The Young Marine

Marine Troop 34 was sailing the West Blue, patrolling for pirates. As all of the Marines were hard at work, one boy scurried around the ship. With short brown hair and blue eyes, was one of the hardest working, doing everything he could, and always offering to give a hand. This boy is 14 year old Norne Eric, and despite his young appearance, he was currently a Sergeant-Major. He did his part, but some of the Marines showed jealousy in the fact that he was a Sergeant-Major at such a young age. He didn't let this influence if he helped them, though. After all the morning preparations were complete, he heard one of the other Marines tell him that Captain Fergus wanted to talk to him. Eric entered the Captain's office, and Fergus, a tall man with medium length black hair and brown eyes, told him to take a seat.

"You wanted to talk to me, sir?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about your service. You've proven to be very hardworking and faithful to the Marines. I remember the day you asked to join the Marines two months ago. Hah, you seemed very weak, but you more than proved that you were ready to serve."

Eric remembered that day. He still laughs when he thinks about the shocked expressions on the faces of the Marines that were there.

"You are a valuable asset in the pursuit of justice. Never forget that, and make sure to do your part," Fergus said.

"Thank you, sir. I will make you proud," Eric said as he bowed.

"That is all for no-,"

"Captain, there are pirates portside!" a Marine shouted, barging into the office.

"Well, lad, ready to show these pirates why you're a Sergeant-Major?" Fergus asked with a smile.

"You bet. Let's stop those pirates!" Eric shouted as he headed for the deck.

The pirates tried to shoot at the Marine ship, but their shots only hit the water. The Marine ship shot back, but they also missed. The Marine ship then approached the pirate ship, but did not make an effort to board. That was when Eric stepped onto the edge of the ship. Stepping casually from the side, he didn't fall, as many of the pirates were expecting him to. At the last possible moment, he launched himself upwards and into the sky. The pirates were evidently shocked to see someone so young jump so high. But they also noticed something else. The boy looked like he was going to try an axe-kick. They laughed, thinking there was no point to what the boy was doing. Suddenly, they could vaguely make out some sort of swirling energy around his leg. And then, he started his attack.

"Wind Axe!" the boy shouted as he quickly spun around in midair. From his leg, a blade of wind shot out, cleaving the ship in two.

Captain Fergus couldn't help laughing as he heard the pirates shouting stuff like "How the hell did he do that?" and "That's not even fair!" As the Marines gathered the pirates that were flailing in the water, Eric propelled himself slowly to the wrecked ship, helping gather some of the pirates. Afterwards, he groggily landed back on the ship. He then went to the back of the sail after he recovered, and used his powers to propel the ship towards the Marine base at top speed. When they arrived, the pirates were hauled off. It was revealed that the captain had a bounty of 1,000,000 berries. Captain Fergus offered the bounty to Eric, since it was him who defeated the pirates, but he insisted that someone who needed the money take it.

"You sure are incredible. Passing up a million berries. Ah, well, that's what makes you so dependable."

"Just doing what I can to keep people safe from pirates," Eric said.

"I gotta say, those Breeze-Breeze powers are incredible. You're a logia type, right?"

"Not really. I can only manipulate the wind. I can't become it."

"Huh. I was wondering about that, to be honest. So you're like the infamous Blackbeard that way, right?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well, we'll be heading out to do more patrolling late-"

"Captain, we just got a report that the Mole Pirates are attacking the nearby island!"

"Dammit, we won't make it in time!" Fergus yelled.

"Not unless I use my powers," Eric said.

"Won't it wear you out?" Fergus asked.

"We don't have the luxury of worrying about that!" Eric yelled as he headed for the ship with the other marines.

"Brave kid," Fergus whispered as he headed for the ship.

Eric cranked up the wind as much as he could, almost going fast enough to send the other Marines flying. However, this also made him feel a little woozy himself. Within ten minutes, the ship had reached the Wyran island. They could see the pirate ship docked at the port. Some of the Marines stayed behind to secure the ship while the rest, including Eric and Fergus, went off to fight off the Mole Pirates. They were just about to head back to their ships when the Marines arrived, and they obviously weren't expecting them. They still put up a fight, but the Marines were able to handle the underlings. Eric and Fergus headed out to find the captain. They found him and his first mate, and both of them prepared to fight.

"They actually think that they have a chance? Hah. Can you handle the first mate?" Fergus asked.

"Definitely," Eric said as he prepared for the first mate to approach.

"I'll bury you!" the first mate shouted as he charged at Eric.

Eric dodged an attack from the Mole pirate's claws, then kicked him in the stomach, sending him back a bit. The pirate ran right back at him, but this time he tripped him. The pirate was pissed, and came charging, slashing his claws. Eric then prepared a kick. The pirate kept charging, thinking there was no way that Eric could survive the attack if he didn't move. He was quickly proven wrong.

"Gale Force Kick!"

As Eric shouted this, he kicked, unleashing a huge burst of wind which sent the pirate flying right into one of the nearby buildings. At this time, Fergus was battling the leader of the Mole Pirates. The Captain, Murphy, had the powers of the Mole-Mole Fruit, and had dug underground. Fergus was just standing there while Murphy was circling around him. The instant Murphy tried to rise up and grab him, Fergus jumped out of the way. Before Murphy had the chance to react, Fergus grabbed his face and slammed him into the ground. Murphy wasn't dead, but he'd definitely be feeling that later on.

Eric grabbed the first mate, while Fergus hauled Captain Murphy to the Marine ship. Eric offered to help with the repairs, but Fergus insisted that he stay with the troop. They would send people to help with repairs. Eric begrudgingly went back to the ship. This was the only thing he hated about being a Marine: when the pirates were caught, it was as if there wasn't any collateral damage and they could just leave, at the very least with this troop. He knew it wasn't like he wasn't helping, but he knew he could do more, and he really wanted to.

"Your desire to help is truly admirable, but we need to be out at sea in case we have more pirates to deal with," Fergus said.

"Understood, sir," Eric begrudgingly saluted.

The Marine troop set out, patrolling the seas for more pirates. However, Eric was sitting in his room. He always hated when they just left without helping out at all. He would always sulk in his room when this happened. Fergus learned that if he just let Eric cool off, he would be back to his diligent, hardworking and cheerful self. However, there wasn't the time for that. There was a nearby cruise liner that was being attacked by the infamous Heavyweight Pirates. Their captain, Heavy Leila, had a 100,000,000 berrie bounty. Fergus was determined to see this crew captured. It turned out that the boat was escaping, but there were still pirates at the liner, probably intent on killing the passengers.

"Captain, we have to save those civilians!" Eric shouted.

"I'd like to, but the ship is getting away. Leila is likely in there, and damned if I let her escape!" Fergus yelled.

"But, the passengers-"

"It's a real shame, but stopping Leila comes first!"

"Then I'll go myself!" Eric shouted as he went to one of the emergency boats.

"Wait, stop!" Fergus yelled, but too late.

Eric had jumped onto the boat, cut the ropes as he jumped on, and the boat dropped into the water. Eric flinched when he landed, but regained his composure and used his powers to propel the boat towards the cruise ship. When he reached the ship, he then used his powers to jump to the deck. He needed a second to gain his bearing, and then headed to where the pirates were holding the passengers. He tried to avoid being spotted, but one of the pirates spotted him, and charged at him. He wound up his fist as more of them charged at him. Then, he launched his attack.

"Jet Stream Punch!"

As he shouted this, a burst of wind shot out, sending the charging pirates, as well as the ones who were in its path, flying clear out of the ship. Others tried to get him from the side, but he used Gale Force Kick to send them flying away. One of the pirates tried to sneak up on him, but he tripped the pirate, and then uppercut him. However, he charged the uppercut, turning it into his Tornado Uppercut, sending the pirate clear into the sky. Eric was about ready to wrap everything up, but then he was approached by a slender woman with long red hair, green eyes, and a small parasol.

"Ha, for a child, you're doing really well against my crew," the woman said.

"Wha-your crew? So you're Leila? Why would you call your crew the heavyweight pirates?"

"You'll find out," Leila said with a smirk.

"Y-you're under arrest. Wind Burst!" Eric shouted as a burst of high pressure wind shot out.

However, Leila just gracefully stood there, as if it was nothing more than a pleasant breeze. This surprised Eric, but he tried again, and again to no avail. He noticed that there was a small crack where she stood, but he couldn't figure out why. Leila then started to walk towards him, causing small cracks to form everywhere she stepped, and a moment of panic went through his head. He tried to blast her away, but she just kept walking up to him. He then realized something.

"It's a devil fruit, isn't it?"

"Took you long enough. I ate the Kilo Kilo Fruit. I have the power to make myself as light or as heavy as I want, making it child's play-"

"To be resistant to my powers," Eric realized.

"Bingo. I confess, I didn't think anyone would see through our ruse. We were supposed to have some scapegoats get caught while the rest of us keep the treasure and kill everyone on the ship."

"Does human life mean nothing to you?" Eric yelled as he slapped her with wind, though he quickly regretted that move. "Ah!" He shouted as he shook his hand front of him, pain shooting through the appendage.

"Is that all you've got?" Leila laughed as she grabbed Eric.

She then suddenly threw him across the deck. He was so surprised that he couldn't react in time to stop the crushing blow to the head he felt. It left him stunned. But he was able to look above him, and he could see Leila floating in the sky, twirling her parasol to allow her to float. Panic washed over Eric as he remembered what else she could do, but he was incapable of moving. That was when Leila increased her weight.

"10,000 kilogram slam!" Leila shouted as she charged at Eric from above.

At the exact moment of impact, Leila decreased her weight, lifting herself up before she could hit the water. However, Eric landed right in the ocean, losing all ability to move. Leila had angled her attack so that she only took a small chunk of the deck, which meant that the Heavyweight pirates were free to go. They left Eric to drown.

"This is it, isn't it?" Eric thought to himself. "I thought I could save them. I thought I could save those passengers, but I couldn't do anything. It's just as well that I'm going to die."

What Eric didn't notice was the figure of a woman swimming towards him.