Buggy's goons surrounded Zoro and Ame, wary and biding their time in case they attack. "Zoro, hold them back for me, I'll releass Luffy from his confinement. A minute will do, in the meantime protect the girl and fight them off."
Zoro rotated his swords into position, soldifying his grip and steadying his stance, and observing the actions of his enemies. "Who do you think I am? I might even take care of them right here an now."
Zoro made the first move and rushed towards the nearest enemy, slashing him and nearby enemies, directly rendering them unable to fight.
Meanwhile, Ame took his Kogetsu staff and willed for it to lengthen and become heavier in order to gain enough mass and weight to directly crush and break off Luffy's cage.
Ame felt that the staff has already reached the weight he can only handle and said, "Luffy! Stand back! I'll crush the cage directly!"
Luffy immediately scurried over to the corner of the cage while holding off his hat from being potentially blown over or destroyed.
Ame gathered enough momentum by raising his staff high up, intending to smash it full strength against the metal cage but, he still felt worried it might not be enough so he used his skill. "Burst point! Get out Luffy!"
Ame's staff came crashing down towards the metal cage, not only destroying it, but flattening a part of it in the process, successfully freeing Luffy in the process.
"YOSHA! IM FINALLY FREE, NOW WHERE'S THAT BUGGY GUY? I'LL SHOW HIM WHO'S GOING TO BE THE PIRATE KING!" Luffy shouted, drawing Buggy's attention who immediately dislodged his fists from his body, sending it hurling towards luffy with a knife, aiming to attack him.
Ame deflected Buggy's attack as Luffy threw out his fist, stretching it towards Buggy but to everyone's surprise, Buggy simply evaded Luffy's punch by dislodging his head away from the point of impact.
"Heh...? So that's you Devil fruit huh? That's interesting, I'll defeat you!" Luffy stretched out both of his hands this time and swiftly hurled it towards Buggy, "GOMU GOMU NO! BAZOOKA!!" The attack almost reached Buggy's chest, barely dodging Luffy's swift heavy attack.
"Crap- that was close! I barely dodged it, what's with that?!" Buggy thought.
While Buggy and Luffy were exhanging attacks back and forth, Zoro and Ame were holding back Buggy's goons.
Ame was not faring well against the pirates, he was struggling but barely managing. "Making the staff heavy may be better if I was aiming to have a powerful attack but with my endurance and stamina, I can't possibly last long while holding a heavy object." Ame's staff may be better in terms of durability and versatility, but it's combat ability was only a little bit better than his old staff when not using it's unique properties.
Ame was skilled enough to take on one of the pirates on his own, but that's only because of his skills. While his foundation and physique couldn't even hope to be on par with these Pirates, or even Buggy.
Not mentioning his poor footwork and mobility, while the only fighting technique he has was just for using staffs, only the fundamentals, and foundation of the staff but nothing else, not the experience of fighting with a staff.
In another words, he's still an amateur, a total novice in the world of fighting and combat.
Ame was worried that he might hold back Zoro but he has no time to linger around those thoughts, he had to fight to keep his friends and the people of this town, safe.
A pirate attempted to slash Ame's face but was blocked by his staff, a kick finding its way towards the pirate's face. Another one thrusted his blade, but he simply quickly stepped to the side to evade it, immediately disarming him and kicking him to the side.
However, an enemy managed to slip off of Ame's sight. Ame was sensed something was wrong and turned around but he was already a step too late... "Crap!"
Fortunately, the knife was deflected to the ground by a sword coming from Ame's back.
It was Zoro's sword.
"Oi Ame, don't lose track of them, once you let the leave your sight you are going down, keep that in mind." Zoro was watching Ame's back even from all of the men barraging him with their own attacks.
"Thanks Zoro, I'll keep that in mind!" Ame nodded in understanding.
While the crew fought for their lives, Nami on the other hand was trying her best to be of use by smashing the daylights out of the pirates who were unfortunate enough to not be unconscious from Ame amd Zoro.
Although she was a thief, she still has something called morality and humanity. She wasn't going leave when some people were fighting to save her.
Unfortunately, nobody noticed the pirate behind the buggy cannon. He sneakily loaded the Buggy ball inside and slowly moved it towards them and lit it up.
Nami who heard a sound similar to a cannon going off frantically looked around and spotted the cannon aiming at them while one of the buggy pirates crew members were standing behind it, she knew what was going to happen.
"LUFFY! STAFF GUY AND SWORD GUY! JUMP DOWN! THEY ARE USING THE CANNON!" Nami shouted as she also jumped down off the roof.
Luffy, Ame and Zoro weren't slow either as they quickly jumped off soon after Nami's warning and ran off, escaping from the Buggy Pirate's eyes, atleast momentarily.
The crew managed to run quite a distance as they couldn't see the building the Buggy Pirates were occupying.
Everyone took sat and took a rest outside a petshop with a dog guarding it. The dog seemed hostile as it kept barking at them so they took a rest far away from it, except for Luffy.
"Haaah..." Zoro sighed as he touched a wound on his stomach, "Seems like they managed to score one on me, I guess I should be glad that it wasn't any worse that this..." Zoro were still covered with small wounds but the one his stomach was the worst.
While the crew was resting, an old man suddenly came up to them upon seeing them sitting around outside the petstore and asked, "What are you kids doing around here? It's dangerous you know! The Buggy Pirates are going around this town and wrecking havoc!"
The crew looked at the old man who was wearing a full leather armor and wielding a spear, it looked like he was a guard at first but that thought was quickly dispelled when the old man introduced himself.
"I'm the Mayor of this City and I'm sorry for not being able to protect it, I'm just... Too powerless against these wicked men... These... Pirates!" Everyone could see the Mayor was frustrated, at himself, at the pirates, and what happened to the town.
The Mayor looked at Zoro, Ame, Luffy, and Nami and noticed that Zoro had an open wound on his stomach as he rushed inside his house telling Zoro, "Kids, let's go inside my house! It's safer there, your friend also needs a doctor or atleast a patch up."
Luffy and Ame denied going inside and insisted on staying outside to guard the house, while Nami stayed outside since everyone was outside. Zoro was taken upstairs by the Mayor and patched up with a gauze and alcohol as it wrapped around his stomach, sealing and preventing the wound from becoming infected and festering.
"Young man, do you need a glass of water? Or food perhaps?" But Zoro shook his head in denial.
"No thanks, old man. Just let me rest and sleep and I should be good to go later." The old man complied and left Zoro to sleep on his bedroom as he came outside his house, accompanying Ame, Luffy and Nami.
Nami was right outside his house watching Ame and Luffy trying to feed the dog outside the petshop.
Seeing this, the old man took the opportunity to talk about the dog to Ame and Luffy to pass time, "That dog's name was Chouchou, it's owner was a friend of mine and was also the owner of that petshop right in front of you. It lost it's owner a few years ago, maybe more but they were inseperable. They could always be seen together around the town, gathering supplies to sell on their petshop, play, or just watch the sunset at the docks, everyone loved them." The old mam paused.
"It now protects that old fellow's petshop, as if its it's treasure. I also took the duty and responsibility to take care of Chouchou amd my friend's petshop, even if it's just performing necessary maintenance, just so it won't break down and give in. For my friend, for their memories in this town, and for Chouchou... So he can keep his owner and this petshop's memories alive forever in his life." The old man looked at Ame amd Luffy who was already teary eyed, hell Luffy was already crying buckets from his story.
Luffy was sniffing,crying and leaving snot all over the place as he said, "T-t-that's... SO SAD OLD MAN!! I-I didn't know that this dog's story was like that! I'm sorry for smacking you earlier Chouchou, here have some beli!" The Mayor yelled at Luffy for smacking Chouchou but immediately settled down after reprimanding him.
After that, a loud thundering footsteps could be heard across the streets, low growling that was still quite loud was permeating through everyone's ears as terror striked the Mayor's face. "I-IT'S MONJI AND HIS LION, RICHIE! THE BEAST TAMER!"
"The what?!" Everyone simultaneously said.
"THE BEAST TAMER!" The Mayor repeated for the sake of the plot.
Everyone pondered about what the Mayor said and judged that, it didn't quite add up. "Isn't a Lion, an animal? Why a beast? That's quite of an exaggeration isn't it?"
Everyone voiced out their opinion but only Luffy was smacked on the head as the Mayor shouted, "IS THAT REALLY IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW?!" Fortunately, the Mayor didn't have hands that could stretch.
Everybody looked ahead of them as a dark silhouette of giant creature slowly emerged from the dust and smoke from the demolished debris of the earlier destruction.
A Giant Lion slowly revealed itself from the smoke with every step it took, shaking the ground and throwing everyone's footings off.
Zoro couldn't help but smack his palm in understanding as he was finally enlightened and said, "Ah.... So it really was a beast!" Although he was immediately met by looks of disdain coming from the Mayor.
"Oho?! What are you guys doing around here? Don't you know this is the turf of the great and mighty Buggy? Stay inside your houses!" Mohji suddenly stopped talking as a thought appeared on his mind and continued, "You know what? You guys do whatever you want, I don't have time to spend wasting it on you guys, I have to defeat Roronoa Zoro! Speaking of, do you guys know where he is?" He asked.
Ame, Nami, and the Mayor was just thinking about saying that they don't know who he is and he isn't here, saving Zoro and ending their encounter with the Beast Tamer but Luffy said otherwise.
"We won't tell you where Zoro is! Plus what's with your furry cat costume?" What Luffy said could be interpreted as 'I know Zoro, he is here but I won't tell you.' Which served to anger and caused mohji snap.
"SIC'EM RICHIE!" Mohji ordered, however just as Richie was about to lunge at the dog, Chouchou first, but it was met by the impact of the heaviest thing it ever felt on its life, like a ship hitting it directly on its head.
Ame controlled his staff's weight to it's utmost limit, the weight of the staff reached akin to that of a Ton or two, easily sending him flying but not dealing enough damage to knock it down directly, but it did cause a lot of damage towards the Lion.
Unfortunately, because the more Ame uses the staff's unique ability and alters the staff's properties, the heavier and drastic the toll on his body based on his strength and endurance.
All his strength has left his body, leaving him completely vulnerable, exhausted, fatigued, and numb. Completely drained of all of his energy until he collapsed and eventually, fainted.
Luffy grinned and gave a fist bump on Ame's fist while he was unconscious and said, "Hehe! leave everything to us man, rest easy. " Luffy stretched his hands to grip and hold unto the corners of two houses, and began retracting himself behind.
Before anyone could even blink, Luffy disappeared at an extremely fast speed, flying towards the sky and aiming to find Mohji's Lion.
He looked around the town, various houses were clustered together, with both destroyed and intact houses sitting next to each other. Eventually he saw a cluster of broken and demolished houses and dove straight into it.
Luffy's intuition was on point as the Lion he was looking for was just about to stand and shake off his dizziness when he was hit by Luffy's diving attack directly on its stomach, sending it flying once again through walls and houses.
"Oi! Don't tell me that's all you got?! I thought you were a beast, not an animal?" Luffy taunt. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Lion seemed to understand Luffy's insult as it had suddenly enlarged itself, veins bulging through its muscle, legs, and forehead, as it swung with both of its paws and claws, aiming to defeat him with an all out attack.
Its gamble failed. Luffy held back both of its paws, overpowering it completely and push it back slowly, while terror also slowly crept inside of him. Luffy gathered his strength and threw the lion to the sky and simultaneously retracting both of hands back and swiftly launched it center of the Lion's stomach, "BAZOOKA!"
The confrontation has ended, the fight has been won, and Luffy won one sidedly as the lion dropped unconscious to the ground.
Mohji who witnessed everything complete felt helpless, weak, and afraid. He had not expected anyone to ever defeat his pet, Richie. He had always cowered behind his pet, relying on him solely to keep his so called "Power" But when alone, he was utterly powerless, now he faces the consequences of his actions.
Luffy delivered a part of everyone's justice, defeating Mohji and Richie, and one step away of freeing the town.
Everyone was looking at how Mohji ran away, dragging his lion away.
The Mayor witnessed everythint, from how Ame protected Chouchou, to how Luffy beat up Mohji's prized pet. He eventually found himself crying and kneeling on the ground, thankful and with his hope renewed. "HAHAHA! STRAW-HAT BOY! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! THANK YOU! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY YOU HAVE SAVED JUST BY BEATING THAT SCUM!"
Luffy just rubbed his nose and smiled, "Hehehe, don't mention it old man! I was protecting Ame and the dog too, and I just hated those scum. Pirates shouldn't drag innocent people to their mess! They should fight with other pirates instead through their fist! What are they even doing?"
The Mayor smiled and was about to say something when suddenly, the Mayor's house exploded. Shocking and scaring everyone as their mouths fell from the shock.
Luffy was taken aback by the sudden destruction of the Mayor's house, "AAHHH!! YOUR HOUSE BLEW UP OLD MAN!!" which made him earn a smack from Nami who said. "ARE YOU STUPID? THAT'S NOT THE POINT HERE, YOUR FRIEND IS INSIDE THAT HOUSE!
Luffy finally realized what Nami said and remembered that Zoro was inside the Mayor's house, recuperating from his injuries. " AAHHH!! ZORO IS INSIDE THAT HOUSE! EVERYONE, QUICK! FIND HIM!!"
Ame has woken up due to the commotion made by everyone, he opened his eyes and saw everyone gathering near a burned house so he went near them to check what was going on.
To everyone's relief, Zoro emerged from the rubbles of the house albeit more battered and bruised, worsening his condition amd making Nami and the Mayor feel worried since with the house destroyed, they don't have anything to treat him.
Suddenly, Ame came infront of everyone which made everyone very worried since he just woke up from fainting. Ame handed down a bottle of red liquid to Luffy and simply tasked him to make Zoro drink it as he went back near Chouchou and slept.
Everyone was confuses by Ame's actions but quickly snappes back to reality, focusing on the current matter at hand. Luffy opened the bottle and gave it to Zoro to drink.
The wounds, blisters, and injuries healed at a visible rate, making Luffy, Nami, and the Mayor just straight up dumbfounded and surprised by the potency and seemingly magical capabilities of Ame's medicine.
Zoro was completely healed in no time, tip-top shape, and ready for action. With Zoro healed, everybody didn't have enough yome to pay attention to Ame's miraculous medicine as they shifted their focus to the main objective.
Defeating buggy and liberating the town.
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{Chapter 9 - Fin}