Chapter 4: Shoo-Shoo and Mohji

Chapter 4:

Shoo-Shoo and Mohji

The girl grabbed the box the other pirate had dropped when she attacked him and made her way around as Zoro flipped the cannon with a burst of strength. She struck a match and lit the fuse.

"No, wait!" Buggy cried. "That still has one of my special Buggy Balls in it!"

BOOOOOM!

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Coby (being dragged by Zoro) ran as if their lives depended on it. Behind them, parts of the rooftop crumbled, falling into the street below. Luffy was laughing his head off, Zoro was silent, and Nami staring at the hat-wearing pirate thinking he was insane. After all, he has just ordered her to shoot the infamous Buggy the Clown with his own cannon.

And, she realized, she'd done it, too. She had just shot one of the most wanted men in all of the East Blue on the whim of an energetic teen in a cage. She was just as crazy as he was!

Buggy shoved the now-dead pirate's charred corpse away from him, glad that he had shielded himself in time for the blast. Beside him, his two most devoted followers did the same.

"Well that sucked," the one with long dark-green hair commented. He moved to retrieve his unicycle from a pile of moaning survivors and unresponsive casualties. Afterward, he tsked at the layer of soot on it. "They almost broke my unicycle."

"Screw your unicycle," the other man, who wore a fluffy white hat that looked like a pair of bear ears, spat. "They almost killed Ritchie." He walked over to a large, white lion with various bright colors dyed into its main where it was cowering behind its own blackened meat shield. He began whispering consoling words to the giant feline.

"Mohji," Buggy called, catching the man's attention, "as soon as Ritchie is better, I want both of you to track down those insolent fools that dared to try to flashily blow us up and kill them. Cabaji, find out how many survived and can be healed. I have no need for a crippled pirate."

"Aye, Captain Buggy!"

Eventually, the group stopped by a pet food store where Zoro cut Luffy free from the ropes that still had him pinned. The store had no name as far as they could tell, but the sign clearly said Pet Food. In front of the store sat a white dog, siting on the ground as still as a statue. It eyed the newcomers, but otherwise did not move. That was, until Luffy ran up to the dog.

"Doggy!" Luffy cried like a little child, kneeling before the immobile mammal and reaching out to pet it. The swordsman, thief, and boy sweatdropped when the dog bit his hand. As Luffy ran around trying to shake the dog off, the green-haired man turned to the orange-haired girl.

"So I guess you're Nami, then?"

"You know me?" There was a waiver in her voice. If Roranoa Zoro knew her name, did that mean she was wanted? Was there a bounty on her head?

"Don't worry, Miss Nami," Coby soothed, recognizing the scared quiver he'd heard in his own voice far too often. "Captain Luffy called out your name earlier when he told you to fire that cannon."

"Oh. Ok?"

"So what was Luffy doing in a cage?" Zoro asked, tearing a strip of cloth from his shirt and having Coby wrap his wound.

"He agreed to help me steal Buggy's treasure and in return, I'd be the crew's navigator for a little bit. It's only a temporary thing, but Buggy thought it would be a good idea to have me shoot my 'former captain'."

"Does that mean we're going to need a bigger boat?" Coby questioned.

"Nah. We can take the one I, uh, commandeered from some lovely fellows."

"Let me guess," Zoro grunted, wincing as Coby finished tightening the makeshift bandage. "Three pirates you left at sea in a storm."

"You meet them?"

"Picked them up, beat them up, then forced them to row."

"Huh. Neat. Wait... How did you get Luffy out of that ca-"

"Get away from Shoo-Shoo, you filthy pirates!" an old man yelled, running up to the group where Luffy had still not stopped trying to shake the dog off his hand. The man was dressed in old armor that might withstand one swing of a decent sword, two if the first the first hit just right. His hair was white and his skin tan. He had a short spear on his back.

"Who're you calling a pirate?" Nami cried the same time as Zoro growled, "Who you calling filthy?"

"You blasted Buggy Pirates!" the man shouted angrily, pulled the spear off his back to appear menacing. "It wasn't enough to run us out of town and take all our money, so now you're stealing from dogs, too? Just how low will you pirates stoop?"

"Wait, mister!" Coby exclaimed. "We're not with the Buggy Pirates! We were actually f-fighting them a few minutes ago. Didn't you see the big explosion?"

"I saw a row of houses I'd help build get blown to rubble!" the irate old man roared. He swung his spear.

"Listen, old guy," Luffy said, holding Shoo-Shoo out where the dog was chewing on his hand like a hanging chew toy while catching the sear with his free hand. "We don't like the clown guy any more than you do. That's why we shot him with his own cannon."

"Y-you did what?!"

"It was pretty fun, too! Shishishi."

"Well," the man hesitated, taking his spear back as Luffy let go. "I guess if you're an enemy of Buggy, then you're a friend to this town. I'm Mayor Boodle (Luffy snickered at the name) and the dog there is Shoo-Shoo. We're the only two left in this town since those pirates came. Everyone else is hiding in the forest."

"Why are you still here?" Coby asked.

"I come back once or twice a day to feed Shoo-Shoo who refuses to leave the food store his owner ran. He was a good friend of mine, but he died of a disease a few months ago. Poor Shoo-Shoo; I'm sure he knows his master's gone, but he won't leave his treasure."

"Treasure?" Nami questioned excitedly, her body practically vibrating with greed.

"The store," Boodle elaborated, much to Nami's disappointment. Off in the distance, the quiet sound of approaching footfalls was making itself known. "Oh no!" the mayor panicked. "It's Beast Tamer Mohji! Run!" He bolted faster than the younger generation would have thought possible for such an old guy.

Down the road came Richie the Lion, his master Mohji riding atop. The lion caught the smell of the food and began eying the store, obviously wanting to tear the place apart and devour its contents. Mohji, on the other hand, eyed the group of four humans and one dog that stood in front of the store. Of them, only two seemed afraid. A pink-haired boy he remembered seeing with the swordsman and the thief that had stolen their map. The other three, a teen, Roranoa Zoro, and a dog, remained still.

"Finally," Mohji smiled darkly, "I've found you. Are you ready to die, Straw Hat? Roranoa? Nami?" The large feline made a growling sound that almost sounded like a question. "Oh I suppose, Richie. If you finish them off quickly. Attack!"

The lion pounced with gusto, causing the four humans to scatter. Boodle poked his head out from around a corner to watch just as the fight began while Shoo-Shoo would remain neutral until his treasure was threatened. Mohji turned Richie toward Coby, deeming him the lowest-level threat.

The pre-teen panicked and began throwing whatever he could get his hands on, the majority of which was small debris from the houses that had been destroyed two streets away by the first Buggy Ball. The small chunks of rock bounced off of the lion with little to no effect until Coby managed a lucky hit. Richie roared as a piece of rock nailed him in the eye. He shook off the pain, nearly shaking Mohji off as well, and charged the ex-marine wannabe.

"Help me!" Coby cried, finding his voice. That was all the other two official members needed to come to his aid. Mohji found himself flying forward when his mount's momentum was halted by a fist and a sheathed blade. The beast tamer landed roughly between two pissed, adult pirates and a scared child pirate.

"Never touch my nakama," Luffy muttered darkly, "or I'll make you regret it." Next to him, Zoro stood silent like a demon ready to reap souls. Mohji did the most sensible thing.

He tried to run. Unfortunately for him, Luffy could stretch himself. The captain's extended arm latched onto the beast tamer's shirt collar and dragged him back, much to Nami's surprise.

"We aren't done with you," Luffy grinned, his fist connecting with the Beast Tamer's nose shortly afterward. The force threw the man away from the younger pirate and right into the waiting arms of the so-called Pirate Hunter. Mohji audibly gulped.

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed at the sounds of Mohji whimpering and screaming alternating as Zoro used him as a punching bag until the orange-haired girl grabbed him by the shirt.

"What the Hell was that?" she demanded, shaking the raven-haired teen. "People aren't supposed to stretch!"

"I'm... a... rub... ber... per... son..." Luffy got out through the shaking. "I... ate... the... Gum... Gum... Fruit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Despite her question and the expectation of an answer, Nami did not stop shaking the teen captain.

"Ah," Coby tried, tapping the woman on the arm. She turned her glare on him, leaving Luffy dizzy in her grip. "Devil Fruit!" the boy squeaked, trying the shrink himself.

"What the shrimp means," Zoro began, throwing a black-and-blue Mohji over his shoulder without a care to his pained moaning, "is that our idiot captain ate some weird fruit when he was younger that turned his body into rubber."

"You people really expect me to believe that?" Nami demanded.

"Course we do!" Luffy laughed, grabbing the inside of his mouth and pulling. "Look! see? I'm a rubber-man!"

"But Devil Fruits are just a myth," the girl tried to protest.

"Well here's your proof," Zoro grunted, punching Luffy over the head. The hit did nothing.

"Thank you!" Mayor Boodle cried, running over from where he'd been whacking Mohji with a piece of wood. "Thank you so much!"

"We aren't done yet," Luffy smirked. "I still have to kick that clown jerk's ass."

"Has Mohji not returned yet?" Buggy asked, annoyance filling his voice.

"No, sir," the lookout responded.

"Gah. Fine. Load the cannon again. I want to flashily blow this town to smithereens as soon as he returns."

"Yes, sir!"

End of Chapter 4

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-SwordOfTheGods