Buster Call: A Storyteller Point of View

[Deicide]

Well, Buster Call has arrived, and as such many possibilities arise. I was among the ones who expected the Strawhats to escape, not destroy, the Buster Call. I had my reasons for that (mainly because I was expecting the Vice Admirals to be known characters like Garp, Tsuru, John Giant, Comil and did not want to see them being dispatched without them receiving a bigger cameo and some on-screen display so we could empathize with them), but right now I've jumped to the side of those who expect the Strawhats to defeat the Buster Call.

I was thinking how this Buster Call have a lot of potential from a Storyteller point of view, and as such there's a lot of possibilities. For instance:

• Remember that Luffy's powerup was first unveiled, without explanation, in his fight against Blueno? I have a feeling that Zoro's and Sanji's powerups will also be explained (and further developed) in their fights against the Vice Admirals.

• We have left: Lucci, Spandam (who is not yet defeated) and five Vice-Admirals. Spandam we know has not yet shown what his sword can do.

I have that feeling that Spandam will be Robin's fight (Robin is weak against something as big as an elephant. Plus, the elephant is made of metal, being a sword, can use cutting attacks that could harm Robin's arms, and has no human body). Either, that, or Franky will fight Spandam and the Elephant (again, the Elephant is made of metal, just like Franky, and has a lot of power).

Also, we have five VA's left. Zoro, Sanji, Sogeking, Franky/Robin, and Nami may fight them. It would be pretty cool to have further insight into Nami's new abilities (and a more action-oriented fight for her as well), plus see some explanations and further development into Asura and Demon Leg powers. Plus, Sogeking still needs his shining moment, since he does not still consider himself part of the crew.

Of course, maybe Nami will be too busy manning the escape ship while the others open the way, so she may not gain a new fight. I would like to see her in a more serious fight, however.

• Well, since these VA's are just a bunch of unknown characters, we won't really miss them or say that they should receive more attention. We can expect the following battles to be straight out fights without a lot of time spent on conversation.

• Of course, there's the downside of such a battle to occur. If that's the case, what will Luffy do? I don't think Lucci will take more 15 chapters to go down while the others fight. And I think Luffy may be completely wasted by his gear moves once he finishes off Lucci. I doubt Oda will leave the main character in the background for so long, so maybe Luffy will rise to fight someone. Maybe Aokiji? (I personally doubt it, but it is a possibility that Aokiji is going to see the results of the Buster Call "he" called forth). It would be cool seeing Aokiji defeated by the end of this arc, but I also think that he may be reserved to be the main antagonist further down the road, near the end. Then again, near the end of the series we may have bigger antagonists, like Sengoku and Whitebeard.

• What about Chopper? When he first became a monster, I was expecting to see it happening again a few arcs ahead, when the SH's would really face the Buster Call, and then Chopper would go aboard one of the marine warships and transform, causing mayhem on the ships. RIght now he seems to be the only one who is totally out of battle.

Your thoughts?

[UsoppKing]

I kinda like the idea of Chopper going Chopzilla on someone elses ship but I see something that big happening when they fight a Shichibukai or Whitebeard

[KuMaJeff]

Well before I had hoped that they would destory the Buster Call, but seeing as the straw hats have used up most of their strength against the CP9, I don't it would be realistic to fight the Buster Call. Their main objective was to save Robin, not go on some Marine Raid(which they pretty much ended doing). If they defeated Buster Call here it would make the straw hats seem way too powerful in my opinion. If the straw hats were capable of defeating a Buster Call right after defeating such a strong group of CP9's, you may as well hand a 500 million bounty to each of the strawhats for doing nothing. However though maybe they will fight their way through "parts" of the Buster Call and make their escape. I really doubt they would go as far as to destroy the entire Buster Call though, at least I hope that doesn't happen.

[Porter]

@KuMaJeff:
I second that.

[Aldrich]

Yeah same here. Honestly what kind of message would Oda send if the Strawhats destroyed the Buster Call? Especially as it'd include them fighting and defeating the VAs. First, it'd feel rehashed; we just had 20 chapters of one on one fights, yet now we'd have to sit through Nami vs Cigar smoking beard guy, Sanji vs Scarface, and Zoro vs Fucked up helmet wearing dude? It'd feel like a chore.

Or the VAs would have to be beaten in a chapter and a half, and it'd make them look like complete nancies. If the Strawhats can already dispatch such elite Marine fighters with ease, then even the Admirals and Shichibukais shouldn't hold a candle to them. And we know it's not the case.

Not to mention there's not many Strawhats who could give the VAs a good fight; Nami and Usopp are out of the equation, Robin is probably too terrified, Chopper is half dead and there's no doubts Luffy will be exhausted after his fight with Lucci. This leaves Franky, Zoro and Sanji. And even them would get their asses handed to them on a silver plate if they fought the VAs IMO.

[Kudo29]

well i really like your ideas, but i don't think that Nami and the others (except Luffy) have a chance against the VA's. i don't know how strongly they are though, but i don't think that they are sooo weak… me, i want that Luffy beats them down after a few attempts (as it's the case for Crocodile)... i want that they escape right now cause they understand that they don't have any chance right now, and perhaps at the next meeting they will defeat the VA's....

and sorry for my english ^^;

[Buuhan1]

I too agree them destroying the Buster Call would be too much. Mainly, no one defeated the last Buster Call, and instead Ohara was destroyed. So history may just repeat itself but this case destroying the very marine stronghold.

And thus this will most likely cause a big conflict within the World Goverment due to the fact their own force destroyed something as important as Enies Lobby.

[Voodzik]

I dunno guys, I think another round of fights with the VA's would be good…..IF, and ONLY IF, there's a nice space in between. Like, the VA's chase the SH's to Water 7, and the fights happen there.

It's a real possibility. Spandam seems to have a lot of clout, whatever kind of gutter dwelling piece of shit he is, and he could probably have them chase after Robin to end up in water 7.

I say this also because it takes the log a WEEK to record water 7; I give them three days they've been there MAX. Of course maybe they'll even get some down time when they escape, that would be nice for them too

[Polygon]

@KuMaJeff:

Well before I had hoped that they would destory the Buster Call, but seeing as the straw hats have used up most of their strength against the CP9, I don't it would be realistic to fight the Buster Call. Their main objective was to save Robin, not go on some Marine Raid(which they pretty much ended doing). If they defeated Buster Call here it would make the straw hats seem way too powerful in my opinion. If the straw hats were capable of defeating a Buster Call right after defeating such a strong group of CP9's, you may as well hand a 500 million bounty to each of the strawhats for doing nothing. However though maybe they will fight their way through "parts" of the Buster Call and make their escape. I really doubt they would go as far as to destroy the entire Buster Call though, at least I hope that doesn't happen.

Yep. I believe this is the best route to take. I think this would be enoughf for robin to face her demons. The entire crew facing the BC even though they know they'll lose wiould be touching.

[NullSh]

@Voodzik:

I dunno guys, I think another round of fights with the VA's would be good…..IF, and ONLY IF, there's a nice space in between. Like, the VA's chase the SH's to Water 7, and the fights happen there.

It's a real possibility. Spandam seems to have a lot of clout, whatever kind of gutter dwelling piece of shit he is, and he could probably have them chase after Robin to end up in water 7.

I say this also because it takes the log a WEEK to record water 7; I give them three days they've been there MAX. Of course maybe they'll even get some down time when they escape, that would be nice for them too

Nami has the Log and she is in EL now who knows how long the Log sets at EL. But it has been only an hour or two since Strawhats arrived at EL.

Having another serious fight against BC and the VA after expanding all the energy on the CP9 will be a 1st for Strawhats. After every serious fight before they had some rest time and CP9 was a serious fight even though it seemed some fights were short. Expecting them to take down BC and VA now is a bit much.

More likely some luck, misdirection and or chaos will aid them in either escape or hiding form BC. IF they hide in one of those HUGE BC Ships they can get a ride all the way to W7 if that ships is diverted to go after FF that is now in process of escaping