Inside the ruined big top, Cabaji circled Zoro on his unicycle, casually juggling two glinting sabers. He smirked down at the swordsman. "I know that ugly scowl," Cabaji sneered, the rubber tire humming against the wooden floorboards. "You're the bounty hunter Captain Buggy hired months ago, is that right? The one that dispatches one of Arlong's goons"
Zoro spat blood onto the dirt, unstrapping two of his katanas. "Who the hell is Arlong, and who the hell are you?"
"Heh, You'll remember this!" Cabaji slammed his weight forward. The unicycle shot up the curved canvas wall, riding vertically against gravity. Reaching into his coat, Cabaji hurled a handful of spinning tops. Steel blades protruded from their rims, buzzing like hornets as they sliced through the air. Zoro parried three with a sweeping strike, but the fourth grazed his shoulder, cutting deep and spraying blood across his gi.
Cabaji struck again, but Zoro parried every blow, deflecting a sharp thrust with the pommel of Wado Ichimonji. Dashing forward, Zoro sliced through a wooden support pole and the tent canvas. As the massive timber crashed down, their clashing blades chopped the falling wood into splinters, raining debris around them like shrapnel. Parrying the blade away, Cabaji quickly reset his stance. The two then clash into the falling wooden pole, as Zoro swings his katana at the tire, but Cabaji dodges.
Zoro smoked; he positioned himself and began to run towards him. "Three Swords Style: Drill Blade!" he shouted as he pointed his sword into a drill form and spun his body with incredible speed. Cabaji blocked, attacked, and launched the two of them outside, landing in the middle of a rollercoaster track. The two traded blows atop the elevated rails, while far below them, marauding pirates continued to pillage the village. From across the square, Zoro caught sight of Luffy and Buggy clashing through the carnival stalls. Cabaji didn't miss the lapse in focus. Leaping off his unicycle, the acrobat delivered a flying dropkick squarely into Zoro's chest.
The impact sent Zoro crashing through the roof of a nearby house connected to the rail line. Re-mounting his wheel, Cabaji pulled three translucent, orange-sized glass spheres from his coat and hurled them through the broken roof. A fiery detonation billowed into the sky, blowing the building's top floor to splinters.
"Pain in the ass..." Cabaji muttered, turning on his heel. As the acrobat rolled back along the elevated track toward his unicycle, a cold length of steel burst straight through his left forearm from behind. He gasped, his eyes widening in horror at the blood-slicked blade protruding from his own flesh. Behind him stood Zoro, his gaze icy and unblinking as he slowly twisted the hilt of his katana, widening the wound. Smoke is still coming from his body, like he was getting roasted.
Screaming in agony, Cabaji forcefully ripped his arm off the blade, spraying the track with crimson, before kicking Zoro backward. Gritting his teeth, he unwrapped his scarf and bound the gushing wound tightly.
"You'll pay for this, Pirate Hunter!" Cabaji charged, his unicycle wheel screeching against the iron rails. He swung his cutlasses in a feral, frantic barrage. Zoro parried each strike, forced back by the sheer, rabid desperation in Cabaji's every move. Cabaji jumped into the seat of his unicycle and swung his two cutlasses, almost cutting atop Zoro's head, but he quickly dodged it and landed a stab throughCabaji'ss cheek. The clash was halted by a deafening SCREECH that echoed down the line—a runaway rollercoaster cart hurtling toward them.
Both men leaped into the air. Cabaji lunged at Zoro mid-flight, smashing his unicycle down and knocking Zoro onto the seat of the speeding cart. Zoro tumbled backward, the rushing wind pulling at his clothes as he dug his heels in to find his balance. As the track crested a high incline, Zoro stood tall, resting one boot on the cart's frame—only to see Cabaji waiting at the apex, holding three more glass orbs.
"INFERNO TERNARIO!" Cabaji hurled the spheres. The triple explosion shattered the track's support beams, sending the entire elevated rail line collapsing into the dirt below in a tangle of twisted rebars and shattered timber. Zoro crashed heavily into the wreckage, covered in soot, with his trousers singed from the blast. He pushed himself up with a cough. Shit... almost died there.
Cabaji landed gracefully nearby, sliding through a tent's roof as he jumped into the ground. A smug grin spread across his face. "Still alive?! They don't call you the 'Messengeroff Death' for nothing" He flicked his cutlass, spraying blood onto the dirt. "Too bad... I am the only swordsman in the East Blue worthy of taking your head!"
Zoro used the Wado Ichimonji like a cane, forcing himself to his feet. "You're a disgrace," Zoro spat, his voice dropping to a gravelly rasp. "Obeying a clown and hiding behind cheap parlour tricks doesn't make you a swordsman. You're just a pathetic child playing with knives."
Cabaji's brow twitched, his knuckles turning white around his hilts. "TORPEDO MAGNIFICENT!"
Cabaji spun into a whirling dervish, his twin cutlasses forming a lethal, shimmering ring of steel. The gale-force draft kicked up dust and lifted debris from the dirt. He charged forward like a cyclone. Zoro raised a katana to block, but the sheer rotational force shattered his guard. The spinning blades sliced deep into Zoro's forearm, knocking the sword from his hand to clatter in the dust, before a brutal cross-cut tore across his chest, spraying mist of blood over the street.
Halting his spin, Cabaji swatted the fallen blade with the flat of his saber, pinning it high into an overhead wooden beam. Before Zoro could recover, Cabaji leaped into the air, clutching his unicycle by the frame, and slammed the spinning rubber tire square into Zoro's chest. The friction and raw momentum launched Zoro backward, slamming him hard against the concrete beam of a building.
"Hahaha! How's that? Cabaji cackled as he fell onto his back on his unicycle effortlessly. He then veered into the shadow of one of the stalls full of liquor as he snatched a bottle of high-proof liquor off the abandoned table, tore the cork with his teeth, and guzzled half before spraying the rest over his saber. Dragging the blade across the stone floor like a match, sparks ignited the alcohol, engulfing the steel in roaring flames.
"Torch Bearer!" Cabaji pedaled back into the place, thrusting the flaming sword straight at Zoro's throat. Zoro didn't step back. Crossing his remaining two blades over his shoulder, he lunged forward. Cabaji then skittered back and then blew another breath of alcohol onto his scorching blade. Then swung towards Zoro, as burning liquid launched towards the swordsman. "Infernal Breath!"
Crossing his remaining two blades over his shoulder, he lunged forward, embracing the flame like it was just a wind. "Santouryou: Grass cutter!" He then knelt to the ground and swung his sword towards Cabaji's wheel, but Cabaji jumped into the air. He then brought his burning sword towards his ballooned mouth full of alcohol.
"HMMM MMH MM! (Dragon's Breath!) Cabaji sprayed the liquor through the open flame, unleashing a torrent of fire. Zoro rolled hard across the dirt, but the heat scorched his shirt. He quickly smothered the embers on his sleeve and stood motionless.
"Accepting your defeat?" Cabaji sneered, chuckling. Reaching to his arm, Zoro untied his dark green bandana and bound it tightly around his forehead. His eyes hardened into icy slate. He put his white sword to his mouth.
"You talk too much," Zoro muttered around his mouth-sword. He vanished into a blur of motion. Cabaji spewed a wall of fire, following it with a volley of explosive glass spheres. Zoro pivoted mid-air, deflecting the cluster away, but one orb detonated directly against his chest, engulfing him in a roaring blaze. Zoro didn't even flinch. Covered in fire, he drove straight through the flames like an unstoppable demon, his blazing katanas trailing twin streaks of light.
"SANTOURYU: FLAMING DEMON CUTTER!" A brutal X-shaped arc of blood erupted across Cabaji's torso as the fiery slash consumed him. The sheer kinetic shockwave launched the acrobat backward, sending his unconscious, smoke-shrouded body crashing through the second-floor scaffolding of the big top. Fire quickly ignited the tent's linen walls, sending thick black plumes drifting into the night sky. Zoro burst through the smoke, calmly sheathing his three blades with a heavy click. He slapped out the embers burning on his shoulder, never once looking back.
Minutes earlier, as the refugees fled through the cobblestone streets, a squad of pirates dropped from the rooftops directly into the crowd. Mayor Boodle lunged forward without hesitation, driving a rusted blade deep into a pirate's chest. "TO THE DOCKS!" Boodle screamed over the chaos as his militia clashed with the surrounding thugs.
Suddenly, a massive, unnatural shadow blotted out the noon sun above. The crowd looked up in horror as the upper half of a two-story brick house came hurtling through the sky. The structure smashed into the street directly in front of them with a cataclysmic CRASH that rattled the foundations of the entire district. Jagged stone exploded outward like shotgun fire, tearing through pirates and militia alike before a suffocating wall of pulverized dust engulfed the alley.
A heavy silence fell over the ruin—only to be shattered by a guttural roar that vibrated through the floorboards of the town. Within the thick, swirling fog, an unnatural silhouette began to rise. The looming shadow grew taller, wider, stretching until it towered over the shattered rooftops. Slowly, the nightmare stepped through the cloud of ash. It was a monstrous, thirteen-foot beast. Frighteningly pale, albino skin peeked through patches of coarse, lavender-tinted fur. Its eyes burned with a bloodthirsty, demonic red that pierced through the hazy gloom, and as its heavy jaw unhinged, it exposed rows of jagged, yellowed fangs.
The beast lunged into the pirates nearby, tearing through them like tissue paper. The mayor, seeing the carnage, desperately tried to rally the civilians toward the harbor, but a sharp crackle echoed through the air. Blocking the narrow alleyway stood Mohji, grinning savagely as he uncoiled a heavy whip made of braided steel cables. His white fur is covered with grime and blood as a wound comes to his arm. "And where do you think you vermin are going?"
One of the militia members charged Mohji with a spear, but the beast tamer lashed out with his heavy whip, the steel cables cracking against the man's ribs and smashing him headfirst into the brick wall of a nearby house. Richie's violet-crested mane bristled as he let out another guttural roar, twin fangs glistening with drool against the stone.
"Ah, the sweet sound of terrified meat!" Mohji's voice echoed as he whipped several pirates who tried to attack him. Eat them up, boy!"
As the lion tears through the crowd of pirates, something in the distance caught Mohji's attention. There, he saw the tent's roof was being consumed by fire, as the choking black smoke ascended into the sky.
"C-Captain Buggy...!" Mohji gasped, the color draining from his face as he stared in paralyzed horror. Taking advantage of the beast tamer's stunned hesitation, the crowd shrieked and scrambled backward in terror. Nami, hiding from the small crack of several houses, didn't run. Stepping out from the shadow, she slammed the butt of her wooden staff against the cobblestones with a sharp CRACK.
The sudden noise snapped Mohji straight out of his daze. His head whipped back toward the alleyway, his eyes narrowing as he registered her face through the smoke.
"You... the thief girl!" Mohji snarled, his shock instantly morphing into raw venom. He pointed a shaking finger straight at her. "I see you breaking through Captain Buggy's safe! I will make you pay!"
"Thief?" Mayor Boodle jolted, stepping up beside Nami with a rusty iron pipe in hand, flanked by townspeople clutching makeshift clubs and pitchforks. "What is he talking about, girl?" Nami shot the mayor a quick, sharp glance over her shoulder, her voice dropping into a brisk, calm command. "Sorry, Mayor, but I lied to 'ya. I'm not running, and you're definitely not fighting him head-on." She flashed a subtle nod toward the harbor lanes behind them. "Just... get the civilians away from here. Now."
Before the mayor could argue, the giant lion pounced with bodies still dangling from its mouth. Nami didn't try to block the blow. She ducked beneath the beast's massive claws and sprinted down a side street lined with crumbling concrete houses. Mohji then runs and jumps as he lands atop Richi. The two give chase, his heavy paws shattering the stone like glass.
Mohji's eyes scanned the street and locked onto a small, battered building standing among the rubble—the town pet shop. A few armed militia members were rushing out of its doors, carrying crates of weapons.
"Wait... that's where you vermin have been hiding your armory!" Mohji sneered, yanking Richie's reins to veer off course. The beast came charging, the ground rumbling under its weight. The militia stopped and stared in horror as the white nightmare, fangs gleaming like cutlasses, bore down on them. They decided to put a cannon they were hiding and aimed it at Richie.
"IGNORANTS! DO YOU THINK A NORMAL CANON COULD KILL MY BEAST?! KILL THEM!" Richie charges, his teeth gashing, but one of the militia broke one of the crates. He picked a buggy ball as it slid through the cannon. The sparks then light up, and with a loud thud, the ball flies straight to Richie's face. The explosion rocked the small street, destroying several houses like Legos, as everyone got knocked down by the blast, including Nami. As the dust settled, the militia celebrated, dancing. Nami taught it too. But she felt something—vibrations. In the corner, several chunks of concrete launched into the air as the albino beast rose up from the rubble.
The beast has a large wound on its face, but that's it. The militia froze in terror as, in a blinding flash, the beast swung its paws and dozens of the militia gwerelaunched into the air. Some are slashed in half; some have wounds far worse than dying. The mayor finally caught up with what has been happening. "GET OUT OF THERE!" Boodle screamed, sprinting toward the creature and hurling his spear.
"MAYOR, DON'T!" Nami screams, but it is too late. The tip bit into the beast's flank, but it didn't even slow down. The remaining militia at the shop fired their rifles, but the lead balls flattened against the lion's thick hide. A second later, Richie's gaping maw crashed directly into the storefront. The support beams splintered instantly, collapsing the roof in a cloud of dust and pulverized wood. Bags of grain tore open, spilling across the dirt. Nami sprinted back into the center of the street, snatching a glass bottle filled with lamp oil from a fallen defender.
"GIVE ME A LIGHT!" she screamed, the sheer stress etched deep across her face.
One of the men frantically flicked his lighter, the yellow flame catching the booze-soaked rag. As she pulled her arm back to throw, the mayor's earlier words echoed through her mind.
The shop belongs to the dog's late master... It's the only thing the little guy has left in this world.
Nami's hands trembled, the glass bottle suddenly feeling heavier than lead. Her breath hitched in her throat, her knuckles turning white around the neck of the bottle as her eyes flicked toward the small, white dog sitting nearby. She swallowed hard, her heart pounding against her ribs as she looked from the dog to the giant shadow pacing behind the splintered wood. Burning the place down meant destroying the militia's stockpile and wiping out the dog's only home, but before the beast could scavenge the heavy weapons inside.
"Do it, girl! Burn it down!" a militia member shouted, gesturing frantically at the building. Within the thick cloud of dust and pulverized timber, the massive albino beast grunted. The silhouette began to rise, its heavy paws digging into the floorboards as it prepared to burst through the wreckage. Nami bit her lip, blood drawing at the edge of her teeth. She closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, exhaled sharply, and pitched the Molotov with all her strength directly at the rising shape.
The bottle shattered against the wooden framing just as the monster stood, instantly engulfing the front of the building—and the beast—in a roaring wall of orange flame and thick smoke. Sitting right amidst the falling embers was Chouchou. The little white dog stared blankly into the burning doorway. In his mind, the roar of the fire bled into a quiet, distant memory—the warm, gentle laugh of his late master holding up a bowl of food in that very doorway, telling him to guard the shop until he returned. He remembered waiting by the counter through cold rains, watching his master's fading footprints, clinging to the one place in the world that still felt like home.
A small, heart-wrenching whimper escaped Chouchou's chest as he turned his head, looking up at Nami. Nami froze. Her hands began to tremble as the realization washed over her. She slowly walked toward the little dog, dropping her staff to the dirt. She knelt beside him, reaching out with a gentle, hesitant hand to rest against his head.
"I... I'm so sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking as she softly patted his fur.
Without warning, the burning building erupted outward in a shower of splintered timber and flying stone. The shockwave slammed into the street, throwing everyone to the ground. As the smoke cleared, the massive albino beast rose from the wreckage, thrashing wildly as roaring flames enveloped its entire body. With a savage sweep of its massive, burning claws, it crushed a defender who had raised a rifle, bowling him over and scattering the remaining militia in absolute horror. Everyone froze in terror—everyone except Chouchou.
A low, vibrating growl rumbled from the tiny dog's chest, his eyes bloodshot with rage. Abandoning every instinct of self-preservation, Chouchou sprinted forward and clamped his jaws tightly onto the thrashing monster's flaming ankle. The beast roared in annoyance, violently kicking its heavy hind leg. The sheer force hurled Chouchou through the air, slamming him hard into a nearby stone wall. The little dog hit the cobblestones with a sickening thud.
"Chouchou, NO!" Nami cried out, sprinting to where the dog had landed and gently scooping his battered body into her arms. He lay there wheezing, blood trickling from his snout as his ribs throbbed from the impact. Yet, saved only by the beast's careless kick, Chouchou miraculously forced his front paws underneath him, staggering back up with a faint growl. Mayor Boodle rushed up beside her, grabbing her shoulder to pull her back. "I SAID GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled over the crackle of the fire. "THIS TOWN IS A BATTLEFIELD!"
Nami gripped the mayor's hand, stopping him in his tracks. She looked him dead in the eye, her expression locked in iron resolve. "I can do this... Trust me, Mayor."
She carefully transferred the trembling dog into Boodle's arms, turned on her heel, and ran straight back toward the beast. The mayor took one last, lingering glance at her back before turning to retreat toward the harbor. Nami swallowed his fear as she clenched her staff.
"OVER HERE, YOU OVERGROWN RUG!" Nami shouted, standing tall right in the middle of the open street. The Flaming beast roared and charged. Nami turned on her heel and bolted into a narrow side alleyway. Behind her, the monster paid no mind to the tight squeeze as it smashed straight through the outer stone walls like cardboard. Mohji, panicked by the collapsing structures, rained desperate punches on his beast's head, trying to pull it back.
Up ahead, Nami spotted two battle-damaged stone houses leaning precariously against each other over the narrow path. A brilliant spark struck her mind. She picked up her speed, diving into a low slide straight over the loose rubble littering the alley floor. Just as she expected, the heavy lion came barreling right behind her, its massive weight plowing into the debris and triggering a catastrophic chain reaction. The supporting beams gave way, and the leaning stone structures groaned, snapping in half.
The upper floors came crashing down in a deafening landslide of masonry, concrete, and timber. The sheer force of the collapsing debris threw Nami forward, knocking her off her feet. She tumbled violently onto the cobblestones as a thick cloud of choking gray dust enveloped the entire alley. Coughing and bruised, Nami forced herself to her feet and limped out toward the wide coastal road leading to the harbor. In the distance, the two evacuation ships were already unfurling their sails, pulling safely away from the shore. A faint, tired smile touched her lips. "Goodbye, Chouchou..." she whispered.
Before she could even take another breath, the mountain of rubble exploded behind her. Rising from the dust was the giant beast, battered, bleeding, along with its scorched skin. Its eyes locked directly onto Nami, its lips twitching back to reveal a maw of razor-sharp teeth.
"You gotta be kidding me…" Nami saw a pile of powdered lime from the ruined mortar on the ground beside her. She scooped a massive double handful into her palms as she sprinted toward the pier, her mind formulating a plan on the fly.
"C'mon, c'mon..." she muttered under her breath, feeling the heavy thud of paws shaking the ground right behind her heels. Ahead lay the edge of the elevated harbor pier, dropping off steeply into the deep ocean channel. As she approached the harbor, chaos reigned—pirates were locked in bloody skirmishes along the docks. Evacuation ships were pushing off into the bay as the deafening roar of cannon fire echoed across the water, sending heavy iron balls crashing through wooden hulls and showering the waves with splintered timber. In the distance, she spotted the merchant vessel Mayor Boodle had boarded, its crew actively trading fire with an attacking pirate ship and slowly gaining the upper hand.
Nami's heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird. At the absolute last second, she planted her boots and dived sharply to the side. As her body hit the wooden planks, she flung the cloud of powdered lime straight into the beast's face, thoroughly coating its eyes and nostrils. Blinded, suffocating, and unable to see the sudden drop-off, the lion's immense momentum carried it straight off the ledge. For a fleeting second, the massive beast sailed through the air, roaring in mid-flight—before plunging straight into the churning harbor channel below.
The sheer weight of the beast, combined with its heavy leather saddle, dragged it down like an anchor. Nami slowly pushed herself up onto the pier, wincing as she dusted off her scraped knees. She leaned over the edge, watching the stream of frantic bubbles breaking the surface until the water went completely still. A sharp, triumphant smirk cut across her dust-covered face.
"Goddamn beast," she muttered, turning around and limping back toward the center of town as the war in the harbor continues to go on.