[A/N]
This story is a fan-fiction of the My Hero Academia universe, and all rights to the world and its characters belong to Kōhei Horikoshi.
The main character, The legendary Captain Buggy, is inspired by One Piece, and all rights belong to Eiichiro Oda.
Chapter 1: The Clown, The Iron Beasts, and The Green Ghost
The first thing Captain Buggy noticed was the silence.
It wasn't the quiet of a calm sea, where the water laps gently against the hull. It was a heavy, artificial silence, suffocated by the hum of something invisible.
Then came the smell. It didn't smell like salt, tar, or the comforting dampness of the Big Top's lower deck. It smelled of burnt rubber, stale oil, and something sharp and metallic that stung the inside of his oversized red nose.
Buggy's eyes snapped open.
"Cabaji!" he barked, sitting up violently. "If you're cooking that sludge again, I'll feed you to the—"
His voice died in his throat.
He wasn't in his cabin. He was sitting on hard, cold pavement in a narrow alleyway. The walls towering over him weren't made of wood; they were constructed from seamless, grey stone that felt unnaturally smooth to the touch. Above, the sky was a narrow strip of blue, framed by metal pipes that hissed with white steam.
"What in the Seven Seas..." Buggy whispered, scrambling to his feet. He dusted off his orange coat, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. "Mohji? Richie? Where is my ship?!"
He ran toward the light at the end of the alley, his boots clacking loudly on the stone. He burst out onto the main street and immediately threw himself back against the wall, hyperventilating.
The world had gone mad.
Gigantic iron beetles were roaring down the street. They had no legs, no horses pulling them, yet they moved with terrifying speed, their eyes glowing yellow and red. They hummed with a low, predatory growl.
Beasts! Buggy thought, sweat beading under his blue hair. Iron beasts that eat people! Is this the Calm Belt? Are these Sea Kings that walk on land?!
He looked up, and his knees nearly gave out. The buildings didn't just scrape the sky; they pierced it. They were cliffs of glass, reflecting the sun so brightly it hurt to look. And on the side of one of these glass cliffs, a sorcery was taking place.
A picture—no, a moving painting the size of a galleon's mainsail—was flickering on the wall. A giant woman in a purple suit was waving. The picture moved smoothly, devoid of any projector snail or dial.
"Mt. Lady is on the scene!" the giant woman's voice boomed from nowhere and everywhere at once.
"A Giantess..." Buggy whimpered, clutching his daggers. "Trapped inside a glass mirror... What kind of dark voodoo is this? Did I die? Is this the afterlife for pirates?"
He needed to find the ocean. If he could find the ocean, he could find a way out.
He stepped onto the sidewalk, his legs shaking but his chin held high. He was Captain Buggy. He had terrorized the East Blue. He wouldn't be cowed by glass cliffs and iron beetles.
"Hey! You! Green bean!" Buggy shouted, pointing a gloved finger at a scrawny teenager walking past.
The boy, Izuku Midoriya, froze. He hugged his yellow backpack to his chest, his eyes widening as he took in Buggy's appearance.
"Tell me where the harbor is!" Buggy demanded, trying to mask his fear with volume. "And tell me why you people aren't running from those roaring metal monsters on the road!"
Izuku blinked. He looked from Buggy to the passing cars, then back to Buggy. His eyes began to sparkle.
"A villain debut?" Izuku muttered, his voice dropping into a rapid-fire mumble that sounded like a curse to Buggy's ears. "Retro-clown aesthetic... highly stylized... creates a sense of unease through comedic juxtaposition... Is he a method actor? The confusion about cars suggests a 'time traveler' or 'isekai' persona, heavily committed to the bit..."
"Stop casting spells on me!" Buggy yelled, stepping back. "Speak clearly, landlubber! I am the Great Captain Buggy! I ate the Bara Bara Fruit! I'm a Splitting Human!"
"Bara Bara..." Izuku scribbled furiously in a notebook that appeared out of thin air. "Separation type? Emitter class? Is the activation somatic or mental?"
"I said stop it!"
WEE-WOOO! WEE-WOOO!
A deafening shriek cut through the air. Buggy covered his ears as a black-and-white iron beast screeched to a halt in front of them. Red lights flashed on its roof like the eyes of a angry sea monster.
Two men in uniforms stepped out. Marines? No, their uniforms were wrong. Too blue. Too clean.
"Sir," one officer said, hand hovering near his belt. "We've had reports of a disturbance. And... is that a sharp weapon?"
Buggy stared at the officer, then at the screeching beast behind him. They commanded the beasts? Were they beast-tamers?
"You..." Buggy's grin twitched, a mix of terror and bravado. "You think you can intimidate me with your loud beetles and blue coats? I'm worth 15 million berries!"
"15 million...?" The officer frowned. "Is that yen? Listen, put the knives down."
"I'll show you!" Buggy shrieked. He didn't want to fight, he wanted to run, but his pride wouldn't let him flee without a show. "Bara Bara... CANNON!"
SNAP.
The sensation was instantaneous. Buggy felt his hand detach from his wrist, a weightless freedom that always felt like shedding a heavy glove. His gloved fist rocketed through the air, defying gravity, spinning with centrifugal force.
It wasn't aimed at the officers. It was aimed at the source of the noise.
CLANG!
His fist smashed into the red flashing lights on top of the car, shattering the glass and silencing the wailing siren instantly. The fist looped back, fingers wiggling tauntingly in the air, before snapping back onto Buggy's wrist with a wet, fleshy click.
Silence descended on the street.
The officers stared at the broken siren.
Izuku dropped his pen.
The pedestrians stopped walking.
"He... he has a ranged separation Quirk!" Izuku whispered, his voice trembling with excitement. "Telekinetic control over detached limbs without visible support structures! That's rare!"
Buggy panted, waiting for the cannon fire. Waiting for the execution order.
But then, he saw the crowd. They weren't running. They were holding up small, flat, black mirrors (Smartphones). They were pointing them at him.
"Did you see that?"
"He took out the siren!"
"Is he a new vigilante? That looked awesome!"
Buggy blinked. The fear in his chest began to recede, replaced by a familiar warmth. Admiration. They were watching him. They were filming him with their black mirrors.
They don't know who I am, Buggy realized. They think I'm... entertainment.
A wide, crooked grin split his face. The terror of the iron beasts and glass cliffs faded, replaced by the instinct of a showman.
"That was merely a warning!" Buggy bellowed, throwing his arms wide, his cape fluttering in the wind of the passing cars. "I am Captain Buggy! And I have come to claim all the treasures of this bizarre metal island! Feast your eyes on me, for I am the flashiest man alive!"
As the officers called for backup—shouting into radios that Buggy assumed were miniature snails—he turned on his heel.
"Now, if you'll excuse me!" Buggy laughed, a high-pitched, grating sound. "I have a city to conquer!"
He bolted toward the alleyway, aiming to lose them in the shadows, his mind racing with one thought: I need to find a ship. Even if I have to steal one of those iron beetles to do it.