Steve's POV
I stared Buggy down, ready for our clash. I was worried. How was I going to strike a man who could separate his body? This was going to be a real challenge, but hopefully, I could handle whatever he threw at me.
Buggy started first, launching his legs at me in an attempt to cut me in two. I jumped over them and dodged his attack, only to be met with more knives flying my way. It was my turn to strike back. I shot my whip in Buggy's direction, hoping to end the fight quickly. "Whip Crack!"
Unfortunately, Buggy dodged my attack by splitting off from his lower body. "There's one big flaw in your fighting style," he said, eyeing the whip that had flown past his head. "You're not the only one who can grab them."
Buggy then grabbed one of my whips and tugged, pulling me toward him. "You know I have two whips, right?" I picked up speed and ran towards him, taking a horizontal swing. But Buggy dodged using a technique he called Quick Escape and detached his head.
I slid to a stop behind him as he put his head back on. "Damn, your powers are a pain. Just stay together so I can crush you. You're a puddle!"
"Chop-Chop Cannon!" Buggy launched his fist, full of knives, at me. I grabbed it to stop it from cutting my face off, but the hand broke off from the part I was holding and cut my chin. I'm bleeding. Damn, I hope I don't end up with a scar like Luffy.
"Close shave," I hissed. "I don't get it. What could you possibly have against my dad that makes you want me dead so much? Did he try and kill you or something?" I couldn't understand it. I'd met people who disliked my dad before, usually because he was a pirate, but this was the first time I'd seen someone so irate over just the mention of his name.
"I hate him with every fiber of my being. I'll get my revenge one day. Revenge on Shanks, the man who ruined my life! After I end him, I'll end yours as well. I'll wipe out his whole family."
That's it. I'm done screwing around. "SHUT UP! Don't you dare talk about my family like that. You know nothing about them!" I was furious now.
Luffy's POV
Steve was so upset. I knew he took matters of family seriously, but this time was different. He'd never gotten anywhere near this angry with me. I had thought about stepping in even though he told me to stay back, but now that he looked the way he did, I was afraid to get involved.
Buggy spoke. "I guess I should tell you that Shanks and I go way back. We used to serve on the same ship together; we were comrades."
Steve charged at Buggy with a demonic look in his eyes. "You say you were friends, so why do you want him dead?" Steve took a swing, but Buggy dodged his attack. Or that's what it looked like. Instead, Steve attacked both low while swinging high and punched Buggy in the stomach.
Steve walked up to Buggy, a murderous look on his face. "Don't you ever threaten my family again, or I'll kill you, slowly." He wasn't joking around; he looked downright homicidal.
"I can speak about him however I want. Chop-Ch—"
"Don't move a muscle," Steve instructed. He was standing over Buggy with his whip poised to hit his face. "Now speak, you worm. Why do you hate my father?"
"I can never forgive that man. He took everything from me."
Steve's POV
Buggy told me some lame sob story about how my dad was the reason he had Devil Fruit powers and that now he couldn't swim to find a treasure he was searching for.
"So Shanks saved your life?" Luffy chimed in.
It seemed like this guy owed my dad one. Maybe that's why he was so upset; he doesn't like to owe people. "No, it wasn't only the ability to get the treasure he stole, but something much more important."
What the hell is it now? How much did the old man take from this guy?
"He not only robbed me of my ability to swim, he also stole the heart of my true love."
He can't possibly be serious. Is he talking about Mom?
"Yes, it's true, he took my sweet Lilly from me." Now I was confused. Was he implying that my mom had a thing for him? Mom liking this freak? I don't think so.
"I find it hard to believe you ever dated my mother," I groaned. "This is so stupid. I feel dumb for getting angry now."
"Well, we never dated, per se, but I always harbored affections for her, and he knew how I felt and took her from me."
I highly doubted that Dad was even aware this nut cared about my mom, though that was more because my dad was an idiot about that sort of stuff.
"Listen, I don't care about your weird love triangle with my parents. Even then, I highly doubt that Uncle would ever let you near my mother."
"Well, it is true, Lilly was very fond of me. The power of love can't be stopped, even by the world's greatest swordsman. She used to wink at me and ask me to do her favors all the time, like swim to get her things because she couldn't do it herself."
Sounds like Mom was using this guy to do stuff for her to compensate for her Devil Fruit powers.
"That's why when I lost my ability to swim, she turned to that red-haired bastard. I vowed to impress her by gathering all the treasure on land. That's why I won't tolerate anyone stealing from me." Buggy launched his upper body in the direction of the warehouse Nami had gone to earlier.
Nami, who had recently emerged with bags of treasure, was directly in the line of fire with no way to defend herself. That's when I saw his lower body and decided to test an idea.
I ran up and pulled out a whip, swinging at the torso. I collided with Buggy's rear end, and the front of his body felt the pain and crash-landed. "You're fighting me; stay focused. Luffy, take Nami and the treasure out of here. You'll just keep getting in the way," I told him.
Buggy began telling Nami off for calling it her treasure, and she responded by telling him she wasn't going to be lectured by a pirate. Buggy then burst into dozens of pieces, flying in all directions.
There has to be a limit. All Devil Fruits have weaknesses. I just need to find his.
That's when I noticed that his feet weren't flying. They can't fly!
I grabbed one and threw it. "Here, Luffy, play with this."
Luffy took off the shoe and tickled and pinched Buggy's foot to distract him from chasing Nami. Since she had a moment of rest, she swung the treasure at Buggy.
"The treasure has returned," Buggy said, holding on to the bag Nami had been carrying. "Now, girl, let go."
Buggy sent two knives at Nami, but I stepped in to prevent a serious injury. "Don't lose focus on your opponent. Whip Crush!" I slammed my whips into Buggy's face and saved Nami.
Buggy dropped to the ground with a whimper. "Thank you for saving me," Nami said, dusting herself off. "The treasure got scattered all over. Oh! Where's the map?"
I went over and picked up a rolled-up paper. "This is it?"
"Wait, Red!" Buggy yelled as his head floated up. "I'll kill you now, once and for all!"
"You're still alive?" I realized that Buggy was calling his body parts back to him, but only his hands and feet returned, making him look like a deformed midget.
"Are you looking for these?" Nami asked, showing she had all of Buggy's remaining parts tied up.
"Nice job. I'll finish it now." I sent both my whips back and ran forward as fast as I could. "Get lost, shrimp, Whip Gale-force!"
My whips collided with Buggy's tiny body and sent him flying up into the sky. "Victory is mine. He'll probably land soon enough… oh, look, it's that bird again."
The bird flew by and grabbed Buggy out of the sky, soon passing over the horizon. "That's good enough for me," I laughed.