Chapter Text
"The Worst Generation — what an era to be a part of, huh, [Name]?" Rayleigh asked as both of you sat on the rails of someone's balcony. You were sure the owner of the tower wouldn't mind; the former vice-captain seemed to be on good terms with most of the inhabitants of this tree anyway. You merely grinned as the older man let out a hearty chuckle. "And a 230,000 bounty, eh? Feels like it was only yesterday when you were just a kid! All you ever wanted to do was to ride the biggest waves in the seas."
Rayleigh elbowed your arm, to which you rubbed the part that was hit. "It's still on my list."
"You clearly haven't changed!" It took half a minute for the old man to settle down in his fits of laughter, with you giving him an amused look. Old age probably did a number on the man's humor. You thought it was a shallow source of amusement, but you aren't one to judge. It was nice to see him and Shakky faring well - albeit he was missing for six months until now.
"You'll do it then?"
"Hm?"
"The coating?" You looked at him expectantly. Of course, you weren't just going to let a random stranger do the coating of your ship. You could only trust your former mentor to do it. Besides, his handiwork was considered one of the best in the archipelago.
"Anything for a former student. Heck, I'll even do it for free!" He gave you a thumbs up, to which you mentally sighed in relief. He added, "Though you have to wait for a few days before I start. As you know, I got another ship on cue."
"Yeah, yeah - Straw Hat's, you mentioned," You weren't particularly surprised, especially since you'd crossed paths earlier with the old man having a brush in tow. Before he even mentioned the captain's name, you'd already assumed he had a lineup.
"If you arrived just a bit earlier, you would have been first in line!" Rayleigh snickered, patting you on the back in an effort to mock consolation. You huffed, and the old man laughed once more. "You know, they're a good bunch, his crew. I have a good feeling about them."
Besides the newspaper headlines, you didn't know what to make of the Straw Hats due to the lack of a proper meeting. But if Rayleigh's the one saying such things, they must be true. You turned to him as he began gathering his things. "You've stalled me long enough. I should probably start coating the boy's ship."
You don't disagree. "It suits him," you responded, your mind going over the imaginary image of the young captain's wanted poster, "the hat."
He smiled. "Always that damned hat."
Before the two of you could even stand up, you both tensed at the presence of strong haki. It was no ordinary user, no doubt. You see Rayleigh begin to worry as well. It wasn't long before the sound of desolation reached your ears, accompanied by hurried shouts and a few cries for help. "Most of the worst generation crews are here. I doubt they would let an opportunity like this pass."
Rayleigh hummed in agreement. "And your comrades?"
"Ship - I told them to stay put 'till I return." You remember the number. "in 79, should be well-hidden despite being near Marine headquarters."
"Good." The former vice-captain stood up from his cross-legged sitting position, staring at the distance where the presence of haki came from. You stood up as well, a hand gripped on the handle of one sickle as you awaited the old man's signal.
"You up for a warm-up battle before you go back to the second half of the grand line?"
You nodded with a smile, and with that, the two of you raced off to the source of the possible ruckus that had already started in Sabaody Archipelago.
There, you saw it in the open field. Admiral Kizaru aimed his light-powered leg at one of the crew members of the infamous Straw Hat pirates. The other members seemed to fall helpless at the logia-type user.
"[Name], go ahead!" Rayleigh ordered you urgently, his tone of speaking taking you back to when he would set you up with the most random jobs with the excuse of teaching you the necessary skills in battle. You had clearly moved on from being under his mentorship by now, but it seems old habits die hard.
Now was not the time to throwback, however.
You charged off at what seemed to be like a speed of light - though incomparable to the abilities of who you were about to face, immediately kicking your armament haki-coated foot against the admiral's, fortunately deflecting his attack before it could hit the moss-haired swordsman lying on the ground.
Kizaru looked displeased, though the nonchalance of his expression overrode any feelings that may have surfaced in him. "So, now you decided to appear, Sea Dog [Name]," Displeasure, if ever he felt it, was not heard in his intonated manner of speaking, " . . . and Dark King Rayleigh?"
You backed up as Rayleigh arrived on the scene. You stood just behind him, awaiting any commands if he wanted you to do anything else. You weren't the kind of person who'd be impulsive and egoistic enough to battle an admiral one-on-one while still recovering from heavy injuries.
You know your limits, and right now, in your state, you were certainly not on admiral level yet.
"I won't let you take out these youngsters. Their era is only beginning." Rayleigh spoke of hard-earned confidence, his unwavering aura of self-reliance making you loosen your grip on your still-sheathed weapon.
The man slightly turned his head to let you know that what he was about to say was directed at you, though his eyes still trained on the logia-type user. "Get them out of here."
You scanned the crew for a quick survey of their numbers to see how well they were faring and to decide which ones you had to prioritize. You needn't respond, dashing between the veterans to pluck the swordsman out of the scene first.
The sounds of light clashing rang through your ears, but the cries of gratitude of the young captain didn't go unnoticed.