CHAPTER 8 : EVIL WOMAN

**CHAPTER 8: EVIL WOMAN**

*FFFFSSSSSSSSSSSSSH* The fuse started burning.

"Yeah!"

"Yeahhhh!"

"The Buggy cannon, gooo!"

Excited voices erupted from behind.

The person who lit the fuse, an innocent-looking orange-haired girl, slowly stepped back after setting the fuse to destroy someone who had just helped her. Now, looking at the ignited fuse and the slowly burning rope, she decided something. She took out three small sticks from her clothes, combined them to make a long stick, and marched toward the cannon.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU DAMN PIRATES!" she yelled, attacking the pirates standing between her and the cannon.

She fought the few unready pirates, knocking them on their heads as she advanced.

"WHAT?!"

A collective voice came from the Buggy Pirates standing on the rooftop, waiting for the big explosion.

"NAMI! You idiot, what are you doing? I specially gave you the honor to fire the BUGGY CANNON!" screamed the captain of the Buggy Pirates, Buggy.

Nami, without caring for her future and acting upon her heart for the first time in a long while, finally reached the end of the roof's edge. She put her hands on the fuse, attempting to extinguish the fire. It took longer than she assumed, still holding the fuse.

"Behind you," Luffy said.

"Go, kill her too!"

"Yeahhh!"

Another round of voices came as more pirates jumped forward, just above Nami's head, to attack her. Nami, sensing her life slipping away but still not letting go of the fuse, prepared to give up on this unfair life.

(0-0)

(^ ^)

(o-o)?

Wondered Nami as she opened her eyes, experiencing no pain.

"ZORO!" shouted an excited Luffy.

"How many does it take to beat up a girl?" asked Zoro, defending Nami from the incoming Buggy Pirates.

Nami, seeing the green-haired pirate hunter, refocused on stopping the cannon. After successfully stopping it from blowing up, she let herself collapse in exhaustion.

"So, are you going to be my navigator?" asked Luffy from inside the cage.

"NO, YOU IDIOT! How can you ask me that after all this?" screamed Nami.

"Oi, Luffy. What's going on?" Alex asked as he closed in on Luffy from behind, holding the keys to the cage.

Luffy replied, "Nothing much, just that bird..."

**A FEW HOURS AGO**

"Just wait, you little thief. Once we capture you, Buggy-sama will reward us!"

"Stay there, you damned thief!"

"Give us our map!"

Shouted a few pirates as they chased an orange-haired girl across the town.

"Hey! Look at that strange bird, it has something in its mouth," someone shouted.

"Quick, shoot it down," someone ordered, and a cannon shot was launched at the big bird in the sky.

"See, something's falling down."

"It must be something valuable," said some pirates.

"AHHHHHHHHHH, I'M FLYING!" came a voice, falling at an astonishing speed.

*BOOOOM*

The object suddenly collided with the ground, knocking out the pirates surrounding the girl. The face became clear, revealing a boy with black hair wearing a straw hat.

Seeing this newcomer, the girl had an idea.

"Oh BOSS, you're here. I'm going into the base; you handle them," she said and ran off somewhere.

The boy was confused as to why the pirates were attacking him, but it didn't matter because he didn't care.

After a few moments, Luffy finished off the last pirate, looked up at a house, and saw the girl he had just encountered.

"Wow, you're quite strong. I'm Nami. Wanna make a team? We can help each other," the girl said as if nothing was wrong with the situation.

**AT THE RESTAURANT**

"So, you wanna be our navigator?" Luffy asked Nami.

"Never! I will never be one of you dirty pirates."

"Come on, be our navigator. We're not bad pirates, we're good ones," Luffy insisted.

Suddenly, an idea came to the girl's mind.

"Okay, I'll be your navigator. Now let's go, we have to go to a place," Nami said.

"Okay," replied Luffy.

**PRESENT**

"And that's why you're here because she tricked you by handing you over to Buggy to show her loyalty," Alex summed up the story as Luffy got out of the cage.

"PRETTY MUCH," Luffy replied.

"Why did you stop the cannon?" Alex cast a questioning gaze towards Nami, demanding her to clarify.

"I... I wanted to use you for escaping my crime of theft, but I... can never be with someone as DIRTY as those pirates," she tried to clarify.

"We'll let you go, for now," Alex spoke before Zoro could say anything.

"And don't worry, we're not pirates. We're Straw Hat Adventurers. He just doesn't know that word yet, he's a little dumb, you know," Alex said, glancing at Luffy.

"YOU'RE RORONOA ZORO, HUH? ARE YOU HERE FOR MY BOUNTY?"