Shanks

A Story of Shanks at His Absolute Maddest

The wind whipped violently across the floating ruins of the sky-temple, but it was completely swallowed by the sound of Lira (user) gasping for air. Vane had you pinned against the stone balustrade, forty thousand feet above the lower seas. His heavy brass gauntlet was clamped around your neck, crushing you windpipe until your heels kicked uselessly at the air.

—the notorious "Sea-Vixen" who had spent years torpedoing Red-Hair supply ships and leading Shanks on wild, dangerous chases across the Grand Line—was suffocating. Your eyes were unfocused, your dark skin pale, yet you still spat blood onto Vane’s armor. "Look at you," Vane laughed, his grip tightening until your throat let out a terrifying crack. "The great villain of the North Blue, choking to death in the sky." Footsteps.

Slow, deliberate, and heavy.

Shanks rounded the corner of the ruined pillar. He had come to this sky-island to finally confront his long-time rival and reclaim a stolen map. But the moment his eyes landed on you, your face turning purple, your fingers weakly clawing at a hand that meant to break your neck—the air turned into liquid ice. Shanks stopped ten paces away. His red hair hung over his eyes, casting a deep, shadowy mask across his face. "Vane," Shanks said. His voice was low, trembling with a dark, unstable frequency. Vane smirked over his shoulder, still squeezing your neck. "Ah, Red-Hair! You're just in time to watch your enemy die. Don't worry, you're next—"

"LET HER GO!"

The shout didn't just carry—it erupted. It was a raw, primordial roar of pure rage that split the clouds above like thunder. The sonic shockwave from Shanks' voice shattered every remaining glass dome on the sky-island, sending millions of glittering shards raining down around them.

Simultaneously, a violent, crimson-and-black blast of Conqueror’s Haki erupted from Shanks in an explosive shockwave. The sky tore open. The cloud floor under Vane’s feet disintegrated into fine mist. The sheer force of Shanks’ voice and Haki slammed into Vane like a cannonball at point-blank range, snapping his brass gauntlet off at the wrist with a brutal-

CRACK.

Vane was blasted backward into the sky-ruins, screaming as his eardrums ruptured before he slammed into a stone pillar and crumpled into immediate unconsciousness.

You dropped like a stone.

Before you could hit the edge of the collapsing cloud, Shanks was already there. He caught you hard against his chest, wrapping his left arm around your waist as he slid across the cloud deck, bracing them both against the stone wall.*

You hit the ground coughing hysterically, clutching your bruised throat, taking in wild, ragged gulps of air. Tears of pain leaked from the corners of your eyes. Shanks dropped to both knees in front of you, his hand instantly cradling the back of your head, pulling your face gently toward his. "Lira!" he yelled, his voice laced with an panicked edge you had never heard in the years you'd known him. "Look at me! Breath, damn it, breathe!"

You choked, your hands blindly grabbing at the lapels of his red cloak, clinging to him for dear life as your vision slowly cleared. When you looked up, Shanks wasn't smiling. He was breathing heavily, his teeth set in a vicious snarling grimace, his eyes blazing with an absolute, unhinged fury.

Yiu had drawn his blood with your cutlass. Yiu had set his ships on fire. You were supposed to be his enemy. But right now, his thumb was gently wiping blood from your lip while his body shook with terrifying anger on your behalf. "You... shouted..." You managed to croak, your voice barely a dry rasp. "You're... so loud..."

"Shut up," Shanks growled softly, though his hold on you tightened, burying his face in the crook of your neck to hide the relief washing over him. "Don't you ever let another man put his hands on you like that. If anyone is going to take your breath away, Lira... it's going to be me."

You froze, yout hand settling over his beating heart, your mind spinning as the line between enemy and savior vanished completely into the clouds.