Welcome to '7 years'! This is my tribute to the One Piece fandom: 100 stories of Shanks and Buggy during their years with the Roger Pirates. The story will be chronological and the ages of Shanks and Buggy will be shown in the beginning of each chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shanks, Buggy, Rayleigh, Roger or any other official One Piece character. They belong to Oda Eiichiro. I am not making money out of this.
Warnings: This story will have some blood, language and Male/Male relationships.
Well then... Let's get this show on the road!
/ Daeli
1) Beginnings
Age: 11
/
In West Blue, there's a small island called Carnibal Island. On this island there are no forests to take a stroll in, no rivers to bathe in and no mountains to climb. There's only a big city called Carnibal City. It's said to be a city of delight, where merrymaking can be had both day and night, and no one is ever bored. It's a well known tourist spot and trading post in the West Blue and one of the 'must go to'-places for anyone visiting that part of the world.
This island of eternal merriment is where Shanks met Buggy for the first time.
/
'Where did they go?'
Shanks looked around in confusion. He had only stopped for what felt like a second to watch one of the performers juggle burning knives, which was something he had never seen before, and already his crew-mates had been swallowed up by the crowd.
'Oh crap! I lost them! Rayleigh-san is gonna tan my hide for this!'
He took of running down the street in order to catch up with his crew-mates, but that hope was promptly dashed as the street suddenly opened up to a huge plaza packed with people. After a few seconds of panicking and whipping his head around trying to catch a glimpse of his friends, the red-haired, strawhat-wearing eleven-year-old sighed.
'Oh well, no use panicking. It can't be that hard to get back to the ship -'
At that moment a small troupe consisting of three bicycling clowns, two pretty girls in glittering uniforms doing cartwheels and somersaults, and a small elephant being ridden by a monkey in a conductor-suit passed right by Shanks and continued down the street he had come from. He gazed after them in awe, and then finally took a closer look at his surroundings.
Ever since they had gotten to Carnibal Island, Shanks had been confined at the ship, since he was, and this he could quote Rayleigh-san on, "far too air-headed to be allowed to wander around in this kind of neighborhood". In fact, the only reason why he was in town in the first place was because all hands had been needed to restock the ship's food storage and neither Rayleigh-san nor Captain Roger wanted to leave Shanks all alone on the ship.
They had given him three orders: "Don't get separated from us", "Keep your eyes straight ahead" and "If you DO get separated from us, go straight back to the ship". And he had followed their orders to the letter. Until now.
But as he turned in circles, his eyes drawn to every little thing happening around him, Shanks could not imagine what made them wary of this place. It was amazing! He had thought that the guy juggling with the swords and the troupe of circus-artists walking by him were exceptions, but he could not have been more wrong.
Clowns in weird make-up and bright costumes, walking and tumbling and dancing all across the plaza, making parents chuckle as their children giggled and laughed at the clowns' antics; performers doing all types of acts, from swallowing fire to throwing knives at each other; salesmen yelling loudly, each trying to convince their potential costumers that their wares was the best; beautiful women and handsome men advertising for bars and restaurants, all the while smiling widely; and among all these colorful people were tourists from all over the world wearing all sorts of clothes. Everywhere Shanks turned there were people in brightly colored clothes shouting, laughing and singing.
There were also tons of animals making all kinds of ruckus. Monkeys chattering as they rested on their owners' shoulders; dogs barking and chasing each other; horses whining as their riders tried to maneuver them through the thick mass of people; more elephants of the same kind he saw earlier; and even a big tiger in a cage that would roar at anyone getting too close to the cage, making the unlucky ones shriek in fright while their friends laughed at them. And birds. Hundreds of birds of all colors and sizes, chirping and trilling in chorus.
Combine this with all the bright colors coming from the spotlights hanging above the plaza and the mouthwatering smells coming from the restaurants and the food stands, and it was enough to capture the redhead's complete attention.
As he took in all the wonderful sights, sounds and smells in his vicinity, a mischievous grin slowly but surely spread over Shank's face.
Though he certainly didn't mean to, Shanks had broken the first two rules. He knew that if he simply returned to the ship Rayleigh-san would never let him on the island again. The vice-captain was just strict like that. And this time he had Captain Roger on his side as well, so it was no use asking him for help.
Since he was going to get in trouble anyway, did it really matter if he broke the third rule as well? Why not enjoy his freedom while it lasted?
And so, having convinced himself of the logic behind his coming actions the way only an eleven-year-old can, Shanks ran out into the plaza.
Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched.
/
Two hours later
Shanks was having a blast.
He didn't have enough money to watch any of the in-door shows or eat at a fancy restaurant but there were plenty enough street-performers to keep him entertained for hours. Jugglers, knife-wielders, fire dancers, acrobats – all with different acts. Shanks could have stayed at the plaza for days and never get bored, of that he was certain.
As he watched a man pull his entire body through a small metal ring (it was as if he was entirely made out of rubber!), he was reminded that he had not eaten anything since morning when his stomach suddenly growled. Shanks looked up at the sky and noticed that it was growing darker.
"It will probably be dark soon. I guess I really have to go back now. Aah-ah, Rayleigh-san is gonna scold me for sure-" a grin lit up on his face as he thought about all the new and exciting things he had seen today, "-but it was worth it. Now then, I'm just gonna get something to eat, then it's back to the ship."
He was a little surprised that his crew-mates hadn't dragged him back yet. Usually, whenever he managed to sneak away, either Rayleigh-san or Captain Roger would show up no more than ten minutes later. The two of them, especially the captain, always seemed to know exactly where he was. 'Oh, well. If they do know where I am, they probably have a reason for not getting me.'
Shanks tended to take things as they came. It was no use worrying about what might happen in the future when all you really had to deal with was what actually happening in the present. And he was gonna keep handling things as they came. After all, if he had worried too much in the past, he never would have become a member of the Roger Pirates in the first place.
His eyes caught a vendor selling grilled octopuses, which made him immediately rush over. The vendor turned over one of the octopuses, and the sizzling sound and the smell of grilled seafood made Shanks' mouth water.
"Oh, that smells SO good! Hey old man, how much for the big one?" he asked, pointing at a stick holding a big, grilled octopus.
"Tha' will cos' ya 25 Belis, kid. A' ya folks gon' 'ave some too?" the vendor asked with a smile. His accent and missing teeth made him kind of hard to understand, but Shanks had spent enough time with sailors to be able to piece together what the man meant.
"Nope, I'm here by myself," Shanks answered with a wide grin.
For a moment the man's face twisted in sympathy before his kind smile reappeared. "Oh-hoh, izzat so? Tell ya wha', kid, this uns go' a bit burnt on da side. It be a shame t' throw i' away tho'. 'Ow about ya take this o' me hands?"
'Oh. He thinks I'm an orphan...' After a brief second of feeling a tiny speck of guilt, he shrugged internally. 'Well, I'm not gonna argue when it comes to free food.' "Deal!" Shanks said and beamed innocently at the vendor, who laughed kindly in return.
He was just reaching for the food, when a small explosion rocked the plaza and people started screaming in fright. Suddenly the air was filled with smoke that shifted colors every few seconds. The birds shrieked and took of from their nesting spots, fleeing from the smoke. Shanks' eyes teared up and he started to cough. He could hear the other people around him doing the same. Other animals in the plaza started panicking and ran away, not caring if there were any humans in the way.
'Damn it! Can't see... Can... barely breathe...'
In that moment Shanks felt someone snatch his wallet from his backpocket and saw a faint shadow passing him by. Suddenly, the fact that he couldn't see or breathe well became minor annoyances.
"HEY, YOU!"
He took of running in the same direction as the shadow, who seemed to be perfectly fine in the smoke. Shanks knew that if he didn't stop the shadow, it would soon disappear, so he did the first thing he could think of.
He threw himself at it.
He collided with the shadow and they both went down.
"GIVE ME BACK MY WALLET!"
"OW! LET GO OF ME!"
After a lot of struggling, Shanks finally managed to pin the shadow down. Slowly, the smoke started to dissipate and Shanks finally got a look at the person who had the guts to try and rob him.
He was about Shanks' age and was wearing dirty rags that once upon a time might have been red or orange, but was now so washed up and dirty that they had faded to light brown. Around his neck was a light green handkerchief, that he had probably used to prevent the brightly colored smoke from getting in his nose and mouth. Beside him lay a pair of goggles. Longish, azure colored hair were being held back with a short ponytail, with two tufts of bangs hanging in front of his face. But the one thing that stood out most with the boy was that he had a big, red nose.
Just like a clown.
"Buggy's down!"
"Just leave 'im!"
Hearing the voices, Shanks glanced up to see that there were more kids coming out of the rapidly disappearing smoke and running towards the streets, away from the plaza. They must have robbed the other people that had been taken by surprise by the smoke. Oh well, not much he could do about them.
The one pinned under him, on the other hand...
"Looks like your friends abandoned you," Shanks told him with a smirk.
The clown snarled, "They are not my friends. And besides-" Suddenly, the clown drove a knee into Shanks stomach, which made the redhead release him with a gasp and a curse. The clown quickly got to his feet and got into a fighting stance. "-I don't need their help to beat a flashy wimp like you into the ground."
Shanks grit his teeth to ward of the pain from his stomach, stood up and mirrored his opponent's stance. "I would like to see you try, big-nose."
At those words the clown practically flew at Shanks in his fury. "WHO ARE YOU SAYING HAS A BIG RED NOSE?!"
They collided in a flurry of fists. The people surrounding them all looked on in shock. No one seemed eager to get in between the two furiously fighting boys.
"Dear, stop them! They might kill each other!" a wealthy looking woman implored her husband after seeing the clown give the redhead boy a right hook to the jaw, and the redhead answering with a left hook to the clown's stomach
Her husband looked at his wife with disbelief. "D-d-don't be ridiculous, woman! If I get in between those two, I will get pummeled too..."
Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind them. "Looks like we found our errant cabin boy."
The couple quickly turned around and were met with a group of about thirteen strong looking men. Leading the group were two men, one of them a tall, curly haired blond with a scar over his right eye and dark-haired beard formed in a stripe-like pattern, wearing round glasses and a dark-blue coat. The other man,the one who had spoken, was tall, with raven hair hidden under a captains hat with a Jolly Roger on it, a great, black, curved mustache and wearing a deep red coat.
It was obvious that these guys were pirates.
The two boys had abruptly stopped fighting when they heard the mans strong voice and were now just standing with each of their right hands grabbing their opponent's shirt. Of course, Shanks immediately recognized the men. "Captain! Rayleigh-san!"
"I told you he wouldn't return to the ship by himself, Roger. Looks like your little experiment failed," the blond told the black-haired man, all the while starring disappointingly at Shanks.
The captain laughed and slapped a big hand down on the blond's shoulder.
"Aw relax, Rayleigh! We had to try sometime. And it looks like he's been having fun and doesn't look too worse for wear. I say all's well that ends well!"
Rayleigh turned to his captain with exasperation written all over his face. "Roger, you're too soft on the kid. He disobeyed a direct order, the least you can do as a captain is scold him."
Roger gave up another laugh. "Fine, fine, he will get a punishment when we get back to The West Wind. But right now-" The tall man started walking towards the two boys. The people in his path swiftly made way for him. Even though the man seemed jovial, he was still a pirate. You never know when a jovial pirate would suddenly become a jovial bloodcovered pirate.
He stopped before the two boys. "So? What's this about, Shanks?"
At that the boys let go and glared at each other. Shanks answered his captain without taking his eyes of his opponent. "Nothing I can't handle, Captain." At this the clown scoffed and Shank's glare intensified. "This guy robbed me. I'm just getting my wallet back."
Captain Roger actually looked surprised. "Hooh? He managed to steal from you? Not bad." While Shanks was silently fuming that his captain had actually praised the clown, Roger turned to the blue-haired boy. "To be able to steal the wallet from our Shanks, I'm impressed! But... that boy is part of my crew, which means that his business is my business."
The captain's grin widened until it looked like it would split his face. "Are you ready to pay the consequences for stealing from my comrade or are you going to give back his money? Either way is fine with me."
The clown had frozen to the spot the moment the tall man had addressed him, and was now staring at him with a mixture of paralyzing fear and admiration. Slowly he reached into his pocket, pulled out Shank's wallet and threw it at the redhead. Shanks caught it with one hand.
The captain now turned to Shanks. "Well, Shanks? Shall we let bygones be bygones?" The redhead looked at his captain with a little bit of annoyance, but then he closed his eyes, smiled and shrugged. "Fine, if you say so, Captain." He had his money back. No use to fight any longer... even if the hits he had taken from the clown were still aching... And there was something else... something in the back of his mind that he couldn't put his finger on...
The two of them had just started walking back to the rest of the waiting crew when the blue-haired kid's stomach started growling, much to the clown's embarrassment. Roger laughed and turned to the blue-haired kid once more. "Here." He flipped a gold-coin from his hand. The coin flew through the air until it landed at the clown's feet. "You're hungry, right? Go buy something to eat."
At once the fear, admiration and embarrassment in the clown's eyes disappeared and were replaced with fury. He picked up the gold-coin and flung it back yelling, "Keep your flashy coin!"
Shanks and Roger both stared at the clown with disbelief. The other townspeople also turned their eyes towards the blue-haired kid, who was panting with exertion after his outburst. He then took a deep breath and resumed his yelling, "Who do you think I am?! I'm the man who will gain all the treasures in the world, THE GREAT BUGGY! If I wanted your frickin' coin I would have stolen it in such flashily brilliant way that you would have been blinded in the process, old man! AND YOU, REDHEAD!" He snapped his hand up and pointed towards Shanks. "Our fight isn't over. I will become a pirate, find you and finish this! DON'T YOU DARE FORGET!"
With those words he turned around and dashed through the crowds towards one of the smaller streets, and had soon disappeared from sight.
A few seconds of silence followed his departure, then Roger threw his head back and laughed. "What a gutsy kid! Hey Rayleigh, what do you think? Should we be watching our backs in the future?" the captain asked his first-mate with a wide grin.
His first-mate, on the other hand, had a small frown on his face. "That is if he is even lives to get to sea."
At that Rogers grin swiftly fell away. "What do you mean?"
Rayleigh took a sip from his flask and then wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "You saw it too, right, Captain? His clothes were nothing but rags and given how thin his face was, he probably hasn't had a proper meal for a long while, yet he seems to have obvious skills as a thief. If he's that good at stealing, he should have no problem keeping himself well feed. Unless of course-"
"-Someone else is getting the spoils." Roger heaved a sigh. "I see what you mean. Depending on what kind of person it is that is taking care of him, he might never get the freedom to do what he wants."
Rayleigh directed a searching look towards his captain. "Do you want to do something about him?"
Roger seemed to consider the proposition, but then he shook his head. "No, leave him. There is no reason for us to get involved. Still, he was an interesting kid." Roger and Rayleigh started walking back towards the rest of the crew.
The crowd jumped as one of the crew-members growled, "Hey, people! The shows over, move along already!" They quickly obeyed and soon the plaza was as lively as it had been before. But Shanks was still not moving.
Roger noticed that Shanks had yet to accompany them, so he turned and yelled, "OI, Shanks! Come on, we're going back to the ship! You still have a punishment to receive!"
The redhead flinched and faced the first mate. "I know, I know! I'm coming!"
He ran to his crew-mates, but during their way back the ship, Shanks could not resist the urge to turn his head a few times and look back to where the other boy had disappeared. A small wave of pain went through him. He looked down at his hand. It was bleeding from the cuts on his knuckles. They must have split open during the fight. The clown-nosed kid must be having siilar pains of his own.
There had been something about that fight, though. Something weird. Something that he still couldn't put his finger on...
"How's that hand, Shanks?" asked one of his crew members.
With one last glance back, Shanks stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."
/
Having finally found an abandoned alley he could hide in, Buggy leaned against the dirty wall, panting in both exertion and fury. Small drops of blood dripped down from his busted knuckles down to the ground.
Buggy was so furious that he felt like he could catch on fire. It was so frickin' unfair! Why was that flashy redhead bastard a pirate and not him?! And he was even part of a pretty awesome looking crew at that!
When the captain spoke to him, he nearly turned tail and ran. It was only through sheer stubbornness and pride that he managed to ignore the instinct. Of course, once the captain threw the gold-coin to him in pity, his temper had flared up and he just had to frickin' challenge the captain and his crew. At least they had been too surprised to act before he ran away. He was sure that they would have killed him for mouthing off at their captain.
But that redhead...!
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" He smashed his curled up fist into a nearby wall and then winced. The pain in his hand broke through the angry haze and as he cradled his damaged hand. The anger was slowly replaced by depression.
'What's so special about that flashy bastard that he gets to be in pirate crew? He's the same age as I am and I hadn't planned to become a pirate for at least another six years. That's how long it's probably gonna take me to gather the money for... Oh crap, the money!'
Buggy shook his head violently from side to side. 'Dammit! This is not the time be thinking about that redhead! I need to hurry and get the money before... What time is it anyway?'
He walked out from the alley into a bigger street and looked around for a clock-tower. When he saw what time it was, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. 'WHAT?! 10 O'CLOCK?! I ONLY HAVE 2 HOURS?!' He shook his head again. 'Nononononono. Calm down, calm down. There's still time. If I can find someone with a heavy wallet, I should still be in the clear.'
He took a deep breath. 'Here goes.' He took off running down the street in search of someone who fit the bill.
/
"You're saying Buggy was captured?" A man in his thirties asked the group of kids that stood before him. He was a short-haired blonde wearing a dark- and light-green striped suit. Beside him stood two beefy looking men wearing dark glasses and black suits, and a third man in a white suit wearing a slimy smile.
Standing in front of the men were a large group of children. There were about fifteen of them in ages between 8 and 14. They were all boys and all of them were wearing old, washed out, dirty clothes. Many of them looked half-starved. The one in the lead was a 14 year old black-haired boy who was missing an ear.
"Yeah, that's what I'm sayin', Mr. Fabioli." the boy answered. "Tried to help him, we did, but there were too many o' them. Right guys?" The other boys nodded their confirmation, some more enthusiastically than others.
The blonde in the green suit, Mr Fabioli, only sighed. "A damn shame that is. He was one of my best. He will be sorely missed." He then clapped his hands together. "Well then, boys! I believe it is time for the collecting! Everyone hand over what they have managed to get a hold on this week!"
One by one, the boys went forward and placed their stolen goods in separate piles before Fabioli. The tall blonde nodded to the man in the white suit, who then started to examine the different piles and making notes in his notebook. The tension was thick among the boys, which is why everyone jumped a mile in the air when there was a sudden 'BANG' by the storage entrance.
The two men in black turned towards Fabioli. He gave them a slight nod, which they returned, each drawing a big knife from their holsters and making their way towards the door. But before they got there, one of the doors opened and in walked Buggy. He cast a look around the storage and grinned. "Well, it looks like I arrived right on time!"
The other boys were shocked for a few seconds before some of the younger ones rushed forward to greet Buggy, with exclamations of his name being mixed with rapid questions on how he escaped and where he had been. The older boys stood back, glowering at the clown.
When Mr Fabioli clapped his hands together to get their attention, the younger boys scattered away from Buggy and let him move forward towards the green-clad man. Fabioli smiled wryly at the boy. "Buggy... I heard you had been captured."
Buggy only scoffed in answer. "It was ONE guy, and he didn't 'capture' me, he just noticed when I picked his pocket and made a fuss about it. But it's all been taken care of. So..." He pulled out a big bag from under his shirt and tossed it up and down in his right hand. "Where should I put my share?"
"Ba ha ha ha ha! You always were my favorite, Buggy! I will forgive you for being late this time! However..." A dangerous light was in his eyes. "...if you haven't been able to make the quota it will be another issue entirely. I hope you're prepared for that, Buggy."
Buggy only grinned in response. "Heh. The day I can't make the quota, you may boil me, roast me, do whatever the hell you like with me. If I can't even get this done, my pride as a thief will be tarnished."
Fabioli examined the boy who stood before him. "You have a way with words, as always. Very well, place your loot by the others and we will see."
Buggy did so, and then turned to stand among the other boys that were gathered there. The man in the white suit continued his assessment and was soon finished with the last pile. Fabioli turned his head towards him. "Well, Dingo?"
Dingo turned his slimy smile towards Fabioli. "It seems that all the boys have made the quota for this week, Master Fabioli, even if some were just over the limit."
Fabioli nodded, pleased with the news and then said, "You have done well, boys. Now you may go. Eat, sleep, celebrate, and continue your good work. I will come back next week for the next rent. See you then." The four men made their way towards the entrance and exited the storage.
As soon as the door had closed behind the men, Buggy said, "Well, this has been a flashily exhausting day, I'm going to sleep," before making his way towards the stairs.
"Wait, Buggy!"
Buggy stopped and turned towards the one calling out. It was the one-eared boy. "You still have a lot of explaining to do! How did you get away from those guys?"
Buggy smiled darkly. "'Those guys'? The way I remember it, that redhead kid was the only one confronting me in the beginning. Could it be that you stuck around to watch the show, maybe see if I got arrested or lynched?" The silence from the black-haired boy said enough. "How cruel. One might think that you don't like me."
"That's because I DON'T like you," the black-haired boy snarled at Buggy. The other boys were casting nervous glances between the two boys, expecting them to start fighting any second.
But Buggy only answered the boy's snarl with a smirk. "What's wrong, Alfredo? It can't be that you're jealous, can it? I don't blame you. With my flashily superior skills in stealing you must be feeling put down. But don't worry, with a lot more work, you might even be a considered rival some day."
For each word the clown spoke, the boy called Alfredo became more and more red with anger and when Buggy finally finished insulting him, Alfredo was so red with fury that it would have been possible to fry an egg on his forehead.
As soon as Buggy turned to continue walking up the stairs, Alfredo lunged for him, but was held back by the other boys. They knew that despite the difference in age and body mass, Buggy was the better fighter of the two, and always had a knife stashed on him to protect him from bigger foes, and he was a pro at using it.
Alfredo knew this too, he was just too angry to remember it at the moment.
"YOU JUST WAIT, BUGGY! ONE OF THESE DAYS YOUR LUCK IS GONNA RUN OUT AND YOU'LL GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU! WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I'LL BE THERE AND I'LL LAUGH IN YOUR FACE AS YOU CRAWL IN THE DIRT! YOU HEAR ME?!"
As Buggy walked up the stairs he could hear Alfredo continue to curse and yell behind him and the voices of the other boys trying to calm the furious one-eared boy down.
/
Rayleigh was ripped away from his concentration as someone suddenly knocked on his door.
It couldn't be Roger. He always kept clear whenever Rayleigh was doing the inventory in fear of being roped into doing something he considered to be extremely boring. And more importantly, he would never knock on the door.
"Come in", he said. The door opened slowly and revealed the late visitor to be Shanks in his night clothes, shifting from foot to foot.
"Um... Rayleigh-san? Can I talk with you for a minute?"
Rayleigh sighed and put down his feather-pen. "You should be in bed by now, Shanks." The boy looked down on the ground at the scolding tone of his vice-captain.
Rayleigh considered the boy standing in front of him before continuing, "Alright, but only for a minute. I still have work to do before I can go to sleep..." He looked sternly at the boy, "...which is exactly what you will do after we're done here, got it?"
Shanks nodded vigorously and Rayleigh's tone became softer. "Now then... What's this about?"
Shanks released a breath he didn't know he was holding and sunk down into the chair closest to him. He opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated and drew his legs to his chest. It made him look the age he was and not like a pirate cabin boy who had been in a fight just hours before.
Aside from having official roles in the crews, each crew-member had an unofficial role as well. Roger was the captain, and also the one you went to when you needed reasurance. Howard was the cook, but he was always willing to share his kitchen space whenever anyone needed some quiet time. And Rayleigh? He was the vice-captain... and the one the crew came to when they needed the cold hard truths.
So whatever Shanks felt he needed to ask, he probably didn't want to ask.
He finally looked up at him. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes, go on."
"When you and the captain found me, you were talking about a test. What was that about?"
Rayleigh was silent for a moment before sighing, again. He had hoped that the kid would wait to ask that question until tomorrow at least. He was far too tired for this. But when had anyone in this crew ever made anything easy for him?
"When we noticed that you had become separated from us, I wanted to go find you immediately, but Roger stopped me. He wanted to see if you would follow the orders we had given you, even if we weren't around to enforce them. Roger was hoping that you would, but me? I kind of figured you wouldn't."
He smiled softly at the hurt expression on Shanks' face. "Shanks... you're simply too young and curious, and sometimes you forget to think about the consequences of your actions. With the power you have, those traits can become dangerous, both for you and people surrounding you. We left you on purpose to see how you would react. Unfortunately, you failed."
Shanks jumped up from his seat. "But nothing happened! Well, in the end something happened, but that was hours after I had lost you guys!" he protested.
Rayleigh frowned. "Yes... Hours after. Even though we expressively told you to go back to the ship if you got separated from us. And just because nothing serious happened this time, who's to say it won't happen the next time? What if there had been Marines? Or other pirates? Or anyone else that wants to hurt you?"
Shanks clenched his hands into fists. "I would have run away. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think."
Rayleigh leaned forward with a grim expression. "This is not about stupidity, Shanks, it's about working as a crew. In the future, what if we expect you to follow an order and you don't, and a crew-mate dies because of it? Did you ever think about that, Shanks?"
Shanks froze in place. He hadn't thought that far. The thought that one of his crew-mates could die just because he had defied orders... For some reason, the clown's face flashed through his mind.
"But... but... I was just having fun... It wasn't like we were in a battle or anything."
"Shanks... People die just as much on good days as they do on bad days. Please remember that," Rayleigh said with a grim smile.
The red-haired boy looked down at his feet, the straw-hat shielding his eyes from Rayleigh. He could see the boy tremble.
"...I'm sorry."
Rayleigh rose from his seat and took hold of Shanks' shoulders, making him look up into his eyes. "As long as you learn from this experience, it's fine. But you're not to set foot on this island anymore, okay? That's your punishment for failing the test."
He clapped the boy on the shoulder and grinned encouragingly. "Hey, keep your shin up, Shanks. You're a kid, you're supposed to screw up so you can learn to be a better adult."
Shanks glared up at him, annoyed but much less sad than before. "Gee, thanks Rayleigh-san." He suddenly yawned loudly, making Rayleigh laugh.
"Go on to bed, Shanks."
Shanks nodded tiredly and after saying a sleepy goodnight to his vice-captain, he went out of the room, closing the door behind him.
As he did, the small smile he was wearing slipped off and he sighed. He could feel the weight of failure on his shoulders and knew that the punishment he had received was fair. Guilt wasn't fun at all.
His gaze went towards the shore where the lights was still going strong and probably would for the rest of the night. The city that never sleeps. That was Carnibal Town.
He suddenly wondered where the boy he had meet was right now. Was he sleeping somewhere safe? Was he out there among the night-crawlers?
He shook his head in annoyance. 'What the heck's up with me? Why do I keep thinking about him? I should be more concerned about how to make up for my screw-up today.' He growled and stomped off towards his sleeping place. He figured that a good night's sleep would clear his mind of the other boy.
But it didn't.
/
The next day...
"SHAAAANKS! WHERE ARE YOU, BOY?!"
The crew-mates of The West Wind cringed when they heard the furious voice of the first-mate and saw him coming towards them. "Howard. Where is Shanks?" Rayleigh asked one of the men while grinding his teeth.
Howard, a big broad-shouldered blonde man in his twenties, looked confused. "Isn't he in the cabin?" A hard look from the first-mate made Howard revise his words. "I-I mean, neither of us have seen him since you told him that he was to stay put in there."
Rayleigh looked at each of the men, looking for any sign of deception. When he saw none, he sighed and muttered to himself, "Damn it Shanks, I thought that you knew better after yesterday." He then addressed four of the crew-members standing in front of him. "He seems to have gotten off the ship without anyone noticing. Howard, Bane, Mikken, Sleigh – I want the four of you to go into town and look for the brat. If you find him, get him back to the ship immediately, I don't care if you have to carry him. Understood?"
The four mentioned men gave a quick nod towards Rayleigh and set off towards the town. The ship had barely left their sight when Bane turned towards his shipmates. "This is stupid."
Mikken rolled his eyes. "Here we go again..."
Bane glared at Mikken, and considering the man was over six feet tall with tan skin, unruly short black and dark green eyes, he cut a pretty intimidating picture. Normally anyone being subjected to Bane's glare would have cowered away, but Mikken, who answered his glare with a smirk and a challenging glint in his eyes, had known Bane all his life and knew how to handle him. With his short build, fair complexion and blonde hair, Mikken looked the complete opposite of Bane.
No one would ever guess that they shared the same parents.
"You wanna say something, Mikken?" Bane growled at his brother.
"I do, actually: Stop. Complaining. Every time the captain or Rayleigh-san gives us orders to take care of Shanks or include him in our past-time, you always grumble like an old man and I'm sick of it," Mikken answered with no hesitation.
Bane huffed. "Well, excuse me if I thought that being a pirate was about sailing the seas, fighting the Navy and finding treasure, not babysitting a freaking useless kid who can't follow simple orders."
Mikken's smirk fell away and now he just looked annoyed. "You know that's not true. Shanks is pulling his weight as much as can be expected from an eleven-year-old and you know that the captain wouldn't have taken him under his wing if the kid didn't have potential."
"But he's still a kid!" Bane growled and muttered to himself. "I freaking HATE kids."
Howard noticed that people around them were starting to look at them funny. "Knock it off, you two! You're drawing attention to us."
Bane and Mikken completely ignored him and continued with their bickering. Before Howard could repeat himself, Sleigh stepped forward, raised both his hands and slapped the two brothers on their heads. "That's enough of that. Bane, no matter what your personal opinion is, Rayleigh ordered us to find the kid, so that's exactly what we're gonna do. Unless you want to explain to Rayleigh why you can't follow a simple order?"
Bane flushed in anger for having his own words turned against him, yet he didn't say a word in protest. Sleigh was a little shorter than Bane and thirty years older, but he was the most experienced sailor in the crew seeing as he had been traveling on the seas since he was a little boy. Having only lost his right eye and ear during his years traveling on the Grand Line, the rest of the crew, even Rayleigh and Captain Roger, held a great deal of respect for the old man. Whenever he talked, you listened.
Bane turned with a huff and continued walking down the street. Mikken flashed an apologetic grin to Sleigh and hurried after his brother. Sleigh was about to go after them when Howard spoke up behind him. "It's strange, isn't it?"
"What is?"
Howard was fidgeting from one foot to another. "Well... Shanks isn't an idiot. He most have known how furious Rayleigh would be if he sneaked out, especially after yesterday. And it's not like he's the kind of person to make people angry deliberately, he hates it when people are mad at him. So why did he sneak out in the first place?"
Sleigh had been asking himself that same question, but since he didn't have an answer to it, he just turned and continued walking after Bane and Mikken. "Let's go. We'll never find the kid if we stand around talking all day."
Howard still wore a brooding expression, but hurried after his senior crew-mate. 'I guess I'll just have to ask Shanks when we find him.'
/
Rayleigh entered Roger's cabin with a huff. "That kid is going to give me gray hairs!"
Roger looked up at his friend with a wide smile. "Something wrong, Rayleigh?"
"Of course there's something wrong!" Rayleigh was pacing in front of desk and Roger was following his movements with a sly glint in his eyes. "Shanks managed to get off the ship without me noticing! I thought that I had gotten through to him yesterday, I thought that he understood the importance of following orders, of accepting punishment for doing the wrong thing! But that obviously went right over his head!"
He interrupted his rant with a groan and slapped his forehead. He could already feel a migraine creeping up behind his eyes. "I don't get how he could have evaded my Observation Haki! Even now, I can't sense him no matter how much I try! I can't even tell if he's on the island or not!"
"He's in the northwest district, about 300 meters from the shore."
Rayleigh stopped abruptly and turned his head slowly towards Roger, who by now was almost shaking with mirth. "You bastard... You knew!"
Roger couldn't hold himself any more and laughed raucously. " Of course I knew! I've known about it since the brat got off the ship!"
Rayleigh crossed his arms and glared at his captain with a glowering expression. "Stop laughing! If you can sense him, why can't I?"
Roger just smirked. "Because my Observation Haki is stronger than yours." His friend's glare intensified. "Don't make that face, we both know it's true."
He leaned back on his chair and gestured for Rayleigh to sit down. "I have felt his Haki fluctuating ever since yesterday. About an hour ago it stabilized and he sneaked off the ship. It seems he made a decision about something."
Rayleigh did not look satisfied with that answer. "That does not explain why I can't sense him. You say that you can sense him because of our difference in power of our Hakis, but that shouldn't make any difference. He's just a kid."
"He's not doing it on purpose. His Haki is shielding him."
Rayleigh's eyes widened.
Roger sighed. "Remember when we picked him up? He was ostracized from his village because he was making people faint and breaking stuff without touching them whenever he became upset, which had happened a lot ever since his mother died. We both knew what that meant even though the villagers didn't. It meant that Shanks possesses the Conqueror's Haki."
Rayleigh nodded impatiently. He knew all this. Both he and Roger had been shocked to find a kid with such raw potential and had decided to take him with them before the Navy found out about him. He had been happy to go with them, but he would not let neither Roger nor Rayleigh train him to control his Haki, much to their frustration. With the villagers treating him like he was a monster, Shanks had become afraid of his own power.
But, and here Rayleigh smiled in remembrance, the boy had grown on them both, especially Roger, who had given Shanks the straw-hat that he had been wearing for as long as Rayleigh had known him. They had decided to give him time to come to terms with his powers and since their pirate crew was a pretty strong-willed bunch, the few times Shanks lost his temper didn't result in anyone fainting.
Shanks' Haki had remained simmering under the surface. Until now.
"When he left, he was probably thinking, 'I hope they don't find me' or, 'I want to do this on my own'. His Haki must have reacted to that and is now shielding him from unwanted eyes. I know I said I can sense him, but it's only barely."
"Can his Haki really do such a thing?"
"As long as it remains in that raw form, yes. It's strong enough to act without his say so and the Conqueror's Haki overwhelms the will of other beings, so if Shanks does not want to be found, his Haki will make sure that he's not."
The first-mate finally seemed convinced and sighed heavily. "I'll have to get on the Little Den Den Mushi to tell Howard and the others where the brat is, and when he gets back we're going to have a long talk with him about training his Haki. We can't put it off any longer." He frowned at his captain. "There's still one thing I don't get. What exactly is the kid doing that he wouldn't want anyone to find out? Did he want to take another look at the island?"
Roger grinned. "No, I'm pretty positive that he found something yesterday that managed to catch his attention completely."
"Like what?" Slowly, the frown was replaced with a look of understanding. "...Ah. So that's how it is." He shook his head in annoyance. "That kid really does whatever he feels like, doesn't he?"
Roger simply laughed.
/
"Atchooo!"
Buggy sneezed and then wiped his nose on his shirt, much to the disgust of the couple walking past him.
'Am I getting a cold? Doesn't feel that way. Someone must be talking about me. Probably Alfredo ranting about how flashily jealous he is of my skills!' He snickered to himself.
Buggy had never cared about making any friends among the other boys working for Fabioli, but he and Alfredo had been downright antagonistic towards each other ever since Buggy joined the Fabioli group. Alfredo had been the top dog of the bunch and Fabioli's favorite, but when Buggy arrived with his thieving skills, street-smarts and overall charisma, that honor had been swiftly bestowed on him, much to Alfredo chagrin.
'He probably thinks that I'm doing it to gain favor from Fabioli. Idiot~! I just want that creepy bastard off my back. A few more years and I can say goodbye to this crappy island.' He thought about his private treasure horde that he had managed to gather together during these past two years. By taking a part of his loot to the side each week (but never enough that it would make Fabioli suspicious of him) he had slowly but surely gathered a larger sum of Belis and hidden it under the floors in an abandoned house in the northern district.
He knew what he was doing was dangerous, since Fabiolio would kill anyone holding out on him, but Buggy also knew that if he was ever to be free from the man, then he would need money to buy a ship. And then he would become a pirate and steal money from all the rich people and never be hungry and never take orders from anyone again!
And he would do this all by himself. He didn't want anyone else's help, because people always wanted something in return, and he would never fall in that trap again.
"Remember this, Buggy. The strong decides the fate of the weak. So be strong, Buggy. Strong enough that you never have to depend on anyone's mercy."
"How could you?! I thought you loved me!"
"Run... Buggy..."
"You poor boy, you must be starving. Come here, let me buy you something."
"Here's the deal, kid. I'll give you a house to live in, bed to sleep in and food on the table everyday. All you need to do is to pay me a certain amount of money once a week. Now doesn't that sound like a good deal?"
Memories that he would like nothing more than to forget flashed through his mind. His mother had been weak. Buggy had been weak. But he was getting stronger and continue getting stronger, by himself. He would never put his trust in another human being again.
He shook his head again; he didn't have time for this. Yesterday's incident with the pirates had resulted in him not getting as much money for his own treasure horde as he would have liked, so this week he had to get a move on if he wanted to make progress.
Thinking about the pirates automatically made him think of the redhead he had been fighting. 'I swear, if I see that flashy bastard again I will end him. How dare he say that about my nose...?' His jealousy of the redhead was still going strong and the mere thought of him made Buggy want to hit something.
In that moment he saw a group of tourists that he immediately zoomed in on. It was better to rob groups than it was to rob people one by one. They were easier since they were more relaxed and if you managed to steal more than one wallet, it was more profitable as well.
'No fancy stuff. I just need to get up to them, get their wallets and walk past them. Won't be a problem with those flashy bags. Jeez, they're practically begging for someone to rob them.' He started walking towards them. 'Nice and relaxed. Don't mind me, I'm just a clown taking a walk. Slowly, slowly...'
He had just started to reach his hand towards the first bag when someone suddenly spoke behind him. "You said your name was Buggy, right?" Buggy was so surprised that he tripped over his own feet and stumbled into the tourist he was just about to rob. The tourist turned to him with a sneer and told him to watch where he was going. Knowing that his chance to rob them was gone, he apologized and backed away. When the group had left, he turned around and glared coldly at the person who had disturbed him in his work. He knew who it was, of course. Not like he could have forgotten THAT voice in just one day.
"What do you want, ginger? I'm working here."
The boy with the red hair returned his glare. "You mean stealing."
"Same thing." Buggy looked annoyed. "Don't act all high and mighty with me, brat. You're a pirate, you must steal things all the time."
The redhead looked at him for a moment before snorting. "Fair enough. My name is Shanks, by the way, not brat."
"I don't care what your name is, redhead. What do you want?"
The boy called Shanks grinned widely. "I want to finish what we started yesterday."
Buggy looked surprised for a moment before the annoyance returned. "You want to have a fight? Here and now?" The redhead nodded. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm busy. Go bug someone else if you want to take a beating." He turned and started walking away.
"Didn't you say that you were gonna settle the score?" Buggy stopped walking. "Well, now you don't have to go out to sea to find me. I'm right here. Of course, if what you said was just you bragging and you're really nothing but a tomato-nosed chicken, then I don't blame you if you run away."
Buggy slowly, slowly turned to face the other boy. His face was red and he had murder in his eyes. "What- the hell- did-you-just-call-me?"
Shanks started moving towards him. "What, are you deaf now as well? TO-MA-TO-NOSED CHI-CKEN~. How a coward like you can even dream of becoming a pirate is beyond insulting to us real pirates!"
"THAT'S IT!" Buggy started running towards Shanks. "I'LL GIVE YOU THE BEATING OF YOUR LIFE!"
Shanks smirked and whispered to himself, "That's more like it."
/
"What? Is that true, Alfredo?"
"I swear on my life, Mr Fabioli."
"I see... Gather all the boys in the storage. You have two hours." The sound of a door opening and closing could easily be heard in the silent room.
Fabioli sighed irritably and got up from his seat. He went over to a cabinett and started pouring a glas of whisky. As he swiped down the burning liquid, he saw a boy die a thousand times in his mind's eye, each one more gruesome than the others. 'That shitty brat! Take me for a fool, will you?' He smashed down the glass on the counter. "Enrico!" he bellowed
A man by the window straightened himself. "Yes, sir?"
"Take Diego with you and search the city. Find Buggy. But don't hurt him just yet. I need him alive and well to make an example of what happens when trash tries to cheat me."
/
The two boys were standing opposite of each other, gasping and panting with exertion. They were both covered in bruises, Buggy's left eye was starting to swell and blood was running down Shanks' nose. Around them a crowd had gathered, some cheering them on, some simply looking on in horror.
"Have you... had enough yet... you... flashy bastard?" Buggy said between gasps. Shanks didn't answer him. He was just staring at him. Suddenly his shoulders started to shake and his gasps were replaced by snickering. Then, while Buggy was staring at him like he was insane, Shanks threw his head back and started laughing.
Buggy could not stand it. "What the hell are you laughing about?!"
Shanks stopped laughing, but kept smiling. He was looking at Buggy like he was made out of gold. "I knew it! I mean, I suspected it yesterday, but now I'm sure! You're not afraid of me in the least are you?! Even when I got angry at you and fought you and everything!"
"HUH?! Why the hell would I be afraid of you, you crazy bastard?!" This was getting too weird too fast for Buggy. They had just been beating the shit out of each other and now the redhead was spouting all kinds of nonsense.
Shanks continued to blabber, completely ignoring what Buggy had said. "And you haven't passed out either! I mean, no one in the crew ever passes out, but I've never met anyone in my age who didn't whenever I got angry!" He suddenly rushed forward and took a hold of Buggy's hands. "Do you wanna be part of our pirate crew?!"
Buggy stared at him, then he looked down at their hands and up again, before going red in the face and backing away from him. "What are you talking about?!"
But before Shanks could answer there was a clink by their feet. The two boys looked down and saw a canister.
"What the..."
"OH SHI..."
Suddenly, gas started leaking out of the canister, and after coughing a few times the boys started too feel sleepy. Buggy succumbed first with a curse on his lips and fell headlong on the ground before falling asleep. Shanks managed to hold on a little longer and was still aware when his feet went out under him and he fell to the ground. Around them people were screaming, running or falling down, but soon enough silence enveloped the two young fighters.
Two figures with masks stepped out from the smoke and stood above them.
"Waste of sleeping gas..."
"The Boss wanted... unharmed... be helped."
"Here's... kid. What do... with him?"
"Bring him... The Boss..."
Shanks tried to keep himself awake, tried to move, tried to hear more of what they were saying, but it was no use. The voices turned to mumbles and blackness crept over his eyes.
'Captain... Rayleigh-san...' was his last thought before he sank into the quiet darkness.
/
Captain Roger suddenly went tense in his chair, as did Rayleigh sitting opposite of him.
"Did you...?"
"Yeah." A grim look was fixed upon the captain's face. He rose from his chair. "Rayleigh, get on the Den Den Mushi. Tell Howard and the others to met up with us in town. We're going."
Rayleigh also rose from his chair and nodded towards Roger. "Aye, Captain."
/
Buggy had a splitting headache, and by the look on Shank's face, he was willing to bet that the redhead wasn't feeling too hot either.
They had woken up about five minutes ago, and while Shanks looked around himself with confusion Buggy knew exactly where they were. They were at the warehouse he and other boys in the Fabioli group lived in. He could see silhouettes on the staircase, but it was too dark to see exactly who they were. On the other hand he could clearly see Fabioli's bodyguards, Diego and Enrico, standing in front of them in their black suits.
He tried to move his hands and feet, but it was useless. Both he and Shanks had their feet chained together and their hands were bound behind their backs. He glowered at the bodyguards. "What is the meaning of this? Why did you chain me up? I haven't done anything!" The bodyguards didn't answer him and Buggy let his head drop with a huff.
"Hey, Buggy."
Buggy turned his head so that he could see the redhead, who was looking way too calm considering the situation. "You know these guys?"
For a second Buggy considered just ignoring the other boy, but...
"Yeah. They are the bodyguards of the guy I work for, Mr Fabioli."
"Any idea why they would wanna chain us up and bring us to this crappy warehouse?"
Buggy glared at the redhead (because, hey, he lived in this 'crappy warehouse'), but then he started thinking in the same line as Shanks. Why was he tied up like this, and more importantly, why on earth had they taken Shanks as well?
He didn't have time to think about these questions however, as the door to the ware house opened and Fabioli went through the opening. Immediatly his eyes zoomed in on Buggy, and the clown gulped as he saw the glower in those green orbs. Fabioli was definitely not happy. 'This is not good.'
"Enrico. Diego. I trust that the brat is secure."
"Yes sir. We have him in chains, as you ordered."
"Good, good." As he went up to the two lying face down on the floor, his eyes moved on to Shanks. "And who is this?"
Diego stepped forward. "He was with Buggy when we found him. We decided to take him with us in case he was involved."
Buggy's brows furrowed in confusion. 'Involved? Involved in what?' But suddenly a suspicion started to form in his head and he could feel fear creeping up his spine. 'No... They couldn't have... I've been so careful... But it would make sense... Shit. Shitshitshitshit...'
His frenzied thoughts were stopped cold by a kick to the stomach. Fabioli sneered down at him with contempt. "You disappoint me Buggy. After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me? I thought you were smarter than that."
Shanks' eyes widened when he saw Buggy's body spasm in pain and heard him scream. "O-oi... Buggy! Hey you! Blondie! What do think you're doing?! That's my future nakama you're kicking!"
Fabioli shifted his eyes to Shanks. "Huh? What are you talking about, brat? Buggy is my property, I can do whatever I want to him." He kneeled before Shanks and grabbed his chin with with his fingers. "Who are you, kid?"
Defiant black eyes without no fear what-so-ever met his blue ones. "Don't call me 'kid'. My name is Shanks. I'm part of the Roger Pirates. My captain is the greatest man to ever sail the seas – Gol D. Roger."
Fabioli snorted. "Bold words, for a squirt. A pirate, huh? And what do you want with my Buggy?"
"I've already told you: He's gonna be my nakama."
"Nakama? Buggy?" Fabioli snickered nastily. "You really are a horrible judge of character, kid. That brat is the most illoyal, backstabbing trash you will ever have the misfortune to meet. He would do anything for gold. That's what I liked about him in the first place." He let go of Shanks' chin and started moving towards Buggy. "But he never really learned not to mess with with the wrong people. It is because of that oversight that he's going to die, right here and right now. But first-"
He turned Buggy with his foot so that the clown was lying on his back before placing it on Buggy's ribs. He looked down and smiled wildly. "I'm going to make an example of you, Buggy. Your screams, your tears and you pleading to die will make sure that none of the other brats will ever even think about cheating me. This is nothing more than you deserve, you thieving little punk. And after I'm done with you, I'm gonna deal with the little pirate. It doesn't seem like you and he were collaborating, but-" He huffed in disgust. "-I simply despise pirates. Those unrefined ruffians are bad for business." He threw a glance at Shanks. "Nothing personal, kid. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Buggy was shaking. He was going to die. He now knew that somehow Fabioli had managed to find out about the money he had been hording. But how the hell did he find out?!
Fabioli smirked down at him and Buggy realized that he had said the last sentence out loud. "I'm not an idiot, Buggy," Fabioli sneered. "I've suspected that you were hoarding money since three months back. I told the other boys to pay me visit if you ever did something suspicious and, lo and behold, this morning I had a visit from Alfredo, telling me that you always went to the same abandoned house in the northern district the day after the payment. He followed you with Dingo and some of my men, and after turning the house upside-down, they found the money hidden under the floors."
He put more pressure on his foot and Buggy was starting to have problem breathing. "Crafty, Buggy. But nowhere near crafty enough to fool me." He lifted his leg, only to bring it down on Buggy's stomach again. And again. And again. And again.
Buggy accidentally bit his tongue and could now taste blood in his mouth. In the background he could hear the other boys cheering Fabioli on, the loudest of them being Alfredo. 'What the hell are you cheering about, you flashy idiots? As soon as you're no use to him he's gonna kill you too... Whatever... I don't care... Oh god, it hurts...'
"STOP!"
Both the cheering and beating stopped abruptly and over the painful rushing in his ears Buggy could hear bodies falling to the ground. He coughed and greedily sucked in air in his lungs before painfully rolling onto his side. He could see Diego and Enrico lying on the ground, and Shanks slowly crawling towards him. "Buggy! Are you hurt bad?"
Buggy could only stare at him. "Did you..." He coughed and felt blood slipping down his chin. "Was that you?"
Shanks nodded and his face took a guarded expression, "It's called Conqueror's Haki. Long story short, I sometimes make people faint just by being mad at them. I'm not exactly sure how it works, and honestly I'm not really interested to know." Suddenly his voice became more concerned. "Are you alright? He was really whaling on you."
Buggy shook his head, shaking off both the kindness and strangeness of the boy laying beside him. "Why do you care?"
Shanks looked at him with annoyance. "How many times do I have to say it?! Because you're gonna be my nakama!"
Buggy scoffed. "No, I'm not. Even if we managed to live through this, even if your crew-mates won't kill me for dragging one of their crew-mates into a mess like this, I wouldn't want to be your nakama. Get real! I don't need nakama! I won't trust anyone besides myself!"
His outburst made him start coughing again. He closed his eyes and tried to make his racing heart calm down.
"That's not going to happen."
He opened his eyes and was met with black eyes, full of conviction and unwavering confidence. "We're not going to die, because my captain and Rayleigh-san are gonna save us. They won't hurt you, either." Shanks let out a blinding smile. "Captain Roger is a sucker for kids and even though Rayleigh-san can be a bit scary sometimes, he's a good man. I trust them with my life, and that means you can too."
Buggy stared in disbelief before scoffing again. "Aren't you optimistic? As if I could trust the word of a flashy idiot like you." He tried to get his hands loose, but the chains were too tightly bound. "Damn it... Why did they have to chain us? Paranoid bastards..."
"Ugh..."
Buggy froze. That was Fabioli's voice. He couldn't be waking up already, could he? But it was just his luck, really, that not only Fabioli but Enrico and Diego had started to stir. He desperately wriggled his hand, trying to get it out of the chains. 'If only I could get these off!' He cast a glance at Shanks and to his frustration the redhead wasn't moving a muscle. 'Why isn't he trying to escape?!'
"What was that...?!" By now, Fabioli was standing shakily on his legs and glaring at the two boys. "You... what did you do?!"
"HIIIH! Quick, redhead! Make them faint again!"
"Can't."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'CAN'T'?! YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEM DOING IT A FEW MINUTES AGO!"
"It's not something I can control. It just happens sometimes when I get upset or angry."
"SO GET UPSET!"
"Why? My nakama are gonna be here any moment now, and he's not hurting you anymore. I have no reason to be upset!"
"THEY ARE NOT COMING! THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE WE ARE, YOU IDIOT! IF YOU DON'T MAKE THEM FAINT WE'RE DEAD, YOU HEAR ME?! THERE'S A LIMIT ON HOW NAIVE YOU CAN GET, YOU FLASHY CARROTHEAD!"
"They'll come because that's what nakama does. You'll get what I mean when you're part of the crew!"
"YOU STILL SAYING THAT?!"
The sound of a pistol going off cut through their argument like a hot knife through butter. Fabioli was holding a smoking pistol aimed towards the roof, gnashing his teeth in fury. "Shut. Up. Enrico, Diego, get them on their feet."
After the bodyguards had gotten the boys up and were holding them, painfully, by the scruff of their necks, Fabioli aimed the pistol at Shanks. "I don't know what you did, boy. But it seems that it would be better to get rid of you first, so you don't pull that shit again." He cooked the hammer back. "Any last words, pirate?"
Shanks just looked at the blond mafia man for a moment before he suddenly smirked. "It's about time."
Fabioli looked confused. "What kind of -"
That was the moment when the warehouse door flew of its hinges and onto the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.
All gazes snapped towards the opened doorway. Loud, and to Shanks familiar, voices could be heard from outside.
"That was unnecessary, Captain."
"Don't care. I felt like making an entrance."
"Jeez, that kid is a freaking trouble-magnet."
"Bane, shut the hell up. You're sounding like an old man again."
"You think Shanks is alright?"
One by one, with the red-dressed captain in the lead, six of the Roger pirates filed into the warehouse until all of them had entered. Fabioli and his goons were staring in disbelief, Buggy's chin was basically on the floor, and Shanks...
Well, Shanks wasn't surprised at all.
Mikken took a look around and scoffed, twiddling with a knife in his left hand. "What, only three of them? This won't even be a challenge." That remark quickly got him a slap to the head from Sleigh.
"We won't do anything without the captain's say-so. Don't get ahead of yourself."
A telling glare from Rayleigh made the two of them go silent. He then shifted his focus on his captain. "By your command, Roger."
"Yeah." Roger took a couple of steps towards Fabioli before stopping. If Buggy had thought him impressive and scary the day before, it was nothing in comparison to how terrifying the man standing before them was now. Apparently he was not the only one who thought so, as he could feel Diego's hand shaking and sweating around his neck. He could also see that the pistol Fabioli was holding had started to wobble.
"Shanks, you're not hurt, are you?" He was talking to Shanks, but the captain's eyes never left Fabioli's form, nailing it to the ground, daring him to pull the trigger.
Shanks shook his head. "No, I'm fine. But Buggy got hurt."
"Buggy? ...Ah, the gutsy kid from before."
The captain took a deep breath. "Well then."
In that moment something... happened.
Whenever Buggy would think back on this moment, he would always remember the three things that happened simultaneously. The sight of Fabioli falling, the feeling of something invisible moving around him and the sound of a thousand whispers.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion... until Buggy's head hit the ground and he realized that Diego must have passed out as well. "OW!"
Mutterings from Bane could be heard from behind Roger. "Tch, looks like we weren't needed this time. Hey Captain, can we just grab the kid and go? I'm getting sick of this town."
That was answered with a slap to the head from Sleigh. "Don't give the captain orders, brat."
Roger looked back at Rayleigh. "Get Shanks free from those chains. We're getting out of here."
"Aye, captain." As Rayleigh started moving towards Shanks, the captain meet the eyes of the clown-nosed boy who was staring at him like a mouse corned by a snake.
For two years he had been slaving under Fabioli. During those years he had seen the man cut throats, shot people in the head and bury people alive. Men, women and children. The man had been the ultimate symbol of cruelty, misery and imprisonment for Buggy. But now, that same tormentor was lying passed out on the floor with froth coming out of his mouth. This man, who had held him prisoner for TWO YEARS, had been beaten... without his opponent even touching him.
'This... this is the real thing... he's a real pirate... he's gonna kill me... I'm gonna die...' All the words of assurance from Shanks that his crew wouldn't harm him had fled his mind. In his terror all he could focus on was that the pirate standing before him was strong.
"The strong decides the fates of the weak. So be strong, Buggy. Strong enough that you don't have to depend on anyone's mercy."
'I'm sorry, mother. Looks like I was too weak again...' Buggy closed his eyes in defeat. All he could do was wait for his verdict.
Roger looked at the kid lying before him. With the exception for his blue hair and round red nose, he looked like a perfectly normal eleven-year-old. But since the day before there had been something nagging Roger about this kid, something that apparently Shanks had picked up on and had decided to investigate on his own. Now Roger could see why.
When he had used his Conqueror's Haki he had meant for it to knock out all but Shanks, and yet the blue-haired kid was still conscious. It was like the Haki hadn't even touched him.
Roger sat himself before Buggy, raised up his arm and covered it Armament Haki before slowly moving down towards the boy's head. When his hand was about three inches from touching the him, he watched his Armament Haki starting to dissipate. So he had been right. 'Fascinating.'
"Captain!" Shanks' voice shook him from his thoughts. He was standing beside Rayleigh, free from all the chains. "I want to bring Buggy with us. Please let him join our crew!"
Sounds of outrage came immediately from both Mikken and Bane.
"What the hell are you talking about, Shanks?! We don't even know him!"
"I REFUSE to have another kid running around on the ship. It's a pirate ship, not a freaking orphanage!"
Howard was too stunned by Shanks' words to say anything, while Sleigh and Rayleigh were simply standing with their arms crossed, waiting for their captain's response.
Roger looked into Shanks' eyes and saw the same determination that had moved him to give his beloved hat to the kid. He had seen how wistful Shanks would become whenever they were in port and children could be seen playing and running around with each other. Despite assuring he was alright when asked about it, Roger knew that the redhead, more than anything, wished for a friend.
He also knew that Shanks wouldn't let this go, now that he had found someone in his own age he could interact with, without worrying about hurting him with his haki.
Roger refocused his gaze on Buggy, who hadn't moved at all during the entire conversation.
"Well, kid? What do you say?" Buggy's eyes snapped up to met his gaze. "You did say that you wanted to become a pirate, and every pirate has to start somewhere. Shanks seems fond of you and by the looks of things-" He cast a disdainful look on Fabioli's prone form. "-there's nothing worthwhile for you on this island. So, do you want to come with us and become a Roger Pirate?"
For a second there was a glimmer of excitement in Buggy's eyes, but it was quickly extinguished and replaced with distrust. "No. I do not want to be a Roger Pirate. What kind of a question is that? Are you an idiot? Just... leave me alone!"
Roger saw through the boy's bravado with ease. Underneath that hard-boiled surface was a boy that was so afraid to get hurt that he didn't dare get close to anyone. Whatever had happened to this kid in the past had left him incapable of trusting other people. 'And hanging around that piece of shit can't have helped either... Looks like this boy could use a friend, too.'
Roger had made his decision.
He suddenly grinned, grabbed the chains still wrapped around Buggy and threw him over his shoulder. "Too bad!"
Buggy was so shocked that all that escaped him was a, "Huh?"
"Rule Number One of being a pirate, kid: a pirate does whatever the hell he wants. You're coming with us." He turned towards his crew. "Let's go back to the ship. We have to introduce the crew to our new cabin boy!"
Loud protesting from the two brothers was heard before they were slapped on their heads by Sleigh. "The captain has spoken. Now get back to the ship, you whiny brats." He grabbed Mikken and Bane by their shirts and threw them out of the door before following them.
Howard was scratching his head with a good natured smile on his lips. "Well, if the captain says so, then I guess that's that," he said before following his friends through the door.
Roger locked eyes with his first-mate. "Any complaints?"
Rayleigh just sighed, then laughed softly. "You really are a softhearted idiot." His eyes then hardened and grabbed Shanks' ear. "Don't think that I've forgotten about your punishment, Shanks. You sneaked away from us not once but twice! You're on kitchen duty until I say otherwise, is that clear?!"
"Owowowow! I get it, I get it!" Rayleigh let go of his ear and Shanks nursed it with a pout on his lips.
Roger moved Buggy, who had snapped out of his shock and was wriggling and swearing loudly at him, to lie more comfortably on his shoulder before starting to walk out of the dusty warehouse. "Let's go, partner."
Rayleigh nodded and followed after his captain with a firm grip on Shanks' shoulder. The redhead was grinning widely, despite the pain in his ear and the punishment waiting for him back on the ship.
He was simply too happy to care.