Nami scrambled out from behind the rubble, her ears still ringing from the explosion. She stared at the scene of devastation where Buggy's base of operations used to be, then looked at Luffy, who was standing amidst the smoke, completely unharmed. Her mind was reeling, struggling to process the impossible events she had just witnessed.
"What… what are you?" she asked, her voice a mix of awe and fear. "No normal person can survive a cannonball. How did you inflate yourself like that?"
Luffy just grinned, patting his now-flat stomach. "Oh, that? That was just Gomu Gomu no Fusen."
"That's not an explanation!" Nami shrieked in frustration. This boy was an enigma wrapped in an idiotic, rubbery package.
From the heart of the wreckage, two figures emerged, coughing and covered in dust. It was Buggy and his chief of staff, Cabaji. They had survived by callously using several of their own crewmates as human shields against the blast.
"Straw Hat…" Buggy growled, his face contorted with a rage so pure it was almost comical. "This is the greatest humiliation my crew has ever suffered under my jolly roger!"
Just then, a groan came from a nearby pile of debris. Mohji the Beast Tamer regained consciousness, his head spinning. He saw Cabaji holding the limp form of his beloved lion, Richie.
"Cabaji! What happened to Richie?!" Mohji cried out, scrambling over.
Cabaji, ever the preening acrobat, simply scoffed and dropped the lion to the ground. "I used him as a shield, of course. I couldn't risk getting my wonderful clothes dirty."
"You WHAT?!" Mohji was about to pounce on his crewmate, but as he knelt to check on Richie, he saw Luffy standing there. All thoughts of internal squabbles vanished, replaced by sheer terror.
He pointed a trembling finger at Luffy. "Captain Buggy! Be careful! That man… he's not normal!" Mohji shouted, finally able to give his warning. "He ate a Devil Fruit, just like you! His body… it's made of rubber!"
Nami gasped, her eyes widening as she stared at Luffy. Rubber? Was that even possible?
Luffy, hearing his power being discussed, decided to give a helpful demonstration. He grabbed his cheeks with both hands and stretched them out a comical three feet to each side, his face distorting into a bizarre shape while he made a funny noise.
Buggy's eyes bulged. "Rubber… So that's how he reflected the Buggy Ball!" His rage now turned on his subordinate. "MOHJI, YOU IMBECILE! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT SOONER?!"
He grabbed the terrified Mohji and, with a furious roar, threw him straight at Luffy.
Luffy simply sidestepped and, with a casual backhand, slammed Mohji into the wall of a nearby building, where he slumped to the ground, unconscious once more.
"Okay," Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. "The warm-up's over. Let's fight for real."
Before he could take another step, a figure on a unicycle zipped past him in a blur of motion. Cabaji the Acrobat, his sword drawn, was charging straight for Luffy.
CLANG!
Cabaji's blade never reached its target. It was intercepted by the steel of two other swords. Zoro, his expression grim and his bandaged side aching, had moved to block the attack.
"If it's a sword fight you want," Zoro growled, his two blades locked against Cabaji's, "then your opponent is me."
Cabaji's lips curled into a condescending smile. He gracefully balanced on his single wheel. "The Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro. They say your head is worth a small fortune. It would be an honor for a swordsman such as myself to be the one to claim it."
"Zoro, you're hurt!" Luffy called out, seeing the swordsman wince as he held his ground. The wound Buggy had given him was clearly taking its toll. "Let me handle this guy! You should rest!"
"Stay out of this, Luffy," Zoro said without looking back, his voice firm as steel. "This is a swordsman's duel. It's a matter of pride."
Cabaji's eyes glinted, noticing the dark red stain spreading on Zoro's white shirt. "Pride? A wounded animal has no pride. Only weakness."
The fight began. Cabaji was a whirlwind of motion, his unicycle allowing him to attack from bizarre angles with incredible speed. He spun and weaved, his blade a silver streak in the dusty air. Zoro, hampered by his injury, was forced onto the defensive, blocking and parrying the relentless assault.
Suddenly, Cabaji took a deep breath and spewed a massive plume of fire from his mouth, a classic circus trick turned into a weapon.
FWOOSH!
The heat was intense. Zoro leaped backwards, dodging the inferno. But it was a feint. The fire was just a distraction.
As Zoro landed, Cabaji was already there. But he didn't attack with his sword. He swung his leg out in a vicious kick, his steel-toed boot slamming directly into Zoro's bleeding wound.
"GUAH!"
A cry of pure agony was ripped from Zoro's throat. The impact was brutal, tearing the wound open even further. He collapsed to one knee, his swords scraping against the cobblestones, his vision blurring from the white-hot pain.
"As I said," Cabaji mocked, spinning his unicycle in a triumphant circle around the kneeling swordsman. "Weakness."
Before Zoro could recover, Cabaji began to spin on the spot at an incredible speed, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and debris. It was another trick, a smokescreen to obscure his movements.
Zoro, blinded and relying on instinct, raised his swords to defend himself.
CLANG!
He blocked Cabaji's sword thrust as it came lunging out of the dust cloud. But again, it was a setup. The moment their blades locked, Cabaji used his free leg to deliver another powerful, targeted kick to the exact same spot on Zoro's side.
"AGHH!"
This time, the pain was too much. Zoro's defenses crumbled, and he fell completely, collapsing onto the ground in a heap, gasping for breath.
Cabaji emerged from the dust cloud, standing over his fallen opponent, the very picture of smug victory. "How pathetic. To see the great 'Pirate Hunter' groveling in the dirt. You made a grave mistake making an enemy of the Buggy Pirates. Now, you will die for it."
"LUFFY, DO SOMETHING!" Nami screamed from the sidelines, unable to watch anymore. "He's going to be killed!"
Luffy didn't move. He stood with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable beneath the brim of his straw hat. He was watching the fight with an intensity that Nami had never seen before.
"No," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "Zoro hasn't lost yet."
Cabaji raised his sword for the final blow, a theatrical, spinning downward slash. "And now, for the grand finale! Die, swordsman!"
But as the blade descended, a hand shot up and caught it, the steel biting into Zoro's bare palm. He was on his feet again, swaying and bleeding, but his eyes were burning with an unholy fire.
He looked at Cabaji, a grimace on his face. "You... you seem to really enjoy hitting this wound, don't you?" he panted.
Before Cabaji could respond, Zoro did something that made everyone—Nami, Luffy, and even Buggy's crew—stare in shocked disbelief.
He took one of his own swords, the one in his left hand, and without a moment's hesitation, he dragged its razor-sharp edge across his own bleeding wound.
SHIIIIINK!
The sound of blade cutting flesh was sickening. He sliced deeper into the already grievous injury, his own blood flowing freely down his side. He didn't even flinch, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated grit.
He stood there, bleeding from his hand and now even more profusely from his side.
"There," he said, his voice a low growl. "Will this satisfy you? Is the handicap big enough for you now?"
He retook his three-sword stance, Wado Ichimonji held firmly between his teeth. The pain must have been unimaginable, but his spirit was unbroken. It was stronger than ever.
"I have a promise to keep. A dream to become the world's greatest swordsman."
He glared at the stunned Cabaji, his aura shifting into that of a true demon.
"Now I'll show you… the true difference in weight between your cheap tricks and my ambition."
Luffy watched, and for the first time, a wide, deeply impressed grin spread across his face. This was the man he had chosen to be his first crewmate.