"Usopp! Luffy!"
The sun was high, and the breeze carried with it the scent of the sea, the giggles of mischievous children and the shocked cries of the Red Haired Pirates. On the deck of the Red Force, Usopp and Luffy were darting between barrels, crates and the legs of Shanks' crew, trying but failing to stifle their giggles.
"Shh," Usopp whispered, pressing his palm to Luffy's mouth when they finally stopped behind a large barrel. He winced and rubbed his hand on Luffy's cheek after the other licked his hand. "Don't lick me!"
He pulled a small popper from his pants pocket and handed it to Luffy. After ensuring that Luffy was holding it right, he pulled out his own and nodded. "Now!"
Together, they released a carefully constructed web of strings that triggered a cascade of glitter bombs above the deck. The air filled with shimmering specks, raining down like a thousand tiny stars upon the crew.
Laughter erupted through the deck before several brooms were pushed into their hands.
"Even the greatest pranksters need to clean up their messes," one of the men said, giving them a wink before shaking his head to dislodge the twinkling particles from his black hair.
"Fine," the two boys said in unison, playfully rolling their eyes and cleaning up the mess.
As Luffy and Usopp diligently cleaned the deck, their laughter echoed across the ship. The sparkling particles still floated through the air, catching the sunlight as they worked. Rumour has it that glitter is still found on the ship to this day.
Several hours later, Makino called Luffy to help at the bar, and Usopp found a quiet spot on an old wooden crate, where he sat with a notebook, diligently scribbling chemical equations under the guidance of Hongo.
"Balance is the key to chemistry," Hongo advised, pointing to the unbalanced equation in his notebook.
"Remember, Usopp, balance is key in chemistry," Hongo advised, pointing to the unbalanced equation in the notebook. The lessons on equilibrium mirrored the newfound equilibrium on the ship after the earlier prank. The crew members continued their work around him, the camaraderie unbroken even as the sun descended, casting a warm, orange hue over the scene.
Usopp frowned, pausing with his pencil poised hesitantly over the page before quickly trying out the problem, his tongue sticking out in concentration. After a minute, he sat up straight and frowned down at the page, "Erm, does this seem right?"
A shadow enveloped him, and he looked up, a happy squeal leaving his lips upon recognizing the towering silhouette. "Uncle Buggy!" Usopp gasped, abandoning his notebook and hurling himself into the waiting arms of the man with a red nose, shining blue hair and kind laugh.
"Usopp!" Buggy exclaimed, enveloping the boy in a bear hug, his voice muffled by Usopp's hair as he planted a kiss on the crown of his head.
"Did you bring me anything? How was your journey? Did you fight any sea monsters?" Usopp fired off questions like cannonballs, each loaded with childish curiosity and boundless energy. He had leaned back to look Buggy in the eyes, legs and arms moving excitedly.
"Whoa, whoa, give the man some air, Usopp!" Shanks called out as he made his way on deck, laughter evident in his tone. Luffy scurried at his heels, peering up at Buggy with large eyes and a grin.
Buggy extracted himself from Usopp's tight embrace and grinned broadly at the two boys. "Why don't you two go play on my ship? There's a trampoline on deck calling your names," he said with a wink.
"Trampoline!" Usopp exclaimed, jumping on the balls of his feet. He turned to Luffy. "Have you ever been on one? It's so much fun. I bet you could get to the tops of the trees if you bounce high enough!"
"No way!" Luffy gasped.
Yasopp, who had been walking out from the kitchen, shot Buggy a panicked look, to which the clown merely rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Come on, I'll show you!" Usopp grabbed Luffy's hand and tugged him off the ship towards Buggy's docked on the other side of the dock.
Hongo stared amusingly down at Usopp's notebook before looking up at Yasopp with a shrug. "I guess our Chemistry lesson is done for the day." He picked up the book and thumbed through a few pages before handing it over to Yasopp. "He should be ready for the unit exam in a couple of days. He's picking up the concepts quicker than I can make sure I fully understand them myself."
Yasopp snorted, "Yeah, that's been a major complaint of his teachers since he's started school."
"Buggy, come have a drink with us at the bar." Shanks suggested, pulling the men's attention towards the two captains. "We have a lot to catch up on."
Buggy raised an eyebrow at Shanks's invitation, a sly grin on his lips. "Oh, catch up on what, Shanks? How many more scars Teach has given you, or perhaps we are counting the number of islands you've accidentally set on fire?" He chuckled as he shifted on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's at eight now, is it not?"
"Three," Shanks shot him a mock offended look, placing a hand over his heart. "Come on, Buggy, you know those were just minor setbacks. Besides, I have some great stories about the Grand Line."
Buggy rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh, fantastic. I can hardly contain my excitement."
Shanks pouted, giving Buggy a playful shove. "Don't be like that. It's been too long since we've had a proper drink together. Let's reminisce about the good old days."
With a theatrical sigh, Buggy conceded, "Fine, fine. But only because I've missed your terrible sense of humour."
Ten minutes later saw them in Partys, sitting at the bar. Makino poured a generous amount of rich amber grog into a sturdy mug with practised ease. The liquid sloshed slightly over the edge as she slid it across the counter to Buggy, who grinned appreciatively.
"Here you go," she said warmly. She pressed her elbows on the counter and studied the man. "You're Shanks's childhood friend?"
"No!" Buggy said vehemently. He took a deep drink from the mug, the grog burning a path down his throat. "Thank you."
"Yes!" Shanks said enthusiastically, wincing when Buggy elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't be so mean!"
Buggy rolled his eyes and turned instead to face Yasopp, who was leaning against a wooden pillar behind him, eyes dark as he observed the exchange with a frown on his face.
Buggy pulled a small, unassuming box from his inside pocket and extended it towards Yasopp, his head cocked to the side. "If Banchina asks, you had Shanks distract me while you snuck on the ship and stole it from my rooms. I don't want anything to do with this." His voice was playful, but Yasopp understood the seriousness behind the request. Banchina was a scary woman when crossed.
Yasopp's long, thin fingers closed around the box. The wood was darkened by age, but it's obvious Buggy took good care of it while it was in his care with how meticulously polished it was. He looked at his reflection on the surface and could almost see the day he had given it to Usopp and then further back when his father had given it to him. Yasopp shook his head to erase the thoughts and opened the box. Inside lay a green slingshot, weathered from age but no less strong than the day he first laid his young, shaky hands on it some twenty-five years prior.
Buggy looked through the window towards his ship, where they could hear the squeals of laughter from Usopp and Luffy as they bounced on the trampoline. His thoughts were a carousel of memories and affection for the boy that had grown under his watchful eye alongside Banchina.
"Thank you, Buggy," Yasopp said, his voice a low murmur as he closed the box and slipped it into his pants pocket.
Buggy nodded, his blue hair catching the last rays of sun that broke through the tavern's smokey window, turning it almost orange.
"Are you sticking around, then?" Shanks' voice cut through the thickening atmosphere. His eyes were bright, eager for the affirmative. Yasopp couldn't keep from rolling his eyes. Shanks never changed.
Buggy's lips curled into a sarcastic smile, although he tricked no one who paid close enough attention. The corners of his mouth twitched with amusement. "No can do, business to attend to, people to see…"
"Your business is Usopp!" Shanks said with a pout, "And so is the people!"
Buggy shrugged, "Okay then. I don't want to hang out with you."
"You're so cruel to your old friend," Shanks said with a playful pout.
"Not friends," Buggy said, holding up his hand when Shanks opened his mouth for a rebuttal, "And not brothers, either."
Yasopp rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. He didn't understand why they played this game. Everyone knew Buggy would stay. The posturing was just annoying at that point. They were lucky that they could be in each other's lives with the lives they'd chosen. He looked through the window with a frown. It was sheer dumb luck that he had a chance with Usopp now. It wasn't one he should have been allowed, not with his chosen life. He didn't understand why they'd take such a thing for granted.
Tired of their squabbling, Yasopp let out a sigh. "Can you tell me what happened at the tournament? Banchina's been tightlipped about the whole ordeal, and I rather not get such information from the News Crow."
Buggy's playful expression shifted, his eyes dimming, and a frown pulled at the edges of his lips. "It was probably one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced." Buggy admitted, "I don't know how Usopp kept it together so well." He finished off his grog and slid it over to Makino for a refill.
"Everything had been going normal. Just a regular tournament— Usopp was dominating, of course," Buggy added with a small smile, causing Yasopp to smirk. Buggy's expression dropped, "But in the final round, something changed. You could feel it in the wind, the atmosphere almost suffocating. It was that deep suppressive feel you get when you know something is wrong."
Buggy shook his head, "But Dragon and myself had our men case the area, and there wasn't anything out of the ordinary…. Until the first shot."
Yasopp sucked in a breath. He'd heard from Dragon that the bullet had just brushed past Usopp's side. If it had been any closer, Usopp might not still be with them.
"Dragon had ordered Usopp to take cover in the tower. It was windowless, and there were many places to hide. The tower was also off limits to everyone, except for those involved in the tournament, or we had thought it was… that was our first mistake, assuming and not having an adult go with him." Buggy's eyebrows knitted together. "Usopp hasn't said much about what happened except for right after the fact, but we were able to pull the pertinent information from his web of stories…"
It had been around noon, and their final task was to go through the large labyrinth in the middle of the arena without getting caught and to use their shooting prowess to protect themselves from any obstacle that came their way. They were just about to start, but before the shot rang to signal the beginning of the round, a shot had been fired, the bullet grazing the side of Usopp's chest.
Usopp's eyes darted upward to his mother in the stands just as a staccato of gunfire echoed through the arena. His hand had instinctively tightened over his slingshot. "Usopp!"
He met Dragon's frantic red eyes and made to move towards him, stopping when the man shook his head. "Go to the tower!" Dragon's voice commanded, barely heard over the frantic crowd.
Usopp gave a hard nod and began to approach the tower. It should be safe. Everyone was just in it for the first part of the tournament; it would be empty now, and there were plenty of places to hide as the nearest windows were at the top of the tower.
He looked over his shoulder towards the crowd, swallowing the sob that threatened to leave his throat. Usopp could not see Dragon, his mother, or Uncle Buggy in the mess. He did spot several marines scattered around the arena, failing to gain control of the crowd and couldn't help but roll his eyes, typical.
Usopp swallowed heavily. He had to be brave. He could do this. He plunged deeper into the fray. Team leaders collided with him like frantic billiard balls, their faces painted with terror. He had fallen at one point and began crawling between the taller kids' legs, his hands and sides getting stepped on and accidentally kicked in everyone's scramble.
He moved towards the tower. The tower was the only tall place for miles other than the parapets and bleachers they had created for the tournament. It loomed ahead, a dark monolith against the afternoon sky.
He stopped at the wooden door and turned to watch the chaos behind him once more. He caught Dragon's stare and turned back to the tower, taking a deep breath. Steeling his resolve, he pushed his shaky hands against the wood. He grunted, putting all his weight into opening the door enough for him to slip through and then let the heavy door fall shut behind him.
Usopp's boots met the wet stone floor, his steps echoing throughout the structure. The tournament's colourful banners, which had been flapping happily just earlier that morning, hung limp as if they, too, felt the direness of the situation. His eyes darted to the first obstacle he'd passed with relative ease— a labyrinth of mirrors. His pulse quickened, frustration knotting in his stomach. It had been easier when everyone was in together.
He took a step forward and looked at the mirror to his left. The surface distorted his slight figure, creating a myriad of illusions as he stepped forward through the pathway, trying to remember how he had gotten through it earlier.
Usopp pushes forward, his slingshot in his hand and his other hand small balls of red paint, ready to shoot them as needed. As he progressed, the dim light caught the polished leather of his well-worn shoes, creating fleeting glimpses of movement in the reflections. Shadows played tricks on the mirrored surfaces, making it difficult for him to discern the true nature of the paths before him in the dark tower.
The occasional sound of a slingshot being stretched and released echoes through the labyrinth as he tested the boundaries of the space, marking some of them with bright red paint to show his trail. The rhythmic tapping of his footsteps reverberated through the mirrored corridors, adding to the eerie ambience.
When he finally made it out of the mirrors, he paused and breathed a sigh of relief. The next floor was a web of ropes and platforms suspended high above the floor. The swaying structures posed a daunting task, their instability magnified by the presence of play balls strewn below, ready to engulf anyone who misstepped. Usopp surveyed the landscape, a frown etched deep on his face.
He had gotten through it, barely, earlier in the day. Many of his friends had not been so lucky and had fallen. Falling wouldn't necessarily be bad outside of the competition, where you were automatically disqualified, but he would be stuck until he was rescued, which would be a while. And he didn't like the idea of being stuck when someone was obviously after him.
Usopp leapt onto the first swaying rope, and he kept moving. He did well until he neared the centre. The rope beneath Usopp's weight snapped suddenly and sent him plummeting towards the play balls. Panic set in, and he cried out, throwing out a hand to grab the nearest rope and halting his descent just in time.
He hung precariously in the air, and tears of frustration welled in his eyes. After a moment of shaky breaths, he swallowed heavily and swung himself towards the closest platform. He closed his eyes as he landed, holding onto the rope as he gingerly put his feet on the platform. He giggled when the platform held firm and quickly moved to the next one and the next until he found himself at the other end of the room.
He stopped and looked up towards the ceiling, squinting. The final part of the floor was shooting at a target, however, it wasn't as easy as it first appeared. If he hit the target directly, the door wouldn't open, so he had to hit the button on the wall to the far right, just enough, to trigger the first lock and have his projectile ricochet off the button and into the target's bullseye.
The target loomed in the distance, and he narrowed his eyes at it before sliding over to the button he first had to hit. They both seemed higher than they were in the morning, angled in a much more difficult position. He pulled a marble from his pocket and rolled it in his hand, his fingers squeezing around it right before he launched it towards the button. The room echoed with a metallic clang as it hit.
A symphony of mechanical clicks and whirs sounded, and the door began to creak open, revealing the passage to the next stage. It stopped just short of Usopp being able to slip through.
He waited with bated breath as the marble sailed through the air before zeroing in on the bullseye, hitting its mark with a satisfying thud before dropping to the stone floor. Lights flickered, and the target let out a chime, signalling success as the door opened the rest of the way to allow him entrance to the next floor.
Riddled locked doors were the next challenge. The riddles changed with each new passage, meaning that the answers to the earlier riddles were useless to him. There was the added challenge of having to hit moving targets after the successful answering of each riddle. The first riddle had just one moving target, but the second riddle had two that you had to hit in quick succession, and then the third, which added another to the mix. It was there to test quick thinking and reflexive skills.
"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive in the wind. What am I?"
"An echo." That was an old riddle that Uncle Buggy had told him a couple of years back, West Bluian in origin.
He was quick to hit the target, and the next riddle was revealed.
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?"
He bit his tongue and hummed. "The more you take," he muttered. "Money?" He shook his head, quickly rejecting the thought. "No, that doesn't fit. The more you take, the less you leave behind… something tangible?"
"Memory… memories? The more memories you make, the more you have?" He frowned, "No, memories are more intangible. They don't leave anything physical."
Usopp rubbed his cheek with the heel of his hand and looked around. All that remained was the damp, coldness of the room. "What could be taken and left behind?" He caught sight of a wet footprint on the ground beside him and smiled. "Of course! Footsteps!" He looked up at the door and said clearly. "You take and leave behind footsteps. The more you take, the more you leave behind!"
The targets began to move, two this time; one circled the other as it moved back and forth.
Usopp took his time to follow the targets and figure out their pattern. Many had mistakenly thought there wasn't a pattern to the seemingly erratic movements, but Usopp knew better. The patterns changed, sure, but they were there and only changed every three minutes or so.
With a steadying breath, he sent two marbles flying towards the targets, one after the other. However, while the first marble had made it, the second had missed its mark, narrowly missing the circling target and hitting the wall behind them.
Annoyance flashed across his face, but he quickly regained his composure and tried again, this time meeting the target head-on and unlocking the door mere seconds before he would have been forced to do a new riddle to get through the room.
He was met with the last and final riddle as he approached the third door.
"I am not alive, but I can grow. I don't have lungs, but I need air."
He frowned and sighed. "I am not alive," he muttered to himself. "Not alive… what fits that? There are many things that aren't alive." He scrubbed at his scalp and moved on. "But I can grow… What grows but isn't alive? Those stupid little dinosaurs you put in water, but that isn't right."
He paced as he considered the other parts of the riddle. "I don't have lungs, but I need air… air's mostly made of oxygen, argon and nitrogen. Nitrogen makes up 78%, oxygen is 21%, and argon makes up about 1%. What needs oxygen to grow?"
Usopp plopped on the floor and sighed. "Some bacteria need oxygen, but that is too complicated, AND bacteria is alive," he pouted. "What is something everyone knows?" He looked around, pausing when he caught sight of smoke in the distance through a high window. "Smoke… where there's smoke, there's fire, fire away, the roof is on fire, adding fuel to the fire… what fuels fire?... tinder, leaves, oxygen… Adding oxygen makes fire grow, and fire isn't alive…" Usopp jumped up and cleared his throat. "The answer is fire."
With a rumble, three targets appeared above his head and moved around the room, and he sighed in relief. He was able to quickly hit the targets, and the door opened revealing the final door and riddle.
"The person who makes it sells it. The person who buys it never uses it. The person who uses it never knows they're using it. What is it?"
"The person who makes it sells it... What in the world could that be?" Usopp muttered to himself, his brows furrowed in deep concentration. He thought of various objects and ideas, but none aligned with the peculiar conditions outlined in the riddle.
After minutes of fighting with his thoughts, Usopp's frustration began to surface. The corners of his eyes moistened, and a sigh escaped his lips. He plopped down against the stone wall and hit his head gently against it. The quiet of the tower amplified his exasperation. "I need to get higher. It won't be safe here." He muttered to himself, wincing as he heard voices on the floor below him. "Dragon said to get somewhere safe. Come on, Usopp, think!" he chastised himself, wiping away a tear.
Gathering his resolve, Usopp stood up, determined. "Okay, maybe it's something simple," he reasoned, though uncertainty lingered in his eyes. "The person who makes it sells it... Is it a toy? No, that doesn't make sense."
He spoke his thoughts aloud, hoping to stumble upon the correct answer. After a moment's contemplation, Usopp hesitantly offered an answer. "A clock?" he suggested, uncertainty evident in his voice.
The tower remained silent, the door refusing to budge. Usopp's heart sank as he realised the answer was incorrect. A disembodied voice echoed through the corridor, a warning that he had two chances left.
Frantically, Usopp tried again. "A book?" he ventured, the desperation evident in his tone. The air seemed to thicken, anticipation hanging in the balance, but once again, the door stood firm, unyielding to his guess.
The voice returned, more sombre this time, informing Usopp that he had one last chance before he would be denied passage. The weight of the situation bore down on him, and his eyes welled up with tears. He couldn't afford to fail; the tower's warning resonated in his ears.
Wiping away his tears with a determined swipe, Usopp took a deep breath.
"Ugh, I don't know… A coffin?" he whispered. The silence that followed was broken by a satisfying click as the door opened. Relief flooded Usopp as he realised he had successfully unravelled the riddle.
This riddle didn't have the targets at the end, but that was because it opened to a menacing array of swinging pendulums. Made to look razor-sharp, they were anything but. However, they swung in unpredictable patterns. If one wrong move were made, Usopp would be thrown into the ball pit.
He paused, carefully observing the pendulum's movements, analysing the rhythm and timing. This, too, changed from earlier. It was one of the tower's old mechanisms, even though they had changed the deadly portion. It was rumoured to have been made initially during the void century to keep burglars away.
The floors also had pitfalls that would give away at any hint of weight. When he had gone through earlier, he had allowed most of those leftovers to go first, so he knew where not to stop. Those that were revealed still remained, but Usopp knew there were still more that had been avoided during the first pass-through.
He tested each step, tapping the ground with the tip of his shoe, searching for the telltale signs of an impending pitfall. Unfortunately, a part of the floor had been too hard to see in the darkened room, and a target came at him, ready to push him off the platform.
Usopp's instincts kicked in. He barely had time to react as the target advanced towards him, its menacing form illuminated by the dim glow in the room. With a quick sidestep, he narrowly avoided the initial strike, the target whizzing past him.
Having missed its first attempt, the target quickly pivoted, readying itself for another assault. Usopp knew he had to act swiftly to avoid being caught off guard again.
As the target lunged towards him once more, he navigated through the hazardous terrain, evading the relentless advances of the target. The room echoed with the moving target's mechanical sounds and Usopp's tense footsteps as he moved around the platform. Each step was calculated, a careful dance to avoid the impending threat. Sweat glistened on his forehead as he focused on predicting the target's movements.
After a short series of mishaps, Usopp managed to find a safe zone, away from the immediate threat. The target, momentarily disoriented, slowed its pursuit. Seizing the opportunity, Usopp retrieved a marble from his pocket and shot it at the target. It sailed, hitting just left of the bullseye, causing the target to fall onto the platform. Usopp held his breath, and waited to find out if he had been close enough to get the door open.
After a long moment, mechanical sounds came from the door, signalling success. The door began to open, providing Usopp with a path forward.
Usopp took a moment to gather himself, looking at the narrow bridge spanning the chasm. With a determined breath, he stepped onto the fragile path, each step echoing in the silence of the tower. The abyss below seemed bottomless, although he knew there were balls somewhere below him. As he approached the door on the other side, exhaustion and relief washed over him. He pressed a hand to the door and was about to push when he heard voices from inside.
He frowned. No one was supposed to be in – the door swung open, and Usopp fell backwards, grinning nervously at the men glaring down at him. "H-heya, misters!"
He raised his hands as the men pointed their guns at him. "Yer the one we've been looking for."
"Oh… well, you found me," Usopp said nervously. "You won the hide and seek!... why were you looking for me?" He winced, unable to keep the squeak from his voice. He bit his lip to keep him from talking. His mother always told him that less was always more if he was in this situation. Never give away any more than you absolutely have to."
"Yous Yasopp's lil boy."
Usopp dropped his hands to his side. His slingshot pressed comfortingly against his wrist. "What of it?" He asked toughly, hardening his face.
"I saws a picture of you in his wallet at the bar one day," the larger of the two men said. "He wouldn't stop waxing poetic about what a wonderful lil boy you were."
"I am pretty wonderful," Usopp muttered.
"What was that, Brat?"
"Are you the guys that shot at me earlier?" Usopp shifted and pulled his jacket away to show the bullet hole just under the armpit. "That was mean, you almost hit me!"
"Because he almost killed me, he did." The smaller man grunted, "Didn't even see him coming."
"My dad did?" Usopp asked with a frown. That didn't seem like his daddy. He was a pirate, but he didn't hurt people for no reason. "Hm, but you are here, aren't you? If what you are saying is true, if he really wanted you dead, wouldn't you be?" Usopp bit his lip in thought. He had an idea, but it was risky. The adults could handle the rest if he could get the men outside.
"Maybe you should get back at him by taking me," he suggested. "I mean, others that know them will have alerted his crew, and if you are with me, you likely won't be killed on the spot like you would with me dead. I'm a good bargaining chip, especially if you want money. Shanks' crew is loaded. You could own entire islands if you wanted." He threw out his hands for emphasis, hoping to get his point across.
One of the men stepped forward, his gun never wavering from Usopp's chest. "And why should we trust you?"
"Because," Usopp began, his tone layered with feigned gravitas, "I am worth far more alive than dead." The lie tasted like ash in his mouth, but if it kept them distracted…
A bullet flew through the concrete wall and wedged a mere centimetre from the tallest man's cheek into the door.
Usopp bit his lip. This was about to get bloody. He needed to act quickly. His eyes darted from side to side as he thought. "Your time is almost up. They have snipers with strong Haki lining up to take you out. Why not take me to the field? This doesn't need to be a bloodbath."
Another bullet shot through the window to their left, shattering the glass and just missing the other man's left ear. After that, it was a flurry of movement. There was a shot of pain, and then his vision blacked. The last thing he heard before he passed out was, "Let's get outta here!"
"We searched the entire island, but somehow we couldn't find them." Buggy took a deep drink from his grog, downing it in one go. "By the time we got through all the fucking obstacles, they were gone, and Usopp was waking up dazed and confused."
"He couldn't give you a description, anything to go on?"
"The kid is seven, he's smart and articulate, but even he was only able to give me 'Tall white men with messy black hair, scars on their faces, mean, had guns and didn't like Daddy." Buggy rolled his eyes. "I don't know about your crew, but that pretty much fits a majority of mine to a T."
"Wait, he said that the guy had seen a picture of him at a bar?"
"Yes," Buggy replied, smiling at Makino when she refilled his grog. "That's what he said."
"Do we have any idea what bar?" Yasopp asked, eyebrows knitting.
"Nah," Buggy drawled, blowing out a puff of smoke. "Kid just said 'bar'. Could be any bar on this godforsaken planet."
"Likely in the East Blue, but even that is a good, what, fifty islands, if not more that we have been to?" Yasopp frowned. "He didn't say anything else?" He asked finally, turning to look at Buggy, who was refilling his mug with more grog having quickly chugged the last.
"Just that..." Buggy's voice trailed off as he seemed to remember something. He frowned into his drink before looking back up at Yasopp. "No, wait, he had mentioned something earlier... what was-"
"The man had said Daddy said he was in town for a play of mine..."
"When did you go see a play Usopp was in? Which school?"
Yasopp frowned in consideration, "I've been to all but two. So, the play in Oykot, in Shells and the one that took in all the kids in Gecko Islands. One was in a military stronghold, and the last was too far away to arrive on time. I think I have the den den videos, though..."
"We ALL have the videos, Yasopp. Concentrate. At which one were you at a bar?"
Shanks snorted, "It'll be easier to ask which one he wasn't at a bar."
"The one from last year in Gecko," Yasopp said quickly. "Banchina didn't allow me to drink around Usopp and told the bar to give me only water if I asked."
"The last tournament took place in Loguetown..."
Yasopp shook his head firmly, "No, it didn't. Remember, they changed it at the last minute, that's why I couldn't go. They had moved it to Clockwork Island. Remember, they have that large tower with all of the obstacles?" Yasopp's frown deepened, "Just how drunk were you?"
"I went with Dragon and Banchina," Buggy said defensively. "Besides, who wants to watch brats try and shoot targets all day and run through a tower with ball pits? I would have shot myself had I been sober."
"So," Shanks said, slapping his thighs to get the men's attention. "That would mean Shells and Oykot were the two places where you watched his play and went to a bar." He made eye contact with Buggy, "Can you send some of your men to Oykot with the description of both Yasopp and the man and see what comes up?"
"Yasopp, call Dragon and see if he can do the same for Shell Island. There is a Revolutionary stronghold close by, is there not?"
Yasopp nodded, "Should be. Unless it's been closed down."
There was a squealing laugh, and Yasopp turned to look through the window. Luffy and Usopp were on their way back, hand in hand, giant grins on their faces. Luffy grabbed Usopp's other hand and swung him around in an impromptu 'Ring Around the Rosie' until they fell to the floor, laughter ringing through the window like bells.
"We'll find them."
"Yeah," Yasopp said softly, wincing when Usopp tripped over Luffy and ended up on the floor again, still laughing. "Yeah, we'll find them."