Disclaimer: One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda. Many of the character's in this story of property of me. Do not use this story or its characters without my permission. Thank you.


The first few days of voyage with the Marines were okay. Bard and Araly were mostly doing grunt work, Araly excluded being that she was a girl and got easily seasick if she wasn't lying down. Eventually, Mars took advantage of her sedentary stasis and had her do all his catch-up paperwork. Once he showed her how to write his name, she could replicate it like a machine on all the orders he had to fill.

Bard was in charge of weighing anchor, setting sails, moving cannons; anything that would otherwise require five men of ordinary strength, and he did it all with a smile. His favorite part of the trip was meal time, right before which was fishing time for him (and only him, no thanks to Mars' story of Bard's aquatic speed). A nice warm meal after a good swim is always a good thing, after all.

After four days, the ship arrived at a small Navy base that occupied the northern side of a summer island. The opposite shore had a port town that was a veritable breeding ground for outlaws and criminals. The time it usually took for an average Marine to report to a supposed crime in time was less than one minute.

"Listen the Hell up, wimps!" Captain Mars announced over a PA system that shook the entire base, "We have a new recruit joining us today from the West Blue! He's already seen and effectively dealt with more trouble than the entire lot of you whelps are likely to see within a year! BE NICE TO HIM!" The Den Den loudspeaker clicked off.

Bard stood nervously in the doorway to the courtyard. All eyes seemed to be set angrily on him. His uniform was a loaner from the Captain, as that was the only size that could be found on the base that fit him. Bard uneasily raised his hand up to greet his fellow Marines. They turned their backs to him and went about their business.

Bard stepped warily and cautiously through the court to the main building. The main building of the complex was easily noticeable, acting as a primary scouting position for guards to spot pirates and other miscreants from the top of the tower. There were even several cannons stationed just in case. This was also the major bureaucratic center of the base, where all the books and papers were. Needless to say, Bard wasn't here to see Mars.


"How're things going, Araly?" Bard said sheepishly from the doorway of Captain Mars' office. Araly had been filling forms and requests for several hours. The dry land she had recently come into contact with gave her a second wind, and she had been working since.

"It's going pretty well, except my wrists feel like they're on fire. What about you, Bard?"

Bard sat in a chair on one side of the room.

"Not really. I don't think anyone likes me that much. No one has said 'hello' or 'welcome aboard' or even 'ahoy'. I thought for sure Marines said 'ahoy'. I'm mostly just waiting for something to happen."

The Loudspeaker crackled and squealed on.

"Attention, all personnel! Pirates have been spotted on the opposite shore. Please take necessary caution and deploy a team immediately to arrest them. Thank you." The loudspeaker crackled off. Bard had already jumped out the window to avoid the stairs and jumped towards the south shore with joy.


A grizzled and lanky man stepped up onto a rock to renounce his presence among his men, and yelled "Alright, men! The Marine's base is just north of here! What are we gonna do!?"

A resounding chorus answered back, "Kill them all!"

"And why are we gonna kill them all!?"

"Because they're Navy scum!"

"That's right! I've taught you well!"

The variously dressed and armed band of pirates gave out a cacophonous roar that seemed to go on forever. Intermixed within the battle cry were degrading remarks about the marines and how bad they'd die.

The captain of these rough and tumble bandits was dressed in a feathered, purple coat and high-style pants with a gun at his waist. His face didn't seem to help with his overall look, being the kind of face that looks like it had been hammered repeatedly with a rock by angry monkeys. Scars, bruises, missing teeth, and slicked back hair that ends in a bun.

"Nothing good ever comes out of those sea dogs," he began again with even more verve, "except good targets for practice! We are the Buster Pirates! No one can stop us!"

"IS THAT SO!"

The entire horde turned around at once to see a soldier in an opened shirt standing in a tree, leaning against a branch. He raised a finger and tipped his hat up over his eyes, than grinned an enthusiastic grin.


Dramatic entrance successful, Bard casually thought to himself, still grinning like and idiot. Now to intimidate them a little further.

He jumped into the air from the tree, did several flips in mid-air, then spun around to face the pirates before landing several meters away from them. The tree was punctured and he was on the other side of the horde.

I may have over done it a smidge…

The pirates stared at him with anticipation and caution. Sure he was a navy dog, but he looked tough for one. Bard raised his hands and braced his legs, readying himself for the first fool to charge him. He didn't wait long, as the four of the pirates blindly charged at him brandishing swords. Bard focused himself.

With one swift, terrible movement, Bard slammed the pirates in their faces so hard that they all flew back end-over-end and landed face down in the dirt several meters from him. To those watching, they didn't see or even hear the blows being landed, it was just a blur that took a fraction of a second. The pirates were starting to get the idea that they may be in trouble. This time, nine rushed him.

By the time the first wave of marines arrived they were self-declared as unneeded reinforcements. Bard had defeated nearly every pirate among them, except for the captain and the first mate, who stood opposite Bard with a menacing glare.


This was the only pirate present that didn't look like a pushover, which made Bard think that he was the captain instead and the guy that was yelling just got way to into the moment. This Pirate had an object wrapped around his back with a stained and patched brown cloth that went from his shoulder past his waist.

His hair was short, spiked and black as his eyes. On his belt were two holsters that held what looked like guns, but they seemed to be holsters for daggers rather than guns. His hunter-green vest exposed most of his midsection, which had several scars, and his pants were tied with a rope around each ankle.

They stared each other down with arms crossed across their respective chests, while the marines and still conscious pirates (one or two) looked on with awe. The cowering captain had worked his way a safe distance from the barbaric Marine, and took shelter behind a rock on the shore.

"That's right," the ugly man yelled from his protective bunker, "you're in trouble now, you government dog! Do you know who that man is?" He pointed to his first mate for effect. "He is my most feared warrior, feared in the South Blue and deadly in a fight! Do you know his name!?"

Bard was just barely awake, so he decided to start the fight himself. He dashed forward and shoulder-tackled the still unguarded man. A shoulder to the gut is painful enough, but Bard was traveling in a white and blue blur that no one watching could track. The unfortunate receiver of the attack was launched backwards in and through a tree.

He got up, spat on the ground, and reached for a gun. Bard didn't want to give his opponent an opportunity to attack, so he grabbed the tree as it fell in a bear-grip and swung with all his force, heaving it well into the distance. Bard was a terrible shot when he had to throw something, and the tree sailed over the calm waves of the ocean. No one heard a splash.

Bard looked off in the distance where the tree had gone with indifference, then reverted his stare back to his opponent, who stood mouth agape and eyes nearly popping out.


Bard resumed his offensive by once again rushing shoulder first at the stranger. This time he was ready. The man rolled out of Bard's way and let him crash into solid rock; rather, through solid rock for a meter. After regaining his composure, Bard stepped out from the rubble and faced his opponent, with two guns drawn out and facing Bard. Something was peculiar about these guns, however.

"YOU IGNORANT PUNK! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!" At this point, everybody present but the pirate captain was far to focused on the fight at hand to remember the pirate captain. Despite this, he began again from where he left off. "His name is Rezland 'The Gun-Blade'! He's a famed pistol duelist prodigy from the South Blue who uses custom-crafted guns that double as swords and never finished a duel without leaving his opponents with hundreds of stab wounds! Do you realize the danger you're in now? You're fighting a-" He wanted to say more, but the full force of eight Marines tackling him from different directions.

"Nice to meet you," Bard announced to his newly named adversary.

"I'm Bard. Bard D. Samekawa, legendary Marine in the making" Bard took his trademark pose; he put his left leg forward, pointing at the enemy, his right leg straight back, and flexed his left forearm parallel to his leg with his right above his head and parallel to the ground.

Rezland twirled his gun-blades and aimed them up, on either side of his head. Then he smirked a devious smirk, opening his mouth just enough to bare one fang-like tooth.