While I was sitting there on the ground, together with the munchkin and my amphibian buddy, Zoro and Sanji seemingly didn't want to see what the Marines were up to and straight-up rushed them head on.
Not that I couldn't understand how they were feeling about waiting for their enemies to attack them but so far none of the Marines had opened fire on their building, let alone us three weirdos sitting in its front entrance.
Before the two could get very far however, Zoro's path was blocked by some lanky boy with long blond hair and thin glasses, wielding a pair of Kukri knifes, while Sanji had to deal with another boy who, in my humble opinion, had learned only yesterday how to use Soru.
He made a shit tone of noise while using the technique, moved frustratingly slow and above all else didn't seem proficient at any of the other Rokushiki from the looks of it. How do I know? He tried to punch Sanji, nothing else.
What the two youngsters had hoped to achieve by their interceptions, I had no idea about, but whatever it was mattered little as they were promptly put through the ringer.
Zoro made quick work of the knife wielder while Sanji ruthlessly kicked the boy into the face when said pink haired youngster of the Marines came out of his Soru in an attempt to punch said blondy. Honestly, I had half a mind to walk over to that pink haired boy and hold a small impromptu training session with him. He was bloody embarrassing all of us Rokushiki practitioners with his poor showing!
"Bwahahaha! Seems you two aren't ready for that level of combat yet after all!" A boisterous bout of laughter erupted from behind the wall of Marines suddenly, after which said wall parted in practised fashion.
I immediately tensed up at the sight of the man that had casually walked onto the scene. His presence, formerly calm and steadfast now blazing like a glowing sun to my haki-senses. I knew exactly who he was, even if I had only met him once a long time ago. Still, I'd never forgotten the man.
'What the fuck is Garp doing here!?' This had just turned from a vacation to pretty damn serious in seconds. I had been so distracted by the easy-going atmosphere all around me that I had lowered my guard for just a couple minutes and here we were with motherfucking Garp the Fist standing right there, only 10 metres away from my position.
My mind immediately went into its default settings for such situations, swiftly going through my options on how to continue from here on out.
'Fighting him head-on? Chances of winning… somewhere along the lines of 5%. Surviving while in a retreating battle? Better chances. Probably around the 75% of success. Assassination before he knows what is going on? Forget it. His haki is too strong to even attempt it. Hiding my presence isn't my strongest suit. Diplomacy? Urgh, really don't like that option much. Not to mention that I'm pretty pants at it. I'm good at fucking around with people but solving situations peacefully? Ye right, pull the other one Daz. That leaves deception. Hmm, could work. After all, I'm not wearing my mask any longer and did grow quite a bit since we last met. The only problem is my presence. Let's just try to tweak it a little so I'm not too obvious. And should that fail, combat it is.'
While I went through my options in seconds, Garp had walked over towards the two downed Marines and promptly picked them off the ground by the scruffs of their shirts like a mother cat does to its kittens, after which he deposited them back into standing position.
Zoro and Sanji meanwhile had retreated back to the houses entrance, not far away from us three, all the while keeping a wary eye on the Marines and their obvious leader.
By now, the rest of the folks from inside the house had joined Zoro and Sanji outside and it didn't take long for the less mentally fortified, meaning the redhead and Tanuki-boy, to shiver a little as soon as they spotted a Marine Vice-Admiral at the Level of an actual Admiral standing opposite of them.
"Garp? The hero of the Marines?! What's he doing here of all places?!" the redhead whispered furiously to her companions, and it was a question I was curious about as well. While I waited for the answer to step into the light of day, I inconspicuously rose to my feet, and while leaning against the wall behind me began to slowly warm up my muscles and tendons, simply in preparation for the case that I would have to fight Garp.
I mean, I like fighting. I truly do. But fighting someone like Garp suddenly without notice or preparation time was pretty much suicide. Hence why I used the calm before the storm to prepare myself while these people next to me, whom I had by now identified as those Strawhat-pirates, would keep the Marines occupied.
"Do you think he came for Robin? After all, we only just got her back and the World Government surely didn't like that very much…" Chopper 'whispered' back, which seemingly caused the black-haired woman, whom I now knew to be Nico Robin, to stiffen slightly. I couldn't blame her, really.
"Now, where is that bloody grandson of mine?! It seems I'll have to smack some respect into him once again!" Garp half grumbled, half roared into our direction, which caused me to pause a little.
His grandson? Don't tell me one of the crewmembers actually was Garp's grandson? Holy hell, that was hilarious! That's like shoving your middle finger right into the elder star's faces! Must have been one hell of a meeting when Garp told them about his grandson being a pirate of all things, hehehe!
Surprisingly however, the strawhats seemed to be as confused as everybody else on the plaza of the house. So, that left only the option open that one of the two people sleeping inside the house was Garp's grandson.
Without warning, Garp swiftly and seamlessly went from walking normally into a highspeed Soru, which it seemed only I could follow with my eyes. No surprise there. Still, his speed was fucking ridiculous for such an old man.
Promptly, he barrelled right through the wall behind Zoro and Sanji and disappeared right into the bungalow, obviously after his grandson.
For some time nobody moved, until from the inside of the bungalow crying began to echo, followed by clear punching noises and a scolding that seemed to be on steroids.
Before the crew could do anything to help their comrade however, grasped in the hands of Garp the both of them promptly fell asleep in the middle of the scolding. What in the fucking hell was up with those two?
'Urgh, this is too much for me this late in the evening. I'll call it a day for now.' I tipped Nico Robin softly on the shoulder before I leaned over and whispered into her ear that we would get going now. Before she could respond however, I had already grabbed the munchkin and disappeared in my own silent highspeed Soru with nobody the wiser. Jeez, what an evening!