"We really should have gotten directions for the next island back at that town…." Morgan sighed as he stared out at the open waves while Zoro took a nap to the sounds of cawing birds flying overhead. Morgan and Zoro had been out on the sea for a few days already and were already making progress but they still needed to make land to replenish supplies for their travels, adding to the fact that they were running low on food too.
"We should have gone to the left." Zoro repeated as he woke up and stretched as he looked around in that direction; "I think I saw an island a while back that was good enough for us to land on."
"Zoro, that wasn't an island….that was a group of turtles swimming….but you are right, there should be an island nearby on the map." Morgan would say as he grabbed the nearby map and started to read it but groaned in frustration; "I probably should've gotten a navigator on board before starting off on this journey." he lamented as he perked his head up to search for anything.
"Still….we do need food if we're going to travel more and on top of that there's nothing to fish here except if we wanna poke the Sea Kings below…." Zoro suggested as he peered over the side and into the deep blue waters.
"I'm not touching that option with a ten foot pole if I can choose not to." Morgan refused outright as he adjusted the sails.
"I've been meaning to ask, ever since we got on the boat, you've looked everywhere but down…what's your deal with water, you eat one of those weird fruits that give you powers?" Zoro would ask curiously; having noticed Genma's prowess when they fought the Marines back in Shells Town and now his aversion to the sea.
"No, I just….I was a little kid and I watched my brother get thrown into the ocean by a mountain bandit and nearly got eaten by a Sea King….I just can't deal with staring into the ocean and not know what else could be down there…." Genma explained with a visible shudder; he had watched what happened with Luffy and the Bandit back when they were kids, adding to the fact that he watched the giant sea monster breach the water and eat Shanks's arm had indeed been a catalyst for Morgan's fear of the deep sea.
"Damn…That actually sounds scary." Zoro would admit; he would add more onto it but he heard a giant caw as he looked up and saw a gargantuan pink bird flapping it's wings in the sky; "Hey…HEY MORGAN! I think we found dinner!" Zoro would shake Morgan from his thoughts and pointed upward.
"Man…that thing's huge, it's definitely got more then enough meat for use to last but you think we can get it from up there? I don't carry a gun…." Morgan mused as he tried to think of a way to get in range but then came up with an idea; "Okay, I need you to hear me out on this…"
—A few minutes of explanations later—
"I still don't think this is going to work…you're either the ballsiest pirate I've met…or the craziest." Zoro would say as he had his swords drawn and in his Three Swords Stance.
"You just need to push me hard enough to launch me into the sky, I should be able to take care of the rest….also you're a pirate too now so you can't really judge" Morgan explained as he stood on the other side of the boat and gathered up Haki in his legs.
"I really hope you know what you're doing because I can only row so fast if you bellyflop into the water." Zoro sighed and started to charge himself; "Santoryu: 1080 Phoenix Pound Cannon!" He would yell out and started to spin.
Morgan rushed forward and then planted his armament imbued feet firmly on the edges of Zoro's swords right on the cusp of his next spin; "Swift Style Kenpo: Rabbit Rush!"
The result was that Zoro's shockwave and his captain's powerful kick off of him propelled Morgan through the air like a rocket towards the giant bird; Zoro watched and waited for the bird to go down however he was taken by surprise when the bird kept flying and hearing the rather profane language from Morgan as he tried to wrestle himself around the bird's neck and throttle it; "I GOT IT!" Morgan would yell loud enough from the air.
"GREAT! GLOAT ABOUT IT ONCE YOU GET BACK DOWN HERE!" Zoro yelled back up at Morgan as he frantically rowed after the bird; keeping an eye on it and watching his captain trying to fight a bird that was several times his size.
BOOM!
Morgan and Zoro both heard a cannon going off in the distance; though it was hard to manoeuvre, Morgan hoisted himself up around the bird's back in an attempt to jump off but he couldn't prepare himself for the sudden shake that came as the cannonball collided with the bird and sent them both careening into the ground.
"MORGAN!" Zoro would yell as he kept an eye on their trajectory as he saw an island nearby; recognising it as the culprit of the cannon fire.
Everything was hazy as Morgan came too, he remembered trying to leap off the bird but there was a loud explosion and everything fell under him. Once he sat up; he was just as confused when he realised that he was sat in a crater of what looked to be a town square on top of the bird, "I should probably apologise to whoever runs this….town." he would think to himself but adjusted himself to hide behind the bird when he heard the sound of chuckling.
"You think this is where it landed?" One voice would ask the other as two pirates came into view; the taller one had a cutlass in hand along with wearing a blindingly bright clown suit while the other shorter one had a pistol tucked into his waistband and had a giant mane of brightly coloured hair.
"Look right in front of you, you idiot!" The short one yelled up at his cohort; "But maaaaaan just look at the size of this thing…The Captain's gonna be pretty stoked to have this thing on a spit and roasted up."
"Yeah…until that jerkass the lion tamer wants it all for his overgrown house cat." the taller one groaned as he poked at the bird unenthusiastically; "With the way he treats that lion, you'd think it'd be starving."
"Hey, better Mohji kick up a stink about it then Cabaji…that unicycling weirdo always has a reason to use us as target practice if we look at him wrong."
"Lion Tamer? Unicycle? Is this town just one giant circus or something?" Morgan thought to himself before one of the pirates took him out of his thoughts.
"Looks like we've got a visitor, what's your story pal? if you want a piece of this bird then buzz off, this oversized turkey's going right to the captain." the taller one warned Morgan as he pointed at him with his cutlass.
"Look I just got here and I'm really not in the mood for…whatever you're a part of." Morgan would sigh as he stood up to face the pirates; "So why not just let me walk away and I'll pretend that you don't look like weirdos."
"Funny guy, huh?" the shorter one would smirk as he cocked his pistol; "Well guess what, Chuckles…The only ones who get to make the jokes are us, so last warning….Go. Away. Or it might just get ugly for you."
"You guys really sure you wanna ride this train?" Morgan would ask as he kept his eyes trained on the weapons in front of him.
"If you want to fight, then choo choo!" The taller one rushed at him with his sword, swinging wildly but missed him; earning the taller pirate a kick to the face.
"Muggs! You're in for it now, buddy….don't you know who's territory this i-GWAH!" The shorter pirate threatened Morgan but was interrupted by the gun quickly getting knocked out of his hand and then punctuated with a swift strike between the eyes by Morgan's palm.
The two pirates were quickly incapacitated as Morgan dragged them out of the way of the road before starting to look around. "Man….I can't even go five minutes in ONE place without some up jumped jerks trying to push me around." he grumbled to himself as he then tried looking for someone more….Normal, unaware that someone had their eye trained on him.
"HEY! You really are something, picking a fight like that!" a feminine voice would call out to Morgan from one of the rooftops.
Morgan quickly looked up to see a redhead staring down at him with a bandaged arm and smiling; "I'm not with them, I'm just passing on through…well, looking for some supplies."
The girl quickly jumped to one of the balconies and then to the lower ground where Morgan was; "Supplies huh? Well, it's your lucky day, buddy! because I just so happen to have some stuff to hand off….in fact, I think we could be of use to each other." she said to him as she walked over; "What do you say?"
"Well, I'm gonna need more then just being of use….is there somewhere we can talk that isn't going to be watched?" He would ask before the girl took his wrist and guided him to a nearby house.
—A plate of food and an explanation later—
"So you fell out of the sky and landed here of all places? Gotta tell you, you've picked a real bad time to come around here." the girl would say as she watched Morgan eat.
"Well, it IS the truth after all….but enough about me, what's this "deal" that you want me to go in with?" Morgan asked as he drained the glass of water nearby.
"Alright, There's a nasty crew that set up shop in the dock outside of town….it's run by a pirate named Buggy and I'm looking to….liberate some of his stuff." she would explain; "So here's the deal, you help me with Buggy's goons and I'll help you with your supply problem…how's that sound to you?"
"Well, dealing with other pirates really isn't a good idea for me right now, but I guess I don't really have much of a choice, now do I?" Morgan would shrug; "Still, I never would have pegged you for a pirate."
"Don't get the wrong idea! I'm not a pirate, I'm just a thief that's looking to steal from other pirates." the girl would glower at him; "I wouldn't stoop to the low that someone like Buggy would play around in…."
"Well, if it steals like a pirate and plots like a pirate…." Morgan muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes, "Still, it's only just us and you want us to take on an entire pirate crew of who knows how many…that's a tad dangerous, even for me….you sure you're willing to risk your life that much for some treasure?"
"Are you kidding? I've seen you knock those two goons out like they were nothing…and I'm not gonna do this by fighting, I'm gonna lie to them and sneak out the treasure." The girl refuted him as she eyed him; "Those kinds of moves could do some real wonders…and if you help me out, then I can be real grateful~" the girl purred at him with a wink through lidded eyes, amping up the charm to try convincing him.
"Well it's not like I can go anywhere right now, plus it could be a problem if those two goons from before squeal on me…plus who knows, maybe this girl can help me find someone who can navigate a ship." Morgan mused to himself as he tried to ignore the girl's attempt at seducing him; "Alright, fine…I'll help you out, I'm Morgan D. Ford." he finally agreed to the girl's joy as she held a hand out to him.
"My name's Nami and consider this a partnership, Ford." She finally introduced herself as the two shook hands. "Now, on to the next part of the plan." She would say and held up some rope before tying him up around his arms but kept his legs free so he could walk; "I'll walk you into the Big Top and claim that I found the guy who beat up his men, once they think I'm friendly then I can sneak back and take the treasure." Nami explained to him as Morgan looked at her with an unamused expression.
"If I had known you were into the whole rope scene then I'd have asked you for a cut of that treasure." Morgan quipped at her with a sarcastic note in his voice.
"I will hit you, you know…." Nami would retort back at him as she walked with him out of the house, though as Morgan kept his head forward to look where he was going, he didn't notice Nami's faint blush at his remark.
"He thinks I'm some kind of pervert because I opted to tie him up, if anything HE's the pervert for bringing it up…though…he's not such a bad looking guy, it could be fu-NO Nami! focus, you've got a treasure to steal and a ton of it at that!" Nami was stuck in her thoughts as she guided him through the town towards the Orange town dock where a gigantic ship that was shaped like a circus carousel was set up.
It was a bright, flashy orange and it had what looked to be Buggy's Jolly Roger emblazoned on it, the raucous sounds of a party could be heard outside as a literal circus was parading around a table with a man wearing a giant orange coat and hat sat in one of the bigger chairs smirking at Nami as she brought her "prisoner" to him.
"T-That's him, Captain Buggy! He's the one who attacked us!" The two pirates meekly cried at their captain.
"So what's this? I don't normally do slave trading, little lady." Buggy said as he sat up in his chair to get a better look at the two of them; his white makeup certainly outed him as a pirate but the big red nose on his face certainly made it hard for Morgan to take him seriously; "Though it is rather surprising that you brought me the one guy that clobbered my boys around."
"Oh, I'm not here for a trade….I'm here to join your crew~ I heard my Boss here caused some trouble and thought it'd be good if I offered you a little…welcoming gift." Nami said in a syrupy sweet tone that took Morgan by surprise as she effectively double crossed him; "So, does this suffice for you to accept me?"
"Why you double crossing, two faced-" Morgan looked like he was ready to let loose a slew of rightfully angry word for her but a quick elbow to his side shut him up as two more pirates showed up to drag Morgan into a cage.
"So you just offer me up this guy as a gift? And your boss no less! I gotta say, you've got a heartless streak miss…." Buggy would laugh as he watched Morgan get thrown into a cage.
"My name's Nami and I can be a good fit for your crew, I can read maps and help steal treasure~" She would add with a wide smile.
"Well then…Welcome our new friend and crewmate Nami!" Buggy roared out to the crowd who loudly cheered as Nami was welcomed into the party.
Morgan would glare daggers at Nami as she was ushered over to a banquet table and introduced into the circus/party that was underway from fire breathers to clowns.
"Sorry, "Boss", but it's a pirate eat pirate world out here and I'm willing to do what I can to get by~" Nami would say before she was grabbed by Buggy.
"So Nami, now that you're an official member of my crew….I say we give you an extra special welcome!" Buggy would say ceremoniously as he had his cohorts wheel out a giant cannon before pointing it directly at Morgan's cage; "To celebrate you leaving your boss behind and joining our crew….you can start off your welcome and send HIM off with a bang!" Buggy would say with a merry laugh as a bunch of his crew laughed at his joke as well.
Nami was starting to have second thoughts, sure she was willing to steal Buggy's treasure but doing it at the cost of someone else's life left a bad taste in her mouth; the pirates around her started to chant and Buggy placed a box of matches in her hand.
"Well? Go on, everyone's all excited for you Nami, so show us how much you care." Buggy goaded her as he smirked at the sight of Morgan staring down the barrel of a cannon.
"W-We don't have to, why don't we just go back to the party and have fun?" Nami said to try and convince Buggy, glancing to the fuse on the cannon and then to Buggy who then had a significantly different look on his face.
"You're gonna do it…now." Buggy would whisper in her ear, the jovial smile from before was now a rather dark and ghoulish look, but one of the pirates decided to "help" her out by taking one of the matches.
Morgan simply stared at her with a mellow look on his face; whether he had accepted his fate or he was revelling in her cover being blown; "You see? This is what happens if you don't stake everything on your desire." He remarked with a sly smile.
"Here, it's real simple…all you gotta do to set this bad boy off is this!" The pirate would say and struck the match.
The moment she saw the flame was when her entire body shifted; she reached to her waistband and pieced together several pipes into a wooden staff and then swung it down on the pirate's head with a rather loud "CLONK!"
The entire party stopped as everyone stared in shock, Buggy however was not happy; "Nami, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He would growl at her; starting to loom himself over Nami as he grabbed his knives.
A loud set of boots could be heard running ever closer as the knives connected with a sword and the sword seemed to be attached to…
"ZORO!" Morgan said with an excited smile, happy to see his crewmate show up; "How did you find us so quick?" He asked, confused at how Zoro homed in on them so easily.
"Talk later! let's just get out of here for now." Zoro would say as he started using his swords to deflect Buggy's knives with each swing.
Nami was flabbergasted at the sudden appearance of Zoro but her confusion was cut short as she heard the fizzle of a fuse and saw that the cannon was lit and ready to fire at Morgan; remembering what he said before and her sudden bout of conscience had both of her hands clasp around the lit fuse.
The sudden burning sensation of her hands made her whimper in pain but she doggedly held on as the fuse stopped and she glanced up to Morgan who watched her with a rather impressed look on his face. "Don't think that this changes anything! I'm still going to be a thief and I intend on stealing every Belli of this guy's treasure, I'm just not going to do it like this!" she snapped at him with a grunt before picking up her staff and joining in the fight.
Zoro on the other hand seemed to have Buggy on the ropes; "Time to wrap this up…." He thought to himself as he rushed towards Buggy before drawing his swords out and bisecting the clown with a brutal "ONIGIRI!"
The crewmates watched him in bemusement before starting to laugh like it was all a joke, confusing Zoro as they literally just watched their captain get cut down.
"The hell's your problems? if you don't want to end up like your captain then start ru-GAH!" Zoro was interrupted as he felt Buggy's knife run him through the gut, but as he looked down at his stomach, Zoro could only see Buggy's separated hand pull away as the Clown got to his feet in a volley of separated body parts.
"Roronoa Zoro, I should've guessed that the day would arrive when you came for my head, but unfortunately for you…I'm in no position to lose it~" Buggy taunted Zoro as he retracted his arm.
"Zoro! Let's hightail it! we can't do anything like this!" Morgan yelled out to Zoro as he tried using Haki infused kicks to try freeing himself but unfortunately; the tight space and him being tied up wasn't enough for him to do much except struggle.
The worst was yet to come however as one of the fire breathers seemed intent on finishing the job and sent a flame over the recently doused fuse of the cannon, setting it alight and on it's path to a flashy conclusion.
Zoro however had a different plan in mind, he hobbled over towards the cannon and then crouched down so he could hoist the barrel on his shoulder; to Morgan's, Nami's and all of Buggy's crew's shock; Zoro shoved the cannon over and around itself so the cannon was pointing in the other direction….towards Buggy and his crew.
"HIT THE DECK!" one of the pirates yelled as the fuse went all the way down and filled the air with a deafening KABABOOM!
By the time that the smoke had cleared, Buggy had thrown down the pirate that he used as a shield before noticing something was off; "Go out there! GET OUT THERE AND FIND THEM!" Buggy yelled out to the rest of his crew as a blood trail leading off the ship and the cage holding Morgan was missing without a trace.