I looked at the man and didn't say anything. After a while, he seemed to get bored and just threw me away. He took this as his win and began to walk out of the bar with his goons. When he was about to exit, he bid them goodbye.
"Later, wimps!"
Luffy came running to me and checked whether I was unhurt. But I just smiled at Luffy and ruffled his hair. Then I continued to clean up the mess.
"Hahahahahahaha"
"Hehehehehehe"
Everyone began to laugh at the Captain.
"Talk about lame, Boss!"
"He got you good!"
"Hehehehehe"
"Why are you laughing?! That was so uncool! Why didn't you fight them?! You're not men—or pirates—if you laugh after something like that!" Luffy screamed.
"I understand how you feel, but he only spilt some booze on me. It's not worth getting mad over. And look at your brother, he's also not mad about what happened."
"Why aren't you mad, Bad?" Luffy asked me.
"Mad? Why would I be mad about that? If Shanks wanted to, he could have done something about it. He is a strong man. As for that little thing he did to me... well, as long as he doesn't touch you, I don't really care," I said nonchalantly.
Luffy huffed and then turned around to walk out of the bar.
"Hey, wait, Luffy," Shanks said and grabbed his hand.
"I've had it! I don't want to be a coward like you!" Luffy said and continued walking. That was when they saw that Luffy's arm stretched like... rubber.
"His arm stretches!!" Shanks said.
"Don't tell me you..."
"What's going on?!" Luffy asked.
"It's gone!"
"What?!!!"
"The Gum-Gum fruit, we robbed from our enemy! Luffy, don't tell me you ate a fruit like this!" Roux said.
"I-I did. It tasted so bad."
"The Gum-Gum fruit is a hidden treasure of the sea known as a devil fruit! Eating it turns your body to rubber, and makes you lose the ability to swim for the rest of your life!" Shanks said.
"Eh?! No way!"
"You dumbass!"
.
Makino came storming into the Mayor's house, where we were currently playing cards. He was bad at this, and I liked to take all his money. Hehe, I was joking, of course. I didn't take ALL his money. But you know, a man's gotta live.
"Mayor, we have a problem!" Makino said.
"What is it, Makino?"
"Luffy's in trouble with Mountain Bandits!" she said, and my eyes widened at this.
"What happened?" I asked.
(Flashback)
"It's been a while since Captain-san and his crew went on a voyage. I bet you miss them, Luffy," Makino said.
"Not at all! I haven't forgiven them yet! I thought Shanks and the others were cooler pirates!" Luffy said.
"Yeah? I think it's cooler to pay no mind and laugh after someone humiliates you like that," Makino said.
"You don't understand. There are times that men have to stand up and fight," Luffy countered.
"I guess I don't understand these things."
"Make way for us," a new voice said from the door, "Those damn pirates aren't here today, huh? We were walking by again, so we dropped in," the same bandit said and walked in with his gang.
"Why are you just standing there?! Bring us booze!"
(Flashback end)
"...you didn't really tell us what happened, now did you? But I can guess what happened after that. Let's go," I said, while I grabbed my bat, and we left Woop Slap's house.
.
"Let go! Let go! Damn!" Luffy screamed.
"What an interesting body..." the bandit leader said as he pulled Luffy's cheeks.
"Say sorry for that!"
"What kind of animal is he?" the bandit leader asked and flung Luffy away.
"Damn, I'm gonna make you pay!"
"We can sell him for good money," the bandit leader said, and my fist clenched around the handle of my bat. I was using my full willpower not to run up to that prick and smash his brains in.
Luffy grabbed a stick and ran towards the bandit, trying to hit him. The man just kicked Luffy to the ground and stood on his head.
"Did I say something to offend you?"
"You did! Now apologise! Get your foot off me!"
This was the moment that Woop Slap intervened.
"Let the boy go! Please!" Woop Slap said and... got on his knees, "I don't intend to fight you! If you allow it, I'll even pay you! Spare the boy's life!"
"Leave it to the seniors to know how the world works... But no. It's too late for him now. After all, he's made me angry... I'm irritated from being messed with by this rubber squirt!"
"You're the bad guys! You mountain apes!" Luffy screamed.
"We're not gonna sell him. Let's just kill him!"
.
"Oi oi... You better get your foot off my brother, before I smash your brains out," I said as I walked towards them.
"Huh? You're that brat I remember. You'd better piss off before I shoot you," the bandit leader said.
I didn't care about what he said and continued to walk forward. When I walked past one of the bandits, he pulled a gun and pointed it at me.
"He said no closer! Don't make me blow your head off!"
I stopped but didn't look at him. I was holding my bat on my shoulders and addressing him.
"Now that you have pointed your gun at me, you must be prepared to die... right?"
"Huh? What the heck are you talking about?"
"I'm stating the fact that if you point your gun at someone..."
BOOM
My bat impacted with his head and cracked his skull wide open. He didn't even see it coming.
"...you should be prepared to die as well."
Everyone's eyes widened because they never thought that a boy my age would be this ruthless and have the guts to kill someone just like that. But I had lived in the wild for two years. You either killed your food or died. My anger was what made me do this, though. I wasn't a psychopath—I was angry that they threatened my brother, and for that, they would pay.
"Punch me, kick me, spit on me, spill ale on me, curse me, laugh at me, I don't care. But the moment you touch my brother, you'd better pray for mercy, because I sure as hell won't give you any," I said and looked at the bandit leader with anger.
"Huh? Hahahaha, what a brat you are. Kill him!" he said, and two bandits attacked me.
I dodged their attacks with ease and smashed my bat into their faces. I didn't kill them, however. I got my point across, and these were just cannon fodder anyway. I could use the exercise, though. I blocked the slash with my bat, moved out of the way to let him lose his balance, and jumped at him. My small stature was still a nuisance. I smashed my fist into him and turned around while I was in the air.
I swung my body around and hit another bandit. After that, I landed on the ground again and started to use their numbers against them. They were far too weak and inexperienced to understand how to fight me best. I smashed my bat against their knees and hips, hearing cracks as I did so, and took them all out one after the other.
I could once again feel my fighting spirit rising as the fight dragged on. But only about two minutes had passed since I started. I kicked and punched those bastards in the nuts and broke spines and all sorts of other bones. None of them would ever walk normally again—if they walked at all. The leader of the bandits had taken his leave during my fight. So I was left standing there, covered in the bandits' blood and breathing heavily.
"Where did he go? Where's Luffy!" I screamed, but a hand stopped me. I turned around and saw Shanks looking at me.
"It's alright, we'll get him back," he said and had a kind smile on his face. But I didn't care about that and started running. I didn't know where that bastard had taken Luffy, but I was sure I'd find him at the port. My memories were betraying me because I felt like I should have known where he was.
.
It didn't take long for me to reach the port. When I arrived, I saw a small boat with the tall body of the bandit slowly leaving.
"LUFFY!!!!" I screamed. I then ran and jumped. However, before I hit the water, I was once again grabbed and held in the air. It was Shanks again. He had a smile on his face and told me:
"Don't worry about it, Bad. I'll go get him, you wait here, ok?"
"All right. I'll wait here."
He smiled and then jumped into the water.
.
At sea, on the small boat, the bandit decided that he no longer had any use for Luffy and simply kicked him off the small boat.
"So long."
"Dammit! Dammit! Those guys are scum, but I couldn't even hit them once! Dammit! Dammit!" Luffy said and then fell into the water. Since he had eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi, he was incapable of swimming.
"Silly brat!" the bandit said and didn't realise that the water behind his small boat rose and a massive beast emerged. That was the Lord of the Coast, as we called him here.
With one bite, the Sea King devoured the bandit and the small boat as well. The beast then saw small Luffy struggling not to drown and began to swim towards him. Just as he was about to eat Luffy as well, Shanks arrived and sacrificed an arm for him. The Sea King wasn't finished, though, and attacked again.
At that moment, Shanks looked at the Sea King and used a slight burst of Haoshoku Haki to scare the creature. I could feel the small ripple of will that washed over the area. It was already that powerful, and he had only used a fraction. I could only imagine how powerful he would be in the future.
"Get lost!" Shanks said, and the Sea King left them.
.
"I'm in your debt, Luffy... Makino-san told me everything. You fought for us," Shanks told Luffy.
Luffy was crying, however, and held on to Shanks for dear life.
"Hey, don't cry. You're a man!"
"But... Shanks...! Your arm!"
"It's only an arm. It's no big deal. I'm glad you're alright..." Shanks said. I thought this was suspicious. It felt like manipulation of the highest degree. Why else would Shanks sacrifice an arm for Luffy? It made no sense. It is pretty much guaranteed that Luffy would become a pirate and wish to become the Pirate King in the future. I would find out the true reason in the future, I was sure.
.
"Shanks, aren't you gonna come back?" Luffy asked.
"No, it was a long stay, but now we part ways," Shanks told him.
"Yeah, I won't ask you to take me anymore. I've decided to become a pirate on my own now!"
"I wasn't gonna take you anyway! You'll never be a pirate!"
"Will too. Someday I will gather a crew every bit as good as yours, and I'm gonna find the greatest treasure in the world, and I'm going to become the King of the Pirates!" Luffy declared.
"You're gonna surpass us, huh? In that case..." Shanks took off his straw hat and put it on Luffy's head, "...I'll leave this hat with you."
"It's dear to me. Come and bring it back to me someday! Once you've become a great pirate!" Shanks told Luffy and then set sail with his crew. I watched them leave together with Luffy and thought that it was good he wasn't here anymore. Although the manipulation was done, I didn't care. As long as my brother was safe, I was fine with anything he would do.
Luffy was 7 now, and I was nearing 8, so I guessed I should increase my training. I could ask Grandpa for some training. That old man was a monster.