The pirates surged like a wave, cutlasses flashing, boots thundering across the cobblestones. Their battle cries rang hollow, fueled less by courage than by the painted maniac laughing behind them.
"Show them the might of Buggy's crew!" Buggy bellowed, spinning with his arms flung wide. "Crush them, and the world will tremble at the name Buggy the Clown!"
Luffy leapt first, his arm stretching like rubber as he clotheslined two pirates clean off their feet. They hit the ground with a dull thud groaning in shock as their captain's manic laugh carried over them.
Zoro moved next, calm and deliberate. His blade whispered from its sheath, gleaming in the sun as he struck down another pirate with a single, clean slash. His movements were efficient, controlled each step calculated and each strike decisive.
Nami ducked behind an overturned cart, clutching her stolen sack tightly to her chest. Her breath came fast, eyes darting between Buggy and the chaos erupting in the plaza. She wanted no part of this fight but she couldn't run just not yet.
Magnus had been still until now, his eyes cataloging everything with the timing of Buggy's gestures, the rhythm of his men, the small spaces where order collapsed into chaos his chest rose slowly as he inhaled, and then he stepped forward.
The first pirate swung wildly at him. Magnus caught his wrist mid-swing, twisting sharply. The cutlass clattered against the stones, and before the man could cry out, Magnus drove his elbow into the pirate's sternum. The man folded instantly crumpling to the ground.
A second pirate came in from the side, slashing clumsily. Magnus sidestepped with fluid precision, his hand snapping forward to grab the man's collar. He spun him into the path of another charging pirate, and the two crashed together with a painful crack of skulls as both went down in a heap.
Buggy's eyes widened slightly, his grin twitching as he leaned forward. "Oho? And who might you be? Another fool who thinks he can upstage me?!"
Magnus didn't answer. He slipped between two more pirates, low and sharp as a blade, his strikes brutal in their simplicity. A knee to the gut. A sharp palm to the jaw. A shoulder slam that sent a man sprawling into a pile of crates his movements weren't flashy, but they carried a cold precision.
Luffy laughed loudly, punching another pirate so hard he flew into a wall. "Magnus! You finally joined in!"
Zoro glanced sideways at him as he cut another man down. "Tch. About time."
Buggy snarled, his painted face twisting. "Don't ignore ME!" He threw his arm forward—except the arm didn't stop. It detached at the shoulder, flying across the plaza with the speed of a cannonball.
Nami gasped. "W-what the hell?!"
The severed hand snatched Magnus by the collar. Buggy's disembodied fingers clenched, trying to choke the air from him. The clown's manic laughter rang out. "THIS IS THE POWER OF THE CHOP-CHOP FRUIT! YOU CAN'T CUT ME DOWN, YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME! NOT EVEN YOUR SWORDS CAN HARM BUGGY THE CLOWN!"
Magnus's face stayed calm even as the grip tightened he raised his hand, pried Buggy's fingers apart with steady strength, and ripped the arm free and hurled it aside like trash.
Buggy's grin faltered.
Magnus's voice was quiet but sharp as steel. "Your tricks won't save you."
He surged forward suddenly, faster than Buggy expected. His fist connected with Buggy's chest as the impact echoed across the square. The clown staggered backward with eyes wide and his manic laugh breaking into a grunt of pain.
The pirates froze for a moment as they were shocked.
Their captain… had been hit.
Buggy clutched his chest, rage twisting his painted face. "You… you dare strike ME?!" His body split apart, arms detaching, knives flashing in midair as his limbs floated around him like a circus of death. "Then I'll tear you apart, piece by piece!"
Magnus straightened, rolling his shoulders.
His eyes, cold and unflinching, locked on Buggy.
"I'll end your performance."
The tension crackled through the plaza.