Roger

[ Third Person POV ]

World Government Affiliated island

The Roger Pirates were currently in a battle with Garp's forces. 

They had met earlier when the Oro jackson stopped by to get supplies from the island. Who would have known that Garp was on the island as well, slacking off so that he could avoid the chaos that was unfolding in Mariejois?

Garp and Roger immediately attacked each other. Raleigh made himself busy fighting off Bogard, while the rest of the pirates fought off the Marine forces. It was a fight that had manifested itself within the town. The townspeople could do nothing but hide from the heat of the battle to ensure their chances of survival.

Garp immediately landed a blow to Roger's sword. When the two collided, a sound akin to metals clashing was heard throughout the entire battle field. Garp's fists were ferocious, but just as quick, he was doing a great job holding Roger down to a defensive position. 

However, it didn't look like Roger was too nervous about it. If anything, it excited him because he had found an opponent that was similar to Whitebeard in terms of power. Nobody except maybe Marine Admirals and certain World Government Agents could really fight a fair fight against Roger. It was something that he was rather proud of, but always resented. After all, how else was he going to enjoy a good fight if he couldn't find anyone worth fighting?

Garp on the other hand, really didn't want to fight with Roger within the town. It was just too restrictive; he had to keep the lives and properties of the civilians in minds as he kept throwing deadly jabs at Roger. Roger clearly saw this, and he too was getting frustrated by Garp's current weak presentation. It was only when he gave a hearty push kick to Garp after another clash did Roger propose to Garp about fighting somewhere else. 

Roger immediately agreed to it and promptly dissapeared in front of Garp. However, Garp wasn't surprised, he simply ran after roger while the rest of the pirates and Marines continued their fight. They only stopped when they reached a bit of a distance away from the town. Roger and Garp stood apart from each other while standing on opposite sides. 

Roger gave garp a fierce smile before lunging at him. Garp could only remain stoic as he covered his fists with Advanced Armament haki and lunged at Roger as well. Roger swiped down at Garp, who immediately blocked it with one of his fists, and then he punched Roger with his other fist. Roger had to twist his body to avoid getting punched in the torso by him.

It was an intrecate dance that involved precise defense, yet effective offense. A dance that was only known strictly between the two of them. No matter how Garp looked at it, he couldn't help but respect Roger's strength because of battles like this. He had constantly worked hard in order to get a bit stronger than Roger, however, Roger always seemed to be just as strong as him when he reached an even stronger stage than he initially was. At first it was frustrating, but as time kept passing. He came to get obsessed with catching Roger and arresting him, and his obsession led him to reach levels of strength that he wouldn't have dreamed of. 

It would have been safe to say that if Roger wasn't a pirate, they would have been great friends. Alas, the threads of fate weaved them to be enemies, forever clashing at each other in attempt to overwhelm the other. There was simply nothing that he could have done to change that situation. 

The battle between them had gotten pretty intense as the sun began to set. They had promptly started a little bit into the afternoon. They had done their best to fight with restraint in order to prevent the trashing of the town. 

The other pirates and marines had exhausted themselves fighting each other, and all retreated with the intent to recuperate their strength. Bogart and Rayleigh were still fighting, though their fight wasn't as intense as it initially was before. The towns people looked on wearily as all the Marines and Pirates began to walk off to their respective bases. As for the dead, they were carried by their fellow companions to be buried somewhere outside the town or something else. 

Garp and Roger were still fighting, but it was evident that only one person was truly tired from the altercation. Roger, who seemed to be fighting just fine for the earlier part of the fight. Was getting more and more tired as the fight went on. This began to bother Garp, who valued the excitements of a fair fight. 

This went on for a bit before Garp ultimately stopped and began to walk away. Roger was immediately confused as to why Garp stopped fighting, but before he could ask. He immediately began to cough out blood, and he kneeled down to catch his bearings. His chest hurt severely, and he really didn't know why. 

After a bit of more coughing. He got up to his feet and began trudging back into the town. It was there that he managed to regroup with Rayleigh and the rest of the crew. Rayleigh immediately noticed that something was wrong with the captain. Bogart had stopped fighting the moment he had sensed Garp walking back into the town. 

At first, Rayleigh wasn't too concerned with his captains shenanigans. However, looking at Roger now, it was obvious that something was wrong with him. Rayleigh quickly called for Crocus and helped Roger get back on to the Oro Jackson .

Crocus, who heard Rayleigh's calls, immediately rushed into the cabin of the ship and brought his medical kit with him. He entered the room to find a haggard Roger who was slowly beginning to recuperate from whatever he was going through earlier. 

Crocus immediately began to run tests on Rogers body to check for any injuries. There was nothing any serious physically, meaning that it was probably more of an internal issue than it was physical. However, Crocus wouldn't know until he ran further tests on his blood. He wasted no time notifying Roger and Rayleigh about his findings. 

They both had solemn expressions upon hearing the news, but Rayleigh and Crocus wanted to remain optimistic. After all, it could have been a one time thing that Roger just happened to experience by coincidence. 

Roger on the other hand, thought otherwise, and instead decided to make a decision.

"We're officially beginning our second and last voyage," Roger Declared.

"Roger! What are you talking about? You're acting as if this is already a terminal illness," Rayleigh protested.

"It's simply because I can feel this illness being terminal, though I haven't showed it, I've been feeling weak for a while now," Roger argued, "Anyway, my main focus is to find someone who can properly translate these Poneglyphs that we have been finding on random islands."

"I heard stories of samuries from the land of Wano being able to read these symbols fluently. Maybe we can find one and recruit him to the Roger Pirates?" Crocus proposed.

"That's a wonderful Idea! Let's begin to set sail to Wano!" Roger immediately agreed.

"I don't think that we'll be needing to go all the way there," Rayleigh said as he gave Roger the day's newspaper, "I believe that Whitebeard had already gotten his hands on one of these samurai. Why don't we just ask him instead?"

Roger looked at the image of the newspaper in contemplation. After a while, he finally relented and ordered to find the immediate location of the Whitebeard Pirates. The rest of the crew immediately began preparing supplies for the trip. However, Rayleigh remained concerned over the presence of the Marines.

"Hahahahahaha!!! No need to worry about Garp and the Marines for the moment. He wouldn't want to arrest a sick man like me!" Roger commented while slapping Rayleigh in the back.

Just like that, the search for Whitebeard and the Samurai was on.