00011. A friendly contest among brothers?

Luffy had a happy smile on his face as he stood across from Ace and tugged at each of his gloves to make them tight on his hands. Ace also had a slight smile on his face, but it was the smile of someone who was confident in their victory. While Luffy was poised and basically ready for a fight, Ace's posture was relaxed as he rested his naginata on his right shoulder.

As everyone watched the two boys in the ring, Luffy frowned as he said, "Get ready Ace."

Ace lifted his free hand up and cockily waved Luffy to come closer as he said, "I am."

Garp shook his head before he raised one arm in the air and said, "Fighters ready?"

When both boys nodded their heads, Garp dropped his arm and said, "Fight!"

Ace didn't move as Luffy dashed forward into the range of his naginata. Instead he waited for Luffy to arrive in front of him and throw a punch, which he caught with his free hand.

Ace was forced to step back and released Luffy's hand from the power of the blow. Ace then shook his hand slightly as Luffy smiled and stepped forward to throw another punch.

Ace dodged the next punch by stepping back as he tried to get a proper hold on his weapon. But Luffy wasn't letting him and constantly pushed forward while attacking.

Almost a minute passed as Luffy relentlessly attacked Ace who could only really retreat under the onslaught. As Ace was forced to retreat again Luffy taunted Ace as he asked, "Why are you running? I thought we were supposed to fight?"

Ace's eyes narrowed as he asked, "Running? You think I'm running?"

Ace instantly moved closer to Luffy and parried his next attack before he slammed the middle of his weapons staff into Luffy's chest. Luffy was caught off guard and was tossed backwards a few feet to land on his back.

Luffy took a few moments to get back up and once he did, Ace was already in one of his attacking stances. Luffy smiled again as he said, "That's more like it."

Ace smirked back as he said, "This just means you'll lose faster."

Instead of waiting for Luffy, Ace rushed forward and attacked once he was in range. Luffy attempted to parry the blow with a punch, but his fist was blown out of the way by the force of the blow. Luckily Luffy was pushed backwards at the same time which caused the blow to barely miss him.

Luffy tried to push in and attack while Ace was still finishing his swing. But Luffy miscalculated how quickly Ace could recover and attack again. As Luffy closed in to attack, Ace already started his next attack.

It forced Luffy to stop his forward momentum as he attempted to dodge backwards. Unfortunately Ace's attack was too quick and the blunt edge of the training weapon slammed into the left side of Luffy's ribcage. 

The air was knocked out of Luffy as he was lifted off his feet and folded over the edge of the weapon before he was launched across the ring.

Luffy rolled a few times on the ground before he came to a stop. His deep ragged breathing was the only thing that could be heard as Ace slowly approached him.

Luffy slowly stood up and spit out some blood before he smiled as he said, "Try that again."

Ace dashed forward from his spot as he said, "If you insist."

Ace easily cleared the distance between himself and Luffy within a moment and once in range he swung his weapon. Luffy smiled as he rushed forward into Ace's guard right after the tip of the weapon passed him. Ace was still in the process of completing his swing, so Luffy was able to land two solid body blows on Ace.

Ace hunched over slightly from the force of the two blows. Before he could recover, an uppercut from Luffy hit him square in his jaw.

Ace stumbled backwards, dazed from the vicious blow while Luffy smiled in victory at his punches landing. Ace then shook his head to clear it, while blood dribbled down his lip. Ace's eyes narrowed as he refocused on Luffy and said, "Alright, no more being nice."

Before Luffy could respond, Ace was already within range with his naginata swinging down over Luffy's head. Luffy tried to dodge but was too slow as the weapon slammed into his right shoulder.

Luffy folded forward and before he could recover, Ace unleashed another savage attack on the back of his head, which knocked Luffy to the ground.

As Luffy was stunned on the ground, with a large lump growing from the back of his head, Ace said, "If you're smart, you won't get back up."

Luffy didn't respond or move and after a few seconds Garp said, "Good job Ace, but next time use a little less force."

Garp moved next to Luffy and picked him up. Luffy was completely knocked out, so Garp punched him in the head as he said, "Wake up Luffy!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAA! What the heck!"

Luffy looked around in confusion for a moment before he asked, "Why the heck did you hit me, you shitty grandpa?!"

"You little brat, show some respect." Garp said, before he tossed Luffy out of the ring.

As Luffy landed on the ground Garp glanced at Marcus and Sabo as he said, "You two are next, so get in the ring."

Sabo shared a nod with Ace as they passed each other, while Marcus helped Luffy stand up before he walked into the ring himself. Inside the ring Sabo smiled at Marcus as he settled into a basic stance for his halberd and said, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

Marcus unsheathed his training sword before he settled into one of his favorite stances and said. "So you're giving up then?"

Sabo smiled wider as he said, "Unlike Ace I don't need to hurt you to win."

Ace clicked his tongue and turned his head to one side as Garp said with one arm raised in the air, "Are you both ready?"

Once both boys nodded, Garp dropped his arm and said, "Fight!"

Both boys moved forward at the same time while Sabo with his halberd's extra reach attacked first. Instead of directly parrying the blade, Marcus's weapon landed on the weapons wooden shaft.

Marcus then twisted the training sword's blade and slid it down the shaft, slamming it into Sabo's right hand. Sabo cried out in pain and released his grip on the weapon.

As the weapon dropped away from Sabo's injured hand, Marcus attacked again. The vicious blow caught Sabo's left elbow, which made him drop his weapon completely and take a step backwards.

Marcus then pushed his advantage with another attack aimed at his disarmed opponent. Sabo's only choice was to dodge backwards, causing Marcus's blade to only graze past his chest.

Sabo let out a hiss of pain as he attempted to gain some distance, but Marcus easily kept distance with him to attack again. Another slash, followed by a dodge, but this time Marcus jabbed his blade forward mid attack. The tip of the blade dug deep into Sabo's stomach as Marcus stepped into the attack.

Sabo doubled over as he went to grab his stomach and could only watch as Marcus's knee flew into his face. As Sabo collapsed to the ground, Marcus lowered his sword over the back of Sabo's neck and asked, "Do you surrender or do you wanna take me seriously this time?"

After a few moments Sabo glanced up with blood leaking from his nose as he said, "Just give me a few minutes, my left arm is still numb."

Marcus nodded and removed his weapon as he said, "Alright."

As Marcus moved back to his starting spot, he glanced over to Ace. Ace narrowed his eyes slightly as they locked eyes before Luffy said, "That was awesome! How did Marcus get so good with a sword?"

Ace shook his head as he said, "It's because he's not an idiot like you."

"But we're twins, we should be the same right?"

Garp patted Luffy's head as he said, "You might be twins, but he took all the brains."

Luffy looked up at Garp as he asked, "Then what did I take?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out." Garp said with a sigh.

Ace snickered at the comment as Sabo stood back up and wiped the blood from his face. Sabo walked back over to his weapon and took up a new stance as he shared a glance with Marcus. Marcus settled into another sword stance and they shared a nod with each other before they both rushed forward.

This time Sabo attacked, but when Marcus moved to parry the blow on the shaft again. He moved his weapon away from the attack and even spun his whole body around like he was a freshly spun top. As he spun fully around with his next attack, Marcus moved back out of the attack's range.

Once Sabo stopped his spinning attack, Marcus quickly moved in with a quick slash. Sabo struggled to move his weapon in time to parry the faster attack. But with a retreating step he was able to parry Marcus's blade away.

Marcus smirked as he said, "That's more like it. Now let's see how long you last."

What followed was Marcus relentlessly attacking Sabo for almost twenty minutes straight and all Sabo could do was defend. With Sabo's weapon being longer and heavier than Marcus's, it was a lot harder for him to match Marcus's speed. 

Sabo tried a few times to attack when he had the chance, but each time Marcus would easily counter the attack and then press forward with his own. As they fought, Luffy excitedly watched, while Ace considered the possibility he might face Marcus instead of Sabo in his next fight.

Garp and Bogard also watched the fight with interest, but for different reasons. Garp was proud to see his grandkids becoming strong. While Bogard was focused on what Marcus was doing. Marcus with his skill should have won the fight already. But instead the whole time he fought Sabo, he was constantly switching stances.

It wasn't just that, Marcus was slowly integrating his stances together, trying to make the transitions smoother. The only time Sabo was able to attack was when Marcus messed up in his transition to the next stance. Bogard smiled as he watched Marcus's improvement, it wouldn't be long now.

Another ten minutes passed and over the last few minutes or so, Sabo wasn't able to counter attack once. As Sabo defended himself from another attack, Marcus started to smile as he said. "Thanks for the help."

"Help?" Sabo asked as he was sweating profusely and blocked another attack.

"Yup. And now that you've finished helping, I should probably end this spar."

Sabo blocked another attack as he gritted his teeth before he asked, "You're going to end the spar? You think I'll let you win?"

Marcus smirked before he slid his back foot forward, closer to Sabo with his next attack. It forced Sabo to step backwards as he tried to parry the attack. The parry worked but Marcus's sword hilt was now next to Sabo's head.

Marcus reversed his swing and turned his body into the next attack. But instead of using his sword's blade, the hilt of his sword took Sabo in his temple. Sabo crumpled from the unexpected attack and dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Marcus slowly sheathed his sword while Garp laughed loudly before he said, "Winner, Marcus!"