Author's Note
This story is my depiction of an Alternate Timeline where Shanks forms a different crew than his canon crew, I hope you enjoy!
-Story Arcs-
East Blue Saga
1.Crew Formation Arc: Chapter 1 to Chapter 3
2.Shells Town Arc: Chapter 4 to Present
"Zehahahahaha" a loud evil laughter echoed through the final island of the Grand Line, Lodestar. A middle-aged man with a huge black beard and pirate hat stood over another man around the same age, blood covered his face and he was beaten up, the man had red hair and three scars over his left eye, given to him 20 years ago by the same man standing over him right now.
"Any last words, 'Red Hair' Shanks?" said Teach to his rival from when they were on the crews of the two greatest pirates of their era. Shanks looked around him, his comrades were just as exhausted and bloodied as him. Two fights against two of the strongest crews in the world were too much even for the Red Hair Pirates.
It wasn't supposed to go this way, when he woke up today, he expected to have the fated duel with his friend and the boy who was like a younger brother to him. It was supposed to be the day Shanks finally met with Luffy. They just finished their Davy Back fight, Luffy put his straw hat on the line while Shanks put his road poneglyph, the last one Luffy needed to get to Laugh Tale and fulfill his lifelong dream of being King of the Pirates. Shanks bet everything on this man after all, he saw his former Captain's will within him. Did he make the right decision on this fateful day 12 years ago? Now is not the time to reconsider his life decisions.
"I was just about to get my hands on Straw Hat, I knew he had acquired three of the four road poneglyphs needed to reach Raftel, and I knew you had the fourth one. So why fight both of you when I can let you beat each other for me, Zehahahahaha" Blackbeard laughed as he revealed his plan to Shanks. "My plan would've worked flawlessly if you didn't foolishly sacrifice your life to help the Straw Hat Pirates escape. I didn't expect the great emperor Red-Hair Shanks to be a mere follower to a boy half his age." he mocked Shanks who didn't say anything to him. "What you didn't know is that during your fight, I snuck a Vivre Card on their ship. So even if you held me back here, I can still locate and follow them to Laugh Tale, making your attempts futile. Zehahahaha" he continued to laugh as he rubbed his plan in Shanks' face.
Shanks was silent throughout this whole conversation. He had nothing to say, he thought he was smart and calculating every move, but in the end, he was nothing but a fool. The only hope left for the world is Luffy, but that was his plan from the beginning, wasn't it? He laid low, trying to keep the balance of the world from crumbling, without really making an active attempt to change it. He never pulled the trigger, he only played guardian angel. But it was too late, if only he got a second chance, none of this would've happened...
He felt the world pause around him. Everything paused but himself and the man above him. Teach's leg turned black and was surrounded by some transparent sphere shaped aura, which he recognized as Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi, he raised his leg a few feet above Shanks. He knew what was coming, but in his current state, all he could do is watch as his life fades away from him with this final blow. If only...
24 Years Ago | Polestar Islands - Loguetown
'What was that just now...' thought a 15-years-old boy to himself, standing in the middle of the town flooded by rains. he had red hair, he wore a white unbuttoned shirt with his sleeves rolled up, with a brown sash around his waist over his shirt, also holing his red pants and black sandals, but the most notably article of clothing was the Straw Hat on his head, which he used to cover his tears... tears? Why was he tearing... oh right, he almost forgot because of his strange dream. The reason he was on this island was to witness his Captains' Execution. The King of the Pirates, Gold Roger.
"You want my treasure? You can have it. Search for it! I left everything I gathered together in one place." his Captain's last words came back to his mind as he started remembering his journey with Roger. he has always been stoic even for a little boy his age, but here he was crying like a baby, his eyes dried from the amount of tears he shed this day, so he wiped the last drops of tear off his face and started walking away.
'But what was this strange dream? Could it be a vision of some sorts? I was older, in my 30s or 40s, and surrounded by people I never met before, but more strangely, my last thoughts... what did I mean on that day ?' as the teenager was lost in thoughts, he felt himself bump into another person.
"Ow, I'm sorry, mister." Shanks apologized as he looked up to see a man twice his height and possibly twice his age, the man's whole body was covered by a dark green cloak, only his face was visible, and he had a stern look on his face, Shanks would've been intimidated if he haven't seen worse in his short life. The man's expressions changed from a lifeless stare into a shocked expression when he saw Shanks.
"Hey boy... this hat, where did you get it from?" the man asked, Shanks was confused by the sudden question, but he didn't see a reason not to answer him.
"My captain gave it to me." Shanks tried not to reveal too much information.
"Your Captain, could it be the King of the Pirates himself?" Shanks paused a bit after this question, he didn't know what to do, was this man a friend or foe? His Captain had equally as many friends and enemies, so it was a 50-50 chance, but before Shanks could answer, the man cut his train of thoughts. "Judging by your silence, I assume the answer is yes. Don't worry, I'm a friend of Roger-san."
"Really? It's nice to meet you, sir. My name is Shanks." Shanks took his hat off and bowed for the older man.
"You can call me Dragon... perhaps it is fate that we met today, Shanks." the 31-years-old smiled as he greeted the teenager.
Former Marine Vice Admiral
Midoryu (Green Dragon)
Monkey D. Dragon
He took him to an empty house, which seemed to be his secret hideout, Dragon scanned the room carefully for any evidence of intruders but he found nothing, so he rested his guard.
"That place is huge, are you a secret agent or something?" Shanks looked around the place in awe.
"Not quite, but you aren't that far off the mark." Dragon smiled as both men sat and started picking up their conversation from before.
"So, Dragon-san, what is your relation to Captain, I've never seen you for the past 7 years I have been on the crew, are you his long lost brother or something?" Shanks suggested, although it seemed like a joke, it was a genuine possibility Shanks thought of.
"Not quite, you wouldn't hear of this incident because the Government covered it up. It was 14 years ago at a place called God Valley, a notorious pirate named Rocks attacked this place and tried to massacre all the Celestial Dragons living on it. But with the combined forces of my father and your Captain, they were able to put a stop to his crazy ambitions." Dragon started telling the boy his story.
"Uuuuuh..." Shanks paused for a bit as he tried to arrange his thoughts and ask the numerous questions on his mind, but Dragon continued and gave him more questions to think of.
"It was on this fateful day that I met with your Captain. The rest of the Celestial Dragons were no good incompetent idiots, they were cowards. So in an attempt to save everyone, I charged recklessly at the Captain and tried to kill him from behind with a knife, but I was foolish. This man was a monster, even though I knew that he'd dodge my attack, he didn't and he took it straight, as if just to give me as much despair as possible. The attack didn't even pierce his skin and my knife broke, the man grabbed me and slammed into the ground. My mother screamed for help but my father was busy fighting Whitebeard." Dragon ignored the boy's confused looks, it was too much to take in, but he tried to get a grasp of the story.
"Huh? What is Whitebeard doing her-" Shanks asked but Dragon interrupted continuing his story.
"And at this moment, a man appeared. It was your Captain, he saved me from Rocks." Dragon said with a smile on his face, he took pride in this moment, witnessing a great battle where so many legends were in one place.
"Well, my question is-"
"And on this day."
"STOP IT, DRAGON-SAN!" Shanks screamed at the man comically, which caused Dragon to finally stop talking and nervously laugh.
"I might have said too much."
"Might?" a nervous sweat dropped on the back of his head.
"Sorry, it's not often I find someone I trust enough to tell him my story, and I love this story." Dragon explained his uncharacteristic fanboy attitude. Shanks decided it was time to start asking all his questions about the story.
"But if you don't trust many people, why tell a boy you just met." Shanks questioned.
"It's because of your Straw Hat." Dragon answered, and started explaining. "When I met Roger-san on this day, before his fight with Rocks, he asked what my name was, before placing his hat on my head, telling me to keep it safe for him and that was his treasure. At first I didn't know why would he trust me of all people, but now I realize Roger-san's connections with my father."
"I see, so that's why you trust me, because Captain trusted me with his hat which makes me trustworthy in yours eyes." Shanks nodded, connecting dots together. "You mentioned this a few times, but who exactly is your father?" Shanks asked his first question.
"That'd be Marine Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp." Dragon replied with a straight face.
"EEEEEEEH?!" Shanks jaw dropped as he heard this new info, but this scene would keep repeating itself for the next few minutes. Shanks calmed down and moved on to the next question "if this place was the home island of Celestial Dragons, why were you there on that day?"
"Because I was a Celestial Dragon."
"EEEEEEH?! Okay." Shanks recovered quickly and continued asking questions. "You mentioned Whitebeard fighting Vice Admiral Garp earlier, why was Whitebeard there?"
"Whitebeard was on Rocks crew, along with Golden Lion, Big Mom, Kaido, Captain John, Silver Axe and Wang-Zhi." Dragon listed the numerous legends who were once on Rocks' crew, earning an "eh" from Shanks with every single named he said. At this point, Shanks was scared to ask more questions, but Dragon found the teenager's reactions amusing so he revealed more information to him.
"My wife is Gol D. Lux, Roger-san's younger sister, that's my relation to him." Shanks jaw dropped again, but Dragon didn't stop. "Also until a month ago, I was a Marine Vice Admiral." Shanks dealt the finishing blow calling Shanks to drop to his knee.
"Too much information... what do I do with it?" Shanks head hurt from processing all of that. "What do you want from me, Dragon-san?"
"I'm here to propose an alliance." Dragon declared, Shanks was surprised, but he let the man finish. "I'm sure you are the right man for this, since Roger-san himself trusted you with his Straw Hat. I was planning to ask Rayleigh-san for help, but I think it's wiser for me to ask a younger person for help, since it'd work in the long run."
"And why would I ally myself with a Marine... I'm a Pirate, and I will forever be a pirate, pirate life is fun. I'm going to enter the Grand Line and become a great pirate and find Captain's treasure." Shanks explained his goal to Dragon.
"My goals are not to help the marines, far from it. I'm a former Marine, not a current one."
"How do I know you aren't going to rejoin then?"
"they used to call me 'Midoryu' or 'Green Dragon' in the Marine, so my resignation makes me immediately a wanted criminal, since I held a high rank and have a lot of info about the secrets of the organization."
"Wait, you said Green Dragon. Aren't these nicknames given to Admirals only?" Shanks inquired.
"Usually, yes. But when a Vice Admiral has strong potential to be an Admiral, they usually give us similar nicknames to familiarize us with the role."
"Dragon-san, you must be really strong then!" Shanks had stars in his eyes. "But if you left the marines, then what are your goals?"
"To fulfill Gol D. Roger's dream." Dragon said with a smile on his face.
"Fulfill his dream? But his dream was to find the One Piece, and that he already did."
"That's part of his dream, no doubt about it. But what he told me after this day was something different, his real dream." Dragon explained which surprised Shanks once again.
"Captain's real dream? ... Could you be referring to his words..." Shanks remembered his Captain's words to him once, to which Dragon nodded.
"'To throw the biggest party ever' was what he said this day." Dragon said with a straight face. "Most people would ridicule him for his childish comments, including myself on this day, but now I realized how great his goal was."
"So you want me to help you organize a party?"
"OFCOURSE NOT!" Dragon said with a comical angry face. "You don't realize what he meant by that? He wanted a party where everyone would celebrate happily, he wanted to unite the world, all the races, he wanted a more peaceful world. That was the meaning behind his words."
"You might be giving Captain far too much credit, Dragon-san." Shanks chuckled. "But World Peace, that's a truly noble goal, so that's what you meant by fulfilling his dream." Dragon nodded.
"But this is obviously a childish dream, or that's at least what I thought until recently. I thought by becoming a Marine I could protect people from pirates like Rocks, but I realized that the reason this world is such a terrible place... is because of my own kind. The Celestial Dragons." Dragon explained. "The Marines aren't really there to protect the people, they are there to serve the Celestial Dragons and protect them. That's what pushed people like Roger-san, Whitebeard and even Big Mom to become Pirates, to escape from their tyranny."
"That means, your goal is..."
"To get rid of the Celestial Dragons." Dragon declared with a determined look on his face.
"I see... suppose we were to have an alliance, what do you want from me." Shanks asked, starting to consider helping this man, he had similar opinion to him after all.
"As you can tell, taking down the Celestial Dragons is no easy task, it means starting a war with not only the Marines, but the entire World Government, including the allied nations, Cipher Pol and other Government institutions. My plan is to create a Revolutionary Army, gather strong individuals, and keep building power for years until we can take on the World Government. However, with their incredible intelligence gathering ability, I don't think I can stay off the radar until that happens. I suspect the World Government won't start a war with us until we are too powerful, since they won't make a move with pirates like Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Big Mom and Kaido still on the loose and growing power as well."
"So where do I come into play?" Shanks rubs his chin as he processes Dragon's plan.
"I want you to continue being a pirate, gather a strong crew, one as strong as the other big-name pirates on the field. This has two benefits to it." Dragon raised two fingers. "one, you gather people who are just like you, love Pirate life, but are also honorable and willing to fight for World Peace when I start war on the Government." he lowers one finger. "And two, to divert attention. After this meeting here, we will only communicate once every while to catch up with our plan, and we will do that using highly secretive means. Meaning that, the World Government will never know that we ever met, let alone working together."
"I see, so let's say both of us gather 70% of the power of the World Government each on our side, the World Government would start a war with you before you get strong enough to take them down, but that's when I interfere. With our combined forces, we would outnumber the World Government, successfully taking them down." Dragon nodded as Shanks explained his plan.
"So what would you say, Shanks? Are you willing to form a secret alliance with me, and taking down the tyrannical Celestial Dragons to make the World a better place?" Dragon extended his hand to Shanks. In another timeline, Shanks might have taken Dragon's hand here and called it a day, but he paused before he shook his hand. He remembered his dream from earlier, he decided that he trusted this man enough to tell him what he saw.
"I see, that is quite strange indeed." Dragon closed his eye as he listened to Shanks story.
"So you think this dream has any meaning to it?" Shanks finished his story and then proceeded to ask the question
"That probably wasn't a dream... it was a vision." Dragon explained.
"A vision? Really?! I thought these were a myth." Shanks was very surprised as he asked.
"I'm sure since you were on the Pirate King's crew, you have some knowledge of Haki?" Dragon asked, to which Shanks nodded.
"Rayleigh-san taught me Observation and Armament Haki when he taught me swordsmanship." Shanks said as he coated his fist with Armament Haki to show Dragon.
"There are advanced forms for all three types of Haki. Some advanced forms of Observation Haki allow you to see into the future, I met a man on Big Mom's crew who was able to see a few seconds into the near future." Dragon explained to the kid something new Rayleigh didn't get to teach him yet. "I suspect that your advanced form of Observation Haki allows you to see a few minutes from the far future. And since you knew that the events you saw are exactly 24 years from now, means that it wasn't a dream, but it was you awakening your power. You will learn to control it over time, but I advise you to make use of the information you got."
Shanks started thinking about Dragon's words and his vision. He might not understand his vision fully, he doesn't have enough information yet. But he could understand one thing: Future Shanks didn't go for the One Piece, something changed his goals in these 24 years. Shanks remembered Roger's words.
'We were too early, Shanks. I am afraid that I won't be able to live much longer, but the One Piece is the key to everything. Whoever will find it after us will have the power to change the world. I want you to make sure the right person finds it.' These were Roger's words. Why? Why were they too early? What exactly is the One Piece?! What is the truth of the world? He needed to find out.
"I've decided, Dragon-san." Shanks said. "I need to find the One Piece to know why Captain entrusted me with it. He said it has the power to change the world. It would help us with our goal, right?"
"You'd need to gather a strong crew. As you gather said crew, other World Powers will only continue to get stronger. Don't expect me to bail you out of trouble." Dragon said.
"I will gather the strongest crew I can possibly gather, then! My future crew, I have no idea how strong these guys are. So I will gather the strongest crew I could possibly crew. I will be the next king of the pirates!" Dragon smiled at his newfound determination. "Dragon-san, I accept your proposal. We are now allies." he took his hand and shook it.
After talking a bit more and discussing their future plans, Dragons lead Shanks to a secret exit, Shanks was back to the streets of Loguetown, thinking of what to do next, he was about to start a new adventure with an new crew after the Roger Pirates disbanded. He scanned the area, maybe he could find his first crewmate here. As he was looking around, he located a certain clown a few meters from him.
"Oi, Buggy!" Shanks grabbed his attention as he ran to him, Buggy freaked out and tried to run, but Shanks was much faster and caught up to him. "Hold up, Why are you running from your best friend?" Shanks grinned as he grabbed Buggy by his neck before he could escape.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME, BASTARD?!" Buggy shouted at Shanks.
Former Member of Roger Pirates
Buggy 'The Clown'
Bara Bara no Mi (Chop-Chop Fruit)
"What else do I want? We said we'd be great pirates after the crew disbanded, right?" Shanks said, which made Buggy smirk.
"So you want to beg me to join my crew to be under my protection, huh? TOO BAD, I WOULDN'T TAKE YOU ANYWAYS!" Buggy shouted.
"Not really, I wasn't gonna say that."
"Good."
"I was gonna ask you to join my crew."
"LIKE HELL I WOULD!" Buggy had comical angry face as he rejected Shanks' offer without second thought.
"Come on Buggy, why do you hate me so much? We are like brothers, you know!" Shanks patted Buggy on the back.
"I can't forgive you, after what you have done to me." Buggy crossed his arms looking away.
"What did I do to you?" Shanks asked genuinely confused.
"DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THE STORY EVERY SINGLE TIME?!" Buggy protested but proceeded to tell him the full story of when he accidentally eat the devil fruit because of Shanks and lost the treasure map in the process.
"Is that what happened?"
"DON'T PLAY DUMB! That's why I hate about you!" Buggy shouted angrily.
"Okay okay, geez, if you want to go our own way here, then do it." Shanks gave up and decided to let Buggy do what pleases him. But then he remembered his vision, Buggy wasn't there, maybe it's a better idea to start changing things as soon as possible. Also persuading Buggy would be a good test for his persuasion skills for when he needs to persuade strong crewmates in the future.
"That's right, I will be a great pirate and find the biggest treasure and be the richest man in the world, hehehehe." Buggy spaced out living in his own fantasy.
"Too bad I was going to give you this treasure map I found." Shanks lied as he put his hand in his pocket and walked away.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" Buggy ran back to Shanks with superhuman speed even for him.
"Oh yeah, I remember now, I left it on that other island. If you come with me, I might give it to you." Shanks smirked.
"Do you think I would really fall with that? Nice try, idiot!" Buggy looked away.
"Alright then, I will go share it with someone else." Shanks walked away waving him goodbye.
"WAIT, SHANKS! ... fine, I will temporarily join your crew until we find this treasure." Buggy did the opposite of what he just said and fell right into his trap. Shanks smiled as his plan worked.
"ALRIGHT THEN, WELCOME TO THE ... uuuuuh ... Straw Hat Pirates? ... Nah, too generic. Oh, I got it! WELCOME TO THE RED HAIR PIRATES!" Shanks declared.
"I NEVER SAID I'M A FULL MEMBER OF YOUR CREW!" Buggy shouted. "I guess for now, it's the Buggy-Shanks Pirate Alliance."
"Sure, you can call it that." Shanks made his way to the port and Buggy followed. As they were walking towards the port. They saw a bunch of marines surrounding a 19-years-old man. The man was wearing a red open jacket with flowers pattern, he wore black short pants with white belt and black shoes. He was also wearing a very notable golden crucifix pendant. The man had spiky black hair and yellow hawk-like eyes. The man had a sword in his hand.
"Give up Dracule Mihawk, you are surrounded." one the 15 marine soldiers surrounding him declared, as they were ready to arrest him.
B-Rank Bounty Hunter
'Hawkeye' Dracule Mihawk
"You are 30 years early from even holding a candle to me." the boy's words angered the marines making them charge at him all at once.
"Woah, this guy is done for!" Buggy exclaimed as he watched the man named Mihawk getting swarmed by the marines.
"Not quite, he looks strong." Shanks said as he watched the fight, and he was proven right immediately as Mihawk effortlessly slashed the through the marines, it took him some time, but he was able to defeat every single one of them, without a single scratch.
"When was the last time I had a challenge?" said Mihawk as he sighed. "If only a strong opponent showed up right now..."
"Then I will be your opponent." he heard a voice behind him, he looked to see Shanks, gripping his sword and proudly smiling.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Buggy was surprised by Shanks unreasonably starting a fight with a strong guy like that.
"You are just a boy. Sorry, I don't fight kids." Mihawk is about to sheath his sword, but with incredible speed, Shanks jumped on him with his sword, Mihawk was able to barely block it, his heart beating from the surprise. He didn't expect Shanks to be that good.
"Then let my sword speak for me."
To Be Continued
Red Hair Pirates
'Red Hair' Shanks (15) - Captain
Buggy 'The Clown' (15) - Temporary Ally
Loguetown -
Author's Note
Okay, that brings us to the end of this Chapter. Sorry if it was an information dump, and didn't have enough action, but the action will start as soon as next Chapter. let me know who you want to join Red Hair Pirates next, I have a rough plan for some of the future members, but there's some open spots for your suggestions. See ya next Chapter!