" Ha! Ha! Ha!" A young boy, about nine years of age runs his way quickly through the Marine Hq training center. The very place where all Marines, go to begin their training to become future marines of the world government.
" MARKUS!!!!!! Get back here you little bastard!" That voice shouting at the top of his lungs was none other than the current leader of the training center, former Admiral, Black Arm Zephyr.
Markus looked behind himself, to see Zephyr closing in on him with his fist raised over his head ready to strike.
" Baaaaaaaaaaah!" Markus shouted to the top of his lungs. He knew very well what being caught now that Zephyr was mad meant.
" DEATH!"
Markus continued running as fast as his little legs would carry him, and even though he had the head start, Zephyr was closing in quickly.
" I only wanted you to train with me!!!!!" Markus yelled at the man. " I didn't mean to knock the entire shelf on your head!"
Markus, according to many of the other marine officers, was like a chip off the old block. Just like Garp, he enjoyed fighting with stronger foes. Even Sengoku and Tsuru couldn't help but point out from time to time how alike the boy was compared to Garp in his younger years. Right down to his laugh.
Unfortunately, he was beginning to act a little too much like Garp.
In an attempt to get the former Admiral to train with him, Markus had kicked the shelf holding Zephyr's favorite bottles of liquor hard enough to knock the screws out of the wall, causing it all to fall on Zephyr's head.
" THEN HOLD STILL YOU LITTLE BRAT! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER FORGET THIS LESSON!!!!"
" BAAAAAAAAAH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" Markus shouted.
" Ara ara ara?!" Walking down the hall, after finally finishing his shower, one of the newest marines ended up happening on the chase.
" Big Bro Kuzan! Help me!" Markus shouted for the older, nineteen-year-old, Kuzan to save him from the marine instructor.
Unfortunately, Kuzan didn't want to incur the wrath of Z himself.
Kuzan outstretched his arms, and snatched up Markus.
Now, what usually this would mean a saving grace for Markus, this time however, it was his doom.
" What are you doing?" Markus asked the man.
" Sorry? Oh well? Ya know. See ya." Kuzan told the boy. He tossed Markus straight to the old shark and took off running himself.
" KUZAN?! huh?" Markus stopped his shouting, as he realized that he was no longer falling. He slowly turned his head around and as he looked up; he saw what looked to be the reaper himself glaring down at him with a malicious grin on his face. " Sorry?" Markus muttered, hoping to save his skin.
" You're sorry? Oh well, then I guess everything's okay." Zephyr told the boy. He smiled at Markus and for a moment, the child thought that maybe everything was alright.
No, it wasn't.
" YEAH RIGHT COME HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Zephyr started beating Markus with his fist over and over again.
" OW! OW! I'M SORRY!" Markus shouted.
A little later.
" I'm very sorry sir." Markus muttered. His speech was a little slurred thanks to the sore jaw he had from all of Zephyr's punches.
" Good. Now, why did you come to me for training? Where's Garp or Bogard?" Zephyr asked the boy.
" Well, pops is meeting with old man Sengoku and mister Bogard was sent out to shop. I kinda got bored on waiting, so I came here." Markus told the man.
" I see. Well, you shouldn't come running in here like that. This is a dangerous place and you're still way too young to receive my training. Stick to what Garp has planned for you." Zephyr told the boy.
Markus huffed and pouted like a child, crossing his arms for added effect.
" But all I do is run, do pushups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and lift heavy rocks. And fight Bogard." Markus complained. " And I always lose."
" The start to a good and strong body. How many can you do now?"
" Eh? well, I have to run around Marineford about fifty times, do five hundred pushups, five hundred pull-ups, five hundred sit-ups, and then five hundred more of everything with large rocks on my back." Markus told the man.
" Oh, I see, well that's quite impressive for a boy your.... WHAAAAAAT?! Hwat kind of herculean training is Garp putting you through?" Zephyr asked the boy. He was genuinely surprised for a moment, that the boy's words hadn't even registered fully. But then he did remember who he was talking about. " Oh yeah? I forgot... That guy." Zephyr muttered. He then looked upon Markus with intrigue. He himself had never had a proper conversation with the lad. In fact, he only spoke with him for the few short visits that Garp had paid to the center, and most of the time, Markus was off playing with the other kids from the city. " You know, kid. Half of my new recruits couldn't do everything you just described to me without passing out. Do me a favor, take your top off for me." Zephyr told the boy.
He was curious to see if the young boy's physique matched what he described as his training regimen.
Markus nodded and lifted the heavy long sleeve shirt off of his body, and much to Zephyr's surprise, the boy had an amazing physique. His arms were slim, but Zephyr could see the strength in them. And now that he thought about it, he did notice that Markus was quite fast for a boy his age. Zephyr looked at Markus and grinned.
" Heh! Okay, boy, let's go. Show me what you can do." Zephyr exclaimed. Zephyr watched as a fire was ignited within the youth's body.
Markus sprang to his feet in excitement. " Really?!" Markus exclaimed.
" Yeah! Let me see what you can do, kid." Zephyr exclaimed once more. If anything at all, Zephyr appreciated the boy's enthusiasm. Such a trait in kids, his age wasn't common these days. In fact, most kids of Marineford, lived simple lives. Peaceful lives. Very few went out looking for fights, with someone older than they are. Those were the ones, Zephyr looked forward to training more.
" Haha! Alright old man, get ready to taste defeat!" Markus exclaimed. Markus lunged at Zephyr, punching him straight in his gut.
And Zephyr laughed,
" Yaha!" Zephyr pushed Markus away simply by flexing his gut. " Not enough, punk!"
" Again!" Markus landed on his feet and jumped back at zephyr, swing his leg at his neck in an attempt to hit his throat.
" Not bad. But too obvious." Zephyr stated, he easily dodged Markus' attack and swatted the boy down to the ground with the palm of his hand.
" Ever the tenacious one, Markus jumped up again, and tried punching Zephyr.
A simple straight?
That's what Zephyr thought.
As Markus began to thrust his left fist forward to punch Zephyr, the older man started moving to the right to avoid it. Only, that's not what happened.
Markus saw Zephyr moving out of the way and quickly he shot out his right hand instead of his left.
In the instant, Zephyr raised his hand to block the boy's strike.
Markus was quite disappointed that his spur of the moment feint didn't work. He had practiced that move many times, with the hope of catching Bogard off-guard with it. But here it was deflected so easily.
Zephyr on the other hand was quite impressed. A feint wasn't something he was expecting and the force behind it was quite decent. Markus easily had the power to overpower a grown man with no former training with that kind of punch.
Zephyr thought it'd best not to tell him that though, unless he started acting overconfident and cocky.
Confidence was one thing, but arrogance was deadly. That wasn't a trait, Zephyr wanted the boy to learn at such an early age.
" You really thought that'd work?" Zephyr asked the boy. " Please! This is how you throw a punch." Zephyr exclaimed. He raised his fist and punched Markus square in his jaw, knocking him down to the ground with force.
" OW!" Markus groaned. He held his cheek in pain and fought to hold back any kind of noise from escaping from his mouth. " Man, old man Zephyr, how did you get so strong." Markus asked the man.
" From years of training, hard work, and discipline. Keep on training the way you are, and someday you might just be able to surpass me. Or even Garp." ephyr stated.
" Really?" Markus asked the man.
" Munch!"
" BWAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT A CHANCE!" There it was, that loud boisterous laugh that every marine knew well.
Markus got up off of his butt and looked around as Garp and Bogard came strolling up to him and Zephyr.
Garp was laughing and eating his crackers as he approached.
" Hey! Zephyr! I see you've been giving Markus, some points. well? What do ya think?" Garp asked.
" I think, he acts a little too much like you sometimes, GARP!" Zephyr exclaimed. " Do you know how much it's going to cost me to replace all the bottles of booze he broke?!" Zephyr exclaimed.
" BWAHAHAHAHA! It runs in the family." Garp stated.
" Take your kid and get out!" Zephyr shouted. he grabbed Markus up and tossed him at Garp with all of his might, sending the poor boy spiraling like a ball shot out of a cannon.
Garp laughed just like he always did and caught Markus with one arm, before passing him off to Bogard to hold.
" Bogard, take him back to the training grounds and make sure he works three times as hard for running off on his own. I need to have a talk with Zephyr here for a second." Garp told the man.
" Yes sir." Bogard responded. He threw Markus over his shoulder and started walking back to Garp's station on the island, all while Markus struggled and protested.
" Three times? Are you trying to kill me?!" Markus shouted in disbelief. " Somebody help!!!!!"
Zephyr winced.
" Boy, he sure can shout, can't he?" Zephyr muttered.
" Yeah. The boys always had some lungs on him. Smart mouth too." Garp stated. He pulled out another rice cracker from his bag and took a massive bite from it. After munching on it for a few seconds Garp finally swallowed his food and then looked at Zephyr and grinned. " So? What did ya think?" Garp asked the man.
Zephyr looked at Garp and smirked back at him. " Hmph! I can see why everyone says you two are so similar. The boy's a little monster. But his fighting skills aren't bad. His punches are solid, and so are his kicks. But that little body hinders him, of course that'll go away with time. I think he's going to grow up to be more than the world government can handle. They already struggle so much with you." Zephyr spoke.
" BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's my boy!" Garp exclaimed. He was proud of both of the kids he was raising, though he did wish that his first-born son, would take after Markus' example just a little more.
" Garp." Zephyr muttered.
" Hm?" Garp stopped laughing and looked over at Zephyr curiously.
" That boy.... Keep him close to your chest. We both know the world government won't just let a child prodigy like that slip out from under their fingers." Zephyr told the man.
" Yeah, I know." Garp replied. " But that's why I try to keep him within my presence at all times. No one's going to be stupid enough to try something, while I'm near him." Garp responded.
" Maybe not. But what about when you're not here?"
" That's something, I wanted to talk to you about. I know the little brat somehow managed to weasel his way into Tsuru's heart, but Tsuru doesn't inspire fear in the hearts of the world government, not like you and I do. You, Sengoku, and I cut out teeth in the trenches. And Tsuru too, don't get me wrong. But she's always been the mind of our little rag tag group. And Sengoku, as much as I love him, tries to side with our superiors as much as possible. Which is why I am asking you, Z, Anytime I have to leave out and Bogard isn't around, I want to start leaving him here with you. Train him how you see fit. I plan to teach him as much as I can before officially entering him into the marines. But if I know Kong, and the world government, they might end up trying to keep him as far away from me as possible. If that happens, i want him ready to face anything. Can you do that for me, Z?"
Zephyr felt the weight of Garp's words. He understood them very clearly, and he agreed.
" Of course." Zephyr told the man. " That is what we are here for, to ensure the future of the marines is as bright as possible."
" Thank you, Zephyr." Garp muttered. " Alright. I think it's time for me to head on back. I'll be seein ya soon, Zephyr. Until next time."