Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

9

It took some time, but it wasn't too long before all of Buggy's crew had been taken care of, either locked away or dispatched of in some other manner which ensured they'd be unable to intervene when they went to rescue Luffy. And Akira was proud to say that while, yes, most of the work was done by Nami and Zoro, her own stolen daggers weren't entirely clean after the fighting was done either. She'd managed to take down a clown or two.

She chose to use that as a spark of confidence as the three of them made their way into the dimly lit main centre of the circus where they could see what Buggy had done with Luffy. Right in the middle of it all, for the entire crowd to have a good view, Luffy could be seen submerged entirely in a tank of water, and Buggy was leaning down right in front of his face as he taunted him. "You want out? You know the price you have to pay."

But despite the singing of taunts, and the water surrounding him and drowning him, Luffy still managed a smile as he caught sight of what was happening behind the clown pirate. And summoning enough strength, he tapped his finger against the glass to make Buggy aware of it too. The man turned around just in time to see Nami take action as she threw her staff through the air and straight into the glass of the tank imprisoning Luffy.

The force of the impact made the first crack appear in the glass and it only continued to grow. "Where are my freaks?!" Buggy called out, a tinge of panic heard in his voice as he scanned the circus only to find himself completely on his own.

"They're not coming." Zoro said coldly, stepping out into the spotlight with Akira hanging close behind him, all three ready to work together to hand this man a taste of his own medicine and be rid of him.

And the first step towards that was the moment the grass of the tank broke entirely, all the water spilling out and sending Buggy down to the floor with the force. It continued to spread in waves across the floor of the circus stage, and instinctively, Akira took a step back before it could reach her too, even if it would have been only at her feet. So focused on evading the water, she missed the way Zoro's eyes glanced over in her direction, analytical eyes taking in her reaction.

But he didn't say anything as their eyes turned back to the centre at the sound of Luffy coughing and gagging, seeing as the cylinder with the map inside began to come out of his throat. The water having suppressed his ability, and now the lack of it, it wasn't surprising that his body could no longer store it as it returned to its normal sizes.

And Buggy could see it too as he started to rise up into a sitting position, eyes widening once he was able to fully comprehend what was happening in front of him. "My map." He breathed out in surprise, quick to get on all fours and begin crawling towards his target. Luffy did much the same, only his target was his hat rather than the map.

But as she watched them both move, Akira realized one important thing. Buggy wasn't running to grab the map, jumping, or reaching for it as vehemently as just one meeting let her know he could be capable of. He was slow and sluggish. Beside her, Zoro began to step forward as the clown grabbed the cylinder in his hands, however, Akira reached out to stop him for just a moment.

"Careful, the water weakened him." She pointed out in a knowing tone, making it clear that there had to be something about the clown captain that they didn't yet know. Something that might prove a problem for them.

Eyeing the clown again, Zoro gave a small nod of understanding but didn't back down as he began to move towards him, his swords swinging through the air as he prepared his attack while Buggy began to taunt. "You want a piece of me? Let's see what you've got." The clown challenged, and Zoro readily accepted it.

Swinging one of the swords, it aimed right for Buggy's throat. But instead of skin, the blade ended up slicing through nothing but air as Buggy's head suddenly floated up from his body. It was entirely separate and removed, with nothing connecting them.