Acquisition

Characters: Penguin, Shachi, Law, Bepo. Rating: K. Warnings: None

One of the first questions a new crewmember always asked, without fail, when joining the crew, was "how the hell did you afford this?" The question was accompanied by some sort of gesture, from wild flailing to a simple point depending on each person's general response to something big, shiny and obviously expensive, towards the Polar Tang. The submarine sat proudly in the water, the bright yellow (well maintained, of course) and identifying marks (with their jolly roger and the captain's DEATH emblems how could it not be theirs) gleaming in all its considerable glory.

A submarine was rare, expensive, and far beyond the treasure hoards of any rookie crew, and that was before they entered it to see the state of the art infirmary.

"We didn't." The admittance would always come from either Penguin or Shachi, whichever one was in earshot at the time. Sometimes they'd answer in chorus. The full story would always wait until they were out at sea, buried safely beneath the waves as the Polar Tang once again proved its invaluable worth.

Setting out from Swallow Island in a small, stolen, fishing boat (it had belonged to the father of a boy Penguin and Shachi really hadn't got on with), the four of them had very quickly realised that if they were going to travel together, let alone have any viable shot at this piracy thing they seemed to be heading for, if Law's half-answers and nervous glances were any indication, they were going to need a better boat. Without so much as a cabin to keep them dry in the rain and snow (they had to pull a stray tarpaulin over themselves when such weather occurred), it was impractical at best and suicidal at worst. Winter was reaching its peak, and if nothing else they would freeze to death without somewhere sturdy to shelter from the elements.

Penguin and Shachi had wanted to go to Minion Island, always on their horizon but never before in their reach, reasoning that as a pirate base (former, apparently), there should be something there. Law had vetoed that so fast they'd got whiplash, so rather reluctantly they had instead changed course for the other island in their triangle. Law hadn't been much more impressed with that one, apparently, but they needed provisions at least, and a sturdier boat. Not designed for long journeys at sea, their current vessel had begun to buckle and more often than not there were dredges of water in the bottom, around their ankles. It was likely that that, resulting in eternal lethargy for Law, had persuaded him to cave.

The large, grey metal boat they had seen as they docked caught all of their attention. It looked unlike any boat the four of them had ever seen, riding low in the water with minimal deck space and a thick, heavy door.

"So cool," Shachi had sighed, Penguin wolf-whistling behind him.

"How much to you reckon that'd be?" he'd wondered, despite realising that a boat that large would be too much for the four of them to control. Even as adults, rather than their teen selves, it would be a huge ask.

"We're taking it."

Law's declaration was totally absurd, but the conviction in his words had made it sound almost believable. Almost.

"Unless you've got some hidden fortune you've not told us about, we've barely got 100 Beri between us," Penguin had pointed out. "How, exactly, do you expect to afford that?" Law had looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"I don't recall saying anything about paying for it."

Oh, right. They were pirates, weren't they? Well, kinda. Penguin and Shachi didn't know if it counted when they didn't have a boat, a name, or a flag. Also, the whole piracy thing… Law's charisma had got them that far, but their resolve was beginning to waver in the face of reality. Crazy ruffians they might have become, but they'd never actually stolen anything before (they conveniently forgot that the dying ship they had just tied to the shore hadn't been taken with permission).

"So we fight for it?" Bepo had asked, finally contributing to the conversation. The mink cub had been content to remain silent for much of their time, offering himself as a bed where possible to keep Law out of the water at the expense of his own comfort and occasionally changing the course when he thought they were going wrong.

"If that's what it takes."

Fights Penguin and Shachi knew, and the prospect – plan – had calmed their jittery nerves against the idea of actual piracy. Law's own calm, measured response to the situation helped to further ground them, effortlessly taking on his duties as captain as if he'd been born to it. As far as Penguin and Shachi knew, he probably had been. They'd certainly never met such a ruthless thirteen year old before.

Luck had been on their side that day. It transpired that the strange yet alluring boat had only just been finished, and was in the dock awaiting its christening by some important official or other. The quartet hadn't hung around to find out who.

While subtlety wasn't Penguin or Shachi's preferred method of doing things, their inexperience was more than covered for by Law and Bepo's own stealth as they had silently taken down the numerous guards on the walkway from the ship to the shore and slunk on board the ship. It had smelt of fresh oil, the last hinges still settling into place. Within the narrow corridors were more guards, easily caught off guard and subdued – Penguin and Shachi weren't entirely sure what to make of them alive yet in pieces, and Law had seemed almost as surprised despite being the perpetrator – and, leaving Bepo on guard just inside the ship's entrance, Law had led the other two through the maze until they found a control room.

For all the complicated controls (hopefully there was a manual somewhere), someone had very helpfully labelled a couple of the buttons – THRUST; LOCK; DIVE. It had probably been for the self-important official to use on the maiden voyage, but the thieves had not been about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The third button in particular had brought a gleam to Law's eyes.

"A submarine," he'd breathed, looking far more excited than they'd ever seen before. "This is perfect. We're definitely taking this."

Why a submarine was perfect – and what that even meant; Penguin and Shachi couldn't claim to know much about anything more than a fishing boat – was a question for another time, as Law had pressed the button labelled CLOSE, watching the steady green light by it flash for several moments as an accompanying klaxon sounded before turning red. That done, he had then pressed THRUST, and the sudden roar of the engines deafened the four of them – Bepo having run to join them with breathless reports that the outer door had "just suddenly shut, Captain!" – before they'd felt a lurch as the ship pulled away from its berth, tugging some of the dock with it.

Unable to see what was going on – there were no windows, just screens showing indecipherable graphs talking about things that Penguin and Shachi couldn't even begin to understand – they had clutched at each other as Law waited, watching the screens with apparent comprehension, at least on some level, before deciding to press the button labelled DIVE.

For several moments, it didn't appear as if anything had happened. The ship was still moving forwards at a steady pace, and the horrid thought struck them that something was wrong.

Then their bodies told them very firmly that something was wrong – the metal beneath their feet wasn't level, as it had been, but very slightly slanted downwards and felt as if it were falling away from them. Either that, or they had suddenly lost a lot of weight and were about to float. It had not been a reassuring feeling.

It had only stopped when Law lifted his finger from the DIVE button, gravity catching up with them all at once and buckling their knees so that they fell to the floor.

"What the hell just happened?" Shachi had gasped, deciding against trying to get up. Law, sat in a chair and looking decidedly unruffled by the whole thing, had turned to look down at him with a satisfied grin on his face.

"We just stole a submarine. Now, what should we call it?"

No, the people on the shore were not very happy about the theft, but also too reluctant to do anything to potentially damage the very expensive new ship to prove much of a threat once the kids were on the ship (as for the ones left inside yet in pieces, they were the infirmary's first 'patients'). I'll almost certainly explore more of the Polar Tang's origins later, because this is only the tip of the iceburg as far as my headcanons go about its beginnings - and how exactly are three teenagers and one mink cub supposed to control a sub that big?

Thanks for reading!
Tsari