The makeshift crew stood before Buggy's base of operations — an ostentatious building painted red and yellow like a deranged circus tent. The top was crowned with a laughing clown face, its wooden mouth creaking open and shut in the breeze.
"This place has no taste," Vihaan muttered.
"I like it," Luffy beamed.
"You would."
Nami pulled the treasure bag tighter around her shoulder. "Can we just get this over with? I have zero interest in dying in a circus."
"Then don't get caught," Zoro said bluntly.
Nami rolled her eyes, but her gaze softened slightly as Vihaan turned to her.
"We go in," he said calmly. "Buggy's fruit gives him splitting powers. Luffy and I will engage. Zoro, backup. Nami, you know what to do."
She tapped her satchel. "Steal everything that isn't nailed down."
"And if it is?"
"Pry it up."
Luffy punched his fist into his open palm. "Let's go."
Inside Buggy's Big Top…
A dozen pirates stood in disarray, having heard of the earlier skirmish. One raised an alarm.
"They're here!"
Buggy stormed out from behind a velvet curtain, his bulbous red nose twitching with fury.
"You brats again?!"
Luffy stepped forward, a crooked smile on his face. "I don't like people who shoot cannons at me."
Buggy sneered. "I don't like people who interrupt my shows!"
With a twist of his fingers, Buggy's body split apart. His arms floated menacingly through the air, blades in hand. His feet hovered. His head bobbed beside his chest, grinning.
"Chop-Chop Fruit," Vihaan muttered. "So that's how it works."
Buggy's torso lunged for Luffy, while his floating knives went for Zoro and Vihaan.
Vihaan ducked and somersaulted forward, grabbing a chain from the wall and swinging it at Buggy's arm. The steel whip coiled midair—but the arm detached and zipped away again.
"Can't cut him," Zoro growled, slicing at the flying limbs. "He splits too fast."
Luffy chuckled. "But he can't move what's locked up."
He reached into a broken chest and pulled out a padlock.
"Vihaan!" Luffy shouted. "Get the crates ready!"
Vihaan nodded. "On it."
From the storage side of the tent, Vihaan began dragging large chests toward the center, while Luffy and Zoro kept Buggy distracted. Nami, meanwhile, slinked along the shadows near the perimeter, already filling her bag with pilfered coin pouches and rings.
"Hands off the gold, lady!" a pirate yelled.
Nami kicked the side of a post, toppling a stack of barrels into him. "Hands off my score!"
Buggy, midair, floated his limbs in all directions to slash at the crew. "You think you can beat the Great Buggy the Clown?!"
Luffy leapt into the air. "I'm not thinking—I'm doing!"
"Gomu Gomu no—Bazooka!"
With a thunderous crack, he sent Buggy's torso flying into a trunk.
Vihaan dashed forward and slammed it shut.
"Locked!"
Zoro sliced off a floating hand, which Vihaan caught midair and tossed into another chest.
One by one, Buggy's parts were imprisoned, locked away in separate crates and barrels.
Buggy's head floated desperately. "No! You can't—!"
Luffy grinned. "Say hi to your arm in another box!"
Wham! His head was batted into a smaller chest, and Vihaan clicked the final lock shut.
All that remained were the muffled sounds of curses from within the chests.
The room fell silent.
Zoro sheathed his swords. "Well, that was bizarre."
Nami peered at the locked boxes. "And effective."
Luffy leaned back against the stage with a loud yawn. "Told you locking him up would work."
Vihaan dusted his hands. "Let's hope he doesn't know how to pick locks."
Nami was already halfway to the treasure vault. "Then we'd better be fast."
A Few Moments Later...
The crew gathered outside the tent. Smoke still wafted from the town, but the cannon fire had ceased. The people of Orange Town peeked from behind boarded windows.
Vihaan waved to a nervous fruit seller. "Your clown problem is solved. You're welcome."
Luffy looked up at the town's flagpole. "We should raise our own flag here."
Vihaan arched an eyebrow. "You want to rule Orange Town now?"
"Nah," Luffy shrugged. "Just wanted to see how high I can go."
"Sometimes I forget you have a brain."
"Thanks!"
Nami approached, satchel bulging. "We're done here. Let's go before those chest parts start wiggling out."
Vihaan nodded. "Back to the boat."
Later that evening, on the ship...
The small vessel floated quietly on the open sea. Zoro dozed near the mast. Nami sat cross-legged on deck, counting coins. Luffy stared at the stars, humming a tune.
Vihaan wandered below deck.
The storage area was small—barrels, spare ropes, and a few crates from earlier. He ran a hand across a dusty wall, then paused.
There, tucked behind a larger container, was a small wooden chest.
Unlike the others, this one wasn't old or broken. It was well-maintained, cleanly polished.
And on the lid, burned into the wood in a careful hand:
"From Captain."
Vihaan blinked.
Slowly, he knelt before it.
He didn't touch it yet. Just stared.
"Captain…?" he whispered.
This wasn't from Luffy. He would never write something like this.
This was from someone else.
Someone who had known them both.
A chill passed through him—not fear, but something heavier.
A memory, just out of reach.
The rocking of the ship faded from his senses.
Just him, and the chest.
And the past it promised to unlock.