12 The Grandline

As soon as Kong finished his speech, Markus and the others were taken on different ships and sent out sailing towards the Grand line.

Markus didn't have a chance to say his goodbyes to his two friends, but he didn't mind it. He knew that Brago and Gion were both more than strong enough to survive the ordeal. He was only concerned whether or not he could survive it.

" This sucks!" Markus floated on a small boat in the middle of the ocean. A few days had already passed by and yet Markus found himself no better off than when he was first released. " Ahhhh! Oh well. I'll find land soon, I think. Honestly, I would have rather have just been assigned to one of the marine bases. At least then, I'd have food and something to do."

For so long, Markus was just bored, sailing somewhere on the Grand Line, thankfully however, it wouldn't be long before Markus' boredom would come to an end.

After falling asleep in the peaceful sea, Markus was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of cannons, firing in the distance.

" Hey? I know that sound. Cannons!" Markus exclaimed. He sat up in his small dingy and looked out over the sea, right now there were two ships engaged in fighting one another.

One ship was larger than the other, but had significantly more damage done to it. This ship had a black sail with a skull and cross bones painted on it with the main sigil being in the shape of a Metal block. The ship was iron entirely and had very little other detail.

The smaller black ship actually had some design to it. The sails all had a single black arrowhead painted onto the, the flag was black with a skull and an arrow piercing it. This ship's figure head was a arm with a very sharp bone sticking out of it, which might indicate that the arrow sigils were actually bones.

Markus did not know either of these groups of pirates, but it didn't matter. This was his first encounter and his first chance to score points to put him ahead of the others.

" Yahahahaha!"

In the end of the first half of the Grand line, Near Banaro Island, the Iron flail pirates, led by Iron body- Jono were currently engaged in a sea battle against the Bone spear pirates led by Bone spear- Hengoku

Iron Body-Jono- Bounty 160,000,000 Berries.

Jono was a man of large and muscular stature, with short black hair, and a body full of scars. He was easily larger than his opponent. He stood easily at seven feet tall.

" HAhaha! Today we'll crush that spear of yours Hengoku!"

Bone spear Hengoku- 165,000,000 Berries.

Hengoku on the other hand was thin and almost frail like in his stature. He was slightly shorter than the seven-foot giant that was Jono, but still a rather imposing man. his long gray hair flowed down his body like silk.

" Hm, so you think, Jono. But I'll drill a hole straight through your chest."

" MEN! Pull up to them!" Jono shouted.

His basic ship turned in the sea and instead of firing, it made a straight line towards Hengoku's ship and crashed right into the side of it, tearing off the wooden side wall.

Jono and his crew boarded Hengoku's ship and the battle kicked off.

The opposing crews faced off against one another while the captains did battle.

Jono and Hengoku, two of the Grand line's upcoming rookies.

Together they stood, locked in place, trying their best to overpower the other.

" Is that the best you can do, Jono? I'm a bit disappointed." Hengoku muttered to the man.

Jono grinned. " Nah, I just haven't gotten serious yet. This is still a cake walk."

The man of Iron was still quite confident, even if Hengoku was able to match his strength, he still could not hurt him even with that bone spear of his.

" Digital Shrapnel!" Hengoku leaped away from Jono, flinging tiny digits of bone shards from his fingers. These bone shards peppered Jono's skin and bounced off of him.

" Ha! Not likely!" Jono rushed Hengoku. His stomps were heavy and strong, which would explain why he would need to have a mostly metal ship, else he'd likely sink his own ship every time he tried to take a step. " I'll flatten you and this ship!"

" Not likely." Hengoku told the man. A sharp bone slowly began to protrude from Hengoku's arm, until it was firmly grasped within his hand.

And it looked like the two captains were once again, however before either of the two captains or their crew could notice a very large and very fast object crashing into their ship.

* Crash!

The explosion that rocked Jono's ship nearly scuttled the vessel.

" What was that?" Jono asked.

" An enemy?" Hengoku too was surprised by the sudden explosion.

A crowd of the crew's bodies were sent flying into the air by explosion..... Or by what had created it.

Markus emerged from the cloud of smoke and slammed his foot down on the back of Hengoku's master deck. " YAHA! This looks fun, mind if I cut in?"

" Navy blues. A Marine?" Hengoku muttered.

" Get lost shrimp!" Jono's vice-captain-Strong arm John- 134,000,000. Appeared next to Markus ready to strike, only for Markus to catch his fist without looking.

Markus pulled Strong arm towards him and struck him square in his stomach! " Ha! Not likely!" Markus hit John with so much force it launched him from the ship and sent crashing into the sea.

" John! You bastard!" Jono upon seeing his vice-captain get effortlessly defeated charged the Navy soldier. Even Hengoku was surprised how quickly the hundred million berry bounty man was defeated.

Markus, tossed his shirt to the side, discarding it for the moment and then jumped into the air. Markus leaped over Jono and Hengoku both and landed amongst the crewmates of the two.

" What the?"

" So fast!"

Markus jumped up and did a spinning roundhouse kick that knocked out a few of the pirates.

The crews rushed Markus, all of them together. They swarmed the man in an attempt to end his life, before they ended his because they knew that if they didn't, they were done for.

But even against the odds, Markus completely crushed the pirates. Markus threw punches left and right, dropping pirates with ease.

Markus weaved in and out of combat, dodging swords, bullets, and fists like he was a feather in the wind.

" Observation Haki." Hengoku muttered.

" All of you get back!" Jono shouted. Jono seeing that his men were completely outclassed, knew that he had no other choice but to step in himself.

Jono jumped into the air, and though his crew couldn't spot it, Markus was able to spot the specific Dark sheen that accompanied Armament Haki.

"Ha?! Tekken!"

Markus and Jono collided, fist to fist. Haki to Flesh.

* Boom!

There was a strong shockwave that emanated from the two men, and despite the fact that it appeared even, Hengoku could see that Jono was losing. His face told it all.

Jono was straining just to keep the pressure on his attack. Even with haki and his devil fruit, Markus was essentially toying with him.

Hengoku decided to act. Jono was no pushover, and if he was beginning to be overwhelmed then he most certainly would be as well.

Hengoku appeared behind Markus almost instantly. " Die." Hengoku stabbed at Markus with his bone dagger and missed. Just before the dagger hit, Markus grabbed Hengoku's arm and Jono's and threw the both of them to the side.

Jono clamored to his feet and looked at the man next to him. " What do you think you're doing, Hengoku?"

" Save it, Jono. This man is strong. Stronger than you, stronger than me. If we're going to win, then we need to work together. There's simply no other choice." Hengoku told the man.

Jono was a man of great pride, but he had to admit, that Hengoku was telling the truth.

" Okay, let's do it." Jono grumbled.

He and Hengoku both stood tall in front of them enemy, ready to face him together.

" What's the plan?"

" You distract him, try to keep him in one place, then I'll drill him with my strongest attack. Then we both lay it on until he's dead." Hengoku told the man.

" Why do I have to be the distraction?"

" Because your body is better suited for the task. I'm faster and can get behind him easier." Hengoku explained.

"All right, but when this is over, I'm gonna crush you for ordering me around."

" If we make it through this then I'll skewer you. Ready?"

" Ready!" Jono shouted. " Let's go!" Jono raced forward; his Iron body covered in Haki.

Hengoku however, hung back. From his hand another bone sprouted, This time much larger.

" My bones are harder than steel, sharper than any sword ever made. When I pull them together like this, they become the sharpest spear ever seen. And when I combine them with my Haki, then there's nothing in this world I can't pierce through." Hengoku muttered. His arm had completely been enveloped by his bone that was shaped like a spear. he then covered the spear in his haki, resulting in a black spear that looked like it could split the ship in half.

An object went flying past Hengoku's face.

* Crash!

The object crash landed right in the middle of the ocean. When Hengoku turned his head, he saw that it was Jono. He had been sent flying faster than he could see. He was unconscious, but more importantly he had a fist shaped mark practically embedded in his metal body.

" What's wrong? Don't you know that the moment you let your guard down, the fight is over?" Markus told the man.

Hengoku turned back around and just as Markus was closing the distance, he thrusted his spear forward.

" You guys forgot, I know Haki too." Markus told the man. " Kuro Tekken!"

Kuro Tekken, a punch of destructive force, that combines Markus' naturally strong fist with the might and density of Tekkai, the Iron Body, technique and Armament haki.

Empowering his Iron Fist with haki, Markus' arm turned a shade blacker than Hengoku's. The Second Markus' spear collided with Hengoku's spear, the air around them exploded, resulting in a torrent of black lightning.

However, Hengoku quickly found himself being overwhelmed.

" Impossible." Hengoku muttered. He watched as his spear was quickly and very easily destroyed.

Markus grinned and slammed his fist into Hengoku's stomach.

" Brah!" Hengoku spit out a mouthful of blood before losing consciousness. Markus then sent him crashing over his ship's guard rail and into the sea, defeating him like he was a helpless child.

" Captain!"

" No way, both of those two monsters. So fast."

" I didn't even see what happened."

" So, who's next?" Markus turned and asked the two crews.

" Wait!" Stepping forward quickly was Hengoku's vice captain Tsurin. He approached Markus and got on his knees. " Please, we surrender. Just don't kill my captain."

" Does anyone else, want to take this chance to give up?" Markus asked the remining crew members.

The men and women all looked to each other, practically asking with their eyes what to do. But in the end, they all placed their weapons down, and bowed in the same manner.

" Ah, man! You guys' suck!" Markus muttered. " Well, if you're done, then so am I. All right, you're all under arrest." Markus stated. He rubbed the back of his head in disappointment. He was hoping that they would at least try to save their captains.

Speaking of the two captains, Markus quickly jumped into the water and pulled the two men back onto the ship. Having effectively taken over it himself, Markus ordered the crew to take the ship into port at Banaro island.

On this day in the Grand line, The Iron Flail pirates led by Iron Body Jono and Strong-arm John.

And the Bone spear pirates led by Bone spear Hengoku and snake sword Tsurin.

Were effectively Destroyed!

" Yahaha! I win!"

Alright, that's Markus' first real pirate fight in the Grand line. And impressive display against foes both of whom were worth more than one hundred million respectively.

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