Sanguine Selflessness

by Gothraven89

In the aftermath of a vicious battle with the Marines that leaves Karai Bari battered but not beaten and vampire mates Mihawk and Crocodile in a desperate dilemma between withering away or going feral and attacking the very people they fought so hard to protect. Buggy brings them a third, unexpected option. Himself.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or anything related to it, it is all the creation of the incomparable Oda San. This work is simply for fun and creative expression.

Warning: Strong Sexual Content, Violence and Graphic Descriptions of Gore, Polyamory, and Adult Themes

Author's Note: Apologies in advance if anyone seems OOC. Special shoutout to the incomparable Veskasa as the creator of Anna Bananawani who I included in all of my Cross Guild romance stories so far.

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Sanguine Selflessness

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The moon hung over Karai Bari Island, a sharp golden crescent shaped blade against the blueish black skies, surrounded by blue gray clouds that snuffed out the stars. Dour and ominous, much like the mood that hung over Karai Bari this night. The lanterns were lit, everyone exhausted and heading off to the tents that still stood and the temporary shelters they had erected in the midst of the half wrecked disaster Buggy Town had become.

The iconic big top tent that had bore Cross Guild's name and the giant skull that had Buggy's face paint, red nose, Buggy's Captain's hat, and two giant swords crossed behind it still stood, now had a giant hole in the roof that was only halfway sealed up with a makeshift patch and one of the crossed swords having been blown clean off, soot and fire damage across one side of the skull.

There was similar such damage all throughout Buggy Town in the aftermath of the battle that had raged for four straight days and been hard won by Cross Guild's forces.

The Marines had sneaked in during the dead of night with an armada, not of their gigantic warships, but of smaller, faster fire ships. They had spread floating mines into the water, effectively keeping Anna the gigantic bananawani from joining the fray once the battle began. Everyone had shot out of bed at the first shots, running disoriented to their battle stations to return fire, Buggy overseeing them amidst the chaos.

Several of the Marine ships had made landfall, spitting out scores of zealous Marine soldiers onto the sands. Cross Guild members had grabbed up their swords and rushed out to meet them in battle amidst the fire and brimstone unfolding around them. It was blood and fire and chaos for what seemed like hours before a pair of shadowy figures had emerged from the darkness, one with glowing yellow eyes and the other with plumes of smoke wafting about his eight foot tall frame.

Dracule Mihawk and Sir Crocodile had emerged through smoke and flame and set upon the battle that was happening on the main beach in front of Buggy Town.

Those who were with Cross Guild had quickly retreated back, knowing full well the kind of power these two men possessed.

With a glare from Mihawk and a smokey smirk from Crocodile, the pair had unleashed their wrath on the Marines invading the beach. Mihawk with his devastating sword strikes that sent shock waves through the whole island and Crocodile commanding the sands on the beach, creating multiple blinding vortexes of sharp golden sand to pummel those who had escaped Mihawk's shock waves. Then Buggy would be there to order the shooters and cannon manners to aim half at the beach and half at the ships out to sea.

Together they had driven the Marines back. However the fools were determined, having called in reinforcements as dozens more of these smaller fire ships arrived to take up the battle and continue bombarding the island.

The battle lasted four agonizing days with casualties on both sides. It was with mounting fury and desperation that Cross Guild had banded together for one last push, Buggy having a stroke of genius as he had screamed at Mihawk to use his powerful shock waves directly on the ocean where a good chunk of those dreaded sea mines had still been floating.

With each swipe of his sword, Mihawk had sent wave after powerful wave of bright green energy at the ocean waters, sending them splashing onto the Marine ships with brutal force and sealing the fate of several Marine ships with a nice deluge of sea mines landing right on top of them.

The explosions had been glorious, but watching the Marines finally have to deal with a truly enraged and absolutely starving Anna bananawani in all her gargantuan glory had been the perfect cherry to the whole messed up sundae.

The behemoth bananawani had laid waste to what remained of the Marine's armada, the small ships that had proved so advantageous to their sneak attacks on in the dead of night had become easy pickings for the ginormous crocodile like creature as she had used her head and tale to smash and decimate them, and then opened her great jagged toothed maw to gobble up those unfortunate Marines that had fallen into the open water.

Cross Guild had come out victorious and still standing despite severe damage throughout Buggy Town, many buildings and tents reduced to rubble.

While Buggy and Crocodile's main crew had survived, they hadn't come out unscathed and there had still been many casualties for Cross Guild.

Now was the quiet aftermath of it all, the the day after the biggest battle for their lives to date giving way to a dark, cloud filled night with only the moon shining and an eerie silence like a pall over the entire island.

In the large blue two level tent that was connected to the main red and white striped big top tent...

" Buggy you can't seriously be even considering this!" Alvida cried as she looked pleadingly at her blue haired fellow captain.

Buggy the Star Clown sat at his vanity in the bedroom area of his tenth, his signature face paint smeared all over and mixed with the soot. His hair was done up in a tangled, messy haphazard bun with a singed and blood-stained green and white bandana over the top of his head. His usually pristine and eye-popping clothing was covered in ash, gunpowder, and mud. Blood stained him too, all over the once eye-catching green fur lined emerald coat, and also the green and white striped t-shirt he had on underneath. The purple sash around his waist was singed at the end, and one of the knees of his green pirate pants lay torn open.

Buggy turned away from his reflection in the mirror to see not only Alvida, but Cabaji, Mohji, and even Richie staring at him imploringly. The core members of his crew were all gathered in his tent in the quietness of the night. They were not as bedraggled as Buggy himself was, the blue haired Yonko having sent his subordinates to actually shower and change. They in turn had brought him dinner to his tent, a cobbled together assortment of whatever they could find. Thankfully the many food and water stores throughout had been built underground and had moderately survived the Marine's relentless onslaught. It was after they had finished eating that Buggy had revealed just what he planned on doing tonight. Buggy sighed and shook his head.

" What other choice do we have Alvida?" Buggy asked with a helpless shrug as he continued.

" Those fucking Marines just had to hit the building where Mihawk and Crocodile's hidden blood supply was. The whole thing got blown to bits and took their means of sustaining themselves with it. This whole island nearly got torched completely, all the forest animals are in hiding and there's not way Crocodile would even touch one of his bananawanis because he actually loves those chompy little devils. They need blood and I am the best option we've got." Buggy explained.

" Offering yourself up to not just one but two centuries old vampires? That's the best you can do? Do you hear yourself captain? They'll drain you dry, you saw how those two were! Their cheeks were sunken in and they could barely keep their fangs from popping out. Hell Mihawk looked at Richie like he was a five star buffet before they holed themselves up in their quarters!" Mohji cried while Richie meowed unhappily.

" We are alive because of those two. Those Marines wanted us deader than dead and Mihawk and Crocodile both kept fighting even when the sun was beating down on them and whatever blood they could salvage dried up." Buggy countered before he shook his head and got up from his chair and started pacing.

" Despite all the blood that got spilled during this whole fucking battle, those two can't touch a single drop of it because it came out of dead people. They couldn't feed during the battle either because come on! It was a fucking battle with bombs flying all over the place. They need fresh blood from the living to at least have a chance before they can rebuild their stores. We can't spare them the blood or even needles at this point because the hospital tent has priority for all blood donations and we lost half of our medical supplies because those bastards specifically targeted our medics and supply tents." Buggy finished in frustration.

Buggy's crew could only nod silently, because what he said was the truth.

This entire situation was one giant clusterfuck. It was bad enough the Marines nearly leveled everything, but now they left Buggy with a truly terrifying dilemma.

Mihawk and Crocodile were already extraordinary, with Mihawk being the World's Strongest Swordsman and Crocodile being the Sand Sand fruit wielder, but when you add in the fact that they were centuries old, vampire mates, it brought down even more layers of "oh shit" this is bad on all of their heads.

Buggy stopped pacing and let out a profound breath before he turned to his crew.

" I might be one of the biggest fuck ups out there, but I am not gonna let any of you get turned into a meal when those two can no longer control their hunger. Even now with Mihawk and Crocodile holed up in their building, that door, nor any other door is gonna stop them when not if they finally lose it. It's their nature, we're all still alive, they can probably hear our blood pumping through our veins right this second. It's only a matter of time before those two won't be able to fight off the hunger. I gotta do this, it'll at least buy us some time before the ships we sent out come back from their supply runs."

" But they'll massacre you if you do this!" Cabaji yelled.

" Or they'll massacre all of you if I don't do this at least." Buggy countered.

Buggy and his crew faced off against each other at an impasse. Then after an eternally long moment passed, Buggy looked to Alvida as he spoke.

" Help me take my make up off Vida." He said tiredly.

In an instant Alvida and the others all deflated. With her eyes actually welling with tears, Alvida nodded mutely and stepped forward. Buggy shrugged off his ruined blue coat, handing it off wordlessly to Cabaji before he retook his seat at his vanity and pulled out the specially formulated makeup remover wipes he had concocted for himself years ago, all the way back in Orange Town from one of his vanity drawers. Alvida picked up one of the wipes and then gently gripped Buggy's jaw with her other hand, tilting his head up before she started wiping at his face.

" I'll get the bath running boss." Cabaji said quietly before he hastily ducked away into the bathroom.

Mohji took it upon himself to clear up all the plates and trays, taking then out of Buggy's tent and leaving them outside the door to take back to the kitchens later. Richie rumbled softly as he shuffled over to Buggy and tucked his large, lavender maned head under one of the clown's hands. Buggy looked down at the giant lion and obliged him, scratching at Richie's ears and running his fingers through those silken lavender locks.

Soon Alvida was done wiping Buggy's face clean and a somber Cabaji informed him that his bath was ready.

Buggy nodded and pulled the bandana off his head, letting it fall on top if his vanity before he reached further back and undid his bun. His hair fell about his shoulders, tangled and curled, bits of sand falling free and if he looked closer he could see the bits of red flecked in amid the usually lustrous blue. It wasn't his blood, but a remnant of the lives he ended in defense of his home. Many Marines had fallen at Buggy's knife wielding hands.

With a small huff at his own disheveled state, Buggy reached for his hairbrush on his vanity and gave his hair a cursory brush through to get as much of the tangling sorted out as he could. Once he was satisfied, Buggy stood up from his chair and headed for his bathroom. Before he stepped over the threshold he turned to see his crew standing about looking mournful. A sarcastic quip was just at the tip of his tongue when Buggy held it back. He could see how close they all were to losing it entirely, Hell he himself was barely keeping it together.

Instead he gave them a wane smile he hoped didn't look more like a grimace before he turned and stepped into his bathroom. If he heart Alvida's hitched breath before he closed the door, he dared not look back. Once he was alone, Buggy mechanically started to undress himself. He began with his scuffed up curled toed boots and purple socks, then his stained shirt and ripped pants, and then finally his plain white boxers.

As he trudged towards the heavenly looking white tub with attached shower that stood by the far wall that was filled with fluffy white suds, Buggy caught a glimpse of his bare self in the large rectangular mirror above his steel sink. He was whole and without cuts thanks to his Chop Chop Fruit, but he had plenty of scrapes and bruises all over, even a bruise on his cheek that his smeared makeup up and all that soot had hidden.

With a lingering look at himself, Buggy turned away and proceeded the rest of the way towards his tub.

He let out a nearly obscene moan as he climbed into the tub and lowered himself into the near scalding hot water.

Just the way he liked it.

" Bless you Cabaji." Buggy whispered to himself regarding his right hand man who knew him so well.

Buggy allowed himself to just lay there in the hot, soapy water that smelled of lavender, no doubt to ease his mind. Then he was sitting up and reaching for the scrubbing brush hanging on the wrack by the side of the tub. As quickly as he could, Buggy scrubbed every inch of himself to get off any and everything that lingered from the days long battle they had all suffered through.

Once he was done, he reached for the bath plug that was keeping the water gathered. He pulled it free and got up as the soap water started to drain out. He then pulled the curtain around the tub and reached for the shower, turning it on to rinse off the soap from his body and shampoo and condition his long locks.

He stepped out of the tub feeling a thousand times better with having cleaned himself finally, but with a fresh wave of terror flooding his gut as it only made him realize that his time was slowly running out. Buggy wrapped a towel around his head and dried his body with another before wrapping it around his waist and heading back out into his bedroom area.

When he stepped out a small smile came to his lips when he saw the place deserted and the opaque cerulean blue curtain barrier with glittering starts all over it he kept for privacy had been activated to cordon off the area and give him some privacy. He could hear his crew mates on the other side of the curtain milling about, Richie rumbling as Mohji gave him quiet assurances.

Buggy pushed down on the wave of emotions that rose up and threatened to drown him. Instead he focused on preparing himself for the task at hand. He needed to present himself in the best way possible to Mihawk and Crocodile, because the lives of Buggy Town were depending on him and whether his very blood would be accepted.

Buggy made his way back to his vanity and pulled out one of the larger drawers from which he pulled out a special hot air bag that was used for quick hair drying. He gathered all of his long hair with one hand and the tucked it it all into the bag before clicking the button to turn it on. The bag blew up like a little balloon, warm are gently pulsing through his damp locks. While his hair rapidly dried, Buggy padded over to his large black and white harlequin style wardrobe, pulling open it's doors to look over his clothing options. He thanks his lucky starts that despite the days of fiery bombardment, the Marines had not been able to actually get at his personal living tent or Mihawk and Crocodile's shared veritable castle that right next to his tent, attached to the main big top by a big black and red striped tented corridor.

As his eyes gazed over his many ornate and flamboyant garments, Buggy frowned and shook his head. This was not the time for flashiness, he honestly didn't want to wear anything he normally would. He wasn't trying to dazzle anyone or gain attention for his own benefit. He literally could be going to his death as he planned to offer his blood to two starving vampires. With that in mind, Buggy turned to one of the side drawers were he kept his more standard attire.

A few moments later, Buggy's crew mates were all turning to the blue and star-filled curtains as they slowly retracted to reveal Buggy. Alvida almost started crying again and Cabaji and Mohji nearly joined her while Richie mewled unhappily.

The person that stepped out from behind the blue curtains was not The Star Clown, a former warlord turned Emperor of the Seas.

Dressed in a pure white poet shirt with puffy lantern sleeves and a lace up deep v-neck collar and plain black high waist trousers, his lustrous blue hair falling loose around his shoulders and down his back all the way to his waist in soft waves and curls, and not a stitch of makeup on his face, the person that greeted his crew was just Buggy with the big red nose. No pretenses, no need to grab all the attention in the room, just the man behind all the myth and bravado.

From Alvida all the way to Richie, they all absolutely hated the sight of Buggy like this. Despite being nearly 6 feet and 4 inches, he looked so small and meek compared to the towering heights he could reach, especially with his red balloon outfit that had him looking gigantic in front of their many followers back when they were still Buggy's Delivery Service. Demure was never a word they would ever associate with Buggy the Genius Jester and yet as he stepped forward with his feet clad in a pair of plain charcoal grey slippers they could never even guess that he'd ever own, he looked utterly diaphanous, painfully young, and resigned to his fate.

Fitting of a sacrifice if Buggy's really thought about it. A sacrifice to two starving, fanged immortals so that no one else had to end up their meals in the aftermath of the crisis they had barely lived through.

The little blue haired, red nosed lamb to slaughter.

Buggy gazed over his crew, feeling a sharp lance of pain go through his heart when he saw how quietly upset they all were. He himself wanted to just run, go hide up in the mountains until this whole thing blew over. But there was no outrunning this, no waking up like it was only a nightmare. The two men who had kept them from utter destruction were now the ones that were in dire need.

Buggy smiled as best he could and did a little twirl for his crew.

" Well what say you? Do I look good enough to eat?" He asked, his smile growing a bit less brittle at the collective groan that passed through his crew at his deliberately poor choice of words.

A few minutes later Buggy was leading a sort of procession out of his tent. Alvida and Cabaji walked a step behind him while Mohji and Richie brought up the rear. They were a silent, somber lot as they made their way up the multicolored tent corridor that connected Buggy's living quarters to the main big top.

They emerged out into the big empty tent, a large beam of light shining in through the half sealed hole in the roof. Sterling his resolve, Buggy turned to the left and started walking towards the second corridor that was attached to the empty big top arena.

As Buggy and his group drew nearer they caught sight of two figures standing at the mouth of the corridor. One was a hulking towering man wearing grey pants, a white sash around his waist and a sleeveless black long coat with a yellow boarder. His pale grey hair cropped close to his head.

Daz Bonez, Crocodile's right hand man and wielder of the Dice Dice Fruit.

The other figure was a way shorter, gangly bespectacled man with his string black hair done up in an updo in the shape of the number 3.

Galdino, Crocodile's left hand man and wielder of the Wax Wax Fruit.

While Daz stood stationary with his face forever stoic, Galdino was hopping on the balls of his feet and gesticulating furiously as he spoke rapidly. As Buggy and his crew came upon the pair, they caught Galdino's words.

"...They are refusing to come out of their quarters and won't answer any den den calls! They don't want to put any of us at risk because they're literally just hours away from going feral or wasting away! What the fuck are we gonna do Daz?!" Galdino all but shrieked.

Daz was just about to speak when he noticed Buggy and his group arriving. With his pale eyes as cold as ever, the wielder of the Dice Dice fruit turned to face Buggy directly.

" What brings you here at this hour Chairman Buggy?" He asked flatly as his eyes bore into the blue haired Yonko.

" Hello Daz, Galdino. We just wanted to check in on Mihawk and Crocodile, see how they are doing?" Buggy asked quietly, meeting the former assassin's pale gaze head on. After a beat, Daz spoke.

" Dire." He answered flatly, but Buggy caught that one, fleeting moment where those cold, pale grey eyes actually had open despair flash through them before stoicism retook them.

His one word answer was like the flood gates opening for Galdino as the loan shark proceeded to spill everything from how Mihawk and Crocodile were both utterly exhausted from the continuous battling against the Marines, to their outright refusal to ask for blood donations from the people, that all priority was to go to the hospital tent and all the injured souls currently housed within it getting treated by Dr. Jungo and her battered but determined staff, all the way to actually refusing to take even a chicken, cow, or hog when such an animal was better served feeding the denizens of Buggy town during this difficult time. Of course Crocodile refused to touch any of his fruitwanis, as did Mihawk on principal. Daz and Galdino couldn't themselves help because of their Devil Fruits. One they wouldn't be able to bite through because he would literally turn to steel, the other they wouldn't want to because his blood would basically turn to wax. No nutritional value to be found with either man.

" They won't touch any of the animals in the petting zoos or those with the circus either." Galdino explained before he turned to Mohji.

" Before he and Sir Crocodile locked themselves into their quarters, Mihawk wanted me to pass on his most sincere apologies to Richie if he ever made him uncomfortable by staring at him too long. The hunger was starting to get to him by then unfortunately." Galdino said sadly.

Mohji brought a shaky hand to his mouth as his eyes filled with tears, Richie mewling morosely beside him.

" Are you saying Crocodile and Mihawk have basically holed themselves up in their place to die?" Alvida asked fearfully, not wanting to believe this was so.

" Yes, or the exact opposite is gonna happen and once their hunger reaches the point of no return, they will go feral and break out, and a vampire starved to that point of madness can't be stopped by anything other than death. We'd be facing two such vampires and they are both some of the strongest fighters in this entire world on top of that. It would be a slaughter." Daz said ominously.

" So either they are gonna wither away or they will go on a rampage we have no way of stopping and they will end up killing the same people they fought so hard to save?" Mohji asked in quiet horror.

Daz was stoic but Galdino had no problem tearing up and nodding mutely, confirming the worst. It left Buggy's crew mates all stunned and torn. Here they were basically escorting their captain to what would most likely be his death, when those who would end up killing him by draining him dry of his life's blood had retreated to avoid bringing anyone such a fate. This was a clusterfuck of the highest order, the actual no win situation, not the seemingly endless waves of Marines they had ended up successfully driving off, but this, their best like of defense being unable to recover and replenish because they had lost their food source and refused to take advantage of those still living. Buggy felt his entire body go numb at the thought of his two 'lieutenants' just wasting away behind closed doors after they literally saved Karai Bari Island and Buggy Town from complete destruction. No, no Buggy was not going to let that happen as determination drove away the numbness.

" Well if that is the case, I sure as hell am not going to let that fucking happen." Buggy said firmly.

" With all due respect Chairman Buggy, where are you even gonna find a blood bank at this hour, everything got blown to bits!" Galdino asked forlornly.

" I am not gonna find a blood bank, I am gonna be the bank my own damn self." Buggy declared as he crossed his arms and gazed defiantly between Daz and Galdino.

There was a beat of stunned silence and then Galdino simply lost his fucking shit. This in turn had Alvida and Cabaji losing their own tempers and arguing with the spindly Wax Wax user. Mohji just cried silently while Richie bound about around the arguing trio, mewling and chuffing, trying to regain some level of order.

" They'll fucking ravage you if you do this Captain!" Cabaji yelled, Alvida nodding with him.

" Or they'll ravage all of you and what's left of this whole island and every soul they saved if I don't do this." Buggy countered before he crossed his arms and looked ahead, doing his best to ignore his frantic crew mates buzzing about him.

Buggy and Daz stood perfectly still then, facing off against each other while Alvida, Cabaji, Hoji, and Galdino continued trying to reason with the blue haired Yonko. Richie just whined unhappily, feeling utterly helpless and wanting a whole rump roast just to drown his sorrows. Buggy looked up at Daz with his pale blue eyes hard with determination rather than tears of fear as they usual were whenever it concerned Mihawk and Crocodile. Daz looked down at the red-nosed figurehead of Cross Guild and felt something inside him shift.

The clown was being rather uncharacteristically brave, Daz'd give him that.

Daz's patience with all the caterwauling going on around him was at an end as with a deep breath, he spoke.

" ENOUGH!" He yelled, his deep voice echoing through the entire empty big top tent and maybe even up to the heavens through the partially repaired hole that still remained in the ceiling.

All at once everyone fell silent, Richie actually laying down on his front and flattening his ears against his lavender head in deference as Daz spoke.

" It's clear that Chairman Buggy had made up his mind, that he's going to offer his blood to the Sir and Hawk-Eye. He's a grown man and our Chairman, we have to respect his decision no matter how much we wish none of this was even happening." He said firmly before he stepped aside and cleared the path for Buggy to go to the mouth of the darkened corridor.

Buggy did his best not to sag in relief, he then turned to his deeply upset crew and wordlessly held out his arms. He was immediately surrounded in warmth as they all rushed to him at once.

" You better come back out of there Buggy, we're not gonna accept anything less you understand?" Alvida said as she squeezed him hard around his shoulders.

" I'll try Alvida, those two might not even open the door for me at all for all we know." Buggy said with a sigh.

Alvida nodded before forcing herself to let go, Cabaji immediately taking her place.

" Captain Buggy I-I..." Cabaji began only to trail off his a soft sob. What could he possibly say to the captain he owed everything to?

" I know Cabaji. I know man." Buggy said as he gave his right hand man's back a couple of firm slaps before they pulled away from each other.

Buggy and Mohji shared a quick hug, the furry topped man just utterly heartbroken at having to say goodbye to his captain.

Buggy then turned to Richie, who's eyes were welling.

" You be good Richie. It's gonna be okay boy." Buggy said with his throat tightening up before he leaned over and hugged the lavender lion.

Richie let out a low mewl and hung his head completely, Mohji, Cabaji, and Alvida all coming up around him, both to console the giant lion and maybe console themselves as Buggy finally stepped away from them and walked past a still stoic Daz and a silently weeping Galdino.

Galdino reached out and shook Buggy's hand between his own, quiet sobs wracking his thin frame. Buggy then turned to Daz, a silent look passing between them. The tall former assassin had the barest flash of warmth passing over his pale grey eyes before they grew cold once more as he nodded wordlessly to Buggy and red nosed Chairman of Cross Guild nodded back, knowing he had earned maybe a small modicum of respect from the blade conjurer. Taking a deep, steadying breath Buggy turned to finally face the darkened, gaping maw that led into the corridor to Mihawk and Crocodile's shared residence.

His heart pounded against his sternum like a drum and his blood roared in his ears with each step as he crossed the distance. Soon he was standing at the threshold. He turned back and raised his hand to give his crew a final wave and the best smile he could muster as the backs of his eyes burned. They waved back at him and didn't bother to hide their tears, Richie letting out a low, mournful call in goodbye. Then hardening his heart, Buggy turned and stepped over the threshold. He walked into the darkness with his head held high until he disappeared from their sight entirely.

As he made his way up the corridor, Buggy was glad to see that the passageway was not actually completely submerged in darkness as a golden glow up ahead caught his eye. As he drew closer he saw that several ornate brass lanterns were hanging on both sides of the corridor, light coming in through the pale amber glass panels and providing some much needed illumination up the rest of the corridor. Deciding not to delay, Buggy picked up the pace as he made his way to the private residence of his two vampiric lieutenants.

Inevitably Buggy was soon reaching the end of the corridor, where stood this behemoth pair of doors within a great charcoal black stone facade. The doors were towering, no doubt to accommodate a man of Crocodile tremendous height. Made of wrought iron with a beautiful brass filigree overlay and wicked looking brass spikes all around the inner border of each. At the center of each door was a great brass knocker, one shaped like a snarling bananawani with it's tail curled, the other a shrieking hawk with it's wings spread, both accurate reflections of the mini fortress' residents and further adding to the ominous vibe of the place.

Taking a deep, steadying break Buggy raised his hands and detached then from his wrists with a soft pop. His hands floated up to the two door knockers and grasped the heavy brass rings that hung from each. With his heart pounding anew, Buggy lifted both rings and then sharply pushed them back down, a pair of loud bangs echoing through him and the entire corridor as he finally signaled his presence.

Now he had to wait.

The moments dragged on eternally long, Buggy both grateful and not for this. Then with a jolt going through him, Buggy stood up straighter as he heard the metallic click of locks being undone. The next instant both doors were rapidly swinging away to reveal the hulking figure on the other side.

" I told you not to come back here Da- ah it's you." Crocodile stated as he stepped forward, expecting Daz Bonez but finding D. Clown waiting for him on the other side.

Buggy barely kept his jaw from hitting the floor as he finally beheld Sir Crocodile.

Instead of the imposing former Warlord of the Sea who was always well put together and pristine in his attire, Crocodile stood before him dressed in a rumpled black button up shirt and gray pants that actually had burns and blood spatter along the long lengths of his legs. The signature large golden hook that adorned his left hand was in a similar state, scuffed up and covered in soot and deep stains that were no doubt the blood of many of the enemies he had personally felled. His other hand which was whole, was bare of it's four jeweled rings. His dark purple hair, usually slicked back and neat was unkempt and actually sticking up a little on the right side, indication that Crocodile had been constantly running his good hand through his hair in both frustration and worry.

His usually vibrant caramel complexion had turned ashen gray, his skin drawn and his facial scars standing out whiter and mildly puckered at the edges. There was a slight hollowness to his cheeks. It was Crocodile's eyes through, that were the most distressing.

Those almost always glowing saffron orange eyes were now dimmed and lacking life, sunken deep into his head with bags under them. He still had one of his signature cigars clenched between his teeth, but the thing was nearly at the stub and bitten almost all the way through, no doubt from Crocodile rolling it between his teeth and fraying it in his private anxiety. Despite all of that, there was still an exquisite quality that remained to the sky-scraping man that made Buggy's heart ache for him.

" Good God man, you look like absolute shit." Buggy blurted out before he could stop himself.

The moment his own words registered to him, Buggy let out a mortified squawk and clamped a hand over his mouth, looking up at Crocodile with wide eyes and wondering if he was going to be absolutely obliterated right then and there before he could even explain why the Hell he was even there to see the powerful vampire duo at all.

"Heh heh heh heh heh."

Buggy looked up sharply as his ears caught that distinct laugh. He felt a jolt go through him when he saw that Crocodile was smiling wide despite how awful he looked.

" If you think I look shitty, wait till you get a good look at Hawk-Eye. I been married to him for nearly four hundred years and I barely recognize him heh heh." Crocodile quipped lightly, his voice a pale and raspy version of his usual rich baritone.

" Four hundred years? Holy fuck!" Buggy said in quiet astonishment.

Crocodile huffed, amused by the blue haired man's wonder, but soon he was sobering as he pinned Buggy with his dimmed saffron eyes and spoke.

" Why are you here clown?" Crocodile asked with all seriousness.

Buggy did his best not to whither under that scrutinizing gaze.

" I just… I wanted to see how you guys were doing and maybe… ah that is I… I wanted to run something by you both." Buggy said quietly, keeping his hands clenched at his sides to keep them from fidgeting around nervously.

Crocodile stared at Buggy for a long beat before he wordlessly stepped aside and cleared the path into his and Mihawk's fortress abode. Once again not really believing that this was actually happening, Buggy willed his feet to move, one in front of the other as he stepped over the threshold and into Crocodile and Mihawk's residence.

Buggy could surmise that he had stepped through into the living room area, but with how sweeping the ceilings were and how dim the lights had been set, it may as well have been a cavern.

Buggy could make out furniture pieces that were a mix of both opulent and large baroque style works and slight smaller austere gothic designs. A combination of the styles of the fortress' occupants. The moonlight that streamed in through the windows did little to assuage the murky darkness that had befallen the place.

There was an oppressive despair that seemed to cling to the very air, death itself like a hungry black dog stalking the shadowy corners, waiting.

At the sound of feet behind him, Buggy turned to find Crocodile fully towering over him. The sand wielder had gotten rid of the dead cigar he'd been chewing on but he looked even worse in the shadows of the room than he had in the dim amber light at the door.

They regarded each other for a moment before Buggy finally spoke.

" It's really dark in here, is the light hurting your eyes?" He asked quietly.

Crocodile blinked a moment before he seemed to deflate and nodded as he moved to explain.

" Yeah, it's gotten worse as they days went on. We also stayed out in the sun for too long and it weakened us further. I am pretty sure we'll be dust if the sun's light touches us tomorrow. Our resistance to light is completely shot at this point." He rumbled quietly in resignation before he stood to full height and pinned Buggy with a serious look.

" I specifically instructed Daz to guard the entrance to our corridor and not let a single soul through from this point on, so whatever this idea you wanted to run by me and Mihawk is, it must have been something impressive enough for my right hand man to let you through to knock at our door. So tell me Chairman, what are you proposing?" Crocodile asked lightly, his voice growing even more raspier as his dimmed orange eyes bore down on the blue haired Yonko standing before him, looking anything but his usual flashy self.

He didn't think the clown capable of looking so demure, and he didn't even have a stitch of make up his pale face to boot. After a beat, Buggy gathered himself and spoke.

" Me and the crew we ah, we came up on Galdino arguing with Daz about what's been going on with you and Hawk-Eye. Galdino told us about how you guys have refused to even touch a single livestock animal or ask Dr. Jongo for help. You guys just holed up in here to keep the town safe while your time ran out. Daz told us you would either wither away or go rabid and need to be put down. I just wanted to tell you that it doesn't have to be this way. I-I am presenting you and Mihawk with another option for the blood you need."

Buggy's voice wavered slightly at the end of his words, as the sheer gravity of the situation was dawning on him. This was not just an offer of sustenance, this was life or death.

" Oh and what option is that?" Crocodile asked as he tilted his head back, totally unimpressed.

Letting out a shaky breath, Buggy reached up and pulled all of his hair away, revealing the slender column of his pale neck to the starving behemoth vampire. Buggy felt this eerie sense of peace wash over him as he gazed up at Crocodile with his pale blue eyes steady and unwavering as he spoke.

" Drink." He said firmly as he tilted his head to the side and showed even more of his neck to the towering vampire.

Buggy hadn't screamed this single word out, but it seemed to echo through the whole of the cavernous living room area regardless. Crocodile's eyes actually widened, his jaw hanging slack, because out of everything he had expected to come out of the blue haired clown's mouth, this offer of his own life's blood had never once entered his mind. Before either Crocodile could respond or Buggy could say anything further, a distinct chill fell over the entire fortress. There was a frigid, minuscule gust of air behind Buggy that caused him to shiver and then it felt like his heart dropped all the way down to his toes when his instincts told him there was something behind him, something dark and enraged. Buggy had enough time to whirl around and see a pair of glowing, otherworldly yellow eyes gazing down at him balefully before his was summarily seized by the front of his thin shirt and nearly yanked completely off his feet.

" Ah!" Buggy yelled as he all but hurtled through the air for several seconds before all the air was being knocked out of his lungs completely as his back impacted with the cold stone wall.

When the stars cleared from his eyes, Buggy inhaled sharply as he found himself face to face with none other than Dracule Mihawk, former warlord and the World's Greatest Swordsman. Only this was a version of Mihawk Buggy and no doubt the rest of the planet as a whole had never seen before.

Gone was the stoic and always immaculately put together swordsman, the reserved and pale titan that no one dared approach unless absolutely necessary and even then it too no small amount of nerve. Dangerous and alluring to the point of being otherworldly. Instead, the version of Mihawk Buggy was bearing witness to now was something straight out of the very beating heart of Hell itself.

Mihawk's face, already naturally angular had lost whatever softness it had, his cheeks sunken nearly all the way in, his lips thin and chapped over a snarling mouth from which his two upper canine incisors were already extended into wicked looking fangs. His skin was pallid and though he were made of fine chalk, nearly translucent with dark black spider veins along one of his caved in cheeks and down his neck. His normally spiky, elegant hair hung limp and plastered about his head, having lost all luster over the course of the four day battle that had raged. He didn't even have a shirt on, nor did his cross dagger necklace hang from his chest, showcasing his ghostly, slightly emaciated upper body that had even more dark veins lacing over his pecs and down the sides of his rib cage. His usually pristine lavender pants were dust covered and blood spattered. His boots were gone and he only had one black sock covering his right foot But it was Mihawk's eyes though, that were the most distressing.

They were glowing yellow, but there was no vibrancy from that ever present spark of humanity that being a vampire had never ever snuffed out. There was only hunger and rage. They were empty of everything else and sunken into his head just like Crocodile's, more ghoulish dark veins fanning out around them.

Mihawk looked absolutely horrendous in his own right, and yet even as he found himself at the mercy of the near feral vampire, Buggy felt another ache go through his heart for the man, still seeing the beautiful and proud swordsman beneath the untamed fury.

" M-Mihawk I-" Buggy began to stutter out only for Mihawk to snarl and glare at him balefully as he pressed the blue haired man further up against the wall as he spoke.

" Drink you said? Just drink from you like you are nothing but a freshly opened bottle of wine? Is that it Chairman?" Mihawk growled out through gritted teeth before he got right in Buggy's face.

" What kind of fools do you take me and my husband for clown? We are at our most vulnerable and weak, and here you come offering us salvation out of the goodness of your heart? What poisons did you lace yourself with from that fancy little laboratory of yours before you came here? What lies did you spew to Daz for him to let you through? We fought for four straight days to give you and the rest of the people on this island a chance, and yet here you are ready to squander your life like this? How dare you!" Mihawk spat, sounding and looking completely unhinged.

" Mihawk no, no that's not it at all! I swear to you! I haven't done anything! I haven't taken anything, I just ate some dinner before I came here, that's all! My blood is totally clean I swear to you!" Buggy said desperately as he felt his eyes start to well and he reached up to grab onto Mihawk's hand that was still gathered in his shirt.

Mihawk felt a jolt go through him as his acute vampiric hearing caught that while Buggy's heart was pounding furiously inside his chest, the beat was still steady and unwavering.

" You're telling the truth." Mihawk said rather than asked, the revelation making something inside Mihawk unclench just a fraction.

Before either Buggy or Mihawk could say anything further, a soft groan had then both turning in time to see Crocodile slowly sink to his knees, his great body swaying dangerously as he used his golden hooked hand to barely keep himself upright.

" Husband!" Mihawk yelled as he immediately released Buggy and sprinted across the darkened room, crashing to his knees beside Crocodile and taking the weakening man's even paler face into his hands.

" Crocodile stay with me! Feed from me again husband, take the very last drop from me if you have to but please, stay with me!" Mihawk urged with unashamed desperation as Crocodile reached up with his right hand to wrap it around his pale mate's shoulders and hold him. They leaned into each other as though pulled by magnets, their foreheads pressing together. They both shuddered in fresh, shared pain.

From where he stood leaning heavily against the wall to keep himself upright, Buggy felt a deep shudder through his own body as he watched the tender but absolutely gut-wrenching sight of the two vampire mates desperately clinging onto each other and to life itself.

Daz's earlier ominous words about the possible fates that awaited Mihawk and Crocodile came rushing back to Buggy, only reality was proving to be far worse. Instead of just one of those terrible outcomes, both were happening in tandem. Crocodile was rapidly wasting away while Mihawk was gonna be a feral irrepressible fiend within the hour.

With his own eyes welling, Buggy pushed himself away from the stone wall and rushed to the two distressed vampires. Crocodile looked up at his approach with saffron eyes that were nearly extinguished of their life, while Mihawk jerked around sharply and growled menacingly, his golden eyes flaring dangerously.

" Get away from us Buggy! Just leave now before it's too late!" Mihawk gritted out as more black veins snaked out from under his eyes.

" No. It's already too late." Buggy said in reply as he came to kneel before he reached for the laces that were holding the front of his shirt together. With a firm yank, Buggy ripped them all out and pulled his thin shirt away to expose his pale shoulders. He pushed the hair back to reveal his neck in full before he looked at the two starving vampire before him and spoke.

" Drink from me damn it!" He yelled as the tears finally broke free and started carving trails down his pale cheeks that glittered like diamonds in the moonlight streaming in from outside.

" Buggy why the fuck are you doing this?" Crocodile rasped out.

" Yes Buggy why? We are both at a point where we won't be able to control our thirst! It's not if we run the risk of draining you dry, we will drain you completely!" Mihawk growled out in warning.

" I don't care, take it all from me if it means the both of you will live!" Buggy shot back in frustration.

" Why Buggy? Why the fuck are you even willing to do any of this when we are nothing but the monsters who've hurt you right from the start?!" Mihawk roared.

" BECAUSE I FUCKING FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BOTH OF YOU ANYWAY DAMN IT! I LOVE YOU ANYWAY YOU GODDAMN ASSHOLES!" Buggy roared back before he broke down completely into helpless sobs.

Mihawk and Crocodile both sat utterly stunned. Out of any possible answer they expected from their would be rescuer, his completely truthful and pure declaration of love for them both was definitely not it. Before either of them could even think of trying to respond to Buggy's startling revelation, the blue haired man lashed out and hooked his hand around the back of Crocodile's wide neck, pulling the starving vampire to him, tucking his greyed and scarred up face into his neck.

" Croco please just drink! I'll be alright but I need you to take what I am giving you!" Buggy urged before he turned his tearful pale blue eyes to a still stunned Mihawk.

Once more he reached out, hooking his arm around Mihawk's neck and pulling the severaly weakened vampire to him, tucking his sunken face in against the pale column of his neck.

" Dracule just do it, drink from me please!" Buggy whispered desperately.

As one, Crocodile and Mihawk seemed to almost sag against Buggy, the painfully beautiful scent of lavender and the promise of laughter and heaven itself filling their nostrils and lulling their every sense.

" Hurry please, both of you! You saved all of us so I have to save you. We won because the both of you kept fighting, even when it led you to the state you're both in now. Even with how hungry you guys are, you refused to come out, you refused to hurt any of us, Hell you refused to even share a fucking chicken because you wanted our people to eat instead! I can't let those fucking Marine assholes end up winning anyway. We can't loss the both of you! I know you both belong to each other only but I just... I can't be in a world without the both of you in it!" Buggy sobbed.

" I am giving you both my blood of my own free will, take every last drop if you have to but please drink from me and live damn it! Just fucking live and don't leave me! Please don't leave me!" He all but wailed.

Buggy's desperate pleas were what made the final chains on Mihawk and Crocodiles threadbare control finally snap. With a pair of twin growls, Crocodile and Mihawk finally parted their lips and extended their fangs fully.

Buggy's loud scream ended in a breathy groan as two sets of fangs sank into the sides of his neck, puncturing the pale sing and plunging into his jugular veins. It was like needles going into his skin, the pinprick sensation of a doctor's need but slightly larger. One moment there was agony, and then the next moment the pain was gone but Buggy could feel the hot, thick liquid spurt out of both sides of his neck and into Mihawk and Crocodile's frigid mouths. With a full body shudder, Buggy just focused on hanging on to the two immortals he loved.

Buggy distantly heard a pair of throaty groans, but his own eyes were fluttering shut as this great deluge of white hot pleasure crashed over him like an ocean wave. The rest of the world faded, there was only them, the three of them together in one of the most intimate ways people could be together. Willingly giving life, and gratefully taking it. A blissful grin spread across Buggy's face as he lost himself in the unexpected sensations and let his eyes flutter shut. He knew nothing more after that, there was only Mihawk and Crocodile.

Hot and rich, tangy and bold. The perfect balance of salty and sweet, thick and so good it was almost excruciating to swallow that first mouthful down. That was the feeling Mihawk and Crocodile shared as Buggy's fresh blood filled their mouths and hit their completely parched tongues. Whatever preconceived notions the had about the quality of Buggy D. Clown's blood were shattered within seconds of tasting it. No rancid, awful liquid to choke down, instead it was this heavenly nectar only rivaled by the taste of each others' blood as bonded mates.

The next swallow sent another fiery bolt through both vampires, who unconsciously pushed Buggy backwards, their willing blue haired provider gently falling onto his back while they loomed over him, Mihawk's slighter body partially tucked under Crocodile's more massive and wider frame. Buggy let out a wanton moan and writhed under the two vampires he still had his arms around. Said vampires still had enough presence of mind to not crush him under them completely. Buggy's toes curled up tightly inside the plain gray slippers he was wearing as his entire being quivered in ecstasy.

At the third instance when Mihawk and Crocodile's mouths filled with Buggy's ample arterial blood, something entirely unexpected happened. The moment they swallowed down the third mouthful, Mihawk and Crocodile's eyes flew open as a sizzling bolt of lightening seemed to strike them both, electrifying their every nerve ending. They broke away from Buggy's neck with a shared gasp and collapsed on the carpeted floor on either side of the dazed blue haired man.

Buggy came out of his own haze, his eyes fluttering open at the loss of Mihawk and Crocodile and widening when he saw that they were both laying beside him, their eyes wide and their entire bodies held unnaturally rigid, as though a live current were passing through them both.

Buggy tried to move, tried to get to Mihawk and Crocodile to help them with whatever was wrong but his body was totally leaden. He could do nothing more than turn his head and feel the two sides of his neck bleed lazily from the pairs of puncture wounds that adorned them.

Then Mihawk was suddenly rolling onto his back and arching up magnificently. A glance to his side told Buggy that Crocodile was in the same pose, laying there arched up and taught. Their bloodstained mouths were open wide in silent roars, their fangs gleaming white and red in the dim light.

Buggy watched as the fullness rapidly returned to both Mihawk and Crocodile's faces, the wicked black veins all over the swordsman's face and body receding completely while the glow returned to full brilliance in Crocodile's saffron orange eyes. The gray tone melted away from his skin, leaving it a healthy caramel hue once more. Mihawk's own skin lost it's chalkiness and become a fair alabaster tone. The luster returned to both their hair, leaving the locks looking a glossy purple for Crocodile and a shining ebony for Mihawk.

The next moment, Mihawk and Crocodile were both gasping again, each with a hand flying to the center of their chests. They looked down at their chests in incomprehension, as though something deeply profound had happened internally that rocked the centuries old vampire mates to their very cores. Then they were arching back up fully with twin groans as the rest of the rapid regeneration of their bodies continued.

After what seemed an eternity they fell back to the carpeted floor gasping for air and fully restored. There was no more sunken or sallow quality to either of them, no emaciation or rage. They were whole again but just as quickly Mihawk and Crocodile were shaking off their shared daze and rolling over to see a barely conscious Buggy laying between them with his blood staining the carpet beneath him and getting into his light blue hair where it was fanned out about his head.

Mihawk immediately crawled over to Buggy as fast as he could, gathering the bleeding blue haired man into his arms. Without wasting a beat, the yellow eyed vampire leaned in and swiped his tongue across the puncture wounds on either side of Buggy's neck. Much to his and Crocodile's relief, they watched as both sets of wounds smoothly closed up and healed within a matter of seconds.

Vampire saliva had very potent healing properties, especially on their own bites, and it was yet another indication that Mihawk and Crocodile had been fully rejuvenated, the former's ability working without fail.

Buggy's pure blue eyes which had glazed over from the rapid loss of blood smoothly cleared up as faculties returned to him.

" Oh!" Buggy exclaimed as he sat up on his own, Mihawk immediately letting him go and feeling bereft and cold at the loss, though he kept his expression neutral as he spoke.

" It's alright now Buggy." He said quietly.

Buggy looked between Mihawk and Crocodile, taking in the two vampires that had just taken blood from him.

" You guys... You guys look like yourselves again. My blood worked?" He asked shakily.

" Yeah it did." Crocodile said before with a bright grin he dissolved his face into a swirl of golden sand and sent a tendril to swirl around Mihawk's face as well. When Crocodile re-materialized his head and withdrew the sand from his mate, their faces were clean of Buggy's lingering blood.

Crocodile then raised his hand, which dissolved into sand and swirled over to Buggy, wafting around him, all over his face and into his hair. When the sand retreated, Buggy's bloodied neck and blue hair were clean. His shirt was unfortunately a lost cause as it barely hung onto him at this point. Buggy reached up and touched the sides of his neck, finding everything to be whole and no longer tacky with his own blood. He let out a silvery, breathless laugh as turned sparkling pale blue eyes onto Crocodile and Mihawk. The moment they heard that heavenly sound it was like all the air got sucked out of the cavernous room around them.

With his pale neck pristine and all of him almost glowing ethereally in the moon light and reflecting off of his long, wavy blue hair, at that moment Buggy D. Clown looked like a vision straight out of a dream to the two vampires he had just saved.

There had been a startling revelation regarding just what this red nosed young man was meant to be to them, but the topic would have to wait as a new kind of hunger filled Mihawk and Crocodile.

Buggy's sharp cry lanced through the air as with inhuman speed, Mihawk and Crocodile both crowded Buggy onto his back and loomed over him. Buggy lay frozen, staring up at the two vampires with wide, unsure eyes and his breath stuttering in his chest.

" I should go." Buggy blurted out shakily, making Mihawk and Crocodile both frown.

" Do you really want to leave us after you begged us not to leave you Buggy?" Crocodile asked in challenge as he actually used Buggy's name.

Buggy felt his face heat up as he remembered his own desperate pleas before Mihawk and Crocodile had finally sunk their fangs into him.

" N-No." Buggy said shyly as he looked up at Mihawk and Crocodile's vibrantly glowing eyes.

He inhaled sharply as Mihawk leaned down till his face was mere inches from his own as he spoke with still bloodstained lips.

" Then stay with us Buggy, understand that we don't want you to leave us either, not after all this." The Swordsman said with unheard of gentleness in his words and his yellow eyes actually softening for a moment as he gazed into astonished pale blue eyes.

Then without another word, Mihawk leaned down and sealed his mouth over Buggy's in a deep kiss. Buggy's eyes grew wide as his brain processed what was happening.

Mihawk was kissing him. Dracule Mihawk was kissing him with unheard of gentleness right in front of his husband of four hundred fucking years! Buggy was about to try and push Mihawk away when his eyes caught those glowing saffron orbs staring back at him filled with warm amusement.

" C'mon Genius Jester, get with a program and kiss him back already, I am next after all." Crocodile rumbled with one of his signature chuckles.

Buggy's entire body shuddered at Crocodile's words as with a broken sound from the back of his throat, the blue haired Yonko raised his arms and wrapped them around Mihawk's neck and shoulders as he finally kissed him back fervently, utterly surrendering himself to the yellow eyed vampire. Mihawk hummed in approval against Buggy's lips as the blue haired man finally began to respond to him, with a great deal of enthusiasm. It was a different, yet no less sweet taste of the rather extraordinary man who had risked everything to save him and his husband from certain death.

It was absolutely glorious.

Crocodile watched on, his husband and their savior both seeming to glow beatifically together in the moonlight. Pale skin, dark hair, blue hair, soft lips, and rippling muscles, Buggy's hands tentative, Mihawk's touch gentle and reassuring. They painted breathtaking picture for Crocodile, who's entire body felt like it was buzzing in relief, joy, and the thrill life itself after death's cloying blackness had nearly consumed everything.

Without breaking the kiss, Mihawk pulled Buggy up into his arms and then promptly whirled around and deposited the blue haired Yonko into the waiting arms of his husband.

Mihawk and Buggy broke apart with a sharp gasp from the blue haired man, but he barely had time to process it before he was face to face with a smirking Crocodile.

" My turn." The former warlord said huskily before he was capturing Buggy's slightly reddened lips with his own in another deep, probing kiss.

Buggy instinctively wrapped his arms around Crocodile's neck, his shoulders far too wide for him without having to separate his arms into sections with his chop chop abilities. Buggy's knees were wide and barely bracketing the giant man's sides as they kissed. Crocodile splayed his large hand over Buggy's back, enjoying the feel of the clown's soft blue hair against his palm while he wrapped the arm his hook was attached to securely around the Yonko's trim waist. Crocodile could see why Mihawk made such soft groans of pleasure as he had enjoyed his own kiss with Buggy.

That mouth was quite surprisingly talented.

When they broke apart several long and pleasurable moments later, Buggy's pupils were blown wide and Crocodile was breathing hard, his saffron eyes glowing even brighter in interest. From where he sat relaxed and relieved, Mihawk watched the interaction between his husband and their unlikely savior with his own yellow eyes glowing golden and a fire building in his belly.

The way his body was feeling was indescribable. Before he was burning with the claws of death ripping through his veins. Now the blood that he had taken into himself was equal parts a soothing balm to the pain, but a lightning bolt sparking his desire. As he saw how Crocodile seemed like he was trying to devour Buggy whole, Mihawk had no doubt that his husband felt the same.

It was gratitude yes, but what they now felt for Buggy D. Clown ran far deeper than that. Before Mihawk could dwell on it any further, Buggy and Crocodile were finally breaking apart with a gasp.

Buggy sucked in huge lungfuls of air like he had run a marathon, Crocodile doing no such thing with his greater lung capacity. He had kissed the younger man breathless and looked wickedly pleased with this before he tucked his head under Buggy's chin and started kissed and nipping at his throat.

Mihawk didn't even bother to hide the sigh that escaped him as he beheld the vision before him. If he had thought Crocodile and Buggy wrapped in each others arms as they shared their first kiss had been a heavenly vision, the sight before him now would be forever ingrained into his immortal heart.

Buggy gasped, his back arching magnificently and his long, luxurious hair fell down his back in a beautiful cerulean cascade as Crocodile kissed and mouthed at his throat, the moonlight bathing them both.

Even as he continued his ministrations on Buggy's soft, wonderful neck, Crocodile turned his eyes to Mihawk, sending his mate a wink that had the other vampire nodding in understanding.

The next moment Buggy was letting out a loud yelp as he was whirled through the air and found himself safe in the arms of an amused Mihawk who had him in a bridal carry with ease. Buggy felt his face heat up as he found that his arms had instinctively wrapped around Mihawk's neck, the golden eyes vampire actually leaning into his touch.

" Wha-What's happening?" Buggy asked nervously as he looked between the two vampire mates.

" Relax Buggy, everything is totally fine, we just thought it best to move this out of our living room to some place far more comfortable." Mihawk said vaguely before he promptly turned and started walking further into the fortress, Crocodile falling in step beside him.

As they walked, Buggy's eyes went all over, noting more tasteful furniture and opulent fixtures that was situated about the fortress. The living room gave way to a den area but Buggy really couldn't make much else out in the darkness as they passed. They walked towards the very back of the fortress structure to a place that was completely cordoned off with thick, red and gold curtains artfully draped and providing plenty of privacy. Crocodile stepped past Mihawk and Buggy, reaching out and pulling the curtains apart on one side before stepping back and clearing the path for his mate and their late night guest.

Mihawk walked forward, Buggy's eyes wide as he was held securely in his arms. The realization of where Mihawk and Crocodile had brought him sent a fresh jolt of shock through Buggy.

Their bedroom. The most intimate and private place shared by them. The place where no one else had ever ventured for as long as they had lived here on Karai Bari Island.

Crocodile almost seemed to glide past them again as he went over to far wall and flipped one of the switches situated there.

" Oh my..." Buggy whispered as the room was bathed in a soft golden light. His eyes darted every which way, taking in the space he never thought he would ever set eyes on in even in his wildest imagination.

The light filling the room came from a dozen of these exquisite teardrop shaped hanging lanterns made of gleaming brass and mercury.

There were plush looking chairs strewn about the room, both in the baroque and gothic styles sporting green and red upholstery respectively. Along the other wall stood a pair of large dressers standing side by side. One was this striking dark green baroque style number with gilded accents, while the other was a slightly smaller, black gothic neoclassical style number with ornate carving but still far more demure than it's companion. Crocodile and Mihawk's respective armoirs.

It was the center of the room that was by far the most eye catching. There stood this gigantic, amazing looking deep cherry red hued canopy bed that was a combination of both the baroque and gothic styles preferred by its occupiers. The four posters were ornately carved into spirals in the baroque style while the actual canopy of the bed was carved in the more austere gothic style with cathedral like accents. The massive headboard was this black tuft baroque piece with inlaid rhinestones in the cross pattern. A veritable mountain of pillows in jewel toned hues and matte black and red were piled at the head of the bed, while soft looking black sheets covered the massive mattress. Gathered against the sides of the ornate bed posts were these dreamy, translucent black chiffon curtains that were meant to be released from their bindings and surround the bed to shroud those who slept in it. The entire ensemble was magnificently ancient, yet elegantly timeless at the same time.

What further caught Buggy's eye was that there hanging from a special set of sturdy hooks on the wall right next to the bed was Yoru herself, the legendary black blade. Even in the dim light she gleamed dangerously and if Buggy looked closer he could still see that she proudly still wore the blood of her enemies. Beautiful and terrible, and a sign of just how out of it Mihawk had been with hunger after the prolonged battle with the Navy, that he had not brought Yoru back to her usual pristine order.

In the corner closest to Yoru, Buggy caught sight of Mihawk's black hat that was covered in soot with it's white plume singed, and next to it was the swordsman's signature red and black long coat, also in a similar disheveled state, darker red stains on the crimson sleeves and the black edges of the hem slight frayed on one side. A few feet away Crocodile's own black coat with the light fur lining lay in a forgotten heap, the fur matted with both dried blood and ash from the battle. Marks of the absolute Hell the battle had been for their respective wearers.

A soft glint on the carpeted floor had Buggy's eyes going to the foot of the bed where he spied Mihawk's iconic cross dagger necklace laying by one of the bases of the bed posts. Before he could tell Mihawk, Buggy realized what Mihawk intended to do.

" W-Wait!" Buggy said quietly.

Mihawk immediately halted in his actions of placing Buggy on his and Crocodile's bed, the two vampires looking to the blue haired man in askance.

Feeling his cheeks heat up, Buggy averted his gaze as he spoke.

" Don't put me there, I'll make it dirty." He said softly.

Mihawk and Crocodile immediately relaxed, Crocodile's eyes gazing at Buggy with quiet amusement as Mihawk spoke.

" You'll not make in any more dirty than we will, if you hadn't notice, my mate and I are in a right state, especially yours truly. Now I am going to go ahead and set you down right right where I feel you belong." The yellow eyed swordsman said before he promptly tossed his precious cargo onto the bed.

Buggy yelped shrilly as he sailed through the air and then grunted softly as he landed on the firm but surprisingly soft mattress and pillows in the center of the bed. He heard Crocodile let out one of his signature chuckles. Buggy looked up in time to see Mihawk turn to look at his husband. Crocodile fell silent as he met Mihawk's gaze. There was a beat and then the pair were literally crashing into each other, their mouths smashing together in a desperate kiss. Buggy felt his eyes water, bringing a shaky hand up to his mouth as he realized he was seeing Mihawk and Crocodile embrace each other and kiss for the first time since he had saved them with his blood. They had both tended to him, but had not given each other their undivided attention. Now though, they were focused solely on each other, perfectly aware that they had an audience, but granting him the privilege of seeing their unguarded joy at having not lost each other as they kissed each other breathless.

When they broke apart, Mihawk and Crocodile stayed close, pressing their foreheads together, sharing their breaths and just reveling in the feel of each other.

" The moment you went down to your knees, I thought this was the end for us." Mihawk said quietly as he stared into the saffron orange eyes he loved so desperately.

" It was close Hawk, real damn close." Crocodile rumbled before he leaned in and planted a lingering peck to Mihawk's lips.

They broke apart when they heard a soft sniffle off to the side. Both vampire turned to see Buggy wiping at his slightly tearful eyes and blushing softly.

" S-Sorry I just... you guys have always been beautiful together and I just... I got really scared too." Buggy said softly as he averted his gaze to his lap.

Mihawk and Crocodile both blinked at the blue haired man before they were both slackened, a warm, fond look coming to their otherworldly eyes. In all their centuries as vampires, he turned out to be one of the most unexpected. Yes he was cowardly, and had a penchant spectacularly failing upwards, but if both Crocodile and Mihawk were honest, Buggy was actually a good captain, he cared for his crew and for all who joined Cross Guild, and he actually was a savvy business man when he put his mind to it.

He wasn't a coward during the battle with the Navy. Even in the chaos, Mihawk and Crocodile had both caught Buggy being a commander and fighting right there alongside their forces, throwing knives, breaking himself up and pummeling marines, and sending out highly effective muggy balls.

Now they owed this surprisingly complex red nosed man their lives and a taste of his blood had basically thrashed them with another earth shattering revelation. But that was a topic that could wait as Mihawk and Crocodile both stepped forward and climbed onto their bed.

Buggy looked up and started lightly as Mihawk came to sit beside him and Crocodile before him.

Mihawk reached out and cupped Buggy's cheek, his palm calloused and warm, doing wonders to put Buggy at ease as he spoke.

" Thank you for thinking that of us Buggy, and you were right to be afraid. My husband was about to wither away and I myself was about to go completely feral. But even with all of that happening, you didn't abandon us to our fate. Instead you came to us, you pulled us in and held us, implored us to drink and saved us." Mihawk said quietly with open respect in his eyes, all directed at Buggy who could only gawk in shock.

" Don't forget, you also declared your undying love for us both." Crocodile said without missing a beat and chuckling when Buggy's cheeks grew an even more alarming shade of red.

" I was trying to be subtle Darling." Mihawk drawled with a long suffering sigh and a roll of his golden eyes.

" Screw that, I've got this blue haired Yonko's heart and so do you husband mine, at least one of us should gloat about it proudly." Crocodile quipped back as he sent Buggy a grin that was completely unguarded and actually reached his saffron eyes, totally transforming his usually intimidating and unnerving features, exposing the very handsome man behind all the smoke and fearsome reputation.

It made Buggy's heart stutter completely inside his chest, his whole body growing warm.

" Oh don't you put me on the spot Crocodile, I am just as delighted with our Yonko's declaration towards us, but let's be real here. It literally was a life and death situation, and we both sank our fangs into him right after. It was most unromantic any way you slice it husband." Mihawk retorted back.

Crocodile deflated and nodded, feeling a little embarrassed himself about the whole ordeal himself. He then straightened and looked Mihawk and Buggy straight in the eye as he spoke.

" You saw us at our absolute worst, and you still stayed. Says a lot about you, Buggy." Crocodile said with all seriousness, Mihawk looking to Buggy with open respect in his own yellow eyes.

It caught the blue haired man completely off guard, and left him with his eyes welling. A small sob escaped him before he could stop himself. The next thing he knew, two sets of powerfully built arms were gently wrapping around him him.

" I-I am no saint you guys. I love you yeah, but I had to think about the rest of the island. You're our protectors and you fought so hard. I couldn't just let you die, it was so fucking unfair after everything you did for us." Buggy croaked out against Mihawk's shoulder.

" It's what a good leader would think about." Crocodile rumbled into Buggy's hair.

Mihawk just rubbed his hand up and down Buggy's back, until his fingertips caught the tacky wetness that clung to parts of the thin fabric. The yellow eyes vampire drew back a little with a frown as eyes the state Buggy was in.

Crocodile may have used his sand powers to clean all the blood off of them but he hadn't been able to get it out of Buggy's shirt. Said shirt was also ripped and tattered mess that was barely hanging onto the blue haired man's pale form. Mihawk then noticed just how disheveled Crocodile and he himself were.

" We have much to discuss, but first thing's first. Would you like to take a bath or shower Buggy?" Mihawk asked as he drew back to look Buggy directly in in pale blue eyes.

" Wha... Oh, I see." Buggy said as he glanced at himself and also at Mihawk and Crocodile.

They all looked super fucking messy after everything that had transpired.

" Um, I actually already took a bath before I came here, I wanted to be good and clean for you guys." Buggy said softly, blushing freshly at the smiles he got from Crocodile and Mihawk before he continued.

" I uh, I could just wash up a bit if that's alright?" Buggy asked quietly.

" But of course Buggy." Mihawk said as he proceeded to back away until he was climbing out of the bed. He stood up and held out his hands to the blue haired man.

Buggy reached out and grasped the hands, calloused yet elegant and above all else, they were now warm where as before Mihawk and Crocodile had both felt like blocks of ice before they had taken his blood.

The blue haired Yonko shuffled on his knees till he was climbing out of the bed and on his feet, standing hand in hand with Mihawk. A shuffling behind him told Buggy that Crocodile had gotten up too.

Buggy withdrew his hands from Mihawk's, the both of them acutely feeling the loss. Mihawk and Crocodile watched, pleasantly surprised when Buggy promptly pulled his tattered shirt off, revealing his surprisingly muscular pale upper body to the two vampires. Mihawk and Crocodile's eyes both flared dangerously at the sight as Buggy inspected his shirt.

" This thing is a total loss." Buggy said with a sigh.

" You can have one of mine." Mihawk said without missing a beat, his eyes wracking over Buggy's thin and wiry physique, immediately zeroing in on the streaks of red that stained Buggy's shoulders and collar bones where his blood had seeped into his shirt.

Crocodile and Mihawk both felt their canine teeth ache as their fangs wanted to break free for another taste. They both curbed the instinct though as Buggy looked up at Mihawk.

" Thank you." Buggy said shyly, frowning through when he noticed how tense Mihawk and Crocodile were.

" What's wrong?" Buggy asked, immediately alert.

" Nothing Buggy. We're okay just uh... you took your shirt off like that and you've still got some uh blood on you." Crocodile said, his voice husky and uncharacteristically hesitant.

Buggy felt his jaw go slack at both Crocodile's words, and they way he and Mihawk were tensed up and staring at him, a clear hunger in his gaze.

" Will having more of my blood help you? Go ahead please!" Buggy said as he immediately dropped his tattered shirt and stepped forward, pulling his hair back from around his neck and basically offering himself up again to the two ancient vampires.

The next thing he knew, Buggy was surrounded on all sides by warmth, while a pair of lips took his in a gentle, deep kiss. Whiskers tickling his skin informed in that it was Mihawk hissing him, while Crocodile had his face buried into the hair at the top of his head. When Mihawk finally drew back, Buggy was a bit dazed and the swordsman was shaking his head.

" You are proving yourself to be quite the gem Buggy D. Clown." He said with admiration clear in his voice as he looked down at Buggy with surprised fondness, Crocodile rumbling deep in his throat in agreement.

" You don't have to give us even the tiniest drop Buggy. What you did give us restored us in full. I will admit that seeing you without your shirt, with your blood staining your ... it paints a rather... alluring picture that does have our own blood rising." Mihawk said with his voice laced with a growl and his glowing eyes hooded seductively.

Buggy licked his suddenly dry lips and before he could stop himself, he spoke.

" You both can have a taste." He said softly, gasping softly when he realized what he had just said.

Mihawk and Crocodile shared a look, a quiet, hungry happiness radiating from they both as they gazed down at the savior.

" Well alright then." Mihawk all but whispered.

" We have your permission." Crocodile added huskily before as one, he and Mihawk leaned in close.

Buggy gasped sharply, but instead of fangs sinking into him again, it was a pair of tongues, warm and wet, swiping over the back of his shoulder and along his collar bone. Crocodile let out a low groan, while Mihawk hummed in agreement as they cleaned Buggy's blood from his skin, enjoying the essence of the electrifying, ambrosia-like red nectar that had brought them back from the brink of death in just three mouthfuls.

Buggy felt light-headed, his eyes fluttering as his whole body buzzing at the sensations, the closeness of these two immortals who could just as easily end him in the next moment. Instead they were gently running their tongues along his skin, cleaning away the red remnants of his sacrifice to them, yet remaining in control of their baser instincts as vampires.

All too soon Mihawk and Crocodile were drawing away, their eyes glowing and their pupils blown.

The trio stared at each other for the longest time, an ocean of unspoken things, important, deeply personal things between them. Then the moment was broken with Mihawk speaking.

" You should go wash up Buggy, I will get you that shirt." The swordsman said, his voice rough and a smile threatening to overtake his whole face.

" Y-Yeah." Buggy said, feeling him blush all the way down to his chest.

" Door to the bathroom is right over there." Crocodile said as he pointed to a tall, wrought iron door similar to the two front doors but less ornate.

" Thank you Crocodile." Buggy said shyly, jerking slightly when he felt something cold and hard under his chin, tilting his head up.

Crocodile's hook.

Pale blue eyes met those of warm, saffron orange as Crocodile gazed down at Buggy. Then the super tall man leaned down and pressed a kiss to Buggy's lips, Buggy immediately kissing him back in a lingering peck. When they drew back, Crocodile spoke.

" Don't take too long yeah?" He rumbled.

Unable to speak, Buggy just nodded mutely before he forced himself to step away, his eyes going to Mihawk and nodding to the yellow eyes vampire before he started making his way towards the bathroom door. As he reached out and wrapped his hand around the hooked doorknob, Buggy turned to look back over he shoulder, where Crocodile stood with his hooked arm wrapped around Mihawk's bare shoulders, the two of them watching him warming.

With a final shy smile, Buggy turned and pushed the bathroom door opened. He stepped over the threshold and shut the door behind him. The moment the heavy door closed, Buggy's legs nearly gave out on him. He swayed dangerously for a moment before he steadied himself and stood up straight. Swallowing thickly, Buggy gazed around the space.

While their bedroom was a tasteful mix of both of their styles, their bathroom was surprisingly spartan. Things were bigger in size to accommodate a man of Crocodile's stature, but everything was standard stainless steel and gray cement floors. Gathering himself and compartmentalizing everything that had transpired, Buggy quickly padded across the room, noting that he had lost his slippers somewhere in the chaos. He made his way over to the plain steel shelves that house rows of neatly folded fluffy looking black and gray towels.

He grabbed up a black towel and hurried over to the stainless steel double sink vanity situated in the far wall. He wet the towel and wiped at his neck and front, shivering slightly at the water along his skin and also as he remembered Mihawk and Crocodile's earlier ministrations.

It had been so intoxicating, being surrounded by the two men he had often fantasized about. Reality had naturally blown all imaginings straight to kingdom come. As he separated one of his hands with a soft pop and started wiping at his back, Buggy brought his other hand to his mouth. He traced his fingertips over his lips, remembering the two sets of lips that had kissed him so deeply this night. He felt something hot and needy unfurl in the pit of his stomach, but he quickly quashed it down. Shaking himself, Buggy refocused on washing up.

About five minutes later and feeling far more refreshed, Buggy pulled the heavy bathroom door open and stepped back out into Mihawk and Crocodile's bedroom area.

Mihawk and Crocodile immediately looked up from where they had been sitting over the edge of their bed quietly conversing and sharing a couple of kisses. Mihawk had his cross dagger necklace around his neck and had on a deep crimson sleeping robe on over his ruined pants and in his hands he held a pristine looking white shirt, while Crocodile had changed into a pair of clean black sleeping pants and nothing else, discarding his ruined garments to one corner along with the tattered and bloody remnants of Buggy's shirt, showcasing his massive physique and distinct chest scars. He looked completely pristine now, all the way to his purple hair shining and perfectly in place once more.

" Buggy." Mihawk greeted as he stepped forward and held out the shirt to Buggy.

" Thank you Hawk-Eye." Buggy said with a shy smile and he quickly donned the outfit.

It was a soft white poet's shirt similar to the one he had been wearing himself, only it had ruffles along the collar and was maybe a little big on Buggy. Buggy absolutely loved it anyway as Mihawk distinct scent of peonies and cinnamon caught his nose.

" I am just going to go shower quickly, Crocodile shall keep you company. He went and dissolved himself, reformed looking cleaned up but I still think he should freshen up like you did at least. Perhaps you could try convince him while you wait." Mihawk said, smiling slightly as Buggy let out a huff of laughter.

" I'll give it a shot, no promises though." Buggy quipped back.

Mihawk nodded, sending Buggy and Crocodile a warm look before he took his leave, seemingly floating away with that signature grace of his and disappearing into the bathroom.

This left Buggy alone with Crocodile. The unlikely pair stared at each other for a bit before Crocodile sat back down over the edge of his and Mihawk's specially designed bed and wordlessly patted the spot next to him. Feeling warm all over, Buggy stepped forward and climbed up onto the bed, his feet dangling several inches from the floor since he wasn't as tall as either Mihawk or Crocodile.

" You good clown?" Crocodile asked gruffly.

" Y-Yeah, 'm good." Buggy replied before he remembered his little promise to Mihawk.

" Mihawk is right though, you should wash up anyway since we were all fighting for four straight days." He added.

" Hmph, that hopped up Hawk face always wants to be right, but I'll wash up before bed, you have my word." Crocodile said with an exaggerated sigh, earning a chuckle from Buggy.

There was a beat of silence before Crocodile turned fully to Buggy and spoke.

" Hey Buggy, what was it you called me just before we bit you?" Crocodile asked suddenly.

Buggy frowned and wracked his brain for a moment trying to remember what Crocodile was talking about. Then the memory came forward, the moment he had pulled Crocodile into his arms, tucking the then dying ashen face of one of the men he loved against his neck and begged him to drink from him.

" Croco, I called you Croco." Buggy replied before he looked up at Crocodile apologetically.

" Sorry." He mumbled.

" Nah, don't be. I've been called ever name you can think of under the sun, I am a fucking asshole after all. I kinda liked your name for me. Never been called Croco before. I guess it could be our thing just like you calling Hawk-Eye by his first name. Been centuries since anyone's called him Dracule, not even me." Crocodile said in assurance.

" Our thing? You uh... You actually want there to be a thing between us?" Buggy asked, utterly stunned.

" Oh I want plenty more than just a thing between you and me, and so does Hawkeye, but we can talk about all that later." Crocodile said, effectively putting a pin on the conversation.

They conversed light about how Buggy Town was fairing last they checked, Buggy telling Crocodile about how freaked out Galdino was, and that maybe it would be best to call the whole crew first thing in the morning just to let them know the leaders of Cross Guild were all alive and well.

Crocodile and Buggy both looked up when the door to the bathroom opened a few minutes later as a freshly showered Mihawk emerged.

He looked pale and beautiful, completely clean with the little peak at his muscular chest coming through the V-neck of his robe. But when Buggy caught sight of Mihawk's hair, his jaw actually hit the floor. Mihawk immediately caught the gobsmacked expression on Buggy's face and rushed forward.

" Buggy what is it? What's wrong?" The yellow eyes vampire asked while Crocodile frowned at the blue haired man too.

Buggy just raised his hand and pointed at Mihawk's head, a single word passing through his lips.

" Curly." He said, almost like he was in awe.

Indeed, Dracule Mihawk's hair after a fresh shower did not lay flat or in spikes like everyone would assume. Instead his short ebony hair fell about his head in soft curls, making him look like a completely different person. He wasn't the vampire who almost went feral with his hair hanging sweaty and limp about his head, nor was he the always well but together and spiky haired World's Greatest Swordsman. This was Mihawk in between both, the version that up until now, only Crocodile had ever had the privilege of seeing.

In an instance the tension left the air, Mihawk allowing himself a full, quiet grin and Crocodile chuckling loudly. Buggy immediately felt mortified for pointing at Mihawk, but the swordsman just shook his head as he spoke.

" Yes, I Dracule Mihawk, actually have curly hair that I straighten and style into spikes so that my hair fits into my hat more easily." He explain.

" They look great." Buggy said without missing a beat.

" Thank you kindly." Mihawk acknowledged just as smoothly before he turned to Crocodile.

" That's enough laughing at my expense dear husband mine, go wash up." He said sternly.

" Hmph." Crocodile said eloquently, but he rose from his seat, his fingers hooking soom of Buggy's long blue hair, trailing through them and making Buggy shiver as he left. Crocodile gave Mihawk a quick peck before ducking away into the bathroom at his husband's insistence.

This left Buggy alone with Mihawk now.

" Let's get you settled." Mihawk said simply as he ushered Buggy to scoot backward till he was at the center of the behemoth bed, Mihawk pulling back the covers and gesturing to Buggy.

Buggy nodded and climbed in so that he was reclining against the amassed assortment of pillows at the head of the bed with the covers midway up his chest. He expected Mihawk to join him but frowned when the swordsman simply tucked the covers around him loosely and then stood up.

" I am waiting for Crocodile, we'll be with you once he's finished up in the bathroom. I might as well tidy up a little while we wait." Mihawk explained.

" I could help." Buggy said wanting to get up only for Mihawk to shake his head and lean down, pressing his forehead to Buggy's as he sighed.

" You've already helped so much, in ways we haven't even explained to you yet. Just relax, you don't have to lift a single finger anymore tonight." Mihawk said quietly, his baritone voice gentle and soothing Buggy back into the pillows as he nodded against the golden eyed vampire's head.

With a quiet smile, Mihawk drew away and then started milling about the bedroom. Buggy watched as the handsome dark haired vampire righted some of the furniture, grabbed up some loose papers that were strewn on the floor, and finally made his way over to where his hat and long coat lay. Buggy watched as the swordsman picked up his articles of clothing to inspect the damage, grumbling lightly at the state they were in.

" Is the feather a lost cause?" Buggy asked with a grimace of sympathy at the state of the once pure white plume, thinking about his own ruined blue captain's coat.

Stupid ass Marines.

" Unfortunately." Mihawk said flatly with a sigh before he turned playful eyes to the blue haired Yonko.

" Not to worry, I have five others identical to this one, and the same goes for my coat here." He explained.

Buggy immediately threw his head back and laughed at Mihawk's ridiculous practicality.

It was as he laughed that Crocodile emerged from the bathroom, the hulking man immediately pausing just to admire the sight of Buggy laughing in the moonlight with Mihawk smiling at him.

" What's got you all tickled Genius Jester?" Crocodile drawled good-naturedly as he came up and wrapped his arm around Mihawk's shoulders in greeting.

" Oh just talking about my perfectly fantastic fashion sense my love." Mihawk said with a playful wink at Buggy that made him warm all over.

" Oh you mean just wearing the same thing and having multiple versions of it exactly? Yeah, fantastic for sure." Crocodile said with his voice dripping in sarcasm.

Buggy barely bit back another giggle as Mihawk promptly reached over and took hold of one of the little dark nipples on Crocodile's giant chest and twisted it mercilessly with his steely fingers, causing the sand wielder to outright yelp and glare at his husband in mock outrage.

" Get in bed darling." Mihawk said with a huskiness to his voice that immediately had Crocodile relaxing.

Crocodile withdrew from Mihawk and made his way around to the side of the bed he usually slept on, which was Buggy's right side. Buggy watched him pull his hook off, a spark of pain going through his heart when he saw how red and bruised Crocodile's stump was from wearing his hook throughout the onslaught by the Navy, leaving his skin raw and pummeled. Buggy said nothing, not wanting to put Crocodile on the spot as the purple haired man pulled back the covers and climbed in, immediately pressing up against Buggy, who immediately felt a little hot under the collar. He and Crocodile turned to see Mihawk shed his robe, revealing himself to be in nothing but a pair of black boxers.

Buggy immediately felt his mouth go dry, and Crocodile looked openly hungry as they both took in Mihawk in his state of undress. Mihawk enjoyed the hungry eyes on him as he stepped over to a chair by their bedside, draping his robe over the back of it before he stepped over to the bed and climbed in under the covers, finally joining his audience.

" What happens now?" Buggy asked softly, his heart hammering inside his chest as he lay down between Crocodile and Mihawk.

" We sleep, regain our strength further, and in the morning we will have much to discuss." Mihawk replied as he wrapped his arm around Buggy's waist.

" Unless you're up for a bit more adult activity?" Crocodile asked with a suggestive rumble to his voice and he splayed his hand over the center of Buggy's chest, causing the blue haired man to inhale sharply.

" Uh...ha... I just... I would love to actually but I just... 'm not a virgin or anything I just... I haven't been with anyone since I was a... a teenager so... I don't think I'd be any g-good for y-mmph." Buggy's words of self deprecation were silence by a pair of warm, whiskered lips as Mihawk kissed him soundly. No sooner did Mihawk withdraw, Crocodile was taking his place, kissing Buggy deeply.

When the sand user drew back, Buggy was breathless and relaxed as Crocodile spoke.

" If you're practically a virgin, then me and my husband here will have to make the first time we're together like that something special, so Mihawk is right, we should all just hit the sack for now." He rumbled.

" It has been a long and rather grueling few days for all of us. I do believe we have more than fucking earned a good night's sleep at the very least." Mihawk said with finality.

Buggy and Crocodile both nodded before Mihawk gently urged Buggy onto his side, spooning up behind him while Crocodile in turn pulled them in close to him, effectively cocooning their red nosed savior between them.

Buggy shuddered and melted against both vampires, feeling completely safe in the arms of such dangerous immortals as them. Along with Mihawk's distinct scent of peonies and cinnamon, Crocodile's scent of sandalwood, his own musk, and rich tobacco filled his senses and calmed him further. Crocodile and Mihawk in turn pressed their noses against Buggy, Mihawk at the back of his neck, while Crocodile had his nose buried into Buggy's hair at the crown of his head. The smell of pure lavender, his male musk, and the barest hint of the sharp tang of his own blood. It made both vampires canines ache but they once again pushed back the urge.

Buggy's whole body seemed to sigh and then he was completely out. Mihawk and Crocodile were barely awake themselves. They shared a quiet look as they lay facing each other, a peacefulness washing over them, a void that had been gaping open within each of them for centuries closing some, but not yet all the way filled.

Tonight had been a night full of surprises. What Mihawk and Crocodile thought would be their last night, turned into their first night shared with their unexpected savior. There first night with the one who's blood had not only restored them to full health, but also did something truly unexpected.

As they had laid their rigid on their living room floor while Buggy's blood had restored them with the force of a lightening storm through their very veins, the blue haired Yonko's blood had had a totally unexpected further effect.

Mihawk and Crocodile had both clutched their chests as their physical hearts, which had laid dormant within their chests for centuries on end, had suddenly and thunderously come alive, beating against their sternums for three solid beats before they fell silent again.

Buggy had made both their hearts beat, which could only mean one incontrovertible truth.

Buggy was their mate, their missing piece, the one destined to fill the aching void that had remained with the both of them for centuries despite how deeply their own blood bond ran, how much they truly loved each other.

With a shared excitement and this thrill of uncertainty regarding how Buggy himself would react to the bomb they were going to drop on him, Mihawk and Crocodile settled in against Buggy and finally gave in to the pull of sleep themselves.

Four days, five if they counted this first day of the aftermath that had nearly been the last for the two vampires had it not been for Buggy D. Clown, the three of them had fucking earned their goddamn rest indeed.

The next morning, just after sunup...

Alvida strode down one of the corridors that led to the kitchens that were connected to Cross Guild's main dining hall. She was dressed in a white and red pockadot bikini top with a pale blue patterned shirt tied over it at her trim waist and her signature purple capri pants. She padded along in her comfiest sandals and had forgone her usual jewelry and makeup, even left her white hat with red plum hanging back in her room, having had a restless night of tossing and turning and simply not in the mood.

Last night she had literally watched her captain walk off down a darkened corridor to his certain doom. The last image she had of Buggy was him smiling wanly at her and the other before he waved and walked away into the darkness. It haunted her all night and she had shed tears too. Now was the start of the day after, for time never did stop for anyone. She had wanted to go directly to the main big top and see for herself if Mihawk and Crocodile had emerged alive after having feasted on a willing Buggy, or if it would be Buggy all alone, with his sacrifice of blood being in vain. She had tried to call Daz but got no reply. The former assassin was probably still standing guard at his post, stoic as ever.

Rubbing at her tired eyes and hoping the bags under them were not to bad, Alvida trudged into the kitchens, hoping that Chef Dongo was up and prepping things for the day. If the good chef wasn't, then she'd settle for some of last night's left overs. Alvida stepped over the threshold and then immediately froze mid step, her eyes going wide and her mouth falling open as the sight that greeted her.

There sitting on one of the stainless steel stools at the metal kitchen island was Daz bones, still dressed as he was the night before when he had been guarding the corridor to Mihawk and Crocodile's abode. He was sedately eating from a plate piled high with an absolutely delicious looking breakfast curry and golden pieces of toast that look buttery and perfect. There was a fresh, steaming pot of the curry in the center of the island along a large platter of assorted breads and bagels, and another platter with freshly cut fruits. There were four other plates set at the island as well as jugs of water, fresh looking orange juice, milk, and a couple of fresh pots of coffee. What had arrested Alvida so utterly was not Daz having breakfast or the other plate settings, or the delicious looking. It was the chef.

It wasn't Chef Dungo with his tall chef's hat and square, blue tinted glasses.

No, the person standing at the stoves still cooking up a storm was a tale, alabaster skinned man with dark ebony hair in stylish spikes and sideburns and beard to match.

Dracule Mihawk.

One of Buggy Town's saviors, the World's Greatest Swordsman and former Warlord of the Sea, and in Alvida's mind, one of the would be murderers of her captain. She let out a small yelp and tried to stifle it but both Daz and Mihawk heard it none the same. Daz gave her a cursory glance and then went back to eating, while Mihawk turned to her fully, his otherworldly yellow eyes sharp and zeroing right in on her.

The wielder of Yoru stood tall and foreboding, even though he was casually dressed in black pants, his calf high boots, and a white linen poets shirt with the sleeves rolled up and much of his chest exposed by the deep V-neck and had no hat on to add shadows to his face. Alvida barely kept her knees from giving out on her as she stared back at Mihawk helplessly. Then the vampire blinked and an untold warmth actually filled his golden eyes.

" Good morning Alvida." He greeted with his silky baritone voice.

Alvida blinked and immediately swallowed to wet her throat before she spoke.

" G-Good morning sir." She said steadily enough as she stood up straight.

" Would you care for some breakfast?" Mihawk asked smoothly.

" Oh ah, y-yes please. Thank you." Alvida said as she hurried over to the plate set furthest from Daz and sat down.

Even as she reached for the ladle that was waiting in the steaming pot of curry, Alvida's dark green eyes naturally stayed on Mihawk even as the stolid man turned back to the stove where he was flipping a deliciously fluffy looking omelette over in the pan.

Despite how utterly terrifying and relentlessly dour the centuries old vampire was, he had also always been quite terribly handsome. Today though, as she beheld him, Alvida could only describe him as absolutely radiant. He had this glow to him, a resplendence that had not been there before but only heightened the otherworldly quality he always had. Alvida desperately wanted to ask Mihawk about Buggy and what happened last night, assuming that since Mihawk was here making breakfast and looking absolutely gorgeous, Buggy's blood must have done wonders. But it just naturally begged the question, where was Buggy himself? Where was Crocodile? Alvida quickly stomped down on this urge, not wanting to piss off Hawk-Eye Mihawk. Instead she turned her attention to the curry Mihawk had made.

She had just ladled some curry into her plate when Mihawk spoke.

" Rest assured Alvida, our Chairman is very much alive and quite well." He said smoothly.

Alvida sputtered and nearly sent her plate flying as she whirled around. Before she could ask anything further though, several other voices sounded as Cabaji, Galdino, Mohji, and Richie all arrived in the kitchens. They all froze at the sight of Hawk-Eye Mihawk looking alive and more than well, fantastic even.

Things would have descended into full chaos right then and there, all four of the newly arrived individuals ready to converge on the tall, yellow eyed swordsman. Only Mihawk did not allow such a thing as with a single stern look, he had Cabaji, Mohji, and Galdino obediently taking their seats at the island alongside Alvida and Daz, while Richie sat on the floor next to where Mohji sat.

Mihawk crossed his arms and the three humans immediately started taking food onto their plates. At Richie's inquisitive little mewl, they all watched Mihawk turn around and reach for the door to the oven located under the stove. The moment he opened it, an absolutely delicious smell emanated from inside. Richie immediately perked up at the smell, his whole face lightly up when Mihawk donned some oven mitts and pulled out a huge tray laden with a perfectly roasted lamb shank with roasted potatoes.

Richie's favorite breakfast.

The lavender maned lion was almost bouncing to the ceiling as he waited for Mihawk to transfer the steaming hot roasted meat and vegetables into a giant metal bowl for him. He was licking at his jowls as Mihawk came forward and leaned down to set the bowl before him finally.

Richie was about to just pounce on the meal, but stopped and then slowly looked up a the yellow eyed vampire who had cooked for him. Mihawk still scared him half to death, but seeing as to how Mohji had raised him to have manners, Richie stood up and bowed his head before he leaned up and promptly licked Mihawk's cheek in thanks.

Mohji looked ready to jump in while the others tense at what Mihawk would do what with having his cheek covered in lion spit. Instead of any huge disaster, Mihawk just blinked slowly and nodded his head in a small bow to Richie as he spoke.

" You're welcome Richie, now enjoy your breakfast." Mihawk said smoothly as he pulled down one of his sleeves and wiped at his cheek before rolling the sleeve back up.

Richie gave a small mewl of acknowledgment before he promptly tucked into his breakfast as ordered by the now not so scary but still not one to be messed with man with the yellow eyes.

Everyone else quickly took their cue from Richie and started eating. It was maybe a couple of minutes later when Mihawk approached the table and addressed them.

" As I just informed Alvida before all of you arrived, our Chairman is alright. He generously donated his blood to both me and Crocodile and we winded up basically taking just a cup each, it was enough to restore us and will sustain us for the next few days while we get a replacement blood supply established. Just to be safe, we summoned Dr. Jungo an hour earlier to check Buggy over. She deemed his condition perfectly stable to where he doesn't even need a blood transfusion of any kind. Last I saw before I came here to make breakfast for him and all of you, he was falling back to sleep with my husband watching over him." Mihawk explained.

Alvida and the whole crew save for Daz had so many questions they wanted to ask, but wisely did not try to dig further. Instead they complemented Mihawk and his stellar cooking skills and that he looked very well himself. Mihawk took the complements graciously and also finished up preparing Buggy's breakfast tray, which consisted of a cheese and green pepper filled omelette, toast with jam, some of the breakfast curry, and a bowl of strawberries. To wash all this down with, Mihawk had made Buggy a crimson colored smoothie made with strawberries, boiled beets, and sweet yogurt to help his body replace some of the iron it had lost from willingly feeding a pair of dying vampires. He also had a little bowl of blackberries on the tray he had prepared for Crocodile too, knowing they were his husband's favorite.

Once he was satisfied with the breakfast assortment he had made Mihawk picked up the tray and started to leave without any further preamble.

" Mihawk sir, wait!" Cabaji called, halting the yellow eyed vampire.

Mihawk turned to see the Cross Guild crew all standing.

" Thank you for breakfast sir." They said as one while Richie let out a small roar of gratitude, Buggy's crew mates and Galdino all then bowed while Daz just nodded his head.

" You're welcome. The three of us should be out and about later today to assess the damage around the island and get started on repairs immediately." Mihawk assured.

" We'll be standing by sir." Galdino said with a sharp nod, the others all in agreement.

With that, Mihawk finally turned and left with not only breakfast for his lovers, but also the newfound respect of Buggy's and Crocodile's respective people.

The swordsman made quick work of making his way through the corridor, into the big top, and then across the empty stage and down the darkened corridor towards his and Crocodile's residence. He had left the great wrought iron doors ajar enough for him to easily pass through with his well laden tray. He made his way through the living room, noting the small spots of red on the carpet that he would have to address, his eyes flaring at the memory of the highly charged events of just last night before he continued ahead.

He made his way towards the back of the fortress where the shimmering privacy curtains hung. As he neared, Mihawk could hear voices coming from the other side of the curtains. Mihawk ducked through the seam and felt the corners of his lips turn slightly up at the sight that greeted him.

Buggy was awake in the giant canopy bed, looking sleepy and content, laying on his front horizontally across the bed with Crocodile pressed up against him, kissing at his neck and nuzzling him to his hearts content, making Buggy let out these silvery little chuckles that were nearly a far too pleasant sound.

The pair both looked up at Mihawk's approach. Buggy immediately lit up while Crocodile smiled warmly at his husband.

Buggy was thrilled at being treated to breakfast in bed and having Mihawk back with them. Crocodile appreciated the bowl of blackberries Mihawk had included for him, feeding both his husband and Buggy a couple before he set about enjoying the rest of the bowl. Mihawk watched as Buggy unashamedly tucked into the meal with his best, making these slight indecent moans of pleasure at everything he tasted. Mihawk wasn't one to preen but he appreciated Buggy's open enjoyment of his cooking.

The food was gone within minutes, Mihawk clearing away the tray and then taking a seat before Buggy, while Crocodile stayed by his side.

" Thank you Mihawk, that was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had in my whole life!" Buggy said brightly.

" I shall truly treasure your compliments dear heart." Mihawk replied with a warm look at the blue haired man before he quickly grew serious.

Buggy immediately sat up straighter at the shift in the mood and looked between Mihawk and Crocodile in askance.

" Buggy, there was another unexpected development that happened last, after you gave us your blood." Mihawk began, continuing after Buggy nodded.

" When we drank your blood, it restored us rather rapidly as you saw." Buggy nodded again, remembering how Mihawk and Crocodile had both gone rigid on either side of him on the floor.

" You remember that at one point we both clutched at our chests and looked stunned?" Mihawk asked.

" Y-Yeah, you guys had your hands over your hearts looking like you couldn't believe it was happening?" Buggy replied.

" Yeah Buggy, we did that and there was a really mind blowing reason for it." Crocodile said as he ran his good hand down Buggy's back and looked at him warmly.

" Why? What happened? Tell me please!" Buggy demanded sounding scared.

" You made our hearts beat Buggy, something they haven't done in centuries, not since Crocodile's did when he turned me four hundred years ago." Mihawk finally revealed.

Buggy blinked and processed Mihawk's words, looking between the two vampires and instinctively knowing that their hearts beating was a huge fucking deal.

" What does that mean?" Buggy asked softly.

" It means that you are more than just the willing donor who saved us from death Buggy. It means that you are the piece of us that we've been missing." Crocodile rumbled.

" You are meant to be our shared mate, the third holder of the blood bond between us. The one to complete us after so long." Mihawk finished softly.

Buggy blinked slowly, his mouth agape and his entire expression one of shock. Then with an extraordinary groan he buried his face into his hands and started sobbing helplessly. Mihawk and Crocodile both hung their head, thinking the worst when Buggy raised his head and they could see that he was grinning brightly despite the tears gushing down his face.

" Is this why I've always felt this pull towards the both of you from the moment I heard your names?" He asked shakily with a hitched sob.

" Maybe, maybe not, I know I felt an attraction towards you from the moment we met, but I was still an utter asshole to you anyway, and for that I am so sorry Buggy." Mihawk said as he slid forward and took Buggy's face into his hands as gazed into his pale blue eyes with sincere regret.

" I gotta say sorry to you too Buggy. I was too bull-headed to recognize the pull too. You were just the clown that owed me a shit ton of money." Crocodile rumbled, looking honestly contrite.

" You guys hurt me, you guys hurt me a lot, but you're honestly not the worst. You never ripped my heart out and you didn't leave. Not when the Marines attacked us now, and not when a dozen things went wrong or I fucked up." Buggy croaked out with a sniffle.

" We'll never leave you ever now, and if you will allow it, we will earn your true forgiveness and be worthy of this love you have for us." Mihawk said quietly, feeling his own throat tighten a bit.

" What if I've forgiven you already? Everything I hold most dear is on this island, and I still have it because of you two. You nearly died saving all of us. Isn't that enough for you to have already earned my forgiveness for everything bad that happened before?" Buggy asked as he reached up and covered Mihawk's warm, calloused hands on his face.

Mihawk and Crocodile both sat slightly stunned, not expecting such a boon from the blue haired Yonko so easily.

Seeing how fragile the situation was, Mihawk and Crocodile both decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

" Thank you Buggy, and I truly am sorry for everything that happened before." Mihawk said quietly before he leaned in and pressed a deep kiss to Buggy's lips.

Buggy's breath hitched, but he otherwise did not dissolve into further tears, just too elated with everything that had been revealed. When Mihawk drew back from him, Buggy turned to Crocodile, who was pursing his lips and looking at him like he was seeing him for the first time. Then Buggy found himself yanked forward into a crushing embrace, a pair of slightly chapped lips smashing over his own in a devouring kiss. When Crocodile bulled away leaving Buggy breathless and dazed, the sand users just shook his head.

" Damn it Clown." He said with the barest waver to his voice before he promptly buried his face into Buggy's lustrous blue hair.

Buggy just grinned tearfully as he hugged Crocodile back with one arm, while reaching out with his other towards Mihawk, the swordsman immediately meeting him halfway and intertwining their hands tightly. If Mihawk himself had to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment with his free hand to stubbornly push back the powerful emotions he himself was feeling, no one commented. It was just the nature of these two men to not be able to process Buggy's grace, not expecting such understanding from the one they had pummeled and called all manner of awful things. They could have chalked it up to emotional transference from drinking Buggy's blood, their newly revealed to be third mate was an emotional man after all but, who were they kidding? They were feeling a lot, it was overwhelming, and they dealt with it the only way they knew how, which was to hold on tight and grit their teeth.

As he lay in Crocodile's arms and held Mihawk's hand, Buggy didn't care about any of the ramifications that would surely follow this startling revelation about just who he now was to the two vampire he had risked everything to save. Right now he just felt safe and warm, and his tears were happy ones for once. He felt great, and he was more than happy to feel and express it for these two stoic and stunted immortal men.

Outside the sun began to shine to full brightness over Karai Bari Island as it had risen all the way and brought a fresh new day to the battered but not broken island.

A couple of hours later...

Buggy Town was bustling, if a little slower than normal. The dust had settled somewhat and now was the time to assess the damage. Though several buildings and tents were a total loss, it wasn't as bad as originally thought immediately after the battle. While there had been some loss of life, the many bodies of Marines that were being gathered far outnumbered the losses suffered by Cross Guild.

Buggy walked among his people, dressed in a simply white and red striped t-shirt and brown pants and a simple light brown jacket with his face painted in its usual fashion, his pale blue eyes somber but hopeful as he watched people working together all around him to tear down the skeletal remains of building and tents, clearing away debris and re-hoisting anything fallen that could be righted again.

As he walked further into Buggy Town, the blue haired Yonko smiled quietly as he thought back to just an hour ago, when Mihawk and Crocodile had agreed to him going back to his own room, albeit very reluctantly. It had left Buggy blushing at how loath Mihawk and Crocodile were to see him go. He had told them they should all get ready for the day and that they could head out together to assess the town. The hour before that had been spent with Buggy getting to explore Mihawk and Crocodile's place, taking in the tasteful decor, the cozy den and Mihawk's amazing looking library and extensive weapons collection. Mihawk and Crocodile had been amused by his enthusiasm and secretly wondered what their place would look like with some more flashy colors and a circus theme added in. The pair of vampires stayed mum about that, instead just enjoying spending some time with their intended third mate before they had to reluctantly let him go.

The moment Buggy had emerged from the still darkened corridor that let to Mihawk and Crocodile's residence, he was immediately greeted by his overjoyed crew. Buggy had nearly been bowled over as he was hugged thoroughly and got several messy lion kisses from Richie. Daz had nodded with a quiet, new found respect in those cold eyes, while Galdino gave him a quick hug and wiped at his eyes.

Daz and Galdino then took their leave, disappearing down the darkened corridor to check in with Sir. Crocodile.

Buggy's crew had basically whisked him of to his tent where he had naturally been bombarded with questions, Alvida, Cabaji, and Mohji wanting to know what the hell had happened between him and Mihawk and Crocodile, and how he had actually survived the two vampires. Richie just wanted cuddles that Buggy was more than happy to provide.

Buggy kept the details to the basics, that he had volunteered his blood to Mihawk and Crocodile and that after some hesistance they had accepted and been restored in full with basically just a cup full each. He kept out how dire the situation had been, how Crocodile was just seconds away from sucumbing and that he had desperately declared his love for them both to actually get them to drink. He also kept secret the fact that his blood had made their hearts beat. The revelation that he was meant to be their third mate was something Buggy was still processing himself. They talked for a bit, Buggy assuring them all that he was fine and well-fed thanks to Mihawk, which set off a torrent of his crew mates praising the World's Greatest Swordsman for his absolutely astounding cooking skills with the breakfast he treated them too.

Buggy had quickly gotten ready after that, donning some of his less flashy clothes because there was going to be long day of clearing up the mess left behind by the Marines, and Buggy actually meant to get his hands dirty along with everyone else.

When Buggy had emerged from the corridor connecting his tent to the main big top, Mihawk and Crocodile were both waiting for them. His crew mates had all tentatively greeted Crocodile, openly staring at him because he looked healthy again and had the same glow about him that Mihawk had. The vampire mates were dressed in their soiled clothes from the day before, making it clear they had the same idea as Buggy, to not just be bystanders in the rebuild. Daz and Galdino were their too. Buggy had taken the lead with Mihawk and Crocodile walking just a step behind him with their core crew following in their wake as they all headed out of the big top and into the town.

After greeted the denizens that had come forward to greet their leadership, Crocodile had declared that he was going to help with the beach cleanup and check on Anna, while Mihawk would see where he could help out with debris cleanup, while Buggy decided to scope out the full damage and take stock of what they would need to rebuild.

Now here he was walking through the town, helping push a cart that was stuck in the mud, coordinating a harvest of wood from a patches of the surrounding forrest that had survived the onsault from the Navy and figuring out a plan to til and replant those parts of the forrest that had suffered.

He happened to be passing by a group attempting to reestablish a large tent pole that was salvageable.

" Alright men, HEAVE!" A single man's voice rang out. A second later the whole group responded as one.

" HEAVE!" They roared together as they pulled at the heavy rope that was secured to the thick pole.

The pole slowly started to rise until it was halway up when the group started faltering, the ground beneath their feet softening and causing them to slid.

" HANG ON MEN! JUST HANG ON!" The Foreman yelled desperately as they all groaned and cried out, doing all they could to keep the giant pole from falling.

Buggy was about to rush forward and join the line himself when there was a tall shadow falling over the men, a flash of red, black, and white, and suddenly Mihawk was there, Yoru still stained but shining on his back as he grabbed hold of the thick rope and started pulling, his scuffed up black boots digging deep into the ground as he slowly started to walk forward. With a loud groan, the pole started steadily rising again as Mihawk began to raise it with his inhuman strength.

" C'MON MEN, DON'T MAKE HIM DO ALL THE FUCKING WORK!" The Foreman urged as he and the other men all joined Mihawk.

Buggy watched in awe, Mihawk not even gritting his teeth as he and the other men raised the poll to fully vertical.

" SET THE SPIKES!" The Foreman boomed.

Immediately a second crew of workers rushed forward with giant metal spikes and massive sledgehammers to secure the pole and set up where the suspension ropes for the new tent to be rooted.

" WE DID IT MEN! THANKS TO MIHAWK!" The Foreman yelled, starting off a chant of Mihawk's name.

Mihawk stood tall and stoic, nodding wordlessly in acknowlegement of the praise being heaped onto him with silent grace. He happened to turn and lock eyes with Buggy. Pale blue eyes met those of nearly glowing gold under the brim of a slightly singed black hat. Buggy sent Mihawk his best and brightest grin, he couldn't help it after seeing not only Mihawk's strength, but also his wordlessly solidarity with the denizens of Cross Guild.

Buggy saw the barest softening to Mihawk's eyes before the swordsman turned away and walked off to go find the next area he could be of assistance in. Buggy watched him go with a sigh and deep yearning in his heart before he pushed it all down and refocused.

An hour later Buggy found himself walking onto the beaches in front of Buggy Town where the land battle had been fought with all fierceness. Buggy was a bit stunned to see that most of the beach, that had been filled with holes from cannon fire and layden with corpses both Navy and Cross Guild, looked nearly back to normal with the sands pristine once more. As he made his way forward he caught sight of a tall figure clad in a dark shirt with wisps of smoke wafting about him as he worked along with a crew that was transporting bodies off the beach for burial in the case of those belonging to Cross Guild, and cremation for those who had fallen under the Navy's banner. Seemed only fair that those who had wanted to reduce Karai Bari Island to ash, become ash themselves.

As Buggy drew nearer he saw that Crocodile was usuing his sand powers to lift up multiple bodies onto the waiting carts, those for Cross Guild were set down gently, while those with the Navy... not so much.

Buggy nodded as he was greeted warmly by the other workers, Crocodile turning to him with his saffron orange eyes quietly warm.

" Hey Clown." Crocodile greeted with a puff of smoke.

" Hey Croco." Buggy said quietly with a little wink up at the towering giant of a man who jerked slightly at the nickname the blue haired Yonko had bestowed on him.

" We're nearly done here." Crocodile said.

" Looks good so far, thanks to you." Buggy said with a shy smile.

" We have a long way to go yet." A softer baritone voice said from behind them, Buggy and Crocodile instantly brightening as they turned to see Mihawk walking towards them in Buggy's sanding footsteps, his slightly tattered coat billowing about him in the light sea breeze.

He came to stand beside Buggy as they wated for Crocodile and his crew to finish the beach clean up. Ten minutes later Crocodile was sending the men off to the cemetery deep within the forest to bury the last of Cross Guild's own and take care of the Navy remains.

Mihawk and Crocodile came together then, once the last of the dead had been cleared, sharing a deep kiss and happy to be reunited with each other. They each gave Buggy a soft peck to the lips, making the clown's cheeks turn rosey before they all quickly sobered and looked back at Buggy Town.

" Battered but still standing." Mihawk said as he crossed his arms and gazed over his home.

" It's gonna take months to rebuild." Crocodile added after and long drag of his cigar.

" We'll do it though, and we'll evolve so that something like this sneak attack from those bastards can never happen again." Buggy vowed.

Mihawk and Crocodile both nodded in agreement.

They would also evolve on a personal level though neighter vampire said so outloud. Things were still to fresh, to raw and new for either of them to express just how deeply their desire for their newfound third mate already ran. He loved them, he said so as he had urged them to drink from him and survive, and they had lost their hearts to him before their fangs had even sunk into him, before his blood had made them beat for the first time in centuries.

As with rebuilding Buggy Town, they would have to work at being worthy and make sure Buggy's inevitable entrance into immortality alongside them would be something treasured as Mihawk's own experience was, and not the horrific trauma Crocodile had gone through when he himself had been turned.

All in time.

Over the following days, the debris cleared, and the scout ships sent out for emergency supplies including more blood not only for the hospital but for Mihawk and Crocodile to quietly sustain themselves returned, thankfully without any issue or surprise attacks from raiders or the Navy.

Mihawk and Crocodile were constantly by Buggy's side but also overseeing their own projects, like Mihawk focusing on fortifying the defenses around their island while Crocodile focused on establishing more trade relations and recruiting elite trainers to come to the island to get not only their fighters in better shape, but every able bodied man, woman, and animal while they were at it to better defend themselves from any and all threats.

Buggy found himself in charge of redesigning Buggy Town from a tent town it was into a veritable stronghold fit for an Emperor of the Sea.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and in that time, along with rebuilding Buggy Town, Mihawk and Crocodile stayed true to their own vows to grow and evolve their relationship with Buggy. It wasn't some big, bold declaration in front of all of Cross Guild. After the rebuilding of Cross Guild got well underway, it was subtle things like Mihawk bringing Buggy a cup of coffee while they were all working late at night, or Crocodile actually putting his foot down and making the blue haired man finally go to bed when his burning the candle at both ends left the younger man looking like he never took his face paint off with the purple bags that were forming under his eyes, and it was Buggy quietly giving Mihawk and Crocodile their three mouthfulls of blood they were physically only allowed in order to sustain themselves until donated blood became available to them and the wildlife they used to supplement their diets had recovered and reemerged on the island like deer and wild boar.

As the days went on Mihawk and Crocodile both spent time with Buggy in their own ways. Mihawk would ask Buggy to join him for sunset walks on the beach where they would discuss everything from new patrol patterns around their furthest borders, to what other historical events besides the death of Gol D. Roger and the birth of the Golden age of Pirating Mihawk and Crocodile bore witness to during their incredibly long lives. Mihawk stayed mum about a few things, wanting to keep Buggy and the rest of the world guessing. He would intead almost talk Buggy's ear off with anything and everything to do with gardening and farming cabbages and still keep the clown's interest. Buggy managed to get a full laugh out of the usually infallible swordsman on one of these walks by asking him to give him a rough estimate of how many full vinyards worth of wine he's consumed throughout his long, long life. Mihawk was sure to silence Buggy's giggles with sweet kisses.

With Crocodile, he would often come to Buggy's workshop to ask him about his inventions and weapons designs and they would get into discussions on how to improve Buggy's muggy ball mixtures and other weapons. Crocodile would take Buggy with him whenever he visited his fruitwani breeding operation, actually promising Buggy a red and blue fruitwany of his own one the sand user found the perfect blueberry and strawberry wanis to breed. Buggy was thrilled at the prospect of his own pet fruitwani because like Crocodile, he absolutely adored the viscious toothy terrors. They would also pour over any maps they could get their hands on, hours passing with them enjoying each other's mutual love for treasure, and their lips in deep kisses.

Buggy himself was just as dedicated to getting to know the immortal men he found himself literally fated to be with. He actively sought out Mihawk and Crocodile in turn and maybe asked his crew mates to do some undercover works for him at moderate risk to their safety. It's how he found out that on top of wine and well... blood, Mihawk actually had an undying love for strawberries. So Buggy earned himself some good yellow eyed loving when on one the outgoing supply runs he quietly ordered that they bring back the best strawberries they could find within Karai Bari's region. With Crocodile, the man had a deep fondness for waist coats and while he had already amassed a vast collection, Buggy still showcased his sowing and tayloring skills when he presented Crocodile with a new waist coat once a month in the time since the Navy's surprise attack. Crocodile didn't jump for joy, he wasn't the type. He'd just say thank you, give Buggy a smokey kiss, and then wear the garment proudly the next day and curb the curious looks he got at wearing colors he normally wouldn't with a single warning look. People knew better than to question when Buggy and Crocodile would show up at the start of the day looking color or pattern coordinated, while Mihawk being the stubborn mule that he was just kept wearing his usual signature outfit and yet still fit right in with the other two. No need to mess with something tried and true, and honestly flawless.

If Crocodile and Mihawk both started showing up with their signature weapons lovingly polished to the point of glittering even out of the sun, Crocodile's hook fitting better and no longer irritating his stump thanks to Buggy's adjustments and innovations, sporting a gorgeous band of orange topaz gems around the wrist and intricate carvings in the shape of a banawany, hawk, and skull and crossbones with a round nose loving etched into the gold, while Mihawk's Yoru had this brand new binding around the grip in gleaming white leather bound in intricate braids to give the World's Greatest Swordsman an even better grip on the great black blade when he fought, no one asked about it, just offered their sincere compliments which Crocodile and Mihawk accepted without much fanfare while sending Buggy these quietly hungry looks, promising much enjoyment in private, all though they never went anywhere past kisses and heavy petting. Buggy also never spent a single night with Mihawk and Crocodile, always leaving to his own tent and keeping that boundary between them. The two vampires understood, the both of them constantly fighting the temptation to just take instead of patiently earn their third mate completely.

More moments and actions like this followed, the three of them learning more about each other, quietly courting and yet somehow the whole island figuring it out and being cool with it without making it a big deal... most likely for self preservation purposes and they were genuinely happy for their Chairman that he had two of the most powerful men in the whole world as both his lieutenants and something more.

Now that wasn't to say that things were all sunshine and roses, they were who they were after all and got into tons of arguments about anything and everything, especially when it came to running such a lucretive business together. They were all smart, they were all stubborn, and they were all bullheaded. Crocodile didn't stop being an asshole, Mihawk didn't stop being aloof to the point of being apathetic, and Buggy still had some really bad ideas that blew up in his face both literally and figuratively a whole bunch of times. More often than not vampire eyes flared and fangs came out threatening, while a star clown with chop chop powers would simply grab his own feet and then float off in a huff ad not speak to them the rest of the day until they'd come to his workshop late at night bearing cookies and milk for all three of them.

Crocodile would be a douche, Buggy would tell him to go eat dung and then cry his eyes out leaving Mihawk to do the awkward consoling and try his best to mediate. Mihawk would just not be in the mood for either Crocodile and Buggy and then they in turn would feel hurt and avoid him. Buggy would feel stifled sometimes with Mihawk and Crocodile always breathing down his neck, and when he'd ask for just a little space, these two vampires would avoid him for days, forgetting that he didn't have the same concept of timelessness that they did.

The true turning point in their relationship happened when Buggy came outside to a commotion one day and bore witness to Mihawk and Crocodile's combined efforts to tear down that one terrible windowless stone room located in the back of the armory. The place where Crocodile and Mihawk would take Buggy for "serious private meetings" when the two vampires had first arrived on Karai Bari, Crocodile having come to collect on the debt that was owed with his husband by his side, the two of them reuniting after some time apart as was their tradition.

Buggy had watched with tears streaming down his gobbsmacked face as Mihawk had used Yoru, sending one of his green energy slashes at the structure while Crocodile had unleashed huge swirling balls of sand and sent them flying at the same time like wrecking balls. The terrible room came tumbling down, reduced to rubble completely. Mihawk and Crocodile had both looked at Buggy, utterly silent but the determination clear in otherworldly eyes. It was proof enough for Buggy that they were in it for him, they were in it for the long haul, and he would have no reason to doubt.

Buggy hadn't run and leapt into their arms, no matter how much he had wanted to. Instead he had composed himself, wiped the tears away and walked up to the two former warlords. He had thanked them loudly and ardently for the crowd that had gathered, but more quietly he had asked that, while he would be working late in his workshop that night, they leave their door open for him, his meaning clear. Mihawk and Crocodile had been silently thrilled, but even then they simply shared kisses and caresses but went no further.

A lovely sun room and lounge area was build in the place where the awful room once stood, become a popular hotspot for Cross Guild's staffers to come hang out during breaks and after dinner to just unwind and catch up. Buggy especially loved pointing out constellations to his loves through the panes of glass late at night when it was just the three of them together.

It wasn't long after that, that Buggy's stuff slowly started migrating from his tent into Mihawk and Crocodile's residence. It started with a pair of his gloves and snowballed from there to where Alvida, Cabaji, Mohji, and Richie were finally able to see the inside of Mihawk and Crocodile's abode and marvel at everything in it while they helped Buggy quietly move in with the two vampires. Well, Alvida, Mohji, Daz, and Galdino helped with the moving in, Richie just wanted chin scratches from Mihawk and Crocodile with his hook. Buggy's former tent became his whole workshop, Crocodile going ahead and ordering new weapons manufacturing machines and Mihawk commissioning custome storage shelves and units from Cross Guild's workers to fill the place up and make sure Buggy could creat to his heart's content.

Buggy hadn't stopped himself from tackling his vampire loves this time when they had presented him with his new and improved workshop.

Before Buggy knew it, five months had passed since the attack by the Marines and the night after the battle that had forever changed the course of his life.

In that time Cross Guild had gone from a tent town to a fortefied stronghold with spiked walls where centries were stationed and filled with Buggy's specially designed booby traps. Security was tight and the bounties on Marines' heads high. Buggy Town could very well be called Buggy City with the explansion of both buildings and new recruits. The Marines had come at them with an army, so Cross Guild build an army of its own from the ground up, with Mihawk in charge of training.

The sun had just started to set, painting the skies in a wonderful aray of hues that man could never recreate. Buggy sighed as he sat on the sands outside the walls of Cross Guild, watching the sedate ocean waters lap at the beach. There was a sense of calm, both around him and within him as gazed out at the beauty of this world.

He had just had dinner with his crew, Mihawk and Crocodile making themselves scarce. It had been a wonderful time of just eating good food and enjoying good drink and reminiscing about the early days of Buggy and his crew, and Alvida leading her own ship. They enjoyed each others company but there was a definite tension in the air that had everything to do with what this day marked.

Buggy's last day as a human.

The time had finally come for Buggy to embrace his fate and for Mihawk and Crocodile's patience to finally pay off.

He had told his friends and while they had concerns, they knew that it was futile to protest. It was not for the immortality and power that came with being a vampire that he was doing this for, no, Buggy was desperately and irrevocably in love, and there was no power on Earth that could sway him from this chosen path. Instead they had given him encouragement and even teased him about how he had two of the strongest men they had ever heard of in the whole world wrapped around his fingers.

Buggy turned his gaze out to the horizon and remembered the truly horrific tale Crocodile had shared with him one night, of how he himself had been turned. There had been no love, no courting, or even an explanation. Centuries ago he had just been a tall man with an actual on his way home through a forest from work as something he couldn't even remember now when he had been dragged into shadows and drained of his blood within the span of seconds. As he had laid there dying, he had gazed into the grinning, rat-like face of his attacker, who had then sliced his skeletal wrist and forced his black hued blood into Crocodile's mouth. The creature had then dragged Crocodile off into the woods with his body already burning in death and transformation.

The creature had stripped him bare and ravaged him right there on the forest floor, constantly bigging Crocodile and making him drink more and more of his rancid blood before his human, violated body had breathed it's last. He had awoken not ten mimutes later with glowing orange eyes and a mouthful of wicked fangs where his canine teeth should have been, and a near insatiable hunger his maker was more than happy to exploit as the fiend had literally shoved him in the direction of Crocodile's quaint little village and turned him loose, all the while cackling with a laugh like broken glass. Crocodile as a newly made vampire had gone berserk and decimated his entire village.

He could not remember his human family at all but he surmised that he had consumed them as well.

After that he had been wisked away, caged into being the loyal servant of the fiend who had destroyed everything, who name he had never even been told. Two hundred misrable years being in servitude to a sadistic monster left Crocodile a monster in his own right. His maker had renamed him Ofu just to add insult to the injury of chopping off Crocodile's left hand just because he felt like it and then mercilessly burning the stump with this unknown hunk of lead like rock that left him unable to regenerate his hand. Ofu was no such oaf though as he had bided his time and used the blood of a dead man to poison his maker and get the last laugh. He made sure to reduce his tormentor to ash after dicapitating him with his bare hands and not even spread the ashed anywhere, just leaving the remnants of his former master in a glass jar at the mouth of a drain pipe outside of the city they had been living in as the perfect revenge before he walked away and never looked back.

Ofu traveled the world, learned from those around him, and then witnessed a crocodile hunting in a swamp one night and rechristened himself in the fierce animal's name. In some unknown desert he had found the goldsmith for his hook and his devil fruit, giving him even more strength on top of being a centuries old vampire.

Crocodile found better vampires to learn from and grow, to understand that turning someone was meant to be an experience of love and pleasure for a vampire and the mortal they were turning. Crocodile wandered, made his fortunes and then disappeared again before anyone grew suspicious as to why he never aged. He lost everything and then rebuilt himself again, on and on in an endless cycle until one fateful day, when he had earned resistant to the sun's harsh light, he happened to cross paths with a young man with yellow eyes and an unparalleled talent for the sword, who's blood had made his heart beat for the first time in forever once he had tasted it.

The rest was history as Crocodile turned Mihawk at the age of 41, when he had already reached the apex of his talent and strength, preserving him for all time as the one ture greatest swordsman that all other lovers of the sword would smash and ruin themselves against century after century.

For centuries after, either together or apart, it was Crocodile and Mihawk against the world, despite the gnawing void left by their bond being unfinished.

Mihawk too discussed his own turning, how it had been like a wedding night. Crocodile had booked them a fancy hotel on the Grand Line and they had made love all night, culminating in Crocodile sinking his fangs into him and draining him to the point of death. The saffron eyes vampire had then used his own hook to slice his tongue and then kissed Mihawk deeply. Mihawk had drank the blood that filled his mouth, and then his body had died from the vampire's venom seeping into his every cell, and then he had reawakened with a roar, his already striking eyes glowing and his new fangs proudly displayed. Together they had sealed their bond once and for all by sinking their fangs into each other and taking from each other and new, eternal mates.

They stayed in that hotel for a week, giving the other guests a chance to leave and disappearing those that were foolish enough to stay.

Buggy was pulled from his musings on the history his lovers shared with him when a pair of seaguls screeched overhead loudly. Buggy looked to the skies and felt a jolt go through him when he saw that the sun had already dipped halfway under the horizon.

Buggy was immediately on his feet and dusting off the bright red outfit he had worn for the day. He took one last look at the beautiful sunset before him and then turned away with a sigh as he headed back for the main gates that led into Buggy Town. He stepped through the megaton steel gates and raise his hand to signal the guards on duty to close them in his wake. As the great gates closed shut, it felt like Buggy was closing a chapter of his life and the doors to a man with red hair who was out there on the high seas once and for all. Never glancing back, Buggy walked up the path towards the big top tent, which had grown in size and now sported a purple top and had an even bigger skull with rounded nose and cross swords effigy crowning it.

He nodded to those he passed and said his evening farewells before he stepped through the archway into the great Cross Guild tent.

No sooner had Buggy stepped through, he paused mid-step at the sight that greeted him, a shaky smile spreading across his face.

His crew were all standing around by the entrance to the corridor that led to his, Mihawk, and Crocodile's mini-fortress.

" Aww you guys." Buggy chuckled as he approached his crew mates and held his arms out wide.

Unlike the first time where the air had been so thick with fear and despair you could almost taste it, this time it felt more like be safe and we'll see you soon as Buggy shared hugs with Cabaji and Mohji. Alvida squeezed him hard and shed a tear or two. Richie full on tackled him, almost sending Buggy to the floor as he mewled.

" It's gonna be okay Richie, this isn't like the last time, I'll just be a little different when I come back yeah?" Buggy soothed as he hugged Richie's around his neck tightly.

Richie just mewled louder before Mohji stepped in and had to pull him away from their captain.

Daz and Galdino were waiting by the mouth of the corridor. Buggy got a quick, tight hug from Galdino who was barely holding back tears. When he faced Daz Bonez himself, the deadly former assassin surprised the blue haired Yonko by holding out his hand to him. Buggy felt a telltale burn behind his eyes that he stubbornly held back as he reached out and accepted the stoic slice slice wielder's hand.

They met each others' gaze and said not a word. Then Daz simply nodded his head and gave Buggy's hand a final squeeze before letting go.

With that Buggy headed towards the mouth of the corridor. Once again he paused at the threshold and turned around to see he crew. This time around his smile was bright and there was the assurance that this was indeed 'see you guys later' and not potentially goodbye forever. With that, Buggy turned and stepped over the threshold into the now not so dark corridor. He'd managed to get his two vampiric lovers to brighten this corridor just a bit after he tripped and fell right on his nose a couple of months back and screamed up a storm until Crocodile finally ordered some brighter lightbulbs for the hanging lanterns.

Buggy walked up the corridor, his smile widening when he caught sight of the double wrought iron doors, which now had blue and red painted accents to include him in their design. He saw that one of the doors was ajar and felt a buzz of anticipation lance through him as he stepped inside and pulled the heavy door shut after him.

The space, now an eclectic mix of his, Mihawk, and Crocodile's signature styles was quiet and the lights dimmed. Buggy made his way through the living room and the den area, then past Crocodile's desk and Mihawk's library before he ducked through the heavy curtains into their bedroom area. His harlequin patterned amoire in reds, blues, and golds stood next to Mihawn and Crocodile's by the far wall. In the corner by the window he had his vanity where he kept all his makeup and flashy accessories. The floor now had some of his star shaped rugs laying on it by the bed and the walls had old wanted posters and circus artwork on them. It was a lot, yet not too much, seemlessly meshing with the more austere tastes of the bedrooms two other occupants.

Said occupants were nowhere to be found, but that did not surprise Buggy. They had made themselves scarce so that Buggy could enjoy his last hours as a human without the two of them looming over him. They would be by his side at precisely sundown, as they had decided together.

Buggy stepped over to his dresser and started to take off his current attire, leaving only his blue and white star covered boxers on. He left everything hanging on the outside to air out on the special rack on the outside before he pulled open the drawer and made the selection of a simple, oversized sleeping shirt before he turned and headed for the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him and sighed as he stood still, taking a moment to just contemplate what tonight would mean for him and the two extraordinary men he was meant to be with.

Forever, for better or for worse, tonight would mark the start of forever.

Buggy quickly shook himself of his musings and focused on the task at hand, which was to get himself ready. He hung up the shirt he would wear on a nearby hook before he pulled off his boxers, leaving them on the floor. He then made his way to where the now three bathroom dinks stood and came to stand before the one that was his. He pulled out his makeup remover wipes from their place in the cabinet behind the mirror and started cleaning his face. Once he was bare in every sense of the word, Buggy made his way over to the the giant tub. Buggy was pleasantly surprised when he found the bath to already be filled with piping hot water and smelling deeply of lavender, just the way he liked it. No doubt just Mihawk and Crocodile taking care of him in that subtle way of theirs.

Buggy climbed in and luxuriated in the water for a bit before he started cleaning himself with care. He drained the bathwater and showered to wash and condition his hair. Much like that fateful night, Buggy dried his hair and dressed so that he emerged from the bathroom relaxed and with his long blue hair falling about his shoulders and down his back in soft waves and curls.

Buggy checked the skies outside, seeing that there was still daylight. With a nod, Buggy turned and went over to his vanity to brush his hair out. After that he climbed into their giant bed, making his way to the center and laying down. He let out a deep sigh and relaxed against the crisp dark green sheets and wingled his toes, enjoying the feel against his freshly bathed skin. Now came the hard part of waiting.

Buggy lasted about five minutes before he was getting up from the bed. He shuffled about their bedroom restlessly, constantly glancing at the window to see if it was totally dark yet. The minutes passed by with agonizing slowness as Buggy occupied himself with putting his clothes away and readjusting the chairs and desks eventhough they were perfectly fine where they were.

Once that no longer held his interest, Buggy just hung his head and headed back to bed. He climbed in and then lay back down across it, spread eagle and annoyed. He shut his eyes and focused on just breathing. He didn't know for how long he laid there, but he was just starting to get a little drowsy when the bed dipped on either side of him. Pale blue eyes flew open with a small yelp as Buggy found himself flanked by Mihawk and Crocodile on either side of him, the two vampires gazing at him warmly, a quiet excitement radiating from them.

" H-Hi!" Buggy greeted with his whole face lighting up and he pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked from Mihawk to Crocodile.

" Evening Clown." Crocodile rumbled, dressed in nothing but a pair of pale grey boxers.

" Hello Buggy." Mihawk said quietly, wearing only a pair of black sleep pants.

There was a moment of silence that was just the side of awkward before as one, they all broke. Mihawk allowed himself a huff of laughter while Buggy and Crocodile chuckled openly, their voices filling the quiet bedroom as moonlight slowly streamed in, signaling that night had finally fallen completely.

There was another beat of charged silence and then light a rubberband snapping, the three of them were on each other, smashing together. Mihawk plundered Buggy's mouth, while Crocodile snaked his hand under the blue haired Yonko's shirt to get at his chest. Buggy groaned and arched into their touches as he lay sandwiched between them. When Mihawk and Buggy broke their kiss with a gasp, Crocodile was right there to take his place while Mihawk kissed and sucked at his neck.

Crocodile kissed Buggy breathless before Mihawk wrapped his arms around the young man and pulled him away, making them stand up on their knees as he ran his toungue over the side of Buggy's neck and held him tight. He gave Buggy another searing kiss before he hands gathered the loose material of the baggy shirt Buggy was wearing. With his glowing golden eyes going to Crocodile who was sitting in audience, Mihawk slowly divested their intended mate of his shirt. Buggy shuddered as the garment was removed and the cool night air hit his skin. Feeling Crocodile's hungry saffron gaze zeroed in on him only added to the intoxicating headiness in the air.

Mihawk's fangs finally extended, his yellow eyes flaring as he held Buggy close and ran the tips of his teeth across the skin of the blue haired Yonko's neck, but did not bite him outright. No, not yet for there was much else to be experienced together.

Crocodile sighed as he felt his blood rise at the sight of the two pale bodies so intimately intertwined. He reached out and ran his fingers through Buggy's long locks, earning a soft groan of approval while he arched up against Mihawk as the golden eyes vampire kissed down his neck to his chest and started paying special attention to the little pink buds on his chest.

When Buggy's head fell back and Crocodile got a look at his ecstatic face, he couldn't hold back anymore and he surged forward and cradled the back of Buggy's head as he sealed his lips to the red nosed man's in a deep, probing kiss.

Mihawk smirked as he twisted Buggy around inside his arms and then pushed him into Crocodile's waiting arms. Mihawk immediately leaned in and started pressing kisses up and down Buggy's spine, making the blue haired Yonko shudder almost violently.

" You should... take him.. first... husband." Mihawk said huskily in between kisses.

" No, you should. You going first will make it easier for him when it's my turn." Crocodile growled as he bit at Buggy's milky white throat with his still human teeth.

" No!" Buggy gasped as he shuddered and opened his eyes to look at the men he loved.

" No, I want you both, at the same time!" Buggy breathed, his face flushed and his pupils blown wide.

Mihawk and Crocodile both stared at Buggy in surprise, not expecting such boldness from their intended mate.

" Clown, it's your first time with us. We'd split you." Crocodile grumbled but Buggy shook his head.

" No, I can handle it! I want you both, I can handle it you dont have to choose!" Buggy whispered as he reached for the both of them desperately.

Mihawk and Crocodile shared a look. They were obviously reluctant, but they had also learned to trust that Buggy could handle a great deal more than people often gave him credit for. With that in mind, Mihawk and Crocodile converged on their intended mate and began preparing him.

Two sets of boxers, one grey and the other blue with white stars, and a pair of black sleeping pants were soon fluttering to the floor, forgotten by their owners as the groans and growls of pleasure steadily grew louder and the air throughout the bedroom more heated.

For what seemed like hours Mihawk and Crocodile worked in tandem to explore Buggy's body, bring him to the very brink of pleasure, only to drive him almost mad when they staved off. Buggy gave as good as he got, usuing his chop chop powers to separate his hands and tease Mihawk and Crocodile in turn. Like having on hand running fingertips over the sensitive scars under Crocodile's chest, making the giant vampire groan and hiss in pleasure, while his other hand raked his nails over the side of Mihawk's ribcage, making the World's Greatest Swordsman moan wantonly before rubbing up and down his powerfully built back, feeling the muscles ripple and coil at his touch.

A few moments later Mihawk pulled away from Buggy's desperate kiss and reached for the bedside table, pulling open the bottom drawer to get out the items he would need in the form of a couple of viles of clear, lubricating oil. With these items in hand, Mihawk set about preparing Buggy as best he could so that he and Crocodile could fulfil his wish as best they could without hurting him.

Buggy's heaving gasps and low groans filled the air as he was gently, lovingly prepared. Crocodile and Mihawk both soothed him with kisses and chuckled at his impatience when he told them to hurry.

A few moments later Buggy's harsh cry shot through the air as Mihawk and Crocodile both slowly connected with him in the most intimate way. Buggy gasped and writhed, his chest heaving and his skin flushed. Crocodile's fangs finally extended, his eyes hooded and his body shuddering at finally feeling Buggy to his deepest parts, and doing so with Mihawk right their with him. They went agonizingly slow, giving Buggy as much chance to adjust to their combined girth. Their Yonko was doing magnificiently and soon, they had sunk into him fully. Mihawk plundered Buggy's mouth, his fangs lightly nicking the mortal's lips and cause a tiny amount of blood to come forth. Mihawk moans unashamedly at the exquisite taste before he forced himself away and titled Buggy's head back by his chin towards Crocodile so that he could taste too, his pupils blown wide and the fires of passion consuming him fully.

Buggy cried out again as Mihawk and Crocodile held onto him and started to move, started to finally make love to the one they had desired for months on end.

" I love you Buggy." Mihawk breathed against Buggy's panting lips.

" I love you Buggy." Crocodile groaned into Buggy's ear just a moment later.

Buggy sobbed as he heard the words said back to him, the words he had been slowly earning all this time.

" I-I love you, I love you both so much!" Buggy cried with a tearful laugh before he surged forward to kiss Mihawk in front of him and then Crocodile behind him, his actions fervent as he poured all his feelings into them.

They moved together, their hands caressed and clutched at each other as the pressure slowly rose, the air grew more charged, and the groans more louder and louder.

Soon Mihawk and Crocodile where falling out of the steady rhythm they had fallen into as a crackling spark raced up their spines and their fangs started to ache with the need to sink into flesh and feed. Mihawk and Crocodile's eyes started to glow with an untold hunger and yearning. Buggy's cries grew harsher and harsher as the seconds past, his body tightening and his chest heaving almost violently.

Then as one they were fallling over the edge into white hot climax. Buggy's harsh scream mixed with Mihawk and Crocodile's gutteral roars as everything went white and hot all over and the two vampires finally sank their fangs into the sides of Buggy's neck much like they had done that fateful night that Buggy had saved their lives.

Mihawk and Crocodile lost themselves in Buggy's blood filling their mouths, drinking down every mouthful. Only this time, after they both took a third mouthful there was no lightening bolt feeling driving them away, only more blood filling their mouths. They immediately drank it down and moaned together as they could continue to drink the blood that had saved them, the taste of heaven allowed to them by fate.

Buggy shuddered as his hands clutched at Mihawk's back and Crocodiles wrist around him as he felt move blood flow from the sides of his neck. The waves of pleasure continued, seemingly endlessly but within a few minutes the pleasure slowly morphed into pain.

" It's happening." Buggy thought with a wince as his body began to tingle unpleasantly and a chill fell over him.

He started to feel lightheaded but fought against the instinctive urge to pull away from the source of the pain, the fangs buried in his neck. Mihawk and Crocodile did their best to sooth Buggy with firm caresses meant to reassure, all the while still lost in the joy of drinking his rich, arterial blood.

The fountain was not plentiful forever though as the innitual gush slowly started to lessen and lessen to a trickle.

Buggy moaned softly in agony as he felt dizzy and weak, but he held on as Mihawk and Crocodile drained him. They pulled and pulled at Buggy's blood until they felt him go utterly limp against them. With a herculean effort, Mihawk forced himself to stop and wrenched himself away from Buggy's neck with a harsh yell. When his vision cleared his gritted his teeth at the sight of Buggy.

The already pale younger man now had lost almost all his color. His veins stood out against skin that looked transluscent and liveless. The only sign that he was still alight was the shallow right and fall of his chest as his lungs struggled to pull in oxygen.

" Crocodile stop! You have to stop, he's at the point of death!" Mihawk roared as he shoved at a still greedily feeding Crocodile with all his might.

Crocodile fell away from Buggy with an ear shattering roar, Buggy falling away from them both and falling on the bed utterly limp with his eyes grayed and barely open. His neck bled lasily, but only thin trickles came forth, all that was left in him. Crocodile surged up, ready to attack when Mihawk let his fist fly and literally knocked sense back into his husband. Crocodile growled and shook his head as he came back to himself, and not a moment too soon as Mihawk all but dove across the bed and gathered an utterly spent Buggy into his arms, his mouth going to the sides of the blue haired man's neck to seal the bitemarks and stop him from bleeding out completely. Once he saw that the wounds had sealed completely he called out to the barely conscious younger man.

" Buggy? Buggy! Can you hear me Buggy?" He urged as Crocodile rushed foreward to loom over them both.

With a soft gasp, Buggy looked up at them. He felt like he was moving through cement, everything was slow and Mihawk and Crocodile were so far away. He was cold, his hands and feet were numb and his heart felt like it was barely beating against his sternum. It dawned on Buggy through a vale of detachment.

He was drained, he was dying. This was it.

" Dra...cule?" Buggy whispered, barely able to do it.

" Yes Buggy, I am here, we're both here!" Mihawk answered immediately, glancing to a slightly shellshocked looking Crocodile who quickly leaned in closer.

" Croco." Buggy croaked out weakly.

" Yes Clown, 'm here. Just relax, it's going to be alright. We drained you my love, you are at the point of death and there is not turning back. Do you agree to join with us and forsake all others? Will you take the blood of me and Mihawk and enter eternity?" He asked, repeating the words he had said to Mihawk himself all those centuries ago.

Mihawk felt his eyes fill with tears as he too remembered, gazing down at Buggy with open and unguarded love shining in his glowing eyes.

Buggy took in a slow, rattling breath, his entire body growing more limp and numb even as he gathered the last of his strength to speak.

" Y-Yes... I will..." Buggy gritted out as loud as he could, meeting both Crocodile and Mihawk's gazes.

Crocodile and Mihawk both felt pride wash over them like a warm wave of the ocean, calming them both.

" Part your lips my love." Mihawk said softly.

Buggy obeyed and dimly watched as Crocodile and Mihawk both raised their right wrists to their blood smeared mouths and bit into their own flesh. Dark red blood surged up and spilled past their lips as the bled themselves. As one they brought their wrists over Buggy's open mouth, letting the crimson streams trickle in.

Buggy flinched lightly at the initial tast, the blood harsh and metallic against his tongue.

" Don't fight it Buggy, just drink it down, please." Crocodile urged, all pretense of being Mr.0 gone. He was just Crocodile, who wanted his and Mihawk's mate to drink from them and live.

" Drink from us Buggy, drink and every last drop if you have to but please drink from us and live damn it! Please don't leave us! Don't leave us please." Mihawk urged as well, the both of them now on the other side of that fateful night Buggy saved them, nearly repeating his exact, desperate words.

Hearing this had Buggy forcing himself to swallow that first mouthful down. The moment he did, it was like a burst of pure electricity throughout his whole body. The harsh metallic taste transformed entiredly, turning into this sweet and salty nectar that crackled down his throat and wetted his completely parched throat. With a broken wail, Buggy surged up and grabbed Mihawk and Crocodile's wrists, lapping at their wounds like a man that had found water. Mihawk and Crocodile both shuddered at the feel of Buggy's lips and tongue on their wrists, the whole experience one of the most intimate means of connection in existence.

Buggy drank and drank, Mihawk and Crocodile's blood filling him, rejuvinating him.

Then Mihawk and Crocodile were wrenching their arms away from their beloved, a warning twinge shooting through them telling them they could not give Buggy any more. Buggy cried out at the loss, Mihawk and Crocodile quickly licking their wounds to heal the punture marks to stop the bleeding. There was a beat of silence where Buggy stared at Mihawk and Crocodile with his mouth coated in red, matching the two vampires, who stared back at him, knowing what would happen next.

The next moment, Buggy's blood curdling scream echoed through their entire mini-fortress, and out the windows to the night covered heavens themselves. Mihawk and Crocodile could only watched as Buggy collapsed back onto their bed and started writhing in sheer agony. He curled in on himself one moment, and then arched nearly off the bed entirely the next, crying out and gasping for air.

Crocodile and Mihawk lunged forward and surrounded Buggy, holding him down gently to the bed.

" H-Hurts." Buggy weezed with a sob as tears began to leak from the corners of his eyes, his every harsh exhale ending in a soft moan as the vampiric blood he had consumed coursed through him and transformed his every cell.

" I know Buggy, I know. It will all be over soon, just relax and let it happen my darling." Mihawk said reassuringly, all the while feeling his very soul lurch in fresh agony, for he and Crocodile knew what was about to him.

After one last moan of pain from Buggy, the blue haired Yonko suddenly went quiet. Crocodile and Mihawk could only watch as Buggy's eyes grew wide and his chest heaved but no air was pulled into his lungs. His throat had just stopped working. Buggy's human instinct to survive kicked in, trying deperately to pull in air but simply not being able to. With fear etched onto his face and his mouth working but no sound coming forth, Buggy reached out shaking hands and cupped Crocodile and Mihawk's cheeks. The vampires immediately leaned into his touch, Crocodile covering Buggy's hand with his own massive one while Mihawk gripped Buggy's other wrist and pressed kisses into his palm. They could only watch as Buggy's eyes started to get glassy and unfocused as each agonizing second passed. Then Buggy's body arched up a final time, going tight light a current was passing through it before he finally fell back on the bed, letting out a profound exhale and then going utterly limp as his heart stopped it's frantic beating.

Sightless pale blue eyes with their pupils turned to small pinpricks gazed up at Mihawk and Crocodile with the blankness that only one power on Earth could bring.

Buggy D. Clown was dead.

Dracule Mihawk allowed a single tear to escape him, the glistening droplet carving a trail down his pale, colorless cheek and then mixing with the blood that still stained the lower half of his face. Crocodile loomed over Buggy with his face made of stone, his own dispair at seeing those vibrant blue eyes completely devoid of all life too great for even a single tear.

The seconds dragged on like centuries, neither vampire moving a centimeter as they gazed at their intended mate's body. Then as one they spoke.

" Arise beloved." They whispered together.

There was a beat of tense silence, and then Buggy's body was arching almost clear off the bed as he took in a sudden, profound breath, his lungs suddenly alive again. When his lungs were full to the brim, the air rushed back up through Buggy's throat and through his vocal cords, emanating out of his mouth in an almight scream.

Mihawk and Crocodile had bright, bloody grins spread across their faces as Buggy screamed for all his worth until it ended in a terrifying, inhuman roar that was like music to the two vampires' ears.

As his roar ended, Buggy sat bolt upright, his back straighter then ramrod straight.

" Magnificent." Mihawk whispered in awe, Crocodile letting out a low hum of agreement as they finally beheld Buggy's face.

Gone were those pale blue eyes that always looked like a calm ocean in the mid-day sun. In their sted a pair of eyes the color of glacier ice, the palest bluish white and glowing with newfound life stared back at them. A bloodied mouth that once had normal, straight white teeth now had wicked looking fangs where normal canines had once been. With his long blue hair wild and blood stained about his head, Buggy gazed back at Mihawk and Crocodile and spoke.

" H-Hi my loves." He said shakily as a tremulous and fanged grin slowly spread across his bloodied face.

Mihawk and Crocodile let out their own growls of pure, savage joy as they rushed across the bed and tackled their newly turned mate. With their fangs out and their eyes glowing they shared bloody kisses that quickly dissolved into another haze of endless passion. They made love deep into the night, Buggy feeling the exhilaration of being a vampire, feeling the world around him in a way he never thought possible, feeling Mihawk and Crocodile to their very souls. It all culminated in Buggy sinking his fangs into both of their necks, claiming them as they had claimed him, sealing their bond once and for all and completing it.

They collapsed in a boneless heap together, a total mess in every sense of the word, in shambles and a horrific sight for anyone who would have gazed upon them then.

They didn't give a shit as Crocodile rested against the headboard, getting blood all over the pillows as he held a drowsy Mihawk under his right arm and a barely conscious Buggy directly on his chest using his hooked arm. Mihawk lazily stroked his disheveled fingers the equally unkempt bright blue locks that still shined luminously in the moonlight.

They said not a word, they didn't need to. Buggy had joined them in eternity, the culmination of his one act of bravery, his selfless act that could have meant death in order to save the two men he loved. Buggy slowly lifted his head and smiled dreamily at his mates, leaning up to give Crocodile and lingering peck, and then Mihawk.

" My mates." He said with a besotted sigh and his eyes glowing warmly in the moonlight.

" Our Buggy." Mihawk and Crocodile both murmered back, just as besotted as they felt the voids within their very souls finally full for the first time ever. It was glorious beyond all the words known to man.

They finally drifted off together a few moments after that, well and truly spent, but fully together and whole at last.

Epilogue

The blood curdling scream that eminated from the meeting tent Chairman Buggy, Mihawk, and Sir Crodile had taken the rather disgusting slave trader into gave many a passerby pause... for about a second before they all shrugged and went back to their business .

The sun was shining brightly over Karai Bari and Buggy Town was bustling more vibrantly than ever.

It had been nearly six months since Buggy had undertaken the tranformation into a full-fledged vampire and he had started being a marvel to his mates from that very same night. The next day Mihawk and Crocodile had awoken to Buggy standing by the window with his form fully engulfed in sunlight. Mihawk and Crocodile had rushed out of bed horrfied and thinking they were about to watch their new mate burst into flames, instead they were stunned to find him humming a dainty tune as he sunned his bloodstained self without any issue. The resistance to sunlight that had taken Crocodile centuries to develope, and Mihawk a good fifty years himself, had been bestowed on Buggy from day one. It was probably a combination of Crocodile and Mihawk's vampiric blood and just Buggy himself. He was just special that way.

The marvels of Buggy D. Clown as a vampire continued from there. Unlike other fledgling vampires who couldn't control their thurst and attacked anything in sight, Buggy was the exact opposite. He reunited with his crew the very next day after he was turned and didn't attack anyone, or even expose his fangs to them. He just hurried away when he felt the hunger, rushing straight back to Mihawk and Crocodile who immediately took care of him with their own blood and a pint of freshly donated vital fluid. When Mihawk took Buggy off to the woods to train while Crocodile held down things at Cross Guild, the swordsman had beared witness to Buggy finally losing his control and using his chop chop powers, now infinitely upgraded with vampirism. Many animals had been left savagely consumed, basically turned into jerky by Buggy's newborn hunger. At one point Mihawk and literally had to sit on Buggy to stop him from decimating an entire heard of wild boar and had to deal with the hours long tantrum that followed. Even then Buggy had been a sight to behold but also presented a pressing problem that Mihawk realized quickly.

They didn't have nearly the amount of blood all three of them would need now in order to live comfortably.

As a newly made vampire, Buggy would need to feed far more often than his centuries old mates. While they had brainstormed together in the saftey of their bedroom it had been Mihawk who had gotten the ball rolling, wondering why they couldn't just lure fresh prey to the island. Buggy then suggested that they lure slavers with their ships' bellies heavy with slaves to Karai Bari under the false guise of business. And finally, Crocodile was able to make some initial arrangements with some underworld aquantences that owed him favors and the rest of was history.

Now back in the present another agonized scream sounded from the meeting tent, this time ending in an unpleasant gurgle and then silence. From where he stood guard over the entrance into the tent, Daz Bonez just kept his massive arms crossed and looked stoically straight ahead as he spoke to himself.

" Another one bites the dust." He muttered under his breath.

He allowed himself the barest, barest little quirk of the corner of his lips before his faced smoothed out and he looked as intimidating as ever.

Inside the tent, Mihawk sat casually with his leg crossed and sipped a bit lovely red vino from a crystal wine glass. Standing beside him, Crocodile calmly lit his latest cigar with a match and took in a deep drag of the rich tobacco, cool, calm and collected with smoke whisping about him. They were both in their signature outfits with Crocodile's hook gleaming on his wrist and Mihawk's Yoru glittering magnificently as she leaned against the armrest of the chair he sat in. They looked immaculate as ever as they gazed casually towards the center of the room.

A low rumbling growl had both of their eyes flaring with a different kind of hunger as they beheld their Buggy. The Chairman of Cross Guild had just dispatched the latest slave trader without mercy, his painted face splattered in blood along with the pure white captain's outfit he had decided to wear today. His eyes flaring a pale bluish white and hateful.

The slave trader's equally despicable crew had been carted off to the underground dungeons as had now become the common practice once every two months when Cross Guild would convey its "interest" in slave stock only to effectively turn the tables on the slavers. They would have the dubious honor of serving as the food supply for Cross Guild's three uniquely bloodthirsty rulers. They had plenty to last them years and it seemed fitting that slavers be enslaved themselves as nothing more than a food source for a trio of immortal beings.

The 'cargo' of these god-awful men were immediately freed and taken to the hospital tent for Dr. Jungo to assess and treat and then swiftly given the option of either being transported home or making a new home at Cross Guild as was the other common practice. The overwhelming majority would choose to stay with Cross Guild and join it's ranks.

Presently, Buggy turned to face his mates with an disgusted scowl.

" Piece of shit tasted like shit, had a fucking iron deficiency!" He spat maliciously as he looked balefully down at the bloody, tattered remains of the slave trading asshole he had basically rended limb from limb before drinking him dry and ripping his throat out with his teeth.

Mihawk and Crocodile shared a keen look before they turned glowing, openly smitten eyes to their husband without saying a word. Within seconds Buggy was forgetting all about his rather repulsive afternoon snack and smiled back warmly at his husbands. As they looked to their Buggy with quiet pride and some seriously naughty intentions for later, Mihawk and Crocodile had a mutual thought run through their minds.

Bad men better watch out for their beloved blue eyed beast.

The End and The Beginning