#[ just being a menace @ crocus as well

[pirateborn-a]

     note to self to figure out more details ab roger’s illness,,,

[wordy-little-witch]

Incorrect quotes bc I need some dopamine-

It's long and this is a mix of shit I've heard in my life, random scenes my brain conjures up, and the result of a ridiculous amount of cold medicine.

Roger pirates edition!!!!

Roger: hey buglet, what have you got there?

Buggy: a bomb! :o3

Roger: .... ah. Seems like something a responsible parent would never let their child play with.

Buggy: :o(

Roger: good thing I'm a captain!

Buggy: :oD

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Shanks: Bugs?

Buggy: what?

Shanks: would you love me if I was a worm?

Buggy: .... hmmm....

Shanks: you have to think about it?!??

Buggy: well duh! We're pirates! We're on a pirate ship, dumbass! How would I keep a worm alive, let alone happy and safe, on a pirate ship?? Not to mention all the different species of worms! What kind of worm would you be?? What kind of care would you need? It's a big question- *goes on a tangent about worms, worm care, and is slowly working himself into a panic*

Shanks, who just heard a landlocked girl ask her boyfriend it and wanted to ask buggy bc he thought it would annoy him: .... a h

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: .... what do you have there, Captain?

Roger, holding a baby in a treasure chest and another, smaller baby in his sash: an ADVENTURE!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Gabban, trying to teach the kids their numbers: one~ twoo~ threeee~

Shanks: t'wee!!!

Gabban: right! And what comes after three? Do you know, Buggy?

Buggy, with the confidence of a pirate toddler: FUCK!!

Gabban:

Rayleigh, appearing out of thin air, menacing smile in place: :)

Gabban: :/

Buggy and Shanks: :D fuck fuck fuck!!!

Rayleigh: remind me to kill Roger later, please.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Crocus: alright boys. Let's work on that math, okay? So, Bug, if you had seven treasure chests-

Buggy: yesss!!!

Crocus: focus! Seven treasure chests. Now Shanks asks for three of them. How many treasure chests would you have left?

Buggy: seven.

Crocus: no, Shanks asked for three of them.

Shanks: it's okay, Buggy, you can keep your treasure!

Crocus: no- I- okay, Buggy has seven chests. I ask for three of them. How many do you have left?

Buggy: seven.

Crocus: okay, I'm not asking, I am taking the three treasure chests by force. How many do you have now.

Buggy: seven and a corpse.

Crocus: .....

Shanks: ......

Buggy: ......

Crocus: ................ is this why Rayleigh made math time my job

Buggy: probably. I bit him last time.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Whitebeard: Roger! I never expected you to take on children! Taking a page from my book, are you?

Roger: something like that hahaha! Eddie, meet my brats! This redhead here is Shanks, he's a tough little cookie.

Shanks: hi!!

Roger: and the bluebelle here is Buggy. He's my little cupcake!!

Whitebeard: aw, because he's small and sweet?

Roger, smiling widely: no, because cupcakes can easily contain many varieties of mortal harm, I have learned, and he is small, cute and deadly.

Buggy, pouting: it was one time!!

Roger: three times, and that's not counting that one time with Garp and the arsenic

Buggy: >:o/

Whitebeard:

The Whitebeard pirates:

Roger: isn't he the cutest??

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Marco: GET YOUR FUCKIN CLOWN-

Shanks: he don't bite

Marco, trying desperately to shake Buggy off of his leg: YES HE DO, HELP-

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy, 3 years old, slams his sippy cup onto the table top: I need a dwink.

Sunbell, trying not to laugh: aw, what's up, little man?

Buggy: S'anks is twyin' my patience. Gimme da good stuffs.

Sunbell: okay. Apple juice or-

Buggy: wum.

Sunbell:

Buggy:

Sunbell: baby bug, rum is for grown ups. How about some milk?

Buggy: no. Papa Rayray has wum when cap'in is being extra dumb. And S'anks is being extra EXTRA dumb ri' now. I need wum.

Sunbell: ...... alright then-

((He does not in face give Buggy rum, but he DOES make a point of saving a small rum bottle to fill with cranberry juice for future reference.))

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: hey, buddy, what's wrong?

Buggy: I have a headache that comes and goes.

Ray: aw, here, let's go to Crocus-

Shanks: hi, Buggy!!

Buggy: there it is.

Rayleigh: ..... yeah Crocus can't help with that.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy, laying on the deck at 3 in the morning:

Roger: bugababy, what are you doing up?

Buggy: what is the point of life, if not only to suffer? What is the purpose of being here if it's all a cyclical preordained destiny of agony and heartache? Why would the Spirits see fit to put us into this hellscape if not for their own sick amusement-?

Roger: Buggy, is this because Shanks ate your gummy worms?

Buggy: that red haired fucker knew they were mine-!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Shanks: hey, Captain? How does one confess their undying love to someone?

Roger: just because I'm with Rouge doesn't mean I know how it happened, son.

MEANWHILE

Buggy: hey, mom?

Rouge: yes, ma fleur?

Buggy: I think Shanks is in love with me.

Rouge: neat. Do you love him too?

Buggy: unfortunately.

Rouge: nice.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: I didn't choose parent life. Parent life came to me, mid-drink, in the form of an unhinged adult man, and then expanded further with the addition of two tiny humans.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Roger, with Shanks in a front facing baby carrier: you know what's cute than one baby?

Random pirate enemy, trying to figure out why this man showed up to a fight with a baby:

Roger, turning to show Buggy in a carrier on his back: two babies!!!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy @ Garp: were it not for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered you.

Gabban:

Shanks:

Rayleigh:

Roger: I mean.... we're pirates, so laws-

Garp, sweating, who just set down a draw 4 in Oro Uno: No, kid's right, gotta listen to the law

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Rayleigh: I have no fear

Shanks, pale and shaking: Buggy hasn't slept in two days he's making bombs

Rayleigh: I have several fears.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Sengoku: Garp, you've been acting strange ever since you came back from your last excursion.

Garp: no i haven't.

Sengoku: you just leveled a circus tent after seeing a bunch of clowns.

Garp, having flashbacks to being bitten by a tiny clown, thousand yard stare: their joyful levity is a lie

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy: if I had a nickel for every time I had a traumatic experience on this damn crew, I'd have enough to pay for my therapy bills.

Shanks: if I had a nickel for every traumatizing experience I had here, I'd have enough to pay for my drinking problem.

Gabban, looking at the 11 year olds: .... maybe pirates aren't built for being parents.......

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Whitebeard: I fear no man.

Also Whitebeard, thinking on that first time he interacted with Buggy one on one: but that thing..... it scares me.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

BONUS CROSS GUILD CONTENT

Buggy: it's hard being Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, Cover Girl, but a bitch makes due

Crocodile: how did you survive this far

Buggy: I may have had rabies

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Mihawk: why does Shanks huddle in a corner when someone plays circus music

Buggy: bullseyes are red.

Mihawk: what does that have to do with-

Buggy: throws a knife and hits dead center of an apple, some unknown source playing circus music in the background

Mihawk:

Buggy:

Mihawk: this explain so much and yet so little

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Crocodile: have you been sneaking money

Buggy: I would love to do that, but unfortunately the clap of my big dumpy cheeks would alert you to my hiding place.

Mihawk, fighting a migraine: do you ever think before you speak

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy: hey, want a card reading?

Crocodile: a what

Mihawk: you read cards?

Buggy, laying a card down: oh, look it's a Caterpie.

Croc+Hawk:

Buggy: I means you're a douchebag.

((Buggy does in fact read tarot cards, smth he and Mihawk eventually bond over))

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buggy, after almost dying part 2847164917: no mister reaper we have to stop meeting like this....

The guy who just shot him with seastone: what the fu-

[rumandflamingo]

Come Along - CONCEPT

New AU idea because I can. ‬

‪Concept: alive Roger and Rouge; Rayleigh raising Luffy. ‬

‪Okay. So. I imagine that Roger probably hid his illness from everyone but Crocus, so when Rayleigh catches him coughing up half a lung he is beyond pissed. Like. He knocks out half the crew because he couldn’t restrain his Haki, he’s so angry. ‬

‪During one of his and Marco’s regular weekly talks (because the younger was so lost on how to be a good first mate and looks up to Rayleigh so they ended up having regular talks), Rayleigh reveals a little bit about the fact that Roger’s sick. Marco just pretends to ignore it. ‬

‪But after their conversation, Marco realizes that there is something he can do. Phoenix feathers have the ability to heal large amounts of damage to the body when applied to the wounds. If ingested, the feathers can cure sickness. He is 100% on board for giving up a feather or two,‬ ‪and when Marco asks, Whitebeard is also on board.  

Marco is shocked. When he asks his father why he isn’t rejecting, or at least protesting, his idea, Whitebeard responds that he owes Rayleigh much more than he will ever be able to repay him. It was the Dark King who brought Marco to the Yonko, who gave him the Phoenix fruit to save the young boy, who gave the other his first son. Rayleigh gave him his family; Whitebeard would never do anything to destroy Rayleigh’s.

Marco immediately calls the Oro Jackson and Rayleigh readily agrees. The Zoan is in the air the next morning. The entire flight he is worried about the reception he’s going to get when he arrives on the Oro, but instead of glares and threats, he’s greeted with food and cheers.

It takes some time for Roger and Rayleigh to come in the deck, and most of the time for Marco is spent answering questions of a young red haired boy. Roger is confused at seeing Marco but Rayleigh says he had invited him over.

Marco and Roger are soon ushered into Crocus’s office, where Rayleigh explains that they have a way to cure Roger. To Marco’s surprise, Rayleigh doesn’t mention the deal that he had made on Roger’s behalf. Just says that Whitebeard owed him a favor. When the blonde gets a raised eyebrow from the first mate of the Oro, Marco realizes that he must have talked to Pops after they had hung up.

It’s quick and painless, healing Roger. Marco’s spare feathers are ground up and made into a drink that Roger just takes like a shot. Crocus does a complete checkup and declares that, for now, Roger is doing better.

Once Crocus departs, as apparently Shanks, the redhead, and Buggy had gotten into a fight, Rayleigh explains that things are going to be a bit tricky from here on out. Neither of them mind Marco, so the young blonde sits and listens.

Rayleigh explains that Roger can not reveal that he’s healthy. He’s been spotted coughing in public by multiple marines, so they have begun to think something is wrong with him. (Marco wonders how the other blonde knows Marine intel, but doesn’t ask.)

Rayleigh gets weird looks from Roger and Marco, but the blonde ignores them and carries on. He explains that once they find the final island, which blows Marco away at the man’s complete faith that they will, he needs to turn himself in to the marines, like he had originally planned.

Marco falls to the ground in shock. Roger had planned to turn himself in? Rayleigh continues that they have a contingency plan to fake his execution (he doesn’t say the other players involved, or how it will be done), and doesn’t continue from there. Marco is trying to not feel offended when he sees the pout on Roger’s face; Rayleigh is purposely not telling his captain his plan.

The conversation fades off from there and Roger goes to call Rouge. Marco is left with the first mate, who smiles warmly and tells Marco that Whitebeard told him to take a few days off and that he is welcome to stay aboard the Jackson.

And he does. He spends the next three days with the older man, avoiding the red haired menace known as Shanks and his captain as well. (He is so tired of being called Pretty Birdy.)

A few hours before he sets off, a woman shows up on the Oro, long strawberry blonde hair trailing behind her and a hibiscus tucked behind her ear. Roger immediately turns into a puddle, crying over his beautiful Rouge.

Portgas D Rouge, Roger’s very pregnant wife.

Marco feels like he isn’t going to leave the Oro without suffering a heart attack. Roger would have died before his child was born. He would have never met his child. Marco turned to stare at Rayleigh, but the older man just shakes his head. A small party is thrown and Marco leaves at sunset. Before he takes off, Rouge stops him and hugs him, thanking him for saving her husband and for not leaving her child fatherless.

It’s three months before Marco hears anything about the Roger Pirates and when he does, it’s because they have discovered Raftel.  Almost immediately, Roger turns himself in and the slander starts.  

Whitebeard says nothing, just goes under the deck with the den den that’s always at arm’s length.

A week later, the date for Roger’s execution is set. The Whitebeard Pirates do not attend, instead setting sail for the Blues, particularly the East Blue.

Roger is executed, and they all mourn. Whitebeard says nothing, just keeps eyeing the snail with a little black crown.

They land several days later on a small tropical island named Dawn Island and Marco, Whitebeard and several others begin the long trek inland. Half a day later they arrive at the outskirts a small town, where a grinning (alive) Roger is holding a small baby boy.

He runs around and introduces his son, Portgas (Gol) D Ace. Whitebeard is ecstatic, especially when Roger lets him hold the baby. Rouge is smiling in the doorway, Rayleigh at her side.

The Pirate King is alive, happy, with his family.

Rayleigh invites them in, and they have a small feast. After the meal, all but Marco and Whitebeard leave. Curious as to why, Marco soon finds out that the other half of the deal is about to be told to Roger. It takes Rayleigh a few times to start, but he does explain the deal he made to save Roger’s life.

Roger can never sail again under the name Gol D Roger, or under the Roger Pirates flag. He will be known under a different name of his choice, but he must part with Gol D Roger. He is free to do whatever he wants, but if he chooses to set sail again, it will be under the eye of Whitebeard, so that they can keep him safe. Rouge nor Ace will owe any allegiance to Whitebeard, they are free to choose to serve under any command they like, if they want. Roger’s appearance will also need to be changed, but that can be however he likes. If he desires to leave the island, it cannot be without Rayleigh, Whitebeard, or someone trusted from Whitebeard’s crew.

Roger is still for a moment, before turning to look fully at Rayleigh. Rayleigh fears this man will lash out at him, yell at him for taking away everything he held dear, but the man instead hugs him. The blonde is confused, until Roger explains that Rayleigh, ever thoughtful Rayleigh, didn’t take away his ability to sail, to be free. Even if he doesn’t go by his name, he can still be free to sail as he wishes.

They work out a few details, but Roger is determined to spend most of his time from now on with Rouge and Ace. Whitebeard and Marco depart, but not without Rouge asking for Whitebeard to be Ace’s other godfather. Whitebeard accepts and cries over tiny baby Ace.

Rayleigh goes with Marco and Whitebeard to the shore, Marco walking ahead of the two older men. It’s hard to hear what they are saying, but Marco is able to get the gist of it.

Rayleigh won’t be going with them. He has decided to stay with Roger and Rouge, to keep them safe. Early retirement, he tells Whitebeard.

Whitebeard is angry, Marco can tell, but says nothing. The rest of the walk is in silence, and soon enough Whitebeard and Marco are back on the Moby, but not before Whitebeard gives Rayleigh part of his Vivre Card. The Dark King hands him part of his as well, then disappears beck into the thick forest.

Years pass, Marco and Whitebeard having weekly talks with Roger, Rouge, and Rayleigh. Ace constantly likes to interrupt and ramble on and on about what he learned or did that day. He is 100% a mama’s boy, much to Roger’s dismay. He refused to wear hats like Roger, instead choosing to wear flowers in his hair.

Ten years pass, before something shakes the well balanced life that the four of them have on Dawn Island.

Out of the blue, Vice Admiral Garp arrives at the small shack of Roger and Rouge, carrying with him his seven year old grandson, Monkey D. Luffy.

Roger is terrified that Garp is at his door, standing to block the man’s view of Rouge and Ace, hoping they take the hint to leave and go seek Rayleigh. He knows that without a doubt, this man would turn him into the marines. Garp simply asks for tea, moving into the shack. Ace is not happy that there is a strange man with a strange kid (as he wants nothing to harm his family), and glares at him from Rouge’s lap. Garp simply laughs and tell the trio that he needs someone to look after his grandson, because his son is quite the idiot. He figures that since Roger was very good at hiding, he’d be good for Luffy. Both adults are shocked that Garp was made aware of their location, as well as that the execution had been faked.

Roger starts to protest, when Rayleigh appears, dropping off items he had picked up from the village that day. He’s somewhat put off at seeing Garp, but says nothing. He goes about his business, shelving items, until he realizes that he has a little follower.

The three adults in the room quiet as the Dark King turns and see young Luffy following him, large eyes staring up at him in awe. He exclaims that Rayleigh has the coolest beard he has ever seen, before trying to climb up his jacket to grab at it.

Roger gets up to grab the kid, but Rayleigh stops him, hefting the kid up and placing him on his shoulders. The kid is content to sit there and be tall, talking on and on about pirates and treasure.

Rouge and Roger let out hesitant laughs, Ace keeps glaring at the kid, while Rayleigh just nods along to the kids wild stories. Some point during Luffy’s babbles, Rayleigh pulls a gold coin from his pocket and asks the kid if he has any treasure, since he claims to be a great pirate in training.

Luffy grins and pats his hat, something that all of the adults had failed to notice. There, sitting on Luffy’s head, is Roger’s straw hat. Luffy exclaims that it’s a promise to his friend, Shanks, to someday beat him and become King of the Pirates. Roger promptly falls out of his seat, speechless. Garp glares between the kid and Roger, while Rouge’s soft laugh fills the room.

Rayleigh says nothing, simply smiles and pats the kid’s head. This kid is something special, he can tell.

Without pomp and circumstance, he tells Garp that he will take care of Luffy. He says nothing else, just simply grabs the bag that Garp carried in with him and leaves, starting a tale about an adventure that he and Roger had gotten into when they first started sailing.

The room echoes with the marines loud laughs as Rouge and Roger chase after the graying blonde and his small charge.

[stereden]

Buggy is many things. Selfish. Greedy. Cowardly. To name only a few of them. He knows he’s not the smartest knife in the bunch, but he makes do, and he’s not a half-bad captain, all things told (he hopes).

Landing himself in Impel Down had not been in his plans, neither had been running into the damn Strawhat again, but he uses the boy’s escape to make his own anyway, as terrifying as the experience is, and he still does not understand what all the fuss about Firefist is, him being old man Whitebeard’s commander should not warrant such a spectacle, but it’s not like he can leave, so he’s along for the ride.

His goals definitely do not include involving himself into any fighting, but getting his five minutes of denden-fame while commenting the damn thing, and then getting the fuck away while everyone is distracted, preferably before Whitebeard sends Marineford six feet under seabed.

Simple enough, right?

At least it is until Sengoku announces that Firefist is Gol D Roger’s son, and Buggy freezes.

Captain had a son? He knows about the Batterilla purges, Davy Jones knows Shanks had cursed the Marines high and low at the time, actually going up to Edward Newgate to try and intervene, because any of the Rogers Kaizoku showing their faces there to try and get people out would only have brought a buster call, but by the time Whitebeard got there it was over. To hear that the child had survived?

(And somehow ended up with Strawhat as a brother, but Buggy will deal with that particular mindfuck when he’s not floored by the realisation that his Captain actually reproduced, thank you very much).

He steals a denden, makes a grand display of it and makes sure the world will see what is happening here.

Everyone believes he’s an idiot and a coward, only after fame and glory, and usually they would be right.

But this not for him. This is for his former nakamas, for the Roger Kaizoku, so that they will know that their Captain left behind a legacy.

It’s highly unlikely that any of them will be able to do something to help, Buggy knows it all too well. Where are they right now, he wonders. Crocus is probably still at his stupid lighthouse, babysitting Laboon, and Rayleigh is either gambling or sold into slavery AGAIN back on Sabaody, but what about the others? Scopper Gaban? Seagull? He hasn’t heard from any of them since the crew disbanded, hasn’t dared to ask Rayleigh about them the few times he’s dared to approach the former first mate, not sure of his welcome, and while Shanks is a pain in the ass, he’s the only one who bothered to stay somewhat in touch with Buggy, even if he does so by regularly highjacking his denden.

They had been nakama, once upon a time, and this is about their Captain’s legacy, their Captain’s child, and while Buggy is too much of a coward to enter this particular battlefield, the less he can do is bear witness to what will happen and make sure the others will know.

At first, it looks like everything might end well for Firefist. Strawhat manages to get to him and free him with Mr 3’s help while Whitebeard and his allies demolish the opposition, and captain’s son is as much a reckless loyal idiot as his father had been, and they’re running towards the ships on Whitebeard’s orders when everything goes to hell.

Akainu provokes Firefist, who reacts about as well as Buggy himself would have to someone insulting his captain and stops running. To face a bloody admiral.

And if that were not enough, Strawhat collapses and Akainu hones in on his weakness.

Buggy doesn’t know what the trigger is. Maybe it’s the familiar strawhat on a boy who smiled when he tried (not that hard) to execute him. Maybe it’s Shanks voice, yammering on the denden he keeps hacking about the boy who is going to be the pirate King. Maybe it’s Captain’s boy’s devastated face when he realises what is happening, the grim determination not to let his brother die.

Maybe it’s a memory of sitting on the floor in Captain Roger’s cabin as a kid, no older than ten, still shaking from their last battle and tears streaming down his face because he had been terrified, had hid away, and he was a coward unfit to serve under Captain Roger’s banner, and Captain’s hand on his shoulder as he tells him that it’s okay to be afraid, to want to protect oneself, that Roger doesn’t mind if Buggy keeps away from danger more often than not, as long as Buggy remembers that there are things worth fighting for and that in Captain’s eyes, Buggy was one of these things.

Maybe it’s that Buggy remembers that he once sailed with Gol D Roger, that the man had once been the closest thing Buggy had had to a father, and maybe it’s the fact that he remembers all too well the day his Captain knelt on the execution platform while Buggy could do nothing but watch.

Maybe it’s all of these at once, but Buggy is moving before he registers it, limbs darkening with armament haki drilled into his head by Rayleigh years before he ate his devil fruit.

Not again. Not on his watch.

Buggy’s dark and shiny fists collide with Akainu’s attack and stop it in its track, less than a meter away from Firefist’s unprotected back as the boy had thrown himself over Strawhat in a vain attempt to protect him.

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Buggy growls out in the sudden silence of the battlefield. “Touch Captain Roger’s son.”

He’s standing between the Mad Dog of the Marine and his prey, magma fists blocked bare handed even as his entire frame shakes ( fear, adrenaline, pure unadulterated terror, what the fuck is he doing what the fuck was he thinking) , still clad in his prison uniform, two pistols and three knives he’d scavenged somewhere as his only weapons, and the Universe blinks.

“Firefist. Take the moron and get out of here” He hisses even as he gathers Haki into his lower body.

Said lower half rockets away from him and collides with the Admiral’s crotch with enough force to send him flying to another part of the battlefield.

“Are you deaf?” He barks at Firefist. “Get the fuck out of here! Do you have any idea how fucking annoying Shanks will be if something happens to the brat?”

Focus on Shanks. Being angry at the damn red-head is good, is familiar, and will keep the freak-out at bay once he realizes fully just what he has done.

Behind him, Firefist finally unfreezes, and Jinbei and Ivankov are rushing towards them too, but Buggy ignores them, keeping an eye out for his surrounding. Observation Haki, rough with disuse, tries to make sense of the damn battlefield.

Whitebeard’s commanders are mobilizing again, half remaining to guard their siblings’ backs while they retreat to their ships following Newgate’s last order, while the rest, led by a livid Phoenix, engages the remaining Admirals and Vice-Admirals. Whitebeard himself is still standing tall, an immovable wall between the marines and his precious children. Buggy’s merry band of prisoners is still gaping at him, but the smarter ones have started to regroup by the ships.

Buggy inhales.

Whitebeard is going to die on this battlefield. He knows it, his crew knows it, the marines know it.

Buggy had never liked the man. Respected his strength, yes, he would have to be the highest moron not to, but he had never understood his disregard for treasure and fame.

(Whitebeard also kept making fun of his nose, the asshole!)

But Buggy had also never understood Captain Roger’s love of adventure, and Newgate had been Roger’s friend and Rival, the last great captain of that Era, and his death would cause a great ripple around the oceans.

Behind him, Firefist is running, Strawhat in his arms, protected by Jinbei, Vista and Ivankov.

Buggy exhales. His lower half finally rejoins his upper half. Sengoku is sitting on Garp, who looks ready to join the Phoenix and the others in trying to separate Akainu’s head from his shoulders.

“Red-Nose.”

“What do you want, old bastard?” He retorts angrily, glaring at the strongest man in the world.

“You saved my precious son. Thank you.”

“I didn’t do it for you!” Buggy bristles, and it’s true. “I didn’t want to have to deal with stupid Shanks’ reaction if something happened to his damn Strawhat!”

And maybe that’s part of it, but Buggy remembers Roger standing between him and Shiki when the other pirate had been about to cut him in two, long before he got his devil fruit. And maybe Firefist hates Captain Roger, maybe he truly considers Whitebeard his father, but the boy is Captain’s son and while Buggy is many things (a liar a coward a greedy fool a doublecrosser) he is still a Roger Kaizoku, and always will be, no matter how long it has been since the Oro Jackson last took to the seas, no matter how much he used to disagree with Captain Roger’s ideals.

When Shanks shows up after everything is said and done, after Whitebeard dies standing and Blackbeard the backstabber somehow manages to steal his power, and stops the war in its track, forcing the marines to allow the pirates to collect their dead, Buggy punches him in the face with a haki reinforced punch.

Where the fuck were you? He wants to yell. Any of you? What happened to the great crew of the pirate King, to those who traveled the world and reached Raftel? What happened to those who once held the same dream as Captain Roger, that they fell apart after his death?

“You’re late, you red-headed menace!” He yells instead. “And your protégé is a bloody lunatic!”

“Maa, maa Buggy, I had to put little Kaido back in his place before he plundered Newgate’s territory, and he’s a persistent little brat, I’ll give him that. Besides,” he adds, giving him a knowing look “I knew you had things well in hand. Quite literally, or so I heard. Old Man Rayleigh will be proud to know that his teachings held true despite the years.”

“Old man Rayleigh can kiss my ass!” Buggy snarls, and Shanks’ eyes widen as he notices that, for the first time since their captain’s execution was announced, Buggy is more than just angry. He is furious, a cold and contained fury that few would believe him capable of.

“The Law brat tok your brat and Captain’s brat on his sub, I’ve got no clue where they’ll be going.” Buggy says calmly, too calmly. “And I’ll be going now. Have fun dealing with this mess.”

He turns around to leave, to join his fellow prisoners on the battleship that they’ve commandeered in the chaos following Newgate’s death and Shanks’s arrival.

“Buggy.”

It’s Shanks, and he sounds… tired, and sad, and more serious than Buggy wants to remember him ever being.

“Thank you.” He says quietly, so quietly that Buggy is the only one to hear it. “Same place as last time, three weeks from now? I’ll bring the booze.”

Buggy pauses.

“Alright. Fair warning, Shanks. Any of the others show up, I’ll be asking for answers.”

“As will I.”

Three weeks later, Buggy makes his way to a small, anonymous island in East Blue, not too far away from Loguetown, an island he hasn’t set foot on in over twenty years, ever since the Roger Kaizoku had gathered there for one last send-off.

They hadn’t even gotten to give their captain’s body the farewell he’d deserved. The marines had destroyed it, scattering even his ashes to prevent anyone from finding them.

Buggy knows very well that this is why Shanks insisted on allowing Whitebeard’s people to take the old man’s body with them.

When he arrives on the island, Shanks is already there waiting for him, early for the first time in his entire life. They’re a day early, both of them, but odds are the others might show up before the night is over. Or they might not. Buggy doesn’t even pretend to know how they think anymore. And he isn’t quite sure how he feels about that.

“Buggy.”

“Shanks.”

He’s too tired, too weary to play their usual game of cat and mouse, and he takes a long gulp from the offered bottle before sitting down on the cliff’s edge, next to the redhead.

“How have you been?” Shanks asks, and Buggy wants to snort, because really? but doesn’t.

He shrugs instead. “Busy. My crew basically decupled, even after most of the former prisoners went their own way. I expect at least half of the remaining ones to leave before the month is up - the marines have been on our asses like hemoroïds.”

“That’s what happen when you prevent the execution of the Pirate King’s son on live TV.”

Buggy groans. “Don’t remind me. Have you seen these blasted articles? Half of them are accusing me of playing the fool until now, and the rest of only saving the kid because he might have some intel about Raftel! Raftel! Morons! Does no one remembers that we were there when Captain set found on bloody Raftel?!”

“Captain did his best to keep us cabin-boys from the limelight, remember?” Shanks reminded him.

“Yeah, and he was a moron too!”

“And that’s the other reason many have trouble understanding why you stood up for Ace. You never made it a secret that you didn’t have a very high opinion of Captain Roger’s goals.”

These words, coming from Shanks , hurt a lot more than expected, and Buggy gulps down the ret of his bottle before grabbing the next.

“Captain and I had our differences of opinions” He says flatly, trying to keep the hurt and betrayal out of his voice. “But he was still my Captain. Ore wa Roger Kaizokudesu , Shanks. That used to mean something, once. Didn’t it? Is it so hard to believe that it still means something to me?”

Buggy…”

“No!” Buggy’s voice does not stutter as he interrupts the Yonko. “You do not get to accuse me of betraying my Captain and then brush it off as a joke, Akagami no Shanks. My goals have always differed from his, but he was my Captain, and as long as he was that didn’t matter. He knew I wasn’t in it for the same reasons as he was, and he accepted me in his crew nonetheless. I may not have shared his ideals and his dreams, but I respected them, admired them despite that. I used to wish that I could believe like he did, that adventures and nakamas were all we needed in this world. But just as I started to see things his way, he disbanded the crew, disappeared for two months, then gave himself up to the marines. And everything fell apart. Everyone left, went their own way, and maybe it was naïve of me to believe that they would at least try to stay in touch, to reach out, but I did. And they never did. We were still kids, still fucking kids, and he was the closest thing either of us had to a fucking parent, and they left us hanging.”

He takes a swig of the bottle by his side, still facing the sea rather than the man beside him.

“So no, I’m never going to put my dreams in adventures and friends and family. I’ve learned my lesson. At least treasures and money have never betrayed me when I needed them the most. Do you remember how it felt, Shanks? Not even fourteen years old, barely even fifteen in your case, being thrust into the world on your own after losing the center of your universe? Of course you do. That’s why you never took that Strawhat kid of yours on the Red Force. Becaue he was just a kid and had no idea what he was really getting himself into. He still doesn’t, though I hope Marineford was a wake-up call for him.”

“You tried to kill him in Loguetown. On the same platform they killed Captain Roger on.”

Buggy laughs. It sounds hollow in the increasing darkness.

“Did I? Tell me, Akagami no Shanks, Emperor of the New World. Have I ever deliberately killed anyone younger than twenty-five?”

Shanks freezes, and Buggy laughs again. Even Shanks hadn’t bothered to look beneath Buggy’s surface, and it hurts more than it should.

“The one they call the Supernova? I met them all at some point, when they started out. I ‘tried’ to kill them. Them and all the others. Some gave up, some didn’t. Some won, and some I let go. All of them learned a valuable lesson. Someone had to make sure they knew what they were getting themselves into before they got themselves killed. And damned if I was going to let them find out the same way I did.”

He takes another swig, frowns at the empty bottle and grabs another.

“You want to know why I mostly stayed in East Blue, Shanks? I stayed there because I learned the hard way that I’m not like the rest of you. I’m not strong enough to keep my crew alive out there. So I’m not going to risk it. I might not believe in that ‘nakama are family’ crap, but they’re my responsibility. And contrary to others, I’m not going to abandon them.”

He stands up, turns around and starts to walk away.

“It was nice to see you, Akagami, but I’ve got to get back to my crew and make sure they’re going to survive the shit-fest I landed them into. Give my greetings to the others when they have the decency to show themselves instead of eavesdropping like naughty cabin-boys.”

He leaves with these words, ignoring the wince that shot through his fellow former cabin brat at the iting tone. Shanks doesn’t try to stop him, though, and neither do the others he can sense hidden in the trees.