You're stronger than you realize.

He ran at Alex, but before he reached him he jumped in the air. Alex tried to attack, but was put off by the fact that Shanks had jumped away from him.

Shanks kicked off the air as he used geppo to fly towards Alex. Alex quickly brought his arms up in a panic and blocked with his two staves together. However, Shanks's sword turned black as it was coated with haki.

Alex realized his mistake too late. Shanks's sword made contact with both of Alex's staves and sliced into them, narrowly cutting them in half and destroying the weapon. However, even though the weapon would be useless in the future, it still trapped Shanks's sword halfway through it.

Alex ripped down with his two weapons and pulled Shanks's sword from his grip. The three weapons tumbled to the floor as Alex let go of his staves and clenched his right hand into a fist. Alex punched a stunned Shanks in the face with his gloves and Shanks went flying backwards before landing on his feet.

Alex scowled at the fact that his armament haki didn't work again. He kicked off the ground with soru and his boots released ice as he started skating along the deck of the boat at Shanks. Shanks used soru and did a front flip as he kicked down and tried to use his heel to hit Alex in the face.

Alex raised his arms over his head and blocked the blow with both of his forearms. He grit his teeth as the attack landed and the deck below him creaked and started to crack under the pressure of the blow.

Alex screamed as he pushed Shanks's foot away from him before he sensed with his haki that another blow was coming. Shanks kicked with his other foot that was coated with black haki.

Alex tried to block with his arm but the attack hit his left arm and snapped the bone in two as Alex was sent back by the force. He tumbled and rolled around on the deck before standing back up with one of his arms limp by his side.

He clenched his jaw tightly and his eyes started to glow. Shanks smiled and licked the blood off his top lip as his eyes began to imitate Alex's by glowing their own shade.

The two boys both used soru at the same time and cocked their fists back, the conquers haki that they both emit clashed and lightning sparked as their fists met. Shanks's fist was deep back and coated his haki, while Alex only had his gloves with metal embedded in them.

The boat shook and the waves ravaged the hull of the ship. The wind shock rumbled in the air around them and blew away everything surrounding the boys.

Their fists both stopped as they touched before Alex's hand bent backwards and he flew away. He crashed into a wall behind him and landed on the deck.

Shanks smiled and his fist returned to its original colour. He stumbled a bit due to the injuries that Alex had given him, but he definitely won the fight.

Alex sighed as he poured a vial of liquid down his throat. "You're a bastard for taking me on right when you awakened your new haki. If I had the colour of arms like you, you wouldn't stand a chance."

Shanks laughed. "Not my fault you suck at using haki! You can't just say it's unfair because you don't have haki, the reason you're weaker than me is because I trained my haki more. Don't act like it's not your own fault."

Alex clicked his tongue. "Next time, you're done. I'll get my colour of arms and make a new weapon. I'll beat you with the power of science and haki combined. You won't stand a chance."

Shanks smiled. "You're the one who doesn't stand a chance! Let's fight again, right now!"

Alex scowled and stood to his feet, he pulled up his gloves and lowered his center of mass as he got ready to attack. "Fine, I'll kick your ass right now."

Shanks smiled. "You're the best punching bag, you keep coming back for more!"

The two charged again before being stopped mid air. Rayleigh was holding them by their collars. "Hey! Are you two trying to destroy this ship?!"

The two boys looked around and realized the destruction they had caused. Alex sighed and apologized. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

Rayleigh shook his head and sighed. "You two need to realize how strong you are now. You aren't kids anymore, you two can do some serious damage to the things and people around you. Just imagine if April was out here and had got hit with a stray attack, she might die."

Shanks looked down. "Sorry."

Rayleigh smiled. "It's good that you have gotten stronger, but remember, with strength comes the ability to destroy and hurt those around you. You're growing at an exponential rate and you need to realize that the things you could do before, you just can't do anymore. No more going all out on the ship, you really will destroy it."

The two boys nodded. Understanding the severity of the situation. They had seen enough destruction from the men around them to realize that this was a very real threat. Even back on God Valley, when the two were escaping and rubble was falling from the sky in the aftermath of the battle. They were nearly caught in it and killed. Now, while they might not be strong enough to replicate that legendary battle, they had become very formidable warriors themselves.

They really did need to be careful in the future.

Rayleigh smiled and set the two down. "I have no doubt that you are the two strongest 14 year old brats in the world, and you will probably get much stronger in the next few years. Maybe even ALMOST as strong as me. So make sure you realize your own strength. Don't forget how strong you are just because you're surrounded by people like us. You're bounties of $150,000,000 just prove that. Those are some of the highest bounties in all the Blue's and even some formidable bounties in the first half of the grand line."

The two boys smiled proudly.

Rayleigh flicked their foreheads. "And, to be honest, I think you should have higher bounties than that, if we base it on pure strength."

Alex and Shanks looked at each other and fist bumped.

Rayleigh chuckled and ruffled their hair. "Well… I'm sure you get my point."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right, after being surrounded by monsters, I never really realized I was strong… I mean, you guys, my Pops, Garp and Sengoku… Dragon and the three logia marines. Some of the strongest people in the world have always been around. So I always felt weak… I guess I wasn't taking normal people into consideration."

Shanks nodded. "I still think we are pretty weak compared to you guys… but I see your point. We have gotten a lot stronger in the last 2 and a half years."

Rayleigh nodded and walked away. "You two are also quick to pick up on things, which is good…"

He then whispered to himself. "... you really might be stronger than us all one day."

Alex and Shanks didn't hear the second part.