Chapter 17: To Strongarm!

"Where are we off to now Captain?" Anderson held out a map of the South Blue with some extra islands he marked himself.

Markus sat on the figure head in deep thought as they sailed away from Fable island, his new sword strapped to his side. He hummed to himself while watching the sea before turning around, "To the grandline!"

"Finally I was getting bored here in the South." Harlen muttered as he finished up his morning training.

"Yeah the South is home and all but I'm interested to see what Captain does next." Rebecca nodded along with Harlen while drinking some tea. 

"What about us Captain?" Klark walked across the deck of the Sailing Dragon towards Markus. 

"Go ahead and follow us to Strongarm Island to fight the marines. We'll claim the island before splitting up. I still need y'all to go retrieve Robin if possible. If you can't find her within two years just meet us at Water 7 on the Grandline. We'll be upgrading our ship there eventually." Klark saluted and ran off to his crew to follow them towards Strongarm island.

"Are you sure you want to engage Strongarm island? I heard they had a Lieutenant from the headquarters stationed there." Harlen, the sensible one, asked politely. Markus merely smiled at him.

"Of course we can handle it no problem! Plus it will be fun, just trust me!" Harlen sighed but nodded and helped move the ship to Anderson's instructions. Markus turned back towards the sea with a serene smile before looking up into the sky. "Look out Shisu… I'm going to turn this world upside down."

They sailed for two weeks straight, surprisingly not encountering another ship. Markus spent the time training the best he could but hardly had any gains without much of a challenge on deck other than Harlen. Sadly they couldn't go all out not wanting to damage their ship.

"Land-Ho!!" A trainee jumped from the marine ship to Markus's and informed him of Strongarm in the distance. Markus became excited jumping up and down as he watched the island coming into sight. He could even see a giant marine outpost with a massive marine emblem on the top.

"Let's go! On an adventure!!" Markus didn't wait and used Soru and Geppo to fly through the air rapidly towards Strongarm. His crew sighed but were already used to his antics and found a suitable area to drop anchor without being spotted. 

The island was easily 100,000km in size with over two hundred villages and a large marine base in the center the size of a small kingdom. Luckily they were spotted as they anchored on the eastern side of the island and followed Markus through a small forest into a nearby village called Junk Village.

As the name suggested the village ran on the economy of selling random junk and importing next to anything the island might need. Markus gathered his crew around the edge outside of the village and quickly split them into three groups.

Markus led 15 trainee's towards the marine base to cause trouble, Harlen and Rebecca led another 15 trainee's into Junk Village to gather supplies, and Anderson and Klark led the rest of the trainee's west of Junk Village to look for anyone of promise on the island that might want to join their crew.

Markus marched a funny way towards the marine base not sparing a glance at the looks he got on the path that connected Junk Village with all the other villages. Harlen and Rebecca were able to get into Junk village without anyone noticing as the island quickly understood who was there. Meanwhile Anderson and Klark were much more professional, marching west under the cover of normal marines.

"Come on guys! No killing if you don't wanna just don't get hurt!" The trainee's saluted and followed him with as much enthusiasm as Markus gave. 

"Captain! What's our objective?" A trainee asked, not understanding the plan. Markus stopped marching and turned around with a sincere grin.

"I just wanna cause a problem! Hahahahahahaha!" His crew were taken aback but knowing Markus for almost two months they knew that's just how he was. They kept marching towards the marine base.

"Alright everyone! Gather as much food, water, and ammo you can carry! We'll meet back here in two hours to take it back to the ships! We need to be quick so we can join Markus at the Marine base!" Harlen issued an order that everyone quickly obeyed. As they split up a former marine ran up to Harlen and Rebecca.

"Vice-Captain! I was actually stationed here once before and know of a black market in town if you're interested?" Harlen thought about it before nodding.

"Good idea we can try and get one of those Log pose thingies Markus said we needed for the grandline. Lead the way!" The trainee nodded and led them around town towards what looked like a palm reading shop. Harlen looked around in confusion while Rebecca was amazed by the sights, even getting her own palm read.

Anderson and Klark were much more serious as they walked towards Park Village. 

"So why are we heading to this specific village again?" Anderson looked towards Klark who led the way.

Klark looked back and explained, "Well Markus wanted someone interesting to join and there is no one more interesting on this island than that man. He always denied joining the marines spouting stuff about Celestial Pigs and what not. Who better to join our Captain's crew than someone that hates the World Nobles almost as much as the Captain seems too."

"That does make sense. We should still hurry. I don't feel comfortable leaving Captain to face all those marines with only a small portion of our crew." Klark nodded.

"Me either. I believe in all their strength, especially the Captains, but there are tens of thousands of marines stationed on this island. Honestly surprised we haven't run into any." Anderson abruptly stopped and stared at Klark with a deadpan look. Klark was confused and raised an eyebrow. "What? Was it something I said?"

Anderson sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Never, and I mean ever tempt Murphy's law man. Even the Captain doesn't do that."

Almost on cue Marines came out of the tree line cutting them off and surrounding them. 

"'Fisherman' Anderson! 'Celestial Traitor' Klark! Stand down and surrender! You are surrounded!" Klark clicked his tongue and drew his sword and pistol while Anderson tightened his grip on his fishing rod. The trainees became alert and raised their own weapons watching the marines carefully.

"So this palm reader is actually a broker? Good to know. Good work Jak." Jak, said trainee, smiled proudly and saluted Harlen before they started negotiating a few items from the palm reader. Rebecca, sad about learning she doesn't have a soul mate, quickly perked up and looked outside noticing people clearing the streets.

"Shit! We got company Harlen!" Harlen turned around and slipped his brass knuckles on and extended his Observation to see Marines flooding the entire area.

"'Dead-Man' Harlen! 'Celestial Cook' Rebecca! We know you're in there! Surrender now or face the consequences!" Harlen's eyes sharpened as he examined everywhere with his Haki and found they were completely surrounded.

"Well fuck."

"So this is the Marine base huh? Not that impressive." Markus looked up and down and all around not finding anything interesting about the large half sphere shaped base.

"Yes Captain! This is the largest Marine base in any of the four blues with over ten thousand marines stationed here!" Markus nodded and unsheathed Ascalon. Almost instantly half the island was covered in intense Conqueror's Haki that scared everyone that could feel it.

With Anderson and Klark they sighed in relief seeing the Marines fall one at a time to the intense Haki. 

"Take the injured towards Park Village! There's a doctor there that can help!" Klark ordered the healthy trainee's to help their injured comrades while Anderson swiftly dealt with the remaining standing Marines.

"We have to be faster! Gather everyone in town and take whatever they found in the village to our ships! Meet us at the Marine base! Rebecca, let's go!" Harlen ordered Jak to gather the remaining crew, only spending an hour in Junk Village compared to the two originally planned. They easily broke through the encirclement using their own strength before following the Conqueror's Haki to find Markus.

Markus was currently having his sword sheathed before dodging a bullet and using a Draw: Thrust to break through a wall of marines quickly targeting the snipers. He avoided each attack coming at him with grace, picking off marines with swift attacks while his crew fought from a distance as support.

Markus ducked under a punch feeling unknown strength behind it and jumped back to see a tall man wearing a marine cloak. The man's face was shadowed but Markus could tell he was furious by his clenched hands and veins popping.

"'Blasphemer' Markus. How dare you attack this island! I'll kill you in the name of Absolute Justice!!" The marines arm became a clear color before extending rapidly towards Markus. Markus easily dodged it but noticed the arm was made of plastic.

"Plastic? What type of devil fruit is that?" The marine ignored Markus and charged him with another attack.

"Plastic wave!" His fist flattened before expanding into a large wall that extended quickly. Markus smiled and infused Ascalon with Armament.

"One Sword Style! Tsunami!!" Ascalon surged with power, easily cutting through the air with zero resistance, unleashing an airblade that sliced through the wall leaving an opening that he slipped through and charged towards the marine.

"We have to hurry! Henry and Issac are bleeding out!" Klark helped the trainee's carry the two heavily wounded crew members while Anderson cleared a path towards Park Village.

Anderson jumped over a marine, wrapping his fishing line around the man and swung with all his strength sending the man into another group of marines sending them tumbling. He huffed in exhaustion but kept clearing a path as they ran with all their might. His eyes quickly brightened as he exerted more force, "I think I see the village! Full speed!"

"Hurry! I told you we should have made a better plan!" Rebecca shouted at Harlen as they ran as fast as they could.

"You don't think I know that!? How were we supposed to know we'd be found out so quickly!" Harlen shouted back before increasing his speed.

"It's an island literally covered in Marines! The Captain is a bit of a brute but I expected more from you, Vice-Captain!" Harlen grumbled but ignored Rebecca as they picked up speed again catching their second wind.

"Let's just hurry up, damn it!" 

"You slippery bastard!" The plastic man yelled, throwing another punch that extended almost like Luffy's Gum-Gum pistol towards Markus.

"Hahahaha! You can't touch me! Nananana bobo! You can't touch me!" Markus used Haki to avoid each attack as he made his way closer and closer to the marine before kicking the man in the face sending him flying into the marine building.

He raised his arms in mock victory before his eyes shined red and he turned around and blocked a sword from cleaving him in two.

"Nice try! Sadly you just aren't on my level!" Markus kicked the marine away with ease and turned towards the marine base with a serious look. "I know you're still alive."

From the dust of falling debris the plastic man walked out with blood falling from his head and an angry look on his face.

"You are truly a pirate worth your bounty no doubt! But I am Hunter from Marine Headquarters!! I'll take you down and send you to impel down so the noble can punish you!" Markus scoffed and rested Ascalon on his shoulder before giving an arrogant smile and pointing at the ground.

"I'm gonna kill you. And it'll be the easiest thing I've ever done before." This set the marine off before they charged each other.

2000~ Words