Everyone turned to look at Ipponmatsu who said, "That sword is dangerous and I won't sell it to a kid."
Marcus raised an eyebrow as he said, "All swords are dangerous."
Ipponmatsu shook his head as he said, "That sword is cursed, all of the previous owners died because of it."
"Cursed?" Zoro said as he approached Marcus along with Kuina.
"It's not cursed, it's just temperamental. This sword wants a proper swordsman to wield it." Marcus said as he handed the sword to Zoro.
Zoro took the sword and frowned before he said, "I can feel something coming from the sword."
"It's bloodlust."
Ipponmatsu's eyes widened again as he said, "Both of you can sense the sword?"
Zoro and Marcus nodded at the same time before he patted his sword and said, "My sword does the same thing around most pirates."
Zoro nodded as he said, "Yeah, I can definitely feel it now. This sword wants to cut something."
"Which is why I won't sell it to a kid. Grown men can't control that sword, you have absolutely no chance against it."
"No chance?" Zoro asked with a feral grin before he said, "Those other people couldn't control this sword because they lacked conviction… I don't."
"Lacked conviction?"
Zoro stepped away from everyone else before he said, "I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman one day."
Zoro drew the sword from its sheath and looked at the distinct blue hamon that had the appearance of flames along the blade for a moment before he asked it, "I can feel it, you want to cut something and draw blood, don't you?"
Everyone watched as Zoro stared at the sword and asked, "I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman, do you wanna reach the top of the world with me?"
"Just because you want to be the world's best swordsman, doesn't mean I'll sell you that sword, kid. I won't let it kill you, no matter how confident you might be." Ipponmatsu said with a frown.
"Fine. Let's see if this sword wants to stay here and be sold to someone unworthy… Or come with me and conquer the world." Zoro said while he took the sword and tossed it into the air before he calmly stuck his arm out to the side as he closed his eyes.
Everyone froze in place at Zoro's actions as Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the sword spin in the air. Ipponmatsu recovered first as he said, "Are you crazy? You're going to lose your arm, kid!"
Kuina's eyes widened as Tashigi covered her mouth as she gasped in shock. Marcus moved his hand to his sword as Sandai Kitetsu dropped towards Zoro's arm. When he noticed the blade would flip around Zoro's arm with the flat, back edge of the blade instead of the razor sharp blade itself he released his hand from his sword and started to smirk.
After passing by Zoro's arm without touching it, the sword buried itself into the floor up to the hilt. As everyone stared in shock, a feral grin played across Zoro's face as he said, "I'll take it."
Both Ipponmatsu and Tashigi collapsed to the ground as Kuina's eyes narrowed. She stomped towards Zoro before she punched him in the back of the head and as he hit the ground she asked, "You idiot! What if you lost your arm?!?"
Zoro rubbed the growing bruise on his head as he asked, "If I can't even control a sword like this, then what gives me the right to even think about being the world's best swordsman?"
Zoro stood up and pulled the sword out of the floor as Marcus said, "He's right. You need to have the ambition and courage to follow your dreams… While I also think that test was a little stupid, if you don't have that type of drive, you'll never achieve your dreams."
Both Tashigi and Kuina's eyes lit with a new inner fire at Marcus's world's before Zoro said, "Well that's one sword down. I just need two more. Can you find me some more like this one Marcus?"
"Two more?" Everyone asked at the same time.
"I've been training to use three swords. Once I have the basic forms created, it will be my signature way of fighting."
Ipponmatsu scrambled up from the floor as he said, "Hold on just a minute."
Ipponmatsu disappeared up the stairs as Tashigi stood up from the floor and said, "I still can't believe you did something like that."
Marcus glanced towards Tashigi and said with a smirk, "If you think that was stupid, just wait till you meet my younger brother."
Ipponmatsu came back down the stairs a few moments later as he carried something under a blue cloth. He placed it on the counter before he said, "If you want other swords, these are the best I've got."
He pulled the cloth off of two swords, the first of which was a long katana with a black handle. It had a cross shaped golden guard and a black lacquered sheath. Ipponmatsu pulled the blade from its sheath to show an almost normal blade with a slightly irregular pattern. Ipponmatsu smiled as he said, "This is Yubashiri, a family heirloom and the second best sword I have in the shop beside Sandai Kitetsu."
Zoro came over and Ipponmatsu handed him the sword to check out before he showed them the other sword as he said, "This isn't a named sword, but quality wise it's the third best in the shop and probably in Loguetown as a whole."
The third sword was in a plain blue sheath and didn't look any different from most swords. Zoro tested Yubashiri for a few moments before he said, "It's light but balanced perfectly."
Zoro sheathed it before he examined the last sword for a few moments. As he was doing that, Marcus turned to Ipponmatsu and asked, "How much for all of them?"
Ipponmatsu shook his head as he said, "I'll give them to you for free."
Zoro turned to Ipponmatsu along with everyone else before he asked, "Why?"
"Because I can't remember the last time I've met a true swordsman… You know they say the sword chooses its owner." Ipponmatsu said as he pointed towards Sandai Kitetsu and added, "If what I just witnessed between you and that sword wasn't that… Well I don't know what could be."
Marcus smiled as he said, "We appreciate your generous offer, but we came with money and will gladly pay for everything."
Ipponmatsu shook his head as he said, "No, I won't accept money for those swords."
"Alright, no money… Then how about a trade instead? We have weapons we came to sell, how about we give them to you instead?" Marcus asked.
Ipponmatsu was about to refuse again when a sandal flew from the back room and hit him in the head. A moment later a tall, rotund woman with shoulder length, curly red hair stepped out of the back with a sandal in her hand. She slapped the sandal against her other hand as she said, "You better not refuse."
"But honey…"
The woman cut him off as she said, "Don't you dare start with me. I was gonna let you give those swords away because I know how you feel about true swordsmen."
The woman stepped closer to Ipponmatsu and smacked him with the sandal as she said, "But I won't let you turn down a good business opportunity. They have weapons they want to give us and we will gladly take them."
Ipponmatsu was smart and kept silent which made the woman nod in approval before she turned to Marcus and asked, "Where are the weapons you wish to trade in?"
"On our ship, down at the dock."
The woman slapped Ipponmatsu again as she said, "Go down to the dock and collect whatever they want to give you as trade for the swords… And negotiate for the rest."
Her eyes narrowed as she said, "And don't try to over pay just because of the swords. You better be trying to get us the best deal."
"Yes, dear."
Ipponmatsu turned to Marcus as he said, "Lead the way."
After they left the shop with Tashigi and Ipponmatsu, Marcus jokingly said, "It looks like you and your wife have a good relationship."
Ipponmatsu smiled softly as he said, "Yeah. Ipponume might have some rough edges, but I wouldn't have it any other way."
As they walked towards the main dock a cannon blast went off in the distance. A moment later the roof of a building exploded in front of them and as part of it fell towards an older couple below, Marcus disappeared from view along with the couple. After the debris hit the ground Marcus reappeared with the older couple a few feet away. He glanced towards the dock where the cannon blast came from and said, "Head towards the docks, I'll meet all of you there."
"Some idiot pirates must be attacking again, just let the marines handle it." Ipponmatsu said as Marcus faded from view again.
As Kuina dragged Zoro towards the dock, Tashigi started to run after them as she asked, "What was that? How did Marcus disappear?"
Ipponmatsu glanced at the kids before he shook his head and followed after them as another cannon blast went off.
Marcus arrived near the dock to see a large five mast ship with pirates pouring out of it. They seemed more concerned with looting the ships docked near them instead of raiding the city itself as they attacked three other ships in dock. Marcus looked towards the pirate ship itself since they were randomly shooting their cannons into the city as another cannon blast went off.
Marcus kicked off the ground and moved at incredible speeds as he passed by people on the dock like a gust of wind. Within half a minute he was on the pirate ship deck and punched a person in the middle of loading a cannon. The man was lifted off his feet and flew across the deck to slam into the mast. Marcus then turned to another man who was busy loading another cannon and punched him in the head which dropped him to the ground.
The man on the last cannon on the deck aimed towards the city noticed Marcus and asked, "Who the hell are you kid? Do you even know who we are?"
Marcus used soru before he kicked the man in the chest which sent him flying off the ship and to the dock below as he said, "Hopefully worth some money."
With the cannons taken care of, Marcus paused for a moment as he glanced around and took in the whole situation. He didn't see any of his brothers or crew so he decided to take care of the matter himself. He pushed off the deck hard enough to break it as he disappeared from view again. When he reappeared he was next to a couple of pirates and jumped up to grab their heads before he slammed them together.
As the two men dropped to the ground he appeared in front of someone else and hit them in the temple. As that person started to drop, Marcus disappeared and another pirate went flying into a different pirate. Marcus made quick work of all the pirates on the dock before he headed towards the first ship. As he landed on the deck he sent the first pirate he saw flying into the water before he turned to a group of pirates who were fighting with some sailors.
Marcus quickly took out all the pirates before he asked, "Are there anymore pirates on the ship?"
An older man with a belaying pin shook his head as he said, "We were able to stop them here."
"Good." Marcus said as he disappeared from view and another person went flying from another ship.
Five minutes after Marcus arrived, the rest of the pirates and their captain were running towards their ship as they retreated from him. As they scrambled to get on their ship, Kuina, Zoro and Tashigi arrived at the dock. Kuina and Zoro seemed fine but Tashigi was winded, but said as she tried to catch her breath, "We. Should stop. Them… They're gonna get away."
Marcus placed a hand on his sword as he said, "No they won't."
As the pirate ship tried to undock and raise their sails, Tashigi said, "But…" Tashigi was cut off as Marcus stepped forward with his sword drawn and took a stance before he casually swung his sword at an angle.
As he sheathed his sword he said, "Alright you guys go clean up the rest."
"But they're gonna…" Tashigi stopped talking as wood groaned before all five of the mast's collapsed on the ship from a clean angled slice through all of them.
Kuina's eyes lit up as she said, "I can't wait till I can do that."
Zoro nodded in agreement before he took off towards the ship and said, "I bet I'll beat more pirates than you this time."
"No fair!" Kuina said as she charged after him only to start laughing as he started heading towards a different ship.
Marcus glanced towards Tashigi who was wide eyed with her mouth hanging open. It wasn't just her though, the handful of people on the dock were doing the same thing. Marcus smirked and said, "Go finish off the pirates. We can talk later if you want."
Tashigi nodded numbly before she ran towards the ship that Kuina and surprisingly Zoro made it to. Marcus decided not to babysit them since the crew was so weak and went to collect all the pirates he knocked out. Within five minutes all the pirates were defeated and the marines finally showed up in force. As the marines poured into the dock area, Luffy, Ace and the rest of the crew arrived.
Marcus, who was seated on a pile of bodies with his sword resting on his shoulder, waved his brothers and the crew over as he said, "You missed out on a bit of fun."