"Three cheers for Kiso!"

The crewmen clapped their beer mugs together as they began a party to celebrate the gain of a valuable treasure and a new crewmate.

Kiso was sitting down, watching the crew take part in all sorts of revelry, with the captain himself talking center stage, but refraining from taking part in it himself, as he was still unsure of his place on the ship.

He felt a hand slap him on the back, "Hey, kid, thanks for getting me out of the water."

Kiso turned around, gaining a smile when he recognized the man as the one whose life he had saved earlier, "You're welcome. If you don't mind me asking, what can you tell me about the officers of this crew?"

"Sure," Clancy smiled and pointed in the direction of Mohji who was setting down meat on a plate before a drooling Richie, "Well, first you see the guy standing next to the lion? The guy with the white hair is Mohji, our first mate."

Mohji pet Richie while he ate, before standing up. He noticed Kiso staring at him and sent him a suspicious glare that caused the boy to avert his eyes. He had just gotten onboard; the last thing he needed was to get on the wrong side of the captain's number two.

"And over there is Cabaji, the captain's chief of staff."

Cabaji was sitting at a desk, taking count of the number of gold coins inside the chest that Kiso had fished out of the ocean. If he was aware Kiso was staring at him, he made no acknowledgement of it, so wrapped up he was in his work.

"Now, on paper, Mohji is, after the captain, the most powerful authority figure on this ship. However…" Clancy paused to make sure that Mohji was on the other end of the ship and thus, couldn't hear him, "Usually, most of the men defer to Cabaji."

Kiso was confused, from his experiences in the Arlong Pirates, First Mate Kuroobi's word was second only to Arlong himself in the crew, "Why is that?"

"Cabaji is stronger and more capable in a fight. Whereas Mohji is, well…" "Let's just say, if you take his lion out of the equation, he's a bit of a lightweight."

"Wouldn't this cause a conflict between the officers?"

"Oh, all the time," Clancy sighed, "It's rare to see those two guys not at each other's throats."

"And the captain allows this to go on?", Kiso was puzzled. For all his good will towards his 'brothers', Arlong would never allow his officers to fight like this.

Clancy shrugged, "As long as everyone on board understands his is the ultimate authority, the captain pays no mind to the squabbling of his officers."

"But wait", Kiso again had to ask, "I thought the first mate was supposed to be the strongest crewman. If Mohji is weaker than the chief of staff, how did he get this position?"

"The captain decided to give him the position, on account of Mohji being the first man to sign on to join the crew when the captain was starting out…"

…

Years prior, Mohji was a rookie lion tamer working for the Gaggle Circus. He was trying to train Richie, then just a small cub, for a routine, "C'mon, Rich! Just like we've been practicing!"

"Into the hoop! Into the hoop!", he pointed at the hoop that the cub was supposed to jump through.

But the cub remained still, feigning to be asleep.

"You're wasting your time."

Mohji turned and glared at the source of the comment, "Mind your own business, Cabaji."

"Do you really think people come to the show to see that little furball?"

Mohji stood up, furious, "Why, you-."

Cabaji laughed, "Obviously, they're here to witness my ability!"

"Listen, you pampered acrobat!", Mohji was about to rush Cabaji when he heard a "MOHJI!" go off behind him.

Mohji went pale, turned around, and got down on his knees before Gaggle, the circus' ringmaster and owner, a short, rotund man who was glaring daggers at him.

"Yes, boss!", he cried.

"You better have that runt of yours' up and ready in time for the show, else it's curtains for you!"

"Yes, of course, boss, we'll be ready!"

Gaggle huffed, "As for you, Cabaji, get to your dressing room."

"Yes, sir," Cabaji nodded and walked away.

…

That night, Gaggle was standing in the middle of the ring, addressing the crowd that had paid money to attend the show. The spotlight was on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, the Gaggle Circle is proud to present as its opening act: the master of beasts, the fearsome, the incredible- "

Inside a cover, Mohji turned to Richie, "This is it, buddy."

"Mohji the Lion Tamer!"

The cover was removed. Mohji bowed to the crowd while Richie seemed disinterested.

"Welcome, I, Mohji the Lion Tamer shall demonstrate my mastery of this ferocious feline by commanding him to," Mohji turned to point at the hoop set up near him, "jump through this hoop you see before you."

Mohji struck his whip in the direction of the hoop, "Go through the hoop!"

Richie made no movement towards the hoop, instead lying down.

At a loss for what to do (actually hitting Richie with the whip was beyond the pale for him), Mohji turned to face the crowd, "Apologies, folks, but you can't rush these things, y'know."

The crowd weren't impressed, "BOO! BOO!"

Mohji was nervously trying to placate them, "Now, now calm down! I can fix thi-"

"Ow!" Mohji felt something hit his head. Looking down, he saw it was an orange, "Who threw that?!"

In the shadows, Gaggle turned to glare at Cabaji, who was whistling a tune to himself.

Laughing at the sight, the crowd soon turned to pelting Mohji with food of their own.

"Richie, help!", he cried to his assistant, but among the food being thrown were several pieces of meat, which the lion quickly took to eating, unbothered by his trainer's plight.

…

"That's it, you loser!", Gaggle screamed at Mohji in his office, "That's the last show that you'll bumble!"

Mohji was kneeling, tears flowing from his eyes,"Please, sir, it wasn't my fault!"

There was no pity in Gaggle's cold eyes, "Like hell it wasn't, you failure!"

"But, I-I need this job!"

"Too bad-you're fired!", Gaggle bellowed, "Now, you have five minutes to pack your things and leave the premises, else I'll have you thrown out on your ass!"

Defeated, Mohji exited the office.

In the corridor, he found Cabaji waiting, his back against the wall, "Good riddance."

Mohji was in no mood for a rebuttal, he went straight for his room.

…

Mohji, with all of his belongings (along with some food he pilfered from the kitchen) packed in a bag he was carrying, was standing in front of Richie's cage.

"Looks like this is goodbye, bud," Mohji muttered sadly.

Richie sprung towards the bars, standing up on two legs as his forelegs were on the bars.

Mohji asked, "What is it?"

Richie was trying to claw the bars off, to no avail.

The lion tamer gasped, "You want to come with me?"

Richie's thoughts: Where is this dumb human going with all that meat?

Mohji began crying tears of joy, "Oh, Richie, I knew it-you're the best friend I've ever had!"

Mohji got to work picking the lock. Richie purred when he was released and was then handed a piece of meat.

Mohji pet the eating lion as they snuck away from the circus premises.

"Off we go then, bud!"

…

Mohji walked into a local bar on the island, the patrons gawking at the small lion that was following him around.

He walked up to the bartender, "Rum for me and some water for my lion here."

The bartender glared at Mohji, "We don't serve pets, mister."

"But-" Mohji was about to plead when he was interrupted by a loud cry of "Listen up, boys!"

The patrons of the bar turned to see a man with blue makeup on his face and a big red nose was standing in the doorway.

The man raised his arms up in theatrical fashion, "Each of you has, before you, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to join up with one of the best and brightest up-and-coming pirates in the world!"

"Who would that be?", one of the patrons asked before burping loudly.

The man briefly glared at the interruption, "That would be me, you idio-," before regaining his composure, "I mean prospective crewman, that would be me Buggy! Now, join me and you shall find riches beyond your imagining, treasure that you-"

"Shut up, you big-nosed freak!" another of the patrons, a large bald man stood up from his stool, "Your bellowing is giving me a headache!"

Buggy paused before growling in a deathly cold voice, "What did you just call me?"

The bald man smirked, "Big. Nosed. Frea-", but was interrupted when Buggy gestured his hand, clutching a dagger, in the man's direction, which then shot off like a rocket off his arm. The knife was buried in the man's chest. He collapsed to the floor dead, the knife having punctured his heart.

With a gesture, Buggy's hand returned to the forearm, leaving no indication it had ever left, much to the awe of the patrons. He took a deep breath before addressing the men again.

"Anyone else wish to comment upon my nose?", Buggy looked around the room with a genial smile, "No? Well then, getting back to the matter at hand, which among you wish to join me?"

While most of the bar gasped in fear, Mohji considered that this rogue of the seas might just be the opportunity he and Richie had been looking for.

Mohji ran forward, "Excuse me, sir? Excuse me!"

Buggy turned to address him, "Yes?"

"I, Mohji, would like to join your crew!"

Buggy briefly seemed surprised before regaining his façade as a dignified pirate leader, "Really? I, um, mean welcome aboard!"

"On the condition that you also accept my lion, Richie!"

Buggy shrugged his shoulders in a playful manner, "The more, the merrier!"

"Thank you, sir!", by this point, Mohji was on his knees when a thought occurred to him, "Um, just curious, sir? But, how many crewmates do you have?"

"Well, between you, me, and your cat, my crew is up to…" Buggy, his face growing almost as red as his nose, paused awkwardly before whispering into Mohji's ear, "three."

Caught by surprise, Mohji spoke up, "Really?"

"There they are!"

"Oh no!", Mohji screamed as he recognized the approaching men as thugs who worked for the Ringmaster. Richie shivered as he hid behind the tamer.

The lead thug addressed them, "You really thought you could just steal the circus' property and walk away, Mohji? Hand the lion over and you won't be hurt!"

Buggy stepped in between Mohji and the thugs, "Now, just a minute, did I just hear you threaten my new crewmate?!"

"Your what? Who the hell are you?" the thug asked, "Did one of the clowns jump ship too?"

"I am Buggy, a name which shall be feared by all those that sail the seas one day! And as Mohji's captain, I swear you will not harm him!"

"Yeah right. Listen, clown, run off before we-"

The man did not finish his sentence. Both of Buggy's hands were now floating in front of him, a blade in between each finger.

The circus thugs were horrified by the sight, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

Buggy smirked. His hands flew out and began cutting the thugs to ribbons.

In no time at all, the remains of the thugs (all chopped up into pieces) were lying before Buggy and his new recruits.

"Wow…Captain, you're amazing…" Mohji was in awe (and a little fear), "How did you do that?"

Buggy grimaced, talking about his powers always brought that damned Shanks to the forefront of his mind, "The power of the Chop Chop Fruit, one of the Devil Fruits."

He moved to change the subject, "Now then, ready to set sail with me?"

"Captain, do you mind if we stay on this island for just a bit more?", Mohji paused as a vengeful smile grew upon his face, "I've got a few old scores to settle," before looking at the confused look of his new captain, "And there will be some gold in it for you."

Buggy contemplated this before acquiescing, "Very well then."

…

"…And that is how Captain Buggy gained his first mate."

"So, the First Mate and Chief of Staff knew each other before they joined the captain."

Clancy nodded, "Aye and hated each other long before."

But Kiso had more questions, "So, how did the Chief of Staff come to join the captain then?"

Clancy took another sip of his mug, "That, kid, is another story…"