CHAPTER TWO
WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS

Setting foot in the docks of Orange Town for what she hoped would be the last time, Kai adjusted her bag as the pirates that had taken her there sailed away, whispering to themselves how she would be dead before she even set foot inside the tent.

Kai hadn't heard them, but even if she had, nothing was going to stop her.

She had learnt about Orange Town and its condition around two months ago, just a few days after she had arrived at Syrup Village. She was walking through town when she overheard a group of people talk about it and it instantly caught her attention. Hearing what Buggy was doing to innocent villagers — capturing them and forcing them to participate in his stupid clown carnival — made her blood boil.

It reminded her of what her former crew did, always making fun of others that they deemed weak and manipulating them for their own sake. She had done something then, and she was definitely going to do something now.

During the journey to Orange Town, the night had descended, cloaking the world in darkness. Looking around, and based on the fact that she could still see the stars but not the horizon, Kai assumed she had around forty minutes until the sun rose, which gave her enough time to sneak into the tent before the show started.

Opening her bag, she took out a few utensils she had gotten from Ririka's kitchen: a wooden spoon, a piece of cloth, a small bottle of vegetable oil, and a matchbox. And a few seconds later, she had a torch in her hands, helping her look around as she started to head into town.

She had tried to defeat Buggy and his crew — unsuccessfully of course — two times already, and both of these times she had attacked in the middle of the day, which didn't give her a lot of room to sneak in and strike. But you know what they say: you learn from your mistakes; and Kai had definitely learned.

Looking back at the docks, she noticed Buggy's ship wasn't there, meaning he was probably out at sea terrorizing other villages. That wasn't good, but it meant there were going to be fewer people to hide from, because Buggy would never take his whole crew with him. After all, someone had to make sure the villagers wouldn't run away.

Kai knew the layout of the town pretty well after having entered and escaped multiple times, so using the small compass that was in the pocket of her pants, she quickly headed to the south of the island, making her way to one of the few buildings that hadn't been completely destroyed by the Buggy pirates in order to make place for their horrendous circus tent.

Once there, she made her way up the crumbling building, using her torch to see where she was stepping as she carefully navigated the broken stairs and unstable floors. When she reached the roof, her torch went out — which wasn't a big deal since the sky was slowly beginning to lighten — so she threw it to the side before she looked around, surveying the town.

To see it from high above made Kai sigh sorrowfully. Most of the buildings were damaged or destroyed, debris littered the streets, and what she assumed were orange groves had been completely trampled. She was sure this town had been beautiful before Buggy decided to wreak havoc on it.

"He's going to pay for this."

Adjusting her bag, Kai's eyes found the circus tent — it was hard to miss after all—, and mentally, she visualized the quickest path to make it there without being noticed. By traveling through higher grounds, she not only avoided the debris that flooded the streets, but she also avoided the chance of being spotted by any of Buggy's pirates.

As she readied herself to jump, she saw something out of the corner of her eye: Buggy's ship had docked on the town's harbor. Cursing under her breath, and without wasting any more time, she leaped from one structure to another. With each jump, she landed with a determined grace, her eyes fixed on her destination as she got closer to it.

Once the sun had begun to rise, she was standing on the roof of the building closest to the tent. There was quite a distance from the roof to the ground, making it impossible to simply jump down. Looking around her, an idea quickly formed in her head, and so she opened her bag to look for her rope, kneeling down to tie it to the only beam that was still intact. After it was secured, Kai grabbed her gloves from the back pocket of her pants and put them on — living on a ship for eight years taught her some useful tricks, like using gloves to slide down a rope to not burn her hands.

With a determined look in her eyes, Kai held the rope tightly with her gloved hands, testing its tension before slowly approaching the building's edge. She took a deep breath, and then she jumped.

The wind rushed past her, whipping her hair as she slid down the rope with controlled speed. Her body was leaning back, and her feet occasionally tapped against the building to guide her descent. As she neared the ground, she expertly used her hands to brake herself, slowing her momentum before landing gracefully on the ground below. A smile spread across her face, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

But it didn't last long, because she heard voices approaching. Her eyes widened, and looking up, she pulled at the rope a few times until it fell down, retrieving it before she knelt down, hiding behind a few boxes.

"Captain said the show is starting earlier today. Apparently, he captured those pirates that stole the map to the Grand Line."

Her breath hitched at the mention of the Grand Line. Her home for half of her life... the second home she had ran away from. Who the hell would steal a map to go there?

"Wait, did you hear something?"

Shit.

Kai covered her mouth with one of her hands, listening closely as footsteps approached. Her other hand went to the knife strapped on the leg holster around her leg, ready to attack if needed. However, that wasn't necessary.

"Hey, you two! Stop slacking off! We need to get the villagers into the tent. Now."

As she heard the footsteps get farther away, Kai let out a small sigh of relief, putting the rope back inside her bag as she stood up slowly, looking around and smiling when she found a tear in the circus tent, which was big enough for her to slip through it.

"Shiver me timbers," she chuckled slightly as she made her way towards it, entering the tent unnoticed.

Once inside, Kai swiftly found a concealed spot under the bleachers, positioning herself in a blind spot that allowed her to observe everything while remaining unseen. From there, she could see how the villagers were brought inside, chains around their ankles as they were pushed by Buggy's pirates.

Then, a loud thump caught her attention, making her look away from the villagers and towards the circus ring just in time to see a big wooden box be placed there. Hmm... inside were probably those pirates that stole the map to the Grand Line. Of course Buggy couldn't treat them as equals.

It didn't take long for Buggy's pirates to begin their show, with multiple performances taking place at the same time. There were people on the trapeze, moving from one side to another as they performed aerial stunts. Other performers were demonstrating their strength, flexibility or agility through acrobatics. There were contortionists, jugglers, clowns... Everyone performing their art as a lively and upbeat music traveled through the tent.

The audience clapped and cheered, but just one look at them was enough to see a stark contrast to the pirates. Tears stained their faces, bruises surrounded their ankles... they were forced to attend the circus against their will, and it was clear by the fear behind their eyes.

Suddenly, the wooden box was opened, and inside were three people she recognized from having seen the day before in Shells Town: the orange-haired girl, the boy in the straw hat, and Roronoa Zoro.

They had stolen the map to the Grand Line?

At that moment, Buggy the Clown entered the tent, getting everyone's attention with his flamboyant attire and rowdy personality. Oh, and with his obnoxious screaming.

"No. No, no, no, no. Stop clapping!" he exclaimed angrily. "No, stop! It's all wrong! The spotlight was late. You completely missed my entrance. And where, oh, where was the dancing lion?"

"Hey, I know you," the boy in the straw hat spoke. "I saw your wanted poster in Shells Town. You're the clown guy. Um, uh... Binky, right?"

Kai couldn't help but smile at that name, especially because she saw a small hint of annoyance in Buggy's eyes.

"Buggy," he smiled, approaching the trio. "Buggy the Clown. Buggy, the Flashy Fool. Buggy, the Genius Jester."

She scoffed quietly. Nobody called him that.

"Wow. You have a lot of names. I bet everyone in the East Blue knows who you are."

The audience gasped at that, and Kai rolled her eyes slightly. Right. Buggy and his nose.

"What did you just say?

"Just that everyone knows who you are."

"Nose?!" he exclaimed angrily again, taking a few steps until he was close enough to the boy to squeeze his cheeks. " Are you making fun of my nose?"

"Well... I wasn't. But now that you mention it, is that thing for real?" he reached for it, wanting touch it, but Buggy slapped his hands away, making the audience gasp again.

"What's real is I've been scheming for months to steal that map from old Axe-Hand Moron..." his men chuckled, but the orange-haired girl just stared at him as he looked at her. "Eh... Only to find out that I was upstaged by three little nobodies, who stole it from right out under my no... No! It's in my head now. Ah!" he groaned, turning around to walk away.

"Hey, I'm not a nobody. I'm Monkey D. Luffy," he smiled proudly. "And I will be King of the Pirates."

He was confident, she'd give him that.

However, Buggy didn't think so, because he bursted out laughing. "Oh! Now that's funny," and as the laugh sign was elevated into the air and shown, the audience laughed too. "My bounty poster graces the marquee of every Marine outpost for miles. And my menagerie of outcasts and freaks is the most dreaded pirate crew the East Blue has ever known. I am destined to find the One Piece. And when I do... I will be king."

"No, you won't, 'cause I'm gonna find it first."

"You? Don't make me laugh," the audience laughed. "I said don't make me laugh!" and then they stopped.

"All right, listen up," Zoro spoke, gaining the attention of Buggy's pirates — who drew their weapons — as he stepped towards Buggy. "I'm Roronoa Zoro. Drop your weapons now and I may let you live."

But Buggy just laughed. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a celebrity in our midst. Too bad I hate sharing the spotlight," and right on cue, the spotlight went back to him. "Now, maybe we should skip right to the finale. My freaks put quite a bit of rehearsal time into this little abduction. And if I can't reward them with that map... I suppose I'll have to offer them a pound of flesh instead."

"Wait. Wait," the orange-haired girl spoke, stepping in between Buggy and her friends. "What if I have something else to offer you? Something more valuable than the map? What if I give you a new freak for your crew?"

What the hell was she on about?

"A rare talent. The most spectacular act in all of the East Blue. Besides you, of course."

"Go on."

And just like that, she took the straw hat off Luffy's head, throwing it in the air before she ran away. However, Kai didn't notice that; she was too fixated on Luffy as he reached for the hat, his arm shooting to the roof, almost like a rubber band being stretched.

That had to be the power of a Devil Fruit.

It was then that she noticed the orange-haired girl had run away, but only because two of Buggy's pirates were dragging her back inside.

"What did you do?" she yelled, her voice shaking slightly. "What did you do to their town? You destroyed everything!"

"Not everything," Buggy ate an apple slice, unbothered by the whole situation as he leaned his body on a big wooden barrel. "I let 'em keep their hands."

Kai's blood boiled as the crowd burst into applause. She couldn't wait to get her hands on him.

"Okay. Here end the theatrics," he approached the trio again, all lights being on them. "I know one of you has my map, and I'm gonna get it back. What was it you said, Rubber Boy? That it was in a safe place?" Luffy's eyes widened slightly. "Don't look so surprised. I've got eyes and ears everywhere."

No, you don't, Kai thought to herself, a cocky smile on her face.

You don't know I'm here.

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"I invite you to take part in the splendor that is my show and this is how you repay me? With a 'no'?"

It was a white later, and now Luffy was in the circus ring, his extremities being pulled in different directions and causing his body to stretch out as Buggy tried to get information out of him. However, Luffy didn't give in, maintaining his characteristic optimism and resolve, and refusing to tell Buggy anything.

Therefore, in a way to try and get him to talk, Buggy ordered one of the villagers to keep stretching him, to stretch him until he broke. But the man denied.

"You've destroyed our town. Made us your prisoners. Isn't that enough?"

And Buggy wasn't having it. "Well, maybe you'd prefer it if I threw one of your constituents on the rack instead."

With that, he walked over to the public, a sick and scary smile on his face as he came to a halt in front of a kid.

"Hey, kid!" he kept on smiling, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him up with him. "You want to get tall fast?"

"Boogie, I'm warning you," Luffy spoke, suddenly getting serious.

"It's Buggy! And you're warning me? Now that's a laugh." No reaction from the crowd. "I said that's a laugh."

The crowd burst into laughter as the respective sign was held up in the air, but their faces were filled with fear for the little boy.

"How about I warn you?" In that moment, Kai stepped out of the shadows and into the ring. "Put him down, Buggy."

Everyone turned to look at her: Buggy's eyes widened, he had not expected her to be there; the audience gasped, hopeful today was going to be the day where she was finally successful; and Luffy looked at her with a confused look.

However, Luffy took the chance and using all his strength, he freed himself from the ropes that were holding him. As he stood, he glared at Buggy.

"You heard her. Put him down."

"But why? He's having such a great time. Aren't you, junior?" Buggy smiled again, bringing his hands to the boy's face and making him smile before he imitated a child's voice. "'Yes. The best, Buggy.'"

Kai licked her lips angrily, taking a few more steps towards the clown, ready to wipe the stupid smile off of Bucky's face. But Luffy was faster.

"Gum Gum... Pistol!" bringing his hand all the way back — getting ready to attack — before his fist traveled towards Buggy, punching him on the face and detaining it from his body.

Screams were heard across the circus tent as his head landed on a woman's lap, everyone in shock at what had just happened. Even Luffy.

"Well, well, well, looks like we have something else in common," he spoke, his head floating back to his body before he let go of the boy, who ran back to the bleachers.

"You ate a Devil Fruit?"

"The Chop Chop Fruit," Kai answered, rolling her eyes slightly as she took out her knife, getting ready to fight Buggy.

"Correct answer, Kai!" he chuckled, looking at Luffy again and walking towards him and Kai, taking his jacket off. "So you can slice me and you can dice me, but I'll always put myself back together again."

He demonstrated, detaching his head and each single one of his extremities from his body and putting them back into place again.

"Want to see what else I can do?" he smirked as he held his arm up, his hand having left his body.

Kai's fast reflexes allowed her to anticipate Buggy's hand sneaking up behind Luffy, and with a swift movement, she used her knife to impale his hand, eliciting a subdued cry from the clown. A sly smirk played on her lips as she stashed the hand in her bag, ensuring it wouldn't return to its owner.

"Nice one," Luffy smiled, impressed with the girl.

"I have to say..." Buggy smiled at the girl. "You've gotten stronger, Kai."

"That," she smirked, "or you've gotten weak."

His smile turned into a glare.

"And I mean, given the fact you give this shitty show every day... It's not really a surprise. Like, don't you get tired of being such a failure?"

The audience laughed, and Buggy yelled at them to stop.

"See? Everybody knows it, Buggy."

"Shut up!" he exclaimed angrily before he stepped towards Kai. "And are you sure you're not talking about yourself? After all... isn't this your third time pulling this stunt? Where you try to defeat me?"

She clenched her jaw in anger. "Haven't you heard? Third time's the charm."

"Hmm, not for you though. Cabaji, now!"

And just like that, a red smoke surrounded Kai and Luffy, overwhelming their senses and causing them to slip into unconsciousness.

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When Kai came back to herself, she found herself hanging head down from a trapeze, over twenty feet up in the air.

Her head was throbbing, and she blamed it on the fact that she had probably been hanging upside down for a while, which led to the blood rushing to her head and causing an intense ache.

Straining her neck to look upwards, she discovered her legs tightly bound with ropes to the trapeze, leaving her suspended and in a vulnerable position. Her bag and her knife were nowhere to be found, and she mentally cursed.

How had she not heard Cabaji's footsteps? How did she not see that coming?

As she thought about that, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened with Luffy, so she did her best to look down at the circus ring. And her eyes widened at the sight.

In the middle of the ring was a big glass tank, and Luffy was trapped inside. It was slowly filling up with water, and based on his body language, Kai just knew it was seawater. The captain of her former crew had eaten a Spring Spring Fruit, so she knew about the disadvantages that came with eating a Devil Fruit.

He wouldn't be able to endure it much longer, and she couldn't let him die, so... She got to work.

Buggy's pirates might have taken her knife, but they didn't take the metal hair stick that held her hair together. It was a present from the people that took care of her in the Goa Kingdom, and until now, it had only been a nice accessory, but now... she hoped she was able to free herself with it.

With all her strength, Kai pulled herself up, engaging her abdominal and back muscles until her left arm grabbed the cable attached to the left of the trapeze. Then, she took the hair stick out of hair and used it to cut the ropes around her legs. As she started to free herself, she lifted her hips and legs upward, which allowed her to bring her chest even closer to the trapeze bar. And in this way, she successfully transitioned from being upside down to securely holding onto the trapeze with her hands

The ropes that had been holding her fell down, hitting the circus ring, but due to the commotion down there, no one noticed. Looking down, Kai saw Luffy's crew had entered the ring again: the orange-haired girl threw her wooden staff at the tank, making it crack and break; and Zoro attacked Buggy — or tried to — as Luffy coughed out something Kai could only assume was the map to the Grand Line.

However, she needed to get back to the ground, so without wasting any more time, she started to swing back and forth on the trapeze, building momentum until she finally let go. Using her hair stick, she pierced the fabric of the circus tent, creating an opening that allowed to gracefully descend.

Once her feet touched land again, Kai let out a sigh of relief, but her mood changed when she saw the fight taking place in front of her: Luffy lunged towards Buggy, but to no avail, because thanks to the Chop Chop Fruit's powers, he was untouchable.

When Luffy was thrown to the ground, Buggy's hand tightening against his neck, he searched desperately for a way out. Instead, his eyes met Kai's, and it was as if the two were able to communicate telepathically, because she knew what he wanted her to do before he voiced it.

"Kai, the crates!"

Already on it.

"Kai?" Zoro whispered to himself in confusion as he looked around, seeing none other than Mizuno Kai standing next to the crates.

What was she doing there?

Before he had time to process it, Luffy swiftly launched one of Buggy's body parts in her direction. Using her metal stick to catch it, she then hurled it into one of the crates and sealed it shut with her foot.

Deciding to think about it later, Zoro started to help Luffy and Kai, Nami joining in as she went over to the crates too. And in no time, Buggy was reduced to two hands, two feet and one head.

"What have you done to me?" Buggy exclaimed angrily.

"Cut you down to size," Luffy smiled in his direction.

"The One Piece will never be yours. You're just a sad, lonely little boy wearing another man's hat!"

"I know exactly who I am," he turned towards him, putting his straw hat back on his head. "I am Monkey D. Luffy. And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."

Kai couldn't help but smile at that.

"Gum Gum..." Luffy got ready to deal the final blow, and Buggy just screamed and begged him not to. Too bad it was too late for that. "Bazooka!"

With all the strength possible, Luffy punched the pirate clown with both hands, making him fly off into the distance and through the tear Kai had created just a few moments before.

Speaking of Kai, she saw Luffy and his crew approach each other, so she scurried away, headed for the bleachers. To her luck, she found her bag there and as she wrapped it over her shoulder, she saw her things were still there, including her knife.

"Thank God," she muttered to herself before she made her way towards the villagers, kneeling down to unlock the chains that were holding them hostage.

"You finally did it!" the kid from before exclaimed happily as she freed him. "I always knew you could do it."

Kai couldn't help but smile at that. "Third time's the charm, right?"

"Definitely!" he chuckled.

Observing the scene from afar, Zoro couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Come on," Luffy ushered, a smile on his face. "Let's help."

Between the four of them, the villagers were released in no time, and while the mayor thanked Luffy and the others, Kai grabbed her things and left the circus tent, a smile decorating her face as she headed to the docks.

She still couldn't believe she had finally been able to free Orange Town from Buggy's clasps. With help, of course; she wouldn't have been able to do it without Luffy and his crew. Maybe she should stay behind and thank them... No. She needed to leave.

Once at the beach, Kai wandered around, trying to find some type of boat she could use to get out of the island. However, she was not successful, and as she approached the docks, she saw the villagers were there, seeing Luffy, Zoro, and the orange-haired girl — whose name she still didn't know — off.

"We don't have much," the mayor spoke, approaching Luffy with a basket filled with goods. "But please, take this as a token of our... of our gratitude."

"You need it more than we do", he smiled, ready to turn around and join his crew on their ship.

But before he could do so, something caught her eye. He noticed the boy from before was looking somewhere to his right, and when he followed his gaze, he saw Kai and immediately ran up to her.

"Hey!"

Kai's eyes widened slightly. "Yeah?"

"It was pretty cool what you did back there," he smiled widely. "You were like a... like a ninja!"

"Uh... thank you, I guess?"

"You're joining us, right?"

"W-What?"

"I want you to join my crew," he didn't stop smiling.

"Join your crew?" What was he talking about?

"Yeah! You definitely know how to fight, and the most important thing... you're a good person. Exactly what I need on my crew."

Kai blinked multiple times, not knowing what to say. She didn't know if she was ready to join a new crew yet...

"Listen, I can go with you," Luffy smiled widely. "But when it comes to joining your crew... I'll think about it."

"Sounds good to me!" he chuckled. "Come on, let's go!"

Luffy ran back to the docks, this time with Kai behind him. And as they walked by the mayor, he stopped, grabbing a slice of bread.

"Well... maybe just a snack."

Letting out a small chuckle, she waved the villagers goodbye before she approached the ship. Zoro was staring at her, and so she looked away as she got on the ship, Luffy right behind her as he set sail.

"Okay so, this is Nami," Luffy introduced her to the orange-haired girl. Finally she had a name. "And this is–"

"Kai," Zoro greeted her with a nod.

"Wait. Do you... know each other?" Nami asked.

Kai sighed, running a hand down her face. "Yes, we–"

"She stabbed me," but Zoro cut her off.

"That's not what happened!" she exclaimed, glaring at him slightly before she looked at Luffy and Nami. "Ignore him. But yes, we've met before."

"That's great!" Luffy exclaimed. "We're already a perfect crew."

"Not a crew," Zoro and Nami said in unison, the latter grabbing Luffy's hat and fixing it.

"Is... everyday gonna be this crazy with you?" Kai asked Luffy, leaning back against the railing with a small smile on her face.

"Shanks always said... that if the path to what you want seems too easy... then you're on the wrong path."

"This Shanks guy sounds all right," Zoro stated, sitting down next to where Kai was standing.

Luffy smiled widely, thanking Nami as she handed him back his hat. Putting it on, he approached the stern, staring into the horizon.

"Next stop, the Grand Line!"

『••✎••』

i haven't updated since last year (i'm hilarious i know), but finally, here's a new chapter of wild uncharted waters!!

i don't know why, but i struggled a lot with writing this chapter; i think it might have been due to the fact i hadn't written anything for fun in months, only university assignments😂 but i'm back!! one of my new years' resolutions is to write more, so let's hope i stick to it haha

going back to the chapter: kai finally met the crew!! tbh, i'm really proud of myself for coming up with the idea of having her join them in orange town, & i hope you guys liked it too<3

anyways, don't be a ghost reader & i'll see you next chapter! 💙

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WILD UNCHARTED WATERS © storyofanotherpaola, 2024.