8 Chapter 8
Hearing Markus say that beating the lion was fun sent Nami over the edge, "How was that fun?!"
Meanwhile, Luffy laughed and Zoro just smiled. Markus grinned at them while waving Buggy's battered hand around. Buggy might be a tough bastard but even he must be feeling the pain with all his hand had been put through so far. Nami, seeing the severed hand being held by Markus paled a little, "Who's hand did you cut off and why are you using it as a weapon?!"
Markus stared at Nami. Did she already forget about Buggy's Devil Fruit power or how Buggy stabbed him? He just shrugged his shoulders, "Buggy gave it to me so I figured I would keep it since he was just throwing it away."
Zoro's smirk grew while Luffy laughed even louder. Markus walked over to where the injured Shushu was still sitting in front of the pet store it was guarding. Nami, Luffy, Zoro, and the Chief talked while Markus decided to help Shushu out. He retrieved some bandages from his inventory, one of his daily rewards back on the island, and started to bandage Shushu's wounds, "You did a great job protecting the store Shushu. I'm sure your owner would be incredibly proud of you. Just... don't get yourself killed alright? I'm sure he wouldn't want you to join him so soon."
Nami watched Markus treating and talking to Shushu, she was confused over why a pirate would be so kind to a dog and try to give it advice. Still, seeing how he treated Shushu made her smile a little. It didn't seem like these guys were all bad... though they were still despicable pirates.
As the group talked, Markus joined them. Before he could get in on the conversation there was a loud explosion as one of Buggy's Buggy Balls destroyed a section of the town, including the Chief's house. That was the final straw for the Chief. He threw his arms in the air while shouting, "I can't take it anymore!! Shushu and random kids are fighting the pirates while we hide and cower! I can't just sit back and watch anymore!"
Nami panicked and tried to calm the Chief down, "Settle down, it's alright!"
Not calming down at all the Chief shouted back, "There are some fights you can't back down from!" He turned to look at Markus standing next to Luffy, "Right kid?!"
Markus nodded, "Right."
Luffy laughed and approved of what Markus said. Nami, not so much, she turned to yell at Markus, "Quit egging him on!"
The Chief grabbed his spear and started talking about the village's past. How they struggled to build the village up from nothing for forty years. The village was his treasure and he couldn't let some pirates destroy his treasure. Still pissed off, the Chief stomped in the direction of Buggy and his crew, fully intent on confronting the pirate and risking his life for his village. Luffy, Zoro, and Markus just watched while smiling. Nami tried to stop the Chief, "You can't! It's reckless!"
He just turned to yell at her, "I know it is!"
He stomped off while Nami turned to the three men behind her, "He was crying..."
The three of them pretended they say nothing while Luffy voiced that thought, "I didn't see anything."
Zoro looked at Luffy with a smile, "Things are getting interesting."
Luffy laughed, "Yup! I like that old man, I won't let him die."
Nami was furious at the apparent callus and casual attitudes of the men, "What makes you so confident that you can just laugh?!"
Luffy kept smiling, "We're going to the Grand Line. We need to go get that map!" He offered a hand to Nami, "Join my crew and be our navigator!"
"I refuse to be a pirate!", Nami slapped Luffy's hand, "But, we can work together for a bit toward out individual goals!"
The four of them started walking down the street heading in the direction the chief had run off to. Zoro wrapped his bandanna around his head before turning to look seriously at Markus, "Just remember, any swordsman is mine!"
Markus chuckled and waved a hand dismissively, "No problem. I doubt these guys are going to put up much of a fight. That Mohji guy was super weak."
As their small group approached Buggy and his crew they could hear the Chief and Buggy yelling back and forth. They all saw Buggy launch his only remaining hand to grab the Chief by the throat and lift him into the air. Markus looked at Buggy and could see the sweat on his brow from the pain he was dealing with. Markus hard broken two of his fingers and the wrist of his other hand. Not to mention using it as a bludgeoning weapon to slap Mohji and Richie around. It doesn't matter how tough someone is, that's got to hurt.
When Luffy saw the mayor in trouble he charged forward and rescued him by ripping Buggy's hand off of his throat and holding it tight. Buggy glared down at Luffy. Just seeing the familiar hat on his head made his already bad mood even worse. Luffy looked up at Buggy while releasing his hand, "I've come to beat you."
Markus waved Buggy's other hand around, "Should I give this back to him captain?"
Seeing his other hand and still feeling the pain from it sent Buggy over the edge. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "YOU ALL ARE SO DEAD! LOAD THE BUGGY BALL!"
Markus ignored Buggy and paid attention to his captain, seeing a small nod from Luffy, Markus finally released his grip on Buggy's hand. It instantly flew away to reattach to the rest of Buggy's body. The Chief climbed onto one knee and looked at the crew, "What are you all doing here? This is my fight! Don't interfere!"
Luffy glanced at the Chief before grabbing him by the back of the head and slamming him face-first into a nearby building wall to knock him out. Nami was immediately triggered and yelled, "What the hell did you do that for?!"
Luffy gave her a blank look, "To keep him out of the way."
Finished with that, Luffy turned to face Buggy and the barrel of the cannon. When Nami and Zoro saw the cannon about to fire they both reacted. Zoro was a bit more subdued than the panicking Nami but he still made his way out of the cannons firing zone. Markus just smiled as he stood near Luffy. He knew exactly how little effect things like cannonballs and bullets had on Luffy. Zoro should have known too but Devil Fruits were still a rather new concept to him, he still hadn't realized how broken they were.
Buggy glared down at them, "FIRE THE BUGGY BALL!"
From a distance away, Zoro looked at Markus standing firmly next to Luffy. Zoro knew Luffy was abnormal but that was a cannon being fired at him! Did Markus have more faith in their Captain's capabilities than he did? His question was answered the moment the cannon fired. Luffy took a deep breath while saying, "Gomu Gomu no Fuusen!" before expanding like a balloon. Zoro watched with a small amount of surprise but Nami was shocked as the cannonball hit Luffy's inflated stomach before bouncing off and exploding in the Buggy crew's faces.
Zoro walked closer to Luffy and Markus while shaking his head, "You could have just said something sooner."
Luffy just chuckled while Markus just smirked, "C'mon Zoro. You've seen the captain bounce back bullets easily. A cannonball is nothing more than a much bigger bullet."
There was a look of realization dawning on Zoro's face before he shook his head. Nami was having a little freak out that the three men ignored completely. Markus might find Nami to be a bit cute, even cuter in person than as a drawing, but she seemed high maintenance and exhausting. They looked at the destroyed building covered in the unconscious bodies of Buggy's crew. Markus felt it was a miracle that none of them had died. Luffy just placed a hand on his hat while smiling, "Now there's fewer of them to take care of."
Markus watched Nami yelling at Luffy for an explanation and only getting nonsense responses from him until he explained about his Devil Fruit and being a rubber man. Markus just shook his head while smiling. Maybe after Nami became less high strung he'd see if she was worth dating. As the two talked, the rubble of the building moved as Buggy came out of the smoke. His dismembered hands each holding a member of his crew that he used as shields to protect himself. More rubble moved as another member of his crew lifted up Richie the lion who had also been used as a shield.
Mohji and the other crew member, Cabaji, got into a fight over Cabaji's treatment of Richie. The confrontation ended with Mohji sent flying directly at Luffy. With a simple swift kick from Luffy, Mohji was once again slammed into a building and knocked out. Markus just shrugged his shoulders and looked around for somewhere comfortable to sit, "Since there's just two of them, I'll leave them to you two. You alright with that?"
Zoro and Luffy just nodded. It was their turn to fight and they appreciated not having to argue with Markus to get their opponents. Cabaji made the first move. He hopped on a unicycle and charged at Luffy with his sword drawn while shouting, "I'm Cabaji the Acrobat and I will have revenge for this humiliation!"
Before Cabaji could even attempt to stab Luffy, Zoro intercepted him with a grin. Markus was right! There was a swordsman to fight. Zoro just hoped Cabaji was strong so he could improve through combat like Markus had! Cabaji glared at Zoro as their swords clashed, "Roronoa Zoro, it's an honor that I get to slay you as a fellow swordsman."
Before Zoro could reply, Cabaji used one of his cheap tricks to breathe fire into Zoro's face. With Zoro blinded Cabaji sent a kick to his side to try and knock him off balance and create an opening. Thanks to Markus's interference, Zoro didn't have a stab wound for Cabaji to take advantage of so he was forced to try and make an advantage. Unfortunately for him, without the wound to aggravate, he was no match for Zoro. Cabaji tried his tricks but Zoro just looked bored as he defeated all of them. Even when Cabaji and Buggy tried to work together during Cabaji's drop attack, it didn't work as Luffy stomped on Buggy's hand to keep him from interfering. Zoro glared at Cabaji, "Is that it? You're no swordsman. Just a cheap imitation."
The comment infuriated Cabaji. Zoro got into his three sword stance as Cabaji charged at him on his unicycle. As he closed in on Zoro, Zoro muttered, "Oni... Giri!"
With three flashes of light, the two passed each other. A breath later blood spurted from Cabaji's chest and he collapsed to the ground while muttering, "Lost... to a common thief..."
Zoro sheathed his swords with a deep sigh, "We're not thieves, we're pirates." He turned looking over at Markus, "He was no swordsman."
Markus just shrugged, "Not my fault. It's not like the lion was a swordsman either."
Hearing the causal, almost bored, tone of voice that Zoro and Markus used while talking about his men made Buggy rage, "So... you guys are pirates?"
Luffy nodded like an excited child, "Yup! Now hand over the Grand Line map!"
Buggy glowered at Luffy, "So that was your goal. The Grand Line isn't a place some nameless nobodies can go. What? You planning to go on a sightseeing tour?!"
Luffy turned serious, "I'm gunna become the pirate king!"
Buggy's pain, anger, and humiliation all came to a boil as he shouted, "YOU IDIOT! I'm going to become the pirate king! You're just going to die here!"
Luffy just started rolling his shoulders, "Shut up and fight!"
Buggy flicked his wrists causing daggers to appear between the fingers of both of his hands, "You know... Seeing that hat really reminds me of that red-haired bastard."
Markus immediately tuned out. He knew all about the past between Buggy and Shanks. He kept quiet and instead turned to his status page to see his progress. He didn't need to hear about Buggy's misplaced hatred towards Shanks because of his own stupidity. Instead, he was more interested in what he was seeing. There had been a few changes to his status since the last time he looked at it.
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Name: Silvers D. Markus
Age: 16
Class: Noob Pirate
Level: 4
Exp: 12,977/20,000
Hit Points: 320/ 320 (+16.6/minute)
Willpower: 340/ 340 (+17.3/minute)
Strength (STR): 47
Vitality (VIT): 32
Agility (AGI): 45
Spirit (SPT): 34
Wisdom (WIS): 23
Charisma (CHA): 15
Luck (LCK): 13
Attribute Points: 15
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Seeing his status, he learned a few things. First, aside from refilling hit points, willpower and giving him five attribute points to spend, each level up also gave him one attribute point in every attribute. That was a nice bonus. The second great thing was that his experience didn't reset to zero every time he leveled up. If he had to earn twenty-thousand experience from zero it would take forever. Lastly, he also had a class now, though he didn't like what it was, he had to admit it was accurate. He was a noob pirate.
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For showing great wisdom in knowing where you stand, +1 WIS.
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Markus rolled his eyes but accepted the free point nonetheless. He hadn't been able to work out or try to gain many points the last couple of days so he'd take what he could get. The next question was, how should he spend the free points? Should he even spend them? He knew he was going to get the Goro Goro No Mi from Enel in the future. Only death could stop him from stealing that amazing Devil Fruit! The problem was, he wasn't certain which attributes would benefit him the most once he had it. He was pretty certain that using the fruit's abilities would cost him Willpower, it was basically his mana pool. Spirit raised Willpower directly and Wisdom seemed to have some effect on its regeneration rate. Should he focus there? But, would Strength increase the damage he could deal with the lightning? For that matter, would any of his other attributes have any effect on the fruit at all? Since he had no idea... he closed his status. He would save the points for now and use them in an emergency or for a quick power boost during a tough fight. He couldn't risk squandering them right now.
He turned his attention back to Luffy and Buggy, they had only just started their fight. Man was Buggy long-winded! The fight between Luffy and Buggy played out a lot like it had in the show. Luffy was still a newbie and Buggy was still an idiot. Markus, Zoro, and Nami watched the fight. Neither man said anything but Nami was freaking out at the inhuman fight happening. Luffy stretching all over the place while Buggy's body split apart to avoid or dish out attacks. She didn't remain shocked for long though. Her thieving brain soon realized that this was an opportune time for her. She snuck away to go steal Buggy's treasure.
Markus and Zoro noticed her departure but didn't say anything. It was none of their business and they were busy watching their captain fight from comfortable seats. The fight only really got interesting when Buggy damaged the hat that Shanks gave to Luffy. It was the first time that Markus had actually seen Luffy pissed off. It's just... there was something missing from it. He felt like Luffy looked more impressive when he got pissed off after he unlocked his Conquerors Haki. He was looking forward to seeing that, though his own Conquerors Haki would be unlocked first! ...Maybe.
As the fight progressed Buggy started to talk about his past with Shanks. Markus frowned, hadn't he done that already? If not then what did he tune out? Ah well, it didn't matter. Markus half-listened in while picking his ear clean. They were supposed to be fighting, not chatting. Still, he didn't say anything and let Luffy learn a little more about his idol's past. Markus was looking forward to the day Luffy and Shanks met again. He wanted to meet Shanks in person himself. One of the Yonko, the four strongest pirates in the world! A supposed master of Conquerors Haki! If he could learn even just a little from Shanks... Well, a pirate can dream, right?
As Buggy finished talking about his past, his body split in two right at his waist. His torso hovered higher into the air as he shouted, "Because of that bastard Shanks my plans were pushed back ten years! I swore from then on that whoever touched my treasure, no matter who they are, would DIE!"
With the final word out of his mouth his torso flew through the air away from Luffy. Markus glanced in the direction Buggy was flying and smirked. Nami was standing over there with a bag of treasure in her arms. Neither he nor Zoro moved. Nami was panicking but Markus just smirked. Almost looking bored, Luffy cocked his leg back and swung it forcefully between Buggy's helpless legs. Markus and Zoro grimaced at the sight and sound of Luffy's leg viciously crushing Buggy's balls.
The two men watching closed their legs slightly while the victim froze in midair from the pain inflicted on his personal jewels. He talked about protecting his treasure but forgot to protect his most precious treasure. After a back and forth between Nami and the downed Buggy over the philosophy of whoever stole the treasure last becoming the owner, the fight was back on.
Buggy's entire body split into pieces that flew through the air making it difficult for Luffy to find a way to fight him. As Luffy looked around while Buggy chased Nami, he saw Buggy's feet walking on the ground. Markus grinned as he watched Luffy snag one of Buggy's feet. This scene had always been one of his favorites. Buggy's Bara Bara no Mi was a decent Devil Fruit. It made him immune to swords not coated in Haki and even gave him some limited flight-like capabilities. However, his feet always needed to remain firmly on the ground, a clear weakness that Luffy was taking advantage of.
Luffy started by tickling Buggy's foot causing the mad clown to laugh. Then he pinched the foot, hurting Buggy in the process. Finally, he slammed Buggy's foot into the ground toes first. Markus grimaced a little at that. It had to hurt to have your toes stubbed so forcefully! As Buggy turned to yell at Luffy to get him to stop, Nami swung the bag of treasure at him in an attempt to knock him away. It failed as Buggy caught the bag. Before anything bad could happen to Nami, Luffy came charging over and kicked Buggy's head like a ball and sent it slamming into the ground with enough force to send it sliding away.
From where he was sitting, Markus couldn't really hear the normal volume conversation between Luffy and Nami. But he watched, amused, as Buggy's head floated in the air. From his vantage point, he could see Nami take off and rapidly tie up all of Buggy's body parts before he called them all back. It left Buggy with just his head, hands, and feet. Mini-Buggy was born! Luffy laughed and gave Nami a thumbs up before his arms stretched back, "Time to say goodbye Buggy! Gomu Gomu no..."
Luffy's arms flew through the air towards Buggy, his wrists close together with his palms and fingers spread out, "BAZOOKA!"
The heavy blow slammed into Mini-Buggy and sent him flying through the air and out of sight. Luffy threw his hands in the air in victory while Zoro and Markus walked over to the pair. Luffy turned to look at Nami, "Now you're gunna join my crew right?!"
Nami, swinging two newly packed bags of treasure just looked at Luffy, "I'm just working with you form my own purposes! I'll stick with you guys for now since it seems like I can earn a lot!"
As everyone gathered, Nami held one of the bags of treasure out to Luffy, "You carry this! It's too heavy for me to carry both myself."
Since he didn't have to carry an injured Zoro, Luffy took the bag and looked over at the unconscious village chief, "I should wake him up."
As they approached the unconscious Chief, Markus really couldn't recall if he'd ever even said his real name and he certainly couldn't recall it from the show, the rest of the village showed up. They held all sorts of makeshift weapons making them look like a crowd out to beat a monster with hoes and pitchforks. One of the villagers approached to ask about the pirates, before he could get a straight answer from Nami he noticed the Chief on the ground. He ran over and gently lifted the old man, "What happened? I bet it was those filthy pirates!"
Luffy being Luffy nonchalantly chimed in, "Ah! I did that."
Naturally, such a blatant admission got him the ire of not just the villagers but Nami as well. After some shouting one of the villagers glaring at them asked, "Who the hell are you? Are you pirates too?!"
Again, Luffy being Luffy just nodded, "Yup, we're pirates."
Zoro and Markus couldn't hold it in and started laughing while Nami screamed at Luffy and called him an idiot. The four of them looked at each other while the villagers glared daggers at them. With a grin, Luffy exclaimed, "Run away!"
Everyone began to run, Luffy, Zoro, Markus, and Nami fled while all of the villagers gave chase. Luffy was grinning like a buffoon the whole time while Nami berated him, "Why did you have to make the situation more complicated?!"
Luffy smiled as he replied, "This is a good village." His remark confused Nami until he clarified it, "They're all so mad over their chief, over just one person. No matter what we say they'll still be mad!"
The four of them quickly made their escape. Without Luffy having to carry an injured Zoro they could all move much faster and lose the villagers as they made their way toward the shore and the docks where their boats were tied up. All of them smiled the entire time as they ran away.
