Kid Admirals - Chapter 1

The floor was so unbelievably close, he stared at it for a while. Not that he never saw wooden floors before, but he grew used to look at them from like nine feet away. That was still the case yesterday, right up until he got distracted (... why, Kizaru's fault of course!), he forgot about how far Jewelry Bonney's age-changing ability could reach and stepped right into it. His body shrunk almost in an instant and just as he tried to react, every tiny muscle in those suddenly tiny arms and legs refused to obey him. In terror of what just happened, with all the fatal consequences dawning on him, with his own Marine cap falling down onto his eyes and nose, he heard oddly familiar voice calling him saying:
“Oi, Sakazuki, look! I'M A CHILD!”
Sakazuki couldn't look, struggling with his own clothes that very moment, but he really didn't need to. There was only one person in the entire universe who could possibly be so cheerful in those circumstances, and he knew that person all too well.
“NOT THAT IT MAKES MUCH DIFFERENCE IN YOUR CASE”, Sakazuki snapped. He didn't get to say much more from then on, because of all the chaos that followed ...

That was yesterday. Sakazuki stared now at the floor, desperately trying to think. He wasn't really used to think desperately. Normally he would keep to himself, observe, calculate, do some manipulative things to less smart people and swiftly bullshit his way out of trouble without even having to fight. It was always far more beneficial to make condemned pirates fight each other and eventually execute themselves saving a lot of everyone's time - not to mention the tax payers money the World Government constantly bitched about.
The problem was that Bonney's ability wasn't just shrinking the body. Sakazuki literally turned into a six years old child, which meant having a six years old brain. It was his brain, alright. All the memories were still there. He knew he was really an adult, a fleet admiral and powerful devil fruit user at that, but at the same time he was getting more and more upset, he wanted to eat something sweet, he wanted to go home, Kizaru annoyed him beyond imagination (... playing tag with those pirates is he braindead or what?!), he felt left out and hurt. He felt like crying.
That was the most terrifying thing Sakazuki ever experienced. He was feeling like a child, but unlike a real child he was also aware of how childish and surreal those feelings were.
And that wasn't even the worse ...
He was standing at the main deck of that ridiculous ship, Thousand Sunny, his back to a wall, staring at the floor and trying very hard to ignore little Kizaru having fun with enemies (Why does everyone like that monkey? EVERYONE.). He could have used his magma powers, sure. But last time he tried, he ended up coughing up blood, fainting and nearly getting stomped to death by a haki user - that Blackleg or whatever they call him. In his now fragile body Sakazuki wouldn't stand a chance even against that fluffy talking thing Kizaru was playing with.
There was Mugiwara, of course, spending most of his time on eating meals after meals. Dragon's Son, as Sakazuki referred to him, didn't change much since the Marineford battle – except for the huge scar on his chest. It was slightly unnerving how much he resembled his grandfather, Garp, both in looks and personality. And appetite, too. There was almost no trace of Dragon in him. First of all, Dragon himself wouldn't let the admirals live, would he?
Sakazuki couldn't figure out why were him and Kizaru not only being spared but even taken on board and – he hated to admit that – saved by those pirates. Sure, it was all chaotic back there and two incapacitated admirals were valuable hostages and all that, but really? What was Mugiwara's plan to begin with?
After hours and hours of asking himself those questions Sakazuki slowly started to realize that there was no plan. None. Nothing he could intercept or use to his own advantage. With his mind gradually deteriorating, Sakazuki felt unable to deal with the terror of that thought.

As a matter of fact, he wasn't the only one feeling upset. Standing by the rudder, Nami looked as focused as ever, with her eyes fixed on the horizon and her hand holding the rudder wheel, moving slightly from time to time. She was really just going through the motions, setting her brain in automatic mode of simultaneously steering the ship and scanning the weather. On the inside she was indeed focused, but not on waves nor temperatures, rather on recent events. Some required serious thought, like the part when the crew got involved in saving a country. Again. Or like when they were fighting three different enemies at once. Apparently pirates had nothing better to do these days but to gather all together and start fighting whenever they saw Sunny appearing in the distance. Or how about stumbling upon World Government's evil plot and messing it up? Sure they needed yet another reason to annihilate us! And finally, what about Luffy dragging some admirals onto the ship? Because, you know, why the hell not?
To think that it all started so promising, with a treasure map! They were just out to get a treasure. Well, high time they get one, the food isn't going to buy itself. Anyway, there was that map, right? And all was going well until they met with that ship adrift with a broken sail ...
The moment she saw it, Nami knew she could kiss her treasure goodbye. She was soon proven right when the ship turned out to be a slave transport heading for Mariejois.
“Still raging, are you, Nami?”
Nami twitched and turned, startled by Usopp's sudden appearance.
“I am NOT!”, she snapped. “What are you doing here, Usopp? You were supposed to discretely keep an eye on ... On him. You know.”
They both looked down at the main deck, where Akainu was standing all by himself, leaning on the wall. He just happened to look up and stare back.
After a moment of awkward silence, both carefully looking away from the main deck, Nami and Usopp resumed their conversation:
“Soo ... Still raging, are you, Nami?”
“Not at all, not at all. Were you not supposed to keep an eye on someone, Usopp?”
“I was on duty all day long!” Usopp straightened up, taking his Count-On-Me pose. “Did I not say I excel in surveillance?”
“You did say that. Indeed.”
“See? Anytime you need a monster followed, you just leave it to me! There's nothing in these seas that scares me!”
“Usopp, your legs are shaking.”
“It's the zeal!”
“Right.” Nami sighted. “Look, if what Chopper says is true, they really are harmless as long as they stay children ...“
Chopper explained that the Devil's Fruit ability is evolving and aging along with its user, usually becoming more and more powerful. Thus if user's body gets reduced to its younger version, it could no longer sustain its own ability. Powerful techniques like those used by adult admirals would cause serious harm to their now child-like bodies - at least according to Chopper's theory.
Problem with theories, though, is that they need time to be proven right.
“Thing is”, Nami went on, “what if they turn back into full-sized admirals while on the ship? Besides, even being kids they can still plot something. Especially that grumpy one. I'm all for throwing him overboard!”
“Oi, he can't swim!”
“Yes, and your point is...?” Nami sighted again, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “There's a storm coming. A huge one. I will try to get us through it, though. It might be the only way to shake off those guys ...”
This time they both turned to look behind them. There was a silhouette of a battleship looming in the distance. After a short pause Usopp said:
“You know, in times like this I'm all for not following any treasure maps ever again. Because in the end we don't even get to see the treasure.”
Nami's face darkened. She shook her head and said:
“Usopp, please ... Let's not talk about this. It's too painful.”