give his life for it.
Even if Luffy had the floatatipn device, he couldn't be left to float for too long since it needed a recharge. So now, Zoro and Ame is testing the ship's speed limit while desperately catching up to Luffy.
"GODDAMNIT LUFFY! WHY DON'T YOU JUST LET GO OF THE STRAWHAT!" Zoro shouted, clearly frustrated from the sudden turn of events.
Luffy heard Zoro and shook his head and replied, "NO WAY! I PROMISED SOMEONE THAT I'LL BECOME THE PIRATE KING AND TAKE THIS BACK TO THEM!" Luffy didn't show any signs of budging over his decision, making Zoro slap himself in disappointment, having no choice but to chase after him until he comes back down.
"IF YOU GOT YOUR HAT BACK, DON'T HESITATE TO JUMP OFF!! WE WILL CATCH YOU!" Shouted Ame.
The crew chased the bird who catched Luffy around while trying to not lose speed which might risk them losing Luffy and the Bird.
Zoro was visibly becoming tired but he didn't complain and just said, "I swear... When we get Luffy, I'm going to roast that damn bird!"
The chase continued for a while, they even came across a trio of strangers who were stuck on a boat but they didn't even notice them so those people remained stuck, but that was besides the point.
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{ A couple more hours later... }
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Eventually, and fortunately. Zoro and Luffy reached an island called Orange Town, they somehow ended up here while chasing the bird.
They saw the bird let go of Luffy around this town after also becoming exhausted from escaping from Zoro and Ame, so it preemptively decided to just let go of the strawhat to lose weight, dropping Luffy along with it.
Luffy was dropped somewhere around this town but the problem is...
"Where the hell are we supposed to go to find him?" Zoro muttered, it was indeed very hard to find Luffy in this large town.
Ame told Zoro that they should split off and go in seperate directions since they both agreed that it should be faster and easier to look for him.
Ame didn't know that this wouldn't work at all and it'd in fact, make it a whole another challenge to look for Luffy.
Since they'd have to look for Zoro too.
Zoro is in fact, very bad with directions. But, that's a story for another time.
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{Luffy's side}
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"Hoho...?? Where am I right now?" Luffy could be seen standing in the middle of a group of armed man, and an orange haired girl wielding a map.
The armed men were looking wary but also frustrated as they kept looking at the girl lile she took something from them. "WHO ARE YOU, BRAT?!" one of them also said, "ARE YOU AN ACCOMPLICE OF THAT THIEF TOO?! ANSWER US!"
Luffy looked confused by what was happening suddenly, he just crashed here, so he had no idea what they were talking about. "Eh? Accomplice? I don't even know wh-" Before Luffy could even explain, he was interrupted by the orange haired girl saying, "You're finally here Captain! I'm so happy that you finally came to save me! Take care of them please while I go store the map on our ship!" The girl then bolted out of the situation after saying that.
Luffy scratched his head, "Did I she just frame me?" But it was too late, the armed men looked like they weren't going to settle it peacefully, so there was only one thing left to solve it.
Luffy smiled and lifted his arms while twirling them around, "Let's fight!"
"Get ready for your punishment from Buggy-Sama, Thief!" The armed men then began charging towards Luffy.
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Ame is now at a loss.
He just discovered that because of their seperation, Zoro became lost too.
He tried to find Zoro earlier to regroup and discuss a plan to increase their odds of finding Luffy inside the town, only to end up concluding that Zoro himself was also lost.
Now, he is currently looking over at an Orange haired girl with a tied up young man who looked strangely like Luffy heading towards a strange circus with barious weird jester looking guys surrounding it.
Ame didn't butt in since he wasn't sure yet. Still, the situation seemed very fishy for him so he activated his stealth immediately to follow them.
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{Buggy the clown's tent}
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The orange haired girl kicked the guy with a strawhat over to what seemed to be the leader of this band of jesters. "I've captured the thief, Captain Buggy the Clown. Here's your chart back!"
The leader grinned and replied, "Well, I appreciate the gesture but... Why the change of heart?"
The girl handed the chart over to Buggy and answered, "Well... My boss and I had a fight! I'm fed up with him for always paying me only a small amount of belli for such a dangerous work!" She paused and asked, "So please, let me join your crew instead!"
Her statement drew out a snort from Buggy, everyone froze because they didn't know if he was angry or amused, they were scared and told the others, "He might use his Devil fruit power!"
"HAHAHAHA! Fed up?! You're a very amusing woman! Sure, I like you! You can join my crew! HYAHAHAHAHAHA!" Buggy laughed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't mad or it would've been bad for them.
The orange haired woman smiled brightly, althought her thoughts were quite the opposite, 'Hah! Infiltration successful, pirates are so dumb and easy to fool! Hehe.'
The crew members pf Buggy lifted a huge iron cage and dropped it on top of the strawhat boy, effectively locking him inside. "Hey, why am I in a cage?"
Buggy didn't hear Luffy and laughed, "KAKAKAKAKAKAKA! I'm in a good mood today! Say, what's your name woman?"
"Nami!" Nami introduced herself.
Buggy looked at his crew and ordered, "Alright! Let's hold a welcome party for our new member, Nami!!"
Everyone started bringing out food and liquor while some started performing their tricks and performances, even skmeone was playing with a lion, and someone dressed like a lion.
Everyone was laughing and enjoying the welcome party for Nami, while she was in front of Buggy drinking with him. She didn't forget to plot how to take the chart and Buggy's treasure with her.
Somewhere in the midst, a blue haired man was near the strawhat boy's cage. Nobody noticed him, nor felt him, even Buggy the Captain himself.
The blue haired man was Ame. When he finally confirned that it was Luffy, he had to wait for everyone to clear out around Luffy to a certain range before sneaking towards him, aiming to break him out.
While Luffy was trying to take a food from the celebration, he heard a whisper coming from behind him. He looked towards the source of the noise and saw Ame, he was about to celebrate that Ame arrived so he could take him out and give him food but Ame managed to stop him in time.
Ame warned, " Be quiet Luffy, i'll break you out of there but you need to be quiet so as to not draw any attention towards us, alright?" to which Luffy understood and nodded in affirmation.
While no one was looking at him and Luffy, he quickly tried to untie Luffy which he successfully achieved but then, Buggy shouted "MEN! PREPARE A SPECIAL BUGGY BALL!" Followed by a loud cheering.
Buggy's crew dragged a huge cannon outside the circus and sending someone to control it, while another one can be seen carrying a huge red cannonball with a mark of Buggy's crew.
Ame didn't let himself be distracted and quickly took the opportunity to lift the hug heavy cage up using his strength enhancement, successfully freeing Luffy. "Now, where's Zoro?" He muttered.
Luffy then told Ame, "I found our Navigator!"
Ame was quite shocked but excited and happy, "Who? Where?!"
Luffy then pointed at the orange haired girl named Nami that was beside Buggy, "Her! She also had the chart of the Grand line! She took me here because she told me that she'd become my crewmate if I helped her!"
Ame quickly asked, "Then why'd she hand you down over to them?"
Luffy answered, "Well she told me this was a part of her 'infiltration plan' and that she was going to get out of here."
Ame had some sort of understanding, "Let's follow her plan then, go back into the cage and I'll tie you up with my plant bind, I'll explain it to you later but just know that in case that things go south is that you can immediately break the bind by just using a bit of strength and help her, I'll be on standby somewhere near to help, if I see Zoro then I'd also tell him about the plan."
Luffy agreed and Ame used the plant that he bought on his pocket to make Luffy's bind since there were no other plants he can use on a concrete floor around him.
Luffy and Ame looked over at the cannon and Ame realized, "IT'S AIMING TOWARDS THE HOUSES OF CIVILIANS!!" Before Ame could rush over to stop the fuse from the cannon, a hand stopped him from moving.
It was Luffy, he shook his head and looked at Ame, he was unwilling to let his friend be in critical danger again just because of his irrational actions. "Calm down Ame, look those houses are already empty. The civilians have already evacuated their houses since they have been alerted of Buggy's play in advance by the local authorities."
Ame breathed a sigh of relief upon knowing that and gathered back his rationality as he went back to hiding, although something still bothered him but he didn't speak up about it.
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On the town's docks, a green haired man noticed the distant explosion created by Buggy, it was Zoro. He was trying to find Ame and Luffy since earlier and with that explosion, it didn't take him much time to figure out that it was related to them, so he began speeding up his pace to go to them.
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"MUHAHAHAHA! HOW SPECTACULAR! WITH MY BUGGY BALLS AND MY DEVIL FRUIT POWERS, I WILL BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES!" Buggy mused, the explosion created a path of devestation, a row of demolished houses followed its trail.
After Buggy decleration, he didn't expect there to be opposition. He was furious, frustrated, and most of all felt like he was looked down upon. He searched around the building and his gaze landing upon the strawhat boy, Luffy.
Luffy's expression turned serious, "I am going to be the Pirate King! Not you! What are you talking about?"
Buggy's expression darkened and said, "Now I get why you're fed up with him Nami... "
"R-right? He's always been like that!" Nami was nervous, he didn't want Luffy to get hurt.
"So let's blast him with my Buggy ball!" Buggy ordered his men, the cannon was moved facing Luffy.
Right there, a sweat dripped from Nami's face. She had realized that the plan has already been destroyed, ruined, and has turned on them. "W-well, why don't we just ignore that Captain Buggy and continue with our welcome party? R-right?"
Nami's attempt at defusing the situation proved to be futile whatsoever, as Buggy looked at Nami with a threatening gaze. "That is my way of a welcome party... "
Nami stood over the Cannon, frozen. Unable to move a single inch, frightened by the sudden turn of events, but she suddenly was snapped out of her thoughts when Luffy said, "That's what happens when you face pirates with a half-assed resolve."
This angered Nami which caused her to lash over at Luffy, "WHAT RESOLVE?! RESOLVE TO HURT PEOPLE? RESOLVE TO DESTROY THINGS?! RESOLVE TO BE A PIRATE?! I DON'T WANT TO BECOME EVEN CLOSE TO YOU PIRATES SCUM IN THE FIRST PLA-"
"No, I'm talking about the resolve to risk your life, to risk your safety, to risk your future. That's what I meant." Luffy interjected. A confused expression showed on Nami's face.
Buggy and his crew wasn't going to give her enough time to figure out Luffy's words as one of them began to light it up in her stead, causing Nami to panic, hesitate, and feel helpless...
Just before the pirate lit up the Cannon's fuse, the pirate himself fell unconscious.
Nami smashed her staff towards the pirate's head with all the strength she could muster, making Luffy smirk as he muttered, "That's what I'm talking about!" While Ame who witnessed everything simply smiled, earning Nami his respect.
Buggy and his crew were shocked upon Nami's actions but quickly picked themselves up and began charging over to Nami upon Buggy's orders.
Before they could reach her, 2 men completely halted their advances.
"Come'on, surely you don't need all of these people just for one woman right?" Zoro mockingly said.
"Hey, It's not very good to hurt people you know?" Ame actually looked worried for Nami.
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{Chapter 8 - Fin}
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