00044. Cutting ties.

Outlook finished his business before he headed back home, after he received the message his son Sabo had finally returned. He was surprised but also a little happy, since he could now use the boy for another political marriage. But first he needed to get back home and scold the little shit for running away in the first place.

When Outlook reached his home, he found the guards missing and the door partly open. The man frowned as he moved towards the door and thought of how he would punish his guards later. When he pushed open the door the first thing he noticed was the metallic smell of blood.

Once his eyes adjusted to the indoor light he froze in place as his breath caught in his throat. Piled in front of him in the middle of the large entryway were all of his guards. Seated on top of the pile of guards was a young boy with a metal reinforced, wooden training sword causally resting on one shoulder.

The boy was splattered in blood and the left half of his face was horribly scarred. The boy noticed Outlook and smiled as he said, "Finally! You took your sweet time coming back."

Outlook took a few moments before he recovered and asked in an arrogant tone, "Do you have any idea who you are messing with you little shit?"

"A trash parent and a worse human being?" Marcus asked with a smirk.

Outlook narrowed his eyes and his hands clenched into tight fists as he snarled, "I'm Outlook the third! I'm third in line to becoming the king of this country!"

Marcus released his sword and started to slow clap as he said, "Wow! Impressive! You must be so proud of yourself!"

Outlook pointed his finger at Marcus and his body practically shook as he yelled out, "You dare mock me?"

"Is that what I was doing? I thought I was giving you a compliment?" Marcus asked as he stopped clapping and gripped his sword hilt again.

The atmosphere was broken as Luffy fell into the entryway as he laughed loudly. Ace and Sabo stepped in behind him as the butler Robert meekly followed behind them. Outlook noticed Robert and said, "Go get more guards from the king, Robert. This piece of trash needs to learn its place."

Outlook's gaze focused on Sabo a moment later as he said, "I know this is all your fault and you'll be punished for it later."

When Robert didn't move, Outlook refocused on him and said, "I gave you an order, go do it at once!"

Robert kept his head down as he said in a defeated tone, "That monster won't let me leave sir."

Outlook's voice took on a darker cold tone as he asked, "Do you really fear that brat more than me?"

Robert's whole body tensed before he moved towards the door without a word. Just as he was about to pass by Outlook, Marcus disappeared from his spot and a moment later he was in front of Robert with his back facing the man. Robert coughed up blood and collapsed on the ground unconscious a second later.

Outlook quickly turned to see what happened and when he saw Marcus standing behind him blocking the front door he unconsciously stepped back. Sabo and the other's moved towards Marcus and once they were close Sabo asked, "Why are you planning to set fire to the Gray Terminal?"

"How do you know about that?"

Sabo frowned as he studied his father for a few moments before he said, "It doesn't matter how I know. I just want to know why."

Outlook glanced between the boys for a moment before he glanced fearfully at Marcus and said, "A celestial dragon is coming in a week and we plan to cleanse Gray Terminal of all the trash before they arrive."

"When?" Marcus asked with a cold glint in his eyes.

"Tomorrow night after everything is in place."

Marcus glanced at Sabo as he asked, "Do you wanna collect your inheritance?"

Sabo glanced at Outlook for a few moments before he said, "No. I don't want anything from him or the rest of this family."

Marcus turned back to Outlook and locked eyes with him as he said, "From this moment onward, Sabo is no longer related to you. Don't come looking for him… Or I'll come looking for you and I won't be so nice next time."

Outlook looked like he was about to say something when Marcus's sword jutted out and caught him in the solar plexus. Outlook collapsed to his knees as he gasped for breath but froze when Marcus rested his sword on his shoulder. Marcus leaned closer to the man as said, "Be smart for once in your life and just forget all about Sabo and us. Understand?"

Outlook had anger filled eyes as he spat out, "Yes."

"Good." Marcus said as he tapped Outlook's cheek with his sword before he turned around and headed towards the door.

Luffy and the others joined him and as they reached the door Outlook yelled out, "You little shit! You think you can leave after what you've done?!"

Marcus turned around to see Outlook with a gun raised and pointed at him. Luffy and the others froze as Marcus gripped his sword hilt tighter. Outlook smiled as he said, "No one threatens me! Now, die!"

Before Outlook pulled the trigger, Marcus grabbed Luffy by the shoulder with his free hand and pulled him infront of himself as he said, "Gum gum, human shield!"

The sound of a small explosion went off as Outlook pulled the trigger of his gun. Luffy's eyes comically popped out of his head as the bullet slammed into his chest. As his body stretched from the bullet Ace and Sabo yelled out, "Luffy!"

A moment later the bullet was shot back out of Luffy's body and just missed Outlook's head. Outlook and everyone else starred at Luffy in shock as Marcus let Luffy go and said, "Good job Luf, I always knew you were reliable."

"What the hell Marcus! Luffy could have died!" Ace yelled as he grabbed Marcus by his shirt and shook him.

Luffy poked himself where the bullet hit himself as he said, "I was shot, but it didn't even hurt."

Marcus nodded as he said, "Of course, you're made of rubber, normal bullets can't hurt you and probably cannon balls too."

"We didn't know that!" Ace, Sabo and Luffy said at the same time. 

Marcus glanced at Ace and the others as he asked, "Really? I thought it was obvious."

"It's not!" All of the yelled at Marcus.

"Then we should test Luffy's limits later so we all know what he can do… But first we have someone we need to deal with." Marcus said as he pointed his sword at Outlook who was recovering from his initial shock.

Marcus glanced at Sabo and asked, "What do you wanna do?"

Sabo grabbed his training halberd from his back as he said, "I'll take care of it this time."

Sabo moved towards his father who finally recovered and pointed his gun at Sabo as he said, "Don't think I won't shoot you just because you're my son."

Sabo's halberd flashed towards his father's hand and with a crack knocked the gun from his hand as he started to scream. Sabo paid no mind to the man as he stuck out again and caught him in the shoulder which produced a sickening crack. As Outlook crumpled to the ground and screamed out in agony, Sabo continued to beat the man bloody.

After about a minute, Outlook could only whimper as he laid on the ground a broken and bloody mess. Sabo finally finished, rested his halberd on the man's face to get his attention as he said, "You tried to kill my little brother today, so consider this your punishment."

Sabo pressed his weapon onto the man's head as he said, "The only reason you aren't dead is because of my mercy as your former son… There won't be a next time."

Sabo turned around and walked towards the door as he said, "Let's go."

The others silently followed behind him and after they were outside and down the street a little ways Marcus said, "That was a little much, don't you think?"

Sabo glanced at Marcus as he said, "You're one to talk. You beat those guards senseless."

"Yeah, but they will heal in a few days to a week at most. Your fath… Outlook will be lucky if he can walk again, let alone use his hands."

"Yeah, that was pretty brutal." Ace said as Luffy nodded.

Sabo glanced at Marcus before he said, "He tried to kill you. If it wasn't for Luffy eating his fruit, you might be dead."

"Maybe. I think I could of disabled him before he shot." Marcus said with a shrug.

"Then why did you use me to block the shot?"

Marcus placed his arm over Luffy's shoulder as he said, "Because I knew my precious brother would protect me."

Luffy's eyes lit up as he asked, "I'm your precious brother?"

"Of course, who else is my brother and also doubles as the perfect human shield? It can only be you!" Marcus said as he patted Luffy on the shoulder.

Ace and Sabo shared a glance before they burst into laughter. Luffy turned to look at them as he asked, "What's so funny?"

Ace shook his head as he said, "Nothing important."

As they left the Goa Kingdom and headed back towards the village, Marcus paid more attention to Sabo. Marcus felt bad about what happened, since Sabo beat his father almost half to death and the man would probably be crippled for the rest of his life. Sure the guy was human trash and definitely deserved it. 

But Marcus didn't think Sabo should've been the one to unleash some justice on his biological father. He was pretty sure Sabo was fine, but it didn't hurt to double check after what happened. Then again it could just be Marcus and his old morals being overly concerned for no reason…

Once they reached Makino's and started to eat lunch Marcus asked, "What should we do about the fire in Gray Terminal?"

"It's supposed to happen tomorrow night, so we don't have much time to plan." Ace said with some concern.

"It's just a fire. Why do we need to do anything about it?" Asked Luffy before he stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth.

"Because they plan to kill everyone in Gray Terminal with the fire." Sabo said.

Luffy looked up with his eyes widened as he stopped eating and asked, "I thought it was to get rid of the trash?"

"I don't know whether I should be impressed that he remembered what was said or that he actually stopped eating to talk." Marcus said with a chuckle.

Ace and Sabo nodded in agreement before Sabo said, "You heard them call us trash. That's what they consider everyone who isn't a noble."

Luffy sniffed his arm pit as he asked, "Is it because we smell?"

Marcus turned away from Luffy as he said, "It's better if we just ignore him… So any ideas on what we should do?"

"How about we go around and warn everyone so they can leave the place before the fire?" Ace said after a few moments.

Sabo shook his head as he said, "We might be able to get a few to leave early, but I doubt most people would care until the fire started and went out of control."

For a while the brothers discussed different ideas and ways they could either stop the fire or prevent it. After lunch was finished and Luffy was paying a little more attention he said, "Why don't we just start the fire ourselves?"

Everyone turned to look at Luffy who wore a goofy smile as he said, "It's too much work to stop it, so let's just start the fire instead."

"We don't want the fire to start at all though." Ace said as he let out a sigh.

Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, "I don't wanna admit it… But he might be onto something."

"What?" The other three boys asked at the same time.