The wind of Water 7 smelled like steel, salt, and sweat.
Shipwrights called out orders from scaffolds high above the docks, hammers clanged, and sawdust floated in the humid air.
On the merchant side, the city was bustling with different stores, all kinds of foods, drinks, and exotic jewelry being sold on the streets by wayfarers.
The whole city was a song of craftsmanship and commerce, a place that should have felt safe.
Buggy leaned on the rail of his ship, staring toward the canal-lined skyline, expression unreadable beneath the blue and red paint.
His eyes flicked to the rooftops every few seconds, the corners of his mouth tugging in thought.
He could tell. Something was up with Robin.
She'd been quieter than usual for weeks, her tone detached, her smile mechanical. Even her polite laughter at his over-the-top boasts had gone hollow.
He knew what that meant. She was going to leave.
Hell, he'd known it from the start. It wasn't like his crew was a cheery band of misfits like the Straw Hats. He was a pirate, he attacked marines, and he did whatever he fancied.
Her leaving was something he had expected from day one.
And yet, that was fine. People left. People joined.
But for Robin, for the woman who had the government's noose tied around her neck, he wanted her to understand something before she disappeared.
That the circus protected its own.
'If she's ever gonna trust this troupe,' he thought, flicking a knife between his fingers, 'then we'll have to prove she's safe under the Big Top.'
He had no illusions of grandeur, not when it came to the heavy hitters of the world. He wasn't about to fight some warlords, let alone Admirals or Yonko. But CP9?
The clown couldn't help but grin.
'Those guys are just overpaid government chiuauas. Brainwashed CP0 rejects.'
He turned to Urouge, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, polishing a brass ring from one of the ship's cannons.
"Oi, Monk," Buggy called. "You remember our little talk, right?"
Urouge smiled serenely. "Protect the lady, no matter what."
"Good man." Buggy twirled the knife, catching it by the blade with a grin. "If any dogs rear their ugly heads and try something, give them a little sermon, yeah?"
The Mad Monk's laugh rumbled like distant thunder. "A sermon? Shame, my throat is feeling hoarse, my fists will have to do~"
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The afternoon crowd was loud, the streets packed. Robin slipped quietly through an alley between two carpenter shops, her cloak hooded, hands tucked beneath the folds.
It was time.
She'd made her decision.
Buggy was dangerous, charming, yes, unpredictable, certainly, but still a pirate, a very high-profile one at that. Pirates, no matter how colorful, always drew attention she couldn't afford.
Her steps echoed off damp stone. The light from the canals shimmered off puddles, painting her reflection in shifting blue.
"You've been walking in circles."
The voice came from the shadows ahead. Calm, cold, devoid of emotion.
Robin froze.
From the dark emerged a tall man in a black suit, his expression unchanging, partially covered by a strange mask. A pigeon sat on his shoulder, ruffling its feathers.
Rob Lucci.
"Your time pretending to be one of them is over," he said simply. "You know who we are. Come quietly."
Robin's heartbeat slowed. Her mind calculated exits, walls, alley width, distance, all useless. He was already close enough that the air felt heavy.
"I don't want a fight," she said softly.
Lucci's head tilted, eyes narrowing. "It wouldn't be one... Just surrender quietly."
She tried anyway, her arms blossomed into a hundred limbs, twisting and striking. "Cien Fleur-!"
The world blurred.
Lucci disappeared from sight.
Then pain exploded across her ribs as a foot like a bullet smashed into her side. She hit the cobblestone, breathless, vision flashing white.
A hand gripped her wrist, cold, metallic, and with a click, the weight of seastone shackles locked her down.
"Resistance is pointless," Lucci said, hoisting her up by the chains as though she weighed nothing. "You've been running since Ohara. This is the end of the line."
She gasped, struggling weakly as the seastone drained her strength. "You think you can just-"
"Capture you?" His tone didn't even change. "Yes."
He turned to leave. That was when the ground itself seemed to tremble.
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From the other end of the alley, a shape filled the light, massive, broad-shouldered, the air shifting as if under a mountain's weight.
Urouge stepped forward slowly, the damp stones of that alleyway groaning under his feet.
"You know," he said, voice lazy but resonant, "I was a tad skeptical when that clown ordered me to watch over you." He grinned. "But it seems you're a lot more wanted than I thought, Miss Archaeologist."
Lucci stopped. The pigeon on his shoulder tilted its head.
A second voice rippled out from the wall beside him, calm, heavy-set, professional.
Blueno emerged from a swirling Door-Door portal, dusting off his suit cuffs. "I'll handle this," he said evenly. "Interference with government business will not be tolerated."
He looked up. And up. And then further up.
Urouge towered over him, smiling like a kind and wise monk about to baptize someone with a brick.
Blueno was not intimidated, or if he was, he didn't show it.
"You'll have to get past m-"
The sound that followed was less a punch and more a cannon detonation.
Blueno didn't finish his sentence. Urouge's haki-coated gigantic fist slammed into his upper chest and face at the same time, crushing the air and light out of the alley.
The cobblestone cratered, dust erupted, and the wall behind him split like glass.
Blueno's Tekkai shattered instantly, his eyes rolling back as his body sank halfway into the pavement.
Urouge flexed his knuckles, grin widening. "Hehe~ This Hakithing really is nifty. Cuts through most defenses like butter."
Lucci's eyes flicked toward the fallen agent, then back to the monk. For a man who rarely showed emotion, his brow twitched, faintly, but enough to show recognition of danger.
Kaku appeared above them in a flicker of speed, landing beside Lucci. "Blueno's down already?" He drew his twin blades, their steel humming. "This guy's no joke."
"Stay focused," Lucci ordered, voice like stone. "Our mission is the woman."
Urouge cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "So you're the strongest of the bunch, aside from Birdie there, eh?" His tone wasn't mocking, more like a priest greeting a new believer. "Come then, let's test the strength of your convictions."
Kaku lunged forward, blades crossing in a blur. "Rankyaku - Sen!"Compressed wind blades screamed through the alley.
Urouge's arm moved like a club. The haki shimmered black across his forearm, swatting the attacks aside as if brushing away dust. The shockwave blew the windows out of both buildings, stone and wood splintering into the canals below.
Kaku landed lightly, eyes narrowing as sweat filled the back of his neck. "Armament hardening…? So even pirates from Paradise are learning it now."
Urouge smiled, stepping forward. Each footfall echoed like a bell. "Paradise or New World, faith makes all men equal, don't you think?"
They clashed again, steel meeting muscle, haki sparks flickering like fireflies. The ground shook. Passersby screamed and scattered, debris flying into the street.
Robin could only watch through half-lidded eyes, her body weak, mind racing. 'Buggy sent him to guard me…? He planned for this?'
Lucci ignored the battle completely. His mission was clear. They were already catching too much attention too; their undercover mission would likely fail at that rate...
Still, he hoisted Robin's chained form over his shoulder again and crouched, muscles tensing.
He was going to leave.
Honk! Honk!
The sound cut through the chaos like a dagger of absurdity.
Lucci blinked once, confusion the closest thing he'd had to emotion all day.
Then a red boot slammed into his face.
The impact launched him backward into the streets below and through a fruit stand, wooden crates exploding into the air. He flipped mid-air, landed on his feet, and wiped a thin line of blood from his lip.
Floating in the air before him were half a dozen disembodied limb parts, gloved hands, shining shoes, each attached to nothing but air and ego. They caught Robin before she could hit the ground, setting her gently down beside a floating blue-and-red torso.
And then, with a theatrical flourish, the head joined them, rotating once before settling neatly onto the shoulders.
"Now now~" Buggy sang, his grin shark-wide. "Why exactly would a shipwright be kidnapping the only lady under my Big Top?"
Lucci's eyes narrowed. "…Buggy the Clown."
Buggy's laugh was pure theater. "The Bloody Jester, if you don't mind! Though I suppose you suits aren't exactly big on titles... All you care about is your mission. Really, the moment the 'Devil's Child' steps out of the big tent, she gets nabbed."
He raised a hand, and all the detached limbs around him snapped into place like a deck of cards shuffling mid-air. "You know, I was hoping something would happen~ Been dying to test something new."
Lucci said nothing. He simply adjusted his tie, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the panicked civilians fleeing in all directions. It was too annoying to kill them all, so the undercover mission could be considered a failure already.
Robin coughed softly as she slowly rose from the ground beside the clown. "You… knew I was planning to leave?"
Buggy glanced at her, one brow arched. "Of course, I knew, sweetheart. You've been looking at me like I'm a bad investment for weeks."
Robin was speechless for a moment, she felt a bit of panic... But also confusion.
Why was Buggy defending her then? If it had been anyone else, she'd assume it was because she could read Poneglyphs. But she knew better.
Buggy did not care about that. He hadn't even cared about the one talking about an ancient weapon in Alabasta.
As she was left to churn around with those thoughts, Buggy turned to Lucci, smiling at him.
"Now, about you kitty... Before you try and walk off with my archaeologist, maybe try surviving act one."