Trouble Part One

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.


"Hey, he's awake!"

"He's alive!"

"He looks pretty young...,"

"You should talk!"

"Shut up!"

"Can't believe he lived...,"

"I can't believe he's eating so much...,"

Austin paid no attention to the murmurings of the children around him as he kept trying to fill his belly with every piece of food he could cram into his mouth. He felt like he had not eaten in days, so he he had to get as much in as possible. The kids, and even Nicholas, stared in amazement as the plates began to pile up around him, their food supply going down by the second. All of them had the same question on their minds.

Who or what was this kid?

Finally, after a good while of eating, Austin let out a loud belch, leaned back in the chair and patted his now very full belly, a content smile on his face.

Nicholas blinked, "Uh...a-are you still hungry, little one?"

Austin just waved him off.

The fat, bearded man chuckled a little, "You certainly have an appetite...,"

I think I get it from all the guys who eat so much back home... Austin looked around the building, Where are-?

"You're probably wondering where your friends are," Nicholas interrupted his thoughts, "Perfectly alright, I assure you. I believe I saw them around here earlier while we were getting you some food,"

Austin felt a poking in his arm and he turned to see a young boy, a few years younger than he was, looking at him with curious eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked quietly.

The mute cabin boy looked at everyone, then made a motion imitating he was writing something down.

"Aw, he's a mute!" an older boy moaned from the back, "Crap, someone get something to write on and write with!"

Nicholas gave the older one a light glare, before turning to Austin, "Is it true, son, are you mute?" he asked softly.

Austin nodded.

"Told you!"

Nicholas glared again as one of the younger children came up with a few pieces of paper and a pen.

"Now, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, son?"

A short trip away from the Winter Island, a pirate ship, one that wasn't the Axe-Heads' Ocean Dreamer, but another, smaller ship with a Jolly Roger fluttering in the wind. The pirate flag had the symbol of what looked like an almost perfectly round skull with the eye sockets connected by a white line above the brow line. The eyes sort of resembled the letter B and the flag even had that very letter sitting on top of the skull and crossbones.

The ship was filled with numerous pirates, but three of them stood out more than the others. One of them was a thin, lanky man with brown hair, a pair of small, beady eyes and a goofy look plastered on his face. The second one was taller and thinner than the first one, and if one thought the first man didn't look too bright, they would seriously consider him to be a genius compared to this man. The second one had a very, very dumb look on his face, as he seemed to be off in his own little world, his eyes unfocused. Finally, despite the possible prediction given by the appearance and easily recognizable level of intelligence of the first two men mentioned, the third one would've surprised anyone.

The third man, although in the average level of intelligence (which was a major difference with his two comrades), was a lot shorter. From a distance and behind, people would think he was a child, and that was something he didn't really care for...not one bit.

The lanky man turned to his boss, "So, where are we heading anyway, Cap'n?"

Captain Billy Bob of the B Pirates (yes, that's their name, you got a problem with it?!), grinned and turned to his crew, a smug look on his face, "Billy, Billy, Billy...have you forgotten so soon? Look at your friend over there, he hasn't forgotten," he pointed to the zoned out pirate.

"That's because he probably never heard the plan, Cap'n, you know he goes out like that sometimes," Billy shook his tall friend, "Bob! Bobby boy, wakey wakey!"

"Huh?" the second pirate snapped out of his trance and looked around, scratching his head, "What happened? Is it time to eat yet?"

Billy Bob rolled his eyes, but continued, "As I was saying, we are headed towards an island where a rich, fat bastard lives all alone with his kids,"

"Cap'n?"

"Yes, Billy?"

"How rich is he?"

"I don't know, but he must be really rich!"

"Why?"

"Because I heard he's a lardass,"

Billy and Bob shared confused looks.

Billy Bob rubbed his eyes, "You can judge a man's wealth by how fat or thin he is. If he's fat, he's rich enough to buy a lot of food, and if he's skinny like Bob over there," he jabbed a short finger to the dumb-looking one, "Then he's poorer than dirt. Get it?"

Both pirates nodded slowly.

"Trust me, boys, he's loaded! I've been hearing stories about a fat guy in the region living all alone with kids on a Winter Island and with this map and Pose," he held up the navigational materials, "We'll be there in no time!"

When Pingu and Sora saw that Austin was up and around, both animals launched themselves at the mute pirate lad, knocking him flat on his back. Nicholas and the kids watched Austin try and pry the two animals off him. Now, Austin loved his nakama, that was a truth, but he didn't need them to suffocate him, especially Pingu with his abnormal birdy strength.

"They're devoted to you," Nicholas smiled warmly, "They're good nakama, huh?"

Austin nodded.

"Apparently, they're not the only nakama he's got," an older boy, about fifteen or fourteen said loudly as he made his way through the crowd, holding a bunch of papers in his hands, "Looks our new buddy here," he glanced at Austin, "Has a little reputation," he walked over to Nicholas and handed the papers to him, "Here, you need to see this,"

Nicholas took the papers and pulled out a pair of glasses, "What's this, Scotty?"

"Just look at them, Nick,"

Austin rose to his feet, a bad feeling growing in his gut. When he saw one of the papers had a picture on it, he knew what they were.

Bounty posters.

Aw crap... the boy gulped, This could be bad for us...

"Blood Fist Austin, with a bounty of 18,000,000 Beli...Pingu the Pimp of Penguins with a bounty of 1,500 Beli and Blue Fox Sora with a bounty of 1,550 Beli...," Nicholas looked up at the boy, "A boy with a bounty that high, and two animals with bounties. How interesting," he looked at the posters again, "But what's even more interesting is the crew he belongs to. The Axe-Head Pirates, led by Samuel D. Axe? Samuel...Samuel...," Nicholas lowered the posters, "I thought they were wiped out years back,"

"Nick, you know something about them?" Scotty asked the older man.

Nicholas removed his glasses and scratched his beard in thought, "It was years and years ago, before any of you were ever born. The Samuels were a crew of pirates that traveled the world with the likes of Whitebeard and Gold Roger themselves, and they were supposedly destroyed by the World Government...but it seems that some have survived and are making a comeback,"

Scotty snatched the papers away from the older man and advanced on Austin, "I don't care if he's a little kid or not, he's a frickin' pirate and pirates aren't welcome here!"

"Scotty!"

"No, Nick, don't even try and protect this brat!"

"He's lost, separated from his crew-,"

"And he's with us, and we outnumber him, so I say we turn him over to the Marines and collect his bounty!" Scotty grabbed Austin and hauled him clean off the ground, "18,000,000 Beli can buy us a lot of food and new clothes, so why don't we just-OOF!"

Pingu had just headbutted him in the stomach, making him not only drop Austin, but double over, holding his gut.

"You mess with him, you mess with me!" Pingu honked, his flipper tapping on the floor.

Scotty glared daggers at the bird, "Oh...when I'm done with you, you're gonna be-AAAAAAAAAH!"

This time, Sora got to him. The Sky Fox had his small, but sharp jaws latched onto the seat of Scotty's pants, giving him a good reason to scream.

Pingu and Austin winced, Ouch...

When he let go, Sora shot over to his friends, a look of disgust on his face.

"You okay, fox?"

"That kid needs to change his underwear...," Sora sat down and tried to scrape his tongue clean, "That was nasty!"

Kilnorc: Okay, lessee what we have here. Bad guys, check! Trouble, check! Some bits of comedy, check! Interested in what happens next? Wait for the next chapter, folks! Before I go, I would like to dedicate this chapter to my dear, dear friend Dragon's-Maidens who not only helped me with the enemy pirates, but she is the owner of Niri Zolaro for those who didn't know. Thanks DM, owe ya big time!