Garp the Fist

(Garp POV)

"Ugh my head ...", I groan and hold my head.

"Oi Garp, are you okay?", someone says beside me. I open my eyes and look at a man with a big afro on his head. Next to him stands a woman with dark green hair, looking at me with a smirk on her face. and next to her is a rather burly young man with purple hair. I know these three.

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So it was real. I wasn't dreaming. I really got another chance. I closed my eyes again and went over the things that just happened. I died and got another chance. I was granted one wish and only one. So using all my intelligence, I wished for an Essence CYOA. But not just anyone. I wished for the Essence of the Ideal Self. 

Why was that smart?

Because this Essence grants you basically an additional three wishes. Because you can pretty much customize your character, like in a game.

'Your body changes to whatever physical form you most desire for yourself. This includes gaining physical traits such as strength or agility, up to peak human level. This includes a free, one-time cosmetic body resculpt to your ideal or desired appearance.', is what it says in the Essence. I made full use of this. I wanted my body to look something like Baki or Kenshiro. 

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There was a physical trait I wanted and that was the same one, Yuujirou Hanma had. His strength and martial arts were constantly improving. And that was something I was very much interested in. I didn't want to be limited to only fighting strong opponents in order to advance. I also wanted to grow stronger by simply training under harsh conditions. Haki only grows stronger when fighting stronger opponents and if I had this, I would surely also advance in Haki while just training or maybe even doing nothing. But that is not likely. 

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'Your mind and emotions change to whatever mindset/psyche you most desire for yourself. You can opt to forgo these changes.'

This was another thing I made sure to get right. I wanted to still be myself but also have some things of Monkey D. Garp. Garp is an eccentric but righteous and caring man, who is loyal to both his criminal family and the Marine Headquarters, who he has served for decades. He is loud, boisterous, exuberant, and overall acts in a similar manner to his grandson, however, he can be very serious if the situation requires it, for example in combat against an enemy.

I wanted to be like Garp for my entire life, so I wasn't going to change much there. I just wanted to keep my intelligence and rather calm and calculating personality as well. So I was now a more calm and less boisterous Garp, in a sense. 

Now the real reason why I had basically cheated and made four wishes out of my 'just one' wish, was that with the Essence of the Ideal Self, you gain up to three supernatural powers that you desire the most. These must be specific abilities, rather than any generic 'do anything' powers, but that's alright. I was smart with this one and gave myself very useful things. 

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I think back to my life as Garp. I was born 22 years ago in the Goa Kingdom in the East Blue. I joined the Marines this year at the age of 22 along with Tsuru and Sengoku, whom I had met in Marineford. I was tested in the Marine branch in East Blue, where I was called a monster and then sent to Marineford. 

Here I have been training for a few months already and we had our final test today. I challenged the Head Instructor because that is how Garp is and I got my ass handed to me. That is why I am lying here after getting knocked out. Apart from Tsuru and Sengoku, Zephyr is also here with us. He is rather tall for his age and also quite strong already, but I'm stronger and now after waking up as a 'new man', I will grow more powerful faster. 

"I told you not to challenge Sensei. You got what you deserved honestly. Why do you have to be so eccentric?", Sengoku asks with a sigh. 

"Pfft, the musclehead has to be a musclehead."

"Bwahahahaha, you know me so well Tsuru.", I say feeling the urge to laugh at her comment. It is so fun to tease and annoy my friends like this. 

"Good to see that you haven't changed after having your head cracked.", Zephyr says with a grin.

"Bwahaha, you know that it takes more than that to change me Zeph. Now, where has Sensei run off to? I wasn't finished just yet.", I say standing up and patting myself.

"You Idiot!!"

*Bonk*

Sengoku screams and punches me on the head. Sengoku has quite the punch. I guess that makes sense since we're going to go out to sea tomorrow and start our Marine careers. I can't wait honestly. To think that from tomorrow onwards, I will start to rise to the top in terms of strength and rank. I can feel the same disgust towards the Celestial Dragons as Garp must have. So I am still unsure whether I should stop rising in ranks after reaching Vice-Admiral, like Garp did, or if I should go for Fleed Admiral ...

I'll decide on that when the time comes. 

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"Listen up you rookies! From today onwards, you are going to be full-fledged Marines. And as such you must uphold Justice in all forms. Don't you dare embarrass us, is that understood?!", Sensei yelled across the yard. We weren't that many people that managed to graduate right now, as there weren't that many powerful pirates sailing the seas right now. 

It seems like as I grow up, it will get more and more chaotic. But that's alright, that is why I'm here. We are to be sorted into different groups and are then to go hunting pirates as it was taught to us these past few months. The merit system in the Marines right now is a bit strange. 

I am not allowed to learn Haki just yet, as it takes merit points to have them give you the manual about how to learn Haki. I wonder if I can just learn on my own. This should be possible, considering the superpowers I created for myself. We were taught the Marine Six Styles or Rokushiki though. Those are useful and now that I am the way I am, I will push those to the max. And considering, what I wished for, I am interested to see what I can do with this. Geppo is basically running through the air. If I could develop this further, I might ... but more on that later. 

"You will be placed under a Commodore or a Rear Admiral and start your journey under their watch. Learn as much as you can, because failure is many times equal to death on the sea. Now, good luck and give them hell!", Sensei finished. 

"WHOAAAH"

Everyone was pumped to finally start their journey on the sea and I was no different. But I had some reassurances that assured me, that I wouldn't die. Others didn't have that. But even if I didn't have that, I was still excited. I had a wide grin on my face and couldn't wait to finally start. The person who was to take me with him was Rear Admiral Compton. My character was most probably the reason for this decision. I was already far too energetic, loud and boisterous ... at least the old Garp. They were worried about me going off on my own and hunting pirates that way. I guess they know me well. 

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I made my way to the docks with my friends and then finally bid them farewell. 

"I'll see you guys after I catch Strong Arm Rodan. Shouldn't take too long.", I tell them. 'Strong Arm' Rodan is one of this era's strongest Pirates, famous for his strength and powerful Haki. Besides that, he is known for punching through his enemies and victims and is a piece of trash. 

The others just laugh at me and I see their competitiveness rise as I say this. They were probably somewhat sad that we would separate. So I tell them what I would manage to do and make them retaliate by refuting my claims or telling me that they would manage bigger feats. However, I doubt that. I will become the strongest. 

"Dream on! I'll grow old before you catch Rodan. It is more likely that Tsuru will catch him.", Sengoku says.

"Oh? You have lost control over your tongue Sengoku. Would you like to repeat that?", Tsuru says and Sengoku starts to sweat. 

"I will catch the most pirates.", Zeph says and that makes me laugh. 

"Bwahahaha that's the spirit. But you're all wrong. I will become the strongest out of all of us and catch the most pirates.", I say and get a couple of boos and the like from them. I laugh and then make my way to the Rear Admiral's ship. There I am already expected. 

"Are you the new recruit?", someone asks me.

"Yes."

"Follow me, Rear Admiral Compton is waiting for you.", he says and then leads me under the deck and to the Rear Admiral's room. 

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Rear Admiral, the rookie is here."

"Come in.", the voice says and we enter the room. There I see a rather tall and burly man. He is about 4 to 5 meters tall and wears a blue suit with a white Justice coat. He looks up from his paperwork and glances at me for a moment. I see him nod slightly. I stand in front of him and wait for him to speak. 

"So you're Monkey D. Garp?"

"Yes."

"You are familiar with everything, I presume. If not, then make sure that you get to it. We sail today. The Squid Pirates are causing somewhere around Long Ring Long Land and the islands around there. We have been ordered to deal with the nuisance. Any questions?"

"Not really."

"Good. Then get settled in. We leave in an hour."

"Sure."

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So an hour later, we left Marineford towards Long Ring Long Land. I read something about the Squid Pirates. Their Captain, Nicolas Posquid has eaten the Squid Squid fruit. A Zoan fruit that allows him to transform into a squid. He is capable of stinging his enemies and injecting them with poison that hurts a lot. It even gives him a good healing factor, but makes him weak to heat-based powers. He needs to take in a lot of fluids or he would dry out. Overall a rather simple ability in my opinion. 

I can't wait to fight him, to be honest. I am itching for a fight. After fighting Sensei, I feel like I would grow stronger a lot if I were to fight him or someone strong again. And that is something I desperately want. I walked around the ship for a while to get familiar with it ... ok it was to find the dining hall. My appetite has risen since yesterday. The Commodore on the ship didn't have time for a spar between us yet but said that after the Squid Pirates were dealt with, he would gladly 'pummel' me. 

Bwahahaha we'll see how this goes. 

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"Garp! Where are you?!", I hear the Commodore call me. 

"Here. What is it?"

"Rear Admiral Compton is looking for you. Come, we're about to reach Long Ring Long Land."

He brought me to where the Rear Admiral was looking over a map. When he saw me enter, he addressed me. 

"Garp, good you're here. The Squid pirates have been reported sailing passed Boraan Island. So if they don't change their course, we'll meet them any minute now. I want you to show me what you got. You are supposedly the wildest of the rookies this year, so I want to see what you're capable of. Any complaints?", he asks me and I can't help but smile brightly. 

"Bwahaha no, that's perfect."

"Hehe, I thought as much. Good then get ready, we should-"

"Rear Admiral, sir. The Squid Pirates have been spotted!", a Marine says after storming into the room.

"Good, Garp get ready and Commodore, you tell the others to prepare as well."

"Yes, sir."