Chapter 26

A month after they parted ways with Rouge and her crew, Marshall made the spur of the moment decision to start teaching his three crewmembers the Six Powers. Wilde already knew Shave but could use a bit of practice with it, Vertara was a natural at Iron Body, and Olivia took to Life Return like a fish to water once he explained the idea behind it. As for him, it never hurt to stay in practice.

It was fun to mix things up; sparring without haki meant he used skills that he'd mostly set aside in favor of Observation and Armament, such as the Tempest Kick and Paper Arts. On the other hand, Shave and Moonwalk he got a lot of mileage out of.

Just for the hell of it, he invited his crew to use their newly learned skills plus haki and try to take him down.

They took the bait, and he was pleased to say he swabbed the deck with them.

"Nice try!" He laughed, standing over the trio's groaning bodies. "You catch on fast, but you still have a long way to go!" Turning around, he waved over his shoulder as he headed towards the galley, calling back as he did so, "lunch will be ready when you all get done laying around, but I make no promises about not eating it all!"

Hearing the furious cursing from his exhausted crew as they struggled to get back on their feet, it was a safe bet that they'd be stepping up their training, if only for the chance to punch him in the face.

Chuckling under his breath as he started pulling out ingredients for a calorie rich meal, he was looking forward to finding out what they came up with.

Caw!

Eyes blinking open at the familiar call, Marshall yawned and stretched, standing up from where he'd been stretched out in the shadow of the mast. Making his way to the albatross perched on the railing, he was already pulling out a thousand Beri, much to the bird's delight.

Handing over the money, he accepted a paper, asking idly, "so how's it going?"

Caw-caw.

"That's good. You been doing alright?"

Caw!

"Glad to hear it." A pause, "I've been wondering, how come you're the only News Coo I've seen? Are you the only one in the New World or something?"

Ca-caw...

The bird looked shifty and wouldn't meet his eyes. Right...he didn't want to know, he decided. For lack of anything better to do, he gave the bird some leftover Sea King meat and waved as it flew off.

Several loose papers fell out as he shuffled the pages and he gathered them up. Noticing that two of the bounties seemed stuck together, he carefully separated them, only for his breath to catch, eyes widening in shock when he saw the formerly hidden poster.

The picture showed a grown woman, slim and toned with dark hair and a vicious grin on her face as she looked at the photographer.

It was her. His childhood friend Rebecca ('Bandit Becky', her wanted poster proclaimed her). User of the Rat-Rat Fruit, Model: Raccoon, worth 200 million Beris and a member of the Whitebeard Pirates. The one he sent to take his place on the Moby Dick years ago, back when he thought he'd never have to leave his home island...

He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the parchment as he smiled, whispering, "I knew you'd make it, girl."

And if his voice held the echo of long ago memories, he was the only one in the room to hear it.

(Rebecca's bounty joined Rouge's in his nightstand, and only he would know the reason why.)

The next island they docked at was a spring island, and even before they dropped the Coddiwomple's anchor Marshall could sense that something wasn't right.

Aphrodite Island billed itself as an 'entertainment island', screams of delight and happy laughter reaching their ears even as they drifted into port, the main town glittering like a chest of jewels in the night. Despite the joyful appearance, something in the air put him on edge. He scowled, telling the three hovering behind him, "No one goes anywhere alone, captain's orders."

Despite their eagerness to run off and explore, the seriousness in his voice sobered them enough that they held back and nodded, walking down the gangplank instead of running and sticking together as they headed towards the shopping district.

Captain's orders were absolute. If they knew anything, they knew that.

Sometimes he hated being right, Marshall groaned.

As it turned out, when Aphrodite Island said it was an entertainment island, it didn't just mean the wholesome legal kind. A day after they docked, he discovered the thriving drug dens, underground fight rings, and of course he couldn't forget the brothels. Mostly because the owner of one of them actually had the balls to walk up to him and ask him how much he wanted for Vertara and Olivia.

Said owner quickly found himself lacking a certain piece of equipment, and his knife was in need of a thorough cleaning.

He searched through the various shops and stalls, pointedly ignoring certain alleyways and 'invitations', his Observation running at full power as he kept watch on Vertara, Wilde and Olivia. Less reputable parts aside, he picked up some supplies and presents for Rouge and his crew at a pretty good price.

Maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to make it off the island without something exploding.

"Damn it!"

Off to his right, half-dressed women and men ran screaming from a burning building as it collapsed, flames and embers leaping towards the sky. Ash was thick in the air, staining his clothes and skin and bringing back unpleasant memories.

Snarling, he reached out and broke a brothel guard's neck, the body hitting the ground with a muffled thump as he stalked through the chaotic streets of the Dolos District, the home of Aphrodite Island's worst, most vile practices. Over half the workers were slaves, in name and otherwise.

Case in point, when he broke into the 'business' that had kidnapped Olivia beneath the distraction caused by a bakery exploding, he was greeted by the sight of men and women in chains, bloody and terrified as they attended various 'clients'.

Those clients were dead in short order, and upon asking one of the less terrified slaves he was directed towards the back of the building where the new arrivals were kept. On his way there, he broke the collars and shackles off the slaves and Shaved towards where he sensed Olivia.

He entered the room where he sensed her just in time to see her toss a leather-clad, piercing-laden woman to the ground and stomp on her, screaming, "Haki, bitch!"

....Alright then.

"You okay?" He asked, even though his Observation told him she wasn't injured.

Blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, Olivia straightened up and said briskly, "I'm fine. Woman wouldn't know how to calculate a dosage to save her life," she snorted.

"Right. Let's get out of here before the fire spreads any closer."

She paused, asking, "What fire?"

"...It's a long story."

With both of them working at it, it didn't take long to both loot the place and free the prisoners, including a vicious, snarling woman who turned out to be a swordsman wrapped in enough chain to moor a ship.

In the confusion he only noticed the woman had followed them back to his ship after they were already watching the burning town fading into the distance.

Staring at the bleeding, naked woman holding a sword, he clapped a hand to his face and muttered, "...Davy Jones damn it." Sighing heavily, he looked up and ordered, "Olivia, take her to the infirmary. Vertara, get her some clothes. Wilde, help me get this ship on course."

Olivia immediately guided the woman towards the infirmary, the swordsman not reacting to his words beyond a faint growl, and Vertara vanished in the direction of the storage rooms.

Wilde followed him up to the helm and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Away from here."