Several Days Later

All it took to turn the world on its head was an unspoken promise. Roger's final words to the world held the promise of wealth and power to those who found his hidden treasure. Countless men and women took to the seas in those first days to try their hand at searching it. Many died, some gave up after they'd come down from the inspirational high of those final words, and others kept up the search with everlasting hope.

And amongst those that didn't lose interest or hope in fulfilling their dreams, a special few would one day make something of themselves. Whether they became powerful through time and effort or simply by eating a devil fruit, they'd prove to be forces to be reckoned with.

To the World Government's dismay, their plan to use Roger's death as a deterrent to others not only failed but backfired as well. The beginning of the 'Great Age of Pirates' would see to the rise of fearsome pirates for years to come. Pirates that would strike fear into the hearts and minds of those that would seek to destroy them.

One such figure was Marcy D. Devlin. The days following the events at Loguetown were filled with nonstop celebrations all across the world. From Paradise all the way to the New World. Some celebrated the death of 'Gold Roger' the cruel pirate, others celebrated the start of a new life on the open seas, and a few celebrated for no reason other than the infectious attitudes of those around them.

And while these celebrations went on through the night, Devlin swept through all of Loguetown. No store or home she came across was left untouched. However, excluding any cash and coin, she only took what she needed. In the end, it basically came down to tools, food, and clothes.

Had it not been for the endless drinking, she might have been caught by the end of the first night. Unfortunately for the people of Loguetown, the results of her nighttime activities wouldn't be noticed until she was already long gone.

For five days, she had gathered as many supplies as she could in order to be ready to set sail. She too had been drawn in by the idea of becoming a pirate and searching for the legendary One Piece. But more than that she longed to be a part of something big. Something that would leave its mark on the world. She wanted to be able to look back on her life and not feel like she'd missed out on what could have been.

When she felt she had finally gathered enough supplies, she made several trips over to the island's free access docks to scope out any boats worth taking. Unfortunately for her, there was only one boat left to take. It was a simple fishing boat that looked like it'd been through one hurricane too many.

'Well, at least I have a boat. Better than nothing' Devlin sighed regretfully. 'If only I could get into those private docks.'

The private docks were located on the far side of the island. They were reserved for the Celestial Dragons, World Government officials, high ranking Marines, and other such VIP level guests that decided to attend the execution. And just like their owners, the ships docked in those shipyards were in a league of their own.

"They were big, fast, durable, and powerful. Compared to that, the old fishing boat she'd decided on taking was a pile of crap.

As Devlin loaded the last of her bags into the boat, she took one last look at the island behind her before preparing to set sail. Her feelings towards this town were not pleasant in the slightest. Devlin couldn't wait to get as far as she could from there. She was almost ready before hearing a noise from somewhere close by.

'Great. Now I got to deal with whoever owns this thing. Maybe I can buy it off him if he's drunk enough.' She hoped whoever it was didn't try to attack her. Devlin wasn't big on fighting. Not that she couldn't bring herself to, but her small size often left her at a disadvantage against larger opponents. Which was, sadly, almost anyone not a child

As she looked around the inside of the small boat, she noticed something underneath a pile of rags was moving slightly. Creeping carefully towards the pile, she took out a small knife. 'Whatever this thing is, it definitely doesn't own the boat. I'll just get rid of it and get out of here.'

Lifting the rags and readying her knife she was ready to stab whatever might pop out, but stopped short of seeing something out of a horror story. A severed head was laying in front of her.

"…AHHHH!" After she finally let out a scream, the head opened its eyes and started to scream as well. "EH!? AHHH!" Both screamed until Devlin fell backward and hit her head on the edge of the boat.

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"Hey! Little girl!" Not getting a response from the unconscious girl, Buggy's head floated up into the air. Looking around at where he was and what was around him, he slowly pieced it together. The night before he had been boozing it up at several bars around the island before making his way back to what he thought was his room.

However, in his drunken stupor, he lost track of his limbs. Luckily the alcohol had already left his system, otherwise calling his body back during a hangover would've been a major hassle.

Soon the various parts of his body reached the boat and joined together. Once his body was whole again, Buggy walked over to the girl and carefully checked her head. He was no doctor, but she looked fine other than the growing bump on her head.

He was about to try and see if he could wake her up, but the bags of money to his left grabbed his attention. 'What would a kid be doing with all that money? Did she steal it?' Looking at the way she's dressed, Buggy couldn't have imagined her as someone with access to large amounts of money.

Looking at the rest of the bags behind the ones filled with money he saw copious amounts of food, tools, and 'Weapons? Wh-' Feeling the awakened presence of the girl behind him, he stepped forward to dodge her knife and then backward to knock her off balance. Bouncing off Buggy's back, she landed on her butt.

He turned around to see the girl staring up angrily at him. "Stay away from those bags, they're mine! And how the hell are you doing that!?" While trying to get up with her knife in hand she found herself being pushed back down. A gloved hand was on her shoulder, keeping her in place on the floor.

"That would be my hand." He lifted his arm to show his left hand was no longer attached to him. Devlin's eyes narrowed. "Did you eat a devil fruit? Is that why your hand is like that?" Losing the surprise from earlier, fascination had taken its place.

The stars in her eyes made Buggy feel slightly uncomfortable, but he didn't show it. "Yeah. My body can do it too." The rest of his body suddenly split into several pieces, floating in the air. "THAT'S SO AWESOME!"

Feeling sort of giddy from the praise he let down his guard long enough for a certain girl's knife to try and stab his disconnected hand. "Ah!" However, she only managed to stab herself. "Hehehe! Knives don't work on me, kid."

His hand flew back to him as Devlin clutched her bleeding shoulder in pain. "So why are you on my boat?" He wasn't about to tell her this wasn't actually his boat. He'd lose his edge in the conversation if he did.

Looking around it seemed as though someone had taken the boat he'd been using for the past few months. "And why shouldn't I just take your stuff and send you on your way?" Devlin stood up, this time with no hand to hold her down.

Her eyes widened. "You're a pirate, aren't you!?" She knew he was. Everything from his attitude to the way he carried himself just screamed pirate. "And those are my bags!" Buggy stood there unimpressed. "So I am, and so you've said."

Standing there at a loss, not knowing what to do, Devlin slumped her shoulders and groaned in misery. 'He's a devil fruit user, there's no way I can beat him. And if I don't leave now I'll never be able to…'

Buggy stood there, waiting for an answer. He wasn't really going to take away what some kid had with her, it was just fun screwing with her. As he was thinking of just telling her to take her stuff and leave, she spoke up.

"Your boat's really banged up. I doubt it'll last long once you set sail again." He nodded his head, curious as to where she was going with this. "What if I could help get you a new ship? A better one. A ship you won't find anywhere else."

She had his attention. He didn't know about any private docks or else he'd have stolen a ship from there days ago. 'It seems my fun's about to pay off. This kid's not half bad.' He smiled inwardly. 'Might as well have her show me where these private docks are.'

"And all you want in return is your bags?" He asked. Devlin nodded her head solemnly. "How about it? Deal?" Buggy didn't think twice. "Deal."

The two stood there awkwardly ""What's your name?"" They both asked at the same time. "Eh, uh you first." Devlin blushed.

"Buggy. Buggy the Clown." Devlin laughed at his name. "Y-Your name…is-is-is Buggy? Buggy the clown?" She almost fell to her knees in hysterics. "And it's a perfect name to go with that big red nose too!" It was several seconds before Devlin realized she had spoken out loud.

Seeing the trembling form of a very pissed off looking Buggy, she shrank backward in fear. 'He's going to kill me.' She closed her eyes and waited for the blow. But it never came. She opened her eyes to see Buggy walking away.

"What're you waiting for, an invitation!? Let's go!" He called over his shoulder, clearly still agitated. Devlin was confused. Why didn't he hit her? She deserved it. 'What a strange guy.'

Coming out of her thoughts she quickly covered the bags of money and supplies with a tarp, hoping that no one would come and disturb the boat while they were gone. After doing so, she chased after the retreating form of Buggy all the while calling out to him to slow down and wait for her.

"Come one Buggy! Wait for me~!" Silence. 'Did he speed up!?' Annoyed and suddenly forgetting the last minute and a half of her life. "Oy! Big Nose! Slow down!" Buggy froze mid-step and turned around slowly, waiting for her to catch up silently.

Devlin smiled brightly at him as he did. But Buggy barely noticed it as a small voice in the back of his mind was constantly reminding him of one thing. 'She just a kid, Buggy. You don't hit kids.' Calming down just as she reached him they began to walk together.

"Finally noticing the smile on her face, he attempted to smile back."Thank you big n- I mean, Buggy." Turning her head in his direction her smile grew larger. As did Buggy's desire to wring her little neck.