"It's starting, it's starting!!!"
"How long you think Aus can last this time?"
"Last time was one minute, this time... gotta be at least a minute and a half, right?"
"I'm betting two minutes."
"Want to place bets, everyone?"
"...Don't make me smack you, Bitam!"
Maybe from pure boredom, on the Roger Pirates' ship, a bunch of rough bastards were hyped as hell, crowding around a battle about to go down.
Aus wore some shrunken black military uniform from god knows where, black gun on his back, standing ready as he eyed the figure across from him.
Black hair flowing in the wind, face set with determination—young but still undeniably badass.
That face had some serious Uchiha-level beauty going on.
Standing opposite was a blonde middle-aged guy. Just casually standing there, but still putting serious pressure on Aus.
"Worthy of being 'Dark King' Rayleigh. Just his stance screams scary strong."
Aus knew no powerhouse in the One Piece world got there without fighting their way up. Endless training was for scrub-tier pirates.
And he, Aus—
His thing was being hardheaded!
Scared of pain? Don't become a pirate!
Seeing Rayleigh wasn't moving, Aus decided fuck waiting. Under Buggy and Shanks's confused stares, his figure flashed and vanished.
"Huh? He just disappeared?"
"When the hell did Aus eat a Devil Fruit?"
They knew about Aus and Uncle Bitam's scam partnership, so they obviously knew the treasure Captain Roger lost betting was actually a Devil Fruit.
When splitting loot, Aus didn't want cash—only took that Devil Fruit.
According to Captain Rayleigh, the fruit's name was something like...
Warp-Warp Fruit?
"Nope!"
Somehow Captain Roger had appeared behind the two little guys, big hands on their heads, laughing: "You should've seen it—Aus is using Marine Six Powers."
"What the hell?!??"
Shanks and Buggy's jaws dropped, looking like they'd seen a ghost.
Of course they knew Six Powers—advanced body technique, basically Haki training wheels. But the key issue was...
This was signature Marine officer shit. This Aus bastard learned it at nine?
Sure enough, when they looked back at the fight, Aus had suddenly appeared behind Rayleigh, launching a gut kick at his kidney.
Shakky-san, don't blame me!
Just as he was about to connect, Aus somehow pulled back his foot, instead quickly backing off.
Rayleigh slowly turned around, looking at Aus whose eyes were dead serious, mischievous grin spreading across his lips.
"Why'd you pull back mid-kick?"
Aus glared at the grinning Rayleigh, who looked like a creepy uncle, and grimaced: "Nothing much. Just felt like if I kicked, something real bad would happen."
Actually—
In that split second, he'd glimpsed a scene of his own leg snapping.
Going with his "better safe than sorry" gut, Aus actively pulled back and tried catching that feeling again.
"When Observation Haki gets too strong, sometimes it holds back your growth, kid!"
Rayleigh laughed, then almost instantly appeared right in front of Aus.
What?!
Aus's Observation Haki screamed warnings!
Observation Haki: Enemy incoming!
Brain: React fast!
Body: Yeah right—you come try reacting, smartass!
This was one of Aus's major flaws. His crazy powerful Observation Haki gave him a natural strong person's perspective—god's-eye view.
But that couldn't change his core nature as a kid. His body couldn't keep up with reactions—that gap was his weakness.
This had nothing to do with talent, only constant fighting could fix it, gaining monster-level combat reflexes and instincts.
Only then could he handle more advanced power—
Like Haki.
Translation: More fighting, more beatings = best crash course for Armament Haki.
His naturally freakish body could only help Aus shorten the process, not skip it.
So facing Rayleigh's sudden attack, Aus quickly realized he absolutely couldn't dodge. Better to take it head-on.
He decisively chose to use this for training, steeling himself:
Using the bargain-bin Armament Haki he'd just learned—
"Iron Body!!!"
No way I can't even block one damn kick—
...
...
"Aus, you're finally awake!"
"Holy shit..."
Aus slowly opened his eyes, seeing two boys by the bed. Took him exactly two and a half seconds to figure out what happened.
He'd gotten kicked to sleep by Uncle Rayleigh again.
Should he say Rayleigh-san's kicks were just that brutal, or getting kicked unconscious was this garbage technique's passive effect?
If I use Iron Body again, I'm a fucking dog.
Aus swore internally.
"Hey! Aus, you really okay?"
Seeing Aus just get up and out of bed, Buggy and Shanks looked worried.
They'd clearly seen that after Aus passed out, the Armament Haki on Vice-Captain Rayleigh's foot was so black it was purple—even Captain Roger was sweating, asking if Rayleigh went too hard.
Though Aus was a monster, taking a hit like that should've had him bedridden for days. They couldn't imagine how Aus took it.
Plus, as Aus's bros, they worried about his health.
This Aus guy... was way too reckless.
But Aus, center of the whole mess, obviously didn't give a shit, just stretched his muscles.
"I'm fine. How long was I out? Not a whole day, right?"
Aus acted like nothing happened, only wincing when he touched his chest.
Fuck that hurts!
Seeing his expression, Shanks and Buggy thought his injury was flaring up, quickly supporting him.
"Don't be stubborn, Aus!"
"Yeah, if you're hurt, rest properly, bastard!"
Aus grimaced and unbuttoned his shirt, looking at his completely black chest, mouth twitching.
"Huh? Aus, when'd you master Armament Haki?"
Seeing this, Shanks gaped in shock, eyes full of disbelief.
Seeing his reaction, Buggy got pissed: "Are you brain-dead? That's obviously bruising!"
"Oh... hahahaha, right!" Shanks finally got it, laughing his ass off: "My bad!"
"You bastard really tick me off!"
Buggy couldn't stand this about Shanks—always being dense and missing the point, then calmly watching him rage.
Usually at times like this, Aus would crack up watching the show. After they finished fighting, he'd throw arms around both their necks and smoothly change topics:
"Don't be mad, Buggy. Let's go eat."
"Tch... I'll give Aus some face, but not because of you, Shanks!"
"Yeah, yeah... I get it."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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