Chapter 7: A Talk with Captain Buggy 'the Clown'

"What the fuck was that?!" Deuce yelled in shock, staring at his new captain in disbelief.

"I'm a Devil Fruit user." Ace explained to the blue haired teen. The young Pirate Captain turned to the rest of his small crew and guests. "Listen up! This is Deuce; he's our First Mate and Doctor! Treat him with respect. Actually, treat everyone on this ship with the respect they deserve."

"This is our doctor?" Sabo asked his older brother.

"Yep! He's also our First Mate, that okay with everyone?" The D-Bearer asked his crew.

Aggie nods and shrugs, going back to what he was doing before, which was figuring out what supplies he needed to build Striker and the Piece of Spadille.

Sabo and Luffy glanced at each other but didn't say anything against the teen's appointment. Alvida and Coby didn't have an opinion seeing as they were just guests on the ship right now.

"Who the fuck decided that?!" Deuce shouted at Ace.

"I did. I'm the Captain and you did join with us." Ace told his old friend.

"You-! You can't just decide that?! Yeah, I agreed to join but if you're going to have a 'Join or Die' policy I'm outta here!"

"I don't have a 'Join or Die' policy on my ship. I will never keep anyone here against their will; if they want to leave I will let you leave." Ace had his hands on his hips as he stared Deuce down.

Deuce looked away first as he heard his new Captain sigh. "Come on, I'll show you around. Sabo, get us to the Organ Islands."

The black haired D-Bearer gestured to the blue haired teen to follow him. Seeing as he had no choice, Deuce followed Ace, going through the ship and explaining to him his basic duties. "The infirmary will be in the back, we haven't stocked up or anything, I think all we got were the supplies from Goat Island."

"I'll need to also get medical books, if we have the time. Is that okay?" Deuce asked.

"Yeah, get what you need. Oh yeah, Luffy and I are Devil Fruit users, so either you or Aggie will have to fish us out of the ocean if we fall in. You know how to swim, right?" Ace asked his First Mate.

"Yeah, I do. Should… Do you want me to try and find some seastone cuffs? Just if we run into another Devil Fruit user from a rival crew or something?" The blue haired teen said quickly, not wanting to offend his new Captain.

"That'll actually be a good idea. Yeah, we're going to head over to an island with a Marine base to drop off Coby later on after we finish up on the Organ Islands." Ace and Deuce arrive at the room that would be the infirmary.

Deuce looks around and nods, "This will be good. Are you planning on getting a bigger ship sometime in the future?" Deuce asked.

"Yeah, Aggie is our Shipwright and Helmsman, so we've already discussed the two ships he'll be building us. Our main ship will be the Piece of Spadille, and our smaller one will be Striker, it will hold up to five people since I'll just be a ship we use for restocking our supplies and a recon vessel should we need it." Ace told the doctor in training.

"How many crew members are you looking for?" Deuce walked the length of the room and took out a small notepad. "Do you know what the dimensions of the room are?"

"Ask Aggie, he's the one who explored the ship when he first joined and knows that. As for my crew, I'm thinking at most 15 main members and our allies. I want the Piece of Spadille to be able to hold at most 50 people, since we have no idea if we will be meeting with our allies for extended periods of time. I want to be prepared."

"Cap'n." Aggie came into the room and looked at the small Captain.

"Yeah, Aggie?"

"I know what we need for both ships; I've got the blueprints if you want to look at them." Aggie told him, Ace nods and goes over to the large man.

"What are the dimensions of this room?" Deuce asked the other man.

"20 Ft by 30." Aggie answered.

"Thank you. I'll leave you to it. I'm going to see what I need. Do you know how long it should take to get to the Organ Islands?" He asks his Captain.

"Few weeks up to a month if we have bad weather." Ace said as he left his First Mate-Doctor in their temporary infirmary walking with Aggie back up to the deck.

"How long will it take to build the Piece of Spadille?" Ace asked as they made it back on the deck.

Aggie unrolled the larger blueprint and spread it out, straightening the rolled up edges. "With the right supplies, I would say three full months of me working on it; Striker will take about two or three weeks since it's a smaller ship."

"How long with help can you get our main ship done?" Ace frowned at the time estimates. They needed the Piece of Spadille as fast as possible.

"If I had skilled Shipwrights working with me, I could knock out a few weeks to a month. But that would only happen if we were at Water 7." Aggie told the boy, who was still frowning.

"Got a notepad?" Ace asked suddenly. Aggie raised an eyebrow but gave him the spare notepad he had in his tool belt.

Ace started writing down the names of the people he knew and remembered that could help them and would help them. It wasn't many but it would have to be enough. Then he started a new list of his crew, both the old members and the new ones that he would hopefully be adding.

"What if we helped you? How long would it take with us helping you?" Ace finally spoke up.

"No offence Captain, but… do you even know how to fix or build a ship?" Aggie asks carefully.

"No, but I can learn." Ace answered honestly.

"No thank you, Captain. I will get it done; I just need the time and supplies for it." Aggie told him and Ace let him be.

The older D-Bearer checked in with his brothers and saw that Luffy and Coby were getting along. 'He'll be one of the good ones. Luffy will already have a Marine ally when he sets sail, maybe a few more if he's lucky.'

For the first few days that they had been sailing to the Organ Islands, everything was fine and calm. When the fifth day came, however, there had been a storm on the horizon for since the day before, but they all thought that they could go around it.

They couldn't.

The Spade Pirates were caught in the storm and struggled to stay afloat. Alvida was at the helm trying to keep the ship in the general direction that they were supposed to be going and trying as well, to keep the ship from tipping over because of the waves.

Coby was running around on the deck, helping out anyone that needed it, mainly Aggie. Luffy was used as a human band aid as Deuce tried to fix the mast with the materials that Aggie had shoved in his hands. The good thing about Deuce was that he was a quick study. Aggie has been teaching him the ropes of fixing up the ship. Even though the teen was supposed to be the Doctor, it still made sense that everyone knew what to do in cases like this.

The rain was falling in buckets, so Ace gave Sabo the job of getting as much water as he could out of the ship as they almost over tipped the boat.

A scream was barely heard through the thunder roaring above their heads, Coby had fallen overboard, or he would have if Luffy hadn't caught him with his rubber arm. Placing the younger boy gently back on the deck next to Aggie, who simply secured him with rope to himself, Luffy gave the pink haired boy a large D-smile and got back to what he was doing before.

The mast, finally fixed and not looking like it was about to tip over, had Deuce sagging in relief. But his relief was short-lived as Ace slammed into him by accident.

"Deuce, come help me!" Ace shouted above the noise. "We need to make sure all of our supplies aren't going to go to the fishes!" The two boys quickly ran around and tied down anything and everything that wasn't properly on the deck as well as below deck.

It took two hours to get everything strapped down tight so nothing would roll around and fall overboard, but the storm still raged around the small pirate crew. Everyone had their assigned roles as they held onto anything they could to not be flung overboard and drown. That was especially prevalent for the two Devil Fruit users, Luffy and Ace.

Since the storm was still darkening the skies, they couldn't tell if it had fallen into evening or even night already, but what they did know is that they needed a look out.

"I'll make sure we don't capsize." Aggie offered, the Shipwright/Helmsman knew how to navigate but he wasn't a Navigator.

"Okay then, I'll keep watch. Everyone else, get some sleep." Ace commanded to the small crew.

They all followed the young Captain's orders and filed below deck to sleep. Before Sabo and Luffy went down, they each gave Ace a hug. Luffy wrapped his arms around Ace and gave him his signature laugh before slipping away with his blonde older brother.

"Are you sure you're okay staying up? We have no idea how long this storm will continue for." Aggie said.

"Storms in the Blues only last about 2 weeks. If it does and we're off course we won't be in much danger of detouring as we would be if we were in the Grand Line." Ace told him, over the rain and lightning flashes. Thankfully the thunder stopped a little while ago, so people could actually get some sleep.

"How… How do you know so much about the Grand Line?" Aggie asks, wary about his Captain's knowledge and wondering how the hell this kid even knew any of what he was saying.

A dark look flashes across the boy's face as he looks away from the man, not answering him. Aggie took that as a sign to drop the subject. Ace was very grateful that his crew knew the meaning of boundaries and those that were very dangerous to cross. Even though he wouldn't kill them, he still has his father's temper. When a D-Bearer was enraged, especially one of the Gol D line, well… that tended to end up in more than a few people on the wrong side of a blade, or in Ace's case, the wrong side of his fire.

The night passed relatively uneventfully as Aggie was able to stop the ship from tipping over and capsizing a few times during the night and getting them back on the right track, seeing as the storm no doubt knocked them off course of the Organ Islands.

As Ace predicted, the storm only last a week. As Aggie and Deuce patched up the ship from the damage the storm caused, the others: Alvida, Coby, and Luffy were lounging on the deck, basking in the sun after the rain and storms from the last week.

Ace and Sabo were at the wheel, discussing the shortest route to the Organ Islands. "I would say go through this path, 'Bo. It's the quickest." Ace pointed to the map as his younger brother shook his head.

"No, Ace. If we go that way we'll be intruding on the turf of the Arlong Pirates. I would really rather not try and fight an all Fish-Man crew!" Sabo hissed.

Ace scowled and then narrowed his eyes. He'd heard that name before, 'Arlong… that sounds really familiar. Where have I heard his name?' Ace thought, a finger tapping his chin.

"Jinbe!" Ace suddenly exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "Shit, I forgot about that. That's not good."

"Who?" Sabo asked, wondering who 'Jinbe' was and what the hell Ace was still hiding from them.

"You mean 'Knight of the Sea' Jinbe? How the hell do you know a Shichibukai? How the hell do you know a Fish-Man, at all?" Alvida asked, scared by Ace's knowledge.

"Yeah, let's avoid the Arlong Pirates for now. Danmit, that complicates things." Ace hissed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Let's go through the route you said first, Sabo." Ace conceded and walked towards the mast. He turned into fire and reformed in the crow's nest.

"Uh, is he okay?" Coby asked hesitantly.

Luffy frowned and looked up to Ace. "I don't know. Leave him be for now." Luffy told Coby, the others also heeded the young boy's advice.

Luffy and Sabo exchanged a glance in worry, Luffy going over to where his older brother was. "What's going on with Ace?" the younger D-Bearer asks quietly.

"I don't know. But he's still hiding things from us." Sabo growled.

"We all have secrets. Some more than others." Luffy said. Sabo forgot that Luffy could be very perceptive when he wants to be.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that he's hiding a lot from us. We still have no idea who tried to kill him! Or Why!" Sabo hissed.

"We do." Luffy answered immediately. "It's because of his name. No one will acknowledge his mom; all they see is his dad. He doesn't want to be seen as a copy of him. That's why he's trying to get away from both names, only using them when he really needs to. It's the same thing that I'll do when I have to." Luffy told his older brother.

Since Sabo wasn't a D-Bearer, he didn't really know the dangers of the initial. Hell, neither Ace nor Luffy really knew either, but that didn't matter. They still knew the basics of what being a D was. They knew about the Will of D and the Family of D. There were others with that D initial out there.

Waiting, watching, listening.

Luffy's pretty sure that the Family of D were in the shadows for a reason, and it had nothing to do with the World Government or the Marines.

It took another three and a half weeks to get to the Organ Islands. But finally, finally the Spade Pirates docked at the port of the island.

"Listen up!" Ace shouted and got the crew's and guests attention. "Luffy I need your hat, also you and Coby will be staying on the ship. Alvida you're with me, this is your stop and we need to talk to Captain Buggy. Deuce you are staying on the ship to keep an eye on Luffy and Coby, as well as protect it should anyone try anything. Sabo you and Aggie are getting our supplies, also when you two come back I want Deuce and Sabo to get the medical supplies we need, so you'll be doing double-duty. Is that okay with everyone?" Ace finished.

Aggie was the one who spoke up. "I need someplace to start building the ships. Where will we go next so I can start? I need at least 4 months but overall without any complications it should only take up to 6 months to build both."

"Expect complications, Aggie. This may not be the Grand Line, but stuff still happens. Just look at the storm that just happened." Ace said but nodded to the man's explanation about the ships.

"I'll take care of it." Ace told them all reassuringly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, how do you know that Buggy the Clown won't just kill you since we are a rival crew?" Deuce asked his Captain.

"He won't kill me." Ace looked Deuce in the eye when he said that.

"But-" Ace knew that Deuce was worried about him. He was just a kid to all of them. But he had 20 years of experiences, he was a Whitebeard Pirate, he was the son of two powerful D bloodlines, but most importantly; he was the older brother of Sabo and Monkey D. Luffy. And there was no way in the Seas that he was letting anything happen to his younger brothers.

"No." Ace commanded, and Deuce stopped.

"You will trust me on this. You are my First Mate, and I value your input, but I am your Captain. That means that when I give an order you will follow it. Is that understood?"

Ace stood tall as he glanced over everyone on the ship.

"Yes, Captain." Deuce looked down shamefully. He didn't mean to disrespect his new Captain, but could you blame him? His Captain was a kid! He was worried.

"You have your orders." Ace told them.

He waited until Luffy handed over his hat to him and then put it in a small box that, when closed, wouldn't damage the hat. He knew how important that straw hat was to his little brother. He nodded to Alvida and the two disembarked from the ship, heading into the town to find Buggy.

Walking around the town, they looked around to the people just minding the business. "Hey, you two aren't from 'round here, are ya?" A man asked Alvida and Ace.

"No we're not. Why do you want to know?" Ace asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just askin'." He shrugged.

"No you're not." Ace growled. The man jerked back from the kid's expression.

"I…" He couldn't speak, he was transfixed on the boy's face, on his scowl.

"Where's Pirate Captain Buggy the Clown?" Ace asked, impatient.

The man gasped and pointed up to the incline of the hill that was in the back of the town. "Up there, there's a bar that they enjoy or they are usually on their ship."

Ace nods and says, "Thank you."

The two pirates walk away from the scared man and go to the bar. A lion was circling the entrance of the bar and sniffed the air, turning its large head towards the approaching pirates. The lion, Ace assumed that it was male, growled low. He turned his head back into the bar and growled in a series.

Was the lion able to communicate and understand human speech? If so, that was very useful.

"Captain Alvida? What are you doing here? And who's the kid?" A man with oddly shaped hair coming out of the bar.

"I'm not a Captain anymore, Mohji. And this is Captain Ace of the Spade Pirates." Alvida introduced.

Mohji raised an eyebrow and looked down to Ace. "You're a Pirate Captain?" The First Mate of the Buggy Pirates asks.

"Yes I am. I need to speak to your Captain, Buggy the Clown. It's about his former Captain." Ace told the man.

"I'll be right back." Mohji said and turned away back into the bar, going to talk to his Captain.

Mohji came back about ten minutes later. He motioned to Alvida to enter the bar but she didn't, not yet at least. "Permission to enter, Captain Buggy?" She asked loudly, making sure that he heard her.

"Permission granted, Alvida." A male voice spoke up from inside. Alvida walked into the bar and waited for Ace seeing as she was his guest until he said otherwise.

"Permission to enter, Captain Buggy?" Ace asked.

Nothing moved inside the bar, and no noise came out of the open doors. Ace waited, trying not to fidget. "Permission granted, Captain Ace of the Spade Pirates." Buggy finally answered.

Ace released the breath he was holding, nodded to Mohji, and entered the bar. The lion tamer followed the young captain inside and made his way next to his own captain.

The older pirate looked to Ace and froze. Buggy quickly stood up and narrowed his eyes at Ace. The young D-Bearer stopped and let himself be examined by the other captain. He knew what the blue haired man was looking for. Ace gave it to him. Raising his head, Ace stared directly into Buggy's eyes.

The narrowed eyes widened in shock and confusion. Then Buggy spoke. "Why are you here Alvida? And what do you mean that you're no longer a captain?" Buggy questioned the woman.

"Is there anywhere we can talk in private?" Alvida asked him.

"Come with me, both of you. Mohji, with me as well." Buggy said.

The four pirates went up the stairs to the roof of the bar; it was a wide open area with a few tables. "This ain't my office, but no one will bother us up here."

Alvida breathed in and began speaking. "I disbanded my crew and I'm asking you, Captain Buggy, can I join your crew?"

"What, why?" Mohji asked suddenly.

"You're the rare breed of pirate." Ace started, drumming his finger on the table that they were sitting at. "You care about your crew; you know yours and their limits. You know when to pull out of a battle if necessary. That does not mean you are a coward, just the opposite, actually. You're smart and that's extremely valued and very hard to come by nowadays."

"Captain Ace wanted us to form an alliance, but that was before I disbanded my crew. I figured it would be better to go with him and join you directly. He was already coming here to talk to you." Alvida said.

"And what do you need to talk to me about, Captain Ace?" Buggy asked, eyeing him.

Ace didn't speak; he just lifted the box that had Luffy's straw hat in it, onto the table. He opened the box and spun it around, showing its contents to Buggy and Mohji.

Buggy's eyes widened into saucers and then he launched a hand toward Ace's throat. Buggy's hand dragged Ace up to eye-level as he whispered, "How the fuck do you have that hat?"

Ace tried to breathe as much as he could through his mouth before answering. "I know who had this hat before. I know who both of them are and were. I know that the first one to have this hat was a D-Bearer; he was one of the strongest in the last era. He gave it to one of his cabin boys, and then the red haired boy grew up and started up a crew of his own. He sailed to East Blue and stayed on a little island for a year; after he left, the red haired man didn't have his hat anymore, the hat that his former captain had gifted him. He gave it to a little boy, a little boy who swore he would be the next Pirate King, not as the second coming of Roger, but as Straw Hat Luffy. He will make his own legacy for the future."

Alvida and Mohji were silent throughout the boy's story, but both were up on their feet at once when Buggy attacked Ace.

Buggy's hand slackened and let go of Ace completely. Dropping back onto the roof, Ace rubbed his throat. He really didn't like to be choked.

"Alvida, you can join. Mohji show her around town and introduce her to the others. I'll talk to her later. Leave us." Buggy commanded in a hollow voice, he never once took his eyes off of Ace.

Buggy's hand still floated in the air near Ace, but the boy wasn't worried about Buggy killing him. The hand grabbed the back of Ace shirt and lifted him gently into the air. Ace reached out for the box with the straw hat and closed it.

The two were silent as they made their way to Buggy's office. When they arrived, Buggy deposited Ace into the chair on one side of the desk.

"Talk. Now." The blue haired man demanded.

Ace swallowed but heeded the command, but not before opening the box again and then took out a picture from his pocket. He slid it across the table, over to Buggy.

Buggy took the picture and gasped in shock, tears pricked on the corners of his eyes.

"My name is Gol D. Ace. I am the son of Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rogue. I was born on the Island of Baterilla." He paused, "I'm the reason for the massacre that took place there."

As he finished saying those words, a warm and hard body wrapped around him. And for the first time in long time, Ace felt safe. Buggy was kneeling on his knees in front of him, hugging him, silent tears running down his face. "No. You are not responsible for that!" Buggy hissed. "You are not to blame for Baterilla. A child should never have to pay for the sins of their parents. That crime against humanity was started by the fucking Marines!"

And Ace sobbed. Both Buggy and Ace sobbed, thinking about their horrible pasts and the circumstances that had led them to finding out about each other. About finding out about Roger and Rogue's secret child. A child that was marked for death by so many.

"I swear to you, Ace. I will protect you." Buggy said.

Then he said the words that had been drilled into him by his captain in the dead of night. "I, Buggy the Clown, Pirate Captain of the Buggy Pirates and former member of the Roger Pirates, swear to you, Gol D. Ace, I will follow you and your Will. I choose you as my King. I place my bet on you. Do you accept my bet and my choice, Gol D. Ace?"

Ace looked up with teary eyes and nodded, he instinctively knew what to answer the blue haired man.

"I, Gol D. Ace, Pirate Captain of the Spade Pirates, son of Gol D. Roger and Portgas D. Rogue, accept your bet and choice. I swear I will honor the Will of D and the Family of D. My Will shall be one you are proud to follow."

"So what do we do now?" Buggy asked Ace.

"Can you tell me about them?" Ace didn't have to specify who he was asking about.

"Sure kid." Buggy glanced at the picture that was discarded on the table. "You know, you would have been mine and Shanks' little brother. Captain…. He was a good man, but he had one hell of a temper when provoked. He took any slight against him and his personally. He wouldn't rest until those that had wronged his crew or his allies were defeated."

Buggy sighed and closed his eyes. "And then there was Rogue. Did you know that she was a pirate?" He asked the child that had shifted into his lap. Ace shook his head.

"She had her own crew, but they couldn't survive the New World so after they got through Fish-Man Island, Rogue disbanded her crew. Some of them stayed with her, but most went their separate ways. Even with a D-Bearer as their Captain… it was tough for them. But regardless, she was a spitfire. When she found Roger, she marched right up to him and slapped him. Started screaming about him making a fool of their family. None of us knew what was going on but we did know that Rogue and Captain were connected somehow."

"… Now we know the reason why. Or at least partially." Buggy concluded.

"You… You know what the D initial in our names means?" Ace asked hesitantly.

Buggy shook his head. "No, Only Roger knows the true meaning of what the Will of D is and what that initial in your names mean. Roger… he wouldn't tell any of us, not even Rayleigh."

"You were at Laugh Tale." It wasn't a question.

The blue haired pirate sighed and rubbed at his eyes, suddenly tired. "Yeah, Captain had said that Shanks and I deserved to know the truth of the world, of the Void Century, of everything hidden to the masses. And we do, we know so much that it almost broke us. We were kids, Ace. We were 15 when Captain was executed, we were 12 during the Edd War, we became Roger's cabin boys at age 8. We had been on the Oro Jackson for 7 years before everyone split up after Captain's death." He finished and Ace remained silent, just processing all that was just told to him.

"Can you… Do you…." Ace glanced up, hazy grey eyes worried about what he was about to request next. "Can my crew stay here for a bit? I… My Shipwright already has the blueprints for the two ships I want built, but we need time to build them."

"Kid, you don't need to ask. My crew will help you should you and yours ever ask for it. I want to formally make an alliance with you though. However, as you are a kid and are probably not going into the Grand Line until you're a bit older, it will be a secret alliance. What do you say, Ace?"

Ace responded by flinging his arms around Buggy's neck, muttering, "Yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you! You have no idea what this means to me."

Buggy smiled at the boy and removed two of his fingers, grabbed the picture of the Roger Pirates and stared down at it, looking between Ace's parents to see which parts of them he could spot in their son.

The boy cried himself to sleep with all of his pent-up emotions and everything that had happened the last few months. The Pirate Captain gently picked up his Captain's son and put him on the couch that he had in the office. Opening the door and sticking out his head, he gestured for Cabaji, "I want you to make sure a room is set up as soon as possible. And get Mohji to search for the Spade Pirates, I need to talk to them, if they have a First Mate, bring him or her to me as soon as possible."

Cabaji nodded and went to do the tasks assigned to him. The swordsman was wondering about what had happened, knowing that whatever this was, was about to change everything for them.

Mohji made his way to the docks and searched out for the pirate crew his Captain wanted to see. "Are you members of the Spade Pirates?" Mohji asked the blue haired teen and the blonde kid carrying bags of supplies next to him.

"Yes we are. Who are you and why are you asking?" the blonde kid asked.

"I'm Mohji, the Buggy Pirates First Mate." Mohji introduced. "Captain Buggy wanted me to get the First Mate of the Spade Pirates to talk about something. Your Captain is staying with Captain Buggy for the foreseeable future. I was also supposed to inform you that your Shipwright will be able to use our docks for as long as he needs to build the ship that your Captain wanted."

The blonde and the blue haired teen glanced at each other in shock but nodded. "I'm the Spades' First Mate, I'm Deuce. This is Sabo. Do you want me to come with you?" Deuce asked.

Mohji smirked but shook his head. "If you aren't done with getting your supplies you can finish up. If you want some help, I'm more than happy to help you if you want."

"Yes please. That would be great, thank you." Sabo said with a smile.

It took the three males another 45 minutes to get all of the supplies the Spades needed for the next few months. Afterward, Deuce and Sabo parted ways, Sabo going to check his brother and Coby, and Deuce going with the other First Mate.

"Captain, I've brought the Spades' First Mate." Mohji said, as Buggy turned to see Mohji and a blue haired teen.

Buggy smirked, "Nice hair." Deuce startled but nodded, not expecting the older Pirate Captain to address him so nonchalantly.

"Uh… thank you? Your First Mate told me that you wanted to talk to me about something. My name is Deuce I'm the Spades' First Mate." Deuce introduced to the other blue haired male.

"Names' Buggy the Clown, nice to meet you. I've got to talk to you, come in my office." Buggy told him and Deuce followed the older man. "Your Captain and I talked, we've come to an agreement on the terms of an alliance. It will be a secret alliance for the time being seeing as your Captain does not plan on going into the Grand Line until he is 17."

"Where is my Captain?" Deuce asked the Captain.

Buggy winced but answered the teenager. "He's sleeping in a room near mine. Let's just say… some things that were discussed between us… didn't go as planned. But he's not hurt. If you want to see him, I'll be more than happy to show you where he's staying. If any of your crew need a place to stay and don't want to sleep in your ship."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Buggy. I'll talk to the others and with Aggie. Thank you for allowing us to stay here for the time being." Deuce said, relieved that his young Captain was okay and that they were able to get their ships built.

"No problem, just do me a favor, will you?" Buggy asked him. Deuce nodded before Buggy continued. "Make sure your Doctor watches your Captain for these symptoms. Also, if any of these start contact me and Dr. Kureha immediately." Buggy said, handing Deuce a large sized file with two Den-Den numbers on a sticky note.

Deuce takes the file and opens it, speed-reading it for a few minutes before looking back up to the Pirate Captain. "What kind of illness is this and how do you have this much information on it?" The First Mate-Doctor asked.

Buggy's eyes flashed. "You're the Spades Doctor aren't you?" Deuce nodded and started to read the file again, going over the symptoms he's supposed to watch out for. "It's for Ace. I don't know if the disease is hereditary or not, but just to be safe." Buggy's tone held a lot of repressed emotions but he held it all in. "Contact me and Dr. Kureha when you see the first symptom. Please." Buggy pleaded with the doctor.

"Of course, I will. Thank you for this. However, can you tell me anything else? I don't see a name for this disease." Deuce said, frowning and even more worried about his Captain.

"No, we never found out what the name of it was. But we do know that the last phase comes in really fast. I just want you to be prepared if worst comes to worst." Buggy knew what it was like having a D-Bearer for a Captain, especially a Gol D. But this was Captain's kid, and Buggy would be damned if he let the same illness take his little brother as it did his Captain (Father).

Deuce and Buggy finalized where the Spades would be staying until their ships are built. Sabo and Luffy stayed with Ace constantly and were extremely worried when Deuce told them about the illness, but Ace told them not to worry, he would tell them if he was feeling any of the symptoms.

Gol D. Ace would live, no matter what. Buggy would make sure of it; no one was hurting his Captain's son!

Characters:

Gol D. Ace, Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy, Alvida, Aggie, Masked Deuce, Buggy the Clown, Coby, Mohji, Cabaji

Mentioned Characters:

Arlong, Jinbe, Gol D. Roger, Shanks, Portgas D. Rouge, Silvers Rayleigh, Doctrine Kureha