"Viktor! I knew you'd find us!!"
Inside the iron cage, Luffy pressed his face against the bars, shouting at the black-haired youth perched on the wall. "Quick, get me out of here! I'm gonna go kick that Red-Nose's ass!"
Zoro arrived right behind him, huffing and puffing. He stared at Luffy, who looked like a caged monkey, and his eye twitched. "Hey, Luffy. What kind of new game are you playing now?"
"Shishishi! I actually think it's pretty fun," Luffy replied, clearly lacking any sense of self-reflection.
Viktor hopped down from the wall, shielding the still-shaken Nami behind him. He turned to her with his signature smirk. "Nice to meet you, Nami-san. I'm your Vice-Captain, Viktor."
Nami looked at the boy who had just incinerated a dozen pirates in one go and forced herself to stay calm. "Hey! Don't get too friendly!" She stepped back warily. "I never said I'd join you! Don't think just because you saved me, I'll agree to be a pirate!"
"HEY!! YOU RED-EYED BRAT!!"
An angry roar interrupted their introductions. Buggy stood on his high platform, his detached limbs quivering with rage as he pointed at Viktor.
"Who do you think you are?! Don't you know this is 'Buggy the Clown's' territory?! You dare blow up my men!"
Viktor ignored Buggy's impotent fury. Maintaining his smile, he leaned down and picked up the match the pirate had dropped earlier. Then, under the terrified gaze of the crew, he grabbed the barrel of the massive Buggy Cannon with one hand.
Creeeeeak—
The cannon swiveled slowly until its dark maw was pointed directly at Buggy and his officers.
"Zoro! Forget the cage. Carry Luffy and the lady and get out of here first." Viktor waved a hand over his shoulder. "I'm going to perform one last show for the audience. I'll catch up."
Zoro looked at the cannon and immediately understood the plan. "Tch, what a reckless Vice-Captain." He hoisted the heavy iron cage—Luffy and all—onto his shoulder and looked at Nami. "Let's go! If you don't want to die, run fast!"
"Wait, wait, wait! What are you doing?! That thing is loaded with a Special Buggy Ball!!" Buggy broke into a cold sweat, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
"Stop!! You'll kill us! You'll actually kill us!" the other pirates screamed, waving their arms.
"Oh? So you do know being blown up leads to death?" Viktor struck the match, the flame reflecting in his cold, emotionless eyes. "I just wanted you all to experience the weapon you're so proud of. I've just... reversed the roles."
He let go. The burning match drifted down, igniting the fuse.
"STOP IT AAAAGH!!!" Buggy screamed in despair.
The moment the fuse sparked, Viktor flared his chakra and flickered backward at high speed.
BOOM—!!!
An explosion even more deafening than the first rocked the heavens. The power of a Special Buggy Ball at point-blank range was horrific. The entire top floor of the bar was swallowed by red light, and sturdy stone turned to ash like wet paper. The skull flag of the Buggy Pirates was vaporized instantly.
As a massive mushroom cloud rose, Viktor looked back at the "fireworks" and clicked his tongue. "So that's the power of a Buggy Ball? I should have swiped a few."
[Ding! Used a "Buggy Ball" to heavily damage the Buggy Pirates.]
[Combat Evaluation: A (A taste of their own medicine).]
[Reward: 200 Ninja Path Points.]
Viktor smiled and waved at the ruins. "No need for thanks, Captain Red-Nose." Then he vanished into the alleys. That "Fireball Jutsu" had taken a quarter of his chakra; as a "Genin-level" fighter with a short mana bar, taking on the whole crew alone would be a chore.
Viktor's Rule #1: Emote, then evaporate. It's a rush.
On the streets of Orange Town, Zoro was sprinting while carrying the cage as if it were a bag of feathers.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Nami panted behind them. "You're too fast!"
Zoro slowed down slightly. "Hey, Luffy. Who is this woman? Is this the 'companion' you were looking for?"
"Shishishi! Exactly!" Luffy laughed from inside the bouncing cage. "She's Nami! She's the navigator we need!"
Nami finally caught up and snapped back, "I told you, I'm not joining... Hey! Marimo-head!!" She pointed at Zoro.
"Huh? What?" Zoro stopped.
"Why are you going that way? That's a dead end!" Nami pointed frantically in the opposite direction. "We're trying to escape! It's this way!!"
Zoro's face flushed red as his "lost" passive triggered. "Tch. The layout of this town is weird. I was just... scouting."
Nami rolled her eyes and took the lead. "Just follow me and don't get lost!"
After a safe distance, they slowed down. "Hey, that red-eyed guy... who is he?" Nami asked. "That fire-breathing ability, is it a Devil Fruit?"
"That jerk is our Vice-Captain, Viktor," Zoro grunted.
"Shishishi! Viktor is amazing! And he's a fun magician!" Luffy laughed. "Don't worry, he'll catch up."
Soon, they arrived at a small pet food shop where a small white dog named Chou-Chou sat motionless, guarding the door.
"Phew... we're safe for now," Zoro said, dropping the cage.
"Whoa! A doggy!" Luffy wiggled the cage like a caterpillar until he was in front of Chou-Chou. "Hey, doggy, I'm hungry. Got any meat?"
"Woof!" Chou-Chou barked fiercely.
Nami sighed at the ridiculous scene, then remembered something. She pulled out a shiny key. "The cage key. I swiped it earlier."
Silence. Zoro looked at the key, a dark shadow crossing his face. "If you had the key, why didn't you say so?! I carried this damn cage halfway across town!!"
"You didn't ask," Nami replied defensively. "Besides, things were moving fast. And don't get it twisted—I just don't want to owe Viktor a favor. Since he saved me, I'm letting your captain out to call it even."
She tossed the key toward Luffy. "Catch, Luffy!"
"Shishishi! Awesome! I'm free—" Luffy reached out.
Chomp!
Chou-Chou leaped into the air with surprising agility, snagged the key in his mouth, and landed back in his guarding position, expressionless.
"..."
Luffy froze. Zoro froze. Nami froze.
"Does he think... anything that hits the ground belongs to him?!" Zoro roared.
"AGH!! CURSE YOU!!" Luffy grabbed Chou-Chou and started shaking him. "That's not dog food! That's my key! Spit it out! Spit it out, you dumb dog!!"
"Woof! Woof!"
During the chaos, a shadow dropped from the roof. Viktor had arrived. He looked at Luffy wrestling a dog for a key and his eye twitched. He had changed so much of the plot... and yet the dog still ate the key?
"Is this... the corrective force of the world?" Viktor shook his head. "Hey. I'm back. Did I miss the punchline?"
Meanwhile, at the ruins of the bar.
Buggy sat in the dirt, his flashy clothes shredded and his red nose covered in soot. Thanks to his Chop-Chop fruit, he survived the blast, but the humiliation was burning.
"Unforgivable... absolutely unforgivable..." Buggy's eyes burned with vengeance. "Those brats... they declared war on me! They blew up my castle!"
A thunderous lion's roar echoed from the smoke.
"Roar—!!"
Mohji the Beast Tamer emerged riding Richie the giant lion. "Looks like you've run into trouble, Captain Buggy."
"You're here, Mohji," Buggy said, his eyes cold.
"Shall I go take their heads?" Mohji stroked Richie's mane. "My Richie is quite hungry."
Buggy stabbed a broken knife into the ground. "Go. That straw-hat brat, and that red-eyed bastard... tear them to pieces!!"