"What are the two of you doing here?" Wolf asked as he sat on a barrel in front of the two youngsters.

Sabo stepped forward. "We want to be pirates!"

"And? What can you two do? Cook? Clean? Sing? Dance?" Wolf asked them.

"We can fight! Together we are unbeatable." Ace was the one that came forward this time.

All the men in the crew laughed at the two children. Wolf was silent before he looked around. Buggy was gone, and so was Alvida. They should be in town by now, and searching for them could take some time. He didn't mind going to look for them, but now he had two kids in front of him. Both were much smaller in height than Desire.

He was starting to wonder if they would be capable of beating her.

"Who is stronger?"

Ace and Sabo both looked at one another.

"Boss, you can't be thinking of allowing them to join us, can you?"

Wolf shrugged.

"They are here already, so why not? We can leave them here, but lets not forget that they managed to slip past all of us and come aboard our ship."

Not to mention the two of them reminded him of his old friends. That time they tried to steal a pirate ship seemed so long ago. It was when his life changed, and there was a lot that happened since then. Sure, they were small now, but eventually, they'd grow up.

His crew looked embarrassed at his remark.

They left the island in a hurry that none of them checked the storage.

"I'm stronger!" Ace said proudly after a small bicker with Sabo.

"Would you bet your life on it?" Ace asked him as he leaned forward. 

Ace was silent for a moment then nodded.

"Good, then you two can join."

Both of them looked excited and started to jump around.

"But! Only if you manage to win."

Ace started punching the air. "Well, who am I fighting? You? You? Or is it you?" Ace asked as he pointed at the three weakest looking people around.

All of them laughed.

"The balls on this one."

"Go on, fight the boy. Let's see if he kicks your ass."

The crew started to laugh louder and make jokes.

"Not any of them. While it might be funny to watch, there's someone else I have in mind." Wolf told him before he opened a portal right in front of him.

This was the first time he opened a large portal in front of people that stayed around for more than a split second. Many of them looked at it with great interest, and both the boys looked into it. They did not see anything.

"Jump in."

"Jump in? What is this?" Ace asked.

Someone pushed Ace from behind causing him to stumble into the portal, soon followed by Sabo. Wolf took a step into the portal and then it vanished.

When he emerged Ace's face was in the dirt, and Sabo was flat on his butt. They appeared right outside of the tavern where he left Kuro and the others.

"What the?" Ace was surprised by the sight.

"How did we end up here?" Sabo asked.

"Follow me." Wolf told them as he walked into the tavern.

Inside his crew was drinking and chatting with themselves or the locals. Desire was talking to Kuro, and the young boy she was with before was now gone. She turned her attention to Wolf as he walked in.

"Is this who you brought to challenge me?" Desire asked as she took notice of Ace and Sabo. 

Desire stood up from her seat and walked over to the three of them. She was much taller than the two boys and she made sure to look down at them.

Ace made a sound and pointed at her. "She looks weak, and why's she dressed like a bandit?"

"Who are you calling a bandit?"

Wolf looked at the two bicker before he stepped between them.

"Step outside so we can get this over with. The quicker the better."

People inside the tavern hurriedly got up from their seats and ran out of the door. Wolf's crew was looking at the two children their captain brought in with strange looks. This was the first time they've seen either of them and wondered who they were.

Desire stepped outside followed by Ace and Sabo. Ace had his hands behind his head believing that this would be an easy fight for him. After all he's been in tough situations before and learned a lot from the old man.

Wolf opened a passage in between the crowd of people that were here to see the children fight. Many of them were placing bets but he didn't join. He looked at Ace who was stretching his arms and Desire who had a smug grin on her face.

"Alright, when this coin drops the fight begins. The fight ends when someone gives up, someone has been knocked out, or unable to continue fighting. Both in agreement?"

Ace nodded and so did Desire.

"Get her Ace!" Sabo shouted.

Wolf tossed a coin into the air. When it landed both children dashed forward at one another.

Desire was taller and had a longer reach, but Ace was nimble. Her first strike missed as he ducked and countered with his own attack.

The crowd started to cheer and Wolf found it amusing.

"What's going on over here?" A voice that Wolf recognized asked.

He turned and saw Buggy carrying three barrels. Alvida was next to him eating a slice of cake.

"Tryouts for the new recruits." Wolf replied.

"Eh? These brats?" Buggy saw the children fighting. "Do we need more kids?"

"No, not really. Need more crew members, and they wanted to join. As for her, she's a doctor, or supposed to be one. Figured it would be good to have her join."

Wolf turned his head to look at Buggy. The red-nosed clown was dressed differently than before. He now had an orange and white shirt, with some blue pants and a red hat. His outfit made Wolf want to laugh since it was very out there.

"I wanted to ask you, that haki that you talked about. Are you able to teach it?"

"Haki? Red, what is he talking about?" Alvida asked.

"I can explain, but not teach. You're better off asking red-hair about that." Buggy said without thinking, then covered his mouth.

"Red-hair?" Wolf asked then thought of something. He pulled out a wanted poster and showed it to Buggy. "This guy? You know him?"

Buggy saw the wanted poster for Shanks and his eyes nearly popped out.

"Holy!" Buggy shouted in surprise then calmed him as he rubbed his nose. "That's nothing. If I was as active as him my bounty would be higher."

Wolf didn't care for the bounty, even though he knew it was a lot. "So, you do know him."

"Yeah. He asked me to be part of his crew because he knew how great I am."

"Interesting." Wolf said.

"Later, tell the crew what you know. Maybe one of us will pick up on it."

Wolf turned his attention back to the fight, and both the kids hit one another right in the chin. Desire already had a bunch of bruises on her from the hits she took earlier and this one made her legs buckle. She fell to the ground and shortly after Ace landed right next to her.

The crowd cheered.

"Guess this means you'll be joining us." Wolf told Desire as he stood next to her.

"Don't forget us too!" Sabo added.