The Marine

In the heat of that terrible battle, not one Marine on New Haven had the mind to question what it meant for their Commodore to have stopped the fall of an entire island the size of Merveille in midair, but during the weeks and months afterwards it was widely seen by the survivors to not only have been a feat fit for the history books, but a miracle when added with the fact that Bill had been found beneath the waves and rescued before the currents swept him away.

For the man himself, with one eye having exploded out of his head and the other nearly blinded by burst blood vessels, the only thing he remembered was dark hair and a red swirl when his body had been pulled upwards.

With his body shattered inside and out, it took Bill a long time before he had the awareness to start to heal himself, but to his great fortune, while New Haven had been almost totally wiped out by the tidal waves caused by the falling islands, the main part of his laboratory had been left untouched given its location inside the tall mountain spine of the island.

Even the lower areas that had water pass through them were quickly pumped dry, and laid out on a slab, Bill had Henzo and the other scientists and island doctors’ full attention.

As Bill lay completely unaware, the task for organizing a response to the wide scale destruction fell to Nelson and after using the laboratories Communication Snail, he first called back Sasha, who this time didn’t give him any retort and pledged to hurry back with her small fleet of newly acquired ships and recruits.

His second call went to someone whom his Commodore had always been reluctant to call on but given the terrible conditions of both Bill and the island as a whole, merely two hours after the battle Nelson quickly contacted the ‘elder’ Commodore Ox.

Only taking the call because it came from his son’s department, Aramaki was at once panicked when he learned about the extent of his injuries, stunned to hear that Bill had defeated such a foe, and lastly livid that his son hadn’t called him from the start.

This news for Aramaki was too much to ignore, and in leaving his station at Marineford just days before the execution day of Portgas D. Ace, he disregarded orders for the first time in his life.

Doing so damaged the relationship with his former mentor, the Admiral known as the ‘Red Dog’, but to the future ‘Green Bull’ nothing would come before the family he had once thought lost.

The final person Nelson contacted was naturally Ranse. Embattled in the East Blue, the ‘Sherrif’ as the [World Economy News Paper] called him could almost be said to be a real-life version of fictional Marine Hero, [Sora].

Unlike the situation with Sasha, Nelson had to order Ranse not to return and explained the situation involving Aramaki’s impending arrival.

For Ranse though, it was a bitter pill to swallow because in his heart he believed that if he had been there then Shiki would have never been able to act as he did.

Of course, not since they were little kids did Ranse put himself above Bill in terms of fighting ability, but he firmly believed in himself and their teamwork, nonetheless.

With every assurance that help was on the way, Nelson ended his report to the Departments main arm, informing Ranse that with the destruction of New Haven the shipments of weapons and advanced manufactured goods would cease indefinitely.

After hours of communication, Nelson left the small office inside Bill’s Laboratory and walked outside where a crowd of over ten thousand could be seen standing listlessly, sitting blankly, or kneeling and crying.

For the residents of New Haven, the scene of destruction was unreal.

Wasn’t that just that morning when mothers across the island had made breakfast and packed lunches, woke their children and them off to school?

Hadn’t the men just gone about their daily business of being awakened by their wives and gone off to work?

For the island’s population of teenage boys, wasn’t it just yesterday when those virgins dreamed that they would successfully woo the girls they had in their hearts, take them to those secluded areas around the harbor, and become adults together?

For the island’s teenage girls, somewhat more mature than the boys, they worried about the future and their thoughts aligned with the general mood of the people.

‘How could all of this had happened in just an afternoon…’

They had heard the battle noises from the hallways of Bill Laboratory, but it seemed like their brains could not register what they were seeing, and for many hours they stood there in mumbled silence.

No one knew who had started it, but when one mother asked for her son that had joined the Marines, a shrill cry sounded out as the people of the island began to remember that it wasn’t just the buildings and their livelihoods which had been destroyed, it was also many lives.

There had been around 950 Marine personnel on the island that morning, by nightfall barely 200 remained.

Despite of combat structure put in place by Bill – wherein military units would be made up of people with mixed backgrounds to avoid devastating losses for the towns where his Department recruited from – the result of the battle had caused the deaths of hundreds of Marines who called New Haven home.

Fathers, sons, brothers, and cousins gone in a virtual blink of an eye.

When Nelson arrived on the scene, seeing the depressing scene in front of him, he knew he had to do something.

As tired as he was, he started calling for the people’s attention and standing up on a quickly made barricade, he used the remaining two Iron Wardens to broadcast his voice to the crowd: “… We stand amidst the ruins of what was once our haven…” pausing to breath, Nelson winced at his own wounds and in doing so unintentionally gathered even more attention on himself.

“… the pain is deep, and the weight of our sorrow is undeniable. Yet, even in the face of this tragedy, a glimmer of hope emerges from the darkness.”

Saying this, before he could be interrupted Nelson started talking faster, not just to the crowd but also himself: “The Marines who valiantly stood their ground, facing the storm that threatened our home, deserve our deepest respect. Their sacrifice reminds us of the strength that resides within us… Aye, we will rebuild the town, but our strength is not in brick and mortar, it’s in our own hearts…”

Then suddenly slowing down he added resolutely: “those who died today… did not die in vain… we won’t allow it.”

After saying all of this there wasn’t a huge cheer or outpouring of emotion, but it was just enough to talk some people off the edge and see hope.

The following few days after the battle were the hardest but the people moved like a train slowly building up speed, until it was an all-hands-on-deck effort.

Food was not an issue thanks to the new islands surrounding New Haven, and clean water also was readily received from the island’s main aquifer, but over ten thousand people camping out during the day was not suitable for human habitation.

With Bill still unresponsive on a slab in his laboratory, Nelson organized teams of engineers to start redesigning New Haven’s electrical grid, Marine facilities, housing, docks, and more.

While they worked on their designs, thousands of residents began pouring down the island to start the cleanup effort. Most buildings had been just washed away but piles of wreckage were scattered here and there.

Eventually, on the fifth day after the battle, Masterson was followed by Foxy and led a squad of Marines to scout Shiki’s Headquarters.

Fortunately, besides some wooden ceilings that had collapsed, the large town surrounding Shiki’s main headquarters was still intact.

Unfortunately, between the [Daft Green Plants] spreading their poisonous pollen and Shiki’s Zoo which was still filled with gargantuan EvoBeast, settling people in the town was simply impossible.

After all, each of the gargantuan EvoBeasts were bred to be Kings, even if they weren’t at the level of the [Monarchs] sent into the [East Blue], they were still too strong for Masterson and Toma to risk battling at this point.

Inside Shiki’s Headquarters itself they found a few slaves scattered and hiding here and there, but it was no more than a few dozen of the feathered Merveillian women, apparently even in his maddened state Shiki didn’t send out his house cleaners and cooks to die.

[Dr. Indigos] lab was located and quickly quarantined off, having fought the mad scientist himself, Masterson wanted no part of whatever would be lurking in such a place and determined to allow Bill to go in first.

Flying back to New Haven two at a time on Chuchun, the Super Sparrow from Vallipo Island had been caged by Itomimizu before Din’s Flock Flock Fruit could fully take control, Masterson went to report his findings to Nelson when suddenly a large ‘thump’ was heard behind him.

 

Feeling danger behind him, Masterson unsheathed his bowie knife and drew his revolver and quickly turned around to see a man who was Bill’s size with dark hair and wearing a green suit.

Only somewhat reassured by the mans Coat of Justice, Masterson didn’t holster his gun when he said: “Anything you need here, Sir?”

Having never seen the man in front of him, Masterson was nevertheless an expert and while he looked at the tall man his eyes were scanning for any Marine ships in the harbor.

Seeing that there was none, Masterson furrowed his brow and slightly crouched, seeing the stranger still not reply and only look around, it was only a moment before things would have turned negative when a girl’s voice called from far away: “Je Je! Long time, no see!”

Looking sideways, both men saw Yoko rushing over and using Moon Step at full speed to get there.

While the residents of New Haven had been working to start the rebuilding process, she and the Howler Monkey Mink Marines had spent most of their time on the newly dubbed [Monkey Island].

Home of the [Trooper Monkeys], [Del Kong's], and [Martial Forest], Masterson himself hadn’t been there but thought that the girl deserved a break, and besides Commander Nelson, nobody currently on New Haven would ‘command’ Yoko as such – meaning that Masterson felt it was out of his hands anyways.

Yoko was not tall, standing barely 5 feet 2 inches when she jumped onto Aramaki for a hug it looked like a normal sized man holding his toddler.

From Mastersons viewpoint, as soon as Yoko appeared the expression on the stranger’s face changed and wearing a giant smile, he asked her how she was doing.

She said ‘fine’ but then asked: “Je Je, are you here to save Bill? He hasn’t moved in almost a week, and we can’t find all of the ingredients for the Monkey’s Rum!”

“Monkey’s Rum?” Aramaki asked doubtfully, and when Yoko told him it was a ‘potion’ created by the Monkey Troopers which could heal any wounds, he burst out laughing with a hearty ‘Rahahaha’!

“That sounds interesting, but this time your handsome grandpa here has something better, now let’s go and see what we can do for my stubborn son.”

As for Masterson, well it didn’t take a genius to figure out who the stranger was and so he holstered his weapons and let the way inside the laboratory.

Looking around the laboratory as they walked Aramaki asked various questions about the installation while looking impressed.

Yoko answered some and Masterson did others but for the more technical questions they could only answer that it was Bill with the scientists and engineers who designed it all.

Walking past Bill’s small office, Nelson wasn’t in the room, so they continued on without stopping to the examination room which Bill was laid in.

Seeing Bill laying on the table, who was now black, red, and blue from bruising, Aramaki frowned and told Masterson to leave.

Nodding reluctantly, he did as order and went to look for Nelson, and with Yoko alone with Aramaki the man looked down at her and said: “What happens now stays between us, if my son ever asks then you can tell him, but you must never talk about it to anyone outside of the family. Understood?”

Surprised that he would say such the thing, Yoko was just happy that she was ‘in the family’ and so said readily: “No worry, Je Je, my lips are sealed!”

Nodding to her, Aramaki smiled and said: “Good girl, I think I have something for you too.” And reaching his hand into his Coat of Justice, he pulled out a radiant green gourd.

If Bill had been awake, he would instantly have recognized this gourd’s contents for being that which he had refused so vehemently years before.

Of course, Bill didn’t know that the gourd held the liquefied life essence of the islands Aramaki had destroyed, but he had recognized that dubbing the contents an ‘Elixir of Life’ was not wrong.

It was an Elixir of Life created through the sacrificing of entire islands.

Or as Bill would have put it if he were awake, it was an [Elixir of Life] created by [Death and Decay].

For Yoko, who didn’t have the spiritual power to recognize this fact, when Aramaki brought out the gourd her eyes lit up and seeing this, Aramaki smiled, growing a red rose petal off his finger, and dropping a single drop of the Elixir onto it, he gave the petal to her.

“Go to your room and eat it. Come back to me when you’ve digested it.”

Nodding vigorously to his instructions, Yoko held the rose petal like a great treasure and ran out saying: “Thanks, Je Je!”

Aramaki did not know the extent of Yoko’s strength. He didn’t even know she had eaten a Devil Fruit. So, the amount he gave her was tiny, but still enough to greatly benefit any normal 16-year-old girl.

If Bill had been awake to see this, even if Aramaki was his father he would have flipped. But he was not awake, and without the method to do so, could only lay there as Aramaki’s finger turned into a tiny hollow vine with a needle on one end.