Chapter 6: East Blue Arc: Desperate Situation! Beast Tamer Mohji vs. Luffy!

"Aniki, who's she?" Sasha asked her brother, as the quartet made their escape through the streets.

"Oh, she's our navigator." Luffy replied.

"Get serious!" Nami chided. "Who are you guys?"

"Those four think they can mock me?" Buggy growled. "Screw that! Looks like I can consider this a declaration of war against me. Mohji, there you are." he noticed the beast tamer as the fog faded away.

"Would you mind if I took Roronoa Zoro's head?" Mohji inquired.

"Be my guest." Buggy gave the go-ahead.

"What's with this dog?" Zoro wondered out-loud, collapsing on the ground in front of a white dog guarding a pet shop.

"Dog!" Luffy grinned, squatting in front of the dog. "Hey, Zoro." he looked at the green-haired swordsman who had moved to lean against the shop's pillar. "It's not moving at all."

"Hell if I care." Zoro snorted. "It can do whatever it wants."

"I wonder if it's dead." Luffy peered closer and poked a finger on the dog's forehead. "Ow!" he winced, the white dog retaliated by biting him on the face. "What are you doing, stupid dog?"

"It's times like this that make me wonder who's the older sibling." Sasha sighed.

"Do you know the situation we're in now?" Zoro exclaimed.

"Don't shout so suddenly!" Sasha scolded, forming a sphere of water in her palm. "Healing Mist Spray." she injected the healing mist onto Zoro's knife wound.

"Stop that!" the town's mayor, Boodle, barked, seeing Chouchou and Luffy roughhousing. "Quit bulling Chouchou, you young urns!"

"Who're you, old man?" Zoro asked, as Sasha worked on his wound.

"I'm this town's mayor." the aged man replied. "Who are you? My, what a terrible injury." he noticed the gash on Zoro's waist. "I take it Buggy went after you folks, too? We need to get you to a doctor."

"How's Zoro?" Luffy asked, the mayor exiting from his house he had put Zoro in.

"Your sister's healing him as we speak" Boodle replied. "So, he'll just need to sleep it off."

"So, this dog's name is Chouchou?" Nami petted the dog.

"What's it just sitting here for?" Luffy wondered.

"It's guarding the shop." Boodle replied.

"Guarding?" Nami echoed. "This is a pet food shop." she realized.

"This shop's owner is a good friend of mine." Boodle related. "There you go." he laid down a dish of dog food before Chouchou. "So I'm here to feed his dog in his place." he explained as Chouchou dug in. "He died three months ago, from an illness."

"Don't tell me he's been waiting for his master to return all this time?" Nami wondered.

"That's what everyone says." Boodle closed up the shop. "But I don't think that's it. Chouchou's a smart dog. He's probably long known that his master is dead."

"Then, why is he guarding the shop?" Nami asked.

"I think it's because this shop is a treasure in Chouchou's eyes." Boodle answered. "I think he continues to protect it because its a memento of his dog-loving master. I've tried to make him evacuate on many occasions, but he won't take as much as a step away from here."

"What's that war cry?" Nami gaped, hearing a loud swish.

"It's him!" Boodle panicked. "Beast Tamer Mohji!"

"Hold on!" Nami chased after the frightened mayor. "Wait!"

"I see your friends have deserted you." Mohji remarked, riding his lion as Luffy turned his head up to look at him. "Just after you managed to escape too."

"Who're you?" Luffy inquired.

""I am Beast Tamer Mohji, a member of the Buggy Pirates." Mohji introduced.

"That sure is a weird animal suit you got on." Luffy remarked.

"How rude!" Mohji twitched. "This is my hair! Do you think you can afford to be so relaxed? You must not know about my terrifying skill. There is no animal in this world that Beast Tamer Mohji can't tame! Shake." he offered a hand to Chouchou, who immediately bit on the proffered hand. "Sic him, Richie!" he ordered.

Luffy jumped back to dodge the lion's paw, only to be stuck back into a house by the beast's other paw.

"Good, Richie." Mohji grinned, confident of his victory. "Now, let's find Zoro so I can defeat him and increase my name. What is this?" he stopped in his tracks. "A pet food store. Alright, make your meal quick. Don't tell me this is this pathetic little shop's guard dog?" he noticed Chouchou.

"What a shock." the unharmed Luffy noted, Chouchou had started barking at the intruders. "Alright!" he grinned. "Now it's time to beat all of them up and have Nami the thief be our navigator."

"How are you alive?" Nami was shocked.

"Is it wrong to be alive?" Luffy wondered, seeing the shocked expressions on Nami's and Boodle's faces.

"Being just fine after flying through houses isn't normal." Nami pointed out.

"It's not?" Luffy echoed.

"What is your purpose for coming to this town?" the mayor asked. "Why are you involved with those pirates?"

"I just decided our purpose." Luffy replied. "To get a Grand Line map and a navigator. I think that guy in the animal suit said he was looking for Zoro." he took off. "I'll go check on him and Sasha."

Back at the pet food store, Chouchou was swatted away by Richie's much larger paw and the lion approached his next snack stop. Getting to his feet, Chouchou dashed to defend the shop, biting on one of Richie's hind legs.

"You still come at us..." Mohji remarked, the battered Chouchou getting back up again and threw himself at Richie.

A shocked yelp was heard and blood splattered on the shop sign.

Luffy arrived too late to see the pet food shop burning down, Chouchou howling at the flames.

"Damnit!" Mohji cursed, looking at the bite mark on his arm as Richie carried off his spoils. "That dog even bit me. Wait," he noticed Luffy in front of him. "I just killed you."

"I won't die that easily." Luffy replied.

"Crunch his head for sure this time." Mohji ordered and leapt off Richie.

"I won't lose to some lion!" Luffy twisted his extended arms and wrapped them around the lion's snort. "Gum-Gum..." he jumped over Richie, untwisting his arms. "Hammer!" he slammed the lion to the ground.

"What are you?" Mohji was shocked.

"I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit." Luffy replied.

"You mean you have Devil Fruit powers, just like Captain Buggy!" Mohji stammered. "All right!" he relented. "I peacefully apologize to you!"

"You don't need to apologize now." Luffy corrected. "'Cause that dog's treasure is never coming back. That's why I'm gonna kick your ass." stretching his arm, he gripped Mohji by the throat and drew him in, before sending the Beast Tamer to the ground with a punch.

"Pirates are all the same, every last one!" Nami hissed, seeing the downtrodden Chouchou in front of the burnt down shop. "They take what people hold dear without a second thought. Oh, you're alive, pirate." she mocked, seeing Luffy. "I figured the lion ate you for sure. As a pirate, you'll do the same thing. Maybe I should kill you right now before you can gather a crew and attack people too!"

"Come, stop that, girl." Boodle fended Nami off.

"As if you could ever kill me." Luffy shrugged off the threat.

"Maybe I'll try and see, then!" Nami snapped.

"I said stop!" Boodle chided. "What's with you people?"

"This is all I could take back." Luffy sat down by Chouchou, putting the retrieved box of pet food in front of the dog. "Bastard ate all the rest."

"He... fought with that lion." Nami gasped. "For that dog's sake..."

"You fought good." Luffy looked at the bruised dog. "I didn't see you fight, but I can tell. I'll have Sasha heal you afterwards."

Chouchou just took the box of pet food food into his mouth and lumbered back to his post. Dropping the box, he gave Luffy a bark.

"Good luck to you, too!" Luffy grinned.

"I'm so pathetic!" Boodle hissed. "Chouchou and this young'un will fight so hard, yet, why must I, the mayor, sit by and watch our town be obliterated? This town is a treasure to me and all the citizens. I cannot let them domineer over it any more!"

"Calm down, Mayor!" Nami urged.

"Even my own house..." Boodle muttered, Buggy's cannonball leveled the street.

"Zoro's sleeping in there!" Luffy exclaimed.

"The young'uns are dead now." the mayor sighed.

"Hey, Sasha, Zoro, are you alive?" Luffy hurried over to the demolished house.

"That's one hell of a way to wake a guy up." Zoro muttered, Sasha having shielded the both of them with a water barrier sphere. "Not enough sleep..."

"How are you still alive?" Nami was stunned.

"Thank goodness!" Luffy beamed. "You two are alive!"

"I refuse to let them get away with this." Boodle swore. "I can stand this no more. Some random scum had no right to suddenly destroy our 40 years. I am this town's mayor. I will protect this town."

"Stop!" Nami held the mayor back. "Stop, mayor!"

"Looks like the party's getting more interesting." Zoro grinned, the mayor pulling himself free from Nami and running to face Buggy.

"Sure is." Luffy beamed. "I like that old guy. I absolutely won't let him die."

"In that case..." Zoro stated, walking off. "The injury to my name is much worse than the injury to my gut." he tied his bandanna around his head.

"Our destination is the Grand Line." Luffy added. "So, we're gonna steal that map back now. Join my crew, Nami."

"I'll never be a pirate." Nami swore, slapping away Luffy's offered hand. "How about we team up for our common goal?"

"Here we go again." Sasha sighed.

"Fire!" Buggy ordered his crew to attack the aged mayor who had dared challenge him. " "The straw hat guy!" he gasped, Luffy having separated his dismembered hand from Boodle's neck.

"I'm here to kick your ass, just like I promised." Luffy declared.