A few weeks after Garp left, Shanks and his crew came back to the island to relax. Shanks and his crew mostly stayed around the Goa Kingdom area and took down a couple of other pirate crews during that time. They also took their treasure and even turned in some bounties on a few of them. While Shanks and some of his officers were well known, they still had a few unknown members so they could claim bounties.

The day they returned happened to be the boy’s day off from training so when Shanks and the crew entered Makino’s, they found Marcus and the other boy’s playing Spades with a deck of cards. When Shanks noticed Marcus he smiled wide as he asked, “Marcus, do you want to join my crew?”

“No.” Marcus replied without even looking up at Shanks.

Benn patted Shanks on the shoulder as he said, “I don’t think he’ll agree, no matter how many times you ask.”

Shanks laughed before he said, “I’m sure he’ll agree and if he doesn’t. I’ll just ask him again.”

As the rest of the crew started to pour into the bar, Marcus noticed a familiar person he had yet to properly meet. He stood about six feet tall and his blonde hair was held up by a headband that said Yasopp on it.

When he walked in, he was engaged in conversation with Lucky Roux and seemed to be chatting happily with the other man. They ended up sitting at one of the tables right next to the boys and after they sat down ordered drinks.

A few minutes after the pirates arrived, Luffy was the first person to wander off. He really enjoyed talking with the pirates and hearing about their adventures. So before they even finished the game they were on he dropped his cards on the table and went to chat with them. Marcus and the others didn’t stop him and ended up having Uta join them as they started a new game.

As they played cards and people drank, the atmosphere in the bar turned lively. Conversations and some singing was mostly going on, but at the bar Luffy was seated next to Shanks as he listened with rapt attention to whatever story Shanks was weaving. Marcus smiled slightly since it seemed like even though things had already changed, so things still stayed the same.

With the pirates back, Uta joined the boys for training each day. It also seemed like she didn’t slack off when she was away because she could easily last the day now while using her training harness and didn’t pass out anymore. Marcus and the other boys were also able to spar against Shanks again, which helped Marcus improve his swordsmanship yet again.

A couple months passed by quickly this time without the pirates leaving the island and while they were here, Luffy became a little obsessed with them. He even started to slack off in training to hang out with them longer each day, he also took off sometimes to go play with Uta.

Ace and Sabo didn’t care that much about it since they had goals in mind and planned to be pirates already. Marcus also didn’t mind since he knew this would push Luffy towards his path of wanting to be the pirate king. So while Marcus and the others pushed themselves harder, Luffy ended up lagging behind a bit.

On the boy’s next day off, as they sat in the bar playing cards, Yasopp joined them and was chatting with Luffy. He was in the middle of telling Luffy he had a son around his age when Marcus asked, “Where’s your son at?”

“He is with his mother living in her hometown of Syrup Village.” Yasopp said.

Marcus glanced towards Yasopp as he asked, “When did you last see him?”

Yasopp rubbed his chin for a moment before he said, “Years ago. He was still in diapers at the time.”

Marcus frowned slightly as he asked, “So you haven't seen him in at least six years?”

Yasopp took a long drink from his mug before he laughed and then said, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Marcus turned back to the card game as he said in a sarcastic tone, “You sound like a great parent, wish I had someone like you for a dad.”

Yasopp started to laugh before he froze in place as he realized what Marcus just said. He frowned as he looked at Marcus as he said, “Just because I haven't seen my wife and son in years, doesn't mean I don't love them both.”

Marcus chuckled slightly before he said, “I can't believe you have the balls to say that when you haven't gone back to visit them in years.”

Yasopp frowned more as he said, “When I made the choice to go out to sea, I did it knowing I wouldn't go back.”

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“I hope you at least provided for them, knowing you were never coming back.” Marcus said as he laid down a card.

Yasopp took a drink from his mug before he slammed it down as he exclaimed, “Of course I did! I left them with enough money that they could live comfortably for a long time.”

“What about a support structure in case something happens?”

Yasopp stared at Marcus for a few moments before he asked, “And what's that supposed to mean?”

Marcus looked up from his game as he said, “What happens if your wife dies? Who will take care of your kid?”

“Nothing will happen. She lives in a safe and quiet village.”

Marcus placed a card down as he said, “You can think that all you want, but unless you go back to check on them, you'll never know.”

Yasopp was about to respond when Lucky placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “Stop arguing with the kid.”

Yasopp glanced at Marcus again before he chugged the rest of his beer and then said, “You're right… He's just a kid. What does he know?”

“More than you apparently.”

“Shut up, you brat!” Yasopp yelled at Marcus.

As the others at the table glanced between Yasopp and Marcus, Benn walked over and asked, “What are you two arguing about?”

Marcus shrugged as he said, “There's no argument here, I just pointed out Yasopp's a bad husband and a terrible father.”

Yasopp clenched his beer mug tightly before he said, “Just because I followed my dream, doesn't make me either of those things.”

“From my point of view it does. What kinda man abandons his family?” Marcus asked.

“Oh yeah? What about you? Where are your parents at, uh?” Yasopp asked as if it would disprove Marcus's early point.

Marcus looked up at the ceiling for a few moments before he said, “My mother died protecting me and my brother.”

Marcus then glanced back towards Yasopp and locked eyes with him as he said, “As for my father, he made the hard choice to send us away. He wanted to protect us, even though that means he isn't able to raise us himself.”

A smirk formed on Marcus’s face as he said, “So the difference between my parents and you is like the difference between black water from a swamp and crystal clear water from a fresh spring.”

“You little…” Yasopp was cut off as Benn placed a hand over his mouth and said, “He’s just a kid… With a very sharp tongue. So just ignore him.”

Yasopp frowned slightly before he got up and moved to another table to drink. After he left Benn took his place and said, “You should be a little nicer to people.”

“I was being nice.” Marcus said with a hint of a smile.

Benn shook his head before he said, “Well keep in mind if you decide to join the crew, he’ll be one of the people you have to listen to in the future.”

“Do you and your captain not understand what the word no means?”

Benn smiled slightly as he said, “Of course we do. But it won’t stop the captain from asking till you say yes.”

Marcus shook his head as he collected the cards on the table before he started to shuffle them to play another game. As he did that Benn asked, “Care if I join the next game?”

Marcus glanced at Uta and his brothers who didn’t complain so he delt Benn into the next game. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed besides Yasopp, who sometimes glared at Marcus when he noticed the boy. It seemed like he was still upset at being called out. Marcus didn’t care though, he accomplished a goal today that he always planned to do.

While in the original story Usopp was happy and proud of his dad, that didn’t mean what he did was right. Sure Yasopp seemed to have feelings for his son, but the guy was still a shitty parent in the end and Marcus always felt that Yasopp needed someone to take him down a peg because of that. Did he possibly make a powerful enemy out of the guy? Probably not, but they definitely wouldn’t be friends.

The next few days passed by pretty quickly with the boys mostly training and Shanks’s crew relaxing in Makino’s. Luffy spent half the time with Shanks and the other half of the time with Uta. He still trained but only in the morning since Shanks and his crew didn’t wake up till noon most days. The best part was Luffy started asking to join Shanks’s crew, but Shanks kept telling him no. But then he would see Marcus and ask him to join the crew, which Marcus would turn down.

It was around dinner time one evening when Marcus and the other boys entered the bar and overheard Shanks as he said, “Elegia isn’t hard to get too, it will only take a week or so.”

Marcus instantly turned towards Shanks and asked, “Are you going to Elegia?”

Shanks smiled and nodded his head as he said, “Yup. I figured we should check it out since we are in East Blue and it’s close by.”

“Can me and my brother come?”

As Shanks started to shake his head no, Marcus said, “Think of it as me testing out your offer to join the crew. My brothers also need more experience sailing so that's why I want them to come along.”

Shanks thought it over for a few moments before he said, “I don’t really want to bring a bunch of kids along.”

Marcus smirked as he said, “But you already take Uta everywhere and you are trying to recruit me too.”

Shanks nodded along before he said, “I’ll think about it and let you know tomorrow afternoon.”