The Marine

Looking over the papers in his hands, Bill boarded the Bluebird with Yoko and the others.

It had taken longer for Ranse and the others to return than originally planned, this had been due to the fact that the M.S.S Victory couldn’t be used as a temporary housing.

Before the massive ship left Little East Blue island there had to be enough of the town built that people wouldn’t be sleeping under the stars.

Because of that, Bill had spent four and a half months on the wrecked island and broken down more iron than would be used.

From this work, his Department would profit roughly 300m Beli and gain enough raw materials to reshape Little East Blue island into something much grander than initially anticipated.

Looking back at the island as they sailed away, Bill thought it was funny that his trip to hire some engineers had become a year-long struggle.

But it was worth it!

For one thing, the money gained would be critical for the construction of his laboratory.

Even if he was a Captain of the Science Division, he still had to purchase the machinery which he couldn’t make on his own. The two largest of these machines were the high-energy refiner which among other things would refine sea water into dihydrogen, and the fusion reactor which would be the basis for the islands power.

It would be expensive, made even more so now that Dr. Vegapunk had moved his main laboratory to an island in the New World, a place he called ‘Egghead Island’.

Bill wondered if he should rename Little East Blue but put it in the back of his mind while he worried about how much it would cost to transport the reactor and its fuel.

Since he wouldn’t be able to get the machinery himself the transportation costs would be very high. After all, there would need to be at least a Rear Admiral in charge of the convoy holding that kind of technology.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. It had taken Vegapunk nearly a year to construct his second cyborg, named Pythagoras, but now with two versions of himself working, the other cyborgs would be created exponentially faster than before.

Due to this success, the genius scientist stated that he needed more space for the larger experiments he would work on in the near future – such as the newly commissioned Pacifista Program.

Bill didn’t know the specifics about this new program, but he was wary when he had heard from Sentomaru that it involved the enlistment of Bartholomew Kuma.

He was wary about anything having to do with the so-called Warlords because no matter what it was a bad idea to have independent military forces inside a government.

But even though this raised a red flag, Bill trusted Vegapunks judgement and decided to try his best to keep informed on the situation.

Standing on the deck of the Bluebird with this in mind, they escorted a merchant fleet past the whirlpools and Masterson came over and started to ask Bill about the Shave technique.

It was impressive that after just six months the former bounty hunter could somewhat use it.

“Once I get this down, I’ll probably move to Moon Step then Iron Body” said Masterson, looking towards Bill for his opinion.

Hearing this, Bill shook his head and suggested leaving Iron Body for second to last and to get the leg based martial arts done first.

“Once you can use Shave and Moon Step, Tempest Kick is just a small step. After that I’d think you Paper Arts would be best since Finger Gun and Iron Body work on opposite principles.

But really, the fact is that once you gain the strength to use one of the techniques the others come faster.”

This was a widely known, and obvious, fact.

It was the main reason why the Marines were willing to allow even common sailors sign the contract to learn one of the Six Powers, the idea being that if you can learn one you can learn them all.

Of course, this didn’t mean that everyone could master all of the Six Powers, only true super humans who also had martial talent could do that.

Before Masterson could answer, Nelson spoke from his wheelbarrow: “And don’t listen to the peanut gallery when they try and tell you that you can learn Iron Body faster if you ‘bulk up’.”

Bill nodded to this but sighed in his heart.

Over the last month and a half, Bill had learned that Nelson’s extended contract gave him permission to learn Iron Body.

He never asked why that was his choice, for most people Shave and Moon Step were the go-to moves to learn, but he had come to understand that it was in trying to learn Iron Body where Nelson developed his eating disorder.

After spending four and a half months together on the island, this was the first time Nelson had brought it up.

Not directly addressing this, Bill spoke in a way he hoped would help both men.

“Bulking up could work, but it’s not what I’d recommend.

The essence of all Six Powers is mastering the fast-twitch muscles in your body. The only reason why I said Iron Body and Finger Gun work on opposite principles is because unlike the others when you use those fast twitch muscles you stop yourself from moving.”

Because Bill had mastered the technique, and because both Masterson and Nelson had the permissions to learn it, he could speak directly: “This is both Iron Body’s strength and weakness as a technique.

On one hand it greatly increased a person’s defense, but that defense was predicated on how strong those fast-twitch muscles are.”

Hearing Bill say this, Nelson sneered and replied: “What nonsense!”

Looking in his direction, Bill raised an eyebrow and said simply: “What I said isn’t wrong.”

Nelson: “Just because you aren’t wrong that doesn’t mean you’re right!

Listen, the reason why Iron Body is a good first technique is because its actual utility is to show recruits how to train their fast-twitch muscles!

Oh sure, Captain you are strong enough that was probably never a concern. I wouldn’t even be surprised if you had mastered Life Return before even trying to learn any of the Six Powers!”

This was true, and Bill didn’t stop Nelson from talking because he wanted to hear what he had to say.

“But people with normal strength can’t do that.

If you give the Shave technique to someone with a regular physique, their bodies will simply never be able to handle it! If they could, you’d see Marines everywhere flying through the air with Moon Step or zipping across decks with Shave.

But let me ask either of you, how many Marines have you actually seen use any of the Six Powers?”

This was true enough, Bill thought. He had seen Captain Hina use Shave but that was about it. Presumably Smoker and Maynard could use at least one of the techniques, but he hadn’t seen it.

Masterson must have been thinking this also, and since they didn’t speak Nelson continued his rant.

“This is the actual honey pot they call the Six Powers.

No regular person can learn Shave or Moon Step without mastering either Iron Body or Paper Arts, since commoner recruits don’t know anything about anything they want to sign that contract to learn the flashier Tempest Kicks or Moon Steps.

Then they learn…” said Nelson with an ironic smile on his face: “They learn that they can never do it. Their only chance is to sign the lifetime contract and try the Iron Body technique.

But since they despise doing so, and usually are years older than what they should be, they can never learn it.

And so, the Marines get a career soldier for little to no threat. They get a person that won’t even care if they stay as some Lieutenant Gunner because that commoner already knows they failed.”

Bill was about to reply that it was a cynical view, but Masterson asked first: “What about how you failed?”

When he said this, Nelson put his face down and he didn’t respond.

Shaking his head to himself, Bill spoke in a matter-of-fact tone: “Don’t worry, Nelson. By this time next year, you’ll be able to walk on your own two feet and I’ll help you get it.”

To this Nelson didn’t reply and the situation had become slightly more awkward between Masterson and the former Commodore.

But on their trip to Lougetown Bill did notice that Masterson had started training less with Shave and more with Iron Body.

And he admitted to himself that his advice may have been wrong, like Nelson had said, Bill was already superhuman by the time he started learning the Six Powers and that could have very well skewed his reasoning.

After a few days, the Bluebird pulled into port and the small crew got off and headed towards the warehouse.

Bill hadn’t been there in several months but Masterson, Denny, Donny, and Danny and checked on them almost weekly as they did their rounds.

Six elderly people had died from complications that came with age, and by now all the pregnant women had delivered their babies, making the warehouse lively despite the losses.

After a big get together Bill informed them that they would be leaving in about a weeks’ time, and that they should start slowly packing. There was no surprised that after having spent six months in the warehouse it had completely morphed into something unrecognizable.

The building didn’t have electricity, but everything moved on gears and springs. Chairs and tables popped up from the ground while little mechanical birds chirped, the communal area was a work of art with soft-round edges on everything.

Outside they had created a playground and sitting area for the little kids and had installed pressure plates that raised walls to prevent them from getting too near the water.

As Bill went to meet with Smoker he laughed, half wondering, if he should charge the man for the renovations.

On his way to the Marine branch he, Yoko, Masterson, and Carol crossed paths with new Seamen that Bill didn’t expect to see again.

It was Gin and Pearl, and they learned that both men had been pressed into the Marines by Smoker, who in turn got them out of having to spend several years in Impel Down.

They didn’t thank him or show any emotion of gratitude, and Bill suspected that instead of trying to reform the two men simply traded one Captain for another.

Still, he had hope that they would either change overtime, but if they didn’t, they’d just be back to square one.

Walking into the branch, Masterson took the girls around the shops and Bill waited for Smoker.

It didn’t take long for the smell of ozone to fill the air, and as smoke wafted into the building Bill’s eyes turned black.

It seemed that these last few months had been as personally beneficial for Smoker as they had been financially for Bill.

Materializing from the smoke cloud, Bill could see the entity behind him had grown clearer. It was all smoldering tornados that no matter how Bill looked at it seemed to follow his gaze, almost like it knew it was being watched.

After exchanging their greetings Smoker called in a man named Mashikaku and said that once he left this man was going to be the new Captain stationed at the branch while he, Tashigi, Gin, and Pearl were transferring to the Marine Fifth Branch in the New World.

Having never heard of the G-5 Marine branch Bill asked why he had chosen there, to which Smoker responded: “I need to keep my targets close.”

Smoker also mentioned that the Vice Admiral Vergo was an expert of Armament Haki, and he could help further strengthen Devil Fruit.

As he said this, Bill was mildly surprised when Smoker’s hand turned grey, and the entity flickered a little more brightly.

He didn’t try it, but even though he was sure he could still nullify the power he was sure that by Smoker learning how to use Haki it wouldn’t be as easy as before.

After saying his farewells Bill didn’t know when the next time, he’d see Captain Smoker or his Lieutenants but wished them well and told them he’d be there if they ever needed a hand.

Even if Smoker was a sharp personality, Bill couldn’t discount the amount of aid he had been given and would not forget it.

Leaving the building, Bill found Masterson and the girls at a weapons store and saw Yoko swinging around a war hammer.

The twelve-year-old girl was perhaps not as strong as he had been at that age, but her drive was something that couldn’t be doubted.

It had only taken her barely four months to be capable of doing the Meditative Pushup until the bell rang, and besides that, she could swim and run better than any of the men that Bill had seen on Captain Hina’s crew.

This was all due to her dedication. The girl didn’t take up the sword but idolized Sasha, she looked up to and mimicked Bill, and wanted to be the Marine hero her father was.

That’s why when she came to him with the hammer and a smile on her face, he couldn’t say no.

In his heart he knew this wasn’t healthy, but in this world where superpowers existed and where crime ran rampant just beyond city limits, he could only pray he was doing the right thing.

Hoping that his judgement wasn’t in error, he bought the weapon.