Four sets of legs swayed leisurely from the side of a platform as four boys took in the view. Marcus let out a sigh as he said, "I gotta admit, the view here is amazing."
Before them was the main plaza of the city and with the gentle slope of the island that led down to the main dock, it made it easy to see almost everything. The others nodded in agreement before Marcus added, "With your dad already being sick… Seeing this place packed with people all looking at him just before the end must have been one hell of a sight."
Ace frowned a tiny bit but nodded his head as he tried to imagine the scene himself. The entire plaza filled to bursting with people as they waited for that fateful moment. Sabo glanced over the plaza himself as he said, "Gramps said he died with a smile on his face."
They fell into a comfortable silence for a while until a bull horn cracked to life as someone said, "You kids need to get down here right now! You're trespassing on a historical landmark!"
Marcus and the others glanced down to see a squad of marines at the base of the execution platform with a lieutenant in front of them. He was the one with the bull horn and as they looked down at him he said, "Get down here right now!"
Marcus glanced at his brothers before he asked, "Wanna run away or comply with his orders?"
"Running doesn't sound bad to me, I doubt they could catch us." Ace said with a smirk.
Luffy nodded in agreement as he jumped up and said, "The last one back to the ship is a rotten egg!"
"Wait just a second." Marcus said as he grabbed Luffy's ankle before he could take off, which made him trip.
Luffy hit the top of the platform before his rubber body made him bounce back up and over the edge. As he realized what was happening his eyes popped out of his head and he stretched to grab onto anything he could, which ended up being Ace and Sabo's legs.
It shouldn't have been an issue but it happened so quickly that Ace and Sabo were pulled off the edge of the platform by Luffy's momentum before they could brace themselves. Marcus himself watched everything happen in wide eyed wonder before all boys screamed in terror as they fell towards the now panicked marines below.
Marcus knew they wouldn't be… That hurt from the fall but let out a sigh before he pushed off the platform to follow behind them. As he fell, Marcus kicked off the air with his incomplete geppo and caught up to the others before he grabbed hold of Luffy. He used geppo a few more times with it focused towards the ground to slow their descent before he let go and aimed for Luffy.
When they hit the ground a few moments later the wind was knocked out of all of them except Marcus who used Luffy as a cushion. The marines were freaking out as all the boys were laid out on the ground in front of them. Marcus was the first to sit up and pretended to be hurt as he said, "Get a doctor! I think my brothers are dead!"
The marines didn't even question it as they all took off in different directions to find a doctor. Even the lieutenant ran off to find a doctor to help. As they took off Luffy slowly sat up with a large lump already formed on his head. He looked around in confusion but before he could speak, Marcus covered his mouth and said, "Get ready to run."
Marcus glanced towards Ace and Sabo who were both a little bruised, but sat up themselves as they glared at Luffy. A moment later they all got up without a word and bolted towards an alleyway and out of sight of the plaza. They ended up running all the way back to the ship before they calmed down and broke into hysterical laughter as they collapsed on the deck.
When the laughter finally died down, Ace and Sabo took a moment to discipline Luffy. A few new lumps on his head later and Luffy was pouting as he said through swollen lips, "It's not my fault you fell."
"You literally pulled us off the top of the platform!" Ace said as he punched Luffy over the head again.
Sabo nodded in agreement as he said, "You're made of rubber. You could have fallen and been perfectly fine…"
Ace rubbed his shoulder that was already turning a nasty purple as he said, "If it wasn't for Marcus, we might have broken some bones… Thanks for the save by the way."
"Yeah, that could have been a lot worse," Sabo said as he rubbed his elbow before he winced a little.
Marcus waved them towards the door leading below deck as he said, "Let's get those bruises iced and then afterwards let's go buy some new clothes."
Ace looked down at his worn out shorts and red shirt that were a little too small for him now before he said, "I guess I could use some new clothes."
Marcus nodded as he said, "We all could and I found a decent shop yesterday that should have anything we could want."
After half an hour where Ace, Sabo and Luffy iced the bruises they had from the fall or beating in Luffy's case. The boys followed Marcus out to the city again and to the clothing shop he visited the other day. The owner was there again and when she saw Marcus not covered in blood she asked, "Did they work out?"
Marcus nodded as he said, "She wore them today and they fit perfectly."
The woman smiled as she looked over everyone and asked, "Great… Now what can I do for you boys?"
Marcus pulled at the sleeve on his worn shirt which ripped it as he said, "Full wardrobe for me and my brothers… And they should be something we can grow into slightly."
The woman nodded before she waved them to follow her before she headed towards an entryway into another part of the store. This area was filled with clothes for men and after going to one area she pointed at some racks and said, "These should be around your sizes. Find what you like and if something doesn't fit just let me know."
Marcus and the others quickly dove into the clothing as the woman headed back to the main area to watch the store. It took about an hour, but the boys all found clothes that matched their personal tastes and ended up buying enough clothes to last a couple weeks without doing laundry. The woman even ended up altering a few items for the boys with help from a couple of workers who were in the back of the shop.
Once finished the boys headed back to the ship and just hung out as they waited for the rest of the crew to come back from exploring the island. Around dinner time which Tashigi joined them for, Marcus waited for Zeff and Sanji to bring out food before he said, "Tomorrow will be our last day on the island before we leave the following morning. So if you have anything you want to do, make sure you do it."
"You're leaving already?" Tashigi asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
As Zeff and Sanji laid out the dishes, Marcus said, "We need to get back to our regular training which we can't do here."
"Oh…" Tashigi said as she glanced down slightly.
Marcus shook his head slightly at that since it seemed Tashigi took a liking to everyone already. Marcus thought over something for only a moment before he said, "You could come train with us if you want."
Tashigi's eyes widened as her head whipped up and she looked at Marcus. Everyone else around the table didn't have much of a reaction at the off as Tashigi asked, "Really?"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "You get along with everyone here and we have the room."
Tashigi started to think it over before she shook her head as she said, "I wouldn't be able to leave the island."
As people started to eat Marcus asked, "Why not?"
"I'm not part of the marines yet, but I do live there now since my parents passed away."
The table quieted down with even Luffy somehow being quiet while shoving food into his mouth. Marcus frowned slightly as he said, "Sorry for your loss."
Tashigi waved it off as she said, "It happened years ago, but thank you."
"So the only reason you can't join us is because you basically live at the marine base?"
Tashigi nodded as she said, "I have a curfew I need to follow and there is no way the commander would let me leave the island. He was friends with my family and he is kinda like an uncle to me."
Marcus nodded in understanding before he said, "Alright, I'll have to ask for you then."
Tashigi's eyes widened again as she said, "What? No, you can't do that."
"Why not?"
Tashigi froze for a few moments as she tried to think of a reason before Marcus waved it off and said, "I'll walk you back to the base after dinner and talk to your uncle. Worst case he says no… Best case he says yes."
Tashigi couldn't think of a reason to refuse so she just nodded in reply. Marcus smiled in response before he turned to Zeff and asked, "Are you planning to get your ship commissioned while we're here?"
"I was thinking about it… Why?" Zeff asked as Sanji perked up at the topic.
"I wanted to invest in your restaurant." Marcus said with a smile.
"Invest? Why?"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "We've made a ton of money and I don't have a use for my share. Might as well do something productive with it."
"I'm not gonna say no to some extra money, but I have no idea how long it would take to pay you back."
"Just feed us for free whenever we show up and we'll call it even."
Zeff nodded slowly before he said, "That could work, but it would depend on how much you gave me… I wouldn't want to lose out on the deal since you boys eat a lot."
"I have a little over twenty million."
Zeff's eyes widened slightly as he said, "That's over double what I have…"
"You can have my share too, if you feed me!" Luffy said before he shoved more meat in his mouth.
"That will make it closer to forty five million."
"Deal!" Zeff said without a second of hesitation.
"What about me? What if I wanna pitch in some money too?" Ace asked as Sabo nodded in agreement.
"Same deal as your brothers?" Zeff asked.
"Sure. Not like we can't hunt more bounties if we need more money."
After making a deal with the brothers which netted Zeff close to one hundred million belly, the rest of dinner was pretty normal. After dinner Marcus left with Tashigi to go talk with the base commander. Tashigi didn't really talk for most of the walk until they neared the gate and said, "You don't have to do this, I already know he won't agree… He's a little overprotective."
Marcus smirked slightly as he said, "It's fine. Like I said, worst case he just says no."
"Okay…" Tashigi said before she led Marcus into the base and to the tallest building.
After they entered the building and walked up a couple flights of stairs, Tashigi moved towards a door and knocked on it. A moment later a gruff voice said, "Enter."
Tashigi opened the door and walked into the room followed by Marcus. The man inside the room smiled wide as he saw Tashigi but quickly changed to a frown as he noticed Marcus with her. The frown disappeared just as quickly as it appeared as he turned to Tashigi and asked, "You made a friend?"
Tashigi nodded as she said, "Uncle Kohariko, this is Marcus. He's the one who took out that pirate crew yesterday."
"Oh, did he want to sign up for the marines?" Kohariko asked as he gave Marcus a once over.
Marcus shook his head as he said, "No sir. I wanted to ask if Tashigi could leave the island and come train with me and my brothers."
Kohariko's eyes widened as he stood up with both hands on his desk while he said, "Absolutely not!"
Tashigi nodded as if she expected as much but before she could say anything Marcus turned to Tashigi and asked, "Could you give us some privacy? I'd like to talk with your uncle for a bit."
Kohariko's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "That's fine with me, I wanted to talk with your friend myself. How about you go back to your room, I'll show your friend out after we're done talking."
Tashigi had an apologetic smile on her face before she said, "I'll see you tomorrow for training…"
"Sounds good to me." Marcus said before Tashigi left the room.
Once alone Kohariko sat back down before he asked in a threatening tone, "What are your intentions with Tashigi?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow in response before he realized the man was serious and started to laugh. Kohariko frowned and his eyes started twitching as Marcus bent over laughing. When Marcus finally recovered he focused on the man as he said, "I should probably introduce myself properly…"
Marcus gave a theatrical bow as he said, "Monkey D. Marcus, grandson of Monkey D. Garp."
Kohariko's eyes widened in recognition as Marcus added, "As for your stupid question, I'm not old enough to care about whatever you were even thinking about."
Kohariko frowned slightly before Marcus said, "Tashigi is skilled in swordsmanship, but she's weak. I'm just offering her the chance to get stronger."
"You're really Garp's grandson?" Kohariko asked as he studied Marcus a bit more.
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out a den den mushi as he said, "We can call him if you like…"
Marcus didn't see Tashigi at all the next day, but the day after in the morning as they were getting ready to leave Tashigi appeared with Kohariko who was carrying a large duffel bag. When they reached the ship Kohariko placed the duffel bag down on the ground and said a few things to Tashigi who nodded seriously.
Marcus approached from the gangplank as he heard Kohariko as he said, "You better call me at least once a day."
"I will."
"Good… Be safe Tashigi." Kohariko said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tashigi nodded before they both turned to Marcus and Tashigi saluted as she asked, "Permission to come aboard, captain?"
"Permission granted." Marcus said with a smile.