The sound of weapons clashing together repeated constantly throughout the mikan grove as two people battled. One was defending himself as best as possible as the other person was a blur of movement that never stopped. While it looked like they were in somewhat of a stalemate, the one defending themselves was covered in wounds. Most of them were only a few inches long, but bled constantly.
As Marcus moved in for another attack, his leg locked up for a moment because of the over use of soru. It caused him to slow just enough for Arlong to counter attack him for once. It was a glancing blow, but it was to the side of his head which rattled his brain for a second. That second gave Arlong the perfect chance to attack and a moment later Marcus was blasted off his feet. Luckily Marcus was only hit by the side of Arlong's sword so he wasn't split in half by the blade.
Unfortunately Arlong put most of his strength behind the blow which cracked a few of Marcus's ribs and sent him flying into a tree over fifty feet away. The blow from the tree along with the cracked ribs caused Marcus to black out for a moment. But he instantly recovered as Arlong charged over and disappeared from view again. Instead of attacking again, Marcus gained some distance and hid from view to check his condition.
Marcus sucked in a shuddering breath when he touched his cracked ribs as Arlong yelled out, "Don't hide now you pathetic human, it was just getting fun! I'm gonna enjoy breaking you!"
Marcus took about a minute to recover somewhat as Arlong kept yelling and cutting down trees as he searched for Marcus. Once Marcus caught his breath somewhat, he moved closer to where he heard Arlong. Once he saw Arlong with his back towards him, he kicked off the ground with full power and winced slightly as his legs protested. Marcus was able to give a devastating blow against Arlong's back with his sneak attack, but as he attempted to move away his legs locked up.
Arlong snarled in rage as he swung around and caught Marcus in the face with a backhand. Marcus was lifted off his feet and flew backwards into one of the trees Arlong cut down in his search for Marcus. Arlong instantly moved towards Marcus who was stunned from the blow before he attacked with his sword this time and barely missed Marcus who rolled out of the way at the last second.
Marcus was able to dodge another blow before he rolled to his feet and attempted to use soru again. His leg muscles screamed in protest and he ended up dodging another attack from Arlong instead. Marcus was able to parry the next couple of attacks, but he could no longer use soru. Thankfully his legs only locked up when he attempted to use the physically demanding move as normal movement only hurt a little instead.
Arlong noticed the issue after a minute or so and sneered as he said, "This is why fishmen are superior to humans, only two minor blows and look at how injured you are."
Marcus didn't bother replying as he focused on letting the damage he already gave Arlong do its work. That and his ribs burned like crazy every time he took a breath. Arlong on the other hand took it as his win and asked, "What happened boy? You were so talkative before and now you've gone quiet. Finally realized just how weak you are compared to fishmen?"
As the fight carried on with more taunting from Arlong, Marcus started to realize that he might have overestimated just how much stamina Arlong had. Sure he landed a bunch of small attacks and five larger wounds that were still bleeding even now. But Arlong seemed almost fine, like none of it affected him and he kept attacking…
No, that wasn't exactly right. Arlong was slowing down in his attacks, it's just Marcus was also slowing down as well and didn't notice at first. As the fight dragged on longer, Arlong also seemed to realize what was happening and started to attack with all of his strength. Marcus on the other hand just focused everything on defense and stalling for time.
With Arlong using more strength in his attacks it forced Marcus to dodge more often than parry and his legs quickly acted up. It was just a slight delay, but that caused Marcus to block the incoming blow instead of dodge it. That block broke through his guard and almost took his head off if he didn't drop to the ground at the last moment. Marcus quickly rolled to his feet but was forced to block another attack which caused the bones in his arms to hurt from the blow.
Marcus glanced around as Arlong attacked again and dodged closer to a nearby tree. As the next attack came, Marcus attempted to disengage and create distance from Arlong by using the tree to block the attack. But it didn't work as the attack cut clean through the tree and barely missed hitting Marcus. As the tree fell, Arlong kicked it towards Marcus who dodged it by a hair's breadth, but was then forced to block another blow.
Marcus's arms protested and barely held under the pressure from Arlong's new attack. But thankfully Arlong stopped and pulled back as he attempted to attack again not realizing he just needed to push a little harder to break through Marcus's guard. Another attack came and Marcus parried the blade away as his arms shook from the effort.
A few more blows were exchanged before Marcus's body decided not to respond and he caught a glancing blow. It was from the side of Arlong's blade and it caused Marcus to stagger as his body refused to move properly. Arlong didn't let the opportunity slip and swung his sword backwards towards Marcus. Marcus was barely able to bring his sword up to block, but it still blasted him off his feet and into a tree which knocked the wind out of him.
Marcus struggled to get back up as Arlong stomped towards him slowly, unable to move as fast as before. Even though Arlong was a lot slower, he still hit like a truck and Marcus himself was now having trouble moving at all. His whole body was protesting his every movement at this point and he knew he probably wouldn't last much longer.
Just before Arlong reached him, Marcus gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand. As Arlong swung his sword towards Marcus he rolled under the blow towards Arlong and he came up swinging his sword. Arlong released one hand from his sword and was able to backhand Marcus across the face before the attack landed. Marcus was tossed to the side and was barely able to roll to his feet as Arlong attacked again.
A large overhead swing came down onto Marcus who narrowly raised his sword in time. After the blades clashed, Arlong's attack easily broke past Marcus's defense and slammed the boy into the ground which caused a small crater to form. Whether it was luck or just the design of the shark tooth blade, Marcus came away from the attack with only a minor cut and some fractured bones.
Arlong took the opportunity to gloat as he stepped back before sneering down at Marcus and said, "You stupid human! This is what it means to face a fishman! Do you finally understand your limitations as a human? No matter how hard you try, you humans will always be weaker than us!"
Arlong focused on Marcus, waiting for the boy to say something in response. Hoping the boy would beg for his life before he took pleasure in ending it. After a few moments Marcus slowly stood up on shaky legs while his whole body protested against him moving at all. Marcus's sharp eyes burned with an inner fire and a ferocious grin played across his face that showed his blood covered teeth as he stared at Arlong in contempt.
The look in Marcus's eyes caused Arlong to step back for a moment in shock. But Arlong quickly frowned as his eyes narrowed at Marcus who spit out a mouth full of blood before he settled into a sword stance and asked, "Limitations?"
Marcus's whole body screamed in pain for him to stop what he was doing as he tensed his muscles and prepared to bet everything he had left on this one attack. Faint wisps of purple lightning formed around Marcus before Arlong sensed danger coming from him and lifted his sword to attack again as Marcus yelled out, "My limitations can go straight to hell along with you!"
An invisible wave of pressure erupted from Marcus along with the purple lightning which slammed into Arlong and slowed him down as his eyes widened in shock. Arlong still attempted to fight back as the pressure from Marcus bore down on him. Before Marcus's sword whipped forward with all of the strength and skill he could muster in his current state. Marcus's sword sensing the power Marcus was giving off gladly took it in as the blade turned pitch black while purple lightning danced across the blade.
All of that power condensed into the blade as it swung forward and Arlong slammed his own sword forward in a last ditch effort to block the incoming attack. Arlong's blade barely touched Marcus's before it was cut clean in half. Marcus's attack didn't stop there as a massive black air blade sliced through Arlong and all of the trees behind him in a wide arc. Arlong's two halves were blown back by the attack and disappeared from view into the trees before they all collapsed a moment later.
The pressure and purple lightning dissipated around Marcus as he collapsed backwards onto the ground in unbearable pain. That attack would normally take a lot out of him, but using it with his bruised and battered body caused him to tear a lot of muscles and aggravate his already fractured bones. As he laid on the ground struggling to breathe, a large shadow covered him. Marcus struggled to see who it was, but the sun behind the person just made them look like a massive black shadow in his already fuzzy vision. As Marcus slowly lost consciousness he heard an all too familiar laugh which made him smile before he completely passed out.
Garp smiled with pride as he looked down at Marcus passed out on the ground. Then he glanced up at the destruction left by his last attack and frowned. He watched the entire fight from start to finish and while it wasn't the way he would have fought. He had no complaints since Marcus used his brains to separate the biggest threat from everyone else…
But to think both Marcus and Ace would awaken conqueror's haki in their fights today. Garp picked up Marcus and tossed him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before he grabbed Marcus's sword and put it away for the boy. Then he disappeared from view to take Marcus to his ship anchored on the other end of the island. He'd been here for almost two weeks and watched the boys train with their friends in secret to gauge their current strengths. They weren't bad, but some of them could definitely use more training.
As for Marcus and his brothers, they were weaker than he expected, but then again not everyone could be as strong as him at that age. When he arrived at the ship he handed Marcus over to the ship's doctor before he said, "Raise the anchor and head to the village, I'll meet all of you there."
Garp didn't wait for a response and disappeared from view to go check in on the rest of his grandsons. He'd sensed they were still alive, so he wasn't too worried about them. But he might as well see how they did against their opponents. When Garp arrived he found most of the fishmen tied up in chains and guarded by the fishman named Hachi and a couple of others.
As for Ace, Sabo, Luffy and their friends, they were each being helped by villagers who were giving them first aid. Garp landed close to his grandsons with a thud as he dropped out of the air. Everyone turned to look at him and while everyone recognized his uniform, they had no idea who he was. Another man appeared by him a moment later as he said, "I told the boys you were watching over Marcus."
Garp nodded before he asked, "How did they do?"
"It would have been worse if that octopus fishman and a few of the others didn't help protect the villagers. But overall no one died and the boys won their fights."
Ace, who just finished being helped by the town doctor, sat up and looked at Garp before he asked, "Grandpa, is Marcus okay?"
Garp moved closer to the boys and looked them over before he said, "He's in worse shape than all of you combined, but he'll be fine after eating some meat and drinking some milk."
"Meat?!? I want meat!" Luffy said as he sat and looked around while wrapped in some bandages. Then his eyes focused on Garp and he asked, "Grandpa? Why are you here?!?"
Garp punched Luffy over the head before he asked, "Is that anyway to talk to your grandpa, brat?!?"
"Hey! Don't hit my patients!" The doctor yelled at Garp who turned to look at him and said, "He'll be fine and if he isn't, you're a doctor."
The doctor frowned and was about to say something else when Tashigi's voice rang out in a shocked tone, "Vice Admiral Garp!?!"
Garp turned towards the voice while he picked his nose and asked, "Eh? What do you want?"
While the villagers were surprised, everyone who was traveling with the boys looked like they just saw a ghost. The mysterious grandpa the boys talked about, the one who Luffy called a dumb gorilla… The same one the boys said would train them till they couldn't move was the Navy Hero Garp?