The Will of D. reamers

Marcus was at the helm of the ship as he checked his compass and adjusted the ship's course slightly. Just over a week has passed since they picked up Zeff, Sanji and the women they rescued from pirates. In that time, not much happened on or to the ship and they were still about a day or so from their destination.

The women still mostly kept to themselves and stayed inside their bunk room each day, but they did start to talk a little more which was an improvement. As for Sanji and Zeff, both of them stopped looking like zombies. They weren't healthy by any means, but they at least looked almost human now. Sanji even started to help out a little more around the ship. Mostly sweeping and mopping since he was still weak compared to everyone else, but it was an improvement.

As Marcus put his compass away, Sabo yelled out from the crows nest, "Ship,aft starboard!"

Marcus turned to the right as he looked behind the ship and saw a small black dot on the horizon. Aftering watching it for a few moments he said to Sabo, "Watch them and let me know if they close in or not."

Since the ship was partly behind them, it took a while for it to get closer. But after an hour or so Sabo said, "I can see a pirate flag over the main mast!"

"Pirates?" Ace asked from his spot on the deck where he was training against Kuina and Zoro.

Marcus glanced back at the ship with his own spy glass and after a few moments put it away as he said, "Furl the sails and prepare to greet our guests!"

Everyone quickly followed his orders and within a few minutes the ship started to slow down as all the sails were furled and tied off. After the ship lost all forward momentum it started to drift slightly with the current as the boys went to grab their weapons. As Marcus exited his room with his sword, one of the women ran into him and with a worried voice asked, "Sabo said pirates are coming, why did the ship stop? Why aren't we running?"

Marcus smiled as he said, "We're pirate hunters. We chase pirates, we don't run from them."

The woman looked scared as she asked, "But what if they're stronger than the other pirates? What if you can't win?"

"If I don't think we can win… I'll do my best to hold them off while everyone else escapes." Marcus said as he stepped past the woman and headed towards the main deck.

She followed behind as she asked, "Aren't you afraid to die?"

Marcus glanced back at the woman for a moment as he said with a smirk, "Why should I be afraid of death?"

"Because you'll be dead?!" The woman asked in confusion as Marcus kept walking and mumbled to himself, "It wouldn't be the first time."

When Marcus reached the deck he found his brothers, Kuina, Zoro, Zeff and Sanji. Marcus glanced at Zeff and Sanji for a few moments before he said, "I don't think either of you will help much."

Zeff, who was still using crutches, shrugged and patted a gun in his belt as he said, "I just planned to watch, but if I need to I can protect myself."

Marcus turned towards Sanji afterwards, who frowned slightly as he said, "I can fight."

Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Oh yeah? How about you try and punch me then?"

Sanji stepped towards Marcus and clenched his fists before he took an awkward stance and threw a terribly telegraphed punch at Marcus. Marcus didn't dodge and took the punch to his chest before he glanced at Sanji and asked, "Is that what you call a punch, zombie boy?"

Sanji frowned as he said, "I didn't really try because I didn't want to hurt you."

Marcus rolled his eyes as he said, "You have no idea how to fight and you're still too weak to be useful in a fight anyways. If anything, you'll just get in the way."

"I won't get in the way!" Sanji tried to protest before Zeff placed a hand on Sanji's shoulder and said, "Let the others fight this time. Once you're healthy, you can help out."

Marcus nodded in agreement before he said, "Once you're healthy, I'll even let you train with us."

Sanji started to nod in agreement as a cannon blast rang out and everyone turned towards the direction of the pirate ship. The cannon ball itself went wide of the ship, but it was close enough that water sprayed across the deck. Marcus frowned slightly as he asked, "Why do they always fire a warning shot like we don't see them? Are all pirates retarded?"

"Well Luffy wants to be the pirate king." Sabo said with a smirk as he glanced at Luffy who was off to the side picking his nose.

Marcus sagely nodded as he said, "Now that you mention it… If all pirates are retarded, Luffy wanting to be the pirate king makes perfect sense."

Ace frowned slightly as he said, "Hey, I was planning to be a pirate too."

"You might not be as bad as Luffy, but you can be retarded sometimes too." Marcus said and Sabo nodded in agreement.

Ace narrowed his eyes as he asked Marcus, "Do I need to remind you who the older brother is?"

"You might be older, but you act younger than me… And the last time I checked, you still lose most of your spars against me." Marcus said with a smirk.

"That's because no one can beat you when you use a sword!" Ace said with a huff.

"Then get good, loser." Marcus said before he pointed to the pirate ship that was closing in and said, "There is your training for the day, get ready."

"We're gonna spar after this." Ace said with a frown before he turned his attention to the pirate ship.

Marcus turned towards Zeff as Zoe appeared from the cabin door with a dagger in her hand. Marcus glanced at her for a moment before he asked, "You planning to fight?"

Zoe nodded her head as she said, "I want to help."

"Do you even know who to use that thing?" Marcus asked as he glanced at the dagger.

Zoe held up the dagger and said, "I just shove the pointy end into other people."

Marcus shook his head and put his hand out for the dagger as he said, " Hand it over. I don't need you to accidentally kill someone."

Zoe frowned as she asked, "But they're pirates. Who cares if they die?"

"I wasn't just talking about the pirates. You could accidentally stab one of us too. Besides, pirates are worth more alive than dead." Marcus said as he laid his hand flat in front of Zoe.

Zoe frowned but placed the dagger into his hand as she asked, "Then why did you let us kill those other pirates and have us toss them into the water?"

"Because you needed that more, then we needed the money." Marcus said as he walked over to the ship's railing and stabbed the dagger into it before he grabbed an unused belaying pin.

Marcus walked back over and handed the belaying pin to Zoe as he said, "Use that for now and stay to the sides of the fight so you won't get in everyone's way."

As Zoe nodded, the ship rocked to the side slightly as the other ship came alongside it and tossed ropes over. As the two ships were getting pulled together someone on the other ship yelled out, "Captain, I see a woman on the ship!"

"Good. Bring her to me after you capture the ship!" The captain said from somewhere on the ship.

Marcus glanced at Zoe who's eyes narrowed as he glared towards the pirate ship. Marcus stepped back out of the way as some of the pirates started to swing over to their ship. Ace and the others wasted no time and before the first wave of pirates even finished coming over, they were on them. Zeff stood off to the side with a gun resting in his hand with Sanji next to him, while Zoe moved off to the left where a single pirate landed.

Marcus stayed out of the fight like normal as he watched over everyone, especially Zoe who had no idea how to fight. She at least kept the solo pirate at bay with her wild swings, but unless she got lucky, she had no chance to win. As for everyone else they were quickly working through the pirates that kept coming over. Ace and Sabo were the main power houses that could take on almost five people at once, while Luffy easily handled two to three. Kuina and Zoro were weaker, but with the sword skills Marcus was drilling into them they could take on two people now without major issues.

As the deck started to get overcrowded with defeated pirates, the pirate captain finally showed himself as he asked, "What the hell is taking so long?"

The captain was a larger man shaped like a barrel, with thick arms and legs to match, along with an unruly beard on his weathered face. His long, dirty blonde hair was unkempt and matted into dreads that fell to his shoulders. While on each side of his waist rested an oversized hand axe. He glanced over everyone fighting below before he asked, "How the hell are you losing to some brats, a woman and a one legged old man?"

"They're tougher than they look, cap'n." One to the pirates said before Ace caught him in the neck and knocked him to the deck.

The captain frowned before he pulled out his hand axes and jumped over from his ship. He landed on the deck between Ace and Sabo who shared a glance before Sabo said, "You take him, I'll fight the next one."

The captain lifted both axes up as he said with a sneer, "There won't be a next time boy. I'm Erik the Bloody Butcher and I never leave my prey alive!"

As he attacked Ace with a fierce combo attack from his axes, Marcus's eye's lit up as he said, "I knew he looked familiar! He has a bounty of almost sixteen million belly!"

Zoe, still fighting the same pirate, paled slightly at the same time Luffy punched a pirate in the face and happily asked, "How much meat can we buy with that?"

"You won't buy anything with my bounty, you'll all be dead!" Erik said as he furiously attacked Ace who was being pushed back by the unending assault.

Marcus shifted his hand to his sword as he said, "Sabo, you might want to step in and help Ace."

Sabo took down his last opponent and turned towards Ace's fight before Ace parried another attack and said, "I don't need help!"

Sabo planted his weapon on the deck and leaned on it as he said, "Alright, I'll just watch for now."

Erik kept the pressure up on Ace and the last of his men were defeated, including the pirate who was fighting Zoe. While Ace was on the back foot the whole time and didn't have much of a chance to attack, he never once took a direct hit. Erik on the other hand started to slow down slightly as he became winded from his constant attacks. After a few minutes or so, Ace finally countered and stuck a solid blow to Erik's right elbow. It wasn't enough to disarm the man but it caused his attacks to slow even more and after that it just got worse. It took a little while to win, but Ace was able to completely defeat Erik without taking any damage.

As they started to tie up the pirates the other women who were hiding below deck finally charged out with weapons in their hands as they screamed. Marcus and the others glanced over towards them to see them stop and look around in confusion, which made Marcus smile as he said, "If you wanted to help, you're a little late."