18 Aftermath

Five days since the battle of Blood Red Beach.

Banaro Island 5:00 pm.

After arriving at the Island, Borsalino immediately forced the Beast Pirates to retreat. He along with his crew quickly managed to rescue the remaining Marines on Banaro Island and induced first aid to those that were in direct need of it, saving the lives of those that were so close to joining their comrades. And now, he was simply waiting for Markus to awake before following up on his orders.

" My, my Garp-San. This boy of yours really is scary, you know." Borsalino spoke.

" Bwahahahaha! I know! I trained him myself! Bwahahahaha!" Garp's boisterous and loud voice filled the medical tent.

Borsalino looked down at the Den-Den Mushi in his hands and slowly started rubbing his ears. Garp's voice was really loud.

" Well, thank you for giving me an update, Borsalino. Tell that brat when he wakes up to come back to Marineford with pride." Garp spoke.

" Hmmm. Of course, Garp-San." Borsalino replied.

" Alright. Call me if anything else happens. Garp out."

* Ka-Chunk!

Garp gave his last message to Borsalino before hanging up the Den-Den Mushi on his end.

" Hew!" Borsalino breathed in a deep breath and sighed. " What a family, hm."

" Ngh..."

" Hm?" Borsalino looked to his left after hearing the small whimpering voice of the man beside him. Borsalino watched as Markus' eyes slowly fluttered open and then squint in pain.

" Ngh,,, Where... Where am I?" Markus asked.

" Hmmm! Welcome back to the land of the living, Markus-Kun. You really gave us quite the scare there." Borsalino told the young man.

" Borsalino... San? So... You made it." Markus muttered.

" Hm? Isn't that obvious." Borsalino asked the man.

Markus slowly lifted himself up to try and get off the bed and found even that a daunting task. His stomach was in so much pain, and his arm and face stung, as if a thousand tiny needles were digging into his flesh.

" Aghhh!"

" Whoa! Whoa! Easy.... You need rest, you know?"

" What happened? Is everything?"

" Everything's fine." Borsalino muttered. " You got lucky; you know."

Markus grunted and looked up at the man. " Yeah, I heard. What happened to queen?"

" Escaped." Borsalino answered bluntly.

" And the people?"

" Everyone is safe. In no small part, thanks to you, hm?" Borsalino told the man.

" That's... That's good." Markus muttered. He sat in his bed in silence for a little while longer before once again trying to push himself to his feet.

" You shouldn't be moving you know." Borsalino stated.

" Yeah...." Markus grunted. " But I need to get up and moving. I don't like lying down on my back for too long. Come on, help me walk." Markus told the man. Markus jumped to his feet and grabbed onto Borsalino's coat. " There we go. Thanks, Borsalino."

" Hm? I don't remember agreeing to this." Borsalino muttered.

" Sure ya did. Come on. I'm hungry." Markus spoke. He pulled Borsalino along with him and as he began to exit from the tent he was greeted by the cheers and applause of the townsfolk and the other Marines who had survived the earlier ordeal. " Huh? What's this?"

A hand grabbed Markus on the shoulder. " Well, what do you think it is? Hero." Hongo spoke with a smirk on his face. " These people owe you, their lives. We wouldn't if not for you."

" Yeah, and this wouldn't have happened if not for me either." Markus muttered.

" No. Don't think like that. You were doing your job. In this world nothing is fair. This is just one of those outcomes. But imagine how much worse things could have been if you hadn't been here? Who's to say those pirates wouldn't have wiped us out."

Markus understood what the man was saying but even in understanding, a part of him still felt guilty about all the lives lost.

" Cherish that feeling, kid. You feel responsible for the lives lost, as a leader should. Remember that feeling. I expect you'll be put in many situations like that in the future." Hongo told the man.

" Yeah..." Markus muttered.

" Now enough, with the sulking. Come, eat. You have a long journey ahead of you." Hongo stated.

" What do you mean?" Markus asked the man.

" Hmmm? I almost forgot. I was told to bring you back to Marineford. Your time is almost up, you know? If you don't make it back, then you'll never become a full-fledged Marine." Borsalino muttered.

" EHHHHHHHHHH?!" Markus exclaimed. " How long was I out?!"

" Four days." Borsalino stated.

" I was out for four days?!"

" Did you just ignore the, almost died part, Markus-Kun?" Borsalino asked the man amusedly.

" I thought you were just being coy, or joking like you always did. How bad are my injuries?"

" Every rib on the right side of your body is broken. Your left arm is broken. You have multiple fractures in your right arm. Your legs have multiple fractures, which is why you can't stand up on your own, and then you're gonna have a scar over your left eye. You got lucky there. Thought we were gonna need to remove it, luckily the damage missed your eye completely. I'd say that's the luck of the devil." Hongo explained. Hongo looked at the expression on Markus' face and laughed. " But don't worry, you'll be up and on your feet in no time. Now, come on. Let's get you some food."

Hongo dragged Markus off of Borsalino and carried him to the chow tent.

After finishing his meal, Borsalino insisted that they leave for Marineford as soon as possible. There were still many problems going on in the sea and having Markus be so far out from while severely injured was problematic for the Marines, especially Kong. If one of his kids die while on Kong's watch, there'd be no place under the sky that would be safe.

So, with a heavy heart, Markus boarded Borsalino's ship and said goodbye to Banaro island. But not before being thanked by each and every single man, woman, and child still on the island, and even receiving a special salute from the marine soldiers that managed to live through such an ordeal.

" Until we meet again everyone! Yahaha! Ow it hurts to laugh." Markus groaned. He clutched his side in pain and quickly ceased his laughter.

" Hm? You okay, Markus-Kun?" Borsalino asked.

" Yeah... I'm good. And... Thanks again Borsalino."

" Hoooo? Don't mention it. Are you excited to return home?" Borsalino asked the young man.

" Yeah! I'm excited to see my friends again." Markus stated. He smiled through his bandage, and as he looked out at the sea in front of him, he imagined finally reuniting with his friends again.

After a long month on the sea, Markus finally begins his journey home. What was meant to be a test to train the future generation of Marines ended up turning into the worst-case scenario for two of our esteemed recruits. News quickly spread around the world, two breaking news front pages back-to-back, first the Marine hero that stopped the destruction of Kyuka Island. The freshly dubbed Dancing Dragon, Twin blade Brago! And now the Hero of Banaro Island and the man who held back an invasion by the Beast Pirates in the battle of the Blood red beach, Markus, son of the hero Garp!

Needless to say, people were impressed by the two young upstarts.

Fusha Village.

" Well, would you look at that? That boy done grown and done something good. Makino, come quick. Look at this newspaper!"

" Markus! Oh, it's been so long since Garp brought him here to visit. Look at that, Mayor he's really a hero, now!"

.....

Somewhere in west blue.

" Ha? A Marine and the son of Garp? Captain Roger never talked about something like that! Heh! I think... I think I'd like to meet him someday." Future Captain of the Red-haired Pirates- Red haired Shanks.

.....

Somewhere in the south blue.

" Ho? Twin blades? It's been sometime since I've hunted a proper challenge. Twin blade Brago.... I'll be looking for you." Future Warlord and the man who will become the World's greatest Swordsman, Haweye Mihawk

.....

Loguetown- Grand Line.

" HAAA! I can't believe it. Those guys got so lucky! How did I get the short end of the stick?!" Gion exclaimed. " Oh well. I'm just glad they're both alright. I'll be seeing you both soon."

...

Somewhere in the new world.

" Gurararararara! Garp! Looks like you've gotten quite an impressive brat under your teaching. Hey! Marco!"

" Yeah pops?!"

" Don't slack off just yet." Whitebeard told the man.

" Don't worry. I won't!" marco exclaimed.

Yes, the storm these two brought up across the world was quite impressive indeed. And while many would praise the two young Marines for such an impressive display. Well...

...

-Wano Kuni

" Wraaaaaaaaaaagh! I'll crush that brat! King! Let's go!"

" Yes, Kaido-San!"

...

-Somewhere in the New World

" KATAKURI!!!!! SMOOTHIE!!!!!"

" Yes, mama?!" The two Charlotte siblings asked.

" I WANT YOU TO BURN THAT ISLAND DOWN!!!"

" YES MAMA!"

Though Brago managed to successfully defeat the nearly seven hundred million berry bounty pirate Twin scythe Ghastly, Markus just narrowly avoided death at the hands of the near billion berry bounty pirate Queen the plague. And though both men, managed to survive their encounters, they also managed to incur the wraths of two of the three most powerful pirates alive at the time. Kaido and Big Mom.

To be continued!

DOOM!

Well? What did you all think of the small events of the final exam? Did you guys enjoy the two fights? What about the introduction to new and legendary characters.?

Let me know what you guys thought in the comments below.