A week after the deciding battle in the North Blue, the world was once again in an uproar over news of the newest and brightest member of the Marines, Markus.
.........
In the New World, The Moby Dick.
" Gurararara! So, that brat managed to take down Terris and the brothers. Impressive." Whitebeard laughed as he looked at the headline on the world newspaper.
" Hey, pops, wasn't that guy a member of your old crew?" Marco asked the man.
" Yeah, Terris was always a little problem child. But he was strong. That goes without a doubt. I don't think they managed to bring him down so easily." Whitebeard spoke. ' Garp... You've really found yourself quite the little monster, haven't you? A young Marine already able to fight with Terris, that goes beyond being impressive.' Whitebeard looked at the paper and laughed as a thought entered the back of his head.
" What it pops?" This time it was Jozu's turn to speak. The young commander of the third division was a monster at such a young age himself, having joined Whitebeards crew when he was around twelve years old.
" This brat, Markus.... He reminds me a lot of that red hair. He too is quite the monster for his age." Whitebeard told his crew.
" Red hair? Shanks." Marco remembered the last time he met with the young red-haired pirate. It was about five years ago when the Whitebeard pirates clashed with the Roger Pirates.
.........
The east blue.
" So, it looks like the Marines have taken down the Island smasher."
" Really Beckman?!" Shanks asked excitedly. " Was it the same Marine from before?"
" Looks like it." Ben Beckman replied. He took a drag from his cigarette and passed the newspaper over to Shanks, who took it excitedly and started reading it.
" I see! I see! Not bad." Shanks muttered. He was impressed to say the least. Beating a monster like Terris and the Zohakuten was no small feat. " We've got to hurry and assemble a crew of our own. Any news about that Yassop guy?" Shanks asked Beckman.
Beckman took another drag from his cigarette. " Yeah, somewhere near by, there's a town called Syrup village. Supposedly he might live there."
" Alright, then that's where we'll go next. Alright, Beckman, let's sail." Shanks exclaimed.
Beckman smirked. " Yeah, yeah! Let's go."
.......
Seven long days after returning to Marineford, Markus was safely hooked up to medical machines inside the large Marineford hospital. The Iv flowed poured sustenance through his veins.
Markus' breathing was heavy and raspy. Most likely from the damage done to his ribs. His torso, arms, and legs were all covered in bandages to keep germs from getting into his cuts and scrapes.
" Ohhhh!" Markus groaned. He could feel the pressure of the world coming back and crashing down on his entire body, as his eyes started to flutter open. Markus opened his eyes and immediately felt the burning sensation of pain. " Agh!" ' I'm... I'm alive? Guess, I got lucky after all. Something feels heavy.'
Markus looked down to see what that heavy feeling was.
" HM!"
When Markus looked down, the first thing he saw was Brago sitting on all fours while staring up at him.
.....
" WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Markus asked the man. The shock of seeing Brago in his bed stunned him momentarily, but when it finally hit him, he started shouting to the top of his lungs.
" HAHA! SO, THE PRODIGAL SON AWAKES!" Brago exclaimed. " Welcome back to the world of the living my friend." Brago said to the man.
" What are you talking-" Before Markus could finish his sentence, Brago threw himself at Markus and wrapped him in his long arms.
" It's good to see you again, my friend."
" Uh, Brago? You okay man?"
" I'm good. But you... You just seem to look for trouble, don't you? Making everyone worry about ya."
Markus looked up at his friend and watched as a single tear fell from his face.
" Yeah, guess I do, don't I?"
After finally waking up, Markus took his time to explain to his friend everything that had happened since the last time they met, and needless to say, Brago was exasperated.
" Markus.... That's insane. I mean, I knew there was a lot going on, but if I had known it was so bad, I would have asked to come up there to help you." Brago told the man.
" I know. But it's alright, things happen. This was just one of those moments. At the very least we managed to take down the pirate alliance." Markus said to the man.
" I see. Well, what are you going to tell Kong? He's been waiting for some time for you to wake up." Brago told the man.
" Really? It must be important if he couldn't get the details from Kuzan." Markus spoke.
" It was Admiral Sengoku who briefed him on the details, actually."
" Wait? Sengoku? I don't remember him being there." Markus responded.
" From what I was told by Kuzan. He came sometime after your fight with Terris."
" Really?"
" Yeah. And when they showed up here, they were both bandaged up. So were the other vice admirals." Brago explained.
Markus rubbed his face in exhaustion. And then it hit him. " Oh man..." Markus muttered.
" What is it?"
" How long have I been out?" Markus asked the man.
Brago sighed and rubbed the back of his head nervously, unsure of how to break the news to his friend. " Well, I don't know how long it took for you guys to get to Marineford. but you've been out for about seven days man."
" A week? That's not that bad." Markus spoke.
" Markus, it took you days to get back to Marineford. I don't know how long it took you to get back. It could have been a week or two at the most. And you haven't budged an inch. That's not something to just brush off to the side. You could have died."
" I know! I know... But I didn't. And that's what matters right now."
" Haaaaah! Yeah." Brago exhaled heavily and sat back down in a chair next to Markus' bed. " But you better come up with something better than that when Gion comes back." Brago stated.
" Wait, Gion's here?"
" Yeah, She and I have been taking turns watching you this whole time, you moron. Me, her, and Garp-San stopped by with Bogard as well. We were both on leave when you came in, but my time ends today. I gotta be back on the ship before tomorrow morning." Brago told the man.
" I see. Well then..."
" Are you alright man?"
" Yeah. Just help me up." Markus said to Brago.
" What? Markus you're in no condition to get up."
" Look, just help me get up, man. My legs are fine. It's the rest of me that hurts." Markus said to the man.
" Dude, you haven't even been cleared by the doctors to move yet."
" I don't care. Just get over here." Markus exclaimed. He held his hand out so Brago could help him up, but Brago continued to refuse. " Fine... I'll do it myself."
" Hey, Markus, knock it off won't ya." Brago grabbed Markus and tried pushing him back down.
" Let go of me." Markus shouted as he tried to get to his feet.
" Will ya settle down?!"
As Brago and Markus continued wrestling against each other, the curtain to his bed swung open and the two men turned around, while still holding each other.
" Huh? Who ish that?" Markus grumbled. He looked over Brago's shoulder and saw the woman standing there with flowers in her hands.
Markus recognized her immediately. That beautiful black hair, the piercing red eyes, and that black spider tattoo.
It was Gion.
Seeing the woman walking towards them, Brago quickly stepped to the side and hid behind Markus' bed.
The look on her face, just spelled trouble for the man.
" Hey, Gion! Long time no see! It's good to see you again, hahahahahaha!"
One moment, Markus is laughing and in the next, Gion threw herself onto Markus, tackling him onto the bed.
She laid over him with her arms wrapped around his neck.
" You idiot. "
Markus rubbed Gion's head softly and held her close to him, despite the pain. " Hey, hey. What's with the tears? Everything's alright now." Markus told the woman. " Everything's going to be okay."
*DOOM!
...........
There we go folks, the gang has been reunited, even if only momentarily. It's nice to see that despite the time apart, they all still care for each other a great deal. Let me know what you guys think by leaving a comment and look forward to the next chapter, because it will be starting the year of turmoil. A great many disasters happen. Let me