Chapter 5
Markus laughed, "I'm Markus. I was captured by the toad woman. Thanks to you I was able to escape and since I didn't want to be captured by the Marines I ran away with you guys."
Coby nodded his head in agreement with what Markus said, "Right, I said so before Luffy."
Luffy just laughed and brushed it off. Markus didn't mind. He knew there were generally only three things inside of Luffy's head. 'Pirate King', 'Food', and 'Get stronger.' Everything else just tended to be forgotten. Luffy seemed satisfied with so little information but Coby was more curious so he asked, "What were you doing on that island?"
Markus already had a story in mind. He did more than just workout for the month he was on the island, "Well, I went out to sea to become a pirate but I got lost and then got sucked into a whirlpool. When I woke up I was stuck on that island with no way off. I'd been there for a full month before the toad came."
Luffy laughed and pointed at Markus, "How can a pirate get caught in a small whirlpool!"
Coby turned and pointed a finger at Luffy, "Says the pirate that had the same thing happen to him!"
Luffy froze for a moment before spinning around and whistling badly. As if that would distract from his blunder. Markus just grinned. Coby, on the other hand, was feeling depressed. He was stuck on a boat with a would-be pirate king and another would-be pirate sailing towards an island where one of them hoped to recruit the demonic Zoro! Was this really better than sticking on Alvida's ship? … Yes, yes it most certainly was!
Soon the three of them arrived at an island with a marine base and hopped off of their little ship. They walked down the main avenue while Luffy and Coby talked. Markus chuckled at the reactions of the townspeople when Zoro and Captain Morgan were mentioned. Hearing the name Captain Morgan reminded him of a specific brand of rum that he really wouldn't mind drinking right about now. As they walked and continued to talk they soon arrived at the main entrance of the marine base. Luffy jumped up the wall and when he spotted Zoro he led the two of them to a different spot.
All three of them peeked over the wall. Luffy and Coby continued to have their amusing back and forth. They weren't exactly being quiet and got Zoro's attention. He looked up from the cross he was tied to, "Hey, you guys. You're an eyesore. Get lost."
Markus just smiled and glanced to his side where a little girl was placing a ladder against the wall. As she reached the top of the ladder, she looked around before shooshing the three of them and climbing down the other side using a rope. They watched as she ran over to Zoro and presented her rice balls or onigiri to him. Markus stifled a chuckle as he wondered if this moment is what lead Zoro to name one of his moves Oni-Giri.
As was to be expected, the incident followed the canon storyline with Helmeppo, Captain Morgans son, showing up and crushing the onigiri into the dirt. When Coby saw the scene he couldn't help remarking, "How horrible."
Markus gave Coby a serious look, "Not all marines are truly just. Some just use justice as an excuse to do as they please. I'm sure it's not pleasant to hear but some marines are no better than pirates."
Coby turned to glare at Markus, "That's not true!"
Markus shrugged his shoulders, "It is true Coby. The world isn't black and white or good and bad. It's filled with gray. Not all marines are good and not all pirates are bad. After all, do you think Luffy is a bad guy?"
Hearing what Markus said opened Coby's mind a little bit. It was true, Luffy was not a bad guy even though he wanted to be the pirate king. Markus also didn't seem like a bad guy and he wanted to be a pirate too. Then there were the marines next to the blonde crushing the little girl's hard work under his shoes who did nothing to stop him. Maybe not all marines were good but that just made his determination to become a good marine all the stronger! That determination became even stronger when he found out who the blonde was and watched as he ordered the marines to throw her out.
Seeing the little girl flying through the air Markus couldn't stop himself and threw himself off of the wall to catch her. In the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten that Luffy would do the same thing. Both of them caught the little girl in their arms and fell to the ground in a tangled pile as Luffy's arms stretched and wrapped around Markus tangling him up. Coby came running over, "Luffy, Markus, are you okay?"
Markus untangled himself from Luffy's arms and smiled at Coby before turning to the little girl, "Are you okay?"
She nodded and looked between the two who caught her, "Thanks, misters."
Luffy ignored her and climbed over the wall to visit Zoro after Helmeppo left. Markus followed behind. He watched the conversation play out between the two until Zoro asked Luffy to feed him the crushed onigiri. As Luffy complained Markus spoke up, "Luffy, just feed it to him. It's important."
Luffy looked confused while Zoro almost looked... grateful? Grateful in a somewhat hateful kind of way. Still, Zoro scarfed down the crushed and dirt-filled onigiri before looking at the two of them, "Tell her it was delicious."
Luffy smiled happily and the two of them made their way out of the yard. The little girl led them to an alley where Markus relayed Zoro's thanks. It was there that they all learned the reason why Zoro was tied up and crucified in the yard of the marine base. They listened as she told them the entire story of how Zoro saved her from being attacked by Helmeppo's 'pet' and how Helmeppo forced him into suffering on the cross for a month. As she finished telling her story they heard a commotion coming from the building they were outside of along with Helmeppo's annoying voice. Luffy and Markus walked into the restaurant together while Coby watched through a window.
As he walked inside, Markus noticed an attractive young woman with orange hair sitting off to the side by herself. He couldn't help grinning at the sight of Nami. He didn't do or say anything. She would eventually join the crew without his interference. Still, he decided to try and steal a bit of Luffy's thunder when the time came. When Helmeppo made the mistake of bragging about how he was going to kill Zoro, Markus and Luffy both charged across the room. Luffy cocked back his right arm while Markus cocked back his left. With perfect timing, both of their fists slammed into Helmeppo at the same moment and sent him flying across the room to slam into the wall. He hit the wall hard enough to crack it, much harder than if Luffy had hit the scumbag alone.
--------------------------------------------------
You have defeated Helmeppo, +1 Experience.
--------------------------------------------------
Coby ran up to Luffy and restrained him, though Luffy could have gotten out of Coby's hold pretty easily if he wanted to. Helmeppo started going off about them going against his father while Coby chimed in about going against the marines. Luffy didn't care and proudly claimed he was going to have Zoro join his crew. Markus nodded along. He planned to follow Luffy and smack some of the marines around. Getting just a single point of experience for knocking Helmeppo around had put him into a foul mood.
Helmeppo ran off and neither of them followed him just yet. After Luffy calmed down a bit he, Markus, and Coby all made their way to the base. Coby stayed at the wall while Markus and Luffy entered the yard. Markus watched the conversation between Luffy and Zoro. After Luffy took off to get Zoro's swords using his Gomu Gomu no Rocket, Zoro couldn't help asking, "What is he?"
Markus chose to jump in at that moment, "He's a rubber man. He ate a Gomu Gomu no Mi, a Devil Fruit, so now his body is made of rubber."
That got a strange look from Zoro but before he could ask anything else, Markus spoke again, "I don't think Luffy wanted to say anything but, we ran into that idiot son of Morgan's in the town. He's not planning to keep his promise to you. He told everyone that he was going to kill you."
Hearing that immediately pissed Zoro off. Before he could say anything, half of a giant statue fell to the ground and was destroyed. Markus glanced at it and then looked up at the top of the base. As he looked, Coby came running across the yard. Coby ran over and started trying to untie Zoro and talked to him, reiterating what Markus said and added in how Markus and Luffy had hit Helmeppo. Markus just smiled with his back turned to them. He was waiting for the marines to show up. He didn't have to wait long for Morgan and the marines to arrive.
Markus subtly moved to stand in front of Zoro as if to protect him. Morgan and Zoro had a pointless conversation while Markus started to sweat. He knew that Luffy was supposed to appear at the last moment and save Coby and Zoro in the story. However, it was hard to keep thinking of that while a dozen, or more, rifles were aimed at him. If he had a Devil Fruit or Armament Haki he would have no reason to be afraid but with his soft fleshy body, a single bullet could kill him. He started to sweat profusely as Morgan shouted, "Fire!"
Markus felt his heart clench until the very last moment when Luffy appeared and intercepted all of the bullets with his body. Once the bullets were bounced away Luffy began to talk to Zoro while Morgan informed his men about Devil Fruits. After Zoro agreed to join Luffy's crew, Markus reached over and ripped the roped binding him to the cross apart. His current strength was more than four times what it had been when he arrived and this was his first time really showing it. Luffy, Zoro, and Coby all stared at him in surprise. Markus just grinned.
As Zoro was freed, Morgan ordered his men to use their swords. They charged at the small group with their swords drawn. Zoro and Markus both moved. Markus activated his Observation Haki and dodged the incoming swords with a wide margin. This was his first time using it in combat so dodging with just a hairsbreadth between him and the blade of the sword was impossible. He took all the room he could manage as he weaved through three slashes while sending out three powerful punches. Each punch connected and sent a marine flying while Zoro caught the remaining swords with his own three blades.
--------------------------------------------------
You have defeated a Marine Private, +125 Experience.
You have defeated a Marine Private, +125 Experience.
You have defeated a Marine Private, +125 Experience.
--------------------------------------------------
Luffy watched the two of them silently. He wanted to recruit Zoro because of hearing about him being a great swordsman. He hadn't ever heard of Markus or seen him in action so he didn't invite him even after he found out that Markus wanted to be a pirate. He had requirements for his crew, lax as they might be so he wouldn't invite every person he met. He changed his mind after seeing how Markus fought the marines. It was like he was swimming through the swords and striking at just the right moment. He didn't make the offer just yet though.
Zoro held the remaining marines at bay as he looked at Luffy, "I'll be a pirate. I'm a criminal now anyway. But I'll tell you this right now. I'm only going to fulfill my ambition! I will be the world's greatest swordsman!"
Luffy just grinned, "The world's greatest swordsman? Sounds nice! The king of the pirates would have nothing less!"
Markus listened to their conversation as he picked up one of the swords dropped by a downed marine. As he was ducking down to do so he heard Luffy tell Zoro to duck. He, wisely, decided to stay down as Luffy's leg flew over him and Zoro to kick all the standing marines. During the distraction of the kick, he stored the sword inside of his inventory. It might be crap but it was better than nothing. Coby cheered like the cheerleader he was. Zoro once again questioned what Luffy was. Luffy was more than happy to answer the rhetorical question.
Luffy looked at Markus and was about to talk when Morgan started yelling at his marines to kill themselves for 'showing weakness'. Luffy was having none of that and took off to attack Morgan. Markus stayed with Zoro and Coby, though he kept an eye on the marines in case any tried to attack Luffy during his fight with Morgan. As Luffy got the upper hand in the fight, Helmeppo managed to get around behind them and put a gun to Coby's head. As Helmeppo threatened to shoot Coby if Luffy didn't stop moving, Markus bent his waist and lowered himself to the ground while building up tension in his leg muscles. Before Helmeppo could say anything else, Markus leaped forward like a loosened spring. The distance was short and his speed was high, he arrived in front of Helmeppo and struck out with his fist. His punch landed squarely on Helmeppo's jaw and sent him flying back unconscious.
--------------------------------------------------
You have defeated Helmeppo, +1 experience.
--------------------------------------------------
Luffy had barely moved away from Morgan due to Helmeppo's distraction so there was a slight change in the story. Instead of Zoro taking out Morgan while Luffy took out Helmeppo, Luffy just turned around and cocked his arm back, way back. With a shout of, "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" He blew Captain Morgan away. With Morgan down and out for the count, the marines started cheering while Zoro collapsed onto his back.
A short time later they had returned to the restaurant and were enjoying a good meal. As it came to an end Zorro asked Luffy about his crew. At that moment Luffy remembered something and turned to look at Markus, "Hey! Join my crew!"
Markus couldn't help screaming inside of his head, 'Finally! What the hell took him so long to ask?!' Though he remained stoic on the outside. He just smiled and nodded, "Sure."
--------------------------------------------------
Quest Complete!
--------------------------------------------------
Luffy grinned and looked at Zoro, "That makes three!"
"Just three?! What about a ship? You at least have a ship right?!"
Luffy nodded and pointed to the small dingy that he Markus and Coby had arrived in. Seeing the depressed look on Zoro's face, Markus chimed in, "Don't worry about it. We'll figure it out as we go. This is just the beginning after all!"