NOVEL SIMPLE 00032. A new training partner.
To say that Uta's day was terrible would be a massive understatement. First she was woken up by a bucket of ice water being poured over her head. Then she was forced to wear that ugly suit the boys gave her, which made it feel like she was moving through thick mud.
That seemed bad at first, but then they forced her to join them in training. No that wasn't correct, it wasn't actually training…
It was hell.
Lunch was over an hour away and Uta was dead on her feet. She could barely move and yet the boys said this was a toned down version of their daily routine. As she watched them, she couldn't think of how this could possibly be any harder than it already was.
As Uta attempted to move again, her body trembled slightly. She stopped moving and tried to stay on her feet, but it was too much and she collapsed to the ground in a heap. Marcus glanced over to her and called out, “Uta! Are you okay?”
When she didn’t respond he looked at the others and said, “I thought she would at least make it to lunch.”
Ace shrugged as he said, “Let's take her back and then do our normal routine until lunch.”
With a nod of agreement from the others, the boys removed her training harness. Before they carried Uta back to Makino’s where they found Shanks and his crew.
As they entered the bar, Shanks was the first to react as he said, “Oh, you guys came back… What happened to Uta!”
The bar quieted down as Shanks moved towards Uta to check on her before Marcus said, “She'll be fine. She just passed out from exhaustion.”
The other boys nodded along before Ace said, "She just needs to eat and to get a goodnight's sleep.”
Shanks gently picked up Uta as he said, “How did it happen? Wasn't she supposed to be playing with all of you?”
“Playing? We took her out to train.”
Shanks glanced down at Uta and frowned slightly as he said, “Training? She told me last night you were going out to play together today.”
Ace shook his head as he said, “We only really mess around on our days off.”
Benn came next to the group as he asked, “You took Uta out to train? So you were sparring with each other?”
“We normally spar after lunch.” Ace said.
“If you weren't sparring, what were you doing?” Benn asked.
Ace turned to leave as he said, “A toned down version of our workout routine, so Uta could keep up. We still need to finish before we eat lunch if you want to see what it is.”
Shank’s handed Uta over to Makino so she could let her rest in the spare room, while he joined Benn to watch the boys train. The boys led them away from the village around the coast a little ways to one of their training areas. Once they arrived, the boys each went to pick up a tree trunk and started to do squats.
Both Benn and Shanks could only stare in opened mouth amazement as they watched the boys go through a crazy workout routine. After a while Benn finally asked, “What the hell is up with these kids? Why are they doing something like this?”
“No idea.”
They ended up watching them till it was time for lunch and when the boys came close Shanks asked, “You made Uta do something like that?”
“We taught her our old routine since it’s easy. But the training harness made it impossible for her to complete it.” Marcus said as they headed back to Makinos.
Shanks studied the thing the boys wore before he asked, “Where did you even get that thing from and what does it do?”
Marcus shrugged as he said, “Grandpa gave them to us. I think he said someone named Vegapunk made them for the marines. As for what it does… It makes everything harder to do.”
“Why do you even train like that in the first place?” Shanks asked.
“Gramps. He wants us to get stronger and tests us every time he visits.”
“Who’s your grandpa?” Benn asked.
“Monkey D. Garp. Or better known as the marine hero Garp.” Marcus said with a smile as he looked at Ben and Shanks.
Both Benn and Shanks froze as their eyes widened and mouths dropped open. Shanks recovered first as he said, “You’re related to Garp!?”
“Yup.” Marcus said as the other boys nodded.
Benn glanced at Shanks as he asked, “Maybe we should find another place in East Blue to make our temporary base?”
Shanks shook his head as he said, “No, we should be fine. If we end up running into Garp we can just run away.”
“You shouldn’t need to worry about Grandpa. He left a couple weeks ago and won’t be back for at least a year or longer.” Marcus said.
The other boys nodded as Ace said, “He normally shows up to train us for a few weeks to a month and then disappears for a year.”
“That explains a few things.” Shanks said.
Marcus looked at Shanks as he said, “Oh yeah. Uta lost the bet so be ready to spar with us today after lunch.”
“Uh? What are you talking about?”
Marcus smirked as he said, “Uta made a bet with us and lost. She promised that you would spar with us a few times if she lost.”
“Just because Uta made that bet, doesn’t mean I agreed to it.”
“Didn’t you want to recruit me? I don’t think I could join the crew of someone who doesn’t honor their bets.” Marcus said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I didn’t make the bet!”
Marcus nodded before he said, “But Uta is your daughter and crew member. Which makes her actions your responsibility. Which means you still need to honor the bet.”
“I…” Shanks let out a sigh before he said, “Fine, I’ll do it. But only once a week. We mostly came to East Blue to relax and recruit someone.”
“Pleasure doing business with you.” Marcus said with a smile.
After they arrived back at the bar, they ate lunch with the pirates before Shanks took them outside to spar. This time Shanks took a little longer with everyone but still knocked them out in the end. Although he actually gave some pointers to Marcus this time during their spar instead of just fighting with him. Marcus soaked up everything he was taught like a thirsty sponge and made good progress before he was knocked out.
The rest of the day ended up passing quickly and while Uta was disappointed in what happened. She decided she was going to train with the boys going forward. With Uta joining them, they decided to switch up their training routine so she could handle it easier. The boys still pushed themselves to their limits with extra weights, while Uta did the same thing as them with just the harness. Within a week she was able to last a full day of training and not collapse early.
Life settled into a new routine for everyone for about a month before Shanks and his crew planned to set off again. They planned to travel around East Blue a bit and see everything while they were here. Since that was the case, Uta joined the crew on the ship and the boys went back to training. Although Uta left, she took her training harness with her and used it everyday to practice on the ship.
It was about two weeks later when Garp showed up out of the blue early in the morning right before breakfast. It was the boy's day off and Marcus was outside alone on the beach watching the sunrise when he appeared. Marcus noticed him and said, “Hey Grandpa. What brought you back so early?”
“You did.”
“Really? Did you miss your favorite grandson that much?” Marcus asked with a cheesy smile.
Garp punched Marcus over the head as he said, “Don’t get cheeky with me you brat!”
Marcus rubbed the top of his head as he said, “Am I not your favorite?”
Garp crossed his arms over his chest as he said, “I don’t have a favorite, you’re all equal.”
“Anyways, it’s almost breakfast time. Let's go eat since I only have an hour or so before I have to leave.” Garp said.
As Marcus moved to follow Garp he asked, “Only an hour? What happened?”
“Nothing important. I just took care of something in North Blue and stopped by here afterwards.” Garp said.
At the mention of North Blue Marcus’s eyes widened slightly as he asked, “North Blue? I thought you stayed in the New World most of the time?”
“I went to check on that thing you told me about.”
“It really happened?” Marcus asked.
“Pretty much what you said. I found that little traitor and killed him. Then I rescued a couple people.” Garp said with a shrug.
“Oh… Did that weird fruit appear too?”
Garp pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Marcus as he said, “Yeah.”
Marcus glanced at the paper, it was a couple weeks old and one of the few he didn’t read. The cover talked about the Ope Ope no Mi and a deal to buy it. It even showed a picture of the fruit. Marcus skimmed over the article before he asked, “So everything really happened?”
“As far as I can tell.”
Marcus folded the newspaper up as he asked, “What happened to the people you rescued?”
“I had to leave one of them in North Blue, but the other two are on my ship.” Garp said as they made it to Makino’s.
Marcus glanced at Garp as he asked, “Didn’t you rescue them? Why did you leave someone behind?”
“That kid ate that fruit and doesn’t have the power to protect himself, so I hid him on a random island and told him to keep his power hidden.”
Marcus was surprised by the answer so he asked, “Wouldn’t he be safe if he joined the marines?”
“No, there are too many outside factors when dealing with that fruit. Only me, you and one other person knows he has that fruit, so as long as he hides properly he should be fine.” Garp said.
As they walked into the back dining room Luffy said, “What?! Why are you back already?!”
Garp appeared next to Luffy a moment later who was on the ground as he said, “What’s wrong with you, why can’t you treat your loving grandpa better!”
“What kinda grandpa hits their grandkids?” Luffy asked as he rubbed his head.
Garp picked up Luffy by his collar as he said, “The kind who loves his grandsons!” Before he punched Luffy again, as he said, “What kinda grandson doesn’t greet his grandpa with respect?”
“AAAAAAHHH, HELP! SOMEONE HELP!” Luffy yelled out as Garp pummeled the top of his head.