The stolen marine ship, now bearing the name of 'Big Top' drifted lazily over a calm, sapphire sea, its striped sails catching the morning breeze as gulls cawed and circled overhead.
For once, there was laughter aboard the ship that wasn't manic or desperate, just the easy chatter of pirates who weren't in immediate mortal danger, or forced to train like madmen to keep with with an insane captain.
The air was cleaner too.
Buggy the Clown leaned against the railing with a rare look of contentment, arms crossed as he surveyed his crew.
Mohji was actually brushing Richie's mane instead of letting the lion's fur clump into dreadlocks, Cabaji was tuning his unicycle, and even the deckhands seemed marginally less disgusting.
All this newfound discipline and hygiene had one, and only one, cause.
She sat quietly near the stern, reading a book and sipping tea.
Nico Robin, archeologist, ex-Baroque Works assassin, and their newest recruit, was a picture of calm grace amidst the circus freaks that littered the ship.
Buggy grinned. "Hard to believe that all it took to get you filthy animals to bathe more often was having a woman on board. If I'd known that sooner, I'd have kidnapped one ages ago."
Cabaji winced. "It's not just that, Captain. Having her around… boosts morale. Brings balance."
"Balance?" Buggy scoffed. "Cabaji, the last time you talked about balance, you broke your nose tightrope walking during a storm."
"That was training," Cabaji protested weakly.
"That was stupidity with flair!" Buggy corrected, throwing his arms wide. "Still, can't argue with results. The Big Top no longer smells like pickled death. Progress!"
Mohji cleared his throat. "Madam Robin also reorganized the map room, Captain. It's, uh… functional now."
Buggy blinked. "We have a map room?"
Robin didn't look up from her book. "We do now."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Most people who come aboard my ship don't start improving it. They usually start getting drunk or plotting mutiny."
Robin smiled faintly. "Then I must be a rare find."
Buggy chuckled. "You have no idea."
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Days passed peacefully, which for the Buggy Pirates was almost suspicious. The Log Pose had locked onto a new island, its faint magnetic hum guiding them forward.
Buggy's Eternal Pose to Alabasta, its duty done, now rested in a glass case in his quarters, a shiny trophy of past insanity.
Robin adapted to life on the Big Top with disarming ease. She helped navigate, used her Hana Hana no Mi to adjust ropes and sails all at once, and even managed to bring some order to the chaos.
The men adored her, partly because she was helpful and stunningly beautiful, partly because they were terrified she could snap their necks with a thought.
Only once did someone try to test those limits.
It was early morning when Cabaji's furious yell tore across the deck. "Get back here, you slimy barnacle!"
A deckhand bolted past Buggy, waving his arms wildly. "I was just checking if she needed anything!"
"While she was in the bathroom?!"
Cabaji tackled him, and the two went tumbling across the planks. The entire crew paused, watching the scuffle with mild curiosity. Robin stepped out onto the deck, calm as ever, her gaze cool.
Buggy sighed and massaged his temple. "Cabaji, handle it."
"With pleasure!"
"Remember, boys," Buggy called out dramatically, "what's rule number three aboard the Big Top?"
In disjointed chorus, the crew replied, "No creeps in the circus!"
"Exactly. Overboard with him."
A splash punctuated the captain's decree.
Robin regarded the scene with mild amusement. "Efficient disciplinary system."
Buggy smirked. "Saves time. Besides, only I'm allowed to be creepy on this ship."
Her eyes sparkled briefly. "I'll make a note of that, Captain."
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That afternoon, the sharp cry of a bird split the air.
Buggy looked up to see a News Coo circling overhead, a small delivery bag clutched in its talons.
"Oi! Lunch with wings!" he shouted, snapping his fingers. A disembodied hand detached from his wrist, shot upward, and neatly snatched the package mid-air before returning to him.
The bird squawked indignantly and flew off as Buggy tore open the bundle. Inside were a few rolled newspapers, wanted posters, and a small note: "Fresh from Marine HQ."
Buggy unrolled one, his grin growing wider and wider until it nearly split his painted face.
"Well, well, well~ Look at me!" He held the poster high for all to see.
"WANTED: 'Bloody Jester' Buggy - 350,000,000 Berries."
Gasps and whistles followed.
"Three hundred and fifty million?!" Mohji gawked. "That's… that's insane! More money than any of us have ever seen..."
Cabaji whistled low. "You've officially joined the big leagues, Captain. I looked at bounties across the Grand Line a few weeks back, this is a lot bigger than most on the first half..."
Buggy puffed up his chest, laughing maniacally. "HA! I told you! The world finally recognizes true talent! The Bloody Jester rides again!"
He struck a flamboyant pose, cape flaring dramatically in the sea breeze.
Robin raised an eyebrow. "That's quite the increase from your last known bounty."
Buggy grinned. "Of course it is! Between splitting a palace in half, humiliating a Warlord, and scaring half the Marines in Alabasta into wetting themselves, it's about time they respected the artistry!"
Robin's lips twitched in amusement. "I think it would be more accurate to call it fear rather than respect..."
"Details," Buggy said, waving dismissively. "Either way, they're paying attention. That's what matters."
The crew passed the other posters around. A few of them even had their own updated bounties now, small but significant. Cabaji's jumped to twenty-two million; Mohji's also rising to match him.
They hadn't done anything aside from getting drunk in Alabasta, but just being associated with Buggy was enough.
Buggy twirled his poster once before tucking it safely into his coat. "Frame this when we reach land. I want every tavern and every marine dog to know my face."
Robin regarded him with quiet curiosity. "You're not worried? A bounty that high will attract attention -hunters, other warlords, even Marines."
Buggy grinned wickedly. "Let them come. I'll sell tickets to the show."
No one among his crew was surprised to hear that. They had already grown accustomed to their captain's mindset.
He was a showman. Any attention was good attention. After all, there was no such thing as a bad audience.
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That evening, the Big Top basked in golden light as the sun began to set. The sea shimmered like molten glass, and laughter filled the deck again. The men were cleaner, happier, and prouder.
Buggy lounged near the helm, coat open, basking in the afterglow of his inflated ego. Robin stood nearby, gazing at the horizon.
"So," she asked casually, "where to next, Captain?"
Buggy stretched his arms above his head, joints popping. "Wherever the Log Pose leads us. The New World's where the real show begins. For now, we'll just cruise along and train till we reach Sabaody Archipelago. We'll learn some new tricks, maybe a few recruits, maybe punch a Celestial Dragon or two-"
Robin smiled faintly. "Ambitious."
"Damn right. The world's my stage, Robin. And the crowd's just starting to applaud."
She laughed softly. "I did have a feeling traveling with you won't be dull."
Buggy winked. "You're quite intuitive, dear~ Stick with me, Miss Archeologist, and you'll never die of boredom— just possibly everything else."
The night passed without incident, the sea eerily calm under the stars. But by dawn, something had changed.
Buggy was the first to notice it, the way the horizon didn't quite look right. The sea ahead seemed to curve upward, as if the world itself were bending.
"...That's not supposed to happen. Granted, we are on the grand line, there's no such thing as a pattern in the madness of this sea..."
He leaned over the railing, squinting. Beneath them, a faint rumbling began, deep and rhythmic, like the ocean's heartbeat had quickened.
Cabaji stumbled up from below deck, hair tousled. "Captain? The sea's… moving weird."
Buggy turned sharply, his painted grin fading. "How much weirder than usual exactly?"
Before Cabaji could answer, the deck shuddered. The water around the ship began to churn violently, spiraling inward.
Robin looked up from her book, having already formed a hand and an eye on the side of the ship to get a better view of things. "Pressure spike. Something's building beneath us."
Buggy's eyes widened in dawning horror. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
The rumble became a roar. "...Bollocks."
The ocean exploded.
A column of water the size of a mountain erupted beneath them, a Knock-Up Stream, surging with unstoppable force. The repurposed marine ship was launched skyward like a toy, the crew screaming as gravity vanished beneath their feet.
Buggy's body came apart instinctively, limbs, head, and torso floating in wild disarray as the ship rocketed toward the clouds.
"EVERYONE HOLD ONTO SOMETHING THAT'S NOT ME!" he bellowed, his detached head spinning upside down in the wind.
Robin, somehow eerily composed even as chaos erupted, sprouted a dozen arms along the rigging to stabilize the sails and anchor herself in place. "Remarkable phenomenon," she murmured, her voice calm despite the madness. "A natural upward sea current of tremendous force…"
"Yeah! It's a bloody knock-up stream -Not that common a phenomenon! Though I'd call it a fucking deathtrap~!" Buggy shouted in annoyance, using his limbs to tie many of his men to the ship to prevent them from going overboard.
The ship twisted and soared higher and higher until the air thinned and the clouds swallowed them whole. Confetti exploded from Buggy's coat, scattering like glittering stars against the sky.
Through the deafening roar, Robin's voice drifted lazily beside him. "Well, you wanted a grand show, Captain."
Buggy's lips parted into an amused smile. "I thought I'd wait a bit more before an audience with God!"
And with that, the Big Top vanished into the heavens, clown, archeologist, and circus alike were hurled toward the unknown.