00003. Why is everyone speaking Japanese?

When the giant first picked him up, he was scared and screamed even louder. It wasn't until he realized the man wasn't actually a giant. But that he was now a baby, that he somewhat stopped screaming in terror.

Once he settled down he also realized a depressing fact. He shit himself while he was screaming in terror… He wanted to laugh, but the only thing he could seem to do properly was cry.

So that's exactly what he did. He cried until he passed out from exhaustion. Some time later he woke up with a clean diaper, which was a big plus. Also the overwhelming noise from gunfire and explosions was finally gone.

The only sound that he could now hear was the creaking of wood and the gentle lapping of water. It was actually pretty nice and the rocking of his crib quickly lulled him back into sleep.

Some time passed and he was pulled out of sleep by the gruff voice of a man speaking… Japanese? He had no real idea what the man was saying unfortunately. He was like most Americans and only knew one language, English.

He listened to the man talk with someone else for about a minute and at the end of their conversation he finally understood the last few words that were spoken.

Monkey D. Luffy…

That was the name of the main character from a popular manga he followed for a long time. We're they fans of the series also? No, that wasn't it. Something about this whole situation was off and the man who picked him up early looked very familiar…

Panic gripped his heart for a moment as he realized what must have happened. He died. He didn't remember dying, but he knew that it happened. He couldn't help himself as he let out an anguished yell. But the only thing that came out was the crying wail of a baby. As he started to cry the baby next to him also started to cry.

The man moved next to their baskets as he attempted to calm them both down. It worked for the other baby, but it didn't work for him. He was in the middle of having a mental breakdown and continued to scream his lungs out till he passed out again.

vvvvv

Dragon watched his two sons with a sad smile on his face. You would never know from looking at them, but they were twins. Well the doctor called them fraternal twins as they were born only a few minutes apart.

He looked at his youngest son, Luffy. The boy looked so much like his mother. A mother neither boy would ever get to know… 

And to protect them, they would now grow up without a father in their life. He hoped his father would be there for the boys, but he knew the boys would end up just like him. Running wild most of the year, except when his father showed up to train them for a month or two.

He shook his head, it seemed like that was the Monkey family curse. A dead mother and an absentee father.

Dragon looked back down at his oldest son, Marcus and let out a sigh. The boy seemed different to him than before. He used to be so quiet and relaxed. But since he found the boy trapped under his mothers body, the boy wouldn't stop crying whenever he was awake.

Could the injury to his son's head caused more damage than the doctor thought? The doctor did say the boy was lucky to be alive. Maybe the doctor missed something when he patched the boy up? Dragon shook his head, there was nothing he could do for now. He'll just pass on the information to his father and let him handle it.

Dragon placed his hand on his wife's coffin for a few moments. Before he moved out of his cabin and used an eternal pose to set his ship's course towards one of the first islands in the grand line. It wouldn't take him long to reach the island, a week at most and his father wouldn't be far behind him.

For the next week Dragon spent as much time as possible with his sons as he traveled. He knew as soon as Garp arrived at the island, he wouldn't see either son again until they were both grown men if he was lucky and wanted to treasure every moment he could.

Luffy soaked up any attention Dragon gave him and was always happy. But Marcus seemed to be sad and would barely interact with him. The boy seemed to realize his mother was dead and was grieving over her loss. At least that is what Dragon assumed his son was going through.

Dragon wished he could help his son deal with the issue, but he knew he didn't have the time or ability. Hopefully the boy will be able to get over it one day. He glanced at Luffy and hoped his other son would one day be happy like him again.

vvvvv

Marcus laid in his basket, trying to think of his previous life again. But it was all gone, any details about his old life were completely gone. How or why did he know he was American? He had no idea. He just knew it.

It was the same with being a male. He knew he was a male in his past life, but no idea why. Yet he could easily recall the story of One Piece or Naruto. Random quotes from movies or song lyrics were no issue.

But he had no idea if he had any family or friends in his past life. Was it to make this second life easier to adjust too? If that was the idea, it didn't seem to be working as intended. He was still upset about dying and this being a new life.

He was also upset with being a baby and having no control of his body. He couldn't stay awake long, he could barely move. He would pee and poop himself whenever his body decided it was a good idea.

His new life sucked.

As he was sulking over his new life he heard the boisterous voice of a man saying something in Japanese followed by a very distinctive laugh.

Bwahahahaha!

A large man appeared a few moments later looking down into the basket. Marcus almost forgot to breathe as he stared up at someone he knew. Well he didn't actually know them, but he knew of them. Monkey D. Garp was looking down at Marcus with a smile on his face.

Marcus became excited for the first time since he woke up in this world as he reached towards the man. Garp smiled even wider and reached down to pick up Marcus as he let out another laugh.

Marcus's mind was running a mile a minute as he thought of what this meant. People here weren't fans of One Piece, this was One Piece! Did that mean he was Luffy? As he was lost in thought Garp smiled at him and said the name Marcus.

Was that his name? Does that mean the other baby was Luffy? But Luffy didn't have a biological brother in the story. Did he take over the body of someone who died? His vision became blurry as the world started to spin. A few moments later he puked out the milk he was fed earlier all over Garp's face and passed out.

Garp quickly wiped Marcus's mouth and his own face before he set the boy back down in the basket with a smile still on his face. He glanced at his other grandson who was still asleep and said, "Don't worry my idiot son, I'll have the best doctor I know do a check up on both boys and then take them to Foosha Village."

Dragon wore a sad smile as he looked at both of his sons. He glanced up at his father as he asked, "Who's going to raise them?"

Garp was picking his nose as he said, "Eh, maybe that girl Makino I saved. She should be old enough to watch over a couple brats. If not, I'll take them to Dadan."

"You…" Dragon let out a defeated sigh, he knew this was the best he could hope for. At least they should be safe there.

Garp flicked his booger away and said, "It'll be fine, I'll show up when I have time and train them to become great marines. You'll see, they'll be better than you one day."

Bwahahahahaha! Garp let out as he patted Dragon's shoulder so hard it almost made him fall over. Dragon shook his head, his father hadn't changed one bit.

He glanced at his kids one last time before he said, "I'll leave first, I still need to take my wife home… It was good seeing you again… Father."

Garp placed a reassuring hand on Dragon's shoulder as he said in a regretful tone, "Sorry for your loss, she was a nice girl and I am sure she would have made a wonderful mother."

Dragon nodded his head as he headed to the door as Garp said, "Be safe son and don't worry, I'll keep the boys hidden and safe as long as I can."

"I know you will… Thanks for this dad… I love you."

Dragon quickly left to his boat as Garp picked up the basket with his grandkids in it. He needed to make a quick stop before he headed home for a couple weeks.

vvvvv

It was about a week later as a marine ship with a dog's head as the figurehead approached the Twin Cape lighthouse. It was very rare for a marine ship to come out to this area of the Grand Line, since they had other ways to reach the Grand Line itself.

The lighthouse keeper noticed the approaching ship and let out a sigh as he came out of his house, he just knew today wasn't going to be a good day. A few seconds later that came true as a man landed in front of him carrying a baby basket.

The man smiled and held out the basket as he said, "Crocus! My grandkids need a check up."

"I'm not your family doctor Garp." Crocus said as he stared directly at the man.

Garp pushed the basket into Crocus's arms as he said, "Pirate scum like you don't have a choice. Do it or I'll arrest you."

Garp then started to walk into Corcus's house as he asked, "Do you have any snacks?"

Circus shook his head as he glanced down into the basket. Inside he could see two babies, both of them were asleep. One of the kids looked fine, but the other boy's head was mostly wrapped up in bandages that could use a change. He quickly moved inside his home and went to his office.

He set the basket down gently to not wake up the kids and lifted the injured child out. Working quickly he removed the bandages and stopped in shock. While the wound was slowly healing, he'd seen similar wounds before. But he'd never seen one heal because the person who normally received it was dead.

It was close to the boy's left eye and would leave a nasty scar once it was healed. But the more important question was, why was this boy still alive? As he carefully cleaned out the wound and checked it over, Garp walked in munching on some crackers.

Corscus glanced at Garp as he said, "Have you seen this wound? How did this child survive cannonball shrapnel to the face?"

Grap took on a serious look and walked closer to see his grandson Marcus without bandages on. He let out a low whistle before he asked, "He definitely takes after me. I could do the same thing at his age, BWAHAHAHA!"

Marcus and Luffy both woke up to Garp's loud laugh and started to cry. Crocus shot a glare at Garp as he said, "Take care of the other boy for now while I take care of this one."

Garp nodded and picked up Luffy as he asked, "Come on Luffy, you wanna eat some crackers with grandpa?"

"Don't feed that baby crackers!" Crocus yelled out as Garp was in the process of trying to put a cracker in the boy's mouth.

vvvvv

Over two weeks passed as Garp stayed at the lighthouse with Crocus. Crocus checked over both kids and determined that Marcus needed to be looked after for about a month to make sure there were no issues with his wounds. The boy seemed to be in good shape overall besides the injury, actually he seemed to be healing faster then Crocus predicted. 

Within a few days he would allow the boys and Garp to leave with a clean bill of health. It would also be nice to have his house back to himself. The only issue would be Laboon, he would probably go back to slamming his head into the Red Line once Garp left.

Crocus shook his head, it was the only positive of Garp being here. After the first time Laboon slammed his head into the Red Line and woke up Garp's grand kids. Garp ran outside and punched Laboon so hard, the whale still has a fist mark on his head.

After that Garp yelled at Laboon and called him an idiot for trying to hit the Red Line only using his head. He tried to explain to the whale that it should use Haki on its head before it slammed into the red line to actually do damage. But Laboon didn't really understand what Garp talked about even after Garp demonstrated what he meant and punched a giant hole into the side of the Red Line itself. Garp then attempted to teach the whale how to do it, but so far there was no progress. Since then it was pretty common to see Garp as he lectured Laboon and ate crackers while he sat on the cliff of the Red Line.

Speaking of Garp…

Crocus glanced at the extra navy ships that were near his lighthouse picking up the ten pirate crews Garp caught while staying here. At least the next batch of rookies wouldn't have to deal with Garp the Fist as soon as they entered the grand line.