– Bellamy –

"Shakky, guess who's back~"

"My favorite cutie pie! Oh my, look at how much you've grown!" Shakky exclaimed, swooping past me to engulf Aisa in a hug and start rubbing her cheek against hers. My crew mascot's protests that she wasn't cute were summarily ignored. For my part, I was left standing with my hands awkwardly opened in greeting, which she belatedly acknowledged, almost like an afterthought. "Oh, you're here too, Bellamy-chan?"

"Pffft!" Naturally, the efforts of my friends to keep a straight face, valiant as they may have been, were doomed from the start. Especially with Urouge throwing in the towel near immediately and collapsing to the floor. Likewise, rather than defend their captain's honor, my traitorous crew elected to join my so-called allies in laughing their heads off. Now, I could have gone crawling into a corner to sulk, but even a former nerd like me had the social IQ to (sometimes) recognize when being made the butt of a joke was malicious in intent or simple ribbing amongst friends. This was (probably) clearly the latter.

"I'm hurt, Shakky. And here I thought I was your favorite."

"I do like you Bellamy-chan, but you aren't seriously trying to compete with this face, are you?" Shakky asked, holding up a squirming Aisa to demonstrate. "Look at how adorable she is."

"What if I've brought you a gift?" I grinned, holding up a small, green parcel. "Would that help?"

"You look cuter already."

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With the initial greetings out of the way, our collective crews made themselves comfortable, spreading out across the entire bar to mingle with Shakky's almost reasonably priced assortment of beverages, rapidly draining my wallet in the process. At least mine was free…

"So, what do I owe this visit to, Bellamy-chan? And with such a large party to boot?" Shakky asked, leaning against the countertop.

"Can't I simply visit my favorite bar owner?"

"Flatterer."

"Guilty as charged. Plus, I did want to thank you for everything."

"Oh?"

"You vouching for us to the Kuja was really helpful. The Payback War would have turned out a lot worse without your letter of recommendation." I nodded. "Not to mention you putting in a good word for us with the Bloody Countess."

"What makes you say that?"

"For the longest time, I couldn't understand why that particular meeting had gone so well. Especially not after my frankly idiotic attempt to be clever and hide the amount of pure gold we'd found."

"Yes, that was uncharacteristically stupid of you. I can see why you'd try it, but it was stupid."

"I can see that now." I freely admitted. Even if it had made sense at the time to not lay all cards on the table immediately, I should have taken a lot more things into account. "Anybody else in her position should have at least raked me over the coals and wrung me dry. That she didn't and presented a generous offer instead always struck me as really odd."

"Elisabeth is known for being one of the more generous of the underworld leaders. Relative to the others at least."

"She also has a reputation to maintain. I'm not arrogant enough to believe that I'm someone important enough to warrant special treatment. At least not yet, anyway."

"Hence, you assumed that someone was looking out for you. Someone with enough clout to have Elisabeth reconsider targeting you."

"Yeah. I briefly considered Shanks or Dragon, but Dragon hadn't even met me yet at that point."

"Why not Shanks? I thought you guys were pretty close."

"Honestly? I couldn't tell, but then you wrote me that letter of recommendation, which made me wonder if that had been the first time you'd put in a good word for me." I said, briefly shrugging my shoulders. "Shanks also doesn't seem the type to hide his involvement."

"No, I don't suppose he is."

"So…was I right?"

"Yes. The logic you used to reach the conclusion could be better, but it was correct."

"Again, thank you for watching out for us, Shakky. We owe you."

"You shouldn't keep promising favors to people, Bellamy-chan." Shakky said, wagging a finger at me. "It's not a good habit."

"…Ahahaha…ha." My attempt at laughter was a pitiful and awkward thing, made worse by the way my hand reflexively went to scratch the back of my head. Apparently, my fellow captains agreed.

"Doofus." Bonney muttered around her drink, Urouge and Law joining in with commiserating nods.

"Listening in on private conversations is rude, didn't you know?"

"Then don't have it in a bar while I'm sitting right next to you!" Bonney shot back.

"Pinky's got a point there, Midget."

"Don't call me Pinky, ya big lug!"

"I'm calling it as I see it. Pinky."

"Bonney-ya, Monk-ya, can you two please stop squabbling like children? This is getting embarrassing."

"Haaah?" Bonney stood up to lean over Law, her annoyed face inches from his. "You calling me a child, doc?"

"Hmmm, maybe. Yeah. You could say that. What about it?"

"How about I turn you into a child instead?!" Bonney threatened, her words accentuated by how she began rolling up her sleeves. In response, Law's hand fell onto the hilt of his blade in a well-practiced movement.

"I'd like to see you try, Bonney-ya."

Unsurprisingly, this little commotion had drawn the eyes of the entire bar…for about three seconds before our respective crews went back to having a good time. All of them having long since become resigned to the reality that their captains seemed to regress in mental maturity whenever more than one of them occupied the same general space… With my notable exception, of course.

As such, being the mature and responsible one amongst us, it fell to me to avert greater tragedy and disaster by preventing the brewing kerfuffle. Quickly exchanging a couple of looks with Urouge, I bodily dragged Bonney away from Law while Urouge did the same to Law.

"Calm down Bonney! How about we take a moment and be adults about this–HEY!"

I didn't get very far. Three feet later, I was suddenly about three feet tall, staring up at my pink-haired comrade. My pudgy arms, the return of my baby fat and my suddenly squeaky voice provided all the clues I needed.

"Nahahaha!" Bonney laughed. "Why don't you grow up first before saying things like that, Springtrap?"

Urouge hadn't fared much better, having been teleported into a wall via Law's ROOM. Unlike me however, it didn't take my big friend very long to respond in an inappropriate manner. Bellowing out a challenge, he charged at Law, ripping out a sizable portion of the wall in the process and tackling the doctor through the closed front door.

Again, I'd like to emphasize that I was the mature and responsible one amongst us. The adult in the room, as it were. Seeing as I had brought these three clowns here, one could argue that it was also my responsibility to keep them in line. And if words wouldn't suffice and as long as I didn't damage Shakky's bar any further, surely a little violence was excusable, right?

"Coil Chassis."

"Bring it, Springtrap!"

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"Pass me that plank, will you?"

"Here you go. Need anything else?"

"Thanks, Bonney. Just keep them coming."

Being friends with people sometimes meant cleaning up after them. This was true for children and doubly so for adults, especially if the friends in question were currently… unable to deal with their own mess. All that was to say, that patching up the gaps left by Urouge's and Law's brief bout of play-fighting was merely a part of proper social etiquette. Thus, my volunteering – or Bonney's for that matter – had nothing to do with the series of bumps on our heads or Lily's death glare boring a hole into the back of my skull.

"Captain, unless you want us to go bankrupt, you had better do a fantastic job." Lily remarked, coming over to inspect our work. "Otherwise, the trillion belli repair bill is coming out of your salary."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"I don't even have a salary!" I protested. While I had my share of the loot, like all pirates, I didn't have a regular paycheck. Lily didn't care.

"Then that's all the more reason to do a good job, ain't it?"

"I didn't even damage the bar! Like, at all! That was all Urouge and Law!"

"Yeah!" Bonney chimed in. "This was all their fault! I didn't do nothing!"

"That's because Shakky smacked you two down before you could do anything." Lily pointed out. "And it's probably because you didn't cause any collateral damage that you two are only fixing the bar, instead of ending up like those two over there."

As one, our gazes followed Lily's finger to where our unconscious friends were in the midst of being shaken down by the proprietor of this fine establishment. I'm not sure how much they'd be in debt for, but Shakky appearing so gleeful didn't bode well for their wallets. When she saw us staring, she cheerfully waved in our direction, which prompted Bonney and me to refocus on the task at hand:

Voluntarily cleaning up after our friends.

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Thankfully, I ended up not having to pay Shakky a vast sum of money as recompense for breaking down her bar, the former Queen of the Kuja having waved the bill in exchange for an hour's work. Meaning, we could get back to a more important matter and the real reason we were here in the first place. Namely, planning the kidnapping (or rescue, depending on your perspective) of one Bartholomew Kuma.

"I had wondered what could prompt five members of the Worst Generation to visit the archipelago at the same time. With such timing to boot." Shakky commented once we finished explaining our situation to her. "I admit, launching a rescue operation for a former Royal Warlord hadn't been very high on that list."

"Life is full of surprises, I suppose."

"Who'd have guessed that Bonney-chan would be that man's daughter? He certainly didn't act like he had one these past few years." Shakky said, breathing out little rings of smoke before giving Bonney a sympathetic look. "My consolations, dearie. To see what he's become… It's a terrible thing the World Government did to your family."

"…Thank you."

"Well, at least I can confirm that Kuma is here. In fact, he's been on Sabaody since shortly after the Summit War."

"And the World Government hasn't tried to…collect him?" Law asked, looking slightly puzzled. He received a helpless shrug as a reply.

"Oddly enough, no. Rumor has it that Dr. Vegapunk struck a deal with the elder stars to carry out some sort of experiment for two years and that Kuma, or PX-0 as they now call him, is a critical component."

"Experiment?"

"Nothing has really been confirmed. Plus, Egghead Island has maintained radio silence for about three months now, so there isn't much I can tell you on that front." Shakky shook her head. "What I can tell you is that Kuma and a bunch of kiddies have been fighting to protect the Straw Hat Pirates' ship from looters and bounty hunters. A bit odd if one considers the affiliations involved."

"That's grove 40, right?" I piped in, only for Shakky to correct me immediately.

"41, actually."

"Of course. 41. That's what I meant to say." I claimed, my face utterly serious. From the looks of it, nobody believed me. "Right, be that way. Where did all the trust go?"

"Midget. I'd trust you with my life, but that's asking for a little too much." Urouge said, patting me gently on the back. Well, gently for his standards, which, when delivered without proper warning, was enough to rock me in my chair. "Look at the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"With how bad you are at fibbing, you'll have no choice but to go straight." Urouge told me, his smile threatening to cut his face in half. "Honesty really is the best policy, didn't you know?"

"And it's good for my soul too, I suppose?" I snarked. "Plus, what do you mean, go straight? I'm a bloody pirate, for crying out loud."

Sadly, my sarcasm was either lost in transit or missed its mark entirely, because Urouge simply let out a bark of laughter, raining down a few more light pats.

"Don't worry, I'll convert you yet!"

With me desperately trying to regain my balance and not end up sprawling on the bar floor, Law took it upon himself to pick up where I'd left off.

"What were you referring to when you mentioned the timing earlier, Shakky-ya?"

"The marines had been busy little bees this past year, what with rebuilding their forces after the Summit War and Akainu deciding to relocate his HQ to the New World and all." Shakky began, getting nods from all of us. "I even heard that they'd begun clashing with the emperors."

"Already? They've only been there for like five months." Law asked, raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"It's nothing big as of yet. Just small border skirmishes involving maybe a ship or two, but tensions had been rising. Which, of course, led to a large if gradual force build up along their territorial borders." Shakky continued. "Forces which were pulled from naval bases all around the globe."

"All of which pass by Sabaody." I said, completing the thought. No wonder that Shakky was well aware of the navy's movements. "We saw a bit of that when we passed through here, a couple of months back. Didn't think too much of it then, we were just happy that the overworked officers were lax in their duties. Would have been awkward if they had searched my ship and found both a pirate crew and a bunch of revolutionaries on board trying to slip past a marine checkpoint."

"That's informative and all, but what the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Bonney groused; her arms crossed under her bust. "The marines are fighting the Emperors. Good riddance, I say."

"The thing is, despite the continual rise in tensions, the marines have suddenly gone rather silent on this side of the Red Line." Shakky replied, her fingers tapping out a slow rhythm on the bar. "Oddly silent. And I don't like it. Though, I'd have thought that your friend, Disco, would have already informed you."

"Disco has his hands full at the moment, I'm afraid. Doflamingo has finally wised up to what Disco's been doing and has begun applying the pressure." I sighed. "So please, what did you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. Marine presence around these parts has dropped to a record low. Naval battleships remain docked at port and patrols have been decreased until they may as well be non-existent."

"If I remember correctly, your little Thunderchild mention something along those lines when we approached Sabaody today." Urouge mused, contemplatively running his fingers through his beard. "Think they ran out of men?"

"Unlikely. Despite the losses inflicted upon them by Whitebeard, the attritional guerilla war with the Revolutionaries and the countless skirmishes in the wake of the recent rise in piracy, their ranks are fuller than ever." Shakky countered.

"You think it's a trap."

"Well done. Have a cookie, Bellamy-chan."

"Don't mind if I do." I replied, taking the offered biscuit, but I did refrain from taking a bite for now. "I suppose the question now becomes: what do we now."

Bonney immediately put her foot down. "We're not breaking off the mission. I'm rescuing my daddy with or without you."

"Perish the thought." I assured her, waving my hands in emphasis. "I made a promise. I intend to keep it."

"Aye. Allies are allies for a reason, Pinky. You ain't getting rid of this monk that easy." Urouge guffawed, placing his hand atop mine.

"It would be far too much effort to replace you, Glutton-ya." Law smirked, adding his hand to the pile and staring expectantly at Bonney, who soon joined in. "Like they say, all for one…"

"…and one for all." Bonney finished. "Thanks, guys."

"Still, what's the plan, Springtrap-ya?"

"Well, if they've gone through the trouble of laying a trap, it's only polite to spring it, no?"