The air in the street was thick with tension. On one side stood a lone, elderly man, armed with nothing but a broken spear and an unbreakable will. On the other, a full crew of cutthroat pirates, backed by a massive cannon, all laughing at the absurdity of the scene.
"Look at him!" one of the pirates jeered. "The old man thinks he can take on Captain Buggy himself!"
Mayor Boodle stood his ground, his knuckles white around the shaft of his spear. "This town is my treasure!" he shouted, his voice ringing with a conviction that momentarily silenced the mockery. "And I will not let scum like you defile it!"
A man on a unicycle, dressed in a checkered scarf, gracefully balanced himself at the front of the crew. It was Cabaji the Acrobat, Buggy's chief of staff. He drew a long, slender sword.
"Captain," Cabaji said with a theatrical bow, not taking his eyes off Boodle. "A mere insect like this is not worthy of your attention. Allow me to provide the entertainment and put this old fool out of his misery."
He prepared to leap from his unicycle, but a single, gloved hand from Buggy stopped him.
"Stand down, Cabaji," Buggy said, a wide, cruel grin spreading across his painted face. "The mayor challenged me. It would be rude not to accept."
He stepped forward, his strange, oversized shoes clomping on the cobblestones. He chuckled, a low, menacing sound. "Treasure, you say? An old man's sentimentality. You think this pile of dirt and wood is treasure?" He gestured around at the town. "Treasure, you senile fool, is gold that glitters! It's jewels that sparkle! It's wealth that gives you power! The only treasure here is the one I'm going to take from your cold, dead hands!"
Before Boodle could even react, Buggy acted.
"And let me show you how little I care for your 'treasure'!"
Buggy's right hand, clenched into a fist, suddenly detached from his wrist. It shot through the air with an unnatural hum, a living projectile aimed straight at the mayor.
Bara Bara Pistol!
Boodle tried to raise his spear, but the flying hand was too fast. It slammed into his chest and, in the same motion, clamped around his throat, lifting him clean off his feet.
"Gah—!"
The mayor choked, his legs kicking uselessly in the air. He clawed at the disembodied hand, his fingers scraping against the white glove, but its grip was like iron. His face began to turn a deathly shade of purple, his lungs burning for air.
Buggy stood thirty feet away, his arm ending in a stump at the wrist, still grinning as he controlled his detached limb. "Hahaha! See? This is power! After I'm done with this pathetic town, I'm taking my map and heading straight for the Grand Line! I'll steal all the treasures from all the famous pirates! I will be the one who obtains everything!"
The mayor's struggles amused him. He was a cat playing with a mouse, savoring the moment.
But the cat hadn't noticed the arrival of a much bigger dog.
WHOOSH!
A stretched-out arm shot from a side alley, moving so fast it was just a blur. It slammed into Buggy's floating hand with a loud THWACK, knocking it off the mayor's throat.
Boodle collapsed to the ground, gasping, coughing, and desperately sucking in air.
Luffy, Zoro, and Nami had arrived.
"Hey!" Luffy yelled, his arm snapping back to his shoulder. "Picking on an old man? That's not flashy at all!"
Buggy's grin turned into a scowl as his hand flew back and reattached to his arm. "Straw Hat... So you finally show your face."
Nami immediately went into business mode. "Okay, you two keep the clown and his circus busy!" she said, already scanning the area. "I'm going for the map and any treasure I can find!"
The mayor, however, pushed himself up, leaning on his spear. "I... I didn't need your help, pirate!" he coughed, his pride wounded. "This was my fight! I will protect my own treasure!"
He tried to stand between Luffy and Buggy, ready to continue his hopeless battle.
Luffy looked at the stubborn old man, then at Nami, who just shrugged with a "what-can-you-do" expression.
Luffy's face became serious. He walked over to Boodle.
"You did great, old man. Now stay out of the way."
POW!
He delivered a swift, clean punch to the mayor's jaw. Boodle's eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"LUFFY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Nami shrieked, horrified.
"He'd just get hurt," Luffy said simply, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. He gently moved the mayor's sleeping form to the side of the road. "He's safer this way. His treasure is safe with me."
He then turned his full attention back to Buggy, a wide, challenging grin on his face.
"Alright, let's get this over with so we can get a navigator and some meat!"
He pointed directly at Buggy.
"Hey, Big Nose!"
The world seemed to stop.
A cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of every single Buggy pirate. Cabaji froze mid-pose on his unicycle. Even Zoro, who was used to his captain's insanity, let out a low groan. "That idiot..."
Nami's face went completely white with terror. "He... he actually said it..."
Buggy stood motionless. His painted smile was gone. His face was twitching. A single vein pulsed violently on his temple.
He spoke, his voice dangerously quiet.
"What... did... you... just... call... my... nose?"
"I called it big," Luffy replied cheerfully. "'Cause it is."
"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Buggy exploded in a fit of pure, theatrical rage. "THAT'S IT! FORGET THE EXECUTION! THAT'S TOO QUICK! I'M GOING TO WIPE YOU OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH! LOAD THE SPECIAL BUGGY BALL! NOW! I WANT TO SEE HIM VAPORIZED!"
His crew scrambled in a panic, wheeling the massive cannon forward and loading one of the special, skull-painted cannonballs.
"This is bad! This is really bad!" Nami screamed, grabbing Zoro's arm and dragging him behind the corner of a building. "That thing can destroy a whole street!"
The fuse was lit. It sizzled angrily, a glowing snake racing towards the cannon's breach.
Luffy didn't move. He just stood there in the middle of the street, facing down the cannon.
"He's just standing there! Is he crazy?!" Nami yelled from cover.
"He's an idiot," Zoro corrected her, "but he's not suicidal. He must have a plan."
The cannoneer shouted, "FIRING!"
BOOM!
The cannon roared, belching fire and smoke. The Buggy Ball shot out, a screaming harbinger of destruction, hurtling directly at Luffy.
But Luffy didn't try to dodge. Instead, he took a deep breath. A very, very deep breath.
His small, rubbery body began to inflate. It grew larger and larger, his shorts and vest stretching to their limits, until he was the size of a giant beach ball, a perfect, round shield.
"Gomu Gomu no Fusen!"
The Buggy Ball slammed into Luffy's inflated stomach with incredible force.
THWUMP!
Instead of exploding, the cannonball sank deep into his rubbery flesh, stretching it backwards. For a moment, it looked like he would burst.
"It... it didn't explode!" one of Buggy's men stammered.
"Now!" Luffy yelled, his voice distorted. "My turn!"
With a massive WHOOSH of expelled air, his body snapped back to its normal size. The stored kinetic energy acted like a giant slingshot, launching the Buggy Ball right back where it came from with even greater speed.
Buggy and his crew could only watch in absolute horror as their own ultimate weapon flew back at them.
"TAKE COVER!"
The Buggy Ball slammed into the building they were using as a base and exploded. A massive fireball erupted, engulfing the pirates and shattering the street in a shower of fire and debris.