THUD.
Argentus hit the dirt again. This was the tenth time in two minutes. His left eye was swelling shut, and his ribs felt like they'd been used as a xylophone.
Garp stood over him, barely breaking a sweat. He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing like gunshots in the clearing.
"Bwahahaha! What's the matter, kid? Taking a nap?" Garp taunted, looming over the boy. "I thought you were tough! Are you gonna cry? Or are you gonna get up and take your medicine?"
Argentus lay flat on his back, staring up at the leaves filtering the sunlight. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Wait," Argentus rasped, raising a trembling hand.
Garp stopped, his fist hovering mid-air. He raised an eyebrow. "Hoh? Finally had enough?"
Argentus pushed himself up on one elbow. He wiped the dirt from his face and looked Garp dead in the eye.
"I just thought..." Argentus started, voice steady despite the pain. "If you are Monkey D. Garp..."
"Uh-huh," Garp nodded, crossing his arms, expecting praise. "The one and only."
"...and he is Monkey D. Luffy, your grandson..." Argentus pointed a thumb at the rubber boy, who was currently trying to pull a beetle out of his nose.
"Unfortunately," Garp grunted. "So?"
Argentus tilted his head, silver eyes sharp as a razor.
"Are you guys related to Monkey D. Dragon?"
The wind stopped blowing. The birds stopped singing.
Garp froze. He didn't just stop moving—he turned into a statue. The boisterous, loud-mouthed grin vanished from his face instantly, replaced by a look of sheer, bug-eyed panic.
"Pfffffft!"
Garp choked on his own spit. He coughed violently, beating his chest like a gorilla.
"W-W-WHAT?!" Garp roared, voice cracking. He looked around the forest frantically as if the name itself summoned government agents. "Where did you hear that name?! Who told you that name when you didn't even know mine?!"
He grabbed Argentus by the collar, lifting him off the ground until they were nose-to-nose. The playfulness was gone.
"Listen here, you brat!" Garp hissed, glancing nervously at Luffy (who was staring blankly). "You can't just go around saying that name! Do you want Cipher Pol knocking on your door?!"
Argentus dangled in Garp's grip, completely unfazed.
"So it's true," Argentus deduced, ignoring the threat. "You're the father. And he..." Argentus looked at the clueless Luffy. "...is the son."
Argentus let out a small, dry chuckle.
"A Marine Hero father. A Revolutionary Leader son. And a future Pirate King grandson."
Argentus looked back at Garp, shaking his head in genuine disbelief.
"Your family dinners must be a disaster."
Garp dropped him. He face-palmed so hard it left a red handprint on his forehead.
"You..." Garp groaned, sliding his hand down his face. "You know too much. I should throw you into a dark cell right now."
Garp peeked through his fingers at the silver-haired boy. The shock was fading, replaced by deep, suspicious curiosity.
"How do you know him?" Garp asked, voice low.
Argentus dusted off his shirt. He remembered the man in the green cloak who broke his chains.
"He gave me a ride once," Argentus said cryptically. "And he was the one who made me realize what I truly want."
Garp stared at him for a long, silent minute. Then, he let out a long, weary sigh that seemed to deflate his massive frame.
"Of course he did," Garp muttered, scratching his head. "That rebellious fool creates headaches for me even when he's not here."
Garp looked at Argentus—really looked at him—with a new glint in his eye.
"Fine," Garp grunted. "If you know that much, I can't let you run wild. The World Government would kill you just for breathing the same air as him."
Garp cracked his knuckles again, but this time, the Haki coating his fist was thicker, darker.
"The training just got harder, kid. If you're going to survive knowing the secrets of the Monkey family... you're going to need skin thicker than steel."
Argentus smirked, getting into a fighting stance despite his battered body.
"Bring it on, Old Man."
Month 1
Garp didn't teach. He dismantled.
He threw them into ravines filled with spikes. He tied them to trees during thunderstorms. He chased them through the jungle at night, laughing like a demon while throwing boulders from a sack.
Luffy cried every day. Ace cursed every day. Argentus counted every bruise.
Argentus realized early on that he couldn't tank Garp's hits. So he adapted. He stopped trying to block. He started learning to flow. He watched Garp's feet, his shoulders, the twitch of his muscles.
He learned that power starts in the hips, not the fist.
Month 3
"Stop swinging like a drunk windmill!" Garp roared, kicking Ace in the shin.
He lined them up on the beach.
"You three rely on your quirks!" Garp pointed at Luffy. "You rely on rubber!" He pointed at Ace. "You rely on anger!" He pointed at Argentus. "And you rely on cheap tricks and traps!"
Garp slammed his fist into his palm.
"True power is the body! To move faster than the eye! To hit harder than steel!"
For the next two months, he didn't let them sleep until they'd run up the vertical cliffs of the coastline without using their hands. He forced them to punch the ocean until the water pushed back.
Argentus realized Garp wasn't just moving fast—he was kicking the ground dozens of times in a split second to propel himself.
Argentus practiced it in secret. At night, while Ace and Luffy snored, Argentus stood on the beach, kicking the sand until his legs bled, trying to replicate that explosive burst of speed.
Month 6
The final day arrived. The Marine ship was docked at Windmill Village, ready to take the Vice Admiral back to the Grand Line.
Garp stood in the clearing, his coat draped over his shoulders. He looked at the three battered, scarred, but standing boys.
They looked different. Taller. Their eyes were sharper. They didn't flinch when he raised his hand.
"Come!" Garp shouted. "All three of you! One last time! Land a single hit on me, and I'll consider you graduated!"
They didn't hesitate.
"Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!" Luffy stretched his arm, snapping it forward.
"Die, old man!" Ace launched himself with his pipe, swinging for the knees.
Garp laughed, sidestepping Luffy's punch and catching Ace's pipe with one finger. "Too slow! Too obvious!"
Argentus waited for Garp to commit to blocking Ace. In that split second, Argentus kicked the ground.
Boom.
A small explosion of dust.
Argentus vanished.
Garp's eyes widened slightly. Soru?
Argentus reappeared in the air behind Garp's head. He didn't punch. He brought his elbow down—the same move Garp had mocked six months ago—but this time, he put his entire body weight and rotational force into it.
Garp spun around, raising his forearm to block.
THUD.
The impact created a shockwave that blew the leaves off nearby bushes.
Argentus bounced off Garp's arm and landed gracefully next to Ace.
Garp looked at his forearm. There wasn't a bruise, but there was a red mark. He'd felt that—he hadn't even used Haki.
The forest went silent.
Garp looked at the three of them. Then, he grinned—a genuine, proud grin that reached his eyes.
"Bwahahaha!" Garp roared, slapping his knee. "Not bad! Not bad at all! You little monsters might actually survive out there!"
Garp jumped on the gangplank of his massive warship. The dog-head figurehead loomed over the small village.
"Listen up!" Garp shouted down to the three boys standing on the dock.
"I'm heading back to Marineford! The next time we meet, I'll be chasing you across the sea!"
He pointed a massive finger at them.
"Luffy! Be a strong Marine!"
"NO! PIRATE KING!"
"Ace! Stop being a moody brat!"
"SHUT UP, OLD GEEZER!"
Garp's eyes shifted to the silver-haired boy standing slightly apart from the others.
"And you... Argentus!"
Argentus looked up, hands in his pockets.
"Don't think I've forgotten your little 'ambition'," Garp warned, voice serious for a moment. "The World is heavy, kid. Make sure your back is strong enough to carry it before you try to pick it up."
Argentus smirked. He pulled a single gold coin out of his pocket and flipped it into the air. He caught it.
"When I buy the world, Old Man," Argentus called back, "I'll make sure to give you a pension."
"GAHHHH! YOU INSOLENT BRAT! I SHOULD SINK YOU RIGHT NOW!"
Garp threw a cannonball at them, but he was laughing as he did it.
The ship pulled away. The three boys watched it go until it was just a speck on the horizon.
They stood there in silence.
Ace looked at Luffy, then at Argentus.
"I'm going to set sail in three years," Ace said, staring at the ocean. "When I turn 17."
"Me too!" Luffy yelled. "I'm gonna be 17 soon too!"
"I'm not waiting three years to start," Argentus said quietly. "My game begins now."
He walked away from the docks, leaving the brothers to their dreams.
The treehouse was quiet, save for the chirping of crickets outside and the rustle of fabric.
Argentus tightened the final knot on his canvas rucksack. Inside were the maps he'd acquired of the East Blue currents, a compass he'd stolen from a merchant, dried meat from his hunts, and the few berries he'd saved.
He stood up, slinging the bag over one shoulder. He looked at the two boys sitting on the floor.
Ace was leaning against the wall, whittling a piece of wood, refusing to make eye contact. Luffy was sitting cross-legged, staring at Argentus's boots, his straw hat pulled low over his eyes.
"The tide is right," Argentus said softly. "My boat is waiting at the cove."
It was a small vessel—a refurbished fishing boat he'd fixed up in secret.
"No!"
Luffy shot up, his rubber arms stretching out to grab the strap of Argentus's bag.
"You can't go yet!" Luffy yelled, tears already bubbling in the corners of his eyes. "We're supposed to eat more meat together! It's too dangerous! Wait until we're 17! Wait for Ace!"
Luffy pulled back, heels digging into the floorboards, trying to physically anchor Argentus to the room.
"It's pitch black outside! You'll get eaten by a Sea King! Just stay!"
Argentus didn't pull away. Didn't shove Luffy or scold him for being childish.
Instead, his expression softened. For the first time since his mother died in that hut six years ago, the ice in his silver eyes thawed.
A genuine, warm smile broke across his face. It wasn't a smirk of victory. It was a smile of brotherhood.
He placed a hand on Luffy's trembling shoulder.
"Luffy," Argentus said gently. "You are the only person I have met in my life who would do anything for his dream."
Luffy sniffled, looking up, startled by the tone.
"You would fight your grandpa. You would fight the ocean itself," Argentus continued. "So... are you going to stop me from chasing mine?"
Luffy froze. His grip on the bag loosened.
In the language of true pirates, standing in the way of a dream was the ultimate sin. Even if it hurt to say goodbye.
Luffy wiped his nose with his forearm. He stepped back, lips trembling, but he nodded.
"I... I won't stop you," Luffy whispered.
From the corner, Ace stood up. He walked over to a small cupboard and pulled out a bottle of sake he'd stolen, along with three red lacquer cups.
He set them down on the wooden floor between them. Clack. Clack. Clack.
Ace poured the clear liquid into the cups. He looked at Argentus, eyes serious.
"You know what this means, right?" Ace asked. "In the pirate world, if you exchange cups of sake, you become brothers."
Argentus looked at the cup. He'd planned to trust no one.
But looking at Ace and Luffy, he realized that unconsciously they'd broken into his cold heart.
"Brothers," Argentus repeated. "I like the sound of that."
They picked up the cups.
"To the World," Argentus said.
"To the Pirates!" Luffy shouted, choking back a sob.
"To Freedom," Ace finished.
They clinked the cups together. The sound rang out, a small bell tolling the start of a new era. They drank the bitter alcohol in one gulp.
Argentus wiped his mouth and picked up his bag.
"I'll see you at the top," Argentus said.
He turned and walked out the door, climbing down the rope ladder into the night.
Luffy ran to the window. "ARGENTUS! DON'T DIE! IF YOU DIE, I'LL KICK YOUR BUTT!"
Argentus didn't look back, but he raised one hand in a silent wave.
Ace stood beside Luffy, watching the silver-haired figure disappear into the darkness.
"He's really doing it," Ace murmured.
"Yeah," Luffy sniffled, wiping his eyes with his arm. "He's gonna be King of the World."
Ace looked down at his own hands, clenching them into fists.
"Then I better get stronger too."
Below, at the hidden cove, Argentus pushed his small boat into the water. The waves lapped at the hull as he climbed aboard and raised the patched sail.
The wind caught it immediately, pulling him away from the shore.
He looked back one last time at the island silhouetted against the starlit sky.
"Thank you," he whispered to the darkness. "For giving me something I never thought I'd have again."
Then he turned his face toward the horizon, toward the vast, endless ocean that stretched before him.
Argentus D. Drake, age 12, had set sail.
(END OF CHAPTER)
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